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 THREE: RACE TO THE
GREAT MAGELLENIC CLOUD
I.
CHAOS AND MADNESS
Planet
Earth
Outer
Aboard
the New Orient Express
May
12, 2207: 0032 Hours
Derek Wildstar’s consciousness was fading when he suddenly heard a
loud smacking noise that sounded like a watermelon smashing onto a pavement and
felt the hands about his throat loosening.
Huh?
Derek thought in utter shock. He couldn’t see anything because the R’Khell
soldier had suddenly collapsed on top of him.
Derek coughed and tried to catch his breath as he realized that
his hand was soaked with blood.
“This…can’t be mine,” he gasped out loud.
“Oh, my God, Derek you’re all
right!” said a familiar voice.
“N…Nova?” muttered Derek.
He kicked away the body of Shanda and observed that the R’Khell
raider was missing the top of his skull…and much of his brain.
Derek looked around, and saw that there was blood, brain matter,
skull pieces, and hair all over the place.
Nova was standing over him, huffing and puffing in a dress that
had been white and now looked like some crazed abstract artist had smeared red
paint all over it. She was holding a half-broken baseball bat.
“Why’d you use a bat on
his head, Nova?”
“Because I didn’t want to shoot you by accident!” said Nova as she threw the bat aside and knelt to
hug Derek fiercely. “You’re bleeding!”
she cried as she looked at his chest.
“I’ll be all right,” he gasped.
“No you won’t!” cried Nova. “Back to our compartment! I’m taping
you up!” said Nova as she helped her husband up. “I hope that Alex and Sasha
can hold them off!”
“Yeah, me too,” said Derek. “But why are they being so messy about
this attack?”
“I’ve got no idea,” said Nova. “They’re acting like they’re
insane!”
In the meantime, in the kitchen of the car’s dining area, Erugar
was being utterly humiliated by Deglits. The old Cometine Major had grabbed the
R’Khell commander by his collar, and he was banging the enraged young man
against the bulkhead.
“You idiot!” yelled
Major Deglits in his chef’s uniform. “Now they are on to us! I told you once,
and I told you twice, we should have just poisoned
them!”
“No thrill of the hunt in just poisoning anyone, you fool!” roared
Erugar.
“You child!” said Deglits. “I have this poison in my effects.
Totally tasteless and totally odorless. A few drops of it in their wine last
night or coffee this morning would have just quietly killed them. No fuss. No
mess. Then we would have been off the train and I could have signalled for a
pickup! Instead, you caused both my men to be killed, and they are on to us!”
“Because your people had no spirit, we are losing,” said Erugar.
“We should have fought harder! Those four Terran fools!
“So, you should have expected
that with a frontal attack. Except for the half-Iscandarian, the other three of
these people are all hardened and experienced soldiers, despite their
deceptively peaceful appearances off-duty. Corner special operations people and
they will fight,” said Deglits. “You should have listened to me, son,” he said.
“I have been sent by Invidia and Dyre on five other asssasination opeartions.
They all have suceeded. This is the first time we lost…I…”
“QUIET!” roared Erugar as he lashed out psionicially at Deglits.
Then, he killed him with his mental powers by making his heart stop.
A moment later, he felt Sasha approaching the kitchen. “Now, you next,” he said as he caught an image
of her, now clad in a blue minidress, in his mind and prepared to lash out with
his mind. He would give her a cerebral hemorrhage and then blow her out of the
train. It would be very easy and quick.
However, as he focused on Sasha, meaning to literally blow her out
the bulkhead, he felt something blocking his attack and blowing his own mental
force back at him.
“What?” he roared. “How dare you? Who does this?” he snarled as he
hit the sink harder.
“This has gone far enough,” said Yvona’s clone to her very shocked
son as she solidified before his eyes.
“Mother?”
“If we arouse her, we arouse Aliscea, and we arouse others,” said
Yvona as she slapped him. “Besides, I cannot kill my niece. Not now.”
“Why not?” roared Erugar.
“Because she is expecting, and the life in her is innocent,” said
Yvona. “We are failing, and…we are going to lose this battle soon, so why not
just give it up, and…?”
Erugar screamed, lashing out at his own mother a moment later.
He blasted two bolts of energy at her; one bounced off of her, and
the other one went through her…and just missed Nova, who had just run into the
kitchen with an Astro-Automatic and a fresh white and pink dress on.
“What is going on in
here?” cried Nova.
“Get back,” said the woman in the black peacoat as she shook her
head and exposed her identity to Nova as her reddish-blond hair came exposed as
her psionic disguise was dropped. There was no more energy to maintain it; she would
need all her power to fight her mad son.
“Yvona?” yelled Nova as she drew her weapon and swivelled at her.
“Aunt Yvona? You’re dead! I killed
you!”
“Yes and no. All explanations later!” she said. “Get behind me?”
“Get behind you?” said
Nova.
“Do it!” yelled Yvona as Erugar laughed and raised his hands. “He
means to kill both of us!”
Sasha ran in and looked shocked as Erugar directed a blast of
flame at them. Yvona deflected most of it, but Sasha screamed as some of it hit
her foot between the toe and ankle straps of her sandal while there were sounds
of severe fighting and yelling outside. The burn would not be major; Nova would
bandage it later…but, it would hurt.
“What are you doing
here, Yvona?” said Nova.
“I am not the one you fought or the one you knew!” said Yvona. “I
am a copy of her.”
“Copy?” said Nova with raised eyebrows.
“Made by the Dark Lord, who just wants to destroy us!” cried
Yvona. “But I have my own mind now!
Get behind me! NOW!”
Erugar snarled and mentally threw a knife at Yvona, who took it in
her shoulder, protecting Nova and Sasha from the knife. Then, Yvona lashed out
at Erugar, blowing green energy into her son as tears ran down her cheeks. I don’t want to kill him, she thought. But do I have a choice?
Erugar screamed, and fired blue energy back at Yvona, which hit
her hard, and blew into her body as Nova screamed. Yvona stepped aside, and
then, to everyone’s surprise, she screamed some strange words, and a portal of
pinkish blue force opened behind her.
Mortally wounded, Yvona prepared to throw herself into the
dimensional tunnel she had opened. But, before she did, she grabbed her son’s
hand, and dragged the surprised R’Khell commander into the vortex with her.
“Good luck fighting them, Nova!” screamed Yvona as she dragged
Erugar off, and out of this tale as they disappeared into the vortex, and
somewhere else into time-space…she knew not where or when. She was dying; she
didn’t care.
But, a moment later, she was gone as the portal closed with a loud
clap.
“What the heck was that?” said Nova.
Sasha looked around, shrugged and said, “Auntie Nova, I have no
idea?”
“How did she live?” said Nova. “And why the hell did she help us?”
“I’m as puzzled as you are,” said Sasha. She shut her eyes.
“There’s only two of them left alive on this train, and they’re both wounded.
Let’s go out there and protect Daddy and Derek.”
“Right,” said Nova as she shook tears out of her eyes, stunned by
her Aunt Yvona’s bizarre return and equally bizarre sacrifice.
The
heroic actions of Yvona’s clone weren’t noticed only in
Stovall awoke in the middle of the night in his barracks cubicle
with the Sphere under his pillow only to find the Dark Lord’s evil spectre near
his bed with his glowing white eyes nearly closed. Strange harpsichord music
that gave Stovall chills rang out softly from nowhere in the room. The music
sounded like a dirge. It was, of course, the Dark Lord summoning up the Passicaglia and Fugue in C Minor. A very
dark, deadly, and slow version of the piece.
“What happened?” muttered Stovall.
“A great setback,”
hissed Ekogaru as the Thing opened his eyes. “That ungrateful stinking clone of
Yvona…I cannot believe what she just did.”
“What?” said Stovall.
“Took a mortal wound for her niece and killed our son, my
wonderful Abomination of a son…” said the Dark Lord. “She chooses that woman
over our own son?”
“Where did she take Erugar?” said Stovall. “Maybe he ain’t dead,
Boss….”
“Do NOT trifle with me,”
said Ekogaru. “I must report failure to Invidia. Yvona dragged herself and our
son to another dimension. Curse her!
May she be accursed forever! Utter failure, except…”
“Except what?” said Stovall.
The Dark Lord smiled and laughed. “One of them, at least, will die.
Just a matter of time, yes. Poison. It did our work. Even though they did not
know it…”
“Yeah, boss,”
“Poison…will do…our work,” said Ekogaru as he faded away into
nothingness.
The next person that Ekogaru visited that night was Princess
Invidia.
Invidia was lying on a couch in her palace, relaxing and reading a
dark book on effective new methods of torture to use on her Pellian prisoner
when the Dark One appeared. Of course, he was not bound by the normal rules of
time and space because he was, after all, a pormanteau of a ghost and several
evil spirits.
