Star Blazers-A Voyage to Remember Ch. 30

STAR BLAZERS: A VOYAGE TO REMEMBER

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

Frederick P. Kopetz

EPISODE THIRTY-ONE: “Meetings and Explorations”

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Planet Iscandar

April 23, 2200

Now that the Argo was free from the hell that was Planet Gamilon, they were now in low orbit over the beautiful watery surface of Iscandar. They could see the continents were narrow, and practically formed a planet-wide archipelago from pole to pole.

Venture said, “We are now three hundred kilometers over Iscandar. We’ll orbit the planet to find a suitable landing area. Eager, do you have an environmental report?”

Eager said, “It is very similar to Earth. Standard oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere. I am reading a mild temperature of between 24 and 27 degrees Celsius, roughly between 75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit in all zones. The winds are mild; maybe 15 kilometers per hour or 9 to 10 miles per hour. There’s a very slight breeze down there.”

“Guide wave coming in strongly from Queen Starsha, along with a message,” Homer said.

Homer turned on the speakers. “Greetings, my friends. You have travelled a long way to get here to Iscandar and have braved many perils. I am Queen Starsha, of Iscandar. My young sister Yurisha. I know you are on board, and I also pray that my older sister Astra has come with you.”

On the bridge, Eliza Lysis stood near Yurisha, and she bowed her head as Starsha said. “Leader Eliza, at least for now. I welcome you and your fellow refugees to Iscandar, and I offer my thanks to the Star Force for having the compassion to aid you in your hour of need. Deputy Captain Wildstar, you will make certain you land your ship at RX-180 latitude by RE-71 longitude near our capital city of Mother Town. Deputy Captain Wildstar, when you land, I request a meeting between you and your executive officers. Yurisha, Eliza, please follow them later today. You should be at the dock soon. I await you. I am Starsha. Of Iscandar.”

The message faded out.

“Coordinates laid in,” said Venture. “Iscandar, here we come.”

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The Argo splashed down in the ocean near the beautiful crystalline city of Mother Town, and she dropped anchor at a large dock with smaller docks nearby, along with entrances to what they guessed were underground docks of some type.

“I wonder where their ships are,” Derek said. “An advanced civilization like this should have many starships docked here.”

“It looks very quiet,” Nova said. “I was expecting a large ceremonial welcoming party of some type?”

“Maybe they’ve advanced beyond the need for a military,” Sandor said.

“Sandor, let down the gangplank,” ordered Derek. “Then, you, Nova and Mark will meet me at the main airlock.”

The gangplank came down, and the company of executive officers followed Derek down the stairs, breathing in the fresh salt-scented air of Iscandar like starving men and women.

Then, they all saw Queen Starsha, who appeared over a hillock.

Starsha appeared tall and willowy, with dark brown eyes and long strawberry-blond hair that blew in the breeze. She wore a long sky-blue gown with a cut-out at the cleavage that looked exactly like the gown Nova had married Derek in. She wore no jewelry nor crown, but a light seemed to come both through her and around her that was regal enough as is.

She waved to them and called out a loud, yet haunting, “HALLLOOOOO!”

Sandor looked at her and then at Nova. “She looks just like you,” he said. Nova smiled at that and blushed.

They walked in the sweet-smelling grass up the hillock to Starsha, and knowing they were in the presence of a Queen, each of them genuflected to Starsha.

“I welcome you to Iscandar,” Starsha said. “You have come a long way for the Cosmo-DNA which I have sworn to give you. I am Queen Starsha of Iscandar. This very day I shall begin to keep my promise. You are?”

“Deputy Captain Derek Wildstar,” Derek said, bowing his head slightly. Then, he indicated Nova. “And, Your Majesty, this is…”

“ASTRA!” cried Starsha. “Why didn’t you or Yurisha tell me you were coming with the Star Force? And, Deputy Captain Wildstar, where is your dear spouse, Nova the Wise? She and I have spoken much through our rings, but I have never seen her! She must be a gentle yet formidable woman.”

“Queen Starsha, there must be some mistake,” Nova said softly. “I was born on Terra, even though it appears I carry the bloodlines of several planets, unless Lady Iroze lied about me. I am Lieutenant Nova Forrester-Wildstar.”

