by Kip Hartzell
John felt himself flinch at the sight. He was hypnotized by the brutality. Soon, they had sucked them dry, and as if throwing away a napkin after supper, dropped them into the pit below. Several human and Medusan slaves ran in and dragged the victims away.
“My loyal sheep,” Aztek-Alon boomed, addressing the group. “You are worthy of my presents, and your sacrifices will be rewarded. We build a stairway to heaven and will seize God, himself. We will then rule this planet, and I will be your God, and all of you will reside in paradise for eternity.”
The crowd cheered as if on cue, while John made his way back to the others. He recognized the droning of the madman, and the disadvantage he was in right now. He needed to get free of this place in order to warn the base, and return with a force strong enough to bring Aztek-Alon to justice, again. John was forming a plan of escape as he moved, when he felt something brush his mind. Manatock seemed to have the same look in his eyes.
“…But first my people, we must purge ourselves of the unbelievers and the evil they represent. Bring this evil to me!” Aztek-Alon loudly said, as he pounded his staff.
Suddenly everyone’s cloak disengaged leaving them standing around looking very confused.
“Bring them to me!” the madman ordered.
John, and his group, had their backs against the wall as hundreds of people turned to look at them. They all began checking their equipment and looking around, nothing seemed to work. They knew they were hopelessly outnumbered, and no chance of shooting their way out, even if the weapons worked. John gave a surrender nod hoping for a better opportunity to escape. When they didn’t check in, he knew Xen would investigate, or go for help. They were all quickly disarmed, and all their equipment removed. They were then led down to the arena.
Manatock was pushed together with the others. Aidan didn’t say anything as the Minotaur guards enlisted his help to round up the interlopers. Aidan caught on, and began assisting the guards in pushing them together.
John dreaded having to confront his long-time nemesis again, while Aidan stood in front of John and took his utility belt. John saw the wink, as he took the items and slipped them under his crudely designed poncho. He gracefully faded back into the crowd.
They were led by the guards down into the arena, Manatock took several strikes from a staff in the process, but being civilized, he was able to control his temper and wait for a better opportunity. They walked across the dirt arena until they were forced to stop and kneel in front of the stage. Aztek-Alon stood on the platform overlooking them like a supreme being looking over blasphemers.
“Captain John-Anee-Athain,” his voice boomed. “You haven’t changed at all.”
“You have, you’re a lot uglier,” John shot back in defiance.
His smile vanished, but he kept his rage in check. “How did you manage to stay the same?”
“Oh, you know. Clean living, exercise, and not eating, or murdering people.”
“Enough! You have mocked me for the last time. I have waited a long time to exact my revenge.”
“Revenge? What for? Because of you we’re stuck here, just as you are. Look,” John said sincerely, “maybe we can combine our forces to make this a better world. We can defeat the Destroyers, and then, perhaps find each other a planet to live on, if we can’t get along.”
Aztek-Alon seemed to be taken aback by the comment. He looked almost sane and human for a moment, and then the evil returned. “Good Captain, you know there is only room for one God, and that happens to be me.”
John was really stalling in order to come up with a plan. “Alon, surrender now, and I promise a fair trial, and if you give up the key, I will request leniency. I’ll also call off the task force that’s now on its way.”
“John…John…you may insult me, but do not insult my intelligence. I want to savor this victory. Guards! Take them to the holding cell, except the Cyclops, bring him to me.”
He turned his back on them, as the guards began hitting them with their staffs, driving them to a nearby tunnel. The tunnel sloped upward, and then turned right. They were pushed into a dug-out area with tree saplings tied together to resemble a caged area. The guards shoved them in the dirty alcove, and closed and tied the wood door. One guard was stationed at the door, and the rest sporadically down the tunnel. The backside of the dead-end cave had a large fenced, window hole in it overlooking the arena. From this vantage point the whole arena could be seen.
John didn’t know if it was by mistake of design that all of them had been put in the same cell, but he was glad about that. “Okay people, we need to escape, or get word to Xen. Any ideas?”
