Celestial Capers

by Dan Kelly

  “Now that I’ve prepared you for the worst, let me assure you that I don’t believe that will happen. Our warship escort, in the very capable hands of Commander Caitlin, is the best there is. It has never been defeated in battle nor has Commander Caitlin. I just want to be prepared for anything that might happen. Are there any questions?”

  Pulsar speaks up again. “Aunt Cue, don’t forget the Pack’s special abilities. They can be powerful weapons in the right circumstances. For instance, Chester’s X-ray vision and Norman’s ability to confuse thought could be used without exposing them to any danger and might give us an advantage over these life forms if they have bad intentions. You let us participate in your plan to trap Emperor Eclipse at Castle Capella. Why not let us participate in the defense of our Queen and her spaceship?”

  “Hmm”, thinks the Queen. “Pulsar’s right. The Pack might be a big help. This is the type of situation they’re being trained to handle and I’ve got to give them a chance to use what they’ve learned sometime. Boy, Pulsar sure has come a long way since enrolling at Stellar. They all have.” The Queen, very impressed with the coolness and maturity they’re showing under stress, responds with, “Ok, Pulsar, you’ve made your point. I will see to it that the Pack’s powers are considered if and when a plan of engagement or retaliation is required. For now, we’ll just sit tight and wait for things to develop.”

  Late evening arrives and with it two very menacing warships. Their weapons portals are open with flashing lights around the openings indicating the rockets within are armed and ready to be launched. Using the standard microwave communication system, someone on one of the warships bellows. “Heave to and prepare to be boarded.”

  The Queen’s pilot responds by asking, “Who are you and what do you want?”

  Another voice says, “Heave to and prepare to be boarded. If you don’t comply, we will commence firing.”

  Commander Caitlin is primed and ready for action. The warships are converted freighters, not the fastest things in outer space, but are very sturdily built and capable of handling the recoil of some very powerful weapons and carrying many of them. He knows these older and smaller warships are no match for his titan spacecraft and mammoth firepower, but he must be careful in deciding on the weaponry to be used. If the weaponry he selects is too powerful, the resultant explosion could destroy not only the fired rockets and the enemy spacecraft, but seriously damage the Queen’s spaceship as well.

  He resolves the dilemma by positioning his warship behind them, lowering the stealth shield and announcing his presence by shouting over the microwave communication system, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. It could be fatal. Now you heave to, close your weapons portals and prepare to be boarded or I’ll disintegrate you and your ships into cosmic dust!”

  As anticipated, the two warships spin around to find out where the voice is coming from and when they see what is behind them they become so scared that they lose control of their motor functions and their ships begins to wobble, spin and zigzag like a kid’s top running out of steam. There’s a slight possibility that they might accidentally crash into Discus I, but at least no weapons are pointing at it. This was momentary, however, as they quickly recover their wits and go to full throttle, with one veering to the left and the other to the right in an attempt for at least one of them to get away. This ploy is no match for the Proton warship’s capabilities. Commander Caitlin zeroes in on the thrusters of the ship that took off to the left and reduces them to space trash and then does a repeat performance on the other one. They’re now both aimlessly floating to nowhere.

  Commander Caitlin radios the Queen’s pilot that he has disabled the enemy spacecraft and has everything under control. “I have arranged for two of our space patrol ships to dock with these renegades, board their ships and arrest everyone on board. Two tow ships are also on the way to haul these space buckets back to Proton.”

  “Good job, Commander. I’ll relay your message to the Queen.”

  Queen Quasar has been sitting in the lounge with the Pack, hoping that her presence will have a calming effect should the tension surrounding the situation begin to grow. The Queen’s pilot personally relays the Commander’s message to her and the Pack and there is an enormous sigh of relief from the entire group. The Queen has a concern though.

  After the pilot returns to the flight deck, she voices her concern to the Pack. “Those space patrolmen better be real careful when boarding those enemy spaceships. Those ruffians don’t strike me as the type to give up easily as evidenced by their attempt to escape from Commander Caitlin. They could have a trick or two up their sleeves.”

  Upon hearing this, Chester says, “Your Highness, perhaps I can do a little remote reconnaissance before they board to see if I can spot anything that might put them in danger. I’ve never tried to use my power over any distance greater than 30 feet or so and never through walls before, but I’ve been practicing and learning a lot about my power ever since I attended Camp Chameleon. It has gotten a lot stronger and I have much better control over it. With your permission, I sure would like to see what I can come up with.”

  Norman jumps in with, “I think I can help out too, Queen Quasar. Just before the space patrolmen board these spacecraft, I could muddle the crews’ thought processes and temporarily reduce their brains to useless mush. Like Chester, the distance between Discus I and these enemy spacecraft will be a challenge, but I think I’m up to it.”

