Talosian Chronicles 6: Armageddon (30 page)

Most of the rebuilding was done, but the damage to the planet was far from repaired. In China, the hard line military was forced to surrender, when the loss of the central party had been discovered. The military had moved in to 'maintain order', and quell the riots and other civil unrest when the aide camps had become overwhelmed. They found themselves facing Alliance Marines protecting the people. All the advanced weapons and armor they had been given had been shut off and rendered unusable a month before.

Other camps around the planet had been overwhelmed as well, but not to the extent of the Chinese camps. That wasn’t the only problem either; crime was getting out of hand and Ian was wondering if he was going to have to order more Marines into the camps to keep order. You’d think considering the catastrophe that had befallen them, and the fact that money was currently worthless, that the criminals would take a break. Nope, business as usual for these idiots, though the biggest problems seemed to be from gangs trying to reestablish territories.

Ian had a plan for those particular assholes. He was sending Raptor teams into the camps that were having the most trouble, to… convince these people that such behavior wasn’t a good idea. He had a feeling there were going to be a few casualties since most of those folks didn’t respond well to 'polite' suggestion. Especially since drones were scanning the camp for illegal drugs and weapons.

Ian really did hope that the planet would join the Alliance since the change in laws and the enforcement of those laws would improve things greatly. There were still bad cops, and dirty judges; they were just a lot less common. Most law enforcement personnel didn’t want to risk the punishments invoked for that crime.

Ian sighed; law enforcement wasn’t his job. However, something had to be done on the planet shortly, or it would descend into total chaos. Not only were the criminals causing trouble, but also every religious nut with more than three followers was stirring the pot, trying to gain followers, and thus political power. Some people had even flatly refused any aid whatsoever. “God’s will be done,” they said to the people trying to help them. Ian wondered if they really believed God had willed that their children die from radiation sickness or exposure.

Behind him, Jenny cleared her throat. “It’s time to go, Ian.”

Ian turned to his wife, dressed in the formal, dark blue uniform of a starship captain. Damn, she was still so painfully beautiful to him. He finished buttoning up his own jacket, and took her hand. “Are you nervous?”

She chuckled. “Actually, I am. We haven’t seen these people in over two years and we know most of them, but…” she shrugged.

Ian and Jenny had received an invitation from their old hometown to come and speak about the war. Jenny had all but begged Ian to accept this invitation. When Cindy insisted that he allow her team to provide security, Talena, Beth, and all the children and even Star wanted to go too.

Everyone would ride down in the
Damocles
. Cindy and her team would be in full combat armor, and armed to the teeth. The rest of the family would have cloaked drones following their every move and covering them with a shield.

Ian laughed at Jenny; “You’re tough enough to take on a Caldarian Supernova by yourself, but are afraid of your old friends?”

“It does seem kinda silly, doesn’t it?” she asked.

“Not really, love.” Ian hugged her. “Let’s go impress the hell out of them.”

The trip down to the surface was short, and uneventful. The family joked and teased each other, just like any family would. The officers of the Damocles were not immune either; much to their embarrassed delight.

As they were coming into a landing at the town square, Cindy told Ian that something was wrong. There was a large group of people awaiting them, but it looked like they were all just off the set of ‘Night of the Living Dead’.

Ian asked for a visual and quickly told everyone to change into duty coveralls. The people waiting for them needed help, and from the looks of things, they needed it badly. “Star or Lissa, contact relief command and find out who’s in charge of this area. I’ll need two shuttles here ASAP with as much relief supplies as can be packed into them. Talena, please have the replicator make a big tent, then blankets, food packets, and bottled water. Beth, you better warm up the autodoc; it looks like you might have quite a few patients. I’ll work on getting a relief center here, but the rest of the crew is at your disposal.”

Lissa ordered the one drone they carried for emergencies to replicate cases of food and the tent while Talena used the replicator in the living area to make the anti-radiation medication Beth asked her for.

