Chapter 34: The Underworld
Elliot stared down into the bottom of his half empty beer glass. The barman, called Niktu had told him that by his calculations tonight was Elliot’s twentieth birthday. He was celebrating on his own for the moment at least. The bar was mostly empty as normal. Alcohol consumption was frowned upon among Kylots but not by all.
It was now more than a year since Elliot had been dumped by Suki. He and Sylvia had drifted further apart. Flight school was much more boring than he had anticipated. He still had eight more years to go before he could fly a spaceship.
It wasn’t his first time in the tavern. On previous occasions he had acquainted himself with some of the clientele, less than half of whom were Kylots. Tonight Elliot did not recognise anyone apart from the barman and Sergei.
“You look very down, Elliot for a guy celebrating his birthday. And you’re not yet twenty-one. Don’t tell me it’s taken you a year to get over Suki. Move on my friend, I did,” Sergei said aloud while trying not to slur his words.
“Me too,” Niktu volunteered. “It only took me three months to get over her.”
“To be honest, it’s not Suki. I don’t know why Sylvia is pushing me away. We used to be good friends. Now, she doesn’t spend much time with me and its almost as if she doesn’t want to know me.”
“You sound a bit like a broken record my friend,” Sergei advised him. “You’ve got to get over your obsession with Sylvia. There are plenty of Kylots here for you to choose from. I’ve been with plenty myself and if you ask nicely they might turn into Marilyn Monroe. Life’s too short to be down in the dumps. Sylvia is just one woman. Experiment a little. You might find something you like.”
Obsession? Elliot thought to himself. Maybe he was dwelling too much on the subject. Maybe Sergei was right. Marilyn Monroe or Rita Hayworth weren’t too bad a consolation prize even if some like Sheba took it as an insult.
“There he is. The birthday boy,” a loud and familiar voice called out. It was the moment Elliot had been waiting for. Captain Kurt Overspeed was the life and soul of any party. Elliot first knew him as a flight school instructor. He occasionally filled in for permanent staff when they couldn’t find anyone else. Captain Overspeed had travelled to many places around the Universe and recanted his many stories. He was an Oberling and looked similar to many humans except for a large nose a small and thin frame and large ears. His skin colour was light orange. Elliot had to keep telling himself not to stare at those ears, unusual as they were.
Although Kurt’s physique appeared to be quite delicate, he quite frequently engaged in arm wrestles with other customers and more often than not he would win. Oberling’s were also adept at alcohol consumption. Elliot had never seen Kurt lose balance, even after twelve litres of beer.
“You look like you could do with another my friend,” the much travelled Captain said warmly as he placed his hand on Elliot’s shoulder. “I’ve been to hell and back today but you look more depressed than me after any of my five divorces. Has he been moaning about Sylvia again, Sergei?”
Sergei seemed conflicted as to whether he should tell the truth or not. The truth would only embarrass the birthday boy.
“A Spraggle for the young man Niktu, and another for my good pal Sergei.”
“It’s good to see you, Kurt,” Elliot replied.
“Did I ever tell you about the time I was surrounded by fifty Kylon ships and how I survived?”
“Yes Kurt you did,” the twenty-year old earthling replied, “but it was twenty the last time.”
“Did I ever tell you about the eighteen foot monster that chased me through the jungle on Planet Zod?”
“It may have been twelve foot the last time,” Elliot replied.
“Yes, I do tell a lot of tall stories but there is plenty of truth in them too. Today I am going to tell you about the time I entered the Valley of Kings in Valenon. There was only myself and my trusty friend and mechanic Sid. The King had an enormous stash of gold. Gold is more valuable on Valenon than it is on Earth. The King had heard about my reputation and invited me to his court.
“The King whose name was Latchak Austag said, “I heard that the famous Kurt Overspeed was in the vicinity and I just had to meet him.” Then he recounted some of my many humble achievements. “The greatest space craft navigator in the Universe,” he said, “Welcome to my kingdom.”
But then he did something that did not please me. He had many beautiful servant girls but one in particular was quite nervous around him. She poured him some wine but spilled the tiniest drop on the ground. He yelled at her in Valenonian tongue and hit her with his hand. Then as she was walking away he picked up a whip and lashed it against her back. She fell down and cried a little but reigned in her emotions as much as she could before walking away once more.”
Then I knew I had to seek retribrution. “That was an unkind thing you did to her King Austag. You should apologise.”
