Featured Fiction
Orb of Abbot
S.C. Lang

"Our ship

has come under attack and now is in peril," High Chancellor Pardor said, looking regal in his deep blue tunic and flowing red cape. His voice was tight with concern. "The attack from the Skullians has left us helpless. One more blast from their cursed plasma lasers, and they'll completely destroy this vessel, taking with it all our equipment to construct the device needed to bring rain to our home world, Arreaxe."

 
From his hiding spot in the air-control tube of the massive banquet hall, nine Time-Quarters Bryce Wheeler gasped upon hearing the ominous words of the High Chancellor. Everybody onboard the Interstar Federation research ship, Frontier, knew that she had come under attack by the dreaded Skullians. And young Bryce had overheard handful of engineers whispering in the elongated hall-tubes that the Forward Propulsion Thrusters had been so badly damaged that they could no longer move, but Bryce didn't know that the Frontier was in danger of being destroyed. 

"Have we the ability to still cloak ourselves?" asked the ancient and wrinkled Corband Doolester. Bryce didn't like Corband, mainly because his Pa, First Science Officer Duncan Wheeler didn't either. Bryce's Pa often said that Corband had dust in his veins rather than blood.

 

It was Pa who answered. "No. The Skullians knew what to aim for. They took that out in their first volley. Right now, the sad fact is we're a sitting duck."

 

"I must proclaim that's a dark outlook on the situation, Officer Wheeler; and one that I think we can ill afford to adopt." Bryce wanted to slug Corband for talking to his Pa in such a mean manner. Didn't he know that Pa was trying to help?

 

"Dark or not, that's the truth of our situation. I don't give a quar what you think."

 

Bryce recognized Pa's “I'm angry” voice and it made him swallow hard. Bryce had heard it last Time-Quarter when he'd tried to slide down the trash-tube on a dare from his best friend Deller. It was a voice that scared him.

 

"The Skullians, as we all know, are a bunch of ruthless pirates who survive by preying on non-combat ships such as the Frontier," said High Chancellor Pardor. His voice let it be known that he'd had enough of Pa and Corband's bickering. "I don't think they knew anything about our rain-making device when they attacked us. They saw a science ship and thought they could loot us for anything that they could sell. The device must be withheld from them at all costs. I'm sure I don't need to remind anybody sitting around this table that our home world will die within the next few Time-Quarters if we do not deliver that device. We must make it home quickly."

 

Corband scoffed. "How do you propose we accomplish that, sir? When, as Officer Wheeler explained, we are a 'sitting duck.'"

 

"We need the Orb of Abbot," Bryce heard Pa say. His voice wasn't angry like it was before, but rather steady and quiet. Bryce knew Pa was thinking. He also knew that if Pa said they needed this Orb, then that's what they needed to do. Bryce had faith in his Pa. The man was really smart when it came to things like that.

 

"Preposterous!" bellowed Corband in a voice so loud it shook the air-control tube Bryce was hiding in. "Are you completely mad, Officer Wheeler? Everybody knows that the Orb of Abbot is kept locked up in the very bowls of Skullious! How should we retrieve it? Ask Viceroy Grogan nicely if he wouldn't mind surrendering one of the most powerful objects in the known cosmos? I'm sure that will work to meet our needs brilliantly, you daft quarmaster!"

 

"Have faith, Corband." Pa said. Bryce expected Pa's angry voice again after the dusty-veined Corband's insult, but Pa kept his thinking voice. Bryce had to strain over the hum of the air-control tube to hear. "Yes, normally the Orb is kept in an underground vault near the core of the planet, but it is proudly displayed during the two Time-Quarter cycle of the Festival of Duels, which is currently underway on Skullious. With the Orb's power-force, we can not only repair our Forward Propulsion Thrusters, but we can cloak the Frontier and all our communications. We can use the Orb to get back to Arreaxe with the rain-making device."

 

High Chancellor Pardor exhaled. "Officer Wheeler," he said, "how do you propose we get the Orb of Abbot? The Festival of Duels will be crawling with Skullian troops. We simply cannot amass a big enough arsenal to oppose such a strong display of force."

 

"We need a big enough distraction to capture their attention, sir."

 

"Oh, of course, a distraction!" yelped Corband. "What do you suggest? Blowing up their Sword Palace, perhaps?"

 

"No, you decrepit goat. I suggest we give the Skullians what they crave the most; a strong hunt that promises a wealth of booty that they can sell."

 

"Explain," commanded the High Chancellor.

 

"Our communications still work, so do some of our Ghost Trackers Chips that we use to baffle other ships radars as to our exact whereabouts. We convince them that there's another ship that crash-landed in a remote sector of Skullious, and watch them go. The whole quared army will chase after that vessel like a Borgord Bird after honey. Then we teleport someone down, take the Orb, and be gone before anybody's the wiser."

 

"The teleporters are disabled. And our scouter-pods are too large to escape their radar. We would need something very small and fast. Something that doesn't need to be cloaked to be invisible." explained Corband. For once he didn't seem to be being mean to Pa, Bryce thought, though he still wanted to slug him.  

