In the vast gulfs of time between new paragraphs of Heritage (which is well on course for its 2027 deadline, btw 
I have been working on a little original story, and I’m kinda intersted in people’s opinions on it (I’ve already asked for the opinions of several esteemed RPGCers- now is the time for more mass appeal). As with most of my stories, I had the original idea for this in early 2000, and finally started writing it January 2003. :-/
Title: “The Chosen Warrior”
“Rob…” The young girl’s voice cried. “Rob… where are you?” Rob turned around to face the girl, as he had done in his dreams a hundred times before. There she stood, on the cliff edge, same as always, and Rob was captivated by her incredible beauty, same as always. She was not human, but Vorren, an alien species who had contacted Earth some eighty years previously, and had helped humanity develop interstellar travel. Like most Vorrens, the girl (who Rob guessed to be around eighteen or nineteen) was tall, almost five feet ten inches, and was wearing a long, flowing, pale blue dress, which came down to just above her bare feet. But that was not her most distinguishing feature. That honour belonged to her eyes.
She stared at Rob with her piercing, almost shining, golden eyes, yet another trait of her species. She smiled, her face calling him, almost begging him to come to her.
“I’m here,” Rob finally answered, as he began his walk toward where she was stood. Suddenly, a gust of wind picked up, and the girl stumbled, her long, jet-black hair blowing into her face.
“Rob!” The girl shouted again, as the wind knocked her off her feet. In her rush to stand up, she tripped on the hem of her dress, causing her to stumble over the edge of the cliff, where she hung, by her fingertips.
“No!” Rob shouted, as he started to panic. “Just hang on!” Suddenly, time slowed down for Rob, as the noise of the wind subsided, and all he could hear was the sound of his own heartbeat, and the voice of the girl.
“Rob,” she said, mournfully, “I love you.” Time then resumed it’s normal pace as the girl lost her grip on the cliff edge, and plummeted into the ocean below, screaming all the way.
“No!” Rob yelled, as the girl’s scream eventually faded into silence. “NOOOOOO!!!”
Rob awoke in his bed a mere second later, sitting bolt upright and still screaming at the top of his voice. Once he realised that all that he had just witnessed had been a dream, he laid back down in his sweat-drenched bed.
“It was just a dream,” he said in his distinctive Irish accent. “Thank god, it was just a dream.” He rolled over in his bed to face the window, through which the golden rays of the sun were beginning to stream. Heh, Rob thought to himself, big advantage of living in Florida is that when you’re in a bad mood, at least the weather never reflects it. Rob got out of his bed and stared out across the small, modern town where he had moved to, two years ago, from his hometown of Cork. He smiled- he had a big day ahead of him, and he decided it was time to get it started.
“Computer, activate,” he said to the computer that, effectively, helped him run his daily life.
“The time is now 0722 Eastern Standard time,” the computer began in its hushed female American accent, “and today’s date is March the twenty-second, 2483. What would you like to hear first, Rob?” Rob mulled over the question- rather than program in macros so that he heard the same thing every morning, Rob preferred to have the choice of change. So much of the world had been computerised, automated over the past half-millennium, that Rob felt a little chaos was good for the soul.
“Hmm,” Rob said, deciding as to whether he wanted to hear his messages or his daily schedule first. “I think I’ll check my messages first, computer.”
“You have two new messages, Rob,” the computer said, plainly.
“Senders?” Rob asked.
“One from the Williams household, Ireland, and one from the office of Captain L. Hartley-Jones,” the computer answered. Rob smiled- the second one, he had been expecting, but the first one was almost certainly going to be a message from his mother, back home.
“Play first message,” Rob said, barely suppressing the urge to chuckle.
“Oh Robbie,” came the thick Irish accent of Rob’s mother, “why do you never call your poor mother? You’re stuck all the way over there in America and I never ever get to see you! Give your mammy a call, just once in a while!” The computer then emitted a quiet “beep”, signifying the end of the message. Rob had sat down on his bed, where he shook his head, chuckling to himself.
“Computer,” he said, composing himself, “prepare to record a reply to that message.”
“Standing by,” said the computer, while Rob coughed twice, and regained the straight face he’d had before.
“Begin,” Rob said. “Mammy, I call you once a week for crying out loud! I’m twenty years old- I can look after myself. Come over if you don’t believe me- I mean, it’s only forty minutes by shuttle. Anyway, if all goes to plan, I’m going to be heading off very soon to a place a lot further away than America. I may not get a chance to speak to you again, so I just want to say that I love you, and I always think of home, no matter where I am. See you, Mammy.” Rob then paused for five seconds, prompting the computer to speak up again.
“Transmit message?” The machine asked.
