STAR BLAZERS: A VOYAGE TO REMEMBER

A fanfic recapitulation of Series One “The Quest for Iscandar” by

Frederick P. Kopetz

EPISODE TWENTY-THREE: Of Braving Death…

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Space Battleship Argo

January 17, 2200

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The Argo was now eight days away from Balan.

Eight days; sixteen more space warps, and they would be halfway to Iscandar at last.

Or, they would be if they could get past the Gamilon Fortress which was blocking their path.

Captain Avatar was back on duty, although he was in some pain. He had been walked to a meeting by several medics and Doctor Sane the previous day, but he was now regaining some strength.

“Report to me on what’s happening with that fortress,” Captain Avatar began.

“We’re fifteen megameters away from it, and it persistently blocks our path,” Mark Venture said. “Wildstar, did you launch a recon patrol?”

“Sure did, Mark,” Derek said, biting his lip slightly. “I sent out Nakajima with Walters as his RSO. They should be reporting soon.”

“We hope,” said Sandor. “Nova, are we still getting interference from it?”

“We are,” she said from her post. “Homer and I are trying to counteract with a harmonic wave. Turning the gain up by three.”

“I’m getting a report from Nakajima,” Homer said from his post as Wildstar looked back in his direction. “Up on main speakers.”

“I’m picking up a complex set of signals from the object,” Nakajima said over the circuit.

“What’s your distance from it?” said Wildstar.

“Ten Megameters, Chief,” responded Nakajima.

“We’re getting heavy comm-jamming waves from it,” said Walters over a whine of static. “No other emissions…yet…”

“Can you take a shot at it?” Derek snapped.

“Wildstar; be careful,” Avatar said. “We don’t want to provoke them.”

“Homer, ask them if they’re picking up life signs,” Nova said. “I’m not picking up any from here; neither is IQ-9.”

“Are you picking up life signs from the object?” Homer said.

“Nega…tive,” said Nakajima. “And, Captain, I can’t get a clear bead on it to fire. Something is distorting…the target scope for my cannons….”

“Can you categorize the energies?” said Sandor.

“No…it’s transmitting on three bands…make it four…something is buffeting our plane,” said Nakajima. “Distance from object, nine megameters…the plane is starting to…shake….”

“Pull out, Nakajima!” Derek ordered.

“Can’t do that…trapped…some kind of tractor beam….” Nakajima said.

“I can’t block it with my systems!” cried Mister Walters.

“Trying to counteract from here,” Nova said. “No reaction! His plane is losing control!”

“Pull out, for Heaven’s sakes!” said Mark as he stood with his hand on Derek’s shoulder.

“I….I…have to punch out…breaking up….I’m breaking up!” said Nakajima. Then, he screamed, and the Star Force heard his plane crinkling apart as if it was made out of cheap tinfoil.

Walters screamed as his helmet was pulled off and he was exposed to hard vacuum.

Nakajima yelled and cursed as his space gear was torn apart and he met the same gruesome fate.

The plane exploded a moment later.

“Off my scope,” Nova said. “Their recon plane exploded!”

“No life signs detected,” said IQ-9 mournfully.

“All hands…a moment of silence for those men, please,” said Captain Avatar.

The bridge crew stood and saluted with bowed heads.

Derek then said, “Nakajima was a good pilot. He had a wife and son back home. A loss we could ill afford.”

Tears ran down Derek’s cheeks as Nova came over to him and placed a hand on his wrist. Then, Mark, looking equally stricken, hugged both Derek and Nova, and Nova put an arm around Derek and Mark. Wildstar and Venture had healed their friendship the previous day after a long talk, and the two men and one woman were again as close friends as ever.

“It is very hard to be a human,” said IQ-9 mournfully.

“You got that right, tinwit,” Derek said.

“Wildstar, get the reserve bridge crew up here,” said Avatar. “We’ll meet in the Research Briefing Room at thirteen hundred. Sandor, get me all of the footage you can of the loss of that plane, and analyze those waves with Nova, Eager, and Homer. There has to be a defense against that attack, and we have to find it.”

“Yessir,” said Sandor.

At the tech briefing, Sandor ran a digital projector showing images of the breakup of the plane.

“We’ve watched the destruction of the patrol plane from two angles,” Sandor said. “Now let’s slow it down….”

They watched the video in slow motion. “Whatever that is, it’s not an ordinary explosion,” said Orion.

“No flames, no blast,” said Homer.

“It looks like the ship just shook itself apart,” Derek said.

Nova glanced at a few frames and turned her head in pity and disgust. “Up near the top edge of the screen…the pilot and RSO…their bodies were also just…torn apart. Sickening!”

“I second what Homer said,” Wildstar said as Sandor ran the destruction of the plane again. “No explosion, no blast.”

“I wonder what might have caused an effect like that?” Venture said.

