18. The Devil's Den
"I'll give you this much, you deranged pit fighter," muttered Little Cato, quoting his adopted father while struggling to keep his ship directly behind Viro's, "you're a semi-decent pilot."
Viro was more than that, but there was no way Little Cato would ever give the general that much credit. He didn't deserve it. Besides, it didn't matter because Viro's number was up as of this moment. The fighter's targeting computer chimed and Little Cato pressed the trigger to fire all lasers. A barrage of yellow energy bolts shot out, and Colonel Cato let out a triumphant shout as General Viro was reduced to dust.
"Whooo - oh crap!"
Another squadron of Tera Con ships cut behind him, isolating him from Alpha Flight as Viro's escorts came looking for revenge. Suddenly Little Cato found himself doing exactly the same thing Viro had just seconds earlier - trying desperately to shake them off his tail.
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Huddled close together on the bridge of the Crimson Light, Fox and Ash Polkawitz - a last name they were both determined to ditch - stared at the distant space battle and listened to the chatter between ships and pilots. Flashes of light and occasional explosions flared up here and there, but they were far enough away not to be able to tell friend from foe. Not that they were really sure they had friends or foes here. Yes, the Resistance had rescued them, but their father had betrayed everyone on both sides. It was hard to tell where they stood, except perhaps with Gary.
"I am receiving a transmission from Boobies," Boyardee announced. "He and Mooncake were on their way here, but Mooncake has chosen to return to the battle and assist the rebels. Boobies is accompanying him."
"Is Gary okay?" demanded Fox, wide-eyed.
A pause as the robot sent a transmission to his peer, and then the SAMES said, "Captain Goodspeed was fine when Boobies left him on the Lord Commander's flagship."
"Well, why did he leave him?" squeaked Ash.
"The Lord Commander captured General Avocato. Resistance leader General Mendez asked Captain Goodspeed to rescue General Avocato and-"
"Less titles, more info," Ash interjected, squaring off to face the robot. "Is Gary still on the Mynn?"
"Presumably."
"He's wha-?" wheezed Fox.
Brother and sister exchanged a long look. Fox was anxious, Ash was determined. He wavered, she frowned back. Without a word said, they came to an agreement, though reluctantly in Fox's case. They couldn't wait here. Not while the closest thing they had to a parent was in danger. Well, extreme danger. A quick nod, and Ash said,
"AVA, we're going-"
Suddenly a young voice broke over the coms. Controlled and anxious at once, he called, "Assist, assist, assist! This is Colonel Cato. I got separated from Alpha Flight and I've got five unfriendlies on my tail. I need backup NOW! Assist, assist, assi- crap!"
Fox gasped. "Hey, isn't that Gary's friend he was talking about? Some Ventrexian kid?"
"That's Colonel Cato," said AVA, scanning her data banks. "He's the crown prince of Ventrexia, held as hostage by the Lord Commander and raised by General Avocato, recently escaped from Tera Con Prime."
"That's him! We have to save him!" insisted Ash.
Fox wavered, a tiny whine escaping him. He was never confident deviating from an established plan, and he wasn't as long-sighted as his sister. Losing all patience, Ash said, "Fox, he's Gary's friend. We save him, and Gary will never leave us."
It was exactly the right argument to win him over. Fox longed for stability and security. Gary had given them both things, without hesitation or question or asking anything in return. He was more of a father than Clarence had ever been. Everything with Clarence had been transactional and geared toward his own benefit. Gary just gave and asked nothing in return. This was something they could do for him.
Taking a few deep breath, Fox braced himself for change. "Okay. Okay. Side mission. Let's do this, Ashy. AVA, we're-"
"Doing this," agreed the AI, seeing the sense of it. "Strap in! Engaging jump drive!"
Gunning the engines, the Crimson Light streaked out of the asteroid field and into the battle.
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Though effective, shooting the Lord Commander was, perhaps, not the best plan given the circumstances.
Abruptly released from the Lord Commander's hold, Avocato dropped two meters straight down. Gary was nowhere close enough to break his fall. There was a hideous crunch of broken bone as Avocato crumbled to the deck, but he made no sound. His eyes were opened, but it was clear he could see nothing as the seizure continued wracking his frame.
Gary's shot sent the Lord Commander reeling back. The little tyrant tumbled away, and seeing his chance, Gary shot him again. And again. And since it was working so well, again.
Sprawled in a somehow-not-dead-yet heap of blood and ooze and bathrobe, the Lord Commander raised his head, eyes blazing and teeth bared as he demanded,
"Stop shooting me, the Gary!"
"Well, just freakin' die, jerkface, and I will!" Gary said right back, aiming again. The Lord Commander hissed like some cornered animal, and suddenly sparks flew wide as he destroyed Gary's blaster. For want of a better move, Gary threw the now-useless weapon at him, beaning him on the open wound atop his head.
