The Last Frontier
by: Marina Twelve and Thomas R.

Part 8      Conclusion

 

Leslie climbed up the boarding ladder. She looked back to see if any of the others would join her.

The crew looked at each other and then at Leslie. Melissa broke away from the group and climbed up the ladder. Zee soon followed. Bainbridge and Bill climbed up next.

Doc stood at the bottom of the ladder for a few seconds. Shook his head and followed the rest.

Leslie surveyed her crew. She noted the worried look in their eyes.

"I said that none of you had to come with me." She remarked. "Bill, you know we probably won’t be coming back. You are young . . ."

"Hey! I’m old enough to be making my own decisions Captain. Konstantin, er, Sanders took my family too. If I have to DIE to help kill him I am willing to do it."

Lesley spoke deliberately and quietly as if she were struggling to maintain control. This fact did not go unnoticed by the crew.

"Zee, get me a fix on Sanders"

"Bainbridge, start the engines, begin charging the jump capacitors, I want to be ready for anything Sanders might try."

Leslie reached into her wallet and pulled out a photograph of Adrienne and Justin. She stuck it in the corner of the view screen by the helm control.

It made Doc nervous. "I don’t think that that’s healthy" he whispered to Melissa.

"Get on the point five turrets, Doc" ordered Leslie. "don’t worry about me."

Melissa watched the power panels and laid in a course on the navigation computer to correspond with Zee’s cord and bearing numbers.

"BILL!" Ordered Leslie, "turn the one point five over to computer control."

"You mean I won’t be able to shoot it?"

"DON’T argue with me BOY! DO WHAT I SAY!" Barked Leslie in an unfamiliar tone of voice. " Take control of the point seven five."

To Bill, Leslie was beginning to sound like the monster she was starting to resemble.

The Retribution lifted off of the spaceport pad, and began to pick up speed.

By now, Leslie had correctly assumed that Sanders had rendezvoused with his ship.

"I have located Enforcer One Leslie" said Zee over the com. "One twenty one degrees by forty three, running point five, three, three Cee."

"Melissa! Match course" ordered Leslie. Full pursuit mode. Match them move for move."

"Leslie," said Melissa calmly "It is possible that he may be drawing us into a trap."

"Just let him try it!"

"Zee! Scan ahead of Sanders along his course."

Melissa could hear Leslie cursing under her breath.

"Got It!" Zee replied. "I count one, two, three, four, Enforcer class ships in close formation Nine thousand kilo Clicks downrange of Enforcer one."

"Bainbridge! Start the Quell!" Leslie ordered.

Leslie smiled evilly as she watched the com- screen and plotted her next move.

"As soon as that bastard reaches his friends, I’m going to send ALL of them to HELL!" The almost gleeful tone of Leslie’s voice was disturbing.

Leslie’s hand hovered over the red "Quell Discharge" button on her console. She watched the blip on the Com-screen as Sander’s "Enforcer One" closed in on the other Enforcer ships.

 

Captain Tynan, of the Enforcer One, was checking his own com-Screens.

"She’s still chasing us, Mr. Sanders. Her speed is steadily increasing."

"Let her come, my boy, let her come." Said Sanders. "She will soon be running too fast to avoid our little welcoming committee."

Kora was nervous. "I really should be in the Telemetry room, Clay."

"I see no reason why you can’t stay on the bridge, my dear." Clay responded. "This will all be over in a few minutes."

Clay’s words did not comfort Kora. "She’s got a BT on board too, Clay, a GOOD one. Don’t you think she knows about the other four ships?"

Clay glanced at the screen. "The way she’s coming at us, I don’t think that she gives a shit! Well, too bad for her."

Kora sat upright in her chair, apparently staring into space. "I don’t like this, Clay, something is not right."

"She’s likely snapped," Clay replied "Of course something’s ‘not right’, she’s nuts."

"It’s not that, Clay, She feels too confident, she has something up her sleeve . . .

Kora ‘tuned into’ Leslie’s mind. She began to see through Leslie’s eyes. The button labeled "QUELL DISCHARGE" with the big yellow danger triangle came into focus. Leslie’s hand was poised over it.

"Quell Discharge?" Kora wondered "What the . . ."

