by Kord Stone
Jason let out a sigh of relief. That feeling was short-lived however, because a moment later it felt as if every nerve in his body was on fire. That feeling passed quickly. Spinning around, he saw a shimmering blur of a person pointing a weapon at him. He fired, and Jason felt the awful jolt again. This time it lasted an even shorter time.
Jason stepped into a defensive stance. The blur on his assailant faded and he was in the same phase as Jason. The aggressor seemed to take in his situation and must have realized his energy weapon had little effect on Jason, because he holstered his sidearm and drew a sinister-looking pair of daggers.
“Why are you doing this?” Jason asked.
His assailant growled in an almost inhuman voice, “Master wants you dead.” He slashed the daggers in a crisscross motion.
Jason considered drawing his sidearm and stunning the guy right there, but after everything this person done to his family, Jason wanted a little payback.
They began circling and the man thrust one of the daggers toward Jason’s head. Jason arm-blocked that thrust and landed a firm blow to his assailant’s ribs.
With a grunt of pain, the assailant attempted to slash Jason with his left dagger, but Jason caught the man’s wrist, squeezed and gave it a twist, then brought his right forearm through the assailant’s elbow buckling it. The dagger went flying. Pulling the man’s injured arm by the wrist, Jason pivoted and threw him to the ground.
His assailant got to his feet, and with his left arm clutched into his abdomen he began swiping the blade in his right hand wildly.
Jason waited for the assailant to thrust his weapon straight at him again. When he saw the man prepare to lunge, Jason hit him square in the back with a reverse roundhouse kick. The man dropped his second dagger as he hit the ground again.
Jason stepped over to the fallen dagger and kicked it out of reach. Now unarmed, the assailant made it back to his feet and began swinging wildly. Jason went round and round with him exchanging blows. His assailant managed to land a few wild punches, but they had little effect on Jason. He stepped into the assailant’s next punch and sank his fist deep into his opponent’s abdomen. With a pivot, Jason spun and brought the man to the ground with a head and arm throw. He was gasping for air, and Jason shouted, “Give it up, and I won’t kill you!”
The next moment Jason felt as if his nerves were on fire again, and an extreme jolt of energy coursed into his body. The assailant began convulsing. Within seconds he went limp on the ground, and Jason loosened his hold and rolled over to assess the man’s condition. He was dead.
Jason saw that the man had drawn his sidearm with his injured hand and shot Jason in the back with it. The energy from the weapon had hit Jason and surged back into the assailant, killing him. Jason pulled the man’s hood off and took in his appearance. His face was a mess. There was no way Jason could have done that much damage to the man’s face. Looking closer, he saw the wounds had been in the process of healing when he died. Jason wondered what he had been through to cause those injuries. The guy didn’t look good. The jolt must have electrocuted him. Jason considered getting him to TDS 3 to attempt to revive him, if only to find out who his master was. Jason was about to call for Alise to transport the assailant to medical, but he didn’t get the chance. With a disorienting flash Jason, found that he was no longer on Earth.
Chapter Thirty-Three
It took Jason only a second to realize he was back aboard his ship, and shaking his head, he made his way to the control room.
Jason could hear Alise crying and his heart ached as he asked, “What’s wrong?”
Alise turned to face him with tearstained eyes, then bolted into his arms. “How did you get back on the ship? Are you okay?” she managed to get out between breaths.
Jason patted her on the back and said, “I am all right. I need you to transport a guy from the surface to medical though.”
Alise shook her head and said, “I cannot. We are not even in Earth’s solar system anymore.”
“What? I was just there,” Jason said.
Alise seemed to regain herself, and said, “Right after you transported to the surface, Jerren called and informed me that TDS 5 was almost there, so I tried to transport you up, and warn you, but the ship began malfunctioning, I lost control of it. I was thinking to ram TDS 5 with our ship when it appeared, but our ship took off for Daregon on its own.
Jason’s nerves were frazzled but he gave a nervous smile and said, “Well at least we’re past the paradox now. I managed to deactivate the portal before the person from TDS 5 arrived.”
“What?” Alise barked.
Jason told her about the attack on him and the condition of his assailant.
Alise called out, “Jerren, can you hear me yet?”
A second later Jerren’s distorted voice sounded from Jason’s life monitor. “Finally! Yes, are you guys okay?”
Alise replied, “Yes, what is the status of TDS 5?”
Jerren sounded relieved as he said, “I was worried after I told you about TDS 5. My communications cut out again. I went back to monitoring TDS 5. When it got to Earth, someone transported to the surface, and right after that, I disabled the ship.”
“How did you do that? Do you have control of his ship?” Jason asked.
Jerren’s voice had a slight chuckle to it as he said, “No, but what I could do was force a system-wide diagnostic that shut down most of TDS 5’s ancillary functions and dropped it out of phase. Do you remember when my car’s computer went bad? Well I did to TDS 5 what my car did to me. TDS 5 is in limping-home mode until the diagnostic completes. Which should be another two minutes in your time.”
