CHAPTER 14 pgs. 85-88
…Sade observed Mad standing off alone, scanning the horizon with her back to them. She wondered what seized her attention just as Mad did something peculiar. She tapped her red-crusted boot heels together, which made a clicking sound, and said, “There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.” Mad stood silent—the Stargirls’ mouths were agape—when she spun around and grinned at them. “All my life, I wanted to do that,” said Mad, thinking they would get a kick out of it; but the look on their faces shocked her. Abruptly, the temperature dropped as an enormous shadow enveloped them, turning Bahtra’s daylight into purple twilight.
Sade tried to speak; she frantically pointed behind Mad. “You’re not going to believe this.” Mad turned and gasped at the massive object confronting her, hovering in the sky.
Sade yelled, “It appeared out of nowhere.”
Mad, tongue in cheek, said, “It appeared because I clicked my heels three times.”
“That’s too creepy.”
“Well, it’s not every day you’re rescued by an extraterrestrial.” Before Sade could respond, a beam of intense energy scanned their bodies and transported them onboard the colossal saucer.
* * *
Life by its grand plan is getting better, Lyn thought, as she stood naked and immaculately clean. There was not a lick of Bahtra dust left on her body. All contaminants and clothing were gone, leaving her scrubbed and in the buff.
Naked to the universe, Jill looked around and thought could the Star people be nudists? Her telepathic thought brought smiles to the Stargirls faces. Then a hole opened in the wall and a pile of black silk like material fell to the floor.
Sade sat thunderstruck, realizing she had lost the Golden Star. Mad noticed her grimacing and said, “Sade, I know what you’re thinking— don’t fret. I’m sure it’s secure with our Star guide.”
Sade said, “I’d feel awful if anything happened to it.”
Jill overheard Sade’s lament and said, “Get dressed and we will help,” as she grabbed what looked like pull-on pants and a tank top from the silk mound.
They stood in stunned silence, looking bewildered by their unexpected rescue. Suddenly, the wall behind them glowed and an opening appeared. Large crawly things marched in, shaking the floor and grabbing Lyn from behind with steely pincers that overpowered her. She felt trapped on a UFO the size of Brooklyn, helpless and now in agonizing pain. She knew it was futile to resist. She tried to call out, but searing pain controlled her. The mechanical pincers dug deep into her muscle as it dragged her somewhere.
Ali yelled, “Hey—” as four hairy beasts surrounded her. Instinct took over—she attacked the largest beast with a flurry of blows and kicks that, to her amazement, knocked the large beast to the floor. The other beasts hesitated. She spun, landing hard butterfly kicks under their noses, hitting nerve points with her heel that cut a swathe through them.
When four more beasts charged her before she could strike again, an alarm sounded, sending a hoard of reinforcements to control the unruly aliens.
Ali screamed, “Lyn!” struggling to free herself but out-muscled by the revolting creatures. The more she struggled, the tighter their grip. Ali felt air crushed out of her lungs until she blacked-out.
Jill, defending herself, saw Ali fall limp. Jill yelled, “Let go, you freak,” while leaping on the back of the beast crushing Ali. She applied a shime-waza chokehold on its massive neck. The beast struggled to throw her while letting go of its death grip on Ali who dropped to the floor. The beast flailed its arms, but Jill’s deadly hold caused it to collapse to its knees. Outnumbered, Jill brought down three more beasts with strategic blows, striking vital points at the base of their skulls, temples, and carotid arteries.
Sade and Mad covered Jill’s back, holding off a half dozen attackers with ferocious scissor kicks to their bodies—knees buckled, kidneys went into shock, and throats chopped, gasping for breath.
Suddenly the beasts stopped their attack and retreated. The Stargirls had fought valiantly. Then creepy-crawly things surrounded them and flashes of energy stunned them. They fell to the floor writhing in pain.
Cold steel pincers gripped them with hydraulic proficiency, putting an end to their heroic rebellion and rescue of Lyn.
* * *
Burning, stabbing pain radiated up her arm and shoulder, while being dragged by a cold-blooded machine with no understanding of pain—pain that made Lyn feel faint. She feared the violent twisting of her arm.
Fearing a partial dislocation—or, worse, having it ripped off. She kicked with her feet, pushing hard off the floor, trying to prevent further injury and keep up with the machine’s cruel pace.
Finally, the machine stopped and let go its vise grip. Lyn lay, rubbing her battered arm, fighting off tears. Her arm was black and blue, but nothing felt broken. She lay trembling outside what appeared to be a door, as the agonizing pain in her arm turned to numbness and the horror of what laid behind the door gripped her harder.
She shrieked, “Oh, my God.” as the machine loomed back over her and a ray of light scanned her body. She felt thankful the machine did not tear her apart. It was spider-like—a creepy, crawly thing with a big head and lifeless metallic eyes—while terrifying creatures with huge hairy muscles and burning red eyes stared down at her. Lyn wanted to cry out to the others, to see if they were alive, but she feared treatment more savage. Once the machine finished its examination, it left. She sighed miserably. She sat up, holding her throbbing arm, while glumly thinking, what happened to our Star guide. She stared at the floor to avoid the menacing red eyes.
Violently thrown into a dark cell the others fared no better as expectations of rescue crushed. Hopeful expectations turned to shock, despair, and disillusionment as they softly called to each other; “Are you okay?” as they reached out, hugged each other, and cried over Lyn’s uncertain fate.
* * *
Beyond their feeble voices and desperate circumstances, a sinister, commanding voice laughed and said, “Master will be most pleased. I captured the aliens that will power our control of the Star people.” His vulgar laughter rang out again, and the enormous saucer entered Sync-time and accelerated faster than the speed of light toward its home base while dark energy mysteriously propelled it.
The only thing on his mind was domination of the Vaangeez galaxy. Despite an ageless intergalactic war with the Star people, he only grasped its meaning in his own wretched survival and fantasy of ruling the Vaangeez galaxy. The alien beings he captured meant nothing to him, yet they held the means to victory. He put aside his natural desire to ravage and kill them and followed his Master’s orders . . . for the moment.
The Stargirls huddled together in what felt like a cold steel trap. They whispered to each other, wondering what had happened. They felt numb and foolish for falling into a deadly ambush. They were worried sick over Lyn, the loss of the Golden Star, and their freedom.
Mad said, “Someone went out of their way to stop us.”
Ali retorted, “Without the Star and Lyn, it feels like the gates of hell opened and swallowed us.”
Shocked and bewildered by their alien abduction they struggled to comprehend what was happening. Reality no longer made any sense; it was a waking nightmare.Nevertheless, the Stargirls refused to be beaten, falling back on their survival training. They realized it did not matter what happened or how they got there. What mattered was how they were going to get out.
Mad snapped, “You don’t want to mess with a Stargirl and think you’ll get away with it. Our spirits will prevail.” Her words seethed in white-hot fury. “Remember Ping-fa, Sun Tzu,’ Art of War—read between the lines: kick ass and take names later.” With that blunt remark, the Stargirls drew up an asymmetric battle plan. Mad thought hit and run.Jill added, “Deception is Sun Tzu first rule of war. Do not forget what Denham said in King Kong: ‘Oh no, it wasn’t the airplanes. It was Beauty killed the Beast.’” The Stargirls struck by her surprising reflection pondered its meaning for the battle ahead.