As they had agreed prior to docking with the Destinnee, Alex sent a telepathic message he hoped no one else could interpret, "Uardsgay in ornerscay ithway unsgay."
Nodding with a faint smile on his lips, Whatsit turned his attention to the Emperor who was issuing a greeting to Hisspat Zeck. Pig Latin was such fun.
"General Zeck, welcome aboard my flagship. It pleases me you present yourself as well as your advisors and navigator," Horcunt said.
Bowing low, Hisspat replied, "It's my honor to serve you my Lord. My navigator is prepared to guide the Destinnee to planet HG-281 at your command."
"Excellent!"
Just then, a doorway in the left hand bulkhead opened and a female Chrysallaman wearing a deep blue gown covered with multi-colored gemstones walked through it toward the dais. She carried a silver tray laden with gourmet Chrysallaman tidbits. As she walked toward him, the Emperor gestured for her to approach his guests. Bowing her head, she angled for Zeck and his group.
"Gentlemen, this is one of my most recent acquisitions. A courtesan of subtle beauty named Chellsee Brookkss. She volunteered her services to me just before I departed for planet HG-281," the Emperor said as he leered at the sway of her hips as she walked away from him.
In truth, Chellsee Brookkss was a forty year old Chrysallaman female enslaved by the Emperor just before he fled Chrysalis. She was 5 feet 6 inches tall and very slender. The shape of her black eyes reminded Whatsit of Elizabeth Taylor's eyes in the movie 'Cleopatra'. Her skin was finely scaled and seemed to glow with an iridescent shimmer as she moved. Whatsit was captivated by her beauty and stared into her eyes as she walked up to him.
Fumbling for one of the morsels on the tray, Whatsit said shyly, "Thank you Milady."
Chellsee had never met a more oddly dressed Chrysallaman in her life. The wildly decorated wide-brimmed hat and long, high-collared green coat were stunning. Even so, his eyes were kind with a depth and clarity hinting at great mental strength. His low telepathic voice sent shivers of excitement down her spine, and she turned away from him in embarrassment.
Whatsit had never been in the presence of a female Chrysallaman in his entire life, and this first encounter was disturbing him.
"Have I done something to upset her? Is she scared of me?" he thought.
When she finished serving Zeck and his men, Horcunt beckoned her to his side. Pulling her towards him, he rubbed his age-knarled hand up and down the side of her waist and leg in an obvious show of possession. Whatsit felt his anger begin to grow as he witnessed the humiliation of the innocent woman, but just before he began to step toward the dais, he felt Alex's hand grip his arm.
Turning to look at the ersatz Chrysallaman, he saw Alex shake his head. It wasn't the time to confront the Emperor. Nodding his understanding, Whatsit grudgingly kept still.
Horcunt appeared to remember something, and he stopped rubbing the woman's leg and gazed with frank suspicion at Zeck.
"General Zeck, my Captain has given me some rather disturbing news. It seems he believes one of your men has some kind of a force field that protects him from a cutter ray. Is this correct?"
"It is. I wanted to reveal my scientists' latest discovery directly to you, Your Majesty, but Captain Batress decided to murder one of my men for no reason whatsoever. If not for the defensive shield, my chief spiritual advisor and Liaison to the surviving Human animals would be dead."
When Batress heard Zeck describe the shooting, he blustered, "Your Majesty! I must protest the description of the incident by this foul-mouthed lout. He hasn't accurately portrayed the lack of respect and verbal indignities I suffered from his damned advisor. An apology is in order."
"I agree," the Emperor said. "Draw your pistol and kill Whatsit. His apology will then be complete."
"But I can't kill him, Your Majesty! The force shield gives him complete protection!"
Zeck interrupted, "May I suggest an alternative, Your Majesty?"
Alex and Whatsit didn't like what was happening. Zeck was going off script. He was supposed to be delaying while the remaining members of the Earth team made their way from the scout saucer to the throne room. The unexpected cutoff of the telepathic guide tokens on the Destinnee was slowing down their arrival. Alex couldn't use his FLR to hurry them up unless he spoke aloud, and Chrysallamans didn't speak orally.
