ALTERNATE
TALES OF THE STAR FORCE
STAR BLAZERS---THE NET TIGHTENS
Being the fourth 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 THREE: MORE WAR…
I. INVESTIGATIONS
Space Battleship Argo
1,500 Lightyears Away
from Earth
Monday, May 19, 2206
0145 Hours: Earth Time
Commodore
Derek Wildstar was facing a dilemna.
The
Argo had warped out to a location in
deep space where several patrol ships had picked up some strong Cometine
signals in the past few days. When they arrived there, there was nothing on the
radar, and no sign of the enemy…
…at
least, not until now.
Lieutenant
Victoria Becker, the Argo’s new
Living Group Leader, sat at the cosmo-radar in Nova’s usual place. She said,
“Sir, I have something.”
“Where
is it?” said Wildstar.
“It’s
on the Time Radar, sir. This was in our space about five hours ago. Image
amplified and enhanced and sent to main video panel…”
A
moment later, an image of an enemy fleet appeared on the screen. Becker said, “It looks like a carrier, two
battleships, four missile cruisers, ten destroyers and ten submarines.”
“Twenty-seven
ships,” said Sandor. “Can we figure out which way they were going?”
“It’s
hard to tell from the image,” said Domon.
“I
don’t quite have a clear vector on it, either,” said Becker. “There’s not
enough data to come up with a solution.”
“Can’t
you get one?” said Wildstar.
“No,
sir,” said Becker as she began to sweat.
I’ll bet Nova could have done it, Derek
thought bitterly. Luckily, he kept that thought to himself.
The
question of which location the fleet was going became a moot point a moment
later when Eager cried out, “Missiles approachin’ from starboard! Big wave of
missiles!”
“All
hands, to combat stations!” yelled Wildstar as Kitano turned the Argo about. Only one missile hit the Argo as a Cometine group of missile ships
showed itself on Becker’s Cosmo Radar as the First Star Force’s new foe.
“So
much for investigating the enemy, huh?” said Sandor with a twisted grin.
“We
can investigate later,” snapped back Commodore Wildstar. “After we reduce this
bunch to debris, that is.”
“I’ve
got a bead on the enemy fleet,” said Becker. “Distance, fourteen megameters,
bearing thirty degrees to starboard, and speed, ten space knots and
accelerating.”
“I
have a bead and bearing on the fleet,” said Domon. “All guns, track to thirty
starboard, elevation angle, maxiumum.”
The
Argo shook again from another wave of
missiles and took a little damage.
This can’t be as simple as it
seems, thought Wildstar. There’s
something behind this, but what is it? What is it?
II. SETTING A TRAP…
Cometine Spacecraft
Carrier Dekgavis
1,500 Lightyears Away
from Earth
Monday, May 19, 2206
0145 Hours: Earth Time
General
Dalkon, per his orders from Invidia some weeks ago, was heading towards
Rotella, but he and his forces had decided to try some attacks around the
vicinity of Earth in the hopes of drawing out the Argo and the
“So,”
he said in a transmission to his Third Missile Cruiser Squadron Commander,
Captain Megara. “You’ve got the Argo
pinned down?”
“Yes,
sir. And the Second Fleet also has the
“Excellent,”
said Dalkon. “Launch all planes. I want the Argo
battered beyond recognition!”
On
the bridge of his carrier, Dalkon’s executive officer nodded as he did an
about-face to carry out his skipper’s orders.
Dalkon
ordered his planes launched.
Soon,
they were attacking the Argo, causing
a fair amount of damage.
However,
Wildstar ordered Hardy and the rest of the Black Tigers to launch a counterattack.
Soon, Hartcliffe’s squadron was driving away the Cometine attack boats, while
Hardy’s squadron flew in to attack the enemy carrier and its destroyer escorts.
“We’re
under attack?” snapped Dalkon.
“Affirmed,
sir,” said his new executive officer, a Captain Vallis. He had recently killed
his previous XO for not obeying orders quickly enough. “How many of them?”
“Twelve
enemy planes,” said Vallis.