 

Suddenly, Bryce had an idea. A scouter-pod may be too big to avoid detection, but the rocket-fueled mini-pod he and Pa made from spare scouter-pod parts last Time-Quarter wasn't. He could swoop down to Skullious, get the Orb of Abbot, and be back before last meal-blip. Feeling a mighty sense of adventure overtake him, Bryce soundlessly crawled out of the air-control tube, and headed for Launch Pad 1.

 

The problem with bright ideas, Bryce decided as he streaked towards his destination, was they faded fast once you really thought about them. He had no clue how to program the coordinates for Skullious into the mini-pod's Flight Computer, nor did he know how to find the Orb once he got there. These were big problems. Bryce remembered Pa telling crusty old Corband to have faith, and that's what he needed right now. Faith. He'd find his way to the purple planet. He knew that Skullious was close, he could see it from the Frontier's port windows.

 

The door to Launch Pad 1 slid open with a whisper as Bryce charged in with a purpose. The place seemed deserted of people. Everyone was off doing repair work on other sections of the ship. In the corner was the mini-pod. He knew it could fly because Pa had taken it for a test flight last Time-Quarter, and said that it preformed perfectly.

 

"Hey there, little man," came the sugary-sweet voice of Porsha Calhoun, the head Operating Officer for the Frontier's three Launch Pads. "What are you doing down here? Is your daddy with you?"

 

Bryce was struck with inspiration. "No. Pa sent me down here to learn more about our mini-pod. I think he just wanted me out of the way so people could fix the ship." He pouted. It worked on his Ma to get him out of trouble; it might work on Porsha too. "Can you teach me about it?"

 

Porsha smiled brightly. "Sure I can. Nobody's going to be coming in or out of here for awhile. What would you like to learn today?" Grownups were so easy to manipulate, Bryce thought with a smile of his own.

 

"Could you teach me how to program coordinates into the Flight Computer? You know, like I was going off on a dangerous mission?"

 

Porsha took him by the hand and led him to the mini-pod. "Of course." Porsha asked for the activation code and Bryce gave it to her. The sound of the canopy sliding open made Bryce suck in his breath. This was all very scary, and way too exciting. He couldn't wait to tell Deller about this.

 

Bryce climbed into the tiny cockpit. Porsha helped buckle him in and made sure his Interstar helmet was secured properly. "Your daddy's pretty smart," she said. "He made programming this thing very easy." Porsha pointed at a green switch, "You see this thing here? When you flip it, it'll automatically fly you to any pre-set coordinates. And this switch here," she pointed at a red one, "is your cloaking device. So, where do you want to go?" 

"Skullious," Bryce replied without hesitation. "I'm gonna steal the Orb of Abbot and bring it back so we can take the rain-making device home."

 
"You are, huh? Well, aren't you just the brave soldier?" Porsha fiddled with a few knobs, but it was hard for Bryce to see what she was doing. "Well guess what? Your daddy made that easy too. All you have to do is type in what you're looking for, and you'll go right to it. I wish the real scouter-pods did that. It would make my life a lot simpler." 

Bryce was flabbergasted. "You mean I'm gonna go right to the Orb without having to do anything?" Pa really was smart.

 

Porsha nodded. "So long as our sensors can find it, so will the pod. And, if what you want is above ground, even just partially, our sensors will find it. All you have to do is enjoy the ride."

 

"That's great," Bryce exclaimed. All of his problems were solved. He had tricked Porsha into programming the Flight Computer to take him to the Orb. Now all he had to do was get the bay doors open . . .

 

The sensors onboard the Skullian warship, Daggarwisp, detected that one of the bay doors on Frontier had opened, though no ship came in or out. Kor'nish, the young radar officer, dutifully reported the event to his captain, who promptly spat on the floor and ordered him to disregard it. Kor'nish gave a slight shrug of indifference and went back to monitoring his equipment.

 

Porsha was horrified. She had left young Bryce to play in his mini-pod thinking he was perfectly safe. Then the dock bay doors opened. She had spun around just in time to see Bryce cloak the tiny ship and heard the whoosh as the mini-pod shot out into space. Frantically she paged Duncan Wheeler on the communications com attached to her belt. This was going to cause quite a storm.

 

"He said he was going after the Orb of Abbot?" Duncan Wheeler reported dumbfounded to the High Chancellor. He failed to understand how Porsha could allow this travesty to happen. His son was locked into the mini-pod he had constructed last Time-Quarter. The mini-pod was slightly more than a toy, and wasn't designed for any serious traveling.

 

"Your son must've overheard our plans. Quite the ambitious young man you have there, Officer Wheeler." Duncan was panic-stricken. "Sir, we must employ our diversion tactic right now. My son is in a glorified toy heading straight for the Orb. If we don't act now, he's as good as dead!"

 

High Chancellor Pardor raised his hands to calm the younger man. "It has already been taken care of, Officer Wheeler. Your son is as safe as he can be considering the circumstances."

