ALTERNATE
TALES OF THE STAR FORCE
STAR BLAZERS---A STRANGE INTERLUDE…
Being the fifth 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
ACT TWO: PLANS AND
MOVEMENTS
I. DEPARTURE
Space Battleship Argo
Planet Melezart
Wednesday October 1,
2206
1042 Hours: Earthtime
Having
received new orders, the Argo was at
last ready to leave Melezart for the Solar System.
“Attention,
all hands,” said Commodore Wildstar over the ship’s intercom. “At 1100, we will
be breaking from orbit over Melezart. We will make a long space warp at 1115,
with our target being the
Wildstar
paused as he sat at his post on the Bridge holding the microphone in his hand.
“I wish that we were returning home to Earth. Like all of you, this war is
wearing upon me. I know that most of you miss your loved ones and families and
are longing to be home. I know that we are understaffed and have had to go on
alert many times in the past few weeks to prepare either for real combat or for
imminent threats from our enemies which turned out to be false alarms. But, we
have our orders to remain on deployment. So, we must continue to carry on and
do our jobs to the best of our abilities. I know I can count on all of you to
keep on serving to protect Earth. I am proud of all of you for your service.”
Wildstar
ended and set down his microphone with a deep breath. “Skipper,” said Sandor as
Wildstar gave him a slightly annoyed grin. “You know we’re behind you.”
“It’s
been tough,” agreed Kitano. “I’d love to see my girlfriend back home again, but
I know we’ve got to carry on.”
“I
miss my Lisa,” said Eager, “But, I know we’ve gotta keep on fightin’. I hope we
can have our weddin’ sometime in the
next year…”
“I
miss my parents, sir,” said Domon. “Sir…I hope you don’t mind my saying so,
I’ve heard Nova’s expecting on the
“Where’d
do you hear that?” snapped Wildstar.
“The
Scuttlebutt Express, sir…uh…one of Doc Sane’s nurses, to be exact….…uh…is it
true?” asked Domon.
“It
is,” said Wildstar with a blush. “I just got an e-mail from her…uh….it’s going
to be twins…I think…little too flustered to remember.”
The
bridge crew applauded as Wildstar smiled and shook tears from his eyes.
“Thanks, guys,” he said quietly as Janlits came onto the bridge.
“Did
I miss something?” said Janlits as he adjusted his long black cloak.
“Just
some…personal business, my friend,” said Wildstar. “You can take your seat
beside Mister Domon for the space warp where that little blue robot is sitting.
It’d be a good idea if you close your eyes while you warp.”
“Why
is that?” said Janlits as he took off his cloak and folded it up.
“You
see weird things in warp-space,” said Domon. “Warping can be a horrible
experience for those who aren’t prepared for it.”
“The
human is inferior,” said IQ-9.7 as he stared balefully at Janlits from his seat
at Analysis. “I’m not sure he can take it.”
“You
be quiet!” snapped Wildstar. “Sandor, when we get to Saturn-Titan…”
“Put
in a requisition for a new Analysis robot?” said Sandor. “Gladly, sir.”
“I
am not defective,” said IQ-9.7. “All of you humans are the ones who are…”
“Get
your butt out of my chair, you tin
can!” snapped Janlits as the bearded old man shook his walking stick at the
robot.
“It
would probably be a good idea to do so,” said IQ-9.7. “I will depart, now. No
thanks to you, Commodore Wildstar.”
“Get
the hell off my bridge!” yelled
Wildstar. “You’re relieved!”
IQ-9.7
did so, but then he said, “You may come to regret that, sir.” At that, he
burbled off.
“Sandor,
watch him,” snapped Wildstar. “I want him off
this ship before the day is out. Preferably deactivated.”
“A
good idea, sir,” said Sandor as a rather annoyed Janlits sat down and strapped
in for the warp.
At
that, the Argo soon accelerated out
of orbit, heading towards interplanetary space in the Melezart system as she
prepared to make her space warp.
On
the
As
Aliscea came up to relieve her, Nova said, “How are you today?”
“How
are you, ma’am? You look a little pale.”
“You
know…” said Nova. “Uh…you know what I…”
Their
conversation was interrupted when Nova spotted a blip coming in on the
“Where
should I go if you’re tracking that?” said Aliscea.
“Mrs.
Rosstowski,” said Venture. “Take a spot at the Tactical Radar! Mister
O’Caffrey’s not at his post.”
“Aye,
aye, sir,” said Aliscea with a salute. A moment later, Nova added, “Visual on
the object, Captain! Twelve objects have just emerged from the ship! They look
like planes!”
As
the visual came up, Venture nodded grimly at the sight of a Cometine light
carrier releasing Scorpion boats over Alpha Sirius. “Mister Rosstowski! Battle
stations!”
“All
hands to combat stations!” yelled Paul Rosstowski as he flicked on the klaxons.
“All hands to combat stations! Sun Tiger squadrons one and three, prepare to
take off! Intercept the enemy gunboats!”
“Calculating
firing solution for the enemy carrier,” said Lt. Morris from her post at the
Artillery station.
