A Voyage To Remember Chapter Three

STAR BLAZERS: A VOYAGE TO REMEMBER

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

Frederick P. Kopetz

EPISODE THREE: YAMATO

May 9, 2199

Thanks to Gail Kopetz for Beta Reading, Dtill359 for Advice, and Matt Berger for a beautiful painting included with this chapter.

On Planet Gamilon, a bald-headed officer in a brown uniform stood saluting in front of a huge desk.

“Yes, Krypt? What are you bothering me with now?” purred the dulcet voice of the handsome man who sat behind the desk.

The man appeared young, but it was said he was about one hundred and thirty Terran years old; at the tail end of his youth. Had he been a Terran, he would have been roughly thirty years old. He had a noble, youthful-appearing face with a fine, almost Roman-looking nose, heroic features, and alert eyes that were such a dark shade of brown that they appeared black. Above his high, regal brow, fine blond hair was combed in a rather neat part. The youngish-looking man wore a grey uniform with gold buttons surmounted with a red and black cloak secured at one shoulder with a pure gold brooch. His skin, however, was a light blue in tone.

The man’s name was Desslok, and he was the Leader, or Emperor, of the Gamilon Empire, and he was the somewhat warped alien genius and noble-born military officer and chemist who had ordered the bombing of Earth.

“Leader…Desslok,” said Krypt, an older Gamilon who had served Leader Desslok, his elder brother, and their father, all of whom had predeceased the Leader, “I have a report from the Pluto Front Line. Well, three reports,” stammered the bald Gamilon, who was currently Desslok’s Vice Chancellor. He also spoke in a heavy accent, since he came from one of Gamilon’s far northern cities.

“Hand me that report, Krypt. I don’t have any time for your prevarication today. I have other intelligence to concern myself with. The invasion of Terra is important, but the information General Lysis sent me is quite disturbing.”

“Sire,” said Krypt as he handed Desslok a sheath of papers. There was no sound but the low, unearthly hum of the Gamilon climate-control system in the Leader’s Headquarters as Desslok read over the reports.

“This first one is encouraging, Krypt. It appears that idiotic Zaltzian Colonel Ganz did something right for once?”

“Yes, Leader Desslok. The Earth fleet has been destroyed, except for one battleship, the Kirishima. The name of the commanding Admiral is Avatar, sir. The man has a lot of nerve. He had the nerve to call Fleet Captain Valzar’s men “Idiots” before the battle begun. The results were predictable; all ships save for his destroyed, and one Terran missile destroyer fled the area, mortally damaged. Valzar didn’t think the ship worth pursuing, but Ganz sent a patrol craft out to its projected crash site at Titan to see if there are any survivors. If so, they will be captured and brought to us for study, interrogation, and torture. We never caught live Terrans before, Leader Desslok. The Kirishima was also permitted to crawl home, sir. It was so heavily damaged that they couldn’t attack an insect, Sire.”

“Pleasant news, Krypt,” Desslok said with a smile. “This next report…What? Valzar attacked this other vessel? Iscandarian?”

“Lord, an unarmed corvette of theirs…but…”

“It has Royal Markings on it, if you can believe these images!” snapped Desslok. “Didn’t I tell you…no interference with the Royal House! We don’t need trouble with Starsha!”

“Sir, Valzar reported that the Iscandarian flying it was probably trying to help the Terrans. He said it could not be permitted near the fleet. Who could have been aboard that ship?”

“Princess Astra, Starsha’s younger sister, most likely. She’s the damned adventurous tomboy sort,” snorted Desslok. “She tried to hit me with a spanner once when she caught me kissing Starsha! What nerve! Well? Is she dead? Do I have to hear Starsha yelling at me tonight on the hot line?”

“Leader Desslok, her ship was hit, but we believe it landed on the fourth planet of the Sol System. Chances are very good that she is currently speaking with the Terrans now.”

“Let her say all she wants to,” said Desslok. “She can’t do anything to stave off Terra’s doom, and she just condemned herself to death with the Terrans. This…third report?”

“Sir, Major Bane spotted this ship out beyond Pluto in the asteroid belt of all that was left of their planet Minerva after we hit it with a proton missile years ago. We did that to the Terrans as a warning on your orders, if you recall.”

“I thought they would have surrendered then, but the stupid barbarians just began to fight all the harder. So? It’s a capital ship; a carrier by the looks of it. Why didn’t Ganz send a fleet to attack it? Was he drunk again, or mooning over his daughter Hilde?”

“Leader Desslok…we have an ident on that ship. If it is correct, and some race didn’t just rebuild some ancient wreck…it appears that, if they still even exist, the Pellian Commonwealth may have some interest in this matter…”

“The Commonwealth?” said Desslok. “They had a base once near the Telezart sector, but they were attacked and wiped out. Our intelligence was scanty, but someone took out that base. As I understand it, even if they still exist…the Pellians are just a remnant of their old glory now; a dying ember of what used to be the Iscandarian Empire. They should not concern us…”

“Yes, but what if that carrier gets to Terra? They could offer the Earthers assistance, and they’re possibly more dangerous than the Iscandarians. If you know your history, Sire, they are supposed to be Iscandarians, but an offshoot who retained the ancient warrior ways of the old Empire, although they’re supposed to be in mortal combat with some race of cyborgs.”

“Oh, yes, those weird legends about the Blackeye Galaxy? Isn’t that where Pellias is supposed to be?”

“Yes, Leader Desslok…but if Pellians interfere with our plans for Terra…”

“Then, Krypt, have Ganz blow it to space dust with an Ultra-Menace Missile, as the Terrans call our Heavy D235’s, or have him hit it with the Reflex Gun we use to send our planet bombs to Terra. It should be an easy job. How much damage can just one capital ship do to our Empire? Unless that ship is some supernatural force or ghost ship? The Terrans will never have a ship like that, Krypt. What you are hearing from the Terrans is the death rattle of a race soon to be utterly extinct. Then, we can take their Terra, which they are infesting like cockroaches, and which surely is our ancient home of Galmania, and we can occupy that husk of rock and remake it into a new Capital for the Empire and a showplace of the universe. It is orbiting a stable star that will provide us with ample energy, and it is a geologically active world we can tap for our own uses, and which can stand our exploitation better than our Gamilon, our beloved Gamilon, which is dying as we speak. The sulfuric acid. Why do you think I have the climate control system up so high today, Krypt? I was out on the balcony earlier, and the smell from the acid seas is especially horrid today” Desslok mused.

