by Chucho Jones
“Run!” Oliver yelled.
He wondered if Leon had the same fate as they did and wondered if his luck had run out while facing the menacing, mechanical claws.
Banks and Oliver ran with all their might toward yet another pile of metal to take cover. They turned around the corner, and Oliver glanced off into the distance. He was overcome with relief when he saw Leon soaring through the air, gallantly swerving through the rusty area and evading a few drone attackers.
Oliver was excited to see his uncle alive. He took a second look, and his uncle was completely out of control. Oliver realized that the heavier gravity would make it more difficult for his uncle to maneuver. He quickly switched channels on his radio.
“Leon, I’m so happy you’re ok. Do a fly by so I can shoot them off you,” Oliver said.
“I’ll do my best,” Leon responded.
He flew by doing a set of uncontrolled aileron rolls that had the robots confused. Oliver took a chance and shot two of them off. A third one followed fast.
Now, every drone in the area chased after Leon.
Oliver looked around the recycling environment. He spotted a group of alien minions coming down a platform from a tube that connected the control room to the ground.
“General, I need to get to that tower. The signal came from in there,” Oliver said as he pointed to the control room.
“Wait a minute, kid. What if it’s a trap?” replied the general with concern.
“Maybe, but right now it’s the only lead we have,” he countered firmly. “Leon, keep distracting them, we need some time to make it to the control tower.”
Oliver saw his uncle swerving up above while the robots were close on his heels. Banks escorted Oliver safely towards the tower’s chute. A platform lowered from above. Two alien minions stood at the side of a third one, holding what seemed to be an alien rifle.
Both parties stuttered at the sight of each other. Oliver saw the berserker look at the general’s face. The big man roared with all his might and charged at the armed minion. The other two seemed dumbfounded at the violent threat.
He ripped the gun out of the alien’s grip and bashed its head with the end of it. He hit a second alien with the side of the weapon, rendering it unconscious. The third alien made a run for its life.
The general looked at the weapon’s sleek design—there weren’t many buttons to push. He found a way to cock the weapon. The alien minion had gained a decent distance from the invaders. Banks took a firm stance, held the weapon, and squeezed the trigger. The little green creature fell to the ground.
“Damned green men,” the general said out loud to himself.
Oliver nodded, impressed by the general’s marksmanship. They hopped on the platform and headed to the top of the tower.
Oliver and Banks saw Leon flying about the red compound, chased by the robots. His unusual use of the controls made for a confusing flight pattern that made it difficult for the robots to pursue fervently. Oliver saw a robot crash into a platform while a couple more crashed into one another. Leon handled himself well for the time being.
He stopped flying abruptly and showed better control of the jetpack. He took off low then raised himself into the distance to distract the swarm behind him.
“We need to give him some cover,” General Banks said.
“We’re almost there,” Oliver replied.
The small, spherical room had soothing indigo lighting in contrast to the rusty red exterior of the recycle chamber. Alien minions were posted at their stations. The large door to the freight platforms announced a platform arriving. The aliens cocked their weapons and pointed at the gate just before the door swooshed open.
An alien figure dangled from the general’s left arm. The green squid was being used as a shield. General Banks stormed out while shooting at every alien in sight. Aliens of higher rank were flabbergasted at the human invaders.
Aliens operating the robot drones had no chance to retaliate and were shot at their stations. A few drones fell to the ground off in the distance as they lost their pilots, leaving Leon with less to worry about.
General Banks threw his alien shield furiously at the alien attackers. He used a combination of melee and fire power to overwhelm the aliens and open his path. Although the fight was currently in favor of the humans, a few aliens managed to surprise them as they set the drones to autopilot.
“General, sir, I need to find the source of information. Can you handle it?” Oliver shouted at Banks.
The soldier charged at his opponents with no hesitation. Oliver realized the general got his status by taking action. He was a true man of the battlefield and could have taken on the mission himself had he been in his prime.
Oliver spotted a central console, hastily walked over to it, and let his mercuranium arm bond to the console. Oliver shivered for an instant as he received the information in a flash.
Definitely a major upgrade from the seizing episodes, he thought.
“I know the ship’s layout and stations. I can locate Victoria, but this wasn’t what drew me in here!” Oliver yelled to the general as he evaluated the information in his forearm.
“Hello? Anyone? Help me shake these guys off. This thing is running on fumes now!” Leon cried out over the radio.
Oliver looked out the window and saw his uncle flying the jetpack, smoke pouring out of the exhaust valves.
“At least the smoke screen can serve as a distraction for you,” Oliver replied.
General Banks smashed an alien against the wall—the last one. Every green squid was now left unconscious. They had the floor to themselves.
Banks cocked the assault phaser and shot the window out. He cocked it again and took another shot and, one by one, the alien drones fell. Oliver was wowed by General Banks’s marksmanship.
Every time he squeezed the trigger, a mechanical menace would fall to the ground. Leon flew straight for the control room once the last drone fell and landed between Oliver and the general. The jetpack started filling the room with smoke.
