Jump Starting the Universe

by John David Buchanan

“If any of your crew lays so little as a foot on our soil, I’ll strike him down,” said Donnally, stepping close to the ramp and looking the officer in the eyes. If the issue was to be determined by a staring contest Donnally had already won. The officer broke contact with Donnally’s penetrating gaze and violently yelled something in a guttural dialect into the cargo hold.

  Without any more warning a giant with a long lance raced out of the ship directly toward Donnally. Seglig looked quickly at Donnally and realized he was not unarmed. On his back were two scabbards mounted in a crossing pattern. The giant bore down on him but at precisely the right moment Donnally deflected the lance by turning sideways and pushing it away with the palm of his right hand. As he turned he pulled a sword from its scabbard with his left hand. In one motion Donnally severed the giant’s lower leg with the sword in his left hand while retrieving the second sword with his right. Before the giant fell to the ground his heart had been pierced with the sword in Donnally’s right hand. Another giant appeared in the doorway with a large weapon, intent on firing it at Arton who was standing near the first giant’s sprawled body. Arton didn’t move or seem to notice the gun or care about the giant’s intent. Donnally sheathed a sword and retrieved a laser weapon from inside his unzipped jacked. Before the giant could discharge his weapon he was hit with a blast laser and died immediately, collapsing in the doorway. Two more giants started down the ramp. Seglig had the urge to yell or run toward them or do something, anything but sit behind that rock.

  Bert sensed he was edgy and leaned in to whisper, “stay here and watch.” Donnally met the two giants halfway up the ramp and dispatched them quickly, both falling on off to the west side. He retreated to the end of the ramp waiting for the next attack. The officer reappeared at the cargo door with another giant who didn’t look like a miner. He appeared to be a soldier or a security guard. The second looked at the three dead giants on the ground as the officer was speaking to him. He looked again at the three dead giants. He spoke back to the officer who became furious and spoke to him loudly as his face contorted in anger. The security guard called to another giant behind him, another security guard who immediately rushed down the ramp. Donnally side stepped his rush halfway to the door and sent the guard reeling off the east side of the ramp. The giant hit the ground and didn’t move. Overcome with rage the officer-in-charge retrieved a weapon from a rack next to the door. The security guard grabbed his arm and spoke something to him, but the officer wrenched his arm loose from the guard’s hand and turning toward the loading ramp found Donnally’s sword deep in his chest; the weapon discharged and blasted away an outcrop of rock adjacent to the ramp. Donnally retreated so quickly he was standing halfway down the ramp before the officer’s body slumped to the floor. The security guard stood still at the top of the ramp. Then he retrieved the intercom and spoke to the ship’s command deck. Very quickly another giant in officer’s clothing appeared in the cargo bay. They spoke momentarily and the second officer reached for the weapon that had dropped to the floor alongside the captain’s body. The security officer grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the weapon, shaking him and drawing him close, and spoke into his ear. The officer pulled his arm away and glanced at the dead giants on the ground, said something to the security guard in an insulting way, and walked into the cargo bay.

  “What did you tell him?” demanded Donnally.

  “I told him there is no victory here today,” said the security guard, “he went to communicate his plan to Korganra.

  “What is the plan?” demanded Donnally again.

  “I don’t get to make the plans,” said the giant, “just offer advice.”

  “If you don’t stand down we will be forced to kill every combatant on your ship,” said Donnally choosing his words carefully.

  “I believe I understand perfectly,” said the guard. The second officer returned to the cargo bay and spoke to the guard. The guard simply shook his head and didn’t reply. The officer became furious and spoke again. The guard shook his head again without replying and stepped backward distancing himself from the officer who spoke to him again. This time the guard remained still. The officer stared at the guard intently, then with surprising dexterity for someone his size the officer whirled around and grabbed the weapon from the cargo bay floor and pointed it at Donnally, who had already retrieved his own weapon. The officer pulled the trigger and a blast shot down the ramp into the ground near Arton whose facial expression finally looked as if he were interested in what was transpiring. Donnally had moved before the officer’s gun discharged, and crouching down he moved along the ground on the east side of the ramp, using it as a shield. Then he suddenly grabbed the ramp railing with his left hand and using his momentum swung himself into the air and onto the ramp as his weapon discharged, hitting the officer in the chest and blasting him into the cargo bay. Donnally landed on the ramp and lowered his weapon.

