Schools of tropical fish lazily drifted past an enormous, metallic-looking structure hidden beneath a crescent-shaped coral reef.
“At this moment, you’re looking at Center Neptune, monitoring the galaxy for alien invaders from outer space.” a robot inside the structure said to an invisible audience, “Come inside, and you’ll find a very irritated robot!”
Normally, the lights on the various control panels would flash in patterns that only the robot could glean information from. Today, however, the lights were flashing obscenities to 7-Zark-7 in binary code.
“I’m trying to deal with a malfunction in the reference voltage generator of the synchronous image amplifier. . . I think.” Zark continued addressing nobody in particular while his robot dog, 1-Rover-1, watched from a safe distance.
“. . . Which means in layman’s terms,” Zark said, “NOTHING is working right! And at a time when I’m practically alone in the nerve center.”
Rover gave a small, annoyed, electronic sniff.
“The entire G-Force team – including Security Chief Anderson – is heading to our mountain headquarters for a few days. And now THIS has to happen!”
Zark began pacing the floor. “Right now, that evil fiend Zoltar could be planning to . . . well, who knows what! And I wouldn’t know a thing about it!”
A few console buttons spat sparks at Zark.
“Yip yap yap!” Rover’s electronic voice grated the air.
“Yes, 1-Rover-1, I know you’re here.” Zark replied, “But, quite frankly, you’re not programmed for electronic repairs.
“And to make matters worse still,” the robot continued, “my FOSDIC has been flaccid since this whole situation started!”
“Yap yap.”
“Oh, you’re right, Rover.” Zark sighed, “That last bit WAS too much information. I certainly wouldn’t want Susan to find out about it!”
He paused for a nanosecond as a thought occurred to him.
“Come to think of it, I wonder if you COULD be adapted to act as a kind of electronic repair dog. . . how would you like to start working for a living?”
Without a sound, Rover walked over to Zark’s left side and raised his right hind leg.
“You know,” Zark said in an unusually cold tone, “THAT is very rude.”
1-Rover-1 waddled away.
Zark’s cape fluttered as if it was supporting his weight as he levitated and floated over to the main console. He silently lowered to the floor before touching a couple of buttons.
“Oh wonderful!” he chirped, “It appears the Instrumental Transcommunicator is working again!”
* * * * *
The nighttime city can be both thrilling and soothing by the use of light. The thrills, in part, come from the hints of the exotic and mysterious found in the way light is manipulated in the different districts. A soothing atmosphere can be felt simply by watching the smooth, uninterrupted flow of traffic lights going to and from the city across the bridge.
“I always enjoy watching this city at night.” Zark said, “If it weren’t for G-Force, Spectra would steal this gem in a heartbeat!”
In one of the arteries leading out of the city was a car so streamlined that it looked like it belonged in a science fiction cartoon.
“Well, it’s good to see everything’s going according to schedule, in spite of all the malfunctions!” Zark chirped, “And, even though this isn’t Jason’s favorite car, he’ll still be on top of his game as he drives Security Chief Anderson to their destination!”
G-Force’s second had been checking the rearview mirrors far more than usual. “I don’t like it.” he finally said.
“Oh dear.” Zark sighed, “The audio’s malfunctioning. That doesn’t sound like Jason at all.”
The back-seat passenger leaned forward. “What’s the matter, Dirk?”
“Oh my!” Zark cried, “I think MY audio sensors are malfunctioning! Did the Chief just call Jason ‘Dirk’?!”
“A strange-looking car has been on our tail for quite a while.” Dirk replied.
Zark pulled off a panel under the console and peered inside. “Maybe if I could find the malfunction myself. . .” he muttered.
While Zark was occupied, Dirk’s passenger quickly glanced out the back window to see a three-wheeled car that looked even more like a science fiction movie prop following them.
“Well, there’s one way to find out if they really are following us!” Dirk proclaimed, “Brace yourself, Dr. Brighthead!”
“Dr. Brighthead?!” Zark sounded both surprised and puzzled as he continued to scrutinize the console’s interior. After a couple of nanoseconds he added, “Maybe this isn’t a malfunction. Maybe Zoltar’s found a way to brainwash G-Force! That would explain the annoying backbeat that’s been in the air!”
