Once Upon The Stars (Updated 08-22-04)

Atrocities · #1 March 18th, 2003, 05:48 PM

Once Upon The Stars.
By William Christopher

Original Thread

Thanks DS, I got the picture.

I will include it and two others with the set. Although I like yours the best.

Part VIII (Alternate Course)

Green entered his office and it was clear to all that he was not in a good mood. He walked by his aid Lieutenant Elise and slammed his office door closed behind him as he entered his office. Elise felt a shiver run up his spine. He had seen the General angry before, furious on many occasions, and even down right hostile once or twice, but never before had he ever seen him this angry.

Green wasted no time; he pressed his COM send button and ordered it to contact Senator Caparo Kordesh. Within a few seconds the Senator came on the line.
�This is Caparo, what do you want General?�
�It would appear that we have something in common Senator.�
�And what exactly is that General?� Kordesh was a man who feared no one, but commands the fear of many. He is also the Oversight Chairman (OSC) for the Special Investigations Division (S.I.D.) of the UGA, which puts him in direct command over the Director of the S.I.D. He has officers from S.I.D. in every department, division, and administration of the UGA, and they answer solely and directly to him. Even the famed General Green has good reason to fear him, and is wise enough to know it. Green realized that if he could convince Kordesh that he is an ally and someone that he can trust, he would then be in the position of control and would be able to manipulate circumstances and people as unknown unknowns dictated.

�The desire to see Benton removed from office.�
�What makes you think I would want such a thing?�
�Let�s not mince words Senator, you and I want the same thing, so let us meet and discuss how we can work together to obtain it.� There was a brief pause before Kordesh responded.
�Very well General. We can meet at the Aries Club for drinks.�
�Too public Senator, I propose we meet privately.�
�As you wish. I will be attending a conference in Vanalder the day after tomorrow. We can meet in my suite at the Paradise.�
�That will be fine.� Green said and pressed the disconnect button. He immediately pressed the contact button and order the COM to contact Carl Wilhelm.

�This is Carl.�
�Carl, are you aware that Tom Christopher is going to fly up to a science base on the Victorian Glacier?� Green asked.
�Yes, he had mentioned it in a meeting today.�
�I need for you to tag along with him.�
�What makes you think he will want or allow me to go?�
�I don�t care what you have to do Carl, but I want you going with him.� Green commented a bit angrily.
�Relax General, I will think of something.�
This appeased Green.
�Why do you need me to tag alone with him?�
It was a fair question, and Green had expected it.
�He is going to investigate an object discovered by the scientists. I need for you to report back to me what he finds.�
�Consider it a done General.�
�Carl, I have men up there now, but they will be under Christopher�s command, and my not be able to offer you support.�
�Understood.�

Green pressed the disconnect switch again and then paged Elise. �Elise get in here.�
A moment later Elise entered the room.
�Yes General?�
�Elise, I need you to send a message to Commanding Officer of operation Discovery, and advise him that General Tom Christopher will be arriving later today and that he will be assuming command.�
Green was sitting down behind his desk and had not looked up. He was busy thumbing through some paper work.
�Yes sir.� Elise started to leave when Green looked up and said.
�And send in Sergeant Arnold.� Elise�s blood pressure spiked a bit at this, but said nothing and left the Generals office. Elise hated Sergeant Arnold because Arnold was jockeying for the number one spot in General Greens trusted ring of confidants. A position that Elise felt that he, and no one else, should posses.

Twenty minutes later Greens COM chirped. �General Sergeant Arnold is here as ordered.�
�Send him in Elise, and bring us some hot lacto berry juice.�
A moment later Sergeant Ruddy Arnold entered the Generals office followed by Elise caring a couple of steaming cups of lacto berry juice.
�The General sent for me?� Said Arnold as he came to attention.
�At easy Sergeant.� Said Green as he accepted a cup from Elise. �Elise, I want no interruptions for the next twenty minutes.� Elise nodded his acknowledgement and left the office. Arnold was standing at ease holding a cup of hot lacto berry juice.
�Sit down Ruddy.�
�Thank you sir.� Replied Arnold as he sat down in one of the guest chairs facing the Generals desk.
�I have a mission for you.� Green said as he took a sip of his lacto berry juice. �A very important one.�

