14
As the space bug creature hurled toward Boomer, he decided to morph into the biggest badass-looking lion he could think of. He made his fur black, his eyes shine red, and he unleashed the most fearsome roar he could muster. He tried to recall the horror movies and the scariest video game he had seen Kevin play and attempted to create a hybrid roar of the most terrifying memories of all.
The result was something that scared even Boomer when it left his mouth; large yellow teeth gleamed as his muzzle grew bigger and bigger.
The creature stopped its charge and stood there, which was unexpected, but good news, decided Boomer. Then he felt something emerge from his fur near his shoulder. A tiny, furry blue creature stood proudly and attempted to roar as well.
Zelda!
Before Boomer could say anything, the Sphynx kitten’s roar turned into a pathetic mewing sound that was more ear-piercing and annoying than it was impressive and fear-inducing. If both their lives weren’t on the line, Boomer would probably have exploded in laughter, but fear made sure to keep his instincts and attention as sharp as a razor.
That’s it, I’m dead. This thing will eat us both for lunch.
“What the hell are you doing here?” said Boomer eventually, with a failed mixture of anxious mutter and whisper.
The space bug resumed moving forward, but slower.
“Mira, please get a lock on that thing and beam it to space! Now, or we’re dead meat!”
“I can’t get a lock, perhaps if it stopped moving for a few seconds. I’m trying to recalibrate the sensors. Hang on.”
“Whatever you do, Zelda, don’t move. I’ll get us out of this.”
But Zelda didn’t listen and instead jumped forward.
What the hell is she doing?
In midair, the Sphynx turned into a tiny tiger, then almost instantly into a smaller version of Boomer’s black lion and finally into a frog before the artificial gravity grabbed hold of her. When she landed, she made an unceremonious splat on the floor and croaked.
“Ribbit,” said Zelda in frog form as it jumped further forward.
“Stop it! You’ll get us both killed.”
But Zelda kept leaping forward, with more jumps and croaks. The space bug stopped its advance and started shaking. With each new frog leap, the space bug seemed to get even more agitated, its antennas madly flailing from side to side.
“Whatever you’re going to do,” said Boomer to Mira, “do it now!”
“Establishing lock. Transport in progress.”
Streaks of beaming light engulfed the creature as it screeched and darted toward them in a panicked charge.
“I said, NOW! Mira…that thing is still charging us.”
“Trying to compensate.”
Boomer didn’t know if he should grab Zelda and shield her or just close his eyes. When his heartbeat accelerated faster than Boomer thought possible, his instincts took over and he tried to protect Zelda. He leapt forward and caught up with the frog in one single leap and enveloped Zelda under his black fur. He turned his body into metal, and a large Gatling gun turret morphed on Boomer’s back, unleashing round after round at the glowing creature, as it kept gaining in speed.
Bullets kept bouncing off its hard shell, looking like deflected laser blasts as they lit up briefly.
The space bug was less than ten meters from them when one of the bullets hit the creature in the eye and it stopped short but skid from its previous momentum toward them.
Boomer reacted instantly; he grabbed the frog in his tongue and brought it in his mouth as delicately as he could. Then Boomer leapt up in the air, grazing the creature’s antennas with his belly, and landed behind the creature and kept running.
“I have a strong lock,” Mira said.
Boomer turned his head and saw the beaming lights intensify around the creature, as it screeched louder until the ear-piercing sound diminished into silence when the bug dematerialized. Boomer stopped and turned around to see the last glimpse of transport lights disappear with the creature.
He heard an echoing “ribbit” from inside his mouth. He opened it and extended his tongue. Zelda turned back into a kitten Sphynx and jumped down to the ground. She then waggled her whole body to remove the saliva from her fur. The strong shaking motion caused Zelda to become unbalanced and fall flat, with a confused look on her face.
“Looks like we did it, that was good team effort,” Boomer said.
Zelda filled her tiny lungs with air and stood proudly and triumphant.
As Boomer retracted his tongue fully, his metallic body returned into a white tiger form and he winced. He tasted something foul in his mouth.
“Did you just pee on my tongue?” asked Boomer.
Zelda made big apologetic eyes and lowered her head.
“So—rry,” said a teeny, tiny voice.
Boomer puked his last meal on the floor, shaking his head and trying to wash out the stink with his white paws.
“That’s disgusting!”
The Osiris entered hyperspace the moment Princess Kalliopy returned on board. She was beside herself and refused to listen to Ziron’s plea to rethink her plan.
“But I received a transmission from Boomer,” implored Ziron.
“I don’t care. We have to get to Kregan Prime, now.”
“This smells like a trap.”
“I’m very well aware of that, but you have your orders.”
Kalliopy then stormed off the bridge with tears in her eyes.
“This is not going to end well.”
“At least we’ll be reunited with Boomer and Lacuna,” said Mira.
“Yeah, let’s hope it’s not for a mass funeral event.”
“Should I activate the hyperspace engines?”
“You heard her, she’s the boss. Let’s hope she knows what she’s doing.”
“It seems to me that fear and hate are in control rather than objectivity. But then again, I am not an expert in human emotion, I may not be programming her well.”
