Prologue
The time frame for this work is one and one half years after the arrival of Captain Shamus O'Reiley on Mobius. He, with the help of Sonic and crew, has invented and adapted many things to aid not only in his search for a way home, but also in the defeat of Dr. Ivo Robotnik. Now Shamus needs more space to work. Fortunately, he has found such a place....
The Lab.
"Yes!!!" shouted Captain Shamus O'Reiley. "We've perfected the first airship of this kind in over three hundred years!! I'm in the air where I belong again!! Thanks for the help, everyone!"
"You're welcome, Shamus," said Bunnie. "Glad we could help."
"Tell me again how this thing is powered," requested Sonic.
"It's a double-reaction nuclear power generator. First, the waste we put in is superheated and then dumped into a chamber at absolute zero, where it collapses in on itself and fusion begins. The helium and hydrogen left over helps keep us afloat. When that's done, fission takes over, and the radioactive atoms are split," explained Shamus.
"I can handle that," said Sonic.
What Shamus had not said, of course, is that there would be some radioactive waste. The kind that not only took millennia to become totally inert, but, if used in the wrong hands, was capable of global destruction.
"Let's take this thing for a test flight!" suggested Tails.
"Good idea! Do you mind if I assign posts, Sally?" asked Shamus.
"Go right ahead," said Sally.
"Thank you. Tails, you have navigation; Bunnie, take engineering; Sonic, security is yours; and, I insist that Sally take the command position," said Shamus.
"Everyone clear? Good. I've got one question, though. What will you do, Mr. O'Reiley?" asked Sally.
"The conn is mine. I'll be setting and engaging the course and speed as well as monitoring all systems," explained Shamus.
"OK, let's begin. Stations," said Sally.
Suddenly, Sapphire McSpike otherwise known as Speed, boarded the airship, ran over, and sat on Shamus's lap. "Can I come, too, Shamie-pie?" she asked.
"Sure, but let me get you a post first," said Shamus, helping Speed up and standing as well.
"OK, where will I be?" asked Speed.
"Over here monitoring reactor core temperature. If it gets above ten million Kelvins, say something," explained Shamus.
"You got it," returned Speed, who then kissed Shamus for no good reason.
"Shamie-pie?" chuckled Tails when Shamus returned to his seat at the conn.
"Ahem. Now, lets get down to business. Navigator, I need a course to the Grand Mountains," requested Shamus.
"One-three-five by two-zero-six mark one-one-four-zero. Ten minutes at thirty knots," reported Tails
"Course and speed set, ready to engage at your command, Princess," reports Shamus.
"Engage," ordered Sally.
Things went smoothly for the first several minutes of the maiden voyage of the Airship Mobius, as the crew called her, but then, the conn started showing some odd readings.
"Are you getting this?" Shamus asked Bunnie. "What's the temperature over there, Speed?"
"I thought that the buildup was normal," she replied.
"The temp. is 9,000,000 K," reported Speed
"Not this one. If it were just heavy metals, I wouldn't worry," said Shamus. "This ooze never showed up in the tests. Temp's normal, though."
Suddenly, there was a loud pop from the engine section, and Speed was laying flat on her back in a pile of translucent brown goo. Shamus was over her almost instantly with a scanner, and taking samples.
"She's all right for now, but the slime's got some strange readings to it. The engine's shot. We won't be able to stay up much longer," reported Shamus. "Luckily, we're over a grassy valley. I'll land us now and we can make plans there."
As they desended, Speed's lifelong friends expressed their concern. Shamus did his best to comfort them.
"Although the slime's readings were unclear, I believe it to be harmless. It might even be good for her," explained Shamus.
"We're down. Let's have a look outside," said Shamus
Upon landing and exiting, the crew began looking around and tending to their fallen comrade. Speed's unexpected recovery and reaction startled all, especially Shamus, who was on the receiving end of some strong affection from the cybernetic hedgehog.
"Woah, woah, before you hurt the both of us! Please let go of me so I can get some readings of this," requested Shamus.
"But I love you so much!!" exclaimed Speed.
"We know that now. Whatever this stuff is and does, it's strong! I never thought she'd actually do this," noted Shamus.
"How so?" asked Sonic.
"She usually ran away whenever I tried to touch her, and just now, she hit me so hard, I was knocked back three meters with force to spare, and I'm three times her size, at least," said Shamus.
"What should we do?" asked Sally.
"I'll go back to Knothole and get help," answered Sonic, before speeding off.
"You three stay and guard the airship," Shamus said to Sally , Bunnie and Tails. "Since there's no chance of Speed leaving me for a while, the two of us will explore that cave."
When the two entered, a huge metal door came crashing shut behind them, and wouldn't reopen.
After about an hour's worth of searching, the cave crew realized that they were in some sort of laboratory.
"The main computer seems to be functional, still," said Shamus. "Now all we need is a power source."
"This device could be one, sweetie," Speed told him.
"You're right! It's still got some charge to it. And I'm not your loverboy yet!" retorted Shamus. "OK, I've got it now. You can let go."
"Oh, you know I can't."
"You're right. I do, and... Ouch. Oh, ouch. That really hurts," said Shamus as he fell to the ground.
"What? What is it?" asked Speed.
It took Shamus a minute or two of moaning on the floor to recover, but when he did, he told Speed what his problem was.
"Minor heart attack. I've had about five since I wound up on Mobius. Never did last more than a second or two though, 'cept for that one."
"Well then, why didn't you go to see Sasha? Her skills could keep you from dieing, which will keep us together," said Speed.
"I'll be dead before I turn seventy, anyway. I'm too out of shape for a guy my size." said Shamus.
"Are either of you in any way in need of assistance?" asked a strange voice that caused both Shamus and Speed to turn in fright.
Behind them stood a moogle that neither had seen before. Both were curious, but waited for the other to speak first.
"Who are you?" asked Shamus.
"I am Illusion, the Holographic Laboratory Assistant," said Illusion.
"I'm alright now. What kept you?" asked Shamus.
"I had to burn off some dust from my projection circuits. I see why you're well now," said Illusion, who was trying to get a better look at Speed.
"Sorry, hooligan, this sweetie has already claimed me," argued Speed.
"There is something you can help us with," interrupted Shamus as he began showing the sample jars of the slime. "I need these samples analyzed."
"What are they?" asked Illusion as he began to peer closely at the sample jars Shamus was holding.
"It's this slime. It appears to be psycoreactive in nature," said Shamus.
"More of that goo that I was covered in when we first got here," commented Speed, who was once again holding Shamus' arm, just to feel safe.
"Well, doctor, take them over to the analyzer. I'll have the results soon," said Illusion.
"Doctor? Doctor who?" asked Shamus.
"Dr. Charles Hedgehog, of course. Have you forgotten who you are?"
"No. It's just that my name is Captain Shamus O'Reiley, and this is Sapphire McSpike."
"Why wasn't I informed of this? Oh well. Just give me those jars and I'll get started," said Illusion.
"OK," said Shamus, as he put the glass containers in Illusion's hand which they instantly fell through, and broke on the floor, which splattered their contents all over Shamus and Speed.
"Oops! Should have checked all my 'grab' functions," said Illusion.
"Get us apart! Get us apart! We'll go wild over one another and who knows what else!!!" exclaimed Shamus, between wild kisses with Speed.
"I'm a hologram, Shamus! I can't do anything until my program is fully functional. What should I try first?" asked Illusion.