"JUMP TYNAN! JUMP NOW!" Kora screamed as she leaped from her chair.

Tynan looked irritated. "I’M THE CAPTAIN OF THIS SHIP AND . . .

Kora ran to his console and pulled the Jump lever back.

The ship was jarred hard as it leaped five parsecs to its last set jump co-ordinates. Kora fell to the floor.

Captain TYNAN was FURIOUS!.

"I GIVE THE ORDERS ON THIS BRIDGE, SANDERS! I DON’T CARE WHO YOU ARE! GET YOUR LITTLE TROLLOP BACK INTO THE TELEMETRY ROOM WHERE SHE BELONGS!"

"Clay! She has a Quark Accelerator weapon on that ship! We were nearly vaporized! SHIT! Number five, nine, four and eleven no longer exist!"

"What the hell are you talking about Woman?" Clay wasn’t pleased by Kora’s actions very much either.

"I saw it in her mind! That’s no sensor reflector on the front of her ship, it’s the open end of a fifteen meter QUELL TUBE. That’s how she took out the moon on Axel two."

"Where the hell did she get a Quell?" Tynan remarked. "Those things were banned years ago."

"I don’t know! " Kora replied, "but if it’s of any comfort, I know that it will be at least an hour before she can use it again. It has to recharge."

"Now if you don’t mind, I am returning to the telemetry room where I belong." Said Kora, as she passed a sidelong Glance to Sanders.

When Kora was out of earshot, Sanders approached Tynan. "Don’t you EVER talk to ME or KORA like that again! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

"You may own this ship and Pay me MISTER Sanders, But I AM THE CAPTAIN of this Ship. And as Captain, I have certain responsibilities and I am protected by interstellar space laws."

Sanders drew his pistol, and pointed it at the man. "You know that I can De- Commission you anytime I want CAPTAIN."

"And I, by law, could have you put in irons and even executed for pulling a gun on me, MISTER Sanders. Do YOU want to captain this ship? Do YOU, on your own, want to face an enemy out there, who has been awarded the double star twice? ----OR should you let a professional do the job."

Sanders put his gun away. He looked hard at Tynan for a moment and returned to his chair.

"She’s BACK!" said Kora’s voice over the com system.

"Twenty thousand Kilo Clicks and closing, bearing two thirty three on seventy five."

"Now she’s even closer" Said Tynan as he looked at the blips on the screen. How did she find us?"

"She has a BT on board" Clay replied.

"That means we won’t be able to shake her. I hope you have more help out there, Mister Sanders, because we can’t outrun that little ship of hers. Eventually she is going to catch us, And you better do something before she gets that Quell back on line."

Tynan didn’t know how she did it, but Leslie’s image suddenly appeared on every com screen on the bridge, and several more elsewhere on the ship. Her face, contorted with pure rage, filled the screen.

"DON’T YOU EVEN THINK THAT YOU CAN EVER RUN AWAY FROM ME SANDERS!, She screamed. "I SWEAR ON MY SONS GRAVE THAT I WILL PERSONALLY KILL YOU! YOU’RE DEAD SANDERS! DO YOU HEAR ME SANDERS? D E A D ! " She drew that last word out with a particularly unsettling effect.

Tynan pulled the external signal plug. The screens returned to normal.

Tynan sort of grinned nervously. "She’s crazy, you know that?"

Clay, was a bit shaken too, but put up an unconcerned front. "Good. Crazy people often make mistakes."

"I suggest that you put up your force shields now" Said Kora’s voice over the com system. Tynan flashed Clay an aggravated look, but calmly and deliberately turned the force shields on from his console.

"This takes up energy", he remarked. "it will slow us down all the more."

 

"Knock! Knock! you son of a bitch", growled Leslie to herself as she pressed the fire button on her joystick.

"Look" said Tynan as he pointed to the screen, "She’s firing her guns. She should know that she can’t hit anything at this Ran . . ."

WHAM! WHAM! Enforcer One was rocked by two hard impacts in the stern.

"DAMN! Those felt like at least One Meter impacts. What’s she got on that ship anyway?" said Tynan.

"It’s a one point five!, Tynan." Kora replied over the com. " And that’s TWICE I’ve saved your ass today."

