Note: The following is an excerpt from the original Blast Rocketon serials produced on Earth in the 1930’s. Unlike the current, up dated incarnation, this serial presents some of the ideals and stereotypes typical of the period. These characteristics are included for historical accuracy and in no way represent the current views or opinions of management.

———–

Suzie had been tied to a large pillar. Amazon women circled her washing her, brushing her hair, touching up her makeup and adorning her with flowers and other decorations. A few feet away a female witch doctor circled the display, chanting in her native language. Suzie screamed and kicked, but the women only tightened her bonds and continued their work.

Suddenly the nearby jungle shook with rustling and an alien roar that froze all of the women. With frantic cries they all leapt from the dais and scurried into the jungle in various directions away from the disturbance. The only exception was the elderly witchdoctor who paused just a moment to make one final adjustment to the flowers tied to Suzie’s antenna.

“Don’t worry, you’re a beautiful bride,” the old woman said with a smile before backing away and disappearing into the forest.

“What?” Suzie screamed. “Bride? Who’s bride? I’m not marrying anyone!” But she was suddenly alone, tied to the altar in the middle of the clearing.

Then, with a burst of horrific energy, the jungle exploded toward her in a spray of leaves and broken branches. The Te’Rexa emerged to tower over Suzie. Unable to do anything else, Suzie screamed.

The Te’Rexa was a gargantuan, reptilian creature. Long arms and short legs were offset by a long thick tail that dragged behind it. The beast roared and tore apart a few more trees in a show of strength and dominance. It’s roar revealed a gapping maw full of teeth, each one as large as Suzie

Leaning forward it leered at Suzie for a few moments before snatching her and tearing her away from the ceremonial pillar. The tough scaly skin crushed her and the jagged claws tore at her suit; her struggles only succeeding in more ripping and tearing from the sword sized talons wrapped around her.

Unable to do anything else, Suzie continued to scream as the beast raced back through the jungle. Leaves and branches slapped against her for what seemed like hours until they came to an open glen. Across the way, a sheer rock face blocked their way. But the Te’Rexa adjusted his grip on his captive and crossed over to the cliff ready to scale it.

Suddenly a loud cry cut across the meadow. The beast turned enough for Suzie to see Blast Rocketron racing out of the jungle with a primitive looking spear held before him. The Te’Rexa took a couple of steps forward before stopping to look quizzically at the strange little attacker.

“Blast! Look out!” Suzie screamed. The monster lifted her back and away as he leaned forward and flicked the running human away with his free claw.

Blast tried to roll with the momentum of the attack, but he still crashed hard against the base of a tree and it took several moments for his vision to stop spinning. And when it did, he saw the enormous Te’Rexa striding up and towering over him. Blast barely had time to get his wobbly legs under him before the monster picked him up with his free claw and flung him across the open valley. He crashed hard into the rock face and dropped to the base of the cliff, rolling down a small pile of debris.

“NO!” Suzie began sobbing as the creature approached the still form lying among the gravel. With a triumphant roar it stomped toward its defeated prey.

Blast was just barely able to look up in time to see the huge talloned foot lifting above him, ready to stomp the remaining life out of him. With one final act of desperation, he rolled over onto his stomach and got his knees under him. Then, with no other hope, he once again slapped the dead rocket pack activation switch on his chest. And with the Te’Rexa’s foot inches from crushing him, the rocket pack roared to life and sent a scorching blast of scarlet flame up into the tender base of the reptilian foot.

With a roar of surprised pain, the Te’Rexa flung Suzie into the air and hopped on his remaining good foot. Blast pushed himself away from the mossy grass and arched away from the ground. He saw Suzie flaying through the air and turned to catch her just as she began to fall.

“I’ve got you!” Blast said as he snatched her out of the air.

“Oh Blast,” she sighed as she snuggled into his embrace. A slight adjustment to the throttle pushed more power into the jetpack and sent then shooting through the jungle. Trees and leaves slapped past them in a blur. It didn’t take long for the Te’Rexa to collect himself and take up pursuit, roaring in angry pain and frustration. But despite its long strides, the giant monster didn’t stand a chance with the powerful rocket pack and within minutes, Blast and Suzie had completely lost the beast and were safely on their way back to the village.

But when they arrived, they found the village covered with the shadow of a Jupitorian saucer hovering above. At the speed they were going, even the brief moment of shock was enough to shoot them past the point of stealth. With their approach obvious, Blast continued to the center of the village.

“Oh Blast! It’s the Queen Asteroid, she’s found us!” Suzie said as they landed.

“That’s right!” Queen Titiana Asteroid stepped out from a group of her guards who were keeping their weapons trained on Turtle Man and the rest of the Amazon villagers. She strolled forward and pressed the muzzle a laser gun squarely between Suzie’s eyes. “And I am not happy.”

“What is the meaning of this?” Blast suddenly realized that the weapon she held was the same one he had given to Turtle Man before leaving; it was his own laser pistol.

“I don’t like being humiliated, Blast Rocketron.” The Queen snarled. “We were to be married and I expect to get the things I want.”

“You’re crazy.” Blast sneered.

“That doesn’t matter, what does matter is that if you don’t marry me, I will kill your pretty little girlfriend and all of these people.” Queen Asteroid leered, “No more tricks, no more lies. You’ll marry me honestly and willingly or everyone here dies!”

Blast looked around as every pair of eyes in the village stared at him waiting for his answer. Suzie stared at him shivering and clutching the tattered remains of her spacesuit in front of her in a futile attempt to protect herself. Although her hair and makeup had made it through the ordeal, one metallic antenna was bent and drooped down toward her right ear. The one tiny imperfection only made her more adorable.

“Fine.” He spat, “I’ll do it. No tricks and no deceptions. I will marry you.”

“Oh Blast, you can’t!” Suzie cried.

“I have to do it Suzie,” Blast said looking her in the eye, “Don’t you see, I have to marry the evil Queen because I love you.”

“I love you too, Blast.” Suzie sniffed back a tear and fought to stop her quivering lip.

“Enough of this,” The Queen shoved Suzie back to the rest of the prisoners and pulled Blast to her side. “Say goodbye to Mr. Blast Rocketron and say hello to… uh…”

“’Mrs. Blast Rocketron’?” Blast suggested.

“Actually I was planning on keeping my maiden name. You know, for professional reasons.” The queen replied. “I am queen of Jupitor after all.” Blast gasped.

“Wow, she is evil,” Turtle Man whispered to Suzie.

“Oh, Blast,” Suzie cried, “I hate to think what other nontraditional horrors she has planned for him.”

“I bet after a long day of having him beaten and tortured in the slave pits, she won’t even have his slippers and dinner ready for him when he gets home!” Turtle Man sighed sympathetically.

“Please, no more.” Suzie sobbed, “I can’t imagine anything more horrific!”

By now the village elder had been pulled forward, her book of ceremonies in hand, and was beginning to read the entry that would unite Queen Titiania Asteroid and Blast Rocketron.

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” the elder began the traditional Amazon wedding ceremony, “We are gathered here to join this couple in the bond of holy matrimony…”

During the rambling oratory, Suzie and Turtle Man looked around frantically for some means of escape. But the guards surrounded the village. There was no way out of this. Turtle Man pulled his head further down into his shell.

“Do you, Queen Titiania have any objections to marrying Blast Rocketron?” The elder asked.

“I have no objection.” The queen smiled triumphantly.

“And do you, Blast Rocketron have any objection to marrying Queen Titania?” Blast gave one last look at Suzie before answering.

“I have no objection.” He sighed dejectedly.

“And if…” but the elder was interrupted by the Queen.

“Just a moment if you please,” The queen turned and signaled her guards who raised their weapons and forced them tightly against Suzie and Turtle Man’s heads. Then the queen turned back to the elder and signaled a return to the ceremony. “Okay, you may continue.”

“If anyone disapproves of this union,” the Elder continued, “let them speak now or forever hold their peace.”

