"Chessmen of the Apocalypse" Part Two Late 2365 Galactic, early AD 1990 [Captain R/C] (Ed's Note: Any possible link between the RED 417 in the sea of saucers and the story on the vortex, about the RED 417 mysteriously being flung through the galaxy?) [Nomad of Norad] (Ed's note: DROMONA SORENTO is the ship that was "flung through the galaxy," and is Koala Bear's starship. The RED 417 is the smaller vessel that the alien kid from the Jocko-isn't-dead-after-all story owned.) (And actually, the connection I was trying to get at with the saucers and the RED 417 is that there was a flying saucer at the end of the Jocko story, the same story that they captured "a certain renegade mage" in.) THX turned to Xavier and whispered, "Hey, we should get with the others and rescue those three!" [Captain R/C] Xavier looked at him oddly. "Are you kidding me? I'm on my coffee break!" [Koala Bear] (Coffee Break?! Youv'e gotta be kidding! This is pay-per-view, (at least at my end) AND I WANT MY MONEYS WORTH!!!!!!!!!) THX dragged Xavier off and gathered together others to help rescue the three captives. [Xavier] (Gee, how did *I* get into this? Oh well, I'll try to play along...) Xavier and THX went in search of Brave Sir Robin to help rescue the three boners being held captive. On their brave quest, they succeeded to only find a thavage looking fellow, Alter Ego. "Will you help us rescue Dr. Depraved and some other waynes being held captive?" Xavier asked Alter.. "Sure! I'll do it JUST BECAUSE I don't want anything to happen to my darling Dr. Depraved," Alter replied, "but I don't know about Spidey he's such a YUPPIE. Maybe Redstar," he added. They were about to leave on their brave journey, when the phone rang..." hello, this is Gary Wolfe..." [Nomad of Norad] "Gary?" said Alter Ego on his Medieval-type tele-o-phone, "why are you calling now? I was about to step out to--- Mmmmmmmmph!" "Don't tell him that we're about to rescue Dr D and friends or..." began Xavier with his hand over Alter's mouth, who suddenly realised he had spilled the beans himself. "Don't worry," said Gary over the phone, "the line's not tapped. And I already knew that's what you guys were up to. I was just calling to wish you luck and give some advice." "Advice?" said Xavier and Alter, with the phone held up where both could hear. "Yeah: beware the idol." Click! Buzzzzzzzz..... Xavier and Alter exchanged glances. "'Beware the idol'?!?!" said both. "And how did he know what we were planning?" said THX. Alter and Xavier shrugged indifferently, and then hung up the phone. * * * * * * * Gary put away his phone, then smiling he reached up and playfully shined a spot on the TARDIS. It didn't need shining, but he felt like doing it. After all, he had perhaps just caused a change in future events... he hoped. * * * * * * * Nomad and party wondered what was going on. The saucer was silent. It had remained motionless for some time now. What where the captors doing? Were they waiting on something? * * * * * * * The RED 417 arrived back at CommHex, and quickly found out that Something was Rotten in Duval. [Redstar] Redstar found out in his wierd way that Xavier needed him. He went over to the refrigerator, grabbed a six of Dew, and grabbed his keys to the NHI Redmobile, and headed out the door. He checked the glove compartment, and saw that the photon overcharged phaser gun (P.O.P. gun) was working. He started the car, and backed onto the street. The car lifted off the ground, and the wheels retracted. He accelerated to 88 miles per hour, and in a flash of light, he disappeared into the late afternoon sky... [The Flip] Redstar was cruising in the sky at 88 mph, when he heard a woman say, "Hey Reddy-pooh!" Whoa! It was Jennifer! With Einstein! "Yo, Einie," said Redstar, "go up to the front seat and drive...me and Jennifer got some stuff to do in the back seat...heheh." He smiled slyly as he crawled into the back seat... [Perfect] What does this stuff mean anyway. These stories. [Nomad of Norad] [Title: Perfect's Quotes ] Oooooooh nuthinnn'! We just amuse ourselves with them... (Uh.... Redstar, weren't you among the three about-to-be-executed prisoners?) [Captain R/C] [Title: Aw C'mon...we're all professionals here ] The Hex...the mighty Hex...or so it would seem. The once main gate was now rusted shut due to lack of use, despite discussions on the Parapet of a re-opening of the old gate, now ceased. The people in the courtyard were no longer dancing, music no longer filled the air. The 'umble villiagers all looked to the castle in a different view, the King was gone. Not only the King, but many of the Dukes are dead as well. Robber's and thieves roamed the countryside and raiding the villiages. The guarded entrance to the mines of Moria now stood