Initiation Series: Series One Compilation (Terran Chronicles)

by James Jackson

  The Kord, for their part, stay to themselves, until the day they discover the zero-g room. It seems they enjoy the room a lot, which gives Hayato some peace of mind. The Kord spend almost all of their time either in the zero-g room, or in the area assigned to them as sleeping quarters. While Hayato’s men have been discretely protecting GUS and reactor control, Radclyf’s men have been more obvious in their duties. They constantly patrol the corridors, with weapons at the ready.

  Cindy runs a hand through her hair as she looks at a number of reports. The outer hull is literally flailed away in places, while numerous internal decks are impassable due to buckled and broken deck plates. Hydroponics is flooded due to broken pipe work, and the plants are dying. Bringing up a deck plan of the ship, an idea springs to mind. She asks curiously, “Joe, could we remove the gravity plating from the sections we’re not using, and install it where we need to?”

  Joe sits back in his chair as he contemplates her idea. After a moment’s consideration, he replies, “Well, it would weaken the ship’s internal structure, meaning we would be unable to land this ship.” He turns to Cindy grinning and says, “Well, we can’t anyway, so what’s the difference?”

  The days drag on as the crew dismantles unused sections, allowing George, Olaf, and Patrick, to install gravity plating in the remaining areas. Little by little, members of the Kord stop playing in the zero-g room, and begin to add their efforts to the repairs. The Kord are quite shy, and many of them do all they can to avoid interacting with the Terran’s crew.

  The next phase of the repairs has all three American shuttles in space. Each shuttle has either George, Olaf, or Patrick, attached to a swing arm. The trio sets massive armor sections into place, these are made to Gamin specifications and are much more than just sheets of metal. The amount of resources obtained from the destroyed space station amazes everyone. Between this and the dismantling of many levels, the crew has renewed hope. Another week goes by, and although there is still a lot to do, it is clear that the ship will be fully space worthy again. Slowly, the list of things to be done shrinks until there is nothing left to repair. During this time, Cindy has the medics check on her implant, and as there seems to be no issues, she seeks other volunteers. None of the main crew is interested, but unexpectedly, most of the bridge crew obtain the implants. Edwards, as expected, refrains, as does George who has no need for one.

  Golward makes his way to the bridge, his fur covered body becoming a common sight throughout the ship. He has become his people’s ambassador, and speaker. His dark eyes almost glinting as he hands Cindy a small device and says, “This is where we need to go.”

  Cindy turns the device over in her hands, and then hands it to Andrew. He and Joe transfer the data to their consoles and, as expected, find a star chart. It not only shows the location of a world, but also includes a list of planets to stop at along the way. The two men are quite impressed, the flight plan takes into account their limited energy reserves.

  Golward waits nervously as he glances at each of the bridge crew. His fate, and that of the other Kord survivors, is out of his hands.

  Cindy paces behind the four consoles as she asks apprehensively. “How far out of the way is it?”

  Andrew turns to her approvingly. “The detour would only add a week to our trip, tops. We’d still be heading away from the galactic core, just not directly home.”

  Cindy gazes sympathetically at Golward and with a smile, says, “Of course we will take you and your people there. We will test the main engines in the morning.”

  Golward seems to almost skip as he leaves the bridge. He is clearly happy with Cindy’s decision.

  Joe and Andrew study the star charts in depth as they plan the long journey home. John yawns, and then leaves the bridge. The stress of the last few weeks is wearing everyone down.

  Cindy sits in her command chair, leans back, and then closes her heavy eyes. She silently pleads. I hope everything goes well, we need a break from this run of bad luck. She, like the others, is exhausted, and eventually retires to her room.

  Jump

  Ten hours later Cindy strides onto the bridge, fully refreshed. She was not disturbed during her sleep, a pleasant change, and is prepared for the momentous day. Golward sits off to one side, staring out the forward view. Mercifully his devastated home world is not visible, just the distant stars that sparkle like city lights.

