DrHeat

I’d finally saved up enough money to buy one of those fancy new SRV everyone was suddenly going mad for.  Of course, the fact that I bought one nearly a year after every pilot and their brother snatched one up was about par for the course with me.  No big deal.  I always kind of did things at my own pace. 

But, at last, I plopped down the credits and the boys in the outfitting bay fitted a planetary vehicle hangar into the Valdosta II and then I purchased my first SRV. Of course, it wasn’t one of the top of the line Surface Recon Vehicles.  It was just the base, cheapest variety available.  But even that took a hefty bite out of my credit pool.

Even still, I was pretty stoked to take that thing out for a spin.  I mean, you spend days, weeks, months, in the cold heat of space, and you start to crave something different.  Some rocks and valleys and dirt instead of the impersonal black.  So, to that end, I found myself a nice little planet with a couple of landing docks and nosed V2 into the atmosphere. 

It was strange, at first, feeling that buffeting and rocking that accompanied atmospheric entry.  It had been a long time since the stick fought me.  After a few moments, though, I regained control and let the old girl sail deeper into the planet’s well.  Finally, we broke through the atmosphere and entered a smooth glide, flying over the rocky surface of the planet at about 2500km/sec.  It was actually kind of a thrill.  Sort of like flying the way the ancient aero pioneers did. 

In atmosphere, a Cobra isn’t the most aerodynamic vehicle, so it took some doing, but I was finally able to coax her into an acceptable landing, and the port’s docking arms secured my ship and lowered us into the hangar.  Landfall at last!

I climbed down my ship’s interior ladder, feeling the unfamiliar tug of planetary gravity.  I laid my palm on the security panel of the SRV.  It recognized my heartbeat and sweat acidity, went green, and opened up. 

I slid into the seat of the SRV.

It was smaller than the Valdosta, with the driver’s seat surrounded on three sides by a plexi bubble, so I had a bit of a greater field of view than in the Val.  But it was cozy, and it belonged to me.

Of course, the first thing I did in the blasted thing was crash into a rock and flip it over, shredding hull and throwing me around like a raisin in a tin. Well, that’s not entirely true.  The first thing I did was trigger the SRV cannons in a no-fire zone, netting me a cool 100cr fine.  I paid that off, then drove my SRV into a rock and flipped it.

It’s a good life.

They only knew her as the lunch lady who spooned watery mashed potatoes on their trays, or sometimes Craig-Face Cathy, even though her nametag proudly proclaimed her name to be Glenda. She wasn't attractive, even by a loose application of the word. She was round, with short, fat fingers. Her hair, more salt than pepper was stringy, and it always looked desperate to escape from her hairnet. Poor dear, even her constant and radiant smile couldn't save the kind woman from a life of ugliness.

And, yet, beyond all that, she was essential, wonderful, and very, very crucial. You see, Glenda was not Glenda alone. Glenda was Kemleoga Fasmilituhg, Special Protector of Third Planet of Sol, Last Line of Defense Against the Long Dark.

For, unknown to the denizens of this tiny beautiful rock, the End of the Universe stalked the Milky Way. A creature of fathomless evil and eternal patience, the End of the Universe sought to eradicate all organic life, and usher the universe into a future of dark matter and Things That Live Between the Stars.

For ages of galaxies, Kemleoga and its people had warred with the End of the Universe and its vile minions. Stars and planets themselves had become weapons in the war, each force seeking some tiny advantage over the other.

And never was the balance so delicate, the knife-edge so keen, as it was now. For, on Earth was born a child who had, deep within him, the power to vanquish the End forever. This child was the most important living being in the entire universe. And Kemleoga, fiercest and most skilled warrior in the universe, would be his mentor.

And Kemleoga's guise was Glenda. Day after day, Glenda spooned gruel onto the child's tray as he laughed and joked with his friends. When he went home, Glenda followed in secret and kept watch over the house.

And knew that soon, the burden of all life in the galaxy would fall on the boy. Only days now.

For the End had discovered the boy, too.