“Your thoughts mirror mine.”
“They should, you are me.”
When the two Admirals completed the exchange, the two Borella’s setup the transfer of crews between the ships. They exercised extreme caution not to reveal any of the history over the past year. The Oria’s ordered that the arriving crew should not know if their counter parts made it through the year. The fabric of the space/time continuum could easily be distorted causing severe temporal anomalies and forever change history across multiple time-periods.
When Oria and his crew completed boarding the new Hercules, they discovered that English programming on all of the ship’s systems and education centers were set up to teach English. Fortunately, the crew had already begun learning English by reviewing intercepted video and radio signals
Admiral Oria hailed his counterpart one last time and wished him and his crew well as the new Earth fleet cruised out of Earth's orbit. Once the fleet departed, Oria ordered his crew to prepare for their flight back into time and through the space/time continuum.
The Hercules’ crew entered the sedation chamber slowly and prepared for their ride through the continuum. The tension and excitement on board was thick, everyone was nervous and anxious about traveling through the continuum. It took almost an hour for everyone to get into one of the sedation tanks. Captain Borella was the last crewmember to enter a tank. Oria flipped the final switch that sedated his crew for the ride through the continuum.
Admiral Oria headed back to the ship's bridge and climbed into the combat bridge. The departing crew had already programmed the complex codes into the ship’s computers and navigation system required to send Oria and his ship back one year in time.
Once in the combat bridge, Oria took control of the ship’s navigation system and headed the Hercules towards the sun. The sun's core provided a known constant for flight into the continuum. The maneuver required to enter the space/time continuum was tricky. Oria had to create a wormhole and fly the Hercules into it. In order to create a wormhole, Oria had to fire simultaneously plasma torpedoes and high-energy lasers at the core of the sun. This process created a wormhole in the space/time continuum for only a small moment in time. If the Hercules arrived at the hole too early, he would fly right by it and accomplish nothing. If he hit the wormhole too late, the instability could throw the Hercules into another part of the universe or worse the Sun could burn and vaporize the ship. Oria had to time his entry into the hole at the precise moment in the wormhole’s life.
Oria activated the ship’s weapons control system and linked the firing of several torpedoes and the ship’s lasers to the stardrive throttle. Finally, Oria and the Hercules were ready for the flight into the space/time continuum. Oria took a deep breath and pushed the stardrive throttle to 100% power. Almost immediately, an explosion occurred at the core of the Sun as the Hercules slammed into the wormhole and entered the time/space continuum.
The instant Oria entered the space/time continuum, he became confused and felt pain just as he experienced on his last trip through the continuum. Oria reached deep into his subconscious and grasped at sanity. He managed to set the ship's autopilot and let the computer take over the ship's controls. Oria would have liked to engage the autopilot prior to entering the continuum, but he could not count on the ships navigational controls remaining synchronized with the ships computers. He would have to synchronize them several times on his trip through the continuum.
Oria felt his pain grow exponentially. He started having multiple flashbacks and his sense of reality bounced like a Ping-Pong ball between his childhood, scalping and torture and the pain he endured during biological experiments conducted by the Azortec military elite on his body.
All of a sudden, Oria was at the helm of the AFS Saratoga in the middle of a battle near the super star Exsquisadar. Fires were burning throughout his ship as Creytes beamed aboard the Saratoga. There were numerous hand-to-hand fights raging throughout the Saratoga.
Oria guided the Saratoga towards the Creyte warship and released a salvo of torpedoes. He scored a direct hit and the Creyte ship burst into a ball of flames. Oria did not have time to dwell on this victory. There were already another dozen ships lined up ready to attack the Saratoga. The Creytes were hoping to capture the Saratoga and obtain the latest in Azortec battle technology. It would be a major disaster for Azortec if their technology fell into the hands of the Creytes.
