Jon listened patiently without saying a word, he did not mind going unnoticed by Trevor these days. Yet he had to ask, “Wow, but is Voggoth on some Earth somewhere defending his turf? From what we’ve heard before, he’s not quite like the others.”
Trevor shook his head. “Nope. He is something different, isn’t he? For some reason he’s getting a pass in all this, as if they think of him as something superior. I’m guessing the others kind of see him as a sort of judge or referee.”
Nina jumped, “So he’s covering for them, is that it? Those bastards couldn’t beat us so now he’s doing the job. But if he punches through at the Mississippi they’ll march in and take all the credit, right?”
“I suppose so, yeah.”
Lori Brewer spat, “Who are these things to put us through this? What right have they got?”
Knox laughed but without much humor and pointed out, “Who were the Romans and their gladiatorial games? What about the Aztecs who if they had no one to go to war with would divide up their tribes and fight one another then execute the losers in sacrifice. Or better yet, what about World War I? That wasn’t about anything other than the nations in Europe finally getting sick of each other and wanting to figure out who the better guy was. As insane as all this may seem, it has historical precedent in our own civilization. Guess it isn’t as funny when you’re on this side of the glass.”
“We’re not talking about normal human beings,” Lori protested. “Right, Trevor? The powers behind this are supposed to be more evolved. I’m hearing this is about arrogance and pride. A bunch of pseudo-Gods flexing their beer muscles. They’re supposed to be better.”
That struck a chord with Trevor. He chewed on the idea for several seconds while cross talk created a chaotic atmosphere in the basement.
“Excuse me, now hold on,” Brett Stanton broke the verbal gridlock. Trevor noticed that the man stared directly at him. “Just taking a step back, here—now hold on but it seems to me that you’ve been at the center of this from day one. Mind if I ask what makes you so special?”
“Genetics,” Trevor answered honestly, although that answer confused everyone at the table. “Remember I said that they seeded Earth with the original strand of our basic DNA? Well think of that as a code. Or, I guess, pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that were scattered throughout the evolution of man. It ended up that I had most of those pieces in me. For some reason, that made me Johnny on the spot. Ashley had the last remaining pieces in her blood. Together we re-assembled that jigsaw puzzle, every last piece.”
Lori gasped, “Your son? JB?”
Trevor nodded.
Eva Rheimmer asked, “I don’t understand. What is so special about your son?”
“He was the starter’s pistol for the invasion. I don’t know how, but as soon as he was conceived it signaled the beginning. Of course, I didn’t even know I had a son until Ashley re-appeared.”
Shep jumped in, “Hold on. Now there’s a good question. What about those ark-riders? Who made them disappear just as things were heating up? And why?”
“I have no clue,” Trevor admitted.
“There is one clue,” Omar added to the conversation. “When you were abducted to that other Earth, the structure that took you left behind a residual radiation matching the type of radiation left behind in places of mass disappearances.”
“That’s right,” Lori recalled that particular briefing. “So there’s a connection.”
Gordon cleared his throat. “Not only that, but it’s the same residual radiation being left behind in the cities where Voggoth’s creatures have been disappearing as of late. Not the most settling of connections.”
“That structure actually belonged to a type of entity named ‘the Nyx.’” Trevor said for the benefit of those who had forgotten his report after returning from the alternate Earth. “I don’t know how that fits. But I believe Voggoth helped those people on the other Earth get me to their side so that I could help them beat the Chaktaw, who were the home team, if you will. At the same time, that hurt things back here. He kind of tried to kill two birds with—well—with one Stone.”
Shep ignored the quip and pressed another question: “Okay, then, how about this. What’s up with you and those K9s?”
That question reminded Jon of another; one that had bugged him for eleven years. “And where’d you learn to do all the shit you ‘just picked up’? The Richard Stone I knew in the old days could sell Chevys but could not fly an attack helicopter.”
