ALTERNATE
TALES OF THE STAR FORCE
STAR BLAZERS---IT NEVER RAINS IN
A Postscript to THE
NEW COMET--- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz
This Story is being completed with the
Cooperation and Assistance of Derek A.C. Wakefield (as usual)---Freddo
Thanks to AMI MEITSU, GAIL KOPETZ, and
PART NINE: CHANGES (OF
ALL SORTS)
I. ALISCEA’S MEDITATIONS
Planet Earth
The Rosstowski Residence
Monday, April 11, 2208
0600 Hours Local Time
In the morning,
Aliscea Rosstowski sat on a cushion, wearing only a light black robe, as she
sat in her study in her home meditating.
I’ve been getting all sorts of weird feelings lately, she thought. I know
HE has been active agaiin, but where? Paul is in the living room reading.
Before I bother him, I’d better have a better idea what I have experienced
feelings about….
Aliscea shut her
eyes, and she gasped as she saw in a vision the Spectre of the Dark Lord
killing someone on what looked like an amusement park ride! Then, Aliscea saw a
burning figure all in white like some angel confronting him. The hair was long
on the figure, but it was so suffused with Light that Aliscea did not recognize
who he or she was-or even the figure’s gender.
Aliscea heard yelling,
and she saw Kazuo Foxworth-Savela confronting the Dark One, throwing something
and making him fade away as Nova and Derek appeared from nowhere to hug
Katrina.
The odd thing about
Katrina, she felt and perceived, was that there was something like a spiritual
fog around her that kept her an enigma to her. Who put that fog around her? Aliscea thought. The fog is keeping me from perceiving her. I do sense, though, that
Katrina is not her true name, and her face is not her true face. Who is this
girl?
Then, Aliscea beheld
a laughing girl with golden hair, and then, she beheld herself naked with a
large stomach, and, suddenly as the images juxtaposed, Aliscea realized that
she was looking at her future child. Her daughter. A Voice spoke from within
her, deep from within the Pellian Matrix, and the strange male/female Voice
said to her, “Behold your child, Aliscea. The child you and Paul will soon
have.”
“Will the Matrix pass
to her?” whispered Aliscea.
“No,” said the Voice.
The Voice was suddenly turning more Female as it said, “The Matrix is Pellian,
but it did not originate with us. We originated with our ancient forebears, and
the circle must be completed before the Matrix will be Pellian again. Your
granddaughter will receive the Matrix, since your Daughter is not ready, since
she does not even exist yet, and never shall be ready to bear the Burden. The
Burden must pass to another…before you die…”
“…Die?” whispered
Aliscea.
The Matrix said, “You
will pass on someday as a casualty of the War with Ekogaru. You will give your
life in fighting him. I foresee another woman very close to you will do the
same; you shall take your last breaths within minutes of each other, someday.”
“Oh, my God,”
whispered Aliscea as she began to sob. “How do I pass it on if I die?”
“You shall pass it on
to Another at the moment of Death. He will in turn pass the Matrix on to your
successor….your successor….she who shall pass into the Shadows with you, but it
will be given unto her to walk a strange, hard path. Her fate was written
before she was even born. It was given to her to pass from this life and to
die, and yet, to awaken, rise from death as a member of the Star Force once
did…and it is given to her to live on again, for nearly eighty more years after
the day of her Passing, and to actually bear a child after she completes her
Task.”
“That Task is?”
sobbed Aliscea.
“You are known
spiritually to Us the Black Dagger of
Pellias. Your successor, when she rises again blazing and reborn with the Power
Perfected, will be known spiritually as the White
Orchid. You are the fire that destroys. She is the fire that heals, burns
out evil, and redeems. It is given unto you to wound Ekogaru, we now tell you.
It is given to the White Orchid to bear the Burden and to destroy him at last,
with help from others. Then, she shall pass on the Burden to your daughter’s
daughter.”
“Who is she?” said
Aliscea as tears ran down her face. “Does she…the White Orchid, that is… live
now? Or is she yet unborn like my daughter?”
“She exists now her
deepest secrets hidden even unto herself, but she is now not as she will be
then. Behold this!”
Then, Aliscea saw a
strange vision. A tall figure with long blond hair who was in a gown that
looked to her just like that of Queen Starsha of Iscandar…except that she was
not in blue… but was clad in pure, virginal white. Her face was obscured by a
strange Light coming from it, but Aliscea could see she was blonde. For a
passing moment, Aliscea was very close to beholding who this enigma from the
future who would succeed her would be…but then, the Vision was taken from her
and all went dark.
Then, Aliscea came to
her own conclusion. “Trelaina,” she whispered. “It is she who will bear the
Burden after me. She will live again, walk this universe again, and walk the
Earth to be with Venture someday. Trelaina is the White Orchid. Yes…it has be
her. It is the only thing that will make any sense. But do I tell Paul? Do I
tell Mark Venture? What do I say?” said Aliscea to herself, for the Matrix was
apparently confirming to her that Trelaina would live again and would actually
walk the Earth and be with Mark someday, but as a living woman, and not a
spirit or enigma. “But why is this hidden from me? Why can’t I see this more
clearly? I HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW?” she
sobbed. “Especially since this seems to confirm that I will die fighting
him…but when? How? And can I change this vision? How do I change it?” she wept.
From the spirit
realm, Trelaina looked down at Aliscea with sadness and compassion, shaking her
head as she whispered to herself, “Aliscea…poor woman…if only I could tell you
how it is destined to happen, and when
it is destined to happen. For I already know, and I have already foreseen it,
and even have an idea where Ekogaru will finally die….St. Luke’s Cathedral, on
Earth, someday, when the beautiful Cathedral is in ruins…” Trelaina again shook
her head and sighed, thinking of Venture. “Mark, my dear, dear Mark,” she thought as she saw him waking up in the morning
beside Holly and cuddling her nude body in bed. “I love you so much. It is a
pity that you will have to suffer so much before you and I can finally be
together…and it is a shame that Holly must also die…at about the same time the
White Orchid is revealed…and what a day that will be…it will be both the
happiest and the saddest day of my life…when my life begins again…”
Then, Trelaina went
quiet.
“Who wants more
pancakes?!?” called out Nova in her kitchen at about the same time that morning.
She was up making breakfast for everyone, with the help of Ms. Eloise and her
mother, for everyone from the previous strange day had stayed over at the
Wildstar house.
“I do, I do, I do, I do!” sang little Aurora Forrester as
she stood near her big sister wearing a cute sleepshirt with butterflies on it.
Nova, pretty in a pink yukata, smiled
at her sister, kissed her on the forehead, and said, “Here ya go! Just made
three more for you.” Nova then looked at her household robot and said, “Ms.
Eloise, would you please make up some more batter?”
The female robot
bowed towards her mistress and said, “Yes, Nova. I’ll get right on it, as you
humans say.”
Not far away, Nova
pivoted on her toes and watched little Alex in his high chair. He was wearing a
blue onesie and bare legs, and he was grabbing pieces of his pancakes, eating
some of them, but getting other bits into his hair. Nova ran over with barefoot
grace to clean her baby’s face off, and she smiled at him and began feeding him
apple sauce. Right next to him, in the other high chair, Ariel was making
screaming giggly noises as her father fed her some kren from a small jar.
Derek, in a black and
white yukata himself, looked at Nova framed in the light from the window and
smiled at her, saying, “You know, you look like a space goddess this morning?”
“Yeah, a so--called
goddess being decorated with pancakes and baby drool! I wonder if Starsha ever
deals with these problems?” she giggled as Alex drooled some food onto her
hand. She cleaned him up, and smiled as she fed him more apple sauce. Then,
when she was done, Nova picked up her spatula and said, “If I ever, in God’s
wisdom, somehow become some floating hyperdimensional space chick in a blue or
white gown floating amongst the cosmos, I want to make some changes. Number
one: pancakes and sausage will no longer be fattening! Are we clear on that?”
“Number two,” said
Katrina from the table as she sat there in a light pink nightie Nova found for
her in a closet…”you will ban nightmares!” Katrina then yawned and rubbed at
the circles under her eyes.
“You didn’t sleep
well?” Nova said as she came over to her. “I’m so sorry. What happened?”
“Nightmares about our
mutual friend,” she said in a
sarcastic, sleep-filled voice. “You are all perky like chipmunk, chattering
away with robot….while I…I am barely on my feet. In your stupid, girly pink
nightgown!” Katrina felt like crying every time she looked at herself in the
nightgown. It was floor-length (only her toes showed at the hem of the nightie)
but it was pink, and it was very light (but not quite see-through) fit snugly
and had a frilly collar on it that set off her cleavage (to Katrina, it made
“half her chest naked”) and it looked like the blue nightgown Nova had been
dressed in for her probable burial on the way home to Earth in 2200 after being
overcome by radioactive sleeping gas. Nova had dressed her in it last night
while herself dressed in a nightgown that was translucent and covered even less
of her body. Katrina thought this gown was suitable for Foxy, maybe…to see her
in but no one else. She was embarassed at the fact that it was all she wore at the moment.
