"How the hell would she have the knowledge to do all that? There is something weird about that family, almost alien."
"Exactly," Garlona said. "I'm not supposed to tell you this, but Varloo is partially responsible for the Tolarions."
"In what way?"
"I can't tell you that."
"You opened this can of worms!" Jeff screeched quietly. "In what way?"
"He changed the past."
"What?" Jeff asked, confused. "Changed the past. What are you talking about?"
"That's all I can tell you," Garlona said. "He'll kill me if I tell you any more!"
"Kill you?" Jeff laughed. "He's half your size."
"Size doesn't matter," Garlona said. "You don't know his powers, especially with the Triachilite."
"Oh yes I do," Jeff boasted. "I had to deal with Riona."
"Then you know how powerful the mind can be."
"How are we going to plant the bombs with them all running around down there."
"Leave that to me," he said, and quickly ran down the stairway, tripped the fire system and opened the door to the prison tunnel.
The alarm sounded, and all the Tolarions, Garlicians, and Andronians left the area, out of several doors. The fire system went off, and smoke from retardant filled the area.
Jeff put on his oxygen mask and ran down the stairway,. He quickly planted the fusion bomb underneath the weapon, and in several areas in the lab. He placed one in the cloning lab, then the biological lab, and then walked into a robotics lab, where the android was standing motionless in a corner. The Major gazed at it and was fascinated by its likeness to a real human, but he reminded himself that he wasn't here for a lesson in artificial intelligence.
He ran back up the catwalk to where he had came in. When he came up, he noticed an open door to living quarters of some kind. He walked in, glanced around the room, wondering why a Garlician would live this way. He was just about to leave, and turned around to two guards in front of him on the catwalk, and four on the stairway. He then heard the dreaded growling voice behind him.
"Turn around!" it said. He turned around, and Balta laughed, because Jeff was wearing his oxygen mask as well. "You and I look like brothers!"
Jeff pulled his mask off, his anger beginning to build. "Balta," he said.
"Welcome to Garlicia, Mr. Walker," he said. "I was going to go out and look for you and here you come to me. I knew you couldn't resist the chance to see me destroy the Republic once and for all!"
"Blah, Blah, blah!" Jeff joked. "The same old pipe dreams. When are you going to face reality?"
"The only reality you're going to face is your own death in about an hour. Take him down with his friends, and they'll all go in the arena."
"Just one more thing," Jeff asked, as Balta gestured for the guards to release him.
"What is it?"
"Who is this Varloo?"
"Varloo is one of my assistants," Balta answered. "He's of no importance. Why do you want to know?"
"I believe he has double crossed you in some way."
"What makes you think that?"
"I don't know, just a hunch."
"Well, Mr. Walker," he continued. "It's the last hunch you'll ever make. And if it's true, it's the last time he double crosses me. Tomorrow, if you live, you'll get to see my plan in completion. As a worthy adversary to me, you deserve at least that. If not, at least you'll die in dignity as a true warrior."
"I can hardly wait," Jeff jested, struggling to escape.
He was then directed down the long white hallway that led to the prisons. He still had so many unanswered questions, and now their contact spoke of a change in the past somehow. That didn't seem possible unless time travel occurred, and as far as Jeff knew that was impossible, even with wormhole travel. He was also curious how Ms. Avery could build this android without help from her father; something about it gave him the creeps.
As the prison door opened, he was led down a prison corridor, with some of the strangest creatures he ever saw, which he kept his distance from until they came to a cell on the end.
"Okay, Walker," one of the guards said. "Get in!" He opened the door, and pushed him in. There was a five feet ten inch man lying on a small bed with blonde hair, and kneeling next to him was a beautiful young woman with black hair and hazel eyes. She rose to her feet.
"Thomas Walker?" she asked, due to the resemblance to her fiancé.
"No, Jeff Walker," he corrected. "He was my grandfather. Who are you?"
"I'm Angelica Avery. His former fiancé."
