Escape

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The Death Eels moved slowly because they had just fed, but apparently they were still hungry. The black mass swam straight for us. I could see rows upon rows of sharp teeth in circular mouths that opened and shut in anticipation of another feast.

I grabbed David's arm, "Ross, we've got trouble!"

David's eyes opened wide when he saw the death eels.

"Come on!"

We swam for the open elevator shaft like our lives depended on it, because they did. I didn't come all this way through the countless horrors of the Temple of Trials to end up as eel food.

We reached the open elevator shaft and kicked for the surface. We broke through the surface.

"Quick grappling lines!" David said.

David and I grabbed our Etheric knives and shot the grappling lines from them up the elevator shaft. We shot out of the water just in time. The snapping jaws of the death eels jumped out of the water after us, just missing our feet.

We zipped up the elevator shaft and out of danger. David grabbed onto a ledge that led to another corridor and hauled me up. He checked his phone.

"How are we doing on time?" I asked.

"We've got less than two hours until the heat shields fail, and we're only a few levels away from the shuttle craft."

"Any sign of Team One?"

"No, I've lost them. Maybe it's because my phone is low on power. I don't know, but I can't read them any more."

"Maybe, we're the only ones left. After what happened to those poor prisoners from Rigel Seven," I said.

"I wouldn't count on it. The Dra Khan are some of the toughest fighters in the galaxy. I'll bet you five dollars that they're still in contention," David said.

"I'm not taking that bet. I remember fighting them in UN library. They were tough fighters," I said.

"And those were Grimm Dra Khan. Not as tough as the real thing." David said and forced the door to the next level.

We ran down the next corridor which eventually opened up into a vast hangar bay where dozens of space ships from it looked like all across the galaxy were assembled. They were all in a sorry shape. I wondered if this was a junk freighter.

"What's the trap here?" I said to David.

A jump door opened in mid air and a camera came out. The holographic form of Father K shot out. "Well, here we have our two young lovers. I see there's been very little time for kissing on this adventure. How did you like the Centaurian Death Eels?"

"Very cute, Father K. Is that your idea of a good time. Did the ratings go up when those two poor prisoners got eaten alive?" I said to the hologram.

"Eliza Grant. I'm getting used to your mouth. I shall miss you when this is all over. Certainly, you've come to be an audience favorite, but I'm afraid only two of you are going to survive," Father K said.

"You'd better get used to us, Father K. We're going to be the only ones to visit you when we throw you in jail," David said.

The image of Father K shook with laughter, "Such confidence. I've always liked that in you, young ranger. We shall see. Now let me tell you a little bit about this level. Only one of these space craft is functional. You have to find it and pilot it out and don't worry I've told the other contestants the exact same thing. They don't know where it is either. Good luck. And, you'd better hurry up, things are really starting to heat up."

Father K's hologram winked out and the jump door opened. The camera zipped through it and David and I were left alone.

David took out his razor phone and started scanning. "If there's a working FTL drive in one of these wrecks then we should be able to find it, spread out and start scanning. We've only got one hour until the heat shields fail."

I looked around the vast space. Somewhere there were two Dra Khan warriors looking for the same thing we were.

"Be careful, Ross. Those Dra Khan are around here somewhere," I said.

David and I fanned out through the spaceships. It was eerie and spooky, walking through the junked wrecks. I took out my razor phone and started scanning. If there was a working FTL drive then I was going to find it. I had no choice. We had less than an hour until the heat shields failed and the ship was reduced to a molten piece of metal.

My razor phone detected an FTL signature somewhere ahead. I pressed on through the twisted wrecks stepping over cables and various bits of junk.

Suddenly, a Dra Khan warrior sprang out from behind one of the spacecraft. I immediately recognized him as one of the contestants from Team One. The Dra Khan roared in fury and swung at me with a vibro sword intending to take my head off.

I ducked just in time. Clang! The vibro sword sank into the metal of one of a junked shuttle craft and got stuck. The Dra Khan pulled with all of its considerable strength but it couldn't get the sword out.

"Human," the Dra Khan hissed in rage and finally yanked his sword out of the shuttle craft.

"Last time, I checked," I said with a smirk and sent a photon blast right at the Dra Khan who dodged with inhuman speed and pressed after me with his vibro sword.

