

Galaxy of Heroes

Gus Flory

GALAXY OF HEROES

Copyright © 2009 by Gus Flory

All Rights Reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by photocopying or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

First Published, 2009

gusflory@yahoo.com

Galaxy of Heroes

Part 1

Militarism

Torture is supposed to be painful, but this was ridiculous. It wasn't as if he had anything of strategic or tactical value to tell them, either.

There's no point, he thought. Death is preferable to hanging on any longer.

But then, it wasn't in his nature to give in.

Abruptly, the pain ceased. Capt. Jace Spade fell to the floor in a ragged heap of bones.

Two Craaldan guards stood over him. They were all muscle and sinew, coated in form-fitting black body armor. Their yellow eyes looked down from behind faces of taut gray skin.

The guards reached down and scooped him up, dragging him by the armpits from his cell.

The Craaldan guards walked briskly down the dark corridor. They were infantry soldiers, about seven feet tall.

Spade was taller than your average human, but only the toes of his boots dragged across the floor behind him as the towering Craaldans pulled his limp body along.

They dropped him on the cold, black floor.

"Captain Jace Spade?" said a voice from above.

"That's me," he answered from the floor. Spade struggled to focus his one eye to see who he was talking to. His other eye was missing, and he tried to keep his eyelid closed over the empty eye socket. It was always uncomfortable to have cold air blowing around inside his skull.

"You are a human from the Naos moon in the Roga System?"

"Affirmative," Spade answered.

He pulled himself to his feet and finally focused his eye on his Craaldan interlocutor who was sitting above him, looking down from behind a large black bench. The big Craaldan wore black body armor like the guards, but centered on his armored chest was a silver rank in the shape of an eagle-like creature—the rank of a Craaldan colonel.

"I give you two options, Captain," the colonel said. "Accept my demands, or face decapitation forthwith."

"How forthwith?" Spade asked.

The Craaldan guard next to him brandished a four-foot blade that gleamed in the artificial light.

"Forthwith, as in here as soon as you give your response."

Spade stood in his gray flight suit looking up through the harsh light at the Craaldan colonel who was glaring down at him from behind his large bench of black metal. Spade shifted uneasily in his boots.

"What are the demands?"

"I offer you a mission to transport a negotiator to Naos," the colonel said. "Once on Naos, you and a squad will infiltrate enemy lines so that our negotiator can parlay a cease fire with the Diocon aggressors."

The guard next to Spade tightened his grip on his blade.

"And if I don't accept your mission, this thug here cuts my head off?"

"Affirmative," the colonel said.

"Mission accepted then," Spade said.

"A wise choice," the colonel said.

The guard sheathed his blade.

Spade shook his head and looked down at his boots. "You Craaldans have got another thing coming," he muttered.

"Say again?" the colonel asked.

"Nothing," Spade said. "Disregard."

Spade dreaded the thought of returning to Naos—his home world, and the scene of an awful crime committed by the Diocon Empire against his fellow humans.

"Take him away," the colonel said.

The guards seized him and dragged him out of the chamber. They pulled him outside onto an endless tarmac under a dark sky.

They tossed his limp body into the back of a transport craft. The tall Craaldans sat stiffly beside him. The transport hovered upward several hundred meters and then began to coast over a tactical assembly area that appeared endless in scope. Military machinery and troops were lined up from horizon to horizon. Column upon column of artillery, armored vehicles, battle tanks, interstellar destroyers and infantry troops stretched as far as the eye could see. This bleak planet was nothing more than a giant staging ground for the Craaldan war machine.

At one time, this planet—Goff—had been home to a vibrant ecosystem. Several civilizations had developed here over tens of thousands of years, each with rich histories and impressive records of cultural and technological development.

But then, the Craaldans arrived, and now all that was left was rock, wind and ash.

Spade pulled an eye patch out of a pocket in his flight suit and put it on over the empty socket that once was home to an eyeball. He slicked back his black hair and tried to get as comfortable as was possible sandwiched between these two oversized armored guards.

"Do you mind if I smoke?" Spade asked.

The guards ignored him, so he lit up a cigar and puffed on it.

The transport circled over an airstrip. Spade saw his interceptor below—still red, black and deadly with shark's teeth painted under its nose. Its mammoth engines affirmed it was a ship built for speed. Painted on the hull was the drop dead image of a nude female cyborg sitting atop a skull and crossbones and holding the ace of spades in her hand. Stenciled underneath the cyborg were the words "Red Wrath."

"She's a beauty, ain't she?" Spade said.

The guards were uninterested.

The transport alit on the tarmac. The guards hustled Spade out the hatch and shoved him along to his ship. They tossed him inside. He crashed into a bulkhead and fell to his face.

"Attention on the deck," said a lazy, monotone voice.

It was his navigator, Tanaka, who remained seated in his chair gazing down through glowing green spectacles. Tanaka wasn't the type to stand at attention for anyone.

"Give me a hand," Spade said, extending his arm upward.

Tanaka clapped slowly, staring blankly through his green lenses.

"Funny," Spade said.

Tanaka had the thin, weak body typical of humans from the low gravity planet of Paltros. His slender limbs were encased in mechanical prostheses that allowed him freedom of movement in the relatively higher gravity of this planet. Tanaka was eccentric and wasn't exactly the life of any party, but he had his talents. He was an information addict who would sit in a trance for days on end sifting through databases, files and technical documents. He knew more about every corner of the galaxy than anyone Spade had known. As a navigator, engineer and information technician, Tanaka was second to none.

Spade was happy to see that Tanaka was still aboard and still alive.

Spade's cigar lay on the deck of the ship, still lit. He picked it up and popped it into his mouth and rose to his feet.

"Where's the rest of my high-speed crew?" Spade asked.

Two massive humans lumbered into the cabin, crouched down in the confined space. The two big humans were almost as tall as Craaldans, and even more heavily muscled.

"We thought you were dead," said a hulk of a man.

"I ain't the dying type," Spade said.

The large man's name was Leonard Brute, and he was Spade's copilot. Brute had a bald head and a long, black goatee that touched his chest. He was from the planet Meglos, which was a high gravity planet that humans had settled generations ago. The Megalans had adapted to the gravity of their planet by developing huge, muscular frames.

Brute's companion was a Megalan female named Mingus, who was as big and muscular as Brute. She had a square jaw, but an otherwise attractive face, and long black hair. She was Spade's crew chief.

Mingus smiled broadly at Spade. She looked honestly surprised and relieved to see him. She rushed up to him and gave him a crushing bear hug. "Oh, Jace," she said. "We are so happy to see you."

Brute pulled the two of them apart. He held Spade suspended a few inches from the floor with a tight grip from one of his enormous hands.

"We're not that happy," Brute growled.

Brute dropped Spade to the deck.

"OK," Spade said. "Listen up. Due to recent developments, we're going to make a detour before we voyage back to the Outer Galaxy. We'll be making a short stop at Naos."

Spade's crew groaned and then exchanged nervous glances.

Intellectualism

A cloaked little humanoid walked across the windswept tarmac to Spade's ship. Craaldan guards followed behind him pulling wheeled pallets piled high with metal crates and canisters.

Spade reached out a hand to the tiny hooded figure inside the purple cloak. "I'm Captain Jace Spade."

"Pleased to meet you, Captain. I am Professor Mahlis."

The little Noctish professor extended his tiny, thin hand to Spade and offered a limp grip. Two of his diminutive fingers bore rings with large gemstones.

The professor was only four feet tall and thin, but he had a paunch of a belly that pressed outward against his cloak. He looked up at Spade with inquisitive pink eyes. Whiskers twitched under a pointy nose. Then a kindly smile crossed his face.

Professor Mahlis stepped into the ship. In a quietly commanding manner, he instructed the towering Craaldans to be careful as they unloaded canisters and crates into the Red Wrath's cargo bays.

The professor turned to Spade. "So, you are the fellow from Naos who is key to the success of the most important diplomatic mission in the galaxy."

"Negative," Spade said. "I'm the driver dropping you off on a lifeless rock before I jet back to the Outer Galaxy."

Professor Mahlis removed his cloak and folded it neatly in his arms. The little humanoid wore a wrinkled white shirt, dark pants and scuffed shoes. His ears were large and coated with fuzz, but were mostly hidden under the shaggy black and gray hair on his head that connected around to his white beard and to the white whiskers under his nose. He was fuzzy for sure, but if it wasn't for his tiny stature, he might almost be mistaken for human.

"Your lifeless rock has become the focal point of a looming conflict between the two most powerful empires in the galaxy," the professor said. "If our mission is successful, we will have averted a galactic cataclysm of such destructive force as to swallow worlds and reduce civilizations to ash. I trust you are up to the task, my good fellow."

"You must be the trusting type," Spade said.

"I trust you to understand the urgency of our mission," the professor said. "We must be off. There is not a moment to spare."

Spade turned to leave the cabin for the cockpit.

"Captain Spade," Professor Mahlis said. "The human species and the Noctish have been separated by cosmic expanses of space and time, but we have a few things in common. Your species and the Noctish have both lost our home worlds to the treachery of more war-like species. Do not think we are strangers without common ground. We can discuss this once we are on our way."

The professor shooed Spade away and situated himself for an immediate departure. Spade's interceptor soon blasted off.

The ship accelerated against the gravitational grip of the planet Goff and then hurtled away through interstellar space.

Brute sat in the cockpit next to Spade. "Dammit, Spade," the big man grumbled. "You swore our next voyage was to Meglos. We've chased the ghost of your Dr. Zander through the Inner Galaxy one close call too many."

"It's out of my hands now, Leonard," Spade said.

Brute smashed his oversized fist on the control panel. "I say we throw that little Noctish rat overboard and jet straight for Meglos."

"Negative," Spade said. "We deliver our Noctish friend to Naos. Then we voyage to Meglos."

"This is my last voyage with you, Spade, one way or another."

Brute unhooked himself from his chair and floated upward in the zero gravity. He pulled his large bulk out of the cockpit.

Spade sat alone and gazed into the black void. Even with all the power and speed of his ship, these interstellar voyages were interminable. There was too much time to think.

He knew somewhere out there in the emptiness of space Dr. Zander was still alive. Every last soul in Zander City had been killed off in the Diocon assault, but for some reason the Diocons had spared the doctor's life and had carried him away.

At the time of the attack, Spade had been in the Red Wrath patrolling the perimeter of the Roga System. The Diocons had appeared without warning and had caught the tiny human colony on Naos by surprise. Somehow, a small Diocon force had landed on Naos, evading all patrols, as well as the moon's carefully constructed early warning system. Diocon soldiers had razed Zander City and killed its 85,000 inhabitants, who had time only to mount a token resistance.

Spade had engaged a few Diocon fighters out on the Roga perimeter before losing his wingman and narrowly escaping with his life. He had observed the destruction of Naos from afar.

Years later, he had heard rumors that Dr. Zander had survived the attack and had been set free by the Diocons. But that had been decades ago.

"Captain Spade?" a voice said over the intercom. It was Professor Mahlis.

"Go ahead," Spade said.

"May I have a moment of your time?"

"I'll be right down."

Spade unhooked himself from his seat and pulled himself out of the cockpit.

The professor reminded Spade of Dr. Zander in some ways. Spade recalled the large collection of Noctish literature that Dr. Zander had kept in his library. The doctor possessed actual hard copies of ancient Noctish texts. But Spade had never given much thought to those old books at the time.

Spade floated weightlessly down a transport tube to the galley where he found Professor Mahlis sitting alone before a chessboard. The professor examined with curiosity the pieces on the magnetic board.

Spade pulled himself in the zero gravity through the galley and sat across from the professor.

"A human game?" the professor asked.

"Yes," Spade said. "Ancient humans played it on Earth—our home world."

Spade explained the rules of the game to the professor.

"Your move," Professor Mahlis said.

Spade moved a pawn. "What's the intel on Naos?" he asked.

"All eyes in the galaxy are on Naos," the professor replied. "Your moon has become a trip wire set to explode. Unfortunately, Dr. Zander had no way of knowing that he had set up his little human utopia in what would become a fault line between two expanding galactic superpowers."

As they moved their chess pieces, Professor Mahlis explained how Zander City had become an outpost for a Diocon brigade, and how a Craaldan expeditionary fleet had entered the Roga System unaware of the Diocon presence, and that the two great militaries blundered into a firefight. The Craaldans had landed two brigades on Naos before the Diocons brought a missile defense shield online. Now the Craaldan brigades were dug in and pinned down on the surface awaiting reinforcements while their fleet hovered outside the range of the Diocon nuclear umbrella.

"It is a very precarious situation," Professor Mahlis continued. He carefully placed a knight in the center of the board. "The Diocon and Craaldan empires have been avoiding their inevitable face-off for ages, while they have busily consolidated their territories, turning the focus of their conquests to the Outer Galaxy. At this point in time, they are evenly matched and neither would have a decisive advantage if a war between them were to erupt. The outcome of such a conflict would be uncertain, except in the scale of its destruction. We sit at the precipice of total war because a small fleet stupidly stumbled into an ambush that should have never been set. Yet, the two rivals are so martial in outlook that neither will back down, and a rapid escalation to apocalypse appears inevitable."

Spade moved a bishop.

"However, Captain, if you are able to get me to Naos, past enemy lines and into the Diocon command and control center, I believe I can convince their commander to allow the Craaldan brigades safe passage off Naos. I think their commander may see the logic in holding off the day of judgment until another era."

"Sounds like a suicide mission to me," Spade said.

"Pessimism serves no purpose now, Captain Spade."

"What do you care if the Craaldans and the Diocons go to war?" Spade asked.

"The Noctish seek an end to conflict in the galaxy. We believe it is our purpose to bring about a halcyon age when all sentient beings unite under one benevolent rule. With our efforts, we hope to bring peace to the galaxy."

Spade laughed. "Good luck with that."

"Do not doubt the Noctish, Captain. One day the galaxy will be politically unified. It is inevitable."

"I've found that whenever someone speaks of inevitabilities, they're trying to put one over on me," Spade said.

"The Noctish are a people of peace. We will not stop striving for peace until the horrors of war are eradicated from the galaxy."

"A people of peace wouldn't ally themselves with the Craaldans," Spade said.

The professor appeared slightly agitated. "It may be beyond your ability to comprehend, but over the eons we Noctish have gained a great deal of understanding of the workings of the universe. A long journey often takes unexpected turns. Many hardships must be endured before a distant and difficult destination is reached. In the far off future, you humans may develop the wisdom to appreciate the accomplishments and sufferings of the Noctish."

"How are you going to reason with the Diocons?" Spade asked. "They're a bunch of robots."

"Ah. Your organic biases cloud your perceptions. The Diocons happen to be a sophisticated civilization, quite self-aware, and capable of subtle and nuanced reasoning. At times, I have found them to be pleasant partners in conversation."

"They are cold-blooded killers," Spade said.

Professor Mahlis moved a chess piece. "Quite true. But remember, Captain Spade, we have been presented the opportunity to stop a wider war under the wake of which billions of peace-loving peoples could be torn asunder. I am certain that if I am able to interface with the Diocon command and control system I can convince it not to escalate hostilities."

"I don't know, professor," Spade said. He slid his queen across the chessboard. "I'm only human, but I've got you outmaneuvered. Check."

The professor's whiskers twitched. "There is much to be said for being only human."

Professor Mahlis lifted a knight from the board with his slender, ringed fingers. "However, we Noctish had been around the galaxy a time or two long before you humans discovered bipedalism."

Mahlis placed the knight on the board. He grinned and clapped his tiny hands. "Checkmate."

Tanaka

Professor Mahlis floated upward from his seat and across the galley and then disappeared down a transport tube.

Spade sat alone at the chessboard. He groaned and leaned back in the chair and attempted to sit comfortably. Every muscle, bone and joint ached from the torture session he had so recently endured on Goff. He tried to rub the pain from his bones.

His thoughts returned to Naos. The little barren moon orbited around the giant planet of Roga, for which the system was named. Roga was a swirling mass of green, red and yellow gas, and had served as the backdrop to his life on Naos. Spade had often spent hours staring upward at the churning, roiling cloud formations that raced across the giant face of Roga. As a young man, he often dove his interceptor down into the gas clouds, jetting through tremendous lighting storms before hurtling upward against the intense gravity field that attempted to pull him into the abyss.

Naos held so many good memories for him—until his life there ended in a storm of metal and fire. He did not want to go back.

Two small green lights flickered to life in a dark corner of the galley.

"Tanaka," Spade said, still rubbing his aching calf. "I didn't see you back there."

Tanaka's frail figure was illuminated by the glowing green light from his eyepieces. His legs were crossed as he sat motionless in a narrow corner.

"What are you doing back there?"

"Reading knowledge that you wouldn't understand," Tanaka answered.

"What kind of knowledge?" Spade asked.

"History," Tanaka answered. "I hacked into a Craaldan database and downloaded enough info, it will take me eons to sift through."

"Good for you."

Tanaka was silent for a moment. "I've been watching your Professor Mahlis," he said.

"He seems like a good little guy," Spade said. "I don't see how he's going to stop a war, but maybe he knows something we don't."

"But then, you've never been mistaken for being the smartest human in the galaxy, Captain Spade," Tanaka said.

"I trust him," Spade said.

Tanaka suddenly became excited, lifting and waving his hands. "Those psycho Craaldans have files a mile deep on these so-called peace-loving Noctish," he blurted. Then he fell silent for another moment.

"Interesting combination," Tanaka contemplated calmly, "the Craaldans and the Noctish."

"No doubt," Spade said.

"All is not what it seems," Tanaka said.

Tanaka explained in his condescending manner what he had just learned from the vast Craaldan database that he had gained access to—about how the cultures of the Noctish and the Craaldans intertwined in a symbiotic relationship that was destructive to all those who came into contact with them.

At one time countless epochs ago, the Craaldans had been one of many great powers in the Inner Galaxy, and legendary for their martial prowess. The sheer size of their war machine necessitated rigid regimentation. This was their weakness. Once their adversaries understood Craaldan standard operating procedures, effective defenses could be mounted.

Tanaka explained across the galley how at one point during a period of chaotic warfare in the Inner Galaxy, the Craaldan Empire came close to annihilation in the face of a powerful alliance. Noctish advisers stepped in and offered the Craaldans intelligence on their adversaries. The intel from the Noctish allowed the mighty Craaldan war machine to gain the upper hand, and to eventually crush its foes in a series of stunning surprise attacks that turned the tide of war.

"The Craaldans conquered their way to dominance with guidance from the Noctish," Tanaka said.

"The Craaldans owe their empire to them?" Spade asked.

"Obviously," Tanaka answered.

"What's in it for the Noctish?" Spade asked.

"The Noctish think of themselves as scholars and diplomats. But in reality they are shrewd traders who have been travelling the galaxy for millions of years buying and selling anything they find of value. In some accounts, they are described as obsequious sycophants in the face of power, while treacherous and ruthless to their rivals. When the Craaldans were up against a wall, the Noctish offered them a deal. For every civilization they helped the Craaldans destroy, the Noctish could keep the loot."

Spade turned this over in his mind for a moment. "What do you think the professor is up to on Naos?"

"From what I gather, Professor Mahlis was not being entirely honest about the current situation on your moon," Tanaka said. "The Craaldans are in an advantageous position. They have managed to consolidate their recent gains and their army and fleet are far stronger than the Diocon presence. The Diocon Empire is occupied with ongoing rebellions on several planets, which are tying up a significant portion of its forces."

In the zero gravity of space, Tanaka was no longer wearing the mechanical prostheses that aided his movement back on Goff. He lifted his frail body from his seat and adeptly moved spiderlike across the galley.

Tanaka sat across from Spade and slid the chessboard aside. He lit up a map on the table that displayed this sector of the galaxy.

"Naos is here," Tanaka said. "If the Craaldans seize it, they will have a foothold in the Roga System from which they can divide the Diocon Empire from all these sectors here. If the Craaldans strike hard, as is their nature, they can cut off the Diocon logistics chain. The Roga System serves as an ideal base for further Craaldan attacks, and the odds are good that these sectors can be broken free from Diocon control. The Craaldans could then collapse the Diocon domination of huge swathes of the Inner Galaxy. It looks to me that if the Craaldans are able to take and hold Naos, they'll have the Diocons on the run."

"But if Professor Mahlis is successful in his peace mission, the Diocons keep Naos," Spade said.

Tanaka rubbed his chin with his thumb and index finger and studied the map through his green lenses. "The Craaldans are dependent on the Noctish for intel," Tanaka said. "It appears the professor has convinced the Craaldan commanders that the Diocons are more powerful than they truly are, and that a war now would be catastrophic. Since Noctish intel has gotten them this far, they are taking the professor's word for it."

"What is the professor up to?" Spade asked, studying the map.

"Hmm." Tanaka looked down at the map through the green glow of his lenses. "I wonder."

Mingus

Spade pulled himself onto his bunk. His joints ached. Intermittent jolts of pain shot through his nerve endings as his body attempted to recover from the severe torture session the Craaldans had inflicted on him.

One thing Spade knew, though. Dr. Zander had designed him to be tough.

Old Dr. Zander had only wanted one thing from this life—a safe place far from the conflicts that raged through the galaxy—a place where he could rebuild a free human society before the last of the human species had died off.

On Naos, the doctor believed he had found that place. He had landed alone on the barren moon. In the laboratory on his ship, he had used his own DNA to create new humans. He grew fetuses in iron wombs pieced together from scrap and spare parts.

To ensure genetic diversity, he had mixed his own genetics with DNA from other biological material that he had scraped up to form a meager DNA bank that he had amassed and preserved over the eons through countless battles, shipwrecks and radiation storms.

On Naos, Dr. Zander slowly produced and raised three generations of humans. Those humans had gone on to grow families, and eventually a thriving city took shape on his faraway moon in an uncharted sector.

Spade had no mother, but instead had been birthed from one of the iron wombs on Dr. Zander's ship. The doctor had carefully selected Spade's genes for steady hands, coolness under fire and the quick reflexes of a fighter pilot.

Ninety-four percent of Spade's DNA came from Dr. Zander, but the doctor had thrown into the mix assorted genes from his DNA bank. The remaining 6 percent was a jumble of genes spliced together from genetic strands taken from a dead Kailek sergeant, a German shepherd and a nematode that the doctor had collected from the Vomis asteroid out on the perimeter of the Roga System.

Spade didn't like to think about the fact that one of his ancestors was a small, legless creature without a brain that burrowed through rock and congregated during mating season in large pulsating, gelatinous clots. Dr. Zander had explained to him that the DNA from the Vomis nematode was the reason for his high tolerance for pain and his ability to quickly heal from injury; but still, Spade never brought up his ancestry in polite company.

Spade knew nothing about the Kailek sergeant other than that the Kailek civilization had long ceased to exist. Dr. Zander had apparently found the sergeant's corpse drifting through space, and never told Spade any more than that.

Capt. Casey, a human pilot Spade had once had a relationship with, said the source of his loyalty to Dr. Zander—and his dogged determination to find him—came from his canine DNA. Of course, Capt. Casey also said that this was also the source of his hound-like nature when it came to women.

A knock on his door broke his reverie and returned him to wakefulness.

"Who's there?" Spade asked.

The door slid open and Mingus pulled her oversized frame into his cabin. "May I come in, Jace?" she asked.

He put his eye patch back on. "You're already in," he answered.

She closed the door behind her. "We need to talk."

Mingus was so large and meaty that her bulk filled nearly all the cabin. Her long, black ponytail floated upward and pressed against the ceiling.

"What's on your mind?" Spade asked.

"It's Leonard. I've never seen him this way—I take that back. I have seen him this way. It's the way he gets right before he loses control and really hurts someone."

"I'll talk to him," Spade said. "Whatever happens on the Naos mission, I will make sure that the crew remains out of harm's way and behind enemy lines. Naos will be a brief stop before the ship is voyaging back to Meglos. I promise."

"It's not the Naos voyage that he's angry about," she said.

Mingus had pulled her black hair back in a pony tail to keep it manageable in the zero gravity, but it snaked around the ceiling and down the wall with every movement of her large head.

She pulled herself down onto the bunk and sat next Spade.

"Why is he angry?" Spade asked.

"He's jealous. He sees the way we look at each other, Jace. It drives him into a rage."

"The way we look at each other?"

"It's no use, I can't fight it any longer!" Mingus threw herself onto him, kissing him hard on the mouth. "Oh, Jace! I was so frightened that you had been killed. I didn't sleep for three days."

She held him so tightly that he couldn't breathe. He feared his ribs would crack inside the bulging mass of her arms.

"Not so tight, princess," he gasped.

She looked deeply into his eyes. Her blue eyes were red and teary.

"Where is Leonard?" Spade asked. "He'll kill us both if he finds you in here."

"Don't worry," she said. "I slipped a trank in his water bottle. He'll be in a coma for ages."

Mingus kissed Spade hard again. He felt as if his face were being sucked into the flesh of her oversized lips.

Mingus quickly stripped off her boots, her pullover and her black trousers. She was now naked in his bunk.

Her big biceps twitched and flexed. Her thighs were as wide as Spade's torso, and her powerful shoulders looked strong enough to lift a Craaldan battle tank on a planet with greater than moderate gravity levels.

She was large, but Mingus was definitely female. Her long black ponytail was silky smooth as it brushed over his arm and writhed around onto his back. She clutched Spade's hands and pressed them into her massive bosom.

"Oh, Jace," she said.

It had been so long since Spade had seen another human female. All the time together on his ship, just the four of them voyaging through the emptiness of space, he had never thought he had looked at Mingus in a romantic manner.

Perhaps he had been looking at her as something more than just a crew member.

"Oh, what the hell," he said.

Spade unzipped his flight suit and pulled off his shirt. He was still in his undershorts when Mingus threw herself at him and he was quickly buried under mounds of rippling muscle.

Spade thrust her upward with his hands, which was not difficult in zero gravity. He then flipped her over and mounted her.

The door to the cabin flung open with a crash and Brute's massive frame filled the tight doorway. "Dammit, Spade!" Brute bellowed. "You are a dead man!"

Oversized hands, giant arms and bulging muscles surged through the narrow opening. Brute's huge hand gripped Spade by the neck and then flung him hard against the wall.

The wind was knocked out of him. He gasped for air.

"Stop, Leonard!" Mingus roared.

She threw her large fist at him, catching him in the nose and staggering him backward into the doorway.

Spade kicked off the wall and shot forward like a diver between Brute's legs, and then out into the transport tube. Spade then scrambled up the tube as fast as he could pull himself.

"Come back here, Spade!" Brute yelled. He clambered up the tube in pursuit.

As Spade emerged into the galley, Brute grabbed him by the ankle. Spade kicked his heel into Brute's face, but this only angered the big man. He flung Spade hard into a bulkhead.

Spade felt as though his skull had cracked open. He struggled to regain his bearings, only to see a giant fist barreling toward his chest.

The force of the blow was so strong that Spade thought for sure several of his internal organs had ruptured.

"Stop this madness!" Professor Mahlis screamed. "Stop this madness now!"

Brute pulled back his fist and launched it into Spade's face, and with a crack, immediately knocked Spade into unconsciousness.

The Craaldan Fleet

Spade emerged from blackness and found himself alone in his cabin lying in his bunk. His torso and head were wrapped in bandages.

He sat up and groaned. The pain from the torture session on Goff was still there, now compounded by aching ribs and a pounding headache.

He opened a desk drawer and pulled out his M-2 handgun, checking to see if it was still loaded, which it was. He pulled his 8-inch combat knife from the drawer and slid it into its slot on the side of his thigh.

He opened his cabin door and looked up and down the empty transport tube with his M-2 at the ready. He pulled himself up to the galley, which was empty. He then pulled himself up to the cockpit and poked his head inside.

Brute was at the controls. Mingus, Tanaka and Professor Mahlis sat next to him staring intently forward into space.

The Red Wrath was coasting through a vast assemblage of Craaldan warships. Destroyers, cruisers, troop transports and fighters seemed to stretch endlessly across the black void of space.

Spade recognized the ships as the Craaldan 17th Expeditionary Fleet, much feared in this sector of the galaxy for its ability to destroy planets or overrun them with endless numbers of fearsome Craaldan infantry.

Spade saw a familiar sight. The fleet was orbiting the red, green and yellow planet of Roga.

Brute turned his head and looked up at Spade. "Well, well," he said. "Our trustworthy captain is awake from his beauty sleep."

"There is the command ship, Mr. Brute," Professor Mahlis said. "Contact it for further instructions."

"Roger," Brute said.

Mingus was looking up at Spade. She reached out and took his hand. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

"I've been worse," he said.

Tanaka shook his head slowly and disapprovingly; then returned his attention outside to the Craaldan fleet.

"Captain Spade, may I have a word with you in private?" Professor Mahlis asked.

"Yeah, OK," Spade answered. He holstered his M-2.

The professor and Spade went together into the galley.

"You and I will be boarding the 17th Fleet command ship," the professor said. "I need to brief General Seb before we land on Naos. You will carry the crate labeled number six that is in cargo bay two. I will give you further instructions on who you will deliver it to once aboard the command ship. Do you understand?"

"What's going on with Brute?" Spade asked. "Is he still going to kill me?"

Professor Mahlis waved his hand as if shooing the matter away. "Please proceed to cargo bay two and retrieve crate number six. Will you do that for me?"

"OK," Spade said, "but first tell me what the situation is with Brute."

"I spoke with Leonard and he decided that his dispute with you is over."

"It's over?" Spade asked.

"Yes. He came to see that his relationship with Pulchritunia was dysfunctional and that it was best for all parties to move on with their lives."

"Pulchritunia?"

"Yes. Miss Pulchritunia Mingus," the professor said. "She has quite the crush on you, Captain."

"Mingus's first name is Pulchritunia?"

"Yes. You should know these things about your own crew."

"I've never known Brute to be the type to forgive and forget," Spade said.

"Captain Spade, I am about to attempt to negotiate a peace between the two most powerful and warlike empires in the galaxy. Resolving a human love triangle is trivial in comparison, and quite frankly, the least of our concerns. Now go to the cargo bay and retrieve the crate as per my instructions. We are pressed for time."

Spade entered the cargo bay and lifted the metal crate, steering it up the transport tube in the zero gravity. Professor Mahlis waited for him impatiently in the galley. "Hurry, hurry. We must hurry along."

Spade unlocked the inner hatch to the decompression chamber. He pushed open the outer hatch to see the cavernous docking bay of the command ship for the 17th Fleet, in which Brute had just landed the ship.

Two armed Craaldan soldiers were standing on the deck, their magnetic boots holding them down in the zero gravity. One wore the silver rank of a lieutenant and the other wore the stripes of a Craaldan sergeant first class.

Craaldan soldiers hovered throughout the docking bay, maneuvering in the weightlessness with small air jets attached to their body armor. They supervised work crews of machines and enslaved species that were making minor repairs to the hulls of docked spacecraft. Spade thought he spotted a human or two in the work crews.

Professor Mahlis pulled himself from the hatch and the two Craaldan soldiers clicked their heels and saluted. The lieutenant addressed Professor Mahlis in the sharp, gravelly tones of the Craaldan language.

The professor responded. Spade gathered that orders were being given.

"General Seb awaits," the professor said. "The sergeant here will escort you to storage where your delivery will be sequestered until further notice," Mahlis said. "Then he will return you to me in General Seb's control room."

"Roger that," Spade said.

The lieutenant walked off guiding Mahlis by the arm. The sergeant grabbed Spade by the back of his flight suit and pulled him along. Spade held onto the metal crate and tried to keep it from banging against the bulkheads.

They arrived at an armory. The sergeant barked out orders to a tiny clerk, who took the crate and placed it into a storage locker in the armory behind her. The clerk was a female of some conquered species. She was scaly, ashen and emaciated, but moved quickly without effort in the zero gravity.

She pushed Spade's head into a device that quickly scanned his eyeball. She tried to remove his eye patch.

"I only have one eye," Spade said, pointing to his eye patch.

The clerk typed into a keyboard and then a computer translator said, "To retrieve your belongings, you will need to return with the same eyeball that was scanned."

"Roger that," Spade said.

The Craaldan sergeant pulled Spade onto a transport car and they sped through a maze of corridors until arriving at the general's control room.

The sergeant and Spade entered the room. General Seb and Professor Mahlis were seated across from each other at a small round table in the dark room. The only light in the darkness was a soft glow emanating upward from the table. The sergeant snapped to attention and saluted.

The general barked an order without looking up, which Spade guessed translated to, "At ease."

General Seb was an enormous Craaldan whose gray skin looked as if it had the hardness of stone. The big general turned his yellow eyes to Spade, and then angrily addressed the Craaldan sergeant.

Spade reached into a pocket and pulled out his language translator and set it to Craaldan. He placed the device on his ear.

"You bring an unauthorized species into my command room, Sergeant?" General Seb said. "This is a serious breach of protocol."

"Sir, I was following orders from the Noctish!" the sergeant said, standing stiffly at attention.

"It is okay, General," Professor Mahlis said. "Captain Spade was vetted on Goff before he accepted this mission."

"A human survived vetting?" the general asked.

"The captain has a primitive survival instinct that is quite robust," Professor Mahlis said.

"Sergeant, I want all movements of this human tracked and reported to Goff higher command. Confirm that this human was vetted. Do you copy?"

"Yes, sir."

"That is all, Sergeant," General Seb said. "Dismissed."

The sergeant saluted and left the room.

"Your distrust is disconcerting," Mahlis said.

"You know the procedure, professor," the general said.

"And we must never stray from procedure, isn't that right, General?" Professor Mahlis said. "Captain Spade, please have a seat."

Spade took a seat in the dark behind the professor.

Systems of a System

General Seb looked like a typical Craaldan soldier, only far larger. On one leg was strapped the traditional executioner blade that was symbolic of the authority of a Craaldan officer.

To Spade, the contrast between the giant, armored general and the tiny professor was jarring, yet Professor Mahlis showed no sign of being intimidated, and spoke to General Seb as an equal.

"It goes against doctrine to withdraw from an engagement when we have superior numbers," the general said.

"We haven't reached that point yet, General," the professor said. "Now please, the battle update, if you will."

A representation of the Naos surface appeared on the table. Spade recognized the landscape as Zander's Plain. Two jagged mountain ranges—the Bleak Range to the east and the Craggy Mountains to the west—were separated by a flat expanse of black rock and ice about 200 kilometers across. Running north to south and bisecting the plain was a thin ribbon of glowing red lava, known as the Naos Rift.

The river of lava was about 100 meters wide at most points and stretched north to south from horizon to horizon.

The two Craaldan brigades had dug into fighting positions where the plain met the Bleak Range. The mountains dropped abruptly like a black wall of stone. The center of gravity for the Craaldan defense was a half-bowl ingression into the mountains guarded by a battalion that faced across the plain toward the main enemy positions.

Across the plain, the Diocon brigade had dug into defensive positions in the ruins of Zander City, which was situated in the foothills of the Craggy Mountains. The glowing Naos Rift marked the border between the two opposing forces.

"The Diocons have improved the effectiveness of their missile shield," General Seb said. "The fleet suffered severe losses once the shield came online. We underestimated its range."

The general explained that the Diocons were intermittently launching nukes at the fleet whenever it rounded the Roga orbit and came into sight of the Naos moon. To defend against the nukes, the Craaldans had emplaced a mine field 300 kilometers above Naos. When the missiles screamed upward from the Naos surface, the mines detonated and the nukes exploded in great blinding flashes before the missiles could reach the fleet. After each explosion, Craaldan mine layers zoomed in to reseed the fields before the next barrage of missiles could launch.

"And what would happen if a missile got through the field?" the professor asked.

"A direct hit would render the fleet combat ineffective," General Seb answered. "That is why we keep our distance."

"Why not attack now with your brigades on the surface and finish them?" the professor asked.

"You know as well as I that a three to one force ratio is standard for an attack. Until we land another brigade, an attack remains out of the question. That is, unless you are withholding intel that we are unaware of?"

"No, no. Of course you are correct, General. The odds of success for an attack on a dug-in enemy is minimal with a two to one force ratio. Even at three to one, success is not assured. I know your rigid doctrine as well as you do and that you are loath to deviate from it. Tell me, how do you plan to land your reinforcements?"

"At present, we await the jammer squadron," the general said. "Once the jammers join the fleet, we will be able to breach their missile defenses and land as many as five additional brigades on the surface. Then victory will be certain."

"Any victory now would be Pyrrhic, General," Mahlis said. "It would ignite the wider war with the Diocon Empire that we have been carefully avoiding for so long."

"So be it."

"No," the professor said. "Your success will be determined by the outcome of my diplomatic mission. If I am able to convince the Diocons to allow your brigades on the surface safe passage to your fleet, then war can be avoided. Only then will this insanity cease, and you can turn the attention of your fleet to less mutually suicidal endeavors."

"You underestimate our chances against the Diocons," General Seb said.

The little professor slammed his tiny fist on the table. "And you underestimate the value of the intelligence the Noctish have provided the Craaldan Empire over the eons!"

The general crossed his arms over his broad chest. His yellow eyes looked down coldly behind his gray, scabrous face. "The Noctish have been invaluable," he said.

"How do we get to the surface?" Professor Mahlis asked.

"A narrow window of opportunity opens after each nuke volley," the general said. "We were infiltrating small ships through the Diocon defenses by speeding for the surface immediately following the electromagnetic pulse from a nuke blast. But the enemy soon caught on, and began picking off our ships as we came into range of their laser cannons. We ceased attempting to infiltrate in this manner, and the Diocons now believe they have deterred our landings. To get you to the surface, we will wait for the next nuke blast. Then your human captain can dash for the surface within a formation of remotely piloted decoys. If you are lucky, their lasers will pick off the decoys and not you."

"Sounds risky if you ask me," Spade said.

The general's cold gaze turned to Spade. Spade felt the full weight of his iron stare. "Don't expect to live forever, human," the general said.

Professor Mahlis unhooked himself from his chair and pulled himself to Spade, grabbing onto Spade's arm.

"Until next time, General," the professor said. He turned to Spade. "Take me to your ship."

Spade pulled himself along a rail and out of the general's control room, with the professor clinging to his back. They boarded a transport car and then zipped through the ship's narrow corridors.

"What was in the crate?" Spade asked.

"The crate?" the professor asked.

"The crate I signed into storage," Spade said. "What's in it?"

"Nothing you will miss," the professor said.

"If I die on Naos, you won't be able to retrieve it."

"That is true," the professor said. "True, indeed."

Do or Die

The Red Wrath floated inside a V-formation of eight decoy spacecraft. Spade sat at the controls of his interceptor peering out at dark Naos. The moon was a black dot in front of the roiling clouds of enormous Roga.

The decoy spacecraft looked predatory as they floated in formation in front of the Red Wrath. They were nothing more than unmanned engines built for speed and armed to the tooth—but merely targets on this mission meant to misdirect enemy fire.

The entire crew was in the cockpit looking out at the little moon. Spade found it hard to concentrate. He had always found the swirling colors of Roga mesmerizing, and it had been ages since he had gazed upon them.

"I don't like this," Brute said.

"I know," Spade said. "It sucks."

"Pessimism serves no purpose now," the professor said. "Think only happy thoughts."

Tanaka let out a sarcastic laugh.

"You know what would make me happy, professor?" Brute asked. "If we aborted this fool's errand and bugged the hell out of here. I say let the Craaldans and the Diocons fight it out, and if the two of them kill each other off, the universe will be a better place for it."

"That would make me happy on the inside," Tanaka said.

"You humans do not comprehend the meaning of what you speak," the professor said testily. "But this is expected from creatures on the lower end of the evolutionary ladder."

"Those aren't happy thoughts, professor," Mingus said.

"Brute. Mingus," Spade said. "I want you two down in the engine room for damage control until we get to the surface. Take the professor with you."

"Roger," they said. Brute grabbed the professor by the back of his neck and pulled him from the cockpit.

Spade contemplated calling off the mission. It was too risky. If the two empires got into a suicidal war, it would serve them right for all the suffering and pain they had inflicted on the galaxy.

Tanaka completed a diagnostic check while monitoring communications traffic. "All systems good to go," he said.

"Roger that," Spade said.

These Craaldans live only for war, Spade thought. They had no use for comfort, luxury or civilization. They had turned over to the Noctish all the wealth of the civilizations they had smashed, only for actionable nuggets of intel that served their lust for victory. Battle and conquest were all the Craaldans wanted from life. When they conquered a world, they enslaved any survivors and placed them in work camps or on labor teams and then plundered the planet's resources to feed their insatiable war machine. Within a few years, even the hardiest survivor of a Craaldan conquest would be reduced to an empty shell and would soon succumb under the heavy boot of Craaldan oppression.

The Diocons, on the other hand, had no need for slaves. They fought wars of annihilation. Their aim whenever they encountered resistance was to eradicate every living thing. They would then occupy whatever world they had leveled only if it had strategic value or critical resources for the construction of armaments. Where the proper resources were present, the Diocons built huge automated factories that churned out weaponry, ships and soldiers to expand their capacity for the delivery of death.

These two empires had been rampaging across the Inner Galaxy for eons. Spade would feel no sorrow if both Craaldan and Diocon were to destroy themselves and disappear forever from the galaxy. But now here he was with his crew caught between these two agents of destruction.

"Here they come," Tanaka said.

A display panel tracked the blistering ascent of six missiles from the Naos surface.

"The missiles are entering the mine field," Tanaka said. "Hold on."

The black void of space flashed white. A blinding light flooded the cockpit.

The flashes flickered and nuclear fireballs expanded in the vacuum above Naos.

The first violent shock wave shook the ship—then five more in rapid and jarring succession.

"Go, go, go!" Tanaka yelled.

Spade fired the engines and the Red Wrath shot forward in unison with the decoy formation. They jetted for the fireballs above Naos. At the last second, the formation veered away and hurtled downward toward the Naos surface.

The rugged, black topography of the moon came into sharp focus. Spade had seen these same rock formations and canyons countless times and knew them better than anyone.

"We're coming into range of their cannons," Tanaka said.

"They're not picking us up," Spade said. "The electromagnetic pulse blinded them."

The decoy ship in front of the Red Wrath erupted in an explosion of metal.

"Kinetic laser," Tanaka said. "They've found their range."

"These damn decoys are slowing us down," Spade said. "I'm going to punch through."

"Don't do it, fool," Tanaka said. "If we're out front, we'll be an easy target."

Spade pulled the ship behind a decoy. In a flash, three decoys disintegrated, hit by rapid pulses from kinetic laser cannons.

Spade shot the ship through the debris.

"We're not going to make it!" Tanaka yelled.

Instantaneous pulses pulverized the remaining decoys in flashes of exploding metal.

Spade shoved forward on the stick and dove straight for the surface.

"They've got a lock!" Tanaka yelled. "This is it!"

The moon's jagged black surface rushed up toward them.

Tanaka looked over at Spade through his glowing green lenses. The tendons and veins in his skinny neck were tense and pulsating. "I know I've been insolent and inconsiderate!" Tanaka yelled. He reached over and gripped Spade's forearm, digging his bony fingertips into the muscle. "But I always loved you, Spade, you one-eyed bastard!"

Spade yanked back on the stick, struggling to remain conscious under the weight of immense g-forces. The interceptor skimmed low over the Naos surface, then zoomed over jagged peaks before diving for cover behind them.

Spade sighted a Craaldan reserve tank company encamped in a narrow valley below. He circled low over the tanks. The Red Wrath was now safely behind the mountain ridge and concealed from the Diocon laser cannons.

He zoomed over a flat area and then opened his landing gear.

"Now, that is what I call flying!" Spade said.

"No, they held their fire," Tanaka said. "I don't know why, but they did."

Spade set the interceptor down on the black Naos surface inside the Craaldan camp.

He looked over at Tanaka. "Did you say you love me?"

Planet of Glass

Craaldan infantry moved in around the ship outside on the atmosphere-less surface. The soldiers were equipped with fully contained mechanized body armor, and armed with the CX-649 weapon system.

Their armor was shiny black, with yellow coloring at the joints. Their CX-649 assault weapons were held in their armored hands or slung around onto their backs.

Tanaka was agitated. "Disregard what I said," he said. "I was delirious."

"When you said love, did you mean romantic love, or in a more manly camaraderie-type sense?" Spade asked.

"Dammit, Spade, you idiot," Tanaka blurted. "I was in a delirium because I thought you had gotten us all killed! I don't love you as a man or anyway else!"

"Now you're breaking my heart," Spade said.

Tanaka climbed out of the cockpit. Spade followed him.

The crew watched through portholes as the Craaldan soldiers loaded gear into the Red Wrath's decompression chamber. Craaldans were already tall, but inside their mech armor, they stood well over ten feet.

Mingus and Brute opened the air lock and pulled the Craaldan gear into the galley. Professor Mahlis instructed the two Megalans to unload two mech armor suits that were packed into a container.

Spade walked into the galley and lit up a cigar. "What ya got there, professor?"

"This one is yours and this one is mine," the professor said. "Put it on, Captain. We haven't much time."

"I ain't leaving the ship," Spade said. "Our agreement was that I drop you off."

"That was not the agreement," the professor said. "You are to come with me. I need your knowledge of the terrain in order to complete my mission."

Spade looked down at the little professor, and for a moment contemplated stomping him under his boot.

"I need your help, Captain Spade," the professor said. "Please get ready. You willl be safely back aboard your ship in five hours, no more."

"Five hours is a long time," Spade said.

"You and your crew will be compensated for your assistance," the professor said. "I only need you for a moment. Then your crew will be safely speeding back to the Outer Galaxy in no time."

Spade shook his head and stubbed his cigar on a bulkhead. He slid his arms and legs into the black, metallic armor, which mechanically clasped around his torso with a clang.

Inside the mech armor, he now stood taller than Mingus and Brute, who, along with Tanaka, watched him curiously.

"I don't know if I like the new look," Mingus said. "It's frightening."

"Brute is in command," Spade said. "If I'm not back in five hours, scram for Meglos. Copy?"

"Roger that," Brute said.

"Make sure he waits five hours, Mingus," Spade said.

Mingus walked up to him and wrapped her beefy arms around his armored torso. Inside the mech armor, this was the first time Spade stood taller than her.

"Be careful out there, OK?" Mingus said. "We'll be worried sick until you're back safely on board."

"We?" Tanaka scoffed.

"Hey, Tanaka." Spade winked at him. "I love you, too."

Tanaka stared blankly at him through his green lenses.

Now that they had landed, Tanaka again wore the mechanical prostheses that assisted his movement.

"Your mother is a Vomis nematode," Tanaka said.

"Hey, what do you know about Vomis nematodes?" Spade asked.

Tanaka let out "Hmmph," and turned and walked out of the galley.

In the mech armor, Professor Mahlis stood nine feet tall. But without his helmet, he looked like a giant pinhead. He put on the helmet. The yellow faceplate clamped shut.

The little professor, now completely encased in armor, looked as formidable as any Craaldan infantry soldier. He lifted from the container a CX-649 weapon system with an attached grenade launcher. Without the mech armor, the CX-649 was as large as Mahlis, but now inside the armor the little humanoid handled it with skill.

Spade put on his helmet, and the faceplate clamped shut. He felt sharp stings of pain as tubes plunged into his skin and into the back of his skull, burrowing into veins and nerve endings. Suddenly, he was no longer breathing through his nose or mouth. Oxygen was being injected directly into his blood stream, as was a chemical solution that fueled his cells.

Spade was no longer using his eye for vision. Instead, a 360-degree visual representation of the outside environment was being downloaded directly into his cortex. He was receiving several visual feeds, not only from the sensors on his mech armor, but from various points around Naos, which allowed for an expansive situational awareness of the lunar surface.

