Winds of War

by Dennis Morrow

  “No, they’re being rounded up and taken to the Valley of Darkness and put in a hidden detention center where they’ll be executed under Torron and Smalik’s supervision,” he answered.

  “So nothing happens until they return, right?” Steve asked.

  “Not that we know of,” the Rocpean answered. “Right now, they’re only rounding them up. That’s all we know.”

  “I shall return,” Steve said. He dropped the wand into his knapsack and flew into the distant sky.

  ~~~

  “We have the go-ahead for war,” General Wisecoff said to his commanders. “Are we ready?”

  “Yes, sir,” Colonel Smith said. “All ground forces are disbursed into the local communities. All aircraft have been divided up into smaller groups and deployed to private and commercial airports across the western third of the country. The navy has moved all ships off the coast and spread them apart. The Canadian military has followed our lead. When Torron’s military attacks, they won’t find us huddled in easy-to-hit pockets. We’re spread out and ready, sir.”

  “Well done, Colonel. I want this base completely evacuated by zero eight hundred hours tomorrow.” The general looked around the room.

  Everyone nodded in agreement.

  “Overnight, we’ll move our main command center to Nellis Air Force Base outside of Las Vegas.” The general walked out of the meeting.

  ~~~

  “Well?” Torron stood in front of Smalik, waiting for an answer. “Well?”

  “We haven’t found either Hagred or Margot,” Smalik said. “They were spotted in the Miramar dome over a week ago, but no one has seen them since.”

  With a stern look on her face, Torron’s eyes turned black. She pointed her scepter at Smalik. “I won’t kill you,” she said slowly. “You’re too important to me, but you will suffer.”

  Black chains flowed from the end of her scepter and wrapped tightly around the wizard from the waist up. He grunted in pain as the chains pulled even tighter. She motioned to the guards that had been standing on either side of Smalik to take him away. They led him to the cages at the far reaches inside the dome and locked him up.

  Chapter 29

  We Stand and Fight

  Is it three longs, three shorts, and three longs, or is it three shorts, three longs, and three shorts? Steve asked himself as he hovered below the small opening in the roof of the cavern. Looking a little doubtful, he said to himself, I think it’s three shorts, three longs, and three shorts. He pounded the rock on the ceiling, sending the SOS.

  Slatel jumped to his feet and looked into the urn. “Steve, are you there?”

  “I’m here,” the answer came back, and Steve’s hand came up out of the urn.

  Slatel took Steve’s hand and pulled him out. “What took so long?”

  Steve shoved the urn into his knapsack. “I’ll tell you when we get to the others. Jump on my back, and I’ll take you with me to the top.”

  “Are you sure?” Slatel asked. “I weigh a ton, literally a ton.”

  “Yes, I’m sure,” Steve answered.

  Slatel hopped up on Steve’s back, and they flew through the hole in the bottom of the dome and up to the top of the stairway. They found the others sleeping in a narrow hallway just outside a small door.

  “I’m back,” Steve said as he kicked Jeremy’s foot, startling him into consciousness.

  “Really! Do you have to do that?” Jeremy stood up, nose to nose with Steve.

  Jesse stepped between them. “Now, now, children. We’ve got work to do and not much time.” She pulled out her cell phone. “It’s two twenty-three a.m., and we need to move.”

  “Before we go, I have to tell you something,” Slatel said. “I overheard two generals talking. They have orders to attack at ten even if the US military stands down. At ten o’clock, Torron’s war begins, no matter what.”

  “We have to get this information to General Wisecoff,” Caroline said. “How can we get this to him?”

  “There aren’t any bars on my phone,” Jeremy said.

  “First things first,” Matt said.

  “Why were you waiting here?” Steve asked.

  Jesse described the room on the other side of the door. “I think Jeremy and Matt have a solution,” she added, “but we wanted to wait for you so we all went through together.”

  “You’re afraid to go without me?” Steve said with a smile.

