Borne On Wings of Steel Read online

  She smiled sweetly at them. “Anyway, my name is Elise. I'm so pleased to meet you all—at last."

  “We too, are excited,” Sally said. “And we're just as excited to meet your alien friends. We've met only a very few alien species here at the edge of galaxy. We've been told we're a long way from any of the main commercial centers here—or any space trading routes."

  “Yes,” Nouri added. “We hope your alien friends will stay with us a while too. So we can get to know them."

  “We are brethren with humans,” Rok said with great sincerity. “We will stay as long as you want and need us."

  “Cool,” Julio said. He looked now at Jaric. “And you?"

  Suddenly, all eyes were on Jaric.

  Once again, beads of sweat formed on his forehead as his eyes widened. He cleared his throat nervously. “I—I guess I'm next."

  Everyone chuckled at his apparent nervousness.

  “Don't be afraid, we're not going to hurt you.” Jackie laughed.

  “Yeah, I know. I'm just...” Jaric grinned widely as he grasped for the word he wanted.

  “Shy. You must be shy.” Jackie laughed cheerfully.

  “Yeah, that's it. Well, my name is Jaric. And it's wonderful to find others at last. We were beginning to think ... well, never mind what we were beginning to think! We're just glad to find you. And be here. And meet you!"

  Everyone laughed again.

  All eyes fixed on Kyle.

  “Hi, my name is Kyle.” He took a deep breath. “And, I have to say—well—I just can't believe it!"

  “That was a profound statement, Big K.” Jaric laughed.

  Now everyone howled with laughter while Kyle looked around, shrugging his shoulders.

  “I can't believe it. Really,” Kyle repeated with the deepest sincerity.

  “What do you think, that we'll suddenly disappear?” Jean laughed.

  “And be replaced by T'kaan?” Julio added with a rowdy chuckle.

  “Well,” Kyle began thoughtfully. “I just keep expecting something to go wrong—that this can't really be happening. It's just ... too good."

  “Believe, Kyle,” Minstrel said with a wave of color. “It is all true and good."

  “There is nothing wrong—no problems,” Sally assured him with a bright smile.

  Jaric licked his lips nervously. “Are there many ... er, I mean, are there enough...” He shook his head with embarrassment. “No, I mean..."

  “What he means is, are there any eligible women?” Elise chuckled. “They're kind of wanting to meet some girls after so many years alone out in space."

  Expressions of pure panic swept across both Kyle and Jaric's faces.

  “No, no, that's not exactly what I meant,” Jaric began.

  “We understand, don't worry,” Sally said with a smile. “Actually, we do have a slight problem here—women outnumber men by a fair margin."

  “Hey!” Kyle said quickly with a surge of enthusiasm. “That's not really a problem! Nooo..."

  “No, no. That's, that's perfectly fine!” Jaric agreed with a similar burst of energy.

  “And we are arranging a nice ‘welcome party’ in your behalf. There'll be many hundreds here at our local settlement to meet and get to know,” Julio said.

  He smiled warmly at Elise, their eyes locking for just an instant. “I'm sure we'll all become good friends."

  Elise blushed as her heart beat faster.

  “How many settlements and farms do you have?” Rok asked with interest.

  “We have five permanent settlements,” Jean replied. “Four on the southern continent—it has more moderate seasons than the two northern continents. The fifth settlement is on the eastern coast of the largest island that borders this continent. There are thousands of islands that stretch into the sea from that coast."

  “We have cultivated much farmland around each of them to provide for our needs,” Sally added.

  “This world is rich in plant life, much of it edible. There is a rich variety of fruits and vegetables native to this world. It's great!” Jackie smiled.

  “The northern continents have long, harsh winters. We have established several warm-season sites in order to study it closer for future habitation,” Nouri said.

  “You said you've met some aliens?” Elise asked.

  “Yes, a few.” Julio rubbed his chin in thought. “We're located here on the very edge of the galaxy, far from all the major trade routes, so the Katar told us. The Katar are the only aliens who live within this half of the sector with us here on the rim. They're the only sentient beings within twenty parsecs, in fact."

