Quasar Page 9

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  The planets of Rega and Remus hardly changed during the ten thousand years, Remus became a little drier perhaps, but any signs that an advanced civilisation had once lived on the two planets had long crumbled into dust. Many of their people had simply quit en masse, left the old empire to journey far away to start new colonies away from their nightmares, and far away from Quasar, for they had been ever fearful that he would return to destroy their homes, their loved ones, sometime in the distant future. It was for this reason that the planets were so depopulated when the newcomers arrived in their shining starships, the colonists heading for Rega and the missionaries for both Rega and for Remus.

  On these two planets, and after so long, many of the remaining people were still fearful that Quasar, the Destroyer of all things, would return from the kingdom of hell, where their god had imprisoned him, and that he would return looking for his revenge.

  It was for this reason that many of the other planets of the old Regan Empire initially forbid on pain of death the use of their telepathic ability, lest it be used against them. There, after so long a time, the people no longer even believed that such a power existed. Unfortunately, one such as Quasar would soon be able to find it within their minds, and use it against them.

  Those that had chosen to stay on Rega and Remus had turned in upon themselves, hiding themselves away lest they attracted another evil to their world, one that might even rival Quasar. The people had returned to the religion worshipped in their ancient past, they believed that the old god would defend them in the fight against evil, which Quasar the Destroyer symbolised. Most had returned to a nomadic life, with just their sheep and goats for company. On Rega, a few monks travelled the land preaching the ancient religion to the simple folk that lived there, teaching that they must always be on their guard against evil. On Remus there was no organised religion, each group of people had their own priest or shaman to guide them along the true path.

  If Quasar ever did return he would find that the people who lived on the planets Rega and Remus still used their telepathic powers, for when living the life of the shepherd it helped to talk over the long distances that separated the shepherd from his family.

  Only one original building still stood on the planet of Rega, the monastery, even it had been built after Quasar had been defeated on the tired planet of Remus. The monastery was the one busy place on the planet. Here monks followed and taught the old religion, they trained in the art of mind control, with this ability it was hoped that they would be capable of defeating Quasar the destroyer a second time, when he returned to wreak havoc on the innocent inhabitants of the planet, and that he would return they were certain. The only noise that was heard inside the monastery was of the monks; they were either working hard at their studies, keeping the building clean or cooking their meals.

  The sun reflected brightly off the clear aluminium sheets that made up the exterior of the monastery building, the inside of the monastery was built mostly of wood and animal skins making it a strange combination of materials, but they were the only inexpensive materials now available to maintain the building. To use stone you first had to quarry it, and then cut it to shape, and stonemasons were not to be found on either planet.

  No other ancient building remained, the materials that had made them had gradually returned to the planet, and the locals now lived in tents made from the skins of their animals. There was hardly any crime of any kind, for crime was punishable by death, lest they annoy their god and he release the destroyer to punish them. However, this new world did not grow; their society was fixed at this point, and had been for millennia, such was their fear of Quasar.

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  Mary Collins had arrived on Rega in a starship, a survey ship sent out by one of the mining corporations looking for new planets to pillage. The starship had been damaged after a run in with space pirates, but thankfully, they had been able to escape. However, it had been at the expense of most of the crew, and the starship had crashed light years off course onto the planet. Mary Collins had only been twelve years old then, the daughter of the starship’s captain, and the only survivor of the crash. Luckily, she was rescued from the burning craft and taken to the monastery by one of the nomads. The ship had been the first Earth ship to visit this part of the galaxy, the first starship to visit Rega in ten thousand years, and it had been many years before the first missionaries had arrived. Marooned on Rega, and without hope of returning to Earth, she was raised by the monks until she grew of age, when she met a local shepherd and married him. John Olsen was born soon after. His father, Kalan Olsen, soon realised that John was special, and at the age of four years he took him to the monastery, to see if the Prior also thought his son special.

  “Prior, I believe that my son could well have been sent to us to by our god, he seems to be able to know my thoughts even before I do myself. However, I can not read his thoughts, he takes after his mother, for her mind too is a blank slate to a Regan.” Kalan Olsen said in almost a whisper, for he was in awe of such things.

  “Leave him with us for a while Kalan, I shall see if what you say is really so, if it is then I shall train him personally, for it might mean the time has almost arrived for the Destroyer to return. We must be sure to be ready for him this time. Kalan, keep this this a secret, for the evil one may have disciples here on Rega, and they would kill any who they feared might stand up to oppose their dark lord.”

  Kalan Olsen returned to his wife and told her what the Prior had said, and although she was unhappy to be separated from her only son for even a short time, it meant that he might then begin to lead the easier life of a monk, rather than the hard life that she and her husband led.

  Prior Karson was thoughtful that evening, for it appeared that what the shepherd had told him was true, the boy was special. During the night, Prior Karson had awoken after a nightmare filled sleep showing an evil demon stalking the planet. He sat up, and after thinking a moment, he decided that his nightmare had been sent as a warning, so he went to wake the other monks and tell them of his thoughts.

