I looked up once more. Beran studied a bulkhead screen. According to it, we were back above ground, cruising over Greenland snow.
“What about the Tosks down there?” I shouted. “We have to get them.”
Beran gave me a cursory glance. He did not seem to think the statement deserved an answer. He spoke to the pilot as he resumed studying the screen.
I wasn’t sure, but it seemed as if the werewolf-creature hesitated. If Beran noticed, he didn’t say anything about it as he studied the screen intently, but I had begun to believe that Beran missed little to nothing around him.
I felt the shift of transfer. It seemed to last a little longer than ordinary. I glanced at the wall screen. We’d teleported back onto the Earth-side of the moon.
I slid myself across the floor until I reached a bulkhead, leaning against it. My neck hurt where the falling rock had struck it. Even though I was exhausted, I brushed grit off my head. I tried to understand why Beran had forced his Tosks from the entrance. The only conclusion was that he’d wanted to save me. The Tosks clawing for admittance had blocked my way. I knew Beran had little regard for me. He must believe I still knew things he didn’t but wanted to.
I studied him. Did he think the surviving Tosks would forget such callousness? Wouldn’t they rise up some day and try to destroy such a tyrant?
I had no idea. I wasn’t sure why we’d come back to the moon. And I didn’t feel like talking to him just yet to find out. He’d saved my life, I acknowledged. But the callous way he’d murdered his servants—it was a wakeup call, if I’d needed it, that Lord Beran was utterly ruthless.
***
Soon enough, we arrived inside a small hangar bay at the base on the dark side of the moon. All three floaters were back.
I exited with Beran. Our floater looked like it had been in a demolition derby. Frankly, I was surprised we’d made it out of underground Greenland and I was surprised the teleporting vehicle had had enough integrity left to hold an atmosphere in a vacuum.
Soon enough, I found myself in a cell, this one bigger than before and with more amenities. I ate, showered and slept the sleep of exhaustion. I might have dreamed. I couldn’t remember any dreams when I woke up, but I knew I was glad to be awake.
I puttered around for an hour, maybe two. A Tosk finally showed up, taking me down the curving corridor. I felt an intense sense of déjà vu. Had I even gone on the Greenland adventure? Or was it one of my many dreams?
I touched my neck. It wasn’t as sore as before. The muscle had almost healed from the rock blow. I had been deep in Greenland. Yes, I had seen Grithies and been hit by a sonic blast coming out of Beran’s palms.
Was he a mutant? Did he possess…I don’t know, psionic powers? Or was he a superhero like in the comics I’d read as a kid?
The Tosk indicated an open hatch.
I peered in, seeing Beran standing before several tables covered with what looked like charts.
The Antaran looked up. “Ah, Logan,” he said, as if we were pals. “Do come in. I have something to show you.”
I entered, taking a quick look around to see if any hidden Tosks waited to add more shock collars to my neck.
The hatch slid shut behind me. No Tosks appeared. I decided to approach the tables, studying what looked like blueprints on them of…I don’t know, underground cities, a giant hover-car. I think I might have been too shell-shocked to comprehend what I saw.
“Do hurry, man,” Beran said. “This is fascinating.”
He stabbed a blueprint with an index finger. I had no idea what the symbols meant on the map. They might have been treasure sites on a D&D dungeon map for all I knew. The Grithies certainly seemed like technological ogres.
“I believe I’ve finally found it,” Beran declared.
I looked up at him. His face was shining with excitement.
“Found what?” I asked, surprised my voice was so hoarse.
“Why, the launch point portal of the Polarions,” he said.
“I don’t know what you mean by that.”
“No?” Beran asked. “Well, I think the Director does. Director, would you come in here, please?”
I heard the shuffle of feet and turned around. Walking through an opening side door was the Director of the CAU. Unfortunately, he was quite naked, wore a shock collar and had a considerable number of welts and burns crisscrossing his badly misused body.
