Prologue

  The war was over. The nuclear Armageddon that had resulted from conflict between the nations of Earth on what to do with the advances in technology from Iraqi StarPortal. America had taken it during the Iraq war and studied it until it finally found out how to make it work. Then it pillaged the desolate sands of the lands once known as the underworld for whatever remained of the ancient technologies that lay buried in the sands. Its sky's were darkened by the ancient factories that had once spewed forth copious amounts of toxins into the atmosphere. Rivers run dry from and then frozen from the greenhouse effects and then nuclear winter-like effects from the factories. The Technologies discovered there allowed America to accelerate centuries ahead of where they had once been and even developed StarPortal Technology and limited FTL. From here on a bright future would dawn on America with its exploration of space through its very own StarPortals.

Chapter 1 Planet A7-b90

[StarPortal Facility A1-6j, Luna City, The Moon. 10am of December 18th of 2023]

  Sirens screamed with their blaring noises, military personnel scramble to positions, and quietly President Aldrich Hoffenson watched from the observation deck. He watched as the technicians double checked that the StarPortal was ready to run. This was the beginning of great things. The first FTL probes had successfully deployed StarPortals to various planets across the various Star systems somewhat near earth astronomically speaking. An Army Staff Sergeant approached the president and turned to face the window, joining him in observing the StarPortal. “It’s ready sergeant, “ the man who’s name is Staff Sergeant James Sellars as stated by his uniform having his name on it.

The president then replied, “Good, I assume your team’s ready?”

“Almost, we just need to put our space suits on,” Staff Sergeant James Sellars stated.

The president with one more look at the StarPortal, then turned his head toward Staff Sergeant James Sellars and stated, “Gather in the room ready to head through Portal once you have your space suits. I want you to proceed through and secure its position. Then we’ll send through additional equipment and teams once you confirm it’s safe.” The Staff Sergeant gave a salute and marched away to complete his orders. Meanwhile the president then mumbled to himself, “It’s a real pity that communications through the gate don’t work as we could have just sent a robot through otherwise.” Down in the StarPortal room, Staff Sergeant James Sellars put on his space suit. It was a highly flexible composite material that due to technological breakthroughs allowed for practically free movement. It essentially looked like they were wearing scuba gear, when really it was rated for full zero gravity. James Sellars and his team all line up at the base of the ramp leading to the StarPortal. On the intercom, the president ordered the StarGate to connect to A7-b90. The technicians at the various stations and finally the lead technician pulled a lever and initiated the activation of the StarPortal. At first the StarPortal started to glow. Then it started to spin in circles with it going so fast that the human eye couldn’t keep up. It zoomed around and around until it finally came to a stop and a shockwave exploded out from it shaking everyone down to the ground. There shown in the circular frame of the portal was the wormhole leading to another world. The Staff Sergeant stood up and turned to help one of his squad up from the ground and stated, “Well, we best get going,” before then walking toward the wormhole. He and his team walked into it and then were sent flying as they were transported at faster than light speeds safely to A7-b90.

[StarPortal Site, A7-b90. 10:15am of December 18th of 2023]

  Staff Sergeant James Sellars and the others came flying out of the StarPortal and rolled several yards from the Portal. As they got up and got their barings, the Portal shutdown leaving them to continue the mission on their own. James looked around, did a headcount to make sure everyone was accounted for and was pleased to find that all ten of his specially curated squad was accounted for. “Ok eggheads, you guys get to work collecting samples. Private John Strasburg, Private Frank Gitin, Private George Mcwhirter stay here with StarPortal and keep an eye out for any alien lifeforms. Deadly force is authorized if whatever you encounter is hostile. Private Jerry Eickenhorst, Private McGnarry Newell, and Private Marcis Macleod are to join me in searching the surroundings for anything of interest or concern. Got it?” The six soldiers mentioned all responded with yes sergeants and got to go on with their tasks with Private John Strasburg, Private Frank Gitin, Private George Mcwhirter all taking up defensive positions around the StarPortal to keep an eye out for anything. Private Jerry Eickenhorst, Private McGnarry Newell, and Private Marcis Macleod followed Staff Sergeant James Sellars out to scout the surroundings. As far as the eye can see were rocky mountains and hills. Throughout it was a frozen desert that had an atmosphere completely unbreathable for mankind.