“Don’t take that tone with me,” he replied, “or I will have you whipped also. Even if you are the greatest navigator in the Galaxy and lover of women also.”
I didn’t say anything else about the subject for the rest of the night. He showed me his treasure throve of gold and diamonds and exotic artworks. They were heavily guarded. There were two dozen armed guards outside the treasure room alone.
He then offered me a fine room to retire in with a beautiful young girl. I told him that I would prefer to meet the woman he had treated so badly. Begrudgingly he obliged.
When she entered she looked even more beautiful than before. I told her that she didn’t have to do anything unless she wanted to, even though I was the greatest lover-man in the Universe.
I told her that I could take her away with me and to a place where she would be treated with the utmost respect. She was very afraid however. I knew I would not be able to convince her to be brave. When she fell asleep, I made my way to the kings treasure room. There were two dozen armed guards there and me with my bare hands. I took them all on and knocked all of them out cold. I then entered the room of valuables and started to move half of it into my ship. There were a few dozen other guards on duty but they were no match for me. I then went back to my quarters and took the sleeping servant in my arms. I whisked her away and two days later she became my third wife.”
Gullible as Elliot was, even he was sceptical of Kurts story. It was however far more entertaining than those of the average guy. For the remainder of the night Kurt proceeded to tell them about how he wrestled with giant lizards and scaled mountains that were so tall you couldn’t see the peak from the bottom.
After Kurt had consumed his fifth Spraggle, he turned to Elliot. “So this is really your twentieth birthday, eh?” he asked without waiting for a response. “Maybe I should show you around the Underworld. It’s a lot livelier than this place that’s for sure, but a damn sight more dangerous. Even for me. If they hear that the greatest loverman in the history of the Universe is in town, then all the guys get jealous. It goes with the territory. What do you say? Would you like to see the Underworld my friend?”
At this stage Elliot needed a lift. He was always very curious about the underworld, no matter how dangerous it seemed. Now, seemed to be the perfect time to explore it. Sergei had fallen asleep at the bar and Niktu looked like he couldn’t wait until the end of his shift.
Kurt led Elliot out of the bar and across the corridor to an elevator. Captain Overspeed pressed the red button on the elevator. Beside it was a sign that read, “Never under any circumstances press this button”. Elliot wondered why they would put the button there in the first place.
The young man was still conflicted. Would this place be too much for him to handle he wondered? Was Captain Overspeed really as skilled in combat as he claimed he was and would he protect him? These and many other questions raced around in his brain
When the elevator reached ground level it stopped. Elliot could see that it still had to go below ground level to get to the Underworld. Shortly after the elevator reached ground level a voice called out over the intercom. “Are you sure you really want to go there?” it asked.
“You betcha,” Kurt responded without hesitation.
“I’m sorry but that does not compute.” The intercom responded
“It masters thousands of different languages around the universe but this happens all the time,” Kurt responded in an irritated manner as he slapped his hand against the wall of the elevator.
“I’m sorry but that does not compute,” the intercom repeated.
“Yes,” Kurt said in a loud voice, as he tried to reign in his frustration.
The elevator descended what seemed like a further seventy feet until it came to a stop. The doors opened and the first thing that Elliot could see in front of him was eight heavily armed Kylot guards. He felt safer already.
Kurt lead Elliot passed the armed soldiers. “They are there to monitor people getting in to the space station. They serve no other purpose. Down here to all intents and purposes its pretty much every man to himself.”
The Underworld in front of Elliot appeared to be contained in a large glass dome that was two hundred metres in diameter. Contained with it were numerous different creatures from around the universe many of whom did not look very hospitable. The music playing in the background seemed to be a cross between classical music and Arabic music. Some of these party animals seemed to be swaying to the beat.
Captain Overspeed led Elliot to the bar. Behind the bar were three Kylots all of whom were almost seven foot tall. The one that Kurt approached looked similar in shape to most other Kylots except that he was white in colour. Elliot had never come across a Kylot who looked like this until now.
“Two Mindblowers each, for myself and the young man here,” the adventurer requested. Elliot was curious about the drink. He had never heard of it before. It sounded like he could expect a bad hangover in the morning.
The bartender served the drinks in a matter of seconds. Each of the drinks were served in a small glass and looked like green whiskey. Elliot waited to see how Captain Overspeed consumed the drink. The Space Navigator knocked back the first one in one go and in a matter of seconds the next one followed.
