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)
Major Thanks to Michael C. Crump (aka “Max Damage”) for artwork contributed to this
chapter.
Thanks also to Gail Kopetz (Fluffy! My Wife!) and Ami Meitsu for
helping to inspire me….
Note: This chapter contains some mature
content…just wanted to warn you…
ACT SEVEN: QUEEN STARSHA
AND THE DUEL…
I.
A RUDE AWAKENING…
Planet
Iscandar
Part
of the Southern Coast of the Great Continent
Sunday
June 7, 2207: 0930 Hours Earth Space-Time
The environs of the sacred beach on Taniquitel were very pretty,
and the beach looked almost empty as a lone figure walked up through the sand
near the sea.
The sand was wet, and the walker was leaving footprints from her
bare feet in the sand as she looked for shells.
Here’s
a pretty one, she thought as she dug something that looked like
an iridescent conch shell out of the sand. She smiled, listened to the sound of
the sea on Iscandar in the shell, and then tossed it carefully into a shoulder
bag she was carrying over a bare shoulder.
The young lady playing beach bum was Nova Wildstar. She had on her
leis and a necklace made from shells over her otherwise bare breasts, and she
wore her pink fundoshi and a white
wide-brimmed ladies’ hat and sunglasses with pink-tinted lenses. She carried a
shoulder bag that held her shells, a beach towel, suntan lotion, and a commset
to call Derek back at the villa if needed.
Nova smiled as she put a foot into the surf as it raced up the
beach. Mmmm…that water’s warm, she
thought. If I go swimming, I’d better
watch the undertow, and strip so I’m not encumbered by anything. And maybe I’ll
find a shell or two in the water? Maybe even a shell with a pearl in it? Derek
would like that, now, wouldn’t he?
Nova walked up onto the dry sand and began to set down her bag to
pull out a beach towel so she could sun herself after her skinny dip. She was
beginning to pull down her fundoshi
and was thinking of being a romantic naked
Great,
someone’s here, she thought as she pulled her fundoshi back up all the way.
Nova gathered herself together, listened on the wind, and then she
began to run up the beach towards the sounds.
Not far away, maybe sixty meters from the spot where she had been
standing, Nova found them.
Deke and Sasha. Naked. On a beach towel, singing some kind of
weird song.
And, they were at it
again. Right in front of Nova!
Nova’s mouth went wide as she yelled, “Deke! Deke
“Oh, Deekeee,” said Sasha as she gasped. “Do me again, again,
again, again…”
Nova then saw
“Deeekkkee, you’re silly!” laughed Sasha.
“People!” cried Nova. “I don’t mind that you don’t have anything
on, it’s hot, but could you cut that out for a MINUTE!??”
“Saaaaaassssshhhaaa” said Deke.
“Deeeeekkkeeee,” she squeaked back.
Nova hesitantly knelt and then she shook them. “Deke! Sasha! Stop
doing the horizontal hula for a minute. Please?”
Sasha reached out a hand and grabbed Nova’s while she giggled,
“Deeeekeeee, stop tickling me! At least there!
Heee heee hee hee heee!”
“This is Aunt Nova!” snapped Nova. “NOT Deekee! Deekee is…well,
you know where he is.”
Nova then noticed Sasha’s eyes were very glassy. So were Deke’s.
She felt around in the sand and found two things thrown there. One
was a little vial from the Argo’s
Sickbay. The other was a little silver key to a storage locker.
“What is my medicine locker key doing here?” said Nova as she threw her key back in her bag. “And what
was in this vial?”
Nova ran her finger inside the vial as she tried to blot out the
sounds of the Wakefields…making whoopee…and then she sniffed at the result and
tasted her finger.
“Mushrooms,” she muttered as she recognized the taste and her head
went moderately funny for a moment. “Titan mushrooms, huh? How did you two
learn about these? I’d better be
careful about this, or I may be joining you two. In a threesome. I don’t want that to happen!”
Nova spread her beach towel out a decent distance away from the
blotto young couple and she sat down with her back turned so she wouldn’t have
to see what Deke was doing to Sasha. She had just seen enough.
Nova then got out her commset and called Derek.
The Commodore was washing dishes when the commset rang.
“Hello?” he said. “Or should that be moshi-moshi?”
“Derek, this is Nova. I’m sick.”
“What’s wrong with you? Nova?”
“I…was walking down the beach. I just found Mister Wakefield and
Sasha. In the sand…it’s so…”
“Nova, my God! Are they dead?”
“They’re worse than dead, Derek,” said Nova. “Remember the Titan
‘shrooms? Remember our experiment?”
“Yes, that was when….I think we thought we could hide it from
Sasha that time.”
“Little hard to hide anything on that, as we learned…” said Nova as she blushed with the memory. “I
have a memory of coming to up in a tree house…with splinters in my bottom…”
“And I had to take you back to Sickbay in just my shirt to get
them removed, and…”
“YES,” said Nova with a blush as she clenched her toes at the
memory. Was I still giggling then? Nova thought in embarrassment. Those mushrooms are worse for your
reputation than Doc Sane’s Spring Water!
“I…remember that,” said Derek. “Are Deke and Sasha…?”
“Yes,” said Nova.
“Are they aware you’re there?”
“No,” said Nova with a blush.
“Are they decent?”
“NO!” said Nova with a deeper blush.
“Are they in flagrante
delicto?”
“YES,” hissed Nova. “Listen!”
she said as she held the commset up.
Derek listened, feeling very uncomfortable as he heard Sasha
making little gasping noises and mewls from several kilometers away. He also
heard
It sounded to Wildstar like
“What do we do with
them?” sighed Wildstar. “They still do not have a waiver. And
“Only one thing to do,”
said Nova.
“What?”
“Wait here until it wears off. I will have to watch them
anyway…keep them under observation…then we take them to the villa and read them
the riot act.”
“Want me there, Nova?” said Derek.
“No offense, Derek,” she said. “I’m feeling too warm right now.
I’d love to, but what sort of example would we set if they come around and see us in our own horizontal hula? I’m not
wearing very much, it’s hot, and I miss you horribly,”
said Nova in a small voice as she fussed about with her leis. “That is usually
a good combination for mischief, and if no one was around but us…but, today…”
“Yeah,” sighed Derek.
“Not…that I mind the idea,” said Nova as she licked her lip.
“Hearing them is driving me bugs. In more ways…than one,” she whispered.
“Nova, are you?”
“Yesss,” said Nova in almost a purr. “For you, of course. Not
Dekesticks.”
“Rain check?” said Derek.
“For now,” said Nova. “Later on, after we get them dealt with and
we have time…I think there might be a very nice Gamilon out tonight…”
Derek made a kissing noise over the commset. “If we have time,
invitation accepted, Lieutenant Commander.”
“Thank you, Commodore,” said Nova sweetly. Sasha let out a
particularly loud squeak then that set her teeth on edge. “She’s noisy,” Nova
whispered with a giggle. “She might be howling next. You have a very bad little
niece.”
“I know that,” said Derek.
“How do you know?” said Nova as she lay on her stomach and kicked
up her foot, looking more like nineteen than twenty-nine at that moment.
“I was cornered once,” said Derek. “When you weren’t around.”
“Oh?” said Nova.
“I extricated myself from the situation, ma’am,” replied Derek.
“Gently, of course. A gentleman and samurai
tries not to make a thirteen-year old Iscandarian girl cry.”
“Cornered, hmmm?” said Nova.
“Are you mad?’ said Derek, worried.
“No,” said Nova with a smile.
“Why are you asking me that?”
“You have to show me, Derek,” said Nova.
“Why?”
“So I can corner you
like that sometime. Preferably after our children are born and asleep some
night, or with a babysitter for the weekend. Food for thought, Skipper!” said
Nova with a giggle. “Take care. I will call you when they come around.”
“Bye,” said Derek.
“Byyye,” sang Nova.
Then, she hung up, closing her eyes softly as another squeal came
down the wind. Nova shook her head and put her hands over her ears.
I
should have brought earmuffs, she thought as she pulled
her hat down over her ears and huffed.
THREE
HOURS LATER…
Later, much later, Nova sat on her beach towel on Taniquitel
watching over Deke and Sasha as they snored in each other’s arms. It wasn’t
cold for Nova in her minimal attire that warm afternoon, but, then again, she never
thought she’d be looking after patients while barely dressed.
“Hey, God,” Nova said in a half-sleepy voice. “Nova here.
This was not my day, except for being with Derek last night. At least thanks to
the commset, he knows I’m stuck here watching these two. Children. They’re
children, these two,” said Nova out loud with a wry smile as she watched the
snoring Deke and Sasha. “It’s funny. I’ve never been able to tell, and medical
science could never tell, either. Was I dead after I breathed in that gas at
the Cosmo-DNA? They wrote in my chart then that I was in a “persistent
vegetative state, probably moribund” and stuck my sleeping carcass off in the
morgue to finish dying while Doctor Sane tended to other patients. Was I dead?
Was I alive? And if I was dead, what brought me back when I woke up in Derek’s
arms? And if my brain had just stopped working and I was as good as dead, why
am I conscious, well, strong, and a little over six months’ pregnant and not in
a Veterans’ Ministry back ward someplace getting green soup in a tube and
getting my legs massaged while lying in a fetal position? Why am I here? Why
have I beaten the odds so many times? And why is my life so weird?” Nova
sighed.
Nova wasn’t sure what she wanted to do as she looked at Deke
and Sasha. They were moaning softly as they finally came to.
“Where…where are
we?” said Sasha. “Deeekee?”
“Uhhhh…” said
“Eeeeek!” she cried. She sat up and blushed. “Deekee! I’m naked!”
“Where’s our clothes?” he yelled.
“Right here,” said Nova as she handed them their discarded
clothing. “Deke! You were supposed to be resting on the Argo! Not running around making love to Princesses! You’re hurt,
“She’s my wife, ma’am,” said Deke.
“Yes, and you two did not have your waiver to be together
off-duty yet, you…”
“Are we in trouble?” said Sasha. “I…oh…no! We must be in
trouble!”
“You are in trouble,”
snapped Nova. “Oh, I know you needed the time alone…but there are regulations!”
“Nova, mother’s calling us! She’s nearby. On the villa to
the north!”
“How far is that?” asked Deke.
“A few kilometers up the beach, beyond those bluffs,” said
Nova as she made sure (wth a blush) that her leis were adjusted. “You’ll need
swimwear on. Come back to our villa after you get dressed. Derek and I will
dress you…”
“And?” sighed Deke.
“Give you a very good talking-to before we see Starsha,”
said Nova. “Come on!”
With heavy hearts, Deke and Sasha dressed while Nova turned
her back on them for privacy.
A FEW MINUTES LATER….
At Derek and Nova’s villa on the southern part of the beach,
Deke sat shirtless in his Black Tiger uniform as Commodore Wildstar yelled at
him. He wasn’t the only one getting it. Deke had been half-expecting Sasha to
get reamed out, too, which definitely happened. He hadn’t been expecting Derek
to chew Nova out for letting them get access to the Funky Fungi, too. It
appeared to Deke that Nova was, in fact, sharing the doghouse with both of
them.
“
“Sir, with all respect, we were both on liberty, and…”
Wildstar snarled. “That’s no damn excuse, and you damn well know it! As for being with Sasha,
listen,
“What is it, sir?” said Deke as Derek and Nova glared at him
and Sasha.
“The orders putting you two together in a cabin aboard
ship,” said Nova. “That was my surprise wedding gift to you two, and it would
have taken effect tomorrow!”
Deke and Sasha sat with their mouths open.
“But, you had to go and ruin it, didn’t you?” said Nova.
“Ma’am, maybe we don’t have the self-discipline to room
together,” said Sasha as her eyes filled with tears. “You can just…”
“We’re not forgetting it,” snapped Commodore Wildstar. “Nova
was up half the night the other night switching around room assignments to
accommodate you two! Off the record,
people, can’t you see that Nova is both pregnant and very tired lately?”
“I…I wanted to be nice to you two,” said Nova as she began
to sob. “But, you had to…to wreck it for me. Even sneaking off to the beach,
I’d understand, but…but…with those mushrooms getting loose…I have to account
for them,” sobbed Nova. “A loss from a drug cabinet is very serious! It was my
fault, losing that key in a moment of stupidity, Derek!”
“I said I won’t write you up for it, and you know it,” said
Derek. “Again, Lieutenant Commander, it was a stupid-ass mistake!” he barked as Nova bowed her head. “Losing that
key. But I know it’s not you or your normal style, so as far as we are
concerned…well, I’ve chewed you out for it already. It goes no further on the
Command level that that!”
“But Doctor Sane might!” Nova sobbed. “It would go in my
nursing folder! One mistake like that causes an inquiry. Either formal, where
it stays in your folder for two years, or informal, where it stays in your
folder for anywhere between one to six months. Two mistakes like that mean
automatic suspension of my RN license. Three mistakes means license revocation
and saying goodbye to medical school!”
“How many mistakes like that have you had?” said Derek.
“This is the first one,” Nova sobbed. “Even that might put a
cloud over my application to the Federal School of Medicine! You know how
selective they are!”
As Nova put her face in her hands and cried her eyes out,
Sasha suddenly felt very small. Very young. And very stupid. Auntie, I’d never get you in that kind of
trouble, she thought. But what kind
of trouble am I in for this?
“You should be written up, Sasha,” snapped Derek. “There
should be an Article Fourteen on you. It would only go that far because of the
small amount of the mushroom taken, and because it is a Schedule Y
“Experimental Drug Base” medication. Nova and I tried it once. Then, it was on
Schedule X “Experimental Food”, and Doctor Sane gave her clearance to
experiment on it. If it was on Schedule Z, “Controlled Substance”, like the
pain-relieving morphine locked up in that cabinet…if you two had touched that, there would have been a
court-martial, revocation of your commissions after said court-martial, and
work-camp time for you…”
“Like what we had to do to Ensign Sedgeley two and a half
years ago, Derek, right before they gave me the
“What did she do?” said
“She was at the morphine and that R’Khell drug we
captured…they call it “Sixer” and it is very
dangerous,” said Nova. “Doctor Sane and I caught her. She had a monkey on her
back and got court-martialed. Because she was my immediate inferior, at her
mustering-out ceremony, I had to rip her rank epaulets and medals off her
myself, slap her, and send her on the public Walk of Shame myself. She was my
friend. We shot pool together. I didn’t like doing it. But I had to. And she’s
still in the work camp in Provkiev, in
“Yessir,” said
“Good,” said Commodore Wildstar. “You two get your room
assignment tomorrow in the morning. In the meantime, go in the guest room. Nova
has laid out your swimwear. We have to change, too. We’re taking a walk down
the beach,” said Derek. He looked at Sasha. “You know why.”
“To see Mother,” said Sasha.
“Yes,” said Nova. “She wants to talk with both of you about
your recent behavior over the past few weeks, as she put it.
“We have to face the music,” sighed Sasha.
“Yes,” said Deke. “In more ways than one…”
II.
RUMORS…
The
Eritz Gatlantis
Princess
Invidia’s Palace
Sunday
June 7, 2207: 1200 Hours Earth Space-Time
Generals Dyre, Gorse, and Turpitz had all been called to an informal
conference in a lounge in Invidia’s Palace.
They had been ordered to come without weapons. They had no
idea what the conference was about.
When they got in there and found Invidia sitting on a couch
in a red and black dress and white boots, they guessed they were in some
trouble as the Princess sat there playing with her pointer.
Finally, Invidia said, “Let us get to the point. Why was
Katrina Savela executed this morning before I could personally interrogate
her?”
“The Pellian pilot was a threat, Princess,” said Turpitz in
a smooth voice. “After she was tortured in the Sphere of Joy last night by
Nevitz, we had word she might try to escape and steal her plane and return to
the Pellian ranks with intelligence on us. That was unforgivable, so I went to
see Dyre.”
“Since you were asleep, I thought, playing about with
another prisoner, I ordered her killed and thought you’d countersign it,” said
Dyre. “Her head’s in a jar now. Want to see it?”
“NO,” barked Invidia. “How convenient. Just as I found out
that the fact that her surname was ‘Savela’ and the fact that someone is
playing about with the Noble Family of the Savelas. I just found out, as a
matter of fact, based on genetic evidence…from…Katrina’s body…that Katrina’s
mother was my mother, Countess Eloise. Countess Eloise. My father’s favorite,
after Father captured her and treated her well…which was well before my birth
twenty-four years ago. My mother. Countess Eloise. Killed when I was twelve
right before Father’s great campaigns began in a crash I considered suspicious.
