ALTERNATE
TALES OF THE STAR FORCE
STAR BLAZERS—THE
PRINCESS AND THE SURFER
Being the seventh part
of THE NEW COMET--- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz
This Act is being completed with the
Cooperation and Assistance of Derek A.C. Wakefield (as usual)---Freddo
ACT TWO: MURDER ON THE
NEW ORIENT EXPRESS
I.
A SEASON OF REST
Planet
Earth
The
City of
Friday:
May 8, 2207
1200
Hours: Local Time
It was a warm day in
Derek, Nova, Alex, and Sasha had taken a jumpjet from the Tokyo
Megalopolis west to
They were informed they would have Earth security watching them,
and they were a little afraid of the Italian Paparazzi in their own land.
Still, when they landed, the mob scene was fairly subdued. The
family gave a quick and friendly interview in the
Later that morning, they went shopping, Derek and Alex were
comfortable in their regular uniforms (although they soon left their peacoats
at the hotel because of the heat) while Nova and Sasha wore the shorts, tops
and sandals they had worn for the flight. The young women bought more in the
boutiques than the men did, and they wenr back to their hotel to change to
their new outfits; Nova wore a light black maternity dress, necklace and
matching flat black sandals she had purchased, and Sasha bought a white dress
and sandals combination. Derek and Alex were amused with their black and white
look, and they both observed that they somehow looked younger in their dresses.
Their first stop that morning was to be New Saint Peter’s, where
Nova and Derek were scheduled for a private audience with Pope Paul VIII.
No reporters bothered Alex and Sasha in St. Peter’s square as they
looked around the rebuilt, somewhat more modernistic-looking seat of
Catholicism and its allied Christian denominations of 23rd Century
Earth (who had signed a religious treaty of confraternity in Rome known as the
Abrahamic Ecumenical Compact of 2204, which was hoped would quiet some of the
inter-denominational squabbling that had led to the Josiahites’ violence) while
Nova and Derek had gone in alone to see His Holiness. Alex and Sasha had
actually been invited, but neither of them felt comfortable seeing the informal
honorary head of Christendom on Earth because neither of them subscribed to the
Christian faith.
So, watched by the reconstituted Swiss Guards, the young officer
and his daughter walked around the square looking at the artwork that had been
preserved.
“What’s that?” said Sasha as they stopped before an obelisk in the
center of the square. The bells of St. Peter’s began to ring noon as pigeons
took flight, scared at the sound of the bells.
“An ancient obelisk from
“My mother’s dynasty was old when this stone obelisk was new,”
said Sasha. “Amazing that someithing this old survived the planet bombings.”
“It is. Shall we go inside?”
“I don’t know if I feel comfortable in there,” said Sasha as she
looked at the domed, modernistic, basilica looming before them.
“Just for the artwork,” said Alex. “I’d like to see it.”
Sasha nodded. “Lead the way, Daddy…”
In an audience room inside St. Peter’s, Derek and Nova knelt and
kissed the ring of the elderly Pope, a Japanese Cardinal named John Ryusuke
Taguchi; the Cardinal had been elected and had taken the name of Paul VIII in
2203. He wasn’t the only prelate in the room; Derek and Nova were also
introduced to Imam Ahmed Ali, the titular head of Islam on Earth from
“It is an honor to meet you two young people,” said Paul VIII. “I
was hoping to meet with one of you ever since I left the
“Thank you, Father,” said Nova with a quiet simplicity. “I’m sorry
that the three of you could never manage to bring the Josiahites into the
Compact and end the open religious strife on Earth they have been causing.”
“As representatives of the three faiths that come from Abraham,”
said Imam Ali, “We were hoping that we could create a unity from diversity and
stop the terrorism caused by these Josiahites when we signed our compact,
Father,” said Ali.
“It is unfortunate that these rebels never joined hands with us,
Ahmed, my friend. I agree with you,” said the High Priest. “I mean, now, in our
times, with humanity again and again being threatened by alien invaders, wasn’t
it rather silly to be squabbling over the
“I’ve seen pictures of the
“We finally agreed that the
“We came to a consensus around the time of the Compact that
rebuilding the Temple would not endanger the Dome of the Rock, and would not
interfere with the Christian Church of the Teachings being built to the south,”
said Cohen.
“The Church of the Teachings being the place that we found where
Christ gave His last great discourse in the Temple Courts on Holy Week,” said
the Pope. “So, now we have sites sacred to Christianity, Islam, and Judaism at
last on the
“It’s a shame some of us are still like that,” said Derek. “Or
that some still won’t recognize those who are different…”
“You mean your niece?” said the Pope.
“Yes,” said Nova. “It’s such a shame that she feels less welcome
on Earth now because of what happened. She didn’t even feel like coming in with
us to meet the three of you.”
“Please assure her I am asking Allah to bless her and watch over
her. It is because of the kindness of her mother that we are even alive and
breathing on the surface now,” said Ali.
“May the Holy One watch over her,” said Cohen. “Thanks to the
testimony of my ancestors who suffered under the Nazis, I know what it is like
to suffer persecution simply because of who you are.”
“I want you to give her this,” said the Pope as he handed Nova a
small cross necklace. “She may not believe in Him, but I have blessed this for
her personally. Maybe it will offer her some comfort and protection.”
“Thank you,” said Nova.
“Now, our time runs short, gentlemen,” said the Pope as he looked
at the other two holy men that sat with him in the room. “Since it is my
understanding that they will be leaving Earth again soon to fight the Cometines
in what might be the decisive battle of the war, I would like to hear their
confessions, offer them my personal absolution, and then bless them before we
leave. Not to slight you, but this requires confidentiality.”
“Of course. We ask if we may bless you two before we leave,” said
Ali.
“We don’t mind, sir,” said Derek. “Thank you.”
“Bless you, my children,” said the Imam as he raised his hand in a
gesture of benediction and then began to pray in Arabic.