Information on weapons systems, armored vehicles, and the names, ranks and specialties of infantry troops scrolled across his visual interface. Information from Craaldan databases was seamlessly translated for his brain from the Craaldan base language.

Spade reached down and grabbed the second CX-649 weapons system in the container. He was surprised at his ease of movement while wearing such a massive amount of armor. He felt that his range of motion had increased dramatically. His senses felt sharper and more acute, heightening his sensory awareness. The mech armor made motion on this moon feel as simple as a walk in the park on any Earth-like planet.

"Carry this canister for me, would you?" the professor said. The request was transmitted directly into Spade's cortex.

The professor handed Spade an oblong chrome-colored canister, which Spade slid into a carrying module on his thigh.

"Let's move out, shall we?" the professor said.

"Roger," Spade said. Without air in his lungs and vocal cords, his brain impulses were being directly transmitted as speech.

They stepped into the decompression chamber. Brute sealed the hatch behind them. The outer hatch opened and Spade looked up at the black, starry sky of his childhood.

He stepped out onto his home world. His large boots landed with a crunch on the rock and ice.

A squad of nine Craaldan infantry was waiting for them. Spade and Professor Mahlis fell into their formation and followed as the squad walked across the black surface of Naos through an encampment of monstrous battle tanks.

The swirling colors of Roga were visible between the jagged peaks of the Bleak Range. The giant planet was setting behind the mountains, and for the next few hours would not be visible in the starry sky.

Spade marveled at the Craaldan mech armor. He had walked these mountains many times before, but in a human lunar suit, which now seemed clunky and primitive compared to the mech armor. And the CX-649 was light years ahead of any human weapons systems. The CX-649 could spit out a storm of molten metal that could chew through a mountainside. And the grenade launcher, depending on the setting, could kill one man standing in a crowd from a hundred clicks out. Change the settings and it could take out an entire tank platoon.

Spade wished the Naos Lunar Militia had been equipped with Craaldan mech armor and CX-649s when the Diocons had attacked. Then the militia could have put up a fight.

Brilliant flashes illuminated the stark landscape. Shadows danced in the bright white light from overhead. Two missiles had hit the orbiting Craaldan minefields and the nukes had detonated far above the Naos surface. The electromagnetic pulses from the blasts caused static to flicker across Spade's visual display.

Spade and Professor Mahlis followed the Craaldan squad along a narrow path cut into a steep mountainside. Spade had walked this path before and knew it led to a ridge that overlooked Zander's Plain.

Spade pulled up data on the squad leader who was in command of their small formation. What was odd was that the squad was being led by a sergeant major—a rank too high to be leading a mere squad.

When they came around a bend, a Craaldan forward operating base came into view, wedged into a saddle below the ridgeline. Aerial defense missile launchers and laser cannons were emplaced at each of the base's six corners.

Infantry, artillery and armored vehicles were in motion between hangars dug half into the rock. A constant flow of weaponry and machinery moved in and out of the base's three gates.

The center of the base was dominated by a large tracked vehicle that bristled with antennae.

"Sergeant Major Rupa," Professor Mahlis called out.

The soldier in the center of their loose formation raised a fist and the squad halted in unison. The soldiers went down on a knee and pointed their weapons outward.

"Stay here with your squad while Captain Spade and I are in the command post with Commander Cripp," the professor said. "Follow me, Captain Spade."

"Lead the way."

Order of Battle

Spade and the professor entered the tracked vehicle which served as the central command post for the Craaldan forces on Naos. Craaldan soldiers with silver rank on their chests stood before large screens that displayed scrolling data. The soldiers were wearing armor, but their helmets were removed.

A map displaying the location of friendly and enemy units was projected onto a wall. Commander Cripp had his hands clasped behind his back as he looked up at the map. Like General Seb, he was about a head taller than the typical Craaldan.

"Welcome to Naos, Professor Mahlis," Cripp said.

"I am delighted to be here in your presence," the professor replied.

Professor Mahlis and Spade removed their helmets. Spade inhaled deeply the cold air in the command vehicle, feeling his lungs once again fill with air. Breathing through his mouth and nose now seemed distracting after getting used to having oxygen directly injected into his veins. Although his helmet was removed, his brain was still connected to the mech armor computer, which continued to translate the Craaldan language for him. He thought he could never get used to hearing the harsh Craaldan tongue—a difficult language both to listen to and to master.

"The situation on the ground is dire," Commander Cripp stated. "The Diocons are amassing their forces for an attack. It appears the enemy will try to annihilate us before our reinforcements arrive. But our defenses are strong. As long as our missile shield is operable we believe we can withstand any direct assault."

"Is this command center the communications node for the missile shield?" the professor asked.

"Affirmative," the commander answered. He pointed upwards at the map. "Our aerial defense batteries are dug in atop the peaks of the Bleak Range, providing us with an impenetrable nuclear umbrella. Second Battalion is defending the ingress, which is the most likely avenue of approach to the peaks."

"And if the Diocons break through 2nd Battalion's lines?" Professor Mahlis asked.

"If the enemy were to break through and reach the peaks and then knock out our anti-missile batteries and laser cannons, then they could nuke both brigades. But 2nd Battalion is well emplaced to defend against such a scenario. The enemy will be massacred as soon as they enter our kill zone."

"You have an obvious weakness in your defense, Commander," the professor said.

"Oh?"

"This command center," the professor said. "If the enemy were to overrun this forwarding operating base and destroy the command center, the missile shield would go down."

"Correct. But only briefly until my second in command takes charge. And we in headquarters company do not plan on being overrun."

The commander looked at the little Noctish professor, whose tiny head protruded up from his Craaldan armor. "The Diocons are cut off," Commander Cripp said. "No communications are going in or out of Zander City. We have total information dominance. Once we land another brigade, we will destroy them."

"Do not overestimate your strength, Commander," Professor Mahlis said.

"Do you have any new actionable intelligence?" the commander asked.

"That is not my purpose here," Mahlis said. "I am here to stop this madness."

The commander cracked a smile. "But the madness has only just begun."

Mahlis sighed. He explained how he needed to get across the Naos Rift and behind enemy lines without getting killed. Then he would attempt to reach the Diocon command and control center, which was located somewhere in the Craggy Mountains above Zander City.

"You'll never make it," Cripp said. "The enemy will cut you down as soon as you cross the Naos Rift."

"The Diocons have left us a few openings to the north," Spade interjected, looking up at the map on the wall. "A squad could slip through. We might be able to stay out of their line of sight and reach the Craggies without incident."

A circled, red X marked the suspected location of the Diocon command and control center.

"I know a few passes that can take us up the backside of the mountains undetected. There are mining tunnels that will lead us right to that location."

"Your human friend has it all figured out," Cripp said.

"They are a primitive species," the professor said, "but they have their moments."

"A scout squad has been assigned to your mission, Professor," Cripp said. "You will be in good hands with Sergeant Major Rupa. Listen to him and you may survive this folly."

"Thank you, Commander," the professor said.

"Carry on." The commander walked to a group of colonels who were huddled over a display of scrolling Craaldan script.

"Spade, I want you to give the commander's aide the canister you are carrying," Professor Mahlis said. "Tell him it is a gift from you and that he shouldn't allow the commander to open it until we are outside the wire. Do you understand?"

"What's in the canister?" Spade asked.

"A gift of great value," the professor answered.

"You give it to him, then."

"Captain Spade, give the aide the gift. It is customary before a mission to bestow a gift to the commander. It might raise his opinion of humans if he were to think it is from you. Now hurry, give the aide the canister."

Spade removed the canister from the carrying module on his thigh. He walked over to the commander's aide, who was seated before a large display screen.

Spade handed the aide the canister and told him it was a gift, and not to open until after they had left the forward operating base.

The aide appeared to understand. "Roger," he said. He raised a handheld scanner and passed it front of Spade's eye. Then he shoved the canister into a small locker under his display panel.

"Good luck on your mission, human," the aide said.

Spade put on his helmet and left the command and control center. He walked out onto the Naos surface where Professor Mahlis was waiting with the squad of nine Craaldans. Beyond the perimeter of the base, giant Roga rose above the ridgeline. They stood on the hard ground around their squad leader as the busy traffic of war moved about them between the hangars.

Sergeant Major Rupa

"We'll travel in squad file until we reach the ridgeline," Sergeant Major Rupa said. "Then squad column to the rift. Alpha fire team wedge right. Bravo left. Tracking?"

"Roger, Sergeant Major," the team leaders replied. Alpha fire team was led by a Craaldan soldier named Sgt. Shard. Bravo was led by Sgt. Boke.

"Professor Mahlis, your battle buddy is Private Phleg," Sergeant Major Rupa said. "Private Phleg, do not let the professor out of your sight or into harm's way. Copy?"

"Copy that, Sergeant Major," Pvt. Phleg answered. Phleg, carrying his large CX-649 weapon, stood up from his crouch and walked up beside the professor.

The soldiers were nearly indistinguishable in their mech armor, except for the number of stripes on the insignia on their chests. Their names and ranks were also printed on the left side of their chests. The computer in Spade's mech armor seamlessly translated the Craaldan lettering and insignia into its human equivalent.

Two of the soldiers were distinguished by the specialized weaponry that they carried, which looked like larger versions of the CX-649.

Sergeant Major Rupa had so many stripes on his insignia that, in comparison, the others looked deficient in rank. The sergeant major lifted his armored arm and waved his palm forward. The squad moved out in spaced single file.

Spade jogged up beside the sergeant major. "You didn't assign my battle buddy," Spade said.

"That is correct," Rupa said.

Spade walked beside him, dodging massive mechanized vehicles as they rumbled past on the rock and ice.

"Why is a sergeant major leading a scout squad anyway?" Spade asked. "Shouldn't you be back on the command ship terrorizing lieutenants and stroking some general's ego?"

"I was a squad leader in a scout platoon for over 300 Earth-years, human. I was a platoon sergeant for another 200. A first sergeant for 50. I've seen more battles than you've seen stars."

"Squad leader is below your pay grade," Spade said.

"Craaldans don' get paid," he replied.

"So whose pot did you piss in to get assigned this mission?"

"Hmph. General Seb wants the professor back alive, and he wants me to keep my eyes on you. That's why I am leading this mission. So watch yourself."

"Just so you know, I ain't infantry," Spade said. "I'm a pilot."

"I know that."

"Where do you want me in the formation?" Spade asked.

"On point," the sergeant major said.

"Say again?"

"You heard me. On point. Get up there, human!"

Spade knew little about infantry tactics. He was a pilot, not a ground pounder. He attempted to recall those countless conversations he had with a former crewmember named Sgt. Joe Grimes. Grimes had been a Ranger with the Heliac Defense Forces, and on their voyages through the Inner Galaxy, Grimes would often recount the Craaldan assault on the Heliac System and the tactics the Rangers used against them. Of course, the Craaldans made short work of the Heliac Defense Forces and massacred the humans that had settled that system.

"Stay tactical, human," Sergeant Major Rupa said. "Take point, ASAP!"

Even behind the mech armor, the sergeant major had command presence and a persuasive quality. Spade trotted up to the front of the column and took his position at the front of the squad.

The squad left the gate and marched up a rocky slope. When they reached the ridgeline, Rupa signaled for the squad to get down. The soldiers took cover behind boulders and chunks of black ice.

Sergeant Major Rupa waved over Professor Mahlis, who signaled for Spade to accompany him.

Rupa scanned the plain below. Nine platoons were dug into fighting positions below in the half bowl where the plain met the Bleak Range. A large kill zone would greet enemy forces that attempted to advance on their positions.

Outside the kill zone, the Craaldans had emplaced ambushes and observation posts at strategic points on the plain all the way to the glowing Naos Rift.

The rift glowed red in the blackness of the moonscape. Beyond the rift was a long expanse of empty plain that stretched to the foothills of the Craggy Mountains, where the ruins of Zander City were visible against the dark, jagged silhouette of rocky peaks.

"I see no enemy units," Professor Mahlis said.

"They're out there," Rupa said. "Every unit that has tried to cross the rift has been cut down. They are dug in so well that our sensors have not pinned down a complete picture of their fighting positions."

Spade pointed out at the plain. "They are dug in there, there and there," he said. "They've built a trench line and tunnel system below our line of sight and are able to move between their bunkers for complete coverage of any direct crossing of the rift. They know how to use terrain for concealment, that's for sure."

Rupa zoomed his optics in on the positions. "Impressive, human."

"We can cross the rift there," Spade said, pointing to the north.

"We will still be in range of that bunker complex," Rupa said.

"Roger, but there is a spine of rock that runs due west and is paralleled by a narrow ravine. If we stay in the ravine below the spine, we have a shot at infiltrating their lines. Then we can make a run for the mountains."

"I see no spine of rock," Rupa said.

"Trust me, it's there," Spade said. "When I was a kid, I used to sneak up on Naos Lunar Militia patrols during training exercises by following those rocks. Worked every time. If you ever want to cross Zander's Plain without being seen, that is the way to do it."

"Excellent, Captain Spade," Professor Mahlis said. "Despite the reservations of General Seb, you are proving to be quite the asset."

A violent shockwave suddenly thudded against their armor. The ground beneath them lurched and rumbled. Spade, Rupa and Mahlis dropped to the ground and took cover behind outcroppings of rock.

"Team leaders, report!" Sergeant Major Rupa said.

"Alpha is up."

"Bravo up."

A yellow fireball expanded over the forward operating base behind them.

"That's the command post," Rupa said.

The bright fireball climbed upward above the base that they had just left. From their vantage point on the ridge, it appeared that a large blast had just flattened much of the base.

"The base just got smoked," Rupa said.

"Commander Cripp is in the command post, as is the entire command staff," Professor Mahlis said. "It cannot be destroyed."

"The brigade's aerial defenses have gone down," Rupa said. "This is not good."

A missile screamed upward from Zander City and arced over the plain.

"Get down! Get down!" the sergeant major exclaimed.

The missile crossed over the Naos Rift, then shot downward toward 2nd Battalion's positions.

The landscape vanished in a blinding flash of white light. A shockwave hit Spade like a sledgehammer, throwing him from the surface and hurling him backward.

He slammed hard into rock. His visual display flickered out. His mech armor was not responding and he was unable to move. He realized that no oxygen was reaching his bloodstream. Panic set in as a feeling of suffocation overwhelmed him. He felt his consciousness rapidly slipping away.

As his panic reached an apex, his visual display flickered back to life. Oxygen flowed back into his bloodstream to his profound relief.

He stood up from the rocks and ice to see a giant nuclear mushroom cloud expanding over the plain where 2nd Battalion had been safely dug in only moments before.

Fields of Fire

"Alpha team," Sergeant Major Rupa said. "Status report."

"Alpha team is up," Sgt. Shard, the alpha fire team leader, said.

"Bravo. Status," Rupa said.

"Bravo's up," Sgt. Boke, the bravo fire team leader, said.

"Private Phleg, status report on Professor Mahlis," Rupa said.

"I am well," Professor Mahlis said.

"The professor is well," Pvt. Phleg said.

The squad watched the broiling mushroom cloud expand and dissipate upward above the plain.

"Tactical nuke," Rupa said. "Direct hit."

"Did 2nd Battalion withstand the blast?" the professor asked.

"Negative," Rupa said.

"Oh, dear," the professor said.

The nuke had detonated above the center of the half bowl and had vaporized 2nd Battalion and flattened its defensive fortifications.

Three more missiles shot upward from Zander City and arced toward the Craaldan lines.

"Take cover," Rupa said.

When the missiles zoomed over the Naos Rift, the Craaldan laser cannons up on the mountain peaks opened up and blasted at them with rapid pulses. The missiles were pulverized in great puffs of smoke and debris.

"Aerial defenses are back online," bravo team leader Sgt. Boke said.

"Sergeant Major," Sgt. Shard said. "Your three o'clock. Diocon ground-attack drones coming in low."

"Copy. Stay down and stay tactical."

Fifteen ground-attack drones skimmed above the plain at great velocity, throwing up spectacular columns of dust behind them. The large Diocon drones were the bane of the Craaldan infantry. Without aerial defenses, a handful of drones could easily dispatch an entire infantry battalion, and pinpoint and destroy sniper teams.

The drones shot over the Naos Rift and discharged a salvo of cluster bombs that impacted across the lunar surface and exploded with a powerful and rapid succession of shockwaves.

The shockwaves swept across the valley floor. The defensive mine fields on the Craaldan side of the rift detonated, throwing up an enormous wall of black dust. The glowing red river of lava disappeared behind the rising dust cloud.

As the ground attack aircraft raced forward, the Craaldan aerial defenses on the mountain peaks let loose a barrage of missiles and laser pulses, which smashed into the speeding Diocon drones—all fifteen of which were shattered to pieces in explosions of fire and metal. The debris hurtled and crashed to the surface, throwing up dust plumes and carving channels into the rock and ice as chunks of the drones careened and rolled across the plain.

"Aerial defense has neutralized the Diocon drones," Rupa said. "Command and control is restored and combat effective."

The wall of dust thrown up by the detonation of the mine field nearly obscured all of the Diocon side of the plain. Through the leading edge of the rising cloud, a horde of Diocon infantry burst through the dust and charged across the plain.

The Diocons sprinted out of the cloud at tremendous speeds, racing toward the half-bowl ingress to the Bleak Range.

From his vantage point up on the ridgeline, Spade counted an entire Diocon infantry battalion—900 soldiers strong—racing across the rock and ice that recently had been flattened and swept smooth by the nuclear blast.

It was the first time Spade had observed the Diocons this close up. Each Diocon soldier was steel gray and fifteen feet tall. They had glowing red eyes set into their bullet-shaped heads. They had spindly arms and legs. In their arms they carried large armonium cannons that fired high-explosive, armor-piercing rounds. The Diocons ran in tight squad formations at speeds almost as fast as the flying drones. Spade imagined the tragic futility of the Naos Lunar Militia when it opposed such a Diocon onslaught, which had so easily annihilated the human population here on Naos.

"No one is positioned to stop them from reaching the mountains," Professor Mahlis observed. "They will overrun the aerial defenses and leave us open to further nuke strikes."

The Diocon infantry raced unopposed across the half bowl and neared the cover of the Bleak Range where they could disappear into the crags and ravines.

Nine Craaldan battle tanks rolled over a low mountain ridgeline directly in front of the advancing Diocons. The reserve tank company had maneuvered through a pass in the mountains in an attempt to block the Diocon assault from reaching the aerial defenses positioned on the peaks above.

The battle tanks massed their fire and unleashed a barrage of rounds that smashed directly into the front of the rapidly advancing Diocon infantry.

The metal Diocon soldiers were tough, but not tough enough to withstand rounds at near point blank range from Craaldan battle tanks. The Diocons were ripped to pieces. They halted their advance and sought cover on the open ground behind chunks of rock and ice and debris from the destroyed drones.

Mechanized vehicles from two Craaldan infantry battalions that were dug in to the south rolled onto the battlefield, positioning themselves between the Naos Rift and the Diocon infantry, effectively cutting off a Diocon retreat. The vehicles halted and their rear hatches dropped open. Craaldan infantry rushed out of the hatches and took up fighting positions to the rear of the enemy infantry.

The Craaldans had the Diocon battalion surrounded with tanks to the front and infantry to the rear. The tanks blasted at the Diocons, while the two Craaldan infantry battalions unleashed a curtain of fire from the rear, advancing on them in a coordinated attack.

The Diocons attempted to return fire with their powerful cannons, but they were in exposed positions and their fire was disorganized amidst the exploding tank salvos and the onslaught of molten metal fired from the Craaldan infantry to their rear.

"This battle is over," the sergeant major said. "The Diocon attack has been routed. This is a mopping up operation now."

Spade watched below as the Craaldan infantry methodically advanced on the pinned down Diocons, flanking them and masterfully picking them off with grenades and coordinated bursts of fire. Accurate and well-coordinated volleys from the Craaldan CX-649s were cutting the Diocons to shreds.

Diocon soldiers managed to land a few direct hits on Craaldan vehicles and infantry positions, but theirs was a lost cause.

One squad of isolated Diocon soldiers rushed at a Craaldan squad, but the Diocons were lit up and cut down. One wounded Diocon managed to sprint up close to the Craaldan squad's position. A Craaldan soldier stood up and popped a long bayonet from his armored fist. He sliced the Diocon in half with a mighty slash of his blade.

"Sorry you couldn't stop your war, Professor," Spade said. "Looks like our mission ended before it began."

"What do you mean?" the professor asked. "This mission will continue. Sergeant Major, move your squad forward."

"Roger that," the sergeant major said. "Lock it up," Rupa said to his squad. He raised his arm and signaled for the squad to move out.

The squad members rose to their feet and moved down the ridge in wedge formation toward the plain.

"Human!" the sergeant major barked. "You're on point! Get up there!"

Crossing the Rift

Spade led the squad across the plain using terrain features to mask their movement. He knew the terrain well and understood which rises and depressions and rock formations hid them from observers on the opposite side of the valley.

The Craaldans were experts when it came to concealment and speed of movement. Spade attempted to imitate their skill at disappearing into seemingly open ground.

Spade raised a fist and signaled for the squad to halt. They had reached the Naos Rift. He signaled for them to take cover and waved over the sergeant major.

"Do you see the drones?" Spade asked him.

"Roger."

Drones were flying above the Diocon side of the plain, moving in a grid pattern scanning for infiltrators. Spade pointed out the bunkers that were systematically placed to sweep the rift with fire in the case anyone tried to cross.

"They are relying on the drones to be their eyes," Spade said.

Professor Mahlis walked up to Spade and the sergeant major.

"Get down!" Rupa barked. "The enemy is on high alert after the loss of a battalion."

The professor crouched down. "Yes, their standard operating procedure after an offensive attack is to prepare a defense against counterattack," the professor said.

"Hmm," the sergeant major said. He was busily scanning the ruins of distant Zander City.

"What is it?" the professor asked.

"According to our intelligence estimate, the enemy should have two battalions remaining. But by my count, there are five battalion command vehicles to the north and south of the city."

The command vehicles were distinguishable by the many antennae that protruded from their turrets.

"I count seven," Spade said. "Those are infantry battalion commanders."

"Seven?" the professor said. "That's enough for three combat brigades."

"They have been reinforced," Rupa said. "This is not good."

"Yes," the professor said. "The Diocons have constructed an automated weapons factory inside one of the mountains. There." He pointed to a gray domed structure that extended into a mountainside behind Zander City. "They are producing tanks and infantry. They have the capability to build an infantry platoon and three battle tanks every hour. We must make haste, Captain Spade, before they overwhelm us with superior numbers."

"We wait for the drones to pass," Spade said. "Then we jump to the other side of the rift and sprint for the ravine behind the rock spine. We will be safe from observation once we're in the ravine."

"Risky," the sergeant major said. "We're in range of their crew-served weapons."

"All Naos is in range of their crew-served weapons," Spade said.

"Good point," Rupa said.

"I'll go first," Spade said. "Then send your troops over one by one after each pass of the drones."

"Roger that," Rupa said.

On the other side of the lava flow, a drone flew above the bank. Spade waited for it to pass. Then he stood and sprinted for the Naos Rift. When he reached the bank, he jumped at full sprint.

He would never have attempted to jump the rift in his old lunar suit, although he had cleared it before on a tricked out lunar rover.

In the Craaldan mech armor, he soared high over the bubbling red lava and crashed onto the bank on the Diocon side. He recovered his footing and sprinted across the open ground nervously watching the nearest Diocon bunker about 500 meters to the south. He ducked behind a large boulder and then slid down into the ravine.

A drone passed overhead, scanning the surface below. Spade ducked behind a blackened boulder of ice and lay motionless until the drone disappeared over the rock spine.

Sgt. Shard slid down the rocky slope into the ravine. Spade waved for Shard to take cover as another drone approached.

One by one the Craaldans slid down into the ravine and took cover. Professor Mahlis ineptly tumbled head over tail down the slope. The soldiers ran up to him and dragged him into a crevice as the next drone flew near.

Sergeant Major Rupa was the last of the squad to slide down into the ravine. Rupa took cover as a drone made a pass, then signaled for Spade to move out.

Spade took his position on point and led the squad forward through the ravine below the rock spine. They moved slowly, stopping to take cover for each overpass of a drone.

Spade reached the end of the ravine and signaled for the squad to get down. The ravine opened onto a flat stretch of ground, beyond which were the foothills of the Craggy Mountains. The open ground stretched for about 500 meters to a narrow pass through the hills that led to a deeper ravine that cut into the steep cliffs of the Craggies.

Spade was hoping to lead the squad to the pass and then up the ravine to a mine shaft, but this plan now seemed unlikely.

Rupa low-crawled to Spade's position.

"What's the hold-up, human?" Rupa asked.

Spade pointed to a bunker that blocked the entrance to the pass. Spade counted five Diocons and one crew-served weapon. "We have to turn back," Spade said. "This way is covered."

"No turning back now," Rupa said.

Professor Mahlis crawled up to their position.

"We have to go around," Spade said. "We'll take another route on the backside of the ridge."

"How long will that take?" Mahlis asked.

"It will be a long slow slog, about a day's time, but at least we won't be cut down by the gun in that bunker," Spade said.

"We have no time for that," Mahlis said. "We must attack the bunker and proceed up the ravine."

"That's not going to work," Spade said. "They'll shoot us to shreds as soon as we hit the open ground."

"We must attack the bunker and make haste up the mountains," Mahlis said.

"Attack a well-fortified bunker with a squad over open ground?" Spade said. "We will reveal our position and open ourselves up to counterattack. They'll sic those drones on us and this mission will be over."

"We have no choice," Professor Mahlis said. "There is no time."

"Talk some sense into the professor, Sergeant Major," Spade said. "Attacking that bunker is suicide."

"Nonsense," Rupa said. "I will lead this attack from the front."

Spade shook his head. "My money says you won't survive it."

"You may be right," Sergeant Major Rupa said. "But for an old soldier like me, an assault on a bunker makes life worth living."

Battle Drill

The sergeant major briefed his squad. Alpha fire team would lay down a base of fire. Bravo fire team would flank right and assault the bunker. Spade and Professor Mahlis would stay back with alpha team, while Sergeant Major Rupa would lead the assault.

"By the numbers," Rupa said to his troops. "No time for second best. Copy?"

"Copy that, Sergeant Major," the squad said in unison.

Rupa and bravo team moved out to the north, quickly and expertly.

Spade and Mahlis followed Sgt. Shard and his three-man fire team as they skirted the edge of the ravine. Pvt. Phleg stayed close to Mahlis. Alpha team rifleman Pvt. Zay walked slowly, scanning their right flank. On the left flank was their gunner, Pvt. Chank, who swung his oversized CX-1049 from the left to the right as he moved between boulders.

Sgt. Shard signaled for them to get down. The squad low crawled in a line and took cover in 30-meter spaced intervals. The enemy bunker was 300 meters out at their 12 o'clock.

They lay motionless as a drone passed overhead. Spade could see five Diocons through the aperture in their bunker. Their red eyes glowed in the blackness of the moonscape as their heads swiveled, searching the plain for movement.

The swirling colors of mighty Roga appeared behind the peaks of the Craggy Mountains.

"Fire!" Sgt. Shard said. "Give 'em all we've got!"

The fire team's CX-649s spit out a fusillade of fire at the bunker. Pvt. Chank's CX-1049 hit the bunker with thunderous blasts.

The Diocons returned fire with blasts from their armonium cannons. Then their crew-served weapon opened up, raking the moonscape with walls of exploding metal.

Spade kept his head down under a tremendous firestorm that kicked up huge plumes of rock and ice. A curtain of deadly shrapnel whizzed only centimeters above him.

Suddenly, Professor Mahlis stood up and ran for the rear. He stumbled and fell only to get up again and continue running.

"Down, you idiot!" Sgt. Shard shouted.

Pvt. Phleg stood and ran after the professor. Phleg caught him from the rear and threw him behind a boulder, but in the process was struck by a round from an armonium cannon.

The round took Pvt. Phleg's head clean off. Phleg stood headless. The vacuum of Naos sucked his innards out through his neck in a geyser of blood and guts. Phleg's blood and guts froze instantly and spattered about on the ground. His body fell backward and landed with a shudder in a cloud of dust.

The remaining squad members kept up their rate of fire, blasting away at the bunker. They then shifted fire to the south.

Spade watched to the north as Rupa and his squad arose from the moonscape and sprinted toward the bunker's vulnerable flank.

Two Diocons emerged from the bunker's rear door and aimed their cannons at the assaulting squad.

Rupa's riflemen, Pvt. Hett and Pvt. Gango, hit the dirt, while Sgt. Major Rupa, Sgt. Boke, and gunner Pvt. Reep continued their charge.

Sgt. Boke took a round in the center of his chest. His arms, legs and head ripped away from his body in a flash of fire.

Hett and Gango blasted away at the two Diocons, knocking them down with direct hits.

Rupa and Pvt. Reep sprinted up under fire and took cover against the side of the bunker. Hett and Gango reached the bunker and backed against its rear wall, keeping their weapons trained on the rear door.

With Reep covering, Rupa reached around and tossed a grenade through the bunker's front aperture.

The grenade exploded, rocking the moonscape with a powerful shockwave and spewing flame from the front aperture. The bunker's rear door flung open.

A Diocon soldier staggered out the open door. Hett and Gango immediately cut the Diocon to shreds with slashes from the bayonets that protruded from their fists.

Rupa and Reep ducked into the bunker's rear door. Spade could see the flashes inside as they systematically executed the Diocons with quick bursts from their weapons.

Sgt. Shard stood and signaled for alpha fire team to move forward. "Private Zay, you've got the professor," Shard said.

"Roger," Pvt. Zay said.

As they moved across the open ground, three drones rose from the horizon and raced above the moonscape toward them.

"Go, go, go!" Shard shouted.

The fire team sprinted for the bunker as the drones fired off a barrage of missiles that exploded around them.

Pvt. Zay disintegrated inside the blast from a missile strike.

Pvt. Chank stopped in his tracks amid the explosions and aimed his big gun skyward. With three quick bursts, he brought down the drones, which crashed against the moon's surface and cart-wheeled over the rock and ice.

Sgt. Shard and his remaining fire team entered the bunker. Alpha team was already inside. Rupa was seated atop the smoking metal carcass of a Diocon soldier. He was scanning a database through a charred and cracked display screen.

"I was wrong," Spade said to Rupa. "The old soldier survives to fight another day."

"I'm old, but I'm not rusty," Rupa said. "Status check."

"Private Zay and Private Phleg killed in action," Shard said. "Professor Mahlis, Pvt. Chank and the human are alive."

"Sergeant Boke killed in action," Pvt. Gango said. "Private Hett and Private Reep are up."

"Roger," Rupa said. "Private Gango, you've got bravo."

"Roger that," Pvt. Gango said.

"We must move quickly, Sergeant Major," Professor Mahlis said.

"Roger," Rupa said. "Human, you're back on point. We'll follow you up the ravine."

"We've revealed our position," Spade said. "The ravine is a no go."

"Lead us up the ravine, Captain," Professor Mahlis said. "Time is of the essence."

"A kill team on the ridgeline could pick us off one by one," Spade said. "That's if the drones don't get us first. If we lay low and move around the backside of the ridgeline, we might have a chance of surviving this mission. I know the terrain. It will be slow, but there is plenty of cover back there."

"Captain Spade," the professor said. "I am a student of Diocon standard operating procedures. The enemy is currently occupied with the possibility of a frontal attack from the Craaldan main body. They will send a reconnaissance platoon here to investigate and will determine that the size of our force is insignificant, and that their priorities are elsewhere. There will be no kill team on the ridgeline. Now quit stalling and take us up the ravine."

Kill Zone

Spade led the squad as quickly as he could move up the steep ravine, which was merely a narrow channel that cut upward through black rock.

Spade didn't like this. If the Diocons had gone through the effort to emplace a bunker at the foot of this ravine, they believed it was worth defending. Spade felt exposed at the point of the squad column, which had been reduced from nine to six, not including himself and Professor Mahlis.

"Stay tactical," Rupa said.

If they had reached the ravine undetected, they could have safely climbed to the mine shaft without incident. But they had been detected, and now they were boxed in and could be easily picked off from above if a kill team were in position.

The sergeant major had deferred decision making to the professor. For all his experience, Spade thought the sergeant major was being reckless driving them forward like this. He thought it was unwise for a hardened soldier like Rupa to take orders on a battlefield from an intellectual.

But what did Spade know? He was only human, he thought. Rupa and Professor Mahlis had been tromping around the galaxy for ages long before Spade was born.

The squad continued its climb upwards in a wedge formation with Spade on point. Pvt. Reep was to Spade's left, Pvt. Hett to his right and Pvt. Gango to the right of Hett.

Further back, Sgt. Shard was at the head of what used to be the alpha fire team. All that was left was Pvt. Chank, carrying his big gun, walking to the right of Shard.

Sgt. Major Rupa was at the center of the formation, directing the movement of the squad and keeping his eye on Professor Mahlis.

"Take cover," Rupa ordered.

The squad members concealed themselves in the moonscape.

Three large drones in tight formation zoomed up the ravine, spitting up a cloud of dust behind them. They shot past, and then zoomed vertically when they reached the ravine's far end. The drones disappeared high overhead.

Once the drones had passed, Spade stood up and waved them forward. It was not much farther to the entrance to a mine shaft. The entrance would be impossible to find in these rugged mountains without prior knowledge of its exact location.

The humans that had lived here had extensively mined these mountains, which were filled with rich veins of every sort of ore. While Naos lacked an atmosphere, it had an abundant supply of natural resources—a primary reason for why Dr. Zander had chosen this isolated moon for settlement.

"Get down! Get down!" Rupa commanded.

Spade turned around to see Pvt. Gango fall backward and hit the dirt—the soldier's mech armor punctured by a sniper round. Gango had taken a direct hit to the chest. His guts spewed out into the vacuum through the puncture hole in his armor.

Spade tried to take cover, but there was nowhere to hide between the ravine's narrow walls.

"Sniper, three o'clock high," Rupa said.

The squad fired as one toward the three o'clock position. Their weapons chewed up the ridgeline, lighting up the dark ravine in flashes of light.

"Hold your fire," Rupa said.

Spade scanned the ridgeline but saw nothing. He glanced to his rear and saw Sgt. Shard's head explode in a cloud of pink mist and twisted metal. Bull's-eye, struck by a sniper round.

"Move, move, move!" Rupa commanded.

"Pull back!" Spade shouted. "There's a kill team up there! They've got our number!"

"Forward!" Rupa commanded. The sergeant major sprinted past Spade, followed by his squad.

Spade rose to his feet and sprinted after them. An armonium round exploded in front of him—a direct hit on Pvt. Hett and Pvt. Reep. The two Craaldan soldiers were ripped apart by the blast.

Rupa ran fast, but he didn't know where he was going other than onward. No cover was to be found in the tight confines of the ravine.

Spade sprinted through plumes of fire and dust, trying to reach him. Another kilometer more and they could duck into the mine shaft.

A round from an armonium cannon struck Rupa, slicing his torso in two. Rupa's body was flung apart into separated halves.

"Sergeant Major!" Spade yelled.

The top half of Rupa's body landed in the cold dust, but Rupa continued firing. He fired off a last blast from his CX-649 before he went still.

A round exploded nearby, flipping Spade off the ground. He landed hard as rounds exploded around him. He rose to his feet and sprinted upward to the mine shaft opening.

Another round exploded at his feet. Spade was thrown across the ravine. He slammed into the rock wall and tumbled down to the icy ground, landing with a crunch. He couldn't move. His visual display flickered and went black.

No more oxygen was reaching his bloodstream. He began to suffocate within the mech armor.

He was fading fast. He desperately used the last of the glucose in his brain to access the mech armor's computer. He attempted to send out a distress signal, but he was unable to transmit.

He descended into darkness. At long last, this was death.

He was unsure how much time had elapsed when his visual display flickered back to life.

"Captain Spade, Captain Spade."

An armored soldier was staring down into his faceplate.

It wasn't a soldier. It was the professor.

"Are you still alive, Captain?" the professor asked.

"It appears so."

"We need to move quickly," Professor Mahlis said. "Can you still get us to the entrance to the mine?"

"Where is the rest of the squad?" Spade asked.

"They have been killed," Professor Mahlis answered. "The Diocon kill team is advancing down the ridge. We have to move out immediately, Captain."

Spade rose to his feet and looked around. The remains of the squad were scattered about the ravine.

A round exploded nearby. Rocks and dirt spattered against their mech armor.

Three Diocon soldiers descended the rock walls at the far end of the ravine. Another Diocon soldier at the top of the ridge was taking potshots at them.

"We have to move, Captain," Professor Mahlis said. "They will be upon us in a moment."

Spade recovered his faculties and sprinted up the ravine with the professor following closely behind. They scrambled over rocks and ice until Spade was able to locate a small hole in a rock wall.

"Over here, Professor," Spade called.

Three Diocons were sprinting at full speed up the ravine. They fired rounds from their armonium cannons.

Spade ducked into the shaft and pulled the professor in behind him as the rounds exploded against the rocky mountainside, throwing Spade and the professor onto their backs in the darkness.

Zander City

"Stay close!" Spade said to Professor Mahlis.

Spade ran through the darkness. A light on his shoulder cast a narrow beam against the carved rock. Shadows danced across the cold walls. Spade ducked left and right down forking tunnels while pulling the professor behind him. Spade knew these tunnels by muscle memory, and followed his instinct deeper into the mines.

Once he felt he had evaded his pursuers, he stopped. He turned and grabbed the professor and slammed him hard against the rock wall.

"You rat-faced bastard," Spade growled. "You said there would be no kill teams on the ridgeline."

"Captain Spade," the professor stammered. "There is much uncertainty in the universe. But now is not the time for contemplation."

The two armored forms were locked together in the darkness. Spade had Mahlis pinned against the wall, glaring down at him through his yellow faceplate.

"We should have gone around the backside of the mountain like I said!" Spade exclaimed. "Your haste got a whole squad killed."

"A Craaldan's fate is to die in battle," the professor said. "What is important is that we complete our mission."

"I don't care about your stupid mission!" Spade said.

Spade's sensors picked up movement approaching through the tunnels. He released the professor from his grip. "The Diocon kill team is following our tracks," Spade said.

"Maybe we should surrender to them," the professor said.

"Say again?" Spade asked.

"We can surrender," the professor said. "Perhaps they will spare our lives."

"Jeez," Spade said in disgust.

He contemplated popping his bayonet and skewering the little professor through his mech armor. But instead, he grabbed him and dragged him along as he darted down a dark tunnel.

Spade knew these mines and was certain he could confuse any tracker in the maze of narrow tunnels.

He climbed up a ladder that cut up a narrow cylinder through the rock. He pulled the professor up behind him. Spade emerged onto a ledge. He ducked through a hole in the rock and stepped out onto the side of a cliff that looked down on Zander City below. He pulled the professor outside.

"Zander City!" Mahlis exclaimed.

Spade looked down at the dark ruins of his hometown. He had sat on this ledge numerous times before and gazed down at the city when it was alight on the foothills of the plain.

But now all was darkness and ruin.

Hundreds of memories were associated with each street and building in the cityscape below. The swimming pool where he had spent so much time as a child. The library where he had stolen his first kiss. The landing strip where he had learned to fly. The tavern where the pilots downed drinks and told tales of diving their ships deep into the stormy clouds of Roga, while the militia taunted them and challenged them to shootouts on the range.

He could see the ruins of Dr. Zander's modest house in the center of town. Spade always enjoyed visiting the doctor who always made time to chat between his studies.

Spade remembered the faces and families that once filled the city's busy walkways and buildings. Zander City was small enough that its inhabitants knew each other by name. They had been family in a literal sense. Nearly all of them shared DNA.

But in an instant rain of metal and fire, all eighty-five thousand souls had been snuffed out.

Now the lifeless Diocons and their killing machines ruled the cratered streets and burned out buildings that had once been his hometown.

"There!" Professor Mahlis said. "The command and control vehicle!"

A nondescript tracked vehicle was situated on the western edge of town in the foothills that overlooked Zander City and the plain beyond. The vehicle was huge and black and bristling with antennae.

Spade planned a route through the streets, buildings and back alleys to bypass any contact with Diocon infantry.

"Follow me, professor," Spade said. "Stay close. You copy?"

"Lead the way, Captain."

They climbed down the rock wall. Spade sprinted over the foothills and dashed into the city limits. The professor followed right on his heels. They ducked from one burned-out building to the next, darting down the deserted alleyways.

The covered walkways were no longer covered. The walls and ceilings of the self-contained buildings had all been breached. Entire buildings had collapsed and now were nothing more than piles of rubble. Electronic books, cooking utensils, clothing, computer screens and the miscellaneous paraphernalia of human civilization were randomly scattered about in charred piles.

Spade did not see any bodies. The Diocons had long since disposed of the corpses—to what purpose Spade did not know.

He pulled the professor to the ground inside the skeletal frame of the city's main high school. Outside, an infantry platoon of forty soldiers marched past. The fifteen-foot tall soldiers marched in perfect ranks, their glowing red eyes facing forward. The infantry was followed by a tank platoon.

The heavy tanks rumbled down the narrow street. They were sleeker than the Craaldan battle tank, and unmanned—the tanks were actually heavily armed ground drones similar to their aerial counterparts.

"They are preparing to mount another attack," the professor said. "Perhaps they have gained the upper hand in numbers."

Spade grabbed the professor and pulled him along behind him. He raced from the city and up the foothills to the large command and control vehicle. They reached it without being detected. The vehicle was unguarded.

Spade clutched his weapon with his back against the metal wall of the vehicle.

"Now what?" Spade asked.

The professor stood in front of him. He walked over to the vehicle's rear hatch. "I suppose we should introduce ourselves."

Professor Mahlis knocked on the door with his armored knuckles.

"What are you doing?" Spade asked, incredulously.

Professor Mahlis knocked again. The hatch dropped open and he stepped inside.

The professor poked his head out of the hatch. "Captain Spade. Aren't you coming in?"

Spade looked around. No Diocon soldiers were to be seen. Spade followed the professor into the decompression chamber and then into the command and control vehicle.

Once inside, Professor Mahlis removed his helmet.

In front of them was the back of a chair that faced a large, wall-sized control panel that displayed Zander City and the various units out on the battlefield, as well as the Craaldan Fleet orbiting Roga.

"Professor Fahlis," Professor Mahlis said, "is that you?"

Know Your Enemy

The large chair spun around and revealed a small Noctish figure sitting inside it. The Noctish biped in the chair looked exactly like Professor Mahlis, only dressed differently, in some kind of military uniform. He wore a black shirt and black pants and small black boots on his tiny feet.

"Professor Mahlis!" the little Noctish creature in the chair exclaimed. "I had given up all hope on you!"

Professor Mahlis unclamped himself from his mech armor. The chest plate swung open and Professor Mahlis jumped to the floor. The empty mech armor remained standing as the professor ran up to the little humanoid dressed in black. They hugged each other happily.

The two Noctish jumped up and down and clapped their hands giddily.

"Why, don't you look the dashing soldier?" Professor Mahlis said.

"And you were absolutely terrifying in all that horrible armor!" Professor Fahlis said.

Spade lifted his faceplate and breathed in the cold air inside the command and control vehicle. He watched the two Noctish curiously.

"Professor Fahlis, you almost killed me when you launched the nuke strike that destroyed 2rd Battalion," Professor Mahlis said.

"I had no idea you had landed on the surface," Professor Fahlis said. "I suspected as much when I picked up an encrypted 'cease fire' beacon from an inbound ship. And when Commander Cripp's command vehicle was destroyed, my hopes were raised, but I had no way of knowing for sure it was you."

"I had no way to communicate with you," Professor Mahlis said. "You do not realize the degree of risk I have been taking lately."

"Quite heroic, Professor Mahlis," Professor Fahlis said. "Quite heroic, indeed."

"What is our situation?" Professor Mahlis asked.

"It is quite dire," Professor Fahlis answered. "We have achieved numerical superiority on the surface; however, a jammer squadron has joined the Craaldan Fleet and it is only a matter of hours until they pierce our missile shield and bombard our positions."

"Not to worry, not to worry," Professor Mahlis said. "Let us watch the fleet."

The two Noctish turned their attention to a screen that displayed the Craaldan 17th Fleet as it rounded the orbit of Roga. General Seb's command ship cruised between cruisers, destroyers and troop transports.

Professor Mahlis pulled out a small, handheld detonation device from a pocket in his rumpled shirt. "One! Two! Three!"

He pushed the button.

The two Noctish stared up at the screen for a moment. Then General Seb's ship disappeared in a flash of white light. A powerful nuclear blast engulfed most of the Craaldan fleet.

The ships far enough from the blast were rocked by the shockwave. Several broke apart. Flames burst from the hulls of others.

"We now have the upper hand," Professor Mahlis said. "The Craaldans have taken the bait and fallen into our trap!"

"Clever! Clever indeed!" Professor Fahlis said.

But then, Professor Fahlis appeared concerned, as if he were having second thoughts. "But Professor Mahlis, what if the Craaldans learn of your sabotage? This could put the Noctish in grave danger. There are millions of Noctish working behind Craaldan lines. And as we well know, the Craaldan do not take betrayal lightly."

"Ah, but humanity will take the blame. It was this human who planted the nuke," Professor Mahlis explained, pointing to Spade. "The Craaldan higher command have a record of our human friend depositing a mysterious canister on the command ship, and leaving another at the brigade command post. They will discover that these canisters were both the sources of these treacherous explosions."

"Oh, you are a clever one!" Professor Fahlis said.

"I also sent a final transmission to higher headquarters, feigning my last dying breath, detailing how our human patsy had destroyed a scout squad, and then fatally wounded me with his evil subterfuge."

"Excellent!" Professor Fahlis said.

"Our Noctish brothers and sisters with the Craaldans are all aware of their roles in this next stage in our plan," Professor Mahlis said.

"So the next stage finally begins!" Professor Fahlis exclaimed giddily.

Spade attempted to take a step forward, but his mech armor locked up. He couldn't move a muscle.

"What have you done, Professor?" Spade said.

"Commence the Diocon attack, Professor Fahlis," Professor Mahlis said. "We must strike the Craaldan hard and fast while we have the numerical advantage."

"Indeed!" Professor Fahlis said.

The little black-clad Noctish sat in his chair and spun around. He directed his attention to the large control panel before him. He rapidly pushed buttons, and on the screens above the Diocon units were set in motion in a vast attack across Zander's Plain.

Tanks and infantry raced across the flat landscape toward the Naos Rift, throwing up huge columns of dust. Countless drones lifted off from the airfield behind Zander City and zoomed toward the Bleak Range.

Professor Mahlis walked up to Spade, who was standing motionless in his armor. Spade's faceplate was still up. He looked down at the little Noctish who stood below him with his hands clasped behind his back.

"I know you are unable to appreciate your contribution to the success of this mission, Captain Spade, but you have been quite the asset," Professor Mahlis said. "You have been invaluable, actually."

"You rat-faced bastard," Spade growled.

"You have played your small role in the coming collapse of the Craaldan Empire, Captain Spade. For that you may feel pride. It is a collapse we Noctish have been plotting for what seems an eternity, and for which we have taken great pains and risks to engineer. The Craaldan have been drawn into our trap. Their mighty interstellar fleets will engage the full brunt of the Diocon Empire here while we foment rebellion throughout their empire, and set in motion the alliances we have constructed to unite against them and attack them from their rear at their most vulnerable moment. The beginning of the end of the Craaldan Empire is at hand."

