Episode 55
The Prisoner Exchange
Seconds after the screen went off, everyone in the room started talking and a murmur was covering the room.
April looked at her father and said in a decided tone: "Father, I'll go."
Eagle: "April, this is the most dangerous situation you could be in. We have to negotiate something else with Jesse. He must have some other weak spots that we can tackle."
A: "Dad, I've been in many other dangerous situations before. I AM HIS WEAKEST SPOT, there is nothing and nobody else he would want instead of me."
E: "This is the most dangerous situation for you, and you know it. He could rape you, and that is something I would never let myself live with!"
A: "Dad, I know how to defend myself. He is dangerous, but I think he is not that bad around me. I can deal with him."
E: "I wouldn't make such assumptions. Jesse is unpredictable."
People started coming out of the conference room. The star sheriffs and Claudia were tensely waiting for the news.
"Whatt? He wants April?" Fireball yelled. He ran inside the room and stopped a few feet away from April. She looked at him with cold eyes.
"I made my decision, Fireball", said April, calmly.
"But you can't just risk yourself like that, April..."
"There is no other option, and you all know it. We have to save your father". April turned around.
Fireball leaned against the table... He felt all the guilt in the world upon him now. Claudia came next to him and tried to alleviate his sorrow.
Saber Rider stepped in.
"Gentlemen, I have an idea."
A plan started emerging...
In the conference room, after half an hour of discussions, everyone sat down, waiting for Jesse's callback. He was a little late this time.
After 10 more minutes, the screen came back, and Jesse's glare looks covered the screen.
"Gentlemen, what are your decisions...?"
Eagle: "We accept the trade."
J: "Wow, that was easy, wasn't it? Haha! Meet me tomorrow morning at 6, Yuma time. I will send you the location coordinates when I'll consider it appropriate. Only the Star Sheriffs to show up, nobody else, understand? If you try any tricks, Hikari is dead."
The screen went off.
Inside Ramrod:
"Jerk!" Screamed Fireball.
Saber Rider turned towards the team:
"He knows what he is doing. He is not giving away the location because he doesn't want us to set anything up ahead of time. But we can beat him even in the last moment, right, chums?"
"Together!" Colt raised his hand.
April's eyes were staring in the distance, out the window. Fireball was wondering, what was she thinking about now? Maybe she is so mad at him now that she would accept Jesse instead?
And a long night, a long wait for everyone... And despite them trying to unscramble the transmissions from Jesse and find out his location, they weren't able to. He is a damn smart guy.
April tossed all night. She dreamed that Jesse was... kissing her. She woke up very disturbed. Fireball never kissed her but now she dreams about... Jesse?
It was a crisp dawn light.
5:30 am on Yuma.
The Cavalry Command was all awake. Waiting for Jesse's sign. All posts around the New Frontier were on alert. Nobody spotted him though.
Suddenly, a short transmission came through.
The coordinates were... Alamo moon... ! Right in the middle of the action. Jesse had big guts to consider that as a trading spot!
In an instant, transmission was forwarded to Ramrod. Three of the star sheriffs were awake. They were ready to go.
From behind the pilot chairs, a sleepy Colt appeared, yawning and stretching: "Whoaaaahhhh, good morning amigos! I slept so well!"
Saber Rider: "We've got coordinates from Jesse. Let's go meet the bad guy!"
Colt, suddenly awakened: "Alright boss! You got it!"
April took a deep breath. "Here we go, let's see how this day goes. No matter on which side, at the end of the day hopefully I'll still be alive. Jesse doesn't want me dead, that's a fact.", she said to herself.
Ramrod took off from Yuma and quickly made a turn towards Alamo.
On the "other side", Jesse was getting ready for the big meetup. He was heading towards Alamo also. He wasn't planning on freeing Erkanos; he was his ticket to being virus-free.
Hikari: "You know you are walking on a tight rope, Jesse."
Jesse: "Don't worry about me, Hikari. I walked this rope for many years. Worry about yourself!"
Erkanos, who in the meantime had been freed from the ropes he was tied with, said in a calming voice:
"You don't need to do this Jesse, I understand what you are going through, but please don't hurt anyone... You have a heart and feelings too, just like us... "
Jesse looked forward into the space and thought to himself: "Yeah I do have feelings, I know. I can't wait to see April..."
