Space
Knights
Volume I
The Arrival
by
Gregory Samuelson
Published by:
Light Switch Press
PO Box 272847
Fort Collins, CO 80527
Copyright © 2021 Gregory Samuelson
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN: 978-1-953284-39-6
Second edition
First edition published by Tate Publishing in 2014
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, digital photocopy, recording, or any other without the prior permission of the author.
All rights reserved solely by the author. The author guarantees all contents are original and do not infringe upon the legal rights of any other person or work. The views expressed in this book are not necessarily those of the publisher.
Dedication
This novel is dedicated to my friends and family that supported my dream to write. Most especially the author dedicates this work to my beloved wife Christi and in memory of Glenda, Dad, Gram, Aunt Twi and Nora. Also the class of 1990 Valley High School, “Go Big Vikes!”
Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank and acknowledge the assistance of a few people that helped him write this work. Before anyone else, the author would like to thank God for giving me this story to tell. He also thanks his family for their love and support through this process. Words can only begin to express his gratitude. The author also would like to thank his wife Christi for her love; encouragement and waking my heart back up. He also would like to thank his mother in-law Jaque Crick for her help with the initial editing and advice. Thanks to his late wife Glenda for her love and encouragement in this process and her invaluable input after listening to him read rough passages so he could refine them before her passing to cancer. He would also like to thank his editor Michael Presky for his outstanding work to polish the manuscript and asking questions that he had not thought of. Thank you Mom Judy Samuelson for believing in me. Dear God keep our loved ones in your loving arms “Till the Breaking of the Sky.”
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1 Before the End of the Earth
Chapter 2 Grandfather’s Dream
Chapter 3 Leaving the Earth
Chapter 4 Close Call
Chapter 5 A New Home
Chapter 6 A Time for Action
Chapter 7 Voices in the Dark
Chapter 8 Lost and Found
Chapter 9 Battle Homeward
Chapter 10 Legend of a General
Chapter 11 Welcome Home
Chapter 12 School Again
Chapter 13 The New Captain
Chapter 14 Test of a New Leader
Chapter 15 Enter the White Dinosaur
Chapter 16 Applications, Battles, and Kisses
Chapter 17 Jousting
Chapter 18 The Journey
Chapter 19 The Boulthorian Plot
Chapter 20 Dance and Conversation
Chapter 21 Shields
Chapter 22 Tournament Fun
Chapter 23 The Peaceful Blockade
Chapter 24 Bold Plays
Chapter 25 Noble Stand
Chapter 26 Graduation Gifts
Epilogue
Prologue
Trillions of centuries ago, when the Earth’s sun was just a nebula, and God had not yet created its solar system (including the Earth), he was watching other races of men and other sentient beings He had created on other planets in other solar systems. Not just solar systems in the Milky Way galaxy but across every galaxy in the entire universe. As creator he watched over all of his creations. He was aware of them all, their thoughts and actions, watching everything all at once.
An event was taking place in the outer edge of one of the arms to the Andromeda galaxy. Here in this section of space the race of Sphinx from the planet Pyramar were in the middle of conducting a very dangerous experiment that would have catastrophic results across the universe. The Sphinx had developed an extremely deadly weapon, a solar bomb, that when detonated would explode with the power of a supernova.
“All is ready captain,” disclosed the young soldier named Sax as he smartly saluted his commanding officer. He was a typical Sphinx, a being whose body had the characteristics of a lion’s, but with a human face. Like most sentient beings, the Sphinx walked upright on strong powerful legs, and what would be the front legs of a regular lion were extremely powerful arms with hands with paw pads and fingertips that were sheaths of deadly sharp claws. This particular soldier had a strong young face, eager for new adventures. He wore a suit of armor that conformed to his body. The smooth gray metal plates moved seamlessly and silently. He wore the standard trapezoidal helmet adorned with two small bars in the center just above his eyes signifying his rank of lieutenant.
***
Melthor was the ideal test site for the solar bomb. Its residents, Minitons, had died off centuries ago, or that was what was believed. There was a rumor that some of them had left and migrated to other planets, but this couldn’t be proven. In Melthor’s history there was mention of a deep space scout ship that was to explore the next galaxy over. It had been believed that the ship was destroyed long ago. The truth (that nobody would ever know) was that the ship had malfunctioned and after trillions of centuries would land on Earth in ancient Greece. Its Miniton pilot would be considered a monster and hid in a labyrinth on Crete. The Miniton had a face that resembled a bull with the body of a man. The Greeks called him a Minotaur. At this moment a small group of peaceful Olorians were on an archeological expedition on Melthor.