“First, pink’s my
favorite color, Katrina. Second, I had some bad dreams about him, too,” Nova said
softly as she stroked Katrina’s hair while she knelt down by her to stroke her
cheek. “Derek held me when I woke up crying. I’m only as active as I am due to
the coffee. I’d call in sick today…”
“Work’s cancelled for
you, that’s the good news,” Derek said. “The bad news, though, is we have to
see the Earth Defense Council. Remember that call I got a few minutes ago?
We’re supposed to be there by 0900.” Then, Derek looked at Foxy, who sat there
wearing a set of his own old striped pajamas. “The bad news, Kazuo…Katrina, is
that you are both wanted there with
us. Luckily, Nova and I both have spare outfits that will fit you. I’m going
there in my uniform, while Nova is wearing one of her civilian outfits. They
will also have the new head of the Cometine Interests Mission there, a Cometine
General named..I don’t know…Kyler, Gyler, Shmyler…can’t get my tongue around
some of these Cometine names…sorry…”
“Gaeler; Purvis
Gaeler,” said Katrina as she corrected him. “He’s been negotiating a Draft
Understanding with Pellias; that’s how I know of him,” she said, hiding the
fact that she knew Gaeler from years beforehand when she had been on the Comet
with her father and had left with Radnar when he had been banished. “He is an
all right-enough sort of man. I understand that they have some activity going
on in what you call Forrester’s Nebula?”
“Yes, the star
cluster I discovered in 2199,” said Nova as she yawned. “They don’t know if it
is a part of our Galaxy or not. It’s sixty thousand lightyears away from here.”
Derek smiled as he
looked at Nova. “The smear you discovered on your scanners that night ended up
being classified as a nebula; now it is a star cluster. Next, they might
re-classify it as a mini galaxy. And, imagine, it’s all yours,” Derek said with
a grin.
“Yeah, right,” Nova
replied. “And it’s a mess. The systems there, I understand, are being claimed
by everyone and their uncle…right?”
“Yeah, kind of,” said
Derek.
Katrina cursed her
appearance again…being in pink…pink…while
she wondered, I wonder what sort of
clothes Nova will be loaning me? I swear, that if they are too girly or
tacky….and I wonder what the Defense Council wants of me? This scares me. I
hope no one accuses me there or has learned who I am yet…
Later, it turned out
that the outfit Nova loaned Katrina was actually rather nice and even suited her tastes.
Katrina found that
Nova had a good-sized walk-in closet in the bedroom she shared with Derek that
was lined with cedar. In that closet were clothes and uniforms; Nova’s on one side,
and Derek’s on the other. Katrina found that Nova had a good-sized shoe rack
filled with a good amount of pumps in different colors and styles mostly simple
and classic, along with boots for her uniforms and civilian wear, strange
lace-up shoes that Katrina didn’t quite recognize at first (not being all that
familiar with what sneakers, running shoes, and even soccer and softball cleats
were) and, of course, given the warm weather, plenty of sandals of all types.
Derek had popped into
the closet while Katrina was in there (Nova herself was in the shower; her
romantic singing could be heard dimly over the running water in the adjoining
bathroom) and he said, “Having trouble?”
“I thought she vas poorer than dis! How many pairs of shoes
does she have?”
“I lost count around
fifty pairs,” said Derek as he smiled at Nova and her shopping trips. “She has
others in the regular shoe closet downstairs with the house slippers-usually
what she thinks she will be wearing out that day. She’s a little like a hippie
or bohemian in warm weather, though-almost always barefoot until she leaves the
house, sometimes still barefoot afterwards, especially when she rides her bike,
when she puts her shoes in her basket on that thing. Worries the hell out of
me, but she never seems to mind. Did I ever tell you she’s loaded?”
“Drunk? She is
drunk?”
Derek rolled up his
eyes and smiled. “Katrina, ‘loaded’ is a term that means ‘wealthy’. Nova comes
from a fairly wealthy family sitting on old money, as they call it. If she had
grown up Pellian, Gamilon, or Cometine, she would probably have been some kind
of Princess or Duchess. Her family’s sort of strange, especially on her
mother’s side. Her mother’s family name was “DuFresne”, French for…something.
On her Mom’s side, she’s Japanese-British-French, and on her Dad’s side, she’s
Japanese-American. Her mother was originally named Teresa Victoria Yuki
DuFresne, and Teri‘s sisters were Louise, now Louise Chernak, the eldest, and
Yvona, the late Yvona Josiah, the middle girl. Teri is the youngest girl, and
she has a brother named Hamilton DuFresne, who is the youngest child. On her
Dad’s side of the family, her father Karl Forrester is the second-oldest, and
he has two brothers, named Arlen and Antonio, and a sister named Kumiko. Kumiko
is very traditionally Japanese and actually owns a noodle house and does
business under the Japanese version of the family name, which is “Mori”. Sorry I’m going on about this…,” Derek said,
a little uncomfortable about sitting in his cedar closet with a strange woman
while she tried to pick out shoes and a suit. He hoped Nova would get out of
the bathroom soon.
A minute later, he
got his wish as Nova ran in, clad in only a towel around her body and a smaller
one around her head to soak up the water from her hair. She kissed him and
said, “Entertaining people in the closet, Derek?”
“She was looking at
your shoe collection and looked surprised by the size of it. That and your
clothes.”
Nova yawned as she casually
pulled off her towels and put them in the hamper. “I need more coffee,
hon…sorry. I’ll be easy to dress…” Nova said as she quickly clothed her
nakedness in one step by stepping into a pink romper she grabbed off a hangar.
Katrina noticed that it looked like a simple jumpsuit with short sleeves and
short hot pants. Nova looked at herself in the mirror topless while putting on
a necklace with a cross on it and then put on some bracelets, and she said,
“Derek, do you think I show that much in these if I don’t wear anything under
it? I want to be as cool as possible. ”
Derek felt the
material. “It’s midway between heavy and light…you could probably go without
for the kids as long as you zip it up a decent interval.”
“I intend to do so,” Nova said with her
nose up in the air a little as she zipped her outfit shut and then put an ankle
bracelet around one of her bare ankles. Then, she said, “My sunglasses and
sandals are downstairs. I’ll grab them on the way out. As for you, dear…I’m
sorry…out, out, out! Ladies only in here now!” Nova said teasingly
as she kissed Derek and then pushed him out.
“Okay, okay,” laughed
Derek. “I know, Katrina..I do not need to see Nova dressing you.”
“You do not need to
see me in nightgown!” she snapped as
Derek left. “Nova, why you have chest half-bare in this?”
“It is called
‘cleavage’” Nova said. “It’s intended to show off your breasts and make them
look attractive.”
“Oh,” said Katrina.
Katrina shyly took off her borrowed nightgown and stood naked while Nova got
some underwear for her from a drawer; a black, lacy bra and panties of a sort
that Katrina guessed Nova might never have owned. After she got those on, Nova
handed her a white blouse and dark blue Capri pants. A pair of dark blue
platform sandals finished the ensemble as Katrina looked down at herself and
smiled, thinking, Nova, dear you do have
the good taste!
“Like the outfit I
picked out for you?” Nova said.
“I love it,” replied
Katrina. “Very nice.”
“Thank you,” Nova
said. She led Katrina out and asked,’ How does she look?”
“Looks good,” said
Derek, who was putting the finishing touches on his EDF blues and peacoat.
“You have fine
taste,” said Foxy, who had gotten dressed in suit pants, a shirt, and a tie
belonging to Derek. Nova looked at the knot on the tie and rolled up her eyes
as she said, “Derek…Kazuo! Don’t either of
you know how to get a tie tied right? C’mon, Foxy…let me get you fixed up,”
Nova sighed as she pulled Foxy over and undid and retied his necktie.
“Now you look good,”
said Katrina.
“How are we going
over?” said Derek.
“We have our car,”
said Foxy. “Yours is kind of tight, so we’ll follow you.”
“Who’s driving?”
Derek said.
“Let’s flip for it,”
Nova replied as she grabbed a coin. “Derek, heads or tails?”
“Heads,” called out
Derek while the coin was in the air. Nova got it and slapped it down. “Heads it
is,” she sighed. She smiled at Derek and said, “Please don’t get us lost this
time? We have to be there in 90 minutes”
“I know the way to
Headquarters from here! Don’t be silly, Nova!” Derek snapped back.
“Shall I bring the
kids to Heroes’ Hill later after I take Jonathan to school?” said Teri. “What
time are you getting started there?”
“Well, we can meet up
at home, since the memorial won’t be until around eight tonight…we always do it
around sunset,” Nova said while stepping into her backless sandals in the
foyer. She looked out the window and said, “Mom, have some rain hats ready for
them? It might be raining on and off today since it looks sort of cloudy.”
“I will…see you later,”
said Teri. Nova kissed Jonathan, Alex and Ariel goodbye, and she and Derek left
with Foxy and Katrina.
II. A TRIP DOWNTOWN
Planet Earth
The
Monday, April 11, 2208
0817 Hours Local Time
On the drive over, Nova and Derek talked about a lot of
things as a contemporary cover version of John Lennon’s I’m Losing You played on their car’s sound system. Derek noticed
Nova tapping her foot along with the beat as they drove on.
