The Sariens Strike Back (Part 1 of 2)
by Dan Cerulo

Historical note: This story takes place between Space Quest V: The Next Mutation and Space Quest VI: The Spinal Frontier, before Roger is stripped of the rank of Captain and while he is still in the command of the SCS Goliath.

Admiral Goldright's face appeared on screen. "Please lay in course for the Space Port." The Goliath was to come home for refitting and a change in crew. Roger hoped he would stay in command of this, the flagship of the Confederacy. This was the best ship he had been on ever, and he didn't want to give it up.

"All right admiral. Flo end communications. Mr. Droole, lay in a course for StarCon Space Port at Lite Speed." Roger commanded. The view screen went blank. Droole, the red alien had been Roger's first navigation\ weapons officer. The fact that he had no mouth made no difference. Roger was the infamous blond haired former janitor who has saved the galaxy time after time. The Goliath sped off towards the dock as ordered a few minutes earlier by Admiral Goldright. With Bea sitting next to him, Spike resting on his shoulder, and him in command of the Star Confederacy's flagship, he was on top of the Universe. Or so he thought.

Meanwhile, On the other side of the cosmos, in a Sarien Warship, an evil Sarien captain, bent on revenge, plotted against Wilco. Roger Wilco had killed many of his friends who was stationed on the Deltaur during Space Quest I: The Sarien Encounter a few years ago. Now the Sarien government wanted revenge. The Sarien had orders to locate and kill Roger. "Computer, locate Roger Wilco."

The computer hummed and whizzed. The screen showed a single message, "Please wait. Searching master computer database." Then the humming and whizzing topped. It gave a readout about Roger on the Sarien's viewscreen.

The Sarien gave it a quit look over and then said "Computer, I want to view the picture. Show it to me now", the Sarien said with much disrespect for the computer. Can't say I blame him, it's just a computer.

The computer on the other-hand replied with a soft, gentle, female voice, "Creating picture on screen, please wait."

The Sarien seemed very disgusted by the fact that he had to wait. "Now!" he screamed at the computer.

"The image is now onscreen", the computer replied in her still gentle voice.

Roger's peach face appeared on the screen. His blond hair parted on the left. His red captain's uniform showed, with the golden StarCon crest on his chest. The Sarien was disgusted with his picture. He reached over and hit a button on one of his ship's consoles. This opened a communication with the head of the Sarien's, a Meban named Utta. "Lord Utta. I have found the human Wilco. Shall I set course for his present location?"

Utta, a fat ball of a clay sort smiled. He was far back from the camera screen so he pulled his head into his body and rolled up towards the screen. His head popped back out and he said, "Yes, set in a course for him. You remember what to do?"

"Yes, Lord Utta. He will regret killing all those Sariens. It is time I pay you a visit Mr. Wilco. You will be sorry for what you did to all the Sariens on the Deltaur you little mother $*#@!%." The Sarien said with a smirk.

"Captain, I'm picking up a Sarien Warship decloaking off our port." Flo, the bright green communications officer said. The warship appeared on the viewscreen. Roger remembered the design. It was the same as the Deltaur, the Sarien ship he encountered in Space Quest I.

Roger stood up. "Shields up, arm phasers!" he commanded.

"They're hailing us, Captain." Flo then said.

"Lets see them." Wilco commanded.

The green Sarien appeared on the screen, he smiled and said, "Ah, Captain Wilco of the SCS Goliath. I request that you immediately transport yourself over for execution for the crime of murder you committed against my friends and the other Sarien officers on the Deltaur. Otherwise I will be forced to destroy your vessel."

Droole turned from his station. "Captain, I believe it is in the best interest of the crew that you beam over there."

Roger gaped his mouth open. "I don't believe you! We are flying in the flagship of the Confederation. We out do them in every tactical position." Roger turned away from Droole and looked straight at the view screen. "You Sariens do not threaten us. Please withdraw from StarCon space or we will forcibly remove you." the captain said too smug.

The Sarien smiled, "Please consider your choices, Captain Wilco. Your one insignificant life for the lives of all you crew mates."

"Mr. Droole, open fire when ready. Short blasts targeting their weapons only."

Droole responded quickly. "Yes, sir!" He tapped his console a couple times, then on the viewscreen they could see their phasers rip through the enemy's shields. The Sarien Battleship moved forward, then fired two proton blasts at the Goliath's hull.