CHAPTER TWENTY
The guard walked down the hall and slammed the door shut, leaving them alone in the cell. Jeff stared at the lovely woman in disbelief.
"Did you just say you were his fiancé?" Jeff asked.
"Yes," she said. "We were supposed to be married, until I found out he was partially to blame for having my father committed."
"You mean you would have been my grandmother?"
"Something like that."
"Unbelievable," Jeff barked. "Is there anything else I need to know?"
"Not that I know of, except we're all supposed to die soon."
"Not if I can help it."
"But you can't, because your in here with us. And to think, I thought you were gonna save us."
"What's that supposed to mean? I got this far, didn't I?"
"For all the good it did you."
"You're a feisty one, aren't you? We're not done yet. And what do you mean my grandfather was responsible for him being committed."
"He was on the committee, but don't worry, I forgive him. I found out in the end that my father really was mad."
"He was a great man," Jeff remarked. "It's too bad he didn't use his intelligence for the good of mankind."
"It was the disease that drove him mad," she stated. "It was an alien virus."
"Alien virus?"
"Yes," she said. "It was Andronian."
"Andronian?" Jeff asked, puzzled.
"Yes, from Varloo."
It began to make sense to Jeff now. Varloo had somehow traveled back in time and changed the chain of events to cause the creation of the Tolarion empire.
"Where is he now?"
"I don't know. He was with Garlona the last time I saw him."
"Garlona?" Jeff's heart sank into his stomach. "I was just with Garlona before I was captured."
"They're not working for either one of us," Angelica said. "They have their own agenda. Varloo has contaminated the clone samples so that they will be infected by the virus, and has kept the formula for the Triachilite to himself."
"That doesn't make sense. What would he have to gain by creating Tolarions just to destroy them?"
"I don't know," she said, as Rollings woke up. Angelica turned towards him, and placed her arm on his shoulder. "Are you all right?"
"Yea," he said, and sat up, rubbing his jaw in pain. "I'll be all right. Who are you?"
"Rollings, this is Jeff Walker," she said.
Rollings stood up, angered, and grabbed his collar.
"What's the big idea of leaving us on that giant ball of ice?"
Angelica grabbed his arm to make him let go.
"That wasn't my fault," Jeff said. "The Republic was supposed to make sure the entire area was evacuated."
"Well, they didn't," Rollings barked. "What about her father? Was that not your fault too?"
Jeff bowed his head toward the ground, and turned to Angelica's dark hazel eyes. "I'm sorry about your father, there was nothing I could do."
"Did you kill him or did Balta?" she asked. "I want the truth."
"The truth is complicated," he said. "But I didn't kill him, a man named Riona did. He was Balta's subordinate."
She paced the cell for a minute or two, upset, but not surprised.
"How do you propose to get us out of here? The games are in fifteen minutes."
"I've planted some smaller bombs set to go off in a half hour," Jeff said. "Once they explode, we'll be able to get
out of here. I've also set fusion bombs around to destroy the base and the fusion weapon."
"What about Cely?" Angelica asked.
"Who is Cely?"
"Her android," Rollings said.
"I'm not leaving here without him, even if he has been reprogrammed."
"We don't have time for that!" Jeff said.
"I'm not leaving without him!" she insisted.
"Just like a woman!" Jeff cried. "Be reasonable."
"That's not one of her more promising traits," Rollings said. "But it is kind of sexy."
Jeff ignored the comment, as Angelica smiled at her companion.
There was a clanging of the door, then five guards came down the corridor and unlocked their cell. "Time for the games," one said, as each one of the prisoners was grabbed, pulled out of the cell and pushed in the direction of the arena exit.
The door opened to the arena, and it was full of Garlicians and Tolarions, who cheered when the three humans entered it. Balta and Akira sat up in the box, with three Tolarion guards, and Cely next to him as well. Angelica stared at them, so angry she could rip them into pieces; if only she had the physical strength to do so. She wanted her android back, and if there was only a way to reprogram him in twenty minutes, she'd do it. At least then she would have a shred of a chance at getting out of this.
