Forbidden The Stars (The Interstellar Age Book 1)

by Valmore Daniels

  There was a man dressed in a large winter jacket and with a balaclava pulled down over his face. With a speed that stunned Michael, the man opened the driver side door, slipped his car card in the slot to engage all the locks and close Michael in. Fumbling for his own card, Michael found it and used it to release the doors, and jumped out, but by the time he was on the sidewalk, there was no sign of the stranger.

  Looking back inside the vehicle, Michael saw a manila envelope between the driver’s and passenger’s seats. Sitting back down inside the car, he opened the envelope. Inside was a report.

  The front page read:

  ∞

  Decrypted Text

  Excerpts From The Official Flight Journal Of

  Captain Justine Churchill Turner.

  ∞

  He flipped quickly through the dozen pages of transcribed entries, describing Alex’s ability to manipulate electrical devices, and his apparent insomnia. Obvious side-effects of exposure to Element X.

  Looking around to see if anyone was watching him, Michael slowly went over the journal excerpts line by line. The insomnia, the computer files, the hidden camera, the electrical telekinesis—all pointed toward something in Alex. A mystery. There was something there.

  By the time Michael got to the end of Captain Turner’s report, he knew exactly why Alex had been kidnapped, and why the pirates had gone to such lengths.

  The only question that remained was … who were the pirates?

  26

  Pirate Ship :

  Sol System :

  Like a petrified clam within its shell, Alex waited inside the security receptacle and listened for the sounds of the kidnappers coming to pry him out forcibly. He was too panicked to remember to use his special sight to watch their approach.

  Docking with the pirate ship had been clumsy, and if Alex had not been secure in the receptacle, he would have had numerous bruises and bumps to show for the experience. As it was, he was more scared than if he had been injured; if he had been, at least he would have something to take his overactive mind off what would become of him.

  In the DMR game, Nova Pirates, a captured fighter would be taken to the pirates’ home base where he would be enslaved for the rest of his life, performing menial chores and suffering the abuse of the pirates. That was just a game; this was reality. Over the past six months, Alex had come to know that most of the time reality was much worse.

  On the Orcus 1, he had felt safe, secure, and could afford to be aloof, reserved, even arrogant in an effort to hide the internalized pains of losing his beloved parents in such a brutal manner. The Orcus 1 had an accommodating, concerned crew.

  On the pirate ship, he would have no such luxury.

  He could imagine his future torment. What had he done to deserve such a horrid fate? His parents killed, himself kidnapped. The song in his head threatened to drive him insane. What else was going to befall him?

  After a quarter of an hour by himself in the receptacle, Alex thought he was going to go crazy from the isolation and from his imagination. Soon, however, he could hear the sounds of footsteps as the pirates made their way through the defunct TAHU to locate his security receptacle.

  Within minutes, they found him, and he finally gathered enough wits to use his sight to see beyond the receptacle, and to watch his captors. As with every time he closed his eyes to use his sight, that haunting song came to him, the lyrical words too soft to define, too far away to catch, too intense to ignore.

  There were two of them, he saw. Both were men, dressed in flight suits. One had short dark hair. He looked Asian. The other man was a tall and blond Caucasian.

  Though Alex could not quite pin down their ages, he finally decided they were younger than any member of the Orcus 1 crew. They did not look like pirates; more like astronauts you could find at any space agency in the world.

  Taken aback by the kidnappers’ unexpected normality, he didn’t hear them at first, but they repeated themselves. The tall, blond one had a European accent Alex could not pin down.

  “We are not going to hurt you, Alex. I’m going to open the receptacle, and I would like it very much if you cooperated with us, and didn’t try to run,” one of them said. “There is no place to run, anyway; but if you are a good boy, things will go better for you. Can you hear me?”

  Alex’s tongue did not want to work for him.

  “Can you hear me?” the man repeated as he withdrew a pair of handcuffs from a pouch tied around his waist. “Tell me you’ll cooperate, and I won’t have to tie you up.”

  “I won’t fight,” Alex finally replied loud enough for them to hear on the other side of the receptacle. He waited as the men punched the release button, allowing the door to swing open easily.

  Alex stepped out cautiously, and looked up at the men, making no effort to run from them. They had spoken the truth: he had no place to go, except open space. He was in their power.

  “Good,” the man said. “I see we have no need of these.”

  He raised the handcuffs before Alex a moment before putting them away in his pouch. “Now, my name is Captain Gruber, and this is First Mate Chung.”

  “Who are you?” Alex had to ask. “Pirates?”

  “We work for a private organization that has taken a great deal of interest in you, Alex. They have followed your progress quite closely since your unfortunate accident last August, and would like to meet you. I assure you, no harm will come to you if you cooperate, but make no mistake, we have taken you prisoner and you will do as we say, or there will be repercussions. Do you know what that word means?”

  Alex nodded. “In Nova Pirates, prisoners are tortured and made slaves.”

