ALTERNATE
TALES OF THE STAR FORCE
STAR BLAZERS---REORGANIZATION
Being the tenth and
final 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-Chapter
contains some content intended for mature audiences. (Even though the writer is
sometimes not terribly confident of his own maturity…)
ACT FIVE: RECEPTIONS AND
I. JAIL
Earth
Fujiyama District Jail
Friday, October 23, 2207
0256 Hours Local Time
Nova Wildstar was
lying face-down on her bunk in her jail cell, too depressed to talk to anyone
as she thought about what having to appear at trial for assault and battery
would do to her service record and her personal record vis a vis her planned entry to Medical School next year in
September of 2208. I guess I can kiss
goodbye to being a doctor now, especially if they find me guilty for assault…I
ruined everything…just trying to defend Derek, my kids, and my friends. I….
Katrina shook her.
“Nova!”
“Go away, Katrina…I
don’t want to talk to anyone…” Nova said as she turned over. She still had on
her black velvet party dress, but her underwear, purse and sandals had been
taken from her when she had been strip-searched and checked into the jail, like
Katrina’s bag and shoes (but they had let Nova keep her harmonica). Their
guards did not want them having high heels on in jail, as they could be used
all too easily as weapons, and their underwear could have been used to strangle
themselves with. The guards also said they would even be stripped of their
dresses in the morning and given cheap, dirty grey prison dresses…with their
convict numbers on the chest. Neither of them liked that idea much.
“I hate these noises,
Nova. I’m scared!” Katrina cried as she crawled over and hugged Nova.
Nova perked up her
head a little. Some cell doors were slamming down a corridor, and someone was
yelling as if they were in pain.
“What does that sound
like?” whispered Katrina.
“Either a fight, or
the guards are beating someone, or someone is just losing their mind,” Nova
sighed as she walked her bare feet up the cold cinderblock cell wall. “I’ve
heard about this jail from enlisted men and women caught in this outlying town
drunk. It’s said that everyone leaves here with a few bruises.”
“They beat you? Like
those maniacs did when I didn’t want to be strip-searched?”
Nova shivered and
tears ran down her eyes. “Yes, I have heard they beat you…every day. Sometimes,
the male guards do even worse things
to…”
Over the sound of
someone screaming, Katrina said, “NO!”
Nova nodded.
“You can fight them
off,” said Katrina. “You’re young, strong, and since they were striip-searching
both of us, I’ve seen that you are very well-toned for your age. You protected
them from hitting me more, and…”
“I could if I was
healthy,” Nova confessed. “I’m hungry, I’ve had barely any sleep, and my
breasts hurt, since I’ve not been
able to pump them or feed my babies for the past seven hours! And those female
guards hurt me when I got between them and you. If this goes on much longer,
I’m just going to have to undress and just express them over the…pot…but I
usually do that in private…not in a cell where…”
“They can all see us
through that barred door,” said Katrina. “I hated going to the bathroom on that
thing,” she said, pointing to the single toilet, “but…”
“I know. It was the
same when I had to go. When you have to, you…” began Nova. She froze when she
heard footsteps coming down the corridor.
A
male guard suddenly grinned at them and banged on the bars with his nightstick.
“Hey!” he yelled in mock good humor.
“You two beauty queens awake in there?”
“What if we are?”
snapped Katrina.
“I’ve heard about you, slimebucket!” snapped the
guard. “Don’t make me come in there and slap you around to shut that nasty-ass
mouth. GOT IT?” yelled the guard.
With fire in her
eyes, Katrina looked to Nova, who only nodded meekly. Nova then stood up, bowed
deeply in Japanese fashion, and said, “Sir, what may we do for you?”
“You’re more like it,
ya blonde bitch and so-called heroine!” laughed the guard. “I can see you have
a nice pair even in that dress. Got your dinner, baloney sandwiches and water ala mode,” he said as he shoved a metal
tray through the slot at the bottom of the cell door. “Bon appetit, ya drunken skanks!” The guard walked away laughing his
head off. “Them and that drunken ugly green bride! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! What a trip! Wait until we get them in prison clothes if
they don’t get bailed out soon! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!”
“Bailed out?” said Katrina. “What
is that?”
“We’re supposed to go
before a judge sometime in the next 24 hours for a hearing,” Nova explained.
“At that hearing, we get formally charged with our crimes, and they set
something called bail, which is a sum of money our families have to pay to
ensure that we show up for trial. If they do that, we can go…if they set bail,
that is. Sometimes they do not.”
“How encouraging,”
said Katrina.
Nova lay back, and
then she yelped as she felt something biting her exposed toes on her right
foot.
Nova looked down and
yelled, “GET OUT OF HERE! SHOO!” as she scared a big black rat in its tracks.
The rat wiggled its whiskers, looked at her, and took off.
“Rats,” said Nova
through thick tears. “I hate rats! I
want my babies and my husband and I’m being bit at by rats!”
She put her head down
and cried as Katrina crawled up on the bunk beside her, not wanting any ugly animals
like that biting at her feet.
Finally, a few dark
minutes passed.
Then, a female guard
banged at the cell door. “What do you want?” Nova cried.
“Nova, Foxy, Derek,
and your father are here…” said the guard.
“Hmmh?” said Nova.
She looked up and saw the female guard opening the cell
door. The guard said, “Wildstar! Foxworth-Savela! Get your crap together!
Your families are here to take you two outta here! Oh…here’s your shoes. Put
them back on!”
“Thank you,” said
Nova as she grabbed her sandals back from the guard and began to put them back
on her feet. She noticed that she wasn’t getting her clutch bag, bra or panties
back, but that didn’t bother her that much, since she heard Ariel whimpering,
and she felt a tingle in her breasts. She’s
probably hungry, Nova thought. I can
feed her soon, and we’ll all feel better.
“Did we get bailed
out?” said Katrina as she slipped into her sandals.
“We still have to
appear for trial?” Nova said.
Karl Forrester shook
his head. “No, dear,” he said. “Apparently, some of the guards spoke to that…Cometine girl…and convinced her to drop
the charges against you two. The Magistrate decided not to hold you any more.
All charges dropped; your actions were considered self-defense. Neither of you
have to come back for this prefecture for trial, and you both can leave. Unless
you are studying that graffitti in that jail cell for an art project, Nova
dear?”
“Thank you, Daddy!”
Nova cried as she hugged her father after she slipped back into her heels. Then,
she ran to Derek and accepted his hug and a deep kiss, along with kisses from
Alex and Ariel. Katrina likewise ran to Foxy’s arms and let him comfort her.
“What will become of
Caella?” said Nova.
“They are still
holding her in here until Sakamoto-san makes her bail, which is ten thousand
credits,” said the female guard in clipped tones. “Now, please move along! I
need this holding cell ASAP for some drunken prostitutes we just picked up.”
“And as for
Sakamoto?” said Derek.
“The Shore Patrol has
him in the brig at Fujiyama Air Base,” said the guard. “Now, get out of here!”
The party gladly left
the jail a moment later.
Nova closed her eyes,
smiled and nodded at Derek as they left, and then they went towards the
Forresters’ minivan.
Before long, they
would be back at the Wildstar residence on
II. HOMECOMING
Earth
On the Road
Friday, October 23, 2207
0359 Hours Local Time
The air-van that Karl
Forrester drove his family home in had three bench seats.
Karl and Teri sat in
the bench seat in front with little Aurora and David buckled in between their
mother and father.
In the second bench
seat rode Derek and Nova, who were crammed in next to Deke Wakefield and Sasha.
In the last seat rode
Katrina and Foxy, who were next to little Alex and Ariel in their car seats.
Quarters were a bit
tight (Deke had Sasha pretty much in one side of his lap and Nova in the other,
even though most of Nova was against Derek) but they managed to get by as the
van drove through the dark.
“I’d love to know
again how you and her got yourselves arrested,” teased Deke.
“It’s simple,” Nova
began. “We…”
Then, Ariel, who had
almost fallen asleep, began to cry. No. She began to scream.
“What is wrong with
her?” asked Katrina.
“She needs me,” Nova
said as her mother looked back and smiled. “Bring her up here?”
Before Katrina could
react, Foxy got the car seat undone, and he handed the baby girl to Sasha, who
passed her to Deke, who then placed her in her mother’s lap while Derek helped
to hold her.
“What’s wrong with
you?” said Nova. “Hmm?” Nova felt her diaper beneath her little dress. Dry, she thought. Nova rubbed her back
while stroking her hair. Not colic,
she thought as she blushed and felt her breasts aching for her baby again.
