Game On: Alien Space Adventure

by R. E. Rowe

  “Give me a weapon . . . now!”

  A Zepar officer threw a blaster to the leader.

  “I find you guilty of treason. Prepare to die,” Nuk’ana barked at Jayden. He took aim at Jayden’s forehead.

  Jayden squeezed his eyes shut and sighed. All his options were gone now. He’d failed.

  Suddenly someone shouted from across the room. “Do not move, Nuk’ana! Zepar fighters, drop your weapons or the leader dies!”

  Jayden’s eyes popped open. Two dozen red laser sights moved from his chest to the chest of Leader Nuk’ana.

  Emperor Ruchbah9 strode through the briefing set and stopped in front of Nuk’ana. “Drop your weapon, Zepar scum!”

  Nuk’ana looked down at his chest at all the red dots from laser sights. His blaster fell to the floor.

  The rotund emperor marched forward, his long, red velvet robe flowing behind him. Rhea1 and two hulky, olive-skinned men wearing long black leather jackets followed him. The men’s kind, light-blue, almond-shaped eyes scanned the room with hawk-like intensity. Each had short black hair, bushy eyebrows, and wide noses on their smooth, hairless faces.

  Jayden peered across the room and could see the masons had regained control of the cameras hovering above them.

  The emperor gazed up at the cameras. “People of the Milky Way and people of Andromeda, it is my honor to introduce you to General Apep and General Kerberos of the Atilla Empire.”

  Atilla? Gasps spread through the atrium area. Jayden was just as confused as everyone else except for the emperor. Twenty more Atilla warriors filed in behind them and pointed golden blasters at the Zepar. Three Zepar attempted to shape-shift but were zapped by Atilla into BBQ dust. Nuk’ana and his left and right assistants got the hint.

  “Drop your weapons, Zepar!” Emperor Ruchbah9 repeated. “I will not say it again.”

  They all complied. Still more Atilla flowed into the atrium area until they outnumbered the Zepar two-to-one. Atilla warriors looked as though they weight-lifted and stayed in darn good shape. Jayden grinned. They were bigger and stronger than the Zepar. And they were on his side now.

  “Atilla? Here?” Nuk’ana glared at the emperor. “Traitor! You will all—”

  “Enough! That is simply not true,” Ruchbah9 said. “People of both galaxies, the Atilla have agreed to end the war. Let me be clear, the war is over!”

  Jayden still couldn’t believe it. These were the Atilla? Live and in person? The Atilla warriors’ eyes had an intelligent glimmer in them. They weren’t evil or horrific. Their teeth weren’t sharp or pointed. They had normal looking white teeth. In fact, his mom and the family dentist would be seriously impressed.

  “Killgeek, please rise,” Ruchbah9 said.

  Jayden stood, grinning at the emperor. Rhea1 embraced him, then she embraced Parker.

  “How—?” Jayden whispered.

  “Zeekmo contacted us,” Rhea1 whispered in Jayden’s ear. “She decrypted Leader Nuk’ana’s plans to invade Galaxy IC1101 in his private Space Command database. My father sent the Atilla leadership the metadata as proof. The Atilla agreed to peace if the leader is removed from power.”

  Atilla warriors shoved Jazu and Shazu to the ground next to Nuk’ana. The three captives cowered and made screeching sounds that the translator couldn’t decode.

  “Silence!” Ruchbah9 said.

  The three stopped muttering.

  Two Atilla warriors in black leather stood next to Jayden. The emperor handed one of them an ear translator. The warrior inserted the earpiece, no doubt including a recent language upgrade to another custom translator device.

  The Atilla general named Kerberos began to speak in a low voice: “People of the Milky Way and People of Andromeda. We have received information from Leader Nuk’ana’s encrypted datalog. Your Leader Nuk’ana is the one who planned the invasion of my people’s galaxy. Nuk’ana is responsible and will be charged with war crimes and unthinkable crimes against all life forms in three galaxies. He is the one responsible for loss of blood on both sides.”

  “Enough of this nonsense,” Leader Nuk’ana said. “Lies. All lies. Fight these Atilla or you too will become their slaves. Mason criminals have hacked into my files using advanced technology and obviously forged documents to make it appear as though I am the guilty one. I swear to you the so-called proof you have been shown is not true!”