  “No,” Jesse said. “Once through the room and through the door on the other side, we don’t know what we’ll be facing. I’ll peak through once we reach the other side, but no matter what’s there, we’ll have to go through. We thought it wise to go with the full power of the Alliance. We can’t do that without you.”

  “So you’re afraid.” Steve smiled.

  “Are you ready?” Jack asked Steve sarcastically.

  “Wait,” Matt said and quickly took Jesse’s sunglasses and copied them for the team.

  They had taken their weapons out of the knapsacks and were ready for anything. Jeremy nodded and Jack opened the door.

  The crackling of the electric arcs inside the globe was continuous with the occasional sharp, loud, thunder bumper made by the lightning striking the wall and floor.

  Jeremy stepped inside the small door with Matt right behind him and created an ice tunnel from the door on their side of the room to the door on the other side. Once the ice tunnel was complete, Matt waved his hands and the ice turned to steel.

  The occasional lightning that had been striking around the room became intense, striking the new steel tunnel continuously as the Alpha-6 team, Slatel, and Haven ran through to the other side. The strikes began to filter through the steel wall. One hit Jack. Another hit Haven. Because they were the last to cross the room, the rest of the team didn’t notice they were hit until they started to open the other door.

  “Jack and Haven are down,” Caroline yelled.

  Steve held out his hand to stop the others and then shot down the tunnel and grabbed Haven, who was the closest. By the time he went back for Jack, he had been hit three more times and was nonresponsive.

  “We have to move fast through the door, no matter what’s on the other side,” Matt said to Jeremy. “Once you start to open the door, they’ll know we’re coming.” Matt pulled on the wheel in the center of the door, but he couldn’t budge it. He motioned to Steve to give it a try.

  Steve smiled. “See, you needed me,” he said under his breath.

  Steve easily turned the squeaking wheel and pushed the groaning door open into the next room. There were three Humongers and two men in the control room. Taken by surprise, they went for their weapons. Caroline took out three of them, and Steve took out the other two. In seconds, it was over.

  They decided to push the bodies into the room where the electric arcs were dancing around. Jack and Haven had both passed out. Jesse sat with Jack first. Hit in the shoulder, the hip, the hand, and the foot, he was barely alive. His wounds were large. Once Jesse stabilized Jack, she moved on to Haven. Haven had only been hit once, but the arc had burned a hole the size of a hard ball right through her left thigh. It had cut through her femur, so the leg flopped around as she was moved.

  After both Haven and Jack were stable, the group started to explore the control room. Every switch, button, dial, and lever was protected by a force. When trying to push, pull, or turn any of the controls, the group would get a shock. The only thing in the room not protected was a space where the workers had lived.

  “Look at this,” Caroline said. She pointed to a work schedule on the wall. “It looks like they’re on twelve-hour shifts and came on at midnight. No one will be coming to replace them until noon.”

  “All the controls in the control room are locked down,” Jack said, “but I found some communications equipment over here.” He was leaning over a desk in the corner of the room.

  “Can we use it?” Caroline asked.

  Jack smiled. “It looks like a standard shortwave radio. There’s an opera
ting manual here.” He picked it up and skimmed through it. “Some of the instructions are in a language I don’t understand, but the rest is in English. It basically says this is a standby system, to be used if all other communications fail.”

  “See if you can get out on the radio,” Caroline said.

  After a few tries, Jack made contact. “This is Alpha-6. Get this message to General Wisecoff at Travis AFB. We’re working on a solution to the problem. Please be informed, white flags or not, the battle begins at ten hundred hours. This is Alpha-6. We’re working on a solution to the problem. Please be informed, white flags or not, the battle begins at ten hundred hours. This is Alpha-6. We’re working on a solution to the problem. Please be informed, white flags or not, the battle begins at ten hundred hours.”

  ~~~

  “Why are we moving?” Sammy asked as he loaded up his arms with weapons.

  “I’m not sure,” Gary said. “I feel uneasy. When we got here, I was positive this was the place we should be, but the longer we’re here, the stronger the urge is to move. I’m getting the feeling this building is not the place to be when the battle begins. I think we should park ourselves someplace low where we can easily hide and from which we can easily move around.”

  Gary and his two friends settled down in a group of trees and bushes about a hundred yards from the entrance to the dome.

  “They have to come out of the dome at some point,” Gary said. “When they do, we’ll be right here to greet them.”

