Chronicle of Navigator: Earth Again

By CE Stewart

The sequel to Chronicles of Navigator - The Homecoming, tells the saga of the great spaceship, Navigator, and its crew. Readers continue to follow the life of Ben Johnson, an ex-Navy pilot from WW-II, who was taken aboard the starship Navigator, given a new lease on life, and alien citizenship.

Ben has become a member of the alien’s crew and has married one of them and had children. The story alternates between his personal life and life aboard ship.

The ship is under the direction of the Union of Planets and is tasked with exploration and protecting the Zen Galaxy. While exploring time travel, the crew encounters an alien race that’s attempting to takeover Earth in the year 2100. A war ensues and good eventually triumphs over evil.

Join Ben and his fellow time travelers as they explore outer space and human relationships.

• Language: English
• Publisher: CE Stewart
• Release date: Jan 5, 2012
• ISBN: 9781604145014

CE Stewart

CE Stewart was born in 1925. Upon retirement, he and his wife traveled in a fifth wheel trailer for five years. It was here that he began to write.His first novel was “Terrorist Within.” He followed with two science fiction titles: “Chronicles of Navigator-The Homecoming” and, “Chronicles of Navigator- Earth Again.” He has just completed “The Clock.” He loves science fiction and life.

Book preview

Chapter 1

After a brief month’s vacation at the home of Sen and Vi, Ben and Shantel were called back to duty on the star ship Navigator. Sen and Vi were also called back, as they had become a important part of the time ship, Mariah 2. As soon as they had settled in on board, Commander Ra ordered a briefing of the ships officers in the Great Hall. As he mounted the podium, there was a grim look on his face. It was seldom that Ra wore a grim look. It was not long before the assembled personnel found what the problem was.

Commander Ra began at once, "You’ll recall our experience with the Azians. Apparently, they have returned to their outposts on Earth, located in the Pacific Ocean. They have failed to contact the Union of Planets council of their intent or to obtain permission to explore the Earth, as they had agreed to do. This, in itself, was a gross violation of our agreement. They’re apparently on a mission to make Earth, a permanent base. This is in violation of the rules set up by the Council. Their home planet is apparently losing water at a rapid rate, so they’re searching for an answer to that problem. We would have helped in their search for a water-bearing planet, but they have their own way of colonizing. This is not compatible with Union of Planets rules and regulations. Our mission is to find what their intentions are and to protect Earth from being enslaved by an Alien force. We will have 4 other star cruisers with us as a back-up force. This is so that we can address any problem that might arise. This is a priority one, of the Council and we will be leaving in 24 hours. Anyone with business to settle must do it in this time frame. The ship will leave at 0600 hours. The time we will be gone will depend on the Azian problem. If anyone has a problem with the time frame, please see me after this meeting. The meeting is adjourned and everyone is to report to the duty stations.

Shantel, had just gotten promoted to Captain, and went with Ra to the control deck. They began to set the course to Earth, as it would be quite involved. They needed to come into Earth orbit unseen. Ben and Jung went to the flight deck to ready Mariah 2 for the mission. They would also assist in getting the rest of the scout ships ready for action. While the crew had been on leave, the outfitting of Navigator had been going on and the ship was ready for the trip to Earth station. Ra and Shantel decided to come into Earth’s orbit from the sun side and to regroup with the other starships on the dark side of the moon. This should keep them hidden from the Azians. This would give them the advantage of surprise. From that cover they could operate their mission. They would send Mariah 2 to scout Earth, as it was the most powerful scout ship and had the power of time travel if necessary. That might come in handy if needed.

At 0600, the great ship left the space dock and joined the other 4 star cruisers. They all accelerated to light speed and headed to Earth. In route, all the ships practiced drills for combat. Ra believed that practice makes perfect. He insisted on perfection as a matter of survival. It was proven on prior missions. The crew would follow him anywhere without question and they knew his leadership would get them back safely. This teamwork was what made Navigator a great ship. A person’s life can depend on teamwork.