“Derek?” said Nova.
“Yes?”
“Reach around back
and unzip me,” Nova said as she brought up her feet and slipped her sandals
off. “I’m going to have to undo my dress…”
“Should I close my
eyes?” said Deke.
“Deke, you’ve seen me
in even less,” Nova said as she sat up. Derek unzipped her dress, and she
pushed the velvet dress off her right shoulder, and slipped her arm out of the
sleeve, struggling a little as she bared her right breast.
Nova then shivered
and squeaked as her breast let go and sprayed Ariel, Derek, and her own dress
with a milk bath. “Oh, NO!” she cried.
Ariel was still
crying as her mother looked back. “What happened?” said Nova’s mother Teri.
“Sorry, Mother,
gusher…” Nova said as she both tried to clean up a little and put Ariel to her
breast. Ariel finally latched on as Derek handed Nova some baby wipes and Nova
began to clean Ariel and herself off as best as she could. Soon, Ariel’s little
dress ended up on the floor of the van and off Ariel along with her little
shoes and socks.
“Awwww….She looks
happier in just her diaper,” said Sasha as she smiled reached over to tickle
Ariel’s little toes. The baby girl smiled and then giggled a little as Sasha
then tickled her chest and tummy. Katrina also looked on and smiled as Nova
comforted and fed her baby.
“Yes, she would,”
said Nova as she shivered. I have to get
something out of the other breast, Nova thought. “Excuse me, Deke, Sasha,”
said Nova as she undid her left sleeve and left breast as she pushed her dress
off down to her waist as she sat there with her legs stretched out for a
moment.
As Nova then put
Ariel to her left breast, her own wet black velvet dress began to slide down.
She struggled to keep decent, but finally gave up a moment later as the dress simply
slid off her body down around her toes. Nova pulled her feet up, and to Derek’s
delight (and Deke’s mild surprise), she just sat there totally naked in the dim
light with her baby in her lap.
“Sorry, I’m all
sticky anyway,” Nova said as Alex woke up and began to scream.
“It’s all right,”
said Deke, who thought, With both breasts
exposed, she just looks more comfortable naked, somehow, as Nova took a
deep breath, and thought, Thank You God,
for letting me get out of my clothes to do this amongst friends…og, my breasts
were really hurting! “Nova, it
sounds like Alexander needs to be fed, too…”
Alex was handed to
Derek, who handed her to Nova. Derek also helped put the baby boy to his
mother’s left breast as Nova put Ariel to her right breast again. Nova then
laughed and said, “He sure does, don’t you, you little piggie-wiggie?” Then,
she felt Ariel’s diaper. “Wet. Derek, do we have spare diapers around?”
“Have to see if I can
find the bag,” Derek replied.
“No big rush; she has
to air out for a while anyway,” Nova said as she undid Ariel’s diaper and
pulled it off, baring her little bottom against her mother’s thigh. From the
front seat, little
“She’s wet,” said
Nova as she patted her baby girl’s legs and tush. Derek handed Nova a baby
wipe, and Nova washed her little girl while Deke said, “Again, how did you get
yourself arrested, Nova?”
“Katrina and I were
trying to stop Caella, who went crazy,” Nova said as she sat there in just her
skin, wiggling her toes a little as she talked and nursed Alex and Ariel.
“Caella had attacked Wendy, and she was like a bull in a china shop, right,
Katrina?”
Katrina, who was half
asleep, woke up and said, “Yes, she went nuts, and…Nova. Where’s your clothes?”
“You don’t remember?
Off. On the floor. The little ones were hungry and I
had a milk gusher. My boobs..are…uh…starting to feel better now,” Nova said as
Derek kissed her. Derek then said, “Nova, Alex’s bottom feels wet…and I can’t
find the diaper bag in the dark…”
Nova felt Alex’s
little tuxedo shorts. “You’re right, dear. He is wet. Nova then took off Alex’s
little black socks (she had taken off his little shoes as he fed) and then,
with Derek’s help, she got him out of his little shorts and diaper. Nova then
found his little shirt was wet, so his tiny tux jacket, bowtie, and shirt came
off, leaving Alex naked in his mother’s arms like his sister. Derek washed his
son’s bottom as best as he could while he played with his toes, but he said, “I
think all three of you are going to need a bath when we get home, Nova.”
“Me too,” Nova said.
“Oh, Deke, about the fight…I just couldn’t help it, either, when my fist met
Caella’s nose…and I just couldn’t help it when my sandal on my foot kicked her
in the butt. The worst part was when that hick boy wanted to hurt my little
Alexander by throwing him the cake. Babies are NOT basketballs!”
“Momma bear
syndrome?” said Deke with a grin as he looked at Sasha, guessing Sasha would
act them same when their daughter was born.
Nova nodded. “I’d do
anything for my little ones. I go through lots of pains to keep them nicely
clothed, clean when they have to have no clothes on, and I do not care about my
modesty when they get hungry and need my breasts or need to be bathed, because
I almost always just take them in the bath with me. But, hurt them, or try to
hurt them, and I will go wild to protect my children.”
A little more light
from the impending Dawn shone into the car, and Derek gasped as he saw a few bruises
and abrasions on his wife’s naked flank. “Nova! How did you get those?”
Deke noticed the
nicks and bruises on Nova’s body at the same time as he swallowed hard and
said, “Nova…did you get…nicked up fighting Caella?”
“No. Protecting
Katrina,” Nova said as Katrina looked at her friend’s nakedness and then bowed
her head. Karl and Teri looked at their daughter and said, “Who did that to
you?”
“The guards…when they
were strip-searching us,” Nova said. “I knew I’d have to be searched, so, I
just took off my clothes when they ordered me to.”
“I didn’t,” said
Katrina. “I wanted to strip in private. Not in front of Nova, four other female
guards, and one male guard. I told them so…and they began to hit me and forced me to strip.”
“More like they held
her down and pulled her dress off,” Nova said. “Then, they began to hit her
with nightsticks….and then I got up, and threw myself over her to protect her
from the beating. They…” Nova sobbed. “They started to hit me, too….they hit us
both…while we were…both naked, and…”
Nova just gave up and
cried as she fed her children while Derek held her.
Foxy held a crying
Katrina, outraged by the treatment she had received in jail. He carefully
lifted her dress a little and saw bruising on her thighs, too. “Is anything
broken?” he said.
“I do not think so,”
Katrina sobbed.
Derek began to feel
Nova’s left side, checking carefully for broken ribs, while he said, “Nova, I
can’t reach your other side right now. Deke, feel her right side to see if any
ribs or anything are damaged…”
Deke nodded and
reluctantly did so. He was afraid of a headache, but Sasha just hugged him as
he carefully felt her aunt’s naked side. “Nova, does it hurt when I do this?”
he asked.
“Not much,” Nova
sobbed as she shook her head and kissed Derek. Deke’s probing went down to
Nova’s bottom, which, as he found, was almost as smooth and soft as her baby
daughter’s little bottom…(with Nova’s consent, Deke had also played with the
two little babies as they fed at their mother’s breasts). Finally he said,
“Wildstar, nothing’s broken on her right side.”
“Same on the left,”
Derek said. He then looked at Nova’s bare foot. “Nova, what’s this mark on your
toe?”
“A rat bite from the
jail,” Nova said. “I tried to clean it as best as I could. I’ll need a tetanus
shot when we get home. I have a booster in my nurse’s bag in the closet that I
can give myself, or that you can give me, Derek, if I can’t reach back there.”
“Can’t reach back
there?” Derek murmured.
“My
bottom,” Nova said. “It’ll hurt, but getting
it in one of my arms, which I need for the babies, would hurt even worse.”
“We should sue that
municipal government,” said Karl as he looked back at his daughter.
“I think so,” said
Nova. “Even though these bruises will fade in a few days. Katrina, I know they
got you, too. I’ll want you to strip for a bit, too, when we get home.”
“Why?” Katrina
snapped.
“So that I can treat
you and take pictures of the way you look.”
“Pictures?” hissed
Katrina.
“For the court case.
For evidence…before the bruises fade. Look at me, for example. To show where a
few of the bruises are…Derek will have to photograph me with no clothes on,”
Nova said as she flexed one of her legs, and Deke could see what she was
getting at when he glanced at one of her upper thighs. “Foxy or I will have to
do the same with you,” Nova added.
Katrina grunted as
Deke said, “We’re going to have to make a deal about tonight.”
