(Disclaimer: A warning to those who continue. This is a sequel to a previous story. Both of these were written in the mid-1990’s. While the first one was slightly edited and vanity press published, this one has not been touched in over 20 years. I figure I should do something with it and people may get a laugh or fright from how I used to be. Every author comes from somewhere, so this is part of my origin. To that end, I am deeply sorry for whatever nightmares I will inflict on the literary world and the American English language. Enjoy?)
While Fate and Miracle relaxed, their friends were busy working in the enormous space skimmer bay. The space skimmers are lightweight, twin-engine ships that are used primarily for transportation and exploration. They are heavily armored, but have no real weapons with the exception of a frontal electromagnetic wave gun. On the sides of each ship is a bright violet symbol of a comet going through a segmented circle. Inside is a thin hallway with monitors, buttons, and cabinets. The cockpit is like that of a jetliner, but there is nothing dividing it from the rest of the ship.
“You had to have come here for more than a simple apology. Hand me the hammer that’s on the left wing. It’s the heavy sledge,” says Hydrana from under one of the spaceships.
“That was the main reason I came down here. But SEAS had told me to drop off that new kind of scanning device that Miracle had made for the space skimmers. I also wanted to see how you were doing after tonight’s incident with Fate. Here,” explains Infinity as he hands her a very heavy sledgehammer. The sound of banging metal echoes throughout the entire room for a few minutes before Hydrana rolls out from under the space skimmer. Her short and slender body is covered in sweat and sticky engine grease, but she quickly makes a hot blast of water erupt from the floor to clean her. To dry off, the Neptune guardian simply has the water that is on her evaporate. When she finally turns to her companion, her face holds an icy stare.
“Were you spying on me, Steve?” asks Hydrana in a voice that is about as cold as her stare.
“No. I was watching the space sensors when SEAS showed me what had happened. He recommended that I should talk to you about it. That machine sounds more human than the four of us at some times,” replies Infinity. He fidgets a little under her cold stare and takes a few steps back.
“Hold on to that thought. I really want to set this new scanner up to the sensor array in the rear. Like I said before, I really should check to see if it is worth the time we put into creating it.”
Hydrana opens up a nearby biohazard box and pulls out a lightly tinted, glass sphere. Inside is a fully matured human brain with small pieces of red metal and pink wires embedded in it. The sound of sloshing liquid is clearly heard as Hydrana carries it into the rear of the space skimmer.
After she carefully pulls out another metallic sphere from a console and replaces it with the glass sphere, Infinity says, “What is that thing supposed to do?”
“Funny that you should ask. Miracle genetically grew and engineered this brain from a few of your brain cells. But she replaced its telekinetic capabilities with some telepathic capabilities. It should act as a long-range scanner and prevent anyone from trying to deceive us. The sensor monitors the brainwaves and thoughts of anyone that we meet in outer space. I know it sounds a little on the intrusive side, but it could be very helpful. Unfortunately, it looks like the brain will decompose within a week because our novice scientist couldn’t seem to replicate the correct type of preservative liquids. This kind is much too acidic for the brain,” explains Hydrana after she installs the sphere. She quickly leaves the skimmer and leaps up to the twin engines on the roof before Infinity can say anything.
“When did you ever learn about genetics, Hydrana?”
“Never. But every liquid is somehow connected to water. I can easily tell how acidic any liquid is and figure out approximately what it will do to a solid. You wanted to talk to me, then talk to me. I’m only reconfiguring these nuclear and solar cells in order to make the ships move faster. It’s relatively easy, so start talking, bird boy.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about your family problems? I would have gladly helped you solve them,” says Infinity as he stands under the wing.
“Too late now.”
“Is it?”
“Look, Steven. I’m sorry for not telling you, but I can’t change my past. No matter how much I want to. Of course, thanks for caring.” She leans over the side of the space skimmer, upside down, and kisses Infinity on the lips for a long time. When a sharp alarm goes off in the skimmer bay, she quickly goes back to her work.
