ALTERNATE
TALES OF THE STAR FORCE
STAR BLAZERS—RADNAR’S
GAME
Being the sixth part of THE
NEW COMET--- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz
This Act is being completed with the
Cooperation and Assistance of Derek A.C. Wakefield (as usual)---Freddo
ACT ONE: A DARK NEW YEAR
I. THE BATTLES AT PLANET
POGI
The Edge of the Great
Magellenic Cloud
The Pogi System
200 Lightyears from the
Sanzar System
Wednesday, January 21,
2207
1600 Hours: Earthtime
Dagon’s
fleet had expanded, and it was currently protecting the rebuilt Gamilon base on
the dusty desert world of Pogi where Lysis had once made his hiding place.
Lysis
was long gone, now. Dagon had taken his place, and he was fighting hard against
a Cometine offensive that seemed to come back in another wave every few days.
It
was a maddening sort of war.
Every
time that the Gamilons thought they had a respite, the
Cometines had been coming back.
But
now, Dagon noticed, the Cometines had not been there for…roughly ten days.
“There’s
been no sign of the enemy?” said Desslok as he communicated with Dagon’s
flagship, the saucer-like command ship Pentrava.
“None, sir. They seem to have broken
off their attack that day and they left.”
“Do
you have an explanation why?”
“We
picked up a signal from the Andromeda region that came to them in code. My men
are still trying to decode and interpret it.”
“Very
well,” said Desslok. “Let me know as soon as you find out an answer. It is
important that we know why we have been able to enjoy…a respite from the war.”
Dagon
saluted and cut off.
II. DAWN’S DILEMNA
Medical Boat 21107
The Procyon Region
Tuesday, February 17,
2207
1600 Hours: Earthtime
Dawn
Westland was flying a medical boat from a pickup from the Procyon listening
post to the Argo, where an injured Marine
would require treatment.
She
was co-pilot of the boat, and was actually flying it; the boat’s actual pilot
and commander, however, was Lieutenant Bryan Hartcliffe.
“We’re
on course,” she said to Hartcliffe as she worked the boat’s control stick in its
cockpit. “We should be back home in twenty minutes.”
“I
‘ave a complaint about you,” said Hartcliffe. “And I’m talkin’ with Doctor Sane
about it when we land.”
“What?”
snapped Dawn.
“You’re
not like the other nurses. You’re weird. How come yer not
carryin’ a bloody Astro-Automatic, luv?”
“Sir,
my name is not “luv”. It is Ensign Westland!”
“Well,
then, Ensign, where’s yer damn weapon? If we got shot at, yer think I’m gonna defend yer weird butt?”
Dawn
shook her head and glared at this grinning baboon of a Black Tiger pilot. “Sir! With all respect… I am a nurse, not a soldier! I will not take another
person's life! Get it?”
“Getting’ cocky, aren’t we?” snapped the pilot in that maddening Scouse
accent that made him sound like he was talking through his nose. “Listen. Every
EDF nurse in the Fleet I’ve known ‘as carried a sidearm and ‘as a brain. Even
Mrs. Pregnant Frozen Food flavor o’ the Month on the ship has a sidearm they
put ‘er to sleep with. She’s got that damn balloon, granted. So she’s ‘alf
crazy, but you’re really daft!”
“I am not daft!” snapped
Dawn. “World Health Organization nurses and officers are not under any mandate
to carry sidearms while on duty. EDF fleet people, yes. Us,
no.”
“You need to wear one,” said Hartcliffe. “We’ll discuss this on
the ship, luv.”
“Fine,” snapped Dawn. She turned her head towards her panel and
refused to talk to Hartcliffe for the next twenty minutes.
After
they had taken their patient to Sickbay, Dawn sighed as she leaned against a
bulkhead and noticed Hartcliffe arguing with Doctor Sane.