The Goliath fired two more phaser blasts before the Sarien Battleship finally pulled out. Once it seemed like the imminent danger was over Droole turned from his station. "Captain, I'm going off duty and I wanted to know if you wanted to go down to Joe's Bar and Arcade for a game of Virtual Battle Cruiser or Stooge Fighter II?" he inquired.

"I'll kill you in a game of Stooge Fighter II. I hold the top score on that game. Let's go." Roger said smirking. They both stood up and started to leave the bridge when Cliffy called. Roger stepped back to his chair and hit his comm button to open a channel to the Engineering section. "Captain Wilco here."

Cliffy replied indignantly, "Cut the titles Roger. I would like to inform you that the Sariens attached a homing beacon when we opened communications with them. I have removed it but, they most certainly attached more than one. I'm using a level 2 diagnostic of the hull to see if any more have been attached."

"Thank you Cliffy." The captain said. He closed communications and returned to leaving the bridge with Droole. The bridge doors slid open and then shut as they exited into the lift.

When they were in, Droole said, "Deck 9, Joe's". The lift came to life as it descended towards floor 9. Roger remember how in Space Quest V he had to climb through this exact shaft to find the switch he had to turn off. As the lift neared floor 9, it slowed to finally a complete stop. The doors slid opened onto Joe's Bar and Arcade. Roger heard the bar's wonderful music. It was fast and had an upbeat tempo. Wilco looked around and saw the bar counter. Near it was the Goliath's janitor, Wilco was glad he got out of that job. Roger and Droole walk towards the Stooge Fighter II box. The game began and the captain picked his favorite fighter, Coily Joe. Droole picked Big Moe. The first game went smoothly. Coily Joe murdered Moe, in fact, he got an unblemished victory. But the second round was a nightmare. First, Droole locked out Rog's controls, with the help of Cliffy of course, for the second round. After that, the unthinkable happened, they tied. In all the history of the Stooge Fighter original, and the sequel, never had that happened. They started off with the captain kicking Droole's butt. But things went down from there. Droole locked out Roger's controls again, and it wasn't until he saw a connector cable stuck to the plug that controlled his panel did he realized how Cliffy was interfacing into the game. Wilco unplugged it but by now he figured it was to late to win, but by a stroke of genius, was able to come back. Roger left himself open for attack while he plugged the connector cable into Droole's panel controller. Now Cliffy was locking out Droole's controls. Roger came back and was about to win when, Droole kicked out the cable. Time ran out with both life bars the same. It was a tie. Round 3 began. But there was a minor computer glitch. The screen said that it was round one. They both hoped that this didn't effect there score. The doors to Joe's opened and Flo stepped off the lift.

"I just came off duty and thought I'd drop by." She said. This was the break Roger was hoping for. He knew how much Droole like Flo. She distracted him from the game, easily letting Wilco win. Now they both wondered what would happen. Never had a game gone to the 4th round. Was there even a 4th round? There question was answered when round 4 appeared on screen. This time Droole wasn't distracted by Flo. They both played their best, and the captain came out the winner. Droole came around to Roger's side and shook his hand.

Then he said, "Good job, Roger."

"Boy, nobody respects me enough to call me Captain Wilco anymore." Roger said.

"Anymore? We never did respect you. Roger!" everyone in the Bar\Arcade laughed. Wilco went and sat down at the bar while Droole and Flo started to talk about the game. Roger looked up at the t.v. screen to see "Bad Cops" coming on. The theme music started up and Roger was compelled to dance but he fought the urge. Suddenly Bea's voice broke through on the comm channel.

"Roger, I'm picking up a distress beacon on Commodore LXIV." She said. Roger looked around the bar, like he was looking for something for something. Then he walked to the lift. The doors opened and he got on.

Once the captain was gone, Droole walked towards Flo and said, "I'll buy you a Fuzzy Nostril."

"All right." She said walking towards the bar. They both pulled up a stool and sat down. Joe noticed them sit down, so he decided to walk over and take their orders.

The second he was their, Droole opened his mouth to give the orders, but Joe stepped in. "One Fuzzy Nostril, one Green Goblin. Am I right?" he said.

Droole was astonished. "How did you know?"

