ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE
STAR BLAZERS---PASSICAGLIA AND FUGUE IN C
MINOR
Being the eighth part of THE RIKASHA INCIDENT--- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz
NOTE: (1)
ACT
TWO--DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
I. SECRETS
AND SCROLLS
Planet
Iscandar
Thursday,
February 25, 2202
1222 Hours:
Spacetime
Days had
passed.
With the party
over with, Starsha's peace was being disturbed by the Black Tigers flying drill
after drill. Of course, she knew the reason why; it was because of a possible
impending Rikashan attack on the planet, as well as due to Ekogaru's approach.
According to
Aliscea, the Dark Lord was now only 70,000 light-years away from Iscandar.
Aliscea, of
course, knew what Ekogaru had done to Planet Dej'jat IV and its people. It was
her guess that he would arrive in seven days, on March 4th. She wanted
Iscandar...and herself...to be ready to stop him.
And the young
woman was livid.
"You need
to rest at some point, Aliscea," said Paul in a break between attack
drills on the Argo as he watched her poring over scrolls, taking notes,
and occasionally muttering strange poems...or, incantations? "You haven't
slept for thirty hours!"
"I can
live without sleep," she hissed. "I love you, but I can fight
this battle without anyone else worrying about it! I am getting closer to
knowing how we can stop him. And, stopped he must be...before he kills other
innocents. He destroyed a whole world and civilization in just twenty minutes.
This creature cannot be negotiated with, nor reasoned with. It can only be
slain and sent back to the Pit of Hell where it belongs."
"Even
Starsha needs to rest," said Paul Rosstowski. "C'mon, Aliscea!"
Nova, in her
usual uniform, came into the library a moment later, walking as quietly as
possible. "I made coffee if you need it, Aliscea."
"Did you
sleep?"
"I had
to. Derek insisted upon it."
"Well, I
don't need to sleep, Nova. I am running on a spiritual energy that I don't even
think you can comprehend," she said as she took the coffee with a shaking
hand. "You need rest. You're mortal. I am more than mortal."
"I'm on
duty, Aliscea. I'm here to check on you on the Captain's orders."
"Then
what do you have to do?"
"Return
to the Argo and work on calibrating the radar, what else?" said
Nova with a shrug. "I'm an officer in the Earth Defense Forces. I've taken
an oath that won't allow me to rest now, even though my body just wants to
sleep, and my soul wants to be at peace with my husband, who can't rest either
right now. But you didn't take any such oath. And you do need to rest at some
point, Aliscea," she said as she stopped to rub the black-clad woman's
sagging shoulders. "Your eyes are so red from reading, Aliscea. At some
point, you'd better get to sleep."
"Nova,
thank you. If I rest just like...if you rest too long, people will die. Give me
that coffee. Besides, who says I haven't taken an oath?"
"You're
not in the service, Aliscea," said Nova. She began to pour some coffee at
a table while Aliscea silently walked out to a balcony in the crystalline
library. Kneeling bare-kneed on the cool crystal, Aliscea shut her eyes, and
abruptly put up her hands.
Fire came out
of both of her palms. She shut her eyes, muttered something that sounded like a
prayer, and the fire streaked forth into the sky, roaring out like a
wave-motion gun energy surge far, far up into Iscandar's atmosphere, and out
into deep space.
Nova came out
onto the balcony and nearly dropped the coffee.
"Uh...thank
Heavens you're on our side," she stammered.
"Not
enough, yet," said the trembling Aliscea. "Not far enough. Not far
enough. I need that coffee."
Nova handed
Aliscea a cup of coffee. She sipped at it as Paul ran out. "Weak,"
muttered the Pellian. "Too weak. Nova, damnit, make this stuff stronger,
would you? I need to stay awake...Need...to...stay....aw...."
Aliscea
abruptly fell down in her tracks like a dead thing. "I...didn't find what
we need...not here...not here. Need to go to the colleges...of...Arandia, Nova."
"We'll
get you what you need," said Nova in a soft but firm voice as Paul ran up.
"Right now, you'd better let us get you out of here and to a bed. Before
you...go into a coma or something."
Paul
Rosstowski came up just as Nova, with a bit of a struggle, lifted up the young
Pellian, who was almost her own weight.
"I can
take her, Nova."
"You're
more exhausted than she is," Nova snapped. "I can carry her back to
the palace. There, Starsha and I can put her to bed. And you, too."
"Nova,
you're going to rip some muscles someplace. She's nearly as heavy as you are,
you stupid woman. Maybe heavier."
"Well, if
you're so bloody worried, help me by getting her ankles or something. C'mon!"
A shaky
Rosstowski held his wife by her ankles. Together, he and Nova carried Aliscea
back to Starsha's palace.
A while later,
Nova dabbed at the sleeping Aliscea's forehead with a washcloth. "She'll
be all right, Derek."
"What
about you?" he said. "Nova, you've damn near sweated through your
uniform...it's soaked."
"I'll
live. Just pretend you sent me out there to do punishment drills or something
like that."
"But you
can't walk around in that...uh....
"So? I
can take it off and wash up," she said. "I know where Starsha's tub
is by now. I have a spare uniform here. Why don't you join me, Captain? We need
a short breather before we go back to those drills and then dive off
"Sure
you're all right?" he said as Nova leaned over a chair and panted.
"I'll
survive. I've had four hours' worth of sleep."
"You're all
driving yourselves so hard," said Starsha. She threw a light shawl over
Nova’s shoulders.
