Chapter 1: The young Terran and his friend.

After the Charin War was ended, a long period of rebuilding the worlds initiated. During this 'resurrection' people began to think of a new URA, but the Chari and the Khrin-Tahri didn't want to join them anymore. Therefor the URA was never reunited and although peace was between the races, it was a peace which made the wars held its breaths and nothing more. (That means that a new war could easily break out again) However, the Terrans, Caustoi, Jinna, Vorans united into the Terran Alliance Group, and this TAG was sort of a UN (earth) but with a more military and trading aspect.

Januari the 12th, 140 BE. Hawke, a young pilot training to be a combat pilot was walking with his friend Dako towards their CO, colonel Brennon. Dako was training to be an engineer and communications-officer. The two friends were onboard the Delta-2 Cruiser, which was a Prani-type Cruiser. Hawke had flown a craft since he was 16, but it was ofcourse a very small craft. Nevertheless he already was quite a pilot, but he wanted to be the best, and therefor he still had to train and learn a lot. While they were walking towards the bridge, Hawke was thinking about why they were called for, there was absolutely nothing he could imagine. They hadn't done anything wrong, and where the ship currently was flying there was no danger to fear, so what was it? Dako suddenly said to Hawke that they were probably called for concerning some job which needed to be carried out by 'skillful people,' and when it came to skillful people they were fit for that job. Hawke laughed about what Dako just said, but in such a way that Dako didn't notice it. When they finally reached the bridge, Brennon came walking to them immediately. He quickly said that they had to follow him, and then he walked through a code-6 door. When he was out of sight, the two friends stared at eachother and shrugged. They ran to the door before it closed and looked for Brennon. They saw him at the end of the long corridor they entered, and sped to him, as he was shouting to them to hurry up. They all entered a small room with a desk on one side, and a large computer on the other. The computer was so impressively big that the two boys were staring at it until Brennon spoke. "I have a small job for you two," he started, "and it must be executed with an enormous precision." He gave them a file and told them to go to their room before opening them, and that they weren't allowed to talk about it. Hawke looked at Dako, and saw that he was smiling. Dako was right with what he said while they were walking to the bridge. "What is this large computer for?" Hawke asked. "That computer is top-security classified, and forget you've ever seen it!" said Brennon. Noticing the disturbance in Brennon's voice, Hawke let it rest, and with his friend he left the room. When the two entered their room, they shut the door and opened the file. It said:

TO: HAWKE CONASSON AND DAKO SORANK. CONFIDENTIAL!

YOU HAVE BEEN ORDERED TO DELIVER A SPECIAL PACKAGE TO THE ALPHA-CRUISER.
YOU WILL NOT ASK FOR THE CONTENTS OF THIS PACKAGE, NOT NOW, NOT EVER!
YOU MUST GO TO DOCKING BAY 12, AND ASK FOR CAPTAIN BRANAGEN.
YOU MUST SHOW HIM THIS FILE, AND HE WILL GIVE YOU THE PACKAGE.
YOU MUST USE THE SHIP WHICH CPT. BRANAGEN WILL GIVE YOU.
YOU MUST DELIVER THIS PACKAGE BEFORE JANUARY 20, 140 BE, AT COLONEL JENKS OFFICE.
YOU WILL RETURN AND REPORT BACK AT COLONEL BRENNON.

Noticing the strange structure of those sentences, Dako looked at the message with a weird face. Hawke saw that, and asked what Dako was doing. Dako simply said "It's the text, look at it!" Hawke took a look at it, and he still didn't think that there was something particularly interesting, or strange, about the text. He thought that probably only Vorans could see such things, as the Vorans are very intelligent beings, compared to Terrans. "Ok, when shall we leave?" Said Dako. "I don't know, tomorrow?" replied Hawke. "Fine with me, but then we'd better get packed quickly because I don't wanna miss the party tonight! It's been the first party since the 'celebration-of-the-end-of-the-war' party." They started packing their most necessary things, and when it was evening, the boys went to the amusement halls for the party.