“Leader Desslok…some of the oldest Priesthood tells us that Terra may have been the Origin Point of all humanity…”

“Origin Point?” purred Desslok. “A myth, I’m sure. Ancient myths and vapors need not concern us, even if some Gamilons still believe in the dying religion of Adonai. I’m not about to repent and throw sackcloth on myself, Krypt over an old myth about Adonai. Our science is greater than any God or so-called God. You see, Krypt, here on Gamilon…I am the one and only God!”

The intercom on Desslok’s desk buzzed. “Yes?” he said with considerable annoyance in his voice.

“Sire, General Talan says he wishes an audience with you.”

“Send him in; any discussion I have with my best friend is more welcome than grousing over ancient myths. Krypt, I thank you for the report. Leave us. And make sure you tell Colonel Ganz to intensify the planet bombing of Earth. I want them wiped out as soon as possible so that I can begin planning to build my new Chancellery on Terra.”

“Yes, My Leader,” said Krypt as he bowed and let Veldt Talan pass him and enter the office in his stead.

A few hours after they had reported to the Earth Defense Forces Commander and confronted Admiral Avatar, and met Nova Forrester, Doctor Sane and IQ-9, Derek Wildstar and Mark Venture were sitting in a lounge near the Hospital Section.

“Well, come on, Wildstar,” said Mark Venture in a quiet voice. “We have to get something to eat. You won’t bring Alex back from the dead by starving yourself, dude!”

“You go eat for both of us, Venture,” said Derek. “I don’t have any appetite right now,” he said as he sat there moping and thinking of his brother.

Derek was so depressed that he was ignoring the soft, jazz-based mood music that played in the background in the lounge, and he also didn’t notice the quick footsteps of female booted feet that came behind the seat he was sitting on.

Mark Venture nearly dropped his drink when he saw that he was staring right into the face of the nurse they had met earlier that morning; Lieutenant Nova Forrester. She had on her marigold nurse’s minidress, matching boots, and she was carrying a case binder.

“Well…hello…ma’am,” stammered Venture when he saw that Nova had added a Lieutenant’s rank pin to her collar. He was about to put down his drink and Derek’s to salute when Nova just nodded and said, “Don’t worry. I don’t stand all that much on ceremony. Never did; never will,” she said, speaking in a pleasant, mellow alto voice that sounded as if she was from the Midwestern United States, although Mark caught very slight hints of a French and possibly Japanese accent in her speech.

Nova then looked at Wildstar and said, “What’s wrong with your friend? He looks a little pale. Maybe some time in the sunroom would…”

“No, it’s not that at all, ma’am. He just lost his only brother in the battle near Pluto. I understand he was in command of the Paladin…” Venture said.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Nova said in an honestly concerned soft voice as she set down her folder and crouched before Derek. “Hello there, Ensign?” she said softly. “Would you mind talking to me about what happened? I’d be happy to help you feel a bit better…”

“Well…maybe I can talk to you, Miss,” Derek sighed at Nova as he looked up at her face, her gentle eyes, and her soft smile. Something told him she wasn’t going to go away all that easily, so he said, “Uh…this…is how I feel…”

Then, IQ-9 broke the moment by coming up fast on his treads. He blinked all of his lights, looked at Venture and Wildstar, and said, “I have some important information for you two men. The woman is not included! Why don’t you make like a tree and leave, Nova?”

IQ-9, you ruined what might have been a great counseling session! Bakayaro! Nova thought angrily as she got up as quickly as she could and picked up her binder. “I’ll leave, all right! I know when I’m not wanted!” she huffed as she took off as imperiously as an angered Queen with her nose up in the air.

“THAT WAS VERY RUDE!” snapped Venture. “Apologize to her!”

“Do not be concerned. I have not yet been programmed to be polite,” said IQ-9. “I was sent here to advise you two that the message capsule you brought back from Mars has been analyzed. There is some interesting data on the capsule, even though we have not yet scratched the surface! You two are wanted ASAP at 2100 Hours at a mass meeting in Briefing Room Delta. Although I have no idea why, because you two are even more obnoxious than Miss Forrester. You kids.”

“Well, who summoned us?” snapped Derek.

“If you must know, Admiral Abraham Avatar, Ensign. Evidently, he wants you two kids to report to the Council. We’re not going to see Nova again; unless she sticks her nose in this business. She’s too smart for her own good and too nosy. I estimate there is a thirty percent chance she will be Court-Martialed soon for her impertinence to General Stone, whom she does not like. What a shame. She has a cute…face…”

ABOUT TWO HOURS LATER…

Briefing Room Delta was a roundish amphitheater-like room with a lot of round benches surrounding a lectern and a huge video panel.

Wildstar and Venture found seats near the very back bench; the room was filling up rapidly.

“There’s General Stone,” muttered Wildstar.

“Where?” muttered Venture.

“Don’t talk too loud. He’s over there, two benches over in our row. I couldn’t stand him…”

“Look, there’s Gideon,” whispered Venture as another peacoat-clad Admiral entered the room to chat with Commanding General Singleton.

“Admiral Gideon from the Academy?” whispered Derek.

“Yeah…it looks like most of the High Command is here,” said Mark. “This must be important.”

A moment later, Stone stood up to block the aisle. “Excuse me, Lieutenant! You can’t come in here! What’s your problem?”

“I have orders,” said a familiar voice as Wildstar’s and Venture’s ears perked up.

“No, you don’t!” barked Stone.

“Doctor Sane couldn’t make it, so the Admiral deputized me to report for him,” the young woman insisted in the shadows. “Need to see the e-mail? It’s on my device,” she huffed as she handed Stone her personal communicator.

“Okay, this is real,” he said. “Sit down over there near those idiot Ensigns, and keep your damn trap shut until they call on you, Forrester,” barked Stone.

“Yessir. With pleasure,” Nova said with ice in her voice as she turned away from Stone and then noticed Wildstar and Venture with wide eyes. “Did you two get orders, too?” she said with interest in her voice.

“Sit down here, ma’am,” said Venture as he moved down a little on the rapidly filling-up bench as he indicated a spot between himself and Wildstar.

“Guess I can squeeze in,” Nova said as she sat down between Mark and Derek, with her hips touching theirs. “Before we sit around here and get all cozy, it would be nice to know your names,” Nova said with bright eyes under her long lashes.

“I’m Ensign Mark Venture,” Mark said, extending his hand to Nova’s who shook it calmly. “I’m a Navigation Officer and recon pilot.”

“I was trained to fly recon in ROTC myself in Colorado, where I come from. That’s in the United States,” Nova said. “And you?” Nova said as she turned towards Derek.