“Whoops. Almost nuked us into the next millenium. Silly me. Can you give the ship a telekinetic jumpstart because the energy cells need a little energy for me to continue the reconfiguration? It normally takes electricity, but I figure that your birthright powers will be close enough. Anything else on your mind? And if you want to share a room like the lovebirds, then shut up and leave. I told you the last time you brought the subject up that a girl has to have her privacy,” says Hydrana as she fills an empty coolant tank with ice water. She seals the engine tanks and backflips off the space skimmer just as the engines roar to life.
“What did Fate say to you that caused your little break down?” asks Infinity, who is picking up the tools with several telekinetic hands.
“Hey, SEAS. I want a glass of Saturnian elixir with a slice of an Earth-grown lemon. Put a little umbrella in it. Do you want one, Steve? Tastes great after you’ve been working hard in the space bay,” she says while pretending to ignore the other guardian’s words.
“Answer the question.”
“No.”
“What did Fate say to you? You don’t cry or whimper that often and he couldn’t have hurt you with that throw. It wasn’t strong enough. So, what did he say?”
“The usual stuff.”
“Answer the question.”
“I don’t want to and I don’t have to. So there.” She sticks her tongue out at the Earth guardian and grabs a drink that appears on the floor.
“Answer me!”
All he gets is death-like silence from the redhead. As soon as she starts crying and tries to run, Infinity gently grabs her arm and hugs her. At first she tries to resist, but he quickly gets a better grip of her.
“Just tell me and maybe I can help you. You’ve told me that he mentioned your parents, but why was it brought up?” he questions.
“Eddie said I was irresponsible because I never told my family about me being one of the new planet guardians. They still think I’m dead or that I ran away. I thought that it was a stupid thing to do since no one on Earth really knows, or even gives a damn, about our existence. Only a few people on that planet know we exist and there is no reason for my parents to find out. Remember that Earth is a sort of off limits area because neither us nor Adriana want to damage it,” Hydrana whispers when she slowly calms down.
“Fate didn’t know about your past,” says Infinity.
“That doesn’t matter. Fate was right about me. Not confronting my parents was a mistake and I’m paying for it. Sooner or later it’ll be too late to get rid of my internal . . .demons. I won’t be of any use to the rest of you if I keep them locked up. It’s weird how these things never bothered me before I found out I was immortal. Now all my problems are turning into monsters and won’t leave me alone.”
“So, you’re going to go talk to your parents.”
“No!”
“Then, what?”
“I don’t know. I’m so confused. But seeing him can’t help me. He’ll just yell at me and try to control me like he always did. Or he might do what he always did to me whenever I made a mistake. My birthright powers would mean absolutely nothing to that monster except another way of making money.”
“You sound like a little child. You’re nineteen and old enough to talk to them on even ground. You have nothing to worry about.”
“I just want to be alone. So, please leave. I’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She pulls herself out of the hug and goes back into the quiet space skimmer. She hears the sound of a door slamming close and soon after that nothing is heard at all in the large space bay. When she is sure that she is alone, Hydrana stumbles to a corner of the ship and rolls into a tight ball on the ground. Now, the only sound is that of her mumbling, “I don’t want to go. He’ll take away my life again. I don’t want him to touch me.”
“Excuse me. Are you okay, Ms. Mandervale?” asks the all around voice of SEAS. The guardian jumps to her feet and bangs her head on a bulkhead.
“I’m fine. Except for the fresh bruise on the top of my head. You’re not going to tell anyone about what I was doing. Are you?” Hydrana replies as she starts to tamper with the new telepathic scanner.
“I have known about the mental breakdowns since I discovered you were an immortal. Even then, I did not tell the others. It was never my place or right to say it without your consent. I saw that you would a powerful guardian and I had hoped that taking you away from the old life would start your recovery. But you have been put through enough tonight. I will tell one of the others about a potentially dangerous problem that I have found. Goodnight, water sprite.”
“No. Wait. I can handle it. Fate and the others want me to prove myself to them and so do I. Tell me what’s wrong,” orders Hydrana.
“Very well. A space shuttle has just left the far side of Pluto and it is heading on a semi-direct course toward Earth. It jammed all of my scanners before I could determine the exact location of their arrival. Also, the shuttle has disappeared on visual, so it is impossible to find out where they are at this present time. Do you know how to solve this little problem?” reports the computer system.
