Episode 63
Paradise?
"Urghhh... Jesse, do something, will you?" April was groaning, while all four Star Sheriffs were trying to keep Ramrod II steady.
"Can't do anything...! Aaaahhh..." Jesse was making every effort to keep the flight dynamics under control on his own ship, Ramrod I.
"All flight controls are non-responsive! We are heading towards the Outrider planet!" Fireball was pressing every possible button on his command panel. "Nemisis is pulling us into the atmosphere! Prepare for a rough landing!"
The robot that attacked the Star Sheriffs was using a powerful magnet to pull them towards him and drag them down.
"Haha, you small, insignificant Humans! You think you can defeat me with some cannons and blasters? Fireball, you'll pay for the destruction your father brought upon me! Revenge is close! I will make you all feel the same pain and mutilation I have suffered! Do you know how it is to be stuck in a computer? Everyday I do only boring calculations!"
The two Ramrod ships were falling deeper into the atmosphere of the Outrider planet.
"All the systems are jammed! This magnet is scrambling all our devices!" April was yelling, while holding on to her chair.
As they were falling, the robot slowed down the descent.
"Try to break out from his grasp!" Saber Rider ordered. "Try to activate the turbo engines."
"Can't do anything, he got us locked, Top Sword!" Fireball desperately replied.
"Haha, I got you pinned like little insects! My vapo-magnet beams are like something you've never seen before! My technology is far more advanced than your squirmy useless robots. You will see my real powers! Soon! Ha ha ha!" Nemisis was raging.
"He is forcefully landing us on the Outrider Planet. He is using some sort of magnetic power to keep us in his energy field!" Saber Rider said in anger.
"It's apparently called a "vapo-magnet beam" and I don't know how to stop it!" April was desperately typing on her keyboard, trying to come up with a quick solution.
"Get ready chums, we are going to land! Aaaargh!" everyone gasped and held tight to their seats as Nemisis controlled the two ships at landing.
In the Human dimension, on planet Amman, all the leaders and generals were following and guiding closely all the developments. Planet Yuma has just been cleared from attackers. Planet Alamo was also Outrider-free. So far, planet Amman has not been reported to have any intruders. It was a top-secret planet with a hidden location.
"Sir, our Galaxy coordination system just reported incoming ships at the gate into our dimension. They are coming from the vapor trail."
Suddenly, the communication turned on:
"This is Prince Roland. I repeat, Prince Roland, request permission to land on Yuma."
Seconds later, Hikari came through:
"Captain Hikari here, request permission to land."
"Permission granted. Planet Yuma Command Base welcomes you," a voice came through the intercom.
Commander Eagle was very worried. No sign of his daughter or the three lost girls. He cleared his throat and opened the channel with the two pilots:
"Welcome back, gentlemen! Please report the status of the mission."
"We have a couple of thousand people on board of our two ships, sir," Hikari replied.
"Great job! My Monarch Supreme ship is already on Yuma, I will personally receive all the newcomers. Captain Hikari, your courage is inspiring! Great job, my son!" King Jarray responded, from planet Yuma, where he had just landed recently.
"Prince Roland and captain Hikari, where are Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs?" Eagle intervened.
"They are heading towards the Outrider Planet, as planned," captain Hikari replied.
"And Jesse Blue joined them. I believe this was a strategy change, right?" prince Roland added.
Everyone in the Cavalry Command gasped.
"Jesse is in the Vapor Zone?" Eagle shouted.
"Are the girls alright?" General White Hawk asked with a trembling voice.
"Girls, what girls?" Roland was surprised.
"Sincia, Claudia and Robin... They embarked onto Ramrod when Jesse took off, thinking that was the Star Sheriffs's ship. He might not even know they are inside there..." Eagle replied desperately, hoping either Hikari or Roland would know something.
"I don't know anything about them..." Hikari was very astounded. "So Jesse is not supposed to be in the Vapor Zone? Where did he take off to? He was assigned to stay and fight on Yuma, right?"
"Yes, but after his mission was over, he followed some sort of mysterious lasers from a group of Moai sculptures, pointing out in space..." White Hawk answered with a heavy voice.
"I will go back and find the three girls!" Prince Roland replied decidedly. "Father, request permission to leave immediately after landing everyone from my ship."
"Permission granted, son!" King Jarray replied quickly. "Gentlemen, I believe this is the right decision!"
"I agree," said General White Hawk.
"Good. Now at least we know we have a chance of finding them!" Eagle was pleased to see that finally White Hawk agrees about a rescue mission for the girls.
"Let's see..." the gruff voice of Nemisis was resonating on the hallways. The shiny robot that dragged them on the Outrider planet was another one of many avatars that Nemisis was using. When they landed, the robot folded and transformed into a 10-feet tall, smaller version. The Star Sheriffs, Jesse and the three girls were immediately taken out and escorted by a squadron of Outrider fighters.
"Move, fleshlings!" one Outrider shouted at them, while they were walking down a corridor.
Robin, Claudia and Sincia started walking along their boyfriends, while April paired up with Jesse. A sense of solidarity was growing, in these critical moments.
Jesse whispered to Saber Rider, while walking along:
"Do you still have that coin from Erkanos?"
Saber Rider nodded a "yes", discretely.
"It fits into the Moai heads – there is a slot to turn them on. They contain maps to a new dimension," murmured Jesse.
"We have to reach them, somehow..." Saber Rider whispered back.
"Shut up and walk!" one Outrider jabbed Saber Rider in the back , with his gun.
They arrived into an underground secret chamber. A big throne was overlooking this dome-shaped vast room. Hanging from ceiling of the dome, there was a chandelier, with laser lights pointing out in four directions. Under the laser lights, in the four cardinal points, there were... four Moai stone heads! Saber Rider gasped. Here they were, the stones they'd just been talking about! But how did they just get there? The Moai heads were built outside, and that's where they all remembered seeing them last time they were on this planet!
