A New Reason To Fight: An Intergalactic Romance

by T. J. Brandow

  “Well surely we will all get some time off after we’ve dealt with Perbron. Unfortunately, I don’t think any of us will be able to rest until he’s dead and gone,” Laura said.

  “I’m afraid you’re probably right about that,” Laura said.

  Everyone went for a quick breakfast in the mess hall. Dedron and Donna sat together, trying to get in as much time together as they could before leaving on their prospective missions.

  “I had a nightmare about you,” Donna said.

  “Honey, you’ve got to put your mind at ease. We have been through more dangerous missions than this one. Don’t forget that Perbron doesn’t know that we are onto his little scheme. This time we will take him completely by surprise,” Dedron said, confidently.

  “I certainly hope you’re right,” She said. Donna was unable to eat because of her worries. No amount of soothing could stop the nagging feeling she had about Dedron’s safety. It was like a premonition of sorts. Something similar happened just before her grandmother passed away. Donna had a dream during which her grandmother came to her and told her that everything was going to be ok and that she would see her again some day. Although she was only fourteen at the time, Donna knew what her grandmother meant. Sure enough, the next day her mother told her that her grandmother had passed away in her sleep. Donna was sad, but not surprised. Her grandmother’s reassurance had given her comfort. None of this was information that she wanted to share with Dedron for fear of frightening him.

  “Until we meet again, my love,” Dedron said, before kissing his bride and turning to join the others on the mission to Vertton. Donna watched Dedron until his silhouette disappeared into the space cruiser that he was piloting. With a heavy heart she climbed aboard another space cruiser with David, Kadija and Langur.

  “Why the long face, Donna? We’ll be back in no time,” David said.

  Donna didn’t answer. She placed herself in an empty seat in the back of the bridge away from the others, trying to think about anything but the troubling dream she’d had. Dedron had hidden it well from Donna, but he too was feeling doubts that he never usually experienced before the start of a mission. He tried his best to put it out of his mind as he programmed the ship’s navigation computer for Vertton. The journey would only take them a short time with the superior thruster power of the Defense Squad’s sleek, dynamic space cruisers.

  “Hang on everyone. I’m about to activate the hyper drive,” Dedron announced to Laura and Ken.

  “Roger that, Captain,” Ken said.

  “Let’s roll!” Laura remarked.

  Within seconds, the crewmembers could see silver streaks of light zooming past them and could feel a tingling sensation all over their bodies. In just a few minutes, they had entered sector 14. If Dedron was able to, he would have kept them in hyperspace for the entire duration, but the outskirts of sector 14 was littered with asteroids so it was not safe to do so. The Geeter belt was one of the most treacherous asteroid fields to navigate, but Dedron felt that he was up to the challenge. The intense concentration that he needed to avoid blasting the ship to bits helped him keep his mind off of Donna and her dream.

  Laura and Ken both wore anxiety-ridden expressions as Dedron glided past the asteroids. Some were as big as moons, and others were smaller than the space cruiser. Just in front of the ship, two large asteroids collided, causing both of them to shatter into a million tiny rocks. The force of the explosion sent the space cruiser hurtling off in another direction from the one Dedron was steering in. Some of the debris flew into the thrusters of the cruiser, causing it to lose power. Suddenly, the ship was headed on a downward trajectory going straight towards a very large, crater-filled asteroid.

  “We’re going to crash! What do we do?”

  “We have to activate the back-up thrusters, but something seems to be obstructing them,” Dedron said, as he examined the ship’s warning systems computer. It was indicating that some of the large chunks of exploded asteroid were obstructing the thruster. Without announcing his plan, Dedron grabbed a space suit and a laser cannon and headed for the docking door.

  “Where’s he going? We’re about one minute from colliding with that asteroid below us according the ship’s computer,” Laura said in a panic.

  Both Laura and Ken looked out of the viewing window at Dedron who was floating towards the thrusters. He reached it and blasted the large rock that was lodged in the thruster as the ship continued to hurdle downwards. Then, he grabbed his hand-held communicator.

