Okay, ladies and gentlemen; today I will be dusting off a piece of VERY old literature written in days gone past. This was a book that I wrote my junior year of highschool! Now truth be told it hasn't been touched in almost 10 years and I have decided to bring it back for your viewing pleasure. Now be warned that this is still practically hot off the press and has had little to no editting of ANY sort. I would go back and redo some of it but the ideas I once had for it are so long gone from my head that there would be no way of or point to doing it. Be warned that when I wrote this I was very naive about the world AND very idealistic so this isn't my current writing style, nore is it something I would write today. Be that as it may it would be nice to finally share this and get some criticism on it so that I can improve future writing. Be prepared and with that please enjoy the first chapter! Oh and one more thing, no comments here please guys, I have a separate page for those. ================================================= ================================================= Chapter 1: Loading Docks Drake was moving up the loading ramp with another cargo crate in his arms. He was starting to get agitated about this whole "Space Adventure" he signed up for. All he'd been doing for the past month was loading cargo and programming machinery, when he was told he would get to be a soldier onboard and capital ship of the Khali Alliance Military. Drake was a twenty-one year old fresh out of the military academy. He was six feet two inches tall, had brown and dark red hair, crimson eyes with jade fluxes, and like most ryanto he had a tail half the length of his body. He was only half ryanto though; the other half was human. His skin was that of a Caucasian human, but with a blue tone to it and, his hair was spiked and went just below his neck. He was wearing a standard labor uniform which consisted of black gloves, black boots, red pants, a red shirt, computer gauntlet, transporter buffer belt with built in shielding device, a com link unit (looks like a very small walky-talky), cloaking wrist band (for intruder situations), and an energy pistol for security purposes. For the record, a ryanto is a reptilian like humanoid mammal with a high amount of intelligence and physical prowess. Ryanto are also known for telepathic, empathic, and telekinetic abilities. Some, as well as members of other species (including humans), have the ability to manipulate the seven ryanto elements: fire, water, terra (earth), air, thunder, darkness, and light. Drake happened to be a fire, darkness and thunder manipulator, but he was best with fire. For this reason, all of his friends call him "Pyro" or "Fire Drake" if they know him well. The ship was in front of him resting on the docking clamps of the Arkeus ship yard. The ship was fresh off the assembly line with a full compliment of weapon mounts, about four hundred thirty-nine to be exact. The ship's name was "Aquar Terrosai", the first ship of the new Aquar Class ships. With only three more months to complete the vessel and limited resources, the crew had to work constantly on twelve hour shifts. The cargo bay was a large room, about thirty thousand square meters in the section that Drake was working in. There was a system of elevated catwalks, grates, turbo lifts, cargo lifts, an airlock, and a loading ramp leading into the Aquar Terrosai's fifth cargo bay. There were five by five, ten by ten, and thirty by thirty square foot crates spread through and five feet tall ten feet wide cargo cylinders stacked, and scattered throughout the cargo bay. The five by five crates were blue, the ten by ten crates were black, and the thirty by thirty crates were silver, while the cargo cylinders were white with gray tops and bottoms. Some cargo crates and cylinders containing hazardous materials were marked with neon green triangles with a hazard symbol on the inside that's similar to the ones used in early twenty first century earth. The dock officer walked into the cargo bay, looking down from the catwalk seeing Drake standing there with a crate in his arms. He shook his head in frustration at this sight. This was the sixth time in three hours he'd caught Drake staring out into space. He finally decided to give Drake an incentive to get him to work harder. It was the one thing that got all slackers to work hard for a good amount of time, an easy bet. "Alright Drake, move your rump before I have to start..." Drake quickly cut the dock officer off. "Hold your horses; you're not the one lifting the crates without a loader." "Quit gripping, it's apart of your training. If you don't get on that ship in the next ten seconds after I'm done speaking, you'll get an extended shift like you have the past week." "Alright, I'm going. I just want some action." Drake grumbled as he ran up the ramp. "You'll see plenty of that later. Right now we need to get that cargo loaded. You have seven minutes to load the next ten crates when you finish that one. If you do I'll give you.... hmmmm... how about twenty credits?" "Make it twenty-five and you've got a deal." "Fine but if you don't get them loaded you owe me fifty-five credits. Get it done in four minutes and I throw in an extra fifty, not like I got anything to spend 'em on anyway." "Deal", Drake put the crate in its slot in the cargo hold and loaded the next three five by five foot crates in two minutes flat. He finished the next four in three minutes and ten seconds. Drake ran out and loaded ten more crates in four minutes. He then loaded a thirty by thirty crate with one had just to show of to a passing female bridge officer, who just rolled her eyes at his attempted to pick