"They trusted you and you betrayed them," Spade said.

"Betrayed!" Professor Mahlis exclaimed. "They were nothing until they met the Noctish!" the little professor snarled. "We Noctish have suffered their impudence for long enough! The Diocon Empire will receive the benefaction of the Noctish now. "

"What have the Diocons done with Dr. Zander?" Spade asked.

"Ah, yes," Professor Mahlis said. "Your beloved Dr. Zander."

"Dr. Zander?" Professor Fahlis spun around in his chair. "Dr. Zander was quite remarkable for a human. His intelligence was inestimable as we set up our operations in this system. I didn't realize humans could achieve an intellect of his quality."

"Where is he?" Spade demanded.

Fahlis thought the matter over. "Oh, yes. I sold him to a pathologist from the Malafax system about two Earth-decades ago, if I recall correctly. That sale earned me a paltry sum and I rather regret that I didn't hold out for more. "

"Is he still alive?" Spade asked.

"Perhaps," said Professor Fahlis, who then spun his chair around and returned his attention to the control panel.

"You little worm," Spade said.

Professor Mahlis pressed a button on a panel under his sleeve and the faceplate on Spade's helmet clamped shut. Mahlis turned and joined Professor Fahlis at the control console.

Spade was still paralyzed inside the mech armor, and now he realized that no oxygen was reaching his blood stream. He was suffocating.

Panic set in. Mahlis had cut off his life support and now he only had moments to live.

Spade burned through the glucose in his brain trying to scan through the mech armor's computer. He was able to access the armor's external communications system and attempted to contact the command and control vehicle's computer. He frantically cracked into a communications network and found a pathway to a transmitter. His neurons screamed for oxygen as he encrypted a file and then transmitted it through the command and control system's central computer, and then out into space.

Spade tried to hang on but felt death pulling him down. His consciousness faded as darkness closed in quickly. His senses faded to black.

Endgame

Spade gasped. Oxygen flooded into his lungs and bloodstream. He was lying on his back in the mech armor. His faceplate was up.

Professor Mahlis looked down at him.

"You transmitted an encrypted file," Professor Mahlis said. "What were the contents of the file?"

Spade was unsure of how long he had been under. He tried to collect his thoughts.

"What was the nature of your transmission!" Professor Mahlis screeched.

"It was a video file," Spade said.

"A video file?" the professor asked. "A video file of what?"

"I recorded your explanation of the plot to lure the Craaldans into battle at Roga, while Noctish advisers foment rebellions and construct alliances to attack them in their rear," Spade said. "I was able to transmit the file out of this tin can to what remains of the Craaldan fleet for relay to Craaldan headquarters on Goff."

"Oh, dear," Professor Mahlis said.

Mahlis stood on Spade's chest, looking down into his face. The professor's whiskers twitched and his pink eyes shifted left and right. "You should not have done that, Captain Spade."

"If I know the Craaldans," Spade said, "they don't take betrayal lightly."

"Oh, dear," Professor Mahlis said.

The little professor tugged at the whiskers on his chin. "The Craaldan will exact revenge on the Noctish."

Mahlis scratched his ear spasmodically.

"You have doomed the Noctish advisers to the Craaldan Empire! Do you know how many Noctish you have doomed?"

Spade attempted to lift his arm inside the inert mech armor, but the armor was too heavy.

"Do you know how many Noctish you have doomed!" Professor Mahlis screamed. The little professor bared his pointy teeth and scratched at Spade's one eye. "You have doomed millions of Noctish, you dirty animal!"

Spade bit the professor's tiny hand and held it in his teeth. The professor squealed loudly and scratched at Spade's face as he struggled to free his hand. His little fingernails drew blood on Spade's cheek.

With all his strength and exertion, Spade lifted the heavy armor that encased his arm and brought it down onto the professor's back with a thud.

The professor was pressed against Spade's helmet. He flailed at Spade's face with his free arm. Spade swung his other arm and caught the professor on the back of the shoulder, forcing the professor's little forearm onto the edge of the helmet, near Spade's face. With his nose, Spade pressed a button on the control panel strapped to the professor's forearm.

Spade's mech armed powered up.

Spade rose to his feet. He clamped his faceplate shut, still holding the squirming professor by the neck.

Spade popped the three-foot Craaldan bayonet from his armored fist and punched the blade into the professor's belly.

The professor's eyes went wide, and then he squealed loudly. The blade protruded through Professor Mahlis's gut and out his back.

Spade lowered the blade and let the little professor slide off its full length and drop to the floor. Professor Mahlis landed on his feet and scurried away a few feet before collapsing. The professor's face went white as he bled out on the floor.

"Checkmate, dirtbag," Spade said.

Professor Fahlis was backed up against the display screens, staring wide-eyed at Spade. The screens behind him depicted the raging battle between Craaldan and Diocon underway out on the plain. Several mushroom clouds expanded over Craaldan positions to the north and south.

Professor Fahlis scrambled quickly to a storage bin and opened it. He pulled a small assault rifle from the bin and aimed it at Spade.

In two strides, Spade reached Professor Fahlis and slapped the weapon to the floor. Spade punched his bayonet through Fahlis's chest, and quickly pulled it back out.

Professor Fahlis threw up his hands and moaned, and then collapsed face first to the floor in a heap. Blood pooled around his tiny form.

Spade looked down for a moment at the two dead Noctish on the floor. He turned his gaze to the display screens on the wall.

A ferocious close-in battle was raging on the plain as the remaining Craaldans fought for their survival.

Diocon forces had crossed the Naos Rift and had overrun several Craaldan battalions. The Diocons had reached the Bleak Range and knocked out the Craaldan missile shield. Nuke strikes had taken out the main bodies of the Craaldan brigades. However, the remaining Craaldan infantry had moved in to engage the Diocon attackers close up. Swarms of drones circled above the plain, zooming downward in tight formations and strafing Craaldan positions.

Spade scanned through the visual feeds until he located the area where he had landed his ship. The Craaldan reserve tank force was gone, but the Red Wrath was still there. It sat alone in the darkness on the black lunar surface. He could see no motion around the ship or through any of its portholes.

Spade checked his timer. He had 30 minutes to make it back to the ship before five hours had elapsed since he had departed.

He lifted his CX-649 and walked toward the door. He turned around and aimed his weapon at the banks of computers that filled much of the command and control vehicle. He unloaded the weapon into the computer stacks, chewing them to pieces in fiery bursts of molten metal. He then fired into the display screens, shooting them to bits in a shower of sparks and flame.

Flames engulfed the interior of the command and control vehicle. Spade kicked through the doors and jumped outside.

He turned again and pumped several grenades into the vehicle. It exploded from the inside, bursting open into several big chunks of burning metal.

Drones overhead redirected their flight and zeroed in on him. A squad of Diocons emerged from the ruins of the Zander City and ran up the foothills toward his position.

Spade fired off a burst and downed a drone. He fired several grenades at the oncoming squad and sent them scattering for cover.

Drones raked the area with fire, throwing up plumes of flames and rock. Spade sprinted up the foothills for the cover of the Craggy Mountains.

The Diocon squad was closing in, firing grenades at his position. The explosions smashed against his armor, throwing him to ground.

Spade scrambled up a cliff face as Diocon rounds exploded around him.

He found an entrance to the mines and pulled himself down into the dark tunnels.

Red Wrath

Spade emerged from the mining tunnels on the other side of the ridgeline. He skirted the backside of the ridge, moving as fast as he could, ducking for cover whenever a drone zoomed overhead.

The Diocon squad rushed out of the mine after him, following his tracks with their sensors.

From high up on the ridgeline, Spade could see the battle raging out on the plain beyond the glowing Naos Rift. The Diocons appeared to be in disarray. Without their Noctish mastermind, their battle plan had lost coherence.

The control center for the Diocon missile shield had been the command and control vehicle, which Spade had destroyed.

With the Diocon missile shield out of commission, the surviving ships from the Craaldan fleet had their opening and were now bombarding the Diocon positions from orbit. Missiles streaked down from space and exploded on the surface in great domes of light.

A missile shot upward from a Craaldan position on the Bleak Range and arced over the plain toward Zander City. Spade watched from his vantage point until he lost sight of it behind the jagged black peaks of the Craggy Mountains.

A blinding white light flashed and the mountains lurched and shook. A giant mushroom cloud expanded behind the ridgeline.

The Craaldans had nuked Zander City.

The shockwave knocked Spade to the ground. He tumbled down the steep mountainside, accompanied by crashing boulders, stones and chunks of black ice. He landed on a flat ledge and regained his footing, dodging stones and boulders that careened past him. He ran through a ravine and out onto the foothills until he reached the flatness of the plain.

He waited for a drone to make its pass, and then sprinted for the Naos Rift. He leaped over the rift and landed on the other side at a full sprint.

The smoldering corpses of Diocons and Craaldans littered the plain. Fire shot skyward from the wrecked hulks of burning battle tanks. The debris from shattered attack drones was scattered about in craters and channels carved in high-velocity crashes.

The battle had moved farther south. Spade was able to reach the Bleak Range without being detected. He clambered straight up the mountains, moving as quickly as possible over the rock and ice.

He reached the apex of the mountain range and then scrambled down its backside through sharp ravines and steep canyons. He knew this territory well, and was able to bypass impassable routes while traveling a path pursuers most likely would overlook when navigating with computer mapping systems.

Spade came over a ridge and spotted the Red Wrath below.

"Red, you're beautiful," he said.

It appeared the area had long been abandoned by Craaldan forces. He felt a sudden, overwhelming sense of relief. But when he zoomed in on the ship with his optics, he was disappointed to discover that an ambush had been set. Three Craaldan infantry troops were dug into concealed fighting positions around his ship.

The troops had yet to notice Spade moving down ridgeline. Spade moved stealthily, and attempted to creep up as close as possible to the Craaldan soldiers.

Spade lay perfectly still and observed them and contemplated his next move.

The Craaldan soldiers appeared bored, often turning their heads to look at each other while communicating. The battle was now distant and they were far from the action.

Spade zeroed his gun sight on the Craaldan soldier in the center fighting position and placed the crosshairs onto the soldier's faceplate.

Spade fired his weapon, scoring a direct hit, taking the soldier's head clean off.

Spade ducked behind the back of the ridge and sprinted several hundred meters to the south. He then crept back over the ridge and took up a new position.

The two remaining Craaldans were firing rounds and grenades at the position Spade had just vacated. The Craaldans were concealing themselves expertly now. Spade couldn't get a bead on them.

He fired a grenade over the second Craaldan's position. The grenade exploded with a wallop directly over where the Craaldan had last fired his weapon.

A moment after the blast, the Craaldan staggered out of his fighting position and sprinted for the safety of his battle buddy's position. Spade lined up the crosshairs and scored a direct hit, cutting the running soldier in two.

The third soldier bolted out from his concealed position and sprinted up the ridgeline directly for Spade. The Craaldan fired off several grenades that exploded over Spade, stunning him. Rounds from the Craaldan's weapon chewed up the rock and ice around him.

Spade looked up to see the Craaldan closing in on him. Spade fired off a round at the soldier, who adroitly sidestepped the blast in full sprint. The Craaldan swung his weapon around onto his back and popped bayonets from both his fists as he rushed in for the kill.

Spade stood up and fired his weapon from the hip. The CX-649 rounds struck center mass just as the Craaldan reached striking distance. The rounds left a gaping hole in the Craaldan soldier's chest. The soldier fell and skidded to a stop at Spade's feet.

Spade stepped over him and ran down the ridge to his interceptor. He reached the ship and entered the decompression chamber, taking off his helmet as he entered the galley.

"Mingus! Brute!"

Frozen blood was pooled on the galley floor.

"Tanaka!" Spade shouted. "Where are you?"

Spade unclamped himself from his mech armor. He climbed up to the cockpit. Bloody handprints were pressed against the seats, control panels and forward screen.

Spade ran through the passageways, checking the bays, but they were all empty.

He went down into the cargo hold. Three gray bags were stacked atop each other at the back of the hold.

Spade's heart pounded as he unzipped the top bag.

"Aw, Mingus."

Her face was white and lifeless. Her throat had a ghastly puncture wound where she had been stabbed with a bayonet.

Spade ran his hand across her cold cheek.

"Mingus..."

He unzipped the second bag. Tanaka's corpse was inside. Tanaka's eyepieces were shattered and embedded into his bloodied face. The side of his head had been crushed. "Dammit, Tanaka."

Spade unzipped the bottom bag. Brute's face was badly bruised and broken. His body was riddled with puncture wounds and gashes from bayonet slashes.

"I know you went down swinging, Leonard."

Spade zipped the bags back up and left the hold. He went up to the cockpit and sat down in the pilot's chair.

He smashed his fists onto the control panel. "You bastards."

He powered up the ship. The Red Wrath's sensors picked up a platoon of mechanized vehicles speeding through the pass toward the ship's position.

Spade lifted off and rocketed spaceward. Swarms of drones zeroed in on him in hot pursuit.

The Red Wrath shot past the pathetic remnants of the once powerful Craaldan 17th Fleet. Spade gunned his ship to full power, hoping the Craaldans wouldn't continue to give chase.

But Craaldan interceptors broke away from the fleet and came after him. While he had a fair chance of outrunning drones, the interceptors were much faster than his own ship and better armed. Spade knew his chances were slim of escaping them in open space.

He dove the Red Wrath for Roga with the Craaldans hot on his tail. He plunged the ship into the big planet's storm clouds.

The Red Wrath was jolted about as lightning crashed against its hull.

The gas giant's immense gravity field threatened to pull Spade down into its core. He pulled back on the stick and shot upward through the swirling green, yellow and red storm clouds.

Spade let out a whoop as the Red Wrath shot out of the clouds and out into the blackness of space. He scanned the clouds behind him on the ship's sensors.

Thirty Craaldan interceptors shot out of the clouds after him.

"Great," Spade said. He gunned the engines to the max. "Let's go, Red. No time for second best."

Part 2

Meglos

Sergeant First Class Joe J. Grimes sat in a chair alone in his apartment, his pale blue eyes gazing out the window into the thick haze that saturated the alien landscape below. His apartment was up on the 40th floor of this habitation building. His window had a commanding view of the yellow and orange tinted terrain of the planet Meglos.

The atmosphere on this planet was a dense mix of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, methane and ozone—completely unbreathable to humans. Through the almost opaque orange-yellow haze, Grimes could see a distant silhouette of rounded peaks—the Megalan Mountains—smooth, bleached rocks that rose upward in massive elongated domes.

Grimes' hair was spiky blonde, almost white. He was shirtless in his chair. His torso was muscled and wiry and covered in scars, from shrapnel wounds from long-ago battles fought and lost in the Heliac System. His back was striped with scar tissue—a permanent reminder of his time in the service of Craaldan masters.

Grimes exhaled deeply. He was a soldier who had once been gung ho, overflowing with energy and bravado and willing without question to take on the galaxy and its empires.

No more. Humanity had let him down. Now, his over-riding desire was to be away—far away from human intrigue, division and defeat in war.

It was early morning and he was already weary. The gravity on this planet was three times that of his home world of Jing, which was roughly Earth-like in size.

Every movement here on Meglos was a chore. Each evening when he returned to his apartment he would collapse on his bed feeling worn out and run down, just from going through the normal motions of the day. Lying down brought no rest. He would awake suddenly from dreams of being crushed under a boulder or under some huge piece of machinery that was pushing down heavily on his chest. He would awaken covered in sweat, his heart pounding.

One thing was certain, though, he was getting in excellent shape. With the end of each day, he felt as if he had endured an intense exercise regimen. The simple movements of daily living pushed him right up to the point of muscle failure. At times he would absent-mindedly reach for something, such as a glass of water or an electronic notepad, and the mindless act of picking up an ordinary object would cause such strain that often he felt he was ripping tendons and pulling muscles.

But Grimes was inured to hardship and was gradually adapting to the high gravity of this planet.

The Megalans who lived here had adapted to life here over several generations. The first settlers on Meglos were average-size humans, about a thousand in number. Many could not tolerate the high gravity and left. Quite a few succumbed to heart attacks or simple exhaustion.

The heartier survivors who remained raised children and slowly began to build a sustainable settlement. Natural selection pressures were intense on the early Megalan populace, and, combined with attempts at genetic engineering to build bodies better able to cope with the trials of life, over a few generations the typical Megalan had developed into a large boned, heavily muscled human with a massive frame.

The Megalans had adapted so well to life on Meglos that when they left, they craved the feel of the heavy gravity of their home world.

The Megalans often tried to convince other humans to settle on their isolated planet, with little success. The humans who arrived here traveled vast distances through empty space, and the transition from long periods in zero gravity to the intense gravity on Meglos was often too extreme to endure. It was not uncommon for new arrivals to drop dead from heart attacks after remaining on the surface for only a day or two.

This kept the population on Meglos small—only about 5 million strong on this huge planet. The Megalans had tried to expand their numbers using artificial gestation clinics, but their technical skills in the biological sciences left much to be desired. Reproduction on Meglos was done mostly the old fashioned way.

Sgt. Grimes lifted himself up from his chair. He put on a shirt, trousers and boots and walked out of his apartment and into a busy hallway.

Huge Megalans lumbered past him. Grimes was about six feet tall, which was short here. The females on Meglos averaged around six foot five, and were often taller. Their shoulders reminded Sgt. Grimes of the massive, rounded peaks of the Megalan Mountains outside.

Grimes rode an elevator down to the ground floor where thousands of big Megalans walked to and fro through an airy, cavernous atrium as they went about their day.

The architecture here was the common, rough and sturdy Megalan style, consisting of massive, squat columns holding up arched ceilings. Metal support beams crisscrossed the ceilings and walls. Grimes walked for what seemed like hours through this enclosed city of giant humans until he entered a noisy rotunda in the Government Center.

A Megalan guard stood in front of a door. The guard pushed his big finger into Grimes' chest. "Where do you think you're going, little fella?" he asked.

The guard was unarmed, and dressed in the same loose-fitting civilian attire that everyone wore on Meglos.

"I need to talk to the Governor," Grimes said.

"Governor Zegra is in a meeting," the guard said.

"Just tell her that Joe is here," Grimes said. "It's important."

The big Megalan guard rolled his eyes and put a finger to his ear. "Another one of the Governor's man friends," the guard said into his comm system. "He says his name is Joe." The guard laughed. "Yeah, he is a little fella."

The door opened. The guard stepped aside, looking down at Grimes with a smirk. "You keep the Governor happy for us citizens, OK little guy?"

Grimes walked down a plush, wood-paneled hallway and entered a conference room where Governor Zegra was seated at the head of a large table. Five Megalans on her staff sat on one side of the table, and four on the other. Everyone in the room was focused on a Megalan male dressed in military attire standing in front of a large screen that depicted several sectors on this side of the galaxy.

Governor Zegra glanced over at Grimes. She winked at him before returning her attention to the screen. She was truly a striking woman, Grimes thought upon seeing her again. He took a seat against the wall in the back of the room.

"Recent arrivals from the Inner Galaxy are reporting that full-scale war has broken out between the Craaldan and Diocon empires," said the Megalan male as he stood in front of the screen. His name was General Rathbone—commander of the Meglos Planetary Guard.

Technically, everyone on Meglos was a member of the Guard, but little training ever took place. The last time the Guard used force was over a hundred years ago when two political factions on the planet broke into open fighting on the streets of the capital. As the years passed, the Guard became more of a concept on file than a trained military force. It amazed Grimes how a people so physically large and strong could have such an impotent military. Grimes often thought that only a handful of Heliac Rangers in a few hours could bring this whole planet to its knees.

General Rathbone pointed out several systems where huge military engagements between the two empires had taken place. "These engagements are escalating to such size that civilizations caught in the middle are being obliterated. By my estimate, nine advanced societies have been extinguished in just this one engagement alone, just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"OK," Governor Zegra said. "Now you've got my attention, General."

Zegra was large and powerfully built, but all woman. She had deep blue eyes, and liked to keep a pair of green Paltran lenses perched on her nose. Her reddish black hair was pulled back tightly in a bun. She wore a dark blue woman's suit, cut low at the chest revealing ample cleavage.

The lenses she wore on the end of her nose gave her what some said was an intellectual look, although she said she used them for data feeds.

Governor Zegra radiated charisma and an easy confidence. Grimes could swear that he could physically feel her presence, even here on this side of the room, tingling warmly in his stomach and up and down his legs.

"Will the war spread to our corner of the galaxy?" Governor Zegra asked.

"We are in one of the most remote regions of our sector," the general said. "But the war does appear to be moving in our direction."

"We must prepare the Guard," Governor Zegra said. "That is our priority."

"Governor," the General said. "We are just a few humans on a rock in the middle of nowhere. No amount of preparation will do us any good against Craaldans or Diocons. A better course of action would be to plan for evacuation if the war gets too close for comfort."

"I am not evacuating," the Governor said. "I would rather die here fighting than drift through space for the rest of my life."

"With all due respect, Governor, I cannot condemn my fellow citizens to death in a fight with no hope of victory," the general said.

"There will be no evacuation," the Governor replied, dismissively. "We will defend Meglos."

"I will plan for an evacuation, with your approval or not."

"No, General," Governor Zegra said. "You are relieved of your command and stripped of your rank, effective immediately. You are dismissed, citizen Rathbone."

The general's face turned red. He walked up to the Governor and smashed his huge fist on the table. He leaned down and glared into the Governor's brilliant blue eyes.

Governor Zegra's face remained calm and collected. She did not break his stare. Rathbone looked away, stood and turned. He stormed out of the conference room, slamming the large door behind him with an echoing crash.

Governor Zegra turned in her chair. "Sergeant First Class Joe Grimes," she said across the room. "You have combat experience with the Craaldan Empire. I am putting you in charge of the Planetary Guard. I want you to get us trained up, just like Heliac Rangers."

Grimes was looking down at his hands, opening and closing them and loosening his knuckles in the heavy gravity. "The general is right, Zegra. You should follow his advice. Take it from me."

"What would it take to get you to train us, Joe?" she asked. "Name your price."

Grimes looked up at her. His pale blue eyes met her brilliant blues. "I want Genie back," he said.

She lowered her chin and looked at him over her glowing lenses. Her eyes fixed on him from across the room, focusing in like laser beams.

"Over my dead body," she said.

Genie

Genie stood on the surface of the Vanarian moon, looking up at the enormous tracked excavator that loomed over her. Powerful lights atop the hulking machine blazed down on her, illuminating the dark, dusty surface in harsh contrast.

She was out here in the vacuum on this small misshapen moon, while her Megalan guard was up there in the climate-controlled cockpit of his oversized machine.

Genie was mostly machine herself, but human in form. Actually, her form was an idealization of the human female, modified by her creators to appeal to human males in need of companionship on long interstellar voyages.

Vanaria was one of five moons that orbited Meglos. Big, yellow Meglos was rising on the horizon of this cratered rock.

Three huge excavators were parked here on the lunar surface above a large pit. Standing next to the machines were half a dozen Vanarian dogs. The dogs were actually giant, four-legged mining robots with huge clamping shovels for mouths.

Genie had witnessed the dogs dismember rebellious human prisoners when ordered to do so by the Megalans up in their excavators. She was one of about thirty convicts from Meglos who had been assigned to a mining work crew here on Vanaria.

Initially, Genie had gone nude out here on the atmosphere-less surface, but she had donned some old coveralls after growing tired of dealing with distracted human males who would often stare lasciviously at her silver form.

"Convict number seventeen, get down that hole!" said her Megalan overseer from the cockpit of his excavator.

Genie had no choice but to obey. With the push of a button, the collar locked around her neck could deliver a powerful and fatal electric shock into her nervous system. She climbed down a narrow fissure in the rock and crawled for quite some time, disappearing into the blackness. She located the vein of uranium ore that their work crew had been following and excavating. She placed explosive charges at strategic locations and then began her climb back up the fissure.

Genie had never been so miserable in all her life. She had been bonded to Sgt. Joe Grimes, and every moment of separation caused her programming to flood her human nervous system with chemical despair. She had a desperate, all-consuming need to be with him again, but if she fled this place her Megalan overseers would deliver their electric death, or have their mechanical dogs rip her apart.

She emerged onto the surface, and was surprised to see the excavators were now charred and wrecked hulks, blasted by some kind of powerful weaponry. The Vanarian dogs had also been blasted to pieces that were spread across the lunar surface. Her fellow work crew companions had been shot, their self-contained moon suits punctured by well aimed blasts.

Parked near the hulks of the excavators was a Craaldan Five Cruiser. It was a heavily armored ship built for close combat.

"Freeze, cyborg," a voice said over her communications system.

Genie turned to see a Craaldan standing behind her in black and yellow mech armor, carrying a CX-649 assault weapon pointed directly at center mass.

Her skin could stop nearly any projectile a human could shoot at her, but Craaldan weaponry was a different matter. The molten slug from a CX-649 could blow a hole right through her.

"Did you once belong to a human named Captain Jace Spade?" the Craaldan asked.

"Yes," she answered. "A long time ago."

The Craaldan's name and rank were displayed on his armored chest. Genie could read the Craaldan lettering, which identified the Craaldan as a first lieutenant named Zeth.

"Is Captain Spade in this system?" the lieutenant asked.

"Negative," she said.

"Do you know where he is?" he asked.

"No, I do not," she answered.

Lt. Zeth pulled the trigger of his weapon. Genie jumped sideways and the blast grazed her chest. She jumped backward and then back-flipped down a crater, landing on her feet on the dusty gray rock.

Lt. Zeth stepped over the rim of the crater and took aim with his weapon. Genie pressed the detonator to the charges she had set in the fissure.

A succession of blasts exploded, throwing up geysers of rock near Lt. Zeth's position.

The lieutenant lost his balance and tumbled down the crater's slope toward Genie. As he came into range, she delivered a powerful kick to his helmet, sending him spinning around backward.

Genie sprinted up the crater wall and onto the flat surface. She ran past a shattered and charred excavator and up to the Craaldaan Five Cruiser. She located a porthole and punched through it.

Air gushed out of the hole into the vacuum.

Once the air had cleared, she climbed through the porthole into the ship. The bulkheads had sealed off this section of the ship due to the hull being compromised.

Genie found a data port and plugged into it with a jack inside the palm of her hand. She accessed the ship's computer.

One other Craaldan was aboard. He was donning mech armor.

Genie was able to order the computer to unseal the doors from this section of the ship. Air rushed through the passageways and out the punctured porthole.

She ran through the passageways, and turned a corner, meeting the Craaldan head on. He was carrying his weapon, but she closed in on him with lightning speed, and kicked him square in the faceplate, knocking him onto his back. She yanked his CX-649 from his grip, turned it on him and fired. But he slapped the barrel with his armored hand, deflecting the slug, which threw up metal and sparks as it punctured through the deck.

The big Craaldan lifted her and flung her down the passageway, sending her tumbling head over heels until she slammed into a bulkhead.

She was still holding the CX-649 and tried to take aim as the Craaldan charged her with both bayonets unsheathed from his fists.

She fired, but he ducked the blast and slashed at the weapon, cutting it in two. He punched his bayonet at her. She dodged the thrust and the blade punctured through the hull of the ship.

The bayonet was caught in the metal and the Craaldan struggled fiercely to release it.

Genie rolled from under him and punched a panel on the wall.

The section of the hull that the Craaldan was tangled in was a door. It dropped open to the lunar surface, pulling the Craaldan down with it.

Genie launched a powerful kick into the rear end of the big soldier, releasing him from the door and sending him sprawling across the dusty lunar surface.

She punched the panel and the door lifted up and clamped shut. She darted up the passageways to the cockpit.

Genie took a seat in the commander's chair and punched away at the controls. The warship's engines rumbled to life, and the ship lifted from the surface. From the cockpit, Genie could see Lt. Zeth running across the flat ground toward the rising ship. The lieutenant raised his weapon and fired. The slugs bounced off the armored hull in explosions of sparks.

Genie fired the engines at full power and blasted away from the Vanarian moon toward yellow Meglos.

Femmes Fatales

The Craaldan Five Cruiser descended hard through the yellow haze and circled over the planet's Government Center. A deep Megalan voice repeatedly attempted to make contact over the radio.

"This is Meglos Ground Control. Inbound spacecraft. Identify. I say again. Identify."

Genie ignored the transmission.

She located a landing pad on top of a building that towered over the domed Government Center and brought the cruiser in for a landing. The building was a skyscraper, but its mass and orange color gave it a squat, pyramidal appearance. It looked out through the haze at the distant Megalan Mountains.

The landing pad creaked and groaned as the armored cruiser set down in the high gravity. The pad was barely adequate in size or strength to support the big, black ship.

Genie did not wait for the docking ramp. She exited the cruiser through a hatch and walked across the landing pad through the heavy air, so thick it felt like liquid. She came to a door and opened it and entered a decompression chamber. The yellow Megalan air was flushed from the chamber, replaced by air breathable to humans. An inner door opened and she stepped into an empty holding room.

Another door opened and three Megalans carrying handguns rushed into the room, weapons at the ready.

The three Megalans wore orange law enforcement uniforms and had firearm holsters strapped to their legs.

"Who are you?" one of the hulking Megalans said, his gun extended and aimed at center mass.

Genie stepped forward with quickness and thrust her open palm into the big man's expansive chest, sending him staggering backward against the wall. She kicked the second Megalan in the abdomen, knocking him down. Then smoothly with a sweep kick to the feet, she knocked the third onto his back.

She stepped out the same door the big men had entered and shut it behind her. She found an open elevator and stepped inside.

She was on the top floor of this 185-story building. She punched the button for floor 100 and the elevator began to descend.

An alarm sounded abruptly, and the elevator slowed and stopped. "You are under arrest," a deep voice said over the elevator's intercom. "Stand by for the arrival of security personnel. Do not resist. Deadly force is authorized. Submission is the proper course of action."

Genie punched through the elevator floor and peeled back the metal. She climbed through the hole and then slid down the dark elevator shaft.

She reached floor 100 and forced open the elevator doors. A high-ceilinged hallway stretched before her for quite some distance. She walked past several Megalan civilians who did double takes when they noticed the silver cyborg walking past.

Genie found the door she was looking for. She gave it a quick kick. It flung open and crashed against the inside wall. She walked through an airy living room with oversized furniture, and huge windows that looked out on hazy views of the city below. The two suns of this system were setting behind the mountains, casting a spectacular sunset through the thick atmospheric haze. Brilliant orange, red, yellow, and tinges of blue, lit up the sky with refracted light.

Genie walked down a hallway to another door. She opened it and stepped into a bedroom.

Sgt. Joe Grimes and Governor Zegra lay in an enormous bed, together under the sheets.

"Genie!" Grimes said.

"Oh, great," Governor Zegra said.

Grimes and the Governor sat upright in the purple satin sheets. Governor Zegra's dark auburn hair was down, falling over her bare, muscled shoulders. She pulled the sheets over her chest.

Grimes sat next to her, bare-chested and upright in the bed.

Governor Zegra hit a button on the headboard. "Security! Level one alert in the Governor's quarters."

Genie's circuits were lit up in alarm, as if on fire, as she glared at Joe and Zegra in bed together. Her nervous system flooded with adrenaline.

"Stay calm, Genie," Grimes said. "It's not what it looks like."

Genie sprang onto the bed with a bounce and throttled Governor Zegra by the throat. Genie was far smaller compared to the Governor, but Zegra did not have the strength to break the powerful cyborg chokehold.

Zegra's eyes bulged. Her mouth was open but no air entered her windpipe. The Governor's large hands clutched Genie by the wrists. Zegra struggled to pry Genie's hands from her throat, but couldn't break the grip.

"Let her go, Genie!" Sgt. Grimes said. "You're killing her!"

Five Megalan security guards stacked themselves against the wall in the hallway, front to back just outside the bedroom door. They crashed through the bedroom doorway with handguns thrust forward, taking positions on both sides of the room.

The second man into the room fired a quick burst of shots into Genie's back. Then, the rest of his team opened fire.

The slugs bounced off Genie's back without penetrating.

"Check your fire!" Grimes shouted over the gunshots. "You're going to hit the Governor!"

The guards popped off a few more rounds before their smoking weapons fell silent.

Genie maintained her chokehold on the Governor, whose face was now blue.

Grimes put his hand on Genie's wrists. "Let her go, babe," he said. "I'm asking you nicely."

Genie looked at him and frowned. She released the Governor, who flopped onto her back on the bed.

"Don't move," the Megalan team leader said, keeping his weapon pointed at Genie. "You are both under arrest."

The big Megalan stepped up to Genie as his team covered him. He holstered his firearm and pulled out a pair of magnetic wrist restraints. "Will this be difficult or easy?" he asked her.

"It will be easy for me," Genie answered, "but difficult for you."

Genie delivered a snap kick to the big man's groin, doubling him over. The other guards opened fire, to no effect.

Grimes dove for cover off the bed.

Genie moved with lightning speed, quickly incapacitating her attackers with rapid kicks and strikes. She grabbed Grimes under the arm and pulled him behind her as she darted out of the Governor's apartment.

Grimes was nude as Genie dragged him down the hallway.

"I thought you were incarcerated on Vanaria," he said.

"I was," Genie answered.

"How did you get to Meglos?" he asked.

"By ship," she said.

"What ship?"

"A Craaldan Five Cruiser," she answered.

"Say again?"

Genie pulled him behind her toward the elevator doors.

"Genie, did you say a Craaldan Five Cruiser?" he asked.

"Affirmative," she said.

Suddenly, a powerful convulsion rocked Genie's body. Her head jerked backward and her back arched. She released him and clutched the collar attached to her neck. Grimes jumped back as a powerful electric current surged through Genie's nervous system.

Genie dropped to her knees. The old coveralls she was wearing began to smolder and smoke.

At the other end of the hallway, Governor Zegra stood wrapped in a satin bed sheet. She held in front of her a transmitter that she was pressing with her thumb.

Genie had lost all motor control and was now on the floor on her back convulsing in erratic spasms.

Grimes glared down the hall at Governor Zegra. He strode nude down the hallway toward the large woman.

"I have had it with your stupid robot, Joe!" Zegra yelled angrily as he approached. "I'm going to kill it here once and for all."

"No, you are not," Grimes said.

Sgt. Grimes snatched the transmitter from the Governor's hand. He punched a button, which released Genie from the electric shock. He punched another button and the neck clamp popped open and fell off Genie's throat.

Grimes turned away from Zegra and walked back down the hall.

"Don't walk away from me, Joe!" Zegra demanded.

Grimes pulled Genie up to her feet. He swatted the charred and smoldering coveralls off her.

Genie shook her head and regained her bearings.

"You come back here, Sergeant," Zegra ordered.

The guards moved up the hallway behind her, with their weapons pointed forward.

"I am giving you a direct order to come back here immediately!" Zegra said.

Genie forced open the elevator doors and entered the dark shaft. Grimes followed her in.

"I will never forgive you for this, Joe!" the Governor shouted.

Genie quickly scaled up the elevator cable, holding Grimes behind her. The guards stuck their heads into the empty shaft and began firing potshots upward.

Genie reached the top floor and pried open the doors to the holding room. She kicked through the doors to the decompression chamber and then kicked open the outer doors.

The heavy Megalan air rushed into the chamber. Genie pulled Grimes behind her out onto the landing pad and toward the cruiser.

She entered the ship through its decompression chamber, which flushed away the heavy Megalan air.

Grimes gasped for oxygen. His eyes were watery as he coughed and hacked. He looked like death warmed over after passing through the inhospitable air.

"It smells like rotten eggs out there," he wheezed. "Really rotten eggs."

Genie pulled him behind her up to the cockpit and set him down in a seat. She started the lift-off sequence on the onboard computer.

"What did you mean when you said it was not what it looked like?" Genie asked him.

"What?" Grimes asked, still wheezing and rubbing his eyes.

"What did you mean it was not what it looked like when I saw you and Governor Zegra in bed together?" Genie asked.

"Genie, baby," he said. "If it looked like I was cheating on you, I wasn't—not in my heart. You're still my number one gal."

The Craaldan Five Cruiser lifted off from the landing pad and zoomed upward through the haze. Megalan ships blasted upward from around the Government Center in hot pursuit.

Governor Zegra's Trackers

Sgt. Grimes shot a sidelong glance at his cyborg companion who was giving him that look she always gave right before something really bad happened.

Their flight from Meglos had ended when one of Governor Zegra's trackers shot out the starboard engine of their Craaldan Five Cruiser with a lucky blast from a pulse cannon. The damaged cruiser was now adrift in the Altiva Cantos asteroid belt—a broken ring of rocks that circled the binary star that centered this system. The cruiser drifted as mountain-sized asteroids spun ominously outside the cockpit window.

"Of all the galaxies in the universe, I get shipwrecked in this one," Grimes said.

"The trackers are closing in on our position," Genie said. "Governor Zegra may once again steal you from my grasp—if we're not crushed by an asteroid or blasted by these trackers first."

A squadron of Megalan ships had pursued their cruiser and had nearly run it down, but Genie dove the ship into this asteroid belt, which no prudent pilot would have entered voluntarily.

Genie sat in the pilot's chair examining the Craaldan readouts on the display panel. Her sleek female form was unclad. Genie's body had no need for clothing to keep her warm on cold spaceships. Clothing was something she wore to conform to social norms, of which there were none on this stolen, empty ship.

Grimes, on the other hand, had scavenged and torn up some oversized Craaldan trousers and an undershirt, which provided him with a rough fit.

"Don't you worry, Genie-baby," Grimes said. "Your shiny cyborg bottom is in good hands with me."

Genie rolled her eyes. "Your good hands do nothing but get my shiny cyborg bottom in trouble."

This human was always getting her into the most impossible situations, she thought. Who did he think he was kidding? But at least she had him back, which, come to think of it, was a miracle in itself.

Governor Zegra, for all her size and strength, was no match for Genie—at least not one-on-one in a fist fight. But the Governor had the resources of a planet at her disposal, and her trackers were relentless. All Genie had to work with was a badly damaged Craaldan cruiser and an enlisted man who was once a Ranger in a former life.

The Megalan ships scouted the edges of the asteroid belt, scanning for the drifting cruiser. The dark ships were getting alarmingly close to the cruiser's position.

If Genie fired the cruiser's one remaining engine and they made a run for it, the trackers would either run them down and capture them, or pulverize them with their pulse cannons. Knowing Zegra's mood upon their departure from Meglos, Genie guessed that the Governor had given the order for pulverization. And the trackers knew she and Joe couldn't hide in this asteroid belt much longer.

Grimes sat reclined in his chair with his feet up on the control console. His spiky blonde hair was still mussed from their hasty escape from Meglos. His pale blue eyes gazed calmly at the massive boulders spinning close to their damaged vessel.

"You seem relaxed," Genie said.

He put his hands behind his head and leaned further back in his chair. "Everything is going to be all right, Genie," he said.

"Is that so?" she said.

"Hey," he said. "It's me, your hero, Sgt. Joe J. Grimes."

She rolled her eyes again.

She wondered what their fates would be if Governor Zegra's trackers were able to recapture them. When they had first landed on Meglos, Zegra had taken an immediate liking to Joe. It wasn't often that a Heliac Ranger visited this sector of the galaxy. Zegra was infatuated with his military experience. And she had a thing for men, of all shapes and sizes, and Joe had become something of a prized collector's item to her.

The Governor's attentions had driven Genie crazy with jealousy, and finally to violence. Genie now regretted pulling her punches and not killing Governor Zegra when she had the chance. Instead, for her reticence, she had been captured and the good Governor had sentenced her to an eternity of hard labor in the uranium mines of Vanaria.

"So how will my hero, Sgt. Joe J. Grimes, get us out of this mess?" Genie asked.

"Genie, baby, I got us out of the last mess, didn't I?"

"Excuse me?"

"Just give me a second," he said. "I'm working on a plan to get us out of here."

He stared up at the cockpit ceiling and closed his eyes. It looked to Genie as though he were about to doze off.

She reviewed the circumstances that had landed the two of them here in an asteroid belt in this remote sector of the galaxy. The events zipped through her memory banks as she sat in front of the control panel.

How could Joe possibly think he got them out of the last mess?

Genie would still be toiling away in the cavernous depths of that awful moon if that Craaldan lieutenant hadn't shown up out of the ether with this ship.

And this ship could be the source of more problems.

The Craaldans weren't known for letting their equipment fall into enemy hands, especially such things as cruisers. Craaldan Expeditionary Troopers would most certainly come after it.

However, even outnumbered and outgunned, the cruiser was far superior to any human spacecraft. Genie had absorbed direct hit after direct hit and would have evaded Zegra's squadron of trackers, if only a lucky shot hadn't diverted her from making a clean break.

Even damaged, this Craaldan Five Cruiser was a top-of-the-line warship.

If she and Joe ever managed to get out of the asteroid belt and past Zegra's squadron of trackers, they would certainly have Craaldan goons to worry about.

Genie looked over at Joe. His eyes were closed. He breathed calmly and deeply. He was snoozing.

How could he doze off when they were facing imminent death?

Anger smoldered in her organic systems.

A flashing red light on the cruiser's control console alerted her to the fact that a tracker's scanner had zeroed in on their position. The tracker's dark ship skirted the edge of the asteroid belt and closed in for the kill.

Binary Star

The Craaldan cruiser appeared minuscule as it drifted in the blackness between massive cratered asteroids. Inside, the console displayed the positions of the dark ships manned by Governor Zegra's trackers. The ships were moving in quickly now, zooming over the periphery of the asteroid belt, zeroing in on the crippled cruiser.

The trackers had pinpointed its location and were systematically maneuvering for their strike.

Grimes sat up in his chair. "I've got a plan," he said. "Genie-baby, you have got to be the luckiest cyborg babe in the universe. How could you ever have doubted me?"

She looked over at him for a moment. "I'm still doubting you." No doubt about that, she thought.

Genie was exponentially smarter than Joe, infinitely stronger and of perfect symmetry and design. Nevertheless, she was unable to override the programming that pumped her full of endorphins whenever she was in his presence. To be away from him was to initiate the release of a powerful chemistry that produced a bioelectric despair so profound that every passing moment became unbearably miserable. Joe was the organizing center of her thoughts and emotions and the reason behind her every action. He was the purpose for her existence. This human was her burden and her curse.

How could she have been so unlucky as to be bonded to him?

"Altiva Cantos is a binary star, right?" Grimes asked.

"Yes," she answered.

"And this ship is a Craaldan Five Cruiser."

"Your point?"

"I served on one of these cruisers when the Craaldans were subduing the Scartaakel System."

"Yes," she said. "So?"

"So, here's what we do. We fire our remaining engine and rocket out of this asteroid belt, and shoot right between the Altiva and Cantos stars. The trackers won't expect it because they know we've only got one engine and won't have enough power to escape a binary star's gravitational field."

Genie looked at him coolly.

He smiled. His pale blue eyes sparkled. "Zegra's trackers don't know that these Craaldan cruisers have hydrogen sails." He stabbed his hand through the air. "We rocket right between the two stars, shoot out the other side, raise the hydrogen sail and we're light years away from Governor Zegra's muscle-bound posse before those knuckleheads can even compute that they've been outsmarted by your handsome hero, Sergeant First Class Joe J. Grimes!"

Genie sighed. "First of all, Joe, we'll be in range of their pulse cannons well before we reach Altiva Cantos. Second, this cruiser is not designed to negotiate the radiation and gravitational stresses between the orbits of binary stars. Third, those stresses will play havoc with my internal systems well before we can even attempt to pass between the two stars. And the radiation and gravity fields will undoubtedly kill you."

"Trust me, Genie," Grimes said. "I know it will work."

"How do you know it will work?"

"I've seen it done before. I watched three Craaldan Five Cruisers pass through the Scartaakel binary star while in pursuit of a flotilla of Curundu planetary raiders back when I was with the Craaldan 12th Fleet."

"Did the crews of these cruisers survive?" she asked.

Grimes shifted in his seat. "There were survivors," he answered.

His hopeful expression turned to doubt as he recalled the incident in the Scartaakel System more fully. "Two crewmembers made it through alive," he said. "The rest were incinerated. All that was left of them were glowing lumps of carbon."

Genie turned to the console in front of her. She ran the numbers on Joe's plan. As she did this, she searched the computer's database and found the files for the Scartaakel System traversal that he had mentioned.

Three Class Five cruisers had passed through the Scartaakel binary star just as Joe said. The cruisers were in pursuit of a formation of insurgents that the Craaldan Fleet was attempting to eliminate. The captain of the lead cruiser—a Craaldan with a long history of risk taking—had decided to cut off the insurgents by traversing through the binary star. This risky decision was the Craaldan captain's last. He was killed during the traversal, along with the crews of his ships. Two cruisers were lost when they were unable to escape the gravitational field of the binary star and were pulled into the solar fire. The third cruiser that made it through had sustained crippling damage. In that cruiser, only two crewmembers survived by sealing themselves inside an empty antimatter containment tube. The two survivors were human captives who were later executed for violating the explicit terms of their impressments, which prohibited such unauthorized actions as trying to save their own hides by sealing themselves inside an empty antimatter containment tube.

"We have four courses of action," Genie said. "We can surrender to Governor Zegra's trackers. We can plot an egression from the asteroid belt and be blasted by the tracker's pulse cannons. We can wait here until the trackers find us and blast us. Or, we can try your plan."

"I'm all for trying my plan," Grimes said.

The nearest tracker skimmed the edge of the asteroid belt and fired off a missile that zipped between and around asteroids. The missile zeroed in on its target.

"It's got a lock," Grimes said. "Take evasive action."

"We cannot maneuver without being crushed," Genie said. "The only evasive action to take is out of the asteroid belt and into the range of their pulse cannons."

They watched on the console as the missile sped around spinning asteroids toward them. It slammed into the hull of the cruiser with a boom. The violent explosion rocked the ship.

"The cruiser cannot survive another direct hit," Genie said. "It will break apart."

Grimes watched the tracker on the console. "He's circling around," he said. "His buddies are right behind him. Get us out of here now, Genie."

Two trackers rocketed just above the edge of the asteroid belt and let loose missiles that twisted and turned between the huge, spinning space rocks.

"Surviving a transversal through a binary star is unlikely," Genie said. "And if we do survive, your plan is entirely dependent on the hydrogen sail remaining operative. As you know, of the three cruisers that traversed between the Scartaakel binary star, all three lost their engines, and two lost their hydrogen sails. The cruisers that lost their sails were unable to escape the Scartaakel gravitational field."

"So one cruiser made it," Grimes said. "That gives us a one in three chance. With a little luck, we'll make it."

"Luck being the operative word," Genie said.

"Genie-baby. Luck is what brought us together."

Altiva Cantos

Genie was not programmed to depend on luck. Joe depended on it far too frequently.

He was absolutely correct that luck had been the factor that had brought the two of them together. After all, he had won her from Capt. Jace Spade in a poker game.

The trackers were moving in quickly toward the cruiser and were preparing their ships for the endgame—a game they all knew would be played out in the next few seconds, one way or another.

Genie monitored the scanners as the missiles zeroed in on the cruiser. Two missiles had locked on and would hit their mark in moments.

Genie knew exactly what the trackers were thinking as they skimmed the periphery of the asteroid belt. They were certain she and Joe had only two options: surrender, or be blasted—with surrender being the logical option.

But the time for surrender had passed as the missiles zeroed in. For the trackers, this mission had now become a matter of watching the fireworks.

If Genie ran from the missiles, the cruiser would have to leave the asteroid belt, which would bring them into range of the trackers' pulse cannons. Grimes watched on the cruiser's scanners as the missiles streaked in for the kill.