  “Quickly, activate the thrusters. They should be able to work effectively!” Dedron said. Ken jumped into action, heading over to the ship’s control panel. Dedron made his way back to the docking door and reached it just as the thrusters fired. The ship began to move upwards again just seconds before colliding with the huge asteroid below them.

  “Whew, that was far too close,” Laura said. “I thought we were done for.”

  “Way to go Captain!” Ken said, giving Dedron a high five. Dedron grinned and grabbed the controls again to avoid colliding with any other asteroids in their path. After a few more harrowing moments, they made it through the Geeter belt.

  “I don’t care if I ever go through another asteroid belt again,” Laura remarked.

  Dedron gave over the control of the ship to Ken so that he could catch some rest. However, his restless mind kept drifting back to Donna. It took two hours before he was finally able to catch some rest.

  The rest of the journey to Vertton was fairly smooth and uneventful, and soon the green planet came into view. They could all see that Vertton was mostly a churning, harsh, and uninviting planet made up of noxious gases and restless weather. This was one of the reasons why the planet was so valuable to Earth: it was a source of hydrogen and many other gases such as methane. Just like the Earth’s sun, Vertton surface was scorching hot and subject to huge plumes as waves of hydrogen exploded.

  “What an inhospitable place! How in the world are we supposed to land here?” Laura asked.

  “There is a settlement built on a large, floating platform. The people that live there are miners and a few military personnel who maintain the shields and protect the energy removal station. See it over there?” Dedron said as he pointed to what looked to a satellite orbiting the planet to their left.

  “Oh yeah, I see it now,” Laura said. Ken sat there, taking everything in, keeping his thoughts to himself. After a few minutes, they could see the large platform hovering above the restless surface of the dark green planet. It had a large, clear dome built over it so that its inhabitants could have a source of oxygen without having to wear protective suits. The settlement seemed rather small with just a few nondescript hover dwellings dotting its surface. A landing strip soon came into view.

  “That’s strange,” Dedron said.

  “What?” Ken and Laura said simultaneously.

  “Well, the general said that we could expect the landing site to be heavily guarded with military personnel. I don’t see anyone around,” Dedron said. Laura and Ken looked at each other dubiously.

  “That doesn’t sound good,” Ken stated.

  The ship came to a halt towards the end of the runway. There were a few tanks and a cruiser ship or two parked nearby, but there didn’t seem to be any sign of the guards.

  “Everyone make sure that you have your laser pistols handy. I’m not sure what’s going on here, but I don’t like the look of it one bit,” Dedron warned. Dedron, Ken and Laura exited the ship with their laser pistols at the ready. Off in the distance were a few lights from some hover dwellings, but other than that there was no sign of life.

  “Are we too late?” Ken asked.

  “I don’t see how. The attack was not supposed to occur until the day after tomorrow. We got here with plenty of time to stage an ambush,” Dedron said.

  The group walked away from the landing site and down a wide avenue that led to the settlements. There was still no sign of anyone. Dedron began to get a feeling of dread as if he could
sense that something was very wrong about the whole scenario. They reached the end of the wide avenue and entered a large, open area, which looked to be a plaza of sorts. The only buildings in this part of the settlement were guard towers that lined the plaza, about a hundred yards apart from each other. Dedron and the others kept their eyes on the towers, looking for any sign of officers. Sensing some presence other than the Defense Squad members, Dedron looked over at the tower to his immediate left. Sure enough, someone or something moved.

  “There’s someone up there!” Laura said. Next, Dedron looked to his right, realizing that someone had just appeared in that guard tower.

  “Drop the weapons!” an eerie voice called from the tower. Dedron hesitated for a second, trying to talk with them.

  “Don’t be afraid, we are members of the Defense Squad. We are here to help protect you from an imminent Remoir invasion,” Dedron declared. What followed was laughter issuing from all sides of them.

