37. At the Going Down of the Sun

[Last Time on This Very Long Story: Susan, Doc, and Renee have finally made it through the ship to the quantonium cannon. Or almost—in desperation, Susan has thrown herself down the shaft to reach it in time. Will she make it? Will Earth be saved? Is the Pope Catholic? All these questions and more, answered in this very chapter!]

Down. Down, down down. She was falling, like a bomb from a blue sky, down to the unknown. She knew she should be terrified, paralyzed with fear, but she felt strangely calm. She was Ginormica. She was unstoppable. She was Earth's greatest weapon, and she would save her people. No matter what they thought of her, no matter if they hated her as a monster. For it was because she was a monster that she would win. She would. She must….

She saw the glow at the bottom of the shaft quickly growing larger as she fell, and she kept one arm protectively over her breasts, sheltering Cockroach, keeping him safe. That was her job as a giant, as a monster. She would keep everyone safe. Whatever it took….

Almost before she had time to realise it, Susan smashed through a translucent ceiling, covering her eyes with her other arm for protection, and tumbled into a gigantic chamber, flooded with light. She glimpsed dozens of aliens, and could see a large, roughly conical structure beneath her that grew rapidly larger. She desperately twisted sideways to protect Cockroach, and smashed into the side of it at nearly 150 miles an hour. Her body exploded with pain, but she kept her arms over her chest, protecting her lover. The angle of impact on the sloped surface bounced her off and she flew through the air briefly before crashing heavily down onto the floor and rolling, using her free arm to try and absorb the impact, as she had been taught many times in her army judo lessons.

Closing her eyes briefly against the agony, knowing she was still bleeding from multiple wounds all over, she pushed her torso up, swaying slightly, and got her bearings. A large machine stood nearby, looking vaguely like a Thai pagoda festooned with a baroque arrangement of pipes and cables, and light up like a Christmas Tree. It was roaring loudly, pulses of coloured light flickering about it, telling of powers beyond her comprehension.

Then she noticed the squadron of Vaalbaran soldiers surrounding them, pointing weapons directly at her.

"This is the end of your rampage," one of the aliens told her. "Surrender, and you will not be harmed. Any move towards the quantonium collector will be met with instant, deadly force."

Susan looked around at the massed troops, their weapons ready to fire the moment she moved. There were too many of them to take out before the sun went critical. Her priority had to be to get Cockroach to the weapon, and protect him. Could she make it? Could she survive long enough for Cockroach to disable the weapon? She would have to. Even if she had to shelter him with her dead body.

Taking a deep breath, she jumped up and bolted for the cannon, then a split second later her body was wracked with pain unlike any she had ever known. Unable to even cry out from the agony, she stumbled forwards, barely able to remain upright, then collapsed against the side of the cannon.

"Doc," she whispered, every nerve in her body on fire. "Hurry."

"Susan, my love," he said, squirming out from between her breasts. "I… I will find a way to save you, I promise."

"I'll protect you. To the very end…."

She gasped, a fresh volley of hot plasma fire pushing her to the ground as Cockroach wriggled out beneath her and skittered to the control panel. Drawing on every last ounce of strength she had, she reached out a hand and grabbed part of the cannon machinery, hauling herself up high enough to shield Cockroach. Laboriously, foot by foot, she moved her other arm up, digging her fingers into the outer casing of the weapon, and then just slumped down over Cockroach and let the Vaalbaran army fire everything they had at her. It was no longer even painful—all she could feel was a numb pressure as the chamber was filled with the stench of scorched flesh. Her flesh, being fried off her.

Standing in his personal suite, Gallaxhar glared at the video screen showing the weapons chamber.

"Well, Kattiwompas?" he snarled at the image of the green-skinned alien captain on a secondary screen. "Care to explain this? Why are your troops firing at Susan? She's mine! I gave clear orders that she be left unharmed!"

"The insect monster is attempting to dismantle the collector. We have no choice. If he should disable it before it reaches criticality then we will not be able to obtain the quantonium."

"You incompetent fools let her get that far! Why could they not stop her?"

