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
Thanks to
ACT FIVE: ONCE MORE,
UNTO THE BREACH...
I. THE ROSSTOWSKI HOME
Planet Earth
Friday, April 23, 2202
0728 Hours: Earth
Space-time
Aliscea Rosstowski yawned
and awoke. She was in a wide bed next to Paul in a reconstructed, beautiful old
house in a park-like setting not far from the Wildstars' neighborhood.
"Paul, are you up
yet?" said Aliscea. What she had worn to bed were the only nightclothes
she owned, namely, her own skin.
"Waking up," he
said. "What a big bed."
"What did you say this
place was, Paul?"
"Well, when they gave
us the keys, they said it was once an old embassy back in the days before the
Earth Government was unified. It's been rebuilt and kept around as a house for
visiting VIP's. I guess you're the very first visiting alien VIP to come to
Earth, so they felt it was appropriate for us."
"Good. I want to stay
here, Paul. I like this house, even though it's very big…and very old."
The sound of a grandfather
clock chiming away the half-hour rang somewhere in the large, old house.
"I think they said it won't be a problem. They were saying something about
giving you an embassy since you represent the Pellian Gov…"
Aliscea sat with her eyes
closed for a moment. "Mom says yes. We need an embassy somewhere other
than the one being opened on Iscandar. Someday, Mother says, when there's enough of us, she wants to give birth to a little
girl who will be the new Queen and our people will then find a new home to
settle on."
"You won't leave me?
I'll go wherever you go!"
Aliscea laughed. "No,
Paul. We're together until we die. I am always going to be an expatriate. I've
decided I like Earth and its people, Paul, my love. I would love to stay here.
Earth is a place, like Pellias, where good can grow and live and flourish. It
is worth fighting for. And believe me, after this rest, in the next few days,
we will be fighting."
"Aliscea, will we
win?"
"I don't know,
Paul," she said in a sad voice. "I really…don't know…"
They embraced, sharing the
hug for quite a long time.
At Mark and Holly Venture's
home, Mark awoke to…breakfast.
"What a
surprise!" said Venture as he stumbled out into the kitchen in his bathrobe.
"I got up earlier and
went out running; then I went shopping," said Holly. She was wearing a
t-shirt and cutoffs. "Did you know there's a path here that leads to a
beach that runs along all those coves along the Bay?"
"No, I didn't know
that."
"There's even a dock
about a kilometer away. Anyway, when I was up this morning, running down the
beach with my thongs kicked off by the beach grass, guess who
I ran into on the beach?"
"Who?"
"Nova. She was up running at 0600 in a
swimsuit. She said that the beach comes very close to their house; it's quite a
run."
"How is she?"
"Fine, but she said
she had something on her mind that she had to decide. She wouldn't tell me what
it was," said Holly as she began to butter some pancakes for Mark.
"Like the bacon?"
"Yeah," said Mark
as he ate. "When are you gonna sit down to eat? Looks
like ya made enough."
"Oh,
how's about now?
Damn, I'm talking like you now."
They laughed at that.
"What were you saying last night about our wedding here on Earth?"
said Mark.
"I haven't told my
parents about you yet. I'm not quite sure how to introduce you."
"I told Dad about you
in passing on the phone," said Mark. "He said it sounded good I had a
girlfriend again."
"I'm way more than a
girlfriend," she said.
"When
are you putting your ponytail back in?"
"Not until
we…leave," said Holly as she flipped her free hair. "You know…Nova
and I had a race? She sort of beat me."
"Yeah, she can run
pretty fast. She beat me in a beach race once when we were on Iscandar the
first time. What were you doing on Iscandar that mission?"
"Looking
for gemstones.
They weren't hard to find. I have a little hobby…I like to collect gemstones
and make jewelry. I plan to make our own wedding rings, Mark. I have enough
money to buy some precious metal, and I can make a nice lost-wax mold and pour
the metal somewhere in that little workshop you have. Who made that up,
anyway?"
"Steve," said
Mark with a laugh. "Sandor made sure that both Wildstar and I have little
workshops in our places."
"Yeah. He's really a nice guy. Seems cold until you get to know him. Where's Derek and Nova
today? Might be nice to get together again."
"Last night, Commodore
Wildstar…boy, that sounds weird…given those cards at the funeral where they
were calling him Captain…"
"Did he correct Nova's
parents?"
"Yeah. He did. The Commodore said he had
to go meet with Admiral Falworth on the Andromeda today. They have to
discuss the upcoming battle…"
"I see…"
At Earth Defense's space docks, Commodore Wildstar
was about to board the new Andromeda.
Upon boarding the ship,
Wildstar was escorted to Admiral Falworth's quarters.
There, he found Admiral
Falworth, in his blue and gold peacoat, sitting behind his desk. Wildstar
exchanged salutes with the Admiral and sat down. Sitting nearby was another
young man, who was also in a blue peacoat with gold lining.
"Captain?" said
Falworth. "Your bona fides, please?"
"Sir?" asked
Derek.
"This is a most
classified meeting," said Falworth. "I can't take the risk of spies
being in here to overhear us."
The younger man nodded. Then, he stood, saying,
"Sir, here are my orders and security clearances. Kindly introduce me to
the Commodore?"
"Of course," said
Falworth.
"Was he part of your
staff? He has on the First Fleet Command colors," said Derek.
"Until recently, his
ship was one of my escorts, but now, he will be serving with your Task Group
1.1 as one of the Argo's escorts, and he will be the operational
second-in-command of your fleet," said Falworth. "Commodore, I would
like to introduce you to Captain Daniel Borland, the skipper of the patrol
cruiser Mogami. He has been instrumental in spotting several enemy
movements over the past few weeks, and he kept Fourth Fleet from being ambushed
out by
"Captain," said
Derek as he extended his hand.
"Commodore, sir,"
said Borland, who saluted, and solemnly held the salute for a moment. Borland
had to keep from grinning as he thought My Commanding Officer, and our
greatest enemy. No one has suspected a damn thing yet. No one ever learned I
was down there at that meeting with Sandberg and Cha'rif in the underground
city a few weeks ago. They don't know that the enemy will soon know everything,
and that maybe I can help the R'Khells and Ekogaru stab Earth in the back!
Great!
I can't believe I'm
being saluted by a Captain, thought Derek. Oh, yes…I'm a Commodore now. He should be saluting
me, even though I don’t wear my epaulets with this undress peacoat.
Derek returned the salute.
"I'm honored."