  “This doesn’t have to continue,” said Donnally, “let me speak to your next officer.”

  “There are no more officers,” said the guard.

  “Then who is in charge?” asked Donnally.

  “I believe at this juncture I have the authority to discuss a new plan,” said the guard, indicating he was now in charge. “I would like until 7:25 IPT to load the casualties. Once they are loaded I’ll give the command to close the cargo door and retrieve the outriggers. My ship should be off your planet by 9:00 IPT.”

  Donnally walked up the ramp, reached into his jacket and retrieved a small round metal device. The security guard stepped backward with a look of panic on his face. “You know what this is,” said Donnally, “I can tell you’ve had military training. This is a programmed tetratic sphere capable of incinerating this entire ship and frankly, quite a bit more. It’s preprogrammed with the coordinates and flight plan for Korganra. Once you leave this planet and pass orbit altitude the sphere will automatically activate. If you try to return, if you try to go anywhere other than Korganra, this device will detonate. Once you arrive and establish an orbit around Korganra you will have until 14:25 IPT to shuttle your remaining crew to safety; the tetratic sphere is programed to detonate at 14:26 IPT. This ship will never desecrate another planet.” as he finished Donnally placed the tetratic sphere against the hull of the ship. “One more thing,” offered Donnally, “the magnetic lock on this device is integrated into the firing protocol. Once you are beyond our orbit altitude any attempt to remove the sphere will initiate detonation. You understand.”

  The security guard nodded. “Two final things then, first I want a copy of your ship’s log.”

  The security guard immediately said, “I am not permitted…” but stopped mid-sentence, picked up the intercom and spoke to someone on the command deck.

  “Finally, if you’re ship is not airborne by 9:00 IPT we will return to board your ship and execute everyone aboard, and this vessel will go to salvage.” The security guard nodded but didn’t say a word. Donnally walked to the end of the ramp and joined Arton. At 8:05 IPT a giant from the command deck delivered a copy of the ship log.

  “Tell your security officer that if this is not a copy of the log I requested, I will send a representative to every Korganraim operation in our solar system to extract the information by force.”

  “Security Officer Kubau told me you would do just that and said I should make sure the log was delivered as promised,” said the giant who turned and hurried up the ramp and into the ship.

  By 8:45 IPT the outriggers were retracted and the mining ship flew out over the eastern plains and initiated an upward trajectory to leave the planet.

  Seglig had not spoken a word. He looked at Bert who had been equally quiet. “After all this work I fancy a good breakfast,” said Bert. “Oi, Donnally, Arton, will you be joining us for lunch?” Both men nodded their acceptance, neither acting unnerved by Bert and Seglig’s sudden appearance.

  “Did they know we were here the whole time?” asked Seglig.

  “Oh, they knew we were
here before we knew we were here,” said Bert with a wink, “let’s get something to eat. And with that he stood up and joined Donnally and Arton and they decided to meet at Krimperdeem’s Café.

  Krimperdeem’s was the perfect place to pour over the mining ship’s log book. It was located on a side street off the main way and near the rivulet. “Look,” said Arton through a piece of bread half chewed, “they used the mining ship as a troop transport when they attacked Bruinhel’s southern city of Gyrostoh.”

  Seglig looked at Bert who shrugged, “It was just a guess,” said Bert taking a sip of coffee, “I had no idea they were doing that; just made sense didn’t it? Everyone expecting a contract mining expedition and the next thing you know you’re invaded by hundreds of giants.”

  “Looks like Gyrostoh was looted,” said Arton, “judging by the thousands of items listed.” The mining ships log book listed the places that had been plundered, assets seized, peoples killed, cities destroyed, and agreements for taxation.