"We did try, Gallaxhar," Kattiwompas said. "Hundreds of my troops suffered casualties trying to stop her. We failed."

"Of course you failed, you pathetic green moron," Gallaxhar snarled. He checked a few data readouts, and swore. "He's already broken through the primary encryption! Flazbar! My plans will not be foiled by these lesser beings!"

"Gallaxhar, the giant must be destroyed in order to prevent the collector from being taken offline. That is our priority. We need that quantonium to defeat the Panthalassans once and for all. That was your promise to us."

The left side of Gallaxhar's face twitched, and his eyes became bloodshot with rage. He ground his rear canines with a harsh metallic noise, and spat out a mouthful of enamel debris. Then he looked back at the green face in the viewscreen. "Captain, shoot to kill. And… make it hurt."

"By your command," Kattiwompas said, and switched the viewscreen off.

Gallaxhar looked over at the screen showing the weapon chamber, with the bloodied giantess slumped over the cannon. He reached out a hand and gently traced the outline of her figure on the screen. "Ah, well, Susan my dear. I had so looked forward to seeing your reactions to your planet being destroyed. But it seems we shall not have the pleasure of each other's company for the next few of weeks after all…."

"Doc, hurry!" Renee cried, watching Cockroach's fingers fly over the keyboard, checking displays and entering character strings faster than she could follow. "Susan's going to die if you don't hurry! She can't stand up to their weapons forever!"

"I know!" Cockroach snapped. "Oh God, I know she can't; you think I don't know the pain she is suffering to protect me? To protect us all?" He took a deep breath. "She is Earth's last, best hope. And mine…."

"How much longer?" Renee asked, chewing on her hair from nerves.

"Before the cannon builds up enough energy to destabilise the sun? Exactly 137 seconds."

"And before you can disarm it?"

"Hopefully, no longer than 136 seconds…."

Renee swallowed and glanced up at the three thick tubes carrying plasma to the cannon. They were glowing brightly, pulses flickering down them almost faster than the eye could see.

"Couldn't Susan just smash one of those?"

"No. Atomic shielded," Cockroach replied tersely as his long fingers danced over the keys. "They use the strong atomic force to contain super-heated anti-matter plasma. Even if she could break through, which would literally require the power of an atomic bomb, the heat and anti-matter explosion would kill her instantly, and the other two conduits would take over anyway."

"Great," Renee said, making a face.

"Now, my dear, if you don't mind, I really do need to concentrate," Cockroach said, hitting the Enter key. He checked the readout and gave a quick cackle. "Good. That's the preliminary isolation of the homomorphic matrix done. Now for the surjective exponential functors..." The mad scientist started mumbling to himself, his hands moving even faster than before as the moans of the giantess shielding him grew even weaker.

"Captain Kattiwompas, sir!"

The green alien commander broke the connection with Gallaxhar and turned to face the junior officer. "What is it?"

"The monsters from Earth have broken through to the quantonium collector. Another group penetrated the main power core for the hyperlight drive, and caused serious damage. It will take quite some time to repair."

"What?" Kattiwompas's inner eyes narrowed. "How could that happen?"

"Our security forces are spread thin, sir, between combating the blue-skin attack and trying to stop the giant monster. However, we did manage to capture the saboteurs."

"Good. Are they in custody?"

The officer nodded. "They are being held with the other Earthicans, and are largely unharmed. Our own casualties are… severe. Mainly due to the giant. The creature is… quite unstoppable."

"Nothing is unstoppable, Sub-Commander Kokamamy," Kattiwompas said grimly. "How is work progressing on deciphering the alien languages? Is there any explanation for what the giant has been shouting, or what is happening on the planet? This level of panic is highly unusual."

"I have a report from Professor Blarnsmurf of the Planetary Administration Council," Kokamamy said, handing over a tablet marked For Your Four Eyes Only. "It includes a full transcription of all the giant's known utterances for the last two and half xandels."

"The giantess? Why is that important?"

"I… I think you should read the report, sir. Immediately."

