by Riva, Aline
AU 197
By
Aline Riva
Au197 by Aline Riva
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
A Kindle Original 2016
Copyright ©Aline Riva 2016
Cover Design Copyright © Nathan David Ward 2016
The Author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
All rights reserved. No part of this publication be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Dedication:
To my sources of inspiration – without you, there would be no stories.
The rest shall remain writers secrets...
A word from the Author:
How unusual for me, the writer speaks. I never add anything but the story usually but this time, I am making an exception. Those who know my books know I write scifi and fantasy, a lot. And those who read my books on a regular basis kind of know what to expect from me as a writer in any given genre that I choose to write in.
Well, this book is the exception - leave what you know at the door.
THIS book is unlike anything I've ever written before.
The warning label is a first for me.
But I'm always responsible towards readers and my responsibility as a writer and when I decided to write a shocker I decided I would make sure people know what they are getting before they read, hence the label.
So, read and enjoy something very different from me.
Aline Riva.
Warning:
This book is NOT for the faint hearted and contains scenes of extreme horror, this book is for adults only. Not suitable for minors.
AU 197
Chapter 1
The long, sleek vessel looked impressive at the dock, until Captain Mackenzie looked to the other ships waiting to depart - larger, more impressive carriers with brand new engines and up to date weaponry.
But it didn't matter. The mission to Ilemia S54Q was no more than a pick up and return mission, to fetch some colonists who had changed their mind because of some reason that would most likely turn out to be the lack of rain or the failure to grow crops. Mack had long ago lost the buzz he used to feel when taking on a rescue mission. With the earth's Colonize Project becoming a big business in the field of staking claim on habitable planets, he felt little more than a taxi service these days.
Mack had been flying the Pharaoh for thirty years and in all that time had seen messy incidents he could count on one hand – although the worst of those incidents was something he didn't like to recall, even after all these years... But all the same, this mission was nothing to get excited about...apart from the fact that the planet they were heading for had first been claimed by the Shine Mining Corporation – beneath its surface, the planet with its desert and rocky mountains mixed with lush forest and hills that led to raging rivers that met at a wide mouth that opened to a sea that, scientists believed, had swallowed up the rest of the land millions of years before - was glittering with gold beneath its surface.
Of course the drilling and the digging and the excavation had stopped when the Colonise Project received planetary government backing - and so the right to colonise had won over the mining stake, purely because colonisation on this unspoiled planet with breathable air had to be first priority.
But that didn't mean this mission wouldn't prove massively profitable... Not all colonised planets were yet to be established and not all were bound by earth law, and taking a sizeable chunk of gold before returning would ensure that pretty soon his next ship would be the envy of all the crafts lined up at the dock, ready to depart for the inky blackness beyond earth's atmosphere...
As he stood on the viewing platform and looked over at his ship he smiled, thinking of the gold that would be there for the taking. Then he turned away, walking back into the white, brightly lit departure lounge, where he stood beside a guarded gateway, beneath the sign that was illuminated with the word Pharaoh-2.
As he stood there he looked to the glass doors that slid open to let through various crews for departing vessels, and wondered who would be joining him. Then the doors slid shut again and he caught sight of himself reflected in the glass:
He was tall and slim but the grey flight uniform he wore over his clothing only seemed to emphasise his firm, athletic build. As a young man, the army had been his first choice of career until the boom in the interplanetary flight, then he had taken his leave and with the payment received for outstanding service, had bought his first small cargo vessel, and it had gone from there. Now he was in his fifties and still making a good living from space flight - and still looking good, or so the ladies said... Seeing his blue eyes and short grey hair reflected in the glass he guessed they were probably right, although this job took up too much time to make room for much of a private life.
“Mack...Come in!”
On hearing the voice of his friend and co-pilot, he smiled as he took a communications device from his uniform and spoke into it.
“You sound nervous, Mr Jinx?”
“Pissed off is more like it - they have a scanning arch set up...ready for our return. Scanning means no gold!”
The sparkle left Mack's eyes as he felt his hopes to get rich quick start to tumble.
“A fucking scanner?” he said quietly into the device, “Well that blows out the earth deal ...but we can detour. There is a plan...”
“And where will we find the extra fuel with thirty four colonists on board expecting to go straight back to earth?”
His mind was turning to over as he gave a crafty smile.
“Leave it to me.”
“Excuse me...Are you Captain Mackenzie?”
He put the device back in his pocket and turned around.
“Yes I am...Call me Mack..” he smiled warmly, “And you are?”
“Jody Greene, your onboard medic.”
As she looked up at him, he looked down at her, instantly liking the softness of her voice and the way her dark eyes shone with warmth as she smiled. Her dark hair was tied back in a long ponytail and the way her flight uniform covered her didn't hide her curves. It was instant attraction, and something he had no time to think about as other crew members began to arrive.
