ALIEN ANGEL

By G. A. Pagart

After a battle in the Jemma galaxy, Bon-too, an alien symbiotic life form, flee from their fighter ship in an experimental escape pod. Bon-too's host Gemel was mortally wounded, and Bon-too engaged the experimental hyperdrive to escape the enemy attack. This sends them hurling through space recklessly.

Bon-too loses Gemel and

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gavin A. Pagart
• Release date: Jan 24, 2023
• ISBN: 9781088088265

Book preview

ALIEN ANGEL

MAJOR POWERS

By G. A. Pagart

Contents

Prologue: The Kollini Wars

Chapter 1: Retirement Sucks

Chapter 2: Giggles

Chapter 3: Roulette

Chapter 4: Funeral Fire

Chapter 5: Appearances Mean Everything

Chapter 6: Rodger Corman

Chapter 7: Stunning Results

Chapter 8: Scarface

Chapter 9: Target Acquisition

Chapter 10: Atlantic City

Chapter 11: Grieving Again

Chapter 12: Enter the Demon

Chapter 13: I Believe

Chapter 14: Demon in Calgary

Chapter 15: Malcolm Miller

Chapter 16: Paw-paw To The Rescue

Chapter 17: Hazmat

Chapter 18: The Homestead

Chapter 19: Monte Carlo

Chapter 20: The Gift

Chapter 21: The Search

Chapter 22: Scarface Returns

Chapter 23: Copy Cat

Chapter 24: Afghanistan

Autobiography

ALIEN ANGEL

MAJOR POWERS

By G. A. Pagart

The pod moved closer over the man on the pier. The hatch to the pod opened up on the right side like a gullwing. Then Bon-too turned liquid and left the body of his host. He oozed up and out of the pod. He poured himself out onto the chest of the being below. Bon-too oozed up into his mouth and nose, merging mind and body with this primitive being.

Bon-too felt guilty jumping a host without his consent. He had the presence of mind to set the pod controls to follow his unique biosignature while remaining cloaked. Now Bon-too needed to bide his time until he learns more about this planet and its cultures.

Major stirred in the humid night air. The wind had died down, and it had become uncomfortable. He opened one eye just a crack to find it was still dark. Major took a deep breath and let it out. He raised his left wrist to look at his watch. 04:14 am, and the mosquitos were trying to carry him off. He sat up and cleared his eyes, wiping them with both hands.

Major hung his head down, hiccupped, and belched at the same time. God Damn, taste like a bear shit in my mouth, said Major. He looked around to see if there was anything left in the bottle. He could wash his mouth out with it. There was a mouthful of Jim Beam left, so he swished the last of the bottle around in his mouth. When he was satisfied with the rinse, he swallowed the whiskey. He thought, No sense in wasting it.

Prologue: The Kollini Wars

The Universe is made up of millions of Galaxies. A Galaxy is made up of millions of planets. Some planets sustain life, and some are barren of life. Few have evolved with sentient life.

The Jemma Galaxy has several planets that actually have advanced lifeforms. Planet Trantium, for example, has an advanced race of reptilian bi-peds. The lizard-like being has lived in city-like communities for centuries. They call themselves Mo-noc. The Mo-noc People who live on the planet Trantium are a race of reptilian life forms. They are bi-ped and have a natural green-scale epidermis that protects their bodies to a certain degree. Their heads are angular and narrow like a beak. The eyes are located on either side of the skull and rotate for wide peripheral vision. Like Earth’s chameleon, the Mo-noc have evolved their intelligence, increasing their technological capabilities.

Mo-noc were the first to discover Corinthian Crystals on their home planet. This discovery was made by a scientist named Can-boc. He gathered the crystals he found in a dig site and took them back to his lab in the city of Enon.

Can-boc studied the properties of the crystals by exposing them to various elements for a reaction. Can-boc was frustrated with his failures. The crystals were fragile and often fractured or broke. Most of the crystals were gone and Can-boc would have to gather more.

Can-boc tried element after element. He took a single crystal to save and placed it on a box near a window. He tried another element and had no success. Suddenly there was smoke and fire in the room. He smothered the flames and opened windows to let the smoke out.

Can-boc investigated the cause of the fire. The crystal he had placed on the box was in the midst of the ashes. He grabbed another box and placed it in the same position. Then he put the crystal on top. Can-boc waited for something to happen. No smoke or fire occurred. Then he turned the box, so the crystal was end to end facing the window. The crystal turned blue and emitted a blue beam from the end farthest away from the window. He moved the box slowly toward the window, and the intensity of the beam grew. The farther out of the line, the less intense; he removed the crystal from the box and made notes.