The shiny robot walked into the throne room and sat down on the throne. It was so tall, that everyone in the room seemed midgets compared to it.
"So Nemisis brought the sculptures here... He probably is curious what secret lies behind them, too... He must have seen those lasers they were shooting off in our dimension..." Saber Rider thought to himself.
"This villain saw what I did on Yuma and wants to get rid of the Moai heads now..." Jesse was also thinking. He held April's hand tight, while the Outriders stopped them around what seemed to be the center of the room.
"Why did you bring the Moai heads here, Nemisis?" Jesse asked in anger.
"Silence, Jesse! You don't need to know what I want to do with them!" Nemisis replied.
"Hm, definitely Nemisis is upset that he doesn't know what's going on with these rocks. He wants to unlock the mystery..." Saber Rider thought to himself. "Maybe we can use that to our advantage."
"So, Star Sheriffs, I want to show you what Fireball's father inflicted upon me! I will make you pay for this!"
Suddenly, the glass floor under their feet turned transparent. They could see everything underneath. Everyone gasped... A dismembered body was lying horizontally in the middle of a room below the thick glass floor, in a crystal casket. Its skull was open and the brain was attached to millions of tiny electrodes and wires. Sincia covered her eyes and leaned on Saber Rider's chest. Claudia was barely standing up. Robin felt like throwing up.
"Oh, what's the matter, you don't like me? I used to be like you, like my people, I had a body, a vapor body..., I was an Outrider being, like everyone else. Now I'm connected to wires and circuits... Ugh...! But I am more powerful than ever! Revenge is close! You will see! Ha ha ha!" and the robot punched a fist on the throne's arm.
Shivers of fear went through everyone's spines... The dome above them lit up. The laser lights coming from the chandelier intensified their beams hovering over the Moai heads.
Saber Rider looked around and noticed that the Moai heads eyes were absorbing part of the laser lights. He started thinking: "Hm, maybe the Moai heads are actually bearing some sort of solar panels inside their eyes... This is how they resisted all these thousands of years and absorbed the energy necessary to shoot off the guiding lights."
"Now, let's start the process! Soldiers, prepare to..."
"Nemisis, wait!" Saber Rider lifted his arm up. "I have something that might interest you!"
Jesse gasped. Saber Rider was holding up the ancient coin from Erkanos.
"Wow!... Saber Rider is playing our last ace in the sleeve...," Jesse thought to himself.
It was a risky move on Saber Rider's part. Everyone was stunned. He could lose everything.
"What now?" the robot stood up from the throne.
"I have the key that opens the Moai heads. Don't you want to know what is inside them?" Saber Rider waved the coin in front of everyone.
"Hmmm..." the robot was grunting. "Don't play chess with me, Star Sheriff. You will lose and you will regret it very badly..."
Sincia was shaking... Saber Rider held her hand tight. She felt his positive energy and courage.
"The Moai heads are holding a map to a new dimension. Don't you want find out the way to get there? There might be more space for you to settle there, and for your people. And you might find what you are looking for, a new body," Saber Rider was trying to bring any incentive to the plate. "Right, Jesse?"
"Right," Jesse played along. April raised her eyebrows. Fireball and Colt were also looking at them with curiosity and hope.
"C'mon, Jesse, use that damn slyness of yours at least one time for a good cause!" Colt thought to himself.
Jesse smirked. His old, deceitful face came back. He felt an awkward, yet natural urge to throw that smugly glance. He took his helmet off: "I have a video of the maps, right here, if you don't believe us."
"Hmmm... Show me the map..." Nemisis barked.
"If you have all your men leave the room. Just us and you," Jesse pushed it.
"Don't try to trick me, fleshling!" Nemisis hissed. "Get the helmet from him!"
An Outrider fetched away the helmet from Jesse's hands. He tried to activate the buttons inside it. Jesse puffed in sneer.
"Aaaa... Nemisis... it's not working..." the dumb Outrider whined.
"Hey, easy, it's highly sensitive, don't break it!" Jesse looked at him. "It only takes my fingerprints, not working on anyone else!"
"Alright, give it back to him. If you try anything, all of you are fried! My lasers will burn all of you in an instant, like lousy insects!"
"Like I said... Get your men out of the room. They don't need to know any of this stuff, right? They might get smart and leave this dimension without you knowing!" Jesse pushed it again. He started getting back the feeling of how he has to interact with these dudes. He had his way of talking with Nemisis and the Outriders. He had been around them for too many years.
"That's right... Play your cards, bud!" Fireball thought. Everyone felt that Jesse was getting into his old persona. That behavior and tone of voice were all too well known...
"Aaalright, Jesse. Get out, all of you!" Nemisis subsided.
The soldiers followed his orders and left. The big doors closed behind them.
"So, this is what I filmed..." Jesse turned on a small projector from his mini-camera in his helmet. A hologram of a galaxy projected into the room.
Nemisis's robot scanned it in an instant. Within fractions of a second, his computer assessed and compared the data with all his known galactic maps.
"Indeed, this is new stuff. Where is this?" Nemisis became very interested.
"We can only find out through this coin!" Saber Rider waived his hand again...
"Show me how to use that coin." the cyborg stood up from the throne.
"It's easy, I'll do it," Jesse rushed.
"Stay right were you are, Jesse!" Nemisis ordered. "Don't try to fool me! I will do it."
The giant cyborg walked slowly toward Saber Rider. There was nothing that the young Star Sheriff could do, but to give him the coin... He could not risk a fight with a robot that had the upper hand: he took all their blasters, his sword had been confiscated... Nemisis could control all the lasers in the room, so he could shoot at any of them, at any time.
