Eclipsing Vengeance

by Jeremy Michelson

That meant I’d have to stand up and jump.

  Yen took hold of Liz’s arm and flung her across the room. Liz smashed through the wall of another cabin. An instant later she flew across the room and power punched Yen with a blow that should have taken her head off. Instead she flipped end over end and hit the wall.

  This place was really too small for any of this. How the hell was I supposed to jump and get changed with those two around?

  Of course, Buck would have already been suited up and kicking butt.

  Damn him, anyway. If I caught that bastard–wait. I had a suit of alien armor now. I probably could drop kick his butt into a different time zone.

  “Suit up, Roy!” Liz shouted.

  Time to gather wool later. I rolled off to the side, then got to my feet. I did a little jump and slapped the medallion.

  By the time my feet hit the floor, they were encased in alien armor. I stood there for a moment, feeling powerful. The displays showed me circles and lines and arrows. The projected trajectories and velocity as Liz kicked Yen into the wall.

  Identify enemy combatant? the suit asked me.

  “Uh the black and orange one,” I said.

  Armor is Don manufacture, the voice said, I am restricted by Don covenant from deploying against Don armor.

  Oh crap. All dressed up and nowhere to go.

  Unless this is a interfamily dispute, the voice continued, then combat is allowed. Do you wish to swear a familial blood oath to continue?

  “Uh, sure,” I said, not quite sure what was going on here.

  Combat systems unlocked, the voice said.

  Suddenly Yen was outlined in red. Enemy combatant. Hand to hand engagement recommended inside space vessels.

  It seemed like sound advice. Blowing holes in your spaceship seemed like a bad idea, especially when it was tripping through hyperspace, or whatever this was.

  I put my hands together and cracked my knuckles. Sorta. Kind of hard to do in a armored suit. All I had to do was picture this as a good old fashioned bar fight. Between two armored women. One of whom was a murderous alien. And we were in a space ship.

  I gave up trying to make sense of any of it. I dove at the whirling blur of gold and black armor in the middle of the room.

  Somebody’s fist promptly caught my head and sent me spinning across the room.

  The suit twisted and I landed on my feet. A neat trick.

  This time I watched for an opening. I spotted it and jumped forward. I caught Yen’s arm and twisted it around mine. At the same time I put my arm around her neck and squeezed.

  She flipped over and sent me flying at Liz. Who ducked like she was made of liquid. I smashed into a wall and ended sunk up to my knees in it.

  I pushed myself out and crashed to the floor. I jumped back up and ran at Yen. I tackled her mid section, putting my arms around her. Then I remembered a move from my old high school wrestling days and flipped her to the ground. I got around to her back and yanked her arms behind her.

  “Hold her!” Liz shouted.

  Yen struggled like a mountain lion caught in a trap. Sweat sprung up on my brow and ran down my face. An instant later my suit extruded something the wiped the sweat away. Convenient.

  Liz jumped over to us and held her hand to Yen’s chest. A moment later that air bending pulse shot out from her hand. Yen’s body blocked most of the blast, but I caught an edge of it.

  For a second my vision blurred and darkness crowded the edges of my consciousness. I forced my way back from it. My grip on Yen had loosened. I went to tighten it.

  “Stop!” Liz yelled, “You’ll hurt her.”

  Instantly I let go. That’s when I realized I wasn’t holding an armored she-devil. I had a small, totally naked blue alien laying on top of me.

  I slid out from under her limp form and got to my feet. I stood back a couple steps. My body shook. Whether from adrenaline, or shock that I could have crushed her to death, I don’t know.

  Liz knelt down beside her and put a hand to her throat. Checking for a pulse? Would that work for aliens?

  Course, for an alien, Yen’s body looked pretty much like a human, except blue and, you know, with tentacles on her head. Her body seemed to be totally hairless, including at the juncture where her legs joined the rest of her body. Her breasts were small, but had large, pronounced nipples, which were a darker blue than the rest of her skin.