  “Brothers, the coming of the shepherd’s son can only mean that Quasar the Destroyer is soon to return to kill all who will not bow down to him, we must hasten our plans to receive him.”

  “Prior, why a boy born of an alien woman, why not one of our own sons?” Father Hesus asked just a little annoyed at what he thought was an insult upon their people.

  “Maybe it is the mixture of the two peoples that is the reason Hesus, our god was waiting for one such as he to be born to keep us safe, should the Destroyer escape from hell where he sent the vile one. However, whatever the reason, it is not for us to question.” Prior Karson declared in a loud voice that stopped any further thoughts of dissention.

  “However, Brothers, we will keep our belief that John is a special child sent to us by our god a secret, for who knows, maybe the Destroyer has followers on Rega. It would not do for them to hear of the boy, especially at his young age. Come we should offer up our thanks to god, to thank him for listening to our prayers and sending us a leader.”

  The monks got to their knees and prayed until the sun began to rise over the far mountains, then they washed, and after breakfast, they began the new day, even if they were a little tired.

  John Olsen displayed more signs that he was the chosen one, from the day that he had been able to walk, god had given him the spirit of adventure, something lacking amongst the nomads who were afraid to venture too far from their own land. He was a Regan of the past, not the present. Father Marcus hoped that along with courage, he would also have the ability to lead them against the Destroyer, if the evil one was indeed about to return to their peaceful planet.

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  Kriton, a blue and white planet in a star system Tau Ceti was twenty-one light years from Earth in the faint constellation of Cetus, the planet had been recently colonised by Earth. It was a paradise for the colonists, for it was not only far away from Earth, a pla
net governed by so many rules, but there was room to grow on Kriton and clean air to breathe without the authorities breathing down your neck. Alice Dalton however had decided to leave it to return to the crowded planet of Earth, she would be loath to leave its beauty behind, but after her painful divorce on her thirtieth birthday, its beauty had faded somewhat. She had no other living relative on the planet, for both of her parents were dead, and so she left Kriton to spend some time on Earth. Alice was short for this age, she was only five feet five inches tall, she had red hair and green eyes; she had also been told that she was good looking. However, today she was feeling annoyed and this showed on her face, she had found that Earth was filled with so many people, and all of them forced to live close together, almost in one another’s pockets. However, even worse than this was the fact that they were so closely regulated by the authorities. She soon realised that Earth was not for her, she decided to move off world, to one of the newer colonies that were opening up perhaps, or maybe she could work as a missionary, but one far from Kriton. The Church of the Universe was looking for missionaries to travel to the planet Phlox, to spread the word about the one true god. The planet was fast becoming a major trading partner with Earth; however, it had not heard the word of God as spoken by her church.

  The captain of the star freighter Reliance was an old friend of her father who had owed him many favours that could now never be repaid, and after much arm twisting she had persuaded him to repay one of them now. He had finally agreed to drop her off on the planet Phlox, but only after they had delivered their cargo to the waiting Mazeren miners on the small moon in the same planetary system.

  “I still do not like it Alice.” Captain James Colt said on finally agreeing to her demands. “There are a lot of people who would be only too happy to see my cargo go missing, rather than to have it arrive at the moon. Look why do you not wait until the church’s own starship goes to Phlox in two months time. I mean two months is not a lifetime to wait Alice, now is it?” He argued.

  “Whatever are you taking to them Uncle James, that is so unpopular?” Alice queried.

  “It is a mixed cargo of light weapons to beat off the claim jumpers and generators to beef up their defence shields against attacks on their homes, there are also a number of crates of explosives for use in their mines. It is vital material for honest men who the Phloxan authorities either can not, or will not help, due to the fact that they are from Mazere.” Colt replied a little angrily at the attitude of all the leaders of their galaxy. Colt was fifty-five years old with brown hair, although it was starting to show a little grey, matching eyes and he stood five feet ten inches in height, his clothes were comfortable rather than of the latest fashion.

  “I see, well I’m sorry Uncle James, but I do not want to stay on Earth for another two days, never mind two months, there are far too many people here, I feel almost claustrophobic. In any case there is no one that I would feel safer with than you.” Alice replied and there the discussion ended. Alice had always referred to him as Uncle James; in fact, he was just an old friend who she had known since she could barely walk. Seeing that she was adamant in her desire to join him on his voyage, Colt gave in and allowed her to accompany them to Phlox.

  The trip passed by peacefully, and for the next ten days, the ungainly mottled grey freighter moved ever nearer to its destination. However, during the early morning of the eleventh day they were just passing the star system of Castor when every alarm bell on the small bridge blazed with life, and it brought Colt running from his bed to find out the cause of the commotion.

  “What the hell is happening Dave, why have all the alarms gone off together?” Colt demanded to know.

  Dave Partridge was working the red eye shift and he seemed to be panicking rather badly. He was at the helm of the freighter and pushing buttons to try to find an answer to that very question, but without too much success.

