Captain Meteor #3

Captain Meteor #3

The Galactic Knight:

s t r a n g em o o n s

By: Michael Wydock

The mysterious man in white walked down one of the corridors of the N.S.P. building. At the end of the corridor was a pair of double doors that leads into an office room. The office was not at all like the rest of the interior of the N.S.P. The floor was made of wood paneling and had just been waxed as the walls were a crimson red. A large red and gold oval shaped rug was in place in the middle of the room. Bookshelves and bookcases were on either sides of the room. A fireplace stood on one side of the office. The man in white approached a large desk with Professor Morales’s back turned to him as he stood there looking out the window. His office was on the top floor of N.S.P.

“Professor, sorry to disturb you.”

“It’s alright. What’s on your mind Mr. White?”

“It’s about Eric Starz sir. He’s alive and he’s....”

“Yes, I am well aware that he is alive. Such strength he possesses stopping that meteorite, it was all over the news. But he knows too much about us. And if word ever gets out, the M.I.B. will surely bring us down.” Professor Morales turns to him.

“Which is why it is within our best interest to make sure that he must never talk. If he comes back to earth.... Eliminate him. Same goes for his crew if they’re still alive too.”

“Yes sir.”

“Oh, and one more thing. That green alien that was with him. Where is it now?”

“My sources say that it is captive and has been brought to Area 51 for experiment.”

“Excellent. At least that’s one more alien problem dealt with. That will be all.” Mr. White left the room as the professor turned back toward the window. But there was something else about him that seemed sinister. As he faced the window, something underneath his skin was rattling about as if trying to get free as his face starts to bubble. The professor covered his cheek as he shut his eyes tight trying to contain whatever it was that was inside of him. What terrible secret could he be hiding? And what does the M.I.B. have to do with all of this?

The Starlite System, 1,400 lightyears

“Eric Starz, captain’s log. My mission trying to find my lost crew continues onward. M.A.I.R.A. is still under repairs, it will only be a matter of time now. In the meantime, the Gortex family was kind enough to lend us resources needed to repair The Lieutenant. Dell Nova is an incredible technician and scientist. He has been working day and night repairing both the ship and M.A.I.R.A. My new found powers have helped these people greatly from the Wykin scum. The Krystinites, they need me. They seem to think that I can put an end to this galactic war and stop Moltroid, but I cannot do it alone. Which is why I need to find my crew, I trust them. Not that I don’t trust the Krystinites, it’s just I believe in them. I believe them to not abandon hope for a loss cause. As for my mother, I believe she is this Mortana character that Moltroid is looking for. I’ll find her before he does. Even if I have to tear this universe another blackhole I will find her, I’ve got to.” Eric stood up from his chair as he walks over to the control room of the ship.

The Lieutenant now flew better than it ever did thanks to Dell. Eric had spent twenty-nine days on that planet. On Krystinine, the days go on for thirty hours. That was six more hours in a day then on earth. The ship was flying over the planet Kal which was two hundred light years away from Krystinine. Since Eric’s crew was still missing out somewhere in the cosmos, Princess Shiela Gortex was the first mate aboard his ship. He and Shiela had spent a lot of time together, getting to know one another and even fighting off the invading Wykin. She was trained only to defend herself and others. All Krystinites were trained to fight if need be and to use their power to their advantage in such a scenario. Dell Nova stepped out of a room which he used as a lab aboard the ship.

“Good news Eric.” Eric turns to Dell curious to hear what he had to say.

“M.A.I.R.A.’s mechanical shell is still undergoing repairs but I’ve managed to fix her tracking systems and uploaded her A.I. into the ships computers.”

“That’s great news Dell! Now I’ll be able to find my crew!”

“Yeah? And what will happen after you find them all?” Shiela said from behind. Eric turns to her as she stands in the doorway of the ship’s corridor. He walks up to her as he caresses her cheek.

“Hey, don’t worry Shiela, I’m not going anywhere. The time we’ve spent together was incredible and I am not gonna just throw it all away. You have my word.” Dell could sense that there was something going on between these two. Could they have developed a romantic relationship with one another? The way that they looked into each other’s eyes one would assume. But before anything else could happen, M.A.I.R.A. spoke through the ships computers.

“Distress signal detected.” The three of them walked to the main console of the ship as Eric saw the blinking signal on the on-screen radar. The signal was coming from the nearby planet of Kal. Could it be that he had found one of his crew members? Eric, Shiela and Dell sat down in their chairs and strapped in as Eric took control of the ship. They headed toward the surface of the planet as they entered the planet’s atmosphere. A crashed freighter was found on the planet surrounded by green grass and tall trees. A group of alien lifeforms were found around the crash site. They looked up as The Lieutenant had landed on the surface. Amphibian-like creatures similar to Dell’s species surrounded them. Eric, Shiela and Dell walked out of the ship and was greeted by one of them.

