LEGENDS OF THE PAST

LEGENDS OF THE PAST – PART 1

WRITTEN BY:

ADAM NORMAN

THE BEGINNING

Lucifer, a pedagogue for the Empire is set with the task of bringing the Embryo, Jesus, to the Andromeda Galaxy. Lucifer, should you fail in your mission, you shall be banished henceforth from the Empire, forfeiting your establishment and title.

The mission set before you is of great importance. We’ve been tasked with helping the King and Queen of Elinea with their barren planet. Once there, you will artificially inseminate the queen with the embryo, position yourself into thehouse of Elinea, help raise their children, train them as the new warrior race, andreturn here with them as our new security force in twenty-one star cycles afterthe gestation process has begun. Do you understand your mission Pedagogue Lucifer?

I do Great Counsel. The embryo Jesus is to be inseminated into the queen and I will train this great force until they reach their 21st birthday, at which time I will bring them back to the empire in which the great counsel will embed them into our forces. That is correct. Now go. You have one week to ready yourself and get everything in order before your departure. Yes, Great Counsel. Thank you. It shall be done. Great Counsel, if I could ask but one question. Go ahead Lucifer. Great Counsel, why the Andromeda galaxy and that star system if I may ask? That galaxy and star system has something no other galaxy and star system has. The ability to give its “occupants” great powers that would change the balance of the universe. We’ve been granted access to these powers. Yes, Great Counsel. Thank you once again.

Crowley, we have a mission. Meet me in an hour. My quarters. Make sure to bring your tablet. This is going to be a mission of great importance. This better not be another trash haul. Just be there Crowley. Okay, I’ll be there. And, make sure you’re not followed. Right boss. See you then.

So, the counsel is really charging you with raising the next military force for the empire? Alone? What were they thinking? You’re a pedagogue, an educator, not a soldier, not a Master of combat. You forget Crowley, I was once a Master and a general in my former life, before the Great Flood of Information, before the A.I. took over, before the cloning process. That’s right. I was a chef. Every night, the same thing, Chef this, Chef that! Chef, we have important clients from the highest order coming in. Make sure you’re ready to whip up an amazing dish no one’s ever tried. My anxiety was so high, I had to eat Kakah leaves just to stay calm. That was my first life. In my second life, I was a pilot for the Order of Wing. That was an exciting life, until my life got cut short from a bird hitting my left engine, causing me to hit the water at 20Gs. I woke up screaming bloody murder in my third life because it was the last thing I remembered before dying.

Why can’t the Empire take out the bad memories of dying when they reinstitute our minds into a new body? It would save on soiled underwear, especially when they reconstitute me. So, Twenty-One solar cycles. How are we suppose to get an army out of one single celled embryo? The queen in which we are inseminating isn’t any normal female. Her species can have up to five thousand children in one birth. So, you see Crowley, we’ve got our work cut out for us.

Crowley, get with the rest of the crew, let them know, we’ll be on an “extended” leave of absence. Tell Noah I need to talk to him and Lot about the route we are to take and what foods need to be brought with us. Noah always knows what animals we need to take on the voyage to produce the best foods. If Lot’s wife speaks out about the extended mission, tell her she will work in the salt mines until we return if that’s how she feels. And Crowley, don’t screw this up. I won’t.

Lot, we need the fastest possible route to the Andromeda galaxy without running into trouble. Noah, you’re the chef once again for this mission. Jonah, you’re in charge of the equipment. You’re our engineer once again. What’s the mission?

It’s a twenty-one solar cycle mission, so expect an extended leave of absence from your loved ones. Wait, what? Twenty-one solar cycles? Where in the hell are we going? The Andromeda galaxy. We’re tasked to raise a force for the Empire. If you have a problem with that, please fee free to address your concerns with my finger. If you feel you can’t complete the mission, you and your loved ones will have the privilege of working in the Archaic salt mines on Gibeon, the outer most planet in the system. Crowley, there’s only a handful of safe routes to the Andromeda galaxy, and they’re all Tolled routes, meaning we will have to pay out of our own pockets to arrive safely. Okay, so find us a lesser used route that won’t get us killed.

