by Dave Lemel
“Okay,” said Todd. “So what do you want me to do?”
“If you will recall, when your droid was hovering over the top of the machine, she passed over an area where all the metallic-looking veins converged and penetrated into the machine down a large hole?”
“I do,” replied Todd.
“That leads to the machine’s brain. You will need to find a way up there. Once you do, you need to activate and drop all your remaining charges down that hole.”
“Understood,” Todd responded.
“There is no time to waste, marshals,” said Lombargnor. “Marshal Jordan, please end transmission and proceed with your task. Marshal Cain, please keep your line of communication open. I will guide you inside the machine and to the shield field generator.”
Todd paused just before closing off his link from the call. “Good luck, Simon,” he said. Todd turned to Li. “Looks like we’re headed back up to the top.”
Li nodded. “I got that part. What I do not get is how you are going to make it from the tunnel to the top of the machine. That gap is way too far to jump.”
Todd grinned. “I have an idea for that, don’t you worry.”
Todd and Li began their ascent back to the tunnel that led to the top of the machine while Simon and Jack followed Lombargnor’s instructions into it. Once through the access panel, they advanced deeper into the machine down a dingy, rancid-smelling hall. The walls and ceiling were nearly coated with a fleshy substance that varied in hues of pinks and reds.
“Hey, Sasha,” said Simon.
“Yes, dear?” she replied .
“Do you remember our eighth grade class trip to D.C.?”
“Remember it?” responded Sasha, sounding slightly offended by the question. “How could I forget? That’s when my future husband kissed me for the first time.”
Simon smiled. “Is he…is he bigger than me? ’Cause I’ll bet I can take him even if he is.” Sasha giggled, “Shut up, you idiot. What about the class trip?”
“Well, you know how we went to that naval museum?”
“The one where they had that exhibit with the old submarine?”
“Exactly! Well, that’s what the inside of this thing reminds me of. Except it’s scaled up a little and looks like a thousand pigs were turned inside out and spread all over the walls.”
“Lovely,” said Sasha.
“Up ahead approximately twenty meters you should find a door on your left,” said Lombargnor. “Please go through that door.”
“Okay,” said Simon. A few seconds later he stopped, turned to his left, and asked, “This the one?”
“Yes, marshal,” replied Lombargnor. “That is the correct door.”
Simon looked at Jack for the first time since they had begun working their way deeper into the machine. “You okay, big guy?” he asked, concerned by the new greenish pigment Jack’s face had attained.
“I’m not sure,” Jack responded honestly. “I feel a little sick in here.” He looked all around at the fleshy substance in the walls and ceiling. “I think I may throw up.”
“Oh, geez,” said Simon. “Hey, boss?”
“Yes?” replied Sasha and Lombargnor simultaneously.
Simon chuckled. “Usually, I do mean you, dear, when I say that, but this time I was referring to Lombargnor. Jack’s not doing so great. Says he may puke. Do I need him anymore, or can he go back and wait?”
“No! I’m fine,” said Jack before throwing up a little in his mouth.
He swallowed hard and continued. “I’ll be fine, I promise. Just give me a second to get used to it in here.”
“Dude, you throw up in that suit, you’re not gonna be fine. I promise,” said Simon.
“Marshal Cain is correct, Jack,” said Lombargnor. “It is no longer necessary for you to continue on with him. The ship that you all traveled there in is back in one of the garages off the main hub, is it not?”
“Yeah,” replied Jack. “Ol’ Gertie. I need to get back to her and get her out of here before all these charges detonate.”
“I think that is a good idea,” said Lombargnor. “Trace your steps back out the way you came. Then back to the beehive. Once there, go back up to the tunnel you all used to get to the top for the overhead view when you first got to the main cavern. There you will find your friend Li with agent Jordan. Take Li with you, and he should be able to lead you both back to the garage where your ship is parked.”
Some of the green left Jack’s face at the prospect of a quick exit from his current situation. “Sounds like a plan,” he said.
“Good luck,” said Simon. “I’ll see you both soon.”
