Captain Comet and the Intergalactic Patrol

By Alan L. Williams

The spaceship is called the Star Treader, which has a crew of fourteen. The crew has a five-year galaxy-policing mission, which is completed with many challenges along the way but costs some lives. They hail from five different planets and take their religious faith seriously as they call on God to help them deal with impossible difficulties such as space pirates, intelligent nuclear spiders, AI viruses, fighting transdimensional beings, and rescuing energy beings who are friends. They run into political shenanigans that almost cost them their lives. They find friends in unexpected places. Overall, the combination of adventure, faith, and camaraderie presented in the exploits of Captain Christopher Comet and the Intergalactic Patrol is an exciting glimpse into the world of the future.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 18, 2024
• ISBN: 9798891305465

Book preview

cover.jpg

Captain Comet and the Intergalactic Patrol

Alan L. Williams

ISBN 979-8-89130-545-8 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-89130-546-5 (digital)

Copyright © 2024 by Alan L. Williams

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

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

About the Author

Chapter 1

It's noon. Why is it getting dark? Karen asked. Jeremy could hear the anxiety in her voice. He took one hand from the wheel to briefly clasp his girlfriend's hand. Something is wrong. Can we stop? she asked.

We need to look for somewhere safe— he replied.

As they pulled off the interstate just north of Thousand Oaks, California, the car stalled. They were aghast as a bright light focused on their car from the sky. They looked questioningly at each other with fear in their eyes as they both disappeared from the car.

*****

In that same area, three young boys waited for the school bus. One of them, Larry, said, The bus is really late this morning.

Another boy, Mark, said he was going to his house to call the school. Maybe the bus broke down and all the kids on this route are stranded. Larry, would you keep the bus here in case it comes while I'm gone?

Larry agreed.

The other boy, Peter, had hoped that school was out that day. I have a test first period and didn't study hard enough, he said.

In just a few minutes, Mark ran up to them saying that the phones didn't work. He said, I got on my ham radio and there are incredible amounts of static and interference on the band like a superstorm. I could just make out the station at the university. Their signal was cutting in and out.

Mark had his amateur radio license that allowed him to talk to other amateur stations around the world. He was trying to contact an amateur radio station at the local university.

It had been a nice sunny morning, but now the sky was getting dark with flashes of lightning and wind blowing through the trees.

Peter and Larry each said they were going to their homes to wait out what looked like a bad storm.

Mark went back to his house and as he came in the front door, his mother asked why he wasn't in school. He explained about the bus. He said that he had tried to call, but the phone service was out. Then he added, Mom, I'm gonna try to find out what's happening on my ham transceiver. He ran up the stairs to his room, picked up his microphone, and called on his ham gear, WC6RHF, this is KE6DDR. Come in.

The response came quickly through high amounts of static, KE6DDR, this is WC6RHF, University of North Ridge Radio Club. We can barely copy you.

Mark suggested several times that they use Morse code with its dots and dashes, which would be easier to communicate given the noise level on the ham band.

His mother stood behind him as he sent code asking what was happening. As the reply came, he was busy writing down the coded words. When he stopped, his mother asked what he had learned.

He replied, They said that this whole area has been electrically cut off, and it appears to have something to do with the atmosphere. Their club sponsors, an astronomy professor, Dr. Harvey, and a zoology professor, a Dr. Redwood, are in the radio club room.

Code started up again, and he was copying it at his desk by his radio. He reported, Police reports are coming in very slowly that cars are stalling. A huge cloud has formed above the area that is glowing, and radar cannot penetrate it. It appears to have high electromagnetic properties.

Break, break, a young voice said.

Mark explained to his mother that it was Jake, another student who was also a ham operator. Mark said Stand by, WC6RHF in code. Then he picked up his mic and said, Go ahead, Jake. You're 5-9, copy.

Jake said, Something alien-like is coming into our home, and my parents are screaming. My dad's just fired his gun. It isn't helping. Oh no! Then there was nothing.

Mark's mother said she would call the sheriff, and Mark told her the phones were out.

There was a lot of knocking at the front door. Mark ran down the stairs, and his mother followed. Peter and Larry were at the door saying that there were really strange lights coming from the north. Mark told them about Jake. Peter said that he and Larry would take their bikes and ride into town to get the sheriff. Mark said he would monitor his radio to see what he could learn.