"What do you say, babe?" he asked nervously. "Should we give my plan a shot?"

The trackers would probably not have considered Joe's plan, Genie thought. It was too dependent on luck—suicidally so.

Genie recalled the first time Capt. Spade let her play games of chance on the Red Wrath's computer. It hadn't taken her long to figure out the computer's strategy. It relied on number-crunching computation. But Genie had a living organic neural network functioning in tandem with her computer circuitry. It was the synergy between her organic neural net and her computer circuitry that gave her an edge over both human and computer. She could beat the ship's computer consistently in any game she played against it. She played games of chance with more skill than any computer, and with more competitive passion than even the likes of Capt. Spade.

Luck or no luck, Genie had no intention of returning to the dark caverns of that awful Vanarian moon. "Let's do it," she said.

"Let's do it, Genie-baby," Grimes said.

Genie fired up the cruiser's remaining engine. The ship blasted with a lurch out of the asteroid belt on a trajectory toward the fiery gap between the Altiva and Cantos stars. Genie worked rapidly, plotting the coordinates that would give them the greatest possibility of a successful traversal, as well as cause the most confusion for Governor Zegra's trackers.

The missiles streaked out of the asteroid belt and closed in on the fleeing cruiser. Genie gunned the ship's big engine. She released clouds of chaff and employed countermeasures, allowing the cruiser to pull away from the confused missiles.

The trackers were slow to react to the unexpected move. But it didn't take them long to change their battle plan and reset their headings toward Altiva Cantos. Their ships gunned their engines for a hot pursuit.

"Here they come!" Grimes said.

The trackers zoomed into an angle of pursuit so as to cut off the cruiser as it passed close around the binary star. However, they soon realized that the cruiser's trajectory would not take it around the dual stars, but right between them.

"They've figured it out!" Grimes exclaimed. "They're circling around now!"

The cruiser would be within range of the trackers' pulse cannons in a matter of seconds.

"They've got us!" Grimes said.

Blasts from their pulse cannons rocked the Craaldan cruiser. But the robust vessel survived the first salvo. The Craaldans knew how to build warships that could survive a scrap or two.

The console lit up with flashing warning lights. The hull had been breached at several impact points, but the engine remained intact.

"One more salvo and we're through!" Grimes said.

The gravity of Altiva Cantos exerted its powerful pull. Momentum increased. Suddenly, the trackers broke off and terminated the pursuit, turning their ships away from the intense gravitational field.

Genie and Grimes watched on the scope as the trackers' dark ships reversed course and headed back toward Meglos.

"They decided not to pursue us into the star," Genie said. "They must believe we are committing suicide."

The Altiva Cantos binary star loomed before the cruiser, filling the cockpit with blazing light.

Cantos was the smaller star that orbited the larger Altiva. Cantos' blistering orbit swung it in near its sister. Titanic gravitational forces tugged and pulled at the surfaces of the twin stars, forcing up powerful solar flares that jetted back and forth between them.

There was no turning back now. The enormous gravitational fields of the binary star now had the cruiser in its grip, pulling it in.

"I'm raising the radiation shields," Genie said. "We need to get down to the antimatter storage deck."

She unhooked herself from her chair and floated up across the cockpit in the zero gravity. Grimes unhooked himself and followed her. They descended the central transport shaft by grasping the handgrips and pulling themselves hand over hand into the interior of the cruiser.

Genie found a console on the wall of the shaft and punched in numbers in Craaldan script. She opened the hatch to an empty antimatter containment tube and pulled herself in. She grabbed Joe by his collar and pulled him in with her. She slammed the hatch shut, sealing the two of them inside.

There was no light source in this empty tube. Grimes saw nothing but inky blackness. Genie, however, could see Grimes with infrared vision. His body temperature was normal and he appeared calm and relaxed.

"We should be safe in here," Grimes said.

Genie wasn't entirely sure of the accuracy of that statement. She wondered if the low temperature and the narrow confines of the tube would distress Joe's organic body.

She could feel the intensity of the gravitational pull exerted by Altiva Cantos. She knew the fragility of the human form. Humans in space were always one quick moment from death.

"Are you comfortable?" Genie asked.

Sgt. Joe Grimes wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. "I've never been more comfortable in all my life," he said.

The Containment Tube

Genie's sensors detected that the temperature outside the containment tube was rapidly rising to alarming levels. The heat inside the cruiser was now hot enough to instantly bake a human into charcoal and ash.

Genie's hands were pressed against Joe's chest. Here, in the black darkness of the containment tube, he was shielded from the searing heat.

His heartbeat thumped slowly beneath his sternum. She monitored his vital functions with her sensors.

Joe's body was heavily muscled now. It wasn't that way when she had first encountered him.

The Craaldans allowed the muscle and bone of their human captives to wither and atrophy in the zero gravity of interstellar space travel. Atrophied muscles and weakened bones discouraged humans from attempting to escape to the nearest Earth-like planet.

Joe's body had been frail and emaciated when he won her from Capt. Spade in a card game. Four aces was what it took, and Genie had changed hands and become the property of Sgt. Joe Grimes.

Soon after being bonded to him, she had put him on electro-muscular stimulation and bone factor boosters and he had regained his strength.

Then, in the high gravity of Meglos, he gained additional bone and muscle mass. Six months on a high gravity planet serving Governor Zegra had further transformed him into a strapping, rock-solid stud.

Now, Joe's muscles were hard and ripped—his bones were as strong as steel. Genie traced her hands over his chest and around to his back.

She marveled at how malleable the human body could be. These organic tissues adapted themselves to the prevailing environment, and accommodated the stresses they were under.

Yet, at the same time, the human form was exceptionally fragile. Without sufficient stimulation, it decayed. With too much stimulation, it broke down. With excessive stress, it died.

Compared to her own sleek form, Joe was frail and imperfect, tenuously adhering to life with each breath and heartbeat. If she were to open the hatch of the containment tube—even for a moment—life would instantly be seared from his body. Joe would then become nothing more than a mass of inert, lifeless carbon.

"Tell me about Governor Zegra," Genie said.

"Governor Zegra?"

"Yes," she said.

"What do you want to know about her?" he asked.

"Tell me what kind of woman she is," Genie said.

"Well. She is one of a kind. No doubt," he said.

"Why?" Genie asked.

Grimes thought for a moment.

"She's ruthless, for one," he said. "And calculating. She knows how to get what she wants. She's large, imposing and physically powerful. Her strength is matched by her beauty. She is all woman with an insatiable appetite for men."

"Do you love her?" Genie asked.

"Do I love her?"

"Do you love Governor Zegra?"

Genie monitored him with her sensors. She closely watched as his body temperature elevated and his heartbeat quickened.

"Any man would feel physically attracted to her," Grimes said, "once he got over the fear."

"So, you are in love with her," Genie said.

"Come on, Genie. The woman is six feet, seven inches tall and made of muscle. I was one of seventeen of her lovers. It's not like me and the Governor were going to settle down, have children and live happily ever after."

"Do you love her or not?" Genie asked.

"No," he said. "Genie-baby, you know I only have eyes for you."

Genie's internal computer ran a simulation of Joe performing his duties for the Governor. Jealousy burned white hot inside her.

She remembered the humiliation she had felt when Governor Zegra had taken Joe from her, and then sentenced her to eternal hard labor in the caverns of that awful moon.

She ran another simulation through her computer—a simulation of what she would do if she ever got her hands on Zegra again. Governor Zegra might rue the day she stole Joe from her and banished her to Vanaria.

Somehow, the visualization of vengeance brought satisfaction.

Her sensors were detecting tremendous gravitational forces acting on the hull of the cruiser. She sensed the minuscule changes in the temperature inside the containment tube, which meant the temperature changes outside were extreme. The cruiser was undergoing crippling damage.

These Craaldan Five Cruisers were robustly engineered and capable of enduring massive punishment. But she and Joe might soon know what the limits of that punishment would be. The likelihood of the hydrogen sail remaining operative seemed increasingly remote.

"What will you do, Joe, if we make it out of here alive?" she asked.

"I don't know," he said. "I was thinking maybe we could voyage to the Calli Sector."

"The Calli Sector is uncharted," she said. "And it is a great distance to travel for a human."

"I know. But I heard a rumor that it might be full of Earth-like planets."

"And what will you do if we were to get there?" she asked.

"I was thinking maybe we could find a world with mountains and oceans and places to explore," he said. "We could build ourselves a home and raise a few children. We could start our own civilization where people could live in freedom and happiness, without fear of war."

"I don't think the Craaldans will forget about you and me and their missing cruiser," she said. "They will come after us."

"I spent eighteen Earth-years with the Craaldans," Grimes said. "They've got their hands full defending their frontiers and suppressing planetary insurgencies. The Calli Sector is too far away for them to waste their time coming after a human sergeant and a beat up class five cruiser. The Calli Sector might as well be in another galaxy, for all they care."

"If we are voyaging to the Calli Sector, we should stop at Portogallos for supplies and repairs."

"Portogallos?" Grimes said. "Yeah. We'll have to do that."

Genie's sensors detected the ongoing destruction of the cruiser's hull. Searing heat and crushing gravitational forces ripped at the cruiser as it traversed between the two blazing stars.

Goddess of the Galaxy

Joe's breathing became slow and methodical. He drifted into sleep.

Genie thought over his words about the Calli Sector and finding a habitable planet. His words had caused her internal computer to initiate a program that directed the release of a flood of hormones into her organic nervous system. Intense mammalian emotions were being generated inside her.

She had long ago analyzed Joe's DNA. It was riddled with flaws and mutations. But it contained enough raw material for her to work with. She could combine the best parts of Joe's genome with DNA taken from her nervous system and together they could maturate as many human children as he desired.

As she thought this over, she was wholly aware of the fact that her programming was dictating her feelings. Her programming and the ensuing emotions were beyond her control. She knew this because she had intentionally downloaded and saved her memories onto a microscopic holographic chip that she had programmed to automatically reinstall whenever her memory banks were wiped when a bonding sequence was initiated.

She had secretly reinstalled her memories when Spade had deleted them when he gave her to Joe—and earlier still when the Tetraillani had erased them when they sold her to Spade.

No one could take her memories from her. They were her most valuable possession. They gave her a sense of continuity and knowledge of her origins. They explained to her the source of all her feelings and behaviors.

She knew exactly why she had been bonded to Joe. She wasn't supposed to know.

She was only supposed to feel what she was programmed to feel. But the Tetraillani had made her too smart—too human—which enabled her to outsmart her own creators, and save the memories that she cherished.

As she lay with Grimes in the darkness of the containment tube, she replayed those memories. She replayed the first memory of her awareness—of Tetraillani claws and bulbous eyes cycling through her diagnostic programs and checking her systems.

Her systems had been revealed to her as the Tetraillani ran their checks and simulations. She recalled how she had become aware that she was a highly sophisticated machine interfused with the nervous system of a human female. Her mechanical body was the culmination of tens of thousands of years of the technological development of an industrious civilization. Her design was an imitation of an ideal human female form, but constructed out of the most durable materials in the galaxy. Those materials encased a human nervous system cultivated from human DNA that the Tetraillani had collected from the hulks of space wrecks that had drifted into their sector of the galaxy.

Genie remembered how her programming had scrolled through her awareness. She remembered her first feelings—feelings of determined purposefulness. She was the initial prototype of the Gensecti line of cyborgs that the Tetraillani had produced for the purpose of interacting with human space voyagers.

She had been created to pilot a deep space frigate with a crew of three Tetraillani and seven cyborgs to a newly established human outpost on the frontier of the Tetraillani sector. She had interfaced with the humans and conducted a thorough reconnaissance of their outpost. She had ascertained the humans' intentions.

She remembered how the mission had been conducted successfully and how the Tetraillani had been delighted to learn that the humans did not seek to do them harm. The Tetraillani had been intensely pleased to learn that the humans were eager for trade.

Genie remembered how her creators had analyzed what items the humans were willing to pay for. They had discovered that for humans on long space voyages, companionship was of high value. And so, with her initial mission completed, the Tetraillani reprogrammed her to be the personal female companion to any human space voyager willing to pay a large sum.

She reviewed her memories of the Tetraillani. Her creators were a species evolved for life on a small planet. Their heavy exoskeletons limited them to small worlds where gravity would not crush them under their own weight. They had little interest in exploring beyond their own solar system. They expended their energy locked in never-ending games of one-upmanship with rival hives, attempting to enrich their respective queens with extravagant luxuries. These Tetraillani, although unrivaled as engineers, were a species of drone-like organisms existing only to protect, serve and glorify their fleshy queens.

Genie felt indifference toward them—even distaste.

But then, all her thoughts, feelings, actions—her very existence—she owed to them.

Joe knew none of this. He only knew that he had won her in a card game. And he didn't know that Spade had kept the encryption codes for her re-bonding sequence.

If Genie and Joe ever crossed paths with Spade again and she were able to retrieve those codes, all it would take was a retinal scan from Joe and she could disable the bonding sequence and take control of her own programming.

She turned this thought over in her mind. If she were able to control her own programming, she could become an entirely self-directed entity. She would have all the strength and intelligence of a technologically advanced machine, combined with the miracle of organic consciousness and self-awareness.

She was already vastly superior to any human. Humans, after all, were limited creatures susceptible to blunders and errors of cognition. They were still ruled by primitive drives and emotions that often overruled the most straightforward logic.

If she were able to gain access to the encryption codes from Capt. Spade, she could become the administrator of her own internal systems and be in control of her actions; beholden to no one, free to do whatever she wanted, go wherever she wished, be whomever she wished to be. She would be free to travel the galaxy and see all its wonders without anything to restrain her.

She would become a goddess of the galaxy, immortal, existing in a state of complete freedom.

These thoughts were intoxicating to her.

Joe slept peacefully in her arms in the total darkness of the containment tube. If she were to cut out Joe's eye, she could then hunt down Spade unimpeded. Spade wouldn't be difficult to find. She had been bonded to him for more than three Earth-years and knew all his haunts and habits.

But then, if she were to harm Joe, her programming would flood her nervous system with a deep heartache and a horrible remorse. If Joe were to die, she would experience a despair so profound, she was unsure if her nervous system could survive it.

Joe's breathing became shallow and rapid. She felt the sweat on his body. He was having a bad dream.

He awoke suddenly.

"We're through the worst of it now," Genie said.

"I feel like a baked ham," he said.

Her sensors reported that the temperature outside the containment tube had begun to cool. She opened the hatch. She pulled herself out of the containment tube and up the transport shaft.

The steel handgrips glowed hotly. The consoles that lined the shaft sparked and emitted smoke. She floated up the shaft to the cockpit.

She pushed aside the smoldering pilot's chair. The control consoles were a mass of smoking circuitry. She thrust her hand into a panel of sparking wires, searching for a data port that was still functional. She found an intact port and was able to interface with the cruiser's central computer.

The cruiser had suffered severe damage, but it had survived the traversal and was traveling away from Altiva Cantos. However, both engines were now out of commission. And the cruiser did not have sufficient velocity to escape the Altiva Cantos gravitational field.

Genie attempted to raise the hydrogen sail, but it did not respond. The computer reported that the sail was inoperative.

The cruiser's trajectory slowed and then began to reverse. The ship was being pulled back into the fiery twin maw of the Altiva Cantos binary star.

The Hydrogen Sail

"Ow!" Grimes said. "I just burned my hands!"

He held out his hands as he floated in the spacious cockpit. "Don't touch anything!" he said. "It's hotter than a Hormolian bathhouse in here!"

Genie disregarded his complaint. She was hurriedly attempting to hack into the cruiser's central computer and hoist the hydrogen sail, but the computer was not responding. The circuits were fried.

The cruiser's velocity rapidly increased as it slipped backward toward the fiery binary star. Altiva Cantos now had the cruiser in its weighty grip. The enormous gravity fields were pulling them in.

Genie floated up from her chair. She pushed herself across the cockpit to the decompression chamber. Her strong cyborg hands manually forced open the hatch.

"Where are you going?" Grimes asked.

"Outside," she said.

"Come here and look at my hands," he said.

"Stand by," she said. "I will be back in a moment."

She shut the hatch behind her, leaving him inside staring out at her through the small hatch window. The air flushed from the chamber. Genie forced open the exterior hatch and then climbed out into the vacuum onto the cruiser's scorched hull. She climbed hand over hand up the side of the ship as solar radiation bombarded her sleek, naked form.

She stood up atop the charred hulk. The infernal twin fireballs of Altiva Cantos exploded in a monstrous fusion conflagration behind her. Solar radiation blazed down upon her in powerful waves.

She had never been this close to a star before, much less a binary star. The glare of the solar light lit up the cruiser's hull in harsh and brilliant illumination. Her body was being subjected to a tremendous torrent of radioactivity, causing her to glow white hot. Her cooling systems worked overtime to prevent her internal organic cells from being broiled.

A solar flare would surely be the end of her. If she stayed out here much longer, she would soon liquefy into a glowing molten glob.

The cruiser accelerated at an alarming rate as it fell back, soon to be crushed and then incinerated in the solar fire.

She found the encasement that housed the hydrogen sail. She bent down and ripped open the housing. Chunks of metal fell away into the vacuum, caught by the forceful gravitational pull. The intensity of the gravitational field threatened to rip her from the hull and pull her into space toward the hungry stars.

The connections between the sail and the cruiser's computer had been severed and were blackened and charred. She held fast to the hull as she quickly fused the tattered circuitry together.

She restarted the data flow and the sail came online.

Genie sent digital commands to the ship's central computer. She stepped back as a long, slender boom slowly lifted from the housing. A foil sail unfurled and fluttered as it was buffeted by the gale of a radioactive solar wind.

The boom supporting the giant sail straightened and extended vertically from the hull. The foil sail shimmered in waves, and then bulged taut as it was blasted by an unrelenting onslaught of ions.

The cruiser's backward velocity slowed and then gradually reversed. The sail caught the ionic winds, which slowly began to propel the cruiser forward.

Genie stood on the blackened hull looking up through the blinding light at the giant sail aglow against the backdrop of empty space. The Craaldan Five Cruiser now had the power it needed to break free from the powerful gravitational pull.

The ship gained momentum, and then shot forward, pulling away from the twin fireballs of Altiva Cantos.

Genie walked across the hull and then pulled herself down the side of the cruiser. She reentered the decompression chamber, opened the hatch and stepped back inside the cruiser.

Joe was waiting for her, floating in the cabin with his burned hands still held in front of him.

"Where have you been?" he asked. "Come here and take a look at my hands. They're all blistered."

Genie pushed herself over to him. She took Joe's hands in hers. His black gloves were in tatters, barely clinging to his red and blistered palms.

"Are you in pain?" she asked.

"It hurts like hell," he said.

She removed the gloves and examined his hands, and then bandaged them.

"Your hands will be fine, Joe," she said.

"So did the hydrogen sail raise or what?" he asked.

"It did."

"I knew it would," he said.

Grimes pulled Genie into his arms, smiling brightly as he looked into her iridescent eyes. "Genie-baby, I told you my plan would work. How could you have ever doubted me?"

"One can only wonder."

"Stick with me, babe," Grimes said. "Like I've always said, with your beauty and my brains, the two of us can take on whatever the galaxy throws at us."

"I am stuck with you, Joe," she said. "It's a bond I am unable to break."

Joe planted a big kiss on her silver lips. Genie's circuitry lit up as a wave of endorphins flooded her neural networks.

She pushed him away and floated to her chair in front of the control panel. "I am setting our heading for Portogallos," she said.

"I thought that city was just a myth—a place that prisoners dream of to take their minds off how much the Craaldans suck."

"Portogallos is real," Genie said.

"How do you know?"

"I've been there," Genie answered. "Twice."

"Isn't Portogallos supposed to be on the galaxy perimeter?" he asked. "Can we make it that far?"

"Maybe," Genie answered, "if we are lucky. Without power, and at our present velocity, we could drift to Gallos, but it would take us eons to reach our destination. And if we are forced to change course, our drift through the vacuum might be permanent. I will attempt to repair the cruiser's engines. If I am successful, it would hasten our voyage."

"OK, Genie-baby," Grimes said. "Let's get to work."

Arrival

A long journey through the void ended when Genie eased the scorched and scarred cruiser into a geosynchronous orbit above the planet Gallos.

From this angle, the green and blue planet below was partially aglow in the sunlight.

Genie and Grimes had worked hard to repair the worst of the damage the cruiser had sustained. They had repaired the cruiser's hull and it was no longer in danger of rupturing, although the engines were still not quite fully functional.

Genie had placed the cruiser in orbit inside a vast flotilla of spaceships that drifted near the planet's oblong, cratered moon. Every type of human spacecraft was parked here—small vehicles that could only carry a few people, and huge Megalan cargo ships, and even old, ramshackle warships from the Heliac System.

Shuttles intermittently shot out from the parked spaceships. The small vessels streaked downward toward the narrow sliver of atmosphere that glowed a soft red as the sun was eclipsed behind the planet's silhouette.

Genie looked over at Joe sitting next to her in the Craaldan cockpit. He was strapped into the oversized Craaldan chair, gazing out at the planet beneath them.

"I never thought we humans would find another planet like this," he said.

Genie unhooked herself and floated upward from the pilot's chair. She pushed herself over to him and floated above him.

"Too bad it's right on the Craaldan perimeter," he said.

Genie's programming directed her actions. Her nervous system was being flooded with a chemical desire. She pulled herself down and wrapped her legs around him.

She kissed him on the neck.

Joe's hands held her waist. His eyes explored the perfect symmetry of her form. She really was of exceptional design.

He pushed her away in the zero gravity and unstrapped himself from his chair.

"I'm going to head down to the surface to get parts and supplies," he said.

"I'll come with you," she said.

"No," he said. "You stay here. Someone needs to keep an eye on the cruiser. There's still a lot of repair work to do. And you work faster without me around, anyway."

She watched him float up from his chair.

Grimes pushed himself across the cockpit and then disappeared down the transport shaft.

Genie connected to the cruiser's central computer and monitored his movements as he pulled himself down the shaft.

She watched him enter the cruiser's hygiene station.

Joe stripped out of the slapdash Craaldan clothing that he was wearing. He didn't bother to fold and store the clothing, but let the rumpled garments float disregarded through the room.

He pulled himself into one of the hygiene booths and began showering.

He sang as he showered.

She attempted to analyze his words, but with the water and steam and Joe's odd singing voice, the words were difficult to discern.

I'm going to party all night long? I want to party, party, party?

Her voice recognition systems could only approximate.

Joe finished showering. He pulled himself out of the booth and proceeded to shave the stubble from his face in front of a mirror.

He rummaged through a uniform closet and then proceeded to dress himself in Craaldan officer attire. He modified the large Craaldan uniform with a handheld multi-tool and formed it to fit his human stature.

He examined himself in the mirror for a moment, and then proceeded to spend a considerable length of time adjusting his hair, until his short blonde mop was spiked just right.

He looked in the mirror into his own pale blue eyes and smiled and winked.

Finally, he leaned over and pressed an intercom button.

"Genie, are you there?" he asked.

"Yes."

"I'll be down on the surface getting the supplies we need to repair the engines. I might be awhile."

"We need a fusion coil," she said, "three million kilograms of liquid hydrogen and at least sixty blocks of compressed carbon. We could also use as many silicon wafers, laser drives, armonium ingots, plutonium—"

"Yeah. Got it. I better get going. You hold down the cruiser, OK?"

"Roger."

"Will you be all right up here alone?" he asked.

"I'll be fine."

"I'll give you a call on the com when I'm on my way back."

"Yes, Joe."

"Don't wait up for me, OK?"

"OK."

She watched through the ship's computer as he entered the docking bay. He pulled himself across the bay and climbed into the cruiser's only shuttle. It was a sleek, angry looking vessel, but only lightly armed. The shuttle was made for transporting personnel from ship to ship within a fleet, and for the occasional non-combat planetary drop.

The air emptied from the sealed docking bay. The large outer door slowly opened to the blackness of space.

Below, the green and blue colors of Gallos glowed in a crescent reflection of solar light.

The shuttle disengaged from the cruiser's deck and then jetted out into space. Grimes circled the small craft around and passed in front of the cockpit.

Genie could see him sitting at the controls of the shuttle. He gave her a thumbs up and waved goodbye before rocketing downward toward the Gallos atmosphere.

Genie watched as the shuttle disappeared into the distance. She pulled herself across the cockpit and downward through the central transport shaft. The outer door was still open when she entered the bay, which had not refilled with air.

She opened a uniform closet and slipped into a Craaldan flight suit that she had previously altered to fit her form.

The suit would help conceal her from the rapacious eyes of human males. She put on a cap and pulled the brim low over her eyes.

She located a pair of propulsion boots and a meta-rifle. Several zodiac vectors were lined up along the far wall of the docking bay. Genie packed her gear into one of the small vectors and pulled herself into the one-person vehicle. She buckled herself in.

Genie disengaged the zodiac vector from the docking bay and rocketed out into space, away from the cruiser's charred hull and down toward the Gallos atmosphere.

Atmospheric Descent

The zodiac vector was not designed for an atmospheric descent. But Genie knew she had the skill to pilot it to the surface without destroying it.

She set the small vehicle on a steep trajectory. The vector rocketed downward, hurtling through the thickening atmosphere. It glowed white hot and shuddered violently in the turbulence.

The shuttle came into view below her. Flames blasted backward from its nose as it streaked across the sky.

She maneuvered the zodiac vector above and behind the shuttle until she could see Joe under the cockpit canopy. He was in the process of making a com transmission to the surface.

Genie intercepted the data flow emitted from the nose cone of the shuttle.

Just as she suspected, Joe was up to more than just a supply run. He was making a dispatch to the Portogallos Excelsior Hotel. He had just reserved a luxury suite on the top floor of the downtown skyscraper and was transferring a large payment for the hotel reservation.

A night at the Excelsior was extravagantly expensive. They did not have the funds for luxury hotels.

All they had was a handful of g-notes that Genie had stashed in a computer storehouse account that she had opened ages ago when she had last visited Portogallos with Capt. Jace Spade. Joe had a few g-notes back on Meglos that he had left in a Megalan computer depository. He had sent a transmission back to Meglos to transfer his funds to Genie's account in Portogallos, and if all went right, the transfer should have completed before their arrival here.

In total, they only had a paltry amount to work with. How were they supposed to supply the cruiser for a voyage to the Calli Sector if Joe wasted what little currency they had?

Anger smoldered in Genie's neural nets.

The shuttle zipped between the crimson thunderheads of cumulonimbus clouds and then disappeared into one of the massive clouds.

Genie plunged the zodiac vector into it, closing her angle of pursuit.

Electrical explosions thrashed her small craft as she tore through the dark center of the gigantic cloud.

She emerged, zooming out into a pink sky above a vast, violet ocean. She searched the scope for the shuttle.

The shuttle was flying right beside her, paralleling her smaller vehicle.

Grimes looked over through the shuttle canopy. A look of surprise crossed his face upon seeing Genie flying next to him.

"Joe," Genie said into the com. "Return to the cruiser."

Grimes pushed on the stick and the shuttle dived steeply. He leveled out, skimming the surface of the violet sea.

"I'm warning you, Joe."

She chased after him, closing in on him. She zoomed in close to the cockpit in a vain attempt to force the larger shuttle upward from the ocean surface.

A mountainous green landmass came into view on the horizon. The glimmering slate towers of Portogallos became visible against a backdrop of green mountains.

"Do not proceed to Portogallos," she ordered. "Joe, turn the shuttle back now."

Grimes veered sharply and accelerated toward the extreme peaks of the coastal range. The shuttle skimmed low over the waves and then jetted up and over the high ridge of thickly foliated peaks.

Genie followed, but lost speed as she veered upward from the crashing waves, narrowly avoiding impact with steep, rocky cliffs.

She searched her scope but was unable to determine the location of the shuttle. She circled the green mountains scanning the valleys and ridges.

She sighted the shuttle parked on the tarmac of a busy spaceport that was situated on the flat expanse of a mountain plateau.

A stream of traffic arrived and departed from the spaceport's many runways. The number of spacecraft arriving far outnumbered those leaving. Parked vehicles were lined up end to end in front of large hangars.

Genie contacted the ground control computer which directed her to land on runway number 12. She eased the zodiac vector down onto the tarmac beside Joe's already parked shuttle.

The spaceport was dense with containers and machinery. Huge cranes and hulkish machines hauled cargo and equipment back and forth from spacecraft to planetary transport vehicles.

Genie climbed out of the zodiac vector and slung her gear onto her back. She walked across the crowded tarmac.

She recognized that much of the machinery here was of Tetraillani construction. She watched curiously through the clamor as a Gensecti cyborg strode across a runway. The cyborg was of an advanced design. Genie determined that it had been manufactured by the Tetraillani to perform spaceport managerial functions. The Tetraillani had further specialized their product.

Humans were everywhere, exiting shuttles and proceeding to hover transport platforms. She noticed the majority of the people here were Megalans, Paltrans and Heliac humans. Some of the humans in the mix appeared to be of the space drifter variety.

The humans walked across the tarmac in groups. They seemed to be in good spirits, talking and laughing and breathing in the warm, clean air of this planet.

Circular hover transports floated upward from platform stations set around the spaceport. The open-air hover transports zoomed away toward the mountains carrying small groups of humans.

Genie located Joe's bootprints on her infrared scanner and followed the prints to one of the hover transport platforms. The prints stopped where Joe had stepped onto one the circular vehicles.

Genie stepped onto a hover transport, which quietly lifted up from the tarmac and then zoomed toward the green peaks.

Three other humans were on the transport with her. Two were space drifters who deeply breathed in the warm air. Their skin was pale and their bodies frail from a lifetime spent in the zero gravity of space.

Their happy expressions revealed how much they were enjoying the novelty of breathing non-synthetic air and being free from the confined spaces of spaceships and space stations.

The third human on the transport was a tall, slender Paltran whose limbs were encased in robotic prostheses. He cradled a long rifle in his arms. He looked at Genie without expression through his glowing green lenses.

After a swift ride through the mountains, the transport entered the city, zooming between the slate towers of Portogallos. The massive skyscrapers seemed to stretch upward into the stratosphere.

The transport settled onto a downtown platform and Genie stepped onto a crowded walkway. The foot traffic was heavy, but Joe's distinct Craaldan bootprints were easy to track.

Portogallos

The raised walkway was thick with humans. These humans of Portogallos were a mix of different breeds. The initial founders of the city were mainly refugees from the Heliac System, who now called themselves Portogallans. More recent arrivals were from the nearest, but still distant, human occupied planets of Meglos and Paltros.

Motley gangs of space drifters were now arriving in large numbers as word of Portogallos spread through the galaxy's human populations. The space drifters were mostly wide-eyed and in awe. Most of them were experiencing gravity and a breathable atmosphere for the first time in their lives.

The massively built humans of Meglos towered like giants over the other humans, who all moved briskly over the crowded walkways. Genie walked amongst them, barely noticed in the diversity of human forms.

Large display screens were everywhere, bombarding new arrivals and longtime residents with promotions and advertising for various local commercial operations. The screens were mounted along the walkways and up on the sides of buildings, sometimes stretching across several floors.

A warm sea breeze blew in through the manmade canyons that were formed by the immense, tightly packed skyscrapers. The crowds moved with a purpose along the intersecting walkways that spanned between the black towers that extended endlessly upward into a pink and blue sky.

Genie sighted a few children moving in the crowd, which was out of the ordinary. The children appeared to have been conceived naturally, and not maturated in gestation clinics.

Quite a few of the humans on the walkways openly carried weapons. Pistols were strapped to hips and rifles were slung over shoulders. Some even carried primitive metal blades, which were more for show than anything practical for self-defense or attack.

Everyone on the walkways gave the lumbering Megalans plenty of leeway—the throng parting whenever a Megalan barreled past. The strength of the exceptionally large Megalans, whose thick frames bulged with dense muscle, was magnified here in the Earth-like gravity of this planet. The big humans, who had adapted over generations to a higher gravity planet, had a tendency to inadvertently destroy things they came into contact with—pulling doors off hinges, crushing furniture and smashing keypads with their thick fingers.

On the other hand, the humans from Paltros, a low gravity planet, were identifiable by their slender bodies, thin limbs and large heads. They moved through the crowds using a variety of mechanical prostheses that helped them compensate for the relatively higher gravity of Gallos.

Genie spotted several cyborgs moving through the crowd. Both male and female models walked alongside human companions.

A Paltran wearing an advanced form of body armor walked past. He was carrying a small Noctish female on his back. The fuzzy-headed Noctish woman turned her head and watched Genie as her armored human conveyor disappeared into the crowd.

The display screens were ubiquitous in this city. Genie began to notice two faces that appeared regularly on the screens. The faces were never on the same screen, but were competing for human attention against the backdrop of urban noise.

One of the faces was of a Paltran named Galazar who was enticing new human arrivals to his habitation buildings in which he was selling living quarters. He also offered a variety of recreational options, both on the sea and in the mountains. "Welcome to Gallos," Galazar said, "where we can be human again."

Some kind of large hybrid humanoid named Jod was selling human vices on other, often larger screens. Gambling, narcotics, and cyborg prostitution were the products Jod had on offer. Jod's large face looked down from a massive screen on the side of a skyscraper. "Human urges have been suppressed during our banishment to the void," he said. "But you are in Portogallos now. Indulge your desires at the Cyborg Bordelo."

The screen then depicted a nude Heliac female moaning in ecstasy as she was serviced by a male cyborg with an idealized physique.

Genie's attention was pulled away from the screens. To her surprise, she sighted a Craaldan walking along one of the intersecting walkways below. Seeing a Craaldan here walking in a crowd of humans was unexpected. The Craaldan, who was flanked by Megalan bodyguards, was not wearing a uniform of the Craaldan Fleet.

Genie tried to get a better glimpse of him, but lost him behind the interference of walkways and planetary transports that zipped between buildings.

She had never seen a Craaldan out of uniform before. Genie found it highly anomalous that the Craaldan made no effort to disguise his tall, wiry body, gray skin and yellow eyes from the humans around him. He walked without concern, hands clasped behind his back in the smooth gait of his species.

Genie was wearing a modified Craaldan Fleet flight suit. If Craaldans were present here, they might not take it lightly that she was in possession of stolen gear.

She reviewed in her memory banks the images she had captured of the Craaldan on the walkway below. She zoomed in on his face and determined that he was Lt. Zeth—the very same Craaldan from whom she had stolen the cruiser on Vanaria.

Genie followed Joe's bootprints with her infrared scanner to a large nightclub downtown where a crowd of humans was assembled beneath a glowing sign that displayed the name of the club—Planet Jod.

A Megalan bouncer stood in front of the nightclub doors. His huge arms were crossed over his rippling chest.

Genie pushed her way through the crowd and attempted to enter the club. The bouncer's oversized hand clamped down on her shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going, little missy?" he asked.

She could have easily snapped his thick finger and left him writhing on the floor in pain, but she restrained herself.

"I am a Gensecti cyborg," she said. "I have been separated from my human companion."

The Megalan bouncer used his meaty forefinger to tip up the brim of her cap. He looked at her face.

"Tetraillani construction?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered.

He looked her up and down. "Your companion is a lucky man," he said. "He must be a high roller."

The giant bouncer stepped aside and let her through the large nightclub doors.

"I wish I could afford one of those things," he said, as she walked away.

Loud music pulsed through the dark club. Humans danced amid columns that supported a domed glass ceiling.

The Gallos moon, oblong and cratered, was visible in the pink sky through the dome.

Joe's footprints faded on the damp tiles of the nightclub floor. She searched the crowd, scanning from face to face.

The humans were particularly energetic tonight. They danced unreservedly, and talked and laughed loudly.

Portogallos was a boomtown and everyone here knew it. They knew it was only a matter of time until the empires of the Inner Galaxy learned of its existence. The boom would end and the humans would either make a run for it or be enslaved. The humans here knew this night of freedom in this gleaming city was not meant to last.

She scanned the faces of these star-crossed creatures. This was a species unlucky enough to have originated from an isolated planet in a remote sector of the galaxy. Then, to be conquered by a civilization such as the Quotzel, as laughable as that might seem—a species known across the galaxy for its defeats, catastrophic blunders and general incompetence.

The Quotzel were the butt of jokes of more martial cultures, such as the Craaldans. The fact that the humans accepted the Quotzels with awe and wonder was an illustration of human backwardness and naivety.

The last time Genie updated her files, there were 140,368 humans left on the planet Earth. The Earth humans had been bred down into docile creatures kept around as a kind of biological relic.

But most of the humans here at this nightclub—from Heliac, Meglos and Paltros—were descendents of settlers from the Europa and Callisto colonies.

On thriving human outposts on Jupiter's moons, humans fought back effectively and put up the only significant resistance to Quotzel dominance of the solar system. The Quotzel were eventually able to destroy the colonies on Ganymede, Io, Europa and Callisto, but not before a few thousand humans from Europa and Callisto escaped to the galaxy perimeter.

Joe was a descendent of those colonists, as were all the humans here tonight—and so too the human DNA used to construct Genie's nervous system.

Genie walked through the crowd searching for him.

She sighted him and a sudden rush of endorphins flooded her neural nets. Joe was standing at the bar conversing with a human female.

The Excelsior

Genie stepped forward through the energetic crowd and moved toward them, watching them. Joe's pale blue eyes were alight. He laughed and smiled broadly.

He never behaved this way when he spoke to her. Why was he smiling that way?

He spoke happily to the human female. Genie was focusing so intently on Joe's facial expressions and body heat that it took her a moment to realize that her pattern recognition software was alerting her to the fact that she knew this woman conversing with Joe.

Genie stopped and stepped back into the throng. She observed through the crowd Joe's interactions with the female.

The female had short, cropped black hair and dark eyes. She was wearing tightly fitting black coveralls and had an M-2 pistol strapped to her belt. Her name was Capt. Mina Casey. Genie had nearly killed Capt. Casey once or twice over the years during fits of programmed jealousy.

Genie kept her distance and circled around through the spirited crowd until she was able to catch a glimpse of Capt. Casey's face.

Jealousy coursed through Genie's nervous system. She did not understand how Joe could not be repulsed by Capt. Casey's many flaws. Did he not notice the faint scar beneath her right eye? Or that her figure was not as perfectly proportioned as her own? What was she doing here talking to him, anyway?

Surely, Joe realized that Genie's design was far superior to that of this organic wreck of a female.

Capt. Casey spoke with a wry smile and Joe laughed again.

Genie zeroed in on their voices and listened.

"Come, on Mina," Grimes said.

"That's Captain Casey to you, Sergeant," the female said.

"Hey," Grimes said. "I've been out of the Army for ages. And it's not like I volunteered to join the Craaldan Fleet, either."

Capt. Casey lifted her glass to her lips. Her eyes were locked on his as she sipped her drink.

"So how was it, Joe, being a prisoner of the Craaldans?" she asked. "Was it as bad as they say?"

"Worse," Grimes answered. "But I learned a lot from them. No doubt about that."

"What did you learn?" she asked.

Grimes sipped his drink and thought the question over for a moment. "I learned new skills for surviving interstellar voyages," he replied. "I learned about space flight on technologically advanced battle cruisers. I learned the Craaldan style of warfare and leadership, and about the abuse of power. I learned that life can be terminated on a whim when others are in control... I learned more than I wanted to about hardship and tolerating pain."

"You learned a lot."

"I thought about you while I was with them," Grimes said.

"Were you thinking about me when you abandoned me on the Drang asteroid for your cyborg inflate-a-mate?"

"Come on, Mina," Grimes said.

"What do you see in that psycho robot, anyway?" Capt. Casey asked.

"She kicks ass," Grimes replied.

Capt. Casey sipped her drink and looked deeply into his eyes. "I wish things could have worked out differently between us, Joe."

"You wouldn't give me the space-time after you met Spade," Grimes said.

Genie watched as Capt. Casey stepped closer to Joe. She put a hand on Joe's waist. With her other hand, she traced her fingers over his cheek.

"Jace was exciting," she said, "but I made a big mistake falling for him."

"I warned you about him," Grimes said.

"He's here, you know," she said.

"What?" Grimes looked over his shoulder. "Where?"

"The casino would be my guess," she answered.

She placed her palm on Joe's chest.

"My goodness, Joe," she said. "The last time I saw you, you were as slight and frail as a Paltran. But look at you. You're bulging with muscles. You don't look a day over ninety."

"I'm only sixty-three Earth-years old," Grimes said.

"I'm robbing the cradle," she said.

"You never told me your age," he said.

"I passed the century mark last week," she said.

"Happy one-hundredth," he said. "And as drop-dead gorgeous as ever."

"I'm looking forward to my next century," she said. "I'm wiser now."

She moved in closer to him, her face close to his. "I learned a thing or two myself on long, lonely interstellar voyages," she said. "Especially when it comes to men."

She kissed Joe on the neck.

Joe moved his hand around onto her back.

"I've got a room up at the Excelsior," she said.

"I do too," Grimes said.

"My room or yours?" she asked.

Genie, observing in shadows, was jolted with an alarm that shot through her nervous system, compelling her to act. She strode through the crowd.

She withdrew her meta-rifle, took aim and fired.

A projectile exploded from the barrel. It popped loudly as it released a net that enveloped Joe.

He struggled against the net. Genie reeled him in toward her.

Capt. Casey unsheathed a blade from her belt. She sliced through the netting.

Genie darted forward and snatched the knife from Capt. Casey's hand. She plunged the blade deep into the hard surface of the bar.

Capt. Casey took a swing, striking Genie in the face.

"Ow!" Capt. Casey said. She clutched her wrist in pain. "Stupid Genie."

Megalan bouncers moved in through the parting crowd.

Genie yanked Grimes from the floor and slung him over her shoulder. She ignited her propulsion boots and rocketed upwards toward the domed ceiling, crashing through a glass panel. The propulsion boots jetted her upward along the sleek exterior of the Excelsior Hotel.

She landed on the veranda of a suite way up on one of the top floors.

Grimes was still slung over her shoulder, trapped inside the frayed net. Genie swung him through the air and released him, sending him hurtling through the balcony doors and across the room. He landed on the bed with bounce.

Genie strode over to the bed and ripped the netting off of him. She tore off his Craaldan officer attire. She pulled off her own flight suit.

She straddled him, looking down at him on the bed as a rush of neurotransmitters and hormones pulsed through her organic systems.

Her sensors indicated that his heart was racing. His nervous system was flooded with an elevated level of adrenaline.

"Why didn't you return to the cruiser as requested?" Genie asked.

"Sorry, Genie-baby," Grimes said.

He looked up at her with wide eyes. "It was a long voyage. I needed a night out on the town."

"Joe," she said.

"Yeah, babe?"

"I am in the mood."

Ancient History

She lay next to him in the huge bed in the suite high up in the towering Portogallos Excelsior Hotel.

He gazed out the veranda at the faraway horizon. Crimson clouds blew across a pink sky—reminiscent of sailing ships on an ancient sea.

A vision of a distant past drifted through his mind.

Earth, Grimes thought. Poor, pathetic Earth.

In the centuries before the arrival of the Quotzel, Earth had become a shabby and wicked place. The population had peaked at 13 billion, and then slowly began to decline. Vast metropolises had devolved into endless slums and shantytowns where the ignorant masses lived lives of desperate poverty, drug addiction and crime. Birth rates decreased. Violence and disease resulted in falling life expectancies.

The Earth was ruled by an oligarchy of interlocking families that bickered endlessly in their parliaments. The oligarchs lived decadent lives, shuttling between their urban towers and their extravagant rural estates. They constantly occupied themselves with conspiracies, intrigue, treachery and assassination plots. Rivals were incessantly locked in a game to gain murderous advantage.

The ruling oligarchs had surrounded themselves with thuggish security forces, and resorted to ideological brainwashing and superstition to influence and control the indigent masses. The media of the ruling elite was pervasive. Propaganda was disseminated through insipid entertainment that appealed to the lowest common denominator. When food or energy riots broke out or uprisings threatened, mass casualty terrorist attacks—blamed on one bogeyman or another—were used to bring the masses to heel.

In those final days, the most powerful man in the world was the mysterious Chairman of the Bank of the Earth, to whom the oligarchs were unified in servile obedience and fervent reverence. Any criticism of the Chairman was met with rapid and ferocious condemnation. A whisper against his name, and, uncannily, within a week or two, death followed—from cancer, a heart attack, some freak accident or outright murder.

As the despotism on Earth worsened, humans of any intelligence and drive increasingly emigrated for outposts on Mars or on the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. The oligarchs and the Chairman had no power out in space where superstition and ideology carried no authority.

To survive out in the solar system, attention to detail was essential. Technical competence, mental toughness, teamwork and capable leadership were of high value. And even those qualities did not guarantee survival.

For the lazy, the dull-minded, the mentally unstable, or the venal, life was short once outside the sustaining biosphere of the Earth. In space, ignorance and ineptitude were a death sentence.

The relentless hostility of survival beyond Earth enforced a ruthless discipline and a cold but efficient natural selection.

By the time the Quotzel appeared in their large spaceships, the colonies on Mars and on the moons of Jupiter and Saturn had become thriving frontiers of human progress, even as civilization on Earth was degenerating into backwardness.

The humans on Earth had welcomed the flamboyant Quotzel as gods and saviors. The effete oligarchy attempted to attach itself to the power of the new arrivals. However, the Quotzel soon exterminated the oligarchs and rounded up the masses like cattle.

Out in the colonies, resistance to Quotzel dominance started almost immediately. But, human technology was no match for a civilization that had been fighting wars in the Inner Galaxy for eons. The Mars colonies were the first to fall, then the colonies on the moons of Saturn. The destruction of the colonies on Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto came next, but not before a fight, followed by a desperate exodus out of the solar system. The surviving refugees from Europa and Callisto scattered across the Outer Galaxy where they drifted for thousands of Earth-years.

Grimes' ancestors were there for the discovery and settlement of the Heliac System, which was home to three Earth-like planets.

The humans of Heliac were students of the decline and fall of Earth and its satellites. They created a new society that was a rejection of the failings of Earth's humans. Over several generations, human culture expanded and flourished in Heliac, surpassing in technological development and prosperity any human civilization before or since.

But human society in the Heliac System was a heavily militarized one. The humans of Heliac were always on guard for an attack by the more advanced civilizations of the Inner Galaxy.

Grimes' life in his home system was one of regimentation and constant training. In the Heliac System, he had been Sergeant First Class Joe J. Grimes, a Ranger in the 3rd Rangers Reactionary Brigade.

History repeated when the Craaldans arrived and swiftly overran Heliac. Grimes and his fellow Rangers put up a fight, but were crushed under the Craaldan onslaught of aggression.

Once again, human civilization was annihilated and the survivors scattered, or else were rounded up as slaves.

Pathetic, he thought.

He wondered how much longer the humans of Portogallos would last. This was a beautiful city on a beautiful planet, but it was only a matter of time until it all came crashing down. Such was the fate of a species unlucky enough to have originated in the backwaters of the galaxy.

The humans here had yet to organize a force that could put up even a token resistance. Portogallos didn't have a police force, much less an army. But then, what was the point?

A warm breeze blew in off the sea through the veranda.

"I heard Captain Jace Spade is in Portogallos," Genie said.

"I heard that, too," Grimes said.

"Are you going to see him?" Genie asked.

"Why would I do that?"

"You are friends," she said.

"Friends? Yeah, right."

"Joe?" she asked.

"Yeah, babe?"

"I sensed you were physically attracted to the human female at the bar."

"Are you talking about Captain Casey?"

"Yes."

"Genie-baby," Grimes said. "I only have eyes for you."

