Earthman Jack vs. The Ghost Planet

by Matthew Kadish

  “Sir?” Porter responded, his voice quivering slightly.

  “You stay behind with Scallywag, the Princess, and the others,” ordered Ganix. “The rest of you men are with me. We’re gonna clear out that hanger as best we can before the rest of you follow us there.”

  The remaining Regal soldiers left their cover and headed for the platform, their faces somber. Jack couldn’t blame them. They all may have been battle hardened, but teleporting into a situation with an unknown number of enemies would be enough to make anyone grim. Ganix turned to Heckubus.

  “Give us five minutes, then get the rest of you out of here,” he said.

  “I believe I can handle that,” the robot responded.

  Ganix gave Heckubus a curt nod then joined his men on the teleportation platform. They all stood back-to-back, their weapons ready.

  “Good luck, Major,” Scallywag said.

  “You too, Pirate,” Ganix responded. “See you in five.”

  And in a flash of purple, they were gone.

  Jack and the others stood in the teleportation room, and for a moment the only sound was the incessant tapping of Heckubus at his control panel.

  “I say,” said Professor Green, looking over Heckubus’s shoulder. “What in the world are you doing?”

  “Covering our collective posteriors,” replied the robot, haughtily. “I am locking down every entrance to that hanger to prevent any reinforcements from arriving, sending feedback loops throughout the Deathlord systems to keep them from trying anything sneaky, and setting a timer so we can all teleport out of here post-haste when we’re supposed to.”

  “Blimee,” said Scallywag, standing opposite Yeoman Porter, still covering the entrance. “That’s actually pretty smart, rust-bucket.”

  “Of course it’s smart, fool!” snapped Heckubus. “I am mere minutes away from escaping this deathtrap and being rid of all you annoying simpletons. I want to make sure nothing more goes wrong. NOTHING!”

  Then, without warning, a plasma blast streaked into the room, narrowly missing Heckubus, who promptly shrieked like a little girl and dove for cover.

  Jack turned just in time to get a glance out the doorway as Deathlord troopers, who’d taken positions at the end of the corridor, began to unleash blasts of plasma fire into the room.

  Scallywag and Porter did their best to return fire, but the unrelenting volley made it hard for them to pop out of cover. Jack knew it was just a matter of time before the Deathlords tried to make their way in.

  “Blast!” cried Scallywag as a plasma beam sparked off the wall right near his face. “We gotta teleport outta here, now!”

  “But it hasn’t been five minutes yet!” objected Porter.

  “We don’t got five bloody minutes!” sneered Scallywag.

  The teleport console was in the middle of the Deathlord blaster fire, and a few bolts were even hitting it. Jack knew if that console were destroyed, none of them was getting out of there. He turned to Heckubus, who had scrambled up to the rest of the group by the platform.

  “You need to activate the teleportation sequence!” he said.

  “Are you mad?” screeched Heckubus. “I can’t get near that console without being blasted to shreds!”

  Jack grabbed Heckubus by his head and looked the robot in his large eyes.

  “You are the only one who knows how to use that thing,” Jack said. “If you don’t do it, we’re going to die!”

  “If I die, I’m taking all of you with me!” the robot insisted.

  Jack sighed. “Are you, Heckubus Moriarty, evil genius extraordinaire, actually going to allow your masterful escape from the clutches of a Deathlord mothership to be foiled by a few lousy laser blasts?”

  Heckubus squinted at Jack, the gears in the robot’s head turning audibly. “You are an annoying little Earthman, you know that?” he asked.

  “Just get us out of here!” Jack replied.

  At the entrance, Scallywag fired a few blasts just long enough to see the squad of Dark Soldiers begin making their way down the corridor toward them.

  “Whatever yer gonna do, do it fast!” Scallywag yelled. “They’re on their way here!”

  “Okay, okay, fine!” said Heckubus, straightening up. The robot turned and looked at the console, his multiple microprocessors analyzing his various options. Finally, he opened up his chest and took out his interface spike, but this time, he pulled out much more cable to go with it.

  “Grohm, you big dumb beast,” said Heckubus. “Would you be so kind as to throw this at the control console?”

  Heckubus offered Grohm the spike. Grohm looked at it and grunted.