"This is serious Sanders!" said Tynan. "At close range a one point five can easily penetrate our shields. She doesn’t need the Quell to destroy us."

"Take us to the Epsilon Irindi Area. We should have some Enforcers out there." Said Clay " They were looking for Thorn. But now that we know what likely happened to him . . ."

The Captain entered The new Cords. "Jump in three, two, one . . ."

The Enforcer One, vanished once again from Leslie’s Com Screen. She was "boiling mad." "ZEE! New cords for Sanders, NOWWW!."

Zee made no comments about the tone of Leslie’s request. She knew that Leslie was having a hard time. She knew that she would feel the SAME way if she had been chasing someone who had killed HER family.

"Cords on Screen" Zee replied.

Leslie entered the numbers. "three!, two!, one! . . ."

The situation seemed to be different when Leslie’s ship emerged near the Epsilon Irindi system. The blips of three enforcers, bedsides Clay’s own could be seen on the ranging com screen. They were widely separated, but were within striking distance.

Clay was slightly downrange from where he was before the jump. He had brought himself some more time.

One of the ships, "Enforcer Two", moved in between "Retribution" and "Enforcer One"

"Bainbridge! How’s the Quell?" asked Leslie

"Only forty nine percent!"

"DAMN!"

Instead of backing off, however, Leslie pushed the throttle lever to its "full forward" position, into the red zone. Immediately the ship began to accelerate.

"Captain! What are you doing?" Bainbridge hollered over the com.

Leslie didn’t reply. "Computer! Calculate and set minimum distance for rapid shot proximity fire. Apply proximity figures and engage auto proximity controls to weapon one."

Melissa turned to Leslie. "What are YOU looking at?" Leslie Growled. "Do my methods not meet with your approval? Tough SHIT!"

Melissa cool as always, replied "A most excellent and expedient approach Captain. I understand perfectly what you are doing, and I approve."

"Computer! lock course to target!"

Aboard Enforcer Two, Captain Reginald Adair was ready. His force shields were up. The ring of all six "point five" photon cannon turrets, along the mid-section of his ship, were all aimed and converged downrange towards the rapidly approaching Retribution.

He had placed "the E-2" directly in the path between Retribution and Enforcer One and had slowed to near "relative stationary." The only way that Leslie was going to get to Clay was THROUGH his ship.

"Computer!" Said Captain Adiar, with his usual casual air. " Compute present speed of target and set convergence and auto fire sequence at six kilo clicks."

"Resetting! Resetting! Resetting!" the computer replied as if it were caught in a loop. Telemetry! What’s going on? Adair’s smug self-confidence was slipping.

"The target is ACCELERATING sir!" came the reply over the com.

Leslie’s deflection fields went up.

Enforcer Eight, 300 kilo clicks abeam to the Retribution, began to fire, attempting to ward the speeding ship off. But Leslie was accelerating two quickly. All of the shots were falling astern. The Enforcer Eight’s turrets would not rotate fast enough at that angle to keep up with the target.

Leslie bore down on Aidar’s ship like a bullet. All he could do now was Fire his array of point fives and hope that he could blast apart the Retribution before it smashed into him. "Was Webber insane?" He thought. The impact would destroy both ships.

To his horror, noticed that because of the acceleration of Leslie’s ship. The convergence points of his fire were now falling BEHIND the Retribution. The computer had assumed a constant speed when the initial velocity had been read.

"SHIT!" Retribution was too close! The gun elevation mechanisms, Like those of the Enforcer Eight, could only move so fast. Not fast enough to adjust for the error!

In less than a SECOND Retribution was practically in his face.

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP! The One point five sent out a rapid series of devastating shots when the computer sensed its proximity to the target. It couldn’t otherwise be humanly be done.---not at Retribution’s closing speed.

The Enforcer Two blew apart like the two halves of an egg as Retribution shot through the fireball and out the other end. It was still on a dead – on course for the Enforcer One!

"WHOA! Commented Tynan as he watched the show on his com screen"

"Can we stop her?" Clay asked nervously.

"So long as we keep moving fast enough, and keep the relative speed between the ships slower. Adair had practically stopped. His guns couldn’t adjust quickly enough. We won’t make THAT mistake. But I wouldn’t rule out an actual suicide attack on her part, like I said she IS crazy."