unshielded, every evil creature was coming out. The land was in turmoil. A new, rightful King must be found, not the power hungry war-monger taking the role of King. "...It is happening......I knew the day would come." The Old Man gathered some of his oldest scrolls and parchments and searched them for some clue, some answer. The current king...why has no one every heard of him? Where did he come from? Why did he show up on the day Joe died...IF Joe died? The Old Man's brain thought long and hard. * * * * Soaring 457 feet above the countryside, Redstar cruised in his Q-32 Space Modulator. He had no idea what was happening below, since he had been away from the kingdom for some time, doing expedition work. He gazed out the window at the point where he first entered the kingdom, so may years ago. "Sigh... you can stop the simulation, now, Einstein. I'm bored with her." Red said to his Onboard Computer, dubbed Einstein. The Materialhologram disintegrated almost immediately. "By the way, where are we going?" "Xavier sent me a distress call. We must check it out." "Oh? Nice of you to tell me so! I thought we were going to the mines of Moria again." "I lied. I'm not as honest as Joshua, remember?" "Jeez, I knew I should have programed you differently. Anyway, what was the nature of the distress call?" "It was a general alarm. Said he needed help. It seems some of the kingdom's top officials are still alive! Shammy, Flip, Redstar, Nomad of..." "Wait.. what do you mean .. Redstar?" "They are holding Redstar. Until a short while ago, we thought they were all..." "That's silly! I am Redstar!" said Redstar. "Yes. And you're being held prisoner. That's why we have to go rescue them!" said Einstein. "..jeez, I made you to literal, too. You don't even know if you make an error." "I never make errors. I was programed in machine language," said Einny. "Whatever you say.... So, Redstar is being help captive, huh? Are you sure?" "Cross-referencing........ Yes, you are. Illogical, you are here." ".......Odd. Are you in range for a DNA scan?" "Negative" "Is Nomad's computer?" "Affirmative." "Patch me in, Einny." ".......completed." "Joshua?" said Redstar. "You have reached the home of Nomad of Norad. He is not here right now, so if you leave a message at the sound of the..." began Joshua. "Break, Break, Joshua. Code 11. This is Redstar." "Yes, Redstar?" "Can you do a DNA Scan of me, here in this prison?" "I have done so. Only two occupants show the correct DNA pattern, Joe Powell being one of them." The comprehension lightbulb flashed above Red's Head. "So, there are clones about......" "EINSTEIN! Engage cloak, home in on the local Joshua supplied, prepare for Mode12 landing, immediately. I'm going in........." Redstar commanded. * * * * * [Redstar] (Flip: You HAD to mention Jennifer... Oh, well, I will play along then...) ...Redstar began to throttle down the engines (of his own design) down, and the Redmobile began to hover over the house. As the engines fell down to producing only minimum power, reaching minimal turbine speed, he began to set a few things up. "Jennifer, you sit tight, this won't take long." The main computer screen showed the Attention prompt, and a pleasing beep was sounded. "Power-down to hover speed has been completed, sir. Engines running nominally, H-2 levels at forty percent. Plutonium chamber is full, reserves full." "Thanks, Ein. Standby," Redstar leaned forward, looking out the side window, seeing the house below. He sat there thinking over a Dew, scraping the rim against his three-day shave. Then he decided that he was ready. "Einy, Set me down at the following coordinates." An enhanced grid map appeared on all the windows, and Redstar touched the landing coordinates. "Standby, sir." Einstein took control of the Redmobile, and landed it perfectly within seconds. "Powering down engines to zero percent...cutting main fuel lines...you may exit sir." Redstar grabbed the POP gun from the glove compartment, and put it in pistol mode. He then placed it in his holster inside the lining of his black leather jacket. "Open door, Ein." The side door slowly raises upward, and locked into place. Redstar put on his blast-resistant sunglasses, thinking 'I can't be too careful.' "Watch Jenn for me, Ein, I'll be right back. Watch mode." With that the door closed, and Redstar headed into the house. "Display on," Redstar commanded, and the sensors in the sunglasses activated. A small green phosphor message in the lower left reported "No targets detected." "At least for now, that is," mumbled Redstar. [Nomad of Norad] Meanwhile, Einey's holographic representation moved back to the back of the car. The representation of Jennifer, the other computer intelligence aboard, materialised next to him. Einey