The Colar Boys Volume One

By Scott C. Anderson

Volume 1 contains three in a series of adventures with Larrytam and Aron. Two men from Colar were left behind and abandoned on planet Earth. Removed from earth and finding work on a Florek merchant freighter, they will experience both safety and hardship with the Florek captain. Brave and free, Captain Rollio Surlatan will take the Colar boys to places they’ve never seen, and confront the ideals that freedom is never free. Larrytam and Aron then meet a new ally in Myra Song. The trader and negotiator in all things of value in the galaxy will serve as a powerful ally. Larrytam fights his personal demons as Aron continues to grow as an independent man, all under the sponsorship of Captain Rollio Surlatan. Three stories of six, this volume contains One Way Out, Two Is Company, and Three Days of Discovery. Originally published in 2013, copyrights include 2014 to 2017.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jun 23, 2017
• ISBN: 9781387057504

Book preview

The Colar Boys Volume One

The Colar Boys Volume One

By Scott C. Anderson

This is a book of fiction. Characters, places, names, theories, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to persons, alive or dead, along with their events or locations is purely coincidental.

Disclaimer:  These stories are written in a conversational style.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher.

© 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 by Scott C. Anderson. All rights reserved.

ISBN 978-1-387-05750-4

ONE WAY OUT

Another time and another place

There ought to be a law.  Ben understood that he wasn’t required to correct the ills of the entire universe, even if recent events seemed to confirm this idea.  But he did continue to wonder why it was up to him, and why now?

Ben believed himself to be a proud member of the Taman civilization.  Meeting the Taman standard for his race, he always held an optimistic outlook.  Today started out the same as any other day, yet the midnight call from the Taman Central Operator set the tone.  Ben was all of sixty-eight years old and feeling his age. 

His current age, in Taman years, gave him the equivalent of a teenager when compared to many of the various human races, yet he was still feeling the mileage of his years.  Someday Ben would retire, but he would have to wait another three hundred years for that event to occur. 

At a little over six feet tall and one-hundred and seventy pounds, Ben held the Taman average for height and weight.  His parents were intensely proud of their only son and ensured that he received every educational option available to the average Taman child. 

The communication from Jen Pogmore, received through the Taman Central Operator, came as a surprise.  Not that the call was entirely unexpected, as the two had become friends over the years, but it was still a surprise.  Ben knew both Jen and her husband Speery, but was disappointed to hear that he had passed less than a year ago.  The earth couple proved to be invaluable help when dealing with the one previously recorded Colar contact.  The Colar were a distant human race that held little regard for human life, and expressed this indifference at every opportunity. 

Today’s call came across as calm and detailed.  A ship, similar to the earlier Colar design, appeared over the Pacific Ocean just a few miles off the coast of Camarillo, California.  The mile-long, brilliant gold craft, resembled an airship known as The Hindenburg and appeared as a dirigible design.  Jen would later discover that the interstellar battleship was listed as having a sharpened hull eleven feet thick at the bow and tapering to seven feet thick for the remaining three quarters.  The smooth exterior hull included covers for the few windows allowed by the shipbuilders.  The mile-long battle cruiser stood seven stories tall and had the look of a large cigar with a sharpened bow and stern. 

Due to the distance, Jen Pogmore was unable to see the distortion of the water beneath the battle cruiser.  From her vantage point she was more interested in the details of the brilliantly colored ship.  For whatever reason, the Colar battle cruiser floated almost a hundred feet over the ocean and made no hostile gestures or aggressive movements.  The large ship did rotate counterclockwise at a slow rate and moved in a way that kept it stable and prepared for battle. 

Jen wasn’t the first to see the ship.  In her living room she watched the report from a local TV station.  The initial newscast contained vague details and the TV pictures were fuzzy at best.  Technology in the summer of 1983 generally went with those who could afford the best.  The entertainment industry, which included radio and TV news, always had an influx of money to cover the latest in audio and video equipment.  But, the cameras provided the best picture possible. 

