First of all, I want to clarify that this is a fanfic adaptation work mixing with the pulp comics series "Captain Future", from1940 Edmond Hamilton and the Japanese anime version from 1979. The main characters have been replaced by their equivalent from oh my goddess and the two universes have been mixed even if the shading remains about 85% of that of the original novels by Hamilton. This is a work of adaptation, modernization (at 1940, it starts to date a little) and a merge with the ah my goddess universe. Some chapters have been adapted and their fate and the role of some characters have been changed. I think I did a pretty good job overall and hope you will enjoy reading it. Besides Edmond Hamilton, I particularly thank Kosuke Fujishima for his work "ah my goddess." For this fanfic I want to explain that nothing would have been possible without the beta reading of Vanagandr therefore thank him with all my heart. I also thank all those who worked on the series "Captain Flam", which is the French adaptation of the anime series "Captain Future" inspired by the work of Hamilton. Betas
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09°) Inner Demon.
Urd and Skuld, as well as their "brother" had been locked in a transparent cage.
"Make yourselves comfortable. You will stay here for a very long time." Said Wrecker.
"Do you think you can keep us prisoners forever?" Urd asked defiantly.
"Oh yes, I do. For your information, this is a special glass developed by the aquatic people. It only allows certain gasses to pass so that you can breathe, and contains all the rest. I know you are qute resourceful, even without your weapons, but this cage will withstand anything you can throw at it. There is no use in hoping to trick my men either; they know what you are capable of. So do not hope to confuse them with your transformations, Urd. "
"You speak as if we know each other". Urd remarked.
"Your brother said the same thing. Indeed we know each other, and very well, too. I have an old score to settle with the three of you, even though I didn't expect to get you in my hands. Reassure yourself, though: as promised, I will not kill you. Instead, I have other plans." Explained the man in armor.
"Which are?..." Asked Skuld.
"You'll find out soon enough, and it's more amusing to let you worry about it. In the meantime, take care of your brother. After what he's been through, I doubt that he'll even recognize you."
It was here that Urd lost her temper and threw herself against the transparent wall.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"
Wrecker did not reply (he was not going to explain that the Keiichi who was locked up with the two captives was an impostor), and instead, he simply left.
Meanwhile, in the underwater prison.
"This is one place that nobody could get out of," he told himself with sinking
heart. "For even if I did get out, I'd be still prisoned in this alien body."
Then Keiichi's unquenchable calm reasserted itself in the face of the
appalling situation.
"No, there never was a captivity that couldn't be escaped from! But how, in the
name of a thousand space-devils?"
Keiichi turned to inspect his new prison. It was a cubical enclosure of strong, close-set metal bars, a hundred feet square. It was one of a row of such great cages, only the one barrier of metal bars dividing it from the next in line. In that next cage, one of the great Uruzaru was penned, and in cages beyond, other Uruzaru.
Keiichi looked at the sea-men imprisoned with him. There were more than a hundred of them, and they had shown some sign of excitement at his entrance.
"They think I'm really a sea-man like themselves," Keiichi told himself with grim amusement. "Wait till they find out that I can't even speak their language."
One of the sea-men addressed him in a thick, distorted speech. But, to Keiichi's utter amazement, the sea-man was using…. Earth speech!
"Who are you?" he was asking Keiichi eagerly. "Are you a Earthman too?"
Keiichi gasped, then found his voice and tried to speak in answer. But it was some moments before he could make his new and different vocal organs utter the sounds of Earth speech.
"Yes, I'm an Earthman!" he exclaimed. "Do you mean to tell me that you prisoners are men like myself — land-men whose minds have been put in sea-men's bodies?"
"Yes, that's what happened!" cried the other. "I was Dhul Uvan, an Oranean fisherman working with a boat out of Amphitrite. I and my crew — were attacked near the Black Isles by sea-men who capsized our craft and dragged us away to a cavern in one of those black islands. In that cavern was a land-man in a space-suit they called the Wrecker, and a queer machine. He transferred our minds into the bodies of these cursed sea-men and kept us prisoners ever since."
"That's what happened to me, too," Keiichi answered grimly. "I'm an Earthman they got."
He realized that these were really the kidnaped fishermen, whose bodies were now being used by sea-men minds to carry out the Wrecker's orders. But why were they being kept prisoners here?
Dhul Uvan answered that.
"It's because, when those sea-men are through with our bodies, they'll want their own bodies back. And a body can't live without a mind in it, so our minds keep their bodies living till they need them, curse them! Then, when they have them back, we will all be killed. Until then, they hold us here."
"And escape from this place seems impossible," Keiichi said bitterly.
Night came down on the undersea city, as the Bamean day waned above.
The waters grew dusky, and then dark. And from windowed towers and buildings of the submarine metropolis, yellow atomic bulbs cast their illumination throughout the sea.
Keiichi Morisati, in his weird new body, swam back and forth in the big metal cage. A fierce unrest possessed him. He must do something, anything to escape from here and save Mine Three and Amphitrite. But what could he do?
"I'll find a way!" he vowed fiercely. "This isn't my body, but my mind is still my own to work with!"
Sea-men came swimming through the dusky gloom toward the cages, with flat containers of metal which they thrust between the bars. Keiichi saw the containers held white mushy substance.
"Our food," Dhul Uvan informed him. "Better eat, for we won't get more until tomorrow."
Keiichi forced himself to eat, for all his strength might soon be needed. The food was a mixture of grated, uncooked vegetables grown in the sea-gardens outside the submarine city.
"What is your name, Earthman?" Dhul Uvan asked.
"They call me Captain Keiichi," Keiichi replied.
"Captain Keiichi!" — The exclamation came, from all the other prisoners. They looked at him in awe. "You a prisoner, too?"
"But not for long," Keiichi said grimly. "We're going to get out of here somehow."
"I fear it's hopeless," Dhul Uvan said sadly. "Even you can't do anything here, Captain."
Keiichi almost agreed with that discouraging estimate as the night hours passed. He had examined the metal bars on all four sides and roof of their cage. They were simple metal bars and didn't look so strong either, but the physical strength of the aquatic bodies was inferior to that of humans. Needless to think break it.
At the headquarters of the Galactic Patrol, Chihiro had just had a conversation with Orr Libro. The news was not good at all. The Oranean had availed himself of all recourse to all the contacts at his disposal. The armed forces of the Oraneans, the Romaceans and the Sigooneans had set in motion sooner than expected and there was nothing more to be done to delay them.
The good news is that Chihiro had received a message from President Sayoko: she granted her full authority to manage the situation on Bama as she saw fit. For the short time it would last, the Colonel was the most powerful person in Bama. All humans were placed directly under her command, including the civilians.
Colonel Chihiro Fujimi had bee weighing the pros and cons for hours, and yet she kept reading the same conclusion every time: there was no chance for a military victory. The armed forces at her disposal would only hold for two or three hours at most. Normally, it would have been possible to wage a guerrilla war and win a few extra days, hoping that the enemy forces would wish to keep their losses to a minimum.
That would not be the case this time though. Given the urgency of the situation, the extraterrestrial fleet would surely opt for a massive attack, while paying no mind for the collateral damage.
There was only one reasonable possibility that remained: a simple and utter surrender.
The capitulation would save lives... at first.
The young woman had no delusions. Given the importance of Gravium and the seriousness of the crisis, the Romaceans, who were at the head of the invasion, would most certainly declare martial law and apply it with all the brutality of the worst kind of military dictatorships. Which would be a lesser evil if the Gravium remained available even then.