“Your mom and dad
don’t seem all that talkative this morning,” Derek said.
Nova sighed and
replied, “Derek, I hoped you wouldn’t notice, but my Mom and Dad’s marriage is
going through some strain right now. Dad has to be away on business a lot with all
of the international settlements his law firm has been doing, and Mother
resents his going around the world again and leaving her with the kids for days
at a time, sometimes at their apartment here in the Megalopolis, sometimes back
in the house in Boulder, and sometimes in the condo in San Diego, where they’re
renting a townhouse at the Rio Amarillo complex with the rest of us.”
“She’s really getting
upset at him?” Derek said.
Nova nodded. “One
time, when I got up to go to the bathroom last night…I could hear them fighting
out in the living room through the walls. Derek, and they were so mad they were
even talking about separating at one point.”
“So, your dad is the
so-called bad guy because your mother resents his career? He doesn’t sound like
me. I don’t resent your career.”
“Yes, Derek. But
mother has her own share of this, too. She’s sometimes curt to my brother and
sister, and Dad told me some nights she goes out to various bars and jazz
clubs. Alone. Dad is usually not invited.”
Derek whistled.
“Sounds like trouble in
“Well, I’ve been
pretty upset at you a few times, Derek…but never that mad,” Nova said. “I believe in you. That’s why.”
“And I believe in
you, too,” Derek replied. “Therein lies the difference. We’re not putting each
other down all the time….like Dawn and Jeff are…sure, sometimes we get at it
pretty good. We’ve had some pretty good arguments in our marriage, Nova. But we
always make up, right?”
Nova nodded her head
at that. “Right! Derek, Dawn’s due date is about fifteen to twenty days away
now, I really hope Dawn accepts the fact that she’s going to be a mother.”
Then, Nova paused and said, “I think she sort of is. She agreed to a photo
session with her mother Lynn next week at the place in
Derek nodded. “We
will be. Nova…are you serious about what you talked about the other day about
the place in
“Derek, we’re in and
out of there so much, we might as well own it,” Nova said. “I’m growing sort of
attached to the place. I’d like to do some remodeling and repainting that we
can’t do under the current lease we have with
“Two pregnant women
in the same place, especially those
two pregnant women?” laughed Derek. “Nova, what’s Sasha’s due date again?”
“Around the same time
as Dawn’s; end of the month. Derek, they’d better not go into labor together.
Doctor Sane and I are not prepared for that! I…I remember something, Derek.”
“What?”
“A prophecy of Queen
Starsha’s made on the night Deke and Sasha got married on April 28, 2207. Remember
when Starsha talked to us in the President’s office the night they got
married?”
Derek
remembered that night as Queen Starsha’s words ran through his head again about
that night, almost a year ago now….
“Good.
The future is not clear,” said Starsha. “But, one possible path of the future I
see…I see our child a year from tonight, on a bed, naked, pregnant as you are,
Nova, about to deliver Deke Wakefield his child. Now it makes more sense to me.
Please let them consumate their marriage tonight, as well.”
“Starsha said ‘a year
from tonight’ on the 28th of April of 2207. The 28th of
April is coming mighty fast, Nova.”
“Oh, dear,” Nova
said. “Well, that would about be Sasha’s time…and she has an ability that she
tells very few people about. She has enough control over her own body that she
can make herself go into labor with a mere thought. Her mother had to do that
when she herself was born, and Sasha thinks she may have to do that if worst
comes to worst.” Then, Nova paused, and said, “Derek..I’ve been having some
weird dreams myself lately, too.”
“About what?”
Nova sighed. “There
is this recurring dream that I have just gotten news that my father has died. It’s a few years down the road; Alex and Ariel are much
older, and so are some other children we’re going to have who are not clear to
me in the dream. The problem being that my Dad died in some kind of…terror
attack…upon Earth. Along with most of the Prime Minister’s
Cabinet. There’s a new President and Prime Minister in that dream; one
person, serving in both offices…at the same time…and that person is facing a
very heavy burden…because Earth is being invaded…at the same time….”
“That could never
happen, Nova!” Derek said. “Could it?”
“It could…if
Parliament somehow ceased to function…or something,” Nova said, seeming somehow
reluctant all of a sudden to discuss her dream. “Anyway, in this crazy
dream…the President/Prime Minister is standing in….ohh….this makes no sense! I
want to be a doctor, for God’s sakes…in that dream…,” Nova said, nauseated by
what she had dreamed, she broke (for once) her agreement not to keep any
secrets from Derek and she said (hiding the full details of what she had
dreamed), “In this dream…I’m…I’m in politics, and that’s all I’ll say right
now…But why? Why am I dreaming this crazy stuff? Is it a curse? And how much of
it ever comes true?”
Derek looked at her
with deep compassion. “Nova, I don’t know. I….”
“You hope it never
happens? You hope I never go that route?””
Derek nodded.
“Yeah…I’m trying to say it in a way that won’t offend you…I know how you get
when I talk about putting your career on hold to have more kids…or just to
rest, and…maybe you should rest? Maybe you’re taking on too much? I’m sorry,
but I’m getting worried, Nova, about your stress level…about your health….maybe
you should just take a long vacation and just be home with the kids?”
“It’ll never happen,” Nova snapped.
“I’ll welcome children….the ones I have, and maybe more….but…I’m not putting my
life on hold for that..especially because I waited so
long for you years ago….I refuse to be just a bored, desperate housewife…doing
nothing at all…for you, or for anyone else!” At that, she made a fist and
slammed it against the top of the dashboard to make her point. “Medical school
will not be on hold for me and you have no veto power over me, my life story,
or my career!!! Absolutely none! ARE
WE UNDERSTOOD?”
“Sorry,” said Derek as he remembered the ghost of an old argument
they had revisited several times over. “Is what you’re saying…?”
“Derek, someday,
maybe….I might want to get into politics…maybe. But….never serving in
Government House,” Nova said, referring to the 23rd Century Earth’s
version of the White House. “Being in Government House near the
President…it…ages you prematurely. I don’t want to die when I’m just sixty,
Derek…all worn out and tired like the forner Prime Minister Pennington recently
did.”
“Me neither,” Derek
said. “Me neither.”
At that, they drove
on in silence….
Finally, when they
got to Earth Defense Headquarters, Derek had had to turn on his windsheield
wipers on the Mustang, because it was beginning to drizzle.
The drizzle turned
into a steady rain just before they approached the side street that led to the
tubeway that went into the vast parking garage for Earth Defense Headquarters.
After parking the car and gallantly helping Nova out, Derek looked at Nova and
said, “We have about two blocks to walk. Have a hat? I’ve got my cover,” he
said as he put on his Captain’s hat.
Nova nodded. “It’s in
the trunk.” She walked around to the back of the car and got out her slightly
battered Colorado Rockies baseball cap in dark blue. “Doesn’t match my outfit,
but it’s better than getting wet,” she said. Derek nodded and said, “Your poor
bare legs are going to be very wet; it’s coming down good.”
Nova rolled up her
eyes. “I’ll survive, Derek. Getting
my legs wet isn’t the greatest tragedy in the world.”
A moment later, Katrina
and Foxy’s black sports car rolled up. Foxy got out through one of the gullwing
doors and helped Katrina out. She heard some thunder outside and shivered
involuntarily. Foxy asked her, “Are you all right?”
“I don’t like
thunder,” she whispered. “Reminds me too much of explosions in battle, such
as…”
Nova looked out as
another thunderclap hit and whistled. “That one hit the edge of
A moment later, after
going down an elevator, the four of them got out of a lift and headed into the
storm’s teeth. Derek ran along, holding Nova’s hand as puddles and water
splashed her bare legs and sandaled feet. She shivered a little as her thin
shorts set was plastered against her body in the rain and wind. Looking behind
her, he saw Foxy dragging Katrina along; she also looked miserable.
They got into Earth
Defense Headquarters about three minutes later after running across the square
in front of the building. In the lobby, they were stopped by the usual enlisted
guards, who said, “Do your guests have ID or clearance, sir…ma’am…?” Katrina
breathed a sigh of relief, glad that the guards obviously recognized the
Wildstars.
“They’re with us,”
said Derek as he took off his cover and shook his head to get the rain out of
his long hair before he and Nova passed through the metal detector and
short-ratio wave scanner. They both walked along carefully, aware that the
scanners were “stripping” them down to their skin for weapons; a technology
first developed during the days of the War on Terror back in the early 21st
Century. Of course, Derek, with his military-issue sidearm, was just waved
past. Nova, of course, had no weapons, having only the small bag she wore on
her belt and the material inside, along with her thin clothes, sandals, and
baseball cap. Foxy had on only his suit and shoes, and Katrina had on her
borrowed garments. They were trying to keep Katrina engaged in conversation so
that Katrina would not notice that her body was appearing blurred but nude on
the scanners at the guard posts.
Derek and Nova paused
while they stated Katrina and Foxy’s puposes for being there today (they had
been summoned by the Defense Council) and then they were given the appropriate
passes after their ID cards were checked and their retinas scanned. Then, they
were allowed to cross the huge lobby and go up in the lift to the proper floor.