***
The Sphinx had been at war with the Olorians for four centuries. The Olorians were wizened ancient beings that believed that every world should be sovereign and left alone. They acted to defend their home world and aided worlds that were threatened. They had the visage of an owl and a body that resembled a lynx. They walked erect, and had armor and weapons such as swords, spears axes, bows and arrows. These types of weapons were prevalent in different styles on all of the worlds in this section of the Andromeda galaxy due to an ancient treaty that permanently banned all projectile and energy weapons. There were the exceptions of arrows fired from any form of bow or crossbow. With the development of naval ships and then the advance of armed space ships, these vessels were allowed to fire arrows with a vast variety of explosive arrowheads.
It was the intention of the treaty to slow down wars between races. In order to kill your opponent you must face him one on one and look him in the eye. It was considered un-chivalrous and undignified to just stand back with a projectile or energy weapon and shoot your opponent. Thus every race sought out better metals to forge ever stronger armor and weapons for the battlefield. The Sphinx were dismayed that, with military advancements in armor and stronger and sharper weapons, and eventually in their space battleships, the Olorians continued to thwart them. The Olorians’ close allies the Griffins aided the Olorians in this conflict. Now, with the development of the solar bomb, the Sphinx thought they had the upper hand and could conquer the entire galaxy.
“Thank you Sax,” the captain said before turning to his gunnery officer. “Valondox is Melthor in your sights?” he casually asked. He was arrayed in his golden armor. His ornate trapezoidal helmet was beside him on his throne like captain’s chair in the cockpit of the four hundred foot long space battleship. A thick mane of brown hair framed the captain
’s clean-shaven face. He stared through the forward viewscreen at the dead planet that had been selected to be the test target for the solar bomb.
“All is ready sir. The planet is in my sights. Just give the word, captain,” said Valondox the gunner.
“And just think captain,” said Sax as he eyed the giant planet seven times the size of their home world, “when the bomb explodes, it will blast apart the planet and we’ll be able to easily mine the planet’s massive quarvalian and telvian deposits. They are a third of the planet’s core along with topaz, quartz, yorian, granite, and iron. When the quarvalian and telvian are forged together they will make the best armor and weapons for our war efforts against the Olorians and Griffins.”
“Yes,” said the captain as he relaxed and smiled at the glory that would be his for fulfilling their goal. “It was unfortunate that four crew members lost their lives three months ago on the plant Xet. The lutroneum we found there will make history for our war efforts. The scientists on our ship discovered its explosive nature and were able to develop it into the solar bomb. The glory of this experiment will be ours and ours alone. We will get the credit for discovering the lutroneum and putting it at the heart of the solar bomb and we alone will get the honor of testing the bomb that will lead us to ultimate victory over the Olorians and Griffins. It will be too bad for that expedition of Olorians on Melthor.” A sadistic grin flashed on his face as he thought of eliminating part of his enemies, a bonus to successfully completing the experiment.
Valondox couldn’t help but add, “And think that when our mission is complete, a fleet of these Arrow Battleships will be built. All of them armed with solar bomb arrows. But is it wise that we have all of the plans for this ship and the solar bomb. There are no other copies. Shouldn’t we send backup copies to home base?”
“There is no danger,” Sax responded, “This ship is absolutely secure. Our lead scientific officer has advised the captain and me about the solar bomb’s power. He has worked out the safety distance for us to be when the arrow is launched. We will be completely safe when the bomb explodes. There is no danger.” His confidence was so strong that it reassured the cockpit crew.
“But,” said Valandox cautiously, “What about the planet’s heavy and dense core? Isn’t it still possible that the blast could rebound back at us?”
The captain frowned at Valandox’s doubt. Valondox was usually a good soldier; never questioning orders, yet this experiment seemed to have him on edge. “The science officer has reassured me that the bomb will detonate exactly as planned and open up the planet like a smashed melon. If there is some blast rebound, it will only come back a quarter of the distance back to the ship.”
Valondox turned back to the screen and tried to relax his nerves. His uneasiness remained in the forefront of his mind. He didn’t have the scientific knowledge to back his thoughts up; something just wasn’t right.
The ship they were on was equipped with a huge one hundred foot long compound crossbow with great power wenches at the ends of the bow that would launch the one hundred foot long arrow armed with the solar bomb in its arrowhead. The huge bow’s cable bowstring had been drawn back and the arrow loaded and ready to launch.
The bomb’s hyper-reactive core was safe and stable for the moment, but once it was launched a small digital distance reader would measure the distance to its target and down to the activation point. As the arrow reached the activation point, a small electrical signal would start the reaction process that would ultimately lead to the bomb’s explosive climax.
“Fire!” commanded the captain. Valondox’s arm stretched out his claw like a hand and grabbed the golden firing lever. Still feeling an unreasoned dread Valondox pulled the lever and felt the ship shudder and shake.
