Alurolan Angel

By P.G. Henck

The 911 crew continues its quest with a new rescue ship, the Alurolan Angel. Originally, all they wanted to do was bring rescue services to deep space, but the League of Worlds seems hell bent on stopping them in their tracks, one way or the other. And if that wasn’t bad enough, secretive dark forces have now been added to the list of enemies that seems to grow with each one of their rescues. These dark forces, however, have enough power to make anyone disappear at their bidding, and cover it with plausible explanations everyone else accepts.

Soon the crew realizes that the Luck of Julllterrry, which was with them in the past, will no longer be enough. They need better equipment on board their ship, and new allies they can trust. What they didn’t expect, however, was that an ancient civilization that once inhabited the galaxy in which they now own worlds still has a presence, the Keeper. And the Keeper appears to be on their side. Join the crew as they up their game by not just rescuing a few travelers stranded in deep space, but by saving and relocating colonies, and even saving a significant race from itself. And in doing so, they discover many of the secrets and capabilities that these mysterious Ancients, through their Keeper, still possess.

• Language: English
• Publisher: P.G. Henck
• Release date: Mar 8, 2021
• ISBN: 9781951251208

P.G. Henck

About P.G. HenckP.G. Henck has written several science fiction and fantasy stories with more on the way. His first novel, ‘Beyond The Providers’, was self published in 2019 after many years in development. His next two novels, ‘Elementary Science 101’ and ‘Elementary Science 201’, entered the humorous side of science fiction, where many of his works now reside. The ‘Deep Space Rescue 911’ series has begun with two novellas, and may end with a novel in order to complete the whole story. The ‘Captain Mike’ series will eventually consist of three novellas, each with a different set of circumstances and characters, except for Captain Mike of course. Both series are comedies and follow P.G.’s favorite storyline of an unusual group of individuals making their way through space. The published short stories ‘Distant Neighbors’ and ‘Alien Vacation Invasion’ had parts inspired by real events, which P.G. thinks can be pretty funny in themselves at times. The next short story, ‘Bigfoot Dance Party’, relies on characters from ‘Elementary Science 201’. Being published in the fall of 2021 are the fantasy / science fiction novellas ‘Bring it Alien B’ and ‘Super Absorption’. Both go for the funny bone as well as presenting new interesting characters. Additional short stories and novellas are planned in the next few years along with another novel called Time Minds, which is expected to give readers a heavy dose of fictionalized history made possible through science fiction.P.G. Henck was born in Michigan, and lived in the Great Lakes region for a good part of his life with his wife, the girl next door. The couple then moved to southern Utah to experience the spectacular scenery and endless trails it provides. Though he spent most of his career as an accountant and financial administrator, P.G. Henck’s outside interest lay heavily in the sciences, space exploration, and history. Also a lover of science fiction and fantasy over the years, he has gone out of his way to see every movie and TV show available, both good and bad. His many other interests besides writing include hiking, travel, photography, and website development, along with designing and producing his own book covers.Please go to the author’s website at www.pghenck.com for more information and special deals on purchasing his books.

Book preview

Alurolan Angel

Deep Space Rescue 911

By P.G. Henck

Copyright 2021 P.G. Henck Publishing

Second Edition, eBook, Mach 2021

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 recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

To my one and only everything.

Cover artwork by Enrique Lopez Garre - Lorca, Spain

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Table of Contents

Chapter One - Taking Sides

Chapter Two - Moving Home

Chapter Three - Individuals

Chapter Four - Leaving the Herd

Chapter Five - Different Mothers

Chapter Six - Abnormalities

Chapter Seven - Building Lives

Chapter Eight - Deeper Down

Chapter Nine - The Center

Chapter Ten - Plots Within Plots

Glossary

About P.G. Henck

Other Works by P.G. Henck

Contact with P.G. Henck

Warning: The following has been translated into Earth English - American Dialect 2000. All time, measurement, and language references have been changed to reflect this to the closest correlation possible. Any mistakes or errors are the sole responsibility of the reader, and cannot be held against the translator for any harm or loss created.