1-Rover-1 wandered back into the control room. He was halfway across the floor when he looked up at the monitors.
“YAP YAP YAP!”
“Huh? What was that, Rover?”
“YAP YAP YAP!”
Zark straightened up and looked at the monitors in time to see the G-Force car soar off the bridge and into the river below.
“OH MY HEAVENS!” Zark’s voice reached a pitch and volume never heard before. “I should have warned them! I. . . I . . . I-I. . . mal-mal-malfunction! Malfunction!”
By this time, Rover had reached Zark. The little robot dog stood on his hind legs and, with his right front “paw”, tapped a button hidden in Zark’s back. Zark let out a buzz before shutting down. Exactly five nanoseconds later, Zark rebooted.
“Ah, thank you, 1-Rover-1.” Zark said with a simulated sigh of relief. “Now let’s assess the situation.”
In the monitor, Zark saw that the car had split into two segments: the section that made the car street-legal continued to drift down to the river bed while the other section – a mini-submarine – sped away.
An artificial rose, magnetically drawn to the street-legal segment, attached itself near a wheel well and exploded.
“Dirk, how did you know that rose was really a bomb?” Dr. Brighthead asked.
“Uh, I guess it was just instinct.” Dirk replied, though he didn’t sound like he was being completely honest.
“Whew! There’s one thing I must say about Jason,” Zark said, “even though he’s a bit of a hothead, he has moments of clarity at just the right moments!”
“Yip yip.”
“Yes, Rover, I realize he was called ‘Dirk’ just now! I don’t know why these anomalies are occurring, but I’m not going to simply accept them as some sort of new reality!”
Zark paced again as he continued, “Unfortunately, I can’t devote as much attention to this strange happening as I’d like. If I didn’t monitor the team, we could have a real disaster on our hands!”
* * * * *
Dr. Brighthead entered the meeting room with Dirk close behind.
“Dr. Brighthead!” Ace cried as the rest of G-Force snapped to attention.
“I’m just fine,” the doctor said, “thanks to Dirk’s quick thinking and driving ability.”
Dirk kicked the door shut and assumed his usual position of leaning against a wall with his arms and legs crossed. “That girl was some driver,” he grumbled, “but if I’d been in my G-2 unit, I could’ve got her.”
There was no doubting that – Dirk and the G-2 could have been soul mates, if that was possible. He had such a closeness to his car that he had even secretly tried to find a way to bring the G-2 into his trailer so he could sleep with it like a four-year-old would his teddy bear.
“I’m sure it was one of Galactor’s assassins trying to get to Dr. Brighthead.” Dirk added.
“Sounds right, Dirk.” Ace agreed, “We’ll have to keep an eye on him around the clock.”
“Sure.” Aggie concurred, “Someone’s got to be with him all the time. He can’t be left alone.”
“Maybe we could microchip him.” Hootie said, “You know, like they do a puppy you get from an animal shelter!”
“Yeah!” Peewee got more excited as he thought of the possibilities. “And we could put one of those special collars on him and put up invisible fencing all over the place!”
While G-Force spoke, Dr. Brighthead trudged over to his desk and sat down. He closed his eyes, let out a small sigh, and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“. . .We’ve got to stay close to him and wait for Galactor’s next move.” Ace had been saying.
“Wait?! For how long?” Dirk raised his voice in frustration, “I think we should get them before they get the doctor! We’ve got to stop them once and for all!” He was getting more and more agitated with each word he spoke. “We can’t hide from them – we’ve got to get them before they get us!”
“What do you mean, Dirk?” Peewee asked.
“Yeah. You’re gettin’ carried away about this.” Hootie added while trying to keep himself from revealing too much of his concern, “What’s the matter?”
“I’ve had it with Galactor’s treachery!” Dirk was barely keeping his anger in check. “If you want to sit around like rabbits, go ahead – but without me!” He let out a derisive snort and stormed out.
“Hey, Dirk!” Ace called.
“I dunno.” Hootie said, “It seems like there’s something Dirk’s not telling us.”
