Short Story One Shot: Fearless

Team Savant is on hiatus for a few weeks. Here is an adventure of the Martian Detective Knight. To read the previous Team Savant story click Team Savant Short Story Egg-napped. 

It was a Harley Mach 5. The speeder’s chassis lay twisted and mangled in ways that seemed impossible. The Harley obviously rolled multiple times before stopping at the base of one of the red mountains.

Knight had seen this three times already. Teenagers bungee jumping from satellites or even swimming with tamed sharks. Sure, they were domesticated but some kids found that their instincts were still there…the hard way.

He swabbed some of the blood off the metal and placed the sample in the smart phone port. The victim…a Dr. Sheila Jones was a college professor at Pride. A picture came up. Young and beautiful. Her skin was fair—suggesting an absence of melanin manipulation. She would need a daily dosage of lotion to keep her risk of cancer low.

K1 scanned the machinery. “Sir, further examination shows that the victim’s blood has traces of the drugs shared by the other risk takers.” The metallic dog cocked his head sideways. “The vehicle is also registered in the name of the Pride University President.”

“Interesting.”

“How do you wish to proceed?”

“We should investigate.”

The two companions climbed into the hovering saucer. As soon as the saucer sealed, Knight breathed deeply. His teacher once told him that the hover cars produced an environment similar to the atmosphere of earth—before the nuclear event. Without a doubt, the air in the car was far superior to the air outside.

K1 directed the car over the sand dunes of the red planet, hung a left at the monolithic atmospheric station and drove straight to the University community. Pride University stood at the center of the settlement while the parking lot lay kilometers away near the residential area.

After registering with the settlement security, Knight and K1 strolled the two or three kilometers toward a system of metal hermetically sealed buildings decorated with fake plants and art work. At the sliding door entrance, the two stood still as a red light scanned them.

“Remove all weaponry and leave the K unit outside,” a soft voice said.

“I am a Ranger and he is my partner,” Knight said.

“This is a place of academia. No weapons are allowed in the buildings.”

Knight sighed, pulled out his peacemaker and gave the weapon to K1. The little canine swallowed it whole. “I will power down.” He lay down and placed his paws on his head.

“Goodnight old friend.” Knight pulled out his smart phone and pulled up the K unit app. He placed the phone into his pocket and waited for the door to open.

He stepped inside. A young secretary with an extreme low-cut blouse gestured toward the door. “The president will speak with you now.”

Knight noted that the receptionists’ skirt left little to the imagination. “What are you doing after work?”

“Sir, I am happily single.”

“How unfortunate.”

She smiled and continued her work.

He opened the door. The president leaned back. A middle-aged, tanned man of roughly seventy. His hair had the artificial appearance of jet-black dye. On his desk was the typical tools and toiletries found on the average desk, but one thing caught Knight’s eye—a small bottle of protective lotion.

The president’s smile revealed laugh lines. His dilated eyes shone brighter than his smile. “How may I help you Agent…”

“Knight is fine, Mr. President.” He sat down in the seat across from him.

“Call me Fence. I suppose you are here to report my missing speeder?”

“Yes, your speeder had a young woman, with drugs in her system splattered across it. A Dr. Jones, one of your employees.”

“Dr. Jones?” He frowned and shook his head. “Probably one of the new faculty. A shame. So she got high and stole my speedster?”

“Maybe. When did you last interact with her?”

“Interact? Not since the new faculty reception.” Fence ran his fingers through his curly hair. “Teachers teach and leaders lead, we hardly interact with one another.”

Knight nodded. “How did you know your speedster was stolen?”

“What?”

“It’s not like you can look out your window and see your speedster. You don’t have an alarm on it. So how did you know?”

Fence lifted his eyes up and to the left. “One of the maintenance workers told me—I forget who.”

Knight pulled at his glove and reached for the lotion bottle. He held it up. “You and I were born with genetically engineered melanin. Your cute secretary can probably tell me some things too. So, do you want to just… tell the truth?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

Knight pulled out his phone and pressed the K-unit app. A holographic image of K1 appeared above the phone. He held up the bottle of lotion. “Scan.”

“Scanning…prescription belongs to Dr. Jones,” the holographic K-unit said.

“I want as many warrants as the Judge will allow,” Knight said. “And a drug kit too. Subject shows signs of influence.”

