Secret of the Crystal - Omnibus Edition Books 1-3 (Time Travel Adventure)

by Larson, Brian K.

  “Diyra, don’t speak these riddles. He doesn’t understand,” Drakes said pointing his eye stocks low toward Diyra.

  “I am begging to understand,” Jhahnahkan smiled. “I think I have much to learn.”

  “No time, you must go now,” Drakes pressed once again.

  “You will find your answers my grandson,” Roth’stavous assured as he rested his hand on his shoulder, “I know you will find your destiny in the end. I know you will do the right thing.”

  “Destiny will have to play out, for what I must do now will forever change our lives,” Jhahnahkan said with courage.

  He lifted his crystal before him and thought about opening the vortex. He concentrated on the time of his shuttle landing. He scanned the area with his heads up display and could see the sand whistling by. He focused on his shuttle and saw that his hatch was still open and the interior was filling with the blowing sand.

  “See you in about a thousand years,” Roth’stavous shouted as the noise of the vortex rushed in a circular motion nearly drowning out his voice.

  * * *

  Delta Scorpii Twelve – Ruins

  Year: 3989

  Jhahnahkan stepped through the vortex and returned to his time. Only minutes had passed. The storm was increasing in strength, and the wind had begun to pick up.

  Still wearing the head gear Drakes upgraded, he turned and looked behind him and saw Roth’stavous and the two Scorpii waving him off.

  He reached up to try and turn off the display and then remembered it was activated by his thought and as soon as he did think about it, the time display terminated.

  The sand storm increased in intensity as he fought the tempest. The sand blew across his face and began to tear his skin. He panicked with sand slicing his face, he held the crystal out to his side and aimed it into the wind. An energy bolt ran down his arm and up to the crystal which produced a small energy shield that he seemed to hold out. It had the look of a silver colored metal shield of ancient armor, but it was effective at keeping the sand from ripping his body apart.

  Jhahnahkan made his way to the shuttle and shouted into his com system to ensure the computer was still up.

  “Jhahnahkan,” the computer answered, “Where have you been?”

  “How much time since we last communicated?”

  “8 minutes and 40 seconds.”

  “Fascinating!” he exclaimed.

  “Pardon me?”

  “I was not talking to you when I… oh never mind.” He said in haste. “Computer, how close is the storm from its full intensity?”

  “Two minutes from full gale force winds of 190 miles per hour,” the computer answered, “Expect gusts as high as 220 miles per hour.”

  “Can the shuttle handle those winds?”

  “The gusts will exceed the manufacturing specifications.”

  “Not an option, begin engine start sequence.”

  “I recommend riding the storm out Jhahnahkan. The shuttle will not withstand these hurricane force winds.”

  “If I stay, the ship will be buried in sand and I may never get it off the ground. I am telling you, this sand storm will tear down the ship in just a few hours.”

  “Very well Jhahnahkan,” the computer responded, “Initiating engine start sequence and plotting best course to achieve orbit.”

  “Thank you computer,” Jhahnahkan shouted.

  “How close are you to the shuttle, Jhahnahkan?”

  “I am at the shuttle now,” he struggled to say, “The hatch and airlock are being filled with sand. I will hoist myself up into the airlock. When I give you the go ahead, close the hatch and take off on your designated course.”

  “Standing by.”

  He lowered the shield so he could use both hands to climb into the airlock. After he pulled himself to the hatch and he began to scoop out the sand the best he could in order for him to fit inside.

  “I’m in! Close the hatch and lift off!”

  The computer slid the outer door closed and sealed the airlock. He felt the craft rock back and forth as the wind continued to batter the side of the ship.

  The inner door finally opened making grinding sounds as sand and metal slid together.

  He climbed up and into the cockpit, slid the pilot seat up to the controls and studied the readout of the current wind conditions.

  “Switch to manual control,” he instructed the computer.

  “Unable to comply, computer control is required in these conditions.”

  “Override!” Jhahnahkan ordered.

  He grabbed the controls and took over control of the ship as the computer released its grip. He pulled back the control and raised the nose to the sky. He punched the accelerator forward which caused a high G force on his body. The computer adjusted the ship’s inertial dampeners to help compensate the forces on its captain’s body.

  The shuttle quickly rose over the storm and resumed course for the main ship. “Computer, engage autopilot and bring us in.”

  The computer regained control and flew for a few moments with an attitude as if to show off to Jhahnahkan.

  “Easy computer,” he said laughingly, “no need to prove your superior flying ability to me.”

  “I do not understand your question.” The computer snapped.

  “You have to admit that was a pretty good maneuver,” he smiled.

  “Yes, that was a nice maneuver Jhahnahkan.”

  “Well, finally I get some satisfaction.”

  “I see no benefit in engaging further in this discussion,” The computer said in a monotone voice.

  “Well what do you know, a computer with an attitude.”

  The computer returned silence and flew the shuttle and docked sealing the shuttle in the hold of his ship.

  The computer shut down the shuttle and rolled the large bay doors closed. Jhahnahkan opened the hatch as the air was returning to the bay. The door swooshed open causing a wind to blow across his back as the air equalized.