“We’ve received a distress signal.” Eric said.

“Yes, we’ve sent that. Me and my men were excavating this crash site when they claim to have heard strange noises from deep within the vessel. My men are terrified of whatever might be down there and sealed it off to try to contain whatever it is. We’ll pay any price you ask if you can help us blue warrior.” Eric pondered on this. Not all knew about Captain Meteor’s great deeds since he had been stuck on Krystinine.

“We’ll take care of the problem. We’ll find whatever’s down there and kill it.”

“Oh thank you -kzzt- blue warrior.” Eric could tell that something was not right about him. The way the alien life form just paused in the middle of his sentence like that. It sounded like interfering static. But Eric would have to worry about that later. He, Dell and Shiela approached the crashed vessel wondering what could be inside that they were so afraid of. Eric took out his wrist blade and cut open a large hole in the airlock of the freighter. It was dark inside.

“Ladies first.” Eric said jokingly. Shiela shook her head and walked in with Eric and Dell soon to follow. Eric used the jewel on his forehead as a flashlight to see where they were going. It was a trick that Shiela had taught him. The deeper they walked into the vessel, the darker it got inside the haunting freighter. Shiela felt something underneath her foot like she stepped into something sticky.

“Ewww, what is this stuff?” Dell turned to her as Eric shined his light upon them.

“Alien slime. There definitely is something in here.” Eric looked all over the walls and realized that there was slime everywhere.

“Well whatever it is, there’s more than one.” Just then, they heard commotion coming from the other side of the room. Eric turned his attention to it and pulled out his blaster.

“What was that noise?”

“I think it came from back there.” Pointed out Dell.

“Stay close behind me.” Both Shiela and Dell took cover behind Eric. They crept up onto a nearby wall for cover. There was another airlock that the noise was coming from. Eric readied his blaster as he opened the airlock. On the other side pointing a blaster at him was the former captain of The Lieutenant, Boris Manifold.

“Boris!” Eric said surprised.

“Eric? You’re alive! Thank god, I thought you’ve died in the crash.” Eric and Boris put away their blasters as they embraced one another.

“Have you found any of the others?” Asked Boris. Eric shook his head.

“Not yet. But now that M.A.I.R.A. is fixed up thanks to Dell we’ll find them in no time. What are you doing here anyway?”

“Well I was wondering this strange world until I came across this freighter. So I walked in trying to salvage anything I could find to make a signal booster until I started hearing these eerie sounds coming from this vessel. I recorded the noises, check it out.” Boris pulled out a device from his suit which he used as a recorder. When he pressed play on the recorder, high pitched and deep groaning sounds could be heard. Dell and Shiela were terrified of the noises. Dell had an idea of what made those noises but was not one hundred percent sure.

“I think I know what made those noises.” Boris stopped the recorder and puts it away as he and Eric gave Dell their full attention.

“They’re called Genomorphers. I’ve studied these creatures back before I worked for your father Shiela. Their nest is on the planet Mysterion as well as their queen. But what are they doing here on Kal? This doesn’t add up. Mysterion is located on the very edge of the Starlite System.” Shiela stared away and saw a window. She approached it and looked out as she was shocked by what she discovered.

“Guys, look outside.” Boris, Eric and Dell approached her and saw what she saw. All of the green grass and tall trees were gone. There was nothing there but dead trees and scorched lands for miles. Swamps and fog covered the land.

“What? This isn’t right. Where’s the green grass and the tall trees? I knew this place seemed suspicious.” Dell had an answer to Eric’s question.

“That’s because we were never on Kal to begin with. We are on one of the many moons of Mysterion. There’s something in this moons atmosphere that makes the mind think that we’re somewhere else in the galaxy. It makes us see what we want to see, not what is.”

“My mind is officially blown right now.” Eric commented.

“How many moons does Mysterion have?” Asked Shiela. Dell turned to her.

“At least three. Each moon has its own hallucinogenic properties. Meaning that the moons can create illusions which the mind thinks is real. Being a fantasy realm or your worst nightmares come to life that aren’t really there. And the more time we spend on these moons, the more insane we get. So I suggest we get out of here fast and find the Genomorpher queen of this moon before we all begin to lose our minds.”

“Why is getting to the queen so important?”

