Discovery (Terran Chronicles)

by Jackson, James

  George looks out through his faceplate at the macabre scene before him. The Terran hangs in space with an unusual looking spaceship parked beneath its engines, right behind the open ramp. Crates, barrels, and even the shuttle Atlanta are being drawn toward the smaller spaceship as if by some unseen force. Drifting past the alien spaceship he can see what appear to be many smaller craft docked to it. They look just like the pair that landed on the forward section of the Terran. An alert sounds in his helmet a millisecond before he is struck by a beam of sorts. The energy washes over his suit harmlessly. His elated grin is short lived however, as momentum slowly flips him over. He looks at the nearby planet with its Earth like atmosphere and gulps, he is headed straight for it and there is nothing he can do about it.

  Golward begins some sort of crooning as he paces back and forth. Henry has arrived on the bridge to patch up Radclyf’s injuries, he looks back and forth doubtfully. Olaf has not been idle either, the mighty Russian has been using his suit to seal the blast doors shut, entombing him in reactor control with a few brave volunteers. He stations a single person at each sealed doorway, as he continues to make preparations for the worst. Patrick, not sure what he can do, gets into his body suit and makes his way to the bridge as well.

  George’s visor darkens as he strikes the planet’s upper atmosphere, the suit efficiently warning him of increased heat levels along with diminishing energy reserves. Think, think. The outer surface of his suit starts to glow as he free falls. Ah, ha. Chastising himself for not thinking of it earlier, he uses the suit to quickly craft a basic heat shield. It works, he begins to slow and starts to skim across the atmosphere, like a stone skipping across a pond, his descent slowed, but not stopped. A radical idea comes to mind as he racks his brains for options. Crafting a small ion motor to the left side of the heat shield, he connects his suit’s left arm directly to it. With a gulp he powers it up using suit’s energy reserves. He test fires the engine and is elated when it works, putting him in a slow spin, he quickly shuts it down and creates a second engine on the right wing. Adding a pivot to the bottom of each small reaction motor he hurries to complete his work.

  Peter is out of breath as he stumbles onto the bridge, the area is packed with people and Kord alike.

  “George killed two raiders, then they picked him up and threw him out into space.”

  Cindy’s jaw drops in shock, George is dead, noooo….

  Peter continues between gasps for breath.

  “Golward, I need nine of your people to put on the Gamin body suits we found. Patrick I need your help as well.”

  Everyone stares at Peter as though he were a mad man.

  “Please hurry,” he begs, “we’re all dead if we don’t do this.” Peters eyes plead as he stares at Golward.

  The small furry alien replies quietly.

  “We will help. What is it you want us to do exactly?”

  George is getting pretty hot as his efforts are taking longer than he would have liked. Finally he is ready, ramming the end of each arm into the sides of the small ion engines he powers them up. Lifting his arms up and down he can control the angle a little and by varying the thrust he can turn. Transferring raw energy to them from the suit he skips one more time on the atmosphere then powers away from the planet. The suit’s energy reserves drop alarmingly fast as he maneuvers to face the Terran. Won’t they be in for a surprise. He is almost to the open ramp when suddenly something hits him hard. An immense pain rushes through his whole body, then he mercifully blacks out.

  Peter stares with pride at the brave little Kord before him. They are each wearing a small Gamin body suit. Even though none fit in them well, and all are definitely being made quite ill, they are stoically following Peter’s instructions. Patrick looks doubtfully at them, none of them can use any of the suit’s functions, indeed, they can barely walk in them. Peter grins as he gets Patrick’s attention.

  “Don’t worry, they don’t have to do anything. You do. We’re going to bluff them, follow me.”

  Peter leads the motley group out of the bridge and heads toward the hangar deck. Along the way they pass many frightened crew members. Emma stands with her two assistants, watching with trepidation as the party clomps awkwardly by. Patrick’s old friend Jeremiah trails the group, his curiosity getting the better of him. Stopping one more time, Peter assigns them all tasks. Spotting Jeremiah he nods to him.