Which one of you was it?”
“Princess, I…” said Dyre.
Invidia smashed her pointer down hard on the table. “Which
one of you was talking with Radnar, even then, trying to spread rumors that I
was in an improper relationship with Father?” she snapped with tears in her
eyes. “I have played games with attractive prisoners, and teased some females
as my version of a joke when I was younger, but never would I bed females…most
of the time. Not really. If I hadn’t killed that pregnant Earthling Wildstar,
for one, I would have got her in here as a prisoner, scared her, then…served
her some juice, and talked with her. Maybe find out what makes the Earthlings
tick? Dancing with her would have been a game. A tease. A joke. Instead…”
“Princess,” said Gorse.
“Explain dis!” she
screamed as she threw tapes at them. “Radnar spreading vile rumours of me! Or
are you all in cahoots with him?”
“We have not been in contact with Radnar for some time,”
said Gorse, knowing he was lying through his teeth.
“We saw him on the homeworld, and that was it,” lied Dyre. He thought, How can we bring it to Invidia that we think
maybe she is no longer sane and that maybe we should see about accepting the
Grand Emperor’s offer..to talk…maybe retain our positions and power? Maybe get
him to fail to acknowledge Desslok as our new ruler and instead crown myself or
Radnar as Prince? How do we turn this to advantage?
“We spoke about this before, friend, before I came back from
the battlefront on this brief tour,” said Turpitz. “Invidia. Gamilon, Earth,
even Iscandar and Pellias, are building up greater defense forces. We know how
your mother came from the Pellians’ ranks years ago to be captured by us. The
Pellians were a great spacefaring race. They still are. Not even Astrena knows
yet how many of their warships escaped the Blackeye Galaxy to go on patrol
elsewhere. The Pellians, we all knew, were legendary shipbuilders and
scientists. And fighters. I heard tales of the Pellian Federation Border Legion
that would chill you, Invidia. Arishna help us if any of the Border Legion ever
came back.”
“Why?” said Invidia.
“Their esprit de corps,
spirit, and aggressiveness in battle were legendary,” said Dyre. “Imagine a
ship like the cursed Star Force. Right? Now imagine a whole FLEET like that.
That was the Border Legion of Pellias, at least in legend. I do not know how
Ekogaru ever defeated them. But apparently, he did.”
“Horrible,” said Invidia.
“The Pellians are dangerous,” said Dyre. “They are just beginning to share their secrets with
Desslok and with the Earthlings. Men, we thought we could crush Desslok’s and
the Terrans’
“That is why we must crush
them!” cried Invidia. “Skaldart will save us! Overwhelming force! Why is he not here now?”
“Delayed, Princess,” said Gorse. “He is in battle with
Radnar’s forces…”
“WHAT?” screamed Invidia. “Radnar, Radnar, all I hear about
is Radnar!”
“Sooner or later, Princess, Radnar will find the right time
and place to engage us,” Dyre “To engage our Fortress. To engage this city-ship!”
“We still have forces! Our Comet!” raged Invidia.
“You,” said
Turpitz as he got up and poked Invidia in the stomach with her own pointer.
“You, Princess, are causing us to lose them. Day by day. Hour by hour. I have
been to Iscandar and Gamilon several times. Desslok’s forces! The Iscandarians
and Pellians! The damned STAR FORCE!
They rally around that battered, patched old wreck of an Earth spaceship like a
banner! Now I understand why Desslok was so obsessed with destroying her once
upon a time! That damned ship has more lives than Arishna’s First Prophet Mudib! Mudib the Great! The Man They
Could Not Kill! Even now, fanatic Arishna-worshippers feel Mudib will someday
rise from the dead, unify our Houses like in the Great Time, and lead our
forces to victory! That accursed Wildstar lad looks like Mudib! Or have none of
you ever noticed because he is not green
like the Great Prince and Prophet was?”
“Are you some Arishnian fanatic?” screamed Invidia. “Have
you Seen the Light? Have you Seen the True Vision?”
“Enough,” said Dyre as he got up and grabbed the pointer
from Turpitz’s hands since Invidia looked like she was about to strike him.
“Princess. Mathematics and the latest projections done by the statisticians and
battle analysts in the Tower of Velduz College in the city indicate that the
mathematical certainty of a decisive win in the Sanzar System is only eighteen
percentems in our favor. The chance of an absolute victory by the enemy is
estimated at twenty-eight percentems. The highest probability, at fifty-four
percentems, is that of a rough draw, with both our sides badly bloodied, the
New Comet again damaged, and with millions dead on both sides and much
bitterness spread about for generations. We can win. But at what cost? If we
defeat them here, it will have to be genocide. Turpitz’s reports indicate they
will fight to the bitter end. If we attack again, even with their forces
defeated, if we do so, they would never surrender to us. And if we forced them
to submit, we would face possibly two or three hundred years worth of partisan
actions. The only way they stop fighting is when they die. If we can even bring
them to that point!”
“We need to win. Otherwise I will not keep my throne!” Invidia screamed. “Then…crush them we..”
“We asked them to calculate that, too,” said Gorse.
“Princess, there is only a nine-percentem chance…”
“Of what?” snapped Invidia.
“There is just a nine-percentem chance of you keeping your throne, Invidia,”
said Gorse coldly. “If that. Invidia, we are your friends. We have stood by you
through this. As friends, we counsel you; two things…”
“What?” said Invidia as tears again came to her eyes.
“Call off this attack. There is not that much chance we can
win. Then, abdicate,” said Dyre. “You
have brought us to the brink of the point we feared; disaster!”
“We swore to serve you,” said Gorse. “Step down and let us contact
Radnar. Or Desslok, for that matter. We need to negotiate again.”
“Never!” cried Invidia. “I will never listen to you! Next
time I see you, you are demoted,
Gorse! And I may consider a trial for treason!”
She snapped her pointer in half, threw the halves at Gorse’s
face with a vicious scream, and then she stalked off, smashing the doors with
her hands as they hissed open and she disappeared weeping angrily into the
Royal Apartments.
“I should smash in her teeth,” hissed Turpitz. “Gorse, are
you…?”
Gorse nodded as he bled. “Dyre. We need to kill her. Preferably in her sleep!”
“Not in her sleep,” hissed Turpitz.
“Men,” said Dyre. “I have something better in mind.”
“Which is?” said Turpitz.
“Listen,” said Dyre in a low voice.
Invidia cursed and ranted as she slapped a guard in the face
for no reason as she stalked into her suite.
Then, slamming down her hands on a table in her sitting
room, she tore a ceremonial dueling sabre that her father had once owned off
the wall and began to attack the red velvet curtains with it like a wild thing.
She screamed like a beast while doing so, and then, and only then, she started
to laugh.
Laughing like mad, she kicked off her boots, went barefoot,
and the Princess lost herself in a silent dance with no one.
“I need music,” she said.
Walking over to her computer, she ran through her musical
collection. Pellian music, no. Cometine music, no. Definitely not Gamilon
music. Melezartian music plundered from that dead world was too solemn, too beautiful.
She needed something with noise and a beat.
Invidia chortled when she saw her next contraband collection
of music. Why not? Invidia thought. Oh, I wish the barbarians knew I stole this
along with fleet plans my men hacked from their ships…
Invidia then flicked the following on her player:
ST’ILA: Barbarian/Terran
GENWA: Rock/Disco
DELA’TIST: Elton John
SEGE: I’m Still Standin’ (Yeah Yeah Yeah)
Invidia giggled as the music she had strictly banned in her
own Empire-City began to wash over her like illicit candy. As the first chords
of “I’m Still Standin’” began to blow
over her speakers, the barefoot Princess laughed like crazy, shutting her eyes
and squealing as she twirled around, watching her dress flip up, exposing the
slender legs she usually only let her various lovers see.
Enough of this! Invidia thought as
she danced and pumped her fists. I may
have to use people, I may have to use men, but only for a little while more!
Star Force? Minor annoyance now. Desslok? A plaything I can torment like a fly
pinned to a board if I ever capture him. Radnar? Next on my crap list! Turpitz?
You are a dead man! Gorse? Dead! DYRE, my oldest friend after Father? DEAD,
DEAD, DEAD!
Invidia danced like a wild animal as she sang along with the
lyrics in heavily accented Standard English! “And did you think this fool could never win?
Well look at me, I'm coming back again…”
Invidia screamed, and she took a drinking set that Dyre had given her.
She drank some of the wine like a crazy woman and then began to gleefully smash
the carafe’ and the goblets against the wall in a corner where she knew she
could not step on them.
Then, Invidia pumped her arms and screamed along with the lyrics…”Don't you know I'm still standing…better than I ever
did…Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid…I'm still
standing…after all this time…picking up the pieces of my life without you on my
mind…”
Invidia then screamed and twirled around, and as the guitar
solo came up, she picked up a small table and smashed it through a portrait of
her own General Staff.
Then, she giggled and got a blaster and began shooting holes
in the picture. She then found a pen and drew a black moustache on Turpitz’s
part of the picture.
She opened a cabinet and found the well-cleaned skull of a
captive. She smashed it against the wall, screaming,
“WHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” as she did so.
Then, spent, Invidia calmed herself and called up some
Terran history on her computer. The name that came up was:
RUDOLPH
HESS
“Why not?”
Invidia chortled to herself. “I might be able to pull it off and sit there
beside Desslok, maybe in handcuffs, granted, while they come to a little trap I
set for them, if they have the courage to do so. Or, I could make things go my
way? My way! Yes! Spy out the place, see what it is really like, and come back
here with Skaldart, and then have a nice little purge. Kill them all! Maybe. If it is really as bad as zey say, I
can then quit while ahead. My way, my terms!”
Invidia’s
eyes filled with tears as she looked at a picture of Katrina Savela. “My
half-sister,” she said. “I never got to really sit down and talk with you.
Torture you? Yes. Talk like a sister? No. They said you were twenty-nine.
Thirty, maybe. Older than me. Older sister I never knew, and I let them kill
you!” sobbed Invidia. “Cursed wars! Cursed conquests and political crap!
Fleets? Yes! Crushing things, yes! Running around with generals, yes! Power,
yes! Love, no. Sex, yes! True love, no! It is time, for me to grow up and begin
finding what I want for once! Not what others expect of me!” she
screamed out loud.
“I am going
off to see how the war really goes. See if we can win or can’t win! Find my own
way through this! Then, if we can win, we win! If not, quit while ahead, game
over, end it my way and in my own time and manner! Find friends! Love! Maybe a
new sister? Crazy, aren’t I? Maybe. But, I do it!” screamed Invidia as she
gleefully smashed another table with a swipe of her sword.
Then,
Invidia found a bag she had been keeping. “Katrina’s uniform and boots,” she
said as she hugged it. The rest of Katrina’s body, save for her head, was gone,
cremated and vaporized already.
Invidia then found some hair dye and
some scissors. “For later, on the carrier Mikronja,”
said Invidia.
Invidia ran
into her bedroom and flipped open a cabinet. She threw some things out at
random until she found shoes she had seldom worn; pink sandals that matched the
bottom of her dress. She put them on and wriggled her toes for a bit.
She then had
another drink. A nice, slow one.
Invidia
sighed contentedly as the wine hit her stomach.
Good, she thought. I need this. I need…to relax…and think, and….
She needed
to be a little tipsy, she knew, if she was ever going to pull this move off.
I have to sound…what..cute? Yes,
cute, to get him to do my bidding? No power. Cute. And smile, Princess! Smile!
Then,
smiling, she sat down on a gold settee that she hadn’t trashed and called a
number on the Eritz Gatlantis.
“Captain Jena?” she purred into the phone. “Your Princess commands you, Val.
Have the technical crews ready the Pellian’s fighter plane and transport it to
the Mikronja. It is not far. No, no
need to report this to Gorse. Or Dyre. They need not even know I am leaving
yet. It is a personal mission. Recon mission. One ship is all we need. Yes.
Now. We leave tonight. And your proposition? The one I refused? It is accepted.
No, I have not lost my mind. Yes, I
think I have found it. Oh. Between you and I…my hair will look lighter. Much lighter. And I have different shoes
on. The ones you liked on the dancing girl last month. The barbarian ones that
show your feet. I will be quaint. Where we are going, we may even find some
holy man to marry us. No, I am not mad. Yes I am. Goodnight, Val. See you
soon…”
Invidia
hung up and giggled for the first time in ages. “I wonder,” she purred. “What
Iscandar is like this time of
year..?”
Then,
smiling, she began to write a note.
Invidia
thought carefully about the words, thinking that this had to be just right to make this work….
III.
MEETING WITH STARSHA
Planet
Iscandar
Part
of the Southern Coast of the Great Continent
Sunday
June 7, 2207: 1520 Hours Earth Space-Time
At last, after a walk a few kilometers northward up the beach, Derek,
Nova, Deke and Sasha finally reached Queen Starsha’s small beach villa near the
sacred beach.
This
is her place? Deke thought as he flexed his toes in the
powdery sand near the crystalline house. He, like all of the others, had
changed into swimwear for the walk up the beach.
Starsha’s beach house was mostly long, low, and shiny, having only
a small crystalline tower at one end with a diamond-like formation at the top.
Alex Wildstar came out to greet them. He looked casual enough; to
Deke’s shock, he was wearing a black surfers’ wetsuit trimmed in red that left
his arms and legs bare. He quickly hugged his sister-in-law Nova in greeting.
She now wore a pink bikini and a necklace made of small shells. Sasha, in her
blue bikini again, got a hug and a decorous kiss from her father.
“How’s my Princess?” he said as he hugged Sasha.
“Woozy,” she said with a wan laugh. “Deke and I did something
stupid. It was my dumb idea and I got a lot of people in trouble for it.”
“Your mother wants to talk to you about that,” said Alex in a low
voice. “But, she wants to meet Deke at last, and she’s actually far more upset
at your sister Astra right now.”
“Why?” said Sasha.
“On a whim, your sister…well, we’ll discuss that inside, Princess.
Hey, stupid,” he said jovially as he
laughed and gave his brother Derek a playful punch in the arm. “What kind of
stupid shirts is Nova buying for you?”
“This is an old rugby shirt from Saint Anselm’s, Alex,” said
Derek. “A little souvenir from the old days there. Some of my clothes from when
I was eighteen still fit me, like these Academy shorts I have on. The only
things I liked about that orphanage after our parents died were some of the
theology classes and being on the rugby team.”
“What about the girls, Derek?” teased Nova as she held his hand
and cuddled up to her husband’s shoulder while rubbing her toes over his in a
very feline, cute gesture.
“No girls there, Nova,” said Derek. “All-boys orphanage.”
“Good. They saved you for Diane and then for me.”
Deke ran his hands through his hair, and suddenly realized he was
going to be meeting Queen Starsha in a grungy t-shirt and flowered surf
baggies. I must look like a dork, he
thought.
“You’re my dork,” purred
Sasha as she kissed him.
“But…?” said Deke.
“You are transmitting,” said Sasha.
Deke nodded and allowed Sasha to lead him into the villa.
Deke
Deke looked
the mysterious lady over, surprised that Sasha did not give him the evil eye
for it. She wore a short wetsuit in blue and white in a style similar to
Alex’s. The wetsuit was slightly open, and the young lady had very long,
slender arms and legs. Her build and the set of her face stunned Deke; whoever
she was, she looked less like Sasha and more like a slightly older version of
Nova. Even the set of the nose and the shape of the eyes was similar. Deke’s
mouth hung open as he noticed Derek, Nova, and Sasha bowing slightly to her as
Alex came up to her and took her hand and kissed it in the manner of a very
loving consort.
Artwork: Conference © 2008 by M.C. Crump (aka
“Max Damage”) Used by permission.
“I…?” said
Deke as he suddenly thought, She can’t
be…I…?
“Welcome to
Planet Iscandar, Deke Wakefield,” said the young lady in a melodic and very
soft soprano voice. “I am Starsha, of the Planet Iscandar.”
Deke’s eyes
went wide as he gulped and hastily bowed. “Your Highness…I…”
Starsha
looked at him and laughed. “This isn’t the Palace, Deke. I don’t stand much on
ceremony here at the villa on our sacred beach. Or do you think I’d go surfing
in my gown and heels?”
“Ma’am…you…surf?” said Deke.
