The Tornado Sojourns (3) – Chapter 12 – Escaping Reknar 5

 

In high orbit above the moon the Skeets were waiting anxiously for the Blue Marlin to leave the surface and navigate its way back through the Proximity Sensor Field when they picked up another vessel on their long range sensors.

“Oh shit” Zerrad exclaimed

“What?”

“I’m picking up a single Firedart heading our way” Zerrad replied

The Firedart in question was on patrol in that sector when they picked up the beacon and decided to investigate.

 

The decent back down to the ship was easier than the climb up but it still took half an hour and they still found the atmosphere uncomfortable to walk in and they were very fatigued by the time they got aboard.

 

“War Horse calling Delivery Boy, War Horse calling Delivery Boy” Lyris said and a moment later Nulak’s voice came back 

“Delivery Boy receiving”

“We have a Firedart heading our way” Lyris said

“Lifting off now” Nulak responded

 

Relieved to hear they were leaving the moon the Skeets decided to play possum and switch off all non-essential systems and let themselves drift away from the moon and hopefully be invisible to the Legion vessel.

 

As soon as Captain Nulak had navigated his way through the Proximity Sensor Field he activated the Stealth Cloak and was not concerned by the imminent arrival of a Firedart as he would easily be able to out run them, but the Firedarts pilot managed to lock on to the Blue Marlin before Nulak had full deployed the Cloak so unknown to the Captain the Legion craft was on an intercept cause, the Cloak didn’t make the vessel invisible in the accepted sense of the word but hid it from detection by sensors and scanning.

What the Legion pilot was unaware of however was that there was a Spider Hawk in the vicinity, which was biding its time to strike.

The Skeets had seen the Blue Marlin leave the moons atmosphere and head towards the rendezvous with the Tornado and were tracking the Firedart so they knew both vessels were coming their way.    

“Now just Remember we’re no longer at war with the Legion so there’s no need to splash him, just disable his main engine” Zerrad cautioned

“I know, I remember” Lyris said just as the Firedart appeared ahead of them, then he brought the main engines on line and gave it maximum thrust and was on the Firedart before the pilot was even aware of their presence and only knew they were there after Lyris had fired four precisely aimed Laser Pulses and his ship was dead in space.

Zerrad noted the coordinates and then the Spider Hawk left the disabled fighter in its wake and set off in pursuit of the Blue Marlin although he knew he had no hope of catching it, and didn’t expect to see it again until they reached the Tornado, and as it turned out he was not wrong.

 

There was a real sense of celebration aboard the Tornado after they successfully completed their mission, and with no loss of life or limb to boot.

Bagg provided them with a hearty supper and some alcohol was imbibed

But behind closed doors in their quarters when the couples had time to themselves the feelings were more about relief and gratitude.

Lyris Skeets first task when back aboard, after embracing Asti, was to send an encoded message to Supreme Commander Emad Salmin detailing the coordinates for the becalmed Firedart Fighter, he had been stranded in space more than once so he knew how it felt, and he was relieved to hear a few hours later that the pilot had been recovered safely.

 

The moment that the Blue Marlin and the Spider Hawk had docked, the Tornado set course for Soman, and the crew had to man the bridge in shifts.

The next day Captain Nulak took his leave and had to return from whence he had come.  

 

When the Tempest Class Freighter Tornado arrived at Soman with Merri piloting and Shiyne in the co-pilot seat, she used the Tornado’s four vertical take-off jumper engines and landed softly on the Apron, and when Merri and Shiyne emerged down the ramp they were amazed at the quantity and variety of craft on the apron.

 

“Is this our doing?” Merri asked quietly and Shiyne read the minds of some of the nearest lifeforms and smiled

“Oh yes”

As they walked across to the main building Oshwin Lemik suddenly appeared at the top of the steps, he was a huge man, built like a bear, with a barrel chest, a full beard and a booming voice.

“Captain Strong, so good to see you”

But as they embraced he whispered

“My God you’ve stirred up a real hornets nest”

Since heading back on the return journey they had had no meaningful contact with the outside world, they had a number of deliveries to remote communities on Reknar but apart from that they had been quite insular during the five day journey, until reaching Soman, when the news caught up with them.