[ July 04, 2004, 23:11: Message edited by: Atrocities ]

Atrocities · #2 March 18th, 2003, 05:48 PM

Part IX (Spies)

The Senate Complex was one of the oldest buildings on Pandora. It was built when the Capitol city was founded nearly a thousand years ago. It had escaped destruction by fire, bombing, terrorism, and even civil war. The building had endured because it was designed too. With each new renovation, something extra was added, and something was taken away. The Complex had been modified so many times that no one could possibly know all of the hidden chambers, corridors, or passageways that have been created, blocked off, or forgotten about over the years.

Senator Owen Cassady had walked the corridors, hallways, and passages of this building for over a hundred years and in all of that time he had only been able to explored about a third of the entire complex. He speculated to himself, as he walked alone in the silence of the lower levels, that he had only discovered about a tenth of all of the hidden areas of the vast complex.

Owen was one of the oldest and most senior Senators of the Alliance, and had seen many administrations come and go in his one hundred and ten years of public service. In all that time he had seldom if ever entered the great hidden library of the Senator Complex. It was a foreboding place first kept secret from the population of Mecca, and then later the entire population of the world. It was a magnificent great hall filled with antiques and old world sculptures. The books, files, and writings contained within these great walls were as old as the Mecca civilizations itself.

Mecca was one of the first and considered the oldest of all of the great civilization of the planet. Eighty years ago King Chandler Gore the fifth, founded the Global Alliance and began the great holly war to unite the peoples of Pandora under his leadership. Gore was an insane man who believed that his religion and birth right as the crown prince of Mecca, entitled him to the right of rulership over the entire planet. A costly mistake that resulted in billions of deaths, decades of war, and the near destruction of all life on the planet. Eventually he was assonated by his son Devon who nearly succeeded in conquering the planet but was killed at the battle of Camellia thus ending the Global Alliances quest for ultimate power.

Today was the first time in his life that he had ever given any thought to the idea that it was possible for life to exist anywhere other than on Pandora. It had been written in the ancient Salideen text that the great creator created the planet of Pandora for the Pandoran people. It was also written that there was no other life in the entirety of the universe more honorable than the people of Pandora. Owen wanted to consult the great Salideen writings and the ancient Salideen text about this new revelation, for he had dedicated his life to the Salideen Religion and now the validity of that very religion was in question.

About two billion people, nearly third of the planets population also Subscribe to the Salideen Religion. If life were to exist on other planets, it would destroy the very fabric of the Salideen Religion, and thrust the whole of the population into chaos. The followers of Salideen would be humiliated and rebuked. This was something that he himself could not allow to happen. There had to be information about other life somewhere in the ancient text. The thought that life exist on other worlds must be mentioned somewhere within the old writings, and Owen was determined to find it. It was the only way he could save the Salideen religion. If it was mentioned that life did exist elsewhere anywhere within the great text or writings, then salvation was at hand. Owen knew that discovering this information was the only way to save off another devastating world war.

Senator Kordesh was not a man who enjoyed playing second to anyone, especially someone such as Robert Benton. He had just entered his office when General Green COM�ed him, and despite the slight surprise he displayed to Green, he had expected his call.

Kordesh knew that Green was a determined man who sought the Prime Ministership for himself. This clashed with Kordesh�s own ambitions for the office, and could ultimately lead to conflicts of interest. Kordesh was a master political tactician who fully understood the nature of politics and power, and knew that his best weapon against those who would challenge him was information and deception. If General Green wanted his help and wanted him to believe that he was an ally, then by all means that is exactly what the good General would get. Eventually Green�s own greed for power will lead to his own downfall.

