Galactic Satori Chronicles: Book 1 - Earth

by Nick Braker

  “Mira, I can hear you crying. Is Magnus dead? Earth? Someone tell me something.”

  “Warren... Listen... We don’t know anything about Earth or Magnus.” Grep took in a deep breath. “We are nearly dead in space right now. We had to pull power from the navigational shields. All other power sources are dead. Without those shields, we are like sitting ducks in a pond. We’re running on a prayer right now. We have just enough power to reach Earth and then land. We can’t even use sensors from this point on but, thank goodness, Jules’ piloting skills can get us back even blind. The only light we have is our stations. I--” Grep couldn’t continue again.

  There was a short pause.

  “Mira isn’t crying for Earth or Magnus.... She’s crying for me...,” Warren said haltingly, beginning to understand.

  Mira and Seph wept uncontrollably. He could see Zara was holding her emotions in check but only barely. Jules kept her head down, monitoring her station but he could see the hurt in her, too. Brock looked angry. He launched himself through the air and grabbed Grep by the shirt, snarling.

  “Mag would work this shit out, dude! You find a way, you egg-headed mother fucker!”

  Brock continued to hold Grep closely, looking into his eyes. His clenched jaws started to relax, allowing the rest of his face to fall. His anger transformed into sorrow. He pushed Grep away, tears welling and his voice breaking up.

  “You work it out, man,” he continued. “Please, just work it out.”

  Grep remembered Magnus’ comment.

  What if one of you dies because of me?

  “There is no way, Brock,” Seph said, taking over. “Grep and I have no options left. We all die or Warren--”

  Grep planted his feet behind the captain’s chair and ripped the headrest off it. The effort spun him around in the air but he grabbed the railing near Seph, pulling himself to his knees. His anger toward Magnus overwhelmed him. Tears burned his eyes. Someone moved next to him now, holding him. It was Seph.

  “He wasn’t ready,” he whispered into the air. “And you knew it. You killed him.”

  “Grep,” Seph whispered back. “The blame is on the aliens, not Magnus. No one else.”

  “Mira,” Warren said. “I want you to record a message for me. I want you to promise to take it to my family. Would you do that for me?”

  “Yes,” Mira said, not hesitating. “Recording started. Go ahead.”

  She muted her EP.

  “Dang, I have so much to say. I don’t know how much time I have left. Dad, this is your son, Weston. Hell, you know who this is. Sorry. I, uh... want to say I’m sorry. I didn’t have a choice. You can ask whoever gave you this recording anything you want. They promised to bring it to you. I’m sorry I didn’t try to reach you. I have a job. It’s top secret. I didn’t mean to stay away. Everything just got crazy. Alien shits running around, the training, I don’t know. I planned to get back, to sneak out and let you know I was okay but now all of that doesn’t matter. I don’t have long to live, Dad. Tell everybody I love them and that I miss them all terribly. I’m starting to hear static. Oh hell. Wow, I never thought... shit.” Warren started to cry. “Shit. I wish I could be there. I’m so sorry. Oh shit. I love you, Dad. Please take care of yourself.”

  Warren’s EP device started cutting out.

  “Thanks, Mir--.” Static. “Save--.” Static. Silence. “God? No way--”

  Silence fell across the bridge again. The static in Warren’s last transmission convinced Grep that Warren was gone, though the link was still intact. The crew’s quiet grief was palpable.

  “I’m going home,” Warren’s voice cut in one last time. “Go kick ass, bros. Warren out.”

  Warrens’ EP device cut off and the link went dead. Seph held Grep as they both sobbed.

  “Jules,” Grep whispered, barely able to speak. “Short bursts.... Get us... coasting back to Earth. Make sure... we have 1.3% power reserves... for landing.”

  He stood up, taking Seph’s hand in his. He floated down the ramp to the galley area. Grep sat down next to Seph, putting his arms around her, crying. They held each other there for several minutes.