“A deal?” yawned Nova
as she took Alex off her breast for a moment to burp him.
“We’ll discuss it at
home later,” said Deke. Hopefully, after
you put something on, he added to himself.
A while later, at the Wildstar residence, Deke continued to
talk with Nova.
Execpt for a few
minutes alone with Derek, during which, he assumed, she had her pictures taken
and had gotten her tetanus shot in her bottom, Nova still was very much naked.
However, Deke
couldn’t begrudge her, since she was sitting on a white rug in their bathroom,
preparing to bathe Alex and Ariel by getting into the tub with them, and still
occassionally nursing a little, as well. The scene reminded him a little of
Sasha Morningstar and other near-naked or naked women he had seen caring for
their babies in the shelters and underground cities.
Even the bruises on her
did not look quite that bad; Nova sat on a spot on the floor where the morning
sun shone down on her body from a skylight; with slightly wet hair and her legs
curled up, she looked a bit like a water sprite as she washed her babies,
played with them, and occassionally let them feed at her breasts as she got
ready to go into the tub with them. It all looked very sweet, particularly when
they both got hungry at once.
“Okay, let’s make a
deal,” Deke said.
“What kind of deal?”
Nova asked as she tickled Ariel.
“You don’t mention to
me and Sasha that time on the beach on Iscandar anymore, when you found us
naked and in the deed, and I won’t mention this fight you had with Caella or
your being in jail, or the rest of the aftermath of that fight. Because now,
ma’am, both of us have some skeletons in our closets.”
“I’d say that’s a
deal,” Nova agreed with a tiny smile. She extended a somewhat soapy hand (she
was in the midst of washing Ariel) and Deke and she shook on it just as Derek
popped into the bathroom. “Almost ready, yet?” he said.
“The water’s almost
ready, if that’s what you mean,” Nova said. “Help me get them into the tub?”
Deke respectfully
turned his head as Nova unlimbered herself and stood up as her husband helped
her into the tub. He got enough of a glimpse of her bare tush, though, that
would have given Brew a month of fantasies.
As Nova sat on the
side of the tub, she turned her head and said, “Oh, Deke! Does Brew,
or…Toad…still have that thing for ladies’ backsides?”
“Yeah, I think so,” said
Deke.
“Derek, after this
bandage comes off my tush, you should get the camera so that we can send Toad a
little present,” Nova teased.
“What kind of
present?” said Deke.
“A picture of my tush
and Ariel’s while I am feeding her. Nice back view of both of us in our
birthday suits. Sealed with a kiss,” Nova teased as she slid into the water
holding her daughter. Derek handed her their son as Jonathan poked his head
into the bathroom in a kimono.
“Jonathan, dear, that
will have to wait,” Nova said. “It’s a little crowded in here already. You
wouldn’t quite fit in the tub with
all of us at once! The one time we tried, it got very messy!”
“Awww, Mom,” he said.
“I wanted to splash Alex.”
“You can play with
him in the tub later,” Derek said with a smile.
“I think I’ll leave
you guys alone for now,” said Deke.
“Good idea,” said
Derek.
Katrina sat in a robe
in one of the guest bedrooms in a state of depression in a robe Nova had given
her after she had made her take her dirty dress off. She was so depressed that
she had made even Foxy stay away.
A tap came at her
door as she sat on the bed with her head down. “Go away!” she said. “I am
wounded, hurting and…”
Nova’s voice came
through the door. “Katrina, it’s me. Nova. May I come
in?”
Katrina opened the
door. Nova came in, in only a kimono, with a small bandage on her right big
toe, carrying her white nurse’s bag. “Foxy misses you.”
“I do not want to see
him now. I am wounded and ugly, and…what are you doing?”
With the door closed,
Nova had set the bag on the bed and she was opening her robe. “Getting ready to give you a shower. There is a shower in
the bathroom in here, and I can see I’m going to have to help you like I did
that one time in the hospital. Remember?”
Nova then let her
kimono slip off her slightly bruised form and she gently sat naked on the bed
with Katrina as she opened her robe. “I don’t know why you don’t like to be
exposed. You’re actually very pretty and you have nothing to be ashamed of. You
have a nice figure!”
“I am not like you
and do not have a work of art figure I can run around just naked in like you
can,” huffed Katrina as Nova gently undressed her. “Foxy barely loves me.”
“Katrina, I’ll be
blunt. That is a pile of crap! He adores
you! He wants to be intimate with you later, if you feel like it. Derek wants
to…you know…but I’ve been sort of busy. We did cuddle a bit when he gave me a
tetanus shot before.” Nova did not want to say that Derek’s tender “cuddling”
of her naked body after she had receive her painful tetanus shot had led to her
having a dissolving, hot climax in his lap on her knees, but, given where
Derek’s hands had gone, how could that have been helped?
“I do not know,” said
Katrina. “Those women in those uniforms in that jail, making me strip, touching
me in those places…what about that thing with the pictures for the court?”
Nova sighed. “I know.
They touched me there, too. I felt like I wanted to throw up, but I’ve been
touched like that a bit by my doctor and my pedeatrician in the past two
months, with having Alex and Ariel.” Nova then opened her nurse’s bag. Katrina
saw that there were all sorts of bandages, medical instruments, and medicines
in bottles and vials in the bag. Nova got some kind of salve and a gauze pad
and said, “Let me rub this into your bruises; it’ll help with the pain. I’ll
take the pictures later.”
“I do not want anyone
seeing them in an open trial. I…”
“I talked with my
father already,” Nova said. “He said they would not be presented in open court
but shown to the judge in private in
camera in his or her chambers. For the civil suit, my father wants to try
to make the prefecture settle out of court without a trial. As for any criminal
proceedings against those guards, my father said it would be up to the district
attorney to press charges, but the pictures would not go into open evidence in
a crminal proceeding, either, most probably. That is, unless one of us had been
killed in there.”
Katrina nodded dully
and she trusted Nova to touch her. To her surprise, Nova was careful and
tender, unlike the damned guards in that damned jail. Nova sat close and put a
leg around Katrina, holding her almost like a child so that the tense young
woman received some softness and warmth from her body. Nova’s skin was soft,
and she smelled a little like her children as she cared for Katrina, holding
her in a protective fashion as she worked on her wounds and hurts.
Then, Nova helped her
into the shower. Nova handled her tenderly in the shower as she washed Katrina
all over and carefully washed her hair.
Then, when they were
done, Nova brought her out, dried her, and carefully gave her a tetanus shot in
one arm. It hurt, but Nova helped her through it very gently. Then, she got the
camera and had Katrina shut her eyes while she took a few pictures of her naked
body, focusing carefully on only the bruises and wounds. Nova then showed
Katrina the prints, along with the similar pictures Derek had taken of her.
Katrina was slightly relieved in that all of the pictures focused on their
wounds. They were not like “centerfold” pictures and didn’t show everything.
Then, Nova dressed in her kimono and put Katrina in her robe. Katrina then
curled up under the covers to take a nap and to be left alone while she felt
horrible about herself.
Unknown to her, as
she slept, Foxy came into bed with her and just held her. She slept in an
uneasy sleep while Foxy held her, stroked her, and kissed her in her sleep.
Later on, Katrina
woke up in Foxy’s arms. She knew who was holding her at once. “Why are you
wasting your time with me?” she mumbled.
“Katrina, dear,
you’re silly,” said Foxy as they lay alone in the guest room. It was sometime
in the afternoon, and the house seemed very quiet. “We’re almost alone in here,
you know.”
“Alone?”
“Nova and Derek went
out before with Nova’s parents. They took all the kids; they were going into
town for a while. Sasha and Deke are still in the house, in the other guest
room. So, it’s just us.”
“Why don’t you go
play with the Iscandarian?” said Katrina as she Changed
into Invidia. “She won’t mind.”
“Why are you talking
like this? I’m not married to Sasha. Deke is married to Sasha, who is very
happily pregnant with his kid. I’m married to you, and you’re beautiful.”
“I’m thin, and I’m ugly
and I look like a matchstick. Those guards in that prison said that. Those damn
girl guards.” Invidia sniffed. “I used to put people in jail where I came from.
Now, that I know what it is like to be in a jail, I could never do that again.
I’m horrible. I’m…”
Foxy pulled the sheet
off her naked body, very slowly. “You’re beautiful,” he purred.
“You’re just saying
that.”
Foxy kissed her and
shook his head. “You have a nice, flat tummy. Perfectly flat.