up a dinner date. "I see you're done. Here're you twenty-five credits. Even thought you didn't meet the bonus requirements originally, I'll give you the bonus anyway." The dock officer handed over the credits. "Alright, I'll quit complaining if you can answer one question." "Deal, ask and I shall answer.", he took a tally of the crates that had been loaded in the past hour. "When will I be able to go to the simulator for combat practice?" Asking as he carelessly carried three more crates and loaded them. He then grabbed three five by five crates and started to juggle them "As soon as you finish loading, be careful with those crates! We can't afford to lose any cargo at this stage of ship development!" Drake quickly loaded the crates and then watched the dock officer walk through a door into the next section. "Probably going in to inspect more cargo, by the way your juggling is a bit sloppy." Drake tuned around to see his friend Garak Kelamrio juggling five thirty by thirty crates. They moved with precision and co-ordination that few people had when they were screwing around. Garak was a human ryanto hybrid like Drake. The only difference was that his hair was straight, black with random dark blue streaks and, going down his shoulders to his lower back and, his skin was bronze with a green tone to it. "And why do you have to be a show off "Mr. Smash Face"?" "Imitation of my favorite fictional droid from a twenty-first century earth video game, addendum: Why to keep you from shinning like a meat-bag powered light bulb. Snide remark: Why don't you go outside and play..." Drake cut him off. "Why don't you go shove your head in a fuel injector for a change?" Drake was trying to stay in a good mood despite how he was currently feeling. "Penny for your thoughts?" "What the heck is a penny? Is this one of your old twenty-first century earth quotes?" "Sorry, I'm just trying to cheer you up. You usually like that quote. What's going on?" Garak was a little concerned about his friend's unusually serious behavior. "My now ex-girlfriend sniped me in the heart last night over the transmission screen." His head was slightly downcast and he seemed uncomfortable about speaking. "Ouch! Hey don't worry; you'll get another date to the dance next week. Many of the other girls in cargo, infantry, and navigations are crazy about you. Just pick one and vala! Problem solved." Trying to cheer up his friend, he gave him a slap on the back. "I'm looking for a relationship not a quick date. I just need some time to heal. Besides, the girls are supposed to ask the guys to this dance. My only problem is how many girls will dismember me trying to rip me from each other." Both of them started to laugh hysterically. This was true since he was quite the smooth operator. Hadn't done it yet but he could've several times if he'd wanted to. Drake started to load crates for an hour while Garak brought more crates in from the airlock and, continued to load crates until he came upon a strange cargo cylinder. He tried to open it but it was locked. He then noticed some strange making on it with scorch marks from weapons fire. He tried to open the crate again but he still had no luck. He finally found a security terminal on the cylinder and began to study the cylinder more closely. There were several names engraved on it and, strangely enough, his was on it. The cylinder was dark grey instead of white and, looked like it was very old. At least fifty years old. The make was consistent with that of the Gaian Morgandaile Corporation that had went bust twenty years ago. Drake picked up his com link unit and called for the dock officer. The dock officer arrived five minutes later with an irritated look on his face. "What is it now?" He gave off an expression of annoyance. "I just found this cargo cylinder, I've linked it to my gauntlet and it appears to be for someone here, but I can't tell who." "Oh, that cylinder." He lost his agitation immediately. "That cylinder belongs to you, your family sent it and I guess I forgot to tell you. Come see me after you're done and I'll give you the access codes, then I want you to take it to your quarters. Wow, you've been working in here, those shelves are almost full and this room is half empty. Help Garak bring in some more crates. Then you two can load all of those crates plus the remainder and then you're done for the day. Now hop to it!" "Yes sir! Thank you sir!" giving an enthusiastic salute to the dock officer, Drake continued his work for another two hours. Once that bay section was empty, they decided to do some extra work. The duo brought in forty more crates and loaded them. After bringing in another fifty crates and loading another twenty, then called it a day. "I'm going to go to the mess and get some grub. Join me and the guys for a drink when you get done with that cargo cylinder." "Alright, I'll meet you there." Drake ran off to pick up the cylinder and took it to the dock officer. After the surprised look from him he received the code and took the cylinder to his quarters to open in. He then decided to get some food before opening it. Drake started down the hallway until a surprise hit him. ================================== ================================== And there you have it folks! Chapoter one!