Jack started walking backwards up the hall the way they had come. “Hey, good luck to you too! Don’t do anything stupid in here, man. I want my rematch on Z-Tron 3.”
“You got it, buddy,” said Simon. “Now get outta here before you pop.”
Chapter 25
Todd and Li were nearing the mouth of the upper tunnel as Dow finally concluded his coronation speech. The Vikards in attendance did not clap, instead they let out three loud cheers of, “VIKLAAR…VIKLAAR…VIKLAAR.” Todd assumed this was their way of approving of the nonsense spewing from Dow’s mouth that they had been consuming since before his crew had even arrived. Most of the Vikards in attendance dispersed out the various tunnels, some returning to their posts until it was their turn to depart. The rest immediately began the evacuation of the small moon that was soon to be devoured. The few that remained at the mouth of the machine gathered around Dow.
Todd strained to listen but could not hear the conversation. He imagined it had something to do with final start-up procedures and maybe even setting the course for the machine. “I’ve got a hunch we are just about out of time,” he said to Li.
“You never said how you plan to make it from over here to over there,” said Li, pointing toward the top of the machine across from them.
Todd smiled and spoke into his link, “Shelly, my location a.s.a.p.”
Todd opened the duffle bag and strung all the remaining charges together. Then he activated them, zipped the bag up, and slung it over his shoulder. Shelly appeared seconds later and hovered in front of Todd, awaiting her instructions. “Deploy handle,” said Todd. From the center of Shelly’s underbelly, a handle twelve inches long descended. Todd walked under Shelly, reached up with both hands, and grabbed hold as tight as he could. “Carry me to the top side of the machine across from us, Shelly,” he said.
Shelly rose slightly, lifting Todd off the ground. She moved forward and upward at a pace careful to not lose her cargo. Todd looked back over his shoulder and winked at Li. Li whispered to himself, “I really gotta get me one of those flying turtles.”
As Todd and Shelly reached the top side of the machine, Jack came running up behind Li. Li turned around at the sound of approaching footsteps and, seeing Jack, immediately smiled with relief. “Where is Simon?” Li asked.
“Inside that thing,” replied Jack, pointing in the general direction of the massive machine. “It’s time for us to go, my friend.”
“What do you mean, go?” asked Li. “We are just leaving them?”
“They’re fine,” Jack replied. “They don’t need our help anymore. Their boss said I should find you and that we should make our way back to Ol’ Gertie and then get out of here.”
Todd let go of the handle and gently dropped to the surface of the machine’s top side. He looked back and was surprised to see Jack standing next to Li. “What are you doing here?” he silently mouthed across to Jack. “Where’s Simon?”
Jack pointed toward the bottom of the machine. “Down there, inside,” he silently mouthed back. Jack pointed at himself, then Li, then mouthed, “We’re leaving.” Todd nodded twice in acknowledgement and held up an OK sign. He was turning to find his way to the hole when he noticed Jack waving to get his attention. He looked hard and strained his eyes to be sure he didn’t miss the message. “Good luck,” Jack mouthed. Todd winked and mouthed
back, “You too.”
The mismatched-looking pair of Jack and Li turned and jogged down the tunnel and out of sight. Todd grabbed hold of the duffle bag and looked around for the large hole that was his target. A little ways toward the back of the machine from his current location, Todd noticed all the metallic veins seemed to veer toward a point in the middle. That must be it , he thought to himself as he began to run.
Just as the edge of the large hole started to clearly reveal itself ahead, he heard a loud rumble and then another just like it from over the side of the machine. “Those are jetpacks starting up,” he thought. His thought was immediately followed by a whirring sound that grew louder, as if approaching rapidly up the side of the machine.
Looking around and finding absolutely no place to hide, Todd decided he had only one option. He turned back toward the hole, gripped the handles of the duffel bag tight, crow hopped forward, and spun as he landed. As his right arm came around back towards the hole, he released the duffel bag. The bag flew through the air as Todd tapped the wand release on his link. He turned his body in the direction the noise was coming from and looked over his shoulder as the duffel bag landed with a thud, slid forward, and then stopped, teetering on the edge of the hole. “Not good,” he whispered to himself.