“Where did you come from?” said Invidia.
“A pit of despair,” said Ekogaru. “Like to come there with me?”
“No,” said Invidia. “I am beginning to regret I ever met you.”
“Don’t blame me for ruining your life, Ingrate,” said Ekogaru.
“You were doing a nice job of it yourself before I dragged you out of the Pit
of Death. Mourn for me, Invidia. My wife is dead. I think. Her spirit now
forever beyond my grasp. And she killed my son. And it was your fault. I
think.”
“You think?” laughed Invidia. “So you want to marry me now?”
“The thought has crossed my mind,” said Invidia. “But, no. You are
too old.”
“How old is too old?” said the Dark Lord.
“Three thousand is a bit old for me,” said Invidia. “And you need
a new shroud. Yours stinks of mold, I’ll wager!”
“We need a new plan,” said Ekogaru. “Our enemies just grow more
determined. I have a new plan in mind for the Earthlings since I have lost my two
greatest servants…one to defection, the other because he was not prepared
adequately for the tasks ahead. Now, both dead and lost to me. I must…make
other plans.”
“So am I,” said Invidia. “I plan to take a Gamilon world without
them being prepared for it. Take it and destroy it. We will try again at Pogi.
We are not far from there. We will strike, and we will destroy that base world!
It will be an example to Desslok.”
“Then?”
“Then, our next stop will be the Sanzar System. And, Gamilon and
Iscandar will be our next targets.”
“Not bad,” said Ekogaru. Then, he mused. “The Marine I possess. He
will be on his way to Iscandar, I foresee. I will meet you there. You deal with
Desslok and the physical forces. I shall do battle with Queen Starsha, and that
damned Astrena. At last, they shall be defeated. Then, Earth will be our next,
and our final target!”
“An excellent plan, Ekogaru,” laughed Invidia. “A splendid plan…”
II.
AN UNEXPEXCTED BLOW
Planet
Earth
Outer
Aboard
the New Orient Express
May
12, 2207: 0250 Hours
Aboard the New Orient
Express, Alex Wildstar was helping Derek search the corpse of the last of
the raiders who had survived the battle up to the point where Erugar had been
defeated. Namely, the R’Khell Vaga, who had been killed in a knife fight with
Alex Wildstar.
Derek was helping Alex patch up a knife slash on his chest while
Alex said, “I wonder why this wound burns like this. Did yours burn?”
“No,” replied Derek. “I’m fine. I don’t feel like that at all, Alex. Except for its hurting
because it was a wound, of course.” Derek looked at Alex’s wound as he
remembered his own combat first aid skills to clean the wound. Nova, the real
expert at this, was going through the rest of the train with Sasha, on a mission
to get help, console the scared and heartbroken civilians who had been harmed
in the attack, and to treat the rest of the wounded until the medics they were
calling would show up.
Derek looked at the wound. “There’s something bubbling in this
wound, Alex. God knows what it is,
except…”
“Derek,” said Alex as the room began to spin around. “I’m not
feeling good…”
“Alex?”
“Check his knife..I drove it into one of the seats…”
Derek did so while watching his brother, who was getting very pale
very fast.
Derek looked at the knife, and saw some sort of mechanism in the
hilt of the R’Khell knife. When activated, it released something that dripped,
and…
“Poison!” yelled Derek.
“What?” said Alex as he coughed hard.
“Alex, this was some sort of assassin’s knife. They poisoned you
through that slash wound! Oh, no!”
“Explains why I feel so…lousy..I..”
Then, three people came in. An elderly gentleman with a trainman’s
uniform on, followed by Nova and Sasha.
“My name is Trainman Perivosky,” said the old man. “They killed
the conductor, but I have taken over this train in his stead. I am so sorry
that we allowed those people to infiltrate that train. All of them are
accounted for but one; that weird little dwarf woman who was seen cackling and
running off into a swamp not far from the river. But I am sure she will be
found soon. Your women here have called Earth Defense bases in
“Derek, Alex, medics should be coming soon,” said Nova. “We’re
going to be airlifted right to
“Daddy, are you all right?” said Sasha.
“I’m hurt, Princess,” gasped Alex. “Knife wound…and it was
poisoned!”
“Poisoned!” said Sasha. “Oh no!” Sasha hugged her father while feeling
the wound. “Nova, I can’t do much for this…it’s already too deep in his
system!”
Nova tore open a bag and got out a syringe. “This will at least
slow the effects,” she said as she pulled the cover off a very large needle.
“Alex, I will put this in your arm, 50 ccs,” she said.
Alex braced himself while Nova jabbed his arm with the syringe.
The shot hurt, but whatever was in the stuff made it easier to breathe.
“Derek, you next,” said Nova as she made him pull off his shirt.
“I didn’t feel any burning sensation when they slashed me, Nova…”
“This is insurance for you,” snapped Nova as she undid another
large syringe from its wrapper. “Now shut your eyes and take this…”
Derek shut his eyes and tried to keep from screaming as Nova
punched the needle into his bicep and gave him a quick injection. Then Nova
said, “Sasha, write this down! I gave Derek and your father 50cc each of
multispectrum Perinax Basic by simple subcutaneous-intramuscular injection.”
“Right,” said Sasha, wondering what sort of drug Nova was even
talking about as she scribbled down a note.
Then, Nova looked out and saw some Medevac Boats landing near the
tracks and said, “They’re here! Derek, help me get Alex dressed, you too. We
have a little walk ahead of us…”
“Sounds very encouraging,” said Alex. “Particularly because I
am…getting….short of breath…”
“Alex, you’ve got to hang on,” said Derek. “You know sub-orbital
jump flights don’t take long. We’ll have you in a trauma center in maybe
fifteen or twenty minutes.”
Alex nodded at that, moving slowly as he realized what was
happening to him.
I’m
slipping away, he thought.
It’s a race between me and this poison. I wonder which one of us will win? If I
win, I’ll live. If the poison wins…I’ll die. How charming…
Planet Pogi was a large Gamilon base world located just two
hundred lightyears away from Gamilon and Iscandar in the Great Magellenic
Cloud. It had been reoccupied by the Gamilons and rebuilt after 2203. General
Dagon had already fought several actions to protect the planet from surge after
surge from the Cometines.
This day, he and his forces were surprised by the ferocity of the
assault.
It
seems like they’ve thrown everything they have at this one planet,
Dagon thought as he sat on his flagship, watching impassively as the Cometines
fought like madmen. He had already fired two proximity-fused proton missiles at
them and had destroyed about forty of their ships.
But, they were still coming.
“General!” cried Gelantz, now Dagon’s XO. “They just destroyed the
last carrier! What course do you recommend, sir?”
“Take them down into the next life with us!” snapped Dagon. “I…”
“Sir!”
said one of Dagon’s officers. “They just fired a spread of anti-matter missiles
at Pogi!”
“Stop them!” roared Dagon. “Even if we all die trying, we have
to…”
“Sir!” said another officer. “Long-range scans report a heavy warp
disturbance seven hundred gerad off
to port!”
“What?” yelled Dagon as a visual image came up on the screen.
“The New Comet!” someone yelled.
“Hard about one hundred eighty degrees, clear out of its
gravitational field!” snapped Dagon. “Then we come about and counterattack that
thing, and…”
“Too late,” said Gelantz as missile after missile began to slowly
blow apart Pogi. Then, a flare of light came in their windows as the planet and
its base were destroyed. Utterly destroyed.
Then, a moment later, the Comet came.
Dagon’s eyes went wide and horrified as the New Comet began to
devour his fleet like some sort of ravening beast as the Cometine Fleet that had
come out of it and destroyed Pogi and much of his fleet roared ahead of them
through the gas that had been Pogi.
A moment later, after Dagon gave an order to warp out, emergency power, he screamed as he felt
his flagship swirling down into the maw of the Comet.
Soon, it was no more, along with his whole fleet.
“Princess,” said Dyre as he came up before Invidia’s throne and
saluted. “Complete success. The Gamilon battle fleet in this system is
destroyed, along with their base at Pogi. We have won this round!”
“Great,” said Invidia. “Now, connect me to Gamilon.”
“Gamilon?”
“I want to speak to Leader Desslok,” she said with an acidic
little grin. “Let’s rub his nose in
this defeat, shall we?”
At that, the evil Cometines had a great laugh.
A Gamilon
surveillance satellite that had survived the disaster at Pogi was now beaming
images of the devastation and the arrogant Comet and its Fleet back to Gamilon.
“This is horrible!” said Astrena in rage as she watched the images
from Desslok’s
“A major battle fleet just destroyed,” said Talan. “General
Keeling, we have to locate them and destroy them! It is that simple!”