“Something from that fortress caused it,” Sandor said. “Look how the plane came apart at the seams. My guess is that some sort of magnetron wave acted upon it. It must be very strong and generated by the fortress…witness the effect upon the bodies of those men…”

“Like some sickening medieval torture used in ancient times,” Nova said as she felt nauseated by seeing the footage again. The damage to the bodies of Nakajima and Walters resembled a sick horror movie. “Hanging, drawing and quartering, they called it. Prisoners were ripped apart by horses.”

“And the Gamilons found some sorta weird high-tech means of doin’ the same thing,” Eager said. “How barbaric.”

“We know the Gamilons are cruel,” said Captain Avatar. “The issue is how we neutralize the effect. We’re currently becalmed until we can find a way to get past it.”

“I wonder…if we activate the ECM suite, isn’t there some way around it?” Nova asked.

“Good idea, but no,” said Venture. “It has a navigational lock on us. In whichever direction we move the ship…the construction moves with us to block our path.”

“What about warping past it?” Derek suggested.

“Too dangerous except as a last-ditch measure,” said Sandor. “It would interfere with our navigational equipment, and possibly throw us to a different destination, or even…an alternate universe of some kind. We might never get back on the road to Iscandar.”

“Sandor, do you have any sort of solution?” said Captain Avatar.

“I’ve been working on a project; a seamless plane with a monocoque airframe cast in one piece,” Sandor said. “If we use this experimental plane to approach the fortress, the magnetron waves would not find any seams to latch onto. It has a three-place cockpit, for a pilot, gunner, and RSO to assist the gunner and scan the object.”

“I’d like to volunteer to fly it,” Wildstar said.

“No way…this is my baby,” said Sandor. “But I could use a very good gunner and RSO.”

“I’d like to volunteer my services,” Derek said. “Steve, you and I could accomplish more as a team than you acting alone.”

“You’ll still need an RSO,” Nova said as she raised her hand. “I nominate myself.”

“Nova, it’s too dangerous!” Derek said. “Remember what happened on the last away team you were on? You came that far from getting killed along with your Ensign!”

“But I’m the best you’ve got!” she retorted. “And if we have to board that thing, you’ll need someone to scan for Gamilon soldiers and a combat medic to offer first aid if one of us gets hurt.”

“Good points, Nova,” Avatar said after a long moment. “Sandor, Wildstar, you two will take Forrester with you. She’s the best at her job, and I can’t send Doctor Sane because he doesn’t have her combat and technical knowledge. Get that item disabled one way or another and get back to the ship as soon as possible. Sandor, you’re in command.”

“Yessir,” said Steve, Derek, and Nova in unison.

“We’ll need full space gear because this could be an extended EVA,” said Sandor. “Get ready and meet me in the port upper flight bay in forty minutes. We’ll all bring sapper charges and grenades. Nova, you’ll bring a medkit and life signs sensor in addition to that equipment. See you soon.”

They all saluted and left. As they did, Derek looked hard at Nova and thought, I know how brave you are, Nova, but be careful. I don’t want to end up carrying your corpse back to base…

Nova had similar thoughts about Derek.

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The seamless plane took off on time. Sandor was flying; Wildstar was in the middle seat at the gunnery controls, while Forrester was in the rear seat, scanning the fortress with everything the small plane had.

Derek said, “You’re en excellent spacecraft designer, Sandor. I only wish we’d had this plane earlier.”

“So do I…it might have avoided casualties,” Sandor said as they drifted through the debris field that had been Nakajima’s plane. “If only I had known the nature of that wave sooner…”

“My God; the carnage looks even worse close-up!” Nova said.

Derek said, “Those two were good men. I feel responsible for their deaths because I sent them out. I hope we can avenge them.”

“Let’s make sure their sacrifices weren’t in vain, Derek,” Nova said.

“Amen to that, Nova,” said Sandor. “Start scanning the object now. Get all the data you can and message it to Wildstar. Derek, when she scans it and sends you the data, report to the Argo.”

“Right,” both Derek and Nova said in unison.

Nova ran the requested scans, and sent a whole screen of data to Derek and Sandor.

On schedule, Captain Avatar called a moment later. “Report. What did you find?”

Derek spoke up. “We just scanned the Gamilon object. It’s a flat elliptical shape one kilometer long and three hundred meters thick. It’s armored, and not giving off any comm waves. There are no lights showing, and no exhaust. It is covered with approximately two hundred openings. The magnetron wave seems to be coming from the openings. Nova also adds that the life signs she is picking up are diffuse and scattered. She thinks it may be manned.”

“Good job,” said Avatar. “It seems to be closer to the ship now and we are beginning to feel magnetron waves. Misaki is at the radar now and is picking up the same scattered life signs that Nova is reading close-up. Be careful. We need it neutralized as soon as possible.”

“Roger,” said Sandor.

