The Trimedian

by Dangerous Walker

  "No, Jimmy you'll get stuck here."

  "Den dis be our last adventure," he looked at his friend. "We ne'er did anyt'ing right in our life, now you are doing somet'ing right, I too wanna make the bad tings right."

  "I'll be back for you."

  Jimmy took Chase's other gun, Chase dropped all his spare clips, and rose above the trench and started blasting. Chase grabbed Milk and with his arm over his shoulder they ran to the end of the trench and then up and ran toward the pyramid.

  One Laikan saw them and took Chase out in the leg. They both went down. Chase gritted his teeth, swore and pulled Milk up. Now blood was pouring from both of them.

  Jimmy took out said Laikan before ducking down to reload. He rose up and started blasting again.

  Chase and Milk reached the edge of the pyramid and safety. Chase looked back at the trench where his friend was blasting away. Laser blasts were pouring on the trench and Jason wanted to run back to help him, but Milk moaned and leaned upon him and Chase felt his own leg giving out.

  They ran/stumbled to the other side of the pyramid where they discovered a huge gap in the sand. Looking into it they could see vast stone steps leading down to a flickering light.

  "Julianna?" shouted Chase down the steps.

  "Down here," came the echoing reply.

  "Well get up here."

  Julianna and Hendricks appeared in the dim light and raced up the stairs as Chase and Milk fell over.

  "What happened? Are you shot?" a fraught Julianna asked standing over them.

  "He is, I'm not," said Milk from the floor.

  Chase pushed Milk off of him and stood up, grabbing Julianna's shoulder as he did.

  "Give me your gun and get Milk to the ship," he commanded through gritted teeth.

  "What? Why? Where's Jimmy?"

  "Still back there, I gotta go get him, now give me your gun," Chase almost shouted.

  "Doc? Get Jason and Milk to the ship, I'm going to get Jimmy," staring into Chase's eyes.

  "No," he commanded.

  "What? You going to come running after me?" she asked sternly. "Didn't think so. Get to the ship; you're no good to anyone dead."

  With that she ran along the side of the pyramid and stopped at the corner. The Laikans had realised most of their prey had escaped and were trying to get to the pyramid, but Jimmy was keeping them pinned down. As soon as he saw a head peak out he shot at it.

  Julianna's position was bad, if she started shooting, the Laikans would fire at her and stop Jimmy from joining her. The pyramid next to her was tall, but the steps were small and numerous. She started heading upwards. Now from her height she could see Jimmy in the trench and could see clips scattered around him. Most were red which meant empty. She could see only three green ones left. She kept climbing.

  Stopping again she looked down and could make out the Laikans behind their walls. She squatted down to make the most of the little cover she had and started firing.

  ***

  Suddenly Jimmy saw laser beams raining down on the Laikans, he looked up and spotted Julianna. The Laikans were firing at her, but they were exposed. A number made a run for it and Jimmy took them down before running to the end of the trench and then backwards ran across open ground still firing at the Laikan position.

  Julianna looked down and saw him reach the pyramid, she turned back and picked off the last Laikan she could see and then spotted another sandcruiser pulling up, and even before it stopped she could see more armed Laikans jumping out. She started running down the back of the pyramid and from there she could see the open door in the ground and the red of blood next to it.

  She got there as Jimmy did and grabbed him in a hug.

  "T'anks, Jules," said a grateful Jimmy, "Come now, I knows de way."

  They descended the huge stairs.

  ***

  Trillo was lucky, the first Laikan Julianna had killed from the pyramid had fallen on him and knocked him to the ground. The body soaked up the laser fire and left Trillo alive and angry. He pushed the body off him as the second sandcruiser pulled up.

  "Around the pyramid! Half of you go round left, half right. And be careful," barked Trillo at the newly arrived assassins.

  They split up, weapons drawn and approached the pyramid.