  “I do not know Jim, but it seems to be something to do with both the drive and the navi-computer. Neither of which will accept any commands from the control board, they just stopped following their pre-set instructions, hence all the alarm bells going off.”

  Partridge had been working in deep space freighters for most of his fifty years, he had grown up on them, for his father had been the captain of one and his mother was the chief mate. What he did not know about them was not worth knowing, and the signs of desperation in his voice told Colt that there was something seriously wrong.

  “How in hell’s name can there be anything wrong with them, Peter and I serviced the ship on our last lay over on Earth.” Colt asked.

  “I warned you about the dangers in accepting the contract from the Mazeren miners, Jim, when you first mentioned it. Why else do you think that every other freighter captain turned it down, why...?” Partridge stopped speaking here and looked guiltily towards his friend, as if he thought that in voicing his previous concerns, he was disloyal to his friend, but Colt brushed his words aside.

  “Because they are a load of old women, look Dave, there is no way that a Phloxan gangster could have sabotaged the ship, now is there?” Colt declared to his friend.

  “No, Dave, I suppose not.” Partridge acknowledged and then a new voice entered the conversation.

  “If that is the case then you had better make a list of all the other people who would like to see you dead. There is something else that...” Peter Rawlins had joined in the discussion. He was the chief engineer, the only other member of the crew; he had just arrived on the bridge, closely followed by a worried looking Alice. She had been awakened by the warning klaxon that was still giving out it tale of woe. She chose this moment to interrupt Rawlins, who was just about to update his friends regarding their problem.

  “Could you please turn off that confounded noise Uncle James? It’s driving me nuts, and I am sure that you would all find it a lot easier to talk without its constant squawking.”

  Colt glared at his only passenger. “It’s that red button at the end of the console, Alice; hit it for me would you?” Colt snapped at her for interrupting his chief engineer. “You were saying Peter.” Colt said looking back at his engineer.

  Peter Rawlins was also looking a little put out with Alice for interrupting him, and after scowling at her, he turned back to Colt.

  “Only that all the circuit boards in both the drive and the navi-computer are fused into a solid mass, and that there is no way that it could have happened by itself. I reckon that it was timed to go off when we were far away from outside help.” Rawlins declared grimly. His words by themselves told them the situation was grave, however, it was also obvious to all of them by the expression on his face that he too was extremely worried by the situation, and this caused the hearts of others to beat even faster than they were already doing.

  “Well can we fix it Peter?” Colt asked in exasperation at having to ask for this vital piece of information.

  “In time I should be able to turn the drive off, and that in itself will take us out of hyperspace, and then we can use our sub light engines. It all depends where we are when we exit hyperspace, with the navi-computer shot; there is no way of knowing where we will end up. If we are near to an inhabited planet then fine, if not, well we will just have to wait and see how things pan out.” Rawlins said.

  “What about the navi-computer, is that fixable?” Colt asked.

  “No, it is also beyond fixing. Who ever did this knew just what to do to stop that shipment arriving on that Moon in the Phloxan system. It might be a question of whether we can even abandon ship before it abandons us.” Rawlins replied grimly.

  “Just when was our saboteur able to do all this Peter, it must have taken him some time to complete his work?” Colt demanded to know.

  “The ship was deserted for some three hours when you and Dave were summoned over to the space authority’s offices to answer those bogus claims made by the Majestic Mining Corporation, and it was while I was away at Leroy space obtaining that spare part, it can only have been t
hen.” Rawlins stated angrily.

  “And Majestic are currently operating in the Phloxan system, yes it makes perfect sense now. Well we had better get started on the repairs Peter.” Colt said and swore an oath. If they survived this, he would return to the Majestic offices, seek out who had arranged to have his ship sabotaged, and make him pay, and not just financially. He looked at his crew and saw Alice standing back against the bulkhead.

  “I am sorry that I snapped at you Alice, things are a mite stressed at the moment, maybe you had better say a prayer for us, seeing how you are a missionary and all. If you would take over Dave’s position, let me know should anything else happen while we are all in engineering.” Colt said smiling at her.

  “Of course Uncle James and I should be the one to apologise for interrupting you all.” Alice said in a cheerful voice and a smile upon her face, which was not how she felt, for fear had begun to eat away at her insides making her feel sick, she almost wished now that she had taken her uncles advice and waited for the church’s own starship.

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  Not all the people of the old empire of Rega were as devout as the Olsen family, especially as ten millennia had passed since the Great War. This meant that the fear of Quasar’s return faded into myth amongst some of the nomads, and so the Church of the Universe made many converts amongst the planets of the old Regan Empire. This was why the Church needed people, such as Alice Dalton, to come to these far off planets, to wean them away from the old religion and towards the new one. The arrival of the colonists from Earth was gradually changing the make up of the planet, however, the locals who followed the teachings of the monks of Rega, or the priests and shamans of Remus, kept to the old faith, and they were still in the majority.