  The main difference that I could see, besides the tentacles and triangular head, was that her rib cage tapered more sharply to her waist and the ribs seemed to run vertical rather than horizontal.

  Liz looked up at me. “She’s still alive.”

  I stared down at the stunted black triangle between her breasts. It was just like mine, except it had little orange flame designs on it.

  “Uh, shouldn’t we take that off her?” I asked.

  Liz shook her armored head. “We need her intact. This is an unexpected bonus,” she said.

  “Bonus?”

  Having a hostile alien on board seemed like anything but a bonus. I veered once again to the belief that Liz was bonkers.

  “Go find something to tie her up with,” Liz said. She stood up. “I need to take the ship out of other space.”

  She walked through the shattered opening to the cockpit. I glanced around at the common room. It, too, was shattered. What the hell was I supposed to tie her up with?

  I stood up and rummaged around the remains of the kitchen area. I found a length of wire that ran to the crushed shell of what might have been a microwave oven. I ripped it off the wall and took it back over to the Don.

  I turned her over and tried to tie her hands behind her back, but the fingers of my suit were too clumsy to make a knot. Plus I was afraid I’d break her arms. Grumbling under my breath about crazy women and aliens, I stood back up and visualized my suit coming off like I had before. It didn’t work until I said the stupid phrase, return to your lair, faithful servant. I was gonna have to find a way to change that.

  The suit retreated to its little box on my chest. Chill, humid air washed over my naked skin. A bumper crop of goosebumps rose all over me. The rancid cat food smell of the Don assaulted my nostrils like a frying pan to the face. I wondered if there was deodorant I could spray on her. Maybe some air freshener.

  I kneeled beside Yen and tied her hands behind her back with the cable. She wasn’t gonna get out of them knots–pappy taught me how to truss things up good. Just as I finished, the ship dropped out of other space. I held onto the floor until my senses stopped reeling.

  “You Terran scum, how dare you touch me,” Yen said.

  Apparently the jolt woke her up. She rolled over on her back. Her orange eyes glared with an intensity that made me warm.

  “Believe me lady,” I said, “I touched you as little as I could.”

  I stood up and backed up a couple of paces. She stared at me for a moment.

  “Do Terran males only have one penis, or are you deformed?” she asked.

  My face went hot. I’d forgot I was naked. I cupped my hands over my boys and craned my head around. There had to be a towel or something in all this wreckage.

  “One is all we need,” I said.

  “How boring,” she said, “Does that mean your females have only one vagina?”

  I cast a longing look at the cockpit. Where the hell was Liz? I sure as hell didn’t want to get into a sex discussion with any stinky, blue aliens.

  “Yeah, one seems to do the trick,” I said.

  Yen wrinkled her nose. “What a pathetic species you are,” she said, “You would do the galaxy a favor by committing mass suicide.”

  “Well, some of us seem to be working on it,” I said, “But overall we’re pretty hard to kill as a species.”

  “We shall see about that,” she said.

  Liz appeared at the cockpit door. What was left of the door. I was amazed the ship hadn’t blown up with those amazons going at it. She was still covered in her golden armor.

  Yen sneered at he
r. “You disgrace the memory of Dendon by wearing their armor,” she said.

  “From the race that killed Dendon, I’m not going to pay much mind to your opinions on the subject,” Liz said.

  She kneeled beside Yen. Yen tried to spit at her, but her mouth must have been dry because only a few drops made it out. None came even close to Liz.

  “So I’m going to guess you hitched a ride on our other ship,” Liz said, “Then took the opportunity to take this one. Except old Roy and I here interrupted you, right.”

  “I do not deign to answer lower life forms,” Yen said.

  “Your choice,” Liz said, “I thought you might be interested in saving your home planet, though.”

  Yen laughed. Being trussed up naked on a floor didn’t seemed to diminish her orneriness. I backed away from them and started looking for something to cover my nether regions.

  “You will not move me with empty threats, Terran,” she said, “Even with Dendon power, you could not even dream of touching HeJovna. None of the races has ever discovered the location of our home world. And never will.”