Jason asked Alise, “Can we make it back to Earth in two minutes?”
Alise shook her head. “No, even if I could turn the ship around. We are too far away and I am still locked out.”
Jason closed his eyes a moment, then opening them he said, “I can control the ship. I just changed course.”
Jason had just gotten those words out when Inola’s voice sounded from his mouth, saying only two words. “No! Daregon.”
Jason looked to Alise painfully and whispered, “Well I think I know who blocked your control of the ship.” He pointed to his head and mouthed, “Inola.”
Looking concerned Alise nodded.
With a ringing in his head, Jason reset the course for Earth. A thought came to him and hoping Inola would not shout again, he asked, “Jerren can you do that again?”
There was an extended silence, and Jason was about to ask his question again when Jerren responded. “No, it looks like the major diagnostic program can only be run every ten thousand years. There’s a countdown going now. I think the only reason I could activate it was that it was way overdue, or possibly because of the alarms that activated for TDS 5 when Justin’s ship started up. That command was not on the screen before.”
Jason sighed. “Well that’s too bad. I was thinking it might be a way to confront the commander of TDS 5 and force him to leave us alone. The guy I fought was only his lackey.”
“Huh. That’s odd, TDS 5’s diagnostic just ended and the ship took off. I was going to see where it was headed, but the display went blank,” Jerren said, sounding a little dejected. “I’m sorry, Jason, but that bullet’s been shot, at least for the next ten thousand years. Better luck next time. I bet that scared the shit out of him though, just popping out of phase and shutting down like that. Could you open the archway? I think I’ve learned all I can from here at the moment. It was like pulling teeth. Most requests ended with not authorized to perform that task… Actually I was surprised I could start the diagnostic.”
Jason looked Alise over from head to toe. “I need ten to fifteen minutes. Can you wait that long?”
Alise was about to speak, but he held a finger to her lips.
“That sounds good to me. Now that the life monitor seems to be working again, I’ll check up on Justin. See you in a few.” And with that, the communications closed.
&n
bsp; “Why did you need ten minutes?” she asked. “The room is right there.”
Jason got a firm grasp around her waist and pulled her to him. “That gives us almost two hours to ourselves and if you hadn’t noticed, the rumor about Ambrose increasing sexual drive is not unfounded. I’ve been fighting this erection for hours.” He transported them to the bedroom, minus their clothing.
When they arrived, Alise looked down. “Oh my…we really must do something about that, should we not?”
Jason got a faux concerned look. “Come to think of it, I heard somewhere that you should seek immediate medical attention if you have an erection lasting longer than four hours.”
Alise got an impish grin. “Lucky for you, the doctor is in,” she said and dropped to her knees.
The End
Look for Book Two in the Imortum series, Eleven Unveiled, coming soon!
Excerpt from Book 2 of the Imortum series
The Eleven Unveiled
Justin watched as his brother Jason closed the stasis chamber after they had placed their family inside for their protection. He requested the console and the previous query was still on the screen:
TDS 3
AL not online
No life forms onboard for fifteen thousand one hundred thirty three years
Location 374.4 KKSLO Terra .5 PTD
AL commander no longer viable
Reset binding disk for new commander? (YES) (NO)
Jason selected (YES).
The lighting dimmed, and a complex algorithm ran across the screen.
Justin was watching the screen and asked, “What does AL stand for?”
Jason thought about it and the screen behind him displayed:
A - Advanced
L – Life form
I – Integrated
S – Synaptic
E – Escort
“Ah, okay,” Justin muttered.
Jason turned to look at the wall and said, “There you have it. It would appear as if the AL is an Alise. All of the ships probably had them. He got a concerned look and Justin was about to ask what the problem was when a beep sounded behind him and he turned around to consult the control panel.
TDS 3
Binding Disk reconfigured, apply to new host
They looked to the left of the display where a dime-sized disk lay. Jason seemed to hesitate only the briefest of moments before picking it up and gesturing for Jerren to come closer. “Okay, Jerren, you need to press this right there.” He said, pointing to a spot behind his right ear. “I won’t lie to you, it hurt like nothing I have ever felt before.”
Justin noticed the fleeting of panic cross his face when Jason said, “Alise told me it shouldn’t have hurt that much and there was something odd about my bonding that caused a feedback. But she said the other eleven times she bonded were virtually painless.”
“Okay here goes nothing,” Jerren tensed up the briefest of seconds as he applied the disk. When he pulled his finger away the disk was still on it. “Did it work?”
Jason looked back to the console.
TDS 3
Disk reconfigured. Apply to new host
Bonding procedure failure incorrect host data.
Apply binding disk to proper host
They tried it again, thinking it was just a glitch and after the third time Jerren dropped the disk back on the table and said, “Damn, that thing zapped me harder and harder each time I tried it. It doesn’t look like it is going to work.”
Jason furrowed his brow and looked at Justin. “Why don’t you give it a try?”
