The Col Sec Chronicles Box Set

by Jan Domagala

  The sun was high in the clear blue sky as Mack lay on the sun lounger his hands behind his bald head. His bare torso rippled with muscles as they bunched under his mocha skin. He had extremely broad shoulders and trim waist and with his height at only six feet he often looked squat. He was extremely powerful and excelled in sports such as wrestling, pro-football and many martial arts. Today though, exercise was the last thing on his mind. After all the training he and the rest of the Wildfire Team had undertaken recently, followed by the terror they all faced on the planet Tartaran, he was there just to relax and recharge his batteries.

  He had picked his spot on the beach with care, he was close enough to the clear waters of the sea for when he wanted a quick dip in it to cool off yet out of the way of other vacationers so that he didn’t warrant any unwanted attention from them. For the first time since he could remember he just wanted to be left alone.

  That didn’t seem to go according to plan though.

  His eyes were closed as he baked in the early mid day sun and he listened to the sounds of the beach all around him as he dozed on the lounger. He could hear the waves lapping up against the shore line and the sound of sea birds as they swooped in to pick up scraps of food offered them by those down below. Voices could be heard all around him from various vacationers having fun or simply chatting amongst themselves which he tried to tune out. He was still getting used to his enhanced abilities, hearing conversations from a distance away was one of the ones he was having most trouble with.

  A football came whistling through the air in his direction and even with his eyes closed he could tell it would hit him, he didn’t know how, he just knew. Without looking his right hand went up and caught the elongated spherical object in mid air which brought a gasp from those throwing it.

  “Wow man, great catch, you wanna play some ball?” shouted one of the men throwing the ball around. They were showing off their physiques to the young women on the beach in an adolescent display that Mack had no interest in. He tossed the ball back at them, still with his eyes closed.

  “Nope,” he said hoping they would reconsider and leave him alone.

  His disinterest sparked something in them though, the very thing he was trying to avoid was going to happen whether he wanted it to or not.

  “What, we’re not good enough for you to toss a ball around with?” shouted the young man this time slightly angrier at the rebuke.

  Mack turned his bald head to look at them. There were eight of them, ages ranging around the early twenties, good bodies on all of them and he thought they were jocks on a college vacation, probably some college football team flexing their muscles to impress the ladies. Three of them seemed to step forward, the one who shouted and two others, the rest were quite happy to stand back and not get involved.

  “I’m just here for the sun, buddy so go back to your game, your friends are waiting,” he said as politely, yet firmly as he could.

  From one of the others who held back, a voice shouted, “Come on Cody, throw the damn ball.”

  Mack held Cody’s gaze and the jock said, “What is your problem?”

  “Excuse me, problem?”

  “You heard me.”

  “I don’t have a problem, I came here to top up my tan, relax and enjoy the quiet. I’m not disturbing anyone I don’t want to be disturbed. Now if you have a problem understanding that statement I could spell it out for you, maybe use words with fewer syllables. Would that help?” Mack replied.

  The sarcasm was not lost on Cody and he stepped forward intent now on a confrontation.

  Mack was on his feet in a flash catching the jock by surprise.

  “You don’t want to do this, trust me,” he said as Cody slowed down before him.

  Mack looked the young man in the eye with his best cold hard stare. Cody was in good shape, he stood around six feet four with the lean physique of a quarterback. Good bone structure gave him model looks that at the moment were fixed in a confused/angry expression as he looked down on the shorter man.

  “Oh but I think I do,” Cody said knowing he had two of his friends to back him up should this go south. He also knew that since he’d made his move it was too late to back down and save face in front of them all.

  “Do you know me, or anything about me? Do I appear as if I’m going to back down from you, at all? For all you know I could be a raving nut job who will rip off your head then shit down your neck. Do you really want to try this?” Mack said hoping he could put this guy off what he had clearly not thought through and seemed intent on doing.

  “I agree you’re a nut job alright but the rest, I don’t think so,” Cody said.

  Mack felt a tingle then and he knew a call was being routed to his reception centre via his NI. The familiar tingle also told him it was a battlecom channel so only he would hear the call.

  He held up his hand to stall Cody from doing anything rash as he turned his head to listen to the call.

  “Mack be ready for immediate evac, we’ve got a call. I’ll be with you shortly in the Pulsar, be ready this is a Wildfire priority,” Jake said.

  “Copy that,” he replied then turned to a bemused Cody and said, “Sorry guys, can I take a rain check I’ve gotta go?” and he picked up the small bag he had with him and walked off past a startled Cody. When the jock saw the expressions on his two friends he went to grab Mack’s shoulder to turn him round.

  Mack grabbed the hand on his left shoulder with his right hand and twisted it outwards away from him as he turned to face Cody. This action had the jock’s arm twisted against the joint and held in a straight, locked out position palm facing upward with the arm pushing up against the shoulder forcing him up onto his toes. Cody could not move and the pain that lanced up his arm into his shoulder showed quite plainly on his face.

  “I said, ‘rain check’ guys,” Mack said.

  “Okay, okay you made your point man. Let him go,” one of his back up urged.