  Liz shook her head and patted Yen on her tentacled head. Yen hissed and yanked her head away from the touch.

  “Do not dare to touch me!”

  “Whatever,” Liz said, “Listen, Chris and I found your HeJovna years ago. The Dendon’s were pretty close to finding it when you guys murdered their world. We just put the rest of the pieces together.”

  Yen’s orange eyes narrowed and her body went still. “You lie,” she said.

  “Nope,” she said, “Truth be told, we could have destroyed your planet any time we wanted. But we decided to be nice and let you live. Well, Chris did. He’s kind of funny about not wanting to go around randomly killing things. Not like some races, if you know what I mean.”

  I found a large, white towel in the shattered remnants of what might have been a bathroom. I wrapped it around my middle and went back over to Liz and Yen. I shivered in the chill air. My tootsies were turning to ice cubes on the cold metal floor. I hoped somewhere on this ship were some actual clothes. Otherwise I was going to have to turn the suit back on just to keep myself warm.

  “It is not possible, Terran,” Yen said, “HeJovna is shielded and hidden.”

  Liz sighed. She was probably rolling her eyes, too, but you know, face covered in golden armor and all. She held out her hand, palm up. An image flickered to life above it. It was a colored sphere, rotating in perfect 3D clarity.

  Yen gasped. “How…”

  I realized the sphere was a planet. I could make out twisted continents and dark, dark oceans. Bands of dark gray clouds circled the globe. One one side the clouds closed in a what must have been a gigantic swirling storm. It didn’t look like a sunny, happy place to be.

  “Like I told you, we found it,” Liz said, “And I think someone is on their way right now to kill every last one of you.”

  Yen’s eyes narrowed to slits and her thin lips pressed into an even thinner line.

  “You know it’s possible,” Liz said, “One of your kind tried to do it to Earth. Chris inherited the Dendon Ark, and the Ark has a grudge against the Don. It wants to kill you all. Chris has been able to control it, but I think someone has taken him against his will. And I think this person is headed to HeJovna. If Chris comes into contact with the HeJovna atmosphere, it’s going to be all over for your race. You understand that. You know that the Dendon makers will turn all life on your planet into dust in a matter of hours.”

  Yen stayed deathly still for a full minute, hate filled eyes locked on Liz’s face. Finally, her lips parted.

  “What to you propose, Terran?” she said.

  Thirty-Five

  For some reason, we were approaching Titan. Which Liz told me was a moon orbiting around Jupiter. I sat with her in the remarkably undamaged cockpit with my mouth hanging open. Through the window in front of me hung Jupiter in all its red banded glory. Crossing in front of it was a gray circle. Titan.

  Liz was dressed in a loose, white robe. I got the impression she didn’t wear anything she couldn’t shuck off in an instant. The robe came together in a V just above her bosoms. The golden disk below the hollow of her throat shone.

  Me, I had on a pair of musty coveralls I’d found in one of the semi-undamaged cabins. It was army green and baggy on my frame, but it was actual clothing. I was grateful for it. I’d found a pair of brown slippers, too. They were way too tight and my toes were protesting being so crowded together.

  Yen’s rancid catfood odor had permeated the ship. I couldn’t take a breath without inhaling the awful smell. I could only hope we smelled just as bad to her.

  “So what’s on Titan?” I asked.

  “Help,” Liz said.

  I gave her a sidelong glance. Her face was drawn and there were dark circles under her eyes. No doubt she was worried about her man. Still, I couldn’t imagine her needing help with anything.

  Except…she had already talked a Don in to helping us. Reluctantly, but still…

  “What kind of help?” I asked.

  Before she could answer, an image popped up on the window in front of us. I shrank back against my seat.

  Stickman.

  In the image the Stickman’s gazillions of rods and fibers ran over and along each other, squeaking and chirping like a bucket of psychotic crickets. The Stickman didn’t have a human form. It was more of a shapeless, spikey blob.

  “You are entering a restricted area,” the Stickman said, “Identify.”

  “Stand down,” Liz said, “I need to talk to Azor. It’s Chris business.”

