“I will…”
“You will not escape me!” raged the Deathlord.
Zarrod put all his effort into his pull on Shepherd’s soul. The Paragon cried out in pain but refused to let go. Even the ghostly image of Shepherd gazed at Zarrod defiantly. The two stayed locked in a tug of war over Shepherd’s very existence, neither of them relenting…
Then, in a flash of purple light, Shepherd vanished.
His ghostly image Zarrod had been pulling on remained briefly, lingering like a puff of smoke from a dying flame. Zarrod’s pull on it had disappeared, and for the shortest of moments, it looked at the Deathlord, its eyes content, a small smile on its lips.
And then, it was gone.
Zarrod grasped the empty air, having lost his grip on the Paragon’s soul. Rage bellowed up inside him, coursing through his body like hot lava from an erupting volcano. He knew he had defeated Shepherd, but somehow, some way, he felt as if the Paragon had won.
With that, the Deathlord screamed in fury.
Chapter 32
In a flash of purple, the Paragon appeared on the smooth metal of the Deathlord’s teleportation platform, writhing and screaming in pain.
“Shepherd!” cried Anna, rushing to his side. “Great Observer, what’s wrong with him?”
Jack rushed over to Shepherd as well and tried to calm him. The Paragon’s face was blood red, his mouth strained in a painful scowl, his arms and legs flailing about like a drowning man. Jack tried to restrain him, putting his weight on one of Shepherd’s arms, afraid the man might hurt himself.
“Grohm!” Jack yelled. “Help me hold him down!”
As the Rognok lumbered toward the platform, Scallywag glared at Heckubus. “What the blazes did you do?” he grumbled.
“Sure, blame me,” muttered the robot in response. “It’s not like he was fighting a Deathlord Supreme commander or anything.”
Grohm’s massive hands grabbed Shepherd and pinned him down to keep him from moving as Professor Green rushed to his side.
“What’s wrong with him?” asked Anna, concern heavy on her face. “What did they do?”
“I’m unsure, Your Majesty,” replied Green, studying the Paragon’s pained face. “We need to get him to a medical station immediately.”
Shepherd screamed again, loud and woeful. Jack took a step back, worried – a sinking feeling gripping his stomach. Shepherd was the most incredible warrior he’d ever seen. If the Deathlords could do this to him… what kind of a chance did they really stand?
“Find one,” insisted Anna. “Help him!”
“I’m not even sure we can while on this ship,” frowned Green.
“Your Majesty,” interjected Ganix. “We don’t have time to deal with Paragon Shepherd’s condition now. We must get to Jack’s vessel.”
“I will not let him die!” snapped Anna, her blue eyes gazing sharply at Ganix.
“No, you’d just let all of us die instead, eh?” said Scallywag.
“Hold your tongue, pirate,” growled Ganix. “Mind who you’re talking to.”
“Oy, someone’s gotta make the girl see sense,” responded Scallywag. “We’re gonna have a whole blasted platoon of Dark Soldiers on us any minute. We need to find the Earthman’s ship and get out o’ here while we can.”
Ganix stepped up to Scallywag and locked eyes with him. “This is the Princess of the Regalus Empire,” he said sternly. “We will do as she commands.”
“We don’t have time for this, and you know it,” Scallywag shot back quietly.
“Hey, guys,” said Jack. Ganix and Scallywag both turned to look at him. “Give it a second, okay?” he said as he moved beside Anna.
Anna was kneeling beside Shepherd as Grohm still held him steady. Jack put his hand on her shoulder.
“Anna,” said Jack. “He’s strong. He’ll survive. We just need to get him to the ship.”
Anna nodded her head. Tears were streaking down her cheeks as she looked down at her helpless protector. “I can’t lose him,” she whispered.
“You won’t,” said Jack. “We don’t have a lot of time, but… if you need to say something to him, say it now.”
Anna looked at Jack, her eyes wide and helpless. Jack nodded, as if giving her permission that just this once, it was okay to simply be a girl, and not a Princess.
