The Maipenrai

by BedtimeStoryteller

'Do you get the feeling we're being watched, Gshelme?' Jellybean asked, her voice echoing around the amphitheatre. Gshelme Zeinah and Jellybean Cleverape had arrived early for a meeting with King Aramis of Fledermaus; he had requested the presence of the five maipenrai. The maipenrai were soldiers of fortune, and Gshelme was their leader.

'Maybe,' Gshelme answered. She smiled at Jellybean. The two of them could not have looked more different. Gshelme was tall and slim with a close-cut bottleblondsurfer hairstyle, and was said to be the most beautiful woman in the Seven Galaxies, while Jellybean was a diminutive half-breed, part Fledermausan and part chimpanzee, the result of a cruel genetic experiment. They both looked up at the night sky as one of the stars became brighter and plummeted towards them.

It was Snodlander returning from his home planet of Fellpony. He could fly faster than most spacecraft and almost as fast as a Gedbackland Inter-star Voyager. As he decelerated he morphed from rocket shape to a more recognisable form: humanoid but larger, with an upper-body almost as wide as an average Earth-man is tall. As he touched down he nodded a greeting to Gshelme and Jellybean. 'What is this place?' he asked as he turned and looked around the huge tiered gallery, taking it to be some kind of primitive launch pad.

'It's a copy of a Roman amphitheatre,' Gshelme replied. 'The original was on planet Earth.'

'Roman?' Snodlander looked puzzled. 'Do they rule there?'

'A little under 4,000 Earth-years ago they did.' Jellybean answered the question. She liked to show she was not just an ugly face, and to educate Snodlander who was better known for his brawn than his brain. Gshelme found the way Jellybean treated Snodlander as her student amusing; but they did, after all, have one thing in common: Snodlander was also a kind of half-breed; half Fellponian, half machine.

The amphitheatre was filled with noise and bright light as Keller arrived, racing through the main entrance on his Harley Davidson motorcycle, a restored Earth-built relic from the twenty-first century. The machine had been converted to nuclear, but he liked to make use of the sound effects his friend Babar had installed.

'Hi, Kel.' Jellybean ran over to welcome him.

'Jellybean, how ya doin!' Keller leapt off the Harley and gave her a high-five. As always, he was dressed like an American cowboy, having been born in Wyoming, Planet Earth during the second nuclear war. 'Hi, Gshelme, B-B-Babar not here yet?'

'He'll be along,' said Gshelme.

'He'd be late for his own c-c-cremation.'

'Go easy on the mickey-take,' said Jellybean. 'Babar's been having treatment for his stutter.'

'Okay, I'll go easy... Hey, Snodlander, you old hunk of metal.' Keller walked over to Snodlander and gave him a friendly punch in the gut and then winced theatrically, as he withdrew his fist. 'Man you really are all metal.'

Snodlander frowned; he had no sense of humour.

Keller turned to face Gshelme; she was dressed for business in loose fitting, green and grey military fatigues, yet she still looked as though she had just stepped straight out of a fashion-hologram. 'So why are we here, Gshelme? Trouble?'

'I th-think we're about to find out,' replied Babar, who had suddenly materialised beside Gshelme wearing a gold-coloured, hooded suit. His associates stared at him and were about to ask just how he had done that. But there was no time, as a section of the amphitheatre's stone tiers had begun to hinge silently upwards, creating a large rectangular doorway, through which walked a young Fledermausan warrior, dressed in traditional battle armour, complete with ceremonial sword.

'His highness, the King, will see you now,' he said as he approached the five maipenrai. He gave Jellybean a sidelong glance and then turned and strode purposefully through the stone doorway. He had spoken Fledermausan, so Jellybean translated for Babar, Snodlander and Keller. The maipenrai followed the warrior as he led them along a dimly lit and ever-narrowing tunnel, which echoed to the sound of Snodlander's metallic footsteps and Keller's cowboy boots, while the stone doorway closed silently behind them.

Keller walked beside Babar. 'Where in the seventh heaven did you come from, Babar? That was one hell of a stunt.'

Babar was from Matthiasrising - a planet about as far from Fledermaus as it is possible to be within the Seven Galaxies – yet life there had evolved in pretty much the same way, with intelligent anthropoids the dominant race. 'Just a little s-s-something I've been working on.' he replied. 'I wanted to see if I c-could fool all of you.' Babar was a technical genius.