“Ma’am…I…I’m Ensign Derek Wildstar. Combat Officer; trained fighter pilot, although I’ve never flown a real mission before.”

“What sort of planes do you two fly?” Nova said.

“A Type 100 Astro Fox, and the Type 51 Starfighter. Supposedly an upgraded model is being built soon,” said Derek.

“Heard the same thing myself,” said Nova. “I hope all three of us can be friends. I’m sure you figured out what I do.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Derek.

“From here on out, I’m Nova to the two of you,” she said. “If you two ever call me ma’am again, I will smack your heads together…and…shh…here comes Admiral Avatar,” Nova said.

The room went quiet as Commanding General Singleton and Admiral Avatar came up together.

Some in the room began to come to attention, but Avatar said, “There’s no need for you to salute either of us. If you salute anyone today, it should be Queen Starsha.”

The room was filled with hubbub as Mark then asked Nova, “Who’s Queen…Starsha?”

“Beats me,” Nova said.

“Wonder if she has anything to do with the Gamilons or if she can share any intel on those bastards?” Derek hissed.

“You know just as much as I do,” Nova whispered back. “And didn’t you ever learn not to swear in a lady’s presence, Derek?”

“Sorry, Nova…the war…I just want to kill a Gamilon…because of what they did to my brother, and…”

“Hush, he’s about to talk…” Nova said as she patted Derek’s hand softly. Derek was a little shocked at how soft her skin was. He looked at her again, and thought, Nova, you almost look more like an aristocrat than a nurse. I wonder what brought you to the Defense Forces?

“Gentlemen and ladies,” said Admiral Avatar into a microphone. “None of you are here by chance; all of you were summoned by me. Some of you, I feel are important enough to know all about the contents of this message capsule we received; that includes those of you who represent what remains of the United Nations, and the World Government we had to form from the UN Secretariat when Gamilon began to bomb us. This most directly concerns the Interspace Committee and its inner circle, the Earth Defense Council. Ninety-seven percent of you have high clearances, and are here on a need-to-know basis.”

Avatar then paused. “Out of this audience of exactly one hundred individuals, three of you, only three of you, do not have Alpha Level Five Gold Security Clearances. However, the Earth Defense Commander and I have seen fit to grant you three young officers these clearances, for you will be reporting to us before we play the message capsule. I see the three of you at the back of the room; would you please stand and introduce yourselves to the audience?”

Derek, Nova and Mark came to attention. “Sir, distinguished guests, my name is Ensign Derek Wildstar, Combat Specialist and fighter pilot.”

Then, Nova spoke. “Ladies and Gentlemen, I am Junior Lieutenant Nova Forrester; Nurse-Practitioner, and junior scientist and bio-chemist detailed to the Physics Section of the Defense Command.”

Venture gulped and spoke last. “My name is Ensign Marcus Venture; Navigation and Survey Specialist.”

“Thank you, officers,” said Avatar. “Ensigns Wildstar and Venture are important to this affair for they surveyed the crash site of the alien spacecraft and escape pod and they found and secured the corpse of the alien woman who brought the message to us, as well as the data capsule itself. These two young men have done yeoman work in this business. They did their jobs under great stress and safely got the information to us. In light of their accomplishments, I have taken it upon myself to promote these Ensigns to the rank of Junior Lieutenant and I have recommended both of them for the UN Star Decoration, Second Class, for their services to the United Nations. In order, Mister Wildstar, and then Mister Venture, tell us what you discovered on Mars and how you found the alien messenger’s body, ship, and the data capsule. Miss Forrester, you may be seated, but I will call upon you in a few minutes, for you assisted in the analysis of the data capsule and also assisted Doctor Sakezo Sane in the autopsy we conducted on the alien messenger. The data capsule has been played twice, and we now know the name of the brave alien woman who gave her life for Earth: Princess Astra of Iscandar. Gentlemen, proceed.”

Nova sat down with her hands folded as she listened with interest to Derek and Mark’s stories. She didn’t know all of the particulars before, but Wildstar and Venture went up in her esteem somewhat as they gave their reports. Nova watched them both make their report, and she thought to herself, They’re both okay. They have some rough spots. Mark could be a little less shy and Derek a lot more polite. He’s cute, but why does he have that filthy mouth? He’s even saying ‘damn’ here in this assembly. Doesn’t he have an ounce of common courtesy? Okay…this is an interesting story…

“Yeah…and…that’s how we found the girl…Astra,” said Derek. “For the record, she was beautiful. The only woman I’ve ever met who looked anything like her is our amazing Girl Genius Miss Forrester over here. I wonder if they’re cousins or something?” he said as the assembly laughed. Nova blushed, but she gave Derek a nice shot in the ribs with her elbow.

“What’s that for?” Derek said in a low whisper.

“Shut up! I’m not an alien,” Nova said. “I was born in Boulder, Colorado, February Second, 2178. My father is Karl Forrester, Esquire, and my mother is Doctor Teresa Forrester.”

“Miss Forrester,” said Avatar with a slight grin. “We can all hear you; you have a sweet voice that carries! Now that we’ve heard from Mister Wildstar and Mister Venture, you have the floor. Tell us how you and Doctor Sandor and his associates decoded the capsule. Then, you tell us what you found out during Astra’s autopsy.”

“Yessir,” Nova said as she briskly stood to attention. Venture noticed that for someone who evidently went to a civilian college and was commissioned through ROTC, she was older than Derek and strangely had better military bearing than he did. It also explained how come they had never seen this girl at the Academy before.

Nova began with, “After a shift dealing with children who are gravely ill with radiation sickness, and after assisting Doctor Sane with an important patient, I was summoned to the Physics Lab by Doctor Stephen Sandor, my CO in the Physics section and a previous professor of mine in school. Lieutenant Commander Sandor designated myself, Lieutenant Kaoru Niimi, and a young Ensign I know named Holly Parsons to the project. Some other men and women wished to assist, but Sandor said we were enough.”

Nova paused and said, “We tapped the capsule with activation protocols at different amplitudes and wavelengths. None of them worked, but Holly…Miss Parsons, and I got a wild idea and recommended we try hitting it with a wave at the 8,000 Kilocycle GS-5 Protocol. That worked, and we began to get the capsule to give us output. There is a lot of data on that capsule, but we opened the first two files; the marker file, and a file in a strange holographic pseudo-MPEG Five file format. We then got recognizable audio and video from it. It is as if the person who sent it knew what sort of file limitations we have, and that the message was encoded on purpose in such a way that we could access it. When we played the audio; we didn’t even have to translate it like we’ve had to with the few terse messages we have received from the Gamilons; she actually speaks Terranglish, lo and behold!”

