ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE
STAR BLAZERS---A LAST BREATH BEFORE THE PLUNGE
Being the tenth part of THE RIKASHA INCIDENT--- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz
ACT ONE: RIKASHA
I. TRADE BUSINESS
Planet Rikasha
The Sherikhan Fortress
of Cha'rif Clan
The City of
Thursday, April 15, 2202
1100 Hours: Earth
Space-time
"I just remembered
something," said Nova Wildstar as her brown sandals slapped against a cobblestoned street in the City of
"What?" asked Aliscea.
"I have a briefing to
attend later on today aboard ship. Ooops…Darn veil," muttered Nova. She
and Aliscea had decided to go out for a walk in the city controlled by Clan
Cha'rif. They were accompanied by Lady Mikala Cha'rif, who was Baron Anton
Cha'rif's wife, and their son Ar'ten.
"Keep that veil on your
head straight, Nova…it's important," said Mikala. Mikala, like the other
two women, wore the usual dress of a polite woman on Rikasha…white linen
tunic-dresses, with light veils over their hair and simple sandals on their
feet. Mikala had given them some of her clothing to wear before they went out,
since it was questionable for a woman to wear boots on Rikasha, and altogether
out of the question for a woman to wear a military uniform there. Nova had
appeared in the palace for their walkabout in her regular Star Force uniform,
and Mikala had nearly passed out. "NO! They'll stone you in that!"
she had cried when they had left about forty-five minutes ago.
"What? They'll stone
me if my veil's off?" asked Nova in the present.
"No, most men will
think you're a prostitute. Women who wear clothes without a veil in public are
usually prostitutes. The only thing worse is being a slave."
"You still have
slavery here? How awful!" cried Nova.
"Unfortunately, yes,
there is still slavery," said Mikala.
"Why is it worse to be
a slave?" asked Nova.
"Because slavery here
is very hard," said Mikala. "I detest it."
"According to my
ancient memories, don't slaves go naked?" asked Aliscea.
Mikala nodded.
"If
things…uh…change…won't slavery be abolished?" asked Nova. Then, a pang
went through her heart as she saw two naked men dragging a cart through the
streets like animals. Two richly dressed young people sat in the cart with a
driver, pointing out the sights and laughing at their motive power.
Not far away, a trader in
patched robes sat near the side of the sandstone wall surrounding the Cha'rif
palace. He sat on a carpet, yelling, "Mi'kdal
a' ken! Ken annedn no'gal ti-zhati en'val en shanda e' cra'velda!" over and
over again.
"Oh, boy, he's selling
fireworks!" yelled Ar'ten. He wore a simple tunic and sandals himself, but
no veil. "Mati, can I buy some
fireworks?" he said, clinging to his mother's skirts.
"Sure, go ahead,"
said Mikala. "But take a care and don't let them see too deeply into your
change bag!"
"Thank you!" he
cried, running off.
"I don't like
slavery," said Nova. "I said…if things…change, won't it be
abolished?"
"Probably yes…but it
will take time for…things to change," said Mikala. "The Council meets
tomorrow in the Capital City of Rikala. You, Captain Wildstar, Aliscea, and the
Technomugar who have defected are all wanted there by my father-in-law. He
needs your testimony to support his case for…"
Mikala then looked around,
and whispered, "for a change in
government."
Aliscea nodded. "I
hope that can happen."
Back on the Argo
later on, there was a briefing in the Central Planning Room. Nova, of course,
was there, having changed back into her regular gold and black uniform.
"We still can't reach
Earth," said Sandor.
"Why?" asked
Venture.
"The only communications
net that can reach Earth from here is in the hands of the Rikashan Empire, and
we obviously can't use that until the government changes."
"Nova, you've talked
with Lady Mikala today," said Derek. "How is this change in
Government supposed to take place?"