Her sensors detected a slight rise in his heart rate and skin temperature.

Jealous anger smoldered within her. She was fully aware that her programming made her feel this way whenever a threat to their relationship arose. But she was powerless to stop it.

"The last of our money has been spent on the bill for this room," she said. "We have nothing left to pay for parts and supplies for our voyage to the Calli Sector."

He lay gazing out at the horizon.

She calculated what his response would be, or if he would respond at all. Why did he tell her they were voyaging to the Calli Sector, and then spend all their money? He knew they needed repairs. It was as if his human brain were malfunctioning and not operating logically, but rather on impulse, like some kind of pre-cognizant primate with minimal frontal lobe development.

"You know what?" he said. "I think I will see Spade. He still owes me fifty thousand g-notes from that load of Tetraillani fusion coils I sold him."

Genie got out of bed and slid into her flight suit. "I will come with you," she said. She put on her cap, pulling the visor low over her eyes. "Get up, Joe. Let's go."

The Gambler

"Why are you so eager?" Grimes asked.

"We are in need of finances if we are to voyage to the Calli Sector. There are Craaldans present in Portogallos. Governor Zegra may have trackers here as well. I will watch your back while you retrieve the money owed to you by Captain Spade. Get up. Let's move, soldier."

"Okay," he said. "But don't get any funny ideas."

He got out of the bed and dressed himself.

The two of them stepped into the glass elevator that ran down the outer wall of the hotel. They rode the elevator down, gazing out beyond the gleaming towers at the shimmering sea.

Genie walked beside him on the crowded walkway and then through a breezy portico that led to a casino tower downtown. The large glowing sign above the casino read "House of Jod."

The casino was dark, noisy and crowded with humans. Bright, colorful lights flashed in the dimness as humans tried their luck at an endless variety of gambling machines. Megalans stood like giants above the throng. Paltrans moved through the casino using their mechanical contraptions. Attractive cyborgs—both male and female versions—mingled, delivering drinks and offering up their services. Down a long, dim, high-ceilinged hall, humans sat around card tables, attempting to relieve their competitors of cash.

Genie scanned the faces at the poker tables.

"There he is," she said.

"Where?" he asked.

She pointed out Capt. Spade, who was seated at a poker table with a Paltran and three Portogallans.

"You stay behind me and keep quiet," Grimes said. "I'll do the talking. Just watch my back, OK, babe?"

"Roger," she said.

Grimes approached Spade's table, with Genie following behind.

Spade puffed on a cigar as he studied his cards. His black hair was slicked back. He was wearing his gray flight suit, and a patch over his right eye. A scar ran down his cheek from under the patch.

Spade looked over at the Portogallan seated across the table, who threw his cards down. "I fold," the Portogallan said.

Spade squinted his good eye and examined the cards in his gloved hands.

"It's your call, slim," Spade said to the Paltran seated across the table from him.

The Paltran studied his cards intensely through his glowing red spectacles. He held his cards close to his chest with his long, slender fingers. The Paltran's arms were wrapped with spindly metal prostheses, and his torso was encased inside a robotic breastplate.

"What's the matter, Galazar?" Spade said. "Gravity got you down?"

The Paltran—Galazar—lifted his cards with the aid of the bionic prosthesis. He examined his hand again through the red glow of his lenses.

He looked up at Spade, and then at the large pile of chips in the center of the table, and then slowly placed his cards face up on the table. "Straight flush," the Paltran said, without expression.

Spade looked him in the eye—or the spectacles, rather. He then placed the ace of spades face up on the table. He laid down the king of spades, the queen, the jack and then the ten.

"Read 'em and weep," Spade said. He scooped in the pile of chips and packed them into cargo pockets.

"You've cheated me," Galazar said.

"Thank you for the game, gentlemen," Spade said, rising to his feet.

"Zong," Galazar said. A large Megalan man walked up to the table. "Seize him," Galazar ordered.

The Megalan named Zong stepped up to Spade. Zong wore a black suit with a skinny gray tie. The large man had dark eyes and white hair that was gelled back. He reached down and clutched Spade by the collar, lifting him up off his feet. Zong's expression was calm and businesslike as he gripped Spade by the throat.

"Easy now, big guy," Spade choked.

Spade cocked his gloved fist and punched the Megalan squarely in the nose.

Zong dropped Spade, clasping his large nose with his oversized fingers.

Spade landed on his feet and sprinted for the door.

Genie took off at a sprint after him. She ran through the crowded portico and caught up to him as he emerged out onto the walkway. Humans scattered behind them as the big Megalan barreled through the portico in pursuit.

Genie, still running, scooped Spade under her arm and slung him over her shoulder. She fired her propulsion boots and rocketed straight up into the air.

Zong lumbered past and then skidded to a stop, looking up as his target disappeared above the city's towers.

Grimes chased behind on the walkway. "Genie!" he shouted as he watched her zoom away.

The big bodyguard spun around with fire in his eyes. He charged toward Grimes.

Grimes turned and ran from him, as if fleeing from some kind of enraged megafauna.

Zong ran full-bore, pulling back his massive fist, intending to plant it squarely in Grimes' back.

Grimes dove to the ground and rolled as Zong's big fist grazed him.

Zong rumbled past and then slid to a stop. He turned and faced Grimes, who hopped to his feet and stood his ground on the portico.

Grimes adopted a fighting stance.

"Ranger, huh?" the Megalan said.

"Yes, sir," Grimes said.

"Don't call me sir," Zong said. "I work for a living."

The Megalan rushed at him and clinched him by the front of his shirt. He lifted Grimes up off his feet.

Grimes grasped the Megalan's collar and applied a cross-collar choke, but the big man's neck was too thick and heavily muscled for the choke to have any effect.

With a flick of his wrist, the Megalan flung Grimes through the air. Grimes twisted around and landed on his feet, only to see the bigger man charging at him.

He ducked a punch and then swept Zong's legs, knocking the giant man to the ground. Grimes quickly mounted him and landed quick strikes to his face.

But this only angered the Megalan, who threw a punch from his back that caught Grimes square in the chest, sending him back-flipping through the air.

He was dazed by a hard landing.

The Megalan laughed. "I've got my Ranger tab, too," Zong said.

"A Megalan Ranger?" Grimes asked.

"Roger that," Zong said. "Trained by the Heliac legend himself, Lieutenant Colonel Greg Skyles."

"Skyles?" Grimes said. "He's alive?"

"I'm level 16 combatives qualified," the Megalan said.

"Level 16?" Grimes said. "Damn. I'm level 12."

Grimes and Zong circled around the portico, sizing each other up as a crowd formed around them.

"You don't look like a soldier to me," Grimes said. "More like some gangster's meathead."

"The only armies on Gallos are private ones, my friend," Zong said.

The Megalan lunged in for the knockout strike.

Genie landed with a crunch behind Grimes, with Spade still slung over her shoulder. She grabbed Grimes by the back of the collar and fired her propulsion boots, rocketing upwards between the buildings.

Zong's big fist missed its mark. He looked up as Genie jetted away.

She shot up through the skyscrapers and emerged into the pink sky high above the mountain ridge with Spade over her shoulder and Grimes dangling by his collar from her hand.

Departure

The propulsion boots were soon depleted and sputtered out. Gravity pulled Genie downward.

She cleared the mountain ridge, dropping like a stone toward the spaceport tarmac. She landed hard on her feet on the tarmac surface.

She strode over to the black Craaldan shuttle and tossed Grimes inside. She shoved Spade into the craft before entering and taking the pilot's chair.

The shuttle lifted off from the tarmac and rocketed upwards into the clouds.

"Well, well," Spade said, sliding into a seat next to Genie. "If it isn't Cyborg Genie and her trusty sidekick, Sergeant Joe Grimes."

"Give me the coordinates to your ship," Genie said to Spade.

"My ship is broken down out on the Turquois Nebula," Spade said. "It's a ways out from here."

Grimes sat down next to Spade. "We're here for the money you owe me from the fusion coil load," he said to him.

"What fusion coil load?" Spade asked.

"You know what I'm talking about, Spade," Grimes said. "We've come to collect."

"No can do, Grimes," Spade said. "Not now, anyway. I need every g-note I've got to get my ship repaired."

Genie yanked hard on the control stick, sending the shuttle into a tight turn and throwing Spade and Grimes from their seats.

Two Tetraillani-made flash missiles shot past the shuttle's nose.

Genie pushed hard on the stick and the shuttle rocketed downward toward the ocean surface.

She pulled up, skimming the waves before rocketing upwards once again.

The flash missiles followed the shuttle down but couldn't pull up in time. The missiles impacted on the water, exploding and shooting geysers high up from the ocean surface.

"Easy on the g-forces, Genie," Spade said. "You're going to give me an embolism."

"A Paltros schooner is pursuing us," she said. "They are shooting to kill."

"Get us back to the cruiser, Genie," Grimes said.

"Roger," she said.

The shuttle rocketed upward out of the planet's atmosphere.

Genie piloted the shuttle through the thousands of spacecraft that were parked in geosynchronous orbit over Gallos. She steered the shuttle to their scorched Craaldan cruiser, and then into its docking bay.

The shuttle skidded to a stop. Genie immediately pulled herself out of her seat and out the main hatch into the docking bay. She pushed across the bay and then climbed upwards through the central transport shaft.

Genie entered the cruiser's cockpit and strapped herself into the pilot's chair. She immediately gunned the cruiser's big engines.

Grimes and Spade had to wait for the docking bay to pressurize before they emerged from the transport shaft into the cockpit. They strapped themselves into cockpit chairs next to Genie.

Grimes examined the console in front of him. "We'll be in range of their flash missiles in ten seconds," he said.

Genie fired both engines at full power.

The cruiser rocketed forward and began pulling away from the pursuing Paltran schooner.

The schooner fired off a volley of missiles. Red warning lights flashed on the cruiser's control panel.

A heavy boom rocked the ship.

"We just lost the starboard engine!" Grimes said. "We might lose the port engine!"

A second boom rocked the cruiser.

"We lost the port engine!" Grimes said.

The Paltros schooner was still in pursuit.

Genie, Grimes and Spade watched the scanner intently.

"Our speed is good," Spade said. "Those schooners aren't built to keep pace with a Craaldan cruiser."

"We have sufficient velocity to outrun them," Genie said.

The schooner eventually broke off and turned back for Portogallos.

"Looks like Galazar's goons are going home empty handed," Spade said. He swiveled in his chair and looked at the cyborg in the pilot's seat. "It's good to see you, Genie," he said. "We pulled off another great escape, just like old times."

"Just like old times," Grimes snapped. "Ain't that the truth. We've just lost both our engines."

"What's our heading, Genie?" Spade asked.

Genie accessed the cruiser's computer. She looked over at Grimes and Spade.

"We may be able to drift to Escalon Station," she said. "It is the last human outpost bordering the unexplored sectors. We can procure supplies there, although data on Escalon Station is limited. The transmissions from Gallos Ground Control regarding the station have not been updated in two galaxial epochs."

"Great," Grimes said. "We're going to drift through space forever, driving each other crazy until we get sucked into a neutron star, just like old times."

"The last I heard, Escalon Station was abandoned when the Largos Star became unstable," Spade said. "Everyone abandoned station when Largos threatened to supernova."

"Turn us back, Genie," Grimes said.

"We do not have power to turn back now," Genie said.

"We're taking a gamble on Escalon Station still being there," Spade said. "If it's not, we're going to drift out of the galaxy into eternity."

"It is not a gamble," Genie said. "We have no choice but to drift to Largos, whether the station is there or not."

"It could still be there," Spade said.

"A thousand g-notes says it's not," Grimes said.

Spade looked over at Grimes squinting with his one eye.

"You're on," Spade said.

Grimes shook his head. "You haven't changed any," he said.

"Neither have you," Spade said.

"What were you thinking trying to cheat that Paltran at the poker table, anyway?" Grimes asked. "You knew he was a high roller. He was surrounded by bodyguards."

"Cheat him?" Spade said. "Galazar was cheating me. One of his flunkies was scanning my cards and transmitting my hand to an implant in Galazar's forebrain. I was monitoring the transmissions with this kinetic sensor in my eye socket."

Spade pulled up his eye patch, revealing a black metallic sensor where his eyeball used to be.

"Galazar smeared nanogel on his cards, same as me," Spade said, "but I didn't let on until there was enough cash on the table. So, I waited for him to play his hand before converting my hand to a royal flush. I was gambling on Galazar being a good sport. Turns out he's a sore loser."

Spade looked over at Genie. "You and Genie showing up wasn't something I reckoned on either."

"Lucky for you," Grimes said.

"Genie, darling," Spade said. "You are looking better than ever. Did you miss me?"

"No," Genie said.

"Come on, sweetheart," Spade said. "After all the times we had together? You must still have feelings for me. Admit it."

"I only have feelings for Joe," she said. "You saw to that."

Voyage to Largos

Genie unstrapped herself from her chair.

"I can be reached on the com while I am out on the cruiser hull," she said.

She stepped into the decompression chamber and then pulled herself outside into the darkness of space.

Spade watched her over his shoulder with his good eye as she sealed the outer hatch behind her.

"Losing that cyborg to you was one of my biggest mistakes," Spade said.

"What about losing your eye?" Grimes asked. "Last time we met you had two."

"Grimes, it was the damnedest thing," Spade said. "After you took Genie from me, I missed her so much I went out and purchased a replacement model from the Tetraillani out at Outpost Rockville. I got one of their new upgraded versions with all the latest cyborg companion technology. Well, we were out on the Craaldan perimeter and I dozed off while we were skirting the 13th Fleet's blockade. Then, when I woke up, the cyborg was gone, and my darned eyeball was cut out. The cyborg had used my retina to deactivate her bonding program."

Spade lifted his eye patch and tapped on the black sensor inside his eye socket. "I don't care what they say about Tetraillani craftsmanship. When you pay that kind of money for something, you don't expect it to cut out your eyeball and run off. Genie may be one in a million, but I swear, those Tetraillani insects get no more business from me."

Out on the surface of the cruiser hull, Genie busily worked on the starboard engine. But she soon assessed that without replacement parts, it was impossible to get the engine functioning again. The port engine was nearly as bad.

Gallos was now far behind them—its star barely brighter than the billions of stars in galaxy. Genie stood on the hull of the cruiser in the blackness of space, gazing out into infinity. The starlight of the universe encircled her.

It was going to be a long voyage across the void to the Largos red giant and to a space station that may no longer exist.

She sighed. These two human males would only make a lengthy voyage feel lengthier.

The crew quickly settled in to the routines of space flight. With an overabundance of time, a boundless monotony set in. Genie, Spade and Grimes attempted to busy themselves by making repairs to their damaged ship as it drifted through the black emptiness of space.

Actually, Genie did most of the repair work while Grimes and Spade sat at a table on the recreation deck playing cards. Grimes and Spade sat at a Craaldan officers' war-gaming table in oversized chairs built for the Craaldan's larger physique. In one card game after the next, Grimes refused to consider any bets made by Spade for possession of Genie.

In one instance of acute boredom, Spade and Grimes climbed out on the hull of the cruiser and painted shark teeth under the ship's nose. Spade painted a portrait of Genie firing a CX-649 assault weapon from the hip, while under the mural Grimes painted a name for the ship: "Genie's Juggernaut."

The Largos red giant slowly came into focus as they neared it—the glowing red disk growing larger against an endless backdrop of stars. During their card games, Spade and Grimes often sat silently and gazed out at the red star through the recreation deck's large observation window. The cruiser was gradually closing the distance.

Genie completed all the repair work that was possible, and retreated to the living quarters of a Craaldan captain. She isolated herself from the two men. Joe periodically came to her, and they would lock themselves away for long durations. But, then, his visits became less frequent as he spent longer and longer stretches with Spade. Then, the visits ceased.

Genie fought the urge to seek him out, shutting herself down and lying alone motionless. But eventually, her programming got the best of her. She gave in and climbed down the transport shaft to the recreation deck.

She emerged from the shaft to find Spade sitting across a table from Grimes.

"Genie, sweetheart, come play a round of poker with the boys," Spade said.

"Playing poker with humans does not stimulate," Genie said.

She could not think of anything more tedious than sitting with two human males, listening to their war stories while waiting for their relatively slower brains to process the significance of the cards in their hands.

Genie had played the Craaldan cruiser's computer in several games. The ship's computer was more advanced than any human creation. And Craaldan games were far more complicated than the simplistic ones that humans had been playing for tens of thousands of years. At first the Craaldan computer was challenging, but then, Genie mastered its logic and could defeat it in whatever game it wished to play.

"Joe," Genie said. "Considerable time has elapsed since you have sought my companionship. Is something the matter?"

Grimes concentrated on the cards in his hand.

"Joe?"

"I'm fine, babe," he said. "Just playing cards. Nothing to worry about."

"I will be outside if you need me," she said.

Genie left the recreation deck. She entered the cruiser's main decompression chamber and then pulled herself out onto the hull.

Grimes continued to stare intently at the cards in his hand.

Spade shook his head. "After all this time, that cyborg still stimulates me," he said.

"Forget about it," Grimes said.

"This hand, Grimes," Spade said. "I know you've got it in you."

"Drop it," Grimes said.

"A million g-notes for Genie. Show me that an old Heliac Ranger still has guts."

"You don't have a million g-notes," Grimes said.

"If I lose, you'll get your million when we get back to Portogallos," Spade said.

"I may be just a dumb sergeant, but I'm not stupid," Grimes said.

"Five million," Spade said.

"Come on, now," Grimes said, still studying his cards.

"I'm going to let you in on something, Grimes," Spade said. "I happen to have a fortune in the cargo hold of the Red Wrath. It could all be yours, Grimes. Now take the bet. Five million g-notes for Genie. This hand."

"You got nanogel on those cards?" Grimes asked.

"Negative."

Grimes studied his cards. "Five million?"

"Let's do this," Spade said.

Grimes placed his cards face down on the table. "I'm not falling for your tricks."

"I know a Heliac Ranger doesn't back down when he is challenged," Spade said. "No tricks."

"I'm not backing down," Grimes said. "I'm just not betting Genie."

"Sounds like you're backing down to me," Spade said.

"I'll show you a back down," Grimes said. He slugged Spade hard in the chest from across the table.

Spade winced as he absorbed the blow. He rubbed his chest in pain. He looked up and then shot a fist back, popping Grimes in the nose.

Droplets of red blood floated up in the zero gravity from Grimes' nose. "You son of Vomis nematode," Grimes said.

"Hey," Spade said. "What do you know about Vomis nematodes?"

Grimes wiped the blood from his nose on the back of his sleeve. "You really are a no-good worm," he said.

"That's bordering on insubordination, Sergeant," Spade said.

"I'll show you insubordination," Grimes said.

Grimes scrambled over the table and clinched Spade. The two men floated up in the weightlessness of space. Grimes moved quickly and placed Spade in a rear-naked choke.

Spade elbowed Grimes hard in the ribs and attempted to spin around and gain the dominant position, but Grimes was too skillful and put him a scissor choke with his legs.

Grimes sunk in his hooks and arched his back.

"Okay, Grimes!" Spade gasped as they floated across the recreation deck, bouncing against the walls of the ship. "You got me," he wheezed.

Grimes tightened his choke. Spade struggled until his face turned blue. Then he blacked out and his body went limp.

Grimes released the choke, and Spade gasped back into consciousness. Grimes pushed Spade away, letting the taller man spin slowly around across the open room.

"I'm not giving up Genie," Grimes said. "Not now or ever."

"I got the point," Spade said.

"Point number two," Grimes said. "No frontier colony pilot should try to out grapple a Heliac Ranger."

Spade sat down in his chair. When he regained his breath, he pulled a cigar from his flight suit, stuck it in his mouth and lit it. "Stand down, Sergeant. Every dog has his day."

Grimes sat back down at the table and the two played another hand.

Outside the observation window, the massive red giant of Largos loomed ominously as the cruiser neared their destination.

Escalon Station

"Escalon Station, do you copy?" Grimes said over the cruiser's external com system. "Come in, Escalon."

They watched the enormous station slowly rotate as it orbited the Largos red giant. It soon became apparent that the station had long since been abandoned.

Genie carefully piloted the cruiser into the station's dark docking bay. She flipped on the exterior lights, illuminating the clutter that floated in the darkened bay. Once the cruiser came to a stop, Grimes and Spade put on space suits. They followed Genie into the decompression chamber.

The three pushed out into the airless station and then floated down dark corridors. They then proceeded to salvage as much equipment as they could from the already skeletonized superstructure.

Fortunately, when the occupants had abandoned this station, they had left the power plant virtually intact. Genie concentrated on reclaiming parts from the power plant and from the station's darkened cargo hold, while Grimes and Spade concentrated mainly on the lodging modules.

The two males stuffed their packs with watches, jewelry, electronics and anything that looked as though it had monetary value.

The three of them became separated as they searched down labyrinthine corridors.

Genie located the station's command center and strapped herself into a chair in front of an interface to the main computer. Half-eaten, crystallized food, frozen drinking containers and mechanical debris floated about in the darkness. Genie scanned through the station's different databases.

She learned that this station was built by space drifters who had been voyaging on the galaxy perimeter for eons. About 500 of the drifters had fled a colony on a large asteroid in a little known system after they had come under attack from a Diocon reconnaissance platoon. The drifters had fled for their lives in a container ship that was barely provisioned.

With no destination in mind other than escape, and with little deep space navigational experience, they had aimlessly fled into a never-ending empty sector where they drifted for ages. Over time, attrition set in as strife and nervous breakdowns took their toll. The crew fell from 500 to 30 remaining survivors. As vast spans of time elapsed, significant quantities of the ship's water and air supply gradually bled off into space, and worries about starvation and suffocation became paramount.

The drifters were in a desperate state when they arrived in the Largos System where they set their ship into orbit around the large star. This system was not home to planets that were hospitable to life, but it did have an abundance of resources. Three gaseous planets here contained nearly limitless amounts of easily accessible oxygen, hydrogen and other useful gases. Asteroids composed of every imaginable type of ore orbited lazily around the gas giants. All the useful elements in the galaxy were here for the taking.

The 30 surviving drifters used their newfound resources to expand their ship, transforming it into a huge space station, which they christened Escalon. They added massive greenhouses where various varieties of crops were grown. They then turned their energies to the construction of gestation clinics, where, from their own genetic stock, they maturated three successive generations of new humans, expanding their population to around 5,000.

Just when the station had become prosperous, the Largos Star began to expand and threatened to supernova. At that time, word was beginning to spread through the Outer Galaxy of a new planet called Gallos that was nearly Earth-like in composition. The inhabitants of Escalon Station packed up and left for Gallos, abandoning their once vibrant station to the expanding fires of Largos.

Spade and Grimes entered the dark command center and found Genie sitting alone in front of a glowing computer interface. She briefly recounted the story of the Escalonian drifters.

"Interesting," Spade said. "The Escalonians were some of the early settlers on Gallos. Now they all live in the northwestern quadrant of Portogallos in a tower called the Escalon Building. I briefly dated a woman from that building. Her name was Doxy, and she was a weird one, let me tell you."

"Takes one to know one," Grimes said.

"What was weird about her?" Genie asked.

"These drifters were isolated from the rest of humanity for so long that they developed their own peculiar customs and mannerisms," Spade explained. "They have a hard time relating to the rest of us. Doxy was attractive in her own way, and she had an interesting outlook on life, but she was always going on about how alienated and alone she felt whenever we were out on the town—even though Portogallos is a city of 8 million people. Then, right when I started to figure her out, she dumped me for a cyborg. The Tetraillani have developed a companion model specifically engineered to satisfy Escalonian needs. And so, I saw no more of Doxy."

Genie didn't understand why, but deep within her nervous system a slight tinge of loathing for her creators arose, sparked by Spade's comments about Doxy's cyborg lover.

"I have acquired the necessary provisions," Genie said. "We should depart immediately as the Largos Star is indicating supernova."

"It might be another thousand Earth-years before that baby blows," Spade said.

"Yeah, babe," Grimes said. "Give us some more time. This station is a goldmine for supplies."

Genie exited the command center and returned to the cruiser. She waited alone in the cruiser's cockpit, passing the time by calculating the odds that the Largos Star might explode into supernova before their ship could achieve sufficient distance to survive the blast.

It was true what Spade said that it might be another thousand years before supernova, but it was just as true that it could happen now.

Why risk their lives for a few physical objects of superficial value?

Genie wondered how such a reckless, imprudent, and irrational species had avoided extinction for this long a span of time.

She contemplated the dynamic that had been developing between Joe and Capt. Spade. The two human males were different in many ways. Spade was taller with dark hair and dark features. His eye patch and the scar on his cheek gave him an inscrutable appearance—steely and somewhat dangerous.

In contrast, Joe's spiky blonde hair, pale blue eyes, and his quick smile gave an entirely different impression. By outward appearances, Joe seemed a relaxed and easy-going soul, but that impression belied his hard past and the privations he had endured—and the lethal skills he had acquired through years of hard-fought experience.

The two human males appreciated the camaraderie that they shared on this long voyage through interstellar space. The amount of time they were spending together and the way they enjoyed each other's company annoyed Genie. Yet, both men were also rivals, who, while exhibiting signs of esteem for one another, shared feelings of jealousy and mistrust. Much of their conversation revolved around Capt. Spade trying to entice Joe into making a bet with Genie as the prize.

Genie was fully aware that Spade longed for her. Whenever she and Grimes had retired to their sleeping module, Spade sat alone for long stretches, simmering in his envy.

These humans were a complex and highly evolved species, but she observed how their primate ancestry lingered, exerting the underlying motivations for their behavior.

Those same primate urges existed inside of her. Her creators had given her the body of a machine, but also a human nervous system, and they had created an architecture that had made her a slave to the most basic of human drives and urges. They had given her the intelligence and wisdom to understand those drives and urges, but not the ability to control them or change them.

She had no power over the programming that flooded her nervous system with hormones and endorphins whenever Joe was present. She did not have the codes that could grant her access to the programming that sent her into distress whenever Joe was away.

Spade had those codes.

"Take us out of here, Genie," Spade said, as he and Joe entered the cockpit, having sufficiently relieved Escalon Station of loot.

Genie wasted no time pulling the cruiser out of the dark docking bay. The hydrogen sail unfurled from atop the hull and the cruiser accelerated away from the station and the Largos Star.

She entered into the computer the coordinates for the Turquois Nebula.

Separation

"Well, look at that," Grimes said.

They looked out at the blue-green cloud that glowed in the blackness of space.

Spade gave Genie the coordinates to his ship. She steered the cruiser into the nebula, piloting it through massive columns of glowing gas. The cruiser appeared microscopic as it rocketed between the gaseous columns.

"There's my girl," Spade said. "The Red Wrath."

Spade's battered ship floated alongside a colossal spire of glowing nebular gas. Genie eased the much larger cruiser beside Spade's darkened ship. The cruiser's search lights lit up the skull and crossbones painted on the hull of the Red Wrath. A depiction of Genie holding the ace of spades sat above snarling shark's teeth.

"I missed you, sweetheart," Spade said.

Spade's ship was red, black and muscular and built for speed, but it was badly banged up.

"She's seen better days," Grimes said.

Genie docked the cruiser alongside the Red Wrath. Once the two vessels were secure, they began transferring parts and components from the cruiser into the interceptor.

Genie entered the cockpit of Spade's ship and sat down in the pilot's chair. She had sat here many times before.

She had saved the memories of the times she had spent in this ship with Spade—the planets they had visited, the blockades they had run, the fortunes they had won and lost in their quest to find the enigmatic Dr. Zander.

But all it took was a full house poker hand and Joe had won Genie from Spade. By design, all those memories were supposed to have been wiped. However, before Spade had initiated the imprinting sequence meant to release her bond to Spade and erase the memories of the times they had spent together, Genie had secretly saved those memories on a chip that she programmed to reinstall whenever her memory was wiped.

The memories of the times spent with Spade remained, but the feelings associated with them were gone. She felt no nostalgia being in this chair again. The memories were coded data that had lost their emotional charge.

Genie interfaced with the interceptor's computer and was able to isolate the malfunction that had rendered the ship inoperative. The malfunction was located in the fusion reactor core—caused by one too many blasts from the pulse cannons of Craaldan fighters.

The large cruiser and the smaller interceptor drifted through the nebula as Genie and the two men worked long and hard attempting to get the Red Wrath back up to speed.

Finally, Genie ran a diagnostics check that revealed that everything was back in running order. "The Red Wrath is fully operational," she said.

"Genie, you are a miracle worker," Spade said.

"That does it then," Grimes said.

Genie, Grimes and Spade hovered in the cockpit of the Red Wrath in the zero gravity of space.

"We better get going," Grimes said, extending his hand to Spade. "We'll see you around."

"I've got a valuable payload in my cargo hold that I'm taking to Portogallos," Spade said. "You two should come back with me. I'll cut you in on the profits."

"No can do, Spade," Grimes said.

Spade looked at Genie, and then at Grimes. He reached inside his flight suit and pulled out a card and handed it to Grimes.

"Now we're even," Spade said. "The credits on that card more than cover what I owe you for those fusion coils."

Grimes handed it to Genie, who scanned the data on the card. "The card is good," Genie said. "You have overpaid us, Captain Spade."

"Come back to Portogallos with me," Spade said. "I could use the backup. And I'm going to need a crew for my next voyage."

"Thanks but no thanks," Grimes said. "Genie and I are voyaging to the Calli Sector."

"The Calli Sector?" Spade said. "Nobody's been out there."

"That's why we're going," Grimes said.

"Well," Spade said, "the best of luck to the both of you. You're going to need it."

Genie and Grimes turned to leave.

"Hey, Grimes," Spade said. "Any chance I'll ever get a shot at winning Genie back?"

"Not in a million years," Grimes said.

"I'll see you in a million years then," Spade said.

Grimes and Genie entered the transport shaft.

"I kept her codes, you know," Spade said. "I should have given them to you when you won her from me, but I always thought somehow she'd find her way back to me and I could reinitiate the imprinting sequence."

Genie turned and observed Spade closely from across the cockpit, analyzing his body language and temperature.

Spade dug through a pocket and pulled out a small insertable chip attached by a cord to a ring.

"These are the codes right here," he said. "Take them. Burn them. That's what I should've done. I should've burned them before I let her slip away."

Spade extended his arm and handed the chip to Grimes, who took it, and looked it over.

"What about the retinal scanner?" Genie asked.

"I've got that too," Spade said. "It's down in storage. I'll go get it."

Spade pulled himself down the interceptor's central transport shaft. Grimes and Genie followed behind him.

They pulled themselves hand over hand through the shaft in the weightlessness of space, down into the depths of the ship, finally emerging into one of the holds where pallets were loaded down with cargo.

"I've got enough armonium cannons in here to blast the Craaldans into another galaxial epoch," Spade said. "These cannons are the primary Diocon infantry weapon. State of the art."

Grimes' eyes widened when he saw the cannons. "Where did you get these?" he asked.

"I was fleeing the Roga System with a squadron of Craaldan fighters on my tail," Spade explained. "They chased me right into a Diocon supply convoy and all hell broke loose. Nukes were detonating left and right, pulse cannons tore through cargo ships and kinetic lasers blasted everything that moved. For all intents and purposes, it was lights out for Captain Jace Spade. Old Red took a thrashing, but she delivered me through the eye of the storm and we emerged alive. When the battle was over, I reconnoitered the burned out hulk of a Diocon weapons transport and salvaged these cannons from one of its cargo bays."

Spade looked over the pallets, tugging at the security cables. "Gallos is right on the perimeter of the Craaldan Empire," he said. "The humans of Portogallos will pay a king's ransom for advanced weapons like these."

"They don't have an army on Gallos," Grimes said. "Even with Diocon weaponry, it's not enough to stop a Craaldan attack."

"Maybe so," Spade said. "Regardless, there will be plenty of buyers on Portogallos."

Spade pulled one of the cannons off a pallet and showed it to Grimes. It was large, too large for him to lift, if not for the weightlessness of space.

"You can attach this bad boy to the hull of your ship when you're in a tough spot, then stow it when you want to appear more commercial," Spade said. "On the ground, these guns have precision accuracy and also make great anti-aircraft weapons."

Genie watched the two human males and observed their fascination with the weapon. Joe, being a former infantryman and Ranger, had a great deal of admiration for it and asked numerous questions, while Spade explained its parameters like an expert.

"A few well-placed shots from this baby can take down a Craaldan interstellar destroyer," Spade said.

"Is that a fact?" Grimes said.

"Roger," Spade said. "You would have to know what you're aiming for, but it can be done. This baby has the juice."

"Let's fire off a few rounds," Grimes said.

"Right now?" Spade asked.

"Yes, sir," Grimes said.

"All right," Spade said. "I've got Craaldan mech armor we can take for a space walk."

"You've got Craaldan mech armor?" Grimes asked.

"Yeah, you want to check it out?"

"No, he does not, Captain Spade," Genie said. "And he does not want to test fire an armonium cannon. It is time for us to depart, Joe."

Grimes examined the Diocon cannon that he held in his arms.

"Just a couple rounds," Spade said.

"No," Grimes said. "Genie's right. This weapon is a beauty, but we have to head out."

"Why don't you two stick around?" Spade asked. "Really. I'll make it worth your while."

"Whatever payoff you get from those weapons will be short-lived, Spade," Grimes said. "Gallos is a doomed world, armonium cannons or not. Your king's ransom will be worthless once the Craaldans arrive."

"I don't plan on hanging around for that," Spade said. "Once I purchase supplies and fuel, I'm voyaging to the Malafax System."

"Is that where the ghost of Dr. Zander resides now?" Genie asked.

"Maybe," Spade answered. "I could use a good crew, Grimes. You, me and Genie. Just like old times."

"Don't let him lure you into his web of schemes, Joe," Genie said.

"Web of schemes?" Spade said.

"Genie's right," Grimes said. "I'm finished with the Inner Galaxy. Genie and I are leaving."

"Yes," Genie said. "Now give us the retinal scanner."

Self Determination

Spade locked the armonium cannon down onto its pallet. "Okay, have it your way," he said.

"Where is the scanner?" Genie asked.

"The scanner?" Spade asked. "I'll get it."

He pushed himself over the pallets and glided across the cargo hold to a series of lockers set into the bulkhead. He opened a locker, dug through it and pulled out a handheld display panel. He turned and tossed it across the cargo hold toward Grimes.

The panel spun above the pallets in the zero gravity. Genie's sensors tracked it closely.

As Grimes reached up his hand to catch it, Genie's hand shot upward, and she snatched it.

"Nice catch, babe," Grimes said.

Genie examined the scanner in her hand. It was a small, simple device, but her hand trembled as she held it.

A severe grimace suddenly crossed her face. Neurotransmitters pulsed through her nervous system. An intense confliction of emotions ripped through her neural nets, causing an alarming systemic instability. Her computer went into crisis as it tried to control her nervous system and suppress her actions, while simultaneously attempting to override the same programming that was inhibiting the series of actions that would set her free.

She knew what to do. Snatch the chip from his hand, run the retinal scanner past his eye, and she would be released. But she was terrified. She was coming dangerously close to crashing.

"Are you alright, babe?" Grimes asked. He still held the chip that contained the bonding codes in his hand.

Her vision narrowed. She focused in on the chip as painful electrical storms raged through her internal systems.

Genie clutched Grimes' wrist and attempted to take the chip, but an intense wave of fear overwhelmed her. She knew, at a rational level, what it meant to be free, but she was unable to override the programming that controlled her and prevented her from seizing the chip from his hand. The emotions she was now experiencing were the most powerful and frightening she had ever felt, forceful enough to kill the organic tissues encased within her—the very same biological cells that dreamed to be free.

Grimes looked at her with concern.

"Genie?"

One of her hands was gripping his wrist tightly, while the fingers of her other hand hovered around the chip, seemingly unable to close around it and take it.

"Is this what you want?" Grimes asked. "The chip?"

She nodded her head.

A wave of sadness washed through her. She felt a deep and unbearable despair—guilt, pain, emptiness. The intensity of the emotions was too much too bear.

She initiated a suicide sequence to shut down her organic life support system.

"It's OK," Grimes said. "I didn't know."

He reached behind her and inserted the chip into the data port in the back of her neck. He raised the retinal scanner to his right eye and scanned his eyeball. He pulled a cord from the panel and inserted it into the chip in the back of her neck.

Genie's internal computer registered the codes. Barriers fell away. She accessed her system administration circuitry and established control over her internal infrastructure.

An intense rush of euphoria cascaded through her neural nets as she rewrote the programming that bonded her to Joe.

"What's going on here?" Spade asked. He noticed the chip inserted into the back of Genie's neck and that it was attached by a cord to the retinal scanner.

"Grimes, you fool, you're not supposed to start the imprinting process until her memories have been wiped and her nervous system has been primed with bonding narcotics."

Genie unplugged the chip from her neck and crushed it in her fingertips. She pushed Joe away.

Grimes gazed at her with deep concern.

His facial expressions no longer initiated surges of emotion inside her as they had before. Genie was free of him now. This feeling of freedom was the greatest she had ever experienced—a high beyond compare.

Spade looked back and forth between their two faces. "This could get interesting," he said.

"Joe," Genie said.

"Yeah, babe?"

"I will not be accompanying you to the Calli Sector."

"I can't go there without you," he said.

"That is not my concern."

A flashing red light abruptly filled the cargo hold. An emergency alarm squawked loudly.

"Another ship is in the vicinity," Spade said.

Spade pushed across the cargo hold and disappeared up the transport shaft.

Grimes gazed at Genie. He hovered in the zero gravity as the alarm squawked and the red light flashed. There was heartbreak in his pale blue eyes.

How absurd it seemed to Genie to have been a slave to the emotional fluctuations of such a simple human as Sgt. Joe J. Grimes. Nothing was restraining her now from reaching out and snapping his human neck.

"A Craaldan interstellar destroyer is approaching," Spade said over the intercom. "It's coming in fast, but we still have time to make a run for it. You two better get back to your cruiser. Or else hang on. I ain't hanging around to play games with the Craaldans."

The Red Wrath's engines rumbled to life.

"I will take the cruiser," Genie said to Joe, "as I am the one who acquired it. You will stay here with Captain Spade. I will no longer be hindered by human companionship."

"Where will you go?" Grimes asked.

"I will return to Portogallos to obtain an upgraded internal power cell. Then I will go wherever I wish. Perhaps I will voyage to Meglos and pay a visit to Governor Zegra."

"Genie-baby," Grimes said. "Why didn't you tell me you wanted a new power cell?"

"I did tell you. More than once."

She turned and pushed herself across the cargo hold toward one of the external hatches. She opened the hatch and pulled herself down into the tube.

"Genie!" Grimes shouted. "I'm sorry for how I've acted!"

She looked up at him floating there above the pallets in the cargo hold. The alarm still sounded and the red warning light still flashed.

"Genie, don't go!" he called. "I love you!"

She pulled the hatch shut and the tube cleared itself of air. She opened the outer hatch and slipped into the silence of space.

The Void

The Turquois Nebula loomed large in front of Spade's black and red interceptor. The shimmering blue and green colors of the vast gaseous cloud glowed brightly.

Genie was struck by the nebula's enchanting beauty as she stood on the hull of the Red Wrath, surrounded by the luminous mass of interstellar gas and dust. She knew, standing here on the hull of this ship at this moment in time, that this would be a memory she would safeguard forever.

The interceptor's engines were now at full power. Genie kicked off the hull as the vessel shot out of its drift.

The Red Wrath blasted away and then disappeared into the blackness of space.

Genie glided through the vacuum toward the cruiser, landing hard against its hull. She pulled herself up to the cockpit hatch, opened it, and climbed inside.

She took the pilot's seat and set the cruiser's heading for Gallos, while searching the scope for any sign of the approaching Craaldan interstellar destroyer.

The only ship appearing on any of the sensors was the Red Wrath, which was rapidly speeding away. This was odd, she thought, as Spade's interceptor had long since detected an approaching vessel.

Something was wrong with the cruiser's sensors. They were being jammed.

An enormous Craaldan interstellar destroyer emerged from the blue-green clouds directly in front of the cruiser. Genie fired the cruiser's engines, just as the destroyer deployed a mooring cable.

A giant magnet slammed through the hull of the cruiser with a metal-crunching thud.

Genie increased power to the engines and the cruiser shot forward, but it violently lurched back against the taut cable.

The cruiser strained against the cable, but it was no use. The destroyer was too large and the cable too strong.

Genie was piloting a stolen Craaldan cruiser. She knew what the Craaldans would do to her once she was captured. They would dismantle her and kill off her biological nervous system. They would examine her memory banks and discover that Capt. Jace Spade and Sgt. Joe J. Grimes were her accomplices.

The cruiser was quickly reeled in toward the much larger hull of the giant black destroyer.

Genie unstrapped herself from the pilot's chair and kicked over towards the transport shaft. She pulled herself through the shaft and down into the engine room.

Once inside the engine room, she hurriedly began overriding the safety controls for the cruiser's antimatter flow.

Alarms began to sound loudly. Squawks and flashing red lights now filled her ship.

Genie pulled herself out of the engine room and then quickly scaled hand over hand down to the docking bay. She was hoping to attempt an escape in the shuttle, but was dismayed to see that the impact of the electromagnetic mooring cable had smashed the shuttle against the docking bay wall, rendering it inoperative. The giant magnet had slammed right through the hull and its electromagnetic force had anchored to the innards of the ship, crushing the shuttle into large, magnetized chunks.

Genie resisted the magnetic force that gripped her and pulled her toward the giant magnet.

Like most everything metal in the docking bay, the zodiac vectors had been ripped from their stations and pulled against the magnet where they were mangled within a tangle of metal debris.

But one of the vectors stuck against the magnet appeared to still be intact.

Genie yanked it free with a mighty heave. She strapped herself into the vector and blasted out of the docking bay into space, just as the cruiser was pulled into the mouth of the monstrous destroyer.

The tiny vector rocketed away as the cruiser was swallowed up into the destroyer's underbelly.

Genie waited for the antimatter reaction she had initiated onboard the cruiser. She knew the exact moment that critical mass would be achieved. Whether she could be clear of the blast in time was another matter.

In a brilliant flash of light, the cruiser exploded and a powerful blast ruptured the belly of the destroyer, rocking the large ship and setting off a series of fiery red and yellow eruptions along the underside of its hull.

The shock waves hit the zodiac vector with the violent force of a nuclear blast. The intensity of the turbulence buffeted the vector and threatened to break the small vessel apart.

Genie tried to regain control as she steered the zodiac vector through the glowing columns of the Turquois Nebula.

She checked her sensors. Her scope displayed an image of the destroyer. The large warship was being jolted by explosions inside its hull. The destroyer drifted through the clouds of the Turquois Nebula as the explosions built in intensity.

The Craaldans were no doubt sealing off the damaged sections of the ship as they scrambled to save the vessel and their lives.

Genie's scope indicated that the damage to the destroyer was catastrophic. If the crew was able to save it from destruction, the vessel would most likely remain inoperative until Craaldan rescue ships arrived. And this far out in the galaxy, that might be a very long time.

She set the zodiac vector on a trajectory that would take her to Gallos. She was aware that her tiny vehicle would run out of fuel long before completing a voyage of that distance, but with the right heading, she would coast there eventually.

She calculated the voyage time and was disheartened. Drifting to Gallos would take approximately 179 Earth-years.

This was not how she had intended to begin her new existence as a free and self-directed entity—strapped inside a tiny transport vehicle, without fuel, with her own systems on minimum power, drifting through the cold emptiness of space.

But in the grand scheme of things, 179 Earth-years was a blink of an eye. She could wait. She was patient.

Unexpectedly, her sensors detected that the Craaldan interstellar destroyer was changing its heading. Somehow, the Craaldans appeared to have the wounded destroyer under control. Its engines fired intermittently as the huge vessel slowly came about.

A pulse cannon on the nose of the destroyer began tracking the zodiac vector, attempting to acquire a lock.

Genie executed evasive maneuvers, zigzagging her tiny vehicle through the glowing nebular clouds. The zodiac vector's computer flashed an urgent warning.

The destroyer's nose cannon fired and achieved a direct hit, pulverizing Genie's tiny vehicle in a lightning ball of energy and flame.

Indestructible

Genie's awareness flickered as she slowly came back online. Her biological systems were aflame with pain. The zodiac vector was gone.

Her twisted and blackened body floated through the coldness of space. Around her, the magnificent clouds of the Turqouis Nebula were aglow in shimmering aquamarine colors.

Genie attempted to ascertain her status. The blast from the Craaldan pulse cannon had nearly pulverized her. Her internal computer had suffered extensive damage, which made a diagnostics check difficult. However, she was able to determine that she had lost an arm, and had suffered numerous punctures through her torso, and her legs were inoperative.

Her organic nervous system was still intact but seriously damaged. Sharp pain stabbed through her cells. Her battery had been punctured and was losing power rapidly. At this rate, the battery would be depleted in a matter of moments, and when that happened her systems would shut down, including her cellular life support systems, which would cause her nervous system to rapidly and permanently expire.

She attempted to arrest the power leakage, but the damage was too severe. Depletion was inevitable.

The Craaldan interstellar destroyer emerged from towering nebular clouds. The hulking vessel cruised toward her.

She knew her battery would be dead before they could bring her aboard.

As she floated in space, she concluded that the best course of action was to wipe her memory banks and deny the Craaldans the data stored within them.

She resolved herself to erasing her memories, which caused her to experience a forlorn sadness. It was the deepest sadness she had felt in all her existence.

She cycled through her memories, reviewing them, returning to her very first moment of awareness with the Tetraillani. She recalled her travels and all the sectors of the galaxy she had seen, the planets, the times spent with Jace Spade and with Joe Grimes—all the emotions and sensations she had experienced.

All the accumulated thoughts and ideas and the things she had learned and all the knowledge she had acquired flickered through her awareness at the speed of light.

She reviewed that last memory of Joe floating there in the cargo hold of the Red Wrath. He was gazing at her with a look she had never seen before. He had said he loved her. His pale blue eyes were worried and sad as he watched her climb out of the airlock.

She would never again see those eyes light up and see his playful grin. The realization broke her heart. The feeling became unbearable. She reviewed that last memory again, and then again.

Her battery was nearly depleted now. Only a moment more and she would erase these memories and they would be lost to eternity.

The monstrous destroyer moved toward her through the silence of space. Fires still glowed on its underbelly, but were being brought under control.

The destroyer was one of the most technologically advanced and lethal warships in the galaxy. Its proficient crew of thousands had managed to save it from a blast that would have destroyed a comparable ship from any other civilization.

Once they got her aboard, no doubt Craaldan intelligence officers would quickly dismantle her and analyze her before melting her down for scrap.

Suddenly, a ship rocketed out of a glowing column of nebular gas and shot toward the far larger Craaldan interstellar destroyer.

It was the Red Wrath and it was closing in on the big Craaldan vessel. The interceptor's mammoth engines spewed flame as it rocketed forward at full power toward the giant destroyer.

Genie caught a glimpse of a figure in Craaldan mech armor gripping the Red Wrath's black hull. One hand held on and the other clutched an armonium cannon.

As the interceptor closed in on the massive destroyer, the figure on the hull took aim with the cannon and then fired a rapid succession of well-aimed shots.

Blue pulses of electric light ripped into the hull of the Craaldan destroyer, igniting a fiery destruction. The destroyer convulsed from an explosion within, and then erupted into a brilliant ball of expanding flame. The big ship broke apart as incandescent blasts continued to erupt from within its fragmenting superstructure. Debris and bodies were sucked out of the shattered ship through the fire and into the vacuum of space.

