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
Note:
This chapter contains a bizarre scene on R’Khell with detail some may find a
bit disturbing. Just wanted to give a heads-up.
ACT TWO:
ABOMINATIONS
I. ROUTINE BUSINESS (and not-so-routine visions)
Space Battleship
The Vicinity of Sirius
March 1, 2207
1032 Hours: Earthtime
Deke
Only, now, there was a difference.
Due to attrition in the ranks of the Sun Tigers
in a battle they had fought earlier this morning, Deke Wakefield had been
promoted to Squadron Leader of the Third Squadron of the Sun Tigers, and Brew
had been chosen as his squadron executive officer and the flight leader of the
second flight of their new squadron.
Right now, they were flying in combat again on
their first mission as a Cometine carrier had launched a number of fighters and
boats against the EDF Base at Sirius.
So far, it was their lot to fight the enemy
planes as the
“Okay, Third Squadron!” barked Deke as he swung
the squadron around to engage a spread of Cometine heavy fighters. “We got
those Scorpion boats, now we have to catch up with those fighters before they
can strafe the base. We’re clear on what we’re doing?”
Lots of “
Before long, the Cometines began to succumb to
their first attack as only two planes broke off, not knowing what was hitting
them.
Enemy planes began to blow apart like flowers of
fire as the Third Squadron worked very efficiently to blow apart their enemy
tormentors.
Deke gave himself a thumbs-up, and then grinned
at Brew as, not far away, his bud and his flight shot up a number of planes.
However, one of the enemy planes then swung
around and jumped one of his own pilots from his second section.
“This is Ensign Ross!” yelled a Sun Tiger pilot.
“One of them is right on my six, I need backup guys, I….ARRRRRGGGHH!”
Before Deke, or anyone else, could react, Ross’
plane was blown to bits by the Cometine pilot.
“Okay, guys!” yelled Brew. “Ross was a good guy, but now it’s
payback time!” He thumbed his mike and said, “Second Flight, get that bandit!”
Brew’s planes wheeled around, chasing the enemy
pilot as he tried to high-tail it out of there. Finally, one of Brew’s men
lined up a missile on the enemy pilot’s engine and fired.
The Cometine pilot soon blew apart into
oblivion, following several of his flight-mates there.
Deke nodded, knowing he and his planes would
have more work to do to stop the other four remaining Cometine planes.
This day isn’t over yet, he thought.
Later on, back on the
“Not bad, splashing twenty fighters the first
day,” said Cory Conroy. “How’d you motivate your guys and gals,
“Simple; I told them I didn’t want my first day
as squadron leader screwed up.”
They laughed at Deke’s honesty. But,
The same day, on Earth, in the late hours of the
evening, Sasha “Petrovsky” sat in her mostly darkened
dorm room after dinner, sighing to herself at her computer as she read the
latest letter that Deke had sent. She was alone. Her roommate was away
somewhere at a conference in
“So, Sasha…they made me a squadron leader this morning. I just
flew my first mission as a squadron commander today. We had losses, but just
one. I came back, and we won.
But why do I feel so hollow?
I think I figured out why; it’s because I haven’t seen you in
months. I wish you were here to share this with me.
I wish you had graduated early, Sasha, and I wish you would be
assigned to this ship, so we could spend more than a few minutes together. But
when will that happen?
God only knows, Sasha…God only knows….”
Sasha sat in concentration for a long while,
trying to pierce the psychic veil that had been around her lately.
She could pull up images of her future, but they
were confused and very disturbing.
She did know…or thought she knew…that Aunt Nova
would survive, because one of her visions was one of her and Derek on a train
together with her father somewhere on Earth. But then, the vision broke down
into a vision of someone who looked a bit like Nova screaming at her with a
dagger in her hand.
She didn’t know what it meant, but it was very
disturbing.
Other thoughts ran through her mind as she sat in the dim light in
her room.
An image of herself in battle at the Argo’s radar wearing her midshipman’s
blues.
An image of herself in a dark cell somewhere,
crying.
That image was replaced by an image of herself
walking slowly down a beach in what she saw was a white wedding dress. Her
father was at one side, and Nova was at the other side of her. She was the
bride, and it was on a warm beach on Iscandar. Sasha recognized the smell of
the sea, the warmth of the sun, and even the feel of the fine sand of a sacred
beach, forbidden to outsiders, under her bare feet. But, she could not see who
she was going to be marrying.
She saw only a shadow.
A shadow that scared her.
And she had no idea when this would happen.
The last image scared her most of all, somehow.
She was looking at herself nude by a full-length
mirror, somewhere. She was studying her own profile.
The most disturbing thing, other than her
nakedness, was the shape of her stomach.
In this vision, Sasha knew she was pregnant.
And she had no idea who the father of her baby
was.
I know something, Sasha thought. I know it’s not going to be long until you
get home. But, every time I dream of you lately, there is some shadow between
us. Why? What is it? I spoke with Astra at the Embassy the other day, after she
told me how brave Aunt Nova was, that is, and I wish I could figure out what it
was. Or what it is. Deke…when will we be together? When will things work out
for us?
At that, Sasha just put her head down on her
desk, and she cried…
With utter frustration.
