First Contact (Rebirth #1)

By Eric Filler

Captain Lisa Shaw and the crew of the Explorer are taking humanity’s first steps outside of the solar system. They arrive at their destination only to encounter an alien ship bent on destroying them and all other life in the galaxy. Now Lisa and the survivors of her crew have to find a way to escape from the aliens and warn Earth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Planet 99 Publishing
• Release date: Dec 5, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301270927

Book preview

First Contact

by Eric Filler

Copyright 2012 Eric Filler

Published by Planet 99 Publishing at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Chapter One

The planet was perfect. It had high, rugged mountains and dry, barren deserts that covered half of its surface. Water was scarce and the air was barely breathable. Towards the poles were savannahs of tall grasses and a few trees dotted the area. There were a few dense forests scattered about, mostly near small hills that rose from the deserts. It was a habitable, yet harsh world that housed no intelligent life of any kind. It was perfect for mankind’s first terraforming expedition.

Captain Lisa Shaw looked out the forward viewport of the starship Explorer. She glanced down at the brown planet hanging against the backdrop of deep space. She shifted her gaze to the freighter Pioneer, which was to her right. While the Explorer was filled with soldiers and weapons, the Pioneer carried three hundred scientists who were to ‘make mountains out of mole hills and mole hills out of mountains’, as the terraformers liked to say. Lisa had her doubts about the expedition. It was the first trip out of the Solar System, and who knew what she and her command would encounter out here. The Explorer was one of about twenty cruisers in the United Earth Alliance’s fleet of starships. It was one of the most powerful ships in Earth’s inventory, and yet Lisa had a feeling that she had been sent out here because she and her ship were expendable.

She shook away her doubts and looked over at the officer who handled the communications equipment, Ensign Laurie Terraz. Signal all units to deploy and secure the landing area, Lisa commanded. Terraz nodded and then the intercom system in the ship sounded.

Attention all units, deploy and secure the landing zone. Repeat, deploy and secure the landing zone! Soldiers scrambled to shuttles that would ferry them to the surface, armed with laser rifles and wearing thick olive armor. Soon the deployment was underway and the thruster trails of the shuttles could be seen as they left the ship behind. Lisa watched them go down, uninterestedly. It seemed so anticlimactic after such a long journey to have to wait for the shuttles to get down to the surface of the planet. She turned away and paced near the window, hands clasped behind her back as she thought about her mission.

She didn’t like being out here with only her ship and the transport. There was so much that could go wrong, and it would take months or years before anyone could get out to help them or find them. She knew that under these circumstances any captain would be nervous, but she was especially so because the Explorer was her first command and she had worked too hard to lose it now.

She had taken command of the ship about five years ago after she had been promoted to captain. She had served for nearly seven years in Washington, working for United Earth Alliance Command under her mother, the admiral in charge of Earth’s space fleet. It had been an experience she didn’t want to repeat. Hanging around bureaucrats all day wasn’t her idea of fun; she liked the freedom of space a lot more. She had spent a couple of tours on small ships when she had first graduated the Academy, but once she had reached Lieutenant Commander she had been sent down to Earth. She shivered as she thought about it and in a way was glad she was out here right now, at least she was far away from all of that. Still, she would much rather have had an armada of ships to back her up in case something bad happened. She turned back to the window, watching the last shuttles leave the hangar.

Ensign Terraz crossed the bridge to where her friend, and fellow Academy class graduate, Ensign Jack Laurants, was stationed. Laurants coordinated the sensors that swept the area for danger. He turned and smiled at her. They both snuck a glance at Lisa, who was turned away from them. So, how long until we leave this dirtball and head back for Earth? Laurants asked.

I’d say we’ve got at least another week here to make sure that the colonists get settled in and the ground units get set up. I just wish that this place had some life or something so that we could get some shore leave to stretch our legs before we have to leave for Earth, Terraz replied, sitting down in a spare seat next to him and nodded.

