Deep Space Endeavor 3 Death Match

by Ron Francis

  Collin looked as if he were choosing his words carefully and then thought better of it as he began. “The device in Cassie’s brain has attached itself to her brain stem. There is no way we can remove it because any tampering or cutting will trigger an explosive event. I have noticed a possible way to trick the device into becoming disabled. In which case, it will release its hold on Cassie’s brain and we can safely remove it. The downside of this idea is that the device will only disable if Cassie is dead. To safely remove the device, we have to kill Cassie.” He shrugged apologetically as he paused to continue.

  Cassie looked over at him and began at not quite a yell, “That doesn’t sound like a solution, Collin, that sounds like I die. I thought the goal of this collaboration was for me not to die.” She found herself yelling, she didn’t mean to, but she was having trouble processing what Collin had begun to say.

  “Yes, Cassie, that is the goal, please let me finish before you continue yelling at me.” Collin was a little frustrated by her outburst and didn’t intend for it to show. Her life was on the line and that was bound to make a person edgy. “We would have to time it perfectly because there won’t be a lot of time. The plan is to have Suzy stop your heart, I talk her through taking the device out of your head, and then she starts your heart again. It can work as long as you’re not dead too long. I know it’s a long shot and I would never suggest it if there were any other way, but it really is the only way.”

  “It really is, Cass,” Enso began apologetically. “Believe me, this isn’t something I would let him suggest to you if it wasn’t the only possibility. The worst part is that you have to make a decision very quickly, because it is counting down. Garrinoras will not need to get through the jamming field, because if our calculations are correct, you’ll be dead in two hours.”

  “It sounds like Garrinoras wants you to die while Jesse is still in battle,” Suzy concluded. “That monster wants Jesse to know you died, and then still have to come out and fight tomorrow. I really can’t wait until he’s dead.” Suzy began to prep for surgery as she washed her hands and put her gloves on. She was laying out all of her equipment while Cassie was pacing back and forth trying to make a decision. There really was no decision to make; if they did nothing, she would die. At least with this plan there was a slim possibility for success. She stopped her nervous pacing when she came to a decision. She nodded to Suzy and Suzy nodded back.

  “Alright, let’s do it! Right now. Let’s do it before I change my mind.” Cassie got up on the operating table and lay down on her back. Suzy took off her shirt and hit her with enough energy to stop her heart.

  “Alright, boys, quickly flip her over.” As Collin and Enso turned Cassie over on the table, Suzy picked up her scalpel and made the incision at the base of her skull. She quickly found the device as she inserted a medical cam. Collin began to tell her what she needed to do to get the device to release.

  “Do you see that small indentation right there on the left? You must hit that quickly twice. Do not pause in between or it will not open. Very quickly, tap, tap.”

  “That’s it?” She asked.

  “That’s it,” he replied. “It’s a lot harder than it looks. Then, you have to take it out and restart her heart as quickly as possible.”

  “Yes, I know that part, Collin, thank you.” She responded testily as she looked at the monitor while inserting the pin she would use to open the device. The first time she tried, she wasn’t quick enough. She started to become frustrated, knowing time was of the essence but let the feeling pass as she tried again. On her fourth try, the medical cam showed the device open. She quickly retrieved it and had Collin and Enso turn Cassie back over. She tried to start Cassie’s heart, but nothing happened. She tried again, but still no response.

  “Cassie, stay with us!” She yelled as she began performing CPR, to no avail, then finally, she injected adrenaline directly into Cassie’s heart. “Stay with us!” She yelled again. She hadn’t realized she was holding her breath, but after a long moment, Cassie woke up with a deep inhale. Collin and Enso clasped hands as Suzy was by her side, letting her know she would be all right.

