Across the Galactic Pond - Box Set: The Complete FAR BEYOND Space Opera Series

by Kallias, Christian

  “I believe our only hope is Admiral Corso; he’s the only one who can help us at this point. But I’ll take care of that, you just focus on getting our friends to safety.”

  “Understood.”

  * * *

  The journey toward the palace’s computer core had been long and fraught with dangers. On multiple occasions, the team, led by Lacuna, had to repel sentries and armed forces.

  They finally made it to the main computer core access corridor, but a dozen guards secured the entrance.

  “Dammit,” swore Lacuna under her breath.

  “That’s a whole lot of guards,” Boomer confirmed.

  “Too many for a frontal assault. We need to figure out a way to thin the herd.”

  “I think I can help with that.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “I could bark and have them follow me down this way,” Boomer said and pointed at the opposite end of the intersection. “I’ll run and lead them away from the entrance, and that should give you time to dispatch the ones who stay behind.”

  “That could work, but it may be very dangerous. Doesn’t seem like your survival is at the top of their priority list anymore. You could get injured or killed. I don’t like the fact you’d be doing it alone.”

  “I’ll go with him,” Leg’olas enthusiastically proposed.

  “There’s no way you can run as fast as I can,” said Boomer.

  “I won’t need to. I’ll hitch a ride on your back.”

  Boomer’s face froze as the words sunk in.

  “No, no, no, no, no, noooooo. No way.”

  “Boomer,” insisted Lacuna.

  “There’s no way I will voluntarily let Leg’olas climb on me. No offense.”

  “None take—” but Leg’olas never finished her sentence.

  Lacuna grabbed her from Darmak’s shoulder who, unlike most of them, wasn’t scared of spiders and threw the yellow arachnid onto Boomer’s back.

  “What about involuntarily then?” she said with a playful grin.

  Boomer started madly running while yelping. It probably wasn’t the type of diversion he had in mind when he proposed the plan, but it worked all the same. Half of the contingent of guards followed him down the corridor and were about to pass in front of Lacuna and Darmak, both on the other side of the intersection, under cover.

  Lacuna turned to Darmak. The pounding of the guards’ boots smacking the floor grew louder.

  “Okay,” she said as the guards approached. “When they go past us, we take the other guards down.”

  But rather than answer her, Darmak got up and darted forward.

  “Wait, what are you doing?”

  He spread his large arms and bumped into the half-dozen guards and knocked them against the wall.

  Lacuna exhaled. “Or we can do that.”

  Blaster fire opened up, and Lacuna gestured Darmak back to cover.

  “Way to follow orders!”

  “Dats not the plan?”

  “No, that was not the plan. Never mind. We’re about to be overrun. That way,” she said, pointing to the far end of the corridor. “Run as fast as you can, now!”

  They ran away like a team of scared horses. While running, and only moments before blaster fire screamed past their heads, Lacuna explained the other part of their plan.

  “I go left, you go right, then ten paces, turn back, you shoot three, and I shoot three.”

  “Bothhh shoot three?”

  As a blaster burned though locks of her hair, she revised her plan. If there was something Darmak was good at, it was shooting.

  “Okay, you shoot four, and I shoot two.”

  “Oooookay.”

  Fortunately, their followers were also busy running, which made their fire spread wide, and Lacuna and Darmak reached the next intersection without getting hit.

  They forked in opposite directions, and after ten paces, Lacuna turned, but Darmak was still running.

  You gotta be fucking kidding me!

  “Dumdum! I said ten paces.”

  Darmak stopped and scratched his head.

  For the love of gods.

  “Turn around!”

  Darmak turned at the exact moment the guards reached the intersection. Lacuna opened fire and missed her first shot but stunned a guard with her second shot. Miraculously, her missed shot also missed Darmak who stood behind the guards at the other end.

  She kneeled and steadied her aim. She couldn’t take the chance of stunning Darmak. If she did, it would be game over.

