Space Trippers Book 2: Just Passing Through

By A. Lightbourne

The adventure continues as Tim rescues an alien damsel in distress. With the ship in need of food stores, thanks to Lola and her fiasco in the hydroponics lab, the green girl leads them to a nearby trade planet. But the trade aliens seem a little too interested in Valesque for Tim and Sanic's comfort. When she goes missing it is up to them to retrace her last few hours aboard ship, and they become quite disturbed when they find much more than they bargained
for in the secret recesses of the ship's twisting corridors.

"Who dares disturb my lair?" an eerie, watery voice demanded from behind them. Tim and Sanic spun in alarm at the unexpected sound, only to be confronted
by an even more unnerving sight.
Floating in the air was the dark figure of a woman, hands raised with pointed, claw-like nails aimed at them as they stood in shock below her.

Space Trippers is a fun Sci-Fi series.

Valesque Rhaugh is a Virrilian Engineer, banished from her home planet for allegedly selling weapons to the humans. She lives a quiet life, moving from place to place and constructing new gadgets. Lately she has been living undercover in hostile Earthian territory, constructing her latest project; a state-of-the-art scientific exploration vessel.

The corrupt Earthian organization, the I.P.A. has sought control of her inventions before, but she had always turned them down flat. One determined General has now set his sights on her unfinished ship. In one fateful day he has her unarmed vessel taken over and ordered out for war duty, against her people! Worse yet, they shanghaied her as part of the crew!

When she wakes up, three days after launch, kidnapped on her own vessel, her nightmare has only just begun. Soon she discovers a sinister secret as her long lost device, the Space Tripper activates and sends them all hurtling into the unknown.

When the crew finds themselves stranded in uncharted space all fingers point at her. Can she figure out what is happening in time? Or will they all be destroyed by her own hand?

Our short-tempered heroine is reluctantly befriended by a very flirty pilot, a shy young genius, an air headed android and a suspicious alien girl found drifting in space.

But can these people be trusted? With everyone's lives on the line can she figure out who to trust, who not to and how to get them all home?

Find out in the Space Trippers series, where espionage, love triangles and hidden identities abound. As well as a generous smattering of humor as tempers and personalities collide!

A fun, light series. Each book in the series follows the next in this episodic adventure. Each stop on the continuing journey delves a little deeper into the pasts, feelings and motives of each character as the entire story begins to unfold.

• Language: English
• Publisher: A. Lightbourne
• Release date: Jan 19, 2010
• ISBN: 9781452301419

A. Lightbourne

SciFi/Fantasy writer. My writing style is light and littered with humor.

Book preview

Space Trippers

Book Two

Just Passing Through

By: A. Lightbourne

Books By A. Lightbourne

~Space Trippers Book 1~

Trippin'

The adventure begins when Valesque's unfinished ship is commandeered by the enemy, with her on board! To make matters worse she is getting blamed when her long lost device is found on the ship and strands them in uncharted space. Can she figure out what is happening in time? Or will they all be destroyed by her own hand?

~Space Trippers Book 3~

A Frosty Farewell

The ship needs water, so they are off to the nearest water trade planet.Valesque has found some disturbing secret files on one of the Upper Crewmen. Will they get the water they need? And if they do will they be going home with one less crewmate?

~Space Trippers Book 4~

Will Work For Food Parts

The ship makes its first jump home. The tracker Valesque found points her to a nearby planet. Making an excuse to stop for repair supplies, can she find her contact on the mysterious supply planet where all the technology keeps disappearing?

Copyright © 2009 A. Lightbourne.

All contents copyright © 2009 A. Lightbourne. All rights reserved. No part of this work or the related files may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the author. This work whole or in part may not be copied or distributed without prior written permission. No merchandising in any form of any character or text herein may be sold without the prior authorization of the author.

You may contact the author through her website ALightbourne.com

Any trademarks, service marks, product names or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if one of these terms is used.

Copyright © 2009 A. Lightbourne. All rights reserved worldwide.

Published by FairSpot Publishing

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 person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Book is dedicated to

All my readers, I hope you enjoy the story as much as I do.

Special Acknowledgment to:

My sweet, supportive Hubby who is the best thing in life!

