You can buy this book at:
Contents:
Crash Landing
Parameen Rescue
Feeling Alive
Crash Landing
“We’re coming in hard, Thorn!” shouted Roman over the screaming engines. “It’s not gonna be pretty!”
Thorn managed to get back to his seat in time for him to secure himself before the ship hit the ground. It slid along the loose gravelled ground before colliding with a rock twice the size of the ship. The collision was glancing and sent the ship into a spin until it dug itself into the ground, splitting the outer skin at its centre.
Before the crash Roman’s experience allowed him to shut down all systems power to route it to the EPS. The Explosion Protection System protected all components of a ship that would explode on impact.
After the carnage of the crash there was a stillness around the wreckage that was serene. If someone had just appeared a few metres away from the scene with their eyes closed they wouldn’t have known what had just taken place.
Inside the ship was different. The compartments were twisted and skewed out of all recognition. Pitch black enveloped everything apart from where the hull had been breeched. No matter how tight you had your eyes closed the wreckage was palpable.
Groans of pain filled the darkness, evidence of at least one of the ships passengers still alive. For now.
“Thorn! Thorn!” called Roman through the pain. There was no response. “Thorn!” he tried again.
‘I’m...OK. Just,’ came the reply to his mind.
‘I’m in a bad way, Thorn. I can’t feel my legs. I’m in pain when I move my arms.’
‘It’s OK! The guys will come and get us soon. We’ll be out of here in no time and back on Prius 3 sipping some rum. You’ll be able to tell everyone how you saved our lives.’
There was silence for a moment.
‘I don’t know, Thorn. I’m feeling cold, weak. The guys don’t know where we are.’
‘They would have been tracking us.’
‘They would have lost us when we lost the TechPsychers. You know how bad Ifor is at keeping track of things.’
Thorn smiled at the comical observation of their friend and immediately regretted it as the pain from his smashed jaw filled his mind.
‘Arghh!’
‘Thorn!’
‘I’m OK. Just have to remember to not laugh.’
He tried moving, expecting pain as an answer, but found his arms and legs were unharmed, just trapped in twisted metal.
‘I can’t move, Roman. I’m not gonna be able to get us out of here. We’ll have to hope the boys did track us and that the TechPsychers don’t get to us before they do.’
There was no response from Roman.
‘Roman!’
‘Yes...I’m still here. Not going anywhere yet.’
Thorn could feel Roman’s weakness through his mind. He’d known his friend most of his adult life and he’d never known him in such a bad way. They’d been through so much. It was too soon for it to all end here. There was so much more for them to do. So many more Naturals to rescue from the TechPsychers torturous grip.
‘You know you still owe me for that bet we had on Stanon. You’re not getting out of it this easy.’
There was a short laugh from Roman followed by a bout of coughing.
‘I’m sure...you fixed that...bet. You knew that...TechPsycher was gong to...shoot first. Did you plant...something in his mind.’
‘Me! As if I would do such a thing. You’re sounding more and more like Ifor. He’s always pleading that someone’s cheated when he loses a bet.’
‘In his case sometimes it’s true.’
‘Oh yeah. He’s just too easy to fool, though. Besides, he’s done the same on more than one occasion to the rest of us. Do you remember that female Terruleon in Hive city a few years back. We all knew they were well known for their skills with the laser bow. He bet all of us that he could out score her in the shooting gallery. I found out that he paid her to lose.’
‘That cheating little...’
‘Yeah, so no need for any sympathy for him. He’s just as sneaky as the rest of us.’
‘I s’pose so.’
Another wave of pain ran throughout Roman’s body and he tensed up as if trying to stop it dead. Thorn felt his agony and again tried to take his mind off it.
‘What’s the first thing you’re gonna do once you’re back on you’re feet?’
There was a pause as Roman waited for the pain to ease.
‘I don’t think I’m gonna make this one, Thorn.’
Thorn felt a mixture of sorrow and anger and forced the question into Roman’s mind again.
‘Rubbish! Now, what’s the first thing you’ll do when you’re back on your feet?’
‘OK! OK! No need to push so hard. I’ll probably...I don’t know...Go fly through the canyons at the southern tip of Prius 3. You can’t beat the thrill of flying in atmosphere. How about you?’
‘Spend more time focusing my mind.’
Roman knew exactly what Thorn was talking about, but also knew he was wasting his time.
‘Why do you do it to yourself, Thorn? We are who we are. We can’t change what we can do. There are limitations to our minds.’
