Untold Tales #2
"The Doomsday Device"

... featuring the Silver Surfer!

(This Untold Tale of the Silver Surfer is completely unrelated to Untold Tales #1, though you can read it by clicking here.  This story takes place during the Silver Surfer's service as herald to Galactus.)

Introduction

This short story was inspired by an old Star Trek episode, I think by the same name as this story. In that episode, The Enterprise goes to rescue another Federation starship which has tangled with a "doomsday" device created by one planet to destroy another. Of course, the device ends up obliterating the creators, as well. To see the show today, a viewer would be turned off by the cheesy effects, but when I first saw it, the Doomsday Device had me scared to death. What if there was such a thing out in space? And what happened if it found Earth? Or even better, comic-wise, what would happen if it tangled with a true Force of Nature?

In case you haven't seen the episode, Kirk manages to ride the crippled starship into the doomsday device and the explosion of the engines renders it harmless. Kirk is saved at the LAST SECOND by Scotty using a malfunctioning transporter in a truly nail-biting scene.

"The Doomsday Device"

The Silver Surfer glided through the depths of space, his silvery skin reflecting the wonders of the universe. His eternal quest was to find planets that would satisfy his master, Galactus, the World Devourer. Having just found a system with not one, but two planets that fit the criteria, the Surfer had watched as Galactus had moved his Worldship to the system and taken up temporary residence. Given that his master would be content for awhile before another meal was required, the Surfer was more exploring, than searching. Galactus would dine on one of the orbs, then resume his unknowable studies, more at ease, because another meal was readily available.

A flash of light registered on his eyes. Over there, two systems away, a large burst of energy had been released. As this was in the general direction of his travels, and toward several promising suns, the Surfer leaned into his board and went to investigate. Arriving hours later, the Surfer found planetary debris. A complete solar system had been here… But now it lacked the third and fourth planets. “Curious…” he whispered soundlessly. Moving closer to investigate, the Surfer found asteroid rings in the orbits where the planets used to be. He brought his board up above the plane of the elliptic to study the rest of the system. The moons of the fifth planet had been mined, and a colony had been started on the second planet, his far-ranging eyes told him. No life lived on either, now, but energy sources were still functioning.

“A war…” he surmised, “with the inhabitants of one planet destroying the other before being destroyed themselves.” He felt no remorse for the late inhabitants of the system, just a calm disbelief that sentient beings could cause their own destruction. Still above the elliptic, he scanned nearby systems. “Odd…” he thought, “That system is the same as this… As is that one over there… Something is amiss here.” The Surfer opened his senses fully to the rhythm of the universe, flowing with the waves of time. For a second, he seemed to merge with Eternity, the spirit of the universe. “That system is the latest to have suffered damage.” Leaning into his board again, the Surfer streaked in the direction where he had sensed recent destruction.

As he neared the system, he passed through energy waves given off from planet-shaking explosions. “A battle…”, he thought. Then, just as he was about to enter the system, an enormous energy wave struck and knocked him from his board, unconscious.

Awakening floating in space, the Surfer shook his head as if to clear it, a mannerism left over from his days as a humanoid. With a thought, his board raced from where it had drifted and placed itself under his feet. Righting himself with respect to the plane of this system, the Surfer looked around. “I remember seeing seven planets in this system… But one has been destroyed.” Gravel floated in orbit where the third planet had circled the sun. “I could understand two planets destroying each other in one system, but I’ve now seen five planets in four systems ravaged. And the fact that the planets would have been suitable meals for the World Devourer strikes me as odd…” The thought that an enemy of the World Devourer might be at work never entered the Surfer’s mind; as he could conceive of nothing that could stand for a second against the might of Galactus.

Commanding his board toward the debris of the third planet, he noticed that colonies on the fourth planet had been destroyed by the shock wave that he rendered him unconscious. Coming to rest in an asteroid belt of debris, the Surfer snagged a fist-sized stone that was spinning by. Examining it on the microscopic level, and the sub-microscopic, revealed that the planet hadn’t exploded from with-in, outside forces had caused the destruction. Soaring above the asteroid belt, the Surfer traced the path of the planet’s orbit. The debris field told him where the massive explosion had taken place.