looked at her, woof-woofed, and then reselected a humanoid form for himself. The two had holographic hanky-panky together, waiting for Redstar to return. (There, does that explain away the problem?) (Oh, and Cappy, I just LOVED your entry! I had been thinking about a way to explain away Redstar not being in custody... but your explanation was a SCREAM!) [Captain R/C] Redstar approached the complex. Interestingly, it was an old building made mostly of stone, but was guarded by a lasergrid. Not even a fly could get by a laser defense. The Redmobile started flashing headlights, honking horns, wiping windows. "Jeez, must be that faulty car alarm." Red broke his investigation and returned to his car. "Einny, shut up." "Shutting up." "Thanks. You make so much racket." "Joshua is signaling you," said Einny. "Yeah? Why didn't you signal me?" "I signaled. " "Patch me in, Einny." "Patch in with who, Redstar?" "Joshua." "Connecting....." "Redstar, I have detected an energy transportation. The building is now void of all life forms." "How come you didn't tell me this, Einny?" "You didn't ask." "How come Joshua told me without asking?" "Explanation required. I am assembly written. Joshua is written mostly in BASIC so he is user freindly." "Joshua. Where are the life forms now?" "In a transorbital space pattern. Redstar, they have been beamed aboard a space ship." "A Space ship?? Jeez, this is getting deep." "Life form approaching from Southwest at ultra-sonic speed, 4.7 kilometers away." "Thank you Einstein. Close doors. Cloak on, 98%. Scan lifeform...Redstar out, Joshua.." "Joshua Out." "Report?" "Only one lifeform. Shortrange fighter, class 3, combat. Fully armed. Shields down. Scanners at minimum." "Not hostile?" "No sir. It is broadcasting a signal." "Let me hear it." "Decoding..... on speaker: 'Redstar...Redstar...Are you around...Repeat, Are You nd. Emergency..'" "Who is that?" "Ship flew directly over us at a speed of 1423 miles an hour. License Plate assigned to Captain R/C." "Einstein... Decloak. Match his frequency and transmit." "Transmitting:" "R/C? Is that you? You passed me! I'm sending you the coordinates." Once again the map appears and Red points to the coordinates. "Redstar, the craft's retro engines are engaging and he is beginning a 180 degree turn. Estimated Time of Arrival, 0:12 seconds." Twelve seconds later, R/c brought his short range fighter to a hover near Redstar and his engine gave out. R/C fell about four feet and his fighter landed on a sand dune. "Friggin, Stupid, idiotic, mushy engine!" He got out and turned to Redstar. Joshua told me where you were. He filled me in on the entire situation. Apparently, I have been cloned as well." "Where'd you get the fighter?" "Ya like it? It's a short range fighter, but I rigged up a subspace drive to it. It can get you from here to the Beta system. I need a new carburator, though, the one I have now sucks in too much stardust. Clogs the particle spitters. I'm still working on the OBC, though. I only have the auto-pilot done. Anyway, lock your..uh...car and get in. WE have to be, basically, halfway between here and the third moon in 45 minutes to intercept the space ship." "What good are we gonna do against a transglactic cruiser?" "You see that gun? That's a Photon Energy gun. It can put a crack straight through a planet the size of Pluto. Very effective against a space craft. Don't worry, it's worst possible scenario that we would have to use it. GET IN!" The two boarded the fighter, the door closed. The engines whirled to speed, black smoke momentarily spewed out, then a blast of blue flame threw a wall of sand 30 feet high. They had launched into space to intercept death. "Wow, this has get up and go!" said Redstar. "Heh, I know. I'm gonna trade it in though, for a new one. The new ones go from zero to 60,000 in 3.5 seconds, complete with a G0 and all!" [Redstar] (I will write an entry soon, but I have no time today. Cappy: You pulled me away from Einny? Flip: What's that all with Jennifer? If you added her to the story (even if she is a hologram), then use her!) [The Flip] (Red: Hey, don't force me to continue writing entries...as most people around here know, I'm strictly a part-time writer...) [Nomad of Norad] * * * * * * * Nomad continued to pace back and forth in the large room in the flying saucer. Three new guys had arrived, but Cappy had suddenly vanished right afterwards. It had been a different type of teleport beam, the "style" of it was different. And then the ship had lurched and everyone had been flung to one side of the room by a sudden, hard acceleration. Obviously, someone had found their co-ordinates by triangulating or some such on the incoming teleport beams, and locked on and tried to retrieve the