"Going away!" shouted Speed.
"Alright...What? He just asked me to help you. Shamus?" asked Illusion.
"The door!! We're on the wrong side of it!!! Get us outta here!!" shouted Shamus.
"The door program's jammed, but I'm working on it," reported Illusion.
Meanwhile, back in Knothole, Sonic was busy recruiting a team of freedom fighters to go and explore the area where the airship had emergency landed. Many, of course, were a bit wary of the human, knowing of Robotnik's treachery over the years. Fortunately there was one person brave enough to go with Sonic.
"Me? Why should I have to go anywhere near that blob of fat? He's probably as bad as Robotnik." commented Sasha.
"Speed's been injured and might have gone mad. She had some sort of outburst over the captain. If he dies from injuries sustained from that, who'll you have to use as a scapegoat for all those pies you steal from Sal to keep up your strength?" asked Sonic.
"I hate to admit it, but I guess even I'll miss him if he is killed. Any other volunteers?" asked Sasha.
Rotor stepped forward to help, so Sonic and Sasha used their own special powers to get to where they were needed, with their larger friend following as fast as he could.
Back at the lab, Illusion had finally managed to get the main door working, and had transferred his program to Shamus' hand unit to be taken outside to survey the damaged airship. Shamus and came flying out the opened hatch in a lab cart at the same time that Sonic, Sasha and Rotor arrived.
"Hey, there's Shamus and Speed now. Let's see what's up with them," commented Sonic. Seconds later, he was clearing a landing space for his airborne friends.
As soon as Sonic and Sasha had stepped out of the way, Shamus and Bunnie landed.
"Ohhhh, ouch. More pain," said Shamus.
"What hit me?" asked Speed.
"Here's a better question," Rotor returned harshly. "What were you two doing in there? And, come to think of it, where's Sally and Tails?"
"Exploring," replied Shamus.
"Sally-girl and Tails went lookin' for a back door to that burrow. You were hit by a flying human, Speed," Bunnie followed.
"I'm alright," said Speed as Sasha checked her over, "but you should check Shamus. He said something about a funny pain while we were in there."
"No, no, I'm ok. Just a minor heart attack. I'm fine now. Besides, we gotta find Sally and Tails," explained Shamus, trying to avoid a probe.
"You're not going to get out of it that easily this time, Shamus. I think you've been avoiding me, and now I know why. This won't hurt a bit," Sasha said, as she put one hand on the human's forehead.
"You're right, that didn't hurt," commented Shamus, who's hair and beard were standing on end after thirty seconds of a telepathic probe.
"My stars!" exclaimed Sasha. "This man shouldn't be alive at all, but somehow he is. His arteries and veins are so plugged up, I don't know how to go about fixing the problem."
"Heart surgery?" asked Shamus.
"Not unless you know of a surgeon who knows human physiology," answered Sally.
"Well, then, since I don't have long to go, I'll hook this into the ship's power supply, and let Illusion take over," said Shamus, as he stepped onto the airship. Ten minutes later, Illusion was once again visible.
"Thank you. I prefer you stay prompt when you say prompt. This place is a mess. It'll take us weeks to cleanup, and....Who's this?" asked Illusion, upon seeing Bunnie, who took a swat at him with her robotic arm.
"Yeah, who?" asked Bunnie.
"Bunnie Rabot, meet Illusion the Holographic Lab Assistant, and vice versa," said Shamus. "And these people are Sonic the Hedgehog, Sasha Prower, and Roter Walrus."
"Pleased to meet you, too, big guy," said Sonic.
"Same here, I think," responded Illusion. "What happened to this place?"
"We were flying along at a fairly good pace, minding our own business, when all of a sudden, this panel, which was covering a section of the coolant section, exploded, covering our lovely friend with that slime I showed you. Unfortunately, I also showed you what happens when it comes in contact with living tissues," explained Shamus.
"Yes, which means I'll have to do all the work myself," complained Illusion. "But, since you're here, I may as well analyze this stuff for you. What you appear to have as a power source is a conversion-type multiphaze nuclear reactor, which would account for the substance in question's makeup of water molecules fuzed with helium. Voice records in this hand unit of yours indicate than Miss McSpike was nearest this section for the entire flight. Therefore, it is my belief that she poseses limited telepathic or magical powers, which projected her feelings of passion for the captain into this substance. But this still leaves two unanswered questions."
"Why did it form and what made it burst out of the panel," said Sasha.
"Precisely. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get this mess cleaned up and the generator going again before the power reserves are gone completely," commented Illusion.
"Certainly, Illusion. We've got to find Sally and Tails anyway," Shamus remembered. "Before we get started, though, I'd like everyone to take one of these pins. They'll keep us in contact, no matter where we are."
As the group filed out, each took one of the pins, and left in his or her own direction in hopes of finding their missing comrades. The remaining daylight hours passed with no success, as did nightfall. About an hour later, Shamus was over the communicator with good news.
"O'Reiley to all search party members. I've found Sally! Besides a few bruses, she seems to be in good health," Shamus reported.
"Sonic here," Sonic called in, "have you found Tails yet?"
"No, but I'm scanning for him now," reported the captain, as he did a broad range search with a second hand unit that he carried. "Anyone else?"
"This is the HLA, captain. He's here, I think. A young-looking fox with two tails showed up, and then passed out only seconds afterward," reported Illusion. "He had a broken leg, and I took measures to prevent further injuries."
"That's him!" shrieked Speed.
"All search party members report to the airship. Conference," ordered Shamus, as he scooped Sally up in his arms and started back to the airship himself.
Five minutes into the return trip, Sally regained enough strength to start asking questions.
"What's going on here? Where are we going?" she asked.
"Save your strength, Princess. We'll both do our explaining when we get back to the ship," responded Shamus. In another five minutes, they had arrived back at the airship and boarded, as had most of the other searchers.
"Ok, now here's what we've got for information, people," said Shamus. "I found Sally, in a weakened state, about an eighth of a kilometer from here. Once we began our return trip, she gained enough strength to speak. Illusion, you say Tails showed up here with a broken leg, and collapsed into unconsciouses shortly thereafter. Anything else you can tell us?"
"Yes, captain, there is," replied Illusion. In the few seconds that he remained conscious, he said a single word, but I couldn't make out what it was."
"Does anyone know anything else?" asked Shamus.
"I may have somethin'," remarked Bunnie. "I found this basket about a half a kilometer from here in the other direction from where those two came from. It's Sally's work. I saw her do it."
"Yes, yes, I did make a basket while we waited for you and Speed. Tails and I went to find a rear entrance, and I took that just in case we found some fruit on the way," explained Sally. "We found some apples, then something, a SWAT-BOT mabey, threw us around, and I landed about a hundred yards away, Tails went a few feet further. Before I blacked out, I saw something fly overhead."
"Sasha, status of your patient?" asked Shamus.
"His leg is healed," said Sasha, "but just when he'll return to us I can't say."
"Rotor, Sonic, Speed? How about you?" asked Shamus.
"Nothing," all three answered, in unison.
"By the way, Illusion," mentioned Speed, "what did you do with all that slime that was in here?"
