ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE

STAR BLAZERS—THE ENTROPY WARS

By: Frederick P. Kopetz

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CHAPTER SEVEN: BORN IN BLOOD

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I. OF BLOOD AND FIRE…

The Solar System

The Jupiter Area

Space Battleship Argo

June 15, 2231

0912 Hours

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

In just a few minutes, it had proven to be a very ferocious battle for both the Argo and the Potemkin.

The Argo had taken seven more hits from the Potemkin. Her previously pristine white anchors on the sides and bow were now halfway obliterated with burnt paint and scored atmospheric re-entry coating due to glancing laser hits from the Potemkin, and the Argo was also smoking heavily due to a hit on her port side as her main guns locked on both the Potemkin and a flight of fighters that the grey and cream space battleship had launched.

“This is utter insanity!” yelled Eager in a high voice. “They’ve now have ten o’ their Red Cossacks comin’ right at us!”

“Black Tigers, take off!” snapped Jonathan Hartnell-Wildstar in response from the Captain’s Chair of the Argo. “First Squadron only!”

“ROGER THAT!” yelled Alex Wildstar II from the cockpit of his black-gold-and-red Cosmo Tiger III, which was now ready for takeoff.

Alex grabbed his helmet hard as Jason Conroy, the son of the famed Cory Conroy, ran up to him and snapped, “Sir, should I be ready with second squadron?”

“You aren’t launching yet, but get on Alert Three!” snapped back Alex as he pushed out of his eyes the chestnut-brown hair he had inherited from both of his parents.

“Yessir, Fighter Captain!” mocked Jason.

“Cut the crap, Jayce!” Alex snapped at his old friend.

Soon, Alex shut the canopy, and in a moment, his Tiger III roared into combat, followed by eleven others. He left his squadron’s experimental Cosmo Zero Type 53 behind in the fighter bay as he blasted off. The Argo deployed only two of those planes, but Alex knew those new birds, outfitted with a joint developed Pellian/Terran stardrive that made them warp-capable, were simply too hot for him to handle.

After Alex launched, he saw the Argo’s two SMITE projectors deploying near the bow.  Dash snapped in his ear, “We are deploying you guys right above the damn Potemkin. We know for a fact her SMITE units are down. When you warp out, take out her damned main guns at once!”

“GOT IT!” barked Alex. “We’re in position!”

“ACTIVATE SMITE!” snapped Jonathan from the Captain’s desk.

Dash did so. The Tigers faded in bursts of blue light, only to reappear over the Potemkin a moment later.

Alex whooped like a madman as his planes dive-bombed the EDF Space Battleship, blasting her gun turrets to bits in a few moments.

“Job One Finished!” yelled Alex.

“Back to the ship!” snapped Jonathan. “The Red Cossacks are on our butt!”

“Roger that!” said Alex. “Squadron one, Back to the ship!”

The Tigers roared back, with each Tiger homing in on a Cossack as it returned.

Alex lined up a Cossack in his sights, fired, and grinned as he brought down his first bird ever in real combat.

“Splash One!” he yelled to himself, laughing as he corkscrewed about for another attack upon another enemy plane.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

In the meantime, things aboard the Potemkin were even less pleasant.

Admiral Shimabara had just killed Haim Schaeffer, his own helmsman, after he had refused an order to warp out and ram the Argo.

So, the old man had taken the helm himself, ignoring the suggestions of his bridge crew (which included even Anya) to pull out and seek reinforcements rather than continuing this battle;  one which had already cost the Star Force twenty dead and had cost the Potemkin’s crew 45 dead.

Shimabara himself turned about, avoiding streaks of main gun fire from the Argo, and he warped out.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

A moment later, he warped back in with a vengeance, smashing into the Argo near her bow as Jonathan and his bridge crew screamed at the impact as the Potemkin faded in abruptly from the Fourth Dimension.

The Argo’s lower bow slammed into her upper bow, and there was a hideous grinding noise and much in the way of sparks as the burning Main Battleship slammed into the burning Argo.

Then, there was silence.

“That suicidal maniac!” yelled Star Wakefield from her place at the Cosmo Radar.

“My head…” said Dash as he picked himself up from off the deck. “I’m seeing double, sir,” he said as he looked back at Jonathan and saluted.