After coming in from behind the sun and parking on the dark side of the moon, the 5 star cruisers set up their defense. Ra called Ben and Jung to the ready room for a briefing. He began, "I hope that we have arrived unnoticed by the Azians. We haven’t noticed any change in their activity since we arrived. I want you both to activate Mariah 2 and prepare a scouting mission to Earth in the morning. I want you to come into the Pacific Ocean area at sunrise. This may help hide your presence. Their main base is in a deep-water trench off the Mariana Islands. We do not know what they have for security, but I’m sure it is tight, as they’re advanced, in a scientific sense. Shantel has prepared the flight plan for your mission to Earth. Are there any questions? If not this meeting is over. Good luck."

Ben and Jung went to the flight deck to prepare for the mission. They decide to use their most experienced crew for this mission. This consisted of Ra, Sen, Ben, Jung, Desiree, Shantel, and Jen. The twins were left in the care of Wanda, as the mission was dangerous.

The crew arose early the next morning to be on duty, so that Mariah 2 could take advantage of the rising sun on the Pacific. The other scout ships were to hold at ready alert in case of a battle. As Mariah 2 launched, she immediately cloaked and headed toward Earth. They came in low over the ocean and out of the rising sun. As they approached the deep trench, their sensors set off the alarm that other craft were in the area. They immediately de-cloaked and put up their shields.

Their vu-screen came alive and a reptilian figure appeared. It spoke in a strange tongue that only Desiree could understand. Ra requested through Desiree, that Commander Mu be alerted and contacted. The Azian officer replied that Mu was at the base and had been alerted. Ra ordered Mariah 2 to hold its position and go to red alert. Soon Mu appeared on the vu-screen and greeted Ra. He asked that they come down to the base, but Ra deferred and suggested that they meet on a nearby deserted island. Mu agreed and set a time of 15 minutes to be at the site.

As they headed to the island meeting, the alarm in the ship went off and several Azian ships appeared on the vu-screen. Ra ordered Mariah 2 to cloak and climb out of the area. He ordered the stand-by scout ships to join them at once. Ben was the pilot on Mariah 2 and Jung was the weapons officer. Ra activated the shields and as the Azian scout ships came at them firing, Jung returned the fire with the new weapons system and downed two Azians at once. The others retreated to the ocean. At this point the 25 scout ships arrived and the battle was over.

Mu came to the screen in an agitated mood and asked, Why have you shot two of my ships out of the air. Ra replied, Your ships fired first. We have a battle group here and are prepared to blast you out of the ocean. We came to discuss your presence in a peaceful manner. However, that is no longer possible, due to your attack on our ship. Also, you didn’t keep your word on a meeting with the Council to legalize your presence here on Earth. How do you explain that.

Mu replied, That was a mistake on the part of the duty officer. If you wish to go ahead with the meeting on the Island, I will see that no further action is taken against you. Is that satisfactory?

Ra replied, I will meet with you, but none of your ships may attend, except the one you are in. Is that satisfactory?

Mu replied, Those are harsh terms, but I will accept. At this, the screen went blank and Mariah 2 proceeded to the meeting site.

Ra said, We can’t trust these Azians, as they seem to have a code of their own that doesn’t involve honesty. Their ship is approaching the Island and as soon as they’re down, we will land. Our scout ships will patrol overhead to guard against any tricks. It will be interesting to hear his story. As soon as Mariah 2 landed, Ra left the ship and approached Mu, who had brought special chairs with him. Ra didn’t trust the chair or Mu and used one of his own. So, Mu sent the chair back to his ship and never said a word about the exchange. Ra sat at the table and began his discussion with the Azian leader. Everything was being monitored aboard Mariah 2 and the crew was ready to come to the aid of Ra if he had any problems with the Azians. However, the Azians seemed to understand that Ra would tolerate no more overt acts on their part.

