14. The Descent into Darkness
A laser bolt slapped into the docking bay wall, just missing Gary's head and sending a small shower of sparks down on him, making him scrunch lower to the floor. It turned out this was the Lord Commander's personal docking bay, because apparently he needed one close to his battle deck all to himself. For once that ginormous ego worked to their advantage, because the place was almost deserted. All the frantic activity of fighting a pitched battle was happening in the main docking bays towards the stern. They practically had the place to themselves.
Well, them and almost thirty guards on standby here.
Through the reek of ozone, Gary caught a whiff of burning hair as a few strands ignited, but a few smacks to his own head dealt with it. He was overdue for a trim. His 'prison buzz' haircut was more than a year behind him. His hair was, to put it mildly, out of control, and now, apparently, a fire hazard. It had to go.
Then he felt himself grinning as inspiration hit: He'd get it cut for the coronation on Ventrexia.
Oh, hell yeah.
Spurred by this fashion-forward decision, Gary glanced back to Ash and Fox where they crouched behind a small vehicle for towing fighters, smiling to let them know he was alright and he wasn't on fire (yet).
"You okay?" he called to the terrified teens, yelling to be heard over the gunfire as the squad of Tera Con troopers pinned them in place.
"We're not dead!" was Fox's quavering reply.
"Good! Keep it up!" He twisted to look at the trio of well-dressed SAMES. "Will you guys step it up and take out those posers?"
"He wants us to date the Tera Con posers," surmised Bo.
"I am not a player," Boyardee insisted, somehow infusing indignation into his computer-generated voice as he swept the area clear with his flame throwers.
Boobies shrugged. "I would be willing to date them. Uniforms turn my crank. Even tasteless uniforms like theirs."
Gary banged his head on the wall. "No, you idiots! Kill them! We're on a tight schedule!"
They took a moment to process the order. Boobies was first to respond.
"If we can't have the posers, no one can," he said, and proceeded to unleash with all weapons. The noise was terrific, the air stank of burnt metal and carnage, and there was so much laser fire Gary had to close his eyes.
And then it was done. Silence. Gary cautiously peered over the crates he'd sheltered behind. Smoke rose up, and this end of the docking bay was shot to hell, but more than two dozen soldiers lay dead on the floor and the SAMES were brushing debris off their spikes.
"Why didn't you guys do that ten minutes ago?" he demanded, standing.
"You didn't order us to kill them, only shoot back," said Bo.
"I seriously have to you tell you to kill the bad guys? Fine. Standing orders: see a bad guy, kill a bad guy. Got it? Good. Let's-"
He broke off, staring at the far side of the docking bay. Fox and Ash joined him.
Fox pointed in disbelief. "That's . . ."
"The Crimson Light," finished Ash. "That's our ship!"
"That's home," Fox said softly, sniffing back tears, and his sister nodded.
From where they stood, the light runner looked undamaged. All external lights were off, so Gary hoped that meant AVA was just powered down.
"Change in plans, team," announced Gary. "You two take Boyardee and get that ship back. Get off this incinerator and hide in the asteroid field. You'll be the pickup for me and Mooncake once we bust out of here. I – oh, you have got to be kidding me."
A small, gray figure poked his head into the docking bay, startled by the mass casualties piled up and the lack of guards and activity. His goggles were cracked, so he could not see as far as where his abandoned children stood. He did the Crimson Light, however, and with another sly look around, Clarence began slinking towards the ship.
Furious at the very sight of this little snakerat, Gary strode forward, his bionic hand converting to a vibro-blade as he shouted, "Don't even think about, Polkawitz!"
Clarence froze in mid tip-toe, not daring to look their way. He swallowed, then slowly straightened. "Ah. Captain Goodspeed. What an . . . unexpected surprise."
"Can it, Clarence. Where's Mooncake?"
"He was with the Lord Commander when I . . ."
"Ran away?" Gary suggested. "Sold everyone out? Tried to save your own worthless hide? Again?"
"Escaped," finished Clarence defensively.
"Is this a bad guy?" asked Boyardee, leveling his flame thrower at Clarence's chest. "Should we kill him?"
"YES!" demanded Ash, her pink eye blazing, but Gary held up a hand to stay them.