"I'm honored to be in
your presence, Commodore," said Borland, laughing to himself
as he realized he was saluting his enemy. "You're one of our greatest
heroes, and one of the greatest military minds of the past fifty years." Too
bad you'll be dead soon, he added to himself.
"Now, if you don't
mind, let's get down to business," said Falworth. "This is our battle
plan."
The old man began to push
keys on a computer keyboard. "We have received information from several
patrol cruisers about the whereabouts of the R'Khell Fleet and the Technomugar
Fleet following it," said Falworth as he brought up a graphic from his
desk. The graphic appeared on a screen behind him. "First, there is the
R'Khell Fleet," said Falworth. "We have analyzed it; it consists of
twenty-five heavy carriers, ten light carriers, fifteen space battleships,
twenty cruisers, and about a hundred destroyers."
"A hundred and seventy
ships altogether…good-sized task group," said Derek.
"You're telling
me," said Borland.
"Your mission, after a
days' worth of maneuvers on the twenty-fifth, will be to ambush this fleet at
Alpha Centauri early on the twenty-sixth. Based on Wildstar's mission and his
report from Lord Cha'rif of Rikasha, we have information from the Rikashans
that they will have to stop somewhere to refresh their water supplies right
before they attack our solar system. Since the primary inhabitable planet of
the Alpha Centauri star system contains water, although not enough to support
the whole population of Earth, we think they'll stop there to gather enough
water to convert into heavy water to fuel their fighter planes. There, you can
ambush them."
"Right. I've been thinking about this
battle, and first in line will be our Black Tigers," said Derek.
"When we find the enemy fleet, we'll disable the flight decks of their
carriers with the Black Tigers and attack planes from the other space
battleships and the single carrier of our Task Group."
"Then, what'll be my
job?" asked Borland.
"Firepower to finish
off the enemy fleet afterwards in a gun-to-gun ambush from a second
corridor," said Falworth.
"I'll need every radar and
sensor officer possible to help the Black Tigers get a good spot of every ship
in that fleet so we can finish them off in a hurry," said Commodore
Wildstar after he sat in thought for a moment, thinking,. God, I hope Nova's
there with us…I hope she doesn't resign and just stay home. But, that's her
decision. I can't force her to come and fight with us if she's just tired of
fighting. I can sympathize with her. I get tired of this, too. So tired….
"Commodore, what's on
your mind?" asked Falworth.
"Uh,
nothing, sir. I
was thinking about our radar pickets. Those crews will have to be ready to
respond at a moment's notice. I need all of those blips located so we can hit
them with our guns and planes. I don't want a single ship to survive our ambush
and escape to attack Earth or her bases."
Borland nodded. "Good
strategy, sir." he said. He sat back in thought, thinking, Yes, keep talking! Keep on talking so I can tell Sandberg
everything. Then, the enemy will be able to counter your little gambits!
"Then, what's next?"
"Then, you and the
Task Group will head back home."
"That's after we meet
with the Gamilons on the twenty-sixth to get a report on how the battle went
near Sirius," said Commodore Wildstar.
"What battle?"
said Borland.
"Well," said
Wildstar, "The Gamilons said they'd be in our solar system around the
twenty-sixth after Desslok deals with some business to secure our rear and
eliminate a threat to his Empire. What he'll be doing is attacking the Cometine
Base at Sirius. He expects to be able to stop them from stabbing us in the
back, provide intelligence on where Ekogaru and his main fleet are, and then,
he'll offer support to us."
"We expect the
Technomugar Fleet to enter the solar system near the Neptune Orbit around this
time," said Falworth. "They'll have a huge regular battle fleet of
battleships, cruisers, and carriers, according to our intelligence, somewhere
around seven hundred to a thousand ships. I will have Third Fleet, Fifth Fleet,
and your Task Group there. First Fleet is being kept in reserve near Earth, and
the Second and Fourth Fleets are being kept in reserve in the Mars and Venus
orbits as backups. The idea is to have multiple Fleets to stop the Fortress if
and when it enters the solar system a few days later."
"But, by then, I
expect that we can hit them, with Aliscea's help, before they enter the solar
system," said Derek.
"What about stragglers
that escape and try to counterattack?" said Borland.
"The Gamilons will
take care of those," said Wildstar.
"Do you think it's
wise, sir, to depend upon them?" asked Borland. "After all, they were
our enemies not too long ago. Enemies with genocidal designs
upon Earth."
"If it hadn't been for
them, we never would have gotten home safely from Rikasha in time," said
Wildstar. "They repaired and tuned our engine so the Argo could get
home."
"By the way, how is
the repair work going?" asked Falworth.
"Fine, sir," said
Wildstar.
"Good. I'm glad to
know she's shipshape," said Falworth. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I
have some work to catch up on. I'll see you men soon."
"Yessir," said
Derek as he stood and saluted, Borland did the same. Falworth returned the
salute, and nodded towards the door. Wildstar picked up his cap and left.
II. A SORT OF INTERLUDE
Capital District
April 23, 2202
1145 Hours
Not far from the Capital
District of the Megalopolis, there was a shopping promenade. It joined with
Earth Defense Headquarters,
Commodore Derek Wildstar was walking along in
uniform, glad for his standard EDF blues; he looked rather inconspicuous
amongst all of the people in uniform. Nova walked along beside him, looking
perky in a pink romper and boots of hers. To Derek’s knowledge, she hadn’t
touched any of her military uniforms or gear since they had arrived home.
Derek noticed that Nova's
spirits seemed to be better. She stopped with him for an ice cream cone, and
they talked about going to lunch at a favorite coffee shop.
However, she didn't say
anything about her commission, or the upcoming mission, and Derek didn't feel
right about pushing, either. When she wants to discuss that with me, she'll
do so…when she's good and ready, he thought. Maybe she needs time to
decide?
"Oh, that's a cute
outfit!" she sang, stopping Derek with a playful shove to look into a
window. There was a pink dress with a light blue jacket. "Can you picture
me in that?"
"Sort of," said
Derek.
"Sort
of?" said Nova. "Why aren't we committed on that?"
Derek just shrugged. At
that, they both laughed.
"So, we're free for a
few days," said Derek. "What do you want to do?"
"I'm not sure, as long
as we're together," said Nova with a smile. "Picking up a few things
in the stores would be a good idea. I'll need some new stuff for summer."
"Why?"
"You know
why," she said in a whisper. "I need some new stuff."
"Like?"
"Socks. Shoes. Shorts. Tops. Underwear.
Swimwear. Sunglasses. You
know…summer clothes."
