Mako (The Mako Saga: Book 1)

by Ian J. Malone

  After boarding the cruiser, the two men were led by a young soldier in navy-blue fatigues to a nearby observation lounge, where the others were already waiting in front of a long, rectangular window that looked down over the docking bay below.

  “Well, this should make for a helluva view in a few minutes, huh?” Danny said to Lee, crossing the familiar ASC insignia on the floor to join him beside the glass.

  “Since none of you have ever been into space, I thought you might find this entertaining,” Reiser offered. “When it comes to a launch, this room is pretty much the best seat in the house.”

  “Good call, Doc,” Link agreed.

  “Hey Doc?” asked Hamish. “If I heard correctly, this little cosmic tour of ours is gonna take two weeks before we reach our destination. What, mind ya, are we to be doing during that time?”

  “First things first,” said the doctor, “we’ll get you settled in. You’ve all been assigned to crew quarters on the deck below us, and after we’ve broken orbit and gotten underway, we’ll get you set up with the ship’s routine… meals, drill schedules, that sort of thing. Once you’re up to speed, I have some preliminary exercises that will help get you acclimated to what you’ll be doing when we get to Aura, but there’ll be plenty of time for that later.”

  “Yeah, about that whole breaking orbit thing,” Danny added. “Aren’t you afraid somebody might notice a giant, alien cruiser lifting off into space? Somebody like, say… I dunno… the United States government?”

  Reiser shook his head. “No, we’ll be fine. We have a device onboard that prevents us from being detected on any of your instruments. Plus, as far as eye-visuals go, PGC owns most of the land between here and the city, so no one should be watching from the ground.”

  As the group continued to talk amongst themselves, a light vibration began to rumble through the deck, accompanied by a low pitched humming sound as the ship’s engines gradually awoke for their pre-launch sequence. Shortly thereafter, Sgt. Major Noll’s voice came over the intercom system.

  “Crew members, please take your stations. Launch will occur in T-minus two minutes. Stand by.”

  “Excuse me for a moment, everyone,” Reiser said before vanishing down the hall.

  Outside the vessel, the normal orange glow of the hangar bay lighting turned to red, indicating that launch was only seconds away, though it was quickly drowned out by a blast of sunshine from above when the docking bay doors spiraled open overhead. The rumble beneath their feet now escalating toward liftoff, the group stood in silent anticipation as the docking clamps released and the enormous ship rose effortlessly off its platform, its broad, steely nose tilting upward to begin the steep climb toward the surface.

  “Man, we’ve done some crazy stuff before,” Danny commented to Lee as the rocky view ahead shifted abruptly to a crystal-blue horizon, “but this? Bro, this is a whole new level of nuts… even for us.”

  Hearing the others launch into the opening bars of Elton John’s “Rocketman” behind them, Lee shot his friend a lopsided look before joining in. “Definitely one for the history books, ain’t it?”

  ****

  Listening from his seat at the crew station down the hall, Reiser watched the skyline turn to stars beyond the glass, while an unimpressed Reynolds frowned into her tablet computer beside him. He knew that she, like Noll, had her doubts about the Mimic project—much less their five, highly eccentric test subjects—and to some degree, rightfully so. Both were untested, both were wildly unorthodox, and both went against nearly every way of conventional thinking as it pertained to military training; and yet in his mind, these were the things that made them the perfect match.

  Still, hopeful as the optimist in him was, the scientist in him knew that such “lightning in a bottle” results were by no means an easy thing to achieve, if even possible at all. Thus, the chances that this could go south were every bit as good as those to the contrary… but that was the risk, and he’d known it all along.

  Hearing the raucous, off-key crescendo erupt from the lounge behind him—seemingly in concert with a fresh sigh from Reynolds—Jon Reiser rubbed his eyes and tried to shake off the last of his anxiety. Then, clasping his hands in front of his face, he bowed his head and uttered a silent prayer that his intuition would prove correct.

