Other Worlds Than These



  OTHER WORLDS THAN THESE

  GABE SLUIS

  Copyright 2013 by Gabe Sluis

  Third Edition

  Copyright Gabe Sluis 2013

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locations or persons, living or dead or undead, is entirely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Part I

  Part II

  Part III

  Part IV

  Part V

  Legend Of The Dark Star

  Part VI

  Part VII

  Part I

  It was a dream that awoke Aros on his final day on Tellus. He sat up in the early morning darkness of his nearly empty unit. For the past year, Aros had been assigned to a Headquarters position. Instead of living in officer’s quarters near the United Tellus Space Service Command Headquarters, he had a small flat a short rail ride away.

  His alarm buzzed softly as he finished dressing in a new uniform. With an assault pack on his back and a tough case in his arms, Aros stepped out of his single unit. He paused briefly to look at the name on the outside of his door. It read, “LT. Aros Drogen.”

  The rain continued to fall when he reached the street. Aros took a moment to look around and breath in the sweet air. The morning was progressing, but the thick clouds and moist humidity kept out the bright light.

  At the rail station, the other passengers immediately noticed the tall, dark haired young man in the dark blue of a Space Service uniform. He was out of place among the everyday man, who caught the early trains into central Camlon for jobs that didn’t pay enough to afford personal cars.

  Aros sat at an inward facing seat. His pack rested between his legs and tough box on his lap. He closed his eyes and reviewed his new orders in his mind. The message had been delivered to his scroll the Friday before: Report to Headquarters Monday morning for reassignment Off-World.

  Most orders like this meant assignment to a picket ship or some sort of station defense. But Aros knew what he would really be doing. After all, working as staff at the Headquarters of UTSS had its advantages. He had made sure to be noticed by the right people and all the right doors were opened. He would be taking temporary command of a new ship.

  This particular ship was smaller than the standard destroyers or picket ships. It was small and fast, but most of all, brand new. Two identical gunships had recently been completed, built with the specific design to augment the Prime Meridian, the Services only great ship. Custom designed from the beginning of construction to provide a seamless fit, the two gunships were finally ready to enter service. The primary purpose of the two gunships was to offer a detachability option for combat missions. Secondly, they were to lend their powerful engines, augmenting the maximum speed that the Prime Meridian could achieve. Now, the final phase of Tellus’s first and only great warship was soon to be complete with the unification of Aurora and Ushas. The former of which, Aros would be commanding on its way from Tellus to the link up with her mother ship.

  The final stop on the line brought Aros to Space Service headquarters. He walked across the platform to the security entrance, handing off his tough box. He followed an escort to an internal tram, which would take Service personnel to the spaceport. Taking a seat in the nearly empty tram, Aros pulled out his scroll, a personal data device, and opened up the Space Service news. Ignoring articles on promotions, a speech by the Grand Marshal, and a fluffy piece on life aboard a picket ship, Aros stopped to scan the news of the Prime Meridian’s return from her first extended mission. She was due to resupply at Palus Somni, the instillation located on Sulva, in the near future.

  The only other person on the car interrupted Aros’s reading.

  “So you’re taking the other one up, huh?”

  Aros turned around to see a man wearing a uniform of similar rank and color. The other officer was tall and fit looking, as most military men were. He had a shaved head and a light complexion.

  “I am.”

  “Ever been Off-World?”

  “Yes, I spent some time on the North Station. You?”

  “Third time. But I’ve never been to Sulva. I used to look up at it as a kid and imagine what it would be like watching Tellus rise, rather than the other way around.” A pause, and he extended his hand.

  “I’m Lieutenant Max Veldt.”

  “Aros Drogen.”

  “Aros?” Veldt said, taking his hand. “What kind of name is that?”

  “An old one.”

