The Red Rover: Clash Of The Celestials

The StarForger soared high above the oasis jungle valley below. The view from this height was an immeasurable sight for Jovan. The landscape was like a beautiful mosaic. The dimensions of the valley were vast in every direction he looked. The crash of the Red Rover was barely a speck within it.

He sat up front wearing a helmet, specifically designed for the StarForger. Dee-Dee piloted the jet fighter from the seat behind him. His hands were nervous, not from fear—but excitement. It was only a matter of time until the android would hand him the reins to see what he was capable of.

The most difficult part—besides getting Marius to agree to this in the first place—was already behind him. He was in the air now with the opportunity of a lifetime. For him to finally be in this moment—considering the series of ups and downs that he had endured since that day they all left the Rover Base for the last time—was an unbelievable sensation.

It would have been very easy for him to lose sight of the bigger picture after his injury. There were countless nights during their space travels where he had hoped that Dee-Dee or Ozone would help him into his pod and that somehow the end would come.

He would peacefully go to sleep and never wake up again. The pain and anger that he lived with would no longer punish him like it had been doing for so long. The other cadets, they never understood. But, how could they? They were able-bodied.

None of them had ever saw a disabled person in their lives before Jovan. Not even on the Rover Base. This was new for him and them. For Marius and the androids. And to think if they had returned to the Rover Base upon their training’s completion and Jovan couldn’t be surgically rehabilitated, what might his fate have been then? That was a question he was grateful to having never received an answer.

There was a strong possibility that their journey was the only thing keeping him alive. With that in mind, the others leaving him behind might have been a blessing in disguise. Who knows if Marius would have offered him this chance if they were still around? But they weren’t around and he was in the StarForger flying just below the glimmering haze.

“All right. We’ve leveled off. I’m handing it over to you, are you ready?” Dee-Dee said.

Jovan grabbed the StarForger controls with both hands while slightly turning back.

Dee-Dee released the reins as the StarForger immediately dipped before jostling the cabin as Jovan clenched tightly to his. His eyes enlarging a moment. The jet fighter was heavier than he had anticipated. He had been working out pretty regularly but this was just another example of how strong the androids really were.

He aggressively pulled back on the reins, causing the StarForger to rise. It rose at a forty-five-degree angle, nearing the haze. Jovan had spent so much energy trying to steady the jet that he hadn’t noticed they were approaching it.

The nose of the StarForger pierced the haze as flames instantly emerged across it. The further they entered, the more the flames encroached.

“Relax Jovan. Relax. You’ve got this. Just push forward.”

Dee-Dee put its hand on his shoulder, causing Jovan to do just that. He nodded his head several times. He exhaled and took control of the reins for the second time. He pushed them forward as the jet began to flatten once more.

The nose of the StarForger dipped below the haze as the flames subsided. He let out a sigh of relief as he looked out his window. The ground was microscopic as they were higher than ever.

“Okay. Looking good. Are you ready to try some evasive maneuvers?”

He carefully pressed the reins forward, lowering the space fighter several feet. He glided them right, swinging the Star-Forger into a U-turn. Jovan smiled. Now the real fun was set to begin.

There was an old saying that it was better to be lucky than good and he was a prime example of that. His luck had run out in that rocky mountain pass on Cnaeus many moons ago. Yet here he was in a StarForger, determined to change that narrative once and for all. It was a new day.

Callista stood beside Ozone on the shoreline of the raging river as Marius had his back to them. For some reason he had made them walk down here only to have them waiting around this whole time just doing nothing. If this was all he needed them to do, they could have remained near the Red Rover. She turned to Ozone.

“What’s he doing?”

The android looked at her and shook its head. Marius continued to stand with his back to them. He was motion-less.

“Sir? Is everything all right?”

Marius turned around. He was stoic, but also seemed frustrated. He approached Callista and Ozone.

“This is the only energy source we’ve found thus far.” He said. “But even if we could build a dam, I’m not sure how we could get the power from here to the Red Rover.”

Callista turned back to the water. It was moving rapidly. For them to build a dam, they would need a ton of materials that they didn’t have access to unless they chopped down several trees and then placed them in the water.

That scenario was highly improbable. Especially with the others having already gone. They were lacking in manpower as well as equipment. If this was their best play to call, then their situation was bound to get worse before it got any better. She turned back to Marius.

“Well, you don’t need a dam to do that.”

“Yeah, you just need a conduit.”

Marius looked perplexed. Callista’s mind was going back to a place that she hadn’t been in a long time. All those days spent on her mother’s lap learning the ins and outs of science, math, research and technology.

While her mother no longer did it professionally, she still kept her skills sharp by teaching Callista every chance she got. What was the point of having knowledge if there was no one around to share it with? That wasn’t just her mother’s favorite saying—it was her mantra for life.

She was training Callista to become a better version of herself. Of course when she was still a pre-teen it was difficult to see her mother’s vision. Children that young tend to exist in the present, not in the future. It also didn’t help that her mother had fallen ill and needed Callista to care for her.