The team had infiltrated the site successfully. General Banks seemed satisfied. Oliver just pretended this was what it was like venturing with his all-time hero, ‘The Bald Eagle’. Oliver let his thoughts veer back to his mother and Victoria.
“Great job, men. Couldn’t be prouder of such fine, young cadets,” exclaimed the general with pride. Leon and Oliver looked at each other with a sense of satisfaction. “Oliver, did you recover the data?”
“I did.,” Oliver replied with hesitation.
“What’s ‘a matter, kid? Everything alright?” asked Leon.
“No, the source of what drew me here is, well, here, but it wasn’t this console. It’s something else, but I can’t point it out. We can’t leave yet, General,” Oliver explained.
He felt his throat closing as his saliva crawled up his throat. Dizziness clouded his vision. Sound became hollow.
Banks and Leon called his attention, but he was being drawn towards a set of cocoons. One held part of a robot inside. Oliver approached it, gazing at the egg-shaped sack. He made out the shape of the figure.
A familiar picture came to mind. He recalled the images that were embedded in his brain back with Doctor Dickens at his lab. The dreadful images of a mechanical creature very much like the one before him, except this one didn’t show insect-like features like the one in his visions.
Still, Oliver knew this was the creature calling out to him. This was the Quantum Wielder.
His journey for answers had just gotten much shorter. Everything he sought lay before him.
He raised his alien arm and placed it on the cocoon’s console. The mercuranium surface morphed and embraced the console’s controls. The Vitro-plasma in the chamber was emptied, and the cocoon retracted. The remains of GR-3G hung from a set of hoses and cables that attached to it from the ceiling.
Oliver observed the creature’s broken arm, then looked at his own alien arm. Oliver raised his robot hand and placed it on GR-3G
’s energy core. The mercuranium surface transformed its alien fingers into tendrils that connected to the core.
GR-3G’s severed head began to light up. Static wailing noises added to the already loud, bleating klaxons. Oliver felt faint as the Vitro-plasma in his body transferred to the robot.
He was now connected to the mother ship. The information was too much to retain, but he managed to make something out.
“Incoming enemies,” Oliver said with effort.
The room went into complete shutdown. Energy barriers covered the windows and doors. Leon and Banks remained perplexed at the series of events. Leon quickly grabbed Oliver and yanked him away from the robot.
“Quick, Banks, help me on the other side,” said Leon as he pulled his nephew away from the mechanical leech.
The general got behind the robot and began to pull away. Clanking noises from the door alerted the two men to new arrivals. A sudden explosion from the doors blew everyone across the room.
Oliver’s ears rang loudly. He opened his eyes to a blue haze caused by an energy field that protected them from the blast. Oliver knew the defense was deliberate, but he didn’t control the action. He barely felt strong enough to walk.
He looked around, Leon was rousing, and the general was struggling to move out from under the rubble—the robot that lay over him.
Among the smoke and debris, a ferocious, slender squid commando with assault armor tactically entered the room. A menacing yet gracious figure made a B-Line for them. Then Oliver saw her, the ferocious foe.
A mantis-like, humanoid woman with tentacles on her head approached in a threatening way. Leon put himself between Oliver and the figure, clutching nothing more than his lucky bat.
Just as we finally get somewhere, our journey comes to a screeching halt, and we’re goners, Oliver thought to himself.
The fearsome alien woman yelled and shrieked orders in her alien dialect. Leon remained firm with practically nothing to defend himself. Aliens flanked him. He swung his bat around, but he was quickly subdued, then stripped of his space suit and ‘weapon’.
He began to suffocate in the alien atmosphere, but an alien commando attached a small apparatus on his neck, allowing him to breathe normally, which he did rapidly.
He was then shackled with non-mercuranium metal bracers. Oliver was also picked up and stripped, only left in his spacesuit liner as well. For some reason, he was strangely unafraid.
He wasn’t angry, nor did he feel his hopes die. He was just curious to see what happened next. However, it was difficult to see a way out of their custody as the aliens forced them up and out of the destroyed control chamber.
Oliver looked back and realized that, in the confusion, they didn’t notice they had missed the general under all the debris.
24
Chapter 24
Kha Tse pushed her captors out into the hallway. She analyzed the human creatures and realized one was younger than the other. Very much like the female specimens she had previously captured.
She refrained from performing a mind meld. Her experience with the female specimens had left her mind bruised enough. The mere memory of it caused her to feel chills and anger.
The alien humans spoke between each other in a language she couldn’t understand. She saw the Quantum Wielder on the younger one’s arm. She raised her arm in anger and swung her hand. As she was about to strike him, a feeling crawled up her spine.
Oliver, I love you. That thought crossed her mind fast enough to prevent her from hitting him.
She recoiled at the strange feeling, only serving to make her angrier. The other human began to slur something in his dialect, his facial structure pleasant. It seemed strong and confident.
Kha Tse felt warm, then a quick rush made her feel cold. Enraged by the confusing feeling, she lifted her hand and slapped him instead.
“Leon!” shouted Oliver.
