The shadows suddenly came alive as a black tube-like shape darted for his head, its barbed tongue flicking at his eyes, ears, mouth. He darted left to right, trying to avoid it, but he couldn’t move. His hands remained stubbornly where they were, all his aggression, all his rage locked-up inside him.
Something sharp and heavy struck his cheek, then his forehead. Warm liquid trickled down his face.
He stared into the darkness. It squirmed like a nest of vipers. The hunt was almost over, and yet it had barely even begun.
The night sky exploded with light, noise, as hundreds of sonic cannon rounds thudded into the forest, carving up the velocomorphs into a million tiny pieces.
A tall shadow jumped in front of him, armour glimmering in the light from the gas giant.
“Xylem!” gasped Grunt. “How did you…”
“Ssstrategy,” hissed Xylem, pincers tasting the night. “You make excccelent bait.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Thisss ressscue wasss no acccccident,” rasped Xylem, white teeth bared like stalactites. “I knew the mother would bring you here, to her young… yesss!”
“But that’s…”
“Murder?”
“Cheating,” said Grunt, shaking his head. “I could’ve been killed, could’ve been eaten.”
“Perhapsss,” hissed Xylem, “but I had everything under control, I had you tagged the whole time.”
“But that’s not fair.”
“Life’sss not fair,” smirked Xylem. “We have the technology ssso I used it, not every battle can be won by ssstrength. If thisss was a real hunt and not a sssimulation, then you would be at the bottom of a velocccomorphsss ssstomach by now. The Ssscourge will not be ssso forgiving.”
“I suppose you’re right,” said Grunt, fingering a charred piece of velocomorph. “I’ll go to the armoury, get some guns, shielding.”
“All in good time,” hissed Xylem, shoving a handful of diced velecomorph into his mouth. “Feassst firssst.”
Grunt grinned, grabbed a chunk of velocomorph, shoved it down his gullet. “Never leave a hunt with a hungry belly,” hissed Xylem.
“I’m sorry for what I did to you and your people back on the planet,” said Grunt suddenly.
“For torturing usss? For killing usss?” asked Xylem, yellow eyes glimmering with fire.
“Yes,” said Grunt, head in his hands. “I was so angry, I couldn’t control myself.”
“We dessserved it,” hissed Xylem. “For cccenturiesss we roamed the galaxy attacking other ssspeciesss, conquering planetsss, putting entire populationsss to the sssword. Thisss is their revenge; you did to us what we did to ssso many othersss. The galaxy it ssseemsss is not without a sssenssse of irony. As for me, I thought I had you killed when I took over the ssspaccceship, before Jack and Vyleria crash-landed on the Red Giant planet. How did you sssurvive?”
“I don’t know,” said Grunt, “I guess my head is not as important as yours when it comes to bodily functions.”
“You didn’t check it out?”
Grunt shook his head. “There was no time; one adventure led to another and now we are here, a million miles from home, trying to make sense of things.”
Xylem nodded. “That I can underssstand,” he hissed, smiling for what felt like the first time in forever.
“You didn’t deserve to lose your homeworld though,” said Grunt, changing the subject. “The Scourge…”
“Did us a favour,” hissed Xylem, his smile dissipating. “The Haa’drath was an emissssary of ssslaughter; now we have a chanccce to ssstart again and become a raccce not of conquessst, but of peaccce.”
“I’ll raise a glass to that,” said Grunt, “but my planet is dead, an ice ball in space; I doubt I’ll ever see it again, let alone find life on it.”
“You never know,” hissed Xylem. “If we are victoriousss we will have a lot of time for new beginningsss, new pathsss. You may be more blessssed than you think.”
Grunt smiled. “I hope so,” he said. “That sounds like a nice future, a future I can believe in.”
“For all of us,” hissed Xylem. “That’sss why we have to sssupport Jack, come together, put our problemsss assside…”
“Yes,” said Grunt, scrunching up his knuckles into football-sized fists. “But I want some payback on the Scourge first, I want to beat them, make them suffer just like my people did.”
