The Space Battleship Omega successfully left the Earth's
gravitational pull and headed toward the far reaches of the Solar System. Unknown to
the crew, a danger far worse than they could have ever expected was just hours away.
Jordy Venture's shift was over and he desperately needed to get
to his quarters for some rest. He pressed a few buttons on his control panel and
pushed his seat away from his station.
"Captain, we have just cleared Mars orbit and are right on
course to planet Minerva," Jordy reported. "I am placing the ship on automatic pilot
and returning command of this vessel to Deputy Captain Reemer."
"Good work Venture," Taylor said. "At 0800 hours tomorrow we
will have a bridge officer's meeting to go over our mission in detail and to discuss
any open issues. You are all dismissed until then."
The Captain's chair began to move away from the console and the
the officers began to exit the bridge. Reemer was the last to leave.
"Venture, wait up!" Reemer said.
The Deputy Captain walked over to the Chief Navigator. Venture
looked like he was suffering from fatigue. His clothes were all wrinkled and his hair
was greasy and unkempt. He appeared to have been awake for many days.
"What's up buddy? You look horrible," Reemer said.
"Gee thanks Reemer," Jordy said sarcastically.
Both officers made their way to the rear elevator and the door
automatically opened. The two officers entered and Reemer pressed the number five on a
small control panel. The elevator descended into the vessel and after a few moments,
the doors opened and the two men stepped onto a moving walkway.
"I'm serious man! You look bad," Reemer said.
The two men had been friends since they were very young. They
did everything together. They played on the same team in the Astro Ball league and
were in the same classes throughout school. When they got older, Jordy decided to
enter the Academy but Reemer was hesitant. He was never fond of space travel but he
eventually decided to enter the Academy to be with his friend.
After graduation, Jordy volunteered to go on the Omega's maiden
voyage while Reemer decided to stay on Earth. When Venture entered the bridge of the
Omega for the first time, he discovered that Reemer had been recruited for the same
mission but was now his superior officer. The situation strained their relationship
and helped fuel a professional rivalry.
"Well, let me tell you about what I went through just to get to
the ship," Jordy said. "It all started with my transport. It was supposed to pick me
up after the wedding ceremony but it never showed up and by the time I got a
replacement, I was three hours behind schedule."
"Man that stinks," Reemer said.
"And then the ferry to get to the mainland broke down in the
middle of the ocean. It only got worse from there."
"The Captain wasn't mad if that makes you feel any better,"
Reemer said. "However if it were someone else..."
Jordy was the brother of Mark Venture, who was a war
hero. As navigator of the Space Cruiser Yamato, Mark helped save Earth on many
occasions. Because of this, people had treated Jordy differently and instructors at the
Academy expected more of him because of who he was. It never rubbed Jordy the right
way.
"Don't start with that preferential treatment crap again,"
Jordy said. "And the last thing I needed was your jabbing when I got on board!"
"Hey, hey, hey! Don't get mad at me," Reemer replied.
The two men continued their way through the ship as the walkway
moved them past several of the crew's quarters. Jordy noticed his room and stepped off
the motorized walkway onto a stationary walkway. Reemer followed.
"You want to have a drink with me in the mess?" Reemer asked.
The trip from the moving walkway to the stationary one seemed
to drain all of the life out of the Chief Navigator. After punching his access code
into the outer door lock, the door to his quarters slid open. Jordy stepped into his
room and faced Reemer.
"No thanks Reemer," Jordy answered. "I haven't slept in three
days and we have that early briefing tomorrow. I'll catch you later."
The door slid shut and Reemer disappointingly walked away.
The next morning the entire bridge crew met in the main
conference room to discuss their mission objectives. Captain Taylor sat at the head of
the table and wore his black Captain's hat. On the front of the hat was a gold anchor
insignia. He also wore a black coat with a gold anchor over his left breast. The coat
had a high collar with red and gold trim. Beneath the coat was a white cotton jersey
that fluffed up toward the collar. The rest of the officers listened as Taylor began
the meeting.
