“It’s like whatever caused this vanished into thin air,” he said, scooping some more ash up and flicking it onto the ground.
“This is strange. Really strange. What happened here?” April said, standing a few feet back, not wanting to get any closer to the house, or what was left of it to be more precise.
Standing up, Gustoff brushed some debris off his knees. He then stood there for what seemed like too much time for April. She didn’t like uneasy silences and found herself speaking after a short while.
“What?” she asked, looking at the back of Randy’s head. He was still. Unmoving. Unflinching. Watching. Waiting. Silent.
It was causing quite a knot in April’s stomach. There was something about this that was making her feel uneasy. Real uneasy. She didn’t know what it was, but it was there. In her stomach, churning, flipping, bobbing, compressing, contorting.
She felt sick.
“The point of impact is obvious,” Randy said, after a long stint of silence. He was still standing there motionless, staring into the site, wondering about what could have caused such destruction on a massive scale.
“Excuse me?” she asked, moving toward him. She cautiously took a few steps and stopped just shy of the perimeter of the site. April felt uneasy. She was getting bad vibes. Like an evil presence surrounded her and Gustoff. She rolled her eyes at the thought. Now she was sounding like the elderman. If she wasn’t careful, next she’d be doing rain dances to ward off non-existent ghosts.
“Look, the point of impact, it’s off center in the middle,” Gustoff said, pointing to where April could see. She raised her head slightly like a swan to catch a better look, and sure enough she could see it.
“A crater, I see it!” she said.
Randy nodded.
“Yeah, it’s there all right. The question is what caused the impact and where the hell has it disappeared?”
***
Timson and his crew remain stone-cold-quiet in their stationary Orion Orbiter Pod ship. The vessel is small and inconspicuous. It’s designed to slip in and out of radio scanner contact, meaning that it can go undetected in low orbit. But the thing is, they were no longer in low orbit. About seven hours ago, they were above a small planet on the outskirts of the Andromeda Galaxy. But something happened. Something went wrong. What was supposed to be a routine orbital pass over a planet became a nightmare when the electronics skittered out and they fell into freefall. They’d tried to regain control of the small ship, but it wasn’t designed to enter a gaseous atmosphere at such speed.
Usually they’d dock-out from their parent ship and do a flyover of whatever planet they took an interest in. Their parent ship was the Orion Traveler. It was one of the first of its kind and its purpose was simple. Explore galaxies near to the Milky Way and search for life on the planets they deemed significant.
Years ago, Earth had jettisoned thousands of time capsules into space, inside them were books and historical records. The goal was to introduce themselves to whatever was out there in deeper space. Two hundred years later, they now have the technology to track those crates down and find out where they landed. Maybe even get First Contact. But nothing is as easy as you intend it, and the same could be said about their first flyover over the alien planet in the Andromeda Galaxy.
They’d gotten signals and heat signatures on the planet’s surface. The Orion Traveler had ordered them to do a flyby and record any anomalies. Before they were able to report what they found, everything went to pot and the ship got sucked into the atmosphere, dragged into the crust and fell thousands of feet toward the ground. Luckily, the crew of the pod ship managed to cloak the ship before it hit the ground. The ship’s shields cushioned their fall. But the impact was harsh, and the ship burst into flames.
Timson knew it was a self preservation switch that made the ship ignite. In theory, it was designed to flame-up when landing on unknown soil. That way if there was contact with anything hostile, the heat would warn them off. So indigenous species didn’t rip them apart when they got out of the pod.
The only problem was that the ship had landed on some sort of settlement. There were huts and tenements. Small buildings, but buildings nonetheless. The crew had gotten excited about the prospect of meeting whatever made those huts. But then it dawned on them that they had lost contact with the Orion above orbit. It most likely was still up there, but without radio contact, there was no way in hell that they’d be making their way outside.
And to make things worse, the ships power was draining. The cameras had failed on account of there not being much power. So now they couldn’t see what was out there. They could hear muffled sounds now and then, but nothing audible.
So they were scared. Real scared.
There were three of them altogether, including Timson. The other two were newbies on the Orion. They didn’t talk much, and since landing on the hostile planet, neither of them had said more than a few words in fear that they’d run out of air.
“We’re screwed,” Timson said suddenly. The sound of his voice had startled the two other crew members, a man and a woman.
“You’re right about that,” the man said, brushing his hand through his hair. The orbiter ship wasn’t designed for comfort, and it didn’t exactly have a lot of legroom. The three crewman were sat tightly in the pod, the back and front taken up by computer consoles and life support systems. There was no standing up in the pod. There was no walking around in the pod. There was just sitting. Sitting and waiting.
All three of them were getting pretty tired of sitting and waiting.
“This blows,” the female crewman said. She stretched in her seat. The front panels of the ship, which acted like cameras, letting them see what was in front of them were dead. The prolonged heat exposure from the flame-up safety protocol had damaged their screens, and more importantly, it had drained their fuel cells. At the minute, they were cloaked. But it was just a matter of time until the engine was dead and the cloak disappeared.
“What do you think about those buildings we saw before flame-up?” Timson asked.
