Ness – Chapter 1:
Ness suddenly found himself standing inside a room with metallic plates lining the walls. The hum and clanking of machinery reverberated all throughout the room. As he looked around, though, he found that something did not seem right. The lights and layout of the area looked like it was from the set of an old science fiction movie out of the 1930s or 1940s, except that it was in full color. Ness began to wonder how he had arrived here. The last thing he remembered was being in Onett fighting off some aliens. Their leader had emerged from a large UFO, and soon retreated. He had wanted to attack the leader, but Poo had warned him against it. Then, a beam was unleashed upon the party, and house, and a green wave of energy washed over him. Then he found himself here, in this area, wherever that was. He first wondered if he was dead. He quickly pinched himself on the cheek. The jolt of pain answered his question; he was still alive.
Next, he wondered what had become of his friends and family, as well as everyone else at the party. Looking around the room, he found that he was alone. It was now that he wished that he had the telepathic abilities of Paula, or the energy sensing capacity of Poo. After a moment of pondering his situation, he knew that he would not gain anything by just standing around. Glancing about the room, he found that it was completely empty. He had surmised that it was a storeroom of some sort. He quickly searched for an exit to the room. He quickly found one in the form of what looked to be an elevator, which surprised him. He approached the door and, seeing a keypad next to the door, pushed the button, calling the elevator. Ness waited for a few second for it to arrive. When it did, the door slid open and Ness boarded the elevator. As the doors slid to a close, Ness noticed that there were no buttons on the elevator except for an emergency stop button. Still, he rode the elevator to its destination. When the doors slid open once more, he exited the elevator.
After emerging from the elevator, Ness found himself in a large corridor that went straight in either direction. Glancing down both ends, he found that there was what appeared to be a dead end to his left, so he turned to his right and walked forward. He quickly glanced to either side of the corridor and found that there were few doors. However, he did find a couple large red flashing orbs on the wall of the corridor. He did not know what purpose the lights served. He did not dwell on them. He just looked around the walls some more as he made his way forward. The walls seemed very plain, save for those lights, though there were what looked to be sets of metal pipes lining parts of the wall. Ness began to suspect that he was inside a base of some sort. He quickly checked to make sure that he still had his baseball bat. He did, which was good. He drew it out and carefully scanned his surroundings, making sure to not only rely on sight, but also on sound, touch, and smell. So far, he found nothing threatening, yet. The same hum of machinery still reverberated throughout the corridor. Ness soon found a doorway in front of him. Above the door was a blue glowing sign with a set of symbols on it. Ness could not make out the symbols, but they did not appear to be writing. He approached the door and put his ear up to it. He could not hear anything unusual coming from the other side, so he simply opened the door and walked on through.
He soon found himself in another corridor. This one was just as plain as the last one. Using his psychic abilities to increase his vision, he still found nothing in front of him. But he did find that this corridor was shorter than the last. He glanced back behind him through the open door to see if anyone or anything was following him. Nothing. He then turned back and trekked down this corridor as well. He also began to listen for the sound of voices or unusual noises that would indicate soldiers or robots. Still, there was nothing. He began to wonder if this base, if it was a base, was even inhabited. Ness continued his trek until he found another door. Knowing that there was nothing to lose by going forward, Ness continued through the door.
On the other side of the door, Ness found himself in what could only be described as a room, since the exit was straight ahead of him. This room was also strange in the fact that it was completely unfurnished. Only a set of metal pipes lined the walls. Not only that, but there was no one, human, alien, or robot, present here. Given Ness's past experience with bases with similar layouts, he was surprised that he had not encountered anyone at all. If the beam had been a teleportation beam used to capture him and his friends, which he had been beginning to suspect, but now he was beginning to question, he would have guessed that there would be people, human or alien, or robots around to guard him and keep him incarcerated. So far, there was nothing here. Seeing no other option, besides going back, he decided to move forward. He entered the door and went on to explore the rest of the base.
In the next corridor, Ness found something that shocked him. To his right, he saw a glass window. What was on the other side of the window was water. Fish swam by the window, not paying attention to the young teen staring out into the depths of the water. Ness did not know what type of fish he was seeing, so he did not know if he was underneath the ocean or in a lake or bay of some sort. He began to suspect once more that he was inside some abandoned secret military base. But why he would end up here was beyond him at this point. He merely trudged forward towards the next door and walked on through, hoping to find some answers quickly.