Long legs. Cute feet. A cute, curvy bottom. Nice breasts,” he said as he gently
teased them. Invidia began to feel warm and tingly as he kissed her nipples.
“And I want to marry you all over again.”
“We are already
married,” said Invidia.
“I…owe you a
wedding,” Foxy whispered. “A big wedding. A reception. A reception better than Homer
and Wendy’s reception. I want to see you sweeping down the aisle in a
beautiful gown, and I want to dance with you in a beautiful reception hall that
looks like a palace. I want to drink champagne from your slipper and give you a
second wedding night on silk.”
“That…sounds…nice,”
said Invidia as she smiled a little.
Foxy kissed her, and
then, at that, she pulled close to him. “Be naked with me,” she whispered.
“Make love to me…”
“Oh, I will,” said
Foxy.
And, at that, that
was exactly what he did.
He made love to her
in the afternoon, unnoticed as Sasha and Deke got up and made themselves a quiet lunch after enjoying the afterglow of their lovemaking.
Sasha then sat on
Deke’s lap and cuddled him while he rubbed her stomach in the t-shirt she had
on over her shorts.
Sasha smiled at Deke
and said, “A bit of afternoon delight in the same room we had our wedding night
in? Wasn’t that romantic?”
“Sure was,” said
Deke. He touched her stomach. “I’m scared.”
“Of what, Deekee?”
said Sasha.
“Of being a father,”
said Deke. “Look at everything Wildstar has to do. He has to hover over Nova so
much, and help so much with the kids…”
“They have two,” said
Sasha. “We’ll only have one little baby girl to start with. Is that that bad? It’s
not after the birth that’s worrying me, though, Deke. It’s the process itself.
It makes you…like a different person. Nova was almost like an animal with the
pain when she had Alex and Ariel. She’s so dignified, but she was all naked and
bloody and screaming her head off. You didn’t see most of it, Deekee. She
was…wild. She hurt Uncle Derek twice.”
“Think you might hurt
me?” said Deke.
“Maybe. I don’t know what I’ll do,” she said as Deke held her. “I’m
scared. I’m so scared…”
“So am I,” said Deke
as he kissed her again.
They cuddled, right
in Derek and Nova’s kitchen as Sasha finally said, “Then let’s be scared
together.”
“Good idea,” said
Deke.
III. TRIAL
Earth
Idlewild Fight Base
Monday, November 9, 2207
1400 Hours Local Time
Rear Admiral
Nishiyama, the presiding officer at this court-martial, tapped a bell as he
said, “The Defendant will now rise.”
Lieutenant Bryan
Hartcliffe, in his blues and his peacoat, stood tiredly as he faced a
court-martial board made up of three members; Admiral Nishiyama, Commander
Dashell “Dash” Jordan, who was now the commander of the EDF space destroyer Pittsburgh, and Senior Lieutenant Homer
Glitchman, who was still the Argo’s
Communications Officer, on TDY assignment to Earth Defense Headquarters. It was
felt that Homer would probably see promotion to Lieutenant Commander at last
next year, but he wasn’t thinking much about that as he and Dash looked at each
other, looked at Admiral Nishiyama, and then looked at Hartcliffe.
“The decision of this
Special Court-Martial board was unanimous,” said Nishiyama as he looked at
Hartcliffe, who was sitting there alone with his defense attorney, a young
Lieutenant named Peter McCandless. “With respect to the first charge, that you,
Lieutenant Hartcliffe, did knowingly and deliberately, on September 27, 2207,
assault your pregnant wife, Angelique Hartcliffe, the finding is guilty as
charged. With respect to the second charge that, you, Lieutenant Hartcliffe,
did on September 27, 2207, knowingly and deliberately attempt to commit
aggravated assault upon your spouse, Angelique Hartcliffe, with the intent of
causing her to miscarry her child, the finding is guilty as charged.”
“Our sentence is as
follows;” said Nishiyama. “That you be taken to the
Federal Correctional Facility in
Hartcliffe nodded,
but his lawyer stood and said, “Sir, we would like to appeal this sentence, as
is our right, before a Full Court-Martial Board.”
Nishiyama looked at
Dash and Homer, and he nodded. “Your appeal is granted,” he said as he rang his
bell. “Sentence suspended until the appeal is to be heard again before a Full
Board. These proceedings are completed.”
The bell rang, and
Hartcliffe stood with the others as he faced down everyone else from the Argo’s
bridge crew, and his wife, Angie.
“That means I can go
home,” said
“Not now,” said
Angie. “I don’t think I want you home yet.”
“Wot?” said Hartcliffe.
“You are a convicted
officer,” said Angie as she held her stomach. “I’m going to have our son in,
maybe, three more months,” she said. “I don’t know if I want him to have a
convicted wife-beater for a father yet or not.”
“What?” Hartcliffe said.
“
“And what are you doin’
in a suit, luv?” said Hartcliffe.
“I have business of
my own today, in a civilian court, with Derek,” Nova snapped as she smoothed
down her pleated skirt. Derek had on his peacoat, cover, and white Star Force
slacks and he looked very serious as he came up to Nova and protectively held
her. “If you’ll excuse us…”
“You ain’t divorcin’
‘im, are yer?” yelled Hartcliffe.
“NO!” snapped Derek.
“This is none of your business, Hartcliffe,” he said as a few military guards
walked Angie away from him.
“This is bullshit!”
yelled Hartcliffe. “Bull…”
“You’ll just make
things worse,” said Lieutenant McCandless as the JAG officer walked
Nova sat their aircar
in the dark brown tweed suit she had on as Derek drove her to the Courthouse in
Fujiyama District. Nova adjusted her bowtie and said, “I can’t wait to get this
over with, Derek.”
“I hope your father
can just get them to settle, too,” he said. “After seeing what they had to put
Hartcliffe through, even though he deserved it…I do not feel like sitting
through another trial.”
Nova nervously tapped
her sandaled foot against the floor of their aircar. “Neither do I, Derek.”
They finally arrived
at the Courthouse an hour later. After passing through security (and a few Press
cameras), they entered the Judge’s chambers for Courtroom 212.
Inside, they found
Foxy sitting there in his usual yachting outfit and blazer, waiting with
Katrina, who had on a dark blue skirted suit, dark red blouse, and dark red
sandals. “Ah. Glad to see you here, Nova,” said Katrina.
Sitting at a table
was Karl Forrester, who sat with a folder of papers. Not far away sat Taro
Sayama, the lawyer for the Fujiyama Prefectural Government.
To Nova’s and
Katrina’s relief, the judge was a middle-aged woman named Fujiko Asagami. She
looked around and said, “It’ll just be us today. Mister Forrester,
Sayama bowed and said,
“We admit the charges in your suit and offer the following in settlement.
First, the immediate termination of the guards involved in the incident of
October 23rd. Second, we offer you six hundred thousand credits for
each of your clients. Third, we offer you the option to pursue the matter in
criminal court.”
“Would we have to
testify in open Court if we proceed with the criminal case?” Nova asked.
“You would, both you
and Mrs. Savela,” said Judge Asagami. “The women and man involved are up on
another charge, though. They killed someone else in that same jail later that
night in another beating. You two were lucky to escape with your lives.”
Katrina looked
panicked, until Karl whispered something to her, and then whispered to Nova.
Finally, he said, “Your Honor, if they are being tried on manslaughter charges,
we decline criminal charges so long as we receive our settlement funds within
third days.”
“You can receive them
now,” said Sayama. “They authorized me to write checks.”
“Then, do we have an agreement?”
said Asagami.
Forrester and Sayama
talked back and forth for a moment, and their some papers went back and forth.
Nova and Katrina signed, and then Sayama signed and handed them checks after he
wrote them. Then, he said, “Are these proceedings closed, your Honor?”
Asagami nodded, and
took the evidentiary file (including the pictures of Nova and Katrina, which
were never even looked at in this session) and she thumbed a button on her
desk. A female robot came in, and Asagami said, “Please see to it that this
file is shredded. We came to a settlement.”
“Yes, ma’am,” said
the robot.
Sayama then shook
hands with Nova, Katrina, and then Derek and Foxy, and he said, “I am relieved
this is over with.”
“Just as I am,” said
Nova with a weak smile.
Later that same day,
all of them sat eating dinner together in a restaurant. “Back to
“I”ve been tellling
you about our wedding plans,” said Foxy. “For the second
wedding.”
“You’d like to have
it at the Stella D’Oro Club?” said
Nova. “That place is expensive. Like real
expensive.”