Thus the day began. Ian and his family stayed and gave what aid they could to their home town. The family helped the relief workers in restoring a drinkable water supply and repairing the local telephone and electrical systems. But the hardest part of the day was seeing the condition of the people they had left behind. People they had once called friends were now sickened by radiation and disease from drinking contaminated water.

When evening began to set in, Ian was wondering if they should return to the ship. The kids were asleep in the bunks aboard
Damocles
. They had been wonderful today; even the young ones worked to keep the children of the village out from under foot, while the adults saw to the needs of the people.

Ian was having a cup of coffee while trying to think of anything else to do for these people, when a shadow fell across the table. He glanced up to see the person who had originally sent the invitation; Ms. Elisa Mandrake, Ian and Jenny’s senior high physics teacher.

“I’m sorry for the reception, Ian. When I sent that invitation, things were a lot different here,” the woman apologized.

“You don’t need to apologize, Ms. Mandrake. In fact, I should be apologizing to you. We didn’t know we had left such large holes our relief efforts. We had no idea people were still suffering like this.”

“Well, you’ve done wonders here. In one day this town has gone from a bunch of people waiting to die, to people that have hope again. That big television you set up helped a lot too. We’ve been without power for the last three weeks, and the batteries went out shortly after that, so we hadn’t gotten any news. I was shocked by the amount of damage we’ve taken. Can we really survive this?”

“Without advanced technology, no. The ecology of the planet is all but destroyed, the soil and atmosphere were so contaminated that a nuclear winter would have set in and that would have been it. Add to it that all of the drinking water would have been contaminated as well, and with no real way to treat radiation sickness, I don’t see how the people here would have survived. But we do have the technology and most of the damage has been either repaired or countered. It’ll still take a few years to get it all back to something resembling normal, but at least that’s possible,” Ian said.

“Can I ask you a personal question, Ian?”

“As long as you don’t get offended if I chose not to answer you,” he replied, smiling.

“How many of the women with you are you sleeping with?” She asked.

“That was to the point. I’m married to Jenny, what makes you think I’m sleeping with more than her?” Ian asked in return.

“The way you interact with them. I could see the love between you and the others. I also saw the love between each of them. It takes a special understanding for that kind of relationship between so many people. It’s really none of my business, but I wasn’t the only one to notice it, and thought I would warn you in case someone else gets as nosy as me,” she answered candidly. “What’s it like to fly in space?”

"Just to clarify things, I really am only sleeping with Jenny. Cindy and Beth have both had children fathered by me, but we have never 'slept' together. Talena's child is also mine, but Jenny carried it for her. We do all love each other, and share a very special relationship." He paused to consider her other question. The topic change didn’t surprise Ian; he remembered what she had been like in school. She was one of those people that could carry on multiple conversations while doing four other things at the same time. “Why don’t you come back with us, and I’ll show you what space flight is like in the morning. You and your daughter are more than welcome to spend the night with us.” About this time, Cindy came walking in carrying a sleeping Paula Mandrake in her arms and sat next to Ian.

Elisa chuckled, “I see you got cornered by my little monster, Colonel. I think I would like to take that ride, Ian. Paula will be thrilled to wake up in space."

“Great! I’ll put little Paula in with the kids and have Lissa prep for liftoff. I think Jenny is getting antsy being away from
Star Dancer
this long,” Cindy said, rising carefully so she didn’t wake the sleeping child.

“Okay, but there is a stop I want to make before we head back; I’ll give you directions once we’re airborne,” Ian said as he led Elisa to the
Damocles
.

The Raptor settled gently to the ground just outside of town. Everyone was quiet as Ian, followed by Star, stepped out of the craft. In silence she reached out and took his hand as they looked up at the stars.

“It seems like it was a lifetime ago, but yet, in a way, it also seems like it happened last night,” he said.

She led him over to a familiar looking rock and tree and they both sat down this time. “This is the rock you were sitting on when arrived.”

“What is this place, Ian?” Talena asked. The rest of his family and the team had followed them out of the Raptor.

