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 EIGHT: COMING UP FOR
AIR
Planet
Gamilon
The
Ancient
Friday
June 12, 2207: 0541 Hours Earth Space-Time
The point
of Von Delvitz’s rapier caressed Deke Wakefield’s chest as he stood out in the
open in the ruined staircase of the blasted Gamilon tower.
“I think
I shall be quick with this one,
Desperate
to get out of this spot he had allowed himself to be manuevered into, Deke
reached down at the fragment of wall he had been backed against, and he pulled
at the first thing his hands found purchase upon.
A piece
of metal electrical conduit left over from the ruin of the tower back in 2200
in the Battle of Gamilon.
It was
loose.
Deke grabbed
at it, and was relieved when it snapped off in his right hand.
And it
had a jagged edge at the end of it.
Suddenly,
Deke howled, and he smashed his enemy in the neck with the conduit.
As Von
Delvitz staggered, Deke parried his now-drunken killing thrust with the conduit
and he kicked Von Delvitz down five stairs. Then, roaring like a wildman, Deke
recovered his rapier, got it in his right hand, and got the conduit in his left
hand.
Von
Delvitz just barely got up in time; but it was too late as
Von
Delvitz screamed like a castrato as Deke withdrew the bit of conduit, which was
now red with Von Delvitz’s blood from deep in his vitals.
Barely
able to move, Von Delvitz drunkenly backed down the stairs as Deke, who now had
the initiative, slashed at his rapier, smashing at it and stabbing again and
again with his conduit like his lost main
gauche.
Deke took
three vicious slashes to his chest (that would need stitches later and leave
light dueling scars), but in his rage and fire, he didn’t even feel them.
Deke
forced Von Delvitz back onto the rocky ground a moment later and disarmed him
with a vicious slash of his rapier. Then, he stabbed him two more times in the
gut, smiling sadistically as more blood stained Von Delvitz’s tunic. Then, he
smiled and kicked him in the side twice.
“Why do
you not end it with a thrust to my heart?” gasped Von Delvitz as he staggered
in agony, shocked at the violence of Deke’s onslaught. “You have won, Earthling! You…”
“I want
you to suffer, you rotten
son-of-a-bitch,” hissed Deke. “You made my wife Sasha suffer, many times over!
You kept my best friend and I up here all night. You have upset a pregnant woman
who is also one of my best friends. And you have even pissed off your own great
Leader Desslok!”
“What?”
hissed Von Delvitz as an enraged
“Desslok
is here,” said
Then,
Von
Delvitz gasped and screamed like a wounded animal as a booted foot kicked him
again in the side.
Only, it
wasn’t
Deke
looked over in shock as the black-cloaked figure pulled back his hood,
revealing Leader Desslok to the shocked crowd.
“Baron
Von Delvitz, you have lost,” said
Desslok as he kicked him. “I discommend you and strip you of your ranks and
honors. I also consider you a criminal of the regime and worse than useless!” he said as he kicked him again. “Guards,
arrest Haratz and prepare him to be put to death for insubordination! Especially since I ordered him to never walk on
Iscandar again!” he ordered. “And,” added Desslok. “I think more of you should
kick this former Baron…we do not normally do so, but he deserves it, as a sign
of our contempt for his actions!”
Talan
then came up and kicked him. “You are a blight upon the honor of the Empire’s
military forces, and if you weren’t
already mortally wounded, I’d kill you!”
Sasha
surprised everyone by coming up and kicking him next. “That’s for calling me a slut!”
The dying
Von Delvitz groaned and gasped “Kill me, please. Kill….me….”
“I would
not waste my power on you!” Sasha snapped. Then, she spat on him as tears of
rage ran down her cheeks. “And that’s for hurting my Deekee and for scaring me like that and spitting on my feet!”
“Deekee?”
said Talan with amusement.
“That’s
what I call him,” said Sasha as she held Deke’s hand fiercely. “Have a problem
with that, Talan?”
General
Talan wisely shook his head and refused to comment as the Second Princess of
Iscandar had just told him where to get off!
Brew then
came up and kicked Von Delvitz himself next as blood bubbled from his mouth and
he gasped and groaned, dying, albeit slowly and in great pain. “That’s for
keeping me up all night with my best bud, you muhfuh!” he snapped. “And you mamma
dresses you funny, too, dude!”
Nova then
came up. But, she didn’t kick him as this particular variety of monster looked
at her with pain in his eyes while he coughed up a huge gout of blood.
Instead,
to Deke’s surprise, she reached under her loose shirt (worn over her belt) and
got out her Astro-Automatic as Von Delvitz gasped and bubbled. She handed her
weapon to Deke.
“Please finish
him off, Deke,” said Nova as tears ran down her cheeks. “I can’t even bear to
hear an enemy suffering like that!
Put him out of his misery? Please shoot him in the head or something? Finish
this?”
“Kick him
for me, Nova,” hissed Deke with a look on his face that would have scared the
living crap out of Dawn. “Then I’ll
think about doing it.”
Nova came
up and reluctantly kicked Von Delvitz once with a look of disgust on her face.
It left a bloody smear on the toe of her grey boot as he gasped and looked up
at her through half closed, pained eyes.
“You…kill…me…please…”
he gasped.
“It’s not
for me to do so! Your mouth should be washed out with soap, Baron!”
Deke then
took the weapon from Nova.
Then,
they stood back. Deke took aim and fired one true shot into Von Delvitz’s head.
It exploded in a mess.
Von
Delvitz then lay still, never to move again.
Desslok
clapped his hands. “By the ancient usages,
“Yessir,”
said one of the enlisted men as they picked up Von Delvitz’s bloody corpse and
carried it off.
Soon, a
bunch of strange long-necked birds native to Gamilon called Toren who had been reintroduced to the
reborn world from other planets of the Empire were squalling as they wheeled
and flew over the ravine.
They were
delighted because they had fresh food to dine on.
Von
Delvitz’s remains would make a very tasty meal.
II.
CHILDREN OF THE FUTURE, CHILDREN OF THE PRESENT…
Space:
Between Iscandar and Gamilon
Friday
June 12, 2207: 0720 Hours Earth Space-Time
Nova and
Deke politely declined Desslok’s offer to have
So it was
that a few minutes later, Deke sat on the diagnostic bed on Shuttle #21107 near
Sasha while Brew prepared to leave Gamilon at last.
At the
moment, Deke never wanted to see this planet again. And Sasha didn’t blame him.
Nova,
having removed her space gloves and bloody boots, knelt barefoot on the deck
with her pants legs rolled up to her knees as she cleaned Deke’s chest wounds
and tended them while wearing nurse’s gloves.
“They
aren’t that deep, but you’ll need a few stitches,” she said as she worked on
him with a suture set and laser knife. “It’s going to hurt a bit.”
“Why did
you take your boots off?” asked Sasha.
“They
need a good wash in the shower,” snapped Nova. “I’d rather not walk around
wearing anything with Von Delvitz’s stinking blood on it. He repulsed me!
Besides, my ankles were starting to twinge. That’s why I tore those gold Flight
Group markings off Brew’s sleeve, too. They had Von Delvitz’s blood on them
somehow,” said Nova.
“I think
I can agree with your sentiment, ma’am,” said Deke.
“Will it
look that bad?” said Sasha as she watched Nova working on Deke.
“There’ll
be some scars, but you’ll have to look really close to see them once they heal
up,” said Nova. “A lot of people have gotten much worse for killing their first
Gamilon, Deke. Don’t feel so bad. Alex has a few scars on him from the
Gamilons…so does Derek.”
“Do they
look that bad?” said Deke.
“No,”
said Nova. “In fact,” she said as she blushed a little. “This may sound weird…I
think they look kind of sexy…on
Derek, that is. He earned them while protecting me once…on Titan. And then, he earned others from them; the last of
them from his last encounter with Desslok as an enemy…”
“You
earned these fighting for my honor,” said Sasha as she kissed Deke while Nova
finished up and began bandanging his chest. “So, I think they’ll be sexy, too.
My Tiger…scarred while fighting for me.”
“Good,”
said Nova as she yawned. She began putting everything away, and she said,
“Deke..I…”
Then, she
wavered on her heels and almost fell over. “Auntie!” cried Sasha as she ran to
Nova’s side, not expecting this.
“Let’s
help her onto the bed!” snapped Deke as both Sasha and Deke helped Nova to the
bunk.
“I don’t
need to lie down,” murmured Nova.
“Ma’am,
with all respect, you’re tired and you look like shit after being up all night with us! You’re pushing seven months
pregnant! You should have gotten some sleep!”
snapped Deke. “Sasha, get her feet up on the bed. I’m having a little trouble
bending over too far…”
“Right,”
said Sasha. “Auntie, quit trying to kick
me!”
“Okay,”
said Nova. She tried to relax as Sasha held her there.
But, as
Sasha held her, a disturbing but realistic precognitive image ran across Sasha’s
mind and spirit like a movie; a flash of the future….
She
beheld Nova, wearing nothing at all but a sweaty bedsheet, lying in the same
bed, on the same shuttlecraft
Sasha
observed she was trembling with her legs up and toes gripping the edge of the
same bunk in what could only be labor pains!
It then hit Sasha, Goddess! If this comes true, she’s going to
have the twins on this very same bed! In this shuttle! But when? And do they
all live?
In Sasha’s vision…
Time
passed. Nova and Derek weren’t sure quite how much time passed as the medical
boat flew on towards Earth. Nova had to breathe and gasp through a series of
contractions that seemed harder than the previous one. Then, Nova was aware of
a strange phenomenon; she was apparently sleeping for maybe a minute or so
between almost continuous contractions that felt as if they were tearing her
apart. Her contractions were now less than one minute apart, and her sweaty,
tiring body, clad only in a sheet, was gathering for the final effort that
would soon be needed to finish her ordeal. Then, awareness came back with a
great deal of pain. Nova was aware that she was sitting up, breathing, pushing,
breathing. “Derek, what time is it?”
“Eighteen-Thirty,”
he said as he glanced at a chronometer. “We should be home in about an hour and
a half, maybe more, maybe less.”
“Sorry
I’ve been so mean, I’m so sorry,” she said as she lay back down. Then, more
contractions hit. She just began to cry; she was running out of energy.
“Let me
help you,” Sasha said as she tried to comfort her psychically, all over again,
as she tried to absorb her waves of pain…
Then,
she saw her throwing off the sheet, exposing her sweaty nude body, but not
caring now, because…the babies were coming, and…
“Sasha!” said Nova as she weakly
sat up a little. “What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”
Sasha was jerked back to reality
by the sight of her aunt clothed rather than in the nude, and looking only
moderately tired as opposed to looking almost mortally exhausted.
“I think I have just seen…a
ghost,” said Sasha.
“What did you see?” said Deke.
“I don’t want to talk about it.
Not now…”
“Good. Let me sleep,” murumed
Nova. “I…no, I need some fresh air,” she said.
Sasha kissed her aunt on the forehead and said, “Good
idea.”
Nova tried to walk outside, but
her legs trembled, so Brew just picked her up. Deke said, “I’d like to look
outside, too…”
“Why?” said Sasha as she helped
him out.
“Gamilon. The sort of place you don’t
wanna visit…and I don’t wanna live there.”
The four of them went outside for
one last look.
They heard the sound of a large
fleet going overhead.
“They must be doing manuevers,”
said Nova.
Deke took a few breaths of the
air. It was crisp and seemed cold. He could see goose pimples breaking out on
his chest.
