“Really?” said Space. He let out a sigh of relief. “That's good to hear. Where does your com-watch say that the suspect is now?”
“I was just about to check that, as I have not done so since you two got here,” said Dad. He tapped the touch screen of the com-watch, swiped it a few times, and then tapped it again. A puzzled expression appeared on his face. “Curious.”
“Curious?” said Galaxy. “What do you mean?”
“The tracker says that the suspect is right outside the front door of my apartment,” said Dad, gesturing over Galaxy and Space's heads to the door behind them. “Yet that doesn't make any sense. Why would he—”
The door to the apartment burst open suddenly. A moment later, a small metal can flew in an arc through the doorway and into the center of the living room. Galaxy, Dad, and Space had only enough time to look at the canister before it unleashed a cloud of foul-smelling red smoke from the top.
Dad stood up, saying, “What the—” before he inhaled some of the gas and immediately fell back into the chair. His head hung back and his body was so still that he looked dead.
“Dad!” Galaxy cried out, but that was a mistake, because then she inhaled some of the gas herself—which tasted like burning smoke—and lost consciousness before she even realized what happened.
-
When Galaxy awoke, her throat and nostrils burned and she was lying on the floor of Dad's apartment. She tried to sit up, but her body felt heavier than usual, making even that simple gesture difficult. She assumed it was probably due to the gas she had inhaled earlier, though she wasn't sure.
That was when she noticed the metal can that had let out the gas. It was right in front of her, but was no longer spewing gas. She assumed that it must have run out, but when she looked up, she didn't see the gas anywhere. That was odd, because Dad's apartment was an enclosed space, which meant that the gas should have been trapped in here.
Then again, the Annulus is said to have the best ventilation system in the entire UA, Galaxy thought, though her thoughts seemed more sluggish than usual. In any case, at least I won't have to worry about falling unconscious again. I'll have Sparky check out my lungs when we get back to the ship, however, just to make sure that the gas didn't leave any lasting damage.
Then Galaxy's mind—which was starting to return to its usual speed, which told her that the effects of the gas weren't permanent, at least—noticed that Space was still sitting on the couch. But he wasn't sitting upright. He was completely bent forward, with his arms outwards and his face over his knees. It looked like an awkward position to sit in, but as he was obviously still breathing, Galaxy figured that he was probably okay.
Then Galaxy remembered Dad and looked up at his chair. It was completely empty.
The panic that filled her body now was enough to snap Galaxy out of her paralysis. She pushed herself up into a sitting position and looked around the small apartment. She didn't see Dad anywhere.
The panic mounting, Galaxy dashed into Dad's bedroom and bathroom, but she didn't see him in there, either. She pulled back the shower curtain, looked under his bed, pulled open his closet doors, opened the fridge, searched the cupboards … but there was no sign of Dad anywhere.
Trying not to panic, Galaxy returned to the living room, where Space was just starting to stir. She walked over to him and, grabbing his shoulders, raised him back up into a more natural sitting position and said, “Space, are you awake? Dad's missing. I can't find him anywhere in the apartment. I think he was kidnapped by whoever threw that gas can.”
Space looked at her with groggy eyes. “Did you say Santa was here? What presents did he leave us?”
Good god, the gas must be affecting his brain, Galaxy thought, but she said aloud, “I didn't say anything about Santa Claus. I was talking about my father, who is missing. Okay?”
“Oh, your father,” said Space, nodding. Then he frowned. “Did you say your father is Santa Claus?”
Galaxy would have strangled Space for being such an idiot if she hadn't believed that the gas was making him say stupid things.
Instead, she said, “Listen, we need to figure out how to save Dad. I don't know where that terrorist might have taken him, or if he's even still alive, but we can't just leave him in their grasp.”
“You are absolutely right,” said Space. He rested one hand on her shoulder, a serious look in his eyes. “We have to save Santa Claus, otherwise we might not have another Christmas.”
This time, Galaxy did slap Space, causing him to say, “Hey! What was that for?”