Dalkon
laughed. “They can’t do us any damage! Order our gunners to begin to take them
out like rats infesting a basement back home in And…”
The Dekgavis shook a moment later as Hardy
himself pumped a missile into one of her hangar bays.
“Not
bad!” laughed Hardy as he dodged a laser beam that came from one of the enemy
carrier’s turrets.
As
Vallis got up from the deck, he said, “Sir, should we be laughing?”
“Perhaps
not,” hissed Dalkon. “They’re so experienced, it might take some more effort to
take them out. Order our own fighters to launch and…”
The
carrier shook again a moment later as she took a hit right down one of the
elevators.
“I
would recommend retreating to a safer area!” snapped Vallis.
“It
might be a good idea,” responded Dalkon as he saw two of his destroyers blown
apart. “Perhaps we can lure the Argo
towards Rotella and finish them off there? They might be foolhardy enough to
follow us…”
“Not
a bad idea,” said Vallis as the Dekgavis shook
from another hit. “All ships!” he snapped. “Prepare to warp out towards Rotella
in two minutes. Repeat, emergency warp, two minutes!”
On
the Argo, Lieutenant Kumyat said,
from Artillery on the
“We
can’t take much more of this,” said Wildstar as he stood next to Sandor and saw
that the Argo had taken more damage
from missiles. “Open fire now!”
“Main
guns, open fire!” barked Domon from his place.
Soon,
the Argo’s guns went off, destroying
two of the missile cruisers.
“Domon,
order the Black Tigers back to base. We’re going to finish off that carrier
now.”
“Yessir.
Black Tigers, return to the ship!”
“Roguh!”
said Hardy.
The
planes began to return to the Argo a
moment later.
When
they began to land, Domon relined the guns on the rest of Dalkon’s fleet. He
had the fleet in his sights when it warped away.
“What?”
he said.
“They’ve
warped out!” said Becker. “Heading, off straight towards the Andromeda Nebula!
Course, RPX-212 by RGA-40. We might be able to extrapolate where they went by
following that course…”
“It’ll
take us time,” said Sandor as he walked up to Wildstar. “The Argo’s taken some heavy damage. It’ll
take a few days to make repairs.”
“Homer,
can we call Earth?” said Wildstar.
“I
was meaning to tell you, sir,” said Homer. “That last missile hit…it damaged
the main radio antenna. We can’t send or receive…at least until we get it
fixed…”
“Damn…what
a spot,” said Wildstar as he sat down
angrily at his post. “We were supposed
to report back home…and now…we can’t…”
III. DEKE’S HOMECOMING
The Vicinity of Pluto
Space Battleship
Monday, May 19, 2206
0248 Hours: Earth Time
When
the enemy sub fired again, Deke blotted out his rage about Brew being missing and
he was ready to take it out. He attacked the sub with all of his guns blazing
and he and Hollingsfield blew several holes in the sub. As he gritted his teeth
and swung off, Hollingsfield said, “Pull out! I’ll give it the coup de grace!”
“Got
it!” hissed Deke.
Hollingsfield
finished off the sub while Deke snapped about and attacked two Scorpions with
his remaining missiles. Then, a moment after that, Deke heard Conroy in his
headset. “All planes, return to base at once! The
“Sir!”
said Deke. “Ensign Marrable is missing!”
“Missing?”
“We
were separated in the battle! I don’t know where he is!”
Conroy
was silent and then he said, “
“Sir..?”
“Return
to base!” snapped Conroy. “Acknowledge!”
“Roger,”
said Deke as tears ran down his face. “Returning to base!”
Deke
then gritted his teeth and followed Hollingsfield as, far away, the remaining
remnants of the nearby enemy fleet tried to regroup.
Back
aboard the
At
the Cosmo-Radar, Nova (who was sharing this position with Aliscea) said,
“They’re disorganized, Captain. Part of the enemy fleet is one megameter behind
the submarine force that the Sun Tigers routed; there’s just one submarine left
and a group of five planes. Behind them, I’m still tracking a small carrier,
six destroyers, two missile cruisers. Range, nine megameters, speed, twenty-one
space knots and accelerating! The carrier is at the rear of the formation!”