"Stop
coddling us!" said Derek. "I mean no disrespect, Queen Starsha, but
we're warriors. We have an enemy coming in a few days that can eat Gamilon and
Iscandar for lunch and then dine on Earth for dessert. This isn't like our last
time on Iscandar where we could rest for a month. We took advantage of your
hospitality and rested for a few days. We had a few laughs. But, now, it's time
to get back to work. Nothing...uh...meant...but...it's our job to help defend
you. Ours, Desslok's and Aliscea's. And yours, too."
"You
should understand, both of you, that this is a battle that will not be fought
with weapons."
"Yes,
Starsha, but there's a Rikashan Fleet coming!" said Nova. "They did
so many terrible things at Pellias. They...they killed children and ravished
women, Queen Starsha. They set fire to people's homes for fun. Do you want to
see an invasion force marching on
Starsha just
stood in silence. "It won't come to that, Nova. I've made up my mind. So
has Aliscea. Now, please go, both of you." She looked at them with a sad
smile. "Do what you need to do. I shall speak to you later."
Then, Starsha
left.
"Derek, I
can take a shower on the ship," said Nova after a moment. "Five
minutes, and I'll be back on the bridge."
Captain
Wildstar stood in silence. "Let's at least use that bath as long as we're
here. The tea is good."
Nova smiled at
him. "Let's go."
A few minutes
later, their uniforms were off in a pile, with Nova's fresh uniform laid out in
on the floor of one of Starsha's hot spring rooms beneath the palace. The room
was lined with reddish rock.
"Not
bad," said Derek as he lowered himself into the steaming water. "Nice
of her and Alex to point this room out to us."
Nova nodded as
she lay back in the water. "What I don't need is to fall asleep and miss
that drill. What I do need is to get some of that pain out of my legs. Mmmmm.
When do we have to be back again?" she asked.
Derek looked
at his chronometer. "Thirteen hundred."
"Do
you...hmmm?" said Nova softly as she cuddled against him.
"Not this
afternoon, Nova. I have a headache."
"Is that
headache about 62,000 metric tons and about 263 meters long?" asked Nova
with a hint of mischief.
Derek nodded.
"That
headache," smiled Nova. "I've got my own headache. She sent me an
e-mail today."
"Your
mother?"
"Nope,"
smiled Nova. "My cousin Brittany."
"The
ditzy blonde?" teased Derek.
"I take
some exception to that," said Nova with a half-annoyed expression. "I
am a blonde. Okay...it's honey or ash-blonde...but," she said as she
looked at her hair.
"Okay.
Brittany is a full blonde. And she's ditzy."
"Bubbly,
yes. Ditzy, no."
"I might
take issue to that," said Derek. "But...there was the one time I met
her...when she came by our house after we got back from our honeymoon?"
"Derek,
she's had a hard life. She lost her parents too, you know. Maybe that's part of
why I relate to you so well. Having her live with us from about the time I was
ten until I left for college...and she moved in with us later in the summer
after I came back from that trip to Aunt Yvona's..."
"Seriously,"
said Derek. "I remember what she was like the one time I met her...I
remember she was kind of like you...cute, somewhat smart...but sad..."
Flashback: Wednesday,
January 6, 2202
AT Derek and Nova Wildstar's Residence
The Great Megalopolis...
It was in
the afternoon...
"Derek,
what are you doing?" asked Nova from the kitchen.
"Working
on this table in the dining room," replied Derek. "Leaves are weird. Do
you know how hard it is to polish these artificial wood tables, Nova?"
"Let
me see," said Nova as she came into the room. She had on a black sweater,
white apron, corduroy slacks, and went barefoot. Derek wore jeans, a red
sweater, and had his socks on. She ran a finger over the tabletop. "Still
some dust."
"Hey,
that's not fair!"
Nova
giggled. "Remember how you burned me during that inspection that time on
the way to Iscandar? Turnabout is fair play, Skipper!"
At that,
their doorbell rang.
"Who
can that be?" said Captain Wildstar.
"I'll
get it, Derek."
He followed
Nova, and when the door opened, he beheld a young woman with waist-length
golden-blonde hair who looked very young, maybe twenty-one. She was carrying a
brown simulated suede jacket in one hand, and wore a pink sweater, brown faux
suede jumper, faded denim skirt, and sandals.
Fan-art: "Brittany Forrester" (c) 2003 by Frederick P.
Kopetz
"Brittany!"
cried Nova. "When did you get leave?"
"I got
liberty last night," said Brittany as she threw her coat on a chair in the
foyer and hugged her cousin. Nova then closed the door and ended up giggling as
Brittany swept her up off her feet and twirled her around for a moment.
"Hey!
You've gotten strong!" laughed Nova as she held hands with her slightly
shorter cousin. "First time you've been able to pick me up! And what's
this, wearing sandals in January with snow on the ground out there? Are you
nuts?"
"I got
a staff car for my leave," said Brittany. "Besides, you're running
around barefoot!"
"Oh,
I'm in the house cooking. Brittany, get rid of those shoes and meet us in the
kitchen."
"Okay,"
she said, smiling as she noticed Derek while taking her shoes off. "Nova,
is this your famous booooyfrriend?"
Derek
cleared his throat. "Miss Forrester, we are married."
"Just
teasing my cousin, sir," smiled Brittany.
"You
don't just tease me, you drive me up the wall!"
laughed Nova.
"Nova,
what are you up to in there?" said Derek.
"Trying
to learn how to make a Hollandaise sauce the right way. Never done it
before."
"You
never made that on the Argo?"
"Haven't
you heard?" said Brittany. "She has a habit of making ovens
explode."
"I do
not!" cried Nova as she stirred a pot of sauce on the stove.
"Do
too."
"Do
not!" cried Nova, shaking a spoon at her cousin. Derek looked rather
bemused. "Funny, you treat her the same way Alex treated me at
times."
