Later that day, while she was looking at the usual blood samples, Balta approached her. "Your processes appear to be taking an awful long time, Ms. Avery," he said. "Is there anything else you need to possibly speed things up a bit?"
"No," she whimpered. "I'm doing the best I can, I just need more time."
"Time! Time!" he hollered, raising his hands in the air. "I don't have the time! The death ray is almost completed, and I've been informed by Tacora that their operations there are complete as well. I need at least 500,000 warriors cloned by the end of this week, can you do it or not?"
"No," she said, shaky. "I'm sorry, I can't."
"Would it help if I tell you that Varloo had a breakthrough with the chip, but he'll need your assistance to retrieve the information."
Angelica was totally pissed now. 'What a traitor,' she thought to herself. "I'll bet he does," she crudely remarked.
"I'll arrange for the operation to take place later this evening. He told me that you're in love with Rollings. Is that true?"
"That's none of your business," she cried.
"Well, if you do everything that you're supposed to do, I might consider letting him live, maybe even make him one of my officers?"
"He'd never join your militia!" Angelica sneered.
"Just make sure you follow Varloo's instructions precisely. Understand?"
"Yes," she sighed. "I understand."
Balta left, and then Varloo strolled by, along with Cely.
"Are you ready for tonight's procedure?" he asked her. Angelica was ready to explode in anger.
"Why did you tell him about the chip?" she whispered.
"I only told him the code for cloning and replication of the android were in there," Varloo explained. "I didn't tell him about the virus or the Triachilite."
"Why not about the Triachilite? Isn't that what he wants as well?"
"He and Akira are fools. They have no idea of the true power of the drug. They're not worthy of it."
"And you, a back stabbing, lying traitor are worthy?"
"I don't wish to start a debate with you."
"I'll help you, if you help me."
"How?"
"Help me and Rollings. Give me the code, so after our little operation is done, I can get out of here."
"You'll never escape. The landing bay is extremely well guarded, and you'll never make it to a ship. And even if you do, you won't be able to pilot it."
"Don't worry about us," Angelica said, defiant. "We humans are more resourceful than you think."
"Indeed," Varloo remarked. "Very well. It is 456789030. The operation is set for 10:15 Garlician time. I will create a distraction after the operation to buy you time."
"Thanks again, Varloo," she said. "You're no longer on my shit list."
"Do not say that until you know the whole truth."
"And what is the whole truth?"
"You will find out someday."
"Why can't you just tell me?' she insisted.
"I have my reasons."
"You keep saying that! What reasons? And don't say I wouldn't understand."
"I can't alter what is to be."
"What does that mean?"
"Just what I said. Drop it, for your own sake." She reluctantly agreed, and went back to her lab work.
Later that evening, Cely was brought down to a special room where he was laid on a stretcher on his stomach. Angelica was brought down by Balta, and took her place next to Varloo in the room.
"I'll be down the hall if you need anything, Varloo," Balta said, and left the area.
Two Garlicians were placed at the door to ensure she wouldn't escape.
"Are you ready to begin, Ms. Avery?" Varloo asked, as tried to draw her attention away from the guards.
"Yes," Angelica said, as she opened Cely's back panel. The AI chip is located under his memory bank storage area. That has to be removed first."
Varloo did just as she said, and carefully removed a 4 x 4 inch flat microprocessor, still connected by three wires. He unplugged the jack at the end of them, and then placed it on the table. He then attached a small machine that read the code of Artificial Intelligence chip. Angelica looked at it on the machine, and it appeared to be in a series of letters and numbers.
"It's gonna take some time to decipher all of this." she said.
"He's growing impatient, and we're running out of time."
"The letters appear to be familiar, but not the numbers. It's like figuring out another language. I can't read any of it!"
"Think hard," Varloo said. "Is there any connection in the code that might tie back to your father?"
"Well, I do see some A's and E's, some O's, some U's. Then there's consonants as well. The numbers are erratic, however."
"Do any of them seem familiar?"
"Yes," she said, thinking further. "L was my father's first name, and M was my mother's first name. And R and S are also in their names as well."
"See," Varloo said. "That wasn't so hard, was it? There are also V's and Y's as well. We'll work on the numbers together."
"I thought maybe some of them could have to do with birthdays, but that's too obvious."
"So are the letters of names, but they seem to be in there. 01, 10. 20, 55, do they sound like anything you remember?"
"Yea," she recollected. "That was the day I entered the wormhole."
"What about 33, 34,37, 40, 64, 70?"
"No," she said, as she hesitated. "Wait. 32 was the year my father graduated from college, and 33 was when I was born."
"I thought birthdays were too obvious."
"40 is the year he started working for NASA, and 37 was the year my parents got married."
"What about 60 or 64?"
"Those numbers are totally unfamiliar. If they go by years, he already entered the wormhole, which doesn't make sense, because Cely was with me. Or does it?" She looked at the Andronian with the look of suspicion. "How come those numbers are in there?"
"I have no idea," was his answer. "They must mean something besides years. I do think that its the type of code where the letters and numbers are reversed. Try that first."
