The War of All Wars

by J. Eric Booker

  After sucking in a deep breath through his nose, the president continued, “It’s funny that it takes a potential global catastrophe before humankind can finally gain that ‘brotherly peace’ spoken of so frivolously throughout the Torah, the Koran, the Bible and most of our other religious books. Hopefully, once this world-problem is solved, in which I guarantee you that we will work nonstop until we find that solution, we can keep that ‘world peace’ forever after…you, especially you my fellow Americans, need to keep working your jobs and need to remain calm…

  “Last but not least, we world-leaders have agreed to openly meet in front of the press, including CSPAN, so that you can keep up-to-par on all our meetings. Thank you and God bless.”

  The president disappeared—the same newsman reappeared. Tom said, “This is Tom Rillings of XKW News—you’ve just heard from the President of the United States. We will continue to bring any news and developments as they continue—we will also be televising the event, so make sure to keep tuning into XKW—”

  At this point, the button Nadia had just pushed muted Tom’s voice—knowing who had the remote, Baltor looked over, noting her face looked both shocked and scared.

  “Oh my God,” Reva began to cry with tears already popping out of her eyes yet again, but this time they were caused by fear. “We’re going to die…it would take ten million nuclear missiles to destroy a planet that size—did you see how big it was when they compared it to the size of earth!”

  “Relax, girls,” Baltor tried to soothe, “things will be okay.”

  “How—how can you say that, Baltor?” Nadia sobbed aloud.

  After sucking in a deep breath, and then releasing it, he said, “that’s a part of my business trade, which is in finding a solution to this most-serious problem.”

  “Are you serious?” Nadia asked with disbelief.

  “Yes,” Baltor answered, while slightly raising his eyebrows. “But I cannot say anything more, as my mission is classified ‘top-top-top secret,’ other than this. Almost as soon as I drop you two girls off at your apartment, my business-comrade and I will be busy, working nonstop on this problem until it’s over, and we’re all safe and sound. I couldn’t tell you the truth before because those classifications. And let me tell you one more thing.”

  Enraptured, both girls leaned in.

  He paused for ten seconds before saying, “Once we’ve literally unlocked the solution, which we have a 99.8% chance of being successful unlocking, this solution can literally destroy planets into oblivion—it’s as powerful as ten million nuclear missiles all put together.”

  “Whoa…” The girls sighed with utter astonishment.

  “So are we cool? Yes?”

  “Yes,” they answered while nodding their heads affirmatively and smiling.

  “Good…” Baltor said while returning the smile. “So, as our vacation’s still not over, what shall we do next? Watch a movie, play a video game—or what?”

  With a smile, Nadia answered, “You get to pick this time—whatever you want to do.”

  “Yes, I agree,” Reva added with a wink, “you pick.”

  After scrunching his eyes and eyebrows in contemplation, he replied, “I kind of want to play that three-player racing game—with the Porsches and the Ferraris and all.”

  “Okay,” both girls squealed with delight, “Sounds wonderful!”

  A little over fours later, all of which were fun-filled, the jet landed in St. Petersburg—at 11:07 p.m. Not surprisingly, a limousine already waited outside in the parking lot near to the jet—fifteen minutes later, it parked in the parking space right in front of the girls’ apartment.

  Still sitting in the limousine, the three gave each other a very tight embrace that lasted nearly ten minutes.

  Shortly after this timeframe had begun, Nadia said with unadulterated appreciation, “Thank you so much, Baltor, for everything!” Already tears poured down her face, but she did not let the tears stop or try to wipe them away—in turn, Reva also began to tear up and sniffle.

  “You’re welcome, girls…I had the time of my life this week! So, thank you,” Baltor replied. He knew there was no way he could let a single teardrop pour from his eyes.

  “You’re welcome,” they both sobbed.

  Reva whispered in one ear, “When you get done with your mission, come back and find us…okay? We love you!”

  “I love you girls too…you’re both so awesome!”

