by Lucas Flint
“I brought her up here because I thought she might be helpful against the Servants,” said Mr. Space, drawing Galaxy’s attention to him. “She’s a superhuman, after all, and you know what that—”
“Space, she is supposed to stay down there in her cell,” said Captain Galaxy. “I don’t care if you think she could help. By bringing her up here, you could end up jeopardizing our entire mission, regardless of how powerful she is.”
“I know, but I also know that the Servants don’t like superhumans,” said Mr. Space. “If they find out what she is, they might just run away.”
“That’s a dumb idea and you know it,” said Captain Galaxy in a sharp voice. “The Servants have never hesitated to kill superhumans before.”
“Who are the Servants?” said Treehugger in confusion. “Who do they work for? And why are they attacking this ship?”
Captain Galaxy opened her mouth, most likely to answer, but she was interrupted by a loud alarm coming from the huge screen on the opposite side of the room. A message appeared on the screen, in that same weird language that Treehugger couldn’t read, but based on how terrified Space and Galaxy looked, it was pretty obvious that the two of them could read it. She figured it had to be some kind of warning, but that was all she could figure before the message was replaced by the image of the creepiest creature Treehugger had ever seen.
The creature had a vaguely squid-like head, with tiny little tentacles hanging off its chin, but its red eyes were disturbingly human and intelligent. The screen only showed the creature’s head, but in the background, Treehugger could see other creatures like it sitting at what appeared to be computers (though they looked nothing like any human computer she had ever seen) typing or tapping away. Treehugger stepped backwards from the creature on the screen, despite the fact that it was not actually here in the flesh.
“Greetings, Mr. Space and Captain Galaxy,” said the creature. It spoke surprisingly good English, although it had a weird accent that Treehugger had never heard before. “We meet again, but for the last time.”
“I don’t recognize you,” said Captain Galaxy. “State your name, monster.”
The creature made a sound that might have been laughter. “My name? You know it already. Or at least Mr. Space does. Right, Jason Space?”
Mr. Space’s hands balled into fists. “I do, but I hoped I would forget it, Omanx.”
“Please, you know that’s not my full name,” said the creature. “Allow me to formally introduce myself: I am Takerious Ninda Omanx, the Captain of the Incinerator, leader of the Servants of the Starborn, and I am here to ensure the destruction of the Starborn’s enemies.” He leaned closer to the camera, allowing Treehugger to see his oily skin in greater detail. “Namely, you.”
Captain Galaxy gasped, while Mr. Space just looked grimmer than usual. Treehugger, however, didn’t really understand the significance of most of what Omanx said, so she said, “Um, what are the Servants of the Starborn? I’ve never heard of them.”
“We are the Starborn’s heralds,” said Omanx in a triumphant voice. “We go ahead of them to the worlds they will visit. We bring messages of peace, of destruction, of experimentation, wherever we go. We ensure that the worlds they visit are suitable for their arrival. We ensure that the Starborn are met with only the best of whatever world they are traveling to.”
“They’re monsters, more like it,” said Mr. Space with a snarl. “Murderers and thieves, nothing more than the invading army of the Starborn. There’s nothing noble or majestic about them.”
“You only say that because your family perished when the Starborn invaded your world,” said Omanx. “The only reason you survived, after all, was due to the blind forces of luck and destiny whisking you away from my grasp before I could finish you. But today, luck and destiny are on my side, for the Starborn have foretold the destruction of all who oppose them, including—and especially—you three.”
“But I haven’t fought the Starborn before,” said Treehugger. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You are in the presence of the Starborn’s enemies,” said Omanx. “That makes you as good as one in their eyes.”
Treehugger didn’t think that was very fair at all, but she didn’t get to say that, because Captain Galaxy said, “What do you want, Omanx? If you just wanted to destroy us, you wouldn’t have bothered with contacting us like this.”
