War of the Gods, Book 2: Katrina

By Jonathan Penroc

Shipwrecked fugitives from a war-torn Earth
and Zoroaster, the blood-thirsty, evil disciple of
the ancient god Ahura-Mazda, a small band of
wretched humans led by Kanati must find
refuge after their damaged spaceship crashes
on an unknown world filled with dangerous
creatures and mystic beings. Are these mystic
beings friends or foe?
Desperately seeking aid in what he expects
to be an inevitable confrontation with
Zoroaster's god, Kanati receives a cryptic
message from an unexpected source, his
Cherokee grandmother that he believes is back
on Earth: "Look to the young!"
What do these strange words mean? How
can he and his fellow fugitives, unarmed and
inexperienced, survive the alien threats against
them and solve the mystery of the message?
Will it be before Zoroaster finds them?
Join our valiant band of Earthlings as they
face one threat after another in their struggle
just for existence in
War of the Gods-Katrina.

• Language: English
• Publisher: W & B Publishers
• Release date: Jun 16, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310592713

Book preview

War of the gods

Book 2

Katrina

By

Jonathan Penroc

W & B Publishers

New Jersey***North Carolina

War of the Gods, Book 2: Katrina © 2014. All rights reserved by Jonathan Penroc

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any informational storage retrieval system without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

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ISBN: 978-0-6922314-0-1

ISBN: 0-6922314-0-4

Book Cover designed by Dubya

Prelude

As the crippled space liner containing dead, dying and unconscious people from Earth continued on its unguided path, the speeding ship began to near a space object many times larger than any asteroid and thousands of times larger than the maimed vehicle. The spacecraft began to respond to a slight pull of gravity emitting from the gigantic mass, which was equally as large as any planet in the universe; several times larger than the planet Earth. The drawing power of the planet began to strongly affect the spacecraft's undirected flight. The liner shifted its direction slightly, headed closer to this new entity. The nearer the space vehicle came to the huge planet, the stronger became the gravitational pull and the more direct the movement toward the orb until the damaged nose cone was pointed at the very center of the large globe.

As the spacecraft neared the planet, the rotation of the planet – obviously following an orbit around some gravity attraction stronger than its own – continued in its circular path. This movement was taking the planet out of the direct path of the damaged space vessel that was now hurtling toward the orbiting body. Just as it seemed that the space liner might miss making contact altogether, the gravity effect on the vessel became stronger, drawing the spacecraft into the atmosphere of the planet.

Another spark flashed in the mangled controls of the vehicle. Retro rockets fired a short burst and then a second, turning the stern of the vehicle toward the planet as the gravitational pull grew. The firing of the retro rockets slowed the descent, just as the solid-fuel engineers had intended. The vehicle headed for a stern-first landing on the surface. At the last minute, another spark was generated in the brain of the crippled on-board computer and the space liner realigned itself, horizontal to the surface, landing carriage and wheels dropping and locking into place. A perfect instrument landing, that is, perfect except for two occurrences. First, only the landing wheels on one side of the carriage locked causing the entire landing platform to collapse under the weight of the massive spacecraft. This failure sent the vessel scooting along the surface on its side – or rather, its belly. The second malfunction was that the retro rockets, almost empty of fuel, did not shut off as the brain in the computer finally failed completely. The thrust from the rockets increased the speed at which the landed craft was traveling along the surface. Fortunately, the surface was reasonably flat and level as the liner had landed on a desolate, sandy tract of some sort. Level at least for a while. The craft came to an abrupt halt when, still traveling at speed, the uncontrolled vehicle's nose, already seriously damaged by the collision in space, was totally destroyed by the massive crag of solid stone which lay directly in the liner's path. The tremendous roar of the crash went unheard by its dead and unconscious human cargo. At the meeting of an immovable object and a rapidly moving body, the force caused the tail section, the worker's compartment full of mangled, twisted and broken bodies, to lift high into the air as if trying to leap the gigantic rock and then slam back to the surface, bouncing one more time. Everything lay quiet, still, unmoving.