In the next room, Ness merely found a set of pipes lining the wall in a rectangular pattern. This room was also small, its exit clearly visible to the young teen. One thing that he was beginning to notice was that this place seemingly had nothing at all. There was no trash at all. Heck, there were not even any trashcans around. The area seemed to not be in a state of disrepair or show any signs of breaches or cracks, which Ness considered strange for a base that was underwater. If this base had been deserted, it would have to have been abandoned not too long ago. Ness then walked to the door and entered.
Through the next door, Ness found another glass window along the wall. More fish could be seen swimming outside in the water. Ness no longer stopped to look around the room. He simply kept on going through the door and into the next room.
This room was a little different from the previous rooms. Instead of only having gray pipes line the room, there were pipes with a reddish hue lined in patterns along the wall below a series of gray pipes. Ness also saw several sets red lights in this room. If there was something at this base that was important, Ness suspected that he was getting close to it. Still, there seemed to be no security precautions in place besides the fact that it was underwater. Still, Ness could not help but think that the formation what looked to be those reddish pipes were actually holders for something else. He shrugged off the thought and continued on his way. If something were still at this base, he would find it soon enough. And he would be ready for it. With that, Ness moved forward.
The next room was gigantic. Its ceiling was a great deal higher than the ceiling in the previous rooms and Ness noted that there were two large glass windows in this part of the base. It was now that Ness could hear a voice above him. However, he was unable to make out what it was saying. However, Ness was quickly able to identify it as human, and male. Another voice responded to the human voice. The second voice was clearly robotic. Ness quickly scanned the wall to see if there was an alcove. Sure enough, there was an alcove inside the wall a long way up. He soon found a ladder along a section of wall, which was between the two glass windows, that led up to the alcove. Ness did his best to guard his thoughts. He thought about leaving them alone, but he soon figured that there was nothing left to lose by talking to whoever was up there. After all, while it was an extreme long shot, the person up there may have known where Ness's friends were. With that, he approached the ladder and climbed it. Despite it being a high ladder, it did not take Ness long to climb it. Soon, he was at the top.
Inside the alcove, Ness found a human man being flanked by two large robots, with a third inside a smaller alcove. The man seemed to be finishing up the last touches on the robot in the smaller alcove. From what Ness could tell, the man had brown hair, and was rather tall, around six feet, but also looked young, as if he were in his late twenties. Still, he was dwarfed by the robots, both of who looked to be at least twice as tall as he was. One thing that caught Ness's eye was the fact that his clothes seemed to be of a different style from what Ness was used to seeing on adult men. From what Ness saw, the man was wearing a wool sweater with a brown jacket, and brown trousers. The man's style of dress looked like it was from the 1900s or the 1910s rather than the 1990s or 2000s. Ness then looked over to the robots. The robots looked like old stereotypical B-grade sci-fi robots. One was gold with gray arms and legs that seemed to be made of old tin-foil tubes, though Ness suspected that the arms and legs of the robot had to be made of a much tougher material. The head of the robot was oval in shape and it had yellow glowing eyes. Ness also noticed what appeared to be laser cannons on both of its arms. The other robot was identical to the first robot, except for the fact that it was silver. Also, the guns on the arm seemed to be replaced with two mini-missiles per arm. The third robot that the man was working on looked just like the other two, except for the fact that it was blue. Ness was not able to see what armaments the other robot had. One thing was clear, though. These robots could likely hold off a small assault force all by themselves. And that was not counting on the human who had likely built them, for Ness saw a gun holstered at the hip on the human.
The gold robot soon turned and saw Ness standing near the ladder. "Sir," it called out in a monotone mechanical voice. "The intruder has been spotted. What are your orders?"
This got the attention of the other robot and of the human, as well as Ness. So someone was tracking my movements, Ness thought. The man turned and was visibly startled to see the human teenage boy with a baseball bat standing before him. He had thought that the silent alarm had merely spotted a rat or something. "Who are you?" the man asked in a confrontational tone. He also assumed a defensive posture.
Seeing that there was no harm in telling him his first name, Ness replied, "I'm Ness." He then proceeded to ask in return, "Who are you?"
The man, knowing that Ness had only given his given name, decided to be cautious since he was still suspicious of Ness. "My name is George," he answered carefully.
He, too, only gave his first name. This did not matter to Ness, though. He was confident that if George tried anything funny that he would be able to defeat him and the robots without too much difficulty. He quickly realized that George was eying him.
