It felt like minutes had passed, but 8-3-9-6 had barely moved a muscle. Kevin could tell he was trying to aim an open palm toward him, but the time dilation was strong and it all happened very slowly.
Oh, no, you don’t, I won’t let you take another shot at me. You’re dying, right here and right now.
Kevin pushed his mind to its paroxysm until his attack was as big as a small moon, all the while levitating away from his enemy to give himself enough room to maneuver.
When Kevin saw a spark inside the time bubble from afar, he knew that his time was up. He forcefully threw his arms downward and the moon-sized blue fireball traveled down to incinerate 8-3-9-6. As it approached the time bubble, Kevin threw the AI a curveball and dropped the bubble.
8-3-9-6 became distracted and looked up at his approaching doom.
“Nooooooooooo!” he screamed.
The energy consumed him whole and the resulting explosion shot tons of sand whirling through chaotic patterns all around the point of impact.
“Die, motherfucker! DIE!” screamed Kevin triumphantly.
* * *
The operation had been a success, and Chief Forlon sighed heavily. The result wasn’t pretty but had saved Xonax’s life, nonetheless.
“You’d better not be here when First Officer Ziblus returns,” Forlon addressed his staff. “Go back to your quarters. I’ll take full responsibility for this.”
The staff didn’t need any more convincing to leave the premises. A moment later, Forlon and the still unconscious Xonax on the operating table were the only two left in med-bay.
Forlon took a deep breath and opened a channel to the bridge.
“I have stabilized Xonax. You may want to come down here.”
“On my way,” said First Officer Ziblus.
A moment later, the first officer beamed in. He looked around and saw Xonax lying on the operating table.
Flesh was absent from his entire neck and part of his jaw and was replaced by shiny metal.
“What have you done?” said Ziblus with a mixture of shock and fear in his voice.
“The only thing that would save the emperor’s life. Those were your orders.”
Ziblus shot an accusing finger toward Xonax’s face as fire exploded in his eyes. “You call that saving his life? You turned him into a cyborg!”
“His body will adapt, and his mind was untouched. When he wakes up, he’ll be himself. In full possession of his faculties, but more importantly, he’ll still be breathing.”
“I can’t guarantee that you will for much longer after that happens.”
“It is what it is, I’ve done my job.”
“You should have consulted with me before doing this.”
“There was no time. We almost lost him on multiple occasions.”
“I hope for your sake that Xonax sees it the same way. For what it’s worth, Doc, good job on…” but Ziblus let his words trail for an uncomfortably long pause. “Whatever this is,” he finally concluded.
* * *
A blue shield erected around the space bug as it made a new sound. Something alien between a screech and a growl. It froze Boomer’s blood as he was getting back on all fours.
“This ain’t good.”
“No shit!” said Lacuna.
She grabbed both her rifles and resumed firing.
The acid disintegrated upon impacting with the shield.
“Not good at all,” she added.
The creature’s mouth opened, and a sonic shockwave sent Lacuna crashing through a column, bouncing against the wall before falling to the ground, motionless.
“Lacuna!” shouted Boomer.
The bug turned around and fixed on Boomer. Its eyes glowed red as it opened its mouth.
Dust and smoke was siphoned inside the creature’s vile mouth, readying itself to strike once more.
I’m dead, thought Boomer.
* * *
Once the dust settled, Kevin wondered why he was still in the desert.
“You’ve got to be shitting me, that had to have killed it.”
When all the dust and smoke had settled and dissipated, a hand was still floating, just a hand, above a pool of black goo on the sand below.
“What is this?” said Kevin. “Why is there still anything left?”
A black drop rose from the pool and joined the hovering hand, and another and another. More and more drops added themselves to the floating limb, and soon, an entire forearm had been recreated. At this rate, 8-3-9-6 would rebuild his body within minutes.
