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


ACT EIGHT--CARUFAX


I. MEETING WITH THE BOLIVIA

Space Battleship Bolivia

Near the Wishing Star of Voton

Friday, April 9, 2202

1300 Hours Spacetime


Captain Jorge Peronada smiled as his squadron approached the Wishing Star of Voton.

Now, we're almost there, he thought. Soon, we shall see what the Argo looks like after her long, long journey.

Walsh sat up at his post. "Sir, I have Captain Wildstar on the line."

"Switch him to visual."

The signal switched, and Peronada saw Wildstar standing up at the Combat Station to greet him. Derek had a peacoat on, but, otherwise, it looked to Peronada as if he was serving as his own Combat Group Leader. That's strange, thought Peronada.

"Captain Jorge Peronada, I assume?" said Wildstar

"Yes, I am Captain Peronada. You're right on time, Wildstar. How has it been out there?"

Wildstar took a deep breath. "Not that good, sir. We've met the enemy; many, many times. As a matter of fact, you can still see the damage on my bridge. My Combat Group Leader is in Sickbay being fitted with a bionic leg. Yvona Josiah, who is now a cyborg of the Technomugar, recently attacked us with a large Technomugar space fortress known as a Goraizu Fortress. It was a huge ship; a very heavy space battleship. I have a lot to report to you."

"I see."

"I'll be pulling up alongside your ship for the duration of our rendezvous. Would you like to set up docking tunnels?"

"Yes, of course."

"Then, we shall be seeing you soon. Thank you, Captain Peronada."

Wildstar cut off. A moment later, the radar officer on duty said, "I've captured the Argo on radar. She's approaching at slow speed. Switching to video panel."

"My God," murmured Westlake. "They look like they've been through utter hell."

Petersen muttered. "They look terrible."

"They look so beat up," said the radar officer.

Peronada snapped to attention and saluted. A moment later, so did the rest of the bridge crew.

"Walsh, send an order throughout the task force for all hands to salute the Argo. They deserve it."

"Yessir," said Walsh.

Moments later aboard the Valkyrie, both Captain Denise Carroway and Eager were on their feet saluting with the rest of the crew.

"Damn! I'm almost glad I wasn't aboard," said Eager. "Look at her! She's so damaged!"

"I wonder if that's the way we're going to end up," murmured Carroway. "That is, if this task force even makes it to Iscandar and back. How did they even warp her that far?"

"The Argo's a tough old ship," said Eager. "We've taken her through worse before."

"Yes, but it looks so…tired now."

"She'll look better once she makes port for a few days. She's on her way home."

"And you'd better be going, too," said Carroway. "I'll hate to lose you."

"I know."


A while later, the Argo and Bolivia were linked together by lines and two docking tunnels.

On the Argo, two Marines presented salutes as Captain Peronada and a lovely young woman in EDF blues with long black hair stood together in the docking tunnel. Two others stood behind them.

"Permission to come aboard for all of us?" asked Captain Peronada.

Todd Voorhees, who was serving as Officer of the Deck, intoned "Permission granted, sir…ma'am. May I ask who the young woman is?"

"Senior Lieutenant Maria Vasquez Peronada," she said with a smile. "You may call me Mrs. Peronada. I'm the Bolivia's Navigation Bridge Commander, and I'm aboard the Bolivia as part of a personnel experiment that Earth Defense has extended to the Fleet. I'm pleased to be with Jorge on this cruise. Would you escort us to Captain Wildstar's cabin? Behind us, we have two others. Captain Denise Carroway of the Valkyrie, and Lieutenant Christopher Eager."

"I'm a guest," said Captain Carroway. "This is my first visit to the legendary Argo."

"And you're a…skipper?" asked Voorhees.

Denise rolled up her eyes. "Of course I am. I'm the captain of the Valkyrie. We've seen combat, too."

"I was her First Officer," said Eager. "But now, I'm comin' home."

"Eager!" yelled Voorhees, laughing and slapping his back. The Officer of the Deck promptly picked up a phone and placed a quick call. "Hey, Becky," he said. "Let everyone know that Eager's back! This is great!"

"Looks like you got a homecoming," said Carroway. "Sir," she said to Captain Peronada. "Shall we finish boarding?"

"Why, of course," said Voorhees. "Sergeant Hassan, escort them to the Captain's Quarters."

"This way," said the tall Space Marine guard.


A while later, (while looking at the damage to the foyer of the Argo's Captain's Quarters, only some of which had been repaired), Hassan tapped at the hatch. "Captain. Your visitors."

"Enter," said Wildstar's voice.

Eager, as junior-most officer, opened the hatch. Peronada was pleased and surprised at the sight of Captain Wildstar standing there in his peacoat, and Lieutenant Wildstar standing there in her favorite pink dress and sandals. It looked as if Nova had just finished laying a lunch out on the small table in the cabin.

"Welcome aboard, ladies and gentlemen," said Captain Wildstar as salutes were exchanged and formal introductions were made. "The four of you can sit down at the table; Nova and I have seats over here by the desk."

"Where's the bunk, sir?" asked Carroway.

"It folds down," said Derek. "Right now, it's up."

"So, you're the famous Nova Wildstar," said Carroway while looking at her. "I've always wanted to meet you and your husband." One thing that surprised Carroway was how ordinary the legendary hero and heroine looked when one met them in person.

"I've heard about you," said Nova. "And everything I've heard has been good, Captain. Congratulations on your new command."

"Thank you," said Denise. "Of course, my real rank is Lieutenant. By seniority, you probably outrank me by a few weeks, ma'am."

"But you've had more time commanding a ship than I've had," said Nova. "And I know it's a tough job. Oh, Eager! Glad you're back. Don't let me think I'm neglecting you!" she said with a low chuckle while she gave Eager a quick hug.

"Nova, you got a bandage on under this dress?" asked Eager as he returned the hug and touched her arm.

"Yes. Just a little battle wound," she said with a slightly pained look clouding her face for a moment. "I'll be all right, Eager. Thanks for asking."

"Welcome back," said Derek as he gave Eager a quick pat on the shoulder. "Looks like we'll have to get you back into a proper Star Force uniform before you report to the bridge."

"I can take him down to Supply in a few minutes," said Nova. "It won't be too bad as long as I'm back to Sickbay by 1400 to help Holly get ready."

"What's the occasion?" said Maria Peronada. "Surely you didn't put on a dress and heels for us, ma'am?"

"We're having a wedding on board ship at 1500," said Captain Wildstar. "You're all invited."

"Great excuse for a party," chuckled Nova. "I'm the matron of honor. Funny; this'll be the second wedding I've been to as a bridesmaid since I got married."

"Sit down and eat with us, Lieutenant," said Peronada.

"I was a bit… busy," said Nova as she squeezed Derek's hand for a minute.

"Both of you," insisted Maria. "You both look a bit famished."

Derek and Nova looked at each other and then took some sandwiches and coffee. They sat down together at Derek's desk, facing their guests.

"So…uh…it looks like you've seen some action," said Captain Peronada.

"You could say that," said Captain Wildstar. "Have you been briefed on the threat of the Technomugar and the Rikashans?"

"I have been," said Jorge. "But I didn't know how pervasive or vicious the threat was myself until we had that battle at Procyon on the way out here. Did the Commander brief you on what happened?"

"He did. It was interesting to hear about your short-lived truce with the Cometines."

"Yes; I was surprised myself by General Devat's actions," said Peronada. "I have the feeling he's probably reporting this threat to his superiors by now. I wonder if they think the Technomugar are a threat to them, too?"

"It'd be interesting to find out," said Captain Wildstar. "Who led the attack at Procyon?"

"An Yvona Josiah," said Captain Peronada. "Isn't she the traitor who ran from Earth and joined them?"

"She is," said Derek.

"What's wrong?" asked Denise as she looked at Nova, who had just gone pale.

"Yvona attacked us, too," said Nova. "It was just a while ago…and I was Officer of the Deck then on a night watch. Before the Captain could get to the bridge, I had just barely managed to begin beating off a frenzied attack by that woman."

"Excuse me," said Maria. "This sounds personal. Have you met her before, Nova?"

"I have, unfortunately," said Nova. "Before she defected, Yvona was one of my mother's older sisters. I was nearly killed the other night by my own insane aunt."

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry," said Maria.

"How crazy is she?" asked Denise.

"Mad as a hatter," said Captain Wildstar. "She tried to attack us at our own housewarming before she defected. That was the last time we saw her face-to-face."

"Until those battles, Derek," said Nova. She finished her sandwich and looked at the chronometer on the bulkhead. "I'd better get going with Eager. I'll see all of you later."

"Take care," said Captain Carroway.

"Be careful," said Maria.

"Take it easy, Lieutenant," said Captain Peronada.

As Eager got up, Nova said, "Oh, I have nothing to worry about except IQ-9."

"You have one of those old robots on this ship?" asked Carroway.

Nova nodded. "This one's base AI programming has gone a bit funny. I think I've trained him not to pick on me anymore, but he can be very unpredictable. He likes to do really rude things, and he has a horrible crush on me. It can be a bit embarrassing when you're married."

"I once heard about a Ninth class robot like that who thought he was an opera singer," said Maria Peronada.

"I heard about him, too," said Nova. "Italian arias?"

Maria nodded.

"Never met him," said Nova. "See you later. C'mon, Eager."

"Be sure you don't kiss him next," teased Derek.