prisoners. They had only gotten Cappy. The pilot or pilots of the ship had figured out what was happening and had taken action, getting the Dell out of Hodge and probably raising the shields too. So much for rescue. "Would you knock it off!" said Zaphod to Nomad. Nomad stopped pacing. He turned and looked at the newcomers: Redstar, Dr Depraved, and Spidey. "So," said Nomad, "they 'executed' you three, eh?" "Actually," said Spidey, "no. They didn't. You guys are the only ones they 'executed.' They simply teleported us out of a dungeon of sorts, without warning." He looked at Redstar, as a friend. But something made him uneasy about him. It was not something he was consciously aware of, though. But some very subtle something about Redstar bothered his id. Had the unease been further up in Spidey's layers of consciousness, it might have been better. Might have warned him of things to come. Because Redstar wasn't really Redstar. "Yes," said Nomad, "'executed.'" Nomad flinched. Thinking of fake corpses had brought to his mind the image of a dead alien child in the wreck of an alien spacecraft, brought to his mind again the intense shock of finding a dead boy, any dead boy, without a forwarning to make him ready for the sight, and lessen its impact. He that was so sensative about kids, that he would flinch every time he heard on the news about some 10-year-old that got shot, or jump if he heard a little girl scream, felt the impact of it clear down to his soul. But when he had found the boy alive, later, the effects had been lifted from him and relief had flooded his soul. The body had been fake, left in the wreck to throw off any that might come looking for the boy. But then he had found out that it had almost been real. The child actually had almost died in the wreck, twisted and bleading. Had the power not failed on the ship, and the last buckling shields not collapsed, and a teleport not pulled him out of the wreck to be healed and to be replaced by an unliving duplicate, the lad would have died seconds later. The boy still awoke screaming some nights, more than a year later. He would likely still do so for the rest of his life. Nomad blinked back bitter tears, abruptly clamped shut his eyelids to close them in, squeesing hard. Nomad had not learned of this terrible thing until after the mastermind behind it had been sent off to the prison planet of Veerd. Shock had pierced Nomad's soul again, and he almost felt like taking vengeance against the man. Almost. For vengeance was not in Nomad's nature. And now that man had apparently escaped, and was behind this plot. His MO was unmistakable. Nomad forced the thoughts to the back of his mind, forced other thoughts forward to dispell them. "Nomad? Are you okay?" asked Dr D. "I'm.... I'm fine," he said. Closing off the sorrow like a faucet. (Remember, all the duplicates are supposed to be DEAD! (Except, of course, for Redstar, eh?)) (Say! How many of you caught Star Trek: TNG episode "Allegience"? It has some things in common with this story as it is now! Heh!) (Egads! Have I REALLY been editting this story entry for more than two hours! WOW!) [Nomad of Norad] Meanwhile, Thx 1138, Xavier and Alter Ego approached Nomad's house. Xavier was about to ring the doorbell when the door slid open. "Come on in," said Joshua, "welcome." "Pity Nomad isn't here," said Alter Ego. "At least he's alive," added Xavier. They had all been quite surprised when Cappy had signalled to them. Cappy, they had thought, was dead. But he told them not only that HE was alive, but so was everyone else that had "died" in the chessgame. And Joshua had been just as surprised when HE heard from Cappy. Apparently, someone had teleported Cappy out of a flying saucer just after the three prisoners had been teleported in. No-one knew who had made this rescue attempt, tho. Cappy had suddenly found himself back at his house, and had immediately fired up the super-whopping-good fighter spacecraft he had gotten by sending in cerial box tops or some such. "By the way," said Joshua, "I just heard from the RED 417." The three visitors exchanged quick glances. The Three Mages were back! "Apparently," continued Joshua, "they were the ones that made the rescue attempt that freed Cappy. They're coming here now." (Hmmmm, looking back at the other entries: It looks like Joe Powell might also be like Redstar in the group in the saucer, another imposter among the prisoners.) [Captain R/C] "Report...Report...Rastder-7...report.." These subtle words were spoken into a microphone of sort, connected to a rather large control panel with all sorts of guages and readouts. This panel was connected to even more panels with larger and more readouts and guages. Apparently, this was the bridge of the saucer...Only