Instead, Jack made his way to the galley for some breakfast. Though it was called “the galley,” it was actually just a replica of Big Jim’s Pizza Palace, complete with scratched pool tables, outdated jukebox music, and awful, awful pizza. When Jack entered, he found Scallywag and Grohm already there, which was no real surprise. Ever since escaping the Ghost Planet, those onboard tended to hang out mostly in the galley, and both the Visini and the Rognok appeared to like it there. During their journey, Jack had gotten to learn a lot about Scallywag and how the pirate liked to spend his downtime. Jack had taught him how to play pool and Nova Commander IV, and Scallywag had taught Jack some of the games he liked to play – mostly games of chance.
One game in particular called Loquir was especially fun. It reminded Jack a lot of Poker but had elements of chess to it. Once Jack had picked up the basics, he’d started to play it a lot. Though to Jack’s great frustration, Scallywag always seemed to win (but Jack was fairly certain he was cheating somehow).
That morning, Scallywag had his feet kicked up on the table, a half-eaten slice of pizza on a paper plate along with a steaming mug of coffee in front of him. He watched as Jack walked to the kitchen, grabbed some cereal and milk, and plopped himself down in front of the pirate, briefly cradling his head. Scallywag took a bite of his pizza and eyed Jack.
“Head botherin’ ya again, lad?” the pirate mused.
“It feels like someone let a rabid badger loose in my skull…” whined Jack. “Only this time even its rabies has rabies.”
“Such a pity ya gotta enjoy all the drawbacks o’ a hangover without any o’ the fun leadin’ up ta it,” Scallywag said. “Maybe ya should have the robot scan ya again in the med bay.”
“He’s scanned me, like, a billion times already,” Jack replied. “Says he can’t find anything wrong with me. Even the aspirin I have the ship manifest for me doesn’t work.”
“Maybe it has something ta do with yer diet,” grumbled Scallywag as he flopped the greasy slice of pizza onto the plate before him. “I’ve been in prisons with better slop than this.”
“Man, lay off the pizza,” muttered Jack. “You don’t see Grohm complaining about it.”
“I ain’t seen Grohm eat it, neither,” replied Scallywag as he eyed the large Rognok at the table in the corner. “All he does is sit there like a bump on a log. I’m beginin’ ta think he doesn’t eat at all.”
Jack eyed Grohm, as well. The Rognok sat hunched over his table stoically, his massive frame taking up the space of two chairs. The alien’s eyes were closed and he sat still as stone. Jack frowned. Ever since they’d escaped from the Ghost Planet, Grohm had seemed different to him somehow. The Rognok barely spoke and hardly interacted with anyone, which didn’t seem all that unusual for him. But the feeling Jack got when he was around Grohm was that the alien was sad. Like, REALLY sad. And whenever Jack tried to talk to him about it, the Rognok would just grunt and walk away.
“And this milk o’ yours,” grumbled Scallywag, gesturing to the carton by Jack’s cereal. “I think it be defective. Makes me stomach churn something fierce.”
“The milk is fine,” muttered Jack. “You’re just not used to the kind that comes from cows.”
“Ah, yes, these mythical cows ya speak of,” mused Scallywag, apparently still finding the notion of them funny. “Large beasts that do nothing but lactate all day. Now I’ve heard everything.”
“I refuse to believe that the universe at large does not consume milk or cheese,” replied Jack.
“Oh, we do, but it all comes from Willowwhite Trees,” replied Scallywag. “Honestly, ya never thought it weird to drink the milk of an entirely different species? Madness.”
Jack poured some milk over his cereal and began eating. “Well, I guess I’ll be learning a lot of new things soon,” he said. “The ship’s telling me we’re almost at Omnicron. We’ll be there within the hour.”
“’Bout bloody time,” muttered Scallywag. “No offense, lad, but a month’s journey with you lot was not how I’d hoped ta spend me well deserved freedom after escaping the Deathlords.”