“Aw, he’s just sore ‘cause he couldn’t take the girl out on a date!” Peewee replied. Something else occurred to him, so he quickly added, “And what the heck does he mean by ‘sit around like rabbits’? Hasn’t he ever seen Bugs Bunny?!”
* * * * *
Five Devil Stars stood at attention as they faced the back of a tall, swivelling chair in the control room of an airship.
“What is one thing Star One should have done before returning to base?” the emotionless voice of their leader asked.
“CYA, Mistress!” four Devil Stars replied in unison.
“Mistress,” Star One replied, “I saw the explosion – “
“Did you see any blood or body parts?”
“No, Mistress.”
“Did you hear that ‘Angel’ song by Sarah McLachlan come from an unseen source?”
“No, Mistress.”
“Then how could you be certain that Dr. Brighthead was indeed dead?”
Silence.
“Years ago, another Star One failed to eliminate Dirk Daring’s family with that same type of flower bomb.” the commander said, “She promptly learned that neither Galactor nor I tolerate failure.”
“Mistress,” Star One said after an awkward pause, “I failed because of the quick reaction of the G-Force driver. But, if you permit me one more chance, I’ll make up for my blunder.” She almost added, “Please? Pretty please? With sugar on top?” but decided against it at the last second.
“He is now under heavy guard.” their leader replied as she combed her unusually long hair with her fingers.
“I’ll go in and get him.” Star One answered without hesitation.
“You’ll have your chance, Star One.” the Devil Star leader said as she swivelled her chair around to face her troops, “I have a plan. I’ll lure him away from his guards very soon.”
* * * * *
“There are so many things that make no sense to me, Rover.” Zark said as he paced the floor, “Why have members of G-Force started going by different names? Why are their voices so different? How did Keyop manage to get rid of his verbal tics?
“Mind you,” he quickly added, “I AM happy about that last part! And what is with that annoying backbeat that’s following G-Force everywhere?”
“Yip yap yap.”
“What do you mean you think I’m becoming the poster-bot for OCD?”
* * * * *
A young woman with severely short blonde hair let out a moan. She opened her eyes and found herself in the passenger’s seat of a stranger’s car.
“Your car wrecked at the track. I managed to get you away before it exploded.” the driver explained.
She looked over to him and found herself riveted by his eyes – she never knew a human being could have such intense eyes.
“You’re lucky.” he said, “You seem to be all right, but I’d better get you to a doctor right away.”
After a few moments of getting her bearings and learning a little bit about her rescuer, the young woman said, “There’s no need for a doctor. I’m perfectly all right.”
“Alright, then,” Dirk replied, “where would you like me to drop you off?”
A short while later, Dirk pulled up in front of a high-rise apartment building.”
“This is it!” the young woman declared. She got out and, instead of shutting the door, leaned back in.
“Um,” she said, “will you be at the track next Tuesday?”
“I might be.” Dirk had a certain glimmer in his eyes.
“I’ll be there at three. Why don’t we race?”
“You’ve got a race!” Dirk’s heart started racing a bit as he answered, “I’ll see you then.”
The young woman shut the door and walked in front of the car as she headed toward the building’s entrance.
Dirk finally noticed that they had been watched by a woman with unusually long blonde hair standing to the side of the entrance. Her uncomfortably severe eyes had locked onto Dirk the instant he pulled up to the building. Her lips were parted just enough to make her look like a panting jaguar about to pounce on an unsuspecting rabbit.
“I wonder why she’s staring at me.” he said to himself. He shrugged it off with a muttered “Oh well.” and drove away.
Later, Dirk reentered the meeting room to find Dr. Brighthead and the rest of G-Force gone. “Where could they have gone, and why didn’t they tell me?” he asked himself.
“They must think I’ve gone crazy.” he answered. “I don’t see why.” he said to himself, “It’s not like I talk to myself. . . much. Okay, at least I don’t argue with myself! . . . too often.” He heaved a sigh before one more thought came to him. “Okay,” he proclaimed, “I never get into fistfights with myself!” But then he remembered the incredible black eye he’d given himself a couple of months ago. “Damn.” he muttered.
His eyes were suddenly drawn to the feather shiruken sticking in the map on the far wall. He crossed the room and saw the feather was pointing to the D-Zone on the Transcontinental Railway.
