Altrea's dream (STAR COMMANDER 23) E-Book

Jens Fitscher

• Herausgeber: S. Verlag JG
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 170

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

Altrea's spirit fights against the transformation of her body. He escapes into a dangerous dream world. Man-eaters and slave hunters are the only remnants of a once flourishing civilization. Altrea fights for her life.

Leseprobe

Jens Fitscher

STAR COMMANDER

Volume 23

Altrea's dream

© 2025 Jens Fitscher

Illustration: S. Verlag JG

Publisher: S. Verlag JG, 35767 Breitscheid,

All rights reserved

1st edition

ISBN: 978-3-96674-844-5

The work, including its parts, is protected by copyright. Any exploitation without the consent of the publisher and the author is prohibited and will be prosecuted under both criminal and civil law. This applies to electronic or other reproduction, translation, distribution and making available to the public.

Content

Ripped

Escape

Ghost world

Desperate

In captivity

Syeel's dream help

The world of flying cities

Ripped

Escape

Ghost world

Desperate

In captivity

Syeel's dream help

The world of flying cities

What is reality, what is fantasy and what is neither and yet real? Dream worlds accompany us the whole life. To know alone in which world one is now means to really live. When we are on the threshold of death, our brain becomes active. Whole sections of life are created in us in sometimes bizarre form, and we relive whole sections of our own lives in altered form.

Ripped

Zeno and Tarja, as well as Jet'ha, the young Zisslies warrior, did not notice the enormous extent of the destruction of the VR amplifier at first.

The radiation absorbers of the Chron-Bastion TILMUN prevented them from falling into a dream coma like Connar and Carolin.

Syeel was also spared.

However, the two Tegarians S'schrack and Z'schuck as well as the rest of the crew of his ship were not.

The energy piles shut down automatically when the bombardment of the sleeper-building ceased.

Syeel looked in irritation at S'schrack and Z'schuck, who fell abruptly to the ground as if struck by lightning.

His gaze slid over the two control panels for communications and tracking.

The two Mammalians sitting there were slumped over, dreaming the dream of their lives.

Syeel took over the controls and let the SOWALLON start the return flight to the Chron-Bastion.

His anger had dissolved into nothingness by now and his thoughts circled around Altrea's condition again.

He landed right next to the KLONDIKE and hurried to get back to the Chron Bastion as quickly as possible.

He felt a little remorse for simply leaving his crew to their fate, but Altrea went first.

He even suppressed the fact that there must have been another attack by the VR beams, even though the VR amplifier had been destroyed.

When he entered the Chron bastion he already heard the acoustic message of the station: "Extremely strong VR radiation pulse of exactly 0.253 seconds measured. Evaluation of the probability analysis results in a 95 percent match. The VR radiation amplifier has exploded, releasing its identity many times for a short time. However, the radiation absorbers I lent are of appropriate capacity, so the carriers are not affected by such radiation intensity."

"How is Altrea?"

The question thrown into the room was immediately answered by Chron Bastion.

"Altrea's bio-readings and especially her brain activity is unstable. I was able to save her from the effects of the VR radiation eruption, but she herself seems to be fighting a battle in her subconscious. Aggressive dream patterns are noted. However, the transformation is going according to plan and without further complications."

While Zeno and Tarja went to the KLONDIKE to see what was going on, Syeel had no other choice but to stay in the Chron-Bastion. 

She just wanted to have a few hours to herself. Altrea was not quite sure. Tomorrow was to be her wedding.

Juhl, from the neighboring village, was her groom. A dear, nice fellow. She had always adored him, even as a small child.

His brown skin and fair hair gave him a special look. His rather wild and unbridled demeanor made him the favorite of the other boys and, of course, the girls.

But Altrea knew better. He was very shy and rather reserved and of course very affectionate and tender when given the opportunity. Their parents had decided and so it would be they would become husband and wife tomorrow.

Altrea, for whatever reason, had suddenly become afraid.

All the excitement and the many relatives around her had made her nervous. She wanted to find some peace and listen to what her body would say about the wedding.

Since childhood, she had the habit of consulting her body when problems or changes were imminent. She would then withdraw and listen to herself.

Sometimes all day and half the night. It was midsummer, and the Council of the Ancients expected a century of summer this year, with up to 30 degrees of heat. That was a lot for these latitudes. She hadn't worn much on this hot day.

