Chapter 16

"Have you gotten any more information on that signal?" Mark asked Keyop. The co-ordinates Tiny had locked in were right at the planet Spectra. It wasn't a good position for them to be in. Even as a full team of five they couldn't take on an entire planet by themselves.

Just as Mark was beginning to doubt his decision to follow the signal to its source, Keyop revealed the results of his latest analysis.

"Brrrtt… Zoltar!" he exclaimed.

"Zoltar?" asked Mark, turning to face the Swallow, "That can't be right. Why would he be sending out a distress signal?"

"Doot… looks like… beep… Zoltar to me!" insisted Keyop. He showed his analysis to Mark.

It was clumsy compared to what Princess would have prepared, but Keyop had tried to make sense out of the garbled message. It might be a distress call from Zoltar. But based on what he saw, Mark wasn't sure.

"What do you think Susan?" he asked, looking around the room.

A gurgle came from the coffee dispenser in the back of the Bridge. Mark guessed Susan wasn't going to be of much help unless the transmission was regarding mountain-grown Columbian beans.

"Commander, I have something onscreen!" reported Tiny.

Mark turned towards the main viewscreen. He saw an incredible, sleek ship. It almost looked like… a racecar? It was very small… tiny in comparison to the usual Spectran vessel.

"It has to be an escape pod!" Tiny shouted, "Nothing else would be so small!"

"Brrt… Zoltar… distress signal… escape pod!" Keyop was so excited he could barely string the words together.

It made sense. If Zoltar were coming back from some disastrous mission he would be sending a distress signal so that the Spectran military could pick him up. And speaking of the Spectran military…

"A dozen fighter ships, closing in!" cried Tiny.

Mark didn't hesitate. He rapidly depressed the Bird Missile Launcher, firing with almost Condor-like speed and accuracy. He finally had a chance to capture Zoltar defenseless!

One by one the fighters exploded until all that was left was the car-like pod.

"Tow that thing into the Cargo Bay." Mark smirked as he gave the order.

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A faint odor of trash still clung to the Cargo Bay, despite having been cleaned repeatedly. Mark and Keyop raced through the doorway, ready for anything. Zoltar had escaped their grasp by inches too many times before.

A hatch on the side of the mecha opened. Mark held his Bird Rang at the ready.

"Show yourself you rotten scum!" he shouted.

A guard exited the vehicle. Mark couldn't see his face, but by the looks of his Spectran uniform he was obviously the worse for wear. He reached inside, giving his hand to someone else.

Nearly hyperventilating with excitement, Mark saw a flash of purple cape enveloping the second figure. Now he had him!

He was in full Eagle mode now. Motioning Keyop to circle around behind the vehicle, he approached the two Spectrans.

He focused on the figure in the purple cape. Long, shapely legs… torn red satin… dark, ebony hair… Princess?

"Long time no see!" greeted Jason, as the Eagle slumped to the floor.

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Princess still couldn't believe that she was on the Bridge of the Phoenix. For a few hours this afternoon she had wondered if she would ever see it again. Not to mention her friends…

She ran her hands across Mark's forehead. "He just fainted." she reported. "That's all."

"Fainted?" asked Jason incredulously, "The great Eagle fainted?" He knew he was going to get mileage out of this one for a long time.

A gurgle came from the coffee machine. Princess looked up to see a steaming cup of brew in a mug with the words, 'World's Greatest Commander' imprinted on it.

Princess gave the machine a quizzical look, but took the cup and held it to Mark's lips. The aroma reached his nostrils and he began to stir.

Mark awoke to the smell of coffee and the sight of large emerald eyes staring at him.

"What… how…?" Nothing made sense to him.

"You rescued us Commander." replied Princess with a small smile. "Nice work."

"Yeah, all we had to do was steal Spectra's newest mecha, destroy the Hangar, crash through a military base and launch ourselves into orbit to get here!" Jason said sarcastically.

Now Mark knew it was Jason speaking. He sat up and looked at him.

"I can't wait to read your report G-2." he smiled.