Part 2

Chapter One

Something warm and wet dropping on Kanati’s face roused him, causing him to twist his head in order to avoid the falling moisture. Drops of the liquid ran down his face to his lips. His parched tongue tried to absorb the dampness only to find it salty. Gentle hands were holding him, caressing him. Stirring and beginning to awaken, Kanati realized that his head was lying on something soft, something yielding and warm. With an effort, he opened his eyes, squinting against the dim light, his blurred vision focusing on the image of a woman's face above him, looking down at him. It was a visage that he vaguely remembered, only this one had smudges of dried blood on its cheeks and forehead as well as dirty, dark streaks criss-crossing the face, smudging the loveliness beneath. His senses returned, as he realized that his head was cradled in Pania Roel's lap, his head cushioned by her soft legs.. The moisture on his face that had awakened him, her tears, as she wept, crooned and caressed his aching head and bleeding brow.Oh! You're awake! At last. Kanati felt her body—tense with fear—relax as he regained consciousness. The tension went out of her legs that had been taut beneath his head.

You're all bloody and everything. I thought you would never wake up, that you were badly hurt, or perhaps you were even dying. Her sobbing began to come under control as she realized that Kanati was not as badly injured as it had first appeared.

Wha…What… Kanati tried to speak, his voice slurred. And then started again.

What happened? Even as he posed the question, his memory was beginning to return.

I don't know, The sobbing woman responded, the flow of tears slowing and the sobs that were causing her to shudder began to ease. I believe we must have crashed or something. I woke up a little while ago and you looked like you were broken in two.

Wher—wher—Where the heck are we? Kanati tried to move, finding that he ached in every part of his body, as if everything and every muscle had been strained and sprained at the same time.

Don't move. Pania Roel cautioned, her hands restraining Kanati, then releasing him as he persisted in his efforts to shift his body. You've had quite a blow to your head, it's still all bloody.

Kanati lifted his aching head and leaned forward. He saw that he had left a large, bloody stain on Pania Roel's thighs where his head had been cushioned. No wonder it had felt like a soft and warm pillow.

So long as it's not my brains. Kanati winced as his fingers probed the top of his head and then the back, sensing several bumps, one much larger than the others. A laceration had gashed the larger node, burning as Kanati’s fingers explored the cut. Blood was still oozing from the wound, having slowed to a slight trickle and beginning to clot. Some of the blood—caked and hard— had matted Kanati’s hair. The seeking fingers determined that the laceration was not serious nor deep enough to be of any concern. Oozing blood, yes, but nothing serious.

Kanati’s memory was fully aware now. He recalled that he and Pania Roel and the others had been on a space voyage to Mars and that the vehicle pilot had received instructions to return Kanati and his friends to Earth to face an inquisition about a dead sentinel. Kanati had faked an adjustment to the magnetic drive system and had secretly slipped a small magnet onto the vessel's inertia navigational guidance system just before he, Molefi and Alan had been seized and imprisoned along with Pania Roel and Mai Te in the steel cells at the rear of the spacecraft by the Commander of Zoroaster's sentinels.. There had been some fifty sentinels on the vessel, on their way to conquer a small United States research outpost on Mars. The misguided spacecraft, evidently as a result of Kanati’s tampering with the guidance system must have collided with something large during its return flight to Earth.

Molefi… Mai Te? Alan? He wondered, not realizing that he had spoken aloud as he rolled over onto his knees and, gripping one of the steel bars of his former prison, leveraged himself to a standing position. His senses were reeling, forcing him to hold onto the steel bar for support as Pania Roel helped support him on the other side. It was at that moment he realized the locks on the doors to the cells had evidently been sprung by the crash, and were standing ajar, allowing Pania Roel to come to his side. Teetering for a while, he maintained his grip on the bar to keep from falling. He sensed some small amount of energy returning; still he maintained his hold until his sense of balance was restored. He stood there, looking around. The scene that met his eyes was like unto a war field. The results of a bomb could not have been worse, bodies everywhere, twisted and bent, broken and bloody. There were bleeding and torn body parts strewn here and there throughout the compartment. He could hear a few faint noises from the crumpled mass of humanity. Hearing a painful groan to his right, he looked down and could see Molefi's wet face, grimaced in agony, still unconscious, or almost. There was a swelling the size of a large egg in the center of his forehead, blood oozing from a small cut. Heavy beads of perspiration streamed from his glistening visage.