The one point five was glowing bright orange from the heat of the rapid firing.

Bainbridge was breathing heavily. He couldn’t believe what just happened. From now on, he was going to only watch numbers. He switched the image feed to his view screen off.

Enforcer Eight now moved in behind Leslie, taking care to remain out of one point five’s range. Captain Akira Matched Leslie’s speed. When the time came, He could close in on her.

But Enforcer Twelve Had to get into position first, it was still too far away to be of any help, but it would not be very long before Twelve would have The Retribution in its sights too.

Leslie, despite her mental state, knew the score. She now had at least TWO Enforcer ships to deal with. Clay’s ship might also get in on the action. The Quell had still not recharged. The One point five was too hot to fire for the moment. The rapid mode had overheated it.

Yes, she COULD Jump, but that would put more space between her and Sanders. She was NOT going to take the pressure off of him. Not for a moment!

She had another option.

Leslie shut the reaction engines down. The ship continued to coast at its current speed, but was no longer accelerating. Using the stabilizing thrusters, she rapidly flipped the Retribution around one hundred and eighty degrees. The course had not changed, but the ship was now facing backwards, pointed towards Enforcer Eight. Captain Akira promptly put his force shields up.

The very angry visage of Leslie Webber now filled his com - Screen

"YOU SONOFABITCH!" She screamed at him "THIS IS BETWEEN ME AND KONSTANTIN! How DARE YOU INTERFERE!" Her unexpected communiqué took Akita aback. Before he could reply, Leslie tore into him again.

"THAT’S A FIFTEEN METER QUELL YOU’RE LOOKING INTO MISTER! IT TOOK OUT THE MOON OF AXEL TWO AND IT WILL ABSOLUTELY OBLITERATE A STARSHIP. DON’T REPEAT THORN’S MISTAKE! IF YOU AREN’T FAR AWAY FROM HERE BEFORE I COUNT TO THREE I’ll SCATTER YOUR SORRY ATOMS ACROSS HALF A PARSEC!

ONE! TWO! . . .

The Enforcer Eight Vanished in a flash.

Tynan had eavesdropped on the conversation. "NO you fool! SHE’s only bluffing!" He shouted over the com link, but it was too late.

Yes, They could J-com Enforcer eight and order Akira back, but by the time that his Jump capacitors had recharged for the return, Leslie’s Quell would be too.

Leslie, still hurtling towards Enforcer One, swung the retribution around once again. The big photon cannon had cooled a bit by now.

Leslie now turned her attention to Enforcer Twelve. It had slowed down its approach. Apparently its Captain had also been listening in. He had suddenly become revealingly cautious. BAM! BAM! BAM! Leslie fired three one point five shots at him, directly across his course. THAT got his attention.

"BLUFFING TYNAN?!" Leslie broadcast to both ships. The only reason that you and Sanders aren’t space dust right now is that a Quell is too good for him! I WANT THAT BASTARD TO SUFFER AS HE HAS MADE ME SUFFER! I WANT HIM TO SUFFER FOR WHAT HE DID TO MELISSA AND MY FRIENDS! I WANT HIM TO SUFFER FOR WHAT HE DID TO ADRIENNE AND JUSTIN!

Leslie seemed to be practically foaming at the mouth.

She pointed her ship at Enforcer Twelve. Captain Galvin backed his craft off a bit more. The bow of the Retribution remained pointed at him, tracking his movements.

Leslie appeared on his view screen. She seemed a bit calmer now, which in this case carried even more ominous overtones. "Do I have to worry about you, Captain?"

Clay broke into the conversation. "Don’t listen to her, Galvin! She’s bluffing, the quell wont be functional again for at least another fifteen minutes."

"What do YOU know about My Quell weapon SANDERS?" Leslie responded, "Until less than an hour ago you didn’t even know it existed."

"What do YOU think, Captain Gavin?" Asked Leslie. "Do you feel lucky today? Seeing that it is YOU who is looking down the tube. Are you willing to bet your life on Mr. Sanders’ Quell expertise?"

Leslie leaned closer to the screen. Now I ask you Again. Do I have to worry about YOU? You certainly had best worry about ME."

