Galactic Rescue Inc. Vol 3. Way Beyond Infinity

Galactic Rescue Inc.

Vol 3

Way Beyond Infinity

Published By James T Lay at Smashwords

Copyright 2011 James T Lay

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This book is dedicated to my wife Jen who considered all the work was just a pastime! She did do all the typing – eventually.

But look at it now – is Jen impressed? Nah.

Galactic Rescue Inc.

Vol. 3

Way Beyond Infinity

James T. Lay

Chapter 1

Harbinger was having great trouble in mastering complete control over, what was turning out to be, a most awkward Dragon.

The capture had been relatively easy; a quick swing from the branch of the Teggle tree and an accurate drop onto the neck haunch of the Dragon. From there things went decidedly from bad to worse.

Harbinger is known for his superior skill in the quick control of the quirky fire-breathing reptile, known as the Dragon. From snout, to the tip of the tail, this Dragon was seventy-two feet in length with a wingspan of one hundred and ninety.

It is usually easy to gently flex the various areas at the base of the beast’s neck, where it joins the shoulders, at the junction of all the nerves for the Dragon’s huge body. But this one was not easy at all. In fact it was proving all but impossible to obtain a satisfactory result from any of the hand and leg inputs which Harbinger usually had excellent results with in the past.

A worried frown deepened into Harbinger's brow. He was already five thousand feet above the height he usually flew with any Dragon. His control of this beast was next to zero. The only control he had succeeded at was preventing the Dragon from plucking him from his tenuous position and flinging him to certain death on the rock-strewn landscape far below him.

Carl, came the gentle voice of George, his ever-present computer contact, it was my understanding that you disliked Dragon novels.

I do George, a look of resignation on his face, I was giving it one last chance.

And what is the result?

I don't like Dragon stories.

You knew this all along, yet you continue to attempt to read them. A query of deep thought came from George's voice. Why?

Life's like that, you try every now and again to see if things have changed. Carl realized that the thought processes of George, as advanced as they were would not cope with human endeavor. You won't understand, as usual.

I am beginning to understand Carl, but as hard as I put a new series of facts together they contradict most of the other facts.

That's because you're a load of wiggly amps without a brain.

Thank you Carl.

Pleasure. Hoping that would end the ever-lasting questions. How far or long, to go?

About three hundred and seventy million hyper jumps, at an average of sixty-eight million parsecs...

George, putting a stop to the never-ending facts that regularly rambled out of the computer, how long, in hours, to go?

Eight.

Thank you.

Carl, whose full name is Carl Webster, usually has a travelling companion, Pat Murtagh, but for this escapade Pat had decided to stay in Southern Ireland.

It is the present day, so, you may wonder, what is Carl doing countless billions of light years from earth in an interstellar space ship. Well, whilst Carl and Pat were on a Hash Recce in the jungles of Brunei, they came upon the ship, half buried in a hillside. Thinking it was a Second World War DC3; they entered the cabin and inadvertently selected a hyper jump sequence which left them high and dry in a Space Junction.

At this Junction they became aware of the computer system, and its gentle voice, and referred to it as George.

It was necessary to find their way to Earth, but its location was not known and the route that they had taken to the Junction was not recorded.

Following a series of adventures during their search for Earth, in the ship that they had named Shadow, they began to enjoy the experience. And here was Carl, on another such 'enjoyable' excursion.

The eight hours left referred to the journey to a world previously known to the Yil, the makers of Shadow. The Yil were no longer anywhere near the Universe that Carl was passing through. Nor were they within 10,000 years, using hyper jump travel. They had long since left the space exploration scenario, about a million or more years ago. But they had left all their 'hardware' jotted about the ‘universes’.

The Junction was one such piece of hardware, as were the many other Junctions. Shadow had been a long lost ship, with a sorry tale to tell.

The data banks, that George had access to, noted that a world that the Yil had visited long ago was now silent. By silent it is meant that no radio, radar, or hyper-beam broadcasts had been heard for over thirty earth years. This fact had previously come to George's notice whilst the search for Earth had been in progress, they had passed reasonably close to the, now silent, world.

It was whilst this was being discussed that Pat said that he'd like to stay a home to let Carl, ‘have a look’, as Pat put it.