“Trust me, your programming is spot on. And that’s what I’m afraid of too, Mira.”
When Boomer returned to the bridge with Zelda in tow, Lacuna was looking at a holo-starmap.
“Oh, you’re back. Glad to see you found something to wear,” Boomer smirked.
“If you can call these clothes,” she complained.
Lacuna was wearing a khaki-colored jumpsuit that made her look like a grease monkey.
“This thing,” she said, “is the only one that would fit me.”
Boomer could tell that the suit was meant for a man and was pressing hard on her chest.
“While you were looking for clothes, I had an encounter with a nasty space bug, so believe me, do count your blessings.”
“Mira told me. Are you alright?”
“I’ll survive.”
Zelda ran in between Boomer’s white tiger legs and mewed.
“Hello, I’m Zelda,” said the tiny voice.
“What the hell is this?” asked Lacuna. “Did you also find this on deck four?”
“Technically. It must have sneaked into my fur while I was saying goodbye aboard the Osiris.”
Lacuna chuckled. “Is that one of Ziron’s offspring?”
“Yes, this is Zelda.”
Lacuna couldn’t help smiling. “She just said that.”
Zelda hissed.
“Charming,” added Lacuna. “I’m not sure this is a place for such a young creature, but now that she’s here, I guess you’ll have to tend to her.”
“Fortunately, they feed off energy from the ship’s engines.”
“I think I read that somewhere. I always thought it was a myth.”
“The one thing I don’t understand is how she managed to shape-shift like me earlier.”
“I think I can explain that one,” said Mira over the comm’s system.
“Then by all means, enlighten us,” Lacuna said.
“Since you were carrying her while transforming, some nano-
material from the smart armor must have been accidentally transferred to our small warrior here, thus granting her temporary, though not very conscious, access to the technology.”
“I would say so,” confirmed Boomer. “It didn’t look like she had much control over it. As unfortunate and surprising as her presence has been, I think it made a difference with the space bug, I don’t know if it scared it or confused it, but it bought us the time Mira needed to beam the creature out in space.”
“About that,” said Mira.
“You beamed it to space, didn’t you?”
“My lock wasn’t strong enough for that, but don’t worry, we’re safe.”
“Where is the creature now?”
“It’s trapped in one of the ship’s memory buffers.”
“Can you try and beam it out, please? That thing gives me the creeps.”
“No, wait,” proposed Lacuna. “Maybe we can use it later.”
“Use it how?” asked Boomer. “It didn’t seem like the kind of creature that would take orders.”
“Still, it could provide us with a distraction. I’d rather we kept it in reserve.”
Boomer shook his head from side to side. “That’s a bad idea, mark my words.”
“Duly noted.”
“I agree with Lacuna on this one,” said Mira. “There may be a situation where it could come in handy.”
“Well, apparently this is a democracy,” said Boomer, “so I’ll leave you with my warning, but we’ll proceed with what the majority thinks.”
Zelda must have sensed that Boomer was uneasy, so she came and rubbed against his leg and purred.
15
Yxantion hesitated to give the order, which worried Xonax. He really felt like the hardest part had been done, but the wait was killing him. Not because the cold hard blade pressed against his throat was making him bleed lightly, but because he knew how impulsive his father could be.
Come on, just say the word already.
With his one free hand, Yxantion approached the manual release control for the palace’s shield that resided on a thin wrist band he was wearing at all times. He flipped the secure lock upward that revealed a blue control light, which also served as a holo-touch command.
Two of his father’s fingers hovered atop the control. Xonax had to fight the urge to press the damn button himself. But he knew he’d never get the time to give his officer the verbal command if he did. The seconds felt like minutes and then hours in his mind, and Xonax wondered if he shouldn’t have gone with Altanor’s more brute-force approach.
When he thought he couldn’t endure the passing of time any longer, Yxantion pressed the button and spoke.
“Transport now!” he ordered.
A beam of orange light appeared behind Yxantion, forcing him to look away, and that’s when Xonax’s own transport beam-out sequence began. He started dematerializing just as Athala was being beamed in. Yxantion had a smile on his face when he turned back, but it quickly turned to surprise and then anger.
The emperor slashed Xonax’s throat as he was vanishing, and blaster fire went through the air where Xonax had been a few milliseconds before.
Yxantion looked at the blade and noticed some minuscule parts of it where missing, as if insects had eaten through the alloy.
Suddenly, all hell broke loose when Kevin beamed in behind Yxantion’s back and kicked the emperor to the ground. The four imperial guardsmen opened fire instantly, but 8-3-9-6 had already erected the upgraded cutting shields before combat and was ready to deflect the laser blasts.
In one fluid and agile motion, the AI used Kevin’s body like the deadly weapon his training had turned him into. He slashed through all four guards effortlessly, cutting them to pieces.
By then, the emperor had turned over onto his back and reached for his hand-held blaster. 8-3-9-6 reacted in a split second and cast the shockwave spell, which smashed all of the emperor’s limbs onto the ground and stepped on the arm that had the shield’s control.