  “Just hurl it at the console,” Heckubus said. “Make sure it embeds itself far enough to allow its interface field to make contact with the console’s circuitry. I’ll take care of the rest.”

  Grohm took the spike from Heckubus and looked at it, then looked at the console, then back at the spike. Heckubus sighed.

  “We don’t have all day, you dolt!” said the robot. “Throw the blasted—”

  With a flick of his wrist, Grohm whipped the spike toward the console. It shot out, embedding itself halfway through the back of the control panel with a spark. Heckubus stumbled slightly as the tether to his chest went taught.

  “Ah, good shot,” said the robot. “Activating the teleportation sequence… now!”

  With a tug, Heckubus pulled the interface spike free from the console and reeled it back up into his chest.

  “Everyone on the platform!” called out the robot as he bounded up onto the metallic rectangle. “We have fifteen seconds!”

  “Scally! Porter! Get up here now!” cried Jack as he and the others made their way onto the teleporter.

  Scallywag and Yeoman Porter broke away from their cover and dashed for the teleporter platform. No sooner had they reached the others than Deathlord soldiers entered the room and took aim at the group.

  Then, Jack felt a ripple of static electricity run through his body as his vision blurred in a swirl of purple light. When his head cleared, he found himself surrounded by blasts of plasma fire.

  For a split second, he was afraid that somehow the teleport hadn’t worked and the Deathlord troopers were about to kill them all. But after the initial shock, he could see they were indeed in a large, cavernous hanger bay.

  The room looked like a ten-story warehouse, with metal catwalks lining the ceiling and large lights glaring down from cold, grey metallic alcoves. His heart leapt for joy when he glanced behind him to see his spaceship, hovering quietly a few feet above the floor, as if it were patiently waiting for them to arrive.

  Ganix and his men were spread out, firing at what looked to be three Deathlord soldiers, who were well entrenched behind the cover of various metal crates and boxes – and Jack and the crew happened to be in the middle of the crossfire.

  “Get down!” sneered Scallywag, as he jumped away from the group, charging the nearest Deathlord with his guns blazing.

  Jack grabbed Anna and fell on top of her, trying to shield her with his body. Yeoman Porter wasn’t far behind, taking up a position close to the Princess and giving Scallywag some cover fire.

  Heckubus shrieked and cowered behind Grohm, who stood in the midst of the crossfire completely unfazed. Professor Green quickly joined the robot.

  Scallywag leapt over some crates and blasted the Deathlord hiding behind them, making short work of him. Spurred on by the new arrivals, Ganix and his men rushed forward toward the remaining Deathlord soldiers, guns blazing.

  Scallywag circled around, flanking the Deathlords from behind their cover. As he dispatched one more, Ganix and his men took care of the last one.

  Just like that, the gunfight was over.

  “Are you all right, Your Majesty?” Porter asked.

  Anna nodded as Jack rolled off her and helped her up.

  “I’m okay, too,” said Heckubus. “In case anyone is interested.”

  “Nice moves, Visini,” Ganix said as Scallywag
came walking up, twirling his blaster pistols.

  “Ah, you Regals always were slow to the draw,” Scallywag smirked.

  Ganix shook his head good-naturedly. “Easy to say when you come in at the end of the fight,” he said. “You should have seen how many there were when we first got here.”

  “Lemme guess,” replied Scallywag. “Three?”

  Ganix chuckled. “Jack,” he said. “Hurry up and get us on your ship. I don’t think I can put up with this pirate too much longer.”

  “With pleasure,” said Jack. He looked at his ship and asked it to let them on board. The back of his head tingled in response as the front of the vessel – the part closest to the ground – opened up and formed a ramp, leading to an alcove with a teleportation platform embedded in the floor.

  Everyone looked at the site like it was the most beautiful thing they’d ever seen.

  “I don’t believe it,” Jack said with a smile, looking from his ship to Anna. “We actually made it.”

  Anna smiled, too, and nodded. “We’re getting out of here.”

  Suddenly, Anna threw herself at Jack, giving him a big hug. At first, Jack’s brain didn’t know how to process what was happening. Then, it kicked back into gear.

  Hug her back, stupid!