But that was life in a nutshell. That everything could be planned so perfectly and yet nothing went according to plan in the end. Perfection was a fantasy while adaption was the reality. Callista had experienced taking care of others for longer than anyone else in their group, with the exception of Marius. She knew where to pivot when necessary. And that was exactly what they needed.

“Electricity. You can use the power of water to create electricity. We’d need a conduit to transfer the energy.”

Marius took a step back and just stared at her for a moment, which made her a bit uncomfortable. He unearthed a smile as he nodded his head.

“Callista, you’re a genius. You just gave me an idea.”

Marius began heading back into the jungle towards the Red Rover as Callista and Ozone stood there for a moment in confusion.

“Does he want us to follow him?”

Ozone looked at Callista before turning back to the jungle. Marius was now several lengths ahead of them. She shrugged, that was the first time Marius had never given them an order.

Marius stood with Callista just beyond the loading bay ramp. Ozone appeared a moment later, the android carrying their six-remaining force-field metallic rods.

“Is that all you found? He asked.

“Unfortunately, yes. The other ones were left behind on Cnaeus.”

Ozone carefully lowered the rods to the ground as Marius became frustrated. He paced back and forth, trying to figure out their next move. This experience would be something he’d never forget. Every time he had a good idea or so he thought, there was simply another obstacle standing in his way.

He had applauded the persistence of the cadets, but he had also neglected his own. No matter how many times he had been denied victory, he continued to trudge forward. This situation would be no different. There had to be a solution. He just needed to find it.

“So now what do we do? That’s not nearly long enough to reach the river. We’d have to take apart the Red Rover just to be able to power it.”

Marius stopped pacing, turning back to her. Callista had done it again. This was exactly what he should have been doing from the very beginning—leaning on the cadets whenever it was possible.

He had forgotten that all of them had received some form of specialized training before ever getting to him. If they were going to thrive moving forward, he needed to mine that gold from now on. Otherwise, their talents would be sitting idle, totally underutilized.

“No we wouldn’t. We can take apart the WaftMar and the broken HoverSol instead. Their too damaged to travel in anyway, so we might as well put them to good use.”

“When Dee-Dee gets back with Jovan, she can help you.”

“Yes sir.” The android said.

Ozone headed back up the ramp as the StarForger zipped by them overhead. Marius and Callista looked up as it seemed like Jovan was getting the hang of things.

“Somebody’s having fun.” She said.

Marius released a belly laugh as he turned to her. Fun. If ever there was a word that he had been longing to hear. That would be it.

Jovan watched Dee-Dee and Ozone tearing apart the Waft-Mar and the damaged HoverSol as Marius supervised nearby. Scores of crumpled metal had already been stripped from the two vehicles.

The plan as he was told by Marius, would involve the androids bending the metal into more rods which then would be used theoretically to power the Red Rover when placed in water.

While Jovan wasn’t trying to live up to the dumb jock stereotype, he still didn’t understand what exactly they were trying to do. Admittedly, the sciences were never his bag, even if his dad was a doctor. He and his brother enjoyed working with their hands instead.

His skepticism aside, at this point, they were becoming desperate. Something had to give. He had noticed the other night that Dee-Dee and Ozone were charging themselves in the same vehicles they were now ripping apart.

Not to mention, if anyone deserved the benefit of the doubt as far as an idea was concerned, it was Callista. She rarely said anything without thinking about it first. She was intelligent, but rarely spoke when she didn’t have something important to say.

Jovan sat in his wheelchair at the bottom of the ramp. It would be dark again soon, so time was of the essence. Marius approached him.

“We’re probably going to be doing an all-nighter out here, so—my apologies in advance if you don’t get any sleep tonight.”

“Understood sir. I’ll let Callista know.”

Marius nodded before walking back over to the androids. Jovan rolled up the ramp. Callista sat on the floor quietly eating some of the blue fruit alone. An illuminated baton was beside her providing some light against the dwindling shine outside.

He stared at her for a moment. He rolled towards her as she looked up at him with a smile.

“Can I have a hug?’ He asked.

Her smile faded. She didn’t seem to be very interested in doing that with him.

“Marius told me it was your idea about powering the ship. He also told me about what you did for me.”

“Well. I didn’t know anything about the StarForger, Jovan.”

“But it’s bigger than that.” He paused momentarily “I’ve had a lot of terrible days since this happened to me. But no one has ever done anything like that for me before. No one.”

He began getting weepy. She had already seen him cry once before so that wall had already been broken. She needed to know just how much he appreciated her and her friendship.

“And that you cared about me—that much. I don’t know what to say other than—thank you. I’m grateful. And I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to repay you.”

Jovan wiped tears away as Callista put down her fruit. She rose to her feet, her afro bobbing as she did. She walked over to Jovan, towering over him. She wrapped her arms around him.

“You’re welcome Jovan.”

He returned her gesture. He felt the shivers that went down her spine from his touch. She didn’t let go though. She just rubbed his back to comfort him.

“You’re a true friend Callista. I hope you never change. I’m lucky to have you in my life.”

Jovan and Callista held their embrace as the androids continued to bang away on their new strategy outside.