“Who speaks Terranglish?” snapped General Stone as he got up to challenge Nova.

Why does Stone have it in for her? Derek thought in rage. His heart went out to the young lady trying to do her job as Nova stared down Stone and said, “Why, sir, Queen Starsha…of Iscandar. She’s the one you’ll hear in a few minutes. I assume you’ll be playing the message, Admiral Avatar?” Nova said as she addressed the EDF Fleet Commander directly.

“I will be, Miss Forrester,” said Avatar.

“Please, sir. Call me Nova, if you would? I’m more comfortable with that.”

The group chuckled, but Avatar held up a hand for silence. “Thank you, Nova, if you don’t mind the informality. We have all that we need to hear from for now about how Doctor Sandor, Miss Niimi, Miss Parsons, and yourself decoded the message. Please tell us, and please make it succinct, what sort of being Astra of Iscandar…was.”

“Sir,” said Nova. “Astra of Iscandar is almost indistinguishable, on the most basic level, from a Terran. She was, in old measure, an inch taller than myself, at five foot eight inches in height. Her weight was one hundred and twenty-nine pounds; slender build, well-nourished, with cream-colored skin, honey-blonde hair, and facial features that Doctor Sakezo Sane described as “aristocratic.” She had brown eyes, and we believe she was the equivalent of twenty-three years of age when she died, although genetic markers indicate she may really be much older with a longer lifespan than our race. When we examined her brain, we found it was very well-developed, with a very few small structures in it we have never before seen in a human being from Terra. Doctor Sane and I concurred that she had to be very intelligent and possibly even had psi-abilities of some type. We also performed a preliminary DNA analysis; most of her DNA is similar to that found in humans, specifically, of humans of what happened to be “noble” descent in the populations of France and Japan. However, there were a few extra features in her genome we have never seen on Earth before, with the exception of a very few individuals, most of whom are dead. Doctor Sane did the final analysis and he refused to tell me if any currently living individuals are genomic matches with these extra DNA elements found in our messenger, Princess Astra of Iscandar. We have tissue and blood samples, but the causes of death were obvious; extreme anoxia due to breathing in an atmosphere of mostly carbon dioxide, along with hypothermia. She was beautiful. I hated to assist in cutting her open, but I saw the necessary science behind it and Doctor Sane and I were respectful to her remains. Other than the samples we have from her body and her gown, when we were done, the body was carefully closed, dressed, prepared, and then cremated to protect her from ghouls and body snatchers of all sorts. I conducted her remains to the crematory myself and said the last prayers over her body and personally collected the ashes several hours later. We are currently holding the ashes in a secure area. Sir, that is my report.”

“Nova, thank you,” said Avatar. “For your role in this, I have recommended you for the UN Star, First Class, along with Doctors Sane and Sandor. Your associates will receive the UN Star, Second Class. You may be seated.”

Avatar then nodded and Doctor Sandor stood up and went to a computer console. “After Lieutenant Commander Sandor dims the lights, you will hear Queen Starsha’s message to us on the screen. Doctor?”

“Yessir,” said Sandor as he prepared everything.

A moment later, there was a strange, but soothing sound that sounded like wind chimes and different stars and planets swirled around the screen and a beautiful starfield as a startlingly young-sounding woman began to speak very recognizable Terranglish in soothing tones that sounded British with hints of a music in her voice that didn’t sound like any Terran they knew…save for one exception.

Derek’s eyebrows went up when he realized in shock that the music in Starsha’s voice sounded just a little like Nova’s voice! In fact, in much later years, when speaking very formally with a few years under her belt, Nova would end up sounding somewhat like Queen Starsha herself.

They all listened as they heard Queen Starsha speak:

“People of Earth. I am Queen Starsha the Second of Planet Iscandar. When and if my sister Princess Astra arrives safely on Earth with this message, you are to come to Iscandar. I am aware that you have only a little more than one Terran year left until the radiation from Gamilon’s Planet Bombs reaches the lowest levels of your underground cities, and means the end of all life on Earth. In this data capsule, I have sent you the plans for what is to you a new type of star drive known as a “WAVE MOTION ENGINE” along with the plans for a weapon that you can adapt from the engine design, but which must be used only in the direst of circumstances for only your own self-defense on the long and perilous journey to Iscandar. I was engaged in what you would call deep prayer before I decided to entrust this technology to you. It is very dangerous and must be used carefully! We are located about one hundred and forty-eight thousand lightyears beyond your Galactic System, in what you call the Great Magellenic Cloud. Charts and coordinates for Iscandar are in this capsule along with the engine plan.”

Starsha paused as what sounded like soft alien music began playing as her face appeared on the screen. Everyone in the room gasped audibly; she looked much like her late sister Astra, but even more regal and beautiful.

“You shall be coming to Iscandar for a Purpose. When you reach Iscandar, we will give you a machine that best translates into your common tongue as “THE COSMO-DNA”. This is a machine we have constructed that can rid your planet of the radioactive poisons of the Gamilon bombs and also will reconstruct your environment. I stress that it is the only thing that can save you. I wish that we could send you THE COSMO-DNA ourselves, but we cannot. You must reach Iscandar and return to Earth within that approximate one-year timespan to save humanity and your Earth. We will be expecting you and praying for your safe arrival. I am Starsha; of the Planet Iscandar!”

Admiral Avatar then stood before the assembly as he addressed everyone. “We also have begun analyzing the engine plans. It will be difficult, but we believe that we can construct a starship that will make the journey to Iscandar and back in just one year and then return with the Cosmo-DNA device. I have already volunteered to command this mission myself, and have accepted a voluntary downgrade to the rank of Captain to serve as the commander of this new ship. I stress that we will not be using the Kirishima for this mission, but we will be constructing a new, much larger vessel bigger than anything the UN Earth Defense Forces have fielded before for this journey. I must stress that in order to construct this new, great vessel, the Izumo Plan, which only a few of you know of, has been cancelled!”

Niimi glared hard at Avatar and then at Sandor, to whom she whispered, “One year of research down the drain; like that, all because we got some fancy capsule from some darned alien Queen, whom we know NOTHING about?”

“Niimi…peace!” snapped Sandor in a low voice. “Listen to what was decided. I wasn’t in the meeting with the Commander when he and Avatar made the decision, but we are doing something with those preparations! Although, I must say, you won’t be coming with us!”

“What?” snapped Niimi.

