Team Savant {The Voyage Home Chapter 4 of 4}

A shy stutterer became friends with a narcoleptic girl, a telepath that looks surprisingly like the Roswell alien, a guy with three eyes, a water breathing princess with blue skin and a girl who can split herself into three people. From that day forward, he became Savant, the boy with a saber tooth tiger in his head. He along with his friends are Team Savant, the greatest cadet action team in the known universe.

The next day Katra was on her way back home to earth. The administrative part of the journey was the least dangerous thing she did in her time with Savant. Sign some papers and boom, she was an official officer of the Union Forces.  The job was only slightly embarrassing. She ranked lower than a cadet. However, this wasn’t any cadet. Her official title was Special Assistant and her pay wasn’t much in the scheme of things—but beggars can’t be choosers.

She sat on the bridge on the way home, still holding on to the weapon they gave her. If something else happened she would protect them. That is what adults are supposed to do—protect the children.

Nathaniel acted as captain, since Kagome stayed at the academy. The big silver bird they flew in was a ship full of kids, but they weren’t kids. They were super kids with more heart and courage than any adult she ever met.

“Katra?”

Nathaniel’s voice brought her back to reality. “Yes dear?” A flash from Isis made her re-think that dear part.

“We should be back in earth space within an hour.” Nathaniel smiled. “I am putting you in charge as soon as we return to earth. I am going to visit my parents for a while and then I am going to return to space with my friends. We are low on troops and the full team is needed to help.”

“I don’t like the idea of you going out and doing something so dangerous.”

“We have each other Katra, and we take on the responsibility to protect the people we care about…together. We protect one another. One day the universe will be at peace.” He paused and focused on some distant star. “One day, Angela is going to be president; Zorn will be the greatest scientist in the universe. Isis will be a beautiful Queen. Jon will be the CEO of a huge company and I will be….”

“A general in Union,” Zorn said.

“No way. He would hate the paperwork,” Angela said. “Some type of interplanetary secret agent would fit.”

“He will be my king,” Isis said. Everyone turned to her. “If he says yes—and my parents accept him—and he defeats all of the princes in front of him…but I am confident he will be victorious.”

Everyone laughed.

Finally Jon chimed in. “Well he won’t be a designator because he is terrible at designating names.”

“I didn’t name this ship,” Nathaniel said.

“You could have had the name changed a while ago since it is an Academy registered ship. I mean really? Starship Savant? Next we will wear Savant uniforms. Savant underwear. Let just call this ship, Quagmire because this is—”

“Katra,” Nathaniel said. “What would you name this ship?”

“It’s really not my place.”

“Please,” Zorn said. “We discussed this earlier and we decided to let you give us a name since Nathaniel says you are creative.”

“Oh, that’s sweet.” She lowered her head and cocked it sideways. “Well, the ship is silver and is shaped like a bird. So maybe the Silver Falcon?”

They looked at one another and nodded. “Perfect. But I must ask you one more thing.” He pointed to the weapon. “Why are you holding on to that?”

“Kaytoo gave it to me after I asked for a weapon, when you guys jumped to the pirate ship.”

Nathaniel shook his head. “Kaytoo mirrors Kagome’s kinder side. She must have given it to you to make you feel better.”

“This isn’t some type of blaster?”

Nathaniel grabbed the slender cylinder. “No, what we have here is a karaoke microphone.” He held the microphone to his lips and sang as smooth as Sam Cook, a singer only Katra was old enough to remember. He spun the mic in his hands and gave it back to her. “Go ahead.”

“Holy—“ Angela frowned. “Nathaniel?  You can sing?”

Nathaniel shrugged. “I never stuttered when I sang.”

The computer beeped. “What is that?” Angela asked.

“An alarm.” Nathaniel moved to the origin of the beeping sound. “I built monitors—satellites that monitor earth.” He studied the signal, ran to the helm and frantically typed on Angela’s keyboard. “We have an emergency situation.” He moved back to the captain’s chair. “Top Speed.”