As they were leaving, Mark ran up to his room, sat at his desk, and began calling, Mayday, Mayday, the emergency call for help.

*****

Nearing the earth on a police ship called the Star Treader, Zeda, a Blue Crew communication officer, reported the distress call on his scanner. Chris Comet, captain of the ship, told him to respond. Fotswana, Blue Crew science officer, said that there was a large cloud over the western seaboard of the North American continent.

He added, There are explosions of air force jets fighting against the cloud.

*****

Mark called to his mother, I'm getting a station calling me, but it doesn't look like a ham. I'll check it out. Maybe this is the alien attackers, and I can reason with them. Come in, alien station.

Zeda replied, "KE6DDR, this is Zeda on the Star Treader. You are under attack by an intelligent carnivore alien force. They're literally eating their way through your part of California."

Mark asked what he could do.

Hang tight. We'll be right there. You're outgunned. The aliens attacking your area are called the Grem. They are a hostile race who only seek to take resources from a planet and then leave to look for another. Tell the university that help is coming and to contact the air force, not to have any more jets hit that electromagnetic field and crash. It's useless.

I hope you're friendly, said Mark.

We are with the Intergalactic Patrol, and we're ready to help.

Mark told them to hurry. The sheriff and several deputies arrived on motorcycles, which weren't affected by the electromagnetic energy.

*****

Aboard the Star Treader, Captain Comet said he would transport down with a couple of the Gold Crew. The Gold Crew alternated with the Blue Crew in running the ship. Comet called on the intercom for Alpha, the commander of the Gold Crew, to come to the bridge and take command.

As Alpha arrived on the bridge, Comet called Xenon and Ben, both of the Gold Crew, to come to the transport room. Xenon was the Gold Crew weapon specialist from the planet Arachdiplo. He was short, bald, with a moustache and beard. Ben was the Gold Crew communications officer. He was from Indiana in North America. He was blond and of medium height. As they entered the small transport room, they took weapons from the armory cabinet and stood on the transport unit, disappearing from the ship and reappearing near Mark's home in California. Each was wearing his personal force field unit, which gave them protection. The sheriff and his deputies were retreating while firing their weapons at the Grem. Comet joined them and opened fire with laser weapons, destroying several Grem and causing them to retreat.

Alpha radioed Comet from the Star Treader, I'll see what I can do to disable or destroy the Grem vessel. Comet told him to be careful. Mark and his mother hid behind some trees as alien Grem worked their way toward Mark's house. As laser fire blasted back and forth, the sheriff approached Comet. He knelt down by Comet in the grass where Comet was behind a rock. Comet introduced himself, My crew and I are here to help, Sheriff.

I'm afraid our weapons are useless, said the sheriff. Comet said he and his two crew would head for Mark and his mother to protect them. The sheriff and several surviving deputies joined them as they ran.

Peter and Larry arrived. Mark yelled for them to keep low. Weapon fire was everywhere. Six Grem charged the IGP officers, the sheriff, and his deputies. Comet and his team ran toward them in hand-to-hand combat. Delta took two of them out at close range with his laser. Two others were terminated while the remaining two ran for cover. The Grem were blue and about four feet tall. They had laser weapons and there were hoses from a backpack to their helmets. Through their visor on the helmet, you could see large mouths and sharp teeth.

In the sky, there was a massive explosion in a dark cloud.

Mark asked, What was that?

Xenon replied, "Our ship, the Star Treader, just destroyed the mothership of the alien attackers."

Everyone sighed in relief, and Xenon ran after the two remaining Grem, eliminating them.

As Xenon returned, the sheriff thanked them for their assistance, asking, Why did the aliens attack?

Xenon replied, Lunchtime. They're cannibals. I'm only sorry that the Grem—that's the aliens who did the damage—have annihilated so many of your people in this area. Grem are intelligent carnivores, like your primitive velociraptors, but have the intelligence to build spacecraft and weapons.

The sheriff turned to them, Well, we are indebted to all of you. Thank you.

Alpha called Comet on his com-band and said, The Grem are history. You'll see the clouds dissipating and high winds before heavy rains. Tell the sheriff to prepare for a lot of rain. It will clean things up.

Roger, replied Comet. Comet passed along Alpha's request.

The sheriff asked Comet, Are you sure that you've got them all?

Comet checked in with the bridge science officer and reported, Yes. We've scanned for their grimy life-forms and haven't seen any.