  Nadia whispered in the other ear, “So are you…but she also means that we really, really love you. We’re both quote-unquote ‘in love with you’ and we want you to be our one-and-only man when this is all over…maybe even our husband one day? Never have we met anyone like you before, nor is there any other man or woman we want in our relationship ever…but you.”

  He pulled back from the hug, in order to look at both girls in shock—his mouth could not help but drop open.

  “No joke, Baltor,” Reva said seriously, “we talked it over when you were listening to the headphones—and this is what we both want. That is, if you want us as your wives…”

  “Umm,” he said. He had to clear his throat a few times, before he could answer, “We’ll see. I’ve heard of many people, especially rulers, who had multiple wives, but I’m not a ruler, and I’ve only been married once in my life…to a woman who was and is my soul mate of soulmates. She died some time back from cancer, but I’ve never fully recovered. So please…give me time to think about that…your proposal…okay?”

  “Okay,” both girls sighed, just before giving him another very-very-very-tight hug. Baltor chuckled for about five seconds, before saying, “All right, girls…I’ve got to get going now. I love you both too…seriously. Have no doubt of that!”

  “One more minute of hugs and kisses,” Nadia said softly, “and we’ll go. Please?”

  “Okay.”

  After another minute had passed, which minute included many-many passionate kisses on the lips, the girls finally got out of the limo. It was then that the limo driver—now standing outside—popped the trunk, pulled out his cart-on-wheels, put the six suitcases worth of luggage and new presents on it, and rolled it toward the front door.

  As the girls followed behind, they could not help but look back and blow Baltor kisses—he kept the door open and blowing them kisses back.

  Nearly a minute later, the limo driver was back in his seat and he was about to take off, but decided not to upon seeing the girls unexpectedly open the front door to their apartment and rushing toward the limo at top speed.

  Once they had arrived, Nadia opened the door and both girls hopped into the limo, in order to give Baltor more hugs and kisses…after another minute, they whispered their farewells, exited the limo and closed the door. Both girls looked like they were fighting tears again, but they did not stop smiling.

  After Baltor had unrolled the window, he said, “Well, girls—I remember your phone number, and I’ll be sure to give you a call as soon as I can…perhaps we will see more of each other at the hotel? So to say ‘goodbye’ may not even be a long goodbye—who knows? So, with that, goodbye for now.”

  “Bye, Baltor,” they responded.

  He nodded at the limo driver, who proceeded to drive the limo for the hotel—all the while, he waved at the girls, who continued to wave back until the limo was “out of sight.”

  Fifteen minutes later, the limo arrived back at the hotel—the driver proceeded to take out Baltor’s luggage of the trunk and set it onto the sidewalk. Now, he had acquired four suitcases worth of clothes and souvenirs.

  Meanwhile, two busboys—not the busboys who brought down his luggage earlier—hurried out from the inside of the hotel, put his luggage onto a cart on wheels, and waited for Baltor.

  Baltor said to the limo driver, “When I paid the bill, I also added a five-hundred-ruble tip—thank you very much!”

  “I know, and thank you, sir,” the limo driver said with a smile. “If you ever need my services again, here’s my business card. P
lease don’t hesitate to book me, sir.”

  “Thanks…I won’t,” Baltor replied with a smile and an affirming nod.

  While the limo driver entered his vehicle so he could leave to pick up his next fare only several blocks away, the two busboys followed Baltor.

  They first entered the lobby and casually walked through until they reached the elevator doors.

  Once there, Baltor pushed the button that would take them to the eleventh floor. And only seconds later, the three were riding the elevator up to the eleventh floor.

  CHAPTER XV

  Before entering the penthouse suite through the guest entrance with the busboys following close behind, Baltor glanced down at the new gold watch he had purchased in Egypt—five minutes and twenty-two seconds remained until midnight, which meant to him that he was still early.