  Chapter 16: History Lessons

  Once the ship was on its way, Lee watched with mixed emotion from the observation lounge as the breathtaking blue sphere that was his home slowly disappeared into the star-sprinkled abyss of open space. It wasn’t as if he’d never left the country on vacation before, but seeing that country as a pin-sized speck on the side of a vanishing world had a way of changing one’s perspective on international travel. That quiet moment of cosmic reflection was short-lived, however, as a familiar strand of blue electricity creased the black just off the starboard bow, crackling for an instant before exploding into the same magnificent burst of light that he’d seen so many times before.

  “Unbelievable,” Lee marveled, watching the black nothingness beyond the glass shift abruptly to the shimmering blue tunnel of hyperspace, its vibrant walls streaked with the occasional blur of red, orange, or green from a passing planet or star. Still, amazed as he was at the scene ahead, Lee couldn’t escape the eerie familiarity of it all. This was obviously his first experience with faster-than-light travel, and yet earth-shattering as that reality was, in many ways it still felt remarkably routine because he’d seen this exact same view more times than he could count, through his goggles back home. Then again, Lee recalled, that had been the point.

  With the ship now settled into its cruising stride, Reiser showed the group to their quarters on C-Deck and allowed them to get settled in for the long journey ahead. Once they’d had a chance to unload their bags and get acclimated to the room—a cramped, steel-paneled space with eight bunk beds, a community bathroom, and a small workbench with desk light and a communications terminal— he led them on an extensive tour of the ship’s sprawling interior, during which Lee was struck once more by the oddly low-tech feel of his surroundings.

  “Dr. Reiser?” he asked, hearing his voice echo down the scuffed metallic hallway ahead as rubber-soled duty boots trampled over metal-grated floors in the distance. “I don’t mean to sound unimpressed, because I’m most certainly not, but what’s up with the whole industrial look you folks have got goin’ on here?”

  “Not exactly the futuristic spaceship you were expecting to see?” Reiser replied, amused.

  “No, not exactly,” Lee noted, inspecting the pipe-lined ceiling overhead. “Don’t get me wrong, I knew from the game that your average ship’s interior wasn’t exactly plush carpets and post-modern décor, but I wasn’t expectin’ a ‘Nam-era submarine, either. I dunno,” he shrugged. “Given the technical sophistication of what your people are capable of, I guess it’s all just a little more ‘rough and tumble’ than I figured it’d be.”

  “I can understand that,” Reiser said, unsurprised. “But you have to bear in mind, my people have only had this type of technology for a little over 80 years now. Before that time, we weren’t far from where your world is now, technologically speaking.”

  “What happened?” Link asked beside Danny and Hamish. “Some brainiac scientist came along and farted out the math equation for a warp drive, or what?”

  “No, not really. About a century ago, we had an unfortunate…” Reiser broke off—his expression both troubled and strangely conflicted. “An unfortunate… well… encounter with an alien race. Once it was over, and they’d gone, we found ourselves in possession of a sizable quantity of their technology. It took us the better part of two decades but, in time, we found that much of it could be adapted for integration into ours.”

  “So all of this is retro-engineered?” Mac surmised.

  “Precisely. Our early starships were actually seafaring battleships that we retrofitted for space flight. I’m sure you noticed how eerily similar our fighters are to yours back on Earth. Well, that’
s because much of our military technology is very similar to what you have there, but by blending the alien tech into our own, we were able to adapt our existing military resources for space-worthiness, though we’ve also made extreme advancements in a number of other areas, like biomedical science and information technology. Case in point: the translators that Dr. Reynolds injected you with before we left Earth.” He pointed to the small red mark on Lee’s neck. “Granted, a number of modifications and updates have been innovated in the years since those early models, but in the case of our ships, most of the core templates have remained the same, which is why much of this may seem a little antiquated to you.”

  “Hey Doc, that actually kinda begs another question,” Link asked. “Back home, you said you guys were human.”

  “That’s right.”

  “Well, with all due respect, how is that even possible? I mean, by virtue of the fact that you come from another planet, doesn’t that, by definition, make you an alien?”