"We went to the edge
of the desert to talk undetected," said Nova. "Mikala says that any
of the ruling Dukes can present in their Council a petition to have the
government of a given Lord overturned known as the H'all'adevar,
" said Nova, her mouth struggling a little to articulate the Rikashan
word. "In such an argument, the Duke presents witnesses to show why a
given Lord has gone beyond the Council's mandate. Then the Council, composed of
several of the high Dukes and a priestess representing the R'Khell high priest
votes. The vote is by a simple majority. If a Lord is voted out, he must
abdicate and the Council must choose a new one. If not, he stays. "
"Okay…when does the
meeting take place?"
"Sometime
in the next few days, Derek."
"He put it off again,
Nova?"
Nova just nodded. "I
just found out before…"
Captain Wildstar sighed.
"Damn that Zaden! Nova, we have no time to waste here. We need to get back
on the trail of the Fortress. It's still heading towards Earth."
"But we still need to finish
our repairs," said Sandor. "Especially to the wave
motion gun."
"How long will that
take?"
"About
four or five days…even with the help Cha'rif's men have been giving us. At the end of that time, Cha'rif
might be the new ruler, and we might even be able to call Earth before we leave
here."
"So we're spending
some time here?" said Venture.
Derek nodded.
"I hope it's not too
long," said Dash.
"Luckily, with the
ship fully repaired, we should be able to catch up to Ekogaru fairly
quickly," said Sandor. "
"Yes, as long as it’s
in the Empire. Who knows? We might be able to stop the Dark Lord before he even
gets to Earth."
"I hope we can,"
said Nova.
"Me too," said
Eager.
II. AFFAIRS ON EARTH
Earth
Sunday, April 18, 2202
1000 Hours: Earth
Space-time
Jordy Venture knelt in
prayer on a padded kneeler beside his parents in the huge Cathedral of St. Paul
in the Megalopolis. The Cathedral was a beautiful edifice, with a huge
sanctuary filled with gorgeous white pillars, with shining, white marble walls
and gorgeous stained-glass windows. Unlike Ekogaru’s black Fortress, its inside
was airy, pure, and white, and filled with light, light that was meant to remind
the heart of a believer of the Lord and His Majesty and Love.
God, he thought. We still haven't
heard anything about the Star Force. Not for days. Please let my big brother be
all right. Please don't let him be dead.
Up at the altar, the priest
droned, "….and for those private intentions known only in our hearts, let us pray to the Lord."
About two thousand voices
mumbled "Lord, hear our prayer" as the Mass continued.
I'm already praying, thought Jordy as he wiped a tear
off his cheek. His father squeezed his hand quietly as the congregation shifted
back to their seats. The lector murmured "A reading…from the Book of
Ecclesiastes…."
Jordy ignored the first
Scripture reading as he looked at his parents. Mom and Dad are holding up all
right, he thought. He looked down to pew to Karl and Teri Forrester. Karl was
stoic and quiet, but he heard an occasional stifled sob from Nova's mother. I
know everyone's worried, thought Jordy. But… why does she have to cry so
darn much? It's not like they pronounced them lost or dead yet…
Of course, what Jordy
didn't know is that he and the others would receive answers to their questions
in just a few days.
III. EKOGARU'S WRATH
Deep Space
The Technomugar Fortress
Tuesday, April 20, 2202
1200 Hours: Earth
Space-time
Artwork:
"Lord Ekogaru, Destroyed" (c) 2003 by Frederick P. Kopetz
"Scum," rasped
Ekogaru as he staggered into his black, gloomy, smelly Audience Chamber. He ran
his left hand over the keys of his pipe organ. He no longer had a right hand.
The organ was still being repaired, along with his Phased Density Cannon. "Scum, whore-masters, and dirt! DIRT!"
"They have twisted me.
They have made it impossible for me to have my body repaired. My metal skeleton
is now hopelessly distorted. I am but a shadow of what I was, with but a third
of my former power. So much of what I was died with Gralnacz and Yvona.
Yvona…"
Ekogaru staggered over to
an altar that he had set up in his Audience Chamber. He was a travesty of
himself. He was now hunchbacked…his face was a distorted metal skull, and half
of his metal skeleton was exposed. Raw flesh and mechanical muscles were
exposed under his robes, along with cyborg organs that didn't function so well
anymore.