  “You are going to need to rest for a few days, no strenuous activity at all. I’m going to close you up now.” As she began to wipe the blood away so she could close the incision, she breathed a sigh of relief. She looked to Cassie’s cousin and gave him the instructions. “Enso, make sure she follows through with it, no strenuous activity. I’ll sit with her for a while, but I’m gonna have you move her to her quarters to recover. I don’t want Jesse to see how close we came to losing you when he comes in for treatment in a little while. I’ll leave one of the med-bots with you. Have SAMMI contact me if you need anything at all.” Enso nodded his understanding and she sat down in her chair, thankful that Collin and Enso had found a way to help her save Cassie. It would not have been good for the sector had she died and Jesse would have been out there in vain. Collin had left med-bay to tell everyone the good news while Enso sat with his cousin. He was holding her hand while she lay on the operating table regaining her strength. She felt weird, the adrenaline had her wide awake, but she felt so weak. Having her heart stopped and her head opened up for surgery had definitely taken it out of her. She was truly thankful to be surrounded by such talented people and once again was filled with regret over how she had treated their leader.

  ______

  Jesse dodged the big hammer as Garrinoras again left an impression in the ground with his swing. He seemed to be moving pretty well, and Jesse had to wonder what kind of treatment he had undergone during his hour and twenty-minute break. Jesse couldn’t do anything about the cheating and favoritism, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. Garrinoras had been given a ride off the field, and an hour and twenty-minute break, while he had to walk off the field and was given a shorter break. Now his opponent was moving better than he should, and he was left wondering how while trying to stay alive. He should have been almost unable to stand after the punishment his knee had taken, not to mention being impaled by his own spike. He seemed to be standing and moving on it quite well. When he over committed on his next swing, Jesse saw his opening and hit him in the injured knee with his staff. He heard the clink of metal on metal and realized he had been outfitted with some kind of metal brace that was helping him to be able to compete at a high level.

  “I thought we weren’t allowed to receive medical treatment until the day’s end?” Jesse grunted as he hit the brace again, this time with a considerable amount of force.

  “Field treatment is allowed,” he smugly replied as he winced slightly when Jesse hit the brace.

  Jesse changed tactics and struck the other knee. He was disappointed when he heard the same metallic clink. “So, armor to protect your legs, I should have guessed you were too big a coward to face me on equal terms.” He back flipped beyond the reach of the sledgehammer. His comment had been caught by the vid cams, and elicited a chorus of boos from the pirate crowd that didn’t like their hero being called a cheater. Jesse did feel lucky that Garrinoras had chosen a weapon of intimidation over something more useful. Garrinoras sledgehammer was huge; it was studded with sharp spikes and had an enormous handle. It was easily five and a half feet long, and looked to be sixty or more pounds. All he had to do was stay out of the hammer’s reach, and counter attack inside his defenses. Of course, that was another weapon that would take him out with one good hit if he wasn’t careful.

  Garrinoras smiled and lunged at him again, “Did you really think you would be able to beat me at my own game, Marcos?” He swung his hammer again, but this time the handle extended and its range increased. He hit Jesse in the leg, causing him to fall to the ground. He came up in a roll, and met the next swing with his staff. Garrinoras was bigger and stronger and had the leverage pressing down on him as he held his staff with both hands. Suddenly, Jesse let go and rolled right, causing Garrinoras to over extend. He scored a direct hit to the back of
his enemy’s knee. The brace wasn’t protecting there and as the pirate fell to the ground, Jesse stood above him and put his staff straight down into the back of his knee as hard as he could. Garrinoras cried out in pain, and Jesse leapt out of the way as his enemy’s hammer extended towards him. Once again, the crowd grew silent as Garrinoras had to lean on his sledgehammer to stand. Jesse took advantage and hit him hard across the face with the gralium Bo staff, almost knocking him back to the ground and opening up his lip again. That’s when he heard it, the ever so slight whine of an automated motor coming from Garrinoras knee. Now Jesse was angry; Garrinoras wasn’t even able to walk under his own power and they had fit him with the lower half of an armored exo-skeleton to move his leg for him. He still looked to be in a lot of pain, but he could still compete and he shouldn’t have been able to. Jesse hated that he couldn’t kill him right there and just end this farce. As the blood flowed, his opponent had regained his balance and came at him hard. Swing, back swing, front kick, roundhouse. Jesse was on the defensive, and the pirate crowd had begun chanting Garrinoras’ name while the pro-human crowd chanted his. Jesse blocked, dodged, parried and back stepped. It seemed as though Garrinoras would not be denied. He missed his next swing, and again, Jesse took advantage. He brought his staff up and hit him under the arm, causing him to grimace in pain and lose his grip on the hammer with one hand. Jesse then hit him with an overhand strike in the hand still holding the hammer. He knew that last one hurt, even through the metal glove he was still wearing. Jesse decided that since the pirate’s legs were pretty much armored, he would focus on the arms. He blocked another swing of the hammer but was hit with a kick to his injured leg. He fell to the ground in pain, and rolled quickly to avoid the hammer. He was up quickly and back on the offensive. He parried Garrinoras’ next strike, and pivoted left on his good leg to bring his staff around to hit him in the elbow. Garrinoras roared in anger and Jesse noticed him shift his grip to favor that arm. That would be the next area he would work on.

