THE FIRE IN THEIR EYES
A VERY Dark Star Blazers fanfic (Rating: Heavy R): THIS TALE IS NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH! INCLUDES SOME VERY MATURE SUBJECT MATTER & ARTWORK.
PART FOUR: REVELATIONS AND MISSIONS
By Frederick P. "Freddo" Kopetz
References to Star Blazers and Space Battleship Yamato are intended as homages and no infringement is intended. Star Blazers and Space Battleship Yamato are © 2011 by Voyager Entertainment and Engagio Productions. Includes References to Battle of the Planets/Gatchaman (created by Tatsunoko Productions and Sandy Frank Productions) are © 2011 by those production companies, along with references to characters and situations from the works of Stephen King. These are all intended as homages; no infringement is intended.
Thanks to "Yuki Wildstar," Gail Kopetz, and Ami Meitsu for ideas contributed to this chapter
Thanks to SAMANTHA NOCERA for ideas contributed to this chapter. Thanks also to ANONYMOUS READER for ideas contributed.
I. STRANGE DAYS INDEED
Earth
The Tokyo Megalopolis
A Consultation Room
Central Hospital Medical School
August 16, 2208
It was still Tuesday, August 16, 2208.
Nova had returned home to Derek and her family at about 2330 that night after the autopsies for Defense Minister Ainsley, Danielle Kaperski, and the security guard that had been killed in the government offices in the Great Megalopolis.
Now, in the grey light of about 5 in the morning on Wednesday, the 17th, just a few hours before the Argo was set to leave Earth, Doctor Sane, Doctor M'Ben Kitara (now a Commodore and a Professor at Central Hospital Medical School, he had been called in to consult on the exams) and Doctor Kei Stuart, Doctor Sane's colleague and lady love, were all discussing the blood work taken at the crime scene, the corpses of the victims, and the body of the exonerated suspect, namely Nova herself.
Doctor Sane looked over the microscope slides and said, "Our work confirms the quick DNA study taken late yesterday afternoon by Nurse Wildstar and Detective Tsukikage. The blood taken from the actual murderer **used** to be human, but it is now so mutated that it can only be called alien." Sane sighed and said, "Kitara, I know you and I have disagreed sharply in the past, but surely you, Professor, can see that this blood is not even remotely like ours."
"No, it is not," said Kitara slowly in his deep West African accent. "It is the blood of a hermaphrodite. I see traces that would appear that two twins, a male and a female, were melded together into one being."
"But such a thing is not remotely possible, sir," said Doctor Stuart.
"The evidence, woman, speaks for itself!" snapped Kitara. "What we are dealing with here is some alien freak. This killer was someone so bio-engineered by some unknown entity that it is not remotely a human. It is some new, weird species."
"And definitely not my best nurse, soon to be one of your students," said Doctor Sane. "Nova's as normal and human as apple pie; with some sushi mixed in, of course," laughed Sane.
"Are we so sure of her?" said Kitara, who looked at Stuart and nodded. "Those results of that paternity test…"
"Nonsense, sir, they just prove Karl Forrester is her father," said Doctor Stuart. "There were a few odd things we found in her blood, probably accountable to her having activated the Cosmo-DNA twice in her life; one in 2200 on Earth and again in 2203 on Planet Rikasha….and…"
"They are not all accountable to that," said Kitara.
"I do her blood work," said Sane. "These markers only began to show up in her genetic structure after 2200…"
"And has it escaped your notice, Doctor?" said Kitara, "That these markers have only been found in the blood of Astra of Iscandar, Starsha, Sasha both of Iscandar, and Aliscea and Astrena of Pellias; oh, yes, along with that Katrina of Pellias? These markers have been passed down, as well, to the Wildstars' natural-born children, Alexander and Ariel, who, we all well damn know, have demonstrated unusual genius and slightly faster than normal development for their age. And from Forrester-Wildstar's childhood history, we find that she was something of a prodigy in her early childhood as well, and was in all of the Gifted Classes in her education."
"What does that prove?" said Sane.
"Your best nurse is not entirely human or Terran, Sane! She, at some point in her family history, had either an Iscandarian or a Pellian in her family line! I tend to think both. And she is a mental, ticking Time Bomb. A psychic time bomb, to be exact," said Kitara. "Perhaps she should be locked away in the plague center in Stovington, Vermont, and kept comfortable and studied. As we would have done had Trelaina of Telezart ever come to Earth alive."
"We did that to her years ago, and then again after her children were born," huffed Sane. "Nova's too smart and does not care for long hospital stays. She can be cooperative with tests, up to a point. Although one procedure that was done to her in 2203 was so against Medical Ethics, that I did it to her while she was under anestheshia for another condition…only under direct orders from the EDF Chief of Staff and the International Scientific Organization. I detest such manipulation of someone's innards without informed consent…and lying to a patient to cover it up!"
"Yes, Project Aerie," said Kitara as he looked over a folder.
"Something that I think will haunt us like Frankenstein's Monster someday," said Sane.
"What was that?" said Doctor Stuart.
"You don't have the clearance to know that, so you will not ask questions," snapped Kitara. "Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir," hissed Doctor Stuart.
II. KILLERS, ASSASSINS, AND CREEPERS
Earth
The Tokyo Megalopolis
August 16, 2208
About 0500 Hours
Nova was not home at the moment, even though the Argo was set to depart in five hours.
It was about 0500 Hours, and she had gotten up after a late-night phone call at 0400 from Dr. Haruna Tsukikage, Yuri's mother, who had a PhD in physics and was a criminologist. Nova had never met her before; she was just a voice on the phone to Nova. (Nova also wondered why the Tsukikages did not have a video-phone, but she figured maybe they were having financial issues).
Dr. Tsukikage had tried to get some blood slides and tissue samples from Zoltar for her own study; and to give to Nova before the Argo departed so that the Star Force could study them.
However, everything had been taken by the SS. Haruna had not been left with anything.
After a late-night huddle with Derek, Nova was ordered by him to get a small team together to raid SS Headquarters, get in and steal the slides and samples, and get out. Derek had inside intelligence that SS Headquarters had only very light security overnight before 0700 Hours.
Derek had told Nova, "Knowing you, you could get a group in and out fast. I do have plans of the complex. I'd go with you, but I have to board the Argo early to ready the ship for our cruise." Derek suggested that Nova should lead the op, along with Yuri Tsukikage, Dr. Haruna Tskukikage, and perhaps someone else Nova could get at short notice. Nova suggested Katrina Savela.
So, with that taken care of, Derek kissed Nova goodbye and he told her to go and get back to the Argo by 0900 so that she could met up with him, Alex and Ariel (who would be with them on this cruise) and Jonathan (who would be one of a group of JSCC cadets boarding the space battleship.
With that done, Nova called Katrina, and told her, "I'm coming over at 0430!"
"Why is zat?" yawned Katrina. "I am in ze bed with Foxy! Are you mad, Nova?"
"We have to strike back at the SS, and do it fast," Nova said. She explained why they had to raid SS Headquarters, and asked, "Could you be up and half-dressed in fifteen minutes? I know your clothing sizes, and I am running over with a combat assault uniform for you. And a weapon. Then we are going over to the Tsukikages' apartment to get Yuki and Haruna Tsukikage so that we can get their help in raiding SS Headquarters so that we can steal back the evidence about Zoltar that they stole from Dr. Tsukikage…and us, incidentially."
"Why you want me?" yawned Katrina.
"Katrina, you told me that you were trained in StrikeOps and you are a pilot," Nova said. "I've done enough for you, and you owe me a favor. I really need your help fighting that Zoltar…and those SS bastards. Or did you forget what they did to us?"
Katrina smiled. Nova had pushed the right button; Invidia's internal need for vengeance. "Yes, Nova. I am half asleep…but I vill help you!"
"Thank you," said Nova. "You don't know how much this means to me."
Nova then hung up.
Nova arrived at Foxworth Manor a few minutes later. Fully dressed in her black combat jumpsuit, leggings, black combat boots, and a black T-shirt that had an old Special Forces logo on it. It bore a skull, with the legend "Kill "em All, Let God Sort 'Em Out".
"Good morning, Katrina!" Nova yelled. "Ready to kick some SS butt this morning?"
"My Goddess above, you look like you have gone mad," Katrina said.
Nova was looking at Katrina in her underwear. "Please get up and get dressed. You have ten minutes. Hurry up. We have to strike that place before the full guard complement shows up."
Katrina glowered at Nova and said, "All right." She dressed in that uniform as quickly as she could as Foxy woke up and said, "Katrina! Where are you going?"
"I am going out with Nova to, as she told me one time, kick butt, take names, and murder people," said Katrina with a grin. "You know, Nova? Zis is almost fun?"
"Yeah, I know," Nova said as she clicked the safety on her weapon.
At the Tsukikages' apartment at 0500, Yuri and her mother had a somewhat unwelcome guest; a neighbor and co-worker of Yuri's named Tarou who was staying overnight. Now, the air conditioning in the building where the Tsukikages lived was not working well, but the air conditioning in Tarou's aparment was totally out.
With that said, Tarou's presence in the Tsukikages' small two-bedroom apartment was just barely tolerated by Yuri and Haruna.
Tarou, even though he was twenty-five, had a horrible crush on Haruna, who was now forty-nine going on fifty. Dr. Haruna Tsukikage had an appearance similar to that of her daughter, except that she did not wear glasses, and she looked very youthful for her age.
Tarou was up, looking for snacks. All he had on was his underpants, and he was sweating buckets.
Still he was curious. He was mumbling to himself, "Let me go see what Dr. Tsukikage sleeps in. Maybe she sleeps in the nude in this heat. Rrrrrrroooowwwww," muttered Tarou, who was a bit of a…pervert.
Tarou tiptoed over to Dr. Tsukikage's bedroom. He knew it was across from Yuri's.
He opened the door and looked in at Dr. Tsukikage. She was lying on the bed, sleeping innocently with the covers off in a black sports bra and black panties.
"Ohhhh…she looks better than Yuri," he growled to himself. "What a butt," he muttered. "What a BUTT!"
The door to the apartment opened. Someone was opening it with a key from the outside. Tarou was rubbing his hands and filled with lustful thoughts; so full of lustful thoughts that he did not hear the door opening; nor did he hear someone slipping up behind him, shining a flashlight about the apartment.
"Vat?" whispered Katrina. Tarou heard that. A hissed whisper. "What the fuck?" he muttered. "Burglars? Dr. Tsukikage, I will protect you from the burglars…."
"There's a male inside one of the bedrooms," Nova hissed in a low voice. "Back me up, Katrina. He looks like some kind of creeper…"
"Creeper?" hissed Katrina.
Tarou heard the stealthy steps, and he picked up a vase as Yuri heard noise in the apartment. She wore only a sleep shirt with a cat on it. She got up, and sneaked around, just in time to see her toes caught in a flashlight beam. "What?" she whispered.
"Help me get the creeper," Nova hissed to Katrina, signalling her in with hand signals. Yuri saw the two women slipping down the hallway with weapons in their hands, and she got a flashlight of her own. "What? Burglars? And Tarou's being a damn creeper!" she said out loud. "What is he doing in my mom's room?"
Nova slipped up a moment later and shone a flashlight in Yuri's face. The safey clicked off on her weapon. "Who are you? Yuri?"
"Nova?" hissed Yuri. "There's a creeper in here!"
"I think he's SS," Nova whispered. "Stay back…he is about to die," Nova said. "Katrina, guard the door. Anyone else comes in, kill them!"
"Right," said Katrina with a smile.
Nova slipped forward with three stealthy footsteps, and, suddenly, Tarou felt an arm unexpectedly grab him around the waist. The arm pulled him back against a warm, feminine body as he muttered, "Oh, BABY, you've got nice boobs…"
"Shut up," Nova hissed in his ear as he suddenly felt a cold blaster muzzle in his ear. "You have about five Goddamn seconds to start talking before I blow your brains out, you SS creeper! Or should that be Zoltar?" Nova hissed.
"ahhhhh…ahhhh…ahhhhh.." said Tarou as he pissed his pants! The hissing noise and splattering was very obvious.
Then, a moment later, the lights came on, and Yuri came out of the hall with a service .38 in her hand, and Dr. Tsukikage came out of her bedroom with a combat knife in her hand.
Nova looked at both Yuri and Haruna and said, "Yuri, is that woman over there in the sports bra your sister?"
"I'm her mother, Commander Wildstar," said Dr. Tsukikage.
"You two look alike!" Nova said with wonder in her voice.
"Dr. Tsukikage wears less to bed," said Tarou.
"Shut up," hissed Nova as she shoved the blaster muzzle in his ear. "I wear even less because I sleep with my husband, and I am a woman of impeccable morals!" Nova snapped.
"You're a crazy-looking woman who has a gun in my ear," moaned Tarou.
Yuri laughed. "Mom, isn't this funny?"
"Yes it is, Tarou. You creeper," said Mrs. Tsukikage. "And you never even had the courtesy to ask me out."
