Pilot: Commanders Of The Galaxy, #1

By David Payton Jr.

Darren and Kaylee are mistakenly taken by a probe, to an alien ship. Stranded, they must navigate their new environment, while facing a totalitarian force called The Imperium, who are bent on dominating the known galaxy. Will Darren and Kaylee find their way home, or are they doomed to fight in a war that's not their own?

• Language: English
• Publisher: David Payton Jr.
• Release date: Sep 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9781549625275

Book preview

David Payton Jr.

Disclaimer

The following is a work of fiction. Names, places, organizations, events, people, incidents, works, etc. are either used fictitiously, or come from the imagination of the author.

Any similarities or resemblance to actual events, organizations, people; living or dead, places, names, incidents, works, etc. are purely coincidental.

Introduction

THANK YOU VERY MUCH for your purchase! I’m very thrilled, as a writer and author, that my work has made it into not only book form, but also into your hands as a reader. I do hope that you can find enjoyment in this work, and in extension, I also hope that you might consider buying future works from me as well.

In this introduction, I’d like to tell you a little about why Commanders Of The Galaxy came to be, and why it’s one of my favorite concepts to date.

Commanders Of The Galaxy came to be as a result of what I consider a ‘gap’ in the science fiction community. Sure, plenty of people have written many, many science fiction works, and it is, by no means, a small community. Nonetheless, it felt, to me, as if there was a hole in the genre; a place where towering works once stood as shining examples, that today, just don’t seem like what they once were. It was, and is, my opinion that we need new works, not so much to replace what I perceive to be lost, but rather, to add to it. Instead of looking to a single source for what we want, we could look to multiple sources, or write our own original work, where the ideas are re-imagined, but retained. Instead of being disappointed by a single source, we could create our ideal adventure, and the technology to do this is readily available today in ways that, when I was a child, I could never have imagined. The tools I wanted years ago, are now at my fingertips, and I certainly have no lack of imagination, as anyone who knows me personally can tell you.

Commanders Of The Galaxy is my answer to this void, this ‘gap’. It’s also meant to be an easy read, while slowly setting up the overall story that we’ll come to know in the series.

This has become one of my favorite concepts, largely because it has a lot of what I want in a work. The Pilot is certainly only the beginning of this ever-expanding concept and series, and it creates the foundation of what’s to come.

One of the things you may notice in this book is the fact that I slowly introduce the characters that we will come to know, including the main antagonist. This style may not necessarily be to everyone’s liking, but I feel it adds to the overall work.

Once again, thank you, and I hope you enjoy!

~D.P. Jr.

Chapter One

Arrival

DARREN, A THIRTY-YEAR-old computer expert, sat at his desk, typing on his laptop, speaking with a customer regarding computer repair. He had short brown hair, brown eyes, wore thin-rimmed glasses and a pinstripe shirt with blue jeans. He occasionally got bored with his work as a tech repair geek, but it earned him enough to pay his rent.

He typed some words on the screen, ‘The problem you have is your CPU Core, it’s shot. I’ll have to replace it to fix the computer, but it will cost a bit.’

The screen flickered in the dimly lit room, the time on a nearby clock read ‘12:42 am’. The customer replied, ‘Damn! I knew I shouldn’t have run that program on it, it’s pretty low-end. How much is this going to cost me?’

Darren let out a slight laugh, typing more as he did, ‘Three hundred. That doesn’t include installation and the work itself.’

There was a pause for a few moments, then the customer replied, ‘I’ll have to let you know, I’m not sure if I can get that kind of money right now.’

Darren nodded to himself, reading it and typing, ‘No pressure, if you can’t afford it, you can pick up your laptop anytime. Or, if you’re not sure, I could hold onto it while you figure out your financial situation. I can hold it at no extra cost.’

The customer replied after a minute, ‘That’s ok, I can come pick it up in the morning. How much do I owe you for the inspection?’

Darren shook his head and smiled at the thought, ‘Nothing. I don’t charge for inspection of a device unless it takes over a day,’ he typed.

‘Great! I’ll be by in the morning to pick it up, how’s eleven sound?’ the customer responded.

