Starfire and The Planet Killer

by Christine Westhead

  "Hi!" said a familiar voice.

  "You made it then?" asked Raan.

  "Yep," answered Starfire. "We must have come by the direct route. We've been here nearly an hour, waiting for you."

  "I take it you didn't blow up the Tavern for the fun of it, Hal," stated Erion. He declined to answer.

  "It blew up with us inside it," explained Starfire. "We only escaped because we were in the cellar."

  "What the hell is going on here?" asked Erion, running a slender hand through her short hair. She sat down on a rough stone ledge beside Starfire.

  "Our good old friend Commissioner Rimek turned up," began Starfire. "We listened to him scheming while we were hiding in that cupboard. He told Farrell about his plans for us." She shuddered. "They want us alive," she began, "so we can be mind turned and denounce the Alliance. They have a machine here. I've seen one in use."

  "So have I, Captain," murmured Hal. "They used them on Terrell."

  "So that's your excuse," said Raan.

  "You wouldn't joke if you'd seen one," said Hal quietly. "They take a man, scramble up his brain, he turns into a robot, says and does whatever you want, then he goes crazy, then his brain fries and you're left with a zombie."

  "A zombie!" said Erion, "what's a zombie?"

  "It's what we used to call them," explained Starfire. "Just a shell of a man, with no brain, put to work digging in the tunnels, working and working and working, till his hands and feet are just bloody stumps, and still he keeps on working, till he drops down and dies."

  "Ugh!" exclaimed Erion, "and Rimek has this in store for us?"

  "Well he can't get at us here," said Raan.

  "Somehow, I don't think we're much better off," muttered Starfire. "Raemond is convinced we killed his family. How, I don't know."

  "There must be a spy in camp somewhere," said Raan.

  "There are bloody spies everywhere," answered Starfire.

  "I think the Federation must be trying to play us off against the Palace rebels," said Erion. "If they can kill two birds with one stone, they won't be too disappointed about not getting us alive." She looked at Delta Ten. "What would a mind turning machine do to you, Del?"

  "I do not know, Major. However, if it reprogrammes the mind, then I assume I would not be immune."

  "It would look real good for the Federation to put us on trial for all to see," began Raan, "denouncing the Rebel Alliance and confessing our sins on the network."

  "Oh, shut up, Raan." cried Starfire. She stood up suddenly and walked to other end of the dark cell, hugging her arms to her body. Hal threw her a cigarillo, and she caught it, walking towards him to get a light. As she touched his hand to steady the flame he held out to her, she grabbed his wrist and said softly, "Hal, promise me you won't let them take me alive here." His grey eyes narrowed but he said nothing. "Please, Hal, I've seen that machine used on a good friend. I saw what happened to him. I couldn't stand the thought of it happening to me. Promise me, if there's no chance, if I can't do it myself, you'll do it for me." He nodded quickly and walked away.

  After an hour or so, the small grille in the cell door opened and a hand passed a flagon of water, bread and cheese through the opening. They drank the water, shared out the bread and cheese and sat in the dark, stuffy confines of the cell until late afternoon. Outside in the clearing, more portable lights were switched on and it started to feel much colder in their prison. A big, scruffy man sat on a folding chair opposite the entrance to their prison, drinking from a flagon. His eyes did not stray far from the door, and he nursed the large laser rifle with a manner that looked like he would love to get the chance to use it on them.

  The sudden shouting and firing came like a bolt of lightning in the stillness. A rifle cracked and the guard shot upright and then backwards, taking the chair with him. There was the sound of much more firing and shouting, and then a sudden silence descended. They could not see much of what was happening, but they all heard the sound of approaching feet.

  "Stand away from the door," commanded a voice. They did so, the door opened and they stepped out into the well lit clearing, not showing any of the disappointment they felt at the sight of a dozen Galactic Police. They were dressed as usual, in black uniforms with red and silver insignia, and they all looked very pleased with themselves. The prisoners were made to form a rough line in front of their cell and stared at the young Lieutenant Commander who was obviously in charge.

