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 FOUR: TALES OF
ISCANDAR AND BALAN
I.
PRESSURE CONTINUES
In
Orbit Over Planet Earth
Space
Battleship Argo
May
13, 2207: 0621 Hours (Standard Earth Space-Time)
“No!” cried Sasha as soon as she
wiped her eyes and sat down again at her post as soon as the Salute had ended
and the Argo began to gather more
speed in order to blast out of orbit to begin their journey. “Enemy
ships! Appearing all around us!”
“Appearing?” said Domon.
“Visual, Sasha!” barked Commodore Wildstar. He recognized
the pattern at once. “Sandor? It can’t be, but..it is! They're using the Gamilons' technology again!”
“Hmmm…The Comet Empire is using the design of the Gamilon Space
Matter Instant Transporting Equipment,” replied Sandor. “They call it SMITE.”
“Pulse lasers, ready to fire to port!” said Domon. “Kitano,
evade!”
Kitano looked back to Commodore Wildstar, who nodded.
“Evasive action!
This is going to be a hard turn, people!” said Kitano.
The Argo turned to evade
the first few Cometine missiles as planes started to launch from the aft deck
of the Princess Astra. “Captain Conor
is launching a torpedo squadron and a fighter squadron to protect our task
group!” said Homer as he caught a signal.
“Tell them we’re also launching planes!” snapped Derek. “Domon,
scramble the Black Tigers!”
“Yessir,” said Domon.
A moment later, the available twenty-four planes of the Tigers
began to roar out of the Argo’s lower
bay again as Lieutenant Angie Hartcliffe, who was now serving on the ship in Flight
Control since she was now expecting (she wasn’t permitted to serve as a fighter
pilot while carrying a child). She sat in her bay above the flight deck
directing the Tigers off the ship. She had sort of reconciled with
Bryan
ruined my life doing this to me, Angie thought as she
worked, watching the Tigers flying out on their latest mission. She shut her
eyes as she recognized her own former Tiger, the Surfer Girl, taking off with its name painted out, and now under
the command of a new nugget Ensign who had just been assigned to the Black
Tigers.
Angie then recognized the next plane on the deck. Number 013;
“Lieutenant, cleared for takeoff,” she said wearily into her mike.
“’avin’ fun up there, luv?” said Hartcliffe.
“Don’t rub it in,
“Acknowledged, luv,”
said
A moment later, the short-haired, hornrimmed-glasses wearing
Senior Lieutenant named John Wochinski who was the Section Chief of Flight
Control came up to Angie and said, “Mrs. Hartcliffe. We are in combat. You will
watch your damn emotions on duty. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yessir,” said Angie as she looked down at the boots of her
unwelcome yellow on white uniform.
“And it’s not our fault you’re pregnant,” he snapped.
“Sir, permission to speak freely?”
“Hartcliffe’s was the last plane out-granted.”
“I didn’t ask for this, sir: And I didn’t want it. And my
emotions and hormones are going berserk, sir.”
“It takes two to tango, Mrs. Hartcliffe,” said
Wochinski. “And we have another pregnant woman on this ship. Mrs. Wildstar does
her job and never makes any sort of
excuses. Got that?”
“Yessir.”
“You quit using what you did as an excuse! Now get back to work!
Or we can just ship you home to knit booties in a ground command if you’d
prefer that.”
You
boys’ club chauvinist pig, Angie thought as she wiped away a tear and
went back to tracking the Tigers.
Around
the Argo, two minutes later, two
Cometine destroyers had warped in and had made strafing runs against her. Two
more had also strafed the Princess Astra.
“Main enemy fleet spotted,” said Sasha. “Three light carriers,
three battleships, and fifteen more destroyers! Range, fourteen megameters..”
“Sir,” said Homer. “Admiral Carson says he can bring the Eighth
Battleship Squadron into range of the enemy fleet in four minutes. He says
they’re at RPX-225, thirteen point five megameters off our starboard bow…”
“Confirmed,” said Sasha. “Their speed is nineteen space knots;
slowly accelerating…”
The Argo shook from
another hit, but Commodore Wildstar thought, “Domon, what’s the range of the
wave motion cartridges again?”
“Twelve megameters; same as the uprated main guns,” said Domon.
“We could just do it. They should be in range in about ninety
seconds. Homer, recall Hardy after they make one run against the enemy, and
then have the Princess Astra recall
her planes after they do the same. A spread of wave motion cartridges from our
nine man guns and the Princess Astra’s
six main mounts would be fifteen percent of the firepower of the wave motion
gun. Domon, have the gunners prepare wave cartridges.”
“Yessir,” said Domon.
General
Pijar watched the battle from the bridge of the Velgannas in a bad mood.
“They’re fighting too hard, Major Dristna,” said Pijar. “I thought
this would throw them off-balance, but…”
“It looks like this attack isn’t bothering them at all. We warp
them in, they just fight them off. We even tried that at close range with the
destroyers, but…”
“They’re just shrugging off the destroyers, even though they’ve
taken six major hits already,” said Pijar. “They say the Argo isn’t quite a mortal ship. They say it has eerie supernatural
powers of some kind. I thought those were drunken tales they shared in the bars
on the Eritz Gatlantis. Now, I start
to believe them..”
“Sir, we have to hurry,” said Dristna as a lower-ranking officer
saluted him and handed him a padd. “Radar says that the major enemy fleet is
now three time-units away…no..make that two…”
“Recover planes, begin making preparation for departure,” said
General Pijar. “Use the bow SMITE units to send in the last two destroyers;
they can warp back to our rendezvous point after we finish.”
“When will that be?”
“Later. We will see the Argo
later on,” said Pijar. “When they have no place to hide…”
“Great plan, sir,” said Dristna.
“What? Just one run?”
said Hardy as he and his pilots began to attack the enemy fleet.
“The Captain says do what damage you can and then head back,”
replied Domon in his headset.
“We
can do lots of damage,” said Hardy with a grin as he watched two pilots from
the Avengers scoring hits. They were a Pellian refugee squadron from the
Blackeye Galaxy now based on the Princess
Astra who were flying EDF torpedo planes, and they seemed to take pride in
their work.
“You have your orders,” said Domon. “Wildstar thinks we can get
all of them with a few shots now. They’re not hanging back any longer. Why’s
that?”
“Overconfident,” huffed Hardy as he evaded some laser fire and
tore in towards one of the Cometine carriers with his nose guns blazing. He
smiled evilly as he noticed a few members of the Cometine maintenance crew on
the flight deck being turned into burned bone matter, gristle, flesh, hair,
teeth and eyeballs in a hurry by his handiwork. Ya ugly green scalawags, he thought. How do you like that? he thought again as he pumped two missiles
into the carrier and left it in action but burning before heading back to base.
Bryan Hartcliffe screamed a warwhoop as he attacked a destroyer. Then,
he laughed evilly when he and his wingmen saw the destroyer going up like a
torch, and then he heard, “Hardy to second squadron. Return to base! The Argo’s going to fire!”
“Roger, even though it was a fun day for us,” said Hartcliffe.
“Back to base!”
The planes began to head home a moment later.
“Our planes are out of the target area now; and it its now nine
megameters to the enemy fleet,” said Nova as she had gotten up and was helping
Sasha with some calculations. Sasha’s stomach was very queasy about now after
about close to half a stomach-churning hour in combat. “Derek, I think we’re
clear to fire those wave cartridges…”
“Domon?” said Commodore Wildstar.
“We’re
in range now,” said Domon.
“Open a channel to the Princess Astra,
Homer…,” said Derek. “Audio only.”
“Yessir, “ said Homer. “Open!”
“This is the Argo!” said
Wildstar. “All Earth and Iscandarian units-OPEN FIRE!”
A moment later, the Argo
fired. After the wave cartridges were fired, the guns were quickly converted to
fire in regular firing mode again for another round.
General Pijar watched in shock as one of his battleships, five of
his destroyers, and one of his carriers was quickly reduced to wreckage.
“Damn! Major, this is not to our advatange!” said Pijar. “One last
stand, and then, we…”
“General! The Earth battleship squadron is approaching our rear
flank from around their moon! I wish Zordar really had destroyed that thing! We’ll be trapped soon!”
“Make preparations to warp out!” snapped Pijar. “We’ll deal with
the Star Force later! We need to get out of here with our own skins intact!”
Nearby
on the flagship of the EDF Eighth Battleship Squadron, an Andromeda-class space battleship known as the Orion, Admiral Carson said, “What is the first ship of ours in range?”
“The
“Have them open fire first!”
Soon, General Pijar was howling in frustration as fire came in
from the
A moment later, General Pijar warped away in defeat, with just two
carriers, two battleships, and twelve destroyers left. But, he had done a
measure of damage that day.
There were dead on the Argo,
and she had taken damage.
Not
a bad start to my day, he thought as he emerged from warp a few
minutes later out beyond Pluto. And maybe
I get deal with them again out here beyond their asteroid belts that used to be
Minerva and Brumus…he thought.
II.
A TIME OF QUIET
Between
Earth and the Moon
Space
Battleship Argo
May
13, 2207: 0930 Hours (Standard Earth Space-Time)
“That was some battle,” said Eager a while after the battle. He was on the Argo’s bridge, but Nova had just come up
a little while ago from Sickbay where she had been helping Dawn and Doctor Sane
tend to the wounded and dying aboard ship. She was still in her nurse’s tunic,
and she was pushing a coffee cart.
“Where did Sasha go?” said Nova, puzzled at why Raiden was at the
radar.
“Girl got spacesick or somethin’” said Raiden. “Hadda go running
off to her room after you got called away, ma’am. She kinda threw up all over
that pretty blue uniform o’ hers.”
“Poor dear,” sighed Nova. “Well, she’ll get over it in a few days.
It took me a little while to gain space legs when we started out, and…I’ve been
helping her out with some Trinox…so she doesn’t have to make a formal sick
call…that’s all she needs now; her confidence is already shaken up enough.”
“I remember this one time after our first space warp back in 2199,
Nova,” said Homer. “Didn’t I hear you being sick in the head?”
“Homer, why did you have to remember that?” said Nova.
Sandor came onto the Bridge a moment later.
“How’s the damage?” said Commdore Wildstar.
“It could’ve been much worse,” sighed Sandor as he wiped some
grease off his hands with a rag. “Luckily, Peale kept casualties to a minimum
on the third bridge.”
“I should probably recommend him for something,” said Wildstar.
“How are we on the warp test schedule?”
“On time if Sasha can get here on time,” said Nova. “Derek, what
do you think about my plan?”
“It sounds good. Let’s start executing it now.”
“Yessir,” said Nova. She turned to Kitano. “Would you move over to
Analysis for this warp? I’m going to be at the helm so we can put Sasha through
all the numbers for calculating this warp to Mars from Area 14, Bisect 19. It’s
routine, but I’ll do it by the book.”
“Aye aye, ma’am…” said Kitano. He moved over while Nova went over
all of the instruments, memorizing again what was needed so she could show
Sasha each step of the procedure.
Sasha came up a moment later, wearing a fresh uniform and looking
very sheepish.
“Nova, is Daddy okay?” she asked. “I haven’t been able to see him
down there for a few hours. And there’s this one nurse down there that keeps on
giving me dirty looks for some reason. I don’t know why. She’s got kind of a
funny face I remember from somewhere, but…”
“He’s fine,” said Nova. “And we’ll discuss that bit later,” sighed
Nova, feeling more than a little like a mother right now in more ways than one.
“Now go report to the Skipper. We were waiting for you.”
