“Why are you here?” Jesse asked. “It’s quite dangerous.”
“You don’t have to tell me that,” T-Bone said. “Actually, it’s more dangerous than you think. I’ve come to deliver a message from Hagred.”
“Hagred?” Steve said. “He’s here? Hagred, Hargett’s older brother, is here?”
“Yes, he wants to help you defeat Torron,” T-Bone said.
“I don’t trust him,” Jesse said. “He’s a scoundrel. No, he can’t be trusted.”
The doors to the dome creaked and groaned as they opened and three dragons were led out by three Horkins. Two Humongers and a man dressed in purple robes mounted the three dragons.
“There’s no shield around the dragons,” Jeremy said quietly.
The dragons took flight.
“Matt, bring down the Humongers,” Steve said. “I’m going after the third one.” He flew into the afternoon sky.
Matt unleashed four consecutive arrows in rapid succession. All four found their targets. Two dragons fell out of the sky, spewing streams of fiery saliva as they crashed into the forest.
Steve caught up with the third dragon as the other two were hit. He landed on the dragon’s neck just ahead of the rider and drove his oversized sword into the dragon’s neck. As the dragon began to flail out of control, Steve turned to the rider, grabbed him around the waist, and flew back to the others. Once on the ground, Steve pinned the man against a nearby tree and pulled back his hood.
“Smalik?” T-Bone said with surprise. “I thought you would be dead a long time ago, but here you are.” T-Bone sounded happy to see Smalik.
“You know this guy, T-Bone?” Matt asked.
“Yeah, he was Torron’s high priest a hundred and fifty years ago,” T-Bone said. “What are you doing in purple robes?”
“Do you remember the advice you gave me about how to stay alive around Torron, T-Bone?” Smalik asked.
“Yes, I said you need to be too important to her to lose,” T-Bone said.
“Well, it worked,” Smalik said. “After you left, I studied your notes and learned your craft the best I could. I then was able to work with the engineers and scientists from Earth to advance what you had done. I’m now the most powerful wizard on Gandoral, right behind Torron herself.”
Steve pointed the Wand of Wongate at Smalik. “Do you know what I have in my hand?”
“No,” Smalik replied.
“I have the Wand of Wongate in my hand,” Steve said. “No wand has greater power. Don’t make any sudden moves. If you do, your extra-long life will end here.”
Smalik put up both hands. “I completely understand.”
After rummaging around in their knapsacks, the Alliance tied, blindfolded, and gagged Smalik. Then Steve reached into his bag, pulled out a set of headphones, put them on the wizard, and started a repeating loop of Led Zeppelin.
“Now, what were you about to say?” Matt asked T-Bone.
“Hagred wants to help you,” T-Bone said.
Jesse began shaking her head. “No, no, we can’t trust him. He’s almost as bad as Torron, maybe even worse. Even his older brother, Hargett, didn’t trust him.”
“He’s a different form of the same enemy,” Matt said.
Jack couldn’t keep quiet. “Look, I don’t know this guy, but if he can help, shouldn’t we at least listen?”
“I agree with Jack,” Caroline said. “I think the old saying holds in this case.”
“What old saying is that?” Jeremy asked.
“The enemy of your enemy could be your friend,” Caroline said. “We should listen to what he brings to the table.”
“Where is he?” Jeremy asked.
“I didn’t want him to know where you were, so we’ll be meeting him at a small airport near the beach,” T-Bone said. “It’s a little more than fifty miles from here. The airport is Hogan’s Corner Airport.”
“We can’t get the V-22 off the ground,” Jeremy said. “The alien ships will shoot us down. How do we get out of here?”
Caroline looked at Steve. “If you’ve been watching, the alien ships have been all heading toward Seattle. There are no real important targets in this area. I think if we’re able to get to the V-22, and if we fly at treetop level, we might be able to get out of here. Can you get us to the V-22?”
“You know what?” Steve said. “I have more talents than being a taxi shuttle service.” He picked up Jesse under one arm and Haven under the other and flew into the afternoon sun.
