Captain Niall Thorvald Read online

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  COPYRIGHT

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Captain Niall Thorvald

  Adventures of the League Space Patrol Book 6

  By Frank Carey

  COPYRIGHT

  Copyright © 2018 by Frank Carey

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  League Tale #62

  CHAPTER ONE

  Tennosh, shortly after it was cleaved by the exploding Erdexi sphere...

  Niall Thorvald was all of eighteen years old when half the only home he knew was transported to another part of the galaxy by a damaged Erdexi sphere. Back then, no one had ever heard of the Erdexi, or the Martok, or for that matter, the Halcyons. For the people of the League of Planetary Systems, it was just another day. That would soon change, and not in a good way.

  Niall's family was celebrating his graduation from high school, and he was racing to the restaurant near Kunojin Spaceport where his family was gathering. The Thorvald clan was large and scattered, so he hoped his tardiness would go unnoticed. He was about to crest a ridge on the outskirts of the city when the world exploded around him.

  ###

  "Take it easy," a voice said. Niall opened his eyes and saw a tall elf wearing a fedora and a leather duster kneeling next to him while an Alturan ran a scanner over him.

  "He'll live," she said.

  "Can we move him?"

  "Oh yeah, and quickly. This place is going to hell in a hand basket.”

  Niall sat up and looked around. The first thing he saw was his truck smashed up against a rock outcropping, the same outcropping which protected them from a ranging storm. "There's no rain in the forecast. What the hell is going on..." He stopped when he saw a battered ship hovering nearby, its side cargo hatch opened to reveal dozens of people, some his neighbors, some injured. The ship looked like it had tried to fly through a meat grinder.

  "Jorbo is going to have words with me," the elf said as he shook his head. "Couldn't be helped, too much debris, but she's air tight and she flies."

  "Who are you? What happened?" Niall asked.

  The elf didn't explain. Instead, he helped Niall up. "We need to get you aboard the Barbara Anne and off this planet."

  "Wait. I have a party to go to at the spaceport."

  The elf took him by the shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes. "I've got a dozen injured including you. We need to leave, now. I don't know how much of a launch window is left, and we need to get into orbit before it closes."

  "Who are you?"

  "My name is Harmon Aymar, and that ship is the Smuggler Ship Barbara Anne. Calish!"

  "Aye, Cap!"

  "All the scouts back?"

  "Aye, sir. You and the lad are the last," the elfling replied.

  Harm took Niall by the arm and led him into the Barbara Anne, sealing the hatch behind them. "Listen up! We are leaving. Once we're clear of this cliff we will be flying through a force nine hurricane. The ride will be a little bumpy, so hang on." He looked at Niall. "What's your name?"

  "Niall. Niall Thorvold."

  "Niall, join me and Calish up front. You can take the engineer's seat."

  Niall followed the elf to the control room and sat down in the seat behind the copilot's seat. He watched as the elf raised the nose of the ship skyward before pushing the throttles to their stops. The ship leapt into the sky. In a heartbeat, they cleared the ridge. Niall stared when the spaceport appeared out the window. Only there was no spaceport, no city, only debris-filled space. It was as if a knife had sliced the planet in half. Niall took that moment to pass-out.

  Calish checked Niall's pulse. "He's out."

  Harm looked out the window. "I wish I could join him. Cal, it's going to be a long day. Are you and the other smugglers up for this?"

  "Have to be, Cap. Have to be."

  "Yeah. Get on the horn and see if any space command ships are up there. We need medical facilities and fuel."

  "Roger that, Captain. I'm on it. Like my mother once said, pray for the dead but save the living."

  "Roger that. Let's go save some people."

  CHAPTER TWO

  Captain Niall Thorvald of the League Space Patrol Ship Loki finished the crossword puzzle just as the comm signaled an incoming call. He flipped a switch. "Go for Thorvald."

  "Hey, slacker, is our date still on?" a sultry woman's voice said from the cabin speakers.

  "Hey, Red. Of course, our date is still on. I wouldn't miss seeing you for all the money stored in Tralaskan safety deposit boxes."

  Captain Melinda "Red" McKee chuckled. She and Niall had known each other since before either joined Space Patrol and rumor had it he was going to pop the question when they met for dinner tonight. "What's your ETA?"

  "Assuming God is willing, and the river don't rise, I'll be landing at the Cube in twenty minutes. What about you?"

  "I'm still three hours out due to a nova forcing a course change."

  "Copy that. Let me know when you arrive and we'll..." Alarms sounded. "Gotta go, Sweetheart, I'm picking up a planetary distress call."

  "Getting the same. Keep me posted. Love you, fool. Red out."

  Niall flipped a switch. "This is Space Patrol Captain Niall Thorvald on Starguard frequency responding to planetary disaster, over."

  "Niall, thank the gods. This is General Spent. Where are you?"

  "Eighteen-minutes out from decant for the Cube, General."

  "What's your equipment status?"

  "Bins are full, ma'am. I just reloaded at Orinoco."