  "Well, well, well!" he beamed, clearly enjoying the moment. He paced up and down in front of them, tapping his right leg with a pair of black, shiny gauntlets. "The Grennig crew is ours at last. Commissioner Rimek will be well pleased and I shall gain a swift promotion. What do you say to that eh?" he asked them. They were silent. "Not talking? Well, I can't say as I blame you. It must have come as a bit of a shock to realise that you aren't the great holo heroes you thought you were." He did a bit more pacing and once started on his oration, found it difficult to stop.

  "We have been following you since your arrival here. Commissioner Rimek thought out every piece of the plan, from the message sent by the king, to the blowing up of the inn. Yes, even that was part of the plan. We knew the rebels would bring you to their secret base, but we didn't want you roaming free while we moved in. So we arranged to have the Tavern destroyed, knowing you would be blamed and imprisoned here like fish in a barrel. We have ripped the heart out of this pitiful little rebellion today, and landed a prize catch for the High Commander as well."

  He was interrupted in his flow by two more officers, who struggled forwards carrying something that looked like a high backed, metal chair. They placed it carefully down on the ground some distance away and stood aside to let two more officers through who brought a power pack on a metal trolley and started to connect it to the chair.

  "Easy," murmured Hal to Starfire, who was standing beside him and who had gone weak at the knees.

  "Tie them up," ordered the Commander, and watched as his orders were carried out. Their wrists were manacled in front of them while they were closely guarded. When this was completed, the Commander pointed to Starfire and Hal "Bring the Terrys over here." Two guards stepped smartly up and pulled Hal and Starfire by one elbow to stand in front of the Commander. "We have been given a wonderful gift by the Federation," he began. "A Gift which will serve us in many ways, I am sure. But before I present High Commander Roland with his turncoats, I want to be sure that the equipment works. With this machine, I will turn you into willing slaves for the Federation." He stood back a little and perused them. "Now who shall be first for a new lease of life?" Hal shrugged, his face expressionless.

  "We have a real hard man here, don't we," sneered the Commander, pushing his face close to Hal's. "A killer, a bounty hunter with a price on his head. Well, hard man, you can watch your little piece of Terry in that mind machine. When I've finished with her, she'll walk up to you and spit in your face if I tell her to. He motioned to Starfire, who was trying her best to show no emotion at all at the sudden appearance of her worst nightmare. She stared blankly at the Commander, not really seeing him. "Take her," snapped the Commander. The guard started forward with Starfire, and the other one left Hal's side to grasp other arm. They started to walk slowly towards the metal chair and Starfire looked back once at her friends standing helplessly by. She glared at Hal and nodded towards the chair, then, with a deep breath, she paced forward, head held high, and so missed the action behind her.

  Hal gave a small step backwards, shot out his left leg and brought it forward in a sweeping motion behind the Commander's knees. His feet shot forward and he landed on his back with a surprised curse. Hal went down with him, his bound hands reaching for the holstered laser pistol at the Commander's side. He grasped it with both hands, slid it from the holster and shot Starfire as he lay on his back. His aim was perfect as usual and the girl, caught between her shoulder blades, was picked up and thrown forward out of the grasp of her astonished guards to lie face down and unmoving on the soft san
dy red soil, two feet from the dreaded chair.

  Hal virtually disappeared under a mound of Galactic Police as he tried to line the gun at the cursing Commander by his side. They dragged him roughly to his feet and shoved him towards the cell where the others were waiting outside. Erion stared in shocked silence at Starfire's unmoving form.

  "You shot her," she gasped.

  "He knows, Erion," said Raan softly. It took them all a few moments to realise that the Galactic Police were all grinning at them and removing their uniforms. The Commander, his black peaked hat under his arm, walked forwards, smiling. He turned his head and motioned forward a heavily bloodstained couple that looked remarkably like Rigondal and Raemond. The big scruffy guard was being helped to his feet by a pair of smiling Galactic Police. He grinned at them and waved. The four stood still while one of their guards undid their shackles.