The first Vikard crested the top edge of the machine, and Todd fired a pulse that struck him right between his cold yellow eyes. As the Vikard lost consciousness and then control of his jetpack, it began to carry him backwards before turning him over and slamming him into the cavern wall. The jetpack sputtered and fired again as he bounced off the wall, throwing him onto the side of the machine before cutting out entirely and dropping him like a stone to the ground below.
The second Vikard had been looking up as he ascended the side and saw the golden pulse hit the first one. He accelerated just before he made it to the top edge, leaned forward, and cut the jetpack loose. The jetpack crested just before the Vikard, and Todd fired two pulses at it before realizing its passenger was coming over the edge just below it, firing red deadly pulses of his own in Todd’s direction.
Todd dove down to his side, avoiding the poorly aimed shots from the Vikard’s blaster. Todd could feel the surface vibrate as the Vikard landed his massive armored frame on the top. He looked back over his shoulder toward the hole and saw that the duffel bag had felt it too. It teetered hard, paused, and then fell over the edge completely and down into the brain below.
The Vikard tapped an area on his chest, opening his communicator. Todd understood what he said next and took off running toward the hole as he called Simon. Simon answered immediately and saw Todd’s head bobbing around the screen on his link as the ceiling of the cavern blurred past in the background.
“I take it you’re not calling to talk about what we should have for dinner tonight,” said Simon.
“Not exactly,” Todd replied as a red blast flew over his head. “Work quick down there, buddy. They know we’re here.” Todd dropped, rolled, and came up on one knee, now facing the Vikard in pursuit. He fired his wand, and the gold pulse nailed the Vikard right in his throat.
As the Vikard stumbled and crumbled, Todd pulled himself back up and looked along the ceiling of the cavern above. He raised his link to his mouth and said, “Shelly, on me now, and be sure to have the handle out.” Shelly dropped from the ceiling where she had been hiding and approached from behind Todd. He reached up with his left hand and slid it through, followed by the forearm and up to the elbow. He hooked his arm firmly for the flight over the back edge, keeping his right hand free to hold his wand at the ready.
“Take me down to the ground at the back,” Todd said, “where Simon was before when we were speaking with Lombargnor.” Shelly cruised for the back edge, carried Todd over it, and slowly descended for the ground. Todd looked down and saw a Vikard leaning over the unconscious body of the guard Simon must have been referring to earlier when he said they stunned one.
Todd took as careful an aim as he could in his current situation and fired at the unsuspecting target. He knew he had missed the instant he saw the path the pulse was on and fired two more pulses in desperation. All three missed badly but succeeded in alerting the Vikard to the marshal approaching him from overhead.
The Vikard turned and grinned before lowering his head and charging as Todd let go of Shelly and dropped toward the ground. The crown of the Vikard’s head hit Todd square in his chest while he was still a couple of feet from touching down. The violence of the blow sent Todd hurtling through the air and smashed him into the machine behind him. The force of the impact snapped his head backward and dizzied him as his right hand opened and his wand dropped to the ground. The Vikard laughed as he picked Todd up and over his head. He turned and threw him away from the machine and his wand. Todd bounced and rolled as the Vikard pulled out his battleaxe.
All Vikards Todd had encountered as a star marshal carried three weapons. The one the Vikard on the top side of the machine had chosen was a short, wide, boxy blaster that fired a cluster of laser pellets, devastating at close range but much less effective at a distance. The pellets were quick to degrade once fired, making it a poor choice of weapon at anything over ten feet.
The other blaster they carried was a cross between a rifle and a revolver. Approximately twenty inches in length, it was quite accurate and had good range. Just in front of the trigger and grip area it had a revolving chamber that held eight shots. Once all eight were fired, the spent chamber had to be removed and a full one had to be loaded in its place.
The third weapon was designed for hand to hand combat. Marshals called them Vikard battleaxes because of the shape, but it was not like an Earth axe used for chopping wood. It had a long, thin handle with a grip at the base and four big holes for fingers to go through. At the other end, a large, thin, flat diamond-shaped head was mounted. Once the handle was gripped, the edge all the way around the head would glow bright red and could cut through most things with little resistance, including a star marshal’s suit.