  ***

  The tram slowed and came to a stop. The doors slid open, announcing the arrival to the hanger entrance. LT Veldt gave Aros a head nod as he exited to start his work. The tram moved again and this time Aros reached his stop. The hangers shape was a large circle with four domes, one over each quarter. The Aurora was sitting in a different quarter of the hanger than the Ushas, which required different stops for the two officers.

  After walking through another security checkpoint, Aros got his first view of the new gunship. Aros’s eyes were drawn to the smooth curves and flawless light gray color. The Aurora was without viewports and the only breaks in the exterior were for thruster and sensor. As Aros began to circle the ship, a Chief met him at the stern.

  “Good morning, Sir. I see you have started your walk around already.”

  “I have, Chief.” Aros said. “But, if this a gunship, where are all the weapons?”

  “That’s a good question, Sir. I’ll let your specialist explain.” The Chief then spoke into a hand-held, “Cress, come out back to the main engines.”

  A few moments later a blond man, a few years younger than Aros, came back and walked up to the Chief and Aros.

  “L.T., I’d like you to meet Tech Specialist Crescent.”

  “Nice to meet you, Sir.”

  “Same. So, you know everything about this ship?” Aros asked.

  “Yes, Sir. I’ve been assigned to her since she was just a frame. They figured if there was one guy who knew everything, from the very beginning, about this ship, it would, uh, be a good thing. And that guy is me.” Crescent stood with his hands behind his back, shoulders naturally in a half shrug position, never looking relaxed.

  Aros smiled. “Lucky you. So, I was asking the Chief here about weapons.”

  The Chief excused himself and Aros got an informal introduction to his ship.

  “Both of the S-28’s have twenty-six launch tubes. Ten on each main stabilizer, four on the nose area and two are rear facing. Twenty-two of these are the standard eighty-millimeter, type one, and the other four are the big type two missiles. When armed and ready for use, the armored skin of the hull retracts, exposing the tubes.”

  Crescent pointed to the outline of one of the retractable areas, and continued. “But when not needed, the skin covers them, making it look like there is nothing there. This serves two purposes, keeps the ship looking sweet and innocent until it’s needed. The other is that when it’s attached to the Prime, it will be smooth so that nothing gets caught up when docking.”

  “And the engines?”

  “We have the most modern Ion engines available on the Aurora. These two are air-rebreathing engines for atmospheric propulsion.” Cress moved around the ship and pointed up to the low profile cones of the engines. “Two smaller electrostatic Ion engines are here. Our main is the size of one of the Prime Meridians four. So with the addition of Ushas and Aurora, the Prime will have six big Ions.”

  “Very nice.” Aros continued to walk around the ship. “You’re pretty young to be a Tech,” he observed.

  “I was actually just promoted. I guess after two years w
ith one of the most advanced ships on Tellus, they figured they aught to make me more than just a standard Specialist.”

  “I agree,” Aros said, and switched gears. “We have a briefing in twenty minuets with everyone going up?”

  “We do, Sir.”

  “Good. I’m ready to get out of here.”

  ***

  “Ladies and gentlemen, I am Major Connors. We will now begin your mission briefing.”

  A group of people moved over to where the Major stood at the nose of the ship. There was fifteen in all: a majority from the Space Service, two Ground Service, and a man and woman dressed in civilian uniforms. The air hummed with the general feeling of nervousness and excitement.

  “If your name is on my manifest, you will be taking the ride up to Sulva this afternoon,” the major said, brandishing his scroll. “Lieutenant Drogen, you will be commanding this raft. Your pilot is Warrant Officer Lete. Any problems with this bucket, blame Tech. Crescent.

  “Master Spec. Lee, you have seven others you’re babysitting, correct?” Acknowledging his nod, the Major continued. “Good, keep an eye on them. Don’t let anyone float away.”

  Pointing to the two youngsters in olive uniforms, the Major continued. “Sergeant Brack and Corporal Korinay, I hope you groundies don't get take-off sick. Mr. White and Ms. Cross, please don’t judge the Services based on this group.”

  Finishing his riff, the major held out his scroll and assertively read his official brief.