�Trax, come out here.� He said to no one. A second later a wall slid to the side and a tall and physically impressive person dressed all in black, with a hood hiding his head and face from view, stepped out from the darkness of a hidden room. �You summoned.� He said in a slow raspy lowered voice. Kordesh looked at him briefly as he spoke.
�I have a new assignment for you.�
�We have not completed our current assignment.�
�Never mind that, I need for you to watch a General Tom Allen Christopher.� He said. �He is the new Director of the Space Exploration Division.�
�We are familiar with him.�
�He will be leaving for the continent of Bastion later today, his destination is a small scientific research site on the Northern Victorian Glacier.�
�Do you wish him eliminated?�
�No, just monitor his activities. Also assign an agent to watch General Green.�
�What of the Prime Minister then?�
�I will assign someone from SID to handle that.�
�As you wish. Will there be anything more?�
�No. However, if General Christopher, discovers any of the artifacts, you know what must be done.� It was statement and not a question.
�He will dealt with as where the others.�
�Very good. That will be all.�
Trax nodded his understanding and then stepped back into the darkness of the hidden room, as the wall door closed.
Kordesh returned his nodded and watched him leave before he leaving himself.

Atrocities · #3 March 18th, 2003, 05:49 PM

Part X (Approach)

In the late autumn months on the Northern plains of the Victorian Glacier, nightfall marks the end of the day without ever really becoming dark. For nearly all of the autumn months the nighttime seldom becomes darker than that of a bright sunset. The days become very short and the night longer as the season migrates toward the winter months. Within a few weeks this will change and the days will become nonexistent as the daytime sky becomes perpetual darkness. As the season changes, the air becomes colder and the jet stream more turbulent as the warmer surface air, heated by the sun, rises from the ground and mixes with the colder upper air. This mixture of warm and cold air causes areas of unstable air, known as warm air pockets, to form thus generating areas of hazard that if flown into can cause an air borne craft to rapidly loose altitude without warning. For an experienced pilot flying in these conditions is a mild challenge, but for an inexperienced pilot, it can rapidly become a life and death situation.

Captain Richard Hess was busy making routine course correction and minor instrument adjustments, it was his first official flight as a certified pilot and he wanted the ride to be smooth for his boss, General Thomas Christopher and the other passengers that he was fairing, when he encountered a warm air pocket. He had never flown in extreme cold weather conditions before, although he did have training for it, he had never really experienced actual winter conditions. The warm air pocket that he had just passed through was his first, and the experience of loosing a thousand feet of altitude in just under two-point-six seconds made a Lasting impression on the young officer. Even with the inertial dampeners set to full, he knew that the time for casual flight was over; as his job as pilot had just became a whole hell of a lot more complicated. He was busy making his course corrections, when he decided that it would be best to let the passengers know that they were about to fly into some very turbulent air. The air is warmer near the surface, thus less turbulent, and he was in the process of descending when he keyed the internal COM.
�Gentlemen, we are entering into an area of turbulence, and I am descending in order to avoid encountering additional warm air pockets. Our expected arrival time at the site is less than ten minute from now.� He keyed off the COM, and went about flying the small six-man Sky Chariot with as much concentration as he could muster when the General entered the cockpit.

�Richard, you sure you know how to pilot one of these things?� Asked Tom as he eased himself down into the Co-Pilot seat looking a bit nervous but obviously joking.
�I am sorry about that General, these warm air pockets are a bit tricky at times.� Replied Richard. His concentration focused upon flying the Sky Chariot.
�You haven�t flown much practice time in severe cold air environments have you?�
�No sir.�
�Well just to be safe, perhaps I should take over, you know, give you a break.�
Richard chanced a quick look at his boss, a look of �hell no� but with a polite �I don�t think so� appeal to it. Tom could not help but smile at this, as being a pilot himself, he understood that for everything there must be a first time. He held his smile for an extra few seconds to avoid showing his young officer how concerned he was. It was Richard�s first official flight, and Tom did not want his nervousness to show as that would more than likely effect Richard�s confidence, and may even offending the younger officer.
�I guess everyone has to learn sometime.�
�Oh I am learning it sir.� Relied Richard as he made another quick course correction this time only loosing about fifty feet of altitude before powering out of the sudden decent.
�You would have figured sir that by now they could come up with a way to prevent that from happening.� Commented Richard as he banked the small craft slightly to the left on a baring that would bring them back on course toward their destination.
�I hear you Richard, and once we get back, I am personally going to look into it.� Replied Tom as he buckled himself in.
�We should reach the Discovery site in about five minutes or so General.�
�Only if our luck holds out.� Whispered Tom to himself.
�Excuse me sir?� Asked Richard.
�Nothing Rich, I was-�
�Say, where are the barf bags?� Interrupted a calm and cocky officer who had poked his head into the cockpit. Tom looked back over his shoulder at the man, and flashed him a dirty look.
�Arnold, get back there and buckle in.�
�Buckle in sir? Oh right, sorry sir, but Mr. Wilhelm and his aid seem to be getting a bit sick, and I am worried that they might not make it sir.� Commented Sergeant Rudy Arnold with a smile.

