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The League of Intergalactic Cosmic Champions: A Novel: Chapter 9 By: Brian Webber on 12/17/2005; 3:19 PM CHAPTER NINE: The Fall Late Thursday, February 18th, 3001 The Icehole Spaceport The people that Vian had been forced to leave behind were safely ensconced in the cargo hold of one of the landed freighters. One of them however wanted to see what was going on outside. He went up to the bridge of the ship, and tried to see if he could get a look at the battle with the ships sensors. What he saw made him panic. It was several people, the L.I.C.C. members had called them the Franks, at the entrance to the spaceport. He had no idea how they got past the L.I.C.C. troops and the Lifeblood Sorcerer who was with them, he was just glad that they seemed to be headed towards one of the other, unmanned ships. * * * * * Frank Praetorious held the weapon hed taken from the security woman in front of him as he led the few Franks his master wanted to bring along for their various strengths through the city. It was a shame that over a hundred good Franks would be left behind to die, but it would be necessary if the Frank Conspiracy was to have a chance. The first thing that would have to be done would be to get out of the quadrant, where the L.I.C.C. and a almost a third of the E.S.G. military wouldnt be able to reach them due to strict limitations on jurisdiction. The Beta Quadrant would be the best bet. The constant state of conflict between the Venakar and the TSari, plus the relatively weak superhero group G.R.O.S.S. was the only major threat to them in the area, and none of that group was anywhere near as powerful as Frangelica. True, according to what Frank had learned the second-in-command of the G.R.O.S.S. ship was the daughter of the head of Terran Security, Nancy West, but the planets available to them would be much larger, as Earth had no authority in Venakar or TSari space. Earth couldnt order a planetary lockdown if they wanted to, and if they tried, the Venakar would likely let the Franks land out of spite. Its just as likely, Frank Praetorious thought to his master, that they will try to kill us so they can rub it in the galaxies faces how for once they were responsible for saving the galaxy. Agreed Praetor. But let us deal with that later. Right now our priority has to be survival. We need to get the hell off the planet. Yes, we are almost to the freighters. One of these has a brand new engine that can get us to where were going within a few days, Frank Praetorious said aloud. I dont think so gentlemen, Ojanon said. At once all the Franks turned around to face the two L.I.C.C. members calmly walking towards them. * * * * * The Spidership dropped out of warp so close to the planets gravity well that Stephanie Frists blood pressure spiked dangerously trying to avoid a crash. Cutting it a little close there Colanator. Apologies Captain. I know it violates protocol to exit a warp field so close to a planets gravity well, but I was aware of the severity of the situation. Appreciate the effort chief, but were no good to our teammates if were dead. Frangelica to landing party. Are you ready? Crimson Crossbow, anxiously awaiting battle was in MET Room 1 with Enesku, Peter Dionysus, and Adon, answered, even though Frangelica had put Adon in charge of the group. Ready to go maam. Good. And dont call me maam. Steph, let us know when weve got a good orbit so we MET them straight into the dome city, but first lets try to bust through this jamming and contact Mr. Frie or Mr. Kiehart. I want to make sure we dont- Kiehart to Spidership! Jason! Whats your status? Fries troops and Ojanon are in the dome city taking on the Franks at ground level. We had to bring the fighters up to avoid getting hit by the air defenses. Hornet 6, there was a long pause. I mean, Lieutenant Burdens fighter went down. Vian is out looking to see if he survived. Frangelica sighed. Land the fighters. Were sending a MET team down to try and take as many Franks alive as possible. Were on the road to a possible cure for the Frank transformation. Kiehart smiled, glad no one could see it. Captain, DConya was identified as being Milburns passenger on the shuttle. He didnt need to say anything else. Dont get your hopes up yet Mr. Kiehart. Captain, what I didnt lose in the war, I lost when the Franks took over the Cassiopeia. Hope and Duty are all I have left. * * * * * Frank Praetorius was still the only one with his back turned to Ojanon and Scott Frie. Ojanon was not sure why, but he already had his staff in combat position, ready to strike anyone who tried to rush him. And Frie was a safe enough distance back that not even the Andafi woman who was already tensing up to attack could reach him before he could blast her. Ojanon wondered for a moment if this woman was the same as Jason Kieharts fiancée from the Explorer vessel. Praetorious laughed. He turned around and fired his antique weapon. Three hollow metal projectiles loudly exited the weapon. The gun jerked in Frank Praetoriouss hand as he fired. Ojanon