  The next hour and a half was back and forth. Parry and strike, pivot and counterstrike. Neither opponent was able to gain an advantage, and they were both beginning to tire. The cool breeze was still blowing and the colorful birds were still circling overhead. Jesse had hit Garrinoras a lot more than he had been hit, but since he was wearing the illegal exo-skeleton, it wasn’t doing much good. He needed to find the back of the knee again, but that was going to be a difficult shot to make. As they continued to grow tired, Garrinoras’ swings were getting slower and slower. Jesse was able to get three hits in a row followed by a leg sweep that took Garrinoras off his feet. As he lay on the ground, Jesse wrested the enormous hammer from his hands and brought it down on his knee with a big overhand swing. He felt the metal brace give way as Garrinoras cried out in pain. As Jesse brought the sledgehammer down again, Garrinoras rolled out of the way and kicked Jesse in the side with his good leg, taking him off his feet. He rolled down a small hill and slowly got to his feet. He was covered in the golden dirt of the arena. It felt too gritty to be dirt as he brushed it off his battle suit. Sweat was running down his face and he was limping noticeably. He picked up his staff while Garrinoras had made it back to his feet. He was limping badly now, too. Jesse ran, as much as he could anyway, and jumped, kicking Garrinoras in the chest and knocking him off his feet. As he landed, he brought the staff down hard across the pirate’s face. He thought he saw the eyes beginning to roll into the back of his head as something knocked him down from behind. It was strong and it was growling.

  The crowd cheered wildly as the announcer yelled, “Look at that, the wildlife has decided to get involved. That has never happened before.

  Jesse let his momentum take him down to the bottom of the hill. As he was on his knee, trying to stand, the…whatever it was leaped at him again. He was ready this time as he hit it hard across the face with his staff. It whimpered as it landed on its side, and Jesse was able to stand again. It was back on its feet and bearing fangs as it slowly stalked towards him. It looked like a wild boar with a dinosaur head and short but sharp claws. The beast had an ugly shade of brown fur with blue streaks down the middle of its back. It had a tail that looked like it would hurt if it hit you and even worse was the stench. Its breath could have possibly been its deadliest weapon. The beast was not very agile, so one would have to be behind it to be in danger of being hit by the tail. That was little comfort, as Jesse didn’t know if he had the proper weapon to kill this beast. He could stun it again, but there were only so many times he could do that before this thing got through his defenses and did some real damage. He had to end this quickly and finish off Garrinoras for the rest of the day. He wondered what would happen if he rendered Garrinoras unable to fight tomorrow. What would they do? Would they drag his body onto the field of battle and let him be killed in cold blood? Would they suspend the match? As he thought about the possibilities, he decided to concentrate on more pressing issues.

