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The deep solitude of space shook over the frame of Captain Thallik as he sat in his captain's chair. The computer gently reminded him of the current fate of his ship as it continued to count down towards self destruct, "Thirty six seconds, thirty five seconds, thirty four seconds." The captain tried to ease his nerves as the countdown continued, trying to shake the cold chill that gripped his core. "Thirty one seconds, thirty seconds until self destruction, twenty nine seconds."
"Captain," a voice echoed on the short wave communicator, "there's still time for you to evacuate the ship before it detonates!" It was the voice of Commander Gort, his voice betrayed his words for even he knew that the Captain would be executed for treason for not going down with his ship once they reached home. Then his voice became more frank, "Look Charles, I know this is hard to do, but the core was breached in the last battle. Pretty soon it will rupture and a tachyon stream will most likely burst out creating a gigantic black hole."
The captain reached over to the control panel, "You know that that's all theoretical, you don't know what will happen any more than the engineers on Rantorr III knew when they developed the first quantum portal generator." The captain paused as the computer continued to count down, then he gulped and continued, "I have to do this, you know I do. It's too late for me anyway, get the rest of the crew back home for me." He paused one last time and closed his eyes to await his demise, "One last thing Commander, please tell my sister I'm sorry."
The computer continued to count down, "Eleven seconds, ten seconds until self destruction, nine, eight, seven."
"I will Captain, and may the Lords of Faltor be with your soul," the commander uttered through the radio as the computer continued to count down.
"Three, two, one..." silence cascaded through the captain's consciousness as all went swirly purple all around him. He presumed that the detonation had occurred until he realized that he was even able to presume. The captain could see a sea of purple energy penetrating his eyes as he began to squint them slightly open. The light began to push aside as he started to regain a sense of being. He no longer located himself on board the Retribution, his galactic class star cruiser, but in a small room where a young boy lay asleep in his bed.
The dark room was decorated with a star-scape along the far wall with odd characters standing in a group in the center, one of which wore white and wielded an energy sword. The captain staggered to regain his bearings, then he stumbled on a small wooden toy that consisted of a crude segmented track that formed into a figure eight and a number of odd shaped vehicles with small plastic wheels that attached to one another with very weak magnets. A loud crash sounded as he landed on a pile of toys that lay behind him, the boy began to stir and his eyes opened, groggily at first and then they were filled with astonishment.
"Who are you?" the young boy exclaimed to the captain.
The captain stood up and adjusted his uniform as he cleared his throat, "I am Captain Charles Thallik of the galactic class star cruiser Retribution, the flagship for the Federated Coalition of Space."
Before he could continue with a lengthy exposition, he was interrupted by the young boy, "I'll call you Chuck, my name's Arthur, my mom tells me I'm a genius because I fixed the VCR. You can be my friend!" Arthur leapt out of bed and began to run around the captain.
The door soon began to open slightly as an older woman poked her head into the room, "What's all the noise about Arthur?"
Arthur stopped and waved at his mother, "Oh, nothing mom, I'm just talking to my new friend Chuck! He's from outer space, just like Chewy!"
"Well isn't that nice," his mother rubbed her eyes and began to yawn, "Make sure you tell Chewy that you need to get some sleep for school tomorrow, it's 3am in the morning."
As the door slowly closed Arthur muttered, "His name's not Chewy, his names Chuck." He frowned and crawled back into bed and fell fast asleep.
The stench of rotten meat permeated Captain Thallik's nostrils as he sat at a table in the ship's lounge. Across from him was his date for the evening, although she was another species entirely than that of the captain, he still found her intoxicating. As intoxicating as he found her however, he found her racial dietary habits disgusting as a wave of nausea passed over his stomach while she wolfed down her dinner, an odd concoction of various rotten meats which greatly resemble that of beef, lamb, and pork all combined into one meat, which had an odor of those three meats combined. As the woman choked down another bite full of the nauseating dish, she spat, "Thank you again for asking me out tonight Captain." She paused to blot out a bit of food that she had accidentally spat at the captain's face with her napkin, "There, that's better. Anyway as I was saying, thanks again, most of the other crewmen on board the Retribution are after one thing."