  Reiser adjusted his glasses with his forefinger. “I suppose it depends on how you define the term,” he explained. “If being ‘human’ means that you come from one world or another, than I guess you have a point. On the other hand, if the word ‘human’ refers to a species rather than a planet of origin—and given that our two peoples are genetically identical in almost every way—then science clearly dictates that we’re both human.”

  “Yeah, about that,” Danny added. “You’ve gotta know that the whole notion of life on other planets is a bit of a stretch for some of us, but you start talking about actual flesh and blood human beings—who walk and talk just like us—and even you’ve gotta admit, that’s one helluva reality check.”

  “Why?” Reiser shrugged. “Really, why? Think about it. Regardless of how you believe the universe came to be—whether it was through divine creation or some random act of cosmic happenstance—is it so hard to believe that in a cosmos this infinitely grand, similar life could exist?” He then fired a glance back at Danny. “Besides, correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t your people once believe your world was flat?”

  Danny wrinkled his nose. “Point taken.”

  Rounding the corner to a large steel door, Reiser pressed his thumb against the small panel mounted on the wall beside it and within seconds, the loud clank of metal reverberated off the corridor walls as the door unlocked and groaned open to reveal a large, two-story cargo bay. Once the florescent lights overhead flickered and buzzed to life, Lee observed that the empty storage space had been converted into a massive simulator suite. At the center of the bay’s floor, backed by a large, canvas screen, were five fully loaded gaming stations, complete with wide-open floor space, large screen monitors, short, cockpit-style chairs and flight controls, all of which they were intimately familiar with, though the same could only partially be said for the contents of the table against the back wall.

  “Holy crap, are those real?” Link shouted—his eyes wide with excitement as he rushed toward the table’s assortment of weapons, munitions, and accessories.

  “Yes and no,” Reiser explained. “They’re the actual weapons, but they’ve been modified to work as game accessories for your training, hence the orange tips at the ends of the barrels.”

  “Aye lads, now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!” Hamish beamed, yanking back the slide on an A-90 assault rifle and letting it go with a loud, metallic kla-klack. Meanwhile, Link gave a single-handed pump of a shotgun next to him.

  “What kinda trainin’ are we talkin’ about?” Lee asked, slapping a mag into a sidearm and studying the components of its black polymer frame.

  “Your actual training with physical equipment obviously won’t begin until we reach Aura, but in the meantime you can sharpen what you already know in a virtual environment here. So while you’ll have to wait until we arrive to physically know what it feels like to fire that gun in your hand, you can at least get used to how it feels and operates while you’re killing time, more so than with a rinky-dink plastic replica, anyway.”

  Stepping aside to another table on the opposite wall, Reiser picked up a stack of books and began tossing them over.

  “What are these?” Mac asked, a little confused as she thumbed through the A-90 operations guide.

  “These are the actual technical manuals for the various pieces of equipment you’ll be learning to use in the weeks ahead,” said the doctor. “In them you’ll find everything you need to know about operating weapons, ships, computers, etc. and while a lot of this stuff was programmed into the game, some of it wasn’t. So make sure you know these front to back by the time we arrive. Pardon the pun, but I need all of you on your A-game when we get there.”

  Sensing a hint of anxiety in the room, and not wanting to overwhelm them, Reiser glanced at his watch and started back toward the exit.

  “We’ll get started on all of this in the morning, so just worry about getting some reading done tonight,” he instructed, gesturing them out. “In the meantime, evening chow is at 18:30 hours, which is only 45 minutes from now. Can you find your way back to your quarters on C-Deck?”

  They nodded.

  “Excellent,” the doctor concluded. “Why don’t you all go get cleaned up and relax for a few minutes, and I’ll see you in the mess hall shortly.”

  ****

  Not quite certain what to expect from dinner—though halfheartedly expecting the usual processed meat and canned beans that were commonplace in military cuisine—Lee was surprised when, upon entering the noisy mess hall, his nostrils filled with the pleasant aroma of roasted tomatoes and herbs emanating from the small galley behind the dining area. Glancing around the packed room, amid the din of clattering silverware and multiple conversations, Lee eventually spotted Reiser and Noll, already seated on the room’s far side.