Easier said than done. Just find a way. Okay. Noah, do you have an idea on what you need for supplies? We’re going to need two of everything per individual in order to last us just for the initial trip. So, we need more room in the ship. I’ll get you an inter-dimensional cage to hold all the supplies. I hope Lot’s wife takes it easy on him. We all know how she can get. Yes, yes, we do. Who’s your assistants for this mission Noah? I will be bringing Shem and Japheth. They need the experience and they both have a lot to learn on how to run a restaurant.

Jonah, make sure G.O.D will have all the updates and security measures the Empire will have out for the next year. Also, if G.O.D needs a new avatar, make sure, that it’s not an avatar of Abital. That woman’s voice is the worst. Don’t let David hear you say that. What is David going to do to me? He’ll let you bleed out.

David is a doctor, he’d never do that. It’s against his oath. Besides, he’ll be happy to know he’s coming along. Wait, you haven’t told him yet? This ought to be good. The last time we went out on an extended mission without telling him so, he decided to install that other A.I. Allah, which was designed for bigger ships. It couldn’t control its functions properly because the Allah program wasn’t designed for a mercenary ship of our size.

Luckily, the Empire saw that the Allah program was compatible with the G.O.D Artificial Intelligence program and merged the two to fit all ships to create a stable environment. Since David will be the doctor on this mission, I’m letting you off the hook as secondary medic. David’s the best. So, who’s going to be our tactical officer? I was thinking, Shiva would be this mission. You think she’ll take the offer this time? When she finds out what the mission is? Yep, she will. We just need two more people. A physicist and a biology scientist. Let’s see if

Nicholas Cusa wants to be our physicist. He doesn’t have family, so if we bribe him with funding for his research, he should join. Now, for our biologist, who would be a good fit for this mission? Nicolas Steno. Who’s that? He’s the best coroner in the Empire. He discovered that we as a species can live in the vacuum of space for a short period of time with no space suit or breathing apparatus. Sounds like he’s willing to take shortcuts to get things done. Perfect. Have everyone here tomorrow for their briefing. Sounds good. Now, I’ve got to talk Shiva into that tactical position. See you guys tomorrow.

So, who’s running the mission? Lucifer?! Seriously? He’s…. He’s what? He’s your uncle. He’s your family. You hate him. Hell, I hate him. We all hate him, but he’s been charged with the greatest mission in our history as an Empire and we will make it a success regardless of feelings for one another. Do you understand me Shiva? Do not question my loyalty to the Empire Crowley or you will end up found by Nicolas in the reintegration chamber with your head missing. Yeah, that wouldn’t be a pleasant sight.

So, will you take the job? It sounds promising. Being away from the Empire for a while would do all of us some good. It would do you some good Crowley. Lucifer, what are you doing here? I had a feeling you would ask Shiva to join us, so I asked her before you got here. If you knew I was going to ask her, why did you task me with finding… Because you’re my nephew, and I know how you think. Besides, Shiva is the best at what she does. Killing people? Weapons? Keeping her crew alive? Yes.

Change of plans. Here’s the location of our new ship. What new ship? How did you get a new ship? Where did you get a new ship? The Empire provided it to us as a gift. It has everything we need. New A.I. integration of the G.O.D and Allah, along with enough space for everyone, plus it has TWO inter-dimensional cages for 10x the equipment and food storage. The medical bay is state of the art with holographic sensors to help doc with surgeries so that he’ll be able to see when he’s inside of your bodies.