Alamo moon came into sight... Jesse had blasted away half of Alamo moon, with his Cobalt Blue Blaster, before the final battle, a few weeks ago. This moon was not inhabited by humans, but a lot of research centers, operated by robots, happened to be there, including biochemical research facilities. Half of the moon was still intact. Jesse was looking for a place to have Erkanos work on an antiviral medication for him, so Alamo moon was a perfect place. Two ships were approaching each other... Ramrod and Jesse's ship.
They both slowly descended into the atmosphere of the moon. There was enough oxygen on the planet, due to some powerful generators. Oxygen was used because humans were sometimes stationed there, to oversee the processes. Luckily, some of the oxygen generators were not destroyed by the blast. But there was still a lot of smoke and debris in the atmosphere, from the fires and destruction on the other side of the little planet.
Jesse chose a strategic location on Alamo moon. It was the Biotechnology research center. Lots of buildings and a lot of machinery around. Of course, it made sense, he would have Erkanos work there and research for an anti-virus.
The two ships landed... Strands and slivers of smoke were coming and going in between the two ships...
Jesse had to tie (again) Erkanos and his wife, so they couldn't run away while he made the exchange... Erkanos sighed... He wouldn't run anyway... He was tired, hungry, old... and worried about his wife... She was very scared.
Jesse came out of the ship, holding a gun against Hikari.
The four star sheriffs came out of Ramrod also. April was in front.
Jesse yelled: "All of you, I want to see all your guns down on the ground!"
"That's right, Colt, your gun too!"
"You three stay right where you are! April can come forward."
Saber shouted: "Not until you do the same with Mr Hikari. Put your gun down and let him come to us. Then we'll have April advance".
Jesse pushed Hikari forward, but he didn't let go of his gun.
"Move!" he shouted to Hikari.
"Now if April doesn't start walking, I will have to shoot him"
She started moving. One slow step at a time. Hikari was looking at her. Smoke all around... Inside Ramrod's cockpit, someone was trying to aim at Jesse. The best sharpshooter on the New Frontier... Colt! So then... who was the other guy outside? It was King Jarray's son, prince Roland, wearing a mask with Colt's face.
"Damn it, I can't aim... So much smoke, I can't see". Colt was trying to aim.
"Cm'on Colt, you can do it..." Saber Rider was thinking...
When Hikari and April reached shoulder to shoulder, Hikari whispered: "Jesse needs a doctor, he's got an outrider virus!"
April tried to process what she just heard...: What is he talking about? What virus?
She continued walking a few more steps... Each step was a walk into the unknown... But she felt she had to do something about it..., before Colt strikes... NOW!
In the split of a second, she threw herself over Jesse and both fell on the ground, right when Colt fired. The bullet missed.
Jesse, still holding her after rolling on the ground: "So you do care about me, don't you?"
"I just stumbled on a rock and fell over you, moron!" mumbled April.
"Yeah right, that stumble gave you such a speed and velocity! " he laughed. In any other conditions, if someone called him "moron", Jesse would have shredded that person. But from April's mouth, it just sounded so cute!
In the same moment, an intruder showed up in the sky... This time it was not Cavalry Command... it was an outrider ship!
Shots and bullets started popping from the sky.
Jesse quickly grabbed April and rushed back to his blue ship.
Saber Rider and his team tried to rescue April, but Jesse was too quick. Now the rescue mission was compromised, they were too far from them and a shower of bullets was in between. How did the outriders spot them? They must have had a tag somewhere...
Hikari managed to escape back to his saviors. Fireball grabbed his father and rushed him into the Ramrod. The whole team engaged in the fight with the outriders.
More outrider ships started coming. But oddly enough, they were not shooting at Ramrod at all. They were going only after Jesse... and his ship didn't have much ammunition. He had to go through loops and sharp moves to avoid the battleships. Luckily, Ramrod was right behind, cleaning the sky.
April, screaming in the midst of the fight: "I thought they were your friends, how come they're shooting at us?"
Jesse: "The want me very badly! But I won't give up!"
A: "You bear some sort of treasure or something?"
J: "Yeah, I AM the treasure!"
Erkanos shouted from the back of the ship's main room: "They tagged you, Jesse, that's how they found you"...
April screamed as she was startled by Erkanos's voice. She didn't realize there was someone else in the room. She spotted Erkanos and his wife, tied to a chair.