  8

  Kevin beamed down to the prison, and the first thing he saw was bodies on the ground. They were still breathing. He grabbed one of the rifles on the floor, made sure it was set to maximum stun, and shot the guards. The last thing he needed was for one of them to wake up and surprise him later.

  As he made his way through the cell’s sectors, he encountered more guards, some of them were regaining consciousness, and it took no effort to send them back to sleep.

  Once the coast seemed clear, he took the holo-pad out of his pocket and activated it.

  “Establishing subspace connection,” Ziron’s synthesized voice said from the scanner.

  Kevin smiled. He probably thought I’d miss him.

  On some level, he was right. While Kevin knew how important it was to accomplish this mission, he was surprised how anxious it made him being on his own. Most likely a side effect from being separated from his friends for so long and having his body used as an automaton by a vile AI.

  Kevin shook the thought away.

  That’s one experience I’m looking forward to forgetting.

  “Jamming field disabled. Connection established,” cooed the scanner.

  “Kevin, can you hear me?”

  “Five by five. What’s our status?”

  “I’ve established a link to their security systems; it should only take a moment for me to locate our friends. Hang on.”

  “Roger that.”

  A buzzing noise behind Kevin caught his attention, and he turned around just in time to see a flying drone open fire. He plunged to the ground but landed ungracefully, and his rifle slipped from his hands and flew forward. Kevin rolled to the side, anticipating the drone’s next attack and incinerated his target with a well-aimed fireball spell. The spherical device exploded with a satisfying noise.

  “What was that?” asked Ziron.

  “Just some automated defense system,” said Kevin as he walked to recover the lost rifle.

  “Alright, I’ve located our friends. They’re not too far from your current position; transferring a map and their location to your scanner, but you may want to hurry.”

  Kevin saw the holo-map draw on his scanner’s screen accompanied by a blinking red dot.

  “Why’s that?”

  “I’m detecting multiple life-sign signatures along with their subspace tracker and energy discharges.”

  Kevin darted forward, missing the times where he wore a suit that allowed him to morph into a big speedy cat.

  * * *

  To say Lacuna’s plan didn’t go as she’d hoped was an understatement of epic proportions. Some of the guards had personal shielding, something she had not anticipated, and while Darmak continued to impress with his sniper-like accuracy, only half the guards got neutralized in the crossfire.

  “Darmak, plan B, run for it!”

  The Domdori darted forward, and Lacuna was immediately sorry for not being more accurate in her orders. She fired her rifle in fully automatic mode, making sure it distracted the guards’ attention toward her. She quickly regretted her decision when four of them faced her while her stun shots bounced off their personal shields.

  One of the guards kept firing at Darmak and scored a few hits on his shoulder and leg. He crashed into the guard, which illuminated its personal shield and sent her friend crashing on his back, unconscious.

  Things were not looking good, and Lacuna switched her rifle to full power, but before she could land a single shot,
the guards hit both her left thigh and rifle, sending it exploding toward the nearby wall.

  Lacuna turned tail and ran, but another laser blast burned through her right leg and she stumbled to the ground and fell face first.

  She painfully turned around as two of the guards approached her, laser sights pointing at her chest.

  “Don’t move!” they ordered.

  “What do I do with the big brute?” asked the guard who Darmak had crashed into.

  “He’s of no importance, finish him.”

  “No!” protested Lacuna.

  One of the guards kicked her in the jaw as a response.

  “Shut up!”

  “Shouldn’t we just execute her too and be done with them?” the other guard inquired.

  “Believe me, the princess will reward us handsomely if she’s given the chance to execute her in person.”

  Lacuna’s head throbbed with pain, and she was barely listening to the guards; instead, her eyes focused on the third guard walking toward Darmak. He pointed his rifle at the Domdori’s head.

  I’m sorry, Darmak.