"I vaporized it," answered Illusion, as he walked over to a counter and made himself solid enough to pick up a hand lazer and set it down again. "This little gem did the trick right away. As soon as I finished, some sort of flying craft managed to pull it right out of the ship. I did figure out what the slime's molecular structure was. It was based on the water molecule, with three extra hydrogen atoms and a carbon atom. My hypothesis as to why Ms. McSpike reacted the way she did is that the slime was like an enhancement drug on the emotional center of her brain, which, at the time, was focused on her intense love for Shamus, or at least that's what the logs in this device tell me."
"It's true, Shamie-pie. If it hasn't been made clear already, I love you," said Speed. "This just came to mind. Last time I was in Robotopolis, I overheard Snively telling a few of those vile robots about an aircraft that can make it's fuel directly from the air."
"Yayahhh!!!" screamed Tails, who had just become conscious.
"What's wrong, dear?" asked Sasha.
"I had a nightmare that Robotnik captured me and used me for horrible things. What is that thing?" asked Tails, pointing at Illusion.
"I am Illusion, the Holographic Laboratory Assistant," explained Illusion.
"Does that mean you're some sort of ghost?" asked Tails, now full of energetic curiosity.
"Sort of. It means that I'm a picture made of light focused through a computer," explained Illusion.
"So that's why I can see you but not touch you," said Tails.
"You'd better rest for a bit, Tails. How are you holding out for energy, Illusion?" asked Shamus.
"Ok, sir," complied Tails who hovered away from Illusion, and over into a nearby chair, in which he fell fast asleep.
"I'm not doing so good. If you save and end my program now, I can make it back to the lab and my regenerating power supply," said Illusion.
"We'll do that. Once we're done getting you hooked up, we'd better get some sleep ourselves. Speed, would you mind taking care of Tails here tonight? He needs to rest, and I don't want to move him," said Shamus.
"I'll take care of him as if he were my own, my sweet," replied Speed, and then kissed Shamus.
"Thank you. Illusion, now," ordered Shamus. Illusion, knowing to save and end his program in the hand unit, did so. An hour later, Illusion had been returned to the lab computer and directed the reduced crew to sleeping quarters, where they spent the rest of the night and half of the next day resting from their adventures of the previous day.
When they awoke, Shamus, Bunnie, and Illusion spent the rest of the day designing a new coolant system for the reactor drives aboard the airship.
"This one should work. Let's run the simulation," Shamus said, about midday.
"Right," answered Illusion.
"The simulation is running. Operating temperature of nine million kelvins reached; no change in molecular structure of coolant shown," reported Bunnie.
"Coolant temperatures at acceptable levels; no system blockage shown; everything is running smoothly," Shamus told his comrades.
"All engine systems powering down," Illusion reported. "We're through safe. Suggested procedure, sir?"
"Let's run it a few more times, just to be sure," said Shamus.
After several more successful tests, all three took breaks of sorts, during which Bunnie and Sally traded places and Shamus looked for water and a place for a garden, in which he had limited success. During his break, Illusion found an interesting file in his memory banks that he thought might aid in the building of the coolant system.
"It was marked Energizing circuit. Although it appears to be all one circuit, the title leads me to believe differently," explained Illusion.
"I recognize it," remarked Shamus, as he pointed at the main screen in the computer room. "This looks like the main relay circutboard from the transporter onboard the Volroch, or at least it was, before it got blown up with the rest of the ship."
"Illusion, you do realize that this may be one of Mr. O'Reiley's old files from those days, don't you?" asked Sally.
"I explored that possibility. When I was downloaded back to this computer, all the files in Shamus's hand unit came with me, including the ones from this 'transporter' of yours," Illusion explained, with an annoyed sound in his voice. "I'll bring up the closest match up on a side screen."
Shamus took a close look at both and then asked Illusion to superimpose the two in the main screen.
"One connection," said Shamus. "I only need to change one connection, and then what we'll have is a transporter and replicator relay board. Then we can replicate any part or food in the program library, and beam it anywhere."
"I just had a thought. NICHOLE has the circut skematics for the robiticicisors in Robotnik's lab. If I hook her up and run the program, you could do a comparison, Illusion," said Sally, as she did so.
Illusion put the circut from his file on the screen then superimposed the one of the roboticizer. To the shock of both living people present, it was an exact match.
"This is not good," said Shamus.
"Why not?" asked Illusion.
"Robotnik uses that thing to turn living breathing people like Shamus and myself into evil robots that are his slaves. If Charlie invented it and let Robotnik get it, well I just hate to think it," explained Sally.
"What's worse, anyone from Knothole Village that gets captured is run through that infernal machine. Half a dozen unfortunate souls got axed by that thing in the year and a half that I've been here. And from what I've heard, from reliable sources, some who have talked to Dr. Hedgehog himself, there's no reversing the process, there's no stopping it, there's just no toutching Robotnik's version of it," Shamus explained further.
"Well then," remarked Illusion, "we need to get your transporting device online, and add weapons to your airship as soon as we can."
As Shamus and Illusion worked nearly tirelesly for a week strait with building the transporter, and defensive and offensive systems for the airship, the Freedom Fighters ran several recon missions into Robotopolis and gained some information about the flying device that Robotnik was using.
"It doesn't have sensors or weapons, but it's shields are quite strong," reported Bunnie, durring the strategy meeting after everything was complete.
"Reason?" asked Shamus.
"It's drive core must not take damage. It's more unstable than the reactor core on the Mobius," explained Sally. "The sheilds are so strong to protect the gyroscope and balance systems on it , I think."
"You're probably right," said Shamus. "Does anyone know what kind of shields they are?"
"I heard him say they were Magneto-Ionic shields," answered Speed.
"That's not good," said Shamus. "We'll have to knock them out on the forst shot if we wanna knock the balance systems off-line. Illusion, airship system status?"
"Well, captain, we can go as soon as we get the reactor core cleaned and reloaded. I can do that with my program and the cleaning containers you designed with the engines," reported Illusion.
"What's 'not good' about the shields Robuttnik's using?" asked Sonic.
"We have only one option to disable it and destroy that ship: nuclear missiles," explained Shamus.
"Explain," requested Sally.
"Nuclear missiles are explosives that use uranium-236 as the explosive mass," explained Shamus. "It's one of the most horrible weapon ever invented on my world. The explosion burns and then knocks apart any nonliving and non-fleshy biomass that it touches, and that says nothing for what it lands on."
"All of a sudden, I'm very afraid of you, Shamus, and I think I speak for all of Knothole when I say this," said Bunnie.
"I've always been afraid of myself," responded Shamus, "and moreso now that I have no choice to do the atomic weapons. I, therefore, do believe I understand your fear."
"What's your plan, Shamus?" asked Speed.
"Well, the explosion's gonna have to take place at least one hundred and fifty kilometers away from any inhabited areas and at leas the same distance up. I have a system that can be attached to a ship and fool it into going anywhere we want it to," explained Shamus. "There is one problem, though. It has a small remote device that has to be attached to the bottom of its intended target. From what I understand, Old Roundboy's whatever it is has to be in the air to get at it's underside. Doing that with the airship would ruin it completely."
"There is one person who could help," remarked Tails, who was just there to be there.
At that moment, Dulce Dragon came sliding into the main computer room. Somehow, they convinced her to do it. Six weeks later, all was in readiness.
"This is the last chance I'll have to wish you good luck be fore we go in," Shamus told Dulce.
"WE?" she asked. "When did you decide to come along?"
"You'll need air support, someone to cover you on the way in. I've got an airship that needs testing. And, besides, I'd feel kinda bad if anything happened to you," replied Shamus.