~~~
The sun was setting when the word came in that the alien ships were no longer being lured away from their task of destroying the cities.
“They chased the US aircraft to the fifty-mile mark but stopped at that point,” Colonel Smith said to General Wisecoff. “The good news is, we shot down sixty-two of the alien crafts before they caught on. The even better news is, it took them this long to realize the mistake they were making. They’re not so bright.”
Chapter 36
Hagred and Margot
Steve shook his head and watched as the V-22 lifted off the ground. This is the noisiest machine I’ve ever heard, he thought. We’ll never get out of here without attracting attention.
Steve was flying just ahead of the V-22. The Alpha-6 team, along with Haven, had gotten twenty miles from the lake dome when two alien ships started to chase them.
Steve headed straight at the one on the right. He couldn’t damage the ship, but he discovered he could use his strength to change the ship’s direction. He got on top of the ship and began pushing it toward the ground. He drove the ship at supersonic speed straight into the ground, demolishing it.
The second alien ship was attacking the V-22. Caroline was dipping and dodging to avoid being hit. A few bullets pierced the fuselage, and two hit Haven and Jack.
Steve jumped the alien ship from above. The ship dipped hard to the right. To keep his balance, Steve grabbed what looked like a handle or knob. The centrifugal force of the dive put a lot of force into Steve’s grasp of the knob. It broke off in his hand, and Steve went flying away. He regained his balance and headed back toward the alien ship and noticed the shield was down. He attacked the ship by pushing it into the ground.
Jack opened the door of the V-22 and let Steve in.
“I think this is what gives the aircraft its shield,” Steve said as he handed the hockey-puck-sized button to Jack.
“The chatter on the radio says we’ll be safe when we’re fifty miles away from the dome,” Caroline said.
As Jesse attended to Jack and Haven, Caroline flew the plane west to the coast and then turned north, setting down at the Hogan’s Corner Airport.
~~~
“They said they would be here,” T-Bone said. “Give them a little more time. We’re fifty or sixty miles from Seattle, and with the battle blazing away, it will likely take them longer to get here.”
“We have better things to do than to sit here waiting for someone who might be able to help,” Steve said. “I never liked the guy anyway, and Margot was a spy. We should leave.”
“I’m with Steve,” Jeremy said. “We can’t put our trust in those two. Hagred likely killed his brother, and she’s a spy. It’s almost midnight. We need to get back to the lake dome and figure out how to drive Torron back to Gandoral.”
Just then they heard a loud whirring sound, and out of the dark sky appeared an Oar-7.
The Alpha-6 team immediately got into combat position.
“Don’t attack!” Caroline yelled. “If they were going to kill us, we would already be dead.”
Three legs extended down, one in front and two in the rear. Each leg had three fingerlike extensions that softened the landing. A door on the underside of the ship slid open, and a ladder extended to the ground. Two people exited the ship and walked toward the team.
Hagred wore a black cape with a red lining and carried a small black satchel over his shoulder. Margot wore a deep purple jumpsuit with silver trim and a headband that was also purp
le. On the front of the headband was a brilliant sapphire in the center of a spray of diamonds.
“We want to help you fight Torron,” Hagred said as he walked up.
“We don’t trust you,” Steve said as he stepped in front of Hagred.
“Steve, relax.” Margot touched his arm. “Listen to our story. Then decide if you want to trust us or not.”
“How did you get your hands on an alien ship?” Jack asked.
“We stole it from the Ontario dome,” Margot answered. “The Humongers are weak-minded.”
“There’s a hangar over here,” Caroline said as she pointed to the hangar on the north side of the runway. “Let’s talk inside.”
~~~
General Wisecoff was sleeping on a cot in his office, fully clothed. At 12:30 a.m. Thursday morning, there was a knock on the door.
“Yes? What is it?”
Master Sergeant Barr entered. “The tech guys have an update for you.”
The two left for the command center.
“What do you have?” the general asked as he entered the room.
