ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE

STAR BLAZERS---ENDGAME

Being the ninth part of THE NEW COMET--- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz


This Act is being completed with the Cooperation and Assistance of Derek A.C. Wakefield (as usual)---Freddo

Note: contains some references to mature subject matter, etc…

Thanks to Ami Meitsu for some artwork contributed to this chapter….


ACT SIX: STORM WARNING


I. ANOTHER FINE MESS

Space Battleship Argo

Near the Edge of The Milky Way Galaxy

Friday, August 21, 2207

1425 Hours: Earthtime


 

Sasha, dismissed from the First Bridge, was running towards the Diamond Girl when she almost bumped into her husband Deke and knocked him over.

 

“We’ve got to stop meeting like this,” said Deke over the sound of the klaxons.

 

“Very funny, sir,” said Sasha as Deke steadied her with his hand. “Where’s Bob?”

 

“Corporal Dubois should be here in a minute,” said Deke, referring to the part-Cajun, part-African Space Marine who was now the Diamond Girl’s aft gunner. “We’ve been upgraded to alert-three; we’re second out off the boat after Hardy.”

 

“Oh,” said Sasha. “I see.”

 

A moment later, Bryan Hartcliffe ran up, busy buckling his pants. “Hartcliffe,” snapped Deke. “You’re late again!”

 

“I was in the loo, what’cha think?” said Hartcliffe.

 

“Then how come you smell like…oh, never mind,” said Sasha. “Where’s Angie?”

 

“She’s in the loo, as well,” lied Bryan.

 

“How would you know that?” demanded Wakefield, wondering why the hell Hardy had shuffled his old wingman over to another squadron out of the Trojans and traded him this joker instead.

 

“She calls me from the ladies’ loo by tappin’ on the pipes,” said Hartcliffe.

 

Hartcliffe!” yelled another young woman in Tiger black and gold named Ensign Tammi “Jelly” Jelal as she grabbed his arm. “Your plane is over here, sir!”

 

“Hands off me or I may be forced to file a sexual harassment action with me Squadron Leader, Jelly,” said Hartcliffe. “And how come yer smell like a polecat in heat?”

 

At that, Ensign Jelal slapped her pilot and CO across the face. “YOU PIG!” she yelled. “Mister Wakefield, sir, this man is an utter P-I-G pig!”

 

“Oink, oink, oink,” said Hartcliffe.

 

“Cut the crap!” snapped Wakefield. “We have a mission to fly! And we’re gonna do it! Get in your plane now, Hartcliffe!”

 

“Yessir,” he said.

 


 

Soon, the First Squadron of the Black Tigers under Hardy’s command and the First Squadron of the Trojans under Deke’s command flew out of the Argo to attack the enemy fleet; at least until they got into gunnery range.

 

Hardy and Deke faced heavy missile fire, which their planes evaded fairly easily, even though one Tiger from Hardy’s squadron was hit and went down in flames before exploding.

 

From her seat, Sasha said, “One of the enemy ships just launched four planes! Scorpion boats, that is!”

 

What?” said Deke. “Those antimatter missile cruisers can’t have that many planes!”

 

“Tigers, Trojans!,” said Homer over their headsets. “Nova’s just spotted an enemy carrier that’s warped in. It’s launching planes and might be their flagship. Location, TGX-100 on the scope!”


“TGX-100, confirmed!” said Sasha. “It’s a light carrier, but it can still be a threat.”

 

“Got it, Sasha! Hartcliffe! Ivan!” barked Deke. “There’s a small enemy spacecraft carrier over there at TGX-100! We’ve got to get that thing first! Stay close…we’re going in as wave number one!”

 

“Roger,” said Ivan.

 

“Goin’ in to kick butt!” yelled Hartcliffe.

 


 

In the meantime, the Cometine carrier continued to launch Scorpions.

 

The enemy carrier, which was named the Penjava, awaited the arrival of the Tigers with a major amount of arrogance.

 

“Sir,” said an officer on the ship. “Enemy planes approaching!”

 

“Continue launch operations,” snapped the carrier’s Skipper. “I care about destroying the Argo, not about enemy planes we can shoot down. Continue to launch!”

 

“Yessir,” said the officer.

 

At that, the Penjava kept on launching, unconcerned about the threat looming near its bow.

 

A moment later, Wakefield’s flight roared in. Sasha’s heart sped up as, per protocol, Deke and the others locked on, fired missiles at the enemy ship, and tore off.

 

 

The Tigers’ missiles were soon plunging towards the Penjava with deadly effect.

 

The enemy carrier was hit in one, two, three, four spots.

 

It was soon burning, but the Cometine crews aboard her persisted in their attacks.

 

But, not far away, the Argo was preparing an attack of her own.

 

This would be an attack that would prove to be quite deadly in and of itself.

 

In the meantime, Hardy’s flight roared in and six more missiles streaked in towards the Penjava as other Tigers jumped the Scorpions that the Cometines had been able to launch…they had them engaged in some pretty nasty dogfights.

 

Two more Tigers died in those dogfights; one from Wakefield’s squadron, and one from Hardy’s squadron. But, soon, most of the enemy boats were down for the count as the Tigers evaded further fire from the missile ships and the destroyers.

 

Soon, four of the six missiles that Hardy’s group had fired hit the Penjava. It was burning very badly now. She blew apart a moment later.

 

Hardy gritted his teeth and prepared another attack when Wildstar snapped in his headset, “Hardy! Wakefield! Pull out! We’re within gun range now! The Argo’s going to fire.”

 

“Roger,” said Hardy. “Wakefield, did yuh get that?”

 

“On our way out,” said Deke.

 


 

“Sir, the Tigers and Trojans are back around the ship to starboard; all guns are angled to port; we have a clear firing zone,” said Domon from his post on the Argo.

 

“Nova, range to enemy?” demanded Wildstar from his post at the Captain’s Station.

 

Nova cried out, “Distance to enemy; nine megameters!”

 

“Good, you know what to do,” said Derek.

 

“Open fire!” snapped Domon.

 

The Argo fired a withering broadside off into the enemy fleet a moment later.

 

The Argo fired three more times in rapid succession.

 

Enemy ships began to blow apart like clay pigeons.

 

On the remaining enemy flagship, the antimatter missile cruiser Jakanda, the squadron commander, a General Hajan, called the Eritz Gatlantis and said, “General Gorse! Why were we sent in against this demon ship? We’ve already lost the carrier, and a third of my fleet is already space trash! You never said this would be a suicide mission!”

 

“That’s exactly what it is,” laughed Gorse. “The Princess wanted to do the equivalent of throwing dust in the eyes of the enemy while we warp closer to Earth! You’re not expected to beat them, although it would be nice if you did. But I do not want you to return here, either, Hajan! Princess Invidia has already said it will be death in the Sphere of Joy for you if you return and fail to defeat them!”

 

“Have mercy, have….AAAAAAA!” screamed Hajan as fire from the Argo roared in and tore his ship to pieces around him. He was already dead from exposure to the cold of open space when the remains of his ship blew apart a moment later.

 

Gorse looked at his static-filed screen and shook his head. “Useless,” he said. “Utterly useless. Oh, well, Princess, that man was a waste of breath, anyhow.”

 

Then, the Eritz Gatlantis warped again, safe from the enemy’s sensors for the moment. Gorse’s fleets had also pinned the Earth Task Force and the Gamilons in place, allowing the City-Ship to escape.