"Well,
who's older?" said Nova.
"If
she gets into the 'I'm prettier than you' bit, I'm gonna barf," laughed
Brittany. "Seriously, you get the blender I sent for the wedding
yet?"
"We
did," said Nova.
"What
about your Aussie hat?" said Brittany.
"Excuse
me," said Nova. "Derek, you watch that," she said, leaving a
spoon in his hand. She ran into the master bedroom and came back a moment later
wearing a brown bush campaign hat. "You mean this?"
Brittany
laughed. "Oh, it looks good on you, cuz!"
"Looks
good on you, too," said Nova as she smiled and put it on Brittany's head.
At that,
all three of them had laughed...
"Nice
memory," said Derek as he leaned back in the water. "Earth. Our
house."
"Home,"
said Nova quietly. She looked at him with glistening eyes. "We've had a
lot of adventures, but...I wish we were home now. I wish this war was over.
We're facing the possible extinction of the human race again, Derek! This is
horrible! When does it end?"
Derek held his
wife in the steaming water for a minute. "Nova, I don't know.
C'mon...let's get back to the ship. We have that drill."
Nova shut her
eyes, wiped away the tears, and got out of the water. Then, she stood there
while Derek began to dry her off, and smiled as she dried him.
Illustration: “Sweet
Love” by “Meixiang” Illustration originally appeared
on “Kodaism” at http://homepage2.nifty.com/kodaism/love.html.
Artwork used by permission.
As they dried each
other, Nova giggled as Derek began to kiss her and tickle her. Finally, they
fell down laughing together on top of the towels, looking into each other’s
eyes after they exchanged a sweet kiss.
“I thought you
said you had a headache, Derek!” Nova
said as her husband ran his hands up and down her smooth back.
“You’re curing
that headache.”
“We’re…running
out of time,” said Nova as she received some more kisses, and caresses.
“I know we’re
running out of time. We can be quick about this!”
“What if Alex
comes down here?” said Nova.
“He won’t.”
“Why?”
“The door’s
closed. And locked.”
“You devil,”
said Nova as she stroked her husband’s hair and went back to kissing him.
A precious few
minutes passed, during which they forgot about everything, everything, that is,
except for each other, as they enjoyed each other in the warm, steaming room in
an interlude that was just as steamy as the room. Finally, when they were done,
both of them finished drying off, they dressed, and then left to get back to
work for the rest of this day and the beginning of the next day...
II. BLOOD
AND HONOR
Earth's
Solar System
Beyond the
Oort Cloud
Friday,
February 26, 2202
1116 Hours:
Spacetime
The EDF space
battleship Cassiopeia led her task group through a lane of asteroids and
space trash.
"So far,
so good," said Commodore Ryu Hoshiyama on the bridge of his flagship.
"Continue to assume standard formation."
"Sir,"
said the communications officer of the Andromeda-class space battleship.
"Captain Siegel from the Akagi called in. Routine report," he
said as he read from the tape. "The spacecraft carrier is about to change
squadrons. They're receiving their BARCAP back in and are about to launch
another one as planned."
"Excellent.
Tell the rest of the task group to keep pace and speed."
"Roger."
On the Akagi,
Dac Windfield's plane had just hit the deck. Dac smiled a smug, self-confident,
almost arrogant smile as his plane hit the magnetic arresting field. Damn
fun flying amongst all of those asteroids, he thought. Feels like
nothing can go wrong today. I'm on top of the world! I'm hot!
As he steered
his plane into the hangar deck, he grinned a little as he saw a slender figure
with flowing blonde hair running up to his plane.
"Anya!
What are you doing down here?"
Anya leaned up
and kissed Dac as he began to climb out of the cockpit. "Just your wife
saying that she got her watch done a little early and would like you to meet
her for a talk in our cabin. Our cabin," she smiled. "Funny
concept."
"Feels
like the whole universe has just gone damn weird," he said. "Stick
around...have to check in."
"Noisy
down here," said Anya, covering her ears as another plane banged its way
in.
"That's
because this is a Tigers' Den. Just like Hardy always said..."
"And what
did he always say...?"
On the Cassiopeia,
a spread of objects suddenly appeared on the radar. "Radar contacts, at
least forty objects..." said her radar officer, Fujiko Abe. "Port,
and starboard, twenty-five degrees. Range, fifteen megameters, speed twenty
space knots. What the....? Energy surge from one of those ships?
Switching to video panel..."
They looked up
and suddenly saw a Rikashan fleet spread out before them. The lead ship was
ugly and black. A light was growing at its bow.
"What..? said Hoshiyama. "All ships...battle stations,
battle stations, helm prepare for evasive..."
The helmsman
began to evade, and the sirens went on for just a moment. But, a moment later,
the greenish light grew brighter.
"DI'ATS
cannon ready, Baron!" said Ter'garv triumphantly aboard the B'eoneraze.
"At
last," smiled Baron Anton Cha'rif. "Target practice before we begin
the invasion of Earth. Let's see how those pale scum like our surge
cannon!"
"Begin
ten-second countdown on rapid charge!" he yelled. "Ten. Nine! Eight!
Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two...One...FIRE!" yelled Cha'rif as he hit
the firing levers on his ornate, evil-looking, motorcycle-like firing
handlebars."
The B'eoneraze's
Rikashan equivalent of the wave motion gun fired, blasting livid greenish-blue
death into the Earth task force.
"Helm, I
said, evasive maneuvers...!" cried Hoshiyama on the Cassiopeia as
the space battleship began to dissolve like ice cream on a hot day in the livid
green blast. "NOOO!"
