Mines of Sirria-Five

E Stevenson Vincent

Description

A story of the future, when Earth no longer exists as a habitable world due to the breakdown of its magnetic field. Humankind, however, with all its incredible ingenuity, was able to evacuate their dying planet, colonising newly discovered Earth-like planets in the system of Alpha Centauri in the Alpha quadrant. Now with the ability to travel at the speed of light and beyond, humankind ventured out to colonise other newly discovered worlds in the quadrants of Delta, Gamma and Beta, emigrating in massive ships, which became known to history as The First Fleet. Private haulage contractors would then traverse the vast interstellar distances in the state of cryogenic sleep, to supply and maintain these newly colonised worlds, until such time that they would become self-sufficient. Other less hospitable worlds, along with their moons, would become mining colonies, owned and operated under strict guidance laws by the Interstellar Mining Corporation, commonly referred to throughout the four quadrants as The Company.

Sujets

• Science fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Date de parution: 31 juillet 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781528958981
• Langue: English

Extrait

The Mines of Sirria-Five
Vincent E Stevenson
Austin Macauley Publishers
2020-07-31
The Mines of Sirria-Five Dedication Copyright Information © Preface Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 About the Author
Dedication
For Carmel.
Copyright Information ©
Vincent E Stevenson (2020)
The right of Vincent E Stevenson to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
Austin Macauley is committed to publishing works of quality and integrity. In this spirit, we are proud to offer this book to our readers; however, the story, the experiences, and the words are the author’s alone.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781528908580 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781528908597 (Hardback)
ISBN 9781528958981 (ePub e-book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2020)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
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Preface
A story of the future, when planet Earth no longer exists as a habitable world due to the breakdown of its magnetic field. Humankind, however, with all its ingenuity did manage to evacuate their dying planet and colonise a new world very similar to Earth itself in the system of Alpha Centauri. Now with the ability to travel at the speed of light and beyond, humankind ventured out from their new world to colonise other newly discovered habitable worlds in the quadrants of Delta, Gamma and Beta. Massive fleets of cargo ships and freighters, owned and operated by private haulage contractors, would travel the vast interstellar distances, while in the state of cryogenic sleep, in order to sustain these newly colonised worlds, until such time that they became fully established and self-sufficient. Many other less hospitable worlds, along with their moons, would become mining colonies, under the strict control of the IMC or Interstellar Mining Corporation, commonly referred to throughout the known Galaxy as The Company. The story deals with one such team of haulage contractors, and their cargo ship The ORION, and a series of inexplicable events that occurred at one of these mines on a planet known as Sirria-Five in the Beta Quadrant, following the discovery there, for the first time in three thousand years of interstellar exploration, and colonisation, evidence of an Alien Intelligence.
Chapter 1
Clouds of dust surged out in all directions as the supply shuttle from the cargo ship ORION gently touched down onto the deck of the massive landing platform situated in Sector-One of the Interstellar Mining Corporation’s mining region of Sirria-Five, a dry desolate planet, and the largest of seven in the Sirrian system, a Class-Three star in the Beta quadrant.
Captain John Steiger breathed a sigh of relief as he flicked several switches in quick succession to their off positions on the flight-control console suspended above him, and after swinging the console over to his right, released his harness and adjusted the seat to its upright position. He sat there for the moment, appreciating the soft comfort of the battered old flight seat, while his attention was suddenly drawn to the beeping sound of an incoming message being displayed on the viewer above the main-control panel directly in front of him.
TO THE CAPTAIN AND CREW OF THE CARGO SHIP ORION. WELCOME TO SIRRIA-FIVE. TRANSPORTER ON ITS WAY. ETA APROX ONE HOUR FIFTY FIVE MINUTES. END MESSAGE.
“Short but to the point,” he mumbled after clumsily getting to his feet, where he stretched and yawned before turning to check on his co-pilot Matt Quinn, who was seated further back. Seeing Quinn still harnessed, with his seat still in its flight position, he approached to find his co-pilot sleeping with a broad grin on his face. “Damn it,” he muttered, kicking the underside of Quinn’s seat hard with his boot.
Quinn woke suddenly and lifted his head, only to make contact with the console suspended above him, letting out a moan before collapsing back into the seat, “What the…?” he said, gently feeling the sore spot on his forehead, where a small lump had already begun to develop.