From his vantage point, the Surfer again opened his senses, this time looking for energy traces. The fabric of the universe revealed explosions, nuclear, fusion, fission, gamma, anti-matter, even a couple of time-slip discharges. Laser, photogenic and radiant energy beams had torn through space. A massive battle had taken place here… But it was all one sided. The planet had been defending itself from an attack. Not a swarm of ships or even a space armada had beset the planet, but one attacker. One being…This thought caused the Surfer’s eyes to open wide. “Was there another like his master?” His master had never discussed others… “I’d better inform Galactus...” But as he was getting ready to send the signal to summon his master, the Surfer noticed a trail leading away from the carnage.

“Odd that I missed it before...” Adjusting his eyesight, fine-tuning, the Surfer caused the trail to spring to life in front of him. “Whoever did this uses the power cosmic for energy, as only my master and I do. I’ve never needed to check these frequencies before. On a hunch, the Surfer turned his head and saw the point of light that represented his master, back in the two-planet system. “‘Twas not Galactus…” Leaning into his board again, the Surfer started out on the glowing trail.

A few minutes travel was all that was required to catch up with… it? “I expected a being or even a ship, but not this… It resembles nothing I’ve ever seen before.” The Surfer soared around the object, probing it. Long and tapered, like a cone, with one end open where a fire of destruction could be seen inside. The body of the thing was impenetrable even to his senses and he felt that the molecular structure was beyond his ability to affect. Numerous warheads had landed on it, and he could see debris from ships that committed suicide on it in a valiant attempt to cause damage. The Surfer flew down and landed on the back of the thing. The size of a moon, shaped like a torpedo, it moved with a rugged determination toward… The Surfer’s eyes widened again. The object was headed for the system where his master had taken residence. “I must warn him”, he thought. Pointing a silvery hand toward Galactus, the Surfer fired off an energy bolt, structured to carry information, not to damage. He watched in fascination as the bolt raced out ahead, then curved around and came back toward him.

But no, the bolt wasn’t coming back to him; it entered the maw of the thing. Under his feet, the craft/device pulsed with new energy. “It must devour energy. No matter, I’ll go ahead and warn Galactus in person.” Hopping onto his board, the Surfer raced ahead of the object. As he cleared the front of the thing, intense gravitational forces targeted him. Expending more energy, the Surfer pulled away from the trap. But the expenditure cost him. The thing was soaking up all the cosmic rays in the area, leaving him weakened. He strained harder against the pull and got nowhere. The thing had him trapped, and was pulling him back.

The Surfer looked over his shoulder at his pursuer and saw the wide-open mouth; it’s flames of cosmic destruction waiting to end his struggles. Renewing the battle, the Surfer was almost pulled from his board, but at the last second he lunged and grabbed it with both arms. The forces pulling him back became intense; it felt like his silvery skin was going to be ripped from his body. Glancing behind him again, the Surfer saw that he had almost passed the outer lip of the object. The flames seemed to be jumping and dancing, as in a demonic celebration. At that moment, borne of desperation the Surfer changed the angle of his flight from toward Galactus’ position to a direction perpendicular. The sudden change caught the thing unaware. The Surfer was almost free from the hellish pull. One last effort, the last he had within him, broke him free. But the effects of the pull still tugged at him. The Surfer was outside the main gravitational force, but instead of traveling in a straight line, he traveled in an arc. The Surfer and his board hit the lip and bounced off, luckily on the outside of the mouth. Unconscious again, the Surfer floated in the object's gravity sphere; gently coming to rest upon it’s back as it traveled toward Galactus.

The Surfer awoke again, feeling the rhythmic energies from the engine of destruction pulsing under him. Calling to his board, he cradled it underneath him, looking around. Using his board for support, he got to his feet. The mighty Worldship of Galactus loomed large in front of the thing. “It must know that Galactus’ ship contains more energy than a score of planets. I must warn the master.” The Surfer took a step towards the front of the thing, only to remember the deadly trap. A seconds thought and he took off in the opposite direction. A light year behind, he angled his flight. Around and under, well away from the thing, he raced. Passing under the system where Galactus was, the Surfer flew on. Once past the system, the Surfer angled back up. He was coming back into the system on the same path he used when he discovered the suitable planets.