“Bringing
up power in wave motion engine,” said Mister Marchand from the Engineer’s post.
“Evasive
manuevers ready,” said Holly Venture from the helm.
“Enemy
ship, range, one hundred eighty megameters, at RPX-212 off the port bow, enemy
planes rapidly approaching!” said Nova.
“Missiles
approaching!” snapped Aliscea from her post.
“Ready
pulse lasers, Rosstowski. Holly, take evasive action!” snapped Venture.
“Pulse
lasers, open fire!” yelled Rosstowski.
The
“Minor
hit near the observation deck!” snapped Nelson from Mechanical.
“Tigers
taking off!” said Rosstowski.
About
two minutes later, from his cockpit, Deke Wakefield smiled grimly as he and his
flight roared in to intercept the enemy planes. “Looks like we got ‘em,
people!” he said.
“Good
to have you back, skipper,” said Ensign Simon from his plane.
“It’s
good to be back,” said
In
one of the enemy Scorpion gunboats, the space-armor clad pilot said, “Major
Halla, I have the Earth planes right in my radar!”
“Good
job, Mister Krakus. Do not allow
yourself to be captured; otherwise, you can never return to our ranks again.
Defeat them or die trying!”
“Locked
on,” said Krakus. “Now, DIE, Earth scum!”
Krakus
fired right at Venable’s Tiger, but he missed as the Earth pilot evaded his
fire. “What?” He checked his scope and saw another Earth plane on his tail. It
was
Deke
jerked hard to starboard when he saw the Cometine ship firing his topside
turret at him. “You’re gonna be dead meat soon, you rotten boat pilot,” he
grinned. The enemy boat came up in his gunsights. “Now eat energy, buddy!”
Deke
fired, smiling as his blue laser bolts roared right into the enemy plane’s
body. The ship began to burn, and, then, with a satisfying blast, the enemy
cockpit shattered, blowing Krakus out into space with a scream to be blown
apart a moment later as his Scorpion died along with him.
Then,
in the distance, Deke looked up (just as Venable got the third enemy pilot) and
grinned as the
Not
far away, Conroy’s squadron took care of some more enemy planes with deadly
effect. Then, Brew came whooping over Deke’s headset. “We’re batting a thousand
today, Sticks! We got our three enemy birds without a scratch!”
“So
did we, Brewski!”
“Return
to base, people!” said Conroy over their headsets with a hearty laugh. “All
enemy planes destroyed, and the enemy carrier is toast! The
The Argo emerged from warp just a few
minutes later near
Janlits
had disobeyed the advice he had been given and he looked into the swirling vortex
several times, and he regretted it as normal space burst back in around them
like a very bad dream. His stomach was doing somersaults as he took several
deep breaths to keep from throwing up all over his tunic.
“Warp
completed,” said Kitano to his right as a loud, weird humming noise filled his
ears.
“Is
it suppposed to hum like that?”
gasped Janlits to Domon. Domon nodded as he looked to his controls. “All
weapons systems normal,” he said. “The noise will pass,” he added.
“Hope
so,” said Janlits as Homer got up from his post. “Captain! Message from the
“Read
it,” said Wildstar.
“At
1105 hours,
“Not
bad,” said Wildstar. “It’ll be a while before we’re able to match that, again…”
“But
not too long,” said Sandor. “We’ll have
to be ready by then, Wildstar.”
Derek
nodded as, a moment later, Becker said, at the Cosmo Radar, “Sir, the cruiser Huron is approaching.”
At
that, the EDF space patrol cruiser Huron slowed down as it approached the Argo.
“Incoming
message from the Commander,” said Homer.
The
crew stood and saluted as Commanding General Singleton returned the salute on
the main screen. “Welcome home, for now, First Star Force.”
“Thank
you, sir,” said Wildstar.
“I’ll
be aboard shortly with my adjutant, Lieutenant Wendy Singleton, and Lieutenant Ghormley,
the Master-at-Arms from the Huron.
We’ll meet Ambassador Janlits in your port side upper fighter bay after my
shuttle lands.”
“Of
course, sir,” said Wildstar.
“Captain,
permission to come down with the party,” said Homer as the transmission ended.
Wildstar
raised an eyebrow. “Any specific reason…?”
“Uh…none…except
that I’d like to see my fiancee’ again, sir.”
“How
long’s she been your fiancee’?” asked Domon.
“Since
May,” said Homer with an embassed grin. “We kind of wanted to keep it quiet…”
“Ya
mean you’re not gay?” laughed Eager.
“No,”
snapped Homer. “I’m not gay!”
“Good..,”
said Eager. “I don’t have to look at ya funny in the shower room no more,
Homer!”
“Remind
me to tell Wendy to slap you at our wedding, Eager,” said Homer with a sick
grin.
“I’ll
have Lisa guardin’ me then, boy. Just watch it! We might have a catfight at
your weddin, son!”
“Yeah,
if Nova doesn’t break up up first,” teased Kitano.
“Do
you know how thick it’s getting in here, people?” said Becker. “Save it for the
locker room!”
