COLOSSUS: Departure

by Terry Frost

  “Haven’t I told you before to never remind me of the obvious, Jeeves?”

  “That is affirmative, Colonel, and I can recall many times in the past where if I hadn’t reminded you of certain situations you wouldn’t be here today.”

  Jak stopped walking and turned to Jeeves and was looking at his chest area and said, “Funny, I don’t see any accommodation medals on your blouse for all the times you saved my life.”

  “Well, if there were such medals I would have so many you would have to carry some of them for me.” Then Jeeves made the effort to perform what he said was his laugh.

  “Very funny, Jeeves, and would you please search your voice commands for a laugh that doesn’t sound like a cricket with the hiccups?”

  “Good idea, Colonel. I have over 10,000 different laughing sounds and you can listen as I sound them out on our way to the first planet. How would that be?”

  “I have a better idea. Just record about a 100 of them and I will listen to them when I’m in my quarters and that, Commodore Jeeves, is an order.”

  “Yes, sir. But I do have a question that has been bothering me for quite some time now.”

  “And what might that be, Commodore?”

  The two men continued on their way down to the hangar bay as Jeeves asked his question.

  “While searching through my neuro-processor I discovered something that I’m not too fond of and I need to ask how did you come up with my name. Did you think the name fits me or did you just like the sound Jeeves makes when you say it?”

  “If I must be honest I have to say I thought you looked like a Jeeves so that became your name, why?”

  “I found that the name is used mostly by those that think Jeeves is a man-servant. That designation does not please me, Jak. I am not anyone’s man-servant. I am not a chauffeur, a habitat servant, nor a chef, or a server of food, Colonel.”

  “I have never considered you to be my man-servant and never will. I just liked the name that’s all, and because I thought the name fit you doesn’t mean I looked up the definition of the name before giving it to you. Are we clear?”

  “Affirmative, Colonel.”

  Just before they were about to board the USC Striker, Jak said, “By the way, you said you were not pleased with the Jeeves designation. Being pleased is a Human emotion and I didn’t think you had emotions.”

  “I don’t have all the emotions Humans have, but I do have a few. I suggest that you learn two of my most important emotions for future reference, Colonel.”

  “And what would those be?”

  “Humor and anger. You have already expressed I need to work on what is funny and what is not, but you haven’t seen me angry and I will seldom show that emotion. I hope for your sake you never have to see it, especially if it is directed at you.”

  “I’ll make a note of that,” Jak said then held out his arm and said, “After you, Commodore.” Then the two men walked up the lift and into the Battlecruiser.

  Hammer took the co-pilot seat next to Captain Slain and as he buckled the seat harness Slain looked over and said, “Glad you could finally make it, Colonel. May I proceed with our mission now?”

  Jak cracked a wry smile and let Slain see it before he said, “You may, Captain.”

  Chapter 4

  The USC Striker took up an orbiting position around the first planet that command thought might be in the GoldieLocks zone, but the ship’s sensors indicated the planet was nothing more than a frozen ball of rock.

  The planet was shrouded in a purple colored atmosphere and impossible to see the surface. Jeeves was reading off a description of the surface provided by the onboard topography map.

  “Captain, the terrain of this planet is made up of mostly long mountain ranges and deep crevasses. I’m not seeing anything that resembles plateaus, valleys, or any other such areas that would provide life as we know it, sir.”

  “Sounds to me like this ice ball is a waste of time, Captain. Call it in and let’s go farther into the solar system. What do you say?” Hammer asked.

  “I say, Colonel Hammer, that we continue on and complete our required five orbits of the planet per our orders. You know what orders are, don’t you, Colonel?”

  “Yeah, I know what orders are, Captain. Isn’t that when you go into an eating establishment and a sweet young waitress comes to your table and asks what would you like to eat.”

  “Pretty close, but that is a different kind of order than Admiral Allen gave us. So we will continue to go by his order. Commodore, set us up for four more orbits, please.”

  I can tell this Slain character isn’t going to have any sense of humor about him and this may be one of the most boring officers I have ever worked with, and what’s up with that southern drawl? Jak asked himself.

  The Striker completed its five orbits and called the Colossus to give his report. Finding it odd that the planet was a frozen world, Admiral Allen told Captain Slain to stay in orbit around the planet until he called him back.

  Allen turned to Petrov and asked, “Didn’t the sensors show that planet to be in a habitable zone?”

  “Sure did, Skipper. Maybe we should send a probe down to the surface to see if we can ascertain as to why it is a cold world.”

  “That is something I would like to figure out in the future, but for now our priority is to find a new home.”

  He called the Striker’s captain back and Slain answered on the first chirp, “Slain here, Admiral.”

  Break off your orbiting of the planet. We have made note of it and need to proceed with our directive. We are still waiting to hear from the Perseus, so for now, go ahead and bring your cruiser back to our coordinates, Captain.”

  Slain thought that when Jak heard the admiral’s orders he would get to hear him complain, but that didn’t happen.

  Captain Sokolov and the Perseus had been mapping the surface of a large planet with a rocky core and so far Sokolov thought the planet would be one for the record books. It was shrouded in a light purple colored atmosphere and was a beautiful looking planet from space.