“Nice to be right about something,” Nova said. “You tell me, Derek. Am I earning my keep?”

“Yes, with overtime pay,” Derek said with a slight smile. “I still worry about you.”

“Same here,” Nova retorted.

Sandor said, “Wildstar, we’re in laser range. See if you can fire into one of those openings.”

“Roger,” said Derek as Nova quickly sent fire-control data over. He scanned his target scope at one of the openings and fired a long blast.

An internal shutter came down and sealed the opening. Derek’s fire damaged nothing.

“Just as I thought; it’s an automatic defense system. It closed up as soon as it detected our fire,” Sandor commented.

“I wonder…what if we had missiles?” Derek said.

“It would probably do the same thing,” Sandor mused. “We can’t affect it from out here. We’ll have to get inside and sabotage the fortress from the inside with as many charges as possible. We want to plant charges and get out, particularly because Nova’s not sure if it’s manned or not.”

“I can take care of guards if we run into any,” Derek snorted.

“But we don’t need a battle if we can avoid it,” Nova said. “And what if those waves begin affecting the Argo?”

“Good point,” Sandor said. “We get in and we get out fast. Wildstar, get us close to one of those openings. We’re going in. Nova, how much air do we have?”

“One hour’s worth, and I’m carrying a small reserve pack in case we need more.”

“Good thinking,” Derek said. “Here we go.”

Guided by Wildstar, the seamless plane stopped near one of the ports of the Magnetron Fortress.

Sandor was the first one to drift in on his tether, followed by Wildstar. Forrester brought up the rear with her field medkit on her right hip.

Fortunately, all three of them were experienced in spacesuit use, so they had no issues entering the Fortress.

“Detach tethers,” Sandor said.

The three of them detached their tethers and tethered the plane to the Fortress.

“Let’s go in,” said Sandor.

“We should go in seat order,” Derek suggested. “Steve, you take the point. I’ll take the middle. Nova, you’ll act as rear guard.”

Both of them nodded and they drifted inside the Fortress.

“Nova, scan for life signs again,” said Sandor.

“Scanning,” she said. “These readings…very odd.”

“What do you mean?” Derek said.

“I’m not picking up any discrete life forms, but I’m picking up life signs all around us. I’ve never encountered anything like this before.”

“Nova, keep your eyes peeled. Try to be as quiet as possible,” Sandor said.

“Right,” she replied.

Inside the fortress, Sandor said, “This is strange. It’s like a cave….”

“More like a maze!” blurted Derek.

“Hush!” Nova whispered. “Now this….”

“What is it?” whispered Derek.

“The floor appears to be organic material,” Nova whispered.

“Both of you…quiet,” said Sandor. He pushed Derek down, and Derek did the same with Nova.

They got under cover just in time as some sort of strange headless robot went past them, apparently on patrol.

“Can you scan it?” Sandor said.

“All electronic, Steve.” Nova whispered. “No organic material whatsoever.”

“Let’s stay here until we’re sure it’s gone,” Derek whispered.

Sandor nodded and Nova gave Derek a pat on the arm.

“This whole place is like some Hell built by Gamilon science,” Derek whispered.

“Agreed. It’s giving me the creeps,” Nova whispered back. “Do you hear those noises?”

“They sound like groans, grumbles and hisses,” Derek said.

“It’s like this whole place is…alive,” Nova whispered.

“Nova, don’t be silly,” Derek whispered back.

“She may not be that far off base, Wildstar,” hissed Sandor. “We don’t know what Gamilon technology is capable of. Technology can be a two-edged sword. That reminds me of something I’ve been meaning to tell you for a long time, Derek. It’s about your brother, Alex. I told you a little of this story, Nova. Now, you’ll get to hear all of it.”

“What is it?” asked Wildstar.

Sandor shut his eyes and thought hard. “Well, I’m sure that Alex told you we were classmates at the Space Fighters’ Training School. He was outgoing and he liked to play sports. He was also good with the ladies.”

“I remember Kaoru Niimi telling me about that on Earth,” Nova said with a blush.

“When did you learn that?” Derek said.

“Girl talk. You know,” Nova said.

“I wasn’t so outgoing, and I liked to work in the lab on my experiments, but still, Alex and I were close friends,” said Sandor with a smile as he remembered himself and Alex having beers at the local midshipmen’s Rathskeller.

“You guys probably hit the Rat, right?” Derek said.

“The Rat?” Nova said. “You mean you tortured white rats?”

“The Rathskeller. Bar. Student union,” Derek said.

“Oh, yes, every school has one of those,” Nova said with a slight smirk. “Ask Natalie. She liked to…drag me there in the underground city in Colorado.”

“You like beer?” Derek teased.

“Within reason, yes,” Nova said. “Steve, go on….”