“We were talking
about having our reception there years ago after we got married after defeating
Zordar,” said Derek. “But we thought we couldn’t afford it.”
“You forget who you
speak with,” said Katrina. “Foxy and I have so much together. With this little
payment we received today, we can easily afford the Stella D’Oro Club,” said Katrina. That particular country club,
just north of the Tokyo Megalpolis, was one of the most five prestigious
restaurants and banquet houses on the whole planet.”
“So who do you plan
to have at the wedding?” Derek said.
“I talked with Nova
already; she will be Maid of Honor, if you do not mind,” said Katrina.
“Matron of Honor
since I’m married,” said Nova. “But I don’t mind,” Nova said. She then thought
to herself, Hopefully I can keep Katrina from going Bridezilla on
us. Especially since this wedding seems like it will be way beyond even our pay
grades. We won’t have as much in the bank for a while as people think since
we’re buying our house in the Megalopolis from the Government and paying rent
on the place in
“My other
bridesmaids,” said Katrina. “Will be Michelle, your mother, and my friend
Kristi Decker from the magazine, where I work,” Katrina said.
“Planning already,”
Derek whispered to Nova.
“Derek, it’s her
perogative!” giggled back Nova in his ear. “Lighten up a little, damnit?”
“Let’s see if we can
keep her from getting a champagne fountain,” said Derek.
“I want a champagne
fountain!” cried Katrina. “Not like the one at Wendy and Homer’s miserable
affair, though.”
“You mean you don’t
want a dog drinking from it,” said Karl Forrester with a smile.
“Right,” said Foxy. “We don’t
like dogs much.”
“A nice dog can be kind of cute,” Nova
said.
“Caella’s family did
not have a nice dog,” said Teri
Forrester in a firm voice. “What became of that evil green Cometine monster,
anyway?” said Teri, heedless of the fact that a Cometine Princess was sitting
with them. Katrina made fists under the table as she knew what had happened and
realized that the few free Cometines on Earth with the small diplomatic mission
set up by Radnar would be looked at with greater suspicion in the years to
come, partly because of Caella’s boorishness, largely because of her own war.
Katrina knew, of course, that there were Cometine prisoners of war held who had
been captured near the end of the War who were still held under very high
security on Earth who had not yet been repatriated back to Radnar’s command.
Katrina had heard rumors that a few of them were being horribly tortured by a
Marine Intelligence Lieutenant named Gary Maples who had even interrogated her
once, in the hospital. She did not like Maples much, but, of course, did not
know that he was really the human host of the Dark Lord himself. Katrina had
also been there to hear Maples interrogating Nova in the hospital (while she was half-dressed and feeding her son)
and the treatment Nova had received had been one reason why Invidia had started
to become more sympathetic towards Nova in the hospital room.
What Invidia did not
know was that Maples already knew who
she really was (thanks to the Infernal Monster who shared his head with him)
but that the Dark Lord had prevailed upon Maples not to reveal Invidia’s
presence on Earth…for sick reasons of his own.
Also, she did not
know that he was intending to crash her wedding…but none of this came to mind
as she looked at Foxy and asked, “What about Groomsmen?”
“Mister Forrester
here has agreed to be Best Man, since both Jane and I decided that Jane would
look silly in a tux and heels.”
“I beg your pardon?”
Nova said. “I once wore a tux and heels to a wedding and I didn’t look silly!
When I was Venture’s best man, Derek? Remember that?”
“I do,” said Derek.
“You looked cute like that.”
“I’m sorry,” whined Foxy. “I don’t want a
girl for a best man!”
“Good. I’m glad you
didn’t ask Homer,” snapped Katrina. “I wonder how Wendy’s baby got there? Artificial insemination?”
“Katrina, if you
don’t want to be nice,” Nova snapped.
“Okay, I see. I did
enough, and I am sorry,” said Katrina. “All right.
Homer is male then. We think.”
“Who are the other
groomsmen?” Teri asked as she thought, You horrible,
horrible, horrible little person with the mouth? How did my daughter ever
become your friend?
“Derek here, if he
can get his awesome bod into a tux, his son Jonathan…” said Foxy.
“Good, Alexander is
kind of small to be a groomsman right now,” said Katrina.
“Dear,” said Foxy.
“Last of all, I was thinking of asking Nakajima-san,” said the rich, eccentric
attorney.
“Not him,” groaned Teri.
“Why him?” asked
Nova.
“What’s the problem
with this guy?” Derek asked.
“It was your fault I
met him, Mother,” said Nova.
“It wasn’t my fault you two didn’t get along on your first date,” said Teri.
“It wasn’t my fault
he tried to put his hand up my skirt on the first date, Mother!” said Nova.
“Point him out to me
so I can kick him over the balcony if he tries it again,” said Derek.
“Then, there was what
he did to Jane!” cried Teri.
“What did he try to
do to Cousin Jane?” Nova asked.
“Since you are so
high-strung, dear, I set them up while you were gallavanting off to Iscandar on
the Argo,” said Teri. “Jane and he
were living in sin for a bit before
she threw him out!”
“How did she throw
him out?” said Derek.
“Same way she threw
me out,” said Foxy. “She shot at him a few times.”
“Nova, if you ever
die on me, remind me not to date your cousin Jane,” said Derek.
“But Nakajima comes,”
said Foxy. “He’s not that bad now.”
“That is an issue for
another day,” said Nova. “I won’t dance with him.”
“Okay, we do not get
you together with Nakajima-face,” said Katrina. “We do that,
we should have a good wedding. Now let me tell you about the color scheme I
have planned…”
IV. REHEARSAL
Earth
The Stella D’Oro Club
Thursday, December 10, 2207
2000 Hours Local Time
Invdia and Foxy’s
second wedding ceremony was set for Saturday, December 12, 2207, after a
whirlwind of activity for her, which melded into the craziness Derek and Nova
were going through in San Diego with their children, with Deke and Sasha (Sasha
was a little moody because she was pregnant) with mostly Angie Hartcliffe (she
occassionally let Bryan stay over, but more often than not, she threw him out
to live in the BOQ) and with Dawn and Jefferson Hardy.
In fact, Dawn and
Homer were the center of attention right now at the rehearsal for Foxy and
Katrina’s second wedding, not in a nice way, though, because Homer was teasing
Dawn, who was now close to five months pregnant and showing a growing baby bump
under her dress.
“You’re getting fat,”
teased Homer.
“I am not fat!” yelled Dawn. “I’m pregnant,
you brainless chowderhead! Go look at your own wife if you want an example of
what a pregnant woman is!”
“Dawn, please stop
yelling,” said Nova, who was rocking Ariel on her knee as they sat down for a
bit in the club’s wedding chapel. This country club was so big that it had its own chapel on the premises. The chapel
was already set up for a Buddhist wedding. Foxy knew the priest who would
officiate as they redid their vows Buddhist-style.
The priest, who was
named Goro Nagumi, was a bit amused at the antics of David and Aurora
Forrester, who were going to again be the ringbearer and flower girl as they
had been at Homer and Wendy’s ceremony. However, the priest was not amused at
Dawn, who was close to yelling like a fishwife as Homer teased her.
“You’re really
getting fat, Hardy. Sure it’s not triplets?” teased Homer.
“No, it is TWINS!”
yelled Dawn. “And I swear, all of you hate me! You
were all doting over Nova, you are going ahh and ooo
over Sasha over there, the brainless…”
“Are we starting this again?” demanded Sasha. “I thought we were friends now,
Dawn!”
“Brainless
Iscandarian!”
“Weirdo!” yelled
Sasha.
“Freak!” yelled Dawn.
“Social reject!”
yelled back Sasha. Homer came over, grinning, but Wendy grabbed his arm and said,
“Homer, this is enough!”
“Teenager,”
huffed Dawn.
“High school kid!”
yelled back Sasha as Deke and Jeff looked at the two
women and decided that the two moody pregnant women had to be separated, and fast.
“ENOUGH!” yelled
Katrina as she came over and swivelled on Homer. “You and Wendy, you two are to
leave! You are no longer invited to this wedding!”
“I didn’t do
anything,” said Homer.
“You set her off!”
said Katrina. “Wendy, take him home. It is obvious he has been at the bar and
is drunk!”
“He is not,” said
Wendy, who was starting to get moody herself.
“Please,” Nova said.
“Homer, you’d better go home. Wendy looks tired. I’ll try to hash this out with
Katrina later.”
“You are still
uninvited!” snapped Katrina.