Inside St. Peter’s, Sasha and her father stopped to look at Michelangelo’s Pieta near the Altar of Saint Sebastian.
Both of them looked solemnly at the ancient and beautiful marble statue of the
dead Christ in the lap of Mary after the Crucifixion.
“Sad but beautiful imagery,” said Sasha. “Isn’t this statue ancient, too?”
“It is,” said Alex.
“I almost want to cry looking at it,” said Sasha. “She looks so sad…”
“I know,” said Alex. “This can move you even if you don’t believe in what
happened.”
Sasha nodded solemnly. “In so many of your tales here on Earth, there is such
an abiding sadness. And yet a hope. From what I know of this myth, this was
Good Friday. Easter Sunday turned out to be a very different story.”
“Every one of the tales believed in on Earth, most of them, have a hopeful
ending. Buddhism teaches Nirvana. These faiths teach Heaven. Our belief on
Iscandar teaches of a Unity with the All. We all believe there is something
beyond what we see…what we touch,” said Alex as, in the distance, a choir sang
in lonely counterpoint to the vaguely heard prayers of a bishop offering mass
at one of the new basilica’s side altars.
“I know there is,” said Sasha. “But it isn’t always pleasant…I’ve been
having…horrible dreams.”
“About what?”
“Deke being hurt,” said Sasha quietly. “Hurt, mutilated, killed. I hope that
I don’t end up holding his dead body in my lap like that….”
Alex sighed, not knowing what to say to that. “I can’t say it won’t
happen…the way things are going, I may not even get back to Iscandar alive.”
“Don’t say that, Daddy!” cried Sasha. “Please tell me you’ll be safe!”
“I hope I will be,” he said quietly as Derek and Nova came up to them. “Well?”
“We feel a bit better now,” said Derek. “He gave us a blessing, absolution,
and Communion before we left. You?”
“We were just looking at this,” said Alex.
“And praying Deke doesn’t end up like that…or Father,” said Sasha as she
wiped tears away from her cheeks.
“It’ll be okay,” said Nova as she hugged Sasha. “We’ll be fine and on our
way to Iscandar in a few days…”
“I hope so,” said Sasha.
Later on, after that solemn
early afternnon visit to the basilica, the four of them went to a beautiful
restaurant near the few remaining ruins of the Colosseum called Il
Guerriero Bello , Italian for "The Beautiful
Warrior". The proprietor had a slightly odd sense of humor; he had
decorated the place in a sort of gladiator motif, but most of the gladiators
were female. Alex had discovered the place years ago when he had served on
Earth before heading off on the Paladin for his date with destiny, and
he thought If the place still exists, Nova and Sasha will probably get a
kick out of it, given that they're both beautiful warriors.
As he guessed, both of them had
liked it, although Nova seemed a bit more enthusiastic about the Roman and
Tuscan-styled artwork than Sasha was. Alex wasn't sure if the Maitre'd had
recognized them or not, but it seemed that their private back room was quite
appropriate, since Nova and Sasha found themselves sitting in front of a
painting of Mother Town at night. It was one of the few departures from the
Roman motif of the place, even though the painting, incongruously, had a
gladiator's sword hanging over it.
"So what are we
getting?" asked Derek.
Nova looked across the
table at her husband and smiled; Derek could hear one of her new Italian
sandals tapping out a rhythm on the tile floor under the table as she thought.
"Anything with lots of meat in it, or simulated meat. I'm as hungry as a
horse tonight, and I sure know why!"
"Sounds like a good
idea," said Sasha. “I’m hungry too.”
"Surely you don't want
to get fat," teased her father.
“Excuse me?” said Nova. “I
am not fat. I am nearly six months
pregnant, Alex. There is a difference!”
“Sorry,” said Alex.
"Daddy,” said Sasha.
“I’m hungry! I've been walking around all day, and I'm really hungry,
too."
"Try the Manzo
toscano con i funghi, Sasha," suggested Nova.
Artwork Above: Nova & Sasha-
found long ago on the Web…I have no idea who drew it-but it is beautiful….
"What's that? I don’t
know any Italian, Auntie!"
"Tuscan Beef with Mushrooms,
if I remember my smattering of Italian right. I'm getting the Manzo Toscano
Dei Gladiators Supremo myself."
"You're gonna be
stuffed, little sister," laughed Alex. "If I remember correctly, they
give you everything but the kitchen sink in that dish. You even have some
calamari in it."
"Neat!" said
Nova. "I like that! Derek, you order that, too."
Derek sat considering while
Sasha said, "What's calamari?"
"Squid, hon,"
said Nova as she tapped her niece's bare knee where her hemline ended. “You
know, little sea creatures with tentacles…”
"EEEEEEEEWWWWW!"
cried Sasha as she made an awful face. "I like fish, and most seafood, but
not things with tentacles! Auntie, please don't make me look at your food!
What's gotten into you anyway?
Where's your usual veggies? I thought you’d like the fried eggplant?"
Sasha added to herself Aren’t you trying
to grow some eggplant in that garden of yours at home?
"They went Arrivederci
with the Roman breeze," said Nova. Nova then patted her stomach and
whispered, “They’re really kicking tonight, too…”
“Oh,” said Sasha. Then, she
laughed and poured herself a second glass of Chianti from a wine bottle
decorated with a wicker basket at its bottom. Derek nodded, so Nova also poured
him some, too. Nova, of course, was eschewing acohol as usual during her
pregnancy tonight; she had more than enough to drink with a big glass of fruit
juice.
The waiter (a human this
time) came along and they ordered; Nova and Derek had the same thing, Sasha had
the Tuscan Beef with Mushrooms, and Alex ordered a special ravioli dish made
with white wine, garlic butter, and rare spices. It was a difference he had had
with his brother since childhood; Alex tended to like more elaborate gourmet
stuff while Derek liked to shovel down whatever he could get his hands on. Nova
had given him a more slightly discriminating and elegant palate during the
seven years that they had both dated and then had been married. However, Alex
and Derek had exchanged a look earlier when looking around for lunch; the two brothers
had wanted to find a Japanese stand selling bento boxes, like the sort
they had enjoyed during the last day their parents had been alive.