That's what really bothered Chihiro. The Romaceans were not inclined to share. The inhospitable nature of their planet and lack of raw materials, had given these people a very simple philosophy: each for themselves.
The covenant would quickly crumble, and an interstellar war was likely going to take place soon after. And with the Terrans caught in the middle of it, they would be the one to pay the highest price of them all. According to estimates, at least about 84% of those who live in space would die due to lack of Gravium, with the rest…. Probably surviving the best they can. They can adapt, but some serious health and mobility problems are to be expected for the rest of their lives.
The imminent war was not the Colonel's only concern. Due to the lack of men, Mine No. 3 was virtually left unprotected. Only proton mines and a certain number of automatic weapons, as well as two submarines, provided the bare minimum level of protection. .
However, it still ensured that all unauthorized approaching vessels would be detected.
Of course, Chihiro had considered that Wrecker would attack that mine but she did not have enough men to face him, unless she recalled the troops meant for the planet's defense.
Two fronts to hold and not enough men for either of them.
The Colonel had been watching the clock for some time now, and the anticipation of that disaster, only made each passing second to somehow feel longer.
Her confidence in Keiichi, was put to the ultimate test. After all, this crisis was even more serious than the "Space Emperor" incident.
At that time, when the Denepheans were about to attack the Terrans, the worst that could happen was a bloody war, but humanity could reasonably hope to come out victorious. This was definitely not the case this time around.
The Captain's friend once more consulted her surveillance reports: Neither Tamiya, Ootaki, or Libro had done anything abnormal while they were closely watched. So, none of them could possibly be Wrecker.
At least, the general feeling of calmness remained on Bama, as civil unrest was the last thing they needed at the moment. The inhabitants were aware of the problems associated with the Gravium, but were left in the dark about the invasion fleet that was approaching the planet.
A moment later, Tamiya, Ootaki and Orr Libro entered the office. Chihiro had summoned all three of them, hoping yet without believing, that a meeting would bring up some new development.
After a few exchanges of civilities, Chihiro spoke.
"Gentlemen, I will ask all of you to tell me your schedules since yesterday."
"Why ? With all the surveillance around us, you know our timetable down to the minute". Replied Tamiya.
Exactly. The Colonel's request was superfluous, however there was the thin, very thin, almost non-existent possibility, that some new information would come out.
The only thing that she could now do was check the information Keiichi had asked her about various Gravium carriers working for the destroyed mines. Given the crisis, they have already gathered the information, even though it was seemingly of little use. An second look into it could provide with some additional information though.
Chihiro was not the only person for whom the passing time felt like an eternity, and yet ironically enough, almost too fast for her liking. Belldandy did not know what to do either. Serving as an intermediary between Captain Keiichi's team and the Galactic Patrol involved staying cooped in an office and staring at her screen all day long, without actually doing anything. The kind of things that she really hated.
Reading reports on recent disappearances was not interesting. The sites had been searched as best as possible given the available means. No other disappearances had been reported for some time now. This whole lead seemed to hit a dead end.
Because of that, a feeling of uneasiness had begun to overwhelm her. Keiichi, Urd and Skuld had stopped giving reports a couple of hours ago. Which could only mean two things: either they had found something and maintained radio silence as to avoid being discovered, which would be good news, or they were ... dead, or at least captured.
The interstellar agent called Megumi less than half an hour ago, yet the seductive brain had no news to share. Belldandy thought back to their conversation, and couldn't but feel curious. Megumi had displayed a very logical detachment to this whole situation. Then again, she had never heard this "lady" laugh or lack seriousness at any other time in the past. Her semi-electronic voice never trembled, her words never betrayed anything, whether happiness or worry. She was not cold or indifferent, just ... composed.
Belldandy had wondered whether this was part of her original nature, or whether it was her current state that had made her act like that. The inability to experience the of pleasures of life, all the little sensations, had it dehumanize Keiichi's adoptive sister? From a perspective it was true, yet at the same time… false.
In the "Space-Goddess" Megumi has made remarkable progress in understanding the unknown language of Ki Iri.
It soon became apparent that this language could not be used in the atmosphere, not without a special translator. And though Megumi possessed a translator, without knowing the language she could not program it accordingly ... Until she used the experimental thought listener she had been working on.
The technology to read thoughts, or rather to interpret the neurochemical reactions of the brain and the electric current flowing through it, was a centuries-old invention already but hardly used anymore. With the human mind possessing the ability to lying to itself, it was almost impossible to read the thoughts of someone who refused to do so. It was enough for anyone it was used upon to think of something else in order not to avoid answering a question. On an unconscious person it could work without much resistance, yet the problem is that said person could think of just about everything and anything. It would be like opening the diary of a person whose pages are messy and without any date: impossible to find the right information, except by sheer luck.
Megumi had already some experience with this technology. Being a brain herself, she used such means to obtain a much finer control of her own mind. On the other hand, using this machine as part of an interrogation ... wasn't something she considered. Until now, that it.
At the moment, the machine was "learning" the mysterious language, notably by comparing sound and image. In a few hours the "brain girl" could finally decipher the delusions of the prisoner.
oOo
Urd had been brought before Wrecker in a smaller glass cage than the one she was previously in.
"How did you know that Captain Keiichi in your cell was not the real one?" Wrecker asked.
Sure enough, around 15 minutes ago, the "fake" Keiichi made an attempt to hold a conversation with Urd, but ended up in failure. At first everything was going well, but the shapeshifter quickly caught on the trick, and tried to feed false information to this impostor, without knowing that this was really the actual body of her brother. Wrecker, who had been listening in with a microphone, also realized that Urd was lying and not telling anything useful.
"I am a spy, and therefore a professional liar. The best there is, too. This attempt to extract information from me was doomed to fail from the beginning," said the brown-skinned girl before adding, "I admit you kind of fooled me at first. All my senses indicated that it was him: the smell, the voice, the eyes ... But there was too much incoherence. He was too "amnesiac." He could not remember anything about his life or his family. On the other hand he remembered the "Space Goddess" and our mission. He then began to ask me questions worthy of a military interrogation. That's where I figured out what was going on. To confirm my suspicions I tried to hit him, and his defensive reaction was completely different from my brother's. Even amnesia would not have changed that."
" Indeed. I felt that the deception would be discovered with a probability of 87%, but I hoped that we would have enough time to get some information before that happened.
"Who was this guy in the cell? A clone ? Where's my real brother?" Urd asked defiantly.
Behind his mask, Wrecker laughed lightly.
"You want to know ? Well, I'll tell you. Although, what part of him? "
"What part?"
"Well, let's say your brother ... is no longer in one piece. So if you want to know where he is, you must first tell me what part you are looking for." Cruely responded the man.
Urd was panic-stricken, totally unable to hide it from her interlocutor.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO KEIICHI, YOU MONSTER?" "
"Do not worry. He is still alive and will remain so for the time being. He can still be useful to me. "
The helmet man then explained to Urd what had happened and that her beloved brother was now a prisoner: first inside the body of an aquatic creature, and secondly in an underwater prison.
Urd felt somewhat reassured. At least Keiichi was still alive and he was not threatened at the moment.
"Now it's the two of you I'll have to deal with," Wrecker said.
"This mind transfer story will not work on me or Skuld," Urd retorted with arrogance.
"I have other methods as well. Concerning your sister, I will reprogram her. It will take time, but I will eventually overcome the firewalls that protect her electronic mind. As for yourself, I will use other methods, since I have some excellent mental control and brainwashing techniques at my disposal that with time, can prove much more effective than a mind transfer. I will make you obey. What is this human expression already? Oh yes, it'll be like the good old days. For now though, I have an island to destroy and galactic chaos to create. We'll meet again later. "
oOo
As morning neared, Keiichi noticed a party of a score of sea-men issue from the pyramidal building and swim away swiftly toward the southeast. They carried heavy metal tools that he recognized as Proton cutting-torches.
