"Hold on a moment."
Heads turned toward the source of the comment. At first glance, the lizard appeared to be a member of the military arm of the Chrysallaman Empire rather than a scientist. His stature was erect, and his manner direct and to the point. The creature's musculature was well developed as if he worked out with iron weights on a regular basis. His thought patterns were sharp and projected with more than the normal mental strength exhibited by the majority of Chrysallamans.
"My name is MerrCrr Z. JnnWall, and I'm an expert in telepathic communications and mental control over lower life forms. My job and expertise is teaching and strengthening the ability of Chrysallaman soldiers to mentally control others. I've spent my entire adult life honing my telepathic abilities. It's my considered opinion the capability of Chrysallamans to mentally control all other lower life forms is the most important factor in the success of our planetary colonizations."
Swiveling his head and seeing approving nods from others in the room, JnnWall continued, "It makes little difference to me if the natives of Planet HG-281 have great physical strength or some form of energy weapon capable of penetrating Armorium. The stronger Chrysallaman mind can force the animals to turn their weapons upon themselves, leaving our troops unharmed. This well known fact is indisputable."
Whatsit could tell from the growing level of discontent emanating from group that the words of JnnWall had struck a chord. Mentally sighing and shaking his head, he looked over at the Colonel and Becky Chang.
"Time for the next demonstration," he said with muted enthusiasm.
The Colonel motioned with one arm for JnnWall to come forward and stand facing the Human. The room became silent, expectant. Several Chrysallamans curved their lips up into evil grins. JnnWall was a legend in Chrysallaman academic circles. He was the only person known to be able to bend a Chrysallaman to his mental powers. Skeptical students had been known to be mentally controlled to the point they jumped around the classroom like rabbit-sized quellers, asking for handouts of the raw, orange colored tubers favored as the food of choice by the furry mammals.
MerrCrr had heard and measured the strong telepathic thoughts projected by the Human female. He knew there was quite a bit of mental strength housed in the diminutive lifeform. Best to overcome the animal and demonstrate the unerring superiority of the Chrysallaman race before the other scientists in the room became disheartened.
JnnWall decided to use his deception technique to take control of the animal. Extending his hand in a friendly gesture he knew would focus the Humans attention on the greeting; he insinuated a mental probe into her mind, searching for the seat of her consciousness. He had used the deception technique time and again, and it had never failed to allow him to gain control over the mind of the target.
Becky had been expecting a fair match of mental prowess where each contestant was prepared for battle. She had imagined a 'Ready, Set, Go' signal to begin the competition. Being a fair-minded person of general goodwill towards others, she was shocked to feel the surreptitious probe attempt to enter her mind. Her reaction was a combination of anger, contempt, violation and retaliation. Instead of pushing the offending probe away and lashing back at its owner, she grabbed the probe with all her telepathic might and shook it like a dog shakes a rag doll. She felt JnnWall try to pull his probe from her grasp, but she only tightened her mental grip as her eyes narrowed in concentration.
MerrCrr JnnWall was completely astounded. Not only was his sneaky mental probe discovered, he couldn't withdraw from the Human's mind. His brain felt like a rubber band bitten by a savage beast and stretched to its breaking point. A keening wail escaped MerrCrr's throat as he struggled to break contact, and drool flowed from the corner of his mouth and dripped on the deck. Dropping to his knees before the human female, unable to break her inexorable hold on his mind, JnnWall's eyes widened as he raised his hands palms upward in an attempt to plea for mercy.
Chang realized the Chrik was begging for mercy. She wanted to watch the lizard drop unconscious to the deck as a lesson for attempting the sneak attack, but she didn't want to give the other Chrysallamans the impression Earth Humans were an uncaring, murderous bunch of heathens. Releasing her mental grip on JnnWall's mind, she watched him react to the freedom she had granted him.