  The entire planet was covered with water except for a piece of land near what the captain thought would be the planet’s equator or central region. The landmass was the size of the state of Texas back on Earth, and just off its north shoreline was a line of islands that after receiving the data from mapping showed them to be eight hundred miles long and ran in a northwesterly direction.

  The water was the same color as the atmosphere, a light purple, but maybe a shade darker. Atmospheric sensors indicated the planet was suitable for life and that included Humans. Major Brik Hoser became quite animated and his excitement pleased Sokolov as he too was excited, but being Russian it wasn’t in his nature to show it.

  Both officers became more excited when sensors started displaying animal life in the oceans, big animal life. Sokolov couldn’t be completely sure but the large animals were similar to the Earth’s whales, but twice the size of the largest whale on Earth, the Blue Whale.

  Sokolov called his admiral. “Sir, I have some very exciting news. Our atmospheric readings show the planet has a breathable atmosphere, and our sensors have picked up some type of animal life in the planet’s ocean.

  “That’s fantastic news. What else can you tell us about the planet, Captian?”

  “Unfortunately sir, the planet’s surface is ninety percent water, Admiral. I’m sending our mapping to you as we speak, sir.

  “For heaven sake, Captain. Being nearly one-hundred percent water won’t bode well for our civilization. What about the ten-percent land? Did you get any signs of life coming from that region?”

  “Our sensors have given us a good sense of the topography, but for some reason, our sensor array keeps going offline. It could be because of the planet’s atmosphere, but whatever is causing the glitch hasn’t allowed us to get any detailed readings over the landmasses, sir.”

  “Well, just off the top of your head, Captain, can you give me something to relate the size
of the landmasses to? After all, that planet is almost two times the size of Earth.”

  “Major Hoser said it is comparable to the size of Texas, sir. And as you will see when you look at the map I sent you there is a long chain of islands running from the major landmass in a northwesterly direction. Admiral, what are your orders, sir”

  “Continue your orbital course, Captain. The Striker is pulling up next to us and as soon as Captain Slain is ready we will be heading to your coordinates, Allen out.”

  It didn’t take long before the giant Colossus to be picked up on Captain Sokolov’s screen and a few seconds later she pulled up around 1000 yards from the USC Perseus followed almost instantaneously by the USC Striker. Colossus took up their standard secured position behind Perseus with the Striker positioned behind Colossus.

  The three spaceships continued to orbit the large planet until they had made one full orbit around it. While orbiting the Colossus’s scanners being a lot more powerful than the Battlecruisers were able to penetrate the atmosphere easily.

  The first hour of scanning was completely over water and as soon as Perseus’s scanners showed they were in close proximity of the large landmass Captain Sokolov radioed the Colossus and informed them they were coming up on land.

  When the Colossus got positioned over the center of the landmass the admiral called to his helmsman, saying, “All stop, Mr. McManus.”

  Gordo did as commanded and brought the huge ship to a complete stop, or as near as a complete stop was possible. In space even with the ship’s engines at all stop, the huge ship would still drift somewhat.

  The Texas-sized landmass was still bathed in darkness but wouldn’t stay that way much longer as it would soon be basking in the early morning light coming from Potmus, the planet’s sun.

  Admiral Allen ordered the view of the landmass to be brought up on the huge viewing screen located above the main window section of command central. When the view showed itself everyone in Command Central stared with pure wonder and joy as this was the first time Humans had found a planet with an atmosphere suitable for Humankind.

  Colossus’s scanners were on full zoom but weren't strong enough to give much detail at ground level. They did, however, paint a picture of the lay of the land of about one hundred square miles along the west coast of the large landmass.

  A few seconds after Potmus started covering the landmass with sunlight the men and women in charge of commanding the three ships saw the west coast rose out of the ocean around 1000 feet higher than the water. The scanners showed miles of waves estimated to be 100 feet high rolling into the landmass constantly one after another.

  Noticing the height of the wave, Rear Admiral Petrov said, “It is good, Admiral, that the landmass seems to be one of mostly rock. If it wasn’t I don’t think the land could stand the constant pounding those huge waves are giving it.”

  Being an expert surfer in his youth, Admiral Allen said, “Talking about hanging ten, Admiral. I know you are aware of my love for surfing but I couldn’t imagine living through trying to surf hundred-foot waves.”

  A couple miles inland a long mountain range ran up and down the coast for miles and miles and the mountains were twice as tall as any mountain on planet Earth. Extending from the bottom of the mountains to the edge of the landmass ran a fairly flat surface a couple miles wide that ran the length of the entire range.

  “Ensign Cherney, what is your estimate of the elevation of those mountains?” Petrov asked.

  “Sir, the tallest peak in the middle of the mountain range shows to be 53,675 feet. The average height comes out to around 49,321 feet, Admiral.”

  “I’d say those are some seriously tall mountains, Admiral, Allen said.”

  “That would be correct, Admiral.”

  Colossus’s scanners kept scanning to the north along the mountain range when an amazing sight became clear. What had to be a half-mile wide waterfall was pouring down the 1000 foot cliff and spilling into the ocean.