“Sasha, are you cold?” he said.
She nodded. “I like Iscandar
better…”
He looked at Brew. In Brew’s arms,
Nova had goose pimples breaking out on her lower legs, and her toes were
curling. She seemed to be shivering as she said, “That woke me up a little, but
I’m not sure it was a good idea…”
“Hey,” said Deke. “Let’s go back
in the ship and go home.”
They did so. Then, Deke said,
“Brew, Nova still looks half-dead.”
“I’m fine,” she murmured.
Artwork: “Wounded
Hero” © 2008 by M.C. Crump (“Max Damage”) Used by Permission
“No,” said
Nova smiled sleepily and shut her
eyes, blissfully unaware of the chaotic glimpse of her future that had shown
itself to Sasha.
If it was the future, that is….
They were home just a few minutes
later, with Nova being jerked awake by the banging and sounds of the port side
upper flight bay around them as they sat on the flight deck with the hatch
open.
“C’mon, Deekee,” said Sasha as she
helped him up; he was bandaged but not wearing his shirt.
“Hey, some pain meds and shut-eye,
and I’ll be okay to fly at 1100,” said Deke.
“I don’t think so,” said Sasha as
Deke leaned on her. Not far away, Nova was trying to get up, but Brew could see
her legs shaking, so, against her protests, he gallantly scooped her up in his
arms and whispered, “May I be your ride, ma’am?”
“I can walk,” protested Nova
through a yawn.
“Ma’am, with all respect, you full
of shit!” said Brew as he held Nova.
“Don’t ya eat, ma’am? Six and a half months pregnant and ya barely weigh
anythin’! You and
“I’m tall for my weight,”
protested Nova.
“If you were ever caught in an F-5
tornado, you’d blow away in it, Pepamint!”
“Don’t call me that,” huffed Nova.
“No one’s called me that…since I was thirteen!”
“You stop callin’ me Toad, ah’ll
stop callin’ ya Pepamint!” laughed Brew as Derek came up. “Sir, I believe this
lost kitty cat belongs to you?”
“She does, Lieutenant,” said Derek
with a smile. “Nova, why can’t you walk?”
“I can walk,” she said tiredly as
a leg twitched. “I….”
“You’re right, Brew, she’s dead on
her feet,” said Derek as he took Nova in his
arms. “Looks like the all-nighter caught up with you, huh, Peppermint?”
“Stop calling me that,” muttered
Nova as she snuggled against her husband’s chest.
“
“…again?” said Deke. “I wanted to
fly today!”
“Give it a day or two; I don’t
need you hemorrhaging in your Tiger, Mister!” said Wildstar. “Sasha, how did it
go?”
“Horrible,” replied Sasha. “The
damn Baron came close to killing
him!”
“Von Delvitz drove Deke up into
that ruined tower on the
“Conduit,” corrrected Deke. “I
fought him off with a hunk of old aluminum electrical conduit! I think…”
“Was Desslok pissed?” said Derek.
“Yes; at him. Desslok literally
helped us kick him to death,” said Nova. “That’s why I’m not wearing my boots.
They got kind of bloody. I won’t walk around with his blood on me…”
“You got it on your pants, too,”
said Derek.
“Great,” muttered Nova.
“Don’t worry,” Derek whispered.
“Those are coming off in our cabin…”
“Along with?” whispered Nova.
“Everything else…” he whispered
back.
“…derek,” muttered Nova.
“Peppermint,” he whispered as he
kissed her back.
“Stop calling me that,” Nova
whispered with a smile on her face as Derek carried her out of the flight bay.
“C’mon, you,” said Sasha as she
kissed Deke and led him out of there with Brew’s help.
Finally, after a few minutes,
Shuttle #21107 was left alone. Nova would come back later for her boots.
An enlisted man secured the
shuttle as it rode the turntable for its trip up to its berth on the lift.
0But, inside the darkened ship, an
un-noticed locker popped open a little. There was a giggle.
But, no adult could fit in there.
However, it was just big enough
for a mischevious five-year old stowaway.
A mischevious five-year old
Gamilon stowaway Prince…whose parents were going to be very upset when they found out he was on Iscandar!
On a big ship like the Argo…there were plenty of places for a
five-year old Gamilon Crown Prince to get into trouble.
And Desslok’s son Dellar would
find every one of them!
Some time passed. Dellar wore his
grey slacks, red and gold sweater, and boots, as he walked around the Argo, looking for something to do,
dodging people with his fine Gamilon hearing, and hiding every now and then
with a boy’s knack for finding hiding places.
“Let’s see if I can put this down
the toilet,” he said as he pulled a live Gamilon frog out of one of his
pockets. The blue creature croaked, and he hid it in a toilet, under the lid.
“I don’t want you getting
flushed,” he said in his high young voice that sounded like a five-year old
version of his father’s voice. “Yet,
that is…”
Then, he heard someone else in the
bathroom with him. “Hey!” yelled some other kid. “Is that baby Desslok?”
“I am his son and heir, yes,” said Dellar as he exited the stall
and made what he hoped was a regal-looking turn as he stood with his hands on
his hips. “Who are you? I am all that
is. Or I will be someday. You are awfully large.”
“If you call just under five feet
tall or 151 centimeters tall, than I guess I’m tall,” said the newcomer. Dellar
noticed that he also had blond hair, although it was a bit darker, messier, and
longer than his own hair. The boy was also either an Earthling or Iscandarian,
by his guess; he seemed to be dressed like an Iscandarian, in a red and black
Iscandarian cadet uniform top that looked a bit like the wetsuit top Alex
Wildstar had been wearing a day or so ago, with khaki shorts in light brown,
with dark brown sandals. He had some kind of small tool kit at his belt.
“What’s your name?”
“Crown Prince Dellar of the
Gamilon Empire,” said Dellar. “And yours?”
“Jonathan Hartnell-Iiyama from the
Princess Astra,” said Jonathan as he
extended his hand in a handshake. “My foster-father Conor has me aboard her as
a Junior Cadet. I’ve run an aft ball turret in a Cosmo Tiger a few times, done
some minor shipboard maintenance, and I’ve also served as a message-runner
between Admiral Wildstar of Iscandar and Commodore Wildstar of Earth.”
“Have you been in combat yet in
this war?” asked Dellar.
“Once,” said Jonathan. “It was
scary but I helped our pilot knock down a Cometine plane. What about you?”
“I helped protect my parents from
assassins once,” said Dellar. “A long story.”
“Tougher than you look, huh?” said
Jonathan. “You know, there’s all sorts of neat places on this ship…if you’ll
let me allow you to sneak you around…”
“Ever sabotage anything?” said
Dellar.
“No…not…seriously,” said Jonathan.
“We’re at war, Dellar. If we wreck anything, we’d be in a lot of trouble…”
“What about pranks?” said Dellar.
“Okay…I like pranks,” said Jonathan devillishly after he looked around. “What
sort of pranks do you like? This can’t take too long…I’ve got a message capsule
from my father and the Admiral to give to Commodore Wildstar. That’s why they
give me the run of this ship…sort of…”
“Follow me, and we’ll see what
sort of pranks we can get into,” said Dellar.
The two new friends took off down
a passage to see what they could do aboard the resting Argo.
Jonathan sound found that Dellar
was quite inventive at his “pranks”. The boy had a collection of stink bombs
that he lit and left down various access panels, dumbwaiters; one even somehow
got tossed down a lift.
Jonathan, in the meantime, was
having a little “fun” opening up access panels and doing such things as
rewiring a set of blast hatches so they would close when you hit the “open”
button and open when you hit the “close” button.
They got into the unguarded
holography room and spent half an hour conspiring to program a very dirty
holographic video, leaving it on endless loop mode so that the next unwary
viewer, rather than getting a memory tape, would get a nice view of the
interior of Francine’s House of Fun.
Dellar appropriated some of
Jonathan’s super glue and he put it on a toilet seat so that the next person to
sit there would be attached to the seat; with an incredible degree of intimacy.
And…then, there were other
activities they got involved with.
After an unauthorized tour of the
engine room (with Dellar crawling on various greasy parts of the deck, getting
his immaculate uniform very dirty in the process) the two kids found themselves
wanting to get a snack.
They did so, in the Argo’s messhall, lightly populated this
time of day. Jonathan had a more balanced meal, but he let Dellar gorge himself
largely on ice cream and candy while he began to wonder how he’d ever get his
message to Wildstar, and, also, how the heck he’d ever get his new friend back
to Gamilon after he pranked himself out.
“I’m depressed,” said Nova in her
cabin a few minutes later as she sat barefoot on the bunk beside Derek. It was
just the two of them there, and it was about 0930 in the morning.
“Why?” asked Derek as he held her.
“All this fighting…even amongst
ourselves,” she said as she cuddled into his lap. “I mean, that Gamilon
officer…why did he have to cause so much trouble for us and for Deke?”
“Nova, even Desslok said he was a
bad actor. We know not all the Gamilons are like that…”
“I know,” sniffed Nova. “But this,
the war, all this fighting…I’m so tired!” she sobbed. “And what are we doing to
the other side when we fight them?”
“Nova, they started it, we’re finishing
it,” snapped Derek.
“But, I mean…maybe there’s
innocent people suffering on their side, too,” sobbed Nova. “I…ohhh…I could
just kill that Princess Invidia and her generals right now for causing all of
this!” said Nova as she began to just cry. “I hate this! When are we going to
be able to enjoy a peaceful life, Derek?” Nova said as she held her husband.
“I don’t know,” Derek said as he
kissed her. “I don’t…”
“Don’t stop kissing me, Derek,”
said Nova as she held her husband.
Derek’s eyebrows went up a little
as he said, “I have work to do…”
“You’re up here with me,”
countered Nova. Then, she cuddled against him and said, “You promised before
you’d get me out of these bloody pants…”
“Yes…and everything else,” said
Derek as he kissed her…and began to undo her clothing.
Nova smiled as the pants ended up
on the deck, followed by her underwear, and followed by her blouse as Derek
kissed her and held her while she opened his pants like a madwoman…
…soon, the Captain’s pants and
boots ended up on the deck, followed by his underwear, Nova’s bra, and his
shirt.
The compartment then went quiet,
save for the sweet sounds of the two of them needing and loving each other in
nothing at all…
In his quarters, in the meantime,
Deke was busy being put to bed; by an unlikely pair, namely, both Sasha and Dawn. Hardy looked on,
clucking to himself as his wife helped Sasha get Deke into bed.
“I can fly,” protested Deke.
“Not until those cuts at least
start knitting,” said Sasha. “Doctor Sane and Nova said that should happen by
tomorrow with the growth factor drug they gave you, so, just take advantage of
an extra day’s worth of rest, and rest…”
“What about…?” said
“I have work to do,” blushed Sasha.
“I have a shift on the
“Why you, Dawn?” said Deke.
“I am pissed at you, Deke!” snapped Dawn as she stabbed at Deke’s
bandage. “You and your macho vengeance
games and getting yourself all scarred up like that! I’m rather ticked at you
for that, as a matter of fact!”
“Hey,” said Deke. “I couldn’t help
it if that Gamilon chose to belt me with his glove and call me out. I had to kill him then!”
“You could have ignored it,”
huffed Dawn.
“With the things he was calling
Sasha?” said Hardy. “Dawn, her honuh was at stake!”
“You, too, Jeff?” snapped Dawn.
“Ohhhh…you’re all against me! Next
thing you know, Nova will be down here saying he had to defend his honor or
some crap like that!”