His coordination was off.
He needed to lean on his staff, which had been rebuilt as a hunk of metal pipe.
His mechanical lungs rasped like some twisted, malfunctioning Aqualung as he
walked. Under his robes, his loincloth covered a burned, twisted manhood.
Ekogaru stopped at the
altar.
Lying there under a black
sheet was a dead, broken mess of organic and mechanical parts. Namely, the remains of Yvona Josiah. The mechanical parts
would endure forever, of course, as would bits of the plastic skin that
partially covered her.
What would not endure were
the parts of Yvona that were still flesh. They were already going the way of
all dead flesh after nine days dead and unembalmed in the stifling heat of
Ekogaru’s Audience Chamber as she lay there under the black sheet her body was
covered with. When Ekogaru had found her, he had noticed that someone had
stripped her naked and taken every single article of clothing and bauble of
jewelry that she had been wearing. Given that there were bare female footprints
all around her, he guessed that the accursed Nova had done this to her.
Of course, Ekogaru did not
know that this had been the work of Yvona’s “child”, her twisted clone. The
clone had taken everything and then had escaped the Fortress unnoticed in a
small recon corvette manned by a few R’Khells she had convinced to join her.
Yvona, indeed, was dead.
But her evil works lived on.
Ekogaru lit more candles
around the rotting corpse, and he knelt. He began to mutter prayers and
incantations to assorted demons and evil spirits, hoping beyond all hope that
the forces of Evil would let her spirit back up from the Pit to be with him
again.
"Light-Bearer, Lord of
the Files, Lord of Death, return her spirit hence…bring her back to me! I have
spells of Warding, Spells of Command! I command your appearance here, Evil One!
Appear from the Darkness, O Prime Dark Lord, appear here and obey my wishes! I
am becoming Almighty! This is but a Setback! Evil upon Evil, I am Evil. More
pure in my Evil than YOU! Return her unto me!"
Ekogaru paused. There was
only the sound of his mechanical breathing and the sounds of his Fortress all
around him. Nothing came from Yvona. She was still quite dead. And if Ekogaru
had had enough spiritual vision to truly see, he would know that Yvona Josiah
was forever consigned to that vile place, a place not under evil’s control, a
place where the worm never died and the Fire was never quenched.
"I will bring you a
Sacrifice," he muttered. "I will not seek anymore to enslave Earth. I
am heading there. I am 20,000 lightyears away. I shall reach Earth in but
thirteen days, now. I have pushed the Fortress, even as we repair it. When I
reach Earth, O Darkness, Earth and its people shall die. I shall first destroy
Brumus as a Test of my systems. Then, Planet Earth shall die, the same day,
shall it die. It will die. It will die, it will die, o, yes! Yesssssssssssssssssss! Death! Death! Death! The death of millions, to atone for the murder of one."
"They say I am mad.
They say I am Diseased! They say my Brain is dying! My
people. The Naysayers! All of them will die,
too! Nay! I am closer to achieving Perfection! When the parts and links are
repaired, I shall shed this Flesh and become all Machine! I shall be the Ghost
in the Machine! I shall then be truly Immortal! I will
then be…."
He looked out at the
spirits of evil that he thought he saw, and then, he ranted. "I will be
your GOD! And you will obey me, o demons! Yea! YOU WILL OBEY ME!" Then,
the Dark Lord laughed. No, he did not merely laugh…he howled. He screamed! He
roared!
Then, Yvona smiled as a
worm crawled over a bit of Yvona’s ruined, greenish-black face.
“You will live soon,”
chuckled the Dark Lord. And, with no shame, the madman passionately kissed the
rotting face.
General Hollander,
Ekogaru's new second-in-command, came into the Audience Chamber while the Dark
Lord continued to rant, rave and hold the stinking corpse of Yvona. The bald,
bearded Technomugar officer with orange skin was almost as old as Ekogaru and
Vergar were, and he had been high in the Dark Lord's confidence, although
nowhere as high as Vergar, Gralnacz, or Yvona had been.