A wall in the Worldship dissolved in front of him and reformed after his passing. After racing down eons-old passageways, the Surfer entered the control room of Galactus. Galactus’ head was bent into some type of scanning device and his fingers adjusted various esoteric controls. “Master… Master, it’s urgent!”

“Deal with it, herald. I am not to be interrupted!”

“But, master…”

“My word is law! Now go.”

“Galactus! It almost destroyed me. I can not…” Galactus slowly disentangled himself from the equipment. Taking a step back, the world devourer turned to scowl at his herald.

“You’ve haven’t called me by name since… What concerns you so, my herald?”

“There is a device that is destroying planets; the same that you require for sustenance, headed this way…” Galactus turned to look in the direction his herald indicated. Ignoring the intervening walls, Galactus studied the approaching craft.

“So, a race has finally utilized cosmic energy for power. Come herald, see how your master deals with the creations of lesser beings.”

With a thought, Galactus turned himself and the Surfer to pure cosmic energy. The energy forms traveled through the walls of the ship and reformed in the path of the approaching device. As if sensing the raw power in front of it, the engine of destruction sped up, targeting Galactus. The Surfer looped around and fired bolts of cosmic energy at the back of the device. Galactus watched the actions of his herald with interest. With a thought, he amplified the Surfer’s powers. The Surfer looked down at his hands for a second, then renewed the attack. Still no effect. Changing tactics, the Surfer wrapped the tube in layers of solidified power cosmic. The device stopped for a second, then all the layers were pulled into the open end and devoured. The Surfer flew down and landed on the back of the thing. Using his board as a weapon, he couldn’t make a mark on the dull surface. Then he wrapped a band of energy around the device and tried to tow it in another direction. The device faltered for a second, the resumed it’s deadly course for Galactus.

“My herald, come to me… This device is beyond your scope.” The Surfer heard Galactus’ call and flew away from the device to float in space beside Galactus.

“Master, I tried…”

“This device was constructed to destroy planets, my herald. You haven’t grown enough to utilize the powers to stop such a weapon.”

Galactus floated toward the device bearing down on him. The Surfer looked on with horror on his face and the device got closer and closer. “Would his master not defend himself?” Enlarging himself so that he was as big as the opening, Galactus waited. The device bore down, going faster and faster, the target that Galactus presented, too tempting. At the last second, just before he would have entered the mouth of the device, Galactus extended his arms and legs, catching himself from being pulled inside. The device increased the pull, but Galactus resisted. The strain on his face was evident to the Surfer as he fought the device. Then, bracing himself, Galactus wrenched an arm free. Pulling his hand back, Galactus opened the hand wide. Then he shocked the Surfer by thrusting his arm directly into the mouth of the device. Great blasts of cosmic flame shot out around Galactus, almost blinding the Surfer. Then Galactus slowly withdrew his arm from inside the device. Clutched in his closed fist was the energy source for the device. The engine of destruction floated away, harmless.

"Come herald, I must put this someplace safe, before it attempts to devour even me.” Galactus looked to his Worldship and a massive door opened. A platform slid out and quickly made the journey to where Galactus waited, energy crackling around his closed fist. Settling onto the platform, Galactus floated back to the world ship. Once inside, A special container opened and Galactus placed his fist inside. Coating the top of the container around his arm with energy, Galactus slowly withdrew his hand. The Surfer floated over to see what was inside. “Master?”

 “It’s a quantum singularity, herald, a blackhole. Had I not been at full power…”

“Just a blackhole, master?”

“No, herald. This was born of humans. Enhanced by their pitiful attempt at science. Even time itself was being devoured. This was a doomsday device one group of humans used on another.”

“And it turned around and destroyed the creators… How are you going to destroy it, master?”

“I shall utilize it as a power source for the Worldship, herald. In time, even this device will pose no threat to you.”

“But master, this device…”

“My battle with the device has left me weakened. Only one planet remains in this system. Soon I will need to eat again, herald.”

“Your word is law, master,” the Surfer said as he flew out into space in search of Galactus’ next meal.

To Be Continued . . .

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