Unfortunately, they hadn't been able to find such a stand around St. Peter's or
the Forum Romanum. Also, the typically insane Roman drivers had distracted them
a bit as they had walked around.
After the waiter left, and
then returned a few minutes later with a salad bowl, Sasha said, "Dad,
can't I have some more?"
"Really, I'd hold
off," said Alex.
"Derek, Nova, could
you two excuse us for a moment?" said Alex.
"Sure?" said
Derek. "Why?"
"I need to talk to
Sasha in private for a moment. Sasha, follow me outside to the balcony. That
way, it looks like we'll be getting air."
"Yes, daddy,"
said Sasha in a meek tone. Sasha stood, with her white sandals bumping her
chair as she got up. She and her father disappeared together.
"Now what's that
about?" said Derek.
Nova sighed. "I know,
but I don't think I can tell you."
"Why not?"
"It'd violate a
confidence Sasha has in me, Derek. I’m sorry."
"Over Deke..?”
“Yes..” said Nova. “Okay. I
can tell you a little. She has been having dreams. Bad ones. And she needs
him….more than ever…”
A small chiming sound came
from Nova’s purse. She picked it up and saw that a text message had come in on
her portable phone.
“Message?” said Derek.
Nova nodded as she checked
the message. “This is weird,” she said. “It’s from Brew…Mister Marrable, aka Toad.”
“What does it say?”
“It must be some code,”
said Nova. “I’ll read it,” she said in a whisper.
“Nova: Help. Deke is climbing the
bulkheads. Send Squirrel ASAP by airmail…BREW.”
Nova rolled her eyes.
“Squirrel? What’s a squirrel? Is this some code?”
Derek blushed hotly.
“Nova…I…”
“You’re really blushing,” said Nova as they sat alone in
the dark private back room. “I…”
Derek looked around. The
restaurant was very dark, and no one was around; the waiter had just dropped
off a salad bowl before Alex and Sasha had left. “Uh…Nova…if I may
demonstrate…I know what you put on under that dress this morning…” he
whispered.
“Or what I took a risk and didn’t put on due to this sticky heat?”
she whispered back, blushing herself as Derek put his hand on her bare knee
under the table and then tenderly ran his hand up her thigh and beneath the just-above-knee
length hem of her light summer dress with its full pleated skirt.
“Derek,” Nova whispered.
“Where are your fingers going?”
“That is the pilots’
definition of ‘squirrel’” he whispered with a blush as he found…just the right
spot.
“OH, NO! Oh, God,”
whispered Nova. “I get the picture, oh God…” she whispered as she shivered
while Derek gave her a silent object lesson what ‘squirrel’ meant. To her, the
teasing lesson felt wonderful in the
dark. “Derek? He was talkiing about Sasha?”
“Yes…should I stop…?”
“Yes, please,
I…no…yes…mmm…what if your brother sees
me like this? What if that waiter comes back now?” She looked down at her
breasts as incredibly passionate and
naughty thoughts and ideas ran through her mind as her toes curled up in her
sandals. “Please!” she whispered. “My…nipples are coming up under this
dress…look..”
“Stop?” said Derek with a
sweet but twisted little grin.
God, you are being such a fighter-jock tease, thought Nova. I might have to slap you if you don’t stop that…except…feels
good…whatiswrongwithme?
“Yes, no, yes…God, you are
driving me crazy!” she said. “Please,
Derek. I’ll have to give you a rain check..” she whispered.
“Until when?” said Derek as
he got his hands off his wife’s thigh.
“Tonight back in the
suite,” whispered Nova. Then, she kicked off her light black sandal and began
to run her toes over the cuff of her husband's uniform pants under the table.
“Then I promise you can play Roman Hands all you want behind closed doors. That
and more…”
"What are you hinting
at?" asked Derek.
"Guess," said
Nova as she had her hand over his crotch. “Oh, My God, you poor thing,” she
whispered. “Rain check…IOU, you get the idea…just not in a restaurant!” she said as she petted him affectionately in just the
right spot while fishing around for her shoe. She found it a moment later.
They looked around for Alex
and Sasha, and then they smiled at each other and stole a deep kiss over the
table in the semi-darkened room.
A long kiss.
I wonder where Alex is? Derek thought as he and Nova shared
their kiss.
Then, Nova whispered, “we’d
better go the Signores’ and Signoras’ and wash up…quick…”
“Agreed…”
On the balcony, Alex stood
watching his daughter as her hair blew in the breeze. “I’ve been having these
strange…really strange…dreams about Deke, Daddy.”
“How strange?” said Alex.
Sasha looked down at her
shoes, curling up her toes uncomfortably before saying, “When you have to be
far away from Mother for a while, how do you handle it?”
“Sasha, that’s a
bit…personal…”
“I was able to tell Auntie
how these dreams have been making me feel…couldn’t tell Uncle…especially since
I had a crush on him once…”
Alex shook his head at her.
“I don’t know if I want to hear this one or not…”
“Well…Deke and I…we went in
the guest room in Uncle Derek’s house the one night we were together and we
closed the door, and…”
“I think I can guess what
you were doing,” said Alex. “Not playing board games…and that is perfectly
natural.”
“Right…and, ever since
then…I’ve had these dreams about him…some scary, some beautiful, and I wake up
crying, or very embarrassed, because…”
“I think I can guess
why…he’ll be on Iscandar…you’ll eventually be on Iscandar. You might get some
time together, you may…”
“I’d better have some time with him!” said Sasha in a huff.
“Sasha, you are now an
officer of the Defense Forces. You go where your commanding officer tells you
to go. You sneeze when your CO tells you to sneeze. And if the Fleet wanted you
to have a husband…”
“It would have issued me
one,” sighed Sasha. “But I have a
husband! That’s the one thing that is driving me crazy…I….”
