A Good Day to Die

by P. J. Lawton

part 1

James had heard that the wait was always the hardest, especially when one waited to die. Yes, he was going to die but at least he wouldn’t be going out alone. The ‘boners’ had paid the ultimate price for what they had done today. He had seen to that. Fatalistically he thought, I guess today is a good day to die.

The flashing red light on the oxygen indicator told the tale. He knew that even limiting his movement and conserving oxygen there was still only a couple of hours remaining. Leaning against the cold steel wall of the escape pod he thought, The fault was entirely mine, for I hadn’t seen it coming, not at all.

A quick flick of a small switch activated the recorder. There needed to be a record of what had transpired today. He owed his crew that much. In a quiet voice he began, “Personal log of Captain James Thomas dated April 1st, 2422. This is a record of the final voyage of the TSS Argo. We arrived at the Terra Space Station Centurion...”

* * *

This day’s journey should be an easy one. Just a couple of minutes to dock with Terra’s Centurion space station, drop off the supplies and make the short jump home.

“Prepare for docking,” James said into his com-link.

“Docking sequence punched in,” was the reply.

He could feel the ship slowing and in less than a minute felt the slight bump as the ship coupled with the docking station.

“Nice job folks,” he said. “Let’s get unloaded and get off this dump.”

During the offload his job as Captain was temporarily suspended. Christine, his loadmaster, was in charge now. With some extra time he figured to have a look around, after all, he had never been on a prison barge before.

With a hiss, the air lock slid open and he moved to step inside. Suddenly shoved backward his breath swooshed out as he slammed into the far bulkhead. Struggling to get breathing going again he looked up to see armed men rushing through the air lock.

Well, they weren’t exactly men, human men, anyway. They were he realized with shock, Teleks. Even dressed in rough prison clothing there was no mistaking them. Their physical features were very distinctive. Unfortunately he had seen plenty of them before.

Turning to shout a warning to the crew he didn’t see the closest soldier raise his weapon and bring it quickly down.

* * *

He expended considerable effort attempting to sit up. His temples pounded like a gigantic shock wave. What is this, he thought? Recall came quickly. Telek marines. What were they doing on his ship? Oh yes, Centurion was a prisoner-of-war colony. Somehow they had taken over the station.

Feeling around a bit in the dark, he decided he was in one of the forward cargo holds.

He timidly reached out searching for the door and thought, Never considered it before but they do make pretty good holding cells. They could have left the stinking light on, though.

With a swish the door opened and bright light filled the compartment. A large Telek soldier stood silhouetted in the opening.The soldier had changed from his prison garb to one of the grey jumpsuits worn by the Argo’s crew.

They look different out of uniform, James thought, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the brightness. Not quite as menacing as in complete battle armor but impressive just the same. This particular soldier was from the officer class, the upper officer class. He remembered reading that most of the prisoners on Centurion had been officers, and in the Telek officer core there were different classes.

He believed that this one was upper officer class because of one special feature, the alien’s grandiose head bone. Along with his blue tinted skin, his slightly scaled body, bald, fish-looking head and yellow eyes of all his peers, he had his regal comb. All Teleks had an upraised bone starting in the middle of their forehead and extending over the skull to the base of the neck.

The head bone of the upper class was more pronounced. ‘Boners’ or ‘Boneheads’ was the slang term used for them during the war.

“I am admiral Zin-o,” the soldier said. His voice came out in sort of a high-pitched gravelly sound. “I have taken over your ship.”

“Well, admiral,” James sneered. “Just what do you think you’re doing? This is an act of space piracy, you know; since the war has been over for, let’s see, over three years now.”

The alien snorted. “Piracy indeed. For you the war may be over, for us, never. I needed a ship; you have a ship, though a puny one.”

“Hey, just a minute buster, the Argo may be a little old and a little small but she’s as sound as any other freighter roaming this galaxy.”

“That’s good to know, Captain, then it should suit our purposes. We will speak more later.” With that Zin-o turned to leave.

“Hey, what about my crew,” James shouted.

The Telek swiveled his enormous head around and said, “For the moment your crew is confined. Do as you’re told and no harm will come to them,”

Stepping back the door slid closed in front of him and the light went off.

Yeah, right, James thought. Suddenly afraid for his crew, he was well aware of how the Teleks treated prisoners. They normally didn’t take prisoners.

He settled back on the cold steel floor and pondered what to do. Once the word went out they would be fugitives and on every planet’s most wanted list. What were they up to?

He slipped back and placed hands behind his head as his thoughts returned to that time just a little over three years ago. Things had not been going well, not well at all.

* * *

The war was going badly. Too many losses had thinned the Terra Force ranks. The invasion had started off small, just a few raids by the Telek space force in an attempt to ascertain Terra’s reaction. The initial response had been caution. Sensing reluctance to fight, the Teleks had struck hard and fast.

Terra’s two outer barrier colonies Exodus and Genesis were situated at the extreme edge of the system. Resisting as strongly as they could, neither of them lasted long against the Telek onslaught.

Prior to the conflict James’ job was shuttling class I tramp freighters to and from the colonies. He and crew been trapped on Genesis when the Telek invasion force had landed. The fighting although short had been especially vicious. He hated the Teleks with all his heart for what he had seen there. Men, women, children made no difference to them; they simply destroyed everything in their path. Only toward the end he and his crew had been ordered to leave.

He had been given command of a newer small class II freighter that had been rushed into service for Terra Force. The Argo was small but powerful. Perfect as a scout ship, she was to see much service.