  “Why did they come here?” asked Seglig.

  “They don’t like no for an answer,” said Arton.

  Donnally hadn’t said a word since they sat down; he listened, but mostly seemed to be deep in thought. “Look, here’s an entry from Balshan IV, this was the mining ship that virtually destroyed that planet,” said Arton.

  Finally Donnally broke his silence. “Bert, I think it’s time we devised a long term plan to deal with the Koganraim giants, they are wreaking havoc on our solar system and we’re not doing enough to help.”

  “I agree,” said Bert, “but we’re stretched thin, there’s a lot of space out there Donnally.” He paused for a moment while looking out the window then continued, “we’ll call a meeting of the heads and see what can be done.” Bert closed the log book and laid it on an empty chair nearby. After that Donnally seemed to lighten up and conversation turned to family, friends, and what was the best wood to smoke freshly caught fish from Govent Rivulet. They asked about Seglig’s home and he told them of great mountains covered with the whitest snow and waterfalls with water so cold Paul Currie would be jealous. He described steep valleys whose sides were so steep only Ganjra goats could navigate them and houses built on the flats from trees so large they made the Koganraim giants look like caterpillars. After much more description he finished with, “The land is a stranger to strife, it is beautiful and the people are peaceful.” Breakfast ended and Seglig made known his intentions to leave that day.

  “Well, you are always welcome on Centoria,” said Bert, “and especially in Umbreathe.”

  The door to the café opened and a man stepped into the foyer. He looked about the room methodically as if he were looking for a specific place to sit then his gaze found Bert, “I assume we’ll be having a meeting of the heads?” said the man to the group.

  “Right you are,” said Bert.

  “I’ll just have a seat in the back and we can talk when you’re through,” said the man with a nod to Seglig as he made his way to a table near a window in the back of the room.

  “Unbelievable,” said Donnally, “unbelievable.”

  “We haven’t even officially described what happened this morning, not more than three hours ago, and he already knows,” said Arton with disbelief.

  “Who is that man,” asked Seglig who was watching the man who still wore his overcoat and was now sitting facing the room reading the lunch menu intently.

  “Quite possibly the single most dangerous man in the universes,” replied Bert.

  “Dangerous,” asked Seglig, “you mean like a wanted criminal?”

  “Oh heavens no,” said Donnally, “he’s the finest chap you’ll ever meet; he’s Chairman of the Centorian Council.

  “Why would you call him dangerous then?” asked Seglig.

  “Let’s just say that if that mining ship that arrived this morning had been a troop transport filled with giants intending to invade Umbreathe, and he had been there alone to meet them, the eastern ridges would have been covered with dead giants and he would have been back here in time for brunch.”

  “He sounds merciless,” said Seglig.

  “People get that impression if they only see the warrior side of him,” replied Bert, “but he’s a family man, and a gentle soul by nature; but he believes in people getting a fair shake.”

  “How did you meet him?” asked Seglig.

  “Oh well, I was briefly in the import-export business and had an opportunity to broker some extremely valuable historical items from Golgoth 11. When the seller was paid, I picked up the merchandise and was in route to the buyer when the cruiser I leased had mechanical trouble. I landed in a plain somewhere on Voltief and waited for help from the cruiser lease company.

  Instead of a service cruiser, a small gun ship showed up with sixty five mercenaries demanding I hand over my cargo. I opened the hatch not knowing what would happen. While the leader of the mercenaries explained in explicit detail what they would do to me if I resisted I noticed a stranger walking across the plain toward us. He walked right up to my ship seemingly oblivious to the mercenaries and said, 'Are you Bert'? I said yes, who are you? He said, 'I came to help'.

  He turned toward the mercenaries and but continued to talk to me and said, 'the buyer took out an insurance policy on your cargo, and then he hired this lot to steal it. They have an inside guy at the cruiser rental company. They paid him to shut off the distress beacon and put a control override module on the fuel injector array; that allowed them to force you to land right here where they wanted you'. At that moment,” continued Bert, “one of the mercenaries unbuttoned his side arm. The stranger said, 'I wouldn’t do that, it won’t end well'.