“Take his station, Lieutenant Teyena!” said Jonathan.

The furry Rahlken girl swung her tail, nodded, and saluted. “With pleasure.  Can we still hit them with missiles?” she asked.

“Signal coming in from the enemy ship,” said Homer Glitchman from his old post.

“Put it up on video,” said Captain Hartnell-Wildstar.

The leering face of Admiral Shimabara loomed large in the scene as he laughed, drooled, and said, “In case you haven’t noticed, Captain Hartnell-Wildstar, you’re a Goddamn Rebel and you’ve killed half my crew. I have reinforcements on the way. I have you stopped. You’d better surrender now, you diseased, long-haired son-of-a-bitch from Hell! Who appointed you Admiral Wildstar and gave you the keys to the Argo, kid?”

“We meant to leave Earth on a peaceful mission, Admiral, but unlike Admiral Gideon, you attacked us first and did not even give us a chance to explain our position,” snapped Jonathan. “Is this the sort of action that Admiral Wildstar and the Earth Defense Commander condone, sir?”

“Those men are obsolete,” said Shimabara as the sense of cold he radiated made Star Wakefield shiver in her seat. “They are part of the Old Order, and I have word direct from the President and Prime Minister Forrester they are about to be asked to resign for moral turpitude. A New Order is dawning, young man. An Order in which the flickering Ghosts of Iscandar and Pellias have nothing at all to do with, and this is an order Gamilon and Rikasha would do well to recognize and obey, else they shall soon join the Pellians on the trash-heap of history!”

“What IS this “New Order” you speak of?” hissed Jonathan as Alex ran onto the Bridge, followed closely by his sister Ariel, who came as if she was summoned.

Ariel noticed her own sister Anya on the screen on the Potemkin, and she practically bored holes in her sister with her eyes.

Anya hissed, under her breath, “Shut the hell up, Ariel!”

“I haven’t said anything!” snapped Ariel.

“But aren’t you thinking it, bitch?” snapped Anya. “You’re a traitor,” she simpered, mocking her elder sister. “Wrong again, Ariel, dear. You’re the traitor. I’ll have a great time slapping you silly when we board your ship and retake it.”

“Like hell you will!” roared Alex.

“Try me,” hissed Anya as she drew her Cosmo Gun on the screen.

“Whose side are you on, bitch?” hissed Shimabara.

“You’re about to find out, sir!” laughed Anya as she twirled her sidearm….

…and jammed it into Shimabara’s side and fired.

“Haven’t you ever heard the expression “Blood is thicker than water?”” hissed Anya…

…as Shimabara began to shimmer as if he was warping away, and he laughed even as he held his bleeding side.

Anya kicked him and wrestled her way out of his arms as he vanished.

Then, as a shocked Star Force looked on, Anya grinned, saluted, and said, “To my knowledge, I’m now the surviving ranking officer of the ESS Potemkin. As such, I surrender my vessel to you, Captain Hartnell-Wildstar, and we will offer you no resistance when your men board us to take us to the Brig. Unless, that is, you could use maybe fifty-five surviving crew members and a space battleship in need of repair for your cause? You could surely use an escort.”

“I accept your surrender, and ask you to board the Argo at your convenience. After he is treated in Sickbay, Captain Dash Yarnell will assume command of your vessel and oversee repairs underway. That is…after we get separated.”

“Yes, we do need to get separated first,” said Anya. “And I need to put on clean underthings.”

Alex and Ariel both laughed like crazy and Anya gave them the finger as she faded off the screen.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

II. OF A REPORT…

Earth

The Tokyo Megalopolis

Earth Defense Headquarters

June 15, 2231

1425 Hours

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At Earth Defense Headquarters, Admiral Wildstar was sitting in the Situation Room, listening with some surprise as the Potemkin, at least, reported in a few hours after the battle.

“I’m a bit surprised that you’re in charge out there, Dash,” said Admiral Wildstar.

“So am I,” said Dash. “For one thing, my head’s still spinning and I’m still seeing double after that battle back on the Argo.”

“Where are you and the Argo now?” said Derek.

“We’ve made two more warps, and we’re beyond Earth’s territorial space, out beyond Arcturus,” said Dash.

“Why isn’t Captain Hartnell-Wildstar reporting if he’s in charge of this operation?”