Contents

Chapters

Chapter 1 : Feelings

Chapter 2 : Discoveries

Chapter 3 : Introductions

Chapter 4 : Underway

Chapter 5 : Double Cross

Chapter 6 : Seeds of Doubt

Chapter 7 : Secrets

Chapter 8 : Hunch

Chapter 9 : First Contact

Chapter 10: New Focus

Chapter One

Feelings

Captain Fairbanks nervously paced the length of her Observation Room as she reached a hand up to smooth back her taut red hair.

It was already tightly pulled back in a thick braid down the middle of her back, but she had a habit of smoothing a hand over her head whenever she was irritated.

And there was plenty to irritate her on this ship.

It had already been over twenty-four hours since they were flung to the nether-reaches of space and their first encounter with the people in this area was not what could have been called friendly.

Captain Fairbanks was getting tired of surprises, she was neither a scientist nor an explorer, she was the Captain of a battle cruiser and these little unexpected delays were really beginning to annoy her.

When she had been given her orders they boasted of this ship being an Omega S-class battle cruiser, yet everything on the entire ship appeared to be in complete disarray, from the unfinished shield emitters to the seemingly non-existent weapons systems and hamstrung engines.

Nothing was working out well for her on this mission.

They had barely cleared the Milky Way Galaxy, when their entire vessel was suddenly thrown into a space warp.

Captain Fairbanks immediately suspected the Virrilian Tech-labs Engineer who had threatened earlier to do everything in her power to keep ‘her ship’ out of the war.

Fairbanks even uncovered the truth about this same Virrilian having actually been Dr. V. Rhaugh who had invented the Space Tripper six years earlier.

That same device was the cause of their being sent to this area of space. That fact, coupled with the subsequent arrival of another ship, which the Virrilian so coincidentally happened to know just how to defeat had caused Fairbanks considerable suspicion.

She would have been more apt to believe the girl’s innocence if she had truly been killed while warding off the Pirates as had first been believed.

Instead, she had lived; getting injured just enough to put her in a deep coma like sleep, but interestingly, not enough to actually kill her.

She was to have another meeting with the suspected Virrilian in a few minutes. Fairbanks had gone to the trouble of scheduling a time and place for their discussion, figuring a controlled conference might be less likely to erupt into the kind of explosive exchange they had been having up until now.

The auburn haired Military woman let out a tense sigh as she gazed thoughtlessly out of her Observation Room windows at the unfamiliar scenery beyond.

Unconsciously rubbing her fingers over the tattooed clan ring on her left hand, she began to have a deep longing for any kind of familiar sight in the starry view, feeling very home sick and a bit helpless as she contemplated being stuck out in uncharted space with this increasingly aggravating ship and crew.

If a scientific crew suddenly found themselves stranded out here, they would probably be jumping for joy over the prospect of exploring the unknown.

Scientists and their nonsensical ways, Fairbanks scoffed.

Of course, that Virrilian Engineer, Valesque, built this ship as a scientific exploration vessel. She scowled as she glanced back into the room; it was probably mocking her right now.

As she did so, she caught sight of the bronze colored nameplate ‘I.P.A Vortex’ as it hung precariously below the registry display, looking as if it was ready to fall once again.

Showing from behind it was the ship’s original silver plate ‘I.S.A. Magellan’.

The Captain clicked her tongue in annoyance; it seemed the science vessel Magellan was taunting her, refusing to die, just like its Virrilian creator.

Fairbanks narrowed her eyes at the despised nameplate; there was one thing she could fix.

Moments later, Valesque stepped unannounced through the automatic Observation Room doors to find a most entertaining sight. The Captain was on her knees before the ship’s registry display, affixing the replacement nametag back on the wall with strips of cellophane tape in an ‘X’ pattern on each of its corners.

The Engineer could not help letting out a short, amused chortle upon witnessing this scene.

Captain Fairbanks started at the sound, instantly straightening to her full height as she hid the telling roll of adhesive behind her.

I did not hear the door chime, Ensign, Fairbanks briskly reprimanded her intruding lower officer.

That's because I didn't press it, Valesque said simply, You were the one who asked me to come here; I figured you were expecting me. But… I guess not, she noted as she eyed the primitive repair job, the tips of her sharp white fangs showing in her sarcastic grin.