The entire village jumped as the trees suddenly exploded to reveal the Te’Rexa towering over the crowd. With a roar, it tore out a claw full of decorations and flung them across the jungle. People screamed, and guards either dropped their guns, ran or both. Only a handful lifted their weapons to take a few shaky shots in the general direction of the beast before turning and joining their retreating companions.

“Upon your kiss,” the elder continued her oration amid the chaos, completely lost in the ancient ritual. “You will be pronounced man and wife”

Oblivious to the formality of the ceremony, the Te’Rexa scanned the crowd for what he was looking for until he saw Blast Rocketron holding the hand of Queen Asteroid. With a roar he snatched the queen out of his hand, lifted her to his eye to look at her quizzically for a moment before snorting with approval.

“Oh Blast!” Suzie ran to Blast’s arms as he grabbed her protectively. Unable to take their eyes off the monster’s conquest of the Jupitorian Queen, they stared on in horror.

“Does… does that count as a kiss?” Blast asked with a weird sense of terror and wonder. Finally the village elder looked up from her sacred tome and followed their gaze up.

“Yup.” She replied. “It’s official. She’s now married to the Te’Rexa” Everyone continued to stare with fascination at the newly married couple.

“I guess I’m not the bride after all,” Suzie sighed with a smile, “…always a bridesmaid.”

“Well, we’ll just have to see about that, won’t we?” Blast smiled down at her.

“Oh Blast! Do you mean it?” Suzie looked up at him with a squeal.

“I do!” he said firmly. Blast reached down and grabbed his laser gun, which Queen Asteroid had dropped when she was grabbed. “What do you say Turtle Man, are you up for being my best man?”

“Oh Blast,” Turtle Man sighed with a tilt of his head, “I can’t be your best man. I’m an alien!”

Everyone stared at Turtleman for a moment before Blast led the entire village in uproarious laughter.

Note: The following is an excerpt from the original Blast Rocketon serials produced on Earth in the 1930’s. Unlike the current, up dated incarnation, this serial presents some of the ideals and stereotypes typical of the period. These characteristics are included for historical accuracy and in no way represent the current views or opinions of management.

———–

After a short flight to Neptune, the Rocket settled down on a sandy patch of ground between the mountains and the jungle. Blast, Suzie and Turtle Man made their way out to the alien world of Neptune.

“Where do you think the Staranium is?” Turtle Man said.

“The ship’s infoscanner said it was in this direction.” Blast pointed into the dense foliage then hooked his thumbs into the straps of his rocket pack.

“But that’s the deepest darkest jungle in the whole galaxy, Blast.” Suzie said, “No one has ever been through there.”

“That’s why no one has found the Staranium.” Blast smiled, “Come on, we’ll be fine.” And he led the way into the thick brush. Instantly the trees cast them into deep shadows and the sounds of jungle creatures seemed to grow louder as they fell into a silent pace. The movement of leaves and the shadows created a constant illusion of movement around them. Darting shadows and barely imagined figures seemed to completely encircle them.

“This looks dangerous.” Turtle Man said as he pulled his head down into his oversized armor. Suzie didn’t say anything, but she did snuggle up behind Blast and slipped her arms around him. Blast simply drew his laser gun and continued deeper into the forest.

The darkness receded slightly just before they immerged into somewhat of an opening. A large crevice blocked their passage.

“Now what?” Suzie asked.

“I guess we’ll have to go back.” Turtle Man drawled.

“Not yet,” Blast snapped, “Look down there.” He pointed a little further down the gorge where a tree had fallen over across the span creating a bridge.

“Are you kidding?” Suzie asked.

“Nope, we’ll have no problem getting across that.” Blast laughed as he led the way. Once there he did a quick examination of the potential path. Most of the tree’s roots still held the base firm and kept it from rolling as he kicked the log looking for any signs of instability.

“This will be swell,” Blast said as he hopped onto the log and began inching across it with his arms out for balance.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Suzie said as she climbed up and followed him.

“Don’t leave me here,” Turtle Man climbed onto the log, but he remained on all fours as he crawled after the others. Slowly they made their way across the treacherous expanse.

Just as they made it to the half way point, the trees in front of them began to rustle and the edge of the cliff was instantly lined with dozens of nearly naked women wearing the minimalist bikini’s made out of a variety of animal skins. But they all had fierce looking spears, bows, slings and even some primitive swords.

“They don’t look too welcoming.” Blast said. “Turn around; we’ll need to go back.” But as they looked back the other way, they found another squadron of amazons lining that side of the crevice. Slowly the warrior women began to climb out onto the log from either direction pinching them into the middle.

“We’re trapped, Blast,” Suzie said as she clung to him. “You’ll have to shoot our way out!”

“I can’t shoot them, Suzie.” A small quiver of panic slipped into Blast’s voice, “They’re women!”

“Then how are we going to get out of here?” Suzie began to cry.

Suddenly, from off to one side, one of the Amazon women swung out on a vine in a long arc out over the chasm. As the arc skimmed over the log bridge, she grabbed Turtle Man around the waist and, dangling him upside down, carried him off along the rest of her swing.

“Help me!” he cried as he pulled himself completely into his armored shell. However, before anyone could do anything another Amazon was swinging out from the other side of the gorge and she grabbed Suzie from Blast’s embrace.

“Blast!” She screamed! But as soon as the first Amazon had deposited Turtle Man to some of her sisters, she swung back to grab Blast off of the log bridge.

“Let me go!” Blast ordered pointing his laser gun at his captor as they swung across the gorge.

“You don’t want to do that, if you shoot me, we’ll both fall.” The Amazon smiled down at him smugly. With a sigh, Blast realized she was right, holstered his weapon and clung back to make sure she didn’t drop him.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“My name is Sasha.”

“I’m Blast, why did you have to grab us like this? Why not just introduce yourselves?”

“We did not believe you would come willingly.”

“Why, what do you intend to do with us?”

“You will be served at a special banquet this evening.”

“You mean…”

“Yes, we celebrate all of our finest events with the consumption of man flesh.”

“You’re cannibals?”

“Yes, that’s the word. Cannibals.”

“You don’t really don’t want to eat me, do you?” Blast turned on his prize winning smile.

“I… I have no choice.” The slightest quiver of uncertainty crept into Sasha’s voice.

“There are much better ways a man and a woman can spend their time.” He leaned further into her embrace and locked her eyes with his.

“There are?” Sasha could feel her heat begin to rise.

“Look, you can do anything with me that you want, but you have to let Suzie go!” Blast whispered into her ear.

“But she is the cause of the celebration.” Giggled at the tingling feeling he was giving her.

“What do you mean?’ Blast pulled back.

“She is to be married to the Te’Rexa.” Sasha said with a look of awe. But before Blast could respond, she had completed her swing and was delivering him to the control of her sisters waiting in the treetops.

Quickly and efficiently, the men were carried and tossed about to other Amazons until they arrived at a primitive looking village flooded with light from torches and bonfires. Pounding drums and thrashing dances created enlivened festivities with enough energy to rival any civilized cities night life. Unfortunately Blast and Turtle Man weren’t feeling very festive as they were carried to the center of the village where a large metal pot filled with water sat on top of a pile of fire wood. A young Amazon knelt underneath carefully stacking more wood under the cooking apparatus..

A variety of party decorations and favors make of skulls and bones covered the village and villagers, predicting the fate of the outsiders. Several villagers were setting out what appeared to be eating utensils and preparing fruit and vegetable side dishes.

“This doesn’t look good.” Turtle Man grumbled, pulling his head into his exoskeleton.

“That’s an understatement.” Blast replied as he tugged at the ropes binding his wrists behind his back.

“Can’t you talk to them? Reason with them?”