Dash grinned and said, “Well, parts are being produced on the Argo, but after the battle, so our ship could communicate, they took some parts from the Argo, which can’t communicate until after she produces some new comm system parts.”

“What flag are you flying?” said Admiral Wildstar. “The reason I ask is because President Kueller considers both of your vessels rebels now. Efforts are being made to change his mind, but I may receive orders to intercept both of you soon, if I’m ordered to the Aquarius…”

“You can join us, Wildstar,” said Dash. “I’m getting word that some other Admirals on Shimabara’s side are out looking for us with orders to destroy us both….”

“Sir,” said a Captain in Headquarters, a Captain Holland. “The space battleships New Hampshire, Amagi, Brunswick, Galway, and Borodino have also defected from their normal courses, and they are refusing orders to return to their stations. Admiral Hampden on the New Hampshire seems to be in command of this rebel force, and they have announced that they “are in sympathy with the martyr Admiral Shimabara,” and that they are now part of the “…forces of the Greater Terran Empire.”

“Terran Empire?” said Derek as his mouth fell open. “Has this been announced to the people of Earth yet?”

“It couldn’t be helped,” sighed Nova as she came in in her EDF whites and saluted Derek and lifted her cap.  “Hampden had some method of tying into regular communications on Earth. He’s been seen on every network.”

“Well, what the hell is the President doing?” Derek snapped.

“He’s in conference with General Singleton now,” said Nova. “I just saw the Commander. In the hospital.”

“In the hospital? What happened?” Derek said.

“He was diagnosed with a heart attack,” Nova said. “I looked at his EKG tapes, and found while he does have a heart arrhythmia, there seems to be something else behind it. I’ll explain later. My mother’s also on the warpath again. I was kept out of my father’s office. By her. She refused to tell me why, but I have…my suspicions…”

“What?” said Derek. “Nova, you’re a member of your father’s Cabinet…your mother can’t refuse you access to your father on official business!”

“You go tell her that,” said Nova. “I don’t know if you saw the communique’, Derek, but Admiral Hampden made an open declaration that shocked us…that shocked even me.”

 “What?” said Derek with rage on his face. “Stop playing twenty questions, Nova! What is it?”

Nova glared at Derek and said, “We don’t have to worry about proving to the world Ekogaru is alive any more, Derek! Admiral Hampden has both done it for us…and has also proclaimed Him the Head of the Terran Empire…and the true ruler of Earth!”

“Christ, NO!” Derek snapped. “Then?”

“Derek, we’re now facing both an alien invasion, it would appear…and a Civil War. The Argo has to be given freedom of agency at once to investigate everything she can find about Ekogaru…and to prepare to act in reserve as your flagship in the event you can’t get to the Aquarius…or in the event she is destroyed or immobilized.”

“And how do we do that?” Derek said.

“I have an idea, but it’s…a bit devious,” Nova said. “To your office?”

“Admiral North?” snapped Derek.

“Yessir?”

“You’re in charge here until I come back with Senator Wildstar,” Derek said. “Don’t go joining Ekogaru…all right?”

“Sir, why would I want to do…”

The door to Singleton’s old office slammed shut as Derek closed and locked it.

“…that?” said the Admiral. He shrugged and said, “There are times I don’t understand that guy, Commodore Kojima.”

“Or that weird dame, sir,” said Kojima.

“You’re talking for both of us.”

_______________________________________________________________________________________

III. CHANGES…(of all sorts)

Deep Space

Beyond the Arcturus Region

Space Battleship Argo

June 16, 2231

1015 Hours

_________________________________________________________________________________________

A very strange gathering of forces was underway over the next twenty-four hours.

In deep space, five lightyears beyond Arcturus, the Argo and Potemkin encountered the Amagi’s Task Force, and the two space battleships had destroyed four of the Amagi’s escorts and had caused the Amagi to run from the region with damage around midnight on the sixteenth.

Later that morning, on the sixteenth, the Argo and Potemkin were joined by the space battleship Kawachi, the spacecraft carrier Kaga, and the large space battleship North Carolina, which had been Nova’s former command back in the battles of 2214 against the Bolar Federation. The five-capital ship task group then fought a skirmish with a Bolar space battleship fleet, and the five ships neatly destroyed the Bolar fleet with the use of their wave motion guns.