“It’s really strange, sir,” Captain Starritt said. “They’re using the L-band. We use it for GPS system communications. They’re communicating on this band at around 1.57 gigahertz. We can’t quite figure out how to decode it or interrupt the signal yet. There’s a random signal that’s working between one and two gigahertz. The random signal seems to have two purposes. The first is to communicate with and power up the shields for the helmets and their aircraft. The second is to scramble our GPS systems to create chaos with our systems. The signal is attached to a complex polynomial. We’re close to duplicating the signal. Once we capture the signal, we’ll be able to block it successfully.”
“Give me an ETA on the solution,” the general said.
“By morning, sir,” Starritt said.
“Before dawn,” the general said.
Starritt nodded and left.
“Put everyone on alert,” the general said. “Get all air and sea assets in position at the sixty-mile mark by zero five hundred hours. Alert all ground forces to be ready for an attack on the aliens at zero five hundred hours. Wake me at zero four thirty hours.”
~~~
Wow, that’s an old airplane, Jesse thought as she walked passed the Cessna 120. I don’t think this meeting with Hagred and Margot is worth having. He’s a scoundrel, and she’s a spy. What good can come from this?
There was an old desk and chair pushed up against the far wall with an old beat-up filing cabinet standing next to it.
Jeremy created a fireball, and Matt positioned it overhead. Matt signaled them to step back, then motioned for the chair to move out of the way and the desk to move into the center of the room. He transformed the desk into a large, round conference table and the wobbly chair into a high-backed office chair. He duplicated the chair until he had enough for all, and they sat at the table. Once they were all seated, Matt looked across the table at Hagred. “Why did you call this meeting?”
“I believe I can help you defeat the queen,” Hagred answered.
“Before we start,” Jesse interrupted, “what happened to Hargett?”
“Well, that’s a long story,” Hagred said. “We don’t have time right now.”
“We’ll take the short version,” Jeremy insisted.
“After you left Africa,” Margot began, “it took twenty years, but the three of us eventually reconciled our differences. We helped the natives set up trade agreements and formed a great and wealthy nation. About forty-five years ago, Torron’s son Drake found us in Africa. He tried unsuccessfully to lure the three of us back to Gandoral to join the preparations for the battle that’s going on right now. However, somehow Drake managed to kidnap Hargett. We haven’t heard from him since. We assume he was killed by the queen at some point.”
“We travel back and forth between Gandoral and Earth whenever needed,” Hagred said. “We haven’t seen or heard of Hargett since he was abducted.”
“You travel to and from Gandoral at will?” Jeremy asked.
“Yes,” Margot said. “Once we reconciled, Hargett showed us the portal from the island to Gandoral. Between Hargett and Hagred, they figured out how to open and close the portal without the seven stones. The words are ‘Enter Gandoral’ from the island side and ‘Enter the island’ from the Gandoral side. It’s pretty simple, and it works.”
“We know you don’t trust us,” Hagred said. “I wouldn’t if I were you, so let’s make it simple and you can decide if we’re in or out.”
Matt looked around the table at the rest of his team. No one seemed enthusiastic. “What do you suggest?” he asked.
“You know as well as we do that the battle raging along the West Coast is not the objective,” Hagred said. “The queen is the objective.”
“Yes, we know that,” Jeremy said.
“She’s well protected,” Hagred said. “While the shield holds over the lake dome, it’ll be nearly impossible to bring her down. We saw the shields come down for a short period, but they went right back up.”
Jeremy shot Matt a “don’t say a word” kind of look.
Matt sat back. “Yeah, we saw that happen too. Do you know how to bring down the shield?”
“Before the army left Gandoral, I talked to one of the Horkins that worked on the technology surrounding the domes,” Hagred said. “The domes have two energy sources. The first and primary one is chemical. Then there’s a backup electrical system. We believe the chemical system failed for some reason, and the electrical system kicked in.”
“Get to the point,” Steve said.
“We only need to bring down the electrical system,” Margot said. “If we bring it down, the shield should fall. Then she’s vulnerable.”
“Can you fly that ship into the lake dome?” Steve asked.
