A Moon Called Sun
Chapter Six — Ceci N’est Pas Une Pipe, Not a Pipe

"Make them wish for death," Josette instructed the Tar Babies as they slogged through the gummy muck on the planet, Tueum.

Heading to their objective site, the band of assassins slithered through the tall, jagged blood-reeds entombed in bitter hoarfrost. It was slow and arduous going, but the spirited group forged on, driven to fulfill the mission bestowed upon them by the Suntholo-the angels that they were.

It didn't take long for Josette to despise Tueum. It was a dismal mass that drew its main source of light from the nearby Divinity's Eye nebula. The halo-shaped nebula cast an eerie, purple-tinged glow that smoldered throughout the planet's dense atmosphere. And this dreary miasma only intensified the planet's hideous appeal. It was a vicious world with a surface as cold as a corpse and a core of hot, liquid hell which kept it in perfect balance. Tueum was as ugly as the O'dei- Malsumi themselves.

The planet's appearance was not their concern. What was their concern was about a hundred meters ahead on a rolling slime-covered hilltop that jutted up from the greenish-gray mud. It was a secret entrance. The natural opening traveled beneath this obscure sector of Tueum and would take the Tar Babies deep into a high-level Malsumian enclave. This is where their objective existed.

An acrid, steamy green vapor obscured their vision. Through her thermionic visor, or T-visor, Josette had no trouble spotting the oblong shadow of the entryway nestled in the hilltop-exactly where Suntholian intel said it should be. One thing Josette very much appreciated was that the Suntholo had a very reliable source of intel-much better than anything she had experienced with the French Resistance. Her old nightmares were quickly being replaced by newer, far more horrific

ones.

As the gang approached the bottom of the hill, Josette spotted two uniformed Nazi SS troopers guarding the entrance of the cave. Again, just as intel said there would be. Both soldiers were carrying what looked to be standard-issue MP40 submachine guns-

Hold on a minute...Josette closed her eyes and shook the cobwebs from her brain. Looking up to the cave entrance again, the SS troopers had been replaced by two fat Malsumian guards, which made much more sense. Okay, that's better, she thought.

It dawned on her this would be the first time she faced off against a real live Malsumi grunt-at least one that wasn't a holo-dem for training purposes. And watching those guards, all fat and lazy, sitting there in a stagnant pool of their own juices...well, they were everything she expected them to be. Her throat burned from stomach acid, and she fought back a sudden strong gag reflex. There they were just a few meters away, quivering and cowering like spineless infectious whores of the cluster. She detested the very sight of them. These were foul jellies out of water, and Josette had loathing in her heart for this race.

The O'dei-Malsumi were multi-appendage creatures with a ring of six to ten long, scaly arms that ran around the middle of their potato-shaped bodies. Each arm terminated in a roundish blob of a hand with two opposable digits stuck on the end like matchsticks jammed in a wad of chewing gum. Their black hide had the sickly sheen of motor oil floating on dirty water and was littered with hundreds of tubal protrusions that poked out all over its uneven surface. Each tube scattered about their rotund carcass was unique in length and girth. Their five multi-jointed struts gave them a smooth, arachnid style of walking, though they'd leave a residue of smelly discharge if they stood in one place for too long. She wasn't sure what they were animal, vegetable, or mineral, but she didn't care. Killing them would be a pleasure. She'd enjoy it as much as she did slicing and dicing those nasty Nazis back on Earth.

"Yes, I will," Josette said under her breath. If only she had her blade and pistol to accompany her on this mission. But these new friends of hers would be quite happy to help destroy these despicable fiends. The same fiends that brought them to this horrible place to die as aliens in an alien land. It was time to unleash some Earthian justice on her Malsumian prey. "We don't want to alert any concealed pods of Malsumi," said Josette. "Pugnax and Pugnus, you two will hang back and remain hidden on this first assault, while the rest of us transmorph dispatch the sentries,” she instructed the Remeans. "Stay low, this won't take long." The two brutes grunted their compliance to remain at the bottom of the hill as the

others prepared themselves. "Activate T-rep," she whispered.

Josette tripped a sensor on her T-visor, as did Snow White and Dingane on their own visors. The three Earthians shimmered and warbled as the visors emitted concentrated bands of light waves that bathed their bodies with intense, spatially limited energy. Once the thermionic visor had visual contact with the intended target, it could generate a replicate field of sustained energy for several clicks. The replicate soldier and target victim had to be of similar size, or gaps would appear in the field. But it was a highly effective weapon of deception. Within moments, their physical images had changed. They were no longer three, distinct Earthians, but three, homogenous O'dei-Malsumi standing in their stead. "Disgusting," said Snow White as he stared down at his scaly hide after the transmorph was complete. "I look like a giant rat turd."

"Yes, you do," agreed Dingane. "A turd with a lonely little peanut stuck to the bottom."

"Shut up and let's go." Josette glanced at her own transformed body. "I do love the warm feeling it gives you," she added.

The three imposters ambled up the hill, trying their best to mimic the distinct rolling gait of the Malsumi. In a matter of moments, they had crested the hilltop and approached the entrance still guarded with casual indifference by the two grunts.

Josette knew the sentries sensed their approach and hoped they'd regard them with only idle curiosity. While it was not unusual for a Malsumi to enjoy a stroll on the surface for a relaxing breather, this was a sensitive area. Nothing had happened in this sector in several hundred rotations, so it was nothing to be alarmed about. On the other hand, she was sure that, to the Malsumi guards, the three of them appeared to have a very peculiar mode of locomotion. Josette tried to anticipate every scenario that might be bouncing around in those tiny brains of theirs. Too fat to move, and too dumb to care, their stupidity would work in the Tar Babies' favor.

With no trouble at all, the group advanced on the sedentary guards. Josette didn't waste the opportunity, connecting her thumb and index finger to generate a ribbon of silver energy. Sweeping her hand in a smooth arc like a scythe, she sliced through the scaly hide of the nearest Malsumi. Dingane coordinated his attack with hers on the sentry's companion. Everything happened in a flash-quickly, quietly, and efficiently. Both Malsumi grunts were severed in two. The top halves of their stout bodies slid apart from the cauterized split through the middle. The large chunks of seared Malsumian flesh plopped to the ground with a wet, sloppy splat as escaping air whistled through their withering tubes. The lower halves stood frozen in place, motionless-a grisly pair of matching ottomans. The whole affair reminded Josette of slicing open a plump, juicy tomato-even down to the small seed pods suspended in the clear plasmic jelly. No doubt these seeds were part of their offensive reproductive process.

