Invaders_The Antaran

by Vaughn Heppner

  “Yes, Logan, what is it?” he asked. It must have only been the steel room that did whatever it took to keep a Rax crystal from functioning.

  “Can you pinpoint the Guard ship?” I asked.

  “Of course,” Rax said. “Why would you think otherwise?”

  “Transfer us there.”

  “Just a minute,” Rax said. “Sand is hailing me.”

  “Don’t answer, Rax. He just tried to put a control device inside my mind.”

  “That doesn’t make sense. In fact, Logan, Sand is telling me you are a renegade.”

  “Rax, after we kill Beran, Sand told me that you, Jenna and I also have to die. We have to die in order to keep this underworld and Sand’s existence a secret.”

  “I can understand the logic, certainly,” Rax said.

  “So you want to die?” I asked.

  “You did not let me finish. But before I do, I want to know what it is that you’re holding. It is very strange.”

  “That’s because it’s not of this world, this universe. If you transfer me, I’ll tell you everything Sand told me.”

  “But Logan, Sand has told me he will destroy the Guard ship if we transfer to it.”

  “So, what does that tell you?” I asked.

  “That you have made Sand angry.”

  “I have, but what else does it tell you?”

  After three pregnant seconds, Rax and I began to transfer.

  -39-

  The surprising thing upon appearing back in the piloting chamber was that Jenna was still in her room. Rax checked the security system and told me that she was sleeping.

  I slid into the piloting chair and began activating the ship. We powered up, lifted off the rocky ground—

  “Sand is calling,” Rax said.

  “Put him on the comm screen,” I said.

  Rax complied, and I found myself viewing the great metal head. I don’t mind telling you, but it was much better seeing Sand on the screen than in person.

  “What’s up, good buddy?” I asked.

  “We are not friends,” Sand said.

  “Don’t worry about it,” I replied. “That was just a saying. I have to tell you, Sand, that you’ve seriously pissed me off.”

  “I also am angry,” Sand said.

  “So that makes two of us.”

  “Return the knife at once.”

  “Fat chance,” I said. “I need it to carry out my mission.”

  “You…”

  “Yes?” I asked. “You were going to say?”

  “Rax,” Sand said, “your Guard agent has acted in bad faith. I demand that you transfer him to me for immediate reprisal.”

  “Why don’t you tell Rax what you really mean?” I said. “You want to operate on me. Hey, Rax, why do you think all these clones have shown up with bombs in their guts and control devices in their brains? Old Sand here had them installed. In fact, Sand is behind the CAU.”

  “I told you those things in strictest confidence,” Sand said. “You have lied to me. You said you would not repeat them.”

  “That’s true,” I said. “But that was before your robots tried to grab me. Look, Sand, we can work together. But I’m not committing suicide for you or anyone after we take care of business against Beran.”

  “Logan,” Rax said. “Enemy sensors have locked onto the ship. I am detecting missiles and several laser sites targeting us.”

  “Are you sure this is the way you want to do things?” I asked Sand. “If you fire on my ship, all bets are off.”

  “If you are destroyed, I can go about this with properly faithful soldiers,” Sand replied.

  “Hey, good luck with that. All your people have failed so far to do anything to Beran. I saw your Kazz clone blow up. It did nothing, nada, to Beran. I have the knife. I have the brains to do—”

  “No!” Sand said, interrupting. “You lack sufficient—”

  “Why don’t you use that metal brain of yours for once, Sand?” I shouted. “Of course, I’m the best. I got away from you, didn’t I?”

  Sand did not reply.

  “You know I’m right,” I said. “Could anyone else have escaped from you the way I did?”

  “It is highly doubtful,” Sand admitted.

  “So, you see?” I said. “I’m the best. I’m your best bet. If you destroy my ship, Beran will likely succeed, and you will have failed in your great task.”

  “I cannot abide your methods,” Sand said. “They are sneaky, underhanded—”

  I laughed. “That’s rich, you calling me underhanded. You’re the grand sneak. You hide in shadows, going so far as to demand that no one even knows you exist. You’re a hypocrite, Sand.”