 

After the data packets were transmitted they spread like a wildfire from system to system and with it the sordid tales, revelations and recriminations, and many a well-respected figure had fallen from grace.

Some of them were politician’s, or public figures, community leaders and captains of industry, while others were major criminals, protected by corrupt members of the justice systems, but the mostly the sinister figures were men like Neff Abery, who were the deviant pullers of strings, the master manipulators, who did whatever they had to, including murder, to get what they wanted.

 

The moment that Supreme Commander Emad Salmin got word that the data transfer had been successful he immediately deployed the task force he had on standby on Zenden’s moon Linden, and they moved to secure Lindens moon Miah to prevent Neff Abery from slipping through the net, there were other prime targets on his “to do” list, but Neff Abery was the top target.

He had wanted to be there for the arrest but there were so many operations happening simultaneously he had to remain at his headquarters overseeing everything.

But it still gave him great satisfaction when everything went like clockwork and everyone on the list were detained, as well as a considerable number who weren’t, but the cherry on the cake was the news that Neff Amery cried like a baby when he was restrained.

 

ALL-TIME CLASSIC MOVIE FAVOURITES – QUATERMASS AND THE PIT (1967)

 

“Quatermass and the Pit” is a Horror, Sci-Fi Mystery, screenplay written by Nigel Kneale and Directed by Roy Ward Baker.

 

While digging a new subway line in London, a construction crew unearth a mysterious artifact along with a skeleton.

it is initially assumed an unexploded German weapon from World War II but upon closer examination it seems that it’s made of materials not of this world, so famous scientist Bernard Quatermass (Andrew Keir) is called in to divine its unearthly origins and explain the strange effects it has on people in its vicinity.

Along with assistant Barbara Judd (Barbara Shelley) Doctor Roney (James Donald), and Captain Potter (Bryan Marshall) and his sappers, Quatermass uncovers the age-old question of how humans came to be on our planet.

But their biggest challenge comes when trying to convince Colonel Breen (Julian Glover) and Government Minister (Edwin Richfield).

The Tornado Sojourns (3) – Chapter 11 – Relay Station, Reknar 5

 

After entering the relay station and the door closed behind them and the lights came on they were confronted by web of tightly packed multi-coloured lasers stretching the full length of the inner sanctum to within a metre of their objective.

“This I can’t help with” Asti admitted

“Malena, I think this might be more up your street” Shiyne said

“I don’t know how” Parse said

“Oh ye of little faith” Malena said as she threaded a boot lace through a hole in one corner of the data tablet and then tied it tightly around her neck and then she transformed herself into an

Obgaron Skunk Rat.

Malena Endia was from Obgaron Prime in the Alandis system which was now deep in the heart of the Mehreen Empire, though she, like many of her species fled into Legion territory after their world was invaded, but many of her kind died after the invasion and she wasn’t sure exactly how many were left because they weren’t easily recognized as they were a race of shape shifters.

The Mehreen were a brutal regime who conquered world after world without warning, either for tactical and strategic reasons or for want of the planets resources, but in the case of Obgaron Prime there was no strategic value and it was poor in minerals and Orr, their destruction was for a very different reason altogether, fear.  

The mighty Mehreen Empress feared the Obgaron because of a long held prophecy that the Empire would been brought down by beings who could transform themselves into Mehreen High Councillor’s and seize power unnoticed, so they thought those beings were shape shifters, so they slaughtered every one they could lay there hands on, without mercy.

 

The Obgaron were a peaceful insular people who had had minimal exposure to the universe outside their own system so the majority of the inhabitants weren’t fearful of an impending invasion. 

Malena however was not among them and fled, stowing away on a deep space exploration vessel with a few of her like-minded people and slipped through the Mehreen net by transforming.

Though she could change form at will she could only transform into a being she had touched.

Only the briefest moment of contact was required and then it was in her memory banks and could be recalled whenever required.

But that need to touch a subject in order to shift cost many more lives during the invasion among the Obgaronian’s who had no suitable form to shift into to when the time came, in order to evade the Mehreen hordes.

The form Malena took was that of a 27 year old human whom she met on a remote mining colony when she first entered Legion space, that was more than 20 years earlier and she still looked exactly the same.