Anna turned to Shepherd, grabbing his pained face gently with her hands to hold it steady. “Shepherd? Shepherd, look at me…”
Shepherd was floating in and out of consciousness, his teeth gritted, his eyes flirting with rolling toward the back of his head. But despite all the agony he was experiencing, he was still able to follow orders. His eyes focused on Anna’s teary ones, and for a brief moment, he’d returned.
“When we were on Earth,” she said, “you were playing my dad. But the truth is… I never saw it as a role. I may not really be your daughter, but you, more than anyone, have been my father…”
Shepherd blinked at her, a small tear welling up in the corner of his eye.
“Please,” Anna whispered, choking back her own tears as best she could. “I need you. I love you. Don’t leave me.”
Silence hung in the room as the group watched. Shepherd sat upright, his face beet-red and puffy, as though that simple act was almost enough to cause his head to explode in pain. He reached out, his gauntleted hand latching onto Ganix’s arm.
The Major looked into the Paragon’s eyes as the man gave his final order.
“Get her to the ship,” choked Shepherd. “No matter what.”
And with that, Shepherd’s eyes closed, and he collapsed back onto the floor.
“NO!” Anna shrieked, hovering over him.
Green immediately checked for a pulse.
“Is he… is he—” Anna couldn’t bring herself to ask the question.
“No,” Green said. “He’s just passed out.”
“What’s happened to him?” lamented Anna.
“I’ll tell you what’s gonna happen to all of us if we don’t get a move on—” said Scallywag just as a sudden banging sound on the entrance to the teleportation room alerted the group to trouble.
“Never mind,” sneered the pirate. “You’ll find out for yerself in a moment.”
“Not to worry,” said Heckubus proudly. “I anticipated such an occurrence and took the liberty of sealing the doors with one of my diabolical triple-helix encryption protocols, effectively blocking all outside control panel access. No one is getting that door open, and we will have plenty of time to teleport to the Earthman’s ship at our leisure.”
As if on cue, sparks began flying off the outline of the door as light-saws rammed through the metal, cutting the door down as they traced around its edges.
“Okay,” said the robot, regarding the light-saws. “Now you may worry.”
Ganix swore under his breath. “Professor,” he said. “Do you know where Jack’s ship is located?”
Green looked up at the Major and blinked. “Why, yes. Midship… Grid C, bay 9.”
“Robot,” barked Ganix. “Midship, Grid C, Bay 9. Get us there, now!”
“I do have a name you know,” muttered Heckubus.
“Just do it!” said Ganix before turning to his men. “Take up positions. Prepare to blast anything that comes through that door.”
The remaining soldiers spread out, doing their best with what little cover the room provided, their rifles trained on the entrance as the Deathlord light-saws continued to cut through it.
Heckubus began inputting the data into the transporter terminal when Scallywag spoke up. “Has it occurred to anyone that if the Deathlords know that’s where our ship is, they’ll have half their troops already there waiting? If we just teleport in, they’re gonna rip us to shreds!”
“The pirate’s synapses are actually firing, for once…” said Heckubus. “Sensors show a large number of Deathlords in that hangar.”
“Well, we can’t stay here!” said Jack, as the light-saws continued to cut through the door
.
“We’ll have to find somewhere else to transport to,” said Ganix.
“Like where?” snapped Scallywag. “That doesn’t change the fact that we’d still be on this bloody ship and a couple hundred Deathlords will still be lollygagging all around our only way out!”
“At least we’d be out of immediate danger,” argued Ganix.
“As long as we’re on this blasted ship, we’re in immediate danger,” retorted Scallywag. “We’d be better off floating around in bloody space!”
“That’s it!” said Jack, an idea suddenly hitting him.
“What’s it?” asked Scallywag. “What’d I say?”
“Space!” said Jack. “Teleport the Deathlords out of the hangar and into space! Clear the whole freakin’ thing out!”
Everyone suddenly perked up at the idea.
“Teleport the buggers into space? That’s cold, lad,” said Scallywag. “I like it!”
