A New Beginning
Planet of Garnage
Fourth planet from the star, Naria
The planet of Garnage looked like a
waste land. The crack that was situated on a fault line gave way,
causing small tremors all around the surrounding area. The creatures
of Garnage became more and more fearful of these constant quakes.
Garnage used to be a planet paradise, full of beauty. Rivers and
trees dotted the landscape, but now even the reserves that kept these things
of beauty were slowly becoming barren.
With the planet shaking around them,
Charon and Greold made their way to the spaceship, The Intrepid.
"Are you sure you packed all my toys, dad?" asked the younger Charon.
"Yes, I am sure," smiled Greold.
He quickly lost the smile and continued
walking. He was lost in his thoughts and worrying about the government
of Garnage. If they found out about this venture, it could result
in major repercussions. Well, Greold didn't have the Garnage government
as his biggest supporter either. Greold had repeatedly told the ruling
council of the impending danger of the planet's core. It was not
normal for a core of any planet to collapse onto itself, one-third of its
original size, thus leaving a huge void in its place. The planet was finally
beginning to crumble on top of it immense weight and trying to fill in
the void that the planet core had left, but Greold was afraid of the reoccurring
dreams that the planet core was gaining strength once again. This
combined strength of the reawakening core plus the fact the planet, Garnage,
was falling on top of itself spelled only one true fact. The planet
was in the midst of its death throes.
Thankfully, the Garnagians were space
faring race. Travel to and from other space ports around the galaxy
was very common for them. Greold saved a better portion of his pay
from the defense force of Garnage to make, scrimp, and buy parts for his
own spaceship. Charon, even though only two years old had remarkable
aptitude with the technology and electronics that his father was putting
together. Greold thought back to the very first day of putting together
the navigation system of The Intrepid.
***
Six months earlier
An abandoned warehouse outside Albeno, city on Garnage
"I'm never going to have this done,"
Greold said aloud.
"Want me to help dad?" asked Charon.
"Not sure what you could help with
son," said an exasperated Greold. "Just stay there on the bench while
I get us both something to drink."
Charon slid off the bench and looked at the navigation
motherboard. Pretty soon, Charon was tinkering on the motherboard,
burning circuits and wiring as he had been doing it for a long time.
Greold just stood in the doorway, mouth agape, holding two glasses of his
son's favorite beverage. "Now, what did I tell you," Greold said,
scolding his son. "Get away from that before you shock yourself."
Charon stood up and with his head
bent and ears slicked back in shame, walked over to his dad and took his
drink. "Thanks," whispered Charon.
Greold walked back over the navigation
mother board and was about to finish installing it when he noticed it was
already installed. Greold stared at the motherboard, then at his
son. "You did this?" asked Greold.
"Umm, yes," Charon said, fidgeting.
"I am sorry."
Greold looked at the motherboard and
at Charon. "There is nothing to be sorry about. How did you
know how to put this together?"
"I didn't," admitted Charon.
"It just seemed right."
Again, Greold just stared at his son. If he can
put navigational motherboards together at his age, what could he do when
he is older? This reminds me of my father. No, that can't be.
Good thing we are leaving Garnage, my father might exploit him and make
him into just another loyal servant under his rule.
The Garnagians had an elite peacekeeping
force that displayed talents like telekinesis and telepathy. They
were called the Thunderknights. Though he didn't show any sign of
these wild talents, nor did his now dead wife, Charon was almost in a class
by himself when tackling school subjects and anything electronic.
Greold swore that one time he saw his son move a small writing utensil
closer to himself by the will of his mind when working on a particularly
hard math problem. Immediately, Greold went to his son and told him
not to do that anymore. He feared for his father's wrath at that
very moment, but Charon adhered to his father's wishes, only when he wasn't
looking.
***
Present Day
The Intrepid
20 klicks west of Albeno
At last they found that their shipmates,
Trebard and Chesold, were waiting for them at the spaceship, The Intrepid.