Chapter One - Taking Sides

Rob and Stony were ready for their mission. For this particular one, they wore some clothes at BG’s insistence. She said no ship dealer was going to take them seriously if they didn’t. Ned thought maybe it would have been the other way around after he saw them, but he kept his comments to himself. Rob’s burly six foot seven inch frame would look out of place in any suit, but the undersized fedora plunked on top of his large reptilian head didn’t help things much. And with Stony, the crew had to improvise on their own since no store or fabricator carried attire for a twelve foot high pile of loosely connected rocks.

Vanew and Hugore took the lead on this project. In addition to being superb mechanics, they were pretty good seamstresses. With four hands and two tails each, they whizzed through that project in about an hour, which included several fittings. Stony seemed to be quite taken with the whole process, and even prouder of the finished product. It was hard to imagine a rock creature like Stony being able to strut his stuff, but he was coming as close as he could when he tried his suit on for the first time.

BG seemed to be having a hard time keeping her hands off of him and his new suit, while Chanithal showered Stony and the suit’s creators with ample compliments. That was one of the many things Ned loved about Chanithal. After being alone for ten years, she was now so attentive to the other crew members’ feelings. As for Ned and Jimmy, they just stood there smiling, shaking their heads yes, while their minds were thinking something much different.

Before the two left, Stony insisted that he wear a fedora matching Rob’s. It looked even more stupid, sitting on top of a squared off stone head without face features, but there was another purpose to this move. Stony wanted to draw attention to his head rather than his body, where they were hiding Hugore in a gap Stony had made in his stone body blocks. League law said Mungarre were not allowed on any ship other than the one they were contracted to, but when you are looking at a new ride, you still want your head mechanic to check under the hood. So while this deception was necessary, it also allowed Stony the opportunity to silently communicate with Hugore the whole time through touch. While normally being a rock pile of few spoken words, Stony talked this way to Hugore the whole time on subjects that ranged from humorous ship mechanics’ jokes, to the meaning of life. Hugore could only respond by tapping out a ship’s code, but with twenty quick and nimble fingers, this was even faster than talking.

After they returned from their mission, Rob got everyone’s attention to proudly make his report. We bought one, everything we need, and got a great price on it to boot. It’s the top of the line and has more extras on it than you can imagine. It was built for the Alurolan rescue fleet, but as you know, they just did away with their own fleet and are contracting with the Jaggerettakoo instead. So that left the builders with a completed ship that of course the Alurolan Government found a law somewhere allowing them to weasel out of their original agreement. The builders were stuck with it, so they cut the price down to almost cost.

Stony shook his head yes, as did Hugore, who was now sitting on his shoulder.

Great, BG said, like she didn’t care much. How about the medical bay, did they strip that to recoup profit?

The ship is as was ordered, Rob replied. And this one was to be the new flagship of the Alurolan rescue fleet, so it has everything we would want. Enough room for a crew of thirty along with fifty passengers, but we can rework those areas to better fit our needs. Your medical bay, Doctor, is as good as most hospitals, and it is highly automated. You know those Alurolans don’t like touching icky sick people if they can get around it, present company excluded of course, Rob said toward Ned and Chanithal.

They both just smiled. The only thing they were sick of was others still looking at them as being connected with the Alurolan race. Half of Ned’s blood was Alurolan, but that was as far as it went, since he was raised by his Human father. Chanithal had altered her Alurolan features and some DNA to look human, which no one who followed the Alurolan ways would have ever done. She still loved her Alurolan parents, although not what they did or adhered to. So in that sense, her mind was as human as she looked.

Thanks for the sales pitch, Rob, but what is its medical rating? BG asked, far from being impressed yet.

H1B2, Rob said as smugly as he could.

BG only looked back with an impressed shocked look. Even with all the money they had, she never expected to have such a fine facility onboard a ship.

Me even fit, Stony then said.

Well, I guess no more exams in the cargo bay, BG said, without thinking much about it.

Me have cabin too, Stony said back, and then started to vibrate a little.

