The Survivors: Books 1-6

by Nathan Hystad

  “It smells amazing,” I said, realizing I’d skipped my morning coffee at home. We’d been in a mad rush to get to Terran Five and head here.

  “Tell us what happened to Mary,” Leslie urged.

  “You’re not going to believe it. Thinking back, it seems so unlikely, and you’ve seen some crazy stuff yourselves.” I took a sip from my cup, noticing a slight shake in my hand. I was anxious to know something before I told them how Mary was taken. “Those insectoids. Are there any here now?”

  “Insectoids?” Terrance asked. “You mean the Padlog? The few of them that were staying here have actually gone back to their home world. I haven’t seen them in quite some time.”

  “Padlog,” I said. The name sounded strange as it hit my ears. “What were they doing here in the first place?”

  Terrance shrugged. “They had some sort of a deal with Kareem, I think. Come to think of it, they left shortly after he passed on.”

  Magnus cut in. “How do we find them?”

  “We know where they live. That’s not a problem,” Leslie said, eyebrow raised curiously.

  “Can we jump there with the portal?” I asked, hoping for a favorable response. I needed to get to Mary quickly. They were my only connection to finding the crystal world.

  “No, but it’s not that far from here. A week by ship,” Terrance answered.

  “Damn it!” I yelled, startling our hosts. “I’m sorry. I don’t have a week. It could be too late. It’s already been too long.” I slammed my fist on the table, instantly regretting my action as the pain echoed through my wrist.

  “Tell us what happened.” This from Leslie.

  “Dean, we’ll do what we have to do. We’ll go see these Padlog and get the answers we need.” Magnus was the ever-reassuring voice of reason. “Tell them.”

  I leaned back on the couch, telling the hybrids about the artifact Sarlun had shown us a year ago, and subsequently, the second piece to it we’d found on the ice world.

  They were on the edge of their seats as I explained each stop on our quest to find the fabled, mysterious Theos. The sun was beginning to rise as I finished recounting the crystal world and Mary being possessed by the long-dead Iskios.

  “That’s…I’m speechless,” Terrance said.

  Leslie watched me with sorrow in her eyes. She patted my hand but didn’t say anything at all.

  “Now you know why I need to find these Padlog. They’re my only clue, the one link that we were really on a derelict space station above a waterlogged world, and they know where to find the crystal planet Mary sent us home from, before the Iskios seized control of her mind again.

  “She’s still inside there. I saw it after the stones fell on her, and if I find her, I can and will pull them out of her. Somehow.” My bravado was falling short in my own heart, because the truth was, I had no idea how to do that.

  “When do you want to leave?” Terrance asked.

  “Now,” I said. “Now.”

  Four

  Terrance had finished going over the ship tour when Leslie climbed aboard.

  “Terr, I’m going with them,” she said.

  “What? You can’t go.” Terrance crossed his arms and stood up straight. “We have obligations to our town.”

  Magnus and I stepped back, giving them space to have their not-so-private discussion. Having Leslie around would make the trip that much easier, because she knew how to operate the ship far beyond the half-hour training we’d just been given.

  “They don’t need us like they used to. Everyone’s just fine. Better than that, they’re flourishing.” Leslie glanced back at me, sadness in her eyes. “I need this as much as they need my help.”

  “Then I’m coming too,” Terrance said forcefully.

  She shook her head. “You should stay. Look, we’ll be fine. I know Sergo too. He trusts me. The chances they’ll be forthright with two humans who let the Iskios out, after killing two Padlogs the day before, are slim to none.”

  She had a good point, one I hadn’t really considered. I stepped forward, directly beside the two of them, who were facing one another. “She’s not wrong. And we’d love your help, Leslie.”

  “Terrance, we’ll make sure she gets home safely. You have my word on it,” Magnus said. The two of them hadn’t always been fast friends, nearly coming to blows under the pyramid of Giza, but they did respect each other.

