AGORA ONE - A SPACE ADVENTURE - SLICE 14

The big finish!

Eight minutes had passed since the shockwave was fired.  Noc’s heart was racing.  He was normally stoic and controlled, but not now.  He should’ve heard something from Zay by now.  Was she ok? Was the mission compromised? He was also anticipating that, at any moment, a Piscoran swarm could come after Agora One.  Sure, he could fire another shockwave to escape, but this wouldn’t do the others any good, and possibly leave them in a worse state from the shockwave, if they didn’t have the proper defenses.  

Agora One’s A.I. interrupted his thought processes, “A Piscoran ship is attempting audio contact.” 

“Only one?” he asked darkly.  After a pause, he asked for the communication to be put through.  

“Comrade! That’s an impressive weapon you have!”

Noc’s heart jumped from fear to raw anger.  How he wished that someone would put a righteous slug through that tyrant’s head, and he would feel much better.  If only he had the chance to do it himself.  “Who is this?”

Cackling came through.  Noc scowled.  The cackler spoke, “Noc, you don’t recognize your friend? It’s me, Lord Moden!”

“What do you want, Moden?”

“You’re the one invading territory of The Piscoran Empire! You tell me, what do YOU want?”

“Your mercenaries have violently taken some of our associates, a gross violation of their rights.  We’re simply here to free them from you and we’ll be on our way.”

“I’m amazed at how much of a hypocrite you are, Comrade Noc! This is truly disappointing!”

“What are you getting at, Moden?”

A hologram popped up in front of Zay’s face.  It was fed into Agora One as well.  It was Moden and Noc having one of their conversations from the previous weeks.  Noc’s heart nearly exploded.  His scales shivered and eyes bulged like saucers.  Zay’s face dropped and became a mix of swirling confusion and disbelief.  The feed switched to decades past.  There it was, plain as day.  A young Noc wearing a Piscoran uniform, violently robbing innocent people, and with a painted-on smirk to boot.    

While staring at the hologram, Zay said with a broken voice, “This is made up.  You faked this holo-video.  This can’t be real.”

“It’s all too real, Zay.  Why do you think it can’t be real?”

Her eyes flicked back and forth between the hologram and Moden.  “Because, it just can’t.  My father isn’t perfect, far from it, but he’s not this.”

The hologram ceased.  

Moden continued, “Zay, it’s time for you to know the truth! Your father used to run with the Piscorans! And was he good! Oh, was he good! And then one day, bam! He betrayed me and all Piscorans! He ran off, didn’t you Noc?”

Noc stood frozen.

“He disappeared, or tried to, anyway.  He changed his entire identity, tried to form a new life back on his home world of Songard! He used the capital he acquired with us and built his business dealings on top of it! And Zay, can I ask, what happened to your mother?”

“She died in a climbing accident,” Zay said as a tear ran down her cheek.  

A hologram popped up in Zay’s face, as well as Noc’s.  A hologram of Zay’s mother.

“No, Zay, people like that, that find out dirty little secrets, die mysteriously! That’s what happens!” He took a deep breath and watched Zay’s eyes swirl with doubt.  

“No, no, now I know you’re lying.  What you’re implying can’t be true.  Dad, tell him it’s not true.”

Cold silence.  

Moden continued, “Ignore the truth at your own peril, Zay.”

Noc, almost choking, asked, “Zay, are you ok?”

Zay was ripped between too many feelings.  She didn’t know what to say, nor what to believe, but this is what came out, “Physically, yeah, dad, I am, but emotionally, no.  Right now I’m a zillion fucking miles from ok!”

Chilled silence cut through space and time.  Moden was overcome with dark joy.  His plan was proceeding absolutely flawlessly.  He pointed a pistol at the front of Zay’s head and ordered Raw to do the same.  Raw’s hand trembled as he put a pistol to the back of Zay’s head.  Deep down he didn’t want to do it, of course, but the spell he was under was too powerful for him.  Anger welled up inside of Zay more than ever before.  She was one nanometer away from going martial-art berserk and just letting the chips fall where they may.  She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and reopened.  Not berserk.  Not just yet.  

A hologram of Moden’s two faces looked sternly into Noc’s. “Prepare for my ship to dock on Agora One.”