“Provided
we can pry one of the kids away from her boob, first,” said Eager. “First comes
love, then comes marriage, then comes Wildstar with a baby carriage!”
“SHUT
UP, guys!” laughed Wildstar. “We don’t want to keep the Commander waiting…”
A few
minutes later, after the shuttle landed on the Argo, Wildstar, Janlits, Sandor and Homer stood at attention behind
the hatch that led to the fighter bay. The hatch opened, and Commanding General
Singleton, his granddaughter Wendy Singleton, and Lieutenant Ghormley came
through the hatch.
After
the appropriate courtesies were exchanged, Commanding General Singleton shook
hands with Janlits and said, “On behalf of the Earth Government, I welcome you
to the Sol System, Ambassador.”
“I
hope that our association with your world can help bring an end to the Comet
Empire’s disgusting reign of terror across the galaxies,” said Janlits.
“I
am sure that it can,” said Wildstar. “Commander, I am sure you learned one
thing from us..back when the Comet Empire first tried to invade…five years
ago.”
“Yes,”
said Singleton. “Never give up. Never surrender.”
“I
understand that your Government once tried to surrender to them?” said Janlits.
“Yes…when
we were deluded and disheartened by the loss of our fleet,” said the Commander.
“Wildstar and Trelaina of Telezart taught us some rather different lessons,
though.”
“Wildstar
told me the tale…yes,” said Janlits.
“Mister
Ghormley,” said Singleton. “Please see the Ambassador to his shuttle. I will be
aboard for about twenty minutes speaking with the Commodore before we go back
to the Huron. Make the Ambassador
comfortable.”
“Yessir.”
“Sir,”
said Wendy, respendlent in her white Command Staff uniform. “I request
permission to speak with Mister Homer Glitchman in private.”
“Fifteen
minutes. No more,” said the Commander with a slight smile.
“Thank
you,” said Homer and Wendy together.
The
young couple retired alone to the Argo’s
aft observation deck for a few minutes. “It’s beautiful….out here…but so
lonely,” said Wendy as she held hands with her fiance’.
“Now
you know how I feel most of the time when I wait for your next letter,” said
Homer in a soft voice.
Wendy
nodded as she smiled at Homer. “When do you think we can have our wedding?”
“I
don’t know yet,” said Homer as he bowed his head. “You’re beside your
grandfather…you know how the war is going.”
“Every
day, another report of another ship being atatcked somewhere, either by the
Comet Empire, or those damned R’Khell fanatics who serve them. Every day, I
wonder how much more we can take…how many more losses Earth can sustain…”
“But
we’re rebuilding?” said Homer.
“Not
fast enough,” said Wendy as she dabbed at her eyes. “And we’ve made every young
man and woman possible 1-A in the draft, but how many of our men and women can
we sacrifice? How much more can we give?”
Homer
held her as she began to cry. “I don’t know,” said Homer. “But I promise
you…we’ll be together…some day.”
“It’s
dark…and getting darker,” said Wendy. “Even then, I have a light to remember
when I go to sleep at night…”
“That
is?”
“The
light in your eyes,” said Wendy in a soft voice.
The
two lovers exchanged a long, searching kiss as they held each other. Then,
Homer broke the kiss and he checked his wrist chronometer.
“We
have to go, for now…” said Homer.
“We’ll
meet again,” said Wendy. “I swear it.”
“Me
too,” said Homer. He waved goodbye as Wendy went her way…and he went his.
At that,
the Argo headed home, following the Huron in another warp towards Saturn.
Then, the two ships parted company as the Argo
went its way, towards Saturn-Titan, and the Huron
headed off again towards Earth.
“Well,
it’s time,” said Wildstar as he watched the Huron
disappearing around Saturn.
“Time
for what?” said Domon.
“Time
for a short rest. I think we’ve earned it. Mister Kitano, take us towards the
base.”
“They’re
waiting, sir.”
“Good.
Prepare to land.”
“Roger,”
said Kitano. “Heading towards the Base…”
And,
at that, the Argo began to make ready
to land.
II. IN MY HOUR OF DARKNESS…
Planet R’Khelleva
The
Wednesday October 1,
2206
Yvona’s
clone lay weeping again in her cell.
The
other day, two
Not
caring for Ekogaru’s Child, the men had beaten the clone within an inch of her
life.
And
the clone was too weak to have any psionic or physical response of any kind to
defend herself, or the Child against those evil men.
The
gasping, weeping woman lay holding her stomach (which was in great pain) and
she whispered, “Lord. I do not mean Ekogaru. I mean You. Prove it to me,
please, that You have forgiven me, and this suffering is worth it. Help me
remember, please. I know that my mother had verses of Scripture in her
mind…Scriptures she memorized for sick purposes. I have no book here to read.
Please help me….please let me know I have not believed in vain…please.”
Then,
Yvona cried herself into a bitter sleep. And, in her sleep, she began to dream.
In
her dream, Yvona then found a strange vista opening up in front of her.
She
found herself in a long dress, or a robe of some kind, with a veil and sandals.