  Queen Quasar quickly responds with, “Those are great suggestions, guys, and I’m with you all the way. I’ll let Commander Caitlin know what you’re willing to attempt and have him co-ordinate with the space patrolmen regarding timing and communications. You two will have to determine where to positions yourselves to have the greatest chance at success.”

  A dozen or so hours later the space patrol ships arrive and a couple of hours after that the tow ships. Commander Caitlin briefs the space patrolmen on the intelligence he can provide and directs the pilots of the two space patrol ships to communicate with him and the Queen’s pilot via a specific channel on the microwave communication system that has been encrypted and scrambled. This will keep the space pirates in the dark as to what is happening. The less they know, the safer their capture will be.

  Chester positions himself in the passenger lounge at the window closest to the nearest pirate spaceship. By now, everyone is assuming that these life forms are space pirates. He settles down, brings his concentration to maximum level, focuses on a section of the ship just aft of the flight deck and turns his power loose. At first nothing happens and Chester thinks the distance is too great. Then, like sweetener dissolving in a cup of hot rosman, the portion of the spaceship’s hull surrounding his point of focus disappears and Chester is viewing the inside of the spaceship as clearly as if he were standing inside it.

  He sees 14 humanoids carrying a variety of small arms weapons and many different kinds of rockets in the armament bays. There’s the usual supply of food, drink and toiletries and many stacks of shipping containers labeled with the names of a host of different products, some of them Chester recognizes as belonging to very valuable merchandise. “Yeah, if this isn’t a pirate ship, someone will have to teach me what is.” The ship has no escape pods and looks a little beat up. The storage cabinets contain nothing alarming, but opposite a string of them there is a small cell with a barred door. “That’s interesting.”

  Chester reports what he has seen to Commander Caitlin who passes the information on to the space patrolmen. The patrolmen don body armor and prepare to board the pirate spaceships. The pilot leading the boarding orders, “Throw your weapons into the boarding acclimation chamber now! If anyone is found to be armed when we have boarded, they will be killed. There will be no second chances.” Chester reports that none of the pirates have obeyed. Commander Caitlin shouts, “It appears you characters have a death wish. Ok. You have two ways to make your wish come true. The first is you die from the superior fire power of the space patrol a
fter they blow the boarding hatch on your spacecraft and the second is I obliterate all of you with a touch of a button on my console. You have ten seconds to decide. After that, I’ll decide for you. Guess which way I’ll go.”

  Chester reports, “Commander, they’re looking at each other all confused. They’re trying to figure out how you know what their doing.”

  “Good. I want them confused, scared and submissive. I won’t annihilate them because I want to save the cargo that they’ve stolen from others, but they don’t know that.” The Commander shouts out again. “Ok, times up. What’s it going to be?”

  The pilot of the pirate ship meekly mumbles, “We’ll surrender.”

  Chester sees them throwing their weapons into the acclimation chamber, but also sees that the look on the faces of the pirates is far from meek. He tells the Commander what he has seen and continues to keep a close watch on the pirates.

  The Commander passes this on to the space patrolmen with the warning that they should be prepared for physical combat based on what Chester saw on the pirates’ faces. “They must be hoping to overpower you and use you as hostages to help them get away. These are some tough nuts, much tougher than I thought they’d be. Be careful.”

  Taking this warning to heart, the patrolmen draw their stupor spray guns and their leader orders the pirates to lower the hatch to the acclimation chamber. The hatch is lowered and they board the ship. When the acclimation process is completed, they rush into the space ship and are immediately attacked by the pirates. They are very big, very strong and very mean. If the patrolmen hadn’t been warned, they would have easily been subdued. As it is, even with the use of their stupor spray guns it takes every bit of their strength, all of their training and flawless teamwork to render the pirates harmless and shackled. Remarkably, except for some minor cuts and bruises, the patrolmen come through the ordeal unscathed.

  “Ok, one down and one to go.”, thinks the Commander. The other pirate space ship hasn’t drifted too far away and, in a matter of minutes, the other space patrol ship, Commander Caitlin’s warship and Discus I surround it. The same procedure is followed as was used on the first pirate ship. The Commander is hoping that this crew has been listening to what happened to their buddies and will peacefully surrender.

  Chester scouts out the ship and finds it a duplicate of the first in every way. All the crew members, 14 just like the other ship, are heavily armed, but appear to be calmer than the crew on the other ship. Commander Caitlin isn’t going to take any chances this time though. He radios the Queen’s pilot and asks to speak with Norman. When Norman comes on he says, “Norman, when I give the signal I want you to use your power to reduce these insolent jokers to babbling idiots. Can you channel it so others around you won’t be affected?”