“Because Eric, she is preventing us from leaving. The queen won’t let us leave until this planet fully consumes us. She feeds and reproduces off of the minds of insanity.”

“Okay, good to know. So if anyone see’s, I don’t know, Elvis or something, he’s not real.” Joked Eric. All four of them continued down the haunting corridor that Boris came through. Now that Boris and Eric had reunited, only two of their crew were still missing now that Aidrian was dead. Deeper into the crashed vessel, they came across three different paths. They could continue straight or go left and right. But since Boris had been here the longest, he knew which path to take. As Dell and Shiela continued onward, Eric heard a voice calling to him from the left hallway while Boris heard another to his right. Tempted, the two went their separate ways.

“Hey, you guys hear that?” Said Eric. But when he turned around, a wall had appeared out of nowhere and blocked his path.

“Eric...” The voice whispered. It sounded like his mother. He put his hands over his ears as if trying to block out the voice. He shut his eyes tight.

“It’s not real, it’s all in your head.” Being trapped in this freighter for so long, he started to lose his mind.

“Come to me Eric, I’m trapped and I need help!” Eric tried so hard not to let the voices get to him. He wasn’t giving in to this trick. He backed up against the wall and squat down onto the floor keeping his ears closed. The voices just got louder and louder until he heard his own name echoing in his head. But Eric was strong and didn’t give into his own temptations. However, the same cannot be said about Boris. He followed the voice which to him sounded like a female in distress. Boris was not one to ignore the cries of a woman, even when it’s not real. He entered a room with a frightened female alien chained up to the back wall. She was beautiful to him with perfect skin but with no hair on her head. Although her skin was red and reptilian he still was attracted to her. He ran to her rescue.

“Don’t worry, I’m gonna get you out of these bonds.”

“Hurry!” She cried. Once she was freed, she leaped into his arms hugging him tight as if she was so scared.

“Oh, thank you so much! I was trapped here for ages thinking that no one would come for me. I was so scared.”

“It’s okay, you’re safe now. Let’s get you out of here.” Boris grabbed her hand and ran out of that room faster than a Jack Rabbit. When they were both safe, they took the time to catch their breaths. Boris put his back against the wall as the alien woman looked at him in a seductive way.

“I should properly thank you for saving me back there.” She walked up to him as he looked deep into her pitch black eyes.

“It’s no trouble at all babe. I would do anything for you.” He whispers to her. She closed her eyes shut as their lips drew close. He shut his eyes and kissed her passionately. He dropped his helmet as he wraps his arms around her. She lifts up one leg as if she was enjoying the kiss. As Boris was getting frisky with the alien woman, it seemed that Eric did give into the voices after all and entered a room where he saw a projection of his mother.

“Eric, my boy!” She said happy to see him. As she came closer, Eric backed away.

“What’s wrong? You’ve spent so long finding me and here I am.”

“No, no! You’re not her! I know my own mother when I see her! You’re not gonna get inside my head demon!”

“What do you mean Eric? It’s me. Aren’t you happy to see me after so long?” She said to him as she caressed his cheek. Eric let’s out a small tear, but still he fought it off. He took his galactic wrist blade and stabbed her in the stomach. She let out a scream as her true form was revealed. It was a Genomorpher in disguise as it back handed him, sending Eric flying into a wall. These Genomorphers were tall with thick skin-like armor and skull-like heads with an enlarged cranium. Tendrils growing out of their backs with sharp claws on the tips as well as on their fingers which there are only three. It stood tall on its hind legs, about nine feet tall.

The creature paced toward the captain as it tried to stab him with one of its tendrils. Eric sped by it quickly as he pulled out his blaster and shot at the thing. However, it used it’s arm as a shield to deflect the blasts. It let out a scream before it jumped up and retreated into the vents above. The others heard the commotion and ran over to the captains aide.

“Eric!”

“No stop!” He commanded while holding his hand out.

“It’s still here.” The others were cautious of their surroundings and on high alert. They could hear the creature skulking around inside of the freighters vents. The creature jumped down behind Boris and attacked him, bashing him with its long tail. He was sent flying as he slid and crashed into a wall. The creature clawed at Shiela but she was dodging every blow it swung at her. While it was distracted, Eric ran and slid using his blade to cut off its tail. It’s green blood splashed all over Boris’s helmet as it started to eat away at it. He quickly took it off and threw it onto the floor. It regrew its tail within seconds. Eric then shot it in the head where it was soft and not protected. The laser blast exploded it’s head as the blood splattered everywhere.

“Be careful!” Shouted out Dell.

“It’s blood is venomous. One drop of its blood can kill you within minutes. It’s best to shoot them from afar to avoid any splash damage.”