"They're going to wreck Amphitriite at noon today as they promised!" Keiichi told himself, appalled. "They've got to be stopped."
The boy, watching the party depart, noticed now a large cylindrical metal mechanism which stood outside the pyramidal building, on a scow intended to be drawn by Uruzaru.
"What's that thing?" he asked Dhul Uvan sharply.
"I don't know, some machine the sea-men have been working on for days," the other said dully.
Keiichi thought he recognized vaguely the design of the mechanism. It looked to him like the type of machine used to generate seismic waves for sounding the interior of a planet. Suddenly the purpose of the thing flashed over him. That was the way the sea-men and Wrecker meant to destroy Amphitrite! The horror of the threatened disaster appalled him.
All at once an inspiration, the hope for which he had been searching, came to Keiichi. His eyes swung to inspect their cage. Yes, it might be done — He called the prisoners around him.
"We may be able to get out of here," he told them rapidly. "Will you follow me and help prevent those sea-men from wrecking Mine Three? If they succeed in that, the whole galaxy will be stricken, remember!"
"We would help," Dhul Uvan replied, "but how can you get out of here? There's no way."
"Take off your tunics," Keiichi Morisato replied. "Bring them all to me."
He took off the tunic of woven metal-mesh that he, like all the other alien bodied prisoners, was wearing. The other did the same. Keiichi at once began unraveling the strong, flexible metal cords of the mesh weave, and set them to following his example. In a short time, they had a large mass of the metal threads. Now Keiichi set them to twisting the tough threads together into a heavy rope.
When they had finished, they had a heavy, flexible metal rope of immense strength, almost eighty feet long. Keiichi took the rope and tied one end of it securely to the locked, barred door of their cage. Then, with the other end of the rope, Captain Keiichi approached the side of the barred cage which adjoined the neighboring cage in which a great Uruzaru drowsed.
Keiichi quickly fashioned the end of his rope into a running noose which would just reach into the Uruzaru's cage. Then he had the men bring him what was left of the food given them.
"Hope the beast likes this stuff," he muttered, putting it just inside the Uruzaru's cage. He made a sharp sound.
The Uruzaru awoke, looked at Keiichi with sleepy reptilian eyes, then noticed the food on the floor. The monster at once stirred its vast, scaly bulk, and with a gliding movement swam around and thrust its long neck and snaky head down to the food.
Captain Keiichi was ready, and instantly he had reached through the bars and thrust his metal noose around the neck of the great beast. The Uruzaru, alarmed, recoiled quickly. But the movement caused the noose to tighten on its neck. Thoroughly enraged and frightened by the constricting pressure around its neck, the Uruzaru pulled backward with all the enormous brute strength of its mighty body, upon the rope. That metal rope, fastened at its other end to the door of Keiichi's prison, threatened to break. But the tough twisted metal strands were thick. Instead of the rope, the barred door of the prison gave way, ripped off its hinges by the Uruzaru's mad pull.
"By the four moons of Oranea, you've done it!" cried Dhul Uvan excitedly to Keiichi.
"Captain, we can escape now!"
"Not yet." The aquatic guards immediately reappeared, armed with their force sticks, while the prisoners had only their fists to defends themselves with. In addition, the guards were much more accustomed at moving underwater than humans in bodies that were not even theirs, which gave them very little control over them.
However, even Keiichi and his band had no weapons but their hands, they outnumbered the sea-men five to one. They locked with the sea-men in weird battle, giving no quarter, asking for none.
Keiichi had rocketed down at a sea-man who was raising his force-rod to aim at him. The blasting streak of fire grazed Keiichi — and then he grabbed his opponent. The two whirled and wrestled in the water, the sea-man seeking to use his weapon, Keiichi seeking to wrest it from him. And the seaman had the advantage in this struggle, for this was his element, and his body was not alien to him as Keiichi Morisato's was.
Over and over they turned in the green gloom, locked in close-combat. Keiichi made a fierce final effort, and tore away the creature's weapon. He used the metal rod as a mace with which to strike his enemy's bulbous head. Then, half-dazed by that fierce fight, the young man looked around. The battle was already almost over. The sea-men had had no chance against their outnumbering, furious attackers.
"Got them all!" cried Dhul Uvan, swimming up to Keiichi. "What now, Captain?"
Keiichi answered swiftly. "The main force of the sea-folk will already have left their city, going with their seismic machine to destroy Amphitrite. But we can't stop them with this little force. We've got to get our bodies back, if possible."
"Gods of Oranea, can we do that?" cried the other. "I'd go through hell to get back into my own body!"
"And I! And I!" cried the others.
"We'll head north for the Black Isles," the young man told them. "If the mind-exchange device is still at the Base there, and if we can overcome the guards somehow, we'll have a chance to get our own bodies back."
They left the city. Straight northward they swam through the sunlit waters. But now their progress was slower — all of them were almost exhausted by the long swim from the city, and the struggle. Even their new sea-man bodies, adapted to such superhuman efforts, were tiring.
"Faster!" Keiichi urged the others fiercely.
However, on the way, Captain had a surprise, something he had not noticed on his first visit when he was forcibly taken to the city: the floor shone with a very intense blue shine. The kind of thing that would have immediately attracted his attention if he wasn't too concerned at the time to find a way to escape his jailers.
"Gravium, and considering the ore's quantity, there must be a colossal amount of it underneath it, too." Thought the boy.
It was not important at the moment, but when this story was over, this discovery could prove to be crucial.
oOo
The false "Captain Keiichi" had been extracted from the special cell he shared with Urd and Skuld. The two sisters would have liked to beat him but it was the body of their brother, so they would not hurt him.
He had therefore joined the other aquatic men who occupied the bodies of the Humans, watching around and awaiting orders.
He wondered what he was going to do now. He did not like the situation he was in. Wrecker had told him that he would have an important role to play in the future and that did not excite him. He was a young aquatic man who had volunteered like the others to drive out strangers who had invaded their planet. He had even agreed to go into space far from his native ocean, which was a severe psychological test for the oceanic people, but this was not to last more than a few months, which was still bearable.
If he were to get used to impersonate an important character in the galaxy like Captain Keiichi for much longer, he might end up being stuck in this body for several years.
Already the presence of strangers in their ocean was unbearable, but living in the body of one of them, in the open air where one could only walk on a flat surface, unable to ruse up and down as one could in the water, as well as feeling heavier and having to live with similar beings for years... Ugh.
Assuming the role of Captain Keiichi may seemed to be a "great honor" yet he sure wasn't expecting a great joy from performing such a task.
But since the two girls discovered his true identity really quickly, then maybe Wrecker would decide that sending him to play the Captain's role was pointless, and he could go home instead.
His wish would be fulfilled much faster than he hoped, but not in the way he imagined.
oOo
At last the Black Isles came into view, like giant black stalagmites rising from the sea-floor. They swam toward the mass of Black Peak, and presently Keiichi Morisato was leading his strange band in beneath the water to the buried water-cavern. From beneath the water, he inspected the scene. The red fluoric lamps that lit the cavern showed that only a few dozen of the Wrecker's men were here.
Keiichi's hopes soared as he saw among those men a tall, black-haired figure.
Himself! His own body, possessed now by the sea-man whose body he had!
