by Dave Lemel
“Lombargnor. That’s an interesting one. I’ve never been the greatest with names, but I think I’ll manage to remember that.”
“Derek!” Regina sternly addressed her husband from halfway across the massive room. “Leave that man alone. Clearly he needs to talk to Sasha.”
“I ain’t bothering him at all, ya old nag.”
Regina’s face turned a terrifying shade of crimson. Her set of bright green eyes, which she had passed to all her sons, seemed to transform into something that looked like lasers might shoot out of them if she willed it.
“I meant yes, dear. Of course, dear.” Derek turned back to Lombargnor. “Nice to meet you, sir. It appears we will have to continue our conversation later.”
“That would be lovely,” replied Lombargnor before turning and entering a sequence of commands into the pad beside the door.
Sasha’s eyes narrowed. “Sir, what is going on?”
Lombargnor finished typing in a second sequence of commands. A deep rumbling noise filled the room, and it began to noticeably vibrate. “I can explain as we go, but as I stated previously, we must leave immediately.” His voice raised in volume as he continued over Sasha’s head. “Please move away from the table a few meters everyone.”
The group did as they were told, and the center of the room jolted. A heptagon-shaped section, precisely matching the heptagon tray in the ceiling, separated itself from the floor and raised upwards. It rose on five thin pillars. As it neared the ceiling, a replacement for the now rising section of floor appeared at the other end of the pillars. At the front of this section were two horseshoe consoles. Behind those were two rows of four seats, and behind them was a row with three seats.
Lombargnor moved swiftly toward the front two control consoles, his voice booming. “Everyone, please take a seat in one of the back three rows. Strap yourselves in as quickly as possible.” He sat himself down in the seat to the right, and as he strapped in, called over his shoulder, “Sasha, I will need you to take the control seat beside me.”
Sasha shook her head. “I want to hold Penny.” She pointed at Melissa. “Mom, grab Buddy and hold him tight on your lap.”
“Mission Commander Cain, I need you in the co-pilot’s seat. That is an order. One of Penny’s grandparents will be more than capable of holding her during takeoff.”
Penny began to cry. “Get Pritzley! He can do it. I need to hold my daughter. This briefing room turned spaceship thing is already scaring her with the transformation noises and all the commotion.”
“If I could I would. Unfortunately, Pritzley is a large part of the reason for the sudden evacuation. He has betrayed us. Please, Sasha, I implore you, sit here now. We really must be going.”
Sasha moved robotically to the seat beside Lombargnor. “Pritzley?” she muttered as she sat down and began to strap in. “Was he,” she turned to her right, “the mole?”
Lombargnor nodded while all four of his hands busily worked his control console. “I did not want to believe it at first. I consider myself to be supremely loyal.” A loud series of clunks preceded the sensation that the room they were in had separated from its surroundings. “When I was much younger and rising in my chosen profession, I had a mentor. She was a very wise being. One of her favorite sayings, and I believe she made a concerted effort to instill it permanently in my mind, recognizing that my loyalty could prove a weakness if exploited, was this: ‘Unyielding stubbornness in the face of mounting evidence is not an admirable quality. It is the height of ignorance and quite dangerous.’ I heard her in my head repeating this quite frequently the last few months. Finally, the evidence had turned into an unavoidable pile.”
Lombargnor raised his voice as the main screen turned to a view out the front of the room. The upper-left screen changed from the soccer match to a course map showing Mars along with a diagnostic readout. The other three became views out the sides and rear. “This will be a bit bumpy. Is everyone strapped in and ready?”
A group of nervous “mmm-hmms, yes’s” and head nods came in reply.
“Right then, in three, two, one.”
The briefing room turned ship dropped further and further down a vertical shaft, finally halting once a long, wide tunnel appeared ahead of them. “Monitor all activity around upper orbit please, Commander Cain. I am expecting an unwelcome surprise in that region shortly, and I would prefer that we pass the area before it arrives.”