“As do we all,” hissed Xylem, clapping Grunt’s shoulder with his pincers. “There will be no peaccce without it.”
Grunt nodded, picturing his cold lifeless world, as the scourge rendered it devoid of light and life. “On that we both agree.”
Chapter Thirty-Three: Last Supper
Jack rolled over and looked out of the window. Outside he could see Humbledown hill rising above a patchwork of lime green fields, dry stone walls, and scattered woods. Sheep and cows grazed idly underneath the summer sun, a medley of blackbirds, sparrows and starlings whistling away from hedges, gardens and the occasional rooftop.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” said Jack, Vyleria’s fingertips stroking his naked chest. “I don’t think there’s anywhere else like this in the universe, it’s pure contentment… with you.”
“I was hoping you were going to say that,” said Vyleria, kissing him on the lips. “Because if not…”
Cold air stung Jack’s legs as Vyleria yanked the duvet from him. “Oy, what was that for?”
Vyleria smiled. “If you want it, come and get it.”
“I never thought you’d ask.” Jack grinned, pulled the duvet from Vyleria’s grasp, only to cuddle up to her instead. She felt soft, warm, comforting. For the first time in his life he was completely happy. Nothing could ruin it.
Like chocolate and caramel, Jack and Vyleria melted into each other. Nothing could stop them, not even the Scourge.
“What time is it?” asked Vyleria an age later.
“I… err… morning I think.”
“Still?”
“Of the next day,” said Jack, blushing. “I never thought…”
“That we could have so much fun?”
Jack grinned.
“You were wild,” she said, leaning back on the bed, the tips of her nipples poking-out from under the duvet. “And loving too, and gentle; all the things I want in a man.”
“You weren’t so bad yourself,” he said, wrapping her up in his arms, their legs intertwined like vines. “I want more of this, more of you.”
“Me too,” she said, eyes like berries, skin like rose petals. “When the war is over we will have all the time in the world.”
“Don’t you mean the universe?” said Jack, kissing her on the lips, nose, forehead.
“Is this really a time for physics?” she asked, climbing on top of him.
“It’s a time for anything you WANT,” said Jack, heart and mind suffused with magic.
“Good, then we can make a start with the others,” said Vyleria jumping off him and walking across the bedroom floor.
Jack looked at her naked body. He blushed. He still felt like an interloper, like this was all one big chance event, never to be repeated. “The others? What are you talking about?”
“Will you stop gawping?” she said, her spacesuit forming-up over her body. “You’re acting like you’ve never seen a naked girl before.”
“I haven’t,” said Jack. “Until last night that is.”
“Thought as much,” she said smiling. “Now hurry up we are late enough as it is.”
“Late? For what?”
“For the hover chair race silly; I promised Kat and Padget I’d race them. If we don’t hurry up they may run off and do something else.”
“Such as what?”
Vyleria threw his spacesuit at him and grinned. “Come on, I haven’t raced in ages; and neither have you!”
“Right-o,” said Jack, stepping out of bed and walking across the carpet towards her.
His hands caressed her ch
eeks, kissed her lips, chin, neck; he pulled her tight against his body. He felt hot. His hands began to wander, searching the smooth contours of her body. Grasping, panting…
“Enough,” said Vyleria, pulling away from him and running through the open door. “There will be time for that later. Meet me at the control room in five minutes. Don’t be late.” She took one last lingering look at Jack’s naked body, smiled, then closed the door.
Jack grinned back at her, put on his blue spacesuit as quickly as he could, then left his bedroom and went out into the corridor.
Jack had only just turned the corner when a white rectangular blur spun over his head. He dived to the floor instantly, expecting some sort of alien attack. No sooner had he got to his feet when another streak of light screeched past him.
“Come on Jack, hurry up! We’re already on our second lap. What took you so long?”