Alex sighed. “We’ll talk
later.”
“Why?”
“Consider this
conversation. We left my little brother all alone in a dark room with your
aunt. Without us there, Goddess knows what might happen…”
Sasha blushed. “I wish I
had been left alone in a dark room with Deke right about now…” she stammered.
“Sasha?”
“Nothing, Daddy. Let’s go
see if we can keep Uncle and Auntie out of trouble…”
The four of them all got
back to their table just four minutes before the waiter arrived with their
dinner. No one openly commented at the fact that Derek and Nova were stealing
lots of glances at each other over dinner and holding hands a lot. There seemed
to be quite a bit of playful, smouldering tension between the young marrieds as
they ate. Sasha knew this because she had felt her Auntie kicking Uncle Derek
under the table at least twice for something that he was whispering
near-silently to her in Japanese while just moving his lips.
Alex chuckled to himself, recognizing
all the signs and recognizing that his little brother and sister-in-law would
want to be alone ASAP when they got back to the hotel; and remembering that
Starsha had made him feel like that
the night before he had left Iscandar a few weeks ago. However, Sasha felt even
more lonely than ever as this happened.
When Sasha got back to her
room at the hotel, she was very relieved when she was finally alone in her
room. After she showered, she threw herself onto her bed naked and wept into
her pillow for a very long time. Then, and only then, did she fall into an
uneasy and haunted sleep.
II.
BRYAN HARTCLIFFE’S UNWELCOME REVELATION
Planet
Earth
The
Great Megalopolis
Saturday:
May 9, 2207
0545
Hours: Local Time
In the meantime, in the Megalopolis,
a scene was taking place in the apartment of Bryan and Angie Hartcliffe around
dawn that was not very pleasant at
all.
“
“What is it I pulled?” said
“What is it you pulled?” yelled Angie. “
“Yeah, and ya said you were
sick to yer stomach last night, too!” yelled
“And who’s this friend you
were looking up?” snapped Angie.
“I tried to hook up with
Hardy after we played, he’s turned bloody homebody with his new piece o’
arse…that Dawn bird…”
“Like you should be,” snapped Angie. “And why don’t you put on some more
clothes?”
“I thought yer liked
lookin’ at me,” said
“Then why did you come home
with lipstick all over you last night, Bryan? Do your male friends wear
lipstick and kiss you on the cheek?”
“And what if they did?” he
snapped. “Way it’s goin’, they might me more accomodatin’ than you, ya
crackablocker fishwife!”
“
“Why are you not puttin’
out for me, huh?” yelled
He stood over her holding a
vase as he said, “Any more crap outta you and…”
“I’m calling the police if
you don’t stop this!” yelled Angie.
“Explain why you’re not
sleepin’ with me tonight and I’ll let this drop,” said
“All right,
“And?”
“I’m pregnant,
“Oh, that’s why yer actin’
like something from hell? You’re knocked up! You’ve got a balloon growin’ in
there! A bloody balloon! And you’ll get ugly and fat!”
“You did it to me ten days
ago, idiot! It’s your fault! You forgot to use protection!”
“I don’t like ‘em and you
know that,” huffed
“I forgot! And part of me
hoped you’d remember that!”
“Well, I didn’t,” said
Angie grew so upset that
then she slapped
“Oh!” he yelled. “You’re as
vile as The Bunny, huh?”
“What Bunny?”
“The Giant Bunny Rabbit that’s
been lookin’ in me window every night,” snapped
“You are messed up!” screamed Angie. “If I didn’t
love you and this baby so much, I’d have an abortion and dump you!”
“Then why don’t ya!” yelled
Hartcliffe.
Angie grabbed up his
underwear, gym shorts, and flip-flops and threw them at him. “Take these and
your damned wallet and keys and get OUT of here! I don’t want to see any more
of you today!”
“We’ve been up arguin’ all
night, where am I supposed to sleep?”
“Go find a buddy’s
apartment, OR the BOQ hallway, of the cockpit of your plane, or an alley or
something!” screamed Angie. “JUST GO! I’m having morning sickness and I don’t
need YOU around!”
At that
A little while later, Nova
and Derek were cuddling in bed in their hotel room. They had relieved each
other of their clothes soon after getting in and putting out the “DO NOT
DISTURB” sign, and the lovemaking had been both intense and very sweet.
“Did I ever tell you,
Derek, how much I love you?” said Nova.
“I know…”
“Even if you drive me
insane at times…”
“I do weird things because
I like seeing you smile…Nova..”
“Derek, love,” she said as
she kissed his bare chest while he affectionately stroked one of her breasts.
“They are getting a little bigger…” said Derek as he played with his
wife’s boobs affectionately and smiled. “You look so cute like this…”
“They’re getting ready to
nurse our children,” whispered Nova. “Just about three…three and a half months
to go, more or less,” she said with a sweet yawn. “My due date might be
sometime in August or maybe early September now. But they say twins sometimes
come early…”
Derek kissed his young,
pregnant wife again when a little phone rang.
“Huh?” said Derek.
“I kept my portable on,”
said Nova as she sat up, pulling the sheet around her bosom for decency. “I
hope that’s not Sasha in trouble; I told her to call me on the portable if…”
“If what?” yawned Derek.
Nova grabbed the portable
off her bedside table and said, “Eager? Derek, this is Eager’s caller ID from
his BOQ apartment. What could he
want? It’s around 0500 in the Megalopolis, the next day…”
Nova answered. “Hello?
Eager? Nova here. What’s wrong?” she
said in a high, concerned voice.
“Hello there, luv…how’s the
balloon growin’?” came back a slurred Scouse voice on the other end as an image
came up on Nova’s screen. It was that of a drunken-looking sot with very
greasy, skanky-looking hair and a bit of a growth of beard who wore glasses and
a battered EDF Star Force Navigation Group shirt. The dim lighting in the room
made his reddish-brown hair look bright red and weird. He looked somewhat
insane.
Nova knew who it was at
once.