  "Good. We've had a massive explosion at the Cube. Details are still sketchy, but it looks like something got past the scanners and took out several modules before the central computer could eject the containing lab. We've got people trapped in surrounding labs."

  "How's the gravity?"

  "Stuck at normal. We're afraid to turn it off for fear the whole station would come apart."

  "Roger that. I can go in through external openings and start bringing people out."

  "I was hoping you would say that, but Niall..."

  "I'll be fine, ma'am. Those ghosts are long dead."

  "Roger that. You should be able to see the damaged area when you're approaching the station. Good luck, son. We've got two dozen ships inbound, but it's you for now. Space Patrol Command Center standing by."

  "Max!"

  "Umph," a voice replied over the intercom.

  "Maxine! WAKE UP!"

  "What?" an Alue woman yelled as she suddenly appeared in the cabin. Like all Alue, she looked like a grey alien popular in Earth UFO conspiracy circles, only she wasn't bald. She sported long emerald green tresses tangled by sleep.

  "There's been an explosion at the Cube. People are trapped, so we're going in hot. I need a complete scan of the damaged area, so if you're not too busy..."

  She winked out, then returned moments later in a flight su
it with her hair tied back in a bun. "On it, boss." She sat down in the copilot's seat and flicked switches while Niall sat down in the pilot's seat and strapped in.

  "Increasing FTL engine power by twenty percent," he reported. The increase in power would halve their remaining travel time.

  "Scanning..." Max reported. "Damn, at least one whole module is gone, and we've got an expanding debris field." She tapped her earcomm, activating it. "Rescue teams are moving into accessible modules... OK, there's one they can't get to. Module 18-7-36. They're getting garbled communications by one scientist trapped inside... Shit..."

  "What?"

  "It's Dr. Leesta Merser."

  "Great. Tanoh Ohnat's fiancé. Has he been notified?"

  "Yes, but he won't arrive for a couple more hours."

  Niall pressed the transmit stud on his control yoke. "Captain Niall Thorvald, calling Captain Tanoh Ohnat, over."

  "Go for Ohnat."

  "Tanoh, have you been apprised on the situation at the Cube?"

  "Yes, I'm on my way in. Have you an update on Leesta?"

  "Only that she's trapped, but she is able to communicate. Look, buddy, I'm five minutes out. Everyone else is taken care of, so she's my top priority. I'll have her out by the time you get here."

  "Are you trying to tell me not to do anything rash or ill-advised."

  "Yeah, that's exactly what I'm telling you. I don't think I've got enough strength to pull your hairy ass out of a bent Cube module, so just take it easy and obsess in silence."

  There was a moment of silence. "Get her out of their alive, monkey boy."

  "Damn straight, werewolf. I'll keep you posted. Thorvald out."

  Niall looked over at Max and saw her giving him stink eye. "What, we're friends."

  "What if you can't save her?"

  "If I can't save her, then I'm already dead. Decant in one minute. Buckle up because we're going to cut this close."

  They dropped into real-space one-thousand meters away from the Cube with the main engines blasting full reverse. They came to a full stop less than a football field length away from the station's surface.

  "By the Caves of Alue," Max whispered. Out the window they could see a large pit in the side of the cube-shaped station, the area around it rippled from the shock wave as it passed through the station's structure. Cube security ships were already on station, maintaining a security cordon around the damaged area.

  "Cube space control, this is Space Patrol Ship Loki on station. Searching for a way in, over."

  "Roger that, Loki. Most of our sensor net is cooked, but we are still getting status lights on personnel lock 18-20-50, over."

  "Got it," Max said. She pointed to a beacon below and to the port side of the blast pit. "Damn, according to the station plans we have in the data banks, that section of the lab has been moved 10 feet away from the center of the blast. We'll need to do a manual inspection before we know if the lock is still functional."

  Using thrusters, Niall moved the Loki within a few feet of the lock before setting the controls to station keeping. Satisfied, he and Max moved into the staging area just forward of the engine room. Here was where he and Max could gear-up for any mission. Stored in wall lockers was everything from space suits to armored centipede probe bots. Hundreds of years of rescue experience was stored in this room and rooms like it in other ships of the Space Patrol.

  Niall put on a space suit, then headed to the Loki's airlock. "Be back in a minute," he said as he cycled the lock's inner door open and stepped inside.

  Max nodded, then reached down and hit the button that closed the inner, then pumped the air out of the lock before cycling the outer door open.

  "The door frame and door look intact," Niall said over the suit comm. "Moving to control pad... Activating lock..."

  Max watched via the view screen as the outer door slid open. "Good, the inner door is still sealed. Proceed," she said as she watched the emergency checklist superimposed on the lock image.

  "Proceeding," Niall replied. "I'm inside the lock. Suit scanner shows no air leakage. Corridor on other side of inner hatch reads full pressure."

  "Continue with lock cycle."

  "Roger that. Completing lock cycle."

  The outer door closed. Max switched to the feed from Niall's suit cameras. "I'm monitoring via your suit feed."