was able to deflect one of the bullets. The other two tore through his heart and left lung. He collapsed to the ground. Frie screamed as he fired into the Franks, hitting two of them, both human. The others got to the spaceport and managed to get the door slammed just as another blast seared Frank DConyas shoulder. Oh God, Ojanon! Buddy, cmon get up. Frie to Vian! Ojanons down! I repeat, Ojanon is down! Cmon dammit, weve been through too much for it to end like this. Ojanon? The Lifeblood Sorcerer seemed to be in no pain. He opened his eyes, spat out blood, and took Fries hand. My staff will disintegrate when I die Scott. But my energy sword will not. It is tradition that I pass it on to the one who I believe can most carry on my work. No, not me man, not me, Im just a grunt, a jarhead Scott said. No, not you. You would not accept it even it were, I know you too well. I remember you as a trainee. Ojanon coughed. Give it to Peter. You can give it to him yourself man. Just hang on. Vian to Frie, administer first aid! Im on my way back to the city. The wind makes it too dangerous for me to fly, Im on foot, just hang on! Fries comm unit crackled as snow and ice interfered with Vians signal to him. Scott, the weapon the Frank used, a barbaric relic. My heart is damaged. My lung will soon collapse and I wont be able to speak. Mere seconds later I will be gone. My control over my metabolism can only slow the damage, not repair it. Give my sword to Peter. Promise me this, and I wont prolong your suffering. My suffering? Jesus H. Christ Ojanon! Youre going to be fine, Vian is on the way. She- Promise! More coughing, more blood. Were I human I would not have lasted this long to tell you. Ive lasted longer than I should have. These wounds are fatal. It is simply my time, and to stay like this, for you to see me in pain is unfair to you. It would be unfair to anyone. Just give Peter, the- Ojanon stopped. His eyes narrowed, then closed. Frie put his finger on Ojanons neck to check his pulse. No, no, cmon dammit. Youre supposed to be a powerful being. Dont do this. I wouldnt have this job if you hadnt vouched for me with the Captain. Please. But Scott Frie knew it was already too late. He was still kneeling over Ojanons body, unmoving, quiet, tearing up when the sound of a MET beam from behind him was interrupted by Crimson Crossbows voice. Oh my God, Ojanon. * * * * * The freighter was in the air moving at full speed. The Spidership fired on it, opening up hole in the cargo bays, but the ship made it to warp with no damage to the engines or to life support. Crap! Stephanie, bring us about for pursuit! Captain, the jamming just went down! Rikard said from Crossbows console. Raise Adon. Adon, can you hear me? Yes Captain. Frangelica noticed right away that Adon sounded sad. She hadnt heard him sad since the Eminaf incident and she immediately as though her heart had just stopped. Adon, what happened? Captain, I do not know how to, sugar coat it as you might say, but, Ojanon is dead. The bridge was silent for what felt like years before the transport tube doors opened and Jason Kiehart stepped onto the bridge. He opened his mouth to ask if the landing team had made it to the planet ok, when he noticed that Stephanie Frist was crying, that Josh Rikard was slumped in his seat, and Frangelica was standing there like a statue, her eyes closed, and her right arm slightly shaking. He knew something bad had happened. He stood there, unsure of what to do. * * * * * Vian gave Scott Frie a light sedative from her med kit to help him relax. Adon was performing a Wanderer ritual to honor a fallen comrade over Ojanons body, while Pete looked at Ojanons energy sword which was now in his hands, placed there by Scott Frie. Crossbow and Enesku were somewhere in the rest of the city, helping the locals and Scott Fires troops who had miraculously suffered no losses, but plenty of minor injuries to try and round up the Franks, using a device designed by Jackson Dupree to essentially freeze them and MET them to one of the Spiderships cargo holds. Did Adam make it? Peter asked, referring to Lieutenant Burden, Hornet 6. Vian shook her head. Killed instantly when his cockpit was breached. At least he didnt suffer, she said. Why would anyone keep a gunpowder weapon on this planet anyway? Peter said. Guns are just so, disgusting, so messy. At least an energy weapon can be used as a tool, or can be set to simply stun people. A gun has no other purpose than to kill or terrorize. Regardless of the circumstances, we cant blame the owner for what the Frank did with it once he got his hands on it, Adon said, having completed his ritual for Ojanon. I have said goodbye to our friend. I suggest you do the same before we dispose of the body in the traditional Lifeblood way. Vian and Peter stood up to do so. Theyd have to be quick. A Lifeblood Sorcerers body decomposed at a rate three times that of most other life forms. The body would, according to tradition, need to be buried within a few hours to prevent it from becoming a health hazard. It was a tradition deemed