He added, We need to get back to our ship.

Mark asked, Could I have a radio schedule with you, sir?

Whenever we come this way, we'll check in on the same frequency, Mark.

Thanks.

All three team members disappeared as they were transported back to the Star Treader.

*****

Their ship wasn't very big. It had only fifteen people on board, who were from five different planets in the universe. Five planets decided to work together to bring peace and aid to known space in what was called the Intergalactic Patrol. The IGP had six other ships just like this one, which was named the Star Treader.

Its captain was named Christopher Comet. He was blond and tall, and he grew up in California. He wore a blue uniform and led the Blue Crew. There were four other crew men under his leadership. The Blue Crew communication officer was called Zeda. He was tall with red hair and a friendly smile. He was from the planet Zolta 2. He had a computer that helped translate known languages. Across from him on the small bridge was the weapons officer, whose name is Yumatsu. He was from Japan, had black hair, and just loves to laugh.

In the middle, behind the captain's chair, was the science station. It had all the instruments on it to sense what is going on around them. The Blue Crew science officer was named Fotswana. He was from the island of Jamaica and was fairly tall, with a dark complexion. He grew up loving science and space. The final member of the Blue Crew was its helmsman. He drove the ship and was seated in front of the captain. Seated at the helm was Wimberly Livingstone from England. He was stocky with brown hair, and he loved to drive the ship. They all wore blue and the badge of the Intergalactic Patrol.

At the front of the bridge was a large view screen that was like a window, except it could look all around outside the ship and even at different compartments inside.

The silver ship, over a hundred meters long, hurtled through space using its ion engines to propel it away from Earth.

Captain Comet thanked Xenon and Ben and returned to the bridge.

He asked Alpha to meet in his bridge cabin to debrief the event. The cabin was a simple eight-by-twelve space with a bed, a small bath, and a table with two chairs. They sat down and agreed that they couldn't have done anything differently.

As they reentered the main bridge, Comet said, Commander, are you ready to change shifts?

Yes, sir, he replied.

Alpha called the Gold Crew, and they arrived within minutes on the bridge.

They each took their watch station after Comet offered a brief prayer of thanks and continued guidance.

He turned to Alpha and said, Thanks for your help. You have the com.

Alpha took command, but first he asked Comet for their new heading. Comet said that they should check out the rings of Saturn. Then he left the bridge.

Alpha told his team to check their stations for any problems. Edgar Rightfield was at the helm and said astrogation and ship maneuvering checked out. Edgar was from England; he was thin with a muscular build and brown hair. He wore his gold uniform with dignity. Xenon covered the weapons station and reported all was functional. Ben, at communications, gave a thumbs-up. Delta, on the science station, said, I have an alert. He was a tall man with red hair from Zolta 2.

Alpha asked for more information, and Delta said, Something is following our ship. It looks like a cloud but appears to be an energy form of some sort.

The commander asked him to monitor it and report any danger to their ship. He asked Ben if he would try to communicate with it to discover if it was a conscious life-form.

A call came to the bridge on the intercom from Grady O'Hoolihan, the ship engineer. Grady was from Scotland and was stocky with brown hair and a moustache. He asked the commander if they had noticed energy draining from the ship.

Grady, I'm not aware of it. Can you discover how this is happening?

Aye, Commander, I'll check on it. over and out, he said.

Delta reported, Commander, the energy form has attached itself to the ship and is pressing in on the hull!

Let's see if we can get it to release the ship, Alpha ordered. Xenon, fire on it.

Laser fire went into a tentacle of the energy form but only caused it to glow brighter.

Sorry, I did what I could, replied Zenon.

The helmsman joined the conversation, Commander, should I try to move away from it at maximum speed? Maybe whatever it is will release the ship.

Alpha gave a single nod. Do it. Then he called the computer for a shipwide message.

This is Commander Alpha. Something has hooked onto our ship, and it could be draining energy. We're going to accelerate to maximum speed to see if we can lose it. I will give you a status report shortly.

Edgar called out, Hang on, everybody! The ship plunged into space at its maximum ion engine speed.

Delta called out, The energy form is holding on, but it's no longer crushing the hull. It almost seems to be growing in size. I don't understand it.

Alpha asked Ben to notify the captain. Ben contacted him and asked him to come to the bridge. Shortly, Comet arrived.

