V03 - The Pursuit of Diana

by Allen L. Wold

  Another half hour later the appearance of the shuttle threw traffic on the freeway into a panic. Peter was at the controls. The rebels abandoned their vans and climbed on board. Another half hour later and the silent and surrounded plant was below them.

  "That damn colonel's good," Ham Tyler said from his seat beside Mike Donovan. Ringing the plant were a dozen pieces of heavy military hardware, including tanks and rocket launchers. Armed troops stood between the armored vehicles, manning machine guns, mortars, bazookas, and similar infantry equipment.

  Inside the surrounding fence, the paved plant yard was empty except for the three shuttles.

  "Diana wants at least one of those shuttles intact," Mike said, "but if I know Martin, he's got people inside them, manning the weapons."

  Mike set his own, smaller shuttle down inside the plant yard but well away from the other three Visitor vehicles. As Mike stepped out of the hatch, a door at the side of the plant opened and Lieutenant Wallace stepped out. The two met under the watchful eyes of the surrounding enemy.

  "It's a stalemate," Lieutenant Wallace said. "If we shoot at them with the shuttle guns, they'll start blowing up the plant and all the suspendees inside." He nodded at a heavy tank which was aimed just over their heads. "1 know that equipment," he went on. "This building would be rubble in minutes."

  "Sounds like we'd better talk with their commanding officer," Mike said.

  "Colonel Fletcher is around in front," Wallace told him. "He wouldn't believe you weren't here until we told him where you'd gone. That seemed to amuse him for some reason."

  "I'll bet it did," Mike muttered. He started toward the building, and Lieutenant Wallace fell into step beside him.

  Inside, Martin met Mike by one of the processing lines. The equipment had been stopped, and there were forty or fifty revivees standing around.

  "We've got a clear line to the Mother Ship," Martin told him. "What do we do now?"

  "That's just what I'm going to find out," Mike said. He left Martin, went through the hallways to the front lobby, and stepped out the front door. Parked just inside the front gate was an army command car with two men inside, one behind the wheel and one in the back.

  Mike Donovan came well clear of the door and waited while the passenger of the car got out. It was Colonel Fletcher.

  "I understand," Fletcher said, "that you've been visiting up north."

  "That's right," Mike answered. "You probably passed us on our way up there."

  "Very likely. Five vans in a row?"

  Mike nodded. "Next time I'll phone ahead," he said. "You're really taking this business seriously," he went on, waving at the armored vehicles and troops that stood outside the fence.

  "Very seriously indeed, Mr. Donovan."

  "So what did you have in mind, Colonel. We've got over eight thousand civilians in there, you know."

  "I'm very aware of that. Indeed, that's why we're here. I have someone with me who thinks you might have stolen her ship. Her terms are quite simple. You give her her ship back, or we blow up the plant and everybody in it."

  The meeting took place on that very spot, halfway between the front door of the plant and the gate where Colonel Fletcher's car still stood. On one side stood Mike Donovan, Martin, Ham Tyler, Robert Maxwell, and Grace Delaney. Behind them a dozen or more other rebels kept watch at the windows, ready for any signs of treachery.

  Just two paces from them, with the might of the National Guard behind them, stood Colonel Fletcher, Major Garret, Captain Broadbent, Lieutenant Casey—and Diana.

  "You've given us quite a chase, Diana," Mike said. "From halfway to the moon all the way back to here."

  "So it would seem," Diana said, "but the chase is over now. It's really quite simple. I want my ship back."

  "Do you think that we're just going to hand it over to you?" Ham demanded.

  "You will do exactly that," Diana said, "if you don't want all those people in there to die."

  "How can you go along with this?" Mike asked the colonel angrily. "Can't you see what she's doing? You should be holding her in custody so she can be made to answer for her crimes."

  "Crime is a matter of definition," Colonel Fletcher said, "a definition usually provided by those who win the war."

  "And what about us?" Martin asked Diana. "There are a lot of us on the ship who have no desire to follow you any further."

  "Those of the crew," Diana said quite matter-of-factly, "who wish to remain on this poisonous planet may come down with the rebels. I don't really care what happens to you, but I intend to return to our home world, and to Our Leader."