“Yes. Sir,” she said as she reported to Derek. “I’m very sorry
that I got ill…I..”
“No apologies needed. Sasha, wait over there by the port side
computer terminal for Nova. She’ll help you on your next assignment;
calculating our space warp test.”
Sasha swallowed hard at that one. She knew the theory and the math
behind it very well, but the thought
of actually calculating a live warp
(and this would be the first space warp she had taken since her childhood) made
her a little queasy.
She met Nova by the computer, and sighed as they got to work
together at punching in all of the equations and formulae needed to time the
warp correctly in time and space.
TWENTY
MINUTES LATER….
Sasha stood before the Captain’s console with Nova at her side,
holding a magnetized smart card filled with punch marks and data.
“Sasha, tell the Captain the info that you will be uploading for
the warp,” said Nova.
“Aye, aye,” said Sasha. Sasha looked up at Derek and said,
“Captain, I have calculated that the best location for the warp to Mars is Area
14, Bisect 19. Best timing is 1001 and twenty seconds.”
“Homer, signal the Princess Astra, have them sync with
these figures…” said Commodore Wildstar.
“Yessir,” said Homer.
“Hold the card,” said Nova. “Take it with you to the radar,
Sasha.”
Sasha did so. Nova showed her where to insert it and how to do a
run of the data and then correct any errors. “Now, we will upload this data to
Navigation and you’ll set the timing for automatic from your post. I normally
do the whole job from there, but this is to show you what we have to do. I’ll
actually be warping the ship with your data, and…”
“You’ll be?”
“Yes, it’s to serve as your instructor. We’ll go through the
procedure step by step. Kitano will help me.”
“Ma’am, did you ever do this before?”
Nova raised her eyebrows. “What?”
“I mean…warp the ship and all…”
“I usually calculate it, but, yes, I’m trained to run the helm,
too,” said Nova. “I’ve warped the ship a few times. Venture showed me how to do
it before you were even born. Why are you doubting
me, Sasha?” said Nova with her hands on her hips. She sounded a little put out
about it.
“Just a weird feeling I have about this warp. I’m scared,” said
Sasha.
“We all get a little scared whenever we have to perform a space
warp,” said Sandor. “It’s normal.”
“I’m a little scared of her
behind the wheel of a car,” whispered Sasha. “Sometimes, she and Uncle drive a
little crazy. And I hope my sense of direction is good. I don’t want to have
the ship plunge into another universe and run into Coruscant or some weird
place like that.”
“That universe is fictional,” said Eager.
“How do you know that?”
said Sasha.
Nova cleared her throat as they got ready for the warp.
There was a long checklist that was memorized by Navigation.
Kitano recited “check” to each step, helping in the training as Nova looked
over Sasha’s steps from the helm.
“Timing matrix,” said Nova.
“Checked and locked in. Ship now running on automatic timing.”
“Wave engine pulse rate,” said Nova.
“Normal. Engineer, transfer power couplings and all fusings to
Helm control,” said Sasha.
“Transferred,” said Yamazaki.
“Astral compass heading,” said Nova. “Nominal from helm. Radar,
does it agree?”
“In sync,” said Sasha from her post. “Astral compass heading true
gamma aye.”
“Wave engine power levels,” said Nova.
“Power surge building up,” said Yamazaki as the power curve came
up. “Buildup to one hundred twenty percent in fifty seconds.”
“Secure all hands,” said Nova.
Then, Sasha flicked up a switch. Her voice, a little nervous,
sounded over the ship’s PA for the first time. “Attention, all hands! Two
minutes to space warp! Make sure all crew and movable objects secure! Ready for
the warp surge, it may…”
Nova raised her hand. “Ninety seconds to warp! Bridge crew, check
safety harnesses!”
The harnesses snapped to and locked.
Nova, the last one harnessed, ran over to Sasha to check hers.
“That should be tighter…that’ll do it…”
“It’s squeezing in my boobs,” she whispered as she took a deep
breath.
“You get used to it. You’ll make it.” Nova ran back and locked
herself in, expertly making sure that her harness was on just right for her own
changing figure due to the twins. “Radar, final timing, sync!” Nova called out.
“Fifty seconds to warp!” cried Sasha as she remembered to flick on
the klaxons. “Thirty seconds to warp, all hands. Chrono on automatic. Execute
aye or nay?”
“Aye,” snapped Nova. “Check time-space sensor graph!”
“Peaks reading!” said Sasha as she and Nova brought up the
distinctive pattern of pulses as the sensors read the waves and valleys of time-space
in the region. “Nearing point of peak 422 Alpha Reckoned, confirmed via
automatic astrolabe.”
“Go or no go for Peak 422 pattern!” barked Nova.
“Go!” barked Sasha.
“Go or no go for main engine thrust wave and auto surge tachyonic
dampers!” cried Nova. “Analysis, confirm!”
“Go on engine,” barked Yamazaki.
“Go on check from Analysis,” said Kitano. “Radar, upload final
course compensated lock to helm!”
“Uploaded!” snapped Sasha
as she punched several buttons and everything went green at her post. A chime
rang from her board’s main workstation screen over the surge of the wave
engine, and the radar scanning mode changed as a message appeared on the
rectangular screen below the large radar hemispheres. WARP SYSTEMS LOCKED. DANGER.
FURTHER ADJUSTMENTS WILL ABORT WARP. Do you want to adjust? Yes/No.
Sweating like crazy, Sasha
hit the button below NO. Lights began to flash on her screen as a strange but
familiar graphic came up.
“Go for final warp
countdown!” said Kitano from his post.
“Execute!” said Derek from
his post.
“Warp countdown!” said
Nova’s voice over the speakers as she made further adjustments at her end and
prepared to make the warp. “Dimensional lock true azimuth! Twenty seconds!
Fifteen seconds!”
As the blip went over the
peaks and valleys in fine detail and made its usual bleeping noise to
convergence lock, Nova called out, “Ten seconds to space warp! Nine! Eight!
Seven! Six!”
I’m scared, I’m scared, I’m scared, I’M SCARED,
thought Sasha as she almost wanted to cry while everyone else looked so calm.
“Three …two..one…zero…CV
lock, ready!” said Nova as all the lines converged as she had seen so many
times. Kitano gave her a thumbs-up as she looked back at Derek, who snapped,
“GO! WARP!”
“WARP!”
repeated Nova as she pulled back the throttles.
Sasha watched as, outside,
the Princess Astra, travelling ahead
of them, suddenly turned into a long stream of lights as it flashed away into
subspace.
The wave engine roared, and
Sasha felt a kick from behind, as, too awed and shocked to remember to close
her eyes, she saw the stars outside suddenly turning into weird streaks of
light as she got a disconcerting feeling that she was going to float right out
of her harness as all of the lights roared past in a weird convergence that
felt as if time-space was going down a weird drainpipe into a sink…
The Argo then blasted into subspace with a weird, pulsating, keening
roar that was both felt as well as heard.
Lights roared past Sasha’s
eyes, and then through them. Sasha almost wanted to scream as she felt lighter
than air, dizzy, and strange as she saw things turn transparent….
Like Sandor’s uniform. With
shock, she could see that his arms and legs were not normal, but were filled
with all sorts of weird wires and circuits rather than bones and muscle.
He’s a cyborg! Sasha thought in shock. And why does he have mini fusion bombs built
into those things? This is weird!
Sasha looked up and then almost
screamed as she saw a skeleton sitting in Nova’s see-through chair. A skeleton
with two tiny skeletons near the pelvis, just floating in mid-air…
Then, flesh and bone grew
back over the skeletons, and Nova was just apparently sitting there clad in only
semi-transparent underwear. She kept her eyes firmly closed during the
dizzying, weird lightshow.
Lights and what looked like
whole galaxies flew at Sasha in this weird world of blue light that was filled
with distorted, strange humming noises and roaring winds. She screamed as she
saw a sun coming at her hair…
And, she screamed again and
looked down and saw she had on no uniform.
I’m naked! Sasha thought. In front of everyone, I….
Time does strange things between universes, between dimensions…responded her
mother’s voice. It is normal. Sasha, close your eyes!
Why?
It could drive you mad…close….
Sasha looked down at
herself and saw her own heart beating. It was weird, nauseating, and
fascinating all at once.
Then, Sasha felt sick. She felt
like she wanted to really, really
barf.
She did. But a galaxy came
out of her mouth and roared away in weird streaks of light, and…
Suddenly, everything went
dead and black.
More flashes came, and
something like lightning went off.
When a very, dizzy, sick,
and disoriented Sasha looked around again, she saw Mars in front of the Argo. All looked serene, peaceful, and
quiet, save for two things. One was a weird humming noise in her ears that took
a moment to fade away, and the other was the fact that her lap felt wet.
Sasha looked down and
gulped.
“Nova?” she squeaked.
“Sasha, nothing to worry
about, we made it through all right,” she said with a smile as she walked
towards her niece. “Great job on those calculations! Kitano is taking back the
helm, we’re right on course and on benchmark, I…what’s wrong, Sasha?”
“I got sick again, auntie,”
she said in a small voice. “All over my lap this time..”
“Why?” said Nova as she
looked. “Oh, poor dear! I’ll get a rag and wipe you off. How’d it happen?” said
Nova as she ran for a medkit.
“I did something really
stupid.”
“What?” asked Nova as she
came over with the rag and shushed Eager from whispering stuff to Homer, who
was nearby to watch. “What happened?”
“I opened my eyes when we
warped. It was weird…what I saw scared me!”
“Well, now you know why we
close our eyes,” sighed Nova as she opened the medkit.
III.
DEKE’S OBSERVATIONS
The
Sanzar System
Between
Iscandar and Gamilon
May
15, 2207: 1100 Hours (Standard Earth Space-Time)
“So what do you think,
sir?” asked Stripes as she and Ivan flew in formation beside Deke Wakefield as
they beheld the two planets that were before them right after having blasted
off the Wasp’s deck and made a turn.
“I’m trying not to,” he
said.
“But we’ve read about them
at the Academy, seen them in holos; it’s amazing to actually see Gamilon and Iscandar up close and
personal for the first time,” said Stripes. “They’re beautiful.”
No comment on Gamilon, thought Deke as he looked
to his left at the homeworld of Desslok and his race. The planet was mostly
dark green, with many traces of craters, mountains, rocky formations, and seas
on it. It was shrouded partly in clouds, and there were many glittering cities
on its surface. You can see the lights of
his arrogant cities right from orbit, and it probably looked and smelled far
worse when it was still polluted, thought Deke. The place still looks weird…and I hear even the sky down there is
green. Yeccch! I wonder why they need our help…looks like Desslok can make more
than enough trouble by himself, thought Deke as he saw a squadron of those
weird green and yellow organic-looking destroyers going past in the distance.
The thought that he was looking this close at the ships and homeworld of the
race that had killed his parents and sister during the bombings and their
aftereffects made Deke almost want to throw up. The fact that he was
remembering the courteous but cold eyes of Desslok made it even worse.
The planet gave him many
complex emotions. Sasha was born here,
he thought. She has eyes like this
planet; glittering, pretty, mysterious. I’ve never met her mother, of course.
Her father is all right, but…her mother? I guess we’ll have to meet someday. I
wonder if she’s all too perfect like that planet. Yeah…she had a pretty planet
to sit on while the barbarians next door were making us sit in stinking cities
under the Earth like tombs, slowly starving, dying of radiation sickness, and
being poor. An image of Sasha Morningstar came to Deke’s mind and he
thought, I wonder if Queen Starsha can
picture a woman looking like her daughter leading a food protest dressed in
nothing but two rags and plastic sandals? I wonder if she’d give a damn about
something like that. Peaceniks. And we’re supposed to be protecting them with
the big, bad-assed Gamilons right next door? Man, give me a break!
