Time Storm

by Philip R Benge

  “It is on top of crates left of the entrance; it says Handle with Care, Fragile.” Colonel Bragg replied.

  “Thanks, Colonel. Tyler Out”

  Next, Tyler returned to the bridge and spoke to the Commander.

  “We must all switch over to our oxygen bottles now because I want you to open the rear door of the ship and let our Heliot guests breathe vacuum. Then decompress the rest of the ship, including the bridge, but not the engineering department, as I need to be able to move about without any problems.”

  “Captain it will be my pleasure.” The Commander replied.

  *********

  On the bridge of the Indefatigable alarms were constantly screeching out their messages of danger, and the computer flashed up warnings of drops in air pressure from all over the ship finally culminating with a warning regarding the captain`s own cabin. Karson was up to his neck in work when from behind him he heard the whoosh as the air pressure dropped dramatically on the bridge as it rushed into the captain`s cabin, for Aswan had opened the captain`s cabin door behind him. Karson`s hand reached for his Phaser, he never made it; for the leading Heliot trooper fired his own weapon and stunned the young officer with a Phaser shot to his body. Lieutenant Masterson on seeing more Heliot troopers entering the bridge behind the first one quickly threw up his hands and screamed out. “Don`t shoot, I surrender.” The computer reading the drop in air pressure on the bridge flashed up another warning and set off the alarms once again, but when the drop in pressure stopped almost as soon as it had begun, the computer quickly compensated and pumped in more air so that the two gasping officers could breathe normally again.

  Aswan finally entered the bridge in triumph and exclaimed. “The ship is ours.” To all the Heliots within earshot.

  Down in the science department of the Indefatigable, Captain Kruger hadn`t surrendered his ship yet.

  “They must have taken the bridge by now Number One, but we still control the engineering section and of course this section.”

  “Yes, Captain but how long will it take them to get one the crewmen that they hold captive, to show them how to operate the computer and then they can open the crash doors whenever they want.”

  “Yes, I guess that we have only minutes to come up with a plan that will guarantee our success, or we will have to surrender to the mercy of those barbarians.” Kruger replied. Everyone looked blank, for no one could foresee any way to win through in the current situation.

  “That bastard Burrows is to blame for all this, should I come through this alive I swear that I will kill that man.” Kruger groaned, mostly to himself.

  *********

  On board the cargo vessel the man causing Captain Kruger so much trouble then asked the Commander to switch on the close circuit cameras to ensure that no surprises were in store for them, but only the dead bodies of the twelve troopers could be seen on the monitor that was beside Caroline. It showed all that happened down in the hold of the cargo vessel, and Tyler had waited just one minute following the full depressurising of the ship before acting.

  Tyler now turned the close circuit monitor off by the manual switch beside it, and then he moved Caroline over in front of the dead monitor.

  “Appolon, Caroline, there is something that I must do, you stay here and take charge, I will not be long.”

  Tyler didn`t like leaving the bridge at a time like this, but he had no choice, so he walked down the stairs to the hanger deck. Down at the front of the ship`s hold, Tyler soon found the crate which he had been looking for, but he had to struggle to carry it off the cargo vessel. First though he looked covertly about to ensure that all the other crewman were out of sight, they were, they were all on one of the upper decks of the space cruiser and of course all the close circuit cameras on this level had been blasted by the Heliots at Tyler`s suggestion.

  “Right where to put the bomb, somewhere that will do the most damage to this space cruiser.” Tyler said to himself, a brief look at the ships schematics neatly placed upon the hanger wall quickly told him. He now knew exactly where to put the bomb, beneath the Hyperspace engines, and soon he was back on board the small cargo vessel.

  As he made his way towards the staircase he tripped over a Phaser pistol lying near a dead Heliot trooper. He now paused to collect the twelve Phasers that had belonged to the dead troopers and put them into one of the storage lockers set along the side wall of the ship. He did not want one of the crewmen to be tempted by them, should they get the opportunity to come down here, and he also put his backpack into the locker with them. When Tyler returned to the bridge he gave the Commander his orders.

