Date: 21 Jul 2000 14:44:27 -0700 From: Lee McDougal Subject: "The One" Chapter 11 Welcome back to another edition of the one! Wow, can you feel the excitement? Chapter 11, and at one time I was afraid I'd just get bored with the story. LOL! I never really expected to stick with it this long. But I feel just as excited about the story now, as when I started it. :) Please enjoy it, and send me your thoughts at lefteyefan-1@tlcfanmail.com "The One" Chapter 11 "I better figure out how to work this baby soon. I don't know how to defend myself in this thing! I barely know how to fly it!" I was on the verge of panic. Then it came to me. I would use my magic to handle this situation. I held my right hand to my forehead and wished for the knowledge to operate the ship. It was a long shot, but it worked. I knew how to maneuver the ship. And how to defend myself if needed. I quickly flipped a few switches and the shields where up. I knew I couldn't attack them now, but then again I knew it would be wrong for me to make the first move. For all I knew the other ships could be allies...but then again how many aliens do I know? Beep! Beep! The nearest ship was trying to contact me. After pushing a few buttons I could hear the transmission. "Nova respond, I know your there." The voice stated. "And who would this be?" I asked "I'm hurt! Surely you remember me?" The voice did sound familiar. But the transmission was a bit muffled. "You do sound familiar, but I'm not sure." I answered truthfully. "It's me Nebula." He answered. "Nebula?!" I was shocked! Nebula was my brother. He was a member of a modern day version of the FBI. He spent most of his time doing top secret work for our government. I hadn't seen him in over a year. I was thrilled to hear his voice. Nebula was about 6' tall and had brown hair that came down to his shoulders. He had blue eyes just like mine. He was quite handsome. I was always very proud of him. He had accomplished a lot in his 26 years. He had a very high rank in the Planetary Discovery Force (P.D.F.). "Yeah it's me Bro!" He yelled. "Wow! How did you find me, and when did you guys get space ships?" I didn't even know the Biapeds had ships like this, but now we did too? "Well, as you should know we don't exactly publish everything that we find in our organization. Let's just say we 'borrowed' the idea from the Biapeds. As for how we found you, well that's a long story." He stated. Nebula went on to tell me how he had been watching me for a while. He told me how Xsar had been spying on me, and that he knew it was only a matter of time before they pulled something. He told me he wasn't sure what they wanted from me, but he knew he couldn't do anything till they made the first move. After all keeping the peace was part of his job. He told me they had been monitoring when they took me, but they weren't fast enough to come to my aid. They were planing on rescuing me, but I did that on my own. "When I saw how badly the ship was flying, I knew it had to be you Nova." He laughed. "Well, for someone that's never done this before, I thought I was doing OK." I shot back. "Sure you are, but we have to get you back to Earth. No telling how long it will be before the Biapeds come after you. You need to make tracks. We'll cover you of course." He stated. "What's going to happen?" I asked. "What if they come for me again?" "I'd lay low for now, if I were you. But then again, as you have already shown... You can take care of yourself." He complemented. "Thanks, but what are you guys going to do. These things have been running amok lately!" I stated. "We know. We have enough evidence to go forward now. We will present it to our government. They will probably declare war on the Biapeds. After that it isn't really our department." He answered straightforward. "So what about me, don't I get some protection?" I asked. "They won't have time to come after you once the war starts. Don't worry so. I'll be watching out for you. If they try anything I'll be there." I felt better hearing his words. "If you guys have been watching so closely, then you probably know that Kelvin is working with them?" I asked. "Yes, we know. That's very bad news I'm afraid. He's very powerful, but he will no doubt die in this war." Nebula always liked Kelvin and wanted us to get back together, but now he knew what I had always tried to tell him. Kelvin was twisted and could not be trusted. "I know how you feel about him Nova, but if its possible could you talk to him one more time?" He asked me. "What would I say? He's a mad man!" I answered. "Maybe you can talk him out of this! I'm sure you guys with "powers" can talk without actually being in the same place." He stated. "Yes we can, but I'm not sure he's awake...yet!" I laughed at the thought. "What did you do Nova? I know that laugh." He stated. "Let's just say I took some frustration out on him." I smiled wildly at the image of Kelvin flying against the wall. "I hope you didn't kill him!" He stated shocked. "Of course not, you know that's against my beliefs." I answered truthfully. "Well, is