Rescue

„I'm sorry, Daddy, I should have done more!"

Flash looked up from the controls of the spaceship for a second to give his daughter a reassuring smile. What could she have done, tackle two superstrong frostmen all on her own? He was glad she hadn't tried that because then she would probably have ended up as a prisoner, too – or worse. But Duffy being Duffy, there was no way of knowing what she'd do or how she'd react. He was just glad that for once, she'd done the sensible thing.

„You've done well, Duff. Thanks to you, we've got the licence plate number and the Phantom was able to find out that Ming must be hiding somewhere around this area."

„Using my powers, I could have..."

Duffy's voice trailed off, but the meaning was clear – she regretted not being more experienced with her powers and not having tried them out more before. Well, there was always time for that tomorrow. If wasn't like a psychic could work much with the brains of a couple of frostmen anyway.

„Duffy, sit down again and strap yourself in. There was really nothing else you could have done, powers or no powers. You..."

Competely ignoring his orders to sit down and fasten her seatbelt, she cried out, holding her head. Everyone was looking at her now.

„Actually, Daddy, there might be something I can do to help!" she proudly announced. „I just felt it – a bit like a jolt in my head – and I think I can sense them. Kit and LJ, I mean. Steer her a little more to the right, Dad. And go down a bit more. Yes, that's it. I think I've got it. They're very close!"

Everyone was watching her, and then the Phantom quietly spoke. „If she's sure she can point us in the right direction, then we should follow the lead, Flash."

„I don't think we need to circle around any more, Phantom", Flash replied, looking at the computer screen in front of him and then out of the windows of the ship he was flying. „Look what's down there, everyone!"

„The old high-security prison!" Lothar called out. „Of course! We should have guessed right away! This is the perfect hiding place for Ming and also the perfect place to hide two prisoners!"

Satisfied to finally have found Ming's hiding place, Flash brought the ship down in some distance. He knew it was probably a trap Ming had set for them, but to get Kit and LJ safely back, they had to play by Ming's rules for a while until they could manage to spin things around again to their advantage.

„Kshin, you better stay here with the ship", Mandrake ordered, getting out of the vehicle.

„You too, Duffy", Flash said, shooting his daughter a warning glance. „And no 'buts'. This time I'm not letting you get involved in anything dangerous!"

Sulking, Duffy watched the four men leave. Leaving her behind here with little Kshin! She was the daughter of Flash Gordon, she could have done something!

One hour later, she felt restless, like something had gone wrong. And Kshin was worried too, as he kept telling her over and over again.

„Please, Duffy, do something!" he finally begged her. „They shouldn't be gone that long! Something must have happened to them!" And then, seeing her taking Flash's seat at the controls of the ship, Kshin gasped. „Uh, Duffy, what exactly are you doing?!"

„Rescuing our parents!" she simply replied, nervously biting her lip. After all, she was Flash Gordon's daughter. She'd flown a space ship before. She could totally do this.

It was the perfect timing and one of these situations were everything just worked out well. Flash, Lothar, Mandrake and the Phantom had been caught in Ming's trap and had been about to be electrocuted but luckily LJ and Kit had escaped from their cell and had managed to stop Ming from using the old generator, and, in doing so, saving the lives of the four adults. Then there had been a huge fight in the inner courtyard when suddenly Flash's spaceship had appeared over the old prison building, with Duffy firing laser shots at the ice robots and frostmen. At Ming, too – but he was rather quick to escape, seeing the old generator was close to overloading, and, as LJ had put it, things would soon get rather 'explosive'.

„What did I tell you about staying behind with the ship!?" Flash panted, climbing inside the ship first and immediately pushing Duffy out of the pilot seat.

The ship rose high up in the air, now with Flash working the controls, and another ship was quickly departing too – Ming! And then the whole prison exploded, starting with the tower that had held the old generator. Flash and the others watched in silence as the massive building way beneath them exploded.

„If I had stayed behind with the ship..."

Duffy didn't need to say it out loud. If she had stayed behind, both she and Kshin would have had lost everyone at once. There was a dead silence on board the ship.

"Ming won't give up", Lothar finally stated, watching Ming's ship disappear in the distance. "Not now, not ever."

"And as long as there's a breath in me, I will stop him!" Flash immediately replied. "He will not ruin any more lives, he will not wreck any more families, and he will certainly not get his hands on our planet."

"It's all our fight", the Phantom agreed. "We've seen what he's capable of. Ming must be stopped, no matter what."

"Each of us has something to offer in the fight against Ming the Merciless", Flash nodded. "As of now, we're a team – a family. And we will do down in history as the Defenders of the Earth!"

At this, everyone was cheering, and Duffy, she was smiling and cheering too, suddenly feeling not so lonely and not so lost anymore. Yes, Dale was gone and with her, a huge part of Duffy's life. Nothing would ever be the same again. But at the same time, Duffy had also found new friends, other people to trust, and she had a new goal in life that would keep her focused. She would be strong and she would be brave and in the end, she would make sure good would triumph over evil and Dale Gordon had not died in vain.