The Prox Equation: Project Venture, #2

By Billy Williams

Captain Riley and his crew return in this second instalment of the Project Venture series.
Join them on their latest mission as they investigate the mysterious disappearance of the E.E.S Falcon through a frighteningly dangerous tear in the fabric of spacetime.

Barely surviving the traversal through the fiery vortex, will what they find begin to unravel Lana's secrets? A team is sent to investigate a mysterious ancient planet. Meanwhile a deadly alien pathogen overruns the Venture as the crew begin to mutate and transform. Will the truth about Lana finally be uncovered? Can Finley find a cure before it's to late? And will events spark the flames for yet another war with the infamous Venra Confederacy?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Billy Williams
• Release date: Feb 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201368036

Book preview

Dedicated to my Mum & Dad

For giving me a childhood full

of adventure, imagination and happiness.

With special thanks to Richard Grainger

Proof Reader and Editor.

An invaluable asset and a true talent.

Prologue

The Varadinians’ lived in a neighbouring star system and visited Earth on numerous occasions throughout its history. In 2328 the Earth Alliance began experimenting with the newly developed Defler enzyme, named in honour of the man who discovered it, Ron Defler. Following this breakthrough, travel at speeds faster than light travel was finally possible, and for the first time the human race ventured into the open expanse of deep space exploration. Three years after this discovery, the Varadinians’ decided to formally introduce themselves to the Earth government. In 2331 they sent an armada of vessels carrying numerous delegates, diplomats and state officials. The Empress of Varadin herself was at the head of this convoy and the first to set foot on Planet Earth. Earth Alliance President James Wright welcomed her on the main landing pad just outside the E.E.C’s London based headquarters.

As the external door from the empress’s transport lifted, President Wright was faced with a spookily familiar sight and he simply gasped as he held out a nervous hand of welcome at this historic event. Varadinians’ stood approximately six feet tall, they were slender and almost pointy in stature, with angular features and deep inset eyes. The empress had a fair, almost completely white, complexion with grey markings that ran from her eyes both up and down her face, creating an almost ghoulish appearance. She had full lips and her teeth were also perfectly white, each coming to a rather sharp point at the tip. She had long slender hands with equally sharp and pointed nails. She wore a long black cloak that draped regally across the floor of the landing pad.

The empress took the president’s hand with equal welcome and she allowed a small smile to escape her lips before introducing herself and her staff who had filtered out onto the pad. These were the first alien life-forms that the human race had ever encountered and President Wright wanted to ensure that peaceful relations developed. The Empress of Varadin sat in a long private meeting with the president as they discussed many things, the most important being why her species seemed to be viewed by humans in a suspicious and fearful way. She explained that long ago, when Earth was still a developing world, the Varadinians set up numerous research facilities and experimentation laboratories on the planet. She apologised profusely to the president on behalf of her ancestors for the intrusion into his world and made assurances that nothing like it had occurred since the earth year 1993, when her people had deemed previous works carried out on the planet as ethically wrong.

Continuing, the empress explained that her species had inadvertently contaminated Earth’s history when a small group of humans had managed to escape from one of the research facilities and in turn spread terrifying stories of blood and torture, which led to the creation of the Vampiric  legends throughout Earth’s history. She went on to assure the president that contrary to popular human myth, her people in fact did not need blood to survive, and the experiments that had been carried out on humans were simply for bio-medical research, much as humans for centuries had used animals to test medicines. The president and the empress agreed that they should not allow the truth surrounding the shared history of the two species to become public knowledge. Humans were entering a new stage of their evolution and learning the truth would only fuel inter-species hatred and risk the development of mass fear and hysteria. For many years the Varadinians’ and the Humans were peaceful trade partners; many families had emigrated to both worlds, it gave Earth a strong foothold in local space and allowed humans to develop trade routes and outer system space ports.

In late 2458, more than a century after the historic first meeting between the humans and Varadinians’, a filing clerk discovered a secret recording of the conversation between the then President James Wright and the Empress of Varadin. As these things have had a habit of doing through the ages, the recording got out into public circulation. General uproar ensued, and as fear and hatred spread, a war inevitably broke out between the two peoples. After almost four years of costly and pointless war, a truce was called and the two planets called for peace treaties to be signed. However, the mutual trust that had been shared by the humans and the Varadinians’ was shattered, and it would be many years before that trust would again be restored.

