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’