Initiation Series: Series One Compilation (Terran Chronicles)

by James Jackson

  The bridge crew falls silent as they ponder her words. After a few minutes, Joe interrupts their thoughts. “The lunar base, you two going to check it out?”

  Cindy makes eye contact with John, then George, nodding to each of them as she does. The two of them depart the bridge without a word, the apocalyptic battle still on their minds.

  John pilots the Gamin shuttle out the Terran’s open ramp, then descends to the moon below. George sits next to him, his suit stowed in the rear of the shuttle. The entrance to the alien base is not clearly visible. Its placement and color scheme blending it almost perfectly with the moonscape. John makes a few deft touches on his console, opening an almost indiscernible door. He lands the shuttle inside, closes the door behind them, and then begins the process of putting his space-suit on. After ten minutes, and with quite a bit of help from George, John is ready.

  John takes a deep breath, then looks at George and asks, “You ready?”

  George blocks the scenes of the planet-wide war from his mind, and focuses his thoughts on the task at hand. As usual, he simply steps backward into his suit. It automatically closes around him, forming a snug fit. Looking at George’s bodysuit, John is quite envious of it right now.

  George smiles back innocently as he replies, “Sure!”

  They give each other a thumbs up, then John opens the shuttle’s door. Walking down the ramp, the heavier Gamin gravity catches both of them by surprise. Stumbling onto the base’s floor, they pause for a moment. Lights come on, casting a dim glow over them. John glances around nervously, then upon seeing that they are alone, relaxes a little. George glances upward, then walks on ahead, his bulk forming creepy shadows on the ground.

  “There is only one way, so I guess that’s where we go.” George’s voice comes through John’s headpiece clearly.

  John gazes around, his suit having been designed for the zero-g of space, it is difficult to maneuver in the heavy gravity. He follows George as best he can, tapping his communicator as he walks. “We’re inside. Nothing special to report yet.”

  They descend farther into the lunar base, neither man feeling talkative. George comes to the end of the walkway. The expected stairwell is not present. Gazing around, he spots a familiar trio of holes in the wall.

  “Looks like this is a door. Stand back, I am going to see if I can open it.” George states.

  John steps to one side, then watches as George creates a three-pronged object. As soon as George inserts the three claw-like prongs, the door moves back, then slides into a wall space. Before them is a large room, the inside of which has a panel on the wall, near the open door.

  George steps inside, then smiles. “This must be an elevator.”

  John looks inside, a little warily. “You think it’s safe?”

  George nods. “Yeah, I don’t think the Gamin expect visitors.”

  The wall panel has three large symbols grouped together. The central symbol is a wide rectangle. The other two are triangles, one above and an inverted one below.

  John raises an eyebrow as he asks, “You think it’s that simple?”

  George shrugs his shoulders, then touches the lower inverted triangle. “Let’s find out.”

  A grinding sound emanates from below their feet, followed by a series of heavy clunks. The elevator lurches, then begins to descend. Metal gears, long since abandoned, protest as they travel downward. The light from the ceiling flickers from time to time, yet their descent remains smooth. The elevator has no door, allowing them to see the wall slowly slide upward as they continue. Suddenly, an opening appears. They stare down the dim passageway, expecting the elevator to stop. It does not.

  George glances at John, and asks curiously. “Multiple levels?”

  “Looks that way,” John replies, though, like George, he has no idea of what to expect.

  The elevator continues downward for another fifteen minutes, passing six more openings before finally stopping. George steps out, followed quickly by John. They both stare at the elevator, half expecting it to leave. It remains still, putting both men at ease.

  George peers into the distance, then spots what he has been hoping to find. “There is a Gamin interface terminal up ahead.”

  John stares into the distance, he can’t see anything. “If you say so, lead on.”

  The console rests against the opening to a large cavern. The area beyond is poorly lit, but even so, it is obviously quite massive.