Chrysallamans were compelled by hard wired traits they couldn't control to pledge allegiance to anyone who defeated them in battle and defend their Masters to the death. Whatsit had always considered General James Blunt as his Master after Blunt had wrestled a cutter ray pistol from Whatsit's grip and sliced off Whatsit's feet at the Roswell, New Mexico crash site.
Rising from his kneeling position, JnnWall bowed his head and said, "Rebecca Chang, you have bested me in mental combat and allowed me to live. There is no doubt you could have killed me with your mental powers. I am forever in your debt and recognize you as my Master from this moment onward."
A concerted gasp escaped from the throats of the assembled Chrysallamans as they heard the pledge. They all knew the powerful meaning of those words. There was now no doubt in anyone's mind there was something very unique about these Humans. What happened next only added to the awe and mystery.
"Could I please have everyone's attention for a moment," the Chrysallaman Colonel said.
Twenty-five pairs of dark black eyes focused on the dais. The air around the Colonel shimmered and dissolved. In the place of the Chrysallaman Colonel, another Human appeared. He was 6 feet 2 inches tall with large, expressive blue eyes. His dark black hair showed only a few strands of gray around his temples.
"Hello everyone. My name is Colonel Douglas Jenson. I'm the Commander of this mission, and it's my pleasure to welcome you into the service of F.O.R.C.E., The Federal Organization for Response to Celestial Enemies."
Three Chrysallaman scientists fainted.
"High strung aren't they," Whatsit opined.
"Just wait 'til they meet Dr. Heinbaum," Doug said with a wry smile.
"No, Jerome McPherson. I bet we get at least another five faints when they meet him," Becky predicted.
From the back of the room an intimidating threat jolted everyone.
"There will be no traitorous cooperation between Chrysallamans and a lower race of heinous pretenders!"
Rising from his seat, a large Chrysallaman pointed a cutter ray pistol at Jenson, Chang, MerrCrr and Whatsit. A jagged reddish-yellow scar crossed the lizard's face diagonally from just above his left eye down across the bridge of his nose and ending at the line of his right jaw bone. The deadly look in the creature's eyes was unmistakable. He was going to kill.
The other Chrysallaman scientists in the room backed out of the line of fire, astonishment on their faces. Several chairs toppled as they retreated from the death zone. Stunned by the sudden and unexpected threat from the disfigured Chrysallaman scientist, Jenson, Chang and Whatsit froze. Then, quite mysteriously, they all folded their arms and waited for the painful death the cutter ray would administer. MerrCrr JnnWall didn't know what to do. Realizing there was no way for him to move out of the way of the cutter ray, he simply bowed his head expecting the inevitable.
Dr. GooYee stammered, "See here, you ignorant lout. There is no need for violence. Put down that ray pistol at once!"
Ignoring GooYee's plea, Scarface’s lips curled into a death's head grin. He activated the ray pistol, sweeping the silver beam across the middle of the Human bodies to slice them into bloody halves.
The cutter ray never touched the Humans, JnnWall or Whatsit. Bathed in the destructive cutter ray beam, they all appeared to be encircled by a clear bubble of protection, unharmed by the tremendous energy directed at them. Dr. GooYee observed the blue stone pendants hanging around the necks of the Humans emit a light-blue glow and noted the swirling black and white specks in the stones increased to vigorous whirlpools.
Stunned by the ineffectiveness of his cutter ray, Scarface cut the beam off, looked with surprise at the pistol in his hand, and then again pointed it at t
he Humans and pushed the activator button. Once more the clear bubble of protection seemed to absorb the cutter ray, leaving the Humans, MerrCrr and Whatsit unharmed.
A frown suffused the face of Colonel Douglas Jenson. The sheer degree of treachery exhibited by the scar-faced Chrysallaman was beyond any level of forgiveness or understanding. Jenson raised his left hand and pressed a small button on the edge of his pendant to cut off his Heinbaum/McPherson Defensive Shield. Drawing his MA pistol, he directed its beam in a Z shape, slicing the scar-faced Chrik's body into four pieces that slithered to the floor in a gruesome pile of gore.