Avatar then continued. “What was previously known as the Secret Izumo Plan is being reconfigured for the purpose of the journey to Iscandar. As I have said, I will be in command myself. I have also personally hand-picked an elite Medical Officer who was not in on the Izumo Plan to come with us, along with two scientists whom I can only describe as geniuses. One of those scientists was in the Izumo Plan, and is adaptable enough to adjust to the needs of this new mission. The other scientist is a very young scientist who is a gentle humanist who can think outside the box, and whom I have selected personally to replace Senior Lieutenant Kaoru Niimi on the reconfigured Mission to Iscandar under a new Paradigm known for now as the “Y” Plan. I will likewise select others of like mind to accompany me as well.”

Captain Avatar then looked out at the crowd. “I will see many of you again in the next few weeks. I cannot say more. Dismissed!”

Everyone stood and saluted.

Avatar left.

“So, what does all this mean?” Derek said.

“Easy. Captain…Avatar is selecting an elite crew of Earth’s best and finest to head out to Iscandar with him aboard this brand-new starship he’s building,” Nova said. “Although I’m surprised that he said that Niimi was not selected.”

“Why?” said Venture.

“That woman,” Nova said. “She’s my Boss in the Physics Section, and she’s a computer on legs! I don’t know of a scientist smarter than her in the Defense Forces, with the exception of Doctor Sandor, who had top clearance on this “Izumo Plan”, whatever that is…or was. He told me about it once in passing, but he never told me what it was. He said I didn’t have a high enough clearance to know what it was. Whoever Avatar picked to replace her…that person must be a sheer genius that none of us know about yet! And what’s that part about that scientist being a “humanist”? It leaves me puzzled. Sounds like they picked somebody as morally straight and giving as Albert Schweitzer to be on that new project.”

“Who the…heck…was Albert Schweitzer?” said Derek.

“I see you’re learning to talk a little more nicely, Derek!” Nova said as she tapped Derek on the nose. “Albert Schweitzer was a physician, theologian, scientist, humanist, and all-around ultra-good and giving person…well…as good as one could have been on this mortal, imperfect, sinful plane. He’s always been one of my heroes, along with Admiral Grace Hopper, Admiral Louise DuPres, Doctor Martin Luther King, Martin Luther of the Reformation, and the late, long-dead US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Look those individuals up, Derek. You might find their stories interesting; even inspiring.”

“Do you think we’re going to run into each other again, Nova?” said Venture. “You sound like a very interesting person.”

“Yes, I think we probably will run into each other again,” Nova said. “Mark, take care, and all the best to you. Derek, you take care! Make sure you read up on those people I told you about; there might be a pop quiz when we meet again.”

“Yes, teacher,” Derek said as he rolled up his eyes. Nova put her hands over her mouth and giggled. Then, she said, “I’ll see you guys later. I’ve been busy most of the day. I need some sleep. If I don’t get it, I have a bad habit of getting up and walking around brooding.”

“Me too,” admitted Venture.

“I have a rough time even getting to sleep,” Derek growled.

“May I ask why?” Nova said with that strange concern in her eyes.

“Nova, you’re too kind, but you don’t need to know about my weird nightmares,” Derek said. “Talk soon.”

“Take care!” Nova said as she took off to wherever it was that she had to go.

“So, what do you think of her?” Venture said as Nova was out of earshot.

“She’s…different…” said Derek. “You know how I’ve always been with women, Mark. They’re way different than I am; they don’t think the way I think. The cute ones like her would never give me the time of day, and the skanky ones…like Diane Henson…just used me for their own ends and spit me out. They’re all just…” yecch, you’re a greasy pilot” or “I want to sleep with you so bad, Derek!” Nova doesn’t seem like that at all. She seems smarter than a lot of guys I’ve met, and she’s nice…and even a little tough. I never had a girl elbow me in the ribs like that and then act totally kind five minutes later. She’s an enigma…wrapped inside a riddle. Doesn’t she strike you as kind of…mysterious?”

“Yeah. Come to think of it, she is sort of mysterious. Like she knows a lot more about things, and even us, than she lets on. You think she’s some kind of intelligence spook or secret agent?” Venture said.

“Maybe,” Derek replied.

A while later, the subject of their conversation arrived back in her quarters.

Her roommate Natalie Fisher was there, but she was snoring like a buzzsaw. You had a normal day today, Nova thought as she yawned. Lately, my life’s been anything but normal.

Nova began to softly sing a hymn she liked called, “The Lord is my Light” as she undressed, wrapped a towel around herself (she had learned the hard way that IQ-9 liked to barge into her room at odd hours) and stepped into their small shared head to take a shower, wash her hair, et cetera.

Nova came out exactly ten minutes later with her locks wrapped in a second towel like a turban as she found suitable sleepwear in her rather small selection of uniforms and clothing; a blue sleepshirt that she liked. Nova liked this sleepshirt so much that she would still be wearing it fifteen years in the future when she had her own space battleship to command. She pulled on her sleepshirt, climbed into bed, and, after saying a few quick prayers under her breath, she read her daily dose of Scripture from a beat-up Ryrie Study Bible under the glow of her small headboard lamp above her bunk. Her father had given her this one before she had shipped out from Japan; somewhere in her sea bag, Nova had a duplicate Bible of the same type she barely thought about, along with some paperback books and novels. Nova had no idea why she was carrying that second Bible around, except for a feeling in the back of her head that someday, she would be giving it to someone who needed it far more than she did.

One of my hunches, Nova thought as she rubbed her eyes while reading around the twentieth chapter of the Book of Job. Sometimes, they come true, along with the things I wish for. After finishing Job 20, Nova randomly paged forward a little to read aloud, in a low voice, Job 38:4 “Where were you when I laid the Earth’s Foundations? Tell me, if you understand! Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!”

“No, Lord, I do not know,” Nova whispered. “That means, stop showing everyone I have such a big head, huh? When you start to learn…you just begin to realize how much you don’t really know. I wonder what Queen Starsha is really like? Is she as kind as she seems in her message?”

Nova then yawned again and closed her Bible, setting it in a small alcove by her bunk. She then turned off the light and was soon asleep.

She got maybe four hours’ worth of sleep before her phone began to bleep incessantly.

“ohh…who could be calling now? It’s 0300 Hours!” Nova snapped as Natalie sat up. “Venture, Wildstar, if either of you guys got my number from Doctor Sane or that wacky Tinwit and you think this is funny…well…you will have another thing coming!”

“Hello, who IS THIS?” Nova snapped into her comm device when she answered it. “Do you realize what TIME this is?”

“I’m sorry to bother you, Nova…as you said,” explained a grumbling voice.

“Captain Avatar! Are you all right? What about that arm wound? Are there complications?” Nova said.