“I thought Wildstar took her to
his cabin,” said Deke.
“Yeah, she looked pretty worn
out,” said Jefferson Hardy. “I don’t know if she can make it through the rest
o’ this mission, honestly.”
“She’s tougher than she looks,”
said Deke. “If she says she’s staying, the lady is staying,” he added.
“Although, Jeff, I agree with you; I question her sanity slightly. Nearly seven
months pregnant and still at her post. That takes guts.”
“I don’t,” said Sasha.
“You’re a special case,” said
Dawn.
“Just wait until you get pregnant,” said Sasha.
“Yeah…like that’s gonna happen soon,” snapped Dawn.
In the meantime, on Gamilon, Desslok sat behind his
desk in his palace and shook his head in disbelief. “What was that, Keeling?”
“Sir,” said his Chief of Staff.
“We’ve just decoded it. It is a direct message to you from General Dyre on the Eritz Gatlantis. We estimate they are
fifty thousand lightyears away in the Sapphira Region, sir.”
“Well, we can easily hit them
there before the deadline,” said Desslok as he took the message capsule from
Keeling and looked it over in his hands. “I’m sure Commodore Wildstar wouldn’t
mind some action at last. And that goes for the Pellians and even the
Iscandarians.”
“Sir,” said Keeling. “It is a very
unusual message.”
“Hmmm?” said Desslok.
“This is what it said,” said
Keeling as he clapped his hands. A grey-clad aide came over, saluted Desslok,
and put the message capsule into a holo-player on the Leader’s desk.
The message began to play; it
showed the New Comet, and played a few bars of the Cometine Anthem on the
organ.
“Run it forward,” said Desslok
with a dismissive wave of his hand.
A moment later, General Dyre’s
face appeared above the desk and said, “This is an official communication from
the House of Gatlantis to Leader Desslok of Gamilon and the other members of
the so-called Galactic Alliance of Earth, Iscandar, Pellias, and the Rikashan
Federation. This is a message from Prince Dyre, acting Prince of the House of
Gatlantis, and ruler of this part of the Universe.”
Desslok’s eyebrows went up at that
one as he paused the message. “What became of Invidia?” he muttered.
“Maybe there was a coup,” said
Keeling.
Desslok restarted the message.
“House Gatlantis regrets to announce that Princess Invidia has recently
disappeared from the
“They had better not propose
another conference,” said Desslok as he paused it again. “I will not meet with
them again. Especially after what happened last
time,” he said as Astrena entered the room with her sandals clicking on the
polished floor as she nodded at Desslok.
“Owing to the mistrust between our
sides,” continued Dyre. “I am prepared to simply ask for a truce as we can
disengage from this war. The truce will be unilateral on our side, and will
last for ten days. If we hear from you and hear that you accept the truce, I am
prepared to withdraw our forces from the Magellenic Clouds at once.”
“Give them five days,” said
Desslok. “If they do not withdraw within five days, I will assume they are
still at war. In the meantime, we shall remain on the alert. Astrena, what do
you make of this?”
She stood with her eyes closed.
“He is sincere, but they are very confused. I am not even sure he is in control
of all of his forces, Desslok.”
“I don’t think so, either,”
replied Desslok. “Keeling, have a shuttle readied. I am going to go to Iscandar
to see Commodore Wildstar and Starsha. I’d like a conference with them on the Argo. Today, if possible.”
“Yessir,” said Keeling. He saluted
and left while Desslok turned to Astrena. “Do you know where our son is?” he
said. “He might fancy a visit to the Argo
with us.”
“That is what is worrying me,”
said Astrena. “The governesses have not seen him all morning. They aren’t even
sure he is in the Palace!”
“Hmmm,” said Desslok. “Astrena,
join me on the ship, but have the servants look for him. If he is lost, with
assassins possibly around…”
“Worried?” said Astrena.
Desslok nodded. “Yes. As only a
father can be.”
“I am picking up his thoughts,”
said Astrena.
“Where is he?” snapped Desslok.
“Either in the city…or Iscandar?
Hard to say,” said Astrena. “But he is having fun.”
“He won’t be having fun when I
catch up with him,” snapped Desslok. “The little scamp, getting away from us
like that!”
“You sound like you’re proud of
him,” said Astrena as she kissed Desslok.
“I am, but am also rather
troubled. Although….”
“You were once as bad as he was?”
teased Astrena.
“Never,” huffed Desslok. “I was a perfect Prince.”
“Which only means you never got
caught,” she teased. “Let’s go.”
A while later, after Queen Starsha had summoned Alex
Wildstar to Mother Town from off the bridge of the Princess Astra, they sat together hearing Desslok’s latest bit of
news.
“They want to negotiate again?” said Alex. “I wouldn’t trust them, Desslok.
Especially not after they tried to kill me back on Earth.”
“But they seem very confused,”
said Queen Starsha. “There is confusion in all of their ranks. Confusion even
in the mind of the Dark Lord.”
Desslok’s eyebrow went up again at
that. “Ekogaru is on Iscandar?”
Starsha nodded. “I am afraid so.
He is not even making an effort to disguise his presence now.”
“Where is he?” said Desslok. Alex
had the same question.
“I am still trying to localize his
presence; but he is with an Earth person. He is possessing him, as it were.”
“Possessing him?” said Desslok.
“This man has to be found. And when he is found, he must either be imprisoned
or eliminated.”
“Where are you now?” asked
Starsha.
“In a shuttle with Talan and
Astrena. We’re on our way to the fighter base at
“And we shall be there,” said
Starsha as she drew herself up to her full height. “Alex, call your brother.
Tell him that he, Captain Venture, and the Lady Aliscea are wanted in our
conference. And I will call Deklin, the Rikashan representative. I am also
going to speak with Astra back on Earth. She will present the news to the Earth
Government.”
Desslok nodded. “We will then see
you, Starsha,” he said. “Aboard the Argo…”
III.
THE STORM GATHERS…
Iscandar:
At The Edge of
Friday
June 12, 2207: 1120 Hours Earth Space-Time
“Why
are we here?” whimpered an exhausted Michelle as she rubbed her feet. A strap
from one of her sandals was beginning to irritate her heel somewhat. She and
Invidia had spent an hour walking from an obscure landing place from a jetboat
through the hills of Iscandar, through one of the cemeteries, to the very edge
of the beautiful Capital City of
Mother Town.
Michelle wished that Katrina had gotten her another pair of shoes.
Invidia had picked up a stylish pair of mules for herself, and had crammed her own
sandals in a pocket. Something about stones. But, Michelle felt exhausted by
the walk.
They stopped at last. There, they found the way partially blocked
by a small ocean inlet that sat in a valley. On each side of the inlet were
tall, enigmatic statues of lightly clad ancient
“What is this place?” whispered “Katrina”.
“The Gate of Mother Town,” replied Michelle. “The Star Force
photographed this place when they came to Iscandar seven years ago,” she said.
“We learned about it in school. It was thought that this was some ancient
religious memorial. No one from Earth quite understood what it meant. Isn’t it
beautiful? It looks like the path to the City goes around the inlet and over a
little bridge up to that hill. We can probably get there in another half an
hour,” said Michelle. “Then, what do you want to do in the city?” said Michelle in a small voice.
“Surrender,” said Invidia in a quiet voice. “If we go on,
Michelle, you will probably be allowed to go free. As such, I release you now
from my service and set you free…”
“Invidia!” she cried.
Invidia shushed her and sat on the grass by the lake and held the
girl in a tender gesture that she didn’t expect. “I will seek asylum from
Starsha if they let me in the city. I was a fool to think we could beat this
Invidia sighed. She bowed her head. A walk past the statues, a
walk up over the bridge that was off to the far East, and a talk with the
guard, and her war would be over. It would be very quiet, very refined, no further
blood would need to be shed. She kissed Michelle, ready to walk off to face
justice and her Doom when she gasped as a hand tapped her on the shoulder.
“I…” said Invidia. Her blood froze when she recognized the face of
the Space Marine who was grinning at her.
She knew who it was.
“Stovall,” she said in a cold voice.
Michelle suddenly felt very scared of this vile-looking man. He
had a pleasant-enough looking face-but the sneer on it was so twisted that it
made her want to pass out.
“I’m not Stovall,” he said in a sneering, deep voice. “You know
damned well who I am, Princess Invidia. Trelaina’s pathetic attempt to disguise
your face and aura is nothing but a load of crap to Me.”
“Who…who are you?” stammered Michelle as she looked at the Marine.
“Your
worst nightmare made flesh. Unfortunately, dear, you cannot know who I am.
Yet,” said Ekogaru as he completely took over Stovall and raised a hand.
Michelle stood gasping with an iron, invisible hand at her throat
as she struggled to breathe. A moment later, she fell down like a limp sack as
Ekogaru knocked her into a faint.
“If you hurt her….I…I’ll!” hissed Invidia.
“My, my, how touching,” said the Dark One. He bent
over Michelle and spat in her sleeping face. “Only the Black Breath, dear. She
will awaken. In time. Unless you’d prefer her dead.”
“Let me go,” said Invidia as she tried to walk away as Ekogaru
grabbed her arm in a cold, vile iron grip. “I was about to go to
“To end the fun?” said Ekogaru
with a sick, happy grin as he crossed his arms.
“I know what you are thinking. Unfortunately, now is not the time
for a Road of Damascus Experience and sackcloth and ashes, Invidia, dearest.
Not yet.”
“I’ve seen how evil I am,” said Invidia as tears ran down her
cheeks. “Please let me make atonement. Somehow.”
“ATONEMENT?” yelled Ekogaru. He laughed a vile, chilling laugh
that utterly scared even Invidia. It made her father Zordar’s laughter on his
worst days sound positively benign in comparison. “Not yet. You have an
appointment with Skaldart. Then, you have another one with General Dyre, my
love.”
“I’ll never go back there!” said Invidia, desperate to get away
from this…this…THING that had given
her life. “I abdicate my throne, Ekogaru! I don’t care what you do; you can
destroy Earth for all I care! You can blow Gamilon to smithereens! Just let me
surrender myself and find a nice little cell somewhere to die in!”
Artwork: “Manipulated By Ekogaru” © 2008 by M.C.
Crump/Max Damage.
Ekogaru slapped her hard across the face, making her cry. “You, I
have need of, for a long time, until I can gain my own body again. Then,
eventually, I will rebuild my Fortress that the Star Force blew into
nothingness years ago. Or, they thought they did. Little do they know what I
can do with even the tiniest fragment of my Kingdom,” hissed the Dark Lord.
“And before I become God, I will make Earth suffer sorely for what it has done
to me. And to you. Do you not feel the hatred from them, Invidia?” purred
Ekogaru in his role as the Tempter. “They have driven you into a hole as a
fugitive. They killed your father. Trelaina of Telezart toys with your very
face and soul for her own weird purposes. Do you not understand how they toy
with you? I can continue to be the power behind your Throne, Invidia. If you
will let me…”
“What can you do?” said Invidia, who was very close to losing her
mind, especially a mere meter away from something that she sensed could simply
blow her into nothingness with a thought. She feared and hated this monster,
but she saw that, in some crazed sense, that he was offering something like a
small crack of light in a closed room; he was offering her another chance to
ride the storm, and to become something Great again.
