by Dave Lemel
As he neared the gap, he lunged for it and shouted, “Todd! Cat droid on—” There was nothing but dark, empty space before him. Todd was no longer there. But what about the droid? asked a voice in his head as he swallowed hard and looked up.
The piercing set of lime green “eyes” were plummeting down through the gap directly down at his own eyes. Simon threw himself backward and managed to get a pulse off before stumbling and landing on his back. The pulse found the cat droid on one of its front legs just before it landed on the ground. The pulse had absolutely no effect whatsoever, and the droid sprung right back into the air and then down upon Simon. Simon’s brain chose that precise moment to recall learning that the cat droid’s preferred method for exterminating a human was to crush its chest cavity and pin it in place till it stopped thrashing.
A second force landed from above—this time on the back of the droid. Before the droid could react, Simon watched the glowing tip of a marshal wand slash through the droid’s neck; its “head” dropped, bounced off Simon’s shoulder, and rolled away.
Candy-apple red flashes zipped by as Todd wrestled the remaining droid body off Simon. Simon rolled and found the Vikard charging toward them, blasters raised in both hands and firing wildly. He took aim and fired twice. The first pulse missed high and left, the second he had corrected just enough to hit his target square in the face. The Vikard’s arms swung upwards, and the blasters went flying as he flailed and fell frozen to the floor of the aisle between the containers.
Simon lay face to the ground, staring at the downed Vikard out of the corner of his eye as he panted, trying to calm his racing heart. Todd crawled over and placed a hand on his shoulder. “You all right, man?”
Simon did not respond or move. Finally, he nodded a few times. His breathing began to slow. “We should maybe pod him and search the ship to be sure he’s alone.”
Todd pushed himself off the ground and stood up. “I didn’t bring any. Pods, I mean. We left in kind of a hurry.”
“I didn’t either.” Simon rolled to his back before sitting up and staring at the decapitated cat droid. “You think that was the only one of those?”
Todd reached a hand out to help Simon up. “Man, I hope so.”
Chapter 9
“We need to figure out what to do with him.” Todd pointed at the unconscious Vikard down the aisle from their current location.
Simon looked all around the warehouse-like space they found themselves in. “Before or after we confirm the pair we just dealt with are alone in here?”
“We need to restrain him at least. If he wakes up while we search, he has to be on lockdown.”
Simon’s face contorted. Finally, his eyes widened and he nodded at the nearest container beside them. “What about one of those? We could cut it open and weld it shut again.”
Todd looked the container up and down. “We’ll have to cut a few air holes too. I don’t like him, but I ain’t looking to suffocate him in a box.” He nodded once sharply. “Okay. You watch him. I’ll get to work.”
Todd walked to the end of the large rectangular container. He inspected the contraption at the middle of the panel. “I don’t think this is locked,” he called to Simon as he reached up for a short, thick lever sticking out to the side of a center mass of dull metallic bolts. He pulled the lever out towards himself then yanked it down. The bolts all clicked open. “Bet that did it.”
Simon strolled over for a closer view. “Yeah, should’ve for sure.” Simon shrugged. “Let’s pull it open and see.”
The doors screeched and squealed as the marshals muscled them open enough to gain access. Upon initial inspection, they found the interior crammed with large, gray crates. Todd activated his shoulder lights and took a closer look. “These are filled with blasters. They can’t be light.”
“All right.” Simon squeezed back out the gap between the two doors. “There’s gotta be a forklift or something like it in here. I’ll be right back.”
Todd climbed his way up the center stack. He reached his right hand over the top edge, then pulled his left up as well. He found a ridge where he could get a strong grip. He placed his feet firmly on the crate below, then he yanked. It moved easier than he had anticipated. He re-positioned himself for another go and doubled his effort. The crate popped open, and Todd flew backwards into the door before crashing down to the ground as blasters rained down on top of him.
Simon heard the commotion and rushed back to the shipping container. He pulled the door nearest him open a touch more and found Todd half-buried under Vikard long blasters. He tried to suppress a giggle, failed, then crouched down to help dig his partner out. “Interesting technique. What exactly was your goal there?”