Simple but ancient clothing, as she stood in the midst of a company of weeping
women. She was also jostled by men in fine robes, men in expensive robes…old
men with white beards, old men who were acting most unseemly by screaming like
boys at someone in mockery.
“Look
at him!”
“You say you’re a king, well come on down, your highness!” roared another
one.
“The
Scripture says whosoever hangs upon a tree is cursed of the Lord!” bellowed
another man. “You are cursed, blasphemer!”
“He
saved others, he cannot save himself!”
“False
prophet! Deluder of
“You’re
damned, you faker!” yelled another one of the men, who threw a clod of dirt up
over the head of one of the weeping women Yvona was standing next to.
Yvona
looked up, seeing a rocky, crude hill that was spattered with blood. Soldiers
in ancient armor looked like they were gambling over some garments that were
before them.
Yvona
looked up, trembling at the sight, as she beheld a darkened sky, and…three
rough crosses.
A
wind blew as she looked at one of the men. He hung at the right side of the
hill, nailed to a crude, cruel cross. He was naked, and it was obvious that he
had been horribly scourged. He roared to the man at his left. “Are you not the
damned Messiah, you faker? If you are, save yourself off that thing, and get us
down, too! We didn’t do anything!”
Yvona
shivered as she looked across the hill to another man, at the far left side of
the hill. She could somehow read the notice above his head; it read “DISMAS,
BRIGAND, TERRORIST, ZEALOT, MURDERER”. That man gasped out, “Gestas! You fool! Don’t
you fear the Almighty, since you are under the same death sentence I am? We are
being punished justly for our crimes with Barabbas, for we are getting what we
deserve for our murders from
He
looked over and said, “Y’shua, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom,
please…”
Yvona
then looked up and glanced at the center cross. She went cold and bowed her
head at once. She KNEW at once where she was and who that naked, horridly
beaten Man was. There was a flash of lightning, and she saw a disfigured,
bloody, swollen face and a crown of thorns before she looked down at the
ground. She didn’t DARE to look Him in the face, vision or no. But, she heard a
cracked, gasping, but still truly dignified, authoritative and gentle voice
that answered, “Dismas…”
“What
is it?” gasped the murderer.
“Truly, truly I tell you, today, you shall be
with Me in
Lightning
illuminated the horrid scene again as Yvona suddenly felt the ground spinning
beneath her.
She
was back in her cell, awake, a few minutes later. After she awoke, a gentle
Voice then responded in her heart, “Yvona,
I forgave Dismas at
“So?”
said Yvona. “But how could you forgive me? And Ekogaru said I am a clone? Do I
even have a soul? He could not have made one…”
“But in Pity and Mercy, I gave you a soul
when you came forth from that machine on Ekogaru’s abomination of a so-called
world. You asked not to be made like that by him. Do you not have a conscience?
Are you not aware of when you sin? It is not Ekogaru’s work. And, why do you
think what I did there on the Hill long ago did not suffice for you, too? You
shall be with Me in
“Thank
You,” said Yvona. “Thank You so much…it makes it easier to bear whatever
happens. But, please, please help
me.”
III. DISCUSSING PRINCESS
INVIDIA…
Planet Great Andromeda
Homeworld of the
Cometine Empire
Thursday, October 2,
2206
“What
do you think of this report from House Gatlantis?” said one of the Grand
Emperor’s adjutants as he handed a report to the Emperor.
The
Emperor scanned the report. “I told them they were to stop their attacks upon
Earth vessels, and, they still continue? This is gross insubordination, even
though Invidia claims it is only “an
effort to wind down the war…” as she puts it. We must do something about
this House!” roared the Emperor.
Viceroy
Savela said, “Did you not order them to begin peace negotiations with the
Terrans and the Gamilons?”
“I
did. I am tempted to recall the Eritz
Gatlantis to the homeworld at once, and…”
“We
would appear weak, Lord,” said Savela. “Treacherous as she is, Invidia has
gained us territory we would have not had title to for many years. She can be
useful…”
“But,
she is dangerous,” said a deep voice
as its owner entered the hall.
“Who
disturbs the repose of the Emperor?” snapped Savela. “I have not given you permission
to seek the Presence.”
“I
recognize that voice,” said the Emperor. “Radnar, is it you?”
“It
is I, my Lord. Your humble priest and servant seeks an audience before the
Presence,” he said as he approached the Throne and knelt.
“Leave,”
hissed Savela.
“No,
Viceroy!” snapped the Emperor. “I was awaiting you, my friend, Radnar. You may
rise.”
“Thank
you, my Lord,” said Radnar as he rose, leaning on his staff. “I have a vision
to report unto you.”
“Report,”
said the Emperor.
“My
Lord. Invidia, as the goddess Arishna has revealed to me, is planning to use
the peace conference that you ordered her to begin with the Terrans and the
Gamilons as a façade to continue the war. She plans to assassinate the Gamilon
and Terran representatives and then state they attacked her. In turn, she would
then use that as a justification to continue fighting them. We cannot allow
this. It is a base treachery that disrespects your authority, Lord, especially
since you ordered her to cease operations.”
