Sworld Read online

  Sworld

  The Chronicles of Malick

  A novel by William Harris

  Copyright © 2019 Chandra Press LLC

  All Rights Reserved

  ISBN: 9781949964080

  www.chandrapress.com

  www.facebook.com/officialchandrapress

  To my wife

  This book exists because of you. Your drive and expertise are written into every page.

  Chapter 1: Alien Vessel

  An alien vessel orbits the first planet of a solar system with a titan sun. On a holographic display:

  PHASE 7 COMPLETE…

  DECONSTRUCT ORGANICS…

  DECONSTRUCTION COMPLETE…

  ESTABLISH PERMANENT ORBIT…

  ORBIT ESTABLISHED…

  ORBIT DECAY RATE 10-13 MILES PER SOLAR YEAR…

  DETECTION MODE… CONSTANT

  SLEEP…

  NON-CELESTIAL BODY DETECTED…

  AWAKEN…

  SCAN OBJECT…

  PROBABILITY OBJECT CREATED BY SENTIENT BEINGS… 100%

  PROBABILITY OBJECT ORIGINATED FROM REQUIRED SOLAR SYSTEM… 96%

  PROBABILITY OBJECT CONTAINS SENTIENT BEINGS… 0.03%

  ELAPSED TIME SINCE COMPLETION OF PHASE 7…

  9,467,302 SOLAR YEARS…

  DETECTION MODE… CONSTANT

  SLEEP…

  NON-CELESTIAL BODY DETECTED…

  AWAKEN…

  SCAN OBJECT…

  PROBABILITY OBJECT CREATED BY SENTIENT BEINGS… 100%

  PROBABILITY OBJECT ORIGINATED FROM REQUIRED SOLAR SYSTEM… 96%

  PROBABILITY OBJECT CONTAINS SENTIENT BEINGS… 0.03%

  ELAPSED TIME SINCE COMPLETION OF PHASE 7…

  9,468,402 SOLAR YEARS…

  DETECTION MODE… CONSTANT

  SLEEP…

  NON-CELESTIAL BODY DETECTED…

  AWAKEN…

  SCAN OBJECT…

  PROBABILITY OBJECT CREATED BY SENTIENT BEINGS… 100%

  PROBABILITY OBJECT ORIGINATED FROM REQUIRED SOLAR SYSTEM… 98%

  PROBABILITY OBJECT CONTAINS SENTIENT BEINGS… 74%

  ELAPSED TIME SINCE THE COMPLETION OF PHASE 7…

  9,468,623 SOLAR YEARS…

  PROBABILITY OBJECT’S DESTINATION IS SELECTED PLANETS… 98%

  SCAN OBJECT 20% INTENSITY…

  EXTRACT INFORMATION…

  BEGIN RECONSTRUCTION OF ORGANICS…

  REMOVE NONESSENTIAL MEMORY PATTERNS…

  INPUT NEW MENTAL PARAMETERS…

  As if dancing on the pitch-black floor of the alien vessel, five circles of light appear. Thousands of different-colored pinpoints of light comprise each circle as the circles begin spinning. Within each circle, the first molecular layer of a footpad begins to form. The organics assemble molecular layer by molecular layer.

  BEGIN DISTRESS CALL IN MINUS 5 DAYS…

  PHASE 8 BEGINS…

  Chapter 2: Scan

  ***

  “Captain.”

  The small voice came out of nowhere. The only other person in the lab is that graduate assistant. Why is she calling me Captain? More to the point, why is she bothering me in the middle of an important gene-splicing experiment? He turned toward the female. “Why are you speaking?”

  She looked sheepish. “I didn’t say anything.”

  “You addressed me as Captain, why?” It was extremely annoying she spoke in the first place; this was only making it worse.

  “But I didn’t say anything.” She seemed taken aback by the accusation.

  “Fine, continue being silent.”

  When the results flashed on the screen, he could scarcely believe them. The synthetic proteins held with full assimilation of the foreign protein sequences and lasting three-dimensional integrity; his theories were correct. He knew most of the genetic information was contained within the atomic three-dimensional interrelationship, not just the specific protein sequences.

