Rogue Shepherd: The Hornet's Nest: Rogue Shepherd Space Opera Series Prequel

by Chris Vaughn

  “The window is open and there are hornets loose,” Luke argued not wanting to move from the cabin. His body still some stiff and his movements slow. His action now only slightly faster than before.

  “I closed that window up there young Shepherd. Now come,” Sorley said.

  Luke moved with his slow movements down the hall. He didn’t want to leave the safety of the room, but welcomed the familiar old man into this hornet adventure. Leaning his head outside he looked down the hallway and noticed Sorley looking out the closed and locked window of the command center. Luke let out a sigh of relief knowing the window was closed and locked.

  "Are they all locked?" Luke asked.

  "It is safe now Luke."

  Walking at a snails pace he made his way to Sorley. Standing beside him he looked out as the hornet’s were busy. Sorley opened the window just a crack and the echo of the buzzing wings came through.

  “Mr. Sorley,..” Luke spoke.

  “You’ve known me too long, and I’ve known your father too long young shepherd, and I've known you since you were born. You've always called me Sorley. I will have to speak to your father about you being here,” Sorley said.

  “But I… but…” Luke stammered.

  “No I will have to speak to him, and you will have to heed my words and his.”

  “But Sorley, where did you come from?”

  “I live down in the caves of Bethel 5 Luke. Why have you disturbed my home and made the hornets that protect it angry?” Sorley asked.

  Luke explained how he saw a few hornets flying out last night, and with nothing to do, and the cattle in a secure area, he wanted to walk down the cave and explore. He pled his case to the old man, how he hadn’t planned to come into the cave far but slipped and fallen down an incline. Luke's voice cracked as he described how he tried to call his father and he and his cattle dog, Destin, ran and he fell down, but this time down the stairs of the ship and to safety. His voice cracked as he talked of hearing his dog Destin being stung, torn apart, and eaten by the Hornets.

  “There is a reason Luke men stay away from the Vespian Caves,” Sorley’s voice held more compassion than rebuke.

  Luke tried to delve into how Sorley survived down in the caves, but Sorley answered his questions with grunts and changes of subjects. The subject turned to hornets.

  "So they won’t attack. But why did they attack me? I heard them flying overhead, but didn’t think I did anything to provoke them."

  “Did you say you tried to radio your father?” Sorley asked.

  “Yes sir, Sorley. I did,” Luke answered.

  “These monster hornets only attack for two reasons. One is extreme hunger and prefer not to eat something living or recently dead. They like to let if cure some, but when they are stirred and irritated, they are fierce and attack and eat anything they can find... even their own. Your radio did that to them. Signals from the outside can’t enter the cave much so that’s why this is where they have their hive, and why they are more nocturnal. I promise you Luke. You don’t want to be near if you set off a radio, but ordinarily they won't attack. Now let’s go on deck. You know how I love to tell the old stories of the Clans,” Sorley said.

  Chapter 8

  Sorley continued the long lecture of the War of The Flight, and how he himself had fought against the Gimti’s, Negevites, Selatites, Rammonites, Dibonites, and the Sizuites. All the races of the galactic region which had fought with the Twelve Clans as they flew from planet to planet as exiles and took control of the galaxy promised to them by El-Gibhor.

  Luke noticed Sorley's anger and wrath anytime he mentioned the Gimtis. Each story of a different enemy brought another tale of stories of the history of the conflicts and how El-Gibhor, the true God of the Universe and the Twelve Clans, had delivered them, and the armies. Sorley enjoyed most the parts of the stories of how he had piloted his ship and fought the enemies of El-Gibhor.

  The two made their way down into the depths of the ship as Sorley led the way checking power switch plates, and ion generators all the while weaving in the story of the ship and the former battles of the Clans. Entering the ion engine compartment, Sorley led Luke by the hand in the dark room to the side of the twin engines and grabbed Luke's hand and ran it down the engine.