'So we were being watched,' observed Gshelme.

'S-sorry, Gshelme.'

'Camouflage,' said Jellybean. 'One-hundred percent perfect camouflage. That's why we couldn't see you. Right?'

'One-hundred per-s-cent accurate, Jellybean.'

'S-s-still having a little trouble with...'

'Can it, Kel!' Jellybean gave Keller a disapproving look as they passed through another doorway and into a large hall-like chamber hewn out of solid rock and lit by flaming torches mounted at intervals along the walls. An armed guard stood at attention at each corner of the chamber, while at its centre stood King Aramis accompanied by three Fledermausan warriors and Gwyddyn, his senior advisor.

'Welcome,' said the king as he turned towards his guests. 'My apologies for meeting you here, this hall has not been used for a long time, but there is a need for secrecy.'

Gshelme approached the king first thinking that, despite his regal bearing and fine gown, he looked older and more frail than when she had last seen him. She bowed deeply, and in fluent Fledermausan said, 'It is a great honour to be in your presence once more, your highness.'

'You grow more beautiful with every passing year,' said the king with a smile. 'And no doubt you and your companions are as formidable as ever?' He acknowledged the other four maipenrai as each in turn bowed, though Snodlander's bow was little more than a nod. The king's expression changed again; he looked troubled.

'How can we be of service?' Gshelme asked.

The King spoke only Fledermausan, so Gshelme was not surprised when he said, 'Gwyddyn will explain.' He gestured to his adviser who stepped forward and bowed stiffly to Gshelme. Gwyddyn was an outcast from the planet Annieseed. To Jellybean he looked like a very large praying mantis, but Gshelme had met him before and was accustomed to his insect-like looks. His voice was little more than a whisper but he spoke Gutterkitty, a simple language common to most planets in the Seven Galaxies and understood by the five maipenrai.

'As you will have heard,' he said, 'war is brewing between our neighbours the Bagheerans and the Asferthecat. And as you may know, his highness has peace treaties with both and cannot take sides. Indeed his highness Prince Galacon is betrothed to Princess Purplefairy of Bagheera.'

Gshelme glanced at the warrior who had led them to the chamber. She had recognised him when he had entered the amphitheatre, though he had been little more than a child when she had last seen him. He was now standing beside his father, the king, and looking every bit as troubled. 'Why not bring the wedding forward?' she asked. 'Then the princess can be safely ensconced here in Fledermaus.'

'His highness had planned to do exactly that,' replied Gwyddyn. 'In fact, with the agreement of King Arablethecrocket of Bagheera, the princess was on her way here when her craft was attacked by Asferthecat forces. And now we have learned that the princess is being held hostage.'

'We should declare war on the Asferthecat,' said Prince Galacon, also speaking Gutterkitty. 'The Bagheerans are our true allies.' There was a murmur of agreement from the other warriors present, but the king, understanding the tone of what was said, held up a hand to silence them. 'I will not be the one to break the treaty,' he said.

'Do you know where Princess Purplefairy is being held?' Gshelme asked.

'We do,' replied Gwyddyn. 'We recently intercepted transmissions to and from an Asferthecat spy operating here in Fledermaus; a traitor called Sadr. He is now under sentence of death, but the transmissions revealed that Princess Purplefairy is being held in Bluecity on a Asferthecat moon known as Patterjack.'

'And you want us to rescue the princes?' Jellybean asked.

'Precisely,' said Gwyddyn. 'You are free agents. Your involvement would not be seen as an act of war.'

'We will pay you well,' said Prince Galacon, resigned to accepting his father's decision.

'There will be no need for payment,' said Gshelme; she had a score to settle with the Asferthecat military, they had played a major part in the destruction of her home planet.

***

In its day the city that had sprung up beside the blue-obsidian-amethyst mines had hosted almost a million workers and family members. But the mines had long since played out and much of Bluecity had been converted into a military base.

With her spacecraft, Darkangel, in stealth mode and approaching from the permanently dark and unoccupied side of Patterjack, known as Perpetualshading, Gshelme touched down inside a crater that, with luck, would keep the craft safe from detection. The journey had taken 2.47 days - measured in Fledermaus-time – and Snodlander had grumbled about the lack of speed for most of the way. But their arrival was timed to coincide with an eclipse that would throw the whole of Patterjack, including Bluecity into darkness.