“Um, guys. I think that’s the least of our problems now.” Said Shiela. They all witnessed one of the Genomorphers’ many abilities. It’s body stood up as something appeared to be trying to grow out of its neck. The Genomorpher had regrown its own head.

“Screw this.” Shiela used one of the Krystinites’ abilities to conjure up a spear with her mind as it materialized into her hand. She chucked it at the creature with such force behind her throw. The spear was strong enough to pierce through the creatures hide as it was sent flying and pinned the Genomorpher onto the wall. As long as the spear was lodged into it, it couldn’t seal up its wound. It just stayed stuck to the wall as it screeched. The others looked at Shiela in awe.

“How did you do that?”

“No time to explain. We should go before more of those things show up.”

“She’s right, let’s move.” As our four heroes left, more of them did indeed come to the weakened ones aide. Two more Genomorphers had come to help their brethren. One of them pulled the spear out of the weakened one as it fell to the floor unable to seal up its wound. Once the one got close enough, the weakened Genomorpher sprang up, grabbing it’s neck and started to eat the one that was helping it. By doing so, the wound in its stomach started to seal up. These creatures are hostile and will eat any meat in order to survive, even one of its own kind if need be. The two Genomorphers went out of the room in search for their human prey leaving the third as a rotting corpse.

“Come on, this way!” Our four heroes ran down the long industrial hallway and broken pipes until they came across another airlock.

“Get that airlock opened quick!” Commanded Eric. However, standing before Boris was the controls for the airlock but they appeared to have been broken.

“It’s busted, I’ll have to hotwire it!” Boris knew how to fix things, he definitely knew a thing or two about hotwiring. The others could hear the two Genomorphers coming their way. The steam from the broken pipes was hissing, covering the hallway as they saw the creatures crawling on the walls through the steam. Eric pulled out his blaster and shot them in the head one-by-one to slow them down. Sparks ignited and the airlock was opened.

“It’s opened, quick!” Eric commanded the others to follow Boris into the other room as Eric was keeping the Genomorphers at bay. However, one of their tails managed to slither on the floor using the steam as cover and grabbed Eric’s leg. Eric was hoisted up into the air as he dropped his blaster.

“Eric!” Shrieked Shiela. As the Genomorpher opened its skeletal jaw about to devour Eric, he concentrated hard conjuring up power from his jewel. He blasted the creature away that when it flew back, it’s tail unwrapped itself from his leg. Eric dropped and ran for the airlock. Once he got in, Boris smashed the controls from the other side with his blaster and the airlock closed, keeping them safe from the Genomorphers.

“They can’t get through that right?”

“No, they’re not physically strong enough to tear through metal.” Implied Dell. Boris turns his attention to Dell and paces toward him, towering over Dell.

“You seem to know a lot about these things. What are you hiding from us?” His voice sounded like anger and intimidation. Dell tries to back away.

“I am not hiding anything.”

“Boris, he’s trying to help us.”

“BACK OFF!” He shouted as he pushed Eric away. Eric knew better, he knew that Boris was losing his mind. Being stranded on this planet was making him crazy. He started to go mad. Boris took his hands and wrapped them around Dell’s scrawny neck as he begins to strangle him. Eric and Shiela reacted quickly and tried pulling Boris off of him. Boris shrugged Shiela off as she fell onto the floor into a puddle of alien slime as Eric used all his might to pull Boris off of Dell.

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” Eric shouted out.

“Boris, just calm down! That’s an order!”

“Oh, so you’re giving orders now?”

“Boris!”

“Don’t you see it Eric!? Are you blind? He’s taking us to the queen not to kill her. But to sacrifice us to her! If you’re not gonna do anything than I will!” Boris pulled out his blaster and pointed it at Dell. But before he could pull the trigger, Eric tackled him.

“Hold him still Eric!” Commanded Shiela. Eric held Boris down as long as he could as Boris struggles to get up. Shiela came up and kneels down. She put her hands on both sides of his head as Shiela whispers something to him. Blue auras surrounded her hands and Boris’s head. And then he suddenly stopped struggling.

“You’re just full of surprises aren’t you?” She looks up at Eric as he looked deep into her eyes. He let go of Boris as he was now calm.

“You’ll find out later.” Shiela remarked. Before anything else could happen, Boris shot up from the floor as he put his hand on his head.

“Ugh, my head. What happened?”

“Boris, are you okay?” He turns to Eric.

“Yeah, I am now.” He said standing up. Shiela explains to him what happened.

“You went crazy and tried to shoot Dell out of anger. Eric tackled you and I calmed your mind.”

