Fall of shadows, p.1
Fall of Shadows, page 1
part #7 of Steven Gordon Series
Fall of Shadows
J W Murison
Copyright ©2019 J W Murison
All rights reserved.
ISBN-13: 9781705543535
DEDICATION
To Lisa, Ceilidh and Arran.
Other Books by J W Murison
ACV Series
ACV’s 1 Operation Black Gold
ACV’s 2 Operation Island Green
The Gareth Ogilvie Series
Gareth Ogilvie The Highland War Chieftain
Gareth Ogilvie The Great Sea King
The Steven Gordon Series
Teardrops in the Night Sky
The Black Planet
The Modloch Empire
The Goodwill Ambassador
Federation One
The Sparse Lands
Fall of Shadows
Death Rises Series
Death Rises
1st Battalion The Gordon Highlanders (Space Division)
Inspector Adams Series
Embers
Sakura
Stand Alone Novels
Carn Mor´
The Kilted Cowboy
Zombie Ecosse
Mad Mitch
The J W Murison Short Stories & Poetry Collection
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks to the guys from the Sci-Fi community on Facebook, who helped me wrap my head around some of the challenges this novel set me.
Chapter 1
The sand scoured the outside of the shuttle craft, blinding the pilot. He flicked a switched and the screen in front of him changed. A green screen appeared showing lines of buildings. A light blinked on the landing site, which was also highlighted by circular lines. The Japanese pilot fought with the controls as the wind buffeted the craft.
He turned to Steven, ‘Sir, the winds are blowing at almost a hundred miles per hour. I suggest we abort the landing and return to the ship.’
‘Can’t you land?’
‘Landing isn’t an issue sir. Have you noticed the distance between the landing site and the nearest building?’
‘I was told to expect such conditions, we will be met by transport once we land, don’t worry about it.’
Komoru squeezed into the cockpit, ‘Is everything all right?’
Steven smiled, ‘Fine, it’s just a bit wild out there tonight.’
‘It is like a sandstorm on Earth.’
‘Very similar,’ Steven agreed, ‘if not exactly the same.’
She smiled with excitement, ‘We haven’t seen many planets with a desert.’
‘The Haspsopot preserved it because of its historical significance. It is a religious centre and was a former capital once. By comparison to the deserts on Earth, it is little more than a dust bowl.’
‘True.’
‘Let’s get back to the others. We are just in the way here.’
They took a moment in the short isolated corridor between compartments for a short hug.
‘You okay?’ Steven asked.
Her hand instinctively went to her throat. ‘Any idea what’s wrong with him yet?’
Steven felt his stress levels rise. ‘No, sorry. He won’t talk to me or Babes. How is your throat?’
‘He never really gripped me that hard Steven, it was the fury in his voice that scared me the most.’
Steven rested a hand on the bulkhead. He was shaking his head. ‘All I know is he received a message from somewhere. Babes has no idea who it was from; she won’t reveal the contents of it to me.’
‘Or can’t.’
He agreed, ‘Either or. She told me Lewis went after him a few nights ago, but Charlie set up a dampening field. Was Lewis hurt when he got back to Ico?’
‘No.’ She shook her head. ‘He told me they only talked.’
‘Nothing else?’
‘His eyes were terrible Steven. He won’t tell me anything. He asked me to keep away from Charlie. Charlie promised to keep his shit wired together in my presence providing I didn’t provoke him. He was strange when he came back from leave, wasn’t he?’
‘Quiet, brooding, avoiding the pair of us. That was over two months ago. Something obviously happened when he was on leave, and whatever that message was, it set him off.’
‘It has to have had something to do with me.’
‘Obviously, but what the hell was it?’ He reached out and took her hand. ‘I am sorry about all of this.’
‘It isn’t your fault Steven. I don’t think it’s Charlie’s either.’
He sighed, ‘Hopefully we can resolve this soon enough. This is the last party we have to attend. I am going to have Amanda talk to him. I want his mental state analysed.’
‘If he will talk to her.’
‘He will, I will make it an order.’
Komoru grimaced, ‘Good luck with that.’
‘We can’t spend a lifetime walking on eggshells around him Komoru. I doubt very much if he would expect us to either.’
‘I volunteer to keep out of his way for a while.’
Steven shook his head, ‘No. He is just going to have to live with it.’
The door opened and Howe stuck his head in.
‘Sorry to disturb you sir, we are coming into land. Pilot requests we get strapped in.’
‘Thanks Colonel.’
Steven followed him through and he took his seat. Komoru strapped herself in beside him. They landed a few minutes later with a bit of a bump. The pilot’s voice came over the intercom.
‘There is transportation leaving the buildings now. They say they have a docking port and will lock onto us; just stay put until then.’
They undid their seatbelts and Steven looked over the crew members that were with him. The new Haspsopot ruler had signed a formal agreement with the Humans five days earlier, and since then it had been an endless ring of parties. This was the last one, an informal one. The Haspsopot had invited down the entire ship’s companies, but Steven had insisted that wouldn’t be possible. He brought the key crew members instead. All the originals were there. He smiled at the memories each face brought.