  “I have a grave task to perform. I must see it completed for the entirety of my existence.”

  “So, might makes right, huh?”

  “Only in my case,” Sand replied. “That is because all life rests upon me.”

  “Okay. I can see there’s no arguing with you. But just so you know, if you fire at us, I’m teleporting the knife directly to Beran.”

  “No. You must not.”

  “Why do I care?” I asked. “If I’m dead, the world is dead to me.”

  “Logan…what you suggest is an outrage.”

  “I know it,” I said.

  “No,” Sand said. “I cannot let that persuade me. This is your last chance.”

  “Give me a second to speak with Rax,” I said, putting the comm screen on mute so neither of us could hear the other.

  As I’d been talking, I’d also been flying the Guard ship. I’d hoped if nothing else to buy us time to get out of the underworld and those missile sites.

  “Well, Rax?” I asked. “How do we get out of the underworld?”

  “I thought we were going to discuss Sand’s proposal,” the crystal said.

  “He doesn’t have a proposal. He’s just giving us kamikaze orders.”

  “Then—”

  “Rax,” I said. “I’m buying us time. I’m trying to get out of range of Sand’s missiles and laser sites.”

  Two seconds passed before Rax said, “That is clever of you. Yes. You’re headed in the right direction. We cannot transfer through all this rock, but we can use the access tube to the surface.”

  “You mean the tube I climbed down with Beran?”

  “Indeed,” Rax said. “Ah. Sand is trying to hail us.”

  I’d seen the blinking red light and had been ignoring it.

  “The various sites’ targeting sequences have begun,” Rax informed me.

  That was what I’d been waiting to hear. I clicked the comm switch, turning off the mute. “All right, Sand,” I said. “You win. We’re coming back. Rax has convinced me that you’re right and that I’m wrong. The Earth is worth more than one man, even if that man is me.”

  “I am glad you could see reason,” Sand said.

  “What are your coordinates?”

  Sand gave them.

  “What did you say?” I asked the metal head. “Your signal is breaking up, Sand. I only heard one set of the coordinate numbers.”

  Sand gave me the coordinates again.

  “I think I have it,” I said, “but just to be sure—”

  “Logan,” Sand said, interrupting. “I have begun to suspect that you are attempting further trickery. I do not think you intend to return here.”

  “You’re wrong, Sand, you’re dead wrong. I’m also surprised at you. You’ve won. I’m going to do what you say, and yet you’re going to berate me—”

  “Logan, you are saying nothing and doing it at length,” Sand said. “You are almost out of my missile range. If you do not immediately slow down…”

  “Okay, okay,” I said, as I kicked in the afterburners, making this baby move.

  “You are going faster instead of slower,” Sand complained. “I am about to fire on your vessel.”

  “No, no,” I said. “I made a mistake. All your threats have upset me. I’m trying to slow down. Rax has gone crazy. He’s
taking over control of the ship. Give me another few seconds so I can calm him down.”

  “Logan,” Rax said, breaking in. “Sand’s missiles have launched.”

  “Self-destruct them, Sand,” I said.

  “Only if you land immediately,” the metal head said.

  “At least self-destruct one of them so I know you’re serious,” I said.

  Sand regarded me through the screen as we stared at each other for several seconds. Finally, not one, not two, but all five missiles heading for the Guard ship detonated in midflight.

  “Just for the record,” Sand said. “I know you are lying to me. It has just occurred to me, however, that such deceit is what is most likely needed to slay Beran and his confederates. You have persuaded me with your cleverness, Logan.”

  “Rax,” I whispered out of the side of my mouth. “Has he really destroyed all the missiles?”

  “Yes,” Rax said.

  “You’re not going to try to kill me?” I asked Sand.

  “Not until after you have completed your mission,” Sand said. “The last part cannot change for the reasons I have already articulated.”