“Okay.” Dirk said as he pulled the shiruken out. He now knew what he was going to do.
* * * * *
“I know this might sound heartless,” 7-Zark-7 said, “but I’m glad he got left behind!”
“Yip yap?” 1-Rover-1 asked.
“Well, there have been many times I wanted to go on missions with G-Force, but they’ve never thought of me once! Now that Jason’s been left, he knows how I feel!”
“Yip yap yip yap?”
“Well. . . I think I could hold up well in a fight. I DO have some hand-to-hand combat techniques.” The robot made some awkward karate chop-style motions in the air.
“Yip yap yip yip yap yip!”
“What’s that supposed to mean – I’d be perfect if they want Zoltar to laugh himself to death?!”
* * * * *
Dr. Brighthead, Ace, Aggie, Peewee, and Hootie stood on the platform the Transcontinental Railway station in D-Zone.
“Are you sure you want to do this, Dr. Brighthead?” Ace asked.
“I really don’t have a choice, Ace.” the doctor replied, “Commander Todd wouldn’t have called if the situation at our undersea gardens wasn’t serious. As you know, thousands of people rely on those gardens for their food; they face a major disaster if something can’t be done about the red tide.”
“Still, couldn’t we take you in the Phoenix,” Ace countered, “especially after the attempt on your life earlier?”
“The Phoenix would draw Galactor’s attention.” Dr. Brighthead replied, “It would be safer for me to meet one of Commander Todd’s associates here and travel to the gardens incognito.”
“But –“
“It’s settled, Ace.”
Ace pulled his teammates aside. “Well,” he said, “it looks like I’ll be going with Dr. Brighthead.” He then took on an even more serious tone. “You know what you’ve got to do.”
“Dr. Brighthead?” a woman’s voice called from a few yards away. Both Ace and the doctor turned to see a woman with nearly waist-length blonde hair pulled into a ponytail approaching them. Her uncomfortably severe eyes had locked onto them. Her lips were parted just enough to make her look like a panting jaguar about to pounce on a couple of unsuspecting rabbits.
“I’m Dr. Tomkins.” she said once she was closer, “I’m very pleased to meet you. Professor Todd sent me to meet you.”
“I’m very pleased to meet you.” Dr. Brighthead replied, sounding pleasantly surprised.
“Oh wow, she’s scary!” Peewee cried without hesitation, “I hope Ace and the doctor don’t take a shower on the way! She looks like a Norma Bates!” He made a repeated stabbing motion as he said that.
“Stop that!” Aggie scolded, “She’ll hear you!”
Ace edged in closer to his mentor. “All set, Doctor?”
“Why yes, Ace, I’m ready to go. Let’s get on board.”
“This should be an interesting train wreck – er, I mean trip.” Dr. Tomkins said to herself as she watched her target and the young man she assumed was his bodyguard board the supertrain.
The train pulled away from the station a few minutes later. Hootie, Aggie, and Peewee watched from the platform.
“Boy, the new supertrain is really something!” Peewee said with a forced enthusiasm; it was as if Ted Turner was standing there with a shotgun pointed at the kid’s head.
“Yeah, I know,” Hootie said, sounding slightly annoyed, “it uses magnetism and can go up to 500 miles per hour. I got that.
“What I DON’T get,” he added, “is how it’s supposed to work when it’s also pulling the world’s tallest train car.”
“What do you mean, Hootie?” Peewee asked.
“Near the back of the train is a car that’s 138 stories tall.” Hootie answered, “That’s not very aerodynamic, to say the least!”
Peewee thought for a minute and then looked up at the ceiling. “And how in the heck did they get it in here, anyway?”
“Peewee, if you could please get your mind off of impossible engineering for a few minutes, we’ve got work to do!” Aggie cried before she ran off to tend to an unmentioned task.
“Right!” Peewee replied, following her.
“Me too!” Hootie added as he ran after the others.
* * * * *
The train glided smoothly along its track. In a car near the front, Dr. Tomkins silently sat facing Dr. Brighthead and Ace. The young man pretended to doze.
“Well, Doctor, “ Brighthead finally said, “do you –“
Two men stormed down the aisle. One looked like Paul Newman while the other could have been Richard Chamberlain’s clone.
