“Great idea,” the pirate responded. “In case you haven’t noticed, the flying DEATHLORD has us pinned down!”
Another death energy blast shook the hovercraft. Grohm grunted under its impact.
Jack’s mind raced. They couldn’t allow Abraxas to keep them on the ground while the Ghost Planet’s security system came rushing up to eat them. He needed a plan, and he needed one fast.
Almost as though it were responding to his desperate request, the back of Jack’s head started to tingle as he felt his connection with the Ancient Earthship. He smiled as a new strategy popped into his mind. It certainly wasn’t the best plan in the world, but it was better than nothing.
“Scally,” said Jack urgently. “Distract him!”
“What?” growled the pirate. “How am I supposed ta do that?”
“Shoot at him, keep him busy, I don’t care!” said Jack. “I just need Grohm to be free for a few seconds. As soon as I draw him away, get off the ground! Then, come and get me.”
Anna, Scallywag, and the Professor all looked at each other skeptically.
“Trust me,” smiled Jack. He turned to Scallywag. “Now, Scally! Shoot that jerk-wad!”
Scallywag grumbled but proceeded to pop out from behind the cover of the hovership, unleashing his remaining blaster at Abraxas. The Deathlord saw the blasts coming and dodged them, momentarily taking his attention off the group and hurling a blast of his ghost energy toward Scallywag.
“Quick, Grohm, throw me at that Deathlord!” ordered Jack.
Grohm raised his massive brow inquisitively.
“Remember how you did it in the Pit?” Jack asked.
Grohm’s lips curled into a smile. “Yes.”
“Do it exactly like that! Just, uh… don’t miss!”
With that, the Rognok dropped the hovercraft and grabbed Jack, flinging him high into the air directly at Abraxas, who was still hurling his death energy blasts at Scallywag.
Abraxas didn’t seem to notice Jack until the Earthman was almost upon him, and if the Deathlord did have time to react, the sight of a flying boy heading right toward him no doubt caught him a tad off guard. Jack slammed into the Deathlord in mid-air, quickly wrapping his arms around the alien’s neck. The momentum of the impact caused Abraxas to lose control of his jetpack, sending the two flying off away from the crash site.
“Blimey,” muttered Scallywag. “The lad’s got some stones, I’ll give ‘em that.”
The screeching sound was getting louder. The group turned to see the Ghost Planet’s swirling mass of doom heading right toward them, the angry tornado speeding across the surface directly for their location.
“Quickly,” said the pirate. “Get onto the ship!”
Grohm flipped the carcass of the hovercraft over and the group all climbed onboard. The Professor looked up at the encroaching ghostly entity that was rapidly approaching.
“Oh, dear,” he muttered.
“Everyone stay together!” ordered Scallywag.
The group huddled together on the flimsy remains of the hovercraft as the tornado of doom rushed up to them. The vicious cloud began to swirl around the hovercraft’s location, unable to reach its targets because of the cover the metal body of the vehicle provided. The group watched in fear as the doom cloud almost enveloped them. Ghostly figures within its winds writhed and moaned, their pained faces appearing and disappearing as it twirled around their location. Occasionally, it looked like hands reached out to grab at the group, wanting to pull them into the tornado’s ghastly vortex.
“Son of a—” growled Scallywag, holding tightly onto the Professor as the ghostly wind bit into his eyes and a hand narrowly missed reaching out for him.
“Stay close!” screamed Anna. “Don’t let it touch you!”
“Brilliant idea!” Scallywag yelled in response.
Beneath their feet, the hovercraft shifted, its metal frame groaning in complaint as the doom cloud swirled around it. Had it not been for the hulking weight of Grohm, there was a good chance the craft might have flipped over.
“We can’t last much longer like this!” said the Professor over the screeching howl of the death cloud’s wind.
“If ya got any sodding ideas,” replied Scallywag, “Now would be the time ta share ‘em!”
“Grohm have idea,” grunted Grohm.
“Great,” said Scallywag. “And what, pray tell, is the Rognok’s bloody brilliant plan?”
