“That’s a lot of space bugs,” muttered Jack, doubt and worry starting to take root in his gut.
“Fear not, Earthman,” said Heckubus. “After extensive review of our last encounter, I’ll assure you that our shields will now adequately protect the ship from them. The shields will not survive their onslaught; however, they shouldn’t be able to damage us in any significant way before we break through their swarm.”
“Great,” said Scallywag. “Round two with mines and missiles and no bloody shields.”
“After analyzing the Earthman’s reflexes, I have no doubt we can avoid anything that might harm us in the nebula,” replied the robot. “I’ve had the opportunity to apply one of my more experimental programs to the ship’s sensors which should compensate for our previous lack of signal strength. It’s never been tested in the field before. However, considering that I am, in fact, a genius, there is little doubt that–”
“Heckubus,” interrupted Jack.
“Yes?”
“Shut up,” he said.
“Hmph,” muttered Heckubus as he went back to monitoring the ship’s systems. “The slightest bit of insurmountable danger and you organics get so testy.”
Jack checked the sensors. The planetary shield was about to go at any second. He took a deep breath and steeled himself. Nothing more than level 19 on Nova Commander IV, he thought to himself. Time to finally break my top score.
“Here we go,” said Jack as he punched the ship’s engines, accelerating fully toward the planet’s shield. All across the viewscreen of the Earthship, holes began to form in the shield, like paper burned over a flame. The holes grew slowly as the energy of the shield died. Black tendrils made up of hundreds of trillions of insects shot through, greedily rushing toward the planet to consume anything they could find.
As he angled the ship toward a newly opening hole in the shield, Jack could almost feel his companions on the bridge tense their bodies, much as people brace themselves right before the apex of a rollercoaster ride. A swarm of black death rushed up to meet them as Jack pushed the engines as hard as he could.
An alarm sounded as the Earthship met the swarm, its shields rapidly depleting. Jack gritted his teeth as he felt his vessel shake from the impact of pushing through the swarm. In reality, it had happened in half a second, but it felt like it had been an eternity. After he broke through and saw the brilliant blue and purple of the surrounding nebula before him, he was finally able to breathe again.
“Ha, HA!” exclaimed Heckubus. “What did I tell you? Made it through without a scratch, and with 2% shield strength left to spare. Sometimes my brilliance even amazes me.”
“Heckubus,” said Jack.
“Yes?”
“Shut up,” the group said in unison.
“So ungrateful,” muttered the robot as he sullenly went back to monitoring his console.
“Oy, we got company,” said Scallywag as his station beeped at him urgently. Jack called up a rear view on his holoscreen. The Ghost Planet was now covered with a swirling black mess, peppered with pale white oases where bits of its surface were still visible. But more disconcerting than the image of an entire planet in the process of being eaten, a large cloud of darkness trailed behind the Earthship as a swarm of the insects had broken off to pursue them.
And it was gaining.
“Those things are faster than I thought,” said Jack.
“Bloody insects,” growled Scallywag. “Ya got a whole sodding planet ya could eat! Why chase us?”
“It’s quite simple really,” chimed in Green. “They’re predatory insects. They see prey; they pursue it. It’s simply their nature to–”
“Professor,” said Heckubus.
“Yes?”
“Shut up,” the robot said.
Green blinked at Heckubus. “Not so nice when someone says it to you, hmmmm?” chided the robot smugly.
“Guys, get me everything you can to the engines and get our shields back up!” ordered Jack. They were racing toward the lip of the nebula, but even at their current speed Jack could tell the swarm would eventually overtake them. “Scally, shoot at them – see if that will at least slow them down.”
“Aye-aye, capt’n,” the pirate muttered, having already opened fire on the pursuing insects.
The red plasma blasts from the ship’s rear battery tore through the swarm that was following them. Where they hit, the swarm briefly hollowed out but quickly reformed. If the blasts were indeed slowing them down, it was not by much.