“They looked pretty familiar to me. At first, I thought I was seeing things. A mirage or something. Like I was homesick. Caught me off guard, that’s for sure,” the other male occupant said.
“I don’t know. This all feels rather strange to me. It’s unsettling, knowing that we’re on an unknown planet and there are buildings everywhere. Something made these huts. And that means that there’s intelligent life on this planet. The question is, is it hostile?” the woman said, still stretching.
She was dying for a pee. In fact, all three of them were. But they would have to wait before they were able to relieve themselves. Not that relief was their main priority. They were far more concerned about their circumstances. The downed ship. The huts. The loss of contact with the Orion Traveler. And then the small matter of their cameras being out, the fuel cells being at a mere ten percent life and the ship’s cloaking a few hours away from failing.
“We need to get a handle on this!” Timson said, staring at the fuel cell gage. It was ticking down. Slowly, but surely, they’d be empty soon. And once that happened, there was no telling what they’d be met with.
For all they knew, the Orion Traveler could be getting out of dodge. Losing a pod and three crew wasn’t exactly the end of the world. Not for a capital ship like the Orion. They had plenty of men and ships on board. Luckily for them, they’d sent out a distress signal to Earth before losing complete control of the ship. They just hoped that Earth had picked it up.
A plan was definitely needed, and it was needed ASAP.
Chapter Three
Earth
“I’ve never used a jump gate before,” one of the men said as he put his helmet on. He flipped the visor down and adjusted the augmented systems on his suit.
The other men were doing the same. In total, there were five of them. The team had been assembled at the very last minute. It was being headed by Commander Williams. Williams was
an experienced hand. He had over two and a half thousand active space hours under his belt. Not to mention the many more inactive ones.
Hours spent on star ports. Sitting, waiting, for anything to happen. Hours on call. Many more hours asleep. Resting. Traveling. It was safe to say that Williams was more than capable of leading a team into deep space. But he was nervous. Nervous because this was officially the first time he was tasked with using a jump gate. He’d never had the privilege of doing so. In the past, it was usually left up to Generals. Those were the sort of men that had been given the authority needed to pass through the gates. But today was a different day. Today a lowly troop commander was being given authority over a deep space mission. A mission to find a pod that crash landed on a mysterious planet. So it was only natural that Williams felt nervous. And unfortunately for him, it was written all over his face.
“You okay, sir?” one of the four men under his command asked. Williams was putting on his suit. They were in a small locker-room. Heavy metal walls surrounded them. Williams could see his reflection as he tried to get to grips with the oxygen tubing on his suit. The ship they were going to be travelling on had more than enough oxygen on it, but Earth was always a little cautious when it came to long distance missions. They’d supplied them with enough air to last around ten weeks. Not to mention the reserves. But that wasn’t what was playing on the Commander’s mind.
“Sir?”
Williams looked up and saw the recruit staring down at him. The lad was only young, and judging by the stars on his sleeve, or lack of in this lad’s case, Williams knew that he was fresh out of boot camp. That’s all he needed. A greenhorn on the team. Yet another responsibility for the pressured vet.
“Yeah, what is it?” Williams snapped.
“Was just wondering if you’re okay. You look a little under the weather.”
Williams stood up, screwed a valve on his suit and stared directly at the recruit. He couldn’t have been much older than 18, which was the minimum age of enlistment. He was young, that was for sure. Had a young face. Young enough to pass for a mid-teen. Maybe sixteen at a push. No stubble. No circles around his eyes. No nothing really. The recruit was moldable clay. Life hadn’t gotten to him yet. It hadn’t chipped away at his sensibilities. He hadn’t seen people die around him. And the look on the kid’s face did nothing but confirm it to Williams.
“I’m fine, son. You need to be more worried about your suits diagnostics. I’m picking up an off-balance reading of carbon dioxide verses oxygen in your tanks. You need to flush them out and reset your systems before boarding the ship. We don’t want you to get hypoxic.”
The recruit looked blankly at his Commander. He didn’t quite know how to react. All he’d wanted to do was inquire about Williams’ spirits. He wasn’t looking for a lecture on how to flush his life support tanks.
“Thanks, I guess…”
Williams nodded.
“No problem,” he said, turning to the others. They’d all finished getting changed and augmenting their suits. The Commander smiled at his team who stared back blankly at him. It was a stupid thing to do. Smile that is. It wasn’t the time, nor was it the place. The Commander’s nerves were definitely getting the better of him. And that much was obvious to his underlings.
“Okay guys. I’m sure you’ve been debriefed in regard to the situation at hand. But in fear of not doing my job correctly, I’m going to refresh your memories,” he said, standing still while addressing his team. He appeared calm on the outside, if not a little techy, but on the inside, he was screaming. Screaming about the fact that he was expected to go on some sort of bogus rescue mission on an alien planet, with no idea whatsoever as to what is actually waiting for them when they show up. It just didn’t seem like the smart thing to do. Besides, wasn’t it the Orion Travelers job to retrieve both their property and their men?