“We can try the Medusan pheromones and make a run for it,” Rhe-A suggested.
“Since they didn’t take our comm pins, I can try to break through the jamming,” Subriasa added, stooping because of the low ceiling.
“Subriasa, get to work on the comm, it’ll be time to check in with Xen soon. V’Rella go ahead and try your luck with that guard.”
V’Rella moved close to the weaved wood fence. The guard turned and smacked the wood bars with his staff, startling her, sending her back to John a failure. Subriasa began work on the comm pin using a piece of her decorative clothing, and a small sliver of wood. They were forming another plan to sacrifice some in order to have some escape, when they heard a loud conversation at the cell door. It was Aidan; he was relieving the guard at the door. It took some persuading, but the guard gave in and moved down the tunnel.
“Aidan, status?” John asked through the wood bars.
Aidan looked around nervously showing his immaturity. “They confiscated all the equipment, but I know where they put it. The place is crawling with guards and brainwashed Cousins. I scouted the area and found another way out, but it’s hard to get to. We’ll need a large diversion to get to it.”
“Can you find the jamming device?”
“I’ll keep looking.”
“Okay, get going. Oh, Aidan. Good job.”
John saw him smile and calm down. “Understood,” he said, and then turned with his newly acquired staff, and strolled down the tunnel.
“Subriasa, any luck on that comm?”
“No, do you have a pair of carillian tweezers in your pocket? Otherwise we’re doomed.”
“Okay, don’t panic. Have you got anything we can use?”
“The only thing I think I can do, is overload the resonance frequency. If I do, it’ll send out a subsonic feedback loop, which will probably make everyone deaf.” She took a deep frustrating breath. “The overload might be picked up by Xen. I can’t be sure.”
“Can you do it on demand?”
“It’s hard to keep it from not doing it, but it still needs work to get the desired results.”
“Good, that’s a start to our diversion.”
“Alright people, let’s start thinking,” John said, facing them as they huddled together, while Subriasa tried to work some magic on the comm pin.
Jay was on the edge of his mind, when the scene changed to the shuttle. He blinked away the confusion, and focused on the scene at hand. Xen was sitting in the cabin of the shuttle going over the latest information from the satellite when he looked at the time. It was almost time to check in with the insertion team. The sun had been down for only a little while, and he was bored. He opened the hatch and strolled out into the night air. It was fresh, and the bugs were making noises as the light breeze swayed the tops of the trees. He was looking up at the sparse clouds that partially covered the near full moon.
He was enjoying the outdoors when something occurred to him; the sounds of the bugs and animals had stopped. It was now eerily quiet. His senses went on alert as he began looking around suspiciously. The only light was what was coming from the open hatch of the shuttle, where he could hear the proximity sensors beeping. He jumped a little, and raced back into the shuttle to identify the reason for the warning.
He sat in the flight deck going over the read outs, when he thought he saw some
thing move outside the shuttle. He leaned forward, closer to the forward windshield straining to see into the darkness. Crack…came a loud sound hitting the window. Xen squeaked at the sight, and sound, of teeth and claws that scratched at the transparent steel window. He started the shuttle, as loud bangs, and metal on metal scratching could be heard on the hull. He was setting flight coordinates when he said out loud, “The hatch!”
A large shadow darkened the flight deck doorway. Xen slowly eased his stun pistol from its holster. He swiveled quickly in his chair, only to see a monster. It was large, and the shape of an upright wolf. The snout was snarling, partially open as it drooled on the floor. Its paws were more like hands with large claws attached to them, and the eyes; the red eyes of the wolf creature mesmerized Xen. The creature leaped at Xen as his shot sent the thing back into the cabin. He reached the flight deck door just in time to see it recover, and start clawing at the interior. He heard more of the clawing at the exterior. Xen could tell the shuttle was now several hundred feet above the ground by looking out of the open hatch. He thought if he could just get the creature out, he might survive. The creature leaped again, Xen shot it again, but this time it recovered more quickly as it bounced around the cabin shredding everything it touched.