The Argo had been refitted with the most powerful of the new Star Drives. James wasn’t exactly sure how the Star Drive system worked. He knew that it could open small wormholes, passages that cut through the fabric of space. It was proven that traveling by wormhole would cut travel time drastically; however, natural wormholes had shown to be very unstable with either end shifting randomly throughout space. Once scientist discovered how to stabilize the ends, the rest was history. For safety purposes, though, wormhole travel was completed in short jumps usually not more that a few lightyears each. It was much easier to control the ends that way. Wormholes made significantly faster travel even though much riskier.

The Argo had also been given two HEAT cannons. Throughout the entire war her cannons were only fired once, just to make sure they worked. A fighting ship she wasn’t.

The Argo also did not take part in the final battle of the war, the “Battle of the Rim.” She had been tasked to take the Terra Force general staff and the politicians out of harm’s way. All other Terra Force ships had been called home to make a last stand at the galaxy rim. No one really thought they had a chance to survive against the superior Telek space force, and they wouldn’t have except for the timely intervention of the Ra'gon Empire.

The Ra'gon Empire, they learned, was a sworn enemy of the Teleks. Not strong enough to defeat the Teleks alone, for many years they barely held their own against more advanced Telek forces. Now, seeing the Teleks engaged with Terra Force, they chose that moment to enter the war.

Terra Force commanders couldn’t believe their good fortune. At the time they didn’t know who was coming to their aid but believed in that old saying “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” They quickly threw everything they had into the battle. In a few days it was over. The Telek space force was completely damaged, captured or destroyed. The few remaining Telek space crews were allowed to surrender and were sent off to prison camps. The remainder of the Telek ships were placed in mothballs. Terra was saved and had gained a new ally.

* * *

The door slid open, two Telek marines entered and one kicked him hard in the ribs. With a grunt he attempted to sit up. Guess they want to make sure I’m awake, he thought. A simple “Hey, wake up” would have been nice. The Teleks grabbed him and half-dragged, half-walked him to the bridge. Sitting in the First Officer’s chair was Zin-o.

“Well Captain, I hope you have had time to fully realize your predicament. For the welfare of your crew and yourself, I trust you have decided to cooperate.” Zin-o’s English was almost perfect. He had heard that the senior Telek officers had spent months learning Terran languages. He guessed they figured they would need them for the occupation. A lot of wasted time, huh, bonehead.

It took much effort for James to keep the venom out of his voice as he said. “And just what is it you want, Zin-o?”

Zin-o appeared not to notice his tone and continued. “Although my men are more than capable of running this ship, we do not know the inner workings of your navigation computer. In the interest of time, please set a course for Eros now.”

As James glanced through the forward view screen he saw that they were no longer docked with Centurion. I guess they are smart enough to get us moving, anyway, he thought.

A quick look around the bridge and he realized that the aliens didn’t know the workings of the Star Drive system either. Well he was not about to give them what little he knew. Mentally prepared for what would happen next, James said, “Not a chance. I won’t help you; you may as well kill me now.”

“I’m sorry Captain, I can’t do that just now, but I may be happy to oblige you later. Right now I need your assistance.” James wondered what he meant by that. John, the ship’s First Officer, could run this ship as well as he. Why does he need me?

Zin-o spoke in his own language that sounded like a bunch of squeaks and clicks. Two of the men turned and left the bridge. Within seconds they returned dragging an inert form between them. It was Christine. James could see that she had put up quite a fight, with a torn and dirty jumpsuit and blood on her face. Looking into his eyes she attempted to smile.

Not giving her a second glance Zin-o said, “Do as I say or I will have your crew killed, one by one. Cooperate and they will be spared.”

“Yeah, Like I’m really going to trust a ‘boner’,” James sarcastically replied. Seeing Zin-o’s face turn a deeper shade of blue he thought, So I’ve struck a nerve have I?

Zin-o squeaked something to the soldiers holding Christine then turned his attention back to the Captain. “I’ll give your one last chance.”

James saw tears of frustration in Christine’s eyes as one slowly trickled down her cheek. She had been with him from the start on Genesis and knew as well as he what the Teleks were capable of doing. Seeing him watching she silently mouthed the words, “Don’t do it.”

Mind made up, nodding, James turned to the Telek. “Not a chance,” he said.

Without another word, Zin-o nodded to the men holding Christine. One soldier reached into his belt and brought out a wicked looking curved bladed knife. Pulling her head back by her long hair, in one swift motion slit her throat.

It took a few seconds for James’ shocked mind to realize what had happened. Suddenly with a scream more animal than human he lunged for Zin-o. He never made it. Two of the soldiers were on him in an instant clubbing him to the deck.

Smugly looking down Zin-o said, “Your crewmember’s death is on your head. Cooperate and the others will live.”

A cold shiver arched across James’ body. His hate was so real he could taste it on his tongue. With blazing eyes he simply stared. The two soldiers grabbed and threw him back into the Captain’s chair. Reason slowly returned as they held him. You’re going to pay for that, he thought, all of you. With his blood turning to ice he made a pact. The Teleks would die; somehow they would die.

Toward the back of the bridge a soldier was dragging Christine away like so much old baggage. They’re going to pay, Christine, I promise, they’re all going to pay. He knew he had to stall for time, too.

Pretending defeat, he put as much resignation in his voice as possible. “Okay, you win; I’ll set your course to Eros. Just leave the rest of my crew alone. Why are you going there anyway?” he said as he checked the navigation charts then keyed the coordinates into the computer. As the words left his mouth he remembered. The Telek mothballed fleet. Of course, that’s what he’s going for. There must be two hundred ships there.

The kick of the Star Drive engaging gave Zin-o a sense of victory as he spoke. “I will tell you of our plan since there is nothing you can do to stop it.” Settling back into the first officer’s chair he began to explain.

To be continued...

Copyright © 2004 by P. J. Lawton