I backpedaled and looked for an opening. I reached back for my Etheric Knife and ignited it. I sent a stream of Dragon Fire at the Dra Khan who bellowed in anger as the flames engulfed his vibro sword. He dropped it and came after me. I ran between two junked out escape pods. The Dra Khan followed me into the tight space.

It came down to hand to hand combat. A desperate struggle in close quarters. Every time I went for a killing blow the Dra Khan parried and came back with a furious assault. We grappled with each other, matching ourselves to the limits of our abilities, but I could tell that the Dra Khan was the superior fighter. It wouldn't be long until it had me.

It was time for the Wend. I summoned the Dark Power. The Wend rushed into my hands, and I chopped the right arm off the Dra Khan who bellowed in pain and stepped back. I pressed my attack and thrust my hands into the Dra Khan's chest. It shrieked in surprise and fear. The cold winds blew and I lost consciousness as the Wend absorbed the living energy that was the Dra Khan.

A second later, I regained my senses. Nothing was left of the Dra Khan but a burnt vibro sword. I retrieved my etheric knife from the ground and ran off to find David. There was still another contestant out there and I had to warn him or help him fight. Even just one Dra Khan warrior was enough to cause David a major headache.

I whipped out my razor phone. We had less than twenty minutes until the heat shields failed and the lethal heat of the star would burn us to a crisp. I had to find David. Suddenly, an FTL signature captured my attention on my razor phone. I followed the beeping pattern on my phone until I found a beat up old shuttle craft that looked to be almost a hundred years old. I scanned the shuttle craft. This was it!

I called David on my razor phone, "Ross, I've found the shuttle craft. Home in on my signal."

But there was no answer.

"Ross, are you there? David, answer me," I said into my razor phone.

Something was wrong. I could feel in my bones. The cold shiver of the Wend was back, warning me of danger. I had no choice. I had to find David.

I ran back towards where we had come in, searching for David's razor phone signature. Nothing came up. I only detected the dozens of hulks of metal spaceships. David could be anywhere in this maze of twisted metal.

A groan of pain came through the hull. I could hear the heat shields failing. The radiation coming through the hull. I had to find David.

I rounded a corner and saw David dueling with his etheric knife with the other Dra Khan warrior.

I ran to help David, but I needn't have worried. David Ross was a much better etheric knife fighter than I was. He slashed at the Dra Khan and disarmed him in seconds. The Dra Khan raised his arms in surrender. I was surprised usually the Dra Khan never surrendered, but this guy must have been the exception to the rule.

David held his etheric knife at the throat of the Dra Khan. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you right now."

"You'll need a pilot for the shuttle craft," the Dra Khan hissed in perfect English, "Hurry we don't have much time."

"David, he's right. Do you know how to pilot the shuttle craft?" I said.

David flicked his wrist and his etheric knife went dark. "All right. You're coming with us."

David hauled the Dra Khan to his feet and we set off to find the shuttle craft. I led us through the twisted wrecks of the junk ships until we reached the shuttle craft. David pressed a button on the side of the shuttle craft and the doors creaked open.

We stepped inside the shuttle craft. It was musty and dusty and looked like it hadn't been used as long as I was alive. The Dra Khan warrior went to the controls and sat in the pilot seat.

"Can you fly this thing," I asked the Dra Khan.

"I think so," the Dra Khan hissed.

"What's your name, friend?" David said.

"I am Bal Khan Ra," the Dra Khan said.

"We'll just call you, Bal. Is that all right?" David said.

"Fine," Bal said.

"Great. Now that we've made our introductions. Can we please get out of here?" I said.

"She's right, the heat shields will fail any second," David said.

Bal pressed a button on the shuttle's panel, grabbed the stick and we took off. The Dra Khan steered us towards the energy shield which led to outer space.

"I hope we can get out," David said.

"You and me both," I said. I couldn't imagine coming this far and having something as mundane as an energy shield stop us. David and I had come through too much not to make it.

Bal pressed another button on the control panel and the energy shield flickered and dropped. The shuttle zipped out into space, just barely clearing the freighter which plunged into the star and exploded into a thousand pieces.

