by Steve Lang
Gage accepted the mission, in part to keep himself out of jail, but mainly because his world would be destroyed if a resolution was not found. Gage searched for months with little luck, and he could sense time was running short.
Gage piloted a smaller delta class, developed by DSEC for a crew of two, and she had her own warp drive, allowing effortless passage through space-time. Princess Amon’s advisors informed DSEC that the Amulet of Hoeth could close the rifts and save Gage’s galaxy from untimely destruction, if they could find it in time. The problem was that a pirate named Slim McGee, a trusted friend of the princess, had absconded with the amulet several years ago during a lover’s tryst, and it was not seen since. Black market auctioneers knew to whom the amulet belonged and would not touch it, but when questioned they claimed ignorance to its whereabouts, which meant that Slim still had it. The question on Gage’s mind was where the pirate could be. Gage had been from one galaxy to another, and on a whim he decided to check out a small green and yellow planet.
“This is Gage, of the starship Trinity. Does anyone read me?”
“This is Captain Slim McGee of the Praetorian, who is this, again?” said an irritated voice.
“I said this is Gage of the vessel Trinity. I’m entering your planet’s atmosphere, Captain.”
“You do, and I’ll send two holocaust rockets your way, friend.”
“We need to talk. I’m not your enemy, Captain McGee. The DSEC and most of this part of the galaxy needs your help.” Gage said.
“This is a trick. You go back and tell princess Amon she’s never getting that amulet back. It was my mother’s and her threats don’t scare me. This is a lover’s quarrel pal, and you should exit stage left.”
“The princess is trapped in a space-time rift and if we don’t get the amulet to her advisors in time she’s going to be ripped apart along with a good deal of the solar system.”
Long moments of silence followed and Gage began to worry that holocaust rockets, whatever they were, would be careening toward his tiny ship any minute.
“Come on down. Here are the coordinates for my palace.” Slim said. A little green light began to flash on his console.
Gage began his descent. The planet surface was quite pretty, and reminded Gage of a Dr. Seuss book he had read as a child. There were trees bent at every angle, displaying an amazing assortment of multicolored plumage, and the ocean was so clear Gage could see to the bottom. Gigantic multi-flippered monsters swam in beautiful choreography to nature’s song as bigger fish gobbled up smaller ones. Ahead, Gage could see Slim’s palace, a gigantic yellow fortress surrounded by cliffs on all sides but one.
“Just land er’ on the roof, and I’ll meet you out there.” Slim said.
A map of the castle appeared on his windshield along with a little blinking red light. Gage touched it and the Trinity glided over, touching down on the landing platform. Another ship a bit larger than Gage’s was parked beside Trinity. An elevator door opened up and out of it popped a tall man wearing a black leather vest, and no shirt. The vest hung open, exposing large pectoral muscles, six pack abs, and two sculpted, muscular arms. Slim’s jaw was chiseled stone with five o’clock shadow peppering it and he looked like a model out of a men’s workout magazine. He held a pistol in his hand, and pointed it at Gage.
“I don’t want any trouble, Slim. I honestly just need your help, and after this is over you can carry on your quarrel with the princess, or come back here, or whatever. I don’t really care.”
“Gage, if this is a trick, you’re going in the ocean by way of cliff dive.”
“Look for yourself,” said Gage.
Gage produced a small metal square from his pocket and clicked a button on the side. A 3D replica of Princess Amon’s ship caught in a green web appeared, and beyond her vessel was a spreading emerald wave of chaotic energy. The two could then see the princess laying on the floor of her ship in a deep sleep.
“OK, I see your point. I’ll give you a hand, but you better fly after. Be right back, I gotta’ grab the amulet.” Slim said.
Slim disappeared back inside to get his amulet, and as the two were about to take off in Trinity a black vortex opened several miles away. A fleet of dark grey ships flew through, each one larger than Slim’s castle.
“Vorgon’s! Time to go,” said Slim.