“Someone fucked up big time here gents,” Williams said, to a slight murmur from his crew. “Our mission is to rectify that fuck-up. We are tasked with the search and rescue of three crewmen who supposedly crash-landed on a planet in the Andromeda Galaxy. To get there we will be blasting off in a T-75 Marine One ship. From Earth’s orbit, we’ll make our way past the moon. A little past the moon there’s a jump gate. The station will ping in the coordinates and we’ll get sucked into the gate. For those of you that are not aware of what a jump gate is, then let me just say this. It sucks. That’s all you need to know. It sucks because it is rough. Really rough. When we’re in the gate, it will warp us to our destination. In Earth time, it will seem instant. But trust me when I say this, it is going to feel like forever in there.
“The ship will be bouncing about like a needle compass spinning at a thousand RPM. You will feel sick. You will most likely be sick. A lot. But we’ll get there in one piece, more or less. Once we reach the Andromeda Galaxy, we’ll go into Supercruise. We’ll be traveling at ungodly speeds to get to our target destination. And once we’re there, it will be our job to get these guys home,” Williams said, half expecting some sort of applause. He wasn’t very good at speeches, but on occasion he managed them just fine.
The recruit put his hand up in the air. Everybody groaned, apart from Williams. He just rolled his eyes.
“Yes?” he hissed.
“I was just wondering; you say that the jump gate will warp us to this so called Andromeda Galaxy. Why doesn’t the gate warp us directly to the planet and save time? That way we won’t have to hit Supercruise.”
Williams broke into a smile. To be fair, it was a valid question. But also a question that only a half-wit would ask.
“It’s simple really, but I feel like it will go over your head, so to spare you the seminar on how space portals like the jump gate work, let me break it down for you real simple. There are two pieces of string. One piece is long. The other is short. But they aren’t joined together, obviously on account of them being two separate pieces of string. Let’s say you get a ring. One that you’d put on your finger. You get this ring, you slide it down the short piece of string, threading the ring. The ring more or less instantly gets to the end of its journey down the string. But then it has to get to the second piece of string. It takes a few seconds to thread the ring onto the string. But this string is longer, remember, so when you attempt to slide it down, it won’t be instant like the other shorter piece of string. You can apply that analogy to the jump gate, and then you’ll have your answer.”
The recruit shrugged his shoulders.
“Sounds complicated,” he said, a blank expression on his face.
The rest of them burst out in laughter. Williams tried to restrain himself but he couldn’t help it. He also burst out laughing.
“Yeah, it’s complicated kid.”
Suddenly the fun and games were ended by somebody’s presence. A new face had entered the room. A stern face. A face that didn’t take kindly to laughter, or playful banter. That face belonged to the Earth Squadron Section Leader. His name was Samson. And he was a hard-ass.
“Get your shit together. We’ve got a rescue mission to complete, or have you ingrates forgotten why you’re here?” Samson spat, his words aggressive.
“No sir. Just finishing up, sir,” Williams bellowed.
The Section Leader snarled and then reluctantly nodded his head.
“Good. Get your asses in gear. Take-off in t-minus five.”
Samson turned and marched out of the room. The rest of them grabbed their stuff and followed. They made their way through a large concourse. A few hundred people were staring at them. Not members of the public, but workers. Ship hands. The types that fixed and scrapped components on aircraft. But none of them had smiles on their faces. They looked just as nervous as Williams felt. But he figured that it probably had something to do with the whole “alien planet” thing.
This ordeal was turning out to be one of many firsts. The first planetary landing in the Andromeda Galaxy. The first interstellar mission as a leader of men for Williams. The first jump
gate for the recruit. And the first time Williams hadn’t had time to say goodbye to his wife and kids. Usually there’d be some sort of meal with the crew and their family. A chance to say … well, goodbye. Space is an unforgiving place, and the meal acted as a safety blanket when looking out at the vast vacuum that surrounded you. A blanket that comforted you and reminded you of home.
But Williams knew that the only thing that really mattered here was the mission. Even though it was the most dangerous mission he’d ever undertaken, he couldn’t help but wonder if saying goodbye to his family would be a good thing. He didn’t want them to see him like this. Torn up inside. Scared. It was unbecoming of him. He was after all, a leader. And leaders didn’t show weakness.
“Guess it’s go time,” the recruit sad as they boarded the ship.
They didn’t have time to get to know the vessel. Once they were past the jump gate, they could walk around and explore the medium-sized ship. But for now, all they could do was glance out of the port holes and say goodbye to Earth. At least they could do that.
Shortly after boarding the ship, Williams helmed the controls. The ship blasted off and within four and a half minutes they’d broken through the atmosphere. The rescue mission was officially a go.
***
“What are these idiots doing?” Gustoff asked as he watched some the of elderman from the settlement get down onto their knees and begin to pray directly in front of the burn site.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” April snorted as she too watched from afar. Both she and Gustoff had been talking near one of the principle settlement buildings. It was usually used as some sort of town hall. A place where the residents could gather and voice their displeasure. Randy Gustoff himself had used the town hall on many an occasion before. And he was planning on using it today, but the elderman were far too busy praying to the burn site as if God himself was responsible for killing Aston’s family and destroying his home.
Second Earth: The Complete First Novel (Second Earth Chronicles Book 1) Page 3