 


 

On the Argo, there were a few remaining enemy ships that flew in over the space battleship’s ecleptic and hit her with missiles and bombs. The Terran space battleship was soon smoking in a few places.

 

“They’re staying above us!” said Nova from her post.

 

“Domon, prepare smokestack missiles. Three salvoes should do it,” ordered Derek.

 

“Roger,” said Domon. “Nishina, ready smokestack silo!”

 

“Acknowledged,” said Nishina.

 

The missile silo in the Argo’s smokestack hissed open. In a moment, eight long-range missiles were being fired “up” towards the enemy fleet.

 

Most of them hit home. A moment later, the Argo fired two more salvoes. The enemy ships retreated from that position and roared in in a frontal attack on the Argo’s bow.

 

The Argo reset her forward guns and fired yet again. After two more salvoes, the remaining enemy ships were gone, and space was finally quiet when 1510 Hours rolled around and the Tigers and Trojans landed back on the ship, mostly intact, but missing a few members.

 

This battle was over, and once again, the Star Force had won.

 

But, Derek knew it would not be their last battle as the War ground on…

 

He looked at Nova and her pregnant stomach and thought, Please God…please…make this war end soon. Please. So we can have our children in peace….

 


II. INVIDIA’S TORMENT GROWS

The Eritz Gatlantis

5,000 Lightyears Into the Milky Way Galaxy

Sunday, August 23, 2207

0900 Hours: Earthtime


 

Princess Invidia had been summoned to the Communications Room of the Eritz Gatlantis by a phone call from Gorse right after she had awakened. She looked very upset.

 

Invidia ran into Michelle and said, “I wonder what it is they want?”

 

“I don’t have a good feeling about this…or about the war, any longer,” Michelle said. “Princess, can’t we turn back from attacking Earth? Please?”

 

It was a measure of Invidia’s new hesitancy and thoughtfulness when she turned to Michelle and said, “Now, I’m seeing that I should have stopped this months ago. I had to see more widows in the past day. Widows of Captains killed by the Star Force, the Terran Task Group 2.0, and the Gamilons. I should have surrendered that day on Iscandar when you were with me. I had so many opportunities to stop it. But I was too filled with a lust for power to do so. And now I cannot stop it. The die is cast, Michelle,” Invidia sighed. “Either I attack Earth or they attack us. The Gamilon Fleet, the last time we noticed, seemed to be blocking our last path of escape.”

 

“You would escape?” said Michelle, as her eyes brightened. “But where would we go?”

 

“We cannot go back to Andromeda,” sighed Invidia as they walked on. “The few remaining Priestesses of Arishna we have left on the ship tell me they have been in touch with the Priors back in Andromeda; we can never return there again unless we surrender to one of the other Houses. The Magellenic Clouds are blocked to us due to the Gamilons. We might be able to find a safe haven in the Black Fox Nebula if we can get away from the Gamilon fleet, but we would face the bitter remains of Skaldart’s Empire, and those cyborgs scare me. They…”

 

“They what?” said Michelle. She looked down at her uniform again. If I return to Earth in this uniform, they will shoot me as a traitor, she thought. They probably wouldn’t take into account that I was a slave and I was pretty much forced into this…that I had no alternative….that I had no hope….so, against my better instincts, I have to hope we win, too. My God. I’m as trapped in this as Invidia is. And why did she start this war, anyway? Did the Dark Lord lie to her in the first place?  

 

Invidia and Michelle and the small company of guards Michelle led entered the Communications Room. Michelle looked back nervously at the young Cometines she led; they were eight young men, conscripts, teenagers no older than she was. Two of them spoke Terran standard and translated her orders to the others, even though Michelle knew some Cometine, she spoke it in a rather broken fashion, even after her time as a slave.

 

Michelle looked back at her guardsmen and said, “Salga-Jhe, Devlits!” (“Halt, Sergeant Salga!”)

 

Salga, a young man of about seventeen who was halfway cute, even in his helmet, nodded to her and went, “HA!” He signaled to the Corporal and Privates who were his subordinates and the small company marched to a halt behind the Princess.

 

Gorse looked at Michelle with a leer as he looked at her bare legs in her skirt. Michelle curled her sandaled toes, feeling very dirty under Gorse’s gaze. She did not like the bearded Cometine officer as he mockingly bowed to Invidia and kissed her hand. He said, “No, Princess. It is not His Lordship. Radnar seems to have remembered us. He demands to speak to you.”

 

Michelle had heard some things about Radnar. She guessed why Invidia looked as if she was about to cry as Invidia nodded at Gorse and said, “Put him on the main screen. Let us see what he wants.”

 

Gorse snapped orders to men at consoles as Radnar’s image appeared on the main screen.

 

The bearded green Cometine mockingly saluted Invidia and then visibly spat on his screen. “That is what I think of you, Invidia. Something to spit on like human waste you find in the gutter. How are you, Princess? I wish I could say I was glad to see you. Unfortunately, I am not glad to see you. It is almost too bad Desslok hasn’t killed you yet. Why didn’t he get you?”

 

“Is he one of ours?” whispered Michelle.

 

Invidia nodded back and said, “He was. But not now. That is why he hates us so much…”

 

“Oh…” said Michelle.

 

“Whispering to your latest lover?” hissed Radnar.

 

“No, my servant and my ward!” snapped Invidia as she noticed Gorse nodding to a General. Then, Michelle looked shocked as thirty older Cometines, burly combat troops and older men in the same uniforms as her little teenage guard, marched in lockstep into the room.

 

They stopped in formation near Gorse, and then, he said, “Go, on, Invidia. What were you going to say to Radnar?”

 

“Radnar,” said Invidia. “Where and when can we meet to discuss a cease-fire? I request safe-conduct, and I am prepared to take up the Emperor on his offer.”

 

Michelle and the others gasped at that as Invidia stood with her head bowed. Radnar just looked down and began to laugh.

 

Finally, when he was done laughing, Radnar said, “Offer denied, Invidia.”

 

“What?” said Invidia.

 

“You must be mad,” said Radnar. “You alternate between attacking people and licking their hands like some rabid cur. We have had enough. I actually am calling to give you a chance to make your soul right with Arishna before we meet you in the Sol System. Then, we intend to make sure that you do not escape from the Earthlings or the Gamilons. It would be a great shame if you called this off now. My men are itching for a good fight, and I cannot wait until I place you naked in our Sphere of Joy for a good torture session! If you fight, maybe you will defeat me. I am ready for that possibility, and so is Arishna. But fighting through this is your only way out now. I hope to see you soon. In the Sol System, Invidia. I hope you do not issue a self-destruct order before then. It would be a great shame if you did. Go on. Attack! We are spoiling for a great battle! And Desslok wants you dead just as much as I do! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!”

 

Radnar faded from the screen. Invidia stood there, shocked, and she was even more shocked when Gorse came up to her and slapped her across the face.

 

“IDIOT!” he yelled. “You started this, Invidia? You cannot and will not back out now! You will finish it! YOU WILL FINISH IT! THE ATTACK UPON EARTH GOES ON!”

 

“Then, I abdicate,” said Invidia in a low voice as she took her Royal Pin out of her hair. “You do it, Gorse. Please let Michelle and our little party off the Eritz Gatlantis and let us find a safe haven somewhere.”


