Finish the Science Fiction Story

Cafe Society
21

The conversation between Captain Verless and President Vorpal was suddenly interrupted by the harried voice of Lieutenant Helene, the station’s communications officer.

“Sirs, I apologize for interrupting, but there is some important information coming in I believe you should be aware of. You’ll want to be checking the news networks.”

Grumbling, Vorpal tuned his enormous view screen into the Galactic Information Network, catching anchorman Leonard Hermes in mid-report.

“ . . . are slow in coming, but GIN can now confirm that revolutionary forces on Xavvis Prime are indeed laying siege to the Imperial Palace and reports of heavy fighting are coming in from all over the Empire. Diplomatic negotiations over control of the Novon territories have been suspended in the wake of this development and it is believed that it is only a matter of time before the Xavvian government turns to the Alliance for assistance in . . .”

Vorpal switched off the view screen in disgust. He’d seen enough.

“So Captain, I see your informant among the Xavvians has been quite useful to us. You call in some, as you put it, heavy favors and he tells you everything’s fine, no revolutions here, no idea who this Tobermary chap is, and to find out what’s really going on all I have to do is turn on the blasted news!”

Captain Verless wilted under the President’s glare. “I . . . That is . . . He . . . I apologize sir, my contact has always provided accurate information in the past. If it’s any consolation, the information about Kenezr came from other, even more reliable sources.”

“Ah yes, Kenezr,” Vorpal replied, somewhat pacified. “So, what is my younger cousin up to these days?”

22

Captain Verless suspected President Vorpal had heard of Professor Kenesr. The records showed the professor attended the Academy about the same time Vorpal had. Of course Vorpal made it in because of his father’s connections. Kenezr made it on ability alone. But, cousins?

“My sources tell me Professor Kenesr gave Ms Swanson a cat upon graduation. As you know we keep close tabs on cats these days,” said Verless.

“You fool!” Vorpal was on his feet now. “Why wasn’t I told about this when it happened? This could destroy all my plans.”

Vorpal was visibly shaken. He began to pace as he explained to the Captain.

“Don’t you see that this means Kenesr knew about Ms Swanson all along? She, and her special gift hold the key to my return to power. That’s why she was under surveillance. This Kenesr connection means the FTU is involved. We have only one chance to break that link. We must reach her before the Xavvis agent can bring her to the FTU council. At least I know where she is going now.”

Captain Verless had trouble making the connection. What could a venerable institution like the Federated Teachers Union have to do with these events? But, there was no time to think. President Vorpal was in the Captain’s face.

“Make my ship ready, Captain! The destination is Laxis Prime!”

23

Okay, can someone give me a recap? I’m a bit lost with all the political subterfuges and who’s who. I don’t want to inadvertantly make a good guy a bad guy and vice versa.

24

Okay . . .

Professor Kenezr: Details forthcoming, so far looks to be a good guy. Working with secret organization within the Federated Teacher’s Union, in what capacity remains to be seen.

Tobermary: Same as above.

Astrid Vorpal: President-in-Exile of the Novon Protectorate. A notorious war criminal, though perhaps he’s been judged unfairly. Definately sneaky, violent and very dangerous.

Captain Wesley Verless: Vorpal’s right hand man, in command of Vorpal’s personal space station for the last five years after the death of the previous commander. Loyal to the Novon people, not entirely sure about Vorpal himself, but a good soldier who follows orders.

Xavvis Empire: The government is desperate, as evidenced by their willingness to go to the Alliance for assistance. The Gov is friendly to the Alliance at the moment, mainly out of necessity. Certain factions among the citizenry see this as a failure on the governments part, building decades of resentment that have spilled over into full-fledged rebellion. If the rebellion succeeds, the new goverment definately will not be friendly to the Alliance. War may be inevetible though obviously won’t come immediately.

Novon Protectorate: The largest of the Non-Alliance human territories and the loser in the Xavvio-Novon War which ended 20 years ago. I have some ideas about this, rather not reveal them now. Basically, there’s been a series of long and not always friendly negotiation between the Alliance and the Xavvians over the division of Novon territory. Xavvians think they deserve to rule Novon space because they were at War with the Novons the longest. Alliance doesn’t really want to see human territory, even Non-Alliance human territory, in Xavvian hands.

