Galaxy of Heroes

Sergeant First Class Joe J. Grimes sat in a chair alone in his apartment, his pale blue eyes gazing out the window into the thick haze that saturated the alien landscape below. His apartment was up on the 40th floor of this habitation building. His window had a commanding view of the yellow and orange tinted terrain of the planet Meglos.

The atmosphere on this planet was a dense mix of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, methane and ozone—completely unbreathable to humans. Through the almost opaque orange-yellow haze, Grimes could see a distant silhouette of rounded peaks—the Megalan Mountains—smooth, bleached rocks that rose upward in massive elongated domes.

Grimes’ hair was spiky blonde, almost white. He was shirtless in his chair. His torso was muscled and wiry and covered in scars, from shrapnel wounds from long-ago battles fought and lost in the Heliac System. His back was striped with scar tissue—a permanent reminder of his time in the service of Craaldan masters.

Grimes exhaled deeply. He was a soldier who had once been gung ho, overflowing with energy and bravado and willing without question to take on the galaxy and its empires.

No more. Humanity had let him down. Now, his over-riding desire was to be away—far away from human intrigue, division and defeat in war.

It was early morning and he was already weary. The gravity on this planet was three times that of his home world of Jing, which was roughly Earth-like in size.

Every movement here on Meglos was a chore. Each evening when he returned to his apartment he would collapse on his bed feeling worn out and run down, just from going through the normal motions of the day. Lying down brought no rest. He would awake suddenly from dreams of being crushed under a boulder or under some huge piece of machinery that was pushing down heavily on his chest. He would awaken covered in sweat, his heart pounding.

One thing was certain, though, he was getting in excellent shape. With the end of each day, he felt as if he had endured an intense exercise regimen. The simple movements of daily living pushed him right up to the point of muscle failure. At times he would absent-mindedly reach for something, such as a glass of water or an electronic notepad, and the mindless act of picking up an ordinary object would cause such strain that often he felt he was ripping tendons and pulling muscles.

But Grimes was inured to hardship and was gradually adapting to the high gravity of this planet.

The Megalans who lived here had adapted to life here over several generations. The first settlers on Meglos were average-size humans, about a thousand in number. Many could not tolerate the high gravity and left. Quite a few succumbed to heart attacks or simple exhaustion.

The heartier survivors who remained raised children and slowly began to build a sustainable settlement. Natural selection pressures were intense on the early Megalan populace, and, combined with attempts at genetic engineering to build bodies better able to cope with the trials of life, over a few generations the typical Megalan had developed into a large boned, heavily muscled human with a massive frame.

The Megalans had adapted so well to life on Meglos that when they left, they craved the feel of the heavy gravity of their home world.

The Megalans often tried to convince other humans to settle on their isolated planet, with little success. The humans who arrived here traveled vast distances through empty space, and the transition from long periods in zero gravity to the intense gravity on Meglos was often too extreme to endure. It was not uncommon for new arrivals to drop dead from heart attacks after remaining on the surface for only a day or two.

This kept the population on Meglos small—only about 5 million strong on this huge planet. The Megalans had tried to expand their numbers using artificial gestation clinics, but their technical skills in the biological sciences left much to be desired. Reproduction on Meglos was done mostly the old fashioned way.

Sgt. Grimes lifted himself up from his chair. He put on a shirt, trousers and boots and walked out of his apartment and into a busy hallway.

Huge Megalans lumbered past him. Grimes was about six feet tall, which was short here. The females on Meglos averaged around six foot five, and were often taller. Their shoulders reminded Sgt. Grimes of the massive, rounded peaks of the Megalan Mountains outside.

Grimes rode an elevator down to the ground floor where thousands of big Megalans walked to and fro through an airy, cavernous atrium as they went about their day.

The architecture here was the common, rough and sturdy Megalan style, consisting of massive, squat columns holding up arched ceilings. Metal support beams crisscrossed the ceilings and walls. Grimes walked for what seemed like hours through this enclosed city of giant humans until he entered a noisy rotunda in the Government Center.

A Megalan guard stood in front of a door. The guard pushed his big finger into Grimes’ chest. “Where do you think you’re going, little fella?” he asked.

The guard was unarmed, and dressed in the same loose-fitting civilian attire that everyone wore on Meglos.

“I need to talk to the Governor,” Grimes said.

“Governor Zegra is in a meeting,” the guard said.

