Nova stood in the middle of the deck filled with the finely dressed mercs devoted to Lady
“We’ve taken out all but two of their turrets,” the gunner called back as he continued firing.
Nova calmly watched the window in front of the pilot. “I want all the turrets down before we land. Keep firing.”
Another man at the controls said, “Sir, BADGE is attempting to contact the city.”
“We took out the city’s communications array?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good.” Nova walked over to a computer on the wall and held a bar next to it so he could stabilize himself during this air combat. He worked the controls with one hand and redirected the comm signal to them. He replied to BADGE’s request for details, “All is well. Severe arctic storm has damaged our comm system. Will repair soon. All is clear.” With that signal sent, BADGE would assume everything was fine. At least long enough for him to do his job.
“Sir, the last of their turrets is down.”
“Good, take us in for a landing. Tell all the mercenaries to report to sector alpha. We’ll storm the front gate.” Nova tightened his black gloves and straightened his fine suit.
"Sir, should we attack head-on?" asked the soldier.
Nova smiled, “They are no threat to us. These people are weak and truly powerless. It’ll be a one-sided conflict. Just be ready to do as I say. Do not advance until I give the command. Is that understood?”
“Yes, sir.” The merc commander saluted and then barked orders at the others, who filed out the back once the ship nestled into the snow.
Nova calmly walked out, following them. He took no weapon with him, just his fine tailored outfit and a steely gaze in his one good eye.
***
EB just zipped up next to him and was bouncing back and forth on his heels. “Whatcha thinking about?”
Justin let the gentle roll of the ship in the mild currents relax him. “Just how small I truly am. There are so many stars, so many planets. I’m trusted with such responsibility that some days it seems too much to handle. Yet, in the grand scheme of things, I’m nothing.”
“You are far more than nothing,” EB said.
Justin said, “They say there are more stars in all the galaxies than atoms in me. How can I think of myself as anything but a speck on the surface of everything?”
“It was once said that there are a hundred billion galaxies, and in those galaxies, a hundred billion planets capable of sustaining life. That would mean there are potentially trillions upon trillions of living beings out there staring at these stars from all directions. Yet, among all of those trillions upon trillions, there is only one Agent Justin of BADGE. It isn’t how big and powerful you are, it’s that you exist for a reason.”
Justin slowly looked down at the cheerful little bunny. “Where on God’s green Earth did you come up with that wisdom?”
“Someone once told me the same thing. At the end of days, when my homeworld fell to Legion, only a few of us survived. I wanted to die. I wanted to stay there and never leave, dead among the many of my kind who perished. A great leader of our kind begged the survivors to come with him and find a place to live and help, so that one day we might aid this galaxy in ridding itself of Legion. I said I was too small, yet he reminded me that as long as I breathed, I still had a purpose worthy enough for the universe to give me another day. After seven hundred years here, I have had a lot of days to help and I got to watch Legion fall and have helped stop many, many other big bad guys. We all have a purpose. It isn’t about us, it’s about how we affect others.”
“I guess I need to remember that. It has been hard without Nova to guide us. I feel so much smaller now than I did while in his presence.”
EB said, “You’re bigger without him, because you’ve risen to the occasion.”
“Thanks. And this might be the first real, serious conversation we’ve ever had. Where is this coming from?”
EB grinned, “I have my moments. Plus, I haven’t had any coffee for like three days. We ran out on the ship. And. . . what is that?”
They both looked out as a light appeared in the depths of the ocean, slowly rising to the surface. Finally, the team with the small box appeared.
“It’s the third team. I think they have something for us.” Justin got to the edge and lowered a ladder into the waters. He pressed a button on his wrist comm. “We need assistance on deck with team arrival.”
The four heroes climbed the ladder, the first bringing the box with him. The dark, obsidian man got onto the deck and his skin slowly changed from shiny stone colored glass to a normal dark complexion consistent with his Nigerian heritage.
“We found something. Aqua thinks it’s connected to Nova,” Obsidian said.
A woman shaped blob of water walked across the deck and slowly formed back into a person. She had on a small bikini and nothing else. EB smiled at her as she passed him.
“It’s an odd thing to have down that far. It survived such incredible pressures. I can’t imagine it isn’t important.”
The mermaid woman swam toward the ship. flipped up into the air, transformed into a bird, circled for a moment, and landed. She took the form of a human again. “There is a marking on the inside.”
EB hopped over, “Lemme see!”
Justin opened the box and saw the scroll inside. The light in the box was coming from the scroll, which was dazzling. “What is this?”
“I don’t know,” Obsidian answered. “We haven’t opened it yet.”
“That’s Nova’s!” EB called out.
Justin held out the scroll. “You’ve seen this before?”
“No, not that! THIS!” EB jumped up and pointed at the lid.
Justin opened it further, revealing the mark on the inside of the lid. “I’ve seen this before?”
EB said, “Yeah, in every place Nova worked over the centuries, he left that mark. It was his symbol, his way of letting people know he was there. That’s gotta be what he wanted us to find.”
“A. . . scroll? I expected something more. A weapon, or another one of these stones.”
EB hopped around Justin in a continuous circle. “Don’t keep us in suspense. OPEN IT!”
Justin held the end of the scroll and pulled as hard as he could. “I can’t get it open.”
Aqua held her hand out. “Let me try.” She held the scroll case and turned one hand back into water. She wrapped the liquid around the end and did everything she could to open it. After a few moments, she said, “I can’t budge it.”
Obsidian said, “If Aqua can’t open it, no one here can. She’s the strongest of us. Should we wake someone else?”
EB hopped up and nabbed the scroll and looked it over. “Yup. It’s magically sealed. I might be able to open it.”
Justin reached down and took the case back. “Not here. We need to get to the station. This has to be what Nova wanted us to find, and I want to be in a more secure location when we open it. Obviously, Nova sealed it with precision for a reason. I just hope it has the answers we need at this time.”
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