  Suddenly, Boomer shot in between the guard’s legs, distracting him and forcing him to turn around. What happened next was gruesome. Leg’olas, having grown into a giant form, rammed into the guard with such force that the guard splattered all over the wall behind him.

  One of the guards near Lacuna turned and opened fire at Boomer, who zigzagged his way forward. Lacuna couldn’t tell if the guard was inept or if he was playing with his prey. The other guard shot wide, trying to bring Leg’olas down, but the blasts bounced off her.

  Lacuna couldn’t let Boomer get shot, so she rolled forward and swiped the guard’s legs. A decision she immediately regretted as thousands of volts coursed through her when her leg impacted with the guard’s personal shield.

  Boomer jumped at the guard and suffered the same fate as Lacuna as the Arcadian guard instinctively raised his hand toward the beagle. The guard’s shield lit up and sent Boomer crashing to the floor, convulsing.

  “Boomer!” Lacuna tried to shout, but her voice was affected by the current still dissipating in her.

  Both guards aimed and fired at Leg’olas once they saw what she had done to their comrade.

  “Run. Run, Leg’olas,” said Lacuna as loud as she could.

  With every new shot she deflected off her yellow skin, Leg’olas shrunk in size, so she obeyed Lacuna and turned tail. Soon she disappeared behind an intersection.

  “Did you see the size of that thing?” said one of the guards.

  “I hate spiders!” said the other.

  They turned back to Lacuna.

  “Who doesn’t? Now what do we do with her?”

  The other guard pointed his rifle at Lacuna.

  “Screw the reward—”

  But then both guards were catapulted upward, as if snatched by an invisible force, where they hung in midair.

  “You’ll regret hurting my friends!” shouted a familiar voice behind Lacuna.

  Two fireballs shot over her head and incinerated the guards as they screamed before being burned to a crisp.

  When Lacuna turned, she couldn’t believe her eyes.

  “K—Kevin, is…that you?” she said in a weak voice.

  He kneeled toward her, helped her get back to her feet, and kissed her passionately.

  * * *

  “I can’t believe you’re truly here,” said Lacuna.

  Kevin smiled. “I’m sorry for all you’ve been through.”

  “Don’t…worry about me,” complained Boomer with a strained voice, “I’m okay.”

  “Buddy!” exclaimed Kevin as he ran to his friend. “You sure you’re okay?”

  The beagle shook his head vigorously, his tail bouncing back and forth from the motion. “I’ll live.”

  Kevin’s eyes focused on Darmak. “What about him?”

  Lacuna ran past and checked her friend. “He’s still breathing, but his pulse is weak.”

  She then put two fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly. “Leg’olas, come back, we need you.”

  Soon, the spider walked on top of Darmak’s large chest, and a bright-white aura engulfed them both.

  Boomer jumped into Kevin’s arms and licked his face for a long time.

  “It’s good to see you too, Boomer,” said Kevin.

  When Darmak was back on his feet, Lacuna returned near Kevin.

  “What about the AI?”

  “It’s gone, for good this time.”

  “That’s a relief,” said Lacuna. “What’s next?”

  “We remove the princess from the throne, commandeer her fleet, and save my world.”

  “What?” barked Boomer. “What’s the matter with Earth?”

  “Xonax is on his way to either destroy or enslave its population. We can’t let that happen.”

  “Obviously,” said Boomer as he jumped back to the floor. “Tell me you’ve got a smart armor for me so I can kick some butt!”

  Kevin shook his head solemnly. “I’m afraid not, I burned the last one defeating 8-3-9-6’s master.”

  “That thing had a master?” asked Lacuna.

  “Long story short, it did. They’re both gone now.”

  Leg’olas crawled all the way up Kevin’s body to his shoulder.

  “Good to see you,” said Kevin.

  “Me too. Leg’olas did good, didn’t she?”

  “You did fantastic.”

  The yellow spider jumped for joy a couple of times.

  “We better get going,” proposed Lacuna.