“Hartcliffe?”
snapped Nova in a brittle, angry voice that almost made her drop her
blanket…she just pulled it up over herself again while Hartcliffe leered at her
cleavage. “Bryan Hartcliffe, you just woke me up. I need my sleep in my
condition! What do you want?”
“Do women like you always
act ‘alf crazy when they’s preggers? (hic)”
“
“She’s pregnant and crazy
so the bird threw me outta the nest. This bird has flown…isn’t it
good…Norweeegian Wood…”
“Hartcliffe!” yelled Eager at
his end. “Who’re you callin’!”
“What does he want?” yelled
another sleepy voice. Nova then noticed Chris Eager coming up in pajama bottoms
with no top, while a young, very short woman with shoulder-length blonde hair
and blue eyes stood nearby in a floor-length bathrobe that only showed her
toes.
Eager turned the visiphone
away from Hartcliffe and said, “Nova, I’m real sorry. That guy just showed up
half an hour ago, drunk and covered with throw-up. You can see ah put one of my
old uniform shirts on ‘im but…”
“Thanks, Eager,” sighed
Nova as Derek came into the frame and embraced her. “As you can see,
I’m…we’re…sorta occupied right now….please leave us alone?”
Eager’s long-time
girlfriend and now fiancee’ Lisa Parkerson got into the frame. “Mr and Mrs, Wildstar,
we’re so sorry,” she said in a soft
Hartcliffe screamed a high,
gooney laugh and threw something against the wall. “Hey!” yelled Eager. “That’s
barbecue sauce I made! That’s the last straw, Hartcliffe! You’re outta here!”
said Eager as he grabbed the drunken pilot and began to hustle the struggling
man out the door.
“Sorry we done bothered you
two,” said Lisa with an apologetic smile before she cut off.
“That stupid pilot!” said
Wildstar. “Remember the last time he was in the house?” said Wildstar.
“Yeah, we found him carving
things in the walls after he drank half a bottle of vodka,” sighed Nova.
“Almost as bad as that nervous habit Deke Wakefield has of hitting everything
with those big drumsticks of his, including the furniture in the guest room! I
have a drum practice knee pad I bought him that I’ll give him so he gets the
hint and I don’t have to sand down and revarnish the furniture again! Well,
let’s go back to sleep,” yawned Nova.
“If we can,” said Derek.
III.
DEPARTURES
Planet
Earth
Euroland
Sunday:
May 10, 2207
0900
Hours: Local Time
Sasha now wore a dark blue
sailor dress as she followed her father across the concourse of the Vienna
Central train station.
She, her father, and Derek
and Nova had left
They were now changing to
the last train they’d take on this journey; The
New Orient Express.
The New Orient Express ran
from
“I wonder what powers this
train?” asked Sasha. “Another one of those humming fusion locomotives that just
glides along?”
“Well, it’s a fusion
locomotive,” smiled Alex. “But, it’s a bit different. It’s on display on the
through track,” he said.
“I can’t wait to see that
engine,” said Nova as she ran up in a summery white sleeveless minidress
pulling Derek along by one hand. He wore a suit in dark grey with a bright red
tie. She was carrying a stereo camera, and she looked like a giddy tourist.
Derek laughed, “Nova, why
are you so interested in a locomotive?”
“Because, Derek, it’s not
just any kind of locomotive!” she
said happily. “It runs on a real steel track, for one thing; it’s not a maglev
train!”
“Oh?” said Derek.
Nova laughed and made Derek
follow her down the escalator to the platform, running down the steps with
amazing lightness and nimbleness in her white satin sandals…the same heels she
had worn with her wedding dress, as a matter of fact.
Finally, Derek smiled when
he found out why Nova was so darn interested in a locomotive as they got
outside on the platform.
The New Orient Express was a long,
blue train. At its head was a huge, simmering, hissing steam locomotive that looked
like it was about two hundred years old. The engine was a shiny blue and black,
with huge red driving wheels partly obscured by clouds of steam that hissed
around it.
Nova was taking pictures of
the huge locomotive as if she had spotted a new form of elephant. When it blew
its whistle, everyone laughed as she nearly jumped out of her shoes with
fright.
“Scared of it?” teased
Derek.
“I didn’t expect it would
have a whistle that loud!” cried Nova
with a laugh. She kissed Derek while Sasha observed that her aunt looked a bit
like a little girl set loose in a candy store.
“It sure looks old,” said
Alex.
“It’s not old!” huffed Nova. “Read the builder’s plate up there!” Then,
Nova read off a brass plate on the engine’s tender on the right side, “New
Soviet P-36 4-8-4 Heavy Fusion Powered Locomotive. Built Under World Contract
4-444563. New Baldwin Locomotive Works,
The PA system then said, “First Call, New Orient Express. Boarding on
Track Eighteen for
“That’s the signal,” said
Derek as a robot came up pushing their baggage cart filled with luggage. “I
understand we’re in the last car,” he said. “Let’s go back down the platform…”
Sasha smiled at her father,
kissed him, and then they skipped down the platform together towards the rear
of the train.
Near the end of the
platform, Erugar was waiting for them, clothed in a railroad steward’s uniform
with a high-collared black coat with a red lining, along with Yvona, Aga, and
the rest of their weird group. They nodded at the train’s actual conductor, an
elderly man with muttonchop sideburns who looked at a pocket chronometer.
“Fifteen more minutes to departure, people. I hope the line knew what they were
doing when they sent the six of you to maintain this private car at the rear of
the train. See to it that no curiosity seekers get aboard this car, and see to
it that anyone entering this car has a special Blue Ticket,” he said. “It’s a
party of four, and they are in this car by the grace of the railway for their
own peace and quiet. You are to be inobtrusive but attentive when you serve
them. Is that understood?”
“Yessir!” said the group as
Erugar, Yvona and the others clicked their heels. Yvona had psionicially
changed her hair color so that it was dark brown, and she had made her face
look a little different. She was afraid of being recognized.