“After we graduated, Alex was assigned to the command of a missile destroyer that had just been renamed Paladin,” Sandor said. “I was assigned to spacecraft maintenance. One day, Derek, your brother’s ship came in for repairs. It had just been through the wringer and she was held together with bubble gum and baling wire from that raid near the asteroid belt at the beginning of 2199.”

“The one where we had all those casualties,” Nova said sadly. “Doctor Sane and I only saved five of those men.”

“Alex had just been assigned that ship,” Sandor said. “I still remember what he said to me….”

Steve narrated what Alex had said that day.

“Are you ready for me to test it, Sandor?” Alex had asked. “We take off in three days for the Pluto front line. If we lose that battle, it’ll be the end of Earth….”

Steve remembered that he had nodded at Alex and then shook his hand. “Almost ready. I did my best….”

Steve shook his head. “That was the last I saw of your brother, Derek. Ever since that day, I feel as if I didn’t do enough for your brother. I feel that if I had been able to do a better job repairing the Paladin, it might have survived the battle of Pluto, and your brother might still be alive today…possibly even on the mission with us. He would have been proud of you, Derek, and he would have liked you, Nova…”

“So that’s how it happened,” Derek said. “Steve, you can’t carry that blame around all your life.”

“But did I do enough?” Steve said.

“You did all you could have, Steve,” Nova said. “This is one cross you really need to put down off your shoulders.”

“Yeah. In these times…these things just happen,” Derek said.

“LOOK! There’s a shadow!” Nova cried out.

Then, Sandor caught the shape of one of the robots behind Wildstar. He shoved him to the deck. “Look out! It’s a robot!” he yelled.

Steve dropped, rolled and pulled out his Astro-Automatic and fired just as Nova ducked behind cover and prepped a grenade.

Sandor’s fire caught the robot dead-on. It exploded and it fell to the deck in flames as Derek whistled. “Whew! Steve, Nova, you two saved my life!”

“Are you all right?” Nova said as she pulled Derek up by one hand.

“I’m fine. Stow your grenade.”

Nova nodded and put the grenade back in her belt.

“That’s what we get for getting sidetracked and not taking care of business,” laughed Sandor. “I was very young when I learned that a momentary lapse can cost you your life…and so much more…let’s go on.”

“What do you mean…you learn the consequences of…a momentary lapse?” Derek said.

“I think I have an idea of what he’s getting at,” Nova said.

“When I was a little boy, in grammar school, my parents took me to the amusement park on the moon at the New Sweden Colony,” Sandor said. “That day, I remember that I wanted to ride a jet coaster so badly. I was persistent….so persistent. My parents and my sister Mio and my cousin Jan tried to talk me out of it, because I was so young, but I finally got my way and I boarded the coaster with Mio. I insisted on flying the jet car along the course. I went as fast as a little hellion…but…something happened. A magnetic brake had failed, and another car hit us head-on, and I didn’t anticipate the crash.

It was…a horrible accident. The car was demolished. I was badly injured, and my sister Mio fell to the ground, and landed just the right way to snap her neck. She died,” Sandor said. “She died, and it was my fault…and I was badly maimed, and it affected me for the rest of my life. I was still paying for it years later,” Steve said with his eyes closed. “Nova, did you tell Derek about the time we had lunch together, in a sort of date, when you were a student?”

Nova nodded. “I told you a little of it, Derek. When I was having lunch with Steve once, I didn’t know everything about him. I thought he was a professor I just liked a lot. And, I was just off that bad breakup with Scott Foley, whom I told you two about. I asked Steve if he wanted children if he ever ended up in a relationship…and he just got up and walked away. I saw him in class, but he refused to talk about it or go to lunch with me again. I found out why later on when I gave him a physical as a nurse-practitioner. I was really insensitive. Steve, can I tell Derek?”

Sandor nodded.

Nova sighed. “Derek, because of the accident…Steve can’t conceive children. And I should have had my head examined, trying to date my instructor. Steve, you’re not the only one who’s done really stupid things.”

“Healer, heed your own advice,” laughed Sandor. “What was the past is the past. You’re like a little sister to me, and I can’t wait to see you and Derek get married, if I can be blunt. You two are made for each other, even if you still have those little insult sessions,” he said with a smile.

Nova blushed at that, and Derek said, “Steve, since you’re…a big brother to us both, and her ex, I promise you I’ll take good care of her.”

“Glad to hear that,” Steve said. “Let’s go on.”

In the meantime, on the Argo, Royster was reporting damage as he sat at Sandor’s station.

“The magnetron wave is hitting us,” he said. “We’re losing deck plates back past the upper bow.”

“The wave varies,” said Yuria from her post. “There are times it’s weaker, and times that it’s stronger. I think the damage may end up being worse in time.”

