Closer To The Core (25,000 Light-Years Book 1)

by S. Hansen

  'This unfortunate system is the Ullar system. The dominant sentient life forms of this system are the Renyans from the planet Renya. Their technology has advanced enough to enable them to traverse their star system with relative ease, however they are struggling to advance far enough for interstellar travel. The Renyans have found themselves in a race against time since their system's star reached the white dwarf stage.' The map disappeared once again to display an average Renyan form.

  'Is their skin really that colour?' Polly said.

  'Yes unfortunately their “skin” as you call it has taken on a greyish colour due to the lack of sunlight in the system. I believe on Earth you would call the Renyans humanoid in form as they have the basic two arms, two legs and a head. However you might not consider them so similar were you to meet one. They stand on average two feet taller than a human although that extra height is gained entirely from their legs. They have no body hair of any form and their faces lack the more obvious features of a human face as they merely have nostrils without the structure of the nose to act as a filter and they do not possess the ear structure to help funnel sound towards the ear drums.'

  'Are we going to be meeting these aliens then?'

  'Oh goodness me no Mr Stark, that would be a severe infringement on our code as observers.' Stark's face took on a puzzled look.

  'I merely felt it necessary to explain to you that Earth is not the only planet at risk should you fail. I have learned that is called incentivising.'

  'Fail at what?'

  The image fluttering above the cube morphed yet again, this time it presented a mechanical device, every so often it seemed to give off a pulse although the beat was irregular.

  'This Agent Stark is an object capable of destroying your civilization. Somehow the object escaped our attention as it travelled across the sector. We are not sure which planet it came from or if it even came from a planet in this sector.'

  'Why don't you just ask your friends in the next sector if they know what it is?'

  'Oh no no no, that would break Code 3, "There is to be no contact between observers outside an assigned sector".'

  'So just go grab the heap of junk yourself and be back in time for tea.'

  'Agent Stark while your suggestions are valued, and your logical thinking patterns definitely intrigue me, observers are not permitted to act directly upon the sector. You must be the one to deactivate the device.'

  'Oh...' As he thought his face bunched around his nose. 'Well what does it do? Is it gunna kill me if I try and deactivate it?'

  'That is an unknown Mr Stark. We have very little information about this device, only that it is causing soon to be irreparable damage to what you humans so fondly call the "time space continuum".'

  'So... it's doing what exactly?'

  'In the area surrounding the device we are reading many tears in reality, a person would be able to relive a moment in their life. I believe if left unchecked the device would first enable people to change the events of their past, later it would develop and begin creating black holes which would eventually destroy first this sector then the others.'

  'That's a lot of speculation, for now it's kind of like a fun amusement.' Stark's mind seemed to drift off to places and times he could relive, Hajeel studied Stark, then his eyebrow raised and his head tilted before he spoke.

  'I might remind you that you may not want to relive every moment of your life Mr Stark.' As Stark's mind put the connections together Polly regained the guilty look on her face and stayed quiet. Stark seemed to visibly shake off all thoughts of his past without ever moving.

  'So you want me to build a spaceship and fly into space, stop the device, return to Earth, destroy my spaceship and pretend like nothing happened?'

  'Almost, we will provide you with the means to reach the device. The deactivation is entirely up to you and afterwards you will return to this space station.'

  'You're giving me a spaceship?'

  'Well that was the plan until the mix up on Earth, now we believe Polly may be a helpful addition to your crew. We are not sure about the crying man though.' Stark looked over his shoulder towards George and then back to Hajeel.

  'So if taking Polly and that guy' Stark threw his thumb over his shoulder in George's direction 'was a mistake I only have one question left. Why me?' Stark's hands splayed and his shoulders shrugged as Hajeel remembered the common human condition of little self-worth.

  'You have sufficient training, you have quick reflexes and most important of all, you are destructive.'

  'Hey, I'm not that bad. I only ever destroy things that need destroying.' Stark's voice had an indignant tone but the words were spoken with little conviction.

  'Mr Stark.' Hajeel left a pause as he sighed and decided not to explain how emotionally destructive he had been. 'Perhaps it is time to show you the ship we are providing for you.'

  'Wait, wait, wait.' Polly threw up her hands, her posture gained confidence and she moved towards Hajeel, creating a dominating height difference which was unusual for Polly. 'I call bull. You say that you "observers" can't "directly impact the sector" how come you can take us from our home planet, tell us a bunch of information we wouldn't otherwise have and offer us a space ship? How is that not directly impacting the sector?' Hajeel looked as though a proud parent although it seemed tinted with sorrow.

  Hajeel glided across the room with speed and beckoned them to follow.

  'Nope, I'm not saving the world like this.' Hajeel was puzzled and horrified, he had such faith in the human race, such faith in Adam Stark, how could this man refuse to save the world?

  'Have you ever heard of a hero saving the day in no shoes?!' Stark waved both hands in the direction of his feet with an indignant look on his face.

  'John McLane, but you know what you haven't ever seen? A woman save the day in three inch heels and a pencil skirt!! Because it doesn't work. This outfit is for stomping it at work, not gallivanting around space!' Polly vigorously raised and lowered her hands up her sides and finished by splaying her hands in front of herself at shoulder height with an eyebrow raised.

