Episode XXV

It Came from Outer Space!

Part 1

Billy woke suddenly, completely shrouded in darkness. He stayed perfectly still, listening for whatever had woke him. He heard nothing but the gentle breathing coming from Cestria's sleeping form.

He felt uneasy, even as he rolled over and tried to fall back asleep. The effort was futile, however, and after ten minutes of laying there Billy gave up. It carefully slid out of bed, cringing as his wife gave a soft groan.

He watched as Cestria simply rolled over, hardly missing his presence. Relieved, Billy proceeded to leave the room, only pausing to slip on a pair of fuzzy, if ragged, slippers and a deep blue robe.

The cool didn't bother the natives, but the ocean around them kept the room colder than he would like, especially at this time of year.

Billy wound his way through his home, a circular pod jutting off of a larger one like some strange growth. It was comfortable, if not particularly cozy. He peeked in the two other bedrooms, but the twins were fast asleep, so he moved deeper.

The living area was sparse, but they didn't frequent it very often either. The utilitarian furniture looked nearly as new as it had when they had moved in some ten odd years before.

The soft, blue tinted glow coming from the windows drew his attention, and Billy found himself drawn to the view. The eternal blue of Aquitar's massive ocean was as beautiful as it was eerie. He had lived here for almost all of his adult life, and yet it never ceased to take his breath away.

There was land here, too, but very little. Just a few volcanic islands scattered around the equator. The hub that they had chosen was one of the more advanced areas, where he could work on his passions, creating new and fantastic things for the galaxy.

Thinking about his lab, Billy wandered away from the window and moved toward the front door. He was just reaching for the lock when a heavy scraping noise interrupted the quiet.

o.O.o

Six shadowy figures lined the dark, deserted hallway. Two at either end stood as lookouts, while the other two struggled with the heavy device.

"Pick it up!" Said growled at his help, irritated that he had been stuck with Rio.

Rio gave him a lazy glare, "Its fine. There's no one around."

"You're going to wake everyone up!" he returned hatefully.

"Oh my gods," Cadence huffed, abandoning her post to come up behind him. "You're both going to get us caught! And I don't have time to be taking out an entire squad of fish faces."

With that, she shoved Rio out of the way, and lifted his side of the crate. The strain was clear in her face, but she wasn't about to complain either. Following her lead, Said hefted his own half, and continued the slow shuffle.

Their ship was anchored on one of the upper decks, and, although the cloaking was impressive, that wouldn't stop anyone from walking into it. Unfortunately their intel hadn't been completely accurate, and the deck they had chosen was considerably farther from the lab than they would have liked.

Still, they were almost clear, just a few more turns and a loading ramp to navigate and they would be home free.

What they weren't counting on was the door near the end of the hallway popping open suddenly.

Cadence summed it up perfectly. "Shit."

o.O.o

Billy wasn't sure what he had expected to find on the other side of the door, but it wasn't this.

The six figures had frozen, staring at him with wide eyes. He didn't recognize them, but they were all very clearly human, and young ones too. Judging from the dark clothing and the crate they were hauling through the complex, they weren't here for a friendly visit, either.

"What are you doing?" he asked, putting on his best dad voice. He'd had a lot of practice at that over the years.

"Uh," one of the boys answered. He was the only one that didn't seem to be doing anything. He might have been the one calling the shots, but he didn't seem like the leader type. "We're borrowing this?"

"Oh, shut up, Rio. Just shoot him already!" the girl closest to him ordered. Her wild, two-toned Mohawk swayed slightly as she jerked her head around to glare at him.

"We don't have time for this!" other boy said angrily.

The other three were still scattered around. A tiny girl with a massive frizz of hair was quietly banging her head against the wall, while a boy with a red streak through his bangs was peering around the corner.

"Someone else is coming!" that one called. "We have to move out."

Billy was distracted by this news, long enough to let his guard down. He didn't even see the last boy coming until his hands were on him.

"Sorry about this," he told him, pressing his fingers into his neck and sending the world into nothingness.

o.O.o

"Well, fuck, I could have done that," Rio groaned, pulling his blaster from the holster at his hip. "Should I shoot him now?"

"Like hell you could've," Derrick laughed, kicking the man's still form. "You probably would have knocked him out permanently."

"Well," he returned with a lazy shrug, "Cadence did say to shoot him."

