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3000 YEARS TO THE RESCUE

AuthorHouse

Chapter One

In the year 3125, man had conquered his solar system, mapping all of its planets and their moons. Dr. Roland Stafford, Earth's chief planetary scientist, was in orbit around Neptune when his scanners picked up a strange anomaly at the far range of Pluto. Upon relaying his findings to mission control, a battle cruiser was dispatched to assist him in ascertaining what it was. When they arrived, what they found was strange indeed. The thing was huge, dwarfing the battle cruiser. It was something, yet it was nothing. It resembled a large, circular sphere of blackness, like a black hole, but with no pull of gravity.

After months of study, it was determined to be a crack in the fabric of space itself. They knew of the existence of black holes and worm holes, but this was something completely new and unknown. Two probes were sent through and were not heard from again. As soon as they entered the void, their sensors ceased to function. Returning to the station on Saturn's moon Titan, Dr. Stafford and his staff were going over data on this rip in space. A satellite was placed at the site to monitor it while the research team on Titan tried to solve the mystery of it. Finally, after countless hours, going over all the data in his private office, Dr. Stafford came up with a fresh approach.

Another probe would be sent through, only this time a predetermined destination in space was chosen: a star in the constellation Orion. A yellow dwarf was chosen. The beacon was set to that point and the probe was sent through.

Almost instantly, information started coming in. Cheers erupted in the control room. Video was coming in almost immediately. The star known as O113 had six planets in orbit, and twenty-six moons. As the probe navigated through the system, one planet drew particular attention. The fourth from the sun showed many Earth-like characteristics. They decided to place the probe in orbit and do a complete scan.

Stunning videos of the surface were revealed on their screens. It was one massive ocean with a few small islands, and there was life. The land masses were mostly barren, although a few scattered forests were discovered, but the oceans were teeming with primitive life forms. The probe was then directed to enter the atmosphere for a closer look. Samples were taken of the land to be analyzed in the onboard laboratory of the probe. Then it was sent to take samples of the water. Maybe they could capture some of the life forms to study. It was decided to submerge the probe for some undersea video but the probe hit the water and bounced off. The water was so heavily concentrated with salt, the probe could not penetrate it. After a few attempts, the plan was abandoned, and the probe was sent back to the islands for further study.

At first, there seemed to be no life on the islands except for the trees and other plant life. The probe went from one patch of forest to another, finding nothing more than swarming insects and small mammals. When it came to the largest of the islands, much to their surprise, there were large creatures, with some intelligence, living there.

The probe was dropped to fifty feet above the surface for a closer look. The beings were about nine feet tall. They had double-jointed legs where a human's shoulder socket would be. They were scarlet red in color, with two green eyes, and a small mouth at the top of their trunk-like bodies. A double-jointed appendage protruded from the middle of the back, ending with a cup, like hand of a sort. They were using it to scoop something from a pool they had made in the middle of their little camp. They scooped up a thick red substance, raised it above the top of their body, leaned back on those long powerful legs, and poured the stuff into their mouth.

Dr. Stafford could hardly contain his excitement as he guided the probe down to take a sample of the substance. The creatures spotted the little craft as it descended toward them. The team was expecting the inhabitants to turn and run at the sight of the strange floating object, but they did not run. Before the team could touch the controls, the probe had been destroyed. It happened so quickly the stunned scientists had to replay the last segment, in slow motion, to see what had occurred.

The creatures waited until the probe was within twenty feet. They leaped onto the probe with those powerful legs. From their three-toed feet, six-inch talons tore into the skin of the craft as if it were made of paper, destroying it in a matter of seconds. The last working camera was darkened within seconds of their attack. The shock of the probe's destruction waned quickly. The team had received computer banks full of data to study. They could always send another probe, at a later date, if more information was required.

The excitement of the discovery had Dr. Stafford and his team so buried in their work that they weren't paying much attention to anything else. They didn't notice as a spacecraft suddenly appeared in front of the rip. It was not the job of Stafford's team to monitor the entrance of the rip, although he shouldn't have dismissed the battle cruiser stationed there. Nevertheless, the appearance of the craft had not gone unnoticed. The military was watching the new discovery very closely. Any new unknown discovery could be a threat to planetary security. The moon base on Triton was given the task of keeping a close eye on the new phenomena. It was not long before their fears were realized.

Chapter Two

Alarms sounded as the planetary defense department was alerted to the intruder that suddenly appeared in the solar system. Upon arriving at the hub of the planetary defense grid, Commodore George Patron, commander of Earth's military affairs, was briefed on the situation. He immediately had the bases raise their shields which would make them invisible to probing scanners. He then had shield generators on full in case of attack. Satisfied with things for the moment, he turned to the ensign manning the base communications, and ordered, a little anger in his voice, "Get me Dr. Stafford on the horn, now!"

"Ye-Yes, sir," Ensign Conover stammered as he busied himself at the controls.

The transmitter had been buzzing for a while before the chief scientist answered. "This is Dr. Stafford, control; what is the meaning of interrupting my work? I was ..."

"Doctor," the commodore broke him off in midsentence, "have you looked at your monitors lately?"

"Why, no, Commodore," he answered, the sharpness in his tone gone. "I've been pretty busy going over all the data coming in from the probe. This is some fascinating stuff we're getting; why do you ask?"

"Well, Doctor, I suggest you have a look. It seems we have a visitor, and he just came through that space crack of yours."

"Yes, I see it, Commodore; a little large to be a probe," he surmised, rubbing his chin. Suddenly, the realization of what was occurring hit home. "I cannot believe it, Commodore; it is another race. When did it arrive?"

"About twenty minutes ago," he answered without emotion. "Doctor, could you come over to control? I'd rather not discuss the matter over the radio. Our discussion could be intercepted."

"Yes, Commodore, I see your point. I'll be over as soon as I ready the ship. This is an exciting discovery."

"Don't bother, Doc. I sent a military transport to...