Initiation Series: Series One Compilation (Terran Chronicles)

by James Jackson

  “George, come in, we’re receiving you.” Joe says as he stares out the forward view. He points at a strange looking spaceship as it flies in from the side. It fires an energy weapon of some kind; the bright bolt strikes the Terran. The impact sends a vibration throughout the entire ship, and obviously buckles the Terran’s armor. The enemy ship fires relentlessly, pounding the Terran from stem to stern. Cindy sits in her chair, totally demoralized. There is nothing they can do.

  George feels rather distant, his mind in a haze as he stares lethargically at the cloudy sky. “Oh, is that you Joe? I am on the planet. How are things your way?”

  “It’s bad here George, very bad.” He is on the planet! Joe replies as he wonders how George came to be on the planet, and alive.

  “If you guys can leave, then go.” George says lethargically.

  Cindy looks at Joe questioningly, but he shakes his head from side to side as he stares at warning symbols denoting a main drive failure.

  “We aren’t going anywhere mate, these guys have left the ship, but are pounding us pretty hard.” Joe informs George gloomily.

  Joe watches in dismay as three small craft detach from the main ship. He turns to Cindy, who is as lost for ideas as everyone else.

  “George mate, they are coming in again, not sure what...” Joe begins to say.

  George interrupts him, his mind gaining a little clarity. “Go to my room, grab that control pad, the one that only works on the bridge.”

  “Joe is confused, “But...” he starts to reply, but is again interrupted.

  “Don’t talk, please listen.” George states bluntly. He then continues, “Take it, oh and I don’t want to lose my ornament, so grab it for me as well will you?”

  Joe blocks everything out for a moment and thinks. Oh YES! He replies. “Okay, I will contact you in a few.”

  Cindy is totally perplexed, and stares at Joe, who simply shrugs his shoulders at her gaze as he says, “I think George has a plan, but he sounds terrible, so I hope he’s not just delirious.”

  “Well after what George said about the bridge, I think it would be prudent to evacuate again.” Cindy replies.

  Joe rushes to George’s room and finds the ornament easily enough. It has a small base with three claw like fingers arranged in a triangle. Finding the control pad takes longer, but he does find it. He is about to leave, when he notices something odd about George’s room. One entire wall has been stripped out, in its place is a recharge station for his bodysuit. Wow. He does almost sleep in that thing.

  Joe makes great time in getting to the hangar deck. The sight is disparaging, all that remains is one Gamin shuttle, connected to the power grid. They must have decided to leave it, but now they’ve changed their mind. I wonder why? The atmosphere being contained for now, can only mean one thing, the raiders have landed over the holes and are coming back for sure. Joe sprints toward the main engines as fast as he can, it is a long way. Just as he ducks into a passageway, a raider appears. As the raider rappels past the passageway Joe just ducked into, the invader fires. The blast, though wild, narrowly misses him. Nervously taking the ornament, he lines up the claws to the holes and thrusts it in. The doorway retracts, Joe keeps hold of the ornament, steps inside, and activates the hand-held control panel. A raider appears at the other end of the short passageway, and strides down it. Joe slams his hand on the door controls and watches as the doorway slowly closes. The raider rushes at the narrowing gap, but does not make it.

  Joe’s nerves are shot, he pulls a radio from his jacket pocket. Hoping George can pick up the signal, he presses the talk button. “Okay, I am here, now what?”

  George replies as though drugged, his speech slurred. “Press the middle icon three times.”

  Joe stares doubtfully at the control pad, then does as George says. “Okay. Done, ah, what did I just do?”

  George replies sluggishly. “That set the engine to overload. In a few minutes, anything close by will be vaporized.”

  Joe turns to the massive engine with renewed fear. “Uh, George, how exactly is that going to help us?”

  George takes a deep breath, then coughs as his chest seems to explode in pain. Almost losing consciousness, he shakes his head to stay awake. This causes a dull throbbing to start in his head. With dry lips, he tries to answer. “Calibration, then get the hell out of…”

  Joe stares at his communicator as George’s voice fades away.