  “Captain,” the ethereal voice repeated.

  Wait a minute—that doesn’t sound like my assistant.

  ***

  Malick opened his eyes. Damn, the only good part of this voyage is sleeping. Now, right in the middle of a great dream, some trivial nuisance needs my attention.

  “Captain, please come to the control room.”

  Nep’s voice was small and quiet, yet easy to hear and always soothing. She could tell you something was incredibly wrong in a way that made you want to ask her if something else might be wrong. Yet, at the same time, he knew her to be succinct and able to address the problem with no emotions, only intellect. Now that’s how people should be, or, maybe “I’m missing the point” as Redd always says. “I told you never wake me unless it’s really important.”

  “You said really important or unusual; this is unusual.”

  Nep was interesting because he always felt like she was playing with him. Malick sat on the edge of the bed. “Nep, what is happening?”

  “Captain, I detected an energy anomaly—very focused.”

  Nep wouldn’t bother him if she thought it was a natural occurrence. “Be there in ten.”

  Kitty, awake now, stretched and purred only in the way she could. She was obviously annoyed. “Go back to sleep and keep quiet Kitty. Remember you’re not supposed to be here.” The strangest feeling came over Malick as if Kitty had said ‘Humph’ in the most annoyed way possible. No, he just knew her mannerisms too well.

  Even though Malick was still sleepy, at least his clothes were on correctly. He left the cabin and headed for the control room. Under designated nightshift, the spaceship was dark and eerily quiet with only the control-room crew awake. Seems life has it backward. He wished he could be awake all night and sleep during the day. It’s nice in the night with nobody around to bother you.

  He stopped and looked around the corridor, and for the first time, he noticed a mistake he’d made in designing the Pioneer. There was no color, just mundane shades of gray. He had concentrated solely on function. Given this, the ship was sterile in appearance, not even a whisper of decor. Three months of boring routines and motif on the ship had put him right on the edge, if not over the edge. No matter how much Malick tried to change the daily routines, he ultimately was restricted by the ship protocols and procedures. He could see it in the crew, as well; everyone appeared close to losing their tempers on a daily basis. Malick knew it was time to change things up for himself as well as the crew. They only had to get through ten more days before they reached the planet. He hoped the energy anomaly would prove to be an interesting distraction. Anything would be better than the day-to-day monotony of space travel. Although Nep had said the energy was extremely focused, Malick was aware he should be careful what he wished for, but then again, why were they out here if not for something more than the average life?

  Malick entered the control room to see Nep sitting alone at the navigation station in the center of the room at the foot of the captain’s chair. The science station to his right and the ship’s communication and environmental station to his left were dark and unattended, which made his colorless choice of gray even gloomier.

  “Nep, you got something stimulating?”

  “Stimulating?”

  Nep’s snow-white face showed her annoyance at something he must’ve done. “All right, I apologize for being abrupt after you woke me from a great dream. What is so unusual about this energy anomaly?”

  “Captain, if I didn’t wake you from a dream then who else would? I won’t ask why it was great.” An infectious grin spread across her face.

  The grin and her deep blue eyes were even more soothing than her voice.

  “An energy wave consisting of twenty, individual, narrow-bandwidth complements at low energy struck the ship fifteen minutes ago for approximately 2.85 seconds.
”

  “Nep, we’ve talked about this before; approximately 2.85 seconds is three seconds. If I would’ve wanted more precision, I would’ve asked for it,” Malick said yawning.

  “Captain, as you can see, a precise energy wave lasting three seconds,” Nep dragged out the three for emphasis, “can’t be random space noise or a common output from the sun, wouldn’t you agree?” Nep said pointing at the waveform on the vid screen.

  “Nep, you are wonderful,” Malick said staring at the screen. “Do we know where it came from? Do you think it’s a form of communication or sensor-based?”

  “Neither I nor the Redulins have enough data to determine what it is. The waveform came and went too quickly. We only captured the small segment you see on the screen. What do you think?”