Galaxy didn't answer that. She just stood up and, stroking her chin, said, “Where could the terrorists have possibly taken Dad? I wish I knew Sector Six better than I do, because right now I can't think of many places that a terrorist would take a hostage without being noticed by the general population.”
Rubbing the spot on his face where Galaxy had slapped him, Space said, “We could contact my brother, Alex. Remember how I mentioned that he's a member of the ADF? He'll probably help us find your dad if we ask.”
“Really?” said Galaxy. She frowned. “Will he get the rest of the ADF involved? I'm not against their involvement, but—”
“Nah,” said Space, shaking his head. “Alex owes me anyway. I'll just tell him that I need a special favor and not to involve the rest of his teammates yet. He'll probably be here in a minute if we call him.”
“Well, then what are we waiting for?” said Galaxy. “Call your brother right away. Don't tell him about any of the specifics until he gets here, however, in case the ADF is monitoring his communications.”
“Okay,” said Space as he raised his com-watch up and began typing a message for his brother. “I imagine he'll be here right away once he receives my message. He's not usually the kind of person to ignore favors.”
-
As it turned out, Space was correct. It was only ten minutes later—which seemed far too long to Galaxy, even though it really wasn't—that there was a knock at the door, which Space rushed to answer. Galaxy followed closely behind, mostly because she was curious about Alex, who she had never met before. She imagined that he probably looked similar to Space in appearance, with a few small differences to distinguish him from his younger brother. Therefore, when Space opened the door, she was shocked by Alex's actual appearance.
Alex Space was a hulking brute of a man. Whereas Space was rather thin, Alex was so bulky that he almost took up the entire doorway. His hair was longer, too, going down to his shoulders in dreads, while his fists were almost as round as boulders. He was not wearing the usual uniform of the ADF. Instead, he wore a full-body jumpsuit with a jacket. Galaxy did, however, notice a large gun holstered at his side, though she could not tell what kind of gun it was exactly.
“'Sup, bro,” said Alex. He held out one of his massive hands. “How's my little brother been?”
Space's hand disappeared inside Alex's hand as they shook hands. Still, Space put on a smile, even though he was clearly in pain from how tightly Alex gripped his hand.
“Doing fine, Alex,” said Space as he pulled his hand out of Alex's, wincing from the pain. “Well, I mean, aside from the problem I messaged you about, obviously.”
“Yeah, I got your message,” said Alex, nodding. “You said something about Santa Claus getting kidnapped by terrorists or something?”
Galaxy let out a long sigh in frustration, causing Alex to look over Space's head and say, “Hey, is that your girlfriend? The one Mother told me about? The starship girl?”
“One, she's not my girlfriend,” said Space. “She's my partner in space exploration and business. The two of us are friends and nothing more. She isn't even really my type anyway.”
He looked over his shoulder at Galaxy and said, “No offense.”
“Why would I be offended by that?” said Galaxy, not bothering to hide the disgust in her voice.
“Right, bro,” said Alex, patting Space on the shoulder and almost causing him to buckle under the i
mpact. “Anyway, what's her name again? Admiral Helen Galactic or whatever?”
“Captain Helena Galaxy,” Galaxy corrected. “It's not a complicated name to memorize, you know.”
“Whoa,” said Alex, holding up his hands. “Looks like your girlfriend bites.”
“Again, she's not my girlfriend,” said Space. “And anyway, she's probably just under stress, because her Dad was just kidnapped and all.”
“Hold on a moment,” said Alex, lowering his hands and looking at Space in confusion. “Galaxy's Dad is Santa Claus?”
Galaxy and Space quickly explained the actual situation to Alex. Although he didn't look it, Alex was actually a very good listener, not saying a word until the two of them finished the story.
When they did, he stepped into the apartment and closed the door behind him before turning to face them again. “So the High Superiors have kidnapped Galaxy's dad because he was trying to stop them from blowing up this Sector?”