Jack nodded. After jumping the Earthship at the last second away from the massive explosion of the Ghost Planet that wiped out an entire system of space, the Entanglement Engine hadn’t worked. Both Heckubus and Professor Green theorized it may have been damaged in the antimatter shockwave that hit just as the ship had engaged the engine, but they had yet to find out what was wrong with it. This meant they’d been forced to make the journey back to the Regal homeworld using hyperspace, which was a month’s trek from where they’d jumped to in order to escape total annihilation.
“Could have been worse,” said Jack. “Anna said the trip from Earth to Omnicron took close to six months. Can you imagine if we’d jumped back there?”
Scallywag shivered at the thought. “I woulda survived that blasted Ghost Planet only ta die o’ boredom,” he responded.
Jack sighed as he munched on his corn flakes. Eating seemed to be making his headache start to subside. “It’s going to be nice,” Jack said, thoughtfully, “finally being on solid ground again. Fresh air. Fresh food. Lots of people. Nothing trying to kill us.”
Scallywag snorted. “You and I got very different ideas o’ the Capitol, lad.”
“Anna’s told me all about it,” said Jack.
“Yeah, from the point o’ view of a Princess who does nothing but sit on her dainty bum in the Royal Tower all bloody day,” replied Scallywag. “Keep in mind, Omnicron wasn’t always the Regal homeworld. It was adopted after Regalus Prime was destroyed by the Deathlords. The Regals chose it because it was centralized, not because it was pretty. Omnicron’s got a long and violent history to it, lad. Becoming the Prime planet o’ the Empire might have put a shiny new coat o’ paint on tha bloody thing, but trust me… there’s plenty there that’ll kill ya if yer not careful.”
“Oh yeah?” said Jack as he squinted at Scallywag. “Like what?”
“Lots o’ trouble ta be had in Capitol City, fer starters,” replied Scallywag. “I remember back when it was called Millennium City, before tha Imperial government moved in. Omnicron is a hyperspace hub. Ya can fly ta pretty much anywhere in tha Empire from there without having ta adjust yer course. Made it a great port fer merchants, and even better fer smugglers. That means there are plenty o’ villains who had their hooks in that city long before the politicians staked their claim. Once ya drop past the fortieth stratum, ya leave behind the glitz o’ the Empire and start gettin’ inta proper outlaw territory.”
Anna had told Jack about how Capitol City was structured. It was all built around large supertowers, some reaching as high as 25,000 feet into the sky, each one capable of housing millions of people – practically cities within the city. The structures that were built around the supertowers were multi-tiered, and the locals referred to each tier as a ‘stratum’. Anna had said there were 200 stratums to the Capitol, and now, according to Scallywag, only 160 of them were safe.
“You, uh… you ever one of those villains, Scally?” Jack asked.
Scallywag smiled devilishly. “Me? Nah. Don’t like ta be tethered ta one place. But I had me fair share o’ dealings there. Back when the government was movin’ in, there was a lot o’ fear that the criminal element would get cracked down on. But there ain’t no bigger criminals in my book than politicians. If anything, making Millennium City tha Capitol just made things easier and more lucrative. Bribes, kickbacks, all that good stuff just paved the way fer enterprising businessmen such as meself to unload ill-gotten cargo at the best economic hub in tha galaxy.”
“Bribes?” said Jack, shocked.
Scallywag chuckled. “Ya certainly got a lot ta learn ‘bout how tha real world works, lad,” the pirate said. “Not all Regals are brave and noble. In fact, most o’ them are right browners in me humble opinion.”
“Well, we all know how fond you are of being humble,” said Jack as he finished off his cereal and stood up. “I guess I’ll go and tell ever
yone to get ready for our arrival. Where’s Heckubus?”
“The rustbucket is probably on tha bridge tryin’ ta take control o’ the ship for tha billionth time,” Scallywag replied. “He seems ta be gettin’ more and more paranoid the closer we get ta Omnicron, if that’s even possible.”
“Well, as long as he’s trying to take over the ship, he’s not coming up with any other dastardly plan that could somehow backfire on us,” responded Jack. “I’m gonna let Anna and the Professor know our ETA. See you in a bit.”