“It’s this place.” Remarked Dell.

“He’s been here for far too long. This place is starting to consume him. We need to get out of here now!”

“Guys look.” Eric, Boris and Dell stared at whatever Shiela was staring at. It was a nest of egg sacks. Genomorpher egg sacks which were hanging low from the ceiling.

“Genomorpher larva’s. Careful not to make too much noise. They’ll get agitated and hatch. It’s best to move quietly around these things.” Low hanging mist was covering the entire room making it look like a scene pulled straight out of a horror movie. The way out was just within reach now. Our four heroes moved so quietly, they were like mice. Shiela tripped over a pipe that was covered up by the mist as she fell in front of one of the egg sacks. It started glowing red and thumping very fast like a heartbeat. Shiela was very careful and stood still as she stared at it terrified. Sweat was beating down her neck as she could imagine what terrible scenario could unfold at any moment.

However, the thumping slowed down and the red started to dim. Shiela slowly stood back up as whatever was inside the egg sack went back to sleep. Shiela got back on her feet and sighed to herself in relief. She continued following the others as they were so close now to the exit. Just as they thought that they were safe, the two Genomorphers that chased them into this room had found another way in. The creatures jumped down from the vents in front of them making a loud boom. The loud noises woke the larva’s and began to hatch. The others were terrified, surrounded by the two Genomorphers and the larva’s.

“Boris hurry! Get that airlock opened!” Boris ran for the airlock that led to the exit and begins to hotwire it. Eric pulled out his blaster and started shooting the larva’s as they exploded. The larva’s hide was not as strong as a fully grown Genomorphers so they were easier to kill but still had the venomous blood. One of the Genomorphers leaped toward Eric as he thought quickly and used his galactic sword to protect himself from the creatures bite. Shiela used her power to conjure up another spear and rammed it into the side of the creature that was attacking Eric. That just made the creature angry as it backslapped Shiela.

Eric used his sword to cut off the creatures jaw. Shiela opened her eyes as a Genomorpher larva looked her in the face. It screeched as it tried to leap onto her face. Shiela shot up as Dell shot the larva with some kind of laser. Shiela looked at him in awe.

“Dell, how did you do that?”

“What, you think this robotic eye patch is just for show?” He replied pointing at it. The Genomorphers and the larva’s had them in a corner as the airlock opened up.

“Come on hurry!” Shouted out Boris. They ran out of there as quickly as they could. As the airlock closed behind them, one of the Genomorphers got caught in the airlock as it tried holding it open and clawing at Eric. Eric shot it in the head as it dropped dead. Before it could recover, the airlock closed slicing it in two. It’s green venomous blood poured everywhere as the others sighed in relief. They were finally out of that freighter and could breathe in the fresh air again. Well, as fresh as it could get.

“Oh, thank god! We’re out!”

“Yes but we’re not out of the woods just yet. We still have to find the queen of this moon and kill her.”

“Wait, Dell. You said the queen of THIS moon. Do you mean there are more?”

“Yes Eric. But we just have to kill this one to get off of the moon. Each moon has its own queen that governs it. And on the main planet is the high priestess. But I suggest we stop asking questions and move along.”

“How will we find her?” Asked Shiela.

“I’ve got an idea but we need to get back to the lab on the ship. Eric, use the communicator on your wrist to call the ship. I took the liberty to install a navigation system to the ship so you can call the ship where ever we are in case we needed to make a hasty escape. It’s important to plan these things out ahead of time.” Dell was making out to be quite the genius, definitely a valued member of the team. Eric did as he was asked and called their ship. Thanks to Dell’s genius engineering, the ship found where they were and landed as the airlock opened up to them. All four of them went inside the ship. Dell turned to Boris.

“Boris, I’ll need your recorder.” Boris handed Dell the device as Dell gently takes it.

“This might take a while.” Eric closed the airlock behind them to make sure that nothing sneaks onboard. What should’ve taken hours took Dell only a few minutes to be able to come up with something. He stepped out of his lab holding onto a brand new device.

“It is done. I call it the ‘Genomorpher Radar’. Basically what I did was I took Boris’s recording samples of the Genomorphers and compressed them into a tracking system. The sounds of these creatures should lead us to their hive where the queen would most likely be. The closer we are to the hive, the more waves the radar will display. Think of it like a heartbeat monitor.”

“Dell, you are a genius!” Complimented Eric. Dell was pleased at how much Eric admired his work.

“Alright guys, gear up and prepare for the upcoming battle. It’s hunting season.”

TO BE CONTINUED....