The thoughts were driven
from Deke’s mind as he had to check in with New Fiji Island Ground Control,
which had picked them up.
Deke was all procedure again
as he led his squadron down into a clear, almost cloudless, painfully blue sky.
When they were lower, Deke felt the inside of his canopy and found that it felt
just a bit warm…possibly from the air outside?
He followed an
astro-compass heading right towards a great island-like Continent near the
equator filled with bays and islands that looked very small from the
air-islands that were very bright against a deep blue sea that looked like old
pictures of Hawaii that Deke had seen-pictures from before the wars.
Finally, Deke found
Whatever the heck that beach is called, I’d love to go there with
Sasha, he thought. There didn’t seem to be much around it; it looked
like a great spot.
The beeping of his controls
brought him back to where he was. “Trojan leader,” said a southern North
American-sounding voice from Ground Control-someone from Earth on this alien
planet. “You’re cleared for landing on Runway 18 West. Acknowledged.”
Deke looked down at the
criss-cross of runways at the southern part of the island-and noticed that the
numbers were marked in Terran characters as well as two other kinds of
characters. “Ground control, Trojan Leader here. Acknowledged. Ready for
landing. Group will follow me in…”
“Acknowledged,” said Ground
Control as Deke glanced down and counted the runways-looked like there were
five of them, with a sixth being dug out of the island before his eyes. He
focused on the navigation lights and beam for Runway 18 West and prepared his
Tiger for landing on Iscandar with butterflies in his stomach.
After Wakefield landed his
plane and filled out the needed paperwork after he and the ground crew had
parked it nose-outwards in a landing bay that was was also a blast revetment
for the planes, Deke lugged his seabag and other bags off to a BOQ complex that
looked strangely Terran, and rather bleak. He found out his billet was a
building known as Building 305. he also found upon landing that the island was
hot, sandy, humid, and seemed rampant with green tropical growth in the
sections that weren’t paved.
He also noticed odd-looking
people walking around. He was military and quite regulation in his EDF blues
and flight boots, but he noticed people walking around in hula shirts and
shorts; while some had on khaki pants.
Is this Iscandar, or
“Hey!” said some guy with
reflectorized sunglasses, a hula shirt, EDF blue pants, and flip-flops as he
came up. “You one of the new guys?”
“Are you Earth Defense?”
said Deke.
“Yeah, I’m Junior
Lieutenant Ed Wilson, section leader with the Black Aces. Who the hell are
you?”
“Sir,” said
“Yes I did,” said
“You need a hula shirt and
flip-flops, sir,” said
“When’s the last patrol you
flew?”
“Last night. Got a green
dude’s recon boat. They’re sniffing around this place. The non-peacenik
Iscandarians, which you will find a few of, and the Gamilons, agree with us
that some serious crap is on its way here. Which is why you’re here. I hear
scuttlebutt the big strategy is to try and stop Invidia out here before she
ever gets to Earth.”
“How are you talking with
Iscandarians and Gamilons?”
“They live with us. Here on
this island,” said
“And they’re on our side?”
said
“I…don’t want to talk about
it,” Deke replied.
“Whatever,” said
“Thanks,” said Deke. He was
very depressed.
He wondered if he’d ever
get back home again to see Sasha alive.
An hour later, in Building 305,
after debriefing the squadron, Deke filled out more paperwork, and knowing he
would have some time to himself, he dragged his gear and DJ and his sticks into
a small cinderblock-lined room that was very hot. He flicked on an Earth-made
climate control unit that sounded like kind of swamp cooler that was built into
one of the cinderblock bulkheads and the first thing he put on the desk was his
picture of Sasha. He shut the door and locked it after a minute.
Sasha, he thought. Have you ever been to this island? It’s hot here. Hot. The sun is very
bright, and the air is different. Would you know about this place? I think you
would.
“It’s weird here,” said
Deke to himself as he pulled off his shirt and lay down on his bunk in his
pants, undershirt, and dog tags while banging on the bunk with his drumsticks.
“I’m married, and I can’t talk about it. I have a half-Iscandarian wife, and I
can’t tell anyone here about her. I don’t know if I’ll ever see her again. My
ex-fiancee’ is now an enemy, judging from that talk we had several weeks ago.
Sasha, I’m separated from you, far away, on your home planet, part of it that
seems to be a dump.”
Deke picked up his water
glass and threw it against the wall until it shattered. “I want to go back to
Earth! Damnit! Sasha, I miss you! I
want to go home! I want this damn war to be over already! All right?”
Then, he wept, banging his
bunk in rage and utter frustration.
Later on that day, after
flying a mission, Deke took a liberty call with Brew and Bangs and found out that
there was a whole town around the base on the island.
To Deke it looked weird;
some buildings looked Terran, while others looked Iscandarian; they looked
crystalline.
“Who lives here?” said Deke.
“Scientific colony, I
heard,” said Bangs as she munched on some Iscandarian fruit that looked like an
apple. She had changed into a short skirt, white top, and sneakers, while Brew
wore flip-flops, long khaki shorts, and his EDF blouse, which was half-open.
“When are you getting
flip-flops, man?” said Brew.
“Never,” said Deke. “I hate
them.”
“Don’t like having your
feet out or something?” asked Bangs.
“Don’t mind that-I just
hate straps between my toes. I’ll wear Roman-type sandals, not those things.”
“We gotta get him in a hula
shirt, Bangs,” said Brew. “We get him outta that uniform, maybe he’ll loosen up
a bit?”
The town was full of people
in civilian clothing of all kinds; Terran, what he guessed to be Iscandarian
(quite a few women with longish, light hair that reminded him of Sasha in
light, long single-colored pastel dresses that blew in the breeze), and some in
darker clothing but a somewhat tough Terran appearance that he guessed had to
be Pellian.
Deke heard weird music
around a corner, and found some orange person in white robes playing something
that looked like a cross between a sitar and a balalaika. It sounded weird, and
his moaning singing in an alien language sounded just as weird to Deke.
“Haa..aiiie…laga ega v’ra transha ete showw ega, zhan, jeeee, eta evada,
oooooo…”, sang the orange person as people threw money into his cup.
“Ah, yes, you people, I see
have you just met the local Rikashan,” said a deep voice behind them.
“How do you know he’s a
con-man?” said Deke as he stared down the Gamilon.
“I understand a bit of his
song. Singing about how he’s crippled and needs alms. What a joke. The man has
two legs, and I think he has two arms. I see him coming out of the liquor shop
every night with a new bag after he sings all day. We’re allies, Earther
barbarian friends. Want to help me roll him so I can make a donation for the
honor of my superior?”
“First, I may be from
Earth, but I’m no barbarian,” said Deke.
“Oh, sympathy for the old
man?” said Haratz as he rolled his eyes. “Baron Delvitz told me about you
Earthlings. Nice, peaceful, kind, forgiving…makes me sick…”
“Refusing to kick people
when they’re down?” snapped Bangs with her hands on her hips.
“Oh, pity me the thought,”
said Haratz. “Well, lost cause. I’m just looking for an honest Earthling,
that’s all, like your dumb legend about the man with the lamp looking for an
honest Greek or some rot like that. I didn’t find it in you people. Good day.”
Deke was gritting his
teeth, but Brew grabbed his arm. “Hey! Deke!”
“I want to get that guy…so
bad,” whispered Deke.
“First day here, sir. It’ll
look bad,” said Bangs. “Maybe we won’t run into that particular Gamilon again.”
“Yeah, I hope not,” said
Deke.
Sadly, he’d be wrong.
TWO DAYS LATER….
Deke found out that being a
Group Leader gave him some perks. When he wasn’t flying with his planes on
patrol (which was usually at least once a day) or in skirmishes (mostly with
Cometine recon boats nosing around Iscandar), he had some time to himself, and
he had a computer installed in his bleak little room so he could e-mail other
pilots, commanders, and the like.
He had been getting e-mails
from Sasha that had been forwarded to him on the Wasp; up to a point, that is. The last one had arrived maybe six
days ago, and Sasha had been writing in haste, she had said. The letter had
been affectionate; she said she was in a public Net café’ in Pushkin, in the
That had been the last he
had heard from her. It was now going on a week since there had been any
contact. He had written her back at least four or five times; no response.
Granted, he thought. I’ve been out of the loop myself…but this
isn’t like her. It is making me real paranoid. It’s beginning to remind me of
Dawn’s non-communicativeness.
Deke sighed and ran through
his e-mail list again. There has to be
something here from her…something, he thought. Check it again…I…
Three more e-mails came in
a moment later as he checked. Two were from members of his Group; they could
wait. The third…just had a very
cryptic subject line of
NEWS-IN-HASTE (RE: “SQUIRREL”) and it was dated
today.
SQUIRREL? Deke thought. Who
knows that, but Sasha, Brew, and I? It’s our little joke, and….
Then, Deke’s heart almost
stopped when he read the address line that indicated where it had come from: wildstar.nova*edf-net*SBB
[CENSORED]
What? Deke thought. How does Nova know that? Unless something has gone wrong, and….
Deke opened the letter, It
read:
Lt, Cmdr Deke
Hi. I’m writing carefully here and in great haste. I’m writing for
Sasha because she told me she forgot to write you. The past few days have been
very stressful for her, but you’ll find out more when Sasha catches up with you
again very soon on the rebound (not in a bad way, though). We got a message
about you from Brew that has us worried. Hope you’re OK.
Sasha and I are serving together on an emergency basis on a large
[CENSORED] somewhere in space. Things changed for her in a hurry a few days ago
at the SFTS, and she has been graduated early, shall we say? Some idiot on
Earth let a tiger-striped cat out of the bag. We’re still trying to learn who
it is so we can boil him in oil & turn him into a French Fry. I am training
her personally in what can be considered her summer Midshipman cruise. The poor
dear is very busy and having a hard time getting her space legs but she says hi
and that she loves you very much and misses you horribly. I am trying to get
her to write you herself when her stomach settles down.
I’m here with Derek. Wartime restrictions have gotten even
tighter; can’t say where we all are or where we’re going. However, as to
where-you will have a much more definitive answer in a few days-if we live
through this. We’ve had three space battles with our mutual aspargus-colored
“friends” and their allies where we are now, and Derek thinks there’s more
coming.
Talk with you soon. If Sasha doesn’t write you herself in the next
day or so, I will kick her or put her to work in the galley. She thinks I’m
acting like a Cadet Company Commander now. You have your subordinates. You know
what it is LIKE. It’s more like being a mom in my case-in more ways than one.
This pregnancy is driving me BUGS!
Best,
“auntie” Nova, LTCMDR
PS: she says “hi, deekee…” just popped into my office, Sasha, you
are NOSY!
Deke put his head into his
hands and sighed.
This is crazy, he thought.
Okay. They’re no longer on Earth? WHY? How bad has it gotten back home?
Deke did some thinking. He
was surprised that it had even slipped out that the three of them were in space
together. The bad job that the censoring parser did on the address did let out
that they were aboard a space battlewagon someplace. Where, Nova had been very
good at keeping secret.
It might be the Argo, it might be the
Then, the news from the briefing
they had been through on the Wasp
kicked into Deke’s head. He remembered exactly what Captain Jackson had said at
the briefing; it was:
…two more ships are due to leave Earth within the next day.