The local TV news pointed its cameras to the object floating over the ocean.  Jen immediately picked up her Taman communicator and pressed the single crystal blue button.  Remembering her past experience, she picked up the soda-can sized communicator and quickly walked out the kitchen door.  The top of the communicator opened and immediately projected a brilliant white beam skyward.  Jen was with her husband the last time she activated the communicator.  Initiating the call indoors caused the call beam to bore through the ceiling and roof of their house, which required a $45 dollar repair. 

In seconds the Taman Central Operator, a young well-dressed male, opened a three foot by four foot floating screen above the communicator.  Below the operator’s screen, three smaller one foot by one foot screens opened.  Two women and one man appeared to be monitoring the conversation and listened intently to Jen’s every word.  The word Colar appeared to solicit everyone’s attention as Jen believed she recognized the ship’s design.  The Taman operator took her information and conducted a simple search of interstellar traffic near the Palla Solar System. 

Hundreds of millions of miles away, and far outside the Palla system, a familiar Taman saucer known as a GINT coursed through the center of the galaxy containing the Palla Solar System.  The deep rich blackness of empty space gave Ben the familiar sense of calm.  Oddly this feeling also mixed with an undertone of anxiety caused by the sheer magnitude of the dangers of space travel.  The standard crew of a GINT mining saucer consisted of a senior miner, a physician, and two mining specialists.  The crew had just left the Taman homeworld and was headed to Tiffina, a nearby treasure planet. 

Taman society had progressed into their second million-year cycle.  In Taman society, Ben fully understood that each citizen could be trusted to provide a supported decision concerning any encountered political or diplomatic situation.  This decision-making ability included commitments that would be honored by the Taman government, and included offworld agreements for trade or services.  Ben also understood the need for a point of contact, which he provided on this ship.  The ship didn’t need a designated captain, as he shared his assigned mining and flight operations as a member of the crew. 

The onboard communication and navigation systems were monitored by Tam.  The two-hundred year old physician found his duties enjoyable.  His constant monitoring of the ship’s location came in handy as Tam’s hobby literally involved the study of the stars.  The call from Jen Pogmore filled Tam with a quiet excitement as he cleared the channel and sharpened the audio and image quality.  Tam’s physical qualities mimicked those of Ben, so the two were hard for offworld races to tell them apart.  The Taman Central Operator could easily tell the difference and provided translation services as he monitored the call through the transfer. 

Ben stood next to Tam as both listened to the details.  Apparently the Colar ship made no aggressive actions and actually made few movements at all.  The operator could not see the Colar cruiser as Jen’s home was two miles from the beach.  Lin, the Taman operator, used Jen’s communicator to scan the area for the Colar battle cruiser and any other offworld capable ship.  The invisible and silent scan located and passed through the heavily armed battle cruiser. 

Lin forwarded the results to Ben and Tam.  The Colar had three-hundred and seventy-three crewmembers on board, with a detection of six animals.  It was obvious that the scan did not go undetected, as the battle cruiser ceased its slow rotation and prepared for a confrontation. 

Excessive and extremely aggressive tactics were the norm for the Colar expansion fleet.  The Colar would normally initiate an attack on less advanced civilizations and then contact their leaders for terms of surrender.  Always seeking the superior advantage, the Colar only confronted races when the odds of winning were definitely in their favor. 

The human race located on the Colar homeworld fell under the rule of a single family.  The current President-for-Life was the latest in line of the Sodel family.  Young Juan-Taylor Sodel inherited the title and position through the standard way, by natural succession.  The power held within the family and government meant that assassination was unknown and unthinkable.  The Colar, similar to earth humans except for their aggressive nature, had been confronted by Ben and this GINT almost twenty years ago.  Ben’s previous experience with the Colar had been brief, confrontational, and familiar. 

The Taman, in contrast, held the reputation as the protectors of civilizations less advanced and less aggressive.  Also, the few known advanced races unable to adequately protect themselves traded with the Taman for protective and safe-travel services.  The Colar rarely asked for help of any kind and only contacted the Taman in dire need of safe slipstream travel protection. 