Oria started to consider risking a flight into the space/time continuum. He was hoping the new technology would prove more successful than all previous failed attempts to fly into the space/time continuum. Oria turned to the computer and started to set the lasers, torpedoes, and star drives for a flight into the continuum. He was about to set his flight controls when six Creyte warriors blasted their way onto the bridge. Oria’s mind went blank.
When Oria’s mind finally drifted back into consciousness, he was no longer on the bridge of the Saratoga. He was in another time with his conscious thought trying to reach out of a deep fog. DNA altering drugs had forced his mind into unconsciousness. As Oria awoke, he found himself staring into the eyes of several doctors busily working over him. Dr. Hastenforf was the first to see Oria’s newly conscious state. “Oria! Oria! Are you awake?”
“Yes, I think so”, answered Oria while attempting to sit up and clear the fog in his head.
“I'm glad to see you're still alive. You're the only one who made it. I was worried about you. How do you feel?”
The controls of the Hercules began to fade into Oria's consciousness. He quickly glanced at their calibration and made a few adjustments. He was mentally bouncing between multiple realities and was having difficulty determining what was real.
Oria took a deep breath; suddenly he found himself blasting through a wormhole in the space-time continuum aboard the Saratoga. He heard screams on the bridge from both his crewmembers and the Creyte warriors. In seconds, all was silent. Oria entered a more confused state as his pain intensified. He wiped his brow with the back of his right hand. Bloody perspiration covered his hand. Oria was sweating a mix of blood and perspiration all over his body. Every cell in his body had burst and was oozing blood.
“I'm a bit confused and light headed. Why am I here and just where is here?”
“You don't remember?”
“No, the last thing I remember is graduating from flight school.”
“After you graduated, you volunteered to become part of an elite unit.”
Dr. Hastenforf was hoping Oria didn't remember his kidnapping and someone forcing him to undergo DNA therapy. He didn't need kidnapping charges added to his problems with the failed experiment. Several members of the Azortec Council wanted to create a unit of “super humans” to fight the Creytes for them. That way most of Azortec could keep their hands clean and let the “primitives” do their dirty work. Unfortunately, it did not work out that way. Oria was the only survivor out of the original 1,000 conscripts captured for the experiment.
Oria was still in a daze. The Saratoga’s control panel started to look like the Hercules’s control panel, or was it the other way around. Oria tried to calibrate the navigation controls. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to be near Earth or Exsquisadar. The pull for Earth felt stronger. Oria struggled with his subconscious and concluded he really needed to set the controls for Earth. Oria managed to calibrate the navigation system as his mind began to shift into multiple realities.
Oria felt his skin burn as it bubbled up and charred in places. The Susquehanna Warriors were dancing around his stake letting out blood curdling screams. One of the lead warriors had a piece of Oria's scalp pierced on the end of his spear. He waved it several times in Oria's face as other warriors poked him with their spears. Oria was barely maintaining consciousness. He wanted to black out and have the pain disappear. Then Oria heard a loud noise and saw lights flash through his burned eyes. He thought the end was near as the Hercules finally blasted through the other end of the wormhole. Oria slowly regained his s
ense of sanity. The trip was over and he had no idea how many of his crew survived the adventure.
Oria was near total exhaustion. He took several deep breaths and started a standard checkout of the Hercules and its’ critical systems. Everything appeared intact. He noted that the Hercules’s heading at sub-light speed was away from the sun and towards Earth. Oria further noted that the ships’ clocks read Friday May 19, 2017. It was exactly one year earlier.
Sitting in the combat bridge, it took Oria about 15 minutes to pilot the Hercules into geo-stationary orbit above Maryland at an altitude of 23,000 kilometers. Once the Hercules had established orbit, Oria turned on the autopilots.
Oria was now ready to care for himself. He had sweated profusely during his trip through the continuum. Oria looked at his clothes and his seat. They were a sweaty bloody mess. The pressure and stress on Oria had been so intense that blood had mixed in with his sweat. Oria’s first priority was to get himself cleaned up and start the process of reviving his crew. He had to leave the cleaning of his mess for one of his crewmembers to clean up later.