It was on another mining planet 12 months later that she first met Ben Strong and joined his crew aboard the Tornado where she quickly proved herself to be invaluable, firstly as just one of the crew but she soon showed a natural gift for navigating and she also excelled as a nanny to 9 year old Merri.   

 

“I’d forgotten you could do that” Parse said

Although the web of tightly packed multi-coloured lasers prevented a large biped from proceeding, a Skunk Rat was able to hop and weave its way across the maze with considerably more ease, although Malena did have to backtrack and change her route a couple of times but eventually she reached the terminal and transformed back to her own form.

“Ok I’m here” Malena shouted as she untied the lace from around her neck

Shiyne closed her eyes and tuned into Malena and said

“Put the tablet into the port”

Malena nodded her head and did as instructed but nothing happened, Duff said it was pre-set and it would start transmitting automatically,

“Nothing is happening” she shouted

“Let me see” Shiyne said and Malena relaxed and allowed Shiyne into her head so she could see the console through her eyes.

“Ok let me have control” Shiyne said and Malena relaxed completely and felt her limbs moving independently as her hands flicked switched and pressed buttons, and then suddenly the transmitter burst into life and the data was on its way.

Shiyne maintained her control of Malena however, because she had to watch its progress, because they couldn’t leave the tablet behind as it could easily lead back to Supreme Commander Salmin and by extension to them, but because of the volume of information being transmitted and the multitude of destinations, it was taking much longer than any of them anticipated. 

 

In high orbit above Reknar 5, the Skeet Brothers was sat in silence behind the controls of the Spider Hawk waiting nervously as they both had their significant others on the surface and their last experience of a Legion Relay Station during the Shaxon Rebellion ended with considerable loss of life, and they were silent because neither of them wanted to vocalise their fears.

But then an alarm sounded on the console and they looked at each other because the security beacon was transmitting.

“War Horse calling Delivery Boy, War Horse calling Delivery Boy” Lyris said and a moment later Nulak’s voice came back 

“Delivery Boy receiving”

“What’s happening down there? We’ve got a security beacon broadcasting loud and proud” Lyris said

“I’m picking up no alarms down here” Nulak confirmed

“Well they’re sounding” Lyris said

 

The landing party inside the relay station were totally oblivious to the beacon broadcasting as Shiyne still had control of Malena at the transmitter terminal until Nulak opened comms to them.

“Delivery Boy to Landing party, delivery Boy to Landing party”

“Receiving” Parse said

“Time to get out of there, they know we’re here” Nulak said concisely

“Message received” Parse replied and then added

“Time to go Shiyne, the alarm has been triggered”

“It’s close now” she replied without breaking her concentration “Very close, almost there, and it’s finished”

“Ok Mal, do your skunk thing and get out of there” Parse shouted

So Malena removed the tablet and reattached the boot lace and tied it tightly around her neck and transformed herself back into an

Obgaron Skunk Rat, and quickly repeated her journey through the laser maze to re-join her companions.

“Right let’s get out of here” Parse said “Asti, do your thing on the door”

Asti walked to the door, turned and gave him a quizzical look reached out a finger and pressed the door release button and the door opened and Shiyne and Malena went out first.

“Come on Einstein” Asti said and she exited and Parse followed shaking his head.

 

ALL-TIME CLASSIC MOVIE FAVOURITES – INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956)

 

“Invasion of the Body Snatchers” is a Sci-Fi Horror, screenplay written by Daniel Mainwaring from the Collier's magazine serial by Jack Finney and Directed by Don Siegel.

 

After a short time away, small-town doctor Miles J. Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) returns to his practice to find several of his patients suffering from what appears to be some kind of paranoid delusion because they believe their friends or relatives are doppelgangers.

As a man of science, he is initially sceptical because the duplicates are able to answer detailed questions about their copies’ lives.

But he is ultimately convinced that something sinister has occurred and determines to find out what is causing this phenomenon and why the people of his community are being replaced by emotionless alien replicas.

 

Dana Wynter, Larry Gates, King Donovan and Carolyn Jones also star in this Sci-Fi classic.

