Jultery

By P.G. Henck

The Deep Space Rescue 911 saga concludes with the stirring adventures of a crew of outcasts, now a close-knit family of heroes, which began with the novellas Deep Space Rescue 911 and Alurolan Angel. Their life-saving missions continue as the 911 crew fights to preserve species and cultures that have been overlooked or abandoned by the ever-present League of Worlds. As often happens in the universe, they find some revelations that they weren’t looking for. In addition to the League’s lust for total power, other dark forces are gathering to take control of the Kuoma Super Cluster, as well as everything of value to the crew.
Throughout this adventure, the crew at times feels that luck, or Julllterrry as they call her, has finally deserted them. Not all rescues are going the way they planned, there are unwelcome revelations, and their encounters with the numerous dark forces are intensifying. Although the crew’s benefactors, the Ancients, and their visible presence the Keeper have provided them with amazing technology to help complete their missions, they too seem to have now abandoned them. In a thrilling conclusion, the fate of the Super Cluster is determined, and the ultimate purpose of the 911 crew is revealed.

• Language: English
• Publisher: P.G. Henck
• Release date: Mar 15, 2023
• ISBN: 9781951251604

P.G. Henck

About P.G. HenckP.G. Henck has written several science fiction and fantasy stories with more on the way. His first novel, ‘Beyond The Providers’, was self published in 2019 after many years in development. His next two novels, ‘Elementary Science 101’ and ‘Elementary Science 201’, entered the humorous side of science fiction, where many of his works now reside. The ‘Deep Space Rescue 911’ series has begun with two novellas, and may end with a novel in order to complete the whole story. The ‘Captain Mike’ series will eventually consist of three novellas, each with a different set of circumstances and characters, except for Captain Mike of course. Both series are comedies and follow P.G.’s favorite storyline of an unusual group of individuals making their way through space. The published short stories ‘Distant Neighbors’ and ‘Alien Vacation Invasion’ had parts inspired by real events, which P.G. thinks can be pretty funny in themselves at times. The next short story, ‘Bigfoot Dance Party’, relies on characters from ‘Elementary Science 201’. Being published in the fall of 2021 are the fantasy / science fiction novellas ‘Bring it Alien B’ and ‘Super Absorption’. Both go for the funny bone as well as presenting new interesting characters. Additional short stories and novellas are planned in the next few years along with another novel called Time Minds, which is expected to give readers a heavy dose of fictionalized history made possible through science fiction.P.G. Henck was born in Michigan, and lived in the Great Lakes region for a good part of his life with his wife, the girl next door. The couple then moved to southern Utah to experience the spectacular scenery and endless trails it provides. Though he spent most of his career as an accountant and financial administrator, P.G. Henck’s outside interest lay heavily in the sciences, space exploration, and history. Also a lover of science fiction and fantasy over the years, he has gone out of his way to see every movie and TV show available, both good and bad. His many other interests besides writing include hiking, travel, photography, and website development, along with designing and producing his own book covers.Please go to the author’s website at www.pghenck.com for more information and special deals on purchasing his books.

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Jultery

By P.G. Henck

Copyright 2023 P.G. Henck Publishing

First Edition, eBook, 2023

License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase or download an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite retailer and purchase or download your own copy. Thank you for respecting and acknowledging the hard work of this author.

To my one and only everything.

Cover artwork by Leandro Barco of Campana, Argentina

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Table of Contents

Chapter One - Family

Chapter Two - Giten'er Done

Chapter Three - Sacred Dirt

Chapter Four - Rescue Redefined

Chapter Five - Back to the Center

Chapter Six - Beyond Bullies

Chapter Seven - As Good As It Gets

Chapter Eight - Incursions

Chapter Nine- Planet Plunder

Chapter Ten - A Race to Move

Chapter Eleven - Separation

Chapter Twelve- Treachery

Chapter Thirteen - Rob's Turn

Chapter Fourteen - Saving Themselves

Chapter Fifteen - Beginning Again

Chapter Sixteen - BG's Ending

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Chapter One - Family

Is this thing on? I never did like these damn mind readers. O.K. I guess the light means it is. Well, here it goes. I am Ned Blue. The full name my dad originally gave me is somewhat longer, but I never use it anymore. It served its purpose long ago, for better or worse, depending on how you look at it. My crew figured that someday somebody might want to get our own story in our own words. And since I am the captain, they stuck me with it. While most people think the captain is always first in a ship, on ours, quite often I come in last. The mysteries of leadership haven’t always been apparent to me. Since we are all still alive and doing well, however, I can’t complain. Even if I’m just a figurehead, it’s the end result that matters most.