Whatsit knew his team's strategy of commandeering the Destinnee was in severe jeopardy. Zeck was behaving like he had a plan to derail the attack, and it involved separating Whatsit from Alex. Whatsit edged closer to JnnWall. For some reason he couldn't quite put his finger on, Whatsit had confidence in the integrity of the lizard and hoped he wouldn't take sides with Zeck.
Hisspat was confident he could turn his helplessness into heroism. He was sure the Emperor would shower him with praise, glory and wonderful privileges if he exposed the Human plan to take over the Destinnee. First he would get the human Fields killed. He was confident JnnWall would join him in subduing the traitor Whatsit.
"Those damned humans thought they had frightened General Hisspat Zeck. Nothing could be further from the truth!" Zeck thought.
"Since the defensive screen can't be penetrated by a cutter or heat ray, I suggest physical combat. My navigator against your Captain. May the best Chrysallaman win," Zeck said.
"Excellent idea General Zeck. Captain Batress needs a workout anyway. I so order," Horcunt declared.
Alex was certain he could physically overwhelm Batress. The real problem was maintaining his Chrysallaman warrior illusion during the fight. If the illusion failed or even flickered, the whole plan for taking over the Destinnee might be ruined. Fighting his self-doubts, Alex removed his combat vest and handed it to Whatsit. He kept his PDS pendant hanging around this neck like a good luck charm. Thinking about his lack of experience in maintaining a long term illusion, he decided his best chance for success meant allowing the Captain to hit him while he concentrated on preserving his Chrysallaman appearance. He had to buy his team more time to find their way to the throne room.
Yoogo Batress was supremely confident he could best any opponent in physical combat. After all, his physical strength, combat training and brains were the reasons he had risen to be Captain of the Royal Guard. Besides, he wanted payback for the earlier humiliation by Whatsit. Killing his navigator friend was just the beginning of Yoogo's revenge.
Horcunt motioned. The Guards who had been hiding in the dark corners of the room walked into view and formed a rough circle in the middle of the deck with Batress and Alex in the center. Motioning for Zeck, JnnWall and Whatsit to move out of the way, the Guards turned to face the fighters.
Horcunt began idly stroking Chellsee's waist and leg as he said, "This fight is to the death. If you run from the circle or are knocked out of it by combat, my Guards will terminate your life functions."
Whatsit began to protest the rules, but Zeck motioned him back. In order to prolong the impression Zeck was in charge of his own men, Whatsit didn't interfere, but his seething hatred of Zeck was growing more intense by the second.
Expecting a bell or something to be rung signaling the beginning of the fight and still stunned by the Emperor's announcement it was to the death, Alex was surprised when Batress lunged at him and struck the side of his head with a vicious blow that would have killed an unactivated human.
Alex's enhanced strength and bone density absorbed the killing blow, and Batress backed off in stunned disbelief as his fist felt like he had struck a stone statue. The navigator's head had barely moved from the force of his punch.
Circling his opponent, Batress made a couple of feinting lunges, acting as if he was going to grab the navigator's body in a bear hug and wrestle him to the deck. Fortunately for Alex, he had four younger brothers and several months of specialized hand-to-hand combat training. The fake moves didn't fool him at all.
Leaping into the air with a side kick, Batress' right foot slammed into Alex’s chest. The blow was powerful enough to knock Alex off-balance, and h
e fell backwards, sprawling on the deck and momentarily seeing flashes of light as his head hit the polished black stones.
"Ha!" Batress thought as the navigator banged his head soundly on the deck. "Got you now."
Concentrating on preserving his illusion, Alex rolled out of the way as Batress leaped at him and tried to bury a knee in his solar plexus. Jumping to his feet, Alex shook his head to clear away the cobwebs.