And utter confusion…
II. INVIDIA PLOTS AGAIN
The Eritz Gatlantis
Approaching the Great Magellenic Cloud
March 1, 2207
2332 Hours: Earthtime
Princess Invidia was happy when she heard about how the latest
attacks on Earth, Sirius, Procyon, and Pogi had
bloodied their enemies by downing some planes and damaging their bases.
“And how goes the war with Radnar?” said a
smiling Invidia as she spoke with Gernitz on her commphone.
“Princess, my dreadnought Devastation succeeded in destroying a battleship squadron under
Radnar’s allegiance near the Magna Star Cluster. House Kolog
had the nerve to send us a Notice of Complaint, reminding us that we are
traitors awaiting their punishment.”
“I am glad to hear that. In maybe one or two
months, we can re-ignite the Comet Field and accelerate towards the Great
Magellenic Cloud. Iscandar and Gamilon will be our next targets.”
“Is that biting off more than we can chew?” said
Gernitz.
“Never, not if I destroy Gamilon and then
conquer Iscandar. The Earthlings have a special spot in their hearts for the
Iscandarians. I am sure they may consider a surrender when we threaten to
behead their friend Queen Starsha in public. If not, what does it matter? We
can conquer them before they build up too many of their forces-even with what
we have now. It will be easier once my Comet is burning across the skies
again.”
Gernitz and Invidia laughed at that together.
Dyre came in and saluted.
“Princess,” he said. “I have more good news.”
“Yes?”
“The R’Khells have agreed to aid us with a
special assassination squad. Commodore Derek Wildstar is due back on Earth
shortly according to our intelligence. We can hurt the Star Force by having him
assassinated.”
Invidia smiled at that. “Then we stop striking
Earth for a short time to lull them to sleep so we can concentrate on bringing
Radnar to his end. When we have Radnar sent to Arishna, if she even exists,
then we can work on our strategy for taking Earth at last. They will be our
next target after we neutralize Gamilon and Radnar.”
“I also wonder where Yvona is,” said Dyre. “I heard rumors she has gone soft.”
“Our spies on R’Khelleva
tell me she is pregnant.”
“Pregnant?” said Dyre.
“Yes,” said Invidia. “With Ekogaru’s child!”
“But he is dead and possessing that Terran
idiot?” said Dyre.
“Imagine him coming up from the afterlife to
impregnate a woman,” laughed Invidia. “And I thought only the dumb Earthlings
were stupid enough to believe in Immaculate Conception with their Messiah or
ruler or whoever that dead Terran was.”
“Ekogaru, back from the dead and making women
pregnant,” laughed Dyre. “What deluded idiots the
R’Khells are!”
At that, all of them laughed.
The Cometines thought this was incredibly funny.
III. A SUDDEN, UNEXPECTED SUMMONS
Space Battleship Argo
March 4, 2207
1318 Hours: Earthtime
As Commodore Derek Wildstar and the first bridge crew of the Argo looked up at the Commander’s image
on their main video panel, they could scarcely believe what they were hearing.
“Sir?” said Wildstar. “We’re relieved from our
patrol here at Procyon?”
“Yes, temporarily,” said General Singleton. “You
will meet the carrier Courageous
later today at 1900 hours before you brief them. You are to be on your way to
your new assignment at 2000 Hours. It is very important that you are on your
way to your new assignment by then. You are to call me when you are to make
your first warp. And, you are to have the ship ready for continuous warp
conditions, possibly pushing the Argo
harder than you ever have before. For the sake of the
“I am sure we can do it, sir. But where are we
going?”
“You have to arrive at your destination in six
days. The Earth Defense Council has ordered you to make port on Planet Iscandar
on March the 10th. Can you get the Argo there in six days under radio silence after you warp away from
here? The Gamilons and Iscandarians already know that you will be coming.”
“Iscandar, sir? By the 10th?” said
Wildstar.
“Yes. I estimate you will have to warp 24666.66
lightyears every day to accomplish that. It is possible for the Argo to do so under continuous warp
conditions, but we have never attempted so many successive warps before. Can
she do it?”
Wildstar looked at his crew, who nodded. “We can
do it, sir. Or die trying.”
“I will send you your sealed orders when you
arrive in Mothertown,” said Singleton with a smile.
“Godspeed, Commodore.”
At that, the Argo’s
main screen went dark.
“All right, people,” said Commodore Wildstar.
“We have to put our heads together, and fast. Sandor, Yamanami, make certain
the wave engine is ready for this new journey.”
“Yessir,” said Sandor and Derek’s chief engineer
together.
“Kitano, you and Miss Forrester are to work
together on a course. I will not tolerate any mistakes.”
“Yessir,” said Tetsu
and Brittany together.
“Homer, connect us with the Courageous. Tell them that it is important they make our rendezvous
on time.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Everyone else…you know your jobs.” Commodore
Wildstar got up and saluted. “Get us there. We have our orders.”
Klaxons went off a few minutes later on the Argo as, while they shared their lunch,
Hardy and Dawn dropped their spoons when they heard Wildstar’s announcement.
“All hands, now
hear this! We are coming off station at 2000 Hours, and we are leaving
Procyon under extended warp conditions. Our next port of call, within six days,
will be Planet Iscandar in the Great Magellenic Cloud. I am not at liberty to
tell you why we are being dispatched to Iscandar, but it is important that we
get there. We will reach Planet Balan in three days and Iscandar in six days.