Chapter One

Old Enemies

The hard sharp sound of metal hitting metal echoed down the large open corridor. As it grew closer Captain Jacob Riley realized what it was that was making the loud piercing noise. Approximately one hundred meters down the huge stretch of passage he saw a woman walking toward him. She appeared tall and thin and was wearing a long black jacket that ended just below her knees. Underneath she wore a grey uniform tunic  with what appeared to be the emblem of the Earth Explorer Corps in the upper left corner, though Riley couldn’t be sure because the divisional mark was hard to make out from such a distance. Riley stood and observed the woman as she came closer. She had slim straight-legged trousers on with a single pleat running down their length, giving the woman’s already angular form a more businesslike quality. She wore a pair of what appeared to be leather stilettoed boots with a long thin metal heel.

‘She must like the intimidating sound of her own impending arrival,’ Riley thought to himself as his eyes made their way up her body to her face, which was now clearly visible. ‘She had to be Varadinian, didn't she!’ he said as the woman grew ever closer. As with most female Varadinians’ she was strikingly beautiful, but in a rather ominous and disconcerting way. Her skin was extremely pale and her dark inset eyes burned into him as she walked. Her facial markings were slightly lighter than average and her hair was a wild ebony mane of long loose curls that she had secured in a wide metal hair pin. The Varadinian visitor came to an abrupt stop just in front of Riley. She held out her hand for him to take and they exchanged a firm handshake.

‘I am General Frida Trax, special liaison officer assigned to determine whether you do or do not have a saboteur within your crew.’ Riley stared at her for a moment, taken a little by surprise at the sharpness both of her teeth and her tone.

‘Good to meet you, General Trax. I am—’

‘I know who you are, Captain Riley,’ she cut him off, ‘shall we?’ she looked towards the door that was just behind him.

‘Of course. Please,’ Riley replied as he turned and opened the door, gesturing with his arm to allow her to walk into the meeting room first.

‘After you, Captain,’ she said curtly, with a stern expression on her porcelain face. The captain raised an eyebrow as he lowered his arm and walked into the room, moments later hearing the door latch and lock behind him, ‘Please take a seat, Captain. We have much to discuss.’

THE E.E.S. VENTURE  hung gracefully inside one of the many starship repair and maintenance or R.A.M. spiders. They were given this name due to their design: a large command module sat at the top of the construction. Cylindrical in shape and comprised of four decks, each housing specialized starship repair departments ranging from shielding and weapons systems to environmental and safety operations. Eight long spines broke off from the command module and almost encased the Venture, allowing robotic systems to repair any external damage and also giving access to maintenance personnel for close-up inspections. In turn the R.A.M spiders were each complemented by thirty-eight miniature robotic systems, also arachnid in appearance, that were able to repair hard-to-reach places, both internally and externally.

First Officer Tegan Marsh watched from the main port hole of the shuttle craft as it made its ascent from the V.E.H.S. .Shore leave was over and all crew had been ordered to return for their new mission directive.

‘Well she looks a darn sight better than the last time I saw her!’ came the voice of Chief Medical Officer Finley Isaac as he came to stand in line with Tegan.

‘You're not wrong there, Fin. She's almost as good as new!’ replied Tegan.

‘I can’t wait to see what kind of mess they have made of my engine room!’ moaned Engineer Brook Nichols as she piloted the shuttle up and over the main command module of the R.A.M. spiders and down towards the landing deck of Hangar Bay One. Finley put his arm around Brook’s shoulder.

‘Don't worry Brook. I’m sure you’ll have everything fixed up and shipshape before we’re due to depart.’ Brook looked up at Finley with a confident expression.

‘Damn right I will!’ she replied, grinning, ‘coming in to land in four, three, two, one...’, and with that the Aries class shuttle touched down and the gentle hiss of atmosphere filled the deck.

‘I UNDERSTAND YOUR CONCERNS, Matriarch, but at this moment there is very little I can do,’ she said as she gave her back a slight stretch, freeing it briefly from its strained position in the chair at her desk.

‘We have supplied you with everything you could possibly need, and you have done an exemplary job so far in completing your mission Retara, but there is much still to be done. If the human race is wiped from existence I need not remind you what that means for us and our people, not to mention the lost ones. Even though this is of their own making, we cannot allow personal feelings to get in the way of what is really important.’

‘I know, but—’

‘There are no buts, child. The humans are not foolish; they will discover the truth eventually, and when they do, you will be in great peril, not only from the humans but from the lost ones as well. It is a heavy burden that you carry upon your young shoulders, my child, but it is a burden that you and you alone must bear.’ The elderly woman who stared with intense eyes back through the computer screen at her continued, "be wary of the pale stranger, for she will stop at nothing until the truth is discovered. You know what you must do if she becomes too persistent.’

"Not more death, Matriarch. Can I not—’ Again she was cut off by the old woman.

