Earthman Jack vs. The Ghost Planet (31 page)

“I am so glad you saved him,” Jack said to Scallywag dryly.

Another grenade explosion sounded as Yeoman Porter came
flying up.  The men pulled him in just before Grohm lumbered over the edge.

“Good work, Grohm,” Ganix said. 

Grohm simply snorted in response.

“Hold the firing line; keep them off us as long as
possible,” Ganix ordered his men as they lined up at the edge, weapons aiming
downward toward the encroaching zombie hoard.  “Jack, the exit!” barked Ganix. 
“Where is it?”

“This way!” said Jack, pointing further into the recess.

Those not on the firing line followed Jack as he ran further
back into the opening in the cave wall.  But a few feet in, he stopped.  Before
him was nothing but a solid black wall of rock with no exit in sight.  The men
gathered around him and Jack looked about, confused.

“Where’s the exit?” asked Rodham.

“It… it’s supposed to be right here!” said Jack, a sinking
feeling suddenly popping up in the pit of his stomach.

“What do you mean,
supposed to be
?” snarled the
Sergeant.

Jack scanned the wall frantically for some type of door, a
hole, anything that would signal a way out.  But there was only solid rock.

“The Earthman led us to a bloody dead end!” said Faruuz.  “I
shoulda kept my right ta shoot ya in the face.”

“Spread out, search the wall,” ordered Ganix.  “See if
there’s a hidden door, a control panel – anything.”

The men went about searching the wall before them.  Heckubus
stood by Jack, the gears in his head whirling.

“My sensors are not picking up any sign of an exit,” the
robot said, turning to Jack.  “Bravo on leading a group of ninny-wats to their
ultimate doom, Earthman.  However, I do wish you would have left me out of it! 
I shall not underestimate you again.”

Jack’s head was reeling.  It didn’t make any sense. The map
in his brain told him the exit was there, right in front of him.  Why would his
ship tell him there was a way out if there weren’t one?

“Fall back!” came the cry from the firing line.  Jack turned
and saw Yeoman Porter backing up with the rest of those at the front as zombies
started to climb over the edge of the cliff to their position.

 Ganix turned and saw his men retreating.  “Blast it!” he
snarled.  “In formation!”

Ganix ran to join his men, followed by Rodham and the other
soldiers.  Scallywag approached Jack and grabbed him by his shirt, pulling him
close.

“Listen up, lad,” the pirate said.  “You best get your head
on straight and find us this exit you’ve been going on about, savvy?”

“I’m telling you, the map says it’s supposed to be right
there!” said Jack, pointing at the wall.

“There is nothing there!  Only rock!” lamented Heckubus.

“Can I shoot him in the face, now?” asked Faruuz.

Grohm snorted.

Jack went over the map again in his mind.  He knew the
images were showing him the exit was supposed to be right there.  Suddenly, he
remembered his dream with Anna.

“
Focus, Jack
,” she had said.  “
You need to focus
.”

Jack tried to concentrate on the back of his mind, the place
that always seemed to respond when he made communication with his ship.  Jack
felt a slight tingle there and tried to focus on that area, reaching out with
his consciousness.

I’m here
, Jack thought. 
What do I do now?

Jack felt his head buzz, as though there were a response to
his thoughts.  Suddenly, a crack appeared in the wall before him.

“Look!” said Jack, pointing.

The group turned and saw the crack in the rock wall.  Then,
the rock around the crack began turning to dust, rolling away and forming an
opening to a deep tunnel.  Jack let out an excited “whoop.”

“Blimee,” smiled Scallywag.

“It’s the ship!” said Jack.  “I just needed to ask it to
open the door!”

“Where’s it lead to?” inquired Heckubus.

“Who cares!” said Scallywag.  “Anywhere is better than
here.  Everyone in!  Now!”

The group moved to the exit.  Scallywag let out a loud
whistle that caught Ganix’s attention.

“Move it, Major!” shouted Scallywag.

Ganix’s eyes lit up as he saw the opening in the cave wall. 
“Fall back!” he yelled.

The soldiers began their retreat as more and more zombies
crested over the edge of the cliff, bearing down on them.  The men continued
firing as they made their way to the exit.

Ganix took out another thermal grenade and tossed it toward
the hoard as he made a run for the opening.

“Close it!” he ordered.

The explosion from the grenade sent zombies flying and
propelled Ganix forward onto the ground.  His men dragged him into the tunnel
as the exit began to close back up.  More zombies rushed forward, desperately
reaching out for the survivors, but they were too late.

The opening closed, sealing out the zombies, and plunging
the group into complete darkness.

The metal door opened with a hiss and
Abraxas stepped through to the monotonous hum of generators.  His Dark Soldiers
spread out through the room, plasma rifles at ready, searching behind the pipes
and any alcove in which the intruders could be hiding.

Rage bubbled deep within the Deathlord’s gut.  After giving
up searching the Ancient starship for his prey, he’d spent hours organizing the
search aboard the mothership, sending troops down as many hallways, corridors,
and maintenance shafts as he could find.

