Across the Galactic Pond - Box Set: The Complete FAR BEYOND Space Opera Series

by Kallias, Christian

  “Adjustment complete. Firing control added to your HUD.”

  “One last question, Mira. If I disable every non-essential system onboard the ship and redirect their power into Project Sigma, could that boost its function time and weapons’ efficiency?”

  “Theoretically, yes, Kevin. Both, in fact. You could gain up to twenty-five percent more firepower and an additional second or two of deployment, but it would put more stress on the system, which could lead to its failure or malfunction.”

  Kevin chuckled. “You mean more than it already is? You don’t need to answer that, that was rhetorical. But you know what, Mira, if my brain fries as a result of this, I don’t think I’ll give a shit if it’s deep fried or extra crispy. Give me a list of systems I can redirect power from on my HUD, please.”

  A list of systems appeared in front of Kevin. As he selected them one by one, he paused on the last one in the list.

  “That’s you, isn’t it?”

  “Correct, Kevin. My systems take a lot of power. You should deactivate me.”

  “It’s been an honor fighting by your side today, Mira.”

  “The honor has been mine, Captain.”

  Kevin got goosebumps upon hearing Mira’s last word. He deactivated her and reinjected Mira’s power into Project Sigma.

  “Goodbye, Mira,” said Kevin for no one’s benefit but himself.

  Kevin activated Project Sigma, and the sensation he felt when the drugs were released was like nothing he thought possible. Time seemed to slow to a crawl while his brain activity and thinking patterns multiplied beyond his wildest dreams. He felt like he could literally think at the speed of light. His head hurt, but he was able to ignore the pain as if it was just a pesky program he could put on hold.

  He activated the simulation and checked the amount of power that he would require to take down the enemy ships. Mira had not undersold the power of the weapon. With a few hits from the multiple laser turrets, he could bring down the enemies ships’ shields. The Thalamos would also gain in speed and maneuverability, which would give him a great tactical advantage. He could also perform up to ten hyperspace micro-jumps, which to the enemy would appear as if he teleported around them.

  He ran a multitude of scenarios at mental speeds that defied the imagination. When he thought he had a good grasp of the Thalamos’ power once Project Sigma would activate, he focused his brain power like never before.

  No losing focus today. Keep your eye on the ball, Kevin.

  Kevin activated Project Sigma and began his attack run. He vectored the ship through enemy fire with ease, making sure the Thalamos avoided all dangerous firing zones, making sure his ship was never in a kill box position as well as aligning his shots in a way that he could create the most damage to the enemy fleet. He plotted his moves beforehand like a furious game of chess, making split-second decisions.

  In the first few seconds of engagement, which felt like minutes to Kevin, he had obliterated no less than seven Kregan destroyers, blasting their shields to kingdom come with the Thalamos’ laser turrets while sending them to hell with just the right number of torpedoes. Every time he took down a few ships, he would micro-jump to the other side of the battle theater, never letting the enemy fleet redeploy and target him properly.

  After twenty seconds, he only had five destroyers to get through, but alarms and warnings flashed on his HUD, indicating that the ship was being pushed to its utter limits.

  I thrive under pressure, he thought to reassure himself and keep his focus laser sharp.

  He had another two micro-jumps and only a handful of seconds left in the Project Sigma time-diluted mode. Only three enemy destroyers remained, while the Arcadian fleet had all but been disabled or decimated. While his thoughts were still flying faster in his mind than ships flying in hyperspace, he could feel the effects of the drug starting to falter. Soon it would end. He targeted the nearest ship with half a complement of torpedoes and fired upon his target. Without waiting for confirmation, he moved to the second destroyer and tried jumping behind it to avoid the laser fire rain of death the ship had unleashed toward the Thalamos. An alarm resounded around him as his HUD flashed orange, indicating that the ship’s hyperspace engine had failed to micro-jump. They were damaged earlier when the previous enemy destroyer exploded in close proximity of his ship.

  Dammit!

