The Starbird Hunt (1-9) (2) Seth answered, "Uh, yeah, Mrs. Wok. We’re getting ready to enter hyperspace." "In an asteroid field!?" Faytan’s voice roared above his wife’s gasp. "Don’t worry, sir." Urbante grinned. "We have two whole miles before the next dangerous asteroid." He muted the frequency from the Woks’ room. The speedometer climbed in numbers. Luciem sound an alarm. "Seth! That big asteroid I mentioned? I’ve picked it up on my sensors." He put it on the main screen. Natasha gasped. Fletcher bit his lip, almost drawing blood. Seth leaned back in his chair. "Man, that’s big." He glanced up. 4000 miles per hour. He could hear the tiny meteors beings dissolved by the ViperX’s shield with loud ffffffzzzzzts now. Natasha put a hand to her forehead. "We’re going to die. You killed us, Seth." "Don’t be so dramatic." The asteroid grew larger and larger on the screen. Natasha looked away. "Seth, if we live I’m gonna…." Fletcher began. He was silenced by a bright flash. Chapter Three: Their Last Hope When Fletcher’s eyes could see again, he saw the multicolored, whirling rainbow that was a hyperspace tunnel. His chest heaved with a sigh of relaxation. "Thank Windows," Luciem stated. "You’re gonna what?" Seth swiveled around to face his commanding officers. "Just…get out of my sight," the High Commander said. "Bring her out in about fifteen minutes," Seth told Luciem. "We should be in the outer regions by then." His stomach made a rather disturbing noise. "Man, I’m hungry. What’s for breakfast, Luciem?" Fletcher grinned. "Yak waffles." ***** Tor James knew the principles of light speed better than anyone else on that ship. So when he was told by his best friend, Seth, how they got out of the asteroid field, his heart skipped a beat. "You did WHAT?" "I repeated it twice already." Seth reached into his pocket and took out a bottle of breath freshener, spraying it twice into his mouth. "Ugh, still can’t get that taste of yak waffles out of my mouth." "Listen, we should be dead by now if you’re telling me the truth." "Well, we’re not. Someone upstairs is smiling down on us, James." Tor sighed and looked at the ship’s status on his screen. Behind him, the warp engines hummed calmly, recharging from their last hyperspace jump. Tor’s eyes, being the mechanical marvel that they were, could see through the outer coverings and check on the status of the plasma batteries inside. It was this invention that allowed space travel to begin on the ViperX’s home planet, Tezenama. Warp travel was invented by the great Professor Van Dane, one of the most advanced scientists of his time. His purpose wasn’t outer space exploration, but planetary travel. A mode of transportation that would replace the latest fad in aerial cars. When his finished his prototype "warp car," he decided to test it himself. Van Dane’s theories stated that there was a "hyperspace" parallel to the world he and his fellow sentient beings currently lived in that moved at an incredibly rapid pace, unfathomable to a normal human being. Using his patented "plasma batteries," he was able to create a powerful chemical reaction, that would propel or "warp" any object in and out of hyperspace. These were the engines of his new "Warp Car." Unfortunately, he didn’t bother to add in any safety instruments like airbags or padding. He was knocked unconscious when his head slammed into the dashboard when the vehicle tore down the street and into hyperspace. Seconds later, the car crashed into the hut of a family of starving jungle people. Both the car and the professor were devoured. Luckily, his legacy was left behind in his studies and blueprints and it wasn’t long before the first warp engines made for space travel were made. His life story is still told in the Museum of Space Exploration in Tezenama. His skeleton was even recovered after his passed through the digestive system of the jungle cannibals. Tor shook his head, looking at Van Dane’s invention, and shut off his x-ray sight. "Two miles," he said, incredulously. "Warp drives always go at *least* three miles over." "Maybe the engines felt the urgency of the situation." Seth shrugged. "So how’s it going with Natasha? Did you like that brief exposition last night?" "Shut up, you pervert." "Hey, you should be grateful. That little maneuver I did with the ship showed you more skin than you’ve ever seen before in your life. And at the rate you’re going, will ever see again." "I’m not interested in her…skin." "Yeah, yeah. You want her company, her friendship, her reliability. Sure, that’s high on my list too. But you can’t deny the fact that you’re male, buddy." "So?" "We’re hunters, Tor. It’s our job to…propagate the species. In the olden days, prehistory, we had more women than the eye could see. Now we’re capable of taming most of our instincts and settling down, but there’s one thing that we’ll always want, no matter how much evolution we go through." "Thank you, Dr. Urbante. I’ll keep