So here he was, eight hours from Wentel 2. There was still silence on all bands that George was continuing to sweep. The hyper-bands also carried standard radio, television, and radar traffic, so making those broadcasts instantaneous over billions of light years. Shadow was nowhere near enough to run into any of the standard broadcasts from W2, that would not occur in the standard speed of travel of these wave bands for well over 7 hours and 59 minutes. Such was the distance that Shadow could travel in any given moment. Carl had made all the preparations that he considered necessary to visit W2. Such as ensuring that George was familiar with the local language, build of the locals, weather patterns, etc. Of course, all the information was extremely old, if you class a million, plus, years as old. Anything could have happened in that length of time.

Are you sure that the W2 people are as they were when the Yil knew them?

The last broadcasts show that the language has changed little, maybe turned a little more basic if anything. A slight pause, whilst George probed the latest data. There is nothing to suggest that there has been much change at all Carl.

I find it strange that things haven't apparently changed in a million years George, I can't even begin to think about that time span. What have they been doing all that time?

It appears that they have, or had, everything anyone would want for a happy existence. The Wentel solar system has four planets, all habitable, with variations in climatic conditions. They were not overpopulated. And from the latest radio broadcasts, they seemed to be enjoying life.

Weird.

Carl had decided to 'Jump' to the surface of the chief planet, W2, dressed as the Wentels were thirty years ago, they were homo-sapien in form and practically identical to the human race. The local language would be translated by George, with the speech from Carl being translated into sound and the mouthing of the words being dubbed by Carl's shield over his own mouth.

The 'Shield' is a total body protection system radiating from the Shield-and-Jump module on Carl's wrist, with the shield being laced into the entire nervous system of Carl’s body.

This procedure had been carried out just after both Carl and Pat had arrived at a Junction for the first time. It is a wonderful device. Such is its power that it actually 'conditions' the body to a near perfect state of physical development. Carl had put on muscles where he didn't even know he had muscles. His body would now be considered as a candidate for a Mr. Universe title - and it was continuing to develop.

Such was the shield, that Carl could expect protection from force, heat and ultra-space weapons, but not total protection, that was only achieved for the Yil, the human form was slightly at odds with the Yil makeup with total compatibility not being achieved. But Carl was more than happy with the way things had turned out.

Carl was relaxed back into his body-contoured seat, feet up on the holo instrument panel with the full width of the windscreen in front of him. He was in the lounge part of Shadow; the actual cockpit was in the left arm of the horseshoe shaped craft. Shadow could be operated from either area. This had been achieved by Carl, who was more 'tuned' into the Yil craft than the Yil used to be, they had to operate from the cockpit. George had no answer as to why Carl was able to direct all of Shadows' functions from the lounge when the designers and builders could not.

The traceries of the hyper jumps continued to lace across the visual universe, in front of Carl’s’ gaze. To think that he was travelling millions of light years every second was beyond comprehension. He found the effect on his sight and brain totally relaxing and the best cure for stress ever developed.

Music played all around him, now Pink Floyd and the recording of the Pulse concert from Earls Court; before that it had been Chicago. The choice was endless, George had a fully stocked library of every piece of music and every song ever played and recorded on Earth, all for Carl to choose from, now that has to be paradise.

Within the structure of Shadow, there were many voids and tunnels, never seen by Carl, where the maintenance robotic devices were parked. Pat, who seemed to have a particularly close affinity to them, had named these 'Mice'. They were always playing tricks on him, like tying his shoelaces together. This was now happening to Carl's laces. The mice did not approve of shoes being parked on the holo panel, but, instead of moving the feet aside, they would attempt to hinder comfort. This particular mouse was about eight inches long and slim egg-shaped. Its little manipulations carefully maneuvering Carl’s laces into a reef knot.

George, get this ruddy mouse out of here, as he attempted to nudge the offending nuisance aside with his foot, knowing only too well that all the mice aboard could dodge any action against them, it's still tying my laces up.

The mouse backed off, as George put forward a very sensible suggestion. How about they install a footrest for you?

Now that could win the Nobel Prize for innovation George, do it.