“Yes, yes, that’s a brilliant idea Earthman,” said Heckubus, typing furiously on the control panel. “Just like it was approximately 47 seconds ago when I had it first.”
With the click of one more button, a loud ZAP was heard outside the room’s door, accompanied by a large flash of purple light that bled through the open scars cut in the door’s frame. The sawing had stopped and the entrance loomed there, a gaping, open wound scarring almost completely around its edges.
“Mwuahaha,” laughed Heckubus.
Jack let out a WHOOP as the others breathed a sigh of relief. Scallywag even went so far as to pat the robot on the back.
“Good job, rust-bucket,” said Scallywag. “I was actually worried there for a second. Worried I’d have to kill all those buggers meself, that is.”
“You may yet get your chance,” said Heckubus. “Re-enforcements are on their way, and once I start with the teleportation protocol, I will need a full five minutes to completely clear the shuttle bay. I’m afraid I won’t be able to stop the sequence once it’s been activated.”
“Can we get rid of the re-enforcements first?” asked Jack.
“Not while they’re moving,” replied Heckubus. “The teleporter requires stationary targets to lock onto.”
“With the shape that door’s in,” chimed in Ganix, “they’re liable to barrel right through it, so we won’t have a chance to lock onto them like we did the others.”
“Then we’ll have to take our chances with the shuttle bay,” said Jack.
Ganix nodded. “Do it.”
Heckubus began inputting the appropriate information into the control panel.
“Yes, that’s all well and good,” said Scallywag, “But what do we do when those re-enforcements show up and we’re still not done clearing the way?”
Jack regarded the weakened metal door for a moment, before inspiration struck. He turned to Grohm, who was towering nearby.
“Yo, big guy,” said Jack.
Grohm snorted in acknowledgement.
“Do you know how to dropkick stuff?” Jack asked.
* * *
The final image of the Paragon’s smiling, ghostly form still raked at Zarrod’s mind as he ran through the corridors of his ship, his armored feet thumping heavily as he moved.
I had you, the Deathlord thought. I had you, and yet you somehow escaped me…
Rage bubbled inside him as the communication relay in his helm beeped, alerting him to a message from the bridge. Zarrod activated it, not bothering to slow down.
“Report!” bellowed the Deathlord Supreme.
“Supreme,” came Abraxas’s voice. “We have the infidels cornered in one of our teleportation bays. However, it appears they are teleporting our guards off the ship to clear a way for their escape.”
“How are they able to use our technology?” demanded Zarrod.
“Unknown, Supreme,” replied Abraxas. “The Acolytes are trying to figure out how they’ve been able to lock us out of all our teleportation systems. It appears their knowledge of our ship’s computers is more extensive than we had feared. We’ve been unable to regain full control of our systems.”
“If they teleport to their ship, they will be able to escape!” growled Zarrod. “That must not happen!”
“We have a squad outside their location now, Supreme,” said Abraxas. “We will try to intercept them before they teleport away.”
“Not good enough!” barked Zarrod. “Have the Acolytes lock down all computer systems. Disable all energy readings. Keep them from using that teleportation station. And send troops to the hangar bay containing their ship! Have them meet me there!”
“How many shall I send, my Lord?” Abraxas asked.
“ALL OF THEM!” raged the Deathlord Supreme.
With that, Zarrod cut off his communication and drew upon his death energy. It coursed through the very fibers of his body, causing his dark skin to glow with sickly white power. His cape ruffled and fanned out as the energy screamed forth, carrying Zarrod down the corridors of his ship at super-fast speed.
You will not escape me, thought Zarrod. I will have you. I will have all of you…
Chapter 33
The Dark Soldiers ran down the corridor toward the teleportation room, their weapons ready. The previous squad had almost cut through the entire door, which meant a forceful charge would be enough to break through into the room where the escaped prisoners were holed up.
The two Deathlords at the front of their squad picked up the pace, running at full speed, ready to throw themselves at the door to knock it down. They were just a few feet away from their target when it happened…
THA-WHOOM!!!
