Jewel of The Stars - Season 1 Episode 1 - Earth's Remnant
Page 11
“Can I pour you a Scotch?” Les asked.
Braxton shrugged. “To be honest, I could go a beer.”
“Knock yourself out.” He pointed towards the bar.
Braxton drew himself a glass and returned to the place where Les stood.
“Commander White.”
“Braxton.”
“Braxton. I asked you here because I thought we needed to clear the air. Our last attempt wasn’t very successful.”
“A lot’s happened since then, Cap. I think we’re both different people.”
“I’ll give you that.”
“Look, I’m sorry I didn’t give you the respect you were due. You’re the captain of this ship. I don’t think I appreciated that.” He took a sip of his beer. “Anyway, you’ve proven yourself. You’re a combat veteran now. The crew on this ship, they’ll follow you anywhere.” He raised his glass in salute. “And that includes me.”
“That’s a nice sentiment. I hope I don’t lead them astray.”
“I don’t think you will, but worst case scenario, I’ll be here to kick you up the bum if you do.” Braxton chuckled. Les joined in.
“Yeah, I have no doubt you’ll do just that.”
“You were right, y’know,” Braxton said. “I wasn’t taking the risk to civilian life seriously enough. I guess I was so eager to get back into battle, I didn’t consider who might get hurt.”
Les took a sip of his Scotch. It burned all the way down. Why did people enjoy that?
“Haylee payed the price.” Braxton stared at his boots. “If I’d been more careful, played it a little safer … I dunno. Maybe she’d be awake and well.”
“And maybe she wouldn’t. Believe me, I’ve been playing what-if since yesterday. You can’t win that game.” Les let out a huge sigh. “Thing is, you were right. I was rigid and inflexible, chained to the rule book. You were a pain in the ass, but I forced you to be by not listening to what you had to say.”
“You sure overcame that.” Braxton took a swig. “Firing that cannon when you did was a gutsy move.”
“Well, as you said, we’re both different people.”
“You reckon we can make a go of this, living on the run?”
“I don’t know.” Les shook his head, turned, and locked eyes with Braxton. “Before I came aboard, there was a tramp on my doorstep.”
Braxton raised an eyebrow.
“He told me something terrible was coming. Actually advised me to stay on Earth. I think he knew about the aliens.”
“How could he know that?”
“Only thing I can think is that they had insiders among us, a conspiracy of humans against their own kind. It’s unthinkable. I’d love to know what their motivation was.”
“I’d like to put a bullet between their eyes for treason.”
“Unfortunately, we’ll probably never know now.”
Braxton drained his glass. “Well, I gotta go. Been working with Maya to familiarise myself with the ship and crew structure. You know, the old induction process for new staff.”
Les nodded.
“Thanks for the drink, mate,” Braxton placed his glass on the bar. “I mean, Captain.”
Les gave Braxton a little salute.
The door opened again, and Rashona Clarke walked in. “There you are, Captain. Maya told me I could find you here. Am I interrupting something?”
“Nah,” Braxton said, turning to leave. “Just a bit o’ the old male bonding. He’s all yours, Doc.”
He tipped his head and left the bar.
“Interesting man.” Les shook his head.
“Yeah. That’s one word for it.” Rashona strolled over to join him at the porthole.
“How are you holding up?”
Les shrugged.
“I wanted to check on you.” She dropped onto a bar stool. “You’ve been through a lot lately. You suddenly have a whole lot more responsibility on your shoulders than you ever expected. As your doctor, and as your friend, I want you to know I’m here. If you ever want to talk …”
“I’ve managed to get the ship to safety. If we keep heading into deep space, we can probably give the aliens the slip. They may never find us again, but to what end? Can we survive out here all alone? Is that going to be any kind of life?”
“I don’t know, but we have to try.”
“Maybe we’d have been better off if the aliens had blown us up. At least then the suffering would be over.”
Rashona’s face clouded. “You don’t really believe that, Captain.”
“We’re cut off totally from Earth. We’re like … like orphans.”
Rashona shook her head. “No. We’re not orphans.”
She began to pace. Les placed his glass of Scotch on the bar. It wasn’t like he was going to finish it. “Care to elaborate on that, Doctor?”
She stopped and faced him. “We’re a remnant.”