“Yes, sir.”
The vessel accelerated rapidly like a bullet ripping down a long rifle shaft.
“Nothing out of the ordinary anywhere in upper or any other orbit that I am seeing, sir. May I ask where exactly we are currently, and where we are headed?”
“I assume you mean other than in the suddenly mobile briefing room?”
“Correct, sir. Where is this tunnel?”
“There are many benefits to constructing a base along a large body of water. If you have vessels that can operate in both liquid and gas, one of those benefits would be much less detectable escape routes. There are dozens of these escape tunnels under Star Marshal Base. Almost all exit far out from the lake bed at different points. This affords many tactical advantages. Currently, we and others are using them to evacuate, and hopefully, if the base is being monitored, it will be too late before the monitoring party realizes we are long gone.”
“Sir, who is coming? Who would be—”
Lombargnor held up one hand. “Brace yourselves, there will be a bit of a jolt as we hit the pass-through gel and then water.”
“Did he say water?” Derek asked, and Regina smacked him at his query. “What?” Derek said, throwing up his hands as he shrugged. “You knew this thing was a sub?” A second smack followed. “Shut up, you fool,” she said. Derek rolled his eyes and crossed his arms tightly across his chest.
The ship slowed and then emerged into dark, murky water. Lombargnor aimed the vessel at an almost vertical angle and accelerated. As they sped upwards through the water, it steadily brightened and visibility increased.
“Do you see anything yet, Commander Cain?”
“Not that I’m aware of. It may help if you tell me exactly what the heck I am looking for.”
Lombargnor turned and blinked twice as the ship broke the surface of the lake. “Vikards.” He turned back toward the screens and corrected trajectory before accelerating further up and away from the surface of the great lake.
“Vikards? What do you mean? How could they just show up in upper orbit?”
“I do not know all the details yet. Once I accepted that Pritzley was most likely my mole, I began surveilling him. It seems he has been communicating with them for at least a year.”
“Why?” Sasha shook her head. “Why would he do that?”
“His motivation is not entirely clear to me. It seems he was angry about a situation I was never made aware of. This eventually led to his betrayal. For present purposes, why is a moot point. In his last communication with him, they indicated they had developed a new transportation technology that would allow them a one-way trip with an incredibly large fleet of battleships, transport ships, and numerous other varieties of attack vessels. It could be used one time to any destination they desired. They had developed it for a surprise attack on the Bopecan home system. Once they felt they had amassed the offensive capability to achieve a devastating blow, they would use it. Then the embarrassment on Io occurred. Dow is so blinded by rage he impulsively scrapped a plan that has been in the works for decades to use in a revenge plot against humans. Specifically, your husband and Marshal Jordan as well as myself.”
“We have to tell everyone. More could evacuate.”
“I am sorry, there simply was not time to coordinate a mass evacuation. I found out about this attack mere moments before entering the briefing room for our escape.”
Sasha’s face scrunched, and she shook her head sharply. “That�
��s not true. You had me round up this crew,” she said, pointing a thumb over her shoulder, “days ago. You knew then and did nothing.”
“That is not entirely accurate. I knew from a previously monitored conversation that Dow intended to use Marshal Jordan’s and Marshal Cain’s families as leverage to lure them back or quickly out of hiding once he arrived. The massive fleet he is bringing along and the full scale of his assault is not something that I had any knowledge of, nor did I anticipate it in any way. We will discuss this further once we are safely en route to our destination. Please focus on outer orbit and keep a close eye on all shield and weapon diagnostics.”
“Yes, sir.”
Sasha noticed the screen displaying the rear view now had an entire side of the Earth on it. She checked the course map and held her breath for a few seconds while they blazed through the outer orbit region. Just as she said to herself, looks like we made it in time , she noticed something. She enhanced a display screen on her console. “Sir,” she said, looking up at the rear-displaying screen, “something’s happening.”