Jon’s tone produced a laugh around the table. Trevor shared the chuckle. It felt good to slip in a moment of levity. Yet as he spoke he worried that the answers would show him to be a fraud. Would these people who had followed him all these years still see him in the same light once the magician’s tricks were revealed?
He answered the second question first.
“I can’t quiet explain it, but I was given the gift of memories. It seems it was their way of balancing things. Trust me, I didn’t want it. But I can fly an attack chopper because I have the memories of a pilot who could. Same with guns and engineering and all that. I don’t know everything, and I’m not perfect at it, either. Still,” Trevor gripped his hands in fists, “You can’t imagine the confidence that gives you—the—the…”
“The power?” Lori finished the thought.
“Yeah. Knowledge really is power.”
“Well I’ll bet that comes in handy,” Brett remarked in a light tone.
Trevor froze; his eyes remained open but stared at something no one else could see. He remembered the images of the infantryman who gave him the skills to use an assault rifle; he remembered breathing that soldier’s last breath. He remembered the rich man who had built the estate and feeling that man’s heart attack as the pressure built in his chest.
“It—it comes with a price,” he told them. The good humor evaporated. “It comes with a responsibility. Most of those memories—maybe all of them—come from people who died. I can feel their dying thoughts.”
Jon shot, “Human memories? Okay, that’s cool. Then why have you been able to figure out a few of those alien devices, like the Eagles?”
Trevor slowly shook his head as he replied, “That’s a good question. I think—I think if I knew the answer it might be useful. But I don’t. Not yet. I think—I think that’s connected to JB somehow, too. I don’t know…” and Trevor faded into a trance again as he tried to unlock that particular mystery.
Shep gained Trevor’s attention by repeating his question, “And the dogs?”
He sighed, shrugged, and said, “I don’t know for sure. I can guess, though. I think—I think…” Trevor paced around the table with his hands in front as if trying to sculpt the answer out of thin air. “Let me put it to you this way. I don’t think nature is as passive as we might think. Maybe nature—our world, if you will—maybe there’s a certain amount of interconnectivity…”
“Um, I’m not quite following you on this one,” Shep said with one of his wise eyes half-cocked like Mr. Spock spying something illogical. “Are you saying God has a hand in this?”
“No, no I don’t think so. Maybe some people might see it that way, I guess that’s sort of in the eye of the beholder. But we know that nature adapts. Usually that happens over the course of decades or centuries. I think the Grenadiers are something along that line; a reaction to the invaders—especially Voggoth—coming to our world.”
Trevor glanced around the room. They wanted more.
“I said I’m not sure. But look, every living thing on Earth came from an original strand of DNA, that makes us all connected on some level. Biologists and whatnot always talk about a balanced environment and when something gets out of whack, there’s a correction. When the other aliens came with their animals, it was like a virus invading a body, especially when Voggoth came. Newcomers from outside the ecosystem knocked things out of balance. Look at the storms that pop up whenever there are a lot of The Order’s creatures around. Like those storms, I think the d
ogs are nature’s answer; nature’s antibodies. Because I carry such a pure form of the original DNA in my body, I developed a strong connection to them. But we’ve all seen how well-trained they are, straight from birth.”
“That’s the truth,” Shep agreed. “They follow commands from day one as if they were the best trained dogs I ever saw. Maybe they’re a little bit in all our heads, but you just got a stronger dose of it. Is that what you’re saying?”
Trevor said, “Even before the invasion dogs came in all kinds of breeds perfectly fit to meet the needs of mankind. There’s a reason they are known as man’s best friend. But since the invasion that connection grew exponentially. So yeah, that’s what I’m saying. I think you can trace it back to nature. From what I can tell, each of the races on each of the Earth’s developed similar helpers from their environments. Look, that’s what I got so far, I’m sorry it’s not clearer.”