“Exactly,” said Space, nodding. “And, just to be clear, Santa Claus has nothing to do with this. That was a mistake on my part, which I made because my mind was gassed by whatever was in that canister the terrorist hit us with.”
“This all sounds extremely serious,” said Alex. “Serious enough that I should probably report it to my superiors at the ADF. If there are a bunch of terrorists on the Annulus looking to blow up one of the Sectors … well, I'd say that that definitely falls under the ADF's purview.”
“You make a good point, dear brother of mine, but the thing is, Galaxy's dad wanted to keep this a secret because his bosses at the Zinarthian government said so,” said Space. “We're afraid that it might cause an inter-planetary incident, if you know what we mean. That's why we contacted you on your day off. Because you're technically not working for the ADF at the moment, that means you don't actually have to report to them about what you do when not working, right?”
“I understand completely, bro,” said Alex. “It's true that I am not required to inform my superiors about what I do on my days off, but this is way more serious than a simple trip to the park or night club. This could pose a great risk to not just Sector Six, but to all twenty-five Sectors of the Annulus. There's really no way I can address it without telling my superiors about it. Otherwise, I'd be court-martialed for sure.”
Galaxy's shoulders slumped. “Really? Well, I guess if that's what you have to do—”
“That's what I would have to do,” said Alex, a smile appearing on his lips, “if the ADF hadn't already been aware of the High Superiors' little plot to blow up Sector Six and use the tragedy to exploit the Zinarthians' distrust of the Universal Alliance for their own gain.”
“Wait, what?” said Galaxy, looking at Alex in surprise. “You mean the ADF already knows about the High Superiors' plan?”
“And we've been aware of it for months,” said Alex. He folded his arms over his chest, looking quite proud of himself. “We received an anonymous tip about the High Superiors' plot three months ago from a source we trust and so we've been working on a plan to stop them ever since. But not openly. This is top secret stuff, because if the High Superiors knew that we knew about their plan, then we couldn't catch 'em.”
“Does that mean you've also known about Galaxy's dad and his cover for being here?” said Space.
“We were aware that the Zinarthian government probably sent one of their agents here to take care of the threat, but until today, we didn't know who it was exactly,” said Alex. “But thanks for telling me anyway. That's a helpful bit of information for sure.”
“Why didn't you tell the Zinarthian government, then?” said Space. “Wouldn't that have allowed you two to work together to stop the terrorists?”
“The Zinarthian government doesn't really trust the ADF,” said Alex, in a somewhat bitter tone. “And we don't trust them either. We decided that this was our problem, because it threatens the lives of people living on the Annulus, and therefore that we would resolve it on our own, regardless of what the Zinarthian government chose to do.”
“Does that mean the entire ADF is involved in this?” said Space.
“Not everyone, bro,” said Alex. He thrust his thumb at his chest. “Really only me. The High Superiors don't know that we know what they are planning to do. If they thought that the ADF had a plan in place to counter theirs, then they'd call off the whole plot and go away.”
“Wouldn't that be a good thing, though?” said Space. “That way, no one would die or get hurt.”
“The point of this operation is to catch the terrorists, though,” said Alex. “Or kill them. Whichever comes first. Because a living terrorist can still kill people. A captured or dead terrorist, however, can't. Anyway, we suspect that the High Superiors' leadership is directly involved in this one, so if we can catch them here, then we can end their terrorist activities once and for all or at least deal them a heavy blow that they won't recover from for years, anyway.”
“Okay, I get it now,” said Space. “But why you? Not that I am in any way doubting or challenging your ability to catch terrorists, Alex, but I was wondering why they chose you in particular.”
“Because I look like a musclebound idiot,” said Alex with a smile. “And because most Zinarthians think humans are idiots anyway, I am able to walk the streets of Sector Six without arousing a whole lot of suspicion. In fact, that's how I managed to answer your message so quickly. Because I was here in Sector Six already, it didn't take a whole lot of time for me to find this place.”