“We
need to recover our planes, first,” said Rosstowski.
“Missiles
approaching! Incoming missiles!” barked Junior Lieutenant O’Caffrey from the
tactical radar. “Brace for hit!” he snapped.
A
moment later, the
“Where
is Conroy, Rosstowski?” asked Venture.
“He
says they’re beginning to arrive back aboard ship, sir!” barked Rosstowski.
“Second
wave of missiles!” yelled Nova. “Enemy fleet is now at eight megameters!”
“Ten
degrees port!” said Captain Venture.
“Turning
ten degrees to port,” said Holly Venture a moment later from her post at the
helm as she turned the handles hard. “Evading missiles!”
“All
planes are in!” said Rosstowski.
“Mister
Rosstowski, prepare to fire main guns,” said Venture. “Time’s running out!”
“Enemy
Fleet, distance, five point five megameters, speed, twenty-six space knots!”
said Nova. “Bearing, RX-225!”
“Roger
that!” said Rosstowski. “Main guns, to RX-225!”
Deke
“Damnit!”
yelled a familiar voice. “Damnit to hell!”
“Brew?”
said Deke.
“Hey,
Deke!” yelled Brew as he laughed after he put out a small fire that was burning
on his plane. “Damn plane! In the
battle, one of my thrusters got all fouled up and it made me start spinning!
Turns out it wasn’t checked out right! I got out of the battle and I was just
chewing the maintenance crew idiots a new asshole when you landed!”
“I’m
glad you made it, man!” laughed Deke as he hugged Brew.
“Hey,
I’m glad, too,” said Brew.
A
moment later, the deck vibrated below their feet and a loud set of bangs came
through the
“What
the hell is that?” said Brew.
Deke
dragged Brew to a viewport as he and several other pilots and flight crew
members cheered as the
“I
think that’s the end of that bunch!”
said
“And
I think we need to get into the ready room to debrief,” said Lieutenant Ambrose
as she looked at her squadron. “All twelve of you guys made it back…good show.
We’ll go over who shot down what later on.”
“Is
the battle over, ma’am?” asked another pilot.
“That’s
what I heard,” said Ambrose. “Now, let’s get going. We’ll be up a while
tonight…”
A
while later, Nova Wildstar sat in her Living Group Leader’s office, meeting
with Aliscea (who was helping some nurses with recovery of the few wounded from
the battle) and with the ship’s surgeon, Doctor Patricia Bradford. They were
discussing the aftermath of the battle.
“Well,
it wasn’t too bad, overall,” said Aliscea.
“You’ll
see worse, if you’re serious in wanting to learn nursing and medicine as well
as helping out every now and then with those Pellian abilities of yours,” said
“I’m
no teenager, remember,” said Aliscea. “I saw worse on Pellias than you ever
have!”
“And
I think you have to learn to pay your dues,” said Doctor Bradford.
“Dues?”
snapped Aliscea Rosstowski. “I’ve paid my dues, you…”
“Both
of you, cool it!” snapped Nova. “You two are giving me a headache!”
“You’re
gonna have lots of headaches, Wildstar, if you want to be a doctor some day,”
said
“She
has a point,” said Aliscea.
“What
point?” said
“The
point I mean to make with you, Doctor,” snapped Aliscea as she stared hard into
Doctor Bradford’s eyes.
“The
point you mean to make with me,” said
“Now
I think we should get out of here,” said Aliscea.
“I
think we should get out of here,” said
“Let’s
go,” said Aliscea.
“Let’s
go,” said
Nova
looked aghast at Aliscea, and said, “You weren’t supposed to do that! She is
your superior officer!”
However,
the Pellian just shrugged and smiled as
“Don’t
make this a regular tactic, Aliscea,” said Nova.
“I’ll
try not to,” said Aliscea with an evil grin. “Good night, ma’am.”
A
few minutes later, Nova brushed her hair out of her eyes and sat back in her
office chair as she was suddenly disturbed by some banging from inside a storage locker in her office.
