The Retrieval: The End – CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE

“Hold, please,” David said to Oscar Willington before flicking the monitor off.

When so close to death, David’s mind was always calm and clear. Perhaps it was the simplicity of mortality or an instinctual need to cut out all but the most pertinent details. He was also drunk this time, which helped. Regardless, he was comforted by how the world suddenly felt a bit quieter as he swiveled the captain’s chair to face the Wonderboy clone. The bourbon swished and swirled inside his brain. He took a moment to breathe.

“Okay,” David began. “What can you do to protect me?”

“Nothing,” Lima responded.

“Ah.” David sighed, rubbing his face as if that would somehow make him less drunk. “I thought you were a superhero, man. You don’t have any powers or anything?”

“I did once, but that was so long ago. I am weak and I need to return to Earth to find myself again.”

“Well, your pilgrimage isn’t exactly coming at a convenient time for me,” David responded. “You know what? Hold on for a moment.”

David stood, unsteady, and made his way through the cockpit toward the bathroom. Lima watched him pass. The sound of violent vomiting reverberated throughout the ship as the Wonderboy clone distracted himself by fussing with his cape. The sounds were guttural and vicious, but over quickly. Then there was the sound of water being gurgled and spit. David emerged with a more sure-footed stride and made his way back to the cockpit, now with a cup of coffee steaming from a mug with a picture of Johnny Cash flipping off the camera.

“Feeling better?” Lima asked.

“Like a million bucks.” David swung around to the control panel. He took a sip of his coffee. “Robin, how many ships is Willington sending?”

“Eleven corvettes and a dreadnaught. Better give up the guy in the tights.”

“Sounds like the smart thing to do.”

David turned to look back at Lima.

“Better give me a good reason to be stupid,” David said.

Lima’s eyes were hard, grim.

“The forefather is returning,” Lima said.

“That means nothing to me,” David responded.

“We destroyed his favorite child and he is returning to wipe humanity from the universe, starting with our home planet.”

David rubbed his face again.

“So, Jesus?”

“What?” Lima asked.

“Are you talking about God? I am so confused.”

“What? No. Clint Sohl. Wonderboy.”

“Wonderboy is coming back?” David asked.

“No, he’s dead.”

“So, who the hell is coming back?”

“The forefather is an ancient being from the…”

“You know what,” David interrupted. “I’m drunk and we’re running out of time. I got a wife and kids. If I don’t take you to Earth, they are in trouble?”

“Correct.”

“Good enough.”

David began flicking switches, engines roaring, the ship rumbling and bridling like an angry racehorse.

“Robin? You with me?”

“Don’t do this, darling.” Her voice trembled. She was afraid, or as close as a computer could ever be.

“Just jump us as close to the blockade as you can,” David said, his grip tightening around the sidestick controller. “I’ll do the rest.”

“Baby,” Robin tried. “They’ll follow us. We can’t…”

“Do it!”

A hum surfaced. It grew into a buzz, then a wail, like a choir of tortured demons howling from the depths of hell. Light. All-consuming light. Then the float of the jump. Body and mind severed, reality dissolving into something close to death, but retreating from the precipice, reconstructing. David gasped deep, his mind confused and desperate.

One never got used to the jump, the brief instant of abandoning reality. The terror never eased. The mind never adjusted.

But it was quick. David’s breaths eased, his eyes focused. Earth came into view, surrounded by tens of thousands of ships, satellites, and docking stations. X-Verse ships would register the near-Earth jump and would quickly move to capture David’s ship. Willington would soon appear behind to claim the clone. David would be trapped between the universe’s most influential corporation and one of the universe’s most brutal pirates.

“Throw everything into the engines,” David barked.

“Yes, darling,” the computer said.

David glanced back at the clone.

“I can’t get you to the surface, but I can get you close,” David said.

The clone looked from David to the ship around him.

“Hey! Wake up,” David said. “We don’t have much time. How close do you need to get to Earth?”

The clone didn’t respond, instead turned from the cockpit and walked back toward the cargo bay.

“David, they’re here,” the computer said.

David looked to his monitor, seeing red lights indicating Willington’s ships jumping into space not far from him.

“Get us to Earth,” David said. “Let me know when we near the blockade.”

The ship lunged forward, accelerating fast. David waited for the g-force to ease, then unbuckled from the captain’s chair and moved to the cargo bay. Lima stood before the Chaos Machine with the micro-big bangs casting light on the clone’s face.

“Hey, buddy!” David said. “I’m risking my life right now, I need a little feedback.”

The clone lifted his hand to the glass.

“Amazing,” Lima said.

“Yes, it’s fan-freaking-tastic, but we got other things to deal with right now,” David growled.

“X-Verse ships are thirty seconds out,” the computer said.

“Look at me!” David shouted, but Lima didn’t respond. The clone closed his eyes and placed his palms against the glass.

“Keep this ship alive for two minutes,” Lima said.

“David!” the ship urged.

David shook his head and ran back to the cockpit. He dropped into the captain’s chair, swiveled to the controls and gripped the sidestick controller.  Through the display, David saw an armada of high speed X-Verse fighters descending.

“Should I arm the cannons, darling?” the computer asked.

“No. We fire, they fire. Just put everything into the engines. Set a timer for two minutes and let’s hope for the best.”

The ship groaned as the engines roared. David turned directly into the X-verse swarm.

“David?” the computer called.