“How do you reason with people who plan to boil and eat you?” Blast snarled

Suddenly, the young girl who had been piling fire wood under the cauldron finished her task and stepped back. The music ended in a crescendo and the villagers all turned to cheer the final preparations of their celebratory feast. Several Amazon warriors surrounded the pot with torches, but they were halted by, what appeared to be, the leader of the village who strolled out of the jungle and headed toward the center of the congregation. She held her elderly hands up and signaled for silence. The entire village and even the surrounding jungle seemed to follow her order. Even Blast and Turtle Man froze, hoping that this might signal some last minute reprieve.

The silence held for a long moment before being broken by a distant crashing far off in the jungle, followed by a heart wrenching scream.

“That’s Suzie!” Blast exclaimed.

“It is done!” the village elder said. “The girl is now the bride of the Te’Rexa. Let the feast begin!” Suddenly the drums and dancing resumed and the warriors tossed their torches into the logs under the iron pot. Flames leapt up to light the edges of the pot and begin boiling the water.

“Stop! Wait!” Blast was surprising at the girly way his voice sounded. He never expected he was capable of creating such a high squeaky noise. But then he noticed Sasha, the warrior who had grabbed him from the log bridge, step forward with her spear and he realized she was the one who had cried out.

“With the Te’Rexa wedding complete, this man is womanless. Therefore I claim him as my own!” She cried out to the crowd.

“Impossible!” the elder stammered, “he is our feast.”

“We have the other; he is plenty to feed our village. I want the man!”

“This is madness, Sasha! You cannot defy the order of our tribe.”

“You know I am the strongest warrior of this village, does anyone dare oppose me?” Sasha pointed her spear out as she scanned the Amazons who meekly edged away from her.

“Don’t do this, Sasha. He is dangerous.” The elder pleaded. But Sasha had already dipped her spear into the boiling pot to cut the ropes tying Blasts wrists. Blast quickly leapt out of the pot, stepped clear of the flames and glanced around at the angry and frightened faces that surrounded him. But before he could do anything, Sasha ran to him, threw her arms into a tight embrace, and buried her face in his chest.

“Oh Blast, finally you are mine. I am the greatest, strongest and most skilled warrior on all of Neptune. I promise to make you happy and be the best wife anyone could be!” But Blast softly plucked the spear from her hand and, with a gentle shove, sent her dropping unceremoniously on her backside among her Amazon sisters.

“Sorry, Doll, I’m a one woman man. And you’re not that woman.” Blast used the spear to pluck Turtle Man out of the boiling pot and snap his bindings.

“Keep an eye on these dames,” Blast said as he tossed Turtle Man his laser gun. “Don’t let them cause any more trouble.

“You bet, Blast.” Turtle Man held the gun shakily with both hands as he turned it around the village.

“All right, everyone step back!” Blast stepped over to a clear flat area of the village and motioned for everyone to step way back. “I’m blasting out of here and going to find Suzie.” When he was satisfied that everyone was at a safe distance, he bent his knees, looked to the skies and slapped the rocket pack control button on his chest. The village fell into silence as everyone held their breath. But nothing happened. After a long pause, Blast looked down and hit the button again… and again… and one more time…

“The soup must have gummed up the works.” Turtle Man said.

“Well, I’ll just have to do this the old fashioned way.” Blast grabbed Sasha’s spear and ran off into the woods.

To be continued…

Note: The following is an excerpt from the original Blast Rocketon serials produced on Earth in the 1930’s. Unlike the current, up dated incarnation, this serial presents some of the ideals and stereotypes typical of the period. These characteristics are included for historical accuracy and in no way represent the current views or opinions of management.

———–

Blast scanned the surrounding Jupitorians that were quickly surrounding them.

“There’s no way out.” Captain Trent confirmed.

“There’s always a way out,” Blast said, “it’s just not always a good way.” Before the Captain could decipher what he meant, Blast grabbed the gun from the nearest Lieutenant and pointed it at a small control box that sat underneath the computer console.

“Those are the gravity controls!” Trent yelled.

“Everyone jump!” Blast yelled. Just before everyone else in the room began to float slowly off the ground, Blast and the remaining Saturians used the last of their gravity to crouch down and push off with their legs. The group quickly shot past the floundering Jupitorians to the domed ceiling. Some stray shots followed them, but the unpredictability of weightlessness kept their aim extremely erratic.

“Our rocket ship should be just above us!” the lieutenant said.

“There’s a hatch over there” Blast pointed to the nearest exit. Twisting in the air, Blast led the Saturnians in landing upside down on the ceiling.

“Thank goodness for zero gravity,” the lieutenant said as he joined the group jogging toward the hatch, “it’s not every day you get to run across the ceiling.”

“I’ll say this is a new one for me, too” Blast agreed as he looked down over his head at the floor.

“Dr. Xar! Activate the forward airlock!” Captain Trent ordered into his comlink. Within minutes everyone was safely back aboard the Saturnian ship and rocketing away from the Jupitorian saucer.

“My name is Blast Rocketron and I’m from Earth.” Blast introduced himself as the group settled into chairs in the control room of the rocket.

“Hello Blast,” an elderly man in a lab coat and glasses shook his hand, “I’m Dr. Xar and you’ve already met Captain Trent. We’re from the planet Saturn.”

“Pleased to meet you.” Blast said as he shook hands all around.

“Don’t forget me!” said a man in the back wearing a large tortoise shell shaped armored space suit.

“Oh yes, that’s Turtle Man. He’s an… alien!” Dr. Xar said with a special emphasis. “So Blast, I didn’t realize that Earth had any life forms on it?”

“Oh yeah, Doc, nothing as advanced as all of this though; we’re just learning how to make moving pictures talk.”

“Hey there, does anyone want some coffee?” a perky blond with delicate metal antenna sticking out of her head entered with a tray of hot cups.

“And this is Commander Suzie Starstress” Dr. Xar said. Suzie lifted a group of coffee mugs off of the tray and let them float in the zero gravity atmosphere as she raised the pot of coffee and carefully poured a generous portion into each one without touching the floating mugs. Once they were full, she plucked each one out of the air and served it with a smile.

“Commander?” Blast asked as he took his cup.

“Yes, being an advanced civilization, we freely allow women to serve in our military as well as men.” Trent explained. “Suzie is one of our top soldiers in a skirt.”

“Well someone has to do all of the cooking and cleaning around here.” Suzie said with a smile as she tapped Captain Trent’s feet off of the coffee table and handed him his mug.

“Well I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you guys coming along and rescuing me.” Blast said. “I was almost married to that horrible woman.”

“I can’t think of any worse fate.” Trent said.

“I hope there’s some way to make it up to you guys.” Blast said.

“As a matter of fact, you can help us, Blast.” Dr. Xar said. We were supposed to stop off at Neptune to gather some Staranium gems, but the fight with the Jupitorians put us way behind schedule.”

“Well gee, Doc. I could go to Neptune for you, get your gems and catch up with you.”

“That would be a huge help to us, Blast. It just so happens that we have an extra rocket ship that we can loan you.”

“A rocket ship huh?” Blast rubbed his chin, “Is that anything like driving a Nash Coupe?”

“That’s right,” Xar snapped his fingers. “I forgot that Blast has never flown a rocket ship before.”

“Why don’t you send Suzie with him?” Captain Trent said, “She can tell him all he needs to know about living out here in outer space.”

“That’s a great idea, Captain.” Xar turned to Suzie. “What do you say, Suzie. Do you want to go to Neptune with Blast?”

“Sure, Doctor Xar. That would be swell.” Suzie smiled at Blast.

“Don’t forget me!” Turtle Man said with his slow drawl.

“Yes, Turtle Man, you can go to.” Xar said as everyone else laughed heartily.

Within minutes Blast, Suzie and Turtle Man were aboard a smaller rocket ship which was detaching from the main rocket.

“Good luck, Blast. We’re all counting on you.” Dr. Xar said from the radio phone.

“Don’t worry Doc, I’ll get your gems and be back in no time.” Blast turned off the phone. “So Suzie, do you know how to fly a rocket ship?”