"You cannot bring her
back, Lordship," said Hollander respectfully.
"Why do you say
that?" said Ekogaru as he staggered over, still holding the dead body of
Yvona in his arms as if this was again his wedding night with the dead harlot.
Even Hollander was sickened by the lack of shame of this warped display.
"Think logically,
sire. Once the soul has fled…well, even you said we do not absolutely control
the Soul yet. We cannot control what you do not yet have the capacity to
control, yet. She should be decently entombed. Or cremated,
Lordship. The woman is dead,
sire."
"I see." But I
shall not give up, damn you! Ekogaru thought. "What do you want?"
"The other Generals of
the Empire, Lord, have begun to wonder about the success of this mission."
"We must destroy
Earth! We are only thirteen days away from it, now!"
"True!"
"Then, we must make
the Rikashans pay for their evils! Pay for their treason! We must seize this
galaxy!"
"Lord, the Fortress
needs repairs. After we destroy Earth, why not leave the Third and Ninth Fleets
here to deal slowly with Rikasha while we return to the Blackeye Galaxy to
repair the Fortress? All of the supplies we need are in the Mugaris System
there, Lord. It would take some years to leave and then return. If you create
an Interphase when you destroy Earth, we could leave from there, Lord. Leave
the Fleets behind to do our will and complete the extermination of the Terrans
and then to exert our will over the Rikashans until we return hence in four or
five years with a repaired Fortress and ten entire space fleets. Then, Rikasha
could safely meet the same fate as Earth. And, at Earth, we can expect a
battle. You will need your power, Lord. You will need to husband our strength
to destroy the Argo and kill Aliscea."
"I plan upon capturing
them!"
"You cannot, Lord.
Aliscea is too dangerous to be allowed in our presence again. With conventional
weapons, Lord, the Argo could simply and elegantly be wiped
out…quickly…before Aliscea can draw upon her infernal Powers. We have the
strength, Lord. Why not use the strength we have to pull a victory from the
jaws of defeat?"
"Why not?" mocked
Ekogaru. "Why not? I desire to meet Aliscea again
and spit in her face. That is why! I want to rip that Nova Wildstar to pieces
and lie her body here to rot! Or, use her body to
house Yvona's spirit? Nova can go to Hell and Yvona's soul can be returned here
from Hell, yes. And it can go into her healthy little form!"
"Do you have that
power?"
"It can be arranged.
Yes, it can be arranged."
"Perhaps," said
Hollander as he bowed and left, trying to keep his mouth from falling open at
the Dark Lord’s increasing madness, especially as he sat there crooning to
Yvona’s corpse and rocking it.
Later, Hollander spoke with
Ergitz, another general high in Ekogaru's counsels.
"He is that
mad?" asked the white-haired figure of Ergitz. Ergitz had white hair and
blue skin.
"He is, my
friend."
"The answer is simple,
then. He has to be eliminated. He is too unstable to lead us anymore."
"You speak of treason,
Ergitz!"
"Say nothing. I think
Vergar had the right idea. A lot of strategy would be changed if one of us
happened to be in command. Ekogaru is a mad scientist, a mystic, a politician,
and a sorcerer. He was the strongest of the Movement once. But he is not a
military man, and neither is he sane. Nor is he as strong as he was. His mystic
powers are fading. He is misusing our weapons and the glory of our Empire for
personal schemes and personal vengeance when we should drop this war now
and return to the Empire. He is too obtuse to notice, but Aliscea and the
damned Star Force have already beaten us. They can be dealt with when we
possess the Rikashan Empire and this galaxy within a few years, but not now.
Not while we are tactically vulnerable. When we have the requisite strength, we
can crush the Terrans and Aliscea like a nut in a nutcracker. But, not yet. We are not lunatics. We are military men, and
we are sane. Are you in?"
"I can't say, yet. I
need time to think, my friend."
"You will not betray
me to Him, then?"