“I see,” Starsha said sadly. “Where is Astra, then?”

“She crashed on Mars bringing us your full message about the Cosmo-DNA and the wave motion engine,” Derek said. “Unfortunately, unlike Yurisha, who crashed on Earth years ago, she did not survive the crash.”

“You mean…my sister is dead? My sister…died?” Starsha said.

“She is, sadly,” Nova said. “We brought her ashes with us. We thought it would be best if Yurisha gave them to you for burial here on Iscandar.”

“Very kind, compassionate, and appropriate,” Starsha said. “The Eternal, Secret Fire burns brightly in all of you, but it burns most brightly in you, M’Lady Nova. And Iroze did not lie, for once. There was a time long ago when Iscandar and her cousin worlds were closer to Earth than they are today. Your bloodline is a mixed one, with ancestry from Terra, Iscandar, a great lost sister world of ours known as Pellias, and even from Gamilon. Destiny has blessed you greatly and put you together with another Survivor, for your Derek Wildstar shares a similar noble bloodline, and I can foresee already you will have many children who shall be a great blessing to the Cosmos. M’Lord Derek Wildstar, please tell me what you know of Princess Astra’s end. In her last message, she said she was under attack from the Gamilons.”

Derek shut his eyes, shocked at the revelations Queen Starsha had given him. He said, “Her ship roared towards Mars, where Mark Venture here and I were stationed in an observatory. The vessel crashed on Mars. Astra had enough presence of mind to fire off her escape capsule, but she had no spacesuit. When we found her, there was nothing we could do for her, but she died clutching the message capsule you had given her to deliver to us. Her memory will always be revered on Terra, and she stands in history as one of our heroines.”

Starsha wiped away tears. “From the very moment that we learned that radiation was threatening Earth, Astra insisted upon going. Now, the future of Earth is up to the Star Force.”

Yurisha then came up, genuflected to her sister, and embraced her. “Starsha, I tried…to let them know about the danger that Gamilon posed.”

“It is all right,” Starsha said. “Please forgive me, Deputy Captain Wildstar, for not having made it clearer that Iscandar is a twin planet of Gamilon. We feared that you would not risk the journey had you known. We were wrong. We underestimated your bravery and dedication to your mission. Yurisha, may I ask why you have come?”

“The Argo’s hold is ready to receive the equipment, Starsha.”

“Deputy Captain Wildstar, please return to your vessel. We will begin loading the Cosmo-DNA equipment onto your ship momentarily.”

Derek said, “Queen Starsha, I request your permission to remain on Iscandar for a time. We need to repair our ship for the long journey home, and we have two couples who were hoping to marry here.”

Starsha nodded. “You have about four of your weeks. Take the time you need.”

At that, Starsha turned and left.

LATER THAT DAY…

Yurisha had spoken with Starsha about some of the Gamilon refugees on the Argo.

After a meeting between Starsha and (as she called herself) Leader Pro Tem of Gamilon, Eliza Lysis, Starsha made proper arrangements for some of the refugees to be housed in Mother Town; others wished to remain aboard the Argo.

So, a slow caravan of Gamilons began to bring their remaining worldly goods into Mother Town just as a hatch to the Argo’s hold was opened and small robotic jet-drones began to load boxes containing parts of the Cosmo-DNA onto the Earth space battleship.

Captain Avatar sat in a wheelchair on the dock, shivering under a blanket, as he and Doctor Sane watched the drones placing their containers aboard the ship.

Sandor looked at a checklist and said, “Captain Avatar, we’ll have all of the parts for the Cosmo-DNA on board ship by tomorrow. We will then start assembling it. We are building a lift beneath the automated navigation station to allow it to be lifted above deck level when we activate the unit on a mountain-top on Earth.”

“Why is that so important?” said Sane.

“The Cosmo-DNA generates a field that is most efficiently dispersed around the planet from a high altitude. We cannot do it while the Argo is in flight since the unit, and the ship, must be physically grounded to the object being transformed, namely Earth, for the effect to work properly, as Starsha informed me. She was very insistent on that fact,” Sandor said. “Starsha also told us that if there was an emergency and we needed to somehow decontaminate the ship, grounding the machine to the ship’s hull would be sufficient.”