“Oh Blast, don’t joke around.” Suzie put her hands on her hips and faced him sternly. “You know perfectly well that I’m just a girl.”

“And I’m an alien!” Turtle Man said from behind her.

“Well, I guess I’ll just have to do it.” Blast said as he sat down in front of a control panel containing a steering column and a single red button. “This must be what makes us go. And this wheel must be what steers us.”

“Wow, you figured all of that out, just like that?” Suzie said stepping up behind him and putting her hands on his shoulders. “What about all of these lights?”

“I don’t know what they mean, but this steering wheel and button are the only controls I need.” Blast said as he pushed the button. With a whoosh, the rocket took off.

“So Suzie, which way to Neptune?” Blast asked.

“Blast,” Suzie stretched the name into several syllables. “How am I supposed to know how to get to Neptune? I’m a girl.”

“And I’m an alien.” Turtle Man said.

To be continued…

Note: The following is an excerpt from the original Blast Rocketon serials produced on Earth in the 1930’s. Unlike the current, up dated incarnation, this serial presents some of the ideals and stereotypes typical of the period. These characteristics are included for historical accuracy and in no way represent the current views or opinions of management.

———–

The bright silver saucer cut sharp to the left just as the huge bronze rocket blasted past. The Saturnian rocket was more powerful and faster than the Jupitorian saucer, but it was far outmatched by the saucer’s maneuverability. After turning, the rocket once again overshot the skimming disc and hand to make a long circular return before it could line up for another attack. Fortunately this strafing run connected and one of the Saturnian guns blew a bright hole in the edge of the silvery disk.

Quickly the rocket slowed and sidled up to the still glowing opening in the saucer and Saturnian troops in clear, air tight helmets jumped across the gap between ships to storm through the breech. A small group of Jupitorian guards were quickly defeated and the Saturnians secured their foothold on the alien ship.

“Dr. Xar,” the Saturnian Captain took off his large, spherical helmet and talked into his wrist link, “We’ve secured this part of the ship.”

“Have you met much resistance, Captain Trent?’ the voice at the other end said.

“Not much at all, it was easy…. Too easy.” Captain Trent replied skeptically.

“They’re probably consolidating their forces to guard Queen Titiana Asteroid.” Xar said.

“Not to mention the new secret weapon she’s been bragging about” the captain said with a touch of frustration. “Something she got from somewhere called ‘Earth’.”

“Yes, and since we don’t know what that weapon is yet, you’ll have to make sure they don’t turn it on us.” Dr. Xar said through the comm.

“Don’t worry, Doctor, we’ll find whatever it is.” The Captain turned off his wrist comm. and rallied his troops. “Come on, men. We need to find that weapon!”

Meanwhile, the Jupitorians had gathered in the central atrium of the saucer; the largest and most defensible area of the ship. The huge arena was solidly packed with royalty, crew and marines.

“Your retinue is all secure and the forces are in place, your Highness.” The Jupitorian Captain said as he approached his queen.

“Good! Make sure no one enters this room, Captain.” The queen said. “We’ll need time to ready our secret weapon.”

“The weapon that we got from Earth? I didn’t think it would be ready for weeks?”

“Oh we can make him ready.” The queen walked over to a tall Earth man who was gagged and tied to a wheeled handcart.

“Your majesty, he may be a powerful soldier, but we’re going to need time to get him conditioned. He can’t be trusted.”

“Don’t worry; I know how to fix that.” The Queen ran her hand down her captive’s jaw line and across his chest. “Captain, prepare for a marriage ceremony.”

“Your highness, now?” the Captain looked nervously at the sounds of battle that started to come from the corridors. “The Saturnians are approaching.”

“Yes Captain, now!” the Queen purred, “You will make the Earthman my husband, and then he will have no choice but to follow his vows to protect and obey me. His honor will demand it. He will help us defeat the Saturians, and they will have no way to take him away from us.”

“As you wish, your majesty.”

“I do.” She wrapped herself around the bound captive and whispered into his ear. “He will serve me in all ways.”

“Yes, your highness.” The Captain took his place behind a computer console on a small dais.

“You have your orders, Captain.” She suddenly snapped, “Marry Blast Rocketron to me!”

In the corridor, the fighting was escalating as the Saturnians met the bulk of the Jupitorian forces just outside the central atrium.

“We’ve found the main forces, Doctor! They’re protecting the core area of the ship” the Jupitorian captain yelled into his comlink over the sounds of gunfire.

“Good work, Captain.” Doctor Xar replied, “The queen and her weapon must be inside1”

“I just hope we’re not too late.” The Captain said as he turned back to the fighting.

Inside, a bound and gagged Blast stood next to the queen as they faced the captain of the Saturnian saucer.

“Queen Titiana Asteroid, do you have any objection to following the marital vows and commitments of Jupitorial custom?” the captain read from a computer display.

“I have no objection.” The Queen smiled.

“And do you, Blast Rocketron of Earth, have any objection to following the marital vows and commitments of Jupitorial custom?” Blast mumbled loudly into his gag but quickly realized he wasn’t being understood. He struggled violently against the bonds and began kicking spastically against the cart he was tied to.

“Oh I’m sorry if you’re having trouble answering” the Queen smiled smugly, “It is Jupitorian tradition for the bride to choose what the groom wears. And I really like the gag.”

“Since there are no objections…” the Captain said hurriedly just before the doors to the atrium burst open.

“Quick! Finish this!” the Queen demanded. Saturians poured into the room.

“I now pronounce you….” A Saturian officer grabbed the Queen and leveled his gun at her head, “… man and wife!” the Captain spit out before he was grabbed by Captain Trent.

“You’re too late!” The Queen laughed, “He’s mine now!”

“Is this your secret weapon?” the Trent said.

“Yes, a super soldier we abducted from the planet Earth.” She said as she began to untie Blast. “He can single handedly destroy your entire crew. And now that we’re married, you can never have him. He’s sworn to be totally loyal to me for as long as we both shall live.”

“It’s totally legal and binding.” The Jupitorian Captain confirmed.

“She’s right, sir!” the man holding his gun on the queen lowered it. “If they’re married, there’s nothing we can do about it.”

“You’re right, Lieutenant.” The Captain sighed, “We’re done for.”

“Welcome to married life, my love” The queen finished untying Blast and kissed him before turning to Captain Trent with an evil gleam. “I think you should begin to show your devotion to me by killing the Saturnian Captain.” With a sigh, Blast turned to look at Captain Trent who maintained his grip on the Jupitorian Captain. Slowly Blast climbed the dais until they were face to face. Then, without breaking eye contact with Trent, Blast reared back and punched the Jupitorian Captain in the jaw, knocking him out of Saturnian Captain’s grip and across the dais.

“Not that one, you idiot!” the Queen yelled, “the other one!” But Blast just turned and regarded her with an evil grin. “You have to obey me! We’re married!” she shrieked.

“No we’re not, Sweetheart.” Blast said.

“You didn’t denounce the traditional vows, you couldn’t.” the Queen stammered with confusion. “We’re married!” Blast reached over and quickly activated the alien computer console that the captain had read the vows off of.

“Computer, replay the marriage vow ceremony and run it through your multi-translation program for analysis.” Blast copied the orders that he had overheard Jupitorians use when accessing the computer. It worked. In a moment the last few minutes of the ceremony replayed.

“…And do you, Blast Rocketron of Earth, have any objection to following the marital vows and commitments of Jupitorial custom?” The Captain question was followed by Blasts rhythmic struggles and stomping.

“Multi-translation recognizes patterns as Earth Morris Code,” the computer said, “translated as ‘I do object’”

“So you see, your highness, I did denounce your vows before all of these witnesses.” Blast strode up to her defiantly. “We are not married and I intend to leave with my new friends here.”

“We’ll see about that.” The Queen suddenly activated a jewel on her necklace and suddenly swarms of Jupitorian guards swept in from every door surrounding the entire room.