“Rather
than being a faithful vassal to my glory as her father Zordar was, it appears
Invidia seeks to establish her own policies in opposition to I,” said the
Emperor. “Savela, we cannot permit
this. Order Invidia home to stand trial for sedition!”
“I
advise a different path,” said Radnar. “In the name of Arishna, of course.”
“It
is?” hissed the Emperor.
“Let
her treachery play out. If this open sedition and disobedience to your will
plays out, then she can openly be declared an enemy of the State. Her and all
of House Gatlantis,” said Radnar with an evil gleam in his eye above his beard
as he remembered how Zordar had banished him from his ranks years ago. “After
she openly turns against you, I beg leave to attack her in the Name of Arishna
and wipe out House Gatlantis. Then, if Arishna commands me, I will either seek
your peace and end the war with the Terrans and Gamilons, or attack…whatever
the goddess commands…I will do.”
“If
her sedition is so open, she can thus be eliminated as a rebel House,” said
Savela. “My Lord?”
The
Emperor nodded. “If she turns rebel so brazenly, you, Radnar, my friend, can do
me the honor of removing this stone from my shoe and exterminating House
Gatlantis. For now, gather your forces and watch her. If her plan plays out, you
may then launch your holy war against her. The winner claims the possessions
and rights of House Gatlantis.”
“Thank
you, my Lord,” said Radnar as he genuflected again before the Throne. “Your
wish will glorify Arishna before our Race forever.”
One
day later, as repair work on the Argo
progressed on Saturn-Titan, Commodore Wildstar decided to take an inspection
tour of the engine room.
Down
below, he spotted Sandor, Yamazaki, and Henson working together near an access
panel near the bottom of part of the wave motion engine.
“How’s
the work going?” said Wildstar.
“Have
a look at this,” said Sandor. “This manifold for the wave motion supercharger
is cracked. All of the firings of the wave motion gun and our long warps have
done it. It’ll have to be replaced.”
“Can
we do that in the time we have?” said Wildstar.
“Luckily,
they have a replacement that they can cannibalize out of stores here on the
base,” said Yamazaki. “It’ll be here in a few hours.”
“I’d
like to report for duty,” said a strange electronic voice behind them.
“Well,”
said Henson as she stood with her greasy hands on her hips. “You have a
down-home sound about you…what class are you?”
The
American Southern-sounding robot said, “I am a replacement for the defective
IQ-9.7. I am IQ-8.9.”
“An
old Eight Series?” said Sandor as he rolled up his eyes. He looked over the
old, dented Analysis robot. It looked similar to IQ-9, but it had paint peeling
on several places, and a very old, peeling United Nations Space Defense Force
decal was still on the old robot.
“I’ve
been upgraded to be almost as efficient as a Nine,” said IQ-8.9. “I know more
about space than you whippersnappers think, sohn. I was built in the Robotics
Corporation plant in
“When?”
said Wildstar.
“Long,
long time ago. Don’t be askin’ me to kiss the behinds of no Gamilons, though. I
don’t like ‘em.”
“Interesting,”
said Sandor. “Wildstar, this may turn out to be a very interesting refit…”
Wildstar
smiled at that.
On
the Eritz Gatlantis, Invidia sneered
at Dyre as they went down a conveyor belt in a corridor together.
“I
don’t quite believe that Gernitz has a strategy to finish off the Star Force
and force Earth to the bargaining table..even with a new fleet and that
Dreadnought of his he pulled out of storage in one of our inner systems,”
hissed Invidia.
“Give
Gernitz a chance with this one,” said Dyre. “He may just be able to force Earth
to do what we want this time.”
“He
might be effective,” said Gorse.
“He
might completely fail us and lose a Dreadnought and eighty ships,” said
Invidia.
“I
say, hear him out, Princess,” said Dyre.
“All
right,” said Invidia.
Two
hours later, in Invidia’s throne room, Gernitz had finished his presentation.
“And that is my strategy, Princess,” he said. “It will serve as a great
psychological blow to Earth. Do I have your permission?”
“Can
you get your forces into position in time?” hissed Invidia.
“Yes.
I can begin the attack in two days….or…maybe even less time than that.”
“Good,”
said Invidia. “While you keep the
“Gladly,” said Gernitz with
an evil grin. “Maybe it will even make them surrender without the false peace
conference and without endangering the Eritz
Gatlantis!”
And
Invidia put her hand over her mouth and laughed at that.
She
thought Gernitz was very amusing.
“Marshal,
I like it when you are optimistic!”
she hissed.
“Thank
you, your Highness,” said Gernitz with a sick smile.
“Now,
go, Gernitz. Win this war for us at last!”
“With
honor, Princess.”
While
Gorse smiled and Invidia continued to laugh, Gernitz left.
He
was very confident he would return
home with a victory.
IV. THE BEGINNING OF THE
LATEST MADNESS…
Space Battleship
The Vicinity of Alpha
Sirius
Saturday, October 4,
2206
1400 Hours
On
the
“Gentlemen,”
said Captain Venture. “You know that in the last battle that we had yesterday
that we lost four more planes.”