Luckily, the Argo, by then, had had its comm equipment repaired, since at the moment, she was receiving a coded signal…

…from, of all places, the Pellian Embassy on Earth.

“This signal is weird,” said Homer as he listened.

“Who’s it from?” said Jonathan Hartnell-Wildstar.

“Lady Novalia…the Pellian Ambassdor to Earth,” said Homer. “MESSAGE ENDS,” he said. “I’m going to play it back now. However, I have been advised that this communication is…secret and applies only to the Argo.”

“Well, what does it say?” said Jonathan.

“MESSAGE BEGINS,” said Homer. He flicked a switch, and the gentle voice of Lady Novalia began. “It is the wish of the High Queen of Pellias that this message is to be heard by every crew member of the space battleship Argo.”

Jonathan flicked a switch, and Novalia’s voice was heard on every speaker aboard the ship.

“I speak to you this day at the request of the hidden High Queen of Pellias, who, after consulting with Astrena, the Ruling Queen, has made a decision in regard to the Terran Space Battleship Argo, which is now, We understand, fleeing Earth now as a Rebel vessel. The High Queen has foreseen that the Lord Ekogaru, is the true power behind this blighted, so-called “Terran Empire”, and that he seeks your doom, and the enslavement of all of Earth. Unfortunately, evil and corrupt men and women are accepting his diseased call to join forces with him, so the High Queen has decided that the true spirits of the peoples of Earth and Pellias must join forces. To you, she has decided to reveal her true face and name to those of you who do not already know it, which is, we believe, most of you, and to take you under her Protection…”

Under her Protection? Homer thought. I don’t get this part…who the heck is this Queen, anyway?

“…she has decided to reveal herself to you, and in return for your Allegiance, she offers to protect you by giving you, or restoring to you, a proud name and an ancient tradition as a Royal Ship.”

A moment later, Novalia’s voice, on the tape went dead, and, without any action whatsoever from Homer, the Argo’s video screen came on, and Alex Wildstar II, who had changed his uniform, and was currently sitting in his father’s old place at Combat on the Argo’s First Bridge, stood up and yelled, “MOM????”

“That’s not your mother,” said Jordy Venture from the helm. “Alex, she’s one of the one hundred thousand mysterious space goddesses in the Cosmos who happens to look like your Mom.”

 “Jordy,” said the immediately recognizable voice of Nova, which came from everywhere, Just like Starsha’s voice on the way to Iscandar, thought Eager in sudden shock as he stood up, looked at Nova’s face as she glowed with a soft blue aura, lightly clad in only her white Pellian Ceremonial Gown over her bare skin as she sat back on some sort of grey seat, her Crown Imperishable burning at her brow.

Nova’s image, gentle, yet filled with an aura of Command none of them had ever seen before, caused Eager to genuflect on one knee.

“…Majesty,” said Lieutenant Teyena, the Rahlken, with awe in her eyes as she genuflected, and she said, “Lady, what is your will?”

“How’d you get promoted to a space chick?” Homer said nervously as even he genuflected to Nova, something he never thought he’d be doing before.

“My process of Change took many years,” said Nova. “It really began over thirty years ago, after I was revived by the Cosmo-DNA, and a heritage I never could have dreamed of was revealed in me. Like Sasha of Iscandar, and like you, Star Wakefield, Sasha’s daughter, the blood of Iscandar and the blood of Pellias flows in my veins, and the Blood of Pellias is High Royal Blood. I am one of the last survivors of a line thousands of years old, as you, Ariel, Anastasia, and Jonathan already know,” Nova said, smiling when Ariel entered the Bridge through one set of doors and Anya came through the other. “Only our Teresa, who is still in space, and Mark, who is on the Phoenix, are not present in person, but I know you both can hear Me in your minds.”