“Three years ago, I got lost while looking for a place to take a piss. It was a dark night and I couldn’t see any landmarks.” He turned and pointed to a nearby hill. “I climbed on that hill to try and get my bearings. I met an old man wearing a robe, who told me a very fantastic story.” Ian turned back to his family. “But you want to know something? It wasn’t the knowledge or the technology that saved us; it wasn’t luck or great tactical planning. None of this could have happened without the strongest force in the universe in our favor.” He put his arm around Star, and pulled Talena onto his lap. “It’s love. Without the love we feel for each other, as a people and even the love we feel as a family, we would have lost… everything.”

“So, where do we go from here, Ian?” Beth asked.

“Wherever we want to go. The sky’s the limit.”

Ben Winston (1965 - ?) was born in Iowa and grew up in Minnesota on the family dairy farm. Upon reaching adulthood, he joined the United States Army as a communications technician. Before getting out of the military, he decided to go to school for computer electronics.
Shortly after getting out of the military, and after getting a new job with an over-seas company, he was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease. A month after beginning the new job, he was laid off due to budget over-runs on the project he was hired for. Upon returning to the United States, he had difficulty maintaining employment because of the chronic illness.
He began writing as a form of stress release, from being home bound and not being able to work, and found he liked writing erotica. Ben wrote a trilogy called the Talosian Chronicles (Currently in rewrite to remove the graphic sex and finalized his vision of the story). The first book, Star Dancer, won awards and was nominated for many others by the online communities where it was posted.
Ben Winston returned to school for literature, after completion, he began writing professionally. Being an avid fan of science fiction he focused on this genre. He was, and still is, influenced and inspired by Gene Roddenberry, Anne McCaffery, David Weber, Isaac Asimov, and Ray Bradbury. Some of his favorite movies and TV shows are; Battlestar Galactica (both versions), Andromeda, Star Trek, Firefly, Star Wars, and many of the B-rated movies that were actually box-office bombs.

Ben Winston

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/newtalosian

Blue Space Publications, LLC.

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/BlueSpacePublication

Linkedin:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/blue-space-publications-llc-?trk=company_name

Google+1:
https://plus.google.com/+Bluespace-publications/posts

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/BlueSpacePub

Website:
http://bluespace-publications.com

Join the Blue Space Publications, LLC. Newsletter (usually Bi-Weekly issues).

http://bluespace-publications.com/blue-space-newsletter-sign-up

Books Published by Blue Space Publications, LLC.

by Ben Winston

Omnibus Versions

Tides of Mars (Omnibus)

Stand Alone Books

Pollux Paradox

Tides of Mars

Ascension – Book I

Conflict – Book II

Talosian Chronicles

Olympus – Book I

Star Dancer – Book II

Talosian Alliance – Book III

Neptune’s Massif – Book IV

Raptor Squadron – Book V

Armageddon – Book VI

Novellas

Abraxis Complex

Origin of Prometheus – Book I

Sword of Damocles – Book II

Abraxis Code – Book III

Forging Aegis – Book IV

*Revolution – Book V (Forth Coming)

The Navigator

The Beginning – Book I

We the People – Book II

Book of the Guardian

Home – Part One

Pest Control – Part Two

The Last Mission – Part Three

Resolution – Part Four

Bedouin’s Travels

Twilight Earth – Book I

A Long, Dark Night – Book II

Terra Dawning – Book III

New Day – Book IV

Homeworld – Book V

*Unnamed – Book VI (Forth Coming)

Series

Temple of S.A.R.A.H.

Prototype – Episode I

Subroutines – Episode II

Base Functions – Episode III

Hard Wired – Episode IV

Debug Mode – Episode V

Beta Test – Episode VI

*Unnamed – Book VII (Forth Coming)

by Michael McClain

Omnibus Versions

Chronicles of Atlantis (Omnibus)

Stand Alone Books

ADF Hades – (Forth Coming)

Chronicles of Atlantis Series

Atlantis Rising – Book I

Euthara – Book II

*Entente – Book III (Forth Coming)

By Jon Hawkins

Zero Day Virus

The Beginning of the End – Book I (Forth Coming)