"Hey!" the girl in question replied angrily, but before she got the chance to say anything else, Marvel cut her off.

The young man shoved her hard enough to make her stumble. "We have to go!" he hissed angrily, grasping the corner of the box. "Lucy!"

The other girl bounded over to them quickly. "You all really do talk too much," she told them as she flipped her curly curtain of hair out of her face.

"Not now," Marvel reprimanded her. "Go."

Everyone else joined in, and although they had lost most of their stealth, they managed to get the crate onto the ship.

The cavalry arrived just a few breaths after the hatch sealed. The cabin was still busy pressurizing when the shots started.

"Someone man the canons!" Marvel shouted over the deafening noise as he strapped himself into the Captain's seat.

"On it!" Lucy returned, skidding around her crewmates to take the position.

Everyone else scrambled. Said, Derrick, and Cadence climbed to the top deck, where they could use their own weapons, leaving him with Rio.

He pulled himself on top of the crate, leaning back on his palms, content to watch the battle unfold.

"Are you going to do anything?" Marvel asked, shooting him a glance over his shoulder.

"Oh," he started, looking around dumbly. "Should I?"

Marvel growled under his breath, before answering with, "I don't know, Rio. Maybe you should go have a nap while the rest of us try to escape?"

He seemed to think this over for a few breaths before he realized what was going on. "Uh, I guess I could put this box somewhere safer."

"Sure," Marvel shrugged. "Just do something."

With that he turned back to the sprawling ocean ahead of them. He triple checked the myriad of gauges at his fingertips. The ship was ready to fly.

With the press of a button, he turned on the atmosphere for the upper deck. The thin cloud of air would keep his crew from suffocating, but it wouldn't block out very much of the radiation. Still, they knew the drill, and he wasn't concerned.

With all of his thrusters engaged, Marvel spun the massive wheel, and watched with child-like delight as the bright red hull slipped out of the water and into the air.

o.O.o

Billy woke up just a handful of minutes after he had hit the floor, but it felt like hours or days had passed. His quick mind was dulled, his movements sluggish, and nothing made much sense.

His body was propped up, and Billy looked up to find his wife's concerned face. "Are you okay, Billy?" she asked him with her bubbly voice, head tilted to the side as she searched his face for clues.

"Yes," he told her, his voice coming out as little more than a hoarse whisper. "I believe I was attacked."

"Someone broke into your lab," Cestria returned, matter-of-factly. "The guards aren't sure if they took anything."

"Did they escape?" he wondered aloud. Billy wracked his mind, trying to piece his jumbled memories back together.

"Yes," she returned. "We are trying to track them, as we speak."

"Help me up," he decided quickly. "I need to go see the lab."

Cestria didn't argue with him, helping him to his shaky feet, and leading him down the hall. They waded through the crowd of inhabitants that had gathered there.

Some of them were working, sifting through the room in search of evidence, but many were standing in the way, gathering gossip.

"Excuse me," he said roughly as he pressed through the crowd. The Aquitians weren't the politest of creatures he had come across, but old habits die hard.

Billy didn't have to go far before he knew what had happened. A clear spot in the floor keyed him in, but he would have been hard pressed to not to miss the teleport unit.

It was a smaller version of the one he had once used back on his home planet. A prototype meant to mimic the vast powers of that vast device.

He was still working out bugs, and he hadn't told anyone about it, except for his family and the team that helped him in the laboratory.

Someone had to have let it slip to the wrong person though, and now a precious, and potentially dangerous, piece of equipment had been taken. He knew the dangers when he had started the project, but he had hoped that he could contain it.

Unfortunately, fate had drawn his hand for him. With a sour expression, Billy knew he would have to find, and possibly destroy, his device.

"Cestria, go wake the children," he told her suddenly. "I need to contact Delphine." He knew Delphine would want them to listen in on the discussion, and he wouldn't be able to argue with her, not if he wanted her help.

Cestria nodded slowly, a rare glimmer of concern marring her features. She raised a hand to let her fingers dance over his face. "Are you leaving?" she asked softly.

"I don't know," he told her, gentle swaddling her hand in his own. "Perhaps."

She nodded again, stealing back her hand, "Very well, I shall go get them."

Billy ached to cause her any pain, but he didn't have much of a choice in the matter. Steeling himself for what was liable to be a very upsetting few days, Billy stepped out of the room to make the call.