“I’m
tellin’ yer, sir, she’s looney. Doesn’t carry an astro-automatic, and won’t carry one. What kind of flight
nurse is that?” snapped Hartcliffe.
“One
who is doing what she was trained to do,” snapped Sane. “She is serving with
us, but is under a different set of regulations and a different mandate.
Besides, she is not even qualified to carry one, the issue from Miss Akers not
withstanding. She just keeps her weapon in her cabin now and said she’ll only
use it in a boarding situation. The World Health Organization does not qualify
people on those weapons, Hartcliffe. If you see her in dress uniform, she does
not even have a qualification badge like we have in the Fleet!”
“So,
she’s a civilian?” said Hartcliffe. “And we have to protect her?”
“Her
job, 24/7, is to be a nurse. Not a soldier!” barked Sane. “If that means you
have to have eyes in the back of your head, then do
your damn job, Hartcliffe!”
“Never
‘ad to do this crap for Nova,” snapped Hartcliffe. “She’s weird herself, but at
least she’s one of the guys and carries a sidearm and knows how
to use it. When she’s not sleepin’ on the job like a frozen dinner, that is!”
“You idiot! There is a difference
between an EDF nurse and a WHO nurse! I suggest you read up on those regs and
write me a thousand-word essay and come back with it in five days! If you can
even write, that is!”
“Yessir,”
said Hartcliffe as he saluted and walked off cursing to himself.
“Sir,”
said Dawn as she looked at Sane. “Maybe I should start carrying that…”
“You
will not, unless you choose to!” said Sane. “You are doing the right thing,
“Yessir,”
said Dawn as she saluted. “And…sir?” she said.
“Yes?”
said Sane as he popped the cork on a bottle of his “Spring Water”.
“Thanks.”
III. REPORTS FROM THE
FRONT
The Vicinity of Planet
Petronia
The Eritz Gatlantis
Tuesday, February 17,
2207
1620 Hours: Earthtime
On
the Eritz Gatlantis, Dyre stood at
attention before Princess Invidia, reading off a number of intelligence
reports.
“It
is that bad?” snapped Invidia.
“You
wanted us to focus on the Gamilon base at Pogi and the new Gamilon/Terran joint
base on Balan that is being built. We have forces that can do a little there,
but we have been tied down at Bulgandis and at the Black Fox Nebula for the
past few weeks. Radnar’s forces…”
“Radnar,”
sniffed Invidia. “He is a fanatic we cast out years ago. I am surprised you are
having this much trouble with him. Why can’t Gernitz get his main fleet?”
“He
has equal firepower, and you said we were not to lose the dreadnought Devastation under any circumstances.
Radnar also has a Dreadnought.”
“And?”
“We
lost a battleship squadron to him today near the Magna Star Cluster. His
conquests are hitting the heart of our territorial space, Princess.”
“No!”
hissed Invidia. “This is an outrage! Where was his Dreadnought last spotted?”
“At
the edge of the Black Fox Nebula. The Black Nebulans have been slowly
rebuilding ever since a disaster caused by means that we are still trying to
ascertain wiped out Planet Dezarium over five years ago. The Nebulans’ forces
are apparently under the command of an Admiral Vilzer, who had declared himself
Lord of what remains of their race.”
“Vilzer
would still be under our command, then. Order him to have a fleet ready to
engage Radnar’s Dreadnought if it is seen in the area. Maybe he can be useful
to us.”
“Yes,
Princess.”
At
the same time, the Argo was making a
report to the Commander.
“So,
Wildstar,” said the Commander. “You have learned from the Gamilons that the war
had mostly gone quiet?”
“Yessir,”
said Derek from the Argo’s closed
Communications Room. “Desslok reported to us in his last communication that
they had a period of intense fighting in January that included attacks upon his
base worlds, and an attack upon our joint fighter base on Iscandar around
“Does
he know why?”
“He
was a bit vague, but he said that they received intelligence that Invidia’s
forces may be at war with another race of some type. Desslok is not sure who it
is.”
