Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2001 00:35:06 -0400
From: W.B. Harrell <wbharrell@hotmail.com>
Subject: Tal Continium 1

The Tal Continium
By: W. Harrell

Disclaimer:  Don't read this if it is illegal in your state or if you are
under eighteen.  Clear your offline content or you might suffer the
consequences mentioned in my story "In the Arms of an Angel" listed in the
"High School" section

Greetings from rehab!  I've figured out that writing *does* have theraputic
qualities, therefore...well, you can figure it out, I've decided to take it
upon myself to start a new storyline.  I am still writing In the Arms of an
Angel, but I need variety.  I understand that not many of you out there read
SF/Fantasy, but for those SF buffs out there, here's one for you.  Not only
is it a Science Fiction story, it's *also* a Fantasy story.  How cool is
that?  Anyway, here goes.

Chapter One:  War and Rememberence

Delta Serpentis Sector
06:00 hours
The Year of Earth 326/ 2980 AD


	First Lieutenant Tal Da'bargo sat silently in his hoverchair staring out of
the miniscule porthole in his room.  He had specifically requested a room
with a porthole upon his transfer to the United Planet Earth Galactic Navy
(UPEGN) Cruiser Athena.  High Command rarely refused the requests of someone
from the Da'bargo family (probably because most of High Command officials
were from or related to the Da'bargo family.
	The Galactic Navy had only 5 such families:  the Thoths, Galitaes, Seirens,
de Granvilles, and of course the Da'bargos.  The children of these families
were never associated with monumental technological breakthroughs or
diplomatic achievements.  They were associated with the Galactic Navy.
	Each and every one of the UPEGN's top ranking officials were from these
five families.  There were few in the sub-command positions that weren't GN
families.  Tal himself was only a Da'Bargo by chance.  His biological
father, the black sheep of the Da'bargo family in a drunken daze raped an
attendant on a sup-space flight. She just happened to be...Tal's mother.
	After a lengthy suit and extensive DNA testing, Tal, the result of this
liason was granted the name Da'bargo.  He was also granted sixty five
thousand UPE credits per year from his father's extensive fortune.  Tal
laughed bitterly as he thought of his father.  He'd met the man once when he
graduated as valedictorian from the GN academy on Earth.  Tal remembered the
harsh words his father spoke.
	"You just might be my son after all," he had said, his breath reeking of
vodka, "with all the damn money I'm giving that bitch of a mother you have,
you should be."
	Tal had later recieved a cordial invitation to a cruise on the family's
yacht.  Destination: Geidi Prime, vacationing spot of the sickeningly
powerful or sickeningly rich or both.  It had actually came on
paper...PAPER!  A single sheet of the ancient stationary material costed
roughly half of his yearly allowance.  He had torn it up without a single
qualm and tossed it into the incenerator disposal in his modest apartment.
	He hated the Da'bargos and everything they stood for, and yet, he didn't
mind using the name.  When he had sent his application to the GN academy on
Earth, it wasn't the superior marks on his transcripts or his favorable
genetic quotient that impressed the headcouncil, it was his name.  He was
accepted within two hours of sending his application.
	Now, here he was sitting on board the largest cruiser in Theta Fleet soon
to be starting his second term as commanding officer of Dragon Wing.  He
could have been a captain right now, maybe even commanding an armed
transport, but there was a problem.  He had shot down a confirmed sixty
three Vespian fighters.  He was the first pilot to have a close range scan
by an Orca Bomber and still live to tell the tale.
	He had many such accomplishments that hampered a career advancement.  He
was just too good of a dogfighter for his own good.  He had piloted the
bomber that had destroyed a Vespian cruiser and had hacked into the Vespian
homeworld broadcasting station and had flashed his very human anatomy at
them and told them, in short, what they could do with it before he was
blocked out.  High Command had promoted him from a simple pilot 1st class to
an ensign for that.  That wasn't the official reason, but Tal wasn't stupid,
he knew why he had moved up a rank.
	As his kill tally skyrocketed, so did his fame, and soon he was getting
many more invitations fromt he illustrius Da'bargo family. He took great
pleasure in burning each and every one of them.  Kel had told him that he
should go to such gatherings just to rub himself in the faces of the
Da'bargos...but then, Kel had said many things.
	Tal had never been a very emotional person, but from the moment he laid
eyes on the raven haired pilot, he had been smitten.  Kel came from a
non-navy family, but had good enough grades in academy to make it to the
Prometheus, the battleship that Tal had began his tour on.  Kel had been
just the opposite of Tal, friendly, outgoing, eager to laugh, and full of
love.
	One night (it was always night in space) Tal was in the training simulator
for six hours straight trying to improve his dogfighting tactics.  He
eventually broke the record score and was satisfied and when he emerged,
sweat-covered and exhausted, Kel was there.  Kel had held out his hand and
Tal had taken it.  Kel led him to his tiny room and his tiny shower and they
had made long, passionate love.
	Tal had never thought of himself as gay, in fact, he had never thought of
himself as *anything*.  He had always been too busy trying to outlive the
family name to get involved with anyone.
	He closed his eyes in pain as he remembered the fiery relationship that he
and Kel had shared.  There was joy and pain, happiness and loss, but most of
all there was love.  They had loved each other so much. Kel had tought him
to loosen up, to joke, to accept jokes.  The thing with the Vespian
broadcasting station had been Kel's idea.