"Thank you all for coming and being on time," Taylor said. "We
will keep this meeting brief as we have a lot of work to do. The basic objective of
our mission is to test the new weapons systems that were installed after our battle
with the Xylotians. We will test their functionality at Minerva. Jordy, what is our
ETA?"
Jordy's shirt had a blue arrow that extended down from a solid
blue collar. His uniform was nicely ironed and he looked refreshed.
"We are scheduled to arrive at the Minerva system at 1200 hours
tomorrow," Jordy said.
"Good to hear Jordy," Taylor said. "When we arrive, our first
objective will be to test the smaller auxiliary cannons. We will then move on to the
main guns and then finally the Takion Wave Cannons. We will use the asteroids as our
targets. Mister Steel, you will work with Mister Fazi and Reemer to coordinate the
targeting and guidance systems of the main guns. Mister Osgood, continue to keep all
lines of communication open with the Earth Defense Organization. This is an important
mission that will determine the future of this ship in the Earth Defense Fleet. Let us
hope that all goes well. Are there any questions?"
"Captain, I would like to get our fighter squadrons some action
as well," Reemer said. "Can we add some flight drills?"
Reemer wore a black coat with a small gold anchor over
the left breast and a Captain's hat with a black bill and no insignia.
"Very good idea Reemer," Taylor answered. "Draw up your plans
and get them to me for review. Anything else?"
The officers in the room looked at each other but none made a
sound.
"Well than that's it," Taylor said. "Let's get to work."
After a night of automated space warping, the Omega arrived at
the Minerva System. The crew had just finished testing their smaller auxiliary cannons
and everything had gone according to plan. Yellow lights were lit and a warning siren
began to sound throughout the ship. After thirty seconds the sound ended and the two
front guns of the Omega moved thirty degrees to port. Moments later the gun barrels
moved up ten degrees.
"Captain, main guns are ready to fire," Reemer reported.
A fraction of the asteroid belt was displayed on the Omega's
large video panel. Captain Taylor surveyed the belt and noticed three large asteroids
in the upper left hand portion of the screen. They were each about the size of the
Omega and would make easy targets.
"Comet, fire guns number one and number three," Taylor ordered.
The two large cannons fired huge blue beams toward the three
large asteroids. The laser bolts collided with the asteroids but something unexpected
happened. Instead of rock being blasted apart, something else exploded on contact;
something big and powerful
The Omega was too close to the explosion and a huge fireball
hit the ship opening a hole near the engine room. A strange blue mist, barely
visible to the human eye, began to dissipate throughout the Omega. Crew members
closest to the explosion died instantly while others began to sneeze and cough. Two
crewmen traveling on a moving walkway fainted as they were enveloped by the gas. A
science officer analyzing some of the asteroid rock began to shiver and sneeze.
Up on the bridge, Reemer's workstation began to flash as the
internal sensors detected the gas.
"Attention, all hands, put on your space suits at once! Repeat
all hands put on your space suits at once!"
Reemer quickly walked to the rear portion of the bridge and
opened a supply closet. He took out six space suits and passed them out to the rest of
the bridge crew unaware that the mysterious blue gas had already penetrated the
bridge. When Reemer finished, he put his space suit on and walked over to Comet.
"Comet, I want a scan of the area done immediately. I want to
know what hit us. Jordy, I want a damage report right away."
A few moments later Comet called to Reemer from across the room.
"Reemer, we have scanned the surrounding area and have found some
Bollar missile fragments. There are no Bollar ships in the area so it looks like we
may have hit a missile that was left over from the Bollar War."
"That was not a normal missile," Reemer replied. "How is the
radar and communications equipment?"
"Sir, the radar equipment is working perfectly," Pudi Abdul
Fazi answered.