His bloodshot eyes met mine, and he stopped abruptly. The Director tried to form words. He motioned that I should come closer. He also seemed quite mad.
“Watch yourself,” Beran warned, as if in high good humor. “The Director is a clever beast. He only means you harm, of that I can assure you.”
I’d taken my eyes off the Director to glance at Beran as he spoke. As I looked back, the Director sprang at me with his hands outstretched as if to claw my face.
“No!” Beran said in a steely voice.
I crouched, but hesitated to hit the Director. I’d killed his clone. I didn’t want to kill this clearly misused creature.
Before the Director reached me, he seemed to strike an invisible wall. He bounced back to crumple onto the floor where he made a mewling noise.
I glanced at Beran. The dominie lowered his arm. I had the distinct impression he’d forced the Director back with an invisible ray that had emanated from his palm.
“Go!” Beran said sternly.
The Director whimpered, glared at me one last time, then turned while remaining on his hands and knees and scuttled away for the side hatch that had admitted him.
I felt a greater sense of loathing for Beran than at any time previously. He had clearly tormented the Director to make the proud man act like that.
The side hatch slid shut. The Director was gone.
I turned to Beran, who watched me triumphantly. It was at that point I decided, whatever else happened, that I would kill the Antares dominie and end his brutality against all who fell into his arrogant power.
-24-
“Look at you,” Beran said. “You positively glow with resentment. Do you know why I summoned the Director?”
I held my tongue because I didn’t trust myself to speak.
“For three reasons,” Beran said. “One, you now understand what fate can befall you if you try to betray me. Two, you should realize how I know what I do concerning you and your past, as I have drained the Director of his knowledge. And three, he displeased me with his stubbornness. I have a firm rule, Logan. Whatever process or pain one makes me suffer, I ensure that he or she suffers double.”
I waited for him to quit gloating.
“Do you disapprove of my philosophy?” Beran asked.
“Does it matter what I think?” I managed to ask.
Beran frowned in annoyance, although he said, “Honestly, not in the slightest.”
“I take it you captured the Director before your assault at Harrah’s.”
“That is an elementary deduction. If you mean to prove your intellect by that—”
“You said you found it,” I said, interrupting his gloating.
“Logan…I urge you to have a care lest you anger me. You saw the Director. Do not make his fate yours.”
“I understand,” I said.
“Do you?”
“I am curious, if you’ll permit me a question.”
It took several seconds before Beran said, “Ask.”
“How do you personally emit sonic rays, create invisible barriers—and fly,” I added, remembering how he’d sailed past me to get back to the floater.
His eyes seemed to glitter with delight as a secret smile played upon his lips. “You noticed that,” he said. “It seemed, in the moment, as if you were petrified with terror.”
“Looks can be deceiving,” I muttered.
He rapped his knuckles against a table. “You asked before how I can dare to think to stand against the Polarions. Do you remember?”
I nodded.
“These Polarions—if the legends
are accurate—were able to handle various forces through mental acuity. They had great personal magnetism as well. Each could bend reality to his or her will through a phenomenal process that began in childhood.”
I couldn’t recall Argon doing those things. I’d saved Argon from an operating table. We had run away together. At no time had he shown such powers. Still, at the end of our time together, he gave me a ring. I’d used the ring to overcome the Starcore.
“I do not yet possess the mental powers the Polarions did,” Beran said, “although I study and analyze the process. Know, however, that I am one of the most modified beings in existence.”
“Modified?” I asked. “You have bionic limbs?”
Beran frowned. “Nothing as crude as that. I do not mar my physical nature by lopping off my body parts. Such a creature becomes a cyborg. That has nothing to do with me.”
“I don’t understand,” I said.
“You witnessed my flight, yes?”
“Back in the cavern,” I said.
“Exactly,” Beran said. “I have anti-gravity mesh embedded in the soles of my feet.”
