“Would it matter if I didn’t?” asked Scallywag as two security-bots flanked him on either side and took him by the arms.
“It most certainly would not,” the Sergeant replied. “Get this piece of filth into a cell on level 70 and out of my sight.”
“Confirmed,” said one of the security-bots as it began marching Scallywag toward the teleportation platform. Other Peacekeepers escorted them there as well, only backing off once they were securely on the teleporter. The Sergeant keyed in his security code and teleported them from the lobby and into the receiving area of the secure cells.
Scallywag looked up at the long, rectangular window in the room where two Peacekeeper guards looked down at him. “Step away from the prisoner,” one of the guards ordered through the room’s intercom.
The security-bots moved off the platform as robotic arms descended from above, scanner orbs at their tips moving around Scallywag, analyzing him in every way possible.
“Scan completed. Prisoner is clean,” the guard said. “Escort to cell 451.”
“Affirmative,” replied the security-bots as they once again took Scallywag by the arms. The shielded door to the room opened, allowing access to the floor containing the cells. Scallywag walked obediently with the security-bots, nervously eyeing the various security cameras that were in the hallway. Eventually, they stopped at the cell across from the one housing Professor Green.
When the Professor saw Scallywag, he got to his feet, looking at the pirate in dismay. “Oh, dear!” he exclaimed. “They got you, too?”
The robots stood aside as Scallywag glanced up toward the camera facing their cells. “Not exactly,” he replied.
Green approached the shielded barrier to his cell. “What do you mean?” he asked.
“Oy, how much longer?” Scallywag muttered.
“And… we’re clear,” Heckubus said as the hologram of the security-bot surrounding him disappeared, revealing one of Fabu’s blue holographic generators strapped to his torso. “My feedback loop on the cameras will only go unnoticed for a couple of minutes. We must hurry.”
Green’s eyes grew wide as Jack disengaged his hologram of the security-bot, as well, and undid Scallywag’s electro-shackles. “Jack! Heckubus!” the Professor said. “What are you doing here?”
“Is it not obvious?” Heckubus said as he produced the dataspike from his chest and stabbed it into the wall console for Green’s cell. “We’re breaking you out.”
Green’s face brightened. “A jailbreak? Oh, how exciting! Not to mention much appreciated!”
Scallywag ducked into his cell, disappearing in the corner by the entrance. “Oy, ya sure about the range o’ this thing?” he muttered.
“Fabu said it would work,” said Jack.
“Still can’t believe we made it past the scanners,” Scallywag said. “I was sure they’d detect yer holoprojectors.”
“Though Fabu’s fashion technology is nowhere near as sophisticated as a military-grade Imperial hologuise, the holograms simply needed to hold up to the naked eye,” said Heckubus as he accessed the lock to Green’s cell. “My wireless transmitter allowed me to hack into the prison computers and to re-write the sensor data, as I told you I could. The Peacekeeper penal system hasn’t updated its encryption in years. It really is like taking candy from a baby. Mwuahaha.”
“How you holding up, Professor?” Jack asked.
“Much better now that you’re all here,” Green replied. “We must warn the Princess about Armonto Virtuoso before he tricks her into destroying the Great Seal! I discovered he’s fully aware his device will not work. He plans to sacrifice the portgate network to give himself the power to manifest any invention of his he wants through the use of his digi-matrix machine!”
“Does he now?” mused Heckubus. “Diabolical… I respect that.”
“I’m afraid warning her won’t do much good, considering Anna’s secretly being controlled by the Deathlords,” said Jack.
Green blinked. “Come again?” he said.
“It’s a long story,” said Jack. “We’ll explain it on our way to rescue my ship.”
“Oh! Yes, we must turn those horrible cannons off before they completely destroy the Earthship’s soul!”
Jack gave the Professor an odd look. “Come again?”
“It’s a long story,” Green replied.