"Derek, you're impossible!" giggled Nova. She wanted to throw something small at Derek to tease him for his silly comment, but she didn't think it would be professional in front of her guests. "Watch him, sir," she said to Captain Peronada. "He enjoys bad jokes."

"So do you, Nova," teased Derek as the others smiled at the young couple.

Maria looked at them, chuckling to herself while she thought, Oh, Captain Wildstar and his wife are so cute! They make such a lovely couple! And they're still newlyweds, too!

"Mine aren't as bad as yours, Derek!" said Nova.

"Bye, guys, just in case Nova kidnaps me and I don't come back," said Eager. "You see, everyone, she looks sweet, but she's really been up on charges five times for various bizarre misdeeds with the ship's cat!"

"Oh, you! Shut up!" teased Nova as she playfully cuffed the back of Eager's head, while deciding to forget about professionalism for a moment.

"Nova, you got a mean right, mah head hurts!" teased Eager.

"You deserved that, Chris," snapped Nova. "By the way, Dash is in Sickbay," she added in a more serious tone of voice. "Wanna visit him after we get you fixed up?"

"Sounds great," said Eager as they stepped through the hatch.

"They sound like old friends," said Captain Peronada.

"They are," said Derek. "Just like all the old veterans on this ship. That first one-year trip to Iscandar really bonded all of us."

"And you two got married because of it," said Maria. "How romantic. You fell in love very fast, I'll bet."

"It was more like a slow burn," chuckled Derek. "She loved me for months before I acknowledged it and saw her as more than a buddy I liked to pal around with. Another guy…my best friend, matter of fact… loved her, too, but she let him down easy and they're like brother and sister now. Even though we've had our spats, all three of us get along great."

"Do you mean the famous Mark Venture? The man who came back from the dead?" asked Maria.

Derek nodded, flushing because he didn't like being reminded of Mark's death. "Thanks to Trelaina, we saw a miracle take place here on this ship. And thanks to Aliscea of Pellias…"

There was a tap on the hatch. "You rang?" said a quiet voice.

"Come in, Aliscea," said Derek in shock. "What's up?"

The others stared in surprise at this woman in a black dress.

"I felt Ekogaru again for a moment," said Aliscea. "Then, the feeling faded. He's stretching his foul mind out towards us yet again."

"May I introduce you to our guests?" asked Captain Wildstar.

"Thank you, but I know who they are already. I felt them come aboard."

"You…felt them…?"

Aliscea nodded. "Your ship, Yamato, I shall call her, has her own life force. Some here are dead, and some are living. I know all of the living aboard her, also some of the dead who sometimes visit her. I have met your Captain Avatar, I have met the ancient Captain Kosaku Ariga who was her last master when she was a sea-going battleship; oh, I have met with so many of them. I have even foreseen some of those who may board in the future if we live through this. Interesting what Captain Ariga thinks. He is a little bemused that all nationalities are now aboard his old command, but he understands that Yamato belongs to all of Earth now, not just to Japan. He does not agree with Captain Avatar's renaming of his old ship; they occassionally argue in a kindly way about it."

"You have a way of making the fantastic seem commonplace," said Carroway.

"My woman, every day that you rise from bed, you walk aboard in a Universe filled with miracles, magic, and power. You are separated only by the thinnest of veils from Glory inexpressible that would cause you to fall to your knees in awe, or Horror unspeakable that would nauseate you far worse than a charnel house filled with bones and corruption. I can pierce these veils as easily as you women can look through a bathroom shower curtain. That is why I look so grave at times."

"You look a bit like Nova," said Captain Peronada. "Coincidence?"

"Perhaps. You could say I am of fire and the sky; the stars, the black void expressed in the black raiment I usually wear, with feet sandaled like a slave as a mark of humility. I am of the sky. Nova, on the other hand, is of the Earth. She is of life, growing things, secrets found under the leaves of plants, and she is a healer of the psyche and frame. There is good clean earth under her young feet, and clay on her fingers, wisdom in her bones, and her eyes see more than you guess. In my pride, I thought I was the Dark Lord's Antagonist. Maybe she is. Maybe all of you are."

"What do you mean?" said Derek, who was shocked by this news.

"When Yvona attacked your ship the other night, she was flaming with Ekogaru's Wrath. I felt it even in my dreams and awoke, quailing, as my psionic guard was down. I thought that we were done for and I told Paul that. But, whether it was through the strength Yamato's spirit gave her, or through some power she holds but is not aware of, or through the favor of the One Himself, Nova did not quail at seeing her aunt, who was acting then as the Mouth of Ekogaru himself. There was no fear, and she fought the threat, unaware, I think, of the forces she was resisting. So did you, when you took command. Love is itself a force. Your love for Earth, I think, and for each other, the love everyone on this ship shares for each other and for this ship…that force is something I think he might begin to fear even more than he fears me. And, lately, I have felt the energies within me shifting."

"Yes?" said Derek. The others were speechless at this.

"Yes. And if my Matrix of power is shifting, perhaps it will leave me, and pass on to this ship. And perhaps I must leave you for a time. I do not know. It remains to be…seen…" said Aliscea as tears ran down her cheeks. "If you'll excuse me…"

At that, Aliscea turned on her heel and left, quietly sobbing as she stepped out of the cabin.

"What was that all about, sir?" asked Captain Carroway.

"I'm not sure I know," said Derek. "Really. I'm not sure I know…uh…she's kinda confusing. Great to have around, but…confusing."


II. MARK AND HOLLY'S HAPPY (SAD) DAY

Space Battleship Argo

Near the Wishing Star of Voton

Friday, April 9, 2202

1430 Hours Spacetime


In Mark Venture's cabin, Captain Derek Wildstar was busy straightening Mark's peacoat as he stood at attention.

"Now for the boutonniere that Nova made," said Derek. Mark gulped and his eyes filled with tears as Derek picked up the small floral arrangement.

It's just like the one she made when I met Trelaina, thought Mark. Only now, it's all white. It's so beautiful, and, please God, let my marriage to Holly last! Let it last more than a day! Let her survive that operation tomorrow morning?

"I'm not sure how to put this thing on you," muttered Derek. "Nova's much better at this stuff."

"I think you use that pin in the back…"

A tap came at the hatch. "Come in!" said Venture.

Nova came in, smiling, carrying a tray with a wine bottle and three glasses.

"Struggling with that, Derek?" said Nova in a soft voice.

"Yeah, I am."

"Let me get it for you, love."

At that, Nova set down the tray and walked up to Venture. Nova began to prepare the boutonniere, stopping when she saw Mark's hair. "Derek! Some best man you make! Don't you know how to comb his hair?"

"Uh…I'm not exactly good at that…"

Nova rolled up her eyes and got a comb. She began to work on Mark's hair. "I swear, the problems you and Holly are giving me today…she's struggling when I put on her headpiece, she says it tickles…"

"How does she look?"

"I got her fixed up really nice. Natalie helped, of course. Natalie loaned her the dress, I loaned her the shoes. I can't tell you more because I want you to be surprised, Mark."

"Yeah," said Venture in a choked-up voice as Nova finished combing his hair and put on his floral arrangement. "There! You look perfect. Here's one for good luck, then I have to fix your best man."

Nova then kissed Mark quickly on the cheek. "Holly will have to do better than that later on," said Nova. "Now for you, Derek! Oh…look at you! Your hair's a mess, you didn't put on the boutonniere I made you, and you're not wearing your hat! I love you, but sometimes…oooooh!"

"I hate that hat!" said Derek as Nova combed his hair. "Ow! Are you combing my hair or pulling it out?"

Nova giggled. "That's what you get when you use that plain shampoo."

"But I'm not using your girly stuff!"

"Watch carefully, Mark," teased Nova. "This will be you and Holly when she gets better. This is your…future!"

"No it won't."

"Yes it will, Mark," sang Nova. "She's even feistier than I am, remember? She told me to tell you that when she can walk again, she owes you a few swift kicks in the pants for being a jerk the other day to Derek and I. If it wasn't your wedding day today, I'd give you one of those kicks myself."

"What about me?" said Derek.

"You too! Wait until tonight!" cried Nova with a wink. Mark then knew she was teasing (but didn't want to let her husband know that yet)

"You sound pretty confident she'll get better, Nova," said Mark in a serious voice.

"Don't worry…we'll start fixing her up. And she'll be OK tomorrow, you'll see."

I hope she'll be, thought Nova. But I can't let on about the doubts Doctor Sane and I have, not when I'm trying to cheer Mark and Derek up because I can't stand seeing them looking depressed today.

"Done molesting my hair, Nova?" asked Derek.

"Yes, now for your cap…let's get it straight…"

"I look like the King of the Penguins with this thing on," sighed Derek.

"You look like a Captain; my Captain," said Nova in a soft voice. "You know, Mark, I really do love this big kid?"

"Big kid?" said Derek. "We're the same age."

"Girls mature faster than boys, and I'm five months older than you besides," said Nova. "Now, let's get these flowers on you, then you get a big kiss."

"Do I need to close my eyes again?" asked Mark.

"No," said Nova. "Watch this, Mark. This is a lesson on how you kiss Holly."

And at that, Nova gave Derek a big, loving kiss straight on the lips. They hugged, and held the kiss for a long moment as they embraced and rocked.

"Hey, Derek, if you wanna put your hand up her skirt, remember, you’re in my quarters, not yours!"

"Shut up!" both Derek and Nova said together as they broke the kiss.