"I'd love to, if crazy woman over here would get her blaster out of my ear," whined Tarou.
"Should I strip him and tie him to a chair while we go out?" Nova said. "God, he's pathetic! Would you want your mother to go out with this wimp, Yuri?" Nova laughed.
"Foxy has far more masculinity than you do," said Katrina.
"And Derek….this man does not hold a candle to my Commodore," said Nova. She slapped Tarou's cheek. "Stop trying to turn around and look at my breasts, creeper!"
"aaaaaaaaaa," moaned Tarou.
Nova then got a random jump rope of Yuri's, and she tied Tarou to a chair after she slapped him in the head. "You creeper," she hissed. Then, she turned on Yuri. "Why do you let something like this stay over here with you?"
"And vhy you and mother still live together?" snapped Katrina. "She is respected, but you are a bit old to be living with your mother," she said.
Yuri sighed. "The answers to those questions are tied together. Protection."
"Protection?" Nova said.
"Yuri and I have made a lot of enemies in our detective work. We lived apart for a while, of course, but then one of our mutual enemies came and found out where I was staying," said Haruna. "He showed up there and nearly killed me, because I can fight, but not as well as Yuri. That is why we have lived together ever since. We care for each other. And, Tarou, as strange as he is at times, helps us around the house. He seems to have an admiration for me, as puerile as it is. And there are strange people and stranger things that now and then haunt SS Headquarters. Which is why I will not come there. Yuri, take Tarou home, open a window in his apartment, and dress him. Call in sick for him. He obviously cannot go to work today. Commander Wildstar here has terrified him. Please return soon with the slides and samples."
"He deserved it," Nova huffed. "But, Doctor Tsukikage. Will you be all right? I'll be back soon with the slides. Of course, I will be taking some to the Argo with us. Will you be okay?"
"I will be safe for a few hours until Yuri comes home from her mission with you and Katrina and then she takes me to work." Yuri hugged her mother and said, "Be safe, dearest mother."
"You be safe, Yuri," said Haruna as they embraced.
Yuri dressed in a combat uniform similar to the sort Nova and Katrina had on. Then, she helped Nova out of her t-shirt; she would leave it there until they returned later on…hopefully, alive.
They then drove in Nova's yellow Fiat in the dim morning, arriving at 2500 Shinjuku Road-where SS Headquarters was-a while later.
Nova jumped out of the Fiat first, clad in her dark coveralls, boots, leggings, and carrying a large coil of rope. Yuri was dressed in a similar fashion.
Katrina got out and ran up beside Nova and asked, "How are we getting in there? There is a wall around the building!"
"We're going to rappell in," said Nova as Yuri worked with a coil of rope she had brought.
"What is that?" said Katrina.
"You don't know?" whispered Yuri, "It is simple. Hook this connector stanchion to your belt, and make sure this one hooks to the rope…..like this," she said as she fed some rope through her D-link on the connector stanchion, and she helped Katrina do the same. Nova, who would go in first, was the last one to hook up. She tied a grappling hook to the end of the rope, spun it around her head, and she threw it up into a tree that towered over the wall on a lot across the street. Nova made sure it was tight, and she went to the end of the rope and twirled another similar hook, throwing it over the wall into a lower tree near SS Headquarters. Then, Nova ordered, "There are climbing rungs in that tall tree. They use it for training exercises like this. Katrina, you climb the tree first."
"What?" Katriia said. "I…"
"It's logical," Yuri said. "You go up first, and you will be the last to drop fast onto the grounds. I will be the middle one after I make sure I cinch the rope tight, and when I do, Nova will be hauled up on the rope, and she'll go up hand over hand into the tree with us, and throw herself down first."
"Throw…herself…down?" gasped Katrina.
Nova nodded. "You slide down the rope and use the D-Ring to brake every now and then. That's what rappelling is. You sometimes have to use it to drop into buildings or landing zones. Derek made me make sure I am very good at it."
Katrina looked up at the tree, and groaned to herself. I am a pilot! But how do I tell them I am afraid of heights when not in a plane? How do I get out of this? Or can I?
Katrina gritted her teeth, and she began to climb up the rungs.
When she reached the top of the rungs, she saw there was a small platform up there. Yuri climbed up next, and she began to cinch the rope tight in a special fitting she attached to it. As the rope came up, Katrina saw Nova pulled up by the rope's tension. Nova ended up dangling ten meters above the ground, throwing her arms and legs around the rope. She began climbing up and backwards, getting herself up and back to the platform with some effort. She was sweating when she met the other women.
"These are the plans," Nova said as she handed the other two women two pieces of paper. "You enter the building at the north entrance, get past the security, and go down an emergency drop chute two levels. Katrina, cut the rope when you hit the ground. Use your combat knife. Then, you penetrate down to "A" deck, to the labs. We bust in here. They'll have the slides in a safe that we'll use a mini-charge on…just on the lock. Then, we'll get the slides and preserved samples, and out we go. Got that? We slide down the rope, and we'll meet up inside. Good luck."
Nova then just nodded, and she threw herself down the rope. Katrina saw her sliding down fast, catching up and slowing down near the end, at the other side of the wall. Katrina saw Nova hitting the dirt, rolling to avoid laser bursts from an automated turret, and then firing at the turret as she ran.
"I'm next," said Yuri. "Follow me thirty seconds later. We'll meet inside." Yuri gave Katrina a pat on the back, and she threw herself down the rope, her violet-colored hair flying as she slid down the rope. Katrrna saw her hit the dirt running, following Nova's trail into the building as she saw her dodging two men who tried to catch her. They were shot dead a moment later.
Well, here goes…no time to be afraid… said Katrina to herself as she prayed to Arishna, and flung herself down the rope.
As Katrina slid down the rope, she was terrified. She hit the brake lever when just two meters above the ground. The stanchion slowed her with a heavy jerk, and she gingerly let her booted toes tap the earth. Then, she set down and let go.
She cut the rope, and screamed as a large man in a black trenchcoat and weird wide-brimmed hat fired bullets at her. She screamed a curse in Cometine, and fired right into the man's chest. Her laser weapon killed the man.
Another one of the strange men (whom, she would discover, were odd alien agents known as "Low Men") fired at her, and Katrina shot at the freak. Then, a hand grabbed her and pulled her inside the building.
Katrina was ready to fire…until she saw that Nova was the owner of the hand. "Good job," Nova hissed in a whisper. "Are you afraid of heights?"
Katrina nodded. "I am sorry…so…"
"Don't worry, Derek is afraid of heights too. I help him when do do this training together. C'mon."
Katrina nodded, and they ran into the building together.
A few minutes later, as they continued to advance into the building, past the automated guard posts, regular guards, and strange "Low Men", Nova, Yuri, and Katrina were rapidly discovering that much of SS Headquarters was underground…after they went down the drop chute slide, of course.
The slide scared Katrina, but she was able to manage it.
Inside the lower levels, the corridors looked more like those on a spacecraft or space station than in any Earth building. They were metal-lined and looked decidedly sinister.
Nova led point on the operation. When she ran into a junction, an ugly silver robot ran up in front of her.
"Halt, intruder, or you will be terminated!" said the robot as it locked its hip guns on Nova.
Nova held up her assault pistol and said, "No, you twelfth-class! You halt or I'll take you out!"
"You stupid human, you should know that you can never win an argument with a robot!" said the IQ-12 Assault Robot as he confronted Nova.
"What about the Laws of Robotics?" Nova countered.
"They do not apply to me. I am trained and programmed to kill. Stand back or I will make sure you no longer function, female human!"
Nova just began shooting as Katrina yelled "NO!"
Nova got the Twelve right in his logic center, and he fell over as a smoking scrap pile a moment later.
"Who says I never win arguments with robots?" Nova said cheerfully as she kicked the remains of the IQ-12 with her boot. "Good thing you didn't try to feel my butt."
"Are ve almost there?" whispered Katrina.
"Close," said Yuri as she looked at the plans.
Good. Zis place is madhouse…"
"Get back!" Yuri screamed as laser bolts whizzed down the hall.
Three EDF troopers and one of the strange men were firing at them. Nova, Katrina, and Yuri got into hiding near a corner and began to fire at them.
A moment later, one of the Low Men came right at Nova. It hissed at her, "Surrender, or die, you bitch!" in a strange, deep, dragging voice.
Nova snarled "Yaaaaaaaahhhhh!" and she ran for it with her teeth gritted as it grabbed her weapon. Forced to fight hand-to-hand, Nova kicked at the enemy and started punching, becoming a blur as she smashed a fist into its midsection and then kicked it in the crotch.
The creature recoiled but still tried to grab for her blaster. Nova jumped to the deck, caught it, and fired, blowing the Low Man's head off.
Katrina looked in in shock as she and Yuri dispatched the EDF troopers. "Remind me never to bother you if you have bad day," said Katrina.
Nova chuckled. "Very funny, Katrina! This is the room. Let's get in there and get the goods, and get out before reinforcements show up."
Yuri nodded and barked, "Right! Katrina! RUN!"
Yuri gave Katrina a shove, and she began firing down the hall to cover Nova and Katrina as two more robots showed up.
Nova, Katrina, and Yuri got into the room when Yuri had dispatched the robots.
Nova placed a small charge on the safe with a magnet and then said, "Step back!" She set off the tiny charge with a pocket detonator switch. There was a loud pop, and the dial fell off the safe, the place where the lock had been was a smoking hole.
Nova reached into the hole with a pair of pliers from her pocket, pulled the locking pin back, and she had the safe open. She found the slides and samples wrapped up in plastic. She took some and she gave some to Yuri. She also gave some to Katrina and said, "This is in case neither of us gets out; you have a set."
"I…" said Katrina.
"I told Derek how much I loved him before I left," Nova said as a tear ran down her cheek.
"The same with my mother," said Yuri. "Nova, let's run…"
"One last thing," Nova said after looking at the plans. She pivoted and fired several bursts through a computer. "They put all the surveillance camera output into drives in that unit," Nova explained. "Now, they have no visual record who we are. Let's go…"
"Not so fast," said an ironic voice as its owner strode into the room.
"What?" Nova said.
The owner of the voice was a man with worn boot-heels, a pair of jeans, and a denim jacket. One of the small buttons on his lapels was a smile button. The other one was a button with a dead policeman/pig on it that read "HOW'S YOUR PORK?"
"I am the Boss of the Low Men," said the man with his darkly handsome face as he laughed. Katrina and Yuri stood paralyzed, shocked by the appearance of this strange man. Is this Ekogaru? Katrina thought.
"You…you.." Nova said. "I read about you in horror novels….by Stephen King…but….but…you're REAL!" Nova gasped.
"She gave me coffee…she gave me tea," said the Dark Man as he approached, singing. "She gave me damn near everything but the workhouse key…."
"Faraday, who's running the show here?" Nova screeched.
"Wrong, dear. You don't get the Kewpie Doll or the ten thousand dollars," said the Dark Man as he approached Nova. "Just like the old novel you're reading about Boulder, Colorado and the plague and the black woman over a hundred years old, dear. The name is Flagg, with the double G. And I intend to crucify you before the sun comes all the way up, bitch…I was waiting for you," he said as he smiled his dark smile at Nova as he grabbed her and began to viciously cut her uniform open with a knife from the neck down as she felt strangely paralyzed as he intended to personally strip her naked before he gave her to his Low Men to have her nailed to a cross. "The Dark Lord and I have an understanding, Katrina, dear, and he said I could take this woman and crucify her…before she becomes too….YAAAAAAARRRRGGGHHH!" yelled Flagg as something hit him in the face.
Trying to hold her breasts into her torn jumpsuit, Nova saw her chance and kicked Flagg in the crotch as Yuri threw down the fire extinguisher she had just shot into the Walkin' Dude's face.
A moment later, as sirens began to blow, they felt themselves doing something….
…that felt like a 'jump'.
They were out on the street a moment later, looking right at Aliscea Rosstowski, who had appeared out of nowhere in front of them on the sidewalk.
"I just got you out of there, girls," snapped Aliscea. "Phased you out, to be exact. Nova, get your stupid Keystone Cops to your car and go! Get to the Argo! I'll hold back Mister Randy Flagg! He damn near ate you for lunch! And you can't stay here long!"
"Why?" Nova said.
"BECAUSE EKOGARU IS RIGHT ON HIS HEELS, STUPID!" Aliscea yelled as she slapped Nova across the face. "And for God's sake, get that t-shirt of yours right over you when you get home to Yuri's! In case you have not noticed, the whole world can now see your tits!"
Nova looked down at herself and blushed. "I…I…thank you, Aliscea!"
"Don't mention it, kiddo," said Aliscea as she then kissed Nova and took off.
"Uh…shall we drive to your place?" Nova said, blushing as she tried to get her jumpsuit to cover her bare breasts…and was only partly successful…..
Yuri nodded. "Step on it, before they find this car!"
"Right," Nova said.
They tore off.