“Those guys are a menace,” said Gage. He shook his head
“Thank you for the obvious observation, Gage.” Slim chuckled. “Well, as much as I’d like to stay and play, we’d better scoot before my home becomes a smoking hole in the ground.”
“Got it.” Gage replied.
Gage tapped a button on his console and the two were beyond the planet’s atmosphere in a flash.
“No alarms. That’s a good sign. Maybe we evaded detection by their sensors.” Gage said.
Slim and Gage smiled until a disruptor round exploded beside Trinity. It was meant to shut down the electronics on board, and a direct hit would have done just that.
“I have to jump into hyper-space.”
“They’ll follow you.” Slim replied.
“No choice. We’re no match for their weapons, and I have to save the princess before…”
He pressed a button and the Trinity vanished, popping back to Gage’s galaxy where the green wave of destruction had spread farther.
“This is Gage, does anyone read this?”
“We read you loud and clear. This is Lieutenant Rorschach, have you found the amulet?”
“Yeah, where’s Captain Sturgis?”
“He’s right here bedside me, sir.”
“There are two of us on board the Trinity. We’ve got vorgon’s on our trail, should be here any minute. I need you guys to use the transporter and bring us down. I don’t have much time. I’m going to ghost the Trinity into that green cloud. When the vorgon fleet comes out of hyper-space they’ll be following the signal from my ship, and if we’re lucky they’ll be vaporized.”
“Standby for transport.” Rorschach said.
“Let’s just hope all that stuff you just said happens in the right order.” Slim said. He smirked at Gage.
“That’s what I’m counting on. Then the princess’s advisors can use the amulet to stop this.” Gage said.
“Damn, you know how to party, brother!” Slim shouted.
Gage pointed Trinity toward the green wave, and as he did Rorschach located them with the transporter device, just as their faces began to take on a green hue, and their molecular structure begin to loosen. A second later, Slim and Gage were on the planet’s surface and Trinity was blown to pieces. As the ship was disintegrated a vortex opened inside the green wave and the vorgon fleet entered the deadly cloud. As the vorgon fleet passed through the space-time gate all of their ships and crew were vaporized.
“That’s what I call a party.” Slim said.
“Gage, do you have the amulet?” said one of Princess Amon’s advisors.
“Sure, but what are you going to do with it?” Gage handed it over.
“I need you to transport me into the ship with the princess, and once she has the amulet in her hand this will be over.” Said the advisor.
“Isn’t that going to kill you?” Gage asked. The advisor gave him a solemn, determined glance.
“Once I’m in the vicinity of the princess her aura will keep me safe.”
“Let’s do this.” Sturgis said.
They braced themselves while watching the screen and Princess Amon’s ship, which was still in one piece by the strength of her soul. Her advisor had the amulet around his neck, and smiled warmly at the three men as he disappeared inside the transporter. A moment later flashes of white and purple light exploded from the hull of Princess Amon’s ship and the green wave dissipated. The rift closed and her ship began to float, unpiloted, once more. The advisor opened a communication channel with Gage, Sturgis, and Rorshach.
“The princess is still alive.” the advisor said.
A moment passed and Princess
Amon stepped in front of the screen. She looked like a child waking from nightmares. Tired. Scared. Gage was in love. Her long black hair hung shoulder length, and she had chestnut skin. Her eyes told him that he would walk away with a nasty scar, but she was an adventure that might be worth the pain. Gage had to know her.
“Thank you for saving me, guys. If it’s OK, I’m setting a course for Mars.” Princess Amon said.
“I think that would be fine, princess. Here are the coordinates for our base.” Rorschach said.
“Good work, Gage. You know, I could use a guy like you on my crew.” Slim said.
“I have a crew, well, I will once I hire some more rag tags from the local bar.”
“If you guys are up to the challenge, there’s a ton of rifts just like this one we need to sniff out and close.” Sturgis said.
Slim seemed to consider that for a moment, and then nodded. “Yeah, I could be persuaded. What’s it pay?”
“I’m not going back into service again. You can count me out for that.” Gage said.