“GOOD!” yelled Wendy.
“We don’t want to come to some alien weirdo’s wedding, anyway! Homer, let’s fly
back to
At that, Wendy and
Homer left. Katrina stormed off, slamming a door behind her as she cried.
“Proud of
yourselves?” Nova snapped
at Dawn and Sasha. “When Foxy and I calm her down, you two owe her apologies
for causing a scene. You two will also apologize to each other. I had enough of you two fighting on the mission, and I don’t
need this coming back to haunt us again this weekend!”
“I’m sorry, Auntie,”
said Sasha as she bowed her head. “I just feel like…”
“Killing everyone
lately?” Nova said.
Sasha nodded.
“It’s the hormones,”
Nova said. “I’ve been there,” she said as she soothed Ariel. Derek was holding
Alex. Nova then looked at Dawn and said, “I’m not mad now. Stop moping.”
“Everyone else is mad
at me,” Dawn said as Jeff hugged her. “Everyone hates me.”
“No they don’t,” said
Jeff.
“You hate me,” sobbed Dawn.
“Like hell we do,”
said Jeff. Deke nodded at Sasha, who nodded back as Deke took her hands. “Dawn,
we understand. No one here hates you.”
“Execpt Bridezilla,”
snapped Dawn. “She hates all of us! She even made my mother cry before!”
“I’ll get her to
apologize,” said Foxy. “I’ll be back. Nova, stay out here with the others.”
He left.
Lynn Westland looked
at Jeff and said, “I know she’s a handful.”
“She’s worse now than
she ever was,” he muttered. “What do I do?”
“I think she’s in
denial that she’s going to have children,” said
“So do lots of othuh
people around heah,” said Jeff.
“Yeah, you’re telling
me,” said
V. RECEPTION
Earth
The Stella D’Oro Club
Saturday, December 12, 2207
1300 Hours Local Time
Weather on Earth was
strange this time of year thanks to the disturbances to the
One day, it could be
warm in the Northern Hemisphere.
The next day, it
could be cold.
It was cold now, and snowing
slightly, as Christmas decorations illuminated the elaborate lobby of the Stella D’Oro Club as wedding guests
milled into the huge chapel to await Katrina and Foxy’s second ceremony.
“I hope she didn’t
change her mind,” huffed Teri Forrester as she stood near her daughter Nova
near the front of the chapel while Nova worked on helping the Buddhist priest
and his monk associate arrange what would be needed on the cypress ceremonial
altar for the wedding. Nova and Teri were in dark wine-red gowns with black
trim and black open-toe pumps on.
“I know she’s coming
because that’s all she’s been talking about,” said Michelle, who was dressed in
a gown like Teri’s and Nova’s. “She and Dad have been setting up so much. They
won’t be at the Manor this weekend.”
“So where are they
going?” said Kristi Decker, the pretty, dark-haired young lady who was
Katrina’s work associate.
“The Hotel Imperial
Princess, Penthouse Suite,” Nova said. “I was there once, with Derek, for one
night. Very expensive. Very nice.”
“We weren’t in the
Penthouse Suite,” corrected Derek as he came up in in a black tux trimmed in
dark red. “We were in the Ambassador’s Suite. I couldn’t afford the Penthouse
Suite that weekend.”
“And what were you
two trying then?” said Kristi.
“It was when we were
trying to conceive,” Nova said. “We thought a change of scenery would work. It
didn’t. But it was nice.”
Karl Forrester came
up, kissed Teri, and said, “Derek, Nova, the babies are sleeping in the nursery
up on the second floor. The nurse there says they have the milk you brought.”
“Thanks,” said Nova
with a blush. “Where are they?”
“Maybe they won’t
come, maybe they won’t come!” sang Aurora Forrester as she skipped along.
“Auntie Katrina is funny, funny, funny!”
“If Auntie Katrina hears you, she’ll get very upset,” Nova
said to her little sister. Nova then turned around to notice Jonathan sitting
in a corner with his girlfriend Felicia Carmody, giggling over some private
joke. Frank Carmody was there, but
In the meantime, IQ-9
scooted up. “Nova!” he said. “Ever hear the limerick about the nasty old man
from
“Not in front of the
children,” said Nova.
“I wanna hear it,” said Jonathan.
“Jonathan, you are
not hanging out with Tinwit!” Nova yelled. “And you two had better not have
some scheme set up for my dress to flip up today!”
“He doesn’t have one,
Mrs. Wildstar, promise,” said Felicia as she swung her sandaled feet back and
forth under her gown.
“Nova, lighten up,”
said Derek. “Let him have some fun,” he whispered in her ear.
“Start your engines,
I hear cars!” yelled Daisuke Nakajima, Nova’s long-time ex and Foxy’s
associate.
Foxy ran into the
room a minute later in an all-black tux trimmed with only a white tie and short
and a dark red rose on a lapel. He clapped his hands for the fifty guests, and
said, “I’m sorry, people. I’m recently bereaved so the wedding is cancelled! I
lost Katrina down the bathtub drain this morning! She refused to get out of the
tub and she melted! You can all go home!”
“Foxy, you’re nuts,”
said Jane Forrester as she came up in a flaming red gown and playfully hit her
ex on the shoulder. “You wouldn’t be dancing around if she was really dead.”
“I’m nervous,” he
said.
“Why?” said Nova.
“She may not go
through with this. She may leave me at the altar! What is taking her so long?”
“You guys are already
married,” whispered Nova. “Remember? Did you see her in her dress?”
“No.”
“Good. It’d be bad
luck,” Teri said.
Nova ran off for a
moment after looking at the clock. Eager showed up a moment later with his
fiancee’ Lisa, followed by Sandor and Diane Henson.
“Where are they?”
said Sandor.
“Nova’s getting her ready.
I think,” said Derek as Nova whistled to Michelle and Kristi. A moment later, a
dark-looking man in black shades showed up. He smirked at Wildstar. Wildstar
didn’t like the way he looked, but was forced to admit to himself that,
somehow, Lieutenant Gary Maples had gotten an invitation to the wedding, which
he was handing to Karl Forrester right now. Karl took it, not knowing that he
had just taken an invitation from the Lord Ekogaru himself…the very being who
would cause his sudden death exactly twenty-four years later at the pinnacle of
his life and professional career in his seventies. Ekogaru smiled, foreseeing
the future that he would cause and Karl’s role in it.
Finally, Nova,
Michelle, and Kristi came out while Karl Forrester disappeared. Derek went and
spoke with the priest, and then, he said, “Ladies and gentlemen, please take your places. We are about to begin shortly. We are here
today to witness the joy of Kazuo Foxworth-Savela and Katrina Foxworth-Savela
re-enacting their wedding vows. Please be seated!”
Everyone sat down as
the bridal partry disappeared.
The Buddhist priest
and his acolye stood before the altar in their vestments, waiting as Bach’s Fantasia in D Minor was played on a
grand piano in the room-decorated in dark red and black. The windows were open,
and everyone could see the snow outside as, first, Jonathan and Michelle came
down the aisle hand-in-hand, followed by little David Forrester, who bore the
rings and a Buddhist rosary on a cushion. Next, there came Daisuke Nakajima,
who walked uneasily with Teri Forrester.
As each bridesmaid
and and groomsman came up, they lit a candle near the altar. Next, Kristi
Decker and Derek Wildstar came up together, lit candles, and waited as, behind
them, Foxy was escorted up the aisle by Nova, who looked very pleased after she
lit her candle and stood near Derek.
Foxy waited as Aurora
Forrester scattered some dark red rose petals, and then the room went silent as
the last two members of the wedding party appeared.
The best man, Karl Forrester,
came up in a black tux, wearing a red-lined black opera cape over his tux in a
style with a clasp that only the bride knew represented her dead father, Prince
Zordar. Since the father was not present, the Best Man had to give the bride
away at this wedding.
Katrina was the last
figure.
She was in a gown
that was all pure dark wine-red, a slightly darker shade than that of the
somber but elegant gowns of the bridesmaids. She wore a dark black veil over
her purple hair, and black silken open-toe slippers.
She glanced back,
smiling slightly as two Cometine officers from the
However, with the
Cometine officers, there was a third figure that Invidia did not quite
recognize. He was clad all in a black uniform trimmed in white like that of an
ordinary trooper, but in a pattern Invidia recognized as that of the Imperial
Guard. The face and hair of the tall figure were completely hidden by a shiny
black pilots’ helmet and breath mask; like the sort
worn by long-range Scorpion boat pilots.