Angela pushed the accelerator forward and glanced down at the screen. “Nate, this is—“

“My parent’s new residence,” he said, eyes straight forward. “Something just shot from space and landed in their back yard. Please get there as fast as you can.”  

The End of The Voyage Home

Team Savant is on break next week, but will return soon after. In the meantime, you can check out some of my older stories on this website.

You can buy my adult scifi novel Hearteless: A Journey to Second Earth @amazon or here.

For email updates, please click HERE and feel free to leave a message.

Also, feel free to comment below and follow me on Google and Twitter @ Frank_D_Rogers

Team Savant {The Voyage Home Chapter 3 of 4}

A shy stutterer became friends with a narcoleptic girl, a telepath that looks surprisingly like the Roswell alien, a guy with three eyes, a water breathing princess with blue skin and a girl who can split herself into three people. From that day forward, he became Savant, the boy with a saber tooth tiger in his head. He along with his friends are Team Savant, the greatest cadet action team in the known universe.

The four of them waited for Isis to rotate the ship. Her soft voice lit up the radio built into their space suits. “Opening bay doors.”

Angela and the rest of the team activated their booster packs and flew to the dead ship at break neck speeds. Of course, if Angela broke her neck, her bones would just pop back into place and heal. Not so for the others, but because she was so durable, even in stealth situations, she took point.

She flipped and slowed with retro rockets as she approached. Her friends did likewise. Outside, Kaywon manually opened the bay doors. Once opened, Angela entered first, did her ninja slash cheerleading slash free running thing and found cover. She checked for danger and gave Nathaniel and the others a hand signal. Jon entered next, his third eye, wide open. His sight existed on a spectrum beyond most humanoids. In theory, he should have been the first in, but as reckless as Nathaniel was with himself, he was always careful with the team, unless he didn’t have a choice….

Once the full team was inside, Kaywon manually closed the doors and the oxygen dispenser activated. Nathaniel was the first one to take off his helmet. He formed a signal with his hands. “Level one,” he mouthed. His super high-top fade changed from a deep dark brown to a tightly curled white. “We have hostages here,” he said, “and an entire crew of pirates.”

“Can you knock them out?” Kaywon asked.

“I could knock all of them out,” Nathaniel said, “but I can’t be sure it wouldn’t kill some of the older passengers.”

“Suggestions.”

“We get a visual and you report to Kagome,” Nathaniel said. “Jon, we need your visual powers. You take point.”

“I can see well enough,” Angela said.

“Don’t worry,” Nathaniel said. “I will take the second position. You watch our backs.”

Angela nodded. “All right.” She activated her power baton and held the wand in the ready position. She relied on her senses to keep the rear safe as they followed Jon. Truth be told, Jon was the right call. The problem lay in the fact that she deeply cared about the three-eyed guy. She understood the danger of mixing relationships. But despite the problems, she was happy. Was it the same for Isis and Nathaniel? She had warned her—

A sound from above.

Angela twisted and pointed her baton. Something fell down and slashed her leg. She fired and slammed her baton into the creatures head, smashing it. Only a robot, thankfully. She moved quickly to help her teammates, but their battle was already done.

Nathaniel stood over two maybe three twisted robot bodies. “I should have brought Clip. Come on. I can sense them; they are a deck below us. We have been compromised—typical smash and grab.”

“But—“ Jon began.

“No time for buts. Jon we are depending on your pinpoint accuracy. Face this way.” Nathaniel motioned with his hand. “Targets are at ten, two, six, seven and nine. Multiple targets, twenty humanoids and seven robots. Angela and I will take targets at six, seven and nine. Kaywon, back up Jon. Everyone got it?”

The team nodded.

“Level two,” Nathaniel said. He jumped high in the air, charged his weapon and smashed a hole in the floor. He fell to the floor below. As smooth as ice he rolled out of Jon’s way. Jon immediately opened fire when his feet touched down. Angela followed and jumped into the air. Yes, she was reckless too, but she could afford to be.

