At this point, I would like to introduce Admiral Oria to you. Admiral Oria is the equivalent of a five star admiral. He is originally from Earth and in fact was born over 500 years ago on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Let me first begin by providing you some background on customs and the organization of the Azortec Federation. The Azortec Federation is comprised of member planets and their respective governments. They have broken the galaxy into quadrants, each governed by a three star admiral and each with representation on the Azortec council. The military head of a quadrant provides for the protection of interplanetary trade and the enforcement of the laws of the Azortec Federation. They have no executive authority over local planetary governments. As a result, anyone with a three star rank or higher, receives the respect of a visiting head of state. With that I would like to invite Oria to speak and together we will attempt to answer some of your questions.”
Oria was sitting in one of the chairs against the wall of the cabinet room. He stood up and approached the long table feeling quite awkward. Unlike most of his peers, he hated the governing and diplomatic aspects of his position. Oria was a man of action, a true warrior. Those characteristics led him to both conflict with his peers and empowered him against the Creytes in battle. Diplomacy and intergovernmental meetings always made him feel awkward.
“Thank you, Mr. President, for your introduction. I stand before you with mixed emotions. I am happy to be home again and with my people, the people of Earth. It saddens me that the only reason this opportunity has presented itself is the result of imminent danger facing Earth. Normally Azortec law would forbid me from meeting with you, even though, I too, am from Earth. The Azortec Federation promotes the natural development of civilizations and cultures of planets not yet capable of interstellar travel by prohibiting contact between its members and the less developed planets. So why am I here? Azortec itself is going through trying times and is in danger of falling to the Creytes. If Earth and other planets like Earth fall to the Creytes, it is only a matter of time before the Creytes will want to expand into the member planets of the Azortec Federation itself. A good portion of the Azortec Council would not approve of my being here today. In fact, many of them are in favor of surrendering Earth to the Creytes in exchange for money and maybe enough time to live out their own lives before their planets fall to the Creytes. Azortec lacks the will and desire to protect itself. That is why I am here today. Unlike my friends in Azortec, I want to save my home planet. Second, I believe that by giving the people of Earth, Azortec technology, we will use our will power in combination with Azortec technology to do what’s necessary to save Earth from becoming a Creyte farm planet. We have slightly less than a year to accomplish this task. In one year, the Azortec Federation will vote to turn Earth over to the Creytes. President Shalat has enabled me to take my ship back a year in time to Earth with the hope of building a force that can first save Earth, and then defeat the Creytes before they can start farming any more human inhabited planets. Are there any questions?”
One of the Senators was about to speak when Oria’s communicator sounded an alarm. Oria looked at it and read the message. Borella, on board the Hercules, had signaled him that a Creyte battle cruiser was heading directly towards the Hercules and would be within firing range in an hour. Since the Hercules was already shorthanded, Oria needed to return and take his place on the combat bridge. Oria leaned next to Ratherson and quietly told Ratherson the new problem confronting them. He then addressed the room. “I must apologize. A Creyte battle cruiser will soon be close enough to engage the Hercules. Therefore, I must join my ship and defend it and Earth from this attack. President Ratherson will have to answer any of your questions.”
Everyone watched in awe as Oria took several steps back to a small open area in the room and signaled Borella to transport him back to the Hercules. They watched Oria as he vanished! Everyone in the room was expecting him to fade gradually as they had seen people transported on Star Trek. In this case, the fiction of Star Trek was not an accurate preparation for the reality of an Azortec transporter.
At first, the questions by the congressional leaders were for information. The questions grew more confrontational as the evening wore on. A general feeling of distrust was growing for Oria and Azortec. Several members felt the timing of the latest Creyte attack was more than coincidental. Towards the end of the meeting, Senator Jenson who already had a grudge against Oria for killing one of his wife’s relations in West Virginia summarized their feelings.
“Mr. President, I think I speak for most of my fellow Senators in saying that we believe we should put on hold any action for Declaration of War, etc. We should start a committee to investigate Azortec and the long fairy tale that we’ve been hearing. I’m ready to go home. We can discuss scheduling the formation of this committee late next week. I don’t believe anything else is called for. The immediate Creyte threat no longer exists. Oria, a suspected murderer, has conveniently departed us -- this tells me that our meeting is not that important to him. In fact, he may be using this stunt as a further attempt to manipulate our thinking.”
Ratherson felt anger swell up inside of him. It took everything he had to control his burning rage at Jenson. After spending several hours with Oria and some of his advisors, Ratherson knew that Oria clearly was not the cold-blooded killer that Jenson alleged that he was. Every source he heard confirmed Oria’s account of the bar incident and that a corrupt sheriff influenced Jenson through his wife. “Senator Jenson, I hear your viewpoint. Tomorrow I will be requesting a joint session of Congress to discuss the Creyte situation and ask for a Declaration of War. Under no circumstances do I agree with your assessment of events in West Virginia. You may want to warn your brother in-law that I will be requesting the Attorney General to investigate the existence of corruption in his Sheriff’s Office. This meeting is over and I will see you tomorrow morning.”