Once they were there,
Nova said, “Derek, Foxy, if you will excuse us…Katrina and I need to go powder
our noses before the meeting.”
“No problem,” said
Derek. “We’ll be waiting in the coffee shop on this floor. Black for you
today?”
Nova nodded, “A
little artificial sweetener, and make it strong enough to melt the spoon. I
think this weird heat is making me drowsy…and I don’t think this rain is going
to do much to cool down things,” as she thought, I hope this is not coming across as too terrible, but, once we get
the first chance today, after that ceremony…if the rain stops and if it gets
above a hundred again today…these clothes are coming right off me and I am
going in the ocean regardless of whether I can borrow any swimwear from a
girlfriend or not. I need a swim so badly that it is driving me mad. The
water’s so nice this time of year. And why is it so hot? What is accounting for
this global warming cycle? It is getting worse!
“What are you
thinking about?” Katrina said as they went into the Ladies’ Room together.
“The weather,” Nova
sighed. “This meeting. Everything.”
“I do not see you
putting powder on your nose,” Katrina said as Nova began to walk towards a
stall.
Nova just laughed.
“What you just heard me tell Derek was a classic female eumphemism for “I have
to go relieve my bodily urges”,” Nova said. As she went into the stall and
closed it, Katrina heard her zipper opening and heard the sound of her belt
being rustled open. There was a slight rustle of cloth as Nova lowered her
garment, sat down, and said, “Now, guys, you see…it’s socially acceptable for
them to be a little crude and say…’I
gotta take a leak….’ or…’I gotta go
take a dump so bad…’ Right? But it’s not nice for girls to say such
things,” Nova said as Katrina then heard exactly
what she was doing…and blushed…(even though she had heard Nova doing the same
thing before in the bedpan in the hospital room they shared when they had been
in the hospital together!)
These women’s rooms are like locker rooms or something, Katrina thought as she was deliberating whether to hold off
or not when another female officer, in greens, came in and said, “Are you gonna
stand around all day or can I have one of these four damn stalls?”
“Uh….take this one,”
said Katrina weakly as she heard Nova softly singing “Besame Mucho” in her stall before the toilet was flushed. The other
officer banged on the side of Nova’s stall and yelled, “What are you doin’ in
there, missy?”
“That’s Lieutenant
Commander to you, Sergeant Bruckner!” Nova laughed. “Did you get caught in the
rain?”
“”Yeah, ma’am…and my
stockings are soaked!”
“Where did you get
stockings from?” Nova said. “Last time I tried to get a new pair, they only had
black and black fishnets. Darn stocking and underwear rationing!”
“These are old,” said
Bruckner. “They have runs.”
“Do you have a decent
set of panties on?” Nova said while Katrina finally gave up and went into the
stall.
“Yeah…”
“Take them off then,”
Nova said. Nova looked down through the stall at Bruckner’s dark green pumps as
she got up. “And get yourself something more summery at the PX on the 15th
Floor if you can manage it. The new optional issue’s actually open toe and open
heel. They’re cute! They decided to import the Israeli issue ones throughout
the whole Ground Fleet Support Staff Division.”
“Sounds nice. Why are you wearing pink things?”
“I’m in mufti,” Nova said. “We’re going to Heroes’ Hill later on tonight.” Nova
came out of the stall and said, “Katrina, are you okay?”
“Yes. Why all this
noise and talking in bathroom?”
“There always is,”
Nova said as she washed her hands. Then, she went over to the Execelerator hand
dryer, put her hands under, dried them (while watching the blast ripple her
skin) and then, she balanced on the ball of one foot as she did a slight high
kick, like a ballet dancer at the barre, and raised her sandaled foot up to the
blaster, sighing as it dried her exposed toes off. Nova then did the same with
the other foot as an older female Captain came in, and said, “Are you with the
tour, miss?”
“No, ma’am,” Nova
said, her voice recognizable as soon as she spoke.
“They sure teach you
some odd things in the Star Force, don’t they, Wildstar?”
“Learned this on my
own,” Nova said with a shrug. “Better living through technology, ma’am…why
should I be walking around with wet, almost bare feet?”
Techno-geek,
thought the Captain to herself as Nova waited for Katrina to stop acting like a
Princess and get done.
Of course, had Nova
known she really was a Princess….
Later on, over coffee, Nova looked at Derek and said, “There
is an incredibly large contingent of people out there who think we are all
weird in the Star Force, Derek. Discuss.”
“Well…I’ve been
resisting this guy’s request to join the Lodge. Freemasons. Forgot the Lodge
Number.”
“Why is that?” Nova
said. “Afraid of the Entered Apprentice Ritual, silly?”
“How would you know that?” asked Foxy.
“I read up on all
sorts of stuff,” Nova said. “Just finished this book on Ben Franklin and
Freemasonry. Dad’s one of them. Still sort of active.”
“What’s the big
secret?” Derek asked.
“Can’t tell you,”
Nova said. “It’d ruin it for you….and I can’t come into the Lodge with you for
this guy stuff…unless it’s a unisex Lodge? Yes, there are military unisex
Lodges out there….not sure how many,” Nova said as she stirred her coffee.
“Nosy cowan and eavesdropper,”
snorted Kazuo. “Nova, you know that people who stick their noses in things can
get them cut off?”
“Be quiet and drink
your tea, Foxy!” Nova snapped.
“I would not really
cut off your nose,” he said.
“You’d better not think
of it…or I’ll kill you!” snapped Derek.
“Yeah?” said Foxy as
he got up. “Listen, Wildstar, you may be some big damn HE-RO, but I’m rich! I
know a thousand ways to kill a man by looking at them!”
“Yeah?” snarled
Derek. “Then how come I’m still alive?”
“It’s an illusion,”
said Foxy. “You’re really dead and Nova here is now a widow. Which means I can
have her come home with us and jump in the sack with Katrina and I…”
“Are you mad?” snapped Katrina. “That is
ridiculous!”
“I think it’s just
too much coffee,” Nova said. “He always gets like this on too much coffee,”
Nova said in a blasé voice.
Foxy took a deep
breath. “I’m sorry. I take it all back. Now, that that is over with, why are we here again?”
“To meet with the
Earth Defense Council, you idiot!” snapped Derek.
“Derek, let him
alone,” Nova said. “He’s already apologized.”
“I think this is
tuning out to be horrible day,” said Katrina.
“You’re telling me,”
said Derek. “We’re all on edge…”
III. EARTH’S “BEST AND BRIGHTEST?”
Planet Earth
The
Earth Defense Headquarters
Meeting Room of the Earth Defense Council
Monday, April 11, 2208
1122 Hours Local Time
“Commodore
Wildstar….you’re telling us…” said one of the more skeptical members of the Earth
Defense Council, Defense Minister Neil Ainsley, “That Ekogaru’s ghost just
killed someone the other day on an amusement park ride? Now you’re telling us
jokes. What about the guy from
“He did, and it was
no joke,” snapped Wildstar. Looking at Nova, (who had just been surprised with
a promotion from Lieutenant Commander to full Commander by Commanding General
Singleton right before the meeting), he said, “Commander Wildstar made sure
that police reports ended up in your briefing extract. We have proof that young
man was strangled…”
“By an invisible
force no one can see?” sneered Ainsley. “Okay, my guess is that your Star Force
hooligans must be bored, must want some action, and must want to go out again?
So now you’re making up stuff to justify your budget for the next fiscal year?”
“Wrong,” said Sandor.
“Even if we wanted to go out again right now, the Argo could not do so. She’s grounded due to computer issues with
the warp system.” He looked at Nova. “Commander Wildstar, would you mind
telling them what happened?”
Nova stood and gave a
capsule description of the bizarre events of the Argo’s last space warp on her trip home. Some of the less
respectful members of the Council chuckled as Nova recited her tale, while
other, more thoughtful members, listened to her words carefully.
When Nova finished, Daniel Margolis, the attache’ to the
Federation Parliament Assembly. said to her, “You ever find your uniform yet,
ma’am?”
Nova
blushed and said, “As a matter of fact, sir, I did. Derek and I found the entire Star Force uniform that came off
of me in the warp in our attic this
morning. Complete with my sidearm. We also have evidence, sir, that the
computer malfunction that caused this may have been deliberate and caused by an
outside force….”
“Listen,
Miss Pretty in Pink!” sneered Margolis, “You don’t want to know what I think of
your crap junk science that…”
Prime
Minister Gonjin, who was chairing the meeting, banged his gavel down hard for
order. “I’m sorry, Commander. Finish your point, please. And I would ask all of
you to bear this woman some respect. She is a highly decorated space sailor and
she is both an effective computer and biological scientist and has just been
promoted. You ignore these young men and women, our best and brightest, at your
peril, gentlemen. Especially since it is my conviction one of them may well be
in my chair someday. Now, Commander Wildstar, go on please…”
“Yessir,”
Nova said. “Some days ago, when that Spectran vessel attacked the ore ship Monongahela and then attacked us, we
picked up evidence that it downloaded something to us when we were speaking to
the enemy commander. It turned out that at that time, it actually uploaded a
type of Trojan Horse program that insinuated itself into our computer through a
backdoor node. In order to stop such attacks, we have to build a new security
firewall that will do an even better job in intercepting these threats than the
security system we programmed last year.”