Gorse slapped her again and nodded to two of his guards. Before Michelle could react, they grabbed Invidia and held her by the arms as Gorse spat in her face, slapped her, and then put the Royal Pin back in her hair by force. Then, he said, “Invidia? You began this war? You expect to ride the Storm as a Princess? Then, if we lose, you DIE as a Princess, as the one responsible for this. And, I will have you know I did NOT give orders to withdraw the anti-matter missile ships from the attack fleet. Except for about fifteen that fell in combat against the Argo, they remain in our force. And Earth will be destroyed if we cannot take it. Those will be your orders. We have spoken. You made your bed? SLEEP IN IT! You started this war over two years ago? YOU END IT! Even if we die in the end, we take the Earthlings down with us! ARE WE CLEAR?”

 

“NO!” cried Michelle.

 

Gorse walked up to Michelle and slapped her hard enough to make her nose bleed. “You are not an Earthling anymore! You are one of us! Any more dissent, and we strip you of your rank, possessions, and apparel and you die in the Sphere of Joy! Are we clear on that, you sniveling teenage BITCH?”

 

“I hate you,” muttered Michelle as Gorse threw her back hard; Invidia caught her and kept her from tumbling to the deck.

 

“The feeling is mutual,” spat Gorse as he and his men turned and left.

 

Michelle began to cry in Invidia’s arms. Invidia held her and swabbed at her bleeding nose and said, “If it helps, I hate him too, Michelle.”

 

“Can’t you have him killed?” whispered Michelle.

 

“Not enough of the troops listen to me any more to do that,” said Invidia. “That is why I tried to resign. They would not even give me that. I am no longer in charge here. I am still a Princess…but in name only…”

 

And, at that, Michelle and Invidia cried together.

 

Now, to them, it felt as if they were both slaves, although slaves in a very gilded cage….

 


 

III. A MEETING OF THE COMMANDERS

Space Battleship Argo

In the Solana System

Thursday, August 27, 2207

1500 Hours: Earthtime


The Argo, which was still tracking the Eritz Gatlantis, was now temporarily meeting with the rest of Task Force 2.0 in a small star system called the Solana System, just 17,000 lightyears away from Earth.

Captain Mark Venture had just flown over from the Arizona with Paul and Aliscea Rosstowski. Admiral Alex Wildstar had flown over from the spacecraft carrier Princess Astra, and the various commanders of the Wasp, Kaga, Hermes, Nagato, Essex, Potemkin, Shiryu and the North Carolina had assembled with their escorts to form a 75-ship Task Force. The commanders of the six spacecraft carriers and five space battleships that formed the core of the Task Force had gathered in the Central Strategy Room of the Argo, which was now the Task Force’s flagship.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” said Commodore Wildstar. “All of you are under my command. We have under our joint command several hundred attack planes, many heavy guns, many fleet cruisers, many patrol cruisers, many destroyers, many space frigates. We are joined together in one mission; to stop the City-Ship of House Gatlantis, the Eritz Gatlantis, from attacking our solar system. It is expected that the Eritz Gatlantis will plunge into our solar system in just eight days from today. In eight days, the fate of Earth will be decided at last, one way or another.”

Derek paused to let his words sink in as he scanned the faces of the various Captains….Captain Mark Venture, one of his oldest and best friends from the Arizona, his brother, Alex Wildstar from Iscandar from the Princess Astra, Commodore Raful from the Shiryu, Captain Tucker Allen from the North Carolina, Captain Jan Vanderveer from the Nagato, Captain Jacob Jackson from the Wasp, and the newly-promoted Captain Ember Tyson from the Patrol Cruiser Danube, among others. Thirteen men and women watched Commodore Wildstar, along with the Group and Section Leaders of his own ship, and, last of all, Gamilon General Fraken, who had come over as an envoy from the Gamilon Fleet.

Derek continued as he said, “It is expected that we will find the Eritz Gatlantis and attack her. The codes and information we have received from the Cometine defector Duchess Caella appear to have been accurate so far, and they have been corroborated by our intelligence. We also recovered some code information from the wreckage of one of the ships we were recently in battle with a few days ago. It appears the self-destruct circuit didn’t work correctly for one of the computer cores of one of the destroyers we blew up. My Technical Officer, Commander Sandor, and my Survey and Analysis Officer, Lieutenant Commander Wildstar, helped piece together some of the data and they determined enough to figure out that the Comet Empire is still following one of the Gamelan attack plans.”

Derek nodded to Bando, who flicked some switches as a complex graphic came up on the screen. “This intelligence is twenty-four hours old,” said Nova as she came up to the deck screen with a pointer in her hand, looking very military and crisp in her peacoat even with her advanced pregnancy, male-patterned bellbottoms, and sandals. “But it indicates where the New Comet City was last spotted, along with their fleets. An Advance Fleet of about eighty ships is already in the solar system, near Neptune.”

“Yes, Commander,” said Captain Jackson from the Wasp. “I left one of my escorts with Fourth Fleet, and the Skipper was still reporting to me. The Fourth Defense Fleet was attacked by a Cometine light carrier squadron a few hours ago near Triton, Neptune’s seventh satellite. It was a major attack. Four battleships, a carrier, twelve cruisers lost. The battle for Earth has already begun,” said Jackson. 

It won’t be much longer, Deke thought grimly to himself. Brew caught the look on his face and nodded.

The briefing went on for a while longer, and then it ended.

As they began to leave, Hardy said, “Wakefield, at 2000 hours, I want to brief all remaining Tiger pilots from both our squadrons on some technical data I was just given earlier by Wildstar and Fraken.”

“Which is?”

“You’ll learn soon enough,” he said as Dawn came up with a funny smile on her face. “Oh, yeah. Dawn says she has an announcement,” said Hardy as Sasha, Brew and Bangs came up to listen, followed by Nova, who was smiling as she dragged Derek up.

“What’s the big secret?” said Wakefield as Dawn gave one of her patented toothy smiles.

“The big secret,” said Dawn. “Is…that I was to see Doctor Sane and Nova today? The reason why was because I wanted to find out why I’ve been throwing up my breakfast in the mornings? Right?”

“And?” said Deke, not sure all of a sudden that he liked the sound of this.

“There were…other factors, too…a little too personal to discuss here,” said Dawn. “Except that uhh…Jeff and Nova know all about them. Well, after a thorough physical check, we found out some interesting news. I’m pregnant. Along with Nova and Angie.”

“How far are you along?” said Brew.

“About a…month,” said Dawn as Jeff and then Nova hugged her.

“Congratulations,” said Deke as he grabbed Dawn’s hands and squeezed.

“We think it’s going to be twins, based on the scans,” Nova said as Derek came up and hugged her around the waist. “If you’ll excuse us, I have to get going. I have my own doctor’s appointment. I’ve…been feeling some odd back pains lately. I don’t think it’s going to be too long now.”

“If you’ll excuse us,” said Derek. “Sandor, you’re in command if anything happens.”

“Yessir,” said Sandor.

Sasha looked at Dawn, thinking, Well, at least I’m not there, yet. I….I’m not throwing up. But why have I been getting tired? Any more of this and I may want to see the doctor myself. I can’t be pregnant myself, now….can I?

