Grailem by Gary L Beer (top 100 novels txt) 📖

to complete his repairs.

The repairs take twenty-four hours as Stoney had fractured both of the energy coils when he held Grailem's arms in his mechanical grip. Though not equalling Grailem's strength, the ball structure of his elbow joints had still managed to fracture the casing of the motors in both arms in his mighty crushing grip.
Regaining the use of his arms Grailem shatters the hexi-plas that surrounds him and tries to gain access to the control room of the rocket. As he had occupied the cargo hold at the front it was necessary for him to remove the reinforced wall that protected the sensitive navigation equipment. Gaining access to the controls proved to be no advantage; as the rocket had been pre-programmed.
Grailem's attempt at overriding the system results in a short circuit that ignites the remaining fuel. The rocket explodes in a ball of flame; the force of the explosion hurtling him into outer space. Due to the increased force provided by the explosion and propelled forward, Grailem was thrown into space at an incredible speed that almost matched the speed of light.

Needing no air or food his immortal body became a prison, a specially designed atomic powered heating system kept his brain at an ambient temperature – keeping him alive and conscious. The need for sleep also diminished, as he used little energy other than sight and thoughts and existence became a boredom of repetitive thoughts. His body, though designed to protect the brain from the rigours of the cold of space, could not propel or slow itself down. For thousands upon thousands, if not millions of years he drifted with only magnetic forces and dust clouds to slow or alter his course.
Keeping sane proved to be the biggest problem; for years he would drift along on a dream world of his own creation. Imagining the friends he never had and a desire to keep them changed his attitude towards the people who inhabited this universe.
The hatred he had felt had diminished and he realised it had been his undoing. The effect of the queen wasp gene had diminished once he found himself in space. With no other creatures to dominate, it had no purpose other than one of waiting for the next opportunity.
If he had not gone on an insane killing spree he would now be happy living with people of his own kind. His superior body and mind would have made him a natural leader and he no longer felt the desire for violence to achieve his aims.
Vowing to his god that he would lead a good life if he met other forms of life he prayed for release.

The release did not come, Grailem prayed for thousands of years in the belief that Good would triumph. Instead, confusion and misunderstanding filled his mind, and belief in a god diminished.
Surely with his improved body and mind and only doing Good a god would have a use for him?
The aimless drifting he had endured and the aimless drifting Grailem was to suffer in the future made him renounce a god; any god. There was no god, if there were, he or she would not have allowed him to suffer like this. The question of why he had been created nearly drives him to insanity.
Anger fills his mind and Grailem escapes his reality and creates a new dream world; one that is built around himself and his power, and where he becomes god and the master of the universe.


The magnetic field of the asteroid pulls Grailem into a tight orbit around it. This proves no great advantage as he cannot escape the magnetic field as the asteroid continues its own slow orbit around a distant sun.
Frustrated to be so close to a solid object yet unable to reach it and already close to madness Grailem utters his first sound in a thousand centuries as he screams. The sound, created by a mechanical device in his throat, expels no air and makes no noise in the vacuum of space; but the sound waves flying into space provide an energy that slightly alters his orbit around the asteroid. The movement is slight, only moving the orbit a quarter of a degree, but it is enough to show Grailem that he can at last move.
Positioning his body he screams like a child until he can feel the magnetic field strengthen as the asteroid sucks him towards it. Grailem's orbit is elliptical around the asteroid and if it wasn't for the atomic clock built into his system he would not have noticed its faint decay. Unable to move himself closer, no matter how much more he screams, Grailem has no choice but to wait for the orbit to decay enough for the gravitational field to finally pull him to the surface.