Sergeant Rudy Arnold was a long time annoyance who�s company Tom had grown to tolerate over time. He had first met him some eight years before when he was selected for a mission that Tom was in command of. It was routine rescue mission to recover a propionate Senator family who had been kidnapped and were being held for ransom. Although Rudy was a cocky bastard, full of himself, and very arrogant, he had proven that he could get the job done. After the successful rescue he was appointed as aid-decamp to then Military Advisor to the Prime Minister, General Lee Westmore Forman. Over the years Arnold had become an aid to many Generals who have long since come and gone. Most recently he had attached himself to one General Philip Albert Green, the current Military Advisor to the Prime Minister, and from what Tom was able to gather, had become a member of General Green�s inner circle of confidants. No doubt about it, Arnold was very good at his job, that job being *** kissing and brown nosing the brass. Arnold was out for Arnold, and throughout the many times that Tom had had the misfortune of having to deal with him, he had learned that Arnold was only to be trusted lightly. Arnold had a cocky sense of humor that often annoyed Tom to no end. He was, and still is, a sly arrogant, and cunning manipulator that knows how to work any situation to his favor. It was no wonder that he had risen in rank to that of Master Staff Sergeant. Tom had figured that by now, he would have conned his way to the rank of Chief Master Sergeant or would have been given a commission but some misfortunes involving the daughter of a well respected Senator had stalled his career.

Tom really did not like or dislike him, he merely tolerated him. Arnold was an annoying man, but he was also clever and was cool under fire. These were his only two redeeming qualities as far as Tom was concerned. Although Tom was not happy about being ordered to take him on this mission, he did so. He wanted to try and find out what General Green was up to, and Arnold, although he was a master manipulator, could be easily manipulated himself.