She entered the codes, and tried to enter them with the last series of numbers and letters first with no success. She then tried to switch the letters and numbers around in several different ways, until she discovered that the letters and numbers of each series were switched. The encryption message came up on the screen, saying 'request password verification. She tried her mother and father's names, and her own, but they didn't work. She tried some of the dates and letters with no success, and was about to give up, when she thought about Cely's name. She previously believed that this was impossible, because she only named him Cely after the chip was put in, but on a hunch, she typed in his name.
A treasure trove of information came up on the screen, and Varloo rose to his feet quickly. "Splendid," he said, as he began to download the information onto a small storage device. As they watched, they saw all the information they needed about the Triachilite, the cloning process, and access to his artificial intelligence circuits.
"You knew," she said quietly. "You knew it would be in there, but how?"
"That is also something that I can't tell you."
"Well, how are you going to hide the information from Balta?"
"Let me worry about that. Your job is done here."
"And now you're going to infect 50,000,000 Tolarions and Garlicians?"
"Is that really so bad compared to their tyrannical government, and all the lives they've cost?"
"I really don't understand you, Varloo," she said. "On one hand, you believe in peace, but on the other your methods seem a bit hostile."
"One day you'll understand," he remarked. "But not today." He handed her two vials of blood. "Here is the antiviral blood to help cure you."
"What about Cely?"
"He is no longer yours, he belongs to Balta now. I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do."
"Thank you again
," she said.
"Good luck tonight," he said. "And be careful."
"I will be," she said. "By the way, how can I get access to a weapon?"
"I will take care of that. After you reach the prison, there is an access gate to the arena. I will leave a laser there, in a crevice next to the wall. Once you reach the arena, there is a door next to the box where Balta and Akira sit during games. That door leads to the landing bay, if you can get that far. Once you go through that door, there's guards everywhere."
"What if Balta finds out you helped me, won't he kill you?"
"Once I produce the Triachilite, he won't even try."
"I wish you success, even though I don't agree with your ethics."
"Me as well," Varloo said. "Goodbye, and good luck."
She nodded, and left the laboratory, as the guards escorted her through the laboratory, up the stairway and back up to her room.
Angelica pretended to turn in like she always did. She went to the bathroom like she was going to take a shower. While she was in there, she wondered how she was going to overpower the two eight feet Garlician guards that were outside her door. She had no weapons, and the only items in the bathroom were soap, towels, shaving cream, and toothpaste. She grabbed the can, and hoped she could at least try to use the foam for a weapon. She then turned on the device in her pocket, knocking the cameras out.
The guards immediately entered the room, and went towards the bathroom. They opened the door, she reached as far as she could with the can, and sprayed it into their eyes. She kicked one in the knee and the other in the groin. As they fell, she grabbed one of their lasers.
"Don't move!" she told them, as she backed to the doorway. Both Garlicians rose to their feet, and try to proceed. When one did, she shot him, and he fell to the floor. The other froze, and she exited the room. She closed the doorway, and punched in the command to lock that particular door.
She ran down the stairway, and punched in the code for access to the prison. There was no one else around at the moment, and she figured this would be her chance to escape this barren solid rock. She ran down the white and stone hallways, and arrived at the prison door. She punched in the code, and was greeted by two Tolarions.
"Don't move a muscle!" she said to them. She approached them, hitting one on the back of the head with the laser. The other grabbed her pistol arm, and she plowed him in the chest with her foot, which knocked him against the wall. She then gave him a round house kick, which broke his neck. She punched in the code, left the door open, and came to Rollings cell.
"Angelica!" he yelled, overjoyed to see her.
"We're getting out of here!" she yelled, as she pointed the laser at the lock. "Back up!" She fired it, and opened the cage. The two of them ran out of the block and down the tunnel towards the arena.
"How'd you escape?" Rollings asked her.
"A little help from a back stabber."
"Varloo?"
"Yes."
They ran to the end of the tunnel, she reached inside the crevice for the laser, and then handed it to him. They proceeded out into the arena, but kept close to the wall. The door Varloo spoke of was about four hundred feet away. They were almost all the way there, when the door opened, and several Garlicians and Tolarions came out with lasers pointed at the pair. They ran back towards the tunnel, and more guards emerged from the tunnel; they were trapped. In despair, they dropped their weapons. It had been a noble effort, but it failed. Balta emerged where the box was, with Akira to his right, and Varloo to his left. Had she again, fallen for Varloo's bullshit, or had he really done everything he could?
Balta gestured for the guards to grab the two escapees.
"I warned you, Ms. Avery about abusing your freedom here," Varloo blurted, pretending he had nothing to do with it. "And now you must deal with the consequences."
"You're so right," Balta said. "Bring her up to me! I have a special show for her. Leave him where he is."
Two guards grabbed her, and dragged her up the stone stairway to the box. As she went up, a larger, and uglier Garlician came down with full armor. He had several scars on his arms and face of his red skin.
