Second Chance: Book 1: the Dan Carlin Series

By Gilbert W. G. Cameron

Two American astronauts on a hiking holiday in the Rocky Mountains. They see a UFO and watch it appear to land in a thickly wooded valley about two days walk from them. They decide to try and find out as much about the landing as they can.
After a couple of days trekking through the terrain, they eventually find the craft in the middle of a wooded valley and manage to gain access to it. They explore the craft and find that its crew are dead; they take over the craft for themselves and set about using its technology to set up an organisation on Earth, which they hope will unite the governments of the world and put mankind on a path to the stars and what happens when they leave Earth for the stars.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Jul 25, 2015
• ISBN: 9781503506725

Gilbert W. G. Cameron

Born in the Republic of Ireland in 1941, moved to Northern Ireland when a young child. Left secondary school after grade 12 and had a couple of clerical jobs. Joined the Northern Ireland Police Force, the Royal Ulster Constabulary, at the age of eighteen and served during a period of the IRA troubles and resigned after four years and married his present wife, has two sons. After leaving the police force, he pursued a career in the field of selling, which he successfully pursued until 1981 when he and his family immigrated to Australia and settled in Queensland where they became Australian citizens in 1986. Since then, he has continued his career in the sales field in the telecommunications industry. He is now retired and is attempting to fulfil a lifetime ambition of writing. Second Chance is his first book and forms part of a series based on a theme that was inspired by his own sighting and close encounter with a U.F.O. in Northern Ireland early in 1970.

Book preview

SECOND CHANCE

________________

Book 1: The Dan Carlin Series

GILBERT W. G. CAMERON

Copyright © 2015 by Gilbert W. G. Cameron.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 07/25/2015

Xlibris

1-800-455-039

www.Xlibris.com.au

700785

CONTENTS

NOTES ON CHARACTERS AND SHIPS IN THE NOVEL SECOND CHANCE

CHAPTER 1:   IN THE MOUNTAINS

CHAPTER 2:   FINDING THE CRAFT

CHAPTER 3:   EDUCATION

CHAPTER 4:   THE FIRST FLIGHT

CHAPTER 5:   RECRUITING

CHAPTER 6:   RESIGNATION

CHAPTER 7:   THE PLANNING

CHAPTER 8:   WORKING CAPITAL

CHAPTER 9:   GETTING ORGANISED

CHAPTER 10: THE INVESTIGATION

CHAPTER 11: WASHINGTOM HEADQUARTERS

CHAPTER 12: STAFF BRIEFING

CHAPTER 13: CONFRONTING THE C.I.A.

CHAPTER 14: THE AUSTRALIAN BASE

CHAPTER 15: GOVERNMENT OPPOSITION

CHAPTER 16: OUT INTO SPACE

CHAPTER 17: STAR TRAVEL

CHAPTER 18: RETURN TO EARTH

CHAPTER 19: STAR CITY

CHAPTER 20: ATTACK ON STAR CITY

CHAPTER 21: THE SECOND CHANCE

CHAPTER 22: LIFT OFF

CHAPTER 23: MOON BASE 1

CHAPTER 24: UNDERGROUND RESISTANCE GROWS

CHAPTER 25: BUILDING THE MOON BASE

CHAPTER 26: THE MARTIAN ADVENTURE BEGINS

CHAPTER 27: EL TORRO ISLAND

CHAPTER 28: THE START OF THE GREAT ADVENTURE

CHAPTER 29: ANDROMEDA GALAXY

CHAPTER 30: ZICON’S MOON

CHAPTER 31: ZICON

CHAPTER 32: SPACE BATTLE

CHAPTER 33: THE FINAL BATTLE

CHAPTER 34: PREPARATIONS FOR ARTONS’ HOME PLANET

CHAPTER 35: SETTING UP THE S.S.M. REGIMENT

CHAPTER 36: EMBARKING FOR ARTON

CHAPTER 37: THE FIGHT FOR ARTON BEGINS

CHAPTER 38: THE SPECIAL SPACE SERVICE MARINES IN ACTION

CHAPTER 39: THE HUNT CONTINUES FOR ‘LECTUS’

CHAPTER 40: THE FINAL CONTINENTAL BATTLE

CHAPTER 41: STAR CITY AND THE RETURN HOME

CHAPTER 42: WORLD PROBLEMS

CHAPTER 43: SORTING OUT WORLD PROBLEMS

CHAPTER 44: DECISION TO EXPLORE THE MILKY WAY

Novels By Gilbert W. G. Cameron.