“How long
wiill the Argo be down in the
“Probably
at least until July or August, sir,” said Sandor. “Mrs. Wildstar and I have to
write, debug, set up and test the new code and then make sure that it actually
works in the ship..”
“Hmmm,” said
the Commander. “Now, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce another
two of our guests. It sounds as if…we may have more problems, then. Problems
even worse than the sort we had earlier this morning…”
“Earlier
this morning?” said Derek.
The Commander
then tapped on his intercom. “I didn’t tell you about the little battle the
Sixth Fleet was involved in this morning. Mrs. Singleton, you can send them in
now.”
“Yessir,”
said Wendy over the intercom.
A moment
later; hubbub filled the room, as Captain Tucker Allen of the North Carolina walked in…followed by a
bearded Cometine General!
“Sir,” said
Captain Allen. “Where shall we sit?”
“There are
free chairs near Commodore Wildstar and Mrs. Savela. You can sit there.”
“Yessir,”
said Allen. “General Gaeler?”
“My
pleasure, Captain,” said the Cometine General in clipped tones.
“Remain standing, please, General,” said Singleton. “Please introduce yourself
and Mrs. Savela to the Council.”
“Yessir,”
said the Cometine. “Ladies, Gentlemen, in your parlance, I am General Purvis
Gaeler of House Gatlantis. General Radnar has assigned me to the Pellian
Interests Section as our envoy to the people of Planet Pellias. As we have no
actual formal diplomatic relations at this time, I would like to propose that
you vote to have any communications necessary over the next few years between
your Federation and the Comet Empire relayed to me through the Pellian
diplomatic corps on your world. I believe this channel of communications is
necessary for managing the Armistice, and also for exchanging intelligence that
may be beneficial to all of our races.”
“With that
said,” said Gaeler. “I have some intelligence pertaining to your recent affairs
with Spectra that I have been asked; by Radnar, and by Leader Desslok of Gamilon,
to share with you. Do you have the communications channel open that I
requested?”
“We do,”
said Singleton tensely.
“Hold on,
why are we listenin’ to the Goddamn enemy?” barked Ainsley. “I mean…a few
months ago, to be blunt, you nasty, ugly dirty green sons-of-bitches were trying to kill us, and..”
The Prime
Minister banged his gavel. “Ainsley, one more outburst like that, and I will
order you removed from this session! My deepest apologies, General Gaeler,”
said Gonjin with a bow. “His attitude does not represent all of us in this
room.”
“He will be
pardoned; once…” said Gaeler. “This I say out of respect for the proven heroes;
those men and women of deep honor of your race who sit in this room with us, rather
than the Political Hacks,” he said as he looked right at Commodore Wildstar,
Sandor, and Nova, and bowed slightly. “The Comet Empire is beginning to realize
that the three of you of the Argo
have earned the freedom of your world, and the right for our Empire to treat
you as equals rather than conquered or slaves. Not all of us feel as some of us
do; we still have men and women who feel about you the same way that Mister Ainsley feels about us. However, I am among the party of men and women in our Empire
who feel we have more in common than in opposition. Especially because we are
beginning to see that we face down common foes.”
“Sir?’ said
Derek. “Has Spectra been…?”
“Yes, son,”
said Gaeler in an almost fatherly tone to Derek. “They’ve been attacking us, as
well. “For several reasons, we hesitate to crush them with our power at the
moment; the greatest being that we both now face a new, common, and far more
insidious threat.”
He inserted
a data cartridge that Earth Defense had scanned and cleared, and an image of
about eighteen large vessels came up on the screen. “Technoumgar Goraizu
Fortresses,” said Sandor in shock and quiet awe. “Eighteen of them. My God.”
“Leading a
whole fleet,” said Gaeler. “They said they came in the name of a…Lord Ekogaru…as
his Scourge…to force us to see the honor of his way. They attacked this…”
Then, the
others were shocked as they saw a blue-white Comet warping into the midst of
the Technomugar Fleet.
“A Comet
ship!” Nova whispered. “General, who’s the commander of that Empire City-Ship?”
“Prince
Tamlaz. He was one of our greatest commanders and conquerors, on a par with the
mighty Zordar himself,” said Gaeler.
“Why do you
speak of him in the past tense?” asked Prime Minister Gonjin.
“You shall
see shortly, sir,” said Gaeler.
The Defense
Council watched as the Technomugar ships turned about and attacked Prince
Tamlaz’s Comet.
The Comet
field was soon blasted off the ship as the Technomugar vessels fired their
Phased Density cannons at the Comet.
Prince
Tamlaz fought back hard, with the belt of his Comet rotating as missile after
missile blasted into the Technomugar Fleet. Some of the enemy ships were
destroyed, but Katrina sat biting her knuckles in horror as the enemy ships
attacked buildings and facilities in that
Nearby,
Nova looked on and whispered, “Katrina…I don’t blame you. I…think this is the
first time I’ve ever felt sorry for Comet Empire forces!”
Katrina
nodded, with tears in her eyes as both Foxy and Nova comforted her and Derek
held Nova’s other hand.
Then, eight
of the enemy vessels fired their ugly, green, lurid Phased Density Cannons into
the heart of this
Derek
leaned on the desk and sat up. “What happened to that sector?”
Gaeler
sighed. “We regained it…only after two more Comets warped in…even then, a lot
of that fleet got away. Needless to say, we consider this to be Lord Ekogaru’s
declaration of war upon the Comet Empire. And since I understand he has
differences with your race, as well…”
“We’re now
on the same side,” said Prime Minister Gonjin quietly. “Does your Emperor…?”
“He does
not want a formal alliance…yet….but he is thinking of it…”
“I make a
motion that we establish that formal diplomatic channel with Gaeler’s race
through Pellias,” said the Prime Minister. “In favor?”
Eleven
members of the Defense Council voted in favor of this move; the others voted
against it.
“The motion
passes,” said the Prime Minister.
Commanding
General Hiram Charles Singleton then looked at Captain Tucker Allen of the
“Yessir,”
he said. “We were on routine patrol outside of the Moon Orbit when we spotted a
fleet of twenty-six vessels. Of these vessels, there were five space
battleships; two of them being R’Khell, and three of them being grey ships of a
new design we had never before spotted. There were also ten vessels that we
identified as heavy cruisers, also of the same design…and they seemed to be
escorting two very large heavies; mission unknown. Finally, there were eight
destroyers.”
Allen
sighed. “They attacked us as soon as they spotted us. They sent us a message
after they began attacking. The message came from a General Balkom; apparently
the commander of their forces. I will have you run the message now…”
A moment later, the image of a very
ugly-looking man with a shock of wild hair over one eye like Jefferson Hardy’s
appeared on the screen. He said, in a rough, nasty, indifferent voice, “In the
name of the Bolar Federation, a mighty space power you have not had the
pleasure of knowing until now, and in the name of the R’Khell Union, whom with
you are now in a state of hositilities along with our new allies in the Crab
Nebula and our holy allies in the
Blackeye Galaxy, we order your surrender at once. Surrender, and we will allow
your Planet Earth to live…”
“What did
you say?” snapped Stone.
“We refused
to surrender, sir…and we ordered them to leave our territorial space. They
responded by attacking us. We were close to outgunned…and definietly outmanned.
Then, they got those heavies into position, and they fired two missiles right
at Earth. One…we intercepted with a lucky shot. The other one blew off
course…heading towards the inner solar system. Then, we did battle with them.
The
“Where did
that other missile go?” said Singleton.
“We tracked it to the Sun afterwards. There was some kind of small explosion on
the solar surface and it vanished. We think it plunged into the Sun, sir. Since
then, we did notice something of an
increase in sunspots. We’re not sure what that means yet, sir…”
“Good
report, Captain,” said the Commander. “You’re dismissed.”
Captain Allen
saluted and left. Then, Singleton turned to Wildstar. “What do you think of
this?”
“I wish,
with all my heart, that the Argo was
not down right now, along with the
“Permission
denied,” said Singleton as he closed his eyes.
“Sir?” said
Derek.
“I don’t
have a spare battleship to assign at this time,” said the Commander. “However,
you, Sandor, and Commander Wildstar are
under orders to get the Argo and
Derek
nodded. “What about that missile and its effect upon the Sun?”
“Unknown at
this time,” said Tucker. “It doesn’t sound good…I know. The global warming’s
gotten worse…weather has gotten hotter and more violent…and all we need now is
more solar energy in the mix…”
Thinking
about it made sweat roll down Nova’s back under her outfit; she tugged a little
at her outfit for a moment; as it was beginning to stick to her in a most
uncomfortable manner. “And it was in the high eighties this morning,” she said.
“If the average temperature on the planet goes up much above…say 115 to 120…we
may have to return to the underground cities?”
“What if it
just stays in the 100 to 110 degree range?” asked Lex Palver, the new Minister
of Science.
“If it just
goes up that high, you’ll probably
just see me at the next meeting with a bare midriff or something. At any rate,
we need more data,” Nova said with a blush. She looked at Derek. “Are you
okay?” she whispered.
“I’m
getting hot, too..” he said. “Can’t wait to get outside.”
