This is an original story based on my novel I am trying to write. This gives an insight on the novel's universe and how space battles are fought and what ships are used. The first two chapters is to get the feel of the characters before having them report on the battle. I welcome any "constructive" comments, suggestion and questions. Thanks.
Chapter one.
"Are we online yet?" asked nervously by the tall man to his assistant.
"Not yet sir. The techs are trying very hard to punch through the interference. It is not an easy task especially with this many ships." the assistant replied.
"I know, I know Ek-tar. But there are countless systems that are counting on us to report this battle. We do this and we'll be rich beyond our wildest dreams. We'll be rich! We'll be universally famous!"
"Well..." his reptillian assistant said while correcting his boss' tie,"that won't happen until...."
"We're in! We go online in one." interupted one of the technicians.
Smiling broadly, the tall man placed his hands on his assistant's shoulders. "Ek-tar, this is it. We do this and the universe is our playground."
"If you say so.." Ek-tar replied with some doubt in his voice.
"We're online in thirty seconds!" a technician yelled out.
Everyone ran to their places. The tall man stepped onto the holopad that was just a few feet in front of the viewscreen. Ek-tar stood off view of the holocams and was examining the data that was streaming into his console. The rest of the crew took up station.
"We're live in five.. four... three... two... now!"
"Greetings peoples of the universe! This is James Hilton reporting for the Universal News Network! Where we do anything to bring the news to you! My crew and I are here onboard the U.N.N.S. Freedom of Speech, to bring you the battle of a lifetime, maybe two! As we know that in the past several years, the Hallowell Conglomerate and the Stryker Mega Corporation have been slugging it out at each other. No one really knows why this war was started except for the older ones, but we do know that countless of super and mega corporation have sided with either side.
But you might be asking yourself, 'How can the Universal News Network be able to report from a battlezone without being killed?' Well, there are a few reasons why we are able to report the news without being killed off in the cross fire. First thing is that we are about forty million kilometers from the battlezone. This way we are clear of any possible crossfire but still be close enough to report the action. Secondly, we have installed onboard this ship the latest in stealth and electronic counter measure technology available. Basically if all goes well, neither side will know we are here. Thirdly, we are a neutral party to this conflict so we hope that they do not acknowledge our presence. Now since the battle has not yet started and we also need to further calibrate our sensors to be able to accurately report what is happening.
Until then I will read to you a few of the emails that have been sent tous and answer them to the best of my knowledge. So let us see our first email. It comes from Lorenda Tnoshral from the planet Swenga 9 in the Swenga system in the Agro galaxy. A female voice speaks, "I love your news reports, especially the one you did on 'Xhio plants: Is it true love or just another quick fix?' I didn't know one could use the Xhio plants that way. Keep up the good work James!" James smiled into the cameras and replied,"Why thank you Ms. Tnoshral for your compliments. I apreciate you interest on that topic but I have to remind everyone that even though having possesion of a Xhio plant isn't illegal but any use of that plant is. Now on to our next email." A rough and rocky voice bellowed, "YOU ARE A DEAD MAN! WHEN I FIND YOU, I WILL RIP OUT YOUR LIVER AND FEED IT TO YOU THROUGH YOUR ASS!" "Well, well, do I detect some hostilities here?" replied James with a smirk. "As all of you may or may not know, we at Universal News Network try to make everyone happy and well informed. But we do know that not all are happy with what we report. Anyways, let's move on. This next one is from a nice lady from the Dove system in the Norc galaxy. A lusty female voice spoke, "My dear James. You must be lonely out there without a female companion. Here is my holopic of me and where you can contact me. See you around handsome." When the voice stopped talking a holographic picture of the sender appeared in front of James and he and the viewing audience could see a picture of a naked female that looked like a human with the excetion that she was blue skinned, natural purple hair, eight hormonally augmented breasts and had a cat like tail. James' eyes nearly fell out of his head at the sight of the woman and his jaw dropped. After a minute, he regained composure and closed the email. "Wow. Thank you for the email. All I can say is 'Hubba hubba". That and I'll see you when this is over. Anyways let us move on or else my drool will short out this ship. Our final email before going in to commercials is from a liitle boy from the Aro-tt-lir system in the Drlskat galaxy. A young male reptilian voice spoke, "Dear Mr. Hilton. Even though you do your best to hide, won't the guys fighting know you are there by watching this show?" The sudden revelation from the little child shocked James. At that moment, his face felt as if numbed.
"We'll be right back"
End of Chapter one
Report of a Lifetime (original short story)
Moderator: LadyTevar