Yeah, some shore leave would be nice. Six months with nothing but recycled air and these dingy corridors makes you wish for some fresh air, Laurants remarked and they laughed quietly. Terraz was a native of Los Angeles, and used to tight and dirty conditions while Laurants, who was raised in the Yukon in Canada with its clean air and open expanses, was much less suited to life aboard a starship for months at a time.

I doubt the captain would allow it though, Terraz snuck another glance at Lisa and sighed. Captain Shaw had not said one personal remark to either of the young ensigns since they had boarded the ship, and they doubted that she would be so kind as to let them have a few days to relax. Still, there was no protocol for this kind of mission, so there was a small possibility. Terraz made a note to talk to the First Officer about it, since she seemed to have a little more pull. You know, it’s a real disappointment to come all this way just to drop some scientists off on a planet with no intelligent life. This wasn’t exactly the kind of mission I had in mind when I signed up.

I’d have much rather been assigned to a ship around Mars or the lunar colony, where the action is. When I boarded, I thought we were going to have some kind of adventure, but this has been nothing but a really long milk run. Intercepting space pirates is a lot more interesting than this, Laurants assented. It was then that they noticed a third person coming over.

I think you two should stop daydreaming and get back to work, Lieutenant Susan Sanders, the ship’s helmsman, scolded.

We were just...discussing a few related issues, Lieutenant. Care to join us? Terraz replied.

Sure, there’s nothing better to do. Anyway, I’m sure that you two were discussing the possibility of shore leave. Being a little higher on the chain of command, I can tell you that it isn’t going to happen, Sanders whispered conspiratorially.

That’s what we thought. Any reason why? Laurants asked.

From the scuttlebutt I’ve heard, the captain doesn’t think that we should go down there while the scientists are working, it could screw things up with the terraforming.

Figures she’d take their side. What about us, don’t we deserve a little time off after being cooped up here? After all, most ships have six-month rotations before the crew is let off to resupply. We’ve been out for that time, so we should get some R & R, Terraz protested.

Trust me, it isn’t going to happen. If the scientists don’t want us down there, that’s it. They’ve got top billing on this mission, we’re just the escort. So, if I were you two, I’d stop worrying about it and get back to work before the captain sees you slacking off, Sanders walked away and Terraz knew that she was right.

I’ll see you after shift, she casually left Laurants alone and eased over to her own station across the bridge. Even though there wasn’t any real work to do, they still had to look busy. Laurants checked the sensors and yawned; it was definitely a boring day.

Nearby, a lone ship cruised along on a seemingly never-ending journey. The ship was unlike anything that humans had ever encountered before. It was six miles in length and over two miles wide. It was shaped like a long, rounded box and its surface was covered with weapons and equipment. It had just entered the Rygan system and even now its passive sensors could see the two human vessels in orbit.

The commander of the alien vessel was overjoyed at the sight of the ships. After months of traveling through barren space, they had finally found something. It was going to be his lucky day. He signaled one of the crew around him to ready the active sensors to scan for life on the brown world.

First Lieutenant Amanda ‘Manny’ Rosaro cradled her laser rifle in her arms as she rode down to the surface in the shuttle. She wished that she didn’t have to be strapped in, it prevented her from moving more than an a centimeter in any direction. She managed to move her head enough to look over at the rest of her platoon. Their faces were masks of unconcern, as was her. Even though they were strapped in, most of them were chatting loudly, which was against regulations, but they did it anyway. She had never really had her men stick to the rules; rules were too restrictive. Sitting next to her was her second-in-command, Sergeant Alex Davis. He was a muscular man with a deep tan and black hair that was hidden under his olive helmet. His eyes were closed, but she could tell that he wasn’t really asleep. Like her, he was trying to put on a good face for the others. Everyone was a little nervous whenever they left the ship on a mission, but his was a routine mission, no one expected to encounter any resistance. Her Fifth Platoon had been selected for securing the most treacherous, mountainous terrain on the planet. It was the worst assignment, and she wondered why the brass had singled her platoon out for that mission.