Fence’s hand shook. He placed both elbows on the table and then buried his face. He quickly lifted his head. “We were just doing some Fearless.”

“Fearless?”

“A drug that takes away all of your fears—I can get you some, if you want?”

“I overcome my fears—I don’t run from them. Now, what was your relationship with Jones?”

Fence held his breath. “We were lovers.”

“Why did she take your speeder?”

He studied his hands. “She became upset when she discovered my new secretary—I wasn’t going to cheat—just wanted some eye candy…she took my key and walked away. I called the police after I realized she wasn’t coming back.”

Knight noted his body language. “I believe you.” He stood up. “K1, secure the President.”

“What’s going to happen to me?”

Knight shrugged. “My boys in the drug department could really use someone with connections to the drug culture. Maybe they can work something out with you.” Knight grabbed the doorknob. “I am going to work something out with your secretary.”

The End

NOTE:

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

Look for the origins of Team Savant in my newest Ebook, Ultimate Savant: Origins coming soon. 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

Short Story Team Savant: Egg-napped {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. To read the previous chapter click Here for the previous chapter of the Short Story Egg-napped!

Deragon sensed that Nathaniel was safe. Why did this please him? Of course, if the Earthian died, he would die too. However, there was something else. There was a warmth inside his center upon realizing that Savant and Angela was safe.

And he hated himself for it.

Deragon focused, cutting down his sensory connection to Nathaniel and opening up his personal sense of smell. He could not smell in the traditional sense. A flower was only a series of subatomic particles, but every living thing had a psionic signature.

His other senses were based upon this concept. His sight was a function of psionic radar. He saw what others saw but only because of the incredible abilities of Nathaniel… There it was again. A positive feeling toward his jailer. He must remain diligent. One day he and Nathaniel would be enemies again and he would be prepared.

A large group of Bullyons lay just ahead. A colony of Bullyons. Surely, the kidnappers were here. He closed the gap between himself and the colony. Deragon then turned invisible and began digging a tunnel like some ridiculous dog.

But what choice did he have? His energy level was low; he was technically no stronger than that weakling, Zorn. It was humiliating. If he was near Savant, he could literally rip the entire town off its foundation and cast it aside. Yet this far away… It begged the question, was he only a figment of the child’s imagination. Maybe in truth, Deragon was long dead.

He kept his invisibility as he pierced the ground on the other side.  He focused his senses and searched for non-Bullyon psionic energy. He found two objects one definite humanoid and the other harder to make out. He surmised that the harder one was the missing egg, but the humanoid felt familiar. He could probably even guess the race of the humanoid but to be certain, he would need to come face to face.

Curiosity got the better of him and he ignored Nathaniel’s previous command to report back immediately. He noted that the two Non-bullyons were in the same location. With powerful leaps, he located his target. The colony itself was a series of cube-shaped buildings and from above, it was difficult to pick them out, but one lit up like a torch because of the psychic energy emanating from it.

Deragon displayed a toothy grin as he hovered above it. He dived down, crashing through the top of the building. He landed with the egg roughly fourteen feet away. The Bullyons took one look at his fearsome visage and backed away. Their fear gave him more pleasure than he was willing to admit, but he decided not to relish in it.

He had a mission to accomplish. Deragon leaped toward the egg, but at the top of his jump some force hit him and an electro-barrier enveloped him igniting every inch of his being. What perhaps lasted for a few seconds felt like an eternity.

The energy cage released and Deragon fell to the ground. “Wh—what?”

“I see that even in your weaken form you contain enough strength of will to resist complete psionic degeneration.” The humanoid walked around a corner. “So tell me. What does it take to kill you?”

Deragon peered through the shell of the outer shield. The humanoid on the other side was…familiar. “You…you were at the academy.”

“It is no wonder that you don’t remember me. While you were portraying your Cadet Beenox persona, you were self-centered…self-absorbed. You may not remember but I definitely remember you and young Nathaniel Devereaux.”

Deragon struggled to stand. “What do you want from us?”

“Us?” He laughed. “I want Cadet Devereaux to learn his place and you? Well, I want you to die.”

The End~For Now 

Team Savant will be on hiatus a week or two, but I will post a different sci-fi short story during that time. Return next Saturday, for Short Story Saturday. And when Savant returns, we will learn the fate of Deragon.

