The face was as rigid as the body — a look of uncertainty and fear etched on its features. And he appeared younger and more earthy looking.
But there was no mistaking who this was.
It was O'Nay Himself.
20
Flash!
They were back in the control room of the ShadoVox.
It seemed smoky and wet for some reason. A mist had filled it, too.
When Hunter came to, he was sitting in one of the command chairs, fingers grasping the armrests, eyes facing the access door. The first thing he looked for was the bulb next to the door panel. It was solid yellow and not blinking. This meant the door was still locked and had remained locked in the time he and Joxx had been on the mind ring trip.
Joxx was sitting in the seat opposite him. He looked as if he'd just crawled out of a high-speed space wreck. His uniform, torn and battered before, was now down to the atomic threads and sopping with sweat. He was slumped over in his seat, hands shaking, haircut ruined, his face buried in his chest. He was taking in deep gulps of air and letting them out slowly. Finally, he lifted his head.
"How long," he began gasping. "How long were we gone from this time frame?"
Hunter wasn't sure. That was one thing about mind rings, one could be gone a second, a minute, an hour, a month. Hunter managed to rub his hand across his grimy face. His beard, already coarse and erupting when he started this adventure, seemed just a bit more grown out now. His guess, they'd been gone just a few hours.
But what had happened in that time, back here in the real world?
"At the very least I feel compelled to call a truce," Joxx was beginning to say.
But at that moment, Hunter wasn't listening to him.
Something is wrong here….
He looked back at the access door just a second before the banging began. It grew louder by the instant. Someone on the other side was trying desperately to get in.
The last Hunter had seen of his colleagues, Erx and Berx, Calandrx, Zarex, Klaaz, and Gordon, they'd retreated into the next compartment over in the huge command bubble; this afer Hunter had put the mind ring around Joxx's head. Their job was to watch the door while Hunter brought the SG commander back through the ages. Was this them now? Trying to get back in?
Hunter didn't think so.
A moment later, a combination of ray-gun blasts and sheer muscle power broke the door down. A small army of dark figures flooded into the room.
Hunter just shook his head. He'd been right. They were not UPF soldiers, nor Erx and Berx and the rest of his gang.
They were Solar Guards.
Lots of them.
They took one look at Joxx and let out a great cheer.
"We have rescued our leader!" one man yelled, to the hurrahs of the others. "The Empire is well again! Joxx is alive!"
"What happened to the enemy fleet?" Joxx demanded of them, interrupting their celebration.
The guards hesitated a moment. "The invaders' fleet has been destroyed," one finally said, "and they are all dead."
Before Joxx could say anything else, his soldiers blinked him out to one of the Rapid Engagement Fleet Starcrashers in orbit above the tiny moon, Bad News 666.
Then one of the soldiers pulled out a ray gun, pointed it at Hunter, and pulled the trigger. A quarter-power bolt hit him in the chest, stunning him severely.
"And you?" the soldier growled at him, right up in his face. "You sir, are the only one left of the whole rebellious bunch. But that is something you will not be able to brag about for very much longer! I have already seen the orders for your execution. And from what I hear, you have been guaranteed a very painful way to die."
With that, Hunter was dragged out of the room and down the concourse of the ship by six enormous Star Rangers.
Even though he could barely open his eyes, he thought he could see evidence of a fierce firefight taking place on board the ShadoVox. Some of the walls were perforated with small atomic sparks drilling their way through the bulkheads, the residue of full-power ray-gun blasts. The ceiling was coated with a faint blue powder, the telltale subatomic dust caused by extensive blaster-rifle fire. And the deck was slick with something bright red: Was it blood? Or spilled star juice? Or just ion tea, the crimson liquid that flowed through the transdimensional tubes on every Star-crasher?
Hunter couldn't tell.
The guards dragged him down to the lowest level of the immense ship. He saw more evidence of combat at every turn. Walls scarred by ray-gun and blaster hits, sparks gnawing into everything everywhere. The floor always wet with something red and sticky.
All this time, something inside Hunter's battered head kept telling him, This can't be real. Their quest halted? Everyone dead?
No, not this way.
They reached the bottom of the Starcrasher, the so-called ghetto of the ship. The guards were punching him now, but he could not feel their blows. They reached a heavy steel door. It opened on command to reveal a very dark, very crude cell beyond.
"Welcome to your new home," one of the guards taunted Hunter. "But don't get used to it. You won't be here long."
With that, the guards threw him inside, spat at him, then slammed the door behind them.
Part Four
Only Heaven Awaits
21
It took more than thirty H-bombs before Joxx would admit that he was feeling himself again.
He was aboard a swift scout ship, heading for Earth at full-out Supertime speed. The vessel's medical officer had been checking on him constantly since he'd come aboard twenty-four hours before. Finally, after the 33rd injection of the super-mood elevator nicknamed H-bomb, Joxx admitted that he was coming around.
It was all the physician needed to hear. He could now report back to Earth that Joxx the Hero was reporting no problems, was breathing, was alive, and hopefully would stay that way, at least while he was under his care.
Joxx was ensconced in the scout ship's VIP compartment, the prime spot right behind the swift little craft's control bubble. Essentially, it was a large, cube with a semicircle of clear superglass serving as its walls and ceiling. As far as the celestial scenery went, it was the best seat in town.
There was a large hovering chair next to the huge window, and it was here that the doctor had found Joxx every time he'd visited the high officer. Joxx was always in the same position, hunched forward, head in his hands, staring out into space. Brooding, was the archaic name for it.
The Solar Guards had been triumphant, the invasion had been halted, and the leader of the short-lived rebellion was in chains back on the ShadoVox. And Joxx himself was safe. That would have seemed enough to brighten the mood of the famous soldier, but as the doctor soon found out, Joxx was having none of it. His melancholy was running three layers deep.
The doctor was certain these doldrums were the result of Joxx's stressful mind trip imposed on him by the rebel leader. Many times with mind trips, it took a while for the effects to fully wear off. But now that the H-bombs were kicking in — or at least Joxx said they were — the doctor was hoping his job was complete.
But as he was making his hasty exit, Joxx swiveled around in his grand chair and gave him one last order: "Send the REF warfare officers in immediately."
Soon six men were gathered around a table that Joxx had made appear next to his grand, swiveling chair.