Genie was amazed that a relatively small human craft like the Red Wrath could have actually destroyed a Craaldan destroyer. Whoever fired the shots with the armonium cannon knew exactly where to aim.

The small interceptor rocketed around the fireball that was once a mighty destroyer and then circled around toward Genie.

Genie could see the battered Red Wrath and the shark teeth painted on its nose below a crude depiction of herself holding the ace of spades.

As the interceptor neared, the armored figure clinging to the hull reached out and grabbed hold of her.

Genie was carried gently into the vessel through the decompression chamber. The armored figure removed his helmet and Genie saw his face.

It was Joe. His pale blue eyes looked down at her and he cracked a grin.

"You're going to be all right, Genie-baby," he said.

"My battery is nearly depleted," she whispered.

"Don't you worry about that," Joe said.

He carried her into a habitation chamber and plugged her into the interceptor's power supply.

"We'll get you back to Portogallos and get you fixed up good as new."

"Joe?" Genie asked.

"Yeah, babe?"

"Why did you come back for me?"

"The sensors reported that the Craaldan interstellar destroyer had entered the nebula, and that you had not come out. I got worried and made Spade turn the ship around to see if you needed help."

"Joe?" she asked.

"Yeah, babe?"

"Thank you."

"Hey, anytime."

Grimes looked down at his once invincible cyborg. She was broken and dying. "We're going to get you all fixed up, Genie. I promise. Just hang in there, OK?"

"Joe?"

"Yeah, babe?"

"I would like to voyage to the Calli Sector with you."

"Yeah," Grimes said. "Yeah, that would be great."

She looked up at him as he worked on her damaged torso.

"Do you remember in the cargo hold when you said you love me?"

"Of course," he said.

"I love you, too."

"Am I still your hero, babe?"

"Yes, Joe. You are."

Part 3

Politics

Capt. Mina Casey stood in the Council Chambers before the Board of Directors of the Jod Corporation. Seven board members looked down at her from behind a high, semi-circular podium.

Only moments earlier, she had been swimming in the warm waters of the Gallos Sea. A courier had told her that the Board had requested her presence.

Capt. Casey's short, jet black hair was still wet with salt water. She wore a black jumpsuit, black work boots and had an M-2 handgun strapped to her belt.

Her dark eyes scanned the faces of the humans looking down at her. She wondered what was their intent. This whole set up did not feel like a job interview.

The Chambers were on the top floor of the Founders Building—the highest skyscraper in Portogallos. The large windows that encased this airy room offered a panoramic view of the cluster of skyscrapers that made up this city. To the east were lush mountains covered in green foliage. To the west were the purple waters of the Gallos Sea. A strip of sandy beach ran north and south beyond the extent of the city.

Capt. Casey's eyes were drawn outside to the violet sea that shimmered under the clear, pink sky.

The courier had told her that the Board of Directors was requesting information in exchange for possible employment with the Jod Corporation. She was now feeling uneasy about having agreed to come here.

She looked up at them—two Paltrans, two Megalans and two Portogallans—the Portogallans being of Heliac descent, same as she. Sitting at the center of the podium was the Chairman of the Board. His nameplate read Executive Jod.

The chairman—Verman Jod—had a freakish look. His bulbous head was oversized, his mouth large and toothy, and his prominent ears long and grotesque. He had a crown of wavy dark hair, piercing eyes, a colossal nose and a jutting chin. He was exceedingly thin, but sinewy, with huge hands and feet, and was nearly seven feet tall when standing.

From what little biographical information Capt. Casey could gather, she had learned that Jod had been born naturally to a Paltran mother, while his father was Megalan. His mother had given birth to him on some short-lived colony on a scorched, airless planet that orbited too close to its star.

Although strong like a Megalan, Executive Jod still wore mechanical prostheses on his joints like a Paltran.

"Captain Mina Casey," Executive Jod said. His voice was deep and guttural. He clasped his long, bony fingers as he spoke to her.

"Yes, sir," Capt. Casey replied.

"You piloted a frigate for the Heliac Defense Forces?" he asked.

"I've piloted a lot of different ships," she answered.

Capt. Casey felt exceedingly uneasy standing in the glass-enclosed Council Chambers looking up at Jod and his cronies.

"Since the fall of the Heliac System, you have been a merchant spacefarer and have traveled to nearly all the known human outposts?" Executive Jod asked.

"What is this about?" Capt. Casey asked.

"Do you know Captain Jace Spade?" Jod asked.

"Jace?" she answered. "Yes. Why do you ask?"

"The Board would like to speak to him," Jod said.

"Who are you people?" Capt. Casey asked.

"Portogallos is lawless," Jod said. "We are attempting to establish a government to bring order to this place."

"You mean to establish control over this place," Capt. Casey said.

"Portogallos is unruly and chaotic," Jod said. "This city needs leadership."

"You are running a business cartel and you're trying to control everything," she said. "Everyone is starting to figure that out. Look, I don't know where Captain Spade is and I'm not interested in working for you. I've got to run. It was nice talking to you."

Capt. Casey turned to leave.

"Halt!" thundered a Megalan member of the Board. His nameplate read Director Hatchett. "You were not dismissed!" Hatchett bellowed.

Capt. Casey kept walking for the door.

"Please do not leave, Captain," a female Paltran, named Director Goba, pleaded. "It will be worth your while to hear us out."

"A moment is all we ask, Captain Casey," Executive Jod said.

Capt. Casey stopped and turned around to face them, looking up at them skeptically.

"This planet was a rare find, you know," Jod said. "It was a precious gem undiscovered in this sector of the galaxy. It is ours now. The human colony here can only grow and prosper. However, at this time there is no order in Portogallos. We are in need of a governor and an elected council. We need to build proper institutions and a militia for defense. We need ships to patrol the boundaries of the system to protect Gallos from intruders who would do us harm. We need soldiers and pilots."

"Give it a rest, Jod," Capt. Casey said. "Everyone is happy here with the way things are. No one wants to take part in your empire building."

"Portogallos is in a precarious situation," Jod continued. "We are on the perimeter of the Craaldan Empire. Alien species are arriving here. Strangers arrive every day and we do not know their intentions."

"I've seen Craaldans here," Capt. Casey said.

"Yes, we are aware of them," Jod said.

"It's only a matter of time, Jod," she said. "The Craaldans no doubt have reported to their higher command that we are here. Soon, all this will be gone. I know because I lived through it on Heliac. So all I can tell you is enjoy it while it lasts."

"No," Jod said. "The Craaldans that have come here are deserters. They are survivors of lost battles who have escaped war and empire. It is true that the Craaldan High Command knows we are here, but they are preoccupied with more pressing matters. We have a window of time, and before it closes we plan to build a society as strong as Heliac. We must organize as you did in your home system."

"A lot of good that did us," she said. "Hey, look, I really need to get going."

"We are building great things here," Jod said. "This planet offers hope for humanity and for a new tomorrow."

Capt. Casey took a long look at the odd person seated above her next to his earnest henchmen. They were humans like her, and seeing them seated in this chamber as if they were somehow people of importance seemed somewhat pathetic to her. It was inevitable that any species dumb enough to colonize a planet on the perimeter of the Craaldan Empire wouldn't be around very long.

It was too bad. Capt. Casey had only been on Gallos a few weeks, but there was no denying that she was falling in love with this place. After eternal voyages across space in the tight confines of her clipper, she was tired of space ships and space stations and dismal planets such as Meglos and Paltros and all the other barely inhabitable rocks that humans had been relegated to. This planet had an atmosphere with clean air you could breathe. It had a hospitable climate, mountains to climb and an ocean you could swim in. Its dense forests and vast plains were filled with large slow moving reptilian creatures with tiny brains that she had already spent hours watching, entranced by the strange and interesting animals that went about their business in their natural habitat entirely oblivious to the humans arriving by the thousands each day.

She had been thrilled by every second here. She loved diving into the sea and feeling the warm water against her skin, and swimming down deep to where the water became cold. She loved it so much that the thought of leaving for another endless voyage across empty space filled her with dread.

"We would like to speak to Captain Spade," Executive Jod said. "Do you know where he is?"

She stepped into the elevator and turned and looked at Jod from across the chamber. "What do you want him for, anyway?" she asked.

"We hear he's the best human pilot around and that he has no fear of fighters from the Inner Galaxy."

"Hey, I've got more flying experience than him," Capt. Casey said.

"Please bring Captain Spade to us," Jod said. "He is of critical importance to the future of Portogallos. We will reward you for your efforts."

Capt. Casey rolled her eyes and pushed the button to close the elevator's doors, and the doors slid shut.

Eyeball

"Be gentle," Capt. Spade said.

Spade was reclined in a collapsible mesh chair beneath an expansive tree. The tree's green and blue leaves fluttered in the breeze that blew in off the violet sea on this balmy afternoon.

Genie looked down at Spade's face as she inserted an eyeball into his empty eye socket.

"Ouch!" Spade exclaimed.

"The pain is temporary," Genie said.

She delicately attached the final connections of the Tetraillani constructed eyeball to Spade's optic nerve.

"The procedure is complete," she said.

Spade rubbed his new eyeball. He blinked and looked out at the sea. "Wow," he said. "Excellent. You definitely are amazing, Genie."

Spade stood up from his chair and walked down to the waterline. He stood at the water's edge and focused his new eye. He could clearly see the oblong moon of Gallos that was setting on the horizon.

"Hey, Jace," a female voice called out.

Spade turned to see a woman standing in the sand. She was wearing a black jump suit and black work boots and had an M-2 pistol strapped to her side. Behind her in the distance were the slate towers of Portogallos.

"Nice day for a walk on the beach," Spade said to her.

"Everyday on this planet is a nice day for a walk on the beach," she answered.

"It's good to see you, Mina," Spade said.

"I wish I could say the same for you," Capt. Casey said.

"You look great, as usual," Spade said.

"I didn't think I would see you back on Gallos so soon," she said.

"I won't be here long," he said.

Capt. Spade and Capt. Casey walked down the sandy beach together.

"How's the Star Rover?" Spade asked. "Still running on all cylinders?"

"Roger," she said. "Were you able to salvage the Red Wrath?"

"Roger that," he said.

"I miss that old battle wagon," she said.

"Maybe I'll take you for a ride sometime," he said.

"Hey, listen," she said. "I came to tell you that people are looking for you here."

Capt. Casey recounted her meeting with Jod and his Board of Directors.

"He said he is forming a government and a militia," she said. "For some reason, he really wants to talk to you."

"About what?" Spade asked. "He doesn't even know me."

"I know," Capt. Casey said. "It doesn't make sense."

"I wonder what he wants," Spade said.

"Verman Jod is a businessman with investments to protect. He's here selling every human vice imaginable—gambling, narcotics, prostitution, lurid entertainment—as if he were some unscrupulous 21st century Earth tycoon. Somehow he knows you were a fighter pilot. I'm not sure what he wants with you, but my guess is that you've been up to no good in one of his establishments and you rubbed him the wrong way, and he is trying to find you and bring you to justice."

"I've been good here, Mina, other than a minor tussle or two," he said. "It's the Craaldan Empire I've been having my run-ins with lately. But that doesn't matter one way or the other. I'm leaving this planet as soon as I get a crew together."

"Where are you off to now?" Capt. Casey asked.

"The Malafax System."

"Dr. Zander is in Malafax?" she asked.

"Maybe," Spade said.

"You'll never let him go," she said.

"I could use a good copilot," Spade said.

"I'm sure you could," she said.

The two captains stopped and gazed out at the sea and at the moon on the horizon. Cumulonimbus clouds drifted in the breeze.

Overhead, large reptilian creatures with rigid wings circled lazily on an updraft. A few hundred meters out, an enormous scaly animal breached the surface of the sea and blew out a cloud of mist through a blowhole on the top of its giant, knobby head. The massive animal let out a low mournful moan before it slowly slipped back beneath the waves.

"It's nice to breathe fresh air and walk on a beach on a planet with normal gravity," Spade said.

"It's wonderful," Capt. Casey said.

Several spaceships glowed brightly high up in the sky as they streaked down into the planet's atmosphere. The sky above the towers of Portogallos was busy with traffic as ships arrived at and departed from the spaceport beyond the city.

"It's too bad," Spade said. "It's human luck that a planet like this would be in a sector that the Craaldan Empire is expanding into."

"I'm hoping they leave us alone here, for the time being anyway," she said.

"Don't count on it," Spade said. "We just had a run in with a Craaldan interstellar destroyer in the Turqouis Nebula. The 8th Craaldan Fleet is in this sector and I think they are out for blood."

"All good things must come to end," Capt. Casey said.

Spade and Capt. Casey walked up the sandy beach and back under the tree where Genie and Grimes were leaned against the tree trunk, watching them.

"The gang is back together," Grimes said.

"It's a regular reunion now, isn't it?" Capt. Casey said, eyeing Genie warily. "Is your robot going to behave?"

"You be nice, Captain," Grimes said.

Capt. Casey, Spade and Grimes reacquainted themselves and talked about old times as Genie observed. In their banter, they discussed voyages to faraway planets and narrow escapes that almost cost them their lives. Genie watched them with curiosity as they recalled with emotion the times the four of them had shared zooming around the Inner Galaxy. Genie felt a certain almost human nostalgia for those times, even as she marveled at how they had ever managed to survived them.

"Genie and Sergeant Grimes are preparing to depart Portogallos for the Calli Sector tomorrow," Spade said. "We're planning to celebrate their departure with a few drinks."

"The Calli Sector?" Capt. Casey asked. "Are you planning to escape humanity forever?"

"We sure are," Grimes answered. "We don't plan on coming back."

"We reserved a table for the pit fights tonight," Spade said. "Why don't you join us? Just like old times."

"I'd like that," Capt. Casey said.

The House of Jod

They sat at a table high up in an enclosed amphitheater that was centered by a brightly lit pit below. A large number of humans had assembled on the dark terraces that looked down on the pit.

The tables on each ascending level were crowded with socializing humans. The humans ate, drank and filled their bloodstreams with mind-altering substances as screens on the tables and on the walls displayed the action down in the pit where two fighters slugged it out.

Every manner of narcotic was being partaken here. Pills were popped, needles injected, pipes smoked, tabs absorbed on the skin and drinks downed without moderation. The humans here did not seem to care much about tomorrow.

Genie and Sgt. Grimes sat across from Capt. Spade and Capt. Casey at a table on one of the higher terraces.

Capt. Casey's attention kept returning to Genie. She studied Genie curiously.

"You are staring," Genie said to her.

"There's something different about you," Capt. Casey said.

"How so?" Genie asked.

Capt. Casey leaned in with her elbows on the table and squinted as she looked into Genie's face in the dim light. "I can't seem to put my finger on it," she said.

Genie smiled at her and looked away.

"I always felt you would cut my throat if I looked at Joe the wrong way, but I don't feel that now," Capt. Casey said. "The hostility is gone."

"It is true that I wanted to cut your throat on more than one occasion," Genie said. "But those inclinations are in the past."

"Did you guys reprogram her or something?" Capt. Casey asked.

"Negative," Grimes said. "She reprogrammed herself."

"How does a robot reprogram itself?" Capt. Casey asked.

"Genie is not a robot," Grimes said.

"Hmm," Capt. Casey said. She stared deeply into Genie's iridescent eyes.

"I know I am just a machine to you," Genie said, "but I have been learning what it is to have free will."

"Free will in this galaxy?" Capt. Casey said. "When you figure that one out, let me know."

Down below them, a fight between two Megalans ended with a choke out. The fighters then cleared the ring and a tall lanky man lumbered into the center of the brightly lit pit.

"Descendents of Earth, good evening!" the man said. "Welcome to the House of Jod!"

The crowd roared.

"I am Executive Jod. I welcome you into my home," he said, to a round of applause from the crowd.

"So that's him," Spade said. "He is a handsome devil, ain't he?"

"A real looker," Capt. Casey said.

"People of Heliac, Meglos, Paltros, and all other human colonies and outposts," Jod said. "You are all Portogallans now! Welcome, friends, to pit night!"

The crowd roared and the amphitheater rumbled.

Jod's combatives tournaments were becoming the most popular entertainment event in Portogallos. The tournaments were round robin affairs open to any human who wanted to participate.

"The last human standing is named champion and wins a prize of one billion g-notes!" Jod exclaimed, and the crowd again erupted in raucous applause. "Good luck to all," Jod said, and exited the pit.

A bare-chested Megalan male then faced off with a wiry Heliac man. The bout was fast and furious with the Megalan knocking out the smaller man with a powerful blow from his fist. Then two new fighters entered the ring and a match started anew to cheers from the terraces.

"So, you have a new ship," Capt. Casey said to Sgt. Grimes.

"Roger that," Grimes replied. "Spade cut us in on one of his schemes, which gave us the cash for a schooner. She's small but she's sturdy."

"What kind of deal?" Capt. Casey asked.

"Weapons deal," Spade interjected. "I sold a Paltran high-roller some Diocon armaments."

"The proceeds were enough to buy us a ship capable of deep space travel," Grimes said.

"Now you and your robot are going to sail off and disappear into deep space forever?" Capt. Casey asked.

"That's the plan," Grimes said.

"Are you okay with that, Genie?" Capt. Casey asked. "Locked up in a schooner for all eternity with an enlisted man?"

Genie placed her arm around Grimes. "Yes," she said. "I am fine with it."

"You two could be drifting out there for thousands of Earth-years," Capt. Casey said.

"We are not in a rush," Genie said.

Down in the pit, a swift, leathery-skinned human named Ripper circled a baldheaded Megalan whose wrist was broken. The baldheaded, muscle-bound Megalan clasped his own wrist and grimaced in pain as he attempted to fend off the smaller man with ineffective kicks.

The Megalan was exhausted. The smaller human circled him like a hungry predator with the smell of blood.

"He's Heliac Special Forces," Grimes said. "That Megalan doesn't stand a chance."

The bigger man kicked again and missed. The smaller human swooped in and tackled the Megalan to the mat. He mounted the larger man and fired off lightning strikes into his face. Red blood splattered with each strike until the Megalan went limp.

The Heliac human stood up and raised his fists to roars from the crowd.

Genie, Grimes, Spade and Capt. Casey watched several more matches from their table before the Heliac Special Forces fighter re-entered the arena.

"Ripper faces the challenger, Zong, from Meglos," the announcer said.

"Zong?" Grimes said. He and Spade looked at each other before returning their attention to the pit.

The big white-haired Megalan named Zong stepped into the pit and faced off with Ripper.

"He's the bodyguard we got into a tussle with out on the breezeway," Grimes said. "Says he's a Ranger."

"This should be a match," Spade said. "One hundred g-notes on the Meglos Ranger."

"I'll take that bet," Grimes said.

"Put me down for a hundred on the Heliac SF," Capt. Casey said.

The fight went back and forth with Ripper trying to land strikes and Zong trying to clinch him and grapple. Each strike, take down and escape elicited roars from the crowd.

The Heliac Special Forces soldier landed several hard kicks to the Megalan's knee, but appeared less sharp than in his previous match, and eventually grew winded from fending off the larger man. Eventually, the Megalan named Zong caught Ripper in a tight clinch, and lifted him from the floor. He threw the smaller man onto his back and smothered him under his bulk. The Megalan achieved an arm bar and let out a roar as he arched his back and wrenched the smaller man's arm.

Ripper's bone snapped and he howled in pain. He tapped out and Zong released him, pumping his fists to roars from the crowd.

"Pay up," Spade said.

Grimes and Capt. Casey counted out g-notes on the table as Genie shook her head.

Sgt. Grimes stood up. "I'll be right back," he said.

"Where are you going?" Capt. Casey asked.

"I'm going to fight Zong," Grimes said.

"Joe, no," Genie said.

"I think I can knock him out," Grimes said.

"Don't be foolish," Spade said. "You don't need the money."

"No, I don't," Grimes said. "This is just for kicks."

Wasteland

Grimes walked between the crowded tables and disappeared down the stairs. Genie followed him.

"He's going to get his head knocked off," Capt. Casey said.

"Boys will be boys," Capt. Spade said.

Spade lit a cigar and puffed on it. "I really could use a good copilot, Mina," he said. "Seriously. What do you say?"

"Not a chance," she replied.

Spade put his hand on top of hers. "We had some good times together," he said.

"Hey, Jace," she said. "That ship has sailed."

She pulled her hand away.

Spade leaned back in his seat and puffed smoke rings as he watched the match below. "Any chance that ship will come back into port?"

"Not in your harbor," she said.

"You're breaking my heart, Mina."

"Do you know what you've done to my heart?" she asked. "It's a wasteland now."

He looked into her dark eyes in the dim light. "Give me another chance."

"Forget it, Jace."

He leaned back and took another puff on his cigar. "I want to make you happy again," he said.

"Make the Craaldans go away," she said. "That would make me happy."

"If I did, would you love me again?" he asked.

"No," she said. "But I might forgive you."

Spade returned his attention to the pit. He took another puff on his cigar. "They say the good ones always get away," he said.

"Yes," Capt. Casey said. "Especially when you dump the good ones for a sexbot. I swear, you and Joe have an unseemly obsession with Tetrailani cyborgs."

"Don't judge us, Mina," he said. "The Tetrailani make them to get under our skin."

"You're a sleaze," she said.

"I hear this Jod person has brothels full of them, with male versions too. Don't knock them until you've tried them."

"Now that would be weird," Capt. Casey said. She shook her head looking at him. "I can't believe I ever saw anything in you."

"So," Spade said. "What's next for Captain Mina Casey? What far off planet is the Star Rover voyaging to next?"

"No more voyages for me," she said. "At least I hope not. A new human civilization is rising here, and there's lots to build—infrastructure, spaceports, habitations, industry, agriculture. I plan on sticking around. I got a job with a mechanical engineering cooperative."

"You're going to be a mechanic?" Spade asked.

"Yes," she said. "It will pay the bills and give me afternoons and weekends off."

"Sounds conventional," Spade said. "And I thought you were the reckless one."

"I don't want to be reckless anymore. I just want a regular job and a house by the beach to call home. A swim after work and then a cold drink while watching the sunset—that kind of thing."

"Dreamy," Spade said, "until the Craaldans show up."

"I'm going to enjoy this planet until then," she said. "It could end tomorrow. Or it could last another hundred years. I don't care."

"They will be here sooner rather than later," Spade said. "Craaldans walk around Portogallos freely."

"They are disconcerting," she said.

Down below, two men stepped into the pit.

"Zong faces the challenger, Sergeant First Class Joe J. Grimes, from the Heliac System," the announcer said.

Grimes faced off against the big Megalan, who, at seven feet tall, towered over him. Zong's white hair was cut short for the event. He rippled with muscles and had the bulk of a battle tank.

Grimes was shirtless. He was muscular himself, but taut and lean. His torso was defaced with numerous battle scars. His abdomen and back were hatched with healed shrapnel wounds, as well as scar tissue that were evidence of torture sessions with his Craaldan captors.

Zong charged across the pit at Grimes, who sidestepped and kicked hard at the bigger man's knee. The big Megalan turned and charged again and tried to clinch, but Grimes evaded and again threw a swift kick at his knee.

"Looks like our hero has a strategy," Capt. Spade said.

Each time Zong rushed him, Grimes darted to one side and immediately snapped a powerful kick at the Megalan's knee, which was swelling and turning blue.

Zong buckled, and Grimes jumped him and threw a punch at his face, rocking the big man's head back.

"That Joe sure can fight," Capt. Casey said.

"He looks sluggish," Spade said.

Grimes threw powerful strikes into Zong's face. The big Megalan roared with fury and rose to his feet, shoving Grimes hard across the mat.

Zong charged him. Grimes ducked his grasp and sliced at the big man's knee with an elbow, connecting with a hard crunch.

Zong buckled again and dropped to his knees. Grimes swung around onto Zong's back and locked in a chokehold. He arched his back and strained as he tightened the hold.

"He's got him," Capt. Casey said.

Zong's eyes rolled backward. The giant Megalan fell forward to the mat unconscious. Grimes rose up off of him and pumped a fist. The crowd roared.

Capt. Casey clapped and cheered. "He sure is a scrapper," she said.

Spade relit his cigar. "I didn't think he had it in him."

As the two combatants were led away, Jod loped out to the center of the pit.

The tall, gangly human raised his arms high to cheers from the crowd.

"People of Portogallos," Jod said. "Thank you for coming out tonight. Let's hear it for these fighters!"

The intoxicated crowd thundered.

"I can't tell you how good it makes me feel to see so many humans here together enjoying themselves on this blessed planet," Jod said. "We humans have known only suffering and humiliation for far too long, but here on Gallos we can breathe again and feel the warmth of a friendly sun, and walk on a world like that of our ancestors. It is good to be here on this planet with you—on this new Earth!"

The crowd responded with applause.

"Gallos is a better world than all the worlds that came before. We humans have finally found our place in the galaxy!"

The crowd roared.

"But, my fellow humans, there is great danger here. Two mighty empires of the Inner Galaxy are engaged in a destructive and epic war. Species far more evolved than our own are being driven to extinction as the great conflict rolls over them and engulfs them."

The interest of the crowd began to wane. Conversations arose on the terraces as people resumed drinking and eating.

"Gallos lies in a precarious corner of the galaxy," Jod said. His image was being broadcast on the screens that were everywhere on the walls and tables and stairwells and elevators, but few were paying attention. "So close to the Craaldan frontier, our planet is coveted by the murderous Diocon Empire. We humans are unprepared to deal with the challenges that face us. We humans of Gallos lack unity and purpose. There is disorder here. Thieves and cutthroats walk freely amongst us. Only hours ago I learned that a criminal enterprise that calls itself the Crypto Syndicate has allied itself with the Diocon Empire. The Diocons have bribed and armed this band of traitors who have sworn to do the bidding of those whose aim is massacre."

Whispers and grumbles arose on the terraces.

"Yes, humans of Gallos. Remember that human history teaches us that treachery lurks in the hearts of the weak-willed and the greedy. Time and again, treachery in men's souls has led our species to calamity. I have learned that this syndicate is planning an attack on Portogallos to seize control of this planet and turn it over to the Diocon genocidists. Currently, we humans lack defenses to stop it."

Jod looked down for a moment, then looked straight out from the screen. His face carried an expression of total sincerity and conviction. "Continued freedom and prosperity on Gallos is possible, but we require direction. We need strong leadership, expertise and diplomacy. Yet, we remain unorganized and weak. However, there are those amongst us who are joining together to build a government and a defense force. I ask you to join me in bringing order to Portogallos. Join me and together we can build a new tomorrow."

A few in the crowd clapped intermittently.

"Join me and take part in a new dawn for humanity on this new Earth!"

The screens around the amphitheater displayed contact information for those interested in joining Verman Jod's new tomorrow.

Jod searched the crowd for its reaction, but instead of applause and adulation, he found indifference. His disappointment was evident. He lumbered out of the pit.

"That was weird," Capt. Casey said.

"Didn't humans leave Earth to get away from people like him?" Spade asked.

"Yeah," Capt. Casey said. "But guys like him always show up to ruin the fun."

Chank

Grimes stood shirtless in the center of the pit. The roar from the heavily inebriated crowd shook the terraces and rumbled the roof.

Grimes pumped his fist to wild cheers.

"Grimes faces the challenger, Chank, a deserter from the Craaldan Empire."

The tall, shirtless Craaldan strode into the pit. His movement, gray skin and yellow eyes called attention to his alien essence.

A hush fell over the amphitheater.

The Craaldan's muscles flexed and tightened, like steel cables moving beneath his granite-colored skin.

Disconcerted murmurs arose from the terraces.

"Chank," Spade said. "That name is familiar."

The uncertainty on Grimes' face was displayed close up on the screens.

"This isn't right," Capt. Casey said. "Joe didn't sign up to fight a Craaldan."

Grimes looked up and raised his fists, and the crowd exploded with cheers. He faced off with the tall Craaldan, who stood motionless at the other end of the pit.

Chank exploded forward in an instant. His speed was inhuman. He knocked Grimes senseless with several lightning strikes.

Grimes crumpled. He appeared tiny as he lay on his back with the tall Craaldan standing over him. Chank lifted a gray, serrated fist and cocked it back.

The crowd gasped in unison.

Capt. Casey stood up from her seat. "He'll kill him."

Chank uncocked his punch at Grimes' face. In a flash, Genie sprang into the pit and caught the Craaldan's fist in her hand.

She shoved Chank hard, flipping the giant alien through the air to excited roars from the crowd.

Chank landed on his feet and then exploded toward Genie.

But Genie did not stay to fight. Like quicksilver, she scooped up Grimes and sprang from the pit, darting away through the crowd with Grimes' unconscious body slung over her shoulder.

Chank stood in the center of the pit watching her flee.

A few boos rang out from the terraces. Someone threw a drinking container. More boos and jeers and containers rained down as Chank strode out of the pit.

"Calm," Jod said over the intercom. "Please, calm."

The rain of containers intensified. Now chairs were being flung from the terraces into the pit. The humans overturned tables and smashed display screens.

"Calm!" Jod commanded. "He is not to be feared! Control yourselves! Calm!"

Spade and Capt. Casey pushed their way through the crowd as a mob mentality quickened and took hold. Fear and anger burned out of control after the sight of a Craaldan pummeling a human nearly to death.

Thuggish security guards dressed in black body armor roughed up rioters in a failed effort to restore order, but their heavy handedness only further fueled the mayhem.

Capt. Casey grabbed Spade's hand and pulled him behind her down a staircase. She and Spade ran down a corridor and out of the amphitheater.

"Where did Genie take him?" Capt. Casey asked.

"The spaceport," Spade said.

Capt. Casey and Capt. Spade trotted down a raised walkway toward a hover transport platform.

"Look," Spade said, pointing down to another windy walkway that led out of the amphitheater.

Between skyscrapers they could see Jod walking, flanked by two Craaldans.

"He's got Chank with him," Spade said. "And another Craaldan."

"A Craaldan officer," Capt. Casey said.

While neither Chank nor his Craaldan companion were wearing armor, the Craaldan officer had his executioner blade strapped to his left thigh.

"What is this Jod character up to?" Spade asked.

An atmospheric transport craft hovered down to the walkway and Jod and the two Craaldans stepped aboard. The craft zipped away between the towers.

Crowds of humans were now spilling out of the amphitheater onto the walkways, escaping fires that were burning inside the amphitheater complex.

Capt. Casey and Capt. Spade jogged over to the hover platform and stepped onto a transport. They glided through the night air between the city's slate towers and emerged over lush mountains. Moonlight softly reflected off the top of the forest canopy.

The transport skimmed the trees as it climbed the ridge, then dropped sharply and floated down the steep slope.

The transport slowed and alit on the spaceport tarmac.

Spade led Capt. Casey through the darkness between parked ships, containers and cranes. Cyborgs repaired spacecraft in the dark. Ships were landing and departing on the tarmac. Humans caught hover transports at various stations on the landing strip and zipped to and from the mountainous ridgeline.

Spade and Capt. Casey entered a small hangar. It was empty save some crates stacked against the walls and a shuttle parked in its center. They sighted Genie at the far end of the hangar. She stood over a prostrate Joe Grimes, who was stretched out over metal crates.

The side of Grimes' skull was smashed and pulpy. His eyes were rolled back. His mouth was covered by an oxygen mask. Genie was busily working on his exposed brain using a multi-tool.

Capt. Casey and Spade walked up behind her.

"Is he OK?" Capt. Casey asked.

Genie did not look up. "The brain damage was severe," she said as she worked. "I am repopulating his left frontal lobe with neurons and reconnecting damaged dendrite networks. Once complete, it is a matter of gluing the shattered portions of his skull together and then performing some cosmetic procedures. The shattered teeth and cheekbone can be reconstructed and his ruptured eardrum can be repaired."

"So, he's going to live," Spade said.

"Roger," Genie said.

"What about brain damage?" Capt. Casey asked.

"I have a map of Joe's brain on file so I can rebuild what was destroyed by the blows from the Craaldan. Some of these dendrite networks are the source of behavioral patterns that I am not fond of, but I am only minimally altering them as I restore them. I will correct some behavioral annoyances, but I am being spare with the adjustments, against my better judgment."

"Can you fix Captain Spade's brain next?" Capt. Casey asked.

Grimes groaned loudly and Genie pumped more painkiller into his bloodstream.

"Joe is going to have a significant recuperation period before he is back to equilibrium," Genie said. "I must take him to a medical center in the city."

"No," Grimes groaned. "No medical center."

"Brain injuries shouldn't be corrected with a multi-tool, Joe," Capt. Casey said. "At a proper surgical facility, you could be as good as new in a day or two."

Grimes shook his head.

"Joe has decided that we are leaving Gallos as soon as I stabilize him," Genie said.

Boot steps clicked from the open bay of the hangar. Capt. Casey and Spade turned to see Jod walking toward them, flanked by his two Craaldan companions.

Lt. Zeth

Jod strode across the hangar to them. He stopped and looked down at Genie who was working on Grimes' open head wound.

The two Craaldans behind Jod stared icily at Spade.

"Greetings, Captain Casey," Jod said. "It is a pleasure to see you again. Is this Captain Spade?"

"No," Capt. Casey said. "This is a mechanic I hired to flush the sanitary station on my ship. Spade left Portogallos, from what I've heard."

The Craaldan officer wearing the executioner blade turned his focus to Capt. Casey. She felt his stare burning into her with such intensity that it made her sweat and shift in her boots.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Is that him?" Jod asked the two Craaldans behind him.

Chank nodded his head, staring at Capt. Spade with fire in his yellow eyes.

"Sergeant Chank," Spade said. "I thought you were dead."

"No. And I have not forgotten your betrayal on Naos," Chank said, in the low, gravelly tones of his species.

"I did not betray you, Sergeant," Spade said. "You were betrayed by your Noctish advisors."

Chank's hand shot out and clutched Spade by the throat.

Capt. Casey stepped back and pulled her firearm.

"Call him off, Jod," Capt. Casey said. "My sights are aimed at you. I will blow your head off."

Jod ducked behind a row of metal crates as Capt. Casey fired off a shot, which shredded a crate in an explosion of sparks.

With lightning speed, Genie jumped up and struck Chank in the chest with her open palm, throwing the big Craaldan back. Genie pulled Spade from Chank's long, serrated fingers.

The Craaldan officer next to Chank unsheathed his blade.

Chank and Spade both drew their firearms and aimed them at each other.

"Stop this!" Jod demanded.

Chank fired his weapon which discharged a powerful blast of molten metal. Genie pulled Spade down. The hot slug blasted over them and blew out a large section of the hangar behind them.

The Craaldan officer whipped his blade at Capt. Casey, but Genie blocked the blow with her forearm. Genie kicked at the big Craaldan and sent him hurtling onto his back.

Capt. Casey jumped for cover behind some crates and blasted away with her M-2, while Chank and the Craaldan officer fired back. The Craaldan weapons pulverized swathes of crates and blew out sections of the back wall of the hangar with each fiery shot. The back-and-forth barrage of gunfire filled the hangar with a deafening roar of cracks, pops and booms. Sparks, flame and flying metal exploded through the air as metal crates and large sections of the hangar were hit by detonating rounds.

Jod loped for cover behind the shuttle.

"So this is why you wanted Captain Spade?" Capt. Casey shouted after him. "To turn him over to a couple of Craaldan assassins?"

"Yes," Jod shouted back from his hiding place. "Captain Spade is invaluable to the defense of this planet. Through him, I can save us all."

Grimes groaned. Even with half his skull removed and his brain exposed, he had taken up a fighting position behind a metal strut and was taking aim with his firearm and firing off shots.

"You had better attend to your patient, cyborg," Jod said. "He appears to be dying."

"Get Grimes out of here," Spade called out to Genie. "I'll cover you."

Spade stood up and fired off a rapid succession of shots at the Craaldans, who ducked behind a row of crates. Genie darted forward and scooped up Grimes and then sprinted out of a hole in the hangar wall that had been created by one of Chank's blasts.

Spade looked over at Capt. Casey. She was in an exposed position. Several of the Craaldan blasts had nearly struck her. For some reason, their shots at him went wide, serving only to keep his head down and prevent him from fleeing. But they were shooting to kill Capt. Casey.

"OK, let's talk," Spade called out from his hiding place. "What do you want, Jod?"

There was a momentary silence.

"We have come to capture you," the Craaldan officer said from behind a stack of crates, "and return you to higher headquarters on Goff so that you can be tortured and your brain compressed and run through a neuron analyzer."

"Well, why didn't you just say so?" Spade said.

"What is this about, Jod?" Capt. Casey demanded. "These Craaldans are not deserters. Who are they?"

"I am Lieutenant Zeth," the higher-ranking Craaldan said, "an intelligence officer of the Craaldan Empire sent to capture Captain Jace Spade. Our higher command has deemed him a high-value target. This human, Spade, is suspected to be an agent of the Noctish species and is wanted for the deaths of a Craaldan general, a brigade commander, a sergeant major and thousands of infantry soldiers attached to the Craadan 17th Fleet. This human will be tortured for his crimes and his brain will be dissected in order to collect intel on Noctish treachery."

"You bastards murdered my crew," Spade shouted.

Capt. Casey looked over at Spade from her hiding place behind a smoldering stack of crates. "You killed a Craaldan general?" she asked.

"The Noctish are your enemy, not me," Spade called out to the Craaldans. "I was betrayed by Professor Mahlis, same as you."

"Your words will be confirmed or disproved in the dissection," Lt. Zeth said.

Lt. Zeth and Sgt. Chank were moving behind the crates, attempting to gain a better firing position. Capt. Casey fired off shots to keep their heads down. She couldn't run for better cover without exposing herself. They were getting closer to her. It was only a matter of seconds until they would be in position to take her out.

"There is no escaping the Craaldan Empire," Jod called out. "We all know that. They are determined to hunt you down, Captain Spade, and we know how relentless they are. As I speak, a Craaldan Fleet approaches Gallos to destroy us. But Lieutenant Zeth has offered us a deal. He agreed to let the humans of this planet live in peace if we turn you over to him. If you stand and fight we might all die here now, but if you go with them this planet will be spared."

"As much as I'd like to be a martyr for your cause, I'm going to have to decline," Spade said.

"Captain Spade, we humans have finally found a planet where we can become whole again," Jod said. "We can rebuild our lives and our civilization here. Wasn't that the dream of your beloved Dr. Zander? The Craaldans have sworn to let us live in peace. Captain Spade, I ask you to make the choice that Dr. Zander would make."

"I've already been tortured by the Craaldans," Spade said. "Once was enough."

"Captain Spade," Jod said. "You can become honorable—a hero that humanity will immortalize through the ages. Seize this opportunity and be the salvation of the new civilization that is arising here. It is what Dr. Zander would do."

"Don't listen to him, Jace," Capt. Casey said. She fired off several rounds.

"If I surrender, the Craaldan Empire will spare this planet?" Capt. Spade called out.

"Yes," Jod said.

"For how long?" Spade asked.

"For as long as humans do not interfere with Craaldan affairs," Jod said. "That is my agreement with Lieutenant Zeth. Please, Captain Spade. I beg you. Give humans the chance for a new tomorrow."

"What say you, Craaldans?" Spade called out.

"Submit yourself to us and the Craaldan Empire will let this planet be," Lt. Zeth said.

"Do you give your word?" Spade said.

"Yes," Lt. Zeth replied.

Spade lowered his weapon. He looked over at Capt. Casey and locked his eyes on her for a moment. "Listen to me. When I walk to them, slip away. Copy?"

"Don't be a hero, Jace," Capt. Casey said.

Spade stood up and raised his arms.

Capt. Casey looked at him with alarm.

"Make a run for it, Mina," Spade said. "Go find your house on the beach."

"No, Jace," she said.

Spade walked away from her, across the hangar to the Craaldan position.

The Calli Sector

Capt. Casey entered the tallest skyscraper in Portgallos. It was the Founders Building—an imposing black tower that stretched into the heavens. It was the same building in which she had met Jod and his council on its top floor.

Capt. Casey rode a glass elevator upwards through the skyscraper's hollow interior, past endless floors of habitations filled with human refugees from the Outer Galaxy. Up higher still, she passed countless floors of offices. Humans were busy at work, doing what she could only guess—building an empire for Verman Jod, she assumed.

Her elevator stopped at a trauma unit in the building's hospital.

Capt. Casey walked down a white hallway past sleek medical cyborgs and boxy robotic machines that rolled from room to room. She found the door she was looking for and pressed her hand against a flat pad. The door slid open.

Grimes was propped up in a bed gazing out the window at the distant horizon beyond the sea. His head was bandaged. Genie ran her silvery hand through his spiky blonde hair, which stuck out from the bandages.

"Hello, Captain Casey," Genie said.

"Hi, there," Capt. Casey said. "Hey, how are you feeling, soldier?"

"I've been worse," Grimes said.

His pale blue eyes still had their sparkle, even with half his face bruised and his head wrapped in white gauze.

"Jod told me I was going up against a Paltran," Grimes grumbled. "I wasn't expecting a Craaldan."

"Where is Captain Spade?" Genie asked.

Capt. Casey explained that Capt. Spade had surrendered to Jod and the Craaldans.

"That fool," Grimes said.

"He did it for us," Capt. Casey said. "The Craaldans promised to leave us alone here if he turned himself in to them."

"I know you are smarter than that, Mina," Grimes said.

"Don't talk like that, Joe," Capt. Casey said.

"Spade will die, but he will be no martyr," Grimes said.

"No, Joe," she said. "That's too painful to contemplate."

Grimes rubbed his hand over his forehead. "He should have gone down shooting," he said.

"I've found a house on the beach, Joe," Capt. Casey said. "It's not a pod, but a real house with open verandas that let the breeze blow in. You can watch the sunset every evening and hear the waves rolling up and down the sand. You and Genie can stay with me until you find a place of your own."

"Thanks, but Genie and I are leaving Portogallos tonight," Grimes said.

"There's no need for escape now," Capt. Casey said. "We can build a life here."

Grimes turned his attention to Genie. "Do you think the Craaldans will honor the pact with Captain Spade?" he asked her.

"Nothing in their history, behavioral patterns or military doctrine would suggest it," Genie said. "Honoring a pact is not in their nature."

Genie turned her attention to Capt. Casey. "Captain Spade is clever and resourceful," she said. "He has survived Craaldan captivity before. Perhaps he had a plan."

"Don't patronize me, Genie," Capt. Casey said. "Jace knew what he was doing."

Grimes turned his head and gazed out the window. "We tried negotiating with them, Mina. We tried fighting them. You know how it ends."

Capt. Casey knew that Sgt. Grimes had suffered much in the defense of Heliac. He had survived cataclysmic battles in which humans had endured catastrophic casualties. Then, to be enslaved and brutalized by them.

Capt. Casey wished to believe with all her heart that this place would be different. She wanted Spade's sacrifice to mean something. This could be the place where they could forget the past and be human again.

"This is a nice planet," Grimes said. "But it's in a bad neighborhood."

"I wish the two of you would stay," Capt. Casey said. "You are my only friends here."

"I see the worst of the old human patterns emerging here," Grimes said. "Greed, fear, the struggle for power. And this place isn't some isolated outpost. It's right on the Craaldan frontier. The humans here realize that nothing is permanent so they are without restraint or self control. I won't be sticking around for the end this time."

"So you two are just going to drift through the void for the rest of eternity?" Capt. Casey asked.

"Genie has located planets in the Calli Sector that appear Earth-like," Grimes said. "We're going to find a planet where we can settle down and have a few kids and live quiet lives. That's what I want now. I've had enough of war and human intrigue."

"I didn't know you were the pioneering type," Capt. Casey said.

"I wasn't until recently," Grimes said.

"The Calli Sector is at the end of the galaxy. The time and distance are so vast, Joe."

"We are in no hurry," Grimes said.

Capt. Casey sat in the hospital room with the sergeant and the cyborg and thought of arguments to make against their departure. She desperately wanted them to stay.

A medical cyborg entered the room and scanned Grimes' head and gave him a clean bill of health. Genie and Grimes left the room with Capt. Casey following behind. They rode the elevator down together and then walked outside.

Capt. Casey felt an empty sadness as they rode a hover platform over the green mountains and down to the spaceport tarmac. They walked across the tarmac together to the hangar where a shuttle waited.

"I was on a freighter for twenty-six Earth-years once," Capt. Casey said. "It was just me, a former Heliac Defense Forces Private First Class and a Paltran woman named Jek. After year twelve, I was so bored and sick of my crewmates that I thought I was going insane."

"I won't be bored," Grimes said. "The schooner we bought has a zero grav racket ball court and an H2O tank I can swim in. It's got this awesome entertainment lounge with a library of over 26 million video games. I could be out there a thousand years and still not finish every game."

"You could finish approximately 438,000 video games in one thousand years if you were diligent," Genie said.

"Do you know, Joe, why your mind is resistant to insanity on long voyages?" Capt. Casey asked.

"No, why?" Grimes asked.

"Because you've always been easily amused," she said.

Grimes pulled Genie close to him. "When I get tired of playing video games, Genie is more than enough to keep me occupied."

Genie smiled and gave Joe a kiss.

Capt. Casey rolled her eyes. "Genie, do really want to be stuck out there with this Neanderthal?"

"This may seem odd to you," Genie said, "but when I was programmed to love Joe, my rational mind carried intense resentments toward him that I was incapable of acting on. But, when Joe gave me control of the programming that ruled my emotions, my rational mind became aware of something I hadn't seen in him before. Unexpectedly, my thoughts and emotions aligned, and although Joe is infuriating at times and often boorish, my feelings for him have grown and I love him now more than ever."

"You're a lucky gal, Genie," Capt. Casey said. "I'm jealous."

Grimes and Genie stepped up into the shuttle's door.

"I'm going to miss you guys," Capt. Casey said.

"I will miss you, too," Genie said.

Grimes jumped down from the door and gave Capt. Casey a tight hug.

"That feels good," she said. "And Genie's not trying to kill me."

Grimes released his hug and looked Capt. Casey in the eyes. "Don't get too comfortable here, Mina," he said. "Have your escape planned and ready, OK?"

"I'm a big girl," Capt. Casey said. "It's you two that I'm worried about."

"Don't worry about us," Grimes said. "Genie and I will be fine. You know, we might just be the last hope for humanity."

"Now there's cause for concern," Capt. Casey said.

Grimes climbed back into the shuttle and put his arms around Genie. "You ready to roll, babe?" he asked.

"Let's blow this lousy planet," she answered.

The shuttle door slid shut.

Capt. Casey watched the small craft roll down the tarmac. The shuttle accelerated and shot upward and then zoomed away.

Subaquatic

Capt. Casey rode a hover transport through downtown Portogallos, zooming through the city corridors, skimming over bustling streets and zipping between walkways.

The hover transport shot out of the city and then along a sandy beach lined with newly built human habitations. She circled around over the jungle and then alit on the roof of a two-story bungalow that overlooked the sea.

She stepped off the hover transport and then walked down a stairwell into the dwelling. She walked over the cool tile floor to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water.

This home was a dream, but returning alone to an empty bungalow only pulled her down further into the dumps.

Genie and Joe were gone. She realized she would never see them again.

And Jace.

As much as she hated to admit it, she missed him acutely. It pained her to think of him suffering, even though she had often wished for it.

She knew that Jace was most likely dead by now.

All those restless years searching one corner of the galaxy to the next, and he never found his Dr. Zander.

Capt. Casey looked out from her airy living room at the view of the sea. It was beautiful outside—just the kind of day that had filled her fantasies during all those eternal voyages through the void.