Justin felt the unease rise in him. “Uh, I don’t think it will work and I really don’t think I’m the right person to be in charge of a ship.” He no sooner got the words out when the control room seemed to rumble and a second the disk began vibrating on the table. It flew through the air and applied itself firmly to a spot just in back of Justin’s right ear. “What the…” He swept his hand against it to get it off but it was not moving. He tried to peel it off with his fingernails. The second his finger touched the disk, he felt a shocking jolt and it was lights out.
When he came to, his head was throbbing and he opened his eyes. “What the hell happened?”
Jason let out a nervous sigh. “Apparently something or someone wanted you to bond with that ship. The bonding must have activated. Let me check… Are you okay?”
Justin nodded. Jason helped him to his feet and consulted the display
TDS 3
Disk reconfigured. Apply to new host
Bonding procedure failure incorrect host data
Apply disk to proper host
Bonding procedure failure incorrect host data
Apply disk to proper host
Bonding procedure failure incorrect host data
Apply disk to proper host
Bonding procedure successful
Data link confirmed
Commander input required
Justin looked at the display and said, “What input?” A moment later the display changed to read, Input received, command functions TDS 3 transferred.
Jason said to Justin, “It would appear you are the new commander.”
Justin frowned and Jason said hesitantly, “Congratulations are in order I guess.” He went to his brother and gave him a firm hug. “You can handle this.”
Justin just grunted, “It would have been nice to be given a choice.”
At his words, the control room rumbled again but just as fast as it started, it ceased.
Jason looked around and said, “Spilt milk.”
Jerren said, “Lemons to lemonade.”
Justin nodded and silently resigned himself to whatever future lay ahead of him. “I’ll do my best, but I am going to make mistakes I just know it.”
Jason gestured for him to have a seat in front of the TDS 3 control panel. He sat down and the screen came to life.
TDS 3
Minimal access protocol, reengage full access (Yes) (No)
He was about to select yes when Jason interrupted. “You might want to engage the safety protocols first.”
He looked from the console to his brother. “I don’t see any safety protocols.”
He no sooner had he gotten the words out when he felt what could only be described as a fluttering in his head. A second later the display read, Engage safety protocol? (Yes) (No). Justin looked back to Jason and shrugged. “Do it or not?”
“It looks safe now. I just didn’t want you to get the splitting headache I did when it opened the floodgates,” Jason replied.
Justin grunted, “Here goes nothing.” And he selected (YES).
He a tickling in his head and watched as the percentage rose and fell then rose again from one to two then three and so on until it got to thirteen percent, then went to twelve and then back to thirteen. The display changed to read,
Safety protocol engaged
Auto data stream 14%
Jason said to Justin, “Okay, you need to reset the power system and check life support. It was cold as shit when I was on the ship and there was no gravity.”
Justin asked, “When were you on the ship? You never told us that.”
“It must have slipped my mind. Anyway once we power the ship up, we can make sure it’s safe to enter.”
Justin did as his brother instructed. The room dimmed and the display read,
TDS 3
Core not responding
Manual input required
Systems restart on standby
Justin shook his head and shrugged. “What does that mean, Jason?”
“I’m not sure. It’s possible that the ship doesn’t have enough power and is unable to respond to an engine restart. What are the current air quality and temperature conditions on the ship?”
Justin looked down to the display and said, “The system shows twenty-three percent oxygen and seventy-six percent nitrogen with a point ninety-three percent carbon dioxide and thirty degrees but it looks as though it has risen over
two hundred degrees in the past three hours. Why?”
Jason looked concerned and said, “I think we need to get on the ship to affect enough of a power boost to let the system restart. Do you agree, Alise?”
Alise broke her silence. “It makes sense, although it will still be dangerous. The air is close to Earth normal and the temperature change would indicate the ship is transitioning from the shadow on the back side of the moon to directly in view of the sun. Even with the ship’s advanced hull, the temperature will continue to increase until the engines have restarted and life support is reinstated. By my calculations you will only have a sixty to seventy-minute window to initiate a restart before it becomes too hot to remain onboard. The clothing and boots will afford you some protection but not much, and you should have more than enough air to last that much time.”
Jason looked at his brothers. “You heard Alise. We’ll have to work fast. I think Justin and I should go over to the ship first and, Jerren, could you monitor our progress from the console here? If it shows enough power, make sure the restart sequence is engaged and inform us of any changes.”
Jerren nodded. “Sounds like a plan. Let’s get this done before it turns into an oven over there and cooks you two turkeys.”
Jason and Justin chuckled as they turned to face the wall.
Jason said, “Archway TDS 3.” He was about to step forward when the archway failed to appear. “That’s strange. It opened for me before.”
He thought about it a second, then gestured for Justin to try.
“Archway TDS 3.” The words barely left Justin’s mouth when the archway appeared. “It would appear only the commander is allowed to open the passage,” Justin said with a smirk.
With a shrug Jason said, “It must have let me open the archway the last time only because there was no commander in charge.”
They stepped through the archway and experienced the time dilation effect once inside the derelict ship the feeling of weightlessness came over them. They both activated their magnetic boots and felt their feet get pulled to the floor.