Without a word, the guardian turns on the new type of scanner. The enhanced brain lets out a slight buzzing, which grows to an almost deafening roar once it finds the shuttle. Its noise sounds exactly like a cheering crowd after their favorite team has gained a big win.
“It can’t tell us their location through a shadow field, but I can find out what they want on Earth. We have Draveon, Tegam, Cybro, and Adriana in the shuttle. Three of the big guns and the immortal pest. Why would the psycho slut take that prankster along with the cyborg and ultimate weapon? Eh, I don’t think it matters.”
“What are they thinking about?” asks SEAS.
“Tegam is thinking about practical jokes and every now and then a picture of this woman, named Brina, pops up from his subconscious. The picture is fuzzy. Cybro has several weapons and the sight of mutilated bodies in his head. That’s truly disgusting. I really don’t want to know anything that the nymphomaniac is thinking because I have more than enough nightmares. Now we just have to look into the big boy’s mind. And we have a very big problem,” explains Hydrana as slightly distorted words and pictures appear on the scanner screen.
“Your readings say that Draveon is thinking about getting the sword of light back while on Earth. He is obsessed with it, but that is not a problem,” states SEAS.
“It’s a trap for us. They’ll attack Earth in order to draw us out and kill us. All just to get their hands on that damn magic sword. We should have seen something like this coming months ago. Where are the other three guardians?”
“Fate and Miracle are finally asleep in their room. Infinity. . .is in his own room doing some type of meditation.”
“They’re obviously very busy. Looks like I’ll have to go after them alone. I can take this space skimmer and leave a message for the others to follow me later. I can see my parents too. Kill seven birds with one sword,” whispers Hydrana to herself.
“I fail to understand that particular phrase. Is the cliche not ‘kill two birds with one stone’?”
“So, I adlibbed a little. Here is my plan. If I take the sword of light and go back to Earth, I can prove to Fate that I’m not irresponsible and selfish. Then, I can finally confront my parents and put my mental demons to rest. The other four birds are those immortals that I’m going to stop.”
“Not if I stop you, Delila,” announces Infinity, who is standing in the space skimmer’s open side door. The startled Neptune guardian stares at him with a face that is half-angry and half-happy.
“I thought you were in your room!” exclaims the redhead as she tries to dive out of the rear doorway. The pale-eyed boy quickly blocks her path with a telekinetic wall and then he corners her against the hull of the ship.
“I told SEAS to lie. I heard the entire thing about Adriana’s group going to Earth and setting a trap for us. But you are not going after them by yourself.”
“Fine. Then I’ll only take the sword of light and meet with my parents. If those four idiots get in my way, I’ll simply leave the planet and get you guys. Of course, I will have to leave through them and show my parents what I have turned into. After all, they are the ones who made me what I am.” A feral smirk starts to cross her face as she speaks and Infinity takes a slow, cautious step back.
“And if your parents get killed during the fight? What happens after that?”
“That’s their problem. Now, if you truly love me, you will let me go and not tell anyone about this. You do love me. Don’t you, Stevie?” she asks in an innocent voice while she puts her slender arms around his neck. She kisses her fiercely before she lets go and turns to leave.
“I love you enough not to let you go. Nobody will be doing any suicide missions this year.” Infinity suddenly has to dive out of the way of a group of large icicles as soon as he stops talking. They shred his cape, but a telekinetic shield keeps his body in one piece. The Earth guardian rolls to his feet in time to see a large fist of ice repeatedly smash down on his face. He remains conscious for a few seconds after the fist melts away, but he can’t get his eyes to adjust. Eventually they just close and the only thing he can do is listen to the Neptune guardian.
Hydrana carefully drags the young boy and props him up against the wall before whispering, “You may not believe this. But I’m doing this for everyone, Steve. It isn’t safe to have me around right now. I can just feel my sanity slipping away from me. Please don’t be mad at me. And if you want to try and stop me from killing anyone then you will have to kill me. I don’t care how, but do it if it’s necessary. Why am I even bothering with these words? You won’t remember any of what I say and SEAS isn’t paying any more to us attention. So, I guess this is it. Bye, lover.”
With a final kiss, Hydrana slips out of the space bay in order to steal the sword of light.