  “Oh?” one of the Atilla leaders said. “Hacked into your files?”

  A larger group of Zepar suddenly appeared with weapons aimed at the Atilla. The intensity in the room instantly increased. Nuk’ana and his left and right stood.

  Nuk’ana smirked. “Looks like the fight is even again, yes?”

  It was beginning to seem to Jayden like there might be a shootout, after all. All it would take was one of them to slip and fire a weapon. Everyone would die in blaster crossfire. He quickly thought back to what the energy being had told him. Two lines from her song stuck in his mind. “Find the spot behind the neck. Push to switch off the hologram tech.”

  Jayden peered at the back of Leader Nuk’ana’s neck.

  There! Jayden saw a strange small black circle. With a quick glance, he confirmed similar circles on the back of Jazu and Shazu’s necks. A switch? It has to be, he thought. Jayden lunged at Nuk’ana, reached around, and then pushed down hard on the circle. He rotated and pushed down on similar circles on the back of Jazu and Shazu’s necks.

  Nothing happened at first.

  Jayden started to panic as Nuk’ana glared at him. More Zepar appeared with weapons. A blaster firefight was only seconds away.

  “Emperor!” Jayden said, projecting his voice toward the cameras. “Everyone! Watch now and see.” He pointed to Nuk’ana, Jazu, and Shazu. The three suddenly flickered, buzzed, and jerked.

  Jayden’s stomach sank. Another hologram? But instead of disappearing like previous holograms, each of the three images transformed right before everyone’s eyes.

  Nuk’ana morphed into a creature about four feet tall with long, slender arms and legs, and a head too large for his body. Jazu and Shazu transformed into identical creatures, but half as tall. Each one of their oval-shaped heads had a small chin and large, almond-shaped dark eyes. Black netting wrapped their shark-skin-like bodies, and a black net hood covered the tops of their heads.

  The emperor gasped. “Ga! Leader Nuk’ana and his entanglements are . . . Ga3si! All three of them are Ga!”

  Jayden knew this was the solid proof the Atilla needed. Even the Zepar warriors around the room were shocked and lowered their weapons.

  Everything the energy being had told Killgeek suddenly made sense: “Find the spot behind the neck. Push to switch off the hologram tech. Reveal you will the truth at last. Tell all you can, quantum fast.”

  “It is clear!” the emperor shouted. “The Ga planned the overthrow the Atilla!”

  The three Ga yelled in ear-piercing screeches: “Ssse-ba-aag-tex!” The shrieks sounded like the language from the cube Jayden used to open the cockpit door of the transport.

  Everyone in the room covered their ears.

  The three Ga made their move, pushing the emperor and the two shocked Atilla generals out of the way. In a flash, the tall Ga snatched the emperor’s blaster and scampered to the hallway just beyond the atrium area.

  Both of the shorter Ga grabbed a weapon and scurried behind their leader.

  Ga aliens are seriously fast! Jayden thought.

  The three Ga turned and pointed weapons toward Emperor Ruchbah9 and the Atilla generals.

  “No!” Jayden yelled.

  Before the three Ga fired their blasters, multiple blasts fired from somewhere behind them, vaporizing the three Ga into a large, barbeque-fireworks dust cloud.

  Nuk’ana, Jazu, and Shazu were gone.

  Jayden peered out into the hallway, wondering who’d fired the shots. His gaze settled on two boys in black Space Command uniforms holding blasters.

  Hah! He recognized the two boys and felt a lump suddenly ma
terialize in his throat. Knifetango and Zebraguts saluted him. They’re alive! They bolted over to Jayden and Parker and embraced them.

  Jayden let out a hoot and pumped his fist into the air. “How’d you guys—?”

  “Freaking cray,” Zebraguts said in a high-pitched voice. “Turns out these Atilla were just defending themselves. They’re seriously cool when you get to know them.”

  “Way unbelievable,” Knifetango said, standing tall. He wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Once we worked out the language prob, they realized we were decent. But, dude, we were shocked. They had hacked into the Space Expeditionary Combat Command game but couldn’t get past level 10.”

  It felt to Jayden like years had passed since they had battled Nora trying to reach level 150.