  Captain Gruber gave him a sour look. “Very funny. No, we are not pirates … exactly. Nevertheless, if you do not cooperate, you will be dealt with severely. Certain privileges that I am in a position to grant you will be withdrawn. It will be a few weeks before we return. How you spend those few weeks—either in comfort, or locked in your room with no entertainment—will be your choice. My orders are to keep you incommunicado. Do you know what that means?”

  Alex shook his head, even though he knew the answer.

  “It means no contact with anyone, locked in a room for the rest of the trip; but if you are a good boy for us, I will let you have certain freedoms. What do you say to that?”

  “I won’t try anything,” Alex promised.

  “Good. Now, if you will follow First Mate Chung, he will show you to your accommodations and then bring you to the mess to get some food. We have recreation facilities for the crew that you may use to occupy your time until we attain orbit. The only requirement we have of you until our landing is a daily physical examination. I understand that you have some small ability with the manipulation of electricity.” He gave the boy a stern, uncompromising glare.

  So, they had somehow hacked into the Orcus 1’s secure data bases, as had Alex. How they had done it from space was beyond him.

  “I don’t know the extent of this power, but I have no interest in a demonstration, Alex. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Good. Off you go, now. I’m looking forward to a comfortable, uneventful return. I trust you share my optimism, and that you will make every effort to be a good little boy.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Good. We understand each other perfectly.” He turned on his heel, and strode away.

  ∞

  After being shown his room by the First Mate—a small, cramped space marginally larger than a coffin, with a military bunk and a glowlamp—Alex was familiarized with the latrines and the mess hall. Chung brought him to the common room that was empty right then. There was a DMR television with an extensive library of foreign language videos; a video entertainment console with a number of games also in other languages, but Alex thought he could get around that with the games. There was also a refreshment kiosk that, Chung explained, contained files on every beverage Alex could want.

&nbs
p; “Now, remember, Alex: this common room is for the crew members, a place to relax. They have been given orders not to talk to you, so when they are off duty, you may not come in here. You can play the videos when the room is free, and you can read any of the books in here if you can find one in English. However, under no circumstances are you to contact any of the crew for any reason. If I hear one complaint, you will be locked in your room for the duration of the trip. If you have any questions, you may approach me. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Good. Now, we must go to the medical bay for some tests.”

  ∞

  The physician at the medical examination room was a pleasant looking older man with a disarming manner.

  When Alex arrived, the doctor smiled and beckoned the young man to come in. True to form, the doctor was dressed in a lab coat, and wore spectacles over bright blue eyes. His hair was balding, and what hair he had left he swept over the bare skin of his pate. Chubby hands held a stethoscope he had just been donning when Alex arrived.

  When he spoke, it was with an accent from one of the southern states of America.

  “Have a seat young man. I promise this will be much easier than you think. I’d just like to take a few readings—heart beat, respiration, all on the EEG bio-reader; and if I could, a small sampling of blood, if you don’t mind. Then you can be on your way.”

  “That’s all right,” Alex told him. Taking off his shirt, he lay down on the examination bed.

  “My name is Doctor Hyndman, but you can call me ‘Doc.’ ”

  Doc began his examination by attaching a few electrodes to Alex’s torso and temples. “I understand there is some kind of electrical disruption field you are able to produce.”

  There was no use denying it. “If I want.”

  “Remarkable. Could you show me now? I already have readings for normal state of rest.”

  “Captain Gruber said—”

  “It’s all right, Alex. The captain is not here right now, and I don’t take orders from him. But, if you don’t wish to…”

  Alex, despite himself, liked the doctor. “All right. But you have to tell me how you knew about it.”

  The Doc smiled. “Our organization has many resources, both financial as well as human. A little bribery is all it takes to obtain remote codes. A laser EPS to the Orcus 1 when we know no one is monitoring the computers, and ‘boom’, everything is laid out for us. Now, I have shared a secret with you; it is your turn to show me what I would like to see.”

  Alex, with as little effort as it took to breathe, caused the EEG bio-reader to flatline.

  “Remarkable. How do you do it?”

  Alex shrugged. “It just happens. I think it, and I can just … I don’t know … take away the power. Or, I can add to it.” Again, he flexed his ability, and the EEG bio-reader began to beep and quip, the readings fluctuating wildly. “Like breathing. You don’t think every breath, but if you concentrate, you can hold it for a while.”

  “All right! All right, Alex! The machine will explode.”

  “Sorry, Doc.”

  He smiled. “No worries. You say you just think it? Do you get tired when you do it?”

  “No.”

  “Not even a bit?”

  Alex shook his head.

  “Dizzy, like when you hold your breath?” he asked.

  “Nah-uh.”

  “I understand you have not slept in months. Do you feel tired at all?”

  “Well, no.”

  The doctor raised an eyebrow.

  Alex explained, “Not sleepy tired, but sometimes I feel a little slow.”

  “Slow?”

  “Like when you haven’t eaten in a while. Low energy or something.”

  “Interesting. Any other side effects you can think of?”

  Alex shook his head, while the doctor rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

  “I wonder … but then, it is not my place to delve. They have facilities for this at the station; my colleagues will be eager to begin their studies of you.”