“Come on boy,” Kurt addressed him after observing the two full drinks that remained on the bar counter. Elliot slowly and apprehensively picked up one of them. He
could tell that his companion was watching him and so he drank it in one attempt. The drink seemed to burn his throat, but after a short time there was a buzz in his head that made him feel good for about ten seconds.
“Go on have the next one,” Kurt urged him.
Elliot was feeling a bit dizzy. At this point a hand was placed on his back. It felt like the hand of beautiful young woman. It was placed on his back in a way that made feel as if this woman really liked him. He turned around to observe the female specimen only to be disappointed.
The woman had green skin, was nearly six foot tall and hand multipe small creatures embedded in her hair. The creatures were opening and closing their mouths as if they were hungry for food. Facially the female creature looked like a woman in her forties, who was slightly overweight and had several small warts.
“Are you going to drink that, earthman,” she asked. Her voice was every bit as seductive as her touch. Elliot was conflicted once more. He was reluctant to have his mind blown once more by the drink but didn’t fancy having this creature blowing his mind either.
“Why, you can have it if you want,” he said hesitantly as he turned around to face Kurt. Elliot’s heart sank when he discovered that his companion was not there to bail him out.
The female creature accepted the drink and tossed it into her hair where each of the hungry mouths accepted it vigorously. She then placed her hand on Elliot’s shoulder, in as seductive a manner as her first form of contact.
“I’d better find my friend,” Elliot declared as he looked in the opposite direction.
The young man moved away from the bar and looked around the dome. He could not see Captain Overspeed anywhere. The entire area was also relatively crowded. Some of the aliens had slime and needles on their bodies and Elliot didn’t feel comfortable rubbing off them as he tried to move through the crowd
“Over here kid,” a friendly face called out to him. The individual who appeared to be human or at least half human was seated in a chair, on his own. The individual did not appear to be tall or broad. He was dressed in a brown Jacket, white shirt and white trousers. He wore a medallion around his neck and had a belt with holsters that appeared to contain two guns. The apparently friendly individual appeared to be in his thirties, had brown hair and mainly green eyes with a hint of orange. Opposite him was an empty chair.
Elliot wondered why the bigger and more intimidating creatures in the dome gave the mysterious, armed man the space he now occupied.
“How are you kid?” the individual addressed him without pausing for a response. “I don’t see many humans in this place and I come here quite a lot. The name is Bramble, Bramble Ginichy. I’m what you might call a bounty hunter. This place is a treasure trove for bounty hunters. What’s your name kid?”
Elliot didn’t know how to respond. Part of him was suspicious of the bounty hunter and his motives. Another part of him believed he was safer for the moment in Bramble’s company than in any other part of the dome.
“The name is Elliot. I’m from California,” he lied. Part of him feared if this bounty hunter had come for him and wanted to bring him back to Earth.
“California eh? I’ve only been to your world on three occasions. It wasn’t friendly. I’m in no mind to go back. This place here, though is even less friendly but as I have mentioned far more lucrative. I come from Baluba. It’s about a billion light years from Earth. As you can guess, my mother was a human slave taken by my Father. I didn’t like my Father much. He was a Baluban and was probably disappointed I looked more like my mother than him. Baluban’s are primitive in their customs but very advanced in terms of their technology. It’s no mean feat to be able to travel a billion light years in the space of four weeks. Do you want a drink kid?”
A waitress approached their table, after Bramble raised his hand to attract her attention. The waitress looked similar to the girl at the bar, except that she was much prettier and the creatures in her hair looked like snakes with no mouths, lying down placidly on top of one another. She smiled at Elliot. Again the young man was conflicted. Should he smile at the young woman who was otherwise very attractive or should he look away due to her unusual hair? In the end, he just decided to look into space and respond to the question. “I’ll have a Spraggle,” he replied.
“They don’t serve Spraggle’s down here kid. Spraggle’s are for wimps. Get me three Mindblowers for the kid and three Mindblowers for me,” the bounty hunter said before winking at the waitress. “We’ll make a man out of you yet, my friend.”
Elliot didn’t think he could manage another Spraggle never mind three Mindblowers. He felt quite dizzy and disorientated. Part of him wanted to go back to his room but he was afraid he might get beaten up or bitten if he was to make a run for it. He felt comfortable where he was for the moment.