“Have no fear of Radnar, for one,” said Ekogaru. “O, I could tell
you were thinking of him,” he said as he smiled, hoping to corrupt Invidia’s
soul and knowledge for his own strange purposes and plans. She did not know it,
but she was a tool in his hand that he would just cast unto the ash-heap like
his other tools when he was done with it. Yvona might have killed herself, but
he thought, This woman will do a
half-decent job at my side in Yvona’s place. Until I don’t need her or her
miserable little shit-heap of an Empire anymore, that is. “We will find a
way to deal with Radnar. You still have your Comet, don’t you? A mighty weapon
made by mighty men?”
“I ran,” said Invidia. “I don’t know what came over me, I…”
“You will go back,” said Ekogaru. “I and Skaldart will see to it.
And, then, you can take up with your plans where you started. Once you deal
with the traitors, that is.”
“Which traitors?” said Invidia. “You mean, Dyre and Gorse, yes?”
Ekogaru nodded. He clapped his hands, and Michelle abruptly
disappeared. “Have no fear for your slave. She is back aboard your carrier,
along with your plane, that is. And, then, my dear Invidia, you will be back
there, as well,” said Ekogaru. “But, come to the Argo with me. Today. I have something to show you.”
“The Argo?” said Invidia.
“How wll we get on board?”
“I wear the uniform of their forces, you idiot!” said Ekogaru.
“And you are dressed like an ally. We’re going to their
Invidia shook with nausea and rage. “I guess…so…” she said. She
turned away from the light and peace of
With a thunderclap, she and Ekogaru vanished just as Queen Starsha
turned her gaze on the hill from the palace. She had just finally spotted the
Dark One, but missed learning which body he was using by twenty seconds.
Alex
Wildstar saw Starsha weeping with frustration as she had just missed the Dark
One.
“I was close…so close…so close to discovering which body Ekogaru
was using, Alex, dear! It was just…horrible!”
“Where is he?” said Alex.
“He was right here! On Iscandar!”
“Where did he go?” said Alex.
“That,” said Starsha. “That,
I do not know…”
And, at that, Starsha bowed her head…in utter defeat and
frustration.
IV.
THE LAUGHTER OF CHILDREN, THE TEARS OF ADULTS….
Planet
Iscandar
The
Vicinity of New
Space
Battleship Argo
Friday
June 12, 2207: 1342 Hours Earth Space-Time
Now, Nova was asleep.
She was having a very strange dream.
In her dream, she had on jeans, pumps, and a sailor top and she
was in a store shaking a parrot at a rather officious attendant. The store
clerk, she noticed, looked a lot like the late Michael Palin. (Michael Palin,
at least, was dead in the year 2207; or he would be. Unless he was very well
frozen.)
“I tell you!” said Nova indignantly. “This parrot is dead!”
“It’s sleeping,” said Micheal Palin.
“No it’s not! It’s joined the choir eternal!” cried Nova. “It
can’t talk…”
“It’s just bloody lethargic,” said Michael Palin.
“It’s not lethargic, it’s dead!” cried Nova. She wondered, Why am I dreaming a Monty Python skit?
“This parrot is pushing up daisies! This…is..an..ex-parrot!”
“You bloody boobie,” said Michael Palin as Nova tumbled into
another dream.
In this dream, she and Derek were running a Lionel train set in an
immense, empty room somewhere. They were smiling at each other, but the toy
train, led by a black steam locomotive, was filling the room with smoke. Nova
smiled with Derek as he pushed a button on the remote-control unit and made the
whistle blow, and they smiled as the train ran through a tunnel.
Nova noticed she was no longer pregnant in the dream as she sat
there barefoot in a short light blue minidress.
She wondered what this meant until she heard a little boy’s voice
calling her. He said, “Mom!”
“What, Alex?” she said.
“Mom, when are you and Dad gonna be done with my train?” he said.
“Soon,” said Nova with a smile to her unseen son.
In her dream, Nova grasped the sheet, murmured, “Derek,” and she
slept on, sleeping deeply, unaware of the two visitors who had slipped into the
Captain’s quarters.
“Shhh,” said Dellar in a quiet voice.
“What are you up to now?”
said Jonathan.
Dellar slipped off his boots and stood on tiptoe in his sock feet
on a chair. “Marbles,” he whispered as he put marbles down a vent. “Marbles in
the Captain’s overhead.”
“Where did you get that idea from?” said Jonathan.
“An old movie Mother has around in the Palace,” grinned Dellar.
Then, he spied Nova sleeping in the bed. Her shoulders and upper body were bare
as she lay there sleeping with an expression like that of an angel on her face,
swathed in a pure white sheet.
“I wonder,” said Dellar. “Are you humans that funny color all
over?”
“She is,” said Jonathan as he blushed.
“How do you know?” said Dellar.
“When I was smaller, she gave me a bath once,” said Jonathan.
“Trust me, she’s that color…what are you doing?”
hissed Jonathan as Dellar lifted the sheet, revealing that Nova was bare all the way down as she slept peacefully
in the nude.
“I want to study her,” said Dellar. “Hmm…not as large as my
mother’s but they’ll do,” he said.
“You pervert!” whispered Jonathan, blushing and smiling as he
observed that even pregnant, Nova was still very…pretty. He covered her up
quickly and said, “We’d better sneak out of here, you idiot! She’ll wake up!”
“W…wake up?” sighed Nova in a sleepy, sweet-sounding confused voice
as she shook her head. Her sudden yawn froze the boys’ hearts as they went
stock-still.
Nova shook her head again, sat up a little, rubbed sleep out of
her eyes, and murmured, “Jonathan? What are you
doing in here? You know it’s very impolite to come into a lady’s room
uninvited…”
“Uh…where’s the Captain, ma’am?” said Jonathan with a gulp. “I….I
have a message for him.”
The
phone suddenly rang. Nova yawned and sat up a little more, covering herself
with the sheet as she looked around. “Hello? Captain’s Quarters. Lieutenant
Commander Wildstar speaking! You woke me up from a…oh…hi, Derek?” she said with
a yawn. “We got a call from Gamilon? Dellar’s missing?”
Nova looked around and spied Dellar trying to hide behind
Jonathan. “No, he’s not. He’s right up here. With Jonathan. He’s trying to hide
behind him. And, what? Someone glued Doctor Sane to a toilet seat on “D” deck?
And the blast door got miswired nearby at Frame 120? And they’re finding that
video the Space Marines left playing an endless loop in the holography room?
Uh-huh. And Desslok’s on his way to the ship? Good. I’ll be up and decent soon.
I have a very dirty little Gamilon boy up here who needs a spanking, and I
think there’s an Earth boy who needs one, too,” said Nova as she sat up and deftly
wrapped her bedsheet around her mostly slender body like a Roman matron
readying herself for the Senate in a toga. (Nova had been to a toga party or
two at
“He did!” yelled Dellar and Jonathan as they pointed at each
other.
“Yes, I’ll bet,” said Nova as she grabbed Dellar.
“You can’t spank me!”
yelled Dellar. “I’ll have you shot!”
“Your mother once said I could,” said Nova as she put Dellar over
her knee and opened his pants. She pulled his pants down and soon had him
whining with two or three good swats. “And that’s not the worst of it,” said
Nova. “Your clothes are filthy, Dellar! You’re getting a bath!”
“NOOOO!” he screamed as Nova smiled and began to undress him.
Kid,
I feel sorry for you, thought Jonathan as he shook his head,
watching the five-year old getting punished as he wondered how he was going to
get out of this fix himself…
About two minutes later, Commodore Wildstar ran up into his cabin,
followed by Sandor, Kitano, and Hemsford.
“So, he’s the muh-fuh
intruder, huh?” yelled Hemsford as he tried to grab Jonathan. “Wildstar, let me
put this Goddamn kid through the bulkhead!” yelled the big bald
African-American Marine officer as Jonathan nearly whizzed in his shorts,
knowing that he was on the giant man’s bad side.
“No,
wait!” cried Nova as she stood there wrapped in her bedsheet with a now
bottomless (save for his underpants) Dellar trying to hide behind her as she protected
him from Hemsford. “Hemsford, they were just being kids!”
“Kids who have a hell of a lot to explain!” snapped Derek as he
shook Jonathan’s shoulders himself. “I thought you were more mature than that, Jonathan! What the
hell are you doing encouraging
Dellar? You are in a metric buttload of trouble, young Junior Cadet!”
“Encouraging him?” said
Jonathan.
“Whoever sabotaged that blast door knew just how our circuits
worked,” snapped Sandor. “And I understand you’re trained in shipboard repairs,
Mister Hartnell!” he barked.
Jonathan began to cry. “I’m sorry, sir! I was planning to fix this
later! Honest!”
“We’ll deal with you later,” said Derek. “Alex and Conor and I,
that is,” he added as a cold chill went down the boy’s spine. “Nova, we have
some more serious business to deal with. Desslok’s going to be on board ship in
about twenty minutes. After you get him cleaned up, his mother has a change of
clothes to put on him! They’re going to be wanted by Desslok at a meeting on
our
“A meeting?” said Nova. “What happened when I was asleep?”
“Desslok and Astrena will be here, Venture will be here, Starsha
will be here, Alex will be here, that Pellian officer will be here, and Conor
will be here,” said Derek. “The Comet Empire has just called Desslok with an
offer to end the war, and Commanding General Singleton wants me to send our
answer to General Dyre. Nova, with all respect, uniform of the day will not be a bedsheet!”
Nova blushed down to her toes at that. “Yessir. I’ll get decent ASAP.
I also have to clean this little urchin up.”
Derek looked over Jonathan. “You look clean enough, I guess,” he
sighed. “Oh, Nova,” he added. “When you get showered and dressed, Doctor Sane
needs to be set free from that toilet.”
“Dawn and I will get to that,” sighed Nova. “When are we calling
the Comet Empire?”
“Sixteen-thirty,” said Derek.
“Which means we don’t have much time,” said Kitano.
Derek shoved Jonathan towards Sandor. “Take him with you and start
getting that damage fixed, Steve!” snapped
the Commodore.
“Yessir,” said Sandor. “C’mon, son. We have a lot of work to do.”
“Yessir,” sighed Jonathan.
In the meantime, Stovall/Ekogaru and Invidia/”Katrina” walked up a
hill towards the dockyard on New Fiji Island from out of a patch of jungle
(where Ekogaru had transported both of them).
Before long, the two of them were walking towards the Argo, which was sitting peacefully
anchored at its dock, awaiting her official visitors.
“Just follow my lead,” whispered Ekogaru as he submerged most of
himself behind the identity of now-recently promoted Marine Sergeant Michael
Stovall. “I”ve arranged it so we have an alibi to be here.”
Invidia nodded, feeling more lost and uncertain than ever as she
literally walked past the grey-blue bulk of the enemy Earth space battleship
that had defeated her so many times.
They stopped at the gangplank as one of the Argo’s Marine Group snapped to and barred the way with his blaster
rifle. He was followed by his partner.
“Halt!” snapped the
Marine, another Sergeant by the looks of the insignia on his collar. “This is a
restricted area!”
Stovall halted and saluted. “Sergeant Michael Stovall, on special
assignment from the Shiryu, Gunny. My
job is to act as the official escort for Lieutenant Savela here from the
Pellian forces. She’s aboard for an official meeting on board ship we were
informed of.”
“Is she supposed to be
aboard, Sarge?” said the other Star Force Marine, who was a Corporal.
“Boss said a Pellian was showing up; and we got word it was
supposed to be a girl,” said the Gunnery Sergeant guarding the Argo. “Pellian, drop your ID on the deck!” said the Marine as he gestured
with his rifle.
Katrina nodded and threw down her ID card. The Gunnery Sergeant
picked it up.
