The Dimensional Quest Part II: Galactic Peril

Chapter 12

"Daffy, get us out of here!"

"What do you think I'm trying to do?!"

Daffy frantically presses the buttons on his control panel.

The ship turns away from the planet, then scurries away like a mouse from a cat.

The Atsafarian cats waste no time pursuing.

They close in on their small victim.

"They're gaining on us!!"

"I can see that!"

Daffy notices a cluster of walnut-looking objects a bit to the right.

He turns the ship towards them.

"Uh...Daffy?" Kelsey questions.

The pilot does not respond.

The walnuts are now massive hunks of rock in the viewscreen.

"DAFFY!"

The duck makes a sharp turn, sliding the ship through the rocks.

The mouse reached their mouse hole.

Behind them, the Atsafarian ships grind to a halt.

None of them can squeeze through the rocks.

"Yes!" Daffy cheers.

Neptune holds her forehead as she gingerly sits up in her bed.

"Oooh..."

Compa hurries over to gently lay her back down.

"Easy, easy! You need to lie down."

"Pea? Where's Pea?" Neptune moans.

Compa motions her head in the direction of Peashy's bed.

The girl rests on her back, without a bruise or scratch.

However, a plasic mask covers her small face, and a tube connects it to a tall machine.

A puddle of tears surrounds her head.

In fact a tear still rests on her cheek.

"Is she alright?" Neptune asks, as worried as a mother is about her child.

Compa looks down, curling her lips.

"Paralyzed from the neck down."

Neptune gasps, then looks over at Peashy again.

"She'll never walk?"

Compa slowly nods.

"Since she's not a goddess, her injuries are permanent. She'll also need help from a machine to breathe. However, she can talk and eat."

Neptune is still looking at Peashy's resting body.

"Oh, Pea..."

The tear on Peashy's cheek finally rolls down.

The Admiral claps his hands.

"Good. Now that they're out of the way, I want teams on the planet to begin mining Glidium."

"Yes, sir," their Lieutenant replies.

They signal other officers on the command floor to join them on the mission.

"Oh, one more thing. Did our laser kill that girl?"

"I don't know, sir. She was taken away before we could find out."

"Ah. Very well, proceed with your mission."

After his officers leave, the Admiral types on his console.

"Why not find out now?"

The console beeps, and the Admiral speaks his message.

"Hello, brats. See the price you pay for interfering with my plans? Now your friend is dead. Unless you want more of your pals to go kablooey, I suggest you stand down and submit to the Atsafarian Empire. Come on, why keep playing this game of cat and mouse?"

A few seconds later, a response from IF comes in.

"We won't surrender. And our friend is not dead. It's a great thing to be a goddess."

"A goddess?" the Admiral remarks, intrigued.

"Yes, so I suggest you back off."

"Why should I?"

"She's furious. You almost killed the closest thing she had to a child."

"Did I? Well if I did, it was because you got in my way. Maybe consider not doing that in the future."

"We won't back down."

"Let me be clear. I can wait here as long as I need. Once you pop out of those asteroids, I will destroy you. Unless, you're willing to remain alive as slaves. Your call."

The Admiral cuts off the conversation.

"So he wants to play the waiting game, eh? He doesn't know he happens to be going against the five-time champion of the waiting game!"

Daffy shows off five gold trophies labeled "Waiting Game Champion".

"We can't stay here forever. We'll need to make a run for it at some point," Kitty points out.

"We'll need some kind of distraction to give us enough time to escape," Chloe suggests.

Suddenly, a ship comes barreling out of a vortex, heavily damaged and partly aflame.

"There's our distraction! We gotta go!" Daffy shouts.

"Wait! We can't leave whoever's on that ship! They'll be killed, if not made into slaves!" Kelsey objects.

"She's right. Let's beam them aboard," IF agrees.

"Beam whoever's on there aboard," the Admiral instructs.

One of his officers pounds their console.

"The other ship got them! They're moving out of the asteroid field!"

"Shoot them!!" the Admiral barks.

A torpedo is fired, but badly misses their target, which speeds away.

"AAAGH!"

The Admiral pounds the arm of his chair, then rises to meet the gaze of the tactical officer.

"YOU INCOMPETENT TRASH!"

"I'm sorry sir! I-"

"TAKE HIM TO THE ENGINE ROOM! BURN HIM!"

A couple of officers drag the tactical officer away.

"No! Please!"

Once they are gone, the Admiral taps the shoulder of his favorite cadet.

"You're the new tactical officer."

A humanoid with ridges on their forehead and dark skin lies on one of Compa's medical beds.

They are wearing a grey uniform with a circular badge, as well as a a silver sash stretched from their right shoulder to their left rib.

"Where am I?" they groan.

"It's ok, you're in a medical room. You're safe here," Compa assures.

She places a glass of water beside him.

"I'm Compa. What's your name?"

Her patient looks up at her.

"I am Commander Worf of the USS Defiant."