  “I know who you are, foolish humans. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Assistant Commander Chambers of Perbron’s elite team. You are now my prisoners,” the eerie voice jeered followed by more hideous laughter.

  “I knew something wasn’t right here,” Dedron said.

  “But what about the intelligence we received?” Ken asked in disbelief.

  “That must have been another part of Perbron’s plan. He wanted us to get that information to lure us here,” Dedron stated in a dejected voice.

  Chapter 5:

  Dedron and the others were taken into a small room at the bottom of the guard tower that looked as if it was used for interrogations. Their captors forced them to sit down in a group of chairs set up on one half of the room. A tall Remoir soldier in a silver robe walked over to the Defense Squad members, took a wand out of his pocket, pressed a large blue button on its end and a holographic image of Perbron appeared before them.

  “Commander Perbron will address you now,” he uttered in the familiar, creepy voice they’d heard just moments before.

  Perbron stood with his hands crossed, a satisfied smirk on his face. He opened his mouth as if he were going to speak, but let out a small laugh that turned into a slightly louder one, and then a louder one still.

  “Oh my, isn’t this a predicament? Too bad that intelligence didn’t turn out to be what you thought it was,” he finally said.

  “How have you gotten the Lanthan to help you? They wouldn’t dream of joining you in a million years,” Dedron replied.

  “Who says they are willing to help me? Dedron, you should know as well as anyone what one is willing to do if one thinks they’re loved ones are in danger. I simply convinced the Lanthan spy that I caught snooping around that he could either comply with my wishes or kiss his loved ones goodbye. I could tell there was a struggle within him, but in the end he acquiesced,” he hissed.

  “Just when I think you can’t get more evil, you surprise me,” Dedron said.

  “Flattery won’t help you one way or the other, but I’ll take that as a complement. By the way, how does it feel to be apart from Donna? She will of course be in our custody soon enough, but I wouldn’t count on seeing her again,” Perbron threatened.

  “What is it that you want? If this is about revenge, then here I am. Take me,” Dedron said.

  Perbron began to laugh maniacally again. When he gained his composure, he finally replied.

  “What in the known universe makes you think that I would be satisfied with simply killing you? You of all people should know that the extent of my need for revenge extends well beyond one life or even two. No, we could have worked something out before you decided to interfere with Remoir society. That’s when you crossed a line from ordinary foe to the foulest of foes. In fact, I’m not sure I’ll be even satisfied when humans no longer exist to lay claims in the universe. Oh, and don’t think the Barringe are safe from my wrath. I will make more of my plan known in time. As for Donna, which I’m sure is your most immediate concern, my soldiers are already lying in wait, just as my soldiers were lying in wait here in Vertton.”

  “What will you do with us now?” Laura asked.

  “Oh, Laura, aren’t you the brave one? I guess in Donna’s absence, you will have to do for this mission,” he mocked.

  “Cut the crap, you evil, twisted egomaniac!” she snapped back.

  “That’s it! I like your spirit, Laura. I was only teasing you to see some of that fire in you. Too bad you won’t live to see your fullest potential,” Perbron answered.

  “Just go on and get it over with,” Ken added.

  “Ken, Ken, Ken. You finally decide to show some spunk here at the end. Really what function do you serve? Sure, Dedron here has made some pretty important decisions and shown some leadership, but where have you been, asleep?”

  Ken scowled, got up and walked towards the holographic image of Perbron as if he could cause it some harm. The Remoir guards came over and put him forcefully back into his seat.

  “He’s just trying to get to you, Ken. Don’t listen to him,” Laura said.

  “Aren’t we smart? Well, here is what I am going to tell you. I’m not content to just kill you quick and easy, although I may take that approach with the humans who haven’t wronged me. First, I’d like to see the look on Dedron’s face as he watches his beloved Donna’s flame extinguished,” Perbron taunted.

  Dedron did not answer or change his stern expression. Whatever Perbron decided to actually do, Dedron was determined not to let the Remoir commander get the better of him.