“Amen to
that,” Nova whispered.
Then, there
was a beeping sound. An officer stood up, saluted and she said, “Ladies and
Gentlemen of the Council, and honored guests. We are receiving a
communication…from Gamilon.”
“Gamilon?” said Stone.
“Desslok.
He was expected,” said the Commander. “Commodore Wildstar, would you speak for
us?”
“Of course,
sir,” said Derek as he stood up and saluted with the others as Desslok’s image
appeared on a video panel behind Prime Minister Gonjin. “Leader Desslok, I
trust you and Astrena have been well?”
“We have been,” he said in his dulcet tones
as Astrena stood up. “I trust that you and Nova have been well?”
“Yes, we
have also been,” said Derek. “Leader Desslok, to what do we owe the pleasure of
your presence?”
“It is my
understanding that…you recently have had…some difficulties.”
“We have,
Desslok. Do you know about the recent terrorist attack from a Planet Spectra?”
“I know of the world, but do not know much of
it,” said Desslok. “We are aware that it is a small, polluted world in the Crab
Nebula. I offered them membership in my Empire, but they refused. We understand
their government is some sort of strange theocratic system wherein they worship
a being called “The Great Spirit.” This being’s will is interpreted by a
hereditary house known as the House of Ibn Zoltan. Their Leader is called the
High Secretary, and we are in negotiations to send an envoy there someday. We
hope, at the least, that we can establish relations. I plan to have our envoy
question them for their terrorist activities and sabotage. One of their agents
recently tried something in our territorial space, as well. I don’t like that,”
Desslok purred. “If they do something major, I will have no choice but to break
off negotiations and send in an invasion fleet. I’m sure you would understand
my reasoning in that event?”
“We do,
Desslok,” said Derek. “Although it is our hope that invasion would only be used
as a last resort?”
Desslok
held up his goblet and sipped from it. “They started it. If need be, Wildstar, I will finish it.”
“Again,
let’s pray it never comes to that,”
said Nova as she stood up, bowed, and looked Desslok right in the eye. “We have
enough problems right now with other races.”
“And, Nova,
they are?”
“Have you
ever heard of a power known as the Bolar Federation?” asked Derek.
“Yes. They
were a power that had been defeated and enslaved by the Rikashans. When the
Rikashan Empire contracted and became the Rikashan Federation, some Bolar
worlds became free while others were still subject to the R’Khells. My sources
tell me they have been granted their…”independence”…by the R’Khells, but with
many conditions,” Desslok said. “I believe this ‘independence’ is a sham so
that R’Khell has more warriors for its mad ji’had against the less barbaric and
more reasoned interstellar nations such as yours and our own.”
“Meaning
we’re no longer ‘barbarians’ in your book?” said Derek.
“Oh, you
are,” said Desslok. “You are just…enlightened
barbarians, that’s all….”
“Thanks a lot,” Nova said with a wry grin, feeling
a bit like a barbarian owing to the fact that she had basically only one
garment on for the strange heat. She remembered disticntly the diplomatic
visits she had made to Rikasha, where her uniforms had been replaced by one or
two pieces of local hide or cloth. She remembered one time where her wardrobe
for a Rikashan summers’ day for attending a religious sacrificial and New
Years’ Festival of theirs had consisted of a native light, single serape’ type garment more or less
cinched around her otherwise by-custom unclothed body with a single leathern
sash, worn with sandals. Derek had gotten only a hide fundoshi-like loincloth to wear with identical sandals. You should have seen us in those exotic
getups, Desslok. We really looked like near-naked barbarians that day, she
thought. And my mother would have died
seeing me in that. Or maybe she would have thought it was ‘cute’ Hard to tell
with Momma sometimes. And…it would have made a very convenient breastfeeding
garment if I had had the kids then….
Then, Nova
thought of the riitual of the high point of the Festival’s last Day, known as
the L’Kannah…it involved one
sacrificial lamb (or a Rikashan animal that looked like one) slain for every
ten adults present. Prayers were said; the sins of the group were laid on the
poor beast, and then he was slaughtered with a cut throat in front of everyone,
and all had to be marked with its blood to share in the feast that followed,
which consisted of the roast beast and local vegetables. Their ritual is reminiscent of Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, Good Friday,
Easter, and Passover rolled into one, Nova thought.
Nova’s
reverie was broken when Astrena said, “Katrina Savela, you will rise now.”
Katrina
stood, apprehensive as to why she was called out all of a sudden. Did the
mysterious Empress of the Pellians know her secret?
Astrena
looked at her and said, “We have a charge to give you this day as a faithful
Pellian. You live on Earth, but you still have responsibilities to your people;
this we communicated to your Government earlier today in a diplomatic note.
Therefore, as Empress of Gamilon and reigning monarch of our people, We order
Thee to assume the post of Pellian Special Plenipotentiary to the Cometine
Empire. As such, we have arranged that Earth will be able to communicate with
the Cometines through you, and you shall communicate Cometine and Pellian
wishes to the Earth Government. Dost Thee accept?”
Katrina
crossed her hands over her heart in what she knew was a Pellian gesture of
reverence and bowed her head as she said, “I accept, Queen.”
“Good.
Stand upright and assume your duty. We shall, at some point, soon….provide Thee
with a small Pellian armed vessel and crew. You are to leave Earth and go on a
fact-finding mission in the Crab Nebula…and then, you are to, per the wishes of
the Cometines, to travel to a world of their choosing to negotiate with them.
You shall then return to Earth and share your findings with Lady Aliscea at the
Pellian Embassy and Earth Defense. Your point of contact with the Terrans, upon
your return, shall be Commodore Wildstar, if he be available,” said Astrena.
“If he is not available, you shall report to Captain Mark Venture. If those men
are not available, you shall report to Commander Nova Wildstar. Is that clear?”
“It is,”
said Katrina.
An hour
later, after the Defense Council meeting ended, everyone broke up into small
groups to have coffee, donuts, and sweet rolls, and otherwise to share notes
and talk.
While they
thus mingled, Katrina was tapped on the shoulder by General Gaeler, who roughly
whispered into her ear, “Princess…”
Katrina
stood there in shock as Gaeler motioned her out of the room into the empty
corridor, away from the security cameras. Then, he said, in a whisper, “Invidia,
Astrena knows who you really are. She learned this from Trelaina, and she also
shared this with Aliscea. These three women are bound to secrecy. Not even
Desslok knows the secret, of course. This is a message I have travelled far and
wide to bring you,” he said as he handed Invidia a slip of paper. “It is a
small scroll in our language on rice paper. Read it and then immediately eat
it. The ink is not poisonous.”
Katrina
nodded. She unrolled the tiny scroll, and in Cometine, she read:
Princess:
We know of your contacts on Earth.
We would have you cultivate them in line with Our Master Plan for the Universe.
To that End, I summon you and your
bondmate to my Throne at Great Andromeda
before the end of this Terran Year. We shall speak as we should have spoken
years before. We have much to discuss.
The hopes of the Empire go with you,
Princess of House Dezaria.
Lovingly;
High Emperor Zordar…your loving
father.
“Father,”
whispered Katrina, almost wanting to Change here and now. “Thank you. I have
missed you…and I have missed our people. A visit would do us good.”
“Now eat
it,” whispered Gaeler. “And we must not be seen together again. Go with our
love…”
Katrina
hugged Gaeler and they thus parted.
IV. RETURN TO HEROES’ HILL…
Planet Earth
The
Heroes’ Hill
Monday, April 11, 2208
1956 Hours Local Time
The shadows were beginning to grow long on Heroes’ Hill as
all of the crew who could attend stood at attention before Captain Avatar’s statue;
the sun was going down, and the civilians who were present, such at Nova’s
parents, Jonathan, Foxy and Katrina, and other friends and family members of
the crew, were all impressed at the solemnity of the event as a cool breeze
blew in from the nearby beachfront.
“Doctor Sane!”
snapped Commodore Wildstar. “Honors for the Captain!”
“YESSIR!” screamed
Doctor Sane in his loudest voice. “Captain, we are again here tonight to honor
you, and all of the other men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice
for the peace of Earth!” He then paused and said, “Many of us fell fighting
Gamilon, the Comet Empire, the Rikashans, and the Technomugar! It was nearly
six years ago that Earth was facing destruction from the Lord Ekogaru; and we
surely would have been destroyed if it were not for the bravery of those who
have made the ultimate sacrifce! Captain Avatar, Sergeant Knox, Sean Conroy,
Patrick Orion, Dana Royster, Hiyoshi Bando…and so many, many others! All of you
are remembered here…and we must make sure that Earth never forgets your bravery
and your sacrifices made in its defense! We will never forget you!”
“All hands..ready!”
barked Commodore Wildstar. “ATTENTION! HONORS!”
At that, all of the
Star Force veterans present snapped to and held a salute. Next to Katrina, Foxy
snapped to….and, after a long moment, but still remembering that many of those
here had died fighting her…not quite able to hold back her tears of rage,
frustration, and guilt, she also snapped to and saluted.
