STAR BOURNE BOOK 1 OF THE STAR MAN SERIES
I. G. Roberts
Copyright © 2016 Ian Roberts
All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the authors prior written consent. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable criminal prosecution and claims for civil damages.
This book is a work of fiction. Places, incidents, characters and names are the product of the Authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, places or persons either living or dead is coincidental.
This book could not have been written without the encouragement of my wife Terry and sons Jack and Tom who put up with me not doing other things that needed doing while I wrote the story. Other people who deserve a mention are my Beta readers, Sandy, Dave and Rebecca who read a draft and gave me so much valuable feedback to help me improve the story. Finally, I would like to thank all the people who encouraged me to write this story and get it out there for you to read. I hope you enjoy this story and the others I plan releasing soon.
I would like to dedicate this book to all the people in the military, police and emergency services around the world who risk their lives to keep the rest of us safe and allow us to live our lives in peace.
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
1
TAKEN
TRAINING BEGINS
ZAFAR
RUNNING GAME
PREY VS PREDATOR
HUNTERS
INVASION
AFTERMATH
LEADERSHIP
THE BROKEN SHIP
MOBILE AGAIN
UNEXPECTED EVENTS
RESCUE
THE PURSUIT
MUTINY
FEDERATION BOUND
THE LAST FLIGHT
COTONI STATION
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
EPILOGUE
1
Captain Sophon Carlon looked at the blue world they were approaching and marveled at its beauty. He was captain of the Federation of Sentient Peoples deep space explorer vessel, FNS Destiny. This was the first time this world had been visited by a ship from the Federation of Sentient Peoples (FSP) in over ten years. FNS Destiny was here to evaluate the inhabitants’ development to see how close they were to being ready for first contact. The last time a ship visited this system, these people were just beginning their first tentative steps off the planet. This visit was intended to see how they were progressing. Of course, this visit was not intended to be one where contact was made, the intention was to only gather data for later analysis.
He turned to his communications officer.
“Any communications intercepts Gabro?”
“Yes sir”, Gabro replied, “the population of this world seem to be using a large proportion of the EM band from the low frequencies all the way up well into microwave now. Some of the traffic seems to be for communications but other traffic is for other reasons perhaps sensors. I’m recording everything for later analysis. I’m hoping we can learn something more of their languages.”
Carlon turned to his sensors specialist, “Sensors, what do we have in space around the planet?”
The sensors specialist replied, “There are a lot of satellites, some in low orbit and others in synchronous orbit sir. It all looks quite primitive though. There is one larger structure though, possibly manned, I can’t really tell from here. The region in low orbit looks like a scrap-yard. Don’t these people care about pollution?”
“That is enough Sensors”, Carlon said “we are here to observe, not to judge. Besides, they probably haven’t invented a way to clean their orbital space yet.”
Next, Carlon turned to the helmsman, “Helm, take us around the back of that moon. Find a suitable place, put us down there and engage the cloak. I don’t want us to be seen, not yet anyway.”
After this order, he continued more generally, “I think we need to study these people for a while. Once we have the ship settled down and hidden, we will put together an away mission with a stealthed shuttle to have a closer look at the flora and fauna and perhaps gather some samples.”
“Yes sir”, the helmsman replied as he started to carry out his orders.
TAKEN
As my vehicle approached the house I looked pensively out through the window. The sky was quite cloudy today, I thought there might be rain later. Even with the vehicle windows up and the air conditioning on in the car, I could still smell the eucalyptus, that unique smell from home, or at least it was till some other places planted eucalypts for various reasons. My old home didn’t look so different from the last time I saw it over five and a half years ago. There was a car I didn’t recognise in the driveway, and another in the carport. Six years, it seemed such a short time yet also, so very long. I have missed Katherine so much on every single day of those six years since I left. Katherine is my wife, at least she was my wife when I left, I didn’t know what our status was now. Would she accept me back, or would she abuse me and tell me to go? Had she found someone else since I left? I honestly couldn’t blame her if she had. In some ways, I felt I deserved it even though I hadn’t left her deliberately, after all I had no choice in the matter. Really, all I knew was that my aide told me Katherine agreed to meet me today, to talk to me about where I’d been and what I’d been doing.
When my car came to a stop, my aide, Lieutenant Commander Anne Frazer turned to me and studied me for a moment before saying,” Sir, you should wait here for a few minutes. I’ll go in first to help get her ready to meet you. You have changed such a lot, even since I first met you. She will not be expecting changes of this magnitude even though I tried to explain it to her when I originally came to see her. I need to reinforce this with her before she sees you again.”