It was probably from their track record. In the past year her platoon had been reprimanded nine times and half of the platoon’s ten members had been disciplined. It was only logical that they would draw the worst assignment. It was something she and her men were used to. The only reason that her platoon was still around was that it had been decorated eight times in the past two years.

Her platoon was the one that had helped settle the Martian War by destroying the rebel’s headquarters. They had also defended the lunar colony from interstellar pirates. They had been responsible for saving the president of the Alliance from an assassination plot. They were too valuable to get rid of, but they weren’t perfect soldiers. Manny leaned her head up against the wall of the shuttle as it shook violently. Must be entering the atmosphere, Manny thought and closed her eyes for a brief nap. Unlike Davis, she actually did sleep.

Davis looked over at his slumbering commander, feeling a little nervous. He had been a soldier for nearly twenty years and had seen just about everything in the Solar System. Coming out here and heading for an unknown world made him worry. Anything could happen, and if it did, they were a long way from home. He thought of his parents in Sacramento and knew that they were very worried about him. He hadn’t seen them before leaving, but he knew that they were concerned about him whenever he was out of communications range, which was most of the time.

He did, however, know that he and the rest of the platoon were in good hands. Manny had been in charge for a couple of years now, and the platoon had never performed better. She was a daring, capable soldier and inspired those under her command. That was probably why almost the entire platoon had survived the Martian War while others had been decimated. Still, there were new faces in the group and Davis knew that rookies could always make mistakes when it counted. Not even the best commander could do anything about it.

Commander Arsa Veranda sat at her station on the bridge of the Explorer, bored. She looked around her and saw that nearly everyone else was bored too. She couldn’t blame them, there was really nothing for the Explorer to do until it recovered its troop shuttles, and that would be days from now. So, all there was to do was sit and wait. The captain stood by the front viewport, silently watching the Pioneer as it entered low orbit. Arsa was worried about her friend. Lisa had been quiet for most of this voyage, almost as if something was bothering her. Arsa hadn’t talked to her yet, but she knew that she would have to soon.

Maybe, Arsa pondered, she’s just homesick or something. This is the first time that we’ve been far away from other ships and Earth won’t even register on long-range sensors. On their other missions, it had just been short runs between Pluto and Jupiter, Earth was always nearby, it didn’t feel so far away. But now they were in an entirely new system and were far away from anyone or anything familiar. Arsa sighed and stood up. She had to talk to Lisa now, before it was too late.

She walked across the open space of the bridge and tapped her captain on the shoulder. Lisa turned and saw Arsa behind her. Can we talk for a few minutes? She asked and Lisa nodded. They left the bridge and went down to an empty conference room. Lisa sat down and Arsa made some coffee for the both of them.

What’s this about? The captain asked tiredly. She hadn’t slept in a long time and there were circles under her green eyes.

I just wanted to know what’s eating you. There must be something, Arsa said and handed Lisa a coffee cup.

It’s nothing really, I’m just tired, Lisa replied. Arsa didn’t look convinced. There’s no fooling her, she thought and pressed on. It’s just that being out here, I feel so...so out of the loop. Like we were dumped out here or something.

Well, we were, in a way. But our mission is important. When we come back, we’ll all be heroes, Arsa smiled and took a sip of coffee. She rubbed her tired brown eyes and hoped that her friend cheered up.

I don’t think so. I think that the brass has it in for me. Think of all our other missions. None of them had any real significance. Even during the Martian War we were on deep space patrol around Jupiter. We’ve always been out of the action. And this time it seems that they put us as far out as they could. Lisa knew that Arsa wouldn’t believe her, but it was true. She had seen the evaluations on herself. She had been described as ‘a captain lacking initiative and creativity, follows regulations, plays by the book, not a natural leader’. She knew that she was cautious at times, but she had been brought up to follow the rules. Her parents were both in the military, her father a general and her mother an admiral, and she had followed the tradition. Still, there were many who thought that she shouldn’t be a captain, that she had got her position from her parents. That wasn’t true, she had been forced to work twice as hard as anyone else to overcome that fact.