  “Yeah,” said Kevin, “next stop, the throne room.”

  9

  Kevin stopped just before arriving at the throne room, and everyone behind him did the same.

  “What’s going on?” asked Lacuna.

  “Hang on, gotta check something.”

  Kevin opened a channel on his multi-purpose scanner device.

  “Zee, are you ready to scan the princess and, if necessary, transmit the data to the fleet admiral?”

  “We’re good to go, Kevin. Good luck,” said Ziron.

  “Thank you. See you soon…hopefully.”

  “None of that Kevin, we still have Earth to save.”

  Kevin took a deep breath, the stakes never being higher until now, with his planet and his family now in the crossfire.

  “Roger that.”

  Once the channel was off, Kevin turned toward his friends.

  “Be on your toes, if Zee is correct and the princess has been brainwashed by the Kregan Empire, she may not hesitate and try to kill us all.”

  Lacuna nodded while Boomer growled.

  “Buddy,” said Kevin to his dog friend, “without smart armor, you’re too vulnerable. I think it would be better if Ziron beamed you back onboard the Osiris.”

  “No way,” Boomer barked. “We’ve been apart for way too long, and I’m not leaving your side, and that ain’t open for discussion either.”

  Kevin wanted to argue but smiled instead. He had to admit he understood his furry friend’s argument. He didn’t want to be separated either.

  “Very well, but please, be very careful.” Kevin looked at the rest of his friends. “That goes for all of you, there’s been enough pain and suffering.”

  “Can we shoot her?” asked Lacuna. “I’m not gonna lie, it’s a very tempting option right now.”

  “I second that,” said Boomer.

  “I’m afraid not, unless it’s the absolute last resort. Xonax is on his way to Earth with an entire fleet. My planet has no defense against him, so we’re the only hope for seven billion people right now. The only way we have to stop Xonax is to commandeer the Arcadian fleet, and killing the princess will put us at a disadvantage in trying to convince the admiral to borrow his fleet.”

  Lacuna shrugged. “Had to ask. I hope you realize we may have to take that fleet by force.”

  Kevin knew all too well that asking the Arcadians to part with their precious fleet would not be easy, and per
haps they’d have to improvise.

  “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”

  * * *

  The throne room door exploded and was briefly engulfed in an inferno before Kevin walked through the remnant flames, followed by his friends.

  On the other side of the giant room, atop a dozen stairs, sat Princess Kalliopy, seemingly unfazed by the brutal entrance. Determination and anger fueled in Kevin’s eyes as he walked forward. He had to restrain himself from unleashing his wrath, even though his human nature called for blood for all he’d been through from Kalliopy.

  But if Ziron were correct, it had not been something the princess had done consciously, and, therefore, she might just be a victim. Kevin hated to think what he would do if that weren’t the case though.

  “You shouldn’t have come here,” Kalliopy said, her voice both calm and creepy.

  “Story of my life,” answered Kevin.

  “Guards!” she shouted.

  A dozen guards appeared on top of the balconies.

  “There, there,” said Kevin confidently, “we wouldn’t want things to escalate, would we?”

  Kalliopy raised her hand, and the guards all aimed at Kevin. They had heavy-range weaponry—plasma launchers from the looks of it. Lacuna and Darmak reacted instantly and aimed back at the guards with their blaster rifles.

  Kevin made a fist. “Hold your position, set your weapons to stun, and do not fire unless I say so,” said Kevin.

  Boomer barked in protest.

  “Just do as I say,” insisted Kevin.

  Kalliopy smiled. “Kill him,” she said as she slashed her hand downward, signaling her guards to open fire. But their plasma bolts all seemed to advance in slow motion. The princess’ gaze fell upon the blue energy emanating from Kevin’s hand.

  He had cast a double-time bubble on each side of himself and in between him and the guards, slowing the enemy’s fire to a crawl.

  Kevin sighed, shaking his head from side to side.