“Willington won’t risk hitting X-Verse ships.”

Light glowed to the left as a missile sped by David’s right wing. The missile plunged into the swarm. The ships broke formation, but the rocket clipped one of them and it burst into a fireball.

“What were you saying?” the computer asked.

“Not helping, Robin,” David grunted as he jerked the stick and sent the ship into a roll away from the swarm. “Project their locations.”

A hologram of dozens of red and blue dots appeared before David, with a single yellow dot in the middle of the frenzy. Some of the blue veered to engage the red, but most plunged down after David’s ship. David brought the ship out of the dive, bringing Earth back into the display. Fighters were dropping into his path. Bright orange blasts poured out of their cannons, streaking past his hull. Warning shots.

David turned his ship to the right, out of their path. More ships were speeding towards him. Another salvo of missiles. David rolled the ship out of the way, feeling a blast rattle the rear hull.

“Damage?” David asked.

“Nothing substantial.”

The ship swerved back towards Earth. Willington’s massive dreadnaught was flanking David’s left side as the corvettes were weaving through the fighters to push into David’s right flank. David pulled back on the stick to lift the ship into a straight climb.

“Bring up the timer!”

“1:15″ emerged on the forward display. It ticked backwards slowly.

“Robin, what the hell is Lima doing back there?”

“He hasn’t moved from the Chaos Machine. Willington is hailing you, offering a truce. It’s not too late, darling. You can give up the clone.”

David leveled out the ship, bringing Earth back into view. The dreadnaught was now below him. The fighters and the corvettes were in a frenzied firefight. Two dots blinked out seconds apart.

The engines roared as David sent the ship into a sprint toward the blockade, hoping the confusion created a window. He looked back to the dreadnaught, waiting.

“Get a hold of X-Verse, anyone you can reach,” David said.

Light burst from the side of the dreadnaught. Dozens of missiles plunged into the open space, then arced toward David’s ship. David climbed and veered away.

“:49.”

A young, stern face appeared on the monitor.

“David Brian, you are in violation of…”

“I’ve got to get to Earth! Get these guys off me and you can arrest me and take my ship, just let me through!”

David sent the ship into a tailspin, the missiles briefly coming into view, then disappearing again. “Project the missiles!”

Green streaks emerged amid the dots, marking the paths of the missiles as they coiled in a tight trajectory toward David’s ship. They were closing on the yellow dot quickly.

“37.”

“We can’t get involved in a smuggling dispute, Mr. Brian. Oscar Willington has provided valid documentation for the cargo on your ship and we must…”

“Listen! I have a live Wonderboy clone!”

“What?” the man asked, startled. “Wonderboy?”

“Yes. Lima. He’s alive and said the forefather is returning so I’ve got to get him to Earth.”

“Who is the forefather?” the man asked.

“I have no idea, but it sounds really bad.”

“David!” the computer screamed. “On your left!”

David jerked on the stick and the ship spun to the right. Six missiles soared ahead of him, but quickly turned to reengage. David turned the ship away. The dreadnaught appeared again, sitting in between David and Earth. More bursts of lights as missiles spit from its side. Green tracers appeared, adding more chaos to the swirling dots.

A new face appeared in the monitor. An older woman, an officer wearing a patchwork of medals on her chest.

“Mr. Brian, I am General Sharon Weisteff. If we engage with Oscar Willington, it is going to be problematic. We need some proof.”

“25.”

The green arcs were now closing from four sides.

David spun and dove away.

“Robin, send them video of the cargo bay. Show them the clone.”

“Lima is gone,” the computer said, pitifully. “I’m so sorry.”

“Wait, what? He’s gone? Where the hell did he go?”

“I don’t know.”

“Mr. Brian?” the X-Verse officer asked.

David flicked off the monitor. He gazed at the projection. The reds and blues were no longer fighting each other, but now closing in. The green arcs were like a twisting tornado dropping down on top of his ship.

“12.”

“Tell Real Robin I love her,” David said.

“Yes, darling. I love you too,” the computer responded.

David smirked. He shoved the stick forward, sending the ship into a spinning nosedive.

“5.”

Explosions erupted around the ship as the missiles burst into balls of shrapnel. Sparks and fire consumed the cockpit.

“2.”

David yelled as the heat consumed the air around him.

“1.”

Crimson fog poured all around. Light. A choir of angels and their requiem for the fallen.

Then warmth. Wind. Oxygen. Mist. True gravity.

David collapsed down onto warm concrete. Pebbles dug into his skin. Warm, fresh tar was not far away. Deep breaths. Now the smell of singed hair, then something more lush. Grass. Animals. Dirt. He looked up to a blue sky with little white dots of spaceships zipping across the sky. An orange sun. Around him an empty parking lot. Lima stood before him.

“Thank you, Mr. Brian,” the clone said. Crimson fog poured out around him, then a flash. David opened his eyes to find Lima gone.

A young, Asian boy watched from across the parking lot, mystified.

“Hey,” David called, raising his hand to wave.

The boy returned the wave, timidly.

“Can I use your phone?”

The boy shook his head and ran away.

“Great, thanks,” David responded, then looking back to the sky. Somewhere up there, fake Robin was dead, a mess of steel and electronics abandoned in space, perhaps being salvaged by Willington in hopes of finding the clone intact.

And somewhere, on Earth, real Robin was waiting for him to find his way home. Which he would, once he figured out what side of the Earth he was starting from.

THE END