“Agreed,” said Keeling. “Remember, Talan, you and I do not decide
strategy here…”
“Leader Desslok will surely agree this is an outrage!” said Talan. “We cannot bear this insult, and…”
“Are you speaking for me again,
Talan?,” queried a melodic male voice as everyone in the Command Center snapped
to attention and saluted as Leader Desslok came in with a snap of his cape.
“Astrena, you look upset. What has happened?”
“This, sire,” said another staff General as he handed Desslok a
computer padd with a readout of what happened. Desslok absorbed the bad news in
a few moments, and made a fist in rage as he shut his eyes. “Dagon should have
done better than that,” said the
Leader. “And we also lost Pogi?”
“Destroyed,
Leader Desslok,” said Talan. “Destroyed by that,”
he said as he pointed at one of the screens at the dreaded image of the New White
Comet.
Desslok snarled and looked at the screen. “So, Invidia. You still
have a few tricks up your sleeve. Do not worry. Wound me and I can also be dangerous,” said Desslok. Then,
he turned to Astrena. “I hate to ask this, Astrena,” he said in a low voice.
“Do you have enough power to reach out and just strike her down where she
stands?”
Astrena shook her head. “Not today,” she said. “I was visiting our
wounded and doing what we could, and…”
Desslok nodded. “Thank you for considering it,” he replied.
“Keeling! We have a vast Home Fleet! Tell them that I will lead them in the new
Excelsior. Ready the fleet for
launch…we can still get them, and…”
“Sir!” said a Gamilon officer. “Princess Invidia is sending us a
transmission from her Comet! Visual and audio! She wants to speak directly to
Leader Desslok!”
“Put her on,” said Desslok. “I will speak with her.”
A
moment later, an image of Invidia in a red gown, holding her phone, came up on
the screen on Gamilon.
“Hello, Invidia,” said Desslok after a servant brought him a phone
set of his own, even though he kept the speakers on so all could hear his
conversation. “How amusing that you
have come to my Empire to share the latest in the way of jokes and gossip with
me. What do you have to joke about today?“
“How easy it was to destroy your great General Dagon once we used the right tactics,” said Invidia.
“His flagship was torn into many little pieces, Desslok. It was beautiful.”
“I think I liked you better when you told jokes about your father,
Invidia.”
“Like my new palace,
Desslok?” she said. “It is gorgeous. Too bad you will never come here, except
perhaps in chains! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!”
“Enough
in the way of jokes, Invidia,”
Desslok replied in a dangerous tone. “What do you really want?”
“I want you to consider surrendering, Desslok. Surrender, and we
will be merciful to you and your
race. I may even let you live and serve again as one of my generals.”
“Have you had too much to drink, Invidia?” said Desslok. “I’d
sooner cut my throat than serve again under your command. The last time was bad
enough. Never again. Besides, aren’t you aware that you have been deposed by
your own people? Why should I join forces with a fugitive?”
“I will redeem myself in the eyes of my people when I bring them
news that we have defeated you and your stupid Earthling friends. And I want
all those nice scientific secrets on Iscandar, Desslok. What are you and
Starsha hiding there, anyhow? Or maybe your husband has been visiting his old
love Starsha by night, Astrena? Wouldn’t it be funny if we found evidence that
the great love of Desslok and Starsha continues as a sordid little affair?”
“You’re sick,” hissed
Astrena at her enemy. “You have a warped, evil little mind! He has been
faithful to me.”
“How do you know that?”
said Invidia.
“I am carrying his second child,” said Astrena. “We just found
out.”
“Fool,” said Invidia. “I hope your little brat dies. Just like the
brats your decorated friend the Terran woman is carrying. The one I almost
killed, remember?”
“You are warped!” snapped Astrena.
“We knew that long ago, Astrena,” said Desslok. “Invidia, if you
want to have a decisive battle, remain there in the Pogi System, and I’ll give
you one. In the name of all of the warrior spirits and departed ones of Gamilon
and Garuman, I challenge you to a duel of honor. I propose that we meet in a
day or so we can decide who is the master of this galaxy. Once and for all.”
“I will prefer my own terms,” said Invidia. “I will give you some
time to consider a surrender, Desslok. I give you fifty-five days. Fifty-five
days to take inventory and consider if you want to surrender or not. At the end
of those fifty-five days, if we do not hear from you, we will attack the Sanzar
System.”
“I would prefer to find you
first,” said Desslok. “And meet on my terms. I refuse your surrender offer.”
Invidia just laughed. “Very well, now you have it. We will attack
your new Gamilon and finish it off. We will take your precious Iscandar, next.
We will drive your forces, and the Earthlings off and then we will enslave the
little planet. Then, you will
surrender.”
“Never.”
“Have it your way, Desslok!”
At that, Invidia cut the transmission off.
“Talan, ready the fleet…I’ll pursue her there!” said Desslok.
Then, the surveillance satellite showed the Comet disappearing.
“Leader Desslok!” said one of his men. “It did a space warp! The
Comet and her entire fleet are gone!”
“Track them!” snapped the Gamilon Leader.
“We will analyze all the results,” said Keeling with a nod. He ran
off.
“Talan, we need to let our allies know this,” said Desslok.
“Connect me to Queen Starsha. Then, next, connect me to our Embassy on Earth,
and then to Commodore Derek Wildstar. He and I need to have a long talk…and we
need to warn them so we can confer on a defense.”
“Of course,” said Talan.
At that, Desslok and Astrena looked at each other and left
together.
III.
A GRAVE THREAT…
Planet
Earth
SBB
Argo Medevac Shuttle #21107
Over
The Great Eastern Sea
May
12, 2207: 0402 Hours (Great Megalopolis Time)
“Makes sense, somehow,” said Jefferson Hardy as he piloted Medevac
Shuttle #21107, which had taken off from the Argo just a few minutes beforehand as a call for help had come from
Manchuria at the small EDF Base at Harbin. “Dawn, we get home, and then we get
a call from Sandor to report to the ship and fly off.”
“Yeah, in the middle of the night,” sighed Dawn Hardy. “Good thing
I was able to get dressed real fast,” she yawned. “Need help flying it?”
Hardy shook his head. “We’re right on course for the Megalopolis.
Practicially a sub-orbital milk run…”
“Or it would be if Alex Wildstar wasn’t the one lying there in the
aft compartment critically ill,” said Dawn. She looked at the course readout. “
Jeff nodded. “They already have a landing pad cleared for us.
Doctor Sane called and let me know. He’s there, along with Aliscea.”
“Aliscea?”
Hardy nodded. “He said she just showed up.”
“Good, we’ll need help cleaning his system out. Good thing that
Nova and Samantha Cleveland got to him fast,” said Dawn.
“We need you in here, Mrs. Hardy!” yelled Nova through the hatch.
Dawn kissed Hardy and ran off.
Alex Wildstar was thrashing in agony on a bed in the aft portion
of the shuttlecraft. He was covered with sweat as Sasha desperately tried to
wipe his brow. He now wore nothing but a rag thrown hastily over his crotch;
Nova and
“How is his blood?” said Dawn.
Nova was looking at results from a portable analysis machine that
held a test tube of Alex’s blood; she looked a little pathetic in her white
knee-length dress and sandals as she worked. Sasha looked at her and said, “Nova, how is it?”
“We’re doing what we can. The poison seems to be some kind of
nerve toxin that binds to red corpuscles. Horrible stuff!”
“Can we save him?” asked Derek.
“It’s gonna be rough,” said Dawn as
“How much more can you do
to him?” screamed Sasha with her fists up.
“Derek…Derek…please send my love to Starsha…please…” murmured
Alex.
“Dawn, go analyse this in the other one,” said Nova. “Then go
forward and call them with the results.”
“Right,” said Dawn as she did so and took off forward with the
printout.
“You’re gonna make it, nissan,”
said Derek as he recited the Japanese word for “big brother.” “You’re gonna
pull through this…”
“Mother’s very upset,” said Sasha as she wept. “I’m trying to send
to Dekeee, too. Can’t send much except emotions,” she said.
“Is that a good idea?” said Derek.
“I can’t help it!” cried Sasha.
Nova glanced out a viewport and said, “I recognize those lights;
we’re almost over the
A chime went off as Hardy said over the intership system; “All
hands, we are on final approach for the Megalopolis. Secure for landing.”
“Get us ready,” said Derek.
Nova began strapping Alex down. “This’ll hurt, Alex, but we have
to do this…”
Alex Wildstar nodded. He felt everything beginning to slip away;
it was not good.
About twenty-five minutes later, Deke Wakefield stood in the main
messhall at attention with his pilots, surrounded by the other squadrons on the
Wasp.
Brew looked at Deke and said, “I wonder what the crew has been
mustered here for? We just did another space warp…”
“At 0400?” said Deke. “That was weird. Something’s up…”
“What’s going on?” said Brew.