"Funny…we're just out
shopping," said Derek. "Twenty-four hours ago, we were in battle on
Rikasha, and…"
"I don't wanna talk
about that. Not now, Derek."
"Okay," said
Commodore Wildstar as he and Nova walked along. A while
later, she stopped at the window of a sporting goods store, where, to Derek's surprise,
she was looking at a soccer ball.
"Why are you looking
at that?"
"Wouldn't it be nice
to have one of those around for after the war, Derek? When we get our long
leave, we can have our friends over, maybe play a pickup game in the park or
something…."
"After
we have our leave?"
Nova nodded, taking his arm so they could walk off to
a furniture store next to the sporting-goods shop. Inside, Nova dragged him by
the hand to a dark brown couch, bending to look at the price tag on the item.
"You note I said 'we'. Sorry I was so depressed last night, Derek,"
she said in a soft voice. Then, she ran over to him, put her mouth to his ear
and whispered. "I don’t want to resign my commission after all. In fact, I
was on the ship for a bit earlier in the morning after you left to see the
Admiral. I ran my uniforms through the wash with IQ-9."
"You,
alone in the Living Bloc on the Argo with IQ?"
Nova nodded. "And the
little tinwit was on his best behavior, too, Derek. I went and talked to
Sandor, as well. He said the repairs are going great. I even went up to the
Bridge and spent a little time recalibrating my controls up there since we need
to have the radar working…just so for the battles we'll be in. Yamazaki saw me
and he laughed, asking me if I always spent shore leave in my shorts on the
ship doing work."
"What'd you say
back?"
"Stuck
out my tongue at him."
Derek and Nova both laughed
at that one. Finally, he looked at the couch too. "Where's that tag?"
"Here," said
Nova. "It's twelve hundred, but on sale twenty percent off. Can we have it
delivered today? It'd look so nice in that den upstairs."
"Thank God for
bonuses," said Derek. "Yes, we can afford it."
"Good! Now, let's do
something?"
"What?"
"Let me get a few more
things?" said Nova with pleading eyes.
"Okay, silly."
Later on, after lunch by
themselves, Derek and Nova met Mark and Holly Venture near the edge of
Holly had somehow acquired
a Frisbee, and she laughed as Mark caught it. Derek thought Mark looked tacky
in a Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts, but he didn't say much about it.
"Why are you still in
uniform?' asked Mark as he threw the Frisbee.
Derek caught it. "I
had to go see Admiral Falworth on the Andromeda this morning. I couldn't
go see him dressed like that!"
"C'mon, lighten
up," joked Mark. "It might've been fun."
"Stupid clothes are
for when you go to the beach," said Derek. He threw the Frisbee; Nova
caught it.
"I know," said
Nova. "I bought him some stupid
stuff." She then threw the Frisbee to Holly.
"You should see what I
buy him," laughed Holly. "Really, you two need to loosen up a
bit."
"Okay, enough with the
Frisbee, let's get some hot dogs," said Mark. Holly then gave mark a kiss.
Nova grabbed Derek's hand. The foursome then walked through the grass of
And, a moment later, they
saw two boys shoving a third boy against a tree face-first while a fourth
kicked him repeatedly in the rear end. A fifth boy took his wallet.
"Hey!" yelled
The fourth boy, the biggest
and oldest of the bunch at fourteen, put a hand over the smallest boy's mouth
and shoved him against the tree. His reply was inaudible, and his face was
invisible, but he had dark hair and wore a green outfit. The big boy was named
Harvey Wallford, and he was much bigger than the others. He also had a bloody
nose; their victim had given it to him. He looked like someone's idea of a 20th
century hood. "Let's tie this little creep up with his gay little green
belt and then kick his ass! He gave me a nosebleed!"
What's going on here? Captain Wildstar thought. He looked
at Nova with alarm.
"Hey, we can't let
this go on," he muttered.
"No, we can't!"
said Mark. "Derek, let's go teach them a lesson. You know…scare them a
bit!"
"Good idea," said
Derek. "Holly, Nova, stay back. We don't want you hurt!"
Holly laughed. "You
think some eleven-year old schoolyard bully scares me? I fought off worse in my
school when I was ten!"
"Derek, the boy
they're attacking might need medical attention," said Nova. "And if
they keep that up, well, God help them…because they'll learn not to mess with me."
"Okay, let's go,"
said Derek, who reluctantly accepted the idea of the women helping. "Move
in quietly, now…"
"Right," said
Mark.
"I got his
wallet," said Tadeo Moriyama, who still wore his black school uniform. "Hey, punk! I got your wallet! I got your big brother's
picture and I'm gonna rip it up!"
The smallest boy struggled
as the fourth attacker, Ricardo Rowe, began to slap him in the back of the
head. He was the dirtiest punk of the bunch. "I'm gonna fracture your damn
skull, you little creep. Say your prayers, Jordan!"
The other kids all laughed
at this. The victim was not only struggling; he had also succeeded in hurting
"Try it!" said
then other boy in a muffled voice.
Mark Venture recognized the
voice at once. "Jordy?" he murmured. "Is that you?"
"Oh, my God,"
whispered Nova as they turned his face towards them. "It is Jordy!
His mouth is bleeding!"
"No one kicks my
little brother's butt and lives to tell about it!" hissed Mark.
"Looks like we may
have to teach those little creeps a real lesson, huh?" said Derek.
"I have first
dibs," said Mark. "Hey! Did Alex ever pull you out of stuff like
this?"
Derek nodded.
"Holly?"
"I rescued my
brother," said Holly.
Nova added, "I pulled
my cousin Samuel out of scrapes like this a lot. And I hate bullies."
Venture waded in first,
followed by Derek and the women.
"Okay!" yelled
Venture. "What the hell is the big idea here? Four on
one?"
Jordy's attackers turned
their heads at the sound of Mark's authoritative voice.
"Oh, crap!" said
Rowe. "Grown-ups!"
"Relax, I'll handle
this," said Wallford. "My big brother was a big hero from the space
battleship
"Let them have the
little shit," said Rowe.
"Yeah. Little creep's always talkin' about
his big brother, who's dead," said Moriyama.
"Do I look dead?"
asked Venture.
"Oh, crap!" said
Moriyama. "They're not dead! That's Venture and Wildstar of the Star
Force!"
"Mark Venture?"
laughed Wallford. "Hey, he's washed up! Didn't he get killed in battle? My
big brother never got killed!"
Nova ran around them and
ran through the punks to hug Jordy. "Jordy. Jordy?"
Jordy was crying, and
seemed unaware of his surroundings. "Who are you?" he sobbed.
