Planets In Peril: Jason Jex Adventures

By Harold Amoroso

A non-stop adventure of Lieutenant Jason Jex of the Mangalan Armada. Unwillingly assigned to a mission to Earth he is unaware of the exact intentions of the others on the team. He must gather any technology that will help the Mangalan Empire without violating the policy of non-overwhelm. Who is the stranger who starts watching him almost as soon as he arrives? And how will he stop the others of his team who want to take advantage of an unsuspecting Earth population?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Harold Amoroso
• Release date: May 15, 2016
• ISBN: 9781310483141

Harold Amoroso

Harold Amoroso began writing songs and poetry in his early twenties. After many years of studying communication and the general condition of man today, he decided to write short stories and novels. It is his hope the reader will find comedy, romance, adventure and maybe even a new awareness of life from the stories he writes. He has lived mainly on the west coast of the USA and now resides in a small town in northern California.

Book preview

Forward

Language is an interesting thing. Just about any word in one language has a complementary word in another language which has the same or almost the same meaning. In writing this story I presumed that keeping the entire book in one language would be much simpler for the reader, not to mention how much easier it would be for me. Even though the Mangalan Empire uses a much different language than English, there are similarities in how it was formed. First of all, it is based on ancient Mangalan but in its modern form has been modified significantly by all the races that were assimilated by the Empire throughout its 15,000 year history. The terms year, month, day, and hour obviously are not the exact same time measure as we have on Earth, but they generally have the same meaning. This also applies for other ideas such as beauty, wealth, power, love, and many other universal concepts.

Now, on with the story!

Chapter 1

Lieutenant Jason Jex of the Mangalan Armada walked onto the bridge of the old scout ship Seekato. He was tall, blonde, and looked to be about twenty Earth years old, although he had actually lived 32 Mangalan years. He had already been in the service of the Armada for ten years with more than thirty successful research missions credited to him.

Major Brug was playing a game of card flip with his Sergeant Flappin. Shipmaster Far Markin was leaning back against the ship’s control deck idly watching. The view screens to the cold, black space outside were dim.

The Major was a member of one of the older races of the Mangalan Empire; dark skinned and burly. The somewhat overweight Major Brug looked up.

Well, Jex, are you ready for your first visit to planet Earth? he asked.

Yes. When will we be there? Jex replied, omitting the ‘sir.’ The Major looked over at Markin.

Oh, in about 20 hours. wheezed the ailing Shipmaster. The Lieutenant turned and walked off the bridge.

The diminutive and jumpy Sergeant Flappin bugged his eyes at the Major. Do you think he knows what our mission really is?

He’s got no clue. He’s just a pretty ‘Armada’ boy who follows orders. snorted Brug. He won’t be so righteous when he sees how much we get paid on a RREX project.

The Seekato’s engines rumbled steadily creating a mild vibration throughout the ship. It gave the ship life and was reassuring to the small crew. As Lieutenant Jex made his way back to his cabin he cursed the day he was attached to the Resources Research Experiment, or RREX as it was commonly known. It seemed these fellows could stand a little spit and polish.

He would have refused the assignment if it was not thoroughly explained to him by his Captain that at least one officer of the Armada was required to accompany all missions of the RREX. This was a condition put upon the organization when it was formed by Befr Skulag, the current director of RREX. The apparent purpose of the organization was to survey all nearby space for any and all resources that could be used by the Mangalan Empire.

It was well known that General Skulag left the Armada several years before gaining the authorization to form the RREX. The official reason for his leaving was retirement, but the news media made speculations of dishonorable discharge.

Jex was an atomic mechanics engineer by trade. His usual function was to study the technology of the planets visited and uncover any advanced technology that could be taken advantage of by the Empire. This was no cause for concern to the indigenous population as they were never aware of who he was, nor of his ‘borrowing’ any of their technology.

Jex decided to spend some time in the exercise cabin. A long trip on a small ship was practically intolerable without a regular workout. Even though space travel technology had advanced to interstellar, it still took a few weeks to travel the seventeen light years to this little planet called Earth.

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Sergeant Flappin was worried about the Lieutenant. What if he finds out and makes a report?

Who cares? We’re not part of his prissy Armada. I’m going to take a nap. said the Major as he lumbered off the bridge. Brug knew no report by some lowly Armada Lieutenant would effect him as his orders came directly from the RREX Director himself.

Besides, all his activities could be explained with the noble cause of finding compatible life forms to rebuild the failing genetics of many Mangalans.

Just as Brug’s head hit the pillow his door burst open and Dr. Derimstan Creep leapt to the center of the room. He looked vaguely in the direction of the Major.

Oh, great. the Major sighed.

This is going to be the greatest accomplishment of my career! Are we there yet? Just think –I’ll be in control of the entire Empire’s destiny. I’ll be the one deciding if our race will continue or die and never be seen again. Are we there yet? I can’t wait to figure out how their reproduction system works. There was a wild gleam in the doctor’s eyes which told Brug he’d been using his experimental drugs again.

Brug groaned as he got off his cot and herded Creep towards the door. He shoved Creep through the door and said Go back to your cabin and play with your knives. We’ll be there tomorrow.

Brug locked his door this time and went to sleep.

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Since Lieutenant Jex was part of the elite military members of the Mangalan Empire’s Armada he could get his job done without any approvals from the RREX organization, if you could call it that.

In preparing for any mission it was the Lieutenant’s practice to review his library of technology he had acquired while on past missions. One of the items he had installed in his cabin at the beginning of this mission was a longitudinal wave communicator. This device could send scalar wave signals in a way that traveled faster than light while on a ship traveling faster than light. He would use this when he needed to communicate with his Captain back on Mangala. He decided he would keep knowledge of this and other items he brought with him to himself for now.

Chapter 2

It was 6am on a Sunday morning as Ellen McLain sat down at the kitchen table to eat breakfast. She studied the picture on the milk carton. It was a photo of a teenage girl. The text said MISSING. Have you seen me? Ellen wondered if she would ever have any children of her own. It was a distinct possibility until her divorce a year ago. She had given the marriage her best efforts –a marriage to a boy too young and good looking for his own good. She had had to move back home to Lebanon, Indiana to live with her mom. Luckily, it was only a short drive into Indianapolis to get to work.

Ellen’s mother Doris walked in. Good morning, dear. Getting an early start today?

Yes. I hate the stress of having to hurry through the airport to catch a flight. It’s really important that I don’t miss any of the training this week in Boston. Ellen was excited to go on a trip and get away from the same mundane work schedule.

Oh, that’s right. You’ll be gone all week. I’ll make a lunch for you to take on the flight with you.

Thanks, Mom. You’re the greatest.

Doris noticed Ellen studying the picture on the milk carton.