  George connects his suit to the terminal. Oh my, this is incredible, he thinks. “This base is a massive factory complex. Pretty much everything required to outfit a spaceship can be manufactured here.”

  John stares off into the dim area ahead. “It’s hard to see clearly, can you do anything about the dim lights?”

  George continues to review the data before him, then shakes his head in disappointment. “There is barely any power left. I will try to transfer the data to the Terran.”

  George taps away at the console, becoming excited as he reviews more data. A few minutes later, he turns to John, a wide grin on his face. “I just sent every schematic and plan to our ship. There is stuff here I have never seen before.”

  John turns to George in surprise. “Like?”

  “Oh, everything, from view screens, consoles, power plants, to,” George hesitates for a few seconds, then reluctantly continues, “weapons,” he says at last.

  George’s early excitement wanes. John nods in understanding as he voices George’s thoughts. “If these weapons plans were discovered by the wrong people, it…” his voice trails off.

  George stares at the console in amazement. John’s expression rapidly changes, his voice becomes quite uneasy as he shares his sudden apprehension. “How is it that we can just waltz in here and get this technology?”

  George considers the question, then answers, his own voice quite calm. “It must be the Gamin bodysuit, plus the ship is Gamin, as is the shuttle.”

  John nods in agreement, suddenly becomes aware of his own suit. “Ugh. I hate to ruin your theory, but I am not wearing a Gamin made suit.”

  George tilts his head, perplexed, then reconnects to the Gamin console. OH CRAP! “We have to get out of here, NOW!” George hollers.

  George grabs John, and runs for the elevator. He nervously presses the upward triangle and is relieved when they begin to ascend.

  John is obviously aware that something is terribly wrong, he asks with trepidation. “So, I guess we tripped some trap?”

  “You could say that. This entire facility began a self-destruct countdown the second we stepped out of the shuttle.” George replies uneasily.

  John whistles, “So um, how long do we have?”

  George turns to face John, sweat droplets building on his forehead, but instead of replying, he simply stares.

  John gulps, “That long, huh?”

  The elevator continues its upward trek, ever so slowly. Finally, the shuttle comes into view. The pair sprints for the ramp, George beats John by a long margin. Exiting his bodysuit, he almost hurtles himself into the cockpit. The second John steps onto the ramp, George begins to raise it. Tapping the thruster controls, he lifts the shuttle off the ground. He immediately tilts the craft forward and engages the rear thrusters, setting them to full power.

  John stares transfixed as the opening to the lunar base skims past, just as the shuttle’s ramp shuts and seals. He struggles to get out of his spacesuit, a difficult task unassisted.

  George nervously contacts the Terran. “The base is going to blow, we have to get out of here, and NOW!”

  Deep inside the lunar base, the Gamin computer system complies with its age-old instructions. Had the facility’s power reserves not been so low, the overload would have occurred almost immediately. Luckily for the crew of the Terran, it takes a while for the main power grid to go critical.

  George stares at his console as new information comes through. He stares at the opening to the Terran and gulps. He has the shuttle at full speed. “Cindy, get us
the hell away from here the second we’re on board. Don’t wait for us to get to the bridge, we’re out of time.”

  The power grid inside the lunar base suddenly detonates, the ensuing explosion rips through the moon’s interior almost instantly. George closes his eyes as he misjudges the gap. The shuttle’s roof skims the opening to the Terran, tilting them downward. The facilities inside the moon vanish instantly, the explosive force is so great. George slams the station keeping controls, hoping to stop them from plowing full speed into the far wall.

  Joe stares at his console, fingers poised. He waits for as long as he dares, the moon’s surface actually ripples before them. He offers a silent prayer, then activates the sub-light engines.

  George stares out the forward view of the shuttle, the wall is so close he can almost touch it. A huge portion of the moon’s outer crust shatters. It is carried away by the force of the explosion.

  Joe accelerates the ship to maximum sub-light speed. The shock wave catches them momentarily, then it falls behind, its energies expended. He breathes a sigh of relief, then slowly swings the ship around.