Without reactivation from the emperor himself, the shields would stay down. A legion of pirates beamed into the throne room, about the same time as more imperial guards rushed in to check what the commotion was all about.
Laser fire filled the air of the room as the battle raged on. Meanwhile, 8-3-9-6 addressed the emperor, who had almost lost consciousness from the power of Kevin’s latest spell.
“Your son wanted you to know he gave me specific instructions to make sure your suffering is prolonged, but within reason.”
A laser blast grazed Kevin’s neck and burned some of his skin, which forced 8-3-9-6 to engage a nearby enemy. He threw one of his shields that cut the guard in half.
Yxantion tried to speak, but instead he puked a significant amount on blood on his own face. No doubt, the pointblank shockwave had resulted in internal injuries.
I can’t watch this! said Kevin inside his mind.
He felt incredibly powerless and alone. He was witnessing an event in history he knew would mark his life and reputation forever. Everybody would remember the boy who took out the Kregan Emperor. Nobody would care that he was not in control of his actions, all they’d remember would be his face and his name, for probably longer than Kevin’s lifespan.
Ever since he had been seven or eight years old, Kevin had always hoped his name would impact history. But he had always thought it would be through an invention of some kind, one that bettered humanity. Like one of his spiritual mentors—Steve Jobs or Elon Musk. But not like this.
Still, as much as he didn’t want to, he couldn’t look away.
Don’t resist, I need your brain at peak efficiency to make sure we both survive this mission, said 8-3-9-6 in his mind. We’re lucky Xonax came up with a better plan than Altanor, as your body may survive after all.
Swell. I sure feel lucky right about now.
8-3-9-6 cast the time-bubble spell over Yxantion and looked around until he found the emperor’s blade that had been lost when their skirmish started. Yxantion tried to reach the shield control, but because of the time dilation field inside the spell bubble, he was moving slower than a sleepy snail.
8-3-9-6 walked toward the blade, paying attention to the battle around him and deflecting the laser blast that came his way with his one remaining shield. It was already flickering, so the AI erected a brand new one on his other arm and extended it to cover most of his body.
He crouched to grab the blade and returned next to the emperor. Yxantion’s hands were trying to join so he could reactivate the shield; he was about halfway through when 8-3-9-6 thrust the blade toward his head.
Kevin hoped the emperor would continue his current attempt at raising the shields around the palace, but that was discounting the instinct of self-preservation imbued in most living beings. While the blade at the end of Kevin’s hand slowed the moment it entered the time bubble, Yxantion instinctively tried to stop it with his hand. It all happened slowly, very slowly. The blade kept approaching the emperor’s forehead.
Futile, said 8-3-9-6. But so predictable.
The scene unfolding in front of his eyes disgusted Kevin. He already knew the outcome and wished he could look away, but part of him still hoped something would go wrong for the AI and the emperor would survive.
That hope died when the spell ran out of juice and time resumed to its normal pace. The blade pierced through the hand first, then almost instantly pierced Yxantion’s skull and lodged itself inside his brain.
The emperor’s eyes were briefly filled with terror before they lost all semblance of life.
If Kevin had been in control of his body, he had no doubt that he would have vomited right there. But he was just a prisoner, forced to witness acts that he knew would haunt him for as long as he lived.
Boomer was continuously pacing on the bridge, with Zelda walking behind him. He had morphed back to his beagle form, which he wasn’t exactly feeling safe about, but he wanted to save as much power as he could so he could use it to help Kevin.
/> “Will you stop doing that?” asked Lacuna.
“What is it to you?”
“It’s distracting, that’s what it is.”
“I’m nervous, I can’t help it.”
“I hadn’t noticed,” said Lacuna with a smile.
Mira’s voice boomed from the speakers.
“We’re three minutes away from exiting hyperspace. My long-range sensors, though not worthy of the name, have picked up some interesting data.”
Boomer barked and ran next to Lacuna. “What is it?”
“There seems to be some sort of battle happening in the imperial palace on the surface of the planet. I’ve intercepted communications that confirmed my readings. Also, we’ve received a subspace transmission from Ziron, they’re also heading this way.”
“Did he say why?” asked Lacuna.
“Negative. It was a text transmission. I suspect they can’t establish a video feed while we’re in hyperspace, these ships aren’t exactly running the latest tech. I’ve been doing some modifications of my own, and I’ve got something that should be of interest to the both of you.”
“What’s that?” asked Boomer, his tail wagging in anticipation.
“I’ve managed to establish read-only access to Kevin’s subspace transmitter.”
“That’s the first bit of good news I’ve heard all day,” barked Boomer.
“Why do I get the feeling there is a but coming,” said Lacuna.
“Very perceptive of you,” confirmed Mira. “There is something strange about the readings. Let me show you.”
A holo-screen sprung to life and Boomer looked at it. It displayed two animated graphs side by side.
“What are we looking at?” asked Boomer.
“I detected two different brain patterns from the same subspace transmitter, which is worrisome. As you can see, they’re very different.”
Lacuna pointed to the right one. “This one seems more angular, more mechanical, like patterns repeating somehow. And less complex.”
Make it So! Page 11