  “Help our little friends get in position.”

  “Sure, will do.” He replies with confidence, even as he is feels doubtful of their plan.

  George wakes groggily and can’t understand how it is that he is floating amongst some pretty looking white clouds. The clouds fall away from him, revealing a beautiful blue sky. Beyond this, little sparkles can be seen in the distance. I am falling! He realizes with dismay. With some difficulty, he manages to orient himself so that he is looking at the ground. Oh, that was smart, he thinks as the planet below rushes up to meet him. Feeling very ill, he notices that the suit’s main energy reserves are depleted, luckily his attached backup pack is still functioning. He starts to craft a wing, to slow his descent, but in doing so begins to tumble over and over. Fighting vertigo and his desire to black out, he persists in crafting the wing. Finally it is large enough that he can lay over it and begin to glide. Though he has arrested his free fall, he is still descending at an alarming rate.

  Peter walks along with Patrick while the Kord fan out to their assigned positions. Jeremiah follows the Kord and comes to the rifle discarded by Akira. Even though he knows it is a futile gesture he picks it up anyway, and feels some comfort at not being totally defenseless. Frightened crew rush past the group, it seems at least two of the raiders are making their way upward. Peter tells one of these terrified crewmen to warn the bridge.

  Falling fast, George gazes downward to see what he is going to go slap into. Far below is an ocean that ends at a wide beach which even from this distance reveals huge sandy dunes. Beyond the wide beach is a forest of green foliage that extends a long way. The trees give way to a plain that extends all the way to a distant mountain range. Looking downward again, then following his trajectory, he can see that he is going to miss the water and land somewhere in the forest, at its edge. As the ground rushes up he can see that he is still falling way too fast. He tilts the wing a little, and manages to turn toward the ocean.

  Patrick bravely steps out onto the hangar deck. The five raiders present turn to him, just as the nine suited Kord reveal themselves. Patrick looks up and smiles, they are dotted about, each one on a different level. He hopes that the raiders think these are but the first to arrive, with others yet to come. Peter is keeping himself as concealed as he can while Patrick strides toward the raiders. They fan out while glancing up at the Kord dotted about. Jeremiah lays down on an upper level, he slides the rifle forward until one of the raiders is in his sights.

  George’s efforts are too little and too late, not going to make it. With dread he sees a massive sand dune rushing up to meet him. He hits the side of the dune with considerable force, skimming down it extremely fast. Hanging on for dear life, speed bleeds away as he bumps and slides his way down the side of this massive sand dune. The wing, with him on it, comes to the base of the dune and strikes the beach. The nose of the wing buries itself into the sand, flinging George violently off to roll over and over, until finally he comes to rest. He lays there, on his back, weak and disoriented.

  Peter lays even lower as two more raiders come running from a different side passage. As they rush into the main hangar three lines drop down from the holes above. The raiders stride purposely toward the lines, then holding on to unseen grips are lifted up. They leave their dead behind without so much as a second glance. The last one to appear is their leader, his battle scarred suit still impressive even as it ascends in retreat. Jeremiah sights the rifle on the impressive figure, and fires. The bullet grazes the man’s hand, but does not knock him off. The man points a finger at Jeremiah threateningly, then disappea
rs into one of the holes above. Less than a second after they have gone, a number of small objects fall from the holes. Peter does not have to guess what these are.

  “RUN!” He shouts as loud as he can, then gets up and sprints for all his worth. Fast becoming out of breath, he regrets having picked up smoking a pipe.

  Jeremiah gets up to run, but his legs won’t hold him up. He collapses to the deck, his chest hurts. He starts to crawl away, slowly and painfully, his breathing growing raspy.

  Down on the planet below, George tries to breath in shallow breaths. He hurts in more places than he thought possible. He knows that if it were not for the suit, he would not be alive at all right now. While laying there, the suit is busy churning through its remaining power reserves, injecting him with a variety of stimulants, chemicals, painkillers, and is even grafting new skin. He has no idea how badly injured he really is, just that he is very tired. He relaxes and closes his eyes for a moment.

