“Now!” he said.
Lacuna and Darmak unleashed a flurry of weapons fire toward the balconies, sending one guard down after another. Kevin cast a sleep spell on some guards as well to help expedite the task.
Kevin was halfway to the throne where he could see deep within the princess’ eyes. Unsurprisingly, he saw little to no emotion, except slight shock, which he attributed to how easily he had thwarted her plan.
“Now we have two options,” said Kevin. “We can do this the easy way or…need I say more?”
“You fool, you think your little parlor tricks will be enough to kill me?”
Kevin tried to cast a sleep spell on her, but it didn’t take.
He sighed. “Who said anything about killing you?”
Kevin mentally opened a channel to Ziron.
Where are we with the brain scan? I can’t seem to put her to sleep.
Which is a good sign that she’s been brainwashed, replied Ziron, but not proof in itself. You just entered scanning range, keep her occupied for a minute or two.
Roger that.
Kalliopy jumped from her throne and stood firm.
“Well, if you’re not going to kill me,” she smirked, “then let’s have some fun. Goliath! You’re up.”
Why don’t I like the sound of that?
Oh no! said Ziron. Not Goliath.
Before Kevin could ask what Goliath was, a giant mech landed in front of him, cracking the marble floor and making the entire throne room tremble.
Oh, for crying out loud.
Lacuna and Darmak didn’t wait for Kevin’s order this time, and they unleashed their weapons on the massive mech in vain. All the blaster fire bounced off its thick armor.
Kevin added to the firepower with three fireball spells engulfing the advancing mech into a ball of flames, but just like the blaster fire, the mech didn’t seem bothered.
Zee! Tell me you didn’t have anything to do with this?
Well…Some time ago, before we met, I was tasked to create a royal personal guard of sorts.
You gotta be shitting me. How do I destroy it?
Short of a smart armor…I’m not sure.
There’s irony for you. If I live through this, you and I will talk.
Kevin jumped and rolled to the side when a metallic fist three times his body size tried to turn him into a pancake. Kevin turned around and reached with both palms toward the time bubbles he had previously created. He used a telekinetic spell to reorient them and darted toward his friends.
“Get cover!” he shouted as he released the time bubbles.
Dozens of strong plasma bolts shot toward the mech and exploded one after the other, engulfing the mech into a red-and-orange inferno.
“That has to kill it, right?” said Kevin.
But when three laser pointers emerged from the resulting smoke and all locked onto his chest, he had the answer to his question.
Boomer barked repeatedly and shot forward, and the laser pointers tried acquiring him instead.
“What the hell are you doing Boomer?!”
“You’re welcome,” he barked.
But then the mech opened fire at Boomer, and Kevin had to react quickly and cast a shield around his faithful friend. The multiple rockets exploded only meters away from the beagle, but the shield deflected their damage.
“This is not a game! You could have been killed.”
Boomer preferred not answering.
The mech stepped out of the smoke and was dangerously close to Kevin and his friends.
Time for plan B.
10
Ziron was analyzing data from Kevin’s scanner after his engagement with the Goliath. He had to rewrite a signal booster on the fly as the scanner kept fading in and out of range.
The Sphynx knew very well that the predicament his friends were in was mostly his fault, so he couldn’t just ask Kevin to stand closer to the princess.
After a couple of minutes, the signal was strong again.
“Mira, please analyze her majesty’s brain pattern with the files we have on Kregan interrogation techniques.”
“Analyzing now,” said Mira.
“Divert all the CPU power you can spare to that task, time is of the essence.”
“You mean so our friends don’t get killed by your abomination of a personal guard on the surface?”
Zee hissed. The truth, no matter how ugly it was, hurt.
“Very mature,” added Mira. “I’m so glad their lives depend on you right now.”
As much as Ziron wanted to retort, he couldn’t spare the time, and his fingers interacted with his holo-console faster than they had before, trying to boost Mira’s processing power.
“Brain pattern match,” she said a few seconds after Ziron overclocked some of her CPUs. “Thanks for the boost.”
“Don’t mention it. You know what to do.”
“Opening a channel to the lead ship in orbit.”
* * *
“Kevin,” said Ziron. “It’s confirmed. Kalliopy has been brainwashed; we’re talking to the admiral now.”
Kevin rolled and erected a shield to block three more rockets intent on turning his body to shreds, flames bursting all around him.
Thank god I still have my tech-sorcerer abilities or we’d be toast, quite literally.
“Please tell me he just has a single button to press to disable this monstrosity?!”
“Errrr.”
“You gotta be shitting me, Zee, I’m gonna skin you alive.”
“The Goliath is under the direct control of the princess, only she can deactivate it.”
“In other words, it ain’t gonna happen!”
But Ziron didn’t think that deserved a response.
“I’m running out of steam, Zee. Another few minutes and my tech-sorcerer implants will be out of power. Can you beam that thing out of here at least?”
“The Goliath is equipped with anti-locking technology,” said Ziron.
“Of course it fucking is,” said Kevin between gritted teeth as he blasted more rockets with fireball spells.
