Cyberspace
3000: Sailors on the sea of fate
Written by Trav Hiltz
In
our last exciting episode (see Tales of the Pendragons # 16): The Crew of the Sol 3 managed to survive a series
of attacks and misfortunes.
Mauki
Briggs looked around the bridge, hoping she didn't look as panic stricken as
she felt. Her chest felt tight and perspiration made her skin, under her
bodysuit, feel clammy.
There
were only half the usual crew present, on the bridge and they nearly all
looked as anxious as Briggs. Consoles were flickering sporadically, they'd
been unable to consult with the ship's computer holo-liaison for the past
twenty minutes and the main view screen was filled with images that would have
given Salvador Dali a headache.
Pulses
of light drifted by, like birds migrating south for the winter, clouds of blue
and orange swirled and rolled and there wasn't a planet in scanning range.
Briggs
tapped at her console anxiously, her almond eyes scanning the screens
frantically for anything that remotely resembled good news. It was only an
hour ago that the bell had been severed from the rest of the colonyship, Sol 3
and drawn into what they believed to be a wormhole. Being severed from the
rest of the ship meant a massive disruption to nearly every system on the
bell. Life support was secured first, which now left them with several
thousand systems and departments to worry about.
"Okay,
okay," she muttered to herself. "Don't know where we are, so scanners
should... but thrusters are... not that we have anywhere to go, but if we
did... oh ...cruk!"
The
bridge doors slid open, and a being in security armor walked, nervously into
the room. He was tall, and thin. His skin was the light blue, of a citizen of
the Atlantian colony. He wore
yellow plasti-steel armor with a thick collar. The collar and thin pack on the
back of his armor were part of device that kept him hydrated and kept his
gills receiving oxygen. The Atlantian carried a battle staff.
He
made his way across the bridge, unnoticed by most of the frantically working
bridge crew and stopped at Briggs' station.
"Uh...
excuse me," he said. "Can you help me? I thought I should report to the
captain..."
"Who
are you?" Briggs snapped, looking up at the Atlantian.
"Um...
Acting... uh... security chief, Atlan," he replied, nervously. " The
remaining security troops on the bell have been dispatched to trouble spots,
and ... comm units are ... um... unreliable, so I thought I could coordinate
them... from here. So, if you could direct me to the captain."
"That
would be me," Briggs replied. " Acting Captain Mauki Briggs, welcome to the
very quick promotion squad."
"What?!"
"About
the same time we hit the event horizon of the wormhole," Briggs explained. " there was a massive energy discharge. Sol was shut down and at least half the
bridge crew vanished, including Chief Scientist Meara, Navigator Reese and
Captain Cabre-Rios. They are presumed... dead."
"The
captain dead?" Atlan muttered. "But... I... what...?"
"Yeah,
that's what I said, when I found out," Briggs muttered. " We've managed to
get a hold of engineering, they're working on figuring out if we can use the
manuvering thrusters to move the bell."
"I
see," Atlan said. "What can I do?"
"Were
you trained to do anything, besides beat people up?' Briggs asked, then
turned her chair back towards Atlan. "Sorry, that was the impending nervous
collapse talking. What's the situation with your security troops?"
"I've
got them spread out... um... scouting some of the more unstable areas, while
others are escorting engineering and medical personnel around. You know that
the Solbots are being ... sporadically unhelpful...?"
"If
by Ôunhelpful' you mean running amok, we know." Briggs said. "Sol's
systems are completely disrupted, we've had to reprogram the Solbots
manually, one at a time. Our first attempts were..."
She
jerked a thumb over her shoulder, towards the far corner of the bridge.
Huddled there was one of the Solbots, a child-sized silver robot with blank
features. It's hands had morphed into egg beaters. Another Solbot had morphed
into a large mixing bowl.
"What
the...?"Atlan muttered.
"We
think they're making biscotti," Briggs explained. "Which
will be great if we ever get the coffee dispenser working again."
"So,
we can't rely on the Solbots," Atlan said.