"Where's Mark? He can't be dead!"
"He's not," said
a reassuring voice in his ear as Venture came up.
Jordy turned his head to
see Nova and his big brother smiling at him. "Mark!! Nova!!""
he sobbed. "You're alive! Did the Argo make it?"
"It did," said
Nova. "We all made it home safely."
"What a nice little reunion!"
yelled Wallford. "Awwwwwwwww! Gonna go off with your brother now and
go have a wonderful and stupid game of soccer where your washed-up formerly
dead big brother lets you win, Jordy, you little pampered creep? My big brother
was better than he was!"
"Why?" Venture
asked.
"My big brother was
Ted Wallford of the
"But we made it,"
said Wildstar.
"Yeah? Well, my brother's ship never got
defeated like the Argo did, Wildstar! And he never got killed like you
did, Venture! Do you like to take care of your little brother, Venture, and let
him win while you play your stupid games?"
"Excuse me," said
Mark in a low but dangerous voice. He was angry because no one made fun
of his ship, his shipmates, or of the things that he and his brother liked to
do, and he had taught Jordy how to play soccer. "What did you just
say my little brother and I do?"
"You let him win,
because he can't play soccer for shit!" sang Wallford as the other boys,
ready to run away, began to laugh.
As Nova tended to Jordy,
Mark said, "You know, you have a damn big mouth, kid."
"Yeah? I do?" said Wallford.
"Well, excuse me, sir! Why don't you go to hell, you so-called Star Force
hero? Isn't the Argo really a garbage scow?"
"What was that?"
asked Mark.
"I said, why don't you
go to hell, buddy? Your crappy, dirty old ship should be hauling garbage!"
said Wallford as his friends looked on in awe and then began to clap.
"Wanna make somethin' of it? I betcha you're really as pampered as your
brother! Too bad you stopped us…we were gonna get lots of money from him!"
Mark grabbed him by his
leather jacket. "Where's your parents? Because
I'm taking you home by the scruff of your neck! Then we’re calling the
cops!"
"Who has his wallet??"
demanded Derek in his best command voice.
"No one!" said
Moriyama.
"That's a load of
crap!" said Derek. "I saw one of you boys take his wallet. Give it
back, or you're gonna be sitting in Juvenile Hall tonight!"
Moriyama sullenly turned
out his pockets. "Here's his wallet." He threw it on the ground now.
"Can I go now?"
"No, you have some
explaining to do," said Derek. "Nova, call the authorities on my
phone."
"Derek, Jordy's
missing two teeth. Should I call his parents first?"
Derek nodded, tossing Nova
a cordless phone from inside his peacoat. Nova held Jordy and promptly dialed
the Ventures' number with one hand while nursing Jordy with the other hand. A
moment later, she dabbed a swab from her purse inside his mouth to staunch the
bleeding on a cut lip.
Rowe tried to run for it,
but Holly grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and brought the protesting
little punk back by force.
"My mom will get
you!" he yelled. "Get your hands off me, ya crazy rat!"
"I may not be crazy,
but, boy, I can be like a cornered
rat when someone like you gets me mad," said Holly. She threw the kid at
Mark's feet. "You wanna take care of him?"
Mark nodded, shoving
Wallford aside as he turned to face Rowe. But, before Mark could turn around
again, Wallford jumped up, pulling a switchblade out of his pocket. He popped
it open and began to advance at Venture's back.
You're getting this
right in the back, jackass! No one grabs me like that! Wallford mused.
Nova noticed and yelled,
"Mark! Watch out!" Then, on the phone to the police, she said,
"Please hurry; one of these hoodlums is armed!"
Venture turned around,
dodging just in time thanks to Nova as Wallford tried to stab him in the back.
The other boys stopped,
aghast, as Wallford danced around the adult Venture with his knife while Mark
stalked him in an angry Martial-Arts stance. Now this is self-defense,
thought Venture. And kid, I'm gonna defend my little brother and myself by
whooping your butt! I don't care what your parents or the cops might
think!
Wallford swung, but Mark
dodged and kicked the boy in the arm. He yelled, but didn't drop the knife.
Nova finished with the
phone, and she ran over to Derek's side. "Here you go, Derek."
"I've gotta give Mark
a hand," said Derek.
"No, hold on,"
said Nova. She whispered something to Derek that none of the others heard.
"You're not,"
said Derek flatly.
"Yes I am! I'm faster
than you and he won't expect this from a so-called girl," she said in a
low voice. "Be right back," she said as she kissed Derek.
Then, before Derek could
even cry out, Nova jumped in. Like a gazelle, she sprung off on her light feet…
And…a moment later, she was
on Wallford's back, punching at his head!
"What the hell!"
he yelled. "No fair!"
"Is using a knife
against a man who won't use a gun against you fair?" said Nova as
she boxed Wallford about the head and grabbed his knife-hand just as Derek
jumped in. He and Nova forced Wallford to the ground together and grabbed his
knife. Mark waded in a moment later, while keeping a wary eye on the other two
free punks, namely, Moriyama and Dorset, who had wanted to run when the knife
came out but were stopped by Holly.
"You suck!"
yelled Wallford. "I'll get you!"
"Not likely,"
said Holly as she comforted Jordy. "The police have just shown up."
A moment later, three
police officers began taking care of things. Derek and Mark explained the
story. And then, Mark and Jordy's parents showed up. Needless to say, Mark and
Jordy's father was livid. David Venture promptly pressed charges against the
hoodlums for beating up his youngest son and vouched for the actions of his
oldest son and his comrades.
Sure enough, the hoodlums
found themselves on their way to the police station, where they would face a
good amount of juvenile charges.
The next day was Saturday. The
morning was bright and sunny. Derek had dressed in an old shirt and old
sweatpants for a walk down the beach, while Nova wore one of her new outfits,
namely, a filmy blue dress for appreciating the sun and breeze as she walked
hand-in-hand with Derek.
Finally, they got tired of
walking and stopped.
The two of them sat
cuddling on the beach near their house; Derek was running his hands through
Nova's hair as she laughed softly.
"What a way for
Venture's parents to meet Holly yesterday," said Nova with a soft smile.
"Well, at least they
seem to have approved of her."
Artwork:
"On the Beach" BY "Aki". © 2003 by
her-used by permission.
"Yeah…they liked her.
And Mark's parents were so glad to see we were all right, too."
"I'm glad
everyone's okay…your parents and Mark's."
