Galactic Passages: Planet 6333

By Dean

This is a science fiction adventure about how progressive hunger for wealth and power within a society [Planet Raihan] have resulted in duping other planets into mining valuable ore for them amidst the orbital hazards of Planet 6333. They have severely hurt other cultures along the way; raising themselves galactic prominence through manipulation of the relationship between a planet loaded with valuable ore, and a dimensional portal caught in a gravitational tug-of-war between two suns. From the beginning, remote miners are steadily shut off from communicating with their home planet through Raihan manipulation from a secret base located on a nearby moon; eventually feeling neglected and alone just as Planet 6333 enters the dangerous portal zone in the midst of its orbit. The victims ultimately see the Raihans as rescuers rather than kidnappers when they come in the midst of planetary chaos to steal the ore and take them as hostages. When examined closer, the Raihan culture is a paper tiger, dissolving from the inside out due to their evil ways. Circumstances arise that allow two smaller planetary forces [the Trecons and Ryderson-Omegans] to band together and challenge the Raihan goliath; but they can't do it alone. The story ends with a surprising twist, and points toward future adventures!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 29, 2019
• ISBN: 9781640794030

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Galactic Passages

Planet 6333

Dean and Anson Vargo

ISBN 978-1-64079-402-3 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64079-403-0 (digital)

Copyright © 2018 by Dean & Anson Vargo

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1

Mysterious Relic

CHAPTER 2

Toiling Life on Muudia

CHAPTER 3

Secret Spy Base

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

Softening Attack

CHAPTER 10

Mule Outgunned

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

Unexpected Ally

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19

Raihan Rescue Crew

CHAPTER 20

Onsan and Oghy: Pair of Swindlers

CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER 22

Stellarstream Hijack

CHAPTER 23

CHAPTER 24

CHAPTER 25

CHAPTER 26

CHAPTER 27

CHAPTER 28

CHAPTER 29

Knuddrul's Fate

CHAPTER 30

CHAPTER 31

CHAPTER 32

CHAPTER 33

Titan's Hold the Gap

CHAPTER 34

Raihan Invasion

CHAPTER 35

CHAPTER 36

Bodak Willstreak Dies a Hero

CHAPTER 37

CHAPTER 38

Sonarians Enter the Battle

CHAPTER 39

CHAPTER 40

Sonarians Crush Rochest

CHAPTER 41

Wanderer Settlements Rescued

CHAPTER 42

CHAPTER 43

CHAPTER 44

CHAPTER 45

CHAPTER 46

CHAPTER 47

CHAPTER 48

CHAPTER 49

CHAPTER 50

Fighting Sonarian Patrol

CHAPTER 51

Gamma Bomb Energy

Galactic Map

Raihan Victim File

Data Analysis

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Thank you to all my brothers and sisters at the MAC Fire Department, (special recognition to C-shift station 2, 2016), and the Minnesota Air National Guard (special recognition to 148th Chaplain's office), for providing inspiration for the story. Also, thanks to Minnesota State Parks, where the rugged and majestic beauty of Minnesota are highlighted at places like Gooseberry Falls and Tettegouche. I sprinkle the charm of such favorite family places into the story.

Sarah, thanks for your support in allowing me to devote time and resources to this project. Thanks for your keen eye, and knowledge of proper grammar! Abigail, thanks for lending a listening ear, and knowledge of cats in particular! Natalie, your talent for visual details added a unique spice to our story. I enjoyed working on the 7th illustration with you: Onsan and Oghy: Pair of Swindlers. Anson, our conversations about the direction of our story will always be treasured memories for me. With your ideas and twists along the way, it's twice as good as it would have been!

Thank you, Kathy Kuhnel and Kathy Mattson, for your grammatical advice. And Mike Muellerleile for providing a keen scientific eye. Thank you, Bill Schoonover, for the advice that took this book to the next level!

Finally, I'd like to recognize and thank Shalanda Gilliland, my agent at Christian Faith Publishing. I'm grateful for your patience and kindness throughout the process.