Oria climbed down from the combat bridge and headed to his quarters. His muscles were quite sore from the recent trip. As Oria approached the door to his quarters, they automatically opened. Oria walked into his quarters and towards his sleeping room. Once there, he stripped off his clothes and threw them into the cleaning receptacle. From there, Oria sauntered into the master bath and slowly turned the shower’s valve until a strong stream of steaming hot water came out. As an Admiral, he was one of the few crewmembers allowed the luxury of hot running water. The usual fare was cleaning beams. Oria stepped into the shower and let the steaming hot water strike his back. The warmth and massage of the shower was quite invigorating.
When Oria finished his shower, he walked back into the sleeping room and put on fresh clean clothes. From there, Oria left his quarters and headed to the sedation deck.
Oria felt apprehensive about what he would find once he reached the sedation deck. The vivid memory of Exsquisadar and the loss of his crew were foremost in his thoughts. As Oria approached the doors to the sedation deck, they automatically opened in front of him. Oria could see the rows of sedation chambers containing his crewmembers looking just, as he had left them prior to the voyage through the continuum.
The first chamber contained Captain Borella. Oria stood in front of the chamber's console and started the five-minute process to revive Borella. As he waited for Borella to awaken, Oria started to waken the rest of the medical team. The medical team was responsible for waking the crew.
Borella woke up and smiled when he saw Oria. Even though sedated, Borella still experienced confused memories and images during the trip. He climbed out of the opened chamber and walked over to Oria. Dispensing with the usual military protocol, the two close friends embraced. They made it! They survived one more ordeal together.
“Hello Admiral, we made it!”
“Yes, we made it. Let's hope the rest of our mission is as successful. We have succeeded in traveling exactly one year back into time and are in orbit around Earth.”
“Wow, we have already accomplished that which has never been done before. Let’s make our mission successful and Earth shall become a new member of the Azortec Federation.”
“Aye Borella; that is our goal!”
The six members of the medical team finally woke up and climbed out of their sedation chambers. They quickly assembled and conferred with Oria.
“Admiral Oria, Commander Turrani reporting for duty.”
“At ease Commander, our mission so far is successful. We have arrived exactly one year back in time and are in orbit around Earth. You are free to proceed in reviving the rest of the crew per our original plan. Please have the initial bridge crew report to the bridge ASAP. Also remind the crew that we will be using English from here on out. Once everyone has been revived, furnish me a status report on the crew’s health”
“Aye sir!” The Commander turned and directed the rest of his medical team to start reviving the rest of the crew.
Oria and Borella left the sedation room and headed for the briefing room located next to the bridge. They had much to discuss, plan, and research.
Arriving in the briefing room, Oria ordered the computer to begin monitoring activities on Earth. He knew that in the near future, he would have to beam down to the surface and start the difficult task of establishing communications with Earth’s governments.
Oria and Borella were working on a source of funds for Oria's time on Earth. The few coins that Oria had kept from his father and ancestors would be difficult to convert to modern currency without attracting attention. Oria had several coins from early Europe and England that his ancestors stole during various Viking raids. They only had value as collectors' items today. Oria would have to sell them to get modern day currency. Since Oria’s coins were in excellent condition, they would most certainly attract more attention than Oria wanted. He would have to find another source of funds.
Commander Turrani interrupted Oria using the intercom. They had just completed reviving the entire crew.
“Admiral Oria, this is Commander Turrani, are you ready for the crew's medical report?”
“Go ahead Commander.”
“All crew members who survived our trip are fully awake. I'm sad to report that five of our crew did not make it.”
“Go on.”
“Five of the sedation chambers at the far end of the room were damaged. It looks like battle damage. Yet there is no other damage around them. We lost Lt. Hicolalo, Chief Sabohato, and crewmen Johison, Lukoproto, and Fulato.”