"Why can't I see inside him?" Ness caught George mutter to himself. This got Ness's attention rather quickly. At first, he wondered what George meant until he realized that George had been trying to scan him. During the three years between the War Against Giygas and the second invasion of Onett, Paula had been teaching Ness how to protect his mind from cursory scans. Powerful scans would still penetrate his defenses, but it would take a pretty strong psychic to penetrate his mental defenses. Knowing this, he steeled his mind and closed it off further.
Ness's actions did not go unnoticed by George. George still stared at him intently, but was trying to study Ness and figure out who, and maybe what, he was. Is he telepathic? George wondered. He doubted that Ness was telepathic, for if he was, Ness would have tried to scan him upon realizing that he was trying to scan the teen. But that did not eliminate the possibility of Ness having other abilities. Ness, noticing the robots forming up around George, assumed a defensive stance, holding out his bat as if it were a sword.
The gold robot immediately interpreted Ness's actions as a sign of aggression and before George could call him off, he pointed his two arms at Ness and fired intense green bursts of energy. However, before the robot had managed to fire, Ness raised a Shield Alpha over himself. He did not want to destroy the robots or fight George, merely protect himself. The energy blasts splashed harmlessly against Ness's shield. He returned the favor with a push of telekinetic force. The gold robot soon flew backwards and landed near the wall. However, Ness had been gentle, so the robot sustained nothing more than a few scratches.
George's eyes went wide at Ness's demonstration of telekinesis. George decided to test Ness further. He quickly focused a blast of telekinetic energy and unleashed it against Ness. Ness, knowing that George was powering up an attack of some sort, decided to counter it with a blast of telekinetic energy of his own. The two attacks quickly collided with each other and both opponents now knew that the other was no slouch, and that their respective opponent was holding back a noticeable portion of his power. The waves and particles in the air visibly shifted as the two telekinetic pushes collided with each other. It was not long before the two attacks canceled each other out and pushed back against their respective users. Both Ness and George went flying into the air. George was about to collide with the wall, but the two robots managed to catch him and cushion his impact. George fell to the ground unhurt, as did the robots. Ness, meanwhile flew backwards until he had nearly flown out of the alcove. He landed on his feet a few feet away from the alcove's edge. He then slid to the edge, but he was able to force himself to stop before falling over the edge. Ness quickly rushed towards George, wanting to make sure that he was uninjured, which resulted in the two robots stepping out in front of George. This prompted George to call them off.
"CAIN, ABEL, get back. This boy is non-hostile."
"Are you sure, sir?" the golden robot, who Ness assumed was CAIN, asked.
"If Ness wanted to hurt me, he would have used a lot more power than he did in that telekinetic battle just now." And he may have even been able to defeat me, George thought somberly, almost fearfully. Not only that, but from what George had been able to sense of Ness's power in that skirmish, Ness had the potential to be even stronger. He then got up and walked over to Ness, who had stopped a ways away when he realized that George was not hurt. "You are powerful, Ness," George stated matter-of-factly. "How did a child like you get to be so powerful with PSI?" Ness could tell that George was quite curious about Ness's power
"I was born with this power," Ness responded.
"Who taught you how to use it?"
"I realized my power on my own," Ness answered, not hiding his mind. He wanted George to know that he was telling the truth.
This answer stunned George, but upon performing a cursory scan of Ness's mind, he could tell that Ness was telling the truth. This boy is able to do that without any formal lessons to speak of? The realization that Ness was a lot more powerful than he had demonstrated just now really struck George. He also wondered just how powerful Ness would be if he had taken formal lessons, or how powerful he would be after taking such lessons. Ness looked around the alcove and stared at the robot that was still in its socket in the wall. George noticed Ness's curiosity about the robot and said, "That robot is named ADAM. I was making some final modifications to him. I have another robot under construction. I'm calling her EVE. She will be the strongest of the robots that I'm building."
"What are they being used for?" Ness asked.
"I am going to use them to help me rescue my wife, Maria," George responded, looking down at the ground somberly, a sad expression crossing his face.
"What happened to Maria?" Ness asked, suspecting that it was something tragic.
"Nine years ago, my wife and I were kidnapped by a race of aliens that call themselves PSI Lords, though, some non-psychic servants merely call them PSI Aliens. Neither is their true name, which even they may have forgotten. They kidnapped my wife and I because we were, at the time, latent psychics. The aliens believed that it was their mandate to prevent the spread of the power known as PSI, or in layman's terms, psychic power, from spreading beyond their race. A long time ago, they believed PSI to be a magical power rather than a hereditary power. Even after they discovered that it was at least partially hereditary, they still sought to keep the spread of psychics to an absolute minimum, with the exception of themselves, of course.