  'Oh dear, I can see I still have a lot to learn about humans. I will find something for you.' Hajeel slipped through the door quickly and returned promptly holding a pair of very sturdy looking boots for Stark to wear. They were high enough to cover and support Stark's ankles when worn and surprisingly light, Stark also noted the lack of embellishment and fashionable thinking put into the design, but he graciously accepted the shoes before Hajeel disappeared momentarily and returned with an entirely new outfit for Polly.

  'She gets a brand new fancy alien outfit for coming to an alien space station in inappropriate attire but I get kidnapped and all I get is a pair of shoes?' Stark spoke while waving his new shoes in the air, Polly laughed and stuck her tongue out at him before speaking.

  'At least it's not a t-shirt.'

  Hajeel proudly presented Polly with a more slim line effeminate version of Stark's boots and a figure hugging jumpsuit, Polly's jaw dropped, then her lips curled in discontent before she spoke.

  'Are you kidding me?' Hajeel was confused, he looked to Stark for guidance unfortunately Stark had wisely decided not to wade in on this dispute.

  'No, I do not think I am kidding you.'

  'A skin tight jumpsuit?'

  'Yes'

  'Even forgetting the blatant objectification of my gender that that outfit provokes, do you have any idea how difficult it is to go to the toilet when you are wearing a jumpsuit? Never mind a skin tight jumpsuit.' Hajeel looked apologetically at Polly and scurried away with the seemingly inappropriate offering, Stark's lips parted. 'Don't you say a word.' And then they sealed tightly back together again. Hajeel returned with a bowed head and his arms full with clothing.

  'I have studied your wardrobes on Earth and made some adjustments as it has occurred to me that you are looking for something out of your world. Particularly Mr Stark.'

  'Duh, if I'm going to save the galaxy I
want to look like a space cowboy while I do it.' Polly sighed and shook her head as Hajeel passed them their new outfits. Stark unbuckled his belt, slipped out of his trousers and slid his new dark grey trousers over his boxers, the trousers were made of a soft light weight material that looked durable and were trimmed in black with built in knee pads. Polly stood half waiting to be given further guidance and half admiring the view.

  'Are you going to put the clothes on?'

  'As soon as you show me were to get changed I will.' She looked around the very open plan room in demonstration of the lack of privacy.

  'Well right here of course.' Stark sighed and grabbed Hajeel's shoulders, turning Hajeel away from Polly as he spoke.

  'She means she doesn't want us to watch her change, women are the real tricky part of humanity to understand.' Hajeel looked deeply hurt but respected Polly's privacy as she changed. Meanwhile Stark continued with his much desired shoes next to go on, tucking the hem of his trousers into the top of the boots.

  'Ooh a waistcoat. I am going to look pretty dashing... well more dashing than usual I should say.' From behind him he could almost feel Polly shaking her head and rolling her eyes.

  'It astounds me how humble you are.'

  He whipped on the black waistcoat deftly buttoning it before sliding into his favourite part, the long coat. It matched his trousers colouring, cut off at Stark's knee with a high collar and had angular shoulder pads of a hard material. He turned up the sleeves as the arm length was a little long for him but he had a very smug look on his face that Hajeel was excited to see.

  'Okay, this seems like a much more appropriate outfit.' Polly smiled as Hajeel and Stark turned towards her, seeing her for the first time in her individually designed outfit. She gave a half smile and stood with her arms splayed as if to say tada. She was wearing a long white dress like garment made of soft material that followed her arms to the elbow. It had a large collar that sat just above her cleavage, still revealing her star tattoos on her clavicle and could be transformed into a baggy hood. It also fitted tightly around her waist like a corset and reached to her calves with slits up the sides to her hip. Fortunately for her modesty she had also been given a pair of dark figure hugging trousers that snuggly fitted into her tall boots. Stark was unsure of the outfit, it didn't appeal to his tastes but he knew better than to question a woman’s wardrobe too much.

  'Is that better?'

  'Anything is better than a skin tight jumpsuit.'

  'Good, now we can go.' Hajeel once more beckoned the pair to follow him. Polly looked over to George who made no attempt to move and then looked to Stark for guidance. Stark seemed concerned about Hajeel's intentions but shrugged and strode after Hajeel, taking Polly's hand as he went. She lurched forward and struggled to keep up with the pace as they sped down the corridors to the station port.

  The door slid up and Hajeel allowed them to enter the vast room before him, the room was dark and nothing was visible until lights began to trigger in pairs. The light swept across the room revealing everything Stark had hoped for. At the core of the ship was a curvaceous pod that tapered towards the front. Surrounding the pod were two thick wings with mounted guns, the wings also pointed towards the front but stretched further ahead. In all the ship took on the shape of a trident with the middle prong being the shortest. Stark stood in awe as Hajeel led Polly down a ramp leading to the underside of the ship.

  'Adam, are you coming or are you just going to stand there with your jaw on the floor?'