“You are a strange looking
woman,” he said as he looked down at the dwarfish Aga in her jacket, skirt, and
heels. He wondered why this weird dwarf was smoking a cigar.
“Aga been all over,” she
said. “Aga help Miss Yvona here cook all sorts good foods. Aga like helping Yvona. She…”
“Quiet, dear,” said Yvona
as she trod on Aga’s toes with the shiny open-toe pump she wore. “Please pardon
her, sir. Aga’s not the…sharpest tool in the shed.”
“I see that,” said the
conductor. “Pray that you be attentive with the guests. And, Aga, if that be
your name, put out that damned cigar before you get onto the train! We need no
passenger complaints about that ugly cheroot of yours!”
“He not like Aga,” Aga
muttered as the old man left. “Aga get him. Aga throw him off train, Mrs. Yvona. Aga…”
“We are not supposed to
harm anyone but them,” said Yvona
with a whisper. “Is that not correct, Erugar?”
“We shall see,” he replied
with evil good humor. “Father’s not that particular how he wants the job done, and
neither is the Princess. They just want this group dead, that is all…”
Yvona nodded as she
thought, I wish there was some way to
keep them from being killed. I don’t feel right about this, she thought. But how?
Then, Yvona saw them
approaching, and her heart sank.
Commodore Wildstar was in a
suit, holding hands and laughing as he spoke with his young wife, who looked
pretty in a lacy white sundress that bared her back. She had very long legs and
wore pretty white heels.
Yvona also felt sickened
when she saw her niece’s prominent stomach. She was obviously pregnant, and was
happily munching on a red apple that she had bought off a platform vendor.
I can’t hurt a pregnant woman, she thought as she helped Derek and
then Nova over the platform gap onto the train car after checking their
tickets. As Yvona held Nova’s hand for a moment while assisting her, she almost
wanted to caresss it, psychicially feeling the young strength of the
mother-to-be, who was bursting with life, as well as the innocent power of the
two growing babies inside her.
It also made her think
uncomfortably of how she felt when she had been pregnant with Erugar. And,
finally, the strong, sweet affection she sensed between Derek and Nova almost
made her want to cry. Ekogaru never held
me like that when I was pregnant with his child, thought Yvona bitterly as
she saw Derek embracing his young wife and kissing her on the nose while
caressing her tummy for a moment.
Next, Yvona helped Alex
into the car, and trembled when she felt how cold his hand felt.
Finally, she grabbed
Sasha’s hand.
Yvona stopped when she felt
the power, life, and confusion in the heart of the young half-Iscandarian.
Sasha looked at her and said, “Do I know
you from somewhere, Miss?”
“I am afraid not,” replied
Yvona. “We’ve…never met…”
“You seem confused about
something,” said Sasha in utter innocence.
Yvona was taken aback, but
she then said, “Miss, I am confused…”
“About what?”
“I’d rather not talk about
it. Thank you…for your…ticket…” said Yvona.
Sasha nodded at her and
said, “Have a good trip, Miss.”
“I’ll try,” replied Yvona.
“I didn’t know we had a private car,” said
Derek as he and Nova got inside the car and waited as a robot brought some of
their bags to their private bedroom compartment.
“That girl out there,” said
Nova. “This may sound weird, but…”
“But what, Nova?”
“She looked a little like Yvona. That must be a
coincidence, since her hair looks different. And..isn’t she dead?”
“Yes, supposedly,” said
Derek as he doffed his suit jacket as he sat on the bed.
The train got moving a
while later. For a steam train, it was fairly fast, moving at a good two
hundred kilometers per hour, or one hundred and twenty-four miles per hour,
once it got going on its smooth track. By a little after 1500
While the train stopped at
Pushkin station, Sasha came out of her compartment, where she had had a very
uneasy night. She wore shorts, a top, and low sneakers, and she shut her eyes
as her father, in black pants and boots and a white turtleneck, gave her a
chaste kiss on the cheek as she met him in the car’s observation lounge.
“Good morning, Sasha,” said
Alex.
“Morning, Daddy.”
“Did you sleep…?”
Sasha shook her head. “I miss
Deke so much. I wish he was on this train with us…”
“I know…but…”
“I know, too,” said Sasha
as a frustrated tear ran down her cheek. “Why did the train stop?”
“You must have been
sleeping,” replied Alex. “The steward said we’re having a stop at Tsarkoe
Selo.”
“Tsar’s village?” said
Sasha. “There aren’t any more Tsars. For some reason, your Earth government
brought back your grey old
“That was done by the
people of
“Oh, a big museum? Reminds
me of parts of Iscandar that they haven’t resettled yet, around the
“Yes, Sasha…some people use
that as a park…”
“And, I sense, a make-out
center,” said Sasha. “I miss Deke so damn much!” Then, Sasha added, while
tapping her head, “I felt Auntie and Uncle for a little bit last night…”
“Sasha, didn’t your mother
say it’s not polite to root around in people’s heads without their permission?”
said Alex sternly.
“I couldn’t help it,” said
Sasha. “They were…uh…you know…err…and sometimes, when they’re…uh….it’s like
they’re close to regular Earthlings that are bonded, and they…uh…give off funky
mental waves. I picked up on them..couldn”t help it..!”
“They were both kalinsta,” sighed Alex, using an
Iscandarian term. “Starsha taught me some basic techniques to avoid that…”
“Broadcasting? But they’re
both Earthlings! How can they…?”
“Well, your mother told me that
they are very close and that Nova,
who was naturally intuitive to begin with, had her mental abilities left
boosted somewhat by her contacts with Aliscea and the Pellian Matrix when they
had to fight Ekogaru in the Astral Realm. Starsha doesn’t know if it was
temporary or if what happened might mean that Nova might be a next step in the
development of the human race…”
“How can that be?”
“Maybe it all started with
the Cosmo-DNA,” sighed Alex. “Your mother knows how the machine nearly brought
Nova back from the verge of death from Gamilon sleeping gas when she used it.