"I’m out’a here!" Said Galvin as he wheeled the Enforcer Twelve around and proceeded out of the area.

Clay was furious! "COME BACK HERE YOU COWARD! I ORDER YOU! GET BACK HERE NOW! I’LL HAVE YOU AND YOUR WHOLE FAMILY EXECUTED!"

Captain Galvin transmitted a short two-word response "FUCK YOU" and jumped out of the vicinity.

"YOU’RE ALL MINE NOW SANDERS!" Said Lelsie over the com link as she pushed the Throttle lever forward.

Zee and Doc didn’t know whether to be impressed of concerned by Leslie’s performance. By sheer intimidation and well-chosen words, she had Bluffed and coerced the captains of two enforcer ships into leaving the area.

Was this ability part of what had made her one of the best Commanders in the Space Command fleet or had she truly "lost it", "Gone round the bend" as it were. Was she being "crazy like a fox" or just plain CRAZY! Either case was equally possible.

Whatever it was, it was working so far. Melissa did not seem concerned, but Melissa was never concerned about anything. But the general feeling that Melissa would intervene if Leslie’s actions got too much out of line tended to give Bainbridge and the others a small amount of comfort.

Captian Tynan was definitely not comfortable. He watched the com screen as the Retribution’s blip drew slowly, but ever closer to his own. By now, he not only knew he was "outclassed" in the Captain department, he wasn’t really sure about WHAT he was dealing with.

If Leslie was playing "head games" with him they were certainly having an effect. Unlike Captains Akita and Galvin, he couldn’t opt out of the inevitable final showdown. It was HE who had to face this . . . Whatever she was, a consummate professional killer or an insane kamikaze warrior.

There was one more option. As calmly as he could, He got out of his chair, and casually walked towards the rear of the bridge. Clay didn’t seem to be watching. NOW was his chance!

Tynan jumped for the open hatch of the escape pod.

Unfortunately, Clay HAD been watching him from out of the corner of his eye. In a flash, Clay jumped up, whipped out his "Fifty over Ten" pistol and put three shots into Tynan’s head.

"Ill have NO cowards on MY bridge!" Clay snarled.

Kora ran to the bridge. "What’s going on?" she asked.

"I was forced to relieve Captain Tynan from his position" Clay responded.

"What did you do?! You’re nearly as crazy as Webber is!" Kora shouted back.

"Tynan was a coward, he was going to abandon us to that Madwoman out there."

Sanders got on the ship’s Com System. "Attention all personnel. Captian Tynan has had an unfortunate accident and is presently incapacitated. I will appoint myself acting captain in his place. You will follow MY orders as you did Tynan’s. Anyone refusing to do so will face extreme disciplinary measures."

Clay sat in the Captain’s chair. " Helm, maintain course."

"Aye sir." The helmsman replied.

Clay settled back with a smug smile on his face. No, he WAS CAPTAIN Sanders.

Kora didn’t like what she was seeing. "You better do SOMETHING, Clay, it won’t be long before she will be on top of us."

Clay entered some cords into his com screen. "Prepare to Jump in Three, two, one . . ."

Leslie’s blip vanished from his ranging-com screen. But only a few seconds later, it re-appeared.

"She found us again!" said Kora angrily. "Her BT can match us jump for jump. We can’t get away from her that way".

"How long are you going to run, Clay?" Chided Kora. "You will HAVE to turn and fight her eventually."

"She won’t use the Quell on us, it would be too easy. She wants you too bad, Clay, Use her own rage against her. That is your edge."

Clay looked at Kora. He knew she was right. He swallowed hard and gathered up his courage.

"All stop!" ordered Clay. "Rotate one eighty, force shields up! All guns prepare to fire!" Clay WAS finally going to make his stand.

"Gunner’s converge all weapons on target!

The was Retribution steadily closing the gap between the two ships.

WHAM! The "Enforcer ONE" let loose a synchronized volley at the approaching Retribution. WHAM! All six point five shots simultaneously slammed into the smaller ship’s forward deflector fields, knocking it violently off course.