Pandemic Series.

The New Beginning. [Volume 1 Published 2011.]

Twenty Years On. [Volume 2.] Yet to be released.

U. F. O. Series.

Second Chance. [Volume 1 Published 2015]

Outward Bound. [Yet to be released.]

The Milky Way. [Yet to be released.]

DEDICATION

To my Beautiful and loyal Wife

with whose help all things are possible.

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NOTES ON CHARACTERS AND SHIPS

IN

THE NOVEL SECOND CHANCE

SOLAR SYSTEMS & PLANETS, ETC.

Andromeda Spiral Nebula

Two and a half million light years from the Milky Way galaxy. Estimated one trillion stars in the galaxy. About the same number in our galaxy.

Zeta Reticula Binary System

A twin star system Zeta 1 and Zeta 2. Estimated to be thirty-nine and a half light years from Earth. Zeta 1 is not thought to have any habitable planets similar to Earth. But Zeta 2 is considered to be one of the best chances for planets as we know them as the sun is very similar to our own sun in both size and make up. And there seems to be a good chance that the habitable zone will support planets similar to Earth with a liquid surface.

Eta Cassiopeiae

A star system nineteen and a half light years from Sol.

Moons of Mars

Phoebus Moon – Chosen as the Mars moon base.

Inner moon of Mars and approximately seventeen kilometres in length, not perfectly round.

Deimos – Outer moon for Mars, approximately fifteen kilometres in length, not perfectly round.

The Garden World

A planet in the Proxima Centori System, with an Earth-like atmosphere and gravity field that had been set up by Earth as a garden planet for growing crops to feed the millions on Earth and farmers who wanted to emigrate there were given a parcel of land five square miles in size to build on and cultivate and were also supplied a grant of materials to construct their home and to run the farm.

Asteroid Belt

Amun – One of the larger asteroids in the asteroid belt but far from the largest.

Moons of planets

Jupiter – Thebe

Saturn – Mimas

Uranus – Oberon

THE FIRST SPACECRAFT ‘TESSIE’

TOTAL HEIGHT OF SPACECRAFT = 100 ft. plus 5 ft. dome

TOTAL DIAMETER OF CRAFT = 100 ft

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FIRST SPACECRAFT CREW ‘Tessie’

SECOND SPACECRAFT ‘Coloniser’

900 ft. high & 900 ft. in diameter

Troop Carrier & Cargo Vessel

1. Ship’s Captain               John Norman

2. Second in charge           Rita Herron

THIRD SPACECRAFT ‘Endevour’ BATTLESHIP

One thousand feet high and one thousand feet in diameter. Super Battleship. Carrying four-seat gunships. The craft carries a full complement of plasma beam weapons, projectile weapons, space torpedoes, space mines, and three squadrons of Dart spacecraft both single- and double-seater and also a couple of six-seat fighter craft.

1. Ship’s Captain Admiral Cope Scott. A grizzled ex–American aircraft carrier captain, forty-three years of age, married, two children both boys in their early twenties and now serving as Dart pilots for Star City’s Space Force; wife Emma, who is living now on base at Star City.

2. Second in command. David Winston, 30 years of age and married, no children, ex–atomic submarine captain from the American Navy.

[The remainder of the officers is made up from the original crew for ‘Tessie’ plus extra officers as required for the huge ship.]

PORCUPINE CLASS WARSHIPS

1. VICTORY

2. TEMPEST

3. ALPHA, BRAVO, CHARLIE, & DELTA. {Four ships on rotation for the Garden Planet in the Proxima Centori System}

Named Porcupine Class Warships because of their appearance and with weapon barrels practically covering its entire outer hull and were constructed in the same manner of the Zicon class ships that had guns sticking out of the hulls all over the place and were lethal as fighting craft.

ZICON SPACE WARSHIPS

1. PHOENIX

2. THURSUS

Both of these spaceships were originally captured from the Artons and were previously used as troop carrier. They were 200 feet in diameter and height and were similar to the Tessie ship, which was called a Tarus scout craft by the Zicons. The Zicons when they took them over they gutted them completely and literally filled them with weapons and the Earthmen had given them the nickname flying Porcupines, which then became the universal name that they became known by.

STORY CHARACTERS

ARTONS

A warlike race of aliens from the planet ‘Arton’.