“Get on ship,” Grohm replied. He looked up, and the group followed suit. There, above them, hovered the Ancient Earthship.
“But how—” Scallywag started to say, when suddenly, in a flash of blue light, the group found themselves huddled together on its bridge.
“Welcome back,” said Heckubus, who was standing by one of the consoles. “I see my plan worked brilliantly. As usual.”
“Ya bloody tin can…” said Scallywag as he approached the robot and wrapped his arms around Heckubus, lifting him into the air with a big bear hug. “I never thought I’d be happy to see yer rusty mug! Ha, ha!”
“Un… hand… me… you… jackenape!” mumbled Heckubus in between joyful shakes of the hug.
Scallywag set the robot down. “So ya figured out how to take control of the ship?” the pirate said. “And ya still came back for us? I say, I underestimated ya, robot.”
“Yes, well…” said Heckubus. “Not from lack of trying, but this wasn’t me.”
“What?” replied Scallywag.
“I’m not in control of the ship,” said Heckubus. “It flew here on its own.”
Scallywag scowled at the robot. “Shoulda known. I take back everything I just said about ya.”
“Good,” replied Heckubus. “Because things were starting to get awkward.”
“So if you’re not controlling the ship,” asked Anna, “who is?”
“Your guess is as good as mine,” replied Heckubus.
“Look!” said Professor Green, pointing to the viewscreen. “The tornado – it’s leaving.”
The group turned to see the Ghost Planet’s doom cloud tearing off away from the ship.
“Good riddance,” muttered Scallywag.
“Curious,” said Heckubus. “I wonder where it’s going.”
Anna’s heart almost skipped a beat as the answer to the robot’s question became clear to her.
“Jack…” she said.
* * *
In the skies above the surface of the Ghost Planet, Jack was still struggling with the Deathlord – though it was actually more of a combination of trying to keep the Deathlord from killing him and hanging on for dear life.
Jack had managed to climb behind Abraxas, wrapping his arms around the Deathlord’s neck. Abraxas continued to try to reach back and grab Jack, but he was having a hard time controlling the jetpack and fending off the Earthman all at once.
“Fight!” cried the Deathlord. “Fight like a warrior!”
Jack knew he wouldn’t be able to last much longer, especially if Abraxas were able to regain some control over the jetpack and manage to shake him off. He decided to risk letting go with one of his hands to make a grab for his blaster pistol.
“Sorry, dude,” said Jack as he quickly pulled out his pistol and shoved it into the back of the jetpack. “I fight to win!”
Jack pulled the trigger and instantly the jetpack sparked as the plasma blast tore through its casing.
Jack turned his face just in time to avoid an eruption of flame as the jetpack fuel escaped from the breach he’d created. Almost immediately, the two began to twist uncontrollably in the air as the jetpack lost altitude; they began plummeting straight toward the ground.
Jack let go of his pistol and held on as long as he could as Abraxas frantically tried to regain some measure of control over their descent. But it was no use.
The ground came rushing up to meet them.
At the last minute, Abraxas was able to pull up out of the dive, but not soon enough to keep from crashing.
Jack jumpe
d off before the two hit the ground. He tucked and rolled as he landed, though not as gracefully as he would have liked, since his momentum still caused him to hit the ground hard, knocking the wind out of him.
Jack looked up to see that Abraxas had been able to land better than Jack had. The Deathlord climbed back up to his feet, completely unscathed. He shrugged off the broken jetpack and turned to face his enemy. Jack got back up, not taking his eyes off the Deathlord.
“Earthman,” growled Abraxas.
“Sorry,” said Jack. “Were you expecting someone a little less petulant?”
“We should have killed you the moment we teleported you aboard our ship.”
“Well, now’s your chance, jerk-face,” said Jack. “Bring it.”
Abraxas hurled a blast of death energy toward Jack. The chaotic ball screamed toward him, but again, Jack could suddenly see the energy for what it was – something he could control. As it neared him, Jack reached out with his own energy and redirected the projectile, sending it veering away from him and impacting the ground harmlessly.