  ***

  The stairs seemed to descend forever and in the dim light the tunnel was so massive Julianna couldn't see the walls to either side of her. She could however see the blood on the stairs. Jason and Milk's. At the bottom the steps opened out into a huge room. The room was well lit, though Julianna couldn't see how, and was filled with treasure; with beautiful vases, large animal drawn carriages, suits of armour, huge statues of people dressed in clothing she had never seen. Statues of races that she didn't even recognise. Some of these statues were fifty or sixty feet high, some of the golden carriages looked big enough to seat one of said statues. Now she knew why the entrance stairway had to be so big. The room was brimming with treasures.

  "De treasure of Rarbar," Jimmy said, still impressed having seen it often over the last five years.

  "It's amazing."

  "Sho is, but you know what I've never understood?"

  "How did it all get down here?" Julianna in awe.

  "Nah, why didn't Chase steal it when he first found it?"

  She looked at him and thought, 'yeah, good point'.

  ***

  On the surface the Laikans had rounded the pyramid and found the door in the ground.

  "OK, the two most dangerous are wounded, but be careful, if they're down there waiting we're sitting ducks," advised Trillo, he certainly wouldn't be at the front.

  Chase, Milk and Dr. Hendricks were already on board the Vulcan and Hendricks had bandaged the flesh wound on Chase's leg. As Milk was taken care of, Chase was in the cockpit switching on all systems.

  "Well, well, well," came a female voice from the computers, "Look what the Chanlukine weasel dragged in."

  "That's the second time someone's called me that in the last 48 hours," commented Chase as he continued to switch things on. "You wouldn't mind running a systems check for me would you, love?"

  "Oh, you leave me for five years in this dusty place and now that you need me I'm 'love' am I?"

  "I had to leave you; I'm on a special mission."

  The computer broke into girlish laughter.

  "You? You're on a 'special mission' are you? I doubt it somehow. Just run up too many debts, have you? Time to run away is it?"

  "Things have changed, Cherry, I've changed. Now can I have that systems check or not?"

  "OK, OK, I'm on it. As usual." she bemoaned.

  ***

  Jimmy and Julianna walked to the other end of the room to find another murky corridor the same size as the entrance stairway, this one was colonnaded and in the cloisters they could see more statues, these ones sculpted like guards. They pressed on down the long corridor to another lighted room.

  ***

  The Laikans were now down the stairs and gobsmacked by the treasure they had found.

  "Forget Chase Darkstaar, we're rich," shouted one Laikan and Trillo shot him as he ran to the nearest pile of gold coins.

  "This treasure isn't going anywhere and we're going to make sure Darkstaar doesn't either. Anyone else want to stray from the plan?" Silence. "Didn't think so."

  He continued to follow the blood trail.

  ***

  The next room had hardly any treasure in it, but did contain a large sleek ship. The front was rounded and the top went straight to the back boosters, but the bottom went up at a 45 degree angle to meet the boosters. This meant that the ship was thicker at the front than the back where there were two small stabilizer wings.

  On the bottom, at the front, was a right angled triangular wedge of a strange, glossy black material; this wedge made the front underneath straight like the top. Across the side, under the cockpit windows, was spray painted the title, "The Wild Rover".

  Jimmy and Julianna stoo
d looking up at the ship.

  "Dere she be," said Jimmy with a little awe mixed in with some pride, "De Wild Rover, de only Vulcan I've ever known in dis here Universe."

  "It's huge," commented Julianna.

  "Has to be, Chase and sometimes myself or Milk had to live on dat ship," and then laser beams zinged past them.

  They spun around drawing their guns and shot back down the colonnaded tunnel.

  "Time to leave," shouted Julianna and they both ran to the ship's entrance ramp.

  "Go, mon, go," Jimmy shouted into an intercom at the top as Julianna fired down at the approaching Laikans.

  He could have saved his breath, Chase saw the laser beams and made ready.

  "How's that systems check, Cherry?" he asked the computer as he flipped switches.

  "Everything is good to go. Jimmy has taken care of me. Unlike some I could mention, he never left me alone," she whinged.

  "Can we save that for later or would you like to get shredded by lasers?"

  "Fine, fine, no need to be testy. I'm closing the entrance ramp and sealing up for airtight."

  "Aren't you just a little bit exited to be flying again?" Chase asked.