After a few seconds, Anne’s words penetrated the haze in my mind. When we arrived here in Earths solar system, I asked her for help in locating and making contact with my family. It never occurred to me she would’ve already been here speaking to my wife, preparing the ground as well. I should have known she would do this, she was very good as my right hand woman and very protective of me. When I met her, she was only an ensign, now she was a Lieutenant Commander, a rank she earned with intelligence, hard work, devotion to duty and a significant amount of bravery. I wondered what she told them, how much they knew. I looked at the house again and noticed someone, a young woman I thought, though I couldn’t really make out much detail past the reflections, peering out the window. I nodded an affirmation in answer to Anne’s previous comment, nervous about what was to come. As Anne climbed from the vehicle and walked up towards the front door, I thought back to my achievements and my failures, all that had happened to me over the last six years. I thought about all the places I had been, the things I had done, the things I’d seen and everything I’d missed. I especially thought about how much I missed my wife Katherine as well as my daughter Stephanie and son Harry. I considered the life I’d led, the one I’d not been able to share with them till now. I wondered if they were willing to accept me back into their lives. Whatever their decision, I would accept it and respect their right to make it. If nothing else, I could at least make sure they were financially secure. The last six years had been very kind to me both physically and financially.
The door was opened by the young woman as Anne approached. The two women spoke to each other for a few seconds before they shook hands and Anne was beckoned inside. About five minutes later Anne contacted me via the implant direct link to let me know it was time for me t
o go in. She must have contacted my driver as well because he immediately opened the door for me. When the door opened, I thought I could smell rain in the air, it seemed I may have been right about the possibility it might rain later. I climbed out of the vehicle and walked up the path to the front door with my stomach churning from nervousness. I’d been less nervous during battles where my command was outnumbered three to one.
I reached the front door and gently knocked to announce my arrival before stepping inside. As I entered, I noticed the air conditioner running so I gently closed the door behind me. I paused just inside the door, both to pull myself together for a few seconds, and to let my eyes adjust to the dim light inside the house. When my eyes were sufficiently adjusted, I walked further in to the house. I looked around, and saw my wife Katherine for the first time in six years. To me, she looked wonderful, she was wearing a dark green dress that fit her perfectly. She’d obviously had her hair styled recently and she’d clearly made an effort to look her best for this meeting. I found myself hoping that she wanted me back, that she wanted to rebuild our relationship as much as I did. In hindsight, I realise she looked a little frail but I simply didn’t notice or even care much about that at the time. My pleasure in seeing her was so intense; I could barely contain my feelings. We stared at each other for perhaps a minute before she whispered my name. I just nodded. I noticed a tear in the corner of her eye and then we were in each other arms. I don’t know if she came to me or if I went to her, in the end, it didn’t matter, we were together again.
She whispered into my ear, “You bastard, I am so angry with you. You went off god knows where and left me without a word. We didn’t know what happened to you, where you were, or even if you were alive. You didn’t even contact me to let me know you were OK”
What else could I do but apologise, she had every right to be angry with me. Still, even as she said this she clung fiercely to me, as if she didn’t want me to escape. Then I noticed the other people in the room. I recognised the young woman immediately, it was my daughter Stephanie, a little older but still my daughter.
I managed to choke out, “Steph”.
She just said, “Dad” before she was embracing both Katherine and me.
Stephanie commented on how young I looked, though clearly Anne had already explained to them that I would look as young as I did and why. Actually, as it turned out, I looked even younger than my daughter. I caught sight of Anne, standing over to the side with a very pleased smile on her face. She was clearly happy for us. Anne and I were very close in a professional way though I would have to admit being quite protective of her, almost as if she was my second daughter. I first met her about six years earlier, when the crew of the ship I’d taken command of rescued her and a number of others who were prisoners on a pirate vessel we’d disabled then captured not long after I left Earth.
I asked,” Is Harry alright, where is he?”.
Katherine replied, “He’s fine, but he’s overseas on business at the moment. He told me he will be away for at least another week. Commander Frazer didn’t contact us till after he left so it was too late for him to change the arrangements. He sends his love and hopes you will be able to see him when he comes home.”
Of course I would be able to see him, I would make the time. I told both my girls how well they looked before Stephanie broke away from the embrace. She told me she needed to introduce me to some people I didn’t know. First, she introduced me to her partner John and then to her twin daughters Amy and Georgina who were three. I shook hands with John and told him how pleased I was to meet him. He had a rather lost look on his face. As I noticed the look, I realised I couldn’t blame him, our arrival in Earth’s system was spectacular to say the least. When we entered orbit, almost all other news disappeared from the media, countries that were at war with each other stopped fighting, many feuds were put aside, at least for the moment. Now he finds out the man responsible for all the excitement is his partners father. After shaking John’s hand, I squatted down to talk to my two granddaughters.
They were quite shy but in unison, said in a very quiet and formal way “Pleased to meet you Sir”.
I smiled at them as I gently stroked their faces, emotions welling up in my heart. I couldn’t remember if I’d met John before my departure but quickly decided now was not the time to ask about that and it didn’t really matter anyway. As long as Steph was happy, so was I. Introductions out of the way, Stephanie asked me to tell them where I’d been and what happened to me over the last six years. Katherine agreed and told me she wanted to hear about this as well. The look in her eyes told me the story had better be a good one, or else. Of course, I didn’t blame her for this, but I knew one thing I could promise her was a good story. Perhaps the story was a little unbelievable but nonetheless it was a good one and completely true. I agreed to tell them about my adventures but pointed out that it was a very long story, perhaps too long to tell in one go. It did after all span a period of six years.
