by Wells, Jack
Dean was glad that they were out of danger, but until the general’s pilot regained consciousness, she was a liability. Plans to escape or fight had to go on hold until she could participate.
Wystl could see the concern for Amy’s welfare on the faces of each Human and was moved. Their efforts and reactions to the Test were very close to what she would expect for a sentient race of beings that would fit well into the C.O.P. The colonel was right – even Wystl wasn’t sure what would happen if the Dimensional Shifter formed the asteroid belt into a solid ball of rock. A new planet would certainly affect gravitational synergism throughout Earth’s solar system. It might even have a subtle but negative effect on the Earth’s fragile ability to sustain life. It was time to end the Test and turn off the tactical black hole.
Wystl leaned on her intercom and spoke clearly. “Captain Aydr’n, please come to the Control Room. The Test has been terminated.”
Dean and Beth were astounded. Beth was so surprised that she grabbed the shoulder of an alien sitting at his desk to steady herself. He didn’t say anything, but he did look at her, and his grayish-green face turned slightly pink at the edges. Beth wasn’t sure if he minded, but she got the impression that he was glaring at her. She let go and mumbled, “I’m sorry.” He responded with a polite nod.
Dean pulled his thoughts together and maintained his guard. The aliens had to earn his trust. Wystl’s “termination” could be more of the Test. Always the good counter-puncher, he would wait and see what the aliens did next.
He glanced at his partner and raised an eyebrow when he saw her pull her hand away from one of the aliens. She noticed his questioning look, held out both her hands with the palms up and shrugged with a crooked smile. Dean mouthed the word “later,” as in when they would talk about it. Then he motioned for her to watch him by alternately pointing two fingers at her and then the same two fingers at his eyes. Beth studied him for additional information, but all he did was motion for her to keep calm. She always hated it when people told her to relax.
Aydr’n walked in with twenty Warriors and nodded to the ones already in the Control Room. The two closest to Wystl rose from their desks and stepped quickly to her side. Before Wystl could react, one Warrior grabbed her two right arms and the other one snatched the control pad from her upper left hand.
Wystl wasn’t completely surprised and remained calm. “What do you hope to accomplish by taking my controller?”
“The better question is what I won’t accomplish,” Aydr’n corrected smugly.
“Congratulations,” Wystl said sarcastically. Then she became curious. “You have stolen my ship. Now that you are fugitives, how do you plan to enjoy your new-found power? Your fellow Warriors will be hunting you down like the groutin you are.”
All the Warriors began to shift uneasily and looked at Aydr’n for reassurance. He held fast. “You can’t scare us. We are strong again, no longer your servants. The Warriors for Change are many and go all the way to the top of the Warrior Caste.”
“Aydr’n, let me get this straight,” Wystl asked, unbelieving. “You have joined a band of traitors and expect to force the entire C.O.P. to do what you want?”
There was a wild look in Aydr’n’s eyes. Anger filled his voice. “That’s right. I don’t expect you to understand. You have never been in combat. You have never felt the pleasure of the kill or victory over an inferior species.”
Aydr’n was raving now. Wystl yelled to get his attention. “Captain, we have no one to fight! Don’t you understand that we become stronger by learning the answers to the universe, answers to the questions that we don’t understand? Scientists, Warriors, street wipers, it doesn’t matter. We all benefit from knowledge!” Then, more calmly, Wystl added, “We can’t learn from something that we’ve stomped all over.”
He wasn’t interested in what she had to say. A show of force for his Warriors was necessary and he raised a hand to slap Wystl down. Then it dawned on him that she wasn’t a bad Consortian, just misguided. He thought better of it, dropped his arm, and tried once again to explain.
“You are the one who doesn’t understand.” Aydr’n looked at each of his Warriors. “The wise scientist has been away from Consortia so long, she does not know that the Chn-maa have aligned themselves with a powerful foe and plan to attack Consortia.”
“What?!” Wystl cried incredulously. “I have not been away that long, and I would have been informed by the University if there was such a threat! Someone is playing you for a fool.”
He realized that he was wasting his time trying to convince her of anything and motioned to his Warriors. “Take her and the Humans to the cell.”
Dean thought to himself, And then there were five prisoners. Or, was Wystl still playing him?
Washington, D.C.:
Jonathan listened as his Interpol liaison informed him that the Swiss problem had been taken care of.
“Sir, our agent who knocked out the Network’s headquarters is a bit of a maverick. She hasn’t checked in with us since she disappeared in Zurich, presumably on her way to the United States to do more cleansing. We don’t know who she’s going after once she gets there.”
He was pleased that she took care of business in Europe, but Jonathan didn’t like unpredictable employees. Everyone needed some kind of control, whether it involved morals, ethics, or even blackmail.
“You need to reign her in,” Jonathan ordered. “I want to know who she’s after in the US.” Just as he ended the conversation, he heard yelling out in the main auditorium and stepped to his office door.
“Chancellor, General Martle, I think the Moonbeam has been turned off! The lights and colors are gone, and we’re picking up no disturbance like we were before. I think it’s over, but, of course, we’ll need to monitor for a while. Hopefully, we’ll get additional information from General Stranova’s and Colonel Forge’s teams when we make contact with them.”