Ratherson immediately stood up and exited the room. His staff was only steps behind him. The remaining senators and congressional representatives got up and started multiple arguments amongst themselves. It was clear that Ratherson had an uphill battle to get a Declaration of War.
11:30 PM: Hercules
The moment Oria arrived on the transport deck the Hercules burst into full light speed heading for the Creyte Battle Cruiser. Borella wanted to put as much distance as possible between the inevitable battle and Earth. Ratface was already assembling his team and preparing to board the Creyte ship.
When Oria came on board the bridge, Borella informed him they would have the Creyte ship in firing range in less than five minutes and that Lieutenant Agustonson was already sitting in the second position. Oria then turned towards the short stairs leading up and into the combat bridge. He quickly ascended the stairs and took the first position.
After what only seemed like minutes, Oria heard Borella’s voice. “Enemy coming within range, ship control is now transferred to the combat bridge.”
Agustonson replied “Aye sir, first seat in control, second seat on standby.”
The imminent combat energized Oria. The Hercules became an extension of his thoughts as he started firing the ship’s laser at the Creyte cruiser. He wanted to weaken its shields without destroying it. Frequently Creyte cruisers were loaded with humans and used for food. Oria always attempted a rescue before destroying an enemy ship.
The Creytes had received a warning about the presence of the Hercules near Earth. Their plan was to use new anti-gravity photon torpedoes to destroy it. Azortec had no defense against this new weapon. They did not realize that the Hercules they were engaging was from the future. It had defenses against the new torpedoes.
Oria saw the Creytes launch a spread of photon torpedoes. He knew these missiles of death were likely to contain anti-gravity explosives. He adjusted the Hercules’s shields to handle the explosion. When they hit, the entire ship shuddered. It held together with minimal power loss to the shields. Oria was grateful that the Azortec Council had given in and
permitted the Hercules to have this new defense system. The Creyte shields were starting to deteriorate with the continued laser and particle energy beam blasts coming from the Hercules. Oria signaled Borella to have him relieved in the bridge. He was going to join Ratface’s team after they boarded the enemy ship.
Ratface and his team were waiting in the attack transporter room. As soon as the Creyte shields weakened sufficiently to a permit transport, they planned to transport one team into the ship’s galleys and a second team to into the ship’s bridge. Ratface felt the anticipation of battle burn through his veins. In a strange way, this is what he lived for. The signal light went green and the next thing Ratface knew he was standing on the bridge of the Creyte ship. Automatically his team swept the room with laser fire. They had transported onto the enemies’ bridge already in attack formation. The Creytes were ill prepared for the viciousness of the attack from the veteran Special Force combatants. The humans that they were accustomed to fighting were much weaker and less focused in their attack. Ratface’s strategy was always to deliver maximum killing force in the shortest amount of time. In only seconds, Ratface had the bridge cleared.
Frank Wright led the second team’s attack in the galley. They swept through the kitchen raining a wall of destruction at anything Creyte. Frank felt the taste of stomach bile rise to his throat when he saw several butchered humans and body parts lying on the Creyte kitchen counters. There wasn’t much he could do for these people, other than kill their tormentors. Several of his men stayed behind while Frank took Larry Logan with him into one of the doors leading down a hallway. The hallway was line with cages containing live and naked people.
Frank started at the first door and used a small explosive to blow it open. He was shocked when a young man stood there and spoke to him in English. “You’re American?”
Frank replied, “Yes, you are now free courtesy of United States Special Forces, retired.”
The man was shocked to see an American rescue team and he began to stammer. “You’re American? I didn’t know we had a space force. Everyone here is American. Most of us are from the same vacation tour. Some vacation, it’s been horrible!”
Frank couldn’t believe the ship was full of fellow Americans. It was all he could do to reply, “You’ll soon be safe. We need to free everyone else and secure this ship. Our ship is only a short distance away.”
Frank and his crew continued freeing the caged humans. There were almost two hundred of them. He led them out into the galley and towards the Creyte ship’s shuttle bays. They were only a short distance from the shuttle bay when a contingent of Creyte soldiers pinned them down near a turn in the corridor. The Creytes were slowly gaining ground on Frank’s team. Frank decided to start pulling his group back to the galleys, but first, he hailed Ratface on his COM unit. “Ratface, are you clear?”
“We’ve cleared the bridge but are encountering heavy fire from somewhere beyond the bridge area. These tangos are good. What’s your situation?”
“We’re up to our eyeballs in tangos. We found a whole bunch of humans. On our way to the shuttle bay, we encountered some heavily armed tangos. They’re forcing us back. I was sort of hoping we’d get some help from you?”
“Sorry Frank, no can do. Hopefully we get reinforcements from the Hercules. Oria said he would join us. Don’t know what one man can do though.”