BG was a little embarrassed by that one. Even though everyone knew about it, she never talked about their relationship openly. Everyone else was polite with their silence, except for Rob, who wasn’t good with being polite or silent. But luckily he was still obsessed with the new ship, and changed the subject back to where he wanted it. Now that you bring up the cargo bay, our old ship would fit into this new one. It is huge and supplied with everything you would need for such a massive salvage job. And if we find something good like another pile of Trombilleon, this ship has the defensive shields and firepower you would see in a small war ship. I think after that Alurolan cargo ship was blown up, they must have decided their rescue fleet needed some major upgrades.

Yeah, and I’ve also read, Ned replied, "that our efficient rescue of their crew helped prompt the Alurolans to dump their rescue service altogether, and contract with the Jaggerettakoo. It’s kind of ironic when you think about it. We show them the best way to do things, and then we get totally ignored in the solution.

Now come on little brother, you didn’t expect anything more from the Alurolans, did you? BG asked with a subdued smile. When I lived with your Dad, one of his favorite stories was about how the Alurolans cheated you with the law every chance they got. Did he tone things down with you since you’re half Alurolan?

I don’t think so, Ned replied. I suspect after my parents went their separate ways, the Alurolan stories probably increased and got nastier. So you’re right, I didn’t expect anything more from them. They are followers of the institution, and little independents like us will always be somebody for them to ignore.

And really, when it comes right down to it, Chanithal said softly, we should probably stay as far away from dealing with the Alurolan government as we can, since I was banished by them.

Right you are, Ned said, as he kissed his lover’s hand. We don’t need their bureaucracy or them looking into our business. A contract with them would shove their puppeteer’s hand so far up our ass, we would never walk the same.

Captain, I hate to limit your gross references to things I don’t fully understand, but I still have a lot of information to share about our new ship, Rob said with a complaining voice.

Sorry, Ned said back sharply.

So let’s see here, oh yes, the computer system you wanted, Jimmy. Rob said, once again the master of the conversation. You can’t find any ship out there with a system that sophisticated and with as much storage as you wanted, so this ship didn’t have it. But I ordered what you wanted, and it will be installed in three to four days. Until then, we can still move into our quarters and set the place up real nice and homey. Hugore also said he wanted to give the ship a real close going over before we take off to the dangers of space. And BG, I’m sure you want to do the same with your medical bay, whether it’s an H1B2 or not.

You got that right, Rob, BG said with excitement. All the drugs need to be personally certified and the equipment calibrated before we can treat anyone. Now, if I were a real Doctor, I would also be tied up in a lot of paperwork after I did that. So, I guess there are some advantages to being kicked out of med school right before you graduate.

Changing the conversation back to the previous subject, Ned said to Jimmy, You better make sure we get everything we ordered in that computer system. Add-ons are a great way for builders to get their upfront discounts back.

You can bet on that, Jimmy replied.

Actually, it took five days before the new ship was ready for service. Registration was one of the last-minute things that needed to be done. With no time to think or debate about it, Ned put down the ship’s name as the Alurolan Angel. He couldn’t name it after Chanithal without major grief from the others, so this seemed like the best way to sneak in what he really wanted, a ship named after his new love. When the others heard what he had done, it was about as sticky as he had hoped it wouldn’t be.

Why did you name it that? BG asked with a frown on her reddish face.

Well, it was built for the Alurolans, and now that they are dumping their service, it seemed to fit, Ned replied, looking for approval he didn’t get.

But then even Chanithal took up the assault. Angels are not recognized by Alurolan beliefs or culture. They would never name a ship that.

That’s the whole point, Ned said, after stalling a couple of seconds. We aren’t making a tribute to them with that name. We are independently providing what they refuse to do with a ship they would never acknowledge. I think the name is both a slap and backslap to those who refuse to recognize our contribution in saving lives.

Yeah, I can see it now, BG said while thinking. A slap to bureaucracy and a backslap to the Alurolans. I like it.