NOTE:

A re-imagination of the original story of Savant will be in online stores soon, followed by the long awaited sequel!
In the meantime, 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

Short Story Team Savant: Egg-napped {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. To read the previous chapter click Here for the previous chapter of Short Story Egg-napped Chapter 2.

Nathaniel flattened. A quick glance upward and a few calculations told him what he needed to know. He would hit the ground long before Angela made it in time. He re-adjusted his shield, flattened it out and formed a rectangular energy glider.

He slowed to a crawl and moments later, Angela blew right past him. He readjusted, formed a triangle and dived straight down. This time she grabbed his hand, disrupting the integrity of his shield construct. The shield then reverted to its normal body hugging sheathe.

“What took you so long?” Nathaniel said as they dropped like a rock.

“Better late than never!”

He grabbed her leg.

“Hey!”

“With the gravity here being similar to earth, no matter what rudimentary shape we force upon the shield, we will hit the ground at terminal velocity. I will have to reboot our anti-grav boots.”

“Okay, but don’t just grab me without telling me!”

“Sorry, but we have seconds.”

“And don’t you dare peek!”

“Peek? Peek at what?” He looked up and saw Angela desperately trying to keep her skirt down. What Nathaniel assumed was tights were only stockings that traveled thigh high. After recognition, he closed his eyes and looked down. “I—I—I am s—s—sorry. I…didn’t m—mean t—to—“

“Fool, just hurry up and do whatever magic you are going to do! Remember, seconds?”

“R—right.” Nathaniel worked quickly. He ignored his instincts and reached for her shielding control, hidden under her belt. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out his U-phone. With one hand, he unlocked the phone and searched the screens.

“Who are you calling?”

“Not calling. Energy transfer app.” He found the app activated it after some quick calibrations. He shoved it into her belt, just behind her belt buckle. “Sorry.”

She said nothing as he moved to her boot.

He accessed the main panel, removed the batteries and rebooted the system. The lights lit up and immediately the two of them slowed down. He held on to her and the both of them moved until they were upright. “Sorry, but we are using my shield and your boots so we have to remain close.”

“I don’t mind the closeness you are my intergalactic martial arts sensei, we spar all the time. I am more concerned about what you saw earlier.”

He looked away. “Nothing.”

“Liar. What did you see?”

“That’s not a fair question. You know how my mind works. Even if I saw a little, my mind will work out the rest.”

“Yes. And what did your perverted mind see?”

“I—I shouldn’t say.”

“Say or I will tell Isis and Kagome.”

“You wouldn’t!”

“Try me.”

Of course she would. Everything about her body language said she would. ”They were essentially red with multi-colored rabbits strategically placed to form a three, two, one pattern from top to bottom. The pattern in the front matched the pattern in the—“

“Okay. You saw all that in a split second? Did you see my birthmark too?”

“Oh, is that what that was? It was irregular shaped so I—“

“Shut up!”

“Well you were the one who asked. You could have just left well enough alone.”

“I had to know. I am so embarrassed. I don’t know what I was thinking. I just felt like wearing cute underwear today. Didn’t think, I would be jumping out of a ship.”

“So, we are cool? This never happened?”

“The hell it didn’t. After what you just seen and did, you need to at least take me out to dinner and a movie.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes, I am serious. Don’t get any ideas. There is a movie premiering Friday, all of the kids are going to be there, and I refuse to miss it. Jon is in another sector of the universe and this is not the kind of face that goes to see a movie alone.”

“So why don’t you ask a boy from your school?”

“Because they know nothing about ninety percent of my life. Have you talked about the intergalactic war? Or the latest Valusian fashion?”

“No, but I don’t exactly have a lot of friends on earth… I know Isis wouldn’t mind. She feels that since there is so few Earthians in Union, the two of us should spend more time together.”

“Precisely. Jon wouldn’t mind either. He understands that he is my first choice and you are number two.”

“Wow… that is insulting,” Nathaniel said as their feet finally touched ground.

“Don’t be that way. If I hadn’t met Jon and you and Isis were not an item, I would—“ She closed up abruptly.

His ability to predict patterns finished the sentence in his own mind. And even without his ability, he knew that the two of them would naturally gravitate toward one another. It was one of the many reasons he hesitated to teach her IMA.

“Never mind what I just said,” Angela said. “I was having a blond moment.”