Starsha nodded
charmingly, adding, “Who do you think taught Sasha how? All right, Nova helped.
But I did the worst of it. Iscandar has always been a water planet. And,” said
Starsha as she lowered her eyes, “I have felt your grief and pain from afar for
years, Deke. I owe you an apology. We should have done more for Earth. And
earlier. Please…forgive us. Had Astra and I acted sooner, your parents might
now have been alive to meet with me. The same goes for Derek’s parents. In
fact, when Derek and Nova first came to Iscandar, I apologized to Derek for the
death of his parents thanks to Desslok. I should have stood up to him sooner
than I did. I was remiss in not doing so. Never will I let him intimidate me
thus again. Also, my powers were not then what they are now. Had I had the same
power then as now, I might have been able to punish Desslok. And he knows that
now.”
“I wish
things could have been different,” said Deke.
“So do I,”
replied Queen Starsha as she ran her bare feet through the wall-to-wall carpet
in light blue near her seat for a moment. “But, now, as for you and Sasha. The
two of you, and Nova, as well, are in some trouble with me. I am not upset over
your visits to this sacred beach, but I am upset and concerned that you both
had to resort to the dangerous use of those mushrooms, particularly when Deke
is still recovering from an injury. Nova, you were remiss in allowing yourself
to be distracted and in losing your key, and, Derek, you should have counseled
Nova to be more careful.”
“We’re
sorry,” said Deke as Sasha and Nova bowed their heads in silence and Derek shut
his eyes.
“We shall
discuss your…punishment….later tonight,” said Starsha. “It will not be that
severe. Particularly since I want to bless your union in a few days by holding
a ball for you in
“Mother?” said Sasha. “I…?”
“War will
be coming soon to Iscandar,” said Starsha. “I deplore it; but life goes on. You
two should celebrate your union. As we have some time before Invidia’s deadline
runs out, I decree that you two should come to Mother Town in four days from
now for a reception for your wedding; the wedding that took place on Earth
already. I hope you will accept.”
“Thank you,
ma’am,” said Deke as he stood quietly looking at Starsha.
“Thanks!”
said Sasha.
Starsha
nodded and said, “Commodore Wildstar, please let them be together as soon as
possible…”
“They will
be,” said Derek. “On the Argo. And
within just a short time, Queen Starsha..”
“Would you
like some dinner?” said Alex.
“Yes, we
would,” replied Nova. “We’re all hungry…”
“We’ll put
the household robots to work on it,” said Starsha as a small semi-humanoid
robot that looked like a Gamilon design came in. “Prepare a tasteful dinner for
us,” said Starsha to the small robot as it bowed. “Put your two counterparts to
work on it with you.”
“As you
wish, Your Highness,” said the little robot with another bow. “We shall begin
at once.”
“Maybe we
should have brought IQ-9 to help,” mused Derek.
“I don’t
know if that would be a good idea, Derek,” said Nova.
“Why not?”
“He really likes me in a bikini,” blushed Nova. “Maybe too much. You know the Tinwit…”
“Yeah…”
muttered Derek, remembering times that IQ-9 had followed Nova everywhere when
she had a bikini on. Once, he had tried attacking her bikini bottoms; just for…a
look!
An hour
passed. The whole group was enjoying appetizers around a small table, along
with clear sparkling water when Starsha’s small comm unit went off with a
rather pretty chiming sound.
Queen
Starsha got up, tiptoeing over to the comm unit with a feline grace that now
looked very familiar to Deke, because it was the same sort that Sasha had.
Starsha answered the comm unit, saying, “Royal villa of Taniquitel. Queen
Starsha speaking. Who is this?”
A moment
later, an image came up on the screen, and the military people in the room
(everyone else but Starsha) duly saluted as protocol dictated as Leader Desslok
appeared on the screen. “Good evening, Starsha,” said Desslok. “I see are
holding court.”
“Yes,
Desslok,” said Starsha with a hint of a sigh in her voice. “It has been long
since I last entertained here in my villa on the beach.”
“Yes. And I
was the last one that you entertained,
there, shall we say?” Desslok said with a mocking smile. “I am sorry, Admiral
Wildstar,” said Desslok as he noticed Alex scowling slightly. “It was long ago,
before you ever left Earth. Things were different between us already before you
even reached the Great Magellenic Cloud.”
“They
were,” said Starsha as a troubled smile passed across her face. “And it was not
my fault, Desslok.”
“I was a
different person, then, granted,” said Desslok as Deke began to feel very
uncomfortable overhearing this conversation. He glanced at Sasha, who nodded at
him. Even Derek and Nova were trying hard not to make eye contact with Desslok,
or Starsha. Deke saw Derek’s fingers
clenching slightly on Nova’s bare knee, and saw her nod slightly. Desslok,
oblivious to the vibe in the room, continued as he said, “However, you must
admit that, as wrong as my course was, I was trying to do something to save our
worlds. I was not like you, crying into the ocean and waiting meekly for your
doom by the tectonic forces that were ripping both our worlds apart.”
He has a point, thought Deke. But, still…why go out and act like some Nazi, Desslok? Why kill my
family off?
“You know
what I thought of your solutions,”
sniffed Starsha. “Then, I had different
solutions. Had my solutions not worked, Earth would now be a dead planet, and
your dear friends, Derek and Nova, who have helped redeem your soul, would not
have ever drawn breath again. And now, even though our worlds are on good terms
with each other, and with Earth and our other allies now, I feel obligated to
warn you that you may be walking down a dangerous path again. One cannot rely
too much on military power, Desslok.”
“Why not?”
said Desslok. “All of you, my friends, know that the Comet Empire is not coming
here to request reasonable negotiations. They are coming here to slaughter us.
Not to look for pretty sea shells on your beaches, Starsha.”
“Yes,” said
Starsha. “Unfortunately. That is why I allowed you and Earth to base forces
here. It has been a long time since warriors have walked on Iscandar on a
regular basis, but my consort Alex has forced me to recognize the need. But I
do not have to like it, Desslok.”
“At least I
got you to arouse yourself,” mused Desslok. “And Iscandar is awakening again
from slumber to life, as Gamilon is. Through a strange fate, our nearly dead
worlds live and thrive again.” Desslok cracked his knuckles on his white-gloved
hands and said, “It is my prayer we can win. Then we can maintain the peace we
have through military strength and preparedness.”
Desslok
smiled at Derek Wildstar as he said, “Commodore
Wildstar, you recently told me that a wise man on your Earth once said that
‘the tree of liberty requires frequent watering with the blood of patriots to
grow’. I am glad that your room is filled with patriots.”
“But how
much blood do we need?” mused Derek out loud.
“That
remains to be seen,” replied Desslok.
“I am glad
you are here,” said Starsha as she looked at Deke. “May I take the liberty
of…inviting you to a ball in a few days for one of my children? It is a long
time since you were last on Iscandar. Many months, at least, since our staffs
and you and I last met face to face in our last summit conference. It is for
our charming young couple,” she said as she stood and laid her hands on Deke
and Sasha’s shoulders.
“I wish I
could accept, but I cannot,” sighed Desslok. “I receive new reports on our
status of Fleet preparedness every few hours from the rest of my Empire. I will
send a high-ranking officer with Astrena in my absence. I hope that is
acceptable?”
Sasha
smiled and nodded, and then said, “That’s fine, Desslok.”
“Thank you
for your understanding, Princess,” said Desslok with a smile.
Thank Heavens, thought Deke. I don’t know if I could stand the thought of Leader Desslok at my
wedding reception or not. Weird enough that Gamilons will be there… period. I
hope none of them asks to dance with Sasha. I don’t know how I’d take that.
“I will
send a gift,” said Desslok. “Lieutenant Wakefield, is that acceptable to you?”
“Yes,
Desslok…thank you, sir,” said Deke as he thought, It goes in the attic when we get home; it goes in the attic, it goes in
the attic, it goes in the attic! Unless it is something that might explode.
Desslok
then turned to Nova. “And, dear Nova. I hope you are well?”
“I am,
Desslok,” she said as she held her bare stomach, blushing as she realized that
she was both pregnant and very scantily clad before the Gamilon ruler in her bikini.
“The babies are doing…very well. Thank you very much for helping to save our
lives on Melezart, Desslok. You will always be in my thoughts, even after they
are born.”
“And when
will that be?” said Desslok.
“The month
we call September, I think,” replied Nova. “That is just a few weeks from now.
How is Astrena doing?”
“She is not
here. She is in bed, Nova.”
“Oh, no! Is
she well, Desslok?”
“Yes, but
she gets nauseous frequently now. She is expecting yet again, in her early
months. And she craves odd foods at weird hours of the day. I know you are
aware of how that feels, Nova.”
“Very much so,” said Nova with a small
laugh as she held her stomach. “Please tell her that Derek and I wish her
well.”
“Tell her
all of us wish her well,” said Sasha.
“I shall,”
said Desslok. He shut his eyes and then said, “Admiral Alex Wildstar, may I
reminisce about the past for a moment with Starsha before we disconnect and
arrange our next conference? If it would offend you…”
“No,
Desslok,” said Alex. It may not make me
comfortable, he thought. But, he’s
there on Gamilon and Starsha is here on Iscandar with me. I’d prefer it that
way, I’m sorry, Buddha forgive me…
“The last
time we were together in the villa there,” said Desslok. “Remember that night?”
Desslok said with a slow smile.
Starsha
nodded, blushing slightly as she went back in time…
…and
Desslok shut his eyes and went back in time with her into his memories…
Planet
Iscandar
The
Royal Villa at Taniquitel.
The
Past
Sometime
in the Year 2197….
A soft chime awakened Queen Starsha on Iscandar in
her beach villa as she lay naked on blue cushions in her crystal tower room in
the upper part of the tower beside the main part of this same little villa on
Iscandar.
Beside her lay Leader Desslok of Gamilon. He was
already awake, also still naked, smiling at Starsha as she opened her eyes.
“How long have you been up, Desslok?” said Starsha.
“Quite a while,” he replied. “We are alone here;
you need not be perturbed,” he said as he held her.
“Yes, alone,” she said. “These beaches are now
quiet except for the sea and the birds. I don’t even want to surf anymore. I
spend half the day at the Memorial Hills, Desslok, crying into the grass as
Astra and I bury another one. How many are left on Iscandar now?”
“Maybe a hundred, maybe less,” said Desslok. “And
the Travellers that you had in space have never returned. They must have heard
of the plague,” lied Desslok, not wanting young Queen Starsha to know that his
forces had the Sanzar System under a blockade. How can she know that? Desslok thought. Her powers are weak. She may die soon, for all we know. I am not sure
she is immune. I pray she is. She is more malleable than her sister Astra, who
has always dared to stand up to me. Let her live her last days in ignorance and
peace, if that is it…unless I can make certain she never becomes ill…and take
her away with me. Earth. I can take her there when we conquer it and then use
the Cosmo-DNA on it when the Earthlings are either dead or safely enslaved.
Their foolish resistance has to stop some day. Roaches living underground can
never have their day in the sun again. That’s what they are to me. Roaches.
Pests. Not like us. There can be no woman on Earth who looks remotely like
Starsha.
Desslok smiled, looking Starsha’s body over from
her head down to her small toes as he ran a finger tenderly over one of her
breasts. No Earthling can look like this,
he thought again. You are exquisite and
tall. They are short, squat, and ugly like roaches. If I ever met an Earthling
woman that had your eyes, your face, your body, maybe I’d let them live in
freedom. On some other planet. I am sure Earth is the Ancient Homeworld. If
they live anywhere, it most certainly cannot be there!
“When will the Travellers come back?” sighed Starsha.
“I do not think they will return. How many of the
people left alive on Iscandar are immune to the metabolic virus in all its
manifestations?” asked Desslok. He already knew that answer; his scientists had
given him the last grim report a few days ago. Maybe five, four, maybe just
three. “The initial incubation stage is not so bad. It is the death at seven or
eight years of age that is the disturbing part. Seven years old. And they look
a hundred and fifty. Cosmos help them. And the poisoning of Gamilon’s seas
accelerates. Pure water is getting harder to find. Two worlds, about to become
graves unless we sit up and do something about it.”
Desslok held Starsha as she shivered. “Cold?” he said
as he cuddled her against his chest. “We are trying to rectify things with
honest and fair solutions, Starsha. Do they disturb you?”
“Yes. I feel somewhat apprehensive,” replied
Starsha. “I feel ghosts of a plan in your mind, Desslok. What are they? Your
solutions, as you put it, chill my soul. You hinted at your solutions before.”
“I plan to give you the most beautiful gift in the
Starsha, filled with emotion, held Desslok close as
she said. “I don’t want a world,
Desslok. I have one already.”
“But it is dying. We know that.”
“Just hold me,” sobbed Starsha, knowing that this
might be the last time. “Make love to me again. Then we will talk…”
At that, Desslok smiled and kissed Queen Starsha.
She accepted his searching tongue meekly, quietly, not trying to let him know
that the thrill of their relationship was slowly dying.
However, as Starsha lay back and put up her legs to
accept Desslok’s tenderness, she knew that even a dying fire could still
generate some sparks.
Starsha moaned softly as Desslok’s fire began to
merge with her water; his lava and acid touched her blue sky.
As
long as I live, thought Desslok as he prepared to take her in
willing conquest a few minutes later, Gamilon
lives. And so does Iscandar. I swear it, Starsha.
Later, Desslok and Starsha munched a few dainties
from plates brought up the spiral staircase by some honest-built Gamilon robots
in red and white that Desslok had provided.
“What is this food?” said Starsha as she munched on
something sweet from a small jar with a Gamilon inscription on it. “Royal bee
jelly?”
“One of my favorite foods,” said Desslok as he
licked some from her finger. He put a little on her nipple and licked it off as
she giggled. Then he put more on her navel and Starsha giggled again as he
slurped it up. “They tell me it comes from a minor world we conquered. A little
delicacy. We buy it from the natives in a trade agreement. It is all quite
honest and above-board.”
Starsha sighed. “Your plans? Where do you find
your…brave new world?”
“A small planet in the Great Galaxy,” purred
Desslok. “Our forces are reconnoitering it now. It has a rather small population.
We are taking steps to pacify them so they can live under our wise rule.”
“Pacify them?” said Starsha. “I do not like the
sound of that, Desslok.”
“It is not so bad,” he said. “They’re not that
advanced. They will accept a reduced existence soon. We shall be…merciful,” he
lied. “And the world is very stable
geologicially. We can tap it for energy and it will not bite us in the back…”
“What part of the Great Galaxy is it in?” said
Starsha.
“Near the edge. A very uncivilized little backwater
of a region. The Orion Arm, they call it. I have almost mastered their language
so we can speak to them as masters to servants.”
“Do you mean Earth?” said Starsha.
“How…how did you know that?” said Desslok.
“I am not as weak as you may think, Desslok,” said
Starsha as tears ran down her cheeks. “Nor as ignorant as you think.”
Desslok’s face hardened. “Starsha, it is my great
plan. It is being done very humanely. It is a careful operation. And I thank
you for the Cosmo-DNA plans your mother provided me with ten years ago. We can
go over this carefully, Starsha. We have all day.”
“No, we don’t,” said Starsha.
“Hmm?” said Desslok as he ran a hand over Starsha’s
torso again and kissed her stomach.
Starsha gently took his hand. “I have much to think
about, Desslok,” said Starsha as she shut her eyes. “I am not feeling well. I
think you had better leave…for today,” she said as she gave him a kiss on the
cheek that she already knew would be the last one they would ever share.
“Yes, for today,” said Desslok as he stood and
gathered up his uniform. “I will be in the bath outside if you want to talk
later today. The bath your robots built…for me.”
“I want to sleep,” said Starsha as she tried to
keep the tears hidden in her eyes. “I’ll…let you know when we can have our next
meeting.”
“How soon?” said Desslok.
“Soon,” said Starsha evasively. Desslok stroked her
hair, and her cheek, and then he smiled and left.
As he left, he thought, You’ll see reason, Starsha. Soon. When more Iscandarians are buried, you
will see reason….
Desslok
returned his mind to the present. Maybe
it is better that those plans never materialized, he thought as he looked
with a smile at the beautiful Earth woman who looked like Starsha that he never
thought had existed. The memories…are
hard to bear, though. Maybe it should be so. Maybe it is the penance to the
“Commodore
Wildstar,” said Desslok as he thought out loud while Derek hugged Nova. “I send
you and Nova congratulations…”
“For what?”
said Derek.