"And the communication equipment is functioning properly. We
are able to send and receive," Ollie Osgood answered.
"Reemer, the airtight doors are functional and all of the fires
are out," Jordy reported. "However, our warp drive mechanism was smashed and
engineering is saying they need at least a week to fix it. Twenty-three crew members
are dead but only three from the explosion. The others were killed by the gas. It
looks like that missile contained a virus of some kind. Reports are coming in from all
over the ship of others having flu-like symptoms. We could have an epidemic on our
hands. Should I plot a course for Earth?"
"I don't think that's a good idea," Reemer said. "If this
illness is contagious we run the risk of infecting the entire planet."
Captain Taylor knew he had to make a quick decision. Would this
strange illness continue to kill more of his crew?
"Our top priority is to get this virus under control before we
lose any more crew members," Taylor said. "Reemer, I want the ship's doctor and all of
the science crews working around the clock to find a cure for this illness. Mister
Osgood, open a channel to the Bollar Federation. Let's see if they'll be of any help."
After a few moments of computing, Ollie Osgood had found the
correct frequency to the Bollar home world.
"Captain, the channel is open," Osgood said.
The Captain pressed the send button on his communications panel.
"This is Captain Taylor calling the Bollar Federation. Come in
please."
Only static was heard from the other end of the line. After
waiting a few moments, the Captain repeated the communication procedure but got no
response. Another minute went by and Taylor repeated the message for the third time.
"This is General Belize of the Bollar Federation," a husky
voice said. "What is the reason for this communication?"
The tone of the voice did not appear to be friendly.
"General, I am Captain Hudson Taylor of the Space Battleship
Omega from the planet Earth. An explosion from a Bollar missile has penetrated our
vessel and a strange illness has infected my crew."
"What would you like me to do about it Captain?" Belize coldly
responded.
"General, I am hoping that you may be able to tell us how we
can fight this illness," Taylor calmly said.
"Why should I assist you? You are the enemy!" Belize replied.
"General, the war you are waging is with Galman not Earth,"
Taylor answered. "Earth is a peaceful planet."
"So peaceful that you watch from a distance as our planet is
reduced to rubble? Day after day Galman missiles rain down on our planet and not once
did the Earth try to step in and stop the slaughter. We will not help you."
"But General..."
"No Captain. Fend for yourself."
A click was heard from the other end of the line as Belize
ended the communication.
"Mister Osgood, reconnect communication!" Taylor ordered.
"It's no use Captain, planet Bollar has blocked all of our
transmissions," Osgood replied.
"Then get me Earth Defense Headquarters! I want to speak with
Commander Todo," Taylor said.
Without hesitation, Osgood worked at the communications device
and the Commander appeared on the main video panel.
"Captain Taylor, how is your mission coming along?" Todo asked.
The Captain stood and saluted the Commander.
"Commander I wish I was calling you under better circumstances.
During weapons testing at Minerva we mistakenly detonated an unexploded Bollar missile
and a virus of some kind has been released throughout the ship. I have contacted the
Bollar Federation but they were uncooperative. I have assigned the entire medical and
science crews to the ship's doctor who is in charge of finding the cure for this
illness but so far there is nothing to report."
"Have you contacted Emperor Desslok of the Galman Empire?"
The question took Taylor by surprise. Never in his wildest
dreams would he consider contacting Desslok; a former enemy on the battlefield.
"No Sir," Taylor answered.
"Then I suggest you contact him," said the Commander. "He may
have some information on the missile. In the meantime, shall we dispatch a medical
transport to your location?"
"Negative Commander. We do not want to run the risk of
spreading this virus any further. I will contact Desslok and will report to you on our
progress."
"Okay Captain," Todo said. "I look forward to hearing your
report."
The Commander's face disappeared from the screen and Taylor
sat back down in his chair. Desslok, the man who nearly destroyed the planet Earth.
Could he be the one to save it from possible extinction?