David and I shielded our eyes from the glare of the bright star which filled the view screen. The shuttle's small shields strained to hold out the extreme heat of the star. Fortunately, the Dra Khan was a skilled pilot and he navigated us away from the star as quickly as he could.

David and I sighed with relief as the bright energy of the star faded away, and we got some distance.

"All right, now what?" I said with a hint of sarcasm. I was expecting Father K to beam out at any moment and announce that we had won the Temple of Trials, but the flamboyant priest had yet to make an appearance.

"We might be able to get a signal to Control. Does this shuttle have a sub space transmitter?" David asked Bal.

Bal pressed a button on the control panel. Instantly, Father K appeared on the viewscreen.

"Well done, young rangers. You've managed to survive the derelict freighter of doom, and I see you even managed to convert one of the Alpha Draconians. Not an easy task, but I'm afraid only two of you can survive to claim the championship."

"No way, Father K. We're not killing Bal. He comes with us or the deals off," I said to the snickering image of Father K.

"Humans. I've never understood your sentimentality. You get attached so easily even to your enemies. Very well if that is the way you want it then we shall have to have a special round to accommodate your wishes. The ratings are going to go crazy for this one. Stay tuned," Father K said with a flourish.

"I wonder what he meant by that?" Bal said.

"Knowing Father K, it can't be anything good," I said.

Suddenly, a dozen snub fighters dropped out of hyper space right in front of us. They raced right at us, blasting away with their weapons.

Bal reacted expertly and performed evasive maneuvers, but the small shuttle couldn't escape the superior fighters.

"We're going to get killed if we stay out here," I said to David.

"Quick, Bal make for that nebula," David said to the Dra Khan and pointed out the window at the swirling collection of dust and gas.

The shuttle's shields shuddered around the assault of the fighters weapons. Bal dodge and weaved and made for the nebula.

We plunged into the nebula. The view screen instantly turned to static, and the lights dimmed in the cabin.

"The fighters don't have the shields to withstand the nebula. We're safe in here," David said.

"Safe, but not for long. Our shields can only hold so long," Bal said.

"Then let's use the sub space radio and get a message to Control," I said.

Bal fiddled with the controls and activated the sub space transmitter. He turned to David and gave us the go ahead. David stepped up to the microphone.

"This is Agent David Ross, I'm here with Agent Grant and the Draconian Bal Khan Ra. We're trapped in a nebula about five light years from Beta Centauri Five. We need help. Any Blackstone Agent or Galactic Peacekeeper please forward this message to Blackstone Control and Colonel Nash. We've been abducted by the TempleMasters and forced to compete in the Temple of Trials."

"And you'd better hurry up because we can't last much longer," I said into the microphone.

"We've got to find a safe planet to set down. Is there anything around here?" David said to Bal.

Bal looked into the scanner for a moment, finally he looked back up at me and David.

"We can possibly make it to Rigel Five," he said gravely.

David sucked in his breath.

"Don't tell me. It's the vacation spot of the galaxy," I said.

"Far from it," David said. "It's a notorious prison planet full of the worst criminals and scum the galaxy has to offer."

"This planet is also full of dangerous plants and the most ferocious beasts. We must be careful," Bal said.

"I'm afraid it's the only game in town," David said.

"Well we can't hang out in this nebula all day. The entertainment options are extremely limited," I said.

"Make for Rigel Five, Bal," David said.

The Draconian nodded and pressed a button on the control panel. We spent the next day crawling along at sublight speed. I expected the fighters to come back at any second and blast us out of the sky, but we never saw any more of them. It was pretty boring. Other than recharging our Razor Phones by using the shuttle's main console, there was nothing to do. Finally the blue green planet that was Rigel Five loomed in front of us.

"This is the most dangerous place in the Galaxy? It looks just like Earth," I said.

"Appearances can be deceiving. Some of the most deadly lifeforms in the Galaxy can be found here. Terror Wolves, Death Grizzleys, and all sorts of poisonous man eating plants," Bal said.

"Let's hope that our message got through to Blackstone," I said.

"We can hope, but only a fool depends on hope. We will have to try again when we set down," David said.

Suddenly, five fighters jumped out of hyper space directly in front of us! The fighters blasted away with their weapons. Deadly bolts of energy streaked towards us.

To Be Continued

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