“That’s what he told you?”
“Yes, he was my father. I have no reason to doubt him.”
“He came here because he was sick of humans and wanted to do research on his own. I was his first creation. I helped him build an army, an army to destroy the human race! Once I convinced him that it was the human race who betrayed him, the rest was easy. That and the fact that he was infected with the alien life form himself. It slowly mutated him, and for some reason, probably from the mutation, he was able to breathe two gases, Oxygen and Nitrous Oxide. Did you know that he had four lungs?”
“Why are you telling me this?” Angelica asked. “Because you know eventually I’m going to kill you?”
“That’s the spirit, Ms. Avery!” Balta laughed. “Never give up the fight! You remind me of Mr. Walker. He was as determined as you are! So was your father! It must be something in the human genes!”
“I keep hearing about this Jeff Walker,” she stated. “Who the hell is he anyway?”
“He’s the man who really killed your father,” Balta said.
“What are you talking about?”
“Just what I said. I was with them in the conference room. Walker broke in, and I went to shoot him with my laser, he grabbed my arm, took my gun from me, and shot your father. The conference window shattered, and he fell to the rocks below dead.”
“You’re lying!”
“My dear lady,” Balta sighed. “What would I have to gain by lying to you?”
“My trust, my cooperation, my blood, and my genes!”
“You are a very perceptive woman, Ms. Avery. But you’re wrong. I’m telling you the truth!”
“What guarantee will I have that you’ll let them go if I help you?”
“You have my word.”
“That’s not worth much to me right now.”
“Once I let them go and you help me achieve my task, I will release you as well. I can even arrange for you to live on a colony with your own kind in peace.”
“What a cheery thought,” Angelica quipped. “Most humans I’ve met lately are just like you, a bunch of assholes!”
“You have so much of your father in you. Are you sure you don’t want to join me in my conquest?”
“Yes, I’m positive. Once I do what you ask, I’m done with this whole charade. I’d like to carry on my father’s work somewhere else. I need my android too, in one piece; he needs a new arm. What about this weapon of yours?”
“Who said anything about a weapon?”
“You have two fusion reactors onboard!” she snapped in anger. “I know that they’re not just for decoration!”
Balta laughed heartily.
“You are observant,” he said. “However, I don’t want to spoil the surprise just yet. By morning we’ll be in Republic territory. Then I will show you, all of you, why the Tolarion empire will rise again! Varlos, Tentron, take her back to the brig. Our conversation is over, Ms. Avery!”
The guard followed his order, and brought Angelica back to where the others waited to know what was going on. She entered, and Rolling rose to his feet in anticipation.
“Well?” he asked.
Angelica slapped him across the face in anger.
“I trusted you!” she said.
“What are you talking about?” the bewildered man asked.
“You told me my father died in an explosion, not killed by this Jeff Walker!”
“What?” Malone asked, suddenly in glee because his position was more justified.
“Believe me,” Rollings pleaded. “Jeff Walker didn't kill your father! Balta is lying to you!”
“Right now I don’t know who to believe! He agreed to let you all live, by the way, as long as I help him with their cloning process.”
“Thank God for miracles,” Malone mumbled. “He’ll probably leave us on one of their mining colonies to breathe dirt for the rest of our lives.”
“No,” the young woman said. “He said he would leave you on a human colony free of your own will.”
“Boy,” Malone said. “Are you ever naïve! You think he’s just going to let us all go?”
“That’s what he said,” Angelica answered.
“Well, we’ll see if he’s a ‘man’ of his word,” Rollings stated. “In the meantime, we all better get some sleep.”
“Ms. Avery,” Cely said. “May I ask you a question?”
“Sure, Cely.”
“What do you hope to gain by this alliance with this creature?”
“Why would you ask that when you already know the answer? Survival, of course. Besides, you're the one who told me to negotiate.”
“I just wanted to make sure you weren’t doing it to save these beings,” Cely said. “They really don’t seem to be very appreciative of your efforts.”
“Don’t you ever shut up?” Malone said to him, and then turned to Angelica. “Does he have a shut off button?”
“Cely,” Angelica said, as she ignored his negativity. “I don’t expect you to understand, but although I think these beings are some of the most selfish and arrogant I ever met, I still would rather not see them die.”
Garlona and Varloo looked at each other as they felt insulted.
“Nor would I,” Cely answered. “My prime directive has always been preservation of progressive life. It’s just that they don’t seem very progressive to me.”
“Cely, keep watch, and try to lock your sensors into their data bank if you can break through the interference,” Angelica said. “If they do anything out of the ordinary, let me know.”
“Yes, Ms. Avery.”
While the others slept, Cely tried to use his sensors to determine what power source ran the ship, but had no success. The energy surge from the force field interfered with them, and the computers within the ship were inaccessible at the moment. He knew his defense system, which before was inoperable, now had repaired itself to full power, and his speech system also self constructed itself. Other than his arm, he was almost back to himself again.