The metal door broke off what was remaining of its hinges and rocketed toward the Deathlords, slamming into the two who were about to charge into it and hurling them back as it hit the ground with a heavy THUMP.
Grohm lay on the floor to the door’s opening, fresh from a rather powerful dropkick. The giant alien rolled away to cover as the awaiting squad of Regal soldiers immediately opened fire, catching the oncoming Deathlords by surprise.
A few of the Dark Soldiers were able to react and to begin returning fire, but it was too little, too late. The volley from the Regal soldiers was unrelenting, and before long, the last of the Deathlord reinforcements had vanished in a puff of black dust.
“Weapons ready,” ordered Ganix. “Blast anything that comes down that hallway. Do not hesitate!”
His men responded affirmatively in unison.
“Heckubus…” said Ganix from his cover.
The robot popped up from behind the transporter console – which was unfortunately located directly in front of the now completely open doorway. “Yes, yes,” he replied. “The teleportation sequence is still working.”
Near the teleportation platform, Anna was still by Shepherd’s side. The man’s eyes were closed and his face seemed to be returning to its normal color. Anna hoped and prayed that whatever had happened to him was wearing off.
She looked up and saw Grohm getting to his feet. She met the Rognok’s small, red and black eyes and waved him over to her. Grohm lumbered up and looked down at Anna expectantly. Anna had never met a Rognok before, but she knew they were not much for conversation.
“What is your name?” Anna asked.
“Grohm,” the Rognok replied.
“Thank you for your help before, Grohm. My name is Anna.”
“Princess,” Grohm grunted.
“Yes,” she said. “If I may, I’d like to ask you for a favor. Is that okay?”
Grohm stared at her and finally grunted. Anna took that as a “yes.”
“You’re the biggest and strongest of the group,” she said. “It would mean a great deal to me if you would help ensure this man makes it safely aboard Jack’s ship.”
Anna gestured toward Shepherd. Grohm looked at the Paragon, then back to Anna. She couldn’t read any change in the Rognok’s expression. She held her breath, waiting for some answer from him. With his armor, Shepherd weighed too much for her or any of t
he others to carry. Although, she might be able to get two of the soldiers to drag Shepherd along with them, the group would more than likely need those soldiers free to fight in case anything happened. If the Rognok didn’t agree, Anna wasn’t sure what she’d do.
Finally, Grohm nodded, and she breathed a sigh of relief. She reached out and touched his massive wrist, looking up at him gratefully.
“I am in your debt, Grohm,” Anna said.
Grohm snorted, then moved to Shepherd and picked him up, slinging the Paragon over his shoulder. No sooner had the Rognok completed this action, however, than a series of angry beeps came from the console at which Heckubus was tapping away.
“Blast,” the robot muttered.
“Don’t like the sound of that,” mumbled Scallywag, who was still aiming his weapons down the empty corridor with the rest of the troops.
“What’s wrong?” asked Jack.
“Oh, nothing too serious,” replied Heckubus. “The Deathlords have just interrupted our teleportation sequence and stopped us from clearing out the hangar bay, that’s all.”
A collective groan rippled through the group.
“And they’re trying to shut down this station and keep us from teleporting away as well,” Heckubus continued.
“How long do we have?” asked Ganix.
“Not too much longer,” Heckubus replied. “It seems the Earthman’s ship is doing a pretty good job of keeping them at bay for now, but it’s only a matter of time before they shut down all our access.”
“Then we can’t wait any longer,” Ganix said, leaving his position. “We’ll have to go clear out the hangar now. How many Deathlords are left?”
“Hard to know,” replied Heckubus. “The Deathlords have disabled all energy signature readings to keep us from teleporting any more of them off the ship. We’re pretty much blind now.”
“Best guess?” asked Ganix.
“Half a dozen, at least.”
“Better than fifty,” muttered Ganix.
“Worse than zero,” grumbled Scallywag.
“We’ll deal with it,” said Ganix. “Here’s what we’re gonna do. Porter…”
Yeoman Porter looked up at Ganix, his eyes wide at being singled out.
Earthman Jack vs. The Ghost Planet Page 37