“You are just as smart as I am,” Nathaniel said. “Don’t ever question your intelligence. Speaking of which, you could have just asked and spared me the whole punishment for have an intuitive aptitude, a pair of eyes and being a guy.”

“A guy? It is kind of nice to know that you are normal. Sometimes, I wonder if you are even human.”

“I think technically you are more of an advanced human than I am by a hundredth of a percent.”

She gave him his phone and with a smooth move of her fingers, activated her own shield. “See what I mean? You think way too much…” She stepped out of Nathaniel’s shield and surveyed the area. “So, what kind of weapon was that? And who shot us down?”

“It was a nanite viral trap. It infected our equipment before we left the ship. The reason why it didn’t affect our shielding is—“

“Because it has anti-viral software and hardware.”

“Yes. The ship should be safe and the rest of our equipment—what little we have should be fine.”

“So the terrorist set a trap for us.”

“Yes.” He turned toward the small shiny town a half-mile north of them. “We are out in the open, but I doubt if they expect us to survive their trap.”

“Still, I would prefer that we stay one step ahead. I think I should scout ahead.”

“That would be best.” He got down on one knee.

Angela climbed on his back. “Man, if Isis saw us now, she would probably be very jealous right now. Can you even lift Isis?”

“What are you trying to say?”

“She is dense…very heavy. Come on, she doesn’t have an ounce of body fat.”

“She…is heavier than she looks, but I can lift her.”

She placed her arms around his neck and her body went limp. An energy form of her appeared in front of him. “Can you see me?”

“Yes.”

“I will fly one-hundred feet above until we get to there.”

“Alright.”

Ten minutes later the two of them were in the town. A couple of two feet tall soldiers on a hovercraft intercepted them. They greeted Nathaniel by name. Angela appeared next to Nathaniel. Her astral form, only visible to him, hovered. “Nate, they are legit.”

Nathaniel nodded and spoke to the escorts. “Take me to your leader.”

The End of Chapter Two of Egg-napped
New Post, 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

Short Story Team Savant: Egg-napped {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. To read the previous chapter click Here to read Chapter 1 of Team Savant: Egg-napped

Nathaniel’s hands blurred as he signed the code to activate Deragon. Psionic energy formed next to him, just as his afro shifted from black to white. The energy form shifted from pink, to red, but then in a final flash it became a silver saber tooth tiger.

Deragon.

The tiger looked around, glared at Angela and then turned to Nathaniel. “What have you gotten yourself into this time?”

“Read my mind,” Nathaniel said.

Deragon nodded. The two seemed to go back and forth…periodically Dergon’s feline features would contort into an odd frown.

“It’s rude for us to talk like this when we have company,” Nathaniel said.

Angela held up her hands. “Oh, don’t mind me. I am only standing right here—next to you.”

Deragon scowled. “My apologies.”

“Wow, your sincerity is underwhelming.”

Nathaniel placed his hand on Angela’s shoulder and squeezed. “Believe it or not, he is trying.”

“I bet.” She slapped her hands together. “So what is the plan? We fly down on a silver tiger?”

“No. We use the anti-gravity boots and we jump. Deragon will be given a wide berth to search for the hostage.”

“Heh,” Deragon said. “I get to hunt.”

“You do not engage,” Nathaniel said, “contact us as soon as you make sensory contact.”

“Harumph,” Deragon said, his face now a painting of boredom.

Angela held up her hand and shook her head. “This is crazy. We are going in without any real equipment.”

“I have my U-phone.”

“Stop kidding. Why would you give Deragon such a wide territory to search?”

Deragon scoffed. “Because I can do it quickly…and maybe Savant is considering ending me.”

“What?”

“Deragon we already discussed this. A child’s life is at stake, surely that goes against your honor.”

Angela raised her hand. “Uhm Nate. Do you remember that he tried to kill us? In fact, there is a good chance that he killed me, but my abilities kicked into overdrive.”

“You were hardly children,” Deragon said.

“Deragon, go,” Nathaniel said. “You are wasting time.”

Deragon huffed and walked to the exit, to the end of the ramp extending from the ship. He looked back with a toothy smile and jumped.

“I don’t trust him,” Angela said.

“He knows,” Nathaniel said.

“What was he talking about…ending him?”

“The connection to me is what gives him life. By extending it, allowing him to travel thousands of miles away, it not only weakens him, but increases the chance of that connection being interrupted…”

“And that would kill him?”

