Heredity, Chapter Five

The seven heroes abandoned the assault as one and rocketed to the safety of their vehicles. Tidshaw, the fastest flier, scrambled upside-down into the Hero Cart’s pilot chair and reconfigured the passenger half into shield mode, while his fellows converged on one or other of the vehicles and Dylan threw the Ultimate Cycle’s forcefield generator into life. At that instant Harbin made his free hand into a fist, and the Baax freighter crunched like a can. Blinding white light and raw howling force enveloped the universe.

Both groups of Four Heroes battened down and held stoically on as wave after wave of neutron radiation coursed over their protective shielding and their craft rocked and rumbled about like tiny boats in a storm. Harbin meanwhile was caught in the backlash of his own violent deed and fell, swept to the sidelines with his ragged grey cloak flapping after him. When the tempest of brutal white finally receded and star-splashed cosmos swam back into view, the enemy was kneeling as if exhausted in the emptiness at the very corner of the expanse, some distance from the foot of the black hole. Harbin lifted his head, and began to fly in its direction.

“If he makes it back to the event-horizon he’ll be able to charge himself up all over again!” Tidshaw warned.

“Then let’s finish this!” declared Dylan, shutting off the Cycle’s forcefield and standing in his seat. With both arms upraised our hero pushed his powers to the limit and seized the derelict bulks of two galactic cruisers, each as long and wide as a freeway, and flung them with all his might into the stretch of space between Harbin and the hole. Dylan’s companions launched themselves after the huge hulls and landed atop them, racing along their roofs to charge their adversary down even as the metal masses beneath their pounding feet hurtled at him too. Thassal, Bret and Ned, an incandescent trio glowing in three different hues, led the way with their tremendous running speed while from behind them Joe’s fireballs, Autumn’s diamond rings and Neetra’s photon blasts hailed upon Harbin in an unstoppable avalanche. The enemy, for all his superhuman powers, needed just one glance at what was heading his way to make him change course at once from the black hole, and flee.

Our heroes jetted after him even as the twin hulks crashed into the void and were squeezed out of existence. Tidshaw and Joe each locked a hand around the other’s wrist and in a streak of pink they flew together at their man, whereat Harbin reeled back from Joe’s flaming punch. Bret and Ned took position, and two fists, one shining blue and the other green, decisively ended the conflict.

Head over heels Harbin flailed through space, and when he finally righted himself, he glared down at the Time-Shifting Device in his hand. The last of his own limpid light was fading from its controls, which before his eyes were returning to the steady red glow of before. He had been away from the black hole too long, and the extra power he had infused into the Shifter had evaporated. Such plans as Harbin might have had to put it to anything but its intended use were over.

Hitting one of its buttons, he blasted off. A shimmering silver-blue circle opened in the universe ahead of him, and Tidshaw, glimpsing the familiar towers of his own Nottingham beyond the time-portal’s ambit, cried out: “Harbin’s running for home! If he takes that device back to our era, who knows what he’ll do with it?”

In the moment that remained, Joe acted. From his hand shot a ball of flame that tore to the route on which his foe was set, and on this occasion Harbin had not the speed to dodge it. The fiery blast that struck him broadside knocked the Time-Shifter from his clutches, and trailing amber smoke behind him he wheeled into the portal and was gone. Meanwhile the tiny square device spiralled down through the expanse, bounced and clattered from an array of meteor fragments, and before anyone could make a move to save it, fell straight into the black hole.

The time-portal trembled, its silver light fluctuating, and immediately began to close. Quick as a flash Autumn called up a diamond ring and flung it width-ways into its maw, bracing it for precious seconds against its inevitable collapse. She, her brother, Thassal and Ned flew to the Hero Cart and put it in gear without delay.

“Looks like there’s no time for a long goodbye, Four Heroes!” Tidshaw beamed. “So thanks for your help, and to state the obvious…see you later!”

With that they sped homewards into the portal, just before Autumn’s diamond ring gave way and the circle of sliver blinked out of sight.

Joe, Bret, Dylan and Neetra stood together on the Ultimate Cycle’s drive section. For a long time they gazed at the starscape before them, even though the time-portal was no longer there. Presently a telepathic message from The Chancellor brought them back to the here and now:

Good work, Four Heroes. Some minor earth-tremors in Nottingham, now subsided. Few injuries, no deaths, and Gala is recovering. Whoever your strange young friends were, it seems that working in unison you accomplished your mission.

All part of the service, Chancellor! Bret replied. See you when we get back.

“Good plan, not mentioning we lost the Time-Shifter,” Dylan added to Bret. “Gala’s not going to be pleased about that!”

“That’s not all she’s not going to be pleased about,” Neetra commented, in matter-of-fact tones.

Bret nodded. “You’ve got that right, Neet,” he said seriously. “Her little gig’s up. We’ve never been able to say for sure that the future we visited is the one that’s ahead for us, so until today, Gala and the Next Four might really have been here to replace us for all we knew. Now, though, we’ve seen the proof that it’s going to work out the way Perdita told us all along.”

“We didn’t need proof,” Neetra said happily. “It’s like Ned told you, Bret. You knew. We all knew.”

“We all knew,” Bret repeated. After that there were no more words, for The Four Heroes put their arms around each other and looked out upon the vast universe in contented silence, reflecting on how it should be that even for them, and even after all this time, life still held such wonders in store.

It was night when Bret arrived home, and went at once to Amy who was waiting for him in their room. She sat up on the sofa as he entered.

“Hey,” she greeted him warmly. “I didn’t know when you’d be back from space, so I wasn’t sure what to do about dinner. Want to order takeout?”

“Definitely,” said Bret. “But first…”

He joined her on the settee, held her in his arms, and they kissed. Then gently he stood, taking her with him, and they kissed for a longer time. When finally they drew apart, both knew what was next.

“No objections from this girl,” Amy purred. “But before dinner’s a big change for you. What’s happened?”

“So much,” Bret said softly, a breathless smile of awe lighting his face. “What we did today, and who I met, I’ll tell you all about later, but what it means…Amy, tonight’s the night. This is when we make it happen.”

“Hey, Bret, hold on,” Amy said, suddenly concerned. “We’ve got to stay realistic about this. I’ve been taking my treatment, and Phoenix says the signs are good, but we mustn’t get our hopes up too high…”

Bret’s blue eyes shone into her green ones.

“We’ve got more than hope now, Amy,” he whispered gently to her. “Tonight, for the first time…I know.”

He turned down the lights, and the stars twinkled above them.

THE END