Sasha’s senses were very confused for many reasons. One was her recent imprisonment and torture in the Comet Empire. Another one was due to the stress she had been under with the missions they had been flying and the double watches she had been taking; sometimes with Deke in his plane, sometimes on the First Bridge at the radar when Nova was either unavailable to man the radar or was just too tired to do so, for obvious reasons. Sasha looked at Nova in pity as she stopped near the hatch and kicked off her sandals, leaving the compartment barefoot in Derek’s arms. Sasha reached out to Nova with her senses, and suddenly, a precognitive wave came to her…

She’s going to have those kids sometime in the next nine to eleven days, Sasha thought. Two quick flashes of Nova tenderly giving her breasts to her new children came to Sasha. In the first vision, Nova had on a white sailor blouse wide open to allow her to nurse her babies above the jeans and sandals she wore, and in the other precognitive flash, Nova was blushing while standing nursing both of her children in the nude on a fawn-colored rug with a few candles lit in the background, looking both very innocent and beautiful. Sasha smiled at the memory. Tears filled her eyes as she remembered how happy Nova looked in her mind and she thought, She looks so peaceful. That must mean she makes it through this hell all right…and so does Earth? 

Then, another flash came to Sasha’s mind. She tried to deny it, she tried to put it out of her mind, but it was there.

When will this one happen? Sasha thought as she closed her eyes. I…

Sasha shook her head, but it would not go away. The image in her mind was of both her and Nova on a beach together on a very hot day. They were sitting on beach blankets beside each other, covered with sweet-smelling tanning oil. In the vision, Nova was again naked, with her naked daughter and son sitting in her lap, nursing peacefully at her breasts. She looked sleepy and very comfortable in her skin, and was sharing some confidence with Sasha; her lips were moving, but Sasha could not make out the words. In the vision, Sasha was also very naked and unashamed, with a beautiful unclad blond baby girl suckling at her own breast in the sun. The beach looked very familiar, but Sasha could not quite place it. It looked like there was a garden apartment complex of low buildings not far from the beach in the trees nearby.

Deke came up to Sasha and held her hands. “Hey,” he said. “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” sighed Sasha. “I’m getting weird visions, that’s all it is.”

“About what?” said Deke.

“About nothing we need to worry about soon,” said Sasha. “Unlike Dawn and Jeff. Look at her! She looks as happy as…you know…”

“Yeah. The thing that scares you,” said Deke.

“Oh, I know I’m going to be like her and Nova some day…one of our kids is a future Queen of Iscandar, as a matter of fact,” said Sasha.

“How do you know that?” said Deke.

“My visions,” she said softly. “You know what I mean! I’ve been having more of them ever since I’ve been back from the Comet City. I…”

“You what, Sasha?” said Deke.

“I don’t want to discuss them right now…just hold me,” said Sasha.

So, Deke just held Sasha.


A while later, in a familiar ritual by now, Nova lay naked on an examining table in Sickbay while Doctor Sane and Tasha Cleveland looked at her from head to toe. Derek held her hand while Doctor Sane gently but carefully gave her a pelvic exam and then set her up for another ultrasound.

A few minutes later, they were looking at Alex and Ariel on the scanner. Doctor Sane looked her over and said, “Nova, your son’s getting into position to be born. That’s why you’ve been going to the bathroom so frequently.”

“They’ve been awfully active lately,” Nova said. “What’s the due date?”

“Anytime in about the next ten days,” said Doctor Sane. “You need to keep on doing those breathing and stretching exercises. I know that you’ve been awfully busy, Nova…Derek…what do you have picked out to wear in labor, Nova?”

“What I have on now,” Nova replied with a blush. “Since everything…uhh…down there has to be exposed, anyway, I might as well just go naked to give birth. I’d be easier to work on like that…and I’d probably be cooler and more comfortable.” Nova shivered, thinking of the probable pain. “I am a bit scared, though. I…”

“Nova, you’re young, strong and healthy,” said Doctor Sane. “You’ve taken care of yourself as best as you could have on this crazy mission, and you’ve eaten right and you’ve gotten some rest, although not as much as I’d recommend for a young lady in your condition. You also have a positive mental attitude and a very supportive partner in the Captain; something I wish that poor Angelique Hartcliffe had.”

“You can say that again,” Derek said as he caressed Nova’s hair and kissed her stomach.

Doctor Sane then checked Nova’s heartbeat and examined her breasts. He gently squeezed them and expressed a little milk from each nipple. “Hmmm…those are ready to go. Just try to lie in the sunroom with them exposed when you can to toughen the nipples a little, Nova. It’d be best if you could sunbathe topless or in the nude in the sun when you can when we finish this and get home to Earth. Once your postpartum bleeding stops, being nude and letting everything out in the sun and air while it is still warm out will also help with the healing process of the birth area. Nothing to be shy about, Nova. A lot of new mothers spend naked time with their babies.”

“Actually, I was looking forward to lying in our yard in the grass and feeding them like this,” Nova said. “I just love the sun and breeze on my skin as long as it’s warm…and cuddling them against me will help calm and comfort the babies. I did it now and then with my baby brother and sister when my mother had trouble with her breasts and I’d help with the feeding after taking a hormone shot.”

“That sounds sweet,” said Tasha Cleveland.

“It sure was…I remembered how she looked then…like a young angel,” said Derek with a smile. “Doctor Sane, Nova’s been a midwife…she tells me that women often say terrible things in labor. Is it true?”

“YES,” said Nova. “It’s because of the pain!”

“Uhh…Nova, would you say mean things to me?” said Derek.

“I probably would if the labor pains hurt bad enough. I’ve been getting cramps in my back, Doctor Sane. Braxton-Hicks contractions?”

Sane nodded while Derek panicked. Tasha laughed at that and said, “Sir, those contractions are what is called “false labor”. They’re actually part of the body getting ready to deliver. When the contractions come harder and more frequently, and when her water bursts and the amniotic fluid comes out, that is when we know the game has started. If that happens before we land, Wildstar, get her away from her post, strip her out of her clothes so our nurses or medics can look at her right away, especially if she messes herself…”

“Messes herself?” said Derek. He remembered being there for the birth of Teri’s twins helping Nova when snowbound in Boulder one Thanksgiving night, and Teri Forrester definitely hadn’t messed herself…or had he not known about that because Nova got him out of the room with his father-in-law?

“It sometimes happens, Derek,” Nova said. “You pee in your panties or go the other way because the body just can’t help it. The best thing to do then is to just get the young mother cleaned up in a hurry…I mean…get me cleaned up in a hurry…” Nova thought with a blush as she thought of the possibility of making a such a mess in her clothes. “That would obviously be another good reason to get me out of my things if that happened, right  Tasha?”

“Yes, ma’am. Luckily, sir, you probably won’t have to worry about driving Nova to the hospital! Just get her to your cabin ASAP so she can be cleaned up and brought down here. Unless we are in the midst of battle and have a lot of casualties, we’ll clear a bed for her immediately and get her set up for delivery right aboard the ship.” 

“What about my swollen ankles?” Nova asked. “It feels so good not to have shoes on now, but…”

“Well, put on your space boots only when you absolutely need them. Your sandals are fine for the rest of the time, although I’d recommend taking them off and going barefoot for a bit if your ankles and calves really swell up,” said Sane as he began to clean Nova’s stomach up.

“I’m putting my skirt on up in our cabin,” Nova said as she began to dress a moment later in her bra and panties.

“Good idea,” said Doctor Sane. “Anything else?”

Derek and Nova shook their heads as he held Nova while she went through a breathing exercise before she put her outer garments back on. Then, while carrying her sandals, Derek helped her off the examining table and then they went up to the Captain’s Quarters.


A while later, Nova went down to dinner by herself while letting Derek take a nap. She kissed him, tucked him in, and put on her skirt rather than her pants. She left her shoes off and walked down to the messhall.