At first it was difficult to detect, but Sasha’s keen eye had spotted it right when she looked up. She had the advantage of knowing approximately where to look since an incredibly abnormal reading had spiked in that area. Still, when it first manifested itself visibly, it was very hard to notice.
“Show me,” replied Lombargnor, maintaining his usual calm tone.
Sasha swiped a few times over a display on the right of her console. She pulled her hand up as if yanking a marionette’s strings. A small hologram of the Earth appeared just above the console. “Here.” She identified an approximate location for Lombargnor, and he looked back up at the screen.
“I see it.”
The ship went eerily quiet. The two sitting at the front stared anxiously at a tiny point of light that had appeared, to a trained eye, in a spot where it should not have been. The Earth steadily shrank as they tore away from it, but the light grew in size and intensity. Then, as if time had jumped, an enormous fleet of ships in a multitude of shapes and sizes materialized and spread themselves out in a web around the globe. Just as the vessel they were traveling in was getting far enough away that Sasha had to fully zoom in on the rear-facing camera, dozens of ships hit the Earth’s atmosphere and lit up like freshly struck matchheads descending to the surface.
Marie’s soft, shaky voice broke the silence. “What’s going on?”
Lombargnor confirmed the course they were on was correct before unstrapping from his seat, standing, and turning to face the passengers. “We are traveling on a vessel to Mars.”
“Cool,” responded Derek with a wide-eyed, childlike grin on his face. Smack . The grin faded as Derek rubbed his stinging tricep.
“Why did we have to evacuate so suddenly like that?” asked Marie. “What are Vikards? I heard you two talking about them. And why do they want Simon and Todd?”
“We have a long journey ahead of us. There will be more than enough time to explain more thoroughly and answer all your questions. For now, if it would be acceptable, I would prefer to go over the layout of the ship so you may all familiarize yourselves with the vessel we will be sharing for the next few days.”
Most of the faces looking back at him nodded in approval.
“The section that rose upward from where you are currently sitting is now an observation deck. It has three-hundred-sixty-degree views as well as a transparent ceiling. It only occupies the center of what technically would be the fourth level. Below that and above this level is the third, where you will find sleeping quarters, restrooms, bathing facilities, and a kitchen. Below us is the engine room, other mechanical rooms, and storage areas for supplies and food. Next, I feel it would be sensible if we made our way to the third level so everyone may determine what quarters they will be sleeping in. After that, I can show you the rest of the ship, and once we have concluded the tour, we can sit down to a meal where I answer any and all questions you may have.”
Sasha and Derek unstrapped first and everyone else followed suit. Lombargnor made his way to a spiral staircase that now occupied the rear point of the heptagon-shaped room, and the half-dazed crowd followed as they muttered and murmured amongst themselves.
Chapter 24
Simon had been sleeping deeply when he sensed the drastic change from darkness to light. He was not pleased and felt he most certainly could have remained in his slumber another hour or two. He tried rolling face down to block out as much light as possible, but he had never been able to sleep in that position. He finally accepted the struggle was useless.
He lifted his face off his rolled-up sweatshirt pillow and pushed himself off the ground. Something was making noise outside, and it or they were getting louder. His natural instinct first assumed they were birds, but as he began to unzip the tent, he stopped suddenly. His slowly waking mind was now catching up with his reality as the fog of sleep lifted further. He was not on Earth. The wildlife he had encountered here had by no means been entirely friendly. Well, you can’t figure it out from in here , he told himself, and he unzipped the opening the rest of the way.
He stepped out into a cool, bright morning, the little lake a sheet of green glass laid out before him. The noise slipped away from his thoughts as he absorbed the majesty of his surroundings.
The fire smoldered, and the smell of it reminded him of the night before. Where are Todd and Doug? he wondered. He walked over to Todd’s tent and laid down. He unzipped it as little and as quietly as possible. He peeked inside, and, “HEY!” someone shouted. His head snapped up and he scanned the hillside opposite the one they had searched the day before. “HEY! SIMON!” He saw him now. Todd was standing on the edge of a black rock outcropping waving to him. He stood up and waved back.“I see you,” he shouted up in reply.
