Earthman Jack vs. The Ghost Planet

by Matthew Kadish

  “As do I,” agreed Scallywag.

  Jack looked at the holographic image of the Ghost Planet. Even through the digital blips and crackles of the holo-generator, it loomed as a cold, menacing, and dreadful object on the bridge of the ship, as though its mere presence would infect any who gazed upon it. For a brief moment, doubt took hold of him, and he realized he hadn’t really thought through just how difficult something like this might be.

  Seeing the uncertainty on Jack’s face, Scallywag turned to Heckubus. “Put in the coordinates for the outpost,” he said. “We’re leaving.”

  In the back of his mind, Jack felt a twinge of anger brew, percolating up from Scallywag’s sudden order, as though this were his ship. Jack pushed away any doubt he felt. He was going to do this. He had to do this.

  “We’re not going to the outpost,” said Jack sternly.

  “Yes, we are,” replied Scallywag as he walked up to the control chair and gestured toward it. “Now hop in, and let’s get a move on. I think I’ve suffered enough insanity for one lifetime.”

  Jack stepped forward, not willing to back down.

  “We are going to the Ghost Planet, and we’re going to rescue Anna,” said Jack.

  “No, we’re not,” insisted Scallywag. “Yer girlfriend is as good as dead, lad. Get over it.”

  “You’re not the one in charge here,” said Jack.

  Scallywag scowled and unholstered one of his blasters, aiming it at Jack.

  “This says I am,” the pirate sneered.

  “Ooooooo,” twiddled Heckubus. “Things just got interesting.”

  Jack looked at the gun in Scallywag’s hand, a little taken aback. “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “I’m sick of arguing, lad,” said Scallywag. “I feel for ya, I do. But I’ve been the captain of me own ship for many a cycle, and I don’t take orders from anyone – especially some wet-behind-the-ears alien kid who happened to luck into a bloody mystery ship. Now get in the chair, fire up the engines, or I’ll blast ya to shreds.”

  “If you kill me, you’ll never be able to pilot this ship,” said Jack.

  “And what if I just maim you, hmmmm?” asked Scallywag. “You don’t need both knees to fly, do ya lad?”

  Jack regarded Scallywag for a moment, looking the pirate in his eyes. All the warnings he’d heard from Sergeant Rodham came flooding back to him. But in his heart, he still didn’t believe them. This man had saved his life many times and shown incredible bravery since pretty much the moment they’d met. And for the life of him, Jack refused to believe Scallywag was as bad as everyone – maybe even the Visini himself – believed him to be.

  “Need I remind you that Faruuz died on that ship? That he died because of the Deathlords?” said Jack.

  “And what does that have ta do with anything?” asked Scallywag.

  “Were you really trying to rescue Faruuz?” Jack asked. “Did you really want to make amends with him?”

  “What’s it matter?” replied the pirate. “The ol’ brute is dead.”

  “It matters,” said Jack. “Because despite everything I’ve heard about you and your kind, Scally, I believe in my heart that you really were there to try to help him.”

  Scallywag regarded Jack for a moment before finally lowering his pistol. “Ya don’t know anything about me,” he said.

  “Maybe,” replied Jack. “But I think you really are trying to be someone different. I think you’re trying to be a better man than you believe you are. That’s why you tried to help Faruuz. That’s why you tried to help me.”

  “I was just surviving,” replied Scallywag. “It’s what I always do. I needed Faruuz on me side, and I needed you ta get off that bloody Deathlord ship. Simple as that, lad.”

  “So that’s all you care about? Surviving?” Jack asked. “Because eventually, some day, the Deathlords are going to come to your homeworld. And when they do, you have to ask yourself if you’re going to be okay to continue living after everything and everyone you’ve ever known have been destroyed.”

  “I don’t care about me homeworld,” said Scallywag. “I don’t care about anybody except meself.”

  “You say that now,” replied Jack. “But trust me. I watched when the Deathlords destroyed my planet. I saw it blow up right in front of me. Everyone I loved and cared about is gone, and that hurts. More than you can probably understand. But the funny thing is, even the things I hated about it, all the stuff I didn’t care about or didn’t like… I’d give anything to have any of it back now.”

