The waterfall at one end of the secluded pool lent a cooling mist to the air.
Spike Harris casually cast his fishing line into the pool of water and leaned back against a tree.
He sat and watched a small trout swim around, the occasional surface ripple showing where an insect had been taken.
The unbaited hook drifted around in the eddies, the fish ignoring it.
Spike thought for a moment about how much his wife Janine would have enjoyed being here. She'd always enjoyed the active lifestyle during the little time they had together on Cambridge. They would have spent the day swimming and relaxing in this place...
All he had now was the memories though, since that terrible night when the bomb had hit.
He'd overcome his anger and grief and finally started to accept that he must go on, although it had been touch and go for a while.
He shook his head at the way he'd risked his ship and crew needlessly against impossible odds.
"The only way is forward, can't change the past", he muttered to himself.
The maintenance robot swivelled it's sensors towards him.
"Another beer please XM. That fish is smelling good by the way."
XM reached inside it's self-contained refrigerator and extracted a chilled bottle of locally brewed lager, expertly pouring it into a glass before passing it over.
It turned back to the gas grill and prodded the fish that Spike had caught earlier.
Something nagged at the back of Spike's mind.
His sense of danger was something that had served him well during fleet operations.
He wondered if all the activity at Veranda Incognita was normal. Something definately seemed amiss, something about that black shuttle that had passed over earlier perhaps?
"Can't I ever have a bloody holiday without something going wrong?"
XM beeped and passed over a slice of perfectly grilled fish.
"Thanks XM. Don't mind me. It's probably nothing...although perhaps we should get back to the hangar soon, just in case."
The early morning fishing hadn't gone to plan. The heavier deep patterns refused to draw anything out, and
Jay's fly patches were filling with flies that had failed to induce a take.
As the day warmed, the switch to hatching insects produced one or two tentative knocks, but nothing to say
the right fly was tied on the line.
A stop to eat the hastily prepared sandwiches for lunch, and a rethink was called for. Never the easiest piece
of still water to fish, but never a blank spot either.
With nothing rising to the now hatching flies on the surface, Jay snoozed a while, waking only when his body
conditioner suit clicked on to cool him from the high sun's heating rays. Time to fish again.
As soon as the dry fly finished its lazy arc and plopped gently onto the surface, a mouth appeared and greedily
sucked it in, and went the fish went straight for the bottom. Jay struck the hook home, and then released the
line, allowing it to slide through his fingers, to give the fish its head.
The fish screamed back towards the surface, line being stripped in to keep the tension on. Several spectacular
cartwheels later, spray glittering in the sun, it went to dive back down.
A fast dark shadow intercepted the dive, and suddenly fish, fly and tippet vanished in a instant. The tension in
the rod springing the line back across the lake.
"Holy crap, what the ... " Jay's exclamation tailed off. This was going to be harder than he though.
"Going to have to get Pops to electro-fish this place soon, the monsters have moved in."
As the afternoon wore on into evening, one small and two reasonable size fish lay on the bank. Several flies
had also vanished into the deep, with the fish they were attached to.
As the darkness crept in a small black shuttle flew overhead towards the villa, reminding Jay, he had other places to be. Tackle was carefully packed up, fish placed in the cooler creel. He trudged slowly back towards the
veranda, not actually relishing the thought of a sit formal sit down dinner. Just a few beers and a bit fish supper
would have sufficed.
The air had suddenly grown very silent, all the small animal and insect calls vanishing with the light , a spooky
feeling crept over Jay. A feeling of something ominous out there was heavy in the air.
He sped up his step.
He reached the Villa and made his way to the dining room.
"Sorry I'm late everyone, glad to see you didn't wait for me." Jay looked at the guests.
"Damn, if I'd known it was a fancy dress do, I would have packed something to wear. I'll just get these fish to the fridge, smells like we won't be needing them tonight."
There seemed to be a lack of a sense of humour in the room.
"Ah well maybe after a few drinks they may lighten up." He thought to himself.
"Then again with Darkstar in the room, possibly not that sort of evening."
Hell, things were turning out to be very interesting ...