The Tornado Sojourns (3) – Chapter 10 – Objective Reknar 5

The Tempest Class Freighter Tornado was making good time and were less than half a day from their destination when Shiyne said

“I’m picking up something”

“What on the scanners?” Merri asked

“Not exactly” Shiyne replied “The scanners are clear”

“So you have something on your other scanner then” Merri said, which of course meant that Shiyne could sense someone telepathically, and she could do that because she was a Vann and all of the Vann were telepaths, by varying degrees, and many of them left their home world at some point to use their gifts to earn a wage.

Those at the zenith of their talents worked as corporate negotiators or in the justice systems of the Legion. 

Shiyne was a Vann with mid-range capabilities and she could read most species to some extent, her skills were limited with the more sophisticated or complex brains, lesser minds were easier for her to explore.

In addition to reading minds she could also implant thoughts and the suggestions would stay in place longer with someone who was more intellectually challenged.

But in this instance, it was her reading skills that were being tantalised, she closed her eyes and it only took her thirty seconds before she said

“Got them”

“Who?” Malena asked

“Legion” she replied, “A small ship, a Blue Marlin I think, one occupant”

“That must be our man” Merri said and then she saw Shiyne smiling

“It’s Lt Nulak” she said “no I stand corrected, Captain Nulak”

“We have an incoming message” Malena said a moment later

“Put it on speaker” Merri said

“This is Kolan Nulak requesting permission to dock”

“Permission granted Captain” Merri said “cutting engines and standing by”

There were two docking rings on the Tornado to facilitate transfers to and from the freighter while in space, one in the belly below the loading bay and the other was amidships above the cargo bays which was also the mooring point for shuttles or ancillary craft.

Merri had killed the engines and was using the thrusters to hold the ship steady as the Blue Marlin maneuvered into position and locked on to the belly docking ring, as the Spider Hawk was docked above.

 

When the hatch opened Merri had joined Malena and was waiting to greet their visitor who was not wearing a Legion Aeronautica uniform

“Welcome aboard Kolan” she said “It’s good to see you again, and congratulations on the promotion”

They had first met him when he was a lieutenant on the operation to capture Kurla Babic.

“Thank you” 

“Let’s go to the mess room” she responded “the crew are eager to discuss the plans”

 

The plan was in essence a simple one, Kolan would navigate the unmarked Blue Marlin through the Proximity Sensor field and land on the surface, then Shiyne, Malena, Asti and Parse would proceed on foot to the transmitter, break in and send the data, well that was the plan, although until they got there they weren’t sure how they were going to manage the last part.

Duff Tarver had preprogrammed the data tablet with all the routing destinations so all they had to do was plug the tablet in the port and hit send, so that bit was easy, the difficult part was reaching the terminal, that they couldn’t plan until they got there.

 

Much to her annoyance Merri had to remain aboard the Tornado as someone from the command crew needed to be on the bridge, as he co-pilot and navigator were aboard the Blue Marlin and the Skeet Brothers were in the Spider Hawk acting as an armed escort, should they attract any unwelcomed attentions.

That left Pulsat and Vanzyl who were keeping themselves busy doing minor maintenance, Sciberran Healer Terrell Vorton was in the sick bay planning for the worse and Bagg was in the kitchen cooking.

 

As the Blue Marlin approached Reknar 5 Legionnaire Captain Nulak handed Malena, who was in the right seat, a small data tablet containing navigational coordinates to navigate through the Proximity Sensor Field.

“Give it to Shiyne” she said

Shiyne was the beautiful cerise skinned Vann girl sitting in the navigator’s chair and Kolan Nulak knew that it was her he should give it to but he found that she was so beautiful he was in awe of her.   

His hand was shaking as he put the data tablet in her hand and she was smiling because she knew what he was thinking because Shiyne was a telepath.

Once she had made him as uncomfortable as possible she took the tablet and plugged it into the port and after a moment she said

“Ok, coordinates set”

 

It took ten minutes once they passed the outer navigational marker to traverse the maze of sensors, zigzagging a circuitous route until

They finally set down on the surface about a mile from their destination.

Nulak couldn’t get any closer because of the rough topography, which meant that Malena, Shiyne, Asti and Parse had a perilous uphill climb over rough terrain in gloomy light, while the Captain stayed at the controls should they need to beat a hasty retreat.