Dean Vargo

Thank all my teachers from Barnum, Minnesota. The teachers who stand out the most for me are Mrs. Audra Richardson and Ms. Kristen Helland. You helped me early during 7th grade, to learn the importance of paying attention to details and expressing myself to others. There are a few Easter eggs in this book to represent my friends. Thank you for all providing us with character ideas by simply being who you are! Thank you, Mom, Natalie, and Abby, for providing support for our book. Thank you, Dad, for acknowledging my ideas, so we could present our story to the universe!

Anson Vargo

It was fun working with Dad on the illustrations, thanks Dad! I learned about how the pictures changed from rough drafts to the end of the art process. It was cool how story concepts became art to make the book better. When I told the artist my ideas or changes, they were added into the pictures nicely afterwards. I enjoyed drawing Chase, and creating the 7th picture with Dad.

Natalie Vargo

Data Synopsis

Planet 6333 is a complex story. The Data Synopsis is a timeline tool of the narrative. There is also a glossary at the end of the book.

When: The moment a haunting discovery is made in a mineshaft on a lonely planet named Muudia (Planet 6333).

Past: Trecon has operated secret ore mines for six years.

Present: Planetary hazards and the discovery causes havoc in trillelium mines of Muudia.

Future: The government has a decision to make about the mines.

Why: Economic benefits demand that more resources be sent to a hazardous galaxy to support the mine missions.

Prologue

President Grolegg looked confidently around the cavernous situation room. To his left, images of the invaders filled the screens. To his right, 100 generals and propaganda spinners were raining down different brands of fire on the attacking fleet. Everyone in the state-of-the-art war cathedral handed out ethereal death sentences with skillful professionalism.

Raihan defenders had every advantage. Invisible probes drifted alongside the invading fleet undetected. Information flowed in, giving the Raihans an up-to-the-second battle perspective. No doubt, they'd crush the infiltrators in short order.

Looking out the window straight ahead was Raihan's symbol of absolute domination; the Monument. The invaders couldn't get within 200 kilometers of the city. A corrupt smile formed as Grolegg took in the scene.

The president wasn't worried in the least. But he had to own the mishap. Grolegg appointed the man who started the whole thing rolling downhill. With the battle well in hand; his mind drifted to the events that caused the first domino to fall.

CHAPTER 1

The Haunting Artifact

Zzzzttt, pop, grind!

An electric blue arc was followed by a spray of blinding golden sparks. The mining shaft supervisor yelled over the chaos, Hold it, stop the borer before you fry the motor!

The confused driver looked out the window of his tractor, What was that?

Back outta there. Let's see what you've hit.

The excavator engineer tried to move the machine out of the hole, but the battery had died. He exclaimed, How can that be?

Better replace the power cell, said the supervisor.

Just did a full check before the shift and replaced it an hour ago. It should've been good until next week's operational test.

The supervisor shook his head, Faulty unit, obviously.

After they replaced the battery, the operator backed out and the miners inspected the rock. They were astounded by what they saw.

The supervisor's face was frozen in terror. He cried, Impossible! This is beyond my pay grade. I'd better move it up the chain.

Mysterious Relic

Deep in a dimly lit mining hole, 150 meters beneath the icy crust of a desolate planet called Muudia, a terrifying discovery was made. 5B Shaft Supervisor, this is Sergeant Eddy Starkly, the Excavation Supervisor. We have an unusual finding. Please come down here as soon as possible, pleaded the astonished controller.

Five trillelium miners working the night shift found an engineered structure that couldn't be explained on the lifeless frozen planet.

Everything on Muudia was ice, rock, and mud. To find remnants of a man-made structure in the ground as they were digging out trillelium ore was an unthinkable proposition to the miners.

The mysterious relic appeared to be a dense metal superstructure beam, measuring roughly four meters high and wide, and 10 meters long. The beam looked like a cage protecting an oval canister in the middle. It was likely manufactured to provide stability and support to the center part but also appeared a smaller part of something substantial, like a superstructure of a ship. Seeds of worry found fertile ground deep within their minds.

The ore-rich planet was at the edge of a quiet galaxy, seemingly an unexplored and uninhabited planet since the Trecons started the mining operations five and a half years prior. The miners realized there was no reasonable explanation for it. It was as though they were being haunted by an alien ghost from a distant past.