The Earthship raced into the blue and purple of the nebula, the front viewscreen now just displaying an ocean of gorgeously colored gas. Jack called up the new enhanced sensors Heckubus had configured. On the viewscreen the ship quickly added wire-frame outlines in the shape of diamonds and orbs in various places on the readout, giving the whole thing the odd feel of a 1980’s video game.
Jack’s link with the ship instantly let him know that the diamonds seemed to be mines, and the orbs seemed to be missile platforms. He made a mental note to stay as far away from the orbs on the screen as possible.
All in all, there didn’t seem to be that many around. As long as Jack had some idea where they were located, he felt confident their escape was all but guaranteed.
We may just get out of this yet, thought Jack, allowing a small smile of relief to form on his face.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a mess of diamonds appeared on the viewscreen in front of them. Jack’s heart leapt into his throat as he frantically jerked the ship into a corkscrew, narrowly missing the closest new mine that had magically appeared out of nowhere. A proximity alarm blared as they rushed deeper into a suddenly dense minefield. Jack did everything he could to bank and weave to avoid hitting them.
“Heckubus!” he screamed. “Fix your stupid sensors! They almost flew us right into a butt-ton of mines!”
“My sensors are working perfectly,” the robot replied. “Those mines were not there a second ago.”
“Mines just don’t appear outta thin air,” said Scallywag.
“Seriously?” said Heckubus as he stared down Scallywag. “After being on that planet, you’re going to question instantly appearing minefields?”
Scallywag looked like he was about to say something, but then he acknowledged his defeat to logic. Grohm chuckled.
“Quiet, you,” retorted Scallywag.
“Jack,” said Anna. “Those circles… the missile platforms in the nebula… they’re moving.”
Jack checked his sensors. Sure enough, the circles seemed to be repositioning themselves toward the path of their ship.
“Son of a…” mumbled Jack.
“I say,” said Green. “I don’t suppose it’s possible that those platforms aren’t just for shooting missiles but perhaps for laying the mines, as well?”
“That would make sense,” replied Heckubus. “My guess is they have some type of replication technology allowing them to create missiles and mines as needed. It could be as simple as them tracking ship movements and teleporting mines into their path.”
“Great!” sneered Scallywag. “How the bloody hell do we avoid a minefield that can appear right in front of us?”
“Easy,” said Jack. “We don’t fly in a straight line.”
With that, Jack began to bank and weave the ship, pulling it into wide arcs and corkscrews. The wireframe diamonds on the viewscreen started popping up, but quickly moved out of the way as Jack tried his best to keep their path random – all the while keeping an eye on the rearview of his ship as the space bugs struggled to keep up with them.
“It’s working!” said Anna. “The platforms aren’t able to pinpoint our trajectory, and the insects are having a hard time following your movements.”
“I say, nice flying my boy!” cheered Green. “Top notch!”
“Yes, yes, yes - if you enjoy dying,” chimed in Heckubus. “At this rate we will not reach our minimum distance in time to outrun the explosion!”
With a few taps at his cons
ole, Heckubus brought up a glowing blue ring on Jack’s sensor readout, indicating the mark he’d have to meet in order to be far enough away from the explosion to make the jump safely. And, at the top of his holoscreen, was a clock rapidly counting down the time they had left to do it.
“If we don’t reach that mark in four minutes, we’re all dead,” said the robot ominously.
Jack clenched his jaw and looked at the goal line Heckubus had drawn for him. The robot was right; avoiding the minefield and the insects was just slowing them down. Whether they were blown up by a mine, eaten by space bugs, or evaporated in a ginormous explosion, the outcome was all the same.
Jack thought about all the harrowing situations he’d been in recently – the escape from the Pit, the fight through the Deathlord mothership, the showdown with Zarrod and Abraxas. They had all been as bad as this, if not worse. In each of those situations, death and defeat had stared him right in the face. Yet he’d survived them all. How?