Then, a fireball created in front of the palm still aiming at Kevin. The fireball grew to the size of a car in nearly an instant, crimson colored with sizzling dark-purple bolts of lightning dancing around its surface.
“This is not happening!” shouted Kevin.
“My turn,” said a resounding voice.
The fireball shot toward Kevin at supersonic speed. Time seemed to freeze as he tried to reconcile what his eyes were showing him. A massive fireball was coming his way and he only had a split second to decide his next move.
Kevin could tell this attack was even stronger than the one he had cast earlier. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that if that attack touched him, it would be the end of him.
I haven’t come this far to be defeated now, thought Kevin before one last memory came to mind.
He remembered something from a book he read, and so he acted instinctively. He drew a circle with his hands in the air.
“Perseus Mirror Shield!” he screamed just before the attack was about to impact him.
A shield of energy erected in front of him and bounced the attack back, shooting it back to its creator with more speed than its original trajectory. The black pool shot upward, desperately trying to recreate its previous body, but it ran out of time; the fireball flew through the hand and the unfinished body parts, consuming them at a molecular level.
“Nooooooooooo!” 8-3-9-6’s voice resounded to levels that forced Kevin to protect his ears with both his hands.
A terrible explosion shattered not only 8-3-9-6 but the world around Kevin as well.
* * *
The first thing Kevin did was to flex all his fingers. He was back in the palace but was caught under a large amount of rubble. He detected a small opening that allowed him to get out from under it. He was just starting to look around the area when a booming sound caught his attention. A nearby column exploded, and a body flew through it, bouncing against the wall and crashing on the floor, not too far from his position.
Lacuna! No!
He heard an echo that wasn’t his when Boomer’s voice roared. “Lacuna!”
Kevin looked to the side and saw the space bug enveloped in a blue shield, turning around to face Boomer. The black lion was trembling on all fours as the creature’s eyes started to glow red.
Oh no, you don’t! thought Kevin. Screw this shit, I’ve had it with this fucking bug, this damn galaxy, and everything else.
Kevin cast the biggest shield he could muster from his tech sorcerer bag of tricks and imbued the thing with the orange sizzling glow that made it cut through everything he had thrown at it until now.
Then he threw the spinning energy shield toward the creature with a roar.
The bug was still focused on Boomer and shot a sonic boom toward him. Kevin reacted instantly and cast another spell and fired a force-push shockwave toward Boomer. It reached his best friend a millisecond before the creature’s sonic boom did and smashed Boomer out of the way of the bug’s attack. Boomer tumbled madly to the side.
The bug’s shield burst like a soap bubble, and the creature turned around to face Kevin, who was smirking.
“Bye, bye,” waved Kevin at the creature who only then saw the shield that cut him in half like a piece of space sushi.
Its two halves hit the marble ground and made a very satisfying smushing sound.
Kevin ran to Lacuna first. She was unconscious and no longer protected by her personal shield.
&
nbsp; “Leg’olas, I need you,” he said.
For a second nothing happened. “Leg’olas!”
Then a yellow spider started growing on the ground, soon overtaking Kevin in size.
“Hey, hey! That’s big enough!”
“You would not believe the things I’ve seen,” said Leg’olas with excitement.
“I have an inkling, trust me, but before you tell me more, can you heal my friend here?”
The large spider nodded and licked Lacuna’s head. Shortly after, she regained consciousness.
The first thing Lacuna did upon opening her eyes was scream from the bottom of her lungs, which startled Leg’olas who jumped back and trembled.
A blaster materialized in Lacuna’s hands, and Kevin jumped in front of Leg’olas.
“Don’t shoot! She’s a friend. She just healed your wounds.”
It took a moment for Lacuna to understand Kevin’s words fully and she dropped the gun to the ground. Leg’olas shrank back to the size of a fist, and she jumped on Kevin’s shoulder.
“I’m glad to see you!” she said. “Feeling better?”
“Much better, thank you.”