Starkly's supervisor ordered the team to halt excavation activities and return to the surface until the site could be investigated further. The perplexing information slowly climbed the ladder of influence within the camp.

Yawn. What is it, 5B?

The 5B Shaft Supervisor knew his neck was on the line. He had skipped a few links in the chain of command and transferred a message to the top. Muudia Operations, this is Thom Johston, 5B Shaft Supervisor. You need to come down here and see this.

Please explain what you've got, 5B, replied Major Tallik, a sleepy staff officer. The stout balding major had cloudy, half-opened blue eyes.

Johston wisely didn't want to broadcast their finding over the transmitter. It seemed logical to keep the info tight to the vest. He respectfully replied, Negative, Major. You'll have to come down here to see this for yourself.

Give me 20 minutes, was Tallik's groggy response.

After Tallik saw the anomaly for himself, he woke General Thomas Krevety. Krevety was a hulking man with handsome features and kind dark brown eyes. Black hair was graying along his ears, giving him a distinguished look.

General Krevety set a course of action with a sense of urgency. The next three and a half hours were a buzz of activity around the location, as excavating and scientific experts were brought down to investigate the scene. An order was given to dig the structure up and place it in storage behind a shroud of secrecy.

A lockdown was ordered in section 5B, and Storage Area 2 in Mining Camp 1 (MC1SA2) from the Muudia Operations Commander. Krevety supervised the relic excavation and quarantine personally. He appointed his second-in-command, Colonel Ferd Honassen, to the position of acting Operations Commander.

Quarantined miners meant others had to carry a heavier workload. It placed another weight on the ankles of sinking morale in the foreboding landscape of the lonely planet. Thus, began a massive conspiracy among the encampments. The rumor mill was the primary source of getting the information out through the masses, regardless of the official word.

Reputations and relationships were the true fuel for how people felt, and Krevety knew he could do little to change that.

General Krevety contacted mission control. Trecon Control, we're in urgent need of assistance. We've exhumed a metal fabrication while mining ore in shaft 5B. The discovery could cause increased unrest within the colonies. As a result, I'm initiating a quarantine, and will accompany the package to Trecon upon the arrival of my replacement.

He continued his report, Our trillelium ampules are full, and we have consequently been piling ore on high ground surfaces of the planet due to a recent ground thaw. Increased problems with mud are causing the ore stores and equipment to sink, and flooding is a constant threat in certain areas.

After his report, Krevety was pleasantly surprised to receive an immediate response.

Understood. A small supply convoy will be underway within the week. We expect a quick turnaround. We'll be sending compact fleets from now on due to the current hazards around Muudia. General Etrod is looking forward to meeting with you, as well as the challenges of building upon your successes.

General Krevety added one last fervent comment, Highest priority are the sump pumps, potassium iodide, and the cats!

Got it general, your req—. Fzzzz!

Krevety grimaced. Communication has been shoddy lately. His mind was filled with curiosity about a mysterious civilization that no longer had a presence on Muudia. Why would a civilization leave such a valuable resource behind? Will the owners return to protect their past investment? Will we discover evidence that will lead us to more antediluvian worlds?

General Krevety asked Pnoi Nbnok, his lead scientist, to study the object and give him a detailed report as soon as possible.

Nbnok's initial findings offered only more questions. General, it appears as though these are the remains of a superstructure of a very substantial ship that crash-landed long ago. The only thing odd about that conclusion is the fact that such a sizable structure could descend down over 150 meters deep into the planet's hard crust with no other remnants of the spacecraft. Nbnok took a breath.

Go on, said Krevety.

Nbnok paced as he spoke. Breaking through the Muudia ground and leaving no trace seems impossible. It's puzzling we've found nothing closer to the surface. I don't have a clue."

Nbnok pointed at the artefact, If it sank during a thaw, as we're in now, we should've found more down there. This thing penetrated the crust, leaving no evidence in its wake. There should've been impact defacement, but there was nothing. The site appeared smooth as a baby's bottom when we arrived. The facts just don't add up. An intriguing mystery, for sure.