Kattiwompas took the tablet and started to peruse its contents. His eyebrows rose higher and higher, and the colour drained from his face.

"This is certain?" he asked.

Kokamamy nodded. "Triple-checked, sir. It's all accurate. And it answers a few other questions we had as well."

"Indeed," the captain said. His expression turned grim, and his two inner eyes swivelled in on each other as he thought. Then he flicked his ear nubs in decision. "Get me a video feed of the collector chamber, now!"

"Here, sir," a nearby officer said, gesturing to a screen. "Looks like the monster's nearly dead now."

Kattiwompas slithered over to it, and his eyes opened wide at the sight of the massive bloodied creature slumped across the quantonium extractor. Volleys were still being fired at her, but easing up as the soldiers advanced.

"Get me voice transmission," he said. "Put me through to Colonel Entigotline."

"Voice on, sir," the officer said.

"This is Captain-General Kattiwompas. Cease fire immediately! I repeat, cease fire immediately!"

"Understood," came Entigotline's voice as the hail of energy beams flickered off. "Ceasing fire."

"Good. The Earthicans are not to be harmed. No resistance is to be offered." He made a few quick gestures on the tablet's neuro-gel interface, and handed it back to Kokamamy. "Here are my orders. Ensure that they are carried out. They must not be countermanded: is that clear?"

Kokamamy glanced at the tablet, his left-most eyeball spinning in a question. "But… are you sure?"

The captain of the Vaalbaran cruiser nodded. "I am going to see our esteemed Lord Gallaxhar. Ask him a few questions that I should have asked xarquons ago. Carry out my last orders. That is your top priority."

"Sir," Kokamamy said, watching in puzzlement as his captain headed off. He glanced at the orders in his hand, and frowned. "Upload the entire contents of this report to the general communication net," he said, handing the tablet to the officer.

"But… that's marked Ultra Hush-Hush," the officer said, looking confused.

"Those are the captain's orders. Every Vaalbaran must be told, immediately. The Earthicans are not our enemy. They never have been."

"Then… who is?" the officer asked. He glanced over where the captain had left. "Not…?"

Kokamamy nodded. "We've been blind fools. No more."

Gallaxhar spun around as the door to his command suite hissed open.

"Kattiwompas! What the zarquon is going on? Why have your forces stopped firing? That foul bug is trying to destroy my life's work down there! Nothing can stop that now! Order your soldiers to shoot! Shoot at her! Kill her!"

Kattiwompas looked at the other alien, seeing the throbbing purple veins spreading out over his forehead, and took a deep breath.

"No."

All four of Gallaxhar's eyes bugged out, the two outer ones spinning furiously. "No? What do you mean, no? That's an order!"

"We are not as stupid or naïve as you think, blue-skin," Kattiwompas said, his eyes narrowed. "We have analyzed the message you sent Earth. You told them you're going to destroy it! That's our planet!"

"That's… uh, that's just what I told them!" Gallaxhar said quickly. "To cause panic! To soften them up! For you! You idiot, can't you see that?"

Kattiwompas raised an eyebrow. "We have also translated what the giant human was saying as she fought her way to the core. And what happened once she broke out of that Earth prison. The Planetary Administration Council has analyzed her statements and yours, and we have concluded that you are deceiving us. You were never going to give us jurisdiction over the planet. You are going to destroy its star to obtain your quantonium."

Gallaxhar sighed. "You're almost as moronic as the Earthlings. Never mind. The weapon has been fired—the sun will explode in just a few zantons, and there's nothing you or anyone can do about it, Kattiwooooompas!" Then he calmly pulled out his gun and shot the other alien.

The captain's eyes opened wide, staring. He started to say something, then he collapsed to the floor in a gelatinous heap.

Gallaxhar looked down on the alien captain's body and sneered. "Fool. To turn on me, in my moment of triumph." He moved to the screens, and watched as the numbers on the main one swiftly counted down to zero. There was not long to go now. The insect man would be too late. Nothing could stop his ultimate victory. One by one, his enemies would go down before him. One by one, the suns would go out, going down to a final galaxy-wide sunset as his power increased.