“It’s a trap! We’re surrounded!” The Captain Trent cried.

To be continued…

The majority of the pirates were shattered or dislodged by the whirling statues that buzzed around as they climbed the main structure, but the overwhelming number of them weighed down the mechanisms enough to slow it down to the point where many of their cohorts were able to scramble to the top.

Although there was no where to get decent footing, Alethian’s many arms provided multiple opportunities for swinging around and fending off the approaching pirates with the sword Suzie had borrowed from the warrior statue. She hacked and slashed at the fingers that began to grope towards her, usually just forcing the pirates to lean far enough away to let one of the spinning statues smack into them and sweep them away.

But as more pirates made it to the top it became harder and harder to keep the attackers down on every side. She was trapped and surrounded. It was just a matter of time before she was overcome. Suzie found herself climbing higher and higher on the nude statue until she was standing on the goddesses shoulders.

Suzie watched the approaching pirates closely; then she turned her attention to the rest of the chamber. She dropped the scimitar into the face of the closest pirate, knocking him off the statue with a scream. But she ignored the next pirate who reached toward her ankle. She forced herself to count to five slowly, then pushing hard off the statue; she dove into the open air around the statue. The spinning guardian statues whizzed by just above and just below her as she descended. Careful timing allowed her to pass cleanly between the obstacles before diving perfectly into the water surrounding the island.

Judging by the amount of rain water she had seen run into the pool, Susie figured it was deep enough to catch her. Fortunately she was correct. She pulled herself out of the water onto the edge of the island and began to look for the bridge that led to the exit. Instead she found Darien , just out of reach, pointing a large energy gun right at her chest. Unarmed and defenseless, Suzie raised her hands slowly and took a careful step backwards trying to get the curve of the statue between them.

“You did ask me to come down, didn’t you?” Suzie forced a smile.

“What about the part where you give me the bracelet?” Darien matched her step, keeping just out of reach, but clear of the curve of the statue.

“ Darien , you know I can’t do that.” Suzie took another step backwards. Darien matched the move.

“If you try to run, I’ll just shoot you in the back.” Darien replied coolly. He was right, there was no where to go. She took another couple of steps before stopping. “Now, take off the codex bracelet and set it on the ground in front of you.” Suzie slowly took it off and held it up in front of her.

“Before I give it to you…” Suzie said slowly.

“If you think you’re going to be able to beg for your life, it’s not going to work.” Darien sneered.

“Oh no, that’s obvious. That’s not what I was intending at all.” Suzie said.

“What then? You think you’re going to be able to bargain with me?”

“No… not bargain.” Suzie said slowly, “Just… stall for a few seconds.” Suddenly the insect statue dropped straight down out of the sky and impaled Darien through the back with its metallic stinger. Not pausing, Suzie put the bracelet back on and snatched up the energy gun.

Pirates were starting to descend the statue now and Suzie picked them off as she ran toward the narrow bridge. Her bare feet slapped against the stone as she sprinted up the tunnel that lead toward the surface. The sound of the hordes following her began to get closer, but an occasional shot back down the tunnel helped to keep them just timid enough to keep her lead.

Finally she burst outside where sunlight was just starting to break through the dissipating storm clouds. The pirates had cut down a large clearing to allow room to land their fighters. Suzie leapt into the closest one and started rushing through the power up sequence. She was just beginning to lift off when the pirates appeared and started sprinting toward their own fighters.

Rising just above the tree line, Suzie was just about to flip to her main engines when a pair of red switches caught her eye. With a smile she flipped them before blasting off over the jungle. Below her, two bombs dropped right into the center of the remaining ships. The blast ignited the bombs of the remaining ships building into a greater and greater blast that soon had the entire jungle burning.

Suzie’s ship arched up and shot into deep space. Now it was a clear shot back to headquarters. But something else caught her eye. Hovering just above the codex bracelet on her wrist, a clear holographic sphere with an arrow appeared pointing toward the edge of the system. Suzie realized the danger in going that direction, but frustration at not accomplishing her mission egged her on. With a twist of the controls, she turned sharply to follow the strange compass direction.

As she approached the main asteroid ring, the large rock that housed Captain Klawe’s fortress rolled into view. Still the codex bracelet pointed her forward. She knew the pirate base would detect her and attempt to establish contact, so she focused on scanning the asteroids as fast as possible. But suddenly the worse had happened. Tractor beams hit her ship from multiple directions and her comm. screen came to life.

“Ms. Starstress,” Captain Klawe’s face filled the screen, “When I saw a single ship returning, I knew it had to be you. I trust you’ve returned to bring me the codex bracelet?”

“Nope, just making sure you’re sent to the hell you deserve.” Suzie tried to put as much determination behind the threat as possible as she continued to scan the asteroids.

“You’re amusing, Ms. Starstress. You obviously have a knack for surviving, but I don’t know what you hope to accomplish. You’re firmly trapped by several tractor beams, and it looks like you’ve already lost your bombs. So even if you did get a shot off, there’s no way you could do more than scratch the paint of this fortress before my weapons reduce your ship to atoms.” Klawe laughed. “Since I appreciate a good sense of humor, if you surrender I promise to allow you to live long enough to continue amusing me.”

“Amuse this!” Suzie said as she shot a single energy bolt directly into the asteroid several hundred yards away from the base. Klawe just stared in confused amazement.

“What the hell was that?” he asked. “What was that supposed to do? Intimidate me? And what’s with that retort? ‘Amuse this’?”

“I know that was pretty weak, sorry I was distracted.” Suzie said. But as she said it, at the point of impact the giant asteroid began to crumble and implode. One by one the tractor beams that held her turned off as the fortress crumbled and fell into the collapsing asteroid. On the comm. screen, Klawe screamed as his world collapsed around him. Just before the video feed was lost, Suzie saw him burst into flames.

“I don’t know if that was the hell that you deserved, but it’ll have to do.” Suzie said. But on her wrist, the codex bracelet was flashing a brilliant green.

Suzie turned her attention back to the scanners and saw the rocky debris of the asteroid and pirate base rebounding back away from its implosion. And left in the center were three enormous cargo containers, each one as large as a major city. And on the side was the crossed sword logo of the pirate Bloody Red.

Suzie couldn’t resist laughing, that idiot Klawe was sitting right on top of the treasure he was hunting the entire time and never knew it. She activated her own tractor beams and grabbed the tethered containers before turning away and flying back toward home. Hopefully she’d be able to keep enough of the treasure to buy a new outfit.

The End

The vertical drop gradually sloped into shallow angle that allowed the main body of water to pass and leave Suzie on a cold, wet floor. She rolled to a stop except for a firm and steady flow of rain water that gently pushed her along a few more inches. Suzie simple lay there for a long moment gasping until her breathing was able to return to a more normal rate. Once she had convinced herself that she really was alive, she rolled over and examined her surroundings.

She was in a dark, stone tunnel. Although the stones had been worn smooth by similar torrents of water, vines and roots had broken through in several places; a testament to the power of the forest above that it could penetrate the rocks this far below the surface. Her fingers ran over the mason work, admiring the craftsmanship of the drain when she suddenly realized where she was.

She bolted up and took a further look down the hall. The tunnel was dark where it sloped back up to the pool where she had come. But light crept up the gradual incline in the other direction. Suzie pulled herself to her feet and shuffled in that direction; her bare feet slipping occasionally on the slippery stone.

After a short walk, she emerged in a gigantic chamber. The floor of her tunnel extended a couple of feet where it spit the continuing flow of rain water to the bottom of the room 70’ below. Similar tunnels around the walls supplied their own flow of rain water to feed the pool.

And in the middle of the water, a small island stood with a huge statue, or collection of statues, that depicted an enormous horde of beasts, monsters and demons in various stones and metals; an amazing collection of subjects and materials. And atop the attacking beasts stood a life-sized statue of a naked, six armed woman bearing a variety of shields and swords as she fought the army of attackers. It was the warrior goddess Alethian. The statue stood on top of a royal burial chamber to show the goddesses ability to keep the slumbering king safe from the attacking demons that might disturb his eternal slumber.