  Before Mack released him he said, “A suggestion for you Cody, think before you let your balls do your talking for you. They sometimes say things that the rest of your body can’t back up, d’you catch my drift?”

  Cody nodded his head rapidly and Mack let go of his hand. “Enjoy the rest of your vacation,” he said as he left them staring at his back as he walked off across the sand toward his hotel.

  9

  Orion was sitting in his quarters when the pilot called him.

  “The target has touched down sir,” he said.

  “Inform the assets on the surface that I want the target under close surveillance at all times. Assemble the troops, I’ll lead them myself and inform me the second he arrives,” Orion replied. “Inform OMEGA Command we are go for Phase Two,” he added.

  “Copy that sir,” replied the pilot.

  Orion smiled to himself, the thought of the plan coming to fruition pleased him. He knew this plan was a priority for his masters at OMEGA, the first part in their plan to destroy Col Sec. Once this was completed the galaxy would be wide open and ripe for their picking. As their founder had predicted, OMEGA would be the power in the galaxy.

  He got up and began to prepare for what he had to do.

  *****

  Matt, Able and Josh exited the Gateway and if they had not done this before they would have sworn they were still in the same room. Everything about this chamber was the same as the one they had left on Earth.

  “So what happens now?” Matt asked.

  Josh took control and said, “We authorise the download to your systems and the upgrades will take effect almost immediately.”

  “Is that it? I feel like there should be more to it than that,” Matt said slightly perplexed.

  “I know what you mean, sometimes I’m amazed at what today’s technology can do too and I feel like it shouldn’t be this easy to get such a lot done so fast.”

  Able said, “That’s the world we all live in now though so don’t rail against it, embrace it.”

  “It’s not that I
don’t enjoy what we can do I just think it’s too easy sometimes and that makes it harder to stop the bad guys because it’s just as easy for them too,” Matt said.

  “Well with these upgrades your comm. systems should be harder to hack into also your whole mainframe will be more secure too. Your Neural Interface’s will be able to access and process a lot more data which will help you in your day to day duties. It’ll take a few hours, days in some cases for the upgrades to filter through to everyone. Those further away from the signal will take longer obviously,” explained Able.

  “I hope so,” Matt said wistfully.

  “What’s troubling you son?” Able asked.

  Matt looked at the older man and his son and finding himself trusting both of them, for reasons he could not fathom these people engendered in him a feeling that, not only did they understand what he was going through but that they were on his side and he could rely on them, almost like family. He said, “I’ve a terrible feeling that a storm is coming, one that we have no defence for. We were lucky with the first attack by OMEGA with the Nemesis but only because they rushed to attack us. They rushed and were not really prepared fully and we got off lightly.”

  “I wouldn’t say all those deaths and the destruction they caused was ‘getting off lightly’,” Josh said.

  “Believe me Josh, if they had truly prepared for the attack there would’ve been no way we could have stopped them. We had no defence against the Nemesis as it was but we managed to gather enough forces to combat her, but if she had been fully functioning and fully manned then we all would have died, Col Sec would have been in ruins and God knows what else would have happened. So when I say we got off lightly, I mean it very literally.”

  “So what is your fear now then?” Able asked, concern creasing his brow.

  “My friend has just left to meet a friend and he said there was some OMEGA involvement. They’re still out there and if they learnt anything from their first attack then we could all be in big trouble.”

  “What do you think their aim is?” Josh asked sharing his father’s concern and understanding some of Matt’s anguish better.

  “The same as its always been, the total destruction of Col Sec, I just don’t know how or when and that’s what troubles me, it’s the, not knowing,” Matt replied.

  “Well the best thing you can do is report back to base and leave everything here to us. You’ll feel better if you can be where you can do most good, the upgrades will go ahead, you have my word,” Able said.

  “Thanks, I’m sure they will,” Matt said and although he was reassured by the words he still could not shake the almost debilitating feeling of dread.

  *****

  Pavel Norsky sat in the pilot’s seat of the shuttle he had stolen for his escape from Toldax. He had taken the small craft as far away from the planet as he could and now was waiting for the inevitable to happen.

  From the computer mainframe he had gleaned enough data, comm. transcripts and flight records to know that whoever was running the cleanup operation was unaware of what had happened to cause the explosion. That was okay because the less that was known about it the better off he would be. Obviously the Alliance, his old employers would not want anyone to know what they had been playing at down in the facility, they would want those details kept a closely guarded secret.

  Something had disturbed him though, there was a report that said they found something down in the rubble that they had transported off the planet. What could they have found? Could one of the other soldiers who had received the same serum as him have survived too? He dismissed that theory because he had been given a concentrated form of the serum, much stronger than the team of marines had been given so he doubted that any of them could show any of the results he had exhibited. Having said that though it did not give him any idea of what could have been found that was important enough to be taken back to this OMEGA Command, whoever that was.

  He hoped the trail he had left was enough that someone from this OMEGA would come after him to make contact.

  He didn’t have to wait long.

  The sensors showed the approach of a large starship that slowed down when it reached hailing distance.

