The God Complex: The Book Of Alan, Destroyer Of Worlds

Chapter Fifty-Eight

Gabe revelled in the peace and solitude of the Archangel observation deck, the ever-changing light show of the open galaxy as it rushed past his window soothed all trepidation for the future. His eyes were open and the truth had set him free. In a strange sort of way, things made a lot more sense now. The burden of survival was lifted; the guilt of destroying their planet eased - the earth would heal and rise again ready for a new generation to tentatively step foot on its virgin soil and make the same mistakes all over again, all so the Universe could keep its lights on a little longer. It wasn't ideal by any stretch of the imagination, but there was a comfort in the security of the grand plan: it didn't matter what we did as a species, or how little we learned from our mistakes, because there would always be a host of inexperienced, ambitious deities constantly monitoring and manipulating humanity for profit. Our species would forever survive and go back home, leaving Gabe free for one last adventure.

He took the long walk from the observation deck to the kitchen, the gentle hum of the oxygen generator serenading him as he went, he stepped over a pile of Jaibles old clothes, a crumpled relic of a past life and smiled at everything they'd been through together. This old shuttle had been part of his life now for longer than he cared to remember, it had carried all his hopes and dreams of rescuing Nate, saved him from earth, God and EDEN. It was only fitting it would carry all his hopes for the future as well.

'For the love of Alan, would you please just put some clothes on.' yelled Wildcard, 'I'm trying to eat.'

'I will not be body shamed. I'm a strong, supple young flower and I demand that be celebrated.'

'I'm not body shaming you, you've got jam all down your chest hair, it's gross.'

'I will not be jam shamed...'

'Hey Jaibles, hey Wildcard,' said Gabe, putting the kettle on and checking the urgently flashing control panel as he took a cup out of the cupboard. 'Hey! We've got messages from Kali and Bingram - looks like they've found a distress signal coming from somewhere in the Andromeda Galaxy.'

'Finally!' sung Jaibles, through half eaten toast. 'A chance to do a little swashbuckling, plunder a little loot, defy a moderate amount of death, if you catch my meaning.'

'Or, perhaps simply help someone in need?' replied wildcard.

'Don't be naive - everyone knows a distress signal out in space is the start of an elaborate and convoluted trap, that's just basic sci-fi. Hey, maybe they want to breed with me?' His eyebrows danced electrically.

'We better get to the bridge and check it out,' said Gabe, disposing of the used teabag.

Walking past his bunk, Gabe noticed Nate's old leather jacket, now retired in his wardrobe and immediately felt at peace. His past no longer held any fear nor had any hold on him - he knew he'd treasure those moments they shared always, after all they made him who he was, but the future held the promise of more treasure than he could never imagine: freedom. An infinite expanse of possibility - of intelligent life to meet and Gods to avoid; of planets to explore and a life to live. Gabe planned to do it all for as long as he had left. Life was now an open book with nothing but clear empty pages as far as the eye could see, maybe it's not quite how he expected it to turn out, but for once he couldn't have been happier about that.

'How can it be a trap?' said Wildcard. 'Look at the size of that shuttle, it's basically a small planet with an engine. If that thing wanted to get us, there wouldn't be much we could do about it.'

'And where's the fun in that? If I were the head of an evil race of space aliens - for argument's sake, let's call them Ratbadgers...'

'We're not calling them Ratbadgers,' said Wildcard, immediately.'

'If I were King Ratbadger and I had a planet ship capable of destroying all the peace loving people of the Andromeda galaxy, I'd get bored after the first year of marauding. There's no sport in it. Then there's the loneliness - If King Ratbadger kills everyone in his galaxy, who's left to play with? Only lesser Ratbadgers.'

'Please stop saying Ratbadgers,' groaned, Wildcard. 'I knew I should have stayed in Paradise.'

'So, you lie dormant in your planet ship and send out a mysterious beacon strong enough to hear from several galaxies away and wait to see what comes to you. Well, King Ratbadger, you didn't account for the Space Pirates, led by the heroic Jaibles T Kirk, did you?'

'To be honest, I can't even be sure it is a distress signal,' said Wildcard, running it through the system. 'It's not recognising anything, but it's definitely a pattern with a homing beacon pinpointing their location. I wish Monkey was here, he was always good with this sort of stuff.'

Monkey was the only one of them to not answer the call. It haunted Gabe never knowing for sure if he ever made it out of his coma, so when he thought about him, he thought of him living a nice quiet family life with Susan and their child. Maybe a small cottage somewhere by a stream, a workshop in the barn, a simple life - a happy ending, he deserved that.

'There's an incoming call from JJ,' exclaimed Pembo, storming into the bridge. 'Is no one going to pick that up?'

'If King Ratbadger here would close his mouth for a second, maybe we could hear ourselves think,' said Wildcard.

Pembo opened the ComsLink to the main screen. There was a glint of trepidation in the rugged features of JJ as he spoke. 'Hey, check your scanners, there are four objects heading our way at a frightening speed. My estimation: they'll be on us within the hour.'

'Okay, listen up,' ordered Pembo. 'I've got a plan, but it's going to be risky... Oh, hey Gabe is that my tea?' She walked up to him beaming from ear to ear. His revolutionary in red lipstick.

Searching her emerald green eyes, he found an extra sparkle there he hadn't seen before. 'what is it?' he said.

'Ask me again sometime,' she winked. He held her close and whispered a handful of hopeful words as he pressed his lips gently against hers. He loved her, he always would.

'SPACE PIRATES!' whooped Jaibles.