Ra spoke with the aid of a translator device that Desiree had programmed for his use, As we have had meetings before, I do not need to explain our concern over your presence here on Earth. We are bound by our rules to preserve the freedom of planets and to stop any attempts to enslave their people. In the normal course of events, we would have begun a military strike to remove you from the planet. The Council wants to hear your side of the story even though you defied their original order to come to a meeting at the headquarters of the Union of Planets.

Mu looked carefully at Ra and said, We were merely on a scouting mission to find water to live in. It was a mistake by the duty officer to have fired on you. He has been eliminated for not following orders and causing us to lose two ships. It won’t happen again. In order to show our good faith, I will allow you to visit our ships and to view our plans. Please, let us know when you want to do this inspection.

Ra replied, I will send my first officer and one other crewman to do the inspection in 12 hours. I will expect them to be treated with safety and respect by orders from you. I will hold you responsible.

Mu replied, It is done. On that note, the Azians rose slowly and went to their ship. Ra and his team returned to Navigator with Mariah 2. The scout ships that had been on station above the meeting also left. It was an impressive show of force and it wasn’t lost on the Azians. They were not challenged.

Back on board Navigator, Ra held a meeting of the ship’s officers and briefed them as to what had happened on the Island. Ra decided to send Lt. Commander Zorn and Ben to inspect the Azian ship. He briefed them on what to look for and how to get access to areas that were of particular interest. He wanted Ben to pay close attention to the control deck to see if he could figure out how they powered the ship. Zorn was to see if he seen any evidence of Earth persons being held onboard the ship. Zorn and Ben were being tutored by Desiree to speak the Azian tongue. This would be a valuable asset, as the Azians wouldn’t be able to hide things due to the language barrier. Ben had been studying the previous data on the Azian ships and felt that he had a clue as to what powered them. It was going to be an exciting trip and a dangerous one. The crew returned to duty, except those who had just gone off station.

Ben and Shantel returned to their quarters and the twins, who were growing at a rapid rate, as they were healthy. The mix of the parents seemed to be a good combination. After a meal, they took the twins for a walk in the park, so that they could see the little animals that were so numerous in that area. The twins would go toddling after the animals, but couldn’t catch them. The animals seemed to enjoy the chase as much as the twins, Jon and Rae. After a time, they returned home and spent time in the garden with the twins. They retired early as they had the mission to the Azian ship in the morning.

Chapter 2

Early, the next morning after a briefing by Ra, Ben and Zorn beamed over to the Azian ship. They were met on the pads by armed guards and Mu, who searched them for weapons. He ordered the guards away and started the tour. He led Ben and Zorn to the start point and assigned a female Azian, whom he introduced as Lt. Su to escort Ben on a separate tour. Lt. Su had a uniform like Mu’s, but it was quite evident that she was a female. Ben requested that he be shown the control deck first. Lt. Su looked at Mu and he nodded his permission. They all had voice decoders and could communicate with each other at will. Commander Mu stated that Ben and Zorn would have to wear breathing devices, as the rest of the ship was contained in water locks and water filled rooms.

After donning the breathing devices, Zorn went with Mu and Ben followed Lt. Su into the water-lock. They soon emerged in the control room. Ben was shocked to see that it was completely filled with water. However, there were gauges and instruments all around the room that seemed to be able to function in a water atmosphere. The personnel that were in the room wore no breathing devices. Ben was observing the whole scene, but didn’t have a clue as to what the power system was. This was a mystery that would take time to solve.

In the meantime, Zorn followed Mu into another water-lock and they swam down a long hallway with several doors along the way. Mu opened some for Zorn to inspect. They all appeared to be living quarters or innocent storage rooms. They continued on to several levels and the rooms appeared to be stocked with fish, which seemed to be the main food for the Azians. There were also some small animals that were used for food supplements to the fish diet. These were in cages that had oxygen piped into them, but water was all around the rest of the room. Zorn had never seen that kind of animal life. Mu stated that the other rooms were for manufacturing items that they needed. They were equipped for long space flights. There were some doors that Mu described as defense-restricted areas. These were denied to Zorn’s inspection.