  “Yes, they inhabit two planets in this remote sector. There are the Avasha too, who inhabit a few worlds in this sector, but all in the direction of the galactic core and just over twenty parsecs away. Both have been friendly, and have even traded with us.” Sally added.

  “The Katar helped us a lot as we got started settling on this world—after they detected us here. They were quite happy to know they had new neighbors.” Julio paused, his eyes narrowing with remembrance. “They also warned us of the dangers out here on the galaxy's rim—next to the vast empty stretches of space between distant galaxies. But, they're not really empty."

  “Dangers?” Kyle asked, his interest piqued.

  “We haven't had any direct run-ins with anything from out there—not yet.” Jean paused for several, long seconds. “But, our sensors have detected things out there. Sometimes vast herds of life-signs sailing out in the darkness. And sometimes we've detected a single, huge life-sign prowling the black depths stalking them. There's a surprising amount of life out there—and some of them are predators. We've detected the floating remnants of their handiwork."

  “The Katar tell us that you travel beyond rim of the galaxy only if you must—strange and terrible things live out there. Sentient beings are as rare as jewels out there—but some do travel its vast, dangerous ways, and a few have even made it their home—somehow, amid all the danger.” Sally shook her head in awe.

  “Have you had any trouble here?” Kyle asked.

  “Not yet,” Nouri said simply.

  “You sound like you expect it though,” Kyle replied.

  “Yes, we've come across signs on the planet's surface. Things have been here.” Nouri shook his head. “Things from the nether regions. They've taken—or eaten—what they wanted and returned to the outer reaches of space between galaxies."

  “The Avasha also warned us about rogue bands of aliens—pirates if you will—looking for easy prey out here far beyond the law of the universe."

  “We keep a sharp eye out, our sensors tuned to give us advance warning. We are few here, with only a handful of star fighters. The starships that brought us here are mostly fast freighters outfitted with a few blaster cannons for defense—no match for real warships."

  “We live on the edge out here.” Jackie sighed.

  “But your ship looks powerful enough to help us!” Jean said with appreciation.

  “Yes, Mother has defeated battleships—even entire squadrons of powerful star fighters. We're here to help you now,” Kyle said with confidence.

  “Good,” Julio said, a puzzled expression on his face. “That is an interesting name for a starship—Mother."

  “But enough of that talk,” Jean interjected before Kyle could reply. “This is a day for welcoming new friends among us. Please, we're sending you landing coordinates to our settlement. We call it New Paris!"

  “I have received them,” Mother said. “I am starting my landing procedures now."

  The five young people on the screen began looking around in puzzlement—searching for the source of this new voice.

  “Who was it that spoke?” Jackie finally asked.

  “It wasn't the shining alien that looks like a cloud, was it?” Sally asked.

  “No, it was me,” Mother said. “I am Mother."

  “Mother?” they said together in surprise from the view-screen.

  “Who is Mother?�
� Jean added quickly. He looked down at the console before him. “I do not detect any other life-signs aboard your starship—except you gathered there."

  “I am the starship."

  Jean and the others stared with total surprise etched on their features.

  “How can that be?” Nouri asked.

  “She is AI,” Jaric said proudly. “Without her, we would never have made it. We wouldn't even be alive."

  “Tell us!” Jackie pleaded earnestly.

  “It's a long story. One we'll be glad to share with you tonight over food and drink. And song!” Rok smiled widely. “It will be a great story—a great song for the ages."

  “A story of courage and love,” Krinia said.

  “A tale that ended the feud of three entire races and joined them as one.” The twin row of upright scales on Jysar's head glowed a deeper hue of iridescent green. “A tale of wisdom and triumph."

  “Indeed,” Jean said. “I'm eager to hear it all."

  “We even defeated the T'kaan!” Jaric burst out with pride.

  Five faces stared with unabashed wonder back at them. A silence filled the air as everyone remembered how the T'kaan had decimated the human worlds and caused them all to become galactic refugees. They remembered the terrible, horrendous tragedies that filled their young childhood.

  Julio finally whistled, breaking the thick silence.