Can-boc turned to store the crystal in a safe and found burned marks on the wall. He discovered that ultraviolet rays are intensified immensely by crystals. Can-boc created the first energy weapon on Trantium.

More powerful weapons and the Corinthian drive for intergalactic travel came from that discovery. The Mo-noc began exploring the galaxy for other life.

They visited Kollin and began trading goods between the two planets. The Kollini people are a humanoid species with translucent skin. You can see all the veins near the surface. You can even see a pulsating heart slightly. The Kollini people are ranked in hierarchy and status by lineage.

The Kollini traded exotic foods for technology. This brought Kollini up to speed in technologies that may have taken a century. This opened the door to space travel and first contact with the Octunian species.

The Octunians were a sentient lifeform in a primordial state. It wasn’t until the Kollini camped by a pool of primordial ooze that the Octunians made contact.

Rantor, leader of the colony, jumped a Kollini explorer to make contact. They blended better than Rantor expected. He was very comfortable with the Kollini body. It took time to explain things to Trentel, the explorer. He requested to be an ambassador to Kollin with his permission. Trentel accepted this offer and hosted him back in Kollin. The Kollini people accepted the proposal in limits. The Mo-noc delegation from Trantium was invited to the council and offered to fill the voids of the Kollini limits. There was a test performed on Octune.

A Mo-noc was blended with an Octunian but was rejected because of physiological needs that the Mo-noc couldn’t provide.

The Mo-noc emissary was enraged at this. This insult would be passed on to the Supreme Council of Trantium. They flew back to Trantium with the news. They blamed the Kollini for sabotaging their effort and trying to keep the Octunians for themselves.

There were threats made by the Mo-noc from time to time. The Kollini made extra flights to Octune to blend their people.

One Kollini expedition landed and found devastation everywhere. There were very few survivors to blend with. They rescued as many as they could. There was a second rescue attempt. They looked around, but there was no one left. The Mo-nocs must have returned to finish the job. The Kollini welcomed the refugees to stay on Kollin and live in peace.

The Mo-noc didn’t care for that idea and declared war on Kollin. There was no peace for either species. The Octune symbiotes were extremely intelligent and resourceful. They helped create new energy weapons and more capable warships. The Octunian bio metrics blended well with electronic devices. A discovery that Octunian ooze could shapeshift into hard armor. They protected their host with it.

They developed nanobots to make their host live long and healthy lives. The war started, and people were killed on both sides. The Octunians wanted to help win the war and to protect their host with the bio-ooze. It encapsulates the body and then hardens as personal armor. The ooze was thicker over vital organs and the head. As time passed, more technology was added.

Kollin has extremely heavy gravity. to take the field in combat, antigravity was introduced to the armor. It made the Kollini much faster and more agile in combat. It came in handy for doing mundane chores too.

For a century, the militaries of both worlds were evenly matched. Then the Kollini developed stealth technology for their fighter ships. An Octunian named Bon-too and his host Waran whose occupation was the inventor. They discovered how to bend light using Corinthian Crystals.

Given the size and shape of the object to be cloaked, determine the number of crystals used to make it disappear. It was a fantastic accomplishment to make a fighter ship disappear. Bon-too and Waran were honored for this achievement.

They volunteered to lead an expedition to Trantium, to gather more crystals. Two fighters and one cargo ship outfitted with stealth technology are set to enter Trantium airspace. They were to land, grab crystals and leave as quickly as possible.

As they entered the Trantium atmosphere, the trio had to avoid patrols several times. They reached their target, and the cargo ship landed while the fighters watched above.

Waran, Bon-too, and two assistants ran from the ship to a cave where crystals grow. They left the ship cloaked. Using lights, they gathered sacks full of crystals. They started back to the cargo ship. Waran and Bon-too were first out of the cave and ran into two Mo-noc gatherers on the way in before Waran, and the other Kollini could think. Bon-too skewered the Mon-Noc gatherers with black spikes. He receded into Waran; their bodies collapsed. They ran for the ship and boarded.

They launched and ran for Kollin airspace. The mission was a success for two reasons. One, the crystals, and two, the cloak worked perfectly. It was a win, win.

When the Mo-noc discovered the incursion and the theft of the precious crystal, they stepped up the attacks on Kollin. What made it worse was the attacks were disastrous for the Mo-noc. The cloaks gave them no chance of winning. The Kollini fighters won every engagement with no losses.