The attack of the "aquatic creatures" armed with the prison guard's force staves was very quick. The false Captain Keiichi was their first target and the first to collapse.
The good news was that they could shoot Wrecker's men, who were in fact possessing their own bodies, without the fear of actually hurting them, since their weapons were simply meant to paralyze or incapacitate. Conversely, Wrecker's men could not shoot back, given that they carried lethal weapons and thus didn't dare fire on their own bodies, which would permanently destroying them. Their weapons may had a paralyzing function as well, but .… it's been never tested on aquatic beings, accustomed to live in a very different environment. It was therefore impossible to set those to a safe frequency that could incapacitate their opponents.
On the other hand, the bad news was that Captain Keiichi and those who followed him were unable to get out of the water and engage the guards in hand to hand combat, and therefore capture them. This allowed the guards to quickly snap out of it and take cover behind the crates, knowing that their the aquatic bodies could not to survive for longer than two minutes out of the water. Certainly, the initial attack had taken out some of the guards, including the fake Captain Keiichi, but now Wrecker's men had the upper hand. In fact, even if they could not fight, they would eventually triumph. The situation was starting to turn in their favor. Their enemies could not get out of the water and therefore incapable of doing much more than that. Sooner or later, either Wrecker would return or the armed forces of the underwater city would intervene, and that was more than enough for them. So all they had to do was wait.
Keiichi looked hungrily at the square structure that contained the mind-exchange apparatus. He knew enough from his own past experiments to operate that apparatus.
But how could he, when he couldn't live two minute out of water?
"Who are those two who are behind this glass cage at the edge of the ledge?" Dhul Uvan was asking."
Keiichi looked, and his hopes rose excitedly. The two prisoners to whom the other referred were Skuld and Urd!
"If I can get Skuld and Urd free!" Keiichi whispered excitedly. "They could help us."
"How can you free them when you can't leave the water?" the other demanded.
"There's a chance," Keiichi declared. "Shoot them with everything you've got! We need to keep them occupied while I try something."
Keiichi shot out of the water and ran, at least as fast as he could with a body that was not made to live on land, until he got to the translator that Wrecker had used the last time he was here, and turned up the volume to its max setting.
"URD ! SKULD ! THIS IS ME KEIICHI ! I WILL RELEASE YOU. EXECUTE MANEUVER EPSILON D9 ! I REPEAT, MANEUVER EPSILON D9 ! ".
Though surprised by his present appearance, the two girls immediately realized that he was probably their real brother. So they trusted him. Besides how could have known the maneuver Epsilon D9 if this being was not the actual Keiichi?
"UNDERSTOOD CAPTAIN ! They exclaimed in unison (which happened more often than they wished to admit).
Luckily Skuld and Urd were not very far from the translator and releasing them was no problem at all. Despite the cell's durability, the opening mechanism was just a simple latch. No special code, no brain scanning or passphrase. Just two push bars that even a child could open.
Of course, Wrecker's men wanted to prevent that, but they were pinned by the ex-prisoners' barrage. And not only that, but than to the cage's location in relation to the ground, they were in a tactical disadvantage. The only thing left for them was to hide behind anything available, while the far more numerous prisoners, fired at them.
The Epsilon D9 maneuver was to simply neutralize the enemy without hurting them, or making them unconscious. Which shouldn't be confused with maneuver Theta D4 which also resolves around neutralizing the enemy without hurting or making them unconscious, but involves breaking of their leg bones to prevent escape.
Still, this did not prevent the two sisters from throwing themselves on their opponents with renewed energy. For the enemy, it was like seeing one of the great sea serpents that live in their oceans; agile, fast and powerful, twirling between them while in the same time a furious Uruzaru loaded with all his strength.
Normally, Wrecker's men would have a small chance of standing up to Urd and Skuld, but now they also had to shield themselves from the incoming shots of the former aquatic prisoners. They had to remain hidden behind the crates while their opponents unleashed a flood of fire upon them. So, Urd and Skuld took them out one after the other, without problems. The changelings would send them to the mat with a series of martial arts-like movement, while the robot girl caught them and threw them into the water, allowing Keiichi and his allies to physically neutralize them without even having to use their weapons.
Everything happened very quickly. There were only about thirty guards present, since everyone else had gone with Wrecker to destroy Amphitrite. So, it only took a handful of minutes for the fight to come to an end.
"Now what, Captain?" the robot girl asked.
"Put my body — my own body — into the one chamber of that mind-exchange mechanism," Keiichi answered.
Skuld obeyed. And Keiichi swam around and entered the other, water-filled chamber of the apparatus.
Then, for minutes, he gave Skuld the explicit directions necessary to enable the android to operate the apparatus. Just like he had seen Wrecker do it the first time.
"I've got it, Captain!" Skuld said finally. She put one helmet on the head of Captain Keiichi's possessed body, and the other helmet on the bulbous head of the body Keiichi now held. Then, as Keiichi had directed, Skuld turned the switches of the weird machine, and the generators whined, the tall vacuum tubes sputtered. Abruptly, Keiichi was plunged into blackness.
He awoke from that blackness. He was in the air-chamber of the mechanism now. With a great throb of relief, Keiichi looked down at his rangy Earthman body, his brown, capable hands. He was back in his own body once more!
Skuld loosened the bonds around Captain Keiichi's body, and the boy stumbled out of the chamber. He felt equal to anything now, back in his own body once more.
"Where is Megumi?" he demanded quickly of his sisters. "And the Space-Goddess?"
Skuld explained how she and Urd had left Megumi and Belldandy in the Spaceship, at Amphitrite.
"Wrecker's already heading to destroy the island and mine No. 3. And he took the only remaining submarine. What are we doing now?" Urd asked.
"You have to catch up to him and warn Chihiro of the attack. The colonel only watches the surface ships and prepares for the arrival of the alien coalition. She must recall her men to protect the mine," Keiichi replied.
"But who will defend the planet?" Skuld asked.
"Skuld, you have certainly already calculated that it's highly possible that trying to defend the planet will serve no purpose. Bama's defenses will be annihilated in no time. On the other hand, if Wrecker is neutralized, then the attack could also be suspended."
"It reminds me of the Space Emperor affair." Urd notes.
"Oh yes. History repeats itself and those who have forgotten the past are condemned to repeat it." added Keiichi.
"But how can we warn Chihiro of the attack?" There is no way to leave this cave, and even if I, Urd or your strange friends can go under water, we still need time to return to Amphitrite." Skuld said.
"Skuld, your internal quantum communication system is not working?" asked the boy in genuine surprise.
"No. I've already tried it, but there's some kind of countermeasure in this room that even blocks this type of communication. I am unable to transmit or receive anything," replied the silver girl.
"Wrecker must have a way to communicate, otherwise how could he contact his men?" Keiichi grumbled.
"Let's just wake one up, and ask him," Urd said with a sadistic smile.
After selecting the cutest individual she could find, the shapeshiter began to question him. Of course, at first the man refused to answer. Skuld even offered to break an arm to motivate him, but Urd preferred her usual method: her special kiss (after all, she had not chosen to wake the cutest man of the lot by chance).
Completely euphoric from the drug that Urd injected into his system via that kiss, he started answering the questions, but… the answers were not pleasant.
"How can we contact the outside world? Urd asked.
"That's impossible. Only Wrecker knows how the communication equipment in his office works. He put a lot of emphasis on this security measure." Replied the guard with a bewildered expression on his face.
"Where is his office?"
The man pointed to a direction at the bottom of the cave, towards a modest orange door. Keiichi and Skuld wasted no time and rushed towards it, while Urd stayed behind to watch the prisoners.