  Arthur Cogman, the team atmospheric scientist, who was taking some atmosphere readings cheerfully stated, “Sergeant, my atmosphere detector is detecting that the air is of an equal pressure to that of Earth. While the air has too much carbon dioxide in it, I bet the geneticists will end up being able to terraform this planet with these simply using plants, like say using giant farms.” Mary Martin, who is a biologist, took a look at the readings and agreed that the environment should be trivial to fix if given enough time and resources. Smiles were had among the group, the people of Earth may have found their new home world. Around then, they noticed a valley area that formed what might have once been a river. Together they walked down the slope a part of the valley and carefully moved down into the valley.

Upon reaching the bottom of the valley, the geologist among the group Elise Norfleet stopped to scoop up some samples of the soil before jogging to catch up with the group. The ground in the valley had an interesting appearance of dried and cracked dirt that many droughts on earth would cause. “I wonder what we’ll find in all of these samples later,” Elise then continued with, “It’d be amazing if it has any traces of life in it.”

Mary Martin responded with, “If there are any traces of life, then I hope I get a crack at studying it. It was my dream to study alien life when I was a little girl.” Then suddenly the Staff Sergeant fell to one near with a fist held up. Everyone froze and Private Jerry Eickenhorst, Private McGnarry Newell, and Private Marcis Macleod raised their rifles ready to fight whatever spooked their commanding officer. Tremors are felt in the ground and with great shock, the soldiers pull the scientists toward the side of the valley they were just in time to avoid a herd of alien animals stampeding through the valley. The valley had curved up ahead and so hid the thousands of animals that were stampeding. Time seemed to slow as the soldiers and scientists waited for the seemingly endless herd of animals to pass by.

  As the last of them passed by the Staff Sergeant stood up with a heavy breath. They had nearly gotten killed by those animals. That was when he heard what they were running from. A sound of thunder and roars of a flash flood. Very quickly the rush of water came into view and he started to run. The others joined him and they desperately ran for their lives as the wave of water approached closer and closer. But it was too late, the time it took for them to run further up the valley to reach the slope that had allowed them to get down there in the first place, had been too much. They were swept away into the flood and deposited many miles away from the StarPortal Site. They were swept through numerous valleys and channels and even went through a tunnel which left them a two days journey away from the StarPortal. The Staff Sergeant, his soldiers, and the scientists found themselves now in a small desert oasis. Immediately the Staff Sergeant tried to radio the soldiers he had left at the Portal, “Private Strasburg, report. What is your situation?” Static was all that was heard at first, but then he vaguely heard John say that he and others were fine. “Repeat, you are fine?”