She looked
over to see that Teri Forrester was holding little Alex, and encouraging the
baby boy, in the copy of his father’s EDF blues, coat, and socks he wore…to
“salute”, while Karl was doing the same for Ariel, who wore a cute miniature of
her mother’s pink hot pants outfit with little pink sandals. Nearby, both
Aurora and even David had turned quiet and solemn as they saluted.
Then, Derek
snapped, “AT EASE!”
The crew
stood down as Commodore Wildstar turned to face them. Dawn looked very
uncomfortable as Hardy held her hand. “Now, comrades,” said Derek. “For the
moment, we will not be meeting again for a while, since the Argo sustained some damage in her last
mission. When we do meet up again for our next planned deployment, probably in
late July or early August…we will be making some changes…Lieutenant Commander
Kitano, front and center!”
Kitano came
up, saluted, and stood before Derek. “Mister Kitano will be moving up in the
Defense Forces. He will be leaving us because he has been appointed to command
the space destroyer Agamemnon; and he
will be leaving Earth again in about four weeks.” Derek paused, and then said,
“Mister Kitano, any comments?”
“No….except
to say I met this foxy girl soon
after we hit port,” he said with a laugh.
“Is her
name also Foxy?” said Foxy as he stood up. Some of the crew gave him dirty
looks as if to say Who is this idiot and
why is he here? However, Katrina stopped a lot of the glares by
protectively holding on to Foxy and glaring back at his potential detractors.
Then, to Katrina’s surprise, as Derek glanced at her and nodded, Teri Forrester
said, “Go up…he wants to see you up there…”
Katrina
went up with Foxy and saluted. Derek returned the salute and said, “Ladies and
gentlemen, this young woman is a forner pilot in the Pellian forces known as
Katrina Savela. She is now assigned to Earth as a representative from Pellias;
and she will soon be representing our interests as she makes a journey to
negotiate with our former enemies. In order to keep the peace, I would ask you
to pray for her success.”
Then,
Wildstar said, “Commander Sandor; Lieutenant Commander Henson..front and
center!”
Sandor came
up, holding hands with Diane. A couple of people whistled until Wildstar raised
a hand for silence. Then, he said, “Sandor has an announcement to make.”
“As you
know…the Argo is tentatively planned
to leave Earth again for a few days for a new set of space trials in the second
week of August,” said Sandor. “However, most of us will be meeting up right
before she goes out again…because, this time…I can’t be there for this mission.
The reason why is because of what is happening on Saturday, August the sixth.
Diane, should I tell them, or should you tell them?”
“You tell
them,” said Diane, who looked very, very
cute in a wide-brimmed hat, sundress, and sandals.
Sandor
cleared his throat. “Guys..gals…you’re going to need a new Mechanical Group
Leader and new Chief Engineer for this deployment…because Diane and I are
getting married on the sixth of August! We decided we had to set a
date…uh…after last night at my place…our, place……uh….”
Steve was
really blushing at that. “How far did ya get?” yelled Eager.
“Eager,
that’s a terrible thing to ask him!” snapped Nova. “That’s very personal!”
“We got to
home base, and I’m not ashamed!”
yelled Diane as some of the others applauded and whistled, while, some distance
away, while playing with Alex, Teri Forrester turned to Karl and said, “Why,
Karl…the nerve of that hussy! And look at the way she’s cuddling up to him
and looking at him! The little slut probably wants to do it again right now!
And look at her sundress! She’s half-naked!”
Karl
whispered, “Our eldest daughter sometimes dresses like that…and she cuddles up
to our son-in-law a lot!”
“Tha’s
different,” huffed Teri. “Nova’s married
and we want her to give us a few more
grandchildren…for all I care…she could run off right now with our son-in-law
and do it in the back seat of the minivan and I’d be peachy with it! So long as
they don’t make too much of a mess, that is!”
“Would she
do that, Teri?”
“Karl, I
wouldn’t care if she did…but this girl! She’s just cheap! And I overheard she
once broke Derek’s heart! I don’t give that marriage more than six months…I can
spot a floozie from ten kiilometers away! And that is what she is…a red-headed floozie!”
Teri then
went quiet because Nova ran over and asked about Alex and Ariel in a whisper.
Teri said, “Alex seems fine, but Ariel seems a bit cranky…”
“I’ll take her,” Nova said. “I have an idea of what she might want after Derek
has me up there to say my piece…”
Nova picked
up her baby girl and held her and said, “Yes…aren’t we the sweetest…Mommy
missed you all day! Mommy loves you!”
“Mommy no
go bye-bye?” said Ariel.
“No…Mommy is
keeping you and Alex all day tomorrow because Mommy is caught up on her
work…we’ll play bathtime tomorrow…play on the rug…Daddy might even have that
new baby pool up tomorrow for us so we can play splashies in the water!”
“Splashies!”
giggled Ariel. Ariel kissed her mommy, and Nova kissed her back, and then
kissed Alex as she took Ariel up with her.
Up front,
(and thankfully unaware of Teri’s cattiness from the Peanut Gallery) Sandor
continued with, “Since we have our wedding coming up, and we will be taking a
honeymoon after that in the South of France…we can’t be on the ship this time
out. But we wish all of you the best of luck…and I think all of you are invited
to the wedding!”
Sandor and
Diane stepped away as Derek then said, “Commander Wildstar, front and center!”
Nova came
up, holding little Ariel in her arms. Some crew members were going “awwww…”
since Ariel was crawling up and down her mommy’s chest and had somehow just
squiggled out of one out her little pink sandals, so that one foot had a shoe
on it, while the other little foot was bare…the little half-barefoot
seven-month old looked so cute crawling around.
“I’m sorry,
sir…I can’t…salute right now…our daughter’s kind of not letting me…” Nova said.
“That’s
fine,” Derek said. “Ladies and Gentlemen, Commander Wildstar has decided that,
barring incident, she won’t be on our next cruise, because she’ll be home with
the kids, and because orientation for
“We’re
going to miss you, ma’am,” said Homer, who walked up with Wendy, who was now
very heavily pregnant with their twins, who were scheduled to arrive in June.
“Thanks,
Homer,” said Nova. “I’m going to miss all of you guys, too. Even Eager with his
stupid comments…”
“Any more
announcements, sir?” said Domon.
“None!”
said Derek. “Okay, all hands…FALL OUT! Let the party begin….”
At that,
one of the crew’s usual post-Heroes’ Hill sake bashes started.
Katrina was
surprised at the informality, as most of the crew just plopped down on the
flagstones and began to talk as bottles of Doctor Sane’s “Spring Water”
(Katrina tried a glass of something from one of those bottles and found that it
had to be a hundred proof!) came out, along with open bottles of sake, wine,
beer, soda and juice.
Soon,
Commodore Wildstar was sitting cross-legged on the ground with a bottle of
Kirin Beer as Nova sat near him, nursing Ariel at a somewhat bared breast as
the baby looked very, very content and played with something in one of the
pockets of Nova’s partially unzipped outfit.
Sasha sat
near them, looking quite pregnant in a sundress and bare feet as she said, “Is
it that hard to do, Auntie?”
“Not if you
do it right,” Nova said. “You’ll have an easier time of it because you just
have one and don’t have to pretty much strip like me when they both get hungry. Luckily, Mom brought
Alex over and he doesn’t want any, so I don’t have to…give a show right now.
Not that I’d mind. If my babies were both hungry, I’d go naked for them if I
had to.” Nova then winked at Derek, and he winked back.
“You look
so happy with them,” said Dawn, with a note of envy in her voice. “How do you
do it?”
“It’s not
always easy,” Derek said. “We’ve both been burped on, pooped on, thrown up on,
and peed on. Sometimes, they even think I’m Mommy when I don’t have a shirt on
and they grab at me…one night, when I was cuddling up to Nova and got some milk
on me, Ariel thought that I gave it, too...”
“I should
have had the camera, then, Derek…that was so funny…” Nova said as she took
Ariel away. “Done?”
“donedoneboo”
said Ariel, who whimpered as Nova zipped up her top and began to pat and rub
her back to burp her while Derek tickled her little foot and then put her shoe
back on her. Ariel then crawled over to her father and began pulling his hair
as soon as she sat in his lap.
“Hey, stop that!” he laughed.
“Yeah…that hair is part of me, sweetheart…it’s not coming off. It’s like
mommy’s! It’s attached!”
“I’ve been
getting my hair pulled a lot lately,” Nova said. Then, she heard Doctor Sane
yelling, “Hey, Nova! Come over here and drink with us for a bit!”
“Doc, are
you that drunk already? Remember; I’m still nursing. I can’t have any sake or
real beer right now, but I’ll take some O’Douls and pour for you!” Nova said as
she got herself a non-alcoholic beer out of a cooler and ran over to Doctor
Sane and his group. After a few sips of the non-alcoholic beer (which went down
very nicely in the heat for the young mother, although she preferred Sapporo
beer when she was able to indulge), Nova knelt down with the group and was busy
pouring sake for Doctor Sane and laughing when Teri Forrester ran up and
yelled, “Nova, you can’t be drinking anything! You’ll poison my grandchildren!”
“Mother,
this is non-alcoholic,” Nova said as she held up her bottle of O’Douls. “And
I’m only pouring for Doctor Sane! You taught me the rules of hospitality for
sake yourself, so don’t act like you don’t know them!”