She cleared a path to Nathaniel. And soon they were back to back fighting men that were stronger than men. “Are you calling Deragon?”

“In this situation? Not a good idea,” Nathaniel said.

They fought in synch. Their movement mirrored water, easy and natural. Nathaniel carried the mantle of a grandmaster of the inter-galactic martial arts, due to his natural ability to see patterns. She would soon be a master because of her natural ability to hit things.

Jon and Kaywon held their own, but out of the corner of her eye, she spied pirates getting ready to ambush the two of them. “Jon! On your six!”

Jon wheeled around and with two power batons blazing, he caught the pirates unaware. She sighed and relaxed just before something hit her like a truck. She rolled several times. Her body healed near instantly, but not before, the next attack. The next attack flew down from above—an android falling down upon her at a height of nine or ten feet. Given that most androids weigh more than three-hundred pounds, she suspected that healing this time would be very painful. Something blurred next to her and caught the android by the under carriage.

Nathaniel.

He pressed the android and sent him flying through the air. “Jon,” he said.

Jon slid under the flying lump of machinery and placed holes in the android. He continued sliding until he was next to her. “Love, are you all right?”

He was pretty cool too. “Of course, I am.” She attempted to sit up.

Nathaniel held her down. “This battle is over. Rest and heal.” He turned to Jon. “Any pirate that is down. Hit them again. I don’t want any surprises. Any android—“

“Blow their CPU’s out—got it.” He stood up.

“Kaywon. Can you find the lights?”

“Already working on it. I have also contacted Kagome.”

“Please don’t tell her that we got into a firefight.”

“All ready did.”

Nathaniel looked down at Angela. “You are too fast to let anyone hit you with a right cross. When we get back, we are going to discuss your fighting style.”

“You will appreciate my fighting style when I defeat you.”

“Surely, you can think of easier ways to obtain grandmaster rank,” Nathaniel said.

“Yes, but it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun.”

See you next Saturday

You can buy my adult scifi novel Hearteless: A Journey to Second Earth @amazon or here.

For email updates, please click HERE and feel free to leave a message.

Also, feel free to comment below and follow me on Google and Twitter @ Frank_D_Rogers

Team Savant {The Voyage Home Chapter 2 of 4}

A shy stutterer became friends with a narcoleptic girl, a telepath that looks surprisingly like the Roswell alien, a guy with three eyes, a water breathing princess with blue skin and a girl who can split herself into three people. From that day forward, he became Savant, the boy with a saber tooth tiger in his head. He along with his friends are Team Savant, the greatest cadet action team in the known universe.

As soon as Nathaniel heard the word mission he straightened, pushed up his glasses and walked forward, immediately pushing toward the command deck. “We will need to run simulations before we get there. Katra, I am going to need you to stay in your quarters if it gets dangerous. Jon I want you on the weapons array. Zorn, you are on tactical. Angela and Isis you are our helmsmen. I have been out of action so long, Kagome, I think it is best that I serve only as a second—if that is all right with you.” He stopped once he made it to the command deck and turned around to see his friends sniggering. “Did I do something wrong?”  

“Hold your horses,” Kagome said. “This is a simple repair mission. There is a cruise ship stranded near sector 137. Their communications went out ten minutes ago. We are to provide support until a proper repair team comes.”

“Oh,” Nathaniel said.

“Don’t sound so disappointed,” Jon said. “You can get a ton of glory on your own time. Some of us don’t like running head long into danger.”

“Hush,” Kagome said. “In a time of war it is important that we remain ever diligent. On the other hand, you must protect the part of you that can shine during a time of peace.”

“A time of peace?”

“Yes, have you considered what you will do, once this war is over?”

“Yes, the Union forces are peace keepers. I am sure I will find a place.”

“There is more to life than serving others,” Isis said. “There must always be balanced.”

Nathaniel rubbed the back of his head. “Yes ma’am.”

