Davron part 3, Page 2

  Chapter 26

 

  Belle lay on her bed. Then she got up. She paced the floor. Lay down, thought about getting up again then lay back down.

  She had faced many dangerous situations in her time of active service. She had the W S A cross. Facing fourteen sickness crazed miners on Mars had earned her that. She had used their delirium against themselves, making them believe she was the monster of all monsters from hell. She had stood her ground when they had rushed her, jumping on a rock and roaring at them. They could have ripped her to shreds, but she had planted the idea in their hallucinating minds that she was the Devil's daughter and if they didn't put down their weapons, she would banish them to hell.

  For some strange reason, they'd believed her. When they had tamely followed her out of the mine, those waiting outside couldn't believe their eyes. It took a couple more roars and threats to get the miners to walk into the ship's hold to be taken to Earth for medical treatment. They recovered, but every one of them swore they had seen the Devil's daughter that day.

  The media ran with that handle for a while, but eventually she became Captain Jazz Belle again, eighth holder of the W S A cross.

  But facing the mutated Davron on the Romulus was somehow different. It was illogical. She would not be facing him with her physical body. She would be in no danger whatsoever. At any moment, she could simply return to her body on the Venom. It was time to go, before Davron blasted either Earth, the Venom, or both.

  “Come on, Belle. Get a grip.”

  Belle turned on the HATED and twisted the last cube, missing those before it. Her assumption had been that the last cube would take her into Davron's world in the present time. It seemed to take more effort this time, slipping into that most tranquil place in her mind. It took longer, but gradually she found that inner sanctuary of peace and self-awareness.

  Through her closed eyes she could still clearly see the green fog around her. She heard a deeper, resonating sound and she recognised it as the engine sounds of the Romulus, different to the sounds of the Venom. She didn't want to do it, but she opened her eyes, fearful for what she might find. She found the flight-deck of the Romulus, with the lights dimmed. It was just as she had seen it on the previous occasions. Everything looked the same, until she turned around. She gasped as she saw in one shadowy corner, the abomination that had become Patrick Davron. And yet...

  Chapter 27

  The strange suit was empty. Open. It was unlike any suit she had seen before. It was not the suit a human would use. Belle went to the suit on the thrown. This was no thrown. But in the shadows, and in the patchy transmissions sent by Davron, it had appeared to be just that. The 'tentacles' were still there, just harmless flexible conduit snaking out of the sides of the alien suit, suspended crudely above it with rope. The pipes went nowhere. They did nothing. The suit was nothing more than a prop.

  “It's been quite a while, Belle,' said a voice behind her.

  Belle spun around to see Davron, standing there holding a beaker of juice. His hair was long and dishevelled, his face sporting a full beard. The boyish face had gone, but the vitality behind his eyes was still there.

  “You've changed,” said Belle.

  Davron chuckled. “But you haven't, my green lady. As lovely as ever, Captain Jasmine Belle. Or should I call you Jazz, like most people do?”

  “You know who I am?”

  Davron chuckled. “I've had years to think about you and work out the mystery behind you. Years for me, I suspect days or even merely hours for you. Your body is back on your ship, I presume? The Venom?”

  “Yes.” There was little point in denying anything, now. “I was given a device. I'm not entirely sure how it works, other than it tunes in with my brain's alpha waves. I've meditated for years, and the HATED enhances my mental abilities somehow.”

  “Hated?”

  “Holographically advanced thought expansion device. Hated.”

  Davron went to a seat by the control panels and sat in it, swivelling round to face her. “Interesting. I thought it must be something like that. Oh. Forgive me. I would offer you refreshments, but, well, you being a holographic projection, not a good idea.”

  Belle went over to the seat next to his and sat in it, and they faced each other.

  “Why are you shooting at Earth?”

  Davron ran his fingers through his beard. “Is that what I'm doing?”

  “You haven't killed anyone yet, but you will if you keep this up.”

  He leaned forwards, studying her carefully through her green glow. “Is that why you've been sent to kill me, Jazz?”

  “Someone has to try to stop you.”