The ship is too big
, he cursed silently to himself. 
The intruders could be anywhere, hiding in any number of places, and the longer
the search went on, the more vexed he found himself becoming.

“Anything?” Abraxas barked.

“The room is empty, Warlord,” Vishni replied.

Abraxas seethed.  Battle he could deal with.  Combat he
understood.  Chasing cowardly prey was another matter entirely.

“Where is the access console?” he grumbled.

Vishni led Abraxas to a computer panel tucked away from the
door’s line of sight.  Abraxas glared at it.

“It’s been deactivated,” reported Vishni.  “If the Acolytes hadn’t
detected the unscheduled access, we’d never have known it had been used.”

Abraxas did not know what upset him more - the fact that his
prey seemed more than capable of eluding him on his own ship, or that such
dishonorable infidels were trying to access their sacred technology.

“And they were able to use it?” inquired Abraxas.  “Have they
somehow figured out our systems?”

“The Acolytes seem to think so,” responded Vishni.  “Of
course, it is impossible to tell based on the alert we received.  They may have
blindly been hitting buttons out of desperation.”

“Have the Acolytes access the data logs from this panel,”
ordered Abraxas.  “I want to know what they did, what they were looking at, and
how long they were looking at it.”

“Thy will be done, my Warlord.” Vishni bowed.

Abraxas turned to leave, making his way for the door before
stopping.  Standing in the doorway was Zarrod, accompanied by the Vicar
General, and a small squad of Dark Soldiers.

Upon seeing the Deathlord Supreme, Abraxas immediately dropped
to one knee in deference, as did his men.

“Rise,” ordered Zarrod.

Abraxas returned to his feet.  “Supreme,” he said.  “To what
do I owe the honor of your presence?”

“The Vicar General has delivered to me a troubling report of
unscheduled system accesses around the ship.”

Abraxas glared at the Vicar General, whose pale red eyes were
expressionless behind his plain white faceguard.

“We believe the companions of the Regal Princess may be attempting
to access our ship’s computers,” reported Abraxas.  “No doubt they are lost,
frightened, and desperate.  It is only a matter of time before we catch them.”

“My Acolytes have back-traced a number of unauthorized
computer accesses around the ship,” the Vicar General said softly.  “This
generator station shows hours of unsanctioned activity.  It is my belief the
intruders were successful in deciphering our systems.”

“Impossible,” growled Abraxas.  “No mere infidels could
decipher our sacred language in a matter of hours.”

“These are not mere infidels,” said Zarrod.  “They repelled
your attack on the planet, defeated a squad of our shards, nearly escaped from
our fleet, and have freely moved about on our ship undetected for some time now. 
Yet you still wish to dismiss them as such?”

Abraxas bowed his head.  “I will admit, they are more
resourceful than I had anticipated,” he replied.  “But to think they are
capable of accessing our systems…”

“It may explain why they are able to elude us,” said the
Vicar General.  “If indeed they have access to our internal sensors, they would
be able to track our movements.”

“If what you say is true,” said Abraxas, “and our technology
has been breached, that presents a grave danger to the entire fleet.  We must
take immediate action to neutralize the threat.  I say we vent all oxygen from
the ship and disable life support immediately.  Let the infidels wither and die
in whatever hole they’ve crawled into.”

“A rash strategy, Warlord,” replied the Vicar General
quietly.  “Cutting off the ship’s life support would cost us hundreds of
thousands of sacrifices within the temple, to the detriment of our power core. 
Not to mention the subjects we have in the assimilation chambers, and the
slythru hatchlings…”

“Which is why we will be doing no such thing,” said Zarrod. 
“Killing all life support to deal with two intruders is completely unnecessary.”

“But Supreme,” insisted Abraxas, “if indeed these intruders
can operate our systems, it opens up untold threats to the ship and our
mission.”

“I am aware of the dangers, Abraxas,” replied Zarrod.  “This
is the reason I have taken the fleet out of hyperspace for the time being. 
Until we secure this threat, I am halting our journey to the ghost planet.”

“A wise decision, my lord,” replied the Vicar General.

Abraxas glared at the Vicar General for a moment, anger
simmering within him.  The fool obviously knew nothing of battle, or else he’d see
how perilous it was to allow the warrior who had defeated so many of their
soldiers to run loose within the fleet’s flagship.  Everything lost by
disabling life support could be replaced in time, yet there was no telling what
type of damage the fugitives would cause if they were allowed to continue to
sneak around unchallenged.  However, Zarrod agreed with the Vicar General, and
it was not Abraxas’s place to challenge the decisions of his superior.

“As you command, Supreme,” said Abraxas, relenting.  “If
such is your will, I promise you, our journey will not be halted for long.  Now
that we know how they are eluding us, I will have the Acolytes monitor all
computer access around the ship.  We will increase patrols, search every corner
of this vessel, and flush them out from wherever they may be hiding.”

“That will not be necessary,” said Zarrod.