On the Akagi,
Dac Windfield put down the clipboard holding the flight plan for what would be
the very last time. All of a sudden, as he was beginning to take Anya's hand,
the klaxons went off. He jumped back, startled while Anya looked at him like a
frightened deer. "Dac?" she asked. "What's going...? Is this a drill?"
"Anya,
we'd better get to our combat..." said Dac. Anya tensed to run off to the
computer bloc. Dac took a deep breath, preparing to run to his fighter, but
then had no time to take another as the whole flight deck suddenly and abruptly
burst into a weird white hell. Dac Windfield began to feel as if he was
spinning. "Anya?" he called. "Anya?"
"I'm
right here," she said. "Where are we?"
"Not
dead, that's for sure...This is weird..."
They felt
their existence spinning around them, and thought they saw a shadowy glimpse of
a female face smiling at them.
"Who are
you?"
All they saw
was a wink...and then, suddenly, they disappeared, strangely alive and intact.
They flew off together to their final destination like startled birds. So ends
their place in this tale, and in this universe. Their Maker, perhaps, was
chuckling over this rather...odd...turn of events.
Somewhere in
the space between universes, a man smoking a pipe, a former travelling
salesman, now a servant of a mad space computer, saw the events, smiled, and
said, "Way to Go... Mistress. Bob thanks you."
Unfortunately,
this oddball salvation did not apply to the rest of the Akagi's crew.
A moment later, with a
roar and a scream of grinding metal, without a chance to fight or fire a shot,
the spacecraft carrier Akagi tumbled in the energy surge, her stern
dissolving into oblivion, followed by her bow. Captain Siegel cried out in a
roaring scream of agony and then died along with his ship as the Akagi
met her end like her ancient namesake, the difference being that this Akagi
never sank...instead, she merely dissolved, melting into nothingness in a few
seconds.
Indeed, the
whole task force dissolved into nothingness. The ships farthest from the maelstrom
had enough time to send a few blips of distress calls back to Earth before
likewise fading into nothingness in agony like the crews and flight group of
the Cassiopeia and Akagi. The surge of energy spread out into
space, with a residual beam roaring off with explosion after explosion into the
Oort Cloud as countless asteroids died along with the Earth task group.
The beam faded
into nothingness. "Fine move," said Ter'garv with a smile.
"They
were just beginning to fight," said Cha'rif. "My mentally controlled
warp put us in just the right spot. Exhausting, but it will be worth it when we
start the war. That, and our tachyonic supercharger has just enabled us to
catch an Earth Fleet and worst them by surprise with their own greatest
weapon!" The Rikashan Baron threw back his head and laughed. "When we
go further into this system, they shall be easy to defeat."
"Destination?"
said Ter'garv.
"Warp us
back out towards Procyon. We cut off that Cometine group...what was left of it,
at Sirius and my other forces are turning that base into Rikashan territory
now. We have work to do at Procyon to take a second base. Then, with our two
bases, we can pick off the Terrans in raids at our leisure."
"Yes,
like rats," said Ter'garv. "But what about the Star Force?"
"I need
to meditate to find out where they are. Perhaps they're at Iscandar? If so...we
must head there. Aliscea is waiting for us, so we must be careful. But, nothing to bolster my confidence like a sweet
victory!"
"Yes...a
massacre," said Ter'garv with a grin.
At that, both
men laughed.
III.
INVESTIGATIONS
Planet
Iscandar
Space
Battleship Argo
Central
Tactics Room
Saturday,
February 27, 2202
1000 Hours:
Spacetime
"Captain
Wildstar, in case something happens, the ship is now full battle-ready,"
said Stephen Sandor as the crew stood around a graphic in the Central Tactics
Room.
"How are
we doing with the Black Tigers, Conroy?" asked Derek.
"Our
remaining planes are as ready for battle as they ever will be," said
Conroy.
"Good.
Continue the practice flights."
"If we
have Iscandar's approval?" said Conroy.
Not far away,
Alex Wildstar, invited as an observer and as Starsha's representative, nodded.
"Starsha approves. Also, in the next day or so, we're going to begin long
range-scans from our two surviving exploration corvettes. We'll set up a
protocol for that information to be downloaded to the Argo along with what
you're getting from the...the Gamilons."
"Thank
you," said Derek. "General Helmeyer?" he asked, looking towards
the Gamilon liaison whom Starsha had finally permitted on Iscandar as of
yesterday. Aliscea and Alex had finally convinced her that it was necessary to
cooperate with Gamilon, at least for the duration of this crisis.
"Yes,
Captain," said the chubby brown-haired Gamilon officer. "On Leader
Desslok's orders, now that we have a modus operandi with the Government
of Iscandar we have begun both organized patrols of the Sanzar System, as well
as regular scans from our base at the edge of the System. The scan results are
regularly being downloaded to both the Argo and a computer system in
"For what
purpose?" asked Alex.
"To
establish a permanent fighter base here on Iscandar. That way, after the Argo
leaves, eventually, there could be a permanent fighter screen around
Iscandar."
"That
will be taken under consultation, General," said Alex in a formal voice.
"Consort,"
said Derek formally. "I have heard from the Earth Government. We would
like to make a similar offer. It is my understanding that an Earth Task Force
at the edge of our solar system could be diverted here to Iscandar to..."
An enlisted
man from Communications stopped before Captain Wildstar. "Sir, I hate to
interrupt, but we've just received this message from Earth through the Gamilon
relay net system, accounting for the two-hour delay, of course..."
"Hand me
the message," said Derek. He read the message and said, "Ladies and
Gentlemen, I regret to inform you that the First Special Task Force was
destroyed by the Rikashans in a sneak attack at the edge of our solar system
yesterday. Twenty ships and over a thousand men and women lost."