  “It looks like the twenty bandwidths are each responsible for unique informational sc—” The high-pitched screeching of alarms cut Malick off midsentence.

  “Captain, we’re being bombarded by extremely high radiation. It’s going to blow the circuits all over the ship!” Nep yelled at the top of her lungs.

  “Shut down every power circuit on the ship before we lose everything.”

  “Shutting down.” Nep’s fingers flew over the console, but nothing responded. “I can’t seem to shut anything down!”

  Malick shouted. “Then reroute the power to—”

  The ship suddenly went silent. Power was off throughout the ship, except for auxiliary power to the control room.

  “Is the ship still being attacked? Where is it coming from?”

  Nep turned and looked at Malick with an odd, quizzical expression on her face. “Captain, it simply stopped. I can’t explain it. All circuits spiked, yet none appears to have overloaded to the point of burning out. It’s as if the ship’s computers and circuitry were pushed to the edge of maximum operational limits, but no more than that. It triggered the alarms but didn’t damage anything. The Redulins will run a complete diagnostic.”

  “Exactly how long did it last? Were we able to gather any information on the wavelengths and structure of the energy?”

  “The ‘attack’ as you put it, lasted 14.6758 seconds. The energy saturated the ship’s sensors, so we weren’t able to capture wavelengths or structure. I can tell you though, it didn’t harm either the ship’s electrical components or us.”

  “Nep, tell the Redulins to restore power to the ship. While I calm everyone down, see if you can determine the source of the energy.”

  Before Malick could take a step, the lights came on, and the ship’s familiar hum returned.

  “You’re even faster than I thought, Nep.”

  “I didn't do anything, Captain.”

  “The Redulins can’t hear. I mean, as far as I know, we’ve only communicated with them through the vid screens.”

  “Correct Captain, but they don't have to be told the obvious,” Nep said with a droll grin. Quickly, she turned professional. “I should be able to narrow down the energy’s possible origins. Should I reconfigure the electromagnetic shields to deflect any further possible ‘attacks’?”

  “Go ahead, but I don’t think it’s going to happen again. I haven’t figured out how, but I think your first anomaly and the last bombardment are connected. I don’t think the last one was an attack; I think it was a follow-up.”

  “But Captain, if the first one was really a sensor waveform as you suggested, we’re not close enough to anything for the signal to return, be analyzed, and acted upon.”

  “It’s just a feeling I have, Nep. Now, find out where it came from.” Malick said leaving the control room.

  The ship was in an uproar. He wasn’t the only one losing sleep; Malick enjoyed the chaos. It was interesting seeing the attire the crew slept in, which ranged from fully clothed to completely naked. Redd was of the latter. He stood in the middle of the deck in full-defense mode, every muscle taut, senses fully alive searching for any sign of danger. Only he could stand in front of everyone stark naked and not feel self-conscious. No one stood near Redd; everyone probably had the same first reaction Malick did—wanting to run away.

  Malick gathered himself and spoke with his most-commanding voice into the communication system. “Stop.”

  Everyone stopped dead in their tracks.

  Malick knew that he was the only person who scared people more than Redd. “Stand down. Nothing is wrong. Go to your quarters. If possible, try to rest. I’ll give you a full debrief after breakfast.” Addressing the crewmen in his immediate area Malick said, “Speaking of full and debriefed, Redd, whom are you going to attack out here in the middle of space?”

  Everyone laughed, and some of the females were blushing.

  “Redd, nobody wants to see that. You’re scaring people; put something on.”

  “It’s scary, isn't it?” Redd said with a big grin on his face.

  A chorus of laughter and whistles rang out as everyone scrambled back to their cabin.

  Malick opened the door to his cabin and saw Kitty trying to hide. His work was coming to fruition right before his eyes. If Malick had done his encoding correctly, as Kitty aged she would master many abilities. Now she was learning to use her Mistcat heritage. He wasn’t entirely sure if the Mistcat legends were true or if the remains he’d found were actually from the mythical beast. Legend stated that you never saw a Mistcat until your death. If you were ever unlucky enough to be around one, you merely saw the mist move. Tales were told to children to keep them from wandering into the swamps. Few adults actually believed in the beast. Nevertheless, he had searched for years because the Mistcat would be a true find and an elegant addition to Kitty’s overall genetic legacy.