All of Kollin celebrated Waran and Bon-too as heroes for decades. The Mo-noc spit at the sound of the name Waran. He was enemy number one on Trantium.

There were several attempts on his life over the years that were unsuccessful. The provincial government assigned guards to protect him all the time.

Waran and Bon-too worked on projects for the war effort. With the large cache of crystals, they could experiment with power sources, energy weapons, and hyper-speed capabilities. There were plenty of skirmishes on the outer rim of Kollin. Patrols reported more and more attacks in different sectors. That means the enemy was testing their defenses. Kollini people were sending their young to join the military before their time. Gemel was one of many highborn families to volunteer. He spent many years in the flight academy. He graduated in the top five of his class.

Gemel was assigned to a fighter squadron that has a reputation for big battles. He was excited to engage the enemy. He showed up for the roll call. They assigned a two-ship assignment to an outer sector to patrol.

Gemel thought he was being babysat on this assignment. He became sullen and resentful. He did as he ordered but didn’t like it. On the third day, the patrol came under attack. He and his partner took standard maneuvers to evade and attack. Gemel broke formation, made a daring tight arc around, and landed a shot on the Trantium ship. Then turned the arc in the opposite direction 360 degrees for a shot at the enemy's rear. He took the shot, and the Trantium ship broke apart and exploded. They were successful in defeating the attackers. Gemel became one of the team quickly. With every mission, his reputation grew as a fighter pilot.

Bon-too protected their work and Waran as best he could. Weeks passed with no signs of aggression. He was finishing an experiment when the attack happened. They were leaving their laboratory and walking home. His bodyguard was right next to him. The Mo-noc warrior appeared out of the bushes, firing his weapon. Bon-too threw up his armor. The bodyguard stepped in front of Waran to take the blast. He fired back, killing the attacker. The bodyguard was down but not dead. A sniper in a nearby building hit Waran from behind. The energy blast caused the armor to fail and caused trauma to Waran’s body.

Waran was unconscious, and Bon-too helpless to minister aid to him. Bon -too tried to help. Then a Mo-noc came to finish the job. Bon-too secreted and formed a shield with a spike. The spike shot out to pierce the Mo-noc thru the throat. Bon-too checked Waran for vitals. He was failing fast. Bon-too wanted help for Waran, but no one was around.

A fighter pilot that responded to the attack strafed the Trantium craft. It exploded, and he landed to check for survivors.

Bon-too did what he could for Waran when a Kollini warrior grabbed Waran and dragged him to cover. The warrior called for medical assistance. The doctors arrived in time to save Waran and Bon-too, thanks to the warrior.

Gemel gave the medics cover while stabilizing Waran. Then they transported him to a nearby medical facility for treatment. Gemel returned to his patrol duties once they were safe. Gemel finished his shift and retired to his quarters.

The following morning Gemel was summoned to Commander Hoctel’s office. He knocked and was admitted. He stood before Hoctel’s desk and waited for him to be acknowledged. The Commander congratulated Gemel on the actions of yesterday’s attack. Hoctel said, Your action saved the life of professor Waran. He is our leading scientist and hero. You are with this promoted to squadron leader and assigned to Omega Squad."

Gemel said, Begging the Commander’s pardon, there is no Omega Squad that I know of.

Hoctel said, There is now. You may choose five pilots from any squad as long as they are not from the same squad. We wouldn’t want to deplete any squad now, would we?

Gemel said, No, sir.

Hoctel pinned the squad leader's insignias on his flight suit and shook his hand. The commander dismissed him. Gemel gave the Kollini salute and left the office. He was happier than he had been in a long time. Now all he has to do is choose a team.

Bon-too and Waran recovered quickly. The Nanos did their jobs repairing and restoring Waran to health. He was assigned two bodyguards at a time. It wasn’t long before he was back in the laboratory doing research. They were trying to develop a Corinthian crystal hyperdrive. It was strictly a theory. It wasn’t the only project that they were working on. Bon-too was trying to use the primordial ooze from his home planet to create useful permanent shapes. The ooze was not sentient, with no will of its own.

Gemel studied files on pilots he had to choose from. He knew he wanted his friend Yetta to be his number 1. He needed four more pilots. Eventually, he decided on three rookies and one veteran pilot. The plan was to mold them into a team with two veterans to learn from and a leader to look up to.

He would show them how to think out and maneuver the enemy. How to think outside the box, Gemel worked hard developing new maneuvers. He had the veterans follow him for them to practice it. Once they had it down, they would pass it on to the rookies. The enemy has seen standard maneuvers. They won’t expect these. He made atmospheric and space maneuvers.