  "These are the mighty engines of my old ship son. This type of engine is not made anymore as they are thought to powerful for ships this size, but that's because men today don’t have the stomach for warlike they should. These are deep ion engines and their power seems limitless once in space, charging themselves off the light of the sun and stars. Drawing their power as if from the light of El-Gibhor himself," Sorley said as a historian and a theologian. "They are like the heart of man. The power for a man to live comes from the light of El-Gibhor deep in his heart. And only when that man follows the path El-Gibhor gives him does the journey with His presence give him increasing life."

  Sorley walked over to a station of ion batteries. “Scores of years ago, I disconnected this main bank of ion batteries here so that if I ever needed my ship to leave this cave, I could power her up.” Sorley threw a large 'u' like shaped switch. The arc from the switch blinded them both as emergency lights charged up around the switch and the room.

  “Why are you charging the ship up now?” Luke asked.

  “Because I must get you home to your father, and I don’t have the time, or should I say you definitely don’t have the time it would take to travel through the caves and back to your father. It seems you are in enough trouble," Sorley said as Luke hung his head and took his eyes off the engines.

  "That journey would take days and days, and I’m afraid you might get lost, or worse yet, fall again. It seems you have a habit of falling into things unexpectedly," Sorley said with a smile now lit by the glow of the red emergency lights. "Come now, let us go to the bridge and see if she will still fly after all these years."

  Cobwebs and snails were now easy to see in the red glow as the two made their way back up to the bridge. The ship wasn’t as big as a cattle cargo ship, but Luke loved the old look of its design. It was like the ships his father showed him that his grandfather had flown and faught in many years ago.

  Sorley led Luke back on the bridge and repeated to the young boy the hornets would not be a threat. The command center and pilot section were now alight with the panels powering up and going through diagnostics. Dim lights on the deck of the ship lit up the outline of the ship through the bridge windows. The retractable masts of the ion sails were now visible. The radio mast still extended with dead hornets lying around and scattered on the ship's deck. Their bodies torn apart and partially eaten.

  The old man instructed Luke where to find the mooring lines attached to the shore of the underground cave. Luke waded through the water and held onto the lines underwater working to loosen the old lines and free the ship.

  “The river down here has changed course, and the water is high now in this season. The entire bow is under water as you can see. Let’s see what we can do about that young Shepherd.”

  Sorley made Luke sit in the pilot’s chair and he assumed the seat of the co-pilot. He walked Luke through what he must do to get the ship to move on the emergency power of the ion generators.

  “The power says we have less than ten percent Sorley,” Luke said and looked to the old man for help.

  “That’s right young Shepherd. We must maneuver over to what little light there is up the river some and let the batteries charge, but she has enough power to do that. Now listen,” Sorley instructed.

  Sorley continued walking the young boy through the steps and switches he must activate. Luke had sat beside his brothers and father many times on trips with the cattle, even being allowed to guide a ship. He felt confident he could do that, but knowing that the ship might be his only way out of the cave and back home, his heart beat with fear.

  Bubbles and steam gushed away from the ship as the engines roared to life with a low hum. Steam hissed the aft section as the engine
s boiled the water.

  “Bump the throttle now back and forth Luke. She is stuck on the bottom.”

  Luke did as told and after three times the ship broke free with the rear of the ship rising faster than the bow. The pitch of the ship caused Luke to slide forward; Sorley caught him with his hand.

  Sorley said, “Easy now. Let the bow of the ship lose the water that is weighing us down before giving her more power... That’s right.”

  The bow of the ship bounced against the water until the ship hovered above the water. Luke looked down and noticed the power levels were down to seven percent. Without waiting for Sorley’s instructions Luke gave the ion thrusters a bump, and the ship moved over the top of the water towards the one beam of light coming from the top of the cave.

  “Now extend the mast sails here. The ion sails will charge the batteries.”

  Luke flipped the switch, and the masts hummed and locked into place. One sail had a few holes and tears, and the other was complete rags.

  “They are destroyed,” Luke said.