“For your
family,” he said. “And on yours, Starsha,” he said with a bow. “The room?” he
said cryptically. “Do you still use it?”
“I…do not,”
said Starsha with a bowed head as she nodded to Alex, who held her tenderly and
openly. “I keep it only for guests. I never go there anymore. I…can’t,
Desslok.”
“A favorite
song which has now grown bitter for you,” said Desslok. “We shall speak soon,
Starsha.”
“Yes,” said
Starsha. “Soon.” She nodded at Desslok and cut off. Then, she turned to Alex
and whispered in his ear, “Thankfully, now over.”
“He makes
me uncomfortable,” whispered Alex.
“Do you think you are the only one, Alex?” Starsha whispered back as she kissed her Consort.
They kissed again, and then Starsha turned to the group
after whispering a few unheard commands to her robots. The only thing Sasha
heard was, “Please get everything ready…”
“Of course,” said a robot as it left.
“I have decreed your punishments,” she said with a small
smile. “You will stay here as guests tonight, but none of you shall sleep in the
main house with us. Sasha, since you and Deke like to…camp outside, and since
the weather will be beautiful, please take Deke outside to the bath. You know
where it is. Spend the night alone there with him. With our full approval, of
course.”
“Sure!” said Sasha with a wide smile as she kissed Deke and
led the surprised pilot off.
“Where are you sending us
to?” asked Nova. “You know, since we were…bad?” she said as she hugged Derek.
“Little brother, Starsha has a beautiful place set up for
you and Nova,” said Alex. “There is a tower here. You know of it….”
“You never let us up there before,” said Derek.
“Please take Nova up there tonight,” said Starsha. “It is
well-equipped, and the view is beautiful. You can watch the sun come up there
in the morning.”
Nova smiled and kissed Derek. “Thank you, Queen Starsha,”
she said.
“No need to mention it,” said Starsha as she smiled and
wiped away a tear. I offered that room to
my daughter Astra and Conor once, Starsha thought. They refused it. You two are very young and very much in love. You
should enjoy it together…because I never will again…
IV.
DEPARTURES…
The
Eritz Gatlantis
Engineering
Level Twenty-Five
Sunday
June 7, 2207: 1723 Hours Earth Space-Time
“She’s what?” said
Commander Kelva, who was Captain Val Jena’s executive officer as commander of
the Cometine Light Spacecraft Carrier Mikronja.
“Making plans for a trip,” said Captain Jena as he chewed a
roll in the canteen deep down in the lower asteroid-like decks of the Eritz Gatlantis below the towers of the
City. This level was actually an Enlisted Mess, but
“Whatever you say, sir,” said the almost bald tall officer
as he followed his long-haired friend back into line in one of the hundreds of
cafeterias scattered through the levels of the ship. The serving line, with
steam tables and food synthesizers manned by slaves from plundered worlds of
House Gatlantis, who worked under guard, never closed. It was mostly full of
the ubiquitous blue-uniformed enlisted men, guards, technicians, troopers of
the Cometines in blue, troopers from the Black Nebulans ranks in black, and
engineers who ran things down here near the shipyards, one of the landing
strips, and Energy Control/Reactor Suite Number 5. The low thrum of one of the
multiple reactors that powered the newer Eritz
Gatlantis always hummed through the decks, the walls, the bulkheads of this
utlitarian level. High Command very seldom bothered to come down here from what
the enlisted and lower-ranking officers of this level contemptuously called “Upstairs”.
The two officers got in line, trying not to meet the sullen
eyes of the slaves who, under guard, worked mechanically doling out various
foods onto metal trays.
One of them was a dark-haired young woman, actually, a
teenager of 18 who worked in her minimal, utterly unfashionable tattered blue
denim shift doling out food to laughing Cometine officers and men like a
machine. They worked her about eighteen hours a day, gave her some time to eat,
and maybe four hours’ a day worth of sleep. Of course, she was never paid for
her labors for the Gatlantean war machine, except for being allowed to go on
living.
We met this young lady long ago in these tales. She
disappeared from the ken of Earth in January of 2202 when the Terran space
cruise liner she had been aboard, the Westhampton
Beach, had been plundered and raided by the Rikashans and R’Khells back in
the days when those two brother races had served in one fanatical purpose together.
Now, of course, Rikasha and R’Khell continued to fight in the horrible civil
war that had torn their space for the past five years after the two races had
split over the issue of whether or not they would worship and serve Lord
Ekogaru the Great.
Her name was Michelle Hartnell-Iiyama. She was usually
either just called “Michelle”, “M’kel”, or just “Number 999652D”. She had been
a slave for the past five years; owned by R’Khell masters, Rikashan masters,
R’Khell masters again and then at least three Cometine masters when she had
ended up in the territorial space of the Comet Empire when R’Khell and House
Gatlantis had made their often contentuous alliance.
Michelle had just turned thirteen when her parents had been
killed and she had been torn from her brother Jonathan and the life she had
known on Earth. Her life had just turned pleasant when she had ended up serving
others as a possession.
Try not to think, she told herself as
she kept on spooning out food. Her blue denim dress was slighty tattered,
stained with food, and stamped on the chest with her Number. Her dress, the
hair net they forced her to wear on the job to keep her longish, beautiful
black hair out of the food, and the molded plastic brown one-piece sandals she
wore to protect her feet somewhat from the hot water that usually covered parts
of the kitchen deck were literally her only clothes and only possessions.
She glanced fearfully at Sergeant Hagja, the boss of this
shift. Screw up here and they beat you,
she thought. Screw up worse, and they
drag you to the enlisted men’s quarters to become a barracks plaything in your
birthday suit, she thought. Really
screw up and they shoot you or behead you like they did last week with poor
Shayna in the dorm. I should be grateful for what I have, I guess. Those girls
from Level Twenty-Six work in the garbage all day long looking for recyclables.
Naked…
Michelle kept on working, tilting her head up a little as en
excited hubbub came through the room as soon as the hatchway whizzed open.
“Who’s that,
Kirel?” she whispered to the captured Gamilon girl who worked beside her. Now,
on her, everything but her red hair
and grungy brown sandals was blue.
“She is important,”
hissed Kirel. “Pretty gown, pretty heels…evil heart.”
“Who?” whispered back Michelle.
Kirel never answered, because a tray was slammed down hard
onto the track as the lone woman came down the line all by herself, with
everyone else in line in the Gatlantean and Black Nebulan ranks stopping in
their tracks, frozen in a fearful, subservient salute.
Michelle was shocked when she spoke in heavily accented
Terran standard, “You,” she said to
Kirel as she pointed. “Give me a full helping of plenik, and now, curse
you!”
“Yes, Princess Invidia,” said Kirel in tones that she hoped
were properly subservient as she prepared to serve out a green bean from a
conquered world that was a bit like a Terran French Cut Green Bean.
Invidia nodded and snarled and then, she turned to Michelle
and looked in her eyes. Michelle hoped the look that she was giving back was
properly humble as she stood with her spoon in her dessert sauce, made of a
crushed berry mixture taken from Telezart in the days when the Comet Empire had
imprisoned Trelaina there. They cloned and grew the food later in Invidia’s
ranks. The grapes-that-looked-like-cherries were sweet and pungent and made a
nice sauce; it was called kren, and
it was pretty good.
They never let Michelle eat any. She had snuck some once,
and had been beaten for three days straight as a result. Slaves didn’t get
dessert or anything sweet.
“How is the kren
tonight?” snapped Invidia.
“Not bad, ma’am. I…”
“NO conversations,” yelled Sgt Hagjia as he got up off his
seat, threw off his blue mess sergeant’s cap, and prepared to strike Michelle
with a swagger stick he carried around all the time.
Instead, he felt Invidia’s pointer jabbing into his arm from
across the steam tables.
“You do not hit
this one for talking!” snapped Invidia. “I am speaking to her. You hit her, you
hit me, too. Then I order you shot!
Are we clear, Sergeant?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said as he dropped his stick and bowed.
“I don’t believe it,” said one officer elsewhere in line in
a very low
“The bitch is getting egalatarian,” said another one in a
whisper.
“Probably because we are losing,” said his friend.
Invidia, luckily for them, didn’t hear them as she waited
for Michelle to spoon out the kren.
“Where you come from?” asked Invidia.
“Earth,” said Michelle in a monotone. She had vaguely heard
of the evil Princess in her travels on Earth and through the different empires
she had been in. Now, she was a meter away from her, the highest-ranking person
she had ever actually met in her life. She would have cried if she had known
how close she had come to meeting Nova Wildstar and being rescued and taken
home back in 2202 on the Westhampton
Beach. Rikashan resistance then against Nova and her band of Space Marines
and medics had kept them from meeting. Now, she was meeting someone else, and
was very scared.
“Interesting,” said Invidia. “We are at war. Are you a
civilian? What is your name?”
“Ma’am,” she said roboticially. “My number is…”
“I asked you your name,”
said Invidia in tones that sounded very harsh to Michelle, but Invidia was
actually trying to be kind. She could
see that she looked young. No need to
scare this one overly much. Maybe I can make some use of her, thought
Invidia. I need to know what makes
Earthlings tick by more from text files in my computers and old videos. I need
to talk to one.
“Ma’am, my name is Michelle Hartnell-Iiyama,” replied
Michelle. “I hope…you like the fruit. It is very good.”
“How do you know that?” snapped Invidia.
“I…” said Michelle as she realized, No! She must be able to figure out I steal and eat them! She’s a witch!
I’m dead…I…
“Sergeant, who maintains the mess register?” snapped
Invidia.
“Leftenant Bargi, ma’am, I…she is…”
“Have her remove this one from register,” snapped Invidia.
“Put another one in her place on this line. Have two guards search her and then
bring her out to me. I am requistioning her. What is her value?”
“Maybe a hundred,” said the Sergeant. “But, ma’am, you can
just requisition her like a blanket!”
Invidia reached into a wristband she wore up beneath the
long sleeve of her gown. “Nonsense! I am not poor! Money is nothing to me but
everything to people of your low rank working down here! Therefore, I’m giving
the slave price to you as paper money. Five hundred. Keep the change. IT IS
NOTHING TO ME! I just purchased her for myself. Bring her around!”
Invidia clapped and then went to her table with her food.
A moment later, Invidia sat down with
“I just bought myself a new kili’ansja,” said Invidia as she ate the syntheisized clone meat
first. “No, not a lesbian house girl; she’s too young,” Invidia added as
“Then why did you buy one?” said Kelva. “Vivisection
experiment, ma’am? Like I hear you used to do with live baby animals when you
were eleven?”
“Dissecting a girl in our cabin can get messy,” said
“No,” said Invidia. “She is an Earthling. I need a proper
assistant; maid, administratix, valet, cook when I need food in the middle of
the night and she is on duty, source of information about Earth, Imperial
food-taster to see if anyone tries to poison me, maybe surrogate child.”
“She’s lovely,” said Invidia. “If we win this war and we
rule them, I need to know how to talk with them. We are not going to put all of
them to work in the quarries and brothels we found on Earth. Some of them are
too bright for that; I am starting to see that. Why are they beating us? What
is the power they have? Where do they get that courage from? I need to know
that. She is my test subject.”
“Don’t kill her too quickly, ma’am?” said
“Dyre, I do not know why, gets the carrot of running things
while I am gone, until my return from Iscandar…if I return here, per my note,” said Invidia. “We go there to spy
things out. Special Security has orders to deal with Gorse and Turpitz tonight
when they sleep. They should be dead by morning and Dyre awakens to find my
threatening note and promotion to two more posts…until I bring Skaldart here,
that is. Special Security is getting me names of officers who want me to
abdicate.”
“And?” said Kelva.
“Then, SS and Skaldart and his Special Forces will wipe them
out,” purred Invidia. “I think if we kill about three or four thousand officers
of command grade that they should get the message. Here, I am GOD and GODDESS,”
said Invidia. “The others…serve…at my whim. Are we clear?”
By Arishna, she is sounding just like her father Zordar
now, thought
A moment later, two guards brought up
Michelle with a cold hand on each bare arm. Michelle was crying slightly;
partially because of the body search she had been forced to endure in a corner
of the kitchen, and partly because the green guards were half-dragging her. She
still had on the same dirty shift she wore, and her brown open clog-like shoes,
but she carried her hair net in her hands now. Another guard saluted Invidia
and said, “Ma’am, here is the slave Michelle. Now, she is all yours!”
She was half-thrown into a chair across
from Invidia. “We just found evidence, by the way, that she steals food. Plan
to execute her for insubordination and larceny?”
“No,” said Invidia. “Private, get her a
decent meal. Include dessert because she is now my own slave. If I like a pet, I feed it well. From now on, if she
serves me well, she gets all the dessert she wants.”
Then, Invidia smiled at her. Michelle
tentatively smiled back. Then, she said, “Ma’am, may I ask you a question?”
Invidia nodded. “Speak freely.”
“Why are you after Earth?” she said
meekly. “I’m sorry, but…well, ma’am…we….we didn’t do anything to you six years
ago.”
“You are young, so I forgive the indiscredtion,” said Invidia. “In one
year, after Gamilon had devastated Earth with planet bombs, you made it
beautiful and growing again. We would love to know how you did that, and even
though you are a race that is rather less…advanced…than we are, we would love
to have Earthlings like you working on our side.”
“You made us…surrender,” said Michelle
in an uneasy voice.
“Yes. And I know slavery can be harsh.
Some people have to work hard for their betters,” said Invidia. “We rank the
races we conquer and use. You are almost as advanced as the Gamilons. Almost. More advanced than Melezart was.
We had to crush them because they defied us. Harsh, cold, but to run the
Universe efficiently and in a tidy fashion, some must be at the bottom while
others serve at the top.”
Invidia put her arms on the table and
smiled at Michelle. “You are like what you Earthlings call cream in a milk bottle
from farm. You have risen to the top. You will be at my side from now on. Do
not squander this opportunity and force me to kill you. Are we clear?”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Michelle.
“And no more ma’am for now,” snapped Invidia. “You sound too whiny and servile.
Call me by my name. Invidia. Nice to have you aboard…Michelle…”
“Thank you, Invidia,” said Michelle.
Invidia smiled and then gestured as
Michelle began to eat.
Later, Michelle was allowed to raid a walk-in
closet by Invidia in her suite. This surprised her somewhat. I can’t find that much that looks like
something from Earth, she thought. These
things look too elegant. Does she only have gowns and jumpsuits?
Michelle opened a drawer in the walk-in
closet and pulled out clothes that looked normal at; regular undergarments (bra
and panties), a blue skirt that came to just above her knees, a blouse in light
cream, a tie, and dark brown flat sandals.
After Michelle showered and dried her
hair, she tried on the normal-looking clothes; all of them fit!
She came out brushing her hair as
Invidia sat drinking some wine. “Ever had this?” she asked. “Cute outfit..”
“Where did you find these clothes?”
“In the drawer. Where did they come
from?”
“A prisoner brought here long ago. The
poor dear was dead when the guards threw her up here; I couldn’t do much,” said
Invidia. “I took her things off her and hid them. I made the guards think I did
vile things to her.”
“Why?” said Michelle.
Invidia sipped at her wine and said, “I
have a reputation to defend. People are afraid of me. That is the only way I
can get things done; get people to fear me, and…”
“Can I drink this?” asked Michelle
shyly as she sniffed the wine.
“I gave you leave to do so,” said Invidia. “I…”
Michelle began to drink the wine.
“Invidia, when do we have to leave?”
“Soon, why?” said Invidia, who was
unaware of the light slowly forming around her.
“Either this wine is really strong…”
“Or, vat, Michelle?” snapped Invidia.
“Or…you’re glowing,” said Michelle.
“Glowing?” said Invidia. She looked at
herself and noticed with some rage and anger that she was…
…glowing….
A minute later, the whole room
vanished…turning into a void filled with blazing golden light.
“Invidia?” yelled Michelle. “Invidia?”
The Princess had just vanished.
“INVIDIA!” cried Michelle. “Great,
great, great, great, they’ll think I killed her or something, they’ll think….”
“Where did you go?” yelled Michelle. “Come back! This was just getting good!”
Invidia was in a room
or space with filled with golden light that gradually turned white.
“Where am I?” she yelled into the void.
“Who did this to me? Is it YOU,
Lordship? You, Ekogaru?”
no, I am not he, said a quiet female
voice that came from everywhere and nowhere all at once. We have met before, Invidia.