 

It took more than an hour to make the one mile climb to the transmitter and when they got up there they were more tired than they expected to be.

And that was because although the atmosphere was breathable the oxygen levels were lower than they were used to, so they had to take some time to gather themselves before they proceeded, but studied the target through binoculars and planned their next move. 

 

In addition to the navigational information Supreme Commander Salmin also gave them a 3 dimensional plan of the relay station and its environs.

So they knew there were no hazards on the approach and there were no sensors.

When they had caught their breaths the four of them got up and walked to the door and were immediately confronted by a Bioscan entry panel.

“How do we open that?” Malena said and Shiyne smiled

“Asti knows, she opened one of these before”

“More than one” She retorted

“Yes, I can vouch for that” Parse said

“She was always breaking in and out of the Palace”

Princess Asti Alegionaris, was the youngest granddaughter of the Regent of Gouveia and was born and raised on Gouveia in the Dania system, at the same time Parse Sacrod was a Legionnaire of the Royal Guard stationed at the Palace.

A blush bloomed on her Ivory skin and her Silver eyes twinkled, then she brushed her platinum hair off her face and crouched down in front of the scanner.

After removing a small panel she reached her childlike hand into the opening and after a moment pulled out a cable loom with a small transparent module attached.

She removed the top cover of the module and put her thump on the contact in the center and the door opened. 

“I don’t believe it” Parse said “It’s that easy?”

“It’s that easy” She repeated and they were all laughing as they walked through the door, but their jollity was short lived, because  after the door closed behind them and the lights came on they were confronted by web of tightly packed multi-coloured lasers stretching the full length of the inner sanctum to within a metre of their objective.

“This I can’t help with” Asti admitted

“Malena, I think this might be more up your street” Shiyne said

 

ALL-TIME CLASSIC MOVIE FAVOURITES – BICENTENNIAL MAN (1999)

 

“Bicentennial Man” is a Comedy Sci-Fi Drama, screenplay by Nicholas Kazan based on the short story by Isaac Asimov and Directed by Chris Columbus.

The story follows the life and times of an android call Andrew (Robin Williams), who is purchased as a household robot by Richard Martin (Sam Neill) and programmed to perform menial tasks.

However within a few days the Martin family realizes that they don't have an ordinary droid as Andrew begins to experience emotions and creative thought.

The Isaac Asimov story spans two centuries, and Andrew learns the intricacies of humanity.

It’s a wonderfully charming film with wit and pathos, full of love and hope brilliantly acted by Robin Williams with a measured performance by Sam Neill, but Embeth Davidtz as Portia is an absolute delight, Oliver Platt is excellent as Rupert Burns the android expert and Kiersten Warren as the effervescent Galatea

Even if you are averse to the Sci-Fi genre I recommend `Bicentennial Man', because even if it may not what you are looking for, you will be pleasantly surprised.

The Tornado Sojourns (3) – Chapter 09 – Clandestine

 

Nothing happened for 24 hours following the cryptic message that Malena sent on Merri’s behalf until the Tornado lifted off from Eikon Minor when the comms burst into life and Oshwin Lemik’s voice said

“Golbolt Interstellar, Soman calling Tempest Freighter Tornado”

Merri was in the left seat and responded

“Go ahead Golbolt”

“Change in your itinerary, proceed to Soman and collect a shipment of bakery items” Oshwin said and Merri turned to Malena and smiled.

“Message received Soman, will proceed directly, Tornado out”

Then Malena headed towards Eirkos’s second Moon Soman.

It was on Soman that they had decided to make their base as it was the location of one of the largest Interstellar Freight Distributors in the system, Golbolt Interstellar, and they had collectively decided to sign up with them rather than operate as independents and find their own work.

The main reason for that was that the Operations Manager was Oshwin Lemik and he fought against the Legion in the Shaxon War with the Skeet brothers, they as pilots and Oshwin as Logistics Commander.

 

Merri entered the atmosphere of Soman, with her piloting and Malena in the co-pilot seat and she used the Tornado’s four vertical take-off jumper engines and landed softly on the apron, adjacent to a Legion Aeronautica Firedart.