“Right,” muttered Scallywag. “Jack, yer ship’s actually alive and has soul energy, or whatever, coursin’ through it. Green, the Deathlords are usin’ invisible brain worms to mind control people inta doin’ their biddin’, and the Deathlords, the Maguffyn Corporation, and the leaders o’ the Empire are all in cahoots ta destroy everything. There. We all caught up now?”
Jack and Green both looked at each other and shrugged. Finally, the shield barrier to the Professor’s cell went down, and Heckubus pulled his dataspike out of the panel.
“Quickly,” Heckubus said, leading the others down the hall. “If Green and I are going to have any hope of getting past the Maguffyn security guarding the Earthship in time to teleport the Princess away before she portgates off the planet, we cannot afford to dilly-dally.”
“Oh, dear,” said Green as he powerwalked to keep up with the group. “That’s… that’s not the plan, is it?”
“It’s the only way to stop Anna, Professor,” said Jack. “We gotta get her as far away from Casgor and Virtuoso as possible until we can find a way to get that worm out of her.”
“No, I mean… it won’t work! The plan, that is.”
Scallywag scowled at Green. “What do ya mean it won’t work?”
“I fear there won’t be enough time!” Green exclaimed. “It will take us far too long to get past the spaceport security and to fly within teleportation range of the Princess. By then, they’ll be long gone!”
“Don’t be daft,” said Heckubus as he stopped in front of a panel on the wall marked “Refuse” and stabbed its control pad with his dataspike. “My timetable is meticulous! I hacked into the Royal Secretary’s database and got the Princess’s itinerary myself. We shall have just enough time to pull this off. Trust me.”
“No, you don’t understand!” said Green. “One of the things I learned about matters concerning the Great Seal of the portgate network is that all visits to it fall under Shadow Protocol! All records created in relation to Legacy Prime’s interactions with it are purposefully false and misleading to protect their travel to its secret location! Armonto Virtuoso regularly schedules all excursions there three hours ahead of the official itinerary!”
The group all turned to Green, obviously taken aback by this revelation. “Diabolical…” Heckubus repeated. “I can respect that.”
“Dude, what does this do to our plan?” asked Jack, extremely worried.
“It buggers it, that’s what,” lamented Scallywag.
“Surely there must be something we can do to buy us some time?” Green said.
All eyes turned to Heckubus. “Hmmmm…” the robot mused. “This would be far simpler if certain people didn’t find mass murder so objectionable.”
“Heckubus!” exclaimed Jack.
“What do you want from me?” replied the robot. “The only way to be sure the Princess does not access the portgate is to break into the Royal Tower and physically restrain her until such time as your ship can get within teleportation range.”
“Ya mean ta tell me ya don’t have eight bloody plans fer that already, evil genius?” snarked Scallywag.
“There are far too many variables at play,” replied Heckubus testily. “We know the Princess will be with the Royal Vanguard. And there’s also Armonto Virtuoso to consider. But will there be Royal Guards? If so, how many? What about security-bots? What models? How secure is the level? Would we even be able to get through the security to the portgate chamber once we’re there? And if we can, how will we restrain the Princess long enough to teleport away without getting killed?”
“So yer basically sayin’ that in order ta stall fer tim
e, we need a bloody army,” said Scallywag, fatalistically. “Or at the very least, our own Alpha Force squadron.”
“Sadly, yes,” Heckubus responded.
Jack’s eyes suddenly lit up. “We would need an entire Alpha Force squadron,” he said. “Or… just one Rognok!”
“Interesting…” said Heckubus, thoughtfully. “Grohm would certainly even the odds until we can actually see what we’re up against. Yes, I do believe that may just be the solution!”
“Oy, ain’t the Rognok locked up in the sub-levels in a bloody gravity cell?” asked Scallywag.
“So?” replied Heckubus.
“So? One prison break ain’t enough, now ya wanna stage two? At the same bloody time?”
“Mwuahahahaha!” Heckubus laughed.
Scallywag rolled his eyes. “Why do I even bother?” he muttered.