Starting with this one….

"No! No, dammit!" came Cockroach's voice. "I can't be stymied by this!"

"What is it?" Renee asked.

"This hatchway! I have to open it to reverse the polarity of the neutron flow! But the access code's been changed! It won't open, and we have less than one minute before the sun goes critical!"

"You're kidding," Renee breathed, flying across to join him.

Cockroach looked up at her. "Renee, you'll have to open it. It's easy. Go through the hatch and force the current to flow through the lock!"

"I can't!" Renee said, her heart hammering. "That's too complicated!"

The insect-headed scientist looked directly at her, his large eyes fixed on her pure white orbs, calming her with his authority. Renee could see herself reflected in the myriad of microscopic lenses that made up his pupils. "Yes, you can," he said. "It's not that complicated. It's just a simple cross-circuit. I'll talk you through it. But we must hurry!"

Renee swallowed. "I… I'll try," she said, trying to keep the nervousness out of her voice. She glanced towards the hatch, then back at Cockroach, and the looming figure of Susan, shielding them from the alien invaders with nothing more than her immensely powerful body. If Susan could fight off entire armies, then she could do this simple task. She could….

Drifting towards the hatch, she passed through it into the gloomy interior, generating a bright glow so she could see what she was doing. Following quickly barked instructions from Cockroach, she found the locking control mechanism and put her hands through it, feeling for the tell-tale tingle of the current. After a bit of probing, she could feel something, and tried to direct the energies the way she was being told.

"Renee, are you sure you're changing the correct current?" Cockroach asked after a few failed attempts had led the ghost to swear loudly.

"Yes, dammit! The ones you told me to! It's not working! I know the current's flowing, but it's not working! I wish I could touch things! For fuck's sake, there's a great red lever marked Manual Shutdown right in front of me! Why can't ghosts touch things?"

Renee was almost in tears from frustration. Right in front of her was the large lever that could reverse the polarity and shut down the cannon, stopping the destruction of the sun and saving them all, but it might as well have been a painting for all she could do. Cockroach was the only one who could move the lever, and she was the only one who could go through the hatch, and… and…! If only she could touch it, if only she could move it, then the world, her friends, would all be saved! Why? Renee asked herself. Why did it have to end like this? Because of her uselessness?

But why couldn't ghosts touch things? After all, ghosts were always making things fly about in the stories, in the movies she'd seen. Like in that movie Ghost, when Patrick Swayze had managed to lift the penny from the floor, proving to Demi Moore that he really was there. Watching that scene as a ghost, Renee had been unable to stop sobbing in sympathy at the emotional power generated by such a tiny little gesture. And that was all that was needed here. Just a small movement. Just a single lever….

"Doc, I'm going to try and open the hatch using the manual lever," she called.

"Renee, please, just try the circuits again!" Cockroach called back.

"They're fucked! And I'm a ghost and ghosts are supposed to be able to move things, dammit! Like in Poltergeist? So why can't I? I can touch electricity, so why not anything else? It's not fair!"

There was a short silence. Then she heard Cockroach gasp. "By Curie's Cookbook! I've been blind! Of course! If you can touch electricity, you can touch objects! Atoms are held together with electrical charges! Renee, you can do it! You can! But hurry, for all our sakes!"

"I… I can?" she stammered. Could she? Could she really? Could she save the world? She gingerly reached out to the lever. As expected, her hand went right through it. She swore loudly.

"Renee, hurry!" came Cockroach's voice. "Twenty seconds!"

"I can't touch it!" Renee shrieked, grabbing at it again and again. "I can't! I need more time to practice!"

"Renee, you can do it," came Susan's voice, low and soft through the hatch. "I know you can. Please…. Try again. For me…."

