By the year 2335 many cultures and species were living and working through the known universe. That universe covered numerous planets and many light years of distance and most were only reachable by faster than light (FTL) vessels. This did not hamper travel to and from as faster than light capability had long been acquired and distributed. Any world that had, in any way on their own, already reached into or explored outer space in any fashion had the option of receiving or rejecting this FTL knowledge.
It was found that no matter what species was encountered, the problems they experience were present in almost all cultures. Outbreaks of hostility was somehow common to all and the prevention of those hostility fell on the Universal Galactic Governing Board (UGGB). This board was made up of representatives, one from each world that had accepted the FTL capability. This conglomerate of species general had only one conferences every five years to record changes in delegates and address universal problems. On the other hand, an emergency meeting could be called at any time if something problematic was encountered that threatened security and peace.
The UGGB was not designed to be the peace negotiators nor were they schooled in that capacity. They, however, did setup an organization with this single purpose. This organization's only duty was to try to negotiate a peaceful settlement between worlds who were, for whatever reason, at war with each other. These brave souls who went into harm's way were called Coordinators.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Prologue
Characters
Chapter 1
Guest Arrival
He had to concentrate on the upcoming conference and the direction that he would like it to take. Scott looked deep into his mind as he continued with his thoughts and looked again at his surroundings. This asteroid was huge and quite unusual. There was no normal horizon, you know, like on a planet where the surface curves. No this was a flat fifty mile in diameter circle of rock that simply ended at the edge of the asteroid. There were no hills, no dips, and no vegetation in any direction. It was a perfect place to feel secure. No one could explain the asteroid's ability to have or hold a breathable atmosphere, however, it did. That atmosphere spanned the entire surface with a ceiling of breathable air to about five meters in height.
There was no place for any one to hide for the purpose of surprise. The only outcropping of any kind was Scott's little ship. It was a small four seater, ghostly white, with the speed and agility of any ship in the universe. The Coordinators needed that. They were not allowed to carry any weapons, oh, and neither were the other persons in a conference. They didn’t need any weapons because they were simply here to talk about peace.
The reason for this speedy, exceptionally agile little, warp capable, ship was to avoid conflict. Scott's bosses felt that involvement in any little hostile scrimmage would be most embarrassing for a coordinator’s reliability. It was better to run away and live for another day rather than stay.
All of a sudden, his friend Fortried’s head jerked to the right and to the left. Scott didn’t notice this as he should have for this terrific ringing was going off like thunder inside his head. God, he had forgotten how loud this could be he thought. He mentally silenced the small weapon detector that had been implanted in his over crowed skull. The reason it was over crowed is because of the other implants placed inside his head.
Looking across the asteroid he saw the two ships pop up from the edge coming from the right and one from the left. This was trouble, they were supposed to approach in full view and, if he may repeat his thoughts, without weapons. They must have used the mass of the asteroid to hide their approach from the ship's detection system.
He remotely flipped on the ship’s force field shield and raced for its security. Fortried noticed how slow he was and he reached back grabbed him and bodily threw him into the gaping port of his little cocoon as the two ships silently grounded, one ship following closely behind the other. No sound except for the transfer of weight from air to the soil of the asteroid.
As soon as they touched down their ports opened emitting five or six armed personnel from each. They seemed to have one goal in mind and that was the total annihilation of one very frightened coordinator.
From the comfort of his little vessel, he watched as Fortried turned to meet that challenge with a grace and ease unmatchable. As they departed their ship, the nearest one opened fire with a laser rifle. Scott followed the beam to where Fortried had been standing. He gritted his teeth expecting to see a pile of disintegrated matter that was Fortried. What he saw was only a small depression where the soil of the asteroid had been blown away.
Had Fortried side stepped the fire? Was that possible? Evidently it was for there was old Forty standing directly in front of the rifleman. He thought, if only he had a weapon. Well maybe he did. Fortried picked up the rifleman and while he snapped the attacker’s neck with one hand he ripped, along with several fingers, the weapon away with the other hand.
He did not fire the weapon he had taken. He threw it like a whirling boomerang at the stunned attackers. His aim and accuracy was unreal. The flying scythe severed two heads and stuck in the chest of a third, the final departure out of one of the ships.
This little escapade caused a slight hesitation in the planned attack of the others. That was all old Forty needed. He simply bowled several over with the body he held in his hand. He then kicked one like a soccer ball into the side of one of their ships. He seemed to embed there. He quickly disarmed the remaining one as he just stood there evidently stunned. A quick short punch straight into the middle of his face rendered the attacker unconscious. Fortried lifted him, carrying him over and placed him inside Scott's little vessel.
Fortried made a quick trip back to check each of the small ships to check for any survivors. He returned at full speed and in a rush boarded. He closed the door and Scott turned to look again out the port just in time to see a tremendous explosion as the two ships, in unison, simply disappeared in a huge ball of flame.
Thank God for the protection of the force field and security of this small ship. They were virtually unharmed. Yes Scott admitted they were tossed around a bit and he cracked his head pretty hard against the back of the console but, as far as he could tell, he was not injured to any major extent. As he slowly recovered he realized his first step was to let headquarters and his boss know of his situation. As Fortried watched our new companion, Scott turned to the ship’s console and the controls of his ship.