At Yuri's place, luckily, Tarou was not around as Nova covered her exposed breasts by putting on her t-shirt. After she did so, Katrina said, "Yuri; Dr. Tsukikage…you two are going to be pursued by those men soon."
"I realized that," said Yuri. "What would you propose?"
"Kazuo and I own a small private space vessel. There would be room for you two there. I recommend that you two take leave from your jobs for a time and flee the Earth with us on a trip."
"Where are we going?" asked Haruna.
Nova said, "The Argo is leaving on a secret mission to investigate the sun. She will then be returning to Earth four days later so that we can meet up with a diplomatic party from Iscandar that we will be escorting back there when we leave together six days later on the twenty-third. We should make port on Iscandar by the twenty-sixth. Since our vessel, and the ship we are escorting, are faster than Kazuo's ship, leaving Earth today wil give you a head start. We also have evidence that Zoltar may have fled in that general direction. You can justify your trip as a departure to pursue him."
"That is a great idea, Nova," said Yuri. "My mother and I will speak to our supervisor on the phone, and we shall depart today with Kazuo and Katrina."
"Good," Nova said with a smile. "Pack plenty of summer clothing and swimwear. Iscandar is even hotter and stickier than Earth this time of year," Nova said as she hugged Yuri, Haruna, and Katrina farewell. Yuri began making phone calls, and half an hour later, they left together, with Nova driving the Fiat to drop the three women off at Foxwoth Manor after they made their phone calls and packed. Then, Nova bade them farewell and headed for the space docks where the Argo was preparing for liftoff.
In SS Headquarters, chaos reigned, as Flagg had been attacked by Aliscea. He was now stumbling around half-blind when Major Maples showed up and struck him across the face.
"WHAT HAPPENED?" Ekogaru roared.
"They gave us resistance, unexpected, M'Lord, and they escaped us with Aliscea's aid. Aliscea then attacked me, and…"
"You are nothing less than pathetic, Flagg. And you told me you had great, great powers," Ekogaru whispered. "For the sake of your Master Below, you have another chance. Gather up the Low Men and get them down to Level Six. I have something a bit more important to concern myself with now."
"And that is?"
Ekogaru smiled. "General Stone is on his way here. It is about time I dealt with him and finally openly drew him into My Service; he's been close to serving me all along, anyhow…even though I do foresee he will suffer a great fall in the next few years…but still be a useful ally to us when my new Fortress is ready and the day comes at last when we can begin the Great Invasion!" the Dark Lord hissed. "That is why you are to gather up the Low Men and other creatures I have been bringing here. We are to give Stone a show and pray to the Powers Below that we impress him so that he does not report this to his forces…and so that we do not have some space cruisers and battleships bombarding this place into ashes and powder," said Ekogaru.
"Yessir," said Flagg with a lopsided grin.
Ekogaru then smiled to himself and he walked about, waiting for General Stone's arrival at sunrise.
He thought of giving orders to have the Argo's launch stopped…so that his forces could then raid the Argo, arrest the crew, and have them dragged here for a proper execution, but the Dark Lord guessed he would be overplaying his hand if orders to stop a Commodore came from a Major. He thought, I could possibly have Stone give those orders…but…no….that time is past. It will take me a while to terrify Stone into my service…unless I have to just kill him…or possess him. Even then, if I got to EDF Headquarters in his body, it would take some time for me to come up with a convincing tale to fool General Singleton into stopping the Star Force. It appears that Wildstar and his allies have won this round…
…or, have they? Ekogaru thought. Zoltar, you might be a useful ally, after all. An unwitting one, to be sure…let us see if I can contact your "Luminous One" who is, of course a Ghost in a Machine who has taken over that computer and has become one of the Principalities that serves the Heirarchy Below. Perhaps, in My Service….
III. TAKING OFF
Earth
The Tokyo Megalopolis
August 16, 2208
About 1035 Hours
The scattered crew members had arrived on time aboard the Argo, person by person.
By 0930, Admiral Wildstar was pleased when he had a full crew complement on Bridge Number One. Lieutenant Harper was at the helm; Commander Paul Rosstowski was at Combat, Sasha was at Analysis, Nova (still in black with her black Special Forces t-shirt on over her torn jumpsuit) was at the Cosmo-Radar, a Lieutenant Kaufman was at Artillery, and Stephen Sandor, Eager, and Homer were at their usual places, with Diane Sandor at Engineering.
"You're sure we have launch clearance?" Nova said as the Argo cruised up through the troposphere to the edge of space.
"Homer secured us clearance half an hour ago, Commander," Derek said from his post.
"Then, would someone tell me why I have five battle satellites lining up before us at 0.523 megameters ahead?" Nova said as she checked the radar again and again. "It's confirmed."
"And I'm reading that they're on charge sequence," said Stephen Sandor from his post.
"And I can't reach Headquarters for an explanation," said Homer. "Something is jamming us!"
"Commander, you told me about a battle you had in SS Headquarters this morning," said Derek as he came over to Nova. "Do you think that this is some kind of weird Black Ops thing going on?"
"If it is, it's highly irregular," Nova said. "When we took off against orders to fight the Comet Empire years ago, didn't General Stone try something like this? I'm afraid I didn't see it all because I was with Doctor Sane setting up Sickbay at the time."
"He did, Nova,' said Sandor as the other older veterans on the Bridge also nodded. "Commodore Wildstar, we can hit them now if we fire a quick barrage…"
"I'm not so sure we should…." Derek began.
"Fire detected from Battle Satellite Number One!" Nova barked. "I calculate six seconds to impact!"
"Mister Harper!" Derek barked.
"Don't need to tell me twice," said Harper as he worked the controls, and the Argo evaded the energy blast.
"Ooooooeeee, looks like they got one o' those big ones up and runnin'," said Eager.
Derek gave orders for Rosstowski and Kaufman to take out the battle satellite.
The Argo's guns promptly went off, finishing off Battle Satellite Number One.
On Earth, in SS Headquarters, Major Maples looked at Stone and said, "There goes our best clear shot to deal with the cursed Star Force quietly. Satellite Number One destroyed? Pull the others back before Singleton and the Council detect too much."
"I'll do that," said Stone, who punched some controls at Secondary Control in SS Headquarters. "Keep the jamming screen up?"
"Pull it back," sighed Maples. Stone did so. "I'm sending a message to the Commander that Battle Satellite Number One fired at the Argo due to a misfire. That should suffice?"
Maples nodded. Then, Stone turned on him and said, "Aside from Commander Nova Wildstar's…apparent involvement in a Black Counter-Op this morning that I dare not tell Singleton about, lest he know how far we have gone with our own Black Ops in dealing with her and secreting evidence in this Ibn Zoltar terror business, why did you ask me to come here and attack the Argo? They are actually taking off under orders this time. We are overplaying our hand! People will get…suspicious!"
"There is a logical explanation for everything, General Stone," said Maples with a smile. "And you are about to discover it."
"We can go over this later," Stone huffed. "I am overdue at Headquarters."
"No, we can and will go over this now," grinned Maples as he turned from the screen to Stone.
"What is this?" said Stone. "I outrank you, Miister!" General Stone snapped. "And you are ordered to let me depart! Let me go, or you will be up on charges, Major!"
Suddenly, four Low Men in their trenchcoats surrounded Stone. Maples smiled at them. "Stone, my friend," said Maples. "Here, you are about to find out who outranks whom, General. Men, make sure Stone follows us, and does not give us too much of a fight. Stone, you are coming with me…down to Level Six."
"There is no Level Six in here!" Stone snapped.
"There is, and you are about to see it," said Maples, whose voice began to go strangely deep. "Follow us, Stone," he said as he looked into General Stone's eyes.
Foxy and Katrina's yacht had already performed its first space warp by 1100 Hours.
Their yacht was known as the Lady Katrina, and she was a smallish yacht of the Pellian T'Ranga class, rated by the Earth Federation as a Runabout. She was a craft originally manufactured by the Pellian Federation. She was bigger than Nathanial Hardy's Skipjack, though, being 36 meters from bow to stern. Highly automated, it required only a pilot and a co-pilot and it could transport eight passengers with 25 metric tons of cargo, for a maximum complement of ten adults aboard this ship. The ship was equipped with deflectir fields, and a pair of small wave motion engines, both highly automated. While the stock yacht was without weapon systems, many T'Rangas were upgraded to include defensive measures.
The Lady Katrina had such defensive measures, having a small pulse laser turret on its upper portion, a few small missile tubes, and in its launch bay, one and only one Pellian warp fighter ship, that could also serve as a shuttle or landing craft.
The lower deck of the yacht held the sublight engine bay and cargo storage. The upper deck contained passenger cabins, a small luxury galley and dining facility, a whirlpool bath and the cockpit.
At the moment, the vessel had warped from the vicinity of the Moon to the Keyatha System, which was about one hundred and eighty lightyears away from Earth. The Keyatha System held five planets, one of them being a habitable water world known as Derlin that had one small continent on which there was a rather small civilization.
"Are we stopping there at Derlin?" asked Yuri as she came up into the cockpit. She still had on her glasses, but she had changed her clothes after taking a shower; she was now dressed in purple jeans, a slightly cropped top, and dark red sandals.
"Naaaaaah, I don't see any reason why we need to stop there," said Kazuo "Foxy" Foxworth-Savela. He had on a pair of brown chino pants, house slippers, and a white shirt with navy blue pinstripes on it. Yuri thought he looked rather..odd… "Nothing there but traders, water, tuna, and fishmongers. Katrina and I stopped there once a few months back. One visit to the place is enough."
"You are sure ve do not need supplies?" snapped Katrina. She had changed into a white blouse, dark slacks, and sandals. It seemed apparent to Yuri that she was running the ship, but she had some questions. "It's been a while since you have been in hand-to-hand combat, Mrs. Savela. It obviously showed down there."
"It was some years since I had hand-to-hand training," Katrina said. "I am very rusty at it, and need more work."
"You looked frightened," said Yuri. "Did you have a bad experience in battle in the past?"
Katrina remembered her horrid experiences on the first Comet, and then her experiences in battle with Ekogaru and Gorse on the second Comet, and she said, "Let us just say I did! YES! And then drop it! Are we clear?"
Yuri nodded, thinking, This must really affect her if she is like this over it.
"Who's doing your usual inspection of the Hardy residence this month?" asked Foxy.
"Your rental agent, Mitchell Abramson," replied Katrina. "I asked him to do it. He is a tough bastard and will be rough on that stupid Dawn if he finds one thing out of place!" Katrina said. "And Dawn gave me the backtalk the last time I vas there! I want him to give her a very hard time and I want her to suffer for what she did to me!"
"Who's Dawn?" asked Haruna Tsukikage as she came out. She had on a sweater, skirt, and thong sandals.
"Dawn Hardy, wife of Jefferson Hardy of the Argo," said Katrina. "She is crazy woman and horrid mother. I do not like her much. She hurt me a while back, and as compensation, I took title to a house she and her husband were about to purchase, and I make zem pay me rent!" she laughed. "I also inspect house regularly and fine them if things are out of place. Nova let slip to me in a conversation that they atre trying to worm their way out of the rental contract by buying their house in San Diego. The Wildstars can sell the place to stupid woman if they want, but if stupid woman thinks she is sneaking out of paying me rent, I will CRUSH her!" yelled Katrina.
"Easy, Katrina," said Foxy. "Your blood pressure!"
"Why can't you just let them pay and go and let bygones be bygones?" said Haruna.
"Because they dishonored me, and for that, they will pay!" yelled Katrina. "First Mate Raful, what do you want?"
First Mate Albert Raful, a dark-bearded man, and one of the men that helped Foxy run his ship, showed up and popped something like a salute while he said, "Hey Boss, ya want me and Schmitty to take watch yet?" in a growling, gruff voice.
Yuri noticed (with some amusement) that Raful had on a light blue pullover shirt with an odd emblem on one breast; a letter "F" with a stylized, grinning cartoon fox behind it, and that he wore a bandanna in his messy hair and looked a bit like some deranged pirate. F for Foxy, I guess, thought Yuri. What a weird bunch he hires. Hope these guys are competent spacers.
Foxy yawned and said, "You and Schmitty can take over at fifteen hundred. Then put the ship on auto-pilot until the four of us, you guys, Jacqui, and the maid all eat together at nineteen hundred. Then you guys are relieved and Jacqui has the night watch with the auto-pilot and the maid. Katrina and I will take the morning watch ourselves."
"Aye, aye, skipper," said Raful.
"Your crew?" said Haruna.
Foxy nodded. "I have one crew for my sea-going yacht; this bunch runs my space yacht. I pay them well, and if all of them had to go to battle stations, they'd fight like hell to protect the ship."
"I see," said Yuri. "Katrina, what is your battle station?"
"I fly the fighter, of course," said Katrina.
"What else do you do aboard this ship?" asked Haruna.
"Sometimes I help Foxy fly it, but mostly…."
She put her arms around Foxy and grinned.
"Ah! You're the Captain's Wench!" laughed Yuri.
"When are you two going to be at it?" teased Yuri.