Some say he is a proud member of: "The most paranoid group of people in the Community."
Almost as soon as the scan had started, several anomalies were detected.
A very large cloaked object was in orbit, detectable by the gravitational effect it had on orbital debris.
While Spike Harris watched the scan, a communications satellite passed into the general area of the object and abruptly disappeared from sensors.
"Ah crap.", Spike muttered.
He looked over to where the maintenance droid was moving around the base of the Destroyer and yelled, "XM, get the YTC prepped for launch! We might have to get out of here in a hurry!"
He noticed the robot was already removing the refueling lines.
A beep from the console drew his attention back to the scan.
"Well, well. What do we have here? A subspace rift?".
He'd heard rumours of these rifts forming, possibly into parallel dimensions. The only problem was that they weren't very stable and entering one could easily turn out to be a one way trip.
He quickly sent the location data to the onboard computers of the Destroyer and then turned to the communications console.
Quote:Transmit code: GC-555-2362
To: Veranda Incognita, SF fleet command, LoganKell
Possible cloaked battlestation in orbit near Gran Canaria.
Buggered if I know why, so I'm getting the hell out of here.
Checking out a nearby subspace rift.
Location data follows.
Spike Harris
He could hear the engines of the ship were already approaching launch readiness.
Hitting the transmit button, he turned and headed for the boarding ramp, hoping there were still some communication satellites operating.
"Go! Go! Go!"
The Destroyer launched smoothly into the sky, avoiding the area of the cloaked object and the other detected anomalies. Soon they were safely on the other side of the planet to all the strange traffic.
Spike regretfully looked at the planet dwindling in the rear viewscreen.
"So much for that part of the trip. Set course for the rift."
Rick felt something odd in the air. Well there were a lot of possible causes not to feel comfortable. Those bloody hot-dogs for example. Or the blue&green silky man, there was something odd about him too. Fiona behaved like he wasn't there. The birds stopped singing even though the sun was not down yet, but it was just about to.
But this was something different. He knew that feeling. He had it after they released him from the hospital at Manhattan. This frisson all over his back. Rick stood up hailed the newcomer who was excusing himself for coming late. Welcome to the non-tuxedo-club he thought for himself after he checked his clothing and slipped to the Veranda's veranda to watch the suns going down, stretch his tired body and breathe some fresh air.
Extraordinary scenery. Rick loved mountains. These were quite far but the air was so fresh and clear that Rick could even see some of the highest peaks are covered with snow. One of the suns was just about to touch one of the higher peaks. Rick was amazingly watching the game of light. Part of the sun was already behind the peak. "What the hell?" he whispered. The sun was almost red, but there was a small violet circle around the peak. Like if there was a force-field or shield covering it. A field which didn't allow the red part of the light spectrum to go through. "This obviously is not natural." he mumbled.
He slowly turned back and entered the dining hall. He took his empty glass and while going to the corner where the jag of water was he catched Pops's sight and tried to indicate him to follow Rick. Pops understood, picked up his glass and came to refill it as well. "What worries you, my friend?" he said quietly.
Rick answered: "Is there some kind of a military or research station up at that mountain peak? Do you see the same as me?", he pointed to the one. The sun was going on it's way and the whole appearance started to disappear.
Pops said: "Yes I saw it. I am not aware of such a station. Those mountains are too steep and the weather isn't very welcoming up there."
Rick remembered his embarassing run to the bathroom. He accidentally jumped into a wrong room with several displays showing complex security system of the Veranda. In one corner there was this message blinking: defence shield off.
Rick followed: "I have a feeling we are being watched for some time. I am not fully familiar with the subject to be discussed here tonight but I also have a strong feeling that there is some kind of evil up there in the mountains and I normally love them so it surprises me. Are those lasers at the entrance the only defence you have here?"
"Of course not. Those are for just to get rid of those annoying salesmen and jehovah's witnesses. The real defence system is hidden undergroung behind the fences. Double headed guard towers with lasers and guided cannonball missiles every hundred yards. They are controlled from several hidden observatories in the neighborhood. But this system is of course off tonight. I don't want to show some war machinery parade tonight.", answered Pops, he looked ashamed that he owns such a complex defence system to guard his peacefull Veranda.