She never expected to die on some distant planet in another universe. She expected to die an old woman, home in her bed, with several grandchildren by her side. She hoped that it could have been with Thomas, but if she got out of this alive, she would settle for a man like Rollings.
"Welcome, welcome," Balta announced. "Today we reach a milestone! The weapon is complete, a new generation of a Tolarion-Garlician alliance has begun. The cloning process will soon be complete, and our army will become invincible against the Republic!"
"Give it up Balta!" Jeff told him. "The Republic fleet is on its way! They will be here in a matter of hours!"
"Thanks for the warning," he laughed, addressing Jeff, and then the crowd. "We'll be ready for them. Today, my friends, we will witness a spectacle among spectacles. Originally, I was going to have each of you fight Clatuo, but since Mr. Rollings eliminated my best warrior, I have a better idea. You will fight each other instead, while Ms. Avery watches!"
The guards grabbed Angelica, and brought her up to the box, sitting her down next to Cely. Balta smiled at her with his evil grin. "Don't worry, I haven't forgot about you. You'll fight the survivor. It should be especially gratifying for me to see you up against your lover, if he survives!"
"Fuck off!" she blurted.
He waved his finger at her in disapproval.
"That's not very lady like of you."
"Right now, I don't feel like a lady."
Balta giggled, and then struck the gong with the mallet. "Varmoc Garlicians," he roared. "Marka Vartula Taruku!" Two guards threw the medieval weapons in front of the two humans, as another Garlician came to tell Balta some bad news.
"Sir," he reported. "The cloning procedure was a failure, the embryos were contaminated,"
"With what?"
"An alien virus, Sir. The Triachilite formula is also counterfeit. I'm sorry, Sir."
Balta began to look around, and noticed Varloo and Garlona were no where to be found.
"Where is Varloo?" he asked. "Find him, and that reptilian traitor! Now!"
The guards responded to his request, as the crowd began to cheer wildly at the two humans facing each other in the arena. While Angelica helplessly sat there, and watched, she glanced at Cely, and could almost swear that he winked at her. In the arena, Jeff and Rollings stood still, neither one eager to pick the weapons up.
"Begin," Balta said. "Or you'll both be killed!"
"Why haven't you got the guts to face me yourself?" Jeff asked him, and walked toward the box.
"One step closer, and I'll have you impaled and hung on my door as a trophy," Balta sneered. "Begin, or die!
Carver grabbed his weapon, his jaw still throbbing, and headed for Jeff.
"Sorry, Walker," he said. "But I don't want to die today." Before Jeff could reach his weapon, Rollings swung at him. He jumped out of the way, and quickly grabbed the iron bar, and struck the spiked end against Rollings'.
"Listen to me," he said. "Those bombs are set to go off any minute. When they do, we'll make our move together."
"I don't give a rat's ass about your Republic!" Rollings said. "I only care about Angelica and me, and getting out alive."
He swung the weapon toward Jeff's leg, and knocked him off balance. He fell into the dirt, and dropped his weapon. Rollings stomped down, just missing his head, and Jeff used his leg to trip him as well.
Jeff jumped on him, and pinned him to the ground. "Steve, listen to me!" he said. "We have to work together if you want to survive."
Rollings shook his head, and struck Jeff in the shoulder with the hard metal end of the weapon. Jeff bent over, dazed. and in pain. Rollings was just about to finish him off, when there was an explosion behind them, which knocked them both off their feet.
"Now!" Angelica said to Cely, who reached to the guard next to him, and sent an electric shock through his body. Angelica punched the one next to her in the face, and then kicked the Garlician in the entranceway in his stomach. Balta waved to Akira, who jumped out of the box into the arena.
Several explosions shattered the base and arena, as the audience scrambled out of area. Balta exited the box himself, when he saw he was fighting a losing battle. Angelica was going to go after him, when Cely stopped her.
"I will stop him," he said. "Help your friends."