  "Starfire will be alright," said Rigondal. "The gun was pre-set for light stun. Go and see for yourselves." Erion, Raan and Delta Ten set off at a sprint towards their fallen comrade. Hal stayed where he was, facing Raemond in tight lipped silence.

  "We had to know for sure," he said. "If you had really been working with the Federation, you would have spoken out." Hal pushed past him and walked towards the others. Delta Ten had picked Starfire up and was carrying her towards him. She stirred slightly and looked across at Raan, who was grinning like an idiot.

  "I knew I'd never get to heaven," she said. A few minutes later, a suitably recovered Starfire sat between Raan and Erion on a couch in one of the larger houses. It had been fitted out like a control room and was obviously used as the rebel's central base. Raemond stood in front of her and grasped her hands.

  "Starfire, I am truly sorry that we had to put you through that, but we had to be sure you were not with the Federation. The chair was a fake, a mock up."

  "But how did you know about my fear of it?" she asked, gratefully accepting a cup of coffee from a smiling rebel. The cell was not bugged, we checked."

  "Your prison was not bugged, for there was no need. The high walls make it act like a hollow chimney. One of us was on the surface above it, listening to all you said. We decided to act upon what we heard while you and Hal were talking.

  "I asked him to kill me," explained Starfire to the others, "if there was no other way."

  "We made sure nothing could go wrong," explained Raemond. There was no other weapon to hand, other than our fake Commander's.

  "I wouldn't say that," murmured Hal, softly. "You were just damn lucky that I couldn't get to her." Starfire smiled and walked towards him. Hal brought his wrists together as if they were still bound, she bent her head forward and he grasped the laser dagger at her neck, whipped round and threw it two handed across the room. It sank into the stone wall at the side of Raemond's head and stayed there, humming gently until Starfire walked over and deactivated it, slipping the little hilt back into the sheath under her hair.

  "You could have got her killed with your stupid games," he gritted. Raemond lifted a trembling hand to wipe a tiny smear of blood from his ear lobe.

  "I didn't know," he gasped. "You were searched. I thought you were unarmed."

  "Guess again," called Erion from across the room. She held a similar dagger to the one Starfire had. Raan had produced a thin needle gun from inside his sleeve and Delta Ten stood with his right hand palm uppermost and his fingers pointing downward, a tiny black tube extending from his wrist.

  "You're not dealing with amateurs," growled Hal. "If you hadn't shown yourselves when you did, we would have taken out as many of you as we could. I should kill you for what you just did." He glared at Raemond. "I still might."

  "Well, nothing bad happened, so let's just forget it," said Starfire, not caring for the look in Hal's eye's. He had been tricked into shooting her in the back, and he was right; it could have gone horribly wrong. And for what? A stupid prank by naive freedom fighters to get proof that would have made itself known if they had only waited.

  "You still seem to know a lot about the Federation's plans," growled Hal.

  "We too have our spies," said Raemond, proudly. "A whole troop of Galactic Police appeared from the Palace along with Commissioner Rimek. Everyone was called out of their houses and made to listen to his plans."

  "And what would they be?" asked a wary Erion.

  "It doesn't matter," began Raemond. "We will rise up and defeat them."

  "They'll kill every single one of you," muttered Hal, still angry about having to shoot Starfire.

  "What about me?" whined the Princess. "They would not dare harm me."

  "Try your fancy games on them," snarled Hal. "They'll laugh their heads off just before they kill you."

  "Oh Hal, be quiet," admonished Erion. "We were sent here to help these people. They have no idea what they're up against."

  "What can we do?" asked Raemond, doubts starting to seep into his bravado and nibble at it.

  "Get your spies out and working for us." said Raan. "We'll want to know just how many troops are here and what ships and weapons they have."

  "How many fighting men can you count on?" asked Erion. "I don't mean farmers with pitchforks in their hands; you're fighting for your homes and some of you are going to die. We won't have time to set up a training camp here, we'll want good fighting soldiers."

  "I will need access to the main Palace computer, if you can arrange it," said Delta Ten "This will be a planet wide operation and it will need to be co-ordinated from the largest computer here."