In seconds many mice were on the scene, having popped out of hatches in the floor and wall of the lounge. There was one three-foot long, referred to as the war machine by the travelers, and other variations in size. One barely two inches long. The large mouse had various lengths of Shadow hull skin that was rapidly being cut and molded to a dome-shaped platform. In barely three minutes the platform was being attached to the holo panel by the little mouse. Tiny glinting flashes could be seen, identified by Carl as the frequency-growth-stimulation used by all of the mice when matching skin frequencies for skin jointing.

The mice moved back, the panel hinged down and slid into the holo panel. Then out it popped again, obviously all was well.

You can also move it along the panel and raise or lower it.

I know George, I have it on my Hud.

Of course.

The Hud was part of the shield’s 'advisory' system. On the surface of Carl’s shield, information was displayed, directly across the pupil area of his eyes. Any information that Carl required could be displayed in this manner. Carl had 'called up' the platform details and read off the options. He was now fully aware of how to request the footrest or have it parked away.

Thanks mice, as the offending mouse returned Carl’s laces to their correct location, I'll not mess up the holo, ever again.

He moved his feet to the footrest and mentally adjusted its position - perfect. The mice shot back to their tunnel existence, as happy as any machine could be.

We'll stop way back from W2 and check out the area before we go in. Said Carl, knowing that George was always awake and ready for any input.

A safe measure. Agreed George.

With Pat not on board, Carl was finding life a little boring. It had been three days of hyper jumping and usually they would have games of darts with plenty of beer flowing. This trip had none of that, which was why he had been giving the dragon science fiction novel a go; again, such was the depth of boredom creeping up on him.

It'll be good to get out and about again George, I didn't realise how much I enjoyed these trips. Walking on Dartmoor and Exmoor doesn't really compare to walking on an alien world, tens of millions of light years from Earth.

I can imagine that there is a slight difference between the two experiences.

He decided to turn in, for a final sleep, before taking on any problems that W2 might throw at them. His bedroom was halfway round the curve of Shadow, a luxuriously appointed room with the most comfortable of beds.

The bed linen was light and smooth but just heavy enough to give that lovely feeling of security and comfort. He was soon asleep, in the secure knowledge that all would continue to be well whilst he slept.

Chapter 2

Shadow was motionless in the void, a half light year from the Wentel system. Shields were fully up and the cloaking device was active.

George had halted Shadows’ progress at this point in the correct assumption that a distance this great would be too remote for any casual discovery, should there be anyone or anything around looking for just such an approach.

The space around us is clear of any unusual craft, came George’s assurance, I can't say the same for Wentel.

I see it George, as Carl was studying the alien craft that was sat off Wentel on his view screen, seen anything like it before?

No Carl, this type of craft is not in my records. There was a slight hesitation in his speech. But it could be from a previously known race, time has passed since my records were closed.

Just so. Nodding mentally to himself. Any systems the Yil had encountered, other than the Wentel, in this area?

No Carl. Came the definite reply. The nearest contact being two hundred million light years away.

That's a long way George. I've always wondered if anyone could have found the secret of 'jumping' the way the Yil did.

Always a possibility Carl, but we are talking about the Yil here, a race so immense and powerful that even the most advanced aliens in those times couldn't have progressed to the Yilonite solution. Yilonite is the secret and that was formulated over a million or more years of continuous research, at immense cost. I cannot believe that any race could simply afford the research costs in the first place, let alone the time taken to come up with the solution.

I tend to agree George. Said Carl. So where's that come from? Physically pointing at the holo of the craft.

It's an attractive looking craft, well advanced, but I don't think that it is hyper drive powered. I see enormous power thrusters at one end, and those immense flying surfaces suggest that it actually came directly from atmosphere to space.

That's not too clever then. Carl injecting what he hoped was a valid comment. There's the possibility that it may have come from somewhere quite close then?

I think that is the only explanation Carl. There was a slight pause. Not only that, but I may have the location.

The holo sprang to life, their present location centred, with Wentel over to the right and a system highlighted over to the left.

There are radio waves visible George, can you pick up anything?

No, we are too far away. This is a good find Carl, shall we check it out before going to W2?

Do it.

Shadow instantly jumped the intervening half a light year to arrive fifteen thousand miles above the planet highlighted on the holo display. Yes, this was the world that had manufactured the craft at Wentel; they were a couple of miles away from an identical craft, in orbit around the planet.

They can't see us, can they?