While all this was playing out, Turbo and Masher were having some unsettling events of their own.

“Well, that’s the good, the bad, and the ugly, if I’ve ever heard such a thing,” Masher said, in a somewhat admonishing tone.  It had just been delivered some whoppers from Turbo.

“Yes, I understand,” Turbo said meekly.

“But it’s your choice, I can’t stop you, of course.”

Turbo had just gained access to the majority of chipped humans, including Tequi.  Now that Turbo had access, though, what could be done? It also knew the situation on Agora One and Moden’s ship.  It was also ready to free Tabe, but didn’t want to do so until the time was right.  The element of surprise could come in handy, and Tabe could perform like one hellish weapon, to put it mildly.  

“Does the end justify the means?” Turbo said to Masher, repeating what it had already asked itself trillions of times in the past few minutes.  “On the one hand, it’s wrong to control others, especially so overtly and directly through manipulation of the physical brain.” It paused and pondered the ramifications internally, then continued, “But on the other hand, if I don’t control those humans, they’ll side with the Piscorans and be doing a great deal of harm, greater harm than what would occur if I DO control them.  And it’s only for a few minutes, hours at most.”

Masher interrupted, “It sounds like you’re trying to justify it to yourself that it’s ok.”

“Of course I am!” Turbo lashed.  It continued, “I don’t have to do it to Tequi, obviously.  I just have to shut his chip off.”

“You haven’t done it already?”

“Not yet.”

“What are you waiting for?”

“Not sure.  Just been preoccupied, I guess.”

“You youngsters, I tell ya….”

“Yes, yes, I’ll get on it now.”

And Turbo did.  It spoke inside Tequi’s head, “Tequi!”

Tequi shivered and thought to himself, “Turbo, what the hell is happening?”

“I’m in your head!”

“I know that! What in the name of all that is good and agave are you doing in my head!?”

“Saving you from Piscoran control.  You have a brain chip, put in by the Piscorans, and I’ve hacked it to save you.  I suggest not letting them know you’re free yet, though.”

Tequi glanced around cautiously at his surroundings and reevaluated the situation now that he could think independently again.  Zay was there.  Raw was there.  Where’s Tabe? 

Turbo answered, “On the other side of the planet.”

“I wasn’t asking.  I’m just doing internal monologue.”

“Well, how was I supposed to know that?”

“It’s no time to argue.  I’m surrounded by Piscorans, and it looks like we’re vastly outnumbered.  How many more Piscorans are on this ship, Turbo?”

“There are 101 total Piscorans on board.  I’ll let you know that there are also 77 mind-controlled humans, 45 of whom are chipped like you.  Oh, and by the way,  the so-called King of Morquellia, Taf’rant’ty, is also on board with his psycho entourage.“

“Turbo, the ship is moving.  Where are we going?”

“You’re going to dock on Agora One in three minutes.”

Tequi cringed internally but kept a blank expression externally.  “Ok, Turbo, you’ve given me plenty of bad news.  Got any good news for me?”

“I’ve hacked the 45 brain-chipped humans.”

“Great, so they can control themselves.”

“Well, kind of.”

“What do you mean?”

“Many of them still have a positive outlook on the Piscorans, so if a battle begins, they would more than likely side with them.”

“And shoot me.”

“And shoot you.  But I’ve got a plan for that.”

“Go ahead.”

“I can control them instead, until you, your friends, and the rescue squads are safe.”

“You’re going to steal their free will.  That makes you no better than a Piscoran, Turbo.  An immoral scumbag.”

“That’s saving how many lives by doing one immoral act? I’m looking at it proportionally.  And it’s only for a very short period of time.”

Tequi had to admit, it was quite the dilemma.  “It’s your choice, Turbo.  I can’t stop you, obviously.  Is there any other ‘good’ news?”

“I can free Tabe at any time, as I’ve accessed the system they’ve got surrounding him.  When the time is right, I’ll unleash him.”

“I wish I could witness that.  A Talem unleashing righteous anger is quite the thing to behold.”

“I’m in contact with Masher.  We’re hatching our escape plan as we speak.”

“Literally?”

“Literally.  This might sound strange, Tequi, but you’re gonna have to trust me on this.  Do what Moden says until the time is right.”

“How will I know when that is?”

“I’ll let you know.”