"Ow! Stop that, you jerk . . . butt," he sputtered, struggling to find a suitable insult and in the heat of the moment, falling flat. He pressed both hands to the spot, acting like a hurt child and glaring hard at Gary.
Gary was so taken aback at the sheer lameness of that fling that for an instant, he could only stare. "Dude, if you sucked any more at this, you'd be a black hole."
A look of cunning crept over those ruined features, and the Lord Commander chuckled. "Does it matter when your precious Avocato is finally about to die? You're going to waste his last few minutes trying to insult me?"
Gary resisted the impulse to glance back where Avocato had fallen. He could hear a gasping, wheezing sound as the Ventrexian struggled to draw a breath, and knew there was no way Avocato was going to make it past the next few minutes without a crap ton of medical aid. Aid he was incapable of giving.
"It's what he'd want me to do!"
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Colonel Cato had tried every trick he knew and every trick he made up on the spot, and still he couldn't shake the last three fighters dogging him. With no time to think, he flew on sheer nerve and instinct, keeping up a steady call for assistance. It felt like forever and then some, but in reality, the skirmish had lasted just a matter of minutes. It was enough. He was getting tired and anxiety was wearing him down. Every time he tried to break free from the debris field he'd been chased into, one of the fighters would intercept. He was busy trying to shoot his way clear and shake his pursuers, and it was only a matter of time before he was taken out.
"Really could use some backup," he hissed into his comm. "Alpha Flight! Where are you?"
But his squadron was likewise engaged with the Tera Con forces. He was alone.
A proximity alarm sounded, and Little Cato knew this was it. One of the fighters had a lock on his ship.
"Damnit!"
Laser fire rocked his fighter and the panels around him started sparking and shorting out. Suddenly another proximity alarm sounded. His screens were dead, so Little Cato looked up through the canopy to see a bright red light runner stop overhead, blocking the Tera Con forces from blowing him to dust. One of his pursuers was shot down by the new ship, another smacked into some debris and exploded, and the final one fled the scene. His comm unit squawked.
"Get up here!" ordered a girl's voice, and Little Cato could see the light runner's loading bay door open.
He remembered his father talking about Clarence Polkawitz having a light runner . . . and a couple of kids. Well, in this situation, bigger was better and his ship was stoved beyond repair. It was an easy decision - certain death or uncertain death?
He yanked the handle to eject from the ship, immediately freeing himself from the chair and activating his jet boots. Dodging debris, it took just a minute or two before he was was setting down on the light runner's ramp. As soon as atmosphere was restored, he disengaged his helmet and activated his comm unit.
"Colonel Cato to General Menendez."
"There you are!" exclaimed Tribore. His relief was evident. then he realized Little Cat wasn't wearing his helmet. "Wait, where are you?"
"I'm on a VX-9 Light Runner. Red."
"What a shocking coincidence. Clarence Polkawitz has an identical ship. Is he there?"
"Don't know. A girl called me."
"Clarence is scum. His kids are good people."
"Copy that." He glanced up as the door opened, spilling light into the bay. "Let Alpha Flight and General Cataloupe know I'm okay. And tell everyone we're friendlies!"
"Fall back and hang with the Zintabo for now. Keep safe."
"Any word on my - on General Avocato?"
"Not yet, but we've got our best man on the job. You know the one. Tribore out."
The oblique Gary reference had him grinning when a Serpentian girl a few years older than him, with long pink hair and a wary expression, peered into the loading bay.
"Hi," he said, keeping still since she seemed uneasy and he didn't want to startle her. "I'm Colonel Cato. Call me Little Cato. Thanks for the save."
She shrugged, trying not to look pleased. "I'm Ash."
"Polkawitz?" he ventured.
She frowned. "No! Ash . . ." She mulled things over in her mind, clearly coming to a decision. "Goodspeed."
"Ha!" Little Cato spread his arms as much in welcome as triumph. "You adopted Gary, too? Cool!"
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There was a blinding flash of green light and a tremendous impact rocked the ship as a nearby Incinerator collided with the Mynn, courtesy of Mooncake. Suddenly a life-sized hologram of a Tera Con officer was projected across the comms as she risked life and limb to interrupt. There was a note of panicked desperation in her voice as she reported.
"Lord Commander, General Viro is dead! A Hive is attacking the Mynn and our shields are down to 33%. They've broken through at four points. E35-1 has taken out four Incinerators and seven escort vessels, including the one that just rammed us. Sir, we can't win with these conditions."
Ignoring Gary, the Lord Commander sneered at the officer. "We didn't come here to win, Captain."
She was visibly shocked by this.