“I wish we’d hear from Wildstar, Sandor, and Forrester,” Venture said as their faces flashed in his mind. Sandor was like an anchor for all of them, just short of Doctor Sane, Orion, and Captain Avatar. Losing him would really cripple us, Mark thought. Then, he thought of Wildstar and remembered his friendship with him…even their fights and disagreements seemed like pleasant memories now. He prayed that he wouldn’t lose his best friend. And, there was Nova. Losing her gentle voice, her almost shy smile, and her bright eyes and sweet manner would be like ripping the very heart out of the Star Force.

“I’m trusting they’ll be safe,” said Avatar.

“Sir, I wish I had your trust,” said Mark.

“Is anyone keeping track of how far we’ve gone?” Derek said as they walked deeper and deeper into the Magnetron Fortress.

“Four or maybe five kilometers, I think,” Nova said. “And I’m still getting those diffuse life signs. This is truly weird.”

“Steve, we must have gone five kilometers by now,” Derek said. “What are we looking for?”

Steve was silent, and Nova said, “Maybe we’re like old Diogenes, looking for an honest Gamilon?”

“Nova, we’re not looking for an honest Gamilon, but that was cute,” said Steve with a slight smile.

“So, what is it we’re looking for?” Derek persisted.

“Nova was actually pretty close to it. This whole fortress is alive, in a manner of speaking,” Sandor said. “It’s a quasi-organic computer. It’s programmed to be operated, maintained, and protected by those robot guards we ran into. It’s really a pretty clever piece of Gamilon engineering, if you ask me. It’s designed to emit the magnetron wave as a means of stopping any ship that ends up in this region, like a lighthouse leading right to the shoals and rocks. The passages we are walking along are actually circuits leading to the control center. If I’m reading this situation well enough, we should reach the center around the next bend.”

They cleared the bend and stopped as they stared at a grotesque hunk of…something…which pulsed and glowed like a grotesque heart. It was connected to everything else by a spaghetti-like mess of tendrils and cables that looked like nerves or blood vessels.

“Paydirt,” whispered Sandor.

“Picking up…something like brain waves,” Nova said. “I’m taking its EEG. It seems…disturbed.”

“Have we sprung something?” Derek said.

“No…I’d almost say it’s…psychotic,” Nova said in a low voice. “Its brain waves are like those of a very disturbed person.”

“That’s all we need,” whispered Derek. “Some insane computer. Reminds me of a bad horror movie!”

“We have to be very careful,” Sandor said. “It could be aware of us at any minute. Let’s get done and get out of here.”

On the Argo, Captain Avatar closed his eyes, since Venture had given him some bad news as the wave pulled more plates off the ship; it had pulled some armor plates from off the top of the first gun turret.

“So, Venture. You’re telling me that according to your calculations, there is only a fifty percent chance of the Argo surviving a space warp under our current circumstances?”

“Yessir. The moment we begin a space warp will be the most critical, because we’ll be on a straight line with the magnetron wave as we dematerialize into the fourth dimension and we would be pulled to pieces. But if we remain here, the wave will destroy us anyway.”

“If…if we receive damage to the wave motion engine, we’re finished,” said Royster.

“But what about Wildstar, Sandor, and Forrester?” said Misaki. “We’re not going to leave them to die out there, are we? Their air supply is limited, and they’re our friends!”

“I know,” said Avatar. “But we have to be ready for every eventuality. Venture, make ready for a space warp.”

“Yes, Captain,” he said.

“We have twenty minutes of air left,” Nova said as she tossed Derek one of her sapper charges.

The trio had climbed up onto a pedestal below the nerve center of the computer.

“Sandor, we have to move it,” Derek said.

“I know that, but we have to get these charges in the right place. If we don’t…the computer is bright enough to repair itself, and our mission would be totally pointless. Remember what I said about technology being a two-edged sword?” Steve said as he reached up to place charges in the tendrils.

“Yes?” Derek said as Nova silently armed her grenade to timed firing and handed it to Derek.

“It’s like a sick joke, in a way,” Steve continued. “I love technology at times, and at times I hate it. I was going to be an artist before the war, but the war changed me…it hardened me, like I’m sure it did with all of us.”

“I wanted to be an insectologist before my parents were killed,” Derek said. “After they died, I wanted…revenge.”

“I had to set aside my music and not attend Juilliard like my mother wanted,” Nova sighed. “All the suffering I saw…I had to do something about it. That’s why I took medical courses. None of us could be the sensitive people that we were before the Gamilons attacked us. Instead of playing an arpeggio, here I am, preparing to blow something up.”

“Science has to do a better job than…blowing things up, Nova,” Sandor sighed as he motioned for them to jump off the pedestal. “We create these machines and technological wonders, and so do the Gamilons, for their purposes,” he said as he planted more charges. “We have to be careful what we do with our technological knowledge. If we’re not careful, it’s like playing God…and just creating our own destruction.”

Nova planted a charge, and she glanced at her sensor unit. “The brainwaves are becoming more active, and…”

Then, even through their spacesuits, they heard a truly vile noise, and then high, twisted laughter coming right from the computer.

