The Network Strikes Back

by Gary D. Snyder

Chapter 26:

Goddard took his place at the center of the small circle of observers as Jimmy prepared to explain the situation. He had had no sleep to speak of since leaving Earth and that, coupled with his guilt over the loss of both Exjay Nine and Tee and his intensive study of the data disk, had worn him thin. Even Cindy, who usually peppered Jimmy with taunts and insults whenever he made a formal presentation, kept quiet as he spoke.

"As you now know," Jimmy said, "that station we were on, called the Video Star, is a massive communications station that was constructed under the directions of Meldar Prime, who is now the chairman of the galactic broadcasting network. The data disk confirms that the he had considerable financial and logistic assistance from the Junkman, King Goobot of Yolkus, and ex-Minister Khormak."

"Khormak!" spat Captain Valtor, who was standing on the outer edge of the circle.

Jimmy nodded. "I'm afraid so. Apparently Khormak still had a number of friends in positions of power on Felangie. Acting on instructions passed on to them by Khormak, they were responsible for keeping Felangie isolated from the othe members of the First Alliance."

"I suspected that something was going on," Princess Leama commented. "There were signs that something was not right - delayed communications, unanswered inquiries, unexplained transfer of key personnel, missing reports. I asked the Royal Guard to investigate some time ago."

"Well, they succeeded. In the process, though, they found out much more than they were looking for. They discovered the existence of the Video Star and Meldar's plot to use it to crush the First Alliance. Knowing that Meldar had access to any interstellar communications, they didn't dare send the information to you through regular channels. They must have physically delivered the information to you somehow."

"They did," the princess acknowledged. "Exjay Nine brought the information with him with a message that it affected the safety not only of Felangie but the First Alliance as well. He must have been followed, because almost immediately Felangie itself was attacked. We barely got away in a cruiser, but were waylaid by Lord Versile's ship."

Cindy frowned. "Those traitors that Khormak was dealing with must have notified the Network."

"No doubt. Fortunately…" Jimmy stopped as his tired mind considered that. Fortunately? he questioned. Can any of this really be called fortunate? Too weary to delve any deeper into it he went on. "Fortunately, Exjay Nine eluded capture and made it to Earth with the information…and here we are."

"Which is where?" asked Libby.

In answer Jimmy called, "Goddard! Schematics!" Obediently Goddard activated his built-in holoprojector so that the familiar spherical form of the Video Star appeared and rotated slowly in the air before them. The detail on the image was so extraordinary that Cindy, who had flown over the surface, felt could easily recognize some of the features. Jimmy resumed speaking, and as he did so various parts of the station lit up in different colors to illustrate his comments. "As you can see, the station has six antenna arrays, spaced equidistantly around the surface, allowing it receive and broadcast in all directions simultaneously. As Meldar said in his broadcast, the full power of the station can be channeled into a single array, turning its emitters into a crude but extremely powerful and effective death ray. Other than that the station appears to have no real weaponry, other than the battle drones that also secure the interior, but there is a fairly sophisticated grid of sensors and defensive screens.

"The interior of the station," he went on, "consists mostly of support and monitoring systems with utility and access corridors. And the entire complex is powered from a single energy source located at the very heart of the Video Star." A tiny, blinking white dot identifying the energy source appeared at the center of the holographic image, along with an intricate meshwork connecting it to the rest of the representation.

"Pretty small energy source," was Sheen's comment.

"It's big enough," Jimmy replied. "Goddard, magnify Sector Alpha Zero."

The dot swelled into a slowly rotating sphere that replaced the representation of the entire station. Cindy peered closely at the shapes inside the globe as it rotated before her. "Those two things inside look familiar," she said.

Jimmy nodded. "They should. Those are Meldar's matrix generators."

"What?" Libby stared at the image in disbelief. "That can't be! His old matrix generators were in his cufflinks. You know, the ones you gave to April." She looked at the hologram again. "Those things must be twenty feet tall!"

"Closer to thirty, actually. His old cufflinks were composed of a special crystalline material that was able to channel the raw energy of the cosmic source. Fortunately…" Again 'fortunately'? he wondered. Why does that word keep coming up? "Fortunately April still has those. These generators aren't anywhere near as efficient, and he had to construct something much larger to replace the originals. That's bad, but it gives us a chance to stop him."