“We’ve landed, no thanks to you,” Steiger said angrily as he turned and approached the small, circular observation window to his right, one of two windows positioned either side of the main-control panel itself. “That’s three times on this trip alone you’ve slept during critical landing procedures. You’re supposed to be the co-pilot, damn it! What if something had gone wrong?”
“Such as?” Quinn asked scratching himself.
“Well, those D.P systems for one thing,” Steiger continued while gazing out at the surrounding terrain. “The last few landings have been a bit on the dodgy side, but you wouldn’t know about that, would you? You’re always too preoccupied prancing around in dream land.”
“Whatever,” Quinn mumbled angrily as he swung the console over to his left before releasing his harness and adjusting his seat to its upright position. “Anyway, I warned you when you decided to invest all our hard earned credits on this thing, what a pile of old junk it was, but you didn’t want to know about that now, did you? A real bargain you kept saying.”
Steiger turned to look at him, “Well, despite a few hiccups happening from time to time, I still believe we got ourselves a damn good deal on both the cargo ship and the shuttle,” he argued, “at least we own them, and we should make more than enough from this trip to put them both into dry dock when we get back to Midway and get done whatever needs to be done. Now let’s just leave it at that.” Quinn’s response was negative, apart from some mumbling sounds he made while sitting there still feeling the small lump on his forehead.
Steiger’s attention was drawn to a shower of meteorites entering the planet’s atmosphere, and though the spectacular light-show was a common phenomenon, he amused himself and watched curiously then as they burned their fiery paths across a vast expanse of the clear night sky, the entire spectacle lasting but a few moments before disappearing from view over the distant peaks. The event brought back memories to him of when he was a child on his home world Sienna in the Kell system… so named after the first two children born following the arrival of the first ship from the First Fleet carrying the colonists to have entered that particular system. A boy child named Kell and a girl child named Sienna, and of how on late summer evenings, he would sit and watch with fascination, the same spectacular light-show that would occur quite frequently in the deep purple twilight of the Sienna skies. As he continued to survey the surrounding terrain, he couldn’t help but marvel at its stark desolation bathed in the brilliant glow of the planet’s twin moons, the entire scene a spectacular mosaic of light and dark shadows, while the chaotic dance of numerous mini twisters, stirred by the dying winds of the previous days storms, spiralled their haphazard paths through the dust of the vast open plain. “What’s it like out there anyway?” Quinn asked, getting to his feet and approaching the window to the left of the control panel.
“Let’s just say that it has a beauty of its own,” Steiger said jokingly, knowing too well what Quinn’s reaction was going to be. Surveying the scene, Quinn glanced across at him. “Beauty my arse,” he said, “all I see out there’s another damn dirt ball, no different from all the other dirt balls we’ve visited since signing on with the damn Company.”
“Yeah, well, I guess you’re right,” Steiger agreed smiling, “but let’s not forget those big fat bonuses we’ll receive when we get back to Midway, I mean that’s what’ll make it all worthwhile. Right?” With a forlorn expression on his face, Quinn simply shrugged his shoulders as he continued to take in what to him was a depressing observation while memories of more exotic worlds played on his mind. “I’d best get the entry done,” Steiger said moving away from the window, “We’ve lots to do before that transporter gets here.”
A glint of something in the distance suddenly caught Quinn’s eye, prompting him to reach for the binoculars conveniently attached magnetically to the bulkhead alongside the window. “Did you happen to notice those ruins over there?” he asked after zooming-in.
“What was that?” Steiger mumbled, preoccupied with what he was doing.
Quinn turned to look at him, “Ruins, over there,” he said again.
“Oh, they’re what’s left of the original base,” Steiger told him as he finished the entry and sat back in the comfort of the chair, “Destroyed, according to the records, some two hundred and fifty odd years ago by a massive quake.”
“You telling me that this planet’s unstable?” Quinn asked looking concerned.
“Well, according to the records, the entire region floats on a river of molten lava, thousands of feet beneath the surface, of course,” Steiger said swivelling the chair around to face him, “but I wouldn’t go worrying about it. I mean apart from some seismic activity that occurs in this region from time to time, there hasn’t really been any major quakes or volcanic activity in all of the decades following that catastrophic event.”
“According to the records,” Quinn said.
“Yeah, according to the records,” Steiger agreed.
“You seem to be well informed about this place,” Qu