Colt looked at Saber Rider desperately. Nemisis could crush the coin if he wanted too. But fortunately for them, this time his curiosity was bigger than his evil side.
"So this is a key... Hmm..." Nemisis was analyzing the coin. "Let's find the slot for it!"
"It's in the..." Jesse started talking.
"Shut up!" Nemisis yelled. The echo of his shout made the walls vibrate. Everyone hunched up their shoulders, as they were startled by the thundering voice.
The robot's eyes lit up red: Nemisis was scanning the coin. The laser scanners from the ceiling chandelier were also sweeping the Moai stones from bottom to top. He suddenly turned around and walked toward one of the four stones. He went behind it and clicked the coin into a round slot. The eyes of the four sculptures suddenly activated.
"So he figured it out very quickly. Of course, he's a computer, he can solve a puzzle pretty fast," Jesse was thinking.
In the middle of the room, a hologram formed. The lights coming out of the Moai eyes were projecting it under the dome.
"So this is it... the map to the other dimension..." the cyborg slowly walked to the center of the room, right under the middle of the map. He started looking up and scanning every detail of it. "It's the same one that you showed me, Jesse... What about the path to get there? There is no indication about that!"
"There is, but it takes a little bit for it to show up..." Jesse was eagerly waiting for the moment when one of the Moai heads would start shooting up the laser light... "Come on, my friend, give me a blast..." Jesse thought to himself. He slowly pushed April backwards, away from the center of the room, closer to the Moai rocks. All the other Star Sheriffs understood his move and did the same.
Suddenly, Nemisis realized what was going to happen. Apparently, his computer was extremely capable of analyzing information, but he was not very good at predicting data. He could not sense or anticipate very well the future. So the fact that he had seen the laser light coming out of that Moai head on Yuma, apparently didn't click until now... It could all turn very wrong if that light pointed out inside his dome...
As he was standing in the middle of the room, the robot made a quick move, with the intent of jumping away, to get to the Moai head and remove the coin as fast as he could.
"You set me up, Star Sheriffs!" he yelled. But he didn't have another second...
In an instant, all four Moai heads burst into a flash of powerful lasers. The light converged right in the top middle point of the domed ceiling, where the chandelier was hanging from. The heavy structure dislocated from the hanger and collapsed right on top of the cyborg, crushing him down and breaking the glass floor underneath... In the blink of an eye, Nemisis's corpse inside the crystal casket pulverized... Everyone jumped outwards and ran behind the big sculptures, to hide from the debris and explosions.
"He is falling right into his own master frame!" April shouted.
"Yes, we destroyed his central computer, AND his body!" Colt replied.
"Aaaargh!..." the last echo of Nemisis resonated out everywhere... People on the planet could hear the sounds coming from this underground bunker. Everyone rushed out to find out what was going on...
The room was shaking... The floor was trembling. The lasers from the Moai heads pierced through the thick ceiling and emerged outside, into the dark sky of the Outrider Planet.
A big piece of ceiling fell down into the crater below. The floor was cracking... The master frame underneath them started burning. Explosions were shaking the floor.
"We have to run, now! Start your jet-packs!" Saber Rider yelled.
Another piece of ceiling fell down, very close to one of the Moai heads. Fireball protected Claudia, while she screamed in fear. The piece that fell created another opening in the sky.
"Let's move out through here!" Fireball shouted out to everyone.
They all took off in their jet packs. Saber Rider was holding Sincia tight, Colt was lifting up Robin, Fireball was flying with Claudia, while Jesse had April hanging tight to him.
Locals were gathered in the distance, looking up in curiosity at the strong lasers coming out from the crater.
"Run, everybody!" Saber Rider shouted. "This place is going to blow up! Run away from here!"
Everyone started running away... In the distance, a ship was approaching the planet, ready to land...
"Oh, what's going on there?" Prince Roland exclaimed, while his ship was approaching the Outrider Planet. He was coming to rescue the girls.
Looking through his starship windshield, he saw a strong light coming out of the planet, pointing far out into the space.
"This must be the Moai head guiding light they were talking about!" he thought. His board computers quickly calculated and recorded the trajectory. "Where is this going? I hope the Star Sheriffs are still here... I've got to bring the girls back to Yuma!"
He started the landing maneuvers. His ship was descending into the planet's atmosphere.
All of a sudden, a big explosion on the planet threw a wave of debris and fire up towards his ship...
"Oh, no! I hope they are fine!" the Prince was very disturbed. "Star Sheriffs! Please respond!"
"Hey, Prince Roland, what's up with you here? Couldn't sleep well in your own Royal bed tonight?" That was Colt, with his typical merry mood. Two Ramrod ships emerged out of smoke and debris and lifted up into the sky.
Prince R: "Star Sheriffs! Are you alright?"
Saber Rider: "Yes, your highness! We are fine, we just escaped a terrible blast!"
"We destroyed Nemisis, once and for all!" Fireball exclaimed.
Prince R: "Unbelievable! Extraordinary! Now... where is Jesse? Is he with you?"
"I'm here," Jesse replied in his typical calm and confident voice.
Prince R: "Jesse, you may or you may not know, but you are transporting..."
"Three fugitive girls...?" Claudia cut his sentence, giggling.
Prince R: "Hey, you are here too!"
Saber Rider: "All three of them are fine, right here with us, your highness. I'm sure everyone on Yuma is worried about them. Did you come to bring them back?"
Prince R: "That's right! Let's go home, everyone!"
Jesse: "Um... what about the path to the new dimension...?"
Colt: "We lost it, pard!... Can't do anything about it... Sorry..."
Prince R: "I actually recorded the laser coordinates, before the explosion."
Jesse: "You did? Can you send them to me?"