Then, Nova stepped away and began to pour the wine.

"You know, Holly's been looking forward to this," said Derek. "You're nervous?"

"Yeah. Scared. Now I know how you felt back in December, Wildstar," said Venture.

Nova came up with the wine tray. "You should've seen him after I rescued him from his bachelor party with that commando raid. Remember that?"

"Yeah," said Venture. "We forced him to come, and we were expecting to see a stripper come out of that cake, to tease him a little but, instead, it was you, all in black like a commando with ninja boots on. How'd you pull that off?"

"Lots of bribes in the right places," said Nova. "But that's a story for another time?"

"Where'd you take him?" said Mark afterwards.

"In my room, in my parents' house. I took him back to the hotel later."

"And what were you two to up to?" said Mark with a wink.

"Playing Monopoly, snuggling, and talking," said Derek.

"That's enough, let me tell the story later," said Nova. "I wrote it down on our honeymoon in first-person narrative one morning when he slept in." Nova recalled the memory, guessing that Mark didn't need to know that she was sunbathing in the nude in a hammock on their island while writing down her story in a notebook. "Here, guys, take your wine."

They did so, then Nova set down the tray and took her own glass of wine. "I propose a toast," she said. "To Mark and Holly Venture. May the two of you have a long, long marriage, long and happy," said Nova as her eyes brimmed with tears, "and may all four of us be together to celebrate our Fiftieth Anniversaries and many, many beyond!"

"To Mark and Holly!" yelled Derek. "Kampai!"

"Buono, guys!" sobbed. Mark. "That's Italian for "Great!""

At that, all three of them drank, unaware that within a few weeks, one, and then two of the three friends would not be there for a while.

"I hope my dress and shoes are okay, Mark. These are the best things I have on the ship that aren't white," said Nova as she corked the bottle and put it back in the ice bucket.

"You look gorgeous, Nova. It's all right," said Mark.

"You know Derek and I wanted to wear matching black tuxedoes at your wedding," said Nova. "Mine would have had slacks, and black pumps or sandals, just enough so you could tell us apart."

"Maybe we can do that after we get home and Holly's better," said Mark. "We were discussing redoing this in church somewhere in New York so my family could show up after the war's over."

"That's a good idea!" said Nova. "Derek, you'd better help me find a formal shop when we get home. Got that?"

"Yeah," said Derek with a smile.

"You know," sobbed Venture. "I've said this before, but, I love both of you guys so much. We had that argument, but you two are the best friends a guy could have!"

"Thanks, Mark," said Derek. Then, both Derek and Nova hugged Mark.

A moment later, they left to go to the starboard side observation deck, where the ceremony would be held.


At 1500 Hours….

"I wonder how this is gonna look," said Hardy.

"I'm sure everything is set up to look its best," said Conroy. "Nova did a bang-up job with those flowers by the podium."

"Yeah…she did," said Eager, who was now back in his green and white Star Force uniform for the first time in months. "Wish I coulda stood up there with Venture."

"I think he wanted this to be small," said Homer. He quailed a little at Rosstowski's glare. "No offense, guys."

"No cracks today, please," said Aliscea as she shivered with her shawl over her shoulders.

"Are you all right?" whispered Paul.

"I'll live…"

Up on the stage, near a podium, there were several pots of flowers. The podium stood in the center of the stage; Derek stood at one side of the podium; Nova stood by the other side, facing the podium.

Yamazaki, who was now the Officer of the Deck, got up to the podium and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, the ship's Chaplain, Rabbi Greenberg."

The chaplain, wearing a white Jewish prayer shawl over his Living Group uniform and usual yarmulke, came forward and took his place at the podium.

"Today, we are here in the sight of man and God to join a couple who have served lovingly in our midst for all of this cruise. As the Wishing Star of Voton, before us, is said to grant wishes, let us all wish for a happy union and full recovery for these two. Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce the Groom, Commander Mark Venture, our Deputy Captain."

The EDF march played softly on the stereo system as Venture walked forward, alone, trying to keep from crying as he came up the white aisle in his navy blue peacoat and Star Force uniform. He wore an ascot and the boutonniere that Nova had pinned on his earlier.

Finally, he took his place, letting a tear run down his cheek as a lump gathered in his throat.

A moment later, Mendellsohn's "Wedding March" played on the stereo system as the doors at the after part of the observation deck opened, and the bride came forth.

Holly was being carried by IQ-9, who was escorted by Doctor Sane. In spite of the fact that she had to be carried in, Holly Parsons made a most beautiful bride.

She wore a thin, simple halter-topped gown in white trimmed with lace at the bottom, with a garland of flowers around her forehead, and a white ribbon holding her flaming red ponytail in place…for the most part. Some of the ponytail ticked the back of Dr. Sane's head as they walked, making the old doctor laugh in spite of his tears.

At her feet, a pair of white sandals (borrowed from Nova) could be seen; Nova had decorated them with some of the same small flowers she had made Holly's garland out of. Holly was smiling, even though tears ran down her cheeks.

Holly shivered a little as IQ-9 stopped before the podium. Mark looked at her with tears in his eyes and whispered. "Holly, you look gorgeous!"

"Thanks, Mark. I'm glad you're happy," she said. "IQ, bring me closed to Mark. I want to hold hands with him through this."

"Sure," said IQ in a quiet voice. The little robot, observed Maria Peronada from her place in the spectators beside her husband, was on his best behavior.

In the crowd, Diane Henson and Tatiana Lubyanska smiled at each other, shyly letting their hands intertwine just as Mark and Holly joined hands to be married.


The ceremony was brief and simple, and took all of ten minutes. Mark and Holly gave each other rings presented by the Rabbi; rings that had just been made in the Dynamic Do-All the night before; Derek and Nova would get the engagement rings they had loaned Mark and Holly back after the ceremony was over.

Finally, for a poignant moment, after Rabbi Greenberg said to Mark and Holly, "By the power invested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife…" IQ-9 tenderly passed Holly to Mark. Then, he held her in his arms, and cradled her softly.

Rabbi Greenberg then said. "Commander Venture, you may now kiss Mrs. Venture."

Tears ran down their cheeks as the happy couple shared their first kiss as man and wife as Mark stroked his bride's smooth, bare back. After they kissed, Holly whispered to Mark, "Mark, my love?"

"Yes?"

"If I don't live tomorrow, please see to it I'm buried in this outfit? It's so beautiful!"

"Oh, God, don't talk like that, Holly!" sobbed Venture under the sound of the crew's applause.

"I'll try not to," she said. "You know I asked Nova to make our role at the reception short since I'm not feeling so good. Can we have our dance right away?"

"Sure, Holly…" anything you want," said Mark softly. "Today, you're the most important woman on this entire ship."

"Hey, Nova?" whispered Derek as he wiped away his tears.

"Yes?" sobbed Nova.

"Can I take off my hat now?"

"Go ahead," said Nova with a sweet smile.

Derek removed his hat. Then, he turned around and he and Nova saluted Mark and Holly as the crew applauded again.

"How are they going to dance?" asked Conroy.

"Yeah!" said Bryan Hartcliffe. "She can't bloody walk!"

"Shhhh," said Angie angrily as she slapped Bryan in the back of the head.

Mark and Holly walked together in front of the podium, with Mark still tenderly carrying his wife. Then, they held hands and began to "dance" to a contemporary song in a most romantic dance, with Mark carrying his wife all throughout the dance as the crew applauded.

"Hey, Derek, Nova…they look like you guys that time up on the first bridge when she had her coma," said Eager. "They look so cute!"

"Thanks," said Nova.

"They look very romantic," said Sandor. "Wildstar, I hope this works out for them. Venture's had too much heartbreak lately."

"I hope it works out, too," said Derek. "I couldn't bear to see anything happen to them."

"Even though Venture married a cripple who's probably no good in bed now?" snapped Sakamoto.

"Why you…son-of-a-bitch!" yelled Wildstar as he went for Sakamoto.

"No, Derek, don't!" cried Nova as Wildstar grabbed Sakamoto by his shirt.

"Why the hell not? You heard what this idiot said!"

"There are better ways, Derek. Let him go!"

"Looks like you got me a reprieve, Missus Nova, thanks!" laughed Sakamoto.

"No you didn't get a reprieve!" snapped Nova as she came between her husband and Sakamoto. Derek noticed that Nova's eyes were burning and brimming over with tears; a very dangerous combination. Derek wisely stepped back.

"What do you mean?" said Sakamoto as everyone stopped to watch the fracas. Even Mark and Holly had stopped, fearful of the outcome.

"Just this," said Nova smartly.

A second later, she deftly pumped one of her skirt-clad knees up into his crotch as hard as it would go. Sakamoto fell to the deck screaming.

"Arrrghhh! Nova! You ruptured me, you damn...!"

"Good," said Nova with a sarcastic smile while the flabbergasted guests suddenly applauded.

From the back of the hall, Carroway laughed and yelled. "You go, girl! Can you teach me that move? I could use it on my boyfriend Jeff!"

"Now, if you can walk, Sakamoto, get your sorry ass out of this wedding!"

"I'll get you," he muttered as he crawled away.

"Threats to a superior officer, Sakamoto?" said Wildstar. "She does outrank you, you know."

"I…uh…heck…" said Sakamoto as he left.

"Nova, are you all right?" said Derek.

She nodded with a smile. "Just takes the right twist of the knee to do that. At weddings, you need a little finesse and class in dealing with rude guests. Isn't that what you showed me in my martial arts training?"