Lacuna’s eyes grew wide. “The spider talks?”
“Yes. Leg’olas, this is Lacuna. Lacuna, Leg’olas.”
Lacuna was at a loss for words, and she smiled and nodded instead.
“What about Boomer?”
Kevin ran toward his friend who was back in his beagle form, shaking his whole body to recover his senses.
“Are you hurt?” said Kevin.
As Boomer blinked, Kevin smiled at him as he patted him on the head and rubbed his ears.
“You okay, buddy?” asked Kevin once more.
“Hello, it’s nice to meet you,” said Leg’olas.
“I think s—what?”
Boomer’s eye caught the yellow spider on Kevin’s shoulder. He yelped and ran away.
“What just happened?” asked Leg’olas.
“Don’t take it personally, he’s also afraid of spiders.”
“I think that explains why I have such a hard time making new friends.”
Kevin laughed.
“Come back, Boomer,” Kevin shouted. “She’s a friend.”
22
Kevin, Lacuna, Boomer, and Leg’olas all beamed back onto the Osiris, which had just jumped out of hyperspace and was orbiting Kregan Prime. A moment later, the ship rocked.
“Shield’s up,” said Ziron. “It’s so good to see you, Kevin. It’s really you, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it’s me. It’s good to see you too.”
Kalliopy ran into the room and jumped into Kevin’s arms, which somewhat surprised him.
“I’m so sorry, Kevin!” she cried.
“That’s okay. Mira told me what happened, and I understand why you had to do what you did.”
When Kalliopy looked into Kevin’s eyes, tears were threatening to roll down her face.
Boomer barked and jumped into Kevin’s arms next.
“So good to have you back, buddy.”
Boomer licked Kevin’s face.
“All of your friends seem so nice,” said Leg’olas, and both Boomer and Ziron ran away screaming.
Lacuna chuckled and so did Kevin.
“That’s not gonna grow old fast,” he said.
“I actually enjoy it,” said Lacuna.
Kevin turned to the spider on his shoulder. “You okay? Aren’t you tired?”
“A little, but it feels good to be free. Thank you, Kevin.”
Kevin had not noticed that Kalliopy was trembling.
“It’s okay, your highness,” Kevin reassured her, ”she won’t bite.”
“You do realize you have a soul-snuffing spider on your shoulder, one bite is all it takes to kill almost any life form. They are possibly the most lethal creatures in existence.”
Just like Kevin had initially deducted, that long sleep period of time that followed after Leg’olas bit people was lethal.
“Well, that might come in handy in the future, then.”
“What’s killing?” asked Leg’olas.
Kevin chuckled. “A very long sleep, something you must never do to anyone unless I ask you to, okay?”
Leg’olas jumped for joy on his shoulder. “Okay!” she said enthusiastically.
Both Boomer and Ziron were slowly returning, one slow step at a time.
“Come here, you chickens, it’s just a talking spider. She’s actually quite kind.”
The ship rocked once more.
“Why is the ship doing that?”
“The Kregan fleet engaged ours,” said Ziron as he jumped back on top of his levitating cushion.
Boomer stayed a few meters away, still unconvinced of the spider’s intentions.
Kevin smiled.
He could understand how everyone felt about Leg’olas, he had been through the exact same thing when he first met her. They’d get used to her over time, though, as he had.
The ship rocked again as a torpedo impacted the shields.
“We should either return fire or get out of here.”
“What about my sister?” said Kalliopy.
“She’s aboard the Apophis. Mira, can you beam her through the shields?”
“I believe I can sync our frequencies to beam her through the shields, yes. Hang on.”
Athala appeared in the middle of the bridge, and Kalliopy threw herself into her sister’s arms, happy tears in her eyes.
“Are you alright, sis?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” said Athala with a trembling voice, “but I think I am.”
“We’re being hailed by Xonax’s ship,” said Ziron.