APPEARANCE:

Six feet tall, stocky build, grey skin, a single round hole in the middle of their face that protruded slightly and that was both nose and mouth, and a long tongue with a fork on the end of it and was used by them like the tip of a snakes tongue and was used as a sensor, and a skull ridge in the middle of their skulls going from front to back, and there was a web between their fingers and toes, which were of the same number as humans. Their appearance showed their ancestry as reptilian.

Lectus

The absolute ruler of the world Arton and head of its armed forces.

Colonel Aston

An Arton colonel that had been in charge of the first spacecraft to try and fight Endeavour.

ZICONS

A race of peaceful aliens from the conquered planet ‘Zicon’ in the Andromeda Galaxy. In appearance, they were again six feet tall, thin, blonde hair, cobalt blue skin, prominent cheekbones, five fingers and a thumb on each of their two hands, and their ears lay flat alongside their skulls, pleasant to look at although definitely alien.

Phelan Crae

Zicon ‘colonel’. Prisoner from Zicon’s moon base.

Argus Crae

Zicon resistance fighter based on Zicon and Phelan Crae’s cousin.

Jaike Lux

Zicon resistance fighter based on Zicon along with Argus Crae.

Captain Rexus

Zicon captain of their space warship Phoenix.

Captain Altus

Zicon captain of their space warship Altus.

Ambassador Soultan Caseus

Zicon’s first ambassador to Earth, fifty-two years of age and had been a senior member of the Zicon government before his appointment as their ambassador. His wife Zeta and their two children twelve and thirteen years of age, two boys had accompanied him to Earth.

CASSENS

This race of human-like aliens were from the star system Eta Cassiopeiae, which was nineteen and a half light years from Earth’s sun and had both gas giants and smaller earth-like planets in its habitable zone and had a fully fledged space fleet with star travel capabilities. They were human-like in appearance with very white skin and dark hair, were of varying heights, and had two bony protuberances on their foreheads, one on either side that protruded about half an inch and were approximately one inch in diameter.

Kosses

Supreme space fleet commander, admiral, approximately fifty five Earth years of age, five feet six inches in height, slightly rotund.

Fermus

The ruler of the planet Cassen, approximately forty years of age and had a partner and three offspring, one male and two females, and they all appeared to be in their early teens.

Ambassador Foskes

Female, Dicie Foskos, forty-two years of age, married with three children, politician. Her husband is an officer in their army and has accompanied his wife to Earth in charge of their troops at the embassy.

LIST OF CHARACTERS FROM EARTH

Capt. Tom Bell

Male Caucasian, English, former captain in British Army S.A.S., married, aged 26 years, five feet ten inches, red hair.

Kevin O’Neill

Male, Caucasian, Northern Irish, former surgeon in Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, Northern Ireland, married, aged 32 years, six feet, black hair, emigrated to America, two children aged five years [girl] and three years [boy].

Elliott Wilson

C.I.A. agent.

Phil Saunders

Senior C.I.A. agent from Cape Canaveral area.

Ted Arlington

Senior C.I.A agent from the Washington area.

John Woodrow Tiler {JWT}

President of the United States of America, forty-six years, Republican, married, wife Angela forty-three years, first term of office.

Raymond Douglas

Male, Caucasian, late fifties, American, Texan, self-made billionaire, was in oil to start then into illegal drugs [very successful].

Banks

Male, early thirties, ex-SAS dishonourable discharge, bodyguard to and personal servant for Raymond Douglas, hitman and cold-blooded killer.

Sam Lou Chen

Male, from Singapore, Triad leader, pirate, smuggler, gunrunner, drug dealer, 6sixty-five years, single.

Sean Withers

Director of C.I.A., Caucasian, forty-eight years, married, two children, five feet six inches tall.

Paulo Rodrequio

Male, thirty-seven years, married, a member of the Mexican government.

Franco Estiban

Male, fifty-two years, married, one daughter, drug lord, and member of drug cartel in Columbia.

Tina Lee

Female, Chinese parents, born in America, single, twenty-two years, nursing sister.

Dr James Wilson

Male, Caucasian, Canadian, thirty-one years, five feet eleven inches, dark hair, married and separated, no children.

Tom White

Male, Caucasian, twenty-four years, five feet nine inches, former SAS, friend of Tom Bell [Dinger], single.

Bruce Sterling

Male, Caucasian, thirty-one years, Australian from Cairns in North Queensland, married to Beverley, one child, boy aged eight years.