“That guy, you came in with. Who was he?”
Instantly, alarm bells started ringing in Elliot’s head. “He’s just a guy I met in the lobby. I don’t know his name.”
“Well you two seemed quite friendly.”
“He didn’t say who he was,” Elliot lied yet again.
“Kurt Overspeed is his name. He’s worth thirty thousand peso’s on Alberon. That’s a lot of Pesos.”
“What good are Pesos to me. Besides, on Earth it’s like chicken feed,” the young man replied in an attempt to seem apathetic.
“Fifty million dollars is about the current exchange give or take a million or two. That’s a lot of lolly kid.”
“What did he do?” Elliot asked out of curiosity, while trying to remain calm on the outside.
“A lot of things. Theft for one. Running off with a Duke’s wife. Fifty million kid that’s a lot?” Elliot could feel the bountyhunter scanning the slightest change of expression on his face.
“It’s not much if you can’t spend it, is it now?” Elliot asked in an attempt to appear indifferent once again.
“What do you mean?”
Elliot had just put his foot in it. He hoped that Bramble Ginichy didn’t suddenly suspect him of being a fugitive.
“I just don’t think I’d be able to spend it anywhere, besides the fact that on Todor food, drink and rent are free.”
“I know who you are kid. Your name is Elliot Tomkins. You’re not from California, but your only worth forty thousand dollars. That wouldn’t even pay for the fuel to get me there and back. Don’t worry. I couldn’t care less about you and your bounty. The only thing I’m after is the bounty on Kurt Overspeed’s head.”
As much as Bramble, seemed like a decent guy, the last thing that Elliot wanted to do was to betray a trusted friend.
“As I said, I only just met the guy.”
The waitress delivered the Mindblowers. She seemed a little less friendly this time. Even looking at the three drinks in front of him made, Elliot feel like he was about to pass out.
“All I’m saying kid, is that he can’t be trusted. He’s a thief, a kidnapper, a thug.”
“Well maybe you don’t know the guy either.” Elliot responded. Once more he had succeeded in only attracting unwanted scrutiny.
“You know him don’t you?”
“He just seemed like a nice guy. He got me a drink and he disappeared. I’m no use to you. He’s probably around here somewhere if you were to go looking for him.”
“Thanks for nothing kid,” the bounty hunter responded as he knocked back the last of his three mindblowers.
“What’s the matter kid? Aren’t you thirsty?”
Elliot was tired of the questioning. Looking around he could see some interesting aliens about thirty yards away. They seemed to be enjoying themselves as they moved to the music. There were six of them. Each of them stood about six feet tall, had light green skin and trunks that were over a foot long. Their eyes were small and purple and their bodies slender. They wore red robes and had webbed feet and hands. Elliot thought he should join them and show them some of his best moves.
“I think I see an old friend over there,” he said as he picked up one of the drinks and started to make his way over to the group of six aliens.
On his way over an alien tipped Elliot on the shoulder. He looked like a giant crab, except that he had hands rather than claws in his upper body. “I’m hungy,” he said as soon as Elliot turned around, “please feed me.” Suddenly his stomach opened up like a giant mouth and let out a breath that smelt like an animal that had been dead for five days. Elliot walked away as quickly as he could but the creature just laughed at him. The young man was scared of most of the people in this dome and it seemed that they all knew it.
Elliot drank the Mindblower he was holding in his hand and placed the glass on a nearby table. Eventually, he made it across to the aliens that seemed to be enjoying themselves. He had barely noticed until now, a band playing on a stage just beyond the boppers. The band were all very small and each stood about three foot tall. Occasionally they would have things thrown at them but tended to avoid most incoming missiles. They continued playing without interruption. The lead singer who appeared to be female had blue skin and black hair. Her band mates also had blue skin but appeared to be male. One of them played an instrument similar to a saxophone and another played on what looked like a cross between a piano and a guitar.
Elliot started to display his best moves, but instead of the aliens with trunks welcoming him to the group, they formed a circle and did their best to ignore him. Elliot felt humiliated. Some of the onlookers seemed to be laughing at him. Like many a male who suffered rejection in a nightclub, Elliot decided that the best plan of action was to head to the bar.
The young man found a gap at the bar between a huge, strongly built seven foot tall pink skinned giant and a slender, green skinned, female alien who was two inches smaller than Elliot and had long black hair. The young man didn’t want to feel stupid by ordering a drink he didn’t know the name of, so he opted for a Mindblower.
The bar was now quite crammed, but Elliot could feel a woman trying to barge her way between him and the giant. So as not to upset him, Elliot moved to his right as much as he could. When he turned his head, he noticed that the woman who had barged his way through looked like a witch, with green skin, a crooked nose and a wart on her chin. She was also about two inches shorter than Elliot and wore a black hat.
“What are you staring at?” the giant said aloud. “Do you not like my woman, Earthling?”
Elliot did not know what to say. He just wanted to run away. He didn’t want to say, he liked the witch-like alien in case she liked him also, but he also didn’t want to offend the giant.
“Excuse me, I’m not feeling very well,” he said before grabbing the Mindblower off the barman and consuming it rather quickly. As he expected, the Mindblower was enough to knock himself out. He prayed to himself that Kurt would rescue him from his current predicament and that he would wake up in his own bed.
While asleep, Elliot started to dream about Sylvia. He dreamed that she came to him in the middle of the night and told him that she wanted to be with him. Even in his dreams Elliot knew it was too good to be true. When he awoke, he found himself mysteriously in his bed with a throbbing headache. Indeed, he found that there was someone beside him but to his horror it was the female alien at the bar with creatures in her hair. As he realised this the creatures hissed at him. He climbed out of bed instantaneously, got to his feet and put on his clothes. The situation can’t get much worse, the Earthling thought to himself.
Suddenly the young man heard a loud explosion. He became gripped by fear. The ground shuddered as if in the throes of an earthquake. His doorway was slower than normal to open. It sounded like the Space Station was under attack and he would have to move quickly. When the door did open he could see several Kylots rushing up and down the corridor. It appeared as if they were evacuating. The explosions continued.
Immediately Elliot thought of Sylvia. He went to her door, which was locked. After thirty seconds there was no response. Marty called out from behind him. Elliot turned around. He could see Marty and Elisa rushing towards him.
“Elliot, the Kylons are attacking us,” Marty declared in an extremely worried manner. “We’ve got to get off of the space station. It’ll be destroyed in a matter of minutes.”
Part of Elliot wanted to run but another part of him wanted to warn Sylvia and to bring her with him.
“I can’t go without Sylvia,” he declared.
“I think I saw her a few seconds ago,” Elisa declared. “She was running in the opposite direction. I’ll see if I can find her. You two better make it to the hangar. We’ll catch up with you.”
Reluctantly, Elliot agreed.
Everyone around them were running frantically. Most of them ran to the hangar in an anxious manner. When they got there, there were several ships being filled with Kylots. The first of these took off but no sooner had it left the hangar than it was destroyed by Kylons.
“We’ve got to find a small ship that the Kylons won’t be looking out for.” Marty suggested.
“A small ship might not get you out of this solar system,” Elliot responded.
“It might get us to earth though if it had enough fuel.”
“Why would anyone want to go back there?” Of all the places in the universe that Elliot did not want to go, was Earth. He wanted to be able to sleep at night, knowing that the authorities weren’t trying to hunt him down.
“Have you got any better ideas?” Marty responded dismissively before looking around, the hangar.
“How about that ship there?” Marty asked pointing to a relatively small ship in the corner of the hangar.
“That belongs to Kurt. I can see him there. I think he’s planning on evacuating himself.” Elliot was planning on finding Kurt in any case. Part of him wanted to find out what had happened the night before and part of him didn’t.
The door of the small spacecraft was still open. Marty quickly approached and called out to Captain Overspeed.
Kurt appeared to be suffering the effects of having one too many Spraggles from the night before. He didn’t even seem to acknowledge Marty’s existence initially. After much shouting the self proclaimed worlds greatest space traveller lowered the door for both men to come in.
“We don’t have much time,” Kurt declared groggily.
“Please, there are two more coming,” Marty informed the space navigator. “Can you just give it a minute?”
“In a minute this space station will be blown to smithereens,” Kurt responded coldly.
It was then that Sylvia could be seen approaching on her own. Elliot’s heart leapt a little when he saw her. He couldn’t bear the thought of leaving her behind even if they had grown apart.
Kurt who had once more started to raise the door from the ground, changed his mind and allowed Sylvia onto the plane.
“What about Elisa?” Elliot asked aloud.
“We don’t have any more time to waste,” Marty responded. “We have to go. She’ll be alright. I know her too well.”
Initially Elliot was taken aback by Marty’s response. He didn’t seem to give the matter a lot of thought considering Elisa was his partner. Elliot expected Sylvia to say something but she remained silent. It was so unlike her. Part of him felt like shaking her and getting her to provide them with more information but he thought the better of it.
“Are you sure that you don’t have some long lost ancestors you would like to invite onboard?” Kurt asked in a sarcastic but calm manner as the door to the ship was raised once more.
“Elisa was hurt,” Sylvia finally declared. “She told me we should leave without her. She saved my life. I hope she’ll be ok.
In a matter of seconds the spaceship was airborne and the passengers quickly sat down and fastened their seatbelts.
Elliot felt uncomfortable. He didn’t always enjoy being a passenger and hated it when a plane or a spaceship gave him an unsecure feeling as if it was about to sink.
Once the ship emerged from the landing bay, Elliot could see a cluster of battleships and smaller fighter spacecraft grouped together. Captain Overspeed did his best to avoid laserfire, weaving, in and out in an unpredictable manner.
He wasn’t completely full of hot air, Elliot thought to himself. He did have some skill as a pilot, and the fact that he was doing this after a dozen Spraggles and a dozen Mindblowers from the night before made it all the more remarkable.
Finally some laser fire made fractional contact with the ship, disrupting its flight and giving the passengers a nervous jolt.
“Can’t this ship go any faster?” Marty asked aloud in a nervous tone. “Don’t we have guns to shoot back?”
“You’re not helping,” Kurt retorted in a relatively calm manner.
“What about shields, it’s got to have shields right?” the Canadian retorted anxiously.
“This ship predates shield technology,” Kurt insisted. “It’s served me well. The previous ship had to go to my fifth wife.”
“Great, just great,” an exasperated Marty declared.
Most of the Kylon fighter ships were preoccupied with either taking out Kylot weaponry or Kylot fighters. This left the main threat to be the two enormous ships. One direct blast from their canons would spell the end of Kurt and his passengers. They endured a nerve-wracking thirty seconds that seemed to some, more like thirty minutes. Despite a few close calls, they escaped to apparent safety.
“Where are you taking us?” Sylvia asked the Captain after she had unstrapped herself from the seat.
“Earth, right,” Marty interrupted. “You’re taking us to Earth right?”
“So, you’re the girl that Elliot keeps going on about,” the Captain replied. “I must tell you about the time that I was surrounded by one hundred Imorian soldiers.”
“Where are we going?” a frustrated Marty asked.
“Where would you like to go?” Kurt asked without shifting eye contact from Sylvia.
“I’d like to go back to Earth,” Sylvia replied, “unless you know somewhere safer.”
“Most planets are for the most part inhospitable places. Todor was an exception until today. There is of course Barania, but that’s in another galaxy. Earth is the most practicable option, particularly due to our fuel situation.” He looked for the positive reaction in her eyes. “Earth it is,” he declared aloud.
Elliot had mixed feelings about going back to Earth. He was after all a hunted man. On the positive side, he had found memories of Earth, leaving aside his last few weeks there and his treatment at the hands of Derren Blanchflower. He desperately hoped that things could go back to the way they were. Maybe everyone would have forgotten about him.
After ten minutes, Marty climbed out of his seat. Evidently he was hungry and searched some of the presses for food.
“Most of the food on this ship has expired,” Marty said, opening a tin of Dukateca. “I reckon we just have enough food to last a week. That may not be enough time to get to Earth.”
“Dukateca tastes better when it is out of date,” Kurt replied, “just not to humans or Kylots.”
Elliot’s opinion of Marty had changed in the past hour or so. Now, he seemed irritable, impatient and cantankerous whereas previously he appeared to be an incredibly decent guy. Maybe it was understandable, Elliot thought to himself that the tension of their predicament was getting to him.
“How long will it take to get to earth?” Marty asked.
“Seven to ten days, I would say,” Kurt replied. “It depends on whether I can get the hyperspeed working.”
“What happens if we can’t get the hyperspeed working?” an exasperated Marty asked.
“You don’t want to go there,” Kurt replied in a calm manner. Even if all his stories seemed to come from his imagination, Kurt Overspeed did seem like a confident and relaxed individual at all times.
To a certain extent Elliot did not know which he dreaded most, the long journey to Earth or the thought of landing there, surrounded by Reapers or vigilantes.