This was the way the deflectors were supposed to work. They were stronger than the ship’s Mass momentum. Rather than pierce the shield, stronger weapons fire would merely push it and the ship out of its way. The ship, thus protected, would be almost impervious to damage.

Leslie straightened out and resumed the charge.

WHAM! Another volley hit, this time at closer range. The Retribution tumbled and spun backwards.

Again Leslie managed to recover the ship’s attitude.

She glanced at the Photo of Adrienne and Justin stuck to the corner of the com-screen. "DAMNIT!" She was going to "get that sucker"

She increased the thrust by fifty percent, and engaged the auto-stabilizer jets.

WHAM! Another volley hit! This time the field absorbed the blows. The engine thrust counteracted the impact. Retribution stayed on course, headed straight for Enforcer One.

Bainbridge now grew concerned. "The deflectors weren’t designed to take such direct hits" He reminded Leslie over the com. "The mass of the ship is supposed to take up the shock of the blows."

Leslie didn’t care about that. She was only concentrating on getting close in enough for the one point five to blast through the Enforcer’s force shields. She was then going to tear into Clay’s ship like a can opener.

Retribution drove in closer, closer still. WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! The volleys intensified. The port forward field began to glow red.

K-pow! With a jolt, it suddenly it gave way!

K-BOOM! A point five shot got through and impacted just aft of the top turret, shattering plates and driving itself into the hull. The Telemetry area had been hit.

Kora Felt IT! " Her BT has been taken out!" She shouted. "Jump NOW!"

BAM! BAM! BAM! Leslie’s one point five spoke three times.

To her horror the Enforcer One was GONE! It had jumped out just in time. Clay was not quite the fool she had taken him for!

"NOOOO!" she cried!. BAM! BAM! Leslie fired the big gun into empty space in frustration.

"Zee! Get me the cords NOW!" The com screen showed only static.

Leslie rushed back to the telemetry area. Zee was on the floor. Blood was spattered everywhere. Doc was bending over her.

"ZEE!, ZEE!" Leslie cried.

Zee opened her eyes and looked up at Leslie "You can do it, Les." she said weakly.

"No I can’t! ZEE! PLEASE! DON’T DIE!"

It was too late. Doc looked up at Leslie. The look on his face said it all!

"I’m putting her in the stasis chamber" He said. "Bill! Give me a hand."

They lifted Zee into the silver box and closed the lid. It latched with a dull click.

"If we can find a well equipped hospital, they still might be able to revive her" the doc said. He did not look too optimistic.

Leslie was frozen in shock for a few seconds, but she began to recover. Her face looked ashen, Her expression somewhat different.

"GODDAMNIT! Said Leslie between clenched teeth. "It ends! IT ENDS NOWWW!"

Leslie moved the random field screen back into place and turned it on! "If Horst can do it so can I! That Bastard’s not going to get away from me!"

Leslie stared at the screen. The numbers came up just as they had the last time she had a session with Zee, when they were on their way to the mine.

Unfortunately, also like the last time, she could read them no better. Her frustration grew as she could SEE the numbers clearly, but NOT read them. "GODDAMNIT!" she finally screamed! And dissolved into tears of despair.

Her head hung down, her hair was in her face, she had lost all hope. Adrienne, Justin, and now, Zee would NOT be avenged, at least no time soon.

Tick, tick, tick . . . Her attention was drawn to a tinkling sound. Adrienne’s locket, swinging from Leslie’s neck, was bumping against the com screen. Leslie picked it up and tearfully read the ornate script inscribed on the metal disk.

"To my Wife Adrienne on our tenth anniversary, All my love, Leslie"

A wave of sadness washed over her and--- Suddenly! an inspiration! "ART!" She thought to herself. "Beauty! Shapes! The RIGHT BRAIN!-- The fancy writing!"

She looked at the random field screen again. This time, a magnified image of the locket began to form----, NO! A locket similarly inscribed, but with The enforcer’s SPATIAL CORDS written on it.

SHE COULD READ THEM, every last digit!

---- There was even an attitude position!

"Yes!", Zee told her that she would have to find her own way, her own "Trick" to seeing the numbers. SHE HAD FOUND IT!"

Leslie entered the numbers into the com system! And ran up to the helm!. She coupled the One point five to her joystick control.