Dan Carlin

Male, Caucasian, astronaut, American Air Force, pilot, six feet three inches, fair hair, thirty-two years, born in Texas, colonel, single, well built, broad shoulders, does weight lifting to help keep fit.

Luke White

Male, African American, astronaut, propulsion engineer, American Air Force, pilot, five feet eighth inches, thirty years, born in Washington State, major, single.

Gertrude Lawrence

Female, Caucasian, psychologist and psychiatrist, American, five feet ten inches, raven black hair, twenty-eight years, single, very attractive.

Earl Manning

Male, Caucasian, ex-captain of the American Air Force, thirty-five years, now owns two electrical and computer businesses, married to Lorraine, two children: Debbie eleven years and Paul eighth years, left air force twelve months previously, fair hair, six feet eleven inches [very tall].

John Geddis

Male, Caucasian, management consultant and accountant, married to Olivia, one child: a girl aged eighteen years, living in Washington, forty-eight years, brown hair, slightly built, hair thinning on top, five feet nine inches [starting to put on weight].

Peter Olthoff

Male, Caucasian [Romanian extraction], twenty-seven years, electrical engineer, worked for United Electrical Generating Company, married to June, three children, two boys aged two and four years and one girl aged eleven months.

Brian H. Oakroy

Male, Caucasian, twenty-seven years, commercial airline pilot, single.

Dennis Carey

Male, African American, formally navigator U.S.A.F., just left service, single, from Cape Canaveral.

Lesley Townsend

Female, Caucasian, from England, was married to American marine now widowed, five feet ten inches, no children, a computer expert.

Peter McNally

Male, Caucasian, Irish extraction, fifty years, top lawyer both business and criminal law, small rotund.

General Tredwell

Male, American Army Command [bad guy].

Colonel Hunter

Australian army [good guy].

Dr Paul Mitzen. ‘Moon Base Commander’

Male, forty-eight years, Swiss, single, ex-director of launch facilities at J.F. Kennedy Space Centre.

Dr. Jan Suwanko. ‘Moon Base 1 second in charge’

Female, Polish, twenty-eight years, short hair, brunette, attractive, single.

John Sharp

Male, thirty-six years, from Yorkshire England, dark hair, degree in Horticulture and worked for ‘Kiew Gardens’ in London.

Professor Maurie Bloom. Director of Lunar Observatory

Male, fifty-five years, American Jew, small in stature, bushy grey eyebrows, obnoxious and abrasive personality but completely competent, brilliant, and top of his field.

Captain Neill Stojanoff

Captain of mining spacecraft ‘Zeus’, thirty-eight years, Caucasian, married, mining degree, ex-Canadian Air Force.

Colonel Hugh Nuske

Commander of Mars Port, African American, single, forty-one years, on secondment from the American armed forces and a qualified astronaut.

John Norman

Commander of the large troop carrier and cargo spaceship. Fifty years of age, married, divorced ten years, one son: twenty-seven years old, and currently serving in the American Navy as a pilot officer on a carrier [on good terms with ex-wife].

Rita Herron

Second in charge of the giant ship Coloniser. Female, Caucasian, thirty-one years of age, single, ex-pilot from American Navy, was based on a carrier but still keeps up her hours in fighters and has qualified in the new space fighter’s.

Jaffa Ugazie

Current president of Uganda and dictator, thirty-two years of age, ruthless, single, and of vicious disposition.

Arthur Whitlaw

The lieutenant was twenty-six years of age and built like a body builder and was the ranking officer in the newly formed Special Space Services that was modelled on the Australian SAS.

John Van Der Statt

Small dapper man in his sixties and one of the world’s most respected diamond merchants.

Alexander Stoner {Rex}

Male, forty years of age, married, no children, divorced, no relationship at present.

Sam Lou Yang

Korean extraction, American citizen, forty-four years of age, single. Was made governor of the planet The Garden World by the world council.

John Kane

Male, fifty-four years of age, married with five children, has an engineering degree from Princeton University. Started off in the designing section for Boeing Engineering until he went out on his own at the age of forty, was currently the president of Space Bound Engineering.

Jim Croft

Male, married, divorced, no children, a degree in accountancy from Yale University and worked for a number of years for a stock broking firm in New York, also a director in Space Bound Engineering.

