Earthman Jack vs. The Ghost Planet (50 page)

A low groan came from Zarrod as he stared intently at Green,
as though he wanted to give into the flattery but was still smart enough not
to.  Green knew the Deathlord probably could not understand the Ancient
symbols, most likely because he had no real interest to, but it was also
probably not a good idea to try to lie to him either.  The Deathlord was
unlikely to admit to any sign that an alien such as Green was smarter than him
in any respect.

After a long moment, Zarrod turned to the three guards
around Green.  “Take him back to the ship,” said Zarrod. “Have him
interrogated.  I want to know everything he does.”

“No!” cried Anna. 

A feeling of despair filled Green’s stomach.  He knew he was
on borrowed time with this journey he was on, but the prospect of the pain he’d
have to endure before it was over frightened him to no end.

“If you hurt him, I won’t help you, I swear to the Great
Observer I won’t!” protested Anna.

“You’re far enough along where we don’t need your willing
cooperation,” said Zarrod flatly as he reached behind Anna’s head and clenched
his fist again.  She stood straight and ridged, unable to move or talk, even
though it was clear she wanted to.  Whatever power the Deathlord had over her,
it was growing with each passing moment.  Zarrod turned back to the guards. 
“Take him to Warlord Abraxas.  I wish for him to handle the interrogation
personally.”

The guards nodded and grabbed Green, turning him around and
prodding him with their weapons to walk.  Green glanced back at Anna one last
time, seeing the tears streaking down her cheeks as the Deathlord Supreme and
his remaining entourage continued marching her down the corridor.

Green sighed sadly as he walked along with his captors, his
feet shuffling with the weight of a man condemned to die.  In his mind, he
started to think of all the things he’d never get to accomplish in his life:  all
the papers he’d yet to write, all the planets he’d yet to explore, and the
family he’d never get to have.  Suddenly, his decision not to take on a mate
for so many years while pursuing his work seemed like a foolish one.  After
all, who would there be to mourn his passing?  No one but Anna, and Green felt
even sadder knowing that her time was likely limited, as well.

He continued to walk silently with the Dark Soldiers, a
blanket of depression and sadness wrapped around him.  He took some small solace
in knowing that the Ancients, in their wisdom, had set up some type of
protection should the Deathlord succeed.  But it seemed a rather shallow kind
of victory when put in context with everything he was about to lose.

Eventually, he saw the hovervehicle they had taken down to
the entrance in the distance before him.  The white light of the tunnel shone
through the half moon opening, as though some happy paradise awaited him down
there.  He wondered if it would be wiser to try and slow down the pace of his
walk to stretch out what little time he had left, or if it would be better to
quicken his fate?  Perhaps the smart thing to do would be to rush ahead and
throw himself down the tunnel, robbing the Deathlords of the chance to torture
him and learn what he had figured out.  Then again, his guards probably had the
power to use their magic to lift him into the air before his feet could carry
him very far.  He shuddered at the thought of the invisible hooks digging into
his skin.

Before he knew it, they were almost to the hovervehicle.  It
sat there, mocking him, as though it knew it would be the thing that carried
him to death’s door.  In fact, he could almost hear it laughing…

Oddly enough, that laugh sounded rather like the high-pitch
whine of some type of battery powering up.

BOOM!

A hot orange blast suddenly tore through the guard to his
left, disintegrating him in a puff of dust.

Green gave out a cry of surprise and fell to the floor,
covering his head.  He heard blaster fire ring out all around him, and within a
few more seconds, more black dust showered down upon him signaling the end of
his remaining two captors.

Green looked up, almost in shell-shock, glancing around
him.  His bindings had disappeared with the death of his captors, his wrists
now blissfully free of their painful restraints.  His vision was blurred,
possibly from tears of sudden and inexplicable relief.  A hazy image made its
way toward him, coming into focus on a smiling face he thought he’d never see
again.

”Jack?” he said, his voice thick with emotion.  “Jack!  My
boy!  I don’t believe it…”

Jack rushed up beside the Professor and knelt next to him. 
“Hey Professor,” he said, glad to see the old green alien still alive.