Last year we more or less gave up on being a rescue service, and things went pretty smoothly for a while. Not that we weren’t busy, though. We knew what we wanted to eventually do with our galaxy, and there was a lot to be done up front before that could happen. Technically speaking, for a while we only owned about 80% of the star systems with habitable worlds in our galaxy, even though most outsiders thought our ownership in this galaxy was quite foolish. The thousands of galaxies around us in the Kuoma Super Cluster still consider our galaxy to be in deep space, making any journeys there very risky. The League of Worlds, which more or less ruled things in the super cluster, discouraged travel in deep space long ago since it was so dangerous. Usually only those trying to hide or get rich quick go there. I guess when you think about it, both of these descriptions fit us pretty well.

A while back we had discovered ancient jump maps allowing us to get to anywhere in our galaxy quickly and safely. Since we were in sole possession of these, it gave us a great advantage that we didn’t want to give up soon. For us, travel in our deep space galaxy is safer than the most heavily traveled routes in the super cluster. And it didn't stop there. We had secret jump points all over the Kuoma Super Cluster. No one else knew about these, and that is the way we want it to stay. It is hard to imagine the League and the rest of the super cluster changing its ways overnight with the Ancients’ advanced technology and knowledge. While at times I wondered if we were worthy of these treasures, so far we were doing better than the rest of them would have. After all, we were just a bunch of odds and ends from around the super cluster that no one in power would have thought twice about amounting to anything. And here we were, sitting on something they all would have done anything to possess.

Our own private highway map around the super cluster was not only essential for what we had been doing for the last year, but for what we hoped to eventually do with our galaxy. While we had gotten out of the rescue business, that didn't mean we had given up on helping those who needed it. The word was beginning to sneak around the back alleys of the super cluster that there was a place in deep space, a place where whole colonies could escape the bigotry, accepted violence, and mindless bureaucracy of the League. With the hundreds of requests for sanctuary eventually finding their way back to us, it became apparent there were a lot of beings out there who needed our help. With a whole galaxy, untold riches, and technology more advanced than anyone in the League could even imagine, it seemed like destiny was telling us to do something about it.

I guess you could say that our renewed quest to follow where we were being compelled to go began on our new home planet. Shortly after that, everything started to move so quickly that we never had the time to look back. Since we had all come from different parts of the super cluster, this paradise we had stumbled on had become our collective home. A place where we could all be ourselves and enjoy each other’s company just for the sake of it. My girlfriend, Chanithal, and I were floating on the gentle undulating waves of a calm ocean. I loved her no matter where we were, but these moments together always seemed special. This planet rarely generated any storms or winds strong enough to produce anything other than the tranquility we were experiencing. That was until I randomly looked up and saw my mom approaching the beach.

Oh my god, she’s wearing that see-through beach wrap thing again, I said in a low voice, more to myself than to Chanithal.

It is called a bonue, though none of them on Alurolan are see-through, Chanithal said softly. You know she does that for you, to fit in with the rest of us who wear nothing on the beach. Alurolan women usually don't expose anything they don’t have to, even on their wedding night. Yet another way I have left those traditions behind, she said with a smirk, as she lay there in her naked beauty.

Your leaving Alurolan traditions behind has always been fine with me, I wisecracked back at her, as I enjoyed her current state with my gaze. It’s just when it comes to my mother, a see-less bonue would be much better.

She is trying to please you, not the other way around, Chanithal replied, still with understanding. It takes courage to go against strong tradition, much like when she married your father. She was one of the first Alurolans I know of who married another species. A true sign of an Alurolan rebel.