Namely, a new spacecraft carrier, the Yorktown-class spacecraft carrier
Princess Astra, which has just been turned over to the Royal Government of
Iscandar, and staffed by a volunteer crew of Iscandarians, Pellians, and
Earthmen, under the command of a new Fleet Commander for Iscandar. However,
that Admiral will serve with us but will command only his own Iscandarian and
Pellian forces. Operational command of our Group, hereby designated as Task
Group 2.0, will be vested in that of a flag officer from Earth, serving on his
own flagship, the third and last heavy ship designated as flagship of the
entire Combined Earth Defense Force on Iscandar. To man this flagship, ladies
and gentlemen, the First Star Force has just been mustered up… 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…
Deke did a lot of reckoning
in a hurry.
And, thought Deke, Why didn’t the computer censor that “auntie” reference? Or much on our
relationship? And where did Nova learn the word ‘squirrel’ from? Brew? Man,
Brew, you and I are gonna have to have a big talk…
Deke printed out Nova’s
e-mail, erased it, and put the printout in his pocket. Then, he threw on a hula
shirt over his bare chest, put on the new purple “Trojans” gimme cap that he
had just had ordered for the unit, and he made sure his new surfer baggies were
up, and he stepped out with his sticks in his pocket and his old Shetland rifle
DJ slung over one shoulder.
Damn, forgot to put on my shoes, Deke thought as he
ran back and buckled on the “Waverider” surfer-type Roman sandals he had just
picked up. Then, after putting on his glasses, Deke went off to have it out
with Brew.
Deke and Brew were walking
down a beach on
“You haven’t heard all the
scuttlebutt, Deke,” said Brew. “You know those Iscandarian protestors who want
us off the planet because we are so warlike?”
“Met and seen a few,” said Deke in a dull fashion as he sat down
in the sand after getting out his sticks, which he used to beat rudis into the
sand for a bit. “Damn Iscandarian natives banging those dumb drums. They’re off
the beat. Those peaceniks wouldn't know what a war drum was, let alone how to
play one". Deke then beat a ‘native’ rythym against the sole of his sandal
with his sticks, to Brew’s amusement.
“Well, the scuttlebutt says that they’re readying an old dockyard
up at the north end of the island for the Task Force when it shows up here.
It’s by that old fishing town where the Iscandarian fishing fleet would leave
from years and years ago. It’s not far from that beach you were leerin’ at,
maybe four or five klicks away on foot, five or four by boat. They just stuck
the Wasp and the battleship
“I’ll be damned,” said Deke. “I thought they were docked at
“Starsha said move them.
She got enough petitions from her subjects as to not want to offend anyone. So,
instead, a bunch of Iscandarians and Pellians got drafted to dredge around
those old docks for more heavies. There’s a real big dock made of stone at the
south end of the dockyard where they have Marines guarding something that
communications techs are building. A downlink for the Argo, I think? And they’re protesting that, too.”
“Why?”
“Some Iscandarian religious taboo is close to being violated or
something. There’s some kind of secret sacred beach somewhere in the area that’s
either sacred to the Royal Family or spirits of Iscandar or the mwena…”
“What’s a mwena?”
“Like the kami of
Iscandar or something-the friendly guardian spirits who guard the place…or so
they believe, Deke,” said Brew. “Heard this from an Iscandarian chick named
Staci who is like a year and a half old, she’s maybe like twenty or so. The
peaceniks are saying that putting warships within ten klicks of the sacred
beach defiles it and will make the mwena very
angry and harm the sacredness of the Royal Family and guarantee a great
disaster.”
Deke let out a raspberry and said, “How stupid,” as he twirled his
finger in the air.
“There’s more. Wherever this funky damn beach is, only the Royal
Family or their guests are even supposed to put their toes in the sand there.
Anyone who defiles the beach will supposedly fall under a curse, bring disaster
to the Royal Family and Iscandar, and make the mwena throw a tsunami at you or something.”
“That’s weird,” said Deke. “Wanna hear about something else that’s
weird?”
“What?”
Deke then produced the e-mail from Nova. “Read this, and then
explain some shit to me, cuz,” said
Deke.
“You sound pissed, man!” said Brew.
“Kinda-sorta,” said Deke. “Read this.”
Brew read it, and said, “Shoot, man! They’re deliverin’ yer
Squirrel to you by Star Force mail if ya read between the lines!”
“How did Nova know that term?” said Deke.
“I asked her to send Squirrel to us, and somethin’ happened, and
they’re shippin’ her here in the next few. Has to be it.”
“Why did you write Nova?”
“Deke, Bangs asked me to and I agreed. You’ve been as nasty as a
Goddamn bear in heat the past few weeks, Sticks!”
“Any wonder, Brew? They dragged me away on our wedding night,
practically…put me on a ship and sent me here COD.”
“I didn’t think they’d actually do it…I was jokin’…kinda…” said
Brew. “Wildstar and Nova must’ve pulled strings to do it. Probably even yo’
father-in-law or maybe even the mother-in-law you don’t wanna meet pulled it
off for you. They say Queen Starsha is very mysterious. She probably watchin’
us right now, bro!”
“Who?”
“Starsha, bro! She could follow the Star Force from more than
halfway across the galaxy. They say she knows everything.”
“Yeah?” said Deke. “If she’s like the all-powerful Wizard of Oz, or
something, let her come out of her Emerald or
Then, Deke stopped. Over the sound of the waves, he heard sweet,
musical feminine laughter in his mind.
“What the?” said Deke.
“Sticks? You’re standing there with your mouth open…what?”
Then, Deke heard an old/young female voice in his head that
sounded like Sasha, but which also sounded much different, saying to him, “Deke
Then, a big, gnarly wave came in, and Deke shut his mouth.
“Brew,” said Deke.
“What happened to you, man? You looked retarded for a moment.”
“I’m scared, Brew.”
“Why?”
“We’re on her damn planet. She might be as strange as Desslok.
Toying with us. Starsha just placed a collect call to me. To my head.”
“You heard from
Starsha?”
Deke nodded. “Are we flying today?”
“No, we’re off today-rare thing.”
“Good. We’re requistioning a boat and going straight to
“I thought you said we couldn’t get you within ten klicks of that
palace, Dekesticks! And if you’re doin’ this, leave DJ home, bro!”
Deke banged out a native rythym again. “Changed my mind.”
IV.
DEKE’S FIRST TRY…
The
Sanzar System
Planet
Iscandar
May
17, 2207: 1400 Hours (Standard Space-Time)
It was close to sunset when Deke and Brew finally got to
The previously empty city had more people in it than even a few
years ago, even though it was nowhere near full to capacity. People in Iscandarian
and Pellian attire watched Deke and Brew nervously as they rode a small jetcar
up one of the pathways up towards the
Deke was carrying DJ over his back and he was still in his
civilian clothes, but he made sure he had brought his EDF ID card, as well as a
copy of his marriage license.
He stopped in a park near the tramway station that had once been
empty.
It was now filled with protestors. Most of them looked
Iscandarian. Some were banging drums
Those
are supposed to be war drums? Deke thought. They wouldn’t know what a war chant was if
one hit them in the face. They can’t even keep a good beat!
“Another war-monger!” yelled a woman in white who was holding a
sign that said:
GAMILONS
PELLIANS
EARTHLINGS
YOUR HIGHNESS-REMOVE THEM FROM ISCANDAR!
“You are not wanted here!” she cried. “The mwena are sickened by you and the Gamilons!”
“Gamilons and their buddies off Iscandar!” yelled another one, a
male in purple.
“Earthling go home!” screamed another one, a tall young man with a
beard.
Then, another one of them, a girl in a long dress in green and
bare feet looked at Deke’s ballcap, which bore a Trojan helmet on it, and said,
“Earther! Your squadron symbology; is it truly that of a vicious warrior?”
Deke sighed, “Aye matey, We live to pillage, plunder, and cut our
enemy's throats out. Even though you pacifists cannot fight your way out of a
paper bag!”
“Oh, how uncouth!” she said.
“Aye,” said Deke as he rolled his eyes. “It’s a dirty job, but
somebody's gotta do it to protect your butts.”
“Why don’t you go to Gamilon, then?” she asked.
“Because we here,” said
Brew.
Then, a tall Iscandarian in what looked like EDF blues with a
white peacoat trimmed in purple and gold (the inside of the high collar and
cuffs were purple) with an eight-pointed star where the anchor should have been
said, “Let the Earthlings pass without let or interference; they are our sworn
allies and have legitimate business with Her Highness. Go your way, brothers
and sisters, or we may be forced to be sterner than our wont with you,” he said
as he just touched the grip of the EDF astro-automatic he was carrying.
The Iscandarians gave the tall soldier in white, blue, purple and
gold a dark look as they left. Finally, the soldier bowed to Deke. “Sir. I am
Lieutenant Brana of the Royal Iscandarian Defense Forces; part of the palace
guard. You are expected, m’Lord
“m’ Lord?” said Deke as
he almost dropped his bag.
“Precisely, sir. We know whom you are; we know what you want. Or,
rather, she knows. She awaits you,
or, rather, is debating how to handle you. Please come this way.”
Deke began to take off DJ. “Do I need to explain this?”
Brana shook his head. “I am armed. So are you. And she knows you need to carry your…surety…with you all of the time to
satisfy a deep emotional need. We would not take that from you. We do not fear
you, lord Consort,” he said in a low voice. “At least not when you are sane.”
“She’s seeing us?” said
Brew.
“She is considering the matter and Lord Wakefield’s thoughts. I
know much of her mind and thought. Please follow me.”
Deke and Brew were escorted in silence by Brana into crystalline
rooms that were way beyond their pay grades.
There was a quiet, chiming sound in some of the rooms, and the palace only
looked more otherworldy as one went up on some kind of living belt what Deke
saw was a long, curving walkway up high into the
About halfway up the tower, Brana stopped, and escorted them
through a strange doorway that opened like an iris. “This way, please. This is
one of the Chambers of Waiting. Please make yourself comfortable. Refreshment
has been provided, keyed to your needs.”
Deke and Brew sat down on a soft, curved couch that was before a
round table that was set forth with food. Food that seemed to be from Earth.
They ate, impressed by the flavor and taste of the buttery-light
fish filets in pure white that they were served, with spiced white rice (or
something like it) and bowls of red, sweet fruits. There was wine of some kind
in crystal goblets, clear wine that went to their heads in a quiet, unassuming
way.
Finally, an iris whispered open and a young woman with long
honey-blonde hair, a long pink diaphonous gown that lightly swathed a beautiful
figure, and gold sandals on her feet whispered her way into the room and bowed
to them.
Deke and Brew looked at each other and at her, and they bowed.
“Queen Starsha,” said Brew. “I didn’t think you wore pink….”
“Aren’t you the new Princess Astra?” said Deke.
The young woman laughed softly in a sweet voice. “No. I am so
sorry. You are mistaken. I am not Queen Starsha, and the younger Princess
Astra, daughter of the Queen, is still on Earth at our Embassy. I am Novalia. A
Lady of Waiting of the Queen’s Court, and serving today as Royal Messenger. My
parents named me after your dear heroine from Earth who looks so much like our
late heroine Princess Astra for whom the Queen mistook her when she first met,
the honored Lady Nova, who nearly sacrificed her life twice to save Earth and
once to save the Gamilon Leader. Her Highness is proud of the Lady and honored
her with her rank as a gift. Possibly even prouder of her than her own
daughters. And we are proud to have you here, Lord. You have the favor of the
Queen.”
“Let me get this straight? Nova has Royal rank here?” said Deke.
