Terrific Tales of Scifi and Space Opera

By Donald H Sullivan

Nine exciting science fiction stories of adventure, danger, suspense, romance, and humor.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jul 17, 2011
• ISBN: 9781105053900

Donald H Sullivan

I'm a native Floridian, retired from the US Army, I started writing in the army, mostly training and tech manuals. Boring stuff, but it whetted my interest in writing. I've written sci-fi, thrillers, mysteries, humor, fantasies, horror, and more. I'm now living in NC. While in the army, I served in air defense artillery, military intelligence, and psychological operations. I also worked in Federal Civil Service as a quality assurance specialist, ammunition surveillance. I love writing, reading, most kinds of music, and animals--especially dogs.

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Terrific Tales of Scifi and Space Opera

Title Page

Terrific Tales

of Sci-Fi and Space Opera

Donald H Sullivan

Copyright Page

Copyright © 2011 Donald H Sullivan

All Rights Reserved

The stories herein are works of fiction.  Any resemblance of the characters in these stories to persons, living or dead, is strictly coincidental.

~~*~~

Author's Introduction

In these stories you'll find space opera, soft sci-fi, humorous sci-fi, adventure sci-fi., and romantic sci-fi.  None of the stories could be classed as hard sci-fi, though  a few  may be considered  moderately so by some readers.  All were written with the enjoyment of the reader in mind, not for scientific accuracy.

A malfunction in the ship's computer sends a hibernating astronaut far beyond his destination. When he awakens, he sees the mistake, programs the ship to return to Earth and goes back into cryogenic hibernation.  He arrives on Earth to find a deserted planet, except for robots and androids, who are at war with each other.

The queen of the galaxy promises amnesty to a notorious space pirate if he rescues her daughter from rebel forces.

An alien tries to take over the mind of an Earth man, but is only partially successful.  The man's own mind, and the mind of the alien, battle for complete control.

The fate of Planet Earth is in the hands of a small group of deer hunters.

Earth is about to be hit by a comet, and a man poses as an android to escape the destruction.

A man discovers that the God that his people worship is nothing but an ancient computer.  But by learning this he puts his life in peril.

Two astronauts must abandon a damaged ship in life pods.  One of them sabotages the other's pod to even an old score.

A homeless alcoholic meets a space alien.

An alien and an Earthman switch minds.

~~*~~

A Journey Too Far

Jay Francis stretched out on the bunk and made himself as comfortable as possible.  He reached down with his right hand and pressed the button on the side of the bunk.  The rest was automatic.

The door to the chamber slid shut.  Straps slipped over his arms, legs, and body and tightened.  The temperature within the airtight chamber began to fall.  He felt sensors searching for the vein in his forearm, then felt a slight sting as the needle was inserted.  The computer announced that the IV was activated and administering hypnotol.  The drug, combined with the sub-zero temperature, would preserve his body for ages.

The computer would monitor his bodily functions and maintain the correct temperature in the chamber to assure that he would remain in a frozen state of hibernation for the next five hundred years--time enough for The Solarwind to reach Alpha Centauri.

Jay was feeling drowsy now; the hypnotol was starting to work.  He gazed through the chamber window to see the other chamber holding Calvin Youngblood, son of Walter Youngblood, multibillionaire and owner of The Solarwind.  Jay marveled at how Calvin had manipulated his father into funding this voyage--a voyage of which the elder Youngblood would never know the outcome.

But Jay felt he had been manipulated as well.  Calvin had talked him into leaving a secure position as an astronaut with Asteroid Mining Company to pilot The Solarwind to Alpha Centauri to investigate a newly discovered planet there--a planet that astronomers believed would support life.  Calvin was convinced that overcrowded Earth must spread out to the stars.

That was Jay’s last thought before drifting off into blissful darkness.

~ ~ * ~ ~

When he awoke, his first thought was that the drug hadn’t worked.  But the computer told him differently.  Your hibernation period has ended.  Vitachal is being administered through the IV to restore vitality to your system.  Please do not move while the Vitachal is being administered.