"Now that was disgusting," Snow White said, frowning.

"No." Josette smiled. "No, that was beautiful." She motioned down to the Remeans to catch up with the group. The big brutes obeyed and lumbered up the sludgy hill. "The opening is quite small. Can the two of you fit through?" asked Josette as the twins reached the apex where the team stood waiting.

Pugnax and Pugnus mumbled incoherently to each other for a moment. "Yes," replied Pugnus after the two separated. "But must bumpus our form."

"Will that allow you to transmorph as well?" Snow White chimed in.

"Yes," responded Pugnus. Pugnax whispered in his companion's ear. "But cannot hold bumpus long," Pugnus said as Pugnax farted.

"How long, you big hairy golo?" snapped Dingane. "We have work to do."

"Golo no translate." Pugnus scratched his humongous head.

"Forget that." Josette grew impatient. "Long enough to complete the mission?"

"Yes, long enough," Pugnus confirmed. "We must bumpus."

"Then get on with it," replied Josette. "Bumpus for God's sake."

And by her order, the Remeans bumpused their enormous bodies by unhinging their skeletal structures. The crackling of bone and snapping of sinew echoed across the glade as they retracted their thickly muscled legs up inside their torsos. Both giants shrunk at least a meter as their legs disappeared down to the second, calloused kneecap. There was more shifting of bones. Pugnax and Pugnus pulled their arms into the trunks of their body until the limbs resembled mere tree stumps of flesh with twiddling fingers.

A hearty pop tore through the air as sternums receded into their chest cavities, permitting the ribcages to collapse on top of one another. The ribs fell together like an accordion expelling a blast of air. And with more quick successions of painful crunches, the vertebrae of their elongated spines compressed to bring both melon heads to rest upon their broad, beefy shoulders.

The bumpusing was accomplished in perfect tandem and, after all was said and done, the Remeans had reduced their size by half. It was as disturbing as it was effectual. They stepped out of the baggy uniforms which had fallen down around their feet. There was a brief moment of stunned silence while the others digested the drastic change that just occurred.

"Bumpus,” Pugnus finished, naked and condensed. Pugnax belched with indifference.

"Impossible," said Snow White.

"Nothing is impossible for a willing heart," answered Josette.

"Your mother's furry cunt..." was all Dingane could muster, gaping at the little giants.

"Okay..." said Josette, clearing her throat. "Enough."

"Your mother's furry-"

"Yes, we know," she cut in, interrupting Dingane and nipping that in the bud. "Now snap out of it. We need to reach our objective and set the charge in less than half a klick. Got it?"

"Got it," the others replied in agreement.

"Nax, Nus you must transmorph before we can proceed, so get on with it."

Pugnax and Pugnus tripped their T-visors and were promptly bathed in synthetic light waves. Their squat, bumpused bodies were transformed into well-replicated O'Dei-Malsumi grunts, and the team was ready to roll.

"Okay then." Josette inhaled deeply, allowing the noxious gas of Tueum's atmosphere to burn her bronchial tubes. She enjoyed the pain. "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here," she exhaled, plunging into the mouth of the little cave. The rest of the Tar Babies squeezed in behind her and were thrust into darkness. The Malsumi had no eyes and no need for light, but their T-visors compensated for the lack of light by amplifying the irradiant particles inside the tunnel. The team could see an accurate geomorphologic image displayed before their eyes. The only drawback was everything was seen as bright yellow in color, so they couldn't rely on any color-coded cues for landmarks. Therefore, their objectives had to be perfectly mapped out in their minds.

They continued on down a steadily sloping spiral of a tunnel. The further they went, the more the passageway widened out. Soon, it was wide enough for all the team members to comfortably assume a right echelon formation-a standard for Suntholian Dark Ops. Josette was on point, followed by Snow White stationed behind and to her right. Dingane was behind Snow White and to his right, and so forth, followed by Pugnax and then Pugnus.

"Ah, tunnels," Snow White said softly. "And quite elegant ones too."

"I've never seen anything like it before," said Dingane.

"They remind me of home," Snow White reminisced.

"Reminds Singleberry of home, but reminds Dingane of a shit," the Zulu confided in Pugnax who more or less ignored him. "Much like the bumpusing of you stabanes, eh?" "Speaking of which." Snow White shifted his fat Malsumian head back toward the Remean twins at the end of the line. "I'm interested to learn more about this bumpus thing." "Bumpus is bumpus," replied Pugnus.

"Shut it," Josette snapped. As they progressed deeper into the enclave tunnel, Josette could hear the faint burps and farts of Malsumian tubes somewhere in the darkness. From her training, Josette knew the hundreds of greasy, wriggling tubes that covered their grotesque bodies were not simply ornamental, but served an important purpose for the O'dei-Malsumi. Because the vile monsters didn't have the benefit of either visual sight or auditory organs, they used their sensitive orifices to inhale the atmosphere around them. These tubes acted as a chemical sponge and absorbed any gases or airborne compounds swirling about in a radius of roughly a kilometer. These multi-functional hoses also trapped sound waves on both the local and broader spectrums. Overall, it was an efficient system that allowed them to sense, test, and judge their surroundings. The result was a five-dimensional image produced within their minuscule brains buried at their core.

Additionally, the Malsumi communicated through a series of sequential bursts of gas from their various tubes-something like a pipe organ, but without the pleasing, melodic tone of the instrument. It was a crude but sufficient language. The translator behind her ear convulsed as it struggled to interpret such a rudimentary dialect. The pain was sharp and unsettling, standing her camouflaged hair on end.

"My translator is about to burst from my skin," Snow White said in a low voice ripe with irritation.

"Mine too," agreed Dingane.

Josette could see both Pugnax and Pugnus shake their heads in discomfort. She held up her false blob of a hand to quiet the crew. They knew the signal all too well and quickly stopped complaining. "An annoyance, nothing more,” she whispered to them, and the group moved on.

In a short time, they'd ventured quite far into the inner enclave, and their T-visors revealed several round openings cut into each side of the tunnel walls ahead. The big mouse holes would lead them into other enclave compartments. Josette signaled the team with her phony Malsumian fingers-Two doors on the right, and three on the left.