  “I’m going to kill him,” Grep told her.

  Chapter 29

  EARTH LIVES

  Earth - Paris, France

  Magnus had found peace.

  Finally.

  No pain.

  Good.

  A gentle breeze.

  It’s warm.

  Bright lights.

  That hurts my eyes.

  Loud noises.

  Please turn that off.

  People yelling.

  Please stop.

  Someone touched him.

  That hurts like hell, stop!

  He heard his name.

  Who is that?

  “Magnus,” the voice screamed. “Stay with us. We need you. Come back.”

  No one needs me.

  “Fight. Come back,” the voice implored.

  No one will miss me.

  “Yes, we will. I will,” she told him.

  How the hell are you reading my mind?

  “I’m not reading your mind,” she said.

  Alara?

  “Yes, it’s me. Please open your eyes. Come back to me,” she pleaded.

  He opened them. It was still dark outside but there were lights everywhere, illuminating everything in his field of vision. He lay on his back. The smell of freshly dug dirt surrounded him. A helicopter hovered overhead with several more around that one. Scores of military personnel were repelling down ropes attached to them. He watched the soldiers take up positions around the area.

  Their tactics are good, flawless even. Must be WSO.

  She touched him again but this time it didn’t hurt.

  “Alara?” he asked.

  “Yes, you made it back,” she said.

  Tears flowed down her cheeks, giving her flawless, angelic beauty a look of compassionate sorrow.

  “Yeah, but am I going to make it?”

  His voice was hoarse and dry.

  “I need a drink, a stiff one,” he said.

  “It’s a date then,” she said with a smile, managing a quick laugh. “I’m buying.”

  Her smile warmed him. The spotlight from the helicopter was directly behind her, casting a white halo. He loved her eyes. They were wise beyond her years but innocent in so many ways. Her hands covered her mouth but he could see the worry already fading from her. He had survived but at what cost? His team was dead. No, his friends were dead.

  All of it. My fault. I couldn’t save them, just like I couldn’t save Beth.

  Medical teams arrived. Some of them worked on him, asking him questions. Alara stood nearby, watching, relief on her face. She wasn’t going to leave his side.

  Someday she will. They always do.

  His EP device beeped. His heart skipped a beat.

  Are they still alive?

  He managed to brush off the medical attendant’s attempt at starting an IV. He tapped the device.

  “Magnus here,” he managed to say.

  Someone sighed in relief on the other end.

  “Magnus, your status?”

  It was Alexandria. He winced, going numb again. He didn’t care.

  Just the facts.

  “I’m nearly dead,” he said, his voice sounding even worse now. “Wormhole destroyed. Alien ship destroyed. One Omega alien stuck here on the planet. My girlfriend, my team, my friends, my only fucking reason for living, all gone. I gave everything I had for your mission. I’m done. If I live, don’t call me again.”

  He tapped the EP, disconnecting the conversation.

  Earth - WSO Hospital

  Two days later.

  Something cold touched his hand. He stirred and then opened his eyes, struggling to focus them. They ached, sending pain shooting through the back of his sockets. He blinked, trying to clear the blur that covered everything around him and then she came into focus. Her champagne hair was tied back in a ponytail. The
blue of her eyes was more like sapphires today. Her smile warmed him but then he remembered.

  “How are you feeling?” she asked, surprised he was awake.

  “Alexandria, why are you here?” he said, whispering.

  His throat felt like it was coated with dust. She handed him a cup of something.

  “Water, drink it,” she ordered. “Magnus, I came to see for myself how you were doing. Is that too much?”

  He finished off the water, letting the empty cup fall from his hand and off the edge of the bed. He was in a hospital.

  “Unless you have my resignation papers ready for signing, you should probably just go,” he managed.

  “You know, I hoped it was all just anger,” she paused, looking out the window. “I gather you still want to leave WSO. I’ll arrange it, if that is what you really want.”

  She pulled a chair up near him and started to sit down in it but then changed her mind. Instead she sat next to him on the bed.