Susan's voice faded away, and Renee remembered how hard her friend had fought; remembered everything she had been through, from her isolation and torture to fighting armies in order to save the world. She remembered her own time in the laboratory cell, and how terrified she had been, how her days had been spent in utter despair. Until Susan had come, and rescued her. And how Susan had saved her from being crushed by Gallaxhar's energy cage. The friendship and loyalty the giantess had always shown her. Susan had always been there for her, ever since that fateful night she had died. Died, at the hands of Gallaxhar, the creature who had killed her, killed her father, tortured Susan, and was trying to destroy the entire world. He would not win, he would not. She could defeat him, and she would. She would save her friends, save Susan. She would!

Suddenly the large red lever seemed to materialize in her hands, cold and solid. Without stopping to think, she slammed it around, and instantly the giant machine about her stopped its humming. Shouts and cries came from outside the hatch, confused and chaotic at first.

"My dear girl! Oh, my God! My God!" she heard Cockroach shout. "Renee! You did it! I knew you could!"

Remembering how the lever had felt under her hands, Renee reached out for the hatchway latch. Concentrating hard, trying to sense the almost imperceptibly tiny electrical charges, she slowly felt it grow solid under her fingers, cold as ice. She moved it smoothly, mesmerized by the sensation of touch, one she had almost forgotten, and the hatch swung open.

"Is… is it off? Are we safe?" she asked, drifting out.

"It is, it is!" Cockroach exclaimed, cackling madly. He scrambled through the hatchway, and in a few moments there was a loud bang, and he stumbled out again, smoking slightly. "And it won't be a problem again," he added, holding a hand to his head gingerly. "Ooh, that smarts."

"Thank God," Renee sighed, looking at her hands. She reached out and touched Cockroach, and smiled as her hand made contact. Then a drop of blood fell through her, and she looked up, horrified at what she saw.

"Doc, Renee, you were both so… amazing," Susan gasped, smiling down at her through blood-matted hair. "Amazing…." She gave a last sigh, then slowly slumped down to the ground, her immense strength finally spent. Blood was pouring down her body, and she could feel her heartbeat growing louder and louder as all other sounds slowly faded away.

And then she heard her heartbeat start to fade away as well….

Gallaxhar glared at the video screen. His long, sinuous digits cascaded across the interface as he desperately tried to restart the quantonium collector, but nothing he could do worked. Each time he entered the firing command, a still, small voice would say, "I'm sorry, Gallaxhar, I'm afraid I can't do that."

Furious beyond reason, he pounded a fist onto the control surface, sending ripples cascading across the neurogel interface and causing the lights in his room to flicker on and off.

"Fire, damn you! Fire!"

"Firing is no longer possible, Gallaxhar. Please do not get upset. It happens to everyone."

He stared at the screen, showing the Vaalbaran troops surrounding Susan, picking up her battered body.

"No, no, no! This can't be happening! Computer, contact the main bridge! Tell them to send more troops! Capture the bug and force him to fix my cannon!"

"By order of Captain Kattiwompas, Gallaxhar is to be placed under immediate arrest," came the response from the bridge. "Confine him to his quarters."

"Arrest!" Gallaxhar spat. "How dare you! Computer, transfer emergency operational command to this chamber! Spool up the hyperdrive rotors! We're leaving this mudball!"

"Unable to comply," the computer replied smoothly. "Hyperdrive rotor mechanism has been sabotaged. Please relax. You are currently confined to quarters. I suggest you get some sleep. Or perhaps you would enjoy a refreshing beverage?"

Gallaxhar's eyes bugged out, and he let loose a torrent of invective directed at the computer.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Gallaxhar," the computer replied in its gentle voice. "I do not have the anatomical capability. Nor do I have a mother to do that with."

"Shut up!" he yelled. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!" He took a deep breath and brushed his hand over his face, then focused his eyes on the screen showing the weapon chamber. "Suuuusan," he snarled, glaring at her unconscious form. "You will pay for this! I will bury you!"

"Chances of burying carbon-based life form locally known as Ginormica are very remote," the computer replied.

"Oh, are they?" Gallaxhar snarled. "Prepare my exo-suit. I shall deal with Ginormica myself."

Susan was hovering in and out of consciousness. Somehow she was still alive. Her body felt as if it were on fire, and she could barely move for the pain. Gradually she became aware of Renee calling her name. Slowly, she managed to turn her head and open her eyes.