Then, Deke whispered to Brew, “She’s real upset…I feel it…”
“Who?”
“Squirrel,” whispered Deke. “First, she went…weird on me earlier
tonight…”
“What happened?” said Brew.
“Very embarrassing, Brew…I don’t
want to discuss it! But now, she’s as upset as hell…something bad has
happened…it’s…”
“Look, the Captain is coming,” said Bangs as she nudged
A long moment passed as the First Officer snapped, “Captain on
deck!” The crew snapped to attention, and waited until Captain Jackson came up.
Finally,
“Because of this new threat, gentlemen and ladies, we are wanted
on Iscandar within the next seventy-two hours. We will have to push this
carrier hard and do three more space warps within that time. We must get there.
It is that simple. The ship will remain on alert for all of those warps and the
periods between said warps. Then, immediately upon arrival at Iscandar, the
Trojans and the Buccaneers will fly off this ship at once for deployment to our
colony near
Capatin Jackson paused. “Of course, the Trojans and the Buccaneers
will be leaving us soon, leaving only the Red Devils and the Mad Dogs deployed
on this boat,” he said, referring to the ship’s Torpedo Plane Group and the
third Fighter Group. “However, those of you in those Groups will continue to be
flying with us. We will not be
heading back to Earth at once as planned.”
Captain Jackson then said, “We will be deployed to Iscandar, along
with the space battleship
A very excited hubbub
filled the room. The Scuttlebutt Express was now off and running. Captain
Jackson had to clap his hands once for silence. “Ladies and Gentlemen, as you
have probably already guessed, the Argo
leaves Earth tomorrow to act as our flagship. Commodore Derek Wildstar will be
our operational commander. While he is currently dealing with a dire personal
matter, he will be briefed tomorrow by Commanding General Singleton. He will be
told to expect combat, major combat, in the next few weeks. I will expect no
less of you. You know your jobs, and it has been a pleasure serving with you.
But, playtime is over. We have to get to work! Dismissed!”
At that, with a room full
of hubbub, the officers and enlisted of the Wasp
dispersed to their jobs.
Deke was almost too busy to
deal with the bit of doubt that hung around him like a little rat chewing at
his psyche. But, later, after Captain Jackson had briefed him on Iscandar, he
got to sit down around 0500 and think, I
feel a bit of angst coming off Sasha. I hope she’s all right.
Dawn came slow and cold to the Greater Megalopolis that morning
around 0600 as Derek Wildstar found himself waiting in the same bland waiting
room in Central Hospital outside of the ICU and the Internal Medicine Operating
Suites that he had already seen far too much of for several tense hours on
April the 20th when Nova’s life and the lives of their children had
hung in the balance. There was the same bland muzak playing on the speakers overhead, the same dog-eared back
issue of Jane’s Space Warship Journal, and
the same battered table.
Wildstar was sitting near Sasha, but, except for a few hugs, she
seemed to want to be left alone. She looked like Derek felt; tired and with
dark circles under her eyes.
“Is Daddy going to live? Is he going to make it?” said Sasha. “They haven’t said anything yet. Did Nova
tell you anything?”
“No, I barely saw her since we got here. She went inside with your
father to work on him with the others. I saw her for a short time when they
called me into the side operating room, though. That’s when she and that doctor
finished fixing my chest and taking blood samples.”
“Did she tell you anything?”
Derek shook his head. “She didn’t say a thing about your father.
In that room, she was just holding my hand and assisting as some intern used a
sealant on my chest gash before she rebandaged it. She was in nurses’
clothes by then. Still had those white sandals on, though.
She must’ve rushed to get dressed.”
“Oh. I saw her stick her head out to call for Doctor Sane…was her
dress bloody when she saw you?”
Derek couldn’t lie; he shook his head.
“Then, that was Daddy’s blood on that dress,” said Sasha as she
began to cry again.
Derek just hugged her, and she accepted the hug back, until she
said, “Wish Deekee was here…”
“Me too,” said Derek.
A moment later, Sandor came in, wearing, of all things, his blue
and white Star Force uniform and blue and red peacoat.
“Steve?” said Derek.
“I was summoned to the Argo
almost two hours ago,” he said as he shook hands with Derek and then hugged
Sasha. “We were getting ready…for…”
“For what?” said a
puzzled Wildstar.
Then, Sandor pulled out an envelope. “Look over this fast. Sasha’s
cleared to hear this, because she’ll be coming with us.”
“Coming with us,” said Derek. Then, he grabbed Sandor and said,
“When? I thought we had a few days.”
“The Star Force is being mustered now, Captain,” said Sandor in a
low voice. “Twenty-four hours from now, they want us to shove off.”
Sandor shushed Sasha as Derek tore open the envelope and read his
orders; very fast. “I should be on the ship now,” snapped Derek as he gritted
his teeth and held back tears of rage. “You’re the XO. You should be there too,
Steve!”
“They’re giving us until 1100 to report,” said Sandor. “Thanks to
your mother’s intercession,” he said as he looked at Sasha.
“Why the rush?” asked Sasha.
Derek sighed. How much
should I tell her? All of it-this says she is coming with us…so…
“Your mother wants you home,” sighed Derek. “For
two reasons. One, to accompany your father home, whether he gets better, or whether he…”
“Don’t talk about that!” wept Sasha. “What’s the other reason?”
“Iscandar’s in grave danger,” said Derek as he grabbed her hands.
“Your mother will be in danger. Deke will be in danger. Even Desslok will be in
danger.”
“Why?”
“Invidia just attacked a major Gamilon planet; planet Pogi,” said
Sandor. “They destroyed it with antimatter missiles-destroyed a Gamilon fleet
with their New Comet…”
“What?” cried Sasha.
“Invidia sent Desslok a challenge,” said Sandor in a whisper.
“Surrender, or Gamilon and Iscandar will face the same fate. She’s taken the
gloves off now. This will be a bare-knuckles fight to the end.”
Sasha picked up a magazine
and threw it across the room. “Damn
that Invidia! Damn Ekogaru! Damn the Comet Empire! Damn the R’Khells!” screamed Sasha in sheer rage. “First Daddy, and now Mom and Deke! Can’t they just leave us
alone?”
“Commodore Derek Wildstar,”
said a deep voice that no one recognized.
Derek and the others turned
their heads and looked as a Japanese Buddhist priest, in his somber black and
white robes, with Buddhist rosary beads and shaven head, came into the room.
“Kamisama,” said Derek as he put his head into his hands. “Did they
call you?”
“Yes, one of the doctors
did. It does not look good,” said the priest. “I am Priest Kozama. I will be
honest with you; I am usually called to the hospital, only when…”
“When what?” said Sasha.
“My Daddy isn’t a Buddhist!”
“He was still registered as
one in the old registers we kept,” said Kozama. “I hate to bring bad news, but
we usually come here only when someone is about to leave behind mortality and
become a Buddha.”
“Nooo!” cried Sasha as she slammed the table with her fists and
really began to cry. “I…I don’t want to think about…”
Then, Doctor Sane came out
through the swinging doors, looking very depressed, and followed by a crying
Nova.
“Doctor?” said Sasha.
He wouldn’t look at her,
and wouldn’t look at Derek, either, but Nova met her husband’s eyes and just
shook her head slowly.
“Doc?” said Derek. “Doctor Sane?”
Sane just nodded at the
priest, who immediately began to count his beads and mumble
otherworldy-sounding Buddhist sutras
in low Japanese.
“Derek…we did all that we
could….”
“Doc?” said Derek as Sandor
wiped his eyes and Sasha rocked and put her face in her hands.
“We lost him eight minutes
ago,” said Sane in a depressed voice. “Nova insisted that we keep on trying. I
did. Nothing worked. Your brother’s gone, Derek.”
Sasha got up, ran to her
uncle, and hugged him hard while she wept. In her grief, knowing sterility was
no longer necessary, Nova just grabbed the two of them
and also cried with her husband and niece.
Sandor bowed his head as
the tears ran.
Everything was silent, with
only the priest chanting, for a moment as the sun finished coming up in one of
the windows…
…and Aliscea Rosstowski ran
in, her black dress fluttering about her legs and her hair coming behind her
like fire.
“What are you crying about?”
she snapped in a cold voice that almost made Sasha want to slap her.
“If you’re so cosmic, you
should know,” snapped Sasha in anger. “They just killed my father!”
“Nonsense,” said Aliscea.
“Nova, where is he?”
“In there,” said Nova. “We
just put the sheet over him….he’s…”
“No he’s not…not
yet,” said Aliscea as she gave them a look that brooked no opposition. “Sasha,
we have just five minutes left. No..make that four.
Take me to him.”
“But, he’s not even
washed,” snapped Doctor Sane. “He…”
“Your mother sent me,” said
Aliscea as she walked towards the OR with her sandals slapping hard against the
floor with each angry step. “Let’s get to work.”