"Ooh! Ooh! I get it!" Sheen called out in excitement. "You're going to get his old cufflinks from April, and offer to trade them for his new generators. Then, when he takes the new generators out and the station has no power, we attack!"

Libby and Cindy stared at each other and Cindy shrugged. "Don't look at me. He's your boyfriend?"

"Sheen, if we had the cufflinks, why wouldn't we just use them directly to stop Meldar?" asked Jimmy, trying to keep his temper in control.

"Hmm…" Sheen considered it. "It sounds like an old trick to me, but I suppose it might work."

Despite his best efforts Jimmy was too tired to keep from snapping, "We don't have any way to the get Meldar's old matrix generators!"

"Then why did you suggest using them?" Sheen answered reasonably. In aside to Carl, he added, "Boy, talk about crabby."

"So, how do we stop Meldar?" Cindy asked, before Jimmy could do more than turn purple. "It sounds like you have a plan."

She was relieved when Jimmy's face returned to its normal shade. "Because everything is powered from the matrix generators, the Video Star will be powerless if we can destroy them. Full schematic, Goddard." The full representation of the colossal station reappeared. "The matrix generators channel the energy from the source, but can't control it." A myriad of blue lights appeared on the projection of the Video Star. "A highly integrated network of power regulators throughout the station is necessary to keep the station's power grid from overloading. The regulators are all coordinated and controlled through a single automated subsystem. If the feedback control loop can be broken by destroying the subsystem's thermal dissipation array -" Jimmy paused to point to a spot on the station's surface. "- the power system will overload, fusing the matrix generators and causing the station to blow up."

This was met with silence as the small group absorbed the news. "Correct me if I'm wrong," Cindy ventured, "but wasn't there something about not letting the poles of the matrix generators touch?"

Jimmy nodded vigorously. "Yes. If the poles touch while the generators are active the uncontrolled release of energy would annihilate not just the station, but everything within a couple hundred parsecs as well."

"And won't the generator poles have to touch to fuse?"

"Yes."

Cindy took a deep breath. "So, you're saying that blowing up this station is going to destroy Earth anyway? And a bunch of other planets?"

"No. Maybe not."

Even Carl blinked at that. "But you just said…"

"I said what would happen if the poles touch while the matrix generators are active. But these generators aren't like the old ones. Meldar had to build them first, and then bring them on-line once he finished them. There's a set of master cut-out relays in Sector Alpha Zero that will disconnect the generators from the cosmic source. If I can shut down one of the matrix generators before destroying the thermal dissipation arrays the blast radius from the active generator should be limited to a couple million miles." His voice lowered as he confirmed the implications of the statement. "But that means going back into the station…and whoever destroys the array won't be able to get clear of the station before it explodes."

Cindy blinked. "This is good news?"

"It's better than Earth being fried," Jimmy countered. "I'll transfer the cloaking circuitry from the Strato to one of the scooters. With that and the access code for the docking bay we departed from getting in shouldn't be a problem. And I can put together a torpedo that will take out the heat dissipators."

"It's not getting in that bothers me," commented Sheen. "It's getting out again."

"Hey, if anyone has any better ideas, feel free to tell me!" Jimmy snapped.

Sheen snorted in disgust. "Why do you always have to wait until times like this to ask for ideas? Why can't you ever ask something like 'Sheen, what should I do with this extra ice cream cone?', or 'Sheen, would you like half my allowance?', or 'Sheen, should we see what happens when we put a water balloon in the microwave?'"

"Are you through?" Libby asked him, sounding annoyed.

Sheen looked defeated. "Yeah, I'm done."

"Well, I'm not," Cindy declared. She stood up and marched over to Jimmy. "Look, Neutron, I'm all for saving the Earth. But we barely managed to get away from that thing once. You're telling us that we're supposed to go back, find some way to get inside, and blow up some cooling units while dodging who knows how many battle drones Meldar will have there just waiting for us. And even if – if – we somehow manage to pull all that off, you're saying that we'll probably get blown up with that space station anyway?" Jimmy remained silent, not looking at her, and Cindy shook her head. "Are you completely insane? Or are you just trying to get us all killed?"

Jimmy looked up at this and gave her an odd look. "No. I've got it all worked out. When things get started, you have to be ready to pull out fast…just in case the plan doesn't work."