Marco with you?" He asked. I was taken aback. Marco, my dear sweet Marco, would I ever see him again? I didn't know the answer to that question. And only one person could answer that and it was Angela. But I knew she would tell me what I wanted to hear. She couldn't hurt me, and the truth is she might not know yet. I'm sure she was doing everything to heal him. But he was so weak...so very frail. I just quivered at the thoughts of never seeing him again. "No, he's not with me. He's safe though, I think." I answered. "You think? What do you mean?" He asked. "My 'friend' has him. She'll take care of him." I was fighting back the tears. "Oh the same friend that helped me so many times?" He asked. "Yes the same one." I answered. Angela was not only my guardian angle, though she did look after me a lot. She also looked after my loved ones. She had saved Nebula quite a few times. He had a very dangerous job, and he needed all the help he could get. "I'm sure he'll be fine then." He said. "I hope he comes back soon!" I cried out. "Don't worry so Nova. Take care of yourself, and Luna. Keep yourself busy and before you know it, he'll come back to you." Nebula said all the right things for once. "Your right, I'll do as you say." I answered him. We ended the transmission and we all started the trip back to Earth. With them to guide me, I was able to go much faster. We would be back home in a few hours. Everything was going good till suddenly the other ships shot of ahead of me. They moved so fast that I couldn't keep up with them. Apparently they had gone into warp speed or something. I didn't dare do it myself. After all I was no pro at this. I had cast a spell to know how to run the ship, but some things you just have to learn slowly. Now I was crusin' through space alone again. I supposed that my idiot brother either A. decided to let me find my own way, or B. had another mission to get to. Either way I was on my own now. I just hoped I didn't get any more trouble from the Biapeds. As if they were reading my mind, I heard the radar go off. "Oh great, who is it this time? The girl scouts wanting to sell me space cookies?" I laughed at my own corny joke. The new set of ships was the same as mine, but I didn't know who was piloting them. I was hoping it was my brother again. But something told me it wasn't. Beep, Beep! They were trying to communicate with me. "What did you think you were doing trying to leave the party so soon?" Kelvin asked me. "Party? I thought I was trying to save my life." I answered. "Oh don't be so dramatic. We never planed on killing you. You just had to help us take over the solar system. But now you have my friends here really pissed." He stated. "What do you want me to do? I'm not going to help them destroy everything I know and love! I refuse to let you hurt innocent people Kelvin!" I answered. "Fine then we'll just destroy you. I know I can't use my magic on you, but they can sure blow you to hell." He was laughing at me. Was he bluffing? Surely he wouldn't let them kill me? He loved me, right? Oh well, no time to count on sweet emotion...I had to move fast. I knew if I could blast one of the ships, the others would be less confident. I hated to do it, but I knew it was my only chance. "God forgive me for what I must do. Please don't let this action kill Kelvin. I know in my heart there is good in him." I said my prayer and then directed my blasters at the nearest ship. I held my breath as I pushed the last button that would seal my fate. I knew I would have to live with my actions, but I had little choice. This was war... With a tear running down my face, I blasted the ship with all I had. The ship obviously didn't expect me to know what I was doing. It didn't even have its shields up. It was hurdling out of control. I knew the members of the ship would not survive. I just prayed I had made the right decisions. The other ships raised their shields. I knew this was my chance. I took a big chance. I shot off at warp speed, blindly. I had gotten away from them, but I had no idea where I was. I looked to find some sort of a landmark. I saw it. I was flying close to Mars. I was almost home. Thank goodness for dumb luck, I thought to myself. I hated to do it, but I knew my brother was right about one thing. I had to try to convince Kelvin to abandon his hair ball scheme. "I will contact him as soon as I land this thing." I said to myself. I was in orbit with the Earth in less than 30 minutes. I was very happy to see it. I missed it a lot, even if I wasn't gone much more than a day. Let's just say time doesn't exactly fly when you're being held by a hostile alien race. I looked at the side of me imagining that Marco was with me. I smiled and then cried one last sigh. I had to start my landing process. The ship entered the atmosphere and I started my descent slowly. I knew if I went too fast, I'd burn up in the atmosphere. I also knew I had to keep the ship angled properly. I managed to get through it OK, and soon was nearing the ground. I tried for a smooth landing, but I think I slid for