Invidia went silent
as she and Foxy held hands, and she wondered to herself, What is an agent from the Grand Throne from Andromeda doing here? The
Earthlings have no idea what that uniform means, but that is the uniform of a
Prince of the Realm elevated to Imperial Guard status as part of the Emperor’s
Guard. What is a Concillor of the Grand Emperor doing at my wedding? And why? They usually only leave Great
Andromeda…to execute people. Am I going to be assassinated?
The dark thoughts
were driven from Katrina’s mind when Foxy took her hand. The pianist went
silent as she and Foxy knelt before the altar.
The room went silent
while the priest recited sutras in
Japanese while the groomsmen and bridesmaids flanked Foxy and Katrina.
Then, Foxy led Katrina
in a vow to the Buddha that he had taught her. It was in Japanese, and it was a
vow of fidelity and everlasting love.
After an offering of
incense to the Buddha, they received some water ritually purified by the
priest.
After that,
they drank some sacred sake’ in small
cups, in the san-san-kudo pledge,
(three times three equalling nine sips).
Katrina smiled at
Foxy in the candlelight as David brought up their rings.
Foxy took the ring
for Katrina and said, again, “Katrina, with this ring, before our friends and
associates, I thee wed. For richer or poorer, and in sickness and in health, I
will stand by you.”
Then, the priest
said, “Do you take Katrina as thy wedded?”
“I do,” said Foxy as
he slid the ring on Katrina’s finger.
Then, Katrina took
her ring, and said, “Kazuo, with this ring, before our friends and associates,
I thee wed. For richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, I will stand by
you. Thank you…thank you, for taking me into your protection and for accepting
me onto Earth.”
“Therefore, by the
power vested in me,” said the priest. “Confirming the emergency words of
Commodore Wildstar back in October, before the world, I do pronounce thee as
husband and wife. Kazuo-san, you may now kiss Katrina-chan. These ceremonies
are concluded, and may Buddha bless thee.”
Foxy smiled at
Katrina, winked at him, and waited as he raised her veil and then he took her
in his arms and kissed her as everyone applauded.
“I can’t wait to
dance with you again in an hour or so,” said Foxy.
“I cannot wait for
the wedding night,” said Katrina as she and Foxy left the room hand in hand,
their marriage solemnized in the open now before the world.
As they walked past
Maples, he looked down at the floor, making silent fists behind his back as he thought, I had no chance to disrupt this. Damn you, damn you, damn you!
For a moment, the
Dark Lord thought of simply killing Invidia where she stood. He could have
easily done it. But, then, he thought. No. She could still be useful to Me in the future.
How? As an agent of Chaos.
Ekogaru shook his
head, shivering a little at the black, hidden aura around the tall man in black
who walked out with the Cometine officers.
Only the Dark Lord
could see the woman in the blue dress walking behind him, walking quietly on
bare feet as her blond hair blew in the warmth of the heating system.
Trelaina! Ekogaru
thought. What are you doing here?
But before the Dark
One could look again, she was gone, along with the tall man in black.
The reception took up
most of the main hall of the country club.
Security was
everywhere, watching quietly as Commanding General Singleton danced with the
new bride right after Foxy, Karl, and Derek had done so.
The Security forces
noticed as Nova Wildstar, forced by custom to dance with Daisuke Nakajima,
ended their dance by slapping him in the face (it appeared he had been too
ready to put his hand on the Matron of Honor’s shapely bottom in her gown; he
had also stepped on her toes twice). Nakajima was quietly escorted out as they
watched the black-clad man coming up to Katrina to talk with her.
Katrina was shocked
at the appearance of the man in black, with Kazuo away for the moment to get
some champagne. Katrina reached for a steak knife from one of the large,
elegantly-set tables, but the man said, in a deep, muffled voice from inside
his mask. “You need not fear. I am here only to talk with you.”
“To talk?” hissed
Katrina.
The man nodded. “I
would share a dance with you…Princess,” he said in a low, deep voice.
“You know?” Katrina
whispered.
The man nodded.
“Who are you?”
whispered Katrina.
“It has been a long
time,” he said in a low, deep voice that sounded a little like Ekogaru’s, but
was somehow gentler. “This is not the first time I have seen Earth, and this is
not the first time I breathed its air,” he said in a very low voice as he
danced Katrina to a dark, lonely corner of the room as Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in C Minor played in
the background on an electronic harpsichord. “Over six Earth years ago. When we
were in the
“No one would know
that,” whispered Katrina harshly. “It was only my father and I who were there!
And he is dead! Trelaina killed him!”
“Who is to say I
died? I thought I had. Trelaina had other plans. She had other means. She had
other aims.”
Katrina’s mouth fell
open. Fantasia in D Minor began to
play again on a piano.
“Say nothing,
Princess Invidia,” whispered the man in a voice no one heard but the two of
them. “This is not the place for reunions, Daughter. But, I live. Through
hell’s back door I come. But I live.”
“You…hated…me”
Invidia sobbed.
“I was angry,” Zordar
whispered. “But those were difficult times. We must band together again. The
Local Group faces difficult times. Both our galaxies are threatened. What is in
the Blackeye Galaxy is far worse than anyone on Earth knows. And his forces are
far, far from dead. I come here to
begin to make amends by telling you that you are protected.”
“You were not sent to
slay me?”
“no,”
Zordar whispered. He looked back himself. He gritted his teeth in his helmet as
he realized that Maples had gone. “I was here to kill a man. I meant to kill
him today with my bare hands before he suspected. I wanted to capture and then
slay one Earthling. Just one. But he has left us. But
we are watching him.”
“Why?”
“For the good
of all of us, believe it or not.
And that is why I came, too. Can a man miss his daughter’s wedding? For anything? No. Especially since the Grand Emperor is
dying in Andromeda. Even as we speak. And his named
Successor is about to be anointed.”
“Please stay,”
whispered Katrina. “You can come to the hotel with Foxy and I…we…”
“No. I cannot. But,
someday, we shall meet again,” said Zordar. “Trelaina tells me it will be far,
far away from here.”
“Trelaina?”
“Why do you think I
am here?” whispered the man in black. “Tell no one,” said Zordar. “Not even Foxy.”
And, at that, as
mysteriously as he came, Invidia’s Father swept out of her life again.
But, she knew beyond
all hope that he had lived.
He was alive.
And he cared.
But what was going to
happen to Earth? The Milky Way?
The Andromeda
Galaxy?
Were they all
threatened?
VI. A NIGHT ON RED SILK
Earth
The
The Hotel Imperial Princess: Penthouse Suite
Saturday, December 12, 2207
2358 Hours Local Time
At last, Foxy and
Katrina were all alone.
“Our second wedding
night,” he whispered as he carried Katrina into the darkened Bridal Suite of
the Penthouse of the magnificent 78-story high hotel near the center of the
Tokyo Megalopolis.
Foxy swept his hand
before a sensor, and dim lights came up.
Katrina smiled
silently as she beheld a room all in red and black.
Red curtains over
windows looking out onto the night.
A dark
crystalline ceiling with hidden lighting fixtures.
A deep
burgundy carpet.
A huge bed, covered
in dark red silken sheets, pillows, and comforter. Foxy put Katrina on the bed,
took off her pumps, and smiled as she wiggled her toes in the carpet.
A small chime went
off. It was midnight of the next day.
Foxy shrugged off his
coat, and undid his suspenders.
“To us,” he said as he
opened the champagne bottle. It fizzed all over them. Katrina screamed, and
then laughed as she made the Change again to Invidia. She put on her Royal Pin
after Foxy locked the door, and she adjusted her widows’ peak.
“I met a visitor
today from Great Andromeda at the wedding reception,” said Invidia.
“Who was he?” said
Foxy.
Invidia lowered her
eyes. “I wish I could tell you. He wants his identity…his existence…kept
secret. But he told me that…he…HE…”
“Not him?” said Foxy.
“No, he means us no
harm,” said Invidia. “But, he says our joint Enemy is after both Earth and
Andromeda. I wanted to dominate Earth someday…but…”
“But what?”
“What if we all have
to fight together against HIM as allies? Allies?”
“Is that what
troubles you?”
Invidia nodded. “And…I
cannot tell you. I am sorry.”
“Why not?”
“He swore me to
secrecy. Probably for good reason. What are you
doing?”
Foxy picked up one of
Katrina’s shoes. “I mean to drink from your slipper.”
“How silly!” laughed Invidia.