Jack left Scallywag and Grohm in the galley to track down the others. In his head, he checked his psychic map of the ship. During the month of downtime while they’d been travelling, Jack had gotten more skilled at psychically interfacing with the Earthship. The maps it shared with him had become clearer, and he discovered that the ship had somehow been able to tag those it had previously teleported, which let Jack pinpoint their locations on the ship whenever he wanted. At that moment, the ship was telling him Anna was in her quarters and the Professor was in the Entanglement Engine room.
Jack decided to speak to Professor Green first and began making his way down the hall to the engine room. The engineering of the Earthship was something that Jack still didn’t fully understand. There was the Hyperspace Engine Room where the Brane Accelerator and Lightspeed Engines were located. There was the normal Engine Room, which powered the ship’s thrusters. And then there was the Entanglement Engine, which allowed the ship to jump anywhere in the universe it wanted. All three were separate yet somehow connected to one another. Despite Jack’s efforts to learn everything he could about his ship and how it worked, he still had very little knowledge about the technology behind it all.
It made him feel a little bit better that both Heckubus and Professor Green seemed mystified at how his ship worked, as well. Though they appeared to understand the technology behind it better than Jack, they were just as clueless as to how everything fit together, which made Jack feel far less dumb. After all, if the two biggest brains he knew couldn’t figure out his ship, he shouldn’t feel bad for not being able to either.
“Hey, Professor,” said Jack as he entered the engine room.
Professor Green was on his knees, thoughtfully gazing at the circuitry of an open panel on the engine before turning to Jack and smiling brightly. “Ah! Jack!” he said, lifting up a pair of magnifying goggles from his face. “Good morning to you!”
“And to you,” Jack replied. “Just came by to tell you that we are finally approaching the Omnicron Prime checkpoint. You’ll be back home real soon.”
“Excellent!” said Green, cheerily. “It will be so nice to be back within the Empire. I had hoped to have your ship completely repaired before we arrived, but unfortunately the Entanglement Engine is still not operational.”
Jack sighed and looked at the engine. It was a large horizontal cylinder, with all types of pipes and doo-hickies jutting from it and attaching themselves to the walls of the room, leading who-knew-where. “I wish we knew what was wrong with it,” muttered Jack.
“Indeed,” replied Green. “There are many mysteries concerning this particular engine I wish we had the answers to… beginning with how exactly it works. It is hard to fix something one does not fully understand, after all.”
Jack nodded. He’d heard Professor Green carry on endlessly about the infeasibility of an Entanglement Engine. Apparently, it was impossible for machines to perform any type of quantum manifestation, since by all accounts such things – like choosing to exist in one place as opposed to another – required a living consciousness to do so. The fact that the Ancients had apparently found a solution to this and had built an engine based around it was quite groundbreaking and could change the very nature of space travel across the universe. That is, assuming anyone could understand how exactly it was achieved. Even Heckubus, for all his boasting about how smart he was, couldn’t figure it out.
“Well, hopefully there’s someone on Omnicron that can fix it,” said Jack.
“Yes, about that,” said Green, getting to his feet and looking at Jack. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you before we arrive at the Capitol about something that keeps slipping my mind.”
“Okay,” replied Jack, curious.
“I know that, what with everything you’ve experienced, you’ve been somewhat overwhelmed by your new situation,” said Green. “Being exposed to different alien species, technology, culture- it can be a lot to handle for anyone…”
“I think I’ve managed pretty well so far,” replied Jack.
“Oh, without a doubt, my boy!” said Green. “In fact, that’s what I wanted to speak to you about. It was obvious, from the minute I set foot upon your planet that Earth was… well, let’s just say quite a unique place.”
“What do you mean?” asked Jack.
“Based on the temple we found at the center of your planet, it was obvious the Ancients had a plan for your race, Jack,” said Green. “They intended Earthmen to eventually travel out into the universe at large for some reason. What that reason is, I do not know, but I do know this: Everything on your planet was meant to prepare you for what you are going to eventually encounter.”