Yeah, I guess she was also a rebel when it came to motherhood, I mocked, not thinking much about what I had just said.

Chanithal then maneuvered her raft up to my face and got up on one elbow to deliver this one. You know, for being half Alurolan, you really don't know much about us, I mean them. Children are raised by the mother's family, no exceptions allowed. When your dad named you the unspeakable, he gave them and her no choice. It didn't mean she didn't love you, she just absolutely had no way to raise you the way she was compelled to. Giving you up was her only choice, period, no matter how painful it was. Heck, Ned, if she didn't love you with all of her heart, I guarantee you that no Alurolan woman her age would wear one of those just to fit in with you and your friends.

As we were talking my mom had joined Stony, Rob, and BG who were also wearing what they normally did when relaxing, nothing. BG had jumped up and seemed to be complimenting my mom on something while pointing at my mom’s chest. Then BG started bouncing her huge jugs with the palms of her hands, so I could only imagine what embarrassing conversation Mom was being subjected to. Now my embarrassment was more for my own thoughts and actions, rather than anything my mom was doing. Luckily, before I could figure out how to dig myself out of this one, an alarm went off.

My raft scope shows an Ass Kraken snuck up on us, we better get out of here quick, Chanithal said with some concern. We both then sent our rafts on a quick motorized course to the beach.

The name for that ocean beast was mine. My dad from Earth would have thought it was funny, though everyone else didn’t get it. In actuality, there was little about this beast that was humorous. It cruised underneath the oceans looking for anything on the surface small enough for it to swallow. Since they were sometimes over five hundred feet long, that for certain included us. In just a second it was now close enough to set off a secondary alarm which meant there was a good chance it would catch us. Before I could say the obvious, our rafts did it for us and let go with an emergency blast of air out the back. We flew across the surface of the ocean, making this needed escape kind of fun. Even though the Ass Kraken would never catch us now, I still turned around on my raft to face it with the small blaster gun my raft came equipped with. Kind of a male thing, since Chanithal was just enjoying her wild ride with her hands up in the air yelling with delight.

When we hit the beach, though, my raft must have not been balanced right for its programing, and the front flew up into the air, with the raft’s propulsion stream still blasting out the back. I was so startled the gun went flying out of my hand into the air. My head and eyes tried to follow it, desperately hoping no one would be harmed by my stupid mistake. Meanwhile, my raft had spun all the way around and landed its rear and my head right at my mom’s feet, who was now sitting on the beach. A rush of air from my raft blew her bonue violently around her head, forcing her to deal with this attack.

Kind of at the same time, I looked up with wide eyes to orientate my position as my mom was busy clearing the bonue from her face. I was now staring face to face with where I first entered the world. Just then the bonue was carried off into the wind, allowing my mom to see me staring with mouth open where no adult son should be staring. We were both so startled by this turn of events that we just froze there for the longest second of probably both of our lives. As if that wasn't bad enough, my raft was in the process of letting out its air which sounded like a long high-pitched fart. BG of course started laughing, typical of an older sister, while Rob, who had already caught my gun with more of a reflex than any concern, said while pointing at the ocean. Wow, that's the biggest one I've ever seen.

With my longest second finally at an end, I quickly jumped up joining Rob looking in the opposite direction, acting like nothing had just happened. That ploy might have worked, had BG not been laughing so hard she fell to the beach. Stony began stomping his feet for some reason, as Chanithal rushed over to retrieve my mom’s bonue. I just ignored it all and watched the Ass Kraken breach right in front of us. It was obvious where I got the inspiration for its name. Its mouth was a huge vertical gap with a massively chubby cheek on either side of it. On the far side of each cheek was a set of eyes, and all four of them were glaring at us like the beast could just taste us.

You know, they have never come this close to the beach before, Rob said to me with some concern. Maybe I should blast it and feed the nicer fishes.

Naw, I said to Rob, acting fully committed to this conversation. Even though they are no friend of ours, my dad told me often about how they used to exterminate great sea creatures on Earth for little gain. In time, they realized what they had lost when it was too late to take it back. We kind of stumbled into good fortune with this galaxy, so I don't think we should carelessly use up its resources without good need.