"I don't know how, but it's good to have you back," she said, and handed him a laser from one of the fallen guards. "Be careful."
"Go," he said, and she nodded, entering the arena, to where the other two humans now faced Akira.
He now had one of the weapons in his hand and faced the three of them. Angelica raised her laser to fire, but he threw the iron weapon, and knocked it out of her hand. She fell in pain, as Jeff ran up and kicked him. He grabbed his foot and threw him four feet in the air, then faced Rollings. "Now you'll see how a true warrior dies," he grimaced.
He grabbed him by the neck, and lifted him in the air. Rolling tried to hit him in the face, but his spines cut his hands, and the beast threw him to the ground as well. Another bomb exploded far away, as he grabbed Rollings by the hair and dragged him across the dirt. Jeff grabbed the spare weapon, and struck him in the back with it, but it didn't phase him, and he backhanded him to the dirt again. He was just about to drive the pointed end into Rollings' heart, when Angelica ran to tackle him and grab the bar from his arm. He threw her off, but dropped the weapon, which Rollings quickly grabbed and shoved into his lower back.
Injured, but still very much alive, he tried to kick Rollings on the ground. Jeff hurried with the other weapon, and struck him in the back of his head. He fell on his knees, and Angelica grabbed the weapon from Jeff's arms and plunged it into his stomach and through to his back. As the seven and a half feet Akira fell dead, Rollings scurried out of the way. Jeff couldn't believe the gusto of this woman, who just killed a being three times her size.
"Let's get out of here!" Jeff yelled. "There's a passageway through that door over there." He pointed to a door about two hundred feet away. After Jeff eliminated the force field with the explosives, the Republic forces began to fly their interceptors into the atmosphere to attack.
"What about Cely?" Angelica insisted again. "We have to save him. He's gone after Balta."
"I'll get him," Jeff said. "You guys need to get to the ship! There's a passageway that leads to it, about eight miles from here."
"I'm going with you!" Angelica said.
"What is it with you women?" Jeff asked. "Rollings, go ahead. My wife is about three miles from here. We'll meet you there."
He nodded, as Angelica came and gave him a long kiss. Jeff rolled his eyes, as Rollings just shrugged. "Hey," he said. "When you
got it, you got it."
Jeff smiled, and he and Angelica set off to find the Tolarion dictator, while Rollings headed toward the escape route. The two of them ran into the stone hallway that lead up to the direction of the laboratory. Angelica blasted the door keypad, and kicked the door in. He had no idea his possible grandmother was such a femme fatale. They entered the laboratory, and they began to look around, first in the robotics lab, then the biology lab. There time was growing short, so they had to split up.
Angelica decided to check upstairs on the catwalk, and the several rooms up there. First she checked the apartment, but found nothing there, and then she went down to a panel control room, but no one was there. She watched Jeff below, who was checking around the ray gun.
He looked at the panel, which had been activated. 'Target sequence initiated,' it said, and as he read further, 'Republic fleet, wide spread pattern. Sector 3985674.0. one hour, fourteen minutes.'
"He's armed the weapon," Jeff said. "It's set to go off in one hour and fourteen minutes!"
"Can you disarm it?" Angelica yelled down to him.
"No, but we won't need to. The fusion bombs will explode before it fires."
"Well, then," a voice said, and Balta emerged from behind the base of the weapon, holding a laser at him. "Then we can all die together."
"Why can't I kill you?" Jeff asked.
"Because I'm part of you," he said. "You need me to make you the man you are."
"You're as frickin mad as Dr. Avery was!" Jeff said.
"I got a clear shot, Walker," Angelica yelled. "I can kill him right now!"
"Yes, but you won't," Balta said. "You're part of me as well."
He aimed at Angelica and fired, which knocked the laser from her hand and to the floor below. Jeff grabbed his arm and rammed it several times against the base of the fusion weapon until he let go.
Dimension Lapse II: Return to Doomsday (Dimension Lapse Series Book 2) Page 24