  “Welcome,” said Reiser, standing from his chair as the group made its way across the room to take their seats at his table. “We’re glad you could join us.”

  “So Doc,” said Hamish, taking a seat. “What sort of strange, alien dish can we expect on this evening’s menu, then? Live-worm pasta or chilled monkey brains?”

  He was joking, of course. In truth, however, none of them had a clue what Aurans traditionally ate.

  “Actually, Mr. Lunley,” Reiser corrected, “we’re having Chicken Parmesan with garlic and herb seasoned pasta, grilled asparagus, tossed salad, and toasted sourdough bread, if that’s alright.”

  Somewhat relieved by the doctor’s modest response, and always a fan of Italian, Hamish nodded his gratitude as a blond man with ensign stripes filled his glass with water.

  “Ensign Marell here took the liberty of picking up a few of the recipes for some of the crew’s favorite Earth dishes to take home with us,” Reiser added. “Chicken Parm and hard-shell tacos, strangely enough, were among the favorites.”

  “Don’t worry, Mr. Lunley, we’ll get to the worms later,” Noll quipped, “but tonight we thought we’d keep it simple.”

  This drew a wry smile from Hamish. “How very thoughtful of ya, Sgt. Major,” he said coyly, “though as long as we’re trading food ideas, please… allow me to provide ya with ma mum’s award-winning recipe for haggis.”

  A collection of mild groans came from four green faces across the table. Hamish had made the pungent Scottish dish for a party once, and pretty much everyone there had been revolted by it.

  “Haggis?” Noll asked, sensing that he was missing something. “Sounds… interesting.”

  “Aye sir, it is. A fine meal indeed, and truly one befitting a strong, upstanding military man such as yarself!”

  The next hour featured a wide range of conversation topics as the two groups continued to get comfortable with one another. Some were of a more serious nature (philosophy, politics, social ethics), though not all of them (food, art, Sammy Hagar vs. David Lee Roth). As the night wore on, it became clearer to Lee that, while they were obviously from different worlds (with all of the expected differences in culture and history, among
other things), there were a lot of similarities between Reiser’s people and his. Still, the academic in him could never pass up the topic of history.

  “Forgive me if this is a little outta bounds,” Lee prefaced over his final bite of chicken. “But how did the war with Alystier begin? I mean, who they are and their reputation as a militaristic society is well chronicled in the game, but there’s never any real reference made to how this conflict got started other than to briefly talk about some sort of mine dispute. Are they just a bunch of power-hungry aliens that wanna invade your world or what?”

  Reiser looked at Noll, who hesitated before nodding his okay to respond.

  “That’s a very long story,” the doctor noted, his expression turning sullen.

  “Well, we’ve got no shortage of time,” remarked Lee.

  Reiser took a moment to collect his thoughts before answering. “The Alystierian people,” he began, “while different from us in virtually every social and moral way, are actually the descendants of a group of Aurans who seceded from our world a little over 75 years ago.”

  “Whoa, so they’re essentially like your long-lost relatives?” Mac noted, eyeing what looked to be cheesecake on the serving table behind them.

  “Yes, that’s correct,” said Reiser. “A century ago, Aura was very much as it is now, a peaceful civilization that believed very much in the enlightenment of its people through advancements in science, technology, and the arts.”

  “Sounds nice, Utopian even,” Lee added, lacing his fingers in front of him.

  “In many ways, that’s correct,” said the doctor. “At the time, we hadn’t yet achieved the ability of space travel, nor had we encountered any alien life. Much like your world is now, many Aurans falsely believed that we were alone in the universe, and because most of our crime back then was minor in nature—land disputes, petty theft, that sort of thing—Aura’s defenses were little more than a collection of small law enforcement entities to help keep the peace when necessary. For whatever reason—call it self-enlightenment, social advancement or just stupid pride—we thought we’d evolved past the need for a military.” He paused. “We paid a heavy price for being that naive, too.”