It was a pleasant party, and the two friends enjoyed themselves a lot. They had a lot of drinks too, and when the party was coming to an end, Hawke and Dako left and strolled towards the bridge. When they reached the bridge, they saw that it was almost deserted, and they also saw a code-6 door opened, instead of closed. Drunk as they were, they decided to go and take a look behind the door, and when they walked throught it, they noticed it was the same corridor as earlier that day.
"Hey, let's go to that computer," babbled Hawke.
"Why?" asked Dako.
"Because!"
"That's no *hic* reason."
"So?"
"Ok, but slowly..."
As they slowly walked through the hall, the two drunken men sang some songs about life on a cruiser, and when they stood before the door which had behind it the computer, they stopped. They two looked at eachother, and decided to break the door with a statue nearby. When the door was broken, the two friends, not knowing they were causing some serious problems for themselves, entered the room.
"Boy, it's dark in here huh?" Stated Hawke.
"What did'ya expect? There ain't nobody here, why would the lights be on?" Answered Dako.
"Where's the switch...ah I found it"
When the lights went on, they saw the massive computer standing silently against the wall. It was huge, and impressive.
"How do you turn it on?" Asked Dako.
"I dunno, look for a power-button or something..."
The two drunken friends suddenly heard some noises, and when Dako stuck his head out the door, he saw two menwalking towards them.
"They're coming, quick, we gotta hide!"
"Shit, there's nowhere to hide in this small room!"
"Damn...wait, look, the air-vent, crawl in it!"
They both crawled in the air-vent, and snug as far away from the opening as they could. Dako had turned off the lights, but the door was completely broken so the two men had to notice the 'burglary.' And ofcourse they did, but instead of searching the room, they ran away to sound the alarm.
"This is our chance, quickly, get out!" Whispered Dako to Hawke.
The boys silently crawled out the air-vent, and ran out of the room before the security was there. They used a cargo elevator to get back on a normal level, and when they finally reached safety, they walked, drunk as hell, to their rooms.

After a goodnight rest, the two woke up and had some coffee-tablets to lose their hangovers. They got ready for their journey to the Alpha Cruiser, and when they were fully packed, they left their room and walked to Docking Bay 12. They asked for Captain Branagan, and a man showed them where they could find him. When the two friends arrived at the location they were supposed to meet Captain Branagan, nobody was there. After about 10 minutes a guy in a captain's suit came running towards them.
"Are you two Hawke and Dako?" He asked.
"Yes." Answered both at the same time.
"Show me the file first, then I'll give you your package and ship."
Hawke showed him the file, and Branagan pointed at a HOLS-traveller, which was a very fast and agile ship. It was about the size of a small fighter, but Hawke was overjoyed by knowing he was gonna fly a HOLS-traveller. (HOLS: Half Of Light Speed) "Are the coordinates of the Alpha Cruiser already entered in the ships computer?" Hawke asked hopefully.
"No, I haven't had the time, so you'll have to fly it manually or program it yourself." Answered Branagan.
"YES!" Shouted Hawke, as he was going to fly it himself for the whole trip, and not only for the take-off and landing.
"Let's get a move on." Said Dako, and so they saluted Branagan and ran to their ship.
"WAIT! YOUR PACKAGE!!!" Shouted Branagan.
"Oh shit, almost forgot!" Said Hawke. He ran back to Branagan, took the package and thanked him. He then ran back to Dako. When they entered it, it was like a dream come true for Hawke: This was a real ship, not that silly old piece of junk he had flown for many years. Hawke instantly ran to the control room, and noticed that it was quite big, instead of small as he expected.
"Hurry up will'ya, we gotta go!" Shouted Hawke to Dako happily.
"Allright, keep your shirt on, I gotta put away our stuff!" Shouted Dako back to Hawke from the sleep-compartiment.
"Ok, are you ready now?"
"Yes, just let me strap myself in ok?"
Impatiently Hawke fired up the engines, and in no time they were cleared for take off and were heading to the Alpha Cruiser which was somewhere between their current location near Masunu and SpacePort Anoora. The HOLS was very easy to control, as most functions of the command were being executed by the computer. The only thing necessary was a pilot and a Com-officer to fly it.

After they had flown into SubSpace, the two friends wandered around the ship a little bit. They discovered the shower-room after more than 15 minutes. It was quite dark and hadn't had much space in it either. Considering they wouldn't need to use this room as they were almost at the Alpha Cruiser, they let it be. When they exited the SubSpace at the given coordinates, they saw the mighty Alpha Cruiser not far away. They took their places and Dako made contact with the Cruiser.
"Alpha Cruiser, this is HOLS-Traveller 176-RLM, requesting clearance for landing."
"HOLS-Traveller 176-RLM, where do you come from?"
"We're coming from the Delta-2 Cruiser, we have a special package for a certain Colonel Jenks."
"HOLS-Traveller 176-RLM, transfer your ID-code please."
"Transferring now....transfer complete."
"HOLS-Traveller 176-RLM you are cleared to land at Docking bay 41, welcome to the Alpha Cruiser."
"Thank you Alpha Cruiser, initiating landing procedure, heading to Docking Bay 41."
"We will have one of our guides waiting for you at Docking Bay 41, and he will lead you to your rooms."
"Thank you very much, Alpha Cruiser. We're nearing Docking Bay 41, adjusting boosters for landing..."
"HOLS-Traveller, be warned: the air in the Docking Bay is thinner than you are probably used to, use your stabilisors."
"Alpha Cruiser, thank you for the warning, using stabilisors right now."