"They would travel throughout the universe, scanning entire species in order to see if they had any of the hereditary aspects of PSI in them. If they did, they would do everything in their power to prevent its activation in that race, even if it meant exterminating the entire target species, which happened quite often. Sometimes, when they exterminated a species, members of a species would sell out their own comrades and compatriots in order to be spared from the destruction. These collaborators with the PSI Aliens would be taken onboard their ships to serve as crew and cannon fodder for invasions of other races. In addition, the Aliens also engineered other species with psychic powers. Starmen and Mooks are just some of the species known."
"Yeah, I've fought them before." Ness interjected.
George raised his eyebrows almost in disbelief. "You've fought the Starmen?"
"Yes," Ness freely stated. "They were led by a creature known as the Universal Cosmic Destroyer Giygas."
"Who is Giygas?" George asked. He could not help but think that Giygas may have actually been someone familiar. And it showed on his face.
"Giygas was psychic alien that had lost his body, and his mind, in an attempt to become the ultimate Embodiment of Evil," Ness explained. He was surprised at how easily he was revealing this information to George. Though, it may have been because they were kindred spirit having had bad experiences with Starmen and their leaders. "My friends and I eventually fought him innumerable years in the past and using the prayers of the people of the Earth, he was defeated and destroyed. His human ally, though, managed to escape. Why? Have you heard of him?"
"No," George said quietly. "I just remembered someone else, an alien. After we were kidnapped, the Aliens forced Maria to care for an infant alien. I always heard them refer to the alien as Giegue, though I could have sworn that he was sometimes referred to as Giygas, mainly by his relatives."
"Why did the aliens want your wife to care for him?"
"I don't know."
"So what did Giegue look like?" Ness asked. He, too, felt like he may have seen Giegue before, especially with the revelation that Starmen served the PSI Aliens, and also the fact that Giegue had also been called Giygas on occasion as well.
"Giegue looked like any other PSI Alien, really," George told him. "They looked like cat-like humanoids. They have relatively long, slender torsos, cat-like ears on the sides of their heads, a single tail, as well as a tube that connects from the neck, down to the base of the back."
A surprised look crossed Ness's face. George took this as a sign that he had encountered these aliens before. "So I guess you've encountered PSI Aliens," he commented.
"Yeah," Ness said in a low voice, confirming George's suspicion. "I've encountered them before. But the one I encountered retreated into his ship before we could fight." That answer caused George to frown. Ness suspected that he had been hoping that Ness had actually fought with one of the aliens.
"So what happened?" George asked.
"After he went into his ship, his ship fired a green beam that struck my house and washed over myself and the rest of my friends and family," Ness told him. "Then I found myself in your lab, near a ladder and elevator."
So that explains how you wound up in my lab, George thought. He then stepped back and asked Ness, "Where are you from? I've been searching for any PSI Alien activity on Earth ever since I escaped from the PSI Aliens. I think I would have known if they had come to Earth."
"I'm from Onett," Ness responded. He was not surprised when George did not seem to recognize the name. Onett was pretty far out of the way. "It's town in rural America."
"Just like Podunk," George said, as if finishing Ness's thought. "My hometown." George then thought for a moment before continuing. "It's a ways away from here, though. After I escaped from the aliens, I immediately began a study into their psychic powers, called PSI, as far away from people as possible. The closest town to the mountain that this lake is on is called Ellay. I trained myself in the use of the PSI that I had discovered while in captivity. I also began study into their technology. That is how I was able to escape. The ship that I stole during my escape had an automatic recall device implanted on it. I deactivated the device when I stole the vessel, making it look like it was damaged during the escape. Still, despite my successful escape, Maria did not join me. She elected to stay behind in order to raise Giegue. She wanted to teach him the difference between right and wrong. I think that she is trying to turn him away from the PSI Aliens' mandate to exterminate any psychic race other than themselves.
"When I returned to Earth, I moved away from people in order to keep hidden from any further search parties and cut my ties to any family members in order to protect them from retaliation at the hands of the PSI Aliens. We had been kidnapped not only to raise Giegue, but also in order to prevent the spread of PSI on Earth. I later learned, after some extensive research, that the power of PSI was completely hereditary and had no magical aspects to speak of. That also meant that Maria and I had always been latent psychics. I have kept this research hidden completely so that no one will learn about this. I can't risk the PSI Aliens learning about humanity's psychic potential. I wouldn't be surprised if they planted some spies back here looking for me."
"You sound like you're preparing to go after her," Ness noted.