“Now,” Kagome said. “We will go with Savant’s orders, with some modification. Katra, you can stay on the bridge with me.”

“I would love to,” Katra said.

The flight to the cruise ship was short. Shortened possibly by Jon’s stories about growing up on a farm. Angela had similar stories while the others remained largely quiet. Isis spoke of her childhood in private moments, like when they went on a bicycle ride down the Triclopian Hills of Dundar. Or fishing in the seas of Rigellia. Zorn too didn’t talk as much. He after all was engineered to have telepathy. He spent most of his childhood under his parent’s thumb. Nathaniel had no such problems with his parents. Coming home was a dream. It was the hours upon hours of being among insensitive kids in school that made his life difficult.

When they made it to the ship, it looked like a scene right out of Scooby Doo—in space. The lights were off. The ship rotated slowly as if some huge hand had spun it like a top. The engine appeared damaged by an outside force. Why wasn’t that in the report? There was something more going on.

Be wary, Deragon said in his head. Nathaniel didn’t question the tiger’s motive. After all, he was a psychic entity, connected to Nathaniel’s life.

“It’s a trap,” Zorn said, echoing everyone’s sentiments.

“Hold position,” Kagome said to Angela.

Angela immediately stopped the ship. Nathaniel stared beyond the ship.

“If they wanted to attack us, would they have already done so?” Isis asked.

“Not, unless the attack was dependent upon how close we got to the wounded ship,” Jon said.

“But there are people aboard,” Kagome said. “We should negotiate with the captors. Open a hailing frequency.”

“Commander,” Nathaniel said. “There are only a few empires capable of cloaking their ships. In either case we should see a distortion in space.”

“We don’t have the technology.”

“But Jon was born with the talent,” Nathaniel said.

Kagome nodded. She turned to Jon. “What do you see?”

Jon removed the headband, revealing his third eye, and stared at the screen. “Pull back, please.”

“Angela.”

Angela pulled the ship back. “Tell me when.”

“When,” Jon said.

The ship stopped.

“I got nothing.”

“But it is a blatant trap,” Zorn said.

Nathaniel nodded. “It is done by amateurs.”

“Pirates?” Isis folded her arms.

“Make’s sense,” Kagome said. “But still an unnecessary danger. We can let the professionals handle this.”

Isis’s screen lit up. “We are being hailed, by the cruiser.”

“I guess they their communications are fixed. Put them through.”

Isis pressed a button, and the Captain of the ship appeared. He was stiff with worry lines all over his face. “This is Captain Hitsuru. We could use your help immediately. We have a—“

He glanced to the side at some one. Perhaps it was the man that the shadow belonged too. “Pregnant woman who needs immediate attention and countless that are hurt.”

“We are experiencing some difficulty,” Kagome said. “Please hold on a bit longer.” She signaled to Isis to end transmission. She stood up. “Cadet Captain Devereaux, you have the bridge.”

“You know I can’t let that happen,” Nathaniel said.

“Don’t get full of yourself,” Kagome said.

“It is regulations,” Zorn said. “The senior commander shouldn’t go into a precarious situation and if he must, he or she must take an adequate team.”

“An adequate team would require stealth, but power may be needed for back-up,” Nathaniel said. “Jon, Zorn and Angela would be the best for stealth, but in terms of pure power—“

“I know the make-up of this team, Cadet. I put it together.” Kagome rubbed her chin. “I will send Kaywon with you. We will go with a balanced team. I want you to get in there, assess the situation, and we will plan accordingly.”

“Yes, Commander.”

“A team of four: Kaywon, Savant, Jon, and Angela.”

“I wish to go,” Isis said as she swiveled around.

“I gave my order,” Kagome said as she stood up. She clasped her hands together. It was similar to the pose Nathaniel took when he released Deragon. “Infiltration Team; be careful. It’s dark and I am sorry but we are short on supplies. No night visor. Only weapon available are the power batons and power staffs.”