"Oh,
no!" cried Nova.
"Are the
Texans...lost?" asked Hardy.
Derek nodded.
"Damn!"
said Hardy. "I had some friends in that squadrohn!" Poor
Windfield, he thought with gritted teeth.
"I
know," said Captain Wildstar. "A lot of those men and women would
have made good Black Tigers. All hands, a salute and moment of silence for the
First Special Task Force."
The Terran
soldiers present saluted. Finally, they turned back towards Captain Wildstar.
"Well, we can't divert that Task Force here to Iscandar now. But, the
Earth Government would still...at some point, I am assuming...I am not sure
when...like to base some planes here on Iscandar...if we can manage it."
"You'd
better consult with them first," said Alex. "Earth might need every
plane it can get."
"But we
can't forget about Iscandar!" said Nova.
"True,
but you can't forget your own defenses, either," said Alex.
"About
our defenses," said Aliscea. "I think I know how I can attack
Ekogaru's Fortress."
Every eye
turned to her. "I know how, but I need to know where on the Fortress I
need to hit it...and the Dark Lord. The libraries of
"That's
dangerous," said Alex.
"But,
it's the only way we can do it," said Derek. "I have two divers
volunteered for this mission already. When we're done here, I'll send them over
to the Palace in
"All
right...I shall inform Queen Starsha," said Alex. "When can the
divers be ready?"
"In a
while," said Derek.
IV.
Planet
Iscandar
Saturday,
February 27, 2202
1230 Hours:
Spacetime
"You know I'm
opposed to this," said Queen Starsha a while later as she confronted
Derek, Nova, IQ-9 and Alex in her palace.
"We
really have no choice, Queen Starsha," said Derek. He wore a diving hood,
one-piece wetsuit jacket with crotch strap in red and white, but his legs would
be bare in the ocean on account of the very warm tropical waters; thus, his
leggings and aqua boots were left behind. Nova also wore similar attire, save
that her wetsuit was gold and black. (Derek thought she looked far better
bare-legged in her brief wetsuit than he did, but that was beside the point)
Both of them were ready to go diving; their fins, masks, and air tanks were
outside in a Jet Recon Boat.
"It's
very unsafe around Arandia," stressed Starsha. "
"But we
have no other place to go to get the information we need," said Nova.
"And, at least, I've been on
Queen Starsha
shut her eyes and sighed. "It's very dangerous..."
"But
Starsha," said Alex. "We'll be in more danger if Ekogaru can't be
stopped. And Aliscea requires the information to stop him."
Starsha sat
back down in her chair. Finally, she said, "In the libraries that Aliscea
was going through, you can find maps of the ancient psionic colleges of
Arandia. The college you would need to investigate would be that of the
Latraxian Order. They had an extensive library; much of which was on
crystalline holographic tablets. Luckily, a catalogue of that information still
exists. The library should still be accessible underwater. Please try to move quickly
and be careful about this."
"Queen
Starsha, I shall be diving with them," said IQ-9. "I would do
anything to protect Nova and the Captain."
"You be
careful down there," said Nova. "No games today."
"I know
the difference between work and fun, Nova," said IQ. "I also can
carry a large spear gun."
"Thanks,"
said Derek. "Queen Starsha, please tell us which library we need to
investigate, and we can go..."
"I will
certainly do that," she said.
A while later,
the man, woman and robot sat in the Great Library of Mother Town, poring over
old books and maps.
"That's
it," said Nova as she excitedly jumped up and stood up on tiptoes to point
at something on the map. She went barefoot without her swim fins in the cool,
crystalline-walled library. "Derek, this is exactly where we need to look
on the island. There was a small peninsula in the city at the edge of the
island. The College of the Latraxians is right here at the southeastern edge.
We know where to find the site of
"Then,
let's go when you're done," he said. "You're copying this onto waterproof
film, Nova?"
She nodded;
she was tracing the map onto something like a sheet of clear acrylic. "I'm
making two copies...one for me, and one for you. IQ, record this map in your
memory, please."
"I
will," he said, floating his upper done up over the table so he could
memorize the map.
"This
will be interesting," said Derek. "I've never gone scuba diving with
you on a mission before."
"Remember;
we can't come up too fast," added Nova. "And we may have to watch out
for undersea growth. Especially the odd plant life. That's what I'm worried
about."
"What
about the animal life?"
"We can
handle that," she said. "We both know how to survive underwater,
don't we?"
"I hope
you're not missing anything, Nova," said IQ-9.
"I don't
think I am. We're set on air; we have all the supplies we need. I even know
which file drawer to open when we get into that submerged library."
"Okay,
then, let's go," said Derek.
On the Argo,
a simulation was nearing its end on the first bridge. On the first bridge, the
protective shield was closed and simulations of space were showing on the main
screen, so it looked to them as if the ship had been in space. "Radar says
that we've taken care of the enemy fleet with our guns, sir," said Raiden.
"No
damage to the helm; all systems normal," said Parsons at the Argo's
helm.
"Good,
take us back to Iscandar," said Venture, who was commanding the ship from
the Captain's console at the aft part of the bridge. It felt odd for him to be
sitting there, but Captain Wildstar had deviated the normal Officer of the Deck
procedure so that the commanding officer had some familiarity with the
Captain's controls. In other such simulations during the week, Yamazaki, Dash,
and Nova had also been introduced to the Captain's station when Derek had stuck
them in command.
"Engines
normal," said Yamazaki.
"Good. We're
going to do this again as a practice-intensity exercise later on today between
Iscandar and Gamilon with a Gamilon Fleet opposing us," said Venture.
"Who's
going to command the ship then?" said Rosstowski.