"You've got to remove your tag, if you want to get rid of them. Even if you escape now from them, they will track you down wherever you go" shouted Erkanos.
"Tags? Why is he tagged, I don't understand! And who are you?" shouted April, while Jesse was steering the ship left and right, to get rid of the chasers.
"I'm your dad's friend, Erkanos. Please trust me, we've got to help him."
A: "Erkanos! You are the scientist that helped my father!"
Er: "Yesss, it's me... Ohhhh" The ship made a sharp turn and everyone got shaken up.
"Two people tell me that Jesse needs help. We are on to something here..." April said to herself. So she jumped in at the ship's commands.
Although she still wasn't seeing the big picture, she had a gut feeling about this.
On the other hand, Jesse was thrilled that April was fighting right next to him.
She opened a channel with Ramrod: "Saber Rider, we have to escape the outriders. The ammo is very low and we can't fight them off!"
Saber Rider: "Yes April! We've got your back!"
In typical outrider style, the enemy pulled out a renegade unit. This one looked like a giant squid. It jumped from one of the main ships, and steered right at Jesse's ship, spinning in the air, with rotating blades coming out of its mouth.
In the Ramrod unit, April's spot was taken by Prince Roland. Captain Hikari took the initiative and started tracking the enemy ships and pointing out the closest dangers. The renegade unit reached with one of its many tentacles and tried to grab Jesse's ship. Jesse was skillfully piloting the ship among the maze of tentacles.
"Hang tight!" announced Jesse, while he was looping the ship in the sky.
Ramrod fired and one tentacle split in half. Another one reached out, Ramrod fired up again. Now the big squid robot came in revenge after Ramrod.
Jesse took this opportunity to steer his ship away from the battle zone. A few small outrider ships followed them.
April shouted: "Enemy on the right, look out!"
J: "Alright, let's fire at them. We've got a few shots left."
A: "On your mark!"
J: "Now!"
Ramrod was now in danger. The renegade unit came with all guns and tentacles lashing at the star sheriffs. The terrible part was that the tentacles kept growing back, despite Ramrod cutting them off. The battle was becoming intense. The squid managed to wrap Ramrod inside its tentacles and started shocking it with strong electric impulses.
"We've got to do something..." Colt exclaimed.
"We need a miracle...!" Fireball shouted.
Suddenly, the squid started shaking. The tight squeeze loosened. Shots from the sky were aiming at one of the squid's eyes.
The star sheriffs looked up. It was Colt's ship, the Bronco Buster. But who was piloting it? The best pilot on the New Frontier, Cpt. Norio Hikari!
"Hey, that's my ship! Don't break it, pard'!" Colt shouted.
"Dad! How did you sneak out?" Fireball exclaimed.
"I know a thing or two, son. I've been a pilot for too many years. Let's finish this battle fast!" yelled Hikari.
He flipped a few times in the air and threw the ship down towards the squid, in a rain of gunshots. Yes! He managed to blast one of the squid's eyes! Now the beast was scrambling to find balance. Ramrod emerged from the ripple of tentacles and punched the other eye. The renegade unit fell to the ground.
"Prepare to shoot, on my mark" Saber Rider announced.
"At your command, we are all ready!", prince Roland replied.
"Maverick gun controls on!" announced Fireball.
Ramrod pulled all guns out of its chest, and ...
Everyone shouted: "Now!"
Colt pulled the triggers and...
The renegade unit blew up in millions of pieces...
The rest of the outrider ships pulled back.
"Retreat, all units back to vapor zone!" a voice ordered.
The sky was clear again.
"April, come in! April!"
Saber Rider was trying to establish a connection with Jesse's ship.
"He flew away with her!" Fireball was crushed.
"That weasel!" exclaimed Colt. "I almost had him, but then it went foggy and I lost aim. But it seemed to me like April pushed him somehow. I saw her jumping. Did you guys see that?"
"I saw her jump over him" said Prince Roland.
"I did too!" exclaimed Saber Rider.
"What in the world is wrong with her now?" grouched Fireball.
"She made the right decision" Hikari intervened. He was just entering back the Ramrod control room, after parking back Colt's ship in the bay.
Everyone turned their heads to him.
"Father! What are you saying there?!"
Hikari: "I told her to."
Fireball: "You did ... WHAAATTTT?"
Moment of silence...