"Jump! Bainbridge! JUMP NOW!" she shouted.

In a flash she found herself practically nose to nose with enforcer one! She couldn’t have done it any better than this!

Clay had no time to be surprised be Retribution’s sudden appearance. BAM! Leslie fired the one point five point blank into the hull of his ship!

The first shot blew a hole just to the port side of the Enforcer’s nose, and an even bigger hole in the stern where it emerged. BAM! The second shot hit something on the way through. An internal explosion lit up every window and porthole for a second, and then all of the lights went out.

BAM! A third shot set off another explosion that blew the belly out of the craft.

Enforcer One, the gyro system, now gone, slowly began to roll over like a dead fish. Oxygen fed jets of flames could be seen shooting out of the hull in from cracks and holes all across its surface.

Leslie, at first, wanted to blow the ship apart, but No, Saunders deserved his own brand of "Special treatment"

She would have to act fast. Several emergency escape pods had detached themselves from Enforcer One’s stricken hull.

"Deploy the spider", Leslie ordered.

"He’s probably already dead, or else he has escaped with the survivors" Doc replied.

"He is still on board", Said Leslie. "And he’s STILL alive! I FEEL IT!"

"You can’t be seriously considering . . .?" Doc began to say, "Are you INsane!" His voice trailed off.

The disheveled hair and the dark, blank look on Leslie’s face suggested an unpleasant answer to Doc’s question.

"Deploy THE SPIDER!" Leslie repeated again in a tone of voice that no one could ignore.

Melissa Launched the Spider. With a CRUNCH, It dug itself to Enforcer One’s shattered hull.

"Melissa, for God’s, sake" Doc implored, "Talk some sense into her!"

"She IS Captain, and her actions ARE conducive to completing the primary goal of the mission." The First officer replied.

"BUT If she does not return in fifteen minutes, I will destroy everything with the Quell. Either way our mission will have been completed successfully."

Aboard the ENFORCER ONE, Clay Sanders picked himself off of the floor. A quick look at his instruments told him that his ship was dying. Already the surviving crewmembers were running for the nearest escape pods.

He tried to call Kora on the com system, but it, like the rest of the ship, was dead. Perhaps Kora was too.

Clay ran to where the nearest escape pod should be, but to his dismay found that it had left without him. He ran down the passageway looking for another pod.

The "SPIDER" had cut a neat hole through the hull that opened into a peripheral passageway.

As Leslie climbed through the opening, a man, running by, drew his gun. One look into Leslie’s eyes, though, finished him.

They seemed to emanate an aura of murderous rage. They were the eyes of a Madwoman, longing for the slightest provocation to KILL. He lost his nerve. He dropped his weapon and ran, feeling lucky to still be alive.

Leslie held the "Hundred over ten’ in her right hand and pointed at the floor. She marched, directly and purposely down the center of the passageway. Her dark circled eyes protruded slightly and stared unblinkingly straight ahead. She was a being possessed of but ONE purpose, ONE objective, and NOTHING or nobody was going to stand in her way.

Her mask-like countenance terrified already panicky crewmembers that were frantically running down the passageways, trying to find a way to escape their doomed ship.

Her gaze alone was enough to discourage any thoughts of interfering with her mission. Even men carrying sidearms stepped aside, deliberately avoided eye contact and continued on to the escape pods. Leslie looked dangerously INSANE and probably was.

She could FEEL Clay’s presence. She KNEW which passageways to take. Onwards she pressed. Drawing closer and closer to her prey.

Clay emerged from around a bend in the hall. Not twenty paces away, he saw Leslie approaching. He knew what she was there for. She didn’t bat an eyelash or break the rhythm of her gait.

Something about her wasn’t right. He had seen that look in men’s eyes before. It was DEATH itself. Death that did not care one whit for its own existence. so long as the victim went down too.

Clay Sanders had learned early in his career, that sometimes a person can be pushed just TOO far. The trick to surviving in his profession was knowing "when to draw the line".

There was a difference between having to deal with a person who hates you enough to want to kill you. (Men like Clay Saunders dealt with that fact every day,) and a blind, insane, murderous rage, which there was little or no defense against. Even the, gentlest, meekest individual could become a dangerous killer if that line was crossed.