"I am," George responded. "I had hoped to go after EVE was completed, but that's no longer an option."
"Why not?" Ness asked.
"I had a dream last night," George said in a low voice. "In it, I saw Maria being killed by the aliens after Giegue had celebrated what, in human terms, would be his tenth birthday. I don't know if the dream was a message from Maria or God, but it felt awfully real, and has really worried me. That was why I modified CAIN, ABEL, and ADAM as quickly as I could. I plan on leaving in a couple of hours." He then chuckled. "Maybe I shouldn't read too much into dreams. For all I know, it could be a trick by the Aliens in order for me to return so they can kill me."
"Maybe you should be concerned," Ness told him, thoughtfully. "It may have just been a dream, but it may not have been as well. After all, you're psychic, right? You may be able to receive telepathic messages more easily than others. How powerful of a psychic was Maria?"
"Very," came George's response. "With the training that she has right now, she may be a match for a young PSI Alien. Still, she can't take on their entire race. And the last thing that the PSI Aliens want is for an alien to have the potential to match them in power. That is why I have to get her out of there. If she's as powerful as I think she is, she won't be able to hide her strength forever. And when they see her strength, they'll kill her and likely come to invade Earth before we advance too far."
"Do you think you can do it?" The fact that George was being rushed made Ness wonder if George was taking all contingencies into account. He was also concerned for George's wellbeing.
"Possibly, but a lot of things will have to go right," George replied in a melancholy tone. "If I could have completed EVE before this became essential, then I'd have a better shot at this. Since that's not an option, then I guess I'll just have to hope for a miracle."
"Maybe your miracle has arrived," Ness said with a smile. "I'll help you save Maria."
"What?" George said in shock. "You? Why? I can't ask you to do this!"
"You don't have to," Ness replied almost eagerly.
"I still don't have an escape plan," the older man told Ness. "I plan on reaching the ship by reactivating its automatic recall device. Chances are that they'll scrap the ship once it lands and the others onboard are…" George's eyes began to glimmer with hope as he abandoned his previous line of thought and exclaimed, "Yes! There may be a way for us to escape, possibly even undetected."
"How?" Ness asked excitedly.
"The PSI Aliens aren't just psychics, as evidenced by the fact that they have space travel," George informed Ness. "They are also very technologically advanced as well. They didn't plunder their spacecraft from other aliens that landed on their planet. They developed it on their own. They also have developed other machines, one of which is called a Phase Distorter." That got Ness's attention.
"Did you say a Phase Distorter?"
"Yeah, you've heard of them?" George was beginning to wonder just who Ness really was. The only time he had heard of a Phase Distorter was in the captivity of the PSI Aliens. And even then, theirs had been a prototype.
"Yes," Ness replied. "During the War Against Giygas three years ago, my friends and I used one to go back into the past and defeat Giygas in a place called the Cave of the Past. However, in order to travel using a Phase Distorter, we had to transfer ourselves into robotic bodies."
"That won't be a problem with a PSI Alien Phase Distorter," George replied. Still, he was wondering how Ness knew of the Phase Distorter. It was advanced technology that was far beyond anything humans could develop. "By the way, who built your Phase Distorter?"
"It was a collaborative project between the father of one of my friends, Doctor Andonuts, an inventor named Apple Kid, and a group of beings named Mr. Saturns," Ness explained.
George thought for a moment. None of this made any sense. No human, besides him, had access to this level of technology. He had been away from human contact for a long time, only going out to get food and supplies, and making sure that he developed no contacts in the scientific community. He dreaded what they would do if they discovered that psychics existed in the world. He also had very good security protocols. He had known the moment Ness had appeared inside his lab. The secret cameras would have picked up any intruders. If anyone had entered the lab and tried to steal his research, he would have known about it.
"Just what else has Doctor Andonuts built?" George asked.
"The usual advanced stuff," Ness responded. "Lasers, bazookas, bottle rockets, UFO-like flying craft, and other things."
George then raised his eyebrows. "What is a bazooka?"
This question surprised Ness. "A portable missile launcher," Ness answered. "For someone who is planning on using force and has wrist missiles installed on his robot, I find it surprising that you don't know what a bazooka is."
"Why would I know?" George asked in response. He was surprised at Ness's surprise. "All of the weaponry on my robots is based on PSI Alien technology," he explained again. "I did research for all current military vehicles and weapons, even the recently invented tank."
"Recently invented?" Ness stammered, his eyes wide. "This may sound crazy, but what year is this?"
George almost laughed. "Nineteen eighteen," George responded. "Why? What year did you think it was?"