"It's so nice watching
the Bay," said Nova. "No worries; no fears…and the sand feels so nice," she said, lifting up a foot to look at
the footprint she made in the sand. "I'm so glad we’re together to share
this."
"Me
too."
"I'm gonna spend the
day repainting that one room in the basement, Nova. Wanna help?"
"No,
afraid not."
"Why
not?"
"Dad wants me to meet
him downtown for a consultation with one of his associates at his law
firm," said Nova. "Something about some stocks and bonds he has in my
name."
"Have fun."
"Not fun…it's
necessary," said Nova in a soft, morose voice. "You know how you were
doing your will the other day?"
"Yeah?'
"Dad wants to consult
with me…about my will," said Nova in a tired voice. "He knows
I'm shipping out again soon."
"Yeah," said
Derek. "Come back soon? We need a long afternoon together."
"Derek, I love you so
much," said Nova while her voice hitched. "I do hope we make
it home again after that battle…I want lots of afternoons together with
you!"
"We will," said
Derek. He sat and held her for a while as she began to cry softly. "We
will, Nova…"
III. DARK MEETINGS
The
Saturday April 24, 2202
1335 Hours
Piper Sandberg stood in an
empty room in the old underground city examining a printout that Captain
Borland of the Mogami had just given him. "We've got to be
quick," said Borland.
"Why?"
"You're out of the
loop, sir," said Borland. "They're reopening these cities
tomorrow."
"Our
work," said Lecha Voton of the R'Khell. "It's thanks to our bombers
that this is happening. How nice."
"So, these are their
attack plans?" asked Sandberg.
Borland nodded with a
smile. "And they still think I'm loyal. Wildstar even called me on the
phone and asked me to dine with him today on the Argo when he stops by
the ship. To me, he seems like such a stupid, innocent kid. Wonder what else
he'll spill?"
"See if you can get
him to drink some wine," said Sandberg. "Men will say plenty to their
bartender."
They laughed at that. Not
far away, Lecha Voton leaned against a disused communications panel as he smoked
a Rikashan cigarette. The alien herb was strong and astringent, and the smell
nauseated Sandberg somewhat. "You look ill, Terranisch," said Voton.
"Your
damned cigarette…that's why."
"I will not put it
out," said Voton with an evil grin. "Tell me. Ekogaru means to wipe
out your race. Why did you and these others turn traitor? Not that I mind
your help, that is," said Voton as he looked over the attack plans.
"We believe in the
Lord and what He is planning," said Borland.
"Yes. Yvona told me
about His power months ago," said Sandberg.
"You knew He was
Ekogaru then?" asked Voton. "Did you know?"
"I did," said
Borland. Sandberg remained silent.
"Bring me more
plans," said Voton. "Do that, and maybe I'll
let you live…"
"I'm not sure I
can," said Sandberg with a hitch in his voice.
"Leave that
to me," said Borland. "I know where to steal some stuff. They're
kept in corporate records in a civilian office downtown."
"Where?" said
Voton.
Borland simply paused and
smiled "I have friends in a law firm who'll let me rummage around to get
stuff. They've done it before. They keep these records and classified patents
as part of the Contrail Enterprises records. No one will question an officer
coming by to get something. Civilians are so damned stupid."
"Okay…be mysterious,"
said Sandberg.
"Fail me, and you
die," said Voton.
"Oh, I won't fail.
Believe me, I won't…"
Aircar horns blew in the
Central District of the Megalopolis as Nova Wildstar looked up at a pedestrian
directional sign while standing in a pedestrian island in the middle of a
boulevard.
Nova still wore the dress
she worn earlier that day on the beach, but had added a spring hat and sandals
to her outfit, making her look like many of the other young women in this
high-rent center city district on a nice spring day. A crowd of people
surrounded her as the light went green. She walked along in the crowd, relieved
that, so far, no one had recognized her.
The last thing I need
right now, she
thought, are autograph hounds or paparazzi when I'm by myself. Too bad I
couldn't tear Derek away from his paint cans down there in that basement. Oh,
well…maybe I can help him after I get this appointment over with and buy some
French bread at the gourmet shop.
Nova crossed the street,
following part of the crowd down the boulevard, which was called The Avenue of
the Arts. It was primarily a banking district; Sumitomo Bank and the Japanese
branch of the Bank of America both had major office towers here. She entered
the Yokohama Bank tower near a square with a fountain in its center. A group of
young women, probably office workers who had to come in today, sat alongside
the edge of the fountain with bag lunches or with their heels off, dipping
their feet in the water.
Nova barely glanced at
them, looking at her watch as she went through the revolving doors into the
lobby of the office tower.
After signing in with the
guard, she went to an elevator. She didn't need to glance at the directory. She
knew where she was going. Here we go, twenty-third floor,
she thought.
Soon, the elevator arrived,
and Nova walked out into a passage. She passed a few office suite doors,
stopping at one with a brass nameplate that read: Forrester, Fisher, Smith
and Pellman, PC.
I wonder who Dad is
going to have me meet with today? Nova thought as she entered the
carpeted office and signed in with the receptionist, who was very pleasant.
In response to Nova's
question, the receptionist said, "You'll be seeing a Cliff Irwin today.
He's one of our new associates. I'm afraid your father and Mister Fisher are
very busy today. They had to go out and schmooze a big
client over lunch at Le Brasserie."
"Must be a big
client," said Nova while she put down her bag and looked at a gardening
magazine. "The place is expensive."
The receptionist nodded.
"Tell me about it. Cute outfit, incidentally. Where'd you get those
shoes?"
"A
little place in the arcade near Earth Defense Headquarters."
A walnut-grained door
behind the receptionist opened. "Mrs. Wildstar?" said a young man in
a suit. "I'm Cliff Irwin; the associate who'll be meeting with you
today."
Nova stood and shook hands
with him; Irwin was a little surprised when he discovered that she had a very
strong, confident handshake. Not what I would've expected from a girl in a
sundress and jacket! thought Irwin.
"This way?" said
Irwin as he opened the door for Nova.
Nova found herself sitting
in one of the many office suites in her father's law firm. Irwin closed the
door and got a legal pad. Nova noticed it was an old-fashioned yellow paper
pad; apparently, they didn't use computer padds here. She opened her bag, took
out a breath mint, and then withdrew an envelope. "My father said you
should see about updating this."
"Hmmm," he said.
"This says seventy-five percent of your estate passes to your husband in
the event of your demise, with twelve percent passing to your parents and
thirteen percent to your cousin Samuel Josiah."
"I want to keep the
distributions pretty much the same, even though I may want to update it to
cover my brother and sister when they're born. I have a few small changes in
mind, though."