  I shook my head and finally nodded. “Okay, big guy, I guess that’s the best I’m going to get.” I turned to Rax. “How long until we can transfer out of here?”

  “Three minutes,” Rax said.

  “Great,” I said, sagging against the piloting chair. I expected something bad to happen at any second, but amazingly, it didn’t, and we transferred to the surface.

  -40-

  In a relatively short time, we were cruising underwater off the Californian coast. We siphoned power from the local grid, bringing all the batteries to full charge.

  I had a powwow with Rax, and we decided to bring Jenna into the picture. Once she joined us, I went over everything that had happened to me on the moon base, with Beran on Earth and the strange conversation I’d had with Sand among his nine-foot robots.

  “They have Argon?” Jenna asked.

  “A badly mangled and fully prisoner Argon,” I said. “I had the impression Sand had tormented Argon, if nothing else. Sand kept talking about how Argon had withheld certain information.”

  “Given all that,” Jenna asked, “can we trust Sand?”

  “That’s a loaded question,” I said. “Can we trust him to try to kill us after the mission? Yes, I believe we can.”

  “That’s not what I meant. Can we believe him about the Polarion Portal, the end of the galaxy if Beran opens the portal and that sort of thing?”

  “Rax?” I asked. “That’s your department. What do you think?”

  “I believe Sand,” Rax said. “His story fits with certain irregularities I’ve noticed throughout the years.”

  “Like what?” Jenna asked.

  “Reciting them would make for a long and tedious list,” Rax said. “I do not think we have time for that. We must stick to the issue.”

  “I agree,” I said. “And I believe Sand about the portal. His story holds together. It also supplies a reason why the Polarions disappeared and never showed their mugs again. It makes sense why the Galactic Guard keeps Earth quarantined. And it makes sense in another way.”

  “How?” Jenna demanded.

  “Before my gene therapy, I was always getting injured in the gym. And it was almost always for the same reason. Once I started growing, bigger arms, bigger chest, I lifted even harder so I’d grow bigger faster. I almost always went too hard, too fast and injured myself. Only after some time off and coming back did I take it easier.”

  “And that relates to Polarions?” Jenna asked. “I don’t see it.”

  “They were super-geniuses, right? They figured they could do anything, try anything without harm. What does that likely mean? Well, to me it means they lifted too heavy, too fast. They pushed and wouldn’t stop pushing until they came up against something too tough for them. Only in this case, they couldn’t back off and rest. They were trapped in another dimension with…things that changed them. They went too far and had no way home. Well, the half-mad Polarion made it back and tried to save the rest of us from the Polarions’ folly and arrogance.”

  “I don’t know, Logan,” Jenna said. “That’s pretty thin reasoning.”

  I shrugged. I was getting tired of her attitude.

  “If all this is the case, Sand’s truthfulness in particular,” Rax said, “what do we do next? How do you propose we stop Beran?”

  “Let’s not sugarcoat this,” I told them. “We’re not just stopping Beran, we’re going to kill him, his Tosks and his confederates, and we’re going to bury all the secrets they found after we’re finished.”

  “I understand the mission statement,” Rax said. “How will we achieve this against superior forces?”

  “We’re weaker, you’re right. That means we need a force multiplier. I suggest we try to hit Beran from ambush.”

  Rax and Jenna waited.

  I slapped a console as it came to me. “I have it,” I said. “I know where to go. I know where Beran has to go.”

  “Antarctica?” Rax asked.

  “Right,” I said. “And it would be better if we could get there before he does and do it without anyone else noticing.”

  “If we fly there, we risk detection from Earth authorities,” Jenna said.

  “Not if we’re spaceborne,” I said.

  “Beran will surely spot the Guard ship if we try an orbital path,” Rax said.

  “Okay,” I said. “I guess that just leaves the underwater route.”

  “And that will take some time to reach Antarctica from here,” Jenna said.

  “Rax,” I said, “we’re going to have make another cross-world transfer.”

  “That might show up on Beran’s sensors,” the crystal said.

