Initiation Series: Series One Compilation (Terran Chronicles)

by James Jackson

  Cindy does not reply. Her eyes blazing in anger, thoughts of revenge weighing heavily on her mind. Someone is going to pay dearly for this.

  Kord

  Having more power than ever before, John pushes the Terran hard. He is able to make two course changes before the surplus power runs out. What should have taken weeks, has turned into hours thanks to Olaf’s sacrifice. The bridge crew has been unable to rest, and simply stays at their posts. As they get closer, Golward begins pacing again, his apprehension clear.

  Cindy watches the view transition to the bland white dots as John disengages the main drive. “Stay alert everyone.” She orders.

  Cindy’s eyes narrow as she stares out into space. Her words of warning unnecessary, everyone is already on edge.

  The bridge speakers unexpectedly blare out. “Unidentified vessel, you are approaching restricted space and will be fired upon if you do not immediately alter course.”

  Golward’s face lifts up. He performs an odd-looking jump as he requests. “Let me speak to them.”

  Cindy motions for him to do so, his excitement is delightful to watch.

  “This is Golward of the science station Theta, do not fire. We have been rescued.” Golward states.

  “Survivors from Theta? Not possible.” Comes the immediate reply.

  “This is not a Gamin ship, they are,” Golward pauses as he considers what to say, “These are our friends.”

  “Activate visual so that we may greet your friends.” Demands the voice from the bridge speakers.

  Joe turns to Cindy and shrugs his shoulders, his eyes involuntarily dart to George’s empty station. She lifts her hands up in exasperation and says, “We don’t know how.”

  Golward stops his pacing and just stares at them in disbelief. Finally, he speaks. “This ship is badly damaged, many of its systems no longer work. I will get their leader, Cindy, to stop the ship so that you may escort us in.”

  Golward stares at Cindy intently. She smiles and gives John a curt nod. He immediately reduces all thrust to zero. The Terran continues on, drifting along on momentum only. Golward then stares at John until he fires up the forward thrusters in an attempt to arrest their motion completely. One bank of thrusters does not respond. John taps his console a couple more times before shaking his head in annoyance.

  “Well, we not only shaved off some armor when we collided with the raider’s ship, seems we lost a few thrusters as well. Compensating.” John says.

  Cindy squints as she spots a spacecraft headed toward them. The approaching ship looks to be not much bigger than a Gamin shuttle. The small ship turns as it gets closer. A bright beam of white light radiates from its rear, the light plays over the Terran’s hull. John is surprised to see that they are moving.

  “A tractor beam?” John says, quizzically.

  Golward looks at John with his head cocked. “Tractor beam?” He says sounding confused. “That is a tug, it will guide this ship in.”

  Cindy raises an eyebrow. In?

  “That tiny ship is able to pull us, amazing.” Joe says truly impressed.

  Before anyone can ask what Golward meant when he said ‘in’, the answer swings into view. A magnificent space station hangs in space, its size is incomprehensible. The Terran is guided toward a dock, one of hundreds that dot the many rings of this construct. As they get closer, the design becomes clearer.

  Joe is beside himself and cannot contain his excitement. “Look at that core, it’s like a huge upright cylinder. Can you see the spires that radiate out to massive docks and who knows what else? Hey, some of these outer areas are connected to each other.” He whistles, “That whole thing has got to be the size of a small moon.”

  Cindy finds his enthusiasm catchy. She gazes at the space station before them, her thoughts turning to concern as the tiny ship enters a massive artificial cave. The Terran follows, still being towed by the strange technology. She turns to Golward and outwardly smiles, yet inside fear is building up. They had better be friendly. After all we’ve been through, we need a break.

  As if reading her thoughts Golward turns to face Cindy and says. “You will all stay on this ship. We will heal your injured. I will get equipment to save Olaf, if we can.”

  Everyone exchanges looks, but no one says anything at first, then Cindy pipes up. “We would appreciate any assistance you may be able to render.”