  Cindy stares out the forward view in disbelief as George’s words ring out throughout the bridge. She gulps and holds back a tear. She turns to John and orders, “John, as soon as the raiders depart, let Joe know. At his signal, punch it. Olaf and Patrick are to begin repair work, immediately.”

  Commander John Thompson stares at his console, blocking all emotion as he does his duty. Joe leans against the wall, then slides to the floor as his emotions threaten to overcome him. We’re leaving George behind!

  The raiders depart, and can then be seen moving away, presumably to a safe distance. Peter wants to spit at them in disgust. Waiting like vultures to pick at the pieces.

  John taps his panel and says, “Now Joe.”

  Joe sets his control pad to calibrate the engine. I hope the other engine is okay, otherwise this will be a very short trip. He watches the control pad earnestly and then replies, “John, you’re good to go!”

  John taps his control panel, but nothing happens. He contacts Joe, defeated, “The other engine is down, we’re dead in the water.”

  The raider’s spaceship comes rushing in at them, filing the forward view.

  Joe looks at the closed doorway then takes a deep breath. He opens the door and is almost sucked out as the air rushes past him, and escapes. A pool of blood on the floor catches his attention for a second, then he stumbles on toward the second engine room. Once the rush of air has passed, he finds walking easier. With the air getting thinner by the second, he staggers as black spots appear before his eyes. Blinking hard, he looks at the fuzzy doorway before him, inserting the ornamental door opener takes all his effort. The doorway opens, releasing a blast of air. Joe gulps this down and grabs the ornament before it is smashed into the wall by the sliding doorway. Once inside, he activates the control pad and sets it to calibrate the engine.

  A thump reverberates through the ship, the raiders are firing again. Joe frantically watches as the engine cycles through its calibration sequence. Finally, after what feels like an eternity, the task is complete. Joe has had his finger on the radio, waiting.

  “It’s now or never.” Joe states the second the calibration is complete.

  John activates the main drive. Cindy breathes a sigh of relief as the plain white stars shift into the usual colorful display associated with travelling faster than light.

  “I want damage control teams and casualty lists.” Cindy orders with mounting anger.

  Cindy’s thoughts shift from the dead, back to George. Marooned on a strange world thousands of light years from home. How he ended up on the planet, alive, is a mystery to her. We will be back for you. She promises as she closes her eyes. Yet another disaster averted, but at what cost this time?

  Cindy chews on her lower lip, as she usually does when mulling over a decision. She then orders. “I want us to fly away for six hours, stop, and complete repairs. Then we will return to the planet. What is the fastest turnaround time you can give us on the main drive?”

  Joe sighs in defeat. “If we had more power we could do a quick stop and go, but we don’t.”

  “Understood, just do the best you can.” Cindy replies.

  Olaf cuts his way out of reactor control and spends the next six hours working with Patrick to plug the holes in the ship. Peter spends this time doing a head count. His numbers do not add up. As he re-tallies the numbers, he groans inwardly. The missing must have been ejected into space.

  Cindy stands in the cavernous hold, it feels even larger with only the one Gamin shuttle left. The far wall where the rocket fuel was stored is a blackened
twisted mess. She turns her gaze to the bodies before her. Once again, she is performing a mass funeral. She had thought only fifteen had been killed, however laid out before her, are no less than forty covered bodies. She counts the body bags, many of which seem empty, and stops at forty-six. She frowns as she recognizes one of the names, Jeremiah. She looks over to Patrick. They were close. We’re down to less than half our original crew now, and still a long way from home. She feels miserable. We left George behind as well.

  Hayato kneels nearby, his hands touching two of the body bags. His lips move as he quietly mutters. He stays there for quite some time.

  Patrick walks to Cindy and frowns as he looks down at his friend, now gone. He chokes back tears as he tries to speak. “One of the raiders shot him. He got tangled up in the guard rail, otherwise he would have been blown out into space.”