We are under a communications blackout from the time we leave until we arrive
at Mothertown. The Gamilons and Iscandarians have
been forewarned of our arrival. All communication units will be shut down at
2000 Hours. The Cometines cannot discover our mission. It is urgent. Prepare
the ship to head off. That will be all.”
Wildstar cut off and Dawn said, “Did I hear that
right? We’re going to Iscandar? In six days?”
Hardy nodded. “We can do it,
I just hope the ship’ll make it. We’re pretty badly
beat-up from this deployment.”
“Why are we going?” said Dawn fearfully as she
held Jeff’s hand. She hadn’t expected to be leaving the solar system. Now, she
was going off to another galaxy altogether.
“We go,” said Hardy. “Because we’re the Star
Force. There is no one else to do our job.”
At that, Dawn just nodded.
A few hours later, the Argo had finished her rendezvous with the Courageous.
The Courageous
drifted into the system as the Argo
headed away from Procyon VI at full sublight speed.
“Captain,” said Homer. “The Earth commander on
the base and the Gamilon commander send us their best wishes for our journey.”
“Send our thanks, and make it fast. We have to
call the Commander at 2000,” said Wildstar.
“Yessir,” said Homer as he typed out the
message.
Kitano saluted and brought up their course on the screen. “Our
first warp is taking us past the edge of our galaxy to the Hakrandis
System. Then, we will scan space carefully to see what awaits us at our next
warp target, 26,000 lightyears away from that. We warp at 2000 Hours each day
until we get to Iscandar.”
Wildstar nodded and said, “Homer, is the message
sent?”
“Sent,” said Homer.
“Send a message to the Commander. Then, we warp
on schedule a minute later.”
“Yessir!” said the whole bridge crew at once.
A moment later, the Argo’s engines came up, and the mighty ship made her first space
warp.
Destination: Iscandar.
SIX DAYS LATER…..
Those on the Argo who
had never before seen Iscandar were stunned by the beauty of the blue ocean and
the bright sun of the Sanzar System as the Argo
came out of a cloudbank on Iscandar with the Great Continent and Mothertown spread out below them like glittering toys.
Everyone made ready for landing, with what they
would be doing next hush-hush as the ship hit the ocean in a spectacular spashdown and then cruised towards the city of
It did not take long for the Argo to arrive and drop anchor and lower
the gangplank. But, no one was allowed off the ship yet. It was clear that
there was to be no shore leave…yet…
And no one knew what was happening; but, the
Scuttlebutt Express filled the gap later that day as the crew ate dinner at
1900 Hours on March 10th.
“Ah’ve ‘eard all sorts of things,” said Bryan Hartcliffe as he
occupied a table with Angie next to him. Tatiana Lubyanska
sat at their table, with Diane Henson making up the fourth member of their
party.
Not far away, Dawn Westland and Jefferson Hardy
sat listening as Hartcliffe continued with, “I ‘eard
Alex Wildstar’s on board the ship.”
“Alex Wildstar?” said Henson. “I met him once,
he…”
“What’s he like?” piped up Dawn.
“Weird,” said Bryan Hartcliffe. “It’s like ‘e’s
a real sad and grim and gloomy sort. Hardly ever talks to anyone. Thinks ‘e’s
an Iscandarian or somethin’ now. Damn high and mighty attitude.”
“You know that’s wrong,” said Hardy. “You know
the Prince Consort’s got a lot on his mind.”
“Oh?” said Hartcliffe.
“Please,
“Queen Starsha?” cried Dawn. “Is she coming with
us to Earth? Is it that bad that they’re evacuating Iscandar?”
“No,” said Hardy. “I heard they were in the VIP
Lounge on the ship.”
“Can we ask them what is up?” said Dawn.
“Yes,” said Hardy. “If you care to get past two
Space Marines with fixed bayonets.”
“Oh,” said Dawn.
IV. A
HORRID NIGHT
Planet R’Khelleva
The
Wednesday,
March 10, 2207
2000 Hours:
Earthtime
The clone of Yvona was screaming in horror and pain.
She was in labor at last…in a place that resembled what she pictured one
of the rooms of Hell as being like.
She had not seen Major Ginis for two days now,
and she had new guards.
Her guards were cruel. They had come down to her cell one day at the
bequest of a weird, twisted, bent little ancient poison dwarf of a woman named
Aga.
Aga, it turned out, was the prison midwife. She was an ugly hag with
bulging eyes and buck teeth who wore dirty clothes, smoked a cigar, and smelled
like she was drunk.
Yvona had memories from her prior existence of having given birth to her
son Samuel, years ago in a Catholic hospital. Although it had been a hard
labor, and she remembered wearing only a dirty hospital gown, and then had gone
naked towards the end of her labor, the doctors and nurses and midwife had
tried to make it as pleasant for her as possible in the labor suite she had
lain in.
This time, when Aga felt her and muttered, “it is your time”, the dirty
sackcloth serape she had again been reduced to had been unceremoniously torn
off, and she had been handcuffed and marched barefoot and stark naked down to
the filthiest part of the prison dungeons, illuminated only by torches and by
the hot sun that came through an open, barred window. Yvona swore that
invisible Things with glowing red eyes drifted outside the cell, leering and
her and laughing at her.
Or was she finally being driven mad by the conditions here on the
polluted, withered, dying planet of R’Khelleva? This
was a planet where even the air stank on some days.