  The dock they have been towed into is a long tube, the far end closes as they watch. John has been observing their path, and engages the landing struts when it becomes clear the ship is being lowered onto a massive landing strip.

  “Ah, readings show an atmosphere building up outside.” John says in surprise.

  Andrew and Joe quickly tap a series of instructions into their terminals and laptops. Minutes later they come to a consensus, which Andrew shares. “The air outside is breathable.”

  Golward’s eyes glint as he leaves the bridge. “Thank you for saving us, we will repair your ship now.”

  With that, he is gone, along with all the Kord that were rescued. A few minutes later a pair of furry Kord walk back up the open ramp, they carry between them a basic looking stretcher. Cindy is not liking the way these Kord are able to control the ship’s ramp. What else can they control? Her paranoia getting the better of her.

  “Hey look!” Andrew calls out in surprise.

  The front of their ship is illuminated by powerful lights, revealing a massive furrow down the Terran’s right flank. However, that is not what Andrew is pointing toward. Dozens of tiny robotic arms are extending down from the ceiling. As they contact the ship a bright glow becomes evident.

  “What are they doing?” Joe asks in concern.

  The robotic arms move quickly along the damage, leaving behind smooth hull plating. Cindy’s apprehension begins to fade. Her thoughts turn to George, she wonders whether or not they should have taken him out of his bodysuit. With a deep sigh she gets up and leaves the bridge, her next task a very heart wrenching one.

  Cindy is met outside reactor eleven by Peter, six Kord, and a dozen or so reactor crew as onlookers. Every department has had casualties, but Olaf’s is the one that drives home their plight. Maybe he is alright, those Gamin bodysuits are amazing.

  The group of Kord set up an odd-looking air lock style doorway outside the sealed room. Anxious reactor crews stand by with hand held monitors, three of them dressed in full radiation suits. Once the Kord complete their task, they put on full body outfits themselves. Taking with them some unidentifiable equipment, the nine enter the room where Olaf lays entombed. Cindy waits nervously outside, along with a growing number of bystanders. The minutes tick by and nothing seems to be happening.

  Radiation counters suddenly bleep, causing everyone to jump. Cindy quickly glances at the man’s radiation meter next to her, and relaxes. Just a small spike, nothing hazardous. The temporary doorway opens, four Kord exit the room carrying a stretcher. Olaf’s suit is on the stretcher and covered with a foam-like substance.

  One of the men takes off his headpiece, and then slowly shakes his head from side to side. He reports sadly. “There was nothing they could do, Olaf was already gone.”

  The remaining Kord dismantle the specialized airlock. Cindy frowns as she considers their next step. With roughly half the crew killed, and the ship down to seventeen reactors, the trip home is going to be long and arduous.

  Cindy walks off and heads to the infirmary. She stops in the doorway and watches Henry as he hurries from table to table. Her hopes pick up for a moment, and then are dashed. He is documenting each person’s cause of death. She interrupts him reluctantly. “How is George?”

  Henry stops, then turns to Cindy, his face breaking into a smile. “Why don’t you come and see for yourself.”

  Cindy follows him into a separate room when a single bed has been set up. George is sitting up in the bed, a few wires trail from him to various medical equipment. “Well, doc, can I get out of here now?”

  Cindy heart jumps for joy. �
��You’re all right?”

  George lifts his arms up, then lowers them. “If Henry here will get these wires off me, I can go and check on my suit.”

  Henry walks over to George and begins to remove the dozens of electrodes and sensors. “You need to rest for a while, you have a lot of new skin that’s still healing. How you even survived, I will never know.”

  Cindy puts her head down, not sure how to say what has to be said. “We lost a lot of good people in the attack.” She looks up, meeting George’s gaze, and adds, “Including Olaf.”

  George tilts his head to one side and frowns. “How did Olaf die? I thought he was in reactor control.”

  “It was my fault. I told him we needed more power to escape the Raiders.” Cindy pauses for a moment, then takes a deep breath. “Olaf made it happen, and in doing so saved us all, but he sacrificed himself in the process.”