  Cindy stares at the pockets of people mourning their lost friends. Her sorrow turns to anger. One day we will get our vengeance, and I want to live for that day.

  The Kord seem withdrawn themselves. Golward approaches Cindy, his fur wet and matted under his eyes. He lifts his gaze up to look at Cindy and says, “I got your people killed. You would not have been here if it were not for us.”

  Cindy ponders his words, then offers her own sympathies. “We have all lost dear friends recently, but we will get you to your home, then us to ours.”

  She suddenly realizes what they can do. With one last look at the deceased, she heads to reactor control, to find Olaf. Her plan is as radical as it is dangerous, but it brings a glimmer of hope.

  Olaf listens to her idea and then raises his eyebrows in surprise. “If this idea of yours fails, well, it will get messy.”

  Cindy grins at Olaf. “Then don’t fail.”

  Cindy rushes to the bridge, John is minutes away from disengaging the main drive. She arrives with time to spare, and orders. “John, take us back to the planet.”

  “We will need a few hours to…” John begins to say.

  “WOW!” Joe exclaims, interrupting him. “Power levels at six percent and rising.”

  John is baffled, but does not fail to take advantage of the energy. He turns the ship using the sub-light engines. As they swing around, the ship shudders. Thump, another impact strikes the rear of the Terran. The raiders have followed them.

  In a fit of rage Cindy slams her fist onto the chair. “Let’s see how tough this ship really is then. Ram those bastards!”

  John hesitates for a split second, then considers the alternatives. We can’t fight, we can’t run, why not?

  Activating the ship’s thrusters, along with the sub-light engines, he gets them closer and closer. The raider’s ship moves to continue its strafing runs. Cindy watches as John anticipates the raider’s next move. He slams the main drive symbol with a vengeance. The Terran lurches at the raider as armor plating slides into place to protect the bridge. A dull thud is felt coming from somewhere up forward. This is followed by an eerie vibration that travels down the side of the ship. A new symbol flashes on John’s panel, it vanishes at his touch. Wonder what that was? The vibrations abruptly cease. He accelerates the ship to factor six, taking advantage of the unexpected energy. At this speed, they will arrive back at the planet where George was left very quickly. So quickly in fact, they barely have time to plan everything.

  With so many of the crew dead, Emma feels lost and makes her way to the hydroponics bay searching for peace. Instead of being cheered up by thriving plants, she is stunned to discover the area is totally devastated. The entire area is virtually empty. Oh no. This is where the raiders cut through the ship. Sure enough, as her eyes follow the debris trails, she winds up looking at a pair of crudely repaired holes. In amongst all this ruination, a small area has miraculously survived intact. Taking solace away from all the death and destruction, she wanders over to the few remaining plants. With the associated pipe work in ruins, these little plants will not last long, a few days at best. She sighs as she gazes at the destroyed water spray system. Superfluous now, it was designed to provide oxygenated water to compensate for the unknown elements of the alien atmosphere. She smiles as she recalls the day George replaced the core air sample, literally allowing everyone to breathe easy. Reminiscing about George brings her thoughts back to the present. Finding a bucket tangled amongst the wreckage, she starts to fill it with strawberries.

  John disengages the main drive as close as he dare to the planet, and quickly has them in orbit. Edwards gulps as he launches the Terran’s remaining shuttle. Piloting downward, he hones in on George’s position. The task is made easier, thanks to a distress signal coming from the suit. He lands close to George, who lays motionless on the beach. Patrick quickly steps out of the shuttle, then using his own suit, drags George inside. They make a hasty retreat, Edwards pushes the Gamin shuttle as hard as possible. To his dismay, there are two ships in orbit, the raider has followed them.

  Cindy stares at her control panel with dread. “Not yet, not yet.” She says as she monitors the shuttle’s progress.

  John takes the Terran lower and lower into the planet’s upper atmosphere as he keeps them between the raider and the shuttle. The enemies’ ship is clearly damaged, yet still they persist. Since they are engaged in protecting the shuttle, the raider is able to fire volley after volley of energy blasts at them.