  “Yes, Commander, I’ve learned a lot about my ability since coming to Stellar.”

  “I’m very glad to hear that, Norman. I should have used you when we boarded the first pirate ship, but I thought we had the situation under control without your help. We were very fortunate that none of the patrolmen were seriously hurt. The combination of your power with the patrolmen’s stupor spray should make taking this bunch into custody a lot easier, I hope.”

  Norman positions himself next to Chester, having seen how effective he is from that location. The Commander lets the patrol leader know he can proceed when ready and seconds later the

  patrol leader orders the pirates to lower the acclimation chamber hatch. The hatch is lowered and the patrolmen clamber into the chamber. As soon as they’re all in, the hatch closes and Norman begins to do his stuff. Chester is still keeping an eye on the crew members to make sure they don’t make any threatening moves and reports that everything seems to be ok.

  After the acclimation process, the patrolmen enter the spaceship to find some of the crew members stumbling around, some are crawling on the floor, others are sprawled listlessly

  in chairs and most of them are drooling. Norman certainly has made an impression on them. The patrolmen have no trouble handcuffing them and taking them into custody.

  As the last pirate is being taken to the space patrol ship, Chester is taking one final look around and spots a blinking light on the Pilot’s console. He takes a closer look and sees that it’s on some kind of instrument with a bunch of numbers whirling around in its window. Chester reports this to the Commander who instantly responds with the loudest voice Chester has ever heard. “It’s a timer! It’s a timer. Those loons have rigged explosives to blow up their ship. Evacuate the area! Evacuate the area!”

  Immediately, the Queen’s pilot pushes his throttle wide open, sending everyone not sitting down or holding on to something flying in all directions. Like spokes of a wheel, with the pirate ship as a hub, Discus I, the Proton warship, the two space patrol spaceships and the two tow ships speed away in different directions to avoid colliding with one another.

  In a matter of minutes there is a tremendous, blinding flash of light and the pirate spaceship implodes into thousands of tiny pieces traveling at horrendous speeds. Many of these pieces impale themselves in the hull of the other pirate space ship, weakening its structure sufficiently to cause it to implode. Fortunately, thanks to Commander Caitlin’s quick thinking and response, the other spacecraft get away undamaged, but it is a very close call.

  The space patrol ships act as escorts to the tow ships and Commander Caitlin continues to perform escorting duties for Discus I. They should all be back on Proton in approximately 36 hours. Commander Caitlin can’t wait to interrogate these lowlifes back at headquarters.

  Chapter 31

  Once back at Cape Constellation, Queen Quasar transfers to her supersonic helicopter and heads back to Castle Capella. Headmaster Herby and the Pack take ground transportation back to Stellar and Commander Caitlin, along with the space patrolmen and their prisoners, hops a military bus with armed guards and wastes no time getting to the interrogation room at the military installation adjacent to Cape Constellation.

  The Commander had this installation built and moved his headquarters here about seven years ago for several reasons. As Commander of Proton’s military forces he is frequently required to meet with military leaders from all over the universe. Normally, these leaders fly into Cape Constellation to meet with him or he flies out of Cape Constellation to meet with them because Cape Constellation is the best of the best when it comes to spaceports. It has the resources to handle the largest and most powerful spaceships and from a time standpoint, its proximity is a great advantage.

  Because it is the best of the best, having a military installation so close also acts as a deterrent to any enemy such as Emperor Eclipse looking at it as a prime target. If someone should be so foolhardy as to attack it, the military might located there is so overwhelming that the attackers would deeply regret the day the idea ever crossed their minds.

  Another reason is that Castle Capella is only a blink of an eye away by air should an assault be launched against the Queen.

  There are many military installations all over Proton because Proton is one of the planetary jewels of the universe and there are others just as bellicose as Emperor Eclipse who would very much like to conquer it. Commander Caitlin has never had second thoughts about his decision to build one here.

  When the bus arrives at the headquarters building, the pirates are locked up in separate solitary confinement cells, unable to communicate with each other or anyone else for that matter. The doors are made of solid steel and there are no windows anywhere. There’s one dim light bulb in the ceiling, a sink, a toilet and a metal bunk attached to one of the walls with a thin mattress and beat up pillow. They remain in these cells incommunicado without food for the next 48 hours. The Commander is hoping that these conditions will soften them up to the point that they will be more malleable, more easily persuaded to tell the truth during interrogation.

  Each one of them is questioned separately. They are brought into the interrogation room by two burly guards and rou
ghly manhandled into a straight backed metal chair at a long metal conference table. Their ankles are shackled to the front legs of the chair and their wrists handcuffed to metal loops attached to the table. The guards leave, then Commander Caitlin enters the room and their living nightmare begins.