Nova smiled at the group and said, “In having this ancestry, I share some of the abilities of the Iscandarians and the Pellians, and the King above all, Yahweh, the King of Kings, has seen fit for me to bear the Pellian Inheritance of the Matrix, a Divine Gift to counter the blackness of Ekogaru, a Gift spurned by She who once bore this, the first true daughter of Astrena of Pellias, the Pellian Ruling Queen and Prime Minister. I have been invested years ago with the Grace of God in the Matrix, and the Grace of Being the last High Queen that we can foresee, the Enemy of Ekogaru. We are about to embark upon a Great Adventure that shall lead to the destruction of Ekogaru’s Darkness. As Earth spurns you, and as Pellias has adopted me, I also adopt all of you, my dear friends. And as the High Queen, I now place the Argo under my command and protection, although you are still under Derek’s direct command as loyal soldiers of Terra…and of Pellias. As cover for your business, until the time comes when I can join you, as I foresee I shall, in Person, I ask that you drop the name Argo and assume an ancient travelling name, the name of the Yamato, as a vessel of the Pellian Fleet. Do you accept this?”

“We can easily reprogram the ship’s transponder, Nova, if I can still call you that,” said Sandor.

Nova laughed and said, “Of course you can, Steve! Derek and I will be in touch with all of you soon. Jonathan, I take it you accept?”

“I accept your command, Majesty,” said Jonathan.

“Good. I will be watching over you. I can foresee one thing. You will find something for your quest soon on Planet Jamella. It’s still under Rikashan rule, and will provide a safe haven for a time. Travel to Jamella, and you shall soon hear from me again. Best wishes and clear ether,” Nova said, saluting in the familiar fist-to-the-breast salute of the Star Force.

The others returned her salute, and then, she vanished.

The Yamato’s screen thus went dark.

“Sandor,” said Jonathan. “Change the transponder. Homer, transmit to the Task Force. Venture, prepare a course to Jamella; it’s maybe a thousand lightyears away. Then…”

“Then, what?” said Alex from his post.

“Then, we wait.”

“Just like Mom,” snorted Anya. “Just like Mom…”

_________________________________________________________________

One day later, on Earth, a battery of reporters surrounded Prime Minister Karl Forrester as he strode into Parliament.

There were all sorts of questions, and some of them were not friendly.

“Is this list really the list of your new Government, Mister Prime Minister?”

“Why has your wife been refusing permission from your seeing visitors or the Press?”

“What is really going on out there around Arcturus?”

“What is the Terran Empire?”

“Why don’t you resign and let Admiral Shimabara form a military Government?”

“Is Ekogaru really dead?”

“Is Earth facing invasion?”

“Are we at civil war with the Star Force?”

“Why did the Terran Empire’s forces bring down the Pleiades last night?”

“Where’s Commanding General Singleton?”

“Where’s Admiral Wildstar and Senator Wildstar?”

“When the hell are you gonna resign?”

“NO COMMENT,” snapped Karl as he strode into Parliament, which was open in Joint Session.

As Karl entered Parliament, he noticed that his daughter’s seat was empty in the front bench.

Nova, where are you? he thought. Right now, I could use your support.

“Ladies and Gentlemen of Parliament, we are gathered in joint session for an Announcement and Introduction of my Government and a speech concerning the chaotic state of the Federation, and certain Emergency Measures we will be forced to take as we face the threat of Invasion.”

Parliament was filled with hubbub as he said, “WE do not support this movement of Admiral Shimabara or that of his men, and I am publicly pronouncing them as rebels and traitors of the worst sort. Earth is not an Empire, and we do not mean to welcome Lord Ekogaru, or his ghost, or his walking corpse, with open arms!”

“What about the Star Force?” yelled a Senator from Australia.

“We do not consider them rebels, but they are not necessarily now acting under the orders of the Earth Defense Command, faithful as they are to our Defense. Suffice it to say that the Pellian High Queen means to uncloak herself and come to Terra and address this Assembly in the next three days,” said Karl, as he thought to himself, I hope I heard your phone message correctly, Nova. What a paradox. You hold so much power but defer to your mother. What is going on here?”

“When will you quit speaking in generalities?” yelled another Senator.

“At nine PM local time tonight,” said Karl. “On that note, I adjourn Parliament, and we shall reconvene at nine PM tonight on live media!”

Karl banged his gavel, and he and his security force left, surrounded by the same gauntlet of aides, reporters, and security men who had accompanied him into Parliament.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

IV. THE END…AND A BEGINNING

Earth

The Tokyo Megalopolis

The Houses of Parliament

June 17, 2231

2045 Hours

_________________________________________________________________________________________

“Nice work, nice work,” said Colonel Baltzmann as he and his men watched Katrina Savela and “Foxy” Foxworth-Savela being ushered up into the Houses of Parliament, to the visitors’ gallery.