  “But tell us in one sentence, how did you survive?” Sally asked with keen interest. “There are only you three, and all so young? Even children when you first fled into space!"

  “Right.” Julio looked at them from the view-screen. “It seems impossible you could travel this great, wide galaxy fraught with danger and survive. And yet, you did! You not only traversed the stars, you conquered and united entire alien races!"

  “And finally managed to find other survivors, here on the rim,” Kyle said with a smile of confidence.

  “How did you do it?” Nouri asked.

  “How did we travel these dangerous stars?” Elise asked.

  Elise paused a moment. Slowly, a wry grin formed as her blue eyes twinkled brightly. And when she spoke, they all understood perfectly.

  “We were borne on wings of steel..."

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  Acknowledgements

  FRIENDS ARE WHAT bring joy to our lives. And you can never have too many of them.

  I would like to say a special hello to my mother, Dorothy. And to my Aunt Sue and Aunt Doris. My cousins Janie and Jack, and Debbie and her son VJ. My good friends and sisters—Ginger and Joy and her family—Lee, Jack, Caroline and Marie.

  And to Glen of Wallasey—Agape and “special thanks.” It was your encouragement that got me going again and BoWoS back on track. Also ‘cheers’ to Carla, Callum and Kylie.

  I want to especially thank my editor Karen Babcock—your guidance and suggestions were invaluable. Thanks to Mary Wolf for her support and direction. And my heartfelt farewell to Dirk Wolf, a true talent who will be sorely missed by all.

  To my ‘cruising buddies’ Roger and Denise, Joe and Jackie, David and Doris (and their kids Frederick and Jennifer) and Madelyn. Andy and Monica—again thanks for the love and support. Eric and Brenda and Ann. Walter, Joyce and dear Aunt Anna. Bill, Katine, Victoria and Isabella. Brian and Martha. Matthew and Janet. Hello, Becky! Mark, Luke, Hannah and Daniel. Hey, Eddie—keep playing that guitar playing forever. Ed and Carmen. Kevin, Leah, Marisa Skye and Kristin. Hello to Cindy and Marty. Josh, Sharon, Seth and Tate. And Will, Julie, Ivy and EJ. And to Rick and Dawn. Eric and Marsha. Joyce and Millie—lunch buddies. Thanks to Mark, Kevin and Garrison—I'm glad you liked MotherShip.

  To the ‘Macho Manly Men League'—Milfred, Micah, Joe, Ricky, Jim (and his sons Andrew and Christian), Big Dan (and his wife Wendy), Andrew.

  To my friends at work, who make it fun—Joe, Tammy, Pat, Eddie, Rodel, Chen, Jack and all the others at DT.

  I wrote MotherShip in the “spirit” of the original Star Wars movie (the real first movie.) As a kid back in the 1960s, watching Star Trek each week was an absolute joy—it was different than anything else on TV at the time. I have been a Trekker ever since. The original two series are still my favorites. I now write BoWoS in the “spirit” of those two original Star Trek series by Gene Roddenberry—"to discover new worlds and new civilizations.” I hope I have succeeded—but you the reader will be the true judge of that.

  It's a journey—not a race.

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  Tony Chandler

  Tony Chandler lives in Atlanta, GA, along with his wife and their twenty-three year old daughter, Meghan. They share their home with two wonderful cats, K.C and Andy, who lead very, very deprived lives—eating, sleeping, and getting loved every day. But they give much love in return so the arrangement is acceptable to all parties. Tony enjoys baseball, art exhibits and the Bard live at the Shakespeare Tavern, as well as music ranging from Mozart and Bach to the Beatles and Enya and beyond ... he loves ‘great’ music in most any form. Tony and his family have become hardened ‘cruise-oholics’ and find they must satisfy their yearning for the high seas and faraway islands every year now!

  He has loved books and reading all of his life, and for the last fourteen years has written and been published by some of the leading Webzines on the Internet. His first published novel, MotherShip, won the 2002 EPPIE for Science Fiction. Now, Borne on Wings of Steel continues the adventures of Mother and her children!

  For more about Tony, visit his website www.tonychandler.net

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