"Are you planning to take me there?" April was now inside Ramrod I, next to Jesse.
"Why not? We'll let everyone else go home and we'll hit the road!" he laughed.
"Not so fast, pard! Not without us!" Colt replied.
"Yet another dimension?" Sincia was very curious.
"We're not sure, Sincia. But that's our assumption," Saber Rider replied.
"I want to find out what's there!" Claudia stood up.
"Hey, hold it, Claudia, you are supposed to go home now. These are dangerous missions, you weren't even supposed to be here, to begin with!" Fireball held her hand.
"I'm not going home. And you can't force me to leave!" Claudia turned to him with an angry voice.
"I stand by my friends," Robin came next to them.
"Jumpin' tumbleweeds, Robin, we just got away from the most dangerous mission we ever had and you wanna keep on going?" Colt pulled off his cowboy hat.
"If I have to, I will go with you to the end of the Universe," said Robin with a very convinced voice.
"Ha ha, this is the most romantic love statement! You go, girl!" Jesse was laughing.
"But... what am I supposed to tell my father? Can't go back without you, ladies!" Prince Roland asked in surprise.
"Then you'll have to come with us," Sincia giggled.
"I'm afraid she is right, Prince Roland. You've got the coordinates, so you lead the way!" Jesse chuckled.
Prince Roland felt somehow that his royal authority was put under pressure. The girls were refusing to return home with him. In the same time, this was a huge opportunity to explore the unknown space. For him, to chicken out right at this moment... would be very un-royal.
"What do you say, Top Sword? Should we take a quick errand and check this out?..." Fireball asked their leader.
"Depends how quick and how far..." Saber Rider was very cautious.
"There is only one way to find out..." Jesse added.
"Exactly. We can only follow the path and see what happens," Prince Roland finally gave in.
"So, is that a "yes"?..." Jesse asked the Prince.
"Let's go, everyone! Before I change my mind!" the Prince declared.
"Right!" everyone responded.
The three ships turned around and started their turbo engines. They vanished into the hyperspace, following the new trajectory.
They had been traveling now for quite some time. Everyone was getting bored inside the cockpits.
"What do you say if we play some cards, folks?" Colt was eager to start a little poker game.
"I'd like to play cards, I bet I can beat you, Fireball!" Claudia was laughing.
"Can't we play on the same team? Why do you always have to be my competitor?" Fireball turned red (he was thinking about their last race).
"I guess girls like to keep us on our toes, right April?" Jesse replied from his ship, glancing at April.
"Everyone, look at this!" Prince Roland exclaimed.
All of them turned their attention outside. A circular cloud of stellar dust was guarding what appeared to be a wormhole.
"There it is!" April exclaimed.
"We found it!" Robin was astounded.
"Can't slow down, let's follow it!" Jesse encouraged everyone.
"Right! Hang tight, everyone!" Saber Rider ordered.
Sincia was buckled up next to Saber Rider, in his seat. She held tight to his body.
Robin closed her eyes... "Here we go..." she told herself and hugged Colt while he tightened their seatbelt.
Claudia looked at Fireball and they embraced each other in his seat.
Jesse was calm as ever. April was sitting next to him. He smiled in happiness. He was up for a new adventure.
"What happened? Where are we?" April opened her eyes. "Jesse, are you alright?" she stood up and went to his seat. "Jesse... wake up!"
"Mmmm... Hey, what... ? Did I miss something?" he also opened his eyes.
She opened her intercom and paged her friends: "Prince Roland, Saber Rider! Are you there?" Silence. Nobody answered.
"This is the map we got from the Moai heads! My data confirms the match!" Jesse was already typing on his keyboard.
"Forget about maps, Jesse! I'm really worried! I can't locate our friends! What if we got separated in a space storm or something? Ugh... I can't remember anything! Do you remember what happened after we entered the wormhole, Jesse?"
"No, it all went blank! This is very weird!" he scratched his head.
"Let's look for the wormhole gate, maybe we drifted away from them..." said April. She steered the ship around and scanned the space. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a big spark of light ignited, and Ramrod II emerged out of it, spinning around like a gyroscope.
"There they are! Saber Rider! Answer! Ooh, it probably takes some time until they'll wake up... Wait, there is Prince Roland also!" she was excited.
After a few minutes, Saber Rider opened up his voice com.
"Everyone out there? April, please confirm. This is Saber Rider."
"We are here, Top Sword! We were waiting for you to wake up. How was your nap?" April giggled.
"Uh, why did we all fall asleep?" Saber Rider was worried.
"I guess this wormhole spun us so badly, that we just lost our senses for a while." Jesse replied.
"Star Sheriffs, are you still there?" Prince Roland woke up.
"We are all here, your Highness," Saber Rider answered.
"I'm sending everyone the data from the map I have," said Jesse.
"Thanks, bud. We'll need it!" said Fireball. "April, can you scan this galaxy in front of us and figure out what's going on?"
The gigantic white galaxy hovering in front of their eyes was quite a show to watch. Everyone was looking in amazement.
"I'm not picking up any close signs of biological activity," April was frantically typing on some keyboards, inside Ramrod I.
"Let's try opening all communication channels and see if we pick up any hyperspace waves," said Saber Rider.
"I don't receive any sounds on my end," Prince Roland added.
"We might be using a system that is too modern," said April. "We are using the hyperspace intercom system, which bypasses the speed of light. But I can also try and see if we can find anything in the radio wave range, which is traveling at the same speed as light."
"How do you turn to radio?" Colt was scratching his head.
"I don't think they use that system anymore on Ramrod II, you guys are too advanced," she chuckled. "But I think I still have that on my first ship... There it is!" She pressed some buttons and turned on a radio frequency. Suddenly, static sounds started coming through.