However, before she could mention what that one thing was, which happened to be the exact thing that Captain Thallik was after, she was interrupted by a loud klaxon followed by an electronic female voice, "Battle stations, all personnel report to battle stations." The voice was direct and forceful, and as it continued personnel all about the lounge burst out of their seats and darted to the nearest exits, "Captain, please report to the bridge."
The captain stood up and addressed the young woman, "Thalla, I'm afraid that we'll have to get to that later, right now I am needed on the bridge." Then he darted through the far exit and entered into a small cramped elevator cabin occupied with various other personnel and pressed a small red button on the panel next to the door. The captain was young, presumably in his mid to late twenties, he was the youngest in the Federated Coalition to captain a galactic class star cruiser in the history of the galaxy. His demeanor quickly changed from the lecherous and carousing individual that he was in the lounge to that of a strong and determined star ship captain. He stood there waiting for the doors of the elevator to open wondering what horror his ship was being subject to.
The doors soon opened to reveal a large chamber occupied with numerous other people all fixated on what was being displayed on the screen. A large vessel floating in the dead of space could be identified on the screen as the captain walked up to the first officer, "Commander Gort, report!"
A tall, thin, blue skinned man turned from the screen to face the captain, "We have encountered a Thaloxian Dread Star Cluster. They have yet to fire on us, nor have they hailed us, however their stance seems tense and I can detect from their minds that they intend to do something drastic."
"Hail them ensign," the captain motioned to a young officer sitting to his right. A bleep bloop could be heard as the ensign pressed a series of buttons, however instead of the expected visual of the opponent's captain barking demands at them, they witnessed a burst of green energy pouring out from a large dish mounted at the front of the enemy vessel. Almost too late to react, the captain blurted out, "Evasive maneuvers!" The ship lurched to the port, but was unsuccessful in avoiding the stream of green energy which shook the hull of the ship violently. "Return fire," the captain yelped as the green energy stream continued to pound the hull of the ship.
"Yes sir," another officer seated directly behind the captain called out as he pressed a series of buttons on his console. A burst of six amber blasts emerged from their ship and struck the enemy.
The first officer addressed the captain, "We need to down them soon, perhaps we should resort to the thronium torpedoes?"
The captain nodded, turning to face the weapons officer seated behind him. The weapons officer pressed more buttons on his console, closed his eyes to say a silent prayer, and when he pressed the final button on the console, a loud "THUM!" emerged from deep within the hull as a torpedo launched toward the enemy ship. The crew sat staring at the screen for the duration of the torpedoes flight, the seconds ticking away as the enemy ship continued to plow through the ships hull with their own weapon. When the torpedo finally hits its target, the enemy ship explodes, and the bridge crew cheered.
The captain sat down at in his seat and pressed a button on his console, "Engineering, damage report!"
A voice emerged from the panel in the arm of his chair, "The tachyon reactor has been breached captain." The voice paused to catch his breath, "I'm afraid that there's nothing that I can do to seal it up."
The captain sat and stared at the console for a minute, then gulped and asked, "How long do we have before it detonates?" The voice emerged from the console, however the volume of the static prevented the message to be heard. "Repeat that last message Lieutenant."
The voice returned, "We have exactly fifty two minutes remaining." The voice paused to cough, then continued, "Sir, we're going to have to self destruct to keep the tachyon field from..."
Before he could finish, the captain interrupted, "I know." He stood up and faced the commander, "Order the evacuation immediately Commander."
"Yes sir," the commander sat down in his own chair and, pressing a button on the panel on his chair, began to announce over the ships PA system, "All hands, this is Commander Gort, first officer of the Retribution." He coughed, the sound echoing violently in the speaker above, "Commence ship-wide evacuation immediately and converge at sector four-Alpha-Six-Delta at time twenty-two hundred hours." The bridge crew immediately stood up and rushed to the aft section of the bridge, filing through an open passageway into an escape craft.