“Yeah, Savela…that was the weird pilot chick’s name. She’s
supposed to be with Astrena and Aliscea,” said the Gunnery Sergeant. “Okay, Buck Sergeant,” snapped the Gunny. “Take
your girl aboard. She’s restricted to the observation decks and the
“I think I’ll go right to the bridge and wait,” said Katrina as
Stovall nodded at her. “Let’s go, Sergeant.”
“Are you familiar with the ship?” said the Gunny to Stovall.
“Sort of,” said Stovall.
“Well, you’d better let Jacobs walk you up. Corporal, show them to
Bridge One.”
“Aye, aye, Sarge,” said Jacobs.
And, at that, Princess Invidia boarded the Argo.
She wondered why Ekogaru had her aboard, but she would soon find
out.
“ARRRRGGGHHHH!” cried Dellar as he stood in the shower before
Nova.
Now, he had nothing on.
Neither did Nova.
Nova, whose experiences as a nurse was spraying him from behind
with a hand-held shower head in the blue-tiled shower stall in the lobby of the
Captain’s Quarters in the head behind a hatch as the Gamilon Heir cried. Then
she scrubbed him down like crazy with her favorite yellow soap as he tried to
run for it.
Mrs. Wildstar, luckily, knew when to be firm in just the right
manner with a little…brat. Her recent bathtime experiences back on Earth with
her own kid brother and sister were a great preparation for this job; which
included grabbing his wrist and holding it firmly as he tried to kick her.
“You’re getting soap in
my eyes!” he screamed. “Momma doesn’t wash me like that!”
“You’re going to be clean all over,
Dellar,” giggled Nova as she scrubbed his backside. “We need more soap! That’s
not clean enough yet!”
“WAAAAAAAAA!” screamed Dellar as Nova sprayed him again with the shower
head and then turned to scrubbing him more. “Under the terms of the Shadow
Proclamation, this is torture!”
“Oh, be quiet! You’ve got grease on your butt,” said Nova as she began to work there. “How in the name of
God above did you get grease there?
Not even Derek manages that one when he works on that plane…”
The room was full of steam as someone knocked at the hatch. “Who
is it?” Nova called.
“His father,” said Desslok from outside. “Are you ready yet? His
mother is here.”
“Almost, Desslok!” said Nova as she scrubbed and rinsed Dellar’s
hair.
He cried some more as Nova spurted water on his toes and then did
her own, giggling as suds ran over both of their feet.
Finally, as he cried, Nova got done with the shower, wrapping a
towel around Dellar and wrapping one around herself as fast as she could…as
Desslok and Astrena tapped at the hatch again. “He’s almost dry!” said Nova as
she opened the hatch and gave Dellar a pat on the tush as the soaking-wet
Gamilon Heir ran out into the small passage at the head of the stairs before
the door to the Captain’s quarters that Nova and Derek shared on the Argo.
“You had me so worried,” said Astrena as she hugged her son and
then gave him a shot on the behind.
The Bathing of Dellar © 2008 by M.C. Crump/Max Damage,
used by Permission
“Owww!” protested
Dellar.
“It’s all right,” said Desslok. “The problem with your operation,
Dellar, was that you got caught,” said Desslok as he shook his son sternly. “If
you ever are to sabotage anything again, you are to ensure that you do not get
caught, and you are also to ensure that your target is worth Gamilon’s efforts!
Gamilons do not sabotage their allies’ ships! It only causes great difficulty
and diplomatic harm later! Are we clear on that, Dellar?”
“Yessir,” said Dellar as he looked down at his toes.
Desslok patted him on the head. “Just be more cautious, son. Now,
you shall be at my side for a lesson on when to speak and when to remain quiet.
We are to hear from the Comet Empire today, and we are to be forceful with our
enemy…in just the right fashion. The enemy is showing his weakness. As such, we
are to be canny and careful on how to exploit it. Are we clear?”
“Yessir,” said Dellar.
“That does not include using marbles on them,” said Desslok with a
smirk. “Astrena, get him dressed in there?” said Desslok. Desslok then stuck
his head into the bathroom. “Please be dressed as soon as possible, Nova.”
Desslok had caught her (luckily) in her underwear. “Yes, Desslok,”
she sighed. “I’m getting dressed as fast as I can,” she said.
“Good,” said Desslok. “I’ll tell Wildstar we’ll be ready soon.”
“Thanks,” sighed Nova as she slammed the hatch shut. “Now, go away,” she mumbled. She shook her head,
looked at the hatch, and pulled down an eyelid and stuck out her tongue before
continuing to dry herself. My hair makes
me look like a drowned bilge rat…darn, the little curls at my cheeks are wet!
she thought as she flipped a strand out of her face and huffed.
A while later, Nova got dried and dressed in her uniform top,
skirt, and sandals as she went below to meet with Derek, Sandor, Homer and
Kitano on the First Bridge.
“How is the work going on verifying the frequencies we’ll be using
to contact the Comet Empire?” said Wildstar as he looked at Homer.
“The frequencies are set, and we did a test message to the Eritz Gatlantis already,” said Homer.
“We can get through.”
“Wildstar,
what did Earth tell you to do?” said Sandor as Derek bowed his head while Nova
looked at him with concern.
“Simple,” he said. “The bottom line was to get them to end the war as soon as
possible, unconditionally,” said Derek. “I spoke with Desslok, Starsha, and
Astrena earlier. We had agreed on giving the enemy five Earth days to get out
of the Magellenic Clouds, and Earth agrees with us. So do the Rikashans,” said
Wildstar as Baron Deklin, a bearded Rikashan who wore a turban, came onto the Argo’s bridge with a nod.
“What do you think, sir?” said Kitano.
“I think it’s a big waste of time,” said Derek with a sigh. “You
know how they break agreements.”
“Who’s going to speak for us, Derek?” asked Nova.
Wildstar stood in silence. “They agreed I would. And I feel like
the weight of the world is on my shoulders right now, Nova.”
“You know what to say,” said Nova as she came up to Derek and
patted his arm as Starsha and Alex came up onto the Argo’s bridge. “We know you’ll say the right thing,” said Nova.
“And that is?” said Derek as he felt great self-doubt as Mark
Venture, Holly Venture, Paul Rosstowski, and Aliscea came onto the First Bridge.
“You’ll say the truth, Derek,” said Nova. “You’ll say what is
right,” she said. “Because that is the only thing you can say, Derek.”
Wildstar nodded as Deke and Sasha came onto the increasingly
crowded bridge. “Who said you could
come up?” said Wildstar to the Wakefields.
“Mother,” said Sasha. “She wants us up here.”
Derek nodded again as Doctor Sane, freed from his prison, followed
Stovall and the Pellian woman that Nova had noticed the other day up on the
bridge.
Deke gave Stovall a very dirty look, but the evil Sergeant ignored
him as he stood by “Katrina” as she was greeted by Aliscea.
“Lady,” she said in her accent as she bowed to Aliscea, who stood
there in her black dress and sandals, even though it galled Katrina to do so.
“Do you have a hard time showing obedience to your Lady?” snapped
Aliscea.
“No,” said “Katrina” as she cleared her throat, not believing she
had made it onto the bridge of the Argo
at last. This is the famed Argo?
Invidia thought. It looks so old…so
primitive….
Then, finally, after Conor brought Jonathan to the
“Captain,” he said in a low voice. “One way or another, Commodore
Derek Wildstar, your heir, is about to make history here today. I wish him and
all of us success,” he said as he bowed in respect to Captain Avatar.
Then, Desslok turned. “Commodore Wildstar. We all know why we are
here. Open a channel to the Comet Empire. We know what we will tell Dyre.”
“Of course,” said Derek as he walked over to the Astro-Compass.
“Homer. Open the circuit. Visual and audio.”
“Yessir,” said Homer.
After a moment, Homer worked the board. “The Eritz Gatlantis is acknowledging us,” he said. “Opening channel to
the palace of the
Derek Wildstar cleared his throat as the video panel changed from
green to an image that Invidia recognized at once; the image of what had been
her own throne room.
Invidia made a tight fist and shut her eyes as she recognized
General Dyre sitting in her own throne. She knew better to think anything now,
because she could feel Aliscea watching her very carefully for some reason. She
thought that maybe her disguise was about to be stripped from her, whether she
liked it or not.
“Stand firm,” whispered Stovall/Ekogaru in her ear. “Say nothing.”
Invidia nodded as Dyre looked down at Wildstar from the main screen.
“So you are the one that Desslok has appointed to speak for us, son?” said Dyre with a slight smile.
“I have been appointed to speak by all of the
“Yes, I know who you are, lad,” said Dyre. “I am General Dyre of
the House Gatlantis, Prince of the House ever since the effective abdication
and disappearance of Princess Invidia. The war that we have recently been
fighting was largely the idea of the Princess, who is now either dead or a
fugitive. As best I can, we offer our apologies for all of the casualties and
pain that we have caused you.”
“Good, because you damn well owe
us an apology,” snapped Wildstar. “We understand you want a truce.”
“Yes. We ask for a truce, with negotiations to follow later on,”
said Dyre. “We are prepared to accept most of the terms of the peace you
offered us months ago, with…”
“We’ll talk conditions later, if there are any,” said Derek. “How
soon do you plan to get your forces out of the Magellenic Clouds? You recently
threatened and attacked many of the populated worlds here, and you put Iscandar
and Gamilon under some kind of ultimatum the last time you spoke to us. Do you
withdraw that ultimatium?”
“We do,” said Dyre.
“Do you withdraw your threat upon Earth?” snapped Derek. “I’m not
gonna agree to a damn thing unless you can promise us and promise my Government
you’re gonna damn well leave the Milky Way Galaxy alone.”
“We agree to withdraw from a position menacing the Milky Way,
yes,” said Dyre as he sweated. “And,” he said as Desslok glared at him. “The
same goes for the Great Magellenic Cloud and the Lesser Clouds, too. We propose
you allow us ten Earth days to pull back our forces under truce before the
cease-fire becomes permanent.”
“Five days,” said Derek.
Dyre stood with his mouth open. “Excuse me?”
“You get five days to get your forces out of here,” said Derek.
“Actually, we are being generous. Desslok was going to give you two days.”
“That is an outrage,” hissed Dyre.
“Your war has been an
outrage!” snapped Derek. “Five days. Or we will hunt you down and attack and
destroy your Eritz Gatlantis, wherever it is!”
“You’re discussing genocide,” said Dyre as he sweated.
“You started the
genocide, we’ll finish it,” said
Wildstar. “Five days, Dyre. We’ll honor the truce for five days. If we find a
single Cometine ship anywhere in our space as we have specified in a
supplementary text message attached to this message within five Earth days,
we’ll counterattack, General Dyre. Five days. Think about it.”
“We will do as you ask,” snapped Dyre.
“If you break the truce, we’re back at war,” said Wildstar. “No ifs, ands, or buts. Understood?”
Dyre nodded. “You have my word, Commodore Derek Wildstar. As a man
of war, like you, you have our word. It ends now.”
“It had better,” said Wildstar. “For now, over and out, General
Dyre. Good luck.”
“Thank you,” said Dyre. “We will comply.”
At that, the transmission was cut off at Dyre’s end.
“Not bad, Derek,” said Alex as he strode over and shook his
younger brother’s hand.
“Thanks,” replied Derek after he drew a deep breath.
“I thank you,” said Desslok.
“For what?” said Derek.
“For standing up, my friend, for what we believe in,” said Desslok
as he shook Wildstar’s hand.