This brought smiles and laughs from everyone except, of course, Speed, who had started to sulk.
"Oh, c'mon, Speed, Dulce and I are just friends, nothing like you and I, I'm sure. Am I right?" asked Shamus, as he turned from Speed to Dulce. The dragon's response was a nice kiss on the man's cheek. "Well. Jus what I was thinking," quipped Shamus as he turned red.
Now everyone was laughing, even Speed.
"You're shy, aren't you, captain?" asked Tails.
"Yes, yes I am," replied Shamus.
"We'd better get going," remarked Sally. "If our sources are correct about the launch pattern of that thing Robotnik's got, the next launch is in half an hour."
"Hey, she's right," said Sonic.
"Everyone remember what to do?" asked Shamus.
"Tails and I go back to Knothole and help Bunnie and Rotor install the blast shields, in case this doesn't work," replied Speed.
"Sal and I keep the ground forces busy while Dulce puts that thingamajig on Robuttnik's flier. Afterwards, we go back to Knothole and she goes with you," said Sonic.
"Right. And I'll fly backup for her. Illusion, you'll have to stay here and monitor it all," ordered Shamus.
"Yes, sir," responded Illusion.
"If this comes out well, Shamus, there'll be something between us, you know," Dulce remarked.
"Uh, yeah," responded Shamus. "Let's get going."
Meanwhile, at Robotnik's headquarters, launch preparations for the evil airship weren't going quite as smoothly.
"What do you mean by telling me that the Freedom Fighters have their own airship, Snively?" asked Robotnik.
"It's that human they've been working with, sir. About a month ago, he completed work on an airship of his own. By now, they know about our plan and have upgraded their defenses to prevent an attack," reported Snively.
"Why wasn't I informed sooner?" the doctor roared.
"We hadn't finished analyzing the data from that first run until just five minutes ago, sir," answered Snively.
"Launch the craft!" ordered Robotnik.
"SWAT-BOT team five report to speeder craft for duty," Snively ordered, over the intercom. Three minutes later, the speeder was in the air and looking for Knothole. Two after that, the two crafts met.
"Now what's going on, Snively?" asked Robotnik.
"It appears to be some sort of attack, sir. I can't figure out what's going on," Snively replied. Seconds later, a message came in from Shamus.
"Robotnik? O'Reiley here," said the face on the screen, "I've decided to help you for once. These people are hypnotized to put a sensor on your craft that will help you find Knothole."
"A wise choice, Mr. O'Reiley," responded Robotnik. "Once I've destroyed that village, you'll be aptly rewarded. But, first, I'm going to see how well you fight."
"Thank you, sir. I'll be waiting," said Shamus. "O'Reiley out."
"Why didn't you think of this, Snively?" Robotnik asked.
"I don't know, sir," Snively answered.
Moments later, it was all over, the airship had departed, as had the Mobians. Because there had been no apparent winner, both sides were happy.
Within an hour, the evil airship had reached the falsified coordinates of Knothole Village. At that time, the nuclear missile was launched from Shamus' lab, which had also been protected.
Seeing his destroyer team search in vain angered Robotnik greatly, prompting him to call Shamus at his lab.
"You tricked me, O'Reiley. I don't like being tricked," growled Robotnik, over a communications channel.
"Then you've probably guessed that those Freedom Fighters weren't hypnotized, either," responded Shamus. "And if you don't like that surprise, you've only got about one minute to wait for another."
"What's he talking about, Snively?" Robotnik asked his hairless lackey.
"There appears to be a missile on a direct course with the speeder, sir. Impact in thirty seconds, though no damage will be done," answered Snively.
"Think again," said Shamus.
Seconds later, the missile hit and caused an explosion that made shock waves in the planet's atmosphere, despite the distance used for safety.
"Surprise!" laughed Shamus before closing the channel.
"One day, O'Reiley, you'll pay for this! I'll see to that!!" cursed Robotnik.
Meanwhile, back in Knothole and at the lab, there was much cheering and celebrating.
"Yes!! Yes!! We did it!! We actually did it, and it worked!!" cheered Shamus.
"Now I understand why Speed's attracted to you. I hope you do, too," remarked Dulce before she kissed Shamus.
"I never will," responded Shamus.
At that same time, the others were also starting their celebration. Naturally, Sonic started bragging.
"I bet I can do that any day," bragged Sonic.
"Oh, sure you could, Sonic," remarked Sally.
"That's my Shamie-pie," said Speed.
Shortly thereafter, a message came in from the lab.
"Knothole here. May we lower the shield?" asked Sally.
"Yes," said Illusion. "Shamus asked me to call and ask you to do so. We will be arriving shortly."
"Why didn't Mr. O'Reiley call and say so himself?" asked Sally.
"Miss Dulce had something she wanted him to take care of, and they headed for the door together. I hope one of them remembers to come back for me," explained Illusion.
"When he gets here, we need to talk," remarked Speed, as she started to fume.
"Yes, and I'll talk to Dulcie," Sally said.
Shortly, the captain returned, with, of course, his face all covered with Dulce's green lipstick, to upload Illusion to a hand unit for transfer to the airship's computer. When they arrived in Knothole, Dulce got her talking-to from Sally, and Shamus talked Speed out of beating him to a pulp, with, of course, the help of several new-found friends in Knothole holding her down. Arrangements were made for Speed to live with Shamus at his lab and weekly visits to Knothole until such became impractical near completion of Shamus' new starship, at which time Speed would return to Knothole and wait for word from Shamus.
"I still can't decide which one I like more," remarked Shamus as he stood outside the airship with Sally and Illusion
"That kind of decision is always tough," Sally reminded him.
"What's to decide? Go for both. I would," commented Illusion.
"I can't, Illusion. It wouldn't be right," explained Shamus.
"I still don't see a tough decision. Please explain further," Illusion requested.
"I'll get more in depth later, my friend, but for now, all I can say is one word: hormones. You don't know how lucky you are not te have them, Illusion," explained Shamus.
"How true," remarked Sally.
"You mean unlucky," said Illusion, as Speed ran up and boarded the airship. Illusion theh tried not to be obvious and followed her.
"Well," sighed Shamus, "see you next week. And don't forget to tell Dulce that I miss her already."
"Don't worry, I will," Sally assured him.
Shamus smiled and boarded his airship. As the hatch closed, Sally thought to herself how she already missed Shamus herself, and he hadn't even left yet. And then she thought about the simple explanation Shamus had given Illusion about his feelings for the two lovely girls in his life and turned to go back into Knothole so that Shamus could get back to his lab.
The End
Another successful completion for Jesse Shearer. What do you think, friends? Hopefully, Shamus and Illusion will be back for more fun in "Midnight Star". Until that time, feel free to put these two in a story or two, just for fun. And speaking of fun, I hope you have as much reading "The Lab" as I did wrighting it. I'd say the "happy scenes" are by far my favorite parts. Please feel free to leave me an e-mail message or a note in one of the folders about your favorite parts (or your least favorite parts). Thank you for your time and concideration.
Oh, and here's a dedication to my father, Bud, on who's birthday, February 12, 1996, I finished this story. He deserves that much, at least, on account of he's a good father, though he IS registered Democrat, and I'm registered Republican. HA, HA, I get to vote in a primary!!! Just kidding, Dad. Happy birthday, Old Man. I love you! And all of you fans, too! See you in Knothole sometime, I hope!
