Collin felt Bubba tense behind him. Collin put up a hand to restrain the big guy from intervening.
“
Darren, you
’
re going to have to trust me on this. Some pretty big decisions need to be made and they will affect all of us. So I
’
m talking to the group. Get out of my way so we can bring you and everybody else up to speed.
”
A crowd began to form around them. Royce White, looking mean and hungry, strode up and stopped next to Darren.
“
Just let them say what they have to say, man.
”
Collin saw something in Darren
’
s eyes he hadn
’
t seen before.
Desperation
. Even more so than Humphrey, Darren was teetering on the edge.
They continued into the mess where Collin climbed up onto a table. Bubba
’
s deep voice filled the compartment.
“
Pipe down
…
let Frost talk.
”
Collin looked around the mess and took in the facial expressions of his thirteen football teammates and the six cheerleaders. They look tired, hungry, defeated. He gave thought for another few seconds on how he was going to approach them regarding the new developments.
“
Are you going to just stand there all day, Sticks, or are you going to say something?
”
Collin ignored Humphrey
’
s big mouth, took in a deep breath and smiled.
“
I have some good news and some shitty news.
”
“
Tell us the good news, Collin,
”
Lydia said, looking up at him, ever hopeful.
“
We can go home
…
the captain of the ship we
’
re moored next to, the
Tyrant
, has promised us that much.
”
“
And the bad news?
”
Darren asked.
“
It won
’
t be for at least one year.
”
Expressions quickly turned to exasperation and then to anger. The three inseparable friends, Clifford Bosh, Owen Platt and Garry Hurst, now stood alongside Darren and Humphrey.
Is this
the start of some kind of mutiny?
Collin wondered. They looked ready to kill someone
—
namely him.
“
Hey
…
we
’
re free to go it alone
…
I
’
m just reporting what was said. We decide as a group, okay?
”
Collin proceeded to relay the information back to them, as it was told to him by the captain; that the only viable way back to Earth was through something called a Rolm portal. He spoke about the Brotherhood, the princess and the Kardon Guard, and that they were currently sited in the middle of a two-year-old interstellar war.
“
What are we supposed to do for a whole year?
”
Owen Platt asked.
“
One of the conditions the captain demands, in exchange for helping us return home, will be for us to join them in their fight. We
’
ll be put through some sort of basic military training that will take up to six weeks. While that
’
s going on, they
’
ll be retrofitting the
Turd
into a warship. Both will take place on a space station, something call Nero Station.
”
“
Join their army? No, thank you. And retrofit this piece of crap ship
…
why even bother?
”
Humphrey asked, starting to look hostile again.
“
Here
’
s how I see things. One, we won
’
t last a week on our own in space. We
’
ll die of hunger or, even more probable, we
’
ll be blasted into bits by the Kardon Guard. Two, don
’
t forget we
’
re just a bunch of teenagers. What do we know about space travel? This turd of a ship is just barely space worthy
…
no way would it make it back to Earth, even if we did find an accessible portal out there. And three
…
there
’
s something else
…
something pretty cool I haven
’
t told you yet.
”
“
Just spit it out, Sticks,
”
Humphrey said dismissively and with disdain.
“
Our physiology, and our molecular structure, is different than theirs. Even this turd of a ship is different.
”
“
Oh boy
…
that
’
s exciting,
”
Humphrey sneered.
Bubba stepped up onto the table next to Collin.
“
It
’
s true. We
’
re like some kind of supermen here. We got into it when we first entered their ship. One of their soldiers got a little too hands-y with Orman, who then took a swipe back at the soldier and took the guy
’
s hand off, at the wrist. Even while they were firing their plasma weapons at us, I was able to push a guy twenty feet into the air and saw him get half-buried into a bulkhead. Frost took down the captain. After that, we all took multiple plasma shots from their guns
…
they nearly killed Orman.
”
“
How are you still alive?
”
Lydia asked.
“
Our dense molecular structure,
”
Collin replied.
“
That, and the gravity field they
’
re used to is far less than Earth
’
s. In the end, they had to put special bands, they call them minimizers, on our arms and legs so we wouldn
’
t accidentally break something, or worse, kill someone.
”
“
Can we all stay together? Or will they separate us?
”
Lydia asked.
“
No, we
’
re not being separated. We told them that was not an option for us
…
we stay together, no matter what.
”
Lydia turned to the five other cheerleaders. A few moments later, Tink asked,
“
Would we be put through their training too? We
’
re girls, not soldiers.
”
The other cheerleaders nodded their heads in agreement.
“
I suspect you
’
d be able to physically do, or achieve, far more than any man there, Tink. I wouldn
’
t expect any special treatment for you gals. Like it or not, we
’
ll all be trained to be warriors,
”
Collin said.
Collin watched as a new look came over Darren
’
s face, then Humphrey
’
s, then the others
’
. He
’
d purposely saved that bit of information for last. What red-blooded American teen, male or female for that matter, wouldn
’
t be intrigued by the possibility of having superhero-like strength?