  George ponders her words before replying. “We were able to convert radiation into power using the suits, but only a little at a time. He must have tried to convert a lot at once.”

  Cindy lowers her head. “He gave us a tremendous amount of power. It took us hours instead of weeks to get here.”

  George frowns a little in confusion, “Here! Where are we?”

  “Inside a Kord base,” Cindy replies with a smile, “The ship is being repaired as we speak.”

  George slowly sits up. “Get me to my suit, we have a lot of work to do”

  Cindy smiles again as she gently pushes George back down.

  “You are not going anywhere Mister. Rest. That’s an order!” Cindy replies.

  George is feeling extremely tired and does not argue with her. After she leaves, he lays there for quite a while. The ship is going to feel a little empty without the big Russian’s bravado. Are we a modern-day voyage of the damned? He slips into an uneasy sleep as his battered body heals.

  Cindy takes her time wandering around the ship, offering words of encouragement as she goes. By the time she makes it to the main cargo area, she is surprised to see a delegation of Kord. One of them steps forward. “You are the one called Cindy, Golward spoke well of you.”

  Cindy is a little taken aback. “Yes, I am, I hope you were not waiting for me?”

  “It is of no consequence. What we are here to tell you is,” The small furry man pauses, and then continues, “Golward, you have the honor.”

  Cindy maintains a neutral expression while the small furry alien paces before her. She cannot tell them apart as another steps forward. Golward? She wonders.

  “Cindy, we thank you for rescuing us, protecting us, and then delivering us to our safe haven. We give to you a gift.” Golward waves his hand behind him.

  Six Kord walk up the ramp, between them is an oval object, resting in an odd-looking cradle. The egg-shaped object shines like chrome, and is just a little taller than Cindy. She tries to maintain her demeanor, but finally she has to ask. “I thank you. What is it you’re giving us?”

  A few of the Kord seem to chuckle as they walk away. Golward steps closer to Cindy. “This is an energy cell from our base. It is fully charged and should get you most of the way home.”

  Cindy’s jaw drops in amazement. “This one small object stores that much power? I mean…” She stops as she realizes she is being rather rude to her hosts. “I apologize and thank you for your generous gift, and for repairing our ship.”

  Golward does a small skip in the air, he seems excited. “This energy cell can power your systems, but you will not be able to recharge it. Your technology is insufficient.”

  Cindy stares at the amazing gift in shock. “How can we ever repay you?”

  “You brought us home. The least we can do is to help you get home as well.” Golward replies.

  The six Kord carry the device to the far wall, and then begin removing panels. While they work, Golward hands Cindy a black oval. It easily fits in the palm of her hand, and has a small depression in its midsection. He instructs Cindy, “This will activate and deactivate the energy cell, allowing you to choose when to use it.”

  She cups Golward’s hand and smiles. “Thank you again.”

  Cindy stifles an unexpected yawn, they have all been awake and on edge for so long. Feeling safe in this refuge is making her sleepy. With little further ado, the Kord all leave, their work apparently being complete. With nothing left for her to do, Cindy retires to her room.

  “Cindy, come in.” The voice wakes her from a deep sleep. She does not even recall going to bed.

  “Cindy here, what’s up?” She replies groggily.

  “We’re being towed out of the base.” Comes the anxious reply.

  Cindy bolts upright in her bed, gets dressed in a record time, and sprints for the bridge. Sure enough, she is met by a dazzling star field, and the massive Kord base off behind them.

  Edwards turns to her and shrugs his shoulders as he says, “They sent a message of thanks, and wished us a speedy journey home.”

  Cindy frowns as her mind races. What about Olaf’s body? “Did you also get the feeling they don’t really want us around?” She asks.

  Edwards stares at her intently for a few seconds and then states bluntly, “You know, none of us were allowed on their base, and the Kord that came on board avoided us completely.”

  “Yeah, we pretty much only ever dealt with Golward,” Cindy replies a little absentmindedly.