--Jesse Shearer
----JMShearer@aol.com
The time frame for this work is one and one half years after the arrival of Captain Shamus O'Reiley on Mobius. He, with the help of Sonic and crew, has invented and adapted many things to aid not only in his search for a way home, but also in the defeat of Dr. Ivo Robotnik. Now Shamus needs more space to work. Fortunately, he has found such a place....
The Lab.
"Yes!!!" shouted Captain Shamus O'Reiley. "We've perfected the first airship of this kind in over three hundred years!! I'm in the air where I belong again!! Thanks for the help, everyone!"
"You're welcome, Shamus," said Bunnie. "Glad we could help."
"Tell me again how this thing is powered," requested Sonic.
"It's a double-reaction nuclear power generator. First, the waste we put in is superheated and then dumped into a chamber at absolute zero, where it collapses in on itself and fusion begins. The helium and hydrogen left over helps keep us afloat. When that's done, fission takes over, and the radioactive atoms are split," explained Shamus.
"I can handle that," said Sonic.
What Shamus had not said, of course, is that there would be some radioactive waste. The kind that not only took millennia to become totally inert, but, if used in the wrong hands, was capable of global destruction.
"Let's take this thing for a test flight!" suggested Tails.
"Good idea! Do you mind if I assign posts, Sally?" asked Shamus.
"Go right ahead," said Sally.
"Thank you. Tails, you have navigation; Bunnie, take engineering; Sonic, security is yours; and, I insist that Sally take the command position," said Shamus.
"Everyone clear? Good. I've got one question, though. What will you do, Mr. O'Reiley?" asked Sally.
"The conn is mine. I'll be setting and engaging the course and speed as well as monitoring all systems," explained Shamus.
"OK, let's begin. Stations," said Sally.
Suddenly, Sapphire McSpike otherwise known as Speed, boarded the airship, ran over, and sat on Shamus's lap. "Can I come, too, Shamie-pie?" she asked.
"Sure, but let me get you a post first," said Shamus, helping Speed up and standing as well.
"OK, where will I be?" asked Speed.
"Over here monitoring reactor core temperature. If it gets above ten million Kelvins, say something," explained Shamus.
"You got it," returned Speed, who then kissed Shamus for no good reason.
"Shamie-pie?" chuckled Tails when Shamus returned to his seat at the conn.
"Ahem. Now, lets get down to business. Navigator, I need a course to the Grand Mountains," requested Shamus.
"One-three-five by two-zero-six mark one-one-four-zero. Ten minutes at thirty knots," reported Tails
"Course and speed set, ready to engage at your command, Princess," reports Shamus.
"Engage," ordered Sally.
Things went smoothly for the first several minutes of the maiden voyage of the Airship Mobius, as the crew called her, but then, the conn started showing some odd readings.
"Are you getting this?" Shamus asked Bunnie. "What's the temperature over there, Speed?"
"I thought that the buildup was normal," she replied.
"The temp. is 9,000,000 K," reported Speed
"Not this one. If it were just heavy metals, I wouldn't worry," said Shamus. "This ooze never showed up in the tests. Temp's normal, though."
Suddenly, there was a loud pop from the engine section, and Speed was laying flat on her back in a pile of translucent brown goo. Shamus was over her almost instantly with a scanner, and taking samples.
"She's all right for now, but the slime's got some strange readings to it. The engine's shot. We won't be able to stay up much longer," reported Shamus. "Luckily, we're over a grassy valley. I'll land us now and we can make plans there."
As they desended, Speed's lifelong friends expressed their concern. Shamus did his best to comfort them.
"Although the slime's readings were unclear, I believe it to be harmless. It might even be good for her," explained Shamus.
"We're down. Let's have a look outside," said Shamus
Upon landing and exiting, the crew began looking around and tending to their fallen comrade. Speed's unexpected recovery and reaction startled all, especially Shamus, who was on the receiving end of some strong affection from the cybernetic hedgehog.
"Woah, woah, before you hurt the both of us! Please let go of me so I can get some readings of this," requested Shamus.
"But I love you so much!!" exclaimed Speed.
"We know that now. Whatever this stuff is and does, it's strong! I never thought she'd actually do this," noted Shamus.
"How so?" asked Sonic.
"She usually ran away whenever I tried to touch her, and just now, she hit me so hard, I was knocked back three meters with force to spare, and I'm three times her size, at least," said Shamus.
"What should we do?" asked Sally.
"I'll go back to Knothole and get help," answered Sonic, before speeding off.
"You three stay and guard the airship," Shamus said to Sally , Bunnie and Tails. "Since there's no chance of Speed leaving me for a while, the two of us will explore that cave."
When the two entered, a huge metal door came crashing shut behind them, and wouldn't reopen.
After about an hour's worth of searching, the cave crew realized that they were in some sort of laboratory.
"The main computer seems to be functional, still," said Shamus. "Now all we need is a power source."
"This device could be one, sweetie," Speed told him.
"You're right! It's still got some charge to it. And I'm not your loverboy yet!" retorted Shamus. "OK, I've got it now. You can let go."
"Oh, you know I can't."
"You're right. I do, and... Ouch. Oh, ouch. That really hurts," said Shamus as he fell to the ground.
"What? What is it?" asked Speed.
It took Shamus a minute or two of moaning on the floor to recover, but when he did, he told Speed what his problem was.
"Minor heart attack. I've had about five since I wound up on Mobius. Never did last more than a second or two though, 'cept for that one."
"Well then, why didn't you go to see Sasha? Her skills could keep you from dieing, which will keep us together," said Speed.
"I'll be dead before I turn seventy, anyway. I'm too out of shape for a guy my size." said Shamus.
"Are either of you in any way in need of assistance?" asked a strange voice that caused both Shamus and Speed to turn in fright.
Behind them stood a moogle that neither had seen before. Both were curious, but waited for the other to speak first.
"Who are you?" asked Shamus.
"I am Illusion, the Holographic Laboratory Assistant," said Illusion.
"I'm alright now. What kept you?" asked Shamus.
"I had to burn off some dust from my projection circuits. I see why you're well now," said Illusion, who was trying to get a better look at Speed.
"Sorry, hooligan, this sweetie has already claimed me," argued Speed.
"There is something you can help us with," interrupted Shamus as he began showing the sample jars of the slime. "I need these samples analyzed."
"What are they?" asked Illusion as he began to peer closely at the sample jars Shamus was holding.
"It's this slime. It appears to be psycoreactive in nature," said Shamus.
"More of that goo that I was covered in when we first got here," commented Speed, who was once again holding Shamus' arm, just to feel safe.
"Well, doctor, take them over to the analyzer. I'll have the results soon," said Illusion.
"Doctor? Doctor who?" asked Shamus.
"Dr. Charles Hedgehog, of course. Have you forgotten who you are?"
"No. It's just that my name is Captain Shamus O'Reiley, and this is Sapphire McSpike."
"Why wasn't I informed of this? Oh well. Just give me those jars and I'll get started," said Illusion.
"OK," said Shamus, as he put the glass containers in Illusion's hand which they instantly fell through, and broke on the floor, which splattered their contents all over Shamus and Speed.
"Oops! Should have checked all my 'grab' functions," said Illusion.
"Get us apart! Get us apart! We'll go wild over one another and who knows what else!!!" exclaimed Shamus, between wild kisses with Speed.
"I'm a hologram, Shamus! I can't do anything until my program is fully functional. What should I try first?" asked Illusion.