"I don't hear anything... Just shuffle..." Fireball was disappointed.
"I'll have to point it out in different directions in space..." April was not losing her hope.
In the meantime, Jesse was looking at the holographic map that he had recorded from the Moai stones. His eyes were carefully browsing through the myriad of solar systems. He started zooming in and panning the map left and right, so he can take a better look.
"Guys, better take a look at this..." he started talking... But out of the blue, sounds started coming from the radio receiver:
"A... ear... wa... ato... eee ..."
"What? Listen to this! I think I got something!" April shouted. She was trying to fine-tune it, so she could get better reception. She managed to adjust it to a clearer sound. Human voices started coming through...
"I don't understand... Let me hear..." Colt was listening. Everyone was trying to prick up their ears.
"It's a foreign language..." Saber Rider noticed. "I don't understand the sentences, but something seems familiar... I hear words that sound like ours... I heard "atomic". Did anyone else hear that too? Prince Roland, what do you say? You know several languages, do you pick up anything that you can comprehend?"
"Yes, I heard "atomic", too... I understand that there is a war... at least I heard the word "war"... I also recognize the word "enemy". I picked up something about ..."two thousand... five hundred... and" what? "Fifty"... no... I think they said "sixty-three"... What is going on there? From the tone of their voice, it seems like there is a desperate situation and someone needs immediate help," concluded Prince Roland.
"Well then let's go and help them out!" Colt was eager to chip in.
"Easy, mavericks. I'm afraid by the time you'll get there, it will be too late. Remember, this is the speed of light we are talking about. What we hear now are distant echoes from the past, light-years away from us," April explained.
"Quite so," Jesse started. "I think I found something on the map... Whoever made this map... tagged this particular arm of the galaxy... Look, April, see? There are some tags here... When I try to zoom in, the color of this sector is different than the rest of the map."
"Yeah, I see... Let me try to find out where exactly this radio transmission comes from." She started operating her scanners on board... "It comes from this coordinate... Can you zoom in on the map there?"
"Yes, let's see..."
Everyone was waiting curiously for what they were about to discover.
"There it is... A tiny solar system... It's right in the middle of the tagged sector," Jesse confirmed.
"It's about 24.000 light years away from us, according to my calculations," said April. "We're at the outer edge of the galaxy."
"Let's hit the road, amigos! We've got many many light years to warp through," Colt was cheerful.
"Remember, Colt, you're not going to war anymore!" Robin tapped his shoulder.
"A man's got to be prepared for anything!" he laughed.
"Turbo power, on!" Fireball pulled the thrust lever. The ship was ready to go.
"Approaching destination," announced Prince Roland.
"Right there!" April jumped from her seat.
"Wow! A blue planet! That means there is a lot of water there!" Saber Rider was intrigued.
"Hey, I'm detecting intense biological activity! The planet might be inhabited!" April exclaimed.
"Are you sure, April?" Prince Roland asked.
"I'm positive! The scanners detect high biological activity and plenty of oxygen there. The gas and dust within the arm of the galaxy were obscuring it, so my scanners couldn't detect anything. But now that we are close..., this is it! Boys, I think we hit the jackpot!"
"Let's proceed with caution..." advised Saber Rider.
The three ships took a tour of the planet.
"Look, the planet has a moon orbiting around it!" Sincia pointed with her finger.
"Wow, watch out, pards, there is a lot of debris around here..." Colt exclaimed. Indeed, around the planet, all sorts of objects were orbiting.
"These seem to be remainings of some battleships... Look, there is another one there... Wow... This looks very creepy..." April got some shivers down her spine. Dark silhouettes of starships and broken pieces of fuselage were floating around in space.
"Hey, that other one looks like a sort of a transmission satellite... It looks very much bruised and battered..." Fireball noticed.
"I think we should try to either distance ourselves from the planet, or descend into the atmosphere. This ring of debris around it looks dangerous to me. We can get hit at any time," advised Prince Roland.
"I agree, your Highness. Let's find a spot to land."
They started descending into the atmosphere of the planet. There were some clouds, floating above what appeared to be a big ocean.
"My calculations show that this planet is about the size of Yuma planet... And the rotation and mass... is kind of in the same range... So we can talk about a similar flow of time, in terms of succession of days and nights. Even the Sun is about the same distance from it." said April.
"Yes, the optimal parameters," Saber Rider added.
"This is so pretty... Like a planet made of sapphire..." Claudia was admiring it.
"There are some big continents on it. Let's see what we can find here, ay pard's?"
Colt was so curious, he wanted to jump out in his Bronco Buster and check everything out. But he knew Robin would not approve of him leaving her alone.
"Let's go east, over on that side of this ocean. Let's see what we can find there," Saber Rider decided. "Let's stick together, chums."
While they were maneuvering the ships down, April got more data from her scanners: "I am receiving results about the composition of the planet – the core seems to be made of iron..."
"And the surface seems to be all green and bushy!" Colt added. "Come on, amigos, can we find a field or something, to land these puppies?"
"Look, over there! Guys! Come and see!" April spotted something sticking out of a big forest. It was a metal shaped tower, jutting out into the skies.
"And I see some flat land over there. Let's park, quickly!" Colt was happy.
They all carefully landed the ships and got out.
"Aaahh! Sweet daylight!" April stretched out her hands. "Isn't it beautiful here?"
"It is, indeed..." Jesse came beside her. "Where... wow, ha ha! What was that?" Something flew by him very fast.
"He he, it's a dragonfly!" Sincia giggled. "Look, there are more, there is a little pond here!"
She ran to what appeared to be a little well, with some waterlilies on it. She stopped abruptly. "What is that?"
In the middle of the well, covered in ivy and moss, a broken sculpture was emerging.
