The Heroes, the Pirate and the Head, Chapter Two

Nottingham Castle, perched on a rugged cliff-face that overlooked the whole splendour of the thriving city, was one of the oldest parts of The Four Heroes’ home. It was equally true, of course, that all of Nottingham was the same age, having been brought into existence in a single instant, but its creators had recently visited the city’s strange retroactive history and learned that centuries ago, Nottingham was also a tiny settlement atop this defensible highland where perhaps the first ever group who could call themselves The Four Heroes had dwelled. The castle, which had been there then, was still there now, and this very day marked the latest turning-point in its long history.

Throughout the verdant gardens and shady winding paths of the castle grounds, a veritable legion of removal-men ferried crates and boxes from the main gates up the hillside to the stately manse at its summit. There, before the grand front doors, stood a quartet of figures. It was Joe and Neetra of The Four Heroes, along with a handsome dark-haired man whose body was made of purple-coloured machinery, and a striking young woman dressed in black piratical costume. This last individual had been watching the crews below with obvious satisfaction, but the foursome had just received a telepathic message that somewhat sobered their mood.

“So,” the young woman said at length, the great scarlet plume in her wide-brimmed hat lifting slightly in the breeze. “A collective strike force of Four Heroes and Next Four members just failed to apprehend yet another live Dimension Borg robot. Those things must be the most elusive prey I’ve ever heard of.”

“The one who unleashed them upon us never wavers in his crusade against the forces of justice, Gala,” said Joe. “We must show the same constancy in upholding our cause, if we are to prevail.”

“Hey, cheer up, mate!” the mechanical man then said with a grin. “We don’t want to let a bit of bad news spoil moving-in day!”

At this a small smile touched Gala’s lips, and she looked out again at the labours going on below. “Steam is correct,” said she. “We have much to celebrate. I’m thankful, Joe, for the help you and your team have given us in bringing all this about so quickly.”

“Without you and the Next Four, Gala, we could never have saved the world,” Joe replied plainly. “None of us will ever forget that. What is more, we created Nottingham for the benefit of all humanity – there is not one who is not free to reside here. Nor is it for The Four Heroes to determine who lives where in this city, and the support we gave you in convincing the authorities to agree to your choice of residence is no more or less than a gesture of our gratitude, and of the trust we all hope we will come to share.”

“Still, not everybody in your position would have been so helpful,” Gala went on. “Considering the circumstances under which we’re establishing this base in Nottingham –”

“The circumstances?” Neetra interrupted, in tones considerably more pointed than those of her fellow hero. “Are you talking about how you still think you’re here to replace The Four Heroes as guardians of Nottingham? Don’t think that just because we’re OK with you setting up home in one of our major buildings, we’re ready to buy that!”

Joe put his hand on her arm. “I believe what Neetra means,” he continued diplomatically, “is that there is much we have needed to discuss since our first encounter. Now that you and the Next Four have made yourselves a presence here in Nottingham, might that time be upon us?”

Gala nodded. “Indeed it is,” said she. “Tonight, just as soon as we’re done with the operations here. I’ll send word telepathically.”

“Fine, we’ll just go and sit down somewhere and wait for you to do that,” said Neetra, taking Joe’s arm. “Don’t forget to lift with your knees!”

And with that, she and Joe set off. Steam watched them silently as they made their way into the gardens, and Gala saw him watching.

“The girl’s certainly spirited, Steam – what else would you expect from one-half Highlander and one-half planet of war?” she declared. “I can at least partly understand the attraction. However, she’s made her choice, so accept it.”

Steam immediately tore his gaze away and went back to overseeing the moving-in procedures, obeying Gala without question as he always did. She, however, was also watching the backs of Joe and Neetra, and she didn’t stop looking as they steadily disappeared from sight. The expression on her face, as on so many other occasions, was unfathomable.

Deep in the gloomy basement storage levels of Military Control Centre One, Neetra’s sisters Carmilla and Phoenix made their way along an eerie avenue piled ceiling-high with lifeless Dimension Borg robots. There were thousands of them, all in various states of disrepair, their mangled limbs and limp spidery legs jutting out at bizarre broken angles, and their severed exposed wires twisting and coiling across the floor and each other. An endless sea of identical slit-like eyes, once burning red but now dull grey-black, stared unblinking at the two girls from everywhere as they passed.