Trebard informed Greold that they had already loaded the ship with the
supplies and Chesold was making last minute preparations on the stasis
cells for the long journey ahead of them. Charon went inside immediately
to see his friend while the two adults discussed the ramifications of their
early departure from Garnage. "You can always still back out of this,"
Greold commented to his friend Trebard.
"Aye, I can," replied Trebard.
"But I won't be seeing my best friend for long time, maybe not even ever
again."
"True," said Greold, as he looked
over the supply list with the crates stacked up in the secure hold.
"But what if they catch us before we clear the mine field and system."
Trebard smiled. "But they won't.
You are the best pilot in the fleet, everyone knows this. As I hear
it, your son has some prospects of his own."
"That he does, though I am concerned
with a few things," Greold said, looking at the floor. "Some of his
talents might never be realized without some guidance, if you know what
I mean."
Trebard nodded, he knew what his life
long friend meant.
***
Inside The Intrepid
Stasis cell room
Charon finally found Chesold making
the last checks on the stasis chambers. Charon snuck behind his friend
and yelled. Chesold almost jumped out of his fur. When Chesold
finally found out who yelled he tackled Charon. After a few minutes
of wrestling, Charon came out on top and helped his friend up. "Don't
ever do that again," scolded Chesold.
Charon smiled. "I couldn't
help myself. That was just a perfect opportunity," Charon giggled.
"I could have made a mistake on these
controls," Chesold said.
"Nah, I made sure you were away from
the controls before I scared you and made you have your first heart attack,"
Charon said. "Besides, it looks like you are almost finished."
"Yeah, but you do know that one little
slip up would have us age rapidly," reminded Chesold. "I would hate
to be an old Garnagian in the span of one year, rather than wait my time."
Charon nodded in agreement.
"I can't imagine being that old right now."
"Who is old?" Trebard stated.
It was this time that Charon jumped
at the intrusion of the adults. Trebard walked over to the stasis
cells and double checked his son's settings. When he saw that the
settings were to his satisfaction, he tousled Chesold's head fur and went
to the cockpit of the new ship to check on their destination. It
seemed as though everything was going according to plan and soon the two
families would leave their doomed, beloved home-world for a better place.
Greold had checked the outlying systems
for habitable planets that they could reside at and he had also found the
planets that the ruling council had picked for their mass exodus.
Thankfully, some of those planets matched up with the ones he had picked
and he was hoping that The Intrepid could land in one piece so that they
could, one day, find their brethren if they ever were separated.
Finally, the time came. None
of the Garnage ruling council, law enforcement, or even the Thunderknights
came to stop them from their premature departure. All of The Intrepid's
passengers changed in to their fur tight stasis suits and buckled their
safety belts. "Shields?" Greold barked.
"Check," confirmed Trebard.
"Navigation?"
"Check."
"Stasis cells?"
"Check."
"Weapons?"
"Check."
"Engines?"
"Check."
"Well, let's get this bucket of bolts
in the air," Greold said.
Greold switched on the timer for the
initial engines to start powering up. The ship shook with the start
and gradually a low hum was heard. The power couplings were fed power
from the engines. In turn, the couplings diverted power to all parts
of the ship through a spider's web of wiring. Everything was looking
good for this ship's maiden voyage. Charon and Chesold looked at
each other and saw each others' apprehension. Greold nodded and said,
"Here goes nothing."
The Intrepid lurched out of
its launching pad. The few residents in the surrounding land thought
that another planetquake was happening until they saw the while contrail
of exhaust fumes and other engine emissions from the take off. Then
they knew exactly what was happening, someone was leaving Garnage early.
Calls were put out to the security
force that an unidentified ship was leaving the planet. Soon, chaos
was abound as the ruling council was at first, shocked that someone was
actually leaving after being told not to, then angry these creatures had
the audacity to leave against strict order from the Emperor. The
planetary defense grid was activated to disable the small craft as it was
leaving Garnage. Greold and Trebard were ready for this. All
that the laser from the space mines did nothing but bounce harmlessly off
the sleek design of The Intrepid.