Alethian was covered in a dazzling array of gems and precious metals, a donation from the deceased monarch to guarantee his protection. And on one of the arms the statue wore the codex bracelet she had been looking for. This was the chamber that her map had led to; the map that Captain Knowe had stolen. His crew was obviously on their way here, but she had beaten them. There was still hope.

In addition to the monsters piled within the statue, flying creatures were depicted in statues coming out of the walls; as if circling Alethian looking for an opening in her defenses. Suzie estimated that she should be able to climb out one of the protruding statues close enough to hop over to the main character and the codex bracelet.

Taking a few steps back, Suzie took a couple of slippery steps before leaping into the open and grabbing a pair of metallic talons that hung below a statue of a large bird of prey. The bird bounced twice as it settling into her weight. However, the creaking groan of machinery immediately began to emit from the walls all around the chamber. The statue seemed to come to live. All of the surrounding statues were starting to move around the center statue in precise orbits; swooping, diving and narrowly missing each other with a giant clockwork precision.

The bird carrying Suzie swung toward a giant metallic claw. She just barely pulled herself up to the belly of the bird to avoid being scraped off. But before she had any chance to recover, Suzie had to swing her legs out to avid the jagged teeth of a predatory amphibian. Next a metallic tail seemed to sweep toward her. With no where else to go, she let go of the talons just before being battered away. Luckily she only dropped a few feet before landing between the wings of a gargoyle traveling the opposite direction.

Obviously the statue movements were designed to prevent thieves from climbing to the Alethian statue to steal the jewels covering the deity. And it was certainly doing everything it could to drop Suzie to the pool far below.

The mechanisms controlling the gargoyle flipped it up and around in a graceful loop. Hanging upside down, Suzie tried desperately to get a grip of the slippery wings. Just as she hit the end of the wing, she was able to grab hold with just one hand, dangling over an 80’ drop. However, as the statue started to right itself, the stone tip of the wing that Suzie clung to broke off, throwing Suzie onto the neck of a snapping serpent. Suzie slid down the snakes back and huddled in its coils. She was safe for the moment, but she couldn’t stay trapped here. From the narrow view point she had, she carefully watched as much of the pattern of the spinning statues as she could see for several minutes as she tried to formulate a plan.

Once she thought she had the timing down, she braced her bare feet against the statues scales as best she could and sprinted up the back of the snake. Leaping off its head, she leapt just in time to catch the stinger of a giant insect. The insect rose to the highest arc of any of the other orbiting statues, but its path ended with a 90’ drop to the chamber floor that would impale Suzie on the stinger if she didn’t find another exit soon.

Fortunately she was on a level with the Alethian statue. It would only take a short hop to get to her, but the array of weapons that the goddess held protectively around her made any direct approach very dangerous at Suzie’s current speed. She held on as long as she could, looking for an opening that wouldn’t impale her; then just as she felt her ride click for its final decent, Suzie saw her opening and leapt for the warrior goddess. Slipping between the swords, she hit the stone face to face, flung her arms over her shoulders and her legs over her hips.

Suzie took a breath as she clung to the statue as the other statues continued their spinning dance around her. Finally she looked over to see the arm wearing the codex bracelet just to her right. Carefully hanging on, she took the bracelet off and placed it on her own wrist. She turned back to the stone eyes that her face was pressed against. The cold emotionless goddess didn’t seem to object.

“Do you two need some time alone?” The voice echoed up from below. Suzie swung around to see Darien entering the walkway around the pool on the bottom level with a couple of hundred pirates. Darien had been the spy Captain Klawe used to use and betray Suzie. And now he had her surrounded and out numbered again.

Suddenly aware of her situation, scantily clad, soaking wet and clinging to a naked statue; Suzie kept one arm around the goddess and swung out to face the scum below.

“I have to say that she makes a better boyfriend than the last one I had.” She sneered. This drew several chuckles from some of the pirates. Darien snarled at them before turning his attention back to Suzie.

“At least I’m happy to see that you’ve recovered the Codex Bracelet for me.” He said with an icy smile. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to bring it down here to me?”

“I think you should come up here and get me?” Suzie reached over to one of the goddesses hands and slipped a large scimitar out of her grip. She tested the weight of the sword and took a firm, defensive stance in front of the warrior statue.

“I’ve already had you.” Darien smiled, “It’s only fair to give my men a chance.” And at a hand signal, hundreds of pirates crossed short bridge to the center island and began climbing the statue.

To be continued…

Part of Suzie began to welcome the darkness that crept in from the corners of her vision. The hum of the approaching saws became almost soothing. It would be over soon. A single drop of blood rolled off her shoulder and fell into the water.

Just before the blades slipped under her chin Suzie was yanked straight down with incredible force. A huge tentacle had reached up and wrapped itself firmly around her waist. As soon as she was free of the repulser beams, Suzie’s emptied lungs filled explosively with air for the split second before she was pulled under the water. She kicked and wiggled as much as she could until a second tentacle grabbed her left foot. She tried weakly to punch at the slippery limbs, but the water slowed her down too much to have any real effect.

A forest of tentacles writhed around her as she was pulled toward the main mass of the beast. One dark eye rolled into view and examined her. Another pair of tentacles traced the lines of her body tenderly. The one wrapped around her waist was quickly replaced by one that circled over her left shoulder and across her chest like a bandoleer. Suzie could feel the slimy crawl of the flesh slide over her skin as it slipped under the strap of her panties as it circled her hip. The main tentacle then reached up from between her legs until the tip pointed at her face, almost looking ready to playfully tap her nose.

But Suzie was able to grab the tentacle with her left hand and pull it to her mouth where she bit hard into the tough flesh. She knew she wouldn’t be able to do too much damage to the beast, but hopefully she could surprise it enough to loosen its hold. And it worked. As soon as she felt the force of the grip slack, she kicked hard for the surface trying to shake off the tangle of limbs wrapped around her.

She broke through the surface of the water with a gasp, barely missing the laser saws which were now only inches above the water. Frantically sucking in air, she searched for a way around the spinning disks of death.

However the tentacles around her quickly pulled tight again and she was harshly yanked back underwater. In punishment for her futile attack, the calibarutus slammed her hard against the nearest wall. While she was momentarily stunned, the beast let go of her just long enough to switch its grip. A single tentacle grabbed each of Suzie’s limbs and pulled out. Suzie screamed out a silent bubble of precious air at the incredible pain. She could feel her shoulders and hips about to rip from their sockets.

But rather than maim his prize, the calibarutus chose to tenderize her instead. Suzie was thrown hard against the far side of the well where she slammed hard into the marbleized steel. Stunned, her limp body began to float toward the surface.

But a sudden boiling hissing sound roared through the water, shaking Suzie from her daze. The water level had risen to the level of the laser saws, and the spinning disks of energy were boiling and churning the water into an underwater storm. Suzie shook herself awake and jackknifed into a dive deeper into the pool. The calibarutus saw the maneuver and did its best to mimic it with its large awkward body. The deeper they were, the easier it would be to subdue its prey.

Suzie hit the bottom and looked up just in time to see the gigantic creature try to arch up out of the water after her. She couldn’t tell if it was a miscalculation or the tidal forces being generated by the laser saws, but the calibarutus was pulled up into the energy blades and the top of the pool suddenly exploded into a giant cloud of red.

As the first bits of shredded flesh began to float down around her, Suzie began to look for some other exit at the bottom of the pool. Her lungs were starting to burn with the need of a fresh breath. Whirlpools from the churning saws reached down out of the cloud of blood above and created increasingly strong currents that Suzie had to fight against. She tried to anchor herself on the pool floor, but she could feel her bare feet slide against the smooth surface. Her hair billowed around her and with the increasing rain of grisly debris it was making it harder and harder to see.