“Thanks, Desslok,” replied Derek.
At that, the tense meeting ended.
Invidia got out of there with Stovall as soon as possible and left
the Argo.
She felt so betrayed by Dyre that she was almost ready to scream.
But, she didn’t dare do so.
I
have just heard the end of my war, and not on my terms… she
thought. Unless I do something about it…
Later on that same day…
Around dinner that evening on the Argo, scuttlebutt about the events of
the past three days was really flying around the ship.
“You think it’s over?” said Bando
from the Mechanical Group. “I wasn’t up on the bridge earlier, Eager.”
“I was,” said Eager as he dug into
his soup. “Wildstar and Dyre were actually talkin’ turkey. Hard to believe this
war might be over with nothin’ more than a message. I hope we can go home soon!”
“That
“Do you like the Gamilons?” said
another pilot from the Black Tigers, a black man named Lieutenant Albertson.
“They’re good pilots,” said Bando
from Mechanical Group.
“Lousy people skills,” said Wise
from the Trojans.
“What about the pregnant chicks on
this ship?” said some man from Combat who sat down with the pilots at their
table. He dragged along someone from Flight Maintenance.
“What’s your name?” said Bando.
“Ensign Christine Tobias,” said
the young African-American woman from Flight Maintenance and Control as she
saluted Bando while puffing up her natural hairdo. “First mission on this ship.
I can’t believe that Angie Hartcliffe in my unit. Whining all the time about
her bun in the oven and she still wears the usual skin-tight ladies’ uniform
where you can’t help but see the bun
in her oven, baby! She outranks me but I feel like I do half the girl’s work.”
“I’m Senior Lieutenant Hyoshi
Bando,” Bando said. “I work under Sandor.”
“You ever get up on the bridge?”
said Tobias.
“Definitely,” said Bando.
“Then what do you think of the
whale?” she whispered.
“Whale?” said Bando.
Wise looked around nervously and
then said, “I think she means Commander Wildstar.”
“Oh, yeah, Nova,” whispered the
guy from Combat. “Albertson?”
“She still wears a bikini, man!”
chuckled Albertson. “At nearly seven months along? She’s one crazy woman.”
“All she does is encourages Angie
to stay at her post and try to work,” said Christine. “I think they should both
take the next ship home. Or get ground duty at the base. It ain’t right, them
bein’ on the ship like that! What are they bucking for? Miscarriages?”
“Nova’s one fresh lady,” said
Eager. “I heard she just told the Gamilon heir off!”
“He’s just five,” said Tobias.
“So what?” He’s Desslok’s kid,”
said Eager. “Funny as hell! Six years ago we were fightin’ him, now we’re
babysittin’ his young ‘un!”
“What’s this one?” said Wise. “I
heard she went to Gamilon with Sasha and
“Those two are a pair from…I don’t
know where, but it ain’t this Earth,” said Christine.
“Sasha’s half from this place,”
said Eager. “No wonder she’s weird.”
“Nova’s weird too,” said
Christine. “Maybe hanging out with Starsha and that really weird Aliscea from
the
“Hey, both the Whale and the
Princess are weird,” said the man from Combat. He shook Eager’s hand and said,
“Master Sergeant Kiranami, sir. From Pulse Laser Deck Bravo. My wife and kids are back on Earth where
they belong.”
“A-men,” said Christine. “Preach
it, brothuh!”
“Yeah,” said Kiranami. “They
belong home on Earth, barefoot and pregnant.”
“Half the time Nova is
half-barefoot anyway lately,” said Eager. “Wears those Operatin’ Room
flip-flops half the time. She even had those sandals on when we were talkin’
with Dyre earlier! But don’t get on her bad side, Tobias! She’s Old Guard Star
Force like me and all STRAC and special forces and decorated so damn much you
could make a quilt outta that girl’s medal strip.”
“Is she…funny?” said Christine.
“She tells good jokes,” said
Eager.
“No, funny like AC/DC Henson I
heard about?” whispered Christine. “You don’t know if you’re gonna find her
with a girl or a guy. And Sandor’s serious
about her?”
“Nova ain’t like that,” said
Eager. “She’s dedicated to Wildstar and all girl. Does her job, and if ya doubt
her devotion to the skipper, lookit that stomach. She’s havin’ twins.”
“Three little precious Wildstars
bouncing around on a Medical Boat…one workin’ the boat, two in the oven…” said
Christine as she shook her head. Then, Angie showed up with her head down.
“Hey, Hartcliffe,” cooed Tobias. “Wanna sit with us, ma’am? We got room for two more!”
Some of the others laughed while
Eager and Bando looked at each other and got very uncomfortable.
“No…thanks,” said Angie. “I’ll…sit
by myself…”
Angie walked away, with tears
glittering in her eyes behind her glasses as she sat down at a table no one
wanted to occupy. She tried to eat and then just gave up and sat with her head
in her hands crying.
Tobias was about to have a little
fun when the room suddenly went deadly quiet as a figure was spotted in line.
A figure in gold in black in a
skirt.
A figure with honey-blonde hair
and a stomach no one on the Argo
could miss now.
“Oh, crap,” said Kiranami. “I’m
outta here.”
“Why?” said Eager.
“The whale is among us,” said
Kiranami. “And the lady has very good ears!”
“I still think she should be…,” began
Tobias when Nova suddenly walked by with her tray and gave her a bland look
that silently said What in the Name of
Heaven are you talking about again?
Nova then spotted Angie crying and
immediately sat down with her.
“I’m outta here,” whispered Wise.
“You’re leavin’ your food,” said
Eager.
“You eat it, sir,” said Wise. He
left.
Eager and Bando felt very
uncomfortable as Nova quickly had a sisterly arm around Angie’s shoulders as
she sobbed. Bando decided to go when he overheard Nova saying, “It’s all right,
Lieutenant. Shhh… Who said it?”
As Bando left, he saw Nova getting
out a standard-issue blue Report and Incident Pad from the hip pocket of her
skirt, along with a pen, as she began writing up a storm.
Kiranami got up just as he saw
Nova squeezing Angie’s hand and saying, “You’re not resigning. Don’t worry.
I’ll take care of this. I’m back on watch in half an hour,” she said. Angie
smiled a little as Nova harrumphed, left her dinner, and turned to face
Kiranami, asking, “Sergeant, where
are you going?”
“Ma’am, with all respect, you’re
not in my chain of command,” he said.
“Wrong,” said Nova in a soft but
flat voice. “I’m back on watch soon. As Officer of the Deck for this evening.
As soon as I eat, I’m up on the
Everyone at Eager’s table
immediately gave Nova an “oh, shit,”
look.
“I’m very glad to be here,” said
Nova calmly. “And Sergeant Kiranami and Miss Tobias are on report. Come see me on the
“Where’s the skipper?” said
Tobias.
“Off-duty, trying to sleep. I put
him to bed myself…he’s had a very
hard day,” said Nova as she tapped her foot. Only Eager knew her well enough to
know she was in slow-boil mode. “As Living Group Leader. I am responsible for
the welfare and morale of the crew, by the way. That means the entire crew of this vessel and command.
Good morale is not served by calling pregnant service members “whales” and
recommending they stay home. People in our position are only restricted by
profile from high-performance spacecraft and excessive exposure to radiation in
the Engineering and Gunnery spaces. I am not about to go in the wave motion gun
firing room during a firing sequence in my swimwear. Out on a towel on the
beach or foredeck on rec period is another story. As long as I can still fit into my bikini, that is. Are we
clear, people?”
“Aye, aye, ma’am,” they chorused,
some reluctantly.
“Good. Oh. I am mono-frequency.
Not AC/DC,” said Nova calmly. “And the rumors about Miss Henson, Mister
Gabriel, Sergeant Tammy MacKenzie, and Mister Kuranama are not exactly
wholesome dinner topics. At least not while I
am eating dinner in the same mess with you. Clear?”
“Yes, ma’am,” they said.
Nova nodded and walked off to try
and console Angie and finish her own dinner.
A few minutes later, Nova stalked
into a neaby head, slammed the stall door shut as hard as she could, and sat
down on the commode and began to cry her eyes out.
“I’m so fat!” she said. “Derek’s such a sweetheart, but I’m ugly right now! My ankles hurt, I can’t
even fit in my old boots anymore three-quarters of the time, my back hurts, I
feel like throwing up half the time and my breasts hurt! And some of these
idiots are laughing at me the way the Space Marines did six years ago! Maybe I
should go inactive and go live in the
Nova sat on the seat crying until
a tap came at the hatch. “Go away!”
she barked through her tears. “I want to be alone
for a minute!”
“Ma’am,” said a voice she didn’t
expect to hear. “It’s Diane. Can we talk?”
Nova threw open the hatch and
said, “What do you want, Henson?”
“Just to thank you for sticking up
for me, Nova,” she said with a small grin. “And to tell you that you look very cute pregnant. Don’t let the buggers get
you down!”
“Is this some damn joke?” Nova
snorted.
“Ma’am, you’re number three in the
chain of command of this boat now due to seniority after Derek and Steve,” said
Diane as she grabbed Nova’s hands. “And every woman on this ship I know of
looks up to you! We love your spirit and self-confidence, ma’am!”
“Not that Tobias,” said Nova. “She
almost implied I was some…floozie or something…which I am not!”
“That lady’s got problems, ma’am.
One of the
“I…” said Nova.
“You’re the heart of this ship,
Nova. It won’t be the same without you on board. But some of us are taking bets
on you coming back in a few years after your kids are bigger and after you
finish med school and residency. It’s an open secret that Doc Sane is starting
to get old and may want to retire.
When he does, his office in that Sickbay is yours, Nova! You’ll be back with us
in a couple of years. Don’t deny it, Mom. And thanks for sticking up for me,
even if I know you may not necessarily…approve of who I am.”
“You are a good officer,” said
Nova. “What you do in private is none of my
business.”
“You’ve got morals and guts.
You’re far better for Derek than I ever would have been!”
“But you’ll be fine for Steve,”
said Nova as she referred to Sandor. “You two set a date yet?”
Diane’s eyes widened.
“Come on, I have my ear to every
railroad track the Scuttlebutt Express runs on,” said Nova with a little grin.
“And I have multiple sources of intelligence. I know things about this command
that Derek doesn’t know about. Things have happened on this ship that would
make a very nice Harlequin Romance,” said Nova with a giggle. “Or something
spicy they’d have to sell in a plastic wrapper like a naughty book or manga.”
“I…I thank you, ma’am….for being
supportive…I…”
Nova and Diane talked more for
about another ten minutes, sharing secrets, sharing confidences and sharing
dreams and schemes that made even Diane blush. Some of them were about the man
they had both shared; namely one Commodore Wildstar. In fact, these two women,
who had once been enemies, were now closer than ever.
Nova left the head with her head
held high, knowing she was not going anywhere soon. I’m staying here, Nova thought. And
I’m seeing this through with Derek. No matter what happens. No matter who talks
trash to me. I won’t give up. And I won’t be scared of anyone. Not even Satan
himself, if he were to show up on this command.
Nova was smiling when she reached
the bridge and took her post as Officer of the Deck from Yamazaki.
All was right with the world, and no one was going to get her down.
No matter what they said about her being in a bikini.
Even while pregnant.
V.
MARKING TIME
Planet
Iscandar
The
Vicinity of New
Space
Battleship Argo
Sunday
June 14, 2207: 1400 Hours Earth Space-Time
On the Argo, a very tense two days passed.