"That is my prize fighter, Clatou, Ms. Avery. Say hello."
"Hello," she reluctantly said. "I love what you've done for your complexion. Nice scars."
He growled at her, then entered the arena, and grabbed one of the battle weapons. The guards left the arena, and Rollings was alone, facing the eight and half feet monster.
"You disobeyed me too many times, Ms. Avery," Balta began. "I've got what I need to complete my plans from Varloo, so as promised I will spare your life, and as requested, I've fixed your android. But you refused to accept my rules, so now your friend Rollings must die a terrible death. Do not interfere, or I will rescind our contract and throw you in there as well."
He waved his arm, and a weapon was thrown to Rollings into the sand. "You've got to be kidding!" he yelled, as he faced the huge creature, his evil, green eyes staring down at his five feet nine frame.
The beast immediately swung his weapon, the hard end just missing his head. He held his weapon up, as Clatuo swung again at him, and broke the metal in half. Rollings quickly moved, kicking hard into the Garlician's foot several times, until he knocked him off balance. He fell to the ground, and as Rollings tried to grab his weapon, he threw him over his body with one arm.
Rollings fell face first into the dirt. With his mouth full of soil and blood from a broken tooth, he ran toward the weapon, but the Garlician grabbed it first, and swung at him two or three times, and missed. He grabbed Rollings by the arm and threw him across the dirt about ten feet, next to where the broken weapon was. He grabbed the pointed end, as he lay there, and the Garlician slowly, approached him, bared a grin and laughed. "Gula Tu," he said, which meant "now you die."
"Cala at Tu!" Akira yelled in glee. Balta smiled, pleased to see he was enjoying the spectacle.
Rollings was breathing heavy when the beast towered over him, ready to strike him with the pointed end of the weapon. He quickly lunged the partial end of his into the beast's leg, which caused him to drop his weapon due to the pain, and bent over to pull it out. When he did, Rollings grabbed the fallen weapon, and pushed the pointed end far into the Garlician's rib cage, killing him. His enormous body fell in a cloud of dirt, as Rollings rolled out of the way, and then rose to his feet.
Balta, although he wasn't happy, didn't react with remorse.
"Bravo, bravo," he remarked. Akira, however, looked at Balta, extremely angered. Balta calmed him by waving his arm to him. "It's okay. There are worse animals below in the cells, and his luck will run out. We'll even make it more interesting. Ms. Avery's been itching to give the games a try, why not grant her wish."
"Leave her alone!" Rollings yelled, gripping the weapon tight.
"Oh, don't worry, Rollings," Balta said. "You'll be fighting right by her side. You seem to work well as a team, let's find out how well."
A guard entered with a message from Tacora.
"Sir," he said. "Tacora has been attacked by the Republic. The base there has been destroyed."
"What!" Balta screeched. "It can't be!"
"While you've been fixated on your experiments and building your weapon, the Republic has been planning to retaliate for your heinous acts," Angelica reminded him.
"Well, they won't make it here," Balta assured her. "The gun is fully operational, and once they're in range, they'll be destroyed as well." He turned to his guards. "Take them both to the cells. Place four armed guards outside the room, and two at the end of the hallway. If they try to escape again, kill them both." They nodded, and grabbed Angelica by the arms. "Ms. Avery, if you survive tomorrow, you'll watch Rollings be executed. If he survives, then he'll watch you be executed."
The guards then grabbed the pair, and took them back to their cells. The two were placed into a new cell, and pushed onto the ground and wall. One of the Garlicians kicked Rollings hard in the jaw, but not enough t
o break it.
"You kill brother!" he snapped. "Tomorrow, you die!" He spat on him, as Angelica began to cry next to him, moving to his side while he laid on the floor. The Garlician left the cell, locked it, and left the two alone in the darkness.
Angelica fell on his chest, crying, as he laid there, dazed in pain. Once again, she had a chance of helping her love, and failed. She began to wonder if decent men just weren't in her future. If she couldn't save them, who would? The Republic was coming, but she had no way of even knowing if they would be successful against his fusion weapon. If only she could gain access to it she could dismantle it, but at this point, that wasn't even an option. She also wanted Cely back, if it were all possible. With the prospect of entering the barbaric games the next day, she wasn't looking forward to the morning; it seemed more like the dawn of the end of anything she ever cared about.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
They were only two days away from Garlicia, but still far enough away from the Garlician sector where they couldn't be detected. The crew settled into their new surroundings, even though it reminded them of an underground giant ant colony. The Zacharians were actually a very advanced society, until war set them back to a somewhat primitive status. To achieve interstellar flight was a major accomplishment, especially for a race of arthropods, and this ship was the cream of the crop, even equipped with the light refraction device. Only the highest advanced civilizations in the galaxy were even capable of building such a device, and the Zacharians were one of them.
They closed in near Tacora, and expected to be attacked by Garlician battle ships, but instead found the base destroyed, and Republic ships in the area. Walker opened communications.
Dimension Lapse II: Return to Doomsday (Dimension Lapse Series Book 2) Page 22