As Kanati stood, holding the steel pole and unable to offer a helping hand, he saw Molefi's eyes open, unfocused, unseeing. He could see that the eyes were trying to focus themselves. Realizing that he was a blurred vision to the eyes that were becoming clearer by the minute, Kanati finally saw that recognition began dawn in his friend's expression.

Lying prone, Molefi, with pain in his voice, uttered a few words that were not clear to Kanati.

What did you say? Kanati still held the cell bar as he leaned over to examine the knot on Molefi's face.

What did you hit me with? Molefi growled in words that were still slurred.

Kanati gave a short laugh of relief that abruptly stopped, pain shooting throughout his body at the effort. As he stood swaying, he was finally able to let go of the steel bar, keeping his balance with some effort. He started to step forward then stopped in his tracks as he realized that Mai Te was still crumpled, lying inert and unmoving, on the floor of the adjoining cell that had held the two women.

Mai Te? Molefi gasped, his voice dry and raspy. Where is Mai Te?

Kanati reeled into the other cell, the door having been warped and twisted by the vicious convulsions of the space liner. Groaning with pains that lanced throughout every part of his body, he knelt beside Mai Te just as Molefi, crawling on his hands and knees, reached the other side of the prone woman, followed by Pania Roel. With trembling fingers, Kanati reached out and touched the nape of Mai Te's neck and determined there was a pulse, although rapid and faint. And that the unconscious woman was breathing, light and shallow.

Pania Roel had come into the cell behind the crawling Molefi, her clothes hanging loose and floppy, the bundles of padding that caused the clothes to fit tightly having fallen away. She knelt, running her fingers over the inert body of her friend that was lying there in a heap with her head somehow awry. Did Mai Te break her neck…but, no, probing fingers determined that the bones were intact, the spinal discs aligned. However, it was obvious there was a major problem. Mai Te had badly injured her shoulder, possibly even crushed the joint, as the position of her body could attest. Pania Roel was reluctant to move the unconscious Mai Te, afraid that she might cause further injury. Taking the rolls of padding that had loosened, she packed the rolls around her friend's still body, trying to ease the arms and legs back into position, noting the spasms caused by pain as she tried to align the mangled shoulder. She noticed an oppressive, stifling odor just as Molefi lifted his tortured gaze from Mai Te, sniffed the heavily laden air once, then twice and then spoke.

Phew! What's that disgusting odor?

Kanati had also noticed the intrusive stench. It smelled worse than a garbage heap that had not been emptied for weeks, or possibly even months. He realized the source and tried not to inhale deeply, telling his kneeling friends, That's the smell of death.

He and his two conscious companions realized the sickening odor was being caused by bladders emptying and bowels voiding as death had overtaken many, if not all, of the workers who had been flung about the cabin. While the three of them were not aware of the mid-space collision and resulting whiplash tumbling action of the space liner, they could see that something had created a mass of torn, bleeding, dead and dying humanity. Many bodies were crushed against one another and others mashed against the sturdy steel walls of the space vehicle.

God! This from Molefi who, coming to his feet and holding onto one of the cage bars to keep from falling, looked over Kanati’s shoulder at the catastrophic scene that greeted his eyes. Merciful Heavens! he continued. Is anyone alive?

Abruptly he turned and joined Kanati in a corner of the cell as Kanati, overcome by the rotten air was violently vomiting. Everything the men contained spilling from their stomachs as they knelt, unable to move further away before being overcome with nausea.

There was no response from the regurgitating Kanati who was still on his knees, letting the faint indications of life from the massed bodies answer Molefi's question.

Kanati began to realize the spacecraft was motionless, evidently having landed somewhere. Mars, perhaps, or it could be that the stricken