“She never told me…”
“I met the Lady only once, when I was small. She said, whatever
this means…”she doesn’t bother with this sort of thing-she is a working girl
from
“That sounds like our Nova,” laughed Brew.
“Brew, hush,” said Deke.
“Why is everyone here calling me “Lord” all of a sudden?”
“Because you are the
Lord Consort of Princess Sasha, sir. Do you not know when you bonded with her
it conferred upon you Royal Authority? Nova’s rank is a gift. Yours is by blood
and right. That is why the Queen permitted you in here with your weapon, and
why she had me meet with you. First, she pleads your forgiveness for not meeting
with you today in Person. She has much that weighs heavily upon her mind. I may
even think she might be deathly ill, even though she tries to hide it.”
“Why?” said Deke.
“They must not have told you; forgive me, Lord,” said Novalia. “On
Earth, the Cometines and R’Khells tried to kill Commodore Derek Wildstar, Lady
Nova, Princess Sasha, and our Prince Consort Alex Wildstar. They lightly
wounded Commodore Wildstar and the Princess. Lady Nova alone was unharmed this
time. They nearly succeeded in killing the Prince Consort Alex Wildstar. Only
Starsha and Aliscea of Pellias, working together, saved his life. The Queen is
still very drained and weak from the great outlay of power she had to extend
over one hundred and forty-eight thousand lightyears to touch Alex and save
him. That is why she cannot see you now. She could touch you with her great
mind, but do nothing more. She is also heartsick over the Prince Consort’s
condition and has withdrawn very deeply into herself. The Argo brings him and the Princess to us in the night. She has
foreseen that. She also knows that the Argo
has seen battle three times. Once with the Cometines. Once with the accursed
R’Khells who worship a man who should be long-dead. And once with the danger of
the Black Fleet.”
“The Black Fleet?” said Deke. “Ma’am, pardon my French, what the hell is that?”
“Cold mechanical beings from the Black Fox Nebula allied with the
cold, cruel Invidia,” said Novalia as she shivered. “Their leader and warlord
is a vicious man who has long had designs on Iscandar. His messengers sent
threats to Queen Starsha as far back as your year 2201. He would have invaded
Iscandar and Gamilon then if, ironically, disaster brought by the Vile Nameless
One that the R’Khells worship had not come to us. In his perverse way, the
Nameless One saved us without intending to. But now, the Queen thinks maybe he
might be engineering our doom by other means. The Nameless. Invidia. And the
Warlord Skaldart. A trinity of evil. Of sickness. Of Death. Of all we hate. And
in answer to your questions, Lord Wakefield, everything that befell you, Earth,
Iscandar, and Gamilon was part of a greater whole still being played out, a
whole where even the Queen herself is just one piece on a cosmic gaming board.
Queen Starsha pleads your forgiveness for not doing more and sooner. She said
if the Great Plague had not hit, she would have possibly sent help to you on
Earth sooner. She will meet with you in person soon with Sasha, if she wins
through the blockades, to explain much. She just begs you give her time to
recover. And to see her Alex again,” said Novalia as tears began to come from
her delicate eyes. “Please. Queen Starsha begs you to leave in amity and peace.
She begs you not to feel hate for her, And she says she loves you, Lord
Wakefield. Like a dear son.”
“I…don’t know what to say,” stammered Deke. “I’ll be honest. Tell
her I’m sorry she’s been through so much, and I appreciate what she’s done,
but…well…it still hurts. Like hell. I lost my mom, dad, and little sister to
the Gamilons. I…”
“She feels your pain, if it helps. And remember, Lord. She lost
her own dear sister Astra to them, too. She still misses her very much. Maybe
that is why she loves your Lady Nova so much. Nova reminds the Queen so much of
the late Princess that some feel that maybe a part of the Princess Astra lives
again in your dear Nova. She sees a bright future for her, for Sasha, for you,
for Earth. If we survive this hour of crisis, that is. She begs you to go, for
now.”
“And?” said Deke.
“To try to be at peace,” said the gentle Novalia as she embraced
Deke as he got up. “This comes from the Queen to you. Go in peace.”
At that, Deke nodded. “Very well, then. Tell her…I’ll let her be.
I’m sorry to hear about Alex. And I hope she will be well.”
“Thank you, Lord.”
Later, back on
“This is so damn weird,” said Deke. “Starsha knows everything
about me. And she won’t even say a bad word to me or say boo. What do you make
of that?”
“Weird, man.”
“And my life is part of a big game?”
said Deke. “And she says she’s sick and is sending her love to me? Yeah, Deke.
Don’t worry. We’re on a chessboard.
I’m a Queen or Bishop and you’re a knight and Princess Astra was a knight and
Nova’s a knight and Sasha’s a rook and Dawn’s a bishop and your parents and
Kathy were pawns. Who’s playing chess with us, then? God? The Devil?”
“You’ve had too many beers, cuz,” said Brew.
“How’d ya know that?”
“There ain’t three knights on a chessboard on one side, Sticks.
You drink any more than those three beers you had, you’ll have a horrible
hangover when flying tomorrow, Deke!”
“Well…excuuuuuse me,
Brew,” snapped Deke. “Okay. I’ll stop drinking. Maybe I’ll go take DJ to the
beach and shoot at something. I am so bummed!”
“If Starsha can see you right now, she must think you’re
pathetic.”
“Let her think what she wants, Brew. Let her think what she
wants.”
V.
A VICIOUS
The
Vicinity of Planet Balan
Space
Battleship Argo
May
19, 2207: 1400 Hours (Standard Space-Time)
Sasha Wakefield had become far more competent in the past few
days, having served more watches at the cosmo-radar, tactical radar, Analysis,
and even at the helm.
She no longer grew as spacesick as she had used to, and she had
learned her duties even better under the guidance of Nova and Kitano.
Now, having warped at about 10,000 lightyears per day, with an
extra space warp early this afternoon, the Argo
had reached the Balan System, the eternal halfway point of a trip to Iscandar.
The Princess Astra had gone a little
ahead; she was now a thousand lightyears ahead of them, training with her
planes and a few Gamilon destroyers in an empty part of space beyond the Joint
Base.
“I’m so glad that we made it to Balan at last,” said Sasha from
the Cosmo-Radar as she looked at the strange planet in the distance. “What’s it
like?”
Sandor turned his head. “I”ve been there a few times on field expeditions
with Nova. It is a warm planet, and the light and heat on the planet comes from
the fact that it is still cooling from the explosion of this star system’s
formational disk that made it. Balan’s star is a small, low-magnitude red star
that is relatively cool. Balan doesn’t get a lot of heat from its star; as I
said, most of its heat is from its equatorial area, which is still cooling.
That’s why the Gamilons once had an artificial sun there.”
“If we stop there, will I need a spacesuit?” asked Sasha.
“No,” said Nova from Analysis. “One of the funny things about
Balan is that it has a breathable atmosphere even though it is a bit cool at
times and hot at others. That’s why we and the Gamilons both have a Joint Base
there under the Alliance Treaty. It’s used as a stopover and supply point for
shipping from both of our races between the Milky Way and the Great Magellenic
Cloud.”
“Captain, Standard Orbit of Balan achieved,” said Kitano.
“Switching to autopilot in station-keeping mode. Orbital perigee 900 kilometers
above Balan surface.”
“The base acknowledges our arrival in standard orbit,” said Homer.
And, there’s another message coming in to us,” said Homer. “It’s from near the
edge of the system.”
“Put it on video,” said Commodore Wildstar.
“Aye, aye, Captain.”
Derek nodded as a Captain in the all-black and gold peacoat of the
civilian New Cunard Line came on the screen. “Ahoy, ESS Argo,” said the Captain of the civilian ship. “I’m Captain Walter
Berrigan, skipper of the SS Aquitania.
We’re on our way to Iscandar, as well. We will be in orbit with you in a few
hours. Some of our passengers want to explore Balan, believe it or not.”
“Not much to see,” said Derek.
“Unless they like picnics where the space turtles steal
everything,” said Nova with a laugh. “Remember that picnic we had that time,
Derek?”
Derek rolled up his eyes at that memory. “Oh, that,” he said.
He remembered the scene with some amusement. It had been May of
2204, and they had been on Balan on a survey mission in their travels.
One of the Balanodons had appeared, attacked their food, and then
had attacked a cup of Nova’s coffee while she had been kneeling on his peacoat
making some of it.
It seemed to like it.
Nobody knew why.
It seemed the creatures had a taste for it.
Lucky
them, Derek had thought with
amusement as he jerked his mind back to the present.
A moment later, the bridge doors whizzed open, and, walking on
Dawn Hardy’s arm, Alex Wildstar came onto the Argo’s bridge!
“Admiral Wildstar!” laughed Derek as Dawn helped him lean on a
cane. Nova looked back. She was saddened to see that Alex was still looking
about five years older.
“Ah, Admiral?” said Captain Berrigan.
“Hullo, Walter,” said Alex in a surprisingly strong voice as Dawn,
very professional-looking in a standard EDF nurses’ tunic and boots with an
Astro-Automatic at her belt, looked up at Captain Berrigan and then hissed a
little as she saw the back of Sasha’s head.
“Her again,” whispered
Dawn, as Alex heard and his eyebrows went up.
“I beg your pardon?” muttered Alex.
“That girl at the radar. I don’t mean Nova. She’s a
very nice woman. I mean the Ensign Apprentice, sir. She and I don’t get along.
I don’t like her much.”
“Why?” said Alex.
“Personal reasons.”
“Mrs. Hardy, we shall discuss this later in Sickbay,” snapped Alex. “Right now, I have things to
discuss with Captain Berrigan.”
“Yessir,” said Dawn, as she stood there looking abashed. As she
did so, Sasha looked back, and, for a moment, Sasha looked daggers at her
before she noticed her father and broke out in a wide smile. She knew enough
protocol to know that all she could do was smile at her father. Derek noticed
and snapped, “Ensign!” He then
thought, Sasha, we have to have a talk
later. This is damned peculiar, and I’d love to know what is going on between
you two.
“Sir?” said Sasha as she gulped. Did I do something wrong? Sasha thought in fear and innocence.
“You’re relieved early for your ten-minute break so you can talk with
Admiral Wildstar,” snapped Derek. “Mrs.
Wildstar, take over her station until ordered otherwise.”
Nova got up and saluted. “Aye, aye, sir,” she said, giving Sasha a surrepetitious wink as Sasha left
her post and Nova sat back down in familiar territory behind her radar, taking
a bag of equipment from a small access locker with her.
In the meantime, Alex looked up at Berrigan and said, “It’s been a
long time since the old days on the Centurion,
Captain.”
“I remember,” said Berrigan. “We were supposed to be together
again on the Paladin, but I got hurt
so badly in that skirmish we had with the Gamilons near Io that I had to go
home to recuperate while you got the Paladin’s
command. You were just supposed to be the First Officer, but they needed people
everywhere then.”
“How’s the arm?” said Alex.
“Infection set in and they had to amputate and replace it with a
bionic one.” Berrigan raised his right hand. “Luckily, a very eccentric little
short doctor and his nurse worked on me back on Earth. The little nurse took me
on as one of her pet projects,” he said with a grin as Nova curled her toes in
her sandals and blushed bashfully. “Did a good job, too.”
“Is that nurse behind the radar on this bridge?” asked Commodore
Wildstar.
“Yes, she is,” said Berrigan. “Sir, I think you’re that crazy
midshipman I once met at that basketball game, and…”
“He is,” snapped Alex. “My brother, Derek,” said Alex.