This Colar visit on Palla was unexpected and unexplained.  The Taman operator attempted to contact the ship’s captain, but with no success.  Colar technology evolved very slowly and the older fleet, once out of dry dock, received few if any upgrades.  In reality the Colar consciously avoided all unnecessary contact with the Taman; therefore their communication abilities were clear but cautious. 

Captain Gregg Tomanson of the Colar interceptor battleship Forward Integrity sat on his bridge in near silence.  The captain listened as his Communications Officer monitored the call from the Taman Central Operator.  The voice, unknown to the seasoned captain, sounded Taman; cold and sterile.  The clarity of the Taman call emanating from this little known planet could only mean that a local inhabitant possessed some type of Taman-accessible communicator.  Gregg thought about the situation and looked to his staff. 

First Lieutenant Shellton Brand, the ship’s Navigation Officer, ran a simple detection routine.  He determined that the ship had been the subject of a scan by the Taman.  The scan’s point of origin was easy to detect and Capt. Tomanson thanked Shellton for his initiative.  Gregg’s next challenge was to determine what this Taman presence meant.  Shellton confirmed that a Taman communicator was currently in use and pinpointed the location.  The point of origin lay just a few miles inland. 

Gregg’s orders were precise and explicit.  Unfortunately they did not include the possibility of a Taman contact or interference.  Gregg shot off a quick message to the admiralty, explaining the detection of a Taman contact on a previously open planet.  The Colar fleet knew little of the Taman, but they were far from a mystery.  The one phrase passed down from captain to captain was that once a Colar ship encountered the Taman, the ship was never heard from again.  This was the only consideration that kept Gregg from proceeding as planned. 

Lt. Brand allowed the ship to drift as it slowly rotated over the blue-green ocean.  He fixed the forward scans to point straight ahead as the change in scenery appeared to calm the captain.  The discovery that the Taman may be present was enough to cause anxiety in even the most jaded Colar.  Shellton, a twenty-year veteran of the fleet, understood the workings of the ship and her crew.  He was also able to keep his jet black hair, even after experiencing the many adventures from various Colar captains during his career.  For as long as anyone could remember, the Colar fleet officers had a reputation for brutality against the working class, but Captain Tomanson carried the respect of both classes for his fair treatment of the crew. 

Shellton conferred with Lt. Julie Yataman, the Communications Officer, to verify his findings.  Both acted as munitions officers and shared various other responsibilities when the ship was at rest.  Julie spent her time working the communication scan and translation, while Shellton stood by his captain for direction and orders. 

I don’t like this.  Gregg spoke to the room and really wasn’t talking to anyone in particular. 

It’s never good when the Taman get involved.  Shellton stated the obvious. 

All we need to do is to start a conflict with them.  What are they doing out here anyway?

If I can offer.  We’re here for one thing and one thing only.  Is it possible we can get in and get out before they respond?  Shellton fished for options. 

Actually its two things and you just might be right.  Gregg stood and checked his readings.  Gregg’s small appreciative nod to his lieutenant would have normally been considered too much of a personal expression, but fully expected of this captain. 

The slightly barren hills of Camarillo, California contained two things of value to the Colar; gold and an element the Colar called penet.  Penet was a common element on Palla.  When refined using a proprietary process, penet manufactured to a weapons-grade material with many uses.  Luckily penet often surrounded gold, which meant that mining a supply of one, would pull a supply of the other. 

The minutes passed as Capt. Tomanson considered his options.  The deposits were fairly close to the surface; the response of the Taman could give enough time for extraction, especially since no aggressive actions had been initiated by the ship.  Gregg made his decision and communications called the mining crew.  The gang of thirty-two were on standby and only needed a moment’s notice to respond. 