"I make it my priority to learn what all the regulars on the ship drink." He said with a smile. He walked away to get their drinks, while Flo and Droole started a conversation about the game.

Wilco sat down in his chair. "All right Bea. Let's hear it." A message broke through on the speakers.

"This is Commander Gr…<Crackle>…, of the StarCon research outpost, …<Crackle>…. We're …<Crackle>…attack. We request help …<Crackle>…nearest StarCon ship." The message began to repeat itself. "This is Commander Gr …<Crackle>…, of the StarCon research outpost …<Crackle>…. We're …<Crackle>…attack. We--"

"It appears to be on repeat sir." Bea said what was quite obvious.

"Shut it off!" Roger commanded. He was a little irritated. He could get in trouble for deviating from his course to StarCon Space Port. But he also couldn't let all those people die at the research outpost. "Ensign, lay in a course." He said to the ensign currently at the navigation console.

The ensign turned around puzzled. "Captain, my instruments don't show any research outpost on Commodore LXIV. Shall I lay in course anyways?"

"It's anyway, not anyways. And yes, lay in course anyway."

The ensign gave his console a few taps, then said, "Course laid in sir. Ready for Lite Speed."

"Give us Lite Speed Ensign Felch." The ensign once again tapped his console, this time sending the ship speeding off towards the planet Commodore LXIV.

Droole took the last sip from his drink, then stood up. Flo was just about done with her drink, so Droole asked "Flo, want to play a game of Virtual Battle Cruiser?"

"I'm sorry Droole. I already promised Lieutenant Quibbly a game of Air Hockey." Flo said knowing she had disappointed Droole. She knew Droole liked her, but she didn't like him. She liked Quibbly, Cliffy's junior engineer.

"Please, Flo. Just as friends." Droole lied. "Just one game. Tell Quibbly that you'll play him later." Flo turned to look at Quibbly, then turned back to Droole.

"Sorry." Flo said. She started to walk towards Quibbly, so Droole stood up and stepped into the lift. Once the doors were closed he said, "Deck 4, Officers Quarters." The lift roared to life and started going up towards deck 4. Suddenly the ship rocked back and forth sending Droole to the ground. He rose to his feet quickly and said, "Deck 2, Main Bridge" The doors opened onto the bridge to see the Sarien Warship firing on the ship.

"What's going on?" Droole yelled to ears that weren't listening. The ship rocked again making the bridge explode in a load of sparks and wires. Smoke started to fill the bridge.

Through the smoke came the captain's voice, "They were firing on the planet. When we dropped out of lite speed they started firing on us!" Droole ran towards his station. When he reached it, he found Ensign Felch dead. Droole pushed the body out of his way and sat down. "Mr. Droole, lock phasers on the warship and fire."

"Commencing fire, captain." Droole said hitting the fire button. The Goliath's phasers ripped through the Sarien ship's shields like they were made of plastic. They ship exploded in a blaze of fire.

The science officer yelled out from behind the captain. "Our blast didn't destroy that ship. They set their auto-destruct."

"Why would they do that?" inquired the captain.

The science officer had a reply, "If they knew they couldn't win. And they didn't want to be captured. They might have destroyed themselves."

"And they want me for murder?"

"Captain, their is no research outpost here. I believe we have been deceived." Droole said with the utmost respect for a change.

The Bea added, "I am picking up a small StarCon colony for retired admirals. I suppose that might be who sent the message."

"Why would admirals call and say that it was a commander of a research outpost?" Roger asked himself. He had to find out. "I'm going down there. Droole, you have command until I get back." Droole nodded as Wilco stood from his chair and left the bridge. Once in the lift he said, "Deck 5, Transporter Room." The lift finally reached the transporter room. The doors opened and Roger stepped out and onto the transporter pad. He looked at the mechanical robot who worked the station. Then he spoke quickly, "All right. Beam me down into the reception room of the retirement home." The droid nodded.

"Commencing transport." The droid said as Roger dematerialized. When he finally rematerialized he found himself in a room full of Sarien guards. Each held a phaser rifle in their hand. This didn't look like a good time to be on a planet alone. The Sarien from the ship stood before Roger.

"Hello, and goodbye I might add. Guards, terminate him." The Sarien said.

This story is ©; 1997 Dan Cerulo.

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