Cutlass Sharpened

Cutlass Sharpened (Book One of the Star Pirate
Legends)

Published by H. Lee Morgan at Smashwords

Copyright 2015 H. Lee Morgan

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Prologue

Friction caused by reentry in a thick
atmosphere turned an ancient starship to look like a fireball
hurtling to the planet’s surface. A trail of cloudy white followed
in the wake of the great object’s descent. Inside rode a calm and
somber skeleton crew carefully reading the holographic monitors
displayed in a vertical, semicircular window from where three
crewman up front touched the transparent energy field of lights.
The ship could not peer through the main front window due to the
blast shutters being closed or would have otherwise temporarily
blinded those inside.

Half way to the surface the most respected
person in all the known universe sat down in a throne to say in a
calm voice of an alien tongue that carried in the silence.
Translated meant “Report.”

Up in the front-most chair the pilot ran two
fingers down the holo-screen and activated the forward thrusters to
bring the nose of the ship up. The ship’s speed greatly reduced to
the point where they nearly matched the planet’s rotational speed
and used the jets to keep them aloft while saying casually “Reentry
complete, My king. Would you like me to show you the terrain?”

“
Yes, do.” The pilot touched
a dot of light on the left and without noise the cover over the
window sunk down. Heavy metallic boots of the Galactic King loudly
let the crew know he stood and approached with hands behind his
back. For hundreds of years the three other seated men could not
help glancing at the powerful and lithe build of their great king
as he stood before the windscreen, staring out at the world they
would soon land on. They respected him, but knew he would not speak
of why they came. It was a sad mission indeed and none took it as
hard as their ruler who’s brow was set, brooding. Regal armor that
made him seem even grander was mostly hidden beneath a dark brown
cloak. But the three man crew knew well that any armor of theirs
only reflected the one clothed. The armor made him the absolute and
uncontested ruler. That, and the great blade hanging from his hip.
The king, while peering outward, said in their native tongue “Can
you confirm the reports of this world to what I was given for this
mission? Is it identical or was I misled?”

The men knew no one would foolishly slip
misinformation to the king on something like this or risk meeting
his wrath, but the king had a right to make absolutely sure. Likely
he asked just to set his mind at greater ease.

A man to the right of the pilot let his eyes
roll around the projections relaying information from the ship’s
many sensors. “This desert planet has a natural oxygen-nitrogen
atmosphere similar to our original world. Has high levels of iron,
which makes the sand have the reddish hue… It will be subject to a
great many great sandstorms that will strip any future colony who
decides to inhabit it. No chance for any long-term living. Gravity
is rather strong, but is nothing we cannot handle.

“
But the star of this
system, as reported, has minimal radiation to gradually mutate the
cellular organisms it has since we first seeded it three million
years ago. It has changed less than six billionth of a single
percent in all that time. The amount of water on this world is
finite for the algae which has altered it from a methane atmosphere
and complex life forms remain at single cell. Even if we brought
more ice from the outer asteroid belt it would make no difference
with the star. There is almost no chance this world will create any
sentient creatures because of it. On the other hand, my readouts
have never seen such a stable solar system.”

“
Good.” The king said
without looking away from outside. “Sandstorms can be an issue
though. Find somewhere where weather would not be any problem…
somewhere we could return if the council…”

“
My King…” The pilot barely
whispered, but in the silent room it was still loud.

“
I know.” The galactic king
retained posture though he seriously wanted to hunch over and
relax. “It
must
be
done.” He turned from the planet of red sand dotted with countless
rolling hills like a sea… or the scales of some great behemoth.
“I’m thankful they allowed me something. It will have to be
enough.”

‘
Clank’ ‘Clank’ His heavy
boots resonated on the deck returning to his central throne. “Scout
for a suitable place.”

The man to the left of the skilled pilot
furiously input the desired criteria and microscopic drones shot
out of tiny ports near the back thrusters and shot off at
hypersonic speeds all around the planet in search of the optimum
area. The man in a simple white suit worked fast, narrowing the
search further and sent a few billion drones below the planet’s
surface to figure out how it’s molten core moved and he marked off
any areas with even minimal tectonic shifting, let alone major
fault-lines. Being microscopic, they passed though most solid
matter and were extremely durable. He searched for the most stable
place. Within five minutes he narrowed the images down to two
locations and swiped his hand sharply to the right and the king’s
holo-screen activated. “These areas are the most likely suitable
for your… needs.”

Rubbing a chin that was rough from four days
without removing stubble was like loud sandpaper. “Hmmm… I do not
truly like the plains, won’t be isolated enough from our prey. That
mountain infused with heavy iron and titanium would be much more
suited. Bring this ship around to the dead volcano caldera and bore
a hole to the bottommost chamber.

The pilot changed course near instantly in
the opposite direction, but inside the cabin, nothing shifted at
all due to dampeners that canceled momentum. In two minutes at
supersonic speeds the ship began to slow as it spotted a chain of
extinct volcanic mountains deep in the heart of a desert. What
little moisture was in the air had been gathered in snowcapped
peaks. The ships thrusters reduced power to the point where the
wings sticking out to either side began to carry them over.