“Yes,” Rob asked, nodding his head. Although she fussed over him far too much for his liking, Rob missed his mother, and didn’t like the thought of worrying her unnecessarily. Unfortunately, when it was necessary, there was nothing that Rob could do about it…
“Computer,” Rob ordered, “play second message now.” Rob sat back down on his bed, while the second message began.
“Hi, Rob,” a deep, yet also feminine, American woman’s voice said over the speaker’s in Rob’s apartment. “We’re on for this afternoon. Half past one, in front of the Café Ambrosia. Don’t be late.” Another quiet “beep” signified the end of the brief, yet to Rob, significant, message.
“Computer,” Rob said, in a quiet voice, “send a standard acknowledgement in reply to that message. And cancel all events in today’s schedule but for one- lunch at the Café Ambrosia at 1:30.”
“Acknowledgement sent,” the computer said to Rob. “Changes to daily schedule confirmed.” Rob laid back down on his bed, and breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully… he thought to himself. Hopefully, this will be the one…
Six hours later, and Rob was sat alone outside the Café Ambrosia, decked out in his usual attire of baggy grey trousers, a light white T-shirt and his trademark sunglasses. He checked his watch for the third time in two minutes, before he became aware of someone standing over him. He looked up into the face of the person, who was a woman in her early twenties, approximately 5’ 8" with medium-length brown hair and a smug look on her face. Immediately, Rob recognised the woman as being the person he had been waiting for.
“Have I kept you waiting?” The woman asked, condescendingly, as she sat down opposite Rob. Rob kept a neutral expression on his face as he responded.
“Usually when people say ‘don’t be late’,” he started, as condescendingly as the woman, “it means that they won’t be late either. Do you always buck trends in this fashion, Leanne?” Leanne simply leaned back in her chair and smiled, smugly.
“I’m a captain,” she stated, plainly. “I’m allowed to have double standards.”
“It’s probably those double standards that got you kicked out of the forces,” Rob retorted, causing Leanne to frown at him. I probably shouldn’t have said that, Rob thought to himself, wincing at his rash statement.
“I assume you called me here for more than just small talk,” Leanne said with an angrier voice than before, as she leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table. Rob also leaned forward, and began whispering to Leanne.
“I want you to take me somewhere,” Rob said.
“I run a cargo ship, Rob,” Leanne replied, “not an interstellar cruise ship. Go to a travel agent, get a ticket to wherever it is you want to go, and stop wasting my time.” Leanne was about to stand up, when Rob put his hand on her forearm, causing the young captain to hesitate.
“Take that hand off my arm, Robert,” Leanne said.
“Only if you promise to hear me through,” Rob replied. Leanne paused, before finally nodding.
“I suppose it couldn’t hurt,” she replied. “I could use a good laugh.” Rob took his hand off Leanne’s forearm, and clasped his hands together on the table.
“They don’t sell tickets to where I want to go,” Rob replied. “If they did, believe me, I’d have gone a long time ago.”
“And where exactly is it that you want to go?” Leanne asked, genuinely curious. Rob took a deep breath, before answering Leanne’s question.
“…Vorren territory,” he said, as quietly as he could so that only Leanne would be able to hear him. Almost immediately as he said it, however, Leanne burst out in fits of laughter.
“That’s funny!” She said, laughing condescendingly at Rob. “Either you’re joking or you’re completely and utterly insane.”
“I’m perfectly sane,” Rob replied, his voice calm and composed in spite of Leanne’s insulting attitude. “I want to go to Vorren space.” Leanne stopped laughing, and leaned back toward Rob.
“Robert, dear,” she said, deliberately sounding as smug as she possibly could, “you may not have noticed, but for the past sixteen-odd years, the Vorrens have been involved in a little skirmish with none other than the Pallatians, who just happen to be the most bloodthirsty and violent species in the galaxy. Of course, when I say ‘little skirmish’, I mean ‘full-scale interstellar war which has claimed several million lives on both sides’. And you want me to take you right into the heart of it?” Rob looked Leanne straight in the eyes, and answered her question.
“Yes,” he said, defiantly. Leanne simply sneered at Rob’s defiance.
“You’re either mad,” she replied, “or you’re stupid, or, most probably, you’re both. In vast quantities.”
“Something’s been happening to me recently,” Rob replied, whispering so only Leanne could hear him. “I don’t know what it is, and I want to find out. And I know, don’t ask me how, but I just know that it has something to do with the Vorrens.”
“You’re not still having those childish dreams, are you?” Leanne asked in reply to Rob’s statement.
“They’re not dreams,” Rob replied, “They’re premonitions, or repressed memories, or something along those lines, anyway.” Leanne simply yawned, and stood up.