“We have to get together on Balan later on,” said Berrigan. “I’d
like to see you and Admiral Wildstar of Iscandar again, Commodore.”
“That’d be a great idea. When should the rendezvous be?” said
Derek, as the signal from the cruise ship suddenly went dead.
“What happened?” snapped Sasha from near her father, whom she had
been about to talk with for a moment.
“Communications, run the wave pattern,” barked back Domon.
“Jamming waves!” said
Homer.
Suddenly, pinkish energy beams skipped over the Argo’s foredeck, causing explosions
outside ahead of the main guns.
“Missiles approaching!” snapped Nova as she flicked on the alert
klaxons. She tracked the missiles as she quickly opened her access locker, took
out her bag, and exchanged her sandals for grey slightly oversized space boots
that fit her swelling ankles fine and made she made sure her gloves and helmet
were at the ready in case they were needed. “Three destroyers off the port
beam, distance, one megameter! They just warped in!”
“Sasha!” barked Derek. “Take over at Analysis! Nova! Remain at
your post unless ordered otherwise! Mrs. Hardy, get Admiral Wildstar back to
Sickbay!”
Dawn nodded. A moment later, she nearly fell over as the bridge
tower took a hit above the second bridge a moment later. The lights went out as
Sasha restrained a scream. Then, they came back, but half her screens weren’t
working.
“Sandor!” she said. “Systems problems on my
power trunk!”
“Well, reboot the workstation computers, then!”
“I’m trying!” cried Sasha.
“Domon, ready port side counterattack missiles!” ordered Derek as
Dawn turned to hustle Alex back to Sickbay.
“Ready! Locked on target!”
“FIRE!” barked Commodore Wildstar.
The missiles fired as Sasha got up and looked at Nova while Domon
was saying, “Interfacing combat systems with main computer. Nishina! Ready to open guns on my mark!”
“Yessir!” said Nishina. In the meantime, Nova glared at Sasha.
“You’re supposed to be at your post!” Nova said. “The Captain ordered it!”
“I’m having problems with the computers, ma’am! I need help making
these scans in the gamma-six range. Can you help?”
“Yes, I know about how to program the backups. Captain, request
permission to assist Sasha in long-range analysis scans!”
“Granted,” grunted Derek. “Get back to your post as soon as you’re
done, Nova!”
“Yessir! Eager!
Scan as best you can with the tactical radar until I get back,” said Nova as
she got up.
“Roger!” said Eager. In the meantime, Nova huddled with Sasha as
she helped her make some scans at Analysis. Finally, Nova said. “There’s an
enemy fleet in the area, Derek!”
“Enemy fleet?” said Nishina.
“Make that two fleets,”
said Sasha as she made more scans with Nova’s help. “One is after the Aquitana and her escort frigates!
Distance, several hundred megameters! The other is roaring in over Balan,
distance, eighty megameters and closing fast! It’s Black Nebulan! One heavy
space battleship, two light space battleships, and twenty-two escort
destroyers! I’ve got it now, Nova! One destroyer at close range! Putting it up on video!”
A
Black Nebulan destroyer appeared on the main screen, at close range. “Okay,”
said Nova. “Captain, returning to my post.”
As Nova ran back to the comso-radar and called out the range and
bearing of the enemy ship, Homer’s eyebrows went up. “Communication from the
enemy fleet, on visual!” snapped Homer.
Derek gritted his teeth as the vile, bald visage of a blue-grey
Black Nebulan appeared on the Argo’s
main screen.
“Are you Commodore Derek Wildstar, the Captain of this ship?”
snapped the Black Nebulan.
“I am,” said Derek as he stood up and faced down the enemy
commander. “What is your name?”
“Commodore Groden, Wildstar. I am one of the Warlords of our
reviving race. We have sworn loyalty to Princess Invidia to aid her in her
noble cause of vengeance. Working with her suits us for now.
What are you doing here in our
space?”
“The space around this world is jointly claimed by the Federation
of United Earth Governments and the Gamilon Empire,” snapped Derek. “You’ve no
right to be in our territorial airspace! I demand you leave!”
“We demand you leave,”
said Groden. “Preferably after you give yourselves up to our
towing tractor beams. You are all wanted on the Eritz Gatlantis on capital charges of sedition against Invidia, as
you surrendered to her years ago. Surrender, and maybe she’ll take it into
consideration and let all of you just share a session of torment in the Sphere
of Joy before you become our slaves
rather than to be slowly beheaded and eviscerated.”
“Oh, I see,” said Commodore Wildstar with a smirk on his face.
“Invidia must have seen Braveheart
one too many times.”
“What do you mean?”
“Never mind,” said Derek with another smirk. “Nova, get Homer to
turn him off.”
“Yessir,” said Nova dryly as she ran to Homer’s post. Then, she
cut off the Black Nebulan.
“Stop playing with my comm board, Nova!” snapped Homer.
“Why?” said Nova.
“Now what were you doing,
Wildstar?” barked Sandor as he ran up while the red alert klaxons came up.
“Trying to throw him off-balance by mocking him,” said Derek.
“I caught on,” said Nova as she pulled up the belt of her
male-patterned slacks. “Getting them mad will mean they’ll make really stupid
decisions in battle.”
“I see,” said Sandor.
“
“Is that destroyer targeted?” asked Commodore Wildstar.
“Yessir,” said Domon.
“OPEN
FIRE!” said Wildstar just as the destroyer began to make a run against the Argo.
The Argo’s main guns
went off. A moment later, two Black Nebulan destroyers no longer existed.
The enemy began to fire back at the Argo, which took several more hits. Soon, she was holding off the
enemy fleet with all of her pulse lasers going off as enemy planes came in for
the attack. She took several hits, but the damage was minor.
Nova and Sasha were soon working together as a team, with Nova
tracking the enemy ships while Sasha was able to pick up emissions from the
fleet that indicated when they were about to warp.
Also, she was able to see ahead into time somewhat, thanks to her
clairivoyance, and she was able to predict where the Black Nebulan ships would
warp out. She impressed the rest of the bridge crew when her guesses always
turned out to be accurate.
“There’s more coming at RPX-212,” she
said. “Domon, retarget Number Two turret there!”
“There’s
nothing there!” he said.
“Yet,” said Sasha as
sweat ran down her cheeks as she looked forward into time, trying not to
exhaust herself with the strenuous concentration required for this psychic
exercise. “Give them about five seconds.”
“That’s enough time!” said Commodore Wildstar. “Domon,
retarget main guns!”
“Yessir!” replied Domon. “Nishina, retarget Turret Two. Angle, plus five degrees!”
“Aye, angle plus fiver,” said Nishina as he locked on target. A
moment later, four Black Nebulan destroyers warped in at that point.
They were evaporated as soon as they finished their space warp as
the Argo fired two bursts at them
from Turret Number Two as Turret Number One continued to fire at Black Nebulan
ships coming in from a different corridor of attack.
Sasha just smiled at that.
The Black Tigers took off a moment later. The Star Force soon
found that Gamilon destroyers had come up from Balan to help them defend the
ship and the base, accompanied by a Group of EDF torpedo planes from the base.
Hardy and Hartcliffe were soon in heavy battle with the Black
Nebulan planes while the Gamilon destroyers began to help the Argo blast away the Black Nebulan
destroyers.
The Argo was damaged,
smoking in three places, and battered, but she held her own as the battle raged
on.
On the bridge of his Black Nebulan flagship, the space battleship Keriades, Commodore Groden was so angry
that he had killed one of his own men with his blaster for daring to question
an order.
“And do not do it again, fools!” screamed Groden. “First the boy
from the Argo mocks me with his
sarcasm in the face of our might and his pointless resistance in the face of our
power, and now, that idiot Kyser had to object to my keeping the ship in this
position.”
“Sir, they do have their
wave motion gun,” said another officer, named Blanther, as Kyser’s remains were
dragged off the bridge. “And I wouldn’t put it past them to use it. This was
supposed to be a raid to damage that Earth liner and damage the Argo to delay her arrival at Iscandar.
We have accomplished our objectives. I recommend that we retire, sir and…”
“What?” snapped Groden. “Do you fancy
being shot next?”
“Message coming in on visual!” said Groden’s comm officer.
“Is it that idiot Wildstar?” said Groden.
“No, it’s from Gamilon, sir! Coming in on the
Gamilon comm net to us and the base at Balan!”
“Put it on,” said Groden.
A moment later, a smiling blue-skinned, blond-haired face came in
on the ship’s main screen. “Wildstar and my base commander tells
me that you’re giving us a bit of a time at Balan,” said Leader Desslok as he
looked at Groden with some amusement, as if Groden was some sort of toy
designed for Desslok’s benefit. “What brought this on? Is Princess Invidia in a
very bad mood today?”
“You’re as bad as he is!” screamed Groden as he ignored two of his
officers trying to share intelligence with him. “Sir,” said one. “The Earther
combat planes are pulling back, along with the Gamilon units. This trend would
indicate…:”
“Shut up, I am talking!” roared Groden as he snarled while Desslok
had a drink poured for him by one of his female servants. The female bowed and
handed him a wine goblet, which Desslok swirled around and smelled. “I’m
savoring the bouquet, Commodore. The smell of our victory.
Too bad you won’t be there to see it!” Desslok then laughed and cut off.
“Why not?” yelled Groden as another officer said, “Sir! Clear path in front of the Argo.
Reading tachyon buildup in the ship, which has just stopped!”
“Damn
them! Ready all guns, target..the Argo! “
“The Gamilons are also firing at us, m’lord!” said the radar
officer as heavy fire came in from a Gamilon space battleship and many
destroyers. Many Black Nebulan ships in the fleet perished at that.
“Fools!
Ignore the Gamilon ships! I want the Star Force dead! Blast those fools from
space forever!”
At that, the Keriades and
her escorts fired a whithering barrage at the Argo. One, two, three, four barrages roared in towards the Argo.
The damage would have seriously ruined almost any other ship.
Groden laughed as he ordered the main screen on his flagship turned up to full
magnification to watch the show. He grinned as the Argo took hit after hit.
When it was over, she was smoking in more places…but still fairly
intact….
…and that cursed bright
light at the bow of the Argo was only
getting brighter.
What? thought Groden What
keeps that accursed space battleship alive?
On the Argo, over the
building whine of the wave motion gun charging up, Sandor looked hard at his
screens as he was conducting damage control crews to various parts of the ship.
“Closing blast doors near Frame 110, Deck Three! Sealing off port side observation deck!”
“Auxiliary engine on port side slightly damaged but functional for
thrust after firing!” said Yamazaki. “Energy buildup in main
engine now ninety percent!”
“Second part of the enemy fleet has made rendezvous with main
fleet!” cried Nova from her post. “Range to enemy fleet, nine point two
megameters; dead ahead of the bow! Their speed is increasing! Brace for sixth
wave of missiles! We might be getting atmospheric shock waves now! Our orbit has
decayed and we are in Balan’s troposphere!”
The Argo took more hits,
and the destruction of three nearby Gamilon destroyers fighting alongside of
the Argo made Kitano work hard to
adjust the ship’s course. He stood ready to open the wings if needed as the
ship slowly descended into Balan’s atmosphere.
“Captain?” said Domon from his post. “Should we abort the firing
sequence?”
“Belay that order!” snapped Commodore Wildstar as Sasha looked
back at him in apprehension. “Begin final sequence!”
“Acknowledged!” said Domon. “Target scope, open!