‘No. you’re wrong, Roman. There’s plenty of cases on Earth of people training their mind to do amazing things. I know deep down it’s possible.’
‘Most of those cases are shams. And the rest aren’t provable. Why not accept that what we can do is a little bit more than most Naturals, but we can’t do any more.’
‘Then we might as well give in to the TechPsychers now. Hold our hands up and surrender. Let them take our natural abilities and use them for their own greedy purposes without regard for our lives.’
‘We can do plenty as we are. And we do. I just don’t see the need for trying to get your hopes up for something that will never happen. We can make better use of that time by trying to find a way to stop the TechPsychers for good.’
Thorn felt himself losing a bit of control. He knew how his four friends felt about his one man crusade to improve his mind and he would never change their thinking on it so usually the best thing to do was not talk about it. But occasionally it came up and he always had to stop himself before he got too wound up. This was certainly not the time to get wound up.
A long groan from the ships battered hulk interrupted them for a few seconds. It made Thorn wonder if it was going to shift from its resting position and he tensed up expecting the movement. Silence returned and the ship remained in its place.
‘I must admit, the flying through the canyons does sound appealing. I might join you. You’re a much better flyer than me. I can just sit back and enjoy the ride.’
‘You might not like the way I fly. I tend to let go when I’m on my own. I took Akarn once. It was just after our excursion to the Kurzon belt where we rescued thirteen Naturals. You remember the ones? They were very religious and didn’t like our methods of rescue.’
Thorn recalled the incident and chuckled to himself in his mind.
‘Well, Akarn insisted on coming. I think it must have been the first time he’d been on such a ride before because he threw up three times before we got back.’
‘He did look a little green when you guys returned. I think the same thing happened when Ifor took him out. He does have a delicate constitution about him for such a big man.’
The two men felt a rumble run throughout the ship. It lasted for just a few seconds.
‘What do you think that was?’ asked Roman.
‘Not sure. It felt like something landing.’ Thorn’s hopes were quickly raised. ‘Maybe the guys have found us.’
‘Or maybe we’ve crash landed on an unstable planet. I didn’t get a chance to get much detail about the place as we came in.’
‘Ever the optimist, a Roman. Roman!’
The lack of response worried Thorn. He couldn’t tell how bad Roman was, but if Roman was concerned he knew it must be bad.
‘Sorry. Just another bout of pain. If only I could reach my pain stabilising pen.’
A sound from outside the ship caught both men’s attention. It was a banging on the hull with something heavy.
‘Someone did land! Ifor! Akarn! Yilnar! Is that you?’
There was no response.
‘Ifor! Are you there?’ Again nothing.
‘It’s not them, Thorn! It’s the TechPsychers! They’ve found us!’
‘We don’t know that yet. Maybe there’s something out there stopping our communication.’
‘If not, can you get to your gun?’
Thorn had limited movement in his arms, but tried to get his right arm down to the side of his body. It was impossible. He tried something else. His body was stuck in an awkward position that restricted his arm movements. He tried twisting it. It moved a little, but not enough to free his arm. He tried again. The sweat was dripping down the side of his head. One found its way to the corner of his mouth and the taste of salt registered on his tongue.
His body jerked to the side as it found just enough freedom to allow movement of his arm. He wiggled it to his waist and laid his fingers on his side arm. That was all he could do. He couldn’t flip open the release or wrap his fingers around the grip.
‘No! It’s just out of my reach. Damn!’
Thorn felt a fuzziness in Roman’s mind.
‘Roman! Come on! Stay with me! Tell me about Huinsha. Tell me about the beaches and lagoons and friendly natives. Roman!’
‘Wha...Yeah. Huinsha. Just at the edge of the Milky Way. A planet that’s even bluer than Earth. It was colonised...’
Thorn heard more banging as Roman continued his description of the next place they were going to visit when they had their next break. It was faint, but consistent. Definitely someone trying to get into the ship. Maybe it was locals. Roman didn’t have any detailed description on this place so it was possible someone lived here.
A louder noise that time. As though something had been pulled away from the ship. Roman was caught up in his own mind to notice. He continued to describe the inhabitants of Huinsha.
‘Tell me about the swimming there. You know I like my swimming.’
‘Ahh! Thorn. You wouldn’t believe the clear...’
