The Bounty Hunters from Arachnxx Three Read online

  "You will not have to," she said. "Leave it to me."

  Reaching for the armrest console on the captain's chair, she hailed the surface, and Frayek responded immediately. Speaking in some sort of complicated code the captain's translator could not decipher, she gave her general his orders and quickly signed off.

  "Look at this," she marveled, staring at the display on the captain's console. Absently, she fired her pistol at the door to keep the Arachnoids at bay.

  Quasar rose to one knee beside her, blasting away at the door with his Cody 52. On the display, he saw a view of the battle raging outside the Effervescent Magnitude. A swarm of royal blue fighters and a swarm of crimson fighters converged in a wild, spiraling, yet magnificently organized attack pattern, firing their laser cannons at the Arachnoid ships with impunity and dodging skillfully every retaliatory incinerator blast that came their way. Already, the Arachnoid vessel off the stern end of the Magnitude appeared to be listing badly to its starboard side, veering away from the battle against its will as it vented plasma into the black. A squadron of combined Bromidian and Ciliac forces converged upon it, firing their cannons mercilessly in a nonstop barrage that would have had little effect if the Arachnoid vessel had not already suffered damage at the hand of Commander Wan and her complement of plasma torpedoes.

  "They fight together," the princess marveled. "Ciliac and Bromidian pilots working as one. After so many centuries...to think I would live to see such a day."

  "Life support is at ten percent. Report to the nearest emergency locker. Environmental suits are advised," the ship's computer warned.

  Quasar moved to rise but felt the princess's hand on his arm. "You will not need them," she said with another wink from that third eye of hers. "Where we are going, there will be plenty of air."

  The captain was about to ask how that could be possible when something akin to an earthquake violently rocked the ship from the bottom up, and he along with most of his bridge crew found themselves hurled through the air—some of them into each other.

  Unfortunately for Captain Quasar, his head collided with that of his first officer, and they both collapsed onto the floor of the bridge, the captain seeing star-punctured darkness followed by nothing but the deepest black.

  Episode 23: Strength in Numbers

  When Captain Quasar came to, he was aware of two things simultaneously: first of all, he was alive and breathing fresh air; and second of all, six eyes were looking down at him, but they belonged to only two faces.

  "Greetings, Captain," said Prince Barclay with a broad smile, nodding his head in a very dignified manner. "Welcome to our Homeworld."

  "He has been here before," Princess Sya said, nudging the prince.

  "Our?" Quasar sat up, rubbing the back of his head where he'd walloped Commander Wan—or she'd walloped him. Either way, there had been unintentional walloping involved, he was sure of it, and now he had a splitting headache.

  "The Homeworld of House Brociliamide." Princess Sya beamed at him.

  "Brociliamide?" Quasar launched himself up from the floor and darted glances all about, prepared to survey the damage inflicted upon his bridge by the Arachnoids. But now it appeared that his ship had become overrun by Bromidian and Ciliac cleanup crews in their respective blue and red uniforms, scrubbing away the blast damage left by Arachnoid incinerators while a detail of eight were in the process of replacing the viewscreen on the fore wall. "How long was I out?"

  "Just a few minutes, sir," Commander Wan said, touching the back of her head gingerly as she approached his side. "We are on the surface of their planet. Princess Sya transferred the Effervescent Magnitude out of harm's way via her—"

  "Magic." Quasar grinned all of a sudden. He couldn't help himself. It just came over him, a warmth he hadn't felt in days—not since before the Arachnoid bounty hunters had first attacked his ship. It was an overwhelming sense that all would soon be put right, and he would be able to lead his crew on their continuing mission into the unknown depths of space, to discover alien planets and lifeforms, and to bring back buckets of quartz dust for the people of Earth. "I had no idea you could land a star cruiser!"

  "Neither did we," the princess admitted. "But Prince Barclay considered it worth a try."

  The prince shrugged shyly under her admiring gaze. "I am pleased to know all that time in my alchemy lab proved fruitful. Now our combined power is far greater than anything we could possibly wield alone."

  "Synergy in action." Quasar inhaled deeply. "Have our environmental systems already been restored?"

  "Soon," Prince Barclay said. "We began pumping fresh air inside as soon as you landed."

  "The Arachnoids—" Quasar glanced at the exit door that was also in the process of being replaced. There was no sign of the invaders.

  "We managed to destroy one of their ships and severely damage the other," Prince Barclay said. "The last we saw of them, they were limping away from our system at half-impulse, escorted by a complement of Brociliamide fighters."

  "Brociliamide," Quasar repeated. "Is that the name of your planet?"

  "It is now." Princess Sya linked arms with the prince. "And we were hoping you would make it official."

  "How's that?"

  Prince Barclay smiled, dipping his chin. "There is an age-old tradition on our planet, that when a sun priest or other ordained person of the faith is unavailable, a ship's captain may wed two Bromidians or Ciliac who intend to marry."