“I thought… I thought you’d gone,” Green said, his wide lips
quivering.  Jack suddenly felt his stomach tighten with guilt, the image of the
Professor lying on the cold floor of the hanger as Jack and the others left him
behind playing out in his head.  He reached out and put his hand on Green’s
shoulder, flashing the bravest smile he could.

“And let you have all the fun?” said Jack.  “C’mon, you know
me better than that.”

Green smiled and looked at Grohm and Scallywag, who came
walking up from behind, both of them sporting rather impressive looking weapons. 
“Well, it would appear I’ve stumbled across a good old fashioned rescue.  And
not a moment too soon, I might add,” he said.  His voice was thick with the
cheeriness he’d been known for.  As the first sliver of hope since he’d been
captured worked its way into him, relief seeped into his muscles and filled him
with warmth.

“Well, not so sure ya’d call it
good
,” said
Scallywag, scratching his head with the muzzle of his pistol.  “Or old
fashioned, for that matter.”

“Don’t mind him,” said Jack, helping Green up to his feet. 
“He gets kinda cranky when storming the Deathlords almost single handedly.”

“Right,” replied Green.  “Where is Paragon Shepherd?”

The smile on Jack’s face immediately disappeared at the
mention of Shepherd’s name.  He glanced at his two companions, who remained
silent.  “He… uh… he didn’t make it,” said Jack meekly.

Green’s large eyes blinked, as if his brain hadn’t quite registered
what Jack had just said.  After a few moments, Jack’s words seeped in.  “I
see…” he said, frowning.  He felt his heart break a little at hearing of the
loss of his friend.  Then, the reality of the situation hit him.  “Wait, you
mean, you came here on your own?  Just – just the three of you?”

“Well, we have a fourth back on the ship,” said Jack, as
though that evened the odds they were facing.

“Oh, dear,” mumbled Green.

“Yeah, welcome to my world, Greenskin,” muttered Scallywag.

“Hey, we’ve made it this far, haven’t we?” said Jack
defensively.

“No, no, don’t get me wrong,” replied Green.  “Kudos for
bravery my boy, kudos.  It’s just that the situation is, uh, complicated.”

“Ain’t that an understatement if I ever heard one,” said
Scallywag.

“What do you mean, Professor?” asked Jack.

“Do any of you know what this place is?” Green asked.

“Yeah, we all saw the slideshow, remember?” said Jack.  “Big
scary Ghost Planet.”

“Yes, you told me about Terahades and that it was created to
imprison a fleet of powerful enemy ships,” replied Green.  “But this place is
more – much more – than just a simple prison.”

Jack, Scallywag, and Grohm all exchanged glances.  None of
them liked where this might be going.

“Professor,” said Jack.  “We don’t really have a whole lot
of time here.  Can you just cut to the chase?”

“Jack, I’ve spent my life studying the Ancients,” said
Green.  “Much of their history, their story, is still unknown to us, even after
thousands of years of the greatest minds in the galaxy studying them.  But one
thing every Ancient scholar knows about is what’s called The Great Prototypes.”

“Oy, I hearda those,” said Scallywag.  “They’re those Ancient
inventions – the ones nobody can figure out what makes ‘em tick?”

“Indeed,” said Green.  “The portgate system, the very thing
that ties the Regalus Empire together, was the first Great Prototype ever
discovered.  It’s been used for millennia, and we have yet to scratch the
surface of how it’s able to operate.  But there are other Great Prototypes…
things the Ancients created that are so powerful, so wondrous, they could
change the very foundation of the universe.”

“Don’t tell me,” said Jack.

“Yes,” said Green, smiling.  “I believe this planet is one
of them.”

“This place?” said Scallywag.  “A bloody rock in the middle
of nowhere?  This is a Great Prototype?”

“This is far from just a rock, my friend.  Look…” Green
pointed to the pillars, which were engraved with glowing symbols.

“From what I can gather,” said Green as he gazed up at the
pillars, “the Ancients were experimenting with the genesis of life.  They were
trying to figure out how to create
worlds
.”

“They wanted to create planets?” asked Jack.