Jack wasn’t sure if the Deathlords had expressions behind their masks, but if they did, he took a little bit of pleasure in thinking that Abraxas was completely, and utterly, surprised.
“Uh, huh – that’s right,” said Jack, smugly. “I’ve learned a few new tricks since we last met. How ya like me now?”
Abraxas tilted his head, regarding Jack for a moment, before hurling another death blast at him. Jack swatted it away. Abraxas hurled two more. Again, Jack deflected them both with ease.
“I can do this all day, Abby,” chided Jack.
“So, you’ve learned the ancient art of Servuchur,” said Abraxas. “How did this come to be?”
Jack raised an eyebrow. Since this whole adventure had started, he’d figured out how to do a lot of things because of the Ancient brain-dump he’d been privy to. Speaking different languages, flying spaceships, and opening doors to temples at the center of planets – but he’d never heard of “Servuchur” before.
“I’m just… that awesome…” said Jack, not really knowing how to respond.
“Only the Void Lords have the knowledge of Servuchur,” said Abraxas. “It was their gift to us when we were created. Our ultimate weapon handed down from our masters. How did one such as you come by it?”
“The Void Lords?” asked Jack. “They created you?”
Abraxas’s eyes narrowed. “Are you… him?” the Deathlord asked.
Jack was starting to get pretty sick of never knowing what anyone was talking about. “Him” who? he wondered. Why was it nothing about the Deathlords ever made any sense?
“I’m Jack,” he responded. “I’m the guy who’s gonna beat you. And if these Void Lords are the ones calling the shots, then I’m pretty sure I’m gonna beat them, too.”
In the distance, an ear-piercing screech rang out. Abraxas and Jack turned to see the haze of the Ghost Planet’s doom thundering toward them. Suddenly, Abraxas leapt into the air, flying directly at Jack.
Before Jack had a chance to react, Abraxas landed on him, pinning him down with a knee to the chest, his clawed hand wrapping tightly around Jack’s neck.
“Then I will ensure you die here, with me, Earthman,” growled the Deathlord.
The screeching of the impending doom grew louder.
“Sorry, Abby…” said Jack as a large shadow grew over him.
Abraxas looked up to see the Ancient Earthship hovering overhead. He looked back down at Jack, the Deathlord’s eyes wide with surprise.
“This time, you die alone.”
And with that, Jack teleported onto the ship, disappearing in a flash of light.
The Deathlord looked up as the Earthship sped away, releasing one last defiant scream of anger as the Ghost Planet’s doom swept over him. His body disintegrated, and his very essence was absorbed into the swirling chaos that was the Ghost Planet’s final security measure.
Though it is impossible to know what was going through Warlord Abraxas’s mind right before his ultimate defeat, one thing is for certain…
Earthman Jack had finally proven, once and for all, that you could indeed kill a Deathlord.
Chapter 45
Jack rematerialized onto the bridge of his ship in a spark of blue light, his friends all turning to him as soon as he appeared.
Man, thought Jack. No one’s ever around to hear my best lines.
“Jack!” Anna cried as she rushed to his side. “Are you hurt?”
“Please. After taking out a Deathlord Supreme, that guy was a joke,” replied Jack.
“Lad, next time I head to Vasgalas to hit the casinos, yer definitely comin’ along,” said Scallywag as he helped Jack to his feet. “Ya have enough luck to make even Osirus the White jealous.”
“Thanks, I think,” said Jack. “So no one got eaten by the angry evil tornado?”
“No, everyone’s fine,” responded Anna. She hugged Jack’s arm and whispered in his ear. “You were right. It was soooooo creepy!”
“It would appear we were rather fortunate that your ship seems to have gained the ability to operate itself,” replied Green. “Its timing was impeccable.”
“Fly itself?” said Jack. “I made it to do that.”
“You did what?” asked Heckubus.
“Psychic link to the spaceship, remember?” said Jack tapping his head. “I had it come get you guys. Think I’d run off and let you all get eaten by the dust storm of doom?”
“Well played, lad,” smiled Scallywag.
“So, you’re able to communicate with this ship and operate it mentally?” said Green his eyes wide with wonder. “Even from a distance?”