Alien Lunar Base:
Awake now, Amy found herself walking with the others and in the uncomfortable position of being surrounded by twenty aliens. She was still getting her bearings when she realized that one of the aliens was walking with her and wasn’t one of the guards. Her general and probably Colonel Forge’s team made up the rest of her group. At least she was alive, and if she had to be a prisoner, this was exactly who she’d pick to be incarcerated with.
But what’s up with the alien? Amy bumped Sasha’s arm and motioned with her head at Wystl.
Sasha whispered, “It’s a long story.”
Amy nodded thoughtfully and knew she’d get her answer later.
Dean thought that he knew the answer to his question but had to be certain. “Wystl, I don’t suppose that was another toy control pad that they took from you?”
Before she could respond, the Warrior closest to Dean shoved him forward and growled, “No talking, Human.”
A deep sigh was Wystl’s only response just before they arrived at the cell. The heavy metal door creaked open and, with the exception of Wystl, the Warriors shoved everyone inside. She stepped through the opening unassisted, looked at the stark walls, and smiled at the four Humans. Beth hated the fake-looking smile and hoped that this time it meant the alien had a remedy for their situation. The door banged shut and they were alone.
“Colonel, you asked if I still had the real pad.”
“Hey, a guy has to have hope.”
Wystl sat down and retrieved a smaller version of the pad, about one third the size of the first one, from her ankle. “Hope is important, colonel, and I’m not as defenseless as Aydr’n believes. This pad was the prototype for the pad they stole. It is not as sophisticated as the larger one, but in the right hands, it can be just as useful.”
Sasha added, “Something tells me you have the right hands.”
Wystl smiled again.
Consortia:
“That’s correct. I believe Searcher Wystl and many others are in danger.”
Dr. Reggiald stared at the young Warrior
and tried to determine if he was lying. There was no body language to indicate that he was. Only determination that made him appear older than his cycles was apparent. His story seemed too fantastic for someone so young to make up.
“Come with me, Warrior. We need to sort this out.”
The guard stood up and challenged the doctor. “Sir, you know that I can’t allow outsiders beyond the entrance after hours.”
Reggiald knew the rules. He knew all of them because he wrote them.
“Evil doesn’t always show its face during regular hours,” he said sternly to the guard and pointed at Alont. “This Warrior is trying to help us, and you’re going to make an exception because common sense must prevail. File a grievance if you like.”
The guard was used to the University’s eccentric scientists rewriting the rules whenever it suited their needs, and over the cycles, he had learned to pick his battles carefully. He wasn’t certain, but he was pretty sure that battling the senior scientist before him would be a serious mistake.
He let the look of resolve on his face crack into an acquiescent smile. “Well Doctor, we can’t let evil get a foothold. I’ll just need the Warrior to sign in, and then you can proceed.”
They went through the door that Reggiald originally came out of and entered a long hallway. Numerous doorways lined each side and were spaced about every ten meters. After the fourth or fifth door, the doctor entered an office on the left and motioned for Alont to follow. They sat down at the conference table at the center of the room. Alont set the micro pouch on its smooth, wooden surface. Reggiald watched as the Warrior turned on the display. A three-dimensional hologram of Captain Aydr’n glowed up from the pouch and began to speak.
“Friends, by now I have taken my ship back from the inept scientist who was corrupting it. I am ready to serve you in our cause so that we can step out from under the University’s shadow and stand as true Warriors. Never again will we serve its docile scientists. We will take what we want from inferior species and not be polluted by their degenerate cultures.”
Reggiald leaned forward and paused the recording. “Your captain sounds deluded. Does he always rant like that?”
Alont hadn’t seen this side of his captain and didn’t know what to think. “No, sir. He normally speaks well, calmly, and makes sense.”
Reggiald sighed and started the recording again. The captain continued his monologue. “Once you are ready, I request that you let me know where and when to join you in your push to correct the Senate’s misjudgment. Until then, I stand ready.” The display shrunk back into the pouch.
“They plan to force the government to change their policy concerning the Warrior Caste,” Reggiald summarized. “But we don’t know who, what, where, when, or how. You haven’t given me much to work with.”
Alont had hoped that there would be more details in Aydr’n’s message, and then he remembered his brush with death when he arrived on Consortia.
“Doctor Reggiald, there were three Consortians who tried to force me to give them the micro pouch. The port should have a security record of them.”
“Yes!” Reggiald exclaimed. “Their actions should leave no doubt to anyone that you are telling the truth, and we’ll be able to see who’s behind this.”
“Well, actually, the traitors that attacked me are now a part of a black hole a few light hours away.”
Reggiald raised his eyebrows in surprise at Alont’s revelation.
“I guess it doesn’t matter how you did that, but it’s all right. We’ll still know who they were from the record and we’ll be able to find out who they associated with. If their associates aren’t terrorists, they’ll lead us to who is.”
Alien Lunar Base:
Wystl’s smile quickly faded as she considered how she would deal with Aydr’n. “Humans, I would rather not attack him directly at this time, unless I have no choice. Generally, dueling Dimensional Shifter control pads cancel each other out and become useless; however, in this particular situation, I believe my expertise in its use gives me the advantage when I go up against the captain. That is in no way to guarantee of success, and I would prefer to get you out of here before I take him on.”