"Pull out?" Cindy looked far from satisfied by that. "And go where?"

That set Jimmy off. "Look, Vortex, will you give it a rest?" he snapped angrily. "Even you must see that I won't have a chance here. Why don't you just give me a break for once?"

"Easy, Jimmy," Libby called, attempting to soothe Jimmy as he stalked off. "She didn't mean anything. She just meant that if your plan doesn't work that…well, we won't really have any options."

Cindy, however, turned to Libby and looked stricken. "What did he just say?"

Carl thought about it. "He said for you to give him a break. But he says that a lot."

"No. Before that."

"What?" Libby thought about it before answering. "He said that you should see that he wouldn't have a choice about this."

"He said that he wouldn't have a choice?" Cindy repeated. "Are you sure that's what he said?"

Libby nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure. What else would he have said?" Cindy didn't reply and simply stared in the direction Jimmy had disappeared, looking worried.

Following Jimmy's abrupt departure Captain Valtor moved away from the small group to an isolated alcove, wrapped in his own thoughts. He was startled when he heard Princess Leama say, "It does not seem hopeful, does it?"

He stopped and turned, wondering how best to answer. He decided on the truth. "No, it doesn't."

"Do you think that Jimmy's plan could succeed?"

"Possibly," the captain replied. "I wish him luck."

Leama smiled. "Shouldn't you wish us all luck?"

"I would, if we were going."

That surprised the princess. "You won't help?"

"I would, if he asked it. But he plans on going alone." Captain Valtor's voice carried a tone of regret.

"Alone?" Princess Leama stiffened. "Why do you say that?"

"You must have noticed that he was very careful to refer to himself and the others separately."

"But why? Why would he do such a thing?"

That question touched close to home and Captain Valtor debated as to whether he should answer. As a creature of duty, however, he found that he could not refuse to reply. "Because he desires an honorable death in battle with his enemy. He blames himself for the loss of his comrades and feels that he must ensure the safety of his friends." He sighed. "I admire him for that. I, too, understand what he feels."

Leama nodded, thinking she understood. "Because of what happened to my father."

"Not just because of your father," Valtor replied. "I understand because I have failed utterly in my service as a member of the Royal Guard, in my responsibilities as its high captain, and in my obligations to Your Highness. I have decided that I will resign my commission in the Royal Guard and that, when Jimmy Neutron departs, I will offer to go with him to atone for my failures."

"What failures?" Leama challenged him. "How have you ever failed?"

As painful as it was to answer, the high captain did so. "By forsaking my sworn duty and calling to ensure the safety of Your Highness first and keep the interests of Felangie paramount. When I suspected that the robot Exjay Nine might betrayed Your Highness' presence and our position to the enemy I should have eliminated him without question, but did not. When the humans were under attack above the Video Star I should have abandoned them and escorted Your Highness to safety, but instead returned to assist them and jeopardized Your Highness' safety." He looked away. "Even were I not a member of the Royal Guard, to endanger Your Highness in such a manner is inexcusable. What must such conduct tell Your Highness about me?"

"That you aren't a drone."

"A drone?" Valtor repeated in puzzlement.

"Your duty to me," Princess Leama told him firmly, "is to act in my best interests. If blind obedience was all that the Royal Guard required, simple machines like those we fought on the Video Star would suffice. But I need more than just your obedience. I need your judgment as well…and desire your friendship."

"That would not be proper."

"Propriety has its place," the princess agreed. "But I have always considered you to be a true friend to my family."

Valtor's voice became bitter. "Would a true friend have ignored his duty and allowed your father to die?"

"Carl – Sir Wheezer – told me that a true friend is something that everyone needs, but that no one ever quite deserves. I did not wish you to remain in the Royal Guard in spite of your actions when my father died, but because of them. Whether you knew it or not, it was your respect for his decision that marked you as a true friend who understood what was truly important."

The mention of Carl gave Captain Valtor an opportunity to change the direction of the conversation. "Sir Wheezer," he scoffed. "Why do you tolerate him?"

"He talks to me," she replied simply. "Just as important, he lets me talk to him. You may question his lack of propriety and combat skills, but his loyalty and nobility of spirit is something that no one…no one…can question."