Thorn kept half his concentration on Roman and the rest was listening out for more noises as he tried to release his weapon again. The ship suddenly inched further over onto its side as it settled for the last time, disturbed by whatever was going on outside. Roman was still oblivious to what was happening.
‘Thorn! Roman! Are you there?’
‘Ifor? Is that you?’
‘At last! Where are you? We lost contact with your ship as soon as you hit the atmosphere. We’ve been flying around ever since you went down.’
‘So you’re not here already?’
‘No. We haven’t found you yet, but should be able to pin point your location now I can psych you.’
‘Be quick. We’ve got company down here and we’re both in no position to defend ourselves.’
‘What’s Roman doing? Sounds like he’s babbling.’
‘He’s pretty banged up. I think he’s delirious with pain. We need to get him seen to soon. If you fix in on him you should be able to find us. Hurry! Don’t know how long we’ve got.’
‘On our way.’
Another noise told Thorn that whoever was there was now on the ship. He just hoped that there was enough obstructions on the ship to give Ifor time to get there before he and Roman were discovered.
‘And the fish there. So sweat in taste because of what they feed on. There’s a sauce the locals...’
Roman was still going which eased Thorn’s worries a little. His fingers were still desperately trying to release his gun, but each time he got some sort of grip it slipped. He eventually gave up. All he could do was wait. Hope that whoever was on the ship would somehow miss where they were. After all, it was dark in there. But darkness was no protection against scanners which the TechPsychers would surely have.
‘...and...then...you.’
Roman began to fade.
‘Roman! Tell me about the mountain ranges. You said you wanted to take me climbing.’
‘Mountains...Yes...the mountains. They’re quite tough to climb. The rock is formed...’
Roman had picked up again and was getting into full flow.
The noises were getting louder now. Thorn could make out at least three people. They were clearing the way with what sounded like cutting equipment. They must have picked up their life signs otherwise why would they bother cutting through the debris.
Thorn frantically tried reaching for his weapon again. Without thinking he gritted his teeth and screamed in pain, eyes watering. If the TechPsychers weren’t sure anyone was still alive they were now. Thorn cursed himself.
When the pain receded enough he tried his gun again. A light from a laser torch pierced the darkness as it sliced through the sealed door to the control deck. Shadows played on the walls and floor as the cut formed a shape large enough for a man to get through.
As the metal fell away sounds from outside the ship became clearer. There was laser fire.
“Go and see what’s going on. I’ll take care of these two.”
“Yes Sir,” came the reply.
Thorn heard two sets of footsteps running off in the direction of the fire fight. A light beam searched the control deck, first picking out Roman, a bloody mess at the controls and then Thorn who turned his head to try to shield his eyes from the light.
“Ahh! There you are. The mighty Psychic Knights, or part of you with, what I would imagine being the rest, outside being slaughtered. Looks like your time is up. Finally caught as the petty trouble makers that you are. Looks like I’ll be the one lauded as the hero. The brave captain who captured the infamous Psychic Knights and put an end to their interference.”
The TechPsycher moved forward, climbing over the railings that ran around the control deck and stood looking down at Thorn. He studied his face for a moment.
“You’re the leader,” he said. “Thorn! I’m so glad you’re still alive. Once you’re paraded in front of the billions of people on Earth at the same time as being televised to all of the colonies it won’t be long before the rest of the rebel scum will be brought to justice or just killed. I’m going to be famous! And rich. Not just from the reward, but from the interviews and book deals. My name will go down in history.”
The TechPsycher directed his torch over to Roman.
“Looks like your friend’s not as lucky as you. Not only will I be famous, but I’ll get the satisfaction of killing one of the Psychic Knights.”
He raised his gun.
‘NO!’ screamed Thorn inside. All his concentration was focussed on the TechPsycher. All the emotions that welled within him channelled through his mind, desperately trying to do something.
The finger on the trigger began to squeeze until suddenly it stopped. The TechPsycher tried moving his hand, but felt a vice like grip preventing any action.
“What...!”
He tried harder, but still couldn’t move his finger. He put his torch down and gripped the gun and tried squeezing, but it was like trying to move a metal bar with a feather.
The room suddenly lit up with red light as shots came from the doorway. The TechPsycher fell to the ground dead.
“Thorn! Are you OK?”
It was Yilnar. He scrambled over to Thorn.
‘So...tired.’
Yilnar felt the exhaustion in Thorn’s mind.
“WOW! What happened?”
Thorn didn’t know. But he hoped one day he would find out.
The End