The captain motioned to the first mate letting him know that it was alright for him to go, then he started to press a sequence of buttons on the console on his chair's armrest. The commander stood staring at the captain for a moment, however when the captain looked back at him, he snapped out of his daze and began to dart toward the door. He paused and looked at the captain one last time before continuing through the door. As the captain competed the sequence of keystrokes, the computer spurted the familiar electronic voice, "Self destruct in forty minutes."
The captain continued to sit in his seat, reflecting on his fate as he watched the captain's yacht launch from the ship on the view screen. "This is it then. I would never have expected that I would be done in by a bunch of Thaloxians." He closed his eyes tight and took a deep breath. A stream of tears trickled down his cheek as he sat motionless in his captains chair.
The galactic class star cruiser Retribution broke through the nebula with ease, the cosmic dust giving way to the massive hull. Nearby an enormous asteroid sat motionless in the vacuum of space, the star cruiser moving slowly closing the distance. On board ship personnel go about their preparations as they traverse the many corridors of the ship. Captain Thallik stands near the exit way from the ships lounge as he talks to a beautiful alien woman, her green skin nearly luminescent under the ship's ambient lighting.
"Tonight?" the alien woman spouted excitedly, "I would love to have dinner with you captain!"
The captain stood, sure of himself, he uttered to her in a calm authoritative voice, "After the mining operation is underway of course, I have a duty after all."
"Of course Captain," the woman wondered to herself.
Before she could thank the captain again for inviting her to dinner, the two were interrupted by a communication, "Captain, preparations are ready to begin the operation, please report to the bridge."
The captain pulled a small handheld device from his belt and spoke into it, "I'm on my way commander, I was just making dinner plans for tonight."
"very well Captain, ask your date if she has a friend for me." the voice cracked as the captain motioned his goodbyes to his dinner date. He trotted down the hallway to an elevator.
Upon entering, he noticed a timid ensign standing in the corner, she looked nervous to be in the captains presence. "Hello ensign, I don't suppose that you have any plans after the mining operation would you?" The ensign sheepishly smiled at the captain and gently shook her head. "Excellent," the captain continued, "how does seven sound?" He paused for a moment, remembering his previous engagement and then recanted that with, "No, wait, maybe ten would be better. I just remembered that I have some," he paused to think of what to say then continued, "debriefing to do after the operations commence."
The ensign nodded, and when the door to the elevator swung open, she stammered out before the captain could say another word. The captain then followed her glancing at her from behind. He reached the helm and stood above the navigation officer for a moment until the first officer approached him. "Ah, captain just in time," the first officer greeted the captain as the two walked back to their seats behind the helmsman on the center of the bridge. In the view screen, the ship approached the enormous asteroid. "The largest deposit of Garillium known in the universe, and its ours for the taking," the first officer reached over to pat the captain on the back. "What will you do with all of the fame when we return with enough ore to allow the Federated Coalition to build a fleet of star-ships that will easily rival that of the Thaloxian Empire?"
"I have a few ideas," the captain smiled as he glanced over at the young ensign that he had approached in the elevator. The two senior officers chuckled, then the captain pressed a button on a panel in his arm rest, "All hands, commence the mining operations." Seconds later, a group of fifty mining ships came into view on the screen traveling quickly to the asteroid surface. Upon landing the captain could see the workers emerge from their respective mining ships wearing space suits and equipped with heavy digging equipment. Large drilling machines emerged from the hangar bays of the mining ships and commenced to set up for drilling.
The captain turned to the first officer and, leaning in trying to remain discreet, announced, "Now that this is underway, I have a hot date to attend to."
As the captain stood up from his seat, the commander turned to face him, "good luck sir."
"Thanks," he walked toward the elevator and winked at the young timid ensign. Entering the elevator, he pressed a button on the console, and the doors closed.