that in mind next time my tongue swells to the size of a muskrat when I speak to her." "Just trying to help." The intercom buzzed and Luciem’s voice filled the room. "Hey, guys. What’s up?" "Are you eavesdropping?" Tor asked, horrified. "No, no, no. I just wanted to tell you guys that I found something." "Found what?" Seth asked. "I’m not quite sure. It *looks* like an asteroid and the outside *is* space rock…" "You’re interrupting our important conversation for an asteroid?" Seth raised a red eyebrow. "No, because asteroids don’t have life support." ***** Juma Wok tapped her long, pink fingernails on the wall as she focused her glowing, blue eyes staring at the object on the screen. "Looks like a normal hunk of rock to me." "Yeah, well, inside is some sort of ship or space house," Luciem said. "My sensors don’t lie." "They did when they said that crap you served was tasty." Faytan sneered. Fletcher bit his lip characteristically. "Does it pose a threat to us?" "No, sir," Luciem answered. "It’s just floating there." "Then what’s the problem?" Commander Kira asked. "Well, I thought it’d be interesting," Luciem said sheepishly. There came a collective groan from the crew. "Luciem, the last time you found something interesting, the Zinorus killed Larry," Seth pointed out. Larry Flynn had been the ship’s medical expert and was currently orbiting the Zinoru home planet in many small particles. "We don’t have a doctor on hand to help us if whatever’s on that thing is hostile." Tor’s voice did not accuse or show a trace of anger. It was heavy with common sense. Something Luciem hadn’t been programmed with. "Come on, guys! We’ll just have to be real careful, that’s all." "We can’t just hop aboard every single ship we find, LCM!" Faytan’s claws seemed to become longer as his face grew more irritated. "But that’s our mission, isn’t it? We’re the last space exploration crew there is. Or am I the only one who’s been keeping up with the news? There have been no launches like ours for seven months. All the other ships have come back and in three years, we’ll be there with them! And what’ll we have to show for it?" The computer’s voice had reached a fevered pitch, excited and angry. Without a face to match the words to, it had an extremely disquieting effect. The ship itself, the crew’s home, was berating them, scolding them. "We’ve been branded as routine by people from all systems. They just don’t care about space, because they think they’ve seen all there is to see. We *know* that’s not true. We *know* there’s more out there. We have to make space travel exciting again. Distract them from their politics and planetary squabbles. We’re their last hope." The pause that followed reeked of deep thought. "And now you’re just going to ignore this? Fine bunch of adventurers we make." The pause that followed reeked of guilt. Fletcher cut in. "Okay, time to get out the suits." Chapter Four: The Away Team Static crackled over the intercom. Fletcher‘s voice followed. “Away team to ViperX. Guys are you sure there’s a hatch here?” “Cross my heart and hope to crash,” Luciem responded. “Yeah, High Commander, we’re reading it too,” Juma added. “Well, it’s better hidden than my sister’s diary was when we were kids.” On the main screen, the brown-clad figure standing on top of the asteroid threw his gloved hands in the air in frustration. Next to him, Seth, in his dark blue suit, tapped on the asteroid. On board the ViperX, the Woks and Commander Kira heard him swear. “If I’m not careful, I’ll cut right through the glove. Damn thing’s just rock.” “That’s because you don’t know how to look,” Tor said over his speaker. His yellow suit was the most easy to distinguish in the darkness of space. In his gloves he held a small gadget, flashing different colors. “You’ve been working on that for the past fifteen minutes,” Seth pointed out, irritated. “What has it told you?” “If there is a hatch, it’s very small.” “It’s to your left!” Luciem crackled into the away team’s helmets. “No, not your left, Seth. Fletcher’s.” Fletcher moved to his left. “No, no, more to your right.” Indistinct grumbling could be heard over the speakers as he sidled to his right. “Okay, now step back. One step to your left. No, no…forward. Maybe your right….” “LUCIEM!” Fletcher screamed above the static. “Where is the hatch!?” “I…I don’t know…it might be moving.” “Moving? What the--” Kzzzzzt! Seth blinked and wiped at his visor. “Fletcher? Hey, Fletch! High Commander! Captain?” Tor said softly, “He’s not there, Seth.” Natasha spoke into the intercom. “What do you mean he’s not there?” “There aren’t very many meanings of the phrase, Commander,” James said even softer. Faytan laughed deeply, his teeth sparkling. “You’re saying Fletcher disappeared into thin air?” “We’re in space, there isn’t any…” This just made Faytan laugh louder. “Oh, that’s it. I think it’s safe to say this thing is hostile.” Seth grabbed at his gun next to his oxygen