  “And you think you can kill me?”

  “I think you already know the answer to that, Patrick. I'm trained to kill, with weapons or bare hands. If I were here in person, I could kill you in a dozen different ways.”

  Davron stood up and approached her, bending down, his face inches away from her image. He was studying her face. “That's not what I meant, Jazz. I've no doubt that if you were here in person, I'd be no match for you. But would you actually want to kill me?”

  “No, Patrick. I do not want to kill you.”

  Davron grinned. “Good. I'm glad we've established that. Perhaps in time...”

  He was interrupted by an alarm sounding.

  “You'll have to excuse me a moment.” He ran to the alien spacesuit and scrambled inside it. “You may wish to watch the screen, Jazz Belle.”

  As Davron wriggled into the strange suit, Belle turned to face the screen on which everything was highly magnified. She saw Earth. She saw the moon. She saw the tiny speck which was the Venom. There was also something else. Another ship.

  Chapter 28

 

  Belle could only sit and watch, having no idea what was going on. The alien ship disappeared around the other side of the Earth, vanishing off the screen.

  “Come on, damn you,” yelled Davron.

  The ship appeared again for just a second, and that's all it took. From the Romulus, the familiar deadly bolts of blue death and destruction lashed out towards the Earth, tracing a line across millions of miles, directly for the alien ship. Belle watched mesmerised as a tiny burst of energy left the other ship aimed at Earth, just as the shot from Davron swallowed it and the ship it had come out of. A second later, all that remained on the screen was planet Earth, unscathed, the moon and the Venom.

  “That was a close one,” said Davron, climbing back out of the suit. Belle could see the close call had shaken him.

  “Ok,” Belle demanded. “What the hell just happened?”

  Davron sat down beside her again. From above, the sound of leathery wings could be heard and Muffin landed on Davron's shoulder.

  “Muffin really hates it when that alarm goes off. Hey. It's ok, pal. All over.” They sat quietly for a moment, Davron comforting the monkey. “In a way, It's all my fault.”

  “Why doesn't that surprise me. Who the hell are they?”

  “Well, to be honest, I don't really know. They really don't like me, though.”

  “Again. Not surprised.”

  “Fair enough. Look. You remember a couple of years ago...well, for me, it was. You came with me to my home. Spero. Then after that...but actually before that...You know, it's the time travel thing I don't get.”

  “Neither do I. It happens. Tell me, Patrick.”

  “Ah, right. I had every intention of just staying happily on Spero, minding my own business, just me and my little friend here.”

  “Eh, Eh, OohhOO, Eeh,” said Muffin.

  “Hey. You ate only an hour ago. You'll be too fat to fly soon, the way you put the grub away. Off you go, Muffin.”

  Muffin kissed Davron and took off for a lap around the flight-deck before settling down on his blanket.

  “Where were we? Oh. Yes. Well. I did leave Spero once, as you know. I didn't like a certain illegal organ laboratory. By the way. Did you get in my hopper that one tim
e?”

  “I did it twice. I was with you when you boarded the laboratory. Nice job you did there.”

  Davron shrugged. “Nothing your every day genius couldn't do. Seriously, that was so distressing for me.”

  “I could tell. Patrick. I haven't much time. The aliens?”

  “Of course. Sorry. Condensed version. Me and Muffin were happily minding our own business on Spero, when we had a visitor. Not the friendly kind. It didn't land, just flew around us for a few minutes. Then it took a pot-shot at me. Just a warning shot, I think, but I took the hint. I grabbed Muffin, ran into my ship and fired a shot back at it. Not to hit it, just to tell them to get lost. It didn't. It fired again and hit the ship. Well. I got really annoyed at that, so blasted the damn thing to pieces.”

  “You keep saying it. Don't you mean they?”

  Davron shook his head. “No. When I checked the wreckage, I didn't find a body. That thing I just shot a few minutes ago? The same. A drone; unoccupied. Anyway. After that little skirmish, I was watching out for them. As I set about repairing the Romulus, three ships appeared. Two drones and what I figured was one with my new enemy inside. I jumped back in the ship and exchanged a few shots. I took out the occupied ship first. The drones didn't know what to do, so became sitting ducks, so I shot them down, too.”