“No,” Hagred said. “We tried to fly into the Bob Hope dome, but the slit in the dome wouldn’t open. We weren’t attacked. We simply couldn’t get in. We’ve concluded that we won’t be able to get into the lake dome either. If you can help us get in, Margot and I can shut down the electrical system.”
“How can we get you in?” Jesse asked.
Margot shook her head. “We know you were inside the lake dome. The Oar-7s have monitors in them. We saw you on the monitor in our ship.”
The Alliance didn’t say a word.
“Okay,” Hagred said. “There are cameras everywhere. The video from those cameras is shared with all of the other domes for security purposes. We saw you in some kind of control room. I don’t know what you did, but you brought down the chemical power source. I know you don’t trust us, but we know a little about what you’ve been up to.”
“We can get you inside,” Caroline said.
The Alliance looked surprised that Caroline had acted without consultation.
Matt pointed to Hagred and Margot. “Wait outside.” After the door closed, he turned to Caroline. “You don’t think we should have discussed this first?”
“No,” Caroline said. “People are dying every minute we waste. Get them inside quick. If they’re successful in bringing down the shields, great. If they fail, we’ll try something different. You were impatient before the battle started. I’m impatient now. Get them inside that dome as soon as possible.”
“Hagred and Margot don’t know we have Smalik,” T-Bone said. “I want to take him back to my bunker. Maybe I can learn something from him that would help.”
“I’ve got an idea,” Jesse said. “All of our weapons and precious artifacts are in our knapsacks. If we get caught, they’ll likely take them away. Hand them to me.” She held the knapsacks in her hands and disappeared. Before she reappeared, she laid the knapsacks down, and they continued to be invisible. “Here.” She picked up the invisible knapsacks and handed them back. “Look inside. You can see everything. Remember, they can touch them even though they can’t see them. Don’t tell Hagred and Margot. I still don’t trust them.”
Chap
ter 37
Friend or Foe
Hagred and Margot came back into the hangar.
“Okay, what’s the plan?” Jeremy asked Hagred.
“I’ll pretend that you’re my prisoners,” Hagred said. “Torron will see us for sure. Once we have her attention, we’ll all attack her at the same time. She’ll be overpowered, and we’ll take her captive.”
“You think it’s that simple?” Steve said with a questioning look on his face. “We’ll never get that close. Besides, how can you show Torron that you’ve taken us captive? She knows how difficult that can be. We can’t just walk in. She won’t buy it.”
“Steve’s right,” Jesse said. “If we walk in with you, she’ll know you’re lying.”
“I have this,” Hagred said as he pulled a rope out of the satchel he had over his shoulder. The rope was braided from three different brightly colored smaller ropes: red, blue, and yellow. “This is an exact replica of the Ensnaring Cord. It’s said that once it surrounds its victim, it produces a field from which no magic can escape. That’s a myth, only a story. However, most in the realm of magic and sorcery believe the stories are true, and the Ensnaring Cord is out there somewhere waiting to be found. I’ll tell the queen that Margot found it in Africa before we left, and I’m now using it to contain your magic. I’ll convince her that I’ve come to join her and that I am bringing the Alliance to give to her as a gift of good will.”
Steve began to smile and then chuckled under his breath. “I don’t believe you. What if the Ensnaring Cord is actually the Ensnaring Cord and you ensnare us for real?” He laughed under his breath again. “We’re young and somewhat inexperienced, but we’re not stupid.”
“Watch,” Hagred said. He pointed his hands at a stack of boxes in the corner of the hangar. Fire shot from his fingertips and set the boxes ablaze. He then shot a black smoke column at the blaze and put it out. He pulled Margot close and swung the rope in the air.
The rope moved on its own and wrapped around both Hagred and Margot, then broke into two ropes that tightened around each of their waists.
Once the ropes were in place, Hagred performed the same magic as before. “Torron knows how the rope is supposed to work. When you come in with them tight around your waist, she’ll assume you’re powerless.” Hagred took the two short ropes from himself and Margot, and they combined back into one, which coiled itself up.
Winds of War Page 21