  Patrick is staring upward as the small packages fall toward him. Oh Crap! He turns to leave the hangar, but does not get very far. The first explosion knocks him off his feet, the second tosses him brutally into a wall. The third detonates the rocket fuel storage tanks in the walls. The ensuing blast is as catastrophic, as it is epic. It literally rocks the Terran, shredding internal walls, and buckling a number of superstructure supports. The outer hull plates groan and bulge, but somehow contain the blasts energies. The fireball travels up the three holes in the ceiling, and out the still open ramp. Even though Patrick is wearing the body suit, the blast wave still knocks him senseless. The Kord, having been near passageways avoid the brunt of the devastating blasts, and even manage to out run the ensuring fireball. Sheer terror proves to be a strong motivator, no matter the race.

  A distant flash catches George’s sleepy eyes, a brief flicker in the sky that reminds him of the plight of those on board the Terran. He sluggishly activates his communicator.

  “Cindy, Joe, anyone there?” He says weakly.

  The message surprises everyone as it travels throughout the entire ship. Cindy and Joe are with the rest of the command crew. They all abandoned the bridge a few minutes earlier, having heeded a warning by a very scared crewman. Joe looks at Cindy in surprise, last they heard, raiders were making their way upward, hence the order to abandon the bridge.

  “George is alive!” The message further astounds Joe, forcing him to question, “com’s are back?”

  He runs off, back toward the bridge, reluctantly being trailed by the rest of the command crew. Arriving at the bridge, Joe spots a trail of debris ejecting from two locations in the forward hull. Quickly scanning the ship’s systems, he learns the extent of the damage in the main hangar deck as well. He taps a number of symbols, shutting additional bulk heads in order to stop the hemorrhaging of their atmosphere. The ramp is the only place on the ship that the navigational shields seem able to hold the air in, however, the holes in the ceiling are another matter entirely. Suddenly, everyone on board feels a thump from the rear of the ship, then another from the side, and another. The impacts send a chill through all on board.

  “George, come in, we’re receiving you.”

  Joe stares out the forward view, then points at a strange looking spaceship as it flies in from the side. It fires an energy weapon of some kind, the bright bolt strikes the Terran. The impact sends a vibration throughout the entire ship, while buckling armor. The enemy ship fires relentlessly, pounding the Terran from stem to stern. Cindy sits in her chair, totally demoralized. There is nothing they can do.

  George feels rather distant, his mind in a haze as he stares lethargically at the cloudy sky.

  “Oh, is that you Joe? I am on the planet. How are things your way?”

  “It’s bad here George, very bad.” He is on the planet!

  “If you guys can leave, then go.”

  Cindy looks at Joe questioningly, but he shakes his head from side to side as he stares at warning symbols denoting a main drive failure.

  “We aren’t going anywhere mate, these guys have left the ship but are pounding us pretty hard.”

  Joe watches in dismay as three small craft detach from the main ship. He turns to Cindy, who is as lost for ideas as everyone else.

  “George mate, they are coming in again, not sure what...”

  George interrupts him, his mind gaining a little clarity.

  “Go to my room, grab that control pad, the one that only works on the bridge.”

  “Joe is confused, “But..” he is again interrupted.

  “Don’t talk, please listen. Take it and I don’t want to lose my ornament, grab it for me as well will you.”

  Joe blocks everything out for a moment and thinks. Ohh YES!

  “Ok, I will contact you in a few.”

  Cindy stares at Joe totally perplexed. He shrugs his shoulders.

  “I think he has a plan, he sounds terrible, so I hope he is not just delirious.”

  “Well after what George said about the bridge, I think it would be prudent to evacuate again.”

  Joe rushes to George’s room and finds the ornament easily enough. It has a small base with three claw like fingers arranged in a triangle. Finding the control pad takes longer, but he does find it. He is about to leave when he notices something odd about George’s room. One entire wall has been stripped down, in its place is a recharge station for his body suit. Wow. He does almost sleep in that thing.