‘No! Do not even think it, my dear. Our temporal time joining  is destabilizing. Go, my child, and save us all,’ and with that, the elderly woman’s face vanished into a field of static which quickly switched back to the Earth Explorer Corps  insignia.

She sighed deeply and relaxed into the chair for a time, contemplating what she must now do in order to continue with her vital mission. She rose from the uncomfortable chair and walked over to the small kitchenette where she opened a cooling unit located under the work surface. She retrieved a small canister of blackcurrant juice and poured herself a glass. Taking a sip she walked over to the port hole located in the main living area of her quarters and stared down at the V.E.H.S and its remarkable structure. Once again she found herself taken aback by the sheer determination and skill of the human race. She stood and gazed out of the port hole for a while before an internal tele-coms link brought her out of her wonderment.

‘Riley to Lana,’ came the captain’s voice.

‘Lana here, sir,’ replied the pilot, ‘how can I help?’

‘Can you come to Briefing Room One as soon as you are able? I am gathering the senior staff to go through our new mission directive. There’s also someone I need to introduce to you all.’

Lana acknowledged Riley’s request and made her way to the door of her quarters. The door slid up from the floor and she walked through it and down the corridor.

THE DOOR TO THE TRAVEL tube slid up from the floor to reveal Chief Security Officer Reebo Droika. The tall Sarabinian bowed his head slightly forward as he walked out of the travel tube so as to avoid bumping his forehead on the frame, which happened far too often for his liking. A few metres ahead of him was the secondary entrance to Briefing Room One, where he saw Brook, Finley and Lana waiting outside. Brook was on the floor with her back against the corridor wall. She had drawn one leg up close to her chest, enabling her to rest her chin on her knee while the other was stretched out into the corridor. She played with a small rubber ball, rolling it along the floor and bouncing it off the opposite wall. The look on her face spoke a thousand words; she was certainly in no mood for a lengthy meeting. Finley also sat on the floor on the other side of the door, cross-legged and immersed in a computer pad. Droika made two guesses in his mind: Finley was either reading some academic paper on the latest breakthrough in the world of medicine, or else (and more likely, in Droika’s opinion) he was knee deep in an ancient earth battle where kings of old battled dragons and warlocks. Finley’s interest in ancient earth fantasy fiction was completely beyond Droika; nevertheless he enjoyed watching Finley get ridiculously excited in the mess hall whilst regaling his friends with the latest goings on in his current read.

Droika came to a stop next to Lana, who was standing opposite the door. She carried herself with the usual grace that he always admired about her.

‘Any idea what this is all about?’ he asked with a smile as he flicked his head towards the briefing room and gestured down to the two on the floor as if they were naughty school children outside the headmaster’s office. Lana returned the smile and gave him a nudge as she replied,

‘I don't know what these two are in for but apparently the captain has someone he wants us all to meet.’ Lana’s piercing eyes and polished turquoise skin accompanied by her ravenous locks of deep purple hair gave Droika pause as he was suddenly rendered slightly mute by her beauty. She usually had this effect on men at least once a day, which she secretly found quite amusing. Shaking his head slightly to take himself out of his momentary trance, Droika let out a sigh and said,

‘So we’re in for a long one, then?’

‘I think we might be,’ Lana replied as she turned to look at the locked door of the briefing room.

‘FIRST YOU PURGE OUR ship’s database of all information regarding the mission to recover the Dallas. Secondly, you conveniently reassign crewman Dalla to the biological research facility on the V.E.H.S. And now you’re going to interrogate this crew and evaluate our professional conduct on our next mission? It’s astonishing!’ Tegan shouted as she waved her hands about frantically.

‘Calm down, Commander. That’s an order!’ came the captain’s response, although by his muted tone he clearly agreed with her and was actually quite happy for her to continue ranting.

‘Your outburst is unacceptable, Commander. My orders are plain and clear, and there is nothing you or anyone else can do about them, other than to follow them. As a ranking officer of the E.E.C.’s Security Division and personal liaison and advisor to President Sharpe, I heavily out-rank you. If I were you, I would heed the words of your captain and calm down before I relieve you of duty and confine you to quarters.’

The room fell deathly silent. Captain Riley stood at the head of the table, stunned by the cutting words of Ms Trax. Tegan just stared intently into the dark cavernous eyes of the Varadinian general. After what felt like an eternity, the intense and deafening silence was broken only when Tegan opened the room’s secondary door. The door shot up from the floor with a hiss to reveal the rest of the senior staff. Clearly startled, Brook and Finley clambered up from the floor as the door opened, hoping that the captain didn't see them lounging on the deck.

‘Take your seats, people,’ were the only words that escaped Tegan’s lips as she walked to her usual seat to the right of the captain at the head of the table.

