Tipping Point in the Alliance War (21 page)

***

Captain
Charles
Trasbern

It
was 233 years after the fact, when Alliance citizens learned the fate of
Captain
Trasbern
and the captured ship
Nebos
.  It took that long for the Alliance Empire’s
expansion to reach the planet
Ranz
in the
Krunz
System.  Then the story was told:

***

Captain
Trasbern
- who had, until recently, been the
‘director of food services’ aboard the Courageous - along with the rest of the
‘skeleton’ Alliance crew aboard the
Nebos
, has bid
farewell to Captain Niles and the little Alliance fleet of captured
Confederation warships. 

(The
Nebos
had been damaged in battle but the warp drive still
works.  A couple of thrusters are out, but Captain Niles figures that the
Nebos
won’t need thrusters, for a ‘straight shot’ warp trip
to Alliance Navy Headquarters.)

A few
days after departing on the mission - almost certainly a suicide mission - the
Nebos
is abruptly pushed out of warp-space.  There are
no Confederation ships waiting to destroy them, which is a pleasant surprise.

The
skeleton crew lacks an engineering section or a Science Officer. 
Together, the crewmembers study the ‘Operator’s Manual’ for the
Nebos
.  It’s all ‘over their heads’, but they
eventually decide that the warp drive has a problem, and that they don’t know
how to fix it.

They
are lost in space with no warp drive, and with two dysfunctional
thrusters.  The mission is obviously a failure.  Soon Captain
Trasbern
turns his thoughts toward survival.  Limited
supplies, aboard the
Nebos
, will be enough to sustain
the crew for a few months.  After that, the crew will need a source for
food.

The
fact that they only have one thruster engine limits the real-space distance,
which the
Nebos
can travel during the allotted time. 
It turns out that there is only one star system, which is within reach before
starvation will rear its ugly head.  The
Nebos
sets out for that system and hopes for the best.

Fortunately,
that system contains a habitable planet, which can sustain life for the human
and
androditin
species aboard the
Nebos
. 
The sailors park the
Nebos
in what they hope is a
stable orbit.  The crew loads up 2 life boats with provisions, weapons and
tools, and sets out for a spot on the coastline of the largest continent. 
The area appears to be covered in vegetation, which the crew hopes will be
edible. 

The
landing goes well and the newcomers begin the processes of exploration and
settlement.  They have landed within walking distance of the large body of
water, which they consider to be an ocean.  The water is analyzed and is
found to be potable, but a little salty. 
(Later they find rivers in
the forests, which are even better water supplies.)
  The vegetation is
tested and much of it is edible.

Life
is looking pretty good to the castaways - until they begin to feel like they
are being watched.  It takes 3 more months before they discover the
Ranzion
natives.  These natives have ‘shape shifting’
abilities, which enable them to disguise themselves as pieces of the forest, or
as one of the animals which roam the meadows.

Relationships
between the castaways and the natives are peaceful, and benefit both
groups.  The two civilizations grow into a harmonious, cooperative
society.  In fact, the society is so harmonious and cooperative that
sexual relations between the different species begin to occur.  It seems
that the
Ranzion’s
‘shape shifting’ abilities allow
them to take the shape of a male or female human, or
androditin
.

Eventually
there are offspring from these unions.  The mixing of human,
androditin
and
ranzion
DNA,
produce a variety of offspring with different physical characteristics, and
various amounts of ‘shape shifting’ abilities.  Most of these offspring
are unable to reproduce, but by the time the Alliance explorers find the
castaway’s planet, there are a number of viable new species.

None
of the new species have been taken from
Ranz
, to
other Alliance planets.  It has been decided, that the
Ranzions
will be nurtured and protected, until they are sophisticated enough to make
their way to the stars.

***

Dan
Benji
Woo

The
charismatic Confederation Dan (Captain) is destined to be successful wherever
he goes.  He is bright, cleaver, sophisticated, good looking, and
lucky.  He is a persistent person and, eventually, things will break his
way.

The
Alliance Navy had honored the agreement, which the Confederation crew had made
with Captain Niles.  The crew is free and has money in their
pockets.  Not just the money from the sale of the Brutus, but bonus money
for piloting three captured vessels through space battles, against their own
Navy.

Dan
Woo has a good amount of money from his ‘services rendered’ fees.  He
turns down offers from the Alliance Navy, as well as offers from media
organizations,
who
would have made him a ‘household
name’.  He waits for the right offer.

Admiral
Niles has gained a healthy respect for the Dan, and keeps his eye out for
opportunities that might help
Benji
get established
in Alliance society.  Eventually, there is an opportunity for bidders to
buy some of the excess inventory of space vessels, which the Alliance Marines
no longer need.  One of the ships that are for sale is the Brutus. 

Admiral
Niles notifies Dan Woo, and gives instruction about how the bidding process works. 
Dan
Benji
Woo is the high bidder, and becomes the
owner of the Brutus.  The ship is ‘space worthy’, but is no longer needed
by the Marines, because the Alliance Marine Corps is building a new class of
ship. 

Dan
Benji
Woo contacts some of his old shipmates, and pretty
soon they are making big bucks by transporting items from place to place. 
There is some talk about smuggling weapons, but nothing is ever proven.

The
End

***

Text
copyright © 2013 Terry D. Lefler

All
Rights Reserved

***

Terry Lefler (2013-11-27).

Tipping Point in the
Alliance War.
 
Terry Lefler Design

Revision 2 – (2013-12-16)

Revision 3 – (2013-12-23)

Revision 4 – (2014-05-22)

Revision 5 – (2015-02-21)

***

‘Tipping Point in the Alliance War’ is a work of fiction.
All the characters, names and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and
any resemblance to real people, living or dead, or incidents is purely
coincidental.

ISBN-10:1494394804

ISBN-13:978-1494394806

***

My thanks to my family,
neighbors and friends who continuously nurture my creativity and encourage my
endeavors.

My thanks, also to the
people at Amazon Kindle and
CreateSpace
who have
‘leveled the playing field’ in book production.
  

And
a special
thanks
to my dog, Gucci, who takes me for walks every day and loves me ‘no matter
what’.

***

To my loving parents, Paul and Violet Lefler

***

The background
image was taken by the Hubble Telescope and is in the public domain.  My
thanks go to NASA and the Hubble Telescope Project for their awesome
work. 

The
image is called “Erupting Star V838
Monocerotis
”. 
Or “V838
Monocerotis
– Light Echo of an Erupting
Star”.

***

Science
Fiction was a childhood love, which lay dormant but did not die.  Amazon
recently ‘rekindled’ that love.  After reading about 100 Kindle Science
Fiction books, it seemed that the next logical step would be to write one.

This is my
first attempt to author a book.  I knew that I wanted to write a military
science fiction book, with a lot of action – because that is what I like. 
After that decision, it was a matter of starting, and then putting one foot in
front of the other.  The whole process has been an enjoyable experience.

The first
effort was crude, and I had to wait almost a year before I could ‘see’ the book
objectively.
 
During that year, I read a
lot more books and identified areas where I could improve my writing.
 
This is Revision 5, and I hope that it meets
your approval.

You are
encouraged to leave feedback on Kindle.

My
background is in Engineering (BSEE) and Art (BFA in painting).   My
work experience ranges between engineering and art.   Engineering has
paid for the essentials of living, and art is the reason to live.  You can
see some of my work at
www.terrylefler.com
.

You can
contact me directly at
[email protected]
.

Thank You,

Terry Lefler