Then, as she had struggled, her gorilla-like guards had handcuffed
Yvona’s clone to a cot where the springs were covered only by a filthy mattress
that stank with unspeakable smells and was horribly stained. And, worst of all,
she was given absolutely no covering, not even a sheet over her desperately
sweaty body.
Yvona had nothing to push against with her bare feet but the filthy,
dirt-covered floor. The two gorilla-like R’Khell guards laughed at her and
denied her food and water, and Aga was the only “doctor”, feeling her every now
and then with dirty, claw-like hands as Yvona looked at the sick surroundings.
Torches. Hot sun coming through the window during the day, cold winds at night.
And, skeletons were lying in a heap on the floor.
There were three of them; Yvona guessed they had belonged to other
“patients” who had suffered in this house of lamentation and never came out.
One of the skeletons was obviously that of a baby. Roaches and worms crawled
among the bones.
And, roaches crawled even on Yvona’s body, which alternated between
sweats and uncontrollable shivering as her labor pains came and intensified in
this weird house of pain. Luckily, part of Yvona’s power was currently working
overtime to repel the micro-organisms that would otherwise have given her a
fatal infection or puerperal fever in this place and thus lead to her death in
childbirth, which Ekogaru seemed to be aiming for. You never appreciate antisepsis until you go through something like
this in a barbaric place where they do not seem to know of the concept,
thought Yvona.
Yvona also coughed a great deal, because Aga insisted upon smoking smelly
cigars as she worked on the laboring mother.
“Do you want relief for the pain?” hissed Aga as she puffed on her cigar.
“Or should I cast a spell to help with this pain? Do you deserve relief,
though?”
“I have been down here how long and you gave me none?”
“You have lain here in your sweat and filth for twenty-one hours, whore!”
cackled Aga ”Birth is hard. Ekogaru saith that all
women in birth must suffer humiliation and pain for daring to bring squirming
lives into a sick world. We make it harder in prison, witch! You suffer because
it is the will of Ekogaru you suffer!”
“Well, where is he?” raged Yvona. “He made me like this, let him stand
before me and watch our son being born, God damn him!”
“You be careful what you ask for!” yelled one of the guards as he spat on
her. “Otherwise, he will deliver it.”
“SHOW UP HERE, EKOGARU!” raged Yvona as a bad labor pain hit her, and
outside, a stroke of lightning came as it began to rain. Over the thunder,
Yvona yelled, “EKOGARU, SHOW YOURSELF!”
The midwife and guards laughed at her as a black cloud appeared at once
in the room and a wave of cold blew over Yvona’s exposed, filthy form. There
was no medication. No soothing hand. No one to tenderly bathe her straining,
sweaty, smelly body with a sponge. There was also no one to massage the birth
area with oil. Not even any water to drink or ice to suck on.
Yvona then hissed in hatred as a familiar face leered at her as Stovall’s
body appeared, glowing with red, demonic eyes as the Dark Lord had taken a very
dominant control of him.
“Greetings, wife,” said Ekogaru. “How do you like your nursery?”
“I HATE IT, AND I HATE YOU!” screamed Yvona as lightning and thunder went
off outside.
“Good, good,” hissed Ekogaru. “Fill this room with your hate, and fill this child of ours with
your hate!”
Another labor pain came and Yvona screamed like an animal.
Ekogaru just laughed at her. “I thought you’d be stronger than that,
Yvona! Or has your new God forsaken
you? Where is the heavenly host, Yvona? Tell me that!”
A cold rain blew into the room and spattered all over Yvona’s body,
cleansing her a little of the sweat and dirt and insects as Ekogaru said, “Aga,
give her the D’lakis
now. She needs a stimulant and relief from a little of that pain or she will
die. I don’t know if I want her dying quite yet. You may have taken this too
far.”
“Let me withhold it a little longer, Lord,” cackled Aga. “Or give her a
cigar to smoke.”
Ekogaru struck the crone hard with a leg bone he picked up off the floor.
“Do it, or I kill you!” roared Ekogaru.
“Yes, yesss, masssster,” said Aga. “A little
pain relief for the great precious one, eh?” she said as she rooted through the
bag she had brought. She pulled out two skins, one of water, which she used to
clean some ugly-looking metal instruments, and then one skin that she threw to
Ekogaru. “Give her that. The little brat’s head will emerge. I will soon tear
it out of her and end this display of emotion. Why do the Earthers cry so much?
She is not like us. She is weak. Weak things like her should die and join the
other bones on the floor of sluts who did not survive their birth pangs.”
Ekogaru forced Yvona to drink from the wineskin.
The brew hit Yvona’s throat like liquid fire, and it burned all the way
down as she coughed and screamed while Aga coughed and laughed at her and
rattled something that looked like some mad shaman’s rattle. But, when she came
out of the near-swoon the sick brew had put her into, she felt stronger, more
invigorated, and the lower half of her body felt semi-numb.
More pains came a moment later as Yvona felt Aga cutting her, and then
felt pulling and agony as the old witch cackled and peeped and muttered and
worked with metal instruments that clinked and made horrid noises.
Ekogaru looked at her birth area as a head, between silvery metal
forceps, came out of Yvona. Then, he screamed something in R’Khesh
that not even Yvona could make out, and weird cheers, hoarse singing, and the
banging of gongs began to ring through the prison as lightning flashed outside
and thunder roared.