“Who are you?” said Invidia as she
looked around. She was floating in the middle of a strange, featureless,
limitless place filled with Light. Floating on something that held her up like
a feather in the wind.
We have met recently,
as well, said the young woman’s voice. Melezart. Remember?
“No…you cannot be her!” said
Invidia. She was truly terrified now. “Dead! YOU ARE DEAD! I deny you! Begone!”
If I am dead, said the voice. I feel awfully well. I have transcended
Death and Life. Where I have been, I have seen that I must offer you yet
another chance to live.
“Why come now?” said Invidia, wanting
to keep on denying the truth that was shining in her face as the beautiful
phantom confronted her.
Invidia shook, trembled, and wanted to
cry, scream, hide, do something, as
the terrible gleaming form smiled at her and reached out a hand.
“I killed you,” she said. “Father
killed you. Your planet died.”
Yet, I sent your
Father onwards to either learn or wither, said the phantom. It is now your time…
“Why?” screamed Invidia.
You called to me by your actions. Your soul is now on the
edge of a knife, Invidia Savela of House Gatlantis, said the gentle
but strong voice. Your withered
conscience is beginning to awaken. Slowly. It will be a long road for you,
Princess. You must walk many steps. You must embrace new things. You must deny
the old.
“I cannot give up what I am!” screamed
Invidia.
You do not know that
you are beginning to do so again. There is already a change in you, Invidia.
But you will be a difficult student.
“WHO ARE YOU?” she screamed at the
gleaming, strangely unclothed phantom.
You know it already.
Say my name…
“NO!”
Say my name and
recognize me, Invidia, said the
beautiful apparition as Invidia squinted her tear-filled eyes at the terrible
being.
“Trelaina. All right?” barked Invidia.
“Trelaina. You…live…”
“I am alive, and yet not alive,” said
the beautiful creature as her left hand began to burn with a blazing light.
“Life, death, they should not concern me. It is never cold here. Nor hot. Yet,
I see my Mark. My dear Mark.”
“I understand he married another woman,
stupid Earthling,” snorted Invidia.
“Nothing lasts forever,” said Trelaina.
“Someday, we shall be together always.”
“You seem to be incurable romantic,”
said Invidia. “Okay. Why you drag me here? I have places to go soon.”
“Sadly,” said Trelaina. “But, I am here
to help you. Did it ever occur to you that you would be easily recognized?”
“I planned to dye my hair and wear
someone else’s clothes…”
“But you still look like you,” said
Trelaina. “You look somewhat like the late Katrina, but not totally. Let me
give you the power to resemble her.”
“What?” said Invidia as Trelaina came
towards her. “If you’re doing something to me…well, wouldn’t Nova have more fun
being able to play these sort of games…?”
“She does not need to disguise
herself,” said Trelaina as she floated towards a truly scared Invidia and
gently embraced her. “We shall meet again someday.”
“Where?” gasped Invidia.
“In the place where there is no
darkness,” said Trelaina. “I have foreseen it.”
Invidia thought she would be filled
with living flame. Instead, a gentle glow like a summer sunset crept through
her body from the arms down, and up to her head from her shoulders.
Then, all went dark.
Invidia suddenly reappeared a moment
later to a shocked Michelle. Invidia was on the floor face-down, crying.
Weeping.
“Invidia?” said Michelle. “Invidia?”
“Don’t look at me!” she screamed. “My face feels different! I must look horrible-it must be Trelaina’s
punishment—I feel different, I…”
“Invidia, ma’am, I’m getting a
glimpse.”
“What? You see my gruesome new
appearance? TRELAINA HAS DEFORMED ME FOR LIFE!”
“C’mon, pull away
those hands,” said Michelle, in something like a state of shock.
Invidia allowed her slave to pull away
her hands (she had never allowed that before) and she felt like screaming as
Michelle gasped.
“I look horrible!” screamed Invidia. She looked in a mirror and screamed.
“Damnit, now I look sixteen years old! How can I run Empire looking like zis? Dark hair with purple highlights?
Bigger eyes? Rounder face? They will laugh
at me!”
“Ma’am, you were pretty before,” said
Michelle.
“Yes?”
“Now, you look positively cute!” giggled Michelle.
“Cute?” said Invidia. “cute?”
“Ma’am, you sort of look like this
ancient model from Earth…saw old pictures of her. You look younger, ma’am!”
Then, it hit Michelle. “Invidia! No
one on Iscandar is going to recognize you now, especially with different
clothes on! You look enough like you that your closest friends would recognize
you, but not Earth people?”
Invidia put her hand in her hair. “What
happened to my widows’ peak?” she muttered. She slowly undid the pin of her
rank that was in her hair and flipped it around. Then, she looked at the ID of
Katrina Savela.
Face looks more like
that now, but the face in the picture not quite right, but… Invidia thought.
Then, she held the ID card of Katrina and thought, Wish it looked like me…
Invidia shut her eyes, and felt
something flowing from her towards the ID card. Then, she opened her hand and
gasped.
THE ID CARD NOW
LOOKED LIKE HER!
“Neat trick,” gasped Michelle. “Can you
make my hair blond?”
“I think we need to get out of here,”
said a very disoriented Invidia. “Katrina’s clothes are packed in there. Carry
the bag.”
“Of course,” said Michelle.
Invidia took a big shot of wine, threw
the glass against the wall with a laugh, and ran out as fast as her legs could
carry her.
V.
AND ARRIVALS…
Planet
Iscandar
Over
New
Wednesday
June 10, 2207: 1100 Hours Earth Space-Time
“Trojans, break it open a bit!” said Deke
Wakefield over Iscandar from the cockpit of the repaired Diamond Girl. He and his plane were repaired, and Sasha and he now
resided together, at long last as a
married couple with a home of their own, even though “home” was now a somewhat
cramped stateroom aboard the Argo.
“I’m going ahead a bit, Bangs.”
“Roger that,” said “Bangs” Capistrano
from her plane as as smiled at Brew’s plane from far away. He smiled back.
“Don’t get lost, sir. We just got you back.”
“I’m just going down a few angels,”
said Deke as he began to drop altitude by a few thousand meters.
“Is it quiet?” he asked as he looked
back at the second place.
“Roger,” smiled the young lady in the
second place of the plane. “Five by five, all quiet.”
“Good,” said Deke. Sasha was now his regular
RSO in the second place of his Tiger as they flew their routine patrol over
Iscandar.
“I wonder where the enemy’s been the past few days, Sasha?” said
Deke with a somewhat puzzled and perplexed look on his face under his helmet
faceplate above his Star Force Flight Group uniform. “Everyone has told me that
no one has seen a single enemy recon ship around since late Saturday night!”
“Hey, Deke!” laughed Brew over the
radio above them. “We’re getting low on fuel! Should we head back to the Argo?”
“Might be a good idea,” he said. “Argo, this is Trojan Leader Wakefield!
Getting ready to bring in the Trojans…”
“Negative,” said Homer from the ship.
“Gamilon Comm-Scan picked up the ghost of a Cometine light carrier out at the
edge of the system. We’re past Gamilon already; going to check it out!”
“How far out?” said
There was silence, then Homer came back
on. “We’re about to warp on Wildstar’s orders. The Captain says that if you are
low on fuel, you’re clear to land at
“Over,” said Deke. “Bangs, Brew, bring
them in. The Argo’s heading far out
and we don’t have the gas to catch up with her now. We’ll refuel and catch them
on the way back.”
“Roger,” said Brew and Bangs.
“I wonder, Sasha, where the enemy is?”
said Deke. “One spacecraft carrier?”
“Maybe they’re
sleeping? Or regrouping, Deekee?”
said Sasha with a cute smile from her place in the cockpit with her beaming
face over her blue uniform.
“Sleeping?”
said Deke. He now had the plane down low enough where they could make out
trees. “Just one thousand, now…begin landing preps…this is weird…”
“Seriously, Mother has picked up only
confusion in their ranks in the past few days,” said Sasha. “She has a general
idea where that horrible-looking city-ship is, and she told me yesterday that
everyone aboard is both scared and real uncertain. And, it seems no one knows
where Invidia went,” said Sasha as they came in for a landing. Upon landing,
they opened the cockpit. The hot, humid summery air felt nice.
“An evil Space Princess playing
hookey?” said Deke with a shrug. “I don’t think so. Maybe someone got her in
the middle of the night with some kind of weapon? A knife. A blaster.
Drumsticks.”
“Drumsticks?” said Sasha.
“Hey, if you can be silly, I can be
silly, too,” said
Something beeped on Sasha’s scope
before she shut down. “Radar contact…nine kilometers up”
Sirens began to sound on the base as
Deke taxied to a stop. “Oh, damnit, we spoke too soon,” said Deke.
Artwork:
Cosmo Tiger © 2008 by M.C. Crump (aka
“Max Damage”) Used by permission.
“IFF says it’s friendly,” said Sasha as
she pulled up info like crazy. “It’s Pellian! A single ship; one of those cool
new Starbats from off their space battleships, Deke! They say they even have a
few experimental models that can do space warps by themselves,” she whispered.
“Impressive, if it’s true,” said Deke
as they looked back. A plane was coming in up above, them, fast. But,
Sasha nodded. “Definitely,” she said.
“I’m getting funny feelings about the pilot.” Sasha shut her eyes as she looked
up. “She’s a girl. She’s really upset or troubled over something, whoever she is. Want to watch it land?”
“Guess so,” shrugged Deke. “We can see
it land right before Bangs and Brew and the others show up…” Deke got out as
enlisted men ran up. “Guys! Get some heavy water into my fighter ASAP! The
reactor was about to go into reserve mode when I got her down. I don’t want
this plane messed up again!”
“Yessir!”
said the enlisted men with salutes as Sasha followed Deke out. They pulled off their
helmets and kissed. “Debriefing time,” he muttered as the Marine in their aft
ball turret followed them. “Sasha, you know where we go…”
“Right,” said Sasha.
THREE
HOURS LATER…
NEW
“We never thought we’d see you again, Lieutenant,” said an
older Pellian officer…known as Commander Jan Ranklin, as he gave “Katrina
Savela” a big hug as he read the notes from her debriefing beforehand, as well
as preliminary notes from her intake physical.
“They kept me prisoner for a long time
in the Comet Empire,” said Katrina, or, rather, the woman masquerading as her.
Invidia carried Katrina’s helmet, and
she wore her black and silver jumpsuit and blaster, and a small flight bag. Her
ID card was on the table that she sat at with Michelle Hartnell-Iiyama. They
had looked at the ID card and given it back after scanning it. They hadn’t
bothered to open her flight bag yet. The Pellians considered it a 90% certainty
that “Katrina” was who she claimed to be. Luckily for her.
“So, you were the last survivor of the
space battleship Kasonder?” said
Ranklin. “We lost contact with her about a month ago.”
Katrina nodded sadly as she held
Michelle’s hand. Michelle had kept mostly silent, but, part of her was sorely
tempted to spill the beans right here; about Invidia, that is. They already
knew who Michelle was, and her story about being a slave in the Comet Empire
rang true. She just didn’t give away the part that stated that Invidia still
owned her.
“You’ve been talking with this Earth
girl, I take it,” said Ranklin.
“Yes, I have been,” said Katrina.
“Much.”
“Let’s see that footwear again,” said a
young Pellian female officer at the table known as Veli Shanktra. “Sandals?
Where’s your flight boots, ma’am?”
They took them,” said “Katrina.”
Invidia was too embarrassed to admit she had been so taken with Captain Jena on
her that she had forgotten quite a few things; like her boots, and her bra.
However, it hit her that looking “bedraggled” actually helped her story. And, it
fit in with her motive for being here on Iscandar-in the Allied Camp, in
disguise. She thought, I can see it
already. Dyre and Gorse might be right. They might be far better organized than
we thought. If we are beaten, maybe I should return, abdicate, and depart. Or
defect right here and demand asylum? Or run like rat? Or maybe just hide out
someplace like famous Earthling Eichmann?
Even these Pellians seem to be building up a very well-organized force.
Well, at least disguised as one of them, I can spy the place out. See what is
happening. That is my plan. I have the comm-unit in bag to call
Invidia was jolted back to reality when
she said, “And the blood and DNA should check out. I am Pellian. Pellians are
similar to the Terran humans.”
“That we are,” said Veli. Another
officer, a nurse in white, brought in a slide attached to a report. “We had
fragmentary personnel records on you, Miss Savela, since your detailed medical
and personnel records went up with the Kasonder,
I am sorry to say, but this proves to us you are one of us. The mitochrondial
DNA from your mother matches one of our own Houses, so you are a noble. We just
have to trace our records. It will take a while, Lieutenant. Unless you would
submit to examination by Lady Aliscea or Queen Astrena?”
“Queen
Astrena?” said Katrina in shock.
“Just took the title, with Desslok’s
advice, even though she is also the Empress of Gamilon-Garuman,” said Ranklin.
“It just happened last week. You would not know that.”
Good, I didn’t slip, thought Invidia.
Ranklin and Shanktra huddled for a
moment. “Lieutenant Savela, we’re not assigning you anywhere for about ten days,” said Ranklin. “Your plane needs
repair, and you need R & R, as is your perogative, after what you have been
through as an escaped prisoner. We don’t know if we’re assigning you here or
back aboard another space battleship yet. For now, you are assigned quarters at
the Nerva Block.”
“Yessir,” said Katrina. “And where will
Michelle go?”
They huddled again. “We will check with
the Terrans to see who her surviving family is, if she has one. Until then, she
can stay with you. You are now dismissed.”
Katrina saluted and headed off. “Thank
you, sir.”
Katrina had been given a few credits of
“back pay” in Pellian funds by Commander Ranklin; maybe fourteen hundred
credits for the “month” she had ostensibly missed. While watching a few other
Pellians, she had picked up how they saluted each other; hand to the chest in a
manner similar to that used in the Comet Empire. She used the simple expedient
of saluting an officer with more rank pips on their collar than her single
silver one (one worn on each side of her collar).
“So where are we going?” whispered Michelle.
“Finding out where our quarters are.
Then, we will rent a transport bike and ride around a bit. I’m curious.”
“Why?” said Michelle. She made sure no
one was around, and she whispered “Why are we here again?”
“I…want to see how things are like on
this side. Personally,” whispered Invidia. “No more depending upon what others
tell me. I do not trust them. I see for myself.”
A bright idea hit Michelle like a ton
of bricks. Maybe, if I can convince her
it is hopeless…play along, I can get her to give up. Stop this war. Stop this nonsense.
She seems somewhere between reasonable and utterly crazy. Sane one minute,
then, she was dancing around with her stick hitting things on the carrier
another minute. I studied things like this in grammar school…before I got
captured. Multiple personalities? Maybe Invidia is a multiple personality.
Maybe I can convince her to turn herself in to a doctor. If she doesn’t kill
me, first. I wonder how my brother Jonathan is doing? If he is even still
alive, that is. Maybe I’m the only person who survived from that ship. What am
I, then? A refugee with nothing but the clothes on my back? This is depressing…
Michelle stopped and began to cry. She
expected Invidia to slap her. She had hit Michelle like that before in her mood
swings.
“What is wrong?” Invidia snapped.
“I…I miss my Mom,” sniffed Michelle.
“Believe it or not, so do I,” said
Invidia in an even voice.
Michelle lookied at her with wide eyes.
“Long story,” said Invidia. “Keep on
walking…”
VI.
OLD FRIENDS, OLD ENEMIES
Planet
Iscandar
New
Wednesday
June 10, 2207: 2035 Hours Earth Space-Time
Dusk was coming in, but the breeze off
the ocean was still warm as a group of five old friends walked down a street from
a parked, requisitioned EDF aircar towards the Cocoanut Grove bar, which had
survived the recent attacks on Iscandar unscathed.
Four of the friends were couples who
had known each other for years; namely, Commodore Derek Wildstar, who wore his
red and white Star Force uniform but had left his peacoat back on the ship.
There was also Lieutenant Commander Nova Wildstar in her maternity Star Force
uniform with her skirt and sandals, Captain Mark Venture of the Arizona, who had also left behind his peacoat
and wore his Star Force Navigation Group uniform, Lieutenant Commander Holly
Venture, in her regular Navigation Group uniform, and Commander Stephen Sandor,
who travelled alone because Diane Henson was the OOD tonight on the Argo, again at anchor at her dock at the
north end of the island.