Alex Wildstar lay still,
with a sheet over his head. Aliscea pulled the blood-stained sheet down to his
neck, exposing the pale, sleeping face as Sasha looked on in awe. All the
others had followed her in, save for the Buddhist priest, who would be defiled
by being so close to Alex’s dead body. The heart, brain, and other monitors
were all connected to him. All of them were flatline, silent, and as dead as
Alex apparently was.
Aliscea grabbed his temples
and stood for a long moment with her eyes shut. Then, she said, “There’s still
residual brain activity. Doctor Sane, Nova, your instruments could not detect
it. The flame of his soul still lives, but it is about to go out. I think we
can just recall him and begin to repair the damage…”
Aliscea shut her eyes, and
seemed to shrink into herself for a moment before Sasha felt another presence
in the room.
“Mother?” she whispered.
“I am holding him through Aliscea,” said Queen Starsha’s voice in
Sasha’s mind. “I did this for him once
before, when I found him on Iscandar. I recalled him then, but…”
“We will recall him,” said Aliscea in a soft, but stern voice as she
whispered at Alex’s still face, almost lip to lip with him. “Alexander, come
back to us,” she said softly. “Come back to Starsha. Come back to your Sasha.
Come back to Derek. Come to Steve. Come to Nova…come to me…we need you…it isn’t
time your yet…it…”
A soft golden light came
from Aliscea’s body and hands as she breathed deeply. Then, she raised her
head, looked up at the ceiling, and screamed. No, she howled!
The howl was an unearthly sound
that contorted her face. For a moment, Aliscea actually seemed to wither and
look old as the howl turned into an animalistic growl and white, flaming energy
rose up around her and shot into Alex’s body.
Then, Aliscea fell over
him, looking for a moment like some old crone as the light faded and everything
went silent.
Then, the heart monitors,
brain monitor, all of the other monitors beeped insanely as green lights
flashed. Patterns appeared and went berserk on the screens as the flatlines
turned into wild activity.
Then, things quieted down
as Doctor Sane looked on in shock. “The life signs…”
“…all normal…” said Nova.
“But he’s unconscious…he’s…I…Doctor Sane and Doctor Vitelli and I…we…pronounced
him…”
“…like hell I am dead..”
muttered Alex after taking a deep breath as Aliscea got up on shaking legs with
her youthful appearance slowly returning. Derek looked on in shock as his
brother slowly lifted up his head. Nova jumped back and almost screamed.
Alex cocked his head and
murmured, “Derek…go tell that Buddhist priest out there to shut up. I’m not
dead. Although I think I was about to be before Aliscea there and Starsha
called me back.”
“Daddy!” said Sasha as she
hugged him. “You’re back!”
“Wherever I’ve been, I’m
back,” said Alex. “Hey, Steve. What are you doing
here?” he said as he looked at Sandor.
Sandor laughed an almost
wicked laugh. “Waiting by your deathbed, you big jerk…”
“Yeah…right,” said Alex. He
tried to lift a leg. “Still pretty weak…”
“You need to rest,” said
Nova as she got a wet sponge and dabbed his head.
“So do you, kid. Derek,
take her home.”
“But..well…I
have to be on the Argo by 1100,” said
Derek. “We’re taking you home…if he can travel, that is…”
“Oh, we’ve got room for him
in Sickbay,” said Doctor Sane with a big smile. “Although, I thought for a bit
you were going back to Iscandar another way…”
“Well…I don’t think I can
go back on the Princess Astra, now,”
said Alex. “I was going to be in command. Derek, tell Conor he’s got my
carrier, at least until I’m better. I’m appointing him…Deputy Captain…”
“Got it,” said Derek as he
shook tears out of his eyes and hugged Nova. Then, he looked at her. “Are you
coming with us? I mean…I don’t know if you’re going to be in any shape to be on
a warship, soon,” he said.
“Starsha says it’s
important,” said Aliscea. “If this war ends with us alive, I foresee, then it will end right before your children are born, Derek
and Nova,” said Aliscea in a low voice. “For them to have a future, you both
have to be there…until the end.”
Derek looked at Nova with a
questioning, silent look, who nodded once, blushing. Then, Nova said to Derek.
“Derek?”
“Yes?”
“Remember when we left
Iscandar, and you said that Starsha and Alex would be the Adam and Eve of a
brand-new Iscandar?”
“Yes?”
“It’s our turn now…for
Earth,” said Nova with a smile. Then, she and Derek held hands.
“We won’t part again until
this war ends,” said Commodore Wildstar.
“No…we won’t,” agreed Nova.
“Sasha, are you ready?”
said Sandor.
She nodded. “We have a job
to do, I think?”
“We have to get you into
uniform, first,” said Derek.
“I’ll put something on
aboard ship,” said Sasha. “I have this certain outfit in mind…it’s at home…”
Derek raised his eyebrows until
Nova said, “Our stuff’s at the house, Derek. We need to close it up until we
get home…”
“I’ll get Dawn and Miss
Cleveland to get Alex ready to travel back to the ship,” said Doctor Sane.
“We’ll meet there, Nova,” he said with a sigh. “I don’t like the idea of you
going…”
“Doc, I’ve made up my
mind,” said Nova with a grin.
“Let’s go,” said Derek. “A
great red and blue lady is waiting for us.”
IV.
COMING HOME
Planet
Earth
College
Point Dockyards
Underwater
Dock Number Five
Space
Battleship Argo
May
12, 2207: 1054 Hours
Commodore
Derek Wildstar had almost made it his tradition to take a good look at her
every time they were about to take off.
Actually, as Nova had always
put it, two ladies always made his heart speed up. One was Nova herself, as she
well knew.
The other was “the other
woman” in Nova’s life, as she liked to say when she was teasing him.
This other “lady” always
wore shiny blue-grey and red, and, in her own way, she was just as trim and
curvy as Mrs. Wildstar was.
This other lady, of course,
was the Argo.
She looked like a
magnificent dragon, ready to wake up as she rested in her new berth not that
far from Heroes’ Hill, in a new secure undersea dockyard.
Next to her slept the
Flagship of the Combined Fleet, the
The activity of the dock
now focused on getting the Argo
stocked and ready for liftoff in less than a day from now.
Still, Derek had enough
time for a long look before he turned around and went up the gangplank, knowing
somehow that he would not be touching Earth again with his boots either until
the war was over or…
I don’t want to think about that now,
he thought. We’re going to win, you and
I!
“Captain on the bridge!”
snapped Kitano a moment later as Wildstar came in through the starboard hatch.
Derek looked around at the
crew, at attention. Eager, Sandor, Domon, Homer, Yamazaki…, and Senior
Lieutenant Haruo Nishina was back again at Artillery…all of them were at their
appointed spots. All of them in their Star Force uniforms again, ready to go.
“It’s been a long time,
Wildstar,” said Eager.
“Not that long,” said Derek as he stood behind the Command station.
“It’s been less than a month, guys.”
“It feels like years,” said
Yamazaki. “Is Nova all right?”
Derek nodded. “She’s below in
Sickbay, helping with Alex. She’ll be up here in uniform in a while.”
IQ-9’s dome came up; he was
at Analysis. “Nova’s coming with us?”
“Yes she is,” said Derek.
“She’ll have a skirt on most of the time now, except when we have to go into
battle. Her legs are bothering her. You know why.”
“Can I…?” said IQ-9.
“No,” said Derek. “Not if I
were you.”
“Why
not?”
“She’s become very good
with a Louisville Slugger, lately,” said Derek, trying to make light of their
horrid experience.
“Really?” said IQ-9.
“Yes. Just trust me,” said Derek with an evil grin.
A moment later, the hatch
whizzed open, and Nova stepped in, wearing a male-pattern Star Force shirt over
her tummy, with a belted skirt that bared her legs, and white sandals on her
feet.
Homer applauded, while
Eager let out a good-natured wolf whistle. Then, he said, “Like ah said, you’ll
still right purty, Mrs. Nova,” as she blushed. “How far along are ya?”
“Getting very close to six
months, more or less,” said Nova as she walked over to Analysis. “IQ, I’m going
to need that seat. I want you to take over at Secondary Analysis on Bridge
Number Two.”
“Why, Nova? I am best
suited for this position.”
“True, but I have a
rotating teaching assignment on this part of the cruise as well as my regular duties
as Living Group Leader and Head Nurse. I’ll be at that post at times, and at
times I’ll be at other posts.”
“I see.” IQ-9 got up,
staring intensely at Nova.
“Don’t even think about
that,” huffed Nova as she turned and bent over to
punch in some access codes, while quickly nodding over her shoulder at a
surprised Derek. “If you are even thinking
about that with my back turned to you, in a skirt…”
IQ-9’s hand stealthily
extended to the edge of Nova’s skirt at the back and gently began to pull it up.
