by R. E. Rowe
Suddenly a scream came from the back of the cockpit, then a zap of electricity. When Jayden looked back over his shoulder, one boy struggled with Cleo while Rhea2 lay still on the floor.
A laser flash grazed Cleo. She collapsed.
BBgun spun and painted the boy who’d downed Cleo. Jayden painted the other. They fired. Both boys collapsed to the floor.
Jayden peered at his clicker and quickly realized there was only enough laser power to stun them.
Presumably because they were inside a transport cockpit, he thought.
“Get us out of here!” he roared at Nora.
Jayden and BBgun hurried over to Cleo, who had passed out on the floor next to Rhea2. But the blood-soaked wound to Rhea2’s side looked worse.
“Guess the price on our heads was too tempting for these jerks.” BBgun scowled.
The raid had been a total disaster.
Rhea2 coughed. “You need to take me to my home. My father will help us.”
“Where? The rebel base?” Jayden asked.
“Andromeda,” she moaned.
“Andromeda? Another galaxy?” BBgun asked. “Are you crazy?”
“This is an intergalactic transport. It will make it.” Rhea2 moaned, struggling to whisper. “Tell Zeekmo to enter these coordinates: and01, z4322, x3111, a1233, da1378, ed9946, d8237.”
“Zeekmo!” Jayden yelled. “You almost ready?” The front wall of the cabin transformed into a viewport.
Jayden saw the inside of the massive hangar. Hundreds of Zepar and Space Command kids ran in every direction around the rows of transports like ants in a hot pan. Blinking red lights pulsed throughout the hanger, but Parker was nowhere in sight.
Nora pointed to an opening at the far end of the hanger. Some sort of force field allowed UFOs to come and go, but it kept out the vacuum of space. “Engines engaged. We’ll be clear of the hub momentarily.”
“New coordinates for you,” Jayden turned to Rhea2. “Tell me again.” Rhea2 whispered the coordinates, and he relayed them to Nora.
“Got it. Coordinates set,” Nora said. “In three minutes we’ll punch in.”
BBgun helped Jayden lift the wounded girls on two of the bench seats behind Nora, and then strapped them in with seatbelts. They both searched storage cabinets along a wall and found what looked like twenty feet of cable. BBgun managed to drag the unconscious boys across the cockpit, and Jayden used the cable to tie them to a cargo hook. When they came to, they wouldn’t be going anywhere.
Jayden took a seat near Nora and buckled in for the ride. BBgun found a seat near Cleo. A moment later, the transport cleared the hangar and Nora flew it toward the system’s bright star.
A yellow light on the control panel began to flash.
Nora flipped a switch.
A hologram appeared over the control panel showing twenty UFOs chasing them.
“Almost ready to punch in.” She pushed a button and flipped another switch. A timer came on. It displayed one minute remaining.
“We better hurry,” Jayden said.
A second hologram showing Nuk’ana’s head appeared, hovering over the control panel. His jawline extended two inches, and then contracted back to normal. Jayden punched at the hologram face, passing his fist through the projected light beam.
“We were expecting you,” Nuk’ana said. His eyes narrowed, and jaw extended.
Jayden frowned at Nora. Expecting us? The whole thing was a trap?
Nuk’ana continued. “Your rebel colleagues have been captured and will be executed. Your rebel moon base has also been destroyed.”
The hologram changed to show Sigarr. The sprawling mason outpost was exploding.
“Honestly, you have nowhere to run. Give up now, or we will turn the ship you stole into atoms,” the leader said. “But that would be a waste of an intergalactic transport.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Rhea2 said in a whistling whisper. “He wouldn’t dare fire on the intergalactic transport so close. The nuclear shock wave would blow up his entire hub.”
“Good to know,” Nora said.
The hologram changed, and the camera view widened. Parker had been tied up in a chair next to Leader Nuk’ana. He was already bruised and bloodied, but still alive and conscious. A muscular, bald Zepar stood next to him.
Nora gasped and Jayden bit his lip. Blood pumped hard through his veins. He wanted to do something, anything. But he couldn’t. Not yet anyway. He had failed his best friend.