“Hey! You’re stealing my Astro
Munchies,” said Derek as he laughed while Nova dug her hand into his potato
chip bag again.
“They’re pure junk, Derek. You
shouldn’t eat them like that!” Nova responded.
“You can’t eat just one!” laughed
Derek.
“Would you two grow up?” laughed Mark
Venture.
“Why? You haven’t grown up yet?” said
Holly.
“Mrs. Venture, I resemble that remark!” laughed Mark.
“So when are you two having kids?” said
Nova.
“After the war is over,” said Mark.
“Maybe,” said Holly.
Sandor had been quiet, until he said,
“Nothing happened to us in combat today. That carrier ran like heck when they
spotted us. Venture, did any recon flights come in from the enemy?”
“The usual Washing Machine Charlie Scorpion
boats showed up around 1210 today,” said Venture. “The Trojans and a Gamilon
squadron got the jump on them and got one and made the other one run around
1223. I was about to scramble some of the Sun Tigers when the all-clear came.”
“They recovered it right when the
carrier ran,” said Nova. “Derek, Mark, doesn’t the enemy seem really disorganized lately?”
“I ran into a Gamilon earlier,” said
Holly. “He told me that they have had a marked decrease of electronic chatter
from the enemy, too. Wonder what that means?”
“Well, we’re ready for ‘em,” said Derek
as he grabbed some more Astro Munchies before Nova could slap his hand. “The
spacecraft carrier Shiryu arrived
today. She’s loaded with Space Marines. They were delayed by Beemira thanks to a
run-in with the R’Khells, or so I heard.”
“Hear about the plane?” said Sandor.
“What
plane, Steve?” said Venture as he grabbed some Astro Munchies from Derek and
Nova’s bag.
“The Pellian super bird,” said Sandor.
“They say it’s an experimental flying-wing space boat that can do space warps
on its own power. Its pilot got captured by the Cometines and taken right to
Invidia herself, but then the pilot escaped from the City-Ship, I heard, and
got clean away with the boat with warp after warp. Or so I heard. I was more
interested in checking out the boat than the pilot. The Pellians told me she
was getting debriefed. Sorry, but that wasn’t that important. I was all over
that plane for half an hour with some Pellian engineers. Trying to find out
what makes it tick.”
“She?” said Nova. “Typical of you men. I would have wanted to talk with
the pilot; see what makes her tick!
If she escaped from prison, that sounds like a romantic old war movie! I wonder
how old she was?”
“Who knows that, Nova?” said Mark.
They walked into the Cocoanut Grove,
and got greeted by a man who said, “Hey, guys! I got a bootleg message capsule
of Arrivederci Star Force! Still in
the tri-d theaters back home on Earth!”
“Thanks, but I’ll wait for the legit
version,” said Derek.
“I heard it was a very touching movie,
Derek,” said Nova. “The premiere was right when we landed here on Iscandar. I
did get to hear that pretty song from the end of it.”
“I got to pick up the novelization,”
said Mark as they found a big round table not far from the billiards table. “It
was sad. Weird version of the Comet Empire story,” said Mark. He pointed at
Derek, and said, “You died in it, Derek, at the end. So did Nova, so did
Steve.”
“Did you live?” said Nova. “That does sound very sad.”
“I lived after I said goodbye to
Derek,” said Mark. “Admiral Gideon somehow became the skipper of the Argo. He died, too. So did Desslok,
after he helped us.”
“Sounds like a real cheerful movie,”
said Derek sarcastically.
“We have to see it, Derek!” cried Nova.
“It sounds so sad. I’ll cry on your shoulder all through it, I bet. The actress
playing me kinda looks like me.”
“Did I die?” said Holly.
“You weren’t even in it,” said Mark.
Holly slapped Mark right as the waitress
robot came up. “What do you people want?” the robot said.
Derek thought a minute. “Do you have
Teichmann’s on tap here?”
“Yes,” said the robot. “Lite, Gold, and
Special.”
“I don’t want sake tonight,” said Derek
as Mark looked over. “Teichmann’s Special for myself and Mark. Nova?”
“A Virgin Mary or a Bloody Shame,
whatever you call it here,” said Nova.
The robot blinked her eyes. “Pardon me,
ma’am?”
“Bloody Mary, hold the vodka,” said
Nova.
“Bloody Mary, the usual, with
Smirnoff’s,” said Sandor.
“Mud Slide for me,” said Holly.
“Add a bowl of cheesy bacon chips,”
said Nova. “Large. I’m treating.”
“Thank you,” said the robot as the five
friends looked around them at the vacant spaces at their table; there were four
more vacant spots.
“Wonder if the Tigers are showing up
tonight?” said Derek.
“Not the guys on alert,” said Nova.
The music system began to play some
kind of twisted pop-metal song as Derek looked up and saw a girl coming in the
front door.
The sunset dazzled his
eyes, but Derek noticed that the mysterious young woman looked fairly short,
maybe 5’ 4” or 5’ 5”. She wore what Derek recognized was a Pellian uniform,
although he noticed her pink heels and wondered if they were regulation.
The nose looked slightly sharp, and the
eyes had a hard look in them. Nova flipped around when she saw him staring, and
she whispered, “Look at that nose, Derek!” she whispered. “I swear, she could
be…naah…the face is a little too round, and her hair’s all over the place with
bangs.”
“Who?” said Derek.
“Nothing, I had a crazy idea,” said
Nova. “She’d be really insulted if
she overheard me,” said Nova as the young lady’s companion, a girl just a
little taller in very Terran-looking civilian dress, followed her in.
The waitress robot brought their drinks
and chips, and Mark said to Derek. “Hey, Derek! I need to challenge you to a
game of pool!”
“You’re on!” laughed Derek as he kissed
Nova and said, “Feel like playing the winner?”
“I guess I could if my back doesn’t
start twinging again,” said Nova as she gave Derek’s hand a squeeze. “Watch out
for mysterious dark-haired ladies in alien Allied uniforms,” she teased.
“Her?”
said Derek just as “Katrina’s” ears perked up at that voice.
Nova gave him a playful kick under the
table in the affirmative.
“Jealous,” teased Derek.
Nova stuck her tongue out at him and
flipped her chair around.
Then, a moment later, Nova looked at
the woman. “Excuse me?” said Nova. “Can I buy you a drink?”
Invidia turned, trying to keep from
glaring at the woman who had just spoken with her.
You’re dead! Invidia thought in
great shock. By Arishna! I remember
throwing a poison dagger at you! I killed you on Melezart! But, you turn up
again, smiling! How do they do that? How did they save you?
Nova’s eyebrows went up as she said,
“Miss, are you all right? Or is that Lieutenant?”
“Katrina” shook her head as Michelle
looked on in surprise. “I am sorry, ma’am,” said Katrina in a strange accent.
“I have had a very hard day.”
“Buy you a drink?” said Sandor
pleasantly. “Are you the one who…?”
“I’d rather be by myself with my friend
right now,” snapped “Katrina.” “Thank you, but I don’t feel like talking
tonight to many people.”
“I’m so sorry,” said Nova. “We’ll
respect your privacy, Lieutenant.”
“Katrina” nodded and said, “Michelle,
let’s go sit down over there. Want a soda?”
“Sure, thanks,” said Michelle.
A moment later, Nova’s eyes rolled up
as Bryan Hartcliffe came in with his wife Angie in tow. For once, they were on
good terms, holding hands as they noticed their comrades from the Argo.
“Hey, Sandor! Hey, luv!” laughed Hartcliffe as he and Angie came up. The pilot and his
recently pregnant wife in her white Flight Support uniform sat down together as
“Most of the band isn’t here,” said
Nova. “I don’t think it’s pickup night,
Eager and Homer came in a moment later
and plopped down beside the Hartcliffes.
“Who’s on the bridge?” said Sandor.
“The flunkies,” said Eager. “Hey, who’s
the weird Pellian chick over there with the beer?”
“Don’t bother her, Chris,” said Nova as
a loud snap and click came from the pool table. A moment later, a nine-ball
landed on their table. “Derek!” she yelled. “Quit playing games!”
“Hey, I messed up,” said Commodore
Wildstar as he ran over to retreive the pool ball. “Hey, Eager; hey Homer!”
“Am I chopped liver, sir?” said Bryan
Hartcliffe.
“No, kippered beef,” snapped Holly.
“Nova, he’s as bad as ever.”
“He’s mellowing,” said Angie. “Some
days.”
“Hey! This is my impression of Invidia
when we catch ‘er!” said Hartcliffe. He stood up, made a ‘bang’ noise, and
collapsed into his chair as Angie laughed while
“Decapitate her,” said Homer as he
slammed down his beer. “She deserves it!”
“Torture the bitch to death with a dull
knife!” yelled an EDF fighter pilot from another squadron who clapped
Hartcliffe on the back.
“Perform medical experiments on her,”
snapped Holly. “She made us suffer, make her
suffer!”
“Tear her to bits,” said Angie with an
evil smile.
“Burn her alive like she killed my wife
and kids in
“Capital punishment!” yelled some
Gamilon in brown battle armor who came up and laid his hands on Angie’s
shoulders.
“Life imprisonment without trial!”
yelled some other Gamilon, an officer in green and black. “Commander Sandor!
What does this Pellian girl think? The little minxette, she is awfully quiet
and she doesn’t look well” he said as
he pointed right at Invidia and she jumped while one of the officer’s
compatriots laughed and pulled his combat dagger out of its place on the
breastplate of his chest armor.
Invidia tensed and turned white with
her hands gripping the table, while thinking, They found out! Damn you, Trelaina! What a miserable trick! expecting
the bald Gamilon to run over and put the knife in her back any minute. Instead,
he just laughed, licked his knife lasciviously while Nova gave him a very
ditrty look, and then he nodded mockingly to Nova and put away his dagger.
“She’s not feeling well,” said Angie.
“Leave her alone. Eager? What do we do to Invidia?” she said with a smile.
“Put her in a rodeo ring naked with a
steer,” said Eager as, not far away, unknown to any of them, the subject of their
conversation sat there un-noticed trying to keep from screaming.
“Wait!” cried Nova. “She should get a
trial, first! Right?”
Some people booed Nova when they heard
her suggestion.
“Why?” said Homer. “She’s as bad as
Hitler. Maybe worse.”
“But they gave the Nazis trials when
they caught them,” insisted Nova. “Even Eichmann, who had the blood of
thousands on his rotten conscience!”
“When ya get a varmint, ya kill it,”
said Eager.
“But if we did that, we’d be as bad as they are!” cried Nova as she got up and
pointed at Eager. “I don’t know if any woman could really be that heartless.
Maybe they’re making her do those
things? Sounds crazy, but I’m all confused…part of being pregnant, you can all laugh at me…” said Nova as she tried to
keep from crying.
“She tried to kill ya!” said Eager as
Derek came over and put his hands on her shoulders.
“Nova has something Invidia doesn’t
have,” said Derek.
“What?” said Homer.
“A heart.”
Not far away, Katrina squeezed
Michelle’s hand hard as she put her face on the table and began to cry
This is my trial, thought Invidia. No. This is worse than trial! You try to run
things efficiently, and what do they do? You try to get proper revenge and
punish and what do they do? They hate you! I hate them! What became of me? I
was not like that when I was very small. What happened?
And, as the people in the bar partied
and laughed and more people began yelling out what they wanted to do to
Invidia, “Katrina” shut her eyes and took off, holding Michelle by the hand as
they ran out.
“Katrina” ran and ran until she and
Michelle found some grassy hills far from the city. Hills where there were
quite a number of stones that resembled cats to Michelle.
There, Invidia looked up at Gamilon, screamed,
and abruptly threw herself onto the grassy ground, crying with utter rage as
she pounded her fists into the ground.
“Invidia?” whispered Michelle.
Invidia hissed at Michelle and slapped
her hard across the face, screaming, “DO NOT CALL ME BY THAT NAME ON THIS
WORLD! YOU KNOW NOT WHO MIGHT BE LISTENING!”
“Yes, Katrina,” sobbed Michelle as she
tried to comfort her by putting her arms around her, only to be roughly pushed
away.
“I do not want to live,” hissed
Katrina. “Kill me, Michelle. Take my life!”
“What?”
whispered Michelle.
Katrina cried and screamed, and then
she lashed out at Michelle again, slapping her across the face three times as
she said, “My life, it is OVER! Kill me!”
“I’m not going to be a party to suicide
or murder!” said Michelle. “Not now that I just came to know you!”
“What?” said Katrina.
“I care for you,” said Michelle.
“Why?” snapped Katrina.
“You rescued me. You’ve treated me
decently for the first time in years. You care for me. You…”
“I,” said Invidia. “I am a monster who
has made common cause all too many times with something from the Seven Hells.
My father. My own ambitions. Ekogaru. I wanted to win, I wanted to rule, but
now I find us in a position where I must kill or be killed. Utterly. Until you
tease the animal and it bites you back, you never know what it is like. They
hate me and maybe the hate is right and justified! But part of me wants to lash
out. Part of me wants to give up. And if I give up, I must die. By my own hand, thank you! They will never take me alive or
execute me, and when it comes down to it, I fear dying in battle. I fear the
Dark. I fear seeing that blackness and those clouds and that stuff like fire
again upon the Other Side! I want to take my life by my own hand! Or the hand of someone I trust. I want to commit what you
call seppuku and I want you as my
second,” she snapped. “Find me a good weapon. Then, I die. Maybe offering
myself to the goddess Arishna in sacrifice and blood will redeem my soul. I
want to be my own Saviour. My own sacrifice. Then I want to hang somewhere
until my own bowels gush out and the carrion birds eat away my face and leave a
skull and filthy skin-rags! Thirty pieces of silver indeed!”
“No, you do not!” said Michelle. She’s gone mad, she thought. She has finally gone utterly mad!
“Yes, I do!” screamed Invidia as she put her face in the grass and began to
laugh as if she was going completey mad.
Michelle then hugged her and said,
“Katrina, there must be some way for you to get out of this without suicide.
Maybe…if you went to see Queen Starsha…”
“What?” said Katrina.
“Starsha is supposed to be very
peaceful,” said Michelle. “Maybe if you two could speak…you could arrange
something and end this terrible war…”
“I considered that,” said Katrina. “But,
they would jail me.”
“Wouldn’t it be worth it to stop
millions of people from dying?” said Michelle.
“Perhaps,” said Katrina as she sat up
and sat there with her head in her hands…
Later, back on the Argo, Nova and Dawn
found they had been summoned to Nova’s inquiry, which was to be held in Doctor
Sane’s office that evening.
Sane,
all business, sat behind a desk with the
“Yessir,”
Nova said with her head bowed. Nova described what had happened in Sickbay that
day, including Dawn’s behavior, that had caused Nova to get wet, and to have to
change. Nova then took full blame for what had happened. She ended by saying,
“Doctor Sane, she should be allowed to leave this room with no sanctions at
all,” as Dawn’s eyes widened with surprise.
She’d go to
bat for me?
Dawn thought with tears in her eyes.
“Not
permitted,” said Doctor Sane. “But thank you, Nova. We still need to hear from
her.”
“Yessir,”
said Dawn as she recited what had happened herself. She took blame for not
reminding Nova her key had been in her wet pocket. She said, “If I had done
that to back up my superior officer, sir, none of this would have happened.”
Tasha
Cleveland wrote that down and whispered something in Sane’s ear. Sane nodded,
writing on a pad. Then he said, “As Commanding Officer of this Sickbay, I have
made my decision. I have decided that there was no intentional malfeasance
committed on the parts of either Mrs. Wildstar or Mrs. Hardy. Only
heat-of-the-moment carelessness. Mrs. Wildstar will be permitted to retain all
of her duties as Head Nurse except that she must surrender to my possession
said cabinet key for thirty days.”
“Yessir,”
said Nova.
“As
that was done two days ago by you on a voluntary basis, you will only be
prohibited unfettered access to the cabinet for twenty-eight days, at which
time the notation of this event comes out of your jacket. A letter describing
the circumstances and disposition of this event is also being sent to the
Admissions and Scholarship Committee of Central Federal Medical School in the
Tokyo Megalopolis. Extenuating circumstances are being included in the letter,
and I am also appealing for the Lieutenant Commander’s retention as a medical
student. The letter is being addressed to Doctor Kitara, head of the Admissions
and Scholarship Committee. Beyond that, this matter is now closed for the
Lieutenant Commander.”