Rob looked at me like I was crazy and said, With guts that large we could have my mom's blood meat pies every day for the next year. And just think of the rancid sauce we could make with its reproductive organs.

Blood meat pie was Rob's favorite dish, and some drool started to drip from his large reptilian mouth. I just stood there wondering which was worse, this conversation or my previous embarrassment.

Meanwhile, BG was wiping the tears out of her eyes, and all of her laughter was even making it hard for Chanithal to keep a straight face. Basically, Chanithal was still an Alurolan, not prone to emotional outbursts, but after ten years alone and the next year with me and the rest of us, she was something else now. Oh yeah, the fact that her skin and hair had been adjusted to look like a Human's was a turn on, but it was much more than just looks. She was a complex combination of most things that I liked with both Humans and Alurolans, dropping the rest like she did her clothes when we were on the beach. I kind of fell in love with her at first sight, and it only got stronger from then on. And most importantly at this point, she didn’t look anything like my mom.

On the way back to our compound, I was too embarrassed to be sociable. Rob took the lead with my mom, regaling all of the ways one could kill a beast the size of an Ass Kraken. She, as always, acted very interested in what Rob was saying, but really, she couldn't care less about killing something. Just another example of how much I meant to her according to Chanithal. Maybe a good son would appreciate what she did for him a little more, rather than worrying about being embarrassed. BG and Stony were behind us bringing up the end, intently talking about something. Then I heard his booming voice from a distance say, Mommy muff moment, funny. I was a little ticked by this comment at the time, but now in retrospect, I deserved it. Some childish reactions are hard for even an adult to shake off, like worrying more about your own feelings than those of your parents’ who were just trying to please you. Like most mistakes in life you cannot take it back, just try to never do it again.

At least I did one thing right on the beach by not letting Rob kill the Ass Kraken. It turned out to be our last time together at this favorite spot, so it probably ended the way it should have, without needlessly killing something that had already lived for a few hundred years. As we approached the main building, Jimmy, Hugo, Vanew, and Lucky the Chnowzur had just returned from the Keeper's planet, which we now called Jultery. The first three weren't much into recreation, and instead of lounging around like the rest of us, went to get a bunch of Trombilleon that we needed for our future purchases around the Kuoma Super Cluster. Jimmy's pet dog Lucky, on the other hand, viewed everything as recreation, just another fun adventure with his master Jimmy. As we approached, Lucky was wildly running around on his ten spider legs, barking out an account of the whole experience and his joy at seeing us yet again. Judging from his reaction, he must have already given us up for dead, and was in a pure joyful rapture now that he realized we wern’t.

Well, did you get all of the Trombilleon we needed? I asked Jimmy. We never quite knew what we were going to get when we went to Jultery. A buzzing sound was all that Jimmy replied with. Being a Greater Glithundos, sometimes Jimmy's insect origins got the best of him when he was filled with emotion. Chanithal started rubbing Lucky on his belly, which thankfully shut him up so we could hear each other better.

Same old line, he gave us what he said we needed, Jimmy finally got out.

What did he think we needed more than what we really needed? I asked, disappointed, but not surprised at what had happened. Before Jimmy answered, we had arrived at the back of the Alurolan Angel's cargo bay, now filled with runabouts.

One for each of the crew, Jimmy said, like he had no idea why.

Great, they all look like coffins stacked up like that, Rob said with a sneer.

Did we get the Trombilleon? I asked again.

No, but we did get twenty tons of this. Jimmy opened up a small box for us to peer inside.

Holy rancid sauce, BG blurted out. If that is Nineoneoneum, and if it is as pure as it looks, it should be worth far more than the Trombilleon we asked for. Even the best labs in the League can't produce anything that pure.

It is, Jimmy said back smugly. I tested it on our flight to make sure it wasn't going to kill us.

Yeah, but remember, gang, I said like the captain, the League has put another hold on its sale, so right now it's worth nothing.