Everyone was looking in suspicion at Hikari. Colt was feeling his gun. He was ready to pull it, ... just in case... It was an old instinct...
Hikari broke the silence: "There is only one source for all these problems. And that is Nemisis."
"Yeah, we all know that!" Saber Rider interrupted.
"Let me finish... He spread a virus into all his fighters... and lately he expanded to humans... Jesse is under the influence of this virus... I told April about it when we intersected, and she made a fast decision."
"You mean that turncoat is actually a good guy, but he is just having some sort of rabies now?" Colt said in amazement.
"Yes, but he wants to get rid of the virus, with the help of a good outrider scientist, called Erkanos. Which is an advantage to us, right?"
Colt: "Sir, are you sure the outriders didn't rattle your brain, like they did with Commander Eagle when he was a prisoner? This whole story seems very odd."
"I know what I saw and I know what Nemisis wants to do with Jesse. I saved him, right before Nemisis was trying to wipe out his memory and re-write it with his own brain circuits! He is trying to get a new body, and he wants Jesse, that's why the outriders came today. As you could see, they were chasing his ship at first, not ours. So we have to find Jesse and bring him back to normal."
Colt: "I wonder what a "normal" Jesse looks like! Ha!"
"I don't know the Jesse from before the virus, but I know he is a bad guy with the virus", said Saber Rider. "And April is in his hands now. We've got to find them!"
Jesse succeeded in securing his way out of the battle zone. They reached a narrow path between two tall buildings. Jesse lowered the ship and stopped behind one of the buildings.
"I've got to find that tag and throw it out before they find us again!" said Jesse in fury.
Erkanos whispered in a tired old voice: "They usually place tags right under the skin, in the wrist area or behind the ears. They don't seem to have a very elaborate device, it's usually easy to spot, it feels pretty bumpy, right under the skin. I know, because I found a few on my subjects".
April went on to untie Erkanos and his wife. Jesse was too preocupied with finding his tag, so he didn't oppose. Erkanos and his wife sighed in relief. April brought some water to them. Erkanos took her hands in his hands and said: "Thank you, young lady. You are as kind as your father".
April: "Erkanos, I am so sorry this is how we meet. Let's see how we can take care of that tag, before they find us again."
Both April and Erkanos approached Jesse. He was just rolling up his sleeves, trying to find the tag.
Jesse: "Damn you Nemisis, you'll pay for this!"
April, getting close to him: "Let's take a look". She grabbed his wrists and started feeling his skin. She was too focused on her job to realize the contentment on Jesse's face.
"Nothing here. It must be somewhere else, maybe behind your ears..." She looked up... His eyes were glowing in happiness. He was looking at her with his charming Jesse Blue cat-like eyes, just like when she first met him at the Cavalry Command. Her heart started racing... She just realized how close she was to him. What is happening to her, why is she suddenly getting so emotional? She has always been able to control herself. This time she lost it... The looks they exchanged were so intense, she blushed...
"Hm-hm..." Erkanos cleared his throat.
Her heart jumped. She realized her surroundings... and looked away in shyness. His hands were already wrapped around her waist.
"So, ummm, maybe behind your ears..." She touched his cheeks and slowly felt the skin behind his ears. They were so close... and he kept his blue eyes glued to her... If only he couldn't see her blush, it was so embarrassing... She suddenly felt a bump under her finger and shouted: "I found it!"
The romantic moment was over. Everyone gathered around Jesse's ear, while he was getting a little annoyed, hoping to rescue back their little moment.
Erkanos leaned over: "Yeesss, this is it. Let's take it out fast."
Time was precious. Outriders could come any moment. Like humans, outriders had first aid kits on their ships too. Jesse looked around and quickly found it. He grabbed a little scalpel from inside it.
"I will do it, I know how to", said Erkanos. "I've done it many times".
Jesse was a little hesitant. Giving a potential weapon in the hands of anyone around him is a dangerous move. He slowly handed him the scalpel, but also slowly raised his gun. He would not let anyone take control.
Erkanos turned to his wife: "Please hold the gauze under, just like you know". Erkanos and his wife were making a good team.
Jesse was looking straight at April. His eyes started squinting. A drip of blood rushed down behind his ear. Erkanos was doing his job well. A few more moves and he pulled out the microchip.
"Hold the gauze tight" Erkanos told his wife.
April took the microchip, crushed it and and threw it out of the ship.