  His frontal shields melted like ice in the sun, and he had to think fast. He dropped all but his frontal shields in order to boost them. He would need them to hold for the bat-shit crazy maneuver he was about to attempt. He focused all laser turret fire to a single point on the incoming destroyer’s shields and boosted sub-light engines to their maximum limits, which were already past safety settings, to achieve ramming speed.

  The ship trembled and shook under the incoming fire from the Kregan destroyer. Kevin recited every prayer he knew as his ship rammed the Kregan and broke it in two. Shortly after impacting with his prey, he redistributed power to the rest of the shields, so they could deflect the flames and debris from the exploding destroyer.

  While time was slowly resuming to normal speed, from his perspective, Kevin was still experiencing the scene in slow-motion, the flames burning around him felt like demonic souls shouting their last scream before being extinguished into the oblivion of cold space.

  Consoles near him exploded, and sparks flew from the ceiling. The ship had taken major damage as time resumed its normal pace. Alarms blared and wailed, the bridge’s light flickered, and the ship entered into a spin. He tried to get the ship to turn to face the last remaining Kregan destroyer currently vectoring toward him. The Thalamos veered with great difficulty, but he eventually managed to come face to face with the enemy.

  The Kregan destroyer unleashed every weapon at its disposal upon the Thalamos. And Kevin knew that the ship wouldn’t be able to take it for much longer. He tried returning fire, but everything on his holo-HUD flashed red, and most controls refused to work.

  I guess today is a good day to die.

  Three more torpedoes hit the Thalamos’ shields, bringing them down. Each new plasma fire and laser hit from the Kregan ship now scored damage on Kevin’s ship, sending debris and flames dancing around him.

  I failed. As always.

  Kevin thought about finding the mental subspace link and disconnecting it since his ship was now nothing more than a flying brick heading toward oblivion. But, he felt compelled to see the battle through. If he were indeed the Thalamos’ captain, he would go down with his ship. Kevin redistributed all power to the sub-light engines and locked onto the Kregan ship. The Kregan ship, in turn, continued to pound the Thalamos with everything it had trying to destroy it by ripping it to shreds.

  The viewport cracked when a flurry of laser fire impacted upon it. The emergency systems activated a blue force field to prevent explosive decompression. But Kevin could tell it wouldn’t last long from the way the field was flickering.

  “I’m sorry, Mira, I…I failed you; I failed all of Arcadia.”

  Kevin knew very well that the Thalamos would be destroyed before he could ram into the Kregan destroyer still pounding him with everything it had. For a fleeting moment, Kevin regretted not going home and doing the dishes as he had been instructed. Perhaps he would survive this, and he would wake up on Earth, but if that meant that the Arcadian people would suffer and die, he’d rather lay his life down here and now and be done with it.

  From the corner of his eye, he saw another ship on the starboard side of the Kregan destroyer. It was in flames and spewing a trail of debris and smoke in its wake. The Arcadian ship opened fire with plasma cannons and torpedoes as it accelerated and rammed the enemy ship. Upon impact, the massive explosion illuminated space with a bright white flash that nearly blinded Kevin, but he felt duty-bound to keep his eyes open to see what happened next.

  As the bright flash diminished, large flames filled the viewport as the Thalamos darted through the remains of both obliterated ships.

 
Kevin exhaled deeply.

  The captain and crew of the Arcadian ship had sacrificed themselves to make sure they would take the last Kregan destroyer out. The battle had been won, at a terrible cost of life on both sides, but it was finally over. The Thalamos was now the only ship moving on the battlefield, which had turned into a space graveyard.

  “Ship destruction imminent!” flashed on Kevin’s mental holo-HUD.

  But Kevin didn’t care; he had managed to stop the Kregan from taking Arcadia Prime. Even if the body he inhabited would perish, that person had been dead a long time ago. Kevin looked for the subspace mental link and deactivated it.

  Nothing happened.

  “That’s peculiar.”

  A sense of dread filled his soul. Would he survive the destruction of the Thalamos if he couldn’t sever the link?