25

Also of note: The Novon Protectorate is a despotism, whose rulers are Emperors in all but name, though the Novons aren’t about expansionism as the Xavvians are. Vorpal is president for no other reason than he was born into it, though he wasn’t necessarily the first in line for leadership through most of his life. He came to power during the height of the Xavvio-Novon War.

26

Damn, Fibber McGee you write a mean political story! And good background material to build on too. And there’s still wiggle room, as this quote would i

mply.

27

Got to watch how I click the mouse. I hit Reply and not Preview. I also wanted to add that I am looking forward to writing about Kathy and her “special ability”, or, as one poster put it, her difference. Got to go think about that now.

This thread is going well I believe.

ivylass, I’m glad to see you participating in this thread too! The Western one was a blast. I actually printed it out. Took a while too.

28

The holographic eyes surveyed the domed room in Century City. A voice emitted from the podium.

“Gentlemen, brothers of the Floginim, the events we have long awaited have commenced. The revolution has begun as predicted. Earth’s moon has moved into the expected alignment. And, we have the gift of Kathy Swanson near to us.

What we didn’t expect was a small group of Xavians close to our agent Tobermary have turned on him and we have lost contact. This new Xavian faction appears to be after Tobermary.

At this point, we believe Astrid Vorpal is still the only person in the universe, outside our order, who knows about Kathy Swanson’s power. He knew of her mother’s musical talent and her father’s discovery of the ancient recording. We believe his agents killed Ms Swanson’s parents and made it look like an accident. If he captures her and finds the crystal containing the recording, all will be lost.

Tobermary was instructed to bring Ms Swanson here if he believed they were in danger. When they arrive we must be prepared to introduce Kathy Swanson to her destiny.”

The voice went quiet and the hologram disappeared with a pop. In a small corner room of the building, far from the domed chamber, Professor Kenesr turned a dial on the hologram transmitter and stood ready to leave. His message was received by the order and he must prepare for Kathy’s arrival.

29

I’m glad you like what I’ve contributed so far. Though I do have some ideas about the story I don’t anyone to think I’m hijacking it. This is a group effort after all and I’m willing to work with whatever anyone else comes up with.

A while back on another site I contributed to a similar thread, writing an X-Men story that I thought turned out really well and wich I had saved, possibly to share it here but mostly for my own enjoyment.

In fact, when this story is done with (I don’t want to start anything else until this one is done.) I think I might just start a Finish the Superhero Story thread. Not based on any existing superheroes though, I’ve got a fairly large store of original characters knocking around in my head to kickstart something like that I think.

It’ll have to wait though, of course.

One more thing, ivylass’ confusion may indicate that from now on we might want to avoid jumping around as much as we have been. I really like everything that’s been written so far, but reading it from beginning to end, it is a bit disjointed.

30

I think your contribution of the background will cut out confusion. I think we can let folks work it out for themselves. For me, half the fun is the unexpected showing up. And we need some humor too!

Thinking of litterboxes made Kathy realize that, depending on how long this trip would take, she could use some “facilities” herself. Not to mention food. Looking around she saw that while not large the Exegesis II did appear to have a small compartment behind the forward guidance cabin. Tobermory had said it was built for a small crew. At the back of the small guidance cabin they were seated in she saw a hatch that must lead to the rest of the vessel’s amenities.

Turning to Tobermory she asked "Umm, I don’t mean to be crude, but is there is a place back there I can “freshen up” isn’t there?

“You mean, oh, well, yes there is. This vessel can support four passengers, six in a pinch, and there’s plenty of room for…why don’t you just have a look? This trip will take almost two standard days, since it’s too small for the Sorenson-Patel drive.”

Kathy gratefully snapped open her safety harness and rose carefully from her seat. She felt a little shaky but otherwise okay. As the cabin door closed behind her Tobermory quickly turned to the com-unit and began speaking rapidly.

Kathy found the small bathroom , and also noticed four narrow bunks and what appeared to be a tiny galley unit. After more immediate physical needs were taken care of she decided to try and clean up a little. But suddenly she felt dizzy again and sat down abruptly on a lower bunk. Her vision became blurred, and in fear she called out for Tobermory, her voice sounding odd as she did so. What was happening to her this time?