A tendril appeared from nowhere and flicked the sensor device out of Nova’s hands. She jumped back and rolled, only to land on a deck that was now undulating like an angry living thing.

Derek almost fell onto his face as the deck undulated under him as he drew his Astro-Automatic. “What’s happening?” he yelled.

“I think the computer just sensed our presence and knows we’re up to no good!” Sandor yelled.

A door shut behind Nova as a robot came out of another opening, arms out, ready to snap her neck. “We’re trapped!” she yelled as she pulled her weapon and fired at the robot, blowing it to bits.

Derek did the same with a second robot before one of the tendrils struck him hard in the stomach and knocked him down.

Nova ran to his side, just avoiding a tendril that wanted to catch her legs. A second one did catch her legs, and she opened her medkit and began cutting at it with a laser knife.

The air undulated, as if some gas was filling the room.

A stunned Derek looked up to see that Sandor was caught by the tendrils, spread-eagled by his arms and legs, and suspended about two or three meters up.

“I can’t move!” yelled Sandor.

Derek limped up, obviously in pain, trying to pull Nova to her feet. He just barely succeeded.

The computer laughed again, and then it yelled, in a high, twisted voice, “DIE, DIE, DIE, you rotten Terron vermin! DIE!”

Not if I can help it, Derek thought as he realized that he was bleeding inside his spacesuit.

A tendril socked Nova’s helmeted head. Derek looked at her. Her eyes looked crossed and hazy, but she still had enough presence of mind to grab his hand and hold it.

Wildstar appreciated her gentle touch, even though it looked as if they all might die soon.

On the Argo, Captain Avatar said, “Venture, Orion, we can’t wait any longer. Make preparations for a space warp. I’m sorry, but we have to write them off.”

“Yes, Captain,” said Venture.

“Sir, doesn’t the potential death of three of our best officers affect you?” said Yuria.

“Enough!” barked Avatar. “The three of them would all understand. The mission comes first. Although, granted, I’d miss all three of them. I liked them.”

“Wildstar, Nova, see if you can reach me!” Sandor called. “We have no time to waste! The Argo may have to perform a warp any minute and leave us here!”

“WHAT?” Derek cried.

“It’s the mission,” Nova said. “If it comes down to a choice between us and the Star Force and the mission, Captain Avatar would risk a warp and go on. But we can’t give up yet!”

“But how are we going to get him down?” said Derek. “It has him by his arms and legs.”

“It’s a simple calculus,” said Sandor. “You have to just take them off.”

“That’s crazy!” Derek said. “Nova doesn’t have a whole operating room in that little box. You’d bleed to death!”

“I know what he’s getting at, Derek,” Nova said as she began to climb up. “Follow me! You take the left side; I’ll do his right side.”

“But how?” Derek said.

“Remember the accident I mentioned?” Steve said. “Because of that accident, I lost my normal arms and legs. The arms and legs I have now are bionic replacements!”

“He can live without them, Derek, although one of us would have to carry him,” Nova said. “Almost at your calf.”

“Good job, Nova,” said Steve.

“How do we take them off? Nova only has a small laser cutter.”

“They’re made to come off. Turn the screw at the joint, like Nova’s doing,” Sandor said.

“Turn the limb counter-clockwise, and pull. It will hurt him for just a moment as we disconnect from the nerve adaptors…”

Wildstar saw Sandor grimace as Nova did her job with his leg. He did the same a moment later.

“This computer thinks it’s won,” said Steve. “But we’ve got a few tricks stuffed up our sleeves.”

Five minutes later, the bizarre work was done. Nova used some spray bandages to seal Sandor’s spacesuit at his now-empty sleeves. Derek followed up by knotting the internal bladders inside the spacesuit to be sure of a seal.

He and Nova then helped Sandor rig a lanyard that attached inside one of his sleeves.

“What does this connect to?” Derek asked.

“A remote detonator that will set off our charges. Wildstar, you pick me up and carry me to that opening. I also have a trick to add to the blast.”

“What sort of trick?” Derek said.

“You’re going to overload the nuclear generators in your limbs?” Nova said.

“Smart young lady,” Sandor said with a smile.

“You mean your arms and legs are bombs?” Derek said.

“In case of emergency, yes,” Steve said. “Set me down here, just beyond where that shutter flies down. Now, you take Nova, get into that plane, and fly off. Both of you.”

“You want us to leave you here?” Derek blurted while Nova looked horrified. Steve nodded.

“You’re just condemning yourself to death,” Nova said. “You can’t do that!”

“I have to,” he said. “I can set off the charges from out here. When the blast hits, the shutter will close and shield me from it. You and Nova have to communicate with the ship and tell them not to warp.”

“And we have to get back aboard soon,” Nova said. “Twelve minutes of air left.”

“You two be careful,” said Sandor as Derek set him near the opening with Nova’s help.