  The force field protecting the bridge malfunctioned, and cracks on the viewport intensified. The last few flickering lights on the bridge turned off and plunged Kevin into darkness. Tearing noises resonated around him and Kevin could feel the ship was going to give in any second now. A green light engulfed his body, and he felt himself leaving the ship. One second he was on the bridge, seeing the viewport explode and shards of glass being sucked into space along with the air and dead crew members, and the next second, he was in an entirely different place altogether.

  He stood in a large room with hundreds of aliens of different races, shapes, and colors surrounding him. It felt even more surreal than it had when he was on board the Thalamos.

  Did they just beam me out?

  People around him performed a salute by punching their fists against their chests and bowing.

  “Kevin, I suppose?” said a sweet female voice behind him.

  He turned around and looked up. At the top of the golden stairs, sitting on a throne, was a beautiful blue-skinned female with long flowing golden hair. The moment she got up from her chair, everyone in the room bowed on one knee at the same time and looked down.

  “Yes. I’m Kevin.”

  The woman smiled as she gracefully descended the stairs. Soon, she was in front of Kevin, her face the most beautiful he had even seen. She was simply breathtaking.

  “How can we ever repay you for your bravery? My people and I are in your debt. Name anything you’d like, and it will be made yours.”

  Kevin swallowed hard. His gaze was locked on the woman’s voluptuous lips and, without even realizing it, he was uttering his wish.

  “A kiss.”

  A cascade of what Kevin interpreted as offended murmurs rose up, but it stopped immediately as the woman raised an open palm.

  “That’s one wish I can easily and gladly grant, Kevin.”

  She took his face in her hands and slowly approached her lips to his. A strong scent tickled his nostrils, and before his lips connected with hers, he grabbed her shoulders, turned his head around, and sneezed hard.

  When Kevin reopened his eyes, the first thing he felt was wet and cold. He was trembling, and it took his mind a split-second to realize where he was. Back on Earth and on the crashed pod’s open door. He saw the pill that started it all fly out of his mouth. Kevin tried to grab it, but it was beyond his grasp.

  As it impacted with the surface of the water, sparks erupted, and the pill disintegrated.

  Kevin looked at the water with his mouth wide open.

  “You’ve got to be shitting me!”

  To be continued…

  Keep reading Kevin’s next adventures in the full-size novel : FIRE AT WILL

  Book 2: Fire At Will

  PREVIOUSLY on Far Beyond

  Book 1: Across the Galactic Pond

  Kevin receives a rejection letter from MIT, and his father loves to tell him how much he’s a failure and a loser at every turn. Having skipped dinner, Kevin witnesses a spacecraft crashing into a nearby lake. Going against his common sense, he swims toward the crashed craft to find a dying purple-skinned alien who implores Kevin to help save his people. All Kevin has to do is put a blinking pill under his tongue. After a short inner debate, Kevin does, and his consciousness is teleported to a far beyond (see what I did there?) galaxy where his thoughts are remote-controlling a deceased alien crew member aboard a super-duper top secret R&D ship with superior firepower. That ship is not only the key but the last hope for the Arcadian Confederate to defeat, or at the very least, repel the Kregan final assault. There’s only one hitch, the ship’s AI, Mira, has been disconnected from her ability to fly the ship, which is about to be destroyed. Kevin’s arrival changes all that, and his extreme compatibility with neuronal interfaces make him an ideal candidate to not only become the ship’s new captain but also save the Confederate.

  Armed with renewed motivation, Kevin helps Mira save the ASF (Arcadian Space Fleet) Thalamos and turn the tide of the Confederation War, thanks to the latest in R&D weaponry called Project Sigma. Paired with Kevin’s astute piloting skills honed from countless hours of video game practice back on Earth, Kevin is victorious, even though the Thalamos, a one of a kind prototype ship, is destroyed in the process.

  When presented to the princess on board Arcadia Prime, he’s granted one wish. He chooses a kiss that he, unfortunately, never gets the opportunity to receive, as the Arcadian Princess’ exotic scent makes him sneeze, and the device that allowed his consciousness to be present in the far beyond galaxy is lost in the process.

