TODAY, OUR TEAM MEMBER, AUTHOR RICHARD 'DOC' CORREA, SHARES THE PROLOGUE FOR THE STORY OF KATHY MASTER'S SON - 'THE PASSENGER' #RWRTeamBlog #ReadWriteRepeat

The Passenger

The Pyro translates into normal space, right in the middle of an ion storm. A cascade of alarms start to reverberate throughout the ship. "Jesus, what the hell is this?" shouts Captain Nordstrom.

His tactical officer yells, "Neutron armor charged captain."

The sensor officer nervously screams, "I think I've found it."

"Where about Mr. Sanders?" asks Captain Nordstrom.

The sensor officer yelps, "It'll take us through the worst of this storm sir!"

"Where about Mr. Sanders?" Captain Nordstrom forcefully demands.

Midshipman Sanders replies with fear in his voice, "At 135 plus 15 there appears to be a large planetary body approximately 665,000 kilometers distance. The ion storm seems to be engulfing the planet."

Captain Nordstrom turns to look at his passenger. Though the man is in his early twenties, he has the oldest eyes the captain has ever seen. Trying not to show any fear on his face the captain looks at his fare as if he were asking, Is this our destination? The passenger nods, Yes.

With a slight tremble in his voice Captain Nordstrom commands, "Helm, bring us to 135 plus 15. Flank speed. Assume standard orbit about the planet when we reach it. Weapons, divert all power to the neutron armor. Hangar deck, prep a shuttle for launch." He closes his eyes, Damn, the Brotherhood Council said it would be bad, but nobody said it would be this bad!

The Pyro is savagely buffeted by the demonic winds of the ion storm. How'd I get into this? Having 'pushed' many limits Captain Nordstrom was always in hot water with the Brotherhood Council. But he also got results when none of the other captains could. This kept him out of favor but also made him the go to guy for the most 'challenging projects' the Brotherhood pursued. But this, this was madness.

And that is what he told the Council when they gave him the assignment and then introduced him to his passenger. The meeting flashes through his mind, "Admiral, council members, you want me to find an uncharted planet, near the galactic core so this boy can play explorer? That's crazy, it might even be suicidal!"

"Perhaps Captain Nordstrom, but your last 'caper' has you in deep hot water. So do this or loose your ship and spend the next ten years in the Reavers Cove penitentiary, your call," states Admiral Gant. His guest, the captains' passenger, impassively watches Captain Nordstroms' discomfort.

"You're talking about reaching the galactic core? That'll take decades!" declares Captain Nordstrom.

"You'll have a new 'experimental' drive that'll make the trip in a few weeks," says the passenger.

He looks around the room at all the stern faces. Finally, the captain nods his ascent.

Captain Nordstrom queries his superior, "Who is he?"

"That's not important, what is important is that you get him to his destination then return immediately to Reavers Cove, and report on your mission directly to the council," says the admiral.

The Pyro claws its way to its destination, being tossed about by the raging storm. The captain looks at his passenger. There is no expression on his face. Geez, does anything get to this guy?

"Standard orbit achieved Captain," announces the Pyros' helmsman.

"Thank you, Mr. Reyes," replies the captain.

Mr. Gable, the tactical officer declares, "The armor won't last longer than an hour here sir!"

"Thank you, Mr. Gable." The captain stands and motions for his passenger to follow him.

The man rises and follows Captain Nordstrom down the main passageway. They stumble along because of the severe buffeting the ship is taking due to the storm. Shortly they arrive at the shuttle bay.

The captain points to a shuttle with two crewmen standing beside it, "That's your ride."

"Who are they?" the passenger softly asks.

"They will take you down and bring back my shuttle," Captain Nordstrom replies.

"I bought the shuttle, and if you send them down, they won't come back."

"Are you threatening my men?"

"No, I'm trying to save them," the passenger calmly replies.

The captain directs, "Just get onboard." Captain Nordstrom watches them enter the shuttle then returns to the bridge.

*****

The shuttle crew fight to regain control as it plummets toward the ground. Multiple alarms ring out and warning lights flash. The shuttle spins wildly out of control as it is buffeted by the vicious winds of the upper atmosphere.

The pilot looks over at the passenger; he shows no sign of fear. To the pilot he looks bored. What the hell?

They drop below the cloud cover, the shuttle still gyrating crazily. "Pyro, Pyro, this is shuttle 1, mayday, mayday, mayday!” Only static comes over the com. "Shit, they can't hear us!" shouts the copilot.

The pilot yells, "We're going in!"

The shuttle crew wrestles with the controls, striving to level out and slowdown their rapidly descending craft. The ground rushes up until the two collide. Support members twist and crack. Hull plates buckle, some pop off. The windscreen shatters. The shuttle breaks in two.

After several moments the pilot wakes. The pain engulfs his body. His copilot is dead; there is a chunk of the control console protruding from his chest. The pilot looks at his legs, both are broken, his femur is sticking out of his left leg. Arterial blood spurts out of the wound. He cannot move his left arm; it is crushed between two panels. He feels sick and dizzy. The pilot can feel someone looking at him.