The room was ... empty, for the most part at least. There was only a console and a figure sitting in front of it ... Wrecker himself.
After a short surprise, Keiichi threw himself at Wrecker. It was an totally unexpected opportunity to be able to capture him like this.
The fight was short, since the figure collapsed onto the ground like a puppet, without even making the slightest movement.
"What's going on here?" The boy was surprised.
"Let me examine him." Skuld said, as she squatted next to the silhouette, and began a brief examination with her sensors. A light came from her eyes that scanned the entire body, while the sensors in her hands studied its surface.
"It is not a living being. Rather, it's some sort of a puppet." Explained the robot girl.
"You mean, like a robot?"
"No. It would be a robot if it was active, but there is no program inside. It is like a fully assembled computer, but without any programming installed. It simply cannot work."
Before Keiichi could speculate about this, a voice was heard from the console.
"Captain Keiichi? Captain Keiichi? Urd? Skuld? Do you receive me?"
"BELLDANDY!" Exclaimed Keiichi and Skuld in unison.
Of course, the boy immediately rushed in front of the computer to answer.
"Keiichi's here. Bell you don't know how happy I am to hear you."
"Apparently, this room allows the waves to pass at short distances. There's also a nearby relay for longer communications, but it seems disabled. I'm still unable to contact the Space-goddess. Wrecker must surely activate the relay himself when he needs it, and limit communications with this base as much as possible. He's probably worried if this lair was discovered because of a communication was intercepted." Skuld explained.
"Captain? I am also relieved. We had lost contact for several hours and ... .. "
"Belldandy, we do not have time to prolong this conversation," Skuld observed.
"She's right. Listen, Bell, put me in touch with Chihiro right now, I have to talk to her."
Moments later, an ecstatic Chihiro took the Captain's call.
"Where did you go, Keiichi?" the colonel cried wonderingly. "I've been hunting you…."
"No time to tell you everything now, Colonel," Keiichi said. "First, though: did you check at the spaceport on those Gravium spaceships as I asked you?"
Chihiro bobbed her head.
"Sure did. And I found that while those ships had disappeared near Kalem and Sigoon, they had all had some trouble here on Bama previous to their vanishing. Some of their crews had disappeared here and had to be replaced."
"I thought so," Keiichi declared, his gray eyes flashing. "The whole thing ties into place…. every clue to the Wrecker points to one man."
"You mean, you know who the Wrecker is?" Chihiro gasped.
"I've suspected from my first day here, and now I'm sure," Keiichi answered.
"It's Tamiya, isn't it?" Urd said.
"Tamiya's gone, he and Ootaki left for Earth an hour ago in his space yacht! Orr Libro is with them. They are under police escort, of course." Chihiro announced."
"What?" Keiichi Morisato cried, and Chihiro nodded earnestly.
"It's so, Captain! Tamiya said he was going to get the System Government to cancel Orr Libro's concession. And Orr Libro said he was following to keep that from happening."
"I knew the Wrecker would take care not to be here at Amphitrite when the seafolk attacked!" Keiichi exclaimed. "And this…."
At that moment came a startling interruption. The desk before Chihiro shook violently for a moment, the whole island quivering sharply. Then the vibration passed away.
"It's the sea-folk beginning their attack to destroy this island!" Captain Keiichi cried. "They've built a big seismic-wave machine that will set up vibrations of increasing intensity in the column of rock that bears this island above the sea. If the vibration reaches high enough pitch, the rock column will be shattered and split and all Amphitrite will sink under the sea."
"Devils of space!" yelled Urd. "That would mean…."
A sharper quake shook Amphitrite, and they staggered. The sea in the harbor was boiling uneasily, and a stone wall collapsed somewhere with a loud crash. People came pouring into the streets with frightened cries. Still another shuddering quake came and went.
"Colonel, have all submarines available and give the order to attack, but use incapacitating torpedoes. The bodies of the enemy crews must not be injured. I'll explain later "
"Very good. Protecting Amphitrite is more important than leading a lost battle against the alien alliance. It's going to be tricky, but we should have just enough time. "Chihiro said.
In these future times, science had developed many weapons capable of neutralizing the enemy without killing him. The paralyzing frequency of proton weapons was the best known example. In fact, the longer the radius became, the more diffused and considerably weaker they became. It was a bit like projecting a powerful force field towards an enemy that was knocked out by the impact.
The incapacitating torpedoes had been designed on a system similar to the CEWs from the early 21st century. The idea was to emit a "wave" (in fact it was not a wave, strictly speaking, but a scientific concept unknown in our time and therefore impossible to describe here) that disrupted the neurochemistry of the enemies' brain, plunging them into unconsciousness for a period of time that varies depending on the species.
"I'm going up there!" Keiichi exclaimed. "Skuld, come along with me. Urd, you stay here and re-exchange the minds of all these Wrecker-men with my comrades down there in the water. As many of them, of course, as you have bodies. Bell, in a few minutes, Skuld and I will be out of the cave. At that moment you should receive her signal, and you can come to get us."
Urd came running back up. Keiichi spoke swiftly to the men who had just regained their bodies: "Remain here and guard that apparatus below. If we can later round up all the Wrecker's men, those who have not yet regained their bodies will do so then."
"Understood Captain. "
It took only a few minutes for Keiichi, while clinging to Skuld, to come out of the cave (amongst the equipment kept in this secret base, there were oxygen cylinders.) Standard equipment for this kind of place.
When the boy emerged into the thin sunlight of day, the sight of Belldandy Landore warmed Keiichi's blood.
"Captain Keiichi, I am so happy to see you for real!" Bell said happily.
"We've got to work fast," Keiichi told the girl. "Those sea-folk are on their way with a seismic-wave outfit to destroy Amphitrite Island!"
"Sea folk? You spoke about them earlier. What are they exactly? "Asked Belldandy, who was not yet aware of the existence of the aquatic people.
"Bell, Wrecker made an alliance with an unknown race of aquatic people who lives in the Bama's seas, and now they are carrying out an attack to destroy Well No. 3 and Amphitrite."
"Captain, there are some details that do not stick. Wrecker seems to be in several places at once. He left for the Earth… although it's impossible, since he was there a short time ago. You think there are several conspirators who pretend to be one and the same person?" Skuld asked.
"I think we can get all the answers through careful analysis of the puppet we just found. But this is not the time to worry about it. One certainty: "Wrecker won't be at Amphitrite when the city is destroyed," Keiichi retorted.
The Space-Goddess rose from Black Peak a minute later, bearing Keiichi Morisato, his sisters and Belldandy. It screamed southwest across the vast Bamean ocean toward Amphitrite. The city by the shore seemed normal when they sighted it first. Keiichi ordered Skuld to land by the docks of the Bamean Gravium Company.
As they landed, a black-haired woman came running from a distance toward them. It was Chihiro.
"Urd, you take Belldandy in the Space Goddess and go after Tamiya and Ootaki and Orr Libro!" Keiichi ordered. "You can overhaul them and bring them back."
"But what about you, captain?" the brown girl cried.
"I've got to rally enough force here to stop the sea-men from their attack on this island," Captain Keiichi exclaimed.
"How can we stop them when they're down there in the sea under us?" Chihiro asked wildly.
Keiichi pointed to the scores of tubular boats moored along the harbor, tossing now on the boiling, uneasy sea.
"There're a lot of those submersible speedsters that can go right down into the depths!" Captain Keiichi exclaimed. "We'll mount atom-guns on them and go down and fight it out to a finish with the sea-men."