  “Affirmative,” responded the radio, which clearly struggled to receive the message due to it being for short range. Around the team were strange plants with glowing orange coloring leaves and bark made of a rocky like material were seen around the oasis. Mary pulled out a knife and carefully made an incision of a number of the plants and collected samples from them. Once secured, she joined the others in looking at the Staff Sergeant for direction.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  The Staff Sergeant sighed and then took a look around him. The team was fearful for their lives, alien life existed, and water still exists here and it floods on this planet like it did back home in Arizona. “Everyone is fine right? No serious injuries or punctures on your space suits?” Fortunately none of them got hurt as was clearly shown when they all chorused an agreement that none of them had gotten hurt nor did their spacesuits get damaged. The Staff Sergeant then continued by stating, “We can make it back to the StarPortal, it’ll take time, a team effort and will be tough, but we will make it. Got that?” The scientists responded with nods and uneasy smiles, while the soldiers responded with a confident, yes sergeant. The hill was on the other side of the oasis and had a small waterfall in it that they fell out of when they had been swept up by the flash flood. So the group traveled around the oasis, all the while taking in the natural beauty of the native plant life. As they approached the foot of the hill, they encountered a vicious looking creature that was hidden by a bush and some unfortunate curving of the oasis bank. The creature was extremely alien, it had six legs like an insect and glowing veins like the plants around them. The creature possessed rows of razor sharp teeth and a tongue of significant length like a camel. The surface of the creature was a rough scaly like material that was mostly black with the exception of the glowing orange veins and organs of the animal. It had two sets of eyes, which likely allow it excellent ability to track groups of prey, such as herds. Upon seeing it, the group froze and the creature froze for a second as well. Then in a blink of an eye it reared around toward them and ran at them. It plowed through the various plants in its way as it neared towards the group. Staff Sergeant James Sellars could be heard screaming fire as he and his men desperately tried to gun down the creature and the scientists ran in the opposite direction. It finally reached them just as the soldiers started to back up as they continued to fire, but it was no use. It missed the Private’s neck and grabbed Private McGnarry Newell and took hold of his arm and bit down into it. The beast within seconds was shaking the Private around violently. Cracks could be heard and Private McGnarry Newell’s helmet’s started to leak in the planet's air. Just as all seemed lost, Staff Sergeant James Sellars landed a lucky shot on the creature's brain. Violently glowing orange goop exploded from the creature's head as it fell over and released Private McNarry Newell’s arm. In the distance, the scientists saw the creature die and sighed with relief and move to join back up with the soldiers.

  “Sarge, I don’t know if I’ll make it… I think it broke a lot of bones,” the soldier croaked out, barely able to speak over the agony he was feeling.

  “You’ll make it, don’t say you won’t. I am not leaving you behind. Macleod, stop gawking and get over here with that medkit. God only knows what could be infecting him right now.” Hearing the order the soldier snapped out of the dase and pulled out his medkit and got to work. The sergeant then stood up and held his gun tightly as he carefully observed the surroundings for any of those creatures that may still be hiding behind the bushes.

  Mary Martin, observing McGnarry trying to pull off his helmet, sat down next to him and gently helped pull it off for him. Tears stains ran down McGnarry's face, his eyes red from the agony he felt, and his face now forever scarred by the glass of his helmet partially shattering. Private Marcis Macleod moved a rag coated in a liquid like adhesive onto the face of McGnarry and ever so gently rubbed away any remnants of the glass that still were on his face. Private Marcis then said, “Someone will need to carry him. I think the injuries he has suffered are too severe for him to walk on his own power and crutches won’t work well with his upper body so damaged.”

  Arthur then noted, “I have some experience with using firearms back when I was an officer. I can take over his job of protection and Mary and Elise can carry him together.” The women nodded their agreement toward each other about the idea and then looked toward Staff Sergeant James Sellars. James gave a sigh and looked long and hard at McGnarry and then at the women and asked, “Are you sure about this? Keeping up will be paramount to our survival. Will you be able to carry him minus the equipment?” The women shared an unsure look at that, but responded with that they had to. Neither had experience with guns outside of a shooting range and so wouldn’t be of much use that way. James then gestured for Arthur to put on McGnarry’s military vest and to take his rifle. A few minutes later and the group is once again trudging along though at a slower pace due to the injuries sustained to Private McGnarry Newell.

  A few hours later the group had stopped for the night and had a fire set up. Private Jerry Eickenhorst and Staff Sergeant James Sellars took turns keeping an eye out for anything that might try to sneak up on them. Fortunately nothing did happen despite the horrifying animalistic noises that could be heard in the distance. The women in the meantime got their sleep as they had the most difficult job. McGnarry of course slept as well, needing to have as much strength as possible for tomorrow.

