Chapter 29
The Spectran ship continued to move slowly, and all of the members of the G-Force team, save Tiny, crept through the Docking Tube connecting the alien vessel to the Phoenix. After only a few seconds, the four of them were onboard the Spectran spacecraft.
"Breet… which way?" Keyop asked.
"Over here." Zoltar said, indicating a corridor to the left. "I think this one leads to the Bridge."
"How would you know?" Princess asked curiously.
"He's guessing." Jason answered her smugly. "He just wants to seem like he knows what he's doing."
Zoltar only smiled in response. He wasn't about to reveal how he knew the Spectran craft's layout so well. Especially not now; when he was so close to reclaiming his own body back from the Commander.
The G-Force team moved down a surprisingly empty corridor, and a large chamber opened up in front of their position.
"I don't' like this." Jason frowned. "It's too easy. This has got to be a trap."
Zoltar smirked to himself. The Condor was more intelligent that the Spectran Leader had ever suspected. But it was too little too late. The G-Force team had been entirely too trusting of their 'Commander'.
Yet, wasn't that one of the things that had endeared them to him? They had accepted him without question, and Zoltar had enjoyed the camaraderie that existed within the team. He had never really had an equal on Spectra, other than Mala, and it had felt good to be part of a circle of friends.
But now, it was too late.
"Surrender, G-Force!"
The team turned around to find themselves surrounded by green-uniformed goons holding large, grey rifles. The soldiers fired, and twisting, golden beams shot out of the mouths of their weapons.
Instantly, the team scattered in four different directions. Keyop jumped straight up into the air, Jason and Princess flew off to the left and right, and Zoltar continued running forward.
The Spectran Leader pretended to dodge the beams that were 'aimed' at him, but in reality, the golden strands never came near his person. Zoltar ended up hiding behind a pillar, watching to see how the other three fared.
The Swallow was the first to be caught, as he was unable to dodge the beams very well from the rafters. The boy struggled, but he was clearly rendered immobile by the glowing restraints, as his body was slowly lowered to the floor.
The Swan was targeted next, and despite her impressive gymnastics, eventually ran out of room to maneuver. She was cornered, and a golden band wrapped itself around her ankle as she leapt to safety.
"Hold on!" the Condor cried, seeing her fall. "I'm coming!"
A sense of regret filled Zoltar momentarily as Princess was captured, but this unfortunate eventuality was necessary for his plan.
He would make it up to her later, the Spectran Leader resolved.
How, exactly, that would be accomplished, was something Zoltar didn't want to contemplate at the moment. He watched as the Condor threw a handful of feather shuriken at the guards, taking down a goodly number of the attacking force. Yol began to take on a panicked look, as things were obviously not going according to plan.
The Blackbird joined the fray, receiving a literal 'boot to the head' for his trouble. He crumpled to the floor where he stood.
Jason whirled and flew, expertly dodging the shining strands, knocking out more and more of the guards.
Zoltar saw that one of the soldiers had fallen near his position. Carefully, he crept over to the spot, grabbing up the soldier's rifle. He looked around, ensuring that no one was looking at him. Everyone's attention was focused on the Condor.
The Spectran Leader aimed at Jason's back, shooting a golden band out toward the Condor's position.
But even as Zoltar tasted his success, the rifle was knocked from his hands, clattering to the floor at his feet.
"Up to your old tricks, Commander?" sneered a familiar voice.
Zoltar looked up in horror to see his own face glaring back down at him.
"No…" he said in a panicked voice. "You were supposed to be captured."
"Think again." Mark growled, grabbing Zoltar by the white wings he wore.
"Zoltar!" spat the Condor, who had turned to watch the confrontation. "I should have known! Only a coward like you would shoot me in the back."
Mark was glad to see Jason for a brief moment, until he realized that the Condor's enmity was directed entirely at him. Princess and Keyop, bound on the floor, were glaring at him with similar expressions of disgust.
"I guess we couldn't trust you to keep your word." the Condor sneered. "End the war my ass! You call this attack ship ending the war?"