“I wonder if Starsha knows something we don’t,” mused Doctor Sane. “Also, how do we know we have everything?”

“We have been following a checklist Starsha gave us,” said Sandor. “I wish we would have more time to consult the engineers of Iscandar about how to assemble the unit, but we are so far behind, the assembly process will be taking place here on Iscandar and during the cruise home.”

Orion showed up. ” Aye, and what a job it will be, too! We will probably have to have every able-bodied member of the crew assisting us in the assembly process in shifts. Based on the blueprints I’ve seen…the machine’s incredibly complex and there’s some tight spaces in there. We’ll probably have to suspend smaller crew members like Royster and Nova in there on lines to do some of the weldin’ and solderin’!”

“Well, since we have to do this ourselves, it would be a big shame if we left here and found we had left some important screw or part behind on Iscandar,” Doctor Sane said.

“I’m sure that won’t happen,” said Captain Avatar as he coughed. “Sandor and Orion are as competent at their jobs as you are at yours.”

Two days later, Wildstar had a little time to himself.

He and Nova were lying on a towel in the grass on Iscandar.

They were reading from the Gospel of John together, or, rather, Nova was teaching him that Gospel, chapter by chapter.

They were in John Three today…and…

Nova said, “Now, Derek, please read me verses ten to sixteen. Then, tell me what struck you about these verses when you read them last night. That is, if you did your homework, m’dear…”

Nova was smiling at him in the scoop-neck blue top she had on with white shots, but Derek felt warm in his purple and red polo shirt and jeans as he read aloud: “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still, you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of Earthly things, and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the One who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him…For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

“Okay,” Nova said. “I read you John 3:16 the other day…”

“That’s what’s at the end there, right? It looked familiar. How do you memorize this stuff?” Derek said.

“A lot of study, and the Holy Spirit brings it to my mind when I need it. I see He’s beginning to do the same for you, Derek. Thoughts?”

“Well, the LORD Jesus, we know He’s God the Son enfleshed, as you explained it to me…He’s trying to get through the head of Nicodemus what being born again means, and the old priest isn’t getting it. It’s like gobbledygook to him because he evidently hasn’t believed in Him yet. Now, when I believed, it felt like a light went on in a dark closet somewhere in my heart, brain…whatever! Nova, I know I probably am blathering like a complete idiot…sorry…”

“It’s okay!” Nova said to him as she put her hand over his and gave him her warm, winning smile. “Everyone’s got to start somewhere, and I was just as bad as you…probably worse. I was just twelve when He turned on the Light in my spirit when I believed. I didn’t have much of an idea what was going on, for I was alone when it happened. I tried telling my mother, and she looked at me as if I’d grown a second head or something. But my father seemed to understand. I figured it out later. Dad was a believer. Mom never was. She played the game well, but she was…play-acting. Sorry…I tend to blather when I think about my parents. I really wish my Mom would believe. She never listened to her sister, my Aunt Louise, and when I tried to explain it to her, she thought it was…a “phase” I was in. She even called our priest…thought I had gone bonkers. Luckily, our priest was a believer. You know him. Our Chaplain Father Likanski. I know it’s not an accident he’s with us. The Believer’s Baptism, I took care of with you the other day. Good thing I had on my grungies when I baptized you, hon.”

Derek laughed and Nova let him nuzzle her nose with his. Then, she said, “Enough snogging, silly boy…more studying!”

“Okay…what does the thing about the ‘Snake in the Wilderness’ mean?” Derek said. “I’m not all that familiar with Moses yet, except that he got the Ten Commandments.”

“Hmmm,” Nova said. “The Children of Israel were wandering in the wilderness for forty years, largely due to their lack of faith that God would lead them into the Promised Land. The Israelites were disobedient…they were even more thick-headed than you…”

Image result for Jesus teaching Nicodemus “Hey!” Derek said. “That’s below the belt!”