  Kitty wasn’t good at concealing herself yet, but each day she exhibited better control over her newfound ability. Today, she’d forgotten her tail. The rest of her body blended almost perfectly with the background. In fact, Kitty was unveiling more than control over her colorings; she was actually bending light as well.

  How she’d gotten there was another mystery. The shelf was at least four feet from the bed, and she still easily fit in his hands. Malick knew he was right. The people of Oberus shouldn’t have criminalized him for his genetic discoveries. Oberus will never know what could’ve been. He pretended not to see Kitty as he walked through the room. He knew she was waiting for him to lie down so she could pounce on his stomach when he dozed off. Taking off his shirt, he prepared for bed. However, right when he was about to lie down, he reached his hands up and growled toward Kitty, catching her completely off guard. She lost control over her coloring and went totally white, her hair standing on end, and then she sprang another four feet up into the ductwork. Malick laughed so hard he fell on the floor. Kitty playfully jumped on the bed, then on the middle of his back, digging her claws in—just a little.

  “Ouch,” Malick yelped as he rolled and jostled with the cat. “Well, I’m obviously not going to get any sleep now am I, Kitty?” He picked up the tiny cat, swallowed her in his hands, and walked to his observation chair. “Computer, open view portal.”

  While he sat down, the view portal opened. With Kitty purring on his lap, he looked into space and calmed his mind. So, what were those two distinct energy streams blasting the ship? As Nep had observed, the first stream was far too short to hold any meaningful information. “Computer, how long between the first energy anomaly and my arrival in the control room?”

  “SEVEN MINUTES, FORTY-THREE SECONDS.”

  “How long would it take a signal to go from here to the planet Sworld?”

  “SIXTY-TWO MINUTES, THREE SECONDS.”

  Again, as Nep said, not enough time between the two energy streams to relay any information to the planet. What was the point of the energy? How could it have been so precise to push our equipment just to the edge? Shouldn’t be possible. Ever since the Redulins landed on Oberus fifty years ago, Malick didn’t think he would ever say the word impossible again. Still, sensor beams traveling faster than light would take a leap in technology f
ar beyond the capability of Redulins and Oberyns combined.

  “Kitty, I’m not going to worry about phantom energy pulses. We have too much to do between now and reaching Sworld. Computer, how long before we arrive at Sworld?”

  “NINE DAYS, TWENTY-THREE HOURS, FIVE MINUTES, SEVEN SECONDS.”

  So, Nep gets it from the computer, he thought, smiling, and stared out the portal.

  Chapter 3: Introduction

  Malick ate breakfast in his quarters the next morning to quiet his mind in preparation for the introduction meeting he had scheduled for today. Everything had gone surprisingly well considering this was everyone's first space voyage. Nep and Daxx had handled the ship perfectly. Redd and Jukk had trained the crew well these last three months. Almost no whining or complaining; he had chosen a good crew.

  When Malick arrived, the briefing room was packed. Conversations were swiftly hushed as he made his way to the front.

  “Computer, provide digital representation to the Redulins.” Malick looked across the room. “Good morning. An unknown energy pulse impacted the ship last night, setting off the alarms. The pulse caused no damage. We powered down temporarily as a precaution. The pulse was an anomaly, and the ship’s shields adjusted to deflect further similar anomalies.

  “We’re on the first ever Oberyn spaceflight. This is also the first for the Imps from Aquis. Only the Redulins have traveled in space before. We built Pioneer using a combination of Redulin and Oberyn technologies. The engines are a combination of my coherent energy theories and the Redulins' quantum-ion drive. I funded the entire expedition.”

  Audible gasps came from the audience. He found the wide eyes and dropped jaws amusing.

  “Yes, I spent my fortune building the Pioneer. Our voyage also marks the first time all three species have been in physical contact with each other rather than over the vid screens.”