The guards began to clap their hands and stamp their feet and sing
something primitive that sounded like “agaagahagahagahagahagaalgahaiiiiblaiiiii!”
The stomping continued as Ekogaru screamed at her, “PUSH, WOMAN! PUSH AND
LET MY MASTERPIECE LIVE!”
Yvona was slapped across the face by Ekogaru to help as she finally lost
her reserve and bit him. He only cuffed her about the head and laughed like a
monster as a naked baby boy came from her. A moment later, Yvona and the baby
were baptized with a bucket of icy cold water that a guard had brought in as
the child began to squall and scream.
Yvona screamed when she saw her child’s face.
It looked like an Earth child, save for two things.
The child had been born with a pointed, single tooth in his mouth, and
his eyes glowed red.
Yvona saw the guards and Aga roughly tie off the umbilical cord and then,
Ekogaru cut it with a dagger.
“My son, ERUGAR!” screamed Ekogaru as he held the baby up. “Look at my
demon of a son! The Darkness has created unto me a great light! My boy! My beast! My false prophet!”
The guards laughed and Aga cackled as she made Yvona smoke the cigar that
had just been in her mouth.
“My son lives,” hissed Ekogaru. Then, he turned to Aga and gave her his
dagger. “Now kill the mother.”
“What?” screamed Aga. “My Lord, every baby needs the milk and arms of his
mother. Even your son, Lordship!”
“Kill her and give the little brat to a wet nurse. He will not need to be
coddled for long. And Yvona has shown that she has forfeited her right to
further life. I made her as a clone, and I can break her! I can someday make
another clone of her that will be more cruel and stronger than this rebellious
soulless failure that thinks it can think for itself.”
“YOU WILL NEVER DO THAT!” screamed Yvona as the thunder roared outside.
She had delivered the afterbirth, and Aga was clothing her birth area with rags
and some kind of improvised loincloth to absorb the fluids and wastes.
Ekogaru leered at Yvona and caressed her throat with a poisoned dagger.
“One cut, and that ends your stinking, miserable existence, Thing I made in a
tank with no soul, Thing that has outlived its usefulness unto me, Thing that I
divorce, I divorce, I DIVORCE at this moment. Die, former wife. Die, THING.”
Yvona, in desperation, lashed out at Ekogaru with her mind as her eyes
rolled up.
Ekogaru himself screamed in pain and went down to his knees as he felt
the onslaught of Yvona’s psi-powers.
Yvona then popped open the handcuffs with her mind and grabbed her son
out of Ekogaru’s arms. She put the Thing to her breast as it cried its
unnatural deep cries. The guards backed away as the baby then took a breath and
snarled at them.
“Good, good,” purred Ekogaru. “You earned the right to live, wife. Now,
take our son, bitch, and teach him
how to fight! I reverse the divorce. I think we shall make a happy family, the
three of us. Guards, free her from prison and put them in Aganna House within
the hour. Carry her if she cannot walk.”
“My Abomination will be growing, and fast,” said
Ekogaru as he bowed mockingly to Yvona. “He will be exceptional, and you and he
will work together in the next few months with him. Your job….will
be…to kill together. Are we clear on this?”
“I will teach him to fight, Ekogaru,” hissed Yvona as the guards lifted
her and the baby onto a stretcher and clothed their nakedness at last with a
blanket in bright red. “But, be wary. He could take your place.”
“Good!” laughed Ekogaru. “LET HIM TRY!” he screamed as he disappeared in
a puff of sulfur.
“Take her to Aganna House, residence of the Priests,” hissed Aga as she
puffed at her cigar. “She is now free from this prison. Make sure the keepers
feed her and help her care for the Thing. Although, maybe, he will not need our
care for as long as we think…”
The guards laughed at that, and Yvona
shivered, wondering what sort of evil they meant. The Child’s deep, guttural, almost growling
cries and the intensity of his gaze in his reddish-brown eyes even scared the
R’Khells, as they wondered what sort of Thing Yvona had given birth to.
Stovall returned to his ship a few minutes
later, weirded out a great deal by the sick scene as Ekogaru left him.
He leaned over the rail and looked out into the
A moment later, the Marine did the most natural
thing a mere human could do.
He threw up in the ocean.
What he had seen on R’Khell had been the sickest
scene he had ever seen in his life.
And, somewhere far away, he knew that Ekogaru
was just laughing at him.
V. A
STRANGE CHILD
Planet R’Khelleva
Aganna House
Sunday,
March 14, 2207
1300 Hours:
Earthtime
“By all that is holy,” muttered Yvona four days
later as she put Erugar, clad in just a diaper, up to
her naked breast for the last time in her apartments in the priests’ house as
she sat almost nude on a couch nursing him. Her breasts hurt, and she was in
pain all over, but part of her loved her son, and feared him at the same time
“You are a strange child…”
“He grows quickly,” said Aga as she watched
Yvona giving milk to the child and then feeding him solid pureed baby food from
a bowl, which he took more eagerly. “In four days, he is now about more than
one year old for a normal baby.”
“He is not normal,” said a trembling Major Ginis as he watched Yvona withdraw the child from her
breast and then cover herself (with relief) with a short dress. For four days,
Yvona had worn only a few rags around her crotch because the Abomination had
been at her breast so much, sucking what seemed to be both milk and part of her
life force from her. “By God, this child is an Abomination.”