For five hours now, Altrea had been walking through the forest. She followed a path that led deeper and deeper into the forest.

Now it was really getting dark, and she was frightened all at once. She didn't really want to go that deep into the forest and that far away from her village. She looked back briefly.

The last glow of light was just disappearing behind the trees. In front of her, Altrea saw a large boulder in the dim light.

It still shone a little by its bright color. Exhausted and a little hungry, she sat down in front of it and leaned her back against the rock. It was still nice and warm from the sun.

It did her back good. She did not see the many squiggles, signs, and runes on the surface of the rock in the semi-darkness. Even if she had noticed them, she would not have understood their meaning and content.

Runes were something for the priests and sages. Ordinary peasants and villagers could not read them.

Juhl had come to her last week, secretly of course. He wanted more than the simple caresses they had been exchanging for weeks. But she was not ready for him.

There was the first row and the first reconciliation when he realized that they should wait until after the wedding. After all, it wasn't that long until then. He had been so sweet in his simplicity.

Her thoughts began to swim, and she slid down the rock a little. Fatigue overtook her and she fell into a light sleep.

So Altrea lay beside the rock on consecrated ground that had been taken possession of by mystical forces centuries ago.

A few meters below her, a technology was awakening that people in her country did not even begin to suspect that something like machines could ever exist.

People in that time would much rather call things magic, or sorcery, or witchcraft.

As a spawn of hell, used by demons to harm people. And if you looked at it more closely, they weren't so wrong.

The runes on the rock began to glow. They emitted a cold, piercing light.

The last sounds of the animals, which could still be heard, abruptly died out. An oppressive atmosphere lay over the patch of forest in the middle of which the small rock rose.

A jolt went through Altrea's body as she woke up. Somewhat irritated, she looked around her.

Where was she? Then the memory came back. Should she still make her way back to the village in the darkness?

She froze in shock when she saw the glowing runes.

Where did the light come from? She backed away from the rock as the ground beneath her began to move.

At first it began to rumble slightly, as she knew it would from an earthquake.

Back when the village elder had angered the gods by going after a young girl.

The ground shook and shook harder and harder.

Altrea desperately tried to retreat from the rock and the runes, crawled on all fours in the opposite direction and wanted to rise.

Just at that moment, another very strong tremor shook the ground and she fell face-first against the rock with a loud cry.

She jerked her arms up at the last moment to protect her head.

Then the impact was to occur.

A casual observer would probably have seen only a jagged flash of light, nothing more.

Indeed, when Altrea should have touched the rock, she instead simply fell through it, or into it. She disappeared in a bright flash.

The light of the runes on the stone went out as if it had never been there.

The tremor disappeared and after several minutes the screaming of the night animals resumed.

Altrea had been momentarily without consciousness and awoke in a bare, dark but dry room.

She was lying on the floor and her heart was racing. Her eyelids twitched slightly as she looked around anxiously.

The surroundings looked like a cave. How had she gotten here? Had the forest spirits kidnapped her?

Was it a sign from the gods or was she dreaming it all?

Her hands stroked the ground and stone emerged from under the dust and the little earth. It was not a grown stone, as Juhl would say.

This one seemed to have been worked by humans. At any rate, it was quite smooth.

She had never seen such a smooth and seamless stone floor in her short life.

Altrea stood up and carefully felt her way to the wall. It, too, was perfectly smooth and appeared very clean. It was as cold as ice.

She quickly withdrew her fingers and warmed them with her breath. Slowly her eyes became accustomed to the darkness.

A bright outline appeared on the opposite wall.

As she moved closer, she realized that it must be an exit. Before she could get any closer, there was a sound as if ice crystals were rubbing against each other.

The brightness increased sharply as the wooden door slowly opened. With her mouth slightly open in astonishment, she looked toward the now open door, in the frame of which stood a warrior made of bare iron. He was almost as tall as the door frame and was facing her.

"Come," she still heard the summons in a very bad idiom, then she swooned.

"Altrea Sweeters are you willing Juhl...",

Altrea came to without a second thought and looked at the door. A moment ago she had been dreaming of the wedding. She shook her head in a daze and looked at the warrior. He had on an iron helmet, from whose eye slits it flashed brightly, like the runes in the rock had shone.

She heard her own deep breathing as Altrea slowly stood up.

She did not take her eyes off the warrior as she did so. Now she had a little more courage to look at him a little closer.