  “One is not Luke, and one is all we and El-Gibhor ever needs. It will take longer with that one, but one with El-Gibhor it's more than enough. Maybe you should pray for El-Gibhor’s help,” Sorley said.

  "I have been Sorley, you just can’t hear me," Luke said and looked into the old man's face.

  The comment made Sorley chuckle, “Now get the one good sail that is torn into the beam of light there, and set the ship down.”

  Luke gave the starboard thrusters a push and then some forward thrust, and when Sorley was happy and ordered him to, Luke set the ship down on the water, powering down the engines. The landing wasn’t the easy landing of a pilot, but the hurried actions of a teenager.

  “Look now I told we had enough power.”

  Luke looked at the readout. “Three percent left Sorley.” Luke watched as the ships batteries and engine monitors recorded they were in a charge mode. After many minutes the readout read three point zero one.

  “How long will this take Sorley?”

  “As long as it needs to Luke. Be patient and let me tell you more of my ship.”

  Chapter 9

  While the batteries charged Luke told Sorley of how he helped his father with they transported the cattle of their slow cattle transports. Sorley talked of the old days and his fights in the Wars of The Flight. His eyes gleamed, and the wrinkles seemed to vanish to Luke as the old man's voice lost the gravel in his speech. Sorley repeated to him different battles and the overall story of the Twelve Clans again. Stories Luke had heard hundreds of times before from his father were repeated to him again. Any boy of devoted parents of El-Gibhor had these stories rehearsed to them almost weekly and were shown the ancient charts and maps of the Twelve Clans. Stories that traced their flight from captivity, to their taking possession of the kingdoms and planets promised to them by El-Gibhor.

  Only once did Sorley mention the fighting priests and the special powers of their weapons, and clothing. Luke pressed him for more information on those, but Sorley was quick to say that a boy of his age wasn’t prepared for such knowledge, and only those of the anointed priesthood could know the deep secrets of the special weapons of the priests.

  “Is there anything you can tell me?” Luke begged.

  “The only thing I will tell you is this. Put your faith and trust more in El-Gibhor than anything else you can ever search for or find. More than weapons. More than sabers. More than ships… and more than yourself,” Sorley finished and let the words sink in before Luke broke the silence.

  Luke asked, “Then if you won't tell me of the priests, tell me how you could scare away the hornets. Was that you with the scream, and the flashes of light?”

  “It was I who asked for the intervention, but again Luke. The gift of that, and all things, come from El-Gibhor,” Sorley answered.

  “Then you have that gift?” Luke pressed again with a question.

  Sorley peered at the battery indicator and said, “Luke you have that gift, everyone can have His gifts. The only thing needed is faith in El-Gibhor, and the humility to ask.”

  The response was more of a riddle for Luke than an answer, but Luke put the words back in his thoughts to think over after he got home to his father. “Well if El-Gibhor can deliver you, and me, from the hornets and this cave, then I want to ask him to deliver me from the anger of my father.”

  Sorley cleared his throat, “Luke, I’ve told you before, that I have to talk to your father concerning this issue. I’ve known your father for many years, and I will have to tell him how I found you in the cave.”

  Luke slumped back in his chair and looked out the window at the torn sail soaking up the lone ray of light.

  “Sorley.”

  “Yes young Shepherd.”

  “Where did you live before you lived in the caves here on Bethel 5?” Luke asked.

  Luke continued to watch the ion sail flap in the breeze of the cave in a lone streak of light. After several minutes of Sorley not answering he tried again. “Sorley, where do you come from?”

  “Young Shepherd it seems it may be time that I must you use this ship to get us out of here. It’s time for us to go, the batteries have been charging now three quarters of a day, and I suspect you need to get to your cattle, and to get home.”

  "I’d like that Sorley. I’m hungry too," Luke said.

  "And you need to see your father, " Sorley said with a grunt. "Then sit in the pilot’s chair and show me you know how to fly this ship. You’ve told me you know how to fly on impulse ion engines and my eyes don’t have the sight they once did to fly us out of this cave."

