Eridanison Star

J Elnath

Description

Life is looking good for young Captain Saxon Australen. She is due to launch the Eridanison Star under her leadership with a freshly qualified crew the next day. But in a matter of hours, everything changes. Woken from her unrestful sleep by brilliant lights reflecting through the visibility port in her sleeping quarters and the heavy impact of something docking against the Alphacarn Colony, Saxon sets out to find out what's unfolding. Grabbing her rucksack en route, she heads to the main part of the residence. Upon opening the entrance to the main part of her home she is faced with a blazing inferno. She is dragged from the burning scene by someone she finds out is Commander Kaven Farmane, her father's second-in-command. Chaos reigns all around, and the destruction of Alphacarn by a race of pirates known as the Binforcarns is inevitable. Saxon and Commander Farmane head to the Eridanison Star hoping the new crew are ready on board. Before heading aboard, both take a last look of the out-of-control flames in the colony that was once their home. With the crew discovered not to have made it on board, it's left to Saxon and Commander Kaven Farmane to depart from what's left of Alphacarn in search of help and a possible new start with the hope of bringing down the Back-Eyed Pirate Galaxy's notorious murderer Tiris Thuban.

Sujets

• Science fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Andrews UK
• Date de parution: 07 juillet 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780722350911
• Langue: English

Extrait

Eridanison Star
J. Elnath




Published in 2021 by
A H Stockwell
www.ahstockwell.co.uk
Digital edition converted and distributed by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
Copyright © 2021 J. Elnath
The right of J. Elnath to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without express prior written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted except with express prior written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damage.
All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.



Prelude
Life is looking good for young Captain Saxon Australen. She is due to launch the Eridanison Star under her leadership with a freshly qualified crew the next day. But in a matter of hours everything changes. Woken from her unrestful sleep by brilliant lights reflecting through the visibility port in her sleeping quarters and the heavy impact of something docking against the Alphacarn Colony, Saxon sets out to find out what’s unfolding. Grabbing her rucksack en route, she heads to the main part of the residence. Upon opening the entrance to the main part of her home she is faced with a blazing inferno. She is dragged from the burning scene by someone she finds out is Commander Kaven Farmane, her father’s second in command. Chaos reigns all around, and the destruction of Alphacarn by a race of pirates known as the Binforcarns is inevitable. Saxon and Commander Farmane head to the Eridanison Star hoping the new crew are already on board. Before heading aboard both take a last look at the out-of-control flames in the colony that was once their home. With the crew discovered not to have made it on board, it’s left to Saxon and Commander Kaven Farmane to depart from what’s left of Alphacarn in search of help and a possible new start with the hope of bringing down the Black-Eyed Pirate Galaxy’s notorious murderer Tiris Thuban.