The team came together quickly. The training went smoothly. Other pilots requested transfers to Omega Squadron. He kept it to the six original team members; they were beginning to fly and think as one.

The two-man patrols worked so well that they took the lead in downed enemy ship statistics. Gemel came up with a two-ship patrol where one ship remained cloaked and one visible. The cloaked ship would hang back from the other ship and wait for the Mo-noc pilot to take the bait. The ruse worked well for a long time.

Omega Squadron became the top fighter squadron of the defense force. They earned citations for combat and distinguished service. Gemel was proud of his men and their performance.

Bon-too and Waran wanted to make a trip to planet Octune to retrieve some primordial ooze to experiment with. Getting permission for the expedition was denied. They had to make do with what they had. The Mo-noc were stepping up their attacks on Kollin. They targeted military installations and science laboratories all over Kollin. They killed several Octunian and their hosts. Bon-too made the request that the Octunian remains be recovered and brought to Waran’s laboratory. The government agreed to it because it was safer than going to Octune.

Bon-too received three containers with remains in them. Once the sentient life is extinguished, the remains return to their original primordial state. Waran placed the remains in the safe for security. After that, they reworked their theory on hyperdrive technology.

The theory was that the Corinthian crystals multiply light hundreds of times its original intensity, which the current drives use now. Then the more crystals you put in line with the light source, they will multiply that much. In theory, one crystal multiplies 100 times the emitted light. The more light, the more energy you get. That sum will be multiplied 100 times more for every crystal brought in line with the light source.

The problem is energy induction and transfer in order to stabilize the crystals and keep them from burnout or being destroyed. Waran wanted to test this theory right away but not inside. This will be too much power to test indoors. They would need to go to the engine testing facility in the city of Ta-Lon.

Bon-too and Waran worked on the energy induction chamber. It needed to be perfect to avoid damaging the crystals. The transfer rate of light to energy would need to drain the crystals at the same rate or higher so the crystals won’t overheat and break apart.

Waran thought they were ready to give it a test. He got permission to go to Ta-Lon for the test. They loaded the cargo vessel with all their equipment, the experimental induction chamber, and the transfer regulator.

Waran got aboard with his bodyguards and pilot. They took off and were met by two fighter escorts.

Gemel was on atmospheric patrol when he received orders to meet and escort a cargo vessel to an undisclosed location. He and Yetta broke off from the squadron. They were meeting the assignment at launch pad 134. It wasn’t long before they picked up the cargo ship, the fighter ships cloaked for the trip. They landed an hour later. Gemel told Yetta, Head back to the squadron. I’m going to stay for a while.

Yetta broke off as he was told while Gemel landed behind the cargo ship.

Gemel exited the fighter and walked up to the cargo ship. They were offloading equipment Gemel had never seen before. He recognized Professor Waran and greeted him by saying how happy he was to see he had recovered so well.

Bon-too said, This is the warrior who saved our lives.

Waran shook Gemel’s hand and said, My symbiote tells me we owe a debt of gratitude for saving our lives.

Gemel said, You are most welcome, Professor.

The first of many crates were loaded onto transports to be moved to the testing site. There was a commotion at the cargo hole. Gemel couldn’t hear what was happening. The Professor went to see what happened when an explosive device detonated inside the cargo ship. The professor was blown 30 feet away from the ship and landed in a crumpled heap. Gemel was knocked off his feet but was only stunned by the concussion.

The cargo ship was burning, and all the crew unloading were dead. Gemel ran to Professor Waran to see if he was alive. He was barely alive. He looked at Gemel and whispered, My symbiote may need your permission to blend with you if I don’t.

Gemel tried to revive the professor but didn’t have the training or equipment to help. The symbiote oozed onto Waran’s chest and waited. Gemel said, Yes, you may blend with me. He knew that it was a high honor to be selected to blend with an Octunian.

Bon-too took it slow and moved to Gemel’s mouth. Gemel had never witnessed a blending and didn’t know what to do. Bon-too took the initiative to part his lips. Gemel opened his mouth, and the ooze rushed down his throat quickly, so it wasn’t uncomfortable for too long.

Gemel sat on the ground next to the corpse. He was dizzy. Emergency crews arrived to extinguish the fire. They assisted him to his feet and brought him to the medics. He was only slightly concussed, so they released him to fly. He boarded the fighter ship and radioed the situation to the command. He was instructed to return to base as soon as possible. Bon-too said weakly, Cargo must go back to the lab.

