Earthman Jack vs. The Ghost Planet (60 page)

“I say, nice flying my boy!” cheered Green.  “Top notch!”

“Yes, yes, yes - if you enjoy
dying
,” chimed in
Heckubus.  “At this rate we will not reach our minimum distance in time to
outrun the explosion!”

With a few taps at his console, Heckubus brought up a
glowing blue ring on Jack’s sensor readout, indicating the mark he’d have to
meet in order to be far enough away from the explosion to make the jump
safely.  And, at the top of his holoscreen, was a clock rapidly counting down
the time they had left to do it. 

“If we don’t reach that mark in four minutes, we’re all
dead,” said the robot ominously.

Jack clenched his jaw and looked at the goal line Heckubus
had drawn for him.  The robot was right; avoiding the minefield and the insects
was just slowing them down.  Whether they were blown up by a mine, eaten by
space bugs, or evaporated in a ginormous explosion, the outcome was all the
same. 

Jack thought about all the harrowing situations he’d been in
recently – the escape from the Pit, the fight through the Deathlord mothership,
the showdown with Zarrod and Abraxas.  They had all been as bad as this, if not
worse.  In each of those situations, death and defeat had stared him right in
the face.  Yet he’d survived them all.  How?

Then, he remembered Major Ganix in the Pit, and the mantra
that had carried them out of an impossible situation.  When faced with a dire
outcome, where you’re doomed no matter what you do, there’s only one preferable
choice.

If you gotta die, die advancing
, Jack thought.

“Everyone listen up,” he said, his voice so sure and steady
it hit the group on the bridge like a blast from a speaker cranked to the max. 
“Divert power from all non-essential systems to the engines – shields, weapons,
everything that’s not needed to keep us breathing.  Give me all the speed you
can squeak out of this ship.  Heckubus, do what you can to overclock the
engines.  If we’re gonna die, it’s not gonna be because we couldn’t outrun this
explosion.”

“But what about—” Scallywag started to say.

“Let me worry about it,” cut off Jack.  The mines, the bugs,
anything else that could conceivably pop up – it didn’t matter.  This was
Jack’s ship, these were Jack’s friends, and no matter what was going to get in
his way, he was determined not to lose any of them.

After all, if there’s one thing everyone should know about
Earthman Jack by now…

He hated to lose.

Jack straightened out their trajectory and gunned the
engines.  The increase in speed from the power diversion his group had
initiated wasn’t a lot, but it was noticeable.  The lights on the bridge dimmed
and the cabin started to grow colder as the energy was diverted from life
support and electrical.  What was left of the ship’s shields on Jack’s readout
quickly disappeared, and the only things running were the main thrusters and
the Entanglement Engine.

More mines popped up on the screen, their wire-frame
outlines quickly rushing up to greet them.  Jack didn’t break course.  He flew
into the minefield, only minutely adjusting his trajectory to avoid running
into any head-on.  Mines exploded and rocked the ship as it flew by too closely.

Jack glanced at the rearview, and the dark cloud of space
bugs was still there, shying away from the exploding mines while still slowly
creeping up behind the ship, relentless and hungry.

The clock continued to tick away, its numbers racing by as a
constant reminder of the impending danger, even as the ship got closer and
closer to the goal line.

Three minutes.

More mines appeared.  This time Jack had to bank away and
corkscrew back into position to avoid running into them.  He cursed under his
breath.  What had that cost them? Ten seconds?  Would that be the difference
between life and death?

The swarm grew larger in his viewscreen, gaining on their
tail.

The finish line loomed on his sensor screen, so close, yet
still so far away.

Two minutes.

“Heckubus, get me more speed!” said Jack urgently.  “I need
more power!”

“I’m giving her all we’ve got,” replied the robot.  “If I
push it any harder, the whole thing will blow.” 

Red lights bleeped on his sensor array as the back of Jack’s
head tingled.  The ship was warning him of a new danger as a nearby platform
launched two missiles directly toward them.

“Incoming!” yelled Scallywag to no one in particular.

The missiles gained on the ship, the sensor array in front
of Jack showing him their steadily encroaching position.

He glanced back at the countdown:   60 seconds.