I raised my eyebrows. That was interesting. “How…how do you activate and power such a mesh?” I asked.
“Ah,” he said, tapping the side of his nose. “That is a mystery, is it not?”
“The sonic blasts…?” I asked.
“Logan, I am in an expansive mood, as you can no doubt sense. Perhaps that is why I showed you the Director. Perhaps that is why I tell you about my modifications. Know, and be amazed by the knowledge, that I have nine sensitivities, four energies, three projections, two nullifications and three lethal emanations, in addition to various abilities such as the full use of my brain, and an additional gland that prevents fatigue in the normal sense.”
“These…these modifications are inside you?” I asked.
“Precisely,” he said. “A dominie of the Antares Institute is never without his weapons and abilities. We are natural juggernauts in our own person. Perhaps now you can understand why I am higher in the plane of existence than a being such as yourself. I have modified my abilities, heightening them to an incredible degree. This expedition will be my crowning achievement. For you see, Logan, I have come to realize that only the Polarions were greater than I am. Thus, since I am the greatest being in the galaxy, I must pit myself against others even greater. By defeating them, and stealing their prizes and abilities, I will truly become the greatest being that ever lived.”
I rubbed my jaw. It appeared that the dominie had turned himself into a walking arsenal and super-genius along with gaining superman powers. If he no longer became tired and could use his mind to the fullest…
I began to perceive the difficulty in beating him. No wonder he knew when I was lying. He could probably see my heart rate change or how much I sweated.
“I’ve done everything you asked of me,” I said, letting a whine creep into my voice.
“Is this another attempt at subterfuge?”
“No,” I said. “I’m…I’m beginning to see how you’ve outsmarted me each time. I’ve been thinking how you…tamed the Director. I don’t want to become like him.”
Beran studied me, and a faint smirk lifted the corner of his mouth. “Look,” he said, pointing at a blueprint. “I believe I’ve found it.”
I focused on the chart. It was a blueprint with all kinds of alien symbols. While I was able to speak Beran’s language, it would seem I couldn’t read it—or read Polarion, if that’s what this was.
“Do you know what you’re looking at?” Beran asked.
“I don’t.”
“I believe it is the portal to their final destination,” he said. “Much as you traversed the space region linked to the Bermuda Triangle in order to reach the sandy beach with the portal to the Eshom world, this is the path that leads to the Polarion paradise.”
I looked up sharply.
“Yes,” Beran said. “By everything I’ve studied, by each fact I’ve pieced together, I have realized they created a perfect place for themselves. According to legend, the Polarions grew weary of the ignorant masses and the beastlike intelligences that aped civilized behavior. They built paradise, using the Earth as their launch point to reach it.”
“And you think there are living Polarions at this paradise?” I asked.
“Argon’s existence as much as proves it,” Beran said.
“But Argon was in a stasis tube in Greenland for thousands of years.”
“Yes, as a final guardian,” Beran said. “Look, don’t you understand that you didn’t speak to a full-fledged Polarion. Such a being would have blasted you. You spoke to the proto-Polarion who failed to make the cut.”
I scratched my head. “How do you know all that?”
Beran laughed. “I am the master scholar, the greatest ever thrown up by the Antares Institute. I have traveled thousands of light-years crisscrossing the galaxy, searching each clue, each hint left by the ancient Polarions and their scribes. I’ve compiled a book of wisdom concerning them. Of course, only I have read the book. I have read thousands of other volumes, listened to both sages and fools, regarding the Polarions. Whatever is known about them, I know. I tell you, Logan, that I am on the verge of completing the quest. I only need one more thing to achieve success.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“The location of the chronowarp,” he said, studying me closely.
Now I knew why he’d sacrificed his Tosks to save me. He must think I was the ticket to that ancient piece of tech.
“Where is the chronowarp, Kraaling? You will tell me. If you don’t…well, the Director’s fate will be paradise compared to what will happen to you.”
