Captain Keith and the Ministers of Hate

Chapter II: Terror on Gacrux Seven.

Captain Keith and Private Timmy stepped cautiously down the gang-plank. Acrid smoke filled the air and the sky rang with the mournful cries of the villagers. 

"Suffering supernovas, Captain Keith!" said Private Timmy. "What in the galaxy happened to these people?"

Captain Keith's brow furrowed and his granite jaw clench in and anger that even his unmatched self-control struggled to contain. "Some monster has devastated these poor people, Timmy. And I need to find the beast and make it pay."

A frail hand touched Captain Keith's steely bicep. A quavering voice said, "Not a monster, Captain."

Captain Keith looked down into the withered face of an ancient Gacruxian fellow, his wrinkled visage marked by bruises and stained with dried blood. As the old gentleman used his cane to straighten himself up, he continued, "This destruction was not wrought by any beast; it came at the hands of men."

Private Timmy gasped. "Men?!?"

The old man nodded. "Earth men." His message delivered, the Gracruxian's antennae wilted, the strength left his legs and he collapsed to the ground like a sack of Neptunian ultra-peas. 

"Earth men? But, Captain Keith, how could that be? Gacrux Seven just joined the League of Planets. Earth leaders worked for a generation to bring them into the fold! Why would any Earth men want to harm them?"

Suddenly, Captain Keith crouched low, his hyper-keen vision having spotted something in the ash and grit on the ground. When he stood, his powerful frame once more filling the sky, he held in his hand a green patch.

Private Timmy leaned in to get a look.

"A patch?" he said. "I've never seen one like it before. Why does it have a cross and a flaming space ship on it?"

Captain Keith didn't answer immediately. His eyes, more fine-tuned than those of a Rigelian hunting falcon scanned the horizon. 

"These particular Earth men don't want more planets in the League. These men--these monsters--believe that Earth is superior to every other planet and they want all aliens to know their place."

"Great shooting comets! How could they be so backward and stunted in their thinking?"

"Ancient earth men were staggeringly bigoted and it's never fully left our race. This is a group of cowards who want to blame their problems on anyone different from themselves. This is a group of so-called men who want to keep Earth just for Earthlings. This is the work of the Ministers of Hate."

"The Ministers of Hate?" gasped Private Timmy.

"That's right," replied Captain Keith, "and I'm going to wipe them out. For good."