There had been so many explosions in the throne room, it was getting hard for Kevin to see in front of him, and most of his fighting was instinctual at this point.
“What about your emergency beacon?”
“Mmm. That could work.”
“It better! Get ready to beam Goliath ten klicks from the Osiris, and blast that damn thing to smithereens the moment it reappears.”
“Is that really necessary? I can probably reprogram it.”
“I don’t have time to argue this, just do as I say!”
“Understood.”
Kevin darted toward the Goliath, used the strongest telekinetic spell, and aimed at the mech’s leg currently connecting with the floor. It stumbled and crashed on its back, definitely ruining the marble flooring.
Kevin grabbed the transport beacon and shouted a countdown for Zee to hear over the comms.
“In five…four…”
Kevin skid on the floor toward the robot. “Three…”
“You need to place the beacon dead center on its chest,” interrupted Ziron.
“Some friend you are,” spat Kevin. “Hang on.”
Kevin jumped and ran up the mech’s leg and used telekinetic energy to propel himself in the air to dodge a giant mech fist coming at him from the side.
Screw it; let’s wing this one.
Kevin threw the beacon toward Goliath and some of his telekinetic spell to ensure its trajectory.
“Get ready, Zee.”
A second before the beacon arrived, Kevin used his remaining energy in one last telekinetic push to clear the area.
“Now!” he shouted and at the exact moment became frozen in midair, red energy engulfing him.
What? A tractor beam? But…
Kevin understood what it would mean if he was beamed with Goliath into space.
Lacuna, who was still firing at the Goliath in vain, caught a glimpse of Kevin’s eyes and understood w
hat was happening. Kevin tried casting a time bubble spell, but he was out of juice. Nevertheless, time seemed to freeze at that moment.
“Noooooooo!” Lacuna screamed.
Kevin swallowed hard as he could feel the beam about to initiate.
“I love you,” said Kevin, not sure she could hear him.
Darmak ripped Lacuna’s rifle from her hands and jumped toward Kevin. He overshot and arrived behind him, getting caught as well by the mech’s tractor beam.
Kevin turned and looked at the Domdori. Darmak smiled at him.
“Goodbye,” said Darmak.
He then smashed both rifles together, and everything went boom.
Kevin felt the explosion and was catapulted away from a transported Goliath.
* * *
On board the Osiris, Ziron had the coordinates locked with plasma guns, his paw hovering over the firing controls when his mech invention appeared on the port bow.
“What are you doing?” asked Mira when Ziron didn’t open fire.
Ziron kept looking at Goliath, and the mech was clearly disoriented from being in space, but soon it got its bearings and opened fired on the Osiris.
Three rockets came toward the bridge and exploded halfway through.
“What?” said Ziron.
The holographic version of Mira materialized in front of him as three plasma shots took the Goliath out to space.
“Kevin said to destroy the damn thing! Or have you forgotten what happens when we don’t listen to him?”
Ziron blinked several times. “I—I thought we could use it later.”
“I don’t want to hear it. From now on, you’d be well advised to obey every one of Kevin’s orders. If it weren’t for him, we’d all be dead ten times over.”
Mira’s words echoed through Ziron’s mind. She was right. Kevin, even if a youngling by any galactic standard, had not led them astray.
“You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“So that you know, I’ve transferred all captain command codes to Kevin. From now on, he supersedes your authority onboard this ship.”
Mira’s holographic facial traits showed clear anger before she vanished out of thin air.
* * *
Kevin bounced off the ground unceremoniously and rolled to the floor until he stopped at Lacuna’s feet. Her expression was frozen as she realized that Darmak was gone.
Tears fell down her face.
“I—I’m sorry,” said Kevin. “He… he…” but Kevin couldn’t bring himself to finish his sentence.
She looked at him and swiped her tears away.
“He gave his life for yours, as he knew how I felt about you.”
Kevin didn’t know what to say. He never expected this to happen.
She kneeled by his side and kissed him.
“I will miss him,” she said. “But I don’t know what I would have done if you had died instead. So, even though it hurts, I’m thankful for what he did.”
“How did he know it would work?”
“Like yours, his instincts are. . .were usually pretty good.”
Kevin sighed. Every bone in his body hurt, and as if on queue, Leg’olas climbed on his shoulder and healed his wounds.
They stayed silent for a minute, and the look inside Lacuna’s eyes suddenly turned from sadness to hatred. She rose.
“I’m going to fucking kill her,” she spat.
Kevin got up, but Lacuna was already running toward the throne.
“No! Lacuna, please don’t!”
Kevin ran as fast as he could, but Lacuna had too much of a head start for him to catch up. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Boomer shoot past him on his left and ram in between her legs, sending her crashing at the bottom of the throne stairs.
Lacuna was furious, and she grabbed Boomer by the collar and threatened to punch his lights out. Boomer growled.
“No!” screamed Kevin as he reached them both. “If Kalliopy were herself, then yes, I’d even help you kill her. But she’s been brainwashed; she is not in control anymore.”