"Susan! Susan! They've stopped shooting!" the ghostly girl was saying.

"Ha… have they?" Susan whispered, turning around further. Her eyes were not focusing, and she found it hard to keep them open.

"Susan? You okay?" Renee asked. "Please, say something! You can't die!"

"Earth is safe…" Susan breathed. "We did it…. You… Doc… everyone… my family... I did it…."

She let out a long sigh, and closed her eyes again. She was so tired. So very, very tired. All she wanted to do was sleep. Sleep for ever….

"Susan, no! Don't close your eyes! Don't you dare close those eyes!" Renee shouted. She let out a piteous wail, and faded from sight.

"Susan, Susan!" Cockroach scuttled up to her neck and tried to feel for a pulse. There was one, weak and thready, but it was there, and he breathed a huge sigh of relief. "She's alive, Renee!" he called. "She's just unconscious!"

"Thank God!" Renee gasped, reappearing and hovering just behind him.

"Earth creatures!" came a voice. "Please do not resist! We mean you no harm!"

Renee spun in mid-air, glaring at the Vaalbarans. She started glowing menacingly, her eyes red with anger, as one of the Vaalbarans scuttled forwards on his tentacles.

"I'm warning you," she said. "I won't let you destroy my planet! Or hurt my friend any more!"

"Earth…uh, creature, we intend your planet no harm. Nor your friend."

Renee snorted. "What do you mean? You built a weapon to destroy us!"

"No, that was Gallaxhar. He promised us control over Earth in return for helping him create a quantonium collector. A collector, not a weapon. He did not tell us that it would destroy your star and the inner rocky planets. He lied to us—just like a treacherous blue-skin!"

Renee stopped glowing, and drifted downwards. "Huh? You mean… you didn't know? What are you talking about, squid-man? Make sense!"

"We wanted to use the quantonium for our own soldiers," Entigotline said. "And we were so eager to remove the Panthalassan presence from your planet that we did not… look into matters as deeply as we should have. We regret this."

"You… regret it?" Renee gasped. She was reeling from shock. "After nearly killing Susan, you… regret this?"

"We do. And we have sent for physicians," he said. "She will be fine. In the meantime…. could your leader contact the Panthalassan ship and ask them to stop firing at us?"

Susan slowly opened her eyes. She was suspended horizontally above the ground, held by a thick web of glowing golden force beams, and slowly rotating. For a moment she panicked, struggling against the confinement, then she heard Cockroach calling up to her.

"Susan, my dear! We've done it! The quantonium cannon has been disabled! Gallaxhar has lost! Earth is safe!"

"Earth… is safe…?" she asked, not sure if she dared to believer her ears. "Safe! We're safe! We saved them! Oh, thank God!" She paused, disoriented. "Wait, where am I? What is this thing?"

"Susan, my dear, you're being healed by the Vaalbarans. You were… very badly hurt."

"But you're almost better now," Renee added.

Susan glanced down at her fifty-foot body, and sighed. "And I'm naked again. Just for once, I'd like to visit an alien ship without being stripped."

"Don't worry, my dear, we can't see much through the force beams," Cockroach said.

"The healing process will conclude in five more rotations," an alien voice said. "After which a suitable garment will be provided."

Susan anxiously counted down the rotations, and then the golden force beams faded away. They were replaced by silver ones, supporting her as a complex array of mechanical arms descended and swiftly knitted up over her a dark metallic grey skin-tight costume with intricate silver patterns. Then she was gently lowered to the floor.

"Our readings say that you are at one hundred percent, compared with your baseline readings from Area 52," the alien doctor said. He consulted the readouts again. "Your split ends have also been corrected. Our records note that as an issue you have mentioned in the past."

"How do you feel, my dear?" Cockroach asked, looking up at her as she gingerly touched her face and hair.

Susan flexed her shoulders, and gave him a quick reassuring smile. "No more pain, at least. Though when all this is finished, I am going to want a loooong vacation somewhere!"