“All this talk about dreams is making me sleepy,” she stated, sarcastically. “Or maybe it’s the company that’s boring me to sleep. I’m sorry, Robert, as much as I’d like to help you commit suicide, I have other plans for my life. Good day.” Leanne stood up and prepared to leave, but Rob was not finished with her.
“Wait,” he said, standing up and blocking her path. Leanne simply grumbled, and started to walk around him. Rob grabbed Leanne’s arm again, making her stop dead in her tracks.
“This is your final warning, Rob,” Leanne said, irritably. “Touch me again, and I’ll crush your windpipe.” She shook her arm out of Rob’s grip, and continued walking away.
“I said ‘wait’,” Rob stated hastily, as he placed his hand on Leanne’s shoulder. Almost instantly as he did so, however, Leanne spun on her heel, and delivered a precise and powerful strike to Rob’s throat with her fist. As soon as she had done so, though, she started screaming in agony. Leanne looked down at her right hand, which she had used to attack Rob and where the pain was coming from, and she was alarmed to find that every finger except her forefinger was broken and twisted, and, even more alarmingly, her entire hand was starting to turn purple as a result of the blood that was starting to pool under her skin. Leanne looked up at Rob, who stood there, totally unharmed. I got him straight in the windpipe, Leanne thought to herself, I know I did, but he’s not even bruised!
“Like I said,” Rob uttered quietly to Leanne, “something’s been happening to me recently.” Still in a great deal of shock and pain from her injury, Leanne simply nodded.
“I need to get back to my ship, to the sickbay,” she replied. “Can you take me there?” Leanne didn’t like to show weakness of any kind, but her hand was in a serious amount of pain, and she doubted she’d be conscious by the time she reached her vessel.
“It depends,” Rob replied, “can you take me to Vorren space on your ship?” Leanne sighed, and lowered her head.
“We’ll talk when we get back to the Griffin,” she said, referring to her ship by its name.
“That’s good enough for me,” Rob replied, escorting Leanne out of the café and toward the shuttle tube station.
Four hours later, Rob and Leanne were sat in the medical bay of the Griffin, discussing Rob’s proposal. Leanne had taken the time to heal her hand, and although the damage was all repaired, it still caused her a great deal of pain. It did, however, have the effect of making her more open to Rob’s request.
The two of them had just finished negotiating Leanne’s payment for the mission when Leanne asked the question that had been bugging her ever since her ill-fated attack on Rob.
“So,” she asked, cautiously, “when did this ‘invincibility’ thing start, anyway?” Rob took a deep breath, and sighed- he’d been expecting Leanne to ask that question ever since they reached the Griffin.
“I’m not sure myself,” Rob replied. “The first time I noticed it was four months ago, about two weeks after the dreams began. I was using a kitchen laser to cut some cheese, when my finger slipped straight into the beam.” Leanne grimaced- it was something she’d done on more than one previous occasion.
“Ouch,” she said, sympathetically. “Did it immediately cut off?” Rob nodded.
“Yeah,” he replied, “the safety system worked, but what was wrong was that I wasn’t in any pain, nor was my skin damaged. Normally when you do that, at the very least, you get minor burns. But I didn’t get anything.”
“What did you do?” A genuinely curious Leanne asked Rob.
“I tried it again,” Rob replied. "This time, I took off the safety and held my finger in the laser beam for five seconds.
“And?” Leanne asked.
“Nothing,” Rob replied. “No pain, no skin damage, no nothing.”
“Did you think the laser was faulty?” Leanne asked.
“At first,” Rob replied, “but after a few more experiments, I realised that something inside me had changed.”
“What kinds of experiments?” Leanne asked with a worried tone of voice.
“Masochistic ones, I guess,” Rob said with a slight chuckle. “First off, I tried scalding myself, but nothing happened, then I tried cutting myself, electrocuting myself, even suffocating myself, but nothing happened.”
“Suffocating yourself?” Leanne asked, as worried as she had been previously.
“Yeah,” Rob replied, “I locked myself in an airtight cabinet for over 6 hours… by all rights, I should’ve asphyxiated after 45 minutes. What was more incredible was that I didn’t even get cramp.”
“And all this started after you started dreaming about that Vorren girl?” Queried Leanne.
“Uh-huh,” Rob said, confirming Leanne’s thought. “I’m sure of it. Somehow, she’s connected to what’s been happening to me. I’m just damned if I know how. That’s why I have to go into Vorren space- I have to find her.”
“I understand,” Leanne said, nodding. “Quite frankly, Rob, I’m curious about this too. I’ve never heard of anyone becoming a demigod before. I’ll get you into Vorren space, don’t you worry.”
“Thanks,” Rob said, smiling. “I knew I could count on you and your crew. Speaking of which, when do I get to meet them?”