Greold flew expertly though the space
mines as he knew where every single mine was through is service in the
defense forces. While one or two of the laser blasts shook the ship,
the families rode through the storm of red going around them. Just
as they were about through the mine field, a particularly violent shockwave
went through The Intrepid.
"Damn, what was that?" Trebard remarked.
"Must have put that in just recently,"
Greold said, coolly. "That, my friend, was a missile mine.
Chesold, go in the back and see if there is any breach in the hull."
With that, the young Garnagian unbuckled
and looked out the small port window for any signs of vacuum. "I
see no breach," he said, checking the atmosphere gauges. "No loss
of atmosphere is evident in any part of the ship."
The adults were quickly checking their
instruments. "Everything green here," Trebard said, looking over
to Greold. "Nice shields you have on this ship."
"Thanks," answered Greold. "I
borrowed the shield generator from my fighter. I kinda figured that
it wouldn't be needed that much longer anyway."
A stray laser shot shook The Intrepid
once more and Chesold was thrown against the navigational board.
Quickly Trebard unbuckled and ran to his son. "Are you alright?"
questioned the worried parent.
"Yeah, just a bump on my head from
what I feel," replied Chesold, as he rubbed his head.
What the occupants failed to notice,
was that the coordinates of their destination had been changed. The
third planet in a forgotten part of space from a star had taken its place
from the original plotted course.
Now safely away, Charon and Chesold
went to the stasis chambers to prep them for the long sleep to their new
destination. Greold and Trebard confirmed their destination on the
computer. "Are you sure that is the place we agreed upon?" asked
Trebard.
"Yes, I put the coordinates in myself,"
Greold answered. "It just so happens that this planet is one of the
few planets agreed upon by the Emperor himself as a staging area."
"If you say so, just looks different,"
Trebard remarked.
"Here, I will check it again," said
Greold.
The new planet had breathable atmosphere,
plenty of fresh water and minerals, and plenty of room for expansion.
The two adults walked to the stasis cells and found their sons wrestling
one last time before their sleep. "Ok, you two, time to sleep," Trebard
said, smiling.
Charon smoothed out his fur tight
suit and entered his own cell, while Chesold had done the same. Greold
pushed the button to the boys' cells and soon they were suspended in sleep.
Greold and Trebard shook each others paws as entered their own stasis cells,
wondering what their new planet would be like. Only time will tell.
***
Hour later
Garnage Palace
Throne room
"Are they safely away, advisor?" asked
a cowled figure.
"Yes, my lord. They are away."
answered the black cat-like creature.
"Good, good," remarked the figure.
"In as much as I detest my followers to leave early against my wishes,
it is good that they didn't die to those mines. I don't want my only
son and grandson to die before I do."
The advisor looked up at the Emperor
in a state of shock. "Y-your son and grandson, my lord?"
"Yes, my son was wise to leave
with his own son and hide him from me," answered the ruler of Garnage.
"Not that I blame him. I grow weary of all this politicking and pomp
and circumstance. Though I wonder."
"Wonder about what, my liege?" again
the advisor, asked.
He didn't receive an answer.
The Emperor walked away to his throne and sat down.
"My grandson has powers that he will
not comprehend and possibly never will, if he doesn't learn to control
them," the emperor thought to himself. "I do hope that my son will
be a good teacher to him. I don't want to go through another Freiold
episode. That maniac almost destroyed this entire planet. Freiold
did have a son of his own, before he went insane. I hope he can be
controlled.
"To be sure that no one else escapes,
I sure hope that our own beloved commander tries harder next time to disable
the craft that decides to leave on its own before the scheduled date,"
commented the Emperor.
"Yes, my Emperor, I will tell him
myself right away," the advisor agreed and shuffled off to do his Emperor's
bidding.
"Maybe I will see them again," thought
the Emperor.
EDITED BY JJC