Jellybean swivelled in her seat and checked the sensors. 'Gravity reads 0.93. Atmosphere non-toxic, but almost zero oxygen beyond the city's life-support shield.'

'No problem,' said Snodlander. He was keen to leave the confines of the flight deck which, although relatively spacious, was not ideally suited to someone so tall.

'Not a problem for you and Gshelme,' said Keller, 'but some of us need a little oxygen now and then.'

'You and Babar take the Smidge,' said Gshelme. The Smidge was the nickname for the two-man transporter that was stored in Darkangel's hold. 'Jellybean, you stay on board Darkangel, but be ready to move at a moment's notice.'

'And how will I travel?' Prince Galacon asked. The prince had secretly followed the maipenrai until they reached Darkangel, and then insisted on coming along.

'We have been over this before,' replied Gshelme. 'You must remain here aboard the Darkangel. If you are caught and identified your presence could easily be taken for an act of war.'

'Very well,' said the prince, his face a mixture of acceptance and frustration.

'Okay,' said Jellybean. 'If I’m to stay on board, I may as well run a full weapons check in case we need them.'

'Hopefully we won't,' said Gshelme as she left her seat, stepped over to the chart table, and activated a hologram of Bluecity. She and the others had spent much of the voyage studying the city's layout. 'Snodlander, if you leave first and orbit Patterjack at cruising speed, and then create a diversion here when you get my signal,' she pointed to the derelict side of the city, 'that should grab the Asferthecats' attention and reduce the numbers we'll have to deal with.'

Gshelme glanced at Babar. He was still wearing his golden camouflage suit and had demonstrated his ability to become invisible several times during the journey. 'Babar, you can make use of your new toy when you go in with Keller and, Kel, you will have to blast through the life support shield; that will also get their attention and you may get roughed up a little, but my guess is you'll be taken to wherever they detain prisoners and all Babar will have to do is follow.'

'And w-where will you be, Gshelme?' Babar asked.

'With the princess, of course.'

***

Beneath a single dim light-fitting, Princess Purplefairy paced the cell where she had spent the last two days. Was it two days or was it more? She was beginning to loose track of time, and to loose hope too. The crew of the Aurora, the small craft in which she was on route to Fledermaus, had fought valiantly, but they had stood no chance against the larger Asferthecat ship, and all had been killed or captured. She had demanded that the survivors be released, as their mission had been peaceful, but her demands had been met by silence and she had been kept in isolation and then brought to this terrible place.

Twice she had been questioned by an Asferthecat officer called Falstaff who, at first, had brought her food and water and had treated her respectfully, but as he realised that she would reveal nothing of the Bagheeran war plans he had begun to threaten her and had moved her to a cell below ground level where the screams of prisoners being tortured could be heard almost constantly.

She stopped pacing and slumped onto the cell's wooden bunk. Her long dark hair was becoming matted and her skin felt grubby, and the cell stank of the contents of the bucket in the corner. She was close to tears, but looked up as something caught her eye: a white mist was creeping under the cell door, and with a mixture of fear and amazement, she watched as it formed in front of her, gradually taking on the shape of a woman. The princess scrambled backwards across the bunk until her back was against the wall.

'Don't be afraid, your highness,' said the woman in fluent Bagheeran. 'May name is Gshelme and I have come to rescue you.'

Princess Purplefairy stared at her rescuer, for a moment unable to speak. She had heard of the ancient people known as the Zeinah; they were said to have been the most evolved species in the universe, able to dissolve into a gas and to drift, as if blown by the wind, until their will brought them to whatever place they desired to be. 'You are of the Zeinah?' the princess whispered. 'I thought there were none of you left, that you had all been...'

'Annihilated?' Gshelme smiled, but it was a sad smile. 'Most were, along with Anorwegianwood, our home planet, but a few survived: my father and my mother; they are gone now, but their essence still wanders somewhere in the universe.'

'But who sent you?'

Gshelme took a ring from her middle finger and handed it to the princess who gasped as she recognised it as the ring she had given to Prince Galacon on the day of their betrothal. There was a sound beyond the cell door and Gshelme put a finger to her lips, listening to the swish of another door sliding open followed by footsteps and voices speaking Asferthecat.

'I don't know who or what he is.'