“Not that at all,” said Avatar. “We are having a secret meeting in Meeting Room Twelve near the Headquarters Block. Get into uniform and get here in twenty-five minutes! Both Doctor Sandor and I want to talk with you!”

“Yessir,” Nova said as she hung up her phone.

“Nova, who was that?” said Natalie.

“Captain Avatar. The commander who came back from Pluto; I’ve been assigned to his care along with Doctor Sane,” Nova said as she pulled on fresh underwear beneath her sleep shirt, then began to just put her brown dress skirt and jacket on over it. She threw on her ascot with one hand, and pulled her boots right onto her bare feet with her other hand, one by one, dispensing with her socks.

She jumped up, ran a brush through her hair a few times, and said, “How do I look, Natalie?”

“Okay for someone who just rolled out of bed,” Natalie yawned. “Can I go back to sleep now, Nova?”

“Go ahead, Natalie-chan,” Nova said softly. “You’re lucky; you get to sleep. Sleep must be a dirty word for me.”

“Sleep’s a bad word for me, too,” said Natalie. “G ’night, Nova.”

“Good night, Natalie,” Nova said as she stepped through her door and took off running.

What she didn’t know was that would be the first step in a great Adventure that would take the next year, and lead to other adventures that would continue for most of her long life.

Nova arrived at the proper briefing room a few minutes later, to find Captain Avatar, Doctor Stephen Sandor, a white-bearded man with a bald head she didn’t recognize, sitting there with Doctor Sane, her friend from the Physics Section Holly Parsons, who was a pretty redhead, along with a girl she didn’t know who wore her hair in strange pigtails and an EDF Chaplain in uniform with a clerical collar that Nova sure did recognize! He was a youngish middle-aged priest with a genial, carved face and horn-rimmed glasses who had taught Nova in both Osaka, Japan, and Boulder, Colorado as a religion teacher, parish priest in the breakaway American Catholic denomination that Nova and her parents were members of; her friend, confessor, and spiritual advisor, Father Martin Likanski, who hailed from Hazleton, Pennsylvania.

“Father!” Nova cried in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“I was summoned, same as you, dear,” he said.

Captain Avatar cleared his throat. “Nova, it’s nice that you know our Chaplain, probably a good thing, as a matter of fact. Let me make introductions starting here. For those who may not know me, I’m Captain Abraham Avatar. I was a Fleet Admiral before the Gamilons kicked our tails at Pluto, but, after we received some intel, it was decided that the Izumo Plan was to be canceled, and this plan begun in its stead after we heard from Queen Starsha of Iscandar. I’ll fill you in on that in just a few minutes. But, first, let me give you the history of the Izumo Plan so you can understand why we decided to cancel it.”

Avatar cleared his throat and said, “A year ago, the Defense Command began to see the handwriting on the wall, so to speak, if we didn’t stop the Gamilons. General Stone and Lieutenant Commander Kaoru Niimi put their heads together with Lieutenant Commander Stephen Sandor here; this fellow,” Avatar said as he raised a hand towards the man sitting next to him at his right. “Sandor and Niimi were tasked by General Stone to design an escape vessel to take a portion of the human race and our resources out beyond our solar system to colonize a new world. Since we only had slower than light speed drives, it was decided that most of the crew on this vessel would be shipped to their destination in cryo-freeze, on a cruise that might take a hundred years; maybe two hundred years. Also, it was decided that Earth’s most important government officials would automatically have seats on this cruise; a self-appointed master race condemning most of humanity to its fate while they, perhaps, escaped and lived.”

“Captain, I’m a priest, as you can all see,” said Likanski. “My name is Father Martin Likanski. To me, that plan sounds utterly cold-blooded and immoral.”

“I can’t say I disagree with you,” said Avatar. “In fact, I was opposed to the Izumo Plan from the beginning, but every time I tried bringing up my objections in the Defense Council…I was overruled.”

“Captain, you mean that General Stone shouted you down,” Nova said.

Sandor looked at her and nodded grimly as Avatar said, “You’re pretty much correct, Nova. But, let me explain our most recent developments. During the Battle of Pluto, an alien vessel streaked into the solar system having sustained damage. It was heading towards Mars, where it crashed. Two Ensigns, named Derek Wildstar and Mark Venture were on duty there on Mars near the crash site. They found the remains of the alien ship, an escape pod, and a single young woman of alien descent who died clutching a data capsule. It turns out that the capsule and messenger came from a planet somewhere in the depths of the Great Magellenic Cloud, a small galaxy near our own. The data capsule was brought back to Earth on the Kirishima a few days ago by these Ensigns along with the remains of our alien messenger.”

“How do we know she’s an alien?” asked the young Warrant Officer with the pigtails. “My name is Yuria Misaki; I assist in the Physics Section and in Research and Development, and I have no idea why I was summoned here!”

“You’ll soon find out, Miss Misaki,” said Avatar. “You all know Doctor Sandor here. Doctor Sane, please introduce yourself.”

The chubby, shirt little bald man, stood up, coughed, and said, “My name is Doctor Sakezo Sane. I was trained as a surgeon and did my Medical Training at Central Military Hospital here in Japan and my residency at Johns Hopkins in the United States before the bombings started. I’ve learned a lot about the effects of radiation cancers and their treatment in the past few years, and I wrote a book regarding theories of what an alien race might look like, given that we were dealing with one in the Gamilons. I was married, divorced, and I had a daughter who was actually training with me up until three years ago. Her name was Aiko. She got the radiation sickness, and she died from it. Luckily, Destiny brought me a fine nurse shortly afterwards who I’ve come to regard almost as a surrogate daughter, our young genius Nova Forrester here. She’s great to work with, and if you can get her to imbibe a little bit, she makes a good drinking buddy, too!” laughed Sane.

“Please, Doctor,” Nova said with a deep blush. “You know quite well that I don’t drink very often because I get…silly when I drink. Sake’ is not a bad thing, but too much goes against my moral code.”

“Okay,” said Doctor Sane. “So, after Nova does something or another with that message capsule so we could read it…she and that wacky Ensign Holly Parsons over there got the bright idea to bombard it with radio waves or something, she comes in here in just enough time to help me autopsy our alien woman; who is mostly human, but who has a little bit of strange DNA only seen in a few individuals, along with some odd development in bits of her brain structure, like the hypothalamus and other structures, which seem consistent with the alien woman being able to think quickly and might mean she was psychic. Nova here heped me piece together the idea that our dead Princess Astra, as it turns out, really came from a different world than our own.”

“I heard there was a meeting earlier that I wasn’t invited to,” said Father Likanski.