She was so distracted by the incident she had walked in on she had not even noticed the Captain calling her the hated Military title.

Scientific Engineer Valesque did not care for anything military related. One reason she was exiled from her planet was for refusing to become a Virrilian Military Officer. The last thing she was going to do was become one in the Earthian Intergalactic Planetary Alliance Military.

Especially when she regarded the I.P.A disdainfully from the start.

Right now the I.P.A was at war with Valesque’s people in the Corseccan Galaxy over the Earthian’s attempts to vanquish and strip-mine a trading planet in their sector.

Moreover, the warmongering General in charge had even commandeered her new science research vessel for the cause!

It was a good thing, unbeknownst to Valesque at the time, her partner Dr. Warner had secretly installed the Space Tripper on their unfinished ship and saved them all from annihilation by an Intergalactic Police Force Viper attack ship that someone had sent to destroy them.

Valesque later found out, through a video message left by her missing partner, that the General was the one who had stolen her Space Tripper device five years prior and had been experimenting with it since.

His experiments led to the ability to retain a return path for the space warp jumps, which in turn led to his making contact with a fierce and formidable alien race thousands of light years from Earth.

This contact then made possible the aging, egotistical General’s plans for universal conquest, once he brought them to his side with Valesque’s Space Tripper and let them assimilate the sturdy Virrilians into their ranks. By all accounts, with her people’s incredible strength and ruggedness the new aliens would become virtually invincible, and thus able to assist General Gorbok in his fantastic scheme for universal reign utilizing the Space Tripper and his new army.

Valesque’s partner had learned of the plans early enough to steal a Tripper along with one of the General’s warp routes and send their vessel, along with the unwitting Valesque and the rest of the hurriedly scrapped together crew, hundreds and thousands of light years into uncharted space to stop the emerging enemy before they Tripped to Earth. He also told her of the one real hope in defeating them, an unknown Scientist who had escaped from the advancing armada.

So now, she was stuck out here, with this Military Captain and half Military, half unfortunate, shanghaied civilian crew on her unfinished, powerless and injured ship. And she was somehow supposed to stop an invading army of violent aliens like this?

As well as find, in the vastness of unfamiliar space, some Scientist who had escaped from them with their plans?

Her lot just did not seem to be getting any easier, and the more she had to deal with the stubborn, strict, military Captain, the worse it seemed to feel.

I see you are starting off with the usual insubordinate tone, Ensign Valesque, the annoying Captain began with her customary condescending attitude.

The younger woman growled her displeasure, having heard the detested title this time around.

I have told you a hundred times already, do not call me Ensign, she spat angrily, as if the Captain just called her the most loathsome, derogatory name imaginable. I am a Scientific Engineer. I am not, will not and refuse to ever be one of your crew. So can you just get that straight for once?

Fairbanks tisked her disapproval at the Virrilian girl’s very unmilitary conduct as she smoothed back her hair with her free hand. It had only been a few seconds and this was already turning into one of their usual verbal duels.

Miss Valesque, she started again in a more controlled tone as she got back to the reason for the meeting, what progress report have you brought me?

I am not sure if you could really call it a ‘progress’ report, the Engineer replied hesitantly at the sudden change in tone, as she took out her Vid-Screen, mini computer, from its holder on her hip.

She was sure the anxious Captain would not like hearing the list she had compiled of the ship’s most critical problems.

Umm…first off, Valesque restarted after tapping up the file she had made earlier, the main power supply is still charging. Sanic and I restarted it yesterday, the laser and solar absorption panels are operating at peak performance.

The Captain looked very happy to hear this, until the Engineer continued.

But…it will still take another six days before we can use the main storage cells for even a very low engine pulse.

Fairbanks scowled a bit; the experimental power source on this ship was one of the many exasperating things she had to deal with. It seemed the ship was supposed to run on a mere laser that was refracted inside of a large sphere, which was lined with light absorption panels.

The power this ‘Light Core’ produced was then stored in thousands of cells. However, so far, it did not seem to be a very promising invention, the entire system drained during the space jumps and now they had only backup power until the batteries recharged enough to run the engines.

The Captain let out a tired sigh as she again ran a hand over her slick red hair, while listening to the rest of the details.