  Terrance’s mouth went rigid in a straight line, and I saw his jaw muscles clench. He was holding something back but kept it to himself. With a bob of his Adam’s apple, he resigned himself to the fact he wasn’t going to win this battle. “Fine. But be careful. We need you here.” His hands reached for hers, and I saw her give it a light squeeze. “I need you.”

  Magnus and I walked away from the bridge and toward the open galley. The ship was larger than any we’d been used to. Here on Haven, the options were limited, and Terrance reminded us that the cost of a fleet wasn’t easy to come by. They only had what had been gifted or loaned to them from visitors, or from newly colonized races finding respite on the secret world.

  This ship had once belonged to a smuggler. He hadn’t made it as far as Haven, but they’d found his vessel dead in space on one of their trips to a nearby system. His ship had been patched up and made to run again and, as Terrance pointed out, the blood on the bridge had been scrubbed clean.

  “You cool with her coming along?” Magnus asked me in private.

  “Sure. The more help the better, and she made some good points. They might shoot on sight otherwise.”

  Terrance walked past us, saying his goodbyes and good lucks. He walked down the smooth-floored hall to the cargo bay, where the ramp was lowered to the ground at Haven’s outdoor hangar. Leslie came to stand behind us and waved at Terrance as the ramp lifted, a soft beep notifying us that the ship was sealed.

  “Thanks for coming,” I said.

  “Glad to help. I like Mary.”

  “Let’s go find your pal Sergo.” Magnus led the way to the bridge. After being on that tiny ship on the way to the crystal world with Slate and Mary, this felt like going from a canoe to a yacht. Two separate consoles sat two meters apart, facing a large viewscreen, where we could see the other ships idly lined on the landing pad.

  What could only be called a captain’s chair sat back and center, with other standing stations along the walls to either side.

  “How large of a crew would this ship have?” I asked.

  Magnus answered. “We have ones like this now, or a variation of it. Not quite as big, but you’d have seven people on the bridge at any given time, in shifts, and then there’s engineering. A lot can go wrong on a vessel like this, especially when you’re cruising through uncharted territory. I’d estimate with a cook and support staff, you’d be looking at twenty to twenty-five people.”

  “I’d have thought more,” I said. There were ten cabins with bunks, four in each, and a captain’s cabin, along with what could only be the first officer’s slightly smaller quarters.

  “Wait until you see what we’ve been working on at Spero,” Magnus said as Leslie took the pilot’s console and fired up the engines.

  The vessels they’d made and tested as they journeyed from New Spero to Earth during the Bhlat threat were immense, with thousands of crew and space for a hundred fighters in each. Fortunately, it hadn’t come to war with the Bhlat, but Magnus said it never hurt to have them ready, just in case.

  “I can only imagine, after seeing what you already have,” I said, not probing him further.

  “Ready?” Leslie asked and lifted off the ground, raising us up slowly.

  In no time, we were out of Haven’s atmosphere and starting our trek to Volim, the home world of the Padlog.

  ____________

  I was becoming accustomed to being part of a small crew on a larger ship. Everyone had to do their share of tasks, and that meant cooking, cleaning, and maintenance, as well as shifts in the pilot’s chair. When the filter alerts popped up, Leslie ex
plained where they were kept, and I meandered to the engineering room, happy to do something different with my time.

  Any distraction from thinking about Mary was a good one. Otherwise, all I could see was her eyes clouding with black mist, and an unfamiliar voice speaking through her.

  I walked the hall in socked feet, wearing jeans and a gray hoodie like the world’s worst-dressed spaceship officer. I passed the crew quarters to the right and saw Magnus stretched out on a bunk, his light snores telling me he was finally asleep. He joked that it was a vacation for him, since being at home meant dealing with a four-year-old and a newborn. I knew he missed them, though. For some reason, he’d taken to sleeping down here, instead of on one of the larger beds on the higher floor.

  A week. It was going to take a whole damn week to get to Volim, and that was if everything went smoothly. Filter failure wouldn’t kill us, at least not quickly, but I set to the task in hopes it would somehow expedite our progress. We’d been gone for four days, and we were over the hump, sliding down my seven-day countdown, looking for the homestretch.