Todd beckoned him up to their location and called down, “Come, check out this cave!”
Simon held a thumbs up high above his head. He started on his way before stopping, turning back, and digging into his pack. He pulled out two bags of the corn chip jellybean things, ripped one open, and poured the contents into his mouth. Something about being in the mountains , he said to himself as tore open the second bag then chugged half a bottle of water. He dumped the remainder over his head and rubbed it into his face as it trickled down. The cold air hitting his now wet skin was all the motivation he needed to get moving up the hillside.
He tossed what was left of the second bag of corn chip jellybeans into his mouth, grabbed another water, and surveyed the slope in front of him. A logical route seemed to show itself to his left, but he could take a more direct path if he felt up for a little climbing. A voice taunted him from deep in his head. C’mon, you’re a Colorado kid. That ain’t nothing but a few pebbles . He took a big swig of the water and shoved the bottle in his pocket. The direct path it would be.
A few minutes later, he gripped the edge Todd had called down to him from, found a nice spot to place his foot for a big push, and threw himself up and onto the ledge.
“Well, how do ya do?” said a voice Simon now knew to be Douglas Jordan. “Welcome to my mountain cabin.” Simon nodded as he sucked wind with his hands locked on top of his head, trying to catch his breath. The “cabin,” as Doug called it, was a wide, shallow cave in the rock face. In front of it was the ledge they now stood on. It offered a panoramic view of the whole area from the forest they had emerged from to the entire little valley with the lake and hillside opposite them.
“It’s lovely.” Simon sucked a large breath in before continuing. “You two both sleep up here?” He had noticed two apparent makeshift beds beside a smoldering fire.
“We did, indeed,” replied Todd before cracking a grin, “and get why. You know those nitchites? The grey ape things?”
“Ummm, yes. Pretty hard to forget. They made quite the impression.”
“Yeah, well, that lake we set up camp next to, it�
��s a watering hole for a group of them.”
Simon looked down at their campsite then back to Todd, horrified. “Dude! And you just left me sleeping down there?”
Doug smiled. “Relax, that’s why I chose this cave. Great view of the area to keep an eye on ’em. Plus sound travels up real easy. Something about the acoustics of this rock face catches it real nice, and even if they come while I’m sleeping, it wakes me up. I had a few run-ins with ’em after I crashed. My number one concern after that was setting up shop somewhere safe from them ugly bastards.”
Simon glanced back down at where he had spent the night. “Well, all that being said, I would have preferred that information last night before I chose where I slept.” He turned back to Doug. “Why didn’t you set up closer to your crashed ship? If it was me, fixing that would’ve been top priority.”
“Fix it? Hell, kid, I could barely fly it. The thing’s trashed. Also, I assumed it drew a little attention during its unconventional approach and landing. Quite frankly, stranded out here, with Vikards possibly in pursuit, finding a safe hideout and calling for help was first, second, and all other priorities I could think of.”
“Understandable. Speaking of calling for help, we answered that call, so if you’re ready—and quite frankly, even if you’re not—time to pack up and head back down.”
“Hang on,” said Todd with the tone of impending negotiation dripping off it.
“Hang on what? The view is lovely and all, but I have no intention of staying up here even one more day, let alone night. So let’s go, man.”
“We’ve got something to talk to you about.”
Simon looked back and forth from Todd to Doug a few times. A tiny pit formed in his stomach. He swallowed hard to suppress it. “Okay, I suppose a little chat wouldn’t delay us too long. Make it quick.”
Todd looked to Doug, who gestured back palms out for Todd to begin. “So, we were talking last night after you went to bed.” Todd began pacing nervously as he continued, his hands doing nearly as much talking as his mouth. “I’m sure you remember Jay’s explanation for the initial rationale in their plot to steal the key.”