  The thing picked up speed as it growled and ran towards Jesse. He waited until the last possible second, and leapt over the creature, scoring a hit with his staff in the back of the beast’s head. He chanced a look back up at where Garrinoras was, and the pirate was still lying in the dirt. The beast made a wide turn, and came at him again. Apparently, these things were not very good at maneuvering. He again waited until the last second, but this time instead of leaping, he sidestepped the beast. He pivoted and brought down a vicious overhand strike to the base of its skull. The beast hit the ground with a cry, and he limped over to the beast as it lay on its side, dazed. He lifted his staff straight up in the air and brought it straight down through the beast’s neck as it lay on the ground. The smell of the beast’s blood was even more fetid than its breath. As his staff pierced the beast’s neck, he made sure the thing was dead and made his way back up to where Garrinoras was. Only, he wasn’t there anymore. The pirate crowd regained its form after the shock of seeing the human kill the beast, and began a steady, loud, chorus of boos. He was so busy looking for his enemy that he failed to notice the blood trickling down his chest from the wound on his neck and shoulder. The wound must have come when the beast had first knocked him down. He was still slowly climbing the hill when he heard more growling. He looked to his left to see two more of the beasts slowly begin to stalk a circle around him. He let out a sharp loud whistle as he tried to keep his eye on the location of both beasts. He noticed a third beast sitting in some bushes; waiting. That was to be his best point of egress; now, he would have to take a harder route. The two beasts began slowly moving towards him. He was surprised to see that they were actually herding him towards the third, hidden beast. The first beast charged and Jesse spun on his good leg, hitting the beast hard in the face with his gralium Bo staff. He took three quick excruciating steps away from the third beast, causing the second creature to veer noticeably to try and get its prey back on course.

  Jesse knew he could not take three of these things with just his staff even if he weren’t injured. He was running out of energy and they would have him soon. Suddenly, he heard the deep bass filled barking of Commando and Shadow. He smiled; they had heard his whistle and were on their way. Commando was the first to arrive; he came over the hilltop so quickly Jesse thought he might be flying. Gritty, golden dirt flew in the air with each brief landing of Commando’s giant paws. Shadow wasn’t too far behind as Commando engaged the first beast in a fierce assault. Shadow took the beast waiting in the bushes. There was a lot of growling and barking mixed with roaring and whimpering. Commando finished his beast off fairly quickly and quickly moved to the last beast as his master had just scored another hit across the creature’s face with his staff. Commando took it down from behind and it was unable to put up much of a fight. Commando sat in front of his master and Jesse leaned over and pet his head.

  “Good boy, Commando, good boy.” Shadow came over and sat before him as well and Jesse pet her, too. “Go find more beasts and kill them,” he yelled so he would be su
re the audio was picked up. A loud cheer erupted from the pro-human side as the pirate side angrily rained jeers down on him. The snow wolves took off to hunt together as Jesse yelled again. “It would appear my beasts are better warriors than your beasts, Garrinoras. If another one of those things touch me, I will have my pets rip your arm off.” He began to laugh as the crowd booed louder. The putrid smell of the dead beasts was beginning to cause his eyes to water so he decided to quickly vacate the area.

  As he reached the top of the hill, he began making his way over towards his contestant tunnel. Garrinoras stepped out from behind a large tree and punched him hard across the face with the metal glove, and the shot rocked him. As he staggered, trying to find purchase with his staff, Garrinoras swung the hammer again, this time scoring a glancing blow on his leg. He was now on the ground with Garrinoras slowly approaching him. He stood over his fallen foe and raised the hammer over his head. Jesse kicked out with all his might, right into his opponent’s damaged knee, and the shot took him off his feet before he could bring the hammer down. The pirate crowd was back on its feet as they thought their hero had finally gotten the upper hand on this human. They were disappointed when Garrinoras went down again. As Jesse tried to stand, the world began spinning around him. He fell twice before he was able to get his legs under him and stand. He limped away from Garrinoras as his foe had found his footing and collected his sledgehammer. Jesse leaned against a tree for support and picked up a fist-sized rock and put it in his pocket. Garrinoras slowly stalked towards him and he withdrew the stone and hurled it at his enemy, hitting him just above his left eye. The rock immediately opened up a deep gash, stopping him in his tracks as thick, light blue blood ran down the side of his face.