General patted Nbnok on the shoulder. I'll get you any resources within my power to find the answer, Major.

Nbnok straightened his arched back. I won't rest until I solve this riddle, General.

CHAPTER 2

Strange Seasons

No mining camp ever survived to a second season on planet Muudia. The perilous planet was quickly befriended time after time for its valuable resource; just to be abandoned as it battered its unsuspecting inhabitants.

Nominal understanding of the Laurus Solar System indicated that mining Muudia was a no-win situation, hardly worth the effort. Complete knowledge of Muudia disclosed her resources were there for the taking, but only during the long winter season.

It was a large dirty-looking ice-capped planet, being named Muudia by the Trecon explorers because it looked like a ball of cloudy dark mud from space. The name was prophetic. Whenever moisture hit the ground during the warming trend, the rusty dirt turned to a thick impenetrable mess.

The Trecons were rigging experts. Applying knowledge in the mining shafts was easy. Dealing with equipment mishaps in the spur of the moment was no issue. They were a resilient people by nature.

Toiling Life on Muudia

The most depressing issue for them was the lack of forests, grassy hills, and water. If they could've gone ice fishing once a week, a lot of problems would've been solved.

*****

There was a reason for the fluctuating composition of the planet. A unique route took Muudia into a gravitational lock between its star Laurus and a larger one named Magnus. Between the two stars was a portal.

The portal between the Laurus and Magnus was slowly ebbing away through the complicated pressures of its location. Eventually, the two would collide and provide a spectacular display for the rest of the universe.

Laurus and Magnus would be a typical pair of binary stars save for one detail—they weren't inhabitants of the same dimension. The dimensions coexisted through an intense process called tidal capture, being held in place at a precise distance through gravitational binding energy. Neither had the power to engulf the other or pull away into the greater universe.

The hazard zone became most dangerous as winter ended. Deadly debris and radiation were held in place in the ergosphere zone, where the gravity was strongest. It was a volatile area. Each dimension pulled at the other in a blistering battle. Rocks, ice, and astral dust were suspended at the apertures.

Muudia's orbital cycle was six years and nine months. Six years of benign winter were followed by nine infernal months of spring, summer, and autumn.

The planet slogged through the portal region like clockwork as winter waned. Mining operations were doomed to fail. Time and money worked in direct conflict as winter came to an arduous end. Mining camps were destined for destruction during the summer apocalypse.

As Muudia moved through summer and into autumn, the planet gradually turned benign again, as it cleared the portal hazard zone. Dense molten metal cooled as it ran under the mud toward the planet's core once again.

As autumn evolved into winter, the muddy surface hardened until it appeared to be an unexplored planet. In the early winter season, superheated trillelium was ultra-cured through a natural metallurgy process; making the valuable ore ready to mine once again.

Muudia's moon, Pladia, was nothing special. It was a desolate rock that orbited Muudia once per day. From spring through autumn, asteroids smashed into the moon like bombs.

Pladia had many scars to show that it was a steadfast companion to Muudia through thick and thin. At first glance, it appeared to be only a faithful moon to Muudia. But closer inspection would show evidence of activity on the dead moon rock.

CHAPTER 3

The Secret Scout Base

On the rock moon of Pladia, a technologically advanced outpost ship called Rockwell III was stationed. It belonged to the Raihans, an intelligent race located through the portal in an adjoining solar system from the Magnus Galaxy. The Raihans had conducted 18 previous missions using surrogate miners for over 128 years, up to the Trecon 19-128.25 endeavor.

Raihan was already prepping the next victim for its deceptive conveyer belt of self-indulgence. The plan was foolproof. Unwitting partners like the Trecons did the grunt work. But Raihan reaped the benefits.

Secret Spy Base

The Raihans monitored the Trecon activities from the safety of the Pladia outpost. They endeavored to affect mine activities until they filled their coffers with the labors of the Trecons.

The roots of the Rockwell III outpost were planted when the Raihans discovered the gravitational portal. The Laurus solar system felt like a dud, until the ghostly trillelium ore called out to them from the core of Planet 6333. The eccentric frequency given off by the trillelium ore couldn't be ignored.