She recognized the name from Laura’s mind meld. Suddenly, she had a familiar feeling. She felt the urge to act quickly. The human adult seemed so forward, even after getting knocked down. Kha Tse felt compelled to display her power. She would not abide disobedience.
She grabbed the little man by the neck and tossed him easily. She aggressively pushed her crew to the sides and into positions, making sure Leon saw her display of power. She glared at him as he stared back. She was pleased to see some fear in his eyes.
She graciously walked in front of him as she escorted the child. They walked in formation as they got to the floating platforms of the plasma conveyor and stepped on.
Kha Tse’s pulse raced. Images of Leon kissing countless women clouded her thoughts. Leon! Leon! Leon! The name rung inside her head in various, surprising tones.
Why am I having these thoughts?
She couldn’t stand the lack of control over her own mind. Something had to be done.
She grabbed Leon by the back of his neck and threw him on to another platform. She jumped to the same platform and went off in a different direction. She looked back to witness the confusion in her subordinates and captive.
“Take the Quantum Wielder to the conduit chamber and prepare the Quantessence!” she yelled to her minions.
She raised her right claw to her left forearm and pressed on the mercuranium indentations on her armor. “The Forefather’s awakening has begun!” she yelled.
The misty room had warm, glowing light. Sleek consoles surrounded the spherical shaped quarters. Holo screens on the walls showed a scheduled plan in alien symbols.
With a wave of her hand, she changed the images on the wall to an artificial environment. It was a vivid display of sandy desert terrain with giant, gnarly shards of dark coral coming out of the ground.
Kha Tse saw Leon tremble. He looked around with eyes wide open. She saw his expression reek of vulnerability, and she tossed him at the wall. She picked him up and pinned him against it.
Leon wriggled under her grasp. She breathed heavily, and her heart pounded. She didn’t understand her strange human feelings. She felt confused and angry at her distracted thoughts.
She decided to imitate the acts of the women from the visions in her head. She couldn’t figure out a logical reason for placing your mouth on someone else’s. She thought it may be a kind of human mind meld.
She clutched his head and forced his mouth to hers. She kissed Leon as he squirmed and tried to kick his legs. It felt euphoric, but nothing else.
She wrapped her tentacles around his neck and proceeded to do a mind meld, except this time, she locked her tentacles between his eyes and the base of his skull on his neck.
She saw Leon’s eyes roll back. She closed her own and images flashed through her head. She saw her upbringing and the Forefather. She saw Leon’s memory of when he got his lucky bat.
She remembered how it felt for the first time to be in tune with the hive mind. She also felt Leon’s contact, and all the pain he felt. She felt the moment when the Forefather left her with the responsibility of the mandate and the feeling of honor. She also felt Leon’s pain and trauma.
Flashes of a tortured alien. A dark chamber. Squealing. Her link broke. The feelings overwhelmed her senses.
She dropped Leon to the side, and he slumped over. Frustrated by the turmoil of emotion, she decided to rid the human of its miserable life. An alarming sensation stopped her, made her rethink. Instead, she told herself she needed to get back to her duties.
“I will finish with you later,” she said to Leon.
She saw the confused expression on his face as he began to understand, but she couldn’t take any more. She aggressively strode out of the quarters.
* * *
The room was warm. The environment inside the ship felt like a tropical cave filled with humidity and mist. Leon felt the thicker atmosphere in the small chamber now that he was stripped down to his red under armor.
He wondered how he could breathe. He raised his hands to his neck collar. It must be this thing, he thought.
He looke
d around and saw various sets of fixtures on the concave wall as well as alien fossils of assorted colors. The display contrasted with the indigo-lit creases in the room causing a prism like effect across the concave walls.
The place was a cozy nook with a synthetic view to the gruesome sight of the alien planet. It’s a woman’s room. Did she come on to me?
Leon’s head was filled with doubt, but he didn’t want to entertain the thought. He shook his head and ignored the sour moment. He rushed to the gate, but he was locked in. He saw a robotic figure conspicuously placed across the hallway outside the room and quickly took a step back.
The door’s locking systems blasted energy from its circuits and fried the locks. A metal menace marched in. Leon took a second look with a terrified expression on his face as General Banks set the robot’s carcass gently on the ground.
“It’s ok. It’s me, kid. I saw what happened. You ok?” he asked with a concerned look on his face.
“I’m gonna level with you, Banks. I really don’t wanna talk about it,” replied Leon to the general with an unpleasant grin. “What are you doing with that thing? It set a trap for us.” He stared at the broken robot.
General Banks got on his knee and placed his hands over the metal carcass’ shoulder pads and looked at the broken glass cover on its head. The glass had a holographic display.
“This thing helped me out of the debris. It’s been communicating through this hologram,” the general said in a wondrous tone.
Leon got close enough to take a look at the images on the screen. “It’s a map of this place,” Leon said as he took a closer look at the display. He noticed a blue symbol blinking along the hallways of the ship. “Is that supposed to be Oliver?”
The general just responded with an aloof expression. The display changed and showed a cursor. Words displayed on screen:
