Solar Princess: Princess Solal

By Shaun Chapman

In a star system on the other side of our galaxy trouble is brewing as the forces of evil slowly encircle the last vestige of a once great empire. Princess Solal, the only child and heir to the throne of King Thorgon, is taken prisoner in an attempt by the overlord Urgon to force the hand of his brother into relinquishing his throne . . . Only one man stands between the dark overlord and the domination of our galaxy, Kel, a young scientist and inventor . . . Kels earthly woes are soon left far behind as his homebuilt spaceship cruises toward an uncertain future, for far ahead of him lies Urgon and his planet crushing fleet . . . Can he and his odd assortment of friends save not only his home world but Solal, her father and his kingdom?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 9, 2016
• ISBN: 9781514482650

Shaun Chapman

Shaun Chapman is a committed conservationist and chairman and founder of RAPTOR, a conservation and anti-poaching organization. He is the author and creator of The James Spillaney Casefiles, The Rocky Adventure Series, The Solar Princess Series and many other titles. He was born in Wales and spent his life globetrotting, from New Zealand, the United States, Australia, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. At present he is working on new book titles and focusing on a series of environmental books and the ROCKY’S WORLD TV series. He is also the editor of RAPTOR – Leader of the Earthwize Generation, an online environmental magazine. The author has spoken at over two hundred schools on conservation with ‘Rocky in the Wilderness’ being a firm favorite with educators as The Rocky Adventure Series imparts environmental principles through the weave of the storylines.

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Copyright © 2016 by Shaun Chapman.

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: 08/04/2016

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Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1 Stirrings of Space

Chapter 2 Trouble at School

Chapter 3 NASA

Chapter 4 Intergalactic Contact

Chapter 5 To Infinity and Beyond

Chapter 6 Kidnapped

Chapter 7 The Return of Princess Solal

Chapter 8 Sent Home

The Revenge of Urgon

Biography

This book is

dedicated to Dennis Udoh, Pitshou Mampa, Martin Harrigan, Stan Green, the members of WEB and RAPTOR, Itumeleng Setlogo, Christopher Tonoh, Robert Spence, my father, Cdr. Stanley William Chapman, and my mother, Elizabeth Katherine Chapman, and of course, Rocky, my faithful Staffordshire, and Natalie Portman. We may be on different parts of our mother, the Earth, but the same stars still shine above us all, forever, in a universe full of never-ending promise and possibilities.

Acknowledgements

Dennis Udoh who has worked hard to get the book published; Pitshou Mampa whose artwork continues to amaze me; Chris Stevens whose work on our conservation education projects shows a tremendous amount of dedication to the Earth and all life on it; John Mallory my old friend from Arizona; Steven Spielberg and Einstein who inspire me no end, and Mark Frodsham and the time we spent fighting back to back.

Introduction

IN A STAR SYSTEM ON the other side of our galaxy, trouble is brewing as the forces of evil slowly encircle the last vestige of a once-great empire. Princess Solal, the only child and heir to the throne of King Thorgon, is taken prisoner in an attempt by the overlord Urgon to force the hand of his brother into relinquishing his throne.

Many thousands of light-years away, a young boy struggles to get to grips with life on Earth. A misfit from the time he was born, Kel has his eyes firmly fixed on the stars above. An invention by the young scientist, a faster-than-light quantum wave drive, sets in motion a series of events that will see him hurtling through deep space in an effort to save the life of King Thorgon and his kingdom.

The fate of the entire galaxy hangs in the balance with but one savior, an Earthman called Kel.

CHAPTER 1

Stirrings of Space

ON A SHINING ICE-WHITE PLANET many thousands of light-years from Earth, a girl child is born to two proud parents. The father of the child picks her up and cradles her in his arms as the mother looks on proudly. King Thorgon wraps the child securely in swaddling, turns, and exits the birthing room, with seemingly a million courtiers in tow. Entering the throne room, he holds the girl child up to the cheers of all those packed into the throne room—that is, bar one standing behind a crystal column, an individual whose face barely conceals the hatred his heart contains for the child and her father. The man, brother to the king, wipes the sneer off his face and replaces it with a smile. Walking out from behind the pillar, Lord Urgon strides up to the stairs leading to the dais, the king’s royal guards bid him leave as he climbs the stairs to kiss his brother on the cheeks. As King Thorgon starts his speech, televised throughout the known galaxy and the planets that form his galactic kingdom, Lord Urgon verily pushes the handmaidens away, insisting that he should hold the child so that his brother can give his discourse without let or hindrance.

Greetings, my friends from around the galaxy and my fellow Celphans. This is indeed a day to treasure and one which will remain dear to me until the day I join the gods, intones King Thorgon.

Lord Urgon glances briefly at his brother. Hopefully, that will be sooner rather than later, my dear, dear brother, thinks Urgon malevolently.

Our strength lies in our unity, continues the king, and the continuance of a dynasty that has lasted over one hundred thousand Celphan years. The king pauses and looks back, making a sweeping gesture with his arm, motioning Urgon to bring the child to him. With slight hesitation, the brother of the king hands the child to him. King Thorgon holds the child up for all to see. This child shall henceforth be known as Solal, and be the next ruler to continue a lineage that has remained unbroken for all this time.

The crowd applauds rapturously—all, that is, but one who pays scant homage to one so small who will one day rule a vast kingdom covering a third of the galaxy known as the Milky Way. Smiling outwardly, Urgon ponders If, that is, you live that long, my niece, a slight chuckle emanating from his lips.