“But—“

“Princess Isis,” Nathaniel said. He walked over and placed his hand on his shoulder. “If you are on this team, then I can be on this team. We represent the power for this team. You, Zorn, Kaytoo, and Kagome are needed on the recovery team.”

Isis nodded. “I understand. My apologies Commander for speaking out of turn.”

“It’s fine.” Gelatinous tissue formed on Kagome’s skin. It multiplied and formed two versions of her. Kaytoo, once fully formed, attempted to rush Nathaniel, but Kagome quickly grabbed her and set her down on the floor.

Kaywon stepped forward and looked at Nathaniel. “Let’s go. Once we make contact, you are the field leader.” She turned to Isis. “Don’t ever question Kagome.”

She turned away from Isis and toward the exit.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the hand of Katra go up.

Nathaniel stopped. “Yes?”

“Okay, I know I am a guest and all of that, but I am hoping to live long enough to be employed by the Earth ambassador…well you. That would make me an employee of Union. And—I know I sound like I am rambling, but can I get a weapon, ‘cause I am listening and it feels like things are about to get real.” 

See you next Saturday

You can buy my adult scifi novel Hearteless: A Journey to Second Earth @amazon or here.

For email updates, please click HERE and feel free to leave a message.

Also, feel free to comment below and follow me on Google and Twitter @ Frank_D_Rogers

Team Savant {The Voyage Home Chapter 1 of 4}

A shy stutterer became friends with a narcoleptic girl, a telepath that looks surprisingly like the Roswell alien, a guy with three eyes, a water breathing princess with blue skin and a girl who can split herself into three people. From that day forward, he became Savant, the boy with a saber tooth tiger in his head. He along with his friends are Team Savant, the greatest cadet action team in the known universe.

Katra spent most of her adult life on earth, she had possibly another thousand and she wanted to spend the rest of her days there. However, even she had to admit that there was something nice about being in space.

Nathaniel was at home here.

When he emerged with a Union Battle Dress Uniform on, it was as if he had immediately gone from a boy to a man. He was average height for his age, but that still put them at eye level. It was better this way. She was not eager to look down when talking to her unofficial boss. She sat in the shuttle, near Clip’s doghouse. The robotic dog spent most of his time, playing checkers with himself. He would literally run from one side of the board to the other and whimper when he beat himself.

As much fun as Katra was having, she could not wait to get back to earth.

“We are headed to headquarters,” Nathaniel said.

Katra did a double take, just as Zorn buckled up and eased his seat back. The Roswell—looking alien must have read her mind, because he turned around nearly immediately. “There are some official things that have to be done.”

Nathaniel turned his head sideways almost in Katra’s general direction. “I can’t just give you asylum…. Well, I can, but we need to make this official and make sure that Union sends political or military officials to help the wives of that jerk king of yours.”

“And he wants to see, Isis.” Zorn smiled.

“I would also like to see Angela, Kagome and Jon.”

“Right,” Zorn said.

“Well, she would be upset if she knew I was this close and didn’t come by to see her. She is a princess, you don’t just tell a princess no.”

“You tell her no all the time.”

“I can’t just leave my planet and live on Aquaria; I don’t care how close it is to Union headquarters. And what would my parents say? They would assume the worse.”

“Excuse me,” Katra said. “Is Aquaria a planet? And who is your girlfriend?”

“Isis,” Zorn said.

“She is not my girlfriend, officially. I mean we really haven’t talked about it…. She’s a princess and that makes it complicated.”

“Isis is from Aquaria, the water planet. They joined Union a few decades ago. They are known for their strength and ability to breathe under water.”

“Breathe under water? Are you dating a fish?”

Nathaniel whipped around. “No. She is a humanoid. She just lives and breathes underwater.”

“Oh. Kay. A mermaid?”

“She has legs just like we do.” Nathaniel turned around. “And she is beautiful,” he said softly.