Besides the helmet, which enclosed the whole head, he wore a breastplate and arm and leg armor, as well as footwear, also made of iron, by the looks of it. She couldn't imagine how a human could wear this heavy armor at all, but he was standing in front of her. So it had to be possible. Now the warrior took a step towards her.

"Come," he said again, and the word resounded eerily through the helmet's speaking grid.

She had caught herself somewhat and as she took the first step toward the door, the warrior made a quick and smooth about-face and preceded her.

She would not have guessed now that he could move so completely without much effort; and absolutely no sound of the iron armor could be heard.

Not a squeak or scrape was to be heard. She followed him. Just outside the door, a staircase was already going up. The staircase also seemed to be made of polished iron, at least not stone, and it shone just like the warrior's armor.

The room they reached now was even stranger to look at.

In the middle of the room was a high table with small windows on the sides. There you could look out and see people and animals moving in the far distance.

They were as small as ants. Altrea did not understand everything she saw.

"Sit down," came the request from the iron warrior. Altrea looked around briefly and then sat down on the only chair she could make out. A strange atmosphere lay over things in this room. Despite the pleasant warmth in the room, she began to feel cold. 

Escape

In front of Mesalik, a cybernetic rhombus lit up in a severe red. He first paused, then passed the message on to Traisek, his supervisor.

His disinterest in anything related to work and technology was already legend on STAKIL I.

At least among all his friends and girlfriends and in the clique in general.

Mesalik preferred to occupy himself with women and orgies; debauchery in all forms that the five human senses allowed at all.

Here on the flying city more than half of all 3000 inhabitants knew him. Of course, his notoriety had only increased when he had started to publish his so-called parties on the city's own intranet system, and recently even live. Some of the other flying cities had already inquired whether it would be technically possible to link up with the system as well.

Mesalik grinned to himself. He had started negotiations with STALBA II and STALUTA IV. If they were going to witness his orgies live, they should at least supply some female slaves for the program.

The female quota here on STAKIL I was only ten percent.

And of these ten percent, very few were willing to participate in his debauchery. These philistines, they watched, but that was it. In general, the active social life here on STAKIL I left much to be desired lately.

Many of the residents holed up in their apartments indulging in Intranet games or had joined Intranet Second- Life. A damn good unreal world, Mesalik had to admit, but one neglected his social environment and his physical needs immensely.

There were already cases where nothing had been heard or seen of the person in question for a planetary orbit. In any case, she was still alive. The city guaranteed that.

A complex connection of electronic and positronic matrix in a computer unit, which could act independently and completely autonomously.

Behind held hand one spoke even of the fact that a human brain was integrated in the circuits.

"Traisek to Mesalik, are you sure Sector Ror II3C transferred a person?"

Mesalik looked somewhat irritated at the screen showing his superior. He could not remember the last time he had been addressed in this way.

He tilted his head slightly as he replied, "That's right, the teleport transmitter in Sector Ror II3C has transferred a person. Wait, there is more information. Based on DNA analysis, the person in question was clearly classified as female."

Now he became aware as well. A new female slave, wouldn't that be something for him?

"If only she wasn't as ugly as the last person and brought a little more culture, it would be an option."

His thoughts were interrupted, "I thought Ror II3C was inactive.

A robotic ship has been en route to this planet for five-time units to fix the suspected defect. Where is the person who arrived now?"

"Couldn't this cretin look for himself?" Mesalik gave some commands into the voice control and a room became visible, in the middle of which, next to the surface surveillance, sat a young and not necessarily ugly woman.

She made a very feral impression, but that could be brought back under control with a few practiced grips and a training program.

On the surface of the planet that spun beneath the cities, there were much worse beings.

Conditions were so archaic that the supreme ruler and the science triumvirate had decided to stop importing slaves from there.

Robotic drone ships with tele-transporters had been sent out to install interception facilities on inhabited Level III planets. "Mesalik, have the city servant take her to the catch basin. There she is to be prepared according to the conditioning precept." Mesalik gave the appropriate command via data transfer to the robot they colloquially called the city servant.

He had also attached an add-on messenger that would inform him immediately as soon as the woman had been conditioned. He then wanted to have a closer look at her.

Maybe she was something for his planned new sex orgy. There was a lack of women, willing women or even slave women, with whom one could do what one wanted anyway.