Ben and Lt. Su left the control deck and he noticed that she swam with speed and grace. She had to wait on Ben, as he was not a fast swimmer. She took him through another water-lock to what appeared to be the power deck. It was also filled with water and there were several workers at the control panels. They paid no attention to Ben, as Lt. Su led him around the room. The machines and controls were alien to Ben. The Azians seemed to be able to breathe equally well, either in water or on land without breathing devices. Lt. Su had become friendlier and slowed down, so Ben could see more. Ben was making a mental note of everything that he had seen. After several decks with many closed rooms, they entered the flight deck that had no water in the bay area. Ben was to see twelve scout ships lined up on the flight line. He reasoned that was probably the size of their scout ship fleet, except for back ups that were out of sight. The size of their mother ship restricted the size of the scout ship fleet. He wondered how many ships were based in the ocean. He questioned Su, but she said that information wasn’t available to her. After the flight deck, Lt. Su said that it was time to return to the teleport room. They entered a water tube and were propelled at high speed to the teleport room. As Mu and Zorn hadn’t returned, Ben started to ask questions of Lt. Su. She moved close to Ben and played coy, but didn’t answer any of the questions. She had been instructed to be evasive with answers. Soon Mu and Zorn returned and the tour was terminated without answering any more questions. Ben and Zorn were teleported back to Navigator without delay.

Ra immediately ordered a debriefing of the two men. After they had answered all of Ra’s questions, he said, I’m not satisfied that we were shown all that we should have been. They have the technology to hide what they don’t want us to see. I’m going to see if they’re aware of our ability to cloak a humanoid. They may not have that science ability yet. It is different than cloaking a ship or inanimate object. As I have the most experience in that field, I will take the mission. If anything happens to me, you are under orders to destroy their bases here on Earth and the one orbiting Venus. I will undertake the mission in the morning. He dismissed the men and went to prepare for his mission to the Azian ship in a cloaked mode.

Early the next morning, Ra went to the teleport room and donned the pack that contained the cloaking device. He had a brief conference with Sen, as to how they should cloak the transmission to the Azian ship. Sen had already figured it out. They would set up a diversion by sending Mariah 2 into a time frame mode. The glowing and electrical charge would set up a cover for Ra’s arrival on the bridge of the Azian craft. At that point, Ra would arrive on the pads for just a brief second. Then he could go and explore in the cloaked mode.

Ra entered the teleport and stood on the pads. At that second Mariah 2 did her power glow and he landed on the alien deck pads. No one was on the deck and he adjusted his breathing device and moved off the deck in a cloaked mode. As he left the water-lock, he met one Azian, swimming in the corridor. He apparently had not set off an alarm, as the Azian never saw him. He carefully entered a room that had a larger door than the others. Inside was a water-lock and he entered it. He found himself in a dry room that appeared to be a hospital operating room. There were several Azians in green gowns working around a special table. They didn’t see Ra, so he edged closer to the table. He almost gave a cry at what he saw. Strapped to the table was a large blond woman. She was struggling against her bonds, but wasn’t uttering a sound. One of the green clad doctors gave her a shot and she immediately relaxed. Ra knew that if he tried to aid her he would be killed, as there were several guards around the perimeter of the room.

Soon the door opened and Commander Mu came into the room. He conferred with the doctors, then went over to the woman. She had quieted down and smiled at Mu. He touched a button and the table raised to a standing position. Mu positioned himself and began to impregnate the woman. She entered into the act with vigor and after several minutes, Mu withdrew and left the room to the doctors who attended to the woman, who was quietly sleeping. Ra had to exert a great deal of effort to keep from interfering. It would have been sheer suicide. He eased out of the room, as he now knew what was behind the Azian presence on Earth. They were attempting to create a new race that would be under their control and serve them in their conquest of Earth. He and Major Berna would have a meeting to discuss the situation.