Starsha didn’t think they’d do it, but she later told me it was never intended for an unshielded human
to sit up in the control seat of the Cosmo-DNA and to turn it on right from
there…that’s why she intended it to be activated by remote control from a
distance. Instead, your aunt activated that machine in a thin nurse’s
minidress, her underwear, and thin boots with bare legs. Not very much
protection. Starsha didn’t foresee Nova doing that for the love of Derek and to
save the Argo from the Gamilons. Who
knows what being so close to the epicenter of a Cosmo Regeneration Wave almost
unprotected did to her on a long-term basis?” Alex sighed. “Iscandarian physics
and psycho-science is nothing to play around with. Starsha thinks she should
have had time to brief them longer on every aspect on how to use the machine
properly, but…”
“Earth was dying; there was
no time, and Iscandar had no engineers left on it; Mother told me she didn’t
think of every angle until after they had left Iscandar…all she could do was to
give them all the parts of the machine and the basic plans and give them some
idea of how to put it together…” said Sasha. “Mother also admitted to me she
was never quite sure if the Cosmo-DNA would work
correctly on Earth.” Then, she dropped her voice to a whisper as she said,
“And, she once said, she thinks it may have had abilities even stranger and
greater than just being able to wipe out radiation and restore a planet’s
environment. She did say it had strange operating modes that haven’t been
tested in many centuries, and it may have been forgotten what those modes were
even suppsed to be for.”
“Right,” sighed Alex. “At
any rate, no one knows what might happen with Nova and her children, but your
mother did tell me once that Ekogaru
seems to fear her a great deal and wants her dead. It might be best for us to
arrange for Aliscea to train Nova somewhat so she can develop some mental
shields…although…I don’t know…that thing you did at Derek’s house…is that some
new strange wrinkle Aliscea taught you?”
“No, she just taught me
telekinesis, to a limited degree,” sighed Sasha. “I was just trying to push
back that reporter when I got energy coming from my hands instead! I don’t
quite know how that…”
“Let’s just say that it’s
part of the mystery of this age,” said Alex.
“Huh?”
“Your mother told me before
I left that Earth and Iscandar were going to undergo some very scary and
interesting things in the next few weeks, months, years, and decades,” said
Alex. “Just like her, she wouldn’t tell me most of it, but, she said she has
foreseen many strange things…including how Ekogaru will be defeated in the end.
She said she didn’t want to talk about it…”
“I don’t blame her,” said
Sasha.
“Why?”
“I’ve felt some of the same
things, Daddy. I don’t….”
Then, their conversation
was interrupted by Derek and Nova coming into the observation lounge. Derek
looked a little embarrased; Nova had gotten him to dress in a short-sleeved
rugby shirt, shorts, and sandals. Nova had on a dark blue bikini-like halter
top that bared her stomach, and she also wore white maternity shorts under her
stomach and something like a flat newsgirl hat; she went barefoot and carried a
big shoulder bag.
“Where’s your shoes?”
giggled Sasha. “You’ll need to have shoes on to go into the museum! And why is
your stomach bare?”
“I think I’d prefer to walk
around the park, maybe take a swim…this is actually a swimsuit” said Nova as
she pointed at her top. “It looks beautiful outside today and I feel
claustrophobic in this train. Sasha, aren’t Derek’s legs cute?”
Sasha giggled while the
great Commodore blushed! “He looks adorable, Nova! I wonder how Deke looks in
shorts?”
“It looks like his old
soccer outfit from grammar school,” chuckled Alex.
“Alex, one more crack outta
you about this outfit Nova stuck me in…” said Derek with a laugh.
“And what?” said Alex.
“Little brother, are you suggesting we have a fight?”
“Beat him, Daddy!” giggled
Sasha as Derek pulled a mean face and Alex winked at Sasha and got up with his
fists cocked.
“Just wait a minute,”
growled Nova as she went up on her toes and looked dangerous. “Anyone who wants
to hurt Derek has to get past me,
first. Wanna try it, Alex?”
“Derek, I give up!” laughed
Alex as he looked at the almost-comical spectacle of a pregnant wife trying to
defend her husband from a play “fight” that was never going to happen between
the two tightly-knit brothers. “Goddess, no wonder Desslok wouldn’t shoot you,
Nova! You defend him like a Tigress!”
“Why shouldn’t I?” she said
as she kissed her husband. “C’mon, Derek, let’s go! I want to see if we can
take some pictures of those deer that are supposed to be around here…”
“And butterflies,” said
Derek.
“Butterflies,” sighed Nova.
“That’s great! Let’s go!”
The laughing couple said
goodbye to Alex and Sasha and left.
“They’re comical,” chuckled
Alex as he watched Nova and Derek leaving the train with the other tourists.
“Don’t you think we should
go, too?” said Sasha. “I don’t want to be in here all day, either!”
“Right,” said Alex as two
stewards came in and nodded goodbye to them. “Let’s go.”
One
of the “stewards”, Earth traitor Boris
Vladmirovich Barinietsyn, looked at his co-laborer, Ivan Denisovitch Drachev,
after Sasha and Alex had left and he was sure there were no more guests on the
private car, and he said, “So when does Erugar want us to kill them?”
“Some place where we are
far from help of any kind,” said Drachev. “Erugar wants us to wait until we
reach a point at the Soviet-Manchurian border in about two days. Then, we will
strike…when they don’t expect it…”
Deglits, the Cometine who
didn’t have to wear any makeup (unlike most of the other aliens) because he
looked Terran already came out of the kitchen and said, “We can poison their
food then if you want. We poison them, then they die in their beds…”
“No, Erugar wants something
different so that they can begin to see each other die,” said Barinietsyn…
Ekar, a Cometine dressed
like a trainman who looked pale because he wore a rubber mask supplied by the
Black Nebulans, came in and said, “We are developing a plan to deal with the
engine crew so we can get control of this damned train…”
“Good,” said Erugar as he
came in. “I hope you figured out how to run this primitive heavy-water fueled
teakettle of a choo-choo train, Shanda!”