"Remind me not to mess with you when you burn the toast at home, Nova! And be careful with that knee?"

Nova smiled and mussed up Derek's hair while Mark and Holly finished their dance.


Later on, after Derek had briefly danced with Holly in his arms and Nova had twirled Mark around the floor for a bit in a dance that she said Holly had set up, Mark and Holly left the hall after sampling some of the small wedding cake.

They finally ended up in Mark's cabin. Mark noticed that some of Holly's things had been moved there already.

"We're in our cabin, now," said Mark as he gently put Holly on their bed.

"I'm tired," said Holly.

Mark sat beside her on the bunk, tenderly removing her shoes. She kissed him, and smiled as he tickled the bottom of her foot, even though she was unable to feel it.

He ran his hand tenderly up her bare leg under the gown. "Can you let me know when you can feel that?"

Holly nodded. "Right there," she said softly.

"How do you feel?"

"Mark…when you were carrying me around?"

"Yes?"

"I began to want you then…the way you were touching me when you carried me…"

"Oh, Holly!" he sobbed. "Can you…?"

"Yes, even though you'll have to help me. Before I fall asleep, I want you, my love. I want you."

"What do you want on for your wedding afternoon, honey?"

"Nothing at all. The bandage on my stomach isn't that big. Just…be gentle…?"

"I will be," said Mark.

And, at that, he began to undress his bride…


The wedding lunch began to break up a while later. Derek, Captain Carroway, and Captain Peronada walked together to his cabin while Nova, twirling in her dress, gave Maria Peronada a tour of the Argo.

"So what else do we need to discuss?" said Derek as they walked.

"That transfer," said Carroway. "I need a new navigator-pilot."

"Yes, that," said Derek.

"And any advice you can give us for that trip to Iscandar?" said Captain Peronada.

"Yes," said Wildstar "Be careful. Be damn careful. Both of you guys."

"So I see," said Captain Carroway. "That sounds encouraging."

"It's not supposed to be. The journey will be very dangerous now."

"I know," said Peronada. "But, still, we have to liase with Iscandar and Gamilon. I'm sure it'll be an interesting trip…but, Desslok has to get that master defense plan. That's our number one job…getting it to him so he can help us."


Later on, Holly Venture, now naked except for the bandage on her stomach, purred as Mark pulled her closer and held her next to his naked chest.

"It's been too long since I've been with a woman like that," he said softly.

"How long?" purred Holly. Mark's lovemaking had made her so happy that it even seemed to be helping her back. Also, she swore he could feel his touch a little further down her thighs now as he ran his hands over her.

"Trelaina and I had one interlude like this where she was undressed. Just one. And we didn’t actually join like you and I did. The rest was…in my dreams."

"With her?'

"Yes. We only made love like this in my dreams, Holly. Most of my sex life has been in my dreams, you know. I was with my girlfriend in the Academy…maybe …twice. This is only the third time I've done this?"

"Did you dream of her? This girlfriend of yours?'

"Uh yes, I did, Holly. Along with Trelaina….and…well…and…"

"Who?"

"I…don't want to say…Holly. You…uh…know her too well."

"I won't tell," said Holly in a soft voice. "But, I think I can guess who?"

"Okay, you guess."

"You've dreamed about being with Nova like this, haven't you?"

Mark's eyes filled with tears and he nodded. "Yes. You're the first human being I've told this…"

"But you're not the first one who knows," said Holly softly.

"Who…who else knows?"

"She does."

"Nova knows? When? I never would have told her…"

"When you were delirious, after Trelaina brought you back, you talked in your delirium. She knew, of course. She saw you. She was taking care of you at the time. She said you dreamed of both her and Trelaina."

"What did I do?"

"I don't think we should tell you," said Holly with a soft smile. "But, Nova said she is quite aware of what a man can do in his dreams when he dreams of a woman. She knows dreams are dreams, and she doesn't blame you. Let's just leave it at that."

"Oh, okay," said Mark with a blush. "So what do you want to do now?"

"We both have the day off. I want to sleep…with you, my love. My husband," sobbed Holly.

"My wife," said Mark.

On that gentle note, they both slowly went to sleep.


On her ship, Captain Carroway was settling down to work with her new navigator-pilot, a pilot taken from the Black Tigers known as Lt. Felicia Keefer. Denise was beginning to miss Eager already as she settled down to work with the new, unfamiliar woman with light blond hair.

After the Bolivia and her task group left to continue their journey towards the Sanzar system, the Argo continued on her journey home.

As Eager was busy re-learning the Argo's functions, Captain Wildstar himself took the helm at about 1900 hours that day after he and Nova had both gotten back into their regular shipboard uniforms. He, Nova, Eager, and Sandor had joined forces to calculate the long warp back to the edge of Earth's solar system. After warping to the Brumus orbit, the Argo would make a short warp to the Saturn-Titan station for debriefing and an inspection the next morning before Holly's operation at 0700. Then, they would leave for their final warp back to Earth at about 1300 that day.

"Attention all hands," said Captain Wildstar as he sat down at the Argo's helm with the Wishing Star of Voton burning in the bridge windows before him. "We will be commencing the first in a series of three space warps that will take us home. All breakables are to be secured and all hands ready for this space warp. We will be warping in three minutes!"

The clock ticked down as Wildstar, Rosstowski (who sat beside him at Dash's usual post), IQ-9, Nishina (who sat at Rosstowski's usual post), Homer, Yamazaki, Eager, Sandor, and Nova all secured their safety belts.

"Ten seconds to warp," said Derek. "Ten…nine…eight…seven…six…five…four…three…two…one…zero. WARP!"

Derek pulled back the appropriate lever, warping the ship himself for the first time in God knew how long. He had warped once or twice on the way to Iscandar, and had a basic knowledge of how to pilot the Argo.

A minute or two of distortion passed. The Argo then rematerialized near Brumus. The warp was successful…the Argo, at last, had returned to its own solar system after a long, long voyage.

"We're almost home," said Derek.

"Whew," said Rosstowski. "What a warp! When do we do the next one?"

"In two hours. Destination: Saturn-Titan, guys. Does anyone have to stay up to get ready for that inspection?"

Every hand on the bridge went up.

"Well everybody, looks like it's gonna be a long night."

"Yeah, you can say that again," said Nova.

"What do you mean?" said Eager.

"My locker is an absolute mess."

"Oh, don't worry," said Derek. "We'll get it looking good, between the two of us."

"I have to put some time in, too," said Rosstowski. "Aliscea's stuff is all over the place."

"Has she ever done an inspection?" asked Nishina.

"Not for many years, since she was an officer in the Pellian Fleet for a short while."

"And I have that operation in the morning," said Nova.

"Where's Holly being worked on?" asked Sandor.

"The base hospital," said Nova. "Doctor Sane and I are going to transfer her there first thing in the morning. Then, she'll be medevaced back home as soon as her condition stabilizes. Venture said he's catching a private cruiser right back out there right after we get home and debrief so he can be with her until she's shipped back home."

"He's taking leave?" asked Derek.

Nova nodded. "Poor Mark. At least now that he's married to her, he'll have no trouble seeing her under these conditions."

"Yeah. And if we have to go out again in a week or two for those wargames, we'll need a new and experienced Navigator-pilot until Eager finishes his on-the-job training to take over," said Derek.

"I'm sure they can arrange someone," said Sandor. "You'll see."


III. PASSICAGLIA AND FUGUE IN C MINOR (REPRISE)

Space Battleship Argo

Saturn-Titan EDF Base

Saturday, April 10, 2202

0800 Hours Spacetime


"Not bad," said Captain Wildstar as he and Rear Admiral Terrell Spears of the Third EDF Fleet walked down a passage on the Argo together. They had just completed their inspection of the Argo and her crew, and the ship had passed with flying colors. Everything looked perfect, all the way down to Nova's locker.

"You look tired, Captain," said Spears with a smile as he adjusted his glasses.

"Well, I was up all night with my wife like a cadet cleaning up our quarters and sprucing up our uniforms. Of course I'd be tired, sir."

The two men stopped not far from a lift. Admiral Spears laughed genially, with his eyes twinkling behind his glasses. "Well, that goes to show you that not even Captains get out of inspections in this Fleet. I'll send a good report to the Commander. Of course, those repairs are still ongoing, aren't they?"

"Yessir," said Wildstar. "We could use some dock time."

"Well, you'll have some time here, and I think you'll have about a week on Earth before those wargames next Saturday."

"I wonder what our role will be?"

"They haven't announced who will be commanding the Red Fleet aggressor force, yet. It might even be you, Captain."

Derek smiled to himself. Even though he knew this was just a preliminary to a much worse real battle that would be coming up, he sort of liked the idea of honing his skills and the skills of the Star Force by having the Argo act as a Fleet flagship in an exercise. Derek was considering a few tricks that he could use in such a situation when Natalie Fisher, still in an operating room cap with shoe covers over her low shoes, came running up in a minor panic.

"Fisher, what's the problem?" said Wildstar. "I was just talking with the Admiral."

"They had an explosion on the base near the fueling area for the fighter squadrons!" she cried. "We can't transfer Mrs. Venture to the Base Hospital for that operation like we were going to; they need all the operating rooms on the base for injuries from the blast, and they're pulling some of our medics!"

"What?" said Wildstar.

"When did this explosion happen?" demanded Spears while he grabbed Fisher by the shoulders.