“Simmons, why won’t you let me know what changes you made to my design?” the guy who looked like Paul Newman shouted, “Did you cut corners on the wiring again?”
Simmons spun around to face the other man. “Look, Doug,” he replied, “all I’ve done is cut the unnecessary expense. Nothing bad’s going to happen to Traincar Tower because of that!”
“Like hell! You put people’s lives in danger when you mess with the wiring that way!”
Simmons turned and stomped away. The other man was close behind. Their shouted argument quickly became unintelligible before they exited the compartment.
“Um, what I started to say, Doctor,” Brighthead said after a small, awkward cough, “do you have the data for me to study?”
Tomkins kept her eyes on Ace – was he pretending to be asleep through all this, or did he have a really bad case of narcolepsy?
“May I ask who your companion is?” she asked Dr. Brighthead.
Just then, two conductors raced into the compartment, one from each end. They met by Ace and the two doctors.
“What’s happening?” the conductor from the front of the train asked.
“There’s a fire on the 81st floor of Traincar Tower!”
“Crap!”
“A lot of people are trapped in the Promenade Room on the top floor!”
“Crap!”
“Some people tried to use the elevator to escape, but they got badly burned!”
“Crap!”
“Can’t you say anything besides ‘crap!’?” Tomkins shouted, glaring at the conductor from the front of the train.
“Get a team together.” the conductor from the front, ignoring Tomkins, told the one from the back, “See about evacuating the trapped passengers. I’ll radio ahead and tell them at the next stop to have the fire brigade ready.”
“Right.” the second conductor replied. They rushed back the way each of them came.
Tomkins took a few slow, deep breaths to calm herself.
“Is it safe for me to give you the information?” she finally asked, giving a slight nod toward Ace.
“Why, yes, of course!” Brighthead assured Tomkins, “This is Ace Goodheart.”
At that moment, the door leading to the rear of the train opened. A man with his left arm ablaze ran in, screaming the most horrific scream his voice could muster.
“Oh, for the love of –“ Tomkins muttered.
A split second later, a woman followed the man in. “Donnie, you ain’t gonna fool nobody!” she cried.
As the man dashed by Ace and the two doctors, their sinuses were attacked by the smell of the jelly stunt people coat themselves with when they create the “burning man” effect.
The woman paused by them, gasping. “Stupid idiot.” she wheezed, “He thinks he can con the company out of some big bucks!” She coughed and then tottered off to catch Donnie.
Ace waited a couple of minutes before excusing himself to head toward the rear of the train. The fire seemed to be a more immediate danger, plus Ace was beginning to feel irritated by a strong “puppy love” vibe Dr. Brighthead had been sending ever since they met Dr. Tomkins.
“I feel so much safer with him around.” Ace heard Tomkins say when he was just a few steps away. Was she being sarcastic?
She watched Ace go through the compartment door, drew a slow, deep breath, and said, “Well, Doctor, I’d better get the data before something else happens.”
She stopped in between cars and quickly glanced around to make sure she wasn’t going to be interrupted. She spoke softly into a pin on her lapel, “Devil Star Squadron, get ready. . .”
Ace had gone through two compartments and was about to enter the third when he stopped and looked out at the rocky, desolate landscape racing by the window. “You know,” he said to himself, “this would be a perfect place for a Galactor attack.”
As if on cue, a Devil Star airship came up alongside the train. As he watched, five rocket cars launched from the saucer and zipped ahead of the train.
“Attackers!” Ace gasped before he dropped to the floor. He had been so focused on the airship that he failed to notice Tomkins come in behind him. It was almost too easy for her to draw her pistol and, with its butt, strike him in the back of his head.
She spun the gun on her finger a couple of times before gripping it normally. She was about to take aim when a green-uniformed henchman with a machine gun came through the door of the compartment Ace was going to enter.
“Ma’am,” he said, “an unexpected event has occurred.”
“Is it the Traincar Tower fire?”
“Uh, yes, ma’am.” He was surprised she already knew.
“Ignore it. Have the rest of your men take up their positions and rejoin me here.”
The henchman saluted and left.