Nova giggled and said, “Well, you already know God better than a lot of them! When the Israelites were disobedient, the Lord decided to teach them a lesson, so, He sent a lot of poisonous snakes into their midst, and the snakes did what poisonous snakes will do and they bit them, and they started to get sick and die off. Adonai, a Hebrew name for the Lord, told Moses and his brother Aaron to make a serpent out of brass and raise it on a pole, and he instructed them that if they were bit by a snake, that the provision God had for them to be cured was to look at the brass serpent believing God would heal them, and so it was. A look of faith healed them. Jesus, Yeshua in Hebrew, then compared that tale, which Nicodemus, being a chief priest and Pharisee, would know really well, to what He would do on the Cross, when He, being lifted up on a pole and crucified, bearing the sin of the whole Cosmos, I think, of our world and other worlds, would heal every person ever born of sin…at least potentially. But, like any Pardon, you have to admit you’re guilty and accept it from Adonai, and when He gives you the New Birth as a gift, you are of course bound to Him forever, and you need to follow Him as your Lord and learn from Him. It takes a long time to grow; I’m sure not there yet…”

“You’re not, Nova?”

Nova humbly shook her head. “I sin every day and I do things that are just…asinine…at times. Hey, so do you! We know that. We’re honest, but both you and I, we both looked in faith to Yeshua, and just the way the Israelites were cured of snake poison when they looked in Faith to Adonai’s provision, we were also cured of the deadly disease of Sin that damned our souls…and the Lord made us alive again in Him. I told you that nothing ever worked out with those stupid boyfriends my Mom set me up with? It’s because I knew that God intended me to spend my life with someone else like me…another believer. They weren’t…but…you are.

Derek smiled at that. He and Nova continued their studies.

THREE DAYS LATER…

(April 28, 2200)

After the Cosmo-DNA had been loaded aboard the Argo, Queen Starsha noticed that the Star Force was trying to work on damage to the ship’s keel and third bridge as she sat in dock in the sea.

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Description automatically generated So, the Argo ended up in drydock underneath Mother Town for her repairs…right next to the Deathshadow.

Captain Harlock visited Captain Avatar and Wildstar aboard the Argo in Captain Avatar’s quarters.

“So, you’ve been here a while, Harlock,” said Avatar as he shook hands with him in bed.

“Yes. We had executed a strike on Gamilon before you did. We were a bit shocked to hear of the damage, but Queen Starsha told us that you had no choice since you were cornered.”

“Correct. We had no choice,’ Derek said mournfully. “So, you’re my Cousin Kazuo.”

“It’s been a long time, and I’ve voyaged far in the Sea of Stars. Harlock is a title, a nom de plume of sorts. I inherited the title and the right to what remains of the Harlock Estates in Germany from a dying, previous man known as Harlock. I met him in a Gamilon POW camp. He was almost ranting as he died, but he adopted me into his family and gave me his birthright. He had built plans for my ship, you know. Tochiro Oyama and I executed them after we escaped from the prison camp in a badly damaged Gamilon space battleship. We adapted that ship into Deathshadow.”

“Would you escort us back to Earth?” said Avatar.

Harlock shook his head. “I cannot. The Sea of Stars calls to me. I have some foresight, and I do not expect I will be near Earth again until it is almost time for me to die and I name my successor, who will, hopefully, be of our family line; a Kodai or a Wildstar.”

Derek nodded.

A moment later, an intership phone went off. Derek answered it. “Yes?”

“Derek, Nova here. I have a guest for Captain Avatar whom we met and discussed before when we visited the Deathshadow. I am almost done giving him a tour of the Argo. He is quite impressed.”

“Captain, may Nova bring our guest up to meet you?” Derek smiled a little at this. It appeared he and Nova were privy to a secret.”

“Permission granted. Tell Nova to bring this man up.”

A few minutes later, Nova tapped at the hatch outside. Derek opened it. Nova came in walking with a tall, stocky man with dark eyes and dark brown hair and a beard wearing an EDF uniform somewhat worse for wear.

Captain Avatar started, sitting up in bed, as the younger man said, “Sir, Commander Adam Avatar of the Paladin reporting.”

“My son! You’re alive! What a miracle! What happened?” Avatar said as he and Adam embraced.

“I was captured by the Gamilons on Titan, along with a few other survivors from the Paladin, including Captain Alex Wildstar.”

Derek started at that. “Sir! Is my brother Alex ALIVE?”

“I honestly do not know. We were separated. The last time that I saw Captain Wildstar, he had been severely beaten. They took him to another ship. I do not know what happened to him after that. He may still be a Gamilon prisoner. He may be dead. Don’t get your hopes up, son. Yet.”