The group split, with Josette and Snow White heading to the right, and the others going left. Josette's translator twitched angrily as it worked harder to convey meaning from the rising tubal blasts reverberating down the hallway. "I don't like it," said Josette. "This is too easy." Snow White offered a quick nod of his bald head. A few recognizable words finally crackled through her translator. The closer they got to the nearest doorway on the right side of the tunnel, the more her translator could decipher the Malsumian vernacular. Words such as: sensation, deception, minerals became distinct in her ear. "I can smell the foul stench of their language," she whispered. Indeed, the gaseous honks from their tubes emitted a fetid aroma. To the Malsumi, it was a desirable component of communication, but Josette, like most outsiders, found it a horrible odor like rotten vegetables. Josette waved one of her bogus Malsumian arms in a smooth circle. Given the signal, all the replicants regrouped at the doorway she'd targeted. Peeking inside, the Tar Babies observed a healthy pod of about twenty Malsumi. The pod was crowded around a waist-high stone pedestal in the center of a round room, and their stink filled the air. Sitting on this pedestal was a blushing blue crystalline cell the same size as a loaf of pumpernickel. This was the Halcyon the Suntholo so desperately wanted back, and recovering it was the primary objective of the mission. The glowing cell suffused the round, fart-filled room with a ghostly bluish hue. Josette's T-visor dimmed, allowing for more ambient light to fuel her vision. "Suntholo abuse free spirits to subjugate gobs," a fat Malsumi in the center of the pod piped through several oily tubes. Josette assumed, based on this Malsumi's larger size, that it must be the pod leader or a high-ranking official. And with that, a bonus objective of the mission had been located. The big Malsumi continued trilling through the tubes on its stout body. "An altered offense passes them," it farted. "As a false entity possesses them."

The disguised Tar Babies joined the gathered pod ever so nonchalantly, so as not to arouse any suspicion. After blending in, they waited and watched the bizarre demonstration unfold. Josette did not like what she was hearing...or at least what the translator was interpreting as it certainly sounded sinister.

"Misuse this wonky death attendant," the pod leader whistled as it reached down to touch the peanut-shaped crystal with a trembling matchstick finger. The pod leader escalated the rallying cry. "True prophecy of a redeemer will brace the Malsumi!"

All the Malsumi inside the round room tooted in amazement as moving images appeared inside a broad cylinder of light that emanated from the Halcyon toward the ceiling. The cell projected these dynamic pictures to the delight of the pod, who farted a b-sharp in jovial unison. The intense odor of garbage was horrendous. Josette thought she may vomit. The dancing images that came up from the Halcyon remained balanced midair, right above the cell as it sat on the pedestal. Yet, the sequence of the pictures didn't flow smoothly. The progressions would cut in and out, jumping to show mere snippets of action.

"A holomorphic record," Snow White whispered inconspicuously to Josette.

She glared over at him, not appreciating the shock of his voice in her cloaked ear. That was a foolish move on his part-a move that could blow their cover. Josette didn't respond to his unsolicited contribution for fear they would be discovered.

The blue light from the Halcyon was hypnotic, and Josette stared spellbound as the next holomorphic sequence materialized from the sparkling cylinder. Once the fuzzy image became clear, she could plainly see a magnificent open field. The field was fully multi-dimensional and blanketed with thick green grass that was dotted by flowers of purple and orange. The scene couldn't be anywhere on this dreadful planet. It was a healthy, lush world wrapped in a sky of brilliant blue and crowned by a radiant star that bathed its surface with warmth. The entire pod of Malsumi blew a protracted, mournful honk as if swooning over this heavenly world.

Josette assumed the planet to be a future conquest. Perhaps they grew tired of subsisting on such a cold lifeless rock as Tueum and were envious of this beautiful planet. But was this Halcyon powerful enough to take them there? What better way to cure space sickness than circumvent space travel altogether, and who needed a clumsy cruiser when a direct gateway to another world would do?

Back in the holomorph, the peaceful green field had sequenced into a dynamic battlefield crammed with thousands of agitated humans-soldiers by the look of their uniforms and weaponry. Something about these soldiers was familiar to Josette...perhaps it was their clothing or their antique armaments. She'd seen them before, but where? Many of the men were on foot while others were on horseback. Those were horses galloping around the Halcyon's light. Josette felt an uneasiness stir within her breast. The pod also grew restless from this particular sequence, and they piped an escalating series of high-pitched toots and short, prickly burps.

The soldiers launched themselves across the field and descended upon a nearby village of dark-skinned humans that wore crude animal skin clothing. These unsuspecting villagers were caught unprepared while doing those wonderfully mundane things in life such as cooking and weaving and watching their little ones play around the fire. Taken surprise, every man, woman and child of the primitive village was slaughtered by soldiers whipped into a bloodlust. The pod blew a slow, collective, breathy blast.

Once again, the holomorphic scene shifted as a new sequence began. A handsome man, definitely human, was projected inside the shaft of blue light as he skimmed over a glassy sea in a small, powerful watercraft. The rapid-fire burps of Malsumian tubes were charged with excitement, as if this human was significant to them. The feverish pipes sounded so much like applause that Josette surmised this strapping young man to be the next victim of Malsumian avarice. He appeared healthy enough to be thrown into battle, so why wouldn't he be? Another poor soul transported into this galactic hell hole, she assumed.

Along with the human male inside the holomorph was a canine of bright red fur and long shaggy tail. The red dog stood at the front of the speeding watercraft with its wide tongue flailing in the wind. Ah-ha, thought Josette. A two-for-one special. Why the hell not? Again, the pod of Malsumi puffed toots of palpable delight.

The sequence shifted again as the landscape around the young man blurred and refocused. He was now dressed in a form-fitting outfit of black with a crescent of dark blue across his chest and walked along a deserted beach of soft, white sand. He gripped the hilt of a gleaming long sword in both hands. As he passed a sloping dune on the shore, a Suntholian priestess sprang from the tall grass. The unknown Suntholian charged him with a blood rage in her eyes. Her blind fury elicited a stream of spit from between her clenched teeth. The young man swung the great sword in a smooth, powerful arc. Before the priestess could thwart the blow, the blade connected with the top of her head to cleave it in two. The mighty long sword didn't stop at the neck but sliced its way down the center mass of the Suntholian's lithe body until exiting from between her legs. The priestess fell apart with each separated half of her corpse falling aside, turning the soft, white sand to a grainy scarlet. The entire pod farted loud jubilant blasts and warbling hoots from their wriggling tubes.

Another sequence shift...the young man no longer wielded the long sword but carried a beautiful dark-skinned woman with flowing black hair in his arms. He cradled her, handling her limp, naked body with unmistakable tenderness and affection. More insufferable, euphoric warbles punctuated this new image inside the Halcyon's holomorphic record.