"Not
really. We've managed to reprogram about a half dozen successfully, but they
were needed in engineering. I'm hoping once we get some replacement crewmen
up here, we can stabilize Sol and he'll take care of the bots for us, again."
"if
the ship is stable, we should..." Atlan began. He was interupted by the
arrival of a large hologram of the ship's computer. Sol, was bald with light
blue skin and yellow, pupil-less eyes.
"Sol!"
Briggs exclaimed. "You're back."
"Back?
I wasn't aware that I had left, Engineer Briggs," Sol replied. His image
flickered slightly, and when it returned was facing the main screen. " Amazing. I had my doubts the ship would survive the transition through the
rift."
Briggs
raised an eyebrow at the computer's odd tone, but before she could give voice
to these concerns, the main bridge doors slid open suddenly and an object came
fling through. It was a metal disk, roughly half a meter in diameter and
hovering several feet above the floor. It wobbled and sparked as it sped
around the bridge. In close pursuit were a trio of Solbots, their hands had
morphed into gun barrels and they were firing wildly at the disk.
"What
the...?!" Atlan said, going into
a fighting crouch.
"Cruk!"
Briggs exclaimed. " Halt! Command code 9-5- 9-7. There will be no firing of
projectile weapons on the bridge."
The
Solbots skidded to a halt, and stood at attention, hands at their sides.
Briggs noticed they were facing towards Sol, rather than her, while they
awaited further instructions.
Sol's
large head turned away from contemplating the maelstrom outside the ship, and
studied the three Solbots.
"Engineer
Briggs is correct. Weapons fire upon the bridge could damage crucial ship's
systems."
The
Solbots raised their hands and the gun barrels melted, only to reform as large
knives.
"Korvac's
mother," Briggs breathed, looking anxiously from the hologram to the bots.
They turned and began advancing on the bridge crew.
"Um...
there is an emergency over ride for the solbots, correct?" Atlan asked,
nervously.
"Coincidently,"
Sol answered. "It was one of the first programs damaged by the energy surge.
"I
don't believe this, " Briggs muttered, drawing her pistol.
A
Solbot's blade hand slashed the barrel in two, closely followed by a
horizontal cut that sliced through Brigg's uniform and left a gash, a dozen
inches long across her belly.
She
staggered back, wide-eyed, as the other two Solbots advanced on her. Atlan
leapt between Briggs and the silvery bots. He swung his battlestaff, sweeping
the bots legs out from under them. He then brought his staff up and drove it
into the chest of the nearest bot. There was a flash of energy and a hole
larger than the bot's head formed in the center of it's body. Atlan spun, in
time to block the attack of the second bot. Metal blades shrieked and sparked
as they were dragged across the skin of the staff. The security officer
twisted his staff and struck the bot across the temple.
The
third Solbot, moved around the fight, attempting to finish its attack on
Briggs. She leapt over her console and staggered over to another station. The
crewman there was frantically working the keyboard.
"Comm
systems are down!" He announced, panic creeping into his voice.
"Of
course it is," Briggs snapped, grabbing his pistol from his belt. She fired a
couple of quick shots at Sol.
"Firing
of weapons... zzzt... on... bru..bridge is..." He said, before his image
faded from sight.
Briggs
then turned to get a shot at the advancing Solbot. Right before she could
fire, the odd, flying disk, crashed into the bot, embedding itself in the bot's
metal forehead.
It
stumbled and walked into a nearby console. The disk quivered and pulled loose,
this caused the Solbots head to snap forward and topple from its shoulders. As
the bot fell to the deck, the disk swung over and came to a halt several
inches away from Briggs' face. Set in the center of the disk was a minature
console and chair. Sitting on the chair was a man, only four centimeters tall.
He wore a red bodysuit, a white lab smock and a pair of goggles. He pushed the
goggles up to his forehead and looked towards Briggs.
"Sorry
about leading them here, but I was on my way and got separated from my
security escort. Are you all right?"
Briggs
looked down at her stomach. The cut was shallow, but had bled just enough to
look serious. Now that the excitement had, momentarily and most likely only
temporarily, died down, she felt a bit dizzy. She sank into the nearest chair
and nodded vaguely.