Adam Pletcher

Vice president of the company Space Bound Engineering, fifty-two years of age, happily married, three children, two boys and a girl, an engineer who had come up through the school of hard knocks and a lot of hands on experience and who still was known to go down to the shop floor and pitch in when needed.

Poo Youn-Wang

Female, Chinese extraction, third-generation American, twenty-seven years of age, single, draftswoman and engineer.

Admiral Aaron Dinse

Male, fifty-two years of age, former Israeli Destroyer captain in Israel’s navy, married, four children, two alive, both deceased children killed in Yon Kepor War, one currently serving in Israel’s submarine fleet and the other was a civil engineer in Israel. His wife had moved to Star City with him.

Jan Whittaker

Aged twenty-eight years, was Dan’s secretary in the air force for just over five years, single, both parents deceased, has a married older sister.

Russ Hendon

Thirty-seven years, test pilot with civilian company Boeing, ex-Military American Air Force.

Britis O’Neill

Captain of a Boeing airline, thirty years of age, married, three children.

Dereck Ruswin

Aged twenty-five years, single, parents retired.

Bill Ferrier

Twenty-four years, single, just finished term in American Air Force as pilot of cargo plane.

Terry Mills

Thirty-eight years of age, married, four children aged eight to seventeen years. Parents deceased.

Tisa Zacchinall

Female, thirty years, Serbian immigrant, single, ex-Russian fighter pilot, was American naturalised citizen, civilian, flew 747’s.

Earl Wilcox

Twenty-three years, single, ex-military American army gunnery division.

Walter Hanson

Twenty-four years, single, ex-marine.

Samuel Younger

Twenty-seven years, single, just finished tour with American Marines.

Don Vidler

Twenty-five years, single, Australian, ex-police constable in Queensland.

Brian Thomas

Forty years, divorced, one child with ex-wife, electrical engineer with electricity generating company in America.

Ray Wadenfield

Forty years, divorced, ex-marine retired after forty years.

Kevin Johnston

Twenty-five years, left marines after seven years because of ex-girlfriend, now split up.

Peter Farley

Thirty years, ex-marine, joined a private security firm but resigned, unemployed.

Alf Green

Forty-eight years, chief of stores, American infantry, retired, bored.

Mat Colburn

Eighteen years, son of American general, was expected to join air force, but saw advertisement for Star City and its armed forces both marine and space navy and space air force and decided to join the space navy.

CHAPTER 1

IN THE MOUNTAINS

D awn broke over the mountains, as the sun peered over the top of the furthest range. There was sharpness in the air, yet it was not very cold even at that altitude. The man stirred in his sleep. He was a tall man, and his shoulders strained within the waterproof fabric of the sleeping bag. His companion was as different as it was possible for two men to be, yet he gave the appearance of a hidden strength in his black features as he gazed at his sleeping compa nion.

‘Hey! Dan Carlin, are you going to lie there stinking all day?’

Dan’s eyes opened instantly awake ‘that would be hard to do with you around Luke. What’s on the menu? It smells good.’

‘A la bacon and beans!’

Dan stretched like a large cat, the muscles of his bronzed torso rippled. He rolled up his sleeping bag and searched in his rucksack for his razor.

‘I’m away over to the stream to shave!’ By now, the sun had come up and he could feel its warming effect on his back as he walked over to the stream as it tumbled over large boulders with an angry growl. After finding a quiet eddy he hunkered down and wet his face with the icy water and rubbed shaving cream over his face. The water was so icy that it took his breath away. It’s a good job that it’s a new blade in this razor, he thought, or I would scrape the skin off my face. At that moment, he caught sight of something from the corner of his eye. It glinted in the early morning sunlight as it flashed across the sky in a downward curve. Its trajectory dipped down behind the next mountain range.

Well, that was no meteorite nor was it a plane but a U.F.O. if I am not mistaken! he thought, as he spun round and shouted, ‘Did you see that Luke?’ The excitement caused a slight break in his voice.

Luke was standing, shading his eyes with his hand and looking in the direction that the object had been travelling.

‘I saw it but I don’t believe what I saw!’ he replied.

‘It was something out of a science fiction magazine. It looked like a large silver ball but there seemed to be something wrong with it as if it was damaged! There was a large black mark on the side of it.’

‘You saw more than me!’ Dan replied. ‘All I saw was a silver flash going across the sky. Where do you think it landed?’

‘Well it hasn’t reappeared. If it had you would see it against the backdrop of that mountain.’