Silence around table. A few glances amongst one another such as Lori eyeing Jon and Eva sharing a look with Brett. Gordon just sat in his wheelchair and watched it all unfold. He did not appear phased by the revelations. Trevor figured Gordon was blessed with some internal mechanism allowing him to categorize and file information in certain ways that fit his job description.
Jon Brewer spoke, “So what do we do now? If I’m following you, you’re saying that this Voggoth isn’t supposed to be doing what he’s doing; that this isn’t his fight. I admit, if not for him we’d have everything under control I think.”
“Sir,” Nina Forest volunteered. “I don’t know but listen, when it comes to war there really aren’t any rules. Not in my book. What I’m saying is, we have to find a way to win. Screw the rules.”
He appreciated her defiance; it gave energy to the room. Trevor nodded in complete agreement.
“That’s right. That’s what I have planned. We’ve been doing things their way since day one and just when it seems we got this thing licked, The Order goes and changes the playing field. So yeah, it’s time we take a different approach. I’m going to break the rules.”
Shep said, “I look up and down the front lines and I don’t see any chance of that.”
“Nina,” Trevor said, “Tell him what I’m thinking.”
That surprised everyone at the table, but she knew.
With a smile, Captain Nina Forest told Shep and the rest, “You won’t find a chance of it on the front lines because, listen, that’s playing by the rules still. He’s just saying that it’s time to break those rules and hit them where it counts.”
Trevor added, “Yes, but I’m not thinking about all of them. Just one guy in particular.”
Eva Rheimmer asked, “What does that mean?”
Trevor turned his attention to the foot of the table.
“Gordon?”
The Intelligence Director read from the report Ashley had forced him to make in person.
“My agents have identified The Order’s original base of operations on the west side of the Ural Mountains. Our European friends have confirmed this information and we have every reason to believe it is still operational.”
Trevor said softly, “Voggoth. The heart of the enemy. Command and Control. Maybe even more importantly, the guy who set the table for this game. If I were a nerd—and you know I’m not; at least not anymore—then I might think of him as the Dungeon Master.”
Shep had no idea. “The what?”
“Sorry, I forgot,” Trevor smiled at the older man. “You never even watched Star Trek.”
“No, now wait, this Dungeon Master as you call him,” Brett Stanton’s tone suggested familiarity with the subject, “is sticking his hand in the game a little more directly than he should. Am I following you?”
Trevor answered with a nod.
“Excuse me,” Omar broke in with a cynical tone, “Voggoth is on the other side of the world. We can’t even get to Colorado anymore, how are we to launch an assault in Russia?”
A chorus of voices tried to answer.
“We still have the Chrysaor,” said Jon Brewer.
“My team could hit it,” Nina volunteered.
“Time to put that navy to use,” Shep suggested.
“Whoa, hold on,” Trevor raised a hand. “We need all of that to defend the Mississippi. Our best chance to survive is to stop The Order on the battlefield. It’s not a great chance, but it’s the best one. My plan is to try and re-shuffle the deck. I don’t know exactly what is going to happen, but we have to change the status quo; we have to break those rules.”
Brett put a finger in his ear and wiggled, saying, “Now maybe I heard you wrong. No, wait, I’m sure you just said that we got to try and knock out this Voggoth fella. How do you expect to do that without an army?”
Trevor sat and crossed his hands in front of him on the table top. His eyes found Lori Brewer’s. She had known him since childhood; since the days when he had gone by the name Richard. She could read him like a book.
The answer dawned on her and she said it aloud with a tremor of shock, “Your son?”
His silence served as answer enough.
Eva Rheimmer questioned. “I don’t understand.”
Jon Brewer did.
“At The Order’s base last year, JB managed to gain control over their facility. He is the reason Trevor escaped. I’m guessing it has something to do with the—what did you call it?—the jigsaw puzzle that he is.”
“My son is very special. He is a symbol, I think, of all the life that comes from our original strand of DNA. The purest sample. We know that The Order is not alive. They are the antithesis of life. When he came in contact with The Order’s machines all hell broke loose.”