It didn't take long to discover many uses for the ore. Most importantly, unique atomic emissions of trillelium allowed advanced ethereal communication. Scientists theorized powerful abilities; the future was bright.

Raihan had discovered a trillelium factory; the mother of all jackpots! It was quickly determined that electromagnetic radiation levels were within a safe range to set up extraction operations. The Raihans were eager to mine the ore, but lost 1,200 people and four mining settlements during their first attempt to permanently settle the volatile planet.

The effects of chronic exposure soon ravaged through Raihan, leaving their population in a serious flux.

Deep in the halls of the government, intense secret meetings were taking place daily to solve the complex riddle. On the justice scales of their consciousness, the ore outweighed all moral concerns. The sacrifices paid gave the Raihans a feeling of ownership of the portal and planet, and they were determined to hold it. They considered all the options to come up with a viable solution to the enigma.

Finally, a radical idea called the Servitude Directive was proposed. Raihan commitment to evil was born at that critical point in their history.

*****

The first Servitude 01-06.75 Dourcom operation looked vastly different than the 19-128.25 Trecon mission.

The Raihans set up a mining camp as winter began, and Mission 01-06.75 was underway.

The Dourcoms were cautious at first, sending secret scout teams to assure that the camps were unoccupied. The encampment sat vacant for a year before the Dourcom operation finally got started.

The Raihans were frustrated, but their oar was in with the Dourcoms and they couldn't change course. The Dourcoms eventually sent a team of 300 miners to Planet 6333 to conduct operations. They were caught up in the process of mining the ore, where mining was an industrial occupation concentrated on results and product. Their meticulous attention to every detail paralyzed them, and the victims appeared to the Raihans as senseless and lazy.

The Dourcoms' lack of ambition was a disaster for Raihan goals, but it provided them with a blueprint of what to do in the future. The Raihans realized they must be more selective in their process. They developed advanced scouting to ensure their next inhabitants would be more ambitious.

The Raihan government couldn't afford to waste another six years. To maximize the return on investment, Raihan expanded its spying network to the outer reaches in both dimensions.

The Dourcoms taught the Raihans another important lesson. A mining crew should bring in their own equipment and technology, so the mines could get up and running sooner. Then they could be easily repaired by a crew familiar with the machinery.

Eventually, the Raihans added the Rockwell observation post on Pladia and the softening missions. Then the system began working like a well-oiled machine.

CHAPTER 4

Greed Begets Evil

The Raihans perpetrated the unlawful act many times. As technology improved, so did the Raihan reach. They perfected leaving an enticing breadcrumb trail leading to Planet 6333. Of the nineteen victim planets, ten came from the Magnus Dimension and nine from the Laurus side.

They developed a six-phase method of capture and conquer that was calculated down to the minute in harmony with the seasons of Planet 6333.

The first phase was to judiciously pick a planet who'd unwittingly go along with their harvesting program. The history, language, and technology of the planet were studied, so the Raihans had every possible advantage before the process started.

Phase two was to establish a post on the Pladia moon and control a victim's communication in the exploratory phase. The Rockwell III cloaked itself from the senses of its prey. The outpost orchestrated the network between Planet 6333 and the target planet.

The third phase was to observe and control Planet 6333 while their victims established settlements and mined the abundant deposits of trillelium ore. As the winter season slowly waned, the Raihans gradually stalled communications to slow the supply train to a frustrating standstill.

As Planet 6333 neared the portal zone, the universe worked with the Raihans to keep freighters out and trillelium where they could steal it. The mission was sitting on a ticking time bomb as it pertained to the lethal seasonal changes. Everything had to run like clockwork. They followed protocol down to the letter.

Phase four was to attack the settlements of Planet 6333 through a softening mission during the later stages of Hazard-Class 8. Marauders attacked the camps. Defenses, communications, and spacecraft docked at the mining camps were destroyed.

Every detail of the pirate attack was scrutinized. The ships looked ragged but had top technology and weaponry. Raihan needed bandits to leave an impression. If the miners were attacked by pirates, they'd see the Raihans as saviors.