"Mrs. Forrester is
pregnant?"
Nova nodded. "I'm
surprised you haven't noticed."
"Teri hasn't been up
here in a while," said Irwin. "Congratulations."
They spoke for a while
longer; Nova deftly steered the conversation away from any questions about the Argo or her EDF career or the news,
since the big news story was the impending battle and the news that the
underground cities were to be re-opened tomorrow. Finally, the conversation
returned to Nova's appointment.
Irwin read over Nova's
will, which had originally been written by her father. Not many people knew it,
but because of her role in saving the planet so many times, as well as her
parents' generosity (and some wise investments of her own). Nova Wildstar was
sitting on a great deal of money. Her personal commitment kept her in the EDF,
not the paycheck.
Irwin looked up. "So,
you'd like your heirs to receive the right to exercise proxies over these
stocks?"
"That's right. I
especially want my husband Derek to be covered in case I die before he does,
which is a possibility in the times we're facing. I explained to him how to
vote a proxy this morning."
"So, that'll reduce
your parents' share to ten percent?"
"Yes, but Dad will
understand. He said…uh…he didn't need all that excess money."
"All
right. Is that
it?"
Nova nodded.
"Well, I'll go and
have one of our paralegals make the changes In a
while, we'll be back, along with Miss Kaneshiki, another one of our associates.
We'll witness your signature."
"Thanks," said
Nova. "Do you mind if I go powder my nose and fix my nail polish?"
"Go ahead."
Nova smiled and walked out.
She went down a long corridor to find the ladies' room.
After doing her business,
she walked back down the hall to the office suite. However, she stopped when
she heard a file cabinet slamming in a room, accompanied by cursing.
That man should have his
mouth washed out with soap! Nova thought. Two more cabinets slammed, with each slam punctuated by
more curses.
Nova slipped off her light
shoes and tiptoed across the carpeted corridor to the file room. The door was
ajar, so, luckily, she didn't have to open it.
Nova looked, puzzled by the
sight of an EDF officer in a blue and gold Captain's peacoat slamming drawers
and getting more and more agitated.
"They moved
them! They moved the Contrail shit!" grumbled the man inside the room
while he played around with a filing cabinet secured by an electronic
combination lock. "Damned mother******s!"
What's somebody from First
Fleet doing here in this office? Nova thought. Maybe he has business here, but he's being
pretty loud about it.
"Where's
those files? Where's those frigging files?" he growled as he
threw files on the floor. "They want them! If I find the little
frigging office lady who moved these, so help me…"
The man looked over his
shoulder. Nova, with her gift for memorizing faces, memorized his features; he
had an aquiline nose, cleft chin, and dark, scornful eyes with dark hair. For a
moment, Nova considered jumping into the room herself to confront this man; she
actually dug her toes into the carpet for such a leap. But, then, she thought, If
he has legitimate business here, he'll get even madder when he sees some woman
he thinks is a mere civilian looking in on him. I'll go let the receptionist
know there's someone here causing a ruckus. What a creep! I hope Derek hasn't
had contact with this officer, whoever he is.
Nova slipped away, not
stepping back into her shoes until she was halfway down the corridor so the
clicking of her heels wouldn’t be heard by the intruder. But, then, Cliff Irwin
came out of his office. "There you are!" he said. "Are you
okay?"
"I'm fine. I was just
getting a drink. One of the water coolers down there by the ladies' room wasn't
working right," said Nova.
"Oh, okay," said
Irwin. "We have the papers ready for you to sign…"
"Okay," said
Nova.
Later on that afternoon,
Nova was back home. She was lying on a beach towel in
the grass near the pool behind a stand of pine trees that screened the area for
privacy. She smiled as Derek ran some oil over her bikini-clad back, gently but
firmly working the tension out of her shoulder blades. "You feel good,
Derek," she said in a low, soft voice.
"You look good,"
said Derek softly. "You're a little tense. What happened
today downtown?"
"It may be nothing,
Derek. I encountered this EDF officer looking through files and cursing a blue
streak in my dad's law office while I was there getting my will updated."
"He could have had
legitimate business," said Derek.
"Maybe he did. Maybe
he didn't."
Derek ran his hands further
down Nova's back, occasionally tapping and hammering at knots in her muscles.
"You think he didn't?"
Nova shook her head.
"I can tell…your
back's getting real stiff," said Derek. "Would you try to relax,
please?" he whispered.
"I'll try…I know, I'm
always telling you to do that when I give you one of these," said
Nova as she shut her eyes and tried to bleed her unease out through the soles
of her feet while relaxing her muscles. Derek began to stroke the small of her
back, and let his hands slowly go down a little further.
"Do you remember what
this guy looked like?" asked Derek as the sun hung in the west. It was
near sunset, and it was very bright as the sun slipped out from behind the
clouds.
"First Fleet colors on
his peacoat, white cap, Captain's rank stripes on his epaulets. He had dark
hair, dark eyes, cleft chin. Sort of a mean, weaselly-looking
face. Looks like he hates the world."
"Hmmm," said
Derek. "He sounds familiar, somehow. There are a lot of guys in First
Fleet that look like that. They all have this…attitude. Wonder if it
could be him?"
"Wonder if it could be
who, Derek?"
"Nothing…just
the Captain of one of our escorts. But he seemed too polite. It doesn't make any sense."
"Well, Sherlock,"
joked Nova. "If you solve this mystery, let me know. Mmmm, your hand feels
nice there."
"Where?"
"There, where you have
it…" whispered Nova. "Now…that…"
At that, her breathing began to speed up. "Don't stop," she
whispered.
"Seems like I'm
driving you crazy," said Derek with a slow smile.
Nova nodded.
Then, five lovely minutes passed.
They turned into ten lovely minutes. Then, a moment later, Derek made a
whispered suggestion. Nova nodded like a schoolgirl invited to a malt shop for
an "all you can eat" special.
Then, she rolled over onto
her back and shut her eyes. Fully relaxed now (but blushing) she awaited her
husband as he bent over her to kiss her. As he did so, he began to gently untie
her bikini top. Then, with several tender kisses, Derek gently took his wife
into his arms. Time passed. Joy turned into bliss, and all rational thought
flew away like a bird taking wing in the blazing yet gentle light of the late
afternoon. And it was good.
For them, alone in their
yard, in private...it was so good….
"So what'd you find,
Borland?" said Sandberg.
"Not much, except this,"
said Borland as he threw down a folder in the underground city. "And this
other one contains a rough layout of their anti-spacecraft defenses."