The Biohazard detox program that was run in order to drive the Pirates away, took up a sizable chunk of our emergency power. We have approximately…ten days left at our current rate of consumption. If we don't have any more unforeseen drains we should be right on schedule for the main power to come back online before we have to get too desperate.

About half of the cleaning bots and a quarter of the construction bots were destroyed by the invaders. We started the salvageable ones on repairing each other, and we are using the inoperable bots for parts, she informed her on the next subject.

The doorways, walls, ceilings and so forth that the invaders also damaged are being worked on by some of the uninjured construction robots. As for the Space Deck’s hanger door, I am afraid we do not have a spare pressure lock door on hand, so we had to do a temporary fix with a mobile shield projector to cover the hole. It will keep anything else from being sucked out of the ship, but it would be better if we can find a replacement somewhere as soon as possible. Especially if we do another warp jump, it might be a little too fragile to survive that, the girl warned with a serious look on her pale Virrilian face.

Captain Fairbanks walked slowly back across the room to her glossy, smooth topped desk where she deposited the tape dispenser. She then looked out the large outer facing windows behind the desk, where she had been meditating earlier, as the Engineer rattled on.

Her attention span was much too short to tolerate the lengthy account the Scientist was giving her, she took it as long as she could before she had to break in.

Have the shields been finished at least? she questioned impatiently as she turned her interest back into the room, unable to bear the tedious recounting of problems a moment more.

Yes, Tim and Sanic worked on the two main emitters all night. They had some bots help install and activate them just before lunch, came the encouraging reply.

But there is something wrong with them? the Captain prodded distrustfully.

Wrong? Valesque blinked, a bit confused by the assured tone in the woman’s question. Not to my knowledge. I believe they are functioning perfectly.

Fairbanks seemed to give the girl a skeptical, slit eyed, stare before turning back to the windows.

Then why is there some sort of distorting haze around the ship? she insisted as she once again peered out into the inky region beyond. There seems to be a strange, wavy flux that is causing the stars to look rather queasy.

Valesque walked over to the room-length window in order to see for herself what the Captain was referring to.

There's nothing wrong, she stated after a moment’s observation. It's normal with this shield configuration for things to appear slightly blurry. It will not affect sensors, however, as it can be digitally removed when shown on the monitors, Valesque assured her confidently.

Normal? Captain Fairbanks challenged tetchily. It is useless to say, I know, but the standard shield configuration was perfectly sufficient, if you ask me. And did not cause any strange and nauseating distortion fields, she complained.

Everything on this ship was ‘new and improved’, which only meant it was inadequate or going to somehow operate poorly compared to the old ‘tried and true’ standard equipment she had been accustom to on other ships.

The Virrilian’s white complexion turned dark as she bared her fangs in an irritated scowl. The flux is not that noticeable, she maintained with a growl in her voice, revealing her level of annoyance at the critical assessment of her invention.

It is an extremely slight imposition for the level of protection you are getting. There are four dual-layered shields surrounding this ship, of course there will be a slight haze, the Engineer informed her angrily. But it will not affect the visuals on screen, as I already told you. There is absolutely, positively and utterly nothing wrong with them. They are perfect, Valesque retorted firmly in her thesaurus way as she narrowed her eyes at the contemptuous Military Captain. She had a habit of saying things in threes when she got irritated.

Fairbanks simply pursed her lips in continued displeasure as she stared out the Observation Room window before giving up her argument. It was not going to get her anywhere with the touchy Doctor anyway.

Speaking of the sensors, she finally replied with a forced evenness. Have we gotten any of those online yet?

No, the Virrilian told her directly, still displeased by the last critique. "Tim and Sanic barely finished the shields before our meeting. I have not been well enough to do much more than inspect the damage and needs of the rest of the ship. Therefore, I've not been able to help in many repairs. So there are no exterior probes or scanners or other sensors installed yet.

It would require someone to go outside on the ends of the array arms in order to get any of those things operational", she explained.

Fine, Fairbanks accepted. Then that will be your next priority, she ordered shortly, with no consideration for the younger woman’s state of health. Since you and Ensign Sanic seem to be the only truly, mechanically, adept crew, you two will go out and expedite their set up. In addition, you can have Lieutenant Baine pilot your Scuttle Craft for the job.