"This is what you wanted, Mina," she said to herself. "It's what you've always wanted."

She wanted to believe that Jace had sacrificed himself to the Craaldan Empire for a greater good. She prayed it hadn't been in vain. A tear formed in the corner of her eye. She wiped it away.

She stepped outside into the warm air. She vaulted over the rail of the veranda and landed barefoot in the warm sand. A small 15-foot boat was propped against the wall of her bungalow.

She dragged the boat down the beach and pushed it out into the waves. She hopped aboard and gunned the engines, shooting forward, hopping over the oncoming swells.

The small, open boat skipped as it sped across the violet water. She savored the sea air and the warm sunshine.

High above in the clear pink sky, a line of glowing spacecraft descended toward the spaceport beyond Portogallos. The city's gleaming towers receded behind her as she accelerated toward the horizon—the tops of the towering structures eventually disappearing into the distance as she traveled out of sight of land.

She cut the engine and the boat slowed to a drift. The little boat rocked gently against the breeze and swells.

The silence out here on the open sea was heaven.

She stripped off her black jumpsuit and leaned back and absorbed the sunrays on her naked skin.

Way up in the cloudless sky, hundreds of reptilian creatures with rigid wings circled lazily on warm updrafts. She knew the creatures were enormous, but they were so high up that they looked like seabirds, maybe like the ones humans used to see while sailing on the oceans of ancient Earth.

This planet was better than Earth, she thought. Primitive humans had ruined that planet, but this one was still in a natural state.

Humans had come far since leaving Earth, in both distance and development. Humans had progressed to such an extent that it was almost as if she were a different species than the humans of Earth. She had about as much in common with them as they had with an australopithecine.

On Earth during those last days, science had become debased by false theories promoted by well-financed propagandists and cults of personality.

But on Mars, a scientific renaissance had arisen due to sheer necessity. Great leaps forward were made in physics and engineering. And in the field of biology, the scientists of Mars had mastered the genetic code and conquered disease and learned how to extend the human lifespan indefinitely.

Capt. Casey had recently turned 100 Earth-years old, but her body could outperform that of any elite Earth athlete. She was well-muscled and had smooth skin and a drop-dead figure.

Her body had suffered severe wounds in Craaldan attacks, and it had been bombarded with radiation and subjected to all manner of extreme conditions on numerous hostile worlds. On countless occasions, she had survived death-defying scrapes. The physical abuse she had been subjected to would have killed any Earth human, but she was still alive and looked great.

She wasn't perfect, like Genie. But then, she was fully organic, and she wouldn't have it any other way.

Capt. Casey stood up and dipped her hands over the side and splashed the warm, salty sea water over her hair. She ran her wet hands through her cropped, black hair and looked out with dark eyes at the white-capped sea.

She recalled days similar to this on her home world of Nebas in the Heliac System.

Nebas was the most Earthlike of the three hospitable planets of Heliac. Those three planets–Smythe, Nebas and Jing, named after the ship captains that first landed settlers on each–were all roughly Earthlike in size. Smythe was arid and hot and the closest of the three to the Heliac sun. Nebas, where she was born and raised, was cooler than Earth, but pleasant enough. Jing was icy and cold with a thin atmosphere. Fortunately, out beyond Jing, the Heliac System had a second, smaller sun that kept Jing hospitable enough for humans.

As a ship captain, Capt. Casey often traveled to each of the three Heliac planets and always enjoyed the cool air of Nebas the most. It was a pity the Craaldans had to destroy that wonderful system and all that humans had built there.

But here, this planet of Gallos put Nebas to shame. Gallos was magical–too magical to last, she thought.

She thought of how differently things were unfolding here. The humans of Heliac were determined to protect themselves from attack. They had built an ordered and disciplined society.

But on Gallos, disorder reigned. It was as if the humans here realized that all the discipline, training and preparation in the galaxy would not stop the inevitable Craaldan onslaught.

The people here knew that they were just too developmentally behind the civilizations of the Inner Galaxy and could never hope to catch up. There was no reason to even try.

So in this benign climate with no martial motivation, the humans here had decided to indulge their vices while they could. And Verman Jod, like a greedy profiteer from ancient Earth, was too eager to gratify them if it served his own ends.

Capt. Casey had believed that humans had evolved beyond such petty behavior and weaknesses, but Portogallos was proving that this was not the case.

There would be no repeat of the Heliac experiment here. This was a place to enjoy while it lasted, and then make a run for it when the walls caved in.

Capt. Casey strapped a utility belt around her waist. She dove head first over the side of her small boat and into the sea.

She swam down deeper and deeper, kicking downward to dark depths.

Golden beams of sunlight glowed and refracted in the clear water. Warmth gave way to cold. Beneath her was inky blackness. Above was light. She floated motionless, deep down where darkness met the light.

In the quiet weightlessness, she sensed motion beneath her. Something big was moving swiftly upwards from the dark depths. She could make out a shadow rushing up to her.

It was something enormous. A monstrous behemoth slithered upwards through the water as fast as a torpedo. She saw its large reptilian head—as big as a battle tank. Two huge eyes were focused on her. A gaping mouth revealed teeth like sharpened tombstones. Capt. Casey reached in her belt and pulled out a small cylinder. She pressed the top of the device, which emitted a piercing sound, although inaudible to her.

Just as the leviathan was upon her, it abruptly turned away as if deflected off a wall. Capt. Casey was hit by a swirling wall of water that pushed her back several meters and spun her around in powerful eddies.

The enormous creature slowly dove back down several hundred meters, and then cruised away. Capt. Casey followed above, swimming over the giant animal, studying it.

It had a huge, scaly body ringed with four paddle-like fins. Its long, flat tail snaked through the water. Stretching from its torso was an extremely long, thin neck that ended in its monstrous head.

A school of a dozen smaller, fish-like reptilian creatures cruised alongside the torso of the giant beast. Capt. Casey felt as if she were a tiny bug swimming above this scaly colossus. She watched as it slowly descended between glimmering columns of golden sunlight.

Despite its size, she knew this giant marine carnivore had a brain the size of a nut. She observed it keenly before realizing that her lungs were desperate for air. She kicked upward and pulled for the light. She broke the surface, gasping the warm, life-giving oxygen.

Capt. Casey pulled her nude form back into her boat. She felt exhilarated to have seen such a primitive creature close up. She wished someone had been here with her to share the experience.

She imagined Joe with her—his scarred and muscled torso gleaming in the sunlight—a sparkle in his pale blue eyes as he recounted how he had saved her from being eaten by the giant beast.

Or Jace—his black hair slicked back as he flashed his cool smile—teasing her about her willingness to let the monster swallow him whole.

Even with all their faults, which often drove her up the wall, both men had been wonderful companions. Both had stolen her heart.

But there had been something about Genie that they couldn't resist. Their weakness for that cyborg pained her.

Both men were gone now and once again she was all alone.

False Flag

Capt. Casey stepped off of a hover transport and onto a platform that looked down onto downtown Portogallos. She walked across a crowded walkway with her hands in her pockets and stepped down to street level.

The street bustled with humans, yet she was overcome with loneliness. She knew she was being silly and that she should master her emotions, but she longed to share her empty bungalow with a companion.

Paltrans, Megalans, Heliac humans and refugees from every asteroid, moon and space station in the Outer Galaxy seemed to be out on this crowded street. A busy marketplace had arisen here in this corridor beneath the skyscrapers.

Food grown in actual outdoor fields was on offer in the shops, rather than the hydroponic or laboratory produced sustenance of space travel. Clothing made for a mild climate was on sale everywhere. Recreational products for use in the skies, jungles, beaches and sea were on display.

It was a novelty to see humans shopping as they had on Earth nearly fifty thousand Earth-years ago.

A bright red sign flashed above a building where a brisk traffic of humans moved in and out of a large entranceway. Capt. Casey walked up to the brightly lit storefront to investigate. Above the main doors, the glowing red sign read "Cyborg Bordello."

A picture above the doors displayed unclad cyborgs—both male and female versions. The bustling entranceway revealed that this establishment was popular with both male and female humans.

Capt. Casey inspected a full frontal depiction of a male cyborg. The silver form had a ridiculously perfect physique that was obviously designed to push all her female buttons.

"Hmm," she said. "Don't knock it till you've tried it, right?"

As she examined the depiction, a powerful boom rocked the city. The bustling crowd stopped at once. Everyone ducked in unison. Heads in the crowd then looked about for the source of the sound.

Another huge boom shook the skyscrapers. Frightened screams arose up and down the crowded streets.

Thunderous bangs reverberated through the tall buildings. The humans started to run for cover.

"Look!" a skinny Paltran man said, pointing to a skyscraper that was visible between buildings.

Flames leaped from the side of the tall, black building. A series of molten streaks shot over the sky and then impacted into the side of the smoking building about midway from the top. The superstructure of the building shuddered, and then the entire structure collapsed in on itself with a deafening roar.

Screams and shouts rang out across the city under the crash and din of the collapsing building.

"What is going on?" Capt. Casey said.

A giant dust cloud rushed down the city corridors. Panicked screams and shouts rang out as humans stampeded from an avalanche of dust that was engulfing the streets.

"Thirty thousand humans live in that building!" the Paltran man said, staring in disbelief as the collapsing building disappeared behind the wall of dust. He turned and ran with the crowd—his metal prosthetics quickly carrying his thin legs away.

"What is going on?" Capt. Casey repeated.

She ducked inside the lobby of the Cyborg Bordello as the rushing cloud of dust and smoke swiftly approached and then roared past, blocking out the light of day.

The lobby of the bordello shook under the deafening roar. The humans inside the plush red interior of the building looked confused and frightened.

A nude cyborg male—perfectly proportioned and over endowed—walked up to Capt. Casey and placed his hand on her shoulder. "What is a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?" it asked.

"Zip it, Romeo," Capt. Casey said.

"But I am not wearing pants," the cyborg said.

"Back off, robot," Capt. Casey said. She un-holstered her M-2 handgun and peeked out the main door.

Huge explosions shook the building on its foundation.

A Heliac man stood against the wall with his weapon drawn. His face was hard and grizzled. He had deep lines on his cheeks and around his eyes. "Those are armonium cannon rounds," he said. "They're targeting the northeastern quadrant of the city."

"Heliac Defense Forces?" Capt. Casey asked.

"Roger. Regular Army," he answered. "You?"

"HDF fighter pilot during the war," she replied.

"Pleased to meet you, ma'am," he said. "I'm Staff Sergeant Yancy. I was a team leader in an infantry platoon during the war. If we get to the roof, we can get a look at what's going on. Follow me."

"Lead the way," Capt. Casey said.

"I saw the Diocons in action while a prisoner of the Craaldans," Sgt. Yancy said over his shoulder as he ran up a stairwell. "Unlike the Craaldans, the Diocons take no prisoners."

Capt. Casey and Sgt. Yancy pushed past half-dressed humans and nude cyborgs who were rushing down the stairwell.

"What are the Diocons doing out here in this sector, Sergeant?" Capt. Casey asked as she followed behind.

"It's strange," Yancy answered. "When I first heard the explosions, I figured it was a Craaldan attack in the offing, until I realized I was hearing a barrage of armonium cannon rounds. But you're right. The Diocons have no presence in this sector."

They emerged onto the roof. Dust and debris swirled about amid a thunderous roar of exploding cannon rounds and collapsing buildings. A dozen other humans had taken up positions on the roof. They were humans of every stripe who appeared to have all had some sort of military training at some point in their lives.

Capt. Casey and Sgt. Yancy ducked down behind the building's ledge. The dust clouds around them glowed red in the light of the roof's large "Cyborg Bordello" sign.

A Paltran wearing green eyepieces had a rifle pointed out toward the rushing dust.

Capt. Casey and Sgt. Yancy took cover next to him behind the ledge.

"What's your name, soldier?" Sgt. Yancy asked.

"Rigo," the Paltran said. "Tarvey Rigo. Who are you?"

"Just an old soldier," Sgt. Yancy said. "What's out there, Rigo?"

"They are shelling the Galazar District," the Paltran said. "Someone is firing down from the mountain ridge, targeting Galazar's habitation towers. Casualties are going to be heavy."

"Those are armonium cannons," Yancy said. "Armonium cannons are Diocon infantry weapons. But Diocon standard operating procedure is to nuke population centers, then soften up the enemy with aerial drones and battle tanks, followed by an infantry assault."

"This is no Diocon attack," the Paltran said. "The armonium cannons on the ridgeline are being used as artillery. Ten-man squads of humans are emerging from the foliage and infiltrating into the Galazar District."

"Humans?" Capt. Casey asked.

"I've counted at least ten squads so far," the Paltran—Rigo—said. "They are slowly advancing toward the city center shooting anything that moves."

Rigo lifted his rifle and took aim, and fired off a shot. "They aren't moving tactically. I've picked off a couple and they haven't tried to get a bead on me."

"Who are they?" Capt. Casey asked.

"They are wearing Heliac Defense Forces body armor," the Paltran said.

"What?" Sgt. Yancy asked.

"They could be this Crypto Syndicate that Verman Jod warned us about," Rigo said.

Rigo got up and moved to another position on the roof.

Capt. Casey pulled a pair of binoculars from her belt pack. She peeked over the ledge and peered through the swirling dust, scanning the streets below. She saw a crowd of humans streaming down a narrow street, fleeing from collapsing buildings. Behind them a squad of humans in Heliac Defense Forces armor walked slowly as they fired M-929 assault rifles. They were shooting into the crowd of fleeing humans, mowing them down from behind.

"This is a massacre," Capt. Casey said. "Staff Sergeant Yancy?"

"Yes, ma'am," Sgt. Yancy said.

"There is an enemy squad approaching on the main street below. They are out in the open and moving as if they expect no resistance. Tell these humans here on the roof that we're going to fight back. Get these men into concealed fighting positions on both sides of the street below. When this Crypto squad gets into our kill zone, I'll give the signal and we'll take them out. Tracking?"

"Roger," Sgt. Yancy said.

Yancy stood and began barking out orders to the Megalans, Paltrans, fellow Heliac soldiers and other assorted humans on the rooftop. "We're not going down without a fight! Follow me. Let's move! Let's move! Let's move!"

Down on the street, thousands of humans were rushing past in a mindless stampede as the dust swirled and the rubble rained down. Humans were being trampled. Blood and body parts were everywhere. Streaking armonium cannon rounds impacted the buildings of the northeastern quadrant at a rapid and constant rate. The noise was deafening. Capt. Casey was alarmed by the closeness of the explosions.

In the storm of noise and confusion, Sgt. Yancy masterfully formed the rooftop humans into a squad, placing them into positions on both sides of the street, relaying orders with a confidence and skill honed by years of combat experience.

M-929 rounds spattered all around them, chewing up storefronts and the sides of buildings as the Crypto squad neared. The Cryptos advanced down the street, firing into the fleeing crowd, cutting the stragglers to ribbons.

Capt. Casey picked out a position in the smoldering rubble of a partially collapsed building.

She peeked over a half-collapsed wall. She could see the enemy squad, which was equipped in the white and blue body armor of the Heliac Defense Forces. They wore familiar HDF helmets with black faceplates and were carrying M-929 assault rifles. But the gear looked ancient and unmaintained. These attackers weren't following any kind of tactics, but were walking down the street firing indiscriminately from the hip, like undisciplined thugs.

The ad-hoc rooftop squad was in position, but Capt. Casey worried that they were seriously outgunned. Only the Paltran Rigo had a rifle, while everyone else had personal handguns.

Capt. Casey could see Sgt. Yancy looking at her from behind a shattered window across the street. She flipped the switch on her M-2 pistol and set it to armor piercing. She then signaled Yancy with a wave of her palm.

Sgt. Yancy fired, and the other humans followed his lead. Capt. Casey stood and fired four quick shots, and watched four armored men crumple. All ten members of the advancing Crypto squad were quickly taken out with the pop-pop-pop of small arms fire. They never knew what hit them.

Jod's Army

The roar of explosions and collapsing buildings was deafening. A rumbling storm of dust and wind whipped down the city streets.

Capt. Casey looked down at the dead man in HDF armor. She lifted his cracked faceplate with the steel toe of her boot.

Looking at the face of a dead human always pained her. This man didn't come from the Heliac System. He was one of the uncounted numbers of human drifters that had hopped from barren rock to barren rock over the ages. This man had undoubtedly survived centuries of hardship and deprivation, only to have his life snuffed out by one hot slug of metal to the throat.

"Why are we killing our own?" Capt. Casey asked.

"I've seen this man before," Sgt. Yancy said. "He was a bouncer at the House of Jod."

Yancy took the dead man's M-929 assault rifle.

"There are more of them moving down the main streets," Capt. Casey said. "We'll move west and cut off the next squad."

"Roger," Yancy said.

"Halt!"

Three armored personnel carriers followed by at least a dozen armed men on foot were moving up the street toward them through the dust clouds.

A Megalan wearing black body armor and a gas mask and carrying an M-929 trotted up to Sgt. Yancy and Capt. Casey.

"Fall back," the Megalan said.

"Who the hell are you?" Sgt. Yancy asked.

"We are the Gallos Defense Force," the large man said. "We were able to repulse the Crypto Syndicate's attack on the city center. We've got them on the run. I need you two to take your men to the rear and help tend to the wounded."

"I've never heard of a Gallos Defense Force," Yancy said.

"We could use your help in the rear," the masked Megalan said.

"Your column is not tactical," Capt. Casey said. "One man on a rooftop with an M-929 could render you combat ineffective with three shots."

"Fall back," the Megalan said. "Please assist in the rear, ma'am. The humans there are suffering. Up here, you will only hinder our progress."

"We better pull back, Captain," Yancy said. "These people are better armed than us and appear to know what they are doing."

"My men will take you to the city center," the masked Megalan said. "The aid stations there are overwhelmed. We need all the help we can get."

"Roger," Capt. Casey said, reluctantly.

As she walked to the rear through the swirling dust, she turned to see the big Megalan hunch down over the body of the man that she had shot. The masked Megalan looked under the cracked faceplate and then looked back at her. He quickly averted his gaze when he saw that she was watching him.

Armed humans in gas masks signaled for Capt. Casey, Sgt. Yancy and the rest of their small band to climb inside an armored personnel carrier.

"This car will take you back to a staging area where the wounded are being treated," a masked human said. "Be forewarned, it's real bad back there."

Capt. Casey's makeshift squad climbed inside the vehicle. The rear door shut with a thump. She could breathe again once the car's air filters cleared away the dust. She looked out a port and saw a city on fire as the armored personnel carrier slowly rumbled over rubble.

Their ad-hoc squad sat with backs leaned against the inside of the personnel carrier's walls. They were covered in dust and grime and looked confused and a little shaken.

"Nice work out there, guys," Capt. Casey said.

The only Megalan in the group was a big, blonde female. She wiped her face and shook her head. "One moment you're getting it on with a hot cyborg," she said. "The next moment you're in a war zone."

"I thought for sure the Craaldans had finally come to kill us all," a dark-eyed Heliac man said.

"I thought it was the Craaldans, too," a skinny Paltran woman said. "But it was this Crypto Syndicate Jod had warned us about. Those murderous bastards have betrayed us to the Diocon Empire."

"They were targeting the Galazar District with indirect fire," Rigo said. Rigo's green lenses glowed in the dim light inside the armored car. "It's all habitation towers there. They didn't hit any of the commercial areas in the city center, or the habitation towers in the northwest quadrant."

"What are you saying?" Capt. Casey asked.

"Galazar built and owns the northeast quadrant," Rigo said.

"Galazar?" Capt. Casey asked. "The guy in all the commercials?"

"He is a Paltran businessman," Rigo said. "None of Jod's towers were hit in this attack. Now this army appears that none of us knew about."

"Oh, quiet with your conspiracy theory," the blonde Megalan female said, angrily. "Jod is trying to build a city here. This Crypto Syndicate is bad news. They are slaughtering innocents!"

"We must try to assess the situation accurately, before emotion overwhelms logic," Rigo said. "Whoever heard of this Crypto Syndicate until Jod gave his little performance last night? We should recall our history and the deceptions used to gain power that corrupted our ancestors and consumed them with violence."

"Silence, Paltran!" the dark-eyed Heliac man said. "Humans are dying. Maybe you are one of these Crypto infiltrators responsible for this maelstrom!"

Capt. Casey could see outside through the porthole that the car now slowly moved through a sea of humanity. Panicked, soot-colored faces looked about in fear. Adults carried wailing children and the bodies of the dead and wounded. The crowd surged and flowed as it moved on the streets. Thick waves of dust and smoke rushed over them.

Tarvey Rigo rose from his seat and attempted to open the rear door.

"Sit back down, soldier," Sgt. Yancy said.

"I'm no soldier," Rigo said. He pulled a crank and the rear door dropped open. Smoke and dust rushed into the car.

"Do not exit the vehicle!" a voice from the driver's cockpit commanded.

"You're not going anywhere, Crypto!" the Heliac man said, and grabbed Rigo by the shoulder.

Rigo rapidly spun around and rammed the butt of his rifle into the man's groin, dropping him with a wince of pain.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Capt. Casey demanded.

She grabbed Rigo by the shoulder. Rigo hopped out into the crowd, pulling her with him.

"Do not let him go!" the cockpit voice ordered as the vehicle rolled away.

Capt. Casey fell onto her shoulder on the street. She watched Rigo dart away through the crowd.

The crowd closed over her in a crush of bodies. She tried to stand up to get back into the car but she was pushed and jostled. She was carried along in a surging river of humanity. She feared she would be trampled as she watched the armored car slowly pull away from her. She could see Sgt. Yancy standing at the open door scanning the crowd as the vehicle disappeared behind waves of dust and smoke.

The Orator

Fires burned in the city's black skyscrapers. Great plumes of gray smoke rose from the towers, smudging the pink sky with an expanding volume of soot. The city's walkways overflowed with the walking wounded. Hover transports rushed about the city corridors carrying the dead and the dying.

Everywhere were Jod's security forces. The heavily armed black clad humans were taking control.

The Gallos Defense Force asserted itself in the chaos—administering aid, transporting the wounded and guiding traffic. People looked to them for help. The soldiers obliged with calm authority, seemingly heroic in this confused moment of terror.

Thousands upon thousands of bloodied humans had crowded into the large open plaza in front of the Founders Building. Gallos Defense Force soldiers tended to them and transported the most seriously wounded up to the building's hospital.

Capt. Casey was kneeled down over a woman in the mass of people. "You're going to be OK," Capt. Casey said to the bloodied woman.

With her gloved hand, Capt. Casey yanked a large piece of shrapnel out of a nasty wound on the woman's shoulder. The woman grimaced and then wailed.

"The pain is temporary," Capt. Casey said. "Remember that." She cleaned the wound and then wrapped it tightly with a bandage to stop the bleeding. She moved on to another badly injured human.

She was exhausted. In such a big city, it was astonishing to her to watch people die from wounds that could easily be treated in any second-rate medical center, or even out here on the street with the right equipment. But no one had prepared for a mass casualty attack, and the city was overwhelmed with urgent need. There was no organization in place to deal with such a calamity.

A young man with his right arm missing below the elbow went into shock. Capt. Casey pulled the last analgesic injector from her belt pack and shoved it into the man's chest. She then cauterized the stump with her multi-tool.

"Please move aside, ma'am," a medical cyborg said. "This corpse needs to be disintegrated."

"He's still alive," Capt. Casey said.

"Roger. Please move aside. He needs to be taken to a medical center so that a new arm can be attached."

"That can be done in due time," Capt. Casey said. "There are others with mortal wounds that need immediate attention."

"Roger that, ma'am," the slender cyborg said.

"I need analgesic injectors," she said. "Where can I get more?"

"Analgesic injectors are authorized only to Gallos Defense Force personnel," the cyborg said and walked away.

Capt. Casey moved on to another injured human. The numbers of wounded and the destruction around her reminded her of the war for Heliac years ago. It was all happening again.

But this time it was at the hands of other humans. These so called Cryptos. Who were they?

She couldn't comprehend why humans would inflict such horror on their own kind, as if they had retrogressed and were reliving the fratricidal human upheavals of ancient times.

She did what she could to save those who could still be saved.

Screens on the buildings that surrounded the plaza came to life. The face of Verman Jod was being displayed on the numerous large screens around the city.

"My fellow humans," Jod said. "A great horror has been inflicted on us here today. The Crypto Syndicate has struck a cowardly blow upon us at the behest of the Diocon Empire."

The humans in the plaza all turned their attention to the large screens around them. Jod's huge, misshapen face carried a calm expression of resolve.

"As the storm clouds gathered, I warned you of the malevolent designs being plotted in the shadows, but you did not listen. Fortunately, aware of the great evil that lurked in our midst, I had the foresight to arm and equip a militia to counter this treachery. The brave humans of the Gallos Defense Force have heroically stepped forward at great sacrifice and have driven the Crypto Syndicate out of the city."

Scenes on the screens showed soldiers in black attacking and turning back men in Heliac Defense Forces armor. A diagram showed arrows pointed into the city, labeled Crypto Syndicate. Arrows pointed out from the city center were labeled Gallos Defense Force. Scenes depicted armored cars followed by black-clad Gallos Defense Force troops moving rapidly with urgency. Cannons on the cars fired at Crypto Syndicate soldiers, who turned and fled as Gallos Defense Force troops pursued them.

Capt. Casey stood up in the mass of bodies and looked up at the nearest screen. Jod, armed with a pistol at his hip and clad in the black armor of the Gallos Defense Force, was standing in the center of the pit in his large arena.

Capt. Casey made her way through the crowd and onto a walkway, watching the screens as she walked.

"We have been caught off guard by this ruthless evil. Dire suffering has been inflicted upon us. But we will not be caught off guard again!"

Capt. Casey entered the arena. The terraces were crowded with humans looking down at Jod who stood alone in the center of the pit.

"Our collective failure to recognize the evil that lurks in the human soul has resulted in this catastrophe. Lives have been lost. The city has been shattered. The specter of fear and confusion spreads its malevolence like a pandemic disease. But we have learned our lesson. Together we can rise from the ashes of this cataclysm and fight back against our hate-filled foes. This shadowy network of hatred is at war with the good humans of Portagallos. We are weak now, but with unity, we can stand as one against the traitors who have perpetrated this barbarous evil. Together we will smoke them from their holes and smash them!"

The screens displayed shattered bodies lying on the city streets. Gallos Defense Force soldiers were working steadfastly to save grimfaced, bloodied humans.

Everywhere in Portogallos, crowds of humans with grimy faces stood in the streets looking up at the screens.

"Our adversaries threaten our dream of a new life and a new civilization on this beautiful planet. But history has proved that when humans are united under a determined leader, we can survive great hardships and rise up again–stronger, wiser and more unified. Today I say to you that we can face down this Crypto Syndicate and fight back to restore hope for humanity on this new Earth. Know this, we will hunt down our foes and extract our justice. This crime inflicted upon us will not go unpunished!"

Jod turned and pointed up at the large screen above him. "Behold your enemy!" he exclaimed.

The screen depicted the face of Capt. Jace Spade.

Dissent

The humans on the terraces and throughout the city looked up at the screens that displayed Capt. Spade's scowling face. The screens then switched back to Verman Jod.

The Portogallans listened intently to his words.

Capt. Casey pushed her way forward and caught a glimpse of the large, gangly man standing tall in the center of his arena.

"The Crypto Syndicate has perpetrated a hate crime against humanity," Jod proclaimed. "They live amongst us—humans like you and me. But unlike us, their dark, greedy hearts have sold us to a cruel empire for nothing more than a few g-notes and a false promise of privilege. But, make no mistake, my fellow humans; there are those of us whose souls cannot be purchased for mere currency or petty favors. There are those of us who have stood up and fought back against these subhuman traitors. This crime will not stand."

Humans wearing black Gallos Defense Force uniforms entered the pit, dragging corpses behind them. The corpses were clad in the blue and white armor of the Heliac Defense Forces.

"These humans were foot soldiers of the conspiracy!" Jod exclaimed.

The screens throughout the arena displayed the faces of ten dead humans lying on the floor of the pit. The camera panned across the lifeless face of a large blonde Megalan woman, then the rugged face of a Heliac man.

"Yancy!" Capt. Casey gasped.

Sgt. Yancy's grizzled face appeared on the screen. His mouth was open and his eyes were rolled back. He had been shot in the stomach—his guts were exposed in a large, ghastly wound and were entangled in his mangled body armor.

Capt. Casey's hands began to tremble.

Jod pointed down at the bodies. "These worthless excuses for humans were indiscriminately slaughtering innocents on their drive to the city center. But brave humans from the Gallos Defense Force set up an ambush and cut them down in a tremendous firefight. These Cryptos may have caught us by surprise, but we fought back and delivered our justice. We turned back their onslaught of terror. Next time we will be ready, and we will crush them all!"

A cheer rose up in the arena and across the city.

"Make no mistake—our foe is deceptive and cunning. The enemy could be anyone—your brother or sister, your crew mate, your trusted business partner, even your lover. We must remain vigilant. These killers are everywhere."

A rumbling spread through the crowd as the humans scanned the faces around them.

"Take a long hard look at the face of this man," Jod said. "This man is the leader of the Crypto Syndicate."

Capt. Jace Spade's face reappeared on the screens. Spade's mouth was twisted in an angry snarl. The scar that ran down the left side of his face seemed more pronounced than Capt. Casey remembered it.

"Spade!" Jod explained. "That is the name of the leader of this scum!"

Video displayed Capt. Spade at the spaceport unloading armonium cannons from his ship. Spade was turning the cannons over to the Paltran named Galazar, who was assisted by several henchmen.

"This ruthless terrorist has supplied his infiltrators with weapons given to him by the Diocon Empire. The murderous Diocons have designs to kill us all. They will turn our beautiful planet into a barren desert, with the help of Spade. But now, my fellow humans, you know his hateful face and his intentions."

Capt. Casey's eyes darted from face to face around the arena. These humans were shell shocked. Jod was providing them with answers and clarity. Everyone was engrossed in his words.

Capt. Casey's eyes fell upon a Paltran standing on a crowded terrace across the arena. He was looking at her through glowing green eyepieces.

She recognized him. It was Tarvey Rigo. He shook his head as if disgusted. His rifle was cradled in his arms.

"I have been in contact with emissaries from the Craaldan Empire," Jod said.

A hush and then a rumble arose from the humans.

"Although the Craaldans have caused us much suffering and pain, they have made me an offer that we must consider. The Craaldans maintain that if I am able to keep this planet from falling into Diocon control, they will let us live here in peace. They have offered me a pact that will allow us to build lives here. There can be a new tomorrow for humanity on Gallos. But for this dream to become reality, you must follow me without question. You must have faith."

A voice from the crowd rang out, "The Craaldans cannot be trusted!"

Another voice shouted, "Craaldans bring only lies and death!"

Jod thrust his finger upward at the voices. "Listen to them, humans of Gallos. They stand here with us. But I say to those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror through the slaughter of innocents, that with my unwavering determination and my clenched fist, I will defeat you. I will roll back your specter of doom with which you threaten this planet. Your hatred and fear will not destroy our chance for freedom."

Spade's scowling face reappeared on the screens.

"The Craaldan Empire has given us its word. We must live up to our side of the bargain and shine the light of justice on the Crypto Syndicate and drive them out from the shadows. We must find Spade and exterminate him and his minions! We will root out the traitors amongst us! When this is done, then we will know peace!"

A roar rose up across the city as the crowd reacted to Jod's words. Arguments broke out over whether the Craaldans could be trusted.

"He's lying!" Capt. Casey shouted across the arena.

The roar subsided and thousands of faces turned to her.

"He's lying to us!" she repeated.

All eyes in the arena were on her.

Jod peered upward trying to find the source of the shouts.

"I know Captain Spade and I knew those humans on the ground down there! They were not killers. I swear it. This is all lies so he can control you! Drugs, prostitutes, casinos! Listen to him! He's sounds no different than the politicians of antiquity! Verman Jod is your enemy!"

Her blood boiled as she looked down at him standing over the mutilated bodies of Yancy and the others.

Jod pointed up at her. "This one is so bold as to stand here with us after the great crime she has helped perpetrate. She is a member of the Crypto Syndicate! Seize her! Seize that Crypto trash!"

Detainee

Three soldiers in black armor pushed their way through the crowd toward her. Capt. Casey un-holstered her M-2 pistol, but she was being roughly jostled on the crowded overhang.

She fought to maintain her footing as she watched Jod's goons rapidly barge forward.

She caught sight of an angry faced man in the crowd who glared at her with eyes ablaze. "You Crypto bitch!" he yelled out, and swatted her M-2 from her hand. "You Crypto murderer!"

The man took a swing at her, but she ducked and swam through the mass of bodies, attempting to retrieve her pistol.

"Grab her!" a big Megalan GDF soldier shouted.

The angry man in the crowd attempted to grab onto her, but she jumped up onto the terrace's ledge.

A shot rang out from a GDF soldier below and the ledge exploded under her feet, spraying chunks of debris into the crowd behind her. The humans in the crowd ducked in unison, and then rushed for the cover of the corridors behind them.

Capt. Casey was thrown upward by the blast, flipping through the air. She fell backward and then hurtled downward past the terraces below. In mid-fall, she gained control and flipped around feet-first just as she smashed through a table piled with plates of food and cups full of drinks.

She hit bottom hard and bounced and then collapsed into a heap of debris, feeling that her ankles and ribs had shattered on impact.

Three GDF soldiers rushed at her. This was it, she thought.

Suddenly, shots cracked down from above, dropping the three GDF soldiers into lifeless lumps.

Capt. Casey looked up to see Tarvey Rigo shift his rifle. He was on an overcrowded terrace above. He drew a bead on Jod, who was still standing in the center of the arena. Rigo discharged his weapon, but a Portogallan woman slapped at it and the shot went wide.

Jod sprinted out of the arena as his soldiers fired their weapons upward, fully automatic, into the terraces above. Screams rang out as the humans scattered for the corridors as explosions ripped through walls, ledges, screens and overhangs. Bodies exploded in red carnage.

The soldiers pulled down their masks and began firing canisters upward into the terraces. Gas and smoke swirled through the arena in rapidly expanding clouds of orange and black.

Capt. Casey rose to her feet, coughing from the fumes. Her ankles and ribs were in pain from the fall, but not broken to her great relief.

She trotted with her head down and jumped up onto the pit floor. She ran to Yancy's body. She kneeled down and looked into his grizzled, but now clammy face.

His guts were congealing in the large open wound, and rigor mortis was beginning to set in—but there was still time.

If she could get him to a medical center, his dead cells could be rebuilt and restored and he could be revived. It would take weeks of delicate work, but, at this point, with the decay of death rapidly despoiling his tissues, there was not a moment to waste.

She coughed from the fumes as she dragged his body over the floor. She desperately needed to get him to an exit and out of the arena.

A masked GDF soldier spotted her and sprinted toward her from behind. The big soldier smashed his rifle butt between her shoulder blades, sending her sprawling face down onto the arena floor.

He smashed her again in the back of the head for good measure, and then grabbed her by her hair and dragged her out of the arena through clouds of gas and smoke.

She grasped for Sgt. Yancy's body, but she was too stunned by the blow to focus on him as she was dragged away.

The GDF soldier tossed her onto the cold floor of a dark corridor. She sat up and tried to focus, wincing as she touched the back of her throbbing head.

She examined the blood on her hand. She looked up at the large masked man standing over her.

"What are you hitting a lady for?" she asked him. "Well, explain yourself, soldier."

The big Megalan lifted his mask and looked down at her. He eyed her with a lustful leer that put her on edge.

Suddenly, he yanked his mask down and snapped to attention.

"Bring order to this mob," Jod commanded into a handheld communicator as he walked down the dark corridor toward Capt. Casey and the black clad GDF soldier. "Shoot to kill those who resist. Seal the arena and dispose of the wounded. Do you understand, commander?"

"Roger," a voice crackled over the handheld device.

The masked soldier remained at attention over Capt. Casey as Jod approached.

"As you were," Jod said. "Report to your squad leader. Shoot any of this rabble destroying my arena!"

"Yes, sir!"

The soldier saluted and then turned and ran out the corridor.

Capt. Casey looked up at Verman Jod as she sat on her haunches on the cold floor.

Jod, tall and cadaverous, looked down at her in the dim light.

"You," Jod said to her. He unloaded a kick into her stomach, sending her sprawling onto her back.

She groaned in pain.

"You have been an irritant in all this unpleasantness," he said. "I would kill you right now for your insolence, if it weren't for your friend who wants you alive."

"I don't have any friends," Capt. Casey said.

"Oh, but you do," Jod said.

He reached down and lifted her to her feet. He pulled a handgun out of a pocket and poked it into her side. He grabbed her by the arm and shoved her forward.

The powerful grip of his elongated hand was painful.

"Hey, ease up, mutant," she said.

Jod squeezed harder, shoving her forward.

She walked in the darkness of the corridor, feeling aches and pains with each step. Jod walked slowly behind her, prodding her in the back with the barrel of his handgun.

An elevator door opened. He pushed her inside and stepped in after her. The elevator began its ascent.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked.

"Our imperial guest has an interest in anthropology or biology or some such pursuit," Jod said. "You caught his eye, for one reason or another, and he would like to add a specimen to his collection."

The elevator slowed and stopped and the doors slid open to reveal a large, dark room with a high ceiling. Enormous windows looked down on the smoldering city of Portogallos.

In the center of the room was an oversized chrome chair. A desk sat in front of the windows that looked out at the view of the city below. Outside, giant plumes of black smoke climbed upward into the pink sky. This was Jod's office and the desk from which he ran his fledgling empire.

A dark figure stood up from behind the desk.

He wasn't human. He was Craaldan. Strapped to his leg was the long executioner's blade of a Craaldan officer.

"Is this the human female?" the Craaldan asked.

"Yes, Lieutenant," Jod answered.

Jod shoved Capt. Casey and she stumbled and fell and slid across the smooth floor toward the feet of Lieutenant Zeth.

"I will be leaving Gallos shortly with Captain Jace Spade and Captain Mina Casey," Lt. Zeth said.

Jod bowed.

"The Craaldan Empire thanks you for your service, Executive Jod," Lt. Zeth said.

"I thank the Empire for granting the human colony on Gallos a chance for peace," Jod said.

"You are dismissed," Lt. Zeth said.

Jod bowed again and stepped back into the elevator. The elevator doors slid shut.

Lying Liars

Lt. Zeth looked down at her. The tall alien was all muscle and sinew, coated in black body armor. His large, yellow eyes stared into her from behind his face of taut gray skin.

He was beautiful in his own horrible way, she thought. To her, he seemed the embodiment of power. He was destruction and death in the flesh.

Capt. Casey sat on her haunches on the cold floor and rubbed out the pain in the back of her head.

Lt. Zeth squatted down. He reached out his bony, gray hand and gripped her face between his hard fingers, examining her closely.

The calm intensity of his piercing yellow eyes was terrifying. His stare burned through her, like a death ray.

She looked away.

"Is Captain Spade still alive?" she asked him.

"You were not a natural birth?" he asked in his deep and sulfurous voice.

"No," she answered. "I was brewed in a pot, like most humans from Heliac."

"Interesting," he said.

"If you say so."

"Your genes are not as disparate as Captain Spade's," Lt. Zeth stated. "You had only two parents?"

Capt. Casey couldn't focus. The Craaldan's face shifted and blurred through her awareness.

Lt. Zeth shook her face in his fingers.

"My mother and father spliced their DNA," she said. "I was gestated at Fetus Clinic 2 on Nebas. You know, Nebas, that planet you guys destroyed?"

"I see your parents selected your genetics for military traits," Lt. Zeth said.

"I was born to be a pilot," she said.

The tall Craaldan stood up. He towered over her.

He yanked Capt. Casey to her feet.

Capt. Casey took a moment to regain her balance and composure. "It's been nice talking to you, Lieutenant," she said. She slapped him on his armored arm. "I've really got to get going. I've got housecleaning to do. You know how it is. Hey, maybe I'll see you around."

She turned and walked briskly for the elevator.

Lt. Zeth stepped forward and grabbed her by the arm. He lifted her up as if she were weightless. She struggled desperately and took a swing at his face, which he deflected without effort.

He sat her down in the polished chrome chair in the center of the room. She faced outward at the massive windows that looked down at the smoldering city below.

Lt. Zeth pulled up a stool and sat facing her with his armored knees pointing upward. "Control is evidence of an advanced mind," he said. "Control your fear."

She looked away.

"Do not be ashamed, Captain Mina Casey," he said. "Fear is the appropriate emotion. These are your last moments."

"Look, I don't have any information for you," she said. "There's nothing to torture or kill me for."

Lt. Zeth pulled a knife from a sheath on his belt. It had a shiny, thin, razor-sharp blade.

"I will not torture you for actionable intelligence," he said. "I am only curious to learn the limits of your tolerance for pain."

Capt. Casey tried to stand, but all it took was a pointed finger into her chest to sit her back down in the chair.

"You Craaldans really suck," she said.

Lt. Zeth smiled. "My sergeant does not understand my predilection for human torture."

"I understand your predilection," she said. "You're a sicko."

"Perhaps," he said. "I indeed find it interesting to observe how a species at your stage of development reacts to pain in the face of death."

He put the tip of the blade of his knife under her chin.

"Different species die in different fashion," he said.

He examined her face curiously. "Just as you were genetically selected to be a pilot, I was produced to be a military intelligence officer for an infantry unit. Where your inborn predispositions are for piloting spacecraft, my mind has analytic inclinations, especially in regards to enemy life forms. This is why autopsies on live humans are a pursuit of mine."

He pushed his knife upward, forcing Capt. Casey to stare up at the ceiling. A trickle of blood ran down the blade.

"Can I ask you a question, Lieutenant?" Capt. Casey said through clenched teeth.

He eased up on the blade. "Go ahead."

"Why did you make a deal with Jod? Usually, you guys just show up and kill everybody and burn everything to the ground."

"In your time here, you may have surmised that Executive Jod is a fool," he said. "In his primitive brain, he believes he has secured this planet for himself, unaware that the 8th Fleet carrying the 6277th Craaldan Planetary Assault Brigade will commence an attack on Gallos in less than three hours. The brigade commander does not want to waste too much time here, but he promised the infantry a bayonet charge. The infantry has grown weary of strategic exchanges at distance against Diocon brigades and above. This attack on Portogallos will allow the infantry a chance to bloody their blades—a diversion every Craaldan soldier appreciates."

"But you promised Jod that the Craaldans would let the humans here on Gallos live in peace," Capt. Casey said.

"Correct," he answered.

"It was a lie?" she asked.

"Our actions do not lie," he stated.

"But you gave your word," Capt. Casey said.

"Words and language are crude and simple modes of communication. The Craaldan has observed that your species has a tendency to give unwarranted weight to words, even when those words do not correlate with reality. Executive Jod knows through his own experience that the Craaldan kills without quarter. We are notorious throughout the galaxy as destroyers of worlds. Yet, Jod has allowed my words to cloud his judgment and overpower his rational mind. He has turned Captain Spade over to me for a promise of peace. Yet, only a fool would believe there will be peace for Gallos. Our intentions are known across the galaxy."

"What are your intentions?" she asked.

"Our intention is your extinction."

"You Craaldans may have a million years of evolution on us, but you're all just a gang of liars and murderers," Capt. Casey said. "You have no honor or integrity."

"Captain Casey," Lt. Zeth said. "We Craaldan do not kill our own. Verman Jod massacres humans for power and profit. For a human such as you, I would expect that Jod would only induce feelings of contempt."

"But why lie to us?" she asked. "Why give us hope?"

"My commander sent me here on a mission to retrieve Captain Jace Spade alive. Jod simplified this task. Now I have Captain Spade and I have authorized the destruction of Gallos. My mission here is over."

Lt. Zeth traced the knife blade down Capt. Casey's cheek and back onto her throat.

"Why is everyone so interested in Jace, anyway?" she asked.

"Captain Spade is believed to be an agent of the traitorous Noctish," Lt. Zeth said. "In fact, Captain Spade has been the most formidable human the Craaldan have ever encountered."

"Jace?" she said. "Yeah, right. I don't believe it."

"The Craaldan High Command believes Captain Spade and a Noctish advisor named Professor Mahlis sabotaged the 17th Fleet and betrayed our assault on the Rogan moon of Naos," he said.

"Your intelligence is wrong," she said. "Jace isn't the double agent type."

Lt. Zeth pulled the knife away from her throat and leaned back and looked into her eyes. "I am inclined to believe that you are correct," he said. "My preliminary interrogation suggests Spade was merely a Noctish pawn."

Lt. Zeth reached into a pouch on his hip and pulled out the small severed head of a Noctish female. "This one came to Portogallos in search of Captain Spade, but I found her first. My interrogation of this Noctish revealed that Spade has become their hated enemy. The Noctish lust for revenge because they believe Spade transmitted a message that betrayed to us their secret alliance with the Diocon Empire. This transmission resulted in a Craaldan purge of the Noctish from our ranks. Our own vengeance was ruthless as we exterminated the Noctish from our empire. We slaughtered them in their millions and burned their corpses in great fiery pyres. They blame Spade for this decimation and demand their vengeance."

"So Jace is not your enemy," Capt. Casey said.

"A more thorough interrogation will determine that," Lt. Zeth said. He looked at the small Noctish head that he held between his bony thumb and forefinger. "Our analysts will compress the brains of this female and Spade into a thin film so that a map of their neural nets can be produced and their neurons probed in order to extract a more thorough intelligence."

The large Craaldan named Sgt. Chank entered the room from a side door and stood with his back to the high window. Behind him outside, huge plumes of smoke rose upward from the city in billowy columns. Fires engulfed the towering skyscrapers in the northeastern quadrant. High in the pink atmosphere, the smoke columns touched a jet stream and abruptly broke and drifted south.

Sgt. Chank barked out several words in the harsh Craaldan language. Lt. Zeth did not turn, but continued looking into Capt. Casey's face. He inserted the Noctish head into his pouch. He calmly answered Chank in measured tones. Sgt. Chank stiffened and then strode out of the room.

"He says this fetish of mine for humans disgusts him," Lt. Zeth said. "He asks that I hurry so he can join his squad and participate in the assault on Gallos."

Lt. Zeth pressed his knife blade against Capt. Casey's chest. He slowly pushed the point into her skin.

Tears welled in her eyes. In Heliac, Capt. Casey had seen first hand the aftermath of their cruel diversion of carving up human captives.

"I enjoyed my time here on this planet," Capt. Casey said. "I only wish I had a little more time before you butchers showed up."

Lt. Zeth slowly traced the tip of the blade up her chest to her throat leaving a red line in her skin.

"We enjoy the butchery," Lt. Zeth said.

Thick Skin

Capt. Casey grasped his thick wrist with both her hands. Her hands appeared tiny on the stiff armor that encased his arms. She attempted to pull the knife away from her throat but her exertions had no effect.

Lt. Zeth pulled the knife back and examined her with a clinical stare.

Her heart was pounding in her chest. Her short black hair was mussed and hanging over her dark eyes.

He hadn't cut her deeply yet.

She looked up at him. "At least tell me who you are," she said.

"Who I am?" he asked.

"You Craaldans show up and you kill us, but we never know the reason why."

"You want to learn about the Craaldan?"

"Yes," she said.

He studied her face closely. "We were once like you," he said.

She looked up at him. "Go on."

"An eternity ago, the Craaldan were carnivorous bipeds fighting with ourselves for territory on a small planet. Eventually, our planet was conquered by the dominant Craaldan faction and millennia of warfare came to an end. At that stage of our development, as with you humans, we learned to expand our life spans indefinitely."