Baltzmann slipped into a Comm Room where some Dark Nebulans were waiting, and a screen came on as Ekogaru appeared on it. “It’s almost Zero Hour?”

“Yes, M’Lord,” said Baltzmann. “You should be able to declare the Terran Empire at sunrise and move in. Peacefully. They’ll be stunned. They’ll have no resistance.”

“Nova’s up there?” said Ekogaru.

“Yes, Lord…as far as I know…”

“Good enough, she’ll be dead in about ten minutes,” said Ekogaru as he fingered a detonator on his Fortress. “To victory!”

“To victory,” said Baltzmann. He looked at a screen and said, “Senator Wildstar’s late…I wonder where she is?”

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Nova coughed and sneezed as she kicked on her open-toed black house slippers and padded around the living room of her house sweating with only a thin pink nightgown over her shivering nude body with the curtains drawn as nine o’clock PM approached.

For all of her energies, abilities, and powers, she had not been immune from one common disease, something she had picked up from a patient she had seen towards the end of the day yesterday after finishing her business at the Pellian Embassy.

Namely, Nova had picked up a nasty case of influenza from her patient.

“Nova, you should get to bed,” said Derek, who had a tickle in his throat himself.

“Not until I see this speech and see what my Dad has to say about this lunacy. Because, for all I have foreseen, I don’t know what to do next, and I don’t see when the heck HE is coming…or how…,” Nova said. She gulped down some lukewarm salt water and took her temperature. “One hundred and two degrees fever, oldscale,” Nova muttered. :Crap, I’m sick! Physician, heal thyself,” Nova laughed bitterly.

Fluffy, who remained small (and who had been gifted with a strangely long life), jumped after her long-time Mistress, barely remembering her short time with Astrena years ago as she followed Nova around, hoping to cheer her up.

“Thanks, Fluffy, but I’m dying to see what happens at Parliament tonight, even if I am too sick to get there,” Nova said as she sat down beside a pajama-clad Derek on the couch. She slumped against him as he gently rubbed her sweaty hair, and, through their bond, he felt the congestion in her lungs, the heat in her body, and the pain in her joints from her toes up to her shoulders. Nova coughed gently, feeling tired and old as the network commentator spoke about Parliament.

Applause filled the room as Karl Forrester came in on the arm of several aides hand-in-hand with Commanding General Singleton, who looked very ill.

Then, the Terran National Anthem began to play as President Kueller came in, accompanied by the First Lady, blowing kisses at the group as he took his place behind his podium.

The video cameras swept over Parliament as President Kueller said, “I would like to announce that I now formally accept and invest the Government I ordered our associate, my friend, Karl Forrester, to form at this time. Indeed, tonight, as he speaks of several diplomatic initiatives, I must now say that Earth is about to take its place in the Sun, and that a great new age of Peace is now at hand!”

Applause rang across the room as Karl Forrester stood up. “It took a while for me to accept it…but…Earth is about to undergo a great, great change, and we are about to step beyond being a Federation…no…we are about to become an…”

“NO! FATHER!” cried Nova. “Don’t you dare sell out to those…”

Then, the screen flashed white as Derek and Nova gasped…it looked as if the very Presence of Heaven was descending into the Senate Chamber of Parliament.

A blast came from around and behind President Kueller’s podium, blowing him to bits in literally an instant.

A second blast destroyed the Prime Minister’s podium.

Nova screamed as she literally saw her father being blown apart, along with Commander Hiram Singleton.

The blast expanded, blowing apart the front bench where all of Forrester’s Cabinet, with the exception of one middle-aged woman, sat to be blown apart into bloody pieces.

Other blasts blew out from under the other benches, killing most of Parliament and most of the Earth Defense High Command.

Katrina Savela hid in this visitors’ gallery, and screamed because her dress was on fire.

“YOU WEREN’T SUPPOSED TO KILL ANYONE!” she roared over the noise as Foxy fainted.

Dark Nebulan troops ran from nowhere, grabbing them away…while others began to mow down everyone they could see in the visitors’ gallery.

“YOU VERE NOT TO DO ZAT!!!” screamed Katrina as the Dark Nebulans chloroformed her unconscious and dragged her away.