"Going away!" shouted Speed.
"Alright...What? He just asked me to help you. Shamus?" asked Illusion.
"The door!! We're on the wrong side of it!!! Get us outta here!!" shouted Shamus.
"The door program's jammed, but I'm working on it," reported Illusion.
Meanwhile, back in Knothole, Sonic was busy recruiting a team of freedom fighters to go and explore the area where the airship had emergency landed. Many, of course, were a bit wary of the human, knowing of Robotnik's treachery over the years. Fortunately there was one person brave enough to go with Sonic.
"Me? Why should I have to go anywhere near that blob of fat? He's probably as bad as Robotnik." commented Sasha.
"Speed's been injured and might have gone mad. She had some sort of outburst over the captain. If he dies from injuries sustained from that, who'll you have to use as a scapegoat for all those pies you steal from Sal to keep up your strength?" asked Sonic.
"I hate to admit it, but I guess even I'll miss him if he is killed. Any other volunteers?" asked Sasha.
Rotor stepped forward to help, so Sonic and Sasha used their own special powers to get to where they were needed, with their larger friend following as fast as he could.
Back at the lab, Illusion had finally managed to get the main door working, and had transferred his program to Shamus' hand unit to be taken outside to survey the damaged airship. Shamus and came flying out the opened hatch in a lab cart at the same time that Sonic, Sasha and Rotor arrived.
"Hey, there's Shamus and Speed now. Let's see what's up with them," commented Sonic. Seconds later, he was clearing a landing space for his airborne friends.
As soon as Sonic and Sasha had stepped out of the way, Shamus and Bunnie landed.
"Ohhhh, ouch. More pain," said Shamus.
"What hit me?" asked Speed.
"Here's a better question," Rotor returned harshly. "What were you two doing in there? And, come to think of it, where's Sally and Tails?"
"Exploring," replied Shamus.
"Sally-girl and Tails went lookin' for a back door to that burrow. You were hit by a flying human, Speed," Bunnie followed.
"I'm alright," said Speed as Sasha checked her over, "but you should check Shamus. He said something about a funny pain while we were in there."
"No, no, I'm ok. Just a minor heart attack. I'm fine now. Besides, we gotta find Sally and Tails," explained Shamus, trying to avoid a probe.
"You're not going to get out of it that easily this time, Shamus. I think you've been avoiding me, and now I know why. This won't hurt a bit," Sasha said, as she put one hand on the human's forehead.
"You're right, that didn't hurt," commented Shamus, who's hair and beard were standing on end after thirty seconds of a telepathic probe.
"My stars!" exclaimed Sasha. "This man shouldn't be alive at all, but somehow he is. His arteries and veins are so plugged up, I don't know how to go about fixing the problem."
"Heart surgery?" asked Shamus.
"Not unless you know of a surgeon who knows human physiology," answered Sally.
"Well, then, since I don't have long to go, I'll hook this into the ship's power supply, and let Illusion take over," said Shamus, as he stepped onto the airship. Ten minutes later, Illusion was once again visible.
"Thank you. I prefer you stay prompt when you say prompt. This place is a mess. It'll take us weeks to cleanup, and....Who's this?" asked Illusion, upon seeing Bunnie, who took a swat at him with her robotic arm.
"Yeah, who?" asked Bunnie.
"Bunnie Rabot, meet Illusion the Holographic Lab Assistant, and vice versa," said Shamus. "And these people are Sonic the Hedgehog, Sasha Prower, and Roter Walrus."
"Pleased to meet you, too, big guy," said Sonic.
"Same here, I think," responded Illusion. "What happened to this place?"
"We were flying along at a fairly good pace, minding our own business, when all of a sudden, this panel, which was covering a section of the coolant section, exploded, covering our lovely friend with that slime I showed you. Unfortunately, I also showed you what happens when it comes in contact with living tissues," explained Shamus.
"Yes, which means I'll have to do all the work myself," complained Illusion. "But, since you're here, I may as well analyze this stuff for you. What you appear to have as a power source is a conversion-type multiphaze nuclear reactor, which would account for the substance in question's makeup of water molecules fuzed with helium. Voice records in this hand unit of yours indicate than Miss McSpike was nearest this section for the entire flight. Therefore, it is my belief that she poseses limited telepathic or magical powers, which projected her feelings of passion for the captain into this substance. But this still leaves two unanswered questions."
"Why did it form and what made it burst out of the panel," said Sasha.
"Precisely. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get this mess cleaned up and the generator going again before the power reserves are gone completely," commented Illusion.
"Certainly, Illusion. We've got to find Sally and Tails anyway," Shamus remembered. "Before we get started, though, I'd like everyone to take one of these pins. They'll keep us in contact, no matter where we are."
As the group filed out, each took one of the pins, and left in his or her own direction in hopes of finding their missing comrades. The remaining daylight hours passed with no success, as did nightfall. About an hour later, Shamus was over the communicator with good news.
"O'Reiley to all search party members. I've found Sally! Besides a few bruses, she seems to be in good health," Shamus reported.
"Sonic here," Sonic called in, "have you found Tails yet?"
"No, but I'm scanning for him now," reported the captain, as he did a broad range search with a second hand unit that he carried. "Anyone else?"
"This is the HLA, captain. He's here, I think. A young-looking fox with two tails showed up, and then passed out only seconds afterward," reported Illusion. "He had a broken leg, and I took measures to prevent further injuries."
"That's him!" shrieked Speed.
"All search party members report to the airship. Conference," ordered Shamus, as he scooped Sally up in his arms and started back to the airship himself.
Five minutes into the return trip, Sally regained enough strength to start asking questions.
"What's going on here? Where are we going?" she asked.
"Save your strength, Princess. We'll both do our explaining when we get back to the ship," responded Shamus. In another five minutes, they had arrived back at the airship and boarded, as had most of the other searchers.
"Ok, now here's what we've got for information, people," said Shamus. "I found Sally, in a weakened state, about an eighth of a kilometer from here. Once we began our return trip, she gained enough strength to speak. Illusion, you say Tails showed up here with a broken leg, and collapsed into unconsciouses shortly thereafter. Anything else you can tell us?"
"Yes, captain, there is," replied Illusion. In the few seconds that he remained conscious, he said a single word, but I couldn't make out what it was."
"Does anyone know anything else?" asked Shamus.
"I may have somethin'," remarked Bunnie. "I found this basket about a half a kilometer from here in the other direction from where those two came from. It's Sally's work. I saw her do it."
"Yes, yes, I did make a basket while we waited for you and Speed. Tails and I went to find a rear entrance, and I took that just in case we found some fruit on the way," explained Sally. "We found some apples, then something, a SWAT-BOT mabey, threw us around, and I landed about a hundred yards away, Tails went a few feet further. Before I blacked out, I saw something fly overhead."
"Sasha, status of your patient?" asked Shamus.
"His leg is healed," said Sasha, "but just when he'll return to us I can't say."
"Rotor, Sonic, Speed? How about you?" asked Shamus.
"Nothing," all three answered, in unison.
"By the way, Illusion," mentioned Speed, "what did you do with all that slime that was in here?"