Abraxas blinked.  It took him a moment to overcome the
surprise of the Deathlord Supreme’s words.  “Supreme?” he questioned.  “Am I to
understand you wish to call off the search?”

“The search is a waste of time,” Zarrod said simply.  “We already
know where they are going.”

Realization sparked in Abraxas’s mind, and instantly he felt
foolish for not realizing it before.  “The Regal Princess,” he growled.

“And the ship,” said Zarrod.  “They’ll attempt a rescue and an
escape.”

“It is a poor plan,” said Abraxas.  “Even if they succeed in
locating the Princess, they will never get near their ship.”

“Yet they were able to get off it, even surrounded by our
soldiers,” said the Vicar General.  “Our investigation into the ship is only
bringing up more questions.  Thus far, our mainframe has been able to interface
with the Ancient vessel’s systems, but we have been unable to extract any
useful knowledge from it.  However, I theorize there must be some type of
teleportation system on board.”

“Which means they may not have to be anywhere near the
vessel to get on it,” said Zarrod, completing the Vicar General’s line of
thought.

“Then I recommend we destroy the ship immediately,” said
Abraxas.  “Give them no access to escape.”

“Destroying that vessel is not an option,” said Zarrod
flatly.

“But, Supreme,” protested Abraxas.  “The ship is able to
disappear.  We’ve seen it happen before.  If they are able to get on board,
they could easily—”

“You are correct,” interrupted Zarrod.  “The ship is able to
disappear.  This is why it is valuable.  With that type of technology at our
disposal, the Deathlord Fleet would be unstoppable.  And I will not needlessly
destroy it if I do not have to.”

Abraxas bowed his head submissively.  As usual, the
Deathlord Supreme was right.  Abraxas’s gut twisted in shame for being so
foolish.

“Apologies, Supreme,” the Deathlord said.  “If that is your
wish, I will triple the guards in the docking bay containing the Ancient vessel
and will have the Regal Princess moved to a more secure location.”

“Leave the Princess where she is,” ordered Zarrod.  “The
intruders may already be on their way there.  Monitor the room and have a squad
of soldiers at one of our teleportation hubs ready to materialize when they make
their attempt to rescue her.”

Abraxas nodded.  “It will be done at once, Supreme,” he
replied.  “I will also have soldiers hidden along the corridors between the
Princess’s cell and the docking bay, in case the intruders are able to escape
our initial trap.”

“Might I also suggest a troop presence around the temple
entrance?” recommended the Vicar General.  “They may also attempt to rescue the
Princess’s companion.”

The image of that sniveling boy flashed into Abraxas’s
head.  “It would be foolish for them to try,” he said.

“We have seen evidence of their foolishness before,” said
the Vicar General.  “The Regals do not like to leave their allies behind.”

“Even if they were stupid enough to go after their
companion, there is no way they’d find him in the temple,” said Abraxas.  “It
is far too large.  The boy is probably dead already anyway.”

“They may not know that,” replied the Vicar General. 
“Besides, what harm would it do to be a bit more cautious than we may need?”

“Caution is one thing, wasting our resources is quite
another,” said Zarrod.  “Even if the intruders deduced their comrade’s
whereabouts, and assuming they figured out how to enter the temple, they would
not be able to leave again.  In fact, by entering, they’d have done our job for
us.”

The Vicar General bowed.  “I submit to your wisdom,
Supreme.”

“Have reinforcements stationed at all active teleportation
hubs,” ordered Zarrod.  “That will give us flexibility should they pop up
anywhere unexpectedly or in case our initial attack is repelled too quickly. 
Lock down all computer access hubs outside of the bridge.  Jam all subspace
frequencies as well as known Regal Ultrawave communication channels.  I want
our prey deaf, blind, and stumbling into our trap unprepared.  This time, there
will be no escape for them.”

“As you command, Supreme,” said both Abraxas and the Vicar
General.

“Oh, and Abraxas,” said Zarrod before turning to leave.

“Yes, Supreme?” responded the Deathlord.

“I will be leading our forces in this endeavor, personally.”

“It is not my place to question your orders, Supreme,”
responded Abraxas.  “But I can assure you, if given the chance, I will bring
these intruders in.”

“Whoever these intruders are, they have defeated you once
already, along with a large number of our soldiers,” said Zarrod.  “I want to
see how well they stand up against
me
.”

With a flourish of his cape, the Deathlord Supreme turned
and walked away, followed by his entourage and the Vicar General.  Abraxas
watched him go.  Deep down, he felt the turmoil of anger and shame whirling
inside him for failing to capture the infidels himself before the Deathlord
Supreme had to get involved.

But a small part of him tingled with joy and excitement.  He
remembered the armored warrior he had faced off with in the Ancient temple and
the skill with which he had fought.  He tried to imagine what it would look
like when that same warrior was facing the full might and terror of a Deathlord
Supreme.

Abraxas could almost hear the screams of agony the warrior
would unleash before the Supreme tore the very essence of life from his chest,
and the Deathlord couldn’t help but smile at the thought.  It would be a
glorious death, indeed.

And he just hoped he was there to see it.