The quartet that had been waiting outside filed into the briefing room. One by one they noticed the sharply dressed and extremely well groomed female alien who stood just to the left and behind the captain. Calmly and silently the crew took their seats. Finley gave Brook a light kick under the table to which she responded with a flash of anger before realising he was trying to get her attention to acknowledge his bemused expression at the sight of the menacing looking female alien whose severe demeanour sent shivers down his spine. The anger left Brook’s face and she gave a slight nod of agreement.

‘Right then everyone, we are expecting Sergeant Edwards and P to join us shortly. I believe our new mission briefing is rather complex, and since we are on home turf they wanted to stop by in person and thank us for delivering the Dallas home safely.’ [The senior crew members looked around at each other and exchanged looks of shared pride. None of them would forget the dramatic events of their last mission, which would bind them together for the rest of their lives.] ‘Firstly though I need to introdu—’

‘Thank you, Captain, but I believe I am perfectly capable of introducing myself,’ Trax said, cutting the captain off mid-sentence with a commanding tone in her voice. She put her arm on his shoulder and gestured for him to take his seat as she took command of the room and the meeting.

‘Good morning everyone. My name is Frida Trax, I am a senior officer in the E.E.C.’s Security and Protection Division, and Special Liaison and Advisor to the President of the Earth Alliance Mrs Victoria Sharpe. You may address me as General Trax. I am here to oversee the smooth running of this vessel and its crew during the extremely delicate mission which I believe Sergeant Edwards will fully brief you on shortly. During the coming days I will be speaking with each member of this crew and I will expect your full cooperation. It is imperative that everyone answers all questions fully and honestly, and your failure to cooperate will be deemed as gross misconduct and you will be court-martialled and relieved of duty to await reassignment. Do I make myself perfectly clear?’

The officers sat and stared silently at the woman, each with a different expression conveying their shock and confusion at the current situation.

‘Do I make myself clear?’ she demanded again.

‘Yes, General,’ each of the senior crew members replied solemnly.

‘Excellent. Each of you will report to your respective teams and departments, make everyone perfectly clear on the situation and the rules that I have just spelled out. Now, if you'll excuse me, there are some loose ends I need to tie up before we depart," and with that, she turned and made her way to the door, the silence punctured by the sound of metal striking metal as her sharp heeled stilettoed boots hit the deck again and again, each step sending a stabbing pain through Riley’s skull.

‘Here comes another migraine,’ he thought to himself as the door slid back down to the floor and the general left the briefing room.

‘I hope she knows those things are not standard issue!’ snapped Tegan as she broke the silence and let off some steam. ‘I will be making a formal complaint when this mission is over.’ Brook let out a laugh at Tegan’s hotheaded statement as the captain raised a hand up to signal for quiet in the room. ‘Arim to Captain Riley,’ came the delicate Clarigian officer’s voice over the internal tele-comms line.

‘Riley here. Go ahead, Ensign.’

‘Sir, Sergeant Edwards has arrived with PA 2.4-7. They are making their way to the briefing room and should arrive momentarily.’

‘Thank you, Arim,’ the captain responded as he heard the gentle fuzz indicating the comms link had been closed. Riley looked around the room at his senior crew members staring expectantly back at him, ‘I know you are all wondering what that was all about. Your obvious questions will have to wait until after the briefing from Sergeant Edwards.’

The room was a mass of wide-eyed expressions. Riley sighed. It was clear that he was going to have to deal with an extremely frustrated and vocal group of officers very shortly.

ONCE AGAIN THE SECONDARY door to the briefing room slid up to reveal a tall, well-built older man. Sergeant Ric Edwards had been in the Corps since he was nineteen and had worked his way up through the ranks of security. Though in his mid-fifties now, he was still a fine specimen, broad shoulders framing his physique and making his uniform fit snugly. He had a tidy mass of greying auburn hair combed into a perfectly neat side parting, accompanied by an expertly trimmed beard which framed his wide angular jaw. The dark scar of an old injury marked the right side of his face, running from the side of his temple down to his lower cheek. With his piercing blue eyes and a perfect set of teeth, he always managed to make Brook Nichols swoon. Her rough and tough New Vegas-bred exterior melted every time and she could not stop a rush of blood to her cheeks as Edwards appeared. The Sergeant stepped into the room closely followed by his PA system, known affectionately to the crew as simply ‘P’, who walked gracefully into the room, almost appearing to hover as she made her way towards Riley. She was a slightly outdated system compared to what Science Division was currently rolling out, but Edwards had come to trust and depend on her so much that when an upgrade was offered he had politely declined. P stood an exact five foot nine inches tall and her metallic frame glistened under the overhead lighting. She had the form of a