Galaxy Rangers: "Time Bomb"
Chapter 12
Daisy crept stealthily down the passage. It wound around a few
times, then finally ended, in a small chamber. Daisy held her weapon
at the ready, as she entered the room, Zozo right behind her.
Zozo cried out as he spotted a Crown Trooper sitting in a dark
corner, and Daisy leveled her gun at him. When he didn't move,
however, she stepped closer. "He's dead," she said, putting a finger
against his neck. She then lifted off his helmet. "He's been shot..."
"There's another one over here... it's a robot. The circuitry's
all fried, and half of his head's gone."
"This one's blaster's gone."
Zozo looked up. "Doc?"
"Could be." Daisy nodded, then walked over to examine the robot.
"No, wait. This one was shot at point blank range, right in the head.
In fact..." she looked over at the other guard. "... I'd say he shot
the other guard, and then shot himself. See, his blaster's almost
empty. He must have set it on max."
Zozo looked at the blaster, which was itself half melted. "What
does it mean?"
Daisy stood up. There were several doors across the back wall of
this room, as if it were a guard post. As Daisy opened the first of
them, she realized that she was in the right place.
"It's the room we saw on the video screen!" Zozo said, peering
around Daisy. One of the prison pods stood half open, its floor
burned and blackened by some sort of fire. Daisy walked over to the
pod, looking down through the open panel at the hopeless jumble of
wires.
"Looks like Ranger Hartford didn't need our help after all!"
Daisy said with a grin. She glanced around the room, then walked back
over to Zozo. "Come on, furry-face. The guards haven't noticed he's
gone, so we don' want 'em to catch us in here."
Daisy closed the door behind her as she and Zozo slipped out of
the room, and down the dark passage. "Doc's been lucky so far, but
when these two don' report in, the Queen'll know he's escaped. We have
ta find him before they do."
"Where do you think he'll go?"
"The transmitter, probably. If he knows about what the Queen
plans fer his friends, I kinda doubt he'd try an' escape. So I guess
we need to join back up with Shane an' Buzzwang."
* * * * *
Near the northern surface of the asteroid, Gooseman and Buzzwang
approached the communications room. Two guards had been posted to
watch the area, but Goose was able to catch them by suprise. These
guards turned out to be human, but they had reached their goal. There
was no need for disguises now.
As they entered the large chamber, however, there didn't seem to
be anything out of the ordinary. Just several rows of consoles, some
computer banks, and an open doorway into a machinery room behind.
"So?" Goose commented. "Any idea which of these gizmos is the
transmitter?"
Buzzwang looked around the room, clearly concerned. "I do not
know... a device capable of generating the kind of power needed to
flood this area with your implants' self-destruct signal should be
fairly obvious. Yet I see nothing of that kind in here."
"You mean, we're in the wrong place?"
"I... I am not sure. It seems so." He walked over to one of the
consoles, began to work the switches and buttons. Goose just stared
about the room, fingering his blaster. Maybe he could fix a hovercar,
or jury-rig a circuit to overload a force field, but he was way out of
his league now.
"Yes," Buzzwang said, after a moment. "It seems that your initial
impression was correct. The transmitter is located in Engineering, in
the center of the asteroid. Apparently, it needed a direct connection
to the power supply."
"Can you shut it down from here?"
"I am afraid not." Buzzwang typed a command into a console, and
watched the results that scrolled past. "The device is controlled from
Engineering. However, it is programmed to respond to an incoming
message from the sensors scattered around the Graveyard, to detect the
Hyperspace signature of Ranger One. That signal should come through
here."
"So it may be possible to shut it down."
"Yes, but it would take time."
Gooseman looked over Buzz's shoulder at the console. "You didn't
sound any alarms when you logged onto that thing, did you?"
"Of course not." Buzz managed to look insulted, even considering
the limited motility of his metallic face. "I used a cryptographic
cypher to break into their system and override the security on this
console."
"Ah." Gooseman said. "Of course."
"Shall I attempt to shut down the incoming signal?" Buzzwang
asked.
"Yeah." Goose nodded, and Buzzwang began busily typing commands
into the keyboard.
* * * * *
"Shane an' tha' bucket o' bolts android should a' reached the
transmitter by now." Daisy commented.
"Unless they got held up."