Smiling evilly as he watched the navigator try to ward off the effects of striking his head on the hard tiles, Batress decided to end the fight with a deadly blow. His daily physical fitness routine included hitting a sand filled 80 lb punching bag to keep his fists hardened. Over time, he had learned to hit the bags with such force they burst open.
Lunging at Alex and swinging with all his power at the unprotected abdomen, Batress sought to drive his fist deep into the gut of his opponent. Alex sensed the blow coming and tightened his stomach muscles.
Driving his rock-hard fist with practiced concentration, Batress struck the navigator's abdomen in its softest spot just below the rib cage, confident the least damage would be a ruptured spleen or burst intestine. He felt like he'd hit a solid steel wall. Two of his knuckles cracked from the impact, and the calloused skin covering them split open and began to bleed.
Dropping to his knees in pain as he held his broken hand, Yoogo looked up at the navigator with wide eyes and said, "What are you?"
"Just your friendly neighborhood Chrysallaman," Alex replied with a grin.
When Batress stared back at him with a puzzled look on his face, Alex asked, "What's the matter, haven't you ever heard of a Superhero?"
At that moment, a white beam filled with sparkles and swirls cut a man-sized circular hole in the Armorium door of the Throne Room. As the huge slab fell to the black stone floor with a bell-like clang, four Human animals rushed into the room, small black pistols in their hands. The Royal Guards forming the circle around Batress and Alex turned at the noise, and their cutter rays stabbed at the Humans. The deadly silver beams never reached their targets as bubbles of protection appeared and shielded their targets.
Chellsee Brookkss screamed and ducked down behind the diamond glass throne. Horcunt froze in terror. The only Humans he had ever seen had been in videos taken by the exploration team.
Whatsit pulled his MA pistol from his coat pocket. Not wanting to shoot the Guards in the back as they concentrated their attention on the Humans, he called to them, "Guards! Drop your weapons, and you won't be harmed!"
Two of the lizards pivoted and fired toward him. Ducking, Whatsit cut them both down. Seeing their comrades fall to the floor in pieces, the two others stopped firing, dropped their pistols and raised their hands in surrender. The skirmish had lasted less than 1 minute.
The shocked look on Batress' face was replaced by angry, shamed determination. His Emperor was endangered, and Yoogo and his Royal Guards were disgraced. Somehow, raiders from planet HG-281 had boarded the Destinnee and made their way to the throne room. The time for fair play was over.
Reaching for the ray pistol hidden in his left boot, he jerked the weapon up, aimed it at Alex point blank and pushed the activator button. The silvery beam sliced through Alex's midsection and severed his spinal cord. As his ruined body slumped to the deck, the illusion of the Chrysallaman warrior faded away as Alex Fields died.
An eerie mental scream filled the room as Whatsit realized his friend had been killed. With unreasoning anger blocking every sane thought process except retaliation, he blasted Batress with his MA beam and held the trigger down as he swept the beam back and forth over the body, disintegrating it. Even though nothing remained of the Captain's body, Whatsit continued to play the MA beam over the spot where Batress had been.
MerrCrr had witnessed the power of the MA beam and knew if it continued to fire it would pierce through every deck and the outer hull. Everyone would die. Deciding to stop the destruction, he slugged Whatsit in the side of his head, knocking him senseless. The MA beam cut off, but the danger was not over. Zeck interpreted JnnWall's actions as support for him. He scooped up Whatsit's MA pistol and pointed it at the four Humans walking toward him.
"Don't come any closer, or I'll fire this weapon!" Zeck threatened. "Your force fields may protect you, but I'll cut the deck right out from under you, and you'll fall to your deaths! I'll demonstrate the technique on this traitorous Chrysallaman."
Aiming the pistol at the deck near Whatsit, he began to pull the trigger. When no beam emanated from his pistol, Zeck realized he wasn't pulling the trigger. Standing still as a statue, he watched JnnWall take the MA pistol from his hand and toss it toward the Humans. Zeck realized JnnWall had somehow taken full control of his body. An angry thought cut into his mind, smothering all his voluntary cognitive processes.