"When all of you are asleep!" yelled Katrina as she blushed while Foxy kissed her…
IV. A REVELATION
Earth
The Tokyo Megalopolis
August 16, 2208
1119 Hours
General Stone found himself forced into a metal elevator car, closed with an old-fashioned metal gate.
Six Low Men held Stone as Maples smiled at him while they descended down into the Earth some distance, about two hundred meters.
When they emerged, Stone found himself in a very old, long-abandoned part of the underground city beneath Tokyo. One of the upper levels, this level was filled with mutant weeds and trees, and an old smell of corruption and death, having been abandoned even during the Gamilon War itself as the radiation had seeped deeper and deeper into the Earth.
Stone tripped over a skeleton as he was frog-marched into a dark room inside some old headquarters building. There, he was thrown to his knees before an empty black throne (illuminated from above with a single spotlight) as Maples struck him in the face and said, "In case you were wondering, Stone, I am, and I also am NOT, Gary Maples!"
"Well, then, who the fuck are you?" ranted Stone. "I tell you, Maples, you're insane! You will be up on charges for this…you…"
Maples came before him, smiled, and his face began to melt as his ascot came undone. His short dark hair turned long and blond and it began to blow in the breeze, and the image of something like a skeleton was superimposed over him—or, was it coming out of him?
When Maples opened his mouth again, a chilling, cold, deep voice came out of his chest and said, to Stone, "I am very, very old, you rotten piece of crap, Stone! I am the Lord Ekogaru, your new GOD! I was born in Ancient Egypt on Earth of a Terran Mother, and a Rikashan Nephilim Father with an Iscandarian forebear who raped her. My mother birthed me naked in the desert in blood and pain and fed me her milk and her own blood! I was filled from a young age with the darkest spirits of Egypt, and I learned sorcery in the night before I was even clothed or my child's forelock was cut off! He Named Nyalothep or Asmodeus came to me in my childhood from Outside and granted me great power if only I would bow down and worship him, which I did!"
Stone trembled as the skull-face of Ekogaru appeared and the room went black, filled with stars and a strange negative image.
"I am old and strong! I was a sorceror and Prince of Egypt in my youth, and We saw that idiot that the Great Dictator used to free the Israelites from Pharaoah's Bondage! I met the Lord of Below before I was forty and I was sent to Iscandar to learn their arts in disguise, and then, I passed on to Rikasha and became an engineer, Lord of that People, and Chancellor! Then, the Cursed Queen defeated me and cast me out, but only after I destroyed the people of Rikasha in the first Holocaust."
Ekogaru laughed and continued to rant, saying, "I was cast to the Blackeye Galaxy and bound there in flesh, but my spirit was able to walk! I met the five thousand demons of Legion in Judea and it was I who sent Legion into the madman to test the rotten Son of the Great Dictator. I laughed as Legion ended up in a bunch of swine, but I stood back from attacking the Prince, so-called, because the Lord of Below said He was his property to deal with! Legion later came back to my side! Legion and I are old friends, and we are both allies of the Master Below. I had a good laugh, though, when they executed the Prince. I have been inside and outside of your history! I was on Earth and lived inside Grigori Rasputin! I walked the highways and byways of your world and I was inside a madman named Charlie Manson once upon a time! Oh, yes, Stone, I am a very old man. Not nice. But old as HELL!"
"You're a fucking devil," whispered Stone as he held up a crucifix on a chain that he carried in one of his pockets. "Now, I know you've infiltrated the…"
"Get that accursed thing OUT of my FACE!" roared Ekogaru through Maples as he slapped the crucifix out of his hand.
As Flagg appeared in the room, watching and grinning, Ekogaru raised his hand and threw Stone against the wall with a psychic blast of force. Ekogaru held Stone there and slapped his face.
"I'm sworn to defend Earth," gasped Stone. "You must be mad if you do not think I am sending word to Commanding General Singleton, the President of Earth, and even that damn long-haired rebel Wildstar that you're lurking here inside Maples and his SS so that we can execute you! It must have been your idea to frame Nova Wildstar, right? That poor woman! Even though I am convinced she is my…."
"Wrong, it was Zoltar's," said Ekogaru as he slapped Stone again. "But I was able to make use of it, right, King of Nowhere?" he said to Flagg.
"Yes, Lord," Flagg said with a nod.
"And the kid is your bastard daughter," said Ekogaru with a laugh. "Let nothing convince you otherwise, for I am old and have access to secret, arcane knowledge. Now, it remains. What the Hell do I do with you? I have had Piper Sandberg in my pocket for ages; he runs the show for me on R'Khelleva with Marda. Have you ever wanted power?"
"Power?" whispered Stone as Ekogaru, in Maples, stroked his face.
"Wealth. Power," whispered Ekogaru as he let Stone slide down the wall onto the floor in a heap. "Might I offer you a kingdom, Stone? Not just a command. But, a Kingdom."
"Where will this…Kingdom…be?" whispered Stone.
"Earth," said Ekogaru. "There will come a day when I will take over Maples' body and then I shall kill him and refit this body so that I can and will live forever in it. And I will invade Earth again in force, with stronger forces. I will set you in my ranks as one of those who will prepare the way for My Return in force, with a new Grand Fortress, along with Legion here," he said as he pointed at Flagg. "I will give YOU the Chancellorship of Earth. You will be its ruler, under My Guidance. And you will crush all those who have opposed you."
"What do I have to do to accept this?" Stone gasped.
"Bow down, worship Me, and kiss my feet," hissed Ekogaru. "Then, let me have my way with you…"
Stone got up, walked over to Maples, and kissed his boots. Then, he bowed before the Dark Lord, on his knees, in a gesture of worship as he renounced God and all he held dear to worship…HIM.
"My lord, you are my God," whispered Stone. "Do you accept my worship?"
Ekogaru smiled. "Get up," he said. Then, he began to tear Stone's uniform off his body, bit by bit, until he was left naked before him. Ekogaru, now in full control of Maples, lowered the Major's trousers, and he came towards Stone with a huge member, erect, swollen, grotesque. "Kiss me!" he ordered as he slapped Stone across the face.
Stone kissed Ekogaru on the lips. "No, IDIOT! DOWN THERE! I OWN YOU!" roared the Dark Lord as he punched Stone in the gut. "And you tell NO one of this! Understood?"
Stone nodded, and then he moaned as he coughed up blood. Then, he took the Dark One's manhood in his hand, and as Flagg laughed, he kissed it and took the Accursed One in his mouth as he pleasured him. Then, Ekogaru pulled back, slapped him again, and then, with no preparation, he took Stone from behind in rage.
Stone screamed, crying as the Dark Lord raped him, making him into his "woman" as Flagg spat in his face and grabbed some of his moustache and tore it away.
"You want him next, Randall?" said Ekogaru over the sound of Stone's moans and whimpers.
"Your bitch?" said Flagg with disdain. "No. You claimed this thing, you have it, Lordship," said Flagg with a smile. "I like women better. Even though he sounds like a weak, nasty, filthy, whining whore of a woman when he takes you inside him. Oh, Stone? Nova Wildstar takes her husband up there with a hell of a lot more honor and strength than YOU do. I've been with them out of doors, watching them as the Crow. You make a horrible woman, Stone. Have fun!"
And Stone screamed as he bled and the Dark Lord climaxed into him.
Ekogaru was cold.
He was Death.
V. OBSERVATIONS AND A SPIDER'S WEB
The Inner Solar System
The Vicinity of Planet Mercury
August 17, 2208
1442 Hours
The Argo had just warped to the vicinity of Mercury.
She stopped there, behind the little planet, taking readings of the angry Sun, which looked hellish and terrifying at this distance.
Stephen Sandor was on Bridge Number Two, examining scans being taken by his scientific crew. One of them looked at him and said, "Sir, we have this scan completed."
"Yes?" Sandor said.
"Sir, the diameter of the sun has increased slightly. Beforehand, it was about 1.4 million kilometers. It is now 1.6 million kilometers around. A noticeable increase, sir. And the temperature has also increased. It has increased from 11,000 degrees Fahrenheit at the photosphere to close to 13,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The mass, turbulence, and size of solar prominences have also increased. All told, the increase in solar activity has been about nine percent, plus or minus two percent," said the young Ensign.
Sandor began looking at numbers. "The geometric increase has taken a few months. How long has the Sun remained like this, Ensign Nishimura?"
"It looks like it has been at plateau for about six or seven days, sir," Ishimura said. She was female, young, and rather attractive in her blue and white uniform. Naturally, Sandor did not have that much notice for Keiko Ishimura, since he and Diane were now openly rooming together aboard the Argo for the first time ever, now being married.
"How long might it take to begin the downward curve to normal again?" said Sandor.
"Hard to say," said Ishimura. "It seems to be constant, at least, sir. At least we know that the stats are no longer…going…up…"
Sandor nodded. "Yes. But it's going to be hard to say when, or if, they will go down again. Try to get what you can, Keiko."
"Yessir," she said as she saluted.
An hour later, the crew of the Argo was gathered in the Central Strategy Room, listening intently as Commander Stephen Sandor stood at the head of the large semicircle of officers and crewpersons as he said, "These are the results of our latest scans. The Sun is not getting worse, but it is not getting better."
"How long might it remain like this?" Nova asked.
"Nova, that's something that we do not yet know. We did a probe of the Sun's core with some automated robot satellites we launched into the Sun itself. Before they stopped transmitting, we did pick up what seems to be a slight drop from deep in the Sun's core. It will probably return to normal at some point, but…"
"You're not sure when," interrupted Commodore Derek Wildstar. "That's it, right?"
"Yessir, that appears to be the case," said Sandor.
"Well, at least we know it won't get any worse," Nova said with a laugh.
Not far away, Jonathan Hartnell-Wildstar stood off to the side watvhing his father running the briefing in his Junior Space Cadet Corps uniform. He and some of his squadron were detached to the Argo as shipboard Troopers for the next few days, and he was thrilled to observe his parents doing their part in an actual Star Force briefing. This is so cool…he thought.
Jefferson Hardy stood with his head down during the briefing. He plainly had something on his mind as Sandor took over again and continued to talk science and physics, soon reaching the point where some of those present were having a hard time keeping up with him, as sometimes happened with his brilliance.
Finally, after a few minutes, the group broke up.
Deke Wakefield walked over to Jefferson Hardy and asked, "What's going on?"
"Ah'm worried. About Dawn," said Jeff.
"Explain?" said Deke with a sigh.
"Well, Dawn and I were going to be movin' out of the place we were going to buy. Katrina Savela got pissed off by Dawn when she crashed that party in the Pellian Embassy, and Katrina punished us by gettin' title to what was to be **ooah** house and becomin' ouh landlady! And she's tough! She either inspects the place herself, or she sends someone to inspect it."
"So?" said Deke.
"She saw the agent for Katrina and her crazy hubby Foxy earlier today. When we last talked, she said she was apprehensive about the inspection…and I'm worried about her and David. The guy doing the inspection was named Samuelson. Dawn saw him once before. He was a tough bastahd!"
"I'm so sorry to hear about this, Jeff," said Deke with a sigh. "I hope that you guys will be all right…"
"So do I," sighed Hardy.
Deke noticed that he looked very sad as he walked off.
"Okay," said Nova, who was checking off names as people went in to talk to their families. "This time, we have ten minutes. Hardy, you're next," said Nova in a gentle voice as she checked a name off on a list.
"Ah feel as nehvous as shit," said Jeff as he grabbed Nova's hand. "Ah told ya why…"
"Hiram Samuelson can't be that bad," Nova said. "After all, think! It's in Katrina's interest to keep you there as tenants so you can pay as much rent to her as you can…right?"
"I don't know if Katrina is logical or not," said Hardy. "I think she's crazy."
"Would you like me to sit with you in there?" Nova said softly. "I sat with Jonathan before when he called his girlfriend Felicia and then his sister Michelle, who is back on Earth at Foxworth Manor while her parents are away from Earth on business. I can do the same with you."
Jefferson nodded.
"Okay, I'll come in," Nova replied. "Ensign Kenyatta, would you take over for me for a few minutes?" Nova said as she handed the clipboard to a young African-American woman who wore a gold and black uniform and boots like hers, except that Kenyatta's collar was white.
"Aye, ma'am," said Ensign Kisha Kenyatta as she took the clipboard and then saluted Nova.
Jeff and Nova walked into the comm booth together. Hardy punched in the numbers and codes to call his home.
When he got Dawn, she had on one of her nurse's uniforms, with no shoes, her hair in disarray, and a breast exposed as she nursed and rocked David, who had on nothing but a diaper. Dawn was crying, and she looked very angry.
"Dawn?" said Jeff. "What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?" yelled Dawn. "Jeff, Nova, what's wrong? Everything!" yelled Dawn. "We failed our inspection, and that Samuelson was so tough…no…he was vicious!"
"Dawn, all that means is that you have to pay them some more, right?" Nova said.