Then, he remembered Major Ganix in the Pit, and the mantra that had carried them out of an impossible situation. When faced with a dire outcome, where you’re doomed no matter what you do, there’s only one preferable choice.
If you gotta die, die advancing, Jack thought.
“Everyone listen up,” he said, his voice so sure and steady it hit the group on the bridge like a blast from a speaker cranked to the max. “Divert power from all non-essential systems to the engines – shields, weapons, everything that’s not needed to keep us breathing. Give me all the speed you can squeak out of this ship. Heckubus, do what you can to overclock the engines. If we’re gonna die, it’s not gonna be because we couldn’t outrun this explosion.”
“But what about—” Scallywag started to say.
“Let me worry about it,” cut off Jack. The mines, the bugs, anything else that could conceivably pop up – it didn’t matter. This was Jack’s ship, these were Jack’s friends, and no matter what was going to get in his way, he was determined not to lose any of them.
After all, if there’s one thing everyone should know about Earthman Jack by now…
He hated to lose.
Jack straightened out their trajectory and gunned the engines. The increase in speed from the power diversion his group had initiated wasn’t a lot, but it was noticeable. The lights on the bridge dimmed and the cabin started to grow colder as the energy was diverted from life support and electrical. What was left of the ship’s shields on Jack’s readout quickly disappeared, and the only things running were the main thrusters and the Entanglement Engine.
More mines popped up on the screen, their wire-frame outlines quickly rushing up to greet them. Jack didn’t break course. He flew into the minefield, only minutely adjusting his trajectory to avoid running into any head-on. Mines exploded and rocked the ship as it flew by too closely.
Jack glanced at the rearview, and the dark cloud of space bugs was still there, shying away from the exploding mines while still slowly creeping up behind the ship, relentless and hungry.
The clock continued to tick away, its numbers racing by as a constant reminder of the impending danger, even as the ship got closer and closer to the goal line.
Three minutes.
More mines appeared. This time Jack had to bank away and corkscrew back into position to avoid running into them. He cursed under his breath. What had that cost them? Ten seconds? Would that be the difference between life and death?
The swarm grew larger in his viewscreen, gaining on their tail.
The finish line loomed on his sensor screen, so close, yet still so far away.
Two minutes.
“Heckubus, get me more speed!” said Jack urgently. “I need more power!”
“I’m giving her all we’ve got,” replied the robot. “If I push it any harder, the whole thing will blow.”
Red lights bleeped on his sensor array as the back of Jack’s head tingled. The ship was warning him of a new danger as a nearby platform launched two missiles directly toward them.
“Incoming!” yelled Scallywag to no one in particular.
The missiles gained on the ship, the sensor array in front of Jack showing him their steadily encroaching position.
He glanced back at the countdown: 60 seconds.
More mines materialized. Jack didn’t bother to change course, choosing to rush right into the minefield, again making only minor adjustments to avoid getting hit. The ship rattled as it was rocked by explosion after explosion from the narrowly missed mine strikes.
Jack could feel those in the cabin with him collectively holding their breaths. Then he realized he, too, had stopped breathing as his focus on the task in front of him consumed all effort of his mind and body. In his rearview, the swarm had almost caught up with them, nipping at their tail like a chained rabid dog about to break loose.
More alerts popped up on his sensor reading. More missiles had been launched from another platform. The previous two were closing in fast.
He kept the ship on course and steadily rocketed toward the finish line.
Jack could feel his heart racing as he glanced back at the clock, blood pounding in his ears and behind his eyes.
10 – 9 – 8 – 7…
The line on the sensor reading grew closer…
6 – 5 – 4…
Closer. Closer…
3 – 2…
The Earthship crossed the line.
Then, a flash of light so bright and massive occurred that the blue and purple of the nebula lit up like a neon sign. Jack looked at his rear display and saw a hazy glow far in the distance where the Ghost Planet had been, its dying image so bright he could even see it through the nebula’s cloud.