  Jack returned Anna’s embrace. Despite everything they’d been through, her hair somehow smelled like strawberries. And for a brief second, it felt like the adventure was over. The good guys had prevailed.

  At least, it felt that way until a loud CRACK echoed through the hanger.

  The group froze and looked around as the sound bounced off the walls, as though an invisible whip were being violently lashed somewhere.

  “That can’t be good,” grumbled Scallywag.

  Jack and Anna broke off their embrace, looking around as they felt the entire room begin to reverberate, as if someone had put thousands of massive speakers against the walls and had turned the bass all the way up.

  “Everyone on the ship!” cried Ganix. “NOW!”

  Jack and Anna’s eyes met, each filled with surprise. They turned to move, everyone just barely starting their rush toward the ship when the explosion happened.

  WHA-BOOM!!!!

  The large circular door leading into the hangar bay suddenly exploded, sending chunks of metal, jagged black rock, and shrapnel flying through the air, riding a powerful shockwave that knocked all of them off their feet.

  Jack was thrown back a few feet and hit the ground hard, his ears ringing from the explosion. He looked up, his vision blurry, eventually focusing in on Anna’s face.

  She had been thrown to the floor, too, dazed. She gazed at him, her blue eyes meeting his for a split second before they widened in terror.

  Her body jerked as if she’d been stabbed, and before Jack knew it, Anna was reeled back violently into the air, flying across the expanse of the hangar bay and into the clawed hand of Zarrod.

  The Deathlord Supreme stood menacingly behind the hole he’d blown in the wall of his ship, rubble strewn about his feet, as Anna wriggled helplessly in the smokey air before him. His eyes burned fiery red, and behind him an army of Deathlord soldiers stood, waiting to be unleashed.

  “Anna!” Jack cried, sounding dull and distant as the ringing in his head from the explosion still lingered. Jack tried to stand back up and saw Ganix and the others recovering, too.

  Ganix was the first to get to his feet, seeing the Princess he had sworn to protect in the hands of the Deathlords. The sight of Anna in the enemy’s clutches pierced his heart with anguish. They had been so close to escape… so close…

  Ganix’s eyes moved to what remained of his men, now just four in number. They no doubt saw the same thing he did. He looked at each one of them in turn, their eyes meeting. In those moments, their resolve took hold, and each one of them – to a man – embraced his solemn duty, even though they all knew what it ultimately meant.

  “To arms, men!” he shouted, gripping his rifle. “Protect the Princess!”

  With a final battle cry, his men got to their feet and charged toward the Deathlords, unleashing a volley of blaster fire in their last-ditch attempt to rescue Anna.

  Zarrod stood motionless as the plasma blasts rained down around him.

  “Your orders, Supreme?” asked Abraxas, standing at his side.

  Zarrod gazed out at the remnants of the Regal soldiers, scrambling in their suicidal effort to free the girl he held firmly in his grasp. To Zarrod, there was something so desperate and pathetic to the whole scene, as though it were bad theater for which he no longer had the stomach. With a tilt of his head, he gave the order…

  “Kill them all,” he commanded.

  “As you wish,” replied Abraxas gleefully, stepping forward and swinging his arm into the air, sending a porcupined wave of spikes railroading across the floor toward the men.

  Ganix and the others dodged as best they could, but the force of the blast achieved its purpose, throwing them from their charge and allowing time for the Deathlord soldiers to flood into the hanger and to unleash a volley of blaster fire.

  Jack ducked and covered as the deadly red bolts shot by overhead. Not far away, he saw Professor Green lying on the ground. He’d been hit by a chunk of the wall from the blast, pinning his leg under some rubble. Jack called out his name and saw Green’s eyes flutter open. He was still alive.

  He tried to crawl toward the Professor, but suddenly he felt a hand grab the back of his jacket. At first he struggled, fearing it was a Deathlord, but he was yanked up and into the face of Scallywag.

  “We gotta go, lad,” said the Visini, dragging Jack along as he fired his blaster at the encroaching Deathlords.

  “NO!” protested Jack. “Anna – the Professor–”

  “They’re gone,” sneered Scallywag. “And we need you to fly us out of here.”