�Have you checked in the overhead compartment?� Asked Richard sarcastically.
�I didn�t need to, this little joy ride you are piloting caused the crap in those compartments to come tumbling out all over us back here.� Responded Arnold in a mocking tone.
�Then look in the base cabinets!� Tom said with authority. �Then buckle yourself in.�
�I doubt buckling in will save us given the way that this kids flies.� Commented Arnold with a wicked smile before ducking back out of the cockpit.
�Sir, we should have left that guy in the flight hanger.�
�Green wanted him to come along, and the Prime Minister agreed.� Tom looked over at Richard who was in the process of activating the landing gear. �But I agree with you Captain, we should have left his *** back in the Capital.�
�I wonder why the General insisted on sending him?�
�To annoy me.�
Richard looked briefly over at Tom and smiled.
�I could always blow the hatch and bank sharply to the right.�
Tom smirked at the thought of seeing Arnold flaying his arms and legs around as he screamed his lungs out on his uncontrolled decent to oblivion.
�Better call us in for landing approval Rich.�
�Right Sir.� Replied Richard as he switches on the COM. �Discovery Base, this is Sky Chariot Pegasus Two-Nine-Zero-Three requesting landing clearance.�
�Sky Chariot Two-Nine-Zero-Three please transmit authorization code now.�
�Authorization Code?� Richard flashed Tom a confused look before transmitting.
�Discovery Base, this is General Tom Christopher transport requesting landing coordinates over.�
�Sky Chariot Two-Nine-Zero-Three, please transmit authorization code.�
Tom could hear what was being said over the cockpit COM, and he was not pleased. No one had mentioned that he would require a code to land. Tom keyed the COM and spoke in an angry voice.
�Discovery Base, this is General Thomas Christopher requesting authorization to land.�
�Please transmit authorization code prior to entering the no fly zone.�
�You require a code, then here it is. Eco-Alpha-Tango-Star-Hector-Ira-Tango, over.�
Richard started to laugh, but noticed that Tom was far from amused and was not in a joking mood.
�Sky Chariot Two-Nine-Zero-Three, that code is not valid. Please transmit the correct code or alter your course away from this area.�
�Sir.� Said Richard a bit alarmed. �We have company.� He was pointing to his scanner at two large blips that had just entered the scanning range of the Sky Chariot and were on an intercept course.
�They don�t look friendly to me sir.�
�God damn him!� Tom said as he clicked the transmit button once again. �Discovery Base, you will clear us for landing immediately, that is a direct order.�
�Sky Chariot Two-Nine-Zero-Three, if you fail to transmit the proper authorization code within thirty seconds, you and your vehicle will be escorted by two Prowler�s to Andover Base and detained. Any attempt to deviate or land will result in hostile action.�
�Arnold get your *** up here!� Yelled Tom over his shoulder as he fumed.
A few seconds later Rudy entered the Cockpit smiling like usual.
�You yelled sir?� He commented smugly.
�Cut the charm, and tell me what our landing authorization code is.�
�Authorization code?�
�Yes, we have about fifteen seconds to transmit one or we�re going to be shot down.�
�Condor One-Five-Zero.� He said without further prompting.
�Discovery Base, authorization code Condor One-Five-Seven over�
�Authorization is valid, landing coordinates have been uploaded to your navigational computer. Welcome to Discovery Base General.�
�Somehow I don�t think we are.� Commented Richard as he validated the landing coordinates and began the landing process.
�Discovery Base inform Captain O�Connor of our arrival and have him meet us at the landing site.�
�Understood. Discovery Base out.�
�Looks like it was a good thing you brought me along after all General.� Commented Arnold politely as he smiled on.

Atrocities · #4 March 18th, 2003, 05:49 PM

Part XI (Origins)

It was getting late and Senator Owen Cassady was growing tired and fatigue after hours of searching and reading through many manuscripts, historical documents, religious writings, and old text. He was the only person in the Great Library of the Senate Complex and therefore could work undestrubed for hours. He could, if he so chose to, even catch a few hours of sleep in one of the private reading rooms. Something he had done many times before while on overnight information hunts. But today he could not for he was expected by his wife to attend a Senatorial Dinner. So with a great sigh he streached out slowly and stood while closing the large old looking book that he was reading. He would leave the old book on the table for tomorrow as it was doubtful that any one would venture into the Library, let alone this section of the Library, this late and disturb it.

He was slipping on his jacket and happened to turn, the evening light coming in through one of the distant windows was just right and he cought the glimps of something on the bookshelf beside him. He could see it through the opening that the book he was reading had left between the books on the shelf. It appeared to be another book that was sitting sideways in the back. �This is Odd,� Owen thought to himself as that would obsure it from view so he reached up and removed a few more books to gain access to the misplaced book when he noticed something even more odd; the book felt and appeared to be very very old.

He had seldom, if ever, read a book from this bookshelf for it was the bookshelf that contained the works of Borgan Rice, a scribe of Malcolm Cox the twelfth High Priest of the Salideen Religious Order. Borgan was put to death by order of Malcolm Cox in the year twenty-one fifty-eight for publishing his views on the origins of the Pandoran people. He had spent most of his life here in the Great Library recording history and other important facts of the time.