  “Mission Overview: Aurora is second in the order of march up to Sulva. Directly after this brief, you will suit up and buckle in. We will be using the electromagnetic catapult to launch you into the air. At that time you will graduate into a parking orbit and slingshot into a burn towards Sulva. Not until you reach the Karman line are you permitted to engage the main Ion engine. You will then take the eight-hour journey to the Palus Somni installation. Personnel with orders for reassignment will directly report to the replacement office for in processing. As for the rest of you, the Prime Meridian will be reaching station in 65 hours. That means a brief layover. So, have a nice little break, check out an arena fight, don’t drink too much and enjoy that little bit of gravity while you got it. That’s it for me. Unless you have anything for them L.T., get suited up.”

  Aros agreed, “You heard the Major, lets get suited up.”

  ***

  A shutter went through the ship as the catapult clicked into place. Radio chatter sounded throughout the flight deck and blue lights illuminated the soon to be unnecessary walkways. Lights from monitors and displays cast illumination throughout the sterile white interior of the ship as Aros began the final pre-launch check.

  “Lower deck passenger compartment?”

  “We are all secure down here,” a technical specialist confirmed over the internal comms.

  “Navigation?”

  “My status is green,” confirmed the specialist to Aros’s right.

  “Ships’ status?”

  “Ship is overall green,” Tech. Specialist Crescent said.

  “Pilot?”

  “Lieutenant Drogen, the pilot is ready for launch. Alpha engines are warmed and standing by to fire,” The Warrant Officer replied coolly.

  “Alright, lets get out of here.” Aros keyed the transmit button, “One-Panther-Seven-One, this is Aurora. We are status green and ready to launch.”

  “Aurora, we acknowledge your green status. Stand by to launch in 3… 2… 1. Launch.”

  ***

  People in the tall buildings of Camlon looked to the south for the second time that day. The distinct noise and slight ground vibrations informed them of the launch. The electromagnetic catapult shot a shining object out into the sky, away from Tellus, up into a resolving pepper of silver stars. Before the momentum from the launch slowed the ship, the atmospheric engines roared to life, continuing Aurora’s gradual rise. The angle of accent became sharper as the sky above the ship gradually changed from light to dark blue.

  “We have achieved parked orbit,” the specialist on navigation reported.

  “Time until we break free and make the run to the Karman line?” Aros asked.

  “Twenty-six minuets to the checkpoint.”

  “Alright. Feel free to use this time to stretch, get acquainted to the lack of gravity, or whatever you want. I need everyone back at their stations five minuets prior to the next checkpoint,” Aros said over the intercom.

  Everyone on the flight deck unbuckled and floated out of their seats. Warrant Officer Lete began to stretch and the navigation specialist moved to the rear, going below to see the rest of her group. Aros also began stretching and moving around to get the blood flowing to his limbs.

  “So what do you do L.T.? Do you have a specialty, or just command?” Crescent asked.

  “I’m a weapons and security officer. I have been to a bunch of ground combat schools and spent some time on the North Station. I just finished up my admin time at Headquarters. My next assignment is as a weapons officer aboard the Prime. What about you?” Aros said.

  “Been in six years and a mechanic the whole time. Always stationed on the ground. This is my first time up,” Crescent said.

  “Ever wanted to do anything else, Crescent?”

  “You can call me Cress, Sir. ‘Crescent’ sounds so formal. And, yeah. I always wanted to be a space pilot. They make a ton of money on the outside. But, this was the only job I could qualify for. I wasn’t too bright when I was younger. I have gotten a lot better at math and other things in the time I’ve been serving. I might try to take the tests to become a Warrant after this deployment. If they’ll let me go.”

  “If you want something, do it. We are all in complete control of where we are and what we do in life. We may fool ourselves that we are just along for the ride; it’s the easy thing. But each of us is in charge of our own path,” Aros said.

  “That’s good advice, Sir. I’ll have to remember that.”