Chapter Four

Seventy five years later and the asteroid having orbited halfway around the sun, Grailem finally puts his feet onto a solid surface.
After a millennium in space the sensation is intense; even painful to the carefully manufactured sensors built below the prosthetic skin. The sensation brings hope, hope that he has a future other than one of aimless drifting in space.
AlI he has to do now is think of a way to get off this rock.
The asteroid is an oval shape and has a spin of its own. Spinning slowly it passes through space as it has done since the universe began. Grailem's weight increases the spin as he settles his feet onto the cold rock. Moving forward with the spin he balances on the end of the strange shaped asteroid.
Grailem's weight not only makes the asteroid spin faster it also increases its orbital speed. Moving around the piece of rock he learns that he can exert a certain amount of control over it. Altering its ancient orbit Grailem changes it so that it is aimed directly at the distant sun.
Calculating that he can increase the speed no more, Grailem settles down and waits. The millennia drifting in space had taught him patience and patiently he watches; and waits.
Time passes, even at the speed the asteroid is travelling, the vastness of space envelopes him and it is another fifteen years before he sees any of the planets. The outer planets look cold and inhospitable to him as he drifts past. The long coldness of space had made him wish for warmth; and the heat would also make his systems operate more efficiently.
As the asteroid continues its journey towards the sun Grailem sees his first spacecraft (apart from the one he was put inside). The craft is huge, at least three kilometres long and a kilometre in diameter made of a light absorbing material. Giving no reflection it appears as a solid black cloud, shutting out the light from the distant stars as it passes him by.
The spacecraft is going too fast for Grailem to be able to intercept it so he calculates its trajectory, back to its source. The spacecraft had come from a large planet that was heading towards him in its orbit around the sun.
Grailem cannot believe his luck; he only needs to make the slightest of orbital changes for the asteroid to intercept the approaching planet. The journey still takes a month of patient waiting before he sees a small spacecraft approaching.

On a collision course with the civilised planet the large asteroid would not completely burn up in the atmosphere. Enough would remain to cause massive damage and the ensuing dust cloud; if it struck dry land, could change the climate for years to come.
The small spacecraft, sent to alter the course of the asteroid was Grailem's way off this rock. Hiding himself in a small meteor crater he considers his best options; if the occupants of the spacecraft see him on the surface of the asteroid they could regard him as a threat. The possibility that at the least they would report their sightings of him to the planet below, make him consider a more devious approach.

Watching the spacecraft land on the centre of the asteroid from his hiding place, Grailem sees large cargo doors being opened. A crane arm appears carrying a three metre tube at the end of its shiny cable. Lowering the cylinder gently onto the asteroid the crane remains stationary as a tall suited humanoid appears at the edge of the craft.
Grailem had been so intent on watching the unloading that he had not noticed the small doorway in the side of the spacecraft. His lips form into an attempt at a smile as he sees the perfect situation for gaining access to the craft. The telepathic part of his brain played an important role in the dream world he had created in his mind and he had worked on improving this ability. His telepathy had matured and grown whilst he floated and dreamed in space and here was the first instance where he could try it out.
The tall humanoid walks to the cylinder and unattaches it from the cable as a companion joins him. Picking up the cylinder between them they walk away from the spacecraft and are soon lost to sight beyond the asteroids small horizon.
Grailem assumes they are going to place the explosive charge in the right position so that it will blast the asteroid into a safer orbit. Realising he may only have a small amount of time he stands and makes his way to the spacecraft. As he approaches it he detects the thought patterns of another humanoid who has remained inside the craft.
Influencing the humanoid's thoughts Grailem persuades him, without the humanoid realising, to think of happy days from his childhood. Lost in happy thoughts the humanoid does not see Grailem approach the craft and climb into the cargo bay. Hiding in a corner and in a safe place for when the crane is returned he patiently waits for the return of the two spacemen who positioned the explosives.

The crane is retracted into the cargo hold and the doors shut before the two humanoids return. Just a few minutes pass after Grailem has settled himself in the corner when the crane starts to move; bringing it in slowly the skilled operator lowers it onto large metal clamps. The clamps grasp the head and body of the crane, locking it into position as the cargo doors close behind it. Now locked in total darkness Grailem feels trapped and claustrophobic. After the aeons floating in space this confined dark area with no stars to see makes him panic.
Regaining control of his emotions he calms himself; simulating deep breathing, the natural reactions of the artificial body help to reduce the stress. An hour passes before the sound of the two spacers entering the craft arouses Grailem from a distant daydream.
It is another hour before the craft finally takes off and Grailem looks forward to being able to mix with other living creatures again. Learning that direct violence was not the way to gain control, he had re-evaluated his emotions during the drifting in space. Feeling that he had now achieved complete control of his emotions, especially his anger, he still