“Give me
some of that!” Teri snapped. She then grabbed the bottle out of her startled
daughter’s hands and took a big swig of sake. Teri licked her lips and then
said to Doctor Sane, “Are you my daughter’s
sensei? She talks about you all the
time!”
“Yes,
mother, he’s my sensei,” Nova said as
she grabbed back the sake bottle. “And mother, please calm down! You just
embarrassed me in front of all of my shipmates!”
“Shipmates?”
Teri said. “I had the impression you were going to settle down, Nova Dawn
Yukiko Wildstar!”
“I’m in
training to be a doctor, Mother,” Nova said. “Some day, when the kids are
older, I’ll be taking over Doctor Sane’s sickbay, and, maybe, someday, I’ll be
in command of a hospital ship or a whole Unit at
“Where does
that leave time for you to make me and the planet more kids?” yelled Teri.
“Here and
there,” Nova said hotly.”Mother, I don’t want to be pregnant again in the next
six months! Maybe in the next two or three years…(which was actually when the
next set of Wildstar children came) but not now!”
Nova took some more of her pseudo-beer, while thinking, The way you’re going, Mother, I wish this was the real stuff! I need a
drink whenever you start getting like that!
“But Earth
needs children and you’re still young and healthy!” Teri protested as she
played with her pearls above her dark green sleeveless blouse. They were a
fairly new set of pearls; given to her by Nova, who had actually gone
pearl-diving in the traditional Japanese manner to get them for her…going by
herself into the Great Eastern Sea mostly without even a wetsuit or scuba gear
to collect them for her mother’s birthday present. Nova had even drilled out
the pearls and mounted them herself, with the aid of some fine tools borrowed
from Sandor.
“But I have
a life, Mother! Now, go sit down with Daddy…and please don’t steal any more of
Doctor Sane’s stuff?”
“Little
ingrate! I changed your crappy diapers and this is the thanks I get from you?
HMPH!” snapped Teri as she flipped her nose up in the air, turned on her
sandaled heels, and flounced away in her blouse and white shorts with her big,
bangly bracelets clicking as she walked.
Dash came
up to Nova and patted her arm. “Is she getting on your case again?”
“Yeah,”
Nova nodded, brushing away tears. “She’s drunk, too. How can Daddy let her stay
here like this? And she’s been getting worse and worse at times…”
“Yeah,
Mom…she’s a case, all right,” said Jonathan as he sat down in his khaki shorts,
t-shirt, and flip-flops. “She said she didn’t like the clothes you pick out for
me.”
“Wrong
because you know I let you pick out ninety percent of your own things…you’re
just about old enough,” Nova said to her adopted teenage son. “If she could
ever hear half the stories you told me about what you suffered when you were a
slave in Rikashan space, she would just scream and then realize maybe that is
why you’re so grown-up. You make a better babysitter for your baby brother and
sister at fifteen then she does at times at the age of fifty-one!”
“How old
was she when she had you, Mom?”
“Twenty-one…she
actually got pregnant with me at twenty,” Nova said. Nova was not about to tell
Jonathan at this point that Teri had actually conceived her just out of wedlock
in college even though she and Karl had married two months later.
However,
they were all interrupted again when Foxy was found just screaming at someone.
Everyone
turned their heads to see Kazuo arguing with Nova’s cousin, the fiery
reddish-blond-haired Jane Forrester…his ex-wife.
Jane had
been the only daughter of Karl’s deceased brother Richard and his wife Leslie,
who had died in the Gamilon War. Jane was about thirty-three, she looked
somewhat like her cousin Nova, albeit with reddish-blond hair, and she was a
rancher near
Kazuo was
yelling at Jane as she yelled back, “YOU still owe me money from the divorce
settlement, ya varmint! You owe me about three hundred thousand credits!”
“I paid you off, Jane! Definitely
not! I’m also remarried, remember? Or are you drunk? You were at my second
wedding!”
“I forgot
that and I ain’t drunk!” yelled Jane in a loud voice (she was drunk) “Who’s the not-so-lucky girl?” she screamed as people
began to gather around.
“I am!”
Katrina snapped. “You forgot, dummy? My name is Katrina Foxworth-Savela from
the Planet Pellias! I come long way and through lots to get my Foxy! Leave Foxy
alone!”
“You
married an alien? I kinda remember now….Hah! That’s dippin’ from the bottom of
the outhouse hole!” said Jane.
“Jane, cool
it! You’re drunk and you shouldn’t be here!” Nova yelled as she came up. “Mom,
you knew Foxy was going to be here! Why did you bring her? I swore to both of
them I would do all I could to keep them apart after that last argument they
had over Katrina!”
“She was in
town and said she had to talk,” said Teri.
“This looks
like trouble,” said Derek as he came up. “Miss Forrester, I’m sorry, but maybe
you’d better leave. Foxy, Katrina…come with us…Nova and I’ll drive you back to
Foxworth Manor! Nova, you can hold Ariel; Katrina, you can hold Alex.
“You’re
taking her side?” said Jane as she snarled at Nova.
“I don’t
want to take anyone’s side,” Nova said. “Katrina, you’re my friend, and I love
you. Jane, you’re my cousin and I love you. Why can’t we be civil about this?”
“Because he
was never civil to me!” yelled Jane. “Those two years in Foxworth Manor was insanity and he put me through a living
hell before I dumped him! Katrina, this is a crazy man who should be put away!”
“You chased
me away, if you remember. With a gun,” said Foxy. “I later had to have the police
get you out of Foxworth Manor when you took over and starting redoing
everything so it looked like a Longhorn Restauarnt on the inside!”
“Is that
why you have that hick room in there?” said Katrina.
”Yeah…that was
her redecorating idea. Made a nice rec room, though,” said Kazuo. “Now,
Jane…let’s get going. Are you dating anyone?”
“No! And
YOU OWE ME MONEY!” yelled Jane as she opened her purse. Then, she pulled out…
….a gun. It
was an old Colt .45 revolver; which she succeeded in pointing right at Foxy!
Katrina
screamed and yelled “Get down!” as Jane fired off a shot! The bullet hit the
flagstones and richocheted off.
“YA BITCH!”
yelled Jane at Katrina as she pointed the gun at her. Katrina got up, snarling
and preparing to charge Jane.
However,
something like a hot pink blur tackled Jane from behind and knocked her on her
face.
”NOVA!”
yelled Derek as he saw the love of his life wrestling on the ground with her
crazed, armed cowgirl cousin. It was evident that Nova and Jane were fighting
for the gun. Finally, after a few punches, slaps, and hair-pulls, Nova came out
on top and held the gun on Jane while she yelled, “There’s Space Marines
around! Could one of you guys help me subdue this damn smashed out of her mind
lunatic?”
“Gimme back
my gun, ya varmint!” yelled Jane. “Ya ain’t actin’ like no cousin o’mine right
about now!”
“Oh, be
quiet,” Nova said. “Jane, this happens about once a year; right,Foxy?”
“Yeah,”
sighed Foxy as he and Katrina got up. She looked daggers at Jane as two Space
Marines got her cuffed while Jane said, “You’re ugly!”
“I will
make sure you go to jail!” snapped Katrina.
“No,” said
Nova.
“NO?”
yelled Katrina.
“She
belongs in a hospital for now…to dry out and get treatment!” said Nova. “Doctor
Sane, would you call the medics? I think she needs to go to the psych ward at
Central.”
“Good
idea,” said Doctor Sane.
LATER THAT EVENING….
Late that night, after the kids had been
put to bed, and after a very intimate hour and a half, Nova and Derek lay
together in bed talking before going to sleep.
“So where’s
Jane again?” Derek asked.
“The Sixth
Ward,” Nova said sadly. “We know she’s been sort of unstable for a while. After
she’s treated, she’ll be able to come home. Minus that gun, of course. Foxy and
I convinced Katrina not to press charges. We both know Jane doesn’t quite have
all of her marbles. She never quite had them after her father died and after
her first husband died.”
“First
husband?” said Derek.
“She
married this man around 2197. They were going to go into business together to
rebuild her ranch, but he died of the space radiation sickness in 2200 right
before we got back. Foxy’s her second husband. Then, there was her third
husband, Alan.”
”What
happened to him?” Derek said.
“He
couldn’t stand her any more so he…killed himself,” Nova said sadly.
Derek
whistled. “No wonder Jane’s messed up,” he said as he stretched his arms above
his head.
“Yeah…”
Nova got up in just her bare skin and walked over to the bureau, where she had
Jane’s gun,with the bullets taken out. “Beautiful old antique. I may give it
back to her. Minus the bullets.”
“How could
you have charged a woman holding a gun like that, Nova?” Derek asked.
“The same
way I charged Desslok that time when you were hurt. Both times, someone close
to me was being hurt. I don’t like that….” Nova then thoughtfully put away the
gun and yawned.
“Nova, come
back to bed?” asked Derek.
“Yeah, guess
I’d better,” she said. She crawled back in, passionately kissed her husband,
and curled up in his arms as he flicked off their light.
Soon, both
lovers were fast asleep.
TO BE CONTINUED….