  "Oh, alright, yes, yes I am. So let's go."

  Chase punched the booster ignition and flame pummelled out of the boosts. He raised the ship to hover and retracted the legs.

  "OK, gonna move the Lechance to its back position," he told Cherry as Jimmy walked into the cockpit.

  "Right, er," said the computer.

  "What? What now?"

  "Well, frankly I don't really understand the Lechance technology, I mean I understand the equations and such, it's just I don't really get how that translates into doing what it does."

  "And your point being?"

  "Well, without actually flying there is no way I could test it. What I'm saying is that after five years, I don't know whether it will work or not."

  "Valkswagon. Well we're going to find out," Chase said as Laikans started spilling in and firing at the ship.

  He pressed another button as Jimmy sat down next to him and started fiddling with the computer in front of him.

  The black wedge under the ship slid backwards along the bottom until it reached the back of the ship. This, amongst other things, streamlined the ship for atmospheric flying.

  Jimmy pressed a button and small laser canons appeared under the nose of the ship and automatically started finding and picking off Laikans.

  "What's that?" asked Chase.

  "Somet'ing I added, a bit of take-off security."

  "Nice. Well, hold on, here we go."

  ***

  The ship moved slowly forward towards the Laikans, the two small lasers firing at them. Trillo moved back in the tunnel as his men fired at the bottom of the ship.

  "Stop firing! Stop firing," he shouted as he realised the ship's canons were finding men by their laser shots.

  One Laikan didn't listen and the ship's cannons worked out the trajectory and cut the Laikan down.

  "Valkswagon," cursed Trillo. "Everyone, back outside, we can't lose that ship."

  ***

  The ship was now picking up speed as it approached the treasure store.

  "After five years, don't you t'ink you should take it slow, mon?" Jimmy asked nervously.

  "Like riding a bike," Chase grinned at him.

  The ship flew through the treasure room and one of the back wings clipped a statue sending it tumbling over.

  Chase winced. "I hope the Doc didn't see that."

  They flew up the stairway as the Laikans ran into the treasure room and fired wildly at it. And then the ship was out of the entrance and into blue skies.

  Julianna walked into the spacious cockpit and took a seat. She looked around at the walls lined with different computers.

  "How's de big mon?" asked Jimmy swivelling in his chair.

  "He's doing OK. Dr. Hendricks has him on an IV of blood. And, by the way, why have you got blood on the ship?"

  "For times like these," Chase said. "This ship has everything we might need in our escapades."

  "So what now? Back to Newd and the space port?" she asked.

  "No, Trillo will have Laikans there, or at least someone spying. We need to do a full in-flight systems check and then I think we better make an illegal exit."

  Chase steered the ship to avoid flying near Newd and punched the accelerator. The ship was surprisingly fast for one as large as itself and this again was down to the Lechance. When in back position not only did it streamline the ship, but when switched on it added to the boosters power and, somehow, gave the ship the manoeuvrability of a small fighter.

  "OK, Cherry, full in flight systems check before I switch on the Lechance."

  "If I must."

  "Geez, she's whiney," whispered Chase.

  "Five years alone, mon, I think it's done somet'ing to her software," Jimmy whispered back.

  "Stop whispering, I know you're talking about me," Cherry complained.

  "Not at all, love, not at all, how's the systems?"

  "All go," she said and Jimmy watched the read out of the check on his computer screen.

  "OK, let's see how the Lechance is doing."

  "I'm really not sure about this," Cherry said uneasily.

  "Hey, come on now, I have faith in you, honey," Chase pampered as they flew over the sea.

  He hit a button and then twisted a dial, there was a slight hum as a number of the wall computers lit up. The fire from the boosters turned green and the whole ship shuddered lightly.

  "Are we good?" Chase asked.

  "At the moment, starting a full check now."

  Chase moved the accelerator farther forward and the ship sped up, burning a trail above the waters. He took the ship up to higher atmosphere and did some twists and turns.

  "How fast can this thing go?" Julianna asked.

  "Near enough lightspeed," Jimmy told her without looking up from the readings.

  "In atmosphere?" she was amazed, "That's not possible."