More mines materialized.  Jack didn’t bother to change
course, choosing to rush right into the minefield, again making only minor
adjustments to avoid getting hit.  The ship rattled as it was rocked by
explosion after explosion from the narrowly missed mine strikes.

Jack could feel those in the cabin with him collectively
holding their breaths.  Then he realized he, too, had stopped breathing as his
focus on the task in front of him consumed all effort of his mind and body.  In
his rearview, the swarm had almost caught up with them, nipping at their tail
like a chained rabid dog about to break loose.

More alerts popped up on his sensor reading.  More missiles had
been launched from another platform.  The previous two were closing in fast.

He kept the ship on course and steadily rocketed toward the
finish line.

Jack could feel his heart racing as he glanced back at the
clock, blood pounding in his ears and behind his eyes.

10 – 9 – 8 – 7…

The line on the sensor reading grew closer…

6 – 5 – 4…

Closer.  Closer…

3 – 2…

The Earthship crossed the line.

Then, a flash of light so bright and massive occurred that
the blue and purple of the nebula lit up like a neon sign.  Jack looked at his
rear display and saw a hazy glow far in the distance where the Ghost Planet had
been, its dying image so bright he could even see it through the nebula’s cloud.

Remember, back when the Earth had been destroyed, it was
established that when a planet blows up, there isn't simply some sort of
massive explosion and suddenly the entire thing has vanished in a violent ball
of fire.  Normally, this would be correct.  However, since this explosion was
caused by the collapse of a massive quantum energy flux upon itself thanks to
the Deathlord mothership’s main weapon, it is an entirely different situation
all together.

Forget about exploding with the power of a hundred
quadrillion nuclear weapons.  This type of explosion was, for lack of a better
word, biblical.

The explosion that occurred after the collapse of the Ghost
Planet’s unstable core evaporated everything it touched – stone, metal, dirt,
the space bugs, and whatever was left of the Deathlord mothership and every one
of its inhabitants.

It spread out in all directions from its epicenter,
soundlessly raging forth with a might and fury of such epic proportions, there
are simply no words that can be used to adequately describe it.

The force of the blast was so great, in fact, that any dust,
particles, and debris that weren’t instantly consumed were pushed away from it
on a shockwave that rocketed forth in every direction, growing in power as it
moved, the herald of the quantum destruction that was following in its wake.

“Great Observer…” Green said breathlessly.

“Holy kitten,” said Scallywag.

“Oh… crap,” said Grohm.

The buzzing in the back of Jack’s head grew loud and urgent
as the ship screamed at him about the oncoming destruction.  Jack’s first
instinct was to toss some power to the shields, but a glance at his readout
told him that if he slowed down, even for a bit, the space bugs or the missiles
would reach them before the explosion did.

Jack called up the Entanglement Engine.  It was almost
ready, just a little bit longer.

The ship started to shake, every chair and console rattling
violently as the shockwave raced up behind them.

The swarm that was pursuing them started to nip at their
tail, the ship complaining as parts of its aft section began to be stripped
off.

Jack could see the missiles on the sensors, racing forward, almost
right on their location.

C’mon c’mon c’mon…
thought Jack urgently, every
muscle in his body tensed, his jaw clenched so tight his teeth were starting to
hurt.

The nebula behind them rolled back upon itself, like storm
clouds assaulted by a violent wind, forming a tidal wave of destruction that
was about to come crashing into the Earthship without mercy.  The light from
the explosion that followed it grew exponentially.

Almost there
, thought Jack as he watched the charging
screen for the Entanglement Engine. 
Almost there…

The red bar on his readout indicating the recharge cycle on
the Entanglement Engine continued to fill, bit by bit, little by little, almost
to full.

“COME ON!!!!!”  Jack screamed at his ship, as though willing
it to complete the charging as the missiles came within striking range and the
remaining swarm of insects threatened to envelop it.

Then, with a friendly “ding,” the ship signaled that the
Entanglement Engine was finally ready.

Jack engaged the engine just as the shockwave rushed up, catching
the missiles and the swarm of space bugs in its violent fury.  The Earthship
flipped to the side, turning chaotically as the crest of the shockwave caught
up with it, the light of an Entanglement jump filling its metal hull with a
brilliant glow.