"Two thousand ex," Ness replied. George's eyes went wide at the revelation. "Well, I guess that explains why you don't know what a bazooka is, or why you were surprised at the fact that I've encountered a Phase Distorter," Ness commented.
"I'm glad that's settled," George almost chuckled. "Now back to our battle plan."
"So you'll accept my help?" Ness said hopeful of getting a chance to help out George.
"Yeah, you can join me," George finally said. "But you'll have to follow my lead."
"That won't be a problem," Ness replied.
"Okay." George answered. "Now, about the plan, the PSI Aliens are nomadic, so they never stay in one place for very long. This means that the automatic recall device on the commandeered UFO is the only way we'll reliably be able to get to them. I also have the correct codes required to get onboard their current flagship undetected. Once onboard the vessel, the Phase Distorter should be in one of the labs if it's still under construction, and in the cargo bay should it be finished. You go search for the Phase Distorter while I'll go and find Maria." Ness was about to argue, pointing out that he would need all the help he could get rescuing Maria should it come to a battle, but George cut him off with a wave of his hand. "No arguments. This is how it must be. I need to be the one to save Maria. I still feel guilty of escaping without her last time, regardless of her wish to remain behind. I must be the one to save her. Besides, should it come down to a battle we don't need the PSI Aliens knowing that there are more human psychics besides myself and Maria. That could result in the PSI Aliens attacking sooner rather than later, and right now, Earth doesn't stand a chance against the PSI Aliens. Besides, if Giegue is stronger than we are, we might need to escape quickly. Not only that, but the PSI Aliens know about me. If it comes down to a fight, they'll be focusing their forces on me. That should leave you enough time to get the Phase Distorter and lock onto my signal to get us out of there."
After the explanation, Ness no longer argued the point. He could easily see where George was coming from. He knew that this Giegue would not likely be alone. If George went to face off against Giegue, it was likely that he would also soon be facing a variety of other enemies: Starmen, Mooks, even other PSI Aliens. "I see," Ness said. "When do we begin?"
"Right now," George replied. "The ship is just below a shed on the mountain upon which this lake is situated. Follow me." With that, Ness proceeded to follow George out of the lab. They were followed by ADAM, CAIN, and ABEL.
In a location at the far end of the universe, a fleet of flying saucers and other ships approached the moon of a planet. The planet was blue and covered in clouds. While there was no distinct sign of land on that planet, but there had once been a civilization on that world long ago. The moon, however, was still inhabited. Instead of the light blue sheen that the planet gave off, the moon was much more green in color. White clouds and areas of blue punctuated the green jewel that was the moon. At the lead of the saucers was an alien starship that looked like it was half starship, half multi-story building. On the bridge of the ship, an elderly PSI Alien looked into the view screen in front of him. They were close to their target. Turning to the Alien manning the helm, he gave his order. "Assume a geosynchronous orbit over the capital city of the moon."
"Yes my lord," the PSI Alien replied. The two aliens were virtually identical to look at to the untrained eye. Both were male, though the captain of the ship was much older than the younger lieutenant manning the helm.
"Tell the rest of the fleet to form up around this ship," the Alien captain ordered. " Also, tell the fleet not to open fire until I give the order. I have something special planned for the people of this moon."
"Understood sir," the younger PSI Alien spoke in reply.
The Alien captain then glanced all around the bridge. He was no mere captain. He was currently the master of the entire PSI Lord species. All in their domain was his to command. He smiled. There were no inferior species on his bridge. The only crewmembers in sight were PSI Lords, just as it should be. While the Starmen, Mooks, and countless other servants each had their uses, none of them could match the might of the PSI Aliens. Now came the difficult part. He had to get his own son to destroy an entire species, something that he had not done before. Not only had the captain's son not destroyed an enemy species before, he had actively refused to do in the past, saying that it was wrong. And his son had not wavered in his position. The Alien leader, Goog, was at his wits end. Ever since his consort had abandoned their child and later died in a battle against the Magic Lords, his son had had no mother. He had brought a woman from a far away planet, just barely an adult, to the ship to raise him, since he was too busy finding other nascent psychic races and exterminating them before they became a threat. It was soon discovered that the woman had psychic power, something her race was not known to have. To make matters worse, his son, the soon to be Giegue, had bonded with the human woman very quickly, viewing her with the same affection that he would show his real mother, had she survived, possibly more since his mother had never loved him, unlike his current adoptive mother. It would be difficult for him to detach himself from his adoptive mother, even though she was of another race, and he was approaching the age of ten. He only hoped that Giygas would accept his birthright and mandate and become a real leader of his people, before it was too late. While his younger brother, Googi, was more than eager to kill, Giygas was more powerful and much smarter than Googi. Googi often took unnecessary risks in order to accomplish his missions. Not only that, despite being younger than Giygas, he was also interested in more physical pursuits than his own psychic studies, unlike Giygas, who was very serious in his studies. Still, his connection to that human woman, Maria, troubled him.