He zapped it until it was close to the open hatch, he then reached into the flight deck, without turning his back to the creature, putting the shuttle into a flat spin and turning off the artificial gravity. The ship spun, causing the creature to slip back toward the doorway. He shot it over and over, until it was hanging out the hatch with only one clawed hand dug into the interior to keep it inside.
Jay’s heart beat faster, as he bounced back to the cavern wanting to know what happened to both simultaneously. John and his team, except Allerisu, who had been taken away earlier, stood in the arena looking up at Aztek-Alon, listening to him rant and rave about his superiority. He noticed Maya, and most of the other followers were in some sort of trance, also. He wondered if Aztek-Alon was controlling them, or were they working in concert to control the population. Every once and awhile, he would swear she would focus on him, then dart her eyes back to the lunatic, then retreat back into her trance. He, and the others, had a row of stick wielding Minotaurs in front of them with killing looks on their faces. They starred at the group, waiting for the attack order.
Aztek-Alon soon tired of his own diatribe, and smacked his staff on the stage. The guards in unison began pushing them back away from the stage and against the spiked fence. Out came larger Cousins with the customary collars. They were dirty, shirtless, and their pants resembled large chunks of animal skins. They didn’t seem to be in the ‘awe inspired’ trance the rest of the masses seemed to be in. They looked very angry as they paced back and forth, sometimes they would bump into each other, and then strike out like wild caged animals.
The drums started to beat again. John and the others were pushed further back against the spiked arena fence. From behind the stage came a small caravan of women Cousins wearing animal skins, and escorting Allerisu in the center. The Cyclops looked in a trance, as he carried a something with a red satin square piece of cloth draped over it. He still had his ripped suit on, and he too, had a familiar control collar around his thick neck, with several ropes tied to it. The ends of the ropes were only ceremoniously carried by Cousin women. They marched to the drumbeat and stopped in front of the stage. They turned toward Aztek-Alon just as the drums stopped.
“John!” He loudly said. “If you tell me where your base of operation is, I’ll give this to you.” He waved a hand, and a dark-haired Cousin reached over and pulled the cloth back to reveal the key Allerisu was holding.
John starred at the skull as it starred back. “The key,” he said under his breath. He quickly snapped out of the surprise. “Why do you want to know where our base is?”
“I wish merely to rejoin my kinsmen. I’ve not seen them in a very long time. We can leave right now in your shuttle.”
John’s face went pale.
“Yes, I know about your shuttle. It appears technology has not advanced much in the last thousand years. No matter, I’ve sent my werewolf strike team to secure it as we speak. All I need is coordinates to my destination.”
Rhe-A moved up close to John. “The collars must only control motor skills, or he would’ve already extracted this information from Allerisu. The Cyclops may act simple, but he’s very smart. I believe the infusion of pure Atlantean plasma must let Alon live longer without feeding, and he needs more followers to control more people. Regardless, whatever he wants, it can’t be good for us.”
“I know, but the key is right there,” John said, considering all his options.
“You know he’ll never let us leave with it.”
“I know that too,” he said, a little more testily than he intended. He moved closer to the line of guards. “I can’t trust you Alon, so I won’t tell you.”
Aztek-Alon screamed, and rapped the staff on the stage. “Maybe I can change your mind!”
The guards reached into the group and pulled out V’Rella and V’Rassa, and dragged them to the center of the arena. They stood there apprehensively looking around when they saw an individual come out of an alcove under the stage. She was obviously Medusan, taller and less green, carrying a staff that was flat at both ends. The most distinctive feature was her hair, which wasn’t hair at all, but dozens of snakes connected to her head that slithered and hissed. Some would snap at the air with their green scaly skins, and red eyes darted about, looking for a victim.
“What in the name of the Great Creator is that?” Subriasa stopped what she was doing to stare.
Chapter Eight: Manipulation
“Apparently, they are still working on genetic manipulation. Apparently, he didn’t learn anything from the NEO’s uncontrolled experiments,” Rhe-A responded.
“Aztek-