“Same goes for us,” said Holly Parsons and Yuria as they looked at each other and Nova. “Chief Nova here is closer-mouthed about this thing than Frodo Baggins was with the One Ring to his Hobbit friends in The Lord of the Rings, but it’s obvious she and Doctor Sandor know that something’s up.”

“If I may explain,” said Sandor. “The message came from an alien world known as Iscandar. A woman spoke in the message, a Queen Starsha. Starsha said she included plans for a faster than light drive called the Wave Motion Engine to allow us to power a new spacecraft to Iscandar and back to pick up a machine she called The Cosmo-DNA. That machine, she said, could remove the radioactive contamination from Earth and restore our environment. By my estimates, in sixteen months from now, the radiation will seep so deep into the planet that even the lowest levels of the underground cities will be too irradiated to live in. That mans in sixteen months, we have to build this new…starship, find a crew, and get moving to Iscandar.”

“And a handy task all that would be, but it’s do-able,” said the old bald man with the mustache and beard in a deep Irish brogue. “I am Lieutenant Commander Patrick Orion, and I’ve been Captain Avatar’s Chief Engineer aboard several of his commands in the past twelve years. I’ve also worked with Doctor Sandor in the past. He and I, on short notice, got the idea that we could take the partially finished hull that was built for the Izumo Plan and adapt it for this new Plan to go to Iscandar and back again. Captain, if I can pass out these folders, this will make more sense soon.”

“Go ahead,” said Avatar.

“In these folders, is a brief description of what we were trying to accomplish with the Izumo Plan,” said Orion. “It involved the construction of a new space cruiser ship, partially from metal recycled from and melted down from a few shipwrecks in the Great Eastern Sea, or East China Sea, not far from here. These were old World War II vessels which sunk in 1945 near the end of the war between Japan and the old United States of America. The largest of them is providing the most metal, and we were partially adapting the general hull plan into the Izumo Plan vessel. With Queen Starsha’s message, the Plan Objective has changed, and we are planning to engineer the wave motion engine into this large, partially finished ship and reconfigure her into a space battleship like nothin’ we’ve ever built before. Ladies and Gentlemen, turn to Page One of the book before you and look at the general schematic of what we think the ship will look like…for the new plan…The Yamato Plan or Project Yamato.”

Those not familiar with the plan looked in awe at a painting of a huge new spacecraft.

She was a very graceful and yet powerful ship with a blue-grey upper hull and works, and bright red lower hull, with a bright red accent on her funnel or smokestack, which was retained in the design.

She was bristling with guns; both in huge main turrets and massive pulse laser batteries on her flanks. The hull was incredibly streamlined; with three massive engine nozzles at her stern.

The clipper bow had a shield with huge hawse holes around the fo’castle, and the ship even had massive anchors. Much of the bow was hollowed out and replaced with something that, to Nova, resembled…

“Captain Avatar…is that a giant cannon at the bow?” Nova asked. “I’ve never seen a design like this before! It almost looks…romantic!”

“Nova, that is a giant cannon in the bow,” said Avatar. “You’ll learn more about it soon if we can get everything to actually build and work right in the Yamato. Do you see those large radar aerials above the first bridge on the top of the conning tower? They’re actually going to be sophisticated sensors. Kaoru Niimi was to have operated that setup and also served as the ship’s Operations Chief. Because she was so inured with the Izumo Plan, I decided to remove her from the project. She won’t be coming with myself, Doctor Sandor, Lieutenant Commander Orion, and Doctor Sane on the mission to Iscandar. Instead, we picked out a new, more adaptable scientist and humanist to take her place and run Operations on this ship; should the scientist accept it, that is.”

“Who?” Nova said softly.

“You, of course,” said Avatar with a chuckle. “Sandor will be the Executive Officer and in charge of shipboard maintenance, systems engineering, and will be the chief scientist. Lieutenant Commander Orion has volunteered to join us as our Engineering Officer, and Doctor Sane will be with us as Chief Surgeon,” said Avatar. “If you choose to come, Nova, you will be in charge of the radar and sensor suite, and run personnel and ship’s operations, supervise the cooks, survey officers and men and women, a multi-disciplinary team of botanists, physicists, and Communications Officers. And you will be Doctor Sane’s right hand as his Nurse-Practitioner. Do you accept this challenge?”

“Sir…I do,” Nova said after a moment’s thought, thinking, this is the moment when I step into the wardrobe and end up in Narnia, right? This is crazy, but…who else can do this? I can’t let them down! I just can’t!

“Great. I selected Miss Natalie Fisher to be your second, along with Warrant Officer Misaki, and Father Likanski is a trained combat medic and of course, Chaplain. So, tonight, I have my Medical Group, Technical Group, Engineering Group, and Operations Group Leaders for a ship that’s just forty percent finished. Miss Parsons will also be aboard in the Navigation Group. We have to get the Yamato built and ready in four months from now, and get a crew aboard her and trained. Nova, that’s also where you come in. Our new outfit will be called the Star Force. Go find me about two hundred and twenty of Earth’s best and brightest to be my Combat Chief and Gunners, Navigation Officer and assistant navigators and astrogators, Communications personnel and engineers, and support personnel of all kinds, along with fighter pilots, who will be flying two types of fighter planes; a new fighter-bomber we are calling the Black Tiger, and a new fighter we are calling the Super Starfighter or Cosmo Zero. You and Sandor get me a crew, and I’ll make final approval. Have anyone in mind, Nova?”

“Well… I may have you a Navigation Officer…and a Fighter Captain. That is, if I can teach him to stop cursing so much,” Nova said with a chuckle.

“Good,” said Avatar. “Nova, get me their service records. I also want you to keep an eye on them. I’ll send you an e-mail telling you what we will expect from these officers. Consider them your special lost lambs to drag into our fold. You too, Sandor. You know the Tech People out there. Find me the best ones.”

“Yessir,” Nova and Sandor said together.

FOUR AND A HALF MONTHS LATER

September 21, 2199

“This makes no sense at all, Venture,” Derek Wildstar said as he stood at alert-thirty in a hangar bay. “Out and scan this in a Type 100 recon plane. Get pictures. Get back. Now and then, they’re nice guys and they let me fly that new bird, the Type 52 Super Starfighter. But I’m not supposed to engage any Gamilons with it, which makes no sense whatsoever when I want action! What do they have you doing?”

“Pretty much the same thing when they don’t have me in that stupid simulator,” said Venture. “I have no idea what I’m being trained for. I hear the Kirishima is being scrapped, piece by piece…or something. We don’t even have any heavy ships left!”

“I get the simulator…crap…too,” said Wildstar as he looked around. “Do you get the mandatory therapy sessions, too?”