  Stark looked at Polly with a boyish glee in his eyes and ran to catch up. As they reached the belly of the ship a staircase lowered, making boarding possible. When the group began to head up the staircase Trillan strode imposingly down the ramp gracefully followed by Nashana.

  'Trillan, remember if you cannot be a patient teacher, better not to begin teaching.'

  'Yes Nashana, although I think more than patience is required to teach a human the basics of interstellar travel. We have been waiting millennia so far.'

  Hajeel led them down a single curved corridor and through a vast door into the bridge of the ship. Stark slid his hands across the sleek design of the interior and turned while he walked to fully appreciate every aspect. Polly couldn't help smiling at the true nature of Stark showing through at last, the man she felt she knew to be buried underneath was breaking free. The bridge sat at the centre of the pod with a deck below and two curved windows set at Stark's hip height stretching back to cover a portion of the ceiling. What Stark assumed to be the control panel seemed relatively simple with few buttons and only one pilot seat. Behind the pilot’s seat was a cube that Stark recognised from before, a table with a curved bench surrounding it and three doorways that Stark couldn't wait to head through. But first he sat in the pilot’s chair, the chair had a high back to it that curved to cradle whomever sat in it. Stark span in it to face the rest of the room but was disappointed at the appearance of Trillan.

  'Mr Stark you will not be flying the ship.' Trillan said with unmasked glee in his voice.

  'We thought it better to show you how to man the gun turrets as you have experience with weapons already. Miss Webster-Hargreaves will be shown how to pilot the ship.' As Nashana spoke she gave Trillan a disapproving look and gestured Polly towards the control station.

  'What’s the ship called?'

  'Mr Stark we do not place as much importance on names as humans, this is simply shuttle number three seven nine.' Trillan took another chance to disappoint Stark as he gestured him through one of the mysterious doors.

  'What is going to happen to George?' Polly couldn't help caring for the now mentally unstable politician despite not knowing him.

  'His memory will be erased and he will be put back on Earth.' Nashana said in her matter of fact way. Polly looked concerned and was about to speak when Hajeel understood the issue.

  'Only the recent memories will be erased, he will still have his life.' Nashana queried Hajeel's response with an expression.

  'Humans value their memories highly, Miss Webster-Hargreaves is an historian with an eidetic memory so she values them yet higher.' Nashana then gave Hajeel an impressed look before turning to Polly and sitting her at the controls whilst Polly ruminated on their knowledge of her photographic memory. Nashana spoke in a language that Polly didn't recognise, the control panel flickered and morphed before them. More icons appeared as the board became an array of colour and symbols, then the symbols became words that Polly understood.

  'Before we begin, this button,' Nashana pointed towards a small purple button protected by a transparent casing. 'is not to be touched. You will have no need for it.' In a desperate attempt to feel involved in the training process Hajeel declared 'That's the self-destruct button.' Nashana glared at Hajeel and went back to teaching Polly the complicated process of piloting an interstellar ship.

  Meanwhile Trillan had led Stark to the starboard gun room, Stark noticed the lack of windows in the room and hoped that the firing took place in another room but didn't want to irritate Trillan with questions. The room was small with a wall of buttons and switches on one side, on the other a chair similar to the one on the bridge and what Stark could only describe as a joystick. Hung from the ceiling was a pair of goggles that Trillan took down and threw to Stark.

  'Put these on and sit in the chair, try not to press any buttons with those trigger happy fingers of yours.' Trillan altered some settings using the wall of controls, turned to face Stark and leant on the back wall.

  'See the yellow button on the control bar? Press it.' As Stark pressed the button his vision changed, the goggles no longer showed him what was in front of him but what was in front of the gun. He was very impressed but tried to remain as straight faced and visibly unimpressed as possible.

  'Now get a feel for how responsive the gun is to the movement of the control bar. When you are ready acquaint yourself with the feel of the bar. The yellow button was on your left, now you want to locate the remaining buttons, the central but
ton and the right button.'

  'So which one is fire?'

  'Neither.'

  'Well how the hell do I fire then?'

  'Wrong, "what do the other buttons do?" is the correct question'

  'Fine, what do the other buttons do?'

  'The right button turns on and off the communications with the rest of the ship, whilst the middle button splits the goggles view between you and the gun.'

  'Now can you tell me how to fire?' Trillan frowned with a slight curl in his lip, pressed the yellow button and demonstrated the pedal on the floor.

  'Don't press it unless you have something to fire at. Now we have the basics it's time you understood the guns real controls.' Trillan began the lengthy process of explaining the mechanics of the guns and the settings that could be altered.

  Once the educational sessions had been completed everyone regrouped on the bridge and the pair of humans were shown how to use the cube for navigational purposes. Stark struggled at first to control the cube with hand gestures alone, he felt as though he were conducting an orchestra that he could not see or hear. The three observers were at last satisfied that everything had been explained as best it could, so they gave the coordinates for the device and left the ship. The observers opened the docking bay and released the ships anchorings before the ship jerkily lurched through the hangar doorway. Out of the hangar the ship turned cautiously before speeding up and away.

  As Polly sat nervously guiding the ship Stark slouched against the wall to her right while thinking out loud.