  I thought to myself who does this guy think he is there are sixty five of them? Right then the mercenary reached for his gun. Before the gun had cleared its holster the stranger had reached behind his back, pulled a sword from a scabbard hidden beneath his coat and slapped the mercenary’s hand to a stop with the flat side of the sword. The stranger told him, 'I said that won’t end well, let it be'. He didn’t heed the warning,” continued Bert, “and it didn’t end well, not well at all. You saw Donnally this morning,” nodding toward Donnally, “he’s good, really good with a sword. So is Alton, and I’m pretty fair with a sword myself, but I have never witnessed anything like what I saw that day on Voltief.”

  “Have you known him long?” asked Seglig.

  “Yeah, quite some time now,” said Bert.

  “What’s his name?”

  “Sly, his name is Sly,” replied Bert.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  THE COMMON LANGUAGE

  Nita and Joules were still tending the cut on Amelia’s forehead when they heard the distant siren of an emergency vehicle. “That’s probably headed our way,” said Mark, “anyone fancy something to eat? I’m hungry.”

  “Hungry?” responded Amelia, who was getting some color back in her face, “really?”

  “Well yeah, I could use something to eat and drink after all that,” said Mark, waving his hand haphazardly in the direction of the museum. Wayne mimicked Mark’s haphazard hand gesture toward the museum, to which Mark responded by giving Wayne a different sort of hand gesture. “He gets irritable when he’s hungry,” said Wayne to no one in particular.

  “He must have a metabolism like a raging forest fire” said Amelia to Joules.

  “We should probably stay long enough to explain what happened,” said Wayne, “and Joules you should probably call you father before he hears about this on the news.”

  Oh, you are so right,” said Joules.

  “I’ll do that,” said Nita who took the water and towels and continued dabbing Amelia’s wound while Joules immediately retrieved her purse and communicator and called her dad.

  “I say we draw straws and see who gets stuck explaining what happened,” said Wayne.

  “Yeah, I want to hear that,” said Blackie, “but I’m not sure I want to actually be the one to do it.” The first emergency vehicle to arriv
e pulled to the curb near the courtyard entrance and a swarm of men dressed in heavy protective gear made their way toward the building.

  “No fire,” yelled Wayne to the crew, “at least not the kind we are going to talk about,” he continued under his breath. The emergency crew ignored Wayne’s comment and continued into the building.

  “Dad, this is Joules, I’m so glad I caught you. There has been a little incident at the museum and I thought I’d call and let you know I’m fine. You are? Okay, see you soon.” “He was already on his way,” said Joules to the group, “he should be here in a few minutes.”

  “What the hell happened here?” Everyone turned toward the museum to see one of the emergency crewmen walking toward them.

  “I told you there was no fire,” said Wayne.

  “I didn’t say anything about a fire,” said the man in a condescending way, “now answer my question.” Wayne, who had sat down on the brick ledge of a nearby landscaped area began to slowly get to his feet. That sort of treatment was just enough to nudge him over the edge. Mark recognized that look on his face; it was the presage of an impending explosion. Sort of like pouring baking soda into a bottle of vinegar and replacing the stopper; inevitably it’s going to pop. It seems the emergency responder had just poured baking soda on Wayne’s vinegar as it were, and he was about three seconds from being jump-kicked halfway across the courtyard.

  Wayne was in the latter stages of “foaming” and Mark could tell something bad was imminent. Not that he blamed Wayne; the emergency worker’s attitude was completely uncalled for. Mark intervened.

  “It seems there was a pretty violent disagreement between a nice Perlucidian chap who was quietly standing between the book racks minding his own business and several Shumbrans that entered the museum looking for trouble,” said Mark. He noticed Joules was listening intently and she had a distinctly quizzical look on her face when he finished his explanation.