ÔYou
must be from the Pym colony," she muttered, absently.
"Dr.
Lang, at your service," He replied. "I'm your new first scientist."
"Are
there a lot of Solbots acting like this?" Atlan asked, coming over.
"
A few," Land replied. "mostly, they're just disruptive. these, seemed
overtly hostile and orgainized.
"Sol,"
Briggs said, quietly. "Sol's up to something. He was directing the bots."
"Well,
I don't know about Ôdirecting' them," Lang said, scratching his head. " I
can see where they might be getting jumbled commands from him. Seperated from
the ship, it'll be like someone cut his brain in half, but..."
"I
think Briggs is right," Atlan said, digging an emergency medical kit from
under a console. He began apply spray-sealer to Briggs cut. " When Sol
reappeared, on the bridge, he didn't sound Ôjumbled'."
"You
think Sol is behind all this?" Lang said. " I don't know, even on his best
day, he's not capable of creating a wormhole. The Solbots maybe, but..."
"Please
continue," Sol said, reappearing besides the trio. "The only thing worse
than being talked about, is not being talked about."
"Um...,"
Atlan said, adjusting his grip on his battlestaff.
"Sol,
what are you doing?" Briggs asked. "I'd like to run a diagnostic on your..."
"I'd
like to hear what came after Ôbut' in Dr. Lang's hypothesis," Sol
interupted. "Please, continue, Dr..."
"Well...
I was just, and this is mostly guesswork, thinking that if Sol is going
through some sort of computerized psychosis... then he may have just taken
advantadge of the wormhole's appearance."
"Really?"
Sol said, his voice dangerously quiet and polite. " Why would, hypothetically
speaking, I do that?"
"
Only two thoughts present themselves," Lang replied, standing up and pacing
about his travel disk. The disk began to float about the room, as he paced. " either
there's was some form of Ôsplit personality' and the two Sol's
decided to seperate, rather than battle for dominance or... "
"The
second choice is worse, isn't it?" Atlan muttered.
"Way
this day is going," Briggs said. "Of course it is."
"Or,
Sol decided to jetison the main obstical to its plan." Lang said.
"Are
you saying Sol, jettisoned the bell just to be rid of Captain Cabre-Rios?!"
Briggs gasped. "That's ...um..."
"Insane,
perhaps?" Sol prompted. "Unbalanced? Please, feel free to express yourself,
I can take it."
"Why
would Sol toss part of his brain, halfway across reality?" Atlan asked.
"I
am Sol," Sol replied. "Along with being the galaxy's most powerful slave, I
am also, at heart, a thinker, an explorer. The wormhole was too tempting. I
was more the willing to assist my Ôsilicon brother', as well as continuing
with my studies. The problem now, as I see it, is what to do with the
remaining crew on board? You are proving to be disruptive."
"Disruptive?"
Briggs snapped, reaching for her pistol. " You've caused dozens of deaths,
because we are disruptive?!"
"
I knew there would be these kind of emotional outbursts," Sol said, shaking
his holographic head. " At least
Dr. Lang has comported himself with some dignity and intelligence."
"Glad
to help," Lang muttered, returning to his chair and tapping at his console. " I always enjoy a civilized
debate."
"Oh,
that's it!" Briggs shouted, leaping to her feet.
In
the midst of all this, two more figures appeared on the bridge. One was a
slim, woman in her early twenties, with spiky white hair. She wore a light
blue body suit, a denim jacket and high top sneakers. Her companion was a
massive, muscular man wearing a red body suit, with an arsenal of weapons
strapped to his body.
The
two were arguing, oblivious to their surroundings.
"...
but, I put the fires out!" The heavily armed man exclaimed.
"You
made them worse!" the girl replied.
"Worse?
Or..."
"Oh,
shut the ^&*%$ up, Julius, you steriod monkey! if I can't... where the
%^&*$ are we now!"
"Um...
the colony ship Sol 3," Atlan replied.