“Yessir,”
said
“Mister
Conroy tells me we are in need of new Section Leaders for the Second Sections
of Squadrons Two and Three because of our losses,” said Venture. “Do you two
think you could handle promotion to Section Leader and full Lieutenant at the
same time?”
“Sir,
with all respect, it’s a bit sudden,” said
“It’s
wartime,” said Conroy. “You two are good guys, and I need you leading both
those flights and those sections. You don’t have to accept…this is on a
volunteer basis, but…”
“I
accept,” said
Marrable
then nodded his head a moment later. “I accept my promotion, too, sir,” said
the young pilot.
“Good
going,” said Venture as he shook their hands and handed them the silver anchors
that meant they were now both full Lieutenants. “If this war goes on, you two
may have your own squadrons, next. But, you guys have something else to be
concerned with.”
“What’s
that?” said Deke.
“Calling
home,” said Venture. “At 1600, Nova’s going to begin lining people up to call
Earth. You’ll get five minutes on the communicator. Good luck.”
“Thanks,
sir,” said Marrable.
“So,
who are you calling?” said Marrable to
“I
don’t know, yet,” said Deke. “Part of me wants to try Dawn…part of me wants to
try Sasha.”
“Sheeeit,
boy, you are one confused boy. Can’t even make up yoah mind which squirrel to
chase, Dekesticks?”
“Oh,
I know which one I want to chase…I think. It’s just a problem of getting the
other one out of my head.”
“I
know who I’m calling,” said Marrable with an evil grin. “I think I may have met
me my Nubian Princess at last,” he said with a wide smile.
“What’s
her name?” said Deke.
“Pat.
She’s serving with a Marine unit back home.”
“A
Marine?” said Deke.
“No,
a Navy Corpsman, nurse-type. But she is
cute. She’s serving with a unit around
“I
wish you luck,” said Deke.
“You
too,” said Brew.
Brew
went in first.
Five
minutes later, Brew emerged with a very glum face.
“What’s
wrong?” said Deke.
“My
Nubian Princess is having second thoughts,” said Brew. “She’s thinking of going
out with someone else in her unit. But she was nice about it.”
“Did
she Dear John you?” sighed
“Yes
and no. She said she’d want to date me if things didn’t work out with Mac back
home. Not cool.”
“Mister
Wakefield,” said Nova near the hatchway. Deke did a double-take, noticing that
Nova had on a different outfit…namely, a male-pattern EDF shirt in gold and
black, with her belt, a black skirt, and sandals.
“You
look different, ma’am,” said
“Maternity
uniform,” she said. “And the kids are really bugging me in there right now,”
she said as she held her stomach. “Get in, Deke. You’re holding up the line!” she snapped.
“Aye,
aye,” said
It
was at the
In
her dorm room, Sasha jumped as the videophone rang. She was wearing an old grey
t-shirt and shorts…she had been running earlier in the morning, and it was a
very hot and unseasonably muggy October back home on Earth.
“Hello?”
she said.
“Long
time no talk to,” said the voice at the other end of the line.
“Deke!” she cried with a big smile on her
face. “I’m glad to hear from you! Are you all right? I heard there was more
combat out in space and you were…”
“I’m
all right. We lost some guys, though. I’ve been promoted to full Lieutenant and
they gave me command of a whole Section. I’m responsible for two flights now;
half a whole squadron.”
“That’s
great news…but isn’t that more work for you?”
“It
is,” said
“When
will I see you again?” said Sasha.
“It
still looks like next Spring,” said Deke with a sigh. “I heard you might be
graduating early.”
“They
said that might be a possibility…they haven’t told us a lot yet.”
“I
see.”
“I
hope we can serve together some day, Deke. If we survive this war, that is.”
“Sasha,
you have to be optimistic.”
“I’m
scared, Deke. You don’t know…what kind of dreams I’ve been having.”
“What
kind of dreams have you been having?”
“Strange
ones, lately. Mostly bad ones. I’m scared for you, Deke.”
“Why
is that?”
“You’re
at war…and…you have so much to think
about,” she said as she looked at him with knowing eyes that made a chill run
down his back for a moment. “But I know you love me. I just know it.”
“How
do you know?”
“Deke,
I have faith in you, and….I’ve…no…don’t worry about that.”
“Don’t
worry about what?” said Deke.
“Nothing,”
lied Sasha as she thought, I can’t tell
him I know about so much of the conflict in his mind. I can’t tell him I know
about that shadow between us…not yet. And I sure can’t tell him I’ve seen our
future…not yet…because, he doesn’t…
“Sasha,
what are so you worried about?”
“I
wish you could tell me,” said Sasha with a rare moment of honesty.
“Sasha…there’s
so much I want to tell you,” he began as he decided to spill his guts now. But,
he could see the timer was down to one minute. “But I know we’re running out of
time.”
“I’ll
wait,” she said. “You can write me a letter, Deke. A long one. But, I do love
you…”
“Sasha,
I…I love you, too,” said Deke as he squeezed out the words as if they were
going through a lump in his throat.