Unless you could find some galaxy loaded with natural resources and beings that couldn't give an Ass Kraken's neither regions about what the League says, because someone in the League tried to wipe them all out a while back, my mom said to everyone's surprise. It's not that she had never spoken her mind to the whole group over the last year, it was just that she usually was not so bold in doing it. Maybe after the incident on the beach she was becoming more bonded with us all. Or just more crass in order to survive with the barbarians she now found herself with.

Whatever the case, her idea was a solid one. The Woolleennkkee were still being frozen out of the Nineoneoneum market, and they already made it clear around the League that they would take all the Nineoneoneum they could get, by any means. Most of the other races in the League in the past had not treated this race of purple gelatinous four-foot high cone shaped slugs with much respect. Everyone except my crew, who saved their purple bacon a while back.

But haven't they stopped all outsiders from entering the Spurge Galaxy since that incident was fully investigated? BG questioned. Also, we really haven’t talked to them much lately.

I have, my mom said with some pride. After we got that fake invitation to honor us, some legitimate communications came into us from the Woolleennkkee. I cordially responded on our behalf, and over time had several opportunities to promote our relationship. You and your ship will always be welcomed there, even if you didn't have twenty tons of high grade Nineoneoneum to trade. In fact, you have become living legends to the Woolleennkkee, now that the full details of your saving them from certain extinction were disclosed.

Mom, I complained, I hope we didn't create the same type of situation we have with the Stromplers. That is very embarrassing the way they treat us.

I don't know, Rob butted in with. I kind of like having all of those women faint when I walk by.

I gave Rob a look like he should shut up now, and then continued. We didn't help the Stromplers to be heroes, it was just the right thing to do. When we do visit the Woolleennkkee, I would rather not be obligated to address 300,000 of them in a stadium like we had to with the Stromplers.

Do not worry, Son, my mom calmly replied with a straight face. The Woolleennkkee are very different, they do not fart.

Everyone else broke out laughing except me. All I could think of was that she is becoming more like us. I didn’t know whether to apologize, cry, or laugh with the rest of them. I chose the last one

They also shy away from mass gatherings, especially with outsiders, my mom continued. If you wish, I can accompany you on this trade negotiation to bring better understanding and optimum relations with these very different beings. Before I joined you, I represented them in several cases where they had been cheated by someone else in the League. We won all of them.

Sounds like a plan, BG said, as several of the others shook their heads in agreement.

Luckily, I just shut up. It was obvious to everyone that my mom had a better grasp on how our negotiations should go with the Woolleennkkee than I did, and I had already played the asshole card once too often today.

The Keeper also gave us one more thing, but I saved it for last since it makes the least sense, Jimmy continued, while pointing at a structure that looked like an Earth outhouse my father had described to me many times when I was young.

With the time we had spent on uncivilized planets, we all had to let it fly out the back on occasion, no matter who was watching. With that in mind, trying to describe to my crew why a civilized race built structures to house insects who feasted on their excrement over the same hole they ceremoniously used time and time again, would have been an impossibility. I didn't even try.

The only thing the Keeper said about this thing, Jimmy continued, was to go here when all hope was gone, whatever that meant?

Hey, you know, Rob began with enthusiasm, when I eat a lot of bones, I can get backed up for weeks sometimes. This thing might help with that?

O.K., maybe Rob would understand the concept of the outhouse. I was still pretty sure, however, that the Keeper had not sent us a laxative for bone backups, and discouraged Rob from pursuing that idea. When everyone else had left, I discretely asked Hugore to have his Can-bots store it in the basement, until we could figure out what it was intended for later on. Besides, if Rob ever did take a dump in it, that would be the end of this investigation.

After my mom, BG, Stony, and I got back from the Spurge Galaxy, we were finally ready to start up our rescue activities again. This time, however, it would be on our terms. Nothing the League sent us was even considered. They could not be trusted, and there was always someone else who could handle those small rescues. We were looking for whole colonies or even races to relocate to our galaxy. Peaceful beings who just wanted to live their lives in harmony, not dominate, control, or manipulate others’ lives, whether it be their own species or the many other intelligent ones in the super cluster. If you followed along with these basic principles and some others in our charter, then we might put you on the list. Unfortunately, even with the greatly expanded infrastructure we had created over the last year, only one relocation could be done at a time.