Nova laid her hand gently on Derek’s shoulder and wiped away a tear that ran down his cheek.

“Adam, the man you are looking at is Alex Wildstar’s older brother Derek,” said Captain Avatar. “The young lady is his wife, Nova Forrester-Wildstar. They married during the cruise here.”

“I see,” said Adam. “My sympathies on your brother, Lieutenant Commander Wildstar. Captain, our ship was then attacked by the good Captain Harlock here, and we were rescued, and we joined his crew, with his good graces and approval. We have been continuing the battle against the Gamilons ever since.”

“Derek, there’s always hope,” Nova said. “Alex could be on Gamilon, and maybe he survived the holocaust we set off.”

“Maybe,” Derek said.

Captain Abraham Avatar tried not to make it too obvious, but he was very glad to see his son alive and well. They embraced again and began to talk about many things as Harlock led his cousin Derek and Nova out of the cabin.

Yurisha, in the meantime, was sitting in the grass with Erich Nishizawa.

“How do you feel?” Yurisha said.

“I was beginning to wonder if all of the sacrifices we made meant anything, until I met you and until we arrived here.”

“Until you met me?” Yurisha said.

Erich nodded with a smile on his face. “You made them worthwhile.”

“By doing what?”

“By reminding me what it’s like to be a human being again,” Erich said, smiling. “Were you planning to stay here on Iscandar? If so…”

“No. My sister wants me to come back to Earth with you. She has enough optimism that everything will work out that she wants me to begin to establish an Iscandarian Embassy on Earth…”

“As soon as we clear it with the Government. Some people on Earth are going to have a hard time about it?”

“Like your General Stone?”

“How did you know that?”

“It is easy. I know he gave the order to fire first at the Gamilon Fleet years ago, and that he gave the order for me to be assassinated out of one side of his mouth while expressing sympathy with the other side. But his doom is coming. I see that someday, there will be a change in Government on Earth during a great war, and a new President of Earth will personally execute him, and that this President will be one of your friends.”

“Can you say more?”

Yurisha shook her head. “Not now. It would spoil the flow of time. But I am amenable to something else.”

“Which is?”

“Being kissed.”

They were alone.

Erich laid Yurisha down in the grass…and they indeed began to kiss.

ONE DAY LATER….

It was near the local sunset on Iscandar, and the Argo had emerged from her drydock earlier that morning and she again sat in her dock near Mother Town on the surface.

Sam Sparks was sitting in the Messhall with Ainsley, Tiriganiaq, and Orion, gloomily eating some lobster bisque. For once, it was not synthetic. Lobsters had been found here on Iscandar, and even though the taste was a little lighter than Terran lobster had been, it was delicious.

“How’s the condition of the ship?” he asked, sounding as gloomy as ever.

“She’s coming along,” said Cody. “We finished the external superstructure of the third bridge yesterday.”

“We found a few bent frames in the hull,” said Ainsley. “We straightened some; worked around others.”

“Orion, are you sure the Argo can make it home? She’s pretty beat-up.”

Orion sipped at his bisque and kept silent, but he thought, It’s all starting up again. I have to put a plug in his pessimism…and soon. I’d better confront him alone.

“What about my plan, Cody?” Sparks whined at Tiriganiaq.

“Would you really like to know what I think?” he growled.

“Let’s have it.”

“You’re out of your mind and one hundred and eighty Goddamn degrees eccentric,” snapped Cody. “You’d better see Doc Sane or Nova for a psych consult.”

“Anyone know where she is?” Sparks said with a strange light in his eyes. “I’d love to be in her office alone with her. Or Natalie Fisher. Or Michelle Sakamoto.”

“Nova’s off the ship on liberty with Wildstar,” snapped Orion. “All I know is that Queen Starsha came by this morning for them, and where they are is none of your business, and where Fisher or Sakamoto are is none of your business, either.”

“None of the girls on this ship like me,” Sparks whined.

“We wonder why,” said Ainsley. “Don’t worry. You might find a girl for your speed back on Earth. Try the Academy washouts doing guard duty at a recycling station. You’ll find the right kind of girl for you there!”