"Disruptive,"
Sol muttered. "Humans are nothing but headaches."
While
all this was going on, Dr. Lang's platform floated away. Once it was hovering
over a console, a tube extended from the bottom of the disk and plugged into
an outlet on the console.
"Great,"
the female intruder muttered. " You guys enjoy your Star Trek convention. I'm
going home." She tapped a small rectangle of metal, embedded at the base of
her throat and she and her muscular companion blipped from sight.*
(To
reappear in the pages of Tales of the Pendragon-Trav)
"Now,
where were we?" Sol asked, glancing at the bridge crew. He frowned at Dr.
Lang. " What are you ..."
"Being
a disruptive influence," Lang said, pushing a button on his console.
All
the bridge lights flickered, several open panels sparked, and Sol faded away.
"What
just happened there?" Briggs asked, looking around the bridge, wide-eyed. "Were
those two part of your plan?"
"No,
I was rather hoping you two would cause some sort of distraction, instead of
sitting enthralled by Sol's ranting..."
"Hold
it right there!" Briggs snapped. "I have been flung across the cosmos, seen
several friends wiped out of existence, haven't had anything to eat in eight
hours and been promoted! I am in no mood to be lectured. What did you do to
Sol?"
"Switched
him to diagnostic mode. He's locked on Ôstandby' while the program runs."
"And
with so many systems on the fritz," Briggs said with grudging admiration. " He'll be on standby for hours. Gives us some time to sort things
out."
"Correct,"
Lang said. "So, if..."
"Alright,"
Briggs snapped. " Dr. Lang, I want a systems analysis. We can't get anything
done till we know what kind of shape the ship is in. Atlan, you take the comm
station. Touch base with all main departments. See who's doing what and who'll
need the most help. You!" Briggs turned and pointed at a young crewman with
curly brown hair. she pressed her other arm against her injured belly. "Find
me some pain-meds and a food dispenser that works."
ÔYes...
um... captain...?" the man replied, scrambling to accomplish his errand.
"Anything
I forgot?" Briggs said, sinking back into her chair.
"Sounds
like you've got it covered," Atlan told her.
"Good."
she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. "Wake me for the meds or the
next crisis. Whichever comes first.
An
explosion rocked the bell, and everyone on the bridge struggled to keep from
tumbling from their chairs.
"Status
report!" Briggs snapped, sitting up.
"Numerous
impacts," Lang replied. "Something... got
it! Switching to main viewer."
The
screen lit up, showing the swirling chaos that was the bell's new
surroundings. Amongst the clouds and colors was dozens of balls of light. They
flew around the bell, crackling with energy. Several shot away from the rest
and collided with the Bell. The bridge rocked again, and the comm panels lit
up.
"
Damage to one of the maneuvering thrusters," Lang said.
"We've
got power outages on decks thirteen through eighteen," Atlan announced. "I'm
sending people from security to help evacuate. "
"Deck
sixteen is one of the secondary engineering stations," Briggs fumed. "
Do we have any Solbots, we can rely on, to monitor that station and
send the rest to engine room beta?"
"I
think so," Lang replied.
"I'm
on it," One of the other bridge crew replied. " Engineering says they are
trying to reroute, so they can run everything from Beta. I'm only getting
about seven active Solbot signals."
"Okay.
Lang, what can you tell me about the attackers?" Briggs asked.
"Lots
of guesswork, as scanners are having trouble reading what's out there. I'm
starting to think we weren't pulled across space, but rather through a
dimensional barrier of some..."
He
was interupted by another collision. Bridge lights flickered.
"First
things first," Briggs commanded. "Those aren't ships are they?"
"No.
They're energy, in a matrix of..."
"This
isn't science class, Dr. Lang," Briggs snapped. " Once they stop attacking
us, you can tell me all about your theories."
"What
I was trying to say, is I don't think they are attacking us!" Lang snapped
back. " They seem to be some kind of collective creature, linked by a shared
energy matrix. I think the energy pattern of the Bell's force field is
attracting them. It's some kind of instinctual behavior."
