Project Astra: Book One
CHAPTER ONE
A twig snapped somewhere within the forest.
A boot crashed down, crushing fallen leaves, twigs and small plants unfortunate enough to have taken root in the path of the running man. Running blind. Blinded by fear. Heart beating, faster, faster, running wildly.
Eight large paws pounded the ground as they closed the distance between their quarry. Closer, closer, following the trail by nose and eye.
Falthor felt fear and panic rise in his throat as he ran for his life. They were coming. Faster he ran, pushing branches aside, tripping over rocks and roots, stumbling on. Hoping he could escape. They were gaining, crashing through the undergrowth, closer, much closer than he wanted. The two hounds were baying, gaining, with leaps and bounds. They covered the ground rapidly. He could taste fear. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears. He pushed on. Twigs scratched his face, ripped his clothes, as he ran. He leapt over fallen tree trunks, stumbling into holes. On he pushed, forcing his legs to work. Deeper into the forest he ran. A hound yelped as it stumbled, but still they came crashing through the undergrowth. He pushed himself to run faster. It was hard to breathe. His lungs hurt, they felt ready to burst. He forced his way into deeper undergrowth, pushing low branches aside to make a path. His pursuers followed, closer and closer. His muscles ached as he pushed on. How far must he run? Time was running out. He continued to run. He leaped over a fallen tree trunk and landed hard, his ankle twisted under him. He yelped in pain, as he fell to his knees. He breathed hard, and pulled himself up using a tree. Falthor staggered on, as pain shot up his leg. and he clenched his teeth against the pain.
Glancing back he saw branches moving. He could hear them in the undergrowth, not far behind him now. Could he make it to the shuttle? He staggered on, moving nearer to freedom. Falthor reached the tree line; from there he could see the shuttle at the other side of the clearing. It was so close.
As he stepped out of the trees the ground gave way. He screamed as the pain whipped through his body.
He swung enclosed in a net.
The hounds burst out of the tree line. Jumping up, and snapping at him. He hung just out of their reach.
The net dug into his already bruised and cut flesh. He swung slowly back and forth, watching the tree line, waiting…
~~~
William Murphy sat with his heels resting on the edge of the shuttle’s control console. A notepad rested on his lap, an engineering manual scrolled across its screen. On the edge of the console half a cup of cold coffee sat and in Murphy’s hand he held a sandwich with several bites taken out of it. While loud music filled the shuttle’s cabin.
A movement caught Murphy’s eye. He looked up and out of the main windshield, across the clearing, where he saw his friend Falthor hanging in a net with two large hounds jumping up and down.
Murphy stood up, sending his sandwich and notepad in different directions.
“SHIT!!” he leaned over the console and stared for a moment. “Sorry, Falthor I… I can’t help you, not now anyway. Computer music off”
On purpose he swiped the coffee cup off the console. Murphy sat down again in the pilot’s chair. His fingers danced over the controls. The engines kicked in.
As the shuttle rose, Murphy locked eyes with Falthor for only a fleeting moment before he veered away from the clearing to return to Astra in orbit around the planet.
~~~
Falthor gripped the net with both hands. He felt panic. His stomach lurched as he watched the shuttle take off. Falthor knew they would be back for him later. However right now they were outnumbered.
After a few minutes the head of security for the compound swaggered out of the trees. The other guards that arrived were armed.
“What have we here?” the human officer asked, as he looked up at the Tauracan swinging in the net.
Falthor looked back. He blinked as blood trickled down his face and into his eyes.
He felt very calm now. There was nothing he could do.
The hounds were restrained and led away.
The net was dropped to the ground. Falthor yelled in pain as his battered body hit the hard earth.
The officer smiled.
Two guards yanked Falthor to his feet, then half dragged; half carried him back to the compound.
~~~
Back on Astra.
“You left him there?” Captain Deekara Tyra Burn quietly asked her shuttle pilot. There was no malice in her voice.
“Captain, I had no choice. They would have gotten me too.” William Murphy said. He looked at his hands resting palm down on the table. He felt bad about leaving his friend behind.
“I know that. You did the right thing in leaving when you did and reporting back to us. Falthor sent us rough plans of the compound in his message, so we can go in and get him if necessary. We left orbit as soon as you came on board…” the Captain said.
Murphy looked up sharply.
“We can’t. We have to stay. We have to go back.” he was standing now, leaning across the table. A muscle in his jaw twitched.
“We shall. Not now. Later. We need to plan. If we stay here we will become a target. I do not want Astra shot out of the sky.” her voice was a whisper.
“You’re right. Sorry.” Murphy hung his head in shame; he had not meant to be disrespectful to his captain.
~~~
Falthor lay on the floor, hands bound behind his back. There was a bad smell in the room, he suddenly realised it was coming from his own body. His blond hair was matted with sweat and blood. Dirt and bits of vegetation still clung to him from head to toe. His eyes were closed tightly and his breathing was shaky.
The room had a chair in the centre, placed below its only light source.
Falthor opened his eyes and watched the door. Waiting for someone to come for him.
He could not move his body. It ached in all the wrong places.
How had he got into this situation? His mind struggled to remember. He blinked hard. He remembered…
It was less than a month ago; he and the Captain had been in Harrison Adams’ office.
There, Adams had told them about some unnamed terrorists who had kidnapped a bio-engineer named Dr. Muniz.
“We think they intend to make some sort of bio-weapon. For what purpose, we are uncertain. Everyone knows that using bio-weapons nearly always back fires. This must never happen, who knows what the consequences would be.” Adams said.
“What do you want us to do?” Captain Burn spoke softly.
“We need a small strike-force to go in and rescue Dr. Muniz. We don’t want to use a military vessel as we need to keep it low key.” Adams said.