Electric crossgauge enhanced brightness level six! Main body of enemy fleet
acquired at nine megameters’ range! Thirty seconds to firing! All hands, secure
anti-flash and anti-shock defenses!” barked Domon as the Argo took more glancing hits from the
enemy fleet.
With hands trembling with fear and excitement, Sasha pulled down
the fabled goggles over her eyes for the first time in a live combat firing of
a wave motion gun.
*** The unearthly whine in the ship was now coming even more
quickly as Kitano pulled more levers and then said, “Domon, control transferred
to you!”
“Energy charge, one hundred and ten percent!” reported Yamazaki.
“Damage control complete; all fires extinguished in compartments
on fire by evacuating hands and selectively blowing airlocks,” said Sandor.
“Structural integrity of hull sufficient to stand wave motion gun firing shock,
Captain,” said Sandor as he looked back at Commodore Wildstar.
The
Captain nodded. “Domon, clear for final adjustments!”
“Aye!
Final adjustments made, course locked,”
said Domon. “Fifteen seconds to firing! Open safety lock!”
Down below, in the bow portion, the Argo’s firing gate safety lock opened as the firing unit locked into
place and the anti-recoil device was enabled.
“Safety lock open,” said a Combat Group officer down below in the
bow.
“Energy charge, one hundred and twenty percent!” said Yamazaki as
more enemy plasma beams roared past the Argo.
“Committed to firing?” snapped Derek from his post at the aft
portion of the bridge.
“Committed!” said Domon.
“Begin ten-second countdown!” snapped Derek as the wave gun and
engine reached the apex of their unearthly howl as the ship’s firing gate
glowed brightly.
“Ten…” snapped Domon. “Nine! Eight! Seven! Six!”
Groden finally caught on that he was staring his death right in
the face. “Damn! The Gamilons have stopped firing!”
“They are about to fire, sir!” said Blanther.
“All ships, disengage! Ready emergency warp
sequence! We’re retiring from the…”
“Three…two…one, zero! FIRE!” said Domon.
Domon fired the Argo’s
wave motion gun a moment later.
The released energy made the anti-recoil tube shoot back as a huge
pulse of deadly blue energy blasted out of the bow firing gate of the Argo.
The energy roared towards the Black Nebulan Fleet like a terrible
cyclone of power.
There was an incredibly violent explosion as the wave energy began
to dissolve the enemy ships, along with their reactors and Beta Energy, which
reacted horribly wth the Wave Energy from the Gun.
Groden’s eyes went wide with shock right before they were forever
blinded as he suddenly felt a terrible heat on his bald pate.
Then, he screamed in a most undignified manner as his space
battleship began to melt around him like a snowball in a nuclear reactor,
followed by his own fusion of synthetic and natural flesh and bones as his
metal and synthskin body went up in painful flames, followed as his organic
head dissolved right before it exploded.
Soon, Groden and his fleet were no more as the tachyon energy
pulse from the Argo’s wave motion gun
scraped the upper part of Balan’s atmosphere before roaring back off into space
as the planet’s curvature dropped away below it.
On the Argo, Sasha looked
on at the spectacle in shock as Sandor took all sorts of readings. “Hmm..,” he
said. “Sasha! Pick up all of the data you can about that fireball and download
the data here.”
“Yessir,” she said as she worked.
“Enemy fleet completely destroyed,” said Nova from her post.
“Distress signal coming in from the
“Homer, acknowledge!” said Commodore Wildstar. “Nova, read their
location!”
“Yessir,” said Nova. “Range to liner, eighty megameters! Location,
KNX-170 off our starboard stern! Speed, six space knots! Little apparent
attitude control! Reading heavy debris field around liner! No other ships in
area!”
“We have to help them,” said Derek. “Homer, send word we’re on our
way, and then communicate with the Gamilons! Kitano, one
hundred and eighty degrees, hard about!”
“Coming about, full,” said Kitano as the Argo, with her energy
regenerated, made a hard turn about.
“Full speed ahead to wreck site!” snapped Wildstar. “Nova, leave
your post and go below to assist in rescue efforts on the medical boats and the
Cosmo Hound! You know the drill! Sasha, take her post!”
“Yessir,” said both women together as they began to make ready to
go. Nova pulled on her gloves, made sure her boots were on tightly, and popped
on her helmet before leaving the
TEN
MINUTES LATER…
“No, Mrs. Hardy,” said Nova as she stuck her head into the hatch
of Medical Boat #21107 in the Argo’s
upper starboard flight bay a few minutes later. “I’m going to take command with
Mister Hartcliffe on the flight deck of the Hound. We’re going aboard with six
medics and fourteen ship Marines. This is your mission with Ensign Kowalski.
For now, this is your boat, Dawn!”
“Are you sure you’re going to be okay, ma’am?” said Dawn.
“I’ll be fine,” said Nova. “And I’ve dealt with Hartcliffe before.
I know how to make him shut up if I have to.”
“Good hunting, ma’am,” said Dawn. “See you on the
“Thanks,” said Nova as she left.
I’m
in command of this boat, thought Dawn in shock. I’m the senior officer here! They actually trust me. I can’t let them
down.
“So, what are we doing, ma’am?” said Ensign Stan Kowalski, a
member of the Space Fighters’ Training School Class of 2207 who had been graduated
a few days early and tapped to join the Black Tigers. He had just been in
combat for his first two times in their first battle when leaving Earth, and
had just come back in from battle with two more Black Nebulan kills to his
credit. He had never thought he would be in a position to rack up five kills in
just a few days.
“You know the procedure, Kowalski. Fly us there just behind the
command ship, which, in this case, will be that big Cosmo Hound. Hartcliffe
will be pilot and communications control, while Nova is co-pilot and C and C of
the mission. She wanted to get in more flying time before it becomes unsafe for
her to do so.”
“She can fly now?”
“As long as it’s not combat or a fighter,” said Dawn. “That’s why
Angelique Hartcliffe is grounded.”
“Oh, her,” said Kowalski. “Poor thing…she’s so depressed.”
“Yeah, I can see why,” said Dawn. “Look at that thing she has for
a husband. Scuttlebutt has it that the only woman on this command he gets along
with is Nova, and that is only during their rehearsals for that pick-up band of
theirs on the aft observation port off-duty.”
“What do they play?”
“Stan, this is the line-up right now. Hartcliffe;
lead guitar and vocals. Nova, portable keyboards or
rhythm guitar and vocals. Some guy from Navigation,
bass. That weird bleached blond Ensign Apprentice in the baby-blue
Midshipman’s uniform who creeps me out, saxophone. No
drummer yet. And I won’t play with them, either, even though I used to play
drums in school. Too many bad memories.”
“Weird band,” said Kowalski.
“Actually, I heard them for a little bit. They’re pretty good,”
said Dawn. “Except for that sax player. She stinks.”
In the meantime, down below, as the Argo’s launch plate opened in the starboard side and the Cosmo
Hound was lowered, Nova looked at Hartcliffe and said, “Lieutenant, try not to
be an idiot today? There are women and children present on that ship.”
“I have to cut out the dead baby jokes when we get to the ship?”
he said.
“Yes, you do,” sighed Nova.
“I got a real good one for ya, luv….
How do you stop a baby from looking up at you with that cute little baby face and gurgling happily with that little baby mouth
and waving at
you with those little baby fingers and little baby toes?”
Nova sighed and looked at him with angry, crossed eyes. “How?” “Gouge its eyes out, luv!” he laughed as he got ready to take off. “You realize my position,” said Nova in a low, dangerous voice. “Yeah! You’re gettin’ real fat! How’s the balloon growin’?”
“My twins are not a balloon,” hissed Nova. “I also ‘ear you’re barefoot and pregnant like Angie is. That true?” “No, I have been wearing sandals when my boots hurt,” said Nova. “Are you going to cut this out, or must I make it a direct order?” “Boy, you’re getting whiny,” snorted Hartcliffe. “All right, Nova. I’ll stop it!” “Thank you, Bryan Hartcliffe nodded, smiled, and he took off.
SEVEN HOURS LATER… Much later that day, a bit past 2130 Hours, Nova finally was granted leave to sit down in her cabin for a bit. She gratefully got off her aching feet and slipped her sandals off under the table as she got to eat some of her own cooking. After the rescue and triage operation of the Aquitania ’s passengers and crew, Nova had brought a fairly uninjured Captain Berrigan safely to the Argo. After working with Doctor Sane and the rest of her nurses in surgery and medical treatment, Nova and Dawn had evacuated the less-injured cases to the Balan base hospital. They left the more critical cases in Sickbay until they could be stabilized. In the meantime, repair crews from the Argo and several Gamilon ships prepared the Aquitania for a long-range tow to a shipyard on Gamilon, where she would be repaired. Then, after a quick, hurried change out of her Medical uniform into her duty uniform and skirt, Nova had helped the kitchen staff make dinner for a private dinner in the Captain’s cabin. Dinner was for Admiral Alex Wildstar, Commodore Derek Wildstar, and Captain Berringer, which she then took upstairs as head waitress in her peacoat. This was done with the help of a strong and very nervous enlisted male mess steward from Living Group. “Not bad,” said Captain Berringer. “Who made the prime rib?” “I did,” said Nova. “McCutcheon made the rest, but I insisted upon broiling those myself. That’s the top-grade Monfort from Colorado “I think you should use the rest of it up when we make Iscandar,” said Alex. “No,” said Nova. “I’m saving it.” “For when?” said Berringer. “The end of the war,” said Nova as tears gathered in her eyes. “I pray to God this thing will end this year. Preferably in the next few weeks.” Derek nodded. “Nova,” he said. “Do we need that Private here?” Nova shook her head. “Private Connors….” “Aye, aye, ma’am?” said the enlisted steward in the yellow and black of Living Group near the cart. “You’re relieved for now,” she said. “Thank you, ma’am.”
“We made that other rib portion for Sandor and left it under the warmer, but he’s still busy, Connors.” Nova paused to chew on her fingertip before she said, “When you get below, tell McCutcheon I gave you permission for a forty-minute break and for you to eat that rib meal. It’s yours.” “Thank you, ma’am!” said Connors as he popped a hearty salute in his apron. Alex smiled as he left. “Like a typical kid on his first mission, Derek.” “This is his first mission,” said Nova. “He’s literally right out of Advanced Rate Training and boot camp.” “He’s good,” said Derek. “Remember when we put Domon in the galley on his first mission for a short time?” Nova smiled. “He hated it, but he did a good job.” “He did…” said Derek.
Later on, Nova, still in her uniform skirt and top, being too tired to take off anything but her sandals, lay beside Derek in their cabin around 0200.
Both of the lovers watched the stars outside as they lay together, nearly asleep. “I’m glad we rescued those people, Derek,” said Nova. “Yeah, me too,” he said in a sleepy voice. He looked at her. “Want me to undress you?” “After you close the privacy cover,” she said with a yawn. “Turn down the lights. Sorry, Derek, too tired to do much but sleep…have a…” “…headache?” said Derek. Nova nodded. “Okay,” said Derek as he got up. He was about to close the cover as Nova began to undo her shirt when the comm buzzer bleeped. Loudly.