But here she was, stuck out in the middle of nowhere. She knew that people back home thought her and her ship expendable. Although powerful, the Explorer was one of the older ships of its class and its captain was less than respected by everyone. So, if they encountered some problems out here, who better to lose than her and her ship? She sighed and wished that she was back home. Arsa frowned and took a quick look outside one of the windows in the room.

Don’t worry about it, when we come back, you’ll show them the kind of captain you really are. Then they’ll be putting you right in the thick of things.

I doubt it. They’ve got it in for me, because I chose to come out into space, instead of stay back home on nice safe Earth. Since then, my mother’s wanted to do something like this to me, to prove her point.

What point is that?

That I can’t handle it, that I’m not starship captain material. She wants me to be one of those ass-kissing admiral’s aides until I can get promoted again. That’s not what I want to do. I want to be out in space, maybe not this far, but I want to be out in the stars. So, now I am.

You don’t really believe that your mother would hold a grudge for five years and send you on this mission because she wants to punish you. That’s insane!

She’s done stuff like that before. I wouldn’t put it past her.

I think you’re getting a little paranoid. You need some rest.

I guess you’re right. Well, we’d better get back before someone misses us, the two women set aside their coffee and went back to the bridge. Lisa’s thin, tall frame sank into the captain’s chair, and she felt even more tired than before.

Chapter Two

Manny unstrapped and opened the hatch of the shuttle. She ran from it with her weapon raised. She soon saw that there was nothing but sand around her and lowed the rifle’s muzzle. The rest of her platoon gathered around her and heaved sighs of relief. No one reflected on the fact that they were the first humans to step foot on a planet outside of the Solar System, there was too much to do.

All this way and there ain’t nothin’ here, Private Luis Sanchez groaned. He was one of the battle-hardened veterans that was always looking for a fight.

Sorry to disappoint you. Let’s move out, Manny called and took her group to the base of the mountains they had to climb. From her webbed belt she took a small gun that contained a grappling hook. She aimed for a cliff up the mountain and fired. The hook shot up and caught on the rocks. Manny pulled the rope a couple of times to make sure that it would hold before she began to scramble up it. She grunted a little, carrying over a hundred pounds of equipment and armor on her back, but soon she was used to the weight and made it easily up to the cliff.

Davis came up next, followed by the others. Manny surveyed the terrain and saw that the mountains were steep, but there was a narrow path that went up. Her platoon, weapons leveled, had spread out and secured the area. Manny wasn’t surprised when Davis told her that they hadn’t found anything. She hadn’t even seen any animals up here. She took her binoculars and looked up the path. She couldn’t see anything and decided that they may as well risk going up the narrow path, even though it would mean traveling in single file. She gave the hand signal to move out and the platoon continued up the mountain.

Sanchez took point, followed by Manny and Davis, and then the rest of the platoon. A relative newcomer, Corporal Harry Beffis, was at the rear, nervously sweeping his rifle right and left. The soldiers continued their upward trek, not finding anything. This is the most boring planet I’ve ever been on! Sanchez groaned. For some reason, Manny had a sinking feeling about that.

On the bridge of the Explorer, Laurants stared at the long-range sensor display in confusion. Something was blocking his scan of the outermost planets of the system. It could be some sort of natural disruption, or it could be another ship jamming the scan. He fiddled with his instruments for a few seconds and then looked over towards Arsa, who was the most senior officer on the bridge at the moment.

Commander! Take a look at this, Arsa hurried over and studied the display. It seemed odd that the scan was being blocked by something out there. It wasn’t really anything important right now, but if it moved towards the ship, then it could become a problem.

Yellow Alert! Call Captain Shaw to the bridge! Arsa commanded and took the captain’s chair. Being so far from home, Arsa knew that it paid to be cautious. After all, if there was trouble, then there would be no one

Reviews for First Contact (Rebirth #1)

[thomas rea · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wow what a story read it all in one day just couldn't put it down till I finished