No Carl, we are secure. Did Carl identify a note of exasperation in Georges’ voice, as if he would put them in a position of peril. I do not identify the aliens here. Their language is not in my records.

A rasping howling chatter came over the ether, as George relayed the spoken language of these aliens.

Sounds bloody awful George, as Carl moved away from windscreen, what type of people could make that sound?

The 'sound' was quite high pitched and sounded like a hacksaw cutting thin metal in a loose vice. It was enough to make your eardrums rattle.

It is typical of an insectoid based being.

Ants, cockroaches, that sort of thing?

Yes Carl.

Great, a bunch of bed bugs in space ships.

Carl was now closely studying the alien craft sitting before them. It was a shiny metal-flake light blue in colour and appeared to be various hulls all attached into one. Each 'hull' being shaped like a smooth dagger blade, the tip pointing forward with the sharp edge of the blade angled outwards, away from the centre of contact. There was one conical shaped hull at the front, probably the control centre, and a dozen or more huge thrusters attached to the rear end. A bit of a mish-mash of bits and pieces, all a little threatening in design.

The wings of the craft were of massive span and a little reminiscent of the U2 spy plane. Suddenly the view screen zoomed in, to show an alien worker on the outer skin of one of the 'hulls'. The alien had two arms and legs and was the same colour as the ship. The legs appeared over-long, the body short, with long arms. Although encased in a suit, the alien would be of that layout. The head was narrow between where the ears could be, and the face was long and pointed, no details were apparent.

Funny looking thing George, seen anything like it before?

No Carl, a completely new species. George continued with some disturbing information. If you look carefully at the point of each hull you will see some sort of valves surrounding an aperture. I think these are all weapon dischargers.

Carl could see what George was talking about. There was even some discolouration that could be the result of heat.

It all looks a bit nasty to me. Any other planets around?

No, this is it. There are no other traces of life emanating from the surrounding star systems. This is a race of alien life that has evolved into what we see here.

"So, we have the aliens that are at Wentel, and they are only one and a half light years distance from Wentel.

These ships must have some fancy drive to travel that distance.

Or a lot of patience. Quipped George. Maybe they can go into some sort of sleep and wake up at the Wentel system.

You're probably right.

As they discussed the alien dilemma, the alien in view began moving away from ship, by the use of tiny gas thrusters. The efflux of those thrusters was clearly visible as a slight misting, jetting away from the suited alien. At that moment more aliens appeared from various areas around the spacecraft. They all came into a still hover, some thirty yards from the craft.

The weapon system is charging up, said George, I am receiving heavy energy waves from all of the hulls.

As George finished speaking, a slight aura appeared at each weapon nozzle that spread in a narrow band, to join the next nozzle aura. Without warning, one of the nozzles flashed out a pulse of energy, deep green in colour, that leapt ahead of the craft. Immediately all the other nozzles followed suit, very similar to the firing of a multi barreled gatling gun. The green pulses disappeared into the space void, but then, massive bright detonations were visible well over a quarter of a million miles away.

They are targeting asteroids, with pin-point accuracy. Said George.

As suddenly as the firing had begun, it finished, leaving the weapon nozzles a brilliant pink, with the vanes acting as heat dissipating radiators. The colour dimmed visibly and, within ten seconds, the nozzles returned to their heated blue colour.

An impressive display.

The power of each pulse was the equivalent of a ten megaton nuclear weapon. That ranks amongst the most powerful recorded on the Yil data banks. A powerful adversary.

My thoughts exactly George. A note of question in his voice. Any problem against our shields?

Not against Shadows' shield, but it would knock you about too much Carl. You must stay away from any discharge from that weapon.

Have no worries, that's the last thing I want aimed at me.

The aliens had moved back amongst the hulls of the craft, their work obviously not finished.

I see that you are thinking about the material that the hulls are manufacture from, your thought pictures are very clear. This was the ability that George had at its command, not mind reading, but the means to read the pictures that the mind, and not just human, projected as it thought about various subjects. The material is new to me, it is ultra-ultra tough and hardness is off the scale. The closest that I can liken it to is silicon kevlar, and that’s not too helpful.

What does that mean to our main photon gun?

It wouldn't touch it.

Ok. Not a very good scenario. So we can't damage the hull but we could incapacitate the thrusters.

No Carl, same material, it's the same all over the craft.

Silence