Gemel told the emergency crew that the cargo was very important to the government and needed to return to Waran’s laboratory. They said they would take care of it. Gemel returned to base and reported in. Commander Hoctel wanted him to report to his office immediately.

Gemel knocked on Hoctel’s door and then entered. He waited for the Commander’s acknowledgment.

Hoctel asked, How are you feeling, Gemel?

Gemel said, Fine, sir.

Hoctel said, What the hell happened out there? You were supposed to protect them.

Gemel said, "We were given orders to escort the cargo ship to an unknown destination. We completed that assignment, sir.

Hoctel asked, How was the expedition attacked on the airfield?

Gemel said, "It wasn’t an attack by air. It was sabotaged with an explosive device on board the cargo ship. I and the Professor’s symbiote were the only survivors, sir.

Hoctel asked, Where is the symbiote now?

Gemel said, Waran was dying and asked if I would agree to blend with the Octunian. I was the only one there. The symbiote needed to blend right away. He asked me for my permission to blend and recover their research.

Hoctel said, You have just become a valuable asset to Kollin. Though you are in the military, your new status requires you to be protected. You will be transferred to another squadron.

Gemel said, I must object, my squad.

Hoctel said, That’s an order, son.

Gemel disappointed, said, Yes, sir.

Gemel was dismissed and reassigned to the worse squadron, according to statistics. They got the lowest priority patrol assignments.

Bon-too said, I’m sorry for causing you grief. I’ll make it up to you, I promise. You save my life twice. Now, I will give you Nanos to give you good health and long life. I swear to protect you to the best of my ability.

Four years passed since Gemel and Bon-too were blended and stuck in a boring assignment.

It was a dreary day on Kollin, just like every other day.

Gemel and Bon-too were just finishing up their morning rituals. They were headed for hangar 05 to board their ship. Bon-too and Gemel were scheduled to begin daily patrol duty in sector 21. Sector 21 was the furthest possible assignment you could get from any fighting.

Gemel and Bon-too boarded the fighter ship. They began the ship-wide system check in chronological order, just as they were taught in flight training. Fifteen minutes later, the system check was complete. They settled into the pilot’s chair. They double-checked their safety gear and strapped in.

Gemel requested clearance for launch. Patrol 21 to flight command. Request clearance to lift off.

Flight control: Command to Patrol 21, you are clear for launch.

Patrol 21 lifted off, and they began to climb and gain speed. It didn’t take long to reach the edge of space. They banked hard to the right as soon as they did and made a straight shot to sector 21.

Gemel and Bon-too have been patrolling this sector for a full year and had no signs of any enemy activity. Patrolling this area has been very boring for the pair. They weren’t in routine and didn’t follow their normal flight path given by command. Just another day in paradise.

Gemel steered the vessel over to a small moon named Anuck 3. Gemel dropped the ship into a normal orbit to scan for enemy activity. Thirty minutes later, being no obvious signs, Gemel broke orbit and moved on to the next possible site for enemy activity.

Bon-too asked, You think we should throw up the cloak to be safe. Gemel laughed and said, It doesn’t matter. They can detect us anyway.

I would feel better if we did. Bon-too said.

Don’t be silly. Nothing is out here and hasn’t been for cycles, Gemel said.

Well, at least put on your armor. Said Bon-too.

Gemel scoffed and rolled his white eyes. They continued to their next destination, another moon, Anuck 2.

Patrol 21 lowered into standard orbit around Anuck 2. Suddenly three Trantium ships appear, coming about in an attack formation. The Trantium fighter ships were larger than the Kollini ships. It had a trident shape with one tine at the bottom and two more on top. The top tines were gunner positions, and the lower the pilot’s position. They are fast but not as maneuverable. They couldn’t make a tight turn like the Kollini ships.

The Kollini built their crafts for a single pilot. This agile narrow ship has a fuselage that is tapered in the front. The tail has three fins, like the fletching on an arrow. The cock pit was set back from the nose of the ship. On either side of the cock pit is a short wing with gun housing for energy weapons.

Gemel panicked, trying to use evasive maneuvers to get away. There was no way he could go three-on-one with Trantium fighter pilots. He tried to outrun the enemy, but they were hot on his tail.

The Mo-noc began to fire on him. He used a zig-zag pattern and rolled to avoid being hit. Gemel radioed command headquarters and got no response each time. Gemel brought the ship into a tight arc and managed to take a shot on the left flank of the trio’s formation.

The Trantium ship took