"No," said
Hollander as he sipped at his drink. "I won't."
"Then what will you
do? Will you be his toady?"
"No. I will convince
him to become sane. After all, Ergitz," whispered Hollander. "…After
all, he still is dangerous, and possesses many strange powers. You must be
wary."
"Oh, I shall be."
IV. A BRIEF INTERLUDE
Planet Rikasha
A Dock beneath the
Sherikhan Fortress
Space Battleship Argo
Tuesday, April 20, 2202
2200 Hours: Earth Space-time
It was late aboard the Argo,
and everything was quiet.
At this late hour, Dash was
Officer of the Deck. Some of the regular bridge crew was on watch, running
simulations at their posts. Other posts were being manned by other officers.
We'll need to know if
our systems are up to snuff if we have to make some kind of breakout off this
planet, Dash
thought.
"Hey, Dash!" said Eager
from the combat radar, where he was running simulations.
"Yeah?"
"How much is workin'
here on the Argo?"
"Well, they've just
finished repairing the main engine…haven't they, Yamazaki?"
"Yes, we've finished
it," said Yamazaki. "They're still working on the wave motion gun,
though."
"Hope they have it
fixed," said Holly Venture from her late-watch post at the helm.
"We're probably going to need it." She looked over at Mechanical.
Lieutenant Hanes, a recently promoted old Iscandar veteran with somewhat long hair,
was manning the post in the absence of Sandor, and he had again become Sandor's
second-in-command of Mechanical Group after Royster's untimely death in battle
not long ago. "No offense, sir," said Holly. "But, I miss
Royster."
"Yeah, he was a nice
kid. Real genius," said Hanes.
"I'm not feeling so
good," said Homer from his post.
"Now what's wrong with
you?" sighed Dash.
"Stomach," said
Homer. "I've just been worrying so much the past few days."
"About what?"
said Dash.
"About if we're gonna
make it home in one piece or not. Do you think we'll ever live?"
"Why is that so
important, Homer?" asked Holly.
"Because…uh…uh…uh…"
"Because what?"
said Dash. "Should I tell them your big secret?"
"No! Don't."
"Okay," said
Dash. He got up and said. "Everyone, Homer's never been with a woman
before. He wants to get home so he won't die a virgin!"
"Would you stop
that?" pleaded Homer.
A moment later, Nova
appeared on the bridge. "Tell them to stop that?"
"Stop what?"
asked a puzzled Nova.
"Tell them to stop razzing
me about my love life..."
"What, just because
he's never been with a girl before," said Dash in an innocent tone of
voice. "Isn't that...?"
"It's not
abnormal," sighed Nova. "It's his choice.
And haven't we been over this before? Stop bugging him about this! Sorry,
Homer."
"It's okay,"
Homer said as Nova came back over to his post and picked up her gloves.
Nova looked at Homer and
said, "Don't feel pressured to sleep with someone, Homer. Wait until you
meet the right girl…or guy, if that's your choice. And, when it's the right
time for you to lose your virginity, you'll know. Okay?"
"Okay," said
Homer.
Nova gave his hands a
friendly squeeze. "Good. Dash, see if you can keep it
cool tonight. We're all kind of tense about that meeting with the
Rikashan Government tomorrow, so just take it easy, all right?"
"I will," he
said. "I'll keep running drills…"
"Of course," Nova
said. "Derek would want that." Then, Nova then turned on her heel,
blew the bridge crew a kiss, and walked off humming a 22nd century love song
under her breath as she disappeared into the lift.
“Drills,” said Eager. “That
stinks.”
“Hey,” said Dash. “I got an
idea after our watch ends.”
“What?” said Homer.
“I heard of a place where
we can find some women,” said Dash. “Why don’t we do a little run, huh? Use
some of that money Cha’rif gave us?”
“Okay, what’s the plan?”
said Eager.
“This is the plan,”
whispered Dash.
Up above, in the Captain's
Quarters, Captain Wildstar was working on some reports in his undershirt. He
had shed all of his uniform, save for his pants and his undershirt.