While Captain Valtor and Princess Leama were talking Cindy had followed Jimmy into a side chamber that he had fashioned into a makeshift lab. As he had indicated, he had removed the cloaking unit from the Strato XL and was affixing it to one of the scooters when Cindy showed up. Jimmy looked up briefly to see who it was before returning to his work with a grunt. "I don't have time to argue with you, Cindy. I have only 18 hours left to get everything set up before Meldar makes good on his threat to wipe out Earth."

"I'm not here to argue," Cindy assured him.

Jimmy didn't interrupt his work. "Then why are you here?"

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "I guess I was worried."

"You should be. We're in a pretty bad spot."

"I wasn't talking about everyone else. I meant about you."

Jimmy paused in tightening a final attachement screw before speaking. "Why me?"

"Just something I heard you say. Or maybe I misheard. The acoustics in here aren't the best so I wanted to be sure." She pulled her blanket around her against the chill in the cavern. "What did you mean when you said you won't have a chance?"

"What Libby said." Jimmy crawled from under the scooter and dusted off his hands and pants. "If this plan doesn't work, then we don't have a lot of options left." He pressed a newly-mounted button on the scooter and nodded in satisfaction as the vehicle silently shimmered out of existence. A second touch on the button caused it to reappeared.

Cindy shook her head viciously. "No, that's not what you meant. You said 'you won't have a chance', not 'we won't have a chance'. I may not have a photographic memory, but I know what I hear when I hear it."

Jimmy collected some loose parts and began test fitting them together. Not satisfied with the results, he located a file and began to smooth and shape the coupling end of one of the parts.

"You're going out there alone, aren't you?" Cindy said softly. When Jimmy gave no indication that he had heard her, she pressed the issue. "And you aren't planning on coming back, are you? That's what you meant. You're planning on taking on Meldar's space station alone and you don't think you have any chance of making it back."

Jimmy threw the file and part on the ground to confront Cindy. "Well, what if I am?" he asked defiantly. "Can you think of any other way of finishing this? Meldar isn't playing around. Earth is danger of being destroyed."

"Earth has been in danger before," Cindy countered, "but you never tried saving it alone. There was always someone else along to help you. I should know because I was there a couple times myself, remember?"

"It's better this way!" Jimmy insisted. "No one else gets hurt because of my stupidity. No one else has to pay for my mistakes. Not again. Never again."

"And we don't have any say in this?" Cindy swept her arm in a semicircle, indicating the rest of the cavern about them. "We're all here because we chose to come here, Neutron. You didn't drag us here. We aren't here for the great Jimmy Neutron and some harebrained idea of his, like marketing that stupid Toilet in a Briefcase or scented nasal floss. Exjay Nine and Tee didn't die because of you. It was because they understood what it was that you were trying to do. If you're going to blame someone, blame Libby and me for not coming sooner, or all those others that refused to come. But if you're going to blame them, why are you bothering to try saving them at all?"

In response Jimmy retrieved the file and part he had been working on. "I have to get this torpedo put together," was all he said. He returned to his purposeful filing, stifling a yawn as he did so and heedless of Cindy silently watching him for a few moments. Then, without another word, she turned and left him to his work.

In a dark and silent place, beyond time as space as he understood them, Tee floated peacefully. The last memories he possessed were a confusion of sights and sensations as his scooter spun into the surface of the vast space station, followed by a bright light that had bathed him and slowly drawn him towards it. The light, Tee recalled thinking. Yes. Move into the light. Then the light had faded, leaving him to drift, formless and weightless, through this dark and boundless void. In this place he was content, neither hot nor cold, and untroubled by any outside distractions.

Until now.

It had begun as a low rumble, simple, incoherent noise devoid of meaning or structure that seemed to come from all around him, and he stirred irritably at this unwanted intrusion into his peaceful existence. Go away, fool, he thought. Don't mess with me. Rather than cease, however, the noise persisted, and as it did so Tee became aware that it had formed itself into words addressed specifically to him. Still annoyed, but now aroused, Tee listened with increasing curiousity, trying to decipher the meaning and intent of the message.

"Tee," he heard the words say. "You are needed."

End of Chapter 26

Author's Notes.

This is undoubtedly the most difficult chapter I've had to write, and it went through about a half dozen rewrites before I settled on this particular version. I'm still not completely satisfied with it, but it was either this or delay finishing this story for who knows how much longer.