And just like that, with milliseconds to spare, the
Earthship jumped away to safety as the Ghost Planet’s final fury continued its
rampage, consuming everything in its path.

Anna rubbed her eyes.  After crying
for so long, they were red and itchy, and completely emptied.  No matter how
much she felt like it, she just couldn’t shed any more tears.

She gazed at Shepherd’s face, his expression peaceful, as
though he were merely sleeping.  He was still clad in his armor, laid out on
the bed of the medical bay with his hands folded across his chest.  Her heart
heavy with sorrow, she gazed at him and wiped her nose with the back of her
hand.  After all she had been through with the torture the Deathlords had
inflicted, nothing they had done hurt as much as seeing her protector like
this.

Cold.  Still.  Lifeless.

She had hazy memories of her mother and father.  Being from
the royal bloodline, their likenesses would never be forgotten to history.  But
after so long, Anna could barely remember a thing about them.  Since the day
they had died, Shepherd had been the one who had taken care of her.  He was the
closest thing she had to family.

And now he was gone.

In the chaos of their escape from the Ghost Planet, she
hadn’t even noticed he was missing.  Everything had happened so fast, she hadn’t
had time to think about her beloved guardian’s absence.  It wasn’t until after
they had jumped to safety and the celebratory high of succeeding in making it
out alive had wound down that Jack had broken the news to her.

He had taken her into the medical bay, her brain still numb
from the tragic revelation, and she had seen Shepherd’s body.  It had been a
surreal experience for her, as though the whole world dropped away the moment
she had seen him lying there, and a cold feeling of emptiness had taken root in
her stomach.  Jack told her Shepherd had a message for her – his last words
before he died.

Be strong.

It was at that moment she had broken down.  The tears had flowed
out uncontrollably.  She had cried out, hugging Shepherd’s body as she
collapsed on top of it, as though she were not able to bear the weight of the
situation.  Jack had tried to comfort her, but he might as well have not even
been there; she had been so lost in her grief.  Eventually, he had left her
alone to mourn.

Anna didn’t know how long she’d been in the medical bay or
how long she’d cried.  But it had been long enough for the feelings of sadness
and grief to subside and for her to be left feeling exhausted and empty.

She reached out and stroked Shepherd’s head, her hand
brushing over his short, buzzed hair, feeling both prickly and soft at the same
time.  She bent over and kissed Shepherd on the forehead gently.

Be strong
. 

She could almost hear him saying the words.  Even as he was
dying, Shepherd’s thoughts were of protecting her:  one last order, one last
piece of advice, one last mantra to live by.

How she now wished she’d taken more time to appreciate him. 
The things he did that annoyed her so much… how she’d give anything to
experience those moments again.  His overprotective ways, his tendency to order
her around as if he knew what was best for her, his stubbornness – she wished
she hadn’t spent so much time resenting those things.

Be strong.

“I will,” Anna whispered, her voice cracking.  “If I can be
half as strong as you, I’ll be able to survive anything.”

Anna breathed deeply and sighed, letting the last bit of
sorrow flow out of her with the breath.  She was still sad, and most likely
would be for some time, but her grief had passed, and the world around her was
returning into focus – the friendly metal of the walls, the soft, warm lighting
of the room, the beeps and blips of the medical equipment.  And suddenly she
realized where she was – safe and sound on the Earthship, rescued from certain
doom by an Earthboy, without any help or guidance in the least.

And at that moment she realized that though her losses had
been great, she also had a lot to be thankful for.

When Anna entered the bridge of the ship, the image of the
Ghost Planet’s destruction played over and over again on a holoscreen. 
Heckubus Moriarty, the greatest criminal mind in eight star systems – and now
self-proclaimed “destroyer of worlds” – watched the recording with glee.

“Mwuahahahaha!” the robot laughed.  “Mwuahaha... MWUAHAHAHAHA...
MWU-hahahahahaha!!!!”

Anna gave him a curious look as she approached Scallywag,
who was lazily sitting at the navigation terminal with his feet kicked up, examining
the back of his hand as though he were looking for some type of change in it.

“Is that robot malfunctioning?” asked Anna.

“Mwuahahahahahahahaaaaa!” Heckubus laughed.