He looked at the clock on
the bulkhead in his cabin. "It's past twenty-two hundred," he
mumbled. "What's keeping her?"
Derek looked over the
reports he was filling out and thought, I need that
damn radar report from Nova, along with the Sickbay evening report. Then, I can
close out this day…Dash'll get the rest of the Log.
Derek got up, shoving aside his papers in
frustration. "I need to get rid of this energy! But
how?"
Then, he found a spot on
the deck. Sighing in frustration, he stuck his sock-clad feet under the ledge
of one of his consoles, and he began to do sit-ups with his teeth gritted. He
was a bit angry and frustrated about all of the events of the past few days,
and he was using the exercise to work off some tension.
I wish I could find
Ekogaru and finish what we started a few days ago, he thought. Then, we could go
home with a clear conscience. Until then…we can't rest…not yet…
He sat up. He sat there
breathing hard…his body glistened with sweat.
A mere moment later, the
hatch opened, and Nova came in.
"Oh! Am I interrupting
something, Derek?" she teased.
"No…not at all. Just a
bit of trouble relaxing, that's all…"
"You need a
shower," she said, rubbing his arm. "And a
haircut."
"Yeah, here you go,
with my hair again…"
"So?" said Nova
as she set down her papers and came up to him. "You look gorgeous. You and
those…"
"Muscles?"
"You could say
that," Nova said. "By the way, I've been doing leg lifts. Like the
results?" said Nova as she thrust out a leg.
"Sure do," said
Derek.
They kissed.
"C'mon," he said
a minute or so later. I can put away those papers, then, we can…"
"Not yet."
"Why
not?"
"You need a shower,
Derek," she said, opening their locker and tossing a robe at him.
"And, I need to note those results for you, and…"
"Oh, yeah,
right," said Derek. "Hold on a bit. I've got to write them up in the
Log myself…"
"Right here,"
said Nova. "The radar reports are page five of this one,
and the Sickbay report is here."
"How come you didn't
use your computer padd?"
"It's on the fritz
again. I left it with Sandor earlier."
Derek wrote down the
results, and then ran the notebook page through a scanner. "Logged and
noted," he said, putting the notebooks on the bookshelf by his desk as he
closed it up. "And now…?"
"Leave the bunk for
me. I'll get it!" Nova smiled and pushed Derek out of the cabin. "Now
get that shower, and don't came back in here in
anything but your kimono. Got it?"
"Sure," he
laughed.
Nova straightened up the
room and dimmed the lights, making sure the privacy curtain was closed.
After peeling off all of
her clothes, she yawned and stretched for a bit. Wonder what I can throw on
to tease him before we get into bed? Nova thought. Then, she saw Derek's
Star Force shirt thrown over a chair. Oh, yes! That! He likes seeing me in
just one piece of clothing at times…
Nova dressed herself in
just Derek's shirt and she awaited him on the bed in that, and only that, with
her legs up.
When he came back in after
his shower, he looked at Nova sitting on the bed and whistled.
"I see you decided to
get into something more comfortable, Nova."
"Yup. If you mind…"
"Don't take it
off…yet…"
"Why
not?"
"You look cute like
that. Mind if I get a picture?"
"Maybe I do, maybe I
don't," she said. She smiled, striking a cute pose on the bunk as Derek
got his camera. He set it to create a false pink background, and then, he
snapped a picture of his wife.
When the picture came out,
Derek smiled at it. "You look good in that."
"Don't I look better in
person?" she teased.
"Yes, you sure
do," said Derek.
He set down the picture,
and sat on the bunk with Nova on his lap.
They kissed, enjoying the
long, searching kiss while they drew close to each other.
"I'll be so happy when
we're home, Derek," said Nova in a soft voice. "I miss our
house…"
"That isn't all you
miss…."
"It’s not. I miss
sleeping beside you every night. I miss having more time to ourselves. I
miss…being able to rest. I miss…not thinking about Yvona and what I did,"
said Nova with a sob.