  The Stickman’s sticks slowed and almost came to a halt, then contracted a bit. The Stickman version of surprise, maybe?

  “Understood,” the Stickman said, “Standby for approach instructions. We will alert Azor.”

  The window dimmed. I turned to Liz.

  “Stickmen?” I said, “You’re going to the intergalactic cops? Those things creep me the hell out.”

  “They creep everyone out,” Liz said, “And we need help with this. Azor is an old–well, I wouldn’t call him a friend, but we’ve worked with him for a long time. He can be trusted.”

  She left unsaid what I already knew. Most of the aliens couldn’t be trusted.

  Like the one tied up in the back of the ship. The skin between my shoulder blades crawled just thinking of her back there. What if she managed to untie herself?

  Liz must have been half psychic. She gave me a look and shook her head.

  “Don’t worry about the Don,” she said, “At least not right now. Later you can worry about her.”

  “I still don’t understand why we don’t stick her out the airlock right now,” I said.

  “Because Chris wouldn’t,” she said, “And besides, we need a Don ally. This may be the break Chris has been looking for.”

  I shook my head and rubbed my face. My cheeks were still smooth except for that dang goatee. It still made me mad. I bet there was a razor somewhere in the wreckage of the bathroom. I needed to find it and scrape this thing off. Later.

  “I don’t understand any of this,” I said, “And so far no one will give me a straight answer.”

  “Straight answers are always hard to come by out here,” Liz said.

  She worked the controls on the panel in front of her. Actually touching virtual buttons and stuff instead of just communing with the ship through her suit. A bunch of funny looking squiggles appeared on the window the Stickman had vacated. Liz studied them for a moment, then tapped on the panel.

  “So I’m thinking Buck did something to your boyfriend and stole a ship from that base,” I said, “Is that what you’re thinking?”

  “Chris isn’t my boyfriend,” Liz said, “He is my mate. He’s the better part of me.”

  I mumbled an apology. I wasn’t going to get in the middle of that.

  “And yes, your brother is trying to carry out his vendetta against the Dons,” she said.

  “How did you and
Chris know Buck?” I asked.

  “He found us,” Liz said, “He was stationed at Holloman when…well, when certain things happened. He got a hold of some alien tech, the mustered out of the service and turned into a troubleshooter. Chris and I were at the Stickman base on Titan when he showed up with a WerLobster who was running the blockade. The Stickmen weren’t too happy about him playing vigilante, but since this the Terran system, they didn’t feel they had the right to stop him. The Stickmen are more honorable than the other races. As you might have noticed.”

  I thought back to my time in the prison on Pluto. The big, furry lobster things must have been what Liz called WerLobsters. It fit. I tried to imagine how Buck had caught one of them things. Course, being Buck, he probably did it with his eyes closed and one hand behind his back. Just to prove to himself that he could.

  “I know Buck’s been alien hunting for a while, but I didn’t think he was getting off Earth to do it,” I said.

  What would momma say if she knew her baby was galavanting around the stars? She’d probably say: You go look after your brother, Roy?

  And what would she say to Buck killing an entire planet?

  She’d probably say they have it coming to them.

  “Buck is very talented,” Liz said, “But he’s also carrying around a load of anger that is going to burn him up. And maybe take a few things with it. That’s why Chris and I and the Stickmen restricted him to Earth. At least tried to.”

  Restricted to Earth? That would explain why I’d seen more of him the last few years. Course, that’s also how I got stuck following him around. Momma took the opportunity to remind me of my promise.

  But it was real clear Buck had a major grudge for the Dons. Not that I could blame him. They was just plain nasty.

  “Just for the sake of conversation,” I said, “These Dons seem to be pretty bad players. Would it be so wrong to get rid of them?”

  Liz was quiet for a bit, tapping on the console with all its colored lights. I noticed the disk of Titan was getting bigger. Pretty soon it’d eclipse the glorious view of Jupiter. I had to admit, it was pretty dang cool to actually be this close and see it with my own eyes.