  “Get the hell out of here Commander, before that Heliot Commander cottons on to what we are up to and attempts to stop us, but leave the rear door open so that when we take off we will lose the Time Machine.”

  Tyler had decided to destroy the Time Machine when he saw all the death and destruction that had occurred, all due to the powerful megalomaniacs of the galaxy trying to acquire this fantastic technology that the scientists on Orion had produced out of their minds. However, the technology was too far advanced for Mankind to have, better it be left for a future Earth to find.

  The Commander smiled, they had done everything possible to get hold of the Time Machine and the primitive was ditching it without a second thought, well maybe it was for the best, for now no one would have it. The cargo vessel`s engines swiftly engaged and the cargo vessel lifted gently off of the deck of the space cruiser, there before them were the open hanger doors.

  “Take us out Commander.”

  “Aye, Aye, Sir.” The commander responded.

  *********

  Aswan was on the bridge looking at the security monitor that was now showing the science department.

  “Captain I demand your immediate surrender or I will order the opening of all of the crash doors, this as I am sure you know will cause all the remaining members of your crew to die, I will give you thirty seconds to decide.”

  Down in the science department, Kruger realised that the moment had come to surrender.

  “Yes, Commander you can have my surrender and that of my crew, if you will promise to allow them to live.”

  “I will allow your crew to live Captain, but you yourself, your actions I am told created the time storm that destroyed the Heliot fleet, and then you exterminated almost a thousand of my men, for that you will have to pay. Now, decide, do you surrender the ship to me or do you and all of your men die.”

  Kruger rested his head in his hands to gather what strength he could before answering.

  “Yes, if you will allow me to speak to the whole of the ship I will order the remaining members of my crew to lay down their arms.”

  Aswan looked across at Masterson, who indicated to one of the Heliot troopers how to make it happen, and so it did.

  “Alright Captain, you may now speak to the entire ship.” Aswan said.

  “This is Captain Kruger, crew of the Indefatigable, we tried to repulse the alien troopers but have failed, lay down your weapons and ready yourselves to be taken prisoner.”

  On the ships security scanners Aswan could see the dejected members of the Indefatigable crew lay down their arms in both sections of the ship not yet under his direct command, and he smiled.

  “Close the hanger deck door and then be ready to re-pressurise the ship, and then to open the remaining crash doors” Aswan ordered Masterson.

  “Trajo, order our troopers outside of the two crash doors on the mid-level deck to be ready to take the crewman to the lower galley and keep them there. Then have the Captain brought up here.”

  “Corporal Riga, contact Rada and tell him to take his prisoners to the lower galley. Have the troopers stay on that ship for the moment, we will be too crowded over here, Oh and have the primitives brought here.” Riga was newly promoted, for all the other minor officers had been killed, he was also one of the only enlisted men who had any vestige of intelligence.

  *********

&nbs
p; Just moments after Aswan gave his orders, the Commander of the cargo vessel screamed out a warning. “The hanger door is closing.”

  “Well hit the after burners and get us out while you can.” Tyler ordered.

  The Commander didn`t know what after burners were, but he got the gist of what Tyler meant, and he pushed the emergency booster button. Flames leapt out from the rear of the ship and they blasted out into space with literally only inches to spare, so much extra power had been added that the sudden jump in speed almost knocked Appolon, Caroline and Tyler from their feet.

  Down below in the hold of the ship the crates containing the Time Machine flew out from the open door of the ship along with the dead bodies of the Heliot troopers and anything else that was not firmly held down, following, but much slower, the flight of the cargo vessel. Tyler grinned across at Appolon and Caroline.

  “We are going home.” Then his face became grim as he pulled out his short wave radio and called Colonel Bragg.

  “Hello Tyler, Bragg here, what can we do for you.” Colonel Bragg asked.

  “Colonel, we are on our way home, do what you have to do, Oh, and tell George to put the kettle on.”