“You are much more intelligent than you look, Captain Galaxy,” said Omanx. “But yes, before I utterly destroy you, there is something you have that the Starborn desire.” He leaned even closer to the camera, the irises of his red eyes burning dangerously. “Our sensors indicate that you have a superhuman on board. As per the orders of the Starborn, we are to take all superhumans to them.”
“You mean me?” said Treehugger without thinking.
Treehugger realized the error of what she said when both Galaxy and Space looked at her in exasperation, while Omanx focused on her again and said, “Are you the superhuman our ship’s sensors picked up?”
Treehugger opened her mouth to answer, but Space jumped forward and waved his arms up and down. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! She’s most definitely not the superhuman you’re looking for. She’s just an ordinary human who—”
“I see through your lies, Space,” said Omanx with a snarl. “It’s good to see the superhuman is indeed on your ship. Now you have two choices: Either hand her over to use or feel the full wrath of the Servants of the Starborn upon your pathetic ship.”
“Even if that means killing the superhuman, too?” said Captain Galaxy.
Omanx’s face contorted in a way that might have been a smile. “Yes. We Servants of the Starborn are, of course, always supposed to bring all superhumans to the Starborn alive, but they will understand if we can’t get this one. It isn’t like she is the only superhuman in the multiverse, after all.”
Treehugger gulped. She looked at Space and Galaxy, but the two of them looked just as at a loss for what to do as she did. She had no idea if Omanx’s bragging about the power of the Servants of the Starborn was true or not, although given how terrified both Space and Galaxy looked, she guessed that there was some truth to his threats.
Yet Treehugger did not want to be given up to Omanx. She didn’t trust his tentacled face or his obvious fanaticism toward the Starborn. Nor did she trust him to spare Space and Galaxy if they gave her over to him; Treehugger may not have known them very well, but given how they were the only humans she had met since leaving her universe, she didn’t want them to be hurt or killed.
But if they don’t give me up, we’ll all be destroyed anyway, Treehugger thought. I sure hope that Space and Galaxy have a plan for getting out of this situation alive, because I sure don’t.
“Well?” said Omanx. “What is your answer? Don’t take too much longer, because while the Starborn may have infinite patience, we do not.”
Again, Treehugger looked at Space and Galaxy. She didn’t know what she expected to see, but she was still surprised when Space stepped forward and said, in a firm voice, “No. We will not give you Treehugger. Ever.”
Treehugger was surprised at how firm Space sounded. He hadn’t struck her as a very tough guy, yet he sounded every bit as tough as Bolt or any other powerful superhuman Treehugger had known back home. And based on the way Galaxy folded her arms across her chest, Treehugger guessed that she agreed with Space’s statement.
Omanx, however, didn’t look surprised at all. He just nodded once. “As expected. You IEA agents are never wise. At least others will be able to speak about how you bravely defied the evil Servants of the Starborn … or they would, if you were going to survive the next ten minutes, that is.”
The screen suddenly went blank, but as soon as it was off, Galaxy’s chair turned around so she could see Space. Treehugger expected her to start shouting at Space for being an idiot, but instead Galaxy said, “We need to get Treehugger out of here now.”
“Yeah, I know,” said Space, nodding. “
An escape pod, perhaps?”
“Wait, what?” said Treehugger, looking from Space to Galaxy and back again. “What do you mean, you need to get me out of here? Is the Adventure going to be destroyed?”
“Not if I can help it,” said Galaxy. “But at the same time, there’s no way we can beat Omanx and his fleet all on our own. As long as you are on the ship, they will keep coming at us.”
“Can’t you contact your IEA friends and ask for backup or something?” said Treehugger. “Granted, I don’t know much about interdimensional communication tech, but—”
“It would take them too long to get here,” said Galaxy. “And by the time they did, we’d probably all be dead. We’re just going to get you off the ship, but without Omanx noticing. We’ll lead him on a chase until he realizes you’re no longer—”
Galaxy suddenly slapped her hand against her ear, like she had just swatted an annoying bug. But she seemed to be listening to something, because she was looking grimmer and grimmer every second.