“Yessir,”
said Nova, as she wondered if she would still be in
“Hardy,
Dawn,” said Doctor Sane. “You will likewise serve the same probationary period
as Lieutenant Commander Wildstar. I have asked you to turn over your cabinet
key, which you have done. Your cabinet access is suspended for thirty days.
Letter remains in your jacket for thirty days. This matter is closed for you,
Ensign. These proceedings are terminated.”
“Yessir,”
said Nova and Dawn together.
“Off
the record,” said Sane. “If the Wakefields had not been found intoxicated, this
would have been handled entirely informally. Meaning I’d bitch you two out and
say don’t let it happen again. However, regs caused me to have to be a bit
harsh on you two. It could have been a lot worse. Nova, between you and me,
don’t worry about Kitara. I e-mailed him informally today, and he already
responded.”
“Sir?”
said Nova with tears in her eyes.
“You
won’t have your admission to
“Yessir,”
sighed Nova. “Thanks, Doctor Sane…”
“You’re
my best nurse. The best I’ve ever worked with in thirty years,” said Sane.
“Just be sure you keep it that way. And, Hardy, keep your nose clean, too. Now,
get out of here! You two have work to do.”
Nova
and Dawn saluted and left.
VII.
REACTIONS TO INVIDIA AND A BALL…
The
Eritz Gatlantis
At
the Edge of the Great Magellenic Cloud
Thursday
June 11, 2207: 0930 Hours Earth Space-Time
0930
Hours…
“Gorse, this is insanity,” whispered General
Dyre as he and Gorse met in secret in a corridor of the
“In her note, she ran off to Iscandar,”
said Gorse as he looked over the message padd Invidia had left behind. “She
took a Captain, a single carrier, and one slave with her. And she is walking
around in some disguise right in the enemy camp? Is she looking to pull off
some weird peace?”
“If so, maybe that solves our
problems,” snorted Dyre.
“Or, is she looking to defect? To kill
herself? To surrender? We cannot trust her now, Dyre!” snapped Gorse. “Zordar’s
rule! She has been exposed to the enemy now and its mindset. I do not think it
would be wise to allow her to retrurn
to us! Ever! It is not like the conference was, when we still worked from our
traditions and were the conquers. Now, she knows how they might think. This can
be danegrous. And what if she signs some protocol and surrenders us and this
ship?”
“If she is surrendering us, we had
better be prepared to run back to Andromeda,” said Dyre. “I will not allow this
facility to be captured. But, her and her SS…”
Gorse bowed his head. “General Lavnar,
dead. General Degar, dead. General Turpitz, dead and decapitated,” muttered Gorse. “Numbers Five, Four, and Three of the
General Staff…killed on Invidia’s orders. And Invidia went so mad that she
destroyed her own suite? This is very dangerous for us. Invidia is now acting
worse than Zordar ever acted on his bad days. I am Number Two on the General
Staff, Dyre. You are Number One below the Princess herself. We are obviously
next if she goes mad again. She has become an utter madwoman now. Unless she
forces it by returning with major forces, we cannot let her back aboard this
city alive. As far as I am concerned, she has effectively abdicated by running
off and going…crazy…”
“How do we get out of this territorial
space?” said Dyre. “You know that we are only a few steps away from elements of
the Gamilon Fleet now. If they find us, they attack themselves with one of
those proton missiles, or…send Radnar after us. I do not know what is worse.”
“I think we should stop it now,” said
Gorse. “Leave Invidia stranded wherever she is on her crazy mission, and just
begin warping out of here. We contact Skaldart and have him guard our rear and perhaps
we can go to the Black Fox Nebula and secure it. This war is over. Unless
Skaldart has a new trick up his ugly red-robed cyborg sleeve, that is.”
“Maybe we should contact Desslok first
and request a cease-fire, maybe…so we can escape…” said Dyre. “It galls me to
consider that, but…”
“But what if the SS gets wind of this?
Invidia has left orders with them, I am sure,” said Gorse. “How long do we
live?”
“The thought of running myself…” said
Dyre. “Has occurred to me.” Dyre stood in thought. “Let us see if we can secure
ourselves against the SS. Then, we will see about sending Desslok a message.”
“So, here it ends?” said Gorse.
Dyre nodded. “Shake my hand, Gorse. We
end this war of Invidia’s today. The only question is..how…”
The two generals shook hands. They had
made their bargain.
1800
Hours…
In the meantime, in
“How does my skin look?” she said as
she came up from the hot water.
“Beautiful,” said Queen Starsha as she
shook water out of her own hair and embraced her daughter.
Not far away, Nova Wildstar smiled,
came up out of the water, and produced a towel for Sasha, wrapping her niece’s
wet body up in the towel as she began to rub down her back and dry her hair.
The ball celebrating Deke and Sasha’s
marriage was just getting started, and Starsha and Nova herself were acting as
Sasha’s bridesmaids and servants to help prepare her for her appearance before
Deke and everyone else to celebrate their marriage.
While Nova got Sasha
ready, Starsha put a towel modestly over herself and she lay back and enjoyed
the hot water for a few more minutes while her daughter giggled and began splashing
water on Nova. Starsha smiled, watching her sister-in-law and daughter
screaming and playing at the far end of the bath.
Nova giggled back, “Would you stop that?” and then she splashed water
at Sasha.
You two get along
great together, thought Starsha serenely as Sasha and Nova degenerated for
a moment into a playful water fight that looked cute but ridiculous.
“Wet all over again, aren’t you?” said
Starsha softly.
“She started it!”
giggled Sasha.
“No, you did!” chuckled Nova. “Queen
Starsha, she is such a handful!”
“I know that,” said Starsha. “She was
kicking me very hard in the stomach when I was carrying her.”
“Just like these two,” giggled Nova as
she bent over and felt a good kick in her naked tummy. “Well, let’s get you dry
and ready, okay, Sasha?”
“Okay,” Sasha replied.
It took a few minutes, but Sasha
blushed as her mother and aunt got her ready. Soon, she was dressed in a clingy
light white gown similar to the sort she had worn at her actual wedding
ceremony with Deke, with no shoes. Nova put on a light purple gown and sandals
that made her somewhat resemble both her late Aunt Astra and Sasha’s older
sister. Starsha herself dressed in her usual blue gown and white silken
slippers.
A few minutes later, Sasha, feeling
more like a Princess than ever that night, was escorted up into the Palace
ballroom by Nova and her mother, who publicly led her to Deke and caused her to
hold hands with him before everyone.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the
Sasha blushed and curled her toes on
Deke’s boot as he held her close and gave her a kiss while the others
applauded. “I’m a little scared of being pregnant,” she whispered as she looked
over at her Aunt Nova who was nearby.
“It’s not that bad,” said Deke, trying
to reassure her.
“I’d prefer not to have
children…until…after this war is over,” said Sasha. “When we do, Deke, they’ll
belong to both Iscandar, and Earth.”
Deke kissed her as Starsha continued.
“Now, we shall make merry tonight,”
said queen Starsha. “My hope, my belief, is that our worlds will soon make it
through this crisis victorious, and that we shall enjoy many, many years of
quiet and peace.”
The group applauded again as everyone
cleared out for Deke and Sasha to share a dance.
The musical tune “Iscandar” began to
play in the ballroom as the two of them twirled and danced all alone, sharing
their joy together for many, many minutes in each other’s arms. It was a happy
time, a blessed time, a magical moment.
When they were done dancing, everyone
applauded as Starsha and Alex and Derek and Nova were the first to get up to
dance together with the newlyweds.
As they danced, Deke and Sasha held
each other again, with Deke smiling at and Sasha waving at her mother, father,
and aunt and uncle as they danced in happiness, just the six of them.
As the second song nearly ended, Deke
looked over at Bangs dancing with Brew as another song began and Dawn and Jeff
joined them on the dance floor with the other couples. A third song began as
Deke looked over at Sasha and whispered, “Sasha…look at Bangs. She’s with…Brew?
I…I never saw this coming.”
“I did,” said Sasha sweetly.
“You did?”
“For days,” said Sasha as Deke couldn’t
believe his eyes while Bangs, very pretty in a yellow Iscandarian-style gown
and sandals, danced with Brew, who grinned slightly in his Black Tiger uniform
and peacoat as he danced with one hand protectively on Gabrielle “Bangs”
Capistrano’s bottom. Deke, as if noticing for the first time, noticed that
Bangs had a particularly nice…bottom. Only Sasha’s, Starsha’s and Nova’s
posteriors matched the shapeliness of hers.
“Why didn’t ya say anything?” asked
Deke.
“I’m too interested in you,” said
Sasha. “That was a sweet night we had last night in our room for the first
time. Our first home together…the Argo.”
“I barely slept,” said Deke with a
wink.
“Same here,” said Sasha.
They finished dancing, and, a little later
on, they found that they were expected to stand at the front of a line and
greet the guests together. Most of the greetings were very pleasant; with the
guests there to wish them good luck. Deke got a handshake and a hearty hug from
his father-in-law, and a chaste kiss from his mother-in-law, which made him
blush a little. Sasha also received hugs and kisses from her parents. Commodore
Wildstar was next, greeting Deke with a big bear hug and a husky whisper of,
“Hey,
“Thank you, sir,” said Deke as Derek
then hugged and gently kissed his niece. There was no jealousy, though, because
Nova gave Deke a hug and a kiss at the same time. She smiled at Deke and said,
“You’re…my nephew, but I feel like you’re almost a little brother to me, Deke.
I’m so happy to see you and Sasha together at last. You’ve waited for so long.
I knew it’d happen!”
“Can you see the future, Auntie?” said
Sasha.
“No, just good old intuition,” said
Nova with a laugh as she hugged Sasha. “Keep him out of trouble, you hear me?
And keep yourself out of trouble. I
don’t know what we’d do if anything ever happened to you.”
“Auntie, don’t talk like that!” said
Sasha.
“It’s wartime. All sorts
of…things…could happen,” said Nova as Derek put an arm around her waist. She
put Deke’s and Sasha’s hands together and said, “You two…keep a watch out for
each other. And don’t do anything stupid!
Got that?”
Deke and Sasha nodded.
To Deke’s surprise, Steve Sandor and
Diane Henson were next, giving good wishes. Steve talked to Sasha for a long
time; it appeared to Deke that there was a lot of history between the two of
them that he never knew about; it seemed that Sandor had been a mentor to Sasha
in one way or another over many years. “I looked out for you when your Dad
couldn’t be there for you, or your Uncle. I swore an oath to all of them
nothing would ever happen to you. It’s your job to protect her now,
“I think I know that, sir,” said
“Good luck…”
They stood greeting lots of people they
didn’t know for maybe forty-five minutes, but got back on familiar turf when
Mark and Holly Venture, Dr. Bradford, Dr. Sane, Eager, Homer, Yamazaki, Domon,
and Cory Conroy offered their good wishes. Then, there were many others,
officers and dignitaries from Pellias, other EDF ships, and the Iscandarian
forces and others on Iscandar who were ministers who advised Queen Starsha. A
few Gamilons greeted them, starting with General Talan, who was almost curt
with them as he saluted, shook their hands, and wished them good luck before
leaving in a hurry with his staff after apologizing and stating that Leader
Desslok could not be there tonight but sent his good wishes and good luck.
Next, Aliscea Rosstowski and Paul Rosstowski gave their good wishes, followed
by a Gamilon officer named Fraken who was very formal with Sasha. It was just
when he was leaving that Deke realized that the tall, charming Gamilon was the
one who had once briefly dated Sasha. Deke growled to himself and felt very
envious.
However, Sasha had her chance to turn
green when the Hardys showed up. Jeff was very courtly and polite with both of
them, extending lots of good wishes. Dawn spoke quickly with Sasha, wishing her
good luck, and then she held hands with Deke and said, “So this is life on the
other side of the fence, Deke. Honors? Medals? Royal balls. Long way from the
Rancho Carne Mustangs and the drum corps and A.P.E., huh?”
“Yeah, it’s a long way,” sighed Deke,
not comfortable with this reminder.
“What’s A-P-E?” said Sasha. “Is it a
club where you dressed up like simians?” she said in an innocent voice.
Dawn laughed. “Sasha, A-P-E stands for American
Percussion Enterprises. It was what we called the drum line in high school
marching band. Do you know what a marching band is?”
“I am familiar with the concept,” said
Sasha. “Deke has taught me something of it when he bangs and bangs and bangs with
his drumsticks.”
“I bet he does,” laughed Dawn as a tear
came to her eyes. “Wait? Don’t you play an instrument?”
“Yes. Saxophone,” said Sasha. “I am
pretty good at it. I think I shall demonstrate later with the band,” she said.
“Nova wanted Deke and I up with her and Rosstowski and Hartcliffe to play at
least one song together…”
“That’d be fun!” laughed Dawn. Let’s see if she really can play, she
thought.
“Ready to tune up, yet, luv?” asked
Bryan Hartcliffe as he came up with Angie.
“We’ll be ready soon,” said Deke
stiffly. “We just have a few more people to meet and greet, then we can get
something to drink.”
“Drink. I like that part,” said
“Not too much!” said Angie.
“I’m fine,” said
Finally, two Gamilons came up at the
end of the line. A third man, an EDF Space Marine, stood with them, just a
little behind them. They whispered and muttered to each other and then the
Gamilons came up together.
Sasha’s eyes narrowed as soon as she
recognized them. “Deke, let’s go away.”
“Sasha?”
“Those men are not permitted on Iscandar. I’m telling Mother!” she snapped.
Sasha was about to turn away on the
balls of her feet when she and Deke found themselves hemmed in against the
table.
One of them was a large Gamilon in
brown battle armor with an ugly face.
“I am Haratz,” said the Gamilon as he
mockingly extended a hand towards Deke. “We have met before, you and I, Earthling,” he hissed in a vile-sounding
voice. Deke could smell the stink of some heavy alcohol on his breath. “I see
you keep interesting company, Earther! A pilot and a Princess. How amusing.”
“I don’t find you amusing at all,” said
Deke.
“Too bad,” said the other Gamilon, as
he smiled. “The Baron Harmen Rizak Von Delvitz,
“I
remember it,” said Deke. “I also remember I kicked your rotten blue butt back to Gamilon. It really belongs there,
jackass. Especially tonight.”
“Awwwww,”
said another voice behind them as Deke bared his teeth at the sound of it. Stovall, he thought to himself. You shit! “Is the mighty Baron upsetting
poor little shitty diarrhea plebe
“Listen,
you rotten, lousy miserable…” began Deke as he turned towards Stovall. Instead,
Delvitz put an unwanted hand on him and stopped him.
Deke then
noticed that Von Delvitz was standing between him and Sasha.
“You have
no right to be within twelve megameters of that woman,” hissed Deke. “Get away
from my wife, my Princess. NOW.”
“Ahh,
yes,” said Von Delvitz. “How amusing, Haratz! A mongrel Princess, and a stupid
Earthling barbarian. Do you know that you married a slut,
“I never
wanted to be near you!” hissed Sasha.
Von
Delvitz spun around and put his gloved hands on Sasha’s lightly clad shoulders
as he grinned evilly. “You screamed when I gave it to you, Sasha,” he said with
drink coming off his breath so much that his very breath repelled Sasha. “You.
The Princess. And the surfer. A slutty Princess, and a surf bum,” he said as he
began to put his arms around Sasha. “What a slut you are, Sasha of Iscandar!”
Sasha
showed her spunk by wheeling around and grabbing a drink and throwing it in the
Baron’s face. “BASTARD!” she cried. “As a Royal Princess, I command you to
leave this Palace and to leave Iscandar at once! And to never return again! My consort and I hope you die in the next
battle you get into! No great loss!”
For a fleeting moment, she wanted to put out her hands and lash out with her
mind; just to see what would happen to this piece of crap.
“She has
spunk,” laughed Haratz as the party stopped and everyone looked at the scene as
an uneasy murmur filled the ballroom.
“Is she a
better lay than Dawn was?” mocked
Stovall in an unnaturally deep voice as he grinned at
Deke
wasn’t sure which one he hated worse; Stovall or the Baron. He was about to
start a fight by kicking at Haratz when the ugly Gamilon gorilla stepped aside
just as Von Delvitz came up and removed his glove.
“This
makes it easy, asshole,” snapped Deke. “Sasha, take my coat. I’m going for him first…calling you a…”
Deke was
then blindsided as a heavy Gamilon gauntlet caught him in the side of the head.