“Thanks,
Deke…I love you, too…”
And,
at that, the screen went dark.
Far
away, in
As
she stepped into her thongs, she felt something loosening around her neck. She
was surprised a moment later as Deke’s Star Pendant ended up draped over the
top of her foot.
“Now
I wonder why it did that?” she said as she picked it up. Dawn looked over the
pendant and saw that one of the links had suddenly snapped.
“That’s
weird,” she said to herself. “It never did that before. Well, I can go without
the damn thing for a weekend before I take it to the jeweler to be fixed. I’m
sure Deke won’t mind,” she said in a sardonic voice.
Still,
something about the timing of the pendant breaking made Dawn think, I wonder if it was an omen of some kind? I’d
love to know what Deke is thinking right now….
Finally,
Nova took her place before the communications screen. She was alone, and she
made sure the hatch was locked.
With
a flush running across her features, Nova typed in a code number.
I hope I can get him, she thought. It’s hard to say. I know Derek is so busy
these days…
On
the Argo, Commodore Wildstar was
alone in his cabin working on a report when his visiphone rang. “Hello, Space
Battleship Argo…Captain’s Quarters.
Commodore Wildstar speaking.”
“Hello,
Derek,” said the soft alto voice through the speakers as a familiar face
appeared on his screen.
“Nova!”
said Derek with a pleased laugh. “This is a pleasant surprise! Are you all
right?”
“Never
been better,” she said with a girlish grin. She stood back from the chair and
made sure her side faced the screen. She put one foot up on the chair arm and
said, “Have a look at me now, Derek…”
“You’re
showing!” he laughed as tears ran from his eyes. “I’m having trouble keeping
track…how long is it now?”
“Getting
close to five months as of the eighteenth,” said Nova with a proud smile.
“They’ve begun to wiggle in there already, Derek!”
“They?”
said Derek. “Uh….I….?”
“They,”
said Nova. “Remember, you silly flag
officer you? We’re having twins, my love. I told you that in my last letter! The
doctor thinks it’s a boy and a girl, but she’s not sure.”
“Oh…yeah…thanks. I like the maternity
outfit. But are you still safe in battle dressed like that?”
“I
put a jumpsuit and boots on when I have to be on the Bridge,” said Nova. “But,
I’m fine in this now. Having trouble keeping Tinwit away, but…”
“The
skirt is sure short…”
“It’s
comfortable,” huffed Nova. “I’ve been hungry a lot, and my ankles swell a
little at times. Now I know what they mean by ‘barefoot and pregnant’,” she
said as she wriggled her toes up in her sandals.
“Yeah.
How does your stomach really look?” said Derek.
“Like
to see?” said Nova sweetly. She sat down and, to Derek’s surprise, she unzipped
her top and spread it open.
Beneath
it was a bra and her somewhat swollen tummy. The ship seemed to shake a little as she did
so, but she ignored it. “I still have an innie navel….even like this…”
“Do
you see your stomach moving?” asked Derek. Then, his question was answered when
he saw a little jump beneath Nova’s skin. “I think I saw something…was it?”
“Yes.
That was a baby kick,” she said with a tearful laugh. “I wish you were here to
share this with, Derek.”
“So
do I,” he said. “I hope we can be together when you…go into labor…”
“I
don’t know how that’ll be possible,” she sighed. “My due date is sometime in
February…I’m not sure how we’ll be together then. Unless the Comet Empire lays
off for a few months.”
“How
will you take care of them when it…happens?”
“Doctor
Bradford will give me time to tend to them in Sickbay whenever possible.
They’ll have a little nursery in a corner somewhere until I bring them home…to
where they were conceived…,” said Nova as the ship seemed to shake again. She
again ignored it. Holly must be manuevering
hard, she thought.
“Earth,”
sighed Derek. “Our house. I miss it already. But not as much as you…”
“I
love you,” said Nova.
“I
love you, too,” said Derek. A moment later, after the transmission cut off,
Nova jumped as someone banged at the hatch. As quickly as possible, Nova closed
her blouse and spun around, although she looked a bit disheveled. She opened
the hatch.
She
found herself looking right at a red-faced Venture. “Damnit, didn’t you hear
the klaxons?” he snapped.
“I
was talking to Derek…sorry…what’s going on?”
“A
huge Cometine battleship squadron…we took two hits already! Get changed and get
to your bridge post in two minutes! Nova, stop lollygagging around!” snapped
Captain Venture.
“Yessir,”
said Nova as she ran off, blushing as she ran.
“What’s
with her?” said Mark to a nearby
IQ-9.
“Never
try to analyze the mind of a pregnant woman,” said IQ-9.
“Yeah,
you got that right,” said Venture.
Unknown
to Earth, Gernitz had just warped into the solar system.
His
flagship, the huge, 12.1 kilometer-long Cometine Black Dreadnought Devastation, had last come into these
tales back in January 2202, when it had been so close to attacking Earth. Only
the orders of Viceroy Savela had saved the Earth from devastation that day.