Ra swam back to the teleport room and had an immediate problem. There was one of the Azians in the room, apparently cleaning it. Ra, in his cloaked state came up behind the Azian and applied a pressure point hold and the creature was rendered unconscious at once. Ra immediately teleported back to Navigator and was chuckling as he arrived on board. The Azian would be wondering what had happened to him. Ra went to Major Berna’s office at once.

He found Berna working on her computers. She looked up and said, I can see that you didn’t have a good trip. Let’s see what I can do to help. Ra detailed all the events of his trip to the Azian ship and his feeling of being helpless in the operating room.

Bern said, You handled it much better than most would have. If you had tried to free her, both of you would have been killed. Now we know what their plan is. They’re experimenting to see if they can create a race that can live on Earth and still be part of their society. It is a different form of conquest as they’re sampling all the different races to see who is the most compatible. At that point, they will begin producing in earnest. The report of abductions is well founded and the testimony of women is not just a dream. We need to find out more, so that we can act. It could involve a full blown war here on the planet.

Ra replied, I think that we can stop it before it gets out of hand. We need to know more about their strength and numbers here on Earth. I will meet with our officers, after I have contacted the Union of Planets Council. He left the office and went to his ready room on the Control deck, where he would contact Zirus. The council would be as upset as he was over the news. After giving all the details to the Council on Zirus, they told Ra to go ahead with the plan that he had outlined to them. He had full authority to proceed as he saw fit. Ra immediately ordered a meeting of the ship’s officers.

As he mounted the dais, everyone knew that there was a problem. Sen had just completed designing a machine, that he called a Mind-Video or M-V. It was capable of playing a person’s recollections onto a screen. Ra’s mind was on the video screen, showing his experience on the Azian ship and what transpired in the operating room. The officers were all shocked at what they saw and there was a general feeling of outrage at how a society could do those things to prisoners. At this point Ra said, We must keep a cool head and correct this experiment of theirs before it gets totally out of hand. I will take a medical officer with me and go to their ship to see what happened in the time before this last experiment. I think that the answer lies behind those closed doors that we weren’t allowed to see inside. I want Lt. Nan for this mission, as she has medical expertise and combat experience. We will travel over in the early morning, as they seem to be rather inactive at that time of day. I want the time ship to be ready to assist in a rescue if necessary. Everyone else is to be at red alert. The meeting is now adjourned.

The officers left the room with grim looks on their faces at what they had seen. Ra and Nan planned their mission and secured the necessary gear. Ben and Jung prepared Mariah 2 for action if it became necessary to rescue Ra and Nan.

At 0300 hours, Ra and Nan plus the support crew assembled on the teleport deck. Last minute instructions were given by Ra, and he and Nan stood on the pads and disappeared. They appeared on the Azian ship in a cloaked status. They were again lucky, as there were no guards on duty at that hour. They were not expecting anyone to enter their ship at that time or to be invisible. Ra and Nan adjusted their breathing devices and went to the water-locks. Ra cautioned Nan to stay close to him as they searched the water filled corridors for a door that might give some clues. They hadn’t gone far when they met 3 Azians swimming along the hallway. They were apparently going on duty at the teleport room. Ra and Nan dived to the floor to avoid contact with the swimmers. They had not been discovered, as the cloaking was working great. They proceeded to a door past the operating room, as Ra was in mental contact with Nan. He opened the door, they entered a water-lock and as soon as it cleared, they entered a dry room that appeared to be a nursery.

Ra and Nan began to record what they were seeing in their minds. Those records would be played back on the V-M machine. There were several green-gowned Azians acting as nurses. Ra and Nan moved closer to some clear glass containers along the wall. They were amazed to see that in each one was an infant. They were a cross between reptilian and humanoids and had green skins, human faces and hair. Their bodies were reptilian and they had gills. Their arms and legs were human. They also had the traditional tails. They were breathing oxygen at that