  “Lete,” Aros said, breaking his current conversation. “Show Tech. Specialist Crescent here how your station works. Brief him on the next stage, I want him to take us into the burn past the line. Once we are up to speed, you can take back over your station.”

  “No problem, Sir. Always nice to take a break,” Lete said.

  Crescent looked surprised. “Really? Thank you, Sir!”

  ***

  Above the blue gem known as Tellus, the grey speck that was Aurora hung still on the cusp of space. The ship was in fact moving quite quickly along with the rotation of the planet. When it reached its target position, the ship flared secondary engines, built momentum and broke free from orbit. The Aurora streaked over the line separating Tellus from true space.

  From behind the planet, the white orb of Sulva came into view. The Aurora was now far enough away from the atmosphere to fire its main ion engine and begin its long run across the open void. In the early days of space travel, it had taken days to reach Tellus’s closest neighbor. With the technological advances and creation of much more powerful engines the trip could now be made much more quickly. Void suits were also worn, protect from the internal injuries that were commonly suffered due to the extreme acceleration of the catapult and burn maneuver.

  The mission to bring the ships to the Sulva base was going according to plan. Both ships interfaced with one another seamlessly, running along the same trajectory, the Ushas 4,700 passus in the lead. The ships remained in non-verbal communications, sharing area scan reports every 15 minuets. For nearly seven hours, the crew of the Aurora was free to relax, move about and chat, while at all times listening for alert chimes as they made their way towards their destination. Most everyone down on the passenger deck made their way onto the flight deck. The civilian pair regarded this trip as a real novelty and made a point to observe each station and ask questions about everything.

  Aros remained in his command/weapons station in the center of the flight deck, with his eyes closed in appearance of sleep. Most of the crew noticed this le
ft him out of the excited chatter and small talk. Crescent also noticed and thought it very cool of the L.T. to take this unusual and important mission, which he himself would brag furiously about for the rest of his career, like it was just another fishing trip.

  Ushas reported deceleration upon reaching Sulvan space and performed a successful direct decent to the Franz landing pad on the north west of the base.

  The Space Service base on Sulva was placed at Palus Somni for strategic reasons. Soon after, Sulva became a popular tourist attraction; the families of those stationed at the instillation pressured the Service into building a community for their dependents. Picking up on the idea of easing the hardship of Service personnel by creating a more traditional environment, a city was constructed by a joint effort of several private enterprises. Palus Somni quickly became the largest and primary settlement on Sulva.

  The Aurora was cleared for Lyell pad and began its own direct decent. Warrant Officer Lete earned his pay by bringing the ship smoothly down to the pad and locking into the ground docking port. The crew ran final checks, shut down necessary systems and unbuckled to depart the ship. The change back to gravity was initially disorienting after the brief experience of weightlessness. While on any long-term mission in weightless conditions, a required hour of every cycle was to be spent in Submerged Resistance Training. Sulva was no exception, despite the seventeen percent gravity on the surface. The newly arrived personnel grumbled upon finding out this fact in the welcome briefing.

  “I hate the SRT. Why do we have to do forty-five minuets when we feel seventeen percent. Its thirty eight percent gravity on Malacandra and they only have to do twenty five minuets. Those numbers don’t add up,” one specialist complained to another.

  Transient quarters were given to the crew who were not arriving for stationing. A map of the indoor city and the three main access points to the base were highlighted. A presentation on installation rules and city laws was presented. Aros designated three check-in times to span the two days before the Prime Meridian arrived on station.

  “As you heard, all five of us will have to do two SRT sessions while we are here,” Aros said to the people under his command. “We will all go report to SRT after the first and third check-ins. I should get a solid conformation when we will be taking off to go up to the Prime by that third check-in. Try not to get into too much trouble while we are here. But, do enjoy yourself before we spend some horrific amount of time on that ship. It will not have the luxuries they have here. If you need me, try my quarters before you send out a flash message.”