This bookshelf, tucked away in a secluded section of the Great Library, contained hundreds of Borgans books, most were historical books of little to no importance and some were books of astronomy that in Borgans day were considered masterpieces. However, his writings on the origins of the Pandoran people were considered the work of a mad man at the time, and were Banned from reading. Of his many published writings only about a hundred or so manuscripts still remained. Most of them right here on this bookshelf. Of those, only one, a book titled �Discovery�, was of any importance to Owen this day. This bookshelf contained the original book Discovery by Borgan, the one Owen was reading at the table, and many copies that had been preserved here in the Great Library for some untold reason for a couple of thousand of years.

It was ironic that it was Borgans writings on the origin of Pandora that had brought Owen to this shelf today. He was determined to find any reference, no matter how obscure, regarding the possibility that life existed on other worlds.

Borgan had been put to death for his ideals, and his writing outlawed because he had dared to say that life on Pandora had come from the stars. Many of his writings, and those who had read and believed in them, had disappeared into the vials of history not to be heard from or seen since.

The fact that the Great Library still had most of his published writings was an amazing discovery for a young Senator doing research for his first Senate bill. A bill that would eventually help clear the way for the people of Pandora to launch satellites into space. Odd how that seemed so blasphemous at the time, launching something as simple as a satellite into space and how the people feared that by doing so would invite Gods wrath back down upon them. As a supporter of the space program at that time, Owen was tasked with finding any written language forbidding the Pandoran people from sending anything into orbit around Pandora. He had discovered nothing in any of the ancient text, thus clearing the path for those who wanted to put the satellites into space. He was a cautious man and had even consulted Borgans writings, mainly his book titled Discovery, as a precaution. Having found nothing, he pressed his bill forward with the cautioned warning that even though there was nothing written in the ancient texts prohibiting the launches, one could never truly know whether or not it would offend God.

Owen looked down at the very old book he was now holding in his hand and could not help but shiver as he realized what it was he had just discovered.

�How could something like this have survived this long?� He asked himself in whisper. �How could this book possibly be here?� He looked back up at the spot at which it had been. According to the official record, the Last person to read from Borgans book Discovery was himself some hundred and four years ago. Since that time, the book had remained on the shelf undisturbed for centuries.

That could only mean one thing, that the book that Owen was now holding could quite possibly be more than two thousand years old. Owen began to sweet as he realized that this section had been sealed for nearly twelve hundred years following Borgans death as a precaution to the spread of his blasphemy. That when the section was reopened just over a thousand years ago, only a few high ranking members of the Salideen Religion had ventured in and read his works. Those members later stated publicly that Borgans writings were the confused works of a sickened mind. That Borgans book Discovery, held no revelations regarding the origins of the Pandoran people. The book was then submitted for printing and was moderately distributed. Most people agreed that it was a flight of fancy and disregarded it as a true historical source of information. The printed Version was a light Version of the actual book and many chapters had not been published. Owen knew this and that was why he chose to read the original book and not one of the copies or printed Version that he had at home.

From that time, no one had officially been in this section, or read a book from this shelf until Owen just over a hundred years ago. As the shivers subsided Owen turned the book over in his hands and glanced down. The cover was in poor condition, but the words were still visible and legible, although covered in dust. Owen brushed the years of silt from its surface and raised it up to his mouth and blew as much of the dust away as he could. Once most of the dust was cleared from the cover of the book, the title began to reveal itself. The lettering was in the standard tongue of the time and was gold embroidered and slightly raised out from the surface of the cover.

All of the color drained from Owens face as he read the title. He looked up and stared blankly at the wall of books before him, many of them copies of the book Discovery, the book he had been reading just moments before. Owen stood there, mesmerized by the shier weight of his discovery. All of these book, he thought to himself, all of them, were nothing more than fakes. For in his hands, he held the proof of this lie.

How many years had he believed that all of these books were the true works of Borgan, how many years had others thought this to? Chance had delivered onto him the truth. It was rumored that the Priests had rewritten the original book as a precaution to the truth. Owen never believed this, but now, as he stood there in silence, he could not help but believe. The rumor stated that Borgans original book had a different name and as Owen looked back down at the book that he held in his hands, he read that simple title of Borgans original book out loud; �Origins.