"NO, STUPID!" yelled Dawn. "Nova, Jeff, we have to move! In just fourteen days! If I am not out by September the first, Samuelson said he will have armed men in there on the fifteenth day to strip us of everything we own and to make us move by FORCE!"
"Katrina surely didn't approve of that, did she?" Nova sighed.
"No, she damn well DID!" screamed Dawn as David rejected her breast and began to cry. Dawn then pulled off her nurse's dress and stood there naked as she gave David her other breast as she yelled, "Samuelson had some kind of communicator and he CALLED Katrina on her ship and I HEARD that bitch telling him "throw zem OUT! I haf had enough! They have fourteen days!""
Jeff stood in shock as Nova sighed and said, "Dawn, if I have the chance, I have to get in touch with Katrina and give her a good talking to!"
"Nova, where will we go?" sobbed Dawn. "I have to work and take care of David by myself! I can't find a new place in just fourteen days, and Jeff, you know that we have just enough in the bank for food, utilities, the car payment, and next month's rent! I can't raise a security deposit on a new place in FOURTEEN DAYS!"
Dawn just cried as she cut the image. Hardy looked at Nova, stricken. She gave him a hug and said, "It'll work out…we'll all think of something…"
"Please do," Hardy said.
A day passed.
On Gamilon, as the Earth date August 18th began, per Tokyo Megalopolis Space-Time, Desslok was playing with Dellar on his bed while Astrena came in, clad in nothing but sandals as she walked in with a little whimpering bundle in her arms, accompanied by her nurse, Tamia, as Astrena held the bare, squiggling little form against her nude breast.
Dellar tapped his father and said, "Look! Mother is feeding Aisha this time out!"
"As she should be far more," said Tamia, the wet nurse of Desslok and Astrena's newest daughter, the Lady Aisha, who had been conceived in April of 2207, and born in early Ferbuary of 2208. The golden-haired Lady was now just a little over seven months old, and she had partially been cared for by Tamia. She, like wet nurses in the Pellian, Iscandarian, and even some of the Cometine traditions, went naked on duty except for a necklace and a towel sort of worn around the waist and going down one thigh; the lap of such a wet nurse was kept bare to provide a warm, comforting surface for the baby to crawl on or sit own. Astrena, both remembering tradition and how cute Nova had looked bare with her babies, also often went naked herself now when caring for or playing with Aisha.
"I fed you a lot, Dellar, you little swine," teased Astrena as she kicked off her sandals as she lay back on the bed against Desslok, with Aisha on her stomach, kicking her legs as she fed. Aisha had light blond hair, and in only her skin, she was a very light cerulean blue shade all over, from the top of her head to the tips of her little, perfectly forned toes. For casual occassions like this, Tamia and Astrena preferred to keep her naked, lying or crawling on either easily changed absorbent pads or against their own skin. Then, she said to Desslok, "The Star Force will be coming here in a few days."
"I know," said Desslok, who was bare-chested and clad in only his pajama bottoms.
"They will have some substantial difficulty and be in trouble," said Astrena as she lay against Desslok. Desslok smiled at Aisha and played with her. The baby giggled at her father and tweaked his nose.
Luckily, the Leader of Gamilon was not in the habit of shooting babies. The worst that Desslok did was tickled the baby girl's little blue belly button, making her laugh.
Desslok rested the baby against his stomach, smiling as her legs and feet kicked.
Then, a small hissing sound came….
…as the Leader of Gamilon was weed on by his daughter.
"Father!" laughed Dellar. "She made water on you! How amusing!"
"You did the same at her age, son," said Desslok as he reached over and pushed a button while Astrena and Tamia began to fuss over Aisha. Desslok said into a speaker, "Tamal, bring towels and lotions, would you? For the baby and myself."
"Of course," said one of Desslok's male bath servants.
The evening, at General Stone's residemce, General Jackson Stone lay naked in bed with his dark-haired, long-neglected wife Chelsea as they lay in a rare lovemaking sesssion. He was on top of Chelsea's rather attractive nude form, thrusting passionately at her as she embraced him with her long legs.
"Oh, God…Oh God…oh…..GOD!" Chelsea cried as Stone kissed her, grunted, and went at her like a machine.
There are many things I miss, Chelsea thought sadly as she and Stone made love. He never says "I Love You, Chelsea" anymore….not even during the act of love itself! He…sometimes hits me. He…has those mistresses of his….I met Mrs. Wildstar again the other day…she thinks I should leave him, and she was nauseated when I told her about my sex life, or lack thereof….and that Nova had a scarf on with her halter…trying to hide a little hickey Derek gave her…how cute. When we began comparing notes over lunch in her house about Jackson and Derek, Nova told me her husband is utterly faithful to her, very much attracted to her, and that he has the most beautiful body…and one of the most gorgeous-looking cocks she's ever seen on a man in her practiice….unlike Jackson's body…. (which we both know about; she had to examine him once-him and his BO…he nearly made Nova throw up, just like he's made me nearly throw up with his odor) and she also told me that she does not ever need to get a dirty girlie book to get a semen sample out of him for flight phyiscals….she just strips for him because he is so attracted to her…what a lucky woman…unlike..me….
Chelsea shivered as Jack exploded in her. She had to hold him there so he would thrust a little longer before his member's gas ran out so that she could also have an orgasm.
Chelsea had one (the first with Jackson in over a year) and she rubbed his bottom as he lay gasping and grunting against her.
No, "I Love You…." Chelsea thought sadly. Nothing like Nova….with Derek…she confessed he likes to go on and make her feel good after intercourse…and that's how she got that hickey….the lucky, lucky girl….why am I still here with him? touching his butt….and feeling….
"Jackson, did you just have an accident?" said Chelsea as she touched Stone's bare bottom.
"What?" he barked violently. "Chelsea, what the hell are you doing?"
"We just made love, stupid!" snapped Chelsea as Jackson slapped her across the face.
She screamed. "I thought you said you'd never do that to me again!" Then, she looked at her hand. "Blood? Your butt has been bleeding? What's wrong with you?"
"NOTHING!" roared Stone, who knew very well why he was bleeding.
"Maybe you need to see the doctor…hemmorhoids…a colonoscopy…a…." Then, Chelsea's eyes narrowed, and she said, "Or maybe the girl mistresses like Jade and Teri aren't enough anymore? Are you going off with boys behind my back now, too?"
"SHUT UP!" roared Stone as he punched Chelsea in the mouth.
Bruised, and now bleeding, Chelsea recoiled from Stone, reaching for a robe so he would not see her naked. "Who was it?" barked Chelsea.
"None of your business!" yelled Stone. "All right, I did have sex with a man! It was an initiation in a relationship that will greatly benefit both of us, for I have been promised the rule of Earth! The power promised me is incredible!"
"You rotten hypocrite wife-beating bastard!" yelled Chelsea. "Get the hell away from me, because I am leaving you! I have had enough of your shit! Fourteen years of pain with you, Stone! Fourteen years of beatings, adultery, drunknness, and publicly destroying people who happen to be homosexual but are quiet about it, you false, so-called Baptist, and you are married to me and are bisexual without even having the decency to tell me?"
"And where are you fucking going?" hissed Stone.
"To the nearest reporter, to tell him about your hypocrisy and the living hell you have put me and so many others through so that you can be brought down as Chief of Staff and then I'm going to the police!" said Chelsea as she put a robe halfway on her naked body.
"NO YOU ARE NOT!" Jackson Stone roared as he grabbed her and hit her again.
She hit him back, screaming, "Get your fucking hands off me, you miserable queer!"
Jackson roared at Chelsea, took a kick in the balls, and another in the slight pot belly he now had, and he threw himself on top of Chelsea, tearing her open robe off her with one hand while the other one crushed down on her neck.
When he was finished stripping her naked again, he snarled at her, and his other hand went around her neck while she kicked and gasped as he strangled her.
She got him with a few more kicks as her eyes bugged out. Chelsea almost broke free of him once (and if she had, she would have gotten a knife and stabbed him in self-defense). Indeed, her last thoughts were I need a knife, Goddamnit, let me go, I need a knife, that's it, one of us is gonna die, me or you and it's gonna be you, and…..
Chelsea was in horrible pain as Stone crushed her larynx. She coughed up a good bit of blood, and unconsciousness mercifully came a moment later.
"Die, die, DIE, you fucking whore!" hissed Stone as he crushed down and kept on strangling the life out of Chelsea. He had a massive erection as he did so. And, he was smiling like a madman.
Finally, Chelsea's breathing began to grow ragged, and, sensing an opportunity, even while strangling her, Stone took her again, raping her like a madman literally as she took her last breaths.
Stone's orgasm was quick, hot, and intense. He pulled out and let his seed squirt all over her stomach as she writhed, kicked….
…and then went limp for the last time as her tormented heart stopped.
Chelsea Stone's body crashed onto the bed like a rock. Stone slapped her again as her bladder and bowels relaxed upon death, as Chelsea soaked the bed with her final waste.
General Stone grinned, looking at the bruised neck, protruding tongue, darkly reddened face, and polluted body of Chelsea Stone, whose spirit had already flown to a better place, and was, in fact, immediately kneeling clad in white in the innermost court of a Great City at the Grand Altar of Heaven before the Presence, crying directly before the Face of the Eternal Father and He Who sat at His Right Hand in unspeakable Light and Glory, "How LONG, Most High, before I am avenged?"
He at the Right Hand of Power stood and embraced Chelsea and said, "It will be years in their time, but not long at all in My Reckoning, Chelsea, my brave Witness. Truly, truly, I say unto you…you made a gallant attempt to rid the world of him, but your former husband's end is now far beyond you. My diamond in the rough will be the one to avenge you someday, when she comes into her full inheritance, and deals personally with Stone, and his new Master…" As He spoke, one of His dearest friends, a former terrorist, assassin, killer, and thief, came before Him in response to a Summons and bowed deeply. He bowed in return, and said, "My dear friend Dismas. I promised you Paradise as we were dying together in agony centuries ago. Would you kindly show Chelsea the City when she and I are finished? I have something to show her…"
Then, Chelsea beheld Gary Maples showing up at her house No, my former house, she thought as she saw the black cloud around Maples….and gasped when she saw the skull-like face under the skin. She was nauseated as she beheld Gary and Stone kissing like lovers.
"So that is where HE is?" Chelsea said. "Who will be destroying….destroying…THAT?"
The Great Architect of the Universe raised one of His scarred hands and He smiled as He said, "Behold she who will someday crush the Dark Lord with MY rod of iron!"
And Chelsea Stone's eyes went wide in the next life as she beheld the young one who had been Chosen…or cursed…to be the Fulcrum of History in this grand battle against Ekogaru and all he represented….then, she went off with Dismas, as, clad in white like she was, the Thief showed Chelsea Stone her new home….
"What's wrong, Stone?" said Maples in a low, pleasant voice as his eyes went vacant and the voice deepened as he said, "Do you have a little…mess…in your bedroom?"
"I just murdered my wife," Stone said in a shaky voice.
"Really?" purred Ekogaru as he pulled out his Crystal Sphere, and then completely took over Maples, to a degree he had never quite been able to accomplish with Stovall. Maples was a far more congenial Host for this dark spirit than Stovall had ever been. Stone was shocked to see Maples' dark hair going salt-and-pepper grey and to see a thick black moustache appearing on him that looked almost like that of the late Josef Stalin. "Over what?"
"She found out, Lord, what you did to me. She threatened to go to the press with it."
Ekogaru shook his head and went, "tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk…"
"Is that what you really look like?" gasped Stone."It looks better than Maples…him and that crewcut…."
"It's what I used to look like and soon shall look like again in just a few short decades," said Ekogaru. "I know she's dead. I was watching you when you did it. You really could have been a little more ruthless, but it will serve. I will give you Jade Parker soon to replace her in your…bed. Show me her body."
Stone nodded and went into the bedroom, where Chelsea's pathetic, naked corpse still lay sprawled in death, with her eyes still open, uncovered, and unwashed.
"Help me fold the bedsheet around her," said Ekogaru. As Stone and Ekogaru worked, the Dark Lord said, "We will make a bundle that you shall carry out to a Staff Aircar I drove here. Her remains will be thrown into the backseat, and before rigor mortis sets in, we will have her in a crematorium in SS Headquarters. I have already concocted a false arrest warrant that she was under suspicion for espionage. The press release tomorrow will state that we arrested her, interrogated her, and you, by the way. You will have the living shit beaten out of you to make the story more convicing. Nothing personal, Jackson," said Ekogaru with a smile like a shark. "The details she gives us will lead to "conspirators", so-called, who will be all of the police detectives involved in the recent little escapade when we arrested and tortured Nova and Derek Wildstar, Katrina Savela and Kazuo. I don't want any of them to talk, and this will be an "internal cleansing" of the SS that will rid us of the deadwood and screwups whilst hiding our tracks most convincingly. Now, take her," said Ekogaru as he picked up Chelsea and handed her to Stone after the corrupt General clothed his own nakedness in a black and white kimono and stepped into wooden geta. "Tickle her all you want, Stone. She won't protest. Now."