“Now
what is it?” said Nova. “Who’s in here?”
“I
am,” piped up a familiar electronic voice.
“What?” said Nova. “You’re not supposed
to be here!”
Nova
opened the locker and IQ-9 tumbled out, crashing to the deck on his back before
Nova’s feet.
“Tinwit,
you are not the ninth class that’s
supposed to be aboard this ship!” snapped Nova.
“That
other stupid ninth class and I made a deal and we made a swap last night before
we left Earth,” said IQ-9.
“Why?”
“I
have a hunch that you might need me around this cruise.”
“Robots
don’t have hunches,” huffed Nova.
“I
do,” said IQ-9 as he got up. “I have this sense you are in danger. All of my
circuits are pulsing with it. I feel I need to protect you without Commodore
Wildstar around to do it. Besides, I found this bag you had in here.”
“Thanks,
I knew it was there; besides, that gear bag’s not mine,” said Nova. “It belongs
to someone I need to have a talk with in a minute. Why do you feel I’m in
danger?”
“We
will be confronting front-line forces of the Comet Empire. Without Wildstar
around, I compute you are in greater danger. To help Wildstar and keep you
safe, you need to be protected. I will do it.”
A
tap came at the hatch from outside. Nova called out, “Come in!” Then, the hatch
opened, and a tired-looking Deke Wakefield stumbled in. IQ-9 went quiet as he
came in, and Deke barely seemed to notice the robot’s presence.
“You
called my cabin and asked me to come down here, ma’am? What do you need?”
“You
thought you lost this?” said Nova as, with a look of shock on his face, she
handed him the B-4 gear bag he had left aboard the Argo by mistake back in March.
Deke
recognized the beat-up bag at once. “Where did you find it, ma’am?”
“In
your quarters aboard the Argo after
an enlisted person from my Group was cleaning up. I kept it for safekeeping and
took it home with me. When I knew you were going to be onboard this ship
yesterday, I made sure I brought it. You have some explaining to do, Ensign.”
Deke
gulped at that, thinking at once of the picture of Dawn in the bag.
“Uh…ma’am…did you look in the bag?”
“No,
I would never dream of it, it’s YOUR dirty old B-4 flight bag! I have no
business in there!” said Nova. “What I do
mean is that a space sailor cannot afford to be so careless about his or her
personal effects aboard ship. What if you left classified papers somewhere? Or
a weapon? You’d better learn to be more careful.”
“Uh…ma’am…I’ll
try to be…thanks,” stammered Deke.
“I
see,” said Nova. She studied his face for a moment, then said, “You look
very…perturbed about something. Would you like to talk? About your personal
life, say?”
He
assumed a professional façade, and then said, “No, ma’am.”
“You’re
sure?”
“That’s
right.”
“I’m
good at counseling,” said Nova. “I have an open door if you’d ever like to come
in and talk for a bit.”
Deke
gulped for some reason and said, “Ma’am, I’ll think about it.”
Nova
nodded and said, “Dismissed.”
Deke
saluted and said, “Thanks, ma’am.” Then, he left.
Nova
then began to make herself some tea while biting her lip and thinking
seriously. Then, she turned to IQ-9 and said, “Something doesn’t feel right
about this, IQ. Sasha’s told me that they’ve been exchanging letters. Yet, I
ask him about it, and he seemed to deny it. Now does that make any sense?”
“It
does not seem to make a lot of sense. But, I detected an increased heartbeat and
greater electro-galvanic resistance in his magnetic field with my sensors.
Since I am ten thousand times more sensitive than any lie detector apparatus, I
can tell that something is very obviously bothering that human.”
“Yeah,”
said Nova. “You and me, both, my friend. You and me both,” she said while
shaking her head.