  “Ahoy shuttle craft, shut down your engines and prepare to come aboard,” said a voice through the comm. channel.

  “You took your time getting here,” Norsky replied.

  “Identify yourself,” the voice ordered.

  “I don’t like your tone so alter it before I alter it for you, permanently,” Norsky replied. He had never liked being spoken to like that and now that he was as powerful as he knew he was, there was no way he was going to allow it now. The fact that they could have blown him out of the sky did not bother him in the slightest, he felt like a God and such a feeling was addictive.

  The starship came within docking range and activated a tractor beam which locked onto the small shuttle then dragged it aboard.

  Norsky remained seated as comfortable as he could in the pilot’s seat as he waited for someone to appear. He heard the docking clamps engage as the shuttle came to rest in the docking bay of the larger starship and he knew they would come soon.

  The door opened and he heard several footfalls as three people entered the shuttle. He heard the audible gasps as they saw the dead bodies littered across the passenger section and he got up to greet them.

  “Welcome aboard, I’m Pavel Norsky late of the Black Knights, and you are?” he said.

  Standing before him was a large man with the body of a weight lifter. He looked at Norsky with opaline eyes that showed slight surprise and a smile crossed his rocklike face.

  “Pleased to meet you Captain, you can call me Hermes,” he said.

  10

  Kurt Stryder sat in the comfortable leather seat on board the Silver Dart in preparation as the starship they had travelled in re-entered normal space near his homeworld of Celeron. The thought of seeing Zara again filled him with both trepidation and awe. From what Sinclair had told him she bore no grudge toward him for leaving her on Toldax, after all, everyone thought she had died, which brought him to the awe part. How had she survived being shot at point blank range? He remembered it well, too well in fact. The sight of her being shot in front of him, the pulsed plasma bolt striking her chest, her falling down and seeing the life slip away from her as her eyes dimmed were images that had been burned into his memory. Every time he closed his eyes he saw the same sequence of events. For weeks he hadn’t slept because of this and it came to the point where he didn’t know how to carry on. He became a recluse never leaving his home until he heard of the attack on Col Sec HQ and its aftermath. He attended the memorial service and seeing everyone there, seeing, almost feeling their grief as a tangible thing brought back his own grief but knowing they would continue he decided he needed to get away to sort through what he needed to do to organise his own life. That was why he booked a berth on the Colonial Queen Cruise liner which ended up, through no fault of his own visiting the Tartaran battlefield, the sight of one of the worst battles waged between the Colonial Confederation and the Elysium Alliance and subsequently one of the biggest cover-ups in recent history. What happened on that ill fated cruise forced him to face the truth that he could no longer turn his back on his destiny. He had been blessed with this gift which was also his curse and he must put it to the best use he could so instead of going through with his resignation he returned to Col Sec.

  A voice came through the internal comm. system, “We’ll be leaving the Vanguard and then landing in Jacksonville Spaceport in a few moments sir,” said the Captain of the Silver Dart, James Wright.

  Kurt operated his harness in readiness for the drop down into the atmosphere o the planet. At the touch of a button on the arm rest of his seat and the harness straps snapped into place coming out from recesses in the seat itself, snapping closed over his chest.

  “Thank you Captain, can you inform the Captain of the Vanguard to remain on station here until reinforcements arrive fr
om Col Sec, just in case they are needed before they arrive?” Kurt said connecting to the comm. system through his NI.

  “Already done sir,” replied Wright.

  Kurt felt the familiar lurch in the pit of his stomach as the Silver Dart dropped clear of the Vanguard’s docking bay. Captain Wright fired the main thrusters and sped the shuttle toward the nearby planet.

  Jacksonville Space Port was on the outskirts of one of the planets two largest cities and named after one of the two founding fathers of Celeron.

  A call to flight control from Captain Wright soon had a flight path cleared for the Silver Dart so she could land safely. The moment the shuttle was down the Flight Attendant came through from the pilots section. She was slim and very pretty, something Kurt had not noticed as his thoughts were on Zara from the moment he entered.

  “I’ve organised for you to have a car put at your disposal sir,” she said,

  “Thank you Lieutenant, what’s your name?” Kurt said noticing the bright eyed young woman with the beaming smile for the first time.

  “Lieutenant O’Neil sir. Can I say it’s a pleasure to meet you Captain Stryder, I’ve heard such a lot about you?” she replied.

  “Call me Kurt please, and don’t believe everything you hear, wait, what have you heard?”

  “Don’t worry Kurt, it’s all good,” she said her eyes sparkling with a mischievous quality which brought a smile to his lips for the first time since he could remember.

  He was on his feet heading for the door when he turned to look at her and she said, “We’ll be here ready for departure as soon as you return. Just call when you’re on the way and the engines will be warm,” she said.

  He smiled and said, “Copy that Lieutenant.”

  The car she had arranged was parked at the edge of the landing strip and was a sleek Celeron Independent Vehicles Sports Hatch, similar to the one he owned but in black. The CIV Sports Hatch was one of the fastest cars on the roads of Celeron, capable of speeds or up to two hundred miles per hour and Kurt’s personal choice.