  “We’re talking about several days if we cruise underwater all the way there,” I said. “I think that’s too long.”

  “Didn’t Sand say that Beran was gathering reinforcements?” Rax asked. “You told me Sand said his confederates were near Saturn. To reach Earth from Saturn—”

  “They teleport, remember?” I said. “They use a linked system.”

  “Yes, yes, I remember,” Rax said. “You are right, then. We must use a phase transfer. That will drain the batteries, and I think it will be harder to recharge near Antarctica.”

  “Time is critical,” I said. “Sand must have said it ten times while I was there. The sooner we reach the South Pole continent, the sooner we can set up our ambush site.”

  “Antarctica is a large place,” Jenna said. “Just where on the continent are we going to go?”

  “Good question,” I said. “I guess we’re going to have to find the Polarion Portal.”

  The other two remained silent. Like me, they surely realized that was going to be a difficult task. If it had truly been built over six thousand years ago, the portal had remained hidden for a very long time.

  “How long until we’re ready to transfer?” I asked Rax.

  “Any time,” the crystal said.

  I clapped my hands together. “Does anyone have anything else to add?”

  No one did.

  “Okay,” I said. “Then let’s check the ship, make sure everything is ready, and we’ll transfer to the ice continent.”

  -41-

  Time might have been of the essence, but after two days of fruitless searching, we were still no closer to finding any evidence of an ancient Polarion Portal. Mainly, we cruised off the coast of Antarctica, searching for anomalies of any kind. During the times of greatest darkness, we emerged from the water and flew inland, continuing to search. Our luck proved just as dismal then.

  On the third day, we cruised toward the tip of South America, heading toward the nearest coastal city. Once within range, we began draining energy off the power grid until the batteries were once more fully charged.

  We immediately headed back for the ice-covered continent.

  “I suspect it is taking the Antaran longer to con
struct a chronowarp than Sand had anticipated,” Rax said.

  “I don’t get it,” I said from the piloting chair. “If Beran is such a genius, why has he been spending all his time trying to find the old chronowarp? I mean, why not fashion a chronowarp to begin with? If he’d done that, he’d be much further along with his plans than he is now.”

  “Have you ever made a misjudgment?” Rax asked.

  “Plenty of times,” I said.

  “When you made your misjudgment, have you immediately stopped heading the wrong way and started doing the smart thing?”

  “Not hardly,” I replied.

  “Often, geniuses are no different in that regard.” Rax seemed to ponder in silence. “There is another possibility. Fashioning a chronowarp could be dangerous. Perhaps only now has Beran realized that he’ll never find the old one.”

  “Sure, sure,” I said. “That makes sense. Do you think he’s found the portal on our side of the rift?”

  “I believe so.”

  “Well, Beran is doing a bang-up job hiding it from us.”

  “We must risk traveling farther inland,” Rax said. “I must tighten the parameters of my sensor search. If Beran is cloaking the site…”

  “Don’t look for tech answers from me,” I said, figuring that his silence meant that he didn’t know what to do next.

  “I won’t,” Rax said.

  Fortunately for us, during this time of year, Antarctican daylight was of incredibly short duration. Rax finished his recalibrating, and we rose from the sea, flying higher than we had for quite some time and flying inland.

  Then it got boring. We flew for hours upon hours as Rax searched for something, anything to indicate an ancient Polarion Portal.

  “Sand should have told us where exactly this portal was supposed to be,” I said.

  Jenna was in the chamber. She sat at a station, helping Rax search the ice passing below us.

  I sipped a bottled water as I sat in my pilot’s chair. Outside the port window, stars glittered overhead. It was cold outside, forty degrees below zero. I’d grown up in California, and had had little experience with such frigid weather. Fortunately, the Guard ship stayed nice and cozy inside.

  I got up, went to the port window and looked down at the bleak snow-scape. It was beautiful after a fashion, but it was a white desert. It was hard to imagine that Antarctica had once been just like the other continents with high mountains, rolling green hills and blue lakes.