   Everything had been so perfect.  After talking it over with Kel, Tal had
moved him into the much more spacious room that came with the Da'bargo name.
  Kel had been touched by Tal's gesture.  They petitioned for bond status,
but were turned down on the basis that they were in the same squadron and
that emotion might cloud judgement.
	Then, there was the attack on the Prometheus.  All pilots were hurried off
to defend their station against the hopelessly large Vespian attack force.
Kel and Tal were in the same wing, Tal remembered kissing Kel long and hard
before they got into their fighters.
	The fight was long and terrible Tal counted as he and Kel lost their
wingmen and eventually, their commander.  They had been utterly lost.  They
had no idea what to do.  They had nothing but each other and had cut down
any fighter who tried to engage them.  Then, the Deathships came.
	From nowhere, the horrible black fighters came.  Tal nor Kel could get a
missle lock and their A3-26 flail cannons had little or no effect on the
horrible ships.  It was a fight for survival as each of the pilots' skill
was pushed to the limits.  Tal remembered hearing his lover breathing hard
over his comlink as evading the bursts of energy fired from the Vespian
Deathships came faster.
	Soon, Tal and Kel were the only ones left.  "Oh my god!" Kel had yelled,
"they got the Prometheus!"  Sure enough, the crippled battleship buckled
under the heavy fire of the Deathships and exploded in a brilliant display
of fiery blue light.  Tal had felt a part of him sink.  He could feel the
Grim Reaper of old chilling his bones.  He knew that he would soon die.
	"I love you, Tal", said Kel in an odd voice.  Tal didn't recognize the
tone, it was odd...almost...
	"No!" screamed Tal in an out of character outburst, "please Kel, don't do
it, please don't leave me hear."
	"I'm sorry, baby," said Kel.  Tal didn't know how he knew what Kel was
going to do, but he did.  He saw in his mind's eye Kel's fighter crashing
into a Deathship.
	"I love you," said Kel again and there was a crackling sound as he turned
off his commlink.
	Tal watched in horror as his lover flew his final kamakazi mission into the
black hull of the largest Deathship.  As he saw his only love's ship
desintigrate, something inside of him died.
	There was a slight ripling sensation in the air and something about the
space around the Deathships rippled.  On an instinct, Tal opened fire on a
Deathship.  After absorbing several hits, it exploded in a shower of green
fire.  Tal noticed that none of the other Deathships were moving.
	The large one must have been some sort of control ship or power supplying
ship to the others.  He picked them off one by one.  He sent out a distress
call and saved one for study like his training instructed.  When his
rescuers arrived, he was crying so hard that they had to dock with him and
tow him back to their ship, the cruiser Hera.
	Tal wiped a tear from his eye.  Kel would be proud to see how far he had
come.  An officer, a wing commander, and a GN confirmed fighter ace.  He
stood and tried to regain his dignity.  There was an officer's meeting and
he would soon be late.  He splashed some water on his face and stared at his
reflection in an antique mirror.  (A gift from the family that he didn't
have the heart to destroy.)
	He was a tall man, 6'2, 6'3, maybe more.  He had piercing blue eyes that
were rumored to reduce grown men to tears when anger shone through them.
His hair was white-blonde (it had always been that way) but the tips were
blue.  (A bit that Kel had insisted he do.)  It was spiked in a fashionable
manner (another bit that Kel had insisted on) and invoked curiosity, if not
downright awe from everyone.
	He wore his casual uniform, apair of black slacks with blue trim and a
black vest over a blue button-up.  After he was satisfied that he was
meticulous in appearance, he walked out of his spacious officer's quarters
and down the long corridor to the lift.  As he stepped onto the lift, he
felt the familiar jolt as he began a 300 km/s decent into the bowels of the
ship.
	He stepped off seconds later and made his way to the officer's briefing
room.  He seated himself in the left corner of the room and scanned his new
PEVA.  He hadn't had time to customize the features of the small
voice-operated computer worn on the wrist, but it was the most recent model
and he looked forward to working with it.
	"Identify," said a monotone computer-simulated voice.
	"First Lieutentant Tal Da'bargo reporting for briefing," he said.
	"Glad you could join us, Da'bargo," said the CO in charge of all wings.
Tal raised a snowy eyebrow and noted that this was the first time he had
ever been late for anything.
	"Nice to know you are human after all," said the CO with a joking tone in
his voice.  Tal laughed politely.
	"Okay, people," said the CO, "we have a delicate situation..." he was cut
off by one of the newly promoted second lieutenants.
	"Is there any other kind on board the Athena," said the newbie, "I swear we
do the GN's dirty work."
	The newbie looked around, waiting for a laugh and got none.  A few seconds
later, armed gaurds came in and escorted him out.
	The CO looked around.  "Any other jokesters?" he asked.  No one said a
word.
	"Good," said the CO, because this is a very serious mission.  About an hour
and twenty minutes later, seven Lieutenants had walked out, several were
cursing, and only a few were still listening.
	"So," said the CO, "you could very easily dye."  Tal raised a quizzical
brow and made a note to his PEVA.
	"This is probably a stupid question, but are there any volunteers?" he
asked, not really expecting anyone to raise their hand. Tal considered his
mission.  He considered his life.  He considered Kel.
	"Count me in," said Tal, quite unsure of himself.  At that moment everyone
shut their mouths and turned to look at him.  "What the hell have I gotten
myself into?" Tal asked himself silently.


End Chapter 1

How was it?  Flames, critiques, comments, and advice accepted.
wbharrell@hotmail.com