  Early in the morning, the women and McGnarry all woke up to the early morning sun. The sky was bright with pinks and orange hues. James nudged Arthur to wake up and turned to look at Jerry and so he was already waking up. Taking a look around and he then said, “In ten minutes we will be back on the road.” A few mumbled oks and yes sergeants went around the camp as the groggy scientists and soldiers woke up. Few minutes later everyone was quietly eating their breakfast from the breakfast straw that is built into their suit. McGnarry had Mary help him with accessing the straw as it was still too painful to move on his own.

  A few hours later and they were well on their way home, throughout it Private McGnarry Newell and Private Jerry Eickenhorst back and forth. “You know McGnarry, it’s almost lucky that you ended up injured because now you're in the arms of two beautiful ladies.”

Private McGnarry Chuckled then replied, “Almost.” Meanwhile, Staff Sergeant James Sellars arrived at the top of a ridge and waved the others to join him. He then instructed them to be extremely careful as the fall would be a very long and painful one. Each step was dangerous close to sending them all tumbling down. Rock and dirt crumbled under their feet as they slowly traversed down the ridge down to the valley below. Just as soon as they got down there though they had to go up the hill on the other side. Which caused no shortage of grumbling from the soldiers and scientists as they tiredly pulled themselves forward and up the hill.

  Upon reaching the top of the hill, they saw a wide open flat area for about a couple miles in all directions aside from behind them. They continued on until Arthur tripped over what he thought to be a branch. Really it was a snake half buried underground. It felt something trip over it, awoke and pulled itself out of the dirt. It was a massive twenty foot long snake that had legs like an amphibian. Its head along with the neck stood high in the air and it gave hiss enough before lunging for Arthur. The soldiers and Arthur all fired on it, which didn’t seem to stop it from grabbing Arthur and tearing into Arthur’s head. Screams of agony from Arthur from that point traumatized everyone who saw him die with the snake creature chewing off his head before swallowing the rest of Arthur’s body whole. Throughout this the soldiers started to retreat, following after the women, while continuing to shoot at the creature. As it finished eating Arthur, it swiftly slithed away.

  Private McGnarry Newell murmured, “I wonder if the Government will decide that this planet is too dangerous.”

Mary then said with some difficulty due to her helping to carry McGnarry, “I think they will, but I fear for the lives that will be lost trying to tame this world.”

  Private Jerry Eickenhorst then butted in with, “Don’t sugar coat it Mary, this ‘world’ is a hellhole.” Everyone had a laugh because it was true. First they were swept away by a massive flash flood, one of them got mauled by an alien animal, and another of them got outright consumed by another alien animal.

  A few hours later and everyone was exhausted and needed a break, but just as they were going to stop they reached the top of another small mountain and could see the StarPortal. They had finally made it close enough for the Search and Rescue teams to see the group. Staff Sergeant James Sellars put his hand on the side of his helmet and pressed the radio and stated, “This is Staff Sergeant James Sellars, we have managed to reach around half way back to the StarPortal and are on a small mountain overlooking the StarPortal from the west. You should be able to see our flare.” He turned to Jerry and ordered him to fire the flare.

  Private John Strasburg looked around and then saw the flare, he then hopped on the radio and said, “We see you sergeant.” He then turned around and headed for Colonel Rick Fettinger who had been conversing with a drone operator on whether they had seen the Staff Sergeant his people. “Sir, the Staff Sergeant is on that mountain. He just fired a flare after he spoke on the radio.”

  “Good, finally we can get this nightmare of a mission over with. I can only imagine what they have experienced based on the various animal life on this planet.” The colonel paused before picking up his radio and ordering a truck to be sent over toward the mountain that Private John Strasburg pointed out.

  By time the day was over, the Staff Sergeant and his team gave their reports of the events that had occurred on the planet to Colonel Rick Fettinger and of the loss of Arthur Cogman’s life at the hands of one many lifeforms on the planet. After that they rested and waited for the next mission while they lived in Luna City. The civilian scientists took the research data to various universities and shared them. From there they would be studied and understood better. Though the two remaining scientists from the team that survived both swore off joining any more missions through the StarPortal, they did keep in contact with the Staff Sergeant and his men.