Darren typed quickly, ‘Yeah, that’s fine.’ The conversation ended a few moments later. The next morning, he awoke at ten thirty. Noting the fact that he overslept, he quickly got up, and over the next fifteen minutes, he had showered, gotten dressed, and started cooking his breakfast. His apartment was a basic, one-bedroom apartment that consisted of a den, bedroom, front hallway, and kitchen, most of which was opened up. As he finished making his breakfast, there was a knock at the door. He walked over to the door and opened it, revealing a very cute young woman with black hair and blue streaks. She was wearing a revealing futuristic outfit that showed off some cleavage, but not inappropriately. It was an outfit that made a point of being atypical. Hi, Darren muttered, surprised by her appearance.

Hi, said the young woman, I’m ‘Synapse’, I’m here for my laptop. Her posture was relaxed, and subtle, but she was obviously eye-catching.

Wow, said Darren, quickly gathering himself, Er, um. Yeah, sorry, come on in.

Should I buy a boat first, or are you done drooling? she joked and laughed as she walked in. Darren closed the door and followed behind, gesturing to her laptop. She picked it up, carrying it under her arm, Listen, I think I might be able to afford this fix after all. I talked to some friends, they loaned me the three hundred, but I was wondering if you could help me out with the rest? Like, a payment plan, maybe?

He nodded and opened his refrigerator, pulled out some orange juice and two glasses, Yeah, I mean, I have no reason to doubt you can pay over time, so we can do that. Orange juice? he offered to her.

She nodded, Sure, why not? He poured her a glass, and she took it, taking a drink of it. They both sat down at the table to discuss the deal, the laptop being placed on the counter nearby.

After about a half hour of negotiations, the two reached an agreement. Good! said Darren, I’ll install it as soon as it comes in, and you can pay for the rest over the next few months.

Thank you so much, said the young woman. By the way, what’s your name? she asked him curiously, having only heard his PC handle.

Darren. he responded as he cleaned up the dishes, Yours? he asked in return, I think it would be a bit odd calling you ‘Synapse’ all the time.

Kaylee, she laughed. She got up and turned up the volume on the TV, where a flash news report was playing. On the screen was a video of a diamond shaped UFO. Darren, look at this, she said. He looked over at the TV and was amazed at what was being shown. I love UFO stuff, said Kaylee.

Yeah, me too, said Darren as he watched.

A male news anchor could be heard giving a report, ...and we’re getting reports that it’s very loud, it’s loud enough to knock out our microphone audio on-site. Again, this is reporting from downtown Warrenville, heading east-bound toward Georgetown, said the anchor.

It’s coming here! said Kaylee, excited about the news. After a few minutes, the UFO shot through the sky at blinding speed.

I don’t think we’re going to see it, I mean, the thing was going pretty fast..., said Darren. At that moment, they both could hear a strange tonal noise coming from outside.

They both went to the window to see what it was, and there, in the parking lot, hovered the same UFO, spinning slowly. I’m going to go take a look at it! said Kaylee, darting toward the door.

Kaylee, I don’t think that’s a good idea, Darren said, following behind her. A few moments later, they were both in the parking lot, slowly getting closer to the device. As they did, it grew louder and spun faster. Symbols on the device began to glow a blue color, while it’s metallic gray color remained in contrast.

Kaylee and Darren both covered their ears, It’s so loud! yelled Kaylee. Just at that moment, the device shot out a bright light, and the two of them disappeared. The device got quieter and shot into the sky, again at blinding speed.

Darren awoke in a dimly lit cell. The walls were all metallic, but the floor was padded, almost like carpet. He saw Kaylee lying unconscious, and he tried to wake her, Kaylee, wake up!, he said.

She slowly regained consciousness, Where are we? she asked him.

I don’t know, it looks like some kind of jail, Darren responded. He rattled the bars of the cell, but to no avail, it was locked tightly. Damn it! he yelled, hitting the bars.

Take it easy! You’re not getting us out of here by hurting yourself, Kaylee said to him, holding him back from doing it again.

The overall room outside the small cell was medium-sized, matching colors and patterns of geometric shapes adorned the walls and floor. At one side of the room, there was an iris door, also metallic, but shade differently to mark it. It