“Shut up,” Todd groaned as he shoved at the pile of weapons on his legs. “Glad my helmet was still on at least.”
Both their links vibrated. “Ben,” Simon announced as he stood up and answered. “What’s up?”
“Was callin’ to ask you guys that. You okay? Got Lombargnor and your wife ready to patch through.”
“We’re good. Had a touch of resistance after entering. Trying to find somewhere to store him now in fact ’cause we left in such a hurry we forgot to bring any pods.”
“Right on. I’ll put the boss through.”
Lombargnor and Sasha appeared side by side on Simon’s link. “Marshals,” Lombargnor began. “Update please. What have you encountered thus far?”
“One Vikard, one cat droid,” replied Simon. “We forgot to bring pods in the rush, so we are currently trying to secure a temporary holding pen for the stunned Vikard.”
“And the cat droid?”
“Todd decapitated it.”
“Impressive,” Lombargnor replied. “No other Vikards have made their presence known? Just the initial resistance you encountered?”
Todd stood up next to Simon and looked over his shoulder as he responded. “That’s correct, sir. Just the one Vikard.”
Lombargnor’s lips thinned. “If there were others, they most likely would have shown themselves by now. Even so, I would like you to sweep the ship as soon as you lock down the stunned Vikard.” Lombargnor’s long fingers slowly stroked his chin, “That is odd.”
“What is, sir?” asked Todd.
“The single Vikard. That class of ship usually has a mandatory minimum crew of three. If you confirm a solo crew, the logical conclusion that leads me to is they are stretched by this occupation even more than I had believed.”
“Well, that’s good,” Todd replied.
“Indeed. For now, return to the task we interrupted. Then sweep the ship. The Henrietta is en route to your location. We will speak more once she arrives.”
Simon and Todd nodded as the link screen faded once again to black.
Chapter 10
Todd and Simon silently retraced their steps through the cavernous interior of the Vikard shipping vessel. They had found the bridge at one end of the egg-shaped ship, and upon inspection had found nobody there. They had also discovered that at the opposite end of the egg was the engine room. Both of their links buzzed in unison.
“Hello,” Todd answered before Simon smacked him on the arm. “What?” he replied, shrugging.
“We aren’t entirely sure we’re alone on here yet, you know.”
Todd’s eyes slowly scanned the area. “Right. My bad,” he whispered back before raising his link up near his mouth and continuing in whispered tones. “What’s up, Ben?”
Ben, having followed the exchange, whispered as well. “Pullin’ up next to you guys now. Let me know when you’ve finished your sweep, and I’ll head over in a cruiser.”
Todd nodded before ending the transmission and turned to Simon. “Let’s bum rush the engine room.”
Simon stopped walking, blinked a few times, and returned Todd’s gaze. “Yeah. Totally. If there is one left in there, he’s oddly afraid of us for a Vikard or he would’ve shown himself by now.”
“Right.” Todd pointed his wand at an o
pening forty or so feet away that was approximately the size of his garage door back on Earth. “That’s gotta be the entrance based on the ship layout we found on the bridge.”
Simon nodded.
Todd held up three fingers, then two, then one. The pair of marshals sprinted to and through the opening. Simon surveyed the left side of the new space, Todd the right. Neither spotted anything threatening. Todd pointed a thumb over his shoulder. “Looks like sleepy out there in the container was the only living occupant.”
Simon slowly approached a bloodred sphere that seemed to be hovering inside a shimmering cylindrical field. The sphere had a reflective sheen to it and was spinning at an incredible speed. “Well, that’s cool. Wonder what it does.”
Todd looked it up and down before raising his link to call Ben back. “Probably some kind of power source or something.”
“Yo,” Ben’s voice boomed through the link.
“You guys almost in position?”
“In the garage now, actually. Was just waiting for your call to fire up the cruiser and head over.”
Simon followed Todd back out into the warehouse area full of shipping containers that filled the majority of the interior. “Don’t forget the pod!” he yelled over Todd’s shoulder.