There’s even an engineer area this time. Update the crew. Ship’s located in Hangar 18. Now, make sure to get some rest. We’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow. Everyone must go through a medical exam before going out this time around since it will be an extended mission to an unknown area of the universe to us. There’s no telling how Andromeda’s gravity and radiation will affect us. Have a good night. I can’t sleep. I’ve got too much to do before I can rest before tomorrow. Just make sure you get some rest before the exam and briefing. Same goes for you uncle.

As you know, we are headed into an unknown part of the universe, which will take us approximately five solar cycles there and back. Our total time away from the empire will be 31.7 solar cycles. Luckily, we have back up bodies to transfer into if need be. I’ve been briefed on the course and route we’ll be taking according to our navigation specialist, Lot. He has assured me that we will have no issues along the way to and from the Andromeda galaxy. He’s even told me that we will get to see some amazing sights along the way if that’s your kind of thing. We’ve all had our exams this morning and it looks as if everyone is healthy enough still to go on this mission.

As you all know, the Empire has tasked us with the hardship of raising a force from nothing and to bring it back without fail within the time frame. If we do not accomplish this mission within the said time frame, our houses and titles will be removed and it will be like we never existed, along with our family and anyone we’ve had contact with along the way. Get your shit in order. You have seventy- two hours. See you in two days. Let’s go out for drinks everyone. I’m buying. Crowley, it would be an honor. Of course, it would. Everyone should have a second in command like me.

The sun rises on the second day. Everyone awakes to the fresh start they’re about to partake on. Their day starts just like it has before, only on this day, they will have a surprise waiting on them when they arrive for departure…

CHAPTER 2: THE DEPARTURE

Glad you all could show up, ten minutes early at that. Good job. I’d like for you to meet our ship, The Johannesburg, capable of reaching 99.5% the speed of light, twin inter-dimensional cages for 10x the storage, dual A.I., the latest O2 scrubbers, with 100% renewable Clean nuclear power, state of the art medical facilities, and of course, the most important features, comfortable beds, hot showers, and a place to stay honed on your weapon skills. Any questions? No? Good. Suit up and let’s go. What is she doing here? Lucifer, I think Lot’s wife wants to talk to you before we head out. Good morning Edith, we’ll take good care of Lot. I don’t care for your meaning of words because I know you’re lying.

Just do me one favor, and make sure he makes it back to get to know his unborn child. You’re pregnant? Does he know? No, I wanted to tell him tomorrow, but you and the empire went and ruined that for me. You Can tell him when you think it’s time for him to know. Just know, I hate you Lucifer Morningstar. You’re as corrupt at the Great Counsel. Talking like that will get you thrown in the Salt mines woman. Know your place. You can’t tell me what to do, not any more. Take care of yourself, take care of my husband. That I can promise you, I will.

Noah, I see you brought 3x the amount of stuff that we really need. Good man. Well, I had a feeling you and the others would want extra in case we were stranded in space from this new route we’re taking. You never know when extras will come in handy. Jonah, all nav systems up and running and take your corrections? Nav’s a go boss. Good. David, is med bay to your standards? Med bay is awesome! I mean, med bay’s a go boss. We’re green across the board uncles, I mean boss. One last thing guys, once we come back, according to Cusa, everyone you know will be dead. You all knew what you signed up for. Now, let’s make the Empire proud. That is correct. According to my calculations, our speeds that come closer to light speed will put more and more time between us and our planetary system. We’ve already come this far for the empire. Let’s finish this.

We need to be at least five thousand clicks away from the star system before we can go FTF. Once we start the engines, they will start at twenty five percent thrust for the first ten hours, and then to fifty percent thrust for an additional ten hours. Once we hit the twenty-hour mark,

I’ll shoot the power up to full for five hours which will thrust us forward to 99.5% the speed of light. All of you know, at that time, you should be strapped into your weightless pods for the remainder of the burn or you will die. Once we are at a constant speed, you will have full access to the ship until we slow down.