  “Look, lad–”

  “No, you look!” Jack persisted. “I don’t care what color you are or how badly you say you want to save your own hide. When your world is gone, it’s gone, and even the most selfish jerk in the universe is going to feel that kind of loss. You might be alive but if there’s nowhere left for you to go, what’s the point? What kind of life can you hope to live if you never get to see your own sun come up, or taste the food you grew up with? What happens when you never get to see any of your own people, anywhere, and don’t have a single memento of what it means to have been born at all? What’s worth living for, if everything you’ve ever known or loved has been erased from existence? You don’t just lose a planet, Scally, you lose a part of yourself – a part that will never come back, no matter where you run to.”

  Scallywag sighed and looked away. If the alien had any heart at all, Jack hoped his words were having some kind of effect.

  “I’m the last of my kind,” said Jack. “Do you really want to be the last of yours?”

  Scallywag’s shoulders slumped. He turned to Jack, avoiding his gaze, his mouth turned in a sad frown. The pirate suddenly looked very tired.

  “I’m no hero, boy,” said Scallywag.

  “No,” said Jack. “But you’re what I’ve got. I need you, Scally. I need all of you. I can’t do this alone.”

  “Earthman not alone,” said Grohm, standing up, now suddenly fully awake. Jack looked at the lumbering Rognok as the alien gazed down at him. “Grohm will go. Grohm will fight.”

  Jack smiled at Grohm. “Thanks, big guy,” he said.

  “Bloody Rognok,” mumbled Scallywag. “He’ll go anywhere there’s a fight. He don’t care if he dies.”

  Grohm looked at Scallywag, his red eyes narrowing. “Coward,” he said.

  Scallywag raised his eyebrow. “Beg yer pardon?” he replied, somewhat taken aback.

  “Grohm help you in Pit,” Grohm said. “Grohm fight for you. Grohm protect you.”

  “And now you want me to repay all that by going on a slagging suicide mission?” asked Scallywag.

  “Visini can run,” snorted Grohm. “Or Visini can fight. Live life in fear, running away – or live fighting for something greater than self.”

  Scallywag looked at Grohm uncomfortably. “Since when did you become a bloody philosopher?” he asked. “All that time in the Pit, I never heard you string more than two words together.”

  Grohm approached Scallywag, towering over the pirate, meeting his gaze with his hard red and black eyes. “Grohm sees more than Visini thinks,” he said. “Grohm hears more than Visini knows. Grohm does not sleep. Grohm never sleeps.”

  “What the blazes are you going on about?”

  Grohm reached out and put his massive hand on Scallywag’s shoulder. “Grohm sees Visini pirate. Hears him when Visini pirate doesn’t think Grohm is listening. Grohm knows why Visini fights. Grohm knows what Visini seeks.”

  “And what’s that?” Scallywag demanded.

  “Honor,” rumbled Grohm. “Redemption. Justice.” Grohm pointed at Jack. “Earthman gives you chance for all those things, and you want to run away?”

  Grohm stepped back and stood side by side with Jack. “Grohm calls that a coward,” he said flatly.

  Scallywag stared at Grohm, eyes wide, unable to speak. It was obvious Grohm’s words got to him, and Jack didn’t want to let that go to waste.

  “I know what I’m asking of all of you,” said Jack. “But t
here’s a reason why it was the four of us who made it out of that mothership. Heckubus has the brains. Grohm has the strength. I have the tech. And you, Scally… you’re the survivor. You know how to stay alive, no matter how bad things get. And among the four of us, I think we have a little bit of luck on our side, too.”

  Jack stepped toward Scallywag. “I may just be a kid, but I know what it takes to be a part of a team. And like it or not, the four of us are a team. A good one – a team that defied the odds and escaped something everyone thought was certain death. If we did it once, we can do it again. Because if we don’t do this – if we don’t act now to stop the Deathlords, they win! And if there’s just one thing you need to know about me, Scally, it’s this: I hate to lose.”