  Cindy slides into her chair, and then with a smile, touches its small console and addresses the crew. “Today we continue our journey. We will be dropping off our new-found friends as we head for home ourselves. Stay alert and report anything out of the ordinary. Cindy out.”

  Turning her attention to John, Cindy smiles again as she orders. “Let’s take her out of this system, slowly.”

  John focuses his attention on his console and reports. “Engaging thrusters.”

  As the Terran pulls away from the planet, John makes sure that it does not appear on the forward view. Golward has said little about his world, but it is obvious to all that he is distraught. John glances at his console and instantly regrets looking at their departure angle. The swirling grey mists remind him of the planet where they found the damaged Gamin ship, and are a reminder that the Kord world is now a barren wasteland.

  As the planet falls farther away, the crew begins to relax.

  John’s hands deftly run across his console while he relays his actions. “Engaging sub-light engines, minimal power.” The stars seem to jump at them as the ship builds speed. After spending a few seconds monitoring the ship’s systems, he continues on. “Building to fifty percent of light speed.”

  As they move farther away from the planet, Golward stands and places his hands in front of him with his palms up. Lifting his head, he gazes at the ceiling and mutters so quietly that no one can discern his words.

  John glances to Cindy who shakes her head slowly. Not being sure what to do, John waits. A few minutes later, the short, hair-covered alien ceases what he was doing.

  Golward turns to Cindy, his dark eyes glistening, and his furry cheeks damp. “You have my gratitude, we can leave now.”

  Everyone on the bridge feels for Golward. Based on the little they have learned these last few weeks, his planet had a population of over ten billion, and there have been no survivors. Cindy feels a deep sadness creeping up on her.

  “Punch it.” Cindy orders with a shaky voice as she points to the view ahead of them.

  Everyone tenses up as John engages the main drive. If their repairs have been successful, the view will shift into a mesmerizing cascade of beautiful colors. If not, well, they may never know.

  John grins fearlessly, even as his mind races through the many disaster scenarios that could befall them. “Engaging main drive!” He states formally.

  Within seconds, the bland white stars blur as the Terran breaks the light barrier. Cindy relaxes as the forward view displays the beautiful color spectrum she enjoys so much.

  John turns to Andrew and Joe, and after a short conference, he confidently ramps up their speed. “Setting speed at factor six.” He states.

  Cindy grins as the ship seems to be operating smoother than ever. She taps her console and asks, “Reactor control, how is our status?”

  Olaf answers with his usual Russian gruffness. “Everything is good down here.”

  “Great,” Cindy replies, happy to hear good news for a change. She contacts Patrick and asks, “How are our repairs holding up?”

  Patrick has been running up and down stairwells, examining the levels that were removed, and others that were completed using Gamin plating. The work crews succeeded in removing every piece of plating that had been installed on Earth. All those months of work, undone in mere weeks. He returns to the bridge, and happily reports, “There is no buckling at any of the joints, but the real test will come when we slow down.”

  Andrew and Joe glance at each other, and then they both look at John. He notices the attention, and finally cannot ignore them any longer
. He says, “Don’t worry, we will be shutting down the main drive near planetary bodies as often as we can. Just in case we need to augment the repairs.”

  With little to do but wait, the bridge crew returns to their usual routine. Edwards takes the helm, and command of the bridge, as he starts to fit in. Very few Kord visit the bridge, making Golward almost their sole representative. The Kord resume spending a lot of time in the zero-g room, which seems to keep them quite happy, considering.

  Many hours later, the standard crew is back in control as they prepare to shut down the main drive. John has been paying careful attention to the projected flight plan. At the exact time stipulated, he shuts down the main drive.

  Cindy suffers a moment’s trepidation when she feels a slight tremor emanating from the floor. When no reports of damage make their way to the bridge, she begins to feel better. John finally relaxes when he slows the ship to a relative crawl as they approach the first of many planetary waypoints.

  John deftly taps his console one more time as he says, “Slowing to twenty percent of light speed. We will achieve a high orbit in thirty minutes.”

  A beautiful bright red atmosphere fills their view screen as they approach the massive planet. It has no moons, and is supposedly habitable, according to the Gamin systems.