“Is this your first flight?” he asked. She was younger than him, no older than thirty, and looked rather excited as she glanced over to the window, catching sight of the ships in the docking bay waiting to depart.
“No, I flew two missions last year to the Martian settlement...Is that your ship, the big cruiser on Dock 11?”
He smiled again.
“No, mine is the old banged up Pharaoh Mark-2 up the other end.”
She looked again, and then she turned back to him, feeling no sense of disappointment.
“I've never flown in a Pharaoh before,” she told him.
“It's nice to meet you, Jody,” he said, and shook her hand.
Her grip lingered for a second as she looked up at him, thinking she hadn't expected Mack to be so attractive. Then he let go of her hand and turned away as more crew members turned up.
“Pleasure to meet you. Captain, I'm Zeke Raine -”
“Are you the student?” he asked, making a guess as he looked to the young man with dark hair and eyes who looked rather excited at the prospect of boarding the flight.
“No,” he replied as he shook his hand, I'm security...I've never been so far out as S54Q before.”
“It's said to be a very beautiful place,” Mack replied.
“It is,” adde
d the man who had joined them. He was older than Zeke, his hair was fair and his build short and stocky.
“Jules Carver...scientist.”
“Good to meet you.”
Then Mack heard raised voices and turned to see two women heading towards him, one was tall with dark bobbed hair and aged around forty, and the other was younger, with long fair hair that touched her shoulders, who dragged a heavy case along behind her.
“Look,” the older woman said impatiently, jabbing a finger in the direction of the illuminated sign, “That's our departure assembly point. If you don't like the rules take it up with the Captain!”
Then she approached the group and looked to Mack.
“Captain Mackenzie? Tina Verity... This is my first rescue mission, I just joined the company.”
“Welcome,” he said, and shook her hand.
Then the young girl dragged the case closer with one last effort, flipped her hair off her face and glared at Mack.
“I have a problem.”
“So do I by the looks of things,” he muttered, “And you are...?”
“Cora Sawyer...I'm studying contemporary space flight. I'm a student and this is part of my study, practical experience.”
His gaze shifted to the heavy case she still clung to.
“And what's the issue with your luggage?”
“Baggage control let me put three bags through but not this one – I need it!”
“What's in it?” he asked.
“Spare clothing, extra shoes, my hair dryer -”
He felt a prickle of annoyance but as he looked to the girl who was no older than nineteen, he managed to remain polite.
“Miss Sawyer, choosing contemporary space flight as a study subject isn't
a free ticket for an off world holiday. This is a rescue mission and the rules about crew baggage are there for a reason! We are picking up thirty four colonists so we have extra supplies already on board to allow for that. And your flight suit and boots are just fine for this mission, it's not a fashion show.”
“I need my suitcase!” she said angrily.
“You already have three on board!” he said sharply, shooting her the hint of a glare that said he was in charge around here, “Now either leave the case and board the flight or go home, Miss Sawyer.”
She glared at him. He looked back at her, his blue eyes cooling like ice.
“Fine!” she snapped, letting go of the case and leaving it where it stood.
Then Mack turned to the others.
“If you'd like to follow me, we can now board the vessel.”
As they followed Mack along a corridor that led to the docking bay where the entrance to the ship was open, he began to address the crew.
“The ship has a vast cargo hold, crew accommodation for a maximum of twelve and guest accommodation in the separate passenger living area for up to one hundred people. The back half of the ship is closed off to crew until the passengers are picked up from the planet. We stay in the crew area where we having accommodation, living space, kitchen, laboratory, an on board garden and of course a medical centre. The distress call picked up from the starter colony on S54Q is most likely due to failure to self sustain, by now rations will be running low - these people won't be weak or injured but they will be tired and they will need reassurance. Please bear that in mind when we arrive. I don't want to hear any of this, Couldn't you have tried harder? bullshit, because that's been said before and believe me, it doesn't go down well with dedicated people who have tried and failed to be pioneers.”
They reached the open hatch and he stood beside it.
“Please go in and turn right and go up to the flight deck. Sit down, strap yourselves in and that's all you have to do, leave the rest to myself and my co pilot Mr Jinx who is already on board preparing the flight plan.”
As the others passed him by, stepping through the hatch and entering the vessel, last to leave was Cora, who paused to look up at him.
“Is there no way I could fetch my extra bag?”
“You can fetch it right now - but I'll be leaving without you,” Mack replied.
She shot him a sour look and entered the craft. Then Mack stepped inside, closed the hatch and locked it, sealing it with a digital code, then he went down a metal walkway towards the open door that led to the flight area.
