The beginning of a short story I was going to start writing. Wrote this so I wouldn't forget it.
Haley Knight stared at the endless, cold depths of space, dark save for the light of flaring stars, and the harsh beams of the large metal monstrosities that meandered lazily about their positions. He took a deep breath and stepped off the platform. He looked about the room and was filled with the same giddy excitement when he first strode into the vast halls of the UN Infinity only a few days ago.
The green lights that illuminated the otherwise dark control room turned red as alarms blared in his ears. His heart hammered against his chest and his throat began to constrict. No way...
'What happened, Cleo?' Haley said.
The shimmering blue hologram flickered to life around his wrist. 'Captain, there is trouble in solar system 68-B. Command has ordered you to take your fleet there and check it out.'
Haley nodded and said to the room at large, 'Alright everyone, get to your stations. Anderson, James, Liz, on the guns, now. Cecilia, power up the slip-space drive; Isaac, get to the controls.'
He grabbed the intercom mic. 'This is Haley Knight to the UN Spirit and UN Autumn. Get all your troops into Eagles and follow us through our portal. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill. Command has designated this as a Grade-A threat.'
He took a deep breath and strapped himself into his seat. He calibrated the ship, put in the coordinates, and punched the CONFIRM button. The Infinity lurched forward, moving slowly a first. Then the fabric of space-time bent around them as an unpleasant tug passed through his body, and the urge to vomit took him by the throat.
As soon as it had started, it was over, and the Infinity had reached its destination. Haley took in the scene in front of him with wide eyes as the ship was blasted back, spinning about its axes as it hurtled through space.
He stretched across the console and pulled the brakes. He took the wheel and banked sharply to the left, and then up to avoid the speeding Autumn. But they were still going too fast. He slammed the emergency and backup brakes, causing him to buck forward as the ship came to an abrupt halt.
The receding shockwaves of the supernova reached them now, causing the entire ship to tremble as the engines were put to full throttle, trying to avoid being pushed back.
'Cleo, activate the radiation and debris shield!' Haley said.
'Aye aye, Captain.'
The command net crackled in his ear, bringing with it the voice of his old friend, Richard Banks. 'What the hell was that, Night?'
Haley gulped. 'The rebellion has begun, sir.'
'What do you mean, son?'
He looked at the ruins that lay in front of him. Planets blown to smithereens, their rocky remains floating through space, all of it attracted to a large blotch in the stellar landscape that spun rapidly, warping everything around it.
One of his hands subconsciously pulled up the records, the other sifting through them.
'Sir, I've pulled up the records. The star in system 68-B was a highly unstable red hypergiant. When we colonized the system, we put up a Dyson Sphere, as well as a stabilizer which used half the energy the sphere produced to keep the star stable. The rebels... they destroyed the sphere and it crashed into the inner stabilizer. The star went supernova.'
If you like this and the previous few extracts, please vote on which you would like to see.
1) Beyond the Veil of Lies- my novel whose first draft is complete, the second draft is a third of the way done. Approx word limit- 65-70k words.
2) Sins of Our Fathers- only the opening, which you have read previously, has been written. Will be short. Approx world limit- 30-40k words.
3) The Dark Ages- again, only the opening has been written. It will have the sam length as Sins of Our Fathers.