 

Duncan closed his eyes tightly. "Thank the Holy One for that. Quar me, I don't know who's going to kill Bryce first, the Skullians or me." He raised his eyes upward. "Dear Holy One, please protect my boy. He needs every ounce of Your strength, guidance and wisdom he can get right now."

 

Bryce had never been so quaring scared in all his nine Time-Quarters. The mini-pod went faster than he could ever remember going before. Everyone said the Frontier moved really fast too, but Bryce could never tell. To him it always felt like the big ship was standing still. The dark purple planet of Skullious loomed before his canopy, and it was growing larger with every Time-Blip. Now was a bad time to reconsider his plan to retrieve the Orb of Abbot.

 

Word of a crashed Interstar science ship spread throughout the Festival of Duels like lightning across the deep red skies. Viceroy Grogan called a halt to the festivities immediately, and ordered all Skullian troops to the Forbidden Sector to hunt for the Interstar ship and the loot it surely had to offer them.

"They're taking the bait," exclaimed Duncan Wheeler excitedly while monitoring the sensors. "We don't have much time before they figure out they've been duped. Hurry, Bryce, hurry."

 
The mini-pod entered Skullious' atmosphere with a slight shudder. Bryce was amazed at how his surroundings changed from the inky blackness of space to the deep oranges and reds of the planet's sky. His mini-pod told him that he'd be at the Orb in twenty Time-Blips. He had that long to formulate a plan. 

The Skullian army charged into the Forbidden Sector with their plasma rifles raised and war cries on their tongues. Nothing got their blood boiling more than a strong hunt with a bountiful treasure as the prize. This was well worth abandoning their cherished Festival of the Duels. Their sensors said they were only thirty Time-Blips away from the wreckage. The war-gods were surely smiling down upon them this day.

 

Bryce was amazed when he finally laid eyes on the Orb of Abbot. It seemed so small, so ordinary. The mini-pod, still cloaked, had come to rest a few dinaticks away from a massive sinister-looking tower that seemed to be made out of pure gold. The Flight Computer told him this structure was the famed Skullian Sword Palace. A place built solely to worship war and violence. The look of it made Bryce shiver.

 

He expected the Orb to be heavily guarded, but the exact opposite seemed to be true. Bryce spotted a few normal-looking people and a smattering of small children milling about, but nobody with plasma rifles were in sight. Maybe it was a trap, Bryce thought, maybe the Skullians knew he was coming and they were laying in wait for him to reach for the Orb.

 

With his heart beating faster than a fire fox, Bryce slipped inside the outer wall of the Sword Palace. The Orb of Abbot was just a metatick away, sitting on an altar covered in a deep purple cloth. Bryce didn't know, or care, what the cloth was for.

 

Saying a silent prayer to the Holy One, Bryce knew it was now or never. He scanned the area one more time for any armed troops. Seeing none he forced himself off the gold wall and towards the Orb of Abbot. The Orb itself was bluish-silver and could fit in the palm of his hand. It didn't glow, or emanate a hum, or do anything. It just sat there. Mocking him, daring him to reach out and take it.

 

"Have faith." Bryce heard his Pa's words ringing in his head as he neared the Orb. A few more steps and he'd be there. Swallowing down his fear, Bryce reached out with a trembling hand for the Orb that would save his home world, Arreaxe . . .

 

"Jason! Time for dinner, honey."

 

Jason Rowe sighed heavily. His mom always called him for dinner right at the good parts. "Okay, mom!" he yelled back from behind his bedroom door. "I'll be right there!"

 

With a practiced skill, Jason saved his progress on his game console. The Orb of Abbot would just have to wait until after dinner was retrieved. Jason flicked off his small TV and bounded out of his room and down the steps to devour his dinner.

 

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S. C. Lang was born Scott Charles Lang on August 21, 1967 in Smithtown, New York.

Lang fell in love with reading while in high school, and was always considered a great storyteller by his friends and family, but never tried his hand at writing until a friend dared him to finally put one of his stories down on paper. Original Sin, his debut novel, was the end result of that dare.

"I really don't think she realized the monster that she was unleashing," Lang chuckled during an interview for a local newspaper. "But, I sure do thank her for that dare. It's completely changed my life."

 

By the time he was 7, Lang had lived in New York, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma and California.

The Lang family would eventually settle into the quiet Illinois town of Crystal Lake, a northwest suburb of Chicago in the late '70s, and S.C. would reside for the next two decades in the area.

 

On October 5, 2001, Lang relocated to Craig, Colorado, where he still resides, and two years later married the love of his life, Shellye. S.C. and his wife have two beautiful children, Ashley and Trenna (pronounced Tree - na). A few years ago, Lang was diagnosed with Crohn's disease, a disorder that causes painful inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. however, has vowed not to let his infliction stop him from achieving the lofty goals he has set for himself. "If anything, having Crohn's has made me even more determined to succeed."

 

Lang has recently completed the sequel to Original Sin, another fast-paced thriller called, A Deeper Well.