“So many…and all of zem useless,” Phoenix said ruefully, shaking her head. “All ze Dimension Borg robots destroyed by General Dartmoor’s troops on zat terrible day activated some kind of memory-purge when zey fell, effectively wiping all useful information from zeir computer-brains as zeir functional life ended. Ze ultimate fail-safe, to prevent any of zese captured husks yielding up to us ze knowledge of zeir mastair’s whereabouts.”

“Dimension Borg covers his tracks well,” Carmilla agreed. “We’ve both been fighting him long enough to know that.”

“Only a live one can ’elp us now,” Phoenix mused on, putting her small fingers together. “One zat escaped deactivation, but was too badly damaged to withdraw from ze Earth when Dimension Borg sounded ’is retreat. A robot still at large ’ere in Nottingham, with its brain functions still online. If we can but capture one alive, ze information locked in its mind can surely lead us to where our enemy ’as ’idden ’imslef. Dylan came so close today, but once again…”

“Faith in your boyfriend, little sis!” Carmilla grinned. “Trust Dylan, he’ll get you your live one. And the sooner the better. Dimension Borg’s a danger to every innocent being out there, now he’s back in our universe and on the run.”

“Zat is one of ze reasons we must find ’im, oui,” Phoenix said, and checked her watch. “But onto othair mattairs, I believe I ’ave an appointment. You get some lunch, ma soeur!”

The sisters said their goodbyes and parted, Carmilla leaving the Control Centre while Phoenix took the lift to one of the upper floors. There, in a meeting room, she found The Four Heroes’ cat-girl friend Amy waiting for her. Just as they were greeting each other, Bret came in.

“Sorry I’m late,” he said, sitting down next to Amy at the table. “Rebuilding work turned out a bit more exciting than I expected!”

“I ’eard, mon brave,” Phoenix smiled, also sitting down and taking out her folder of notes. “My commiserations, and I am sure you and ze othairs fought well. Now.”

Amy grinned back. “Now is right, Phoenix!” said she. “So…what do you think?”

Phoenix spread her hands.

“First of all, you do not need me to tell you zat zis is a serious undertaking,” she began. “You are no different to any othair couple in zat. Zere are commitments, zere are risks. But I think per’aps you ’ave already made your decision, knowing well enough of zose.”

Bret and Amy linked hands. “We have, Phoenix,” Amy replied. “To tell you the truth, we’d started to think about it even before Dimension Borg’s attack. You know what we’ve been through together, and after all of it we’re still going strong, so this had started to feel like the next natural thing. But after losing the Earth, and so nearly losing each other and everything else, well…I guess it brought home to us that none of us are going to be here forever, and there’s no time like today.”

Phoenix nodded with understanding. “Le mot juste,” said she. “No doubt zere are many who feel ze same way at zis time. Zen my next question would be…are you sure it is my ’elp you wish? It is an honair for which I do not ’ave ze words, but zere are many scientists and doctors far oldair and wisair zan I, and Dylan ’as always taken charge of our medical concerns in ze past…”

“We want you, Phoenix,” Bret declared in no uncertain terms. “You’re our friend, and you’ve been part of this whole family for so long. If there’s anyone we can trust absolutely, and anyone who’s got the brains to help us out, it’s you.”

Phoenix could only look down at her notes for a moment, her cheeks rather pink. “Merci,” she replied softly, then resumed in tones closer to normal, “Ze next thing, zen, must be to make it clear zat in othair ways, your situation is not like zat of any othair couple. It is fair to say zere is not a great deal of casework on what you propose…”

Amy laughed. “I can imagine!” said she. “So in other words, no guarantees?”

“No guarantees,” Phoenix agreed matter-of-factly. “But I swear I will do everything I can. Ze laboratory will be ready for ze first of our tests zis evening, so Amy, if you will join me zen, we will begin.”

END OF CHAPTER TWO