* * * * *
A good distance ahead, the five Devil Star rocket cars came to a stop on a bridge over a deep canyon. Acting as one, they hopped out of their cars, and rappelled a short way down the trellis. They set explosive charges on the trellis and clamored back up to the top of the bridge. A fuse was lit. They hurried back to their cars and sped away.
A few seconds later, Peewee’s mecha flew over to the trellis. The front yawned open, and he leaned out.
“Ace was right!” Peewee proclaimed, “He said they’d probably try to blow up the bridge, and they are!”
He let his bolas fly. They hit the fuse and arced back to Peewee. He snatched them out of the air and then watched the fuse for a moment. Satisfied he’d done the job, he pulled himself back inside the mecha, closed the front, and flew away.
The fuse sputtered and started burning again.
* * * * *
The henchman returned to Tomkins within minutes of receiving his orders. He promptly saluted her.
“Prepare your weapon and aim –“ she started to say.
“Oh, thank you, ma’am! I was hoping you’d let me shoot that guy!” the goon cried, pointing the barrel of his machine gun toward Ace’s head.
“That’s not what I was going to say.” Icicles hung from her every word.
“I’m sorry, ma’am. Of course you’d like to shoot him first –“
“Nobody’s shooting Ace Goodheart.”
In spite of his mask, the henchman’s confused expression was obvious.
“Do you have any idea how hard it is to get good guy splatter out of this fabric?!” Tomkins snapped, gesturing at her outfit.
The goon dumbly shook his head.
“Anyway,” she sighed, “he’ll die a nasty death soon enough. In the meantime, help me shoot through the floor and walls to disconnect the rest of the train. And if a single round even musses his hair,” she growled, “I’ll have your hide!”
Even though he wondered how she’d be able to tell if Ace’s hair got any messier, the henchman nodded his understanding of the order.
It didn’t take long. On her signal, they paused when the only thing holding the two train segments together was a thick bundle of cables. Tomkins watched with anticipation as the wind whipped through Ace’s hair. An arm slowly slid over the rough edge and dangled above the rail. . .
Ace’s eyes snapped open and he let out a startled cry as he instantly came to. Tomkins gave him a solid kick, but he managed to scramble onto the opposite ledge. He held on with all he had – although there weren’t any wheels to fall under, hitting the train rail at such a high speed was still a messy death.
“Doctor, huh?” Ace spat over his shoulder at Tomkins.
The woman laughed at him. “I’m a loyal follower of Galactor!”
“And water is wet, and the sky is blue –“
“You, Dr. Brighthead, and G-Force are finished!” she said with a serpentine laugh. She turned and gestured for the goon to follow her into the front of the train.
“Ma’am,” the henchman asked, “shouldn’t we watch him and make sure he dies?”
“You’re fairly new, aren’t you?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“The handbook clearly states that we mustn’t stick around to watch a hero die, especially when there’s obviously no hope for escape. When we return to base, you must memorize the book.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“But before then, I’ll allow you to come back here immediately after the mission to watch the buzzards pick apart what’s left of Ace Goodheart’s carcass.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” the goon replied as he followed her into the compartment.
“Why you thugs! You won’t get away with this!” Dr. Brighthead cried as three green-uniformed henchmen pointed unusually large machine guns at him, “G-Force will see to that!”
Tomkins laughed as she came upon the scene – she’d laughed more in the last five minutes than over the previous month. “Don’t be so sure, Doctor!” she said, “You see, I have G-Force right where I want them.”
The train passed over the bridge. The explosives detonated in time to sever the bundle of cables that held the two train segments together as well as severely damage three of the cars on the rear portion. Needless to say, this also doomed the people trapped in the burning Traincar Tower, who had been forgotten by everyone else on the train.
The undamaged section of the train sped along as though nothing had happened. Tomkins sat in front of Dr. Brighthead.
“I hope you’re enjoying the ride.” she said, “It’s the last you’ll ever take. If I wanted to, I could have you eliminated right –“ Something in Dr. Brighthead’s expression caught her attention. She gave him a good, hard look. Then realization came.
“Did you honestly think there could be a FUTURE between us?!” She could hardly believe what she just said.
“Well. . .”