“Yes.”

“Well, he is paranoid. There is no way you would kill him in cold blood, even if he deserved it.”

Nathaniel said nothing as he moved to the main monitor.

“Nate?”

“I am picking up some type of anomaly in the atmosphere. I need time to investigate.”

“Do we have time?”

“No. We have a small window. If we jump within the next fifteen seconds, we will land a hundred meters from the Mayor’s home.” He powered his anti-gravity boots, using a hand-held controller. He cocked his head sideways. “Power just dipped a tenth of percent to my boots.”

“It is only a tenth of a percent,” Angela said as she activated her boots as well.

“Yeah.” Nathaniel turned on his personal shield and straightened his tie. “Are our force fields in synch?”

Angela walked over to him. Her force field intermingled with his, allowing her to grab the knot of his tie and jerk down. It gave him a more casual look. “Yep.” She ran to the exit and dived out, missing the ramp and sailing to the ground below.

“Pull your arms and legs in,” Nathaniel said his voice hissing over the earpiece.

“I am off target, aren’t I?”

“Yes. We were supposed to drop and then activate the boots.”

She pulled her legs in. “How far off am I?”

“Doesn’t matter, just key in on my position.”

She spun in the air and located Nathaniel. She lifted her heels and flew toward the single figure. “Almost there.”

“You are plenty close enough. Activate boots.”

Angela pressed her hand-held device and immediately began to slow. Nathaniel however, continued to fall.

“Nathaniel? Why are you still falling?” She pressed her earpiece. Communication was jammed. The weight of her boot shifted from light to heavy and immediately she dropped too. “Electromagnetic pulse?” She tapped her controller multiple times but nothing happened. She placed it in her pocket and contemplated the situation. There was no way for Nathaniel to survive the fall. She could survive the fall if she made sure her head was still intact. But the shield should take care of that…the shield. Why was the shield still working? Why wasn’t important. What was important was the shield was still working. They had a chance if she could make it to Nathaniel in time. She plunged head first, directing her path to Nathaniel, who was doing all he could to slow his descent…

The End of Chapter Two of Egg-napped
New Post, 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

Short Story Team Savant: Egg-napped {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.To read the previous story arc click Here and read the previous Savant Short Story.  

 

Katra adjusted the smart tablet, pulling it close to her face and then pulling it away. “Can you see me?”

Nathaniel folded his arms. “Yes, but you can’t really hear me can you?”

“I think I am doing this right. Where are the stupid buttons on this thing?”

“You have to swipe,” Nathaniel said.

“Why are you giving instructions when she clearly can’t hear you?” Angela asked.

He turned around and shrugged. “I feel bad for her. She tries so hard to catch up with Union tech.”

“Didn’t it come with instructions?”

“Yes, but they focused on assembly and not usage.” He turned around and faced the screen.

Katra finally swiped the screen. “Ha! I see you. Can you hear me?”

“Yes.” Nathaniel put his hands behind his back.

“Boss, I have news!”

“You don’t need to call me boss.”

“I am on your payroll… Okay, Nate, I think I have found a mutant.”

“We prefer advanced human.”

“Sorry.”

“Where is she?”

“She is in San Antonio, her name is Mendoza and she is in the fifth grade.”

“Fifth grade…too young.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “Transfer her to Central.”

“What is my time table?”

“As soon as possible without disrupting her family life…too much. I think a two year window is best.”

“Gotcha.”

“Take care Katra. I will be away for a while on this current mission.”

“Mission? But you are wearing an earth dress suit. You look like you just got out of church.”

“Well, thanks to you. I have to fulfill my duties as diplomat of Earth by being a diplomat to the entire sector.” He splayed his hands out. “And so I am wearing this. Did you know that there are two colonies on Venus?”

“No, I didn’t. Sorry to put so much on you.”

“It’s not a problem.  I have seven colonies and one planet to look after.”

“And I get to be his assistant,” Angela said as she removed a stray blond hair from her forehead.

“You are not my assistant.”

“What would you call it?” Angela said.

“You are like another diplomat. I can’t handle this alone. This is a two diplomat job.”

“You got the title and you get all of the perks. I even heard that they raised your pay.”

“Well yes, but I have requested that they raise yours too.”

Angela folded her arms. “Thanks.”

Nathaniel turned to the screen. “Sorry for holding you, Katra.”