Finally her feet hit something. Suzie reached down and grabbed onto a large disk which lay in the center of the pool. It had to be a drain. She tried to pull it up, but the weight of the large steel disk, plus the pressure of the water held it firmly in place. Suzie planted her feet wide apart, arched her back and put all of her strength into trying to lift the drain plug. Her life did depend on it.

All around her the currents of the tangle of whirlpools increased, fighting to knock Suzie off balance and break her hold. Her hair whipped around her as the last of her air was knocked out of her lungs.

But suddenly there was movement, just a fraction of an inch, but the drain plug moved. Continuing to pull with all of her strength, Suzie felt the drain plug begin to rise. Slowly, agonizingly slow, barely a fraction of an inch. But it was enough for the currents to catch it and get under the disk. The force of the water swirled under the lid, breaking the seal and flipping it across the pool floor. The rush of water hit Suzie like a giant hammer as it slammed her down the drain.

To be continued…

It was typical for storm clouds to gather over the dense jungles of Shankera around this time of day. Flooding was a daily occurrence in the small, southern rain forest island. And the dark storm front was moving in right on schedule, piling high over the thick vegetation. Fortunately for most of the deadly predators that stalked the island, deep wells had been built by some ancient civilization that gathered the torrents of rain to prevent flooding and supply fresh water. These wide, circular wells were lined by sheer marbled steel that dropped several stories into the ground.

And right in the dead center, half way down one of these wells, Suzie Starstress groggily came to her senses. Repulser beams hit her from every side, pinning her limbs to her core and suspending her in the middle of nothing, seemingly floating. The first, heavy rain drops from the approaching storm traveled down the well and splashed into her face pulling her back to consciousness. As her eyes slowly opened, she began to remember her encounter with the pirates as she tried to infiltrate their asteroid base. Obviously it hadn’t gone well.

The cold dampness of the pit revealed that she had been stripped down to her underwear. Obviously the pirates had found some of the tools and weapons carefully and cleverly hidden in her clothing. So she was unarmed and had nothing that could help her in any way. And to make it worse the Armeni Secret Service had no idea where she had gone, so there was no really no hope for rescue. She was on her own and obviously in deep trouble.

Trying to shake the water from her eyes, she quickly realized just how restrained her mobility was. She squirmed just enough to find that the tractor beams held her firmly in place. Moving her head as much as possible, she was barely able to make out the slightly less dark opening of the well far above her. Below her she could hear the rain splattering into the pool of the well. A typical evening storm would quickly fill this well. Unfortunately Suzie didn’t think the tractor beams would allow her to float to the top. And even if she did, there would be no way to fight off all of the dangerous predators on the surface unarmed.

“Aww, you poor thing, you look so helpless” Suzie froze as the voice echoed through the chamber. The voice belonged to Captain Klawe, the leader of the pirates she had been sent to destroy. Suddenly a giant holographic projection of the captain’s head circled around her right side, easily twenty times its normal size. Suzie would have jumped if he could have. As it hovered around her, Suzie felt more exposed and helpless than she ever had, but she refused to give the monster the satisfaction of showing any emotion.

“I’m sorry we didn’t have more time to play,” Klawe’s tongue touched his lip for just a moment. Suzie fought to repress the image of the giant mouth closing around her and swallowing her. It was just a hologram. “But if you found me and my lair, I’m sure your friends can’t be far behind.” The sensation of being a specimen in a jar continued as Klawe’s holographic face circled back behind her, examining her from every angle. For a long moment, she thought she had been left alone again, until his face appeared again circling around the other side.

“I know it doesn’t seem very fair to do this to you after you helped us so much, but that’s what truly evil men do.” Suzie tried to look away at the memory of her betrayal. She hadn’t known that one of Klawe’s pirates had infiltrated the Armeni Secret Service and positioned himself as her partner in the attack on the pirate stronghold. During the flight to the Kiuba system she had fallen for the dashing rogue and in a moment of romantic weakness had told him about the location of the codex bracelet, a device that would lead to the treasure of the legendary pirate Bloody Red. With that treasure, Klawe would be able to build a pirate empire that no government agency would ever be able to take down. Once the raid had begun, the infiltrator had turned on Suzie and revealed the location of the codex bracelet to his captain.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed it yet, but the repulser beams holding you in place are gradually building in intensity. Pretty soon they will be crushing you into a pulp far beyond anything your friends would recognize.” A flash of lighting momentarily lit the dark pit accenting the sinister prediction. “I know you’re probably hoping for the power to go out during this storm, but I’m afraid that won’t help much. In the water below you is a Calibarutus. Are you familiar with the species?” Suzie couldn’t hide the look of horror that confirmed that she did know about it. So even with the increased flow of rain causing the water to rise ever faster, drowning would not be her biggest concern. Calibarutus were ravenous carnivores with multiple tentacles that took great care to play with their food with the comfort that nothing could escape their grasp. No matter how she died, she would ultimately end up being its meal.

“You might actually have a better chance with the predators on the surface, but obviously there’s no way you could climb these walls even if you could get to them.” The image of Captain Klawe hovered closer, directly in front of her. “However, I am a sporting man. I like to keep things interesting. Games of chance make everything a little better, don’t you think?”

“What do you want?” Suzie finally said as she grasped at the straw of hope.

Klawe’s face vanished and suddenly the well lit up with six laser saws positioned horizontally around the pit. Flat disks of plasma pulled lasers into tight circles that spun and cut through any known matter. The six spinning disks closed into the center irising in on Suzie’s abdomen.

“I want to place a bet on exactly how you’re going to die! Right now live feeds are being broadcast to our betting parlors around the galaxy. As we speak, patrons are choosing between crushing, drowning, disemboweling or being eaten. Even being ‘frightened to death’ has better odds then you would think.” With the rising water, the crushing beams and the closing saws Suzie had to admit that she would have a hard time choosing.

“Unfortunately, I can’t stick around and watch. I have a pirate treasure to collect. I’d place a bet for you, but I’m afraid you wouldn’t be able to collect.” His final laugh echoed through the chamber until it faded into the sizzle of rain hitting the sheets of plasma making up the approaching laser saws.

Suzie used all of her strength to squirm and wiggle against the crushing forces that gripped her. As Klawe had gloated and bragged, Suzie had been assessing her situation. If she could get above the saws, she might be able to make it above the beams that held her, but with no way to get to the sides or grip them to climb, if she did get above the repulser beams she would just fall back into the laser saws. So her only choice was to work with gravity and try to shimmy down.

With no reference, it was hard to tell if it was working, but as the saws drew nearer she could make out some slight progress. Instead of aiming for her belly button, they were now at the level of her chest. But it wasn’t going to be enough. She already had to fight harder and harder for each breath against the crushing forces, and she could feel the cold water start to creep up her bare feet, and she could feel the breeze from the spinning blades on her shoulders, and something brushed against her toes.

With a final thrust she was able to push her left shoulder below the level of the blades, but a sting on her right shoulder told her that the blade on that side had struck. She quickly forced her right shoulder down with just a scratch, but the severed strap of her scant top dropped away. It bought her a couple of inches, but it wasn’t enough, the blades circling her neck continued to close. But she couldn’t move any more, as the water crept up her thighs, buoyancy took over and gravity stopped helping, making it harder and harder to creep down. And with the last of her breath forced from her lungs her vision started to fade…

To be continued…

As the busy activity of the Pareele capital wove around the downtown area, Blast and Suzie settled into a peaceful Pareele cafe enjoying a light lunch. The clear, warm weather brought out a nice crowd of locals who casually went about their business while enjoying the weather and the atmosphere.

“I’ve been doing a little research on Earth.” Blast said as he passed Suzie a basket of rolls.

“Have you?” Suzie smiled, but her training forced her to keep scanning the crowd. “I didn’t think people knew too much about it?”

