Fred Sparkrock: Burning Desires

As his pod recovered from the shock waves, the first tenuous filaments of the planet's outer ionosphere enveloped the capsule. Severe negative gee-loading grabbed him like a mailed fist intent on crushing the life from his body as the retro rockets fired. Gradually the pressure lessened as the escape vessel arced onto a gentle descent pattern. As the weighted load eased from his chest, Ponkert summoned enough strength to raise himself and peruse the small control panel.

The radar beacons from the other pods gave sharp blips on his screen.

All were on course, except for Jan's, which veered toward the northern part of the continent they raced to. He watched its path until it landed safely. He breathed easy. Jan was capable of taking care of herself until he found her. Now, if the matter transmitter came through its landing intact, the Werewolf's last flight wouldn't be in vain.

If not, they were stranded, forever, on a strange planet. The transmitter was a complex piece of machinery, with the simple task of breaking matter, living or otherwise, down to atoms, then sending those atoms across the reaches of space in a few seconds. Upon reaching their destination, the atoms would be rearranged in a receiver and everything would be as good as new.

The transmitters made exploring the universe an everyday occurrence for the average man. The only hang-up was that a transmitter had to be taken to a planet first. Thus Ponkert, and other like him, were needed to man the long rocket voyages to the stars. Their job was to establish transmitter bases on Earth-type planets, usually for Time-Shift Universal, a near governmental corporation that controlled the matter transmitter system.

Ponkert had challenged Time-Shift with the Werewolf's flight. He wondered if a few corporate bugs had been slipped into the ship's fusion reactor to eliminate competition. An organization like Time-Shift can't afford competition. If Ponkert's venture was successful others would go independent. Each independent planet was that much money out of Time-Shift's wallet.

He wished there was some way to check his theory, but if the Werewolf's destruction had been sabotage, Time-Shift had wiped out all traces of their activities with the explosion.

Ponkert returned his attention to the control panel and began manoeuvring the pod toward a landing. Without incurring the least bit of difficulty, he executed a slightly rough landing, unsnapped the confining straps that held him to the couch, and pressed the hatch release.

As the metal hatch rose, Ponkert scuttled from the pod into a world as beautiful as the Earth.

The escape capsule had settled down in the middle of an expansive glade which filled a valley between two gently sloping rises. He swung out of the hatch and dropped to the lush green carpet of thickly matted grass below.

His lungs rejoiced as they sucked in the fresh clean air-something long forgotten on Earth with her teeming billions. His eyes surveyed his surroundings. The same thick grass covered the rolling hills like the fur of a sleek animal. In the distance, a row of trees, similar in appearance to Earth pines, towered up to meet a deep blue sky. Near the gigantic hunks of the trees a stream gurgled, spilling its clear, fresh water into a small pond.

Pulling his gaze closer in to his immediate surroundings, he momentarily studied the hundreds of red, white and blue blossoms that dotted the valley. Their beauty was striking and similar to the carnations that once grew in abundance on Earth. Now the only flowers on his mother planet were artificial. He almost expected to find some whimsical artist bending over the blossoms, delivering the flowers' color with a paintbrush.

Ponkert's reverie was interrupted suddenly by a Scream-a high-pitched scream of a woman-in mortal fear. Ponkert pivoted, his eyes darting to locate the source of distress. Again the scream came, this time with great urgency. Two shadowed figures struggled in a grove of what appeared to be age-old oaks near the base of one of the hills. Without a thought of what he was interfering with, Ponkert began to run toward the trees.

As he reached the edge of the grove, he stopped abruptly, his mouth ajar from the unbelievable sight that met his eyes. A woman, gorgeous by any standards, was fighting, or trying to, a man who was decked out like an escapee from King Arthur's Round Table-complete with a heavy black sword and battle axe that dangled from his side. His cloak matched the color of his weapons, black of course! A golden dragon emblem writhed on his chest.

The woman, mostly unclothed, was a classical damsel in distress, straight out of the history books. Her blonde hair flew in a tangled fury as she struggled to escape the knight aberrant's clutches.

But to Ponkert, she had little hope of eluding such a powerfully built man. Twisting, the woman saw him. Her Brazilian topaz green eyes pleaded her cause far more eloquently than a thousand words.

Wishing he had the appropriate words to shout, Ponkert leaped at the two, without saying a word. He reached the locked pair and tore them apart with a strong shove that sent the knight staggering back and the scantily-clad beauty floundering to her ass on the ground. He glanced at her, making sure she was uninjured, then turned to her attacker. The sight that met his eyes made him wish he had thought twice before he jumped into the fray like some gallant fool.

The knight had drawn his broadsword. Its wicked looking black blade was levelled at Ponkert's chest. The knight's eyes were blazing with a rage that reflected his full intent of skewering the Earthman like a helpless rabbit.

"Hold on!" shouted Ponkert. "What type of knight do you call yourself?

Killing me will be a shallow victory if I'm unarmed!"

He didn't hold much faith in the possibility of chivalry being strictly adhered to by a knight caught in the process of raping a beautiful blonde, but at the moment he had everything to lose and absolutely nothing to gain by facing an adversary armed with a sword.

Whatever gods ruled the planet must have been smiling that day, because the knight hesitated and spat.

"Thy desires are met, knave!" the black-clad man granted in a voice that showed disapproval, but agreed with Ponkert.

Suddenly he tossed Ponkert his sword and drew his battle axe. Without further words, he attacked.

The sword was heavy, far heavier than Ponkert imagined. It felt terribly awkward in his hands.

Ponkert had only seen a broadsword in the museums on Earth-never held one. But necessity spurred him on. Necessity and the downward slash of his opponent's blade that was intended to cleave him in two and put a quick end to the confrontation Heaving the heavy sword upward, he parried the knight's axe in time to spare himself a halved-ass ending to his life.

The impact of the clashing steel was bone jarring. Ponkert stumbled back, his blade dipping to the ground, as he attempted to recover from the shattering vibrations. The two confused moves, whether they were intentional or not, saved him from his opponent's second swing, aimed at his legs. However, the blow was enough to wrench the sword from his hands. The knight grinned wickedly as he wound up for another over-the-head swing.

Realizing he would never have the time to retrieve his own blade and no manner of quick talking was going to save him now, Ponkert took the only avenue opened to him-he did some quick back-pedalling, only to be stopped by the trunk of one of the towering oaks. Assured of victory, the knight stepped forward and brought the glinting blue-black blade downward in an arc directed at the centre of Ponkert's skull.

For the second time since his landing on this planet, luck prevailed for the Earthman. The knight's axe abruptly stopped in mid-air with a loud thud. Ponkert glanced up to see the keenly honed steel blade lodged securely in an overhanging limb.