31

Last night the hamsters seemed to be having problems when I made the previous post. When I checked in this morning the post was there but it didn’t show as the last post, so some may be unaware that the thread has been added to. I’m making this post in order to try and correct the last post showing.

32

Astrid Vorpal’s presidential yacht, the Jewel of Novon, disembarked from the space station that had been, for the last twenty years, the seat of his admittedly diminished power. Traveling to Laxis Prime was a risk, but a necessary one. There were a great many people in both the Xavvis Empire and the Confederated Alliance who wanted to see Vorpal dead or in the custody of proper authorities, but Vorpal knew that if he could get his hands on Kathy Swanson and the power within her, none of that would matter.

Safely ensconced in his personal quarters - smaller than those on the station, but no less opulently furnished - Vorpal allowed his mind to drift backwards through the mists of time, back forty years to the days of his education at the Alliance University on Laxis Prime, the Yebeshim homeworld and academic capital of the Alliance. In those days, relations between the Alliance and the Novon Protectorate had been . . . not friendly precisely, there was too much resentment still festering over Novon‘s long ago decision not to join in the formation of the Alliance for that, not to mention Alliance squeamishness over the way the Novon Government was aligned, but there was free trade and commerce between the two powers. At least, there’d been no open hostility between the two powers at that point.

The Xavvis Empire had been another story entirely. Forever locked in a mode of expansionism at the behest of a long line of power and territory hungry rulers, the Xavvians had long had their eye on Novon and war seemed an inevitability. Astrid’s five older brothers, schooled at the Novon Military Academy on Novon Prime, were too valuable both as military commanders and as potential heirs to the Presidency to allow outside Novon territory, but Astrid has always been a bit different. A lover of nature and music who had never taken to military studies, his father had arranged for him to study on Laxis Prime in part to get him as far away from the center of the brewing storm as possible.

Although there were many surprises awaiting young Astrid in his years at the Alliance University, none was more shocking than the day in his third year that he spied a familiar face across a crowded lecture hall. Though nearly seven years had passed since he’d seen him last, Astrid would have recognized his younger cousin Jacob anywhere.

Jacob had been the only son of Astrid’s Aunt Miranda. Jacob’s father, Harlan Yitsu, had been a decorated General in the Novon Army. He’d died when the boy had been only six months old, a suspected victim of political intrigue, a leading cause of death amongst the Vorpals and their extended family. They’d been rather close as children, but then Miranda had run off with a charming Alliance Diplomat, taking Jacob with her.

Certain that the young man he’d seen was his cousin, Vorpal turned to a pretty young co-ed working in the administration office whom he’d been bedding to get his hands on enrollment records and soon found what he was looking for. By then, Vorpal’s younger cousin had no longer been going by the name Timothy Yitsu, but was using the name of the Diplomat who’d swept poor widowed Aunt Mira off her feet seven years prior: Kenezr.

33

Now certain that Kenezr was indeed his cousin and childhood friend, Astrid decided to keep tabs on the youngster. Like Astrid, Kenezr was studying music science. Their coursework differed only in the fact that Astrid’s family insisted he also study political science while his cousin concentrated on archeology. Inevitably, their paths crossed and they renewed the childhood friendship, working together on special projects.

Kenezr, it turned out, was a bit more gifted intellectually and became a pioneer in new discoveries in the effect of rhythm and melodies on masses of sentient beings. It had long been known that humans reacted to music in a primal way. Raw rhythms enhanced sex drives, increased adrenaline production and could cause aggression. Smooth melodies calmed the nerves and eased stress. Astrid assisted him in constructing devices that enhanced the effects. One such device, the Electron Libretto Oscillator, exhibited unforeseen power.

Kenezr, through his archeological studies, began to look for ancient recording to test on the new machine. It turns out different music has different effects. The two cousins would listen to music spanning centuries. Astrid became enthralled. His other studies became less and less important to him. For hours and sometimes days at a time he did nothing but play ELO sounds. He started to erupt in violent outbursts – at times exhibiting unusual strength and causing real destruction.

Astrid became a disruption to the university. Kenezr tried to help him. Tried to cut him off. Kenezr hid away the most destructive recordings and considered shutting down the ELO project entirely. But his pride wouldn’t allow it. Kenezr thought he could control the situation.