a good minute before I stopped. I just hope I didn't hurt anyone. I popped open the door to the ship, and exited and saw where I was. I was in awe and amazement. I was back in Egypt. And right before me was my apple tree. It had grown so much! I was shocked. It was full sized now. I wouldn't be surprised if there were fruit in the branches. But as I looked closer all I could find were blossoms. "Hmm...I wonder why there are no fruits?" I thought to myself. "Simple boy, there is not enough energy for it to develop them. Without the sun it just isn't strong enough." An old man told me. Where did he come from? "Excuse me sir, but where did you come from? Oh I've been watching quite some time now. Let's just say that it's not every day during my walk that I see a ship crash land here." He stated. I saw the man's point. I had to note that for future reference. 'Never try to sneak up on someone in a ship!' Oh well, I suppose I was glad enough the tree was still alive. It was so beautiful. I just hoped that someday it would have fruits. How? I didn't know. "Pardon me sir, but I really must be going." I started walking off. "What about your ship, son?" He asked. "Well, I suppose! Hope this doesn't startle you." I didn't have much choice, after all he had seen too much anyway. My freeze frame spell held him in place. I hated to do this, but I had to make it appear, as I was never there. I shrunk the ship down to toy size and placed it in my pocket. I wasn't sure it would still work, but I'm sure I could fix it. I did my best to restore the grass I had plowed through as well. With that done I jumped on a transport and unfroze the old man. I transported back to my lab. I knew that everyone would be home right now. So it was the perfect place to do my next spell. "Kelvin come to me now!" I ordered. Kelvin and I were instantly in Aros. I knew he'd want to meet here. But I was shocked at how fast we made it. "What do you want? You nearly killed me back there you know! If I would of been in that ship, I'd be dead now!" He was angry. "Well, you weren't, and if you had not of been dealing with the Biapeds...You wouldn't have been in danger in the first place." I fired back. "Maybe so." He was responding to my argument. "Please don't go back to them Kelvin. I know you aren't evil. I know you care about me. Please for me, stop this!" I was on the verge of tears. "Just say that you love me Nova. That's all I ever wanted!" He was weak too. "I do love you Kelvin, but I'm not in love with you." I answered honestly. "Very well, I won't let them hurt you Nova. I swear it! But I have to do this. I have nothing else to look forward to. If I can't have you, what's the harm of throwing my life away in a dream? If I succeed, I'll be famous. If not, at least I won't be alone in this cruel world." He answered. "I know that feeling Kelvin. Your friends took Marco from me." I answered. "I know, I'm sorry for that. That wasn't my idea you know." He told me. "I can tell when you lie Kelvin, but for once you are telling the truth." I told him. "I know, that's why I don't lie to you anymore. It never works." He laughed. "Promise me you'll think about this some more before you do anything stupid Kelvin?" I asked. "I'll think about it, but no promises Nova. I just don't think I can turn down this temptation." He made an evil grin. And poof, he was gone again. Soon I was back at the lab. That went better than I thought it would, but not as well as I hoped it would. At least I had him thinking. What more could I ask for from Kelvin. I just prayed I could find some way to stop this war from destroying everything I loved. I walked to the transport and started my way home. I just hoped nothing bad had happened there while I was gone. I transported directly to my living room, not everyone could do that. But I owned the place, and could enter the appropriate codes. I was happy to set down on the couch. I felt exhausted. "Luna are you here?" I asked. "Yes, Nova! Thank God! Are you OK?" She asked. "Yes I'm fine, and you?" I asked. "I'm doing fine. Where's Marco?" She asked. I lost it. I started crying non-stop. I cried for a good 10 minutes, before Luna could calm me enough for me to speak. "What is it Nova?" She asked. "He was hurt badly by the Biapeds. Angela took him. I don't know if he's alive or not! He was so badly hurt. Angela can do wonders, but if his body is too weak... Oh I just don't know." I cried. "Don't think about it dear. I'm sure things will work out one way or the other." Luna said. "Luna, please don't leave me. Can you stay with me for a while." I asked. "Of course dear. I'll be here till your better." She stated. Luna curled up in my lap, and I petted her softly. It was a comfort to have her there. What was I going to do? There was a war coming, and I had no idea what to do! "To be continued" Next the war begins... Don't forget to check out my new story site http://home.gay.com/leo1980/ , if you haven't done so all ready! Remember there you can get the stories first, and of course join my mailing list! Fun, fun, fun! Keep reading!