Wendy Singleton screamed as she lost her shoes and ran as fast as she could into the underground city through a passage.

Nova and Derek spread the curtains. They could hear sirens outside and could see the fire blooming in the distance.

Then, they shaded their eyes and covered their faces as a great flash came across the city.

When they raised their dazzled eyes, they saw a glowing mushroom cloud blazing up where Government Center had been.

The Houses of Parliament, the President’s Palace, the Supreme Court…were all gone in the middle of the night.

Gone.

As the phone rang, Nova and Derek looked at each other and said, as the terrible knowledge hit them, “The head of the Government has been chopped off…”

“This is how it begins,” Nova said mournfully as she picked up the phone and coughed, making certain the visual was off. “Yes?” she said. “Wildstar residence?”

“Ma’am?” said a voice on the other end.

“Senator Perkins?” Nova said.

“There’s a few survivors. Cabinet’s blown apart…all of them…except one….damn,” he said. “The chain of command doesn’t matter now…at least not what’s left of it…Madame President.”

“You’ve got the wrong person, Perkins,” Nova snapped.

“No, Wildstar. Thank God for that flu, because you are now the ranking member left of your father’s Government, and under Section Eight of the Constitution, you are now the President and Prime Minister of Earth….as well as the High Queen of Pellias. I got the briefing, too, ma’am, but the people of Earth don’t need to know all of it…not yet…”

“Is a Security detail on the way for the President?” Derek snapped as he took the phone.

“Yessir. With the Commander dead, unless someone of higher rank than you survived, you’re it.”

“What’s the situation in space?” barked Derek.

“No one knows…Headquarters is off-line….but we’re getting a judge over with the detail and the Press…”

“Press?” said Nova as she grabbed the phone.

“Yes, ma’am…they need to know we have a President.”

“You’ve got it,” said Nova. “Although I regret to inform you I am not ready to give the best inaugural speech of history. In fact, to be perfectly candid, I feel like shit. But I will keep one promise my father made.”

“Which is?”

“I’ll let them know when the High Queen will show up,” Nova said as tears ran down her cheeks. “I’ll let them know that.”

Nova slammed down the phone and said, “Derek, would you kindly get me a robe? And a pair of sandals?” she said as she wiggled her toes.

______________________________________________________________________________

AN HOUR LATER….

There was, as of yet, no other sign of an invasion except for the fires and sirens from Government Center.

Derek and Nova had bathed together quickly, and Nova had put on sandals and a gold kimono, while Derek wore a red kimono and sandals.

They waited outside as more and more cars came.

Finally, the Press showed up, and Derek held Nova’s hand as a Judge from the First District Court, Judge Sarah Stephens, waited as Derek brought outside her Masonic Bible from Pellian Crystal Lodge #293 (on Pellias, both men and women were allowed to join the Lodge) and he held it for Nova as she opened it to John 6, placed her hand on the promise of Eternal Life explicit in verses 35 to 39 for all who trusted in Christ, and she recited the Presidential Oath of Office, repeating at the end, “So help me God, and keep me steadfast in this, my Obligation to the People of Terra.”

She kissed the Bible, and looked at the group of reporters and said, “A dear friend of mine once said, “As long as I live, Gamilon lives.” Well, as long as we all live, in spite of this great tragedy, Earth lives. I feel in my bones with the pain of my fever and my flu who is responsible, but, let that dark Voice hear now my words. I WILL FIGHT YOU UNTIL THE LAST BREATH LEAVES MY BODY, and by the Grace of God, maybe even beyond that!”

“Whose will are you and Wildstar doing now?” snapped a reporter. “And what is your opinion of the Terran Empire?”

“Earth is not an Empire,” Nova said. “It is a Republic, and the Republic is not dead as of tonight, but will live on to crush the head of the Snake.”

“Whose will and agenda do you do?” snapped a reporter.

“I do not do my will, but the Will of He who sends me and the High Queen of Pellias.”

“Admiral Wildstar, what will be done to fight on?” said another reporter.

“That is to be determined, but it will not take long,” said Derek. “As of tonight, we fight! Excuse us…we have much to do in the morning.”

And, at that, with many shouted questions, the Wildstars left.

___________________________________________________________________

TO BE CONTINUED