'A Bagheeran spy probably, though he doesn't look Bagheeran.'

'What I don't get is how he was able to punch a hole in the life support shield.' said a third voice. 'The vehicle he was driving had no weapons.'

'Where are you taking me?' Another voice, but this time Gshelme recognised the speaker: it was Keller, speaking Gutterkitty and sounding indignant. 'You have no right to arrest...' He stopped speaking abruptly as he was struck by a fist or a weapon of some sort.

'I told you once; you keep your mouth shut.' The reply was in Gutterkitty but continued in Asferthecat. 'You'll get plenty of chance to sing later.' There was laughter after the last remark and then the sound of a cell door sliding open and then closing, and then the voices and footsteps moved away and another door closed behind them. Somewhere beyond the closed door a prisoner screamed.

Gshelme waited until she was sure the Asferthecat had gone before calling out, 'Babar!'

'Be right w-with you, Gshelme,' Babar replied. Another door slid open and there were more voices and footsteps and then the door to the princess's cell was opened and there stood both Babar and Keller. 'Their door c-codes are pathetic,' said Babar. 'Opening them is ch-child's play.'

'Are you okay, Kel?' Gshelme was looking at the cut above Keller's right eye.

'It's nothing,' he replied. 'The hardest part was not resisting. I would have liked to give those guys something to remember me by.'

'You may get your chance yet.' Gshelme switched from Gutterkitty to Bagheeran to speak to the princess. 'These men are my comrades and will help us to get away.'

'I guessed as much.' Princess Purplefairy replied in Gutterkitty. 'I too can speak the common language. I am very grateful to you for your help. But we cannot leave here without the other prisoners.' As if to underline the princess's words, there was another tortured scream from somewhere in the building.

'Very well,' said Gshelme as they left the cell. 'But you must let us take care of that. Kel, that can be your job, and if you meet your friends, you can take care of them as well, but be as quick as you can and we'll meet you outside, okay?'

In reply Keller just grinned before heading off along the corridor.

'Follow me,' said Babar as he led Gshelme and the princess in the opposite direction.

***

Keller was, in most respects, a typical Earthling; he could feel pain - in fact his head was still aching from the blow he had received from one of the Asferthecat, a soldier named Punchy – but he was no ordinary man. By rights, with the doses of radiation his parents had received, he should have been dead before he was born. But the unexpected genetic result was that he thrived on low-level radiation and was a catalyst for it and, rather like a dragon breathing fire, he could emit laser-like pulses through his eyes, pulses powerful enough to vaporise anything, or anyone, within range.

'Stand back!' he shouted in the common language as he reached the first cell door and, lacking Babar's finesse with such things, he vaporised the door lock with no more than a glance and then kicked at the door until it slid open. 'You are free!' he shouted at the dazed prisoner who stared back at him. And without waiting to see if he understood he went on to the next door and the next. But as he turned a corner amongst the labyrinth of cells and torture chambers, he came upon the three Asferthecat who had taken him to his cell. All three were armed and running towards Keller, but as they recognised him they stopped with a look of astonishment on their faces. Ahead of the other two was Punchy, the soldier who had struck Keller with his assault weapon. And now, as that very same weapon was raised and aimed at Keller, his eyes flashed and a beam of bright light swept along the corridor, vaporising the three Asferthecat.

***

Meanwhile Gshelme, Babar and Princess Purplefairy had got only as far as the ground floor before they encountered more Asferthecat guards and had to duck back out of sight around a corner. Gshelme closed her eyes in silent electro-telepathic communication with Snodlander and Jellybean before speaking to Babar. 'If we have to fight, leave that to me. You get Princess Purplefairy safely outside. Jellybean and Darkangel are on their way.' But it was then that an intermittent and very loud alarm began to sound.

Two guards came racing around the corner; they were carrying side-arms but were still removing them from their holsters when they ran smack into Gshelme. But Gshelme, a devotee of the form of martial arts known as Softweir, despatched them with such speed that the princess could not believe her eyes. Gshelme reached for one of the side-arms, a Tueart76 handgun, and then stepped over the unconscious guards and peered around the corner.

Two more guards were manning the desk beside the main entrance and closely studying holographic images of what appeared to be the basement cellblock. One was talking rapidly into a wristband communicator but the conversation came to an abrupt stop as the building shook as though from an explosion or a moonquake. More explosions or aftershocks followed and, while the guards were distracted, Gshelme raised the Tueart76 and, with well-practised aim, she took them both out with a short burst of fire before beckoning to her companions.