Jack looked-up at Vyleria. She looked beautiful, athletic, just like she always did. It felt like he hadn’t seen her in ages. He looked at her thighs, breasts, neck. She was intoxicating; he wanted to take her back to bed, where it was just them two, where nothing else mattered.
“Are you playing or not?” asked Vyleria, long red hair streaming behind her like fire.
“I… err…”
“Yeah, come on Jack,” said Padget, zooming up next to her. “Vyleria says you are pretty good at this, though I have my doubts.”
“Yesss raccce,” hissed Xylem a little off to the side.
Jack glanced from Vyleria to Padget, then at Kat, Xylem, Grunt. For the first time since they had come aboard they looked like a team. He smiled. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he said, jumping onto the hover seat.
Jack flew like a rocket, speeding down the expanding corridor as quickly as he could. He zoomed past Padget, Kat, then Grunt. All that left was…
Vyleria.
The last time they had raced she had beaten him, but this time it was different, girlfriend or not. He drew up beside her, willing his hover seat forward inch by inch. This was the final lap, his last chance to beat her and show her how far he had come. He edged ahead a few inches. He resisted the urge to look at her, to gloat in his moment of fame and glory.
Something thudded into his side and then suddenly he was falling, falling, falling. He bounced off the soft metallic floor with a loud thump, his hover seat cartwheeling after him.
He got to his feet just in time to see a bright red blur screech over the finish line.
“What happened?” he asked, running up to Vyleria. “I was in the lead and then something banged into me and…”
“Well it was more of a push,” she said.
“What?”
“I just gave you a little nudge, that’s all.”
“But that’s not fair,” he said. “It’s cheating.”
“All’s fair in love and war,” she said, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him. “Besides, I’ll make it up to you later, I swear.” She winked at him.
Jack’s cheeks turned the colour of tomatoes. “Alright,” he said, as the rest joined them across the finish line. “You better.”
“Would I lie to you?” she said, hair twirling like leaves in the autumn.
“Err…”
“Niccce move,” hissed Xylem in Vyleria’s direction. “Now let’sss ssspaccce raccce!”
“I thought you’d never ask,” said Vyleria. “I’ve been dreaming of a re-match for a few years.”
“You like losing ssso much?”
Vyleria grinned. “We’ll see who is bragging a few laps from now.”
“Just don’t bet the captaincy,” said Jack. “Remember what happened last time?”
“All too well,” she said. “Treason and murder.”
“Which I’ve apologised for,” rasped Xylem. “Besssidesss Jack is Captain now.”
“Yes,” said Padget, Kat and Grunt nodding along with him. “By unanimous decision.”
“I didn’t sssay I wanted the captaincccy,” hissed Xylem. “I just want to beat her. AGAIN!”
“Let’s go then,” said Vyleria. “Just you and me; you can even break the rules if you like.”
“But Vyleria…”
“Relax Jack, I can take him, cheating or not. This is something I need to do on my own.”
“Of course,” said Jack, trying to hide the anxiety in his voice. “Whatever you say.”
Jack hovered over the race track. Below him two red and white specks revved their engines, the circuit of asteroids stretching far out into space.
“How many laps are they going to race?” asked Padget flying up next to him, his rocket boots on slow burn.
“The standard five,” said Jack, his hawk-like eyes fixed on the two dots. “I can’t see anything from this distance, I need a better view.” He fiddled with his holowatch, jabbing away at the screen. “That should do it.”
“But nothing’s changed,” said Kat. “It’s still the same image as before.”
“Tap your holowatch once; it will allow you to toggle closer to the action. Hit it again to come back here.”
“What the…” said Padget, his hands grasping at the space in front of him. “It’s like they are right in front of me.”
“Amazing eh,” said Jack. “Now let’s enjoy this race. Who do you think will win?”
“Xylem,” they all said in unison.
“I mean you know what he’s like,” said Padget deflecting Jack’s stare.
“Dastardly,” said Kat.
“Conniving,” said Grunt.
“Call him what he is - a cheat,” said Padget.
“Vyleria can cheat too,” said Jack.