“Bloody tin can’s been laughing like that fer the last hour,”
mumbled Scallywag.  “Thinks he’s all hot stuff because he hatched a plan that
blew up a blasted planet.  Now we’ll never hear the end o’ it.”

Anna smiled.  She hadn’t known this odd band of rogues long,
but if anything, they certainly were colorful.

“Have you seen Jack?” she asked.

“I think he’s somewhere to the aft,” he said.  As Anna began
to walk away, Scallywag piped up again.  “Oy, by the way, Your Majesty…”

Anna stopped and turned to face the pirate.

“I hope when we return ya safe and sound back ta
civilization, you’ll remember all I did ta risk my rather pretty neck to save yers.”

Anna nodded.  “Don’t worry,” she said.  “I promise your good
deeds will not be forgotten.”

Scallywag smiled smugly and sat back in his chair.

“Nor will all the bad ones you commit from here on out,
either.” finished Anna.

The quickness with which Scallywag’s smile disappeared was
enough to let her know she’d made herself clear, and she abruptly headed toward
the back of the ship in search of Jack.

“Mwuahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!” laughed Heckubus as
the Ghost Planet blew up, yet again.

“Oh, shut up!” said Scallywag sullenly.

On her way out, she saw Grohm standing in the corner, the
Rognok gazing out the viewport into the swirling pixelscope of lightspeed. 
Anna approached him and gently touched his arm.  The large alien looked down at
her.

“Grohm,” she said.  “Thank you so much for bringing Shepherd
to the ship and for coming to rescue me.  When we get back to Imperial space,
if there is ever anything I can do for you – anything at all – please, just let
me know.  I was in your debt before, but now I shall be forever grateful.”

Grohm grunted and turned back to the view.  For some reason,
Anna thought he looked sad, but then again, it was always hard to tell what, if
anything, Rognoks were feeling.

After exiting the bridge, Anna made her way down the hallway
toward the aft of the ship.  She’d just started to explore the rooms when
Professor Green came walking out of one and looked at her with a big toothy
grin.

“Ah, Princess,” he said, bowing slightly.  “How are you feeling?”

“Better, thank you,” replied Anna.  Green had been close to
Shepherd, as well.  She knew he’d be dealing with his own grief of the loss,
but one of the things she had always admired about the Professor was his tendency
to put the well-being of others before himself.  “I see you’re exploring as
well.”

“Indeed!” he said excitedly.  “Out of everything I’ve seen
these last few days, this ship still manages to amaze me.  To think, a machine
that can perform quantum manifestation!  Can you imagine the possibilities?”

Anna smiled.  “Any I don’t think of, I’m sure you will.”

“Yes, yes, yes.  Why, not long ago, I was thinking how
wonderful it would be to get back to my lab and start collecting my findings
from our rather harrowing adventure.  And low-and-behold…”

The Professor stepped to the door he’d just come out of, and
it opened with a hiss.  Anna glanced inside to see a room so cluttered it was a
wonder he could navigate through it at all.  Bookshelves, file cabinets, and
computers of various ages and states of disrepair lining the lime green walls
were overflowing with books, charts, graphs, doohickeys, and artifacts from
around the galaxy.  Monitors, mounted in odd places, were displaying various
bits of scientific data, and the lushly maroon-carpeted floor was pimpled with
piles of books, papers, and data pads.  Somewhere at the center of the mess was
a large elderwood desk, practically overflowing with papers marred with various
scribblings, which Anna could only assume were the Professor’s notes.

“This is your lab?” Anna asked.

“Exactly how I remember it,” replied the Professor with a
happy sigh.  “Everything is perfect, to a tee.  Even the half-eaten ugonabutter
sandwich on my desk.”

Anna raised an eyebrow.  “Um… you didn’t…”

“It was still delicious,” said the Professor, licking his
lips.

Anna giggled.  “We’ll have to see about manifesting you a
maid to go along with your new quarters.”

“Your Majesty, don’t be ridiculous!” said Green.  “I know
exactly where everything is.  Someone cleaning up after me will only serve to
ensure I’ll never be able to find a thing.  Besides, in my opinion, a clean
desk is the sign of an inactive mind.”

Anna nodded and smiled.  “Far be it from me to ruin your
system of organization, Professor.  You haven’t seen Jack around, have you?”