Remember, back when the Earth had been destroyed, it was established that when a planet blows up, there isn't simply some sort of massive explosion and suddenly the entire thing has vanished in a violent ball of fire. Normally, this would be correct. However, since this explosion was caused by the collapse of a massive quantum energy flux upon itself thanks to the Deathlord mothership’s main weapon, it is an entirely different situation all together.
Forget about exploding with the power of a hundred quadrillion nuclear weapons. This type of explosion was, for lack of a better word, biblical.
The explosion that occurred after the collapse of the Ghost Planet’s unstable core evaporated everything it touched – stone, metal, dirt, the space bugs, and whatever was left of the Deathlord mothership and every one of its inhabitants.
It spread out in all directions from its epicenter, soundlessly raging forth with a might and fury of such epic proportions, there are simply no words that can be used to adequately describe it.
The force of the blast was so great, in fact, that any dust, particles, and debris that weren’t instantly consumed were pushed away from it on a shockwave that rocketed forth in every direction, growing in power as it moved, the herald of the quantum destruction that was following in its wake.
“Great Observer…” Green said breathlessly.
“Holy kitten,” said Scallywag.
“Oh… crap,” said Grohm.
The buzzing in the back of Jack’s head grew loud and urgent as the ship screamed at him about the oncoming destruction. Jack’s first instinct was to toss some power to the shields, but a glance at his readout told him that if he slowed down, even for a bit, the space bugs or the missiles would reach them before the explosion did.
Jack called up the Entanglement Engine. It was almost ready, just a little bit longer.
The ship started to shake, every chair and console rattling violently as the shockwave raced up behind them.
The swarm that was pursuing them started to nip at their tail, the ship complaining as parts of its aft section began to be stripped off.
Jack could see the missiles on the sensors, racing forward, almost right on their location.
C’mon c’mon c’mon… thought Jack urgently, every muscle in his body tensed, his jaw clenched so tight his teeth were sta
rting to hurt.
The nebula behind them rolled back upon itself, like storm clouds assaulted by a violent wind, forming a tidal wave of destruction that was about to come crashing into the Earthship without mercy. The light from the explosion that followed it grew exponentially.
Almost there, thought Jack as he watched the charging screen for the Entanglement Engine. Almost there…
The red bar on his readout indicating the recharge cycle on the Entanglement Engine continued to fill, bit by bit, little by little, almost to full.
“COME ON!!!!!” Jack screamed at his ship, as though willing it to complete the charging as the missiles came within striking range and the remaining swarm of insects threatened to envelop it.
Then, with a friendly “ding,” the ship signaled that the Entanglement Engine was finally ready.
Jack engaged the engine just as the shockwave rushed up, catching the missiles and the swarm of space bugs in its violent fury. The Earthship flipped to the side, turning chaotically as the crest of the shockwave caught up with it, the light of an Entanglement jump filling its metal hull with a brilliant glow.
And just like that, with milliseconds to spare, the Earthship jumped away to safety as the Ghost Planet’s final fury continued its rampage, consuming everything in its path.
Chapter 46
Anna rubbed her eyes. After crying for so long, they were red and itchy, and completely emptied. No matter how much she felt like it, she just couldn’t shed any more tears.
She gazed at Shepherd’s face, his expression peaceful, as though he were merely sleeping. He was still clad in his armor, laid out on the bed of the medical bay with his hands folded across his chest. Her heart heavy with sorrow, she gazed at him and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. After all she had been through with the torture the Deathlords had inflicted, nothing they had done hurt as much as seeing her protector like this.
Cold. Still. Lifeless.
She had hazy memories of her mother and father. Being from the royal bloodline, their likenesses would never be forgotten to history. But after so long, Anna could barely remember a thing about them. Since the day they had died, Shepherd had been the one who had taken care of her. He was the closest thing she had to family.
Earthman Jack vs. The Ghost Planet Page 56