On the Argo, Jonathan was on board, cleaning brass and other parts of the ship,
mostly under Nova’s tutelage, as he served a few days’ worth of extra duty as
punishment for his pranks the other day.
Nova finally eased up a little and
let him take a late lunch with her as they sat together in the messhall and
talked, mostly about Jonathan’s new life in the Fleet.
“My Mom doesn’t like my being
here,” he said as he ate some sushi. “But Dad is glad that I’m learning stuff.”
“How does your mother Astra feel
about you?” asked Nova as she dipped some of her own sushi in the mixture of wasabi
and soy sauce she had made up with her bento
box. Nova then gripped the bite-sized tidbit with her chopsticks and eagerly
ate it.
“I don’t think she likes me much,”
said Jonathan. “You actually treat me better than she does. Even when you’re
mad at me.”
“How can that be?” said Nova.
“You pay attention to me, even
when you’re screaming at me,” said Jonathan with a smile. “Mom mostly pretends
I don’t exist. I don’t like that much.”
“I think I have to have a long
talk with your Mother when this war is over,” said Nova. “Coming home with us?”
“I almost wish I could stay here
on Iscandar,” sighed Jonathan. “But Mom won’t like it. I like being on Iscandar
better than being at home on Earth in that Embassy.”
“Do you like anything on Earth
anymore?” said Nova.
“I like school; and I like staying
with you and Uncle Derek, honestly,” said Jonathan with a bowed head. “I almost
wish I could stay with you guys for a long time. Sure, Uncle Derek yells at me,
and you nag me to do stuff…”
“But?” said Nova.
“You two treat me like a kid, a
kid who matters,” said Jonathan. “Astra…I don’t know what Astra…my Mom…this is
horrible…treats me like…”
“An annoyance?” said Nova.
Jonathan nodded tearfully.
“We’ll have to think about this,”
said Nova. “I don’t think that’s right…”
“Nova?” said Jonathan.
“Yes?”
“When you have…your kids…your own
kids inside you, I mean? What will you treat them like?”
“My children,” said Nova. “Not as
annoyances. Children are not annoyances. They are people. And gifts from God.”
“How does it feel, being
pregnant?”
Nova smiled. “Sort of like walking
around with odd socks on. Or your underwear on the outside of your pants. Or
even having no pants on at all!”
“Really?” he giggled.
Nova blushed and smiled. “But it’s
really kind of wonderful. You’ll understand some day when you marry a nice
girl, Jonathan. You do like girls, right?”
Jonathan blushed. “Yeah…I like
girls. I…”
Nova giggled and gave him a kiss
on the forehead. “That’s okay. I had a hard time talking about how I felt about
boys when I was your age. I did for years…until I met Uncle Derek.”
“Then?” said Jonathan.
“Then, all the stars fell from the
sky, and all my wishes came true,” said Nova in a dreamy voice as she thought
of her husband. “Sorry. I’m talking all girly. The way…”
“The way, what?”
“The way I’ll talk to my daughter
someday,” said Nova as she looked at her stomach. “The daughter who is almost
ready to be born…”
Jonathan smiled and got back to
eating his food. He and Nova didn’t talk much for a few minutes, but…
Jonathan looked at her as she
quietly ate, and he allowed himself to openly think, I don’t like my adopted Mom much, he thought. God forgive me, but right now, I wish Nova was my Mom…
VI.
RENDEZVOUS WITH DESTINY
Deep
Space
Somewhere
in the Great Magellenic Cloud
Cometine
Spacecraft Carrier Mikronja
Monday
June 15, 2207: 0800 Hours Space-Time
The Mikronja, carrying Princess Invidia, the Pellian plane that Ekogaru
had transported back there, and Stovall and Michelle, was now close to a
rendezvous with a huge space fleet at the edge of the Sapphira System, a system
where Gamilon had a small outpost. The outpost had not yet picked up the fleet,
nor had it picked up the huge ship in orbit of the second planet of the system;
namely the Eritz Gatlantis.
“Well, Princess?” said Captain Jena on his carrier’s
bridge. He was still, at this point, Invidia’s lover.
Invidia smiled evilly at him. She
had lost the effects of Trelaina’s temporary transformation upon arriving back
on her carrier, and she was now wearing one of her red and pink dresses, had
her hair back in her widows’ peak, and had her pin of rank in her hair again.
She was, once again, the dreaded Princess Invidia. Michelle shivered a bit at
the transformation, because she had liked Invidia better disguised as the
Pellian pilot Katrina. “I wrote some false notes with the Pellians.
Undoubtedly, they have noticed “Katrina” missing by now. It matters little.
Should I ever have to use her identity again, I will be free to do so, and have
a cover story that she was captured by us again. Which, as it is, is not truly
a lie.”
“What about…?” whispered
“Stovall, doubtless, has been
written up as absent without leave by his forces,” smiled Invidia. “His
Lordship does not anticipate that he will ever have to walk amongst the
Earthlings as one of them again.”
“Correct,” said Stovall in his
unnatural deep voice. He looked five years older now, as more of his own
personality had died while the Dark Lord Ekogaru took even deeper possession of
him. “And, you people should know that I have things proceeding as I have
foreseen. You need not have any worries.”
“Who said I was worrying?” snapped
Invidia as she tapped her sandaled foot against the deck.
“I could read you were, Princess,”
purred Stovall as he held Invidia’s hand. “I am less mortal now; more myself
again. I am…Darkness.”
“We know that,” said
“They deserved it for their insolence,” grinned Ekogaru from inside
Stovall.
A moment later, one of
“I know where they are,” snapped
Invidia. “
“Yes, ma’am…”
A moment later, an unusual blond-haired Black
Nebulan with light-colored skin appeared on the screen. He bowed and said,
“Princess Invidia. I am glad you have returned.”
“Thank you, Skaldart,” she
snapped. “We have several jobs to do. The first is to force out Dyre and his
rump revolution on the Eritz Gatlantis.
I believe you have studied the plans we sent you?”
“Yes, we have,” he said. “We know
right where to hit them in order to cripple them. And our advance forces have
found that Dyre has the Comet field down for maintenance. There is no need to
attack that first…”
“Splendid!” laughed Invidia. “Go
to it.”
“As you wish,” said Skaldart as he
bowed and cut off.
AN HOUR LATER…
The Eritz Gatlantis, in orbit of the second planet of the system, was
suddenly falling under heavy attack from three corridors.
“What is happening?” demanded Dyre
as he ran to Central Control.
“Sir,” said Gorse as he saluted.
“It’s not Radnar. Scanning reports the ships attacking us are Black
Nebulan…with a smattering of our own ships helping them!”
“What?” snapped Dyre. “Skaldart
has turned traitor? Raise the upper shields! Open up the Magna-Flame Gun belt!
Blow him out of the stars once and for all!”
“Sir,” said an officer as he ran
up. “The main belt is badly damaged! We cannot raise the upper shields!”
“What?” hissed Gorse.
“We fired a burst at them, but
their Beta Energy mixed explosively with the burst when it hit and it blew a large
hole in the belt!” said another officer. “The power conduits are shorted out!
We cannot fire the Magna-Flame cannons!”
“Launch our fleet!” yelled Dyre.
“Engage them and blow them…”
The lights flashed in the Eritz Gatlantis as it took more damage.
“Several of the docks have been damaged. The lower part of the ship is under
attack!”
“What?” yelled Dyre.
One of Skaldart’s generals said, “Ready to fire!”
“Fire at will,” replied Skaldart.
Four Black Nebulan space battleships
fired their Beta Cannons again, and the bursts impacted low in the guts of the Eritz Gatlantis, which was now burning
in several places.
“
“
“Damn them,” hissed Dyre as he
pulled up an image on the deck screen of their tormentors; many Black Nebulan
space battleships, spacecraft carriers, Gorba Fortresses. All that had been
accumulated for the attack on Iscandar and Gamilon, now turned on him!
The Eritz
Gatlantis was now burning in several places, its integrity threatened by
Invidia’s rage!
“Signal coming in from one of our
rebel carriers,” said another officer.
“Put it on screen,” said Gorse.
On the deck screen came up an image
of a smirking Invidia, accompanied by a Terran Space Marine only a few
recognized.
“I have promoted Captain Jena to
Admiral,” said Invidia as she smiled. “I am the lawful Princess of this House.
You will let me back on board, Dyre, or I let Skaldart loose to finish you off.
Too bad you had your Comet Field down,
wasn’t it?” she said with a smile.
“What are you doing with that
Earthling Marine?” said Gorse. “Per your father’s rule, you cannot consort with
the enemy! You are not welcome back here, Invidia! You are no longer our
Princess!”
“I am and I am not the Marine
Stovall,” he said in a weird, deep voice. “I am the Lord Ekogaru of the Grand
Technomugar Race, returned to life again. Invidia and I have made a profitable
alliance. You will relent and let Invidia back to rule over you again and
punish you evildoers, or face our wrath, and my wrath!”
“Which is?” said Gorse.
Gorse then began to choke and
cough as Ekogaru raised his hand and smiled. “I can strangle you from this
distance, Gorse. Give the order to stand down and let us aboard, or you die
now…”
Gorse coughed, hacked and fell to
his knees. He then nodded fiercely at Dyre. Dyre nodded back and said,
“Princess, we will break this rule of your father’s for once. Come back aboard,
and…”
“I will,” said Invidia with a
smile. “Myself and several battallions of Black Nebulan troops.”
Then, she cut off.
A while later, Invidia and Ekogaru
stood with Michelle (who was stunned by the carnage) and Skaldart in a
conference room in the Eritz Gatlantis
along with a platoon of Black Nebulan troopers with their weapons turned on the
Gatlantean General Staff. Invidia had returned, yes, and she had let Black
Nebulans loose throughout the ship. Many officers, as well as women and
children, had simply been slaughtered like animals on Invidia’s orders as her
arrival led to a new wave of what was basically terrorism and anarchy in the
Cometine base ship. Part of the area stank with the smoke of a recent fire and
of death as Invidia herself stood at the head of the table with a blaster in
her hand grinning at Dyre.
“It is understood that I am again
Princess of this House?” she snapped.
“Yes, Princess,” said Dyre in a
dull voice. “I am sorry for my rebellion, and…”
“And we do not make truces with
the enemy without my permission?” she
hissed.
Dyre nodded.
“And we proceed with the attack
upon the Sanzar System as planned?” she snapped.
The others nodded dully.
Then, Invidia said, “General Dyre,
for your treachery, I strip you of your ranks and honors as of now. And I will
put you to death. The sentence will be immediate. May Arishna have mercy upon
your rotten soul,” she said with a smile.
Then, she raised her weapon and
shot Dyre in the heart. The General gasped, and he fell face-first to the
table, dead.
“Gorse, take his place,” snapped
Invidia. “I warn you, further disloyalty will not be tolerated!”
“Yes, Princess,” he said with a
servile nod.
“Now, let us begin to plan for the
attack, shall we?” said Invidia with a smile as she sat down. “We have much to
discuss.”
VII.
A PEACE DISTURBED…
Planet
Iscandar
Part
of the Southern Coast of the Great Continent
Sunday
June 21, 2207: 1002 Hours Earth Space-Time
“Derek…I…I love you so much…”
gasped Nova Wildstar as she knelt on her knees on a beach blanket in the sun on
the beach near their villa on Taniquitel.