  ~~~

  The radio room was crowded.

  “Where did the signal come from?” General Wisecoff asked.

  “It was a shortwave radio signal. We triangulated it to be somewhere southeast of Seattle. The transmission was so short we couldn’t pinpoint the location.”

  “What did it say, word for word?” the general asked.

  “‘This is Alpha-6. Get this message to General Wisecoff at Travis AFB. We’re working on a solution to the problem. Please be informed, white flags or not, the battle begins at ten hundred hours.’ The message was repeated three times.”

  “I’ll tell the president,” Wisecoff said as he left the radio room.

  A few minutes later, he was speaking to the president.

  “Yes, Mr. President, I believe the Alpha-6 team. What they’re saying is that we have no choice. The war will start whether we surrender or not, so don’t labor over the decision to stand and fight.”

  “Okay then, Godspeed,” President Davidson said as he disconnected.

  ~~~

  Jesse opened the map onto the table, and Jeremy pulled out the scroll.

  “The map shows three rooms,” Jesse said, pointing at the map. “The collector room is the one we just came through. Then there’s a room called the core, and one called the mixing room. Look at that one. Do you see the lettering on the cylinders? It’s the same lettering that’s on T-Bone’s mixtures. The XR1 is the elixir, and the 2YL is the potion. Let’s take a look.”

  Slatel opened the small door in his chest and handed the jar and vial to Jeremy.

  Jeremy squinted as he tried to read the small print on the two containers. He shook his head and looked up at Matt. “She’s right. The elixir is Oiltex-XR1, and the potion is Jaban-2YL. That’s impossible on several levels. First, how could you possibly have read the labels, then remembered every one? And how did the letters on the containers get onto Torron’s cylinders or tanks or whatever they are? It’s impossible.”

  “I don’t know how, but I can remember anything I put my mind to,” Jesse said.

  “We know with our powers, anything is possible,” Matt said. “What does the scroll say, Jeremy?”

  Jeremy finished unrolling the scroll. It read as follows:

  First, Steve is the master of the Wand of Wongate. He and only he wields its powers. Place a curse on the potion and elixir, saying, “I curse the potion Jaban and reverse its effects on the core.” Then say, “I curse the elixir Oiltex and reverse its effects on the core.” Once the curses are completed, add the potion and elixir slowly to the storage tanks. When the potion and elixir are added, the liquid in the storage tanks will begin to degrade. You must leave immediately. Danger moves from very dangerous to extremely dangerous. “Well, nothing new there,” Steve said. “We’re always in danger.”

  “So you’re the man, Steve,” Jeremy said.

  “Yeah, I’m the master of the wand,” Steve said with a smile. “I am all powerful.”

  “I’m not sure I like the way he said that,” Jack quietly said to Jeremy.

  “Yeah, me neither,” Jeremy replied.

  “Remember what the scroll said the last time we read it. The answer is at the core. We need to find this room.” Matt pointed at the map.

  “The core looks like it could be above the collector,” Caroline said. “I say we try those stairs over there.” She headed to stairs leading up to the next floor.

  Chapter 30

  I’ll Go

  The sun was rising in the east as Gary, Sammy, and Johnny settled into their new digs. They had scattered their weapons and ammo around the area in strategic locations.

  “Are you ready?” Gary asked the other two.

  “Yes,” they both answered.

  “I wonder why the military is so far back,” Johnny said. “They’re at least a mile away from the dome.”

  “Maybe they know something we don’t,” Sammy said.

  Gary took his headphones off. “Well, I’ve been listening to the chatter. They don’t know what to expect, so as a precaution, they’re setting up a one-mile perimeter. We’ll have a front row seat when this thing starts.”

  “I can’t believe we’re waiting for them to attack,” Johnny said. “We should be taking them down now.”

  “It’s been impossible to penetrate the domes,” Gary said. “Every attempt has been a catastrophe. Apparently, there’s a special team trying to bring down their protective shields.”

  “A special team?” Johnny asked.

  “Yes, it’s the Alpha-6 team. What I’m hearing doesn’t make sense. The team claims to have magic powers. Also, the aliens have mixed technology with magic. That’s why they have an advantage over us.”

  “It sounds like hocus-pocus to me,” Sammy said. “When they come out of that dome . . . dead will be dead, magic or no magic.”