  "I'm sure he'll welcome you with open arms," Martin said sarcastically, "unless, of course, those who get home first tell him why this world was spoiled for him."

  "I'll deal with that when I get home," Diana said, not the least flustered by his remark. "The worst that could happen there would be preferable to staying here. Now, make up your minds. Do you vacate the ship and let me return aboard, or do I start shooting up the plant?"

  The colonel, without turning, gave a hand signal to someone behind him, and the tank that stood a dozen yards beyond his car swiveled its turret, taking aim at the side of the building just beyond where the rebels inside were watching the proceedings.

  "What's to be gained by this?" Ham Tyler demanded.

  "More than you might think," the colonel said calmly.

  "Make up your mind," Diana insisted.

  "I don't think you'll do it," Mike said, still looking at the colonel.

  Fletcher smiled softly, raised his hand again, and the tank pumped a high explosive round into the side of the plant. The shell penetrated the outer wall, then exploded, sending shards of concrete high into the air. Mike and his friends flinched while the rebels inside scrambled for cover. Colonel Fletcher, however, stood unmoved.

  "If I'm going to die here," Diana said while the rebels gazed in shock at the destruction behind them, "I might as well take everybody here with me. It won't be as satisfactory as blowing up your whole world, of course."

  "I can't believe you," Mike said in dismay.

  "I can," Ham said. "If she'd do this, think of what she would do if she got her ship back."

  Diana grinned, the colonel signaled again, and a second round exploded next to the first. This time part of the second story caved in.

  "All right," Mike said, "that's enough."

  "You can't be serious," Ham exclaimed.

  "We haven't got a chance," Mike said through gritted teeth. "Even if we could get the shuttles up, she'd kill us all before we could do her people any significant damage. And then her friends here will have no serious competition. So all right, on the chance that we might be able to fight later, I'm willing to give in now."

  "That's very smart of you," Diana said. "1 don't intend to give you a second chance, of course."

  "There's one condition, though," Mike said.

  "And what's that?" Colonel Fletcher asked.

  "That while we're bringing down the rest of our people and any Visitors who want to stay here, we also disassemble the doomsday device, so Diana can't reactivate it and threaten us with it again."

  "Why, certainly Mr. Donovan," Diana said, smiling broadly.

  Diana and Colonel Fletcher watched as Mike Donovan and the other rebels rejoined their companions in the damaged plant, then turned and walked toward a command trailer the colonel had set up just outside the fence. Colonel Fletcher dismissed his staff as he let Diana precede him into the trailer.

  "What's this about a doomsday device?" he asked calmly, flopping into a chair. The trailer, though in military colors, was comfortably furnished, with a kitchen at one end and a communications center occupying most of the rest.

  "A ploy that failed," Diana answered. "The only thing it accomplished was that it gave me time to escape when they invaded the ship just before the departure of the rest of the fleet. Which, in itself, turned out to be rather useful, since if

  I'd been in their custod
y then, I would not have had the opportunity to make your acquaintance." She smiled at him as if she found him more than a little attractive.

  "Will you have wine?" Colonel Fletcher asked, getting to his feet and going to a cabinet in the kitchen end of the trailer.

  "Yes," Diana said after an infinitesimal hesitation. "I would like that. A celebration, yes, to our victory. Once I'm back on board my ship with only loyal crewmen, that victory will be assured."

  "Those rebels will still be on the loose," Colonel Fletcher said, pouring red wine into two white-wine glasses.

  "The very first thing I will do," Diana said, accepting the glass, "will be to destroy this plant utterly, and all who remain within it, which should take care of Mr. Donovan and the rest of his rebels—and the traitors—quite nicely."

  "What about my troops?" Colonel Fletcher asked, returning to his chair.

  "Surely, Colonel, you will have pulled them all back out of danger by then. As a token gesture to our rebel friends of our good intentions, of course."

  "And the suspendees in the plant?"

  "How many people, Colonel Fletcher, are you willing to kill to gain mastery, not just of this country but of the whole world?"