  Following the water that was making the waterfall back towards the mountain range, there was a wide gap between the mountains and flowing through the opening was a rapid laden river coming from the interior of the landmass.

  Instead of continuing to scan along the mountain range, Allen ordered that the scanners be aimed at the area of the river and on into the interior past the leading edge of the mountains. Once clear of the mountains the wide river began to branch out into smaller arms of water leading to the northeast and northwest.

  To the crew’s amazement, the interior was covered with some kind of dark purple grasses and where the grass stopped began lush forests that resembled trees, but every treetop was shaped like umbrellas. The foliage was purple and yellow and from outer space looked like candy one might encounter in a fantasy or dream.

  Just then, Admiral Allen was pinged by Science Officer Jeeves. “Allen.”

  “Admiral, our sensors on the Striker are indicating life in the grassy areas, sir.”

  “What kind of life, Commodore?”

  “They are quadrupeds, sir. I’d say similar to the biological makeup of a horse or zebra, but much smaller than our animals back on Earth, Admiral.”

  Before the admiral could reply he was interrupted by Colonel Hammer.

  “Admiral, Colonel Hammer. Maybe Commodore Jeeves and I could take the hornet down to the planet surface to check out the creatures. Would that be doable, sir?”

  Arvin gave a wry smile then said, “Hold that thought, Colonel.” A couple long seconds passed then the admiral said, “Make it so, Colonel, but I want you and Commodore Jeeves to take a shuttlecraft instead of the hornet.

  “If there is intelligent life on that planet I think it prudent that we don’t show up in a vessel that looks like a giant predator, and Colonel Hammer, do not forget our First Contact Protocol. Report your findings to General Dubois. Allen, out.”

  Jak unbuckled his seat belt and jumped out of the co-pilot’s chair yelling, “First contact, damn right.”

  Captain Slain glared at Jak and with his Alabama drawl, said, “Yeah looks like you might get to be the one to make first contact. Just make sure you don’t kill the first intelligent being you meet.”

  He hated the way Jak “frinkin” Hammer was able to circumvent the chain of command and thought after all, on that particular communication he jumped over a captain and his own general with straight access to the Fleet Commander. I did like the way the admiral told him to report his findings to General Dubois, though.

  Chapter 5

  Jak may have gone around his boss but he had enough respect to call him before leaving the Striker in the shuttlecraft. While Commodore Jeeves was readying the shuttle for the flight down to the purplish planet Jak called Dubois.

  “Colonel Hammer to General Dubois, do you copy?”

  “Go ahead.”

  “General, I wanted to contact you prior to flying down to the planet and ask if you have any specific orders for me, sir, and to make sure you aren’t upset with me for asking the admiral for this mission?”

  “What, am I suppose to act like this is the first time you’ve ever shown disrespect for your commanding officer, Colonel?”

  “Now to be totally fair, General, I admit I sometimes have a problem in that regard, but it’s the first and only time I will ever do anything like that again when it comes to you, sir. I couldn’t help myself, this is just too important to let any bumbling idiot from the Navy handle.”

  Before Dubois said anything Jak saw two pilots climb into their combat wasps and start their engines.

  “Well, I have to admit I agree with you on that point. Alright then, you have my consent, but I’m sending two of our wasps with you. They will stay at extremely high altitudes unless you call for them.

  “Now I have two orders for you, Colonel, and the first is don’t get yourself killed and Commodore Jeeves dismantled. The other is don’t kill the first alien you see, Dubois, out.”

  As soon as the two men disconnected Jak thought wh
y is everyone saying that to me? In his mind, he never killed anything that didn’t ask for it, or at least that was his take on it, and whatever he runs into on the planet had better not show signs of aggression.

  The Striker’s bay door opened and with the shuttle lined up for takeoff Jak said, “Jeeves old boy, here we go.” The shuttle shot out of the hangar and within five seconds the two wasps followed suit.

  When all three ships had cleared the atmosphere the two combat wasps remained at a high altitude as the shuttlecraft continued downward. The planet became more beautiful the closer the craft descended.

  Jak’s first priority was to comply with the first contact directive and he needed to find a secluded site to land the shuttle. The first contact protocol called for them to stay secluded until they could recon the area for life.

  If they did find life the next step was to use one of caution and to try to present themselves as non-threatening as possible. First contact with intelligent life could happen peacefully or one with total aggression from the aliens. It was anyone’s guess to how it would go but Jak and Jeeves were hoping for it to be peaceful.

  Jak brought the shuttle down to 1500 feet and was getting a great view of the umbrella forest that backed up to the base of the mountain range. With everything one shade or another of purple, it was a pleasant break to see the rivers were a pale shade of blue.

  It wasn’t long before the pair saw their first sign of life and they were the animals detected by the Striker’s sensors. There was a hundred or so dark purple with black striped animals running along the main river through the two-foot-tall grass that was waving caused by surface winds.

  Jeeves noticed the animals were around four foot tall with most of their lower bodies were hidden in the grass.

  “I don’t know about you but those things look like some type of zebra to me. Their heads are shaped like a horse’s heads. What do you think?”

  Jeeves responded, “I agree with that assessment, Colonel.”