"Tell all ships to do whatever it takes to capture E35-1," he ordered, then broke off to cough before he added in a savage tone, "Alive!"
She hesitated. With effort, his teeth grit and his features twisted in pain, the Lord Commander's eyes began to glow. "You have your orders!"
"Sir! Yes, sir," she finally said in defeat. The image vanished.
Those glowing eyes were turned on Gary, and suddenly he found himself being hurled backwards from where he stood. He landed hard on his shoulder and slid to a halt against Avocato. He twisted to check on the general, trying to steady him. A tortured, wheezing sound escaped Avocato as he fought the akusan. Avocato was . . . Oh, god. A mess. A broken, bloody mess.
"Avocato," he said, his voice pitched low. "Avocato, I'm here."
The Lord Commander gestured with both hands. "How sweet. The lovers reunited. Too bad it's time to say goodbye."
Gary blinked, shocked. Lovers? Wait - did that mean -? Did Avocato . . . ?
Sonofabitch! He could've had a for real, romantic dinner date with Avocato all along? Like, candles and wine and maybe even a slow dance - or thirty? Sweet bouncing bugaboos, had he blown his chance to kiss Avocato? Could the universe hate him that much?
His expression said all, and the Lord Commander laughed. An explosion rocked the Mynn, and alarms blared.
"Oh, you didn't know?" mocked the tiny imp floating above them. He enjoyed Gary's astonishment and the chance to extinguish two lives that had harried him for the past few years. Clearly tormenting his foes was of greater importance than saving his ship. "Oh, well."
Oh well? Gary felt a stirring of fury. Oh, no.
The Lord Commander pointed a tiny finger at them just as Gary thrust his left hand forward, forming a hand cannon. If he was going to die, it was definitely going to be with a bang.
"Ha!" laughed the Lord Commander, but his celebration was premature.
Gary fired.
"FOOL!"
Reality froze. Literally. The temperature of the battle deck dropped to sub zero in an instant. All the light, all sound, all motion was gone. It was like being in a picture. Gary's shot hung in the space between himself and the Lord Commander, casting an eerie glow that was the only source of light left. Gary could see and think and hear, he could feel the cold, but just like earlier, time stood still.
Except . . . a faint motion, like a draft moving through the room, chilling Gary further and setting his unbeating heart racing. Flashes of an indistinct magenta glow on the edges of his vision. That voice. One word, but it spoke volumes. Ancient. Evil. Powerful. Angry.
What the in the heckin' hell?
"You set your hatred above my freedom from Final Space," said the voice. It seemed to come from everywhere, including inside Gary's head, booming loud in effect even though it was barely a whisper. "You lost the key to open the door. You wasted the power I gave you. The rift has closed. You have failed."
Gary could not look away from the Lord Commander any more than the Lord Commander could look away from him, their fierce expressions fixed as both had cried out in the end. Somehow, though, Gary knew that something like fear was now consuming the Lord Commander. Fear and panic and realization. It was a totally different brand of emotion from what Gary Goodspeed was experiencing. Gary could only lose his life and love. The Lord Commander was losing the game.
"I warned you not to dismiss this rebellion. You should not have antagonized the Ventrexian. Alive, he's a threat. Dead, he's an even greater threat. He is death, yet . . . Death does not want him. And this one . . ."
Biting cold swirled around Gary. For a moment, the glow coalesced into a terrible visage like a horned skull with many eyes, and Gary knew the meaning of dread.
"He seems insignificant, but he is mighty. Mightier than you, for all your power, because he stopped you time and again. Dangerous, because he dares to love."
Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap. Gary did not want this whatever it was to know he existed, let alone classify him as an enemy.
"I should have taken one of them, not you."
And now the evil little sprout's anger motor switched from scared to being pissed. At Gary. Really?
"Speak, slave," ordered the voice, and the Lord Commander, though held in place still, could speak.
True to form, the first thing he spat was, "I am no slave!"
"True," the voice agreed. "Slaves have worth. Slaves have masters."
Mentally, Gary cringed at the burn.
"I can still regain E35-1!" insisted the Lord Commander, black spittle on his face.
"How? You ordered your men to break off the attack. Your fleet is destroyed. This ship is being eaten around you. You have no power left. And still, you have not killed the Ventrexian."
"E35-1 cares for the Gary. If we have him, we can force it to surrender."
"And how will you communicate with it? Capture it? How will you contain its strength?"
Horned purple dude had a point and the Lord Commander had no answer. There was a moment as some essence, some sort of light or power seemed to leave the Lord Commander. The wisp hovered before him like something off the ghost baby spectrum before vanishing like mist into nothingness.
"My power is infinite," said the shadowy being, gradually fading. "My patience is not. We are done."
And time was restored.