“Yeah,” Todd added, “we definitely need that.”
“Got it loaded up already. Put a few extra in the trunk just in case. You guys let me know when you figure out the bay doors on that thing.”
“Right, patch us back through to Lombargnor, would ya? I’m sure he can point us in the right direction.”
“I’m sure you’re right. See ya soon.” Ben’s face vanished, and Lombargnor’s took its place.
“Marshals, how can I assist you?”
“We need to get whatever this thing has for bay doors open.”
“Mission Commander Cain is retrieving the schematics as we speak.”
“Marshal Jordan,” Sasha said, joining the conversation. “If you make your way back to the wall you entered through, I will be able to direct you to the control panel for the overhead bay doors.”
“You got it.”
“Marshal Cain?” Lombargnor appeared on Simon’s link.
“Yes, sir?”
“Please retrieve the Vikard, who is hopefully still incapacitated, while I inform your engineers that the doors will be opening momentarily.”
Simon relocated then dragged their unconscious host out from the shipping-container-turned-holding-cell. A loud rumble preceded a grinding sound from above. He looked up to find a large oval section of ceiling folding up and away to reveal deep space engulfing a tiny spec of blue and white cruiser as it descended toward the now massive void in the ceiling above. The cruiser floated through the opening and gently dropped down, settling on the floor in the large, vacant space at the center of the area.
Both doors of the cruiser opened upward, and Ben stepped out. The egg-shaped shipping vessel regained its previous form as the bay door closed once again. “Heads up,” Ben yelled as he tossed a pod at Simon. Simon snatched it out of the air and crouched down beside the Vikard.
Foggen exited the passenger side of the cruiser as the pod encapsulated its new prisoner. Todd appeared from behind a row of containers. “So how we gettin’ this big bastard back to Mars? It looks like we could actually fit the Henrietta in here if we had to.”
“That observation is correct, Marshal Jordan,” Lombargnor boomed through the links. “However, we would prefer you all to be on your way back to us as rapidly as possible. In order to fit the Henrietta inside that shipping vessel, you would need to jettison all the shipping containers currently residing inside. This would be a poor use of time.”
“How we gettin’ it back then?” asked Todd.
“Foggen will pilot the shipping vessel. He received a crash course prior to heading over. We will assist him from mission control. As soon as you are all loaded up and safely back aboard the Henrietta, he will depart with the shipping vessel. You will then follow with the Henrietta.
“Sounds good,” Todd replied. “See you soon.”
The transmission ended as he moved toward the pod. “You heard him. Let’s load that pod up and get back to our ship so we can get going.”
Chapter 11
The white and green patches on the rusty red surface shown with more and more detail following Todd’s announcement of impending deceleration. The Henrietta halted its forward momentum and hooked into the marshal dock orbiting Mars. The white stretches revealed themselves as skinny structures flowing out from larger masses scattered over the terrain—the vibrant green patches Simon knew to be the early stages of terra-forming on the so-called Red Planet. Little oases of life just beginning to take hold in tiny pockets on the long-dead surface of the Martian landscape.
“I have never seen Mars in person,” Li said from behind the marshals.
“Me neither,” added Jack as he unstrapped and made his way nearer the massive windshield. “Awesome.”
“It is really something.” Li leaned into the transparent section at the front of the bridge.
“C’mon, guys,” Simon called out as he backpedaled toward the exit from the bridge. “Let’s head down so you can see it up close, and so I can see my little princess. It’s been way too long since I’ve held her.”
“How we doin’?” Ben greeted the group of four as they entered the garage. Todd and Simon headed for their black and chrome cruiser with Jack and Li in tow. Ben threw up both hands. “Hey, what am I, chopped liver over here? Ain’t nobody gonna head down with me, or ya gonna make an old man fly solo?”
“I’ll ride with you,” Simon responded as he veered away from the black and chrome cruiser and towards the blue and white one Ben was propped up against.