  The doors slid open at my approach. The ceilings here were eight feet tall, and to my left was an elevator leading to the officer’s quarters above; below was storage. I imagined the storage area had seen its share of illegal objects, since the previous owner had been a self-proclaimed smuggler.

  I was impressed with the décor as well. The Kraski ships had been so bland – purely slick, modern, and functional – but this vessel had color, with walls painted and artwork from around the universe displayed in cases, as well as screens showing images from various planets. I’d watched the full loop on the second day, and Magnus and I had been amazed at the landscapes shown.

  I’d seen a lot out there, but evidently, there was so much more to witness. I already felt like a speck in the galaxy, but I felt even more so now.

  “What do we have here?” I asked myself, making my way into the engineering room. It was nothing like the movies I used to watch. There was no giant power source fueling the hyperdrive. Instead, it was all behind closed walls, but I could feel the heat rise, and everything vibrated heavily inside the space.

  To my left was a large metal unit, ranging from floor to ceiling. That was where the filter system was. Per Leslie’s instruction, I found a replacement cartridge near the floor in a cupboard. It was cylindrical and the size of a water cooler bottle. I pulled the casing off of it and carried it over to the right side, where I looked for the fan icon Leslie had told me about.

  I tapped it on the computer screen, and a door opened to my right. Inside, I found the handle for the old filter, and I turned it to the left, twisting the locking mechanism. With a tug, it came free, and I cringed at the dirty cartridge. No wonder it needed to be replaced. It looked like it had been a while since anyone had done this.

  With a push, the new pristine-white filter slid into place, and I locked it back, shutting the door. As I did, the computer screen dimmed and shut down. I tapped it, but it stayed dark. Crap.

  The floor stopped humming, and the lights flickered in the room before going dark. Emergency pucks lit up along the floor, giving me just enough light to see where I was going. The door didn’t slide open, but I found the manual handle, turning it and heaving it to the side.

  “What the hell’s going on?” I called down the hall. Had I broken something with the filter?

  I ran in the dim hall, waking Magnus along the way.

  “What is it?” he asked groggily.

  “Something’s wrong.”

  He followed me to the bridge, where Leslie was fidgeting with her dead console.

  “Leslie, what’s happening?” I asked, discomfort crawling up my spine as I took in her pale, frightened face.

  She pointed to the viewscreen. “The ship’s dead.”

  I stepped forward, trying to see what she was pointing at. Then I saw them. Three ships were slowly flying toward our unmoving vessel.

  “Pirates,” Leslie whispered.

  Five

  “Pirates?” Magnus was already sitting down at the helm position, trying to get the computer activated.

  “It’s no use. Weapons aren’t working. Hell, everything’s offline.” Leslie stood and walked to my side. The ships were getting closer in the viewscreen. “I zoomed as soon as the sensors picked them up, right before our power went down.”

  The ships weren’t large; they were smaller than the one we stood in. The middle one was in rough shape on the outside, a mismatched mess of spare parts and panels, making it all the more intimidating. Like a sewn monster, stitched together from different creatures.

  “I’ve never heard of space pirates,” Magnus said, and he slammed his hand down on the console, maybe hoping it would kick the computer into functionality. It didn’t.

  “They exist, but we haven’t found them on this particular pathway. Maybe their regular routes were discovered. I can only assume what goes on in their collective mind, but I’m guessing attacking at random locations would increase the chances of happening by unsuspecting prey.” Leslie backed away from the screen slowly. I didn’t even think she knew she was doing it.

  “What do we do?” I asked, not happy to sit like a target at the range for them. I didn’t have time for this, and if I was killed now, Mary would never be safe. Blood rushed through my veins. I was angry. Mad that anyone thought they could come between me and finding my wife. I answered my own question. “We get our guns.”

  “What will that do?” Leslie asked. “Maybe they just want our ship, and when they see we have no cargo, they’ll let us go.”