Erugar’s eyes had stopped glowing, but he now had a full head of hair and
a strange little crinkled face. He also followed his mother’s eyes with an
unusual intelligence and maliciousness.
Ginis asked, “Has his…father..been
back?”
“Heavens, no,” said Yvona. “I am grateful for
that. But I do not know when he will stop growing at such a bizarre rate. He
has fevers, he often trembles, he looks at you strangely…”
“Strangely,” said Erugar
in an unnaturally deep voice as he smiled. That shocked everyone more. “I am a
rather strange child,” he lisped. “And killing me is not truly on your agenda.”
“I did not think,” said Aga.
“Do not worry. I can read thine thoughts,” said Erugar. “You meant to kill me. It will not succeed. Father
does not want it. And, Mother, stop feeding me this accursed ground-up baby
rot.”
“You don’t have all of your teeth in yet!” said
Yvona.
“When they come in, I desire meat,” whispered Erugar. “Raw
meat. As bloody as possible.”
Yvona, Aga, and Ginis
looked at each other. What would the Child do next?
At about the same time, a meeting was taking
place on the Argo on Iscandar.
Commodore Derek Wildstar was sitting in the
ship’s VIP Quarters at a table across from his brother, Prince-Consort Alex
Wildstar of Iscandar.
“I told you, Derek, about everything that has
been going on here on Iscandar. I showed you the latest place where they
attacked us.”
“Yes,” said Derek in a quiet voice.
“That’s why I finally convinced Starsha, in
February, that we needed more military forces on Iscandar. I spent a few days
on Gamilon speaking with Desslok and the High Command, and they will send more
fighter planes and destroyers. Logic dictates that Earth needs protection for
its scientific colony on
“You’re heading home with us to ask the Earth
Defense Council for more fighter squadrons?”
“Yes, Derek. If all goes well, I anticipate
being back home in a few weeks, possibly with the Earth ship ferrying the
planes here. How is Earth set for ships?”
“The Defense Fleet has been undergoing a great
expansion,” said Derek. “After Melezart, it seems obvious that Invidia is going
to attempt a decisive battle somewhere. We have to be ready for that. And when
I was on Gamilon yesterday, Desslok saw it the same way.”
“Desslok has been a fine ally,” sighed Alex. “I
never thought I’d be saying that since my being taken prisoner by the Gamilons
years ago led to my being here, but…”
“Things change,” said Derek.
Alex looked at his wrist chrono. “I’m packed,”
he said. “Starsha will be aboard in a few minutes to wish me goodbye and good
luck on my trip to Earth. Earth. It will be strange seeing it again after so
many years. What is it like now, Derek?”
“Largely rebuilt, thanks to the Cosmo-DNA,
although there are still some spots in desolate areas where you can see the
craters from the planet bombs; being covered over by new plant growth. The
Tokyo Megalopolis has taken damage from the First Cometine War, the Rikashan
War and this war we are in now but the damage is repaired every time.
Alex nodded and smiled sadly.
“Alex?” said a soft voice as the hatch to the
VIP Quarters whizzed open.
“Starsha,” said Alex as he hugged his elegant
wife, the Queen of Iscandar. “I love you so much…”
“I know you do,” she said. “Derek, before you
leave with Alex, we need to see Nova. I have an answer to that request you had
for me. I only want us there to discuss it.”
Derek said, “Of course,” not knowing what
Starsha would do.
A few minutes later, Derek and Alex Wildstar and
Queen Starsha were all looking at Nova, who continued to sleep in her pregnancy
in her long-term sleep tube.
“I considered your request, Derek, to see if we
could revive Nova early so I could heal her and the babies,” said Starsha in a
sad, quiet voice. “I have the power to do so, but, after much thought and
meditation, I have to refuse your request.”
“What?” said a grief-stricken Derek. “I…why?”
“She sleeps now, and she will soon awaken. I
have already foreseen that, if that helps you. She will also survive, and so
will your children. However, the exact day of their birth is already foredestined. I have already seen that your children, Derek
Wildstar, will be heroes someday, like their parents. They will do much to
finally help you put an end to the malice of Ekogaru, in their day.”
“Then, he…..”
“That is right, Derek. He lives. He has even
tried to come here to taunt me, to mock me, to try to whisper to me to
surrender to Invidia. But, I have refused him. Our civilization is older than
he. Iscandar does not listen to deranged upstarts who consort with powers and
negative forces better left alone. And much is at stake here. If we awaken Nova
too early, and she has your children early, victory against Invidia will not be
assured. It will be hard, but you will need her then in the coming days. When
what I have foreseen comes to pass…”
“Starsha?” said Alex. “What have you foreseen?”
“I cannot tell you,” said Starsha as she sadly
cast her eyes downward toward the deck. “But, great life will come from death.
Hope will come from pain. And, I cannot wait until I see you again!” said
Starsha as she threw her arms around Alex and wept. “Give our daughters our
love on Earth, Alex. And, remember, I am waiting for you.”
Alex kissed Queen Starsha, and then, she turned
to go. “This will be the last I see of both of you for a while. Good sailing
back to Earth.”
Alex and Derek saluted the Queen as she turned
to leave.
The Argo left Iscandar a
few hours later, cruising on the surface of her ocean at dusk on Iscandar as
she gathered speed for takeoff, and, after liftoff, she was rapidly heading for
the edge of the Sanzar System, warping back home the way she had come.