“That won’t bring Darmak back,” she answered.
“No, it won’t, and we both have to live with that.”
Lacuna released Boomer and patted his head.
“I’m sorry, Boomer.”
“I really thought you’d punch the crap out of me,” he said yelping.
“I—I almost did.”
On top of the stairs, a dozen figures beamed in front of the throne—armed guards, the admiral and Athala, the princess’ sister.
Kalliopy smiled when she saw the admiral as well as her sister.
“These intruders have tried to kill me,” said Kalliopy. “Have them arrested immediately. We’ll execute them before dinner.”
The group stayed silent for a moment, tension rising in the room.
“Admiral, I gave you a direct order!” shouted Kalliopy.
“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” said Corso. “Guard, place the princess under arrest. I’m relieving you of your command, your majesty.”
11
“What?” protested Kalliopy. “You can’t do that! Guards, arrest this traitor.” She pointed at the admiral.
The guards stopped, hesitating.
“Carry out my orders,” the admiral reiterated, “or you’ll never again serve in the Arcadian Military forces. The princess is not herself, it’s for her own good.”
“And who will lead our world?” said Kalliopy as she tried getting the guards off her.
“I will,” said Athala. “Until you get better, that is.”
Kevin, Lacuna, and Boomer climbed the stairs and joined the admiral.
“Thanks,” said Kevin.
The admiral saluted.
“It is we who should thank you, young man. We owe you a debt of gratitude.”
Kevin gave the admiral a wide smile. “Funny you should say that…”
The admiral raised a hand. “Hang on a second, please.”
Kevin nodded.
The admiral then gestured Athala toward the throne. She sat, and the admiral kneeled.
“What are your orders, Princess?”
Athala smiled and pointed toward Kevin.
Her next words, though, were the last thing Kevin expected to hear.
“Do exactly what that young man tells you to do. He’s saved our world, and we wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for his courage and determination. It’s only fair that we help him in return. I, for one, owe this boy my life.”
“As you command,” said the admiral.
* * *
12 hours later
Kevin and Lacuna were lying in bed, wrapped in each other’s arms. He kissed her forehead, and she opened her eyes.
“Hey you,” he said.
“Hey…Did I fall asleep?”
“We both did. I think we needed it.”
“Well, after your performance, I’m not surprised,” she said with a wink.
Kevin’s face turned red.
“Not what I was referring to.”
She smiled. “Still…”
“Yeah, well, at least I can say I did that before…”
But Kevin didn’t finish his sentence.
“None of that. From now on, we don’t lose anyone anymore, deal?”
“I’d love to say yes, but we’re about to have two giant armadas go at one another, so can’t exactly expect a no-casualty scenario.”
“I know this is gonna sound insensitive, but I don’t care how many Arcadian ships or crew bite the dust. I was talking about us—you, me, and our friends.”
“Yeah, I got that.”
Except, Kevin wasn’t exactly thrilled at the idea there would be casualties in the coming battle, Arcadian or otherwise. That was the nature of war, and these armadas would have fought down the line anyway, but this time, Kevin would be in command of the Arcadian fleet and the fate of his entire planet.
No pressure.
“Sorry,” said Lacuna, “I know I shouldn’t have said these things ou
t loud.”
“It’s alright, you’re entitled to your opinion. And you saying things as they are is one of the reasons I love you.”
She smiled, and they kissed for what felt like a very long time.
Kevin wished they could stay in this moment forever, but he knew they needed to get dressed soon and go work on his attack plan.
* * *
Kevin was walking in the corridors of the Osiris when Ziron joined him.
“Hey, Zee.”
“Hi…do you have a minute?”
“Sure, don’t we have days until we catch up with the fleet?”
“We do, almost three in fact.”
“Which reminds me, why is it taking so long to get there? I got the impression coming to your galaxy was faster the first time around.”
“You’re correct, that’s because on the way back, we used a wormhole, but that particular singularity only works one way.”
“I see.”
“What were you up to just now? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“Just brainstorming attack scenarios.”
“If you prefer, I can leave you alone?”
“No, that’s fine, my friend.”
“Glad to hear we’re still friends.”
“Why wouldn’t we be?”
“I—I keep messing up, the Goliath was my fault, you almost died, and Darmak gave his life…all because I keep inventing stupid shit.”
“Stop beating yourself up, I know I sounded mad on the comlink, but that was just in the heat of the moment. Without you and your inventions, I would have died ten times over, you do know that, right?”
“Perhaps.”
“Hey! Zee, I need you, you’re integral to the crew, and you’re my friend, and even if I sound mad from time to time, nothing will change that.”
Ziron smiled. “Thank you.”
“No, thank you for everything since the day we met. It’s been a wild ride. Sure it could have gone a little smoother, and having our lives put in jeopardy every five minutes gets a little old and tiring after a while, but I’ve made incredible friends, and, well, powerful enemies too.”
Across the Galactic Pond - Box Set: The Complete FAR BEYOND Space Opera Series Page 48