They had to obey, which they of course did without any problems after the conditioning.

The iron warrior stood motionless next to Altrea.

She looked up at him. He did not say a word.

Even the flashes of light emanating from the slits in his helmet's eyes seemed to have gone out. Uneasily, she slid back and forth on the chair.

She wanted to go home again.

Altrea stood up spontaneously. The entrance was still clearly visible from where she was sitting.

"I'll just go out there. Somehow there will be a way back," she thought.

She had not yet taken the first step when the iron warrior responded, "Stop! Don't move!" She was startled only briefly, but did not stop; on the contrary, she quickened her steps. Then her movements abruptly flagged. She wanted to go on, but something was holding her back. It seemed to her as if an invisible spirit was holding her. Even her arms could only be moved very slowly with the use of all her strength.

The iron warrior approached her.

"Movement sequence reduced by gravo-field. You follow me!" That was all he said.

Altrea understood even half of it. Anyway, now she could follow him again.

When she tried to dodge to the right, her legs went limp, and she couldn't move at all for a moment.

The iron warrior had stopped for a moment and when he went on, the evil spirit was there again and pushed her in the same direction.

Now her legs could be moved again. The path led through very bright corridors.

At one point a man in a long, light blue robe came towards them.

She was startled at first, thinking it was a ghost, so otherworldly did he look.

But he took no notice of her at all, nor of the iron warrior.

Then the warrior stopped in front of a white wall, and before Altrea could think of what to do next, the wall disappeared with a vicious hiss and a passage opened.

She followed the iron warrior inside. A strange bed stood almost exactly in the middle of the room. It was surrounded with many different things that she did not understand.

Arms of white iron, lights that were not fire were burning. And it smelled incredibly corrosive. Her nose was already starting to hurt.

Two men turned to her and the iron warrior as they entered together.

"Training program Slave I afterwards Indoctrination Beta4A is ordered."

The warrior made a perfect about-face and when Altrea tried to follow him again, the two men held her.

"Stop, you stay here." She tried to free herself from their grips and shook them off her.

"Let go of me. Where am I here? I want to go back to my village." She had finally regained her speech. She scowled at the two of them.

"Lie down there!"

She ignored the request. She had to be dreaming.

Something like this could only happen in a bad dream. Or she had eaten something bad and a fever dream had overtaken her.

The men backed away from her and left her alone. The iron warrior was gone. She thought about it. There was the exit. She would go back. Back to where she had come from.

At some point the dream had to end. She still heard the voice of one of the men, "We'll take the tether. It's the easy way before she hurts us."

Then she wanted to go to that wall, which had opened by itself, when she again could not take a step.

But now not only her legs were paralyzed, but her whole body could not be moved.

Altrea shuddered and breathed harder. At least that was still possible. With a jerk, her body was brought into a horizontal position by the gravo-field and transported to the training couch.

A helmet was placed over her head, and she still could not move.

Her thoughts circled around evil spirits and demons to which she was at the mercy. Then she felt a brief pain in her left arm and her senses faded.

"Where do you think they caught this specimen again?"

Techno lead Marsol looked to the Indo couch on which Altrea now lay calm and seemingly relaxed. His colleague wrinkled his nose.

"Must be a pretty dirty planet, the way she smells. They'll have their fun in the catch basin."

A dry laugh came from his throat.

"I hear they're even going to reactivate the disused transmitter lock to the planet. There's a shortage of female offspring."

The other shook himself briefly.

"Don't joke. Only savages and cannibals still live there. I can't imagine the supreme ruler would allow that scum to enter the cities."

A melodic sound rang out briefly, distracting them both.

"That was quick this time. Marsol, have a city servant pick them up along with the cot and take them to the catch basin."

Marsol was about to mention that he wasn't sure he had selected both programs, the Slave I train program and the Beta4A indoctrination.

He quickly reconsidered, however, preferring to remain silent.

Only last week there were irregular records for a process he had worked on, so he had already received a reprimand.

This did not have to happen again. He didn't want to jeopardize the few benefits he still had.

Ghost world

Altrea woke up with a headache. She was still lying on that strange bed. "I wonder if the spirits were still holding her."

She tried to move her arms and legs at the same time. It was working. Slowly she sat upright and looked around.

This was no longer the room the iron warrior had brought her to.

It wasn't as bright either and it smelled more pleasant. The walls seemed to be made of wood, just like at home.