While in line, a few men from Combat Group she barely knew saluted her and then smiled quietly at her. Her pregnant stomach was very obvious now, and with her hair hanging in her eyes, and in her skirt and bare feet, she happened to look extremely cute at the moment. One of the men looked at her and asked, “Ma’am, permission to speak freely?”

“Sure,” Nova replied. “What’s your name?”

“Ensign Salazar, ma’am. My wife sent me a picture via e-mail. She’s going to be on one of the evacuation ships with our oldest, Lauren. She’s eight and a half months along now with our son. You look almost like she does, ma’am. We all want to wish you and the Skipper luck and hope this war ends soon…are these two your first?”

Nova nodded.

“I think I could tell. My wife Kristin had the same look of wonder on her face when she was ready to have Lauren two years ago.”

“Thanks,” said Nova as she brushed her stomach. “Ouch,” she muttered.

“What happened, ma’am?” asked another gunner, who looked concerned.

“Nothing. She just kicked a lung, I think,” Nova said with a nervous laugh. “She wants out of there. They both do…”

From behind, Nova heard a weird voice. Speaking in a weird squeaky Goon Liverpudlian accent, its owner said, “Mummy, this is your daughter! Let me outta here so I can crawl on the deck and poop on the bloody floor…pop yer balloon already! It’s dark in ‘ere, luv!”

Nova blushed deeply and laughed. “Hartcliffe! That’s sort of cute, but shouldn’t you be teasing your own wife like that?”

“Angie’s in one of ‘er moods again with Dawn. Your mate Mrs. Hardy is givin’ me the rough side of her

ARTWORK: “Near Her Time” © 2008 by Freddo

tongue, luv. Make ‘er stop it.”

“Hey, you!” yelled Salazar. “Let the lady alone, you deck ape pilot! It takes a lot of guts for her to be on this ship on the Command Staff in her condition!”

“You jerk,” said Hartcliffe.

“Shut up and stop talkin’ to Mrs. Nova like that…she’s been on this boat way longer than you, jackass!” said the other gunner as he pushed Hartcliffe. “Ma’am, with all respect, should I make him go outside? It just ain’t right, him ragging’ ya like that!”

“No, Ensign Peters, but thank you. I’m a big girl and I can take care of myself,” Nova said. “I’d like to hear what you’re saying, Bryan. I’ll bet that you deserve every mean word Dawn has just given you. And probably a few more.”

“We’ll talk at the table, luv,” said Bryan. “Cum ‘ed…”

Nova nodded and followed Hartcliffe to the table. She sat down in a booth next to Dawn, who was busy eating the same kind of mostly soy-based synthetic steak she herself was eating. Hardy was sitting across from them with Hartcliffe.

While eating, Nova put up her feet (like she was supposed to as often as possible) under the table on the booth not far from Hartcliffe as she said, “Where’s Angie, Bryan?”

“She’s busy. We had a talk before.”

“Heahd it wasn’t just a talk,” said Hardy with a wink.

“Guys, this is not a locker room,” Nova said.

“Well, ladeda, luv,” said Hartcliffe. “C’mon, now. I see you’re barefoot as well as preggers, luv! How’d your kids get ‘ere?”

“A playful act of love with my husband about fifteen months ago out in my yard by my swimming pool when we had just stopped trying for kids because of the war in a happy accident because my contraceptive shot did not work right!” Nova snapped in sudden anger that surprised even her. “Would you like to know how many times we did it, what I had on, and what position I was in? The answers are twice, naked except for summer dress sandals, and on my back! Derek then had to ship out soon afterwards! Is that enough for you?” Nova hissed. “Where did your kid come from, Bryan? Out of a bottle of Vodka?”

“Fifteen months?” said Hartcliffe. “Boy, I bet yer feel constipated, luv! Why?”

“You forgot? I was in a freeze chamber asleep for six months with these kids after almost being killed on Melezart,” Nova said in a low, controlled rage as she put her feet back under the table. “Maybe I should invite you to the birth! Then you might see what it is like to start a new life! And you will see it’s not a joke. No, Bryan. It is not a joke at all.”

“I don’t wanna see nothin!” yelled Hartcliffe. “Not with you nor Angie.”

“Why?” said Dawn. “Afraid you’d pass out?”

“Oh, another preggers woman raggin’ on me?” said Hartcliffe. “I’ve ‘eard stories about you, too, Missus Hardy! I’ve ‘eard tell that you’re ragging at so many people, you’re gonna be a hundred times more bitchy than ‘er, luv!” said Bryan, as he pointed at Nova. “Least Nova ‘ere is kinda nice, even with ‘er balloon about to pop! I ‘ear you’re a vorpel weasel bitch from hell!”

Dawn looked Hartcliffe in the eye, reached across the table, and slapped him in the face, knocking his glasses off. “HEY!” he yelled.

Nova picked up his glasses and said, “I believe you lost these? Again, by the way, my twins are not a balloon? Are we clear on that?”

He nodded and took them back from Nova. Jeff glared at Hartcliffe and said, “For Dawn’s sake…for Nova’s sake…yoah gonna quit it, Mistuh!”

“Aye, aye, sir,” said Hartcliffe as he put his glasses back on. “Let’s talk about Hamsters.”

“Hamsters?” said Nova. “Bryan, what part of that collection of neurons that passes for a mind inside your head does that come from?”

“Ma’am, I believe he’s referring to somethin’ filthy again. You may want to leave,” warned Hardy.

“Not until I finish eating,” said Nova.

Nova took two more bites, and, suddenly, the klaxons began going off. Sandor’s voice said, “Attention, all hands! We have picked up a distress signal from two lightyears away in the Egalin System! It appears to be a passenger liner! All hands to combat stations! Captain to the bridge!”

Everyone at the table looked at each other, nodded, and took off for their posts.


 

IV. RESCUE OPERATION

Space Battleship Argo

In the Egalin System

Thursday, August 27, 2207

1702 Hours: Earthtime


“What is the situation, Homer?” said Commodore Wildstar as he sat at his post on the Argo. He had left Venture in command of the Task Force from the Arizona for the moment so that the Argo could warp to Egalin IV, a small, blue Earth-like planet, recently discovered, in a small star system 16,998 lightyears away from Earth. The Argo was now orbiting Egalin IV, and Sasha, Eager, and Nova were searching for the liner with their radar and sensors.

“Sir; the space liner says they were in the first wave of ships leaving Earth and heading for the colonies at Barnard’s Star, Arcturus, and Alpha Centauri,” Homer replied.

“What’s the liner called?” asked Diane Henson from her post. “I got here late?”

“The SS Titanic,” said Homer.

Sandor brought up a technical readout of the new four-funneled space liner on the main video panel. “Length, two hundred and fifty meters, beam, twenty-two meters. She’s fairly new; this is her third voyage. Designed to hold twelve hundred passengers and three hundred crew members; the messages say they have just under four thousand evacuees on that ship. Mostly women and children. The liner has a first-generation wave motion engine with warp capability. Miss Henson, they say they need parts to repair their wave engine and supplies. They were warping away from Pluto when they were attacked by Cometine Scorpions and warped, not to Barnard’s Star as intended, but out here, way beyond Earth’s Defense Zone. They’re very vulnerable right now.”

“Radar contact!” cried Sasha from her post at the Cosmo-Radar. “Drifting at slow speed to port; speed…eight space knots, range, two kilometers away at EZA-22. Identified as the Titanic!”

“Bringing her up on the video panel!” said Eager.

The bridge crew looked at the huge space liner. “Damn, she’s big,” said Domon.