“Okay, I see,” said Galaxy to no one in particular; Treehugger wondered if Galaxy had an earcom or something. “Thanks, Sparky.”
Galaxy lowered her hand and said to Treehugger and Space, “Sparky says that about six Servants of the Starborn have boarded the Adventure.”
“Wait, already?” said Space in shock. “But the shields—”
“Somehow, they got past them,” said Galaxy. She shook her head. “Sparky says they teleported in using some devices he didn’t recognize. He thinks the Starborn might have given them new technology or something. Not that it matters, because Sparky is currently holding them off on his own and isn’t sure he will be able to hold them off for much longer.”
“Then we need to go and help him,” said Space. “Provide him with backup.”
“And risk Treehugger getting killed or captured?” said Galaxy. “No way. That would be suicide. You should get Treehugger to the nearest escape pod, while I’ll activate the ship’s automated interior defenses. That should provide Sparky with more than enough help to keep the Servants from progressing any higher into the Adventure than they already have.”
“All right, Captain,” said Space, although he sounded very reluctant. “I’ll see to it that Treehugger gets to safety.” He looked at Treehugger. “Let’s go quickly, because we probably don’t have much time before the Servants make it up here.”
CHAPTER NINE
Once again, Treehugger found herself following Space through the halls of the Adventure, though this time they took a different path than before. Rather than going back into the elevator, Space led her to an exit that took them down a long hallway, except instead of a normal floor, it had more of those weird treadmill-like treads. As a result, they didn’t have to walk, but just stand as the treads took them through the halls and to the upper decks of the ship. The ship shook every now and then, most likely due to attacks from the Servants, but the material that the treads were made out of allowed Treehugger and Space to stand up without fear of being knocked over. Space also gave Treehugger her suit-up watch back; because she was not a threat, he said that he saw no reason for her not to have it, especially because it gave him one less thing to carry.
“Where are we going?” Treehugger asked after a particularly large shake. “Galaxy mentioned something about escape pods.”
“Yes,” said Space, without looking over his shoulder at her; he had drawn his gun-like weapon and was holding it before him as if he expected to have to shoot someone. “The Adventure is equipped with one hundred escape pods, with twenty on each of the five main decks that make up the ship. We’re on Deck One, so I’m taking you to the set on this deck.”
“One hundred escape pods?” said Treehugger. “Do you have one hundred people on this ship? I didn’t see anyone on our way up to the bridge.”
Space shook his head. “Nah, the crew is just me, Galaxy, and Sparky. It’s all we need. The other features of the ship are automated and controlled by our ship’s AI program, James. Don’t try talking to him, though, because James doesn’t really have sapience.”
“Is this pretty normal for IEA ships or is yours special?” Treehugger asked.
“Most IEA ships have small crews, since the IEA isn’t a very big organization,” said Space. “Now are you going to keep asking questions or are you just going to shut up?”
“I’m sorry, but when I get nervous I tend to ask a lot of questions,” said Treehugger, folding her hands behind her back. She glanced at the ceiling. “What will you guys do? Will you be safe from the Servants?”
“I don’t know,” said Space, shaking his head. “Galaxy’s gotten us out of worse situations than this before, but I gotta admit that the Servants are tough cookies. The IEA’s usual policy for dealing with Servants of the Starborn is ‘don’t.’”
“But you met that Omanx guy before, right?” said Treehugger as their treads took them around a corner.
“Yeah, but that was before I joined the IEA,” said Space. “Omanx was part of the Starborn fleet that attacked and destroyed my Earth. He killed my family in front of my eyes and would have gotten me, too, but then Galaxy showed up and saved me in the nick of time. I joined the IEA after that in order to get my revenge, but so far I really haven’t gotten the chance to pay Omanx back for what he did to my family.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” said Treehugger. She glanced over her shoulder. “Is that why you wanted to stay and fight back there? So you could avenge your family once and for all?”