“Pretty much,” replied Jack.
“Fascinating,” responded Green and Heckubus at the same time, their minds buzzing with completely different ideas on how such a thing would be useful.
“Yeah, it’s cool, I’m cool, the spaceship is totally awesome,” said Jack offhandedly. “Now I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am ready to get the heck out of here.”
“Amen to that,” said Scallywag as Jack hopped into the captain’s chair. “Jump us away, lad. Preferably someplace tropical with cheap drinks.”
“Um… yes, about that…” said Heckubus.
The group turned and looked at the robot in unison, a chill running through them collectively at the implication of his words.
“I’m afraid the ship’s Entanglement Engine is not ready yet,” Heckubus finished.
“What?” replied Jack. “That doesn’t make any sense! It’s had plenty of time to charge back up!”
“Robot,” Scallywag sneered. “What did you do?”
“Don’t act like this is my fault,” retorted Heckubus. “Remember how you asked me to bolster the shields during our rather harrowing entrance here?”
“Don’t tell me,” said Jack, exasperation growing on his face.
“Yes, I had to divert energy from the Entanglement Engine,” replied Heckubus. “I’m afraid that set us back a bit in its recharge cycle.”
“The bloody planet is about to explode ya twit!” growled Scallywag.
“If you remember, at the time, that was not part of our plan,” Heckubus shot back. “How was I to know we’d be rushing against the clock to escape a planetary explosion?”
Scallywag looked like he was about to pounce on the robot before Anna placed her hand on his arm to calm him.
“How much time before the Entanglement Engine is ready?” she asked.
Jack called up the information on the holoscreen. “Ten more minutes,” he said.
“Well, that’s not all that long,” said Green cheerily. “How much time before the planet explodes?”
“Approximately nine minutes, by my calculations,” said Heckubus.
Scallywag smacked his palm to his forehead.
“You gotta be kidding me,” muttered Jack. The thought of them dying at this stage of the game, after all they’d just been through, did not sit well
with him.
“Luckily for all of you, I was smart enough to anticipate this situation,” Heckubus continued. “If we can get far enough from the planet before the explosion occurs, we’ll be able to make up those sixty seconds and initiate the jump just before the shockwave reaches us.”
“Get far enough away?” growled Scallywag. “We’re surrounded by a bloody minefield!”
“Don’t forget the space bugs,” chimed in Jack.
“How could I? Or the fact that we’re trapped inside a bloody planetary shield!”
“Oh, ye of little faith,” twittered Heckubus. “While you all were off gallivanting around with the Deathlords, I was not here twiddling my thumbs idly. First of all, the chain reaction currently occurring in the planet’s core will cause the planetary shield to dissipate in approximately 90 seconds. Once that happens, we use the enhanced shields I’ve been able to configure to simply punch through the mess of space insects that will surely swarm toward the planet, and then we make our way through the nebula with the enhanced engine speed I’ve engineered for you, avoiding the mines and the missiles with your newly upgraded sensors, and engaging the Entanglement Engine the moment it’s ready, effectively jumping away to safety approximately 0.25 seconds before we’re utterly destroyed by the explosion. It’s quite simple really.”
The group stared at Heckubus blankly. The robot squinted at them in response.
“What?” he asked.
“Well, better than nothing,” sighed Jack. He turned the command chair to face the main viewscreen of the ship, commanding it to raise the shields and rev up the engines. “Buckle up, everyone. It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.”
Heckubus settled himself in front of an engineering console while Scallywag took his seat in front of the weapons station, grumbling as he did so. Anna joined Professor Green in front of the navigation console, while Grohm stood nearby, his massive hand wrapped around one of the bridge’s railings.
Jack brought the Earthship around and began climbing into the sky toward the Ghost Planet’s shield. What was once a solid golden shell was now discolored and chaotic, like oil trying to mix with water. It seemed to pulse like a lightbulb on the fritz. Behind its shell, Jack could make out a huge swarm of activity as the space bugs they’d brought with them surrounded the shield, trying to chew away at it.
Earthman Jack vs. The Ghost Planet Page 55