a few officers were on the bridge and the lighting was very dim. It was obvious, though, that they were under some stress. Orders and commands were flying in every direction, each one carried out to a tea. "Evasive Action... Shields Up... Full Thrust..." "Rastder-7.. Report... Repeat, status report." "Rastder-7: Reporting" These words were printed on a small screen. "Status report.. what is happening?" "Rastder-7: Occupant Captain R/C has been successfully beamed out. Whereabouts unkown. Another teleport attempt on occupant Joe Powell, but unsuccessful due to evasive maneuvers. Occupant Nom....... ....." The sentence ended. "..." * * * * * "Redstar...Redstar?" It was Nomad's turn to question. "Redstar, you don't look well all of the sudden." "He looks spaced out!"said Nomad. "Redstar, can you hear us?" said Joe. "...huh? What?... oh.. sorry, I must have been day dreaming or something. There's a lot on my mind. Do you mind if you guys just ignore me for a while? Thanks." Said Redstar, as if awaking from a daze. "We were just worried....about.... Redstar? jeez, there he goes again."said Nomad. "He sure is acting strange..."said Joe. Nomad concured. "I know. Something is bothering me about that. It's just not.....well... it's just not Redstar!" * * * * * "Dexter...Command...Dexter...Command" Once again, the small screen ignited with this call message. An officer walked over quickly. "This is Dexter. Command Status Report." "Rastder-7: Interuption of occupants. Had to abort transmittion." "Do they suspect anything?"asked Dexter. "Inconclusive evidence." "Continue status report." "Continuing: Occupant Nomad of Norad went into a deep thought cycle 4 minutes ago. Subject of thought unknown, but expression indicated that thought process contained first a series of undesirable flashbacks and then attempted to break the flashback. Other occupants behaving as expected, no signs of unusual activity or unnecessary thought." "Good, Rastder-7, continue analysis. Report every 32 cycles and report all unusual activity, such as escape plans." Dexter replaced the microphone and turned to an observing officer. "Aren't those bio-robotic clones neat!" * * * * * Flying at approximately 4,000 miles an hour, R/C orbited the planet and attempted to overtake the saucer from behind and underneath, thus attempting to avoid radar detection. Always dreaming of being a big war hero, he had mounted one of those boxes that makes sounds like you just blew up the car in front of you on his dash. R/C was pushing buttons madly. Redstar, afraid for his life and his computer, watched the guages intently. "R/C, your oil pressure is down to 400 ppi." "So?" "R/C, your methane temperature is up to 437 degrees." "So?" "R/C! Your gass tank is flashing E!" "So?!" "R/C!! You just blew a speaker!" "WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No way! That's it! We're turing around." "No way1 The saucer!! Dead ahead..." "Heck..." R/C pushed countless millions of buttons. A small probe launched from the underside of his craft. It magnetically attached to the saucer. "Heh.. that's a homing probe. We can follow it anywhere, now. Unfortunately, I dropped the reciever so we have to go make a new one. Hang on, I gotta land this thing before they spot us!" He pushed the stick and the ship began a straight dive. The G-meter now reads 14 G's, although the G0 device is keeping things realitively weightless. "I got the G0 from Vinny down in Palm Springs. I hope it doesn't give out, else we are both pancakes." Moments later, R/C "landed" the ship just outside Nomad's house. The two exited, Redstar kissed the ground, and they entered the complex for a briefing..... [Nomad of Norad] (Hmmmm... present tense? I always use past tense. Come to think of it, it appears to flit back and forth between past and present tense. Hmmm.) [I have converted it all to past tense, now. --NoN ] (And the unease the characters where feeling about Redstar not being "right" was supposed to be something they weren't consciously AWARE of... >Shrug<) The empty and autopiloted Redmobile arrived soon afterwards, and then the RED 417. Everyone crowded into Nomad's media center. Then Joshua raised the force dome. The images of Einey and Jennifer were patched through, and projected in the room so they could join into the conversation too. [Captain R/C] (Obviously! They still don't know what's going on. Dexter is controlling something called Ratsred-7, whos transmittion gets interrupted when Redstar was spoken to. And in the end, Dexter remarks about how he loves the clones.) (If it's still not obvious, what does Ratsder spell backwards?) [Xavier] Um, I got lost... someone tell me where I am, and what I am doing. thanks.. sheesh! [Captain R/C] (why don't you go back and