“Hmmm,”
said the Commander as he put his chin in his hand. “We have recently received a
request from the Iscandarian Government through Astra that the Defense Council
is considering...”
“What
would the Iscandarians want?” said Wildstar. “It would be important for us to
help them.”
“I’m
not at liberty to say, yet, Wildstar. Stand fast and be ready for anything until
we talk again,” said the Commander.
“Yessir,”
said Wildstar as the screen wewnt black.
In
his office, Singleton thought, I think we
will have to replenish our forces on Iscandar soon. Astra reported to me that
they were in danger, particularly because of a new type of fighter plane seen
with the regular Cometine ships in the last strike upon Iscandar in January.
However, I can’t tell Wildstar anything until the Defense Council clears it…
Three
days later, on the 20th Corporal Mick Stovall was surprised to find
himself on the move again as he left the Tokyo Megalopolis on an ocean-going
troop carrier ship.
First
of all, he was no longer a Corporal. Due solely to his time in grade, he had
been promoted to Sergeant in the early part of the month.
Stovall
was being assigned to a new platoon in
Stovall
had heard scuttlebutt that three platoons had bought it trying to secure the
same area. For the first time in his miserable life, he was truly scared.
I wonder, he
thought, if they’re sending me down here
to
Stovall
rubbed the Sphere for comfort. It upset him that Ekogaru had been keeping quiet
for the past few days. He wondered where he had gone, and he was beginning not
to care.
IV. LIFE GOES ON
Space Battleship Argo
The Procyon Region
Thursday, February 26,
2207
2000 Hours: Earthtime
In the meantime, on the Argo, Dawn soon found herself becoming ever more
attracted to Hardy.
Dawn’s prejudice against fighter pilots passed away the more she
was with Hardy.
Dawn found, as she talked with Hardy more and more, that he had a
strong, warm, peace loving nature underneath his soldier's face.
He’s
kind, she thought as they sat in the wardroom for one of their many
meetings that day. He’s out here
fighting, he carries his weapon, he flies his plane…but, he doesn’t like
it so much, she thought as she looked at him and smiled. He’s not like Deke, with a hunger for
vengeance, he’s…
“Jeff,” she whispered as she held hands with him. “You’re
different.”
“Different from whom?” he said.
“Different from someone I knew once. It’s a long story…and we
agreed not to look at our pasts too much. You said yours was too painful…”
Hardy nodded. “I lost someone like you once in my life. We were
very close during the Rikashan War. But, she…”
“She what?”
Dawn looked at Hardy and saw, to her shock, that
a tear was running down Jeff’s cheek. “Mio was killed. That was her name. Mio.
And now you know why I don’t like talking about her much…”
“I’m sorry, Jeff,” said Dawn as she squeezed Hardy’s hand and
smiled at him. “Tell me about
“My parents have a nice spread there; nice big farm. I’d love you
to go there with me someday…I’d love for you to meet them. Did you say your
father died?”
Dawn nodded sadly. “The Gamilon War. My mom’s all I have left. She
lives in an apartment complex in
“
Dawn nodded. “It’s near this park where this new river was
developed after the planet bombings after
“It sounds nice..”
The doors whirred open, and Stephen Sandor came in with Diane
Henson. He smiled at Diane and whispered, “Guess who’s at table number five
again?”
“Why am I not surprised?” whispered Diane with a smile. She had
been spending more time with Sandor herself lately, and was discovering that
the quiet, serious science officer had quite a few interesting stories to tell
about himself; if one could draw him out, that is.
While
“It’s him again,” sighed Sandor. “I’m not surprised at that,
either…”
Diane and Steve then sat down quietly as they watched Derek
Wildstar stirring his coffee and looking into the cup.