  ~~~

  The humming from the thirteen pods in the dimly lit room was almost deafening.

  “These pods are much larger than they looked on the map,” Haven signed to Caroline.

  “Yes,” Caroline signed back. “You can’t hear it, but the humming coming from the pods is loud. Almost too loud.”

  “I can feel the vibrations,” Haven signed.

  “Over here,” Jeremy yelled. He pointed to a door on the opposite side of the room.

  Holding their ears, they hurried through the door and closed it behind them. The noise was now tolerable. They found themselves in a huge room dominated by an enormous dark green storage tank at least forty feet tall and sixty feet in diameter and labeled Y2L. Another large pale purple tank sat beside the bigger tank. This tank was about twenty feet tall and fifteen feet in diameter and was labeled XR1. A third tank, smaller and blue, about six feet tall and four feet in diameter, was labeled 5ND. The colors of the three liquids could be seen flowing in clear glass pipes from the tanks. The pipes led from the tanks to a mixer and from there out of the room to the core. Everything was well organized and labeled.

  Steve went to a nearby table and placed the potion and elixir in the center. He removed the lid from the potion and took the cork out of the elixir. He moved the potion to the edge of the table.

  They all gathered around the table. Haven kept slightly behind Caroline.

  After looking at everyone, Steve pulled the Wand of Wongate from his belt and pointed it at the jar of dark green potion. “I curse the potion Jaban and reverse its effects on the core,” he said. A singular beam of bright light shot from the tip of the wand, encircle
d the jar, and eventually entered the top of the jar. The dark green potion began swirling. It turned pure white, then settled in as a bright red liquid.

  Steve placed the lid back on the red jar and moved the elixir to the edge of the table. He pointed the wand at the elixir and said, “I curse the elixir Oiltex and reverse its effects on the core.” Again, a singular beam of bright light emanated from the tip of the wand, encircled the small vial, and eventually entered the top of the vial. The pale purple elixir began swirling. It turned pure white, then settled in as a bright yellow liquid.

  “What now?” Jack asked.

  “I’ll fly to the top of the large tank and see if there’s a way to pour the potion into the tank,” Steve said as he picked up the jar and flew to the top. He yelled down. “Yes, there’s a hatch up here.”

  Steve opened the hatch and slowly poured the red liquid into the tank full of dark green liquid. As the red liquid hit the green liquid, the green liquid began to bubble around the entry point. By the time Steve had finished pouring, the area bubbling was turning red, and the red continued to spread. Steve closed the hatch and came back down.

  He grabbed the yellow vial and flew to the top of the second tank. He opened the hatch and dribbled the elixir into the pale purple liquid. Again, the pale purple liquid began to bubble as the yellow liquid entered the purple liquid. The area around where the yellow liquid was entering began to turn yellow.

  Steve put the hatch back in place and went back to the floor. “Done,” he said. “It’s going to take a while for the liquids to mix together, maybe hours. What time is it?”

  “It’s seven forty-six,” Jack said. “The war will start in a little over two hours. Do you think it will mix by then?”

  “Realistically, no,” Jeremy said. “It has to mix in the tanks, then go through the mixer. After that, it goes to the core. The pods are next, and then it goes to the collector. After all of that, it leaves for the domes. Some of the domes are hundreds of miles away. There’s no way it’ll make it before ten.”

  “San Diego is nine hundred miles away as the crow flies,” Caroline said. “This will take days, not hours.”