Space’s hands tightened around his gun-like weapon. “That’s part of it, but I also just can’t stand the idea that those beasts are on our ship or that Sparky might be struggling against them alone. Sparky might just be a robot, but he’s every bit as part of the team as Galaxy or I and I hate leaving him to fend for himself even if he does have the ship’s automated defenses to help him.”
“I’m sure he will be okay,” said Treehugger, putting a hand on Space’s shoulder. “Galaxy probably will be, too. I don’t know her very well, but she strikes me as a pretty smart lady.”
“She is,” said Space, though he sounded somewhat distracted. “Still, I don’t like leaving them behind like that, even if it is for the greater good.”
“I understand,” said Treehugger as the treads turned another corner. “I don’t like abandoning my friends, either. I wish they were here right now, though, because I’m sure they’d know what to do.”
“There’s not much to do, really, other than get you to safety and escape the Servants,” said Space. “Just keep your wits about you. Even though the Servants are on Deck Five, you never know what will happen when dealing with these freaks.”
Just as Space said that, a portal suddenly opened at the other end of the hallway. From within the portal came four of the strangest creatures Treehugger had ever seen. They were armored humanoids with squid-like faces, wearing odd clear domed helmets and carrying huge rifle-like weapons in their hands. The creatures looked like Omanx, which meant they were probably Servants of the Starborn, though Treehugger was too shocked by their sudden appearance to give it much more thought than that.
“Uh oh, Servants!” said Space. “James! Redirect the treads and put us on a different path!”
Just as the Servants aimed their guns at Treehugger and Space, their own portion of the treads were jerked off to a side corridor, causing the Servants to quickly vanish from view into another hallway. At the same time, the treads upon which Treehugger and Space stood also jerked off down another hall and also seemed to pick up speed, although Treehugger wasn’t sure if they were really going faster or if the stress of the situation was just making time go by faster for her.
“What was that?” said Treehugger, looking back over her shoulder as the previous hall vanished from view.
“It’s how the Adventure works,” said Space. He gestured at the treads. “We can redirect the treads in almost any direction we want. It’s pretty useful because it lets us use shortcuts between decks or
between hallways on decks.”
“No, I wasn’t talking about that,” said Treehugger. “I was talking about the Servants. Why are there now more on the ship?”
“They must be using dimension-hopping tech to jump from the Incinerator onto the Adventure,” said Space, stroking his chin. “Got to admit, it’s a clever move. Dimension-hopping is easy to do between universes, but when you use it to jump from one ship to another in the void between universes, well, that’s a whole ‘nother level of difficulty.” His face suddenly became long. “Then that means that the Servants’ tech is getting better than ours at a faster rate.”
“Shouldn’t we go back to help Galaxy?” said Treehugger. “I don’t know where James shunted those Servants off to, but they’re still on Deck One, right?”
“Galaxy will be fine,” said Space. “She most likely has the ship’s automated defenses activated around the bridge. The bridge has some of the best defenses on the entire ship; they could send an entire battalion to lay siege to it and they would be forced to go home before anyone would have to leave the bridge.”
“Okay, but—”
“And anyway, Galaxy wouldn’t want us to come back and help her,” said Space, shaking his head. “She gave me orders to get you to safety and she expects me to follow those orders, even if that means leaving her alone to deal with the Servants herself.”
“All right,” said Treehugger. “But if the Servants can just teleport directly in like that, what’s to stop them from—”
Once again, Treehugger was interrupted, this time by another portal opening just a few feet away from them. One of the Servants emerged from it, but before it could do anything, Space raised his weapon at it and fired. A bright light flashed from the tip of Space’s weapon, followed by a boom that caused the Servant to stumble backwards into the portal that it had just emerged from moments ago, which disappeared every bit as quickly as it appeared. Before it vanished back into the portal, however, Treehugger thought she caught a glimpse of its bloody chest.