Sequence shift...the same young man stood at the helm of the small watercraft once again. The exotic, dark-skinned woman was clothed and apparently well as she stood by his side. The boat skipped over the wake as it sped swiftly across an infinite blue sea.

Sequence shift...the fleet little boat came upon a colossus in the form of a wooden battleship that flew massive sails upon her three tall masts. And without warning, the tiny boat smashed into the side of the enormous battleship. The collision resulted in a fiery explosion, obliterating both vessels in a violent, blinding flash. Josette was sure everyone perished in that incredible fireball.

Sequence shift...the young man and dark-skinned woman now stood arm in arm. Both very much alive and dressed in shiny metallic suits with thick purple stripes across the top of the shoulders and around the middle of their waist. There appeared to be a third person standing alongside them as well. Yet, the visage of this mysterious humanoid was shrouded in a smoky, opaque vapor. The slenderness of the figure suggested another female, but it was like looking at an indistinct spot on an incandescent light bulb coated in Vaseline. There was no mistaking the red dog that sat at their feet with his furry chest puffed full of pride. The four were perched high on a hilltop a hilltop littered with the corpses of a thousand dead Suntholo. The Malsumian pod erupted in booming pipes of exultation.

The shockwave of the exultant honking assaulted the Tar Babies' edgy translators. The clamor of the wicked Malsumi, in all its dissonant glory, devoured the space inside the chamber. The blustering of their tubes bounced off the curving walls and smacked the Tar Babies repeatedly. The shrill piping appeared to be without end, and Josette fought back her gag reflex from the ungodly stench of Malsumian gas. She knew the rest of her crew had to be struggling with the noise and stink just as much as she, but she'd be damned to be the first to crack.

Finally, the pod quieted as the image within the pulsating cylinder of light morphed back to the original lush, green planet they had viewed moments ago. And this new sequence reflected a natural tranquility...the serenity of a peaceful planet with its warm, yellow star coming to rest beyond the horizon of its emerald sea. It was such a familiar panorama...a place where one could lose herself drifting off in reflection...dreaming about her life back on...

"Earth," Josette blurted, lost in her thoughts. It was a single, odd sounding pipe to the pod, but it spoke volumes about their situation.

"Burps?" belched the pod leader as he readjusted his portly shell to pinpoint the scent of the rude Malsumi. To be sure, the entire pod shifted their soggy potato bodies to orient on her scent as well. The pod implicated Josette with a body language of unified suspicion. "Who tubes this planet?" the pod leader blew a plume of indignant gas.

"Damn." Josette sighed her hand had been forced-and gave the signal. Pugnus and Pugnax unbumpused their compacted bodies, and the Remeans sprang back to their mammoth proportions. Their elastic bones snapped into place, and a shocked silence overcame the Malsumian pod. Their astonishment must've been compounded from the fact that the replicate energy of the Remean's T-visors had dissipated, exposing the huge alien monsters. And with deep guttural growls the giants began swatting bewildered Malsumi around the room like empty soup cans. Malsumian bodies went flying everywhere.

Josette wouldn't waste the advantage of surprise and grabbed the pod leader by one of its larger tubes nearest her. The thick protuberance had the texture of oiled rubber in her hand and sent a chill of disgust up her spine. Not wanting to hold onto the Malsumi's repulsive body for much longer, she brought the thumb and middle finger of her silvered mitt together and stunned him into submission. The pod leader dropped to the floor with a moist-sounding thud. Pugnus had snatched up a rather plump Malsumi who was attempting to roll out the door. The Remean held the quivering blob over his head. Ripping it apart with his bare hands, Pugnus hurled the chunks of dead flesh against the far wall of the round room. Snow White and Dingane had scorched many of the confused pod with their charged ribbons of deadly energy. Malsumian bodies exploded from the ribbons and splattered the room with copious amounts of densely seeded plasma.

Pugnax chucked a smaller Malsumi against a far wall, and it cracked open upon contact with the hard surface. As the seeded plasma oozed down the wall, Josette spotted what looked to be a dozen or so underdeveloped Malsumian embryos mixed in among the goo.

"Babies," Josette muttered as she proceeded to disintegrate each wriggling embryo before they could hit the floor. Pugnax had reached down to seize the unconscious pod leader, but she stopped him by taking hold of his powerful arm with her natural hand. "No, leave this one to me!" she growled at him.

The Remean obediently moved on.

The last few surviving Malsumi were scattering. Their spindly legs thrashed about, slipping in the slime of their dead compatriots as well as their own excrement. They desperately wanted to escape the little round room-a room which had become their tomb. But the Tar Babies were much too skilled to let this happen, and charged ribbons cascaded about them, wrapping their foe in bright silver death. Before another gaseous honk could be expelled from a single jiggling tube, the rest of the cowering pod was blasted from existence. Seeded plasma blanketed the chamber, and the Tar Babies were plastered with the foul-smelling gunk.

"No suffering," observed Pugnus, wiping the glop off his T-visor to survey the carnage. "We make good."

"Yes, we did," Josette agreed, smiling as she swiped at a clump of seeded plasma clinging to her bottom lip. "We make very good."

"Did we?" Dingane said with irritation in his voice. "These Malsumi were not armed. There are no weapons in here."

"Because we aren't in an arsenal, you idiot," replied Snow White. "Clearly this is a research facility." Snow White spat Malsumian seeds off his tongue.

"So, we killed neutrals?" the Zulu warrior surmised. "This is not the way of the Wapigani. This is not the way of the warrior."

"Yes, it is," answered Josette as she dabbed her mouth with the back of her hand. "Their scientists are responsible for bringing us to this godforsaken place. We'll murder them all if we have to."

"Do we have to?" Dingane asked.

"Goddammit, we don't have time for this, Dingane." Josette knelt beside the stunned pod leader. Grabbing two of his multiple arms, she shook him aggressively. "Wake up, you freak!"

The pod leader began to stir. His arms twitched feebly at first, and then his legs began to kick, but weakly. He tried to roll over and right himself, but Josette held him firm. "Stay put, you slime-covered piece of crud! And keep it quiet, or I'll let my boys rip you apart." Pugnus and Pugnax grunted in anticipation. "They like to start with the arms and legs and work their way toward your heart if you have a heart inside that rancid bag of pus. So, no more pipes, you understand me?" The pod leader remained quiet.

Through her T-visor, his large, blubbery body had a putrid greenish tinge that only intensified Josette's revulsion of the species. She loosened her grip, and the Malsumi let a quiet toot seep from a tube somewhere on his body. "Permission?" it burped.