  “I’m not willing to take that risk. How’d they kill our power?” I asked.

  Leslie tapped a fingernail nervously on the back of the pilot’s seat. “They had to have an ion cannon, something that would kill our engines and power.”

  “The backup still works,” I said, thinking about the puck lights on the floor.

  “No. Those are battery-charged. They’ll only last so long.”

  “Does that mean our air?” Magnus asked, cutting his question short.

  She nodded.

  “Okay, which ship would have the device needed to kill our power from that far away?” I asked, watching the three approaching vessels. Two were thin and rectangular, like floating cell phones, but the larger, patched-together one had “lead villain” painted all over its gaudy exterior.

  “The middle one,” she said, mirroring my thoughts.

  “Then we have to get on their ship and shut the device down,” Magnus said.

  “Easier said than done.” Leslie was now pacing back and forth on the bridge. “We don’t have that technology on us.”

  “We don’t have to.” Our ship bucked as a red ray from the lead ship hit us, grabbing us and pulling us in with a tractor beam. “They’ll bring us to them.”

  A plan formulated in my head, and I sent Magnus to get the EVAs and rifles. Leslie and I talked it through, and when we were satisfied it was our only real chance of breaking free, we agreed to go ahead. Magnus was back quickly, and while we were being dragged toward the pirates, we suited up, making sure our weapons were fully charged.

  “Dean, if anything goes south here, take care of them for me,” Magnus said, not having to tell me who he meant.

  “And if something happens to me, kill them. Destroy the Iskios. Save my wife and unborn child. Make them pay, Magnus. Make them all pay.” Rage burned inside my chest like a smouldering fire. I gripped my rifle hard enough to feel each ridge through my gloved hand.

  “Deal.” He stuck a hand out in the air, and I gripped it. A promise made by each of us, signed and sealed.

  “Leslie, go below and hide,” I ordered. She had a part to play, and I hoped we could pull ours off to get power back. The Relocator sat in my pocket, and I tapped it on, saving our current location into its system.

  “You sure you don’t want to switch roles?” I asked Magnus. I felt like his was the most dangerous part, and I didn’t want anything
bad to happen to my old friend.

  “If anyone can skulk around quietly on an alien pirate ship, it’s you,” he said, smiling through his facemask. “Can you picture this” – he waved a hand over his large frame – “doing anything quietly?”

  “Good point. I’ll stay close.” I pulled the device Mary had used to hide from the Picas on the Apop world from the pack on the bridge floor. Clare would be so happy her inventions were being used to potentially save lives.

  We walked to the cargo bay, knowing they’d be coming aboard there. I felt the buzz of entering a containment field and knew we were nearing the pirate ship. What did they expect to find onboard? A full crew? Would they come in with guns blazing? If they did, our plan wouldn’t work.

  I attached the cloaking device to my leg with the built-in strapping. Our ship shook before falling still. We were at our destination. Something banged hard against the ramp, and before the invaders could pry or cut their way in, ruining our ship, Magnus nodded to me and pushed the “ramp open” icon.

  It didn’t work.

  “There has to be a manual way.” I thought back to the door I’d been able to open back at engineering. We searched the floor and quickly found two panels, one on each side of the ramp’s pivot line.

  “There’s two,” he said, no doubt worried I wouldn’t be able to cloak quickly enough.

  “I’m on it.” The latch was a twist and push. I tapped my cloaking device on, and I could feel it activate. “Can you see me?” I asked. Magnus looked up, his face startled to see nothing.

  “You’re as good as gone. Damn me if that doesn’t work well. Let’s turn them. On three. One. Two. Three.” He twisted his, and I did the same, each of us then pressing the red button down. The ramp hissed open and lowered.

  I stepped back, toward the far side of the opening, so I’d be at their backs when they walked on board.

  “Teel ooorah nhull srevla.” The words, spoken in a tinny voice, translated through my suit and into my earpiece. “What do we have here?”