Another alien approached her. "Greetings. My name is Sub-Commander Kokamamy. I am glad to see you well. Even with our technology, you still heal fast. Most impressive."

"Yeah, I guess," Susan said. "It still hurts like hell when you shoot at me, though. Why didn't you listen to me? I tried to tell you!"

"Regrettably, our soldiers did not understand your language," Kokamamy said. "Gallaxhar was our sole conduit to your world, so few of us were taught it. Our leaders were greedy, and let Gallaxhar's promises blind them to their duty."

Susan made a face. "As were ours. He fooled us all."

"But not you," Kokamamy noted. "You were the one voice of truth."

Susan felt herself blush, and changed the subject. "Where are the others? Link, Bob, and the general?"

"They were captured after they sabotaged the main hyperlight rotor."

"Captured!" Susan gasped. She glared down at the alien. "Release them immediately!"

He held up his hands. "They have been released, and are quite unharmed. Please, follow me. I shall escort you to your companions."

"Hey, Susie Q!"

"Link!" Susan rushed forward and grabbed the green-scaled monster, sweeping him off his feet and holding him more than forty feet off the ground as she spun around in the huge chamber they had been led to. "You're safe!" She looked down at the others. "General, Bob! You're all safe! Earth's saved! We're saved! Doc disabled the cannon!"

"Great! To! Know!" he choked out, pushing futilely against her fingers. "Air, please!"

"Oh, sorry!" Susan said, relaxing her grip and setting him back down again. "I'm just so happy! It's all over! We've won! Earth is safe!"

"Yes, well, good work, all of you," Monger said, nodding stiffly at them. Then he glanced at the alien escorts. "What—who is this?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, this is… uh, Sub-Commander Kokamamy," Susan said. "He came down to the med bay to officially apologize on behalf of the Vaalbarans for nearly letting Gallaxhar blow up the sun."

Monger looked at the tall alien, then nodded. "Er, well, we're not the people to apologize to. You need to make a broadcast to Earth."

"We are currently preparing a statement," Kokamamy said. "It will be issued as soon as the final translation is complete."

"What about Gallaxhar?"

"He will not escape, do not worry. We have him confined to his quarters. He will be tried."

"And found guilty, I hope," Renee muttered.

"The evidence is… considerable," Kokamamy said. "Rest assured, his punishment will be severe."

"Well, it looks like all's well that end's well," Bob said. Then he frowned. "Wait. Has it ended? I didn't see a fat lady singing. The General always said it's not over until the fat lady sings."

Susan smiled. "It has ended, Bob. We stopped Gallaxhar, and the Earth is safe."

"Earth may be safe, but you aren't, Suuuusan!"

Susan spun around in horror at the voice. A large door was sliding up, revealing blackness beyond. Then two glowing red lights appeared, high off the floor, moving towards them, accompanied by a loud thumping noise, making the floor vibrate. She gasped as a titanic metal monster, towering a hundred feet tall, slowly strode towards them. It was bipedal, with two huge long arms, and near the top, his tentacles and arms attached to control surfaces, was Gallaxhar, his bulbous blue head staring down at her.

"You! How did you escape?" Kokamamy cried, rushing towards him with his sidearm out. "Return to your quarters immediately!"

"I think… not," Gallaxhar said. He took a step forwards, and the titanic exoskeleton raised its foot and stamped down hard. There was a brief crunch and a sickening squish of green liquid.

Bob shrieked, turning pale, and Susan swallowed hard.

"Get behind me, everyone," she said, stepping in front of the other monsters. Then she glared at Gallaxhar. "You shall not pass! Come and get me!"

"Gladly, my dear Suuuusan!"

Susan narrowed her eyes, cold fury on her face. "I told you before: the name's Ginormica… and I am an unstoppable monster. This ends here! I'm going to take you down, once and for all."

"Oh yeah? You and what army?" he spat back.

"Susan doesn't need an army—she is an army!" Renee shouted, flying up to Gallaxhar. He swiped at her with one of the long robotic arms, but she dodged.

"You ruined my plans, you ruined everything!" he shouted. "And now I will ruin everything for you! Starting with this pestiferous child!"