The Space-Goddess screamed up into the sky a few minutes later, bearing Urd and the Brain and Belldandy Landore on their way to overtake the Gravium officials and bring them back to Neptune. Keiichi Morisato and Ezra, with Skuld striding behind them, hurried to gather a force of men to carry out their daring plan.
Amphitrite Island was rocking now to quakes of ever-increasing intensity and frequency. More than one of the stone buildings had been shaken into ruins, and wild panic was seething through the motley planetary inhabitants.
The men whom Keiichi and Ezra gathered were representatives of almost all worlds — fishermen, Gravium miners, and others. Pale, oppressed by the terror that now reigned over the quaking city, they listened incredulously to Captain Keiichi's rapid explanation of the peril and his plan.
A big Romacean shouted approval.
"Captain Keiichi's right! Our only chance is to fight!"
Chihiro Fujimi hastily brought from the Galactic patrol Headquarters, in rockettrucks driven by Police officers, a mass of medium heavy atom-guns of the type mounted on small space-cruisers.
"These are intended for Police cruisers," panted the old marshal. "But it'll take time to mount 'em!"
"Hurry, men!" Keiichi yelled. "The island can't last long at this rate."
Men toiled madly along the docks to install the atom-guns on the submersibles. The guns had to be mounted on the outer hull, and a fire-control switch for them installed inside.
Far below, the seismic-wave machine of the sea-men was setting up ever stronger vibrations in the towering column of the island. The whole island seemed about to shake loose from its foundations.
"Ready, Captain Keiichi!" Ezra yelled, his weather-beaten face grim as he came running along the dock.
"Come on, then — all of you!" Keiichi Morisato cried. "Dive straight down after me!"
Keiichi leaped into the craft on which he had been mounting one of the guns. Ezra followed, while Skuld slid back the water-tight upper hull, and then took the firecontrol of the gun. Captain Keiichi started the rocket-motors throbbing. He sent the speedster hurtling down into the depths — and a score of armed submersibles like it followed it in that reckless dive.
The green sunlit water grew dusky as they hurtled downward, keeping alongside the vast stalagmite-column of the island. Down, down — and then in the dark waters below, Captain Keiichi saw moving shapes.
"There's the thing that's doing it — the seismic-wave generator!" he yelled.
"Try to get it with the atom-gun, Skuld!"
He had glimpsed the big cylindrical machine attached to the rock at the base of the towering rock island.
"Sea-men coming up to meet us!" warned Ezra.
Keiichi saw them. There were hordes of the swimming sea-men down:here around their machine. And many of them were mounted upon the huge reptilian Uruzaru. Now up through the water to meet the diving submersibles came the sea-men on their fierce, mighty mounts. Their force-rods streaked fire at the plunging boats.
Keiichi Morisato swept his craft aside to avoid that blasting fire. With a booming yell, Skuld was firing the atom-gun. Atom-flares from all the attacking submersibles criss-crossed in the dusky waters with the fire-streaks of the seamen.
Keiichi saw two and then three of the submersibles around him hit by the defenders. Their hulls pierced, water rushed into them, drowning their occupants instantly! But sea-men had been hit, too! Atom-flares had mowed a deadly swathe through the hordes of the sea-men and their giant mounts.
"Skuld, I'm going down through them this time!" Captain Keiichi cried. "Stand ready to gun that generator!"
The battle was a crazy confusion of snarling Uruzaru, darting sea-men loosing leaping fires, and plunging rocket-flaming submersible boats whose guns belched atomic flame.
Down through that perilous chaos of battle, Captain Keiichi sent their craft recklessly diving. Fire-streaks flared before his eyes, weaving a deadly pattern that he eluded only by superhuman swiftness at the controls. The base of the island — the great cylindrical mechanism throbbing there — rushed up toward him.
"Now, Skuld!" he yelled.
The robot acted. Their atom-gun belched a hail of deadly flares, that struck the throbbing mechanism and blasted through it in a half-dozen places. The big cylinder flashed into exploding flame, completely wrecked.
"You got it!" Ezra Gurney yelled excitedly.
The sea-men who had swarmed wildly to protect the seismic-wave generator seemed disheartened by its destruction. They began to retreat through the dusky waters.
"After 'em!" Ezra shouted fiercely. "Kill every one of the finny devils!"
"No — no unnecessary slaughter," Captain Keiichi contradicted firmly. "They've had their lesson."
The sea-men, indeed, were streaming away in full flight toward their own submarine city far west. Keiichi Morisato, feeling the strain of the weird and deadly struggle, watched them go. Then he led his depleted fleet back up toward the surface.
"Those sea-folk know now that they can't hope to drive our peoples from Neptune," he said. "And we can negotiate with them in the future and show them they've nothing to fear from us. I think there'll be peace on this planet after this."
"But what about the devil who used them as allies to do all this?" Ezra demanded.
"What about the Wrecker?"
"His turn is next," Keiichi promised grimly.
When they reached the surface and swept in toward the docks, they saw that the quaking of Amphitrite island had ceased. Small damage had been done. The panic of the inhabitants was passing.
The sisters from Captain Keiichi's boats cheered wildly as they disembarked at the docks. And the young man spoke to them in a ringing, confidence-inspiring voice.
"There's nothing more to fear! The danger to Amphitrite is over, and so is the danger to the Galaxy's Gravium supply. There'll be no stoppage of Gravium, no paralysis of interplanetary life or galactic war now!"
"But the Wrecker?" Chihiro repeated.
"You brought back Tamiya, Ootaki and Libro? "Keiichi asked.
"Yes. Besides, they are here."
The two men and the alien had just appeared, with their hands free, but escorted by the Captain's sisters as well as by Belldandy.
"This is an outrage!" barked Tamiya to Keiichi. "Having me brought back like a common criminal!"
"Why did you take Ootaki with you instead of letting him stay here to run the company?" Keiichi demanded.
"Ootaki offered to testify about Orr Libro's sneaking actions," rasped Tamiya. "I'll cook that Oranean's goose!"
"The time for accusations and denials is past, Mr. Tamiya," Keiichi Morisato said sternly. "I know which of you men is Wrecker! Come with me".
After boarding a small amphibious aircraft, Keiichi took the controls and headed for the hidden base that Wrecker used.
On the way, at the bottom of the water, a gleam was visible. Tamiya, Ootaki and Libro were amazed.
"Is that Gravium? But…. it's everywhere. I have never seen such a quantity on the surface ... .. and seen how it shines it must be almost pure." The Oranean was astonished.
"Indeed, Mr. Libro. There are enormous deposits here. Enough to fuel the rest of the galaxy for centuries. I've already done the scans with the Space-Goddess. The rarity of the Gravium is from ancient history. Nobody could ever miss this ... And one of you knew this place perfectly. The one of you who is Wrecker." Keiichi explained before adding.
"The whole plot has grown pretty clear since I've been on Bama. And a daring plot it was — an amazing conspiracy to gain power over the whole System by getting a strangling monopoly on the Gravium supply, After provoking a real galactic conflict that would have eliminated any credible opposition. That is what Wrecker has been after — a Gravium monopoly. For Wrecker is someone familiar with the Gravium industry, who saw how much power such a monopoly would give. He saw that with all Gravium in his hands to sell or to withhold, he could dominate the life of the Galaxy. He could ask anything, any price, for Gravium, since he alone would be able to supply it. The price however would not be money, but a total submission to his orders. It was this vista of possible power that stirred an ambitious…. I do not know how to define this entity that plots to become Wrecker.""