  "Copy that."

  The inner door opened to a corridor lit by the dim glow of emergency lighting. "Scanners read air is clear of chemical and biological hazards. Oxygen levels normal. Carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen are within acceptable limits."

  "Roger that. I'm docking the ship. Standby."

  "Roger that. Standing by," Niall replied as he planned his route to Leesta's location.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Wearing his pack of tools, he stood in front of the lock while giving Max last-minute instructions. "When I close the inner lock, disconnect and take the Loki two kilometers out and wait for my signal. You should be clear of the debris field.”

  "I should come with you."

  "Under normal circumstances, I would agree, but these are normal circumstances. I've got a real bad feeling about this one, and I will feel better if you wait for me out here."

  "Are you sure about this?"

  He nodded. "Yep. I want you to maintain a scanner lock on me while running continuous sweeps of the structure around me. Anything could go pear-shaped until Engineering has this section locked-down."

  Max nodded. "You promise me you'll be careful. I don't want to break-in a new pilot, got it?"

  "Aye, aye, Captain Maxine Wabash!"

  She returned the salute. "Carry On, Captain Niall Thorvald. Make Odin proud," she said, referring to Niall's Viking roots.

  Shaking his head, he entered the station, then closed and sealed the lock behind him.

  "Please come back in one piece, fool," she muttered as she closed the Loki's airlock and headed to the cockpit.

  ###

  Niall heard the thunk of the Loki disconnecting from the station. Running-past him were four armored centipede probebots. Designed for searching collapsed mines, they would scout ahead, looking for routes through the damaged corridors. He reached up and tapped his earcomm. "Comm check, Max."

  "I read you five by five," she replied.

  "Copy that. I'm reading you the same." Not needing a space suit, he opted for a multi-function gauntlet for his left wrist. The device was a combination of comm unit, computer, and scanner. He tapped a stud on it to activate the holographic map function. "Assuming this map is still accurate, I'm going to head to Emergency Stairwell Seven. That should take me to the level Leesta's lab is on."

  "Proceed with caution. The directory says some of the labs between you and Leesta are used for artifact examination and disposition."

  "Great. I'll keep an eye out. Are you receiving telemetry from the pedes?"

  "Roger dodger. All four are moving with gusto and gabbing with enthusiasm."

  "I think you got those reversed, girlfriend. I'm moving out."

  Niall headed down the corridor toward the interior of the station with an occasional glance at the holo-map which was being continuously updated with pede data. As he walked, his mind drifted back to Tennosh.

  ###

  After getting checked out by the docs aboard the Protector, Niall found a spot in Dorsal Shuttle Bay Two where he could think while watching rescue operations. Ships would arrive and offload survivors if they had any. Once empty, they would be re-provisioned and refueled before going out again while the refugees would be taken to medical and a hot meal before boarding transports to other planets. Eventually, they would receive help in putting their lives back together.

  "Hey, Niall." Niall looked over just as Harmon sat down next to him.

  "Hello, Captain."

  "It's amazing how a disaster can bring people together. See that ship over there? The one that looks like a tank?"

  "Yes, sir?"

  "That's a Goranthi battl
e shuttle. The one next to it, the one that looks like a yacht, is Tralaskan. It's owned by a very powerful and very old Tralaskan family run by one of the most ruthless woman I know. See how the crews are helping each other?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "Did you know the Goranthi use to hunt Tralaskans for sport?"

  "No, sir, I didn't."

  "And the Goranthi, until recently, were at war with the League. In fact, this ship and her captain were on the Goranthi's shoot-on-sight list."

  Niall just shook his head.

  "They got past it for the greater good. Niall, I know you've been through all seven hells today, but we need your help."

  "How, sir?"

  "I need crew for the Conquistador."

  "I thought you were using the Barbara Anne?"

  "My first officer finally arrived with my ship, the Conquistador. The Barbara Anne has a new captain, her owner's sister."

  "I don't know anything about crewing a space ship."

  "I need strong backs and large hearts, and I think you have both. Are you game for saving some people?"

  "Yes, sir, I am."

  "No hesitation. I like that. Just remember one thing."

  "What's that, sir?"

  "You're stronger than what you're about to face."

  "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

  "No, thank you. Come on, we've got a few more stops to make before we head out."

  The two of them walked through the vast hangar in search of crew on their way back to the Conquistador and their destiny.

  ###

  Niall's musings were interrupted by a sound. He stopped and listened. He could hear distant rumblings as the Cube's structure shifted. He could hear damaged power cables arcing, escaping gas from broken lines, and fluids dripping from cracked pipes. This sound was different. It wasn't different; it was deliberate.

  He heard it again. It was coming from somewhere up ahead and it sounded like metal on metal. "Max, do you copy? Over."

  "I'm here, Niall. What's up?"

  "I'm not alone," he replied.

  "Shit. Scanning... No life signs on the scanner. Why do you think you have a visitor?"

  "I hear periodic metal on metal sounds. Is it possible that a mechanoid is trapped in here?"