‘Well it’s in the direction we are going although it will take a couple of days to get there.’

After breakfast camp was broken, it was relatively easy as it was just a matter of putting sleeping bags and cooking utensils into the rucksacks. ‘Right let’s move on?’ The ground was strewn with gravel. Grass grew in patches wherever it could find a foothold. The frost started to disappear in the early morning sun as it became warmer.

‘Luke if we follow this goat track down to the next valley we should be able to find a pass through the next range. It isn’t as high as this one and with a bit of luck we might find some trace of the U.F.O. if it did land. We could camp in the pass and climb down into the valley in the morning.’ The trek down into the valley was uneventful but pleasant in the morning sun and not at all arduous for the two off-duty astronauts who were both in their early thirties and fit and in good spirits. The talk naturally centred on the possibility of there being a U.F.O. and if they might find it. That night camp was made in the lee of several large boulders in a pass in the next range of mountains they were crossing. It looked down into the next valley where they intended to explore the following morning.

CHAPTER 2

FINDING THE CRAFT

T he following morning, as always, the morning air was cold but not unduly so, as the pass was only about one thousand feet above sea level and below them they could see the valley spread out before them. It seemed to be mostly covered in forest with an occasional patch of grassland. Near the top end of the valley, there appeared to be a large depression in the forest, just like you would have if a child had thrown a stone into a pool of thick mud.

‘Well Luke, it would seem possible there might be something down there even if we can’t see it from up here. Are you still game to have a look in the morning?’

‘Just try and stop me!’

It was pleasant walking through the forest the next morning. It wasn’t unduly thick and very little undergrowth. The sun shone through the trees and the smell of pine needles was pleasant in the morning air. After about three hours walking along the valley floor, Luke, who was slightly ahead, stopped and with an excitement barely suppressed in his voice exclaimed and pointed ahead through the trees.

‘Over there in the trees! Can you see it? Something is shining about three hundred feet in front of us, you can just see it through the trees!’

Both men broke into a run, the thought of caution forgotten in their excitement. There in the trees was the object that they were searching for.

The craft sat upright on four landing struts. These were obviously retractable as they seemed to come out of circular hatches on the underside. The vehicle was in the shape of a sphere sitting vertically upright with a large blister on top and eight smaller blisters around the circumference near the middle of the craft. The sphere itself was approximately one hundred feet high and just over one hundred feet in diameter. The blister on top seemed to be opaque, but the main body of the craft was of a shining metal except where there appeared to be a large scorch mark on one side, although there didn’t appear to be a break in the skin of the craft.

Luke and Dan walked slowly and cautiously round the craft stepping over broken branches and trunks of trees that had been snapped off as the craft landed. The ground was not blackened or scorched from any landing jets as with conventional rockets. The forest was silent, there was no movement or sound from any animal or birds. After walking completely round the craft, the two men stopped and looked at each other.

Dan was the first to find his voice. ‘I still find it hard to believe my eyes.’

‘What do we do now?’ replied Luke. ‘Do we hightail it out of here and report it to the authorities or what?’

‘Well I’m not leaving until I find out more about it or see inside,’ replied Dan.

‘There doesn’t seem to be any sign of life about. I wonder where the entrance hatch is? Except for those blisters around the middle, the outside skin seems to be perfectly smooth and unbroken,’ replied Luke.

‘The bottom of the craft is only about seven feet off the ground and flattened. I wonder if the entrance is underneath,’ said Dan, walking forward and looking upwards to the underside of the craft. After peering closely at the underside and examining it completely Dan exclaimed. ‘There seems to be a circular hairline crack right smack in the middle, about six feet in diameter, and there are two small holes in the centre of it. I wonder is that the way in?’ So saying, Dan reached up and without hesitation put two fingers into the holes and pressed upwards when he felt his fingers meet resistance.

He gave a sharp push upwards and felt a click. A faint hum started, and the circular section of the hull started to revolve slowly and silently. Dan and Luke scrambled back out from under the sphere and watched fascinated as the circular section turned and proceeded to unscrew itself downwards like a large plug. When about six inches was showing, it started to slowly lower itself towards the ground supported by three pillars about six inches thick and placed near the outside edge and spread equi-distance around the circumference. The plug or platform formed by the outside skin slowly continued to lower until it came to rest on the ground. A brilliant white light streamed through the hole in the crafts skin.

‘Well I’ll be!’ exclaimed Dan as he started forward.