The Tornado wasn’t a huge ship as freighters go but pound for pound the Tempests had the highest freight to fuel ratio yield of their class, but it dwarfed the Firedart.

The front section comprised of a sizable pressurized hold for large freight, accessed via a front loading ramp, and as soon as the ramp lowered the Pilot of the Firedart, in Aeronautica flight suit and helmet walked up the ramp and inside the hold, where Merri was waiting, and then the ramp was raised again.

 

As soon as the door was closed and sealed the Pilot removed his helmet and then Merri said

“It’s good to see you again Supreme Commander”

“You too Captain” Emad Salmin said and then the two of them followed the smell of fresh baked scones to the mess room, where apart from Bagg, who was in feeding mode, Malena, Shiyne, Lyris, Parse, and Zerrad were also present.

Once in the mess he was plied with coffee and scones and when he’d had his fill he said

“So now I’ve been suitably bribed, how can I help?”

   

The gathered members of the Tornado crew repeated verbatim what Duff Tarver had told them and his reasoning and finally

Merri said

“There is an unmanned relay station on Meknar 5 which would suit the purpose”

Meknar Prime was the furthest planet from the sun in the Eikon Cluster, and was circled by four moons, the largest of which was Meknar 5, in addition it also had the highest orbit and the longest transit time, and that meant that for most of the Solar year it was the furthest object in the system, which made it a perfect location for a deep space relay station.

“I think Meknar 5 is a good solution but you know that I can’t openly assist you, I can’t be seen to just hand over the keys” Emad said “and although the station is unmanned that doesn’t mean that it’s not protected”

“We realise that,” Lyris said “But it would be nice to know where the mines are”

“Well I don’t know all the details on the defence measures in place but one thing I can tell you for certain” Salmin said “There are no mines”

“What about pulsar batteries?” Lyris asked suspiciously

“There are no pulsar cannons either” the Supreme Commander assured him “the systems in place are a little more sophisticated than they were during the Shaxon Rebellion”

“So what can we expect?” Zerrad asked

“The main defence is a proximity sensor field, and if you trigger one of those an Electro Magnetic Pulse will be targeted at you and the ship will be left disabled” Salmin explained “But there is a safe route through”

“How do we find it?” Malena asked

“You won’t” he replied “but I have someone who will”

“Someone we can trust?” Lyris asked

“It will be someone you know” he assured them “However, he will only deliver you to the surface, once you are down, you’re on your own and you will have to use your own guile, and exceptional talents to do the rest”

“That we can do” Merri said proudly

“So when do you want to do it?” Salmin asked

“As soon as possible, the transmitter is in its optimum position at the moment and will be for another five days” Parse said “And it will take almost three to get there”

“Do you have a legitimate reason to be at that end of the system?” Salmin asked

“Yes, Oshwin has given us some deliveries to Reknar itself so we shouldn’t raise any suspicions” Merri said

“Good, then I think you should get underway as soon as is possible I will have my navigator intercept you on route” he said “Now I just have time for another scone before I have to go”

 

Supreme Commander Salmin replaced his helmet and then nodded to Malena, who then lowered the ramp and the Salmin walked down it to the apron and then ran towards his Firedart. 

By the time he was airborne Shiyne had driven the Stroller down the ramp were Bagg and several crewmates climbed aboard as they needed to re-provision for the trip.

Merri and Malena and the Skeets stayed behind as there were tasks to be done before they collected their cargo prior to departure.

Also with work to do was the short heavy set Prinsloovian engineer, Pulsat, he had a rough bony skull which raised up like a crown and then receded to give way to a Mahogany scaled brow, cheekbones and jawline which framed an ivory coloured face, and yellow eyes.

His entire countenance betrayed his reptilian ancestry, and his fellow engineer, who was Kesslerian, also owed his origins to reptilian DNA but his slender and sleek form, scaly countenance, silver scaled skin, large opaque eyes, pursed lips, and gills clearly indicated that his kind evolved from fish.

As they walked down the ramp Merri called down after them

“We leave in three hours”

“We be ready” Pulsat said and Vanzyl uttered a soft whistle like a plaintive flute, then he looked at his friend and whistled again

“More adventure, yes” Pulsat agreed