“Aye, once we get more secure and some of these folks better protected, I’ll call you back. Out”
“Rodger that - Ratface out”
Almost at the precise moment Frank signed off, he heard a large clank and explosion from the shuttle bay. He feared the Creytes were blowing it up preventing their mass escape. The plan called for a shuttle from the Hercules to enter the bay once Frank and his team controlled it. Now that Frank was preparing to retreat, it did not look likely that he would be able to take the bay. Frank was about to give the retreat signal when a massive burst of light lit up the hall from where the Creytes were firing at him. It looked like a large team had boarded through the shuttle bay and were attacking the Creytes in front of him. The hall filled with smoke, light bursts and the screams of dying Creyte soldiers. In moments, Oria stood in front of him, alone!
“Admiral, you’re here just in the nick of time. They were pushing us back.”
Oria chuckled and slapped Frank on the back. “I can see that Chief. Maybe now you can lead your group to the shuttle bay. I have a transport there waiting to take you and the freed prisoners back to the Hercules. I think Ratface needs some help.”
Oria disappeared down the hall almost as quickly as he appeared. Frank saw light flashes and heard the sound of explosions as Oria disappeared in front of him firing weapons from each hand. The hallway to the shuttles was clear, just as Oria promised.
Meanwhile, the Creytes had one of Ratface’s units pinned down in the small corridor leading to the bridge. He heard distant explosions and felt the ship shudder as the Creytes continued their efforts to retake the bridge. Ratface and his teammates fought fiercely. So far, they were keeping the more numerous Creytes at bay. Ratface knew that without help, his small group could only last a few more minutes in this intense battle. The gap between his unit and the Creytes was in a constant ball of fire with the thunder of explosions. If not for the special suits and personal shields, the Creytes long ago would have vaporized them. Ratface watched the power meters on his suits continually decrease. They would not last long at this rate.
Ratface was close to signaling a retreat back into the bridge when a loud explosion occurred in the Creyte position. The frequency of intense white light flashes suddenly increased. Clouds of smoke with occasional glimpses of the red-hot walls lining the corridors soon replaced the light. Ratface saw the familiar image of Oria slowly appear where the Creytes had been before. Oria single handedly attacked the Creyte position and cleared the corridor.
Ratface remained with Oria until Frank managed to get all of the rescued humans back to the Hercules. He assisted Oria and several technicians from the Hercules to turn off the self-destruct program on the Creyte battle cruiser. It looked like they would be successful in bringing the captured ship back to Earth. Ratface had his teams round up the remaining Creytes and forced them into the galley cages. There would be time to debrief them later.
14
Monday June 5
2:00 AM: Hercules Arrives Back on Earth
The Hercules finally made it back to Earth with the captured Creyte battle cruiser. It had been a long several hours and everyone felt drained from helping the rescued humans. Each victim received medical attention, clothing, food and counseling. Ratface and his men were hearing for the first time some of the horror stories of living in a Creyte galley directly from fellow U.S. citizens.
Oria called Bronson to arrange for the transport of the rescued civilians to Andrews Air Force base. Temporary medical and debriefing facilities were setup. Bronson arranged for several reporters to talk with some of the recently freed people. He knew that without this information, Ratherson’s attempt to get a Declaration of War would fail.
Reporters from the local newspapers and television stations descended on the Andrews Air Force Base by the hundreds. They were horrified at the stories and living conditions forced upon the humans held onboard the Creyte ship.
Sara Roberts and her video crew managed to get one of the freed men for an interview. “Sir, would you state your name for the camera?”
“Yes, I’m Tyrone Hamilton.”
“Tyrone, how did you manage to end up on a Creyte Battle Cruiser?”
“I was on a camping vacation in West Virginia with my family and several friends almost 6 months ago. The aliens captured and transported us to their ship. From there, they forced us into cages near the ships galley.”
“Once you were onboard the ship, how were you treated?”
Tyrone was having a hard time keeping himself together. The memories were too harsh and too recent. “We were forced into small cages without any
clothes. Inside the cages, they used constraints on us to keep us from moving. They ran some sort of energy pulses through our bodies. I think it was in place of exercise. We were forced to eat some sort of slime and were hosed down on a daily basis.”
Sara couldn’t believe what she was hearing. How could an advanced civilization treat people so horribly? “Tyrone, I hate to ask you this. We’ve heard that the Creytes eat people. Is that true?”
Tyrone shuddered for a moment. He slowly pulled himself together. “It’s worse than anything you can imagine. They ate my babies while they were still alive! They think live babies are some sort of delicacy!”
Sara’s jaw dropped. “They what, they ate your babies alive?”
“That’s right. I also saw them grab my wife and several of my friends. They took them into their dining hall. They accidentally left the door open. I saw them rip my wife and friends into parts and eat them alive. They fought and screamed as long as they could. It was horrible!” Tyrone then burst into uncontrollable sobs and tears. Several counselors finally caught up with Sara and Tyrone and rescued him from any further questions. The interview played live on national television.
Legend of Oria 1: Initial Contact Page 35