  Heckubus clapped his tiny metal hands together. “Oh, bravo!” the robot said. “If I had a heart, I’m sure it would be melting by now.”

  “Shut it, ya tin can,” grumbled Scallywag.

  Scallywag stared at Jack for a heartbeat before cradling his face with his hand. The Visini rubbed his forehead, and his expression curled up into the kind of look that told Jack the pirate knew he was about to do something he felt he’d regret.

  “I shoulda let ol’ Faruuz blast ya when he had the chance,” smiled Scallywag.

  Jack smiled back. “Does that mean you’ll help?”

  Scallywag looked from Jack to Grohm and sighed. “There’s a lot that could go wrong with this insanity you’ve hatched, lad. This ain’t some run o’ the mill prison break, or ship raid for that matter. You know what we’d be up against. How do you propose the four o’ us deal with all that?”

  “Don’t worry about it,” said Jack as he glared at the image of the Ghost Planet. “I have a plan.”

  “Is that so?” replied Scallywag. “Yer saying ya have a plan that will allow us ta get past the planetary defenses, infiltrate the Deathlord stronghold, and then escape the inescapable planet without getting killed?”

  “I do.”

  Scallywag and Grohm exchanged a skeptical look.

  “Very well,” said Scallywag. “Let’s hear it.”

  “Heckubus…” said Jack.

  “Yes?” replied the robot.

  “Think of a plan.”

  Scallywag laughed. “That’s yer brilliant idea? Ask the robot?”

  “Is he not the greatest evil genius criminal mastermind in seven star systems?” asked Jack.

  “Eight, actually,” corrected Heckubus.

  “Well,” said Jack. “Just imagine how many star systems you’d be known in if we can actually pull this off and rescue the heir to the largest empire in the entire galaxy.”

  Heckubus tilted his head thoughtfully. “Hmmm… interesting…”

  “Forget it!” exclaimed Scallywag. “I am not putting my life in the hands of a bloody malfunctioning computer with legs. He can claim he’s the most brilliant criminal mind in the entire universe, but I have yet to bloody see it.”

  “Well, now’s his chance to prove it,” said Jack. “What do you say, Heckubus? Can you come up with a plan?”

  “Can it be an evil plan?” asked Heckubus.

  “Yes,” replied Jack.

  Heckubus twiddled his fingers excitedly.

  “Excellent…” the robot intoned.

  Chapter 37

  Abraxas stood on the bridge of the mothership, gazing up at the large viewscreen now filled with the thick blue and purple cloud of the nebula. He could feel the floor vibrate slightly as another explosion rocked the hull, echoing a dull thud throughout the room. The Supreme had been sending shards into the nebula for months to try to clear out the mines so the path to the Ghost Planet would be safe for the fleet, but it seemed like no matter how many they got rid of, more would somehow appear in their place.

  After finally dropping out of hyperspace, Abraxas had sent the other Planetkillers into the cloud ahead of the Inferno so they might absorb the brunt of the damage during the journey through the nebula. Not that the Inferno couldn’t take the damage the mines posed to it, but with what was about to happen, Abraxas did not want to take any unnecessary chances.

  The Deathlord paced back and forth, gazing at the bridge’s Acolytes as they silently manned their consoles. Acolytes were an efficient lot, but their inability to control the ship while the prisoners had made their escape was something that would need to be addressed. The higher in rank a Deathlord was, the more self-aware he became, and Abraxas worried the rank-and-file among the ship’s crew were not sufficiently equipped for what had transpired. After the Earthman’s ship had disappeared, full control had been restored, which led the Vicar General to conclude that the vessel had somehow infiltrated their systems when it was supposed to have been the other way around.

  After admitting this mistake, the Deathlord Supreme had rightly culled the Vicar General for his failure. Abraxas hoped his replacement would be far more capable (and far less annoying). He had always known they should have simply destroyed the ship when they’d had the chance. Perhaps next time the Supreme would take his suggestions more seriously.