read?) [Nomad of Norad] (Hmmmm, and obviously they even LESS suspect the (fake) King Powell (llowep-gnik?), who is being held in reserve in case ratsder-7 is put out of commission.) (But where is the REAL King Powell? He was apparently teleported aboard the same ship just recently. After all, the I.G. WAS lead to the ship by the beam-up! He must be being held elsewhere in the ship.) [Captain R/C] (Wow! Why don't you write an entry showing that, you anoymous, wandering kind of guy) [Nomad of Norad] (Was suggesting it for later use.) The group came out of their meeting, their plans made, and climbed back into the two spacecraft. Redstar lingered outside of Cappy's fighter, looking back at his skycar, and waved to the hologram of Einey. He then climbed aboard the fighter. The force dome came down, the two spacecraft rose and went off in one direction, then the skycar rose and headed the other way. When they reached the Beta star system and went into orbit near the third moon, and it became clear the saucer was not there, Cappy docked his ship with the RED 417 and he and Redstar came aboard. "Was it wise to simply leave them here, unmonitored?" asked Redstar as the two came through the docking tube. "I mean, what if they found the homing beacon and removed it?" "Well," said Cappy, "they shouldn't be aware of my little homing beacon." "They didn't detect the signal?" asked Xavier, meeting them in the corridor. All three headed toward the flight deck. "No," said Cappy, "it only signals roughly once every hour." He pulled a pocket computer out of his pocket and punched the keys a bit. "The time it sends the signal each time is based on a complicated algorythm." They arrived at the flight section. Cappy looked at his computer a moment. "What do we do now?" said Pla'anuk, the nine-year-old alien pilot. "The saucer is gone." "We simply wait for the homing signal to be sent," said Cappy. He went to the communications console and stood next to Pladgah. "Set the frequency at 96384.987 cycles and rig for triangulation." "Frequency... 963..." began Plad, adjusting the frequency control, and then glanced up at Cappy. "...84.987," repeated Cappy. "Got it," said Plad, "98384.987 cycles." He punched some other control indicators on the display surface. "And set for triangulation." "Ok," said Cappy. He glanced at his computer again. "The signal should come in about five minutes." They sat there for five minutes, then another minute. The signal was a little late. "The signal is a little late, Cappy," said Xavier. "Maybe they DID find the device and destroy it." Cappy thought a moment, and shook his head. "Nah..." "Could it be defective?" said Pladgah. "Or did you miscal--" >PING-PING-PING-PING!< said the communications console. "Aha!" said Cappy. "We have them!" said Pladgah. He fed the origin location to Pla'anuk. "Hmmmm..." said Cappy, punching keys. "One minute and fifteen seconds late. That'd make them about... twenty-four lightyears away." They went into high warp. [Redstar] At this time Redstar felt a little worried; he decided that a little insurance plan would be needed. Also his sentimental attachment to his silicon creations was getting to him. "Cappy," Redstar said, "do you have a long range Ku-band transmitter?" "Yeah, why?" "I need to send some orders to Einny and Jenn. I think that we need them standing by, just in case of an emergency." "Yeah, just link in at this terminal." Cappy pointed to a side panel on the front dash. The heat from his hand activated it. The RGB monitor showed the rather spiffy title screen. "Cappy, you're such a showoff! What's the point with the color screen?" Cappy chuckled and looked over. "It rubbed off from my //gs days long ago. I know that it's half the speed, and eats twice the power, but I lite all my displays pretty." Redstar just thought, "Impractical," desiring the extended speed, but quickly turned to the monitor. Six seconds later a rather monotonous voice said, "System on. What channel?" "Cappy, let me upgrade this voice modulator for you. It's aggrivating. Shows you what you get when you program in C." Redstar turned to the panel. "Dial Einny/Red at sector 774, BioLine code 546.64552." "Using transwarp channel 17AS4. Sending link signal. Recieving..." "Einny, this is Redstar, you receiving ok?" "Glad to hear from you sir." "Yeah, activate and proceed to mainbase. Find Jennifer 1 and tell her to commence space setup routine on the Redmobile. Priority one." "Roger, sir. Commencing. Engaging, powerup, coordinate set to mainbase. Do you wish that the flight recorder set to transmit to you? I have channel lockon with target Cappy.3345230." Redstar looked at Cappy. "Could I leave this channel open? And could I keep this computer tied up?" Cappy smiled. "Of course! I