  “Don`t worry Tyler, I will.” Masters shouted out from behind Colonel Bragg.

  The resulting explosion less than a minute later was felt by Tyler aboard the cargo vessel, he had a grim smile upon his face, for he knew that the people of Orion, indeed the galaxy were now safe both from the pirates and also from the Heliots, but so many of them had to die to accomplish it. The Commander of the cargo vessel was looking across at him.

  “What in hells name did you do while you were away from the flight deck, that explosion back there, just what caused it?” He demanded to know, although he must have guessed from the anger on his face.

  “What you just felt was justice for all the innocent people who have died and would have died if either your bunch of pirates or that alien bunch of pirates had lived a moment longer.” Tyler snarled. “I am here because of your actions. Their death is because of your actions. And I have to live with the deaths of so many men on my conscience because of the likes of you, the Heliots, your Captain and crew, the bloody President of Earth and who knows who else, so don`t you dare have a go at me Commander, because I will not take it.”

  The Commanders face paled under Tyler`s blistering attack and paled even more for Tyler had now drawn the two Phaser pistols from his belt and had pointed them directly at the commander`s head.

  Looking into the barrels of the two Phasers that were held in the hands of the primitive, the commander knew that he was a millimetre away from death. He was an intelligent man, but one that had buried all the deeds that the Indefatigable had done deep within his sub conscious. However, after Tyler`s violent outburst, they all burst to the surface, the attack on the peaceful planet of Altera, the attack on Rigel Five, the annihilation of the Heliot army down in the valley of Orion, a groan escaped from his mouth and he almost wept for all the dead. Across from him the other two members of the bridge crew hung their heads in shame.

  Caroline, seeing the pain on Tyler`s face jumped in to protect him.

  “Tyler don`t let these Monsters dare to accuse you of anything, you did what had to be done, what no one else on Orion could do, especially that President of Earth, I hope that he gets all that he deserves, as this scum here will get when we land back on Orion.”

  Tyler smiled at Caroline and touched her arm, but then he returned to business and he contacted Colonel Bragg on the short wave radio once again.

  “Colonel, will you please ensure that a team of your marines is ready to come aboard the cargo vessel the instant that we land to take the crew into custody.”

  “We will be ready Tyler.” Colonel Bragg said highly delighted at how everything had turned out all right.

  Down on Orion they saw the exploding space cruiser, and so many of them who knew what it meant went into the temple to say their thanks to God.

  *********

  Robert Lambert came back to the land of the living to see his daughter sitting next to him. He was lying in one of the beds of the medical centre, Cassidy had called them as he had left the reactor building and Doctor Springer had responded quickly, as the centre was only five hundred yards away from reactor building.

  “How did I get here Marcia?”

  “John found you and called me and then Doctor Springer.”

  Lambert looked up at his young daughter and it occurred to him that he could easily have had a stroke or worse when the Phaser energy bolt hit him, she would then be forced to look after both him and the farm, all alone until he died, and all because of his opposition to the young marine. The marine said he loved her and he knew that Marcia loved the marine so he came to a decision.

  “Marcia that young marine, do you love him, and does he love you?”

  Tears came into Marcia`s eyes as she realised what her father was about to say. “Yes, Father we are very much in love.”

  “But you stayed with me anyway, Marcia will you please tell him that we need some help on the farm, and tell him that it`s a permanent position.”

  “I will Daddy.” Marcia replied. Her face was all smiles as her tears now slipped down her tanned young face. “I love you Daddy.”

  “And I love you Marcia.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  The Early Morning of June 28th the Year 2494

  The Heroes Return

  The small cargo vessel landed back on the same spot that it had taken off from amid wild cheering, a far cry from the lament when it had taken off with Tyler, Caroline and Appolon still aboard. Tyler had the ship re-pressurised as soon as they had landed, and then ordered that the ship`s hanger door be opened to allow the marines to enter.