Rick continued: "Pops, is there any way to persuade you to bring this defence system online tonight? It's not me I am worried about but there are several other..."
"What secrets are you two hiding here?", Fiona also came to refill her glass of water. Pops didn't strain to cover the wide smile on his face while he touched his temple. "We were just discussing how fresh the water was. Don't worry Rick, the sparks are alright now..."
Pops reviewed the Priority message from Spike one more time before turning to his guests. After his quick aside with Rick, it only confirmed his own intuitions on the subject of recent arrivals to his little party.
"Gentlefolk, it appears that all the expected guests have now arrived. Unfortunately, one of the guests I had relied on to help us has had enough chaos for one lifetime. Spike will not be joining us for aperitifs.
"That leaves only we six. Ladies, the time for demurreage and obfuscation has passed. We need to know what we are facing, and why. Now."
The Ska Ralla disengaged its cloaking mechanism. From the planet, it was easily visible, looming high above the planet. It turned and targeted the outbound craft. The computers hailed the Doctor, but to no avail. The craft would have to be left alone. However, the Ska Ralla was able to gather the information from the vessel, such as mass, transponder code, appearance, and armament, to name but a few. Turning its attention once more towards the planet, it reactivated its cloaking device, and swiftly moved to a different location.
On the planet, Doctor Artifice monitored the goings on of the people within the Veranda. The dinner was still going on, and a good darkness had settled over the planet. Only someone with a keen eye, or perhaps an astronomical telescope, would have been able to see and understand what the Ska Ralla was. Doctor Artifice had both.
He motioned to a few of his Juggernauts. His command was simple: enter the plantation and capture one of the robots that were working there. Saluting, the three abominations stomped off towards their target. They were now visible, but the lack of any light, along with the black metal shell that encased each one and the tree coverage, made it impossible for anything to determine their point of origin. That was the beauty of planning ahead, Doctor Artifice mused to himself. That was the beauty of planning ahead.
Contacting the Ska Ralla, Doctor Artifice found out that something, a destroyer, had detected the superstation. "Very well. Where on the planet were you detected from?" Doctor Artifice asked. After being informed that it was a hanger, complete with the coordinates, he gave a single command that would scare the inhabitants of Planet Gran Canaria for a good time after. "Fire the Planet Scar at the hanger, then. No more, no less. Obliterate it, and make it look like Armageddon. I think we should give these people a little something of a show, yes?"
The Ska Ralla complied. The Juggernauts on board, along with the other crewmen, loaded the power conduits with the necessary energy. Over one hundred thousand units of nuclear energy where inserted into the laser, weighing roughly 743 tons, and the protocols were green lighted. The firing chamber was sealed off, and then...
...a light appeared in the sky. It was a dazzling green, and was amazingly luminescent. Some of the people who saw it first brought out their children, and took pictures. That is, of course, until it hit.
The hanger exploded. The ground around it was dissolved. A chasm, over a mile deep, replaced the area that once held the scanning equipment. The green light then dissipated, almost instantaneously, and the populace was stunned. It had lasted no more than 3 minutes, but the impact had many, many repercussions.
In space, the Ska Ralla moved once more, to the Lanzarote Base, but did not enter the debris field. Instead, it simply wandered the void, awaiting Doctor Artifice's next command. Using advanced algorithms, the Ska Ralla could avoid leaving any trace of itself until it was needed again.
Fiona did not like this at all. She was suddenly under a great deal of scrutiny, and that was something she did not care for. Raising her hands to, unsuccessfully, quiet down the crowd, she spoke in a low and commanding voice.
"I do not know what happened. I do not know why a beam of green light came down from the heavens to smite the hanger. And, for the love of God, no, I do not know why a bubble on top of the mountain would refract a red light prism. So please, stop asking me. I obviously know less than any of you, not that my colleges haven't pointed that out before, and so I ask you to please stop this pointless discussion. Whether or not Pops has a defensive system is of no concern to anyone; we are safe as long as we are here. No one would think to come out here, into the middle of essentially nowhere, to attack us! So please, let's try to enjoy our dinner while we can. Night has already fallen, and soon, we must retire to bed. So, I ask you, let's just enjoy dinner."