One day Astrid sneaked into Kenezr’s quarters and found his hidden stash of ancient recordings. He strapped himself the machine and binged on the effects of a pounding rhythm and violent vocals. The effects were permanent. Astrid would never be the same. He had found 20th century Rap.

34

Tobe rushed back to where Kathy was huddled on the floor of the cabin, moaning and crying in fear.

“Tobe, what’s happening to me?”

“Oh, dammit, I should have known this would happen.” Tobe reached for a hypospray* and injected Kathy in the neck. She sagged, unconscious, and he put her in the bunk and covered her up.

Tobe rushed back to the command console and sent a coded urgent message to Professor Kenezr.

“The crystal inside the courier has activated prematurely. We need urgent assistance.”

He set up the message to cycle repeatedly, confident the code would not be broken, as it was a hideously complicated fusion of pre-historic Novon music tunes and modern Terran Celtic rhythms, combined with the ancient tongue of the Xavvian Mystic Masters. Only one fluent in all three languages would have a hope in deciphering it, and except for himself, Kenezr was the only other humanoid who had studied all three.

He coaxed a few more hertz out of the engine, and went back to sit with Kathy, to keep an eye on her, waiting for an answer from the Professor.

(* I’m sorry, my only space story experience is with Star Trek, so some Trekisms are going to have to creep into my contributions.)

35

Just after Tobe finished transmitting his request for help, an alarm sounded in his cockpit. The ship’s sensor array picked up a pair of vessels on an incercept course. A single thought ran through Tobe’s mind: Now what? Tobe punched at a few buttons to identify his visitors. Great. Kaalon-class gunships.

Once the pride of the Alliance, Kaalon gunships were now outdated and many had been acquired by mercenaries. Two of them were now headed directly toward Tobe, or so he thought. They pulled ahead of him instead and if that wasn’t odd enough, Tobe noticed plumes of blue gas eminating from their engines. Sanctuary?

A voice then boomed throughout Tobe’s cockpit. “Greetings, Captain, and nice to have you back. An old friend hired us to escort you to Laxis Prime.”

36

[hijack]

This is really good, y’all. I was going to add some background material, but I think I’ll just sit back, relax, and enjoy the story for a while.

:slight_smile:

[/hijack]

37

“Thank Bast for that!” Tobermory answered, in Xavvian. “Which pouch do you hail from?” His words were a recognition code, and if not answered in the correct fashion he would know that the offer of an escort was a ruse.

“I hail from the pouch of the Great Mother herself, * as do you* , in line of descent I am Firstborn, and if you don’t believe me Captain you can make this trip by yourssssself!” The last word was hissed in felinoid fashion.

Tobermory relaxed a little in his chair, for between the correct response, the attitude, and the sound of the voice, it could be none other than Granthiaxav, a former executive officer of his. A good officer, but overly proud of his lineage, as his inclusion of the formal “xav” suffix on his name would indicate.

“So Professor Kenezr knew we were on our way? Our departure from Ceres was abrupt and unplanned, and I don’t think my messages could have reached him yet.”

"Kenezr had other contacts you know, myself included, and any news keyed to the school Kathy Swanson taught at

“was to be reported to him. When you left Ceres, with a quarter of the school grounds burning behind you, the news was transmitted to Kenezr at once. Your arrival is therefore not unexpected and we wre here to make sure you do arrive.”

“As if I would do anything else” muttered Tobermory to himself. Granthiaxav was a Xavvian patriot to his core, and the new rebellion must anger him even more than Tobermory, because any upsetting of the status quo would endanger his aristocratic privileges, not to mention his life. But by the withered teat
his attitude could grate on one!

"Well then, be advised that the courier is sedated, the crystal having already begun activation. "

A soft hiss came from the speaker, and Granthiaxav, in an entirely different tone, said “Not good. We will escort you with all possible speed. The crystal must not be lost.”

Tobermory wondered again at his former executive officer. Where was his concern for the courier herself?

While the two Xavvians were thus occupied, the mind of Kathy abrptly cleared and threw off the effects of the drug she had recieved.She sat up in the bunk, and her suddenly heightened senses, especially her hearing, let he hear every word from the guidance cabin.