"Hmmm," said
Voton. "They're working on a device to enhance tachyonic compression, it
seems. Theoretical, but it could be dangerous for us. As for the
anti-spacecraft defenses, while, we could easily take out AA guns and SAM sites
with a bombing raid or two."
"So?" said
Borland.
Voton ignored him.
"Sandberg. Could you have your cultists ready for a random wave of terror
attacks tomorrow morning?"
"I could," said
Sandberg.
"Good," said
Voton. "Ekogaru would like me to spread a bit of terror before he comes.
I'll use two carriers' worth of bombers. This is how we'll do it…"
IV. A SILLY LITTLE
INTERLUDE
Space Battleship Argo
Captain’s Quarters
Sunday April 25, 2202
0300 Hours
Homer, Eager, and Dash had
been summoned to the Argo at about
0100 Hours by communicator. They had been summoned to the Captain’s Quarters,
only to find Commodore Wildstar working there in an old pair of sweats and
sneakers.
“Sir, are you runnin’ with
us?” said Eager.
“No, Nova and I were
working out on the beach together; had a hard time sleeping.”
“Over the mission?” asked Dash.
Derek nodded.
“Having bad dreams?” asked
Homer.
“Don’t want to talk about
it,” snapped a rather uncommunicative Wildstar. “You guess what’s going on.”
“Sir,” said Dash. “We’re sorry
about…what…”
“You’d better be sorry,”
said Wildstar.
The hatch opened, and Nova
came in, clad in a fresh t-shirt, running shorts, and running shoes. She seemed
to look rather perky for someone who was up at 3 AM. “Okay, guys,” she said as
she clapped her hands. “Down to your skivvies…everything else off!”
“Now?” said Homer.
Nova nodded. “We’re going
to begin here, go down deck by deck to the third bridge, and then come back up
here. You should be pretty well worn out by then.”
“Sir,” said Homer as he began
to open his Star Force uniform shirt. “Commodore Wildstar.
Can we go to the brig instead?”
Wildstar shook his head.
“Nova, you’re in charge.”
“Yessir,” she said. “C’mon
guys,” she called out merrily. “Strip down. There’s nothing here I haven’t
already seen in Sickbay.”
“People are gonna make fun
of me because of that bionic leg,” said Dash.
“It doesn’t look that bad,” said Nova. “C’mon, Eager,
pants down…you’d think I was asking
you to run naked or something,” she said with a giggle.
“You practically are,” said
Homer.
“Natalie tells me you guys
weren’t this bashful in that harem!” mocked Nova. “What’s with you?” Nova smiled at Homer and mockingly blew a wolf-whistle
at him. “Derek, look at him! He should have no problem with women with a body
like that!”
“They’ll laugh at my boxer
shorts,” said Homer as he was down to just his skivvies. Finally, Nova
inspected her charges. Dash said, “Ma’am, can I keep my glasses on?”
Nova nodded.
“Permission to take them?”
said Nova.
“Granted,” said Derek. Nova
saluted, and herded her underwear-clad subordinates out the hatch. She called
out a boot-camp cadence as she went down the stairs. Derek smiled a little as
he heard her yell “C’mon Eager! Gotta move faster! Wearing out already? Hup Twoop Threep Four!”
A while later, they came
back before Wildstar, sweating, huffing and puffing. “Nova, did they do
it?”
“Yessir,” she said.
“Did a lot of people see
them?” said Derek.
“They sure did,” said Nova.
“What did they think?”
Nova rolled up her eyes.
“At least two girls propositioned them.
Everyone else laughed.”
“Okay,” said Derek. “Dismissed, guys. Meet us at our house this morning after
church.”
“Yeah,” said Dash. “If we
can still walk, that is….”
Nova just smiled at that.
V. SUNDAY, BLOODY SUNDAY
The Wildstar Residence
Sunday April 25, 2202
0905 Hours
Mrs. Carol Venture could
scarcely believe Nova's kindness. "It's so nice of you, opening up your
home to us before you leave this afternoon."
"It's nothing,"
laughed Nova as she stood in her dining room in a white dress and pink heels.
"Where'd you get the
food from?" asked David Venture, who sat between his wife and Tonya
Parsons, who was Holly's widowed mother.
"Catered; we just had
to warm it up," said Teri Forrester,
"You mean I had
to," joked Nova while grabbing a croissant.
"Gracious!"
laughed Teri as Nova wolfed down the croissant. "You'll get fat, and Derek
won't love you anymore."
"That's silly,
Momma!" Nova gave Commodore Wildstar a big hug.
"She'll even look
great when she's nine months pregnant, I'll bet," laughed Derek.
"Why do you say
that?"
"Her mother looks good
pregnant," teased Derek. Nova kissed Derek for that, and Teri blushed.
Not too far away, in the
living room, Mark Venture and Jordy laughed as they played a computer game
together. Nova rolled up her eyes a little at the sound of Bryan and Angie
Hartcliffe trying to play a boogie-woogie duet on her piano. Not far away, Paul
Rosstowski danced with Aliscea, who now wore a white sailor dress trimmed in
black. She was learning a lot about Earth customs, and had even joined the
group at Mass that morning at the local
On the other hand, Holly
had been a bit bored by the church service, and was also a little bored at the
Venture family beginning to size her up as a mate for Mark. She had made it
clear they had already been quietly married, but the families were only halfway
accepting of their small ceremony, it appeared.
Not far away, Jefferson
Hardy sat in a morose mood. He had been missing Mio a great deal.
Unfortunately, Aliscea didn't help matters much by letting him know that he had
sensed "she was at peace" before they had come into the house.
Aliscea's explaining that "at peace" meant she had died in
Technomugar hands didn't help his mood much, but it had provided a certain sort
of closure.
Well, at least I know
now that they aren't torturing her any more, thought Hardy as he wiped his eyes while watching
Mark and Holly dance for a minute.
"What's wrong?"
said Conroy.
"I just learned about
Mio Hoshiyama, my girlfriend…she was captured by the Technomugar,
remember?" said Hardy. "Aliscea told me she's dead."
"Why'd she have to say
that?"
"I had to ask,"
said Hardy. He blew his nose.
"Hey, buddy,"
said Hemsford as he came up. He gave Hardy a rough hug. "I know what it's
like to lose people. I've been there."
Hardy just nodded. His pain
was palpable. He sat for a moment, appreciating the friendship of Conroy and
Hemsford.