“Return my intergalactic transport,” Nuk’ana said, his eyes glowing yellow. “Turn yourselves in. If you fail to do so, your comrade, the boy you know as G-striker, along with the other rebels we captured this day, will be executed.” He paused and sucked on his long smoking stick then released a column of smoke.
A display flashed on the transport’s control panel: “Space-between-space travel imminent.”
Nuk’ana’s jaw stretched then shrank back to normal when he heard the update too. “I see. You are determined to flee. Very well. I give you seventy-two Earth hours to return and give up. Not an Earth second longer. If you do as I say, I will let you all live. But I warn you. Don’t be late, rebels, or we’ll send you holo-highlights of their executions. Bring me back my transport!”
Parker lifted his head. “Don’t listen—” A hulky Zepar struck him across the face.
“Get out of here!” Parker yelled.
The holograms disappeared just as the timer reached zero. The portal view of the star near them went pitch black. They had made it to the space between the space, and were on the way to Andromeda.
Tears ran down Nora’s cheeks.
“Hang on, Parker,” Jayden whispered under his breath. “We’ll be back for you. I promise.”
Chapter 22
The timer on the large control panel indicated three hours before punch-out. It was difficult for Jayden to comprehend traveling at 150,000 parsecs an hour towards Andromeda. He handed Nora the tablet then unbuckled and searched through the metallic storage cabinets surrounding the rectangular cockpit room.
Before long, Jayden found a metal case resembling a fishing tackle box. The case contained a variety of bandages, tape, ointments, and two square pieces of two-inch-thick gauze, each covered with electronic components and colored wires. He pulled up the left side of Rhea2’s uniform about six inches, pressed the strange-looking gauze onto the bloody wound, and slid a small switch sideways.
The gauze glowed light green. Part of the bandage melted into the skin around Rhea2’s wound. The bleeding instantly stopped, and her contorted face relaxed.
“It will keep a wound in stasis until arrival. I sleep now,” she whispered, and then the fern-headed girl closed her eyes.
“What’s stasis?” BBgun asked Jayden.
“I guess it stabilizes the wound or something.” He tossed the other gauze to BBgun. “Try one on Cleo.”
BBgun tore open Cleo’s pant leg and pushed the square piece of gauze onto an area of burned skin the size of his fist. He slid the switch, and the gauze glowed.
It was obvious to Jayden from the wounds they both needed medical attention. He returned to his seat next to Nora and pounded his first on the control panel. “Screw Nuk’ana!”
Everything was seriously messed up. Zebraguts and Knifetango had been captured by the Atilla. Parker had been captured by the Zepar. Nuk’ana had hurt so many people. It was Jayden’s worst nightmare. Everything just kept getting worse.
Nora put her arm around Jayden as he hung his head. “I feel the same way,” she said, “but this is Parker we’re talking about here. He will survive.”
“A lot of kids got hurt today,” Jayden said, holding back tears. “And Parker. It’s not fair. We didn’t ask to be in the middle of a ridiculous war with shape-shifting fanatics.”
“We’ll figure this out. We’ll get Parker back,” she told him.
He lowered his head. “I hope so.”
Rhea2 moaned on the bench. “Here, come. Please, come here,” she whisper
ed.
Nora and Jayden hurried to her side. Rhea2 struggled to take in a breath. She gripped a handful of her black uniform. “My father. You must . . .” She coughed. “Land on planet at coordinates I gave. He will know what must be done. Trust him. He will help you get back to your home.”
Rhea2 passed out.
“She needs a real doctor soon. She may have internal bleeding.” Nora placed a blanket over her and went back to the pilot seat while Jayden and BBgun checked on Cleo.
“At least Cleo looks like she’s doing better,” Jayden said to BBgun.
“Yeah,” BBgun replied. “The laser only grazed her knee.”
Jayden nodded toward the two tied-up Space Command teens. “I don’t trust them. We should move them behind a locked door.”
He didn’t need to convince BBgun. Together, they dragged the boys into an adjacent room and locked the door then returned to their seats.