“The thought of ME dating YOU!” Tears ran down her face as she laughed harder than she’d ever laughed before. “Maybe I should kill you now, just to put you out of your stupid misery!”
She raised a staying hand before any goon could fire.
“But that would be too hasty.” she said as she got her breathing back under control and dried her eyes. “You have important information I need.”
“There is no way I will give Galactor or his flunkies any information.” Dr. Brighthead crossed his arms in defiance.
“Tough talk for a man in your position.” Tomkins coldly replied as the train entered the tunnel, “But we’ll see how tough you are when you’re on an Galactian torture rack. Then you’ll tell us all we want.”
“Told you she was kinda kinky.” one henchman whispered to another.
“NEVER!” Dr. Brighthead barked to Tomkins.
The lights blinked out.
“Huh?” Tomkins looked nervously about.
The end of the tunnel came into view. She kept her eyes on the ceiling when the lights blinked back on. “I see my men haven’t mastered all the workings of this train.” She returned her gaze to Dr. Brighthead’s seat.
Tomkins found herself staring into the G-Force commander’s visor.
And he was pissed.
She jumped up and then leapt over the back of her seat. The Eagle stood.
“We meet again, ‘Doctor’.” he said, “But this time it will be on MY terms!”
She started to run down the aisle, but he stepped into her path before she could go more than three steps.
“Shoot him!” she bellowed to her soldiers.
“Go ahead.” Ace calmly replied, “You’re in the crossfire.”
“Don’t shoot him!” she bellowed to her soldiers.
The nearest goon took a swing a Ace with the butt of his machine gun.
Ace disabled the entourage with almost effortlessly. He sent the goons sliding out the back door of the train car a pair at a time.
* * * * *
Aggie had been chasing the Devil Stars ever since they had set the explosives at the previous bridge.
It didn’t take long for her to catch up with the rear two and send them spinning into the rocky landscape beside the train track. She didn’t even blink as the rocket cars exploded.
The remaining two rocket cars sped along the track, keeping just ahead of Aggie no matter what she did to catch up with them.
But when the Devil Stars reached a low-set bridge spanning a deep river, they stopped. They were a measured distance from each other, and they angled their cars across the rail. Aggie came to a stop just before the bridge, cautiously watching the Galactor agents.
In unison, the rocket car canopies opened. The duo stood, made a rude gesture to Aggie, and then exploded with their vehicles. Chunks of railing, bridge, and rocket cars flew into the air and sank into the river.
“They blew themselves up just to destroy the track!” Aggie cried to herself in surprise, “We were right – they were cyborgs, not humans!”
“That doesn’t sound right!” Zark proclaimed to his invisible audience.
“Yip yap.” Rover’s electronic voice sounded slightly flat.
“No, I wasn’t referring to Princess’ voice.” Zark replied, “I was referring to the ‘cyborg’ comment. I think I’ll look that up.”
In spite of the standoff a short time ago, Tomkins managed to escape the train compartment and was now standing on the roof of the train. Ace was close behind.
The wind whipping about them didn’t take away the woman’s manic laughter.
The Devil Star airship had moved closer to the train and, more specifically, Tomkins.
“Dr. Brighthead will soon be trapped at the bottom of the river!” Tomkins crowed, “He’ll sink to the bottom in this train and there’s nothing you can do about it!”
With a flourish, Tomkins leapt up into the entrance that had opened in the bottom of the airship. The entryway promptly sealed itself, and the saucer spun away into the distant sky.
Ace glanced over his shoulder to see Aggie on her motorbike get off the rail an instant before the train arrived. His stomach knotted, though, when he saw the river ahead on fire.
That was all the time he had to do anything.
A giant splash.
Enormous bubbles broke the surface of the water.
And then nothing.
Even 7-Zark-7 was speechless.
Peewee’s mecha landed beside Aggie. They both breathlessly watched the spot the train entered the river.
Still nothing.
Then the Phoenix broke the water’s surface and floated on top. Beneath the transparent dome were Hootie, Ace, and Dr, Brighthead.
“Whew!” Hootie sighed, “That was close! If I heard one more ‘Poseidon Adventure’ joke from those two . . .”