  “Who knew World Corp games are played in other galaxies?” Zebraguts said, chuckling. “I told them they should try hard, but the newbs didn’t get it.”

  Knifetango pointed to the Atilla commanders. “They brought us with them when the big man reached out.”

  The hovering cameras continued transmitting.

  “They play World Corp games?” Jayden started to ask.

  The emperor grabbed Jayden and embraced him in a bear hug. “Young man, you are a hero. You have exposed them and saved us all.”

  After a moment, the emperor looked up at the cameras. “You see, people of Milky Way and people of Andromeda, explanation is simple. The Ga3si have been the ones to mislead us. The Ga did not disappear at all.

  No! They played the puppet master, disguised as the Zepar leader and his left and right. They fueled the war against the Atilla, hoping that we would kill each other. Hoping we would reduce to weak civilizations, so they could offer to fix what they had deliberately destroyed. It was Ga that wished to control Atilla’s access to Golden Way. The war is over!”

  Everyone cheered.

  “People of our great galaxies,” the emperor continued, “peace has finally come, my star brothers and sisters. It is a time to celebrate. All Space Command warriors and recruits will return to their home worlds immediately. All three of our galaxies will begin peaceful Golden Way trade talks.”

  “Peace,” an Atilla general said. “Today is a new day.” The two Atilla bowed to the emperor, then to the cameras.

  Emperor Ruchbah9 spoke again to the cameras. “In coming days, I will address you all and provide an update as to our progress.” The emperor softened his eyes. “Today, I give thanks to Jayden Banks, the ultimate Killgeek; Annora Jameson, the great Zeekmo; Parker Jameson, the amazing G-striker; Cleo, the ZapperGirl; BBgun, Zebraguts, Knifetango, and all Spring Tide Masons.”

  The emperor moved past Jayden and embraced each of the Atilla warrior generals. “We must remember our Atilla star brothers and star sisters who died fighting so bravely for their people. In this place, on this moon, at this rotation, we must all learn to trust in each other.”

  The Atilla generals agreed.

  “Until next briefing, I bid you good-bye,” the emperor said.

  The red lights on the cameras faded to black.

  Chapter 30

  Twisted metal and piles of cement rubble were all that remained of the downtown city block. The twenty-story building fire raged as Jayden and Parker huddled together behind a mangled green dumpster near Market Street and First.

  Jayden stared at the red tablet his father had given him to keep after the war with the Atilla ended three months ago. He sat next to Parker, Nora, and Cleo in the waiting room of the emperor’s castle. The waiting area reminded him of a dentist’s office. Each of them used a mini-tablet to battle inside level 150 in Space Expeditionary Combat Command’s online game while they waited.

  “Everyone else space dust?” Jayden asked.

  “Yep,” Parker said. “Isn’t this the same way we ended the game eons ago?”

  Jayden heard Nora snicker next to him. “True,” he said, “But we’ll capture Zeekmo’s flag this time.”

  “You know I can hear you guys, right?” Nora said to Jayden. “You might want to stick with flinging angry fowl or making pretty gardens, Earth baby.”

  Cleo chuckled. “I can hear you too, Earth babies.”

  All of the tablet displays went blank at the same time. Altair3’s face filled the screen causing Jayden to jump. “Swim forward. The emperor winks at bubble bath.” The tablet returned to the game screen.

  Jayden grinned. “We really need to upgrade his translator . . . let’s go.” He turned off the tablet, and then put it behind his back in a Rosa-sewn, t-shirt pocket.

  The four of them walked shoulder-to-shoulder down an elongated hallway toward the emperor’s main chamber.

  Twenty-four Earth hours earlier, the emperor had requested that they visit him in the Royal City on MachuTutu3. The big man wouldn’t tell them what it was about, so they had boarded an intergalactic transport and traveled to the castle in Andromeda from their new home.

  “So you think you can capture my flag, huh, Surfer Boy?” Nora asked him with a smile.

  Jayden grinned.

  Nora walked tall and confidently with her short curly locks. Her tan was killer again. Living on Lorcan’s home world, Uraeus, twenty light years from Earth, was like living in a super high-tech tropical paradise. Sort of Silicon Valley meets Honolulu, Hawaii, two hundred years in the future.

  Cleo had plucked her eyebrows to perfection. She batted her eyes playfully at Parker, AKA

  “Snickerdoodle,” and poked him as they walked.