  Alex sat up as the doctor produced a syringe for taking blood. “Doc,” he said hesitantly, and for a moment, the doctor assumed Alex was nervous about the needle.

  “It will only feel like a small pin prick for a moment,” he assured Alex.

  “I’m not afraid of the needle. I just wanted to know… What are they going to do to me?”

  The doctor paused a moment, gave Alex a quizzical look. Then his expression changed to one of amused assurance. “Well, I haven’t been told everything, you understand. But I can promise that no harm will come to you. Our organization is powerful, but we are not frivolous. There are many things we do that others might threaten others. They want to stop us. But everything we do is for the betterment of humankind, ultimately.”

  “They didn’t have to kidnap me—”

  “But I’m afraid we did, Alex. You have a power, beyond the manipulation of electricity, which is of vital importance to the world. Your home country, and others, is ill-equipped to deal with your potential. There would be disasters, possibly war. Even now, some countries are drawing lines, taking sides.

  “We have the facilities to explore and observe, and want no part in Earth’s wars; I assure you, no one will come to any harm, especially you. In this, you must trust me. It is for your own good that we have taken you. In the wrong hands, you could do great harm without wanting to. You don’t want to hurt people, do you?”

  “No.”

  “There, you see? Already I have proven that what we are doing is for the greater good.”

  Alex furrowed his brow, unable to understand the doctor’s logic. “But this ship was going to ram the Orcus 1!”

  “I assure you, Alex, we would not have done that. You see, none of us wishes for death. The captain would have turned at the last moment.”

  The doctor leaned forward, his face drawn in concern.

  “No, Alex, all we wished to happen was the evacuation of the ship, so that there would be no confrontation. We had expected you to be ejected along with the rest of the crew, but, as it happens, you came out alone, before the others. That made our job easier, and we have avoided hostilities with the NASA ship.”

  “But…” Alex struggled with the dichotomy of the doctor’s argument.

  When the needle was jabbed in his arm, and blood taken, Alex barely registered the pain; his mind was awhirl.

  “Done. Moreover, as I promised, it did not hurt so very much. You see I keep to my word. So you must trust me now.”

  Alex nodded solemnly.

  “Well, Alex. You may go now, but my door is always open. If you are confused, or you have questions, you may approach me whenever you feel the need. All right?”

  “All right.”

  First Mate Chung entered the MER and shot a questioning glance at the doctor.

  “All done, First Mate.”

  “The Captain wishes to receive a full report on your readings, Doctor.”

  The Doc cocked his head to one side. “And he shall have access to all medical findings taken aboard this ship, as is his right; but you know under our contract that information about Alex is top secret. You and your captain are not privy to our business.”

  “I don’t like this skullduggery, Doctor! And neither does Captain Gruber. Frankly, the money does not seem all that much now, not enough by far for pissing off the entire USA, Inc.”

  “Ah, but how will they ever know? We would never reveal your participation in this endeavor, for it would reflect badly upon us. And I’m sure you would keep your own counsel as well. A double indemnity clause, if you will. Now, I’m sure our young ward will be hungry, and it is almost dinner time.”

  ∞

  Alex followed the grumbling First Mate to the mess and ate his meal in silence, not even bothering to identify the food he shoveled into his mouth.

  Everyone was being more than nice and convivial to him, and this disturbed him in a rudimentary way. Not only did he expect to be handl
ed with brutality and callousness, but also he had fully anticipated being summarily locked away. Was the doctor telling the truth, in that this mysterious organization had kidnapped him because they saw no other way to keep him from using his powers against others? For the betterment of humankind?

  And what about the powers that so concerned the doctor? Besides being able to freeze or bolster existing electrical pulses, something which Alex could find no great use for except being able to use computer without a thoughtlink patch, or fool EEG machines, the other ability he had was seeing beyond his range of vision. How could either possibly harm anybody?

  As nice as everybody was, Alex was determined not to let them win his trust. They were kidnappers, right or wrong, and he did not like that.

  He planned carefully what he was going to do.

  27

  Pirate Ship :

  Sol System :

  Alex spent the next two weeks in a state of futility. The crew’s apparent apathy toward him provided him with no opportunities to question them, or innocently overhear conversations—the ones in English—that could have given him a clue as to who these people really were and what their purpose was in kidnapping him.

  The rules stated that he was not to enter the recreation room when the crew was off duty. Alex kept to his quarters, and only wandered the small area of the ship where he was allowed to be.

  He was able to raid the ship’s computer files, but besides technical jargon and schematics, routine logs and reports, he found no information about the organization that had taken such an acute interest in him. If Alex had not known better, he would have sworn they knew about his ability to go into computer files from a distance, and had taken steps to erase any record of themselves.

  The only break in Alex’s monotony was his daily physical examination. Doctor Hyndman was a jovial man, and Alex enjoyed his company, although the Doc was the enemy. Alex quickly realized that the Doc was himself digging for information about Alex, dropping casual questions that seemed innocent enough.