morbid by most races, but to a Lifeblood Sorcerer it was a matter of practicality; dead bodies attracted insects and germs to could be hazardous to living creatures. The sound of a MET beam drew Vians attention away, and she ran towards the source. Oh Fran, she muttered as she threw her arms around her wife. They both began sobbing. I tried to get to him, but the weather, and he was already gone, and Scott was a mess, and, Burdens gone, he just got married during our last shore leave, and the Franks got away. Fran simply held her close, not sure what to say. Crossbow, Enesku, and Fries troops, several of whom were nursing wounded arms, some needing help walking, came back. Fran, her arms still holding Vian, turned to face Crossbow. Report, she said. Prelim numbers? 100 of the 1200 dome city inhabitants were left behind, all but a few of them Franked. More than half of them were killed in the fighting, but we managed to freeze 50 of them. I hope Jacksons plan works. It wont. Frank Praetorious got away on the freighter we failed to shoot down. Presumably the source of this whole thing was with him. Rikard to Frangelica, Josh said through Frans comm unit. Go ahead Josh. Captain, weve got a problem brewing here. The news is reporting an explosion on Earth, at Kakapo Castle. There were gasps from the veteran L.I.C.C. members. Enesku looked confused. Huh? Terran Security H.Q., Adon whispered to her. Admiral West is saying the Franks are responsible, Captain. But I dont see how thats possible. Me neither. How is the E.S.G. responding? Well the military is being placed on high alert, and the Sol system itself is in state of emergency mode. Theyre stopping and searching every ship that was in the system at the time of the bombing. They arent going to find anything. Theres no evidence that any Franks have left Icehole excepting the ones on the TSari passenger liner that tried to ram us. The DoS agrees. Theyve put all teams on alert in case the Franks try to leave the quadrant, Josh said. I dont like this Josh. The Franks cant be involved, but this just seems like too much of a coincidence. You dont think it could be another corrupt leader situation do you? Josh said. I sure as hell hope not. Im sick to death of those things. Regardless, as soon as we track down that ship I want to head back to Earth to talk to the President, and the DoS, and Admiral West too. The last name she said with a tone of distrust. She had never cared for Admiral West. She turned off her comm unit. This day just keeps getting better doesnt it. She walked up to Ojanons body, which was already showing signs of decay. Tears ran down her cheeks as she said goodbye to one of her oldest friends besides Jackson and Adon. I always knew that Jackson and I would outlive you and Adon, but I never thought Id have to say goodbye like this. Im not going to fail you again, old friend. Well get the bastards that did this. * * * * * What do you know about Earth history Dr. Morrigan? Jackson Dupree asked without looking up from his pocket-electron microscope. Raven Morrigan, who was bringing Jackson some supplies from the ships hospital hed asked for, shrugged. Depends. How far back? Twenty first century. Round the time the Sslrth made first contact with us. Not much really. You see, I was born in the 1980s. I came of age at a time when immortals were just things you saw in good movies with crappy sequels. Oh man, dont even get me started on the- Um, Dr. Dupree? I hate to interrupt, but Dr. Vian said that you had a tendency to get off the subject and that I would need to interrupt you to get you back on track. Oh, sorry Raven. Can I call you Raven? Sure. Anyway, while I was studying the Frank that you guys captured on the Cassiopeia, I remembered something Id read in The New York Post around, let me think, um, 2062? No, no 2072. Or was it 73? Anyway, it claimed that the government was covering up an incident in Washington D.C. where several humans and a few Sslrth had been killed by a man with white hair and a black shirt. Now, even back then it was still a crappy newspaper, but Id heard that someone had written a nice review about my work on the soap opera Port Mike which was why Id picked it up. Jackson chuckled. Man I was such an egotist back then. Soap, opera? What do those things have to do with each other? Eh, never mind. The point is, I just remembered that story now. Interesting how the human memory works huh? He then stopped talking and began writing something down on an old fashioned piece of paper with an equally old fashioned pen. Morrigan tapped her foot. So? So what? Dr. Dupree, are you saying that this thing you read means the Franks were on Earth almost a millennia ago? Hmm? Oh, yeah, yeah! Plus, I re-read Mr. Kieharts report. You know I think that guy is going to make a great league member once hes learned to cope with the loss of his friend and future wife. One cant be a League member long if they cant be friendly. Raven Morrigan rubbed her eyes. She was beginning to understand Dr. Vians jokes about Jacksons attention span. What was in the report