Nova was all alone with Commodore
Derek Wildstar, her dear husband. She was nude on the beach towel, having
jumped right into the ocean for a morning swim after getting out of bed and
after getting a liberty shower without putting anything at all on. Derek was
also naked as he made slow, sweet love to her, running his hands through her
slightly wet hair as he whispered in her ear and their sweet sighs and gasps
resounded
“I love you, too…my God…” gasped
Derek. He kissed her yet again and fondled her breasts from behind, touching
her stomach, smiling at the life growing within her pregnant belly. Nova
shivered deliciously, and tears of joy ran down her cheeks as her body
responded to his lovemaking, with her fingers and toes clutching the warm sand
at the edges of the beach blanket as their symphony again reached a crescendo
and both of them cried out in joy at their release.
They collapsed side by side together a moment later
in a happy, sweaty heap like two teenagers, laughing as they kissed and
caressed each other as they caught their breath.
“Nova, if the truce holds,” said
Derek. “I am tempted to keep you here on this beach as my naked love slave for
the next year…”
“Silly,” said Nova as she kissed
him. “I’m going to have our children in two months. What do we do then?”
“I’ll wrap you in my coat and take
you to the ship or the base hospital so you can have our children. Then, I’ll
bring you back here, and keep you in as little as possible while you take care
of them…”
“Hmmm,” teased Nova.
“Breastfeeding them would be much easier if I just went topless for about nine
months. I’d only wear bikini bottoms or a grass skirt if someone showed up…I’d
put my shoes and boots away because I wouldn’t wear any…and I wouldn’t mind
getting wet if the babies splashed me in the bath, because I’d be naked or
topless all the time. I wonder how long it’d take for you to get me pregnant
again if I ran around like that playing native girl?”
“Not long, probably,” laughed
Derek. He laughed hard and hugged Nova. “Wouldn’t it be great, seriously, if
this war was just over?”
Nova nodded. “We haven’t heard
anything from the enemy. The Gamilons and Rikashans told us they haven’t
attacked anywhere, and they can’t find their forces in the Magellenic Clouds.”
Nova smiled as Derek ran his finger over her breasts, stomach, and down to her
hip. “Call me crazy, but I think it’s over.”
“If it is, we might get orders to
return to Earth soon,” replied Derek. “Then, we can go home, enjoy some leave
before our next assignments…”
“Set up the nursery at home,” said
Nova.
Derek nodded. “I wonder what our
life is going to be like with two newborns in the house?”
“I think it’ll be
wonderful…although we may be a bit short of sleep,” said Nova as she put
Derek’s hand on her stomach so he could feel one of the babies kicking. “Alex
is awake in there. Feel him?”
“Alex, you’re too young to know
about what your mommy and I were just up to,” whispered Derek to his wife’s
stomach as she giggled. She giggled again when he kissed her tummy. He got a
devilsh grin as he changed position and began to kiss Nova down her stomach.
“That’s for little Ariel,” he said as he kissed Nova near her belly button.
Then, he kissed her lower stomach, her hips, and then her inner thighs as Nova began
to sigh. “And this is for Mommy,” he whispered as Nova parted her legs for a
set of loving, tender kisses on the unashamedly bare rosette of her femaleness
that soon turned very loving and intimate.
Nova threw back her head and
smiled as Derek slowly sent her to Heaven yet again while he played with her
breasts. His kisses and nuzzles teased her, went down her legs to her feet, her
insteps, her toes, and then back up to the center of her again as the romantic
samurai made the sensitive mother-to-be of his children feel gorgeous as she
whimpered with pleasure. Nova ran her hands through his hair as her body’s
excitement grew, and she called his name again and again as he brought her
again to the peak of excitement and pleasure.
He held her as she shivered and
kissed him. Her hands ran to his maleness as she prepared to reciprocate when
their commset, beside them on the blanket, and almost forgotten, began ringing.
“Ohhh…damnit!” he said.
“It’s the ship,” sighed Nova as
she picked it up and answered in a sleepy voice, making sure that the video
camera was off, thank you!
“Lieutenant Commander Wildstar,” she said.
“Nova,” came Homer’s voice. “Is
the Commodore there?”
“Yeah,” said Wildstar as he took
it. “What is it?”
“Sounds like we interrupted something, sir,” teased
Homer.
“Oh, shut up!” snapped Derek. “We’re on the beach all alone. No comment. What
is it, Lieutenant?”
“We need you guys back on the ship
in two hours,” said Homer. “We received word that the Comet Empire is calling us
at 1300 to discuss the truce and the end of the war.”
Nova broke out in a wide, joyful
smile at that. “Then it’s over?” she
said.
“They didn’t say that,” said
Homer. “They said that they were discussing the end of the war. I know…the
ship’s going crazy over the news. Desslok and Starsha and the whole gang will
be on the ship again by 1300. We’re supposed to talk to Earth right afterwards
for new orders from General Singleton. I’m not gonna count on it, but I think
we might be leaving Iscandar very soon.”
“Maybe,” said Derek. “We’ll be
back soon, Lieutenant. Over and out.”
“Well?” said Nova.
“We’d better get dressed; ASAP,”
said Derek. He kissed Nova and said. “If the news is good, this lovemaking
session will be continued tonight; aboard ship on our way home.”
“Derek,” smiled Nova as they
kissed and hugged.
ALMOST THREE HOURS LATER…
Derek and Nova were dressed again
in their uniforms and back on the Argo
with the rest of the crew. Almost everyone that had been aboard ship the other
day was there; Captain Venture and Holly, the Rosstowskis, Desslok, Talan,
Fraken, and Astrena, Alex and Starsha with Conor and Jonathan, and Deke and
Sasha Wakefield, along with both Hardys.
The air was pregnant with joy and
tension as Homer said, “Contact established with the Eritz Gatlantis…they seem to be somewhere outside the Great
Magellenic Cloud…”
“They actually withdrew,” said
Desslok, not quite believing the news that Fraken had given him. “They have
actually abided by a treaty. Now,
let’s see what Dyre has to say to us. He had better stand ready to accept my
overlordship over them as I press my legal claim again to be his ruler…”
“When that happens, you can command peace,” said Astrena as she held
hands with both Desslok and Aliscea.
Desslok nodded as he said,
“Commodore Wildstar, you again speak for us.”
Derek smiled as the Argo’s main screen brought up an image.
They were shocked when they
realized that the image was not that of Dyre, but…of Invidia.
“My God,” whispered Sasha.
“Deke…look who’s there beside her!”
“Stovall?” hissed
“Yes, I heard he went AWOL at the
same time Katrina disappeared,” said Sandor.
“Quiet!” snapped Commodore
Wildstar. “Princess Invidia,” said Derek. “Where is Prince Dyre?”
“Dead,” snapped Invidia. “I have
killed him. There have been some changes here in the Comet Empire since we last
spoke. Permit me to make some introductions.” Invidia smiled and gestured
towards Skaldart. “This is Holy Leader Skaldart, of the Black Nebulans. His forces
have been scattered ever since a disaster caused accidentially by Lord Ekogaru
some years ago, but he has regathered his forces and has renewed his treaty of
alliance with us. Ekogaru is here, as well, to make amends to him.”
“Ekogaru…is…there?” said Wildstar.
“Oh…my…GOD,” whispered Aliscea as
she held Paul.
“Aliscea?” said Paul Rosstowski.
“He’s there, damn him, he’s there!
Ekogaru is alive!” hissed Aliscea. “I
feel him from here! His cold…his
death!”
Sasha snuggled against Deke,
trembling with fear and anger as she felt the sickening cold presence that had
haunted her dreams; a presence tied to a person at last.
“Dekee,” she whispered. “HE’S IN
STOVALL! That’s where he’s been…all the time!”
“Crap,” hissed Deke.
Stovall came forward and smiled, baring
the Sphere in public for the first time ever as a shadow came over his face. “I
am former Space Marine Sergeant Michael Stovall. I have resigned my EDF rank,
and I have the pleasure of informing you, that Ekogaru the Great lives.”
“Where is he?” demanded Aliscea as
she bared her teeth in rage. “Declare yourself openly, Ekogaru, you
scum-master!”
Stovall’s face twisted again as he
laughed. “Inside him,” said Ekogaru in his unnaturally deep voice as the Sphere
gleamed with greenish, venomous light. “I survived the fall of my Fortress five
years ago, by moving my essence into this crystal globe. You found me on Earth
in the year 1968 some years later, and I almost conquered Earth’s past, only to
find myself cast out again. Luckily, I returned to our own time-period, in
“You bastard!” roared Deke in rage
as he came up beside Wildstar. “If I ever find you near Sasha again, I’ll….”
“You’ll do what, worm?” said Ekogaru and Stovall together
in a weird chorus as they both sneered at everyone. “The Great Starsha never
detected us. Neither did Astra, Sasha, Aliscea, or Astrena. And we were sitting
beside that idiot Cha’rif of Rikasha at one point on Melezart! Oh, Nova. You
looked beautiful naked and dying in
that shuttle after Invidia poisoned you! I just wanted to let everyone know
that!”
“I hate you!” screamed Nova at the screen with a venom that was
totally unexpected as a horrible cold ran up her bare legs beneath her uniform
skirt. “You are the sickest being I have ever met in the Universe!”
“How nice to hear that, Mrs.
Wildstar, pregnant with your own little spawn that Wildstar shoved into you.
Will they live? Will you ever give live birth? We shall see, mortal!”
As Nova made a fist, Ekogaru
laughed again and turned to Dawn. “Ahh…Mrs. Hardy,” said the weird gestalt of
the Dark Lord and Stovall. “You cried out like an animal that time we made love
when you were in college! And I loved taking those pictures of you for
“I’m not!” screamed Dawn.
“And you, Starsha,” hissed
Ekogaru. “Starsha, Queen who knows all, sees all, hear all. You never saw me,
even when I danced beside you at that ball, you bitch!” he snapped.
“Don’t you dare call her that!”
roared Alex as Starsha began to sob in his arms.
“I’ll do that and worse,” replied Ekogaru as he raised his
hand. Starsha began to twitch painfully in Alex’s arms, screaming with her eyes
rolling up in her head as Ekogaru attacked her mentally before she could even
raise her psychic shields.
“SURRENDER!” roared Ekogaru as
even Invidia looked a little sickened at the spectacle for a moment.
“Never…” gasped Starsha as Sasha
and Astrena ran to her side and Aliscea hissed and prepared to fight the Dark
One.
“ENOUGH!” barked Derek. “Ekogaru,
Invidia, Skaldart, what do you people want?”
“Surrender,” hissed Invidia as
Ekogaru let Starsha go, almost causing her to collapse. Alex held her up like a
rag doll as Astrena and Sasha tried to comfort her, and even Desslok turned to
stroke her hand. “Our forces will reach the Sanzar System any day now. There need not be any more war
if you just submit peacefully to our occupation of Iscandar and Gamilon. After
we finish there, we will prepare to do likewise, at planet Earth!” Invidia then
threw back her head and laughed.
“Never,” hissed Derek as Desslok
and Starsha both nodded.
“Then, I am afraid we are going to
have to fight a very bloody battle,”
said Skaldart. “Expect us soon. The truce is over. The war has started again.”
“This time, we are going to make sure
you lose!” laughed Invidia as she cut
off.
“Like hell you will,” said Derek
as he held Nova, who had come sobbing to his arms in shame and embarrasment.
“Like hell you will…”
END.
TO BE CONTINUED WITH BOOK EIGHT “THE BATTLES OF THE
MAGELLENIC CLOUD AND THE MILKY WAY”
To Return to the Introduction to The New Comet, click here