installed that terminal for the passenger's use. I origionally intended that it was so my dates could call home and for pizza, but it makes a nifty transwarp comm, you think?" Redstar laughed. "You have the strangest ideas with high tech. Yeah, it works pretty well, except this exhorberant display is killing the speed." Redstar turned to the terminal. "Einny, you there?" "Yes, sir. Presently en route to mainbase. Estimated time to arrival in twelve minutes, thirty-two seconds." "Good job. After sequence is completed by Jennifer 1, take her on board, and follow her orders; she'll know what to do. Go to warp course 221.33456, warp factor eight. Lock on to this signal. You should meet with us in..." Redstar did some calculations on a ring calculator. "... eighty-five minutes." "Roger, sir. Commencing operation. Transmitting flight log. Is that all sir?" "Yes, for now. Out." "Out, continuing transmit..." The screen went dim, and displayed the message, 'receiving...'. Cappy looked puzzled, and asked, "What was all that about? And I thought Jenn was a hologram." Redstar smiled. "Well, I thought that we were going to need Einny's help. Actually it will be Jennifer 1 that will help. Jennifer 1 is my latest creation in cybernetic engineering. I have been working on her for six years now, and she is now the best android in the scientific world." "Cybernetic? What about the hologram...?" "That was the first stage. The Jenn hologram is the program of Jennifer 1. My problem was to get the billion megs of storage and computing power of Jenn into a human form. It wasn't easy, but I did it. How 'bout if you wait and meet Jennifer 1?" "Loved to. But I still don't get the purpose why we need Jen, er, Jennifer 1 here." "We will need her to break the complex codes that the aliens are using. I ran this transmission, " Redstar turned on the signal recorder, "through the main computer at CyberTech, and it takes it too long to decode, and the distances... sheesh! I need Jennifer 1 to decode, and she will come in handy for other things. She is quite amazing." Cappy understood. "So what can you tell me about this transmission?" Redstar turned up the volume on the recorder. "Watch," Redstar said something, and the transmission varied with the voice. The minute Cappy spoke to Redstar, the transmission scrambled. "This is what scares me, it seems to alternate with me." "That is wierd. I'm slowing so that we will catch up with Einny - and Jennifer 1." "Good. At warp factor two we will meet in only ten minutes." Redstar looked out the window at the void of space, thinking of his cybernetic masterpiece, wishing ten minutes would go quicker... (The transmission refers to Ratsder 7, and I will tell you more about Jennifer 1.) [Captain R/C] (A calculatr ring....jeez.....) [Redstar] (Yeah, right Cappy. If you are wondering, it's voice-activated, as everything else in the story...) Ten minutes later Cappy's tracking monitor gave a little warning beep, and stated, "Tracking target at coordinates 1142 by 55436 by 3321, closing fast, seems not to be hostile." "It must be Einny, Redstar." Cappy turned to the console. "Identify target." "BioLine code 546.64552, identifies to be in the ownership of Redstar. We are presently in transmission link with target. Should I proceed with rendezvous proceedures?" "Yes, go ahead." Cappy turned to Redstar. "The airlock is right there, I am sure you know what to do." "Of course, it's the standard on most ships today," Redstar crawled through the cramped space, and waited for the signal. A jolt was felt, and the locking motors sounded. "Docking complete," the computer said. "Pressurizing... secure". Redstar opened the hatch. A female figure crawled through the small hatch. "Guys, this is Jennifer 1. She is the most sophistocated cybernetic android ever built. Say hello, Jennifer." Jennifer turned to Cappy. "Hello, sir, nice to be aboard." The sound of her voice was very soft and indistinguishable fron a real voice. In every way Jennifer could pass as a real person, almost as an improved person. The only thing noticeable was that her brown eyes seemed to twitch a little back in forth. Cappy was astounded, but soon the feeling died down. "How did you get her voice so lifelike?" Redstar smiled, then turned his attention to Jennifer. "It wasn't easy. I sampled many voices, then mixed together a composite to my liking. I needed a high sample rate, and it ended up taking 15 megs a syllable. Not bad, considering." "Yeah, but is she going to help, or was this rendezvous just for your enjoyment? You know we are loosing time, and who knows what is going on on that spaceship." "Okay, I'm sorry, but Jennifer will be most valuable, especially if we are going to have to break through some security, or