“Apparently the Enarigan’s are the only one’s who know where it is. But people have gotten a lot of information from signals that they’ve been able to intercept from there. There’s a lot that you have to take with some skepticism, but there’s enough data to get some information that seems pretty accurate.”

“So what do you think of your home planet?”

“It sounds okay, but I’m having a hard time imagining myself living there.”

“Everything I’ve heard is that it’s a nice place.”

“I know, it’s just that…” Blast’s struggle for the right words drew Suzie’s attention. “It’s a little embarrassing.”

“What? You’re embarrassed at all of the nerdy Earthling fans out there? As soon as they find out that you’re from Earth, you’re going to be incredibly famous!”

“That won’t make me a very effective secret agent.”

“With your powers and abilities, you don’t need to be very secret. You’ll be a super hero.”

Blast sighed and chewed on a piece of Pareele bread.

“I guess that’s the problem,” he finally said, “I’ve been used to being a superhero already. But now that I know where I’m from, and I know about the rest of my people… It’s really a let down.”

“What do you mean?”

“Everyone on Earth can do the things I do.” Blast sighed, “In fact most of them can do things a lot better than I do. It turns out I’m not as special as I’ve always thought I was. I’m used to being a super man, but now that I’ve seen Earth’s version of Superman, I know I’m not that impressive.”

“Blast, you can do things that amaze me. Most people would kill to have your powers and abilities.”

“But that’s the point, I’m not super powerful, everyone else is just really weak.”

“Thanks a lot!”

“That’s not what I mean. You’re an incredible Zenon, but if you compare me to other Earthlings, I’m not that impressive.”

“But with us you’re…” Blast cut her off and turned to look at a small, plain looking personal transport with tinted windows that had hovered by just over head of the nearby walkway.

Pushing the table back, Blast leaped over the low wall next to them and raced after the craft. In a moment he had caught up to it, leaped up to grab the edge of the craft and pulled himself on top of it. Balancing carefully on the moving vehicle he punched through the thin plastic of the roof, tore the material back like an orange peel and pulled out the small Rykiel driver. With it’s operator gone, the vehicle settled to the ground and Blast hopped off with his complaining prisoner wiggling in his grasp.

“And how did you know that Stekker Volreich, one of the most wanted assassins in the free worlds, just happened to be passing by?” Suzie asked as she poured more wine.

“He was shouting into him comm unit as he was driving. It’s a good thing these hover cars don’t make much noise.”

“You heard that from this distance and you don’t think you’re special?” Suzie said as she handed Blast some handcuffs. Blast looked around at the crowd that had gathered to gawk at his heroic action.

“Well, I guess I can try.”

*******

I had only intended to do 3 Episodes at this time, but once I goofed and posted the first two at the same time, I wanted to throw together a little something that would help develop the characters just a little bit more.

But I hope you’ve enjoyed the adventures of Blast Rocketron. I sincerely hope that I can add a little more to this addition to the Zortic universe in the future. Of course if anyone wants to take a crack at Blast Rocketron fan fiction, art or comics, I’d love to see what some of you can do with the ideas. I’d just like to request that you keep it from becoming too adult (no blatant language, sex or nudity). I’d like to keep it in the tradition of classic pulp fiction, not the Quenton Tarantino movie.

Blast found himself sitting in a reclined lounge chair in front of the main controls, Suzie sat 120 degrees to his right at a data console. The ship’s system display sat empty behind them. Blast shrugged it off, neither one of them knew enough about this ship to understand enough to decipher the operations information anyway. They just had to hope that the old machinery would hold together long enough to get them to safety.

The flat saucer shaped ship weaved around obstacles, speeding across the foothills as Blast hugged the ground protectively.

“If we can get to my transport, we should be able to get off world.” Blast said and he manipulated the controls.

“I wouldn’t bet on it,” Suzie said, “There’s a patrol ship coming after us.”

“Just one?” Blast asked.

“This crate is decades old, they only need one.” A crackle of blue lightning raced from the patrol ship to the escaping one. Sparks flew from where the bolt glanced off a corner of Blast and Suzie’s ship.

“Ion disruptor!” Suzie said.

“We’re almost there.” Blast said through his teeth, “See if you can get any more intel from this things data banks.” Blast could see his transport ahead, he just had to figure out some way to make the patrol ship leave them alone long enough to land and transfer to his ship.

“Blast!” Suzie couldn’t hide her surprised gasp. “There’s a file on you in here! This is the ship that abducted you from your home planet.” Blast sat stunned for a moment before another near miss shook him back to their current situation. Suddenly Blast pulled back on the controls, Blast was shoved deep into his seat as the controls forced the flying saucer into a sharp upward turn. Below them, the blue crackle of ionized energy zipped past their intended route and destroyed the Gaul transport that had been their goal.

“What are you doing?” Suzie cried.

“You need time to open that folder!”

“Are you crazy! You’re compromising our escape! We can’t get away in this thing!”

“This ship is our new mission. If it has information on who I am and where I came from, we’re getting it back for our R&D guys to take apart.”

“And I suppose this new mission is sanctioned by your government?” Suzie asked with a sneer.

“You know perfectly well how much discression an agent has on a mission.”

“But not for going on some kind of personal quest! You’re overstepping your bounds.” The sky darkened as they escaped the atmosphere and stars quickly filled the sky.

The large patrol craft was still right behind them. Blast pulled back into a tight orbit to allow the curve of the planet to block fire.

“What are we going to do now?” Suzie said, “as soon as we pull into open space that things going to pick us off. There’s no way we can out run it in this thing.”

“How are you doing with that information?” Blast asked.

“It’s encrypted, it’s going to take a while.”

Blast thought frantically through their options. The patrol ship was catching up with them very quickly. Soon they would have a clear shot at them. He quickly slapped through a series of commands and pulled the ship into a very fast, very tight loop.

“On the count of three eject!” Blast ordered.

“But I’ve almost got something!” Suzie said intent on her data monitor.

“One”

“Just a few more seconds.”

“Two, there’s no time.” Blast knew this had to be precise. He looked over at Suzie and saw that she hadn’t prepared her ejection sequence.

As he said “Three” Blast slapped the controls into a locked position, leapt over to lay across Suzie on her lounge chair and smacked her ejection control. The seat quickly dropped down through the hull and an airtight bubble created a pod around them. The two of them rocketed out of the flying saucer at the peak of it’s arch continuing on a straight shot away from the planet as the ship looped back and crashed into the patrol ship. The silent explosion of the colliding antimatter plants created enough light and energy to push and shake the pod to create a rattling cacophony that compensated for the sound of the explosion.

The pod was designed for a single Enarigan, Suzie was bigger than an Enarigan and Blast was larger than she was. So the tiny space was definitely cramped. Plus the added acceleration forced Blasts’ weight onto her even harder, crushing the air from her lungs. It seemed like an eternity before weightlessness allowed her to push the gigantic alien off of her.

“What are you doing?” She managed to get out before he bounced back into her.

“This trajectory should get us out of Enarigan space before they can find us. Idalian patrols should be able to find us.”

“But I had information about you, ya stupid lump!” Suzie began to find her heartbeat quickening at his proximity.

“You were right,” Blast threw his elbows up into the seat cushions on either side of her head to keep from crushing her again as he floated above her. “My mission was to get you out safely. Nothing else is important.” He looked down into her eyes and she found herself melting into his embrace. In the narrow confines, she didn’t really have much choice.

“So you don’t care about the name of the planet you came from?” She asked coyly.

“You decrypted it!” Blast popped back banging his head against the transparent canopy. Suzie’s eyes twinkled as she pulled his head back to hers.

Suzie pulled him into a kiss, tapping the information on his teeth with her tongue.

“Earth!” the thought burst through Blast’s head. Suzie released him and looked into his startled eyes.

“I’m originally from Earth?” he asked.

“Yup” Suzie said, pulling him close and wrapping her body around his. Blast finally relaxed into her embrace.

“And I love your accent!” Suzie said as she pulled him into another kiss.