Ekogaru went outside and opened a back door of the black staff car as Stone threw Chelsea onto the wide back seat on her back with her feet facing towards a window. A bare foot came out of the bundle, but Ekogaru covered it up and spat on the bundle. "Bitch," he lied. "She's burning in Hell now for trying to kill you. Do you know that?"
"She tried to kill me?" said Stone as he got into the staff aircar at the passenger side.
"It was either her or you, she determined," said Ekogaru. "I read the bitch's poor excuse for a mind. Oh well. After we beat you, we will send you home in that kimono…or what is left of it," said Ekogaru with a grin. "You will get to carry Chelsea back home in a little cardboard box. Her ashes, of course. Like me to gift-wrap them for you as part of your playing the traumatized widower?"
"Make it white. She always liked white. With a pink ribbon. Make the card read, "Happy Birthday in Hell, you bitch!' said Stone.
Both Ekogaru and Stone laughed at this joke as the Dark Lord drove away, fading back into Maples as he pulled away from the curb in the dark.
Ekogaru soon resumed his true form back in SS Headquarters as he walked with Stone, who was carrying Chelsea's dead body. She was again in the nude….Ekogaru had torn the sheet from her form once they had entered the buildlng, where there was no need to hide either Chelsea's nakedness or the fact of her death.
They entered a room where Flagg was waiting, along with a bizarre-looking individual with a bald head, Satanic-looking moustache, and weird goatee. "What's his name?" said Stone as he threw Chelsea's body on the automatic conveyor belt that led into the crematorium oven.
"It used to be Leonard Charles Torman, but I am now forevermore known as…..The Creep," said Torman.
"The Creep?" said Stone. "Were you that serial killer who…?"
"He killed babies, sometimes did rude and disgusting things to them that are unspeakable and gross and very messy," said Flagg. "And, oh, yes. He ate them, too. Didn't you, Creep?" sad Flagg as Ekogaru and Stone arranged Chelsea's body on the belt. Stone took her wedding band off her dead finger, leaving her to go into the crematorium with nothing and as naked as the day she was born. There was no coffin, no prayers or rememberances, and no tenderness whatsoever as Ekogaru helped Stone push a button and the body of Chelsea Stone slid into the retort of the cremation device on a belt, with a hatch closing as soon as she was inside.
"Push this button, it will start the oven..I've used this a lot," said Ekogaru as Flagg and The Creep sat down at a table and began to play cards, with Flagg dealing. Stone pushed the button, shivering a little as heard the automatic gas furnace roaring inside the oven. He looked in through an observaton glass saw Chelsea's hair lighting ablaze as flames roared around her face.
"The nice thing about human flesh is that one has to season it just right," said The Creep as he said, "Lord Flagg, what are we playing?"
"Five Card Stud while we cook this little cake," said Ekogaru.
"Pity we have to burn her," sighed The Creep. "I think this one was an Eater. I see she looked very young and tender. Nice butt. We could have gotten some nice ham out of her."
"Let's eat her," purred Flagg. "Stone, could you turn that oven down? This will take some time. We'll play some cards before we begin beating you. We promise not to make it hurt too much."
At that, Stone's evil new companions laughed sickeningly.
Stone went to work on the oven, thinking, These weirdos actually want to eat my wife? He looked into the observation glass and saw that Chelsea was already burning merrilly. Her face was gone; it was just a charred skull, now. Her body was now clad in a garment of fire, a garment that was dissolving her as he saw a gout of flesh coming off her side as her breasts burned, revealing her nude rib cage. The bones there were beginning to glow.
"Well?" said The Creep.
"Her face is gone…her chest is just a rib cage and organs, and her right foot is burning down to its bones. Soon, there will be no meat…" Stone gasped.
Ekogaru came over and looked. "It is far too hot in there now to open this until her ashes cool, Creep. Although, if you insist, Creep, I may be able to phase a piece of her out of these onto a plate. The meat will be very hot and well-done, though."
"Naaaah, I like boiled or braised human meat much better," said The Creep. "Join us, Stone. We'll give you a share of the pot."
"And then beat the living shit out of you," said Flagg pleasantly as he cracked his knuckles. Stone sat that Flagg had the word LOVE tattooed on the knuckles of one hand and HATE on the other.
Stone gulped and sat down to play poker with his demonic friends as Chelsea burned away in the oven.
Another day passed. It was now the 19th of August.
On the Argo, off in space, Hardy flew a patrol five thousand megameters away from Mercury. He was not in a good mood.
Damn you, Dawn…and damn you, too, Katrina, he thought. Putting my son and I in this situation…because of this war between the two of yuh. Sometimes, ah wish you'd both drop dead, Jefferson thought bitterly.
It was a smallish patrol. Deke flew one of the Tigers beside him, while Brew flew the other.
Hardy snapped, "Wakefield, yuh picking up anything?"
"Negative, sir," said Deke. "And why are we out here again?"
"Eager and Nova were both picking up signals," said Hardy. "And, thus we had to investigate them…"
"Ah, the usual snipe hunt," said Brew.
"Snipe hunt?" said Hardy. "Oh, yeah. We did that when ah was in the Boy Scouts. Camp in Georgia before the bombins' started."
""We're chasing blips, sir," said Wakefield. "Yeah, reminds me of a snipe hunt, all right…"
Later, after returning again to the Argo, Hardy arrived back on the First Bridge and said, "Captain, I have a report…"
"What did you find?" asked Derek from the Combat Group Leader's station while Hardy stood near the vacant Captain's station.
"Snipe hunt," said Hardy. "Nuthin, suh. One blip had a Spectran signature. It ran like a pig and none of us could catch up. The other three blips vanished as we were locking on and readyin' missiles."
"They did a space warp," Nova sighed. "You're right, Jeff. Snipe hunt."
"Can we find out who they were with the time radar?" Derek said.
"Sure can. Hardy, give me coordinates where you saw the ships," Nova said.
"Shure. First ship….RPG 322 by DL 52…"
Nova did a scan, and looked up at the screen above her head. "Have a look. Spectran. It looks like a giant…bat…"
"How original," sighed Harper.
"How weird," Eager said.
"Nova, second set of coordinates is RPH 52 by EF 66," said Hardy.
"Looking," Nova said. She punched in more coordinates. "Derek, look up. Bolar destroyers. Three of them. We are being followed."
"Sir, I recommend a warp," said Stephen Sandor from his post.
"Where should we go?" said Derek as he looked at Nova and Steve.
Nova pushed her hair back out of her eyes as Sandor said, "Random warp to the Venus Orbit, I'd recommend."
"Good one," said Derek. "Nova, get Harper some random-number coordinates?"
"Roger," Nova said, working another program in the computer. A moment later, she said, "Mister Harper, I am sending you coordinates; WQA 301 by ASH 154."
"Got them, setting up the Argo to warp," he said.
"Bringing up the wave motion engine," said Diane from her post.
"All hands, we are making a space warp in three minutes," Derek said over the PA. "Make all preparations for warp. Secure all posts." Derek turned back to Nova and said, "Call Sickbay; have Doctor Sane check on the kids."
"He just sent me a text, Derek," Nova said. "He said Alex and Ariel are sleeping right now. He did say Ariel missed the potty and had a poop accident ten minutes ago."
"Babies," laughed Harper from his post. "I remember when my boy, whom we call Tiny, did stuff like that," he said as he strapped in for the warp.
"Ready to warp," said Harper. He did most of the countdown and said, "Three…two…one, zero…WARP!"
"WARP!" snapped Derek.
The Argo roared into warp.
Derek looked back at Nova at her post as they went into warp.
Nova looked down at herself as the Argo faded into hyperspace, feeling the strange but typical feeling of dislocation as the stars outside turned multiple colors and began to whizz past in blue, and then in multicolored streaks.
I'm at my post one minute, she thought. Now, I'm floating there…above myself….now…I'm over there….
..in my underwear, she said to herself as she felt a cool breeze against her bare stomach and feet all of a sudden….
Then, as the sense of disorientation increased, Nova looked down at herself again. Now…there goes everything…I'm…naked…wonder if this is happening to Alex and Ariel…if they're not too scared, they'll probably like it, Nova thought with a giggle. Like most toddlers, they love to be naked!
Nova blushed as she looked at herself. I wonder when they'll come back this time? she thought. How many seconds has this been?
Nova then felt herself "gleaming" with light as a bright light appeared from nowhere, and the colors turned weird.
She closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, she was clothed again in her uniform.
Then, she looked over at Diane….who was herself naked.
And Eager was in the same situation.
Luckily, their clothing reappeared just as they came out of warp.
"Warp completed!" barked Harper from his post.
"Whew," said Sandor. "That was a weird one…"
"Yeah, you're telling me," Nova said with a nervous laugh.
"You okay?" Derek asked.
Nova said, "Aye, skipper. Stomach is just…strange…" she said as she patted herself to make sure her uniform was on, which it was.
A moment later, blips appeared on Nova's radar. "What?" she said. "Unidentified vessels!" she barked. "Range, three megameters, speed, twenty five space knots! Coming from off the port side at WQZ-245 by ZZ 22, at high speed; vessels identified as Bolar Federation vessels…six space battleships and twelve destroyers; total of eighteen vessels!"
"MISSILES APPROACHIN!" yelled Eager.
A moment later, missiles began to slam into the Argo from port, blasting in bit by bit. The damage was minor at first, but it got much worse a mere two minutes later when three more space battleships warped in and began to bombard the Argo's unprotected keel at close range.
"Change our angle of approach, Harper!" barked Derek from his post. "Opening main guns!" he yelled. "Mister Kaufamn!" he barked as he began to work the main guns himself. "Get our pulse lasers and counterattack missiles firing at those bastards!"
"Yessir!" said Kaufman while he worked the controls at Artillery and shouted orders.
"Derek, they're leaving a hole at Zed-Zed forty-six!" Nova barked.
"Harper, take us there. Main guns ready! Commence attack!" Derek barked.
The main guns turned to port and commenced a full broadside a moment later, giving the Argo a brief respite from her tormentors as six Bolar destroyers and two of the space battleships blew apart.
Derek fired again, and two more destroyers were blown to bits.
However, a destroyer roared in at close range, raking the main foredeck and Gun Turret Number One with heavy fire.
A terrifying red light appeared in the bridge windows as three missiles slammed into the bridge tower in rapid succession. Diane Sandor screamed as she saw the bridge windows beginning to crack, and she yelled. "Steve! The windows have taken shrapnel hits! We need to lower the blast shields!"
Derek snapped, "Sandor! Lower the blast shields…and then…"
As Sandor responded to the order the Argo took three more hits; one of which damaged the lower fighter bay, and another one, which damaged the upper port fighter bay.
"Damnit, Sandor!" Derek snapped. "It's like someone told them where to hit us!"
"Who could that have been?" said Eager.
A moment later, something else slammed into the Argo's bridge tower. A moment later, Hardy snapped to as he heard banging and yelling below. He ran to the Captain's console and heard a speaker coming on there. "Commodire! This is Astrogation Post Five, right below your bridge! Enemy boarding pod, we are being boarded, we are being…!"
The sound of a blaster cut him off as they heard loud noises. "Sandor! Lock both aft access hatches!"
"Locking," said Sandor.
Derek looked around while continuing to fight the enemy fleet. "Kaufman! Eager! Sasha! Leave your posts and help Hardy defend the First Bridge!"
Sasha, at Analysis, saluted grimly as she took off. Derek then yelled, "All hands, weapons at the ready, space gear on if you have it nearby! Defend this bridge!"
"Yessir!" snapped Diane, Nova, Steve, Kaufman, Homer, Hardy, Harper, Sasha, and Eager all as one. Nova worked her post with a weapon in one hand as she said, "Three more destroyers have warped in at RDS 300, Derek! The space battleships are pulling back! They must think they've got us!"
"Not while I can still fight, Goddamn it!" Derek snapped.
A moment later, the hatch at the starboard side was burned open and it exploded, hitting Homer with shrapnel. He screamed and fell to the deck. Nova said, "Derek, I need help to get him over here! I can't abandon my post!"
"Kaufman!" snapped Derek. "Get Homer over to Nova. Then protect them while we shoot these guys back where they came from!"
"Roger!" said Kaufman as he dragged a moaning Homer over towards the radar, where Nova simutaneously watched the screens and began to rip Homer's sleeve off to treat him.
Enemy troopers ran in a moment later, shooting as they came. The tactical radar was damaged and Eager was wounded as smoke from a fire began to fill the bridge.
An enemy trooper kicked Hardy, but Jeff kicked him back, throwing him to the ground and then shooting him.
Another trooper ran for Sasha. She screamed and kicked him in the crotch, and then she shot him through the heart, with no hesitation. Three more ran at her, but she screamed, raised her hand, and used the power that was in her to throw them back against Engineering.
As they bounced off, Diane and Kaufman shot them down like tenpins.
