Chapter 1: Alexander Connor

We all watched on the view screens, the approach of the vehicle bearing the mysterious Eric Falstaff. We had been stunned to find, first a derelict ship, then to discover another ship circling a human inhabitable planet!

Finally, the other vehicle (it was not simply a gig) matched with our docking port, and attached to my ship. I was worried about the compatibility of docking ports. Apparently his vehicle had the answer to that, as readings showed the air pressure coming up.

Two minutes later, our 'guest' was aboard, and sitting in the main wardroom. He was an interesting fellow to look at. He was about 6' foot tall, and moved with a grace that was hard to believe. He exuded confidence and... well, danger. He had dark hair and eyes, and the only visible jewelry he had, was a sort of band on one wrist.

"Welcome aboard The Misty," I told him, adding in the names of all the other crew members, as we were all gathered in the wardroom as well. No one wanted to be left out. He reintroduced himself as Eric Falstaff, commander of the CCS-14.

What was astonishing, was the fact there were no other crew members aboard his ship! It was unbelievable! A ship that was six hundred meters long in the TF Navy, had a crew of a several hundred, easy! Yet he was alone!

He was very forthcoming with this information. I am not sure I would have been as open. For some reason, I felt he thought he was safe. I was not sure why he thought that, but I was not going to challenge him. He did have a warship sitting a few hundred meters away after all!

I was hesitant about offering him refreshment, but he said his wristband would tell him if it was dangerous to him or not. With that said, I ordered several different beverages.

"If I might ask, how did you learn our language so quickly? My AI can translate, and some words seem similar to me, but your command of the language is almost perfect," I told him admiringly.

"It was simple really. You language is close to my language. My AI translated what it has from your data base, and downloaded it to my internal computer," Eric responded.

"Internal computer?" I asked him curiously.

"I have an internal computer meshed with my mind. It helps me to run various items aboard my ship. It also allows me to absorb information, and transfers it directly to that portion of my mind that deals with languages, or whatever else I need to understand, as the case may be," he said after a moment's hesitation.

I knew the TF would love to get their hands on this guy. Hell! Any government would! What he had in his head was still years off, according to our own scientists. I was also sure that the TF had made better progress than they admitted to the public, but still, here was a person who HAD it... already engineered, and put into his head!

"Eric, according to all the rules that have been established, you found this planet first. It would be my privilege to officially acknowledge your position for both your and my governments. There should be no legal problems," I told him.

He was silent a moment, then said, " Alex, you are kind to say this. I do have a problem, though. I have no contact with my government. Hell, this isn't even my universe, if our readings are correct. We are lost here without any means to travel the stars."

I was stunned! This was a bombshell, to say the least! What followed was a brief explanation of how he and his ship had been sent on a mission, and had finished their purpose there, when he had been attacked by the unexpected arrival of several enemy ships.

The fight was such that he'd had to 'jump' prior to being in the proper place. The result was, that they 'jumped', but had come out somewhere other than where they had planned, and their 'jump' coils were destroyed, most likely due to jumping from inside a gravitational field.

My mind whirled at the possibilities! They didn't travel in hyper as we did. They JUMPED! This opened a whole new realm of exciting opportunities to me. My crew started to ask questions left and right. Eric held his hand out to stop them.

"While I understand your curiosity, I must insist on speaking with your captain privately. I am not about to reveal what we consider to be classified information to everyone here," Eric said firmly.

Eric was amused and gratified at the reaction of the crew of the Misty. He had been hesitant at first of revealing too much, but now threw caution to the four winds. CCS-14 had urged more caution, but Eric decided to take a chance and lay his cards on the table.

"I am currently stranded on this planet. When we came out of the jump, we only had space normal drive. It took over 10 years to reach this planet. I was in cold sleep the entire time.

"My ship used that time to effect what repairs to itself that it could, but we are in need of a repair facility to fix the remaining damage. The inhabitants of this planet are not advanced sufficiently enough to help me repair my ship.

"I have already started them on the road to building themselves scientifically to the point they can effect repairs, but that is years down the road. You and your ship are a godsend to me. Is there any way you can tow us back with you, to a planet that has the ability to repair my ship?" he asked.

"Raintree certainly has that ability. But I think you will want to be cautious. I hate to say this, but most governments I know of would not hesitate to take your ship away from you. They would pull it, and you, apart; to see what makes you both tick!

"Also, there is the matter of escalating hostilities going on at present. We would have to be extremely careful of where we arrived. Let me think of what is in practical range, and I will give you a list of possible ports, along with an explanation of their political stands and viewpoints," Alex said to Eric.