"I won't let you harm Whatsit, General Zeck!"
Chapter 10 - Emperor
Doug worried as he watched Amanda use her MA pistol to burn a large circle out of the Armorium door painted with a gold colored Chrysallaman logo. It'd taken way too long for his team to move from the scout saucer to the throne room. Without the telepathic guide tokens to direct them, the FORCE commandos had no alternative but to search the huge spaceship deck by deck.
Based on the assumption the ship would be designed similar to an Earth navy vessel, their SEAL team expert Jason Stoneman had guessed the throne room would be amidship where it was better protected by intervening structural layers. His hypothesis turned out to be correct, but their search was delayed by squads of Royal Guardsmen who ambushed them in every passageway. If it weren't for their PDS protection, none of them would be alive.
As the cutout section of the thick armored door fell to the deck with a loud clang, Doug and his team ran into the throne room only to find themselves the targets of multiple cutter rays. The frustration of not being able to fire their MA weapons through the PDS protective screens was maddening. Despite being protected from the deadly rays, Doug and his team found themselves trying to hide just to get their PDS screens to cut off long enough to fire back at the Guardsmen.
A quick look around the throne room raised more questions than answers. Alex appeared to be engaged in unarmed combat with one of the Chrysallamans. Whatsit, JnnWall and Zeck stood nearby watching the fight. A Chrik who might be the Emperor was sitting in a gaudy cut glass chair perched on a high dais.
Doug and his team watched the sequence of events leading up to the moment Alex was killed, and Whatsit retaliated. Becky and Amanda rushed to Alex's side while Doug and Jason tied the remaining Guards' hands behind their backs with zip restraints. Keeping a watchful eye on the Emperor, who glared at them with pure hatred but hadn't moved from his seated position on the glass throne, Doug and Jason approached JnnWall as he stood beside the unmoving Zeck. Jason picked up the MA pistol MerrCrr had taken from Zeck.
Looking at JnnWall with a raised eyebrow, Doug asked, "What happened?"
Shrugging his shoulders in an uncanny resemblance to one of Whatsit's favorite gestures, JnnWall replied, "Whatsit was overcome by grief when his Human friend was killed. His lack of emotional control jeopardized the safety of this ship. There was only one sure way of stopping him from killing everyone."
Nodding his agreement, Doug watched as Stoneman bent down to help Whatsit get to his feet since he was groggy from MerrCrr's punch. Not trusting Zeck to remain docile, Doug handed another set of zip restraints to JnnWall and pointed at Zeck. MerrCrr pulled the General's arms behind his back and secured him.
Satisfied things were under control, Doug walked to where Becky and Amanda were kneeling over Alex’s body. Amanda had closed Alex's eyes and covered his upper body with her jacket. Just as Doug stepped close to them, Becky turned away from the grisly scene, buried her face in his chest and hugged him. As she sobbed, Doug wrapped his arms around her and gently stroked the back of her head.
"He lost his PDS pendant in the fight," Amanda said.
"What do you mean?"
Raising
her hand to show him, Doug saw Alex’s PDS with its neck chain wound around her fingers. The chain was broken.
"I don't know how it happened. I found the pendant on the floor near his body. Alex had no protection from the cutter ray."
Feeling angry and frustrated, Becky pushed away and said, "We need to have a long talk with Heinbaum and Roemer. Alex's death proves the neck chain is not suited for combat, and the PDS is too damned effective. The shield makes us impotent as long as a cutter or heat ray is being fired at us. We might as well start fighting with swords and knives because our MA weapons are rendered useless."
Gently putting his fingers under Becky's chin, Doug lifted her face to his and said, "We'll have time to grieve when we get back home. Right now we've got work to do."
"Doug, we have a problem," Jason said.
Dawn of Chrysalis (The Origin of F.O.R.C.E. Book 2) Page 11