Prince Roland came next to it. He jumped in the water and took the ivy away from it.
"A human shape! It's a fountain sculpture!" he exclaimed. "That means it was made by humans!"
"But where are all the buckaroos?" Colt was confused.
"Not here anymore, Colt," replied Jesse. "They left, long time ago..."
"You don't think that..." Colt looked back at him.
"Yes, I think that we are looking at that planet Erkanos was telling us about..."
"Why would they leave such a beautiful place? It's like the jewel of the galaxy!" Claudia was disappointed.
In the meantime, April mounted on her horse, Nova, and lifted herself up, to have a better aerial view. She could not take her eyes away from that metal tower that she saw. It was so tall, that you could see it from very far.
"I recognize this tower from somewhere... But I can't just remember where from... Hey, guys, I'll go take a look at that tower. Anyone else interested?"
"We are all coming. Let's go, chums!" said Saber Rider.
Colt jumped in his Bronco Buster and Robin took the seat next to him.
Jesse jumped on Nova, behind April. Saber Rider took Sincia on Steed, and Fireball emerged in his Red Fury Racer, with Claudia next to him. Prince Roland flew a small aircraft that he brought on his ship.
They all headed toward the tower.
"This is amazing..." April was cheering. "Jesse, I can't wait to tell my daddy about this place! Let's land over there, at the base."
Nova descended to the bottom of the tower, next to one of the four sustaining pillars. April looked up... "Hey, go up again, I see some inscriptions..."
There were some words inscribed all around the tower...
"This is the same alphabet as ours!" she exclaimed. "Guys, take a look at this!"
Saber Rider came by, on his horse, and started reading out loud: "...Cuvier, Laplace, Dulong, Chasles, Lavoisier, Ampere... These seem to be some sort of names... Is this a memorial place...?"
April went a little bit higher, to the next level of the tower, where the base was smaller. There was a deck there.
"Careful, April, this structure is very old, it can collapse, don't get too close to it," Jesse was trying to protect her.
"Don't worry, Jesse... Wow, look, another inscription! She got close to it... and read it: "Tour Eiffel"
She looked at it perplexed... She could not believe it... Now she knew exactly where she remembered this tower from... She grew up on planet Paris... in the southern arm of her galaxy. Her parents moved out of there to planet Yuma, when she was four years old... because her father was in the Cavalry Command. So she didn't have too many memories from there. But one thing that remained somewhere in her subconsciousness was this image of a very tall tower, same shape as this one, in the middle of a crowded city on her planet... And it was called... Eiffel Tower!
She guided Nova around the deck and dusted off some very rusty inscriptions... Under a metal beam, protected from sun and wind, there was a little plaque, made of shiny steel.. It read "Paris, année 2490/ liberté, égalité, fraternité"
She started crying... This was too much... She even found the name of her own... planet? Jesse, behind her on the horse, sensed that she was sobbing.
"What is it, April?"
She pulled Nova down to the base of the tower and got off her horse. Everyone gathered around her. She turned around and leaned with her forehead against the metal structure... She could not stop crying.
"Hey, cheer up, ma'am. It's just a pile of scrap metal!" Colt tried to lighten up the atmosphere.
"It's not, Colt! This is the history of my ancestors... This is where the people on my planet come from!... And now... there is nobody here... Just forests and dust..." she continued crying... "This, this is... the Eiffel tower... from Paris..."
Saber Rider gasped. He knew about the famous tower. He had visited Planet Paris with his parents, many years ago. It was a very stylish place to spend a vacation. Everyone there was always nicely dressed and people spoke with a beautiful accent. No wonder April was always in the mood for buying fancy clothes! He remembered how she once made Fireball carry all her shopping boxes.
"The original Eiffel Tower! There it is!" Saber Rider was impressed.
Prince Roland was also astonished: "I can't wait to tell my father about this! He will be thrilled!"
Jesse hugged April. She wiped her tears and tried to cheer up.
"Hey, look, there is some sort of hole in the ground here! Come quickly!" Claudia and Robin shouted. They traveled under the tower and reached the opposite base pillar.
Everyone ran to them.
"It's an excavation site!" Jesse gasped. "And it's fairly fresh!"
"It might be an animal that dug for shelter or food," Colt was in doubt.
"It's not, Colt. I grew up with two archaeologists around me. I know how to make a difference between the diggings of a badger and a human. Plus, look, they left markers all around the place. They are charting it."
"Guys, we are not alone here!" Fireball touched his blaster.
Suddenly, they heard shuffle sounds coming from the forest. Everyone stood still. Fireball pulled his gun. Jesse came next to Fireball and pushed his arm down. He had a feeling about this...
A couple of silhouettes appeared from behind a tree...
"Whoever you are, come out peacefully!" Fireball shouted, trying to lift his blaster up again.
Jesse walked in front of Fireball and headed toward the source of the sound.
"Sylvia and Travis?" Jesse shouted out.
"Jesse?" a thin woman with a long blue hair came out from behind a tree...
Jesse fell down on his knees, with an astonished look... From behind the woman, a tall man with cat-like eyes showed up.
"Jesse!" the woman ran straight to him.
"Mom...! Dad..." Jesse was overwhelmed in joy... The three people embraced each other in happiness.
All his friends were watching them with absolute amazement. How did these two people get here? It took the Star Sheriffs a lot of adventures and a lot of courage to get so far...
"How did you get here? When? How...?" Jesse didn't have enough words to ask.
"My dear son..." his mom was touching his cheeks. "You grew up into a handsome man..."
"Where do you live? How did you survive here?..." Jesse kept asking.
"We... exhausted all the fuel... and couldn't return... We just survive here... all alone..." his father answered... "Let's go to our place..., we have a lot to talk about..."