"Just twenty minutes ago," said Fisher. "Captain. Dr. Sane wants you in Sickbay…"

"Sir, request permission to leave," said Wildstar.

"Granted," said Spears as he and Wildstar exchanged salutes. "I have to find out what's going on myself!"


Derek ran into Sickbay just as he found Sane slamming down a phone and ordering four nurses, two medics, and Doctor Bradford to leave the ship. Around Sane stood only Nova, Fisher, IQ-9, and one other nurse. Holly Venture lay nearby in a transport cocoon; it looked like she was going to be moved.

"There you are, Wildstar," said Sane. "That young lady's already prepped for surgery, but we're gonna have to work on her here. If we get any more calls, please tell Doctor Kitara for me that I can't send any more help! I need one other doctor and four nurses on this ship to cover emergencies, and I need everyone here in this room to work on Holly, who is already under for this operation. Got that?"

"I sure do," said Derek. He looked over at Nova, Natalie, and the third nurse, who was known as Ensign Quiana Parker. Parker was a replacement from the base who had just joined the Star Force last night. "You've got everything under control?"

Nova nodded, tightening up one of her shoe covers in the process. "We're just about ready to go, Derek."

"How does it look?" he whispered.

"Tough. But we'll do all we can to get Holly fixed up. Tell Mark that," said Nova as she pulled her operating room mask over her face. "Quiana! Gloves!"

"Wildstar," said Sane. "It looks better than it did last night. We gave her drugs, and the spinal edema went down a bit. If we can get that debris out of her spine and keep her stable during the job, we’ve got a very good chance."

Derek turned away as the third nurse began to help glove Nova for the operation. IQ-9 stepped under a sterilization field, and Derek saw Natalie pushing the gurney towards the operating theater as he left Sickbay.

As Derek stepped out, the hatch locked and the indicator went red behind him.


Captain Wildstar walked up to the observation theater level for the OR. The shades had just been opened, and Derek could see Mark Venture standing with his hands against the window looking down into the OR with anxiety in his face.

"Is she gonna make it?" muttered Venture.

"I talked with Doctor Sane. He said they have a good shot, as long as they can keep her stable and get the debris out of her spinal cord," Wildstar said as he watched the silent ballet of the nurses and Dr. Sane below while they worked on Holly.

Dr. Sane's face was scrunched in concentration as he worked on Holly. Curtains and an operating hood covered her form, and Wildstar could see little wisps of smoke under the bright lights as Dr. Sane worked with his cutters and cauterizing instruments. Nova stood near him handing Sane instruments and acting as his "third hand" inside the deep incision. She stopped now and then to help Sane suction out a bleeder or to set a clamp or retractor to push something aside so that Dr. Sane could reach further inside the incision to work.

Now and then, Natalie reached in to help them as they worked. She and Quiana went back and forth, monitoring various pieces of equipment along with IQ-9, and getting instruments from a second tray as needed.

"It looks so confusing in there," said Venture.

"They know what they're doing," said Wildstar.

"I hope so," said Eager. "It'd be so sad if something happened to…"

"Yeah," sobbed Venture. "It'd be sad…"


In the meantime, the base was turning into chaos as black Rikashan planes showed up to make bombing runs.

Only a few Earth planes got off the tarmac out in the cold before the tarmac itself was heavily strafed. It soon looked as if the explosion had been no coincidence; a running land battle was soon going on with EDF forces that seemed to be disloyal, and with Rikashan troops who had shown up.

To the dismay of some of the ground commanders, it looked as if some of the lighter-skinned Rikashans and R'Khells had actually gone into battle wearing EDF uniforms to confuse actual Terran troops.

On the Argo, klaxons were going off as Rosstowski, the OOD, was calling general quarters. Soon, Captain Wildstar (and, reluctantly, even Mark Venture) had to leave the operating theatre behind to run to the bridge.

As Sane reached into Holly's wound, the ship vibrated beneath them, and he pulled his hand out.

"I'd better be careful, but I can't stop now; we're in too deep, so we've got to finish what we started!" he said.

Quiana Parker stiffened.

"What's wrong with you?" asked Nova.

"Shouldn't I go to my combat station?" said Parker in a quavering voice. "Scared I'll drop an ink pen or something."

"As long as we're in surgery, this is your combat station," snapped Nova. "You heard the Doctor; we can't stop now. Prep 30 cc of ViNox in case we need to add it to this IV."

"Ma'am, I'm scared. Those bombs are gettin' close."

"Think we aren't scared, Parker?" barked Natalie Fisher. "We're stuck down below here…we've just got to trust in our shipmates above us in those gunhouses and on the bridge. That's all we can do now."

"Parker, get me that ViNox," snapped Nova.

"Yes, ma'am," said Quiana.

Another bomb went off, and Parker's clog-clad feet skidded on the deck a little as she ran for the medication fridge.

She's got no space legs whatsoever, thought Nova. How did she last this long in the Fleet?


When Wildstar got to the bridge, followed by Venture, he found that Rosstowski was busy. "Sir, I launched Lubyanska's and Hartmann's squadrons from the upper two fighter bays to help shoot down those planes. Pulse lasers are tracking the rest of the enemy planes now. Open fire?"

Derek nodded.

"Pulse lasers, fire!" yelled Rosstowski.

The Argo's pulse laser batteries began to go off, blowing up some of the Rikashan planes that were on the attack, and scattering others.

Derek then watched as Todd Voorhees worked the cosmo-radar. It looked as if the Black Tigers were doing a good job taking care of the Rikashan raiders; the enemy obviously hadn't expected such a quick response. "Looks like there's a fleet off our bow, 300 kilometers over the base. Luckily, looks like Admiral Spears is taking care of it with Third Fleet."

"Signal from the enemy," said Homer. "Switch to video?"

Derek nodded. He looked up at the screen and snarled slightly as a familiar but hated orange face came up on the screen.

"Baron Cha'rif," hissed Derek.

"Greetings, Wildstar. A little sabotage? A little probe of your defenses, Captain? Did you like being forced home by Yvona?"

"We had other reasons for returning home, Cha'rif. And we'll be fighting you again soon. Remember that."

"Ohh…it's such a pity that His Lordship has other plans for you. I wish I could help, but I can't get in the way of my God. Remember that, Wildstar."

"Remember what? Your sarcasm? Your big mouth? Your sadism."

"No. If it wasn't for Ekogaru, I wouldn't even want to invade this planet. As I've said, you're decent people and I like you."

"You sure treat your friends weird," said Wildstar.

"If you live through this, I hope we can get together and have a nice talk, free of the burdens of war. For now, I am your enemy, unfortunately. Most unfortunately. Understand that to defy Ekogaru's will would be heresy for me. On Rikasha, sadly, they still crucify people for heresy. I shall be going, now. I see I have done enough to slow down your effort. Until we meet again…"

Just as Third Fleet began to roar in, most of Cha'rif's fleet faded off Voorhees' radar screen. "Dirty bastard!" he said. "He's warped!"

"Just their planes and two carriers are left," said Eager from the Combat Radar. "And those planes are runnin' home like rats abandoning a sinking ship!"

"Thanks, Eager," said Venture. "Nice to know."

A minute later, Voorhees said. "Now the last carriers are gone. Third Fleet only got in one shot."

"It's over?' said Derek.

"Base Command is saying they've killed or captured all of the Rikashan troops and Earth traitors," said Homer. "They're reporting that the battle is over, with heavy damage to the landing strips."

"Rosstowski, call home the Black Tigers," said Wildstar.

"Roger," he said.

"All hands, this is the Captain," said Derek. "Stand down from General Quarters and begin repairing any damage. We're still scheduled to leave the base at 1300, so work as quickly as possible."

"Damage control teams are already busy," said Sandor.

"So that's another raid," said Venture. "If it's been like that for Earth, no wonder it's so important for us to be home again, Derek."

"Yeah, you've got that right…"


A while later, Wildstar and Venture took up their vigil by the operating theatre. Luckily, it looked as if they were almost done; Derek could see Nova taking away a tray filled with glittering, bloody fragments of something as Sane worked. They waited in silence as the doctor and nurses finished.

About half an hour later, the light above the Sickbay door went green again. Venture ran down to the hatch as fast as his legs would carry him. He was there just in time to see Holly, still unconscious, being pushed out on a gurney by Natalie and Quiana. Inside the operating room, Doctor Sane and Nova were in the final stages of clean-up.

"It’s better than we thought," said Sane as Captain Wildstar followed Venture in. "Holly's going to be a while healing, and she may need a treatment from Aliscea in about a week after we put her in Central Hospital on Earth. However, I'm now 85% sure she'll live and 60% sure that we'll see more sensation and some movement in those legs. Possibly a full healing in a month or two, but these things can be tricky."

"You mean, my wife will walk again?"

"Good chance of it, Mark," said Nova as she finished scrubbing down a counter and sat down to pull off her paper shoe covers. The same white sandals Holly had been wearing yesterday at her wedding were now back on Nova's feet again.

"Thanks," said Mark as he gave Nova a quick hug. Derek followed it up with a slightly longer hug. "Good job, honey."

"Thanks. I don’t know where we got some of these nurses from, though. This one nurse I had in here…well, she's still as green as grass, Derek."

"Want some liquid refreshment, everyone?" asked Sane as he opened up a bottle of sake and held it up after he poured himself a large cup of the drink.