“We will certainly miss them. Hicolalo and Sabohato were working on Earth background and cultural information. They aren't replaceable.”
“Sorry sir, the rest of the crew is exhausted. I've ordered about 20 of them to remain in sickbay until they mentally recover. It seems everyone went through each of their own worst nightmares.”
“Very well Commander. Thanks for your report.” Oria hung up the intercom and turned to Borella.
“Borella. Hicolalo was supposed to continue his research on Earth and brief me on modern day Earth customs. I don't believe we have another historian.”
“No sir. I can reassign someone there, but I wouldn't count on them doing as accurate a job. I think you’re going to be largely on your own.”
“Very well. Let's get back to obtaining some currency. I would prefer not to just print money or play with Earth computer systems.”
Dispensing with the normal protocol, Borella begin to address Oria by name.
“I agree with you Oria. It looks like we may be able to extract some lost cash from the ocean.”
The ocean, Borella, what are you talking about?”
“Yes Oria, the ocean. Just off the coast of Florida near the United States, drug runners sometimes throw cash overboard to prevent the U.S. Coast Guard from intercepting them and using the cash as evidence.”
“We have to find some pretty fresh cash for that to work. I'm sure it would not last long in the salt water.”
“That's right. One of our sensors just picked up a speedboat headed out of Florida with several million dollars on it. The Coast Guard is close enough to intercept them if we tip them off.”
“Sounds like a plan. Borella, you have command of the Hercules. Go ahead and notify the Coast Guard. I will take one of the starfighters and head to intercept the ship.” Oria rose and headed for one of the fighter bays.
It felt good to be in the cockpit of a starfighter. It seemed as Oria had risen through the ranks, he spent less and less time in a starfighter's cockpit. Mostly Oria only received time flying in the combat bridge of a starship. The much smaller starfighters were more fun to fly; particularly when you could fly them near a planet’s surface.
Oria performed the normal pre-flight check out. All systems appeared normal. He fired up the ship’s engines and radioed the control center. Oria requested permission to depart the ship.
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br /> Oria engaged the starfighter’s engines and placed the starfighter into a hover position over the bay's platform. He gently increased power to move the starfighter closer to the ship’s bay doors. The control center opened the doors and cleared Oria for flight. Oria guided the starfighter outside of the Hercules and headed towards Earth and the coast of Florida. As Oria departed the Hercules, he immediately turned on the fighter’s stealth systems.
Oria approached Earth and could make out the outline of Florida’s coast through his cockpit window. His HUD, (Head-Up Display which appears in the front center of the cockpit and combines information from the navigational system and fire control into an integrated display), contained a series of steer point markers that would direct him towards the drug boat. One of his displays contained a horizontal map highlighting each steer point and a bull’s eye indicating the current location of the drug boat. The starfighter's computer was in constant contact with the Hercules and continuously updated on changes in the drug boat's location.
Oria flew through each of the steer points and soon had the drug boat in sight. He flew the starfighter approximately 20’ above the ocean at about 600 knots. At this speed, a slight twitch in Oria's hand controlling the flight controls could easily drive the starfighter into the ocean leaving a clear splash easily seen by anyone above the ocean's surface. The starfighter closed in on the drug boat and matched its speed.
Meanwhile, Borella sent out an anonymous tip to the Coast Guard cutter patrolling the general area of the drug boat. He informed them that a speedboat had been seen coming from a larger merchant ship further out in the ocean. The Coast Guard immediately changed course and set a course to intercept the drug boat.
Oria watched as the Coast Guard cutter came into view of the drug boat. The speedboat switched course slightly hoping to out run the cutter. The change in course prompted the cutter to launch one of its helicopters. When the helicopter started to close in on the boat, both Oria and the helicopter pilot observed a man on the drug boat tossing a small package overboard.
Legend of Oria 1: Initial Contact Page 5