"Shut up, parasite!" she barked. "I'll ask the questions. What's your name?"

"Hector," came a small honk from a protuberance around back. Who could really tell what was the back of a Malsumi and what was the front? "Jimenez," he finished.

"What kind of name is that?" Snow White complained.

"I took Hector Jimenez upon me..." The pod leader struggled to communicate to his captors in low, steady tones. "...to honor a fallen warrior."

"What are you saying?" asked Josette.

"Hector Jimenez was..." Another series of muted toots came from different tubes. "...not of this world." The Malsumi's tubes were turning soft, many flopping to the side. This gave his weakening honks a moist, mushy quality. "He fought for the Malsumi. He...was a hero."

"You mean you brought him here to fight your battles like the rest of us." Josette shook the pod leader out of anger. "You forced him into service!"

"That is not...the Malsumi method. Hector's force was always free." Plasma was leaking from underneath a few disheveled scales. Josette realized the pod leader was wounded far worse than she initially thought. He must have taken a hit in the scuffle, perhaps from a random ribbon of silver energy. "Hector Jimenez was...a noble creature," he piped. "I wish to be...a noble Hector. I wish..." The Malsumi was fading.

"Why were you looking at Earth?" Josette slapped him back into consciousness. "What are you planning with this weapon?" She pointed to the Halcyon, which remained unmolested upon the stone pedestal, pristine and still pulsating with a cool, bluish blush. The projected image of Earth hung in the air above the glowing cell.

"Not...a weapon..." his tubes gurgled. A clear, gummy fluid bubbled up from the openings on his body. Josette dropped him and took a step back, not wanting to come in contact with the oozing plasma. "It is the...the key..." the Malsumi managed.

"The key to what?" She followed her question with a hard kick to the gut of the dying, dimwitted pod leader. But the kick didn't seem to faze him. "Answer me! The key to what?" Josette's chest was rising and falling as she breathed heavily from the excitement.

"Do not take Halcyon...Suntholo do not...understand..." His pipes lost their steam as his tubes spit out loose chunks of black liquid. "I wish to be...noble...buuuu..." With that last sputtering gasp, the Malsumi leader expired. His wilting body drained itself of fluid and expelled all pocketed gas. The escaping gas emitted a shrill whistle chased by a strong odor of putrefying tissue. His body collapsed into a crumpled shell, fluids from the carcass running across the floor to soak the soles of her boots. Josette stared down at the dead Malsumi whose body, sapped of its life-force, resembled an old, empty raincoat.

A siren rang out from somewhere outside the round room. The dead Malsumi's bodily fluids triggered a sensor embedded in his hide somewhere under a random scale. Josette had been briefed on this possibility, but she'd let her guard down.

"We need to go, Josette!" Snow White yelled.

"Take the Halcyon." Josette plucked the warm Halcyon off its perch and tossed it to Snow White, who dutifully tucked the cell into his backpack. She then pulled a tiny octagonal device from her sleeve and pitched it to the ceiling, where it adhered to the rock. The device cloaked and appeared to become part of the ceiling itself. Upon contact with the rock, the small mechanism self-activated and began counting down to detonation. The charge was in place, and the last objective of the mission was now complete.

"Let's move!" Josette barreled out the doorway with the Tar Babies close behind.

Back in the tunnel, they started the long hike up to the surface of Tueum. The alarms had faded almost as soon as they sounded. There was no movement in the tunnel except for that of her team, and the absence of sound was disquieting. With all quiet and no real evidence of any pursuit, they quick-stepped their way on up the spiral.

The five made it several meters without incident-until Josette heard a noise that was instantly recognizable but inconsistent with these alien surroundings. The vulgar din of gunfire. And no way it belonged in the faraway tunnels of Tueum. A single shot ricocheted off a wall somewhere close and sparked into the blackness. There was no mistaking the pop of gunpowder and the malice of hot lead carving chunks of rock out from the wall nearby. Josette felt a palpable hint of excitement in her belly. The sensory recall from this familiar noise aroused her, just like it did back on Earth...during her other war. There was the usual dampness between her legs that accompanied the anticipation of combat. She loved the sensation.

"We've got company," Josette alerted her team. "Drop and blend."

As a unit, the Tar Babies crouched with their backs against the tunnel wall. They needed to conceal their forms to avoid detection. After tapping her T-visor, Josette waited for the warm rush of synthetic energy to camouflage her body into the rock. Yet, nothing happened. The T-visor didn't respond to the command, and she remained exposed. They all did.

More gunshots screamed through the tunnel, with bullets striking everywhere in the surrounding darkness. As seen through her visor, the impacts were dense starbursts exploding around them. The darkness, swarming with violence, was their own miniature universe filled with tiny supernovas that doused the Tar Babies in embers.

Josette felt a rush of warmth flow over her. Looking back at her team, she could see the outlines of their bodies shimmer and wobble as their T-visor fields finally kicked in.

"It's about damn time," she complained as they blended into the rock behind them. "Don't move a muscle."

The gunfire had stopped, and loud boot steps approached. As long as they remained perfectly still, the field of opaque energy emitted by their visors would keep them safely hidden. Still, if they made even the smallest solitary movement, the deception would be lost.

Out from the obscurity of the tunnel, three armed German Schutzstaffel soldiers marched in lockstep. All three men were coated in a thick layer of dust. Their faces remained imperceptible, except for the great, glowing eyes that threw narrow beams of yellow to light the passageway ahead of them. The Nazis gripped their snub-nose MP40's and swept them side to side as if searching for prey. Smoke poured from the stubby barrels of their machine guns. Dark plasma dripped from the corners of their mouths, spattering the SS insignia stitched into the collars of their filthy black and red uniforms.

Struggling to pacify those old demons inside her, Josette wanted to pounce. Snow White held her arm, silently reminding her that their best course of action was stealth rather than aggression, and she should just let them pass. The Tar Babies had to make their way out of this enclave before the timed blast, and fighting these ghouls, whatever they were, would only waste valuable time. Snow White was right.

"Blut und boden," the Nazis chanted as they shuffled past the cloaked Tar Babies. The men no longer marched but scraped their boots through the dirt. "Blut und boden." The translator behind her ear gave the words passage into her brain in perfect German. Three ghostly voices crackled through throats caked with dust and grime. Josette could smell them, reeking of mildewed wool and stale gunpowder. "Blut und boden," they repeated again and again. "Blut und boden." These soldiers were phantoms chained to a failed axiom of her other life. There was no escape for the men, duty-bound to march for eternity. "Blut und boden," faded off into blackness of the tunnel.