"No one
knows," said Venture. "The way the Captain's been going lately, it
could even be you."
"Great,"
said Paul.
"This is
weird," said Homer. "Why's he doing this?"
"Wildstar
wants any one of us to be able to assume command ASAP if we're in battle and
any one of us gets killed," said Venture. "Homer, I wouldn't do this
if I were the Captain, but Wildstar's probably going to give you your turn at
some point."
"Now, let
me give you your grades," said Venture as he hit some keys on his console.
"All of you were in the nineties except for Voorhees at the tactical
radar. Todd, you only get an eighty-nine. You should be more alert next time we
have you on station up here."
"I'm
sorry, sir," said Voorhees.
Doctor Sane
showed up a moment later. "First Officer, we've completed our psychiatric
examination of Mister Hartcliffe as to his fitness to stand trial."
"And what
have you learned?"
"He's
ready for Court-Martial, sir," said Doctor Sane. "I'd recommend that
the Court-Martial board begin his trial tomorrow before anything else can
happen. I'd have them do it today, but we can't do that with Nova on that
survey mission around the site of
"Thanks
for letting me know," said Venture.
Down in the
brig, Bryan Hartcliffe sat moping in nothing but his boxer shorts. Now, he had
no writing instruments, no books, no glasses...nothing except for the minimal
underpants he had on, and he ate his meals under the watchful eye of a Marine
guard and a medic and had to return all of the plastic utensils when he was
done.
He heard a
bang on the door. "Mister Hartcliffe, you have a visitor," said a
cold voice. "Stand to attention."
Hartcliffe
came to attention but smiled a little as the door whizzed open and Angie was
revealed.
"Hi,
"Yes?"
"I'd like
to give our marriage another shot. I've heard you still might have a career
after all of this is over with, so I wanted to say that I forgive you for all
the asinine stuff you've done in the past few weeks. Permission to hug the
prisoner, Sergeant?"
"I'll
grant it just this once," said the big African-American guarding
Hartcliffe. "Just don't pass the man anything, Mrs. Hartcliffe."
Angie then
hugged
"Thanks,"
said
"God
knows why, but I do," she said, hugging him tighter.
"Break
the cinch," snapped the Marine. Angie stepped back. "By the way, I've
heard you go on trial tomorrow,
"Hmmh,"
he said. "Hope they give me a chance to prepare a good defense..."
"What do
you mean?" she said.
"I want
to be me own lawyer."
"Oh...
"I
would..."
"Please,
"Maybe I
won't," he said. "Dunno."
"Your
time's over Mrs. Hartcliffe," said the medic. "Mister Hartcliffe,
drop your skivvies and bend over to be searched."
"Goodbye,
"Bye,
Angie," said
"You
too," she said as she was led away by another Marine guard.
A while later,
a Jet Recon Boat bobbed in the
"IQ-9,"
said Captain Wildstar. "I've decided I want you to stay with the ship but
keep in touch with us via UHF radio in case we need assistance, he said. He had
on his mask, wet hood with built-in headset, breathing mask and regulator with
the appropriate radio mike, as well as a weight belt, divers' knife, gas gun
and mesh carryall bag. He was putting his swim fins on over his own wet bare
feet.
Nova was
already in the water; she had on an identical setup, but she carried a spear
gun, and, of course, she also had the all-important map. "Remember, you
two have only sixty minutes' worth of air," said IQ. "Do what you
have to do quickly, and watch out for seismic disturbances. Be careful."
"Thanks,"
said Nova over her radio uplink. Derek joined her in the water a moment later.
"It is warm," he said, feeling the ocean on his bare legs.
"Yes, it
feels good! But this is no pleasure dive. Let's move as quickly as we can,
Derek."
"Good
idea," he said. "I'll swim point."
They released
in air in the buoyancy bladders in their belts and went down beneath the waves,
with Derek leading the way in his white and red wetsuit, followed by Nova in
her gold and black wetsuit.
Underwater,
the area around
"How do
you like the view?" asked Derek.
"Beautiful,"
said Nova in awe. "We didn't go down this deep when we dove off our island
the other day..."
"Considering
we had on nothing but snorkels and ordinary swimwear, we couldn't go that
deep," said Derek. "I think I see Arandia up ahead."
They looked
down.
"Where
did
"Down
there, by the mouth of that cave," said Nova softly. "They
said...they said I was going to have my wedding night with all of them in
there."
"Not a
nice place," said Derek.
"They
said they were going to just...strip me...and make me service them right on the
floor of the cave," said Nova. "They were sort of starting to cut my
uniform off when the quake hit."
"That's
why you looked disheveled when you were rescued," said Derek as they swam
past the cave.
Nova just
said. "Uh-huh..." in a depressed voice. As she looked at the cave for
a moment, one of her swim fins struck something. With dust drifting up against
her toes, which were exposed in her swim fins, she picked up the
growth-encrusted object. She looked at it with curiosity, and then a gasp of
revulsion escaped her lips.
"Nova,
what's wrong?" he asked.
Nova just
silently held up the object; with the growth off, it was revealed to be a
crumbling human skull.
"I just
found
"How do
you know it's him?"
"The
pattern of the fillings and dental work," she said, looking at the teeth.
"I still remember it. He had pretty bad teeth. I helped Doctor Sane work
on them once."
"Should
we take him with us?" said Derek quietly.
Nova looked at
the skull...it was crumbling away as she held it. "No," she said.
"The seas of Iscandar have most of him now...let this much of him go back
to its resting place," she said as she let go of the skull.
"So, if
things were different..."
"I'd be
buried down here, too," said Nova. "Let's get out of here, Derek.
This place is a graveyard. Almost like that shipwreck I investigated."