Phase five was the harvesting mission, in the last weeks of Hazard-Class 8. During the mid-spring season, settlements sank deep into the mud as molten trillelium disintegrated everything in its path while flowing to the surface. Melting ice and debris pelted the camps with torrential sheets of acidic rain as the planet approached the torrid summer period.

The Raihans raided the sunken settlements to pillage everything. The fifth phase had to be swift because the planet was becoming more dangerous every day with summer approaching fast. By that point, the Raihans were a welcomed sight to the miners.

Phase six, the home planet would send an investigation fleet to Planet 6333, on a timetable manipulated by the Raihans. Many ships were destroyed in the impossible conditions of the portal. Eventually, reactionary fleets would find a novel planet, like six years before.

The discovery would send terror up the ranks. They'd return home carrying a burden they couldn't explain, because it was wrapped in an unsolvable riddle. Resources would be tight, and time short. Stress would squeeze the victims like a ravenous python!

A hopeful future turned to one of uncertainty and fear. The dispirited planet was at serious risk of losing its political stature, being invaded by adversaries, or civil war.

Most would curse Planet 6333, lay low, and lick their wounds until they were able to remotely recover what they had before. Others were more resilient, and Raihan had a plan to deal with them.

If a victim government pushed the issue, Raihan spies were pleased to spread evidence of its weakness throughout the quadrant. The victim planet was low-hanging fruit, fragmented and susceptible to attack.

CHAPTER 5

Raihan Rockwell III Outpost

The most treacherous and rewarded assignment for the Raihans was the Rockwell outpost on the Pladia moon. A long line of volunteers stepped forward, but a small percentage actually made it through the rigorous selection process. Only the best of the best candidates were chosen to command the Rockwell III outpost. It was a hazardous mission, and the Raihans needed their best officers in command.

Many died during outpost missions for various mishaps, but radiation madness scared Raihan leadership the most. The result of the sickness might sour a whole mission, or expose the Raihan treachery to the galaxy.

The most infamous case of radiation madness on the Rockwell outpost affected the 16-108 Yiohhaw Mission. Commander Yerb Grolegg's actions made him a living legend.

Daine Hertag, a low-level communications officer, went mad and took out five in their sleep in the waning months of the mission. He intended to kill everyone and steal the Rockwell for his own purposes. Commander Grolegg had to fight and terminate Hertag to survive and keep the mission afloat by himself.

If the Mission 16-108 was blown at that point, the Raihans would have lost the element of surprise. The mining settlements could have restored communications with their home planet. The result would have been an entire harvest lost; six years of wasted effort.

The most important leg of the outpost mission was completed by the 16-108 Mission Commander living in solitude on virtually no sleep. When he was finally relieved during the softening phase, doctors were astounded the man kept his sanity through it all. Dark brown stains covered the walls; dried blood from Hertag's rampage. Rotting corpses were stacked in the corner of a bay and covered with a blanket, threatening to appear every night in Grolegg's nightmares!

Grolegg's lips were cracked, his black hair matted, and his uniform soiled. Despite smelling awful and being severely malnourished, Grolegg emerged from the mission a true hero. He returned to Raihan a rock star. It was a status that would serve him well for the rest of his life. He later became President Yerb Grolegg.

Timestamp: Current mission.

The Controller of Mission 19-128.25 was Commander Steph Knuddrul, a dependable officer with a sterling military record. He was a brilliant military strategist (only in his own mind), with high arrogance to match.

Commander Knuddrul always thought he knew a better way of doing things, regardless of the experience or knowledge of his peers. He rubbed everyone the wrong way with aspirations of incredible wealth and position, which he felt were owed him.

He was calculating, quickly stepping forward for easier assignments with a high probability of success while letting others take the gritty jobs. The commander had a big opinion of his own abilities, stepping on or over others on his way up the Raihan career ladder. Every four months, departing outpost crew members were thankful to be rid of him.

Knuddrul had a high IQ, which made him a top competitor. He made his superiors look good when it served him. His judgement was trusted by those above him, but he didn't have an inkling of humility. He questioned leadership in private, while praising them in public.

In his early forties, the boastful officer was the youngest commander in the history of the Pladia outpost. Knuddrul was well-informed of the rigors of the grueling mission, but also knew he had a