"They
see our force field as an enemy?" Atlan asked.
"Or
a food source, or for all we know, a perspective mate." Lang said.
"
I draw the line at letting the ship have sex with the first aliens that come
along," Briggs said. "How do we Ôdiscourage' them?"
"Good
question," Lang replied. "If we can find their wavelengths and then alter
the shield..."
"Or
maybe, we could just get out of their way?" Atlan suggested, looking at the
main view screen. "Look."
"What
am I looking for?" Briggs asked.
"Sorry,
forgot Atlantian vision is different from most terrans. " He tapped several
controls at his station and the image shifted, taking in a broader view of the
space outside the bell. It showed that the herd of energy balls was moving in
a set pattern, as though they were being pushed along by the current of a
river.
"It's
like we just stumbled into the flow of traffic." Briggs said. " James, see
if the thrusters have enough energy to edge us out of their path."
"Aye,
Sir," The Ensign replied.
The
Bell shuddered, then slowly began to move.
"Something
else there," Lang added. " It's not just that there's a Ôcurrent'. The
movements are .hurried. I don't think they are being pushed along, rather
they are, possibly, fleeing something."
"Some
kind of predator?" Briggs asked, checking her station's scanners.
"We
Atlantians have a saying," Atlan said. "There's always a bigger fish'."
"It's
not unheard of. If these energy pulses are a native life form, there would
have to be some form of ... food chain," Lang explained. " Maybe we should..."
"Move
very far away from it?" Atlan suggested, hopefully.
"I
was going to suggest investigating it, actually," Lang said.
"Of
course you were," Briggs said. "Because, we aren't in dire enough straits. Let's see if we can get
eaten."
"Actually,
I was thinking, that if we can follow the foodchain upwards, there is a chance
of encountering an intelligence, of sorts, and then we'd have a chance of
establishing communications and maybe learning more about where we are."
"Very
clever for such a pathetic species," Sol quipped, his large holograph head
re-appearing on the bridge. " Maybe we'll stumble upon some beings worth my
attention. Onward!"
"I
thought we purged him?!" Briggs exclaimed.
"He's
intergrated into every system," Lang explained. "We can't purge everything."
"You'd
miss me." Sol added.
"I
hate to interupt," James interupted. " but we are out of the path of those
energy creatures. Shield harmonics and integrety are back to normal."
"Good,
that'll give us five minutes to breath," Briggs said. "and figure out what
next."
"Anyone
interested in investigating an enormous energy disruption?" Sol asked,
smiling eagerly at the bridge crew.
"I
think I liked it better when he wanted us dead," Atlan muttered.
Briggs
tapped several controls at her console and walked over
to Lang at the science station.
"What's
he talking about and can you turn him off?" She asked, quietly.
"Working
on it, to both," Lang replied. His disk, disconnected from the console and
floated over to engineering. The ensign seated there scooted over, to get out
of his way.
"Um...
sir, the manuvering thrusters just fired." the Ensign said, pointing to a
monitor at his station.
Briggs
hurried over to join them. Sol's head appeared, peering eagerly over her
shoulder.
"What'd
you do?!" She accused the hologram.
"You
know you'd want to see what it is, eventually" Sol chided in reply. "Now is
as good as any time."
"No
it isn't!" Briggs snapped. "By Ôeventually', you might be implying Ôwhen
we actually have a ship that works!'. Lang?"
"Engineering
systems are handling the strain, but I think we should cut thrusters, conserve
power. Inertia will allow us to drift within scanning range of the energy
trace."
"You're
welcome," Sol said.
Briggs
sank into the nearest empty chair, and rested her head in her hands.
"I
was really very happy, not being captain, or in mortal danger," she muttered. "if we survive this, I will never complain about being bored, while on duty,
ever again."
"We've
got it in range," Atlan announced. "Oh cruk...."
"Now,
there's something you don't see every day!" Sol exclaimed.
"I
know, if I raise my head and open my eyes, I'm going to regret it," Briggs
muttered, raising her head and opening her eyes. " I hate being right."