Daisy and Zozo continued down the passageway, the lady outlaw
holding her blaster at the ready. "Well, once we track down Ranger
Hartford, we kin get outta here."
"If I know Doc, he's headed for the transmitter, too."
Daisy shook her head. "No. He's goin' the other way -- toward the
center of the asteroid. Maybe lookin' fer a good place to hide."
"That doesn't sound like the Doc I know," Zozo commented.
"Yeah, but, remember, as far as he knows, he's all alone on this
rock. He doesn't know we followed him. An' he may not know abou' the
booby-trapped badges. He may just be tryin' ta keep outta th'
Psychocrypt until Zack an' Niko can rescue him..."
Zozo shrugged. "Maybe."
They fell silent for a moment, as Daisy stuck her head around a
corner. She drew back, quickly. "We've been spotted! Half a dozen
Troopers' 'r comin' this way!"
Daisy ran back in the other direction, the little Kiwi right
behind her. They both drew up short, however, as another group of
Crown Agents cut off their escape.
"This way!" Daisy yelled, pointing out a side passage. The two
fugitives disappeared down it, the Queen's guards right on their
heels. One of the Troopers stopped to speak into his wrist
communicator.
"We've found the prowlers, Magesty. A woman and a Kiwi."
"Ranger Niko!" The Queen's voice sounded astonished. "Impossible!
She is on Ranger One with Foxx!"
"No, it's not the Galaxy Ranger. She isn't wearing a Ranger
uniform."
"Someone else, then. Hm. But the Kiwi must be Zozo. Take them
both alive."
"Yes, Magesty," The commander shut off his wristcom and headed
after his men.
* * * * *
"What is this?" Buzzwang paused, looking at his display for a
moment, then began typing in more commands. He studied the readouts
intently, then redoubled his efforts, his manner almost frantic as
he typed away at the control console.
"What's going on?" Gooseman walked over from the door, where he
had been keeping an eye on the door. Eve was watching over Buzzwang's
shoulder.
"There is some sort of a blip in the system. I thought at first
that I was being tracked, but then it turned and headed away from
communications. It seems to be searching for power sources."
"Doc?"
"It could be. I am attempting to isolate the blip now, but it
is evading me."
Gooseman nodded. "It's got to be Doc. He must be trying to shut
down the transmitter from somewhere else... maybe Engineering. You
keep trying to catch that thing, and I'll go see if I can find him."
Buzzwang looked up. "I will have to stop work on shutting down
the incoming signal."
"If we're lucky, that's what Doc's blip is doing. Do what you
can to catch it, and if you can't, get back to work on jamming the
signal."
"Right away, Ranger Gooseman," Buzz agreed. He continued his work
at the console, while Gooseman slipped out the door into the hall, and
disappeared down the passage.
Moments later, however, he charged back into the room. Activating
the control to slide the door shut, he then pulled out his blaster,
and shot the control panel. The Ranger then grabbed Eve and Buzzwang,
and shoved them both through the doorway into the machinery room.
"Hide in there!" Gooseman hissed. "Don't come out for ANYTHING!"
His warning was punctuated as the sound of laser fire was heard
on the other side of the door. A shower of sparks burst from the door
as it was melted open. Goose leaped behind a console, and began to
fire at the Troopers charging into the room.
He was able to take out two or three of them, but the rest
swarmed around their fallen comrades, overwhelming him. He was forced
to duck a hail of return fire, and then one of the men leaped over the
console to face him. For a moment, Goose involuntarily reached for his
badge. Then, thinking better of it, he slugged the Trooper instead.
As five or six of the Crown Agents began to join their ally,
however, Gooseman was quickly subdued. Two of the armored soldiers
held the Ranger, pulling him out into the middle of the room. Near the
door, the other Troopers moved aside, as a tall woman in scarlet swept
into the room.
"Galaxy Ranger Gooseman," The Queen said, smiling. "I'll have to
make sure that Macross and Kilbane pay for their betrayal. But it is
no matter. I was, of course, aware of their plot all along... and I
knew that you would try and save your friends."
"Bring him to my Psychocrypt!" She ordered. "And fetch Ranger
Hartford, as well. I want them both together when their allies arrive,
and the self-destruct signal goes off."
As the Queen turned and headed out of the room, sweeping her
cloak about her in a dramatic arc, Gooseman glanced back at the inner
room. Buzzwang, back in the shadows, watched as his friend was taken
away.