  “It’s Saturday. You’ve been in and out of consciousness for two days.”

  “Two days?” he said, surprised. “Have you heard anything? Anyone?”

  The answer was in her eyes.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, struggling with those few words.

  They sat there for a few moments, neither one speaking. The room reminded him of the one in the states at WSO’s hospital on the thirteenth floor.

  “Am I back in America? D.C.?” he asked, finally breaking the silence.

  “Yes, we flew you here that night. You’ve been mostly unconscious since. You’ve made a most remarkable recovery. The doctors could not believe you even survived, let alone were able to talk with anyone after what you went through. You survived and you saved nearly five billion people.”

  “I gather the world survived,” he said angrily, looking away from her.

  The tears were fighting their way out.

  “We’re experiencing the worst storms ever recorded. They are primarily centered on Europe but are working their way around the planet. The worst is over but we expect long-term repercussions. Our best minds believe the current weather patterns are temporary. It’s all theory. No one knows anything,” she explained.

  “Did you find the alien?”

  “No, but from what you said before you went unconscious, the alien was female. Tom was sure you misspoke because the lead scientist behind the project, Dr. Jean-Pierre Robert, was male. He was removed from the project weeks prior when WSO informed the French government that he was compromised. We gave them the details on what that meant and they put him under house arrest. Obviously we cannot hold the alien’s actions against Dr. Robert but he also could not be allowed to continue working. We found out early yesterday that he broke into the facility several hours before you arrived. According to witnesses, though, he was instrumental in saving most of the personnel within the complex and almost stopped the alien - excuse me, the female alien.”

  “Is that so? You should put him in charge then.”

  Alexandria ignored his jab.

  “We found him dead,” Alexandria said. “WSO went through the computer logs and found that Dr. Robert had tried to shut down the equipment several times but that his assistant, Dr. Fleur, a woman, succeeded in keeping them running. She is one of the missing so we concluded she escaped, still controlled by the alien. We have no information on her location.”

  Magnus considered telling her he would help with tracking the alien down but stopped himself. Opening that door would make it that much easier to stay with WSO. Apparently, Alexandria must have read his mind. He wasn’t the only one that could read people, it seemed.

  “We could use your help, of course. I am certain you don’t want her to get away. She needs to be brought to justice, one way or the other.”

  He wanted to smile at her. He had to give her credit, she was good at the game. Even knowing what she was doing to manipulate him back into action wasn’t enough to keep him from considering it.

  “Will you at least think about it?” she asked.

  “I’ll think about it,” he said but then changed the subject. “So, I’m almost healed?”

  “Yes. Miraculously so.”

  “It’s the alien shit they did to me,” he grumbled.

  “Not a bad gift--”

  Alexandria touched her ear, activating the EP. She held up a finger, motioning Magnus to give her a minute.

  “Yes, Tom. What is it? What? Are you sure?”

  Her face lit up. She grinned from ear to ear and then grabbed his hand, nodding her head over and over.

  “Can you talk to them using the relay satellite?” she paused, her smile spreading even further across her face. “You have? They’re alive?” she said, excitedly.

  Magnus knew who she was talking about. His heart quickened. He wanted to grab her himself and make her tell him.

  They’re alive?

  “Magnus, they are alive,” she exclaimed again. “They’re coming into range now. Our relay satellite picked up their EP transmissions several minutes ago. They plan to land here in D.C. They are low on power,” she turned back to focus on her EP. “Yes, Tom. That is great news. We’re on our way there.”

  She hit the emergency call switch at the head of his bed.

  “Yes, can I help you?” the nurse asked.

  “This is Alexandria. Get Magnus ready to leave now,” she ordered.

  The nurse started to protest but she cut her off.

  “You either help him or he’ll leave on his own,” she said.

  He nodded at her.

  “Hell yeah, I will.”