“Hop on in, kid.” Ben ducked his large frame into the open side of the cruiser. “Last one to the surface is a rotten egg,” he yelled out before pulling the scissor door down and firing up their ride.
Todd grinned and hurried over to the driver’s side of his preferred cruiser. “C’mon, you two!” he yelled over his shoulder. “You heard him. We got a race to win here.”
The blue cruiser with white stripes lifted off the deck and zipped out the open bay door as Jack’s gangly limbs clamored into the back seat. Todd groaned, “Oh, for cryin’ out loud. You gotta be kiddin’ me. They’re gonna be halfway down by the time you get your daddy long legs body in here.”
“I’m in! I’m in! C’mon, Li, shut the door.”
“Okay, it is shut.”
Todd lifted the cruiser and rotated it toward the pass-through-gel-filled opening. He accelerated out and then down toward the rusty globe. “Aww, man, I can’t even see ’em. He’s gonna give me crap about this for months.”
Li shook his head. “I blame Jack. We should have just left him behind.”
“Whatever. Hey, why didn’t you jump in the back instead? Oh, maybe ’cause I got to the cruiser first when we raced over. Don’t put this on me. We never had a chance. He jumped the starter’s pistol and just kept running.”
Li nodded before glancing over his shoulder at Jack. “So, we agree then.” He turned back forward. “It was pilot error.”
“Bwaaahawwwhawwww!” Jack’s unique laugh filled the cruiser.
“Hey!” Todd threw a hand up. “What did I do?”
Jack’s laugh increased in volume as Todd aimed them at the desired hangar and piloted them inside. Todd groaned as he spotted Ben and Simon. “Look at the grin under that mustache.” He settled the cruiser on the floor. With the door still making its way to fully open, a gravely yet quite noticeably cheerful taunt found its way into Todd’s ears.
“You know how to work the throttle on that thing, right? ’Cause I can show you.”
“You’re hilarious,” replied Todd as Sasha appeared from an entrance behind him, holding Penny. Simon’s smile nearly cracked his cheeks as he hurried around the black and chrome cruiser to his wife and daughter. He kissed Sasha while collecting Penny
from her arms. The smile quickly faded from his face when Penny’s bottom lip stuck out and she began to cry while reaching for her mother.
“Here, honey, here.” Simon extended her out and back into Sasha’s waiting arms as his eyes lightly glazed over.
“Oh, hun.” Sasha leaned in closer so Penny could be right by his face. “It’s Dada.”
Simon swallowed, smiled, and quickly wiped at each eye with its corresponding shoulder. “Yeah, sweetie. It’s Daddy. I missed you so much.” He gently reached his hand out to her, and she smiled and grasped the side of it with her tiny fingers. “I’m never leaving her again.” He stared into her eyes. “Ever. That was easily the worst thing I have ever felt in my life.” He looked into Sasha’s big eyes. “My heart literally aches.”
Todd waved for the rest of the crew to follow him, and he banked around Simon, Sasha, and Penny. “Come on, fellas. Let’s go find out where each of us is staying while we’re here.”
“Lombargnor is waiting for you guys.” Sasha adjusted Penny in her arms. “Take a left when you get to the end of that hall, then follow that to the end. He would like to discuss a few things with you, and he’ll show you to your rooms.”
“What about us?” Simon asked while tickling under Penny’s chin, coaxing a timid smile.
“We’ve been here a while, bub. I’ll show you to our Martian home.”
“Oh, yeah. We headed the same way? We can walk with ’em.”
“Sure,” Sasha replied, spinning to follow Todd and crew, “at least for this first hall. At the end we go right.”
Ben tapped Sasha on the shoulder. “Anyone get Foggen?”
Sasha’s jaw slacked open. “Oh, no, you guys didn’t grab him?”
Ben shook his head and groaned. “I’ll go back up for him.”
Sasha cackled and slapped Ben’s big arm with the back of her hand. “Just messin’ with you, old man. He’s staying up there till the hole those two made in the hull of the Vikard shipping vessel is repaired and the escape pod is removed. We need that thing to appear as normal as possible when we use it for approach to Earth.”