“It seems like Nuk’ana is always two steps ahead of us,” Jayden said softly to Nora.
“I know. It was like the Leader knew we were coming,” she said. “The way his hologram smugly sauntered into the elevator. The hologram looked totally real.”
Jayden’s thoughts shifted to his best friend. “Do you think the Ga database can help us figure out a way to rescue Parker and any other masons that were captured?”
Nora hesitated. “I don’t know,” she muttered, shaking her head as she peered at the red tablet. “I managed to access the Space Command’s computer system’s replicated storage. It appears to be Nuk’ana’s personal log, but I can’t crack it. I still need to dig through more layers.”
“What about Parker?” Jayden asked. “Anything in the database yet?”
“No. The database is offline while we’re in the space between the space. But I found out Nuk’ana has a planet just for holding political prisoners,” she said. “I’m betting that’s where Nuk’ana will move all the captured masons.”
“At least we have a place to start the search,” he said with a forced smile. “Where is it located?”
Nora tapped the tablet a few more times, and then pressed buttons on the transport’s control panel. A three-dimensional, full-color hologram of a planet appeared above the control panel. The name “Zilon” floated beside the planet with a list of writing in some weird language he didn’t understand.
“Let me convert it to English,” she said.
The strange text flickered, and settled into English. The information appeared to be statistics: “Atmosphere
- Oxygen 27%, Hydrogen 55%, Carbon Dioxide 13%, Hydrogen sulfide and other gasses 5%. Main function: high-value prisoners. Secondary function: fuel-processing work camp, diamond mine, two-point-four million workers, three hundred and twelve pickups per day . . .”
“They process fuel too?” he asked.
“Raw materials for fuel with free prisoner labor. Their database keeps track of the location of the two-point-four million workers and seven million prisoners.”
Jayden stared silently at the holographic image of the rotating planet, which resembled a beautiful virtual toothpaste marble with blue, white, brown, and green wavy streaks and swirls. It was hard to imagine a prison existed on it.
“Something doesn’t smell right about Nuk’ana,” Nora said.
“What do you mean?”
“I can’t find Nuk’ana’s current location in any of the databases. You know, where he lives or where his headquarters are located . . . I’ll keep searching.”
After a few hours, lights on the control panel near the steering wheel started to flash and beep. They both jerked backward.
“What the heck—?” Nora said, eyeing the control panel. “Oh, it looks like a warning that we’re getting close to our punch-out coordinates.” She stared at the controls then pushed a button to shut off the alarm.
Jayden sauntered over to BBgun. “How’s Cleo?”
BBgun ran his fingers over her temple. “I think she’ll be—”
As if on cue, Cleo opened her eyes.
They both jumped.
Cleo’s eyebrows hooded over her droopy eyes. “What happened? All I remember is struggling with two older dudes.”
“Guess they liked the price Nuk’ana put on our heads,” said BBgun.
“We’ll be landing soon,” Jayden told her. “Try to relax—”
“We’re punching out in thirty seconds,” Nora shouted. “Coordinates are confirmed. You need to buckle up, boys.”
BBgun made sure Cleo was secure while Jayden checked on Rhea2. Then they took their seats.
When they entered normal space, the viewport shined bright yellow. It wasn’t long before the view transformed into a white star field. “Wow, those stars are bright,” Jayden said.
The viewport automatically dimmed the incoming light.
“Makes sense. There are about three times as many stars in the Andromeda Galaxy as there are in the Milky Way Galaxy,” BBgun said.
Portrait of the Andromeda Galaxy - Art©www.jonlomberg.com
“Where do we go now?” Jayden asked Nora.
“To the coordinates Rhea2 gave us. We’re on autopilot. We’ll have to wait and see where we end up.
Hopefully, it’s not inside of a moon or someplace ridiculous like a gas planet.”
In an instant, the view changed to a large, swirling, blue, brown, and green planet, with a dozen orbiting moons, each with slightly different color combinations of green-blue-gray. A yellow star lurked in the distance with a smaller red star near it.