Heckubus opened the wall panel, revealing the small teleporter behind it. “Lucky for all of us, Jack and I will be able to handle Grohm’s escape on our own,” the robot said. “You and the Professor will stick to the plan and meet us at the rendezvous point. Now, in you go.”
Scallywag grumbled as he climbed into the wall panel, squeezing himself inside.
“Now remember, this teleporter is only networked to the supertower’s recycling center,” Heckubus said. “I’ve already disabled all the garbage smashers for the detention levels, along with the incinerators and matter reclaimators. So it should be perfectly safe! All you’ll need to do is reach the ventilation system as we discussed and crawl out to the surface. Then, you simply have to wait for Jack and I to meet back up with you.”
“Right, I remember,” said Scallywag.
“Oh, and in a tower this size, all the nasty stuff teleported down where you’re going tends to build up quickly when the operations have shut down, so I do hope you enjoy the discovery of new and exciting odors. Toodles!”
Scallywag looked at Heckubus in alarm. “Wait, wha—”
Heckubus teleported Scallywag away before the pirate had time to object. “Mwuahaha. Your turn, Professor.”
Green climbed into the teleporter, as well, and smiled at Jack and Heckubus. “Good luck, dear fellows,” he said. “I am ever so grateful to have compatriots such as you in my corner. Once again it seems the fate of the universe rests in our—”
Heckubus abruptly teleported Green away and closed the wall panel. “And, done!” said Heckubus proudly. “Well, now that that’s over with, shall we get on with phase two?”
“You really think we can break Grohm out of the sub-level in time?” Jack asked.
“Considering the gravity cells are famous for being inescapable?” replied Heckubus. “I put our odds at fifty-fifty.”
Jack frowned. “Don’t take this the wrong way, dude,” he said. “But every time you tell me the odds, it makes me hate math even more than I previously did.”
“Do not start doubting my genius now, Earthman,” replied Heckubus as he re-activated his holo-projector, once again becoming a security-bot. “Aren’t we, after all, a team?”
Jack smiled. “We are,” he said as he activated his holo-projector, as well. “Now let’s go get our final member.”
Grohm screamed as more electricity surged through him at an even higher level than it had before. The increased gravity from the platform he was on made him feel as though he were bearing thousands of pounds upon his shoulders. The large metal gravity shackles that completely encompassed his hands and feet kept him held in place, with their electro-tethers stretching out to the receivers on the three-foot thick ultanium walls of his cell.
Grohm had lost track of how long he’d been imprisoned. Since the minute he’d regained consciousness after the Alpha Force attack, the automated security protocol continued sending volts of energy surging through him to keep him in a constant weakened state. Now, it seemed as though the surges were coming more frequently and lasting far longer. Between that and the crushing gravity all around him, Grohm was in a constant state of agony.
Finally, the electric surge stopped and Grohm slumped, hanging limply from his restraints. When he glanced up at the monitoring station of the cell, he could see people standing there, looking at him through the shielded window. The doors to the cell rumbled open and four Royal Guardsmen entered. Grohm eyed them wearily as their leader approached, looking Grohm up and down with disappointment.
“So, you’re the Rognok that caused us all that trouble,” he mused. “Funny. You don’t look like much up close.”
Grohm growled.
“You’re scheduled to be transported to the nearest Nexus node at the end of the day,” the man said. “There is someone who wants to talk to you before you are thrust into oblivion for the rest of eternity. Would you like to meet him?”
The man’s pupils then shrank, his irises fading, his eyes turning pure white. He tilted his head as he regarded Grohm with the curiosity one would a caged predator at the zoo. Grohm returned the man’s curious gaze, the two of them sharing a silence as they studied one another.
“Forgive me for staring. It is so rare I’ve gotten to enjoy such a close look at one of you,” the man said, his voice suddenly deep and queer sounding, like gravel being crushed. “Your kind always frightened me too much to ever want to be this near to you.”
The man’s blank, empty eyes narrowed.