"Think I could use some, Doc," said Derek. He bowed as Sane poured him a drink, and then, he poured Nova a cup of sake. Nova then poured Mark some and put the bottle back.

"Let’s enjoy this," said Nova. "Cheers!"

Everyone else smiled and chugged back their sake. Times were dark, but, somehow, they had a feeling that things could only get better.

After all, they were almost home now. The voyage was almost over.


Later on that day, Captain Wildstar, Venture, Nova (who was now back in her regular uniform), Yamazaki, Rosstowski, Eager, and Sandor were gathered on the bridge with IQ-9 after the Argo had finally blasted off from Titan. The ship had just passed the orbit of Phoebus, and she was now pointing towards Earth. Dash had just had his cyborg leg attached, and he was still recovering in Sickbay along with Holly.

"Attention, all hands," said Derek over the shipboard intercom system. "We are now on course for our very last space warp back to Earth. We will warp here and emerge from warp near the Moon. Then, we will cruise home for landing in the Megalopolis, followed by a debriefing for the staff officers, and granting of shore leave later today. I would like to tell all of you that you've been a wonderful crew, and it's been a pleasure to serve with you on this voyage. We have been in space just a bit over three months, but it has felt like a lifetime…"

Bryan Hartcliffe sat in his quarters with Angie; they were packing their gear.

"Some of you may not be returning to serve with us; some of you will be…"

"I hope they don't really split us up," snapped Bryan as he hugged Angie. "Wildstar was threatening to transfer me off and keep you on the ship…"

"I hope they don't do that, either," said Angie with tears running down her cheeks.

"I would like to bid a fond farewell to those who will be leaving us" continued Captain Wildstar…

Down in the Voorhees' quarters, Todd held Becky's hand and said, "We'll both be leaving. I already know I'm going to go back to the JAG Corps while you're pregnant…"

"Yes," said Becky. "I guess I'll be at a ground post in the Navigation Bureau once we get home…"

"But we'll be together…"

"Yes…"

Wildstar continued. "And for those who will be staying," he said as he looked at Mark and his downcast expression (since Venture knew he'd be separated from his new wife) "I would like to wish them success. For, we have a tough job ahead."

Derek paused again, looking back at Nova. She smiled softly at him. He knew the smile meant It'll be hard, but we'll be together…

Yes… he thought in reply.

"Again, I'd like to thank you. You were a great crew, and we did a great job…but our work is not finished. Soon, God willing, we will be able to return here…and finish what we need to do to defend Earth…"

Derek ended, turning off the mike at his post for a moment. Behind him, the sound of the wave engine thrummed as he silently buckled his warp harness along with the others.

We're going home, thought Nova. Tonight, I'll be able to have a little bit of heaven in our own kitchen…the kitchen we barely got to use.

Another minute passed.

"Energy charge, 120%," said Yamazaki.

"Warp preparations complete," said Sandor.

"Coordinates locked in and set for the Moon," said Venture. "We're right on the mark on the dimensional graph…right near the intersection point."

"Prepare to warp," said Captain Wildstar from the Combat Station

"Ten seconds," said Venture. He opened his mike, and began the countdown. At zero, he shut his eyes, and, glancing at his readouts, which all looked normal, he pulled back the lever.

Captain Wildstar shut his eyes, expecting the usual brief surge of nausea as the Argo traveled into hyperspace for a minute.

Instead, the nausea hit hard, hard and fast.

What the? Derek thought as he opened his eyes and saw the weirdness of hyperspace roaring past at an incredibly high rate of speed. We shouldn't be going into warp that deeply if we're just warping less than one light-year to Earth! It feels like something's wrong!

The other crew members began to feel the same thing after a minute passed. In warp, it began to feel unpleasantly cold.

It's never been like this before! Nova thought as she opened her eyes and felt her hair flying behind her in something that felt like a great wind. Then, something hit her in the stomach.

Then, everyone heard a strange, disquieting sound.

Laughter. Laughter as cold as the grave. And organ music.

Paul recognized the tune at once.

Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor! Crap!

A thought from Aliscea immediately formed in his mind. It's him! He's doing this! That damn Ekogaru has just possessed the ship!

The Argo faded back into existence. Then, the bizarre sounds of warp began to fade, leaving only the headache-inducing hum that followed a space warp.

Around the bridge crew, normality slowly returned.

Derek looked up, opening his eyes as he raised his spinning head from his board. A familiar, welcoming blue planet loomed in the bridge windows.

"What the?" he said. "That was some weird trick! There's Earth! Granted, we're right in front of it…"

"Weren't we supposed to come out of warp near the Moon?" moaned Eager. "Looks like we overshot the mark a little."

"Venture, do you know what's happened?" asked Derek.

"Not sure yet," said Mark. "Instruments are all screwy…the astro-compass says…uh…"

Nova looked at the astro-compass and said, "Oh, my God! Either the compass is way off, or…"

"Or what, Nova?" said Derek.

Mark looked at the astro-compass again and swallowed hard. "That has to be off. Because, if that thing's right…"

"Yeah?"

"Wildstar, if the astro-compass is correct, we're way up the Orion Arm of the galaxy, near the core…and that's not Earth! If that's right…let me check my coordinates…"

The bridge went silent as Venture checked his coordinates. Finally, he said. "Wildstar! Come here and look at this?"

"Look at what?" said Derek. He got up, followed by Nova and Sandor.

Sandor looked, followed by Nova. "No…" muttered Nova. "Derek, look!" she said in a frightened voice.

"The numbers are all wrong," said Wildstar. "Sandor…?"

Sandor sighed. "This proves it. We're not near Earth, and the reason why is because something changed the coordinates right as we warped. But what…?"

"Engine room?" said Yamazaki. "Right…" he said.

"Sir, I have to leave," said Yamazaki. "The main engine's on fire!"

"What?" said Derek.

"Overloads," said Sandor. "I have to go. In the meantime, I suggest you find out where we are…"

Sandor ran off behind Yamazaki.

"What could have done this?" said Derek.

Rosstowski opened his eyes. "Aliscea said…he possessed the ship. She apologized…said her guard was down…said we'll have a long, hard road back home…"

"If we don't lose the ship…out here, over some planet we've never explored before," said Venture.

Derek banged a fist against his console in frustration and sat with his head slumped in his hands. He felt Nova's consoling hand on his shoulder, but it offered little comfort.

In two minutes, the Argo had gone from being on the last leg of her journey home to being marooned 40,000 lightyears away from Earth in unexplored space…

…with an engine on fire…and a possible 'abandon-ship' situation beginning to rear its ugly head.

And we can't even call for help! thought Derek. We're out of range, and the Gamilon relay satellite system doesn't even extend this far. Damnit to hell, our goose is cooked!


IV. CARUFAX

Space Battleship Argo

Planet Carufax

Saturday, April 10, 2202

1510 Hours Spacetime


The fire was finally put out in the Argo's engine room while the Black Tigers guarded the wounded ship, expecting an attack at any second.

"Well, it's bad," said Sandor later on. He and Wildstar were touring the engine room, which was a mess. "The main control boards are all burned up. Everything here overloaded when the ship was forced to do that 40,000 light-year warp in one jump. The power circuits aren't rated for that much amperage. It's a good thing we even came out of warp."

"Can it be rebuilt?" asked Captain Wildstar.

Sandor nodded. "It'll take time. Until we can repair the engine and the energy generator control circuits, though, we can't bring up the main engine to maneuver hard, warp, or fire the wave gun. Maneuverability will be the easiest thing to restore. We may still have older circuit cards around so we can bring the wave engine on line to warp in 24 hours, even though the warps will have to be smaller and at a lower power rating than we were capable of just a while ago."

"What about the wave gun?" asked Wildstar as he walked over a power cable. Behind him, someone was welding, repairing a stanchion that had been damaged in the fire.

"That'll be the hardest thing to fix," said Yamazaki. "We'll have to scrounge through parts bins to rebuild those boards in the dynamic replicator. If we can put the boards back together, I think we can make the wave motion gun good for only ten or eleven megameters' range, unfortunately. And it'll be at least one or two weeks' worth of work to fix it. That's at minimum."

"So, in other words, the ship's going to be partially crippled," said Captain Wildstar.

"Yes, sadly," said Sandor. "If Ekogaru did this to us on his own, he couldn't have thought of a better way to hurt us…and Earth, than to do this. At the very worst, we may be out of the war for a long time…and may not even make it to Earth before the Fortress does."

"Damn," said Derek. He made a fist, and tears ran down his cheeks.


Much later on that night, Paul Rosstowski had been looking all over the ship for his wife. He finally found Aliscea standing alone and rather depressed on the aft observation deck, gazing back at Carufax.

"My future is down there, Paul," she muttered. "My future and my past."

"You can't be thinking of going down there, can you?"

"I have to, Paul. I can't explain it, but HE is there. He and my damned father. This is what I've been hoping for over the past few weeks, since Iscandar. The chance to go toe-to-toe with our tormentor and the heart of the Rikashans' fanaticism. I have to destroy him, Paul! Even if…even if…I spend my life in the process."

"Aliscea, you can't…we…we can help you."

"I must, Paul. And you damn well know that. This is…goodbye…"

"No it isn't!" he said as he grabbed her wrists. "I'll go down there with you. Even if you have to die, let me go with you."

"Paul, your career…"

"To hell with my career," said Paul. "I can get you down there."

"I was going to go myself, with my power, but I can't take you. If you want to go…"

"Since I am going, I can steal us a space boat."