“Well, I don’t know if I can call those twice-a-week lunches with that Nova chick as friendly lunches or headshrinker sessions,” said Venture.

“Kind of both,” said Derek. “Did she pull you aside one day and have you sit around with her at a table and take a personality test? I got three of them, including those crazy inkblot cards.”

“Yeah, I got those too,” said Mark. “Did she have a test that she said there was no right or wrong answer for but it included writing a poem?”

“Yeah, come to think of it, I did,” said Derek.

“What was your poem about?”

“Wanting to smash some Gamilon’s head against a wall because he killed my brother,” said Derek. “Nova said that was okay only as long as I did it in the line of duty. Do you believe her?”

“Yeah…there has to be some limits on killing the enemy, or we’ll turn into them.”

“You know, that’s exactly what she said to me,” said Derek. “I also read about all of those people she spoke about; Albert Schweitzer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was really into women’s rights as a judge, and of course, I read the writings of Dr Martin Luther King and Martin Luther. Then, there was Admiral Grace Hopper, the first computer designer, and Admiral Louise DuPres, the computer whiz. When I told Nova I did my reading, she was happy. Then, the next week, she introduced me to Admiral DuPres. And that was the really weird part! She’s a bit older, but she sort of looks like Nova and even sorta sounds like her! I almost wonder if they’re related. And it got weirder. There I was with this DuPres character, and with Nova, both of them talking a little over my head, and then they both ask me how to solve a computer error in a fighter plane in the middle of a battle! I came up with an answer on the spur of the moment. It was crazy, but I think they both liked it.”

“Yeah…and I get the sense that Nova’s around watching me when I run that simulator. Taking notes or something in her head,” said Venture.

“I get the same sense when I’m running that gunnery simulator and she just shows up. She even showed me how to run a few routines on that thing,” Derek said. “I wonder if there’s anything that young lady doesn’t know about. I asked her one day, and she said, “I’m like the university professor just two lessons ahead of the rest of the class. When I’m not nursing, I live, eat, and drink this stuff.” I have no idea what kind of answer that was…”

“If she wasn’t so nice, I’d say she’s weird,” said Venture.

Then, klaxons began to sound in the flight bay.

“EMERGENCY ALERT! A GAMILON PLANE SIGHTED NEAR THE SITE OF THE SUNKEN BATTLESHIP YAMATO!”

“Come on, Derek, let’s do some real flying!” said Mark.

“Well, Alex and I were gonna take some liberty together, but…let’s go do some flying ourselves!” Derek snapped.

Mark nodded and they ran towards the nearest armed Type 100 Bravo recon plane. Derek had flown some familiarization flights in this bird, so he knew what he was doing. “Well, there’s no one else around!”

Then, they heard the Squadron Chief, a by-the-book officer known as Lieutenant Peter Conroy yelling at them, “Hey! What’s the big idea! You guys aren’t cleared to take off!”

“Let’s go, Venture,” said Wildstar as he cracked the canopy shut.

“Here we go,” agreed Venture from the rear place of the recon plane.

Some time passed.

Venture said, “I wonder what the Gamilons want with some old sunken battleship?”

Derek said, “Hmmm…I heard about the Yamato. I saw the wreck from very high altitude once when I took Nova up on a flight to test some scanners that she and Sandor developed and put in a pod on a Type 100. The Yamato was a great battleship once; she’s just scrap now!”

Derek said, “Hey…I have something on the radar!”

He caught a blip, and soon, they had a Gamilon recon plane within visual sight.

“There he is! Let’s get him!” snapped Derek as he flew around to meet the enemy ship.

“He’s at nine o’clock, Wildstar!” said Venture as Derek jinked around and caught the Gamilon ship in his gunsight.

“Locked on target…eat some missiles, you Gamilon!” snapped Derek.

Derek flipped the firing pickle and fired.

Nothing happened. Red lights appeared all over his dashboard.

“What…the?” Derek snapped.

“No missiles loaded,” said a flat computer voice in the Type 100’s cockpit.

“Okay, you son-of-a-bitch…how’s about some laser guns?” Derek said as he caught the enemy plane in his sights again and flicked the firing pickle to “guns”.

Derek fired. One laser burst came out, but the Gamilon jinked around.

“He’s over there!” yelled Venture.

Derek lined him up in his sights again and fired again.

“WHAT THE…?” yelled Derek.

“Insufficient energy to power guns…engine manifold overheating,” said the flat computer voice as more red lights flashed.

The Type 100 began to go down.

“Our engine’s overheating! No thrust!” said Derek.

“Oh, crap this pile of junk!” snapped Venture. “Wildstar, why did you have to steal a stupid old recon plane?”

Then, the plane went down and smacked into Earth’s dry, dead, red surface.

“Ohh…damnit, Venture, you okay?” said Derek as he rubbed his helmeted head.

“Yeah, what about you?” said Venture.

“What lousy luck!” snapped Derek as he got out. “If only this bucket of crap warmed over would have held out another minute!” he said as he punched the fuselage hard with her gloved fist.

A few minutes passed.

They had used the plane’s radio to call for a pickup, and they were just walking over hills that used to be the ocean floor of the East China Sea.

“We’re going to get it when we get back,” Venture said.

“Why would the Gamilons send a patrol plane way out here?” said Derek. “This is worse than the middle of nowhere; this is nowhere!”

They topped a hill and then looked down in amazement at the sight.

They were looking at a rusty, battered wreck of a ship which had once been a sleek, mighty battleship.

Now, it was junk.

They were looking down at the wreck of the Yamato.

“Isn’t that the Yamato?” said Venture.

“It’s just a pile of scrap metal,” said Derek. “That baby will never move again!”

“Why would the Gamilons be interested in a rusty old shipwreck?” said Venture.

“I don’t know…perhaps…there’s some secret?” Derek said.

As we end this chapter, I must burst back into the narrative again.

Derek and Mark didn’t know, but, by then, **I** knew what was going on deep under the Yamato. In fact, I had already boarded her several times, sworn to deepest secrecy about the Project.

To end this chapter, I think it will be appropriate to end with a poem, or sort of unrhymed verse, that I wrote about the Yamato when I first saw pictures of the ruined, yet still-majestic wreck.

The Yamato was a proud ship.

She fought nobly until the end.

While rust and decay have taken away her once sleek beauty, her legend remains bright;

A legend of bravery and desperate sacrifice.

Now, just as the ancient ship appears again, her legend will come alive again.

A legend and a ship…which will save Earth.

TO BE CONTINUED…

TO BE CONTINUED…