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
“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
“How would you know that?”
demanded
“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
“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,
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
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!
“Roger,” said Hardy. “
“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
“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
“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,
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, “
“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
“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
“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
“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,
“We’ll talk
at the table, luv,” said
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,
“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,
“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
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. “
“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
“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
“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.
“The ship was running
out of room when we boarded,” said
“I heard that the
enemy began bombing
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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….
To Return to the Introduction to The New Comet, click here