Deep in the bowels of the ship, Ricky Taft watched the wall-mounted status screen as he stood in the mining bay of the Forward Integrity.  Awaiting the captain’s order, Ricky and his gang knew by the specific wording on the screen that this would be a quick and dirty operation.  At the top of the display the words STAND BY slowly pulsed in bright green.  Several members of the gang took turns staring at the screen to ensure that no one missed the call. 

Ricky stood five feet, six inches, and weighed close to three hundred and ten pounds of pure muscle.  He stood as tall and was as big as his crewmates.  Even within the working class, there were separate classes of Colar.  The lowest and most brutally treated were the miners and ship workers.  Ricky was proud of this distinction and stood equal to the men on the mining crew.   The sea of medium brown overalls and dark blue work shirts filled the room with familiarity and anticipation. 

See!  They’re giving the countdown!  Aron pointed to the screen to draw their attention. 

Ricky looked and winked at Aron, relieved that his crew was watching their backs.  Wait for it…

The Forward Integrity ceased its rotation and straightened as it pointed towards the coastline of California.  Moving slowly towards the beach, the battleship headed inland.  The hills close to shore forced the cruiser to rise to a height of one hundred feet above the neighboring hills.  The ship slowly stopped as two sets of keel doors opened.  The onboard systems once again scanned and confirmed the deposits within the mountain range. 

As the keel doors opened and the scan finalized, the disruptor panel lowered from beneath the ship.  The disruptor panel quietly vibrated just enough to roll on its carriage bearings.  The projected disruptor wave impacted the crest of the mountain and created an audible rumbling.  Though the outer crust of the mountain appeared intact, internal shattering replaced solid rock and stone into a more manageable material. 

Colar technology may have been brutal and primitive, but the sad reality was that most of their equipment worked as efficiently as designed.  In this case the mining crew worked with the disruptor heads and literally peeled back the upper three hundred and eighty-three feet of crust.  The pulverized and prepared minerals, now exposed to the atmosphere, were much easier to remove and process. 

The Forward Integrity lowered as the two keel pressure doors fully retracted.  The hundred foot doors allowed the mining apparatus, a grey painted platform supporting the vacuum and digging/drilling machinery, to lower.  The tubular constructed platform could easily support Ricky and his crew as they manhandled the equipment into position.  The dust from the mountain peel had already begun to drift and settle as Ricky and Aron lowered the mining head into the soft prepared interior of the mountain. 

The suction head pulled material in and through the processor at four tons per second.  The onboard processing plant removed any element of value and expelled the waste wherever the nozzle was pointed.  The waste nozzle sent the cleaned material down a shallow mountainside. 

The Colar cared little for the esthetics of planets outside of the Colar homeworlds, and Palla was no exception.  The bins of gold and the raw materials that would manufacture penet were as plentiful as the other valuable elements that continued to fill the adjoining bins.  Captain Tomanson knew he was pushing his luck but continued to the last minute.  The elapsed time was a little over eighteen minutes. 

Shellton checked with Julie and confirmed that a spacial magnetic Taman pull had been detected.  This detection would offer the captain a full contact in less than four minutes.  Capt. Tomanson’s decision was made for him as he ordered the ship to space.  This simple action meant that the mining platform needed to be retracted as the ship rose through the atmosphere. 

The sudden shift rattled the mining platform but not Ricky Taft.  He stood firm as he attempted to steady his men and equipment.  Aron and Larrytam were not in a safe position and both rocked back and forth as the ship began its ascent.  In an attempt to gain a solid foot and handhold, both fell from the platform.  The bare hillside of Palla was now only a twenty foot drop and the soft pulverized dirt broke their fall. 

Both men were shaken and bruised though no worse for wear.  What did shake both men was the sight of their home ship lifting into the sky; keel doors closing as it rose through the clouds.  Larrytam stood in a panic and stared to the heavens.  Aron continued to lie down on his back and take in the reality of what had just happened. 

What a fine mess…

Larrytam was an experienced hand at thirty-six years of age.  Aron was one of the younger crewmen at twenty-four and was watched over by all of the men of the mining gang.  Aron wasn’t as hardened by the routine of ship life and was able to handle this change a little easier than his work partner. 