"I knew it!" Orr Libro cried. "I told you that Tamiya was trying to get a monopoly on Gravium"
"IT'S WRONG! I NEVER ... "Tamiya shouted before Keiichi interrupted him.
"Patience gentlemen. Everything will be explained soon. I myself still find it very hard to believe."
Soon after the small group left the submarine and walked into the cave, following Keiichi towards a metal door that was slightly open. Everything was now well lit.
"At first I thought that Wrecker was an aquatic creature who had exchanged his mind with one of you, thanks to a technology of the aquatic people. But no, the truth is even more incredible than that. You'll see, Wrecker is in this room, "said Captain, who opened the door before entering, followed by the others.
The room ... .. was empty of any form of life. The only apparent thing was in the center a table on which a puppet was lying. Without losing time, Keiichi approached the "body" and pressed a small button located next to his left ear. Immediately, a small black square gushes just above.
"I present Wrecker to you," Keiichi said simply, pointing to the square.
" What is that thing ? A robot ? A kind of computer? "Asked Libro.
"You're almost there. In fact, this little black square is a floppy disk, "replied Megumi.
"A what ?" Tamiya asked.
" A floppy disk. It is a very old computer equipment that was be used to store data. This is archaic technology based on magnetic principles. Even from before humans lived on the moon, and that's why they're no longer used. The only place you could find it now is in a museum," explained Keiichi.
"What's the relationship with Wrecker?" Tamiya asked.
"The analysis of this floppy disk has revealed everything to me. It contains a VERY particular computer program ... .. and a VERY dangerous one at that."
Keiichi paused in front of his audience who did not know what to say.
"In fact, it would seem that a long time ago, two very powerful races were in contact with humanity. Two races that our ancestors called "gods" and "demons". They were at war and apparently the "demons" devised a computer program to destroy their enemy. Yes gentlemen. Wrecker is actually an old computer program created by an alien race. This program…. has survived to the present day. Seeking to fulfill its original purpose as a force of destruction, he attempted to cause galactic scale genocide, so that he control of what was left and turn that into a world that would better suit his people. People who seem to have disappeared a long time ago. Actually, this program has not been in contact with another "demon" since the end of the war. Those two species seem to have mutually destroyed each other. "
"So why does this program still persists?" Asked Belldandy.
"Simply because it's a computer program and that's its function. In addition, analysis of the floppy disk revealed that this program was severely damaged a long time ago. Additionally, the disk contents aren't very clear at times. It is about goddesses who grant wishes, a world tree, and some cursed jar. Everything seems to revolve around the old Nordic legends. "
"But you said that one of us is Wrecker?" Asked Libro.
"And I maintain this view. This program has the amazing ability to migrate to both machines and living beings, allowing it to take control of them. However, as it has been damaged, it has lost its ability to duplicate itself and it cannot control anyone to that time. Moreover, it must return to its floppy disk to "regenerate" before migrating elsewhere. The process can be done almost instantly using spacenet, the galactic data exchange system of the federation, allowing it to travel throughout the galaxy almost effortlessly. Of course, it can also enter any normal computer. That is how he neutralized the defenses of the Gravium mines. High-level computer hacking is a joke for him. At that moment he occupied the body of this robotic puppet. This is what allowed him to 'jump' between here, and to the body of one of you in Amphitrite without arousing suspicion. Under the appearance of the robot he gave orders to his men, and while he occupied a living body he was able to spy on us and yet avoid suspicions. Currently, he is in the body of one of you. "
Keiichi continued, "Wrecker, had been here on Bama and knew the planet well. He had, during explorations for underwater Gravium beds, encountered the hidden sea-people. And he saw how that strange race, with its super-scientific powers, could be made allies in his great plot.
"The sea-folk have always hated the intruders into their ocean, all the Bamean legends told that. So Wrecker made alliance with them on the following terms: he would help them drive the planetary races away from Bama forever, and in return the sea-folk would supply him with as much Gravium as he required. That, I'm certain, was the foundation of the Wrecker's conspiracy!"
Keiichi Morisato continued searchingly.
"You see what success of that plot would have meant? Wrecker would be able to get Gravium from the sea-folk in the Bamean ocean. No one else would be able to get it. Wrecker would thus have his Gravium monopoly! But to make it a monopoly, the other Gravium sources in the System must be destroyed, those on Mercury, Sigoon 1, Oanean Moon and Kalem. And to destroy them, Wrecker needed ships and followers. The sea-folk would follow and obey him, but couldn't live out of water. However, they knew the scientific secret of mind-exchange and this was brought into play. Scores of fishermen were kidnaped, sea-men's minds were transferred into their bodies, and those alien-minded men became Wrecker's band."
"To get spaceships for his forays, Wrecker planted some of his men on four of the Gravium-run ships that stopped here at Bama — he caused some of the crews to be kidnaped and replaced them by his own men. Those four ships struck simultaneously at the Mercury, Oranea moon and Kalem, destroying them utterly. The fourth ship was detailed to capture me, to make sure I didn't interfere with this great conspiracy. It failed to keep me a captive, but it or one of Wrecker's ships did destroy the Mercury mine."
"That left only the mines on Bama here. Mine One and Mine Two were destroyed by the sea-men exactly on schedule as agreed by them with Wrecker. They were then to destroy Mine Three and wreck this island and city. There would be no Gravium mines and no colonists left on Bama. The sea-folk would prevent them from being re-established. And the sea-folk would give Wrecker, in return for his aid, a certain amount of Gravium each year, no doubt, which would make him Gravium-master of the System!"
Captain Keiichi concluded. "And that plot almost won success. Wrecker almost got a strangle-hold on interplanetary life."
"But you haven't, said who he is!" Chihiro exclaimed.
"It's not me," cried Ootaki.
"Neither I am," Tamiya said before adding. "It's Libro obviously. He had the license to look for mines here. He must've secretly discovered this a long time ago. "
"I do not think so, but it does not matter either. The real Wrecker will never find his true "body" if I destroy this disk, trapping the computer program version of "Wrecker" in its current body. Which will sooner or later die, taking the program along with it," Keiichi declared as he drew his proton pistol, which he then directed at the floppy disk.
" NO! I ORDER YOU TO STOP, "shouted. Ootaki.
"I thought it was you Ootaki. Your underwater explorations on Bama had taught you the existence of this Gravium and the aquatic people and since you were not the owner of the Bama mine, you did not mind destroying it, but there was a more obvious piece of evidence. Do you want to hear it? "
"Yes, I would — before you die, Keiichi," Ootaki said harshly. Keiichi smiled.
"You gave yourself away out in Mine, Ootaki. You remember, you went down into the submarine dome with me. You saw the little bulge in the wall. You cried that the whole dome was going to give way, and got yourself and the men out of there. And the dome did give way soon after and almost trapped me in it. But, as your mine-boss had said, that bulged wall in itself wasn't dangerous, Ootaki. There didn't seem a chance of its collapsing. Yet, as I realized later, you had been sure it would be destroyed in a few minutes. You were forewarned, therefore, that the dome would be destroyed at an exactly scheduled time. Which meant that you were in alliance with those outside the dome who would destroy it! You only went down in the dome for a minute to avert all suspicion falling on yourself."