“Not just big, but very beautiful, too” said Nova as she began to scan the ship from her post at Analysis.

“My sensors are picking up a Berthold radiation leak from her wave engine,” said Sandor. “I think we can repair her and restart the engine if the coil power doesn’t drop off too far.”

Derek nodded at that. 

“Life sign sensors estimate four thousand, two hundred people on board ship,” Nova said. “Temperature aboard ship estimated as 33.33 degrees Centigrade; 92 degrees Fahrenheit and slowly rising. The climate control systems seem to be either damaged or under-powered. We’ll need space gear on aboard ship.”

“Captain Beckworth, the Titanic’s skipper, reports heat prostration cases are rising on board ship,” said Homer.

“Domon, you’ll assume command here on the Argo,” said Commodore Wildstar from his post. “I’m going aboard myself in one of the medical boats with Doctor Sane, Nova and Dawn Hardy. Sandor, bring some Mechanical and Engineering men with you, and bring IQ-9. ”

“Yessir,” said Sandor.

“Nova, make sure the cargo robots pack lots of supplies.”

“Yessir,” she said. “I’ll need to change,” she said. Nova still wore her skirt, top, and no shoes.

“Go up to our cabin,” said Derek. “Meet us in the lower bay in your space gear and boots.”

“Yessir,” Nova said as she got, up, saluted, and left.

“Poor lady,” said Eager softly. “Looks like she’s gonna have those kids in a few days…”

“She is,” said Derek. “Maybe eight days from now…”

“Hope the war ends soon, sir,” said Domon. “Or…”

“She’ll have them here,” said Derek. “Then we could visit our children in Sickbay. Nova thought this was going to end long before it did. She was hoping to become a mother while in Medical School.”

“That would be pretty tough in itself,” said Kitano.

“That would be far easier than mothering them here,” said Henson. “Far easier…”


 Federation of United Earth Governments, Title 100, Section 41, Part 2, Excerpt…passed 11/2200…..

 

“…A mother may breastfeed her child in any public or private location where she is authorized to be, irrespective of whether the nipple of the mother’s breast or any other parts of the mother’s body are uncovered during or incidental to the breastfeeding….”

 

“…when the basic needs of a child under the age of fifteen are being provided for, the parents or guardians of such a child may not be punished if any parts of the child’s body are uncovered during or incidental to the provision of such care in any public or private location where said parents or guardians of such a child are authorized to be, except if such a child is so uncovered during cold or inclement weather…”

 

In a crowded passengers’ lounge on the Titanic, Marina Carmody was grateful for the Parents’ Rights Law, passed as part of the Earth Federation’s laws in late 2200 as a holdover from a similar UN law passed on an emergency basis during the Gamilon War when supplies of bottles and formula became very short, and, in the evacuation centers, and, later, the Underground Cities, mothers of infants (with few exceptions, mostly for health purposes) had to make do by simply giving their natural breast milk to their babies.

 

Due to clothing and Velcro shortages, even the special nursing clothes that had originated in the 20th and 21st Centuries were still not easy to find. Some mothers had them; others made do in ordinary clothes that they opened or took off to feed their babies. No one thought that much, therefore, of Marina sitting there in only an open sundress and sandals (all she had worn during the sudden evacuation from Earth the previous day) as she nursed her twins against her just one open garment away from being naked herself, like another red-headed mother a few meters away who sat there naked with her diaper-clad but otherwise bare baby daughter at her breast in the heat. Marina had worn no bra, and Jason, sans a diaper, had pooped in her panty-clad lap earlier that day, so, for hygiene, Marina had been forced to shed her sole undergarment, and she thus held Jason, who wore only his shirt, and James, who was naked, against her bare lap under her own open dress. She thought, Thank Heavens they changed the laws, or I would have been arrested for being half-naked with my little ones.

 

Marina had Jason, James, and her oldest daughter Felicia with her. Felicia wore only a bikini top and shorts as she sat near her mother and said, “Why did they make us leave Dad behind?”

 

“The ship was running out of room when we boarded,” said Marina as she sat there, close to tears. “That’s when they had to exercise the cutoff; no more fathers on the ship. I just hope Frank is going to be all right in San Diego by himself with the enemy coming. I hope he makes it to the underground city.”

 

“I heard that the enemy began bombing London already,” said another woman. “It’s so hot on this ship,” she sobbed. “And I’m hungry!”

 

“Mommy, please, my tummy hurts,” said another little boy.

 

A little sobbing boy in a long line for the head held his mother and said, “Mommy, I just poopied my pants!”

 

“Couldn’t you hold it, Paul?” screamed his mother.

 

“The line’s too long, Mommy. Where am I going to find pants? Where?” he sobbed. “It feels yucky like this! And I’m hot and THIRSTY!”

 

A somewhat dramatic-sounding woman behind her sobbed, “Oh, why? WHY does this have to go on?”

 

Marina and Felicia turned their heads to find a woman in a green top, white pants, and black sandals sitting there hugging a four-year old blond girl in a sundress. Beside her sat a man in a turtleneck top, grey dress pants, and boots who hugged a frightened-looking four-year old boy in shorts, sandals, and no shirt.

 

“And you are?” said Marina.

 

“Teresa Forrester; they usually call me Teri,” said the woman as she hugged her youngest daughter. “What bad luck I’ve been having! I reconciled with my husband a week ago after we had a bad fight, and then, the enemy comes faster than we expected. We got on in the Great Megalopolis when this ship made its first stop right when the Cometines began bombing the city. The redhead over there, Barb McCalley, boarded in Australia, with one thing on her back and a purse and some money. She told me some men knocked her out at the evac center in Sydney and when she came to, she and her daughter had no purse or clothes left on them; they had been completely robbed and she had almost gotten raped by those evil men. A member of the crew on this ship provided two diapers for her and the baby….poor thing….”

 

“Teri, please give her your top,” said Karl.

 

“I can’t! And how would she feed her baby in this? You can’t unbutton it!” Teri cried.

 

“She can rip it down to get a breast out,” said Karl irritably.

 

“Where’s my other baby in all this?” sobbed Teri.

 

“Your other baby?” said Marina.

 

“My oldest daughter Nova!” cried Teri. “She’s all alone except for her husband and she’s pregnant in space…she…”

 

“Your daughter is that Nova?” said a disbelief-filled Felicia. “Yeah, right! The Star Force is probably a zillion lightyears away chasing the Comet, or it was in the last story we heard from the President last night, and….

 

“LOOK!” yelled another one of the fathers on board. “There’s a ship at the window!”

 

“NO!” screamed another woman whose toddler son had died when the Titanic had been attacked by the enemy near Pluto. “Not them again!”

 

“NOT THE ENEMY!” screamed someone else as panic began to ensure.

 

A sobbing woman picked up her shocked toddler, tore off all of her clothes, and then tore off her own dress, slip, and pumps and ran naked towards the airlock with her daughter. “I’m killing myself!” screamed the blond woman. “I’ll go out an airlock with Vicky before they get us!”

 

“Is that necessary, lady??” yelled a man as he tried to stop her.

 

“YOU know what they do to women and children!” screamed the woman in utter hysterics.

 

Other people in the panicky crowd of four hundred in that particular promenade deck began to scream as a ship’s officer in his navy blue uniform fired an Astro-Automatic into the air above their heads. “There is no need to panic!” he screamed. “I’m told it’s an Earth ship!”

 

“Earth ship?” screamed one mother.