"But who's going to fly it?" snapped Aliscea.

The door of the observation deck whizzed open. Bryan and Angie Hartcliffe walked in, carrying their gear.

"Aliscea," said Hartcliffe. "We'll do it. And I've got a co-pilot. We both know how to fly a landin' boat. I got Tatiana Lubyanska to arrange clearance for us to leave under cover of a trainin' flight. Get down to the flight bay in the next half hour. Slip into landin' boat number Two in the Boat Bay above the main bay. Hide yourselves in there, and we'll bloody getcha down to that planet."

"How did you arrange this?" said Aliscea.

"Bryan and I know you," said Paul with a smile. "And so does Angie. Besides, we're all the Star Force's outcasts. No one will notice we're gone for a bit."

"Thank you," said Aliscea as a sad smile went across her lips. She hugged Paul, and then she hugged Bryan and Angie. "Thanks…everyone."

"Don't mention it," said Angie.

"Anythin' to help you, luv…and end this war," said Bryan as he hugged Aliscea.

"Did you tell Captain Wildstar?"

"Hell no," said Bryan.

"Good," said Aliscea as tears shone in her eyes. "I'll see you guys in that boat. Let's go, Paul."

"What do you want to do, before we leave?' said Paul.

Aliscea only smiled at him. He immediately read her thought….


A while later, Paul and Aliscea were naked and together in ecstasy in their bed. They knew this could well be the last time they would ever be together, so they had decided to make it as beautiful as possible.

The air was musky; they were both desperate and hot as their joining continued. Aliscea kissed him, with her tongue feeling like fire in Paul's mouth. He kissed back, cooling the fire of her tongue with the warm wetness of his tongue. Their spirits also joined, each anticipating the other's move without words; thought to thought. They didn't speak; they didn't need to speak. When they were done, they fell against each other, spent, sobbing, exhausted. But, they were filled with joy.

"If this was our last time, it was great," said Aliscea.

"Don't say that."

"It might just be…"

"No!"

"Who knows?"

"Please?"

"I'll see what we can do," said Aliscea as she kissed her husband. A rueful smile clouded her features.

But, deep down, she knew it would be the last time…at least for a while.

"Let’s get dressed, Paul. We have a lot to do."

"Civilian clothes?" he said.

Aliscea nodded. "I have some normal things here that Natalie Fisher gave me."

Paul stood, throwing his abandoned Star Force uniform shirt into a pile. "I guess I'll never wear this again," he sighed. "Let me help you get dressed?"

"Thanks."

"I love you," said Paul.

"I know that. I know that."

At that, Aliscea put on her undergarments with Paul's help, followed by a white peasant-style top, and blue jeans. She rolled up the jeans to lace up her thin sandals, and then rolled them back down again. "Guess I'm dressed."

Paul pulled on jeans, plain boots, and a light blue polo shirt. "Guess I'm dressed, too. Let's go."

They walked through the door, not giving their cabin a backwards glance. They did not expect to return.


A while later, they waited quietly in the landing boat, hiding out in the small head. The Hartcliffes were just outside, making light talk with Tatiana as they prepared for their flight.

"You'll go out just before I take off with Third Squadron; got it?" said Tatiana. "You're cleared for a quick flight around the ship and a few maneuvers. You're not cleared to go down towards the planet; Wildstar is arranging a survey that will begin checking out the planet in the morning. "

"Got it," said Angie.

Bryan just nodded and gave a thumbs-up. At that, Tatiana left, unaware of the presence of the Rosstowskis in the lower part of the boat.

"Are you two leaving us like I asked?" said Aliscea.

"Hell no," said Bryan. "We do this, we're finished, too. Aliscea and I have civvies in that bag up there. You know that Wildstar will court-martial me all over again once I get back to that ship; me and Angie, too. We're sticking with you, man. Sticking with you to the bitter end."

"Thanks," said Paul as tears ran down his cheeks.

"We've got takeoff clearance," said Angie as she closed her helmet visor.

"Good," said Bryan. "Aliscea, you tell us where to go. Let's take off, man."

At that, Bryan smiled, shut his visor, and began to start the landing boat.


In Derek and Nova's cabin, Nova stood making some hot chocolate. She and Derek were in the middle of getting ready for bed, and they were sharing some small talk while trying to forget about the predicament they were now in.

"I can't wait until we get home, Derek," said Nova. "There was some artwork I was looking at in a gallery before we took off. Wouldn't it be nice in the living room by the conversation pit?"

"Hmmm," said Derek. "Yeah, guess it'd be nice."

"What about if we enlarge the garden, plant some tomatoes…?"

"Sounds nice."

"Are you all right, Derek?"

Nova ran over and hugged her husband. Derek released a deep breath. "Nova, you know we might never get home."

"But we can dream, can't we?"

Derek nodded. "Yeah. We can dream. Better than thinking about all of this stuff, I…"

Then, his communicator went off. Nova quickly zipped up her uniform while Derek said picked up the phone. "Captain's quarters."

"Wildstar, this is Sandor. We need you right away."

"What's up?"

"A landing craft that the Hartcliffes were flying just veered off course. They're refusing to answer us."

"What? Where are they going?" snapped Derek.

"Towards the planet."

"That's foolish. Did you try to contact Aliscea?"

"Sir, we just tried to contact their cabin," said Hemsford. "No answer. Permission to break in?"

"Granted," said Derek. "I'll be right there."

Derek hung up the phone. "Nova, you can stay up here. Just Hartcliffe up to some crap again."

"I'm coming with you."

"Nova, you look tired."

"I'm coming. I have a feeling about this…"

Derek looked hard at her, and then nodded. "Yeah, me too. C'mon."


Derek and Nova arrived together on the First Bridge a moment later. Sandor turned from his Officer of the Deck post in the Captain's chair to look at them as they arrived. "Look at this," he said, pointing to a display screen at his post. "The radar's just been punched up…they're approaching the edge of the atmosphere now."

Nova ran over to the Cosmo-Radar and looked over the shoulder of the Sergeant on duty to examine the pattern of blips. "They're over a small city of some kind near that small mountain range. It looks like Tatiana's flight is close to intercepting them."

Derek ran over to the Combat post. He asked Nishina to leave, and he sat down. "I've taken command," he said.

A moment later, Tatiana's voice came over the speakers. "Captain. The boat is approaching a populated area. They're refusing our demands to return. Seek permission to shoot them down."

"Denied."

"Denied?"

"We need to see what they're up to, first. Homer, punch me through to that ship."

"Yessir," said Homer.


On the landing boat, the radio transmitter light blinked again. Behind the hiss of the radio, the ship's klaxons were blowing as the regular crew ran up to the bridge to assume their posts.

"They're callin' again, luv," said Bryan. "Should I tell 'em to go to hell again, Angie?"

"There's a flight of Tigers getting close to us," said Angie. "Bryan, I don't like this."

In her Cosmo Tiger, Tatiana smiled grimly. "Don't like to do this, but sometimes, you've gotta do what you've gotta do," she said. "Captain! I'm locked on to the Hartcliffes!" She smiled as she looked at her HUD scope. "Seek permission to fire!"

"Hold that!" said Derek. "We have to see what they're up to, first. Got that."

"Aye, aye, sir," growled Tatiana.

On the boat, Angie said, "They're demanding we respond now!"

"Let me handle this," said Aliscea in a stern voice. She grabbed the microphone. "Hello, who is this?"

On the Argo, sweat began to run down Captain Wildstar's neck. "Aliscea, what are you doing there?"

"You know what I'm doing, and why I'm doing it. He has to be stopped. Somehow. If he is stopped, we have bought ourselves some time. Goodbye, Captain. You and Nova have been kind to me. Don't prosecute Paul or either of the Hartcliffes for this. They are just trying to help me. To help your planet."

"Aliscea, come back to the ship now! This is suicide!"

"Suicide is a refusal to stop our enemy. I can say no more. Farewell."

The band went silent. Derek banged on his console and yelled "ALISCEA!"

"Derek, her mind's made up," sighed Nova as she sat at her post. "We'll have to try something else."

"Wildstar, we'll have to retrieve them another way; a less lethal way," said Venture.

"And I think I know what we can do," said Derek. He switched frequencies and said, "Conroy, are you awake?"

"Stupid question," said Conroy. "What do you want?"

Another communicator went off. A second voice came up on the speakers. "Wildstar, Hemsford here. Aliscea and Rosstowski left a note. They've jumped ship!"

"Good. Now we know what's up," said Derek. "You get a squad of eleven ready. Equip them with Tokamak Gas Guns and other such non-lethal force. Get ready to follow my commands. Lubyanska, you and Conroy cover us."

"Right," said Lubyanska.

"What do you want me to do?" said Conroy.

"You know Nova's plane, with the life-sensor pods? Get it ready. Nova and I are taking a little midnight flight to find our runaways. Hemsford, when we find them, you get that squad down there. Got it?"

"Yessir," he said.


A while later, a single Cosmo Tiger flew into the dusk sky over Hartcliffe's last known location.

Derek was flying the plane so that Nova could concentrate full-time upon her sensors. "Four life signs!" she said. "Got them! They're eleven klicks to the south, Derek!"

"Good," said Captain Wildstar with a smile. "I'll just keep way back, and have Hemsford come around towards them from another heading, then…"

Then, Nova cried, "Oh, NO!"

"What?"

"Rikashan Heat-seeker! I'm discharging some chaff now!"