  A huge portion of the moon is nonexistent, a massive crater is all that remains of the Gamin base. Andrew stares at his console, then slumps in his chair. “That explosion knocked the moon off its axis. The planet is going to experience some pretty nasty gravitational effects, ranging from quakes to coastal flooding.”

  Cindy sinks in her chair, depressed, thinking. We did that to them. “Get us out of here,” she says, angry at herself. We come in peace… she does not even finish the thought in her own mind.

  Murphy’s Law

  Joe and Andrew get to work planning the next few legs of their journey home. John patiently awaits the information and soon enough he has what he needs. He is about to engage the main drive when he stops himself.

  John turns to Cindy and says with respect. “Ready at your command, Admiral.”

  Cindy smiles at his thoughtfulness, leans back in her chair, and says with vigor. “Punch it.”

  John engages the main drive, and ramps their speed upward. “Factor seven and holding,” he intones.

  The kaleidoscope of colors wash over the ship once more. The soothing scene, once again, starts to relax Cindy. She looks pensively at the Kord power unit controller. Hope you last. She then puts the thought out of her mind.

  The crew falls into a routine as the days pass, one by one. They stop to adjust their heading briefly, and do so in deep space, far away from any planets. The closer they get to Earth, the higher the morale becomes among the crew. Everyone is feeling much more relaxed as the ship continues to function flawlessly.

  Cindy wakes on her own accord once again, the days of constant interruptions seemingly a lifetime ago. She takes her time getting to the bridge, the daily routine becoming monotonous. She arrives to find most of her bridge crew present.

  John turns to her, and with a huge smile says. “At this speed, we’re about forty hours from Earth. There is only one more course correction to make. Then it’s a straight run home.”

  Joe rushes onto the bridge, he’s a little frantic. He stops, then stares at Cindy. She is twiddling with the Kord power cell control unit when Joe demands. “Cindy, why’d you turn it off?”

  Cindy frowns, then quickly looks at the small hand unit. “I didn’t.” she states emphatically.

  Joe sighs deeply, “Then it’s run out of power. We’re on our own reserves now.”

  “How far away from Earth are we?” Cindy asks reluctantly. She had hoped the power cell would get them all the way home.

  Joe sits at his console, and begins to tap away at the symbols. “Once we drop to sub-light speeds we can get an exact fix.” His skills at using the Gamin systems are far more advanced than his first day.

  Andrew already has the answer and shares his findings. “I can give you a rough estimate, just under three thousand light years away.”

  Cindy nods her head in surprise. They have travelled further on the Kord power cell, than she had even hoped possible.

  John sighs deeply, “Well, that forty hour estimate just jumped up to about thirty days.”

  John disengages the main engines, instantly reducing the ship to sub-light speeds. The ship’s deck plates vibrate a little with the shift.

  Cindy frowns at the sensation. That’s the first time they have done that in quite a while, she realizes. The multicolored spectrum of light fades away, to be replaced with boring looking white dots. The glow of the dampening shield fades moments later, as they automatically go offline. This leaves the nearly invisible navigational shields running.

  John studies their trajectory carefully before engaging the sub-light engines. The bridge crew is quite adept at using the Gamin terminals.

  Joe, Andrew, and John, begin talking earnestly as they discuss their options.

  While they talk, Cindy leaves the bridge, and makes her way to the mess hall. Once there, she reluctantly gathers the crew. “You may have already heard, so I shall make it official. The Kord power unit has run out. It looks as though we’re about a month away from home. So pay attention to the ship, report anything unusual.”

  One of the kitchen hands steps forward. “We have about three months of rations left, so there is plenty of food.”

  One of the reactor crewmen snickers. “You can’t call those ration packs, food.”

  Cindy speaks up, her voice firm, yet supportive. “We have come a long way, and if we maintain our diligence, we will get home, safely.”