“Okay… You think we can do this?” Falthor of the House of Zalgeor asked.
“Yes, you need to brush up on your bio-protocol, Falthor, as several viruses have gone missing from the lab that Dr. Muniz worked at. It is up to you to deal with whatever bio-weapon you may find when you rescue Dr. Muniz. Falthor you are our first defence.” Adams informed them.
“There are others who are more qualified. One of them should go in my place.” Falthor said.
“That is so; we are keeping all of them under guard, until we deal with the terrorists. We don’t want to take any chances and give the terrorists anyone else who could make bio-weapons.” Adams said.
“What you’re saying is that I am expendable.” Falthor gave a thin smile.
“No, I would never…”
“Adams, I’m a doctor. My job is to save people. I can see the bigger picture. You need to keep the other scientist in reserve. If we fail, then you need them to figure out how to neutralise any virus that is released.” Falthor said.
“You do not know that Dr. Muniz would create a bio-weapon?” Captain Burn said.
“No we don’t, but his family have gone missing. That tells us that the terrorists have a real hold over Dr. Muniz.”
“When did they go missing?” the Captain asked.
“About a week, maybe longer.” answered Adams.
“Will we be looking to rescue his family too?” Falthor asked.
“No, we already have people on that. We believe that his family are being kept on another planet.” Adams said.
“All we have to do is rescue Muniz and destroy the bio-weapon. Is that all you want?” asked Captain Burn.
“No, not destroy the weapon; we want to have a look at it.”
“Are you mad? You want us to carry a deadly weapon that could have some kind of virus in it on our passenger ship!” Falthor raised his voice.
“You won’t have any passengers. It’s just going to be your crew and a few military personnel posing as passengers.”
“Okay. So we will have extra firepower with your people. Not sure I like this.” Captain Burn said, slowly.
“Captain Burn, it’s your ship. You have total control. You can deploy the military personnel as you see fit.” Adams said.
“As you say. How many?” Captain Burn asked.
“Twenty five soldiers, from an elite corps. With their own support techs.”
“You said small strike-force? I thought it would be no more than a dozen.” Falthor said.
“They are purely as backup. Oh, and some biohazard clean-up personnel and their techs. About fifty of them in total.” Adams said.
“Right! I hope you will tell whoever is in charge of the soldiers they are backup only. I do not want to be in the middle of a fire fight.” Captain Burn said.
“Captain, I assure you, all will be well.” Adams smiled.
“We do not have a choice, do we?” Captain Burn asked.
“None. I want Falthor to go undercover. We know that several lab-techs have been approached and if we set things up right, we hope that they will approach Falthor.” Adams said.
“So this could be down to luck as well as good planning!” Falthor look a bit uncomfortable.
“Yes. I guess the odds are more in our favour. We will set things up as quickly as possible.” Adams smiled as he handed over information on a data crystal.
Captain Burn stood as she took the crystal. “How long do we have?”
“Unknown. We don’t even know where they will deploy such a weapon, or why? Good luck.” Adams said as he shook Falthor’s hand.
As they walked down the corridor that led from the office, Falthor looked down at his captain. His electric-blue eyes had a look of panic, where normally they looked calm.
“Captain… Deekara, I don’t want to do this. I was never trained for undercover work.”
“Falthor this appears to be bigger than anyone expected. I was under the impression that we would be taking supplies or diplomats from planet to planet. Not having to save a scientist form insane people who want to rule the universe.” Captain Burn looked at the data crystal as she turned it over in her hand.
“I know we have no choice. How could your father do this to us? If we survive how long will it take to repay the debt?”
“As long as it takes. We are bound to M.A.T.-Force, until it is cleared.”
They returned to their shuttle in silence. Each deep in their own thoughts.
~~~
Falthor was given a new identity and introduced to several unsavoury characters. Within days he had a job as a lab-tech working with those they suspected of being connected with the terrorists.
He worked quietly, doing mundane tasks, always watching, always waiting for his chance to find the viruses. He never caught sight of Dr. Muniz, but there were several laboratories he did not have clearance for.
His chance had come quite unexpectedly. He had overheard two of the senior techs talking. One held a rack with several vials in it. When they had finished their conversation, the tech went to put them in a secure locker in another lab.
He never heard Falthor following behind him.
The tech placed the vials on a counter as he unlocked a small refrigerated storage locker. Falthor held a syringe at the ready. He pressed it to the side of the techs neck. It hissed as its contents entered the techs body.
The tech crumpled into Falthor’s arms. It had gone smoothly. Falthor hid the tech in a large storage locker. He could only carry two of the vials. After securing them Falthor contacted Astra on his hidden communicator. The shuttle would be waiting for him in a clearing outside the compound.
Falthor carefully made his way out of the compound, as he peeled back part of the fence the alarm sounded.
He dragged himself through the hole in the fence; the wire scratched and ripped his clothing. Once on the other side he began to run…
~~~
Falthor blinked. He heard voices beyond the door. It opened.
Two guards entered, they picked up Falthor and dragged him to the chair. He was forced to sit on it. He looked up as the head security officer entered.
The officer looked down at Falthor, a feral grin spread across his face. In the officers’ hand he held the pouch, in which Falthor had placed the two vials containing the viruses.
“You really think you could get away with this? Who do you work for?” the officer asked.
Falthor looked down at the floor.
The officer slapped Falthor across the face.
“Answer me.” the officer shouted, this time the blow knocked Falthor off the chair.
Falthor closed his eyes and curled up. He was manhandled back onto the chair. The two guards held him in place.
The officer continued to beat Falthor, asking questions between blows.
The only answer he received was silence.
This is the first chapter of my science fiction novel. So far it is 20465 words and twelve chapters long.