Chapter 12
Daisy crept stealthily down the passage. It wound around a few
times, then finally ended, in a small chamber. Daisy held her weapon
at the ready, as she entered the room, Zozo right behind her.
Zozo cried out as he spotted a Crown Trooper sitting in a dark
corner, and Daisy leveled her gun at him. When he didn't move,
however, she stepped closer. "He's dead," she said, putting a finger
against his neck. She then lifted off his helmet. "He's been shot..."
"There's another one over here... it's a robot. The circuitry's
all fried, and half of his head's gone."
"This one's blaster's gone."
Zozo looked up. "Doc?"
"Could be." Daisy nodded, then walked over to examine the robot.
"No, wait. This one was shot at point blank range, right in the head.
In fact..." she looked over at the other guard. "... I'd say he shot
the other guard, and then shot himself. See, his blaster's almost
empty. He must have set it on max."
Zozo looked at the blaster, which was itself half melted. "What
does it mean?"
Daisy stood up. There were several doors across the back wall of
this room, as if it were a guard post. As Daisy opened the first of
them, she realized that she was in the right place.
"It's the room we saw on the video screen!" Zozo said, peering
around Daisy. One of the prison pods stood half open, its floor
burned and blackened by some sort of fire. Daisy walked over to the
pod, looking down through the open panel at the hopeless jumble of
wires.
"Looks like Ranger Hartford didn't need our help after all!"
Daisy said with a grin. She glanced around the room, then walked back
over to Zozo. "Come on, furry-face. The guards haven't noticed he's
gone, so we don' want 'em to catch us in here."
Daisy closed the door behind her as she and Zozo slipped out of
the room, and down the dark passage. "Doc's been lucky so far, but
when these two don' report in, the Queen'll know he's escaped. We have
ta find him before they do."
"Where do you think he'll go?"
"The transmitter, probably. If he knows about what the Queen
plans fer his friends, I kinda doubt he'd try an' escape. So I guess
we need to join back up with Shane an' Buzzwang."
* * * * *
Near the northern surface of the asteroid, Gooseman and Buzzwang
approached the communications room. Two guards had been posted to
watch the area, but Goose was able to catch them by suprise. These
guards turned out to be human, but they had reached their goal. There
was no need for disguises now.
As they entered the large chamber, however, there didn't seem to
be anything out of the ordinary. Just several rows of consoles, some
computer banks, and an open doorway into a machinery room behind.
"So?" Goose commented. "Any idea which of these gizmos is the
transmitter?"
Buzzwang looked around the room, clearly concerned. "I do not
know... a device capable of generating the kind of power needed to
flood this area with your implants' self-destruct signal should be
fairly obvious. Yet I see nothing of that kind in here."
"You mean, we're in the wrong place?"
"I... I am not sure. It seems so." He walked over to one of the
consoles, began to work the switches and buttons. Goose just stared
about the room, fingering his blaster. Maybe he could fix a hovercar,
or jury-rig a circuit to overload a force field, but he was way out of
his league now.
"Yes," Buzzwang said, after a moment. "It seems that your initial
impression was correct. The transmitter is located in Engineering, in
the center of the asteroid. Apparently, it needed a direct connection
to the power supply."
"Can you shut it down from here?"
"I am afraid not." Buzzwang typed a command into a console, and
watched the results that scrolled past. "The device is controlled from
Engineering. However, it is programmed to respond to an incoming
message from the sensors scattered around the Graveyard, to detect the
Hyperspace signature of Ranger One. That signal should come through
here."
"So it may be possible to shut it down."
"Yes, but it would take time."
Gooseman looked over Buzz's shoulder at the console. "You didn't
sound any alarms when you logged onto that thing, did you?"
"Of course not." Buzz managed to look insulted, even considering
the limited motility of his metallic face. "I used a cryptographic
cypher to break into their system and override the security on this
console."
"Ah." Gooseman said. "Of course."
"Shall I attempt to shut down the incoming signal?" Buzzwang
asked.
"Yeah." Goose nodded, and Buzzwang began busily typing commands
into the keyboard.
* * * * *
"Shane an' tha' bucket o' bolts android should a' reached the
transmitter by now." Daisy commented.
"Unless they got held up."
Daisy and Zozo continued down the passageway, the lady outlaw
holding her blaster at the ready. "Well, once we track down Ranger
Hartford, we kin get outta here."