Katra decided not to question him, but she couldn’t wrap her mind around a humanoid living underwater. This Isis must have had the build of a pro-wrestler on steroids. She looked at Nathaniel. This version of him could probably have any one he wanted. His extremely high afro-fade and red glasses gave him a rock star look. Why would he date someone that looked like that? Eh, to each his own.

They travelled for hours in space. Zorn and Nathaniel argued back and forth about which music was better. Nathaniel claimed that Datrevian classical music was the best he had heard, something about moving patterns. While Zorn claimed that modern Earthian music was the best, it was all about the emotions. She learned a lot about the two of them. In another world—they could have been brothers.

Moments later, a larger ship hailed them. A bird shaped silver ship. “Hello Savant, ready to board the Starship Savant?” The voice filled the entire shuttle, but the monitor screen was blank.

“Seriously,” Nathaniel said. “We have to change the name of this ship. It can’t have the same name as my call sign.”

“Your ship doesn’t have visual,” the female said. “Why is that?”

“Not in the budget.”

She sighed. “Come on board.”

Nathaniel eased the ship inside and in a moment, the three of them were exiting the little shuttle. “You have to admit that; Team Savant, Cadet Captain Savant and Starship Savant is redundant,” Zorn said.

“But I didn’t name any of it,” Nathaniel said. “I didn’t even name myself Savant.”

“I know. But soon there will be only you and we will be lost in the background.”

Nathaniel stopped. “How can you say that? I wouldn’t be—“

The doors burst open and a slender girl as tall as a high school basketball center came through the door. Even with blue skin, she could not hide her emotions as she ran to Nathaniel. Her eyes glistened as she wrapped her arms around him. “Savant.”

“I—I—Isis.”

Katra turned to Nathaniel. Why was he stuttering?  The girl was stunning. Did her beauty shake the unshakeable? Isis was more beautiful than Katra imagined. She could have been a teenage model on earth.

“I—I  m—missed you,” Nathaniel said.

“I missed you too.” She cocked her head sideways. “Have you changed your mind? You don’t have to stay on the same side of the planet. Just close enough for me to visit. Or we could set up a post on one of our moons.”

“Isis….”

“I am here too,” Zorn said.

She held up her hand. “I saw you last week.” She then looked to Katra with a pair of piercing blue eyes that matched her skin.  She frowned. “I have staked my claim to Savant. Do you wish to challenge me?”

“Say what?”

She must have noticed your pheromones. You should back away and tell her no. You do not want to challenge her. Zorn said telepathically.

Challenge her for what? Pheromones? She smells me? Wait, I adore Nathaniel, as a teacher adores her favorite student. You know the one that actually knows the answer to the questions! Katra responded.

Isis is not familiar with your species—or your scent.

“Katra is my subordinate,” Nathaniel said.

“She is going to work with you while you are on earth?”

“Yes, but—“

A blonde human girl came through next; followed by an older woman and another young man. The young man wore a headband that was as colorful as a rainbow. The blonde girl cut in on Isis and hugged Nathaniel. She kissed him on the cheek. “Hey, Nate!” 

Katra stepped back and took a breath. Wait, so the blonde girl can invade his space but Isis is about to cut me for looking at him the wrong way?

Pheromones. She is familiar with Angela. Angela and Nate are the only two humans in Union. The others you see are from different worlds. The two of them have a strong bond. Something akin to siblings. But more.

Katra sighed. “Your highness, Cadet Captain Savant is my employer as the official diplomat of earth. I do not wish to challenge you for him. I wish you both much happiness.”

Nathaniel turned to Isis. “See?”

She folded her arms. “Fine.”

Nathaniel introduced Katra to the rest of Team Savant. Kagome stepped up. “Now that we have all of the pleasantries out of the way, we have a short mission before we head to the academy.”

See you next Saturday

You can buy my adult scifi novel Hearteless: A Journey to Second Earth  @amazon or here.

For email updates, please click HERE and feel free to leave a message.

Also, feel free to comment below and follow me on Google and Twitter @ Frank_D_Rogers