 

“It’s big!” yelled a little boy.

 

Then, a young man ran to the window, looked out, and came to abrupt attention in the EDF blues he wore as part of the small party of medics attached to this evacuation ship out of the Tokyo Megalopolis. “I recognize her!” he yelled as his fist came up to his heart in salute. “Everyone, on your feet! Show them some respect!”

 

“Who is it?” yelled another mother.

 

“The Star Force!” he yelled back.

 

A little boy ran up and yelled, “Mommy, Mommy! It’s the Argo!”

 

She came up and said, “Hiroshi, stop telling…” and then, in her sundress and sandals, she stopped in her tracks and said, “It is them! My husband Shinji has come to rescue us!”

 

“My God,” said someone else.

 

Another young boy ran up, saluted, and began to sing, “We’re off…in outer space…defending Mother Earth…!

 

As others began to sing, Teri said, “Karl, Nova’s coming! I just know it! Our baby must have told Derek to stop and come get us!”

 

“Silly, she probably doesn’t even know we’re here,” said Karl.

 

“Mommy, is Sis coming?” said little David Forrester.

 

“I hope so,” said Teri.

 


 

V. THE RESCUE CONTINUES

Space Liner Titanic

In the Egalin System

Thursday, August 27, 2207

1912 Hours: Earthtime


In the Titanic’s landing bay, Nova, clad now in her slacks, top, boots and gloves and a helmet, leaned against Derek as she carried a medkit and said, “How far is it to the first Promenade Deck?”

“Up six decks in the emergency lift,” said Commodore Wildstar as he walked along in his helmet and gloves set in his whites with an emergency key given to him by a crewman in one hand and his Astro-Automatic in another. Behind Nova and himself came three robots carrying boxes of supplies such as survival rations, bottled water, toilet paper, soap, towels, and a large number of spare gauze pads from Sickbay for diapers. Derek knew that, after this, the Argo herself would now only have nine more days’ worth of food and supplies. With a grim sort of fatalism at the latest reports of attacks upon Earth and the Fleet, Wildstar expected that the whole thing would be over in eight or nine days now…one way or the other. He thought, If we survive this and get home, we can have all the supplies we need at home, dependent upon rationing. But, if we don’t make it, well…you don’t need supplies or anything if you die in battle. This might be the Argo’s last mission, so what does it matter now if we run out of granola bars?

Derek looked at Nova, smiled softly and thought, God, if You are hearing this, my one wish before I die is to just see the faces of my son and daughter as we hold them. Just that…before…

Nova’s eyes filled with tears behind her helmet visor; she had a good idea of what Derek was thinking. Derek and Nova stopped thinking about such gloomy eventualities and held hands as they went into the lift, followed by the robots and four Marines.

They arrived on the Promenade Deck a few minutes later. As Derek watched, Nova, Dawn, and the robots were soon taking charge and setting up lines for food, water, and other such survival supplies and a calm began to fill the deck.

A while later, Nova was handing out water and keeping order in her line when she looked up and saw yet another family approaching. “All right, keep the line moving…thank you,” she said in a firm but gentle voice.

So it was that Karl and Teri Forrester looked up and saw a familiar-looking pregnant woman in black and gold, in space boots, gloves, and red helmet, getting ready to hand them water. “Nova?” said Teri. “Nova, honey, is that you?”

Nova stood unbelieving as her mother and father came up with her younger brother and sister. “Mother…Father…is that really you?” she said as she gave little David and little Aurora bottles of water.

“Yes, it is,” said Teri as she took a bottle of water from her daughter. The line stopped as mother and daughter quickly hugged, and Nova then stopped to hug her father. “When did you two come on board?”

“Yesterday, when they began to evacuate the Great Megalopolis,” said Teri. “We decided to come here rather than go back underground. There were already two bombing raids. It was horrible!”

“I know…we were in battle ourselves,” said Nova as she hugged her mother again. “I have to keep this line moving, Mom. We’ll talk later when I take a break.”

“Okay…we’ll be looking for you and Derek, if he can be spared,” said Karl.

Nova kissed her brother and sister and then went back to handing out water and other supplies.


TWO HOURS LATER…

Nova was now working in her pants, helmet, bra, and no shirt. She had met the unclad Barb McCalley and had taken pity on her and had taken off her own shirt and put it on her when she had diapered Barb’s daughter; on the shorter woman, Nova’s shirt was something like a minidress. Nova was not cold like that; it was still somewhere around eighty-nine degrees aboard the Titanic. Also, Nova’s boots were hurting her ankles, so she had taken them off and was going barefoot again (for the moment) with her pants legs rolled up to her knees.

Below, Sandor and his crew had repaired the ship’s wave engine, and they had just gotten the climate-control system running again. It would take several hours until the ship was cooled down again, and it would take time to regenerate enough energy in the wave motion engine so that the liner could warp back to Barnard’s Star and resume her original journey as planned.

In the meantime, Nova and Derek sat down to talk with Nova’s parents.

After Nova’s mother apologized to Nova and Derek several times over for her mean comments in her letters a few weeks beforehand, Derek said, “Actually, we were worried about you. Karl here said you took off for a few days?”

“Oh, that,” said Teri with a blush. “He and I had an argument and I left for a hotel for a few days. I talked with him on the phone, and finally agreed to come home. I’m also getting some help from a psychologist; I’ve been under so much stress lately.”

“I see,” Nova said. “Where were you heading when this ship miswarped?”

“The colony at Barnard’s Star,” said Karl. “We were going to dock with the space station there and they were going to have us spend a few days there until the enemy fleet was defeated. They’ve started to bomb Earth, you know…”

“I know,” said Derek. An enlisted man from Living Group noticed Nova had on no shirt, so he gave her one from a bundle of supplies he was carrying. Nova thanked him and put on the fresh shirt and put her boots back on.

Teri looked at her and said, “How many days now, Nova…?”

“To the babies? They’re supposed to come sometime in the first week of September, now,” she said as she finished adjusting her boots. “Please pray that the war will be over by then.”

“Over?” said Karl.

“We’re following the Comet it. I can’t say much more than that,” Derek said. “We have to go back to our ship soon…”

“Oh, I see,” said Karl as he shushed Teri.

Teri hugged her granddaughter and said, “Nova, honey, good luck. I hope we can talk again…soon…”

”We should be able to, Mom,” Nova said. “Thanks.”

At that, they left.  

Soon, so did the Argo, which remained around only long enough to see that the Titanic warped out safely. Then, she rejoined the Task Force and continued her journey….


VI. SHADOWS OF INVIDIA’S PAST

The Eritz Gatlantis

8,000 Lightyears Away From Earth

Saturday, August 29, 2207

1400 Hours: Earthtime


“Warp Completed!” said a voice over the Eritz Gatlantis’ PA system in Princess Invidia’s suite.

“Where are we now?” said Invidia as she picked up a phone and spoke with Gorse.

“Eight Thousand Lightyears away from Earth,” said Gorse. “We just evaded the Argo and her damned Task Force again by just a few minutes,” he said.

“When do we have our next full staff meeting?” demanded Invidia as Michelle sat on a couch and watched her.

“You will be informed,” said a deep voice over the phone that did not belong to Gorse.

“Ekogaru,” hissed Invidia as Michelle shivered. “Are you the true power behind the throne here in House Gatlantis now?”

“Nay, merely your foremost adviser, Princess,” said Ekogaru mockingly. “Gorse tells me you have not been well and have closeted yourself in your quarters for the past few days. A pity, really.”

