Doorways to Everywhere (Tourist Trap Book 2)

Chapter 72

"Awesome," Zeke said to himself as he settled down in the cockpit of the spaceship. It was large enough to seat him comfortably while giving a view through the window. There was a small seat directly behind him in which a Milosh would sit when he picked it up from the planet Ingleblott. The controls looked simple enough. Nulfar had explained them slowly and thoroughly and had said even a complete idiot should be able to pilot one of these ships. Zeke couldn't help but notice Nulfar had been looking straight at him when he said this. Zeke tried to argue that the previous flying saucer crash hadn't been his fault, but nobody seemed to be listening.

The ships were small and had obviously been designed for space combat rather than for crossing extensive distances. Everyone got their own ship and they had a decent sized little fleet by the time they were all settled in. Max had selected a slick green number with flames painted on the side of it. Zeke's ship was a dull rusty brown color, and he had a feeling it was one of the outdated junker ships of the fleet, but it was the only one Nulfar would let him use. Nulfar had made a point of informing him that he wouldn't have let him fly a ship at all if it wasn't such a dire emergency, and he should be thankful for what he got. Zeke still thought it was a pretty bitchin' spacecraft.

The doorway to Ingleblott opened at the front of the room and spaceships started disappearing through it. Zeke gave a little tap on the accelerator and his ship promptly went into reverse and bumped into the ship behind him. Luckily nobody was piloting that one. By the time anybody noticed the large dent Zeke had put in it, he hoped to be many countless light years away, if not in a completely different universe.

He finally figured out how to get it moving in a forward direction, and when his turn came he steered it through the open doorway. There was a brief period of brightly colored flashing lights all around him and then he found his ship parked on the surface of Ingleblott. The Miloshes had been prepared for the fleet's arrival and a Milosh jumped aboard Zeke's ship instantly.

"Hello friend Zeke. Hugs for Milosh!" He wrapped his arm around Zeke's chest from behind. Zeke was strapped into his chair pretty solidly, so he managed to reach up awkwardly with one arm and sort of embrace Milosh's head.

Milosh took his seat behind Zeke and said "Friend Dr. Octavius says take off immediately and engage the enemy."

Zeke pulled back on the controls and the small ship immediately began to lift off. Looking upwards he could see that the battle had already begun in earnest. He knew Bobby was in a pure white ship, while Cindy had chosen a pink and white polka-dot design. Sarah was somewhere out there in a sporty red model. Dr. Octavius had taken command and was issuing orders from a shiny silver ship. WBDG had fittingly found a blue ship that matched his own coloration. Zeke wasn't entirely sure who else was piloting which ship, but the important thing was he could easily identify enemy spacecraft as they were uniformly black in color.

"Take right flank," Milosh relayed orders. "Friend Max will cover back side."

Zeke glanced over his shoulder and saw Max's bright green ship right behind him. Feeling a surge of confidence, he pushed forward on the thrusters. A black ship zipped by him so quickly he barely had time to register its presence. This might be a bit more challenging than he had anticipated. Luckily the enemy ship hadn't fired upon him, so he pressed onwards.

"Is four enemy fighters straight ahead," Milosh said. "Prepare to engage."

Zeke scanned the area ahead of him and spotted the targets. They were in pursuit of a purple and yellow ship that was being piloted by some llama whose name Zeke didn't know, but his face looked kind of familiar. Just one of those guys who had been hanging out somewhere in the background this whole time, Zeke supposed. Still, he didn't want the guy to get blown up. Zeke had certainly felt stuck in the background often enough in life to understand what that whole thing was about.