Again, there was silence.

"Let's move." Josette uncloaked.

The Tar Babies jumped at her command. The cloaking field around them faded as well. The threat had passed, so they needed to get out of this damn underground passage and out of harm's way. The team sprinted up the narrowing spiral

once again.

"What were those soldiers saying back there, Josette?" Snow White asked as he ran alongside her. "It didn't translate."

"Blut und boden means blood and soil," she answered. "It was a Nazi slogan during World War II, pure blood for a pure world." "Fascinating,” replied Snow White as they raced on ahead.

Soon the walls were closing in around them. Josette knew the entrance had to be close. At any moment they'd feel the liberating rush of Tueum's toxic atmosphere. The doorway had to be near. They were going to make it...

...that is, until a string of maniacal screams rang in their ears, the high-pitched shrieking of a hundred hysterical women. And underneath this bone-chilling refrain, something else sinister rattled her nerves. The clattering of metal rhythmically tapping against solid rock kept perfect time beneath the melody of wailing screams.

"That's not possible," gasped Snow White.

"What is it, Singleberry?" asked Dingane.

"It can't be." Snow White froze, listening to the sounds growing closer in the darkness.

"If you know something, Snow White," Josette said over the shrieks coming from somewhere in the tunnel, "it would be good to clue us in."

The group stared at its smallest member.

"It just can't be," he stammered. "That doesn't make sense."

"Like Nazis with glowing yellow eyes makes any sense?" Josette grew agitated with her partner's hesitation. This wasn't like the Snow White she'd trained with and grew to respect. "Forget it, we'll figure it out as we go."

Before they could take another step, shrill screams blared in front of their position and stopped them in their tracks. The clanking of metal loomed from behind, increasing in volume and velocity as well. The clamor was coming at them from all sides in the darkness, yet nothing displayed on Josette's T-visor.

"I said, let's move!" She desperately wanted to keep them moving out of the enclave. The Tar Babies ran up the spiraling tunnel toward the secret entrance on the hilltop and hopefully out where the stolen cruiser awaited to extract them.

"Forget what you hear," Josette commanded. "And keep going."

"Shut up, Dingane!" Josette shouted back at him. "We'll deal with it."

"Singleberry knows what it is coming for us." Dingane waved his silvered hand out in front of his body as he ran. "It's coming down the tunnel."

Snow White only mumbled in disbelief at the loud noises they heard all around them. The painful screams were in their faces as a sour odor overcame their nostrils. Still, nothing appeared in their visors, and the tunnel remained a vacuous

yellow.

"It just can't be." Snow White repeated. "This damn thing is burning into my back!" Snow White yanked the pack with the Halcyon tucked inside off his back and cradled it in his arms.

"What the hell is going on, Snow?" whispered Josette, slowing down next to him.

The terrible racket reached its crescendo when the chorus of shrieks and the clanging of metal stopped as abruptly as it started. As did the Tar Babies. A dim light from above had seeped into the tunnel and offered just enough illumination to make out what hunted them.

Standing before the team was an army of the most gruesome females in the cluster. They were short and disfigured in their appearance and unmistakably demented in their demeanor. Josette gazed into hundreds of unblinking eyes, all dead flat and with pupils clouded white. Every hairless, cauliflowered head was mottled with leprous looking cankers or infected scars leaking a frothy discharge. Many had pulled back their thin, leathery lips to expose row upon row of rotten teeth. The entire lot reeked of a foul, gangrenous odor, and a terrible hiss arose from the horde.

The worst thing of all, every naked body belonging to these horrific women was slashed and gashed-covered with gaping lacerations. Several of them had one or even both breasts torn from their chests, and the gaping, bloody wounds were left to fester. Those were the ones who appeared the most eager to spring, twitching and tweaking, growling and groaning.

"Grendels," said Snow White.

"From your Ice Mountains?" Josette concluded, incredulous.

"Yes. And where there are Grendels, there are..." Snow White slowly and deliberately glanced up to the ceiling. Following his lead, the rest of her crew directed their gaze upward as well. And there, just over their heads, a dozen monstrous mechanical centipedes clung to the ceiling of the tunnel. Each glossy blue-gray centipede had bobbing antennae that were indexing the group beneath them. And their large, metal pincers snapped open and close in anticipation, just as Snow White had once described them. Snow White sucked in air and said, "We've been Bullwinkled," on the exhale.

"What do we do now?" Dingane asked quietly and without taking his eyes off the ceiling. "The charge will be detonating soon. We don't have time for Bullwinkling." "That's right. The charge." Josette held up her silvered fingers. "Activate your protective sphere and let the rest sort itself out."

Pugnus and Pugnax glared down at her with their eight eyes aghast. The Remeans had never received the weaponized hands. Their massive mitts were perfectly pure and unsilvered. Their only weapon was that of sheer brute force that usually

served them quite well-until now.

"No!" shouted Dingane.

"I'm sorry, boys. You've done well today," Josette commended them. "But this is to be your destiny."

"Josette, we cannot do this," said the Zulu warrior. "There must be another way."

The moaning mass of Grendels edged toward the little group with their long, jagged toenails scraping against the tunnel floor. In a coordinated assault, the centipedes chirped as every servo kicked into gear. The machines began to creep

down the walls.

"We're all expendable, Dingane," said Josette. "The Remeans know this to be true. The rest of us will live to fight another day. The Halcyon must make it back."

Pugnax and Pugnus nodded their heads in agreement and turned to face the onslaught of mutated females and motorized monsters. If the Remeans were going to die, then they'd die on their own terms-fighting like sons of bitches. Josette

respected them for it. "Honor to whom honor is due. Activate your protective spheres!" She pressed her thumb and ring finger together. Out from her other fingers radiated the familiar membranous sphere of vibrating, transparent energy that surrounded her body in a perfect bubble of protection. She could make out Snow White's sphere popping up next to hers. However, because of the distortive properties of the energy field, everything else was hard to distinguish. Hopefully, their spheres would last long enough to protect them. It wasn't the Grendels who were clawing at her bubble or even the demon centipedes crawling over it that they needed protection from. No, it was the tiny device she planted on the ceiling at the other end of the

tunnel that worried her now. "Hold on!" Josette shouted over to Snow White who still clutched his backpack against his chest. It was doubtful he could make out her muffled words, but she could see his head swiveling this way and that undoubtedly trying to decipher what was happening beyond the protection of his bubble. Josette knew it had to be a bloodbath out there. The Remeans were holding their own and doing a great deal of damage. Maybe they'd even make it out alive, somehow. Next to her, Snow White appeared to be pointing at something. His body language indicated he was trying to get her attention. But for what, she had no idea. The only thing she could do now was wait for the inevitable- Dingane slammed against the outer shell of her sphere, a centipede clamping his torso tightly in its metal jaws as it squeezed the life from him. The man punched wildly at the head of the mechanical beast with a single fist. Since he was on top of her bubble, detail was much easier to discern. Dingane's right arm had been ripped from its socket, and the Zulu warrior had been rendered defenseless. Acid from the centipede's nozzle had liquefied the man's eyes, and a bloody froth boiled from the holes in his face. Evidently, Dingane had declined the safety of his own protective bubble and elected to fight alongside Pugnus and Pugnax.