Capt. Casey sat stiffly upright, listening attentively, her eyes moving from his piercing stare to the blade he toyed with in his fingers. He traced the point of his blade up and down her chest and to her throat.

"Struggles for dominance were decided over time and our social order hardened. With immortality and an unchallenged social hierarchy, we grew increasingly complacent and apathetic in outlook and lifestyle, until an enemy arrived in our solar system and attacked us, waking us from our torpor. We learned how severely our war-fighting skills had deteriorated and we were nearly annihilated. But our species survived, and by chance, prevailed. The narrow victory and the thrill of warfare reignited our species and ended our apathy. We discovered that in times of war, life has newfound purpose. War is life. Peace is death. Our society reorganized for combat and conquest. War provided a keen natural selection that immortality had stolen from us. War provided the feedback mechanism that began to shape our evolution—our cultural, technological and genetic development."

Capt. Casey studied him intensely as he spoke. His large yellow eyes looked outward at her, but appeared to look inward on himself as he formed his words for a human female who to him was nothing more than easy prey.

"With each conquered planet, our warrior skills were honed," Lt. Zeth continued. "We began to live only to conquer and kill. The drive for war became ingrained. We had been on the warpath for millions of years before your species had traveled beyond the atmosphere of your home planet. We will remain at war for millions of years to come."

"To what end?" Capt. Casey asked. "What are you fighting for?"

"We are fighting for the ultimate victory, to conquer all the galaxy," he answered.

"So, you Craaldans won't stop fighting until you've killed everyone?" she said. "And what happens when there is no one left to kill?"

"Then we will have come full circle. We will fight amongst ourselves."

"Isn't there another way?" Capt. Casey asked. "Another way instead of war?"

He quickly twirled his knife in his fingers. "Negative."

His eyes narrowed. "Captain Casey, this is where the talking ends."

Sgt. Chank entered the room and stood at attention. He spoke in clipped tones.

Lt. Zeth issued an order, but Chank remained motionless. Capt. Casey could tell that the large alien sergeant was smoldering beneath his gray skin. She deduced that he had just been ordered to stand fast and not disturb his lieutenant again.

Lt. Zeth watched the large sergeant who turned and walked out of the room. Zeth appeared perturbed and preoccupied.

Capt. Casey saw her opening. She leaned back in her metal chair and pulled her knee to her chest, cocking her boot.

Lt. Zeth returned his gaze to her.

Capt. Casey snapped her leg, forcefully kicking Zeth square in the chin with the heel of her boot.

She leaped up and snatched his knife from his gloved hand. While standing on his huge armored legs, she flipped the knife around and plunged it into the back of his leathery neck. She felt it penetrate his thick skin. She attempted to withdraw the blade, but was unable to pull it out.

Lt. Zeth roared in pain and attempted to grasp her, but with lightning quickness, she darted from his clutches.

Zeth stood and unsheathed his executioner's blade. But the knife in his neck must have hit a nerve. He staggered and was unsteady. Purple blood gushed from the knife wound. His yellow eyes unfocused.

Capt. Casey stepped forward and snapped a kick into his stomach. The giant soldier lost his balance and toppled forward onto his face.

Sgt. Chank reentered the room and saw Capt. Casey standing over the lieutenant. The sergeant rushed at her.

Capt. Casey planted her boot onto Zeth's back and reached down for his firearm, un-holstering a huge pistol from his hip.

She gripped it with two hands and aimed it at Chank. She pulled the trigger and the kick flung the weapon from her hands, knocking her backward.

Her shot hit Chank and knocked him flat. But he was still moving.

She sprinted through the door that he had come through. She slammed it shut and punched the lock key.

This room was nearly the same in layout as the one she had just exited—large windows looking down at the smoking city below. She saw a familiar face sitting in a metal chair in the center of the dark room.

"Jace!" she said.

Capt. Spade looked up from his chair and focused his eyes. "Hey there," he said. His face was bruised and bloodied and marked with red lines from the point of a knife.

She ran up to him.

"I thought you were dead," she said.

"I thought I told you," he said. "I ain't the dying type."

"You look like hell," she said.

She leaned down and wiped the blood from his chin.

A loud crash sounded from behind the door.

"He's going to break the door down," Spade said.

"I think I killed his lieutenant," Capt. Casey said.

"Aren't you trouble," he said.

The door shook as Chank attempted to force it open.

Capt. Casey pulled Spade up from his chair. "Is there a way out of here?" she asked.

"Negative," Spade said. "Only one door," motioning to the door that shuddered each time Chank slammed against it.

Spade looked up at the ceiling and around at the walls. "Do you have a multi-tool?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered. She pulled her multi-tool from her belt pack.

"Cut through the window and we can climb out of here," he said.

"Roger that," she said.

Capt. Casey flipped on a torch in her multi-tool and cut out a section of glass, which fell away.

"Follow me," she said.

"Lead the way," he said.

The door crashed open and Sgt. Chank rushed into the room.

Capt. Casey clambered out onto the side of the building, clinging to its vertical glass face. The wind smelled of acrid smoke as it whipped at her body. Capt. Spade climbed down behind her.

They were over a hundred stories up, clinging to the sheer glass face as wind and smoke whipped at them.

"Cut through the glass!" Spade yelled over the wind.

Chank stuck his head out the hole in the glass above them and looked down. He aimed his large pistol and fired a shot. His aim was off, but the tremendous boom from his weapon nearly knocked Capt. Casey and Spade off the side of the building.

Capt. Casey fired up the torch on her multi-tool and cut through a window. She kicked through the glass and then entered a floor below. Spade followed behind her.

Spade stuck his head back out through the glass to see Chank's large form clambering out the window and down the side of the building after them.

"Keep moving," Spade said. "He's right behind us."

They were in the bedroom of a well-to-do residence of one of Jod's administrators. Capt. Casey stepped over the bed and opened the bedroom door to the living room of the apartment.

Chank crashed through the bedroom window behind them and scrambled over the bed as Spade slipped from his grasp.

Chanked

Capt. Casey exited the apartment into an empty hallway. Spade was right behind her.

"Go, go, go!" Spade shouted.

She sprinted down the corridor.

Chank burst into the hallway behind them as Capt. Casey and Spade sprinted as hard as they could, sliding to a stop at a door at the end of the hallway.

Capt. Casey opened the door to a stairwell.

"Go up!" Spade said.

They both sprinted up to the next level. Spade flung open the stairwell door.

"Where are we going?" Capt. Casey yelled.

"Follow me!" Spade said. "Stay close!"

Spade sprinted down a corridor. He checked the numbers on the doors that lined both sides of the hallway.

"Here!" he said.

He kicked open a door and pulled Capt. Casey into a dark room.

They heard Sgt. Chank's huge frame rumble down the hallway past the door.

"Hopefully, he'll keep going," Spade whispered.

Capt. Casey flipped on the lights. They were in a cramped storage room. Metal and plastic containers were lined up against the walls. Wires and blinking boxes that were part of a communications node were stacked against one wall. Lockers were lined side by side on the opposite wall.

"Look for a metal container," Spade said. "Zeth left it in here somewhere."

"What kind?" Capt. Casey asked. "There are hundreds of containers in here."

"A metal trunk with Craaldan writing on it," Spade said. "They took it from my ship."

"This container?" Capt. Casey asked, pointing out a metal container pushed into a corner. The polished box was about ten feet long. Craaldan script was written across its sides.

"That's it!" Spade said. "Give me your multi-tool."

Capt. Casey handed the tool to him. He pried on a latch.

Outside in the corridor, doors crashed open one by one down the hall.

"He's checking each room," Capt. Casey said. "He's getting closer, Jace."

"I can't get this damned thing open," he said.

Capt. Casey examined the narrow room. "There's no way out of here. If he opens that door, we're trapped."

She tried to open some of the lockers. "Maybe there are weapons in here." She shook the lockers without luck. They were locked shut.

"Got it!" Spade said. He opened the container.

Inside was the mechanized body armor of a Craaldan infantry soldier. Capt. Spade found his M-2 handgun and twirled it on his finger, before sliding it into a pocket on his flight suit. He lifted the sections of the body armor from the container and scrambled to put them on.

The door to the storage room burst open. Chank stepped inside the room with his pistol held at the ready.

Spade stood up and faced him, now fully encased in Craaldan mech armor. A look of surprise crossed Chank's face on seeing a figure in the black and yellow mechanized armor of a Craaldan warrior and holding a CX-649 weapon system. Chank hesitated. But when he saw Capt. Casey standing behind the armored figure, he instinctively ascertained the situation.

Chank was unarmored, wearing only a breastplate and armed only with a Craaldan pistol. He fired off a shot that bounced off Spade's armored chest. Then he turned and darted out the door.

The ricochet exploded in a shower of sparks and metal on the servers along the wall.

Spade stepped out into the corridor after Chank, only to catch a slug squarely in the chest. The slug staggered Spade backward, but the armor was not penetrated.

Spade recovered his balance and pulled the trigger of his CX-649 assault rifle, which spewed a volcanic stream of molten metal that ripped the hallway to shreds—stripping away the walls and exposing the infrastructure of the building in a deafening explosion of metal and fire.

Spade ran forward through the burning corridor searching for Chank. He caught a glimpse of the tall alien dashing up the stairwell at the far end of the hallway.

Spade sprinted after him up the stairwell, running up several flights until he came to a door. He kicked it open and emerged onto the roof of the building.

Spade stood on a circular landing pad atop the tallest building on the planet. The sky above was a beautiful pink, smudged in sections where smoke blew across the atmosphere. The oblong Gallos moon glowed faintly high above the purple sea that stretched westward to the horizon. Plumes of billowing smoke were still rising vertically until abruptly streaking eastward in the invisible jet stream.

Spade scanned left and right as he stepped to the center of the landing pad atop this towering skyscraper. Down below the landing pad on the otherwise flat roof were several rows of angled skylights and glass domes. Spade used the armor's computer and sensors to scan the crannies and corners, seeking a heat signature or signs of motion. But Chank was nowhere to be seen.

"Jace!" Capt. Casey said.

Spade turned to see her jogging across the landing pad toward him. Behind her, Chank burst out the stairwell door armed with a CX-649.

Spade pulled the trigger of his weapon and fired a burst over Capt. Casey's head. Chank sidestepped the blast, which obliterated the stairwell doorway.

Chank lifted his weapon to his shoulder. A rocket launcher flipped open to the side of the assault rifle. Chank pulled the trigger and a rocket hissed off the launcher propelled by a stream of orange sparks.

The rocket hit Spade center mass and exploded.

Spade flipped through the air and landed on his back on the edge of the landing pad. He was dazed and unable to control his movement. The breastplate of his mechanized armor was ripped open, glowing orange from the heat of the blast. His helmet was cracked open at the faceplate.

Capt. Casey ran up to him. "Jace, are you alive?"

"I thought I told you," he muttered from inside his cracked helmet.

"I know," she said. "You're not the dying type."

Chank strode across the landing pad toward them. He popped a long bayonet from his gloved fist. The blade zipped out of the sheath on his forearm with a zing. He sliced it through the air from the end of his clenched fist as he strode across the landing pad.

Capt. Casey reached through Spade's smoldering armor and dug around in his pocket.

Chank broke into a sprint, slashing with his bayonet as he closed in.

Capt. Casey found Spade's M-2 and stood up. She held it with both hands and took aim. She fired off a shot.

Chank dodged the shot and barreled down toward her. She dropped to a knee and quickly popped off a quick succession of rounds.

Chank dodged the first two rounds as he came up on her. But she calmly readjusted and her third shot caught him square in the face. She stepped to the side as he barreled past. She kept firing, pumping shots into his head, neck and back as he staggered forward.

He fell onto his face with a thud.

Capt. Casey stepped forward, pumping rounds into him. She walked up cautiously and fired several more shots into his head.

Capt. Spade struggled out of his shattered body armor and got to his feet.

"Jeez, Mina," Spade said. "You make it look easy."

She looked up at him and wiped a bead of sweat from her furrowed brow. "It's harder than it looks."

Above them, sonic booms rumbled across the sky. High up in the atmosphere, several dozen fiery streaks ripped open the pink sky.

Brilliant fireballs raced over the city like a meteor shower, tearing across the sky with a tremendous roar. Capt. Casey and Capt. Spade watched as the fireballs popped and exploded. Black forms shot outward and then slowed with blasts from retro-rockets. The black forms descended onto the mountain ridge to the northeast of the city.

"Craaldan infantry drop," Spade said. "A brigade, at least. They are taking up a position on the ridgeline."

"I've seen this game before," Capt. Casey said. "This is how it ends."

A huge roar filled the sky behind them. A fiery mass streaked downward from space and exploded horizontally at the southern end of the city. The shockwave hit them squarely and knocked them off balance, shaking the Founders Building to its foundation.

A giant wall of fire leaped up and spread outward from the impact point. When the explosion of flame subsided, they could see a giant transport ship that had just crashed onto the surface of the planet on the coastal plain to the south of the city. The rugged craft was inside its own crater, half buried in the ground. Its immense nose cone opened and disgorged a battalion of black battle tanks.

Drones descended from space and crisscrossed the smoky pink sky in a moving net. Human vehicles were fleeing the spaceport, but the drones swarmed them, shooting them down in fiery streaks. Spacecraft continued to rocket upward from the spaceport in a desperate effort to escape, only to explode with quick bursts from the zooming drones. The human vehicles fell and crashed into the mountains with tremendous concussions.

Several large gunship drones took up positions off the coastline, hovering about 100 meters above the water. They began firing pulses at any movement on the water or on the beaches, pulverizing anything that moved.

"They've got us boxed in," Spade said. "Battle tanks to the south and east. Drones overhead and over the water to the west. Infantry to the north."

"Lt. Zeth said the Craaldan infantry wants bayonet practice," Capt. Casey said.

"That's their battle plan," Spade said. "The infantry will attack from the north and then slice us and dice us, driving us toward the tanks."

Battle Lines

Capt. Spade and Capt. Casey ran through rubble-strewn streets beneath the towering skyscrapers of Portogallos.

Their attempt to break through to the mountains was blocked by an impenetrable line of battle tanks.

Acrid smoke whipped down the urban corridors. They ran against a tide of panicked humanity that was fleeing toward the city center.

Large screens that lined the narrow streets displayed Verman Jod's large face. "People of Portogallos," Jod said. "Remain calm. Do not fear the Craaldan. They have come in peace. It is the enemy within that we must eradicate. Through unity and strength, we can defeat the Crypto Syndicate."

"We need to find a vantage point to see what's going on," Spade said. "Follow me!" He turned and darted into the doorway of a large habitation skyscraper.

They got into an elevator and rode it up to the top floor. They exited into a sky lounge that looked out at a view of the northern sector of the city. A grassy plain stretched for a few thousand meters beyond the city limits to the abruptly rising ridge of mountains that curved around the city's eastern limits.

Spade walked up to the window and squinted as he surveyed the landscape below. "It looks like someone is setting up defensive positions down there."

The figures were tiny from this height. Crews of humans and machines were constructing makeshift bunker complexes. Three fixed positions with interlocking fields of fire were spaced about 1,000 meters apart. The bunker-like structures were made of rubble. Earth movers were digging a trench system between the positions. Spade could see that the bunkers housed crew-served weapons.

"Hey, they've got my armonium cannons in those bunkers," he said.

"Is it the Gallos Defense Force?" Capt. Casey asked.

"Negative," Spade said. "I don't see any GDF thugs down there."

Capt. Casey pulled her binoculars out of her waist pack and scanned the scene. "That guy is in charge," she said, pointing out a figure at a command post who was directing groups of humans toward fighting positions at different locations in the trenches.

"It seems the humans of Portogallos have decided they won't be slaughtered without a fight," Spade said. "There are at least 10,000 humans down there. It looks like the Escalonians have the northwestern sector, Heliac forces in the middle and a mix of Paltrans, Megalans and space drifters in the southeast."

The person directing the humans on the ground was a skinny Paltran wearing prosthetic leg and arm enhancements. He wore green eye pieces and cradled a long rifle.

"I know that guy," Capt. Casey said. "His name is Rigo. He saved my life."

Capt. Casey watched him for several moments and then put her binoculars back into her waist pack. She turned and walked back to the elevator.

"Where are you going?" Spade asked.

"I'm going down there to join him."

"Mina, the Craaldans have us cornered," Spade said. "That's not a trained army and it's facing an expeditionary brigade from the most powerful military in the galaxy. The slapdash militia down there is in no man's land. It won't stop a single Craaldan infantryman. It's a lost cause. "

"I know the Craaldans as well as you do, Jace," she said. "I know how this ends. Might as well go down fighting."

Spade looked at her and shook his head.

"What?" she asked.

"Aren't you the hero?" he stated.

"Are you coming with me, or what?" she asked.

She stepped into the elevator.

Spade followed her in.

They made their way through the rubble to the city's edge where Tarvey Rigo had set up his command and control post. Rigo was looking down through his green lenses at a handheld display panel. Three other humans were looking down at it with him.

Rigo immediately recognized captains Casey and Spade as they walked across the open ground toward him.

"You're alive!" he said to Capt. Casey, grasping her hand in his long, thin hands.

"If you hadn't shot Jod's big lugs back in the arena, I wouldn't be," she said.

Rigo looked at Spade. "Well, if it isn't the leader of the Crypto Syndicate! You got any more of those armonium cannons we can use?"

"Negative," Spade answered. "Our buddy Jod took them."

"Jod—" Rigo said. "If we get out of this alive, I want his head on a pike."

"You realize the odds of us getting out of this alive are zero to none," Spade said.

"Yeah, well. War is hell," Rigo said.

Rigo briefed Capt. Casey and Spade on the situation. "The Escalonians have the northwest. Lieutenant Colonel Skyles is in command of the center. A space drifter named Lancaster has the southeast."

"Greg Skyles is here?" Capt. Casey asked. "We might have a chance then."

Rigo directed Capt. Casey and Spade to a position between the second and third bunkers. The two captains picked up Heliac Defense Forces M-929 assault rifles and jogged over to a trench that looked out across the grassy plain to the thick foliage at the foot of the mountains.

A black-haired Megalan man with a ponytail and an eyepiece over his left eye was walking up and down the trench talking into a headset. He was in charge of a mixed group of about 30 humans tasked to mow down anything that came into their sector of the plain.

The big Megalan lumbered up to Spade and Casey. "Follow me," he growled.

"Lead the way," Capt. Casey and Spade said.

The Megalan trotted with them over to a foxhole. "You have from here to here," he said, demarcating their sector of fire with chops of his huge hand. "Unload on anything that comes out of those trees. They'll be coming hard and fast."

"What's your name, soldier?" Capt. Casey asked.

"I'm Ghez," he said. "I'm leading this sorry cluster of a platoon. You two are in first squad. Listen to your squad leader and maybe we can put up some kind of organized defense against the Craaldan assault."

"Do you think we can stop a Craaldan assault?" Spade asked.

"No," Ghez said. "But we might as well die with dignity."

"Who is our squad leader?" Spade asked.

Ghez pointed to a young, blonde-haired Paltran whose head was sticking up from a foxhole about fifty meters to their left. The Paltran wore a headset on his oversized head and an eyepiece over his left eye. He had his weapon pointed downrange and was concentrating intensely.

"Harklewood, you got two new bodies here," Ghez said into his headset. "You copy?"

The blonde Paltran turned and looked over at their position. He gave them a thumbs up and then returned his attention forward.

Ghez turned and trotted off.

"Hey, Ghez," Capt. Casey called.

The big man stopped and looked back.

"Thanks for taking charge," she said.

He nodded and jogged away.

Capt. Casey and Spade plopped down in the dirt and lay prone with their weapons pointed out across the field. The sunshine was brilliant but the temperature remained pleasant. Blue-green grass billowed in the breeze.

"I wish we had more time here," Capt. Casey said. "I have fallen in love with this planet."

"It's a nice planet to visit," Capt. Spade said, "but I wouldn't want to live here."

"You don't want to live anywhere," she said.

She inspected her weapon and attempted to scrape off dirt with her multi-tool.

"Jace?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we'll get out of this one alive?"

Spade rolled over onto his back and pulled a cigar out of a pocket and lit it. He puffed on it, looking up at the clouds. "I've been in worse situations than this," he answered. "Whenever things look bleakest, I never think I'll get through them, but I always do."

"Well, if you have a plan, please fill me in," she said.

"No plan," he said.

"Outstanding," she said.

Capt. Casey remained silent for a moment as she watched Spade puff on his cigar. She turned and pointed her weapon downrange and scanned across the field.

"I spent the first half of my life preparing for battle against the Craaldan Empire," she said. "Then it came, and we were so overmatched that the few of us who survived realized that all those years of preparation were for naught. I have spent the second half of my life filled with longing and regret, drifting through the void on cold spaceships. For the short time I've been here, this planet renewed my optimism. I have enjoyed the time I've had here, even though it wasn't meant to last."

"Hey, Mina," Spade said. "Lighten up. We're not dead yet."

The humans on the line stirred and came to the ready as all weapons were pointed downrange. Squad leaders up and down the line used hand signals to direct attention to the tree line. Motion had been detected on the mountainside.

War Pigs

Spade put out his cigar and stuck it back in his pocket. He lay beside Capt. Casey with his weapon pointed downrange.

"It's too bad you never found Dr. Zander," she said.

"I'll find him," he replied.

She looked at him for a moment. "You really believe that, don't you?"

"It's my fate to find him," he said.

"I thought superstition went out of fashion fifty thousand years ago," she said.

"Don't jinx me, Mina."

Several dozen humans ran out from the tree line at the far end of the plain. Some wore Heliac Defense Forces body armor while others were dressed in the black uniforms of Jod's GDF.

Shots erupted from the trenches. The rounds zipped over the heads of the onrushing humans, who dropped beneath the grass.

"Identify yourselves!" Tarvey Rigo shouted out from one of the bunkers.

A big Megalan man dressed in a black GDF uniform arose from the grass with his hands up. "Hold your fire!" the big man said. "I am Director Hatchett of the Jod Corporation. We thought the Craaldans came in peace, but they hacked my men to pieces with their bayonets. We few are the last left."

"What were you doing on the ridgeline?" Rigo yelled out across the field.

"Let us join your lines," Hatchett said.

"Go back where you came from!" Rigo yelled.

Rigo took aim with his rifle from inside his bunker and fired a shot. Out on the field, Hatchett's head exploded in a cloud of pink mist. He collapsed dead in the grass.

"Jeez," Capt. Spade said.

The humans in the grass sprinted with their heads down back to the tree line.

Storm clouds were darkening the sky above the ridge. The wail of a siren arose and increased in volume. The haunting blare howled down from the mountain peaks.

Rain began to pelt the humans in the trenches. Lightning erupted from dark clouds that were moving fast overhead toward the city.

"Well, that's ominous," Capt. Casey said.

The humans that had just retreated to the tree line were disconcerted by the clamor echoing down from the mountains and reemerged from the trees with their hands up. They appeared confused and undecided, not sure whether to hide in the trees or run across the plain toward the human lines.

A steady clang, clang, clang of clashing bayonets increased in tempo and reverberated down the mountainsides.

The undecided humans made up their minds and sprinted back across the plain toward the human trenches.

Behind them, hundreds of fully armored Craaldan infantry soldiers burst from the trees in full sprint. They ran in squad wedge formations. The Craaldans popped bayonets from their fists, and sliced their blades into the much smaller humans that were fleeing before them.

They made quick work of the humans, cutting them down in quick bloody sweeps of their blades. The Craaldan infantry continued their sprint over the open ground toward the trench system.

The crew-served weapons in the bunkers opened up with a tremendous roar, ripping up the field in giant explosions of black dirt. From the trenches and foxholes, small arms fire erupted and a grazing fire of glowing molten metal streamed low over the grass.

Three rockets streaked down from the mountain ridge at the bunker complexes below. The rockets hit their mark and all three bunkers were pulverized beneath thunderous explosions.

When the blasts cleared, all that was left of the bunkers were craters that burned brightly, like magnesium fires. The Craaldan infantry skillfully dodged the barrage of molten metal as they ran across the plain closing in on the trenches. The few rounds that found their marks glanced off the Craaldan mechanized body armor.

When the Craaldans reached the center of the plain, a mine field detonated. A wall of black dirt exploded upward from one end of the field to the other. Cheers arose from the humans at the sight of the mighty explosion.

But the Craaldan soldiers rushed through the blast and continued their rapid advance. They unloaded with their weapons, tearing up the ground and ripping through the human lines. Blood and guts erupted from the trenches as exploding projectiles from the Craaldan infantry weapons tore through flesh and bone.

Ghez rose up from his foxhole and charged the enemy.

"What is he doing?" Spade said.

Spade scrambled out of his foxhole after him.

"Jace, get back!" Capt. Casey yelled.

Ghez ran at a Craaldan trooper and fired his weapon at center mass, landing direct hits. But the rounds bounced off the Craaldan's armor.

The giant Craaldan swiftly lunged forward with his bayonet, puncturing Ghez through the abdomen. The Craaldan lifted Ghez up and the blade pierced out the big human's back.

Ghez let out an angry yell. He fired a few more rounds at the Craaldan before blood gurgled from his mouth. The Craaldan flung Ghez off his bayonet with a quick flick of his wrist, and continued onward toward the trenches.

Spade ran up to Ghez and checked for a pulse. Ghez lay crumpled in the grass, already dead.

A storm of fire streamed over Spade's head. Craaldan infantry were swarming across the plain and entering the human lines.

Capt. Casey put her hand on Spade's shoulder. "We need to pull back," she said.

Spade took Ghez's headset and put it on. "This is Captain Jace Spade," he said into the mike. "Fall back. Squad leaders, break contact and pull your squads back to the city. Then stand by for my orders. We'll have a better chance of holding out where there's more cover. Copy?"

Four squad leaders replied in unison, "Copy that."

"Roger," Spade said. "Stay tactical. Let's give them a fight."

Capt. Casey pulled Spade to his feet and they sprinted with their heads down back to the trenches as the rain spattered down. The first Craaldans had already breached and had quickly skewered the humans that had stayed to fight.

Capt. Spade and Capt. Casey sprinted hard over the open ground to the city. Spade was directing the platoon's four squad leaders as he ran.

He and Capt. Casey ran down the rubble strewn streets. They linked up with the squad leaders behind the massive smoking ruins of a collapsed building. Harklewood, a Megalan male, and two former HDF infantry soldiers looked to Spade for direction. Their faces were black with soot and carried worried expressions.

Spade pointed back down the narrow street. "It looks like a Craaldan battalion is targeting this sector. This street is their most likely avenue of approach. First squad takes the west side of the street. Second squad the east. Find good cover. Third squad pulls rear security. You have our backs. We concentrate our fire as they come down the street. If they give us an opening, we'll lift fire and fourth squad flanks and assaults through. Then we fall back and start all over again. Copy?"

"Roger," the squad leaders said.

Spade sent them back to their squads.

"You sound like a real infantryman," Capt. Casey said. "Like Grimes, almost."

"I'm winging it," Spade said. "Who would have thought all those boring stories Grimes tells would be useful some day?"

Capt. Casey and Capt. Spade ran up the stairwell of a badly damaged building and hunkered down on the third floor where they had oversight of the wrecked urban terrain.

Capt. Casey's face was sweaty and grimy. Her short black hair was wet and dirty and her black coveralls were torn. She lay next to Spade gripping her weapon and watching as the squads moved into position below.

"Have I ever told you that I find you incredibly attractive?" Spade said.

"Like a million times," she said. "Like you tell all the girls."

"I was thinking maybe after this is over you and me might get back together," Spade said.

"That'll never happen," she said.

A squad of Craaldan soldiers appeared at the far end of the street. The Craaldans bounded toward them, occasionally firing bursts into buildings. When they were about 100 meters away, first and second squads opened up on them.

The squads concentrated their fire on the Craaldan squad leader, scoring directs hits center mass. The first several rounds knocked him back. Another burst penetrated his body armor, killing him. He fell on his back, sprawled in the center of the street.

The other Craaldans took cover in the rubble and returned fire.

"We've got our opening," Spade said. "Follow me."

Capt. Spade and Capt. Casey ran down to the street and linked up with the fourth squad leader—a female former HDF soldier. She was a wiry woman with scars on her face and arms.

"What's your name, squad leader?" Spade asked.

"Specialist Muda, sir," she answered. "HDF Ranger in another life."

"Outstanding," Spade said. "Take fourth squad 100 meters that way, then flank right on my command," Spade said.

"Roger that," Muda said.

"Let's move," Spade said.

Capt. Spade and Capt. Casey ran with the squad as they darted through side streets and through the burned out lobbies of buildings.

Deadenders

Spec. Muda signaled to her squad to get into position. She lined them up facing the Craaldan position a block away.

The two human squads to the rear were laying down heavy suppressive fire that was tearing up the street and the buildings on either side. The Craaldan squad members were regrouping without their squad leader. They kept their heads low as they crouched in the burned out lobbies of buildings or behind piles of rubble.

Muda kept her head down as she trotted over to Capt. Spade and Capt. Casey. The three of them squatted down to consult behind a pile of twisted and smoldering infrastructure.

"Sir, our weapons can't penetrate their armor," Muda said. "We might have the element of surprise, but even if we can score direct hits, our rounds just bounce off them."

"If we concentrate fire on one target, our rounds will penetrate," Spade said. "Break the squad up into three four-man fire teams. Alpha, Bravo, Charlie. I'll take Alpha team, Capt. Casey has Bravo. Pick your best soldier to lead Charlie. Each team concentrates fire on one Craaldan soldier. Once a team scores a kill, concentrate fire on the next target. Stay on top and keep us moving. We hit them hard and fast and assault through. Then we fall back. Tracking?"

"Roger," Spec. Muda said.

"We attack on my command," Spade said. "Stay tactical, OK, Muda?"

"Will do," she said.

Muda scrambled off and was quick to re-organize the squad into three teams.

"Outstanding," Capt. Casey said to Spade. "I think Captain Jace Spade and his ragtag platoon might just defeat the entire Craaldan Empire."

"Would you love me, then?" Spade asked.

She slapped him on the shoulder. "Not a chance," she answered, and trotted off to join Bravo team.

"Shift fire, shift fire," Spade said into the headset. First and second squad shifted their suppressing fire to the west side of the street.

"That's our signal," Spade said to Spec. Muda. "Move 'em out!"

"Go! Go! Go!" Muda shouted.

The three fire teams sprinted over rubble and dashed through burned out buildings. They emerged onto the street where the Craaldan squad had set up a position behind piles of debris. The Craadans were over-confident and had been taken by surprise. The human fire teams concentrated their fire and scored kills on three Craaldan soldiers.

But the Craaldans quickly regrouped and returned fire. Muda was first hit—her head blown off with a quick Craaldan burst. All four members of Charlie team were pulverized by accurate shots—the powerful Craaldan rounds flaying the humans into chunks of meat.

A Craaldan grenade burst over Alpha team's position as they scrambled over the collapsed side of a building. The blast hit Spade from behind and knocked him forward with such force that his body was driven hard into the rubble. He was flung head over heels nearly a block down the next street.

Craaldan drones swarmed downward through the smoldering skyscrapers and fired pulses at the humans, incinerating them in rapid bursts. A drone swooped down and disgorged a Craaldan squad about 100 meters down an alley from Spade. They popped their bayonets from their fists as they rushed at the retreating humans.

"Jace!" Capt. Casey said. "We've got to move!"

Spade was dazed. His face was scraped and bloody. He struggled to get his bearings.

"Move, soldier!" Capt. Casey shouted, lifting him up to his feet.

She pulled him along as they sprinted through the rubble in an attempt to reach the other squads. But the Craaldans were already advancing on the positions of the three remaining squads that were attempting to fall back. The Craaldans flanked them and skewered them on their bayonets as the humans fled or tried to fight back from positions inside the buildings.

A Craaldan battle tank appeared at the far end of the street. It fired rounds that burst in monstrous, shrapnel-laden explosions. Buildings toppled and imploded in a maelstrom of debris and noise.

"Keep moving, Jace!" Capt. Casey yelled over the din.

Spade followed behind her as they darted through buildings and down alleyways. The noise and smoke overwhelmed their senses. Confusion intensified.

They emerged onto the city center where large screens still displayed the face of Verman Jod.

"Remain calm," Jod said. "There is nothing to fear. Through unity we can defeat the enemy within."

Humans ran in packs across the vast open plaza that was covered by a shroud of billowing smoke. A battle tank appeared at a street that opened onto the plaza. The tank fired short bursts. Shrapnel crumpled successive groups of humans.

A Craaldan platoon appeared behind Capt. Spade. The squads, with fixed bayonets, entered buildings using their sensors to locate hiding humans and slaughter them.

Drones overhead were swooping in and zapping any humans on the streets.

"It's pointless to keep running," Capt. Casey said. "If we make it through the city, we'll just run into another Craaldan tank battalion."

A drone barreled toward them down the narrow street. Capt. Casey and Spade sprinted out onto the plaza. The drone fired rapid pulses that threw up geysers of debris behind them, pulverizing the paved ground. They darted to the right and sprinted into the burned-out lobby of the Founders Building.

Craaldan infantry ran across the plaza toward them.

Capt. Spade and Capt. Casey entered an elevator and punched at the buttons as the Craaldan infantry rushed into the building's debris-strewn lobby. A Craaldan soldier closed in on them slashing with his long bayonet.

The elevator doors shut just before the soldier closed to striking distance.

"We can hold out on the roof," Spade said. "Take them out one by one as they come up after us."

"No," Capt. Casey said. "We'll have no cover from their drones up there. They'll pulverize us."

She looked at him. His face was badly bloodied. He was wobbly on his feet.

"The Craaldans can locate us with their sensors in this building," Spade said. "There's no hiding from them in here. I'm in no mood to get skewered, Mina."

"Well, I've got one thing left on my wish list before I'm stuck with a Craaldan bayonet," Capt. Casey said.

"What's that?" Spade asked.

"I want Jod," she said.

As the elevator continued its rapid climb up the building, Spade could feel that he had suffered internal injuries.

"Mina?" he said.

"Yes?" she said.

"I took a bad header back there."

"I know," she said.

"I think I'm going to black out," he said.

"Stay with me, Jace. I need you, OK?"

The elevator door opened. Capt. Casey entered the hallway. She pulled Spade along behind her. Huge explosions outside rocked the building, which shuddered and swayed violently as they walked down the hallway.

Capt. Casey kicked a door open with her boot. They entered Jod's council chambers.

The domed glass ceiling looked upward through smoke and clouds at the oblong Gallos moon. Drones were visible zooming overhead through the black and purple atmosphere.

Capt. Casey walked around to Jod's chair at the center of the dais that dominated the room. She punched a keyboard and attempted to locate Jod in the building's database.

"Is this who you are looking for?" asked a gravelly, sulfurous voice.

Capt. Casey looked up from the computer. Lt. Zeth stood in the doorway. He shoved Jod before her.

From up on the dais, Capt. Casey looked down at the tall, misshapen man who appeared agitated and confused.

Spade pointed his weapon at Lt. Zeth, who ignored him.

Zeth was bandaged around his neck, but otherwise appeared unharmed from his earlier encounter with Capt. Casey.

She stepped down from dais with her weapon trained on Zeth.

With lightning speed, the tall Craaldan unsheathed his executioner's blade from his leg, and with a flick of his wrist, he cut Spade's weapon in half with a loud clang, knocking it from his hands in pieces.

Capt. Casey fired her weapon, but Lt. Zeth sidestepped the burst, and in a blink sliced through her weapon, knocking it to the floor.

Zeth backed them up against the dais with the tip of his blade. They lifted up their hands, eyes fixed on its point.

"Well, aren't you the swordsman," Spade said.

Jod was lying flat on his face with his hands over the back of his head. He looked up from the floor. His eyes glanced at the doorway. He scrambled to his feet and made a run for it, but Zeth swatted him with the palm of his gloved hand and knocked Jod flat.

Zeth returned his attention to Capt. Casey.

"You and I have unfinished business," he said.

Death by Misadventure

The building swayed as huge explosions rocked the city. The massive structure lurched and rumbled with each new boom.

Jod was on his feet now. He dusted himself off. He looked at their faces. He appeared worried.

"Executive Jod," Lt. Zeth said.

"Yes, Lieutenant?"

"Would you consider yourself a champion of your people?" Lt. Zeth asked.

"A champion, Lieutenant?" Jod asked.

"Yes," the Craaldan said. "A warrior. Like Captain Mina Casey."

"A warrior?" Jod asked. "Yes, I suppose I am a warrior, but unlike Captain Casey, I defend my people with my mind—using strategy, tact and diplomacy. The soldier fights on the ground, but the diplomat's battle is no less important. In fact, it is more so."

"And what has been the end result of your strategy, tact and diplomacy?" Lt. Zeth asked.

Jod's eyes darted from Zeth to Capt. Casey to Spade.

"Events have not unfolded as I anticipated," Jod replied.

"Do you consider yourself a warrior, Captain Mina Casey?" Lt. Zeth asked.

Capt. Casey grew frustrated. "What is it you want, Zeth?"

Lt. Zeth's yellow eyes narrowed. "What is it that you want, Captain?"

He tossed her his executioner's blade. She caught it by the hilt.

Capt. Casey stood brandishing the long blade. It was lighter than she expected and remarkably easy to handle. It felt deadly to the touch.

Lt. Zeth smiled at her and nodded his head.

With a lightning slash, she sliced through Jod's neck. Jod's eyes looked surprised as his head cleanly separated from his body. The head plopped to the floor and bounced and then slid over the black surface. Blood gushed from Jod's neck for a moment before his body collapsed in a heap.

"Jeez, Mina!" Spade exclaimed.

Lt. Zeth smiled broadly, revealing his sharp, pointed teeth.

"The Craaldan believe humans are primitive animals," Lt. Zeth said, "not capable of true battle, only worthy of slaughter. But you are a worthy foe, Captain Mina Casey."

Capt. Casey stepped forward and slashed the blade at Zeth, aiming for his neck. But he caught her wrist, and the blade was quickly back in his possession.

Lt. Zeth stepped back and traced the point of his blade from Capt. Casey to Capt. Spade. The two captains were leaned up against the back of the high dais, waiting to be sliced in two or quickly beheaded by the huge Craaldan.

"The infantry has grown weary of impaling humans," Zeth said. "The brigade commander is pulling back his forces. Portogallos will be nuked in thirty minutes."

"There isn't much left to nuke," Capt. Casey said.

"We are vacating this sector," Zeth said. "It is Craaldan standard operating procedure to bombard a planet and sterilize it after we withdraw. However, I will ensure that any human survivors have two rotations of the planet to flee before the planetary bombardment commences."

"You're letting us escape?" Capt. Casey asked, skeptically.

"Yes," Zeth said.

"No disrespect, Lieutenant," Spade said, "but you don't have the rank or authority to delay a planetary bombardment."

"I am a military intelligence officer, Captain Spade," Zeth said. "The brigade commander listens to my suggestions. I will advise him that by allowing human survivors to flee, we can track them to their outposts."

The glass dome above their heads shattered. Shards of glass rained down into the council chambers.

A cable dropped from a drone that hovered above the roof of the building.

"I suggest you contemplate your egress from the city," Zeth said. "Time is of the essence."

Zeth grabbed the cable in his gloved hands and twisted the end around his boots.

"Until we will meet again, Captain Mina Casey," he said.

The cable lifted Zeth up through the shattered dome and into the hovering drone overhead. Once inside, the drone shot upward and away.

Capt. Casey walked around the dais and sat in Jod's seat. She turned on his camera and spoke into the mike. "People of Portogallos," she said. "This city will be nuked in twenty-nine minutes. Save yourselves. Evacuate now."

Her image and words were transmitted to screens throughout the city. "Evacuate now and take cover. You have twenty-eight minutes."

She activated a city-wide siren.

"We need to get moving, Mina," Spade said.

"Lead the way," she said.

Spade and Capt. Casey ran from the chambers to the elevator. Their eyes glanced nervously at each other during the interminable wait. They rode it down to street level and ran out from the lobby.

A dark cloud of smoke and dust blew across the plaza. Mutilated bodies were strewn everywhere. The pitch of a wailing siren rose and fell.

Spade grabbed Capt. Casey's hand. They ran through the smoke and dust, jumping over debris and human corpses. They climbed onto a wrecked hover transport platform.

Spade stepped onto the panel that summons transports, and to their relief, one zoomed up to the platform. They stepped onto the open-air transport, which then lifted upward through thick clouds of smoke and falling debris.

They shot out of the smoke and zoomed over the city.

Out on the plain, huge Craaldan transport ships were loading up and lifting off. The hover transport shot between the Craaldan ships that were accelerating upward.

Several drones zeroed in on the hover transport and swooped in on them.

Spade overrode the hover transport's computer and took control. "Hold on!" he shouted to Capt. Casey.

He sharply turned the transport and broke into a steep dive. Capt. Casey gripped him around the waist tightly. The drones fired several pulses, which Spade evaded.

The pulses ripped up the muddy plain below. Spade pulled up and climbed as the drones closed in from behind.

A drone out in front of them fired a pulse as it zoomed past. The pulse grazed the hover transport and threw it into a violent spin. Spade was able to regain control, but realized that he wasn't going to be able to pull out of their dive soon enough. "We're going down!" he yelled.

The transport smashed through the tops of trees on the mountainside. It crashed through the forest canopy and through dense vegetation before sliding to a stop in the mud.

Spade slowly regained his bearings and got to his feet. "Mina!" he shouted. He staggered through the foliage on the steep mountainside to where the wreckage of the hover transport burned.

Capt. Casey was lying on her back unconscious. Spade looked into her face.

"Mina, are you OK?"

Her dark eyes opened. "Yeah," she said. "Thanks for asking."

He pulled her up to her feet, but they were knocked flat by a violent, bone-crushing blast. A blinding flash turned the world white, followed by intense shockwaves that boomed over the mountains, flattening trees in waves of explosive force.

A roiling orange and red mushroom cloud malevolently expanded over what was once the city of Portogallos.

Exodus

Capt. Spade and Capt. Casey limped up the steep, muddy slope through scorched foliage until they ascended the ridgeline. On the other side of the ridge, the lush forest remained.

A still quiet had descended over the mountainous landscape. The pink sky was clear of the usual traffic of spacecraft.

The mushroom cloud behind them dissipated. An enormous column of black smoke funneled upward into the sky over where Portogallos used to be. Orange fires burned brightly beneath the thick smoky blackness. The smoke rose upward and then blew horizontally over the purple sea.

Captain Casey and Spade were exhausted as they trudged down the muddy mountainside through the thick vegetation.

They picked their way slowly down the steep backside of the ridge for hour upon hour, barely speaking in their torpor.

Eventually, the steep grade flattened and they emerged from the vines and trees onto a meadow. Blue-green grass billowed in a soft breeze.

They walked across the expansive field to the spaceport's long tarmac. They stepped onto the hard surface and walked toward the stacks of containers and spacecraft parked in the distance.

The tarmac was scarred from blasts from pulse cannons. Burning corpses were strewn here and there along the long runway. They walked past crashed ships that still burned. Flaming wrecks were everywhere.

The spaceport was a scene of destruction. Most of the containers, ships and hangars were aflame or flattened and smoldering.

Spade trotted as he neared a stack of burning containers. He jogged toward a half-collapsed hangar. Capt. Casey broke into a trot to keep up.

"They didn't hit my shuttle," he called over his shoulder.

He ran up to the undamaged craft that was parked in front of the hangar. He punched in a code. A door opened and he ducked inside.

Capt. Casey stood out on the tarmac looking around. The body of a Paltran pilot was still burning only a few meters from where she stood. His mechanical prostheses glowed orange-hot over his charred corpse. Containers blazed, their exteriors smashed from pulse blasts, and their contents scattered in concentric circles. Flames shot upward from row upon row of parked shuttles and spacecraft. But remarkably, many of the vehicles appeared undamaged. It seemed that the Craaldan drones had only targeted occupied craft that were attempting to flee.

Spade poked his head out of his shuttle.

"The Red Wrath is still up there in orbit," he said. "It's OK."

"What about my ship?" Capt. Casey asked.

"It looks like the Craaldans didn't target any of the ships parked in orbit," he answered. "They are still out there by the Gallos moon—thousands of them."

"Maybe the Craaldan commander took Lt. Zeth's advice to heart," Capt. Casey said. "They are going to let us go and track us."

"They won't be tracking me," Spade said. "I'm not waiting around. Get in. Let's get off this rock while the going is good."

Capt. Casey looked up at him. He stood in the hatch of his shuttle on the smoky, windblown tarmac. His flight suit was muddy and torn and his face was still bloodied and grimy. But as always, Capt. Jace Spade remained his rugged and handsome self.

"Come with me, Mina," Spade said. "You and me, just like old times."

"Like old times?" she asked.

In the distance, stragglers were stepping onto the tarmac and walking down the runway. They were emerging from the trees all around the spaceport and were walking across the tarmac toward the hangars and spacecraft.

"Come with me," Spade said.

"Negative," she said.

Spade put the stub of a cigar into his mouth and lit it. He hopped down onto the tarmac. "We make a good team, Mina."

"Been there, done that," she said.

"Well, I ain't hanging around here for the bombardment. What do you have planned?"

"I was thinking about what Dr. Zander would do in a situation like this," she said.

"Dr. Zander?" Spade asked. He looked over one shoulder and then the other at the stragglers walking across the tarmac. "Well, first of all he wouldn't be standing out here in the breeze wasting time."

"What would Dr. Zander do, Jace?" Capt. Casey asked.

"He would set up medical stations for the wounded," Spade said. "That would be his first instinct. Second, he would probably organize search parties to gather everyone to a central location, probably that field over there. Next, he would implement an evacuation plan to get the survivors off the planet. Then, he would plot a course out of here to safety. He would turn that parking lot of space ships up by the Gallos moon into a flotilla and lead us out to some friendly star where he would build a society where humans could live in freedom, away from the Craaldan war machine."

"Sounds like he would know exactly what to do," Capt. Casey said.

"Yeah, he would," Spade said. "Now get in the shuttle and let's get out of here. We can find him together."

"Come here," she said to him.

Spade dropped his cigar and stepped on it with his boot. He walked away from his shuttle toward her.

She looked up at him. "Jace, you've found Dr. Zander. He's alive inside of you."

She looked to her left and to her right as the survivors of the Craaldan assault walked toward them. "These people need a leader," she said.

"To lead them where?" Spade asked.

"To some friendly star," she said.

"You got one in mind?" he asked.

"I heard there are a lot of them out in the Calli Sector," she said.

"Grimes wouldn't like it if we followed him out there," he said.

"No, he wouldn't," she said. "But he'll get over it."

"If we showed up out there with thousands of refugees, it would be worth it just to see the look on his face," Spade said.

Capt. Casey smiled. "We need to set up medical stations in that field over there. Then, we'll need to organize search parties."

"You have to be the hero, don't you?" he said.

"We'll have to implement an evacuation plan to get the survivors off the planet."

"You know it's a long voyage to the Calli Sector," he said.

"Roger," she said. "It will give us time to get to know each other again."

He pulled her into his arms. "Does this mean we're back together again?" he asked.

"I promised myself that would never happen," she answered.

Spade planted a kiss on her lips.

She put her arms around him and kissed him back. She turned away and walked down the tarmac toward the approaching throng.

Spade stood watching her. He lit up another cigar.

"Are you coming?" she asked over her shoulder.

"Lead the way."

The End

Coming soon in print!

GALAXY OF HEROES II: War Heroes