The great turbo wenches at the ends of the bow spun the cable that propelled the arrow with the solar bomb. The arrow sped off the huge crossbow and raced toward its target while everyone on the ship watched and waited to see what would happen.
In just a few minutes the arrow covered the great distance between the ship and the doomed world. The solar bomb exploded, erupting in a fireball that started out as a pinprick on the screen, but expanded extremely quickly. In moments it had covered the entire planet. Everyone on the ship watched. The experiment appeared to be a huge success, yet the fireball continued to grow.
Suddenly alarms sounded on the ship and the cockpit crew began checking all their instruments to locate the source of the alarm. “What’s going on?” asked the captain, looking nervous.
“It’s the blast sir. It’s still growing. It’s going to hit us!” shouted a terrified Sax.
“What! That’s impossible!” exclaimed the captain. “We’re outside the designated safety line. How can it be approaching us at this distance?”
“It’s the blast back sir!” shouted Valondox as he checked his instruments and saw that his original suspicion had been correct. Three more crewmen verified Valondox’s statement.
With feverish reactions the crew scrambled to turn the ship around and tried to activate the deep space drive that would send the ship past the speed of light and away from the approaching fireball. However, at the moment the drive was activated the ship was vaporized.
Melthor was reduced to two-thirds its size and blasted into its huge moon, now approximately the same size and mass of the planet. The collision of the two galactic bodies caused the moon to be launched out of its orbit. The blast expanded for another five minutes before collapsing, and Melthor’s moon continued on its way across the vastness of space toward a nearby galaxy. Ultimately it would be responsible for the destruction and redemption of many worlds.
Chapter 1
Before the End of the Earth
Across space and trillions of years later in the Milky Way galaxy on planet Earth, a small group of astronomers looked through their telescope and were stunned. They had spotted something monumental that totally took them by surprise. They had been looking well out past the planet Pluto where they saw what appeared to be a new planet.
“Well Dr. Walters, what do you think?” asked the excited assistant Mr. Daniels as he peered into the giant telescope.
“Looks like our system has a tenth planet after all,” said Dr. Walters to the rest of the astronomers as he took command to study the distant planet. They spent the rest of the night taking notes, making telephone calls, and sending telegrams to other astronomers and scientists around the world. The phones had been installed new three years ago in 1950. News of the new planet spread across the globe in record time as more and more astronomers and scientists turned their telescopes toward the new planet.
***
Weeks passed as scientists in observatories all over the globe watched the distant planet. The scientific world reached the same conclusion. They determined that the planet was the same size as Jupiter, and that it was moving closer to Earth every day. They were astounded that this was even possible.
The prestigious scientist Samuel Sonderson from the United States of America headed one group studying the planet from the observatory located at Mt. Evans, Colorado. His group’s examination of the planet produced a very startling fact. They found that in one hundred and fifty years the planet was going to hit and destroy the Earth. The information was of vast importance to the entire world. The scientists agreed that Dr. Sonderson should be the representative to bring the information to the United Nations.
“Mr. President and worthy delegates, my colleagues and I have been studying this planet-like mass which was brought to our attention by Dr. Walters and his assistant some weeks ago. We found that it is approximately the same size as Jupiter and is solid. Unlike Jupiter and Saturn, which are gaseous planets, this mass has a surface more like Mars or Mercury, solid and rocky. The planet’s mass is also tremendous; roughly fifty times that of Earth. Now I know that you have already heard about this, but our information is critical because of a dev
elopment that we discovered. That is why I am here.” Dr. Sonderson stated gravely, “My group and I have calculated that our planet has roughly a hundred and fifty years left before this planet collides with the Earth.”
Around the room, delegates turned to each other and murmured about Dr. Sonderson’s last statement. It had startled them all. Some thought he was mad. Some thought he was just stirring up trouble. Maybe he had made it up. Was it a joke, and if so wasn’t it in very bad taste? The President restored order by repeatedly banging his gavel and calling for order.
“What does your group suggest that we do? Is there some plan we can use to escape this disaster?” asked the President.
Dr. Sonderson thought a moment and consulted the scientists near him and they talked quite vigorously and nodded in agreement with the plan they had all discussed for weeks before this UN meeting. Finally he turned and spoke, “My group and I have studied this situation thoroughly and we have examined all of the possibilities and we have come to a decision. Our proposal is a global evacuation. We have time to devise rockets that could carry the Earth’s population to a new planet where they could start again.”
Silence engulfed the hall as everyone took in the idea and pondered whether or not it could be done. Where would they go? Could such rockets be built? Was there enough time? How would the population live on these ships? There were even those who thought about who would be saved. What about the profit from this venture? The contract for the rockets would be worth billions. Who would build the rockets? Where would they be built, and what about the countries that could not afford the rockets? Would each country have to build their rockets?
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