Chapter 2: Security Breach WHAM! Drake slammed into another dock officer who was in a big hurry. Drake picked himself off the floor of the eastern dormitory hallway. "Watch it bub, I don't have time for idiots!" The dock officer snarled as he got off the floor and pushed passed Drake. Drake was starting to get mad but quickly calmed himself. "It's nothing worth blowing an aggression inhibiter over, just continue to the mess and have some fun." Drake smiled to himself, he needed to unwind. "Maybe a few drinks of non-alcoholic Larekian wine will help me unwind. I've got the credits so I might as well spend 'em." He smirked as he could already taste it in his mouth. It was the only wine allowed on the station, for cargo workers, after the incident last week with the drunken cargo loaders. The only way they'd get out of the brig is if they had a plasma rifle. "Seeing how they're locked up, I don't think they'll be handling one anytime soon." Drake chuckled at the thought of those two mishandling another weapon, like they mishandled them rifles last week by shooting themselves instead of each other. Drake walked into the mess hall only to find it packed, like it usually was at eighteen hundred hours. He quickly spotted Garak at a table on the far end of the mess by the windows. Drake walked over and seated himself as Garak stole a glance up from a data pad and took notice of him. "How much paper work do you have in one day? We came here to enjoy ourselves, not continue work for the next four hours." Garak let out a light chuckle. "I've got plenty of work before I can have fun. I'm surprised you're not working on yours. Alright, first round of drinks is on me. You want the wine or a diet soda? For dinner they're serving Indonesian chicken shrimp with pineapples and white rice." "I'll take a diet cola spike with wine if that's alright. You go get the drinks and, I'll grab the grub. Computer, keep the table clear for us." The computer panel at the side of the window quickly produced a force field around the table as they left their seats and obtained the food and beverages. Garak was the first to sit back down. Drake quickly set down the food and pulled out a data pad. "I knew you had some paper work!" "I just have to put in the adjustments for the new cranes. They need recalibrated so, I have to figure out a new subroutine sequences for the security system in order to protect against unauthorized usage." "Good luck with that one Fire boy! How many different jobs are you doing in that advanced training coarse? They've got you working more tasks than a trainee officer!" Drake gave him a long, hard, and cold stare. Despite the fact the he was fiery in nature; he could often give you looks that could freeze a ball of plasma. "It's a part of the job. Besides, I can't learn anything else until I learn to use the training I already have. Anyway, let's just focus on our meals." They both dug in and carried on light conversations about work, training, plans for the next day off, and the biggest worry on everyone's list, finding a date to the stations annual Harkinson's Dance. The event was started by Dregic Harkinson in 972 G.A.E. to celebrate the end of the station' fiscal year. Basically, it was made to celebrate the "new year's eve" of the station's work year. After that, the next two months would be spent restocking the station and filling up all spaces in every cargo bay of any docked ships. "So what's in that cargo cylinder you got today?" Garak sounded perplexed by the fact that a fifty year old cylinder from a company that went under would end up in the hands of an infantry member. "I honestly have no clue, I haven't opened it yet. I plan on opening it after I'm done in the lounge. I'll then drop off the finished security subroutines on my way back to my quarters. I'm glad they had this for dinner; I'm getting sick of replicator rations. Drake finished his meal just in time to hear an alarm sound. "Warning: All available security personal to the loading docks, hull breach in cargo bay A-4!" The alarm continued as Drake got up. Garak quickly pulled him down into his seat. "What's the idea? I've got to protect the cargo from getting damaged!" Garak quickly silenced him before he could speak another word. "Don't worry, security will handle it. Another chemical crate probably busted open and ate a small hole the air lock like it did yesterday. Probably from the same group of containers too." Drake sat down and finished his drink. He finished the subroutines then headed to the worker's lounge for a few hands of poker and Ragnorak. Ragnorak is similar to a combination of golf and poker but, you have to get the fewest points without hitting or going under twelve. The total number of card each player holds is ten. The first player to win three rounds wins that hand. The game is usually a four or more player game, but can still be played between two people. Drake had just won five hands in a row when another alarm went off. "Warning: hull breach, enemy infantry units are boarding cargo bay A-4! Weapon's fire is being rapidly exchanged! Code red, all infantry to the cargo bay!" "Sorry, I've gotta run. I'll come by later to collect my credits." With that said Drake ran to the armory and donned his combat suit and grabbed a blaster rifle off the rack. He then proceeded to teleport himself into the middle of the weapon's exchange. He immediately opened fire on enemy troops but, for every two he killed ten more pored out of the airlock. He quickly caught sight of and surprised one of the enemy infantry members. It was the dock officer that he, literally, ran into earlier on his way to the mess hall. He quickly dealt with the traitor but was bombarded by grenades and plasma charges. They would've killed him if he hadn't created a barrier of solid dark energy. He quickly grabbed the projectiles and sent them back to the ones who threw them. Just as the grenades and charges landed they exploded, killing the infantry and activating an emergency containment protocol. The protocol quickly activated emergency airlock blast doors and energy fields. Drake passed under them