With bubbles
going up around them, they swam on.
Finally, after
about twenty minutes, they had entered the lost city of
"What we
need is right here," said Nova. She flicked on a small light at her belt,
and Derek followed her towards some submerged file drawers.
"First
epoch," murmured Nova softly. "First era, tenth century," she
said as she scrubbed some gunk off one of the labels on the drawers. "It'd
be in here."
Nova and Derek
pulled the drawer open; all sorts of bubbles and dust came up.
The
crystalline tablets were intact.
"I can't
see much on these except for a few runes," said Derek.
"They're
holographic; that's why," said Nova. "We'll have to put them in the
reader back in the Great Library in
"Now we
just have to hope that we can read these and that Aliscea can make sense of
them in the next few days," said Derek.
"I hope
so, too," said Nova. She gave her husband a quick hug underwater.
"This is the first glimmer of hope that we can stop the Dark Lord. Let's
go!"
After Derek
secured his tablets, and Nova secured hers, they began to swim out of the
library. Then, with a few kicks of their fins, Arandia was left behind in its
watery grave. The couple slowly began to head for the surface.
But, as they
swam along, Nova felt something go around her bare calf. She gasped, and looked
down.
Some
Iscandarian sea creature, which looked like an aquatic version of a Protozoan
of Pluto, had Nova in its grasp.
"Derek!"
she cried.
"Are you
all right?"
"It's
heavy. Pulling me down! Luckily, it's not stinging or anything...I don't want
to use the spear gun on it unless I have to! A spear would kill it."
Artwork:
"Nova Underwater" Based upon artwork from "Space Pirate Captain
Harlock" computer-altered by Frederick P. Kopetz
Derek got his
cue. He fired a dart from his gas gun at the creature. When it hit it, it let
go of Nova, writhing before her vigilant eyes for a moment before it became
drowsy thanks to the injection of anesthetic and was carried away on the warm
currents of the blue water. The diving lantern at her belt shone against it as
it drifted off; it would have looked beautiful if it hadn't been a threat.
"That was
a close one," she said. "I don't like this."
As if to
punctuate her point, the island shook. They felt the tremor underwater, and saw
a few diamond pebbles collapsing around them.
"Derek,
this whole place is coming down!"
"I
know," said Derek as he swam harder.
"This is
getting too damn close for comfort," said Nova.
"Yeah...too
close," replied Derek. "Luckily, nothing else alive is around."
He read his chronometer. "We have fifteen minutes' of air left. Let's get
out of here."
Nova nodded,
watching her husband's toes flex in his swim fins as his strong legs propelled
him away. Nova followed, pleased for the exercise; she liked swimming a tad
more than Derek did.
However, she
was to have plenty more exercise in a moment.
"Derek,"
she cried as something grabbed the swim fin off her right foot. "Are you
playing games?"
."I'm
ahead of you," he said irritably. "Nova, what's..."
Nova turned
her head and screamed.
She was
looking right down the mouth of a shark.
She turned as
fast as she could in one swim fin and one bare foot. The shark snapped at her
bottom. She undid the safety on her spear gun and flipped around
"Derek!"
she cried. "HELP!"
Derek swam up,
just in enough time to see the brute snapping at the front of her wetsuit. It
tore a rip in it, and Nova thrashed and struggled as she tried to get a bead on
the creature; it was hard to see because everything was bubbles. Her leg and
one buttock were also bleeding from nicks; the shark grew more enraged as it
smelled Nova's blood.
Another shark
came along and pulled one of Derek's swim fins off. Then, it attacked his
wetsuit, ripping it open at the stomach in almost the same place that Nova's
suit was torn. In rage and anger, he turned, firing a gas charge at the shark
that was attacking him. The plechette hit the shark,
and, in a moment, it took hold; the groggy beast got away. Derek then turned to
help his partner. Nova just barely evaded her shark as it came at her again.
With gritted teeth inside her mask, she fired her spear gun at it. The spear
went through the creature, killing it just before it killed Nova.
Derek looked
her over and tried to comfort her in the water.
"It's all
right," he said. "Nova, honey, it's all right. My God, your clothes
are torn..."
"Yours
too, hon. Damn these creatures!" she cried. "At least I'm alive...and
I still have the tablets."
"Nova,
let's go..."
Finally, after
a while, they both broke the surface near the Jet Recon Boat.
"You took
too long," said IQ-9. "I was getting worried about both of you.
I...Nova...your...suit is...torn...nice..."
"No
cracks," yelled Nova. "Shark almost got us! Look at me! I'm...I'm
bleeding!"
"It's all
right, Nova," said IQ. He tried to comfort her with a hug.
Nova pushed
IQ's hand away from her exposed and cut abdomen. "IQ, please...it
hurts!!"
"Please
let her go! We're all right," said Derek. He and Nova got into the Jet
Recon Boat with their tablets with IQ's help and got rid of their swim fins,
tanks, and weight belts.
"What was
that other creature, Nova...before the shark?" asked Derek.
"I think
that was just a Dellanz," she sobbed as Derek cleaned her wounds
with materials from the first-aid kit. "Ouch!"
"You
okay?"
"Yeah..."
said Nova in a pained tone of voice.
"A
Dellanz?" asked Derek. "Uh, what's that?"
"A
stingless sort of jellyfish, Derek. They're native only to Iscandar. They're
curious but harmless. I met one once while diving here back in 2200. Luckily, I
had one of your gas guns on me that day. I should have brought one, but I
thought you should've taken it. I was worried about sharks...like the sort we
met down there!"
"Like
him?" pointed out IQ-9.
Nova gasped as
a huge, gaping mouth opened near the Jet Recon Boat. "Not again!"