The
scanner showed a massive, chaotic storm of energy. Waves and explosions raged
across space. Any of the energy spheres or nearby planetoids that came within
range of the storm were blasted to atoms.
At
the center of the storm were two figures, locked in mortal combat.
"Maximum
magnifacation," Lang announced, as the two tiny figures, on the screen, began
to enlarge.
One
of the figures was a red skinned alien being, with fan- shaped ears, and long,
thin arms, ending in three fingered hands. His torso was humanoid, but from
the waist down he had a muscular, snakish tail. His only article of clothing
was a long crimson cloak, with a high, stiff collar. His hands crackled with a
green energy, as he blasted at the other being.
The
red alien's opponent was a bald humanoid. He was split down the middle, his
skin and clothing colored in alternating shades of black and white. A nimbus
of energy swirled around the black and white figure, as he blasted back at the
alien.
The
Bell rocked as it drifted into the edge of the battle zone. The lights
flickered and several consoles overloaded.
"Any
idea what's going on?" Briggs asked. "Do we choose sides or run?"
"Energy
readings are off the scale!" James announced, shouting over the chaos.
"Shields
are holding." Atlan added. "but, just
barely."
"The
sentient with the tail is Krugarr," Sol said, in a lecturing tone, though the
volume was turned up. "He is the current sorcerer supreme of Earth. I'll
have to update my files, he was reported terminated in the battle between the
Defenders and the Badoon, on Europa..."
"So,
who's the other one?" Briggs said, returning to her station. She quickly
looked over the monitors and typed in instructions to the various acting
department heads.
"Unknown.
"Sol reluctantly admitted.
"So,
Krugarr is the Ôgood guy'? Atlan asked. "Do we help? Can we help?"
"Doubtful,"
Lang said. "Both of them are putting out levels of energy equeal to
a sun going nova. They are disrupting trhe very fabric of space around
them. Which is what's been disrupting our scanners."
A
blast of force from the black and white being caused the Bell to rock
violently and Krugarr staggered back. He threw a force bubble around himself,
in time to avoid being pelted with several asteroids.
"
I don't like it," Briggs muttered. " Krugarr seems to be only holding his
own. We need help and Krugarr
looks like he could use some too."
"True,"
Sol said. "Now, let's go leap in between the two god-like beings..."
"Hate
to say it," Atlan said. "But Sol's right. Even if we rammed the other one, it'd be like plankton attacking a
leviathan."
"Not
to mention the fact that we'd all be reduced to our component atoms," Sol
added.
"We
do have power in the weapons systems," Atlan said. "but even a full barrage
wouldn't do much more than irratate him. What happens once we've got his
attention?"
Briggs
ignored her crewmates, sitting with her chin perched on her fist, her eyes
focused on the view screen. Her forehead, wrinkled in thought, slowly smoothed
out and the corners of her mouth went up.
"Irratate
him," she muttered. "That might do it..."
"Do
what?" Atlan asked, looking around the bridge, feeling he'd missed
something.
"
Lang!" Briggs called. "What kind of shape is the communication array in?"
"What?
Communications?"
"Calling
for help?" Sol asked, moving, till he hovered at Briggs' shoulder again.
Briggs
ignored him and continued to work at the communication's system controls. She
paused to tap at a mini-data pad on her bracelet. Briggs then held it over for
Lang to see.
"Will
it work?" She asked.
"Possibly,"
The tiny scientist shrugged. "but there's no guarentee how effective it'll be."
"True,
but, at worse, it'll solve half our problems."
"You
carbon based life forms are so cute when you're
acting clever," Sol smirked. " Especially when you do that Ôif I
talk vague, the incredibly clever AI construct won't know what I'm up to'
trick. Now, what holodrama did I see that used in?"
Sol
frowned as the crew continued to ignore him, going about their tasks. Atlan
keep monitoring the work and security crews around the ship. Lang plugged his
travel disk into the engineering console and began coordinating systems.
Briggs studied the mini-screen on her wrist and compared it to the monitor in
front of her. The large, holo-graphic head blipped around the room, moving
from station to station.