Lady Jane and Jeb were bickering as usual. She had been on the sharp edge of Charlie’s tongue lately as well. Steven smiled. The scene had been played back to him by Babes after the incident was reported. Lady Jane had actually tried to flirt with Charlie; it would seem his Royal title had made a bit of an impact on her. Charlie had told her to stop her crap and go sleep with Jeb, it was him she was in love with. The sooner she realised that the better. He had added that Jeb also happened to be head over heels in love with her too. It had left her infuriated and Jeb was now on the receiving end of her bad humour.
A small dunt announced the arrival of the transport. The side airlock activated; Howe stood up and docked it manually. He had a frown on his face as the lights lit up.
‘That’s a bit strange.’
Beaver looked across to him, ‘What is?’
‘This transport has the same docking gear as a shuttle.’
Beaver shrugged, ‘Maybe these sandstorms are frequent.’
‘Maybe.’
Howe opened the door and a Haspsopot appeared. He beckoned them inside. The transport had no windows either but was a little more lavish than their shuttle.
‘Honoured guests, please take a seat, we will only be moments before we reach the city. Please be comfortable.’ He disappeared.
Steven sat down with a groan, ‘I don’t think I can eat anymore boiled Taka root.’
Komoru grasped his arm, ‘Last one darling. Be brave.’
Steven smiled at her, or he tried to, he was sure he tried to. Her face slid away into darkness.
A figure in a gas mask appeared through the inner door. The Albany screamed in triumph as he viewed the prostrated forms of the Humans. It was only fitting that the ones responsible for their defeat would now provide the serum for their next invasion.
Chapter 2
Charlie took his seat as the night shift began. He ignored the smiles as they were flashed at him. One operator was singing out the telemetry of the shuttle as it reached the atmosphere of the planet below. Charlie’s behaviour lately had earned him a lot of extra duties and banned him from accompanying the Ambassadors. He had thought he was just beginning to get over his ordeal with the Gisha Queen when the scan of the child in her womb had arrived. Along with it came a lovelorn message. It had been too much.
Charlie rubbed his face with his hands. It had also been very hard to sleep. There was a clink at his side. Cathy, the junior navigator, was tapping a big mug of coffee.
‘Hey Charlie!’
Charlie managed his first smile in days, ‘Hey Cathy. You just made it to the top of my popularity list.’
A small button produced a cup holder and she slid it in.
‘What we listening to tonight?’
‘Nothing until that lot are back safely.’
On the spur of the moment she spun his seat around and sat on his lap. She grabbed his arms and hauled them around her waist and leaned back.
Charlie was shocked, ‘Uh! Inappropriate…’
‘Don’t care. I need a cuddle.’ She turned her lips towards him and whispered, ‘No touchy boobies.’
Charlie found himself laughing. He knew he should have felt her warm body through the thin material of their uniforms, but all he felt was her weight. The fact that someone cared enough to risk her career to comfort him suddenly filled him with warmth.
‘Thanks Cathy. I’m sure you needed that.’
She got up, ‘Certainly did Charlie. Thanks.’
& nbsp; She made a face at her friends who were all laughing, some were even blushing. Charlie was still smiling. They spent a lot of time together, he hadn’t realised just how attached he had become to them. He took a sip of his coffee, it was just right; his world began to tilt back.
The past few months had been very hard on him. The queen had been very demanding. Physically it hadn’t been a problem, it was the mental images he found hard to get out of his head. He found her naked body and smell repulsive. Her cries of passion had been as alien as she was. What made it worse was her desperation for love. She seemed to completely lose her rational self. After he left, she began to send him emails professing her love for him. She promised him a kingdom. He had been quite blunt, but not nasty. The pressure had built as the months had gone by. The official announcement of her pregnancy and the pictures of their love, as she had put it, had sent him over the edge. It was a video of a scan. A son, his son, in an alien Queen’s womb. The first child he had ever produced. When Komoru had made a snide remark one day, he had snapped.
Since then he had been trying desperately to regain his composure. Today, one simple action of compassion had been the link he had needed to swing him back. He was still smiling when the operator reported the shuttle was entering a sandstorm.
‘Keep a close eye on them will you.’ He opened his mind. ‘Hi Babes!’
‘Hi Charlie. How are you feeling?’
‘Better thank you. Could you get a lock on the people in the shuttle? Be prepared to beam them out if the shuttle gets into trouble.’
‘The shuttle should be fine Charlie.’
‘I know, but I have served in the desert, and sandstorms have a habit of doing weird shit to anything that flies.’
‘I understand. I am acquiring the crew now. I have a lock.’
‘Thanks Babes.’
It was a few minutes later that Babes sought his advice.
‘Charlie, I have lost contact with the crew.’
‘Sorry, what’s that?’
‘I can’t hear them anymore.’
Charlie talked aloud to the operators. ‘How is the shuttle?’
‘Almost on the ground. No problems.’
A thought occurred, ‘Scan for a dampening field.’
A few seconds later it was confirmed. ‘You are right Charlie, there is a dampening field surrounding the landing zone.’