A stunned silence permeated the room as the remaining Chrysallaman scientists assimilated the new revelations about the advanced technological level of the Humans' defensive and offensive capabilities.
The silence was broken by GooYee. Stepping toward the dais, he looked in wonder at Major Chang and Colonel Jenson and said, "Everything I thought I knew about high energy physics, plasma amplification and fusion reactors has been proven childish and irrelevant. Please take me to the learned individuals responsible for the discovery and development of these wondrous inventions that I might re-educate myself."
Jumping from the dais with a smile, Becky wrapped her arm around the Doctor's waist and replied, "You're beginning to grow on me, Gooey! Let's get your equipment packed up and go meet the eggheads."
GooYee was so startled by the friendly hug he decided for the moment not to correct her continued mispronunciation of his name.
He thought, "After I demonstrate my superior intellect to their thickheaded scientists and deliver them to new heights of scientific progress, I will issue an edict requiring corporal punishment for any Human animal who sullies my famous name."
Staring down at the dark haired Human female, GooYee mused, "Strange, these Humans. Very strange. I am curious to see how animals with egg-shaped heads are able to function on a daily basis."
Chapter 3 - Empty Gumball Machine
The engineering/maintenance bay filled the entire lower deck of the Chrysallaman scout saucer hangared in one of the underground warehouses at the secret Nevada desert base of F.O.R.C.E. The bay was a circular shape 30 feet in diameter featuring a 10 foot wide by 7 foot high fusion reactor containment vessel at its center. Steel pipes for cooling entered near the top of the reactor and massive silvery porcelain power cables snaked from several couplings on the structure into an interconnected transformer and junction box. A steel mesh walkway circled the structure at deck level providing access to the myriad of controls on the reactor’s outer wall.
Earth scientists had long ago abandoned any effort to discover the secret of nuclear fusion technology. The invention of the Heinbaum Kinetic Generator had created a limitless power source making nuclear power look like a campfire trying to burn wet wood. A Kinetic Generator, or HKG as Dr. John Heinbaum was fond of calling his invention, tapped into Earth’s kinetic energy.
Kinetic energy of any object is the energy it possesses due to its motion. The energy it took over 4 billion years ago to initiate and maintain the daily spin of the Earth's 1,000 trillion ton mass is frankly so enormous the only way to adequately explain the available power is with mathematics. Add to the spin energy the additional energy it took to orbit the Earth around our Sun and the amount of kinetic energy innately present within the mass of the Earth can be measured only on an astronomical scale.
The vexing problem with the Kinetic Generator was that in order for it to function it had to be in close proximity to the moving planetary body. The HKG could only be used within 500 miles of a moving, Earth sized body of significant mass, and the power generated decreased exponentially as the generator orbited farther away from the planet. As a result, Humans couldn't build space ships powered by kinetic generators. The reason Doug Jenson and Becky Chang had been able to use their MA pistols on the Rkksshaw was because the mega-liner was orbiting the largest moon of Jupiter. Jupiter is 11 times larger than Earth and has 2.5 times as much mass as all the other planets in the Sol System combined. The kinetic energy of Jupiter extended 750,000 miles away from its surface, thus providing plenty of power to the HKG's in the MA pistols.
Discovering the secret of the gravity drive used by the Chrysallamans to achieve near light speed for their spacecraft was the prime objective for research at the moment. It was theorized the HKG would function in a spacecraft moving at near light speed since according to Einstein's theories an object moving at or near light speed would have infinite mass. Infinite mass traveling at light speed would have a tremendous amount of kinetic energy. At least that was the theory. There was no doubt the Chrysallaman gravity drive somehow counteracted the increase in mass; otherwise the amount of energy required to achieve light speed would be impossible to generate.