“You stay there, okay?” Derek said as Nova drifted back to the plane.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going anyplace,” Sandor said.

Derek got into the plane next, taking control from his seat as he closed the canopy. Nova released air into the cockpit and took off her helmet for a moment.

“What are you doing?” Derek said.

“Call the ship. Our air is getting low and I need to check your wound,” Nova said. “Your color looks horrible.”

Derek began to fly as Nova worked at his spacesuit, expertly opening her medkit in Zero-G and beginning to bandage Derek’s wound as he picked up the mike. “Argo, this is Wildstar. I’m in the plane with Nova.”

“Wildstar, I read you,” said Avatar as he motioned to Venture to abort the warp. “What’s your status?”

“Slightly injured, but Nova’s being a good field “Doc” and treating it. We are about to blow the fortress. Well, Sandor is.”

“Roger that,” said Avatar.

Derek and Nova watched as Sandor activated his lanyard and the whole fortress was festooned with explosions.

Then, Wildstar heard Homer’s voice on his headset as he reported, “Wildstar, Misaki reports the magnetron waves have stopped. Back to normal with some damage.”

“Roger that,” Derek said, grimacing a little as Nova sealed his spacesuit zipper and he put his helmet back on. Nova did the same; Derek noticed she had connected herself to the plane’s internal life support system via a hose. “Take my reserve air, Derek,” she said, passing the unit to him. “You should be able to get Sandor. I’ll maneuver the plane as close as I can to where he was.”

“Good job, five by five, Nova,” he said.

“Doctor Sane and I need to work on you as soon as we get back on the ship,” Nova warned as Derek popped the canopy as she flew close to the smoking fortress. “I’m not sure how long my field dressing will hold.”

“I’ll be all right,” Derek huffed.

“You’ll need sutures, Derek!” Nova insisted. “Be careful!”

“I will be,” he said. “Now to find Sandor…if I can….”

Derek floated through the smoke and gasses of the derelict fortress to find Sandor.

Steve’s spacesuit was covered with soot and ash, but he was grinning almost evilly as he held on to the wreckage.

“Found you,” Derek said.

“Good. Let’s go back to base,” said Sandor. “Give me a hand.”

“I would if my limbs were bionic,” Derek said.

“Oh, you’re so funny,” Sandor chuckled.

“I’ll be the one giving you a hand, Steve,” Nova said. “I’ll be up all night with you guys. I’ll make an extra pot of coffee.”

“Don’t make me drink it,” chuckled Sandor.

“You…you…ingrate!” Nova laughed as Derek lowered the canopy.

“I’ll fly us home,” Derek said.

“Nice going,” Nova said. “Hey, at least you like my coffee.”

Derek smiled at that.

The seamless plane turned about and headed back to the Argo for a landing.

A few minutes later, on orders from Captain Avatar, Dash swung the ship’s main guns toward the fortress.

A nice broadside, and the Gamilon magnetron fortress no longer existed.

At that, the Argo cruised on.

“It is confirmed,” said a staff officer on Balan as he saluted and reported to Lysis and Volgarr. “Twenty-five minutes ago, the Argo disabled the magnetron fortress. Our spy satellite in Sector Eighty-Five confirmed the Argo then destroyed the fortress and warped. They live on to fight another day, sir.”

“My fortress was meant to be foolproof!” yelled Volgarr.

Field Marshal Erich Lysis then picked up a cigarillo. He smiled with a sick amusement as Volgarr tried to light the smoke for him, but his lighter didn’t even work.

“Oh, Volgarr, you incompetent,” sighed Lysis. “Your lighter works just as well as your space fortress. Both are absolutely useless.”

“But we stopped enemy cargo ships with it!” protested Volgarr.

“But we could not stop our friends in the Terron warship,” said Lysis. “Get me that spy satellite video. I’d love to see how they did it. I’d send my compliments to their Captain Avatar, but I’m not in the mood now. All of you are dismissed. I have things to do,” said Lysis as he lit his cigarillo himself and walked off.

He shut his eyes and thought, there has to be some way to stop that Terron ship. Some way. They can’t be unbeatable!

MUCH LATER THAT EVENING….

“Sutures,” muttered Derek as he stood on the Argo’s aft observation deck with his uniform blouse open. “Sutures. They itch like the Dickens…”

Derek then felt a tap on his shoulder and he turned to see Sandor standing there. “Sandor! New arms and legs!”

“Yup, latest model,” he said. “They fixed me up good.”

“My sutures itch,” Derek said.

“Would you rather be itchy from stitches, or be in Sickbay getting a transfusion because you almost bled out?” Sandor said.

“The former. And Doctor Sane told me the same thing. He did tell Nova she did a good job with the temporary dressing.”

“It all worked out, and we’re a thousand lightyears closer to Iscandar tonight,” said Sandor. “The three of us made a great team.”