Inside a chamber of the massive starship, a human woman sat by the window. She was dressed in a lovely pink sleeveless gown that covered her from her neck to her feet. She had blond hair and blue eyes, and stood at five feet and eight inches tall. To many humans, she would be considered quite beautiful. And she was quite beautiful to the PSI Alien child sitting by her, though in a much different fashion than what most adult humans or even other PSI Aliens thought. She was quietly singing a lullaby to the young PSI Alien. The child wagged his tail happily as she sang soothingly. He had always loved hearing her beautiful songs. After a while, though, he began to frown. He quickly remembered what his biological father had told him. He looked out at the green moon, which was growing in size in the window. The woman soon stopped her song and glanced down at the alien child. "What is it Giygas?" she asked in a soft, loving voice, noticing his frown. Her concern was evident in her tone.
Giygas did not know what to say. His conversation with his father had been telepathic. He looked through the window once more and replied, "This moon holds people that are said to have psychic power."
"And what has your father ordered you to do?" Maria asked in a sad tone of voice. The young alien boy could tell that she already knew what his orders were.
"My father has told me that I am to be the one to destroy this race."
"And what have these people done to earn the disdain of your father?"
"They live," was the boy's only response, spoken in a melancholy tone. "And they have psychic power. That is all that it takes to give my father reason to hate another species."
"And are you going to destroy them?" the human woman asked.
"I have no choice, Mother," Giygas admitted sadly. "It is my purpose in life. And I do not want to disobey my father. Your own religious commandments command you to honor your parents."
"No, you do have a choice," Maria argued, shaking her head but keeping her voice soft, calm and even. "No one's purpose is specifically to simply kill another. Another of my religion's commandments says 'thou shall not kill'. Anyone who orders you to murder another is not deserving of your obedience, even if that person is your father. Honoring someone and obeying them are two different things."
"My people say otherwise," Giygas countered, not very vehemently.
"Then they're wrong," Maria continued to argue. "Murder, especially when the person, people, or race that is about to die has done nothing wrong, is never right. Never." After a few moments, she looked intently into the young alien's eyes. "Do you wish to do this?"
That question took Giygas off guard. It was the first time he had ever been asked this question. He quickly realized that his answer would decide how things went between he and his mother from here on out. Not knowing what to say, he responded with, "I don't know."
Maria continued to look sad as both she and her adoptive son looked out the window. It was not long before the door to their chamber slid open and two Last Starmen were standing in the doorway. "Master Giygas, sir, your father wishes to see you on the bridge of the ship," they told him in low mechanical voices.
"I'll be there shortly," the young boy responded quietly. The two Starmen remained in the doorway until Giygas left his "mother's" side and approached them. Maria rose to follow him but the two Last Starmen quickly teleported in front of her and barred her way.
"You are not permitted on the bridge. You must remain here, Maria," they told her.
Maria scowled, but there was also a hint of a smile in her scowl. Little did the Last Starmen know that she was more than capable of killing the two of them with a single thought.
"Fine," she said rebelliously, placing her hands on her hips while standing in front of them. "Have it your way." The two Starmen did not know that she did not intend remain there for long.
Back on Earth, George, Ness, and the three robot soldiers accompanying the two humans emerged from the hatch of a submarine. "I didn't know that submarines were invented so soon," Ness had commented.
"They may not have been," George said in reply. "I invented this vehicle specifically to take me to and from the underwater lab using PSI Alien technology." The five then traveled south of the lake and down the mountain. The two humans were wary of the various animals that were present around the area. Two Grizzly Bears approached and stood on their hind legs in order to look intimidating. The group quickly tried to go around the bears, but the bears cut them off roaring at the top of their lungs in an attempt to scare off the humans and their robotic allies. It was then that George used his telekinesis to pick up the bears. They rose a few feet into the air and George quickly jerked his head to the left. The bears then flew to their right and landed a few yards away. The bears impacted the ground and remained there, looking up at the humans. They quickly rose and for a second considered continuing the fight. Then, something clicked in their minds and they realized that these were two humans that were not to be messed with. The two bears then backed off, allowing the humans and the robots to pass.