As Mack entered the control room he glanced around, saw the others were strapped into their seats, which were set at a distance from the flight controls, they had all taken seats beside viewing ports on either side of the room, and he noticed they were all strapped in securely, and so went over to take his seat at the main controls, beside his old friend and co pilot, a man he had flown with now for fifteen years.
“I'd like you all to meet my co pilot Rik Jinx,” he said, and Jinx turned in his seat and smiled at the crew.
“Don't worry if you've never flown before,” he said, “We know what we're doing...we've been flying this vessel for fifteen years together.”
And as she looked at him, Tina Verity smiled, liking the look of the tall, willowy man whose flight suit only seemed to emphasise his slender build. He flashed her a smile and his dark eyes sparkled. She guessed he was close to her own age, and she knew as their gaze lingered she was flirting with him silently. He knew it too, as he ran his fingers through his dark hair and then looked back to the controls, suddenly feeling a bit special.
“Outer space here we come!” he bragged, “I'll just fire up our powerful engines! “
Mack had missed nothing as he shot him as sideways glanced and smirked.
“Well they'd be bloody disappointed if we turned this into a short haul flight, crossed the Atlantic and brought them back again!” he murmured, “Although I could do with ditching that student... pain in backside.”
Jinx glanced back at Cora, who twirled a strand of her hair around her finger as she looked out the window, waiting for the flight to begin.
“I don't know why legislation says we get paid extra to take students on these flights...If we had a crisis, one of us has to babysit her - and it's not going to be me!”
“Crisis?” Mack replied in surprise, “Now mankind has explored space I think it's safe to say that disasters are few and far between...I'm sure Cora will have a nice holiday...the rest of us will just have to put up with her whining about no hair dryer.”
Then he reached up to controls above, pushing buttons and flicking switches as Jinx looked down to his own controls, heard they had clearance to leave and waited for Mack to initiate the take off procedure. As the engines fired up, he activated his own controls, then leant back in his seat, glancing around at Tina Verity.
“Thrusters initiated...”
She smiled back at him.
Then he heard Mack chuckling and looked at him sharply.
“What?”
“You!” Mack said as he laughed again, “Flirting with the passengers... you'll be sick of the sight of all of them by the time we get back!”
“Not her, not Tina,” Jinx murmured, “She wants me, I can see it in her eyes. I'm the sexy space vessel pilot!”
Mack chuckled again.
“Co pilot,” he reminded him, “And funnily enough I've never found you sexy at all!”
Jinx jokingly gave him a wink.
“You're just not looking closely enough, Mack!”
“I'm as close as I want to be, thanks! Keep your pants on, Rik - we haven't left earth yet!”
And then a female voice came through from ground control.
“Confirming departure, all systems are go. Have a good flight, Pharaoh 2.”
“Thank you control, we shall have a great flight - over and out,” replied Mack, and then as the engines gathered power and the thrusters kicked in, he began to take the vessel upwards, on a slow and gliding climb from the runway to the skies above, where the craft gathered speed, continued to climb, and prepared to leave earth's atmosphere.
As the vessel hit the blackness of star studded space, Mack unlo
cked his safely belt and got up, leaving the cruise control to Jinx as he turned to the crew.
“We are now on a programmed flight path to S54Q. The flight will take six days and you may feel dazzled by the sight of outer space right now, especially if you have never experience d it before, but it's going to be pretty much all the same until we reach our destination, so enjoy feeling amazed if this is your first flight - it wears off after a while. If you leave this room the way you came in, follow the map outside the door through A Deck and down to B where you will find your living quarters. Luggage will be in a small holding area beside the hatch in B Deck. Get settled in and if you have any questions, I'm around somewhere. I will see you all at dinner at 5pm earth time and then explain some more about this mission, if you have any questions to ask me. Off you go.”
The crew got up from their seats, and Jules paused to turn back to the Captain.
“I need the keys to the lab.”
“Ah yes,” Mack replied as he walked over to the middle of the flight deck to join him, “You need to use the lab to work on a paper about the water and spoil sample results that were taken from the first mission to S54Q - the lab computers up to date, it's got all the info on all the latest colonised planets, feel free to access anything you like. And you don't need a pass key. This is a Pharaoh 2 ship, we don't have elaborate locks and codes around here - only for the main hatches and for the med bay. Everything else opens and closes with a same universal pass card - they're all identical, like one key for all locks. Makes my life easier, I once had to call out an electrician and a locksmith when a temp crew member forget the locking code they'd programmed to the engine rooms. Very costly! I had the ship upgraded two years ago - she's fully automated by flight control now so no need for manual work down in the engine room any more. But your room card will open the lab too, Jules.”