if we've gotta meddle with some computers. You know Jennifer's got a knack in that department." Cappy agrees. "Yeah, I guess that we need a computer with that kind of power with us. Also, the 'female' companionship would be nice, as Gabrielle didn't come along." "I thought that she was on another ship in our little convoy? Oh, well, it'll be hard to tell, as the others decided to take another warp channel." Redstar seemed to snap out of some sort of daze, and finally came to his senses. "We better get going! Jennifer, does Einny have enough fuel to reach mainbase?" "Yes, sir, I made sure that all plans were carried out perfectly. I have already programmed Einny with the proper flight plan. Should I commence this programme?" "Well done, Jennifer! Go ahead with it." Redstar turned and told Cappy, "That's what amazes me, she seems to do things for herself, I didn't put that into her programming. Scary, isn't it?" "Yeah, but I can't get over her voice! She can't be programmed in assembly!" "She is, but I had a few tricks up my sleeve." Jennifer closed her eyes, and seconds later reported that Einny was returning to a high-altitude orbit over Earth's moon. He was going there to act as an observation platform and communications relay. Jennifer thought of that plan, too. "Allright, " Redstar said, "let's go! Jennifer, man the comm. Keep in constant link with Einny, and download everything to him. Also try to decipher the transmission on channel 88547, Ku - C band. Theorize if necessary. Also set an interception course that will take us in the area of hostile target one, and the ships in our party; Einny knows who they are. Get us there as quickly as possible." "Yes, sir, I am now commencing with the tasks ordered. Please rest, sirs, it seems that there is a difficult task ahead." Jennifer took a seat in the commander's chair. "Can we trust her with all that?" Cappy asked. "It seems to be an awful lot to ask of anyone, er, anything." Redstar smiled. "That's nothing to her. C'mon, let's take a break. You've been working too hard lately." "Okay." Both went back to the small area behind the cockpit, and served themselves the drinks Redstar brought originally. Cappy looked back at the android. "I hope she knows what she's doing, " he whispered. "Don't worry, sir, I am fully capable of the tasks before me." Redstar rolled over, and pulled out his digital steno pad. "Can you run by this plan you guys had? I fell asleep through most of it." "Sure, here, give me the pad." Cappy then proceeded to run by the plans to free their friends. (What ARE the plans? No one described them in previous posts.) [Nomad of Norad] (The plans? Well, the idea is that we'd find them out as they happened, i.e. as we wrote the scenes.) * * * * * * * Back aboard the transgalactic cruiser -- that is, the flying saucer -- the captive group were sitting around, having temporarily at least run out of places to look and ideas to try in getting out of the sealed room. A dull, subtle hum they had ceased to notice suddenly lowered in pitch and faded out. "Sounds like we just came out of warp drive," said Zaphod. "Guess we'll soon find out what's to become of us," said Nomad. * * * * * * * The flying saucer passed the innermost moon of the fourth planet in the Vunaar system. The planet was a desolate brick-red with patches of sand-yellow and gull-grey. The tall, short-furry captain of the vessel stood gazing at the screen, comforted by the nearness of their destination. "Sir," said a low-ranked officer at a console, "the gaurd satellites do not respond." The captain's furry face lost its look of comfort. The satellites protected against unauthorised approaches to the planet, if they weren't responding.... "None of them?" he asked. "Affirmative." "And I detect fields of debris in orbit," said another officer. "Raise shields!" the captain shouted. "Battle stations!" Even before the shields went up, a craft decloaked and fired with everything it had. It knocked out main drive and sent the saucer tumbling out of control. Somehow, somebody managed to shoot the enemy craft. It exploaded in a blast of red that sprinkled the saucer with shrapnel. The saucer plunged like a lead Frizbee into the atmosphere, and the pilot tried desperately to right her. The ground came up awfully fast. Somehow, the pilot succeeded in regaining a modicum of control, but the ground was too close. The ship struck a hill and careened to one side. Then, before the pilot could compensate, the ship met the ground with a a drawn-out SCREEEEEEEEEETCH! Then it stopped, and the lights aboard went out. [Doctor Depraved] Dr. Depraved was still screaming into theBat-phone. "HELP! HELP! SAVE US!!! OH MY GOD...I'M GOING TO DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"