The housing for the gravity drive module was connected into the top of the fusion reactor powering the scout saucer. The outer shell of the module was a clear glassy sphere two feet in diameter. Within the base of the sphere where it connected to the top of the fusion reactor was a pyramid of the silvery porcelain material. Each of the four pyramid base lines measured six inches in length. The entire inner surface of the globe was lined with a thin mesh of the silvery porcelain. Each cell in the mesh was shaped like the honeycomb in a beehive. Four thin wires extruding from the centers of the four sides of the pyramid pointed respectively toward the north, south, east and west points of the spheroid's equator. A final extrusion from the pinnacle of the pyramid pointed at the exact center of the mesh in the top of the globe.
Two men stood side by side within the cramped confines of a hydraulic manlift cage raised 8 feet above the scout saucer's power room deck. Dr. Miguel Roemer was busy loosening the last of four hex bolts holding the base plate of the module to the top of the fusion reactor. Dr. John Heinbaum was impatient as usual.
"Really, Dr. Roemer, I could've had those bolts removed and the module on the deck 10 minutes ago. Why are you moving so slowly?" Heinbaum demanded.
Keeping his concentration on the removal of the last bolt, Roemer replied, "I just don't think it wise to rush the removal of a delicate piece of alien technology from atop an active fusion generator."
"Bah! You're temerity is astounding. I have demonstrably proven time and again the Chrysallamans construct their technology in modular units. Plug and play is their basic design methodology. The PnP design means the modules are self-contained. The whole point is to make maintenance and upgrades childishly safe. Now stop being a nervous nellie and finish removing that bolt!"
Dr. Miguel Roemer was a 19 year old quantum physics prodigy who'd been recruited straight out of Cal Tech by F.O.R.C.E. to work in the ultra-secret laboratory hidden in the desert 135 miles north of Las Vegas, Nevada. Standing 6 feet tall with the rangy build of a soccer player, Roemer had the youthful appearance of a 16 year old. He had given up trying to grow a mustache to make him look older. His hormones and baby-face simply wouldn't allow whiskers to sprout in any meaningful quantity. Even his voice still sounded high-pitched. His Spanish mother had gifted him with genes for golden brown skin and coal black hair. His American father had gifted him with a sloping tip nose and blue-green eyes. It was lucky for Heinbaum that Miguel had inherited his mother's patience. His father's fiery reaction to Heinbaum's demands would have been a quick fist to the jaw.
Dr. John Heinbaum was an Astro-Physicist from Harvard University and a leading theoretical scientist on the unified field postulated by Einstein. A member of the original group tasked by the Pentagon to develop technologies to defend Earth from the invading Chrysallaman Empire, he had become the recognized expert on Chrysallaman energy technology. The shape of his face unfortunately made him look like a rodent. His eyes seemed a bit too close together, and his nose was long and slender. Over the years, his youthful black hair had turned completely gray. He still combed the thinning strands backwards with so much grooming oil it appeared he could grease the underside of a car with his head. He wore round, gold colored metal framed glasses that
had a tendency to slide down his long nose on a regular basis.
As Roemer twisted his hex wrench once more the bolt came free, and Heinbaum cackled with delight. Looking over the railing of the manlift, he demanded, "McPherson! Don't just stand there gawking. Move the overhead crane into position. I don't have all day!"
Captain Jerome McPherson was a tall, very white-skinned man with flaming red hair and a physique resembling a grizzly bear. One of the original members of the F.O.R.C.E. team, McPherson had proven himself to be an expert at reverse engineering Chrysallaman weaponry. It had been his discovery of the effect of magnetic fields on the alien power modules that had led to the breakthrough discovery of the Heinbaum Kinetic Generator. The McPherson Atomizer or MA ray was named for him.
A wide, toothy grin broke out under the bushy red mustache McPherson barely kept groomed and a thundering voice with a Scottish accent replied, "Now Doc, don't get your boxers all in a wad. Just relax little guy."
Dawn of Chrysalis (The Origin of F.O.R.C.E. Book 2) Page 3