  He stepped down on the deck of his ship and welcomed himself home, then made his way to the bridge.

  He looked out the front of the command center as he sat in the captain’s chair. With the majestic planet below, he commanded the computer to leave orbit.

  “Please specify desired course,” the computer requested.

  “Continue to the farthest point and exit the galaxy, then wait for further instructions.”

  The computer plotted the nearest course which would cause the ship to cross over beyond the edge of the galaxy. Delta Scorpii Twelve shrunk from the screen as they left orbit and headed out of the Delta Beta solar system.

  “Leaving the Delta Beta system,” the computer reported, “ETA to the edge of the galaxy is seventy two days.”

  “Continue on course at full engine capacity,” Jhahnahkan instructed.

  He pulled out his crystal and began to examine its shape and color. He began to remember what his grandfather had told him about technology. Roth’stavous had indicated that he could make this ship cross the divide to the next galaxy in moments if he desired.

  He had just traversed time two thousand plus years, before he had arrived at the Delta, and then traveled back again. It had only been minutes since he had originally left, but had spent hours with Roth’stavous and the funny looking Scorpii.

  He stood from his captain’s chair and took the seat at the helm control perching his crystal on the console next to him.

  “Computer, patch engineering to the right console and maintain helm controls to my left.”

  “Acknowledged,” the computer responded as the screen modified before Jhahnahkan’s eyes, “However, I fail to understand the logic behind your actions. I am perfectly capable of running every system on this ship for you.”

  “I understand your concerns computer,” Jhahnahkan replied as he began manipulating the touch buttons, “But you will need to trust me on this as I do not expect you to fully understand.”

  “Affirmative,” the computer said, “Turning
over to manual input at your request.”

  Jhahnahkan closed his eyes and concentrated on his surroundings in space. His crystal began to shine and shimmer as he received instructions telepathically. He controlled the engineering section with his right hand while altering and making course corrections with his left.

  “Let’s see if this really does work now shall we?” Jhahnahkan said with a wide smile.

  He began to see mathematical equations in his mind and relayed them to the engineering panel. With his course correction set, he placed both hands on the right panel and began to reprogram the fuel and energy mixture and how it was fed into the engines. The ship started to make different noises as the engines and reactor settings were changed.

  “Jhahnahkan,” the computer reported, “Our engines are now running beyond optimal operating specifications.”

  “Specify operational performance in relation to a percentage.”

  “The engine mixture and output ratio are operating at 137 percent efficiency”.

  “Estimate new ETA to galaxies edge.”

  “52.5548 days,” the computer replied.

  Hmmm, he thought to himself, I think there is room for some improvement.

  Jhahnahkan manipulated the controls and continued to enhance the engines performance. The ship shuddered and shook as the inertial stabilizers tried to compensate as quick as the computer could give corrections.

  “There,” Jhahnahkan said with satisfaction, “Now… estimate new ETA and engine efficiencies based on new programing.”

  “ETA to the galaxy edge is less than one day.”

  Jhahnahkan chuckled at himself in amazement of what he had accomplished with this crystal, “Ok, that is outstanding. Can you calculate the engine performance boost?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, let us have it then.” Jhahnahkan grinned.

  “This engine efficiency is impossible to achieve, yet they are running at 72,000 percent efficient in relation to the original operation parameters.”

  “Reset engine protocol to current settings.”

  “Engine protocol is now set to current configuration.” The computer acknowledged.

  “Hold this course, I am going down to check out the engineering room and see if I can dial in anymore outta these babies.”

  “Affirmative,” The computer answered, “However, there are no babies on board.”

  “Well, that’s debatable.” Jhahnahkan said under his breath.

  “Was that a command? I did not recognize the input.”

  “Never mind computer.” Jhahnahkan said as he made his way to the engine room.

  Jhahnahkan looked over every aspect of the engineering room, all the way down to the last display, and determined that all was operating as if it were already designed to exceed the programming that he had input.

  He knew that through his experience, he now had the ability to cross the great expanse and find Earth in a short time. He began to understand the wise words of his grandfather that we are only limited by our own minds.

  Jhahnahkan spent the remainder of the day preparing the ship for the expanse. He wondered what he would find when he entered the region between galaxies. How long would it actually take him to cross over to the Milky Way galaxy and what would he find when he approached Earth? Would he be welcomed by friend or be faced by foe.

  Returning to the bridge command center of his ship he sat once again at the helm controls.

  “The Milky Way Galaxy is part of the local group of galaxies which is part of the Virgo Super cluster. The Sol system is located two thirds of the way out from the galactic center on the inner edge of a spiral called Orion Cygnus arm. We will cross the galaxy outer rim, pass through the Perseus arm, and intersect the Orion Spur. It is there that we shall find Earth,” Jhahnahkan explained as he input directions, “Earth is the third planet from the sun.”

  “I think I understand Jhahnahkan,” the computer replied, “However, due to the illogical theories that are being implemented, I will require a reboot of my main core system during the jump across the expanse.”