just in time to jump on to the enemy shuttle. He quickly infiltrated it, killed the remaining enemy forces inside, ejected the computer core, activated self destruct, grabbed the computer core, and jumped back to the airlock just before the shuttle exploded. Drake then input his pass code and went back into the bay before another alarm went off. "Intruder alert: An intruder has been detected in the eastern dormitory. The intruder is currently hacking room D-6M. Eliminate the intruder before he can cause more damage. "Ah crap, this was just a diversion. They've got to be after my cylinder." Drake shot quick glances around the bay before he ran through the hallways until he reached the junction of the eastern and southern dormitory hallways. He met Garak there where they strategized. "We've got to move and fast. Garak, can you provide a distraction? Where there's one thief, there's a band of 'em." Garak nodded. They stormed down the halls and through the dormitory section door. Drake spotted the main intruder while several others, that hadn't been detected, went after Garak. The intruder was in the door way with the cylinder. Drake lifted his rifle, took aim, gripped the trigger, and pulled it hard and fast. BOOM! The rifle discharged sending an energy bullet right through a junction where two nerves met in the intruder's right leg. The intruder dropped to the ground unconscious. A security team quickly burst in and contained the area. Taking ten stunned enemy infantry to the brig while they took the injured one to the med bay. The chief security officer quickly started barking out orders. "I want that cargo cylinder locked up until we can open it! Drake, bring me the cylinder or I'll take it by force!" The chief of security gave an angry glare to Drake. "Sorry but, I'm not co-operating. This cylinder lies outside of your jurisdiction. If you take it I will be forced to scramble the code. I've already voice locked it and changed the terminal code." Garak and Drake smirked at that. Drake grabbed the cylinder and placed it in the security hold in his quarters. He quickly changed the codes and activated the security features of the hold. "Give me that crate and I won't court marshal you! I don't have time for any angles!" Drake quickly gave a heated response to the challenge. "My angle? I'll give you an angle you slimy corporate piece of shit!" "Calm down both of you. Chief Ragortei, you are here by under arrest for conspiracy and attempting to steal military secrets. I here by place that cylinder under the protection of Drake Kusonagei by the order of Khali Alliance senator Jagrek Kangren." The stations head officer, Captain Dearka Gredjar, walked into the room with a battalion of security officers. Everyone, including Drake, pointed their blasters at the former chief of security. Ragortei was quickly cuffed and sent to the brig for interrogation and decommissioning. "Good work pyro, now report to the armory and await further instructions." The captain slapped his back, placing a small neuro-transmitter on him. Drake complied. When he was about to enter the armory, the transmitter activated and another alarm went off. "Warning: chemical containment breach in cargo bay A-4!" Drake immediately bolted for the cargo bay. "The enemy infantry must've damage some of the crates in an attempt to create an explosion. I'm surprised those grenades and charges didn't set those chemicals ablaze." Drake rounded a corner and through a door into the cargo bay. He spotted a body floating in the middle of a large chemical spill. The chemicals were coming out of five crates labeled GAT-X1999A. He then activated the hazard feature of his combat suit and grabbed his com link. "This is Drake Kusonagei reporting. There's a large chemical spill down here in cargo bay A-4. The exchange of fire earlier damaged some crates and they are draining into the bay. I'm on one of the lower catwalks in the bay. There's a body floating it the spill and, it's being broken down rapidly. It appears to be the dock officer for this bay. The crates are all labeled GAT-X1999A. Please transmit instructions so that I may contain the chemicles until security arrives." There was no response on the com. He quickly looked behind him and saw that they emergency lock down protocol had been self activated. "Crap! Looks like I'll have to do this on my own to deactivate the lock down. Alright. Chemical analysis, containment, and seal off. Shouldn't be too hard." Drake analyzed the chemical identifying them as volatile chemicals used in explosives. "I cant use my manipulation of fire or thunder so, I'll just used darkness. No, that won't work. These chemicals become unstable when cut off from light and CO2. I've got it. I'll use a shield charged canister to contain it the chemicals and seal the body in and empty cargo cylinder. Then I'll release a neutralizer into the room. Plan set, time to go to work!" Drake quickly threw the canister into the spill and activated it from a distance. Next he hacked into a cylinder of neutralizers, removed the neutralizers, and put the canister and body into it. Next, he placed a chemical leak sealing shield on the cylinder and, put a chemical reaction inhibiting shield on it. Finally, Drake circulated the neutralizers into the cargo bay. After they did their job, the chemical containment fields and blast doors were removed. Five seconds later, everything disappeared. The cargo bay was replaced by a simulation room. Drake grabbed the neuro-transmitter and took it off his back. "Captain Gredjar must've put that there. Great, this was a test. Only question is, did I pass?" "With flying colors Lieutenant Kusonagei! Congratulations on a job well done!"