  Therefore, after he had opened the security door, he became rather surprised to hear that the television set in the living room was on—after all, he had purposefully ensured that everything had been turned off before leaving. Now he could hear the sounds of cheering, the sounds of fighting, and the sounds of two announcers talking to each other about the fighters…

  After poking just his head around the corner of the hallway, only a couple seconds later, he relaxed his facial expression upon seeing “the man himself” already awake—Trendon. Not only was he watching two muscular, tattooed men fighting each other inside of an octagonal steel cage on television, yet sitting in the steaming and bubbling spa and sipping on some champagne, obvious by the crystalline glass and the bubbling golden fluids.

  Baltor cleared his throat before he greeted, “Hello, sir! How are you feeling?”

  Without looking over one time, Trendon replied, “Great!”

  “Great to know,” Baltor said. Without looking back, he pointed his finger toward his bedroom before informing the busboys, “Gentlemen, my room’s over there. Just stick my luggage near the door inside the room, please, and I’ll take care of it from there. You can go out the guest entrance if it’s more convenient for you…oh, and here’s a one hundred ruble tip for you guys to split. Thanks much.”

  “Thank you, sir,” they both responded simultaneously and happily, before “speed walking” toward Baltor’s bedroom with the luggage.

  Still watching the fight, Trendon asked, “Once this fight’s over, in about three minutes from now, will you be ready to get to work?”

  “Yes, sir,” Baltor replied, before taking a seat on the easy chair.

  “Good. Now please let me watch this fight in silence—thanks.”

  By the time he had finished making his request, the two busboys had just closed the guests’ entry door, so they could make their way back to the elevator.

  Nearly a minute passed before Trendon broke silence as he finished off the last swig of his drink, set the empty glass into the cup holder floating in the spa, and with a point of his thumb toward the silver tray sitting next to the spa, he asked, “Did you want a glass of champagne, or some chocolate-covered strawberries?”

  “No, thank you,” Baltor answered, noting that the man had not even looked over the entire time and had returned to the realm of silence—Trendon’s concentration remained focused solely on the fight. Therefore, Baltor took a seat on the easy chair and watched along.

  Once the fight had finally ended, about two-in-a-half action-packed minutes later, which occurred with the loser tapping his one free hand onto the ground and the referee splitting up the two bloodied-up fighters, Trendon unexpectedly began to cheer—clapping his hands while making loud, whooping noises. Apparently, he was quite happy with the winner—a winner who had just begun to hop around the ring while repetitively throwing both fists out toward the cheering crowds! The loser stood to the side and rubbed his very achy shoulder.

  At the same time, a fifty-something-year-old man—wearing a tuxedo and carrying a microphone—entered through the just-opened door to the ring—it wasn’t until he stood in the middle that he stopped in his tracks.

  Once the winner stood on one side and the loser on the other of this man, the announcer put the microphone up to his lips before revealing, “And now, ladies and gentlemen of the world… It is my pleasure to reveal the winner of tonight’s fight, not only by tap-out yet also by points, the brand-new ‘WFC World Heavy Weight Champion,’ Tiger Claw!”

  Yet again, Trendon began to cheer and applaud…all the while, Baltor looked at him with “amazement,” as he had never before seen his master act….“so human.”

  Five seconds or so after the announcement had concluded, Trendon used the remote controller in his right hand to turn off the television screen. He then shifted his body around in the spa, so that he could look straight at Baltor, and ask with a smile, “So, my apprentice. How was your vacation?”

  “Very good, my master. I have learned much about this planet since arriving, though there is still so much more to learn.”

  “Excellent. So, are you now ready to get to work?”

  After nodding his head one time, Baltor replied, “Yes, I am. But before we begin, let me first be allowed to give you a detailed report of my vacation…I know you will be very interested in what I have to say.”