Shepherd tried to guess, “Are you saying that maybe Jorgie might be able to hijack their armies like they say he did at that off-shore base? ‘Cause from where I’m sitting, that would be a good time.”
Trevor smirked at Shep’s tone but also shook his head.
“I don’t think so. It’s not that easy. There’s no silver bullet that’s going to turn this around. It’s going to take more than a bayonet charge to save our asses this time.”
Lori asked, “So you’re going to Europe to make your way to Voggoth’s place?”
“Yes,” Trevor said. “Me and my son.”
“But you haven’t told us why.” Lori complained.
“Yes, I did. I’m going to re-shuffle the deck. If JB is the ultimate expression of life and Voggoth is the antithesis of the same…”
Omar gasped, “Matter and anti-matter. You think this could destroy Voggoth?”
“No, not really,” Trevor admitted to them and to himself that his plan contained more questions than answers. “But we know he’s totally different from the other life forms involved in this. What I hope—I guess I’m hoping to get a reaction. Knock him off balance—or send a signal that can’t be ignored—something.”
“A signal that can’t be ignored?” Eva asked. “What does that mean?”
“I have reason to believe that the beings who orchestrated Armageddon are not aware of exactly how involved Voggoth is here, that it would be against the rules. Maybe they don’t want to know because they don’t mind us getting creamed. But if I can make them see then that might force Voggoth to back off here.”
“And we were winning until he jumped in with both feet,” Jon said.
Nina pounced, “What do you want us to do? Should some of us come with you?”
Trevor felt a charge shiver through his spine. The idea of Nina coming with him—to be so close to her again. Maybe—maybe…
“No,” and he saw her eyes falter with disappointment and rejection. He wanted to tell her that he desired her to come, but he felt this a suicide mission and besides, Nina’s talents could best serve humanity doing what she did best. “You have an important job here. You all do. You have to hold off The Order. As long as we’re alive and fighting we have a chance. Once we’re overrun we all die, no matter what I manage to do on the other side of the world.”
<
br /> Jon asked, “How do you figure that?”
“If this is a challenge, well, to put it in the best way, I guess, don’t think of it as a football game with a scoreboard and a clock. Think of it as ski jumping or gymnastics with judges and score cards. Less objective, more subjective. If the judges start to think we’re beaten then they’ll pull the plug on us. That’s what happened to the Feranites.”
Lori asked, “But what is it you’re planning to do? And why?”
Trevor answered, “I’m going to hit the heart of the enemy. All this time we keep thinking about the Chaktaw, the Hivvans, the Duass and the rest as the people we need to be fighting. But that’s playing by the rules. To win this we have to go around those rules. I’m going after Voggoth.”
“Pardon me,” Shep said, “but like Brett said, don’t you think you’ll need an army for that?”
Gordon’s voice joined the fray from the foot of the table: “Our European friends have been waiting a long time, Trevor. We’ve been shipping them weapons and supplies, but I still don’t think they’ll be happy when you show up without firepower. Maybe you should take the Chrysaor, at least. We can tough it out without her for a while.”
“You’ll need it more,” Trevor answered. “You have to hold out. Don’t let Voggoth hand them a victory. As long as we’re still fighting on a large scale there’s hope. Besides, I don’t want to attract attention to this trip. I’m hoping to fly under the radar.”
Trevor could see questions boiling beneath the surface of each of the attendees, but the time for those questions had passed. He slowly and deliberately worked his way around the table, making eye contact with each of them.
As they had during those early days, during the protracted war against the Hivvans, during the invasion of California, they looked to Trevor for hope, for strength, and for direction. Apparently seeing the wires and the trap doors did not completely diminish the magician’s magic. Maybe there was more to Trevor Stone than the gifts.
Beyond Armageddon: Book 05 - Fusion Page 13