  "As many as is necessary," Colonel Fletcher said, smiling.

  "The important thing," Diana said, "is that none of those rebels survive. They nearly defeated me once, and I suspect, if you gave them a chance, that they would cause you more than a little trouble. Also, except for those of my people who specifically agree to cooperate with you, all the fifth columnists must die. They can help your present government against us by divulging too much about our science and technology. You are going to have a difficult enough time of it as it is without any further competition."

  "You said you intended to return to your Leader," Colonel Fletcher said, subtly changing the subject.

  "Indeed I will, but only after you are in control. There's no sense my going back and returning with ships for water, only to find that I'm being met by enemies on Earth. Rest assured,

  Colonel, I'll support you to the limit of my abilities. My own profit is at stake as well."

  "I don't suppose you'd object to me and my staff accompanying you to your ship," Fletcher said.

  "Colonel," Diana said, raising her glass, "I think that would be a pleasure for both of us."

  Chapter 15

  The great Mother Ship's command center was all but deserted. Only Barbara and an electronics technician remained, carefully removing the doomsday device from the control panel. Those crew members whose sympathies lay with Earth had long since been sent down to the suspension plant near Pomona, while those who chose to remain loyal to Diana were still locked in their quarters. Only a few fifth columnists and rebels remained on the ship to make sure it was secure and that nobody had been left behind.

  Victoria Cohen, one of these few, came in, her face frantic.

  "Robin and Elizabeth haven't been accounted for," she said.

  "Are you sure?" Barbara asked, carefully snipping wires.

  "I've just called down to the plant, and they're not there," Victoria said. "Sean and all the other children were the first to

  go"

  "Well, don't tell me about it," Barbara snapped. "I'm sorry, it's just that this won't be really safe until all the connections are cut. You'll have to go looking for her, that's all."

  Victoria closed her eyes and sighed. "All right," she said. "I'll see you at the docking bay."

  She hurried out of the command center and, not knowing where else to look, went back to the cabin where Robin Maxwell had been staying. The girl hadn't been there the last time Victoria looked, and she wasn't there now. Almost crying with anxiety, Victoria hurried to the docking bay where Barbara and the technician were just handing the detached device up to Paul Overbloom, standing in the hatchway of the last shuttle.

  "I can't find them," Victoria cried. "I don't know where to look!"

  "Everybody else is on board," Paul said. "Diana won't tolerate any more delay."

  "We'll use the ship's communication system," Barbara said. "Wherever she is, she'll hear us."

  "Why didn't I think of that before?" Victoria wailed, but even as they left the shuttle, Robin came running in from one of the ship's corridors.

  "I can't find Elizabeth," Robin cried. "I told her we were leaving, and she said something like 'shemma terion,' and ran off. I've looked everywhere."

  " 'Shemma terion?' " Barbara repeated. "That means 'toy blocks.'"

  "Of course," Robin said. "When Elizabeth was up here before, Diana gave her a set of bright transparent blocks to build cities with."

  "But Diana's room has been sealed off for days," Victoria protested.

  "You don't know Elizabeth," Barbara said. "Locks mean nothing to her. We'd better hurry."

  Barbara stopped along the way to get a key, and when they got to Diana's quarters they found the door still locked, as Barbara suspected it might be. The key worked, however, and inside they found Elizabeth at Diana's lounge table carefully and calmly packing the brightly colored transparent blocks into a box which had obviously been intended for some other purpose.

  "Oh, Elizabeth!" Robin cried, running to grab up her daughter. "I was so worried about you."

  "Well, it's all right now," Barbara said, jumbling the rest of the blocks into the box any which way and closing the lid. "Now come on, we've got to hurry."

  * * *

  Twenty minutes later, the shuttle bearing Elizabeth Maxwell and the last of the rebels and fifth columnists descended to the paved yard behind the suspension plant.

  There were two reception parties waiting for them. Colonel Fletcher, his staff, and a hand picked squad of soldiers stood surrounding Diana while, facing them just paces away, were Mike Donovan, Robert Maxwell, Juliet Parrish, Ham Tyler Chris Faber, and Martin.