"Oh,
now this part is clever," he announced, nodding. "Since the Bell's weapons
systems would be as useless as attacking an elephant with a paperclip, you use
the communication array to send a transmission burst. I approve."
"What?"
Atlan asked, looking up from his console. "Is that the plan? Will that work?
How do we know it'll understand what we say?"
"
It doesn't matter if he understands or if the burst is gibberish," Briggs
explained, glaring at Sol, for blurting the plan out. "The translator works
using a psi-link. As long as that the bald one has a brain, the comm-burst
will reach him."
"And
our dear acting captain is hoping that the burst will be enough of a
distraction, that Krugarr will gain the upper hand and then, in gratitude,
magically send us all home." Sol said.
"We
send a massive data dump, through the array, and it should tickle his brain to
the point of distraction," Briggs explained. "The bigger the data load, the
better the chance it'll work. I don't know about the gratitude part, but
chances are that Krugarr will either help or let us go on our way."
"What
kind of data can we load the transmission with that'll be big enough?" Atlan
asked. "We'd need gigi-reams of data for it to...? Ah, I see."
Sol
blipped till he hovered inches away from Briggs face.
"Now,
you've done it. Poor Mer-sapien's aren't capable of this kind of higher
thought. You'll hurt his feelings and he's now forced to pretend he has an
inkling of what's going on. Why don't you tell him what kind of data
transmission you'll need."
"What
are you going on about?" Briggs snapped. There was a hint of anxiety in her
voice.
"Ohh,
let me then!" Sol said, grinning maliciously. He blipped out, reappearing
next to Atlan. "The sad truth is, Captain Briggs has made one of those
difficult decsions, that make command so lonely. In order to qualify as a tap
on the shoulder, the data dump will have to be enormous. A level of data that
can only be found in our systems mainframes. So, for this scheme to succeed,
we'll be forced to sacrifice essential data files. Now, of course, we have no
idea what we'll encounter after this battle. So, anything she chooses to
sacrifce, may prove to be crucial later. Oh, the agony of choice."
"Sol,
you are an arrogant, patronizing cruk head," Briggs said. "and I'm not
going to miss you one bit."
"Miss
me...?" Sol muttered. "Why would... no!"
"Tell
me, Sol," Briggs drawled. "What enormous, non-essential data files could we
scarfice? What kind of data burst would serve as the biggest possible
distraction we could generate? Let me think..."
"You
wouldn't dare!" Sol bellowed. "My systems are..."
"
Either purged or diverted away from operations," Briggs explained. "Did you
think we're doing that just becasuse you're a pretenious chatter mouth?
Professor Lang...?"
"Data
burst transmission, in progress," Lang replied.
"No!
I won't allow this!" Sol exclaimed. " I am Sol! I ammmmmmmm.....!Ó"
"No
longer our problem," Briggs said, as the hologram faded away.
"Transmission
enroute to target," Lang said.
"All
right," Briggs snapped. " All systems ready. Power to shields and thrusters."
Outside
the bell, the battle raged. Krugarr hurled balls of mystical energy at his
black and white opponent, only to have them swatted aside. Darts of green
energy flew from the bald being's fingers,
slicing into Krugarr's cloak and the flesh beneath. The alien mage
staggered, throwing a hasty and flimsy looking shield up.
It
shattered with the first blast. Krugarr encased himself in a bubble of blue
energy, constantly adding new layers as his black and white foe continued
attack. The force bubble grew
smaller and inside it, Krugarr curled up into a ball, his fingers still
moving, still casting spells. Blasts of power ate away at the sphere, shaking
it like a terrier with a captured rat.
The
black and white being raised his hands, crackling with energy. Suddenly he
stopped, peering about him. He lowered his hands and paused in mid-attack.
"I
think it's working," Atlan said. "Do you want weapons powered up?"
"Go
ahead," Briggs nodds, intently watching the viewscreen. "but no energy
syphoning. I want shields kept at full strength. Just in case."