"Father, these are my friends... April..., Colt, Fireball, Prince Roland, Saber Rider... and Sincia..., Robin..., Claudia..."
"You have a lot of friends, my dear! Nice to meet you all! I'm Sylvia Blue, Jesse's mother, as you all probably realized... and this is Travis..."
"Very, very nice to meet you all! I'm Travis Blue, Jesse's father." He started shaking everyone's hands. "Saber Rider, you are a legend! Everyone heard about you, I'm sure you have gone through many more brave adventures since we left our dimension."
"We all did, mister Blue. But your presence here is quite a surprise too! Let's go and talk more about this!"
Colt was rubbing his eyes in awe. First he found his parents... now it was Jesse's turn...
"Come, this way!" Jesse's mother guided everyone through the forest.
"I see you cut some trails through the woods here!" Colt noticed. "Aren't you afraid you might get attacked by wild animals? This place looks kind of shaggy..."
"There are no animals here," Travis answered.
"What do you mean no animals?" Colt was mad.
"Yes, there is not much left here, just plants and ruins of an old civilization."
"You mean there are no people either?" Prince Roland asked.
"We didn't find anyone. All we have is the vegetation," said Sylvia.
"So then... how did all these sculptures and constructions show up? Who made them?" Fireball was very confused.
"They were done by the people who used to live here," Sylvia continued.
"What happened to them?" Robin asked.
"There was a... catastrophic atomic event..." Travis sighed.
April's eyes were becoming larger and larger... She started connecting all the dots...: "It all makes sense! When we were out in space, we received radio transmissions from here... and we understood something about an... "atomic"... "war"...
She held her fists on her heart... and stopped walking...: "And it all happened about twenty-four thousand years ago! Because we were 24,000 light years away from the planet when we received the radio transmission!"
"That is precisely correct." Travis replied.
All of them were looking down in silence...
"This is what war brings... Passing into nothingness..." Saber Rider broke the silence, after a few minutes.
"This is what Nemisis wanted to achieve in our dimension, too..." Fireball clenched his fist.
"It's all over... The war is finally over..." Claudia hugged him.
"Look, a river!" Sincia pointed out with her finger.
"Yes, it's called the Seine River," Sylvia responded.
"Wow, you know a lot of stuff about this place!" Prince Roland was interested.
"You wouldn't believe how much history is buried under these forests," Travis continued. "Look over to that riverbank, see some rocks under those ivy bushes? That used to be a museum. And right in front of us, over the bridge, there used to be a beautiful garden."
"How do you know all this?" Robin asked the key question.
"Well, we found some electronic maps and books... Someone had the brilliant idea of recording as much as they could about humanity on platinum and gold discs. We found them inside some bunkers, underground. There were also a few drifting away in space, among other planets. They sent some capsules out in space, hoping that some day an intelligent alien species will find them."
"If there were bunkers, couldn't some people survive there after the bombings?" Colt asked.
"They probably did, but the radiation on the surface most have probably killed everyone, when they tried to get out. According to our measurements, the radiation lasted for quite a while, some thousands of years. Only certain plant species and some insects adapted to this environment. Oh, and some marine creatures, too." Travis added.
"Wow, these guys seriously fried up the place," Fireball concluded.
"Very powerful blasts, indeed..." Sylvia replied.
"Why..., what in the Universe could turn these people so violent?..." Fireball questioned.
"It was a complicated war, with lots of regions involved... They called these regions "countries". We spent ten years on this planet to study their history..." Sylvia took a deep breath. "But basically, it was all about greed, power and clash of personalities and ideologies. The leaders were arrogant and dominant toward one another."
"Yeah, I think I've heard that story quite recently," Colt was being sarcastic.
April started talking: "I saw a plaque on the Eiffel tower, saying something about Paris, then a word I didn't understand … "année" then a number... "2490" then I guess the other word was... "liberty" but spelled differently...
"Yes, that was "Paris, année 2490/ liberté, égalité, fraternité" right?" Travis confirmed.
"Right. What does it mean?" April asked.
"That is year 2490 in Paris. Liberty, equality, brotherhood" - this is the motto of this country, France. There was an important peace treaty signed here during that year, an alliance between many countries," said Travis.
"France? That's why the people on Planet Paris call themselves "French?" April was trying to lift the mystery.
"That's right..." And there are many more planets named after places here. Basically, when the new settlers arrived into our dimension, they named the planets after different places from where they came: Alamo... Yuma... Durango... and so on...
"What about the Texas Planet?" Colt anxiously asked. That's where he was born.
"Yes, Texas is a state, part of United States of America..." continued Travis.
"United States? Wow, that sounds very fancy!" Colt was proud of himself.
"What about this planet we are on right now? Does THIS planet have a name?" Claudia asked.
"This planet is called Earth, which literally means "ground", replied Sylvia.
"Or Terra. This is an ancient name, though," Travis completed.
"I like Terra better. That's how I'm going to call it," said Jesse.
"We're almost home," said Sylvia.
In front of their eyes, an opening in the forest was starting to appear. Behind some trees, some rocks and boulders were guarding an entrance.
"What is this place?" Sincia asked.
"It used to be a hotel. All the buildings on Earth have been flattened, during the bombardments. Then a lot of them got covered in mud and dirt, along so many thousands of years. But some of them kept their underground structure. We found a few basements where we could live in. This one was fairly clean and free of debris. We worked hard to remove all the dust and broken stuff, and we installed our lab here too."
"Wow..." April looked up to the ceiling, as they descended some stairs. "These guys were decorating even their basements... This looks very nice..."
Prince Roland, who had been raised in a palace all his life, was very surprised to see that other places could have painted ceilings and fancy architecture.
"We found videos from that period, also. You'll be surprised at how advanced these guys were. Prince Roland, you won't want to miss seeing their castles and museums. And Versailles... oh what a beautiful place..." Sylvia sighed.