Gernitz
had been waiting for this opportunity for years. Now, the evil Marshal smiled
as Pishda, his new executive officer, came up to him with a salute. “I am
pleased to report that General Higner’s squadron is attacking the
“Commence
the operation!” barked Gernitz. “Our target…Earth!”
Just
before one of Earth’s spy satellites could detect them, the Cometine Fleet of
sixty-two ships split up and began to roar on towards its objectives at
Saturn-Titan and at Earth.
“This is Captain Matsuyama
of the space battleship Mutsu, of the
Fifteenth Battleship Squadron, part of Second Fleet, making routine report at
1800 hours,” said a rather bored-looking skipper as he received a routine
report from his crew. “We are between the Earth and the Moon, and we are on
normal patrol, General Stone. No enemy action detected.”
At
the other end, Stone nodded on the space battleship’s screen. “Good job,
Captain, Continue patrol; condition normal.”
“Yessir,”
said
“Skipper,”
said the ship’s radar officer. “Big wave of ships just detected.”
“Must
be a bunch of freighters,” said
“Negative,
Skipper..they’re too big…I read ten space battleships…six light carriers, six
heavy carriers….eight missile cruisers, thirty destroyers, and one huge ship, as ugly as Sin!”
“What?”
said
“So
what do we do?” said
“Mister
Spignoli, let our escorts know at once on intership…then have Mister Denkler
call Earth Defense. We need the whole
Second Fleet here for this. All hands, battle stations!” he yelled as he
brought up the klaxons. “All hands to battle stations!”
“Marshal!”
reported an officer on the bridge of the Devastation.
“Earth Defense battleship squadron spotted off port, distance, eight hundred gerad. Fleet appears to be sounding alarm
to Earth and drawing in its forces to attack. Should we have the destroyers
move in?”
“I’ll prove our power by
doing this ourselves,” hissed
Gernitz. “Main guns, train on the enemy flagship…open fire on my mark!”
The
Devastation’s main shock cannons
swivelled about and locked on target as the Cometine escorts cleared the firing
area. Soon, they were locked on target.
“Ready
for firing, Marshal!” barked an officer to Gernitz’s right.
“Wonderful,”
laughed Gernitz. “Open fire!”
The
Devastation’s main guns then began to
blast one by one, sending a horrible barrage straight at the Mutsu’s starboard side. Before Captain
Matsuyama and Commander Spignoli could react, orange lances of energy were
roaring right through the Mutsu’s armor
like hot knives through a stick of butter.
“We’ve
taken heavy damage!” cried
“Fire
what we can!” yelled
The
burning Mutsu turned about and fired
two of its working gun turrets at the enemy Dreadnought. The energy from her
shock cannons bounced off the Cometine ship’s black armor as if someone had
fired a load of BB gun pellets against a brick wall.
The
Devastation’s guns trained again, and
there was a second terrible barrage.
The
Mutsu broke out into many cherry
blossoms of flame. A moment later, the cherry blossoms combined into one, and
the Mutsu blew apart with a clap of
thunder, followed in death by many of her escorts as they also fired at the
enemy Dreadnought, and came to nothing as Gernitz’s guns blew them apart, as
well.
“Not
bad,” laughed Gernitz. “Pishda, have the fleet screen our flanks. Open the main
gun! Planet Earth is our target! Blast the first
city you detect!”
“With
pleasure,” said Pishda. “Open the siege cannon!”
As
the rest of the Earth Defense Fleet began to regroup to defend the planet,
Gernitz had a terrible, horrible, clear shot.
“A
large city, right below us,” said Pishda with sick glee. “A large Metropolitan area.
They call it the New York Megalopolis. My gunsights are lined up right on a
crowded area called
“Fire,”
said Gernitz with a deadly whisper.
The
gun lowered beneath the Devastation’s underbelly
and locked into place.
It
did not take long for the gargantuan Magna-Flame Gun to come up to full charge
and for its gunners’ controls to turn green.
“Goodbye,
The
gun went off a moment later.
A
massive and lurid golden surge of energy roared towards Earth and blasted into
the atmosphere.
In
A
moment later, a ball of fire appeared in the sky without warning. Millions of
terrified people barely had a moment to scream before the fire blasted into the
island.
A moment later, the very
island itself was obliterated, the towers of
The
devastation roared outwards…the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island,
Westchester County, Nassau County, suburban New Jersey…all of those areas were
blasted into lakes of fire.
A
huge mushroom cloud appeared in the sky a moment later as the Big Apple
disappeared.
“What
do you think?” hissed Pishda.
“This
is glorious!” yelled Gernitz. “Utterly glorious! Continue the barrage! Today, we shall force them to submit to our
will! Today is the day that the Earth loses! Ha ha ha ha
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha HAAAAA!”
“Message
from the Earth Defense Command!” said a Cometine officer.
“You
take care of it, Pishda! I’m having too much fun!” roared Gernitz as he sighted
upon another target. “This is glorious! See what you think of this, Invidia!”
And,
at that, Gernitz prepared to fire again.
His
target, was the Earth….
To Return to the Introduction to The New Comet, click here