King Thorgon stands on a viewing deck attached to one of the gigantic spires of his palatial castle made from crystal, with courtiers, admirals of the fleet, and generals of his land forces around him. The snowy winds howl without as wave after wave of space fighters pay homage in their own way, flying in formation above the snowy spires and the icy wastes below.

You have made me the happiest man in the galaxy, my little one, whispers the king to Solal, who gurgles with delight and smiles profusely into her father’s face. Out of sight of both the king and his entourage, a weasel-faced biped goes about his business—that of spying on the pair, unnoticed by nearly all, except that is, a few of the guards.

*     *     *

Deep in the barren wastes of the Kalahari, Stanley Langridge, standing atop a kopje, is holding his young son up, showing him the stars in a backdrop of deep, stygian black. The spiral arm of the Milky Way, with its pinpoints of light, stretches across a vast swathe of the sky above. The naked rock, cool to the touch, melts into the sandy soil far below. Kel gurgles in delight at the sight, a large smile on his face, as he tries to touch the stars. A cool Kalahari night breeze whips up, chilling the pair briefly and ruffling Kel’s dark locks. Below them, standing by an old Landy at the base of the kopje, is Kel’s mother, Elizabeth.

Stanley, bring Kel down here at once. He’ll catch his death up there! calls Elizabeth.

Stanley looks down at his wife and then Kel, who is babbling away happily, still reaching for the stars. Do I have to, Liz? Kel’s really enjoying himself, and it’s not too cold up here ’cept for a little wind. Besides, it’s so hot down there you could melt an ice cream, says a smiling Stanley to his wife below.

Another five minutes and no more, she replies. Then, with a sigh, she goes into the large tent next to the Land Rover to unfurl the sleeping bags and take care of other camp chores.

Stanley looks lovingly at his little boy. You like the stars up there, don’t you, Kel? One of these days you’ll make me a proud father, I know it. I can feel it in my bones. Kel giggles then sneezes. I suppose I’d better take you down. Otherwise your mother won’t be too happy with me. We wouldn’t want that, would we? Stanley voices softly.

Kel giggles again as his father throws him up in the air and catches him, holding him firmly in his strong arms. Stanley then begins to pick his way carefully down. Kel tries to grasp the stars once more in his chubby little hands, his eyes wide and yearning, the gleam of that starry night sky forever etched upon his soul, defining his very existence.

*     *     *

Three years pass in the small town of Kuruman in the Kalahari, three hot seasons and three rainy seasons. Kel is four years old now. His father and an old friend—Mops, a sangoma and traditional healer among his many attributes—sit by a roaring fire in the village center. A thorn boma surrounds the round mud-brick thatched huts of Mops’s traditional home, where his parents and grandparents live and where he was born. Burning embers flicker and float upward into the night sky as stars flicker and shimmer in the fire’s radiant heat. A thin crescent of moon reflects its feeble light upon the little African village set in an ethereal landscape of scrub and desert, small handworked plots of mealies and vegetables surrounding it. Mops fixes his gaze on the fire and starts to sway his ebony form gently from side to side, falling into a sleepy trance.

Several minutes pass, and Stanley starts to get impatient. He clicks his fingers in front of his old friend’s face. Come on, Mops, wake up. We’ve come a long way to see you.

The sangoma’s eyes open instantly, alive and alert. He states excitedly, You’d never guess what I just saw—Kel up in space! Up there with the stars!

Stanley stares at him incredulously. "Oh really! And what else did you see, a flying zebra? I think the smoke’s addled your mind, or you’ve been sticking your head in that old jabula cauldron again!"

Mops looks at Stanley seriously. No, honestly, I saw him up there! Really, I did!

Yeah, right! Little Kel in space—ridiculous! Whoever heard of a railway worker’s son becoming an astronaut? Stanley shakes his head in disbelief. You’re an old fool! The pair laugh heartily—the laugh of old friends who have known each other seemingly forever, a laugh that echoes in the starry blackness above and the empty bushveld around the village. The little village, encircled by firelight, melts into the darkness surrounding it, a warm and inviting sight enveloped by a Kalahari summer’s night filled with the buzzing of insects drawn to the light that emanates from it.

*     *     *

Eight years go by with the speed and intensity of a Kalahari sandstorm. A tired Stanley Langridge, with his lunchbox, trudges down the garden path, off to work. As he strides to work, he notes how the passing of the years has robbed him of vitality—the distinct bounce in his step of his youth now gone, replaced by a dragging trudge; the years being hard trying to support a burgeoning family on a small wage. His efforts to get out of the trap of work and the circle of boredom have been unsuccessful. Hope for him is always just out of reach—forever tantalizing, yet always slipping from his grasp.

Kel is in bed, sick—prone to flu, colds, and splitting headaches from blocked sinus passages. Star charts adorn the walls of his bedroom. Astronomy and science books litter the floor. A stack of old Astronomy and Scientific American magazines are piled up on his bedside table, next to a reading lamp. On Kel’s dresser stands a plastic Saturn V rocket attached to its gantry, Gemini capsules, an Atlas V booster rocket, and completing his collection of most prized possessions, a Vostok rocket, given to him by his favorite cousin. Above Kel’s bed is a picture of Einstein and of Neil Armstrong stepping out of the lunar module onto the moon’s surface. A mobile of the solar system hangs from the ceiling.

The door creaks open as his mother walks in, carrying a tray with steaming chicken broth and toast with Marmite. How are you feeling, Kel? asks Mrs. Langridge.

Kel sneezes rather loudly. A little better, Mom.

His mother puts the