“I’m not talking about that. I need a new elite crew, and since most of my pilots have been killed by the vorgon’s, and since you just killed all of them with that slick move back there, I think you two would be a good fit for this. I know all about you Slim. You and Gage have a lot in common. The guild wars?
“Yeah, I fought in those, almost died nine times, and that was in one day!” Slim said.
A ship landed outside and moments later the doors slid open and in walked Princess Amon, and her last surviving advisor.
“Good day, boys!” She said with a smile. The princess wore a long white toga, with a gold phoenix necklace around her neck. Gold and diamond bracelets hung from her wrists like they belonged there. Gage was in love; Slim noticed his longing gaze and snickered.
“She’s got a trail of broken hearts from here to Vega, brother.”
The princess walked right past Slim over to Gage and threw her arms around his neck giving him a full kiss on the mouth.
“Thank you for saving me.”
“Hey, I helped!” Slim protested.
“You stole my amulet and almost got everyone killed, idiot.” Her eyes were daggers.
“That was my grandmother’s and you know it.”
“And she gave it to me on her death bed. She must have known what a scoundrel you are.”
“Well, that’s true.” Slim smirked.
“Princess,” Sturgis bowed. “I would be honored if you would join our team of Rift Pilots. It’s quite a job, but…”
“I heard the whole conversation on my way down. You never turned off the com, Sturgis.” She looked Gage and Slim up and down. “Someone’s got to keep Slim in line, if that’s even possible. I’ll do it.” She said.
The princess closed her eyes, and a shimmering, translucent window appeared before her. She took a step forward and was gone. Gage made a move to catch her, but she vanished.
“Amon does this all the time, so you had better get used to it. Oh, and by the way, in case you were wondering, I’ve got nothing for her anymore. She ran me through the wringer enough times. If you’re unlucky enough to catch her heart I feel sorry for you.” Slim smiled. He clapped Gage on the back.
Moments later, Princess Amon reappeared, dressed in tan leather cowboy boots, cargo pants, and a khaki jungle shirt. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail, and to Gage she was a vision of hard core feminine strength. What Gage would soon learn was Princess Amon was an outlaw from birth, an adrenaline junkie, and very dangerous when angered.
“I think I’ve got the start of my Rift Corps.” Sturgis said. He was nodding his head as the four stood staring at one another.
Rorschach stood staring at his monitor.
“Sir, we’ve got another ship trapped in the rifts. It looks like the Terellian ambassador to Jagon.”
Amon brought the Amulet of Hoeth and placed it around her neck. It was shaped like the eye of Horus, and glowed white as it touched her skin.
“You boys ready? With a little luck on our side we may just survive this foolishness.” Amon said. She smiled at Gage, and frowned at Slim, who shrugged grinning sheepishly.
Princess Amon and her Rift Pilots walked out to her ship, and left Mars, bound for as yet untold adventures.
…Stay tuned for the exciting trilogy Princess Amon and the Rift Pilots.
the long dark road
“Can I see into the future? Will the power let me do that?” Sean asked.
“All that, and more. But it comes at a cost.” The old man replied.
Sean Edgar picked himself off the ground, dusted off his pants, and wiped fresh blood from a sore mouth and nose. His father’s attack had come with unexpected ferocity while he had been explaining why the bucket of paint spilled in the garage. But, Bill Edgar, having been fired from the ball bearing factory earlier that day would have none of it. His day spiraled downhill after the firing when he wrecked his car on the interstate while texting a friend to tell him the news, and made things worse when he got into a fight with the other driver. So, when he saw what his son had done Bill’s irrational mind overcame reason, and before he knew it his fist had connected with Sean’s mouth. The confused look of hurt that spread over his teenage son’s face only fed Bill’s blind rage. He saw weakness, and it sickened his stomach. For a moment his son was no longer in the garage, and every person who ever angered Bill took Sean’s place. He hit him again, and again, and when his arm grew tired he walked past Sean into the house without another word. Sean wept in silence, bleeding from his nose and mouth.