Hissing from pressure release valves.  The unmistakable final sound of a ship docking inside another ship.  Moden’s craft had arrived on Agora One.

After verifying that certain defense systems had been shut down on Agora One, a throng of Piscorans and humans started filing down one of the exit ramps and into the docking bay, with Moden leading the way.  He was flanked by two Piscoran captains.  Tequi followed immediately behind with Zay and Raw, who were both keeping pistols aimed at Zay’s head, per Moden’s wishes.  He thought it would be more interesting and useful to have the girl’s lover one trigger squeeze away from ending her life.  

They were met immediately by Noc and some of Agora One’s personnel.  Two of Moden’s dark, beady eyes locked with Noc’s.  The two eyes on his other face kept close watch on his most prized captives.  “Based on your recent behavior towards me, old friend, I’ll assume you wish to skip the pleasantries.  Take us to the bridge immediately.”

Noc’s face was sour.  He didn’t respond verbally, nodded to the personnel, turned, and led the way.  When they were just outside the bridge area, Moden told Noc to grant him access to the ship’s systems.  Zay yelled defiantly, “Don’t ever give in to this tyrant! Don’t do it!”

One of Moden’s faces looked at Zay quite bemusedly.  Was she mad? Perhaps.  They were grossly outnumbered and she would surely die.  And for what? A giant flying piece of technology?

Noc said slowly and sadly, “It’s not worth it, Zay.”

“Your father is a wise man.”

“And when he has access? What then? Just let us go?”

“I’m sure some of your friends that you sent to harass my troops on the security perimeter will be more than happy to pick you up.”

“You WILL let us go, correct?”

“I see no need for senseless bloodshed, old friend.  Give me what I want, and you all can be on your way.”

“And what about Tequi and Raw?”

“They will be released physically, and I’m sure some of your high-minded scientists can get them back to their old, regrettable mental states.”

Noc looked at Zay, deflated.  It was a horrific feeling to feel so powerless, especially in front of one’s family.   He turned to Moden and gave an affirmative nod, with sadness and regret painted on his face.  “Give Moden access to all of Agora One’s systems.  Confirm when ready.”

“Confirmed.”

This was the final straw for Tequi.  He communicated internally to Turbo, “Ok, now’s the time.  You ready, Turbo?”

“What are you gonna do?”

“As soon as I change where I’m aiming, you’ll know what to do.  If you don’t, well, it’s been nice knowing ya.”

Tequi tapped Zay in her shin as non-chalantly as he could, drawing an irksome scowl from her.  He winked.  She had a split-second of uncertainty.  With the flick of a well-trained, space cowboy wrist, Tequi moved his aim away from Zay and directly onto the two-faced Moden. Zay wacked her boyfriend and disarmed him.  With his pistol, in a kung-fu flash, she had it aimed at Moden as well.  This brought a reaction from the Piscorans.  Nearly 40 of them turned and aimed their weapons at Tequi (the others had bad angles) while, simultaneously, Turbo flipped the switches in the chipped humans and took control.  Suddenly, their sidearms raised and aimed at the Piscorans.  The humans controlled by the chemical mind-control just stood there with blank looks on their faces and did nothing.  They had to wait for verbal orders from Moden or one of his captains before they would do anything.  The other humans that hadn’t faced chemical or techno-mind-control yet, also froze,, not knowing what to do.  Noc did nothing.  

Moden cackled uncontrollably and his appendages rattled with delight.  After collecting himself, he said, “Is this what was called a, um, what was it from ancient Earth? A….A Mexican standoff? How wonderful!” 

This confused everyone, including the Piscorans.  What kind of psycho laughs when a gun is pointed at his faces in a deep-space Mexican standoff?

Moden.  That type.  He continued, “I suppose all of you are wondering why I’m laughing.  I’m happy to tell you.  You see, there is a secret element at play here that nobody, except me, has taken into account.” He paused and stared down the barrel of Tequi’s gun before continuing, “That gun isn’t real.”

This brought more uncertainty in everyone.  This still left Zay’s gun, which had previously been Raw's, pointed at Moden.  He turned to Zay, “And neither is that one.” 

“He’s bluffing,” Noc bellowed loudly. 

Zay’s eyes bounced back and forth between her father and Moden.  Was he bluffing? Was he psycho enough to be that bold? 