  “Go ahead, my apprentice…”

  Baltor began to relay nearly all of the details of his vacation from beginning to end, including revealing the philosophical/doomsday subjects he learned from the Internet, which originated from the Earthlings. Of course, he revealed about the massive, storm-filled, alien planet fast zooming their way, expected to arrive sometime in 2,012, probably December 21st. For about the next hour or so, Trendon listened without a word…

  Following the briefing, Baltor next revealed, “I have some important things to show you, sir, in which I feel you will be pleased.” In the next moment, he opened his “magic pocket,” before proceeding to pull out and set onto the coffee table—in turn—four duplicate crystal-alien skulls!

  “Outstanding work, my apprentice,” Trendon said with a respectful tone of voice. “Which countries did you get them from?”

  With a point of his index finger to the skull on the left, Baltor explained, “I acquired this ancient skull, of which there are thirteen skulls in total made by the same maker, in a secret, large cavern underneath the Mayan pyramid in Chichenitza. I told my two lady friends that I had to go to the bathroom when what I actually did was go into the port-a-potty, teleport into the very base of the pyramid where the tour guide had said the skull supposedly existed, discovered the secret passage that led underneath the ground, and discover that his words rang true.”

  Pointing at the next skull, “This one I retrieved in Brazil, which skull had been placed in a wooden box in the basement of a five-hundred-year-old church—by the way, the first skull led me to the second. As before, I told the girls I had to use the bathroom when what I really did was to enter the church’s restroom facility, teleport into the basement, and find it where I did.

  “This skull I found in Egypt, buried underneath five feet of sand in the very middle of the Great Pyramid of Giza—again I waited for the right moment to take it when no one was around.”

  After a short pause, Baltor pointed at the next skull, before saying, “This one I acquired in Rome, where it had been stored in their Vatican’s high-security storehouse for their religious and historical artifacts—I took that one while the girls slept on the plane…

  “Of course, we still have nine more to get, of which should be a cinch as I know exactly where the next one is…in one of the Temples of Angkor Wat. And once that skull is acquired, retrieve the rest of the skulls until this part of my mission is ultimately successful. However, what I have not been able to figure out are the uses for these skulls—do you know?”

  “Yes, I do, and in only two words,” Trendon answered cryptically.

  “Yes, my master?”

  “Apocalypse Island.”

  Cocking his head to the side for only a moment, Baltor replied, “But there are no Mayan ruins the
re, other than the two statues.”

  Trendon pointed his index finger up into the air, before replying, “Ah, so you and most others think… However, what neither you nor any other archeologist knows is that there is a secret button that is on the belly of the jaguar that will open up the secret entrance to an underground Mayan temple, but we will not need to worry about this island until the summer solstice of 2,012. Oh, there is one other important function these skulls hold.”

  “Yes?”

  Trendon explained, “Once we have them all collected together, we shall put them around the spaceship, which will open the ramp and release the exterior force field. There is no way to teleport into the ship when the force field is active…not even with my powers.”

  “I see…so I really did good then…?”

  “Yes, you did—I am exceedingly proud of you.”

  “Master, I do have one more question?”

  “Yes?”

  “It’s about a particular man who I met during my vacation…his name is E…”

  “Yes?”

  “Well, I think we should make him into one of us!”

  Baltor had to wait fifteen seconds before hearing Trendon finally replied, “No—he will not become like ‘you and I.’ He has another destiny to fulfill.”

  “What greater destiny is there than what we do, master?”

  “My apprentice, though your new friend has all the qualifications to become like us, and he will live a very long and fruitful life with his wonderful wife, kids and family, he will one day die of old age—he must die only that way.”

  Though Trendon was about to continue to answer the question, Baltor interjected with a slight amount of anger, “But that is exactly what happened to us—we had to physically die so that we could live as we are—immortal protectors of the universes!”

  Trendon countered, “He will become immortalized in still another way…his artistic spirit will live on until the End of Time, in the aetheric realm of immortalized artists… After this vicious ‘war of all wars’ with the Vompareus is over, you can visit this realm, if you so wish.”