The spill had, of course, been an accident caused when Sean was climbing a stack of boxes to get his remote control airplane from the top of their utility shelf. The ladder of boxes leaned to the right, Sean grasped the tail of the craft, and then the box he stood on shifted, became unstable and he fell to the hard cement floor. Upon impact his foot had jerked and kicked a bucket of blue paint that had been only half closed last time his father used it, and sent it over on its side. The plane came with him and was destroyed in a fatal aeronautic crash. As the model plane he had spent so many hours building lay on the floor next to him in pieces, Sean’s mind conjured images of Humpty Dumpty and the king’s men trying to put him back together in a futile exercise. Several boxes had followed him down, their contents overturned and displaying an array of useless junk his mother refused to let go of.
Sean’s father had never hit him before, not like that anyway, and up until then they had been very good friends. The betrayal he felt from his hero beating on him was soul crushing, and he cried for some time in the garage, alone and lost. His mother worked a late shift at the drug store during the week, so it was rare that he saw her until the weekend. It was just he and his father, and currently Sean was terrified to go in the house. His head hurt from the knocks it had taken on the hard cement floor, and as Sean picked up the boxes he thought about revenge. Sean stacked them neatly, and then mopped up the spilled paint. He was angry now, and caught a glimpse of his blood-streaked face in the side view mirror of his father’s late model station wagon. He imagined the blood was war paint and left it there. Two ladies with strollers were walking by with their dog and noticed Sean cleaning up the mess. His face was smeared with dried blood, and beginning to swell, and as they strolled by their glance was quick and uncomfortable.
“Hi!” He said. Each gave a friendly wave, put their heads down, and continued walking. Sean stopped what he was doing and watched them go. He wondered if they were happy people.
“Sean, dinner’s ready!” Bill yelled from inside.
Sean silently laid the mop against the wall and went in to eat. Inside the kitchen he could see his father had been crying, and as the pain in his face and head throbbed, it made Sean sick to his stomach. How dare he? For an instant he felt hatred, Sean wanted to grab a plate and smack his father in the face with it, but he took his seat without a word.
“I’m sorry for hitting you. I had no right, no matter how bad a d
ay this was. Sean, can you forgive me, please?” Bill pleaded. Tears lined his eyes, but Sean was thinking about crocodiles and their tears.
“Sure, dad.” Sean’s eyes were low and the two did not speak again through the meal.
Sean slept poorly that night. His dreams were occupied by a tall gray man with long spindly legs, and two arms that extended to the mysterious man’s wrinkly knees. This spectral figure wore no clothes and his skin sagged like that of an emaciated elephant. Sean was frightened by the long, claw-like nails at the end of his fingers. A halo of dark light surrounded his face obscuring the man’s features. Sean felt his urge to flee heighten as fear spread over him like a sheet of ice as the stranger approached. His saggy, drab body wavered like a mirage in the desert. Sean woke up the next morning and forgot most of what he had seen in the dream, but his thoughts were much darker than the previous day. Another month went by and his dad’s beatings were becoming less of a secret as he went to school with bruises on his arms and legs. One night his mom came home early from work just in time to see her baby boy hit the floor and bang his head on the coffee table. The last thing Sean remembered before passing out was his mom yelling at Bill and telling him that this was the last time, and she was calling 911. Sean woke up an hour later and by then his father was gone, leaving only he and his mother in the living room.
“You ok?” She asked.
“I feel like I got hit by a truck, but I think so,” he answered.
“I told the bastard to get out. He’s been hitting me for years, but I had no idea he would do it to you, too,” she sobbed.
Sean’s aching head pounded and now he was furious. What had she said?
“He’s been hitting you? How come you didn’t say anything? Oh my God, is that why you’ve been working the late shift?” Sean said.
“I’m so sorry, but I thought he would leave you alone if he knew that he could, you know…” she couldn’t finish the sentence, and now her face was in her hands.
“How’d you get rid of him?”
Sean’s mother produced a rather large revolver from the couch cushion beside her.
“I bought this to use on myself if it ever got too bad, but when I saw him hit you something snapped and…I almost shot him,” she said. Tears streamed down her red cheeks.