Tequi didn’t flinch.  He communicated quickly with Turbo, “Can you get force fields back around us?”

“Already done.”

He smiled at his target and said with a delightfully confident twang in his voice, “I guess there’s only one way to find out.” He and Zay locked eyes and communicated with a glance.  

They pulled their triggers within nano-seconds of each other.  Moden didn’t budge.  

Click-click, y nada.

Moden pulled a pistol of his own and pointed it at Zay.  “Those were fake time guns.  And this? This is the real time gun.”

This still left everyone else armed and pointing guns at each other, though. Moden knew this, but so did everyone else.  What Moden also knew, though, was that, even though nobody had their sights on him, the odds he’d enjoyed earlier were greatly reduced because of the hacked brain chips.  He knew this because, logically, so many humans were pointing guns at Piscorans.  Options flashed through his mind.  Fire the time gun at Zay? Fire it at her boyfriend? Use it as a means of escape? He had already thought out an escape plan beforehand, just in case.  He had studied the layout of Agora One and knew exactly where he was and where he needed to go to get out.  

But so did Zay and Noc.  

What would come if he fired at Zay? The consequences of actually firing the time gun at a life form, for the first time ever, could have unforeseen negative consequences.  Was it worth the risk? And to what end?

Finally, he decided that his best chance of escape would be to use the threat of firing the time gun as his ace-in-the-hole, even though this meant giving up the prize he’d coveted so badly, Agora One itself.  There would be other chances, he reasoned.  

  All he needed was for someone else to pull a trigger and set off a shooting battle.  

Zay obliged.  Her fury released in the form of dropping a devastatingly swift leg sweep to the Piscoran soldier behind her.  When he dropped, she snagged his pistol.  Humans and Piscorans started firing.  Zay rolled, and started firing.   All hell, plus one, broke loose.  

It was just the chaos that Moden had hoped for.  He darted away in the midst of it all, down a side corridor.  He was less than 2 minutes away from the nearest away bay.  

Noc saw Moden flee.  He ducked behind a control panel for cover and entered the code for bridge access.  Once the bridge opened, he scampered in and sealed the door behind him, nearly getting hit by passing weapons fire in the process.  

“Agora One core, I need emergency lockdown of all away bays and docking areas.  I need the ship completely sealed off.  No ins and no outs.  Confirm when executed.”

“Confirmed.”

“Jump to Max KLYPH acceleration away from Morquellia immediately.”

The ship zipped off faster than blinding, leaving Morquellia in the muck.  Noc wasn’t too worried about the Piscoran ships on the security perimeter anymore, as the earlier breaches by the hundreds of Space Agorist craft had left the pirates in utter chaos.  He figured all he had to do was punch it and outrun them.  

But then there was still Moden to contend with on board.  What Noc knew, though, was that at any speed faster than one KLYPH, it was impossible to safely leave in an escape pod.  Did Moden know this? Or was he crazy enough to not care, even if he did know?

While all this was happening on board Agora One, Turbo had simultaneously sprung Tabe from his holding cell, as well as Masher.  Turbo powered up, took off, and coordinated a rendezvous with Masher in 90 seconds.  It was the fastest Turbo could cover a continent under terrestrial conditions.  Safely, anyway.  

Tabe went utterly berserk, literally crashing and flying into foes at an astonishing pace and speed.  Hell hath no fury like a Talem scorned, and Tabe was teaching these Piscorans and Morquellians that had held him captive a very painful and powerful lesson.  He smashed soldiers.  He smashed buildings.  He smashed slimy huts.  He smashed lairs of slavery.  He smashed ill-gotten technological gains.  He smashed righteously.  

And then he got scooped up by Turbo.  Turbo promptly hid them in a mushy chain of what passed for mountains on Morquellia and then tried to coordinate an escape plan with Agora One, Boomerang, and various other ships that remained from the earlier perimeter breaches.  

Tabe was still furious, “You picked me up without an escape plan! I could still be smashing down there!”

Masher tried to calm him, “We’ll have it figured out soon enough.  Go have some splashes of tequila.  There’s still a couple bottles in the back.  

But Tabe had found it before Masher could even spill the words and had half a bottle absorbed.  