“Not like Xylem,” said Padget. “With him it’s in his blood, she would just be pretending.”
“They are about to start,” said Kat pointing at her holowatch. “It’s time to get a ring side seat; come on!”
Jack tapped at his holowatch as Vyleria and Xylem screeched off around the course, zipping under and over a succession of asteroids and comets. The laps disappeared in a blur with no clear leader, Vyleria marginally ahead.
“Go on Vyleria!” shouted Jack, as she veered over the rim of a collapsed crater, arrowing into the final straight.
She was about to cross the finish line when a red streak of light arrowed into her space car, knocking her from the track in an explosion of sparks and smoke. Xylem overtook her, screeching for the finish line, only for a blue dart to bulge out of the darkness and send him spinning away into interstellar space.
Jack watched helplessly as a green and orange space car limped over the line. He rocketed down towards it straight away. They all did.
“Victory!” shouted Padget, clambering from the space car, hands thrust upwards in celebration.
“But you cheated!” said Vyleria.
“Yeah,” said Padget. “I think that’s kind of the point.”
“But you haven’t completed all five laps, you…”
“I don’t have to; you said so yourself.”
“Stop talking nonsense Padget, why would I say that?”
“Oh, but you did Vyleria,” said Jack, “when you permitted cheating; Padget doesn’t have to complete all five laps, all he needs to do is cross the finish line; after that anything is game.”
“You betchya,” said Padget.
“But, but…”
“Those are the rules Vyleria,” said Jack. “And you should know – you made them. Now come on, let’s get something to eat, I’m starving!”
“But I want to race Xylem again and Padget and…”
Jack shook his head. “We don’t have time Vyleria,” he said. “At least not until the war is over. The Scourge could be here any minute; let’s get some food, we don’t know when we will have the chance again.”
“Jack’s right,” said Grunt, rubbing his belly.
“Yep,” said Kat and Padget, closely followed by Xylem.
“Alright you are,” said Vyleria. “But I’m warning as soon as this is all over it’s payb
ack time.”
“Bring it on,” said Padget grinning.
“Anytime,” hissed Xylem.
Vyleria chuckled. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Jack shoveled a fork load of fish and chips into his mouth, then scooped-up a tablespoon of mushy peas. It tasted absolutely delicious, the best in the galaxy, which of course it was. He glanced across the table at Padget; though he had lost a lot of weight he seemed to have recovered much of his former appetite. He was already on his fourth plate of fish and chips, and his second steak pie. “Can’t go to war on an empty stomach,” he said to Kat next to him. “We never know when we might be able to eat again. Besides, free food is the best food, that’s what I always say.”
“He’s got that right,” said Jack to Vyleria, plunging a chocolate éclair down his gullet. Pure heaven.
“It also helps that the computer keeps restoring your appetite by converting most of what you eat into light,” said Vyleria.
“What?”
“Don’t tell me you didn’t know?”
Jack shook his head, his mouth choc-full of éclair.
“That’s where the food comes from; it’s reconfigured from the light in this room. It’s one hundred percent renewable; this would solve a lot of your problems on Earth, I think.”
“You mean none of this is real?” said Jack, looking at his éclair like it was a mutated lobster.
“Haven’t you been listening to what I’ve been saying?”
“But then how can I survive, grow?”
Vyleria looked at Jack like he was stupid. “It may come from light but in its solid form it works just as well as any food on Earth; it gives you protein, vitamins, minerals, fat, carbohydrates, – all you need to grow healthily.”
“But if it then disappears from my stomach…”
“The computer leaves just enough food for your body to function in a healthy manner; that way you never put on weight and always remain fit and strong.”
“And if I was running a marathon?”
“The ship would take a read-out of your energy requirements and adjust what it takes from your stomach accordingly.”
“Well don’t tell him,” he whispered, pointing at Padget as he cut into a huge T-bone steak. “It looks like he’s on some kind of mission.”
Jack Strong and The Last Battle Page 13