IV. HOWLS OF DEVILS, SCREAMS OF JACKALS
The Site of
Near the Shores of the
Friday, May 29, 2206
1200 Hours: Local Time
The
It
had become even worse after the planet bombings as bombs had stirred up the
salt and the desert soil, exposing ruins of an archaelogical dig that few had
yet had the nerve to return to. Now, ancient bits of wall, ancient bits of
pottery, and ancient bones, many of them burned and human, littered the ground
near the salt flats in this evil no-man’s land, a no-man’s land that resounded
every now and then with the screams of jackals…or things that sounded like
jackals.
And
some of the ancient soil that had been kicked up by the bombs looked blackened,
like obsidian. A fresh smell of sulfur hung everywhere in this accursed plain.
The
Space Marine who had been Mick Stovall stumbled with an idiotic grin amongst
the cursed rocks and ruins of Numeira as he said to the dark spirit that
indwelt him, “This was a long damned walk, Lordship. Where is this place?”
“It
was a verdant plain once, long, long, long
ago,” said Ekogaru as he smiled. “My father had a grand experiment in human
relations going here, yes he did, in the cities of the plain. A great
experiment. Long before the Dreaded, Burning One walked the Earth, my father
was active here, yes, and I visited this place, when there were great cities
here, with other names. Those were in the days before the Burning One caused
the cities of the plain to be overthrown; and there was a smoke, a smoke as
like as to a burning from a furnace. The patriarch
A
harsh wind blew as Ekogaru pulled a black cloak out from a pocket of Stovall’s
Space Marine uniform and he clad himself in the black cloak. “They are here. I
see the conning tower of the R’Khell space submarine over those hills. She will soon come to me. Just as she
promised. And then, no more questions from you, human.”
Stovall
nodded and his consciousness passed into a blissful forgetfulness as he felt
the Sphere. Ekogaru stared into it and nodded once as a party of three came
over a hill.
One
of the party was a tall woman in a red cloak and matching red sandals; she was
Miosha, the new High Priestess of the R’Khell people. To her far right walked
General Vargarda, a tall R’Khell male in a red uniform with a beard and turban
who walked along with his hand clamped hard on the arm of a tall human female
who was chained to him.
The
third member of the party was tall, with dark reddish-blonde hair, and she had a
torn sackcloth dress and sandals made of rope and old tires. She was the clone
of Yvona, and long had she been awaiting this moment, this day, but she had
also long feared it.
When
she saw Ekogaru, she kissed his hand and knelt, heedless of the feel of the
hot, burning salts on her bare knees as she prostrated herself before her Lord.
“Rise,
my Lady,” said Ekogaru after a long while. “Miosha, Vargarda, all is in
readiness?”
“It
is, Master,” said Miosha. “It is good to see that you live again. That you are
with us.”
“It
is good,” said Ekogaru. “Yvona. I contacted you in your night visions and
commanded you to memorize some…Scripture…” he said with an evident distaste.
“Recite now, from Genesis, Chapter
Nineteen.”
“Yes,
My Lord,” said Yvona. “The Book of Genesis, Chapter Nineteen, verses
twenty-three to thirty-two.”
Yvona
cleared her throat and began to recite.
“Genesis
19:23-32: The sun was risen upon the earth when
“Enough,” said Ekogaru. “Give us a history lesson, Yvona. Where do
we stand now?”
“In the ruins of
“And why are you here?”
“You are my father, so to speak, since you cloned me, my Lord. I
am to lie with you, to preserve thy seed…”
“WRONG!” yelled Ekogaru as he viciously slapped Yvona across the
face. “Try again.”
“I am to lie with you, to preser…”
Ekogaru slapped her across the face again, hard enough to draw
blood from her nose.
“YOU are RIGHT, but you are WRONG!” yelled Ekogaru. “try again,
wench.”
“Lord, I am…to…lie with you…” said a frightened Yvona as Miosha
and Vargarda drew daggers and placed them lightly against her back. Ekogaru
loomed menacingly over her
“Good. Go on.”
“To…generate…seed…so…there may be more…”
“of my kind, enough,” said Ekogaru as he grinned evilly at Yvona.
“Right now, I have a weakness,” said Ekogaru. “Right now, I am not immortal. I live in this human body
as a subterfuge. Eventually, I will make a new cyborg body and reward this
bearer of my spirit when the time is right. Then, I will again be immortal.