By morning, they entered Republic territory, and were just about twenty five million miles within its borders. Balta released them from the brig, and brought them to the front of the ship. When they were brought in, Balta’s guards were also all in the bridge area as well.
Gentlemen,” he said. “And dear Lady. I have arranged this little demonstration because I wanted you all to know the power behind my race. We were once a powerful empire, and we'll soon be one again.”
“And you will fall again, Balta,” Rollings interrupted.
He walked over and grabbed the blonde-haired man by the throat with his right hand.
“If you interrupt me again,” He sneered. “I’ll forget Ms. Avery’s agreement and kill you with my bare hands.”
“I told you we couldn’t trust him!” Rollings gasped.
Balta let go of him, and continued, turning his back to him.
“As I was saying, we were a powerful empire that will live again, and this is why. Galtron, where is that small Republic scout fleet?”
“Two hundred and twenty two thousand miles from us, Sir,” Galtron stated.
“Have they detected us yet?”
“No, Sir.”
“Lock in on their coordinates.”
The subordinate responded, and pressed a couple of buttons on the helm.
“Balta,” Angelica interrupted. “Please don’t do this. If you have any shred of humanity inside you, you wouldn’t.”
“I don’t have any shred,” he answered. “I am and shall never be human. So I don’t care about humans. Please don’t interrupt me again, Ms. Avery, or we’ll end it here, I’ll kill your friends, and you will work for me whether you like it or not!”
She backed away from him, part terrified of his monstrous appearance, and the other part of his murderous intentions, but she knew she had to stop this somehow. Before she could react, Balta gave the order. “Fire main fusion lasers!” he yelled.
Galtron pressed the button, and a
massive beam of light projected into the cosmos. All they saw was a distant glow, as the fleet slowly disappeared into disintegration. The group remained silent for a few seconds in shock, looked at the empty viewing screen, and then at each other.
“Now, Ms. Avery,” the vicious terrorist said. “You have two choices. You may continue to defy me, and your friends will die, or I will spare all of your lives, and you help me complete my task.”
“I already agreed to help you,” she said. “This attack was unnecessary!”
“It was necessary to prove that I’m not to be trifled with. You’re trying my patience, Ms. Avery. You will do as I ask. You will see. We have methods of making humans do what we want them to do, and not all of them are pleasant. Tentron, take them back to the brig until we reach Garlicia.”
“Yes, Sir,” he answered, and pointed his laser at Rollings to move.
Angelica was curious to see how well this Balta and her father were connected, and as long as she was his prisoner, she figured she might as well take advantage of the situation. Maybe later, once they landed, she could figure out a way to escape. As long as they traveled in space, it was going to be risky to take over the ship, and she wasn’t familiar with workings of the propulsion system even if she did. She thought it would be difficult to get this ragged group of leftovers to work together, but somehow she had to. One thing she knew for sure; this man named Jeff Walker was the key to finding out the real truth about happened to her father.
CHAPTER FOUR
Further out in the galaxy was a bluish green world named Ventros not that much different than Earth. It was slightly larger and warmer than Earth, and more tropical, with most of the land masses near the equator and slightly cooler regions towards the poles. On a group of islands near the equator, the Martian turned Ventrosion, Jeff Walker, and his fiancé ,Lori Anderson settled down to a peaceful life with their amphibian Lingwort friends. It was a nice change of pace from the events that came into play one year and a half before.
They colonized three new islands since Jeff returned there. There was no longer a Tolarion threat to the planet; the Galactic Republic of Peaceful Civilizations swore to protect them, and thus far abided by their oath. Republic ships periodically flew by the world, and scanned to make sure the Tolarions didn’t set up any bases there.
The lingworts, however, were oblivious to this. All they saw were distant lights in the sky, thinking they were meteorites, comets, or signs from their gods. Jeff, Dormiton, and Milgic thought it was best to keep their space travels quiet, and the Republic promised not to interfere, for the natives tended to hold on to their old traditions. They still lived in the huts which Jeff helped them construct four years earlier, and they still wouldn’t eat anything but berries, herbs, vegetables, and fish sometimes. Jeff and Lori, along with a few other humans who settled there, reveled in the celebration that game was so plentiful on the island, and there were only a handful of humans to share with.
Jeff was thankful they all could enjoy life without the horrendous sounds of laser blasts from Balta and his army. His body was never recovered from the fall from the cliff, but Jeff was certain he was dead from the one hundred and eighty feet drop. After all, how could he have possibly survived? As far as he could tell, the Republic eliminated any chances of his empire rebuilding itself. Talokians offered their assistance when needed, and the Tolarions didn’t dare violate any more treaties.
It was one year since Jeff left the Talokians, who had developed three civilizations within their current galaxy alone. They left their own universe only partially, and Barva and Jalok remained on Zebula in Jeff’s former universe. The Talokians didn’t use inter dimensional travel much, for fear it would disrupt the time-space continuum, and the Republic only used it as a last resort these days. The Tolarions, those that were left, followed their own rules and agendas, as long as they didn’t interfere with Republic treaties, and the biggest violation was unauthorized inter-dimensional travel.