  "It be de Lechance, gives it extra power and sharper control."

  "What's the Lechance?"

  "Dunno," Chase and Jimmy said together.

  "You don't know?"

  "Well," explained Chase, "it's the black wedge thing on the bottom of the ship, but no one really knows how it works, not even Cherry."

  "Hey, I'm working on it," she piped up indignantly.

  "After five years, and you'll no closer?" Chase asked her.

  "Do you want this systems-check or not?"

  "OK, OK, sorry."

  "Erm, Cherry," Jimmy said with a hint of worry, "I'm not liking some of dese readings."

  "No, neither am I, but until I have a full check of the Lechance systems I can't recalibrate."

  "What does that mean?" Chase asked.

  "It mean you need to keep flying."

  "Well, that's no problem," Chase said as the engine suddenly stuttered. "Er, how long will this check take?"

  "Not much longer, just keep us in the air," Cherry told.

  The engine stuttered again and the lights dimmed briefly. Chase brought the speed down and took the ship down to the waters below. Ahead they could see a large tropical island. The engine coughed again and Chase pulled the ship up as the nose dipped.

  "How much, exactly, is not much longer?" asked Julianna strapping herself in.

  "Not long," said Cherry who seemed to be quite enjoying their discomfort.

  Chase was now struggling with the controls as the ship grew sluggish.

  "Okey dokey, all finished. I'd turn off the Lechance and land on that island. Unless you all fancy a swim," Cherry suggested brightly.

  Chase switched it off and the engine growled back into life. They were close to the island and Chase circled it, seeing a perfect landing spot amongst the trees. He gently set The Wild Rover down, and gave out a long breath. He felt all the tension and excitement of the last hours wash out of him and at the same time Jason washe
d back in.

  "OK, so what now?" he asked.

  "Now you sit and wait until I recalibrate the system settings to the Lechance settings," explained Cherry gloatingly.

  "And how long will that take?" asked Julianna.

  "As long as it takes, my dear."

  "You don't like me much do you?"

  "I am not jealous of you," Cherry snapped back.

  "What? I didn't say that."

  "Ladies, ladies, be cool," Jimmy soothed, "let's get out and stretch our legs while Cherry does what she be good at."

  "Thank you, Jimmy," beamed Cherry.

  "I think she fancies you," Jason said.

  "Who doesn't, mon, who doesn't?"

  ***

  The three of them walked into the small sick bay to find Dr. Hendricks taking the IV drip out of Milk's arm. He was sitting up and looked much better though his chest was swathed in bandages.

  "How're you feeling, Milk?" Jason asked.

  "Better, much better, how's your leg?"

  "Fine, fine. Cherry's doing some recalibrating of the systems so we've got some time on this island. Might as well go and have a look around."

  "And the Laikans?"

  "I think we've lost them for now," said Julianna. "Good to see you up and about, Milk."

  "All thanks to you guys," he looked around at them and smiled and they couldn't help smiling back at him.

  "Looks like we really are a team," commented Dr. Hendricks as he lit his pipe.

 

  THE DEFENCE OF MELIS

  They stepped out of the Vulcan and onto soft earth. The air was alive with the sounds of animals and birds and the fresh sea breeze filled their nostrils with a sense of serenity.

  And then the Human natives stepped out of the jungle with spears.

  "Spears?" asked Jason.

  Yes, spears.

  "It would appear so," commented Dr. Hendricks pointlessly. "This sea is so vast, many islands are barely touched by the UTN; they've learned to live simply and at one with nature," he said less pointlessly.

  The natives were very naked, and tanned, with only some sort of loincloth around their waists. Strangely they all seemed to have either blonde or red hair, and while the men were muscularly built, the women were phenomenally attractive.

  One man stepped forward; he wore a necklace decorated with long bright flowers.

  "You will not take our women," he shouted angrily. "This time we will fight you."

  "With spears? No offence, but we have lasers," pointed out Jason.

  "Then we will lay down our lives protecting them."

  "That's nobility," sighed Dr. Hendricks.

  "Sounds like stupidity to me," noted Milk.