-25-
I stood blinking with indecision. I did not know the location of the chronowarp. Would I give Beran the location if I did know? Maybe. Let the Polarions deal with this cruel scholar. Why should I get in the way? However, if I said I did not know, would Beran kill me out of hand, toss me aside as so much used garbage? He hadn’t hesitated to let his Tosks die. Why would he bother with a Terran like me?
“I’m waiting,” Beran said in a silky voice.
I spread my hands, smiling in my best used-car salesman’s manner. “Beran, Beran,” I said. “I propose a…swap.”
His eyes narrowed.
“I desire Debby,” I said. “Return her to me—”
“I do not make deals with low order creatures,” he said, interrupting.
“But I’m not a creature. You’ve said so yourself. Besides, you do make deals. Look at the Tosks.”
“They are my servants.”
“That’s right,” I said. “You clothe and feed them and in turn, they give you loyal service. That’s a deal.”
“You are a sophist.”
“I’m a realist. You desire the chronowarp. I want my woman. What could be easier than that we make a trade?”
“My putting you under the mind probe would be more efficient,” he said.
I shook my head. “Logically, that’s false. If scanning my mind—”
“Wrenching information from it,” he said. “The Director only spent a short time under the mind probe. He will never be the same for it.”
“Fine,” I said. “The probe doesn’t scan, it rips out.”
“Precisely.”
I smiled. “Lord Beran, if the mind probe was one hundred percent accurate, I would have already been under it. You would have ripped everything from my mind instead of going through this charade.”
He eyed me with what seemed a little more appreciation, but it could have been my imagination.
“The probe lacks delicacy,” he finally said. “It is possibly a tool of last resort. I will use it, though, if you are not forthcoming.”
“Why not make the trade? That is logical.”
“Logical, perhaps,” he said. “It is also demeaning that one like me should have to dicker with a lowlife like you.”
“You’re letting sentimentality g
et in the way of your greater good?”
“The universe is structured into strict hierarchies,” Beran said sternly. “There are higher order beings and lower order beings. It is not right—”
“I’ll have to stop you right there due to your imprecision of speech,” I said. “A lion is a higher order predator, while a Thompson’s gazelle is lower on the food chart, the lion’s prey. Yet, a lion cannot command the gazelle to give up its life. It must chase, catch and only then devour the gazelle. Yes, you are a higher-level being than me. But that does not mean you can simply wish events to occur. You must act, and act successfully, in order to achieve your goals. Why not then…”
I trailed off as Beran tore the baton from his side and aimed the glowing tip at me.
“I weary of your prattle,” Beran said. “Give me the chronowarp’s location, or I shall destroy you.”
We stared at each other until I admitted, “I don’t know the location.”
“You lie!”
“If you’re so brilliant, surely you realize I’m telling you the truth.”
Beran lowered the baton and cocked his head. “Where do you gain this bravado? You must realize that I can destroy you with pathetic ease. Yet, you dare to lecture me as if I were a first-year cadet. It is unseemly, and you will pay accordingly.”
He raised the baton, aiming it at me once more.
I shook my head. “You’re speaking as if you’ve already achieved godhood. To be precise, you’re acting in a delusional manner. That does not bode well for your eventual success. If you’re not careful, hubris will consume your ambitions.”
Beran blinked several times, perhaps with astonishment. Then his features hardened, and a ray emitted from the baton.
I dropped back in paralysis and struck the floor. I grunted, but that was the only sound I could make.
In a moment, I saw Beran loom over me. He looked down with contempt.
“So much for your sophistry, Kraaling. You have failed to persuade me. Instead, you have unleashed my anger. This will be the first step. You will accompany me as furniture. You will see, but you will not be able to act or speak. Perhaps you shall learn wisdom in the interim. I do not hold up high hope for that, but it will be a salutary time for you to contemplate your decision. If you continue to maintain silence or give your lies about the chronowarp, then we shall proceed to the mind probe.”
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