Aron then stood and also looked to the heavens.  They’re not coming back,

They wouldn’t come back for us.  Larrytam’s voice held no malice, only the quiet resolution of reality. 

We’d better get off this mountain.  Aron needed food and shelter, and looked around for the best direction to suggest to Larrytam. 

Listen bud, Ricky gave me this detector.  Larrytam showed Aron a small three by four inch device with a grey screen and green pointer that indicated the small town of Camarillo. 

Aron sounded disappointed.  That’s as good a direction as any.

The Colar battle cruiser breached the planet’s atmosphere and literally jumped from sight.  The three-ring engines pulled the mile-long ship out of the Palla system and headed in the direction of the Colar homeworld. 

The brilliant white Taman saucer sped towards the Palla Solar System and was only seconds away from the third planet from its sun.  Ben could detect that no energy weapons were used, save for the obvious mining equipment signature.  For the Taman, the mining signature was one of the best and effective ways to detect the Colar presence. 

Ben’s urgency subsided as he entered the outer planets of the Palla Solar System.  Slowing to a full stop above the northern pole, Palla appeared still and quiet.  The communicator data from Jen Pogmore had become invaluable.  She provided a point of scan for the device to monitor.  Due to the remoteness of the locale, even in broad daylight the simple mining operation would have gone practically unnoticed.  Ben and Tam decided to pay Jen a visit, simply to thank the woman for her assistance. 

The mined mountain turned out to be a small mountain range or large rocky hill among a range of similar mountain formations.  Aron was the first to run down the hillside as a well-worn path angled towards a small town.  Larrytam followed and kept pace with his mining buddy as their momentum made the downhill run quick and easy.  Both men were roughly the same height of five feet, eight inches and weighed in at a few pounds over three hundred.  The working stamina of both men came in handy as the short trek to Jen’s location would take about a half an hour.  The work clothes of both men seemed to blend with the agricultural setting.  Their medium brown overalls and black boots appeared similar to the very few workmen they passed along the way. 

Larrytam confirmed that the Taman communication link no longer emitted from Jen Pogmore’s house.  The Colar locator continued to pinpoint the location of the earlier emission and never wavered.  Aron kept looking around, believing that someone or something primitive and hostile would attack at any moment.  Focused, and as prepared as possible, Larrytam took a much calmer approach as he had heard that this area of the planet was devoid of life-threatening creatures. 

The walk through the orange groves filled the air with a crisp quality so unfamiliar on Colar battleships.  Aron seemed the most curious as Larrytam kept a cool eye out for trouble.  The primitive wooden structures separated by wide roads told Larrytam that the local population was primitive and simple, just as the captain said they would be. 

The kitchen door to Jen’s house faced the large open backyard.  An oversized two-car garage capable of storing two large vehicles and a small workshop faced the side street.  The screen door to the kitchen allowed the smells of baking to waft through the air.  Larrytam walked through a small wooden gate to enter the backyard.  The gate was located within a picket fence that both Aron and Larrytam had a hard time believing that it would serve to keep anyone from forcing entry.  Aron wasn’t considered very smart, as far as his crewmates were concerned, but Larrytam believed in the young man.  Larrytam found that Aron held a maturity that served both men well; that maturity would be needed if the two expected to stay alive. 

The two ship workers entered the kitchen and stood transfixed for a moment.  This type of room appeared familiar to the two Colar, but only on a much larger scale.  For all of Jen’s experience with offworld races, the woman didn’t appear frightened as she entered the kitchen from the front parlor.  What took the woman by surprise were the physical differences between the Taman and the two young men standing before her.  In those clothes, both were obviously workmen. 

Are you with Ben?  Jen spoke with assurance, knowing to use her language imagery. 

We are not with the man you called.  We are Colar and were left on your planet in error.  We mean you no harm, but we are not harmless.  Larrytam spoke with measured tones, knowing the woman may not fully understand him. 

Jen didn’t fear either Colar, now that they revealed their race,