“Just tell her that Joe is here,” Grimes said. “It’s important.”

The big Megalan guard rolled his eyes and put a finger to his ear. “Another one of the Governor’s man friends,” the guard said into his comm system. “He says his name is Joe.” The guard laughed. “Yeah, he is a little fella.”

The door opened. The guard stepped aside, looking down at Grimes with a smirk. “You keep the Governor happy for us citizens, OK little guy?”

Grimes walked down a plush, wood-paneled hallway and entered a conference room where Governor Zegra was seated at the head of a large table. Five Megalans on her staff sat on one side of the table, and four on the other. Everyone in the room was focused on a Megalan male dressed in military attire standing in front of a large screen that depicted several sectors on this side of the galaxy.

Governor Zegra glanced over at Grimes. She winked at him before returning her attention to the screen. She was truly a striking woman, Grimes thought upon seeing her again. He took a seat against the wall in the back of the room.

“Recent arrivals from the Inner Galaxy are reporting that full-scale war has broken out between the Craaldan and Diocon empires,” said the Megalan male as he stood in front of the screen. His name was General Rathbone—commander of the Meglos Planetary Guard.

Technically, everyone on Meglos was a member of the Guard, but little training ever took place. The last time the Guard used force was over a hundred years ago when two political factions on the planet broke into open fighting on the streets of the capital. As the years passed, the Guard became more of a concept on file than a trained military force. It amazed Grimes how a people so physically large and strong could have such an impotent military. Grimes often thought that only a handful of Heliac Rangers in a few hours could bring this whole planet to its knees.

General Rathbone pointed out several systems where huge military engagements between the two empires had taken place. “These engagements are escalating to such size that civilizations caught in the middle are being obliterated. By my estimate, nine advanced societies have been extinguished in just this one engagement alone, just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“OK,” Governor Zegra said. “Now you’ve got my attention, General.”

Zegra was large and powerfully built, but all woman. She had deep blue eyes, and liked to keep a pair of green Paltran lenses perched on her nose. Her reddish black hair was pulled back tightly in a bun. She wore a dark blue woman’s suit, cut low at the chest revealing ample cleavage.

The lenses she wore on the end of her nose gave her what some said was an intellectual look, although she said she used them for data feeds.

Governor Zegra radiated charisma and an easy confidence. Grimes could swear that he could physically feel her presence, even here on this side of the room, tingling warmly in his stomach and up and down his legs.

“Will the war spread to our corner of the galaxy?” Governor Zegra asked.

“We are in one of the most remote regions of our sector,” the general said. “But the war does appear to be moving in our direction.”

“We must prepare the Guard,” Governor Zegra said. “That is our priority.”

“Governor,” the General said. “We are just a few humans on a rock in the middle of nowhere. No amount of preparation will do us any good against Craaldans or Diocons. A better course of action would be to plan for evacuation if the war gets too close for comfort.”

“I am not evacuating,” the Governor said. “I would rather die here fighting than drift through space for the rest of my life.”

“With all due respect, Governor, I cannot condemn my fellow citizens to death in a fight with no hope of victory,” the general said.

“There will be no evacuation,” the Governor replied, dismissively. “We will defend Meglos.”

“I will plan for an evacuation, with your approval or not.”

“No, General,” Governor Zegra said. “You are relieved of your command and stripped of your rank, effective immediately. You are dismissed, citizen Rathbone.”

The general’s face turned red. He walked up to the Governor and smashed his huge fist on the table. He leaned down and glared into the Governor’s brilliant blue eyes.

Governor Zegra’s face remained calm and collected. She did not break his stare. Rathbone looked away, stood and turned. He stormed out of the conference room, slamming the large door behind him with an echoing crash.

Governor Zegra turned in her chair. “Sergeant First Class Joe Grimes,” she said across the room. “You have combat experience with the Craaldan Empire. I am putting you in charge of the Planetary Guard. I want you to get us trained up, just like Heliac Rangers.”

Grimes was looking down at his hands, opening and closing them and loosening his knuckles in the heavy gravity. “The general is right, Zegra. You should follow his advice. Take it from me.”

“What would it take to get you to train us, Joe?” she asked. “Name your price.”

Grimes looked up at her. His pale blue eyes met her brilliant blues. “I want Genie back,” he said.

She lowered her chin and looked at him over her glowing lenses. Her eyes fixed on him from across the room, focusing in like laser beams.

“Over my dead body,” she said.