"I tried to warn him this would happen, but your captain insisted you come down with me," the passenger softly tells him. "I'm truly sorry. You're not going to make it, and I can't stay. I can leave you like this, or I can ease your passing, which do you prefer?"

The pilot tries to speak but only makes gurgling sounds.

"Don't try to talk, your jaw has been shattered. If you want me to end your suffering just nod."

The pilot feels the pain and sickness wash over him. He knows that the passenger's words are true, he is dying. He also knows it will take a long, pain filled, time. The pilot nods his head.

The passenger places his right hand on his chest and his left on the pilot's head. "Shush, it'll be okay, you're going home, all you love will be there waiting for you, you'll never hurt again."

The pilot feels warmth moving into him from the passenger's hands. The pain starts to fade. Shortly the pilot feels euphoric. He hears his mother call to him. He smiles.

The passenger gently closes the pilot's eyes. He moves to the equipment locker and recovers his field gear and pack. He checks the weight and balance just like his cousin, the mayor, taught him. Perfect. He puts it on and heads out of the shuttle.

*****

Captain Nordstrom asks his com officer, "Anything?"

"No sir, not even the transponder. We lost everything as soon as they entered the atmosphere."

"Captain, the neutron armor is down to fifteen percent, if we don't leave now, we never will," Mr. Gable states.

"Alright gentlemen, let's go. Mr. Reyes, best speed to Reavers Cove," Captain Nordstrom sits in his chair. The bridge crew does not hear him growl, "Damn!" under his breath.

*****

He checks his supplies, after five days he has just enough left for three more. That'll just have to do.

He sets out on his path.

The desert sun is almost blinding. He looks out over the sands; they go on forever. Dunes rise up as far as the eye can see. The ridge is the only break in this bleak landscape.

The wind is hot, as if it had been belched out of a blast furnace. It howls and screams across the barren landscape.

Almost nothing grows here, there's little shade. The few creatures that call this dying world home are hard and cruel. They all compete for the little water and food that claws life out of the ground. The animal life here, insect, reptilian or mammalian are all predatory, they feed on the death of others. It is the one place in the galaxy that the sign, Abandon all hope he who enters here! should be placed.

He thinks back on another life, a life that seems like a dream. Ships, space battles, raids and his mother and sisters.

Being the son and brother of the Buccaneer Queens had its challenges, but it had its benefits to. He grew up on the privateer Black's Rapier, the ship his mother captained. He and his younger sister Lilly were the crew's pride. One mother and 356 dads, what kid wouldn't love that. And it was the flagship of his older sister, the commodore of the brotherhoods most successful raider squadron, The Black Wolves.

They traveled the stars seeing planets and creatures other kids only dreamed of. And he had Oscar and Blackie, his sister’s pets. Oscar, the genetically designed cat from the nanchik gods, his friend and protector from the day of his birth. And Blackie, his sisters Dire Wolf, the great predator of Pi Beta 2, to him just a gentle puppy.

It was an awesome childhood.

Then he turned twelve, and the thoughts started coming.

His mother told him it was because he was special, he had been chosen. She told him of the nanchiks and their gods. How the gods had brought him to be, how they had chosen his father, and they had brought his sister into existence.

But the thoughts, the voices they were always there, always alien. And they probed, they examined every thought, every memory. Constantly.

He tried to shut them out, to run from them but there was no escaping the ever-present alien intelligences.

He had his first crush at fifteen, the voices ruined it. The constant probing, the searching of his memories, his experiences, the looking through his eyes and hearing through his ears creeped her out. A kiss would turn into an alien thought experiment. A hug would become a behavior modification exercise. She didn't just leave him, she ran.

At sixteen he figured out he could not be a privateer like his mother, sister, and father. It was during the intensity of battle that the alien minds were present the most. They took control of him, and they argued among themselves. These arguments would paralyze him. He could not move, he could not speak, all he could do was stand there frozen.

But it was when they started doing the same to Lilly that he grew furious, and his fury would drive the minds out of him for as long as he could stay that way. But when he thought of teaching this to Lilly, he just could not do it. She was so happy, so beautiful he could not hurt that, he could not be part of doing that to her.

So, he convinced the alien minds to only use him as their avatar, and as long as they did that, he would be their tool.

It has been five years, five long years. The great minds have brought him to here to be tempered, to be changed.

He misses his mom, he misses his sisters, but the gods leave them alone. They are free, and that is worth it, worth the sacrifice.

He reaches the top of the ridge and sees it before him. The great deserted city that is slowly grumbling into dust. Abandoned eons ago by the forbearers of the alien minds that invade his thoughts. Here they tell him he will find his answers, here he will learn what questions to ask.

James Connor Masters-Black wipes the sweat from his brow. He adjusts his hat, cinches up his pack and continues out into the desert.

The Son of the Stars goes out to meet his fate.

**********

https://www.amazon.com/Rapier-R-Doc-Correa-ebook/dp/B08NFKWJ5H/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1606151035&sr=1-6 

**********

COMING SOON: On Wednesday, 21st April, we are thrilled to welcome our guest author, Natalie Horner, who is sharing an excerpt from her paranormal novel, 'Wings'.