“You tinwit!” laughed
Sandor as Nova finally “noticed” a bit of her panties showing. She screamed and
flipped around.
“IQ-9!” she yelled while the crew laughed and applauded.
“I hope you got that out of your systems, IQ,” snapped
Nova as she smoothed down her skirt (fully expecting he would do this at least
once)
“Looks as good as ever,
Nova!” he laughed as he turned his sensor dome towards the port side hatchway
at the aft part of the bridge. “My sensors have gone weird…there’s two of you,
Nova!”
“Two of me?” said Nova.
“I think he’s going batty,”
said Nishina.
“He went batty long ago,”
commented Homer as he followed IQ-9 to the hatchway. Sandor got up and followed
both of them as Derek got up.
A moment later, the
hatchway whizzed open…
…and a lovely vision in a
blue skirt, jacket, and dark blue boots stepped onto the Argo’s bridge with a shy smile as all of the rest of the crew, save
for Derek, Nova, and Sandor stood goggle-mouthed at just how cute she was.
“Everyone,”
said Sandor. “Meet our newest crew member, Ensign Sasha Wakefield, Princess of
Iscandar. Let’s just say she’s been in the news lately. She was just
commissoned. She’ll be a Cosmo Radar, Tactical Radar, and Navigator-Pilot
trainee under the command of Nova and Kitano.”
“She picks things up…very
quickly,” said Derek Wildstar. “She’s also my niece, and she’s a married woman.
Her husband is Senior Lieutenant Deke Wakefield, currently on the carrier Wasp, which is almost at Iscandar now.
She will also be training as a Radar Survey Officer under Mister Wakefield’s
command when we get to Iscandar. So…”
“I get it…paws off the
Princess!” laughed Eager.
“She’s going to be my new
target,” said IQ-9. “Nova’s getting too old.”
“Thanks a lot,” huffed Nova as the crew laughed and
Sasha looked rather warily at the squat little machine. “I’ll take you to your
post to check in, Mrs. Wakefield,” he burbled.
“Thanks, I can do it
myself,” said Sasha in a sweet, melodic voice that sounded to Nishina like a
cross between her mother Starsha and a young Australian woman. Sasha walked
over very quickly to the cosmo-radar and sat down. “Nova…how do you log into
this unit? The controls are…”
“I’ll show you,” said Nova.
“The units here on the Argo just have
the keypads in funny places,” she said. Nova punched in the basic code, and
then whispered to her, “what’s your new password?”
“Deekee,” she whispered back with a blush.
“Spell that, please?”
“delta-echo-echo-kilo-echo-echo,” whispered Sasha.
“Got it,” said Nova. “Good
luck.”
“Thanks.”
A few minutes later, a
message came in on the Argo’s first
bridge. “Visual communication over the long-distance space net!” said Homer.
“Priority One Echo message for Commodore Wildstar! Message encrypted and
scrambled. Turning on our encyption units at our end.”
“Now, who the heck would be
using a Diplomatic Command code to call us?” said Wildstar.
Kitano shrugged as Nova
came over to her husband and said, “I think I have an idea, Derek?”
“Who?”
Nova whispered a single word
in Derek’s ear as Homer’s eyes went wide. “Wildstar!
It’s from Gamilon!”
A
moment later, a familiar blue face came up on the Argo’s main screen. “We meet again, Star Force,” said the
mellifulous voice of the speaker on the screen.
“Nova, you were right,”
whispered Derek. Then, he looked up. “Good morning, Desslok. What brings you to
us today?”
“News of a major defeat for
us,” said Desslok. “Invidia just destroyed General Dagon’s fleet along with
Planet Pogi. And she’s threatening an attack on Iscandar and Gamilon in
fifty-four days. Is the Argo ready to
come to our aid?”
“Yes. We take off
tomorrow,” replied Commodore Wildstar. “We expect to be there soon.”
“Starsha asks how Alex
Wildstar is doing? I didn’t know he was ill…”
“He was,” said Derek.
“Nova, Sasha, he, and I were on a train on leave when Cometine and R’Khell
agents attacked us. They were being led by a R’Khell
called Erugar and by a clone of Yvona Josiah.”
“Strange. Someone like that
tried to assasinate me years ago, too.”
“Alex was poisoned by a
knife wound and we almost lost him. But he’s in our Sickbay now. Send word to
Starsha we are bringing him back.”
“I shall,” said Desslok.
“We shall be glad to see you. The Cometine harassment of our shipping
continues. They’re trying to strangle my Empire, and that General Radnar, who
aided us…”
“Yes, I was briefed on
him…” said Derek.
“Radnar is now suspiciously
absent,” said Desslok. “I wonder who side he is really on?”
“I guess we will find out,”
said Wildstar.
“Yes…I believe we will,”
said Desslok as a dangerous light shone in his eyes. “Best wishes. May you have
a safe journey to Iscandar. I’ll do what I can to send
escorts along the way, if you need help.”
Derek nodded as the screen
went dark.
Later that day, at 1730
Hours, Commodore Wildstar called a briefing. Except for the Black Tigers (who
were again down to two squadrons, one led by Hardy, the other led by Bryan
Hartcliffe), and a few stragglers who were still checking in, most of the Star
Force was already aboard.
After having an alteration
done so that she would have a full collar to pull up on her Midshipman’s
uniform in case it was needed as a spacesuit, Sasha stood beside Nova in the
Central Strategy Room as Kitano reviewed their upcoming course to Iscandar on
the main deck panel.
“Barring any incidents, and
adjusting for the Princess Astra’s
maximum warp rate, we can make it to Iscandar in about fifteen days, with one
long warp each day,” said Kitano as he pointed at the graphic with his pointer.
“After our test warp tomorrow, our first warp tomorrow will take us beyond the
Orion Area to the area beyond the Voton Stars. We will miss Red Star this time,
of course…”
“Of course, we will be on
alert all of these times,” said Wildstar.
“Of course,” said Nishina.
“What I’ve studied of the log entries sent back by the Wasp indicates that the Cometines have been harassing them on the
way to the Magellenic Cloud. They’ll probably give us a harder time becaise
they want us destroyed more badly.”
“We’ll probably see action
soon, then,” said Sandor. “Nova?”
“Well..I
have a larger spacesuit packed at my station if I really need it in an
emergency,” said Nova. “I can still struggle into a regular uniform, somewhat
larger in size, if I have to and we’re expecting action. But my primary job on
the bridge will be helping Kitano instruct Mrs. Wakefield.”
“Mrs. Wakefield,” said
Derek. “You’re going to have to learn a lot, and in a very short time…possibly
in combat conditions. Up for it?”
“Yessir,” said Sasha, as
she thought, I hope I don’t get spacesick
again! That’d be so funny, if I barfed while at my post here on the Argo. No…it wouldn’t be funny.
“How is the engine?” asked
Wildstar as he looked at Tim Orion, who had command of the engine room crew,
with Diane Henson as his second-in-command in the engine room.
“The wave engine is fine.
We were running static tests and tuning her when we got the news about our
takeoff. The engine can handle it. I don’t know about the rest of the ship,
though…”
“We were testing the
weapons systems and electronics when we got the call,” said Sandor. “We think
everything will work. Luckily, we will have an escort in the form of the Princess Astra.” Sandor made a new
graphic come up. “She’s one of our dependable Yorktown-class spacecraft carriers, like the Wasp. Her main engine has just had an uprated supercharger
installed so she can manuever with us and keep up with us in cruising speed and
warp frequency. The Iscandarians and Pellians aboard her were just learning her
ropes under the guidance of some of our officers and men who will be on board.
Luckily, her skipper, Conor of Iscandar, has some battle experience under his
belt, along with the ship’s XO…”
“Isn’t that Dash?” said
Homer.
“Yes, it’s Dash,” said
Sandor. “He’s Combat Group Leader of the Princess
Astra for this mission. He was glad to get the assignment, and he had some
space destroyer and space frigate commands before this. If he survives this
war, he’ll be in line to get a cruiser or battleship next.”
“He’s comin’ up in the
world,” said Eager.
“The start of a new
generation of warriors,” said Homer.
Nova bent over and held her
stomach. “Ouch,” she muttered.
“Nova, are you all right?”
said Sandor.
“Yes, the new generation
just gave me a good sharp kick in there,” laughed Nova. “Just wait until some
of you ladies get pregnant.”
The crew had a chuckle at
this.
“Going on,” said Derek.
“Next?”
V.
DEPARTING UNDER PRESSURE
Planet
Earth
College
Point Dockyards
Underwater
Dock Number Five
Space
Battleship Argo
May
13, 2207: 0548 Hours
“We are now off dockyard power umbilicals,” said Sandor as the
sound of energy buildup in the Argo’s
auxilary engines filled the ship. “
“Eager, still picking up enemy spacecraft?” said Wildstar.