"I vaporized it," answered Illusion, as he walked over to a counter and made himself solid enough to pick up a hand lazer and set it down again. "This little gem did the trick right away. As soon as I finished, some sort of flying craft managed to pull it right out of the ship. I did figure out what the slime's molecular structure was. It was based on the water molecule, with three extra hydrogen atoms and a carbon atom. My hypothesis as to why Ms. McSpike reacted the way she did is that the slime was like an enhancement drug on the emotional center of her brain, which, at the time, was focused on her intense love for Shamus, or at least that's what the logs in this device tell me."
"It's true, Shamie-pie. If it hasn't been made clear already, I love you," said Speed. "This just came to mind. Last time I was in Robotopolis, I overheard Snively telling a few of those vile robots about an aircraft that can make it's fuel directly from the air."
"Yayahhh!!!" screamed Tails, who had just become conscious.
"What's wrong, dear?" asked Sasha.
"I had a nightmare that Robotnik captured me and used me for horrible things. What is that thing?" asked Tails, pointing at Illusion.
"I am Illusion, the Holographic Laboratory Assistant," explained Illusion.
"Does that mean you're some sort of ghost?" asked Tails, now full of energetic curiosity.
"Sort of. It means that I'm a picture made of light focused through a computer," explained Illusion.
"So that's why I can see you but not touch you," said Tails.
"You'd better rest for a bit, Tails. How are you holding out for energy, Illusion?" asked Shamus.
"Ok, sir," complied Tails who hovered away from Illusion, and over into a nearby chair, in which he fell fast asleep.
"I'm not doing so good. If you save and end my program now, I can make it back to the lab and my regenerating power supply," said Illusion.
"We'll do that. Once we're done getting you hooked up, we'd better get some sleep ourselves. Speed, would you mind taking care of Tails here tonight? He needs to rest, and I don't want to move him," said Shamus.
"I'll take care of him as if he were my own, my sweet," replied Speed, and then kissed Shamus.
"Thank you. Illusion, now," ordered Shamus. Illusion, knowing to save and end his program in the hand unit, did so. An hour later, Illusion had been returned to the lab computer and directed the reduced crew to sleeping quarters, where they spent the rest of the night and half of the next day resting from their adventures of the previous day.
When they awoke, Shamus, Bunnie, and Illusion spent the rest of the day designing a new coolant system for the reactor drives aboard the airship.
"This one should work. Let's run the simulation," Shamus said, about midday.
"Right," answered Illusion.
"The simulation is running. Operating temperature of nine million kelvins reached; no change in molecular structure of coolant shown," reported Bunnie.
"Coolant temperatures at acceptable levels; no system blockage shown; everything is running smoothly," Shamus told his comrades.
"All engine systems powering down," Illusion reported. "We're through safe. Suggested procedure, sir?"
"Let's run it a few more times, just to be sure," said Shamus.
After several more successful tests, all three took breaks of sorts, during which Bunnie and Sally traded places and Shamus looked for water and a place for a garden, in which he had limited success. During his break, Illusion found an interesting file in his memory banks that he thought might aid in the building of the coolant system.
"It was marked Energizing circuit. Although it appears to be all one circuit, the title leads me to believe differently," explained Illusion.
"I recognize it," remarked Shamus, as he pointed at the main screen in the computer room. "This looks like the main relay circutboard from the transporter onboard the Volroch, or at least it was, before it got blown up with the rest of the ship."
"Illusion, you do realize that this may be one of Mr. O'Reiley's old files from those days, don't you?" asked Sally.
"I explored that possibility. When I was downloaded back to this computer, all the files in Shamus's hand unit came with me, including the ones from this 'transporter' of yours," Illusion explained, with an annoyed sound in his voice. "I'll bring up the closest match up on a side screen."
Shamus took a close look at both and then asked Illusion to superimpose the two in the main screen.
"One connection," said Shamus. "I only need to change one connection, and then what we'll have is a transporter and replicator relay board. Then we can replicate any part or food in the program library, and beam it anywhere."
"I just had a thought. NICHOLE has the circut skematics for the robiticicisors in Robotnik's lab. If I hook her up and run the program, you could do a comparison, Illusion," said Sally, as she did so.
Illusion put the circut from his file on the screen then superimposed the one of the roboticizer. To the shock of both living people present, it was an exact match.
"This is not good," said Shamus.
"Why not?" asked Illusion.
"Robotnik uses that thing to turn living breathing people like Shamus and myself into evil robots that are his slaves. If Charlie invented it and let Robotnik get it, well I just hate to think it," explained Sally.
"What's worse, anyone from Knothole Village that gets captured is run through that infernal machine. Half a dozen unfortunate souls got axed by that thing in the year and a half that I've been here. And from what I've heard, from reliable sources, some who have talked to Dr. Hedgehog himself, there's no reversing the process, there's no stopping it, there's just no toutching Robotnik's version of it," Shamus explained further.
"Well then," remarked Illusion, "we need to get your transporting device online, and add weapons to your airship as soon as we can."
As Shamus and Illusion worked nearly tirelesly for a week strait with building the transporter, and defensive and offensive systems for the airship, the Freedom Fighters ran several recon missions into Robotopolis and gained some information about the flying device that Robotnik was using.
"It doesn't have sensors or weapons, but it's shields are quite strong," reported Bunnie, durring the strategy meeting after everything was complete.
"Reason?" asked Shamus.
"It's drive core must not take damage. It's more unstable than the reactor core on the Mobius," explained Sally. "The sheilds are so strong to protect the gyroscope and balance systems on it , I think."
"You're probably right," said Shamus. "Does anyone know what kind of shields they are?"
"I heard him say they were Magneto-Ionic shields," answered Speed.
"That's not good," said Shamus. "We'll have to knock them out on the forst shot if we wanna knock the balance systems off-line. Illusion, airship system status?"
"Well, captain, we can go as soon as we get the reactor core cleaned and reloaded. I can do that with my program and the cleaning containers you designed with the engines," reported Illusion.
"What's 'not good' about the shields Robuttnik's using?" asked Sonic.
"We have only one option to disable it and destroy that ship: nuclear missiles," explained Shamus.
"Explain," requested Sally.
"Nuclear missiles are explosives that use uranium-236 as the explosive mass," explained Shamus. "It's one of the most horrible weapon ever invented on my world. The explosion burns and then knocks apart any nonliving and non-fleshy biomass that it touches, and that says nothing for what it lands on."
"All of a sudden, I'm very afraid of you, Shamus, and I think I speak for all of Knothole when I say this," said Bunnie.
"I've always been afraid of myself," responded Shamus, "and moreso now that I have no choice to do the atomic weapons. I, therefore, do believe I understand your fear."
"What's your plan, Shamus?" asked Speed.
"Well, the explosion's gonna have to take place at least one hundred and fifty kilometers away from any inhabited areas and at leas the same distance up. I have a system that can be attached to a ship and fool it into going anywhere we want it to," explained Shamus. "There is one problem, though. It has a small remote device that has to be attached to the bottom of its intended target. From what I understand, Old Roundboy's whatever it is has to be in the air to get at it's underside. Doing that with the airship would ruin it completely."
"There is one person who could help," remarked Tails, who was just there to be there.
At that moment, Dulce Dragon came sliding into the main computer room. Somehow, they convinced her to do it. Six weeks later, all was in readiness.
"This is the last chance I'll have to wish you good luck be fore we go in," Shamus told Dulce.
"WE?" she asked. "When did you decide to come along?"
"You'll need air support, someone to cover you on the way in. I've got an airship that needs testing. And, besides, I'd feel kinda bad if anything happened to you," replied Shamus.