  Joe makes great time in getting to the hangar deck. The sight is disparaging, all that remains is one Gamin shuttle, connected to the power grid. They must have decided to leave it, but now they’ve changed their mind. Wonder why? .The atmosphere being contained for now can only mean one thing, the raiders have landed over the holes and are coming back for sure. Joe sprints toward the main engines as fast as he can, it is a long way. Just as he ducks into a passageway, a raider appears. As the raider rappels past the passageway Joe just ducked into, the invader fires. The blast, though wild, narrowly misses him. Nervously taking the ornament, he lines up the claws to the holes and thrusts it in. The doorway retracts, Joe keeps hold of the ornament, steps inside, and activates the hand held control panel. A raider appears at the end of the short passageway. Joe slams his hand on the door controls and watches as the doorway slowly closes. The raider rushes at the narrowing gap, but does not make it.

  Joes nerves are shot, he pulls from his jacket pocket a radio. Hoping George can pick up the signal he presses the talk button.

  “OK. I am here, now what?”

  George replies as though drugged, his speech slurred.

  “Press the middle icon three times.”

  Joe stares doubtfully at the control pad, then does as George says.

  “OK. Done, ah, what did I just do?”

  George replies very lethargically.

  “Set the engine to overload. In a few minutes anything close by will be vaporized.”

  Joe turns to the massive engine with renewed fear.

  “Uh, George how exactly is that going to help us?”

  George takes a deep breath, then coughs as his chest seems to explode in pain. Almost losing consciousness, he shakes his head to stay awake. This causes a dull throbbing to start in his head. With dry lips he tries to answer.

  “Calibration, then get the hell out of…”

  Joe stares at his communicator as George’s voice fades away.

  Cindy stares out the forward view in disbelief as George’s words ring out throughout the bridge. She gulps and holds back a tear.

  “John, as soon as the raiders depart, let Joe know. At his signal. Punch it. Olaf and Patrick are to work on repairs immediately.”

  Commander John stares at his console, blocking all emotion as he does his duty. Joe leans against the wall, then slides to the floor as his emotions threaten to overcome him. Leave George behind!

  The raiders depart, then can be seen moving away, presumably to a safe distance. Peter wants to spit at them in disgust. Waiting like vultures to pic
k at the pieces.

  John taps his panel, “Now Joe.”

  Joe sets his control pad to calibrate the engine. I hope the other engine is ok, otherwise this will be a very short trip. He watches the control pad earnestly.

  “John, you’re good to go!”

  John taps his control panel, but nothing happens. He contacts Joe, defeated

  “The other engine is down, we’re dead in the water.”

  The raiders spaceship comes rushing in at them, filing the forward view.

  Joe looks at the closed doorway then takes a deep breath. He opens the door and is almost sucked out as the air rushes past him, and escapes. A pool of blood on the floor catches his attention for a second, then he stumbles on toward the second engine room. Once the rush of air has passed, he finds walking easier. With the air getting thinner by the second, he staggers as black spots appear before his eyes. Blinking hard, he looks at the fuzzy doorway before him, inserting the ornamental door opener takes all his effort. The doorway opens, releasing a blast of air. Joe gulps this down and grabs the ornament before it is smashed into the wall by the sliding doorway. Once inside, he activates the control pad and sets it to calibrate the engine.

  A thump reverberates through the ship, the raiders are firing again. Joe frantically watches as the engine cycles through its calibration sequence. Finally, after what feels like an eternity, the task is complete. Joe has had his finger on the radio, waiting.

  “It’s now or never.”

  John activates the main drive. Cindy breathes a sigh of relief as the plain white stars shift into the usual colorful display associated with travelling faster than light.

  “I want damage control teams and casualty lists.”

  Her thoughts shift from the dead to George. Marooned on a strange world thousands of light years from home. How he ended up on the planet, alive, is a mystery to her. We will be back for you. She closes her eyes, yet another disaster averted, but at what cost this time.