The ship landed, and after the two boys exited the HOLS, they saw a woman in a green suit waiting for them. "That must be our guide," said Dako to Hawke, "she's the only one around." "Yeah, must be. I didn't expect a woman however... Oh well, let's go" They walked towards the woman and greeted her. She introduced herself to them as Rose Deschan, she was a Terran. The boys introduced themselves and together they walked to their room. Rose told them that they were expected in Colonel Jenks' office, but that they had the time to freshen up if they wanted to. Hawke told him that it had been a small trip and that they didn't need to freshen up. So they were led by Rose to Colonel Jenks' office right away. When they finally reached the office, Rose said goodbye to the two boys and winked at Hawke, who watched her from the moment he saw her. He stared at her while she walked away, and he noticed she was beautiful. Dako snapped his fingers to wake up Hawke, and they entered the office.

"Are you two Hawke and Dako?" Asked the man behind a desk.
"Yes," answered Hawke, "and we come from the Delta-2 Cruiser."
"We have a package from Colonel Brennon" Added Dako.
"Yes, I know, I'm Colonel Jenks, give it to me please."
Hawke gave Jenks the package, and Jenks took a look at it.
"Is this all?" Asked Jenks.
"Uh, yes." Answered Dako.
"Funny, I expected it to be a lot bigger. Oh well, if this is everything, you may go."
"Yes sir!" Shouted the two boys, and saluted the Colonel.
"Ok, ok, you don't have to salute, just go and have a good time on the ship, feel free to stay as long as you want."
"Thank you sir!" Said Hawke, and he almost saluted, but stopped his arm in time.
The two boys left the office, and decided to go back to their room first, to unpack their stuff.
"Man, that was weird doncha think?" Said Dako.
"Yeah, I wonder what that package contains. It must be important." Replied Hawke.
"Oh no, we're not going to investigate what it contains, remember our assignment?"
"Yes, 'You will not ask for the contents of this package, not now, not ever' but can't we..." Said Hawke whining.
"No we can not! And I don't want to hear about it!" Said Dako like he was Hawke's father. Hawke was thinking that he didn't quite like the way Dako was taking charge like he was the leader, but he thought that he could better let it be like this, as Dako was much more intelligent, and also older than him. They walked towards their room, and while they were walking they amazed themselves of the beauty of the ship. It was quite obvious that this was the biggest, fastest, nicest and most important ship of all the Cruisers. Ofcourse, that was the reason it was called the 'Alpha Cruiser' and not the Delta-something or the Sigma-something Cruiser like all the others. When they reached their room, they saw Rose standing at the doorway waiting for them. Hawke asked why she was here, and she answered that she was here to invite the two to a small party later that evening. Dako, remembering last night, politely declined, but Hawke was eager to join her to a party, as he liked her pretty much, so he said yes. Rose told him that she would pick him up at ten o'clock, and then she left to get dressed. The two boys entered their room, and when the doors closed, Dako said: "Why are you going?"
"Why am I going? Are you dumb? Can't you see how beautiful she is???"
"So? We're probably leaving tomorrow, so you'll never see her again after tonight. Better not get acquinted too much..."
"Forget it, I wanna get to know her a LOT better, maybe she can come with us to the Delta-2!"
"Oh my god, you're not thinking of ASKING her back, are you? If so, I protest!"
"MAN! Let me have a little fun will'ya? I really like her ok? Get over it, if she wants to come, she comes! If not, you lose nothing!" After this, Hawke didn't say anything to Dako for the rest of the evening, and went to the party with Rose.

Phew, I've finished it! It took me about a week (!) but I think it was worth it. It took me pretty long to find names for the characters which were satisfying enough, but now I've finally got them (at least the ones needed so far!). Well, please Email me what you think of it, ok? I really love to hear your comments and such, I really do! Until the next chapter, study my (newer) glossary a bit ok? It could help you a lot later. Other than that, I hope you enjoy my story. ;)

You can E-mail me your comments at safe.fire@worldonline.nl!