Clarence gasped as he realized Gary was not alone. Slowly, he dared to turn and look at the children he had discarded like so much trash. He tried to smile, but only managed a small sound of 'heh' before forcing out, "Fox! Ash! I'm so-"
"Don't," Ash hissed in a voice nothing short of savage. "We had uses? You tolerated us? You put a gun to my head. You left us on a ball of dust to die!"
"I'm not proud of it," Clarence muttered, looking small and defeated. "I . . . I did what I thought was best."
"For you," snapped Gary.
"I'm sorry." It was a whisper, aimed at the floor since he would not meet their eyes.
"Only because you didn't get away with it," said Fox with what was for him an unusual amount of heat.
"We're taking that ship," Gary announced, leaving no room for protests. "It belongs to your kids now. If you want off this incinerator, find your own damned way. And FYI, Avocato knows exactly what you did and why. Don't cross his path again, don't bother us again, or he'll end you."
"And I'll help," Ash swore savagely.
Screwing up his courage - or sense of self-preservation - Clarence dropped to his knees, hands clasped. In desperate tones he begged, "Please! Wait! You can't just leave me here! I - I'll change! I know what I did was -"
"We're done here," said Gary. "Go away, Clarence."
"Far away," added Ash.
"Come on."
They left him there, abandoned as they had been, perhaps even more miserable and frightened for being alone. When Gary glanced back, Clarence hadn't move, a sad and pathetic lump of gray discarded on the docking bay floor.
They ran to the Crimson Light and activated the ramp. Gary lingered inside just long enough to be sure the ship wasn't damaged and AVA was online. Powered on again and restored to her sassy glory, the AI was as delighted to be under new ownership as she was glad to be rid of Clarence (and taking advantage of the opportunity, she deleted his entire collection of porn without bothering to ask for permission).
"Okay. Get out of the battle zone and hide in the asteroid field," Gary repeated, as much to reinforce the order as to let AVA know the plan. He rightly figured referencing zones in any way would get Fox on his side for this. "Lay low until I call."
"Can do," Fox said, looking nervous.
"You kids got this," he said, smiling. "I'll be back soon with Moonca-oof!"
Ash crushed him close in a quick, hard hug before hurrying away. Gary's smile widened as he and Fox exchanged a swift, satisfied look as Ash's impulsive display. Then he rushed back to the docking bay where the SAMES were guarding the ramp.
"The bad guy left," Bo informed him, meaning Clarence. He pointed. "He attempted to sneak aboard, but we stopped him."
"Good. Boyardee, you go with Fox and Ash. Listen to AVA." The ramp closed with Boyardee on it. Gary and the two SAMES stepped away as the Crimson Light's engines fired up, and the light runner soared through the plasma grid retaining the docking bay's atmosphere.
"Guns out," ordered Gary, turning his hand to a blaster and drawing his gun. "Unless it's round and green and super cute, kill it. This way."
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
". . . got this! Alpha Flight, on me. We're going in low and tight. Bombers to the rear and see if you can take out those turrets! And everyone watch out for that Moon beam!"
Avocato tried desperately hard not to show the all-consuming fear Little Cato's voice woke in him. He kept his focus on the ship-to-ship battle, but he could not help but pick out his son's voice amidst the stream of chatter from the fighter pilots. Little Cato . . . Colonel Cato was daring but not reckless, well trained and highly capable. Avocato had seen to that. And now . . . Avocato had to step back and let the boy become a man.
But it was hard. So hard. As nerve-wracking as those long, terrible months when Little Cato had been a prisoner on Tera Con Prime had been. He had never said a word about it, but the shock of learning his son had left the ship after he'd been told he could not attend the thimbles tournament, and the subsequent news that he'd been captured by the Lord Commander, had triggered one of the worst seizures Avocato had ever experienced. Not since the initial day of being poisoned by the Mirror Mage had he been so near death. Part of the reason Little Cato had been held for so long was because it took Avocato over a month to recover, and even longer to plan a response. Colonel Cato didn't know it, but his little act of defiance had very nearly ended the rebellion. And without Avocato to threaten and planet Ventrexia not being a viable threat, the Lord Commander would have no reason to keep Little Cato alive.