Deke
looked over and saw Von Delvitz snarling at him. “No mere Earthman calls a
Gamilon Baron an asshole in public! I call you out,
“Damn
straight I do,” snapped Deke as Sasha tried to pull him away.
“Name
your weapon,” snapped Von Delvitz.
“Rapier
and
“Oh, I
know,” said Von Delvitz. “How do you think I got this scar. So you will take
your death like a man. Good. Wonderful.”
Von
Delvitz stepped back and spat a big wad of phlegm right onto Sasha’s bare toes.
“I hope you like it in my bed, Iscandarian whore! Because that is where you
will end up tomorrow night! As my property!”
Before
anyone could react, Von Delvitz, Haratz, and Stovall all left together,
laughing acid laughs as they stomped out of the hall together.
“You…rotten
piece of,” hissed Deke as he went for his sidearm.
“Deke!”
said Sasha as she cried. “Not here! Mother wants no blood shed on Iscandar!”
“I wish
she’d throw that scum in jail,” said Deke.
“He’s already
left,” said Nova as she came up with fire in her eyes. “I’m so sorry. Deke, you
don’t have to go through with this. Ignore him! He’s just…”
“I’m not
ignoring him, Nova,” said Deke.
“Don’t
leave me a widow, Deeekeee!” sobbed Sasha.
“No, I
won’t leave you a widow,” said Deke as he kissed Sasha. “Because he’s the one who’s gonna die. Now sit
down over there while I brush your hair and wipe your feet clean. We’re going
to have a last dance, then leave. I have some sword practice to do. Brew?” he
yelled.
“I heard,
Sticks,” said Brew. “Saber Practice?”
Deke
nodded while he comforted Sasha and wiped Delvitz’s spit off her feet.
“You’ll
need me, too,” said Aliscea as she came up.
“You?”
said Sasha.
“I know
how those Gamilons fight,” snapped Aliscea. “I am good with a sword. I will
show him their filthy, dirty duelling tactics. I want him to live…just as much
as you do.”
“Thanks,”
said Sasha as she put her face in her hands and began to sob.
An hour
later, on Gamilon, Talan stood at attention before Leader Desslok in his huge
office.
“Why did you let it happen, Talan?”
“Leader
Desslok, you said that you needed me here as quickly as possible and that the
staff meeting was of greater precedence than the ball…you said…”
“I do not
care what I said!” barked Desslok.
“Your job down there was to watch our men or to appoint someone trustworthy
like Keeling or Fraken to do so! Why
was that Baron not arrested at once by our forces when he insulted Sasha and
our Earthling friend?”
“It
happened so quickly, sire,” said Talan. “I…”
“I know. I questioned Henglin and Egantz
about it. They were the next highest-ranking men there after Fraken,” snapped
Desslok. “Those men are now dead,” he said as he slammed his blaster on the
table. “Fraken had the good excuse verified by Iscandarian security cameras
that he was indisposed in the men’s lounge,” snapped Desslok. “Otherwise, he
would be dead too.”
“So let
us find Von Delvitz and execute him, too. And that Haratz. An easy operation,
sire…”
“No,
honor has to be defended,” hissed Desslok. “Not their honor. The Earthling’s
honor. And Iscandar’s honor.”
“Sir?”
“He is
our champion, like it or not. Maybe I should be his second,” mused Desslok.
Talan
shook his head. “This message came in from the Lady Aliscea…your step-daughter.
He has already named two seconds. A Lieutenant Jere Marrable, another pilot of
his. And Nova.”
“Hmm?”
said Desslok. “She should not be witnessing duels in her condition.”
“I am
told she insisted upon coming with
Marrable and Princess Sasha,” said Talan. “Sir, will you still be there?”
Desslok
nodded. “Yes. But in disguise. It may be better that way. I will be there. At
dawn. We know the place.”
Talan
nodded. “Yes, Leader Desslok. The Ancient
“The
“Sir?”
said Talan.
“Wakefield,
of course. I have no love for Von Delvitz.”
“Yessir,”
said Talan.
VIII.
FROM HEAVEN TO HELL…
Space
Battleship Argo Medical Shuttle
#21107
Approaching
Planet Gamilon
Friday
June 12, 2207: 0430 Hours Earth Space-Time
“Gamilon,” muttered Deke Wakefield as he
helped Brew fly Medical Shuttle #21107 to Gamilon. “What a forbidding place.
Even after it got remade.”
“I see a
few oceans on it, but they look dark and depressing against all that damn
green,” said Brew as they approached the mostly-darkened planet. Gamilstadt and
its environs were currently on its nightside, but they could see Desslok’s
A curt
voice came over the speakers. “Earth Shuttle. Identify yourself!”
Brew took
over. “Gamilon Imperial Approach Control, this is EDF Shuttle #21107 from
SBB-01. Heading for Spacecraft Field X-223 as arranged. Over.”
“Over.
Your approach is acknowledged, shuttle. Do not deviate from your course. A car
is waiting for your party. Acknowledge.”
“Roger,”
said Deke into his lip mike. Both he and Brew wore full flight gear and their
black and gold Flight Group uniforms with flight jackets.
“Welcome
to Gamilon, Lieutenant Wakefield,” said the cold voice. “We only wish you were coming
here under better circumstances. We wish you luck today.”
“Over,”
said Deke in a flat voice as he played with a combat knife. The weapons for the
duel were waiting below on Gamilon. Deke shut off the radio and yawned
slightly. “Think we practiced enough, Brew?”
“I think
so,” said Brew. “I tried to give you the best workout I could on that beach by
starlight.”
“Aliscea
did an even better job,” said Deke. He shook his head at the memory of the
vicious rehearsal sword-fight with boken
turned kickfest that Aliscea had subjected him to as preparation for this
fight. “Aliscea turned on me like a wildcat. I think I’ve got bruises on top of
bruises from where she kicked me.”
“Hard to
believe a thin little girl in a black mini and sandals can beat you up like
that,” said Brew.
Sasha
came forward a moment later, followed by Nova. They were the only other
passengers in the shuttle. Sasha wore her regular Midshipman blues again, while
Nova wore a male-patterened Living Group uniform in gold and black with flight
boots to accommodate her ankles. Deke looked back at them in concern. “You two
get any sleep?”
“No,”
said Sasha as she hugged Deke from behind.
Nova also
came up and patted his hand. “Deke, Queen Starsha said you could still pull out
if you wanted. You have Iscandarian rank. You can claim diplomatic…”
“Hell
no,” said Deke. “I’m sorry, Nova, but I don’t know if you heard all the things
he called Sasha…”
“I heard
enough,” she sighed. Then, Nova got a thermos. “Have some more, please.”
“Your
coffee?” teased Brew. “Tryin’ to kill him before the duel?”
“I think
I could use this,” said Deke as he drank some of the coffee. “Thanks, Nova. You
don’t have to come, you know. You can stay in the shuttle and catch some
shut-eye.”
“I’ve
been up all night; what does it matter?” sighed Nova. “You should have heard
Derek ranking out Desslok on the phone before. For not being there to stop Von
Delvitz.”
“Glad
someone cares,” said Deke. “What did His Blueness say?”
“Not much,
Derek said,” said Nova as Sasha quietly hugged him from behind. “He knows he
was wrong.”
“Yeah.
Like he knew he was wrong when he
bombed Earth and killed my family,” snapped Deke. “I see that no one has seen
Stovall since the ball?”
Sasha
shook her head. “There’s something very evil about that man, Deke.”
“No
shit,” muttered Deke.
“Some
aura around him like Death,” said Sasha with a shiver. “If I didn’t know
better, I’d suspect…”
Some
thought came to Nova. “What Melvin said on Balan? That can’t be it, can it?”
“Can’t be
what?” said Sasha.
A moment
later, the radio blared again. “This is the Argo,”
said Homer. “Are you there yet?”
“Yeah,
I’m almost there. Landing in four minutes,” said
“Commodore
Wildstar just wanted to say that all the guys wish you luck,
“Thanks,”
said Deke.
“Even
Dawn tried to talk you out of this,” said Nova. “Are you sure…?”
“I’m
sure,” said Deke. “I’m sorry, both of you,” said Deke.
“Then
I’ll stand by your side with Toad,” said Nova with a ghost of a smile. “Long
way from
“Yeah, a
damn long way,” replied Brew.
“If you
don’t win…” said Sasha with tears in her eyes.
“Sasha, don’t
talk like that,” said Deke.
“If you
don’t wiin,” said Sasha as tears ran down her cheeks. “I’ll call him out
myself. So I can avenge you,” she
said.
“Sasha,
don’t…”
“Only I
can’t guarantee I’d use a sword,” she said as she began to cry.
Deke got up
and held Sasha as they landed, ignoring all precautions, because he just needed
to comfort his mate.
The
Ancient Palisades were a green stone field of battle on the outskirts of
Gamilstadt built as a court on some bleak-looking volcanic ground. Desslok’s
city loomed in the background, with a series of cliffs in the foreground. The
cliffs rose up as the foothills of a distant mountain range that was topped
with a now-quiescent active volcano that seemed to be smoking just a little in
the distance. A few assorted ruined mushroom-towered buildings stood nearby.
In the
Gamilon staff-limo they rode in, Deke and his mate and friends spoke silently
behind the partition that separated them from the driver.
“Nice
place,” muttered Brew.
“There’s
nicer places on Gamilon, but this isn’t one of them,” said Nova. “Much of this
planet, granted, I find cold and depressing. Like
“Gamilon.
The place you don’t wanna visit; and I sure wouldn’t wanna live here,” said
Deke.
Sasha
remained silent, filled with unshed tears and rage. Soon, the dark-green
Gamilon staff-limo pulled up in the dim pre-dawn light, disgorging Deke, Brew,
Nova, and Sasha.
Many
other Gamilons, and some Terrans and Pellians, stood there as another car
disgorged Von Delvitz, Haratz, and some Gamilon that Deke didn’t recognize.
Talan stood
there, along with two other figures; a staff officer in grey who held a large
dark-green metallic case, and a silent, very tall and forboding figure in a
black full-length cloak and hood. He did not speak, and no one could see his
face.
“We’ll be
right behind you, Deke,” said Brew. Deke nodded, kissed Sasha, and accepted a
squeeze from Nova’s hand. The two figures in black and one figure in yellow
strode forward to confront Von Delvitz in green and black and his two seconds
in their brown battle armor.
Talan
stood between them with the staff officer and the silent figure in black. Von
Delvitz looked at the figure and jumped a little; Deke didn’t know why. The
silent figure acknowledged his presence with a nod of his hidden head.
Talan
then spoke. “Under the ancient rules and observances, Baron Harmen Rizak Von Delvitz of Gamilon, seconded by Captain
Haratz and Commander Daga, has called out Lieutenant Deke Wakefield of Terra, seconded by Lieutenant Jere Marrable and
Lieutenant Commander Nova Wildstar, to a duel to the death because he feels
Wakefield has violated his personal honor.
“I do,”
said Deke.
“Your
chosen weapons are duelling rapiers and parrying daggers. Leftenant Pala, the
weapons, please.”
The staff
officer opened the box. It was lined with dark green fitted velvet like an
instrument case, and the matching silvery weapons glittered in the lights from
the city. They were beautiful. Talan handed the weapons silently to Haratz with
no comment, while the silent black-clad figure handed the other set to Brew and
Nova.
Who is this creep? Deke
thought as he beheld the silent figure. Talan turned away, saying nothing
further to
A silent
Brew and Nova handed the rapier and main
gauche dagger to Deke. Before the silent figure turned away, white-gloved
hands came forth from the cloak and clasped
“
“I…uh…”
“I am in
disguise,” purred Desslok in
Deke
nodded at him while Nova helped him out of his flight jacket and tossed it to
Brew.
A moment
later, after a few whispered words of encouragement, Nova and Brew stood back.
Von Delvitz’s seconds also left him alone.
Sanzar
was beginning to come up when Talan came between them, nodded, and said, “About
face. Five paces. Then turn and face each other. Then begin.”
The
antagonists paced, turned, and saluted with their rapiers.
After the
salute, Von Delvitz ran at Deke first with a howling, feral growl that sounded
more vulpine than human.
Deke
greeted him with a snarl and a clash of metal as he parried the first rapier
attack with his main gauche. Then, he
swung out with his rapier, scoring first blood as he scratched Von Delvitz’s
face.
“Scum,”
hissed Von Delvitz.
“You’ll
be calling me worse when we’re done, Gamilon,”
hissed Deke.
“How dare
you insult my heritage?” snapped Von Delvitz as he lashed out animalistically
with his main gauche. It scratched
Deke’s upper arm, leaving warm blood running down his bicep under his uniform.
Deke
wheeled about and knocked the Baron’s main
gauche out of his left hand with a fiery strength the Gamilon had not
expected. As it clattered on the ground, Von Delvitz grinned and said,
“Impressive, Earther. Very impressive. But not enough!”
Von Delvitz swung a booted foot up and knocked Deke’s main gauche away with a vicious kick.
Deke jumped back to avoid a drop-kick to his crotch as he faced the Gamilon
with crossed rapiers. Deke looked over, hearing sobs as Sasha cried, being
consoled by a fearful-looking Nova on the sidelines.
“Prepared
to die yet, you stinking peasant?”
hissed Von Delvitz as they clashed again.
“Not on
Government time, buddy,” said
“I hope
you like flying a ghost plane, because you are about to go to the other world,” laughed Von Delvitz as he almost knocked
Deke’s sword out of his hand.
“Yeah,
right,” said Deke as he clashed again, swinging harder than he ever had before
as a strange, exhilirating, blood-driven rage filled him. A weird fire was in
his eyes as he glanced across the way at the Gamilons and then he swung again
just as he locked eyes with a mournful-looking Sasha, who, nonetheless, seemed
to be sending him strength from afar through her eyes.
Their eyes, and that look on his face, thought Desslok from beneath his hood. The Iscandarian legends I read as a boy, long ago. Could they be true?
No. Iscandarians have not bonded that way in centuries, but…
Artwork:
The Duel © 2008 by M.C. Crump (aka
“Max Damage”) Used by permission.
The two clashing
combatants met again, with Von Delvitz backing Deke away from the field of
battle with each slash as Deke found himself going slowly up a spiral staircase
in one of the ruined mushroom towers.
They
disappeared into the shadows for a moment.
The tower
was a place of death. Much of its stone and metal outer wall was gone, torn
away by the volcanic fury of Gamilon in its death throes in 2200 and also torn
away by a direct hit from one of the Argo’s
main guns, even though
Nova was
the only Terran there who remembered that tower, which was now a war memorial
on New Gamilon.
I remember it, she thought….because I almost fainted when Mark almost
ran right into it after we were dodging those missiles from the roof above. The
keel of the Argo scraped the ground for a moment, we were flying so low.
And I still see some of the red paint we left there. And then, we came around,
and Derek grinned like crazy when he got that thing in the side with our main
guns; he said, “Hey, Mark! Hey Nova! I just sent more of those bastards to
hell!” War…in a war, you truly are not your better self. But is it safe up
there? What if that thing collapses with them fighting in there?
In the
tower, Deke nearly tripped over the skull of a long-dead Gamilon officer as Von
Delvitz forced him up the stairs.
“How do
you like that?” he screamed as the crowd gathered around the tower, heedless of
the danger. “Up too far for your friends to save you, eh?” Von Delvitz sneered.
“Looks
like we screwed up your tower big time seven years ago,” said Deke with a
crazy, desperate smile on his face. He swung at Von Delvitz and gave him
another slash in the face.
“You were
mass-murderers, destroying the finest civilization in the Local Group,” hissed
Von Delvitz as he slashed at Deke.
“What
about you people and Earth?” barked Deke in reply. “Three billion people killed
by your planet bombs! Can you comprehend that, asshole? Three billion people?
Even your holy Goddamned Leader shows some sign of regret over that. What about
you?” Deke yelled as he thrust at Von Delvitz, just barely missing his rotten
heart.
“Too bad
we didn’t bomb the rest of you to
oblivion!” laughed Von Delvitz as he knocked the rapier out of
“Not
quite,” hissed Deke as he was backed against a wall.
“Too
bad,” said Von Delvitz. “Because that is what is about to happen, Earthling!
Today, at first light…you die…”
TO BE CONTINUED…
Book Seven will conclude with the next chapter:
“Coming Up For Air”
To Return to the Introduction to The New Comet, click here