  “Take them to the ship,” Perbron said before vanishing from view.

  The guards forcefully pulled the three companions out of their chairs and stuck their laser pistols into the squad members’ backs. They were taken aboard a large dumbbell-shaped ship. Passing through a series of long hallways, they were taken deep into the bowels of the ship. On the bottommost floor of the ship, were the prisoner’s quarters. Each room was only large enough for a full-grown man to stand up in. There was a small cot that had to serve as a seat and a bed. Each cell had a transparent barrier on the front, but was made so that the prisoners could not see each other to exemplify the isolation. Dedron sat down on the small cot in his cell and closed his eyes. As he rubbed his eyes, his thoughts were filled with Donna. Was she already captured? Did she still stand a chance against being taken prisoner?

  All at once, it hit Dedron that he should try and send her a mental transmission. It was common knowledge that the Barringe have the power to mentally communicate with each other at relatively short range. What was uncommon was for a Barringe to be able to do so at such a far distance. Nonetheless, Dedron was determined to try despite his plan’s likely failure. If ever there was a bond that would transcend the rules of Barringe telepathy, it was the bond he and Donna shared.

  Dedron closed his eyes, allowing the whole of his attention to be focused on Donna, picturing her in his mind as he sought out her location and her thoughts. After a moment, he began to hear Donna’s voice.

  “Donna, it’s me,” he said, in his mind to see if she could perceive this.

  “Dedron, is that you? I really must be going crazy. I’m hearing your voice in my mind,” she responded.

  “Donna, it is me. I was trying to communicate with you telepathically. I didn’t think it would work at such a long distance.”

  “Oh my God, Dedron, it is you, but how? I thought that ability was only supposed to work at short distances.”

  “I’m beginning to think it may not be the distance that affects the ability, it may be the strength of the bond,” he said.

  “I see.”

  “Baby, have you reached Swendon yet?”

  “No, we are still about half a day away. All I’ve done is think about you. I thought at first, I’d conjured up your voice in my head some way.”

  “Listen Donna, you can’t go to Swendon.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s a trap. Laura, Ken and myself have already been captured. I’m in a cell right
now. It’s more of a glorified box,” he said.

  “Oh no! I knew we didn’t need to go on this blasted mission, but the general always has to have his way!”

  “Honey, you have to listen to me. You have to convince David not to go there. If he does, Perbron will have what he wants: he will have all of us.”

  “I will. I will tell him what’s happened so that we can come and rescue you!”

  “No, Donna. That would be the next best scenario for Perbron. He would want you to come where we are so that he can capture you, David, Kadija and Langur as well. I won’t allow that to happen. I will contact you again, my dear.”

  “Wait, Dedron. Wait! Tell me where you are!” Donna demanded.

  Dedron broke his focus, doing his best to drive thoughts of Donna from his consciousness. He could feel her trying to get through to him, but he blocked her out. Finally, Donna gave up, being unable to get through to him.

  Donna ran from her quarters back up to the main bridge of the ship where David and Langur were discussing some aspect of the journey.

  “David, Langur, we have to reverse course!” Donna insisted.

  “What? Are you out of your mind? We are doing no such thing,” David snapped back.

  “Why do you want us to reverse course, Donna?” Langur asked in calm voice.

  “I know this might be hard for you to believe, but I received a message from Dedron.”

  “A message? What do you mean? He sent a transmission from the ship’s communicator? I would have seen it come through,” David said.

  “No, not that kind of message. He sent it to me telepathically. I know what you’re going to say.”

  “Come on Donna. Look, I know it’s hard for you to be apart from Dedron, but you really are going to have to get it together. This mission is very important. You heard how serious it could be for our energy sources,” David scoffed.

  “I don’t care about the energy resources. Right now, we need to keep ourselves from being caught in Perbron’s web. If we continue our present course, we’re going to be walking right into his trap. Is that what you want?” Donna said.