“I said I would.” He
began to drank, but some champagne dribbled out of the open toe of the shoe
onto his face.
Invidia laughed hard.
Then, she hugged Foxy.
She began the attack
this time, pulling off his clothes with little preamble. He reciprocated with
hers.
They were both naked
within three minutes, rolling and kissing and loving on the silken sheets as
the room lights went down and the city shone and glittered below them like
beautiful stars in the night.
Invidia and Foxy said
little…they were just kissing and breathing heavily as their lips joined, and
then their mouths ran all over their bodies.
Invidia felt hot,
sexy, and her heart was beating hard as Foxy became sweaty, hot, and then
melted into her like hot chocolate as it began to snow outside.
The snow fell in the
city as Foxy continued to fall on his Princess.
Soon, she was
writhing, gasping, moaning, and calling his name again and again and again as
she exploded around him in a burst of pleasure, and he exploded into her.
Finally, they were
sobbing, they were laughing, they were happy.
“I love, you, my
Princess,” whispered Foxy.
Invidia began to cry
harder. “I love you, too!” said Invidia. “You do not know how much I love you!”
“I have some idea,”
he whispered.
“Do you?” she said.
And, then, at that,
they began to make happy, urgent, passionate love again.
All through
the night.
In the meantime, over
Earth, Zordar, who was for now, an unaffiliated Prince of the Realm, stood in
silence with his helmet with a green scanning eyepiece on off in high orbit on the
bridge of a Cometine destroyer being escorted slowly out of Earth’s territorial
space by two EDF destroyers. It was a routine prisoner exchange; a few Terran
prisoners of war had been exchanged for Cometine POW’s, who were now on this
ship, on the way back to Andromeda.
He sat down in the command seat, confident that his life
would change…in just a few minutes.
Back from Death, he thought. Although I was never really dead. I was sent to a Void by Trelaina. Trelaina made me believe I was in eternal
torment. I was on the doorway between death and life, she said. Then, she let
me return, at last. I came back to corporeal existence just as my daughter’s
final scheme imploded. Then, I was held prisoner, until I made our generals
aware of who I was. And of my
connection to Varnax. Then, they listened. Then, I was again
respected….then, I began again to live.
No one else on Earth
(save for Ekogaru and Invidia) knew of the returned Zordar’s presence over the
planet. Nor did they know of the true significance of a small ceremony expected
to take place in the ship.
The comm officer
turned to Zordar and said, “Lord, he is gone. Emperor Varnax is dead.”
“So,” said Zordar.
“Lights down to emergency in respect for the Emperor,” he said as he removed
his eyepiece. “The Emperor is dead. He had a long life.”
The lights went down,
and the crewmembers and officers on the bridge knelt. One waited with a small
cruise of oil.
Another transmisson
came in a moment later. “Great Andromeda’s Court Committee recognizes thine
Accession, Lord.”
Zordar knelt and
bowed his head as an officer put a little bit of oil in his white hair and
rubbed a little on his bald pates above his eyebrows.
Then, he stood. He
looked much different now as the comm officer bowed and said, “Lord, Great
Andromeda recognizes this bridge as the seat of the Grand Throne until our
return.”
“The Emperor is
dead,” intoned Zordar.
The crew came to
attention, saluted, and turned to Zordar saying, “LONG LIVE THE EMPEROR!”
An officer gave the
new Emperor of the Greater Cometine Empire and of all of the Houses all of the
books and command codes. “My Lord, whom do Thee select
as Viceroy to speak for you?”
“Tell them no one, “ said
Emperor Zordar, who sounded as powerful and arrogant as he had not been in over
six years. “I break the seclusion of Arishna’s Throne. I speak for myself! I
have been readmitted to life in the past few weeks for a Reason.”
“Lord?”” said one of
the officers, a Leftenant Vergas. “What of the Armistice?”
“It holds. For now. It may be even more convenient as a legal basis to
force this planet to do our bidding in the future,” said Zordar. “For now,
Radnar and Desslok retain their positions. Desslok is not to learn that I live,
yet, nor that I make him now a Provisional Prince over
Gatlantis. He will be an ally, though. Like it or not. He will have to be when
this Dark Lord whom I was about to kill comes for his head. That is if we do
not kill him first.”
“Provisional?” said
Vergas. “Why?”
“I have a daughter,”
said Zordar. “She cannot be forgotten. She must, though, be controlled.”
And, at that, Zordar
nodded at Earth and began to allow his ship to prepare to warp for home.
It is a beautiful world,
he thought. Someday, I shall be back. And
you will all kiss my boots in gratitude, you fools!
VII. A MOST UNUSUAL MEETING
Earth
The
Derek and Nova Wildstar’s Home
Thursday, January 31, 2207
2342 Hours Local Time
Nova Wildstar had
just put Alex and Ariel to bed; having to give only a little of her breasts in
the festive dark green party dress she wore in her house.
With that done,
before going back out to meet Derek and the others again, she sat in their bedroom,
and remembered the past year in a bittersweet, quiet fashion as she paged
through a photo album.
“So much has happened
to us the past year,” she said to herself. “My being asleep
at the beginning. Waking up in the Spring. The
assassination attempts in
Then, Nova felt a
sudden dank, familiar, threatening cold as a dark form began to appear…right in
her bedroom when she was alone. She gasped, and went right for a crucifix when
she saw who and what it was.
“I have told you before,”
Nova said as she held up the cross. “Ekogaru…you are not wanted here on Earth. Nor in my house. Get
out!”
“You mistake me,”
said that slow, dragging voice. “I am not here tonight to harm you or anyone. I
am here to talk.”
“To talk,” said Nova. “What would I want to
talk about with a ghost over three thousand years old who nearly destroyed
Earth twice; once on your own, and the second time over, using Invidia as your
cats’ paw? What do we have to discuss with the likes of you? I know what you are. I have no concord with Belial or his
servants. Get out.”
“You say you know
what I am. I have masters that I am responsible to, as well. I am here in what
you might call a peace mission. I am here to ask your advice.”
“My…advice?” said
Nova. “Sure. You are some kind of ghost from the Pit, the deepest part of
space, from what we can figure out. I am a rather healthy young mortal with New
Years’ guests to tend to. How can I advise you?”
“I ask you…is it worth it to go on living?”
“Living,” said Nova.
“You’re some kind of living dead thing, and you ask me whether or not it is
worth it to go on living? What is
living for you? Conquering worlds? Sucking up peoples’ souls? Driving them
insane? Using people?”
“For me, when I lost
my body, living became an exercise in horror. Living became an exercise to try
to get my body back. You would not believe it, but I envy you because you are so alive and happy. I drag myself on
minute after minute. Hour after hour. I have a new
host that I possess…”
“Who is it?” Nova snapped.
“No one
terribly close to you. I cannot do
much. For now. I am very tired. I drained so much of
the energy that I was in fighting you that I barely exist anymore. I drained
the life-energy of Michael Stovall from him like a husk in a bit less than
three years. My new host is even weaker. I need a body and I mean to get a new
one someday.”
“You can’t have this
one,” Nova snapped as she patted her chest. “It’s taken. And even though I’ve
been through so much already, I’m not even thirty yet. I have a long life to
live. More children to have. A
husband to love. A medical career that begins anew for
me next year when I begin
“No,” said the Dark
One. “I cannot. But I will tell you this,” he said.
“What?”
“The Comet Empire and
its ambitions are not yet dead. Nor are mine. We were
to rule together. They have a new Emperor now. We are bound to clash, and they
want to come back. Join with me, Nova. Join the winning side.”
“I can’t,” Nova said.
“I will not.”
“Suit yourself,” said Ekogaru. “See how much your friends care
about you in the years to come.”
At that, Ekogaru
left.
“What was that
about?” Derek said as he came into the room.
“Nothing I want to
discuss now, Derek. I’m sorry. Let’s go downstairs.”
Derek kissed his wife
and he went downstairs with her, smiling as Deke, Sasha, Dawn, Hardy, Brew,
Bangs, and many of their other friends counted down towards the New Year as
2207 became 2208.
Then, the New Years’
Bells began to ring across the planet.
The old year was
gone.
War was over.
The Earth was at
peace.
For now….
AND LIFE GOES
ON FOR THE STAR FORCE, THEIR FRIENDS AND THEIR ENEMIES
In the Year
2208, Planet Earth was Finally at Peace.
THE END
Begun: March
2003
Finished:
February 2009
To Return to the Introduction to The New Comet, click here