"It's not what you think!" Mark called out, but he was distracted as Zoltar attempted to pull out of his grasp. Quickly, the Eagle stuck his leg out in a sweep, knocking the Spectran Leader to the ground, then kicking him in the side.
It felt strange to Mark to be attacking himself, but all of the anger he had felt at being forcibly removed from his body and kept a prisoner came boiling out, and the Commander only intensified his attacks on the person who had usurped his physical self.
The G-Force team stared in astonishment as the purple-caped man thrust and kicked at the white-winged uniform in a violent rage, landing blow after blow on the hapless body of his opponent. The few remaining soldiers quickly fled the room.
Zoltar cowered in fear. He had always been afraid of the G-Force Commander, but unlike Zoltar, the Eagle had always held himself in complete control, never allowing his emotions to get the better of him.
This furious madman Zoltar was now encountering filled him with a terror unlike any he had ever known. The Commander didn't care that Zoltar was occupying his own body. He was going to kill the Spectran Leader. Zoltar could see the murder in his eyes, and the horrifying prospect caused his limbs to go numb, and they became completely unresponsive.
"Get up, Commander!" the Swan called encouragingly. "You can do it!"
Hearing Princess cry out, and knowing that she was actually supporting his enemy, only made Mark more furious. He literally saw red as he landed punch after punch, and kick after kick. Finally, after his opponent was practically limp from his beating, Mark grabbed his Sonic Boomerang from his opponent's holster, snapped it open, and held it at Zoltar's throat.
"What do you have to say for yourself now?" he sneered.
Zoltar gasped, his eyes moving frantically back and forth, looking for any means of escape. The Condor, the Swan and the Swallow stared in amazement, unable to comprehend 'Zoltar's' sudden superiority in martial arts over their 'Commander'. The Eagle was obviously beyond reason, and Zoltar knew with a cold certainty that his life hung in the balance.
"What did you do to the Commander, Zoltar?" Princess shouted. "You monster!"
"You're a liar and a piece of filth!" Jason spat, before be began using more colorful terms to describe the man he thought was Zoltar.
Their words were like a slap in the face to Mark. What the hell was he doing? He had allowed his rage to take him over, and that was something that never happened to him. What had he allowed himself to become? Regardless of what he looked like on the outside, he was still responsible for his actions, and for controlling his emotions on the inside.
He had failed utterly, in that regard.
More importantly, he had temporarily forgotten about what he was doing in the first place. Xan was waiting for him.
"You're coming with me." Mark hissed, punching Zoltar one final time in the head, knocking his enemy out cold. He grabbed the white wings, literally dragging the man in the Eagle uniform from the room.
"Commander!" Princess cried, and the anguish in her voice tore at Mark's heart.
"I'll see you soon, Princess." he whispered to himself, as he made his way to Dr. Mansonstein's laboratory.
Xan glanced at the Commander as Mark arrived.
"It looks like everything went well." the Blackbird looked up from the equipment controls that he had been examining to take in Zoltar's limp form.
"Better than planned." Mark nodded. "The Condor managed to knock out Yol, so he won't be joining us."
"Excellent." Xan grinned at Mark, and the Blackbird's smile was infectious. The Commander found himself grinning back.
"I'll put Zoltar in the other chamber." he said, walking through the narrow door that separated the two rooms that made up Dr. Mansonstein's makeshift laboratory. As the Doctor had indicated in his conversation with Yol, the two chambers for the targets of the body-switching device were in separate rooms, preventing the two subjects from looking at each other.
The Eagle threw the white-winged body into the chamber none too gently. Sure, it would hurt once he got his own body back, but he also knew that by then his implant would have taken care of most of his injuries. Carefully, Mark closed the chamber door, ensuring that it was locked before heading back into the other room.
"I am ready." Xan informed the Commander.
"Did you figure out the access code?" Mark asked him.
"I have narrowed it down to five possibilities." the Blackbird stated. "It shouldn't take long to try them all, to see which one is correct."
"Sounds good to me." Mark agreed, heading into the other chamber.
He was about to get his own body back, and he could hardly wait.