The three of them raced towards the main entrance to find their way blocked by an invisible force field, and this time it took Babar a little longer to overcome the locking device, by which time an elevator door had opened and eight armed Asferthecat soldiers poured out.

Gshelme fired first as she backed out through the open doorway, and was surprised to discover that the princess had taken the other Tueart76 and was firing with her. The Asferthecat were blown backwards by the force of the fire and those who were not hit were obstructed by those who were, making it difficult to bring their weapons into play. But as the three that were still standing started to wildly return fire they were immediately outflanked by Keller as he emerged from the basement and zapped them with another dazzling and deadly ray.

Outside in the semi-darkness there was mayhem as Asferthecat soldiers clambered aboard military vehicles and raced off towards the side of the city that they believed to be under attack – though in truth the whole thing was a decoy perpetrated by Snodlander as he flew into derelict buildings with such force that they were knocked off their foundations.

Gshelme quickly took in the scene; the buildings here were mostly rectangular multi-storey blocks divided by a four-lane carriageway that Gshelme could see was easily wide enough for Darkangel, though the air was already filled with small Asferthecat craft, some of them illuminating the sky with their searchlights as they raced away, easily overtaking the wheeled military vehicles. She turned back towards the doorway as Keller came through followed by several escaping prisoners, all Bagheeran men, some of them wounded but all able to walk. Princess Purplefairy recognised two of the men: one of them was Captain Skirk, of the Aurora; he was badly bruised, and a bloody bandage was wrapped around his head, but he bowed to her as she greeted him.

'Let's save the reunions till later,' said Keller. 'It's time we got the hell out of Dodge City.'

But at that moment a powerful searchlight mounted on the top of a building across the street swung its beam towards them and an amplified voice, speaking Asferthecat, shouted, 'PRISONERS ESCAPING! STOP THEM.' One of the wheeled military vehicles, an armoured Neotom CGF85 with a single Bambam-laser gun-turret, veered across the road and pointed its menacing weapon directly at Gshelme and the others, but Keller stepped forward and zapped it with a radioactive pulse that shot, like a fireball, straight into the muzzle of its gun, blowing off the turret and sending it high into the air.

Now more vehicles turned back towards the escapees while overhead more searchlights illuminated the area. Another Neotom swerved across the street firing rapid salvoes from its single turret, and the fugitives ducked and scrambled away from the building as glass and chunks of concrete fell from the walls. There was a muffled explosion from the city's perimeter, as something pierced the life-support shield, and then almost immediately the Neotom was hit by an incoming C-force missile, and then more military vehicles were hit as a fast moving dark shape came flying between buildings and then decelerated and dropped towards the ground as though it was about to crash.

'Nice one, Jellybean!' exclaimed Babar as Darkangel gracefully and precisely touched down. And as the cargo bay loading ramp was lowered, with Prince Galacon standing at the top of it, Princess Purplefairy and Gshelme hurried aboard, soon followed by Babar, Keller and the others.

'Battle stations!' Gshelme shouted as the prince raised the loading ramp. 'We're not in the clear yet.'

The maipenrai hurried to the flight deck and as they arrived there the Darkangel shook as she took a hit from and incoming Bambam, but Jellybean had her off the ground and accelerating so quickly that only Gshelme managed to retain her balance and stay upright. Gshelme joined Jellybean at the controls as the other two maipenrai scrambled to their feet and took up their battle stations, returning fire and releasing witzl particles to confuse enemy guidance systems. Then Darkangel veered left over the tops of the buildings and accelerated away, soon overtaken by Snodlander who soared ahead, leading the way back to planet Fledermaus.

***

'How can we ever repay you?' the prince and princess asked as, hand in hand, they stood beside Darkangel and said their goodbyes to the five maipenrai.

'Are you sure you can't stay for our wedding?' Princess Purplefairy was dressed in a flowing white gown and looked very beautiful beside her dashing prince, once more dressed in traditional warrior attire.

'I'm sorry,' replied Gshelme. 'We have received an urgent request for help elsewhere, but we wish you every happiness.' And with that, the maipenrai boarded Darkangel and made ready to depart.

THE END?

©2007 Ian G Hobson