“Not just any planets,” said Green.  “Habitable planets! 
The universe is vast, and finding planets capable of supporting life can be
difficult.  But if you could simply create a habitable planet anywhere you
wanted – one with light, atmosphere, water… why, you could colonize the
universe!  You’d never have to worry about destroying another planet’s
ecosystem, or misplacing indigenous life-forms, or settling someplace that’s
potentially dangerous to your species.  You could literally create life!”

“Wow, that’s cool,” said Jack, not really caring.  “So,
anyway Professor, which way did the Deathlords take Anna?”

Green’s smile disappeared, as though he suddenly remembered everything
that was happening.  “They took her to the Great Seal,” he replied.

“The what?”

“That’s what I was about to get to,” said Green.  “Every
Great Prototype is a type of experiment, a work in progress.  Often times, it
will defy the laws of physics, nature – pretty much anything we accept as scientific
fact.  It is able to do this through the use of something called a Great Seal –
the very thing I was searching for when I stumbled across your planet.”

“You mean, this Great Seal is the reason why this planet has
breathable atmosphere, a world-wide shield, and a big angry tornado?” asked
Jack.

“An angry what?” asked Green.

“Long story,” said Jack, dismissing the question.

“There’s a living tornado on the surface of the planet that
kills ya,” mumbled Scallywag.

“Yeah,” sighed Jack.  “I really gotta learn how to summarize
stuff…”

“Well, yes.  Everything about this planet is tied to its
Great Seal.  Scientists have tried to figure out what is behind the Portgate
network’s Great Seal since it was discovered, but it was always considered too
risky to investigate since disrupting the Portgate system would be disastrous
for the Empire.  But whatever is behind it, we theorize, is some type of quantum
energy source capable of stabilizing whatever science the Ancients invented to
create the Great Prototype.  If what the Deathlord said is true, then that
energy source is actually the knowledge of the science behind these prototypes,
converted into the very energy needed to create it!”

“Professor…” said Jack impatiently.

“The Deathlords plan to use the Princess to release that
energy,” said Green.  “She is the blood of the Ancients.  The only one capable
of accessing the energy that’s contained behind the Great Seal.”

“All the more reason to hurry up and get her,” said Jack,
turning to hurry down the corridor.

“You have to let them!” called out Green urgently.

Jack stopped in mid-step along with the rest of his group and
turned to Green.

“What?” said Jack, uncertain whether he had correctly heard
the Professor.

“You have to let the Princess unleash the quantum energy that’s
trapped behind the Great Seal,” said Green.

“Hold up now,” said Scallywag.  “I thought doing that would
free a fleet of unstoppable evil spaceships?”

“It will,” said Green.

Jack slapped his palm to his face.  “Then why—”

“Because the only way to save what the Ancients created here
is to release that energy back into the universe,” said Green.  “As long as it
is trapped here, behind that seal, the knowledge of this science is not accessible
to anyone.  As long as that knowledge is being used for such energy, it’s
trapped, shielded from even the most free mind, inaccessible to the universe at
large.”

“Who cares?” said Jack.

“You should!” said Green.  “We all should!  Don’t you see? 
The Deathlords don’t understand what they have here!  With this knowledge, we
could rebuild what they’ve taken from us!  Create new planets to replace the
ones they’ve destroyed.  Fight death… with new life.”

Grohm grunted.  Jack couldn’t tell if the Rognok was getting
bored, or if he was impressed with what Green had just shared.

“Lemme get this straight,” said Jack.  “We have to let the
Deathlords force Anna to unleash whatever’s behind this Great Seal, because
otherwise no one will be able to figure out what the Ancients did?”

“Yes,” said Green.  “This place was not meant to be a
prison, Jack.  I believe the Ancients modified it out of necessity.  Whatever
is behind that Seal was not meant to be trapped there forever.  Once it is
released, the knowledge of the Ancients will be freed upon this universe.  The
science behind this is so vast, so new, that the only hope we have of
harvesting it lies with tapping into that energy.  And somewhere, someone will
tune into it.  When that happens… we may finally have an advantage over the
Deathlords.”

“Yeah, that’s nice and all… but I’m still not hearing
anything about the invincible evil spaceships,” said Scallywag.

“Oh, well there’s a relatively simple way to handle that,”
said Green.  “We’ll just need to blow up the planet.”