  Quasar raised an eyebrow. "We have a similar tradition on Earth. Perhaps our peoples aren't so different, after all." He tried not to stare at their forehead eyes, as it would have contradicted what he'd just said.

  "Will you, then?" Prince Barclay looked hopeful.

  "Marry us?" Princess Sya added. "Only for the good of our people, of course." She gave the prince a broad wink with her third eye.

  Another man in Quasar's position might have figured he had no business interfering with alien affairs, that every culture in the universe should be left to evolve on its own over time. But Captain Bartholomew Quasar knew he had brought peace to this world. It had been in a very roundabout way, of course, but there it was, nevertheless.

  His presence—his very ship—had provided the conduit for these two young people to meet face to face for the first time. So it was of course his honor and privilege to officiate the impromptu wedding ceremony of Prince Barclay and Princess Sya of House Brociliamide right then and there on the bridge of the Effervescent Magnitude, on the surface of their planet, in the presence of his crew and the cleanup teams who all put their work efforts on pause in order to encircle the royal couple with rapt attention and lend their support with joyous smiles.

  It wasn't until after the wedding that Quasar began to ponder the fact that all one thousand tons of his star cruiser had actually landed safely on a planet. He'd never known it could do such a thing. Perhaps it would come in handy again at some point in the future. But then again, such a feat would of course require the magic of the Brociliamidians.

  For now, he experienced matter-energy-transfer one last time as General Frayek returned the Magnitude to orbit. The workers finished their repairs in record time, and the reactor came back to life, flooding the decks with recycled air. All systems blinked on and stayed on—even the new viewscreen.

  The work crews returned to their planet, but Prince Barclay and Princess Sya stayed behind to take turns hugging the captain, which he enjoyed, truth be told. It felt good to make new friends out here in the cold, unknown reaches of the galaxy.

  But there were enemies as well. Enemies who had seen the Magnitude vanish from orbit in the heat of battle and who would return in greater numbers, seeking the magical technology of these reunited people. They had finally ended a civil war on their world, but how long would they know peace?

  "We turned them away once, and we will do it again," Prince Barclay said with complete confidence.

  "We are a united people now," Princess Sya added. "There is strength in numbers."<
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  Quasar nodded grimly. "There will be strength in their numbers as well. If we can help in any way—"

  "We know where to find you." The princess chuckled at his surprised expression. "We installed a transponder in your computer system, just so we can keep in touch."

  Captain Quasar wasn't sure he liked the sound of that. He planned to have his own tech crews go over every square millimeter of the Magnitude during a ship-wide diagnostic to remove any alien hardware or software. But he flashed a winning smile at the princess nevertheless and bowed slightly.

  "Until we meet again."

  "Yes," she said with a regal nod, squinting at the brightness of his teeth. "Until then, Captain."

  He expected the royal couple to transfer off his ship then, since all of the Brociliamidian workers were down on the surface where they belonged. But the prince and princess lingered for some reason, staring at the captain and shifting their weight from one foot to the other as if expecting something else to be said or done. Quasar had no idea what it should be. Some sort of customary valediction on their world, perhaps? Or a parting gift? Maybe a pair of purple bodysuits that would soon become all the rage among Brociliamide's populace?

  The awkward moment stretched into several as Quasar racked his brain for feasible ideas.

  Until Prince Barclay sighed contentedly and patted the captain on the back. "All right then." He grasped the hand of his blushing bride, who gave the captain one last wink with her third eye, and the newlyweds vanished without so much as a blip of sound or flash of light.

  Smiling to himself, Quasar took a seat in his captain's chair and surveyed his refurbished bridge—as good as new, despite the trials and tribulations they'd been through. The Effervescent Magnitude was one heck of a fine ship. He refused to consider how close he'd come to losing her.

  Hank half-turned in his swivel seat at the helm. "The cold-fusion reactor is back online, Captain. Course laid in, awaiting your command."

  Quasar raised an eyebrow at the very hairy Carpethrian. He was clearly an improvement over Ensign Elliott, the original helmsman, in so many ways, but still... He didn't belong here. This was not his mission.

  "To Carpethria then," Quasar said with some reluctance. It would be a shame to lose Hank. Truth be told, the captain had grown rather fond of the furry fellow.

  A strange grumbling sound came from the Carpethrian's twin throats. "I was referring to your original heading—the Epsilon Seven Star Cluster, known to be rich in quartz deposits."

  "Of course." Quasar felt a wave of relief wash over him. "Fire up the engines—but let's save the near-lightspeed travel for only dire emergencies, shall we?"

  "Let's hope we can keep those at a minimum, sir," said Commander Wan, as stoic as ever.

  "Humph," Hank agreed, his four hands moving over the console as if with minds all their own.