Once, a poor, unarmed farmer, whose wife he had killed, nearly succeeded in strangling him with his bare hands. Luckily Clay had a gun, but the man’s dead hands still had to be pried from his throat.

Another time, a shopkeeper, Whose son was killed when Clay had burnt down his store, simply walked up to him and shot him six times, but fortunately, his firearm skills were sorely lacking. Clay was very lucky to have survived.

"That look" was in both men’s eyes.

This time Clay’s foe was a PROFESSIONAL. She didn’t have to be crazy to be dangerous. But now the danger was tenfold. She WOULD kill him. Even though he hadn’t meant to, he had crossed that "line" once again. This time for the last time!

Even though he was armed he dared not make the slightest threatening move. Death would only come quicker. The only thing he could do was turn and run the other way.

---Which he did.

He rounded the corner, out of Leslie’s direct line of sight. He ducked into the telemetry room, tried to run through the other entrance, but found his way blocked by fire. He turned to run back out into the passageway.

But Leslie was now standing in the doorway. Clay ran back towards the fire, hoping to find a way around it. No luck! He found only a solid wall of flames. Leslie was now in the room, walking, walking ever closer.

Sanders could go no farther. The wall of fire had blocked his escape. Leslie took a few more steps closer and stopped.

She stared at him for a few seconds with those "crazy eyes". It seemed like an eternity.

Clay froze with pure terror as Leslie’s eyes bored into his very soul. "Who was she? What was she? She certainly couldn’t be human. The angel of death perhaps, or a demon from hell?!"

There was only ONE certainty in Clay’s mind. In just a few seconds HE was going to become "The DEADEST man who had ever lived!"

In a feeble, hopeless gesture he managed to slowly bring his own gun up to his own temple. He pulled the trigger. Nothing! His weapon was empty. The man looked as if he would begin to cry.

As if in a trance, Leslie extended her arm and pointed her "hundred over ten" directly at the whimpering man’s forehead. Just as suddenly, she lowered the angle of her arm slightly.

One, two, three, four, five, six, ten millimeter projectiles tore through Clay Sander’s middle and lower torso. The expression on the woman’s face never changed, her eyes never blinked. The man sunk to the deck and rolled onto his back as his life oozed out in red puddles on the carpet.

Finish it! FINISH IT! He pleaded through the pain.

For a second she pointed her gun at his chest, but then lowered her weapon, turned and began to walk away.

Parts of the burning ceiling began to fall into the room. A large chunk detached and fell directly on top of Sanders. He screamed from beneath the flaming rubble as he began to fry in his own juices.

Leslie turned one last time towards where the man lay. A twitching, scorched hand could be seen reaching out from beneath the debris. The screams soon stopped and all was still.

The passageways were now practically deserted, as Leslie marched back the way she had come. Her face looked the same, though perhaps a bit sadder.

Back in the Retribution, she sat silently in her chair. Her head hung down. No one was happy or jubilant. Doc, Bill, and Bainbridge said nothing. They all wore the same facial expressions. Only Melissa seemed unaffected.

No, revenge was NOT sweet. Nothing had changed. Justin, Adrienne and Zee were still dead. Leslie was still female, Melissa was still little more than a machine.

Doc, Bill and Bainbridge were no better off than they had been, before the mission had started.

Clay Sanders, AKA, "Konstantin" WAS dead, he would never harm anyone else again, but his legacy would still live on in his victims. Vengeance can only accomplish so much. They would have to make the best of what remained of their lives.

"Let’s go home." Leslie said.

THE END

 

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Keep watching for the SEQUEL to "The Last Frontier", "One Hundred Over Ten"

Webber is Called back to duty with the Space Command and her ship and crew
are commandeered by the government. She is ordered into "Rep" territory to
find out who has been providing the "hostile" race with Jump Technology---and
put an END to it. AND what about that SC regulation that demands that she
share command (of her own ship) with a male of equal rank?

 

 

 

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© 2001 by Marina Twelve. All Rights Reserved. These documents (including, without limitation, all articles, text, images, logos, compilation design) may printed for personal use only. No portion of these documents may be stored electronically, distributed electronically, or otherwise made available without express written consent of the copyright holder.