As the bamboo door swayed closed, Arthur muttered "friendly huh?" as he slid off from the operating table and began to feel around the ill lit room for his clothes. Reaching into a dark corner, he felt the soft worn leather of his coat and grabbed for the pile of clothing resting beneath it. He jumped into his trousers and fastened the belt, then pulled the shirt on over each shoulder. As he fastened the buttons on his shirt, he heard a voice from outside of the yurt, and gathered the remaining articles of clothing to peek out a crack in the door. He could see two large men, each holding a spear, and each standing on either side of the door to his yurt.
Arthur continued to don his garb as he sat and listened to the two guards, however he could not understand their words, for they were alien to him in every way. By the time he was fully clothed, Arthur began to search the room for a means of escape, however there were no other openings to the yurt. He suddenly felt a wave of unease pass over his mind as he realized that his device was missing from his pocket. He felt the pockets of his jacket to no avail. He fell to the dirt covered floor and began to sweep his fingers along in search for it, however he could find no trace of the device
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As Arthur collapsed to the ground, he dropped the spear and began to black out into a dizzy swirling mental-scape. He began seeing faces of people he had once known, familiar but somehow alien. As his mind slipped into the oblivion, the faint touch of the native boy's hands tugging at his shoulders, pulling him further down the cliff side path, started to become more and more numb.
"Arthur!" He heard a voice screeching in the distance. His eyes popped open to find himself in the lecture hall for his quantum analysis class at the university. "Arthur McMinnis, are you snoring durrng my lecture?" The screeching voice became more distinct and Arthur could see Professor Daniels scowling from her podium at the front of the class
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As Arthur crested the surface of the giant purple disc, he opened his eyes, anticipating something awful and all together unpleasant. What he was greeted with however was a gentle breeze wafting through the branches of an alien tree, the likes of which Arthur had never imagined. He pulled his body through the thick purple energy membrane and, putting his device in the pocket of his leather coat, produced a small leather bound journal and charcoal pencil. He opened the book to an empty page, crouched down, and started sketching the tree as the portal collapsed behind him as he rested the book on his knee.
The natural setting of this new world was an escape from the post-apocalyptic nightmares that he had previously visited. With a renewed hope that he would not be facing mutants, zombies, or velociraptor, Arthur completed his rough sketch and stood up, tucking the book and pencil into his coat pocket. His ears fixated on a nearby stream. As thirst overtook him, he carelessly darted toward it and collapsed to pull large gulps of the sweet clear water up to his mouth with his cupped hands
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The pillars of the ancient ruins towered above Arthur like angry gods, staring in disgust for what Arthur was about to do. He pulled out a small hand held device from his worn leather coat and began to press buttons frantically. The sound of an angry mob in the distance began to grow as Arthur continued to press buttons, glancing back to gauge the length of time he had before the mob would overtake him. As the first few villagers in the mob began to turn the corner of the trail, Arthur's eyes snapped back to his device and he frantically completed the last few keystrokes as a blast of purple light began to flash from the device, forming into a giant disc. Taking one final glance back at the mob, he leaped onto the surface of the enormous disc, entering a kind of portal. Immediately upon entering the portal, Arthur pressed a red button, closing the huge purple gateway before the mob could chase after him.
Staggering through a narrow passageway, Arthur entered into a huge block-shaped room, the only distinguishable marks on the walls being back lit panels which tightly overlapped to allow very little light into the room. Arthur took a deep breath and collapsed against the corner of the room, he finally felt safe for the first time since he started this expedition through what he has interpreted as a kind of multiverse
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Hello, and welcome to my new blog called "Quantum Portal" a portal into my imagination. Quantum Portal will be a living novel where readers will follow different characters through a myriad of adventures. Readers are encouraged to provide constructive feedback, positive or negative (emphasis on creative). If you like what I write, please tell me what you like about it, if you hate what I write, please tell me what you hate about it. Feel free to troll and hate, but keep in mind that if you troll or hate, I will ignore you.
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Comment by Anonymous
on Captain Thallik - Part 24
Quantum Portal