Luke put out a restraining hand and said, ‘Are we wise to go any further Dan? After all, we don’t know what we are going to meet in there.’

‘Come on! It’s the greatest thing to ever happen to any man,’ he said as he started forward holding Luke by the elbow. Both men came to the edge of the platform and looked upwards to where a six-foot circular tube was directed straight up into the craft.

The two men both stepped on to the platform. ‘Now what happens?’ asked Dan. ‘I don’t see any elevator buttons, I wonder how we get this thing to go up again?’ The words were barely out of his mouth when the platform started to rise again with the two men standing on it. It went up slowly and silently and without a shudder.

‘It looks like we are committed now, for better or worse!’ said Luke with a nervous smile.

‘I thought you were the one who was frightened!’ said Dan laughing.

‘Not so much frightened as wary.’

The platform continued to rise until the men stood inside the ship. They looked down to see the plug they were standing on screwing itself back into place although the centre section on which they stood remained stationary while an outer ring revolved. ‘I wondered whether we were going to spin round like tops while the floor screwed itself back into place!’ said Dan.

When the ring stopped revolving, the light inside the tube dimmed slightly. Suddenly, the men found themselves floating in the air.

‘Hey Dan! It’s just like being in free fall.’

‘Obviously we just float up this shaft pulling ourselves up by these rungs set into the tube wall here. I thought at first we were going to have to do it the hard way and climb up,’ replied Dan as he bent his knees and gave a gentle shove with his feet against the floor and started to float upwards from the bottom of the shaft that had four openings leading into what appeared to be storage rooms full of boxes and crates.

About nine or ten feet from the bottom of the shaft were another four openings at right angles to each other. The two men stopped themselves by grabbing hold of one of the wall rungs and swung themselves into one of the openings. Gravity immediately returned to them.

‘Well that really is a zero-gravity shaft of some sort.’

‘Hey Dan! Would you look at this! It defies imagination. This must be the ships drive system.’

On looking around, Dan saw a vast circular room following the full circumference of the ship. It was full of what looked like large generators, coils, and silently humming machinery. The ceiling was about twenty feet above their heads and some of the machinery rose all the way to the ceiling.

‘As a flight propulsion engineer, I know you would like to be let loose in here Luke, but let’s explore further. You can come back later if we have a chance. Let’s see if we can climb up to the next deck!’

The two men proceeded to the central shaft. ‘Do we literally just step out into mid air and prey that the antigravity gismo works again?’ asked Luke.

‘Here let me try! If it doesn’t work, it’s only a six foot drop to the bottom of the shaft.’ So saying, Dan jumped out of the entrance and into the shaft. Immediately, he started to float, his arms windmilling as he tried to get into an upright position, much to the amusement of Luke who was doubled up with laughter. Dan managed to catch hold of one of the rungs and with rueful laugh said, ‘Right let’s go up to the next deck and see what other surprises are in store for us.’

‘Let’s hope they are surprises that we will like,’ replied Luke soberly stepping into mid air and boosting himself up beside Dan and into the next set of openings.

They again led into a large circular room, which was divided into three sections. One section had boxes that seemed to contain all types of electrical and machine spares, another section contained racks of some type of handguns, rifles, and other assorted artillery. The last section contained sledges or cars, which looked as if they would carry three people, there, were four of them. Round the circumference of the room was a five-foot-wide catwalk. Seats were set opposite what seemed to be the eight blisters they had seen from outside and a helmet was suspended above each seat behind what looked like a gun mount of some sort.

‘This ship is a flying bloody arsenal,’ said Luke. ‘Let’s get the hell out of here before the owners return and decide to use some of their fancy weaponry on us for trespassing.’

‘Come on, we may as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb,’ said Dan and he stepped into the gravity shaft and propelled himself up to the next deck.

‘Hey wait for me! You’re not leaving me behind to face the music on my own,’ shouted Luke as he took off up the shaft after Dan.

The next deck was divided into a couple of large rooms, one with seats and one that was bare although they both had a podium at the front of them, they looked like lecture rooms. The next floor was divided into what looked like a recreation room, and the balance was obviously a medical centre with two operating theatres and a storage room and single-bed cubicles and was obviously a medical centre. The next deck was what appeared to be a mess deck with tables and chairs and rows of what looked like microwave ovens.

The next two decks looked like crew sleeping quarters, and each deck also had what appeared to be a lounge on it