“Let me get this straight,” said Galaxy. “Both the ADF and the Zinarthian government are aware of the High Superiors' plot to blow up Sector Six. But until now, neither was aware that the other knew about this, and in order to keep their knowledge of it a secret, both groups sent one of their best agents to sneak into Sector Six and search for the terrorists' location without arousing any suspicion on the part of the terrorists. And none of the High Superiors know that the government and the ADF know what they are trying to do.”
“Actually, that's not exactly true,” said Alex. “It seems to me that the High Superiors probably know about your Dad. Otherwise, why would they go through all of the trouble of kidnapping him? Not sure how they know, but it's clear that they do.”
“Maybe they don't know,” Space said. “Galaxy's dad said that he put a tracking device on the suspect, but maybe the terrorist who kidnapped him only knows about the device, but doesn't know who Galaxy's dad is or why he put the device on him in the first place?”
“Which is probably why the terrorist kidnapped him,” said Galaxy grimly. “I bet those bastards are torturing him right now to make him talk.”
“Agreed,” said Alex. “Anyway, I think we're all on the same page now. We need to find your Dad first.”
“Yes, yes,” said Galaxy, nodding. “Do you know where we could find him?”
Alex stroked his chin. “Did the kidnapper leave any clues as to where he might have gone?”
“No,” said Galaxy. “And believe me, I searched this place top to bottom. Aside from the can of knockout gas they hit us with earlier, there's no clue as to where the kidnapper might have taken Dad.”
“The High Superiors are really good at covering their tracks,” said Alex. “But I think I know of a place where they might have taken him. You know about the Connectors, right?”
Galaxy nodded, but Space tilted his head to the side and said, “The what?”
“The Connectors,” said Alex. “To be brief, the Connectors are the areas of the Annulus that connect the Sectors to each other. Each Sector has two Connectors, one on the east end and one on the west end, connecting it to the two nearest Sectors. For example, Sector Six is bordered by Sector Five on the east end and Sector Seven on the west.”
“Oh,” said Space. “I've always wondered how the Annulus's Sectors were connected to each other.”
“Yeah, that's how it goes,” said Alex. “The Connectors are typically very well-guarded, with traffic going through them
heavily screened by Annulus Security to make sure no one is smuggling anything from one Sector to another that shouldn't be. I've worked the Connectors before. It's a pretty boring job most of the time, but an important one, maybe even the most important one of them all.”
“So what do the Connectors have to do with anything?” said Space. “Do you think that the terrorists took Galaxy's dad to one of them?”
“I think it's possible,” said Alex. “And based on the evidence I've found so far, I think it is even more likely that Sector Six's Connectors are the location of the bombs that the terrorists plan to use.”
“Why?” said Space. “Wouldn't it make more sense to place a bomb in the middle of Sector Six instead?”
“I get it,” said Galaxy, causing Space to look at her. “See, Space, the Annulus isn't a whole space habitat in the sense that the Adventure is a whole starship. It's actually a series of interlocking star habitats that connect together to form the massive Annulus ring that we know and love.”
“Yep,” said Alex. “Each Sector can disconnect from the others and become a free-floating space habitat in its own right. But disconnecting is always dangerous. If the proper disconnection procedures are not followed, the Sector will be open to the void of space, which would kill everyone in that Sector. It's why the Sectors rarely disconnect. It's too risky even for experts who know what they're doing.”
“So if the High Superiors blow up the Connectors to Sector Six, then that will cause Sector Six to disconnect from the rest of the Annulus and float out into space,” said Galaxy. “And because the proper disconnection procedures were not followed, Sector Six will be open on either end to the void of space, which will suck everyone out of it.”
“It will also probably kill most of the people in Sectors Five and Seven as well, since no one will see it coming in time to close their Connectors to Sector Six,” said Alex. “And since the Annulus is so close to the atmosphere of Namox, it is likely that Sector Six will be drawn into Namox by its gravity, which will then turn it into a falling meteor that will, in all likelihood, crash into some large Namoxian city and kill even more people.”
The Spacetastic Adventures of Mr. Space and Captain Galaxy: Season Two Page 25