  And now the continuation of the Far Beyond saga.

  Prologue

  “I need to find a way to go back to Arcadia,” Kevin murmured. “You know I have to, right?”

  But his dog, Boomer, was sleeping. Not that he would have been able to answer.

  Kevin smiled as he looked at his best friend in the whole world who was resting his head on his paws. “Don’t worry, this time I’ll take you with me.”

  It had been less than a week since Kevin had saved the Arcadian Confederate, and already his life felt like it had resumed its tasteless, borderline depressive state. Kevin tried to convince everyone that his experience was real, only to be laughed at and ridiculed at every turn.

  Shortly after Kevin had sneezed the consciousness-transference device into the lake, frying it in the process, the capsule with the alien also decided to erase itself from existence. Kevin assumed that was a security measure to either not botch a first-contact situation or simply self-preservation of Arcadian technology, preventing it from being reverse engineered by the wrong people.

  Kevin was more inclined to believe the latter. Not that it mattered. All that did matter was nobody had seen the crashed ship but him, and nobody believed a word he said. In fact, upon insistence by his mother, Kevin had to undergo both a physical and psychological evaluation when he insisted that what happened was real.

  His father now had even more ammo to knock his son down a few more pegs. Not that he needed it, his father was already doing a bang-up job.

  A wheezing sound startled Kevin, and for a split second, he thought he heard another dying alien. But it was just Boomer wheeze-snoring. The sound had been eerily familiar to Kevin’s memory of the dying alien’s last breaths.

  Had he imagined it all? Could he just have been under a tremendous amount of stress and his mind had needed an escape, and that’s what it came up with?

  With no proof for him to regain a little dignity, pretty much everywhere he went, news traveled fast in their small Massachusetts village and his “issues.” And not that Kevin had many friends to rely on. As a geek doubling as a nerd and being the son of a big-mouthed, raging alcoholic, he had not had the easiest of childhoods. At one point, his sister had been his best friend. Once she started junior high, a chasm developed between them, and now, like everyone else in his life, she joined in the camp of people making fun of Kevin’s delusions. She had changed so much in the last few years. From a confidant, to someone who didn’t even ask how he was doing. All she cared about was hanging with her prom queen-type crowd and trying to land the star quarterback, Mitch Edenstack, to date he
r.

  Kevin hated the guy. He was the embodiment of everything that was wrong with the world. An athlete built like a mountain with barely the IQ sum of a couple of oysters. Muscle and looks over brains.

  If only I could go back. . .there’s nothing for me here on Earth.

  To make things worse, some of his old schoolmates were actually making fun of him online with their videos reaching viral status on YouTube. Kevin felt, even more than ever before, estranged from the world.

  Since it didn’t look like he would find sleep tonight, he got up from his desk chair and got dressed. Perhaps a walk under the stars would do him good. But for some reason, he felt compelled to view the latest video making fun of him. He booted up his aging PC, the one his dad had given him five years earlier when he upgraded his own.

  The machine was a wreck, but Kevin had managed to upgrade a few parts so he could play some video games at the lowest settings. Though, ever since his PlayStation had been confiscated on the grounds of him lying, he had no desire to play the few crappy games that ran on this pathetic excuse of a computer. The video he was viewing was named Bozos Are Among Us, and the counter showed two point five million views. He was not only the laughing stock of the area but soon his loser standing would reach worldwide status.

  Swell.

  As if sensing his despair, Boomer raised his head, then jumped down from his spot at the end of the bed and came to comfort him. Kevin petted his dog playfully, patting his side and bottom. Boomer’s tail wagged.

  “I’m lucky to have you. At least you’re not judging me like the rest of the world.”

  Boomer barked.

  “Shhh…you’re gonna wake the rest of the family.”

  Kevin became distracted by the wagging tail of his cute and trusty Beagle. That is until Boomer’s fur took on a bluish hue. Kevin glanced back at his computer screen, which was filled with an error message. The dreaded blue screen of death.