“I don’t experience it very often,” the man continued, speaking softly. “Fear. I was never really sure why you Rognoks made me feel it. I think it may be because I could never get into those big, empty heads of yours…” the man tapped at the side of Grohm’s head with his finger. “Every other species is an open book to me. But not yours. The Ancients made you… vexing. No souls to drain. A mind without a subconscious, that never dreams and, thus, can never be corrupted. A body that heals quickly and adapts so that it becomes stronger and tougher after each fight. In a way, Rognoks and Deathlords are not that different. We were both created by a master race to be the perfect killing machines. I guess the only difference is that our masters never abandoned us.”
A low growl escaped from Grohm. The man chuckled at his reaction.
“You know, the day we returned to this sector of space, I dreamed of the time when we’d wipe your kind from existence,” the man said. “And when it finally happened, I felt a joy unlike anything I had ever had the pleasure of experiencing my entire life. I would attempt to describe the feeling to you, but I doubt you’d appreciate it, seeing as how your kind doesn’t really feel emotion. You consider it a weakness, do you not? And by all accounts, you’re quite the strong one.”
The man flicked his finger at Grohm’s cheek, causing Grohm to flinch. Grohm sneered as the man leaned forward, derisively.
“Strength means nothing where you’re going, though,” the man said softly. “It’s believed no one knows what’s on the other side of the Nexus, but I do. Every Deathlord knows. It’s a place where nightmares come true. And no matter how hard you try, you cannot escape them. Any weakness you have will be discovered, and it will wear you down until there is nothing left. There, you will know true suffering and agony. The idea that you will be subjected to a fate worse than death makes me feel so… good. That even a mighty Rognok such as yourself – one of the last of your kind – is powerless against being swallowed whole by the jaws of oblivion.”
Grohm jutted forward angrily, but his restraints held him back. The man retreated slightly, a mocking chuckle escaping from him as he did so.
“I just wanted to look you in the eyes before they took you away,” the man said. “I plan to do that with every last Rognok we track down and kill, until there are truly none left to threaten us. I’ll look you all in the eyes and tell you I’m no longer afraid. We’ve beaten you. We’ve won. We’ve proven which race is superior. The Ancients failed yet again…”
The man got close to Grohm, so close to the Rognok’s face, they were almost touching.
“You’ve been defeated,” the man said.
The man’s
words appeared to trouble Grohm. With a final malicious smile, the entity which had possessed the man faded away. The man’s eyes once again returned to normal. Then, one of the other guards approached from behind, leaning in toward him. “Commander Gunner,” the guard said. “We’ve just received word. Both the Earthman’s companions are being held in the tower, up in the secure cells.”
“Both?” Gunner asked.
“The Visini is there along with the Trundel,” the guard replied. “Apparently the pirate just gave up and turned himself in.”
Commander Gunner’s smile grew even bigger. “Well, well, well,” he said with a certain sadistic glee. “Looks like you may have some company in the Nexus, my friend.” He reached up and patted Grohm on the cheek. “I do believe I’ll go pay them a visit, as well. The pirate and I have some unfinished business.”
Gunner exited the cell with his men, stepping back into the monitoring room. “You may resume,” he said casually to the two stationary security-bots there as he and his group made their way toward the level’s teleportation platform.
“Resuming containment protocol,” the station’s A.I. replied.
Electric jolts returned and started ravaging Grohm’s body once more. Grohm cried out as the agonizing current coursed through him again. As soon as the guards were gone, the holographic projections of the security-bots vanished, revealing Jack and Heckubus. “Shut it off!” cried Jack. “Hurry! They’re killing him!”
“Calm down, knowing Grohm, they’re just making him annoyed,” Heckubus replied as he accessed the console and shut off the containment protocol. The door to the cell opened and Jack rushed up to the Rognok, who was once again hanging limply, wisps of smoke coming off his skin from the heat generated by the electric surge.
Earthman Jack vs. The Secret Army (Earthman Jack Space Saga Book 2) Page 62