After passing the bears, the five continued on the path towards a red cabin on the mountain. When the cabin was within sight, George told Ness more about its purpose. George had built a small house in which he could live in the mountains, away from people, just in case the PSI Aliens came looking for him. The lab was his primary sanctuary, though the small house would also be sufficient should the lab be compromised for whatever reason. He would often come to the small wooden house in order to think whenever he wanted to get away from the lab. He also used it as an emergency retreat should his lab ever be discovered. Its wooden appearance and construction hid what was being built underneath it. Underneath the small house was the flying saucer that George had used in order to escape from the PSI Aliens. He had kept it hidden there, just in case his lab had ever been discovered. He did not want to lose his only ticket to rescuing Maria.
The five quickly approached the house in order to avoid getting into any more conflicts with the local wildlife. Upon reaching the house, George left a small circular object on the ground a few yards away from the cabin. Then he and Ness proceeded to go inside the cabin to get some supplies for the rescue attempt. Inside the house Ness found two energy rifles that he guessed George had stolen from the PSI Aliens. Ness suspected that George would use the energy rifle in order to conserve his psychic energy, or if any of the PSI Aliens raised a psychic shield over themselves in battle. He and George took the energy rifles and then searched a cooler in the house for some items. Inside, Ness found a loaf of bread and a bag of roast beef slices. He took the loaf of bread and the bag of beef slices and looked for a place to stuff them. George soon appeared behind him with a backpack. Ness placed the items in the backpack and soon slung the energy rifle over his shoulder.
When they were finished, the two went back outside where the robots were waiting. It was then that George revealed the real secret of the house. They went into the basement of the small house. The basement was not lit. George did not need the light in order to see. The three robots immediately stepped out in front of the two humans and illuminated the basement. Down in the basement there was a UFO that Ness recognized all too well. The craft was pretty large, at least twenty-eight feet in diameter. The UFO was no taller than the other similar ships that Ness had encountered. He could see that the cockpit on the top of the craft was relatively small. George pushed a button on the side of the vessel and a ramp extended from the bottom of the craft. Ness, George, and the robots then proceeded to board the ship.
Onboard the UFO, Ness found several lights flashing on the console in front of the pilot's station. ADAM, CAIN, and ABEL were safely sealed in the hold of the ship as Ness and George were sitting in the cockpit. It was clear that George had replaced the original seating with more comfortable seats. George went to sit in the pilot's seat on Ness's left and pushed a few buttons and flicked a few controls. Immediately, the lights in the cockpit came on and the cockpit was no longer dark. The cockpit began to hum as the power came on.
"Retracting the ramp, now," George called out, even though Ness was sitting right next to him.
"Is there anything I need to know about this vessel?" Ness asked.
"Not right now," George responded. "The throttle, steering, and other piloting functions are controlled at my station. Your station is the tactical station, which I will teach you about once we're in space. It controls the shields and weapons systems of the ship. We shouldn't have to use them, though."
Ness nodded. George then pushed a few more buttons. The craft began to rise off the ground. "Get ready," he told Ness. "I am taking us out."
With a push of the pedal beneath his feet, the craft accelerated. If anyone had been outside at the time they would have seen the flying saucer rocket into the air at blazing speed. Flocks of birds parted as the UFO streaked towards them. It was not long before the craft had reached orbit over the Earth.
Inside the UFO, George looked out at the cockpit at the stars. "It's been too long since I've been out here," he sighed. "If only it were under better circumstances."
He then looked at a black tape-like device that was sitting near an open slot in the console. Upon reaching Earth's orbit, George reached over and grabbed the device. He then plugged it into the slot. Looking over to Ness, he said, "This is it, Ness. I have reactivated the automatic recall device." He then paused for a second. "We should rest up. Assuming the PSI Aliens are somewhere close to their last location, it should take us at least ten hours for us to reach the fleet."
Ness agreed and he was about to go to sleep in order to rest for the potential battle that was about to come. But before he did, he looked outside at the stars. He could tell that the craft was beginning to accelerate.
"Hyper-launch," George explained. "These craft go faster than the speed of light in our universe by traveling through hyperspace."
The craft was soon accelerating to extreme speeds. The stars began to become lines outside the cockpit. After a few moments, George and Ness found themselves no longer in normal space, but in another dimension. Blue clouds surrounded the UFO as it traveled through hyperspace. They were on their way to the PSI Alien fleet, and hopefully to George's wife, Maria.