  Two guards in red tights opened the tall wooden doors at the end of the hallway. Ruchbah9 was waiting for them inside, sitting atop his large wooden throne, with Rhea1 and Rhea2 at his sides. The doors closed with a thud that echoed throughout the chamber.

  The rotund emperor pulled at his trimmed green beard. “Welcome, young heroes,” Ruchbah9 said with a wide smile.

  All of them took turns hugging Rhea1 and Rhea2. Then the emperor embraced them. Finally, the emperor sat down with his daughters at his side with the four of them facing the big man.

  “It must be very difficult for you to live somewhere other than Earth. But keeping the people on Earth isolated until they are ready to join the galactic community in a few decades will ensure your people are ready,”

  the emperor said, adjusting himself in the large chair. “Your parents are well and adapting to life on Uraeus?”

  “Yes, thank you,” Nora replied.

  “Mine too,” Cleo added.

  Jayden nodded. “Lorcan’s people welcomed us all like family.”

  “We’re celebrities,” Cleo said, her eyes wide.

  “Yeah. And our dads enjoy playing with the alien tech and working as your envoys,” Jayden said. “My dad is even talking about starting an investment firm to help manage Golden Way companies.”

  “But Rosa still thinks she’s gone to heaven,” Parker said with a chuckle. “Everything she says now is in Spanish.”

  “Rosa?” the emperor asked. “No translator?”

  “Never mind,” Jayden said, and gave Parker his “shut-up” look.

  “Knifetango, Zebraguts, and BBgun are all good too,” Jayden said. “They wanted to join us here, but they’re still helping their families get settled.”

  “Not a problem,” the emperor said. “It is you four with whom I wish to speak. Thank you for joining me here on such short notice.”

  “Is everything okay?” asked Nora.

  “Your request seemed important,” Jayden added.

  The emperor nodded. “Two items of interest. First is an announcement. I want to inform you before the news goes intergalactic viral.”

  “What announcement?” Cleo asked.

  “Later today I will make it known that Rhea1 and Rhea2 will be taking my place as emperor. They will work together to lead Milky Way and Andromeda governments into the future with Atilla leadership.”

  “Are you sick or something?” asked Parker.

  “Oh no, of course not. I will be traveling with the Atilla’s
supreme leader, Abaddon, along the Golden Way to expand trade agreements into the Atilla’s galaxy.”

  Rhea1 sat up straight and smiled.

  “Congratulations,” Jayden said.

  “Thank you,” Rhea1 and Rhea2 said in a combined whistle-whisper.

  The emperor cleared his throat. “But that is not everything,” Ruchbah9 said. “We hear rumors about Ga.”

  Concern washed over his face. “We believe they are doing something sinister inside ‘space between the space.’”

  Sinister? “Like what?” asked Jayden.

  “Destabilizing it somehow,” the emperor said.

  Jayden tried to visualize how the space between space could even be considered stable in the first place. He gave up trying to understand what the emperor meant. Obviously, the Ga were doing something that wasn’t good. “Can’t the Atilla just go in there and blast the Ga into stardust?”

  The emperor shook his head. “They have tried, but failed. The Atilla forces have even teamed up with the Zepar to form one fighting force. But still they did not succeed.” He paused for a moment. “There is someone I wish you to meet.”

  Jayden swallowed hard. The emperor certainly seemed to enjoy surprising them this way.

  Two men in red tights opened the large wooden doors at the far end of the room.

  A giant black raven flew into the room, cawing as its two massive wings pushed down on the air. The crow circled near the ceiling, four stories above them. Jayden estimated each of the bird’s wings was about six feet long. His mouth hung open as he watched the raven circle and land near the emperor.

  The four-foot tall crow lowered its head while adjusting its enormous quills. Midnight-blue feathers covered half of its long, stout bill, and shaggy, black feathers decorated its tall throat. Its eyes were large and clever.

  The bird somehow looked familiar, but Jayden couldn’t place it.

  The emperor nodded to the crow.

  Parker elbowed Jayden. “It looks like the bird avatar in the video game,” Parker whispered. “Remember the raven with the blue beak that was watching us play all the time back on Earth? We thought it was a game monitor, remember?”