“But of course!” Green responded.  “After he explained to me
about the ship’s quantum manifestation ability, he led me here and helped me to
re-create my lab.”

“And where is he now?”

“Oh!” exclaimed Green, as though the idea that Anna actually
wanted to see Jack had just occurred to him.  “I believe he retired three doors
down, on the right if I’m not mistaken.”

“Thank you, Professor.  I’ll leave you to get back to
recording your notes.”

“Yes, yes, yes.  Best to do it while the memories are
fresh.  Wouldn’t want to forget anything important.  But where to begin?  Where
to begin?  Why, there’s the Deathlord language, their apparent religious
fundamentalism, their propensity to espouse megalomaniacal monologues…”

Anna left the Professor mumbling to himself about all the
things he needed to write down and headed to the door he’d indicated.  She
hesitated a second in front of it, not sure if she should just enter
unannounced.  For a moment, she had the same feeling in her stomach that she’d
had the first time she’d sought Jack out, walking from her house up to his on
Eagle Hill and knocking on his door, unsure of what was going to happen.  It
was a nervous kind of excitement, something she was surprised she could still
feel after all they’d just been through.

She knocked on the door.  After a moment, it hissed open,
revealing a room with which Anna was already familiar.

The discolored ceiling tiles scarred with water damage,
broken up occasionally by dirty plastic panels that housed the unflattering
fluorescent lights she had always disliked.  Rows of abused single-seat desks
were arranged from the back of the room to the front, atop the scuffed light
beige tiles of the floor.  The large chalkboard at the head of the room was in
bad need of a cleaning, and Shepherd’s desk was off to the side, neat and
empty, with a stack of pink demerit slips on it ready to be issued.

Against the far wall were three windows, recessed slightly
into it.  Normally, they would have had a view of the school’s parking lot with
the edge of the football field and an ocean of corn stalks in the distance, but
now they had the beautiful and chaotic swirl of blue and white lightspeed
rushing by.

Jack sat on the sill of the window by Shepherd’s desk.  His legs
kicked up casually ran the length of it.  His head leaned up against the glass
as he stared out into the haze of lightspeed.  He’d changed back into his jeans
and t-shirt, and his hair looked rumpled and uncombed in a way Anna couldn’t
help but feel suited him perfectly.  If it weren’t for the view, Anna would have
sworn she was back on Earth.  When she entered, he looked at her and smiled.

“Hey,” he said.

Anna put her hands on her hips and looked around.  “Really?”
she smiled.  “A ship that can manifest any location you desire, and you choose
homeroom?”

“Don’t be hating,” Jack replied.  “Believe it or not, I
learned some important stuff here.”

“Oh, yeah?  Such as?”

“Meh.  It’s kinda hard to explain.  Let’s just say that this
place helps me think.”

Anna walked up to the window and leaned against the sill.  “And
here I thought out of all the things that’ve been blown up lately, this would
be the place you’d miss the least…”

Anna caught herself just as she finished talking, embarrassment
flushing her face.  “I’m so sorry,” she said.  “I… that was me trying to be
funny.”

Jack laughed.  “It’s cool,” he said.

“No, no, it isn’t.  I lost somebody, but you… your family,
your friends… everything – it’s not something to be joking about.”

“It wouldn’t be…” responded Jack, “if I’d really lost them.”

Anna looked at Jack quizzically.  “What?” she asked.

Jack grinned at her as if he knew a secret she didn’t. 
“Something happened when I busted open that Great Seal on the Ghost Planet. 
Something that makes me think they can be saved.”

“Who?”

“My mom,” said Jack.  “My friends.  Shepherd.  Everyone.”

Anna furrowed her brow as if Jack’s words were too difficult
to comprehend.

“Jack,” she said.  “You’re not making any sense.”

“Hey, I gave up on sense the minute aliens shot up the
Burger Shack.”

Anna couldn’t keep herself from chuckling at that.  She
caught Jack’s eyes and felt her heart flutter slightly.  She may be a galactic
princess, but to him, she was still that somewhat socially awkward girl from
West Virginia, trying her first milkshake on a date that felt like it happened decades
ago.  And for some reason, that made her feel good.  She reached over and
placed her hand on top of Jack’s.

“Tell me what happened to you,” she said.