  The crew nods in assent. They have come to respect her leadership and to trust her decisions. With many of the crew informed, she heads back to the bridge. None of the bridge crew can keep their disappointment from showing.

  Andrew speaks up once again. “We’re about thirty days away from home, and that includes the recharge time.”

  Cindy sighs, back to the days of factor six, shuddering deck plates, and hour upon hour of doing nothing while the capacitors recharge.

  “Very well, let’s get this over with,” Cindy states with little enthusiasm.

  Andrew adds a positive note for her to ponder. “At least it’s a straight run.”

  Cindy grins at his efforts to cheer her up.

  The days once again fall into a boring rut. They travel at speeds far exceeding the speed of light, then slow while the capacitors recharge. Day after day drags on, morale aboard the ship begins to fall once again.

  Three thousand light years, becomes two thousand, then one thousand. Each becomes a major event for the crew. Search parties start to examine the ship for damage, Cindy is very concerned that the mild shuddering will cause more problems with the ship’s deck plating.

  At one thousand light years from Earth, Cindy arranges for another ration pack party. This time there is less enthusiasm, but morale receives a small boost as people realize that they are less than a week from Earth.

  The days continue to pass, one after another.

  Cindy follows her usual routine, making her way onto the bridge, she finds John quite excited.

  John grins as he reports. “I have some great news for you. This will be our last stint. Our next stop is Earth.”

  Cindy stares at him in disbelief. As the ramifications sink in, she begins to feel an elation like never before. She taps the chair’s console. “Attention all crew. Our next stop is Earth, we’re almost home.”

  Cindy grins excitedly at her bridge crew. “Punch it.”

  Cindy has trouble sleeping, and finds herself on the bridge early for a change. Joe is already there, as is everyone else. It seems that no one was able to sleep well, she reflects. John disengages the main drive, then studies his console.

  Andrew also studies his terminal for a moment, then turns to Cindy smiling. He gleefully says, “Well, we have finally done it.”

  Andrew turns back to his console, and with a practiced hand, taps a few symbols to bring up a view of what is ahead of them. A star filled sky is all that presents itself, that is, until An
drew runs a finger down one particular section of his Gamin terminal. The stars seem to jump at them as the view zooms in. Then, there before them, filling the screen is Earth, its blue waters and white clouds are a welcoming sight.

  Everyone is touched at seeing their home again. Even the notoriously emotionless Peter manages a grin. The rest of the crew eagerly awaits word from the bridge, everyone felt the shudder through the deck plates as the ship transitioned to sub light speeds.

  Epilogue

  The starship Terran, though still far out in the solar system, edges closer to Earth at just under half the speed of light. John plots a course up and over the distant asteroid belt. He loves the high ground when he can take it.

  Andrew’s smile turns into a frown as he reviews fresh data coming in. “Ah, hang on a sec.”

  Cindy leans forward as if being any closer will afford her a better view.

  Adjusting the main view, and zooming in a little more, Andrew exclaims loudly at the sight. “What the heck is that?” His finger points like a dagger at a distant object.

  Orbiting Earth, high above the Gamin made satellites, is a massive construction. Easily large enough to encompass the Terran, it looks like a massive space-dock with huge claw-like appendages hanging downward.

  Cindy’s eyes narrow warily. With all that has happened this last few months, she is taking nothing for granted and orders, “Andrew, plot us an escape trajectory, and feed it into John’s terminal, just in case.”

  Cindy pauses for a moment, and wonders if the Gamin have returned. As they cannot see any ships in orbit, it does not look like it. Tensions rise as the excitement of returning home is replaced with apprehension.

  Cindy sits back, and as she often does, considers her options carefully before making a decision. “Joe, can we discreetly contact the Aussie facility from this distance?”

  Joe considers the request for a moment, and then shakes his head. “We would still need to use the Gamin satellite grid, which means that anyone could pick up the signal. We would have to be practically in orbit for our own communications equipment to work.”