  “Do not worry computer,” he assured, “I will see to it that you will be in top running order by the time we slow down as we intersect the Orion Spur.”

  “Your course is plotted and laid in Jhahnahkan,” the computer reported, “We will be at our galaxy’s edge and will enter the expanse in five minutes.”

  “Thank you, computer,” he answered, “I will take it from here.”

  Jhahnahkan entered the computer system main core shut down and restart sequence to engage at the exact mark that they exited the galaxy. He got up from the helm control and stood at the very most front on the command bridge of his ship and held his crystal out in front of him with both hands.

  The crystal began to flash and beams of light exited the crystal. The beams shot out in front of the ship. The computer systems shut down at the precise moment that a vortex opened at the edge of Jhahnahkan’s galaxy and they entered the vortex sending the ship hurling at unknown velocities toward their target the Milky Way Galaxy.

  * * *

  Milky Way Galaxy – Orion’s Spur

  Year: 3989

  The blackness of the expanse was especially dark to Jhahnahkan. He could see the galaxy he was set to arrive at in the distance. It floated ever so softly in the void as the lights of the galaxy seemed to dance. He thought about the head gear device and it promptly switched on displaying data before Jhahnahkan. He switched his viewer to show his reverse course so he could see his galaxy speed away behind, but the enhanced heads up display showed his ship just behind in the vortex as if it were a ghost image.

  Switching back to the front viewer he noticed how much larger the galaxy appeared to him. From the front view his heads up display revealed his ship a few moments in the future, also a ghost image of itself.

  Then almost as fast as he seemed to enter the vortex, the ship exited into the section of the galaxy he had programmed the course to take the ship. The vortex closed behind him and he immediately switched on the computer system to reinitialize the ships core. He would be flying blind until the core was back online and scanning the ships current sector.

  He manually slowed the ships velocity to normal slipstream speeds, completely amazed at how fast the vortex moved him through to the other galaxy. He thought it best to remain in slipstream until the computer was fully booted.

  I should be somewhere in the Orion spur and close proximity to the Sol star system. He thought to himself, I will not get any confirmation of my exact position until she’s back online.

  He set his heading the best he could using eye navigation to the closest star system that he could guess as the correct system. He thought at least he could steer the ship in the general direction and then correct with the computer. It would be another thirty minutes before the computer was fully functional. The internal diagnostics would determine that a change in position had occurred so an automatic rescan of the current sectors would be necessary in order for the computer to determine his exact position.

  In the interim, he used the scanners in manual mode to scan out ahead of his ship. He was alerted by the wave of incoming ships he spotted. Checking the ship’s chronometer he noticed it was another ten minutes before the computer was fully functional.

  “I thought these earthlings here were more primitive.” He said out loud expecting a response from his computer and then hoping for a response.

  “I count thirteen, no,” he paused, “fourteen ships and I don’t think they are the greeting committee based on their positioning and speed.” He again said out loud, “Come on computer. Where are you when I need you?”

  Glancing over at the chronometer and now showing less than five minutes. He went over to the tactical station and engaged the ship’s shields and armed all weapons just in case.

  He sat back at the helm and reduced his ship’s velocity and exited slipstream so he would have more maneuverability.

  He adjusted the helm c
ontrols manually to compensate for the shift in speed while he monitored the other ship’s position. It seemed they were highly advanced; he was out gunned and out matched by these beings.

  The com system fired up with an incoming message from the lead ship on approach. He noticed that they didn’t slow there speed with his decrease, rather they increased speed to ensure their arrival time was not changed.

  “This is Jamal of the Terrain coalition; you have entered our sector of space without provocation. Turn your ship at once and leave our space, by complying with this request, you will not be attacked.”

  “This is Jhahnahkan of the Ackturrian high command.” Jhahnahkan answered, “I come in peace.”

  Jhahnahkan was abruptly interrupted, “We accept no visitors from any star system. This is your last warning; turn your ship at once. We will open fire as soon as we are in range. You will not have a chance.”

  “This is not right,” Jhahnahkan commented.

  “Quite right Jhahnahkan,” the computer replied.

  “It’s about time you got up out of bed,” He answered, “We need evasive maneuvers to avoid the approaching ships weapons fire, and I need that now.”

  The computer calculated the present approaching ships positions and plotted a course to Sol and it seemed, right down the gauntlet of ships.

  “Computer, what are you doing?”

  “Trust me Jhahnahkan,” the computer responded.

  “They are in firing range.” Jhahnahkan shouted in a panic.

  The approaching ships fired every weapon they had at Jhahnahkan’s ship. The computer increased speed to jump back into slipstream and changed course not a moment too soon as the the weapons fire missed his ship. Inertial dampeners compensated Jhahnahkan to the quick movements and prevented him from being thrown back by the acceleration.

  In his panic, Jhahnahkan grabbed his crystal and executed a vortex for the ship to pass through. With his head gear activated he could see his ship slide into a phased space that prevented the attacking ships from causing any damage. He entered the vortex at near slipstream velocity and the attacking ships vanished from his view. The attacking ships weapons seemed to slow and stop all together as his ship passed into the Vortex