Dean exchanged glances with Sasha, Beth, and Amy. “Well, ladies, I think we have to trust her, at least for now. Wystl, Beth and I have a craft to escape in. It holds four – maybe five if we get cozy.”
“And, if necessary, I can escape in my fighter. It’s located just behind that cone-shaped hill over there,” Sasha chimed in, pointing to her left.
“Actually, your fighter is that way,” Wystl corrected, pointing to her right.
Sasha wasn’t used to being corrected. She gave Dean an exasperated look. “Is she always right?”
He nodded. “Tell me about it.”
“Great, she’s an omnipotent alien,” Amy surmised sarcastically. “But she doesn’t need to be omnipotent to know about my fighter, since her Warriors have been all over it the whole time I’ve been crashing their party.”
Beth was getting impatient. As Amy finished speaking, she looked at Wystl. “Okay, I guess it’s time for you to break us out of here.”
“Wait!” Dean wanted to be certain of the plan. “Does that mean everyone goes in a different direction?”
“Yes,” Wystl responded. “I think it will be harder for Aydr’n to react to so many different targets. He may get one or two of you, but the rest will have a better chance of getting away.”
“By the way,” Amy asked. “Where is my fighter?”
“It’s over there.” Wystl pointed at the blank wall to her left.
Amy hoped she was right. It didn’t look like they would get a second chance.
“What about our suits?” Beth asked, realizing that they were just about to step onto the airless lunar surface.
“I will create voids around you,” Wystl reassured her. “They will hold oxygen for you to breath against the pressure less atmosphere.” Then she turned toward the bare walls to determine where she wanted to make the opening and studied the small control pad in her hand.
Dean had a nagging feeling that led to another question. “Wystl, who are you going to go with?”
She kept her eyes on the pad and didn’t look up. “Well, Colonel, I think it’s customary for the ‘captain’ to stay with her ship.”
In perfect unison all four Humans yelled, “What?!”
Wystl tried to explain her logic. “Obviously, I need to stay and try to stop him from doing something stupid.”
Dean knew that it was a bad idea for her to remain behind and try to take on Aydr’n by herself. “Wystl, you need help from your people to fight him.” He knew that she wasn’t convinced when she didn’t respond, so he offered her an alternative. “For now, I think you should make a strategic retreat. That will give you time to let Consortia know what’s happening and give them time to get here. You said yourself that you can’t be certain of the outcome. If you go up against him and fail, the Consortium may never know what happened.”
Her solid black eyes bore into him as she considered his words. “You make a strong case, Human. I will go with you,” she said, surprised by her change of heart. “But, first I’ll send an information probe to alert the University to our problem.”
The air grew darker around Wystl until it completely enveloped her. When the air cleared, she was gone. Amy was first to react. “Was that some kind of magic trick?”
Beth had seen it so many times; she was matter-of-fact in her response while Dean quietly peered out the cell door’s small window. “That’s how they get around via that Shifter thing.”
Dean gave up his effort to see something and joined the conversation. “Ladies, we got used to that a long time ago. At least it feels like it was a long time ago, but don’t worry – she’ll be back. Then we’ll all disappear in a puff of black smoke, too.”
“And that’s supposed to be a good thing?” Sasha asked with concern.
Washington D.C.:
Now
that the immediate threat to Earth was over, Martle watched Visen disappear to his lavish penthouse office. That was bad news, since he couldn’t keep an eye on the chancellor from that location. Fortunately, the doctor had some good news: in just a few hours, he had discovered the identity of Interpol’s deadly agent.
“General, her name is Svetlana. For the last ten years, she has competed in numerous international extreme martial arts events. Her weapon of choice is the rope dart, and she has never been beaten.” The doctor paused, but the general remained stoic, apparently deep in thought. “To never lose is amazing,” the doctor emphasized, then he continued. “Apparently, she got bored with winning and decided to start getting paid for her abilities as an assassin. At a young age, she was orphaned. She grew up and trained at Master Sung’s legendary martial arts school in China.”
“Yes,” Martel broke his concentration and finally spoke. “I have heard of an extraordinary competitor that abruptly retired, seemingly at the top of her game. She was a bit of a legend herself. Do we know who her parents were?”
“We don’t have a lot on them, but we do know that they were Chinese Secrete Service. Some of Visen’s henchmen killed them to shake up the Chinese government as part of his world consolidation plan.”
Martle couldn’t believe his ears. “Doctor, you’re telling me that Visen had her parents killed, and now she is working for him? That doesn’t make any sense!”
“General, what if she doesn’t know?”
“You’re right, doctor. I bet she has no idea. Somehow, I must find a way to tell her before she kills me.”
Consortia:
Dev’kall stood in the richly adorned meeting room. He looked over the podium at the Warriors for Change’s top leadership. They were seated in comfortable high-back chairs around a large oval table. They were a diverse movement of high-ranking active and retired Warriors. Like De’kall, a few of them were very influential Consortians from the private sector.