"Your
blood must have started a feeding frenzy!"
"Get us
out of here...my GOD!" cried Nova.
Derek closed
the canopy in a hurry, and he started the engines. The boat roared away at its
full speed, soon outrunning the shark before it gained enough speed to lift off
out of the water.
Nova winced as
the boat bounced around.
"Are you
in pain?" said IQ-9. "Both of you are bleeding."
"No, I'm
getting a big thrill out of this!" said Nova in a very sarcastic
voice as tears ran down her cheeks. "YES, I'm in pain!" she cried as
she held her torn wetsuit closed. It was a bit difficult, since it was torn a
little more than her husband's was. "You don't know what it's like to be
in pain and embarrassed, Tinwit."
"Actually,
I am embarrassed," said IQ-9 as he turned his visual sensors away.
"Why,
IQ? I mean, you're always trying to look at me," sobbed Nova as she held
her suit closed, trying to keep decent.
"I am strong,
and I have to help the Captain protect you. I am very embarrassed that I have
to see you like this," said IQ in an almost morose tone of voice. "I
wish I could go somewhere and leave you two alone with each other."
"Why do
you say that?" said Derek while he dabbed at a nick on Nova's cheek near
her nose.
"I see
that she likes being touched by you. That is why...."
An angry Derek
then reached for the robot's emergency switch (it was the central knob on his
back in a row of three) and shut him off.
"There,
that'll stop the damn Tinwit!" said Derek.
"I wish
we could go away...make the whole world go away," said Nova as Derek held
her while he tenderly removed her torn wetsuit.
"we
can...we can go to our villa...in private."
"Thanks.
You can fix me up there," she said with a sniff. "Thank heavens I
left some clothes there the other day."
At that, with
IQ-9 "asleep", Nova held her husband as she began to help him out of
his wetsuit…
Later on that
day, back on dry land, Helmeyer, Alex, Derek, and Starsha stood in the Great
Library in
Aliscea
noticed that Nova and Derek had changed back into their uniforms again; she
wasn't sure where they had gotten them from, since she saw they had left in
wetsuits. She thought, Maybe they had them on the island at their place? Neither
Wildstar had mentioned anything about the shark attack, of course. Queen
Starsha shivered a little in her light, filmy dress as she looked at Helmeyer. I
know...Aliscea said it's necessary for us to have their cooperation...but,
still...the thought of a Gamilon walking on Iscandar, after all that has
happened...the idea makes me sick!
"There's
a vulnerability right there, in the warp transducer circuit," said Astra.
"See? It'd be right near the surface of the artificial planet at that
point. They would need to have that open to serve as a cooling vent."
"Even
Ekogaru couldn't armor that," said Aliscea. "In my memory, I
mean...the three thousand years' worth of memories I have in my head in the
Pellian Matrix, is the memory of an engineer of Ekogaru's who turned back to
our side five hundred years ago. Before he committed suicide since he couldn't
live without the Dark Lord's warped "feedings" from other worlds, he
told us that this vulnerability would be right near the Phased Density Cannon
deep inside the Fortress. He thought a direct hit of enough energy into that
accursed gun would bring down the entire Fortress. These plans prove it."
"So what
do we do?" said Starsha.
"Queen
Starsha, there were techniques in your tablets to mask our life-forces from
Ekogaru. Just show me how to use those disciplines, and I have a plan. We can
lure him to Iscandar by making him think the planet is dead. When he is close
enough, I can psionicially attack the Fortress and Ekogaru through his
Cannon."
"So what
role would the Star Force play in all this?" said Derek, who felt a little
odd in his Iscandarian clothes.
"A
diversion, along with Desslok. If his space fleet, or a good part of it, is
lured away into battle, it can't attack Iscandar," said Aliscea.
"That'd leave me free to do my work with Paul as moral support here on the
planet while you fight. Could that be arranged?"
"I guess
we could," said Derek.
"We may
have to sacrifice ourselves to buy time for Aliscea to do her work," said
Nova. "We might never see home again."
"I know,"
said Derek. "And we'd better get back to the ship."
"Okay,"
said Nova.
Derek nodded.
"Yeah. Let's go. General Helmeyer, we'll be back in a few minutes."
"I
understand," he said.
About a half
hour later, Derek and Nova returned to the library. "What you were
saying," said Paul. "Are you saying we might all have to die?"
"Yes.
That's part of the oath we took. But at least Earth would be safe," said
Derek. "General Helmeyer?"
The Gamilon motioned
them outside for a moment. A park was near the library, and it looked quite
beautiful. "Desslok, I believe, would understand. We would sacrifice
ourselves, if it came to that, to allow our peoples to live on. But, I assure you, Captain Wildstar; Gamilon would put up
enough of a fight to ensure, if possible, that neither you nor Leader Desslok
would have to sacrifice themselves. As for me, I've already reconciled myself
to the possibility that I could die in this war. But, together, our peoples
could assure a future...a future of some kind, for both Gamilon and
Earth."
"Thank
you, General," said Derek quietly.
Sandor came
up. "Wildstar, it's time to return to the ship to begin that fleet
exercise."
"Good
luck," said Helmeyer. "I hope that both of our sides get a good
workout, as you call it."
"Thank
you, General," said Derek.
At that, he,
Nova and Sandor returned back to the Argo.
I hope we
have enough time to beat them...and win, thought Derek.
Indeed, time
was beginning to run out.
TO BE
CONTINUED WITH ACT THREE: "Aliscea's
THERE
ARE NOW 89 DAYS TO THE ARRIVAL OF EKOGARU IN EARTH'S SOLAR SYSTEM
To return to the Introduction to the Rikasha Incident please click here