“Ignore it,” said Kalliopy with a smile, “we’ve got what we came for. We’ll deal with the Kregans another day. Just get us back to Arcadia Prime. Maximum speed.”
And, perhaps, then back to Earth, thought Kevin to himself.
Kalliopy affectionately caressed her sister’s cheek. “Let’s get you to med-bay, okay?”
Athala nodded.
“Mira, looks like we’re going home. Make it so,” said Ziron.
Kevin smiled from ear to ear as Mira slaved all the ship’s hyperspace engines and activated them.
* * *
Boomer was sleeping on Kevin’s chest, and Leg’olas was sleeping on a web she had created in one of the corners of the room.
But Kevin couldn’t sleep, no matter how much he wanted to.
The thing he wanted more than anything was to go home, back to Earth. But he knew that as long as Xonax was still out there, the danger to his home, his family, and even the fate of the entire human race was too high. He’d have to help the Arcadians win the war first.
These thoughts prevented his mind from shutting down and going to sleep. A faint knock at the door caught his attention. Kevin delicately moved Boomer to the side. The beagle continued to snore. Kevin kissed him on the top of the head and then went to open the door.
Kalliopy stood across the threshold.
“I’m not disturbing you, am I?”
“Nah, I couldn’t sleep.”
“Do you mind if we talk for a moment?”
Kevin stepped outside the quarters, as he didn’t want to wake up Boomer.
“I’m hungry,” said Kevin. “In fact, I’m famished. Can we go to the mess hall?”
“Absolutely.”
Kalliopy thanked Kevin profusely as they walked, and she apologized multiple times while Kevin ate the biggest sandwich he had ever had. Arcadian food was no match for Earth’s cuisine, but he was too hungry to care.
The three-meter long sandwich was gone within minutes.
“I’ve rarely seen such an appetite,” said Kalliopy.
“You should see what they served me on board the pirate’s ship. A goo that tasted more like leeches than real food.”
A tear fell rolled down one of Kalliopy’s cheeks. “I’m sorry you had to go through all of that.”
“You don’t have to apol
ogize, your highness.”
“I think I’d prefer it if you called me Kalliopy.”
“Right.”
“I hope you understand that giving in to Xonax’s demand was one of the most difficult decisions I ever had to make in my entire life.”
Kevin knew that she had had little choice in the matter. He had thought about it more upon returning and his point of view on the matter hadn’t changed. If the positions had been reversed, Kevin would have done the exact same thing.
“I understand. In the end it all worked out for the best.”
“I believe I owe you a kiss.”
Before Kevin could say anything, Kalliopy closed her eyes and advanced slowly toward him.
But Kevin felt like he couldn’t kiss her. Even though he’d been waiting for this kiss for so long, right this instant, these weren’t the lips he’d hoped would join with his. Not knowing how to get out of it without making a scene, Kevin faked a sneeze.
Kalliopy opened her eyes and retracted her face. “Bless you.”
“Thanks,” he said. “I’m sorry, but can we continue this lovely discussion later? There’s something I really need to do right now.”
Kalliopy attempted a smile. “Of course, Kevin, anytime.”
* * *
Why did I do that? thought Kevin as he ran down the corridors of the ship.
But he knew exactly why. Something had changed in his heart. He felt like someone had taken Kalliopy’s place. A minute later, he stopped in front of a door, breathing heavily. His heartbeat grew stronger as his fingers hovered next to the button to ring the bell.
Minutes passed, one after the other, Kevin’s fingers still frozen next to the control, for what felt like an eternity.
Come on, man! He told himself. You’ve been through space battles, fights with a vile AI, torture, and more. Surely you can do this!
Eventually, he pressed the control. A moment later, the door split open and revealed Lacuna scantily dressed in her underwear.
Kevin knew that if he didn’t act quickly, he’d chicken out and turn tail. So he leaned forward, grabbed Lacuna’s back, brought her against him, and kissed her.
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