  Andrew shakes his head as he stares at the crimson clouds that swirl angrily around the planet. “Well, I hope we don’t have to go down into that soup.”

  Cindy finally relaxes as well. She feels a renewed confidence that they will make it home. She turns to George’s terminal and is surprised to find that he is quietly standing there. He is oblivious to her staring as he monitors the ship’s systems, deck by deck, looking for problems.

  Just as Cindy turns back, George surprises them all by speaking up. “We should examine the outer hull while the capacitors charge up.”

  Cindy has to admit this is a prudent idea. “John, you want to take George out, once we’re safely in orbit?”

  “Will do.” John replies.

  Cindy turns her attention to Peter who has also been rather pensive of late. As she turns away, she has no idea that his quiet demeanor is hiding a myriad of private thoughts.

  Peter does not even notice her attentive gaze, which in itself is telling of his mental state. His thoughts keep rolling back to his past. Everything he thought was important, pales in comparison to the greater community out amongst the stars. And yet for all the differences, what has he found? Destruction on a scale never before conceived. The Gamin are at war with a race that renders entire planets uninhabitable. Having witnessed the destruction of the mighty space station by an epic-sized carrier, stands testimony to the hazards of this region of space. His calculating mind is hard at work putting together the pieces of the puzzle, but there are too many unknowns for him to figure out what is happening. He is trying to fathom whether the Kord space station, and world it orbited, were collateral damage, or an escalation of the war.

  Meanwhile, the examination of the outer hull goes smoothly, and quickly. What starts as a nervous inspection, soon becomes a routine checkup. Once George and John return to the bridge, George is most happy to report his findings. “The outer hull is showing no signs of stress.”

  Cindy smiles as she enquires. “How many stops until we arrive at Golward’s planet?”

  Andrew quickly checks his notes, and then replies. “Six more, but only three of these will be near planets.” He shrugs his shoulders. “It is the best we could come up with.”

  With news of the ship being fine spreading fast, the crew’s morale noticeably improves. Once again, the people of the Terran fall into a normal routine. The next leg of their journey also puts them over another planet, this one just a small watery ball in space. The next two recharge locations put them between the stars, and still the Terran is showing no signs of wear or damage to any of the repairs conducted.

  Free Fall

  Once again, John disengages the main drive and, the Terran slows down to a fraction of the speed of light. Everyone’s attention is drawn to the planet before them. Its blue color and white clouds remind them of Earth. Cindy puts a hand to her chin. Be a shame to be this close and not study it.

  “Joe, what’s the status of the planet’s atmosphere?” Cindy asks curiously.

  Joe taps on the Gamin console, and reviews the data. He whistles in exclamation. “WOW! Everything looks great, almost Earthlike in every facet.”

  “Well, let’s park this ship in orbit, and go down check it out.” Cindy replies.

  It takes forty minutes before John has the Terran in a high orbit. Once again, Edwards takes command. Andrew and Joe toss a coin. Joe wins, and grins widely as he gets up to leave. Andrew slumps and stares out the view screen despondently.

  “Hey! What’s that?” Andrew calls out in surprise.

  Joe does not even look as he replies, “I am not falling for that old trick, mate!”

  “No really. What is that?” Andrew says, pointing forward, his voice becoming anxious.

  Cindy follows his finger and instantly frowns as she spots a small object on the Terran’s hull. Another can be seen coming in to land near the first. The hairs on the back of her neck raise up.

  Golward steps closer to the view, then suddenly twists around and says loudly, “Effen Raiders.”

  Joe raises an eyebrow and checks his translator. Yep, that’s what he said.

  Cindy picks up the fear in Golward’s voice. “Tell me what you know.”

  Golward spins from Cindy back to the view in a total panic. “The Effen Raiders are pirates of the worst kind. They kill everyone on the ships they attack, then strip everything out of them.”

  Cindy frowns as she gazes at the pair of ships resting against the forward hull. “Would they know that this is a Gamin ship?”

  “Yes, yes, we must leave.” Golward replies.