But, for now, until my conquest of all things is completed, only as a mortal
can I produce seed and concieve children. You will bear my child, Yvona. That
is why I am wedding you today. In Hell, you will produce…our child.”
“Now, are you prepared?” said Ekogaru.
“I am,” said Yvona. “I have only the sackcloth of a simple servant
of yours and sandals on. Nothing else.”
“You obeyed that, at least. General, unchain her.”
Vargarda nodded and undid Yvona’s chain. He handed the key to
Ekogaru.
“Now that your arms are free, strip,” snapped Ekogaru. “You are to
go utterly naked except for the chain for the ceremony.”
“In front of these witnesses?”
“Yes,” said Ekogaru. “Strip.”
Yvona slowly undid the string that tied on her ragged sackcloth
dress and she took it off and almost involuntarily cast down her eyes as she
stood almost totally naked in front of Ekogaru and his minions.. Then, she
untied the rough cord bows that held on her sandals, tossed them aside, and
gasped as she stood barefoot on the hot salt flat.
Ekogaru smiled evilly as he lewdly stroked the slender yet
muscular youngish clone of Yvona from her chin down to her crotch. Then, he
grabbed the manacle and key that had been around Vargarda’s wrist and said,
“Now, I will read you your vows and you will recite your answers. Before these
witnesses, do you swear to love, honor, and cherish me?”
“I do,” said Yvona.
“Do you swear to honor, obey, and worship me?”
“I do,” said Yvona.
“Do you swear to worship me and follow me and obey my directives,
forsaking all others?”
“I do,” said Yvona.
“Do you swear to bear my child?”
“I do.”
“And to put it to your breast and raise it?”
“I do.”
“Good,” said Ekogaru. “Now, ask me.”
“Very..well,” said Yvona. “Lordship, do you swear to love, honor,
and cherish me?”
“Yes, when I feel like
it,” hissed Ekogaru.
Yvona looked around and almost backed away from her Lord’s malice
for a moment before she felt Miosha’s dagger pricking one of her bare buttocks
and drawing blood.
“Lord, do you swear to honor, obey, and worship me?”
“I will honor you as best I can, being a god,” snapped Ekogaru. “I
will never worship you since you are beneath me, and you are to obey me, not
the other way around. IS THAT UNDERSTOOD???” he screamed in her face.
Yvona sobbed at this and weak tears ran down her face. Somehow,
this clone thought that Ekogaru loved her and that he would give her the
respect and honor that Hiram Josiah had given her forebear on the wedding day
she still bore in memory.
But, no, thought
Yvona in horror. Instead of a church, we
are being married in
“By the power vested in me as the War god of Rikasha,” hissed
Ekogaru as he locked the manacle around his wrist and then dragged Yvona
roughly to her knees. “I prounounce you, wench, my wife. Watch, mine witnesses,
as I kiss my bride.”
Ekogaru then grinned evilly and kissed her like a madman. And
then, Yvona began to scream, while he kissed her and then took her while the
others grinned like sin-sick devils and applauded, she realized that Ekogaru’s
nuptial kiss was making her lips and mouth bleed…and as the jackals screamed a
sudden sick, cold rain fell, Yvona was screaming along with them as the sins of
Sodom and Gomorrah were again manifested on this warped, cold wedding night in
Hell.
Later, that night, in the cold, Yvona was still strripped. “Lord?”
said Yvona in a voice like a mouse as all of them sat together watching her
later on. She knew she had to be careful with Ekogaru, since he had beaten her
a few more times during this very unromantic wedding night. “When will I get
clothes again?”
All three of them laughed. “I have decided that since I know you
are pregnant with my child, it will be a while.”
“Will we be together?”
“No. You will be returned to the planet R’Khelleva and kept in
seclusion in the
And, at that, Ekogaru laughed while Yvona wept bitter tears of
humiliation and rage.
TO
BE CONTINUED…
To Return to
the Introduction to The New Comet, click here