Another trooper aimed at Sandor. The bolt just missed him, and Nova slipped, her Astro-Automatic flying out of her hand. She caught the weapon under a booted foot before the enemy trooper could get it, and Nova defended Sandor by grabbing a spare combat knife from her small locker and throwing it at the enemy trooper's throat as she screamed. It caught him in the throat, and he fell back bleeding.
Another pair of troopers attacked the forward part of the bridge from over the Astro-Compass. Harper took a hit in his chest that threw him back in a gout of pain and blood.
Derek stood, his helmet flying off as he held up his weapon and then shot at two of their tormemtors.
And, a moment later, before Nova's horrified eyes, even as Derek shot down another one of their attackers like a dog….
...Derek also took a hit in his right shoulder that threw him down, felling him in his path. Derek hit his head on the deck and fell unconscious as Nova screamed.
Hardy ran to Derek's side, holding the unconscious man as he held his weapon on a Bolar trooper.
Nova regained her Astro-Automatic, dropped it again, and then, she grabbed it.
She stood over Derek, and looked around and barked, "Which one of you enemy troopers is in command here? HUH?"
A very fat Bolar said, "I am, GIRL! I am Captain Igor Strelnikov of the Bolar Federation 113th Attack Fleet Flagship Ramasky! Where is Commodore Derek Wildstar? I am commanded by Admiral Rosskovsky to capture him alive so he can be studied, interrogated, and tormented, in that order! Same with his stupid mishka woman!"
"You've got us!" Nova barked. "But as far as capturing us, you can go straight to Hell!" Nova said as she both held Derek with one hand and held her weapon on the enemy with another. There was a fire in her eyes that even made Strelnikov step back. "I'm in command here now since the Commodore is hurt!" Nova snapped. "Now get off my vessel before I shoot your guts out against that bulkhead!"
"Try it, whore!" Strelnikov snapped as he levelled his weapon at Nova's face.
Nova snarled at him, aimed and did exactly what she said, shooting him through the stomach with a brutal gut shot that sprayed his intestines and internal organs out in a mess against the Astro-Compass. As Strelnikov fell, Nova pumped another shot through his head, causing it to explode. Nova's uniform was splattered with blood, but she did not care much at this point.
Derek moaned, and Nova held him and comforted him, saying, "Darling, it's all right…they're all gone now…it's all right now…I've assumed command…" Nova kissed Derek, who opened his eyes weakly and kissed Nova while she took a moment to tear his shirt open to bandage his shoulder wound while she snapped to Sandor, "Can Eager get up? We need to know where the enemy is! Derek is in no shape to command..."
"Bullshit," muttered Derek. "I…" He tried to stand up, but he fell against Nova. She braced him and helped him to Sasha's post, looking up at the main screen as Eager got it on from the Cosmo-Radar. "The enemy fleet is regrouping due ahead of us…comin' at high speed…"
"Hardy! Are you checked out to fly the Argo?" Nova said while pulling on a pair of gloves to help her work the weapons systems…since her hands were covered with Derek's blood.
"I did it like four times in the war with the New Comet, Nova…Ah'm checked out…" said Hardy.
"Good. Jeff, help Harper away from there to Eager's post and then take the helm after I leave," Nova said from the helm after she kissed a moaning, half-conscious Derek. He thought, Yeah, Nova, I'm as woozy as shit…better that you're in command right now, kiddo….
A moment later, as Hardy took the helm, Nova sat down at Combat and said, "Sandor, we have to attack them now before we get back in range. How badly damaged are we?"
"The two forward gun turrets are out and have taken minor damage. Power is the problem, Nova. Those turrets have to be rewired to the main power trunk.
Nova stared hard at the Combat console, on which she had received some training in 2199 and in 2207. She turned to Diane. "How's the engine?"
"You need power, Nova, we got power!" she said.
"Great," Nova said with a grin. "Diane. Stop all engines."
There was a pause as she did that as Eager said, "First wave o' missiles fired! One minute to impact!"
Then, Nova turned to Diane and said, "Transfer all energy to the wave motion gun!"
"Aye' ma'am, but who's firing it?"
As Derek moaned, Nova winked at him and said, "Me! Who else? C'mon, people!" she snapped. "I need wave energy now!"
Diane flicked the proper switches and said, "Energy buildup commenced! Energy level at sixty percent!"
"One hundred seconds to firing," Nova said. "Hardy, I need your help here. Lock us right on the lead ship of the enemy fleet!"
"Aye, ma'am, locked on and ready!"
"All hands, prepare anti-shock and anti-flash defenses in case the flash comes in over the main screen, even with the shields down," Nova said.
"Energy level seventy-six percent," said Diane as Steve smiled at Nova, who looked rather small and desperate, but capable, as she unlocked the gun firing grip and popped up the target scope. "Target scope open! Correct for magnetic drift, crossgauge level, plus three!"
The fleet appeared on Nova's target scope as she stuck the goggles in her hair while the pulse of the building energy charge filled the ship. "Thirty seconds to firing. Brace for missile impacts!"
The missiles hit the Argo, causing her to shake, but keeping her on course.
"Second wave fired!" said Eager from his post.
"We'uh good, ship on course, Nova…"
"Energy level, ninety percent!" said Diane.
"Good show," said Nova. "Open safety lock!"
Nova flicked the right switches, and the safety lock cylinder locked in. Nova pulled down her goggles and smiled as Diane said, "Energy level, one hundred percent!"
"Ten seconds to firing!" Nova said. "Ten…nine…eight…seven…six…five…four..three…two..one…Zero…FIRE!"
Nova then pulled back the trigger and fired.
The usual cataract of energy boiled out of the Argo's bow just as the Bolars were beginning to get the hint and started to warp out. One space battleship escaped along with one destroyer. The others did not, all of them boiling away in a huge ball of light and gas.
Nova sat back, threw off her goggles and said, "whew!" as she wiped her brow. She looked at Sandor, smiled a little, and said, "You think they're gone?"
"Eager says they are. And I've called some medics for the Skipper."
"Hey…I'm waking up, said Derek. "What'd I miss? Nova, was I dreaming about you firing the wave motion gun?"
"No, dear, you weren't dreaming," Nova said as she kissed him while medics and Marines came up to clear away the dead. Some Troopers followed the Marines up…one was Jonathan, who looked horrified as he saw his mother helping his father onto a stretcher. "DAD!" he cried, running up to hug Derek and Nova.
"Whoa, Cadet," Nova said. ""Breach of discipline! I'm getting the Captain to Sickbay! Help those men get rid of the dead Bolars all over the place! Sandor! You have the conn until one of us gets back!"
"Yes, XO," Sandor said as he saluted Nova. "The ship's taken a lot of damage."
"How's our survey work gone?" moaned Derek from the stretcher.
"We have results," said Sandor. "They will take a few days to analyze, but we can report to the Defense Council in a day or two….at least a preliminary report. Since we have to return home before heading to Iscandar to escort Alex and Starsha's vessel back to their home, I recommend heading home now. The Argo needs dockyard time, ASAP…"
"Good thought," said Derek. "Nova, you and Steve do that. How long will I be down?"
"Knowing you and your history with that arm, probably a day or so," Nova said. "C'mon. Let's get you to Sickbay with Harper and Homer and get you fixed up…"
ONE HOUR LATER….
"His heart rate is good, Doctor," Nova said in Sickbay as she listened to Derek's heart with a stethoscope. He had been stripped of his clothes and was bare under his bedsheet. Nova's hair was a bit wet from her shower, and someone told her Alex was crying for his milk when she came out of the shower after shedding her bloody uniform and literally running naked through Decontamination to kill any possible bugs from the Bolar blood she had been sprayed with. Unable to find his Sippy Cup, Nova quickly dressed in on only a lab coat and sandals as she treated Harper with Alex in her lap and one breast out, figuing, There is nothing here Mister Harper has not already seen. Alex went back to his crib, sleepy, as Nova checked Homer, and then, she sat here with Derek.
"This mission is turning out, thus far, to be a major fiasco," Derek moaned.
"We did a good job fighting those guys off, and we got nice and lucky, dear," Nova said. Then, she heard crying and saw Doctor Sane carrying in Ariel, who had on pink training pants and a top in pink with a little bunny on it. The toddler smiled and ran over barefoot to her mother when she was put down. She reached Nova, who scooped her up and said, "Now, Ariel, what do you need?"
"I saw you giving milkie to Alex, how about ME?" she said.
"Okay, dearest, " Nova said as she opened her lab coat down about three buttons and let her breast out. Ariel smiled and took it, and then looked with concern at her father as Derek said, "At least you and the kids are all right. That was the biggest worry I had."
"My biggest worry is you and your shoulder," said Nova. "Doctor, how are his head scans?"
"Nothing major because you have a hard head, Wildstar," Sane snapped. "And you're giving that same crazy hard head to my best nurse! Nova, why the hell did you have to be a big heroine and go fire the wave motion gun at them?"
"It was us or them, Doctor," Nova said.
"Exactly," said Derek.
Ariel looked at her father and took her mouth off her mother's nipple. "Mommy, why is Daddy hurt? And I was scared of all the noises!"
"We got into a battle, dear," said Nova. "But we won. They were bad since they started it. But, we finished it."
"Yaaay!" said Ariel. "Why did they have to hurt my Daddy?"
"Because Daddy is in command and the bad men were trying to take him away," Derek said. "But Daddy and Mommy fought them off. Right, Mommy?"
"Right, Daddy," Nova said with a wink. Ariel kissed Nova and closed up her coat. She was getting uncannily good with buttons. "How hot is it at home, Mommy?"
"Probably very hot," Nova sighed. "And it might stay hot for a few more months…or maybe years. Darn Bolars."
"I wish they'd die, Daddy, Mommy," said Ariel.
"Me too," said Derek as he tousled his daughter's hair. "Me too…"
VI. A HUNT FOR A MADMAN
The Space Yacht Lady Katrina
The Vicinity of The Galactic Rim
August 20, 2208
0300 Hours ….
In the meantime the Lady Katrina which was now following the signals of a Spectran ship towards the edge of the Milky Way Galaxy. It was now the 20th of August.
They had found the signal, lost it again, found it again, and it was thought that, by later in the morning, they might be back on its trail again.
Right now, though, Kazuo and Invidia were not that much interested in Zoltar's trail.
They were more interested in…each other.
It was about 0300 Hours on the 20th of August.
Katrina had made the Change a while ago, and she was in her true guise as Invidia, naked in bed with Kazuo. For half an hour now, they had been in bed with each other, touching, cuddling, engaging in foreplay.
She was lying in their bed, behind some decorative curtains, in their otherwise modernistic-looking master cabin, spooned against Foxy as he touched her, teasing her breasts with one hand, and teasing the center of her with his other hand.
"You're driving me…mad…" she whispered. "Goddess…you…you…driving me out of my mind….ohhh…'
"Get your legs around my leg," he whispered in Invidia's ear.
"Why is…that…I like this too…ohhhh…yessss…."
Foxy whispered, "You're ready for me, my love…I want to be inside you now…"
As he kissed her, he slipped one leg under hers, and then he moved his other foot up, teasing the bottom of Invidia's toes with his own. Her wine-red polished toenails glittered in the dim light as they kissed while his manhood pressed against her wet rosette.
Wanting him, needing him, Invidia helped Kazuo enter her a moment later, shivering with pleasure as Kazuo played with the erect nipple on one of her breasts. He kissed her again and again as he whispered, "The thing about you is…."
"Yes?" whispered Invidia as he thrusted into her and she rode him, thrusting back, enjoying the feel of him inside her, enjoying the feel of his hands all over her, shivering as their toes curled against each other.
"You're so damn sexy and elegant…." Kazuo whispered.
"You too, Foxy one…ohhh…..please…yess,"
The two of them continued to roll and shiver in their dance of esctacy while they kissed.
"It is so hot in here," whispered Invidia. "I am so hot…you are driving me…."
"Driving you what?" whispered Kazuo.
"OUT of my mind! Ohhhhh!" cried Invidia as she felt her body slipping into a hot, shivering climax about two minutes later.
Invidia shivered against Kazuo, filled with love for him, gasping as she felt his seed blasting up inside her as he also hit his own climax.
They lay there in blissful happiness, touching and kissing each other….
…when, suddenly, the whole ship trembled under them.
"What is that?" yelled Invidia. "When you said you would rock my world, I didn't mean it so…"
"Invidia!" whispered Foxy. "Something hit us! Change, for Arishna's sake!"
Invidia kissed him again, and she then made her naked body shimmer as her raven-colored hair turned dark purple, and her features melted and twisted into those of Katrina. She grew a bit taller in her other guise, but her toenails were still dark red, and her nude body still smelled like passion and was covered in sweat as Kazuo found a semi-sheer white sundress and wrapped it around her body.
Katrina did not bother with undergarments, and she did not particularly care (as the Lady Katrina was hit again) that her hardened, erect nipples showed somewhat through her dress as she and Foxy buttoned it shut. She kicked on a pair of flat white sandals and then pulled Kazuo's pants up and helped him into the same sort of blue and white pullover his crew wore. He kicked into sneakers just as the alert klaxons went on and First Mate Raful yelled, over the PA, "We are under attack! Spectran vessel! We have taken two hits! Captain to the Bridge, Goddamnnit!"