Chanithal nodded her head yes, and with the two other ladies on board in agreement, so did Vanew. Then with Vanew’s agreement, Hugore agreed, and Stony did after that.

My idea, that I never got to share, Rob said with a sad voice, was ‘Rescuers’ Revenge’.

I think I get it, Ned said back, as the others remained silent, not wanting to fib to be nice.

A year ago I would have been obligated to name it after my youngest wife, but since I just divorced them all yesterday for desertion, that is no longer relevant, Jimmy said without emotion. A double slap in the face always gets my vote, however.

Am I forgiven, then? Ned asked them all.

A unified yes came back from the crew.

At least you didn’t try to name it after your girlfriend, Jimmy said in conclusion. That would have been an insult to my ex-wives, and you don’t want them coming after you.

Chanithal started to laugh as she said, With my name on the side, we would have never been allowed to enter League space. Much more independence than I think we are looking for.

Ned laughed along with them while thinking that his new experiences as captain were finally helping him to think better on the fly, never a strong point of his before. As for covering up his bad decisions with bullshit, who knows where that came from?

Maybe it was the new ship, maybe it was the new name, or probably it was just the sheer desperation of the circumstance, but the crew’s second ticket came in from the League rescue dispatcher. It wasn’t a pretty one, though. It was a war zone, which was always considered to be the most dangerous type of rescue. While you spent less jump time getting there, you could still spend many times more in real space searching for possible victims. And if one of the opposing forces didn’t like you being there, you could quickly die with little regard. Whichever side did it would simply blame the other. No retaliation, no crime, not even a fine. Just your name listed with the other victims of the war.

While the large rescue services could protect most of their ships from being dispatched to a war zone by sending them to repair or on long salvage runs until the conflict was over, Deep Space Rescue 911 only had one ship and could not duck the ticket. Refusal would lead to their removal from the League rescue dispatcher service list, and that would mean no more rescues or recent salvage runs. From then on, they could only do unclaimed salvage which was also referred to in the business as garbage picking or trolling if you were trying to convince others to do it. Long searches, low profit, and increased risk. They had already done that to get by when times were lean, but now they only wanted some real rescues. While the danger of war zone rescues was perhaps a little too real, saving lives was their calling, and running from it like others were doing was not an option for them. And again, their hope was that by doing what others wouldn’t do, they would finally be given the same opportunity that the other services were for rescues that didn’t carry a high risk of dying.

War had broken out in the Spurge Galaxy between two different factions of the Woolleennkkee. This race for millennia had ruled most of the inhabitable worlds in the Spurge Galaxy. While considered a very ancient and advanced race, the Woolleennkkee were not very cosmopolitan by nature, and though members of the League, stuck mainly to their own galaxy running things the the way they wished. Appearance wise, the Woolleennkkee were not considered very attractive to other species. They kind of looked like very tall slugs, but reaching heights of no more than four feet, with a base of around three feet. Ned’s Dad told him they looked a little like tall piles of shiny purple shit, but his dad did have a very active imagination at times.

The Woolleennkkees’ two factions had been like night and day for some time now. What one liked, the other hated, what the other tried to do, the one tried to undo. They seemed to each take great pride in being better than the other, smarter, prettier, and more successful. Whatever the measure used, each thought they had more positive than the other, and less negative too. Finally the two factions became so polarized that they began to separate, each faction gathering with its own, and encouraging the other to do the same. It started in cities, moved to continents, and eventually worlds.

As this natural separation, as they called it, began to evolve, so did conflict. They were small at first, but when you have polarized sides of any society or race, they will always be rubbing each other the wrong way. Eventually the fires will ignite, consuming more and more until the false promises of war are all that they hear. We will prevail because we are right, it will be quick, others will pay the price, and the victor always wins. History has shown all races time and time again that these whispering promises of war are false, but the Woolleennkkee had lost their vision, and were only letting the Lorelei of war fill their ears now.

The League had tried to put an end to the fighting through arbitration, but their words were no match for the endless hatred both sides had for each other now. While the League had always officially promoted peaceful relations among its members, there was another motive for wanting to