“Kuso!” hissed Derek, who had his boots off. “Who wants me at 0208? We’ve been at it all day.” Derek banged the switch and turned on the comm unit. “Captain’s quarters! Wildstar here!” “This is Homer,” said the comm officer. “Captain, someone’s wanting to speak to you. Now. They’re on Balan.” “Now?” said Derek. “Okay, patch him up here!” A moment later, Derek heard a familiar voice he hadn’t heard in years. “Hey, Wildhair! Remember me?” “Why, you lousy, rotten…” “You forgot about me? Name’s Melvin. You met me in the past. Remember? Or do ya think that was a dream, too, like that damn Trans-America Race?” “Seadragon?” said a puzzled Derek. “Okay, what do you want?” “I’m on Balan. In the dark. By Victor’s Mesa “I know where that is,” said a sleepy Nova as she got up. “Okay, Melvin. What do you want?” “You wanted answers about why Yvona changed her spots like a big cat? And what Ekogaru has to do with this? Ya want answers?” “Yes, I did,” said Nova. “I got them for you and Derek. Meet me. 0400. Saguro Rock. You’ll recognize me. I’ll look like the Drunken Hermit.” Then, he clicked off. Derek looked at Nova. “Is this a trick?” Nova shook her head. “I remember him. I don’t think so, Derek…” “Should we go down there?” said Derek. “What does your heart tell you?” said Nova. She gazed at him in the near-dark, and he slowly nodded. “Nova, let’s go.” VI. THE HERMIT APPEARS
Planet Balan
The Desert
May 20, 2207: 0400 Hours (Standard Space-Time)
On Balan, in the desert area near one of the volcanoes,
Derek and Nova Wildstar carefully landed the landing craft near the location
that Melvin had requested that they land at. Victor’s
“I wonder what Melvin will look like this time?” said Derek.
Nova shrugged as she got up, her grey space boots scraping
the deck of the landing boat a little as she walked. Her back hurt, it was
0400, and she had barely slept after their latest battle with the Black Fleet
and the rescue of the passenger liner Aquitana..
“I don’t know for sure; but he said he had an explanation for what caused
Yvona…or that clone of her, to change her ways and help us. He also said he had
an explanation for Ekogaru and his actions. He said something about…a drunken
Hermit?”
“Can we trust him?” asked Derek.
“I trust him,” said Nova. “It’s the weirdest thing. I didn’t
wake up Sasha for this because…well…because something in my heart just says
this is right. Somehow. Melvin helped us before,
remember? He will most likely do it again.”
“Let’s go, then,” said Derek as he doffed his helmet. “No
time to talk to a Melvin like 0400 in the morning, right?”
“Yeah,” said Nova as she yawned. She held her stomach, “I
could be dreaming all of this. It could be a bit of bad beef. Or yesterday’s
gravy?”
“Where did I hear that before?” said Derek.
“Charles Dickens,” said Nova as they left the landing boat
after the ramp came down.
On Balan, the hot, steamy air hung with a strange menace.
The dim light came from the volcanoes and the parts of the world around the
equator that were still semi-molten and glowing. Yet, the air on the odd world
was quite breathable. It was very dark on this part of Balan, and the stars
were out in the sullen sky, which glowed deep red.
They walked a few hundred meters towards a rock formation
that looked like a huge saguro cactus, only made of stone. It was where they
were told to come, many, many kilometers away from the new Joint Base that
Gamilon and Earth had rebuilt here. The Joint Base was the only place they knew
of where anyone lived on the planet. As promised, a lone human was sitting
there, on a high rock formation.
He stood up, and looked very commanding. He suddenly
unhooded a blazing lamp that he held in one hand. The Light in the lamp burned
pure white with a frightening, yet pure intensity in the darkness, and made it
very hard to see Melvin’s face.
The eccentric old “bum” was clad in filthy robes of dirty
brown or grey; (the color was hard to tell in the strange Light) and he wore
something like a monk’s cowl over his face. He leaned on a large staff, and he
looked tired. He kept his hands almost concealed as he leaned on his staff and
held up his Light, and Nova could see only dirty boots showing at the edge of
his robe.
Yet, Nova recognized the engimatic figure. He looks like the Hermit from the Tarot Deck
Card IX; or a monk…or…or some weird wizard….or…something more?
“Halloooo!” he
called out, in his charcteristic rough, strong voice, as if he had been engaged
in public speaking once in his life. He seemed to know how to project.
“Commodore Derek Michael Kodai Wildstar! Lieutenant Commander Nova Dawn
Forrester Wildstar, RN! I am pleased to meet yas again, shall we say? Even
though, I have been long watching you. Before
“Watching us?” said Derek.
Melvin nodded. “I
see” said Derek. “I remember you better now. That time on Earth. Forgive us on
the line before. We’ve met too many people with strange powers in the past few
years; some benign…others…like…”
“Ekogaru. Yes you can say his name. Oh…what he really is…you
were told, I remember, by Astrena of Pellias, that he was an ancient engineer,
scientist, and mystic from the Planet Rikasha who turned evil and corrupt long
ago. I know I am correct in this…arrrr”
said the old man as he coughed.
“You are,” said Derek. “So what is he? How can he cling to
life like that?” said Wildstar, who was again beginning to instinctively trust
this odd being named Melvin.
“Being consists of multiple universes, shall we say?
Multiple places exist where great decisions are made. Quantum theory allows for
there to be many timestreams, variations on one theme. All started and overseen
by the same great Composer, as it were. Variations on one great Theme. Versions
of one Song that vary a little. I know. I told Melvin this. Wait. I am Melvin.
Sorry. I’m actin’ goofy. Weird. Up my tree with a
killer bee,” he chuckled. “If I’m a space chick, wait until ya meets a real one.”
“Okay…” said Derek.
“Who are you? What are you?” said Nova.
“Part Goon, part Time Lord, part I dunno what I’m part of. I
was asked to come and help you. There is an ultimate Theme to everything,
Derek,” said Melvin as he suddenly turned cold and dead-serious. The grumble
disappeared from his voice, and he stood up tall and almost threatening as he
said in what Derek suspected was his real
persona, which was powerful, wise, and somehow a bit cold and very intelligent.
“What that is, I can’t expound upon. Not
allowed to.”
Then, Melvin, or the Hermit, paused. Then, he said,
“Ekogaru, shall we say, was a wise man once. He turned corrupt in his youth. He
wanted power. Dominance. The quick and easy path. The Yin. The Dark Side of the
Force. The Devil. Whatever you call it, Ekogaru fell for one of its emissaries
or lieutenants who had been doing some universe-hopping. This spirit, for lack
of a better term, has been around before in other universes, some real, some
what you think were fictional. Eldrad, Randall Flagg, Old Nick, Mephistopheles,
Yavada, M’Quall, Set, Sauron the Great, oh, he’s gotten around, all right.
Takes people, uses them up, spits them out, creates chaos and destruction in
the name of helping people when he just wants the whole pie for himself like
the Masters he serves, this time, he’s calling himself Ekogaru. This Thing
bound with what is left of the spirit of the dead Rikashan called Ekogaru and
he keeps him alive in some trinket, and he also possesses people because he
wants a body again. Nova, he paid your body a little visit once to kill Derek
when you were sort of almost outside of it with Aliscea on the astral plane
years ago.”
“Derek told me about that,”said Nova as she shivered.
“Occassionally, he wants to pop back in there.”
“Nova?” said Derek.
“I do a good job of keeping him out. Although I do not know
how I do it.”
“He’s trying to find another Host again. He uses a person on
Earth that I am not allowed to identify right now, because I am not clear of who
he is…although he is also considering Invidia strongly as a new Host. He may
use her, he may not.”
“How did Yvona figure into all of this?” said Nova. “Or, her
clone?’
“Ekogaru wanted to marry Yvona, possess her, take her over,
and have a strange child through her. When you had to kill her, Nova, when you
had to do that, Ekogaru had a backup plan. Before the original Yvona’s spirit
left her body to go to a place of Waiting where her exact fate is still being
determined in full while it is hoped she can learn from her mistakes, her
memories were dumped into a new model he made from her organic components. Call
her Yvona Version 2.0. The Clone. Ekogaru thought he had a soulless automaton
at first that he could use for his own ends. However, Destiny decided to take
pity on the Clone and the Source behind it All caused her to truly awaken and
become fully alive,” said Melvin.
“Like the Blue Fairy and Pinnochio?” said a puzzled Nova. “A
puppet who became a real boy?”
“Apt analogy, Nova. Yvona’s Clone became a real person. And
as a real person, she felt remorse for the actions Ekogaru had manipulated her
to perform. She came alive in her soul and called out to Destiny for help based
the sad beliefs she knew from her memories. But, since she was changing, and
being wooed to change by other forces, she found a kinder form of those beliefs
and a more benevolent image of the one she believed in within her heart than
Ekogaru. In her way, in her system of beliefs, she found peace. She found peace
by choosing to believe rather than being forced into it, and since she now
believed in Love rather than Hate, the old, hurt Yvona in her formed by her
memories and experiences began to die and she became the kind, giving person
that your Aunt Yvona was meant to be, Nova, before her own pain and fears and
tragedies led her into drinking and punishing others for the pain in her own
sad psyche. You would have liked her.”
“But she still served him?” said Nova. “She was there with
the assassination team…”
“And she tried to help kill Sasha and Alex,” said Derek.
“She was hoping to stop
them. The team was led by a strange being called Erugar, her son by Ekogaru and
the body of an Earthling he possessed. This mutant creature was twisted in her
womb to be an artificial version of an Iscandarian who used his powers for rage
and darkness. But Ekogaru did too fine a job with him. He would listen to no
one and nothing at all and went berserk. Yvona was able to drag him into a time
corridor, where she has taken him out of this Universe. While she and he are
still there, they are beyond your ken, with Erugar heading slowly for the same
place of waiting and learning that Trelaina took Zordar to,” said the Melvin.
“Where is Zordar now?” said Derek.
“His body is dead. His spirit is in a place of penalty,
pain, remorse, and forced learning so he can be humbled before all of the
details of his final fate, as best as I can tell you, will be determined. He
has been returned to the Cosmos by Trelaina to do this in another dimension.
Much is beyond your comprehension. Ekogaru is a far worse evil and parasite
than he is. Although Zordar wished to use and enslave Earth, he was very kind
and loyal to Leader Desslok even though he also used him. There may even be
some hope for Zordar some day because even he
had decent qualities. I cannot foresee any for Ekogaru. But, much lies before
you before he can finally be dealt with. That reckoning must come. Some day.
Even Invidia’s defeat will not rid us of him. And on that note, I must leave
you. Thank you for coming to chat with me. Gotta go get drunk,” said Melvin as he coughed and the weird growl returned to
his voice. “They all think I’m a bum. Better that way. They
don’t suspect nothin! Rich, ain’t it?”
“Who are you…really?” said Derek.
“Can’t get into that,” said Melvin in heated tones as he
slurred his words and suddenly took out a bottle of booze and began drinking.
“But, I can tell you this. The
Playwright can’t show up on stage until the play is over. GOT IT? AIN’T OVER TIL THE FAT LADY OR THE SKINNY GLOWING
SPACE CHICK OR THE BIG GUY WITH THE CROWN SINGS! This play you are in is far
from over. When it is over, you will get an explanation. But, until then,
goodnight, and goodbye, in its oldest sense.”
Melvin nodded to them and he veiled his lamp and simply
walked off behind the stone formation into the darkness and was not seen again
that day by the Wildstars. Nor was he seen again by them…for a very long time.
“So what did that mean?” said Derek.
“I don’t know…but I think it was meant to help us.”
“Strangest space chick I’ve ever seen” said Derek. “What do
you think he really is? We saw another side of him tonight…and…”
“I don’t know, and I don’t care to speculate,” said Nova.
“Why not?” said Derek.
Nova looked up at the sky and said, “Derek, he scares me.
What is he really like?”
Commodore Wildstar shut his eyes and stood in deep, silent
thought as he held Nova’s hand.
TO BE CONTINUED…
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