Moden reached the nearest away bay in just under 90 seconds.  Zay, who had somehow seen him sneak off in the midst of the firefight chaos, managed to scamper away herself and gave chase.  He had a good lead on her, though, and with six appendages could move faster as well. 

When he arrived to the away bay, he guessed correctly that Noc would have him locked in.  So he did what any self-serving pirate would do.  He tried to break out.  He fired a plasma array from a sidearm in his arsenal at the door seal of an escape pod.  He figured that the internal heat sensors would, sensing danger, overload.  He wasn’t sure if this would grant entry, but it was his only shot, other than jumping out with only a force field to protect him.  

The door didn’t pop.  He knew he didn’t have much time, as someone was surely in pursuit.  He decided to hold the blast steady for ten seconds more, and then go to plan B, jumping out with only a force field to protect him.  

Zay rounded the corner and found him just as he was about to give up on the pod.  He heard the click of a pistol ready to fire.  “Get away from the pod, Moden.  It’s over.  Put your claws up.”

He grinned both faces at her and as he went to set his plasma blaster on the floor, he squeezed the trigger.  This sent Zay tumbling behind another pod after the near-miss.  She reached over the pod and shot back.  He’d also taken refuge behind a pod.  

He gasped for air and ran his mind through options as another blast sliced the pod and over his head.  He had an energetic disruptor grenade, specifically crafted to temporarily disable force fields, in his arsenal belt.  He decided to go for it.  Just as he was about to activate the grenade, though, Zay yelled at him mockingly, “Hey, how about we make things interesting? Let’s see if the famed martial arts skills of a Piscoran can go against me, a half-human!”

This ate at his ego.  Who was she to even mention her abilities in the same breath as a Piscoran? But what would happen if he defeated her in hand-to-hand combat? He wondered.  Would it give others time to reach him?  Would he eventually be captured and killed? Of course, leaping out of a craft at thousands of times the speed of light with a time gun presented it’s own daunting possibilities.  In the end, his ego got the best of him.  “Ok, we both put our weapons down on three, and step out, face to face!”

She counted to three.  A series of clip-clops indicated weapons dropping to the floor.  They stepped away from the pods that had been shielding them.  Two of his eyes locked with hers.  His other eyes confirmed that she was unarmed.  

His wings fluttered and he did a double-somersault kick at her.  She went low to dodge, and a lightning-fast legsweep from her sent him tumbling for a moment.  Then she went on the offensive as he reeled, landing a chop to the throat and an elbow to one of his faces, followed by a vicious whip from her tail on one of his shins.  

One of Moden’s claws sliced at her and caught her in the chin, followed by a roundhouse to the face.  They were going toe-to-toe, blow for blow.  He was surprised at her agility, power, and overall skill.  He kept at her, throwing a roundhouse double-claw, which she artfully evaded by a micron.  She countered automatically with a knee to the gut, then elbowed down on the back of Moden’s shell-like skull.  This sent him to the floor, but didn’t knock him out.  He rolled away, then fluttered his wings and floated over her for an instant as she pulled a swift breath and wiped blood from her chin.   Her eyes followed him like a hawk. 

As he fluttered through the air for those couple of seconds, he was now having serious doubts about the choice he had made.  He landed near the pile of weapons he’d discarded, scooped up the grenade, bounced off the floor to take off yet again, and launched the weapon in one skillful swoop.  

Moden and Zay watched as, seemingly in slow motion, the grenade tumbled through the air on the way to its target.  Zay reached out towards an escape pod and screamed.  Moden watched with a sour scowl of defeat painted on his faces.  The grenade made contact and blew a jagged hole in the force field.  Instantly, Moden and Zay were sucked into space. 

The time gun getting sucked into space at a speed of thousands of light years per HOUR had some dire consequences.  As one might imagine, it was a light show for the ages.  It sliced a swath of space-time in a brilliant flash across the darkness of deep space and the blurs of passing stars.  

And Zay and Moden disappeared into the slicing gulf of darkness and light.  

The immediate shockwave from the ripping of space-time rocked Agora One so fast and furious that nobody, including the A.I. on board, knew what hit it.  It was over almost before it had begun, but the effects lingered.  Agora One had had most of its systems knocked out.  The life forms that hadn’t already succumbed to the brutality of the battle were knocked around and were left unconscious.  