Katherine asked, “Could you at least tell us as much as you can now?”
She continued, “I need to know so I can understand why you left, why you have been away for so long and why you couldn’t let me know what was happening before now.”
I could do nothing but agree to her request so we all made ourselves comfortable in the lounge, Katherine guiding me over to the settee so she could sit beside me. On the way to the settee, I realised she had no plans to let me go. As we settled in, Anne volunteered to make us all some refreshments. Katherine started to fuss at first, insisting she should do it but Anne and Stephanie together, managed to convince her to sit, relax, and let me tell my story. I noticed Steph look at Anne, nod, and mouth thank you just before Anne turned and headed into the kitchen. While Anne prepared tea and coffee in the Kitchen, I started to relate the story of my adventures.
I told my family how, as I left work on the day I disappeared, I was thinking about our wedding anniversary the following day. Time had gone by so quickly since I met Katherine forty years before. She was, and still is the love of my life. We were both single when we met, both with previous failed relationships, but ready to move on to something new. I won’t say it was love at first sight, although I admit I did think she was the most gorgeous woman I’d ever seen. Physically, she was exactly the kind of woman I’ve always felt attracted to. I even liked her natural perfume, it drove me crazy with desire. Still, when we started talking we quickly discovered we had so much more in common than a simple physical attraction. As it turned out, Katherine and I had very similar political leanings, senses of humour, tastes in music and so much more. She was easily my intellectual and emotional equal perhaps, I thought, even my superior. I always felt quite amazed at how lucky I was when she chose me to be her partner. In all honesty, I could barely believe she would be attracted to me, but as it turned out, it seems she was. From my point of view, I simply enjoyed her company. After that first meeting, we rapidly came to a point where we spent as much time together as we could possibly manage.
Our early relationship was in some ways, rather a contradiction. We were both a little gun shy after our previous failed relationships, neither of us wanting to be hurt again. Even so, when we met, we both knew it was time to move on, to take the risk and find out if we were right for each other. The attraction we felt for each other was so strong that I don’t think either of us could resist it. Certainly I could never imagine wanting to end the relationship and while she seemed a little reticent at times, I never had the feeling she wanted out of the relationship either, it was more like she was a little frightened at the rate things were developing between us. As time wore on we quickly became best friends, and were inseparable. I don’t think either of us ever realised how much we’d come to depend on each other for support till it was too late to walk away, but of course by then, neither of us wanted to anyway. On many occasions, I would be driving to work and have an almost unbearable urge to turn around and go home to her. Of course, I never did,
my sense of duty prevented it but still, it was hard not to sometimes.
As I left work to go home the day my adventures began, my mind was on all of this, and on how much I wanted to see Katherine again. I drove out of the car park and onto the highway for the three quarter hour drive home. I reflected on how lucky I’d been in this life and was looking forward to arriving home to spend the evening with my wife. I didn’t know what happened at the time. One minute, I was driving along the highway on my way home, the next, I saw something move at the edge of my vision and then the car was out of control. The lights went out and I lost almost all awareness, except for the pain, and a few other fleeting impressions. The ships crew told me later that the car ended on its side and on fire in a ditch. I have vague recollections of heat, intense pain, movement and blackness punctuated by flickering reds and yellows, but nothing much else except for the smell of something burning, apparently me. I can’t remember any other sounds or smells from then.
As it turned out, I was found and rescued by a team of scientists and their security from the Federation of Sentient Peoples before the fire took me. They told me when I woke that I was critically injured, both from the accident and from serious burns, so they placed me in a stasis pod and transported me back to their ship for medical attention. If they hadn’t, I would be dead now and the recent history of both Earth, and the Federation would have most likely taken a very different direction. When I eventually regained consciousness, some months after the accident, they told me I’d hit an animal on the highway and lost control of the car as the animal crashed through the windscreen.
After the scientists moved me back to their ship, their medical staff started trying to plan a way to put my broken body back together. Eventually, they came to the conclusion that the damage was so extensive they would have to run scans of my body, take samples, and then put me back into stasis till they could develop the best way to proceed with my treatment. Thankfully, these people were not totally ignorant about human physiology. They’ve been studying humanity for at least two hundred years by now, although this was another thing I didn’t find out till quite a while later. In addition to studying us in our natural habitat so to speak, there are around twenty million humans living within the Federation. Most of these were born on planets other than Earth, the children and grandchildren of people who’d been taken as slaves by slavers, or by Federation scientists so they could study humanity. Star-ships have been visiting earth for at least two hundred years so quite significant numbers of people were taken. At least when the Federation took someone, they were always treated humanely and even kindly. There were even a number of cases where people had either stowed away on alien vessels that visited Earth, or convinced the crews to take them along when the ship left. All the humans who ended in the Federation were helped to become productive members of that space-faring society.
Star Man 1: Star Bourne Page 1