  As if knowing what was expected of them, the shuttle landed so that its hatch, when it opened, would be between the two groups.

  "That's the last of them then," Diana said.

  "The rest is all yours," Mike said grimly.

  The hatch of the shuttle opened and Paul Overbloom stepped out, followed by Barbara, then Robin leading Elizabeth and finally the others. When she saw her father, Robin rushed over to hug him. Elizabeth sedately carried her box of blocks as she followed her mother right past Colonel Fletcher.

  Diana gave the colonel a sharp glance, and he reached down and picked Elizabeth up in his arms. The little girl did not protest or cry out.

  "What are you doing?" Julie asked sharply.

  "Just a hostage," Colonel Fletcher said.

  "No!" Robin screamed, and if it hadn't been for her shocked father's restraining hands, she would have flung herself on the colonel. Before Mike or Martin could make a move, the soldiers surrounding Diana raised their weapons.

  "What is the meaning of this?" Mike demanded. "That's not part of the deal."

  "It is now," Diana said while Robin wailed and struggled in her father's arms. "We need this child, to learn the secret of your antitoxin."

  She and the colonel and his staff, with the soldiers keeping guard, began to move toward the shuttle. Elizabeth, calm and dispassionate as ever; swung her box, the lid came open, and the crystalline blocks scattered through the air.

  On board the ship, in the subdued light the Visitors preferred, they had been beautiful enough. But here in the full light of day, with Earth's brilliant sun blazing down, they sparkled and shimmered in a blinding rainbow of color. The soldiers, taken by surprise and dazzled by the prismatic effect of the tumbling blocks, broke formation in order to cover their eyes. And Elizabeth, with calm deliberation, turned and with a flick of her reptilian tongue, spat venom full in Colonel Fletcher's face.

  The colonel's scream of pain caused his soldiers to turn their attention to him instead of to the rebels, who lost no time in taking advantage of the momentary distraction. Robin, breaking free of her father at last, ran to her daughter while Mike, Robert, Ham, an
d Martin dashed in to grapple with the colonel's staff. The soldiers, afraid to hit one of their officers, dared not shoot.

  Diana started to run toward the shuttle, but Juliet was faster. She ran four steps, then jumped, just barely catching Diana's legs with her outflung hands. It wasn't much of a tackle, but Diana stumbled, her glasses fell from her eyes, and she cried out in pain as the bright southern California sunlight blinded her.

  It gave Julie the chance she needed to regain her feet, grab Diana, and twist her arm behind her back so forcefully that the confused soldiers could hear the Visitor's shoulder joint creak. The scene froze like a tableau.

  Rebels and staff officers were too closely entangled for the soldiers to do anything more than raise their weapons in idle threat. Mike Donovan, holding the colonel, managed to draw his pistol and put it to Fletcher's head.

  "Just hold your fire," he said to the soldiers, "or your colonel's dead."

  "Destroy the plant," Diana screamed, struggling in Julie's determined grasp. "Now!" Julie twisted her around and struck her hard across the face. Diana slumped to her knees, her human disguise half torn off, revealing the green scales underneath.

  "Look!" Julie said, turning her captive around so that the soldiers could see her true" face. "This is who's been giving your colonel orders."

  Beyond the fence the tank commanders, who had been instructing their crews to aim at the plant, hesitated.

  "There are eight thousand human beings in there," Robert Maxwell called, holding Lieutenant Casey in a stronghold.

  "That's a lie," Major Garret shouted. "Just a few rebels, that's all."

  Once again, the barrels of the tanks, the batteries of the mobile rocket launchers began to swivel for direct fire.

  Then the double doors of the plant opened, and out came a hesitant trickle, then a stream of revived suspendees. Dazed, confused, in ill-fitting clothes, they formed an ever-growing huddle on the paved yard.

  Beyond the fence, an officer picked up a bullhorn.

  "Lower your guns," he called.

  Captain Broadbent, held securely by Martin, stared at the pitiful human ex-prisoners. Then, craning his neck so he could see Colonel Fletcher, he said, "You didn't tell us about this."