Todd shook out the last cobwebs and scrambled to his feet as the Vikard let out a roar and charged again. Todd took two steps backwards, preparing to try and deflect the coming axe swings, tripped, stumbled, and fell to the ground once again. He quickly realized he had tripped over the Vikard Simon had rendered unconscious earlier. He lunged back toward the body, and with all his might rolled it up on to its side and tucked himself behind it as a makeshift shield. Todd blocked the first blow with the Vikard’s limp arm and forced himself further under to avoid the follow-up attempt, deflecting the axe edge away with the shoulder of his lifeless Vikard body shield.
Shelly noticed the commotion and looked down to see the sparks flying as the axe blows hit the Vikard’s suit. Analyzing the situation unfolding below her, she spotted Todd’s wand by the machine and realized he was the target of the Vikard wildly swinging the axe. Shelly zipped down to the wand and grabbed it with one of her legs. She fired a pulse from her own small cannon into the back of the attacking Vikard as he raised his axe over his head. The Vikard was hardly even knocked off balance, but it did succeed in getting his attention, and he turned to see the source of the pulse.
Just as the Vikard turned, Shelly zoomed over his head and dropped the wand into the waiting hand of Todd below. The Vikard swung at Shelly and connected, sending her sparking into the wall of the cavern as the leg that she had used to carry the wand separated from her body and skidded down the tunnel. “SHELLY!” Todd screamed as he swung the arm of his Vikard body shield as hard as he could into the leg of his attacker. The blow buckled the aggressor’s knee, momentarily forcing him to take one of his hands off the axe and put it down on the ground to keep from falling.
Todd sprung up, and with his left hand grabbed the arm the Vikard had put down for balance. Todd pulled as hard as he could and brought the Vikard all the way down to the ground. As the Vikard rolled from his front to his back to defend himself, Todd jumped on his chest, pinning him to the ground. He jammed his w
and into the underside of the Vikard’s chin and fired a pulse, knocking him unconscious and ending the threat.
Todd looked around while trying to catch his breath and found Shelly laying ten feet away upside down. He ran over and picked her up, turning her the proper side up again. “Are you okay?” he asked. “Come on, Shelly, you have to be okay. Tell me you’re okay.”
Shelly popped and bleeped then floated up from Todd’s arms and hovered in front of his face. “Oh, man, you really scared me there, Shelly. Thank you for the help, but next time try to keep an eye out for yourself too.”
An icon appeared on Todd’s link, indicating Shelly had sent him a diagnostic report. It looked like she would be okay, but the area where the leg had been severed would need to be welded shut as soon as possible. If it was left open, she might lose too much coolant and be forced to shut down.
Todd called Simon.
“I was just about to check in with you,” Simon said as he answered. “Oh, man,” Simon continued as Todd’s face appeared on his link. “You look like hell. You all right?”
“I’m okay,” Todd responded. “Thanks to Shelly.”
“Best hover droid in the entire star marshal fleet,” said Simon.
“Hands down,” Todd replied. “And speaking of hands down…” Todd picked up Shelly’s severed limb and held it so Simon could see.
“Oh, no!” Simon responded. “Is she okay?”
“Yeah, she’s gonna be fine,” replied Todd. “I need to weld shut some of the wound for now to stop it from leaking. Ben and Foggen should be able to re-attach it later. Where you at? ”
“Shield field generator room inside the machine,” replied Simon. “Just placing the last charge when you called.”
“Well, finish up and get back out here,” said Todd. “I’ll patch up Shelly, and you check in with Jack and Li on your way out of there. Then we can get the hell off this snake hole of a moon.”
“Sounds good. See you in five,” said Simon as he ended the call.
Todd switched his wand to the weld setting. He grabbed Shelly, sat down, and turned her over. He began tending to the areas that required attention and thought to himself, This may be more than five minutes’ work. He looked up at the back of the machine containing his partner and whispered, “Thankfully, you can usually double Simon’s time estimates.”