sir? Oh, the globe that Brian Milburn found Frank in was an old Sslrth design. Im not surprised that no one on the Cassiopeia noticed it. The Sslrth dont use those things anymore. It was really just a smaller version of the suspended animation rockets they used to put convicted murderers in back before they started dumping them on Planet 4237-Gamma. You see, originally, murderers would be simply frozen for periods between 100 and 1,000 years, up until about 2300 when we signed our trade pact with the Andafi. Some of those things are still out there. Anyway, at the preset date, the tubes would return to the Sslrth home world. Estimates say there are still several dozen out there somewhere. You mentioned something to that effect. Right. Where was I? Oh yeah. Well, what I imagine happened is the Earth President at the time, lovely woman, didnt vote for her though. Actually didnt vote that year at all, Id forgotten to change my registration when I moved to New York. Anyway she probably wanted to destroy him her or it, whatever the Frank is, but the Sslrth are ardently anti-capital punishment, and have been for two millennia. So they put it in one of those suspended animation things, and launched it into space where it eventually fell into the W-Y-X. Interesting stuff dont you think? And its brought back so many memories of the 21st that Id forgotten about! When this is over I oughta write a book, or three. Raven was almost afraid to ask the next question, but she felt she had to. Dr. Dupree, will any of this help with the current situation? Sure. Dont know how yet, but every bit of information helps. Now please, dont distract me. I need to try and remember where I put those slides of Noahs fathers brain scans. Right. Well, Ill be sure to pass on the information to the Captain once she returns from Ojanons burial, Raven said sadly. Jackson dropped his microscope. What?!? * * * * * The Spidership left orbit, her sensors stretched to their limits searching for the freighter that had spirited away Frank and Frank Praetorious to whatever their next destination was. So far no one had reported any sign of them. Every ship in the Alpha Quadrant was no on the look out for it. Even some civilians had lent the services of their private ships to the search. Frangelica, Jackson, and Adon were in the ships war room a room that provided detailed holographic maps of every star system that could be accessed by simply touching a representation of the star itself. It could be disorienting for anyone in the room for the first time, but the three heroes had been in here so often they never even got dizzy anymore. I think we can rule out these systems here. The Franks never got the chance to re-fuel it before they had to take off, and according to Scotts report, it only had about two tons of fuel, Frangelica said. They would have enough to leave the quadrant if they went in this direction, Adon said, running his finger along a path that went to the left of where Iceholes system was on the map. Hmm, was all Jackson said. Hed been taciturn ever since hed gone down to Icehole, only to learn that he was too late for his own good friends funeral. In fact he was quietly resentful that Frangelica hadnt bothered to tell him what had happened. From Frangelicas point of view, Jackson was being unfair. Shed barely had time to come to grips with what had happened herself before it was time to bury Ojanon, let alone inform everyone else. That Jackson and others on the Spidership didnt know hadnt even occurred to her until it was too late. True Adon, she said, ignoring Jacksons grunts and monosyllabic responses. But if you look here, theres a major trading station here. No habitable planets, but tons of natural resources. As well as a large chunk of the Andafi space fleet, Adon added. As you well know, Andafi weapons may not be as powerful as ours, but their ships are designed to take a beating. And the Franks only have one freighter with no long range weapons whatsoever. The Franks may not be as bright as many enemies weve battled over the years, but like all of them, they are not suicidal. What are all those Andafi ships doing there anyway? Rumors that the cold war between the TSari and the Venakar is about to get hot again. Oh son of a bitch, theyve been trying to wipe each other out for six centuries. Do any of them even know how the first war started anymore? No one knows how the first war started, Adon said with a shrug. So the Andafi are afraid that the shipping lanes between them and Earth are going to get caught in the crossfire again. Cant say I blame them. Franks are going there, Jackson said. Frangelica and Adon turned to face him. Jackson was absently pointing his thumb at a red dot on the map. There? No way. You heard Adon, they arent suicidal. Jackson snorted. No, but I bet they are desperate to get their hands on something that will give them an edge. And Eminaf is just the place to do it. * * * * * Oh, hell no! Josh Rikard said. I dont like it either Josh, but we at least have to try. We lost the warp trail, this is all we have to go on, Frangelica