He thought for a minute and said, Cut power. In fact, cut all power down to minimum life support. I have a hunch that this thing, whatever it is, is feeding off of our energy.

The ship stopped. Comet made an announcement through the ship computer, Attention, all crew. We are being attacked by an energy-eating creature. We have not been able to make contact with it. We are shutting everything down, waiting to see if it leaves. We've tried firing on it and outrunning it to no avail. Now the only—

He was interrupted by a loud hum, and he and the bridge crew fell to the floor.

Alpha was the only one standing, having put his hands over his ears. Other crew members from the Blue shift, the ship's engineer, and the doctor were holding their hands over their ears in other parts of the ship. The humming sound stopped.

Alpha helped several of the crew back into their station chairs. Everyone looked around at each other trying to make sense of the sound. The captain spoke through the computer, All-ship announcement. Everything is all right. Carry on as you were.

Edgar asked, Captain, what's the course heading?

The Mars colony.

Alpha looked around at his Gold Crew, who all seemed to be in some sort of a trance. He said, Captain, you have the com.

Roger, Alpha.

Alpha left by the elevator to the lower deck and went into the galley. He contacted the ship's doctor, Dr. Sidney Karmel, and Grady from engineering to ask them both to meet him in the galley. Karmel was from Antares 4 with white hair and athletic appearance. They arrived and sat at one of the round tables. Alpha told them what happened on the bridge when the humming started.

Karmel replied, Alpha, I was puzzled by that loud humming sound that literally hurt, as though it was trying to get into my brain. I recorded the sound, and I've been trying to analyze it. It appears to have been focused on the bridge.

Alpha said, I am concerned about Comet and my crew.

Grady thought it would be good to check on them, giving them a call. We're locked out, he said. I'll check the elevator.

Grady walked over to check it and found that they could only go to lower decks, but not to the bridge. He reported that they were locked out of there as well.

Alpha asked Karmel if there was any way he could diagnostically check on them. Karmel said that he would go to his sick bay and see what he could discover. He left by the elevator to go down one deck to the sick bay located by transport and engineering.

Meanwhile, Alpha and Grady listened in to the bridge over their intercom. They heard the whole bridge crew chanting Power over and over again. Alpha told Grady that he had a bad feeling about this.

Grady asked the computer for their heading and she reported the Mars Orbital Power Station, or MOPS.

Karmel returned and said that he checked the health files for the baseline brain waves of the crew on the bridge and then compared it to their current state. As he used his instruments, he was amazed to find that they all had low levels of a hormone compared to their original levels. He said, Their dopamine is low.

Alpha asked if there was a way to increase their dopamine. Karmel cautioned, That could get them back to normal, but what about the power station?

Grady said, We could contact the power station and ask them to make the milk sour.

They looked at him in surprise, and Alpha asked what he meant.

Grady said, It stands to reason. If this power entity is looking for supper, let's make it unpleasant for him. If you want, I'll talk to the engineers at the station. They could be in grave danger.

They agreed. He went to make contact with MOPS.

Alpha asked Karmel about the availability of nitrous oxide, which is what some call laughing gas. Karmel went to a computer station in the galley and checked the inventory.

Yes, he said. I'll fetch a canister. It might increase their hormone level and maybe free them from the control that the energy entity is using.

Grady walked into the galley as they were discussing this. Overhearing them, he said that the life support system could be modified to put the gas into the bridge using the galley computer.

*****

On the bridge, Comet asked Delta what he was listening to. Delta said that he had a great song with a beat.

Comet said, Why don't we put it on all-ship speakers so everyone can enjoy it?

Zeda suggested the external speaker as well.

Delta replied, Space is a vacuum. It wouldn't go anywhere.

It's just an experiment.

Comet gave the okay, and suddenly, the ship began moving to the beat of the music.

All right! called out Ben.

*****

Alpha checked the ship's position on the monitor in the galley. We are approaching MOPS.

Grady said, When I contacted them, they said they would put up their protective force field and rotate the energy cycle.

Karmel added, The nitrous oxide gas is ready.

Grady directed the gas into the life support system for the bridge using the galley computer.

Alpha replied, Turn it on. They listened in on the speaker to the activity on the bridge and heard a lot of laughter.

Comet was heard asking, Why are we at MOPS?

Edgar said, I don't remember how we got here.

*****

Alpha turned to Karmel, Let's head to the bridge.

In space, the creature had left