He lay still as he felt a prickling sensation over his entire body for the next few minutes.

You may move now, the computer told him.  Please arise very slowly.  Perform light exercise phase one...  The computer continued to spell out instructions he knew by heart.

He stepped out of the chamber.  He glanced at the other chamber, but there was no sign of Calvin.  While waiting for Calvin to emerge, Jay--still wobbly--went to the galley for a bowl of the prescribed broth.

When he returned to the chambers, there was still no sign of Calvin.  Now he was concerned.  It had been over thirty minutes since he awakened, and he and Calvin should have awakened no more than minutes apart.

He hurried--as fast as he dared move--to the control cabin.  He sat down at the master controls and keyed the mike.  Request status report on Calvin Youngblood in hibernation chamber number one.

Calvin Youngblood expired on the twentieth day of the seven hundredth year of the voyage.  Death was due to an undetected defect in chamber number one.  Do you wish a full report?

No report desired.  Jay was shocked at the news of Calvin’s death, but he could not accept that Calvin had died during the seven hundredth year--the voyage ended at five hundred years, as scheduled.  But he glanced at the ship’s chronometer and received another shock, for it read one thousand years.  He made another inquiry of the computer, to which it responded:

A hibernation period of one thousand years was programmed.  You were awakened at the end of that time.

Either a terrible human error or a terrible computer glitch had occurred.  In any case, Jay was facing another thousand year journey, making a total of two thousand years away from Earth.

The computer assured him that sufficient drugs and fuel remained for the journey.  He jettisoned the body of Calvin and prepared for the return trip.

~ ~ * ~ ~

He awoke with a start.  He struggled against the straps until he remembered where he was.  The computer cautioned him to cease movement until the vitachal was administered.

After performing his exercise routines and drinking his broth, he proceeded to the control cabin.  The computer informed him that The Solarwind was now in orbit around Earth. He made several attempts to contact Earth, but received no response.

It was strange, he thought, that there had been no response to his attempts to communicate.  It was strange, too, that his approach to Earth had not been intercepted. It was now the forty-second century on Earth, and an ancient ship like The Solarwind should be attracting attention.  But there was not a shadow of activity.

Fearing that the computer might have mistakenly taken him to another world, he checked the monitor showing an image of the planet below, then zoomed in for a closer look. The shape of the Florida peninsula had changed, and some of the state was now under water, but he knew that this was due to the melting of the ice caps.  But there was no doubt: this was Planet Earth.

He left The Solarwind in orbit and descended to Earth in the AGS, antigrav shuttlecar.  He found a suitable stretch of beach on the Florida coast and landed the AGS.

He stepped out of the shuttlecar, stretched, and took a deep breath of the invigorating salt air.  There was no  sign of activity anywhere or no sound except the ceaseless roar of the surf crashing on the shore.

Obeying a hunch, he stepped into the AGS and pulled out a laser pulser, checking to make sure that the weapon held a full charge.  He strapped on a pistol belt containing more charges, holstered the pulser, and set out along the beach.

He was not yet up to full strength, and after thirty minutes of walking he stopped to rest.  After a short rest, he couldn’t resist pulling off his boots and wading in the surf.

He chuckled to himself, After two millennia, I deserve a little pleasure.  He’d waded out to knee-deep water when he abruptly stopped.  Something was moving out in front of him.

It seemed to be a large snake, or perhaps an eel.  He started backing away as he saw it coming straight toward him.  As it drew closer, he could see that it was a tentacle, and he looked out to see its owner rising out of the water: a huge octopus-like creature.

He turned to run toward the beach, but even as he turned, he felt something coil around his ankle.  In the next instant he was sputtering and gulping water as the tentacle pulled him through the surf.  Abruptly, he was lifted from the water and found himself dangling like a rag doll as the creature pulled him toward its huge maw.

He struggled to reach the pulser on his hip, hoping that the weapon hadn’t shaken out of the holster.  But he was being tossed around so violently that he couldn’t find the handle.