"Nova, it just
happened. If you didn't kill her, she would have killed you…"
"I know," said
Nova as she slipped Derek's robe open and cuddled against his chest. "But
I still feel sick every time I think about it…"
"Like I do when I
think about some of the things that happened in my childhood?"
Nova nodded.
"Nova, let's not think
about those things any more. Not for a while…"
"Good," said Nova
as Derek's hands found the handle of the vacuum seal at the collar of the shirt
that Nova was wearing...
Later on, much later, Nova
lay in her skin in bed while Derek got up to wash up a bit and gallantly throw
his robe and the shirt she had borrowed into the wash. The lovemaking had been
gorgeous, and they both felt a bit woozy.
If every night could be
like this, I'd be in
"Nova?" said
Derek as he came back in, clad in only a towel. "Are you all right?"
"Uh-huh. Never felt
better."
"How do you
feel?"
"You know how I
feel," she laughed. "It was your fault!"
"Oh, yeah…"
Derek tried to kiss his
wife. The time was now 0100, the next day. Now, I can get some sleep, he
thought.
But, instead, the
interphone rang.
"Yes?" said
Captain Wildstar.
"Dash
here, sir. We
just heard from Baron Cha'rif. He just heard from the capital city of
"What does he want
now?"
"It's the Lord Zaden,
the ruler of this planet. He's ready to hold the meeting now."
"NOW?" said
Derek.
"Yes, now," said
Dash. "The Baron wasn't too happy, either, if it helps. He was in bed with
his wife, and…"
"Well, so was I!"
"What?"
"Never mind,"
said Derek. "Who does he want there?"
"You,
Nova, Aliscea, Paul, and Sandor. He'd like you dressed and ready to leave in an hour."
"Damnit, okay. Have
Venture take command. I'll be there…"
“Yessir,” said Dash. At
that, he hung up. Then, he turned to Eager. “The plan’s afoot,” he said.
“Well?” said Eager as he,
Homer, and Dash huddled around Dash’s station, speaking in whispers.
“Venture’s taking command,”
said Dash. “I think we can slip away then to get out and have some fun. We’re
supposed to be going off watch anyhow.”
“Where is this place?” said
Homer.
“We got a plan in mind,”
said Eager. “We’re gonna make a man outta you tonight, boy!”
“Where?” said Homer.
“A little place we found
out about in Cha’rif’s palace,” said Dash. “Ever…wanted to explore…a harem?”
“A harem?” said Homer.
“Yeah. One filled with beautiful Rikashan
women. Lonely women who will do almost…anything. Baron Cha’rif’s married. I hear he neglects his
harem now.”
“Count me in,” said Eager.
“Good,” said Dash. “Now,
act cool….”
In the meantime, in his
cabin, Derek banged down the phone with an angry, exhaled breath.
"Are we wanted?" yawned Nova.
Derek nodded.
"Okay. I'll make the
coffee," said Nova as she got up. "Rikashan clothes for me, I
guess?"
"You could say
that…that Zaden…what a louse!"
"Hey, least you got
your wish," said Nova as she threw on a robe and began to make coffee.
"What wish?"
"Soon, we'll be on our
way home. Successfully…I hope…"
"Can we catch up with
Ekogaru?" said Derek.
"We have no choice but
to," said Nova. "Hopefully, this will be the last night the Rikashans
are allies of the Technomugar. Then…"
"Then, the battle
begins. Ragnarok."
"Ragnarok,
Derek?"
"The Norse twilight of
the…"
"I know that,"
said Nova. "I hope it's not some kind of apocalypse. I hope not!"
"Who knows?" said
Captain Wildstar.
"Well, we're together
for now, at least," sighed Nova as she wiped away a tear. "Coffee'll
be ready soon."
"Thanks."
To be Continued
with Act Two: "Rikasha's Plunge."
THERE ARE NOW 12 DAYS TO THE ARRIVAL OF EKOGARU IN EARTH'S SOLAR SYSTEM
To return to
the Introduction to the Rikasha Incident please click here