“Choo-choo train?” laughed
Shanda. “If I didn’t know you better, boy, you should still be playing with toy
trains!”
Erugar struck Ekar hard
across the face. “One more such comment, you green goblin, and you die! Are we
understoood?”
“Yessir,” hissed Ekar while
he wondered, Is there some way we can
kill this upstart and assume command of this sabotage operation ourselves? I
want the glory from Invidia for myself! I don’t want honors from some R’Khell
freak grown in an inferior clone’s stomach! Especially when one of our jobs is
killing that Iscandarian-Terran halfbreed freak and three stupid, primitive
Earthlings on holiday!
IV.
THE LAST
The
Vicinity of the Eritz Gatlantis
The
Great Magellenic Cloud
Sunday:
May 10, 2207
1500
Hours: Earth Space-Time (
“Hot
damn, we found her!” laughed a young Pellian fighter pilot with longish dark
hair named Lt. Katrina Savela. “I wonder why her Comet field is down, Yenger?”
asked Savela’s wingman. She and Yenger were among part of a squadron of
fourteen pilots who had flown their black Pellian Starbat fighters off the
Pellian Space Battleship Kasonder.
“Katrina,
no need to over-analyze this,” said Lt. Paulus Yenger as he nodded to Katrina and
gave her a thumbs-up from inside his cockpit. “Go for it….”
“It’s suicidal, attacking that thing,” she said as they approached
the Eritz Gatlantis; even then,
Cometine Paranoia interceptors and Scorpion gunboats were pouring out of the
shape of the Eritz Gatlantis,
surrounded by gas, as she sat in the ocean on a mostly ocean-covered world that
the Kasonder had found her on, by
sheer luck.
“That’s why it’s a great idea!” laughed Paulus. “Maybe we can kill
Invidia herself!”
Savela laughed. Then, in her deeply-accented, somewhat gravelly
voice, she snapped, “Third Squadron, we will attack! Our objective, the Comet
Fortress! Pick random targets and fire at will!”
“Understood!” snapped the assistant squadron leader.
The sleek black Pellian spaceplanes roared in a moment later,
spurning the fire that the Cometines were putting up as they blasted in at high
speed towards the massive Cometine Fortress, which was hiding out in the sea on
a small planet in the Great Magellenic Cloud.
“Wooeee….in we go!” laughed Lt. Savela as she lowered her black
visor and pressed her brown-booted foot down on her ship’s rudder pedals as she
used her stick to lead a bombing run against the buildings of House Gatlantis’
Comet Empire City.
“Princess!” cried General Dyre as he ran up, out of breath.
“How dare you bother me?” snapped Invidia as she looked at a
screen. She got her response later when the attack klaxons came up. “Who’s
shooting at us here?” she snarled.
“Pellians,” said Dyre with an utter sense of disdain in his voice.
“A small flotilla of theirs is above us in low orbit, and they think they can
harass us!”
“So, launch interceptors! Shoot the lot of them down!” raged Invidia as she slapped Dyre
across the face.
“Why are you slapping me like that?” said Dyre.
“You idiot, you are losing again! Is it not your job to defend us?
And me?”
“I…” said Dyre.
“Forget it! We will discuss this latest revolting development later on, General Dyre!” hissed
Invidia. “For now, we have other business! Like saving our heads!”
“I can agree with that,” said Dyre. “Gorse! Get the Twelth and
Fourteenth Squadrons out there! Crush the enemy! NOW!”
The
Kasonder herself dived in from orbit,
firing at the Eritz Gatlantis just as
several ships from the Cometine Fortress roared up out of the ocean and began
to counterattack the Pellian space battleship. The Pellian ship was aided by
some of her Starbats, which fired missiles furiously into a Cometine destroyer,
finishing her off quickly.
Then, a Cometine space battleship and three more destroyers
engaged the Kasonder, which struck
back furiously with her main guns as the battle continued near the edge of the
small planet’s atmosphere.
“Don’t let that battleship fire its shock guns at us!” roared
Captain Helmvall, the Kasonder’s
skipper, as the Pellian ship evaded fire from the Cometine ship’s vortex guns
even as one of the destroyers came into close range and let loose with all she
had. “What part of that ship are those things mounted on, Talser?”
“The main bridge tower, sir!” said Lieutenant Commander Talser
from the Kasonder’s command station.
“Target that portion of the ship! Wipe them out!”
The Kasonder took more fire
as Talser retargeted her gun turrets on the Cometine battleship. Then, the
Pellian ship fired, and it successfully blew the bridge tower of the enemy
battlewagon to bits.
However, a crazed Cometine destroyer captain rammed the Kasonder with his ship in a suicide run,
blowing it to bits and ending most of the Pellians’ brave offensive against the
enemy.
Near the planet, though, vicious fighting was still going on.
The fighting around the Eritz
Gatlantis continued as Katrina led her forces expertly among the buildings
of the Fortress, dodging fire that would have gotten her twice over.
The third time was not the charm for Katrina. Her plane was hit,
and it spiralled in among the buildings of the Eritz Gatlantis, coming in out of control as the ship’s belt began
to rotate and the gas shield began to come up.
Not far away, Katrina saw a landing strip amongst some buildings.
She tried to pull her nose up to get back to her ship, but nothing happened.
Tractor
beam! Katrina thought angrily as the strip loomed up. She shut off her
engines, cursed, and got her personal hand blaster out of the holster she wore
on her hip. “They won’t get me
without a bloody fight,” she muttered.
The plane slammed down on the strip, and it was dragged into a
landing bay by the tractor beam a moment later. A line of Cometine troopers in
blue uniforms was waiting with their rifles trained on her as soon as her plane
screeched to a stop.
A Cometine officer came up to the plane and said, “Enemy pilot,
you are to realize that you are outnumbered, and that we have beaten your
forces and demand that you are to…surrender! We want you aliv…”