In the meantime, Nova sat
down and began playing the piano. It was a pretty, bittersweet tune she made up
from out of her head, with classical progressions played with a note of the
blues. Derek soon slid onto the bench beside her, just sharing in the presence
of his beautiful young wife, even though he couldn't play piano. They smiled at
each other as Nova played.
When Nova was done, she
took Derek by the hand and walked over to Hardy.
"Jeff?" she said
softly.
Hardy nodded. "Yeah?"
"I heard about Mio,
and I'm so sorry. I just played that piece in memory of her. If there's anything
Derek and I can do to help you, please name it…"
Commodore Wildstar then
said, "Hardy, if you don't want to leave with us on the mission, because
of your grief, I'll understand…"
"No, Ah'm goin!"
said Hardy. "I can best deal with this by taking it out on those
bastards!"
"That's the
spirit," said Derek as he grabbed Hardy's hands. Conroy slapped him on the
back, and then Laurel Hartmann came up. "You know, I lost Royster on this
mission," she said. "I don't know if it'd help or not, but if we make
it through this alive, can I take you out to dinner? We can deal with how we
both feel then, sir."
"Thanks," said
Hardy with a weak smile.
A moment later, there was a
noise outside like a crump of thunder. Then, there came three more such noises.
"What the…?" said
Mark.
"There's not supposed
to be any thunderstorms today," mused Carol Venture.
"What's happening,
Mark?" asked Jordy as he ran up to a window.
Then, there was a flash of
light. Teri Forrester looked out and screamed.
"My God!"
she yelled. "The city's being bombed!"
At Earth Defense
Headquarters, everything was chaos. The power had gone out, and the red
emergency lighting had just come on.
"What's going
on?" asked the Commander.
"Sir," said an
officer as he ran up. "The main underground power trunk to this part of
the city has been hit!"
Another officer ran up.
"Sir, air defense counts over fifty light bombers escorted by a hundred
fighters over the city. They're R'Khell, sir."
"I detect a fleet in
high Earth orbit!" yelled another officer. "Should I arm the battle
satellites?"
"Begin the procedures,
and then call First Fleet…" said the Commander,
but then, a moment later, all the computer screens went dark.
"What happened?"
Stone ran to a phone. He
came back a moment later with his heart thumping. "Sir, some terrorist
attack knocked out power. We're going to have to evacuate to the old
underground Headquarters."
"All right, we'll
commence the transfer," said Singleton as he grabbed a cell phone. "Anyone up to running down the stairs?"
The phone rang a moment
later at the Wildstar residence.
Derek picked up on the
first ring. "Hello? Sir!" he snapped. "It's the
Commander!"
"Wildstar, can you get
the Black Tigers in the air from the airbase to help fight off these bombers?
The Central District's been hit…we're on our way to the old underground
headquarters. We'll use the underground tube system to get there."
"Yessir, we can. Do
you want the Argo to sortie? Most of the crew should be aboard by
now."
"Excellent idea,
Commodore," said Singleton. "How soon can you get her in the
air?"
"Maybe ninety
minutes," said Derek. "I can get some of my pilots to an airbase near
here in half an hour."
"Permission granted.
Do it!"
Derek nodded. He turned to
Conroy. "Conroy, you, Hardy, Mr. and Mrs. Hartcliffe, and the other
pilots…come with me."
"Yessir!" said
Conroy.
"Venture, get everyone
else to the Argo."
"Yessir," he said
while Derek wrote a note. "What about these civilians?" Venture
whispered.
"Nova!" said Derek.
"I have a job for you!"
"Yes?" she said
as she ran up.
"Get a weapon in your
purse, just in case, and then get the civilians to safety in the underground
city. You know…the shaft by the garage."
"Right," said
Nova. "Then?"
Derek handed her a note.
"Get this note to the Commander in the old underground HQ nearby and then
get top priority transport to the ship."
"Yessir," she
said.
"I'll back her
up," said Hemsford.
"Good," said
Derek. He hugged Nova quickly and said, "I'll see you on the Argo.
Be careful."
"You
too!"
Ekogaru the Great leaned on
his cane as he walked into his Audience Chamber. "Earth!
Images!" he barked.
An evil light glowed in the
Dark Lord's eyes as he watched the R'Khell bombers hammering the Megalopolis.
"Good," he said. "My faithful servants have begun. The Great
Humiliation has started. This is the beginning of my Dominance over this
Galaxy. Soon, all will tremble as I crush the Earth down into nothing…before I
destroy it, along with those servants of Mine who have
been unfaithful towards Me."
A minor officer stood
trembling in the Audience Chamber a moment later. "Lordship?"
"Yes?"
"We are ready to
commence our space warp!"
"Excellent," said
Ekogaru. "With this two-thousand light-year warp, the Fortress will be
twenty thousand lightyears away from Earth, facing towards the 61 Cygni System. In four days, 61 Cygni, just twelve lightyears away
from Earth, will be our final staging area before I order our final plunge into
the Sol System! Underling, bring up the intelligence we have on that
System."
"Yes, Lord." A
moment later, a graphic of the Sol System came up on the screen. "We will
enter the Sol System here, Lordship, near their eleventh planet, Brumus. The
time will be at Midnight in their Tokyo Megalopolis, on their twenty-ninth of April,
a day they call Thursday, Lord."
"Good. At that point,
Brumus ceases to exist!" laughed Ekogaru. "Then, after we assimilate
Brumus?"
"Then, after we
assimilate their eleventh planet, we can warp again at eleven in their morning.
The scheduled time for the destruction and assimilation of Planet Earth is
twelve hours after midnight, what they call "high noon" on April 29,
2202 in their reckoning. By calculating the relative mass and energy of the
Planet, we calculate the operation will take fifteen minutes, Lord."
"And I assume the
Phased Density Cannon is repaired?"
"It is, sire."
"And I assume our
fleet and the R'Khell fleet are beginning to wipe out
the opposition now?"
"Yes, Lord. As you
have seen, the R'Khells have begun the process."
"Excellent!" said
Ekogaru. "Four days and two and a half hours from now, Planet Earth, the
Star Force, and Aliscea of Pellias will cease to matter for me, since then,
they shall all be in their graves! Wonderful! Ha ha ha ha
ha!"
END.
This Ends Part Ten of the Rikasha
Incident.
The Rikasha Incident shall be
Concluded In Part Eleven: "Ragnarok"
Coming Soon!
THERE ARE NOW 4 DAYS
TO THE ARRIVAL OF EKOGARU IN EARTH'S SOLAR SYSTEM
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the Introduction to the Rikasha Incident please click here