We could move them quickly enough, but assuring that the good souls we wanted were the only ones coming with us was another problem altogether. While mind readers would be an invaluable tool in this regard, they still took a while to use on large groups. Especially if someone in a large family failed our entry requirements, other family members who already passed might decide then not to go. It would take time to bring them back out, and then assure no one tried to cheat the system. Time was one thing that we didn't have when we came swooping in for a relocation. Once an outsider found us in the middle of a move, micro tracker drones could come raining down on us and attach to everything. Our secret road map around the galaxy needed to stay that way if we were to continue our good deeds unmolested, and even one of these trackers not being detected could jeopardize that. While the highly funded and equally ruthless dark forces were still after us, they had been very quiet since our last encounter. Something big was undoubtedly in the works, but only time would tell what it was.

If all of that wasn't enough, the rumor had been spread that Trombilleon was being discovered in our galaxy everywhere. Thousands of individuals who didn't come anywhere close to our requirements were trying every way possible to get in. Many were moving to planets and colonies they thought we might rescue someday. Others were schmoozing, bribing, and threatening officials on some of the poorest and most backward planets in the hope that this would get them into our galaxy. Because of those activities, our wish to help the downtrodden forgotten by the League had actually done the opposite over the last year. Some of these beings were now more oppressed and bullied than they ever had been. While we all felt bad about it, there wasn’t much we could do to stop it. The personal greed of some individuals seems to have no bounds on what they will do in order to get what they want. There was nothing in our galaxy that could fix what was wrong with them.

We finally narrowed our next rescue down to three candidates. All three locations had several things in common. They were Non-League worlds, were settled by various refugee races from around the super cluster, were very poor in natural resources, and by everyone who had a choice were considered a bad place to live. These worlds were also located in different parts of the super cluster with few known jumps in and out. Most who lived on them wished they didn't. All three had already asked everyone they could think of for assistance. Through clandestine means we had already sent them explicit descriptions of what we would expect from each and every citizen, along with the hard fact that in the unlikely probability they were chosen, they would receive no advance warning. Every citizen would have to choose quickly to stay or go, that is if they passed our individual tests. We had also passed this information on to several hundred other colonies who needed our help. At the time we already knew that most of them were not going to be rescued by us anytime soon, if ever. While it was sad to get their hopes up, without this ruse, there was no way to rescue even a few of them.

These three colonies, along with over a hundred others, had gotten word back to us that our terms were acceptable and that they desperately needed our help. We could only start out with these first three, however. Our hope was that doing them in rapid succession would confuse the dark forces, League bureaucrats, organized crime, greedy prospectors, and anyone else who wanted to stop us or determine where we might go next. Klobola and Rllubbomyyy were both colonies of about 25,000 citizens of higher intelligence. That was certainly a step up from what we had done before. Having set the mold with those two, again to confuse anyone pursuing us, our third rescue was going to shatter the pattern just set. Telabenhuz had a little over 200,000 intelligent souls living on it. Several decades before, this planet was actually considered a paradise. Over time, it had become the top tourist destination in the Flaming Bird Galaxy, but that was before a rogue planet destroyed its moon. It would take a day to describe all the things that went wrong after that happened, but suffice to say it was no paradise now.

Telabenhuz's upper and middle class had moved out long ago, as well as those who were rescued by friends or family. Various groups around the Kuoma Super Cluster would mount a relocation effort every now and then, but in time those became fewer and fewer as the more popular species on the planet got removed. For those still remaining, the League could not agree on how such a relocation should be carried out or even financed, and since the inhabitants as a whole were not in the immediate danger of death, endless talk was about the only thing being done for them. It was a cinch that having lived in these deplorable conditions for so long, most of the inhabitants of Telabenhuz would want to leave the League for good, but would their mental state be acceptable to us? Would they be so filled with hatred and thoughts of revenge that they would not qualify for our galaxy? It would be a shame if tens of thousands had to be left behind because of the damage done to them by their current situation.

Besides that, some of our research showed that there had been a