"If I know Doc, he's headed for the transmitter, too."
Daisy shook her head. "No. He's goin' the other way -- toward the
center of the asteroid. Maybe lookin' fer a good place to hide."
"That doesn't sound like the Doc I know," Zozo commented.
"Yeah, but, remember, as far as he knows, he's all alone on this
rock. He doesn't know we followed him. An' he may not know abou' the
booby-trapped badges. He may just be tryin' ta keep outta th'
Psychocrypt until Zack an' Niko can rescue him..."
Zozo shrugged. "Maybe."
They fell silent for a moment, as Daisy stuck her head around a
corner. She drew back, quickly. "We've been spotted! Half a dozen
Troopers' 'r comin' this way!"
Daisy ran back in the other direction, the little Kiwi right
behind her. They both drew up short, however, as another group of
Crown Agents cut off their escape.
"This way!" Daisy yelled, pointing out a side passage. The two
fugitives disappeared down it, the Queen's guards right on their
heels. One of the Troopers stopped to speak into his wrist
communicator.
"We've found the prowlers, Magesty. A woman and a Kiwi."
"Ranger Niko!" The Queen's voice sounded astonished. "Impossible!
She is on Ranger One with Foxx!"
"No, it's not the Galaxy Ranger. She isn't wearing a Ranger
uniform."
"Someone else, then. Hm. But the Kiwi must be Zozo. Take them
both alive."
"Yes, Magesty," The commander shut off his wristcom and headed
after his men.
* * * * *
"What is this?" Buzzwang paused, looking at his display for a
moment, then began typing in more commands. He studied the readouts
intently, then redoubled his efforts, his manner almost frantic as
he typed away at the control console.
"What's going on?" Gooseman walked over from the door, where he
had been keeping an eye on the door. Eve was watching over Buzzwang's
shoulder.
"There is some sort of a blip in the system. I thought at first
that I was being tracked, but then it turned and headed away from
communications. It seems to be searching for power sources."
"Doc?"
"It could be. I am attempting to isolate the blip now, but it
is evading me."
Gooseman nodded. "It's got to be Doc. He must be trying to shut
down the transmitter from somewhere else... maybe Engineering. You
keep trying to catch that thing, and I'll go see if I can find him."
Buzzwang looked up. "I will have to stop work on shutting down
the incoming signal."
"If we're lucky, that's what Doc's blip is doing. Do what you
can to catch it, and if you can't, get back to work on jamming the
signal."
"Right away, Ranger Gooseman," Buzz agreed. He continued his work
at the console, while Gooseman slipped out the door into the hall, and
disappeared down the passage.
Moments later, however, he charged back into the room. Activating
the control to slide the door shut, he then pulled out his blaster,
and shot the control panel. The Ranger then grabbed Eve and Buzzwang,
and shoved them both through the doorway into the machinery room.
"Hide in there!" Gooseman hissed. "Don't come out for ANYTHING!"
His warning was punctuated as the sound of laser fire was heard
on the other side of the door. A shower of sparks burst from the door
as it was melted open. Goose leaped behind a console, and began to
fire at the Troopers charging into the room.
He was able to take out two or three of them, but the rest
swarmed around their fallen comrades, overwhelming him. He was forced
to duck a hail of return fire, and then one of the men leaped over the
console to face him. For a moment, Goose involuntarily reached for his
badge. Then, thinking better of it, he slugged the Trooper instead.
As five or six of the Crown Agents began to join their ally,
however, Gooseman was quickly subdued. Two of the armored soldiers
held the Ranger, pulling him out into the middle of the room. Near the
door, the other Troopers moved aside, as a tall woman in scarlet swept
into the room.
"Galaxy Ranger Gooseman," The Queen said, smiling. "I'll have to
make sure that Macross and Kilbane pay for their betrayal. But it is
no matter. I was, of course, aware of their plot all along... and I
knew that you would try and save your friends."
"Bring him to my Psychocrypt!" She ordered. "And fetch Ranger
Hartford, as well. I want them both together when their allies arrive,
and the self-destruct signal goes off."
As the Queen turned and headed out of the room, sweeping her
cloak about her in a dramatic arc, Gooseman glanced back at the inner
room. Buzzwang, back in the shadows, watched as his friend was taken
away.