"Coming!" yelled Foxy as he picked up a phone and yelled into it. He and Katrina kissed again before running to the cockpit.
"Yes, like we were," whispered Katrina in his ear.
"Katrina, cut the jokes, this is life or death!" snapped Foxy. "GO! RUN!"
After he slapped her on her barely-clad butt, Katrina ran.
On the way there, they almost bowled right into Yuri Tsukikage, who was pulling on her glasses as she ran towards the cockpit in nothing but a sleep shirt.
Yuri and Katrina looked at each other, and Yuri said, "It looks like someone was having fun before…I thought I sort of heard you two at it in there!"
"Damn you, it is none of your business what I do in my private time with husband!" yelled Katrina.
"Cut the crap, you two!" snapped Kazuo. "Katrina! Put her in the main pulse laser turret! Show her where it is and get it going! We need anti-spacecraft fire yesterday! Then you get in the fighter and prepare to launch!"
"Yessir," they both snapped. Yuri was a little surprised at how Foxy was able to change demeanor from goofy and silly to dead serious within a few minutes. She thought, It must take a crisis to make him serious, but he seems to be a damn good commander when he has to be. He is the master of this ship. I thought he was a dillentate or something.
Katrina then grabbed Yuri's hand. She saw that she was shaking but in control of herself. "Follow me!" she barked. As Haruna peeped her head out of the cabin, Katrina yelled, "You follow Raful to the belly turret, Haruna! I need you two firing in the next thirty seconds, or we may be fucking dead!"
"Right," said Haruna as she finished pulling on her shorts over the panties she had slept in. She already had on a cropped top, having tried to adapt to the heat inside the vessel while sharing a cabin with her daughter.
Soon, Yuri was climbing barefoot up a ladder into the turret as she jumped into the gunner's seat and prayed she could figure out the controls. These seem pretty standard, she thought as she flicked switches and brought up the computerized target scope.
She caught the enemy ship making a looping pass towards them, firing green lasers energy as it came. It was something that looked like a deranged bat in silver and black. Yuri caught it in her scope and twisted the turret around as her bare toes worked the pedals to change the aberration and aim as it spun slightly. When she had the vessel on target, she fired.
Yuri smiled as she scored a hit on the vessel, but the reaction on board the bat-like ship was not one of pleasure.
The enemy vessel was Spectran, and the head officer in charge was, indeed, a still-wounded Ibn Zoltar.
He had had a near run-in with the Argo the previous day that might have resulted in his death then if he had been forced to go into all-out battle with the massive space battleship. Still, Zoltar had been satisfied that he had been able to send the Argo's location to the Bolar Fleet Captain named Strelnikov he had been in touch with days ago, and had been pleased to hear from Strelnikov that he would soon have the Argo hacked apart.
Zoltar had made his escape then, but as he had escaped to Pluto, the EDF Patrol Cruiser Danube had caught up with him. He had damaged the Danube, but he had taken damage himself that had caused him to warp out here. Now, after having made repairs, Zoltar and his six-man crew were in battle with this ship, that he thought would be easy pickings to loot and raid.
Of course, Zoltar had no idea that Strelniklov, overconfident, had personally boarded the Argo, where a rather angry Nova had sent him to the next life with two well-placed shots.
Zoltar sat back, smiling to himself while remembering when he had had one of his most hated enemies in his grasp….and he was sure that he would soon have this enemy in his grasp.
It was the year 2074…back in the day when Zoltar had been a different, much younger man known as Berg Katze.
In those days, Berg Katze had been the Commander of the forces of the terrorist organization Galactor. Katze and the modern Zoltar were the same person, or should it be… the same mutant freak?
At that time, Katze's men had just captured a brazen G-2, Joe Asakura, who Katze suspected was a member of the Science Ninja Team Gatchaman.
However, the Condor was a very troublesome bird to catch.
In fact, in the darkened command room of his ship, Katze had a sneaking admiration for the Condor as he went berserk, having darkened the command room, where he was busy taking down his goons one by one in the dark.
"Watch out! He's close by!" yelled one of the Galactor soldiers as they wondered, in the dark, where Joe would strike next.
Suddenly, a random goon was pulled back as a set of hands throttled him.
The Galactor troops fired their submachine guns at where they suspected the Condor was, but, instead, the Sergeant who had been grabbed just fell to the deck, bleeding from many bullet wounds as Joe had used him as a human shield.
Hilgaz, the bearded Lieutenant in charge of the detail, snapped, "There are windows here, right? OPEN THEM!"
"Yes, Chief!" snapped one of his men.
The hapless Galactor pulled open a curtain, and a hand emerged from behind it with a roundhouse punch, knocking him on his butt.
Katze thought, as he watched, You people are such damn incompetents! You idiots!
"THERE HE IS!" yelled the troops. They began to fire like madman.
Katze hissed, "Impudence," under his breath as he turned on a spotlight, remembering from his intel that G-2 had received a brain injury from shrapnel, and that its effects were killing him and giving him an aversion to bright light. He thought, A bright light will help us flush that damn carrion bird out and also torment him when the light hits his eyes. Bastard!
"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY!" hissed Katze as he pinned Joe down with the light. Finally caught and bedazzled, the Condor knelt helplessly in his civilian outfit as he tried to shield his eyes. "C'mon, stand up!" barked Hilgaz as he laughed while he and his men held weapons on Joe. "That's a good boy; stand up nice and SLOW!"
Hilgaz slammed Joe in the chest and then in the face with his weapon as he knocked him around, and then he shoved him over to some of his men for the same sadistic treatment. After Joe had been kicked around, he staggered into Hilgaz's arms while Hilgaz grabbed his hair and hissed, "What happened to all of your spunk, scum?"
Hilgaz let his men beat him more; then Joe staggered into Katze's arms.
Zoltar smiled to himself as he remembered grabbing the G-2 and mockingly tipping up his face. "Yes, where the hell DID all of your spunk go? Not very healthy now, are you? Are you ready to tell me the identities of the other four members of the Science Ninja Team yet? So we can bring them here to you and have a damn little family reunion?"
Zoltar had had no idea what had gone through Joe's mind, but the Luminous One, who then went by the name Generalissimo X, later revealed to him, "He was thinking of not giving up his comrades."
"Who were they?" Katze had demanded.
The Luminous One had thought, I know who they are. Ken Washio, Jun, Ryu, Jinpei…I know who the hell they are, but need I tell Katze yet? Nay, let him find out himself. He will find out soon enough. If he is halfway efficient before I destroy the Earth with the Mantle Project and cast Katze aside, that is. Instead, X had only told Katze, "You will find out who they are, in time. If you interrogate Asakura a bit more, he will break!"
Zoltar shut his eyes as he remembered G-2, right in his hands.
"You just don't get it, DO you?" Joe had hissed. "There is no damn way in hell I'd ever talk for someone like you, idiot!"
Then, he had spat in Katze's face.
Katze had laughed, Then, as he wiped away the spit on his cheek, he said, "So brazen! Yes! You are a vicious piece of crap! If I had just one man like you under my command….this war would have gone differently, I am sure! Ohhh..how unfortunate that good men like you are hard to find! Men, restrain him!"
His men held Joe while Katze punched him in the gut, the face, kicked him in the testicles, left him gasping, while Hilgaz kicked him across the room, yelling, "What the fuck's the matter with you, HUH? Too weak to say boo to Lord Katze?"
"Yes, what's the matter?" mocked Katze as he walked up to Joe. "Too weak to do much? Looks as if you've finally settled down, you scum!"
Then, Zoltar smiled to himself as he remembered grinding Joe's face into the deck with his boot. "Ah! The great Science Ninija Team Member Condor looks just as weak as anyone when he is beaten down like this, eh?" Zoltar remembered that he was actually getting aroused at that moment; torture turned him on. "No matter how much you carry on, it is now only a matter of time! It seems you are not aware that Galactor's work will soon be done! I'd have you killed now, except that I need you as a hostage to guide the rest of your team to ME! And I will then halt Gatchaman in their tracks! Like the fact that you will be the cause of your team's end, you weakened scum?"
"All right!" snapped Katze. "Commence operations for the Black Hole Operation at once! We go to Cross Karakoram base immediately!"
The man once known as Berg Katze sat on his ship as, suddenly, the Lady Katrina launched a fighter plane, which made a quick warp, and then swept in on him.
Katrina, who had made the Change back to Invidia behind her helmet, laughed like mad as she strafed Zoltar's ship and shot out one of its four engines.
"Lord Zoltar!" yelled one of his men. "Number Four engine is damaged! We need to compensate!"
"Where did that roach come from?" yelled Zoltar.
"It appears they have a fighter plane that can warp…they…"
Then, Invidia flew around again, and knocked out Zoltar's number two engine with an evil grin on her face. "Great going…you are almost in my power, murdering freak!".
"We are down to two!" said an officer. "This ship needs two to warp!"
"Warp us out of here!" said Zoltar, panicking now.
Zoltar's crew made ready to warp. But, as they did, Invidia came around again. "I haf you now!" she said as she lined him up in her scope.
Invidia fired, hitting Zoltar's ship right as he warped.
The warp was sudden, violent, uncontrolled, and strange. Zoltar lost two of his men into the Fourth Dimension during the warp as they literally drifted away when the substance of the ship was tenuous for a moment.
In agony, Zoltar came out of warp right in a strange star system.
"Where are Digaz and Harka?" he yelled.
"Sir, sensors indicate they are dead," said an officer named Magla. "My readouts indicate that we are in the Great Magellenic Cloud…"
"What?" said Zoltar. "Where?"
"The Sanzar System," said Magla. "We are approaching…Planet Gamilon….."
"Gamilon?" said Zoltar. "Now, this is not the best of situations. When can we warp again?"
"Five days," said Magla.
"WHAT?" hissed Zoltar.
"The computer of this ship is damaged. We need repairs…"
"DAMNED fate!" hissed Zoltar….
On Gamilon, it was late in the evening.
Leader Desslok was in his personal bedchamber with Astrena.
The nurses had put Dellar and Aisha to bed, and the Leader of the Empire had just been enjoying his private pleasures with Astrena. They had stripped themselves long ago, and two ladies-in-waiting had been on call, waiting as Desslok and Astrena made love, making quiet but discreet note of their initmacy so that the time of conception could be duly recorded if the Lady of Gamilon and acting Queen of the scattered Pellians became pregnant yet again.
It was an "after-the-loving" moment while Desslok and Astrena cuddled up to each other, with Astrena tenderly wiping Desslok's member clean and dry as he emerged from the bath for a drink brought by another servant.
"A fine vintage?" he purred.
"Yes, Leader Desslok one of our finest," said the servant.
"Not as fine as you," whispered Astrena. Desslok looked down at Astrena and smiled at her as he admired her nakedness. He thought her mature breasts, flat stomach, and long legs looked particularly beautiful tonight. She had been in the nude ever since after dinner, when one of her ladies-in-waiting had given her a massage. She had been warm, and Desslok had then asked her not to summon her wardobe attendants for any rainment at all for her. After she had fed Aisha and played with Dellar, Astrena took a call from one of her liasions on Iscandar, and then she had retired to bed with Desslok.
Now, by the look on her face, it seemed she wanted to return back to their bed, and she whispered to Desslok, "After our bath…?"
"Yes, dear, we can return back to…"
Then, as a lady-in-waiting brought food and lotions at the ready, Desslok heard a Household Staff Officer snapping to behind him. "Yes?" Desslok sighed.
"Leader Desslok," said the staff officer as he bowed with a phone on a tray. "The Security Station on Planet Number Twelve of the system is calling with an important despatch."
"Didn't I tell you NOT to disturb my pleasures, Melgratz?" snapped Desslok as the first servant poured the wine into his goblet. "What is it?"
"Sir, Talan ordered me to bring this to you. He says this call is important!"
Desslok snarled as he took his hand out of Astrena's hair and motioned Melgratz forward. Desslok took the phone and said, "YES?" into it in cold tones.
"Leader Desslok, this is Hargla on Twelve. We have spotted an enemy vessel entering our system two thousand gerads away from our base."
"Have you identified it yet, Hargla?"
"It is small. It matches the signature of a vessel that blasted away from Terra recently. The Earthlings reported this vessel was carrying a fugitive terriorist leader from Spectra known as Ibn Zoltar, responsible for several terrorist action on Earth, including rapes, murders of governmental officials, and assaults on two members of the First Star Force."
"The Star Force?" Desslok said sharply. "I cannot allow this insult to my friends to go unpunished. You are far out. What is the nearest vessel?"
"The destroyer Z-643, sir," said Hargla.
"Get me in touch with that Captain. NOW," said Desslok. "I want that vessel dealt with. Without mercy!"
"Yessir," said Melgratz.
TO BE CONTINUED…..