This brought smiles and laughs from everyone except, of course, Speed, who had started to sulk.
"Oh, c'mon, Speed, Dulce and I are just friends, nothing like you and I, I'm sure. Am I right?" asked Shamus, as he turned from Speed to Dulce. The dragon's response was a nice kiss on the man's cheek. "Well. Jus what I was thinking," quipped Shamus as he turned red.
Now everyone was laughing, even Speed.
"You're shy, aren't you, captain?" asked Tails.
"Yes, yes I am," replied Shamus.
"We'd better get going," remarked Sally. "If our sources are correct about the launch pattern of that thing Robotnik's got, the next launch is in half an hour."
"Hey, she's right," said Sonic.
"Everyone remember what to do?" asked Shamus.
"Tails and I go back to Knothole and help Bunnie and Rotor install the blast shields, in case this doesn't work," replied Speed.
"Sal and I keep the ground forces busy while Dulce puts that thingamajig on Robuttnik's flier. Afterwards, we go back to Knothole and she goes with you," said Sonic.
"Right. And I'll fly backup for her. Illusion, you'll have to stay here and monitor it all," ordered Shamus.
"Yes, sir," responded Illusion.
"If this comes out well, Shamus, there'll be something between us, you know," Dulce remarked.
"Uh, yeah," responded Shamus. "Let's get going."
Meanwhile, at Robotnik's headquarters, launch preparations for the evil airship weren't going quite as smoothly.
"What do you mean by telling me that the Freedom Fighters have their own airship, Snively?" asked Robotnik.
"It's that human they've been working with, sir. About a month ago, he completed work on an airship of his own. By now, they know about our plan and have upgraded their defenses to prevent an attack," reported Snively.
"Why wasn't I informed sooner?" the doctor roared.
"We hadn't finished analyzing the data from that first run until just five minutes ago, sir," answered Snively.
"Launch the craft!" ordered Robotnik.
"SWAT-BOT team five report to speeder craft for duty," Snively ordered, over the intercom. Three minutes later, the speeder was in the air and looking for Knothole. Two after that, the two crafts met.
"Now what's going on, Snively?" asked Robotnik.
"It appears to be some sort of attack, sir. I can't figure out what's going on," Snively replied. Seconds later, a message came in from Shamus.
"Robotnik? O'Reiley here," said the face on the screen, "I've decided to help you for once. These people are hypnotized to put a sensor on your craft that will help you find Knothole."
"A wise choice, Mr. O'Reiley," responded Robotnik. "Once I've destroyed that village, you'll be aptly rewarded. But, first, I'm going to see how well you fight."
"Thank you, sir. I'll be waiting," said Shamus. "O'Reiley out."
"Why didn't you think of this, Snively?" Robotnik asked.
"I don't know, sir," Snively answered.
Moments later, it was all over, the airship had departed, as had the Mobians. Because there had been no apparent winner, both sides were happy.
Within an hour, the evil airship had reached the falsified coordinates of Knothole Village. At that time, the nuclear missile was launched from Shamus' lab, which had also been protected.
Seeing his destroyer team search in vain angered Robotnik greatly, prompting him to call Shamus at his lab.
"You tricked me, O'Reiley. I don't like being tricked," growled Robotnik, over a communications channel.
"Then you've probably guessed that those Freedom Fighters weren't hypnotized, either," responded Shamus. "And if you don't like that surprise, you've only got about one minute to wait for another."
"What's he talking about, Snively?" Robotnik asked his hairless lackey.
"There appears to be a missile on a direct course with the speeder, sir. Impact in thirty seconds, though no damage will be done," answered Snively.
"Think again," said Shamus.
Seconds later, the missile hit and caused an explosion that made shock waves in the planet's atmosphere, despite the distance used for safety.
"Surprise!" laughed Shamus before closing the channel.
"One day, O'Reiley, you'll pay for this! I'll see to that!!" cursed Robotnik.
Meanwhile, back in Knothole and at the lab, there was much cheering and celebrating.
"Yes!! Yes!! We did it!! We actually did it, and it worked!!" cheered Shamus.
"Now I understand why Speed's attracted to you. I hope you do, too," remarked Dulce before she kissed Shamus.
"I never will," responded Shamus.
At that same time, the others were also starting their celebration. Naturally, Sonic started bragging.
"I bet I can do that any day," bragged Sonic.
"Oh, sure you could, Sonic," remarked Sally.
"That's my Shamie-pie," said Speed.
Shortly thereafter, a message came in from the lab.
"Knothole here. May we lower the shield?" asked Sally.
"Yes," said Illusion. "Shamus asked me to call and ask you to do so. We will be arriving shortly."
"Why didn't Mr. O'Reiley call and say so himself?" asked Sally.
"Miss Dulce had something she wanted him to take care of, and they headed for the door together. I hope one of them remembers to come back for me," explained Illusion.
"When he gets here, we need to talk," remarked Speed, as she started to fume.
"Yes, and I'll talk to Dulcie," Sally said.
Shortly, the captain returned, with, of course, his face all covered with Dulce's green lipstick, to upload Illusion to a hand unit for transfer to the airship's computer. When they arrived in Knothole, Dulce got her talking-to from Sally, and Shamus talked Speed out of beating him to a pulp, with, of course, the help of several new-found friends in Knothole holding her down. Arrangements were made for Speed to live with Shamus at his lab and weekly visits to Knothole until such became impractical near completion of Shamus' new starship, at which time Speed would return to Knothole and wait for word from Shamus.
"I still can't decide which one I like more," remarked Shamus as he stood outside the airship with Sally and Illusion
"That kind of decision is always tough," Sally reminded him.
"What's to decide? Go for both. I would," commented Illusion.
"I can't, Illusion. It wouldn't be right," explained Shamus.
"I still don't see a tough decision. Please explain further," Illusion requested.
"I'll get more in depth later, my friend, but for now, all I can say is one word: hormones. You don't know how lucky you are not te have them, Illusion," explained Shamus.
"How true," remarked Sally.
"You mean unlucky," said Illusion, as Speed ran up and boarded the airship. Illusion theh tried not to be obvious and followed her.
"Well," sighed Shamus, "see you next week. And don't forget to tell Dulce that I miss her already."
"Don't worry, I will," Sally assured him.
Shamus smiled and boarded his airship. As the hatch closed, Sally thought to herself how she already missed Shamus herself, and he hadn't even left yet. And then she thought about the simple explanation Shamus had given Illusion about his feelings for the two lovely girls in his life and turned to go back into Knothole so that Shamus could get back to his lab.
The End
Another successful completion for Jesse Shearer. What do you think, friends? Hopefully, Shamus and Illusion will be back for more fun in "Midnight Star". Until that time, feel free to put these two in a story or two, just for fun. And speaking of fun, I hope you have as much reading "The Lab" as I did wrighting it. I'd say the "happy scenes" are by far my favorite parts. Please feel free to leave me an e-mail message or a note in one of the folders about your favorite parts (or your least favorite parts). Thank you for your time and concideration.
Oh, and here's a dedication to my father, Bud, on who's birthday, February 12, 1996, I finished this story. He deserves that much, at least, on account of he's a good father, though he IS registered Democrat, and I'm registered Republican. HA, HA, I get to vote in a primary!!! Just kidding, Dad. Happy birthday, Old Man. I love you! And all of you fans, too! See you in Knothole sometime, I hope!
--Jesse Shearer
----JMShearer@aol.com