38

Astrid Vorpal was broken from his reverie by the voice of Captain Verless.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything Mr. President, I just wanted you to know that Captain Largo‘s ship has just fallen in behind ours, and he‘d like to speak with you.”

“Patch him through, Captain.”

“Right away, sir.”

Laxius Lar’gorn’yem - Largo for short - was a Yebeshim, but nothing like the egghead scholars people usually thought of in connection with the premier thinkers of the galaxy. He was a captain-for-hire, a jack of all trades; bounty hunter, smuggler, pirate, escort, bodyguard and, when need be, professional killer. He was also a traitor to his people and to the Alliance, as the fact that he’d have anything to do with Vorpal amply proved. He was also an invaluable source of information. Up until a few years ago he’d been a top agent of the Floginim Brotherhood and he still had contacts within the organization.

“Thank for joining us Largo, your assistance should be invaluable to the coming mission.”

“Well, you’re certainly paying me enough Mr. President. I promised myself when I left there five years ago that I’d never set foot on Laxius Prime again. What went wrong with transport vortex anyway? That’s banned technology and I had to bust my ass to get my hands on it, how’d you screw that up?”

“I don’t appreciate your insolent tone, Captain Largo. I’m paying you to assist, not criticize. Unforeseen circumstances prevented the extraction of the target by those means. As long as we’re speaking I might as well ask you, do you know anything about a Xavvian who calls himself Tobemary?”

Largo let out a long and complex string of Yebeshim curse words.

“So, the name is familiar?”

“It sure as parn’ral’acht is! That do’jec’frall is the one who uncovered my extracurricular activities back when I was working for the Floginim! Thanks to him I was thrown from the Brotherhood, exiled from Laxis Prime and made a fugitive throughout Alliance space. Not that I especially care, it was only a minor setback in the long run, but I’d still like to pay old Tobe back if I can.”

“Excellent. I’m sure you’ll have every opportunity to do just that. He’s of no importance to my plans, so you can do with him as you wish.”

“Very good, Mr. President.”

39

Kathy was hearing more than just the words from the guidance cabin, She was seeing the faces as they spoke, from behind the wall!

What in the planets is happening to me?! she worried to herself, unaware of the crystal.

Shutting her eyes tight, she tried to block out the extrasensory visions. But, closing her eyes made the faces even more distinct. She found that by concentrating on one of the faces, she could hear more than the words spoken. She could hear the thoughts behind the words, feel the emotions guiging the thoughts. Even taste a bit of the subconscious Id behind the Ego.

It surprised her that these alien minds had what she had learned as Human distinctions, Id and Ego.

I may as well make some use of this new trait of mine, she concluded, and started to concentrate on Tobermory.

She was pleased to find that her pet, er… this alien creature… had such a fondness for her. She hadn’t realized until that moment that this was extremely important to her.

:::Please:::

Where had THAT tought come from? she wondered nervously. Trying her concentration again, she found out that…

:::Help us:::

Now, she was worried. Verging on panic. For that thought had clearly come from outside the ship! And, she saw the face. It was Human, but not human. As though it were a representation of Human form to a surrealist.

She also knew the name of this figure. And she was quite terrified.

40

Kathy made her was forward to the command console, where Tobe was busy adjusting the shields. When he was done Granthiaxav’s ship would lock on a tractor beam and tow them to Laxis Prime faster than his own little ship could travel.

He jumped with Kathy touched the back of his neck. It was odd that she’d been able to sneak up on someone who could morph into a cat, but upon reflection, he realized the crystal probably had something to do with it.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, grabbing a scanner and doing a quick check of her biosigns. He got some odd readings, but he figured that had something to do with the crystal as well. He just didn’t think Kathy would have been able to absorb the crystal so readily after activation, but that was a promising sign.

“I hear voices. I know that sounds crazy, but I could hear you talking to someone, and I could see them, and there’s someone out there,” she pointed out the viewscreen, “that’s calling for help. Have I gone mad?”

Tobe signaled Granthiaxav. “We’re ready, and you better step on it. The courier is already accessing the crystal.” Kathy grabbed the back of Tobe’s chair as the ships made the jump to ultralight.

“I’m going to make you some lunch, Kathy, then we have a few minutes to talk. We’ll be at Laxis Prime in about an hour, and I owe you some answers.”