“A remnant?”
“Yeah. Like in the Old Testament. There are biblical stories of God using pagan nations to punish Israel when they sinned. They’d come and conquer the people for a time.”
Les frowned. The last thing he needed right now was a Bible lesson. “And you think this alien invasion is God punishing humanity for our sins?”
Rashona shook her head. “No. Not at all.”
“Then what’s the point of this little Sunday school story?”
“Let me finish, and I’ll tell you.”
Les flopped onto a bar stool.
“When Israel was marched off to Babylon, a remnant remained behind. God would always preserve a remnant. Someone always survived to carry on the story, to keep the dream alive.”
“And that’s us?”
“We’re Earth’s remnant, Captain. We’re the ones who are going to survive. We’re the ones who will make sure the universe never forgets there was a planet called Earth, and it was beautiful, and the people weren’t perfect, but they did amazing things, and they could show incredible compassion. They did things like risking their lives to retrieve a cannon so others might live.”
Les nodded slowly. “Doctor, I like the way you think.”
#
Les flashed a smile at Maya as he stepped onto the bridge.
“We’re clear of Earth space Captain.”
“Excellent news.”
“Glen reports morale is pretty low among the passengers. They’re realising they may never see home again.”
“Well, at least not for a long time.” He strode to the front of the bridge. “Patch me through ship-wide please.”
“Aye, Captain,” the communications officer replied.
“This is your captain speaking. I’m sure you’ve all had a chance to reflect on our situation and you’re probably feeling pretty grim. I understand that. I’ve gone through those same emotions myself, but I want to tell you to have hope in our future. Today is a bright day because despite everything, we are alive.
“A wise person told me something earlier today, and I want to share it with all of you. We, all of us, are the last remnant of free human beings in the galaxy. Our families and friends back home may be living under alien occupation, but we are free. We have a chance to forge our own destiny. There will be struggles ahead, but we’ll meet them head on as we have done in the past. Today we start building a new community of humanity. Today we begin forging the future.”
He motioned for the line to be cut. Maya smiled at him. “You’ve found yourself again Captain.”
“I have indeed.”
He gazed out the front window. “Let’s see what we can find out there.”
Free Prequel
Find out how it all started. Get the exclusive back-story to humanity’s first contact in this free prequel. The Fall of the HMAS Adelaide
http://www.adamdavidcollings.com/free
Acknowledgments
I want to thank my wife for supporting my dreams. Without that support, this book would not exist. I also want to thank my parents for believing in me and always encou
raging me to pursue my gift.
Thank you to Iola Goulton who edited this book. I have learned a lot from her during the course of this project. Thanks also to Nadine Brandes who gave editorial input on the first few chapters.
Thank you to Domi from Inspired Cover Designs, who weaved her magic to make an incredible cover. It’s so strange seeing such a beautiful image associated with my words.
Thanks to those in Omega Writers, Christian Writers Downunder, The Realm Makers Consortium, and the SciFi Roundtable. How amazing to have communities like these to share the creative journey with.
Thank you to those on my email list. You are a treasure. My first supporters. You are the ones who have been with my since the beginning.
Finally, I want to acknowledge the place of God in my life. If it weren’t for the grace of Jesus Christ, I wouldn’t be the same person.
Also by Adam David Collings
Lynessa’s Curse (Also found in Medieval Mars: The Anthology)
A Light to My Path (in Glimpses of Light)(A short story set in the Jewel of the Stars universe)
Chronostream’s Father (in Superheroes: The Crossover Alliance Anthology V3)
For King & Planet (in Victorian Venus) Sequel to Medieval Mars
Adam David Collings is an author of speculative fiction. He lives in Tasmania, Australia with his wife Linda and his two children. Adam draws inspiration for his stories from his over-active imagination, his life experiences, and his faith.
Adam is a great lover of stories, enjoying them in books, movies, scripted TV and computer games. Adam discusses these on his youTube channel, where he also hosts the monthly Christian Science Fiction & Fantasy Bulletin.
Adam and his wife are passionately involved with the Door of Hope Christian Church. Adam has served in ministry areas such as video production and serving meals to the homeless.
Table of Contents
Contents
Copyright
Free Book
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Free Prequel
Acknowledgements
Other Books
About The Author