Jessica, unconvinced at her mother's antics, asked to be excused from the table. She hurried to a Library, as it had no cameras inside, according to an electronic sweep she covertly performed, which she locked the door behind herself, and ran to a corner, behind several bookshelves and the most remote area from the door. If anyone heard her, it would be so muffled that they wouldn't be able to understand what was going on. And since all she was saying was that this was weird, about how she was scared, so on, so forth, if anyone did hear, and understand, what she was saying, it would be entirely normal for a teenager put in this position.
Alan Kell sat on the bridge of the Logankell, stunned at the replay from his cloaked spy satellite in orbit above Gran Canaria.
The beam weapon carved a massive crater right where his hangar stood. The huge cloud of gas and ash following the blast made it difficult to see the after effects.
He wondered how Veranda Incognita had fared, only a few hundred metres away from his hangar. Surely there would be earthquakes and noxious fumes after a blast of that magnitude. He hoped there hadn't been any casualties.
It seemed the message from Spike Harris was behind this. Someone didn't appear to like being discovered at whatever mischief they were up to.
Later images were incoming from the satellite, high resolution radar scans of the area.
"Well I'll be...", he breathed in amazement.
The images showed a pillar of rock remaining in the centre of the conflagration. Obviously those huge shield generators had been the best money can buy, as the Daumann salesman had said.
Off to one side of the crater, he could see that his favorite place in the valley had also survived somehow, although the stream now flowed into the crater. He wondered how long the new lake would take to fill. He'd have to check the structural integrity of the new pillar of rock, possibly reinforcing it to prevent erosion damage.
Hopefully XM would be back to help soon, as the YTC could be needed to help end the threat.
As he set course for Omega 49, he was amazed that such destruction had created such opportunity.
Julius sat in one of Malaclypse's overstuffed chairs, his mask pulled down and sipping at one of the excilent wines Mal had uncorked for this occasion, seemingly at ease with the world. Which, to be fair, is exactly what one would expect at a dinner party. However, the dinner-party atmosphere was gone when one took into account the rest of the guests, thus he was the odd man out. Not that it ever bothered Julius to be said Odd Man.
With a bit of a sigh, he set down his half drunk glass and stood. "I assume that something has gone amiss then. An unexpected and unwelcome visitor? Armed? Well now, I just don't feel quite safe anymore. No offence to your own security systems, Mal, but would you mind if I brought in a few of my own guards? Better safe then sorry, as the saying goes."
Said guards in question were not without action. Once the Ska Ralla had decloaked, Crystal Oni set about organizing a number of teams. One for defence, another to exctract, and yet a third for all out assaults. When it came to options, Crystal liked to have them. There are many things that Phantoms can't do, but versitility is one of the things that they excell at. Thus, when the shuttle group radioed back to the Oblivion with what was going on on the ground, Crystal had a responce.
"-Defence team on it's way.
-Send my regards."
This is the real true story of rock and roll; it was not about anything more then, how to live your life, as a gangster, in sartorial splendor, and turning the world into a place where normality would never return again...- Malcolm McLaren
The air sparkled from the dust thrown in the air by the concussive force wreaked from the Ska Ralla. A laser of that power instantly vaporized all material in its path, releasing the binding energy stored even within the atoms of inert granite and dirt. Intstantaneous release of that energy had shaken the Villa considerably; but, its beamed foundations extended down ten meters into the bedrock themselves, and had survived the shockwave.
Hasty looks both of concern and relief were exchanged by the guests. Mal pulled himself together and managed to speak. "Kane, I see no reason to deny you your defence team at this juncture. You seem to be in as much danger as the rest of us.
"And Madam Ambassador, I am not quite so beguiled as our Reggie here; and happened to notice that there is a lot you don't know, and very little that you do know about this. Or, so you would have us believe.
"Might I suggest that your links to this madman go back much further than anyone else's; yet you continue to play the coquette. Do not force me to question Reggie's implicit faith in you."
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