Commodore Wildstar sat in a brooding silence as
he watched the stars sweeping past. Alex had sought permission to come to the
I have not seen Earth in almost eight years, thought Alex. I wonder
what it is really like now?
“All hands,” said Derek a moment later over the
intercom. “Secure for space warp. We are heading back to our station at Procyon
VI. We will report to the Commander later on today after our first space warp.
Two minutes to warp…”
Soon, the Argo
blasted into warp with a suddenness that impressed Alex. As they roared through
hyperspace, Alex Wildstar thought, This ship…is evidence
that Earh is really rebuilding. I’m sure that it will
be a great world…and, thanks to Starsha for making it that way…I am so
grateful, and so are all of us…
March 21, 2207…Planet R’Khelleva
On R’Khelleva, Erugar now wore a full set of clothes (not much, just a
shirt and torn shorts), and he walked around with a grin on his face as he held
his mother’s hand as she walked with him at the edge of a desert. The sands
were hot and rough; Yvona felt an uncomfortable heat coming through her
sandals; she was amazed at how this toddler went barefoot on this hot ground
without its appearing to bother him one bit.
“I have to go to the desert soon, Mother,” he
said.
“Why?”
“Father says so,” said Erugar.
“We talk a lot, Father and I.”
“I bet you do,” said Yvona.
Erugar just laughed like a monster. Then, he did something that sickened
even his mother.
The boy dropped his shorts, and urinated happily
onto a dry bush without a thought of exposing himself. He was able to control
his natural urges, but he just grinned as he made a display of his Call of
Nature. He whistled when he was done.
“What are you doing?”
“I had to make water, Mother,” hissed Erugar.
“You should not be so public about it. And put
your damn pants back on!”
Erugar just wriggled his toes, whistled, and made a show of pulling up
his shirt. He had decided to strip for a minute, but then he gave up and let
down his shirt and pulled on his shorts again.
“Damnit, I can find better things to do,” he
said contemptuously. “Although it will be nice to see how it all works when I
get older. And when I can get a harem of my very own. And chemical weapons.
Please let me loose in the military labs, Mati!
I want to torture little furry animals.”
“You are two years old!” yelled Yvona. “No one
can be that sick!”
Erugar smiled and made a rock float up into the air with a raised hand.
He made another one rise up, and then he put one rock on top of another. “D’rakkh e’sneya, envaleta go, (I am my father’s boy),” he said in R’Khesh, and then added in English, “That means I am my
father’s child, Mother. I’ll pick up Garumanic next.
Just let me get at some books.”
“You can read?”
“I started on R’Khesh
pornography thanks to Aga, who thought it was funny hearing me read it out
loud, then I began reading the Terran Bible
and the Iliad. I want to read my
father’s Scriptures and a military torture manual next. Torture is a nice way
to learn math, by counting the digits one cuts off of a victim.”
Then, he just laughed like a madman.
Yvona loved her strange son, but she was
becoming frightened of him and the forces that brought him to this unnatural
growth.
Where does it stop? Yvona thought. What sort of Abomination did Ekogaru and I
let loose upon the universe?
VI. WAR IN
Planet Earth
The Righteous Dragon Bar and Club
Thursday,
April 9, 2207
1532 Hours:
Earthtime
Stovall was quickly finding that the hot,
crowded Chinese port city of
He was in a nasty, smelly port bar frequented by
EDF sea and space sailors and Marines near the docks, drinking a lot of beer
and waiting for the CO of his platoon to arrive. He was already buzzed, but he
did not care.
Finally, another man came in and yelled, “Hey,
Stovall, ya piece of crap!”
Stovall laughed hard when he saw the scarred
face of another Space Marine. “Maples! Sir! How’d you get to be a Lieutenant?”
“Simple, I stayed in the
“Ahhh…I realize that now. How could I have shot
myself in the foot like that?”
“Hell, you can frag some officer, take over his
platoon, and get your bars back as a Mustang,” whispered Maples. “Not me,
buddy,” he laughed as Stovall withdrew his combat knife and grinned. “Will
buyin’ ya a beer help out?”
“Sure will,” said Stovall. A moment later,
Maples came back with two bottles of
“Sounds like fun,” said Stovall as he drank his
beer. He looked up a minute later and snarled at a man in EDF blues leaning
against a table. He had a flight jacket on over his EDF blues, heedless of the
sticky heat in the bar as overhead fans turned over the tables and the bar. The
unit patch on his flight jacket indicated that he was one of the Red Vipers,
currently serving on the EDF spacecraft carrier Wasp, which was making a port call in
“Well, space jockey,” snapped Maples. “What the
hell do you want?”
“You guys are talking too damn loud,” snapped
the pilot. “Me and my buddies were tryin’ to play
poker here at the next table, jackass!” At that, four more pilots, two male,
and two female, came up and looked daggers at the dirty-looking Space Marines.
“Did I hear ya right?” said Stovall. “Ya called
me a jackass, flyboy?”
“He did,” said one of the young ladies, a pilot
who was about 5’6”, with brown hair and blonde bangs. “You interrupted our
poker game, jerks!” She made Stovall stop in his tracks for a moment.
“Dawn?” he said. “Whazza
you doin’ here?”
“Dawn who?” she snapped back. “My name is
Lieutenant Gabrielle Capistrano of the Red Vipers. And you’re drunk!”
“Bangs, leave the
jackass to us,” snapped the biggest male pilot.