  Quasar leaned back to admire the stars through a wide porthole as the Effervescent Magnitude forged onward into the black. A wave of introspection washed over him. Sure, he'd made some enemies already on his journey. The Goobalobs would continue to send bounty hunters after him, and the Arachnoids would be back someday for his cold fusion near-lightspeed reactor—and to exact their own brand of vengeance. But Quasar couldn't help feeling as though he'd done something really great today.

  Uniting two houses on a planet divided by civil war for centuries. That had to be worth mentioning in the Universal Encyclopedia of Human Knowledge!

  And then there was Hank, deciding to stay on board as one of the crew. Not in so many words, of course, but then again, Quasar wouldn't have expected the Carpethrian to wax eloquent on the topic. For now, it was enough for Captain Quasar to know he had an ally at the helm, and that he was leaving behind an entire planet of new friends on Planet Brociliamide—if that was in fact its new name.

  He never could be certain when it came to his ship's translation software.

  CAPTAIN QUASAR WILL RETURN

  Find out more:

  Captain Bartholomew Quasar

  Also Available:

  Captain Bartholomew Quasar: The Space-Time Displacement Conundrum

  Captain Bartholomew Quasar: Starfaring Adventures

  CAPTAIN BARTHOLOMEW QUASAR:

  THE SPACE-TIME DISPLACEMENT CONUNDRUM

  A Novel

  Captain Quasar is out of time.

  Pursued by vengeful Goobalob toll collectors, savage Arachnoid bounty hunters, and formidable Amazonians, Captain Bartholomew Quasar must do whatever he can to keep the crew of the Effervescent Magnitude out of harm's way. All in a day's work – except time is not on his side.

  Torn from the present to relive his past, he vows to keep mistakes from occurring the second time around. But is he doomed to repeat history? Or can he erase his regrets?

  Villains will be vanquished. Lives will be lost. Bonds will be betrayed. Heroes will be heroic.

  Join the crew of the Effervescent Magnitude for a hilarious time-traveling space adventure the likes of which you've never seen!

  Find out more:

  Captain Bartholomew Quasar

  CAPTAIN BARTHOLOMEW QUASAR:

  STARFARING ADVENTURES

  Short Stories

  Join Captain Bartholomew Quasar and the crew of the Effervescent Magnitude in this hilarious collection of short stories as they confront bands of nefarious space pirates, cantankerous bandits, exotic aliens, devious powers of persuasion, mysterious ghosts from the past, deep space identity crises, a runaway hyperspeed train, an insidious computer virus, and a villain with the fastest thumbs in the quadrant.

  These 23 tales were originally published by Perihelion Science Fiction, Ray Gun Revival, Bards and Sages Quarterly, Every Day Fiction, Saturday Night Reader, 101 Fiction, Cuento, the B is for Broken anthology, the 100 Worlds anthology, and the Night Lights anthology. Captain Quasar definitely gets around.

  Find out more:

  Captain Bartholomew Quasar

  What Readers Are Saying About

  Captain Bartholomew Quasar:

  "Excellent, witty and exciting."

  "I can't get enough of Captain Quasar."

  "It's like Han Solo if he joined Star Fleet."

  "A fast-paced pulp science fiction adventure."

  "Brought a smile to my lips and a chuckle to my belly."

  "Not many books make me laugh out loud, but this one did."

  "In one word: Rollicking. Rollicking good fun. Okay, three words."

  "Recommended for quirky space opera fans that want to laugh out loud."

  "You want to slap Quasar over the head, but at the same time you can't help but like the guy."

  "A hilarious, fast-paced, time-traveling space adventure that does double duty as a cautionary tale."

  "I love sci-fi. It's pretty much all I read. And I thought this was great. Reminds me of Douglas Adams."

  "I love the humor—it struck the perfect tone. The characters really drive the story rather than the sci-fi elements."

  "Captain Quasar's dashing naivety and devil-may-care attitude are so funny, and Hank, thankfully, keeps him flying."

  "Quasar continues a fine tradition of heroes with a heart of gold and a dearth of common sense."

  About the Author:

  Milo James Fowler is a teacher by day and a speculative fictioneer by night. When he's not grading papers, he's imagining what the world might be like in a dozen alternate realities. Over the past 5 years, his short fiction has appeared in more than 100 publications, including AE Science Fiction, Cosmos, Daily Science Fiction, Nature, Shimmer, and the Wastelands 2 anthology. Two of his novels are now available.

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  Captain Bartholomew Quasar and the Bounty Hunters from Arachnxx Three © 2016 Milo James Fowler

  All rights reserved.

  This eBook or any portion of it may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written
permission of the author—except for brief quotations in glowing, 4.5-star reviews. (Your reward will be waiting for you in Heaven.) The story contained within this eBook is a work of fiction. All material is either the product of the author's overactive imagination or is used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead) or to actual events is entirely coincidental—and worthy of further investigation.