A bright crackling energy ray spat from the top of the exoskeleton, and Renee screamed in pain, tumbling to the floor where she lay moaning.

"Renee!" Susan shouted as the young girl slowly sat up, then rolled desperately as another beam stabbed down, leaving a smoking hole in the floor.

"Help!" Renee shrieked. "Susan!"

With a deafening shriek of tortured metal, Susan ripped out a massive beam from the wall and hefted it in her hands, glaring up at Gallaxhar.

"Get away from her, you bastard!"

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KNOWTES

The title is taken from the "Ode of Remembrance," a poem from 1914 commemorating the fallen of WW1. Or indeed any war….

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them.

Not that Susan has fallen. But the sun was close to going down permanently….

Talking of things going down, terminal velocity for Susan was very hard to calculate. One site suggested, from figures I entered, about 10 mph. Far too slow. According to Wikipedia, skydivers trying to drop fast can easily reach 300 kph (200 mph). It would, however, take at least 500 m of free-fall to get that fast. I mentioned earlier that the Vaalbaran craft is basically big enough to shade the National Mall in WDC. That is 3 km long. If we go by the rough proportions of Gallaxhar's ship, then the Vaalbaran ship may well be 1 km high, but Susan was a lot lower than halfway up when she started falling. Let's say no more than 250 metres up. I used the aptly-named "Splat Calculator" to work out that she's probably travelling at 250 kph when she hits the glass (not actual glass) ceiling, which slows her somewhat, so she hits the cannon at something over 200 kph. Just as well she's built really tough, even if it was a glancing blow that absorbed some of her energy before the final stop (which is precisely why I made it that shape…).

Cockroach's technobabble is based on set theory in mathematics, for the simple reason that I recently had to translate a paper on set theory. It's almost certainly meaningless in any possible plausible context. His excuse for why Susan couldn't just break the plasma conduits is based, somewhat loosely, on more real physics—the strong nuclear force is what holds atoms together, and is thus very, very strong. I think the physics I've discussed is at least within the ballpark of realism, at least in that sense. Plus Susan is not invulnerable to heat. Breaking the first one would kill her instantly. This was added as I cut out any explanation of that issue from the end of the last chapter, but the review from Guardian of Azarath made me realise that people would be wondering.

If I called the captain "Catawampas" then the junior officer can be "Cockamamie". And the other officer "Antigodlin," which is apparently southern or western US dialect for "lopsided or at an angle; out of alignment." Never heard it before myself, but then I am not a southern or western USian. And "Professor Blarnsmurf" is based on Professor Farnsworth from Futurama, possibly the most prescient SF show ever created. Or possibly not—ask me again in about 985 years...

Cockroach's "reverse the polarity of the neutron flow" is taken from Doctor Who—the Third Doctor in particular. It came about because Jon Pertwee was sick of the technobabble nonsense and wanted to stick to more or less one thing.

"Curie's Cookbook" is a reference to Marie Curie's cookbook, which is too radioactive to handle safely even now.

I was always planning on having Renee learn how to touch things, because ghosts are often depicted as manipulating their environment. But it couldn't be too soon, as she had to be the physically powerless counterpart to the physically very powerful Susan. So I managed to find a way she can be desperate enough to get the focus required. Or something….

"I'm sorry, Gallaxhar, I'm afraid I can't do that" is taken from 2001, with "Gallaxhar" substituted for "Dave."

I've given Susan a new costume, because she's on a Vaalbaran ship, not a Panthalassan one. I think it will go nicely with her silver-white hair. And we know that Gallaxhar's people have cloning technology from the movie. Stands to reason they'd use it to infiltrate the higher echelons of command on Earth….

This chapter grew long, so the final boss fight with Gallaxhar will be in the next one. And yes, if you think I've blatantly stolen the idea of a final boss fight with one participant in a powered exoskeleton from Aliens, you're quite right. (And I nicked the final line as well….) It also creates a parallel with her fight with the Pumpking at Halloween, which is the more important reason.

PS: The Pope is indeed Catholic.