“I resent bein’ called a jackass!” yelled
Stovall.
“Sergeant, ‘jackass’ and ‘Marine’ mean the same
thing,” said the other young lady in a prim voice. “Shut the hell up before we
have to teach you a lesson.”
“Way to go, Nikki!” said Capistrano as she
laughed, with her olive Mexican complexion looking rather sultry in the dim
light of the bar. She was tough, but she was attractive.
“Ensign Parker,” said the older male pilot to
the younger girl. “Step aside. This may get ugly. I’m about to teach these
assholes a lesson!”
“Yeah, teacher? Ya gonna do the teaching?”
snapped Stovall as Maples laughed his ass off and downed some more beer.
“Shut up,”
said the lead pilot as he shoved Stovall’s shoulder.
Stovall got up, snarled, and took a good swing
at him.
The pilot wheeled back, but he was hit over the
head by Maples a moment later as the Marine officer broke a chair over his
head.
Another pilot dove in, but Stovall kicked him
aside and grabbed Parker, who fought hard as she kicked at Stovall’s unpolished
boots.
“Little spitfire, aint
ya?” sneered Stovall. “Feisty, just the way I like ‘em!”
Stovall then punched the young woman square in
the mouth. She fell back stunned with a bleeding mouth.
“You son-of-a-bitch!”
yelled another one of the pilots as he jumped at Stovall. Stovall got him below
the belt with a knee while Maples swung at another pilot with his combat knife.
“No weapons! No WEAPONS!” yelled one of the
Chinese bartenders as he ran in. “You cut the crap or I call the shore patrol
on your butts!”
Another Marine came up behind the bartender and
slugged him in the back of the neck as he smiled at Maples while “Bangs”
circled the area, looking for a chance to pay back Stovall for hitting Parker.
“Nice job, Corporal Wiseman,” said Maples.
“Wiseman, meet our new exec, Sarge Stovall. He’s the one with the pool cue
stick.”
Stovall was using a broken cue stick as a club,
and he smashed another pilot in the head and then poured someone’s beer on him
as he laughed.
“Sir, he’s messed up,” muttered Wiseman.
“So what?” laughed Maples. “The guy can fight.”
Stovall then swung at another pilot from another
squadron, who ducked, reared up, and knocked him hard in one ear.
Then, Capistrano screamed, and she jumped onto
Stovall’s back, screaming, “DROP DEAD, STOVALL!” while punching him several
times like a jackhammer in the head and neck and then jumping off and giving
him a kick in the behind before the other pilot (an Ensign Harrison from the
Green Hornets) jumped back in and socked Stovall square in the mouth, making
the pilots cheer as he gave the ugly Marine a bloody mouth.
Stovall, reeling from the punch, slashed out with
his combat knife and cut a gash in the screaming pilot’s cheek while Maples
strangled another pilot into unconsciousness.
As the whole bar erupted into a brawl between
sailors, naval aviators, and Marines, Stovall smashed Harrison’s head into the
table, knocked him out, and then took Maples’ suggestion to duck out a back
exit into an alley, even as Capistrano tried to trip them, screaming, “Come
back here, you Goddamned cowards! You
started it, you finish it!”
Soon, most of the 255th was on its
way out, laughing their butts off at the riot that they had caused. The melee
was so thick that none of them ever got arrested for it.
VII.
HOMECOMING
The Vicinity of Procyon VI
Thursday,
April 9, 2207
2031 Hours:
Earthtime
The Argo
drifted in space beside the space battleship
“All right,” said Captain Algir.
“We have our orders, our intel report from you, Wildstar, and a briefing
report. My Blue Giants Flight Group have just assumed our fighter cover over us
as the Black Tigers have come in, right?”
“They have,” said Wildstar as he sat facing him
in his chair. “We will be handing this sector over to you when we receive our
word from…”
A tap came at Wildstar’s cabin hatch. “Come in,”
said Derek.
Domon entered, and popped a salute. He had been serving as Officer of
the Deck until just a few minutes ago. “Captain, this came from Earth. Homer
decoded it.”
Wildstar took the note and read it. “All right,
Captain Algir,” said Wildstar as Algir
saw his eyes were misting slightly. “Word from the Commander. You are to assume
your patrol station at 2130.”
“As for you?” said Algir.
“The Star Force is now officially relieved. Our
deployment is over; we’ve been cleared to go home…”
Domon smiled as Derek got up and shook Captain Algir’s
hand. “Good hunting, Captain Algir.”
“And, may Allah protect and bless you on your
voyage home, Commodore Wildstar,” said Algir in a
quiet tone of voice.
“Thank you, Captain. I’m sure He will.”
As Algir waited, Derek
thumbed the button on his microphone and said, “Attention, all hands. We have
been released from our deployment at last by order of Commanding General
Singleton. At 2130 Hours, we will leave the sector and begin our journey home.
I anticipate that we will be back on Earth by the 19th or the 20th.
We have a few ports of call to make, but I anticipate an opportunity where you
will be able to contact your families. We will discuss this later. All of you
have been a fine crew, and it has been a pleasure serving with you for so long.
We’ve been through a lot together, everyone. But, we are still at war. It is
not over yet.”
And, at that, Derek put his mike back in its
stand.
Nova, he thought. I can’t wait to see you again. Please, by
God, I hope you will pull through this all right…
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