“Lord Ekogaru, you know they have been holding us prisoner,” snapped Invidia. “Let me go and let me have my full authority back?”

“To do what? Abdicate? Run away?” hissed Ekogaru. “It’s too late, Invidia. Admiral Shandara tells us that there have been five minor battles in the Sol System already, and four successful bombing runs upon the Earth. We are preparing for our first major battle maybe today or tomorrow when we attack the Earth Base at Triton near their planet Neptune and wipe out their Fourth Defense Fleet. It is our plan to wipe out Triton itself at the end with antimatter missiles! It will be a dress rehearsal for our full attack upon Earth!”

“No! You will not do that!” said Invidia.

“That is why we keep you where you are,” said Ekogaru. “We will brief you later on when we have Triton destroyed.”

The phone went dead with a loud click.

Invidia began to sob. Michelle held her while she said, “This reminds me of school!”

“School?” said Michelle.

Invidia nodded. “I was tutored most of my time as a Princess. However, I entered the Academe’ for the nobility when I turned fifteen. The Academe’ was like a private, advanced high school like you would have on Earth. You would normally graduate at seventeen to more advanced studies. When I was there, Duchess Caella, who was four years older than I, and who was nineteen, was still there in the same class. She was lazy, did not apply herself, and seemed stupid when she was more interested in boys than I was. I remember a day that went like this…

The City-Ship Gatlantis

The Peers’ Academe’

Earth Date: December 2196

Approaching the Magna Star Cluster

On the original White Comet, I was still in school as my father, Prince Zordar and his men prepared to attack and conquer the Magna Star Cluster; the first of Father’s great conquests after he had taken his Throne five years beforehand.

We were in class that day in our school uniforms learning advanced Astrophysics. I was in my sailor-like uniform with a skirt, which looked a lot like your Terran school uniforms, oddly enough, when Caella interrupted my lessons by shooting peas at the back of my head from a blowpipe!

I yelled, “OWWW! Who did that?”

Caella piped up with, “Professor, Princess Invidia’s screaming out during lectures again! She’s interrupting me, as usual!”

The Professor of Astrophysics, a rather greasy-haired young git named Slaander who dressed all in black came up and said, “Now, Invidia, tell us if OWWW is an answer to this equation or not?”

“Sir, something hit the back of my head!” I sobbed.

“Let me look at that,” said Slaander. I let him feel the back of my head, even though even his hands felt greasy. “I feel no difference, Princess,” he said. “As usual, the back of your head is flat, and your skull is thick. It is too bad you are not green like us. A crying shame, yes…”

“Sir, we all know it was Caella!” I said. “I…”

“Your authority means nothing to me here, Savela,” snapped Slaander. He wrote up a slip and said, “Five hours detention for you, Princess.”

“Sir, this is so unfair!” I sobbed. “I’ll tell Father!”

ARTWORK: “Sailor Suit Princess” © 2008 by Ami Meitsu-used by permission

Professor Snagardas Slaander put his sallow yellowish-green face in front of mine and hissed, “Would you like that detention to become SIX hours, Savela? Eight hours?”

“No, sir,” I said with tears of rage about to run down my cheeks.

“Then go up to the board and tell us how we solve for “x” and “g” in this Conservation of Warp Mass Equation,” snapped Slaander. “NOW, Princess!”

So, I went up there, and I solved for “x”, and….


Invidia was crying when she finished relating her sad story. “That was horrible!” said Michelle as she hugged her.

“Always being blamed for things I didn’t do, just like now,” sobbed Invidia. “When I have power, I use the iron grip to make sure that they do not take advantage of me! That is my only hope for survival in this horrible, corrupt mess, and…”

Then, the phone rang again. Invidia picked it up. “Yes?” she hissed.

“Come down here, Highness,” mocked Gorse. “The fun is just starting near Triton. We have a live feed from Admiral Shandara’s Flagship. He has just sent a challenge to the Fourth Fleet flagship, the Earth Space Battleship Iron Duke. It looks like there’s going to be some fun near Triton. Interested?”

“Once, I would have been,” said Invidia. “Now I could care less…”

“Oh, we will make sure you and Michelle attend,” said Ekogaru.


A moment later, the Princess and her servant stood against their will in the Briefing Room of the Eritz Gatlantis at an image of the approaching Fourth Earth Defense Fleet transmitted from Shandara’s flagship.

The Earth ships approached, and the Terran destroyers warped out first. A moment later, several Earth destroyers fired torpedoes at the Cometine destroyers. Some slammed home, and the battle began at 1422 Hours Earthtime.

The Cometine ships responded with torpedoes and missiles of their own, which began to slam into the EDF vessels without mercy.

Invidia was shocked at her own sense of nausea as Earth ship after Earth ship fell before the Cometine onslaught.

She smiled sardonically as the EDF took position and fired all of their guns at once into the midst of her own Cometine Fleet.

The fire smashed hard into the Cometine Fleet, taking out space battleships, spacecraft carriers, destroyers, and missile ships with no mercy.

The EDF ships changed position and fired a second, and then a third volley into the midst of the Cometine Fleet as some of the Cometines warped out and ran, as it had been arranged for them to do in advance in Shandara’s cruel strategy.

Shandara laughed and ignored the losses of his own men as more fire roared in from the EDF ships.

“We’ve just lost ten more destroyers!” yelled a voice on the speakers on the bridge of Shandara’s flagship.

“This is the Cometine Space Battleship Hagara! Ready to ram the EDF Space Battleship Tosa!” yelled its commander. “We need backup!”

“Where’s our escorts, sir?” yelled the Captain of a Cometine Light Carrier on another speaker.

“Sir, why aren’t you doing anything?” demanded Shandara’s XO, a man named Commodore Galnits.

“I’m waiting for the opportune moment, that is all,” hissed Shandara. “Ready Magna-Flame gun! Target, the Earth Defense Forces Fourth Fleet Flagship Iron Duke!”

“Readying Magna-Flame Gun!” yelled an officer on the bridge of Shandara’s flagship.

“Energy recharge, eighty percent!” barked another.

“All systems checked! Ready for firing in thirty seconds!” yelled another officer as Shandara grinned.

Shandara waited, and then he yelled, “FIRE!”

The Magna-Flame Gun went off a moment later.

Her first target was the Iron Duke, which blew in half with her back broken when the Magna-Flame beam warped in as she was beginning to charge her wave motion gun for a final attack against the Cometines.

Soon, two more EDF space battleships were blown apart, followed by a spacecraft carrier.

Then, with Fourth Fleet in disarray, Shandara said, “All units, warp out, except for eight antimatter missile ships! That squadron is to attack Triton!”

The rest of the Cometine Fleet warped away, leaving the eight missile ships. A moment later, those ships fired, sending their sixteen deadly missiles in towards Triton.

Triton was hit sixteen times over, and the moon of Neptune convulsed, boiled, and blew apart, taking the massive EDF Base and all that was left of the Fourth Earth Defense Fleet with it in a blasting explosion that made Invidia want to throw up.

“Let’s see what their will to fight is NOW that we are beginning to blow apart their solar system!” yelled Gorse with an evil laugh. “I’ll wager you, that in twenty-four hours, they will be begging us to surrender…yes…begging us to surrender!”

Invidia, oddly enough, was not very pleased with that prospect….not now.

Not when she was tired of this war, and thoroughly nauseated in what should have been the beginning of her moment of triumph.


TO BE CONTINUED….

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