  “The ship with the alien. What happened to him?”

  “There were two of them. Ugly critters. With uglier dispositions. One was dead from the crash, the other badly injured. It crawled out and fired a weapon at me. It was too dazed to aim straight, so I ran at it and stomped its head in. That seemed a good idea at the time. Now they see humans as a threat to them. Hence their attacks on Earth.”

  “We'd know if Earth was being attacked, Davron.”

  “No. You wouldn't know about it until it was too late. Only I can see them from the Romulus.”

  Belle said, “You've not been attacking us; you've been protecting us.”

  “Trying to protect you. Jazz...” Belle was starting to fade. “Jazz. Hurry back. And don't tell any...” But she had vanished.

  Chapter 29

  “...and don't tell anyone.”

  The words were banging around in her head when Belle opened her eyes. Her head wasn't the only thing banging. Somebody was hammering on the door.

  “Captain. Davron's shooting at Earth again.”

  “I'm on my way, Akrins. Be right there.”

  Danders spun around in her seat. “Nice of you to join us, Captain Belle. The General would like a word if you can spare us the time.”

  Ignoring the barbs and the attitude, Belle took the seat next to Danders. A choppy image of Burns filled the screen.

  “Captain Belle. That last shot from the Romulus was too damned close for comfort. China suffered some minor damage. We have to find a way to stop that mad man.”

  “We're at close to top speed, Sir. We should be on top of Davron in...” She looked at Danders.

  “Twenty three hours and nineteen minutes,” said Danders.

  Burns had heard that. “Captain Belle. Is there any other way? I repeat. Is there any other way?”

  Belle felt three pairs of eyes staring at her back. “Possibly, Sir. There are...definite possibilities.”

  “Understood, Captain. And a possible time-frame?”

  “A S A P, Sir. Nothing more to add at this time.”

  Burns stared down from the screen at her. “Then let's all hope A S A P is soon enough. Carry on, Captain.”

  “Thank you, Sir. Over.”

  The screen went blank and she could feel the heat from the crew. She turned to face them.

  Matlock started. “Captain,...”

  “Not yet. Soon. I promise.”

  Danders said, “Not good enough, Captain. This is our lives we're talking about here. And maybe Earth as well. You really need to come clean with us.”

  They were right, of course. She'd have been saying the same things in their position. Belle remembered Davron's words. 'Don't tell anyone.'

  He had his reasons for saying that. And she also felt the time was not quite right. Next time she saw Davron, she would find out all she needed to know. And when she knew, her crew would know.

  “Believe me. I'm not doing anything not in all our best interests. But there's a lot going on. I know I'm asking a lot, but let me do what I have to do and when I can, and I mean as soon as I can, I'll tell you. Now, I'm in urgent need of a feed and a shower.” She stood up to leave, feeling the resentment from her crew. “Just a few hours and I'll tell you what I know. Leave it at that for now, ok?”

  All she got in response were three icy looking stares. There was little she could do, but to ignore them. She took off for a feed. She had hardly started, when Dale Matlock entered. “Sent you to push me, did they?”

  Matlock said, “Can you blame them?”

  “No. But nothing has changed since I asked everyone to wait a little longer.”

  Matlock sighed. “Ok, Jazz. But between you and I. Are we in any more or less danger than before?”

  That was a tough one. From Davron, no. At least, probably not. But now with human hating aliens in the mix, anything could happen.

  “On balance, about the same. Dale. Just a couple more hours and I think we'll all be on the same page.”

  Matlock went to the door, paused and looked back. “Ok, Jazz. But we're all depending on you. Don't let us down, right?”

  “We need each other, Dale. Just a few more hours, I promise.”

  “The sooner the better.”

  Matlock left her to eat in peace, then she spent time in the ablutions room, ending up with a shower and a change of coveralls. The HATED still had another hour to charge back up. The second it was ready, she would be back on the Romulus.