  Scallywag kicked Grohm who was lumbering to his feet. “Get on the ship,” Scallywag ordered. “Those Regals ain’t gonna hold ‘em off forever.”

  Heckubus scrambled past them, his skinny legs creaking as he moved. “Barbarous!” he cried. “An explosion? So brutish. No artistry at all…”

  Grohm looked behind him, seeing the Deathlords flood into the hanger. His eyes settled on Zarrod, and for a moment, it looked as though he were going to rush forward and take on the Deathlord Supreme himself.

  “Battle…” he grumbled.

  “Not now, ya bloody Rognok!” snapped Scallywag as he kicked him again, throwing him Jack. “That Earthman is our only way outta here – now get him on the blasted ship, or we’re all gonna die!”

  Grohm hesitated for a heartbeat before his massive hand clamped down around Jack’s arm. Jack struggled to get free. “No!” Jack cried. “We can’t leave them! We have to do something!”

  Jack tried to pull away from Grohm’s grip, but it was fruitless. Grohm picked up Shepherd, who was lying unconscious on the ground nearby, and swung him over his shoulder.

  “Hurry, blast it!” yelled Scallywag as he rushed into the Ancient ship’s boarding bay next to a cowering Heckubus. Scallywag gave Grohm cover fire as the Rognok lumbered into the ship’s opening, dragging Jack along with him as he did so.

  “No! STOP!” screamed Jack. “We can’t – we’ve gotta help them! We—”

  The back of Scallywag’s hand slapped Jack across the face hard. The pirate grabbed Jack and looked him deep in the eyes, more serious and urgent than Jack had ever seen him before.

  “There is no helping them!” sneered Scallywag. “They’re all dead! And we will be, too, unless ya get us out of here!”

  “The Visini is correct, Earthman,” piped up Heckubus. “Now seal off the ship before we’re overrun.”

  Jack looked at the Deathlords closing in on them, his heart sinking. He knew they were right. With a thought, he closed the entrance to the forward boarding bay, and said “Bridge.”

  Instantly, they were teleported to the Bridge of the ship. Grohm, Scallywag, and Heckubus looked around startled.r />
  “Well, that was… fancy,” muttered Scallywag.

  “Fascinating,” said Heckubus, twiddling his fingers.

  Jack began jerking at Grohm’s grip, hitting his arm. “Let go of me!” he demanded.

  Grohm released Jack, who immediately ran to the front of the bridge, looking out of the viewscreen into the hangar below, just in time to see the end of the battle.

  Yeoman Porter, Ensign Ash, and Navigator Dumac lay dead on the ground, victims of the unyielding Deathlord onslaught. Major Ganix was the last one standing, taking cover behind some rubble, his leg badly burned from enemy fire.

  Jack saw Abraxas hurl a ball of energy at the rubble, catching Ganix off guard and slamming him onto his back.

  Abraxas leapt into the air, landing on top of the fallen soldier. His clawed hand wrapped itself around Ganix’s throat, as the other hand readied itself to tear the life from the Regal’s body.

  “You’ve failed, Regal,” said Abraxas, glaring into Ganix’s defiant eyes. “And now, you die.”

  Ganix grabbed onto Abraxas’ arm, holding the Deathlord in place.

  “You first,” he muttered, before activating his last thermal grenade with his free hand.

  Abraxas looked at the grenade with mild surprise before it blew up, evaporating the Deathlord and Ganix in a brilliant explosion.

  “NO!” Jack screamed.

  More Deathlords were flooding into the hangar, firing upon the Ancient ship. Alarms on the bridge started to sound and Jack’s companions joined him.

  “Fire this ship up, lad!” ordered Scallywag. “We gotta move before they blast us to pieces!”

  Jack stood, immobile, looking down at Zarrod below him. The Deathlord Supreme gazed back up at the ship, tall and ominous, Anna still hanging helplessly at his side. Jack looked at her, his heart tearing in two. He knew he had to escape, but the thought of leaving Anna behind was too terrible a choice for him to comprehend.

  Jack could hear Heckubus running around the bridge trying to start up the ship himself, to no avail. He could hear Scallywag yelling at him to do something before it was too late. But all Jack could do was gaze down at Anna, helpless and afraid.