tank. “Wait!” Natasha yelled. “Tor, your eyes. Can you use them to see through the asteroid?” “Sorry, but the suit’s visor interferes with them.” “Well, then there’s no other option, is there?” Seth readied the laser rifle. “There’s ALWAYS other options, Seth!” Kira said, frantically. “I order you not to fire!” “Oh, someone should order you to shut your trap,” Seth muttered and he fired. The blast chipped away pieces of space rock. “Do that again and so help me, I will…” “Give me a big kiss?” He fired again. Tseew! Tsssew! Chunks of the asteroid were dislodging themselves now, floating away gracefully. Tor stepped forward. “Seth, that’s not going to help bring the High Commander back. Just drop the gun and…” “Silence is a virtue, James.” Tsseew! Tor stopped and thought. “No, it isn’t…” “Well, it should be.” Tseww! Clang! The two stopped dead in their tracks. Tor took out his scanner, pointing it at the general area. “Reads like metal.” “I *told* you,” Luciem said smugly. “A little too late, huh?” Faytan shot back. Seth felt the spot he fired at, blackened by the laser shot. “Strange, I could have sworn…It wasn‘t there before, I know it wasn‘t. I can tell the difference between rock and metal, glove or no glove.” “Silence is a virtue, Urbante.” Tor kicked at a high, jagged edge rising from the metal. The hatch lifted easily. James motioned at his companion with a yellow hand and hopped inside, out of sight. “No it’s not,” Seth murmured, stubbornly and followed. ***** “Seth! Tor!” Fletcher’s footsteps echoed in the dark hallway. His helmet light was on, illuminating the metal walls. “Urbante! James!” He bit his lip inside his helmet. During a standoff between two poised armies in the Mislian country of Tezenama, one of which had been lead by him, Shim had bit his bottom lip until it bled, awaiting orders to attack. He couldn’t feel the stitch, but the memory came back to him. Still, he couldn’t seem to remove his tooth from the flesh. It was a habit he had inherited from his father. “Shim to ViperX. Do you read?” Not even static. He swore quietly. A loud voice screamed from his speaker. “No need for such language, High Commander. I’m here!” There came a small cough. “Oh, yeah. Tonto too.” Fletcher turned, his light shining on the dark blue of Urbante’s suit. Tor’s yellow apparel came into view shortly after. The visor was focused on the scanner in his hand. “Hey, Captain,” the engineer said. “We found the hatch.” “I guess I did too. Or something like it. Can either of you reach the ship?” “Nope,” Seth said. “But that’s okay. We got each other.” Fletcher rolled his eyes, unseen by his crewmates. “Did you leave the hatch open?” “It closed on us,” Tor said, sounding as perplexed as the High Commander felt. “Which makes no sense, because the pull should keep it open.” “And there’s no way to open it from inside,” Seth added, subdued. “Argh, this helmet’s stuffy.” James pulled it off, revealing sweaty, brown hair and green eyes, which whirred adjusting to the change in light. Two screams followed his action. “HOH-LEE!” “My goodness…” Tor smiled, sheepishly. “My way of telling you the air’s breathable.” He held up the scanner, blushing. “No need to waste oxygen.” His companions sighed and followed suit, clipping their helmets to their belts. Fletcher took his gun out of the holster, turning the flashlight function on. He aimed it straight ahead. “Alright, let’s check this place out.” Seth bared his teeth, making full use of his striking facial features now that they were visible. “Do something like that again and I will rip your head off.” “Well, it’s preferable to having it explode in the pressure-less vacuum of space.” Tor grinned. Urbante’s face twitched. ****** Natasha paced. “Juma, what’s the story?” “Nothing, Commander.” Mrs. Wok returned to frequency 501 for the third time, receiving no response from the away team. “Either something’s jamming the frequencies or…” “Or they’re being torn apart,” Faytan finished. His wife and commanding officer shot him looks. “What? Those are the facts.” “You have a very tactful way of pointing them out.” Commander Kira put her hands on her hips. She stared at the asteroid on the screen, lifeless and cold. *If you guys don’t come back, I’ll…* she stopped her train of thought. What would she do? Tell them off? No, she’d be captain and she would have to explain the loss of half the crew to the Space Exploration Agency of Tezenama. That and the loss of three fine men she’d spent twenty-four months working with and getting to know… “Commander?” Luciem broke in. “May I suggest something?” “What, LCM?” Natasha asked, regretting following his last suggestion. “Go after them.” Kira blinked, looking her navigator and communications specialist. She couldn’t possibly risk their lives without their consent. And knowing Faytan… The Takanori shrugged. “Fine with me, I don’t care. Gives me an excuse to leave this poor excuse of a ship.”
Copyright © 2002 Phil V Infinite |