  “Why would they land in plain sight then? What’s normally in that area of the ship?” Cindy asks.

  George turns from his console and replies. “One of the main hatchery areas.”

  Cindy grins as she understands what’s going on. “That’s a decoy, to distract us. I bet they’re going for the main hangar.”

  Golward is quite agitated, and paces the bridge restlessly. “We must leave!”

  Joe stands up and puts a hand on Golward’s diminutive shoulder. “The second they landed on the hull, their ships were safe. Even if we accelerate, the navigational shields would just extend around them, as they would any small addition to the ship.”

  Cindy turns to Radclyf and Hayato. Both men have been waiting for a decision.

  “Main storage?” Cindy asks questioningly.

  Radclyf nods, then spends mere seconds in a quiet discussion with Hayato. “Maintain radio silence, do not let them know that we have noticed them.”

  The pair of combat veterans have barely left the bridge when the bridge speakers crackle to life. “Something just cut a hole in the roof.” The panicky voice continues, “We’re being…” the voice quits mid-sentence.

  Cindy gulps, so much for not letting them know we spotted them. She taps her console. “Attention all crew. Evacuation protocol, this is not a drill, I say again, evacuation protocol.”

  Cindy hopes the crew is able to make their way to the command levels, and with a bit of luck, avoid any confrontation with the invaders.

  Peter rises from his chair, and leaves the bridge. “I am going to help Radclyf,” he states simply as he departs.

  Golward paces even faster, his distress obvious. “We must evacuate the ship, the Effen Raiders do not take prisoners.”

  Cindy feels sorry for the small furry alien that has become their newest friend. “We do not have any way of escaping, so we must find a way to make these raiders leave.”

  Pure chaos reigns in the hangar deck. Three holes appear in the ceiling as massive circular sections fall to the deck far below. One piece lands between two of the space shuttles, the chunk is so large it comes up to the
orbiter’s windows. Deck crews are alarmed to see armor clad humanoids dropping through these holes. The invaders freefall the twenty levels, and land smoothly in crouched positions with their weapons raised. As these three move out, more invaders land behind them. Soon there are nine armor clad invaders forming a defensive circle. Their weapons cover everything. A tenth lands in the middle of the circle. The central raider’s armor is pitted and scored, making him look even more fearsome because of it. Two terrified deck hands sprint toward a nearby corridor. Energy bolts cut them down within a few steps. The only sound being their short screams.

  Akira, who on the uppermost level, creeps forward on his stomach. His high-powered rifle with its attached scope at the ready. Sighting one of the invaders, he pulls the trigger. A single fifty caliber round impacts with devastating force upon the invader’s helmet. The bullet shatters, a scratch is all that remains to signify its passing. Akira fires a second round, aiming at the invader’s upturned visor. Another small scratch is the only damage done by the most powerful weapon at his disposal.

  The central armored figure points at Akira’s position. As Akira scrambles back, the walkway before him vanishes in a volley of energy bolts. Akira’s eyes go wide as the remaining section sags, then falls completely away. He makes it to the passageway, his mind racing. He then does something he has never done before in his life. He drops his weapon, and runs as fast as he can, thinking. I need something bigger. Grabbing his radio, he finds it is also useless, every channel issues loud static, merely giving away his position. He throws it to the floor as well, and continues to sprint down the passageway.

  As one, the ten invaders expand their circle, cutting down five more unarmed crewmen in the process. Within minutes, they have the Terran’s ramp open. A single crewman lays beneath the shuttle Enterprise, his heart beating so hard it threatens to burst from his chest. His fear is telling him to run, but his eyes are transfixed on dead colleagues. One has almost been cut in two, his innards spilling out from what remains of his torso. The sight of this makes the man wretch, the barest of sounds escape his mouth. Looking back at the invaders, he sees one with a weapon pointed straight at him. Oh no. As the barrel of the weapon glows, the man soils himself. Even before he becomes aware of the growing wetness in his trousers, a blinding light strikes his upturned face. The energy bolt easily passes through the man’s head, exiting with so much force that viscera splatters the shuttle above.