All of that was furthest from Jeff’s mind now. He was concentrated on his and Lori’s upcoming wedding later that week. After years of space travel together, the destruction of Mars, the enslavement of humans from there, and an intergalactic war, they were finally going to tie the knot. Lori vowed after she found Jeff again she would never let him go; unsure of her feelings before, but now certain. Despite his eagerness to get himself into trouble, she still believed he was the most wonderful, decent man she knew. He showed it everyday by the way he helped his amphibious friends and their community, from planting herbs and vegetables to helping them repair things, as well as teaching them about irrigation techniques. They were slowly advancing, but it was obvious they wanted no part of anything that wasn’t of their own world.
He could still remember the day he and Lori first met during the academy at Mars base. He had to prove he was clever, and cheated on his first exam by hacking into the mainframe of the Commander’s computer remotely by using a home-made handheld device. Of course he was caught and reprimanded, and almost thrown out of the academy, but it was still worth it to get her attention. She didn’t find it amusing however, even though the commander thought he was quite imaginative. She was a focused, driven woman, and only gave him the cold shoulder as a reward. Despite his insolence she forgave him, and began to actually like working with him. That was before he was reprimanded again for insubordination, and inability to follow orders. After that, she kept a strictly professional relationship with him until he disappeared. At that point, she began to reconsider their relationship, because she thought she lost him forever.
It was a rather cloudy day on the island in March, about eighty degrees, and a slight breeze. The skies were a bit foreboding, but they knew hurricane season was still a few months away. The Lingworts were busy gathering goji berries for the wine to be used in the wedding ceremony, which was called “Aria”, after the sweet taste. There were at least ten of them, with Dormiton and Milgic leading the pack. They carried daggers, bows, and arrows for their protection against wild animals. Jeff was back at the village, working on building an altar for the ceremony.
Dormiton found a patch of berries just below a cliff formation on the far side of the island, near the destroyed Tolarion base. He didn’t like to go there because it gave him bad memories of their encounter with the Tolarions, but it was by far the best spot on the island for berries. He placed some into a basket when Milgic tapped on his shoulder. With no humans around they spoke in their own native tongue.
“Dorm?” he asked.
“Yes,” he answered. “What is it?”
“Do you think that we’ll ever run into those Tolarions again?”
“Why in the world would you ask me that?” He kept picking berries, trying to ignore him and stay at the task.
“I hope not,” he said. “I would hate to have to leave this place again.”
“You won’t have to leave again. The Republic is seeing to that.”
“What if Jeff had to leave again,” Milgic asked. “Would you go with him?”
Dormiton turned and stared at the green, spotted amphibian, holding onto his basket, but not picking many berries.
“Of course I would,” he said. “We owe him our lives, he and Zarcon.”
“I miss Zarcon,” Milgic said, sadly. “He’d be really good at this; two arms to pick the berries, two arms to hold the basket.”
“Yea,” Dormiton laughed. “I miss that old bug too. I remember the first time we met him. We didn’t know if he was going to help us or eat us! I wish he was still alive. I think he’d be happy here. Well, let’s hurry up and pick up the rest of these, I’m getting the creeps hanging around here!”
“Yea,” Milgic added. “I know what you mean.”
They trotted through the jungle along the path, as the warm moist smell of green ferns permeated through the air around them. The sounds of wild birds and monkeys could be heard in the distance, but they were not animals they needed to fear. There were also jaguars and tigers as w
ell. Although Lingworts weren't usually in their diet, they might attack them anyway, just for fact that they were a moving target. The taste of an amphibian left a bad taste in the feline's mouth.
When they reached the village, Jeff was putting the finishing touches on the bamboo altar. The Lingwort wedding ritual was very different from humans', but they also understood the humans' need to feel welcome in their society, so the ceremony was actually going to be a combination of the two. The "Hodiku" or "medicine man" was the one who usually performed the act of matrimony, burning certain herbs during the ritual, which was to be followed by the reading of promises, and the mating dance. Jeff was looking forward to settling down with his life long love. Although Lori was forty two and unable to have children, she still felt that the Lingworts were like her children, and cared for them as such, especially the young ones.
As the two Lingworts approached him, they set the berry baskets down.
"That's beautiful," Dormiton exclaimed. "What is it?"
"An altar," Jeff explained. "In our culture, the minister, bride and groom stand underneath it and exchange vows. Dorm, I want you to be my best man."
"Best man?"
"Excuse me, best 'Lingwort.' The groom typically chooses someone to hold the ring until the ceremony. It's usually his best friend. Only in this case, I'll need to melt down some metal to make it. I have the gold medallion that was given to us at the council chambers. We'll use that."
"I'd be honored to be your best man."
"Now if I can only find a diamond," Jeff stated.
"What can I do?" Milgic asked.
"You can help me with the forging of the ring, and help me get this altar to the beach when the time comes. You can also help me find a diamond."
"Where?
Dimension Lapse II: Return to Doomsday (Dimension Lapse Series Book 2) Page 5