"Let's move, now!" she shouted.
Jesse, holding some bandage behind his ear, took the scalpel away from Erkanos and rushed to the control board.
The ship took off. April tried to open a channel with Ramrod.
Jesse blocked her: "Now I decide our next move."
A: "But Jesse, you need..."
He pushed her away.
"Where are you taking us?" she insisted.
J: "Away from your friends."
A: "But you need help, you have a virus..."
Jesse, startled: "How do you know about that?"
A: "Well, a bird told me" she tried to laugh about it.
He didn't take the joke well. "I am serious, April, how do you know about this?"
"So it's true..." she said.
J: "Yeah, it's true" he said in embarrassment. "How did you find out?"
A: "Hikari told me you have an outrider virus."
Erkanos intervened: "He is infected with the same virus that the outrider soldiers have."
"You keep your mouth shut!", Jesse yelled at him.
April took one of Jesse's hands in her own hands, looked at him and said with a serious voice:
"Please tell me what happened, tell me the truth."
Her big eyes and feminine approach were the ultimate knock-out for Jesse. He gave in and started talking:
"I... I didn't know I was infected until a few weeks ago. Nemisis revealed his whole plan when he tried to download his memory circuits in my brain..."
An so he started telling her the whole story... while he was piloting the ship away, far away on Alamo moon. Her eyes were becoming softer and softer. He felt that April was his friend now...
She was baffled! Now everything made sense: how his behavior has been so strange all this time; how he had viciously approached her back at Cavalry Command, in the backroom, and how she had felt that his whole personality had been awkward.
"You left the academy because of this virus!" she concluded.
"Ahhh, why do you sound like Nemisis now? It's not true, I left because of YOU, April!"
She continued, without paying attention to his remarks:
"If we can give you treatment for this, you could come back to the Cavalry Command as a Star Sheriff..."
"So... you want me back...?"
"Well I mean... Uh..."
What could she say now?
He found a place to hide the ship underground. It was a sort of a parking garage for interstellar transports.
The engines stopped. He stood up and repeated the question:
"So, do you want me back?"
She feared that any direction her answer would go, he would make a move on her.
No answer was coming from her.
He tried to grab her arm, like he did long time ago.
"Don't try anything, Jesse." She became defensive.
J: "You still love that clown, Fireball?"
A: "My personal life is none of your business!"
J: "Interesting, because it accidentally became part of my business... I witnessed your pretty boyfriend walking around with someone else..."
A: "You should keep your nose out of it!"
J: "Ah, so you know...! She's pretty, too, that Claudia..."
A: "So what, I know who she is, don't tease me now!" Her voice was emotional. ("How the hell does he know her name?" she thought to herself. "So it's not just my impression, Fireball is really going out with her... and Jesse seems to know more than I do.")
J: "No one can love you as much as I do, I told you! Now you see what I mean? He's going out with some other girl and you try to keep a nice face about it."
She turned away from him. Tears started coming out of her eyes.
He came behind her, and tried to hug her. She snapped.
A: "Don't push it!"
She kicked him away with a karate gesture. He looked at her desperately.
J: "Come on, April, I was only trying to help you!"
A: "Just don't push it, I said".
J: "You just saved my life today, you jumped over to save me. Now you push me away... Why do you deny me?"
His face turned into an innocent desperate expression. He got down on one of his knees in front of her. She found that so funny. The mighty Jesse, kneeling. A smile among the tears came out of her face.
A: "I don't deny... uh... Alright, I want you back, Jesse... As a Star Sheriff. I told you so since that night when you left the Academy."
J: "Only as a Star Sheriff...? You know I can do better than that for you..."
He reached at one of her hands and kissed it. Her hand was shaking. Yeah, old Erkanos and his wife were in the room, too, but who cared...
A: "I think you went a little too far into my private space for today" - and she retracted her hand slowly.
(Jesse thought to himself: "Hm, for today... What about tomorrow?")
Then he said to her: "I'll be here when you'll need me, April"
"I think now you, Jesse, need more help. Right, Mr Erkanos?" and she turned towards the old outrider scientist.
He acknowledged. His wife had tears in her eyes. She was a true believer in love stories.
They all got out of the ship and started walking into an underground building.
Ramrod was hovering over the area, looking for a blue ship...
Will Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs be able to find April and bring her back safely to her father? Join us in the next episode of Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs!