The question was, would they really show up — this vivid, this real — in one of his manic visions?
There was an empty seat at the end of the dining table. Several of the men motioned Hunter toward it, but he hesitated. He'd worn his fingers raw pinching himself by now, trying to convince his mind and body that this was all real, and that just like seeing the girl earlier that day, and the many other visions he'd experienced, it wasn't all going to go away with another blink of the eyes.
The lead commander of the Star Legion was a man named Erikk. He was a huge, powerful individual, built along the same lines as Hunter's departed friend, Zarex Red. Erikk motioned to Hunter again.
"Hawk, please, sit with us," he said. "We have some very important things to discuss."
Hunter finally relented. Vision or not, he was exhausted. He collapsed into the empty seat.
Erikk spoke: "My friend, we would not have come out to get you unless it was extremely momentous. We know the search for your Flying Machine is important to you. But something has come up. Something rather frightening. I'll try to explain this situation as best as I can to you. But truthfully, I have trouble believing it myself."
The Legionnaire started talking about something being wrong with the Big Generator. Hunter heard mentions of the Empress, she being the wife of O'Nay and Xara's mother, and how she tried to damage the omnipotent power source and how that had created the Great Flash and how some really bad elements within the Solar Guards — they being the SSG — were trying to repair it in such a way that they would be able to have control over who got its awesome power and who didn't. Erikk talked nonstop for about ten minutes. Through it all, Hunter pretended to listen, pretended to be interested. But the story was so crazy and his condition so deteriorated, that with every word he was more convinced that this was indeed another grand illusion, and it would end, just as surely as all the others out in the badlands had ended, and he would be back, lying on the ground, sweating and nearly on fire.
He had to admit, though, that not all of it sounded insane. A few of these words made sense, especially about Xara's mother and her attempt to damage the big black rock, and her paying the price for such an act with her life. The Empress had indeed passed on. Hunter knew this because he'd been told on good authority — that being a real ghost — that she was now in Heaven with Xara. And he was also familiar with the episode Erikk was calling the Great Flash. It was the reason all the REF Starcrashers fell at a crucial time in the Zero Point battle — and was the reason his own beloved spacecraft went down as well.
But it was the part about repairing the Big Generator that was confusing him. Those particular words were going in one ear and out the other. Especially the ones about how the radicals of the SSG were trying to alter the Big Generator, to put them in a position to control the massive, all-reaching, awesome, power-producing device. Could that be possible?
Erikk ended the first part of his speech with a particularly ominous sentence: "The Special Solar Guards will either succeed in being able to control the Big Generator's power, or they will break it for good."
Delirious or not, Hunter felt a shudder go through him.
If the Big Generator went out for good, all means of power across the Galaxy would be gone. The blood of life for trillions of people would be no more. Cold homes. Cold bodies. No food. No warmth. No nothing. The Galaxy would go dark. God would be dead. And the Great Flash would be a blip on the screen compared to the Great Blackout. Such a thing would likely end most if not all life in the Milky Way.
Erikk took a breath and soldiered on: "By our count, the SG has close to two million Starcrashers, and probably just as many smaller but no less lethal ships. If the SSG was somehow able to control the Big Generator, then only SG ships would be able to fly in Supertime. Only the SG would be able to fire the big weapons. The Space Forces would be impotent. The rest of the Empire's military services would be as well. The Solar Guards would become so powerful in that one stroke, they would take over the Galaxy in a week. Or even less."
Erikk indicated his colleagues around the table. The grand StarLiners did not rely on the Big Generator for power. The same held true for the UPF guys. But even combined, their forces would be minuscule, compared to theSG.
"We certainly couldn't stop them for very long," Erikk admitted. "And there are indications they'd be coming for us first."
Hunter just shook his head. This must be another symptom of his madness, he thought glumly. Another vision.
It was just too insane…
Erikk read Hunter's mind. "Like you, my friend, I needed proof," he said earnestly. "But be warned please, the proof might be even more astounding than what I have just told you."
Hunter knew the Legionnaire had a point. Where did this crazy story come from? How did his friends on this isolated planet, halfway up the Two Arm, thousands of light years from Earth, know these deep dark secrets about the SSG and them manipulating the Big Generator? Where was the proof?
At that moment, there was flash of green light in the room. An instant later, Hunter found himself staring up at a tall, dark person dressed entirely in black. He was wearing a large, floppy hat that hid his face and had a cape thrown dramatically over his left shoulder. There was still an aura of emerald light around him, the sign of a subatomic string transfer, an ability shared only among the very high Specials and their ilk.
In a snap, Hunter's ray gun was out of its holster and pointing into the shadow that was so expertly hiding this person's features.
"Who the fuck are you!" Hunter roared at him.
"You're very quick," the voice from beneath the large hat replied calmly. "But believe me, offing me now would be a great mistake. Though I know you would have little compunction in killing an Imperial spy."
Imperial spy? Hunter thought. This really wasn't making any sense now. Why would such a person be allowed in the Star Legion's HQ?
He must be in the middle of an illusion. It was the only explanation. Wasn't it?
The spy spoke again. "I know it's hard to believe," he said in his slightly echoing voice. "But I have come to help you, Mr. Hunter. Help all of you. And not for the first time."
Erikk gently put his hand on Hunter's arm.
"My friend," the Legionnaire said. "By all that is good in me, and my family, I believe this man speaks the truth. Just hear him out, please…"
Hunter reluctantly lowered his weapon. A sigh of relief went through the room.
The spy pulled his hat farther over his face. "What your friends have just told you is accurate," he said to Hunter. "The Special Solar Guards are indeed trying to manipulate the Big Generator, and the consequences will be as dire as they have warned you.
"Now, true, I am part of the Imperial Court. And I have sworn an oath to serve the Emperor and rid the Galaxy of any enemies it might encounter. You, Mr. Hunter, certainly qualify in that respect, as an enemy of the state.
"But at the same time I know that great institutions ebb and flow, and when the tide goes out, innocents are usually the first to suffer. Trillions of them may lose their lives if the SSG succeeds, and if they don't, the Galaxy might become dark again — and that, too, would be catastrophic. A new Dark Age could be upon us, and that adjective would have more meanings than just one. The chaos that would ensue would be unimaginable. Loyalty oath or not, I simply cannot let that happen, not when there's a chance I can do something about it."