Tequi was the first to regain consciousness.  He peered around groggily, then jumped to his feet quickly as the memory of where he was and what had just been happening re-emerged in his mind.  He did a 360, pointing his pistol around randomly and frantically.  Nobody else was up or awake, yet.  He took stock of himself and groaned at the aches and pains that plagued him.  He wiped blood from a gash in his leg.  He looked out of one of the viewing areas in the skyway at the top of the ship.  That’s funny.  The ship seemed to be slowly bobbing around in no particular direction, like a giant piece of space debris.  

Zay.  Where was Zay? He saw Raw and wanted to run to him, but thought better of it after realizing that he would still be under the spell of that Morquellian potion.  He started searching for Noc, and just as he was approaching the bridge entrance, Noc beat him to the punch and appeared, gashed and banged up, but overall not in bad shape, all things considered.  “Where’s Zay?” 

Tequi responded, “I was gonna ask you the same.”

The core A.I. of Agora One came back online.  Noc asked where Zay was.  

“Unknown.”

“What was the last known location of Zay on Agora One?”

“She pursued Moden into Away Bay Six.”

“And?” Tequi asked frantically.

“She and Moden were sucked into space.”

Tequi froze.  Noc dropped to his knees and looked skyward, scales flaring in all directions.  

“Is she alive?”

“Unknown.”

“Hypothesize, damnit!”

“Based on all available information, it appears that the experimental time gun that Moden possessed caused a rip in the fabric of space-time at the moment of ejection from Agora One, due in large part to our velocity.  It seems possible that she and Moden both could have survived and been thrown into the space-time rift to some unknown past or future time branch.”

This sent shockwaves through Tequi and Noc.  Raw was still be be dealt the harsh news, once a remedy for his mind-controlled noggin could be formulated.  There were also still the Piscorans and native Earth humans to deal with.

Noc changed his line of questioning as he and Tequi stepped back out into the battle scene.  “Was Agora One effected by the space-time rupture?” 

“If you mean has Agora One’s time branch changed, the answer is no.  It was a localized effect that Agora One escaped due to being at extreme velocities.”

Bodies were still strewn about, motionless and unconscious, although a few were starting to show signs of life through groans and grunts.  Tequi went in search of his friend Raw.  Noc continued, “Are all of your systems operational?”

“A full recovery will be confirmed in three Earth minutes.”

“Put all Piscorans on board in force field containment, as well as all humans other than Tequi, Raw, and those who participated with Zay in the rescue op. Confirm when finished.”

“Confirmed.  We are receiving a transmission from Turbo.  Shall I put it through?”

“Find Tequi and have him take the call.”

Tequi had just found Raw, who was slowly coming around.  His cloudy eyes fluttered a bit and finally settled into a sleepy-slit position.  He took a deep breath and recognized Tequi.  “Where’s Zay?”

Tequi studied his friend carefully.  He appeared to be fairly normal.  As long as Moden didn’t resurface to get in his head, he just might be ok.  Raw spoke slowly, nursing a deep bruise on his shoulder, “Where’s Zay?”

Tequi sighed and looked his friend in the eye, “We don’t know where, or when, she is.”

“What?”

“It’s kind of a long story.  I’ll explain later.”

They were interrupted by Agora One’s A.I.  “Tequi, your ship, Turbo, is contacting you.  Will you take the call?”

“Yes, go ahead, audio only.”

“Tequi, you owe me some bottles for all this BS I just went through.”  It was Tabe.  

“Tabe, is that you?”

“And Masher, too,” Masher reported in a happy tone.

Tequi was curious, “I’m relieved.  How did you get out of Morquellia?”

“Some crafty work by Turbo and Boomerang, along with some help from individuals that had breached the perimeter.”

“Is everyone ok?”

“Yep, not a scratch, but Tabe has a bruised ego.  How about on Agora One?”

“Zay has disappeared.”

“We’re all very sorry to hear that.”

“And that’s not the worst of it.  She disappeared with Moden into a time rift.”

THE END

Thanks for your time and attention!

Just say "NO" to slavery!

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Please note:  While Agora One can be read as a standalone, I recommend finishing the James Bong series first, and reading SeAgora second, as Agora One is the final installment of a loosely interlocking trilogy.