  Emma, like all those on board, feels the impacts as they strike the ship. With her task complete, she makes her way to the bridge so she can share her bountiful find. She stops as an odd sound makes its way to her, like an ocean wave. A wall of water flows from around the corner ahead and rushes at her. She spots a stairwell up ahead, and bolts for it. Liquid slops at her feet as she hurtles her way into the opening. The wall of water rushes past, then begins to tug at her legs as it fills the stairwell. She climbs upward as the water continues to rise. The surge reaches its peak, and then subsides. The retreating water sounds like a tub draining as it gurgles its way down the stairwell.

  Edwards notices the lower hull of the Terran is turning red as the massive ship skims lower into the planet’s atmosphere. He safely pilots the shuttle into the hangar deck, thankful of John’s impressive piloting skills. His demeanor changes as water suddenly pours out from one of the passageways. He lands the shuttle quickly as the liquid spreads out across the floor. Bewildered, he stares at the slowly rising water for a moment, before contacting the bridge. “We’re in, and, you have a flood.”

  John ignores the latter comment and activates the sub-light engines, hoping to arrest their descent. As soon as he is clear of the atmosphere, he engages the main drive. Glancing furtively at Joe and Andrew, he ramps their speed as high as he dares. “Factor seven, and holding.”

  Emma arrives on the bridge, dripping, and leaving wet foot prints with every step. “Water tanks have ruptured.” She says, a little distant. Looking around in shock, she holds up the bucket. “I have strawberries for everyone.” She giggles, her sanity clearly fading fast.

  “Cindy, you need to come to reactor control” The voice carries with it an ominous tone.

  Emma drops the bucket and covers her ears. She closes her eyes and starts to mumble, rocking her body at the same time. The affect is quite unsettling, and very unnerving to the bridge crew.

  Andrew stands up and moves to Emma. “Cindy, I got this. You go and find out what they want.”

  Wordlessly Cindy nods in thanks, and then strides out the bridge. Arriving at reactor control she is perplexed as there is no one rushing about, no imminent disaster.

  “What’s going on?” Cindy asks curiously.

  One of the reactor control men motions her over. “Olaf broke the seal on reactor eleven, then locked himself inside.” The man gulps, then looks downward. “Radiation is so high in that section we can’t open the door.”

  Cindy’s mouth twitches in apprehension. “Can we talk to him?”

  “Sure, if he answers.” The man flicks a switch on the wall, then nods to Cindy.

  “Olaf
, can you hear me?” Cindy asks apprehensively.

  The reply is strong and powerful, not what she was expecting from Olaf. “Yes ma’am, getting you more power, you better use it up ‘cause the grid can only store so much.”

  “Olaf, you need to get out of there, while the suit is still protecting you.” Cindy orders.

  “The suit is toast. Hey, I have a request for you.” Olaf replies candidly.

  Cindy’s thoughts are drawn to the many that have already died on this journey. He was not meant to die, just get them more power. “What is it, you stubborn fool?” She asks.

  “Name a school or two after me, will ya?”

  “I will make sure of it my friend.” Cindy replies.

  Tears build in her eyes, then flow down her face when Olaf does not respond.

  The control room worker nervously paces nearby, obviously agitated. Finally, he speaks, his tone subdued yet urgent at the same time. “We have a lot of power flowing into the grid. If we don’t use it, we will lose it.”

  Cindy stares at the man, her sadness turning into a fierce determination. She storms her way to the bridge, where she issues a bold order. “Maximum speed commander, put her to the wall.”

  Cindy sits heavily in the command chair and thumps the armrests in frustration. Olaf is dead or dying from radiation poisoning, thanks to me. George is unconscious, and we are still a long way from home. She stares at the cascade of colors, but fails to find solace in its beauty this time.

  John slides the main drive control higher and higher, until the ship begins to shake and shudder. Then he slides the control a little more. To the wall, yes ma’am! He almost dares the ship to fly apart. “A hair over factor seven.” He reports.