Admirable, but foolish, thought Josette. Well, it's his right to choose, even if the choice was a foolish one.

The Remean brutes from the Eifflehelm cluster were swinging their heavily muscled arms into the throng of attacking Grendels. The little mutants had draped themselves over the enormous physiques of Pugnus and Pugnax and were biting and clawing and digging out large chunks of raw flesh. Josette swore she could see them shoving the stringy bits of meat and sinew into their mouths but wasn't sure. The twins were going down...like the story of the frog and the ants...even their amazing strength couldn't save them from the overwhelming numbers.

Josette and Snow White's protective fields continued to withstand the onslaught of Grendels and the probing of centipedes, but Josette wished it over. "Come on, come on!" She urged the timed explosive, unable to bear the suffering of her team any longer. "Blow, goddammit!"

A blinding flash came from down the tunnel. In an instant, everything was illuminated as the channel filled with a concentrated light that burned her eyes. Josette yanked the T-visor off her head. Through tears from the dazzling brightness, she could see the slaughter inside the cave, and it was a horrific thing to behold. The flash was followed by extreme heat and a thunderous clap of an unleashed destructive force. Her sphere flickered, and her hand ached as the sustained energy began to drain her weapon. Hyper-charged arcs of electricity careened off the walls and snaked across the tunnel floor. Josette's bubble was bathed in white-hot, and everything around her was consumed therein. She saw nothing but the terror of her own face reflected off the inner shell of her protective sphere. It was the sensation of being dunked into a vat

of boiling milk with only oblivion existing outside her orb. Her universe was filled with nothingness. Exhausted and unable to hold her fingers together any longer, she finally let her protection dissolve. She slumped over onto the smoldering ground. The scorching heat burned through her Co-Ag suit and wormed its way inside it to blister her skin. Another loud shockwave clapped in her ears, followed by a stabbing pain in her gut.

Josette fell into unconsciousness. Her mind drifted, recalling the promises she had been made, and which she expected would be kept.

Dr. René Bontecou was a distinguished man in his late forties. His temples had begun to gray, and the salt mixed in well with the wavy, dark brown hair on his handsome head. It only enhanced his overall appeal. Josette had known Dr. Bontecou since she was a young girl and carried a secret infatuation for him well into womanhood. She was certainly smitten with his obvious attractiveness. However, it was his intrinsic air of authority that really appealed to her. Yet Josette's mother never liked the man. It didn't matter how accomplished the career or how smooth the bedside manner. To her mother, the doctor embodied her own weaknesses, her mental illness, and therefore was the enemy. But to Josette, René was the only man, other than her father, she trusted. "So, how do we cure her dementia?" Josette asked him while sitting in an over-stuffed chair in Dr. Bontecou's office. She puffed on her fifth cigarette in less than thirty minutes. "It is dementia, isn't it René?"

He looked up from the file he was reading to glare at her from across his immense, cherry wood desk. This was the first time she'd ever called him by his first name and, by the look on his face; it set him back a little. René grinned with paternal

understanding and removed the thick, black-rimmed eyeglasses he wore.

"It's not dementia, Josette," he clarified. "Your mother is a schizophrenic."

Josette was puzzled by the diagnosis. "You mean split personalities?"

"Not exactly, but that's a common misunderstanding. Schizophrenia has nothing to do with dual personality. Think of it more as the splitting of the mind. It's a deep, dark place in her psyche consumed with paranoia and fear."

"Can it be cured?"

"Cured?" René frowned. "No, it cannot be cured. It can be treated, though, with extensive psychotherapy. There are also several experimental drugs we can try, but-"

"She'll never be the same woman again." Josette stood from the chair and walked to the small, grimy window of his office. Outside it was a beautiful, sunny afternoon with throngs of people blissfully traversing the busy streets of Paris- oblivious to the war machine amassing outside the borders of their country. "Isn't that what you're telling me, René?"

"Well, she'll never be the mother you wish her to be, Josette." He paused. "I believe the disappearance of your father was the final catalyst that pushed her over the edge, plunging her into the depths of her psychosis."

"Then, I'm alone." Josette continued to stare out the window.

"No, Josette." The voice was not that of René Bontecou. It was a softer, feminine, yet familiar voice. "You are not alone. You belong to us now."

Josette knew that voice. It was that of Sansala Sui-Ki, who now sat behind the big, cherry wood desk instead of René. Strangely enough, her Wafi were not with her.

"And if I fight for you...kill for you...what will you do for me?" Josette asked of the beautiful alien seated behind her.

"We will help you, of course," replied Sansala.

"How can you help me?"

"We will return you home."

"Not enough." Josette stubbed out her cigarette on the windowsill a windowsill littered with grey flakes of peeling paint.

"We can cure your mother, Josette." Sansala said her name with a certain seduction.

"You can do more." Josette turned to face Sansala.

"We can give you back your father as well."

"What good is it to have my entire family together, if we're to suffer at the hands of our enemy once we return?"

"You still worry about those who would destroy you back in your own world?" Sansala rose from the desk and approached Josette at the windowsill. The two gazed out the window together, one behind the other.

This time the world outside had changed.

The pleasant scenery had been horribly skewed as hundreds of Panzers rumbled through the streets, crushing the delicate cobblestone. The big tanks were escorted by scores of halftracks all belching exhaust from their diesel engines. The

smoke turned the bright, blue sky a dark hazy gray. And following the machines were thousands of goose-stepping Nazis who marched in devastating conformity. Paris was now occupied by the enemy. Her countrymen lined the sidewalks and wept at the sacrilege. "You see, Earthians and Suntholians are not so different. We are not so different, you and me. You simply desire something better for your people...as do I." "But can you deliver what I desire?" Josette studied a line of ants as they streamed from an empty eye socket of a decaying pigeon that had died on the ledge of the doctor's window.