  Abraxas flexed his hand as he paced. He always hated how stiff new bodies felt so soon after reincarnation. He’d have preferred to take the time to pull his former body back together after the Regal had suckered him with that cheap thermal grenade trick, but the Supreme did not want to afford him that luxury. By the time the Earthman and his friends had made their escape, the Inferno was almost to its destination, and Abraxas would be needed to look after the ship while the Supreme carried out his duties.

  Another explosion echoed throughout the bridge as the ship hit yet another mine. Abraxas approached a console and called up more views from the outside. The nebula cloud was thick with dust and gas, making sensor readings impossible. All navigation had to be done by sight, and even that was a chore. Most of the navigation beacons they had seeded throughout the nebula during their time searching for the planet had been destroyed or had gone missing. New ones had to constantly be deployed and replaced.

  On the port and starboard side of the ship, Abraxas could see the tiny beads of light mounted on the escort shards, which flew in formation around the vessel. Their job was to intercept any missiles that might be fired at the ship from the hidden weapon platforms strewn about the cloud – either by shooting them down or ramming them before they could reach the mothership. Missiles were always more troublesome than mines. The missiles could zero in on engines or shield generators or any number of places that could cause major headaches should they be damaged in some way. And with visibility so low and sensors not functioning, a missile could creep up on them before they knew it. The mothership’s shields would, of course, protect them from such an attack, but they were under orders to preserve as much power as possible and, thus, to leave the shields to a bare minimum. Couple that with the constant mine strikes, and the journey to the Ghost Planet suddenly became quite problematic.

  But then, it would all be worth it when they finally arrived. The Supreme had alluded to what would transpire once the fleet had reached its destination. It was not Abraxas’s habit to doubt his superior, but even he harbored some skepticism about what was going to happen. However, if what he had heard were true, then all aboard the fleet would witness something beyond even their wildest imaginations.

  “We are nearing the nebula oasis, Warlord,” reported one of the Acolytes. “Estimated time to the Ghost Planet is five minutes.”

  “I shall inform the Supreme,” replied Abraxas. No sooner had he completed his sentence than the main entrance to the bridge rolled open and Zarrod stepped through. Somehow, the Deathlord Supreme always seemed to know what was happening on his bridge.

  Hanging in the air beside him was the Regal girl. Her body was ridgid, her skin was pale, and her face was twisted in pain. Abraxas enjoyed seeing the suffering of such inferior life-forms. As he understood it, the Supreme had decided to spend the remainder of the journey torturing her to advance the assimilation process. The girl floated beside Zarrod a
s he walked and was thrown to the ground like a dying animal when Zarrod reached Abraxas’s station.

  The girl hit the ground heavily and Abraxas heard the sweet sound of a sob escape from her as she was suddenly able to breathe once again, free from the clutches of the Supreme’s soul grasp. Abraxas glanced at her briefly. Tears stained her cheeks; her blonde hair, thick with sweat, clung to her skin. Her hands trembled, and her body shook as she coughed. But when she looked up at them, Abraxas could see in her eyes that she still remained defiant. Her will was strong, obviously, but in some way Abraxas was glad she was resisting. It just meant she’d suffer longer.

  “Report,” commanded Zarrod.

  “Most of the fleet has reached the Ghost Planet and taken position around it as ordered, Supreme,” replied Abraxas. “The first ones through the nebula report severe damage to their ships, though nothing that will impede the mission. Most others have only reported moderate damage to their hulls.”

  “And what of our ship?”

  “We’ve had a few mine strikes, but nothing serious,” said Abraxas. “The ship should be in almost perfect condition to make our descent.”

  “Excellent,” said Zarrod. “Tell the Acolytes to prepare the shield generators. We will need them shortly.”

  Abraxas nodded and relayed the Supreme’s orders. Zarrod stood gazing up at the viewscreen as the blue and purple of the nebula swirled before it, as if parting to allow them through. Abraxas stood by the Supreme’s side patiently, awaiting further orders.

  “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” said Zarrod softly.

  The comment caught Abraxas slightly off guard. His mind understood the concept of beauty, but Abraxas himself had never actually experienced it. He looked at the Supreme curiously.