Collin and Bubba stepped down off the table. Discussions had sprung up and Collin simply needed to let them come to some decision among themselves. From the sound of things, raised voices
…
arguing, it would take a while. He felt his stomach rumble and a wave of nausea creep over him. He, too, needed to eat, but he decided to wait it out in his quarters. But before he even left the mess, the room went still. Darren was now standing on the same table Collin and Bubba had earlier.
“
So it
’
s agreed. We
’
re going along with this, right?
”
Darren asked, looking around the mess compartment.
Heads nodded, but nobody looked overly excited about the prospect. Darren pointed an outstretched finger at Collin.
“
We find out this is bullshit, that they
’
re tricking us
…
I
’
m going to wreck you, Sticks.
”
Collin also saw baleful expressions on Humphrey, Bosh, Platt and Hurst. His fault or not, he
’
d be contending with all six of them, if things didn
’
t play out pretty much as he
’
d described.
Collin wasn
’
t going to leave it at that.
“
Make threats all you want, but remember one thing
…
we
’
re in this together. We are all we have, and only by banding together will we survive
—
come through this alive and make it back home. No matter what occurs over the next few weeks, I suggest we don
’
t let them forget who they
’
re dealing with.
”
Bubba put his hands on his hips and stared back at his teammates:
“
Mess with us
…
any one of us
…
and you
’
ve messed with the wrong team! Tell me who
’
ve they messed with?
”
The response was a weak scattering of voices,
“
The Lone Stars.
”
“
Louder,
”
Bubba said.
“
Who?
”
More chimed in,
“
The Lone Stars.
”
“
I still didn
’
t hear you! Who?
”
Now everyone yelled back, even Darren and Humphrey, along with Bosh, Platt and Hurst, in response,
“
THE LONE STARS!
”
Chapter 21
They were told they could bring one bag or satchel each. Collin had his leather rucksack slung over one shoulder. Inside were his Beretta, extra mag, small flashlight and several other odds and ends. One by one the students walked off the
Turd
, into the freight bay of the
Tyrant
.
This time they were greeted by far more soldiers, and bigger weapons were trained on them. No more than a few seconds passed before each teenager was fitted with four minimizer bands. None of the Daccian, catlike beings resisted having the bands placed on their wrists this time. But the three had decided not to fight for the Brotherhood. Instead, they had agreed to a house arrest-type situation where they would not be permitted to leave their suite of compartments for the extent of one year. They did not seem overly concerned with these restrictions and had gone along with them without any argument.
As the fourth minimizer was firmly secured around Collin’s right ankle, he felt the same draw on his energy he’d experienced before. Added to that, his lack of sufficient nutrients in a long while was draining, and he was finding it hard to keep his eyes open.
They were moved to what looked like a ship’s hold. The space was tight and the temperature had to be in the forties or fifties, chilly but bearable.
A young officer in a dark red coat entered the hold. “I am Lieutenant Maugeri. Please forgive these accommodations. The
Tyrant
is currently en route to Nero Station. We will arrive there within thirty minutes.”
* * *
They had arrived at Nero Station. As quickly as they’d been ushered into the
Tyrant
’s hold, they were ushered right back out again. They were led through some kind of tubular concourse that connected the
Tyrant
to the space station. A series of small portholes offered a view of Nero Station beyond. Everyone in the group moved to the portholes and looked out.
“Holy crap … Look at this thing …” someone said. Collin wasn’t sure who.
Gleaming, everything stark white—it was probably the biggest non-natural
thing
Collin had ever seen. Evidently they were standing within a small connecting tube that was part of another major spoke of what was, in a sense, a ginormous wheel. There were twelve such spokes, each of which was probably miles in length. The spokes connected to a substantial outer ring. The center hub, which everything connected to, was thick and cylindrical. Like twinkling stars, a thousand little porthole lights glimmered—contrasting against the blackness of space beyond. Collin noticed another spacecraft was slowly moving in toward one of the other spokes—farther out from where the
Tyrant
was currently secured. Then he noticed there were other spaceships, of different shapes and sizes, around the distant periphery of Nero Station.
Lieutenant Maugeri said, “Let’s move it along.”
They continued down the concourse tube. Collin was somewhere in the middle of the pack. They were being ushered down a long, softly lit corridor. In time they emerged into an open, congested, atrium. Collin guessed this was a transport arrival level that circled around the station’s hub; an area where those disembarking from their moored vessels would eventually converge. It was a colossal-sized space, with spectacular views of the surrounding station’s outer ring via wide observation windows. Everything was ridiculously clean. And, like Captain Primo’s
Tyrant
ship, the bulkheads were in rich colors of reds and gold.
They were herded off to a wide, central column. An elevator arrived and they moved inside. Before Collin knew it, the doors reopened and they were walking along a different corridor.
The listless teens didn’t really talk—they simply continued on their semi-imposed march, like an incoherent herd of sheep. That is, until the aroma of something tantalizing, something incredible, reached their nostrils. Heads came up, expressions showed interest, paces increased.
Up ahead, Collin saw Dr. Albergo and Captain Primo. The captain raised a palm to halt the oncoming procession. He looked down the line until he found Collin and gestured for him to come forward to the front of the line.
“I’m glad you’ve decided to join us … join the Brotherhood,” Captain Primo said.