Cody and Cory had a long laugh over that one. Sparks got up, pushed in his chair, and left in a huff.

“He’s a strange one and he’s getting stranger,” said Ainsley. “Chief, how do you put up with him?”

“By putting him on late watch,” said Orion.

In the meantime, Queen Starsha, Yurisha, and Derek and Nova were kneeling at a small grave in a vast cemetery outside of Mother Town as Starsha and Yurisha recited some words in Iscandarian and then all four of them gently laid Astra’s ashes to rest and then covered up the small grave.

“Princess Astra, my elder sister, you have, in a sense, returned home,” Starsha said. “You will rest here until the End of the Mortal Age we know. Sleep well, Astra.”

Derek and Nova stood there with bowed heads.

Finally, Starsha stood up and said, “Thank you both very much for coming with Yurisha and I. This vast cemetery is an important part of Iscandar. In some ways, it is all that is left of Iscandar.”

Nova then spoke up, “Queen Starsha, You’ve shown us many of the beautiful places on Iscandar. But you and Yurisha are the only Iscandarians we have met, along with the Gamilon refugees we brought with us and the pirate crew of the Deathshadow. Where are all of the other Iscandarians?”

“With the exception of myself, Yurisha, the evil Count Alatar, and maybe a very few surviving Iscandarians scattered out among the Sea of Stars in small ships, they…” Starsha paused, wiping her eyes.

“They are all here,” said Yurisha quietly. “And in less than a century of your years, we will join them here in the soil of Iscandar.”

Derek was shocked. “Do you mean you and Starsha are the only Iscandarians left alive on this planet?”

“If you will excuse me, Starsha, this is too painful for me to remember,” Yurisha said.

“You may leave,” replied Starsha.

Yurisha left with a now.

Starsha was now alone with the young Terron couple.

“My sisters Astra, Yurisha, and I,” said Starsha, as Gamilon rose ominously above them in the sunset, “were the sole survivors of a mysterious virus that created plague-like symptoms one hundred and thirty-five of your years ago. This virus shortened the life span of our people to a few decades or even years. Historically, one of our people can live for six or seven hundred of your years. We found the culprit early on; it was Count Alatar. He was arrested, imprisoned, and set to be executed when he escaped from Iscandar. We are not sure if he was in the hire of Leader Heyman Alois Desslar the Second or someone else. Leader Heyman was the bloodthirsty uncle of Leader Desslok Abelt Desslar, the Leader who troubled you. Desslok was a good man once, and we sent covert aid to his faction as they fought and then killed Leader Heyman in a guerilla war on Gamilon and Leader Desslok took the Throne and promised reforms. Aiding…and befriending Leader Desslok may have been the greatest mistake I ever made. In the meantime, we had no cure for the plague, so we appealed to Desslok and the Gamilons for help in peacefully finding a new planet.”

Nova cried, “But Gamilon has been attacking Terran space probes for decades and has been attacking us with their planet bombs!”

“I was naïve,” sighed Starsha. “I did not learn until some time afterwards that Gamilon’s environment was decaying. They never discovered the cause, but I think that Alatar and an evil spirit of some type who worked with him caused it to happen. As it is, Gamilon would not help us except by promising us asylum on Earth once your race was dead. That was the Gamilon way. They would not extend a hand in friendship, or ask us for help. In their fear and rage, they could only threaten and bully others. So, galaxy by galaxy, world by world, they destroyed and enslaved many worlds and cultures that could have helped them…and Iscandar. We were powerless to stop them. Then, Astra, Yurisha and I learned of what was happening to your Earth. We sent Yurisha as our first emissary, followed by Astra. You know the rest. But, come. We will be leaving this place. There is one more person that I neglected to introduce you to. He is a Terron who is not a member of the Deathshadow’s crew.”

“Someone else from Earth?” Derek and Nova said to each other.

“Yes,” replied Starsha. “And when you leave Iscandar, it will be your duty to take him with you.”

Starsha turned and began to walk towards Mother Town, saying no more. Derek and Nova followed.

After a long walk to Starsha’s Palace, they began to go up a lift.

They found themselves looking down a long stairwell.

“This way,” Starsha said.

What else is she going to show us? Derek thought.

TO BE CONTINUED….