He thanked Ventrexia herself for Gary Goodspeed. Closing his eyes, took as deep a breath as he could as he worked to calm his racing heart. He could not afford to trigger the akusan now. He had to trust his son's skills and instincts, and the Resistance pilots with him. Another breath, and he opened his eyes, all control restored.
"What's the status on that energy beam?" he demanded crisply, snapping out of his reverie.
"Sir," said an elderly Krisk at one of the scanners, "it's terminating in a region of space that's displaying some very strange readings."
"Terminating?" echoed Avocato, astonished. By the laws of physics Avocato understood, the energy beam should continue until it dissipated, hit an object, or got sucked in by a black hole. He rose and looked over the Krisk's narrow shoulder. Sure enough, the bolt of energy reached a point just past one of Tarb III's moons and . . . vanished. "Where is it going?"
"It seems to be disrupting that region of space."
"No." Avocato blinked, never having encountered anything to equal this. "It's . . . breaking through. Is that another dimension?"
"There's something there, General," the Krist admitted. "I'm not sure what."
"Captain Nere is asking for fighter coverage," called the comm officer. "The Zaydee's shields are at 20%. She's taking a pounding, sir!"
"Viro still thinks I'm on the flagship," he said, shaking his head as he returned to his seat and the dizzying, 3-D projection of the fight. "Are any ships free?"
"The Resistance flights finished their run and are regrouping. Sir! Multiple vessels incoming. We have four - no six Imperium Cruisers and escorts. Looks like the Infinity Guard came through!"
"But on whose side?" Avocato muttered. "Raise them!"
A screen was projected right before him. A female officer, human and dark-skinned, with a halo of dark brown hair around her head, filled the picture. She wore an Infinity Guard engineer uniform with command rank insignia.
"General Avocato, Captain Quinn Airgon reporting, sir. Sorry we're late. I had a few douche canoes that needed convincing. How can we help?"
He had no idea what a douche canoe was, but their ousting was welcome news. "Perfect timing, Captain. Take your convoy straight down the center and support Super Incinerator Zaydee. Avoid that energy beam at all costs. Alpha Flight, Beta Flight, provide cover!"
"Yes, sir," she said sharply, already issuing orders before cutting the channel.
"General, incoming transmission! Captain Goodspeed."
He rubbed his aching head, resisting the urge to sigh. "On screen."
"Avocato," said Gary in a soft voice, clearly not wanting to be heard. His image was faint, and Avocato knew he was hiding in deep shadows.
"Here, Gary," he said, dropping his hand and sitting straight.
"I'm on the battle deck. I had some SAMES with me, but I left them behind to hold off the guards. I can see Mooncake. He's caught in some sort of field that's sucking that beam out of him. He looks pretty weak."
"Where's the Lord Commander?"
"Right by the sucky machine."
"How does he look?"
"Like shit. He's oozing and hasn't stopped coughing. Listen. I think I can get Mooncake out of there, but I need a distraction. I need that imp focused on something else for a minute. I can't get close enough otherwise."
A war was raging. Seven different fleets had assembled and were doing everything they could to blast the Tera Con Empire's deep-space armada to dust, a hole had been punched through the fabric of the universe, and Gary Goodspeed needed a distraction. Unreal. Avocato thought for a few seconds, weighing the variables, then came to a decision.
"I've got this. Give me a few moments. As soon as the Lord Commander steps away, get Mooncake and get off that ship."
Gary cast him that megawatt grin, sighing in relief. When he spoke, it was without thinking. "I love you," he said, then ended the comm.
Avocato blinked, taken aback. Around him, the officers suddenly focused on the instruments before them and tactfully ignored the slip.
"Open a link to channel 934.277-6 zeta. On screen."
"Channel open, sir. You're . . . transmitting to the whole Tera Con fleet?"
"I am if I'm right and Viro's as incompetent as I think he is."
There was a pause as the officer rechecked their instruments. Softly they said, "You're right, sir."
Calmness itself, Avocato waited as a long, piercing chime played over every Tera Con communication device in the system. In every fighter, every ship, every escape pod, every comm unit carried by every Tera Con soldier or installed in their ships, the noise penetrated and annoyed and demanded their full attention. When the chime ended, images of Avocato filled every screen and projection, including their battle computers.
For a long moment, Avocato just looked out of the screen in disbelief. "Seriously, Viro?" he snapped. "You never changed the command codes after I left?"