Nora tapped on the command panel. “We’re on approach to land. Entering the atmosphere now.”
Jayden again felt no movement. A loud beep came from the control panel. The hologram of a man’s bright green face hovered over the control panel. His hair matched the color of his face, and he wore a long, straggly green beard with a black felt hat. Jayden stared at a gold crown patch on the hat.
The lime-green man’s eyes narrowed. “Dolt sakis sazi aejes?”
Jayden frowned at Nora. “Did you understand anything he just said?” he whispered.
Nora tapped her ear translators. “Nope. Must not be in the translation database.” She pushed a button on the panel and spoke slowly, pronouncing each word as if the man were hard of hearing. “We are from the Milky Way. Earth to be exact. We have two wounded girls. They need medical attention. One has green hair with tiny flowers in it, although they look wilted at the moment. We’ve been told she is Andros.”
The man frowned, and the hologram disappeared.
“Guess we scared him off,” he said. “I liked your green hair description. Nice touch.”
Nora elbowed Jayden, and BBgun grinned.
Another man’s hologram floated above the panel. He looked similar to the first man—green hair, black hat, gold crown and all.
“Guess we didn’t scare them off, after all,” Jayden muttered.
“What business do you have on MachuTutu3?” the man asked.
Jayden and Nora looked at each other.
“Guess they got the translator working,” BBgun whispered.
“We have a girl named Rhea2 onboard. She’s hurt and needs a doctor,” Nora said.
The official raised his eyebrows. “Rhea2?”
“Yes. She needs medical attention . . . Now!” Nora roared, steel lacing her voice.
“Easy, Zeekmo,” Jayden said. “Give them a minute to process.”
The hologram disappeared.
“Guess they’re thinking about it,” Jayden added.
Nora scowled. “Not much to think about—”
The wrinkled face of a man appeared—his brown-fern hair mixed with green—and then hovered above the panel. The crown had been sewn onto his hat too, but the older man’s stitched emblem was much bigger than his fellow aliens’ crowns. Jayden figured he must be the green alien in charge.
“We will pull in your transport carriage. A medical team will greet you after landing. Once the light goes green on your control panel, you may exit
your carriage.”
The hologram disappeared.
“Well, that seems like progress,” Nora said.
“Light?” Jayden asked.
“No idea,” she replied. “But when we see a green light, we’ll push the big red button.”
Before long, the viewport filled with the sight of a massive, square, marble courtyard the size of ten football fields by ten football fields. Large and small UFOs rested motionlessly on the courtyard. Tall, stone castle structures framed the entire area with weathered stonewalls towering into the sky.
The transport craft landed in the courtyard. A green light appeared on the panel.
“Touchdown,” Nora said, and then pressed the large red button.
Seconds later, a loud metallic knock rattled from the cockpit entrance door.
Jayden jogged to the door and pushed a button on a side panel.
The cockpit door opened with a burst of air. Six large men entered, each well over six foot tall, and easily over two hundred pounds. Two of the men glided in a pair of hovering stretchers. With the men’s familiar facial features and similar fern hair, any of them could have been Rhea2’s father.
Each one wore a puffy, black suede robe with large, open sleeves and a tall, stiff collar. Black Charlie Chaplin hats with gold symbols topped their heads, and each carried a long, curved sword on their hip. Strange, embroidered gold symbols ran down the front of their robes. Their outfits reminded Jayden of a picture in his history book about sixteenth-century Europe.
“Back in the day” was today for these guys, he thought.
The men didn’t say a word. When they saw Rhea2 and Cleo lying on the benches, they hustled to move the girls onto the hovering stretchers, and then pushed the stretchers out the door.
Jayden recognized the first man from the display monitor and approached him. The alien looked about his dad’s age. He was giving directions to the others green-haired dudes. “Excuse me, sir,” he said. “There are two Space Command kids in there.” He pointed to the storage room. “They’re on Leader Nuk’ana’s side.”
The man nodded and said something into a communication device. Four more lime-green men walked to the storage room and hauled away the two boys.