‘Has there ever been one before?’
‘Not that I know of.’
Charlie felt the hairs on the back of his scalp prickle. ‘Tell the shuttle to get the hell out of there. Action stations! This is not a drill, cloak the ship and jump fifty-two miles from here.’
They looked towards him. ‘Do it now!’ It was the first time he had ever raised his voice to them. ‘Babes, tell Ico to take the same evasive action.’ The ship shimmered around them and seconds later they jumped. Alarm bells rang all around the ship, crew members scrambled to their action stations.
The Bear came storming onto the bridge, ‘What the hell is going on?’
Charlie ignored him. ‘Report!’
‘We have lost contact with the shuttle. Our signal is being blocked.’
Charlie stuck his arm out, ‘Sir, take tactical. Where is Ico?’
‘They are refusing to move.’
‘Babes!’
‘Ico agrees with Sato, he is also refusing to move.’
Charlie didn’t have time to wonder why an experienced officer like Sato, the head of Komoru’s Ambassadorial guard, would ignore the obvious. ‘Cathy, get us down into that atmosphere. Slowly, don’t betray our position.’
A small tremor went through her. ‘Yes sir.’
‘Status on the shuttle?’
‘It is on the ground, we still have no comms. Something is coming out to meet them.’
‘Scan it then move seventy-six miles in an oblique direction.’
The two operators acted as one. The moment the scan was done, she called out and they jumped.
The Bear was growling, ‘What the hell is going on Charlie?’
‘Give me a second. Report!’
‘It’s not a ground vehicle. It is another shuttle. It has docked with them.’
‘Get us into that atmosphere now Cathy.’
‘We are getting there sir. Three minutes.’
‘Can we get through to the shuttle at all?’
‘No, comms are still blocked.’
‘Babes?’
‘I can’t reach anyone Charlie.’
‘Stop transmitting and scanning. Jump thirty-nine miles the moment we are through the atmosphere. Run silent.’
‘Ordering run silent.’ The Bear repeated. He didn’t need to be told what was going on now, he had worked it out for himself.
‘Prepare shielded probes. I want a dozen, all around that sandstorm. Launch as soon as they are ready.’
It didn’t take them long; the probes shot out from the ship undetected. Babes cried out in Charlie’s mind.
‘Ico has been surrounded by warships.’
‘Aloud, to the whole crew,’ Charlie ordered.
‘Ico has been surrounded by warships. They have fired and paralysed him with an electromagnetic beam. It has also affected the crew. They have collapsed. They have disrupted the nanites in their bloodstream, causing them to short out and release energy. It won’t kill them, but it will knock them out.’
Charlie was now reading the mind of someone from above them. ‘They are going to come after us next. Hopefully they will think we have made a run for it, but they will be scanning for us down here. Keep away from that storm. The sand particles will rub against the hull and cause static electricity, which will make us visible.’
‘Charlie?’
‘Yes Gail.’
‘Our shuttle is broadcasting an emergency. He has just left the dampening field and is being shot at. His shuttle has been hit.’
‘Babes, get a lock, and beam him out. Now!’
‘Locking on Charlie. I have him. He is materialising now.’
‘Tell him to report to the bridge.’
‘Probe three has picked up a shuttle. It’s the one that docked with ours.’
‘Have the probe follow it, visual only. Get the telemetry, see if we can work out its destination.’ Charlie locked onto the mind of the shuttle pilot. He silently relayed the information he was gathering to Babes.
Cathy reported on the telemetry of the shuttle. It corresponded with the information that Charlie had plucked from the mind of the pilot. She noticed something else as well.
‘Charlie, your nose is bleeding.’
‘Never mind my nose. Get working on that telemetry. I want a possible destination and any spaceport on that trajectory.’
‘On it.’ She turned back to her work.
Charlie made a decision. ‘Bear, a quick word in private.’
He nodded and followed Charlie into the corridor. Charlie took a deep breath.
‘You know I can read minds, right?’
A slow smile crossed his face, ‘I have suspected as much for a very long time.’
‘I have read the mind of that shuttle pilot. He is heading to a freighter. It is a processing plant. You know what I mean by that?’
‘Yes I do.’
‘They are going to rendezvous with those warships and collect Ico’s crew. All of their ships have a dampening field activated, so we won’t get on board any of them. The freighter has a dampening field too but hopefully it won’t be activated yet. We are going to get there first. I am going to go on board alone and try to effect a rescue. I will have to wait until they have the crew from Ico on board as well. They are going to be heading for Albany space. I will try and find out as we get closer. I need you to escape with Babes and alert our forces. Get the cavalry.’
‘Will you be able to do it on your own Charlie?’
‘I can hide myself away no problems, I can’t hide a platoon of men, or a section on a freighter. I know they won’t kill our people straight away anyway, I got that much. The Albany will have to remove the nanites from their systems first. So, I will have some time.’
‘Sounds like a plan then.’ He offered his hand and Charlie shook it, then he pointed to Charlie’s nose. ‘Is that what happens when you read minds?’