“Everyone’s fine.” Aggie said once she started breathing again, “The plan worked.”
“But isn’t there a Devil Star still out there somewhere?” Peewee asked.
* * * * *
A single Devil Star rocket car sped along the train rail, well away from the wreck meant to kill Dr. Brighthead.
Star One didn’t have specific plans, but she was determined to make her commander forget her earlier blunder. And what would make the commander happier than the head of a G-Force member? . . . well, all five would be superb, but she knew that would be overreaching.
“Oh.” she said, slightly surprised. She’d been so deep in thought that she almost didn’t notice there was an obstruction on the track ahead. A moment later she realized it was the G-2.
The Condor, on the other hand, was well aware of the Devil Star vehicle the instant it breached the horizon. He glared at the rocket car with a blend of hatred and anticipation.
Star One found the attitude her enemy was projecting to be disconcerting; he sat on top of his mecha in a relaxed position, yet he could decapitate a dozen Galactor agents before anybody blinked. He held a feather shiruken in his teeth.
The rocket car lifted up off the track. The canopy opened. Star One stood, holding a rose in her fingertips.
“Yeah, go ahead and throw that flower bomb.” Dirk said with the shiruken still in his teeth, “It’ll be the last thing you’ll ever do!”
She tossed the rose.
In a fluid gesture, he removed the feather from his teeth and sent it toward the rose. As soon as the shiruken left his fingertips, he stopped moving; he had frozen in place while retaining his relaxed attitude.
The feather pierced the rose and carried it back to Star One, embedding itself in a spot just above her heart.
The rocket car flew over the G-2, but the Condor still didn’t move.
The mask fell away from Star One’s face, revealing the face of the young woman Dirk rescued earlier.
“Now I have failed the leader for the last time,” she said to nobody, “and there is nothing that can save me.”
The sound of the wind rushing past her ears made her pause a moment. There was no sad background music. Maybe there’s some hope of survival?
Then, out of nowhere, she heard Sarah McLachlan sing:
“You’re in the arms of the angel,
May you find some comfort here.”
Star One sighed. “At least I’ll have my memories of human friendship.”
The rocket car started to spiral out of control before it exploded.
* * * * *
“I was right!” 7-Zark-7 crowed, “I just talked to the Prime Minister of Planet Oxford herself.”
1-Rover-1 stopped chewing on his crescent wrench and turned his attention to Zark.
“A cyborg is an organic creature with cybernetic enhancements or replacements. In fact, the word ‘cyborg’ is a blend of the words ‘cybernetic’ and ‘orgasm’. The enemy agents were human.”
“Yip yap yap.”
“I said ‘organism’! Why, what do you think I said?”
“Yip yap.”
Zark gasped. “1-Rover-1, you should be ASHAMED! Clearly your aural sensors are malfunctioning!”
“Yip yap yip!”
“Do I have to get a rolled-up newspaper?”
“Yip, yip yap!”
“Yes, it would actually be a rolled-up spreadsheet, but the message and the effect are the same!”
Sulking, Rover picked up his wrench and went to the far end of the control room.
“Anyway,” Zark said to his invisible audience, “I’m glad that our team saved the day!”
“Yip yip?”
“Well, yes, it was a shame that almost all of the train’s passengers and crew died horribly. . .”
“Yap yap?”
“And, yes,” Zark answered, his voice losing its enthusiasm and his posture drooping more with each word, “I do realize that the malfunctions and technical difficulties haven’t been resolved. . .”
“Yip yap.”
“Yes, Rover, I feel sorry for Jason because he had to kill another potential girlfriend because she tried to kill him. . .”
By this time, Rover was at Zark’s side. He balanced on his hind legs and, with his right front “paw”, patted Zark’s shoulder.
“Thank you, Rover.” Zark said as he started perking up.
A couple of moments passed. Zark’s posture and enthusiasm had returned to normal. “Even though I could only be with them in spirit this time,” he said, “I’ll always be proud to be a member of. . . . G-Force!”
Story Notes:
Not too long ago, someone expressed a curiosity about what I'd do with Eagle Riders or G-Force:Guardians of Space. (I'm not too far off, am I UnpublishedWriter?) Well, here's my first stab. . .