Alignment was spot on till the driver touched
a few colored dots on screen and anti-gravity stabilizers activated
as the rear thrusters cut out. Hovering silently above the
snowcapped caldera the small starship held position, perfectly
synchronized with the planet’s rotation.

Not needing further instructions the pilot
pressed a gloved thumb down by the weapons console after looking
back to find his ruler gently grasping a sphere made of crystal
beside the throne and it glowed with a strong gold power.

Below the hull, in a curved weapons recess
about ten meters across, azure psionic energy gathered to a point
in the center. As it reached optimum output the power slammed up
into the curve under the ship’s belly and a brilliant beam of
energy cut through the mountain below with no form of resistance
able to deny the king’s power. Smoke, dust and ice blew up and out,
quickly whipped away by strong air currents.

It took just a second to cut out the beam,
but the leftmost man said “Flawless execution. Straight to the
bottom twelve point three two kilometers below average of this
world.”

“
I chose the best of my
servants for a reason.” The men swelled with pride at the praise,
but they didn’t smile because of how sad the tone was. “Recall the
observers.” Drones returned to the ship.

This time when the king stood he was not
alone. The three followed him into the cargo hold behind the throne
and sitting dead center was a long crate three meters long, one
wide. Beside it was a box containing crystals. Crate and box were
made of organic polymers, like the ship, but were stronger than
metal. One man took up the box while the remaining two each
reverently lifted the much larger case.

The king stretched out an arm and several
meters away the floor separated and dropped down, making the hold
howl with wind from outside. Each of their long braided hair flew
wildly and the king grabbed the edges of his cloak while the others
let them go free. He approached the edge first and looked down to
the mountain below. Doing similar acts more times than could be
counted, he threw himself down headfirst. Angling just right for
the hole punched, he fell vertically for a few short minutes,
allowing gravity to suck him into its bowels.

Behind fell the other men.

Pitch blackness stole his vision, but sight
was not needed with an even greater sense. He used it and fell
without a trace of fear, though it did bring a sadness. A
surety.

At one kilometer he let his gathered power go
and used it to slow the descent to the point he landed as if taking
a single step down a flight of stairs. Tapping a few points on his
wrist, out shot a half dozen miniature orbs from the armor the size
of marbles.

The landing area of the chamber is all that
was smooth, which would help. While the three landed as expertly as
he did, the king’s sharp vision adjusted near instantly to look
closely in the chamber to find it not as big as the readouts said,
but the volume would be correct as it wasn’t uniform. Obsidian
rock, not seen before, had a glossy sheen. The base of the cavern
was much more narrow, widening higher before leading to a smaller
lava tube, but the bottom would be ideal for needs.

“
Get started.” Came the
command.

The man with the smaller box opened it,
extracted a blue crystal the length of his thumb, found a crack in
the wall nearby and fit it in. Using an audible command he said
“Stasis building, begin.”

The crystal flared with light before
burrowing deeper and started a series of highly detailed and
specific sequences. The rock’s minerals were refined and altered.
Tendrils wormed their way up to all the nearest sources of water,
mainly the snowcapped peaks. Another had made holes to the surface
to allow breathing. As soon as the tendrils started gathering water
it made chemical reactions, transforming ancient rock, metals and
minerals into an organic stasis chamber that was self
sufficient.

Silence lasted over an hour till the
bio-chamber hissed gasses that told everything was now complete.
Then out shot a snakelike tube that latched onto the larger crate
and began sucking it into the mass.

“
Return to the ship.”
Ordered their ruler. The three hesitated till gaining a deadly look
and saw beneath the cloak that a hand went to the sword. The men
returned as commanded.

Just as soon as they were gone and he no
longer sensed any form of observation, the king sighed and threw
back his cloak. He mumbled more to himself than anything as the
crate was gradually sucked in completely. “Just in case the fools
are wrong.”

Hidden under the cloak was three
cloth-wrapped bundles. One a meter long and rigid. One squared and
soft and one asymmetrically covered.

He lifted the crate’s lid and quickly stuffed
the objects inside so no one but he would ever know. His men would
just believe he was needing to say a few things and the council
would know if he tampered with the stasis generator. He had just a
few seconds to do something without anyone being the wiser.

Heart clinched and a tight chest seemed to
catch up as he saw the crate being fully absorbed and protected
before it’s luminescent light went dark, allowing his six light
orbs to guide the way.

Back on the smooth part of ground the beam
made, he tapped his wrist to soak up the orbs into the armor and
held the remaining crystal which was rather large, larger than the
other. He said “Seal to the surface.” dropped it and flew straight
up.

Behind, the crystal activated, sealing
everything in the wake of the flying patriarch who’s emotions were
let loose as tears shed and fell behind.

“
Let nothing happen. Stay
safe. Stay oblivious for all out sakes.”

It would be a prayer that would last for more
than forty thousand years.