  Luke sat down beside the old man and the two of them buckled their seat belts. Sorley powered up the ion engines and checked the battery indicators again.

  “We have close to one hundred percent stored now in the batteries. That’s more than enough to get us out of this cave and into the sun where the batteries and sail will work. Let’s see if you know how to do what you say you can,” Sorley said looking out the windows of the pilot section of the bridge.

  Sorley nudged the throttle to twenty percent and the old ship rose from the water and slowly climbed upward. Luke grabbed the controls, and the ship jerked hard to the starboard side and darted towards the cave walls. The lights of the ship now glowing with enough light from the batteries that the insides of the cave were plainly visible.

  Luke looked at Sorley, “Let me get the feel of it Sorley. It’s a lot quicker than the cattle transports my father and brothers fly.” With that Luke turned the ship around several times and back again, and up and down above the river at the bottom of the Vespian Cave. Adjusting the throttle up and down the ship bobbed like a float above the water.

  “Can you pilot us out of the cave, or shall I? You can tell me the distance to the walls as we get closer to the mouth of the cave.” Sorley questioned Luke.

  “No sir I can do it. Its real quick to respond and I’m not used to it yet.”

  “Back when I was just seven or ten years older than you are now, this ship was one of the fastest fighters in the Clans. It was classified as a brigantine back then, but brigs today are much larger with more cannons. But the two I had on here were more than I ever needed.”

  Luke noticed the old man patting the control panel in front of them as if the old ship was his pet or a lost friend he wanted to comfort.

  “Do the cannons still work?” Luke asked.

  “I’m sure they do, but not on impulse or battery power. You need the full power of the ion engines for that. But once they are powered up, they are a sight to behold. I must fire them for you when we can.”

  “I’d like that,” Luke said and he grabbed the old man’s hand.

  Sorley looked at him and let go of the boy’s hand and rubbed his check. “If only you knew the future you have before you son. It will be a good one, filled with much adventure and more than your share of heartache, for the Gimtis and the enemies of the Twelve Clans grow in power. I wish
I could be your age and back at the controls of this ship more than likely will be a soldier in the Twelve Clans in a few years.”

  The ship continued its ascent up the cave. As the ship’s lights illuminated the cave, Luke was scared now by the sight of what he’d fallen down, and the luck he’d had from falling and rolling that great distance and not being hurt. The ship’s lone sail was now in the brighter rays of light from the surface and the battery indicator now showed the change.

  "See there Luke. The batteries are now stable. The light now fills the full sail."

  Luke never took his eyes off the controls or from the windows around the pilots seats. The cave had closed around the ship but if his hands kept steady, he knew he could get the ship out if he was patient. Just as the ship reached the mouth of the cave, Luke didn’t ask for permission from Sorley; he placed his hand on the throttle of the ship’s thrusters and gave the ship a jolt of forward thrust. The ship instantly responded and moved out the deep mouth of the cave and into the sun. Every light in the ship increased in brightness as the full sun hit the sail. Luke let the forward momentum take the ship on higher another fifty meters and fully out of the arch of the cave. He throttled down the ship, retracted the sails, and made it descend until he could see his father’s cattle down below him almost at the mouth of the cave. The sight of the cattle moving at a fast trot caught his attention.

  Luke pitched the ship hard to port so he could look out of the pilots windows and see the cattle. Not only were the cattle moving at a trot towards the entrance of the cave, but over forty men on horses were working to round up the cattle up below him.

  “My father and his men,” Luke said and pointed for Sorley to see. He grabbed the throttles and pitched the ship farther over to see the men, and his eyes didn’t believe his eyes.

  Forgetting he was descending with the ship leaning over seventy degrees to port, he pressed the throttles to stop the descent. With only twenty meters to go before touching down, the first shots of blasters hit the deck of the ship as it leaned over. Luke ducked his head as the blasts were coming directly at him.