  Chapter 30

 

  “I never know if I'm ever going to see you again,” said Davron.

  “Same here. My crew are getting jittery. Me locking myself away all the time to see you doesn't help. General Burns is still convinced you were shooting at the Earth.”

  “Even my shooting isn't that bad. Jazz. I want to level with you.”

  “Hmm. Not before time.”

  Davron tapped the seat next to his. “Please. Pretend you're here in person. Join me here.”

  Belle sat next to him. “Just be straight with me, Patrick. The Venom is getting closer to your ship. My crew know we can't fight you and I promised them answers.”

  “They know about this holographic ability?”

  “No. Not yet. But I said I'd tell them the truth. I just want to know what that truth is.”

  “Fair enough. Follow me.”

  Davron went to the evil looking suit with no arms and the tentacles at the side.

  “This is from the ship I shot down.”

  “I see. When we see you in this, we see a mutated monster. It unsettles people.”

  Davron grinned. “Good. It's intended to do that, amongst other things. But it's primary use is it still functions as a link to those aliens. As you can see, I've rigged it so it can interface with my ship's computer. I can listen in to their commands to the drones which my computer translates. When they give the drone orders, I know what they are.”

  Belle said, “Clever. I like that. But it serves another purpose?”

  “Yeah. Like you said. It makes me look all evil and horrible, which is what I wanted. That's why it's in the shadows in this corner. And with you all thinking I'm taking shots at the Earth, you and your crew were sent after me.”

  “You wanted Earth to send a ship after you?”

  Davron stepped closer to his green lady. “Jazz. I've been lucky so far. But I can't do it all by myself. That's why I wanted one of the W S A ships to join me to fight the drones.”

  This was making sense, now. “Burns and the W S A have no idea they are being attacked. Only you on this advanced ship can see the enemy.”

  “Exactly. As you can see by my unruly state, I've not slept much in the last
few weeks. The alarm sees to that. And with the distance between here and the Earth, it's a very tiny target to hit without damaging Earth. There's something else. My fuel is low. I use some of the fuel to generate power to the rest of the ship, including the cannons. I can maybe handle one more strike, then I'll be as vulnerable as Earth and the Venom. If you don't help me, the Earth will be defenceless.”

  Chapter 31

  “This is cosy.”

  Belle had discretely called Matlock into her cell and they sat together on her bed.

  “Dale. I promised I would explain, and now I can.”

  “What about the others? Don't they have a right to know?”

  Belle said, “Yes. But I need you on my side first. I want to show you something.”

  Belle opened the book Burns had hidden in her helmet locker then took the HATED from it. “Something about me you don't know. I am big into meditation. When I've been hurt in battle, I use it as part of my healing process. It helps with the pain. Better than drugs.”

  “I could have used some of that myself, once in awhile.”

  “I found it useful. That was on my records. Burns decided this would be perfect for me to use as a way of finding out about Davron. Maybe find a weakness in his plans. This thing enhances my abilities.”

  “That little thing?”

  “Size isn't everything, Dale.”

  Matlock grinned. “That's reassuring. Go on.”

  “I think it works in ways that Burns and the boffins don't even suspect. The inventor died using it. There hasn't exactly been a queue a mile long eager to try it out.”

  “So. That's why you've been hiding away in here. Using that thing.”

  “Correct. I've been able to meet with Davron using this.”

  Matlock's face frowned in puzzlement. “Sort of telepathically?”

  “Yes. No. More than that. Using my meditative state and this, I can project my consciousness onto Davron's ship. Distance not a problem. It turns out that when I do that, he can see me. Even when I go back to an earlier time.”

  “Wow. Back up, Captain. You went back in time?”

  “Yes. You recall Davron stopping that animal organ farm on that old space-station?”

  “Yeah. Davron went up a few notches in my estimation.”

  Belle paused, then admitted, “I was there when he did it. By using this, I was able to see what he did and how he did it. He immobilised the station and controlled it remotely. I'm certain he could do that with this ship if he wanted.”