“Hi,” said Diane, who didn’t know what else to say. “It’s us,
sir…”
“Oh?” said Wildstar as he looked at Sandor and Henson with little
emotion on his face. “That’s nice. Alone again, sorry…”
“Wildstar,” said Sandor. “Feel like talking?” He guessed he
probably wouldn’t. He could see Derek had the same look on his face that his
brother Alex Wildstar got when he was very depressed.
“Not really, Steve,” sighed Wildstar. “I was just in Sickbay. I
think you know where I was…”
“Wildstar…we’re getting closer to the end of our deployment, you
know,” said Sandor. “Things are changing…I hope that Hardy isn’t…”
“Him and that nurse?” sighed Derek. “Sandor, she’s WHO, he’s EDF.
They don’t need any kind of waiver, and they’re not violating any regulations.
And that’s not whom I’m worried about…”
“Nova’s going to be all right,” said Henson quietly as she
hesitantly squeezed her ex-boyfriend’s hands. “So will your children. You’ll
see…”
“How do you know, Diane…?”
“You’ve found something very special with Nova,” said Diane. “I’ve
really come to think that even though you and I had a very bad split years ago,
I’ve come to believe that Destiny was saving you for Nova. I think you had a
second chance…”
Derek nodded. “Probably too much info, but…well, we were together,
Diane. Nova was different. She had never been serious about anyone before me,
she…”
“Hate to ask,” said Diane. “Was she…?”
“She was,” said Wildstar quickly. “And our first time together was
our wedding night. No offense, Diane, it’s…”
“What we went through was water way under the bridge,” said Diane.
“I…”
Then, Allison Forrester, the Argo’s
new Living Group Leader, bopped into the wardroom and sat down at their table
without being invited. Steve and Diane looked at each other and sighed. They
guessed this would drive Derek away very quickly.
“Allison,” said Derek. “I don’t feel much like talking tonight.
I’m sorry.”
“Well, I am planning a party for the end of the month,” said
Allison as she laughed.
“But we don’t have anything to celebrate,” said Wildstar. “And, we
don’t really have any resources we can waste, and…”
“Allison!” sang another Living Group Ensign as she ran in. “You
said you had an e-mail to show me?”
“Sure do,” laughed Allison. “It’s this guy, Mike…he’s on the Courageous, and he’s been writing to me.
He’s so cute!” laughed Allison. “Excuse me, sir,” said Allison as she nodded at
Derek and saluted.
“Forrester!” snapped Wildstar. “I need those reports for our
meeting tomorrow morning. I need the advance text an hour beforehand at 1100
sharp!”
“Oh, those,” laughed Allison. “They’ll be there in your mailbox
before we stand in that big circle before noon, sir. And why do we stand there
in that dumb circle again?”
“So we can see the deck screen!” snapped Wildstar. “Things show up
on there that are important, you know. Get to work on that report, Lieutenant!”
“Yessir,” said Allison as she clicked her heels. “Off we go!”
Allison walked away with her friend, giggling like a schoolgirl as
she left.
“Well, she didn’t get the brains in that family,” snapped Wildstar
after she was gone. “That’s for damn sure.”
“Didn’t you say she grew up with her?” said Sandor.
“Yeah, Nova told me that. She also told me that not that much of
her rubbed off on her orphan cousin. Now, I’m seeing she was right. Damn,
Becker was a better officer than that.”
“I think that you have her held to a high standard,” said Henson.
“If I do, is that a problem?” snapped Derek. “Excuse me, guys. I
think I need to be up in my cabin for a while with this. See you later, Steve…”
Sandor nodded at Derek as he left. Then, Diane said, “How long has
he been like that?”
“Since last October. What do you think?” said Sandor as Wildstar
left. “Part of the problem is…he’s a good officer, good kid and all, but…part
of his heart is in that sleep tube. With Nova.”
“What if she doesn’t survive that operation?” whispered Diane.
“Then God help us all,” said Sandor. “God help the universe….”
At that, Diane Henson could only nod.
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