  The main bridge crew begins to make their appearance, Edwards apparently woke them all. John stops stretching mid step as he enters the bridge. His eyes fixate on the tiny ship towing them. Andrew and Joe show up a few moments later, just in time to see the little ship moving off.

  John takes the helm, and in short order, checks the ship’s systems. “I guess our stay is over,” He states bluntly.

  Cindy chews on her lower lip, something about all this bothers her. Glancing around the room, she issues her orders. “Take us out of this system. Let’s put some distance between us and that base.”

  John waits until Joe and Andrew have had time to plot them a safe course. Joe turns to Cindy and grins. “Well if that Kord power cell does what they say it does, we can fly for almost four thousand light years before we need to make a course correction.”

  Cindy raises her eyebrows. “They must really want us out of their neck of the woods.” She looks at the small device in her hand, and then touches the depression as she orders. “Punch it.”

  John taps the main drive symbol and quickly ramps their speed up. “Factor seven.” He reports quickly.

  Joe whistles as he stares at his panel in surprise. “We have one hundred percent power, but I can’t get any readings on the status of the power cell.”

  The ship is not shaking or shuddering at all. John stares at his panel, then glances at Joe, who simply shrugs his shoulders.

  John slides his finger gingerly up the side of his console, increasing their speed as he does. “Factor seven point five. Those Kord really did a good job fixing the hull.”

  Peter has been rather quiet lately, so they are all surprised when he speaks up. “They wanted us gone because this is a Gamin ship. I bet they don’t want to be seen associating with them. These Gamin are starting to look like they are the pariahs of the galaxy.”

  Cindy nods her head in agreement. It looks like we flew into a hornet’s nest. She sits in the command chair and watches Joe, Andrew, and John, as they talk excitedly about the ship’s systems. They are definitely running much better with the influx of energy. Her thoughts drift to Olaf, whose body was left behind on an alien space station.

  Chapter Seven - Are We There Yet?

  To the bridge crew, it feels as though they barely have time to rest before John is reducing their speed. Cindy deactivates the Kord power cell. Joe watches with disappointment as the ship’s power levels drop back down to the usually low levels of one to two percent.

  Emma makes a surprise appearance on the bridge, her earlier unbalanced behavior being overlooked, for now. “We have a new problem.” She s
ays, her voice becoming quite despondent. She lets out a huge sigh and then continues. “Patrick has repaired the fractured water tanks, but when I tested the water, I discovered that it’s contaminated.”

  Peter leans forward, gives Cindy a discreet look, and then stands authoritatively. “Contaminated! How? And by what?” He questions her bluntly.

  “Oh, it’s just a pretty normal bacteria; coliform. I really don’t know how it got there.” Emma replies softly, feeling quite intimidated by Peter’s stance. She casts her gaze up and down the mysterious man, appraising him.

  Cindy groans inwardly. Damn, it would have been too easy to just get home. “What do we have to do?” She asks with a sigh.

  Emma gazes around the room a little confused, and then replies. “We have to drain the tanks, sterilize them, and then refill them.” She speaks as though they all should know the process.

  Cindy puts a hand to her head, and closes her eyes in frustration. “And just where do you think we can refill them?”

  Emma still seems perplexed by their concerns. “Just about any water source will do. All we have to do is test the water, then filter it.”

  Cindy blinks in disbelief. How can this woman be so disconnected with their situation? Just any water source, right! She leans forward and says, “Alrighty then. Andrew, Joe, find us a planet with a suitable water source.” She sighs and then adds. “John, take us wherever we have to go without using up our Kord power cell. I am going to get some rest.”

  Just as Cindy stands, a familiar figure blocks the doorway to the bridge. George is wearing his Gamin bodysuit, its scorch marks have been polished, or repaired away. He opens his visor and says, “I may just have the solution you need to bring water up to the ship.”

  Cindy grins. Of course he does, she thinks, and then says. “Great to see you back on your feet.”

  The rest of the bridge crew stands, and greets George warmly. They are interrupted when the speakers on the bridge crackle, and then an urgent voice states, “Cindy, come to the infirmary.”