  Earth - Spaceship

  Grep shivered even under the blankets. The ship still drifted toward Earth. Jules ignored any attempt to put it in orbit. Her course took them directly toward Washington, D.C. She used the Earth’s rotation to bring WSO’s landing facility into her trajectory as the ship hit the atmosphere. The plan was to take complete advantage of their momentum, factoring in the Earth’s rotation and revolution around the sun to minimize any use of power along the way. While Jules certainly had a hundred other variables in her head, Grep wasn’t about to question her ability, nor her know-how. She would get them there. It was Seph and Grep’s job to make sure the ship could do it.

  The past two days had been hell. The coldness of space had leeched all of their heat from the ship, leaving them huddled and shivering together. Jules kept the upper portion of the ship, the command deck, facing the sun the entire trip. Seph explained that the side of the ship facing the sun would be super-heated but the heat-resistant design of the ship’s hull dispersed any absorbed solar heat across the ship’s entire surface, allowing space itself to conduct the heat away on the opposite side. The ship’s hull didn’t heat the bridge but it both slowed the heat loss and kept the minimum temperature within several degrees higher than had they not made the attempt. Those precious degrees had kept them alive from the sub-freezing temperatures of space. In addition, blankets, pillows, clothing, and anything else they could find for insulation was piled into a heap in the center of the command deck. They slept there when needed, covered in layer after layer of impromptu insulation.

  Food and water were plentiful but the temperatures kept them frozen, so they rationed the water, keeping what they knew they’d need within the pile of insulation, their body heat providing the warmth necessary to avert freezing.

  Oxygen was an issue but Grep had planned that out from the beginning. Brock, Mira and Zara were sedated, dropping their oxygen usage and allowing them to use less power on life support. Seph, Jules and Grep stayed awake, keeping the ship running.

  Grep envied the three sleeping. From their perspective, they would go to sleep, wake up briefly along the way for bio-breaks, then return to the insulation pile for more sleep. They would wake up refreshed from a nice long rest. Grep, Seph and Jules endured the long, torturous trip back. The hours of little light and no sleep combined with the constant shivering from the icy cold exhausted them. Emotions wer
e their greatest enemy, dread and despair beating them down every moment. Vigilance for every second of their trip home was mandatory, their lives depended on it. Without navigational shielding, any object hitting them, if large enough, would end all of their lives. The balance between the ship’s speed and the danger of hitting something along the way kept them moving at a slow but safer pace.

  Seph and Grep had taken turns watching through one of the bedroom viewports. They had to search ahead of them along their course using only their human eyes. Twice, Seph had saved all of them when she spotted debris directly in their path. The course changes had to be fast in order to minimize the amount of power needed to slip around the object. The mental pressure over what seemed like endless hours was unfathomable. Seph was in tears most of the trip. They used their EP devices constantly, consoling one another with humor and stories. Grep was equally affected. At one point, Jules reminded Seph of her comment about taking the ship to Uranus, when Grep launched into a verbal tirade against Brock and Warren for starting that joke. The mention of Warren’s name, though, brought Grep’s anger to a halt. He apologized profusely, tears streaming down his face, begging the other two for forgiveness. The depth of the pressure on all of them made the scene somewhat comical from an outside perspective, had it not been for the seriousness of their situation.

  All of that was behind them now. They could see their big blue home through the ship’s bedroom viewport and they were closing in on the maximum range of their EP devices with Earth. Zara had given Grep instructions on the amount of the last sedative injection to use so they would wake before reaching their landing point.

  “Grep to Earth. Does anyone hear me?”

  He repeated the call, having set the list of contacts to several key people he felt would be in Asia during their approach. It was the closest point to Earth currently and the most likely to pick up his transmission. Everyone on the ship was awake and listening in with their EPs.

  “Grep? Is that really you?”

  It was Ruth. They cheered. Brock grabbed Zara, giving her a kiss and then hugging her. Jules hugged Seph and soon they were all congratulating each other as Grep motioned them to be quiet.