The Prince's eyes were glowing in curiosity.
"Did you ever get to discover anything Scottish?" Saber Rider was very eager to find out about that too.
"Oh, yes... Absolutely, it's all on this planet," Travis replied.
"Where? Can we go now?" Saber Rider jumped.
"It's not quite around the corner, we have to take a ship to get there. Look, see this map?" Travis pointed on a map they had, mounted on a wall. "This is where Scotland is, and this is where we are."
"A-ha... I see..." Saber Rider was staring at the piece of land. "So, France was a "country"... and Scotland was another one... and..."
"Yes, see these dotted lines? These were the borders between the countries."
"I want to find Akita. Is that a country?" Fireball jumped into the discussion.
"No, it's a city in Japan," Sylvia replied.
"Japan? Like the Japanese dialect on my planet?" Fireball was curious.
"Yes, that's correct," Sylvia was very proud to answer all their questions.
"I'm from planet Rome!" proudly declared Claudia. "Where could that be on the map?"
"Right about... here... in Italy!" Travis tapped his finger on the map.
"So I'm Italian!" she smiled proudly.
"Guess what, guys, I found my country!" Sincia exclaimed. "I'm from... Poland!"
"Let me see, where is that?" Saber Rider came near her.
She pointed a city to him: "See, Lublin, it's the planet I was born on."
"I found it, I found mine too!" Robin started cheering. "Right next to you, Sincia! I was born on planet Berlin, it's close to your border. I'm from Germany!"
"My German lady..." Colt held her tight.
Everyone was gathered in front of the map, gazing at every little detail.
"Where is Alamo? That is Prince Roland's planet, right?" Jesse asked.
The Prince was leaning against a wall, with his arms crossed: "My family ancestry does not start there. I'm born on Alamo, but my great-great grandparents are from planet Quebec, which is also part of the Kingdom of Jarre."
"So that should be your place of origin." Jesse concluded.
"Where could that be...?" everyone was curious now.
"It's right up here, in Canada." replied Travis.
Prince Roland could not resist the curiosity and joined everyone else. He looked at the map and replied proudly: "That must have been a mighty country. Look how big it is."
"Mom, where is our country?" Jesse's curiosity was ready to burst.
"Ugh...," Sylvia exhaled. "I was sure you were going to inquire about that, at some point..."
"Why, what's the matter? I want to know!" he frowned.
"See, Jesse, we don't really have a clear origin... It's a bit of everything and a tiny bit of a mutation also..." Travis started explaining.
"What do you mean? I don't understand..." Jesse was confused.
"Well... we were born on a planet that is not part of the initial colonies. It's a fairly new place, with inhabitants from many other planets..., immigrants. The first settlers called it after their old planet, Moscow. So... they named this planet "New Moscow". But then other settlers came, from other planets, primarily from Akita, because that was the closest to our system. Also, we got some populations from planet Amman, Corinth, Cairo, Beijing. So we are really a mix of genes. And on top of that, the environment on our planet put a spin to our evolution. As you can see, we have blue hair, which nobody else here does. It's a genetic mutation," Travis explained.
"So people here on Terra didn't have blue hair?" Jesse frowned again.
"Not unless they dyed it!" his mother replied. "Which they did, actually. They dyed their hair in all sorts of colors, just because it was trendy and chic."
April ruffled Jesse's hair and chuckled: "He he, you are a real alien, Jesse!"
"Yes, I really am, for this planet," he laughed out loud.
"Would you like to eat something?" Sylvia asked. "I apologize in advance for not having any kind of meat, except some fish, whenever we go out fishing on the Seine. So our food is really vegan today, but I can assure you that it tastes good."
"I'm hungry! Even a cactus would be good today!" Colt exclaimed. Then he looked over at Jesse, from under his cowboy hat. Jesse sensed his piercing eyes and looked back. He remembered immediately his old joke and where Colt was hinting. He started laughing hard.
"Yep, make sure to peel the thorns away, cowboy!" Jesse was holding his belly from too much chortle.
"I thought you wanted me to swallow the whole cactus, no?" Colt was giggling.
"I changed my mind!" Jesse laughed.
Everyone got contaminated by their laughter now. A good way to start their journey on old planet Earth.
After they all ate dinner, they gathered outside and made a beautiful bondfire. The sun was starting to set.
"It's so awkward, there are no sounds in the forest... No birds..., no animals..., just the wind in the trees..." Colt noticed.
"Yes... And some insects..., which are actually annoying...!" and Sylvia started scratching, because of some mosquito bites.
"Ugh, can't get rid of mosquitoes, even here?" Colt realized that one bit him, too, and he slapped his arm in discontentment.
"Well, they took all the genetic seeds from here, and tried to recreate everything when they left, including mosquitoes," Sylvia winked at Colt.
"So they had the advanced technology to leave the planet, but I'm not sure I understand how they got so far into the universe. They travelled thousands of light years away, to other dimensions..." Saber Rider scratched his head.
"That is something we could not figure out either..." Travis replied. "There is no mention anywhere in our archaeological findings, about hyperspace technology, like ours. They could reach almost the speed of light, but not more than that. It would have been impossible for them to get so far. I really don't have the answer. But... there is something we have not been able to decipher, on this planet, and maybe there we'll find the answer."
"What? Where?" April was curious.
"It's an underground location, but the entrance has a huge ciphered disc, like a sort of a vault disc. You'll see, we'll go there tomorrow. It's impossible to open, though..."
"Where is this?" Fireball asked.
"In Geneva, close to us," Travis answered.
Everyone was looking down at the fire, immersed in their own thoughts.
We'll find out what our friends will discover under Geneva, on our next adventure of Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs!