"You're right," Ootaki rasped. "And you were right about the rest of my plan. You were only guessing about my treaty with the sea-folk, I know, but your guess is correct, almost. "I knew the existence of this people because it was I who created them, a long time ago. They were supposed to become the soldiers to fight against our enemies, a project among many others at the time. However, I was sealed in a jar by the gods before I finished my project. In the meantime they evolved and became the conquerors I had hoped for. They attacked several planets but they were eventually defeated and returned to live here, unaware of the potential power they would have thanks to the Gravium. Later I was released on Earth a few centuries ago by a demon who wanted my help against three goddesses who were giving her trouble. I then ended up in this floppy disk... and one goddess attempted to erase me. She almost succeeded, but "almost" is not good enough. The rest you know. I have moved from body to body over the centuries until I readied this plan. I took control of this body, negotiated with the aquatic people, destroyed the mines and killed Kerk El and Quarus Qull to keep them from developing new mines."
"So why didn't you try to kill me so far?" Orr Libro asked.
"It's not that I didn't try, Oranean. But you are much more cunning and cautious than your colleagues. I just haven't managed to find an opportunity to get rid of you." Said Wrecker, adding, "Captain Keiichi, when I discovered your existence and how you and your so-called sisters looked so much like those who nearly destroyed me in the past, I thought it could not be a mere coincidence and you would surely be my main opponent. I wanted to control you, as I did with that boy whose name I forgot. You and Urd. That was my mistake, I should have killed you from the very start. "
"What is he talking about ?" Chihiro asked.
"It doesn't matter anymore and anyway you will not live long enough to find out. I will eliminate all of you now and I run away with the floppy disk. Then I'll go into another body and come up with another plan, and this time there will be nobody to bother me".
"And how are you going to do it? I have analyzed the floppy disk and the backup copy it contains. It is revealed that you are obliged to return there first. You're no longer capable to jump directly from one body to another. Now I would not let you go back inside for the moment. You will be reconfigured and sent to a special prison."
"That's where you're wrong." Ootaki/Wrecker said as he took out a tube from under his suit, that contained seaweed in motion.
Horrified, the others stood frozen. Everyone knew that this wasn't just an idle threat. The terrible vampire seaweed would kill them all if the enemy broke that tube, and release the contents among them.
"Thanks to this vampire algae, you will melt into nothingness in a moment. The body I live in may die, but I no longer need it. I'll place my floppy disk back to this mechanical puppet run away."
Wrecker threw the tube in the direction of the Captain who could do nothing... But Skuld intercepted it and the deadly tube broke on her chassis as she rolled to the side to protect her brother from the threat.
"SKULD !" Cried Urd, feeling worried for her sister.
"Everything's fine. Since I'm a robot, I don't have blood. Apparently Wrecker forgot about me."
"YOU AGAIN ?!" shouted…. the Great Lord of Terror who remembered that it was "Skuld" who originally trapped him in this floppy disk, and then seriously damaged his program, to the point of nearly destroying it.
In a desperate gesture, he tried to throw himself at the floppy disk. He thought of returning to it for a moment, and then leap towards Keiichi to take him "hostage" but he did not have enough time for that. With an astonishing speed, Urd threw herself on him, and pinned him to the ground.
This time Wrecker was truly defeated.
"I can not believe my old friend Ootaki was Wrecker," Tamiya said, deeply saddened.
"Do not forget that the real Ootaki is "asleep" in his body, while Wrecker controlled him. Once the program is extracted, then modified and secured, he will be himself again. The specialists will help him overcome this ordeal. He must have been "possessed" for several years now." Keiichi explained.
"And how do you intend to force me out "Captain"? Wrecker asked sarcastically.
"Thanks to the mind exchanger that you have developed. Its technology is actually based on your program. We haven't got the time to study it yet, but we know how it works. We will re-transfer you into your puppet ... .. while taking the necessary precautions of course."
oOo
Some days later, the Space-Goddess left Amphitrite. Everyone has been quite busy over the last couple of days, with Urd doing what she was best known for: having fun. On the other hand, Chihiro has restored the Gravium's supply with the help of Libro and Tamiya, while Skuld and Megumi worked on the mind exchanger.
Keiichi and Belldandy, assisted Sayoko who made an emergency trip to Bama to settle the situation with the alien fleet.
"What did you do with Wrecker? Or rather the Great Lord of Terror?" Urd asked.
"I transferred him to the robot he came from, and destroyed the transmitters to keep him trapped. Then I handed him over to the law. He will be given a fair trial and then, like all sensitive artificial intelligences, he will be sent to a high security prison for machines like him."
"Why did not you erase it? Or reprogram it?" Skuld asked.
"Skuld, you know very well that erasing a smart computer program is tantamount to murder under the law, and reprogramming is considered as brainwashing. In either case I would not do it. That's a matter of principles. In any case, wherever he goes, he will never threaten anyone again."
"What about the alien fleet that was about to attack?" Urd asked.
"An agreement was reached with them. The deposits discovered on Bama will be shared equally with everyone. Tamiya will represent human interests while Orr Libro will represent those of the Extraterrestrials. Everything worked out on that side."
"And the aquatic people? What will become of them?" Asked Megumi.
"At first, the Romaceans were in favor of exterminating them in reprisals of what they had done and to make sure that they would not hinder them any longer. However, Chihiro proposed another solution. The aquatic people agreed to let us exploit their Gravium mine, as their underwater species does not need it. Especially since they no longer seek to live on other planets. They will accept the presence of foreigners, provided that the fishing activities of both human and extraterrestrial, as well as their overall presence gets limited to Amphitrite and deposits. In exchange, not only the Romaceans do not exterminate them but they can also receive news from the rest of the galaxy. Although they prefer to stay on their homeworld, they are curious about what is happening elsewhere. The first trade agreements are already under negotiation."
"By the way while I think about it. Wrecker said he had known us for a long time. What was he talking about?"
"According to the analyzes of the contents of the floppy disk, it would seem that towards the end of the 20th century, or at the beginning of the 21st, the date is impossible to determine, it tried to cause a cataclysm on Earth. A priori "goddesses" prevented it. I do not find this story believable, though. It is about a wolf and giant snakes, cosmic supercords, magic ... I still checked in the archives and all I found were reports on a collective hallucination in a city called Nekomi at the time. Curiously I did not determine the date there either. There were some curious meteorological phenomena but they were easily explained by the plasma theory," Keiichi replied before adding "Wrecker took us for people who died centuries ago. Perhaps they have never existed. In any case, we're certainly not the way he remembers us."
It was Urd again who asked a question.
"By the way, out of simple curiosity. Why did he choose to call himself "Wrecker"? It's a pretty ridiculous and pretentious name."
"The kings of the aquatic people were called "Wrakkaru" in the past. He simply changed the name to "Wrecker", which is quite close to the title of "Great Lord of Terror" or "Ultimate Annihilation Program" as he was originally called and it is a little more serious. That's all." Megumi explained, floating in front of Urd.
"I was worried especially for the captured humans. Most were able to recover their bodies. The real problem are those whose real bodies had been killed, and didn't have anywhere to return to. It could have been tragic to live like that from now on." Keiichi remarked.
"Fortunately we were able to clone their original bodies from their DNA code stored in the national databases, and then transfer their minds to these new bodies through the mind exchanger. They will take some time to get used to it, but they will recover." Recalled Megumi.
"What are we going to do with the mind exchanger now? I do not think this technology should be left at your disposal. Too little practical utility and way too dangerous in my opinion." Skuld said.
"I totally agree with that. I talked to President, and she shares the same opinion. Fortunately there is only one copy of that device. We'll keep it with us on the moon. This technology features concepts that could eventually become very useful, such as telepathy research. However, it should be used with great responsibility, and not from every random person who gets their hands on it." The Captain agreed.
That was the end of the matter for now. Captain Keiichi was only at the beginning of becoming a legend, and he did not yet know what cosmic mysteries he had yet to unveil.