said. You do remember, Crimson Crossbow chimed in, that we have aboard this ship two people who face the death penalty on that planet. The robots there want Colanator for treason and you for killing their leader. Dont remind me, Frangelica said. Wait a sec, Stephanie Frist said from her seat. What about the blockade? When the robots on Eminaf failed in their campaign to wipe out all humanoid life in the galaxy years before, in the incident that resulted in the death of league member Quantum Man, the Eminaf system was declared off-limits by all the major powers in the galaxy, a blockade that was enforced by a fleet of top-of-the-line warships of the Humans, the Sslrth, and the Andafi. The blockade fleet wont know about the Frank situation yet. The Eminaf are experts at breaking communications encryptions, so whenever the fleet needs to be told something, a high warp courier is sent out with three copies of the info, one for each of the commanders, who then confer face to face on the courier ship. I already checked with Space Station 47 where the courier is kept, and they havent loaded it up yet. We can be there before it can though. he said with a mischievous grin that made everyone, especially Frangelica and Adon, nervous. Stephanie opened her mouth, about to ask how, but then she got it. Using the wormhole generator, twice in one week? Thats pushing our luck dont you think? she said, sounding more than a little scared. Frangelica stood up and walked over to Jackson, who was now acting like he hadnt been giving her the cold shoulder up until about five minutes ago. Um, Jackson, you do know that Im still the captain here? Oh cmon Fran, we all know youre gonna do it. Why waste time with some sappy dramatic build-up before the big moment when you sit down, stare into space, and give the order to do it? Now if youll excuse me, I have an experiment to run on one of the Franks. How lucky is it you found one who had no family in his previous life huh? Well, I guess sad is the better term here, and just because he has no living family doesnt mean he doesnt have friends, but- Steph, fire up the wormhole generator. Jackson, stop talking. Frangelica touched her comm unit and continued speaking. Colanator, keep an eye on the generator, I dont want parts of my ship falling off.
RE: The League of Intergalactic Cosmic Champions: A Novel: Chapter 9 By: Brian Webber on 12/17/2005; 3:27 PM OK, I went on a bit of a posting binge here, but these chapters have been stewing for months (well, not 8 & 9 those came out surprisngly quickly). Also, a note to Scott: I forgot to do so before transferring the files to CD-RW, but on the next batch of updates (which could be a while, as you may have noticed) any and all references to Quantum Man will be replaced by The Observer. Despite my previous bloviating, this story has become too important to me to let it suffer because I had what I still beleieve to be the proper reaction to election fraud and illegal propaganda (Armstrong Williams); i.e. unbridled patriotic outrage.
Re: The League of Intergalactic Cosmic Champions: A Novel: Chapter 9 By: Mark Morgan on 12/17/2005; 3:45 PM On Dec 17, 2005, at 12:43 PM, Brian Webber wrote: > Despite my previous bloviating, this story has become too important > to me to let it suffer because I had what I still beleieve to be > the proper reaction to election fraud <http://www.kantor.com/blog/ > 2005/11/gao_there_were_voting_problems_in_ohio.html> and illegal > propaganda (Armstrong Williams); i.e. unbridled patriotic outrage. There's little need to rehash this, Brian. ------------------ Mark Morgan mark@voicesofunreason.com http://www.voicesofunreason.com/ "Too bad dark languages rarely survive."
RE: The League of Intergalactic Cosmic Champions: A Novel: Chapter 9 By: Brian Webber on 12/18/2005; 3:56 AM The point of that was that I think I'm big enough to put the story ahead of my personal feelings, as I should've done all along. This is some of the best work I've ever done (and I'm usually the first to metaphorically crap on my own work), and it should be read by as many people as possible.
RE: The League of Intergalactic Cosmic Champions: A Novel: Chapter 9 By: Brian Webber on 12/21/2005; 12:57 PM BTW, I may or may not have mentioned this already, and if I have I apologize for repeating myself and being redundant (sorry, couldn't resist), this story, along with other writings of mine can be read at http://www.fictionpress.com/~brianwebber if you're interested.
Re: The League of Intergalactic Cosmic Champions: A Novel: Chapter 9 By: Mark Morgan on 12/28/2005; 12:30 PM Sorry for the delay in publishing. Apparently I never published *any* of the LICC stuff so I need to go find all the other chapters. We were required at work to be there all four days of the Christmas weekend so my free time was kinda shot.
RE: The League of Intergalactic Cosmic Champions: A Novel: Chapter 9 By: Brian Webber on 12/28/2005; 6:09 PM Ouch. And I thought having to clsoe the day before and the day after Christmas was bad.
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