“Tomorrow,” answered Leanne. “They’re on shore leave right now, but they’ll all be back by the time we leave tomorrow morning.”
“OK,” Rob said. “I guess I’d better be going, if that’s OK with you, I have a few loose ends to tie up before I leave.” Leanne nodded, and smiled.
“Make sure you tie them up real tight,” she replied, sniggering, “you’re gonna be gone a long time.” Rob paused, confused somewhat by Leanne’s statement.
“It’s not that far into Vorren space, is it? I thought it was only two and a half thousand light-years.”
“It is,” Leanne replied, “but that’s still twelve weeks at the Griffin’s top cruising speed.” Rob was taken aback by the news. Twelve weeks? Rob thought to himself.
“Twelve weeks?” Rob asked Leanne, incredulously. “That’s almost three months! Just how slow is your ship anyway?”
“How slow?” Leanne asked, as incredulous as Rob had been. “In real terms, we’re talking about nearly two billion miles a second! I don’t suppose you took astronomy at school, but let me tell you this- space is big. VERY big. You can’t just fly out to a random star system on a whim! Twenty-five hundred light years is a hell of a long way, Rob, I suggest you get used to that idea.” Rob hung his head, defeated.
“I guess I’ve got no choice,” he said to himself. “Three months…” Rob muttered to himself as he left the Griffin and headed home to his apartment for what would prove to be the last time in a very long while…
That night, while he slept, Rob once again found himself standing on top of a cliff, facing a Vorren girl with long, flowing, jet-black hair. However, this was not the same dream Rob had experienced for the previous hundred-odd nights. This time, there was a difference. Rob knew what was going on, and where he was. However, there was one thing that still confused him. Slowly, he approached the girl, who still had her back turned to him.
“Who are you?” Rob asked, cautiously. Rob saw the girl’s head lower, as if she were contemplating his question. Eventually, though, she turned around, and faced the confused young man.
“Rob,” she said in her soft voice, which was always guaranteed to make Rob’s heart flutter, “that is a question for another time.” The girl smiled, before turning, and walking away from Rob, toward the edge of the cliff.
“Wait!” Rob shouted, as he saw the girl near the edge. “Don’t go!” Once again, the girl turned around, and faced Rob, smiling.
“I’m not going anywhere,” the girl said, almost laughing. “It’s you who is making the journey, Rob.” As the girl finished her sentence, Rob felt himself start to fade out. The world around him started spinning, melting from reality, and Rob became aware of a ringing sound, growing ever louder in his ears…
“Sheli!” Rob yelled, sitting bolt upright in his bed. “Sheli…” Rob shook his head, regaining his composure, before lying back down in his bed.
“Computer, alarm off,” Rob ordered, and the ringing noise that had been permeating his room for the past minute was silenced. “Time?”
“The time is now 0501 Eastern Standard Time,” the computer stated, plainly. “Your transport will arrive in two hours and twenty-nine minutes.”
“Thank you, computer,” Rob stated, as he swung his legs out of his bed and headed toward his shower. “Are all of my messages ready to be sent?”
“All messages have been primed to be sent just prior to entering long-term hibernation mode,” the computer confirmed.
“Good,” Rob replied, as he showered himself down. “Excellent.” As Rob washed himself under the torrent of water, however, his mind was elsewhere, standing on top of a cliff, facing a Vorren girl who had long, flowing jet-black hair. Her smile had become etched in Rob’s mind, as had her name.
“Sheli…” Rob whispered to himself, as he exited the shower and entered his sonic dryer.
Just under two and a half hours later, Rob was standing at the exit of his apartment, looking back on the life he was leaving behind. He’d lived in his apartment for eighteen months, but finally, it was time to leave, and head out into the unknown. Rob swung his bags onto his shoulder, and took one final look around his apartment, at his shower, his bed, and his computer terminal. Eventually, he decided that the time had finally come for him to leave.
“See ya, old place,” he said, quietly. “Computer,” Rob then ordered, speaking up, “enter long-term hibernation mode.” Almost instantaneously, all the lights in Rob’s apartment extinguished, and Rob stepped out of his doorway to the outside, allowing the door to slide shut, and lock, with a satisfying ‘click’. Not looking back, Rob headed toward the shuttle tube station, which was just down the road from his apartment.
A mere fifteen minutes later, Rob had arrived at the Griffin, and was greeted by Leanne, who was standing at the foot of the boarding ramp.
“I take it your crew have all returned?” Rob asked, prompting Leanne to nod.
“It’s time to get this show on the road!” Replied Leanne, almost enthusiastically. Rob smiled, and carried his bags on board the spacecraft.
…let me know what you think, please?