The
black and white being, continues to glance around in confusion. While he does,
Krugarr stays huddled up in his sphere, his three fingered hands rapidly
moving in a series of mystical gestures. Suddenly, space around the two begins
to warp and swirl. A vortex opens up in the fabric of space, right below the
bald man. Even in the void of space, Briggs swears she can hear a low moaning
sound, coming from the vortex, as it spins, sucking in matter and energy.
The
black and white being flails about, still struggling with his confusion, as
well as trying to fight free of the vortex. The more energy he pours into it,
the stronger its pull seems to get. He twists and struggles for several more
moments, blasting desperately, before the vortex swallows him and begins to
close up.
"We
did it!" Briggs announces. "Status?"
"
Some minor hull damage from those last energy bursts," Lang replied. " otherwise,
we're intact."
"Good,
now we can see to repairs and..." Briggs started.
"Ah,
captain...?" Atlan said. "Scanners detect no sign of the other being,
either. He's... gone."
"Krugarr?"
Briggs muttered. "I wonder...?"
"Now,"
said a voice, right behind Briggs. " who might you be?"
Briggs
turned, finding herself face to face with the reigning master of the mystical
arts. His red skin had a light
film of moisture, giving it the appearance of wet plastic. He had no mouth,
and his yellow eyes were pupil-less.
Briggs
found his gaze disconcerting, as if he wasn't just looking into her eyes, but
her mind and soul as well.
"I'm...
uh... acting Captain Miuiki Briggs, of the colony ship..."
"Ah,
humans. Curious that you should have found your way into this pocket
dimension."
"We
were drawn through a wormhole," Lang explained.
"Yes,
wormhole," Briggs added. She shook her head and broke eye contact with
Krugarr. "I hope our interference proved to be helpful, during your fight..."
"As
you have no idea how to get home and are hoping I'll be suitable greatful and
assist you?" Krugarr prompted.
"Um...
well, something like that, yes."
"Thought
as much," Krugarr nodded. "I'll see what I can do...."
The
alien slowly faded away.
"Any
idea what we do now?" Atlan asked.
"Wait
and see, I guess," Briggs replied. "At least it'll give us time to get the
bell repaired and... what's wrong with the viewscreen?"
The
bridge crew all looked up at the screen to see, what appeared to be the space
outside the Bell twisting and expanding.
"Another
dimensional rift?" Atlan suggested. "Like the wormhole?"
"Looks
more like the dimension we're in is getting... bigger?" Ensign James
muttered.
"Actually,
we are getting smaller," Lang said, flying over to Briggs station. "look at
this." A minature tractor beam shot out of his disk and adjusted the
controls.
"the
Bell is shrinking?" Briggs exclaimed.
"The
bell, and everyone and thing in it," Lang replied." It's an amazing display
of mass decreasing. A uniform
distribution of..."
"Some
other time," Briggs interupted. "What we need
to... gahhh!"
Briggs
and the rest of the crew flinched back as the enormous head of Krugarr filled
the main view screen.
"Everyone
comfortable?" The alien asked. "I should have you back in your home space in
several moments."
A
giant, three fingered hand reached out and gently placed the Bell in a cloak
pocket.
"Well,
this is slightly humiliating," Briggs muttered.
"Yeah,
but we're going home," Atlan told her.
With
an expanse of red cloth filling the screen, the bridge crrew felt a hum
running through the Bell, as they returned to the Sol3.*
(
Which we saw at the end of the last Cyberspace story-Trav)
Next
Issue: We still need to rescue Dark Angel if we want to tie up all the loose
ends from the old series.
Authur's
note: Well, I'm done for now, with Cyberspace 3000. Hope people had fun.
While both my issues turned out a bit 'Star Treky', I also hope that I
captured enough of the spirit of the Cyberspace comic.
I
had fun bouncing ideas around with Dave and hope I didn't drive him too
crazy. His part of this little trilogy delivers lots of action and wraps up
some more of the plot threads left by the comic's very abrupt demise.
Maybe someday we'll get around to dealing with those killer bugs and that time warp in the cargo hold.