Valesque looked at the detached Captain with a slightly dropped jaw; she had apparently not heard a word she had just said about not being fit to do repairs, let alone a space walk type repair.

It will take the two of us...maybe a few days to complete all of that. Especially in my condition, the Engineer tried to argue fruitlessly.

A relieved smile flickered across the Captain’s face at hearing this; they could not get underway in order to attempt their return home for at least six more days the Virrilian had said, so this assignment taking them three days could not be considered a real problem. Yet, it would succeed in getting rid of the argumentative Engineer during that time.

Good, she said almost happily. Then, do not report back to me until it is completed. That is all, she dismissed, with absolutely no possibility of continuing the conversation.

Valesque dawdled slightly in her retreat before realizing any attempt to reason with the hardheaded Captain would be utterly futile and a complete waste of breath. If she just took her time, she could probably endure the anti-gravity assignment. Besides, it meant she would get out of having another one of these perturbing meetings for at least another three to four days. With this last blissful thought, the sore Engineer left the room with a small, satisfied smile.

Up above them the Star Deck was alive with crowded tables of friends enjoying the open dome view on their breaks. Ever since Valesque had released the cover on the transparent ceiling this deck had become a favorite hang out for off duty crewmembers.

With its low bioluminescent table lamps and breathtaking panoramic view of outer space, the room created both a casual, social atmosphere and a warm, romantic setting at the same time.

Among the groups sprinkled about the deck was one small twosome off to themselves within view of the Hydro-lift bays.

Almost as soon as Sanic had sat down here to have his lunch break he was joined by Cecil, who had slithered over uninvited upon seeing him.

Cecil was a rather cold, conceited reptilian man who was in charge of the ship’s Astral Navigation department.

He wore a simple pocketed vest and a silver collar that lighted in intricate patterns and colors when he talked, but so far, Sanic was the only one who could read the device. He had been assigned to many vessels but no one had ever been able to decipher his translation collar before this.

After that Cecil seemed to have taken a liking to Sanic, which was rare considering he never seemed to think much of anyone other than himself, probably feeling the young Etherian was a co-conspirator with him in his disgust for everyone else. He had been so accustomed to no one being able to understand him that he had gotten in the habit of hissing out whatever biting, insulting remarks that came into his head.

Fortunately, for him, Sanic did not repeat his venomous comments when he translated between Cecil and the other crewmembers.

Sanic sat here in view of the Hydro-lift bays hoping for a glimpse of the pretty Virrilian Engineer. Instead, he was joined by the scaly Serpantial, which pretty much put a damper on anyone else wanting to sit with him, since everyone found the snake man to be thoroughly annoying.

Let alone could they not understand a word he said, but it seemed as if he was constantly mocking them with his long hissing laugh. Ssssss...sssss...ssssss...sssss, he would snicker as he scrunched up his beady snake eyes after saying something that Sanic did not care to repeat.

Sanic could not really blame them for taking a dislike to the reptilian Navigator.

He only hoped he could get rid of Cecil as quickly as possible, so that if his dream girl did show up she would not be put off, and possibly consent to join him for lunch.

I am surprised to see you up here, Cecil, the young Etherian remarked, as he tried not to scowl at his new ‘friend’. I thought you hated this Deck. Yesterday I believe you had called it ‘showy and repulsive’ , he reminded him.

Cecil’s forked tongue flicked the air as he sat his tray down on the table. He paused for a moment as he regarded the room again, his small, round eyes slowly panning the groups of happy crewmembers enjoying the ambiance and good company the Star Deck afforded. It isssssss very sssssshowy and tasssstlessss, Cecil reaffirmed haughtily.

His brown scaly skin shined slightly green from the bioluminescent light on the table as he turned his head.

But it hasssss the besssst view of the starsssss with the blindssss open, he declared in his defense.

As he was the ship’s Astral Navigator he had a definite affinity for a starry view, and this deck had proved to be the best panoramic observation spot he had ever seen on a ship. Despite its overly welcoming atmosphere, and always being occupied by annoying, clueless humanoids.

Sanic laughed at this typical Cecil reply. He always had something negative to say.

So this is now your favorite area of the ship although you refuse to admit it? the amused young Ensign observed, as his companion slid his long Serpential body into the seat opposite him.

It is pretty much my favorite place too, he added with a smile. "Of course, this ship