Nova flicked a switch. "Oh, no! It's still coming, Derek!"

"Crap…"


In the castle, not that far away, Ekogaru stared into his crystal ball while Yvona, Gralnacz, Marda of Rikasha, and Vergar muttered incantations while they danced around their Lord in black-cowled robes.

"Missile, missile of might and power," muttered Ekogaru. "Strike their engines! My Rikashan infantry servants, thank you for your aid!"

"Do you want them dead?" muttered Gralnacz.

"No, I want them to live," said Ekogaru. "But, I want them to come to me. Now, for a storm to bring down Aliscea…Ancient spirits of power…heed my demands!"

A strange green light came up from his crystal ball as the scene changed to the area around the Hartcliffes' landing boat.


"The wind's picked up!" yelled Bryan. "Strong bloody headwind! Help me, Angie…"

"It's him," muttered Aliscea. "He's trying to do this…Let me attempt a defense!"


Ekogaru laughed. "NOW BRING THEM DOWN!" he yelled.

He flicked his fingers.

Bang.

The missile hit the engine of Derek and Nova' s Cosmo Tiger. They ejected in the nick of time, just as the plane began to blow up.

The ejection seats shot them up and away from the explosion. Then, the chutes activated, and they began to drift down, noticing that the wind was blowing them apart, with Derek going off over one side of a small river, while Nova blew off along the other side of the same river.

The ruins of the plane hit the river, leaving a depressing pall of smoke over the valley. But, both Derek and Nova were alive.


Not far away, the wind blew. Black clouds had appeared, and a blinding rain had come up. A rain mixed with hail.

The hail bashed against the windshield of the landing shuttle while a strong blast blew them into a spin. Neither Hartcliffe could fight the spin…even Aliscea was unable to break the spin with her powers.

"The best I can do is let us down easy!" she cried. "Bryan, Angie, let go of the controls!"

They did.

A moment later, as Aliscea concentrated, the shuttle came out of the spin, and it landed with a right in the middle of the stream, more or less intact.

Bryan powered down the engines.

"Will this work?" asked Angie.

"No damage to the engines or wings or tail, and we still have power," said Bryan. "Bloody takeoff will require some more power, but, yeah, we can take off."

Paul opened the hatch. "We've still got power."

"No shit," said Bryan. "Power her down so the batteries don't go dead, huh? We can use this thing later after…well…after…whatever."

Aliscea stepped into the rain and the cold, running stream, ignoring the feel of the cold water against her near-bare sandaled feet. Lightning stuck in the hills, and thunder came overhead.

Another bolt of lightning came down, and an enraged Aliscea defied the lightning with a bolt of power that came out of her outstretched hands. Her power met the lightning and deflected it.

Then, she screamed at the heavens, "All right, Ekogaru! You wanted me here? You have got me here! But you will regret it! You, Ekogaru, shall regret it!"

Aliscea howled with rage as laughter seemed to rush up on the wind.


Captain Derek Wildstar stood in the river in the heavy rain looking at the drenched remains of their plane. He reached in, pulling a survival pack out of the mess.

In his helmet, his headset crackled. "Argo to Tiger 032! Captain Wildstar, please respond!" said Venture.

Derek said. "This is Wildstar."

"How'd you survive that?"

"Punched out…"

"Is Nova there?"

"She punched out and went over the other side of this river. I don't know where she is. Can you send search planes?"

"Negative," said Venture. "Conroy and Lubyanska just barely got back to the ship. Strong localized storm cell. We've lost five planes in this. Hemsford's boat just made it back to the ship."

"Do you know where Hartcliffe's boat went down?"

"We think they went down about twelve klicks away from you, towards the south. If you follow that river, you might find them."

"Thanks," said Derek. "I'll try to search for Nova for a moment before going on. I don't think she's too far away."

"Do you know what's going on, Wildstar?" asked Venture.

"No," said Derek. "But, one way or another, we're on this damned planet. I'll find some way for all of us to get off this planet…alive…and together. We've got a war to fight. Wildstar out."


V. CAUGHT!

The Vicinity of Pa'Cranda Village

Planet Carufax

Saturday, April 10, 2202

1905 Hours Local Time


"Nova?"

The rain was beginning to calm down in the near-darkness on Carufax.

"Nova? Where are you?"

Captain Derek Wildstar was looking around a grove of trees for some sign of Nova when he felt a hand tapping his shoulder.

"Hey, you!" roared Derek. In a moment, he wheeled around with his weapon out.

"Derek?" said a small voice.

Captain Wildstar stopped when he realized that he had his Astro-Automatic right in his wife's firm but defenseless stomach, clad in only her yellow and black uniform.

"Nova!" he cried, now with a different inflection of voice. Derek dropped the weapon in the mud and just embraced his wife in the dying rain.

Nova hugged him back.

"Where were you, Nova?"

"The ejection seat brought me down in a tree. Luckily, I'm good in trees. But, Ow…my behind!"

Both of them laughed. "Yeah, mine too. Were you in touch with the ship? How come you didn't call?"

"Radio's out in this thing," said Nova as she took off her helmet and tossed it on the ground. While the rain began to soak her blonde hair, both of them looked on as the cast-off helmet shattered into three pieces when it hit the ground.

"Huh?" said Nova. "I didn't toss it that hard!"

"It must have been cracked against something."

"That must be why it didn't work?"

"When did you hit you head, Nova?"

"It banged against a branch when my seat came in…"

"Looks like that helmet saved your life. Whew!"

"Yeah," laughed Nova rather nervously. She tapped the broken helmet with her booted toe. "Well, I guess it's better for a helmet to be shattered than my head! Where do we go now?"

"Easy. We go off to carry out our mission," shrugged Derek. "To find Aliscea. We've both had Ranger training, me in the Academy, you in ROTC that summer… What was the last heading you had on their boat?"

"About eleven klicks away, to the south. What'd the ship say?"

"Twelve klicks, to the south…"

"Call the ship to get a confirmed fix, Derek."

"Captain Wildstar to the Argo. Captain Wildstar to the Argo. Hello! Over!"

Derek got only static in his headset.

"Venture! Come in! Over!"

There was only silence.

"Well, either my battery's gone dead, or we're being jammed," said Derek. "Not bad. Now we're cut off from the damn ship."

"And it's getting dark," said Nova. "We'd better use what light we have left and start following them. Got a compass?"

"I've got mine."

"Mine, too," said Nova as she took a small compass off a pouch on her belt. "Well, shall we go?"

Derek nodded. "Well, let's go. I'll lead the way."

"Aye, aye, sir. It's been a while since I've done a land navigation exercise. Might even be sort of fun…"

"You know what I like about you?"

"What?"

"You can find some good in almost any situation, Nova."

"Thanks."


They followed the compass heading along the river, looking up as the clouds blew away and the stars began to come out.

"Looks like this planet has a moon," observed Nova as she looked up into the sky. "Nice and bright."

"Good. At least that'll give us some light," said Derek. "I think we're getting closer. Got the pedometer on?"

Nova nodded. "We've gone six kilometers so far. Want a drink?" She took a canteen off her belt and offered some to her husband.

"Thanks. Had enough presence of mind to get it off your ejection seat?"

"Yeah. What happened to yours?"

"It fell off when my ejection seat landed."

"Oh," said Nova with downcast eyes. "Good thing you weren't killed."

"Let's go…"

Derek turned, but, a moment later, a green burst of energy blasted out of the trees.

Nova tried to hit the dirt, but the energy beam caught her in the leg. She fell unconscious to the wet ground.

"NOVA!" cried Derek. Captain Wildstar drew his weapon, and angrily looked for a target.

He saw something moving in the trees, and fired. But, a moment later, a beam caught him in the back.

Captain Wildstar also collapsed to the ground like a fallen tree.

After Derek fell, a group of twelve armored Technomugar troopers came out of the trees. The sergeant took off his helmet.

"That's him," said the sergeant as he kicked Derek over onto his back. "That's the commander of the Argo."

"Good," said another trooper. "Let's finish him off."

"NO!" barked the sergeant. "Lord Ekogaru wants this lot alive."

"Wonder why," said another trooper "These organics look pretty damn small and undernourished."

"Yeah, they do," said another trooper as he tore Derek's shirt open.

"He looks good for his kind."

“Strip him and take inventory of his uniform and effects,” said the sergeant. “The skinny little female, too. We can brand them with their prisoner serial numbers later on in the dungeon where it’ll be more fun.”

"Fun! Especially with a hot iron! Wonder what she's hiding under this jumpsuit?" said another one as he roughly tore open Nova's uniform and began to strip her. Two other troops prepared chains and manacles.

The troopers laughed as two of them lifted Nova up before throwing her limp form onto a tarpaulin in the back of a Techomugar armored personnel carrier.

"Let's take them to the Castle Pa'Cranda," said the sergeant. "Let's take them right to Ekogaru."

The armored personnel carrier started as the troops got on board.

At last, Aliscea was about to meet Ekogaru face-to-face, as were her friends and allies.

But, they were prisoners of the Dark Lord, helpless, chained, and disgraced.

It was not quite the confrontation that Aliscea had desired…

 

END


The Storyline of The Rikasha Incident will be continued in the Next Tale: "A Wound (Like A Knife to the Heart)"


THERE ARE NOW 31 DAYS TO THE ARRIVAL OF EKOGARU IN EARTH'S SOLAR SYSTEM 


To return to the Introduction to the Rikasha Incident please click here