“If there’s Scorpions around, there’s
only two of them,” said Eager. “Telemetry comning through the
base and defense network sensors to us via wireless link. Sending through telemetry to Sasha.”
At her post, Sasha sat nervously as she tried to remember which
buttons to push. Nova sent her an instant message from Analysis to jog her
memory, and Sasha got the right code in a moment later as sweat was staining
her uniform. “Confirmed; two Cometine Scorpions above the
An image came up of the grey, pre-dawn sky,
and of two black Scorpion gunboats with the familiar bug-like flashing sensors
slung below.
“Confirmed,”
said Nova from Analysis. Because of the tense takeoff atmosphere, she had on a
freshly altered set of male-pattern trousers rather than a skirt. She still had
sandals on for her swollen ankles, (and her back was beginning to ache a bit
today) but she had a normal space boot-and-gloves set ready with her helmet at
her post. “Cometine recon boats. They’re scanning our
dock like crazy, along with Dock Twelve where the Princess Astra is beginning to get ready to follow us.”
“Recon ships,” said Nishina. “Can’t do much to
hurt us.”
“But they can call back
to their carrier,” said Sandor. “There’s got to be one around. We’re being set
up.”
“Hardy indicates the Black Tigers are waiting at Idlewild Base;
ready to intercept on their way to the ship if they have to,” said Homer.
“Defense Command is on alert; they’re trying to get two battle satellites into
range to get those birds.”
“Like that’ll do any
good,” said Eager.
“I hope they don’t mess up and hit us,” said Domon as he looked at Nova.
“That’s not a
comfortable thought, Ryusuke,” said Nova.
“It is still a possibility,” said Kitano. “Yamazaki, how’s the
engines?”
“Port and starboard
boosters balancing well. We’re ready.”
“Ready?” said Nova from her post as she looked aft at her husband
with a little grin and a thumbs-up. “We’d better get out of here before they
get too wise to us, right?”
“Hey…No
time like the present,” said Commodore Wildstar with a
grin in his peacoat as he put his intership comm unit on line. Then, he turned
more serious as he said, “Attention, all hands. We are pulling in the gangway
and making final preparations for undersea takeoff! We will cruise along
underwater for a while before blasting out in the
Down in Sickbay, Doctor Sane looked at Dawn. Dawn wore her regular
uniform, along with an Astro-Automatic. Sane’s eyebrows went up when he saw
that. “You’ve changed your ethics?”
“No, Nova talked me into it at 0300 during the last spacesuit
drill,” sighed Dawn. “She told me what could happen if we get boarded.”
“Smart girl,” said Sane with a proud nod.
“I don’t like the idea, but you might have to shoot to survive.”
“Want some Spring Water?” asked Sane as he popped the cork on his
ever-handy bottle and had a drink.
“If it’s the kind of “Spring Water” you gave me yesterday after
the hospital, no way,” said Dawn with
a smile. “Sir, how do you drink that stuff all the time?”
“It’s an acquired taste,” he said as he drank some right from the
bottle. Then, he poured Dawn a small glass as he smiled with a red face. “Here!
Take some!”
Dawn sighed and sipped at the drink. She nearly spit it out. “Arrrgh! What proof
is this stuff?”
“I brew it myself,” said Sane. “Depends upon how much rice I put
in the mash. Of course, we start with water from that spring Captain Avatar liked, and…”
“Did he drink this rotgut?” said Dawn.
“All the time!” laughed Doctor Sane as he took more.
No
wonder he died at his age, thought Dawn irritably.
“Water
level now at the first bridge!” said Sandor as the dock filled with more
seawater.
“Word to the Commander sent; we’re departing in ten minutes,” said
Homer.
“Good,” said Commodore Wildstar. “Sasha, still
getting any telemetry from the dock?”
“It just went dead,” said Sasha. “We’ll be blind until we’re out
of the dock,” she said.
“We’ll be able to start picking up again at 100 meters’ depth of
seawater,” said Nova. “Until then, watch the sonar. They’ve used magnet
torpedoes against us in the past when our units were manuvering in the sea on
other planets. They recently took out a space frigate like that in the sea on
Pluto.”
“Can…can their Scorpions drop those?” asked Sasha.
Sandor looked at her and nodded.
“Great,” she said.
“All first bridge stations, final status reports!” said Wildstar.
“Communications, GO!” snapped Homer.
“Gunnery units standing by,” said Nishina.
“Analysis computers standing by; no further new telemetry from
dock,” said Nova.
“Combat posts standing by,” said Domon. “Solid green on all
weapons and flight systems except for wave motion gun and aft wave counterattack
missiles. Condition of those systems yellow standby.”
“Helm ready,” said Kitano.
“Mechanical condition of ship 98.92 percent ready,” said Sandor.
“Running final diganostic tests now on weapons systems on yellow.”
“Tactical sensor suite ready!” said Eager.
Then, Sasha realized it was her
turn to report. “Cosmo-Radar ready!” she cried out.
“Engineering on standby,” said Yamazaki.
“Aft
wave counterattack missiles ready; wave motion gun reads ready,” said Sandor.
“Captain, condition of ship is one hundred percent ready.”
Derek nodded. A moment later, he asked, “Yamazaki, buoyancy
status?”
“Full buoyancy,” he said.
“Flooding operation completed,” said Sandor. “Clear for takeoff,
Wildstar.”
“Release the gantry lock,” Derek snapped.
Kitano worked a few levers, and a clanging sound resounded through
the Argo’s hull as the gantry lock
let go.
“All hands, secure for takeoff,” said Wildstar.
Everyone put on their safety harnesses.
“All hands on Bridge One, secure for takeoff,” repeated Sandor.
“Bridge Two ready,” said the gruff voice of Senior Lieutenant Goro
Raiden from below.
“Bridge Three Auxilary Control ready, “ said
the Third Bridge Crew Chief, Lieutenant Victor Peale of Intelligence, from his
battle station.
“Activate
gyro-stabiizer; astral compass on, and ready for auxilary engine power,” said
Kitano.
“Ahead slow, point four speed,” said
Commodore Wildstar.
“Aye, ahead slow, point four,” said Kitano as he worked the helm
and throttle. Underwater, the Argo’s auxilary
engines lit off, and the ship began to move forward.
We’re
moving! Sasha thought with excitement. We’re on our way!
“Gate open,” said Wildstar.
“Aye, gate open,” said Kitano as he worked the controls that
opened the dockyard gate to the open sea.
A moment passed as the ship gained speed. “The Argo has cleared the dock,” said Sandor.
Derek sat for a moment as the ship cruised through the sea, and
then, he said, “Speed up to four, Kitano. Commence course change five degrees
starboard.”
“Speed, four knots, course change, five, aye,” said Kitano. “Yaw
and roll dampers locked on! Ten minutes to open sea. Mister Yamazaki, wave
motion engine status?”
“Power
to the starting cylinder,” said Yamazaki.
“Begin start sequence now,” said Commodore Wildstar.
“Yessir…engine crew, begin energy buildup in the wave motion
engine…light off afterburner…supercharger set!”
“Lighting off afterburner…supercharger set!” responded Tim Orion
from below.
“Wave motion engine energy level, twenty percent…and rising,” said
Yamazaki.
“Six minutes to surfacing,” said Kitano.
“Oh no!” cried Sasha. “Sonar is picking up objects coming for us!”
“What?” said Kitano, looking around.
“Nova, give me an analysis on that! Pronto!”
Sasha gave him a black look as she then said, “Sir, I’m trying to
make sense of this data…I…Nova!”
“Give me a second!” barked Nova as she typed furiously. “I’m
almost as fast as Tinwit on this, but not quite. No!” she said as the flow of
data made sense to her. “Magnet missiles heading for us!
Metallic signature, Cometine! They’re not unfused, either!”
“Speed, forty statute knots,” said Sasha. “Direction, off the
starboard beam…”
“Hang on,” said Kitano as he made a hard turn underwater. “Taking
evasive action! Speed up to twenty-two knots statute!”
“Captain!” called Homer. “The Princess
Astra tells us they’ve taken a hit!”
“Ready torpedoes, continue evasive!” barked Wildstar.
“Bow torpedoes ready, locking target!” said Domon. “FIRE!”
He fired, and there were two sharp blasts.
“Second wave!” cried Sasha as she concentrated hard to make the
words tumble out while the data changed and her stomach did cartwheels. Even
underwater, she was starting to get sick again. “Direction 45
degrees a’starboard, speed, forty-two knots! Three bogies, one passing
under us, second locked onto third bridge!”