  Tyler and his two friends were the last to leave the ship, after the eight crewmen left under arrest, ten space marines led by Captain Stevenson ensuring that the crewmen did so quietly. The Phaser pistols were then delivered into the hands of Colonel Bragg and his space marines. The space marines also had to take care of the dead Heliots as well as the two dead crewmen murdered by Rada, but at least he was dead now, as all the Heliots were. The heroes were taken to the temple building by Masters; he had pushed in front of President Michaels to welcome them home. Masters first act was to give Tyler back his leather jacket which he quickly donned. Some amongst the colonists called for Tyler to be made First Minister of Orion, a new post springing up all over the galaxy, but he was mentally and physically exhausted so all he wanted to do was to rest. Brian Goddard and his wife Tracy insisted that there was room enough amongst the houses of New Eden to accommodate them, so that they could rest up before they journeyed back to the village of the red plains. Parsons pushed himself to the front of the crowd now with his satellite phone held high above his head, his wife had Fleur on the other end of it who desperately wanted to speak to her husband and ensure that he was safe, and that he would soon be coming back home to his daughters and to her.

  “My darling wife, I promise that I will leave New Eden tomorrow morning, John Parsons has another land transporter and he will bring us all home, Caroline, George, Tyler and Tryon. We will be there soon after mid-day tomorrow, I promise. Oh! Tyler has asked me to say that he will get me back home tomorrow without fail, hell or high water, whatever that means Appolon laughed.”

  Tryon finally got to speak to Appolon, and he had smiles all over his face.

  “Did I not say that Tyler was the one that the Legends spoke of?” Tryon was so elated by all of the events.

  “Yes Tryon, and now I believe that what you say is true.” Appolon replied.

  “Did Tyler really dump the Time Machine out into space?” Tryon asked excitedly.

  “Let us just say that he inadvertently forgot to close the rear door of the ship.” Both men laughed out loud bringing every ones attention to them, but they didn`t care, for now Orion would not be getting very crowded with the arrival of more off worlders.

  President Michaels
had found himself frozen out of the merriment, but he was at least happy about one thing. That as long as Tyler Burrows stayed far away from Earth, in a backwater such as on a planet named Orion, he would be satisfied, for to have Tyler back on Earth would be far too dangerous for the likes of him. For just a second he had thought that the Time Machine was still on the cargo vessel but no, Tyler may have lost him the Time Machine but maybe he and Fulbright could develop a Matter Transporter, this would be far easier than trying to resurrect the time experiments and far cheaper. When the Matter Transporter was a fact, maybe Fulbright could have an accident, one far away from Orion and Tyler Burrows. Soon the Time Machine would be forgotten. If word ever did get out about it, people would say it was a myth, one more thing for the fiction writers to tell tall tales about.

  Masters finally got Tyler alone for a few moments to tell him of his own good news.

  “Well George I could do with some good news to lighten the mood that I have found myself in since we left the Indefatigable.”

  Masters explained why he was so very excited. “I have had a conversation with Doctor Springer; he says that the colony must salvage my Miles Finch aircraft. I can use it to ferry people quickly around Orion. He said that it would also make reaching and treating patients far quicker and much easier for him, he was sure that Colonel Bragg would arrange to salvage it before he returns to Earth, and there are enough engineers on Orion to help me to repair it.” Masters turned quite serious now.

  “Tyler, that Time Machine could have taken either of us back to the Earth of the twenty first century, it could have been used to explore so much of our history, we could have even listened to people such as Jesus or Buddha.”

  “Mankind isn`t ready for the kind of power that the Time Machine represented George. If we had been able to travel back into the past and listen to Jesus, do you think that the answers that were brought back would have been told to the masses, if they were not the answers that the authorities wanted them to hear. Half of Mankind would have taken to arms in protest whatever the result of the trip. No, George, if we had been ready to have the power of a Time Machine, then so many people wouldn`t have been trying to steal the same Time Machine away for their own personal use, and the fates wouldn`t have taken a hand and created the space storm that brought the two of us to Orion.”