“Uh…” said Jack, not quite understanding. “Okay?”
“Understand, your planet’s evolution was heavily influenced by the Ancient Temple that was built in its core,” explained Green. “Plants, animals, insects… a great many things on Earth had been influenced by the repository of quantum-manifested knowledge from the Ancient Temple.”
“What exactly do you mean, Professor?” asked Jack.
“Well, take me for instance,” said Green. “I am a Trundel. A race of beings whose homeworld is light-years away from Earth. My race evolved completely separate from your planet. And yet, your ‘turtles’ resemble us quite closely. Imagine if you landed on a planet far away and discovered six inch humans running around with tiny cardboard boxes covering their bodies. I found the discovery to be quite traumatic, if I’m being honest…”
“Are you saying… things on Earth are like things in space?” asked Jack.
“Precisely!” said Green, excitedly. “Many cultures on Earth seemed to mimic some of the alien cultures within the Empire. Things like your language, mannerisms, fashion, entertainment, religion, sports… they’re very similar to some of the ones found on other planets. Food, technology, political systems… so many things that resembled aspects of the universe at large were present on your planet, it simply can’t be taken as coincidence.”
“I guess that makes sense,” said Jack. “Yeoman Porter talked about how you guys had coffee and stuff.”
“Yes!” said Green. “One of the many similarities! Much of the food grown on your planet was like the food grown on other planets! Another example is that the culture of your Napoleon-era France is very similar to that of the Visini Empire. The creatures you know as pigs are almost exactly like the Gourvine race, who are known for their aptitude at agriculture and cannibalism.”
“Cannibalism?”
“Well, even they think they’re delicious,” shrugged Green. “Oh! Fun fact – did you know the surface of the majority of habitable alien planets looks almost exactly like Vancouver, Canada?”
“What does any of this have to do with me, Professor?” Jack asked.
“The point I’m trying to make is that much of what you’re going to encounter once we reach the Empire is going to feel familiar to you,” Green said. “The capitol of Omnicron Prime is a melting pot of alien cultures from around the entire universe, very similar to how Earth was a type of melting pot, as well. However, it’s not all exactly like Earth. There will be differences. I just want you to know to be careful, because though something may seem familiar to you, it won’t be exactly as you expect it to be. Does that make sense?”
“Yeah, I guess,” said Jack. “Expect the unexpected, always be prepared, stay frosty, all that jazz…”
“Yes, yes, whatever those mean! Precisely!” said Green with
a smile. “Oh, it is going to be quite an adventure, my boy! I’m so excited for you.”
Jack chuckled. “Thanks,” he replied. “I’m gonna go tell Anna we’re coming up on the checkpoint.”
“Excellent idea! Without her we’ll most likely get quite a contentious greeting considering this ship has no Imperial security signature, isn’t listed in any database anywhere, and looks unlike anything ever seen before in Imperial space.”
“Right, which is why I’m going to go tell her,” said Jack.
“I’ll join you on the bridge momentarily,” said Green as he put his goggles back on, making his eyes appear even larger than normal, and turned back toward the Entanglement Engine. “I just wanted to do some last-minute poking around in here before going back to my quarters to finish packing up my notes. I cannot wait to submit all my recent findings to the scientific community!”
Jack nodded. “Yay, science,” he muttered before heading out of the room, wondering just how familiar the universe at large would end up being to him.
Chapter 2
As Jack walked down the hallway of the ship, his mind raced, inspired by the Professor’s words. In the month of traveling, he had occasionally thought about what kind of strange and amazing things he’d encounter once he’d made it to the Empire. He and Anna had talked about such things extensively as she told him stories about many of the different races and cultures that existed there.
Jack smiled to himself. Though the journey back to Imperial space had been a long one, it had given him plenty of time with the girl of his dreams. He and Anna had gotten to spend more time together than he ever could have hoped for back on Earth, and it really gave the two of them a chance to get to know one another outside of the threat of constant impending doom.
Earthman Jack vs. The Secret Army (Earthman Jack Space Saga Book 2) Page 2