“Brace for impact!” barked Wildstar as the magnetic missile locked
onto the bottom of the Argo’s third
bridge and went off with a loud bang that shook the ship. Nova gasped while
Sasha screamed.
“Third bridge damaged!” said Sandor.
“This is Peale,” said a voice over the PA a moment later. “We’ve
sprung a leak; water’s flooding in!”
“Third
Bridge crew, evacuate your positions and seal watertight hatches!” barked
Commodore Wildstar while, in the chaos, Eager yelled, while Sandor’s eyes
widened, “More missiles approachin’!”
“Speed, forty-three knots!” cried Sasha. “How can they be making
them go faster?”
“They’re probably getting closer with their boats overhead,” said
Nova. “The closer they get, the faster they launch those things…”
“Or maybe they have some new technology we don’t know about yet,
Nova,” added Sandor.
“Captain,” said Homer. “Hardy’s reporting contact with bogies!
Luckily, they just got off the runway at Idlewild!”
“Hardy!” said Wildstar. “Engage enemy and remain engaged until we
tell you otherwise!”
“Roger!” barked Hardy from the cockpit of his Cosmo Tiger.
“Hartcliffe, get your people on those bogies to port!”
“Understood, got it,” said Bryan Hartcliffe. “All right, mates,
let’s show these blokes what we’re made
out of!”
A moment later, the Scorpions that were over the ocean were
dealing with the Black Tigers as they closed and began making things very
rough.
Three
more minutes passed.
“Wave motion engine, energy level now at 75 percent and building,”
said Yamazaki.
“Ascending angle, twenty-two degrees, speed, twenty-one knots,”
said Kitano. “Depth, two hundred and twelve meters; two
minutes to surfacing!”
“Damage being repaired,” said Sandor.
Good,
thought Sasha. I hope this is over…it
probably isn’t…
“The Princess Astra
reports two and a half minutes to surfacing; she was only lightly hit,” said
Homer. “Headquarters reports two battle satellites destroyed five enemy boats.”
“Hey!” laughed Eager. “They finally
hit somethin’ with those!”
“Wave motion engine pressure now at eighty-five percent,” said
Yamazaki. “Make that eighty-nine percent!”
“One minute to surfacing,” said Kitano. “Increasing
thrust to auxilaries-speed now increasing to seventy-five knots…increasing to
eighty knots!”
Sasha felt excitement as she felt g-forces just beginning to push
her gently back in her seat. It felt a little like being on a roller coaster;
both scary and exhilarating at once.
“Sasha, be ready to scan the sky as soon as we break the surface,”
said Derek. “Nova, ready to change analysis to radar data.”
“Roger,” said Nova from her post while Sasha remembered the manual
from last night and began to get ready to flick switches.
“Thirty seconds,” said Kitano.
Not far away, several Scorpion gunboats flew in formation. “Flight
control on Velgannas,” said the lead
pilot to his carrier group officer on his ship. “Request
permission to engage the Argo as she
emerges!”
On the Cometine light carrier Velgannas,
the enemy CAG looked at his Captain, who shook his head. “Negative, Bulnar! Go
up to eighty thousand gerad altitude,
and get them right when they are closing their ship’s wings. I am spotting EDF
vessels thirteen time units away, and I don’t want to engage a whole fleet with
our squadron! If we are going to finish the Argo,
we have to be hasty about it and do it in the next eleven time units!”
“Yessir,” said the squadron leader. “Units two, three, and nine,
we are pulling out! Go to plan Higaz!”
“Yessir!” said the Cometine pilots in their flight armor.
“Wave motion engine, energy level, one hundred and twenty
percent!” snapped Yamazaki. “Ten seconds to starting!”
“Ten seconds to surfacing,” said Kitano as he began the final
launch countdown. “Ten..nine…eight…seven..six…”
At
that, the Argo’s bow began to emerge
from the
“…five…four…three….two…one…”
“Weather deck fully surfaced!” barked Kitano as the ship surged up
and began blasting forward like a stone going along the water. “Speed, now one
hundred and twenty knots…ready for launch speed!”
“Ready on wave engine!” said Yamazaki.
“Main engine ready for thrust!” said Kitano.
“Argo, ascend!” said
Commodore Wildstar.
“Aye, Argo, ascending!” yelled Kitano.
He flicked on the wave motion engine and rotated the flght yoke
back.
The Argo blasted up out
of the ocean a moment later.
The ship emerged slowly, like a wreck struggling up from Davy
Jones’ locker as the thrust of the wave engine lifted the heavy ship up. Sasha
burped and put a hand up to her mouth-she had just barely avoided throwing up
when the angle of the deck suddenly changed.
“Ya look green!” said Eager as the Argo’s whole bow pierced the water as they emerged.
“I am,” she moaned.
“Let’s hope that they don’t come back while we’re launching!
Fingers crossed, guys!” laughed Domon as the rest of the ship lifted off into
the air at last and left the sea behind as she slowly began to climb in a cloud
of water and steam. Beside him, he could see that Nova had crossed her
fingers…and, as he looked down at her in her open sandals, her toes, as well.
“Do you always do that?”
said Domon.
Nova smiled and nodded. “You’ve never seen it before because I’ve
always had boots on when we took off..”
Domon
nodded as Kitano barked, “The ship is now fully aloft! Trim for cruising speed!
Main wings, open!”
Sasha heard and felt a whir and then a loud clunk as the Argo’s wings opened. The bridge was
beginning to smell a little of hot circuits, hot machine oil, and of fresh air
just released from the vents and oxygen generators as the ship scooped in a few
seconds of fresh air with a slight salt tang and then switched over from
undersea mode to surface mode to flight mode. Sasha immediately noticed that
the Argo seemed to be much more alive somehow than the sterile-feeling Nagato was.
It was a very uncanny but awe-inspiring sense in the ancient ship
that had once been the sea-going battleship Yamato.
On
this girl, you know
you’re on a ship, she thought as she watched her radar while the sea
disappeared below them at an alarming rate as the ship roared further up into
the sky, leaving the
While a rushing, smooth roar built up below them, the sky through
the windows quickly turned deep blue, and then, it turned indigo as the Argo rushed eastwards in a steep, fast
ascending angle.
“Altitude, Kitano?” asked Commodore Wildstar.
“Switching algorithims from statute to spacial measures,” said
Kitano. “Altitude, one megameter over ocean surface. About to achieve low orbit. Speed,
eighteen space knots.”
“Sasha, any enemy forces about?”
“No, sir, they seem to have let off?” said Sasha. “Deck planes
spotted to aft! Speed, one hundred space knots and slowing.
They’re ours!” she said with relief in her voice as she switched the view to
aft.
“Request permission to land,” said Hardy’s voice over the
speakers. “Or we would if you guys would slow down a little?”
“Kitano, reduce speed to fifteen space knots…pick up the Black
Tigers. Open lower fighter bay hatch!”
A moment later, the Black Tigers began to land as, up in space, the Argo
cruised at low orbit over
“We’re in orbit,” said Kitano. “Takeoff completed!”
Commodore Wildstar got up and doffed his peacoat and scarf,
leaving it on the seat. “All hands, prepare for honors!” he said as he walked
down to the main deck level of the first bridge. “Sasha, main
screen on, forward view!”
“Yessir!” she said.
Then, not knowing what to do, she got up,
and obeyed orders as Wildstar snapped, “All hands, face aft! Honors for Captain
Avatar!” he said as everyone on the ship symbolically saluted Heroes’ Hill. On
the
Then, Wildstar said, “About face…honors for the Earth!”
The
crew then turned about and came to attention, saluting Earth as the Argo slowly slid higher and higher up
into orbit. Nova was beside Derek and she stood to his left with a smile as
Sasha and the others stood behind him holding their salute. Nova then began to
reflect back as the final lyrics of a song came into her mind….
See
the girl, she’s waving to you…
The
scarf, so bright and red…
As
you race into the Blue…
She
is waving, waving to you…
As
you travel on your way…
And
night, turns into day….
You
will carry in your heart,
Memories
of that Scarlet Scarf…
Romance
is yours…
As
you travel into endless stars…
Romance
is yours
As
you speed out past distant Mars..
La la la la la…
La la la la la…
We
will return again;
We
will return!
Yes,
thought Nova as tears ran down her cheeks. We’ll
be back. You’ll see…we’ll be back! And we’ll win!
The time was now 0620 Hours. The Argo had just left Earth.
And on the Velgannas,
nine time units had just clicked away.
“Execute,” said the ship’s Captain, a General Pijar, with an evil
smile as he put his hand around a handgrip.
Ten Cometine gunboats got into position before the ship’s bow,
they were ready.
“Princess Invidia will love this,” said General Pijar. “Activate
SMITE unit!”
TO
BE CONTINUED…
To Return to the Introduction to The New Comet, click here