“It’s not a problem,” she said with a smile. “You guys are better than a soap opera.” She pressed the screen. “See you later.”

“See you later.”

“Talk to you later, Kat,” Angela said.

The screen blinked and a red planet loomed ahead. Angela who was also dressed in formal wear, stared ahead. Her outfit nearly matched Nathaniel’s. The only difference was that she had on an incredibly short pleated skirt and thick black tights.

Angela moved to the Captain’s chair. “I guess, since we are not acting as cadets and we are co-diplomats,” she said using air quotes. “You wouldn't mind me sitting in your chair.”

Nathaniel quickly looked away; thoughts of Isis welled up in his mind. He missed her, if only he had the courage to tell her…

“I knew it! It just kills you to see me sitting in your chair.”

“N—no, that is not it,” he said.

“Of course it is. You have to always be in control.”

He sharply turned to her. “How can you say that? You have known me longer than anyone in Union…outside of Kagome’. He held his tongue and turned away.

High heeled shoes drummed the metallic floor and in a moment her hand caressed his shoulder. “Chill, Nate. I am just teasing you. Normally you are good for a laugh but you are wound tighter than a spring. Why are you so worked up? Is Tiger Boy causing trouble?”

“No, Deragon is buried so deep in my psyche, I can’t hear him.” He shrugged. “I guess I am nervous.”

She moved her hand up to his neck and gave a slight squeeze. “I am too. This is our first mission without the others. I wish Isis, Jon and Zorn was here. Together we are unbeatable.”

He smiled. “Yes. It would be nice.”

She removed her hand and moved back to the Captain’s seat. “So is that why you are on edge? Because you are not sure we can accomplish the mission—just the two of us?”

He shook his head. “No. Sorry, I didn’t mean to weird you out. I never wanted anything to do with politics…ever. In my mind, I keep calling this a mission.”

“Mission? Good, let’s talk about the mission parameters.”

“Okay.” He sat in the First officer’s chair. “Computer, bring up the colonies of Venus,” he said.

A split screen of two aliens appeared. The Cuetations and Bullyons. The Cuetation looked like a human toddler with grown-up size feet, while the Bullyons looked like giants with incredibly small feet.”

“How do they even walk?”

“Quite well,” Nathaniel said.

“And this is a meet and greet?”

“On the surface.”

“On the surface? Are you serious? So we really have a side mission and I don’t even know about it?”

“No, it’s not like that. We meet and greet, but we observe too. We have to learn about the politics of the people. They are not really part of Union, just refugees of the war given permission to live here.”

“Is it a permanent settlement?”

“Actually, that’s for us to decide. As the only human’s in Union they leave any minor decision involving earth up to us.”

“How is this minor?”

He shrugged. “Heck, I don’t know. I am learning as I go.”

“Ugh. This all sounds big and boring. I would rather you tell me about a secret mission or something.”

“You should be happy that we are not risking our lives…today.”

“Are you kidding? I live for that stuff.”

Nathaniel laughed and shook his head. Of course she did. Of all of his teammates, she was definitely tops in durability. He could make a case for Isis, but Isis didn’t heal like Angela.
Nathaniel soon found his mind drifting toward Isis and the others. Each of his teammates had missions as well and thoughts of their safety threatened to distract him.

The monitor lit up with an incoming message. Angela was already up and reading the message. “We have a situation.”

“Are we under attack?”

“No, it’s the Cuetation. I am putting them through.”

The barely two-foot tall man stood before them, fists clenched, eyes red. “Honorable Angela. Honorable Nathaniel. My…my egg has been kidnapped.”

“Your egg?”

Nathaniel moved quickly. “How can we help?”

“I don’t know.” He hugged himself. “The terrorist are opposed to any interaction with Union.”

“I see.” Nathaniel ran his fingers through his hair. “We are trained in stealth operations. We will leave the ship in orbit and descend in secret to assist you.”

“Thank you. You have no idea how much that means to us.”

“Think nothing of it.” Nathaniel prepared to close the channel. “We will see you in an hour.” He closed the channel.

“I guess this isn’t as simple as a golden egg.”

“Their children remain as eggs until they reach full adulthood.”

“But you know that we brought minimal gear—no weapons—no stealth equipment.”

He nodded. “I am going to summon Deragon.”

The End of Chapter One of Egg-napped
New Post, next Saturday!

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

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