Old Friends

The crab held Kintaur in his pincer. "Ah, Kintaur," said the crab. "You may want to start thinking about your stage exit because it's curtains for you! Ha! Ha! Ha!"

Kintaur struggled with all of his might. "Must. Break. Free. Claws. Too. Strong."

"Hee! Hee! Hee! You'll never be able to break free, Kintaur Rosenbaum!"

The crab moved Kintaur closer to his dripping jaw. Kintaur struggled some more to break free but it was no use. He closed his eyes as he saw the clamping teeth growing larger in his vision.

Suddenly there was a jerk and the blackness of his closed eyes ignited a fiery red. Kintaur opened his eyes to see the crab rolling backwards towards the glowing orb below.

"Iron asteroids!" Kintaur shouted within the confines of his space helmet.

Just then a silver streak appeared in his peripheral vision. Suddenly Kintaur's helmet speaker chirped into life. "You never did have a taste for seafood," said the sultry voice on the communicator.

"I recognize that voice," Kintaur said. "And that ship, the Accretion Disc could only belong to one lady of the stars."

Kintaur looked back toward his ship, the Magnetar which was slowly tumbling away as he spun away from the crab and its severed claw. "Elmira Gascloud!"

A long scoop extended from the airlock of the Accretion Disc and gently delivered Kintaur back to his ship. "Alright, Rosebaum," came Elmira's voice over the helmet speakers in Kintaur's helmet. "Requesting permission to board the Magnetar."

As the airlock closed around Kintaur, he removed his helmet and keyed up the videolink to the cockpit. "Awaiting your command," Stormbot said.

"Grant her permission," Kintaur responded, rubbing a hand across his stubbly chin.

"As you wish." The videolink dissolved to black with a single leaving a single horizontal white line which slowly faded into the center of the screen.

"Elmira Gascloud," he said again, still admiring the rugged stubble on his own chin. "This ought to be interesting."

Who is this Elmira Gascloud? Does she know Kintaur Rosenbaum from before? How did she know about Kintaur's preference for seafood? Find the answers to these and many more questions in the next exciting installment of Space Phalanx: The Humman-Zzintar Wars!