Question for you Cusa. Yes? How will the queen and king of this civilization still be alive when we arrive? Do they not live by the same physics as we do? No. They do not. The species the queen and king belong to can live for hundreds of thousands of our solar cycles. Also, since we are traveling so fast, time will go by at the same rate for them as it would us. Their life spans are just, are just a bonus for them. You could have lead with that. I could have, but would you have learned anything? I didn’t think so.

Alright people, it’s time. Strap in. We’re taking off in five, four, three… Now?! You could have bloody warned us. I did, two… Oh….shiiiit…… One! Lucifer, you’re a bloody wanker!! Yes, yes, I am. Trajectory looks good. Entering low orbit… now. Pathfinder, this is

Lucifer, we are GO for slingshot trajectory. Lucifer, Pathfinder, acknowledged. This is it. If any of you are having second thoughts, it’s too damn bad now. Engines go hot in twenty hours. Get some rest. Crowley, you’ll take first shift and I’ll take over in twelve hours. Just don’t break anything. No faith uncle, NO FAITH! Oh, I have complete faith in you. I just know your temper when something doesn’t work for you. Good night.

Bloody hell. First shift? First shift it is. I’m going to need a pot of hot, heaping brew for this shift. Now, what flavor? Grough? No, too strong. Boolo? Too spicy. Strewl? Why not. Perfectly sweet and savory for a long shift. Crowley, you’ve worked with Lucifer before, right?

Hello Cusa. Yeah. I have. What’s up? Is it true Lucifer downed a Squitherly mothership during a mining shipment back to homeworld? Yes, yes. It’s all true. Anything you’ve heard about him is true. There are no made up tales about Lucifer. He won’t allow it. Do you think he will let his temper get the best of him and kill us all in our sleep? Hahahahahahaha… what? It’s just, I’ve heard stories about his temper. He’s gotten control of that now. He doesn’t allow himself to rage out against anyone anymore. We’ll be fine. Oh, good. Goodnight Cusa.

I remember that rage. He was so sexy raging out. Shiva, go to sleep. Just saying…

Everyone rested up? Good. We’ll be coming up on our first burn in an hour. Make sure you’ve eaten, had time to relieve yourself, and strapped in. The first burn is always the roughest.

Once the first burn is complete, we’ll start maintenance checks on all systems until the next burn, at which time, you’ll perform maintenance on the systems if they need it. They shouldn’t since they are brand new, but we do not know how many G’s they can take since this is the only ship of its kind.

You mean to tell me those pesky scientists didn’t test any of the systems? No, Crowley, they didn’t. They didn’t have enough time. Why hasn’t GOD run diagnostics? GOD isn’t online yet.

It and Allah will come online once we’ve left the quadrant. And how long will that take? About three days once we start FTF. What the hell is FTF? FTF is Faster than Fission travel. The scientists call it Fusion. They couldn’t come up with something more cleaver? Fusion is cleaner than Fission smartass. And, it’s more powerful, thus granting us faster travel. Why don’t we just volunteer for the testing of the FRB travel to get there faster? Fast radio burst travel is still in its infancy. Do you really want to become space soup? Well, no, but it could shave years off of our mission.

We stay on course. By the time we get back, FRB might be ready for our next mission. So, how many years away are we talking for this mission? For us, six to ten years will have passed. For our loved ones, they will all be dead, and we will be coming back to see our Great, Great, Great grandchildren, if the planet’s still here. (Knowing it will be twenty-one solar cycles, Lucifer can’t let the crew know until the mission is complete.)

Listen up everyone. Once we’re in FTF, we will enter hyper-sleep for the next 3 cycles to conserve on resources. God and Allah will keep us safe. Allah is our newest hi-tech android that has 49 times faster reaction time than any of us and can think just as fast. He and God are continuously interfacing for even faster computational awareness of any obstacles out there. Remember, get your bellies full, because this is your last meal for a while.

TO BE CONTINUED…

As the crew gets ready for their first mission together, something sinister stirs beneath in the darkness of the ship.

TO BE CONTINUED…