Escape
Life was about to change for Saxon Australen, forever!
They were approaching in a mass from the deep, dark depths of the universe with one thing in mind: mass destruction and murder. Alphacarn Colony was their intended target, home to 1,000 men, women and children. Saxon Australen was one of the 1,000 population. She was newly trained and newly qualified to begin a new career commanding the first exploration vessel to be launched by the colony to explore the universe. No one knew the attack fleet was on its way. Nothing had been picked up on the Universal Scanning System, so everyone was going about their daily rota or everyday chores in the normal way. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Saxon was standing admiring the new blue uniform she’d wear the next day. It had just arrived at her home via courier. Her mother, who was standing beside her, was admiring the neat jacket and close-fitting trousers of Saxon’s attire. She felt proud to know Saxon had been given the chance to head up a team of seven on a year-long voyage of exploration. Looking at the uniform, she thought at last it was her youngest daughter’s time to shine. Her other children had so far ruined everything Saxon had tried to achieve, until the last time, when her husband, General Australen, had caught Saxon’s second brother in the act of sabotage. He decided enough was enough and had Saxon’s second brother thrown off the colony. His whereabouts now was unknown. The time display on top of the chest of drawers by Saxon’s bunk read 10.25. It was time to call it a day, especially as she had a 5-a.m. start. Saxon turned to her mother studying her, knowing that in so many hours’ time she wouldn’t be seeing her for a year, sharing their happy times, sharing thoughts and ideas as they had been. Sure enough, she was a grown-up girl now – twenty-two years to the day – but talking to her mother on some on-board communication channel wasn’t going to be the same. Nanilla looked at her daughter and smiled, seeing her young slightly saddened features. One thing she almost never forgot – and it was the first thing that had struck her the day Saxon had come into being – was her big brown eyes.
“You’d better turn in – you’ve a new start tomorrow. You know, that new hairstyle suits you. It was a shock at first to see it so short, but it suits you,” said Nanilla with a smile.
“They said it was an ideal style for a leader,” announced Saxon.
“It is easy to manage, I suppose,” replied Nanilla, a bit disappointed.
Saxon had always had shoulder-length dark-brown hair, but when she was given her new position it was time for something short; so she’d gone for a layered pixie cut, much to her mother’s dismay. But Nanilla, a slim woman of high rank in her field, realised it was Saxon’s decision. Saxon kissed her mother on the cheek and headed into the cleanse-and-change room to prepare for sleep. Nanilla called before she left that she’d better put her hearing block defenders on for a good night’s sleep. Saxon agreed from the other room. Nanilla continued on out of the door, which closed behind her.
It was 2400 hours. Alphacarn was in night-duty hours. Some of the night recreational facilities were in operation. Security was on patrol. The exploration vessel Eridanison Star was in standby mode in the Construction and Design Dock, all lit up, preparing for the next day’s departure. Everything in the colony was as it should have been, and no one was aware that everything was about to change forever for the 1,000 inhabitants.
Five threatening vessels of massive size and firepower were closing in on Alphacarn’s orbit. The Binforcarns were a race that liked nothing more than to board large colonies in an ambush attack style, and they rarely took prisoners. They intended to take what they thought would fetch a good sum on the below-surface shady market and wreck everything else. To the Binforcarns, Alphacarn was the latest prize find. Preparations aboard the leader’s vessel, which was the largest of the fleet, were in full swing. The leader was human in appearance, but his origins were not known. His people had found him as an abandoned youngster on their world of twelve planets within their galaxy – namely, the Black-Eyed Pirate Galaxy. He had risen through the ranks to form his own band over time, and a year ago he’d secured a fleet of vessels in a raid. This gave him the edge to carry out his evil actions on unsuspecting targets, the latest being Alphacarn. Tiris Thuban was classed as a being with no soul.
Saxon Australen found the peaceful night’s sleep she was hoping to get wasn’t happening. Nerves for the first new day ahead, in so many hours left of her sleep, was making the whole of her slim body ache from head to toe. Every time she thought she had found a comfortable position, a feeling of immense fear and panic – a feeling of something going wrong – gripped her like a threatening force. She tried another position, only to experience the same thing all over again so many minutes later.
Just when she was thinking ‘Peace! I can get some sleep’, there was a resounding thud that shook her bunk. Saxon opened her eyes, wondering what it was. Semi-darkness filled her surroundings. Then the same thing happened again, only this time there were brilliant flashes of light similar to explosions. Saxon sat up in her bunk, glancing at the time display on top of the drawers by her bunk: 04.30. In half an hour she would have to be up anyway, she thought. The date read ‘13th Octob 2351’ – launch day. As Saxon’s room was in the basement of the dwelling she called home, it would take her time to get up to the main part of her home, walking up the spiral staircase, to find out what was unfolding.
Another resounding heavy thud impacted against the colony.
‘Enough is enough!’ thought Saxon as she swung her legs out of the bunk and dropped to the floor. Stretching, she had no idea of what was coming before her in the next hour. Intermittent flashes of powerful light crossed the small below-level glassen, making Saxon turn, suddenly alert. The colony was under attack.
‘There is no time to cleanse,’ thought Saxon.
She quickly grabbed her new uniform and changed into it at hurrying speed. Then she grabbed a small rucksack she had prepared the night before. All the other possessions she needed to make her quarters feel like home were already aboard the Eridanison Star . She slung the bag over her shoulders, slipping her hands and arms through the straps, then reached for her new gun, given to her the day before. Checking it, she quickly set out to find her parents and try to help out in what was unfolding.
Outside Saxon’s home it was utter chaos. People, including travelling dignitaries, were hurrying here and there, trying to avoid being shot by the parties of boarding Binforcarns while dodging falling masonry and the explosions going off all around. People were being killed as they tried to flee to safety. The Binforcarns moved fast and with precision, heading to where they wanted to go and taking what they wanted. Homes were ablaze, and the odd cry for help rose and quickly faded. Weapons were being fired back and forth between the Alphacarnians and Binforcarns in a ferocious manner. A once clean, tidy, peaceful colony, the only one of her kind, renowned for her architectural splendour, was fast being reduced to a burning, exploding shell. A group of Binforcarns, weapons ready to open fire, walked on to the colony through what was left of