“You know, Steve?” Derek said. “To get through what you did today…you’re really tough. Alex was tough, too. Maybe he survived and is alive somewhere.”

“Maybe,” said Sandor. “Who knows? I know one place where he’s alive, though.”

“Where?”

“In your heart, Derek,” said Sandor with a smile. “So long as someone stays in your heart…they never die in this life. I’m older than you. Remember me that way when it’s my time, until we meet again, when all things are made new.”

“I’ll remember that. I’ll always remember that,” Derek said.

Steve patted his shoulder and returned to looking at the stars with Derek.

POSTSCRIPT…(Romance is yours)

A day after the whole affair with the Magnetron Wave, after their watches were over, Derek, casually dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and short-sleeved shirt and sneakers, met Nova in the holography room.

Nova, as Derek had requested in an e-mail, was out of uniform in a striped top, green skirt, and sandals, and she had brought a small picnic lunch of fruit, along with a small beach ball.

“I like the holo you found, Derek,” Nova said as she knelt down on a blanket with her shoes off. It was of a grassy field near a small lake, with a forested landscape on the other side of the ‘lake’.

Nova smiled and said, “You have taste. You said this was important?”

“Yes, and I’m nervous as…all heck about this. Thank you for helping to save Steve and I in that fortress, Doc.”

Nova smiled yet again.  She was in a cheerful mood today. “All in a day’s work. Have a tangerine.” Nova fed Derek a tangerine, and Derek riposted by feeding Nova a strawberry. “Where did you find these?” he said.

“They were in the freezer. I talked nicely to Cookies about this. I told him I needed a favor.”

Derek laughed at that. “I got a favor…from Steve, too. He’s happy with the new arms and legs you and Doc Sane fitted him with.”

“Thanks. How’s that wound on your stomach?”

“The bruise is fading and the bleeding has stopped,” Derek said as he pulled a small item out of the pocket of his jeans. “I…I hope this is the right time for this, Nova.”

“Right time for what? I see you holding a box…”

“Yeah…and…uhhh…there’s something in there for you, Nova. I feel like an idiot….” He said as he opened the box.

“A diamond!” Nova cried. “My God, a diamond! Where did you get this?”

“It was actually an industrial diamond I asked Sandor to cut and polish, along with the ring. I asked Doctor Sane your size,” Derek said as he slipped it on one of Nova’s slender fingers.

His heart was beating and his hands were shaking as he stared into Nova’s deep brown eyes. Due to some startling events later in their lives, her eye color would eventually be violet at times. But, for now, Derek was just holding the hands of the girl he was increasingly falling for, and hard. “I never asked anyone this before, Nova, so I’m not sure how….”

“Never asked anyone what?” Nova said, smiling slightly.

“I’ve never been any good with women, unlike my brother. In fact, I’ve always been something of…of…an idiot…”

“You’re not an idiot,” Nova said. “Even if you were, you’re my idiot, you chowderhead. What is it, Derek?”

“Nova…would you consider…spending your life with me once we get back from this mission?” Derek said.

“I…think I see what you’re getting at, Derek Michael Wildstar,” Nova said slowly. “Can you phrase it differently?”

“Nova…uh…would you consider…marrying me?” Derek blurted.

Nova looked at Derek, the ring, and she looked deep into his dark eyes. “Yes. In a heartbeat, Derek. Yes. Yes. Yes!”

Then, Nova leaned in and her lips met Derek’s.

They kissed, deeply, and for a long time.

Time itself seemed to stop.

Then, they parted their lips.

“When?” Derek said breathlessly.

“We have a lot of time to plan a wedding, dearest,” Nova said softly. “Maybe on Iscandar. Maybe next week, if we agree to it. Maybe when we get home. My mother is such a pain, but it would be lovely to have a beautiful, formal wedding. Mom would expect it. Dad would understand if we tied the knot sooner. He and Mom…well…”

“Well, what?” Derek said.

“Mom was a month or two pregnant with me when she married Dad,” Nova laughed.

“Nova, are you pregnant?” Derek stammered.

“I don’t see how I could be,” Nova laughed. “I’m still…untouched, if you take my meaning. And I’m only going to give that gift to you, Derek. Only to you. After we are married, of course.”

“That’s so sweet,” Derek said. “And I will always, always be honorable to you.”

“Cross your heart and hope to die?” Nova said after they kissed again.

“Yes. Cross my heart, and hope to die, my dear fiancee’” Derek said.

“I tease you, but do you know I love you?” Nova said.

“I love you, too.”

“Good. That’s all we need,” Nova whispered.

They kissed again. Then they ate their picnic.

They did not know…yet…that later on, much later, Derek would repeat that promise, albeit in more stressful and dangerous circumstances.

PLANET EARTH HAS 259 DAYS LEFT TO SURVIVE….

TO BE CONTINUED….