"Yes, we can, Josette. Just get us the Halcyon, and we will put you anywhere you want...all of you...healthy, happy and safe."

"How is that possible?"

"Silly girl, your thinking is too linear." Sansala caressed Josette's head. "The universe is more than just pure distance from this star to the next. It is multi-dimensional, multi-faceted and, most of all, eternal. The real question is where and when

you would like to be."

Josette

contemplated for a moment. "I want to live in Florence during the Renaissance." She cuddled up against the tall alien and lay her head on Sansala's chest to listen to the odd rhythms of an unfamiliar heart. "It's been my dream to

apprentice for Da Vinci."

"Of course, it has, Josette."

"Not a decade sooner! I don't want you dropping us down in the middle of the goddamn Black Plague."

"Not a subsequent sooner, my lamb. Your longing is my wish." Sansala smiled down at her.

"Then I'll do as you ask, Sansala Sui-Ki." Josette stared into the large sapphire blue eyes of the flawless alien. "I promise you will not regret anything, Josette." Their faces moved in closer. "One day you shall be happy again. All of you will be so...very happy." Josette and Sansala opened their mouths to bring their lips together in a slow, evocative kiss.

The alien's mouth tasted of honey. She felt Sansala's double tongue dance skillfully along the edges of her single one, and she tingled from the implications of their illicit interaction. Josette pulled away to look out the small window of René's office once again and was filled with regret.

"There is no greater sorrow than to be mindful of the happy time...in misery." Josette uttered the passage from Dante just as a small, silvered hand grabbed her arm and jerked her backward.

***

Snow White dragged Josette past the pieces of obliterated Grendels, past the smoldering chunks of centipede parts, and past a few loose bits of lost Tar Babies. He pulled her through the crumbling tunnel, out from the rubble, and carried her

limp body up to the surface. There he set her down on a mound of fairly dry ground about fifty meters from the secret entrance from which they had crawled. After activating the rescue beacon, he watched the rolling, slime-encrusted hilltop collapse. It caved in on itself and took the hidden entrance with it. The entire hill vanished as the compromised system of tunnels filled in with slime, mud and

rubble. Anything beneath that had survived the detonation would die a lingering death. Once receiving the signal, the stolen Malsumi spacecraft that deposited the team on Tueum would be back to retrieve them. But for now, they'd just have to wait it out for extraction. Snow White could hear alarms blaring across various sectors

of the planet-some close and others quite distant. He knew Malsumian troops would be sniffing about as well. If not extracted soon, things could get dicey.

"Snow?" Josette had started to come around but wasn't entirely lucid. Her weaponized hand, as well as her entire arm, was badly burned. She tried to lift it, but couldn't, so she let it fall back to her side. Snow White spotted blood leaking from

her damaged Co-Ag suit. "You carried me out?" she mumbled.

"Yes," he answered. Her eyes closed. Snow White knew better than to let her succumb to sleep. He was sure she knew it too. Josette was in trouble. Her gut was bleeding out from the open wound on her belly. "Now stay awake."

"You're a strong little bastard." Josette chuckled.

"I am." Snow White wiped the dirt from her face. "Why do you think I always beat you in the training arena?"

"Not always, little man." She looked up at him, her eyes wide with concern. "Did you save the Halcyon?"

"Yes, it's still in my pack."

"Thank God." Relieved, she rested her head back down on the wet dirt. "I need it...to return to Florence."

She wasn't making much sense, and he grew more concerned over her injuries.

"Hush, Josette, be quiet now. We'll be recovered soon, but we must stay concealed." He brushed a clump of sweaty auburn hair away from her eyes and whispered in her ear. "You'll be back in a restorative chamber soon." He could hear

hysterical piping off in the distance, getting closer. "Any moment now."

"I miss my home." Her smile was weak. "Our home...our Earth." "Our Earth?" Snow White recalled the images of Earth he'd seen reflected inside the Halcyon's holomorphic light. Although it was his home, it was an Earth just as alien to him as Tueum. "I never realized how beautiful Earth had been before

the cataclysm." With his natural hand, he pushed hard against Josette's hemorrhaging abdomen to stop the rush of blood. She moaned from the pain. "It was very special...like you." He gazed into her glassy, emerald eyes and fell even deeper

in love with her than he was before the mission. He had to tell her. "Josette "

"What did they promise you, Snow?" Josette struggled to stay awake, defying the sweetness of sleep. He so admired that fire in her belly.

"What do you mean?" he asked, quashing his imminent emotional outburst. "Don't play stupid with me," she spouted with an unexpected burst of vigor. "They promised me my family. They promised...a better life for us. We must be honest with each other if we are to survive. Now tell me... what did the Suntholo

promise you?"

"They promised..." he hesitated. "To make me whole again."

"Two balls in your pouch. Not much to ask for." Her laugh was broken by a hard groan. "It's more than that." Snow White wondered how much he should divulge. She was so damn beautiful, but so damn headstrong. "They'll return me to my world, my Earth, whole again so that I may finally contribute as I should. I'll save my people, filling them with warmth and awareness to last an eternity." The faraway honks and farts of the O'dei-Malsumi grew louder by the subsequent. The recon was approaching fast. "The few that are left for me to save, anyhow." "That's more like it." Josette closed her eyes again. "That I can understand...you will be king...Snow White the Magnificent."

"There is one more thing, Josette. One more promise they made to me."

"Yes?" Josette said faintly.

"They promised me " Loud thrusts from the engines of the extraction ship blared in his ears directly above them. Josette had lapsed into unconsciousness. "-you," he shouted. "They promised me you!" He knew she couldn't hear him now,

in her coma, over the noisy thrusters of the cruiser. The ship landed next to the two surviving Tar Babies. Snow White grabbed his pack and lifted Josette into his arms, carrying them both up the extended rampway and into the purring spaceship. As the ramp closed behind them, dull thumps of Malsumi firepower hammered against the hull. The Malsumian recon had arrived and opened with a salvo of charged plasmic pellets from the long rifles strapped to their globular bodies. They had correctly surmised the vessel was no longer under Malsumian control, but it was too late for them to do any real harm. As the cruiser ascended into the purple atmosphere, damage alarms in the cockpit chimed. The damage was minor, so the alarms were silenced. Hitting its groove, the ship launched itself into the cluster and away from the weapons on the surface. At last, they were on their way back to the Suntholian moon of Sun with the sacred Halcyon safe in their possession. More importantly, they were on their way back to where Josette could be made whole again.

Mission accomplished.