  "I'll need to know what weapons and ammunition you have, and how many trained men you have to use them," put in Hal.

  "How many fighter planes do you have, and how well are your pilots trained?" asked Starfire.

  "I can answer all those questions," began Rigondal, excitedly. "We have been planning for months for this moment." She smiled at Raemond and the light of battle was in her eyes.

  "Don't look forward to it," snapped Erion. "This is no game and you can't win it in a straight fight. The Federation will wipe you all off the face of this planet."

  "So why do you need all this information about our fighting strength if you do not intend to fight them?" asked Rigondal.

  "We'll have to use guerrilla tactics," said Erion. "We can't fight them in open battle. We'll devise a strategy, but in the mean time, we need all the information you can give us. That, and some time on our own to talk and formulate a plan."

  "Of course," said Rigondal. "This Control Room and its facilities have been placed at your disposal. Use it as you wish." She turned to Raemond. "We will leave you now, you must need rest. There are rooms at the rear for your living quarters. Eat and sleep well. We will talk tomorrow." She walked out, ushering Raemond in front of her. The door slid shut behind her departing back and the five stood for a moment in silence. They all looked expectantly at Erion, who glared back at them.

  "What?"

  "Well," began Starfire, "what are you going to do?"

  "How should I know," answered Erion, "I was stalling for time."

  "One thing is for sure," began Hal, "they can't fight the whole Federation. They think this is a game. They're liable to get themselves and everybody around them killed, and that includes me."

  "And we can't have that," said Erion, sarcastically.

  "I didn't come here to save these idiots from their own stupidity and get myself killed into the bargain," he muttered.

  "Why did you come then? asked Erion. It earned her a cold look from the steel eyed gunman and Erion looked at the carpet to hide her reddening cheeks. She remembered that she had virtually asked him to come herself.

  "Look, Rimek told Prince Farrell he wants to build a new Information Retrieval building here," put in Starfire.

  "We have to stop them," began Erion. "The Federation will have a hold on this part of the galaxy and a new data sorting planet. Whatever we think of the people here, we have to do something to stop it."

  "But how?" asked Starfire.

  "You'r
e the brains of the outfit, Del," stated Raan. "Be logical and think aloud. Sometimes we miss the obvious."

  "Our objective is to make the Federation leave this planet," began the android, seriously. "We cannot use force because they outnumber us, so we must use other means to persuade them to go."

  "Great!" said Raan sarcastically. "Well done! You've solved the problem for us Delta Ten. I'm glad we asked you."

  "No," said Erion, softly, "he's right! Listen, I have an idea."

  Chapter 12

  Erion paced up and down in front of her crew, speaking her thoughts aloud.

  "Del, I'll need your input on this, so feel free to interrupt me at any point if you don't think this will work. Now, you said we had to discourage The Federation from wanting to come to this planet. We know their reserves of Golden Bearmyl have been destroyed and there is nothing else here the Federation would want in the way of natural resources. What would happen if they couldn't put their new Information Retrieval Building here?"

  "Hopefully, they'd go away," answered Starfire. "And just how would you make this planet unsuitable for them?"

  "I was thinking of the Planet Killer," answered Erion. Raan lifted a finger and Erion acknowledged him.

  "Won't that fix things a little too permanently?" he asked.

  "Not for Katraia," sighed Erion. "Anyway, Gant said it wasn't powerful enough to destroy a whole planet, but what if we exploded it on one of the smaller moons on elliptical orbit here. Wouldn't that have the same effect on sub space signals as our asteroid field in Kelorus?"

  "I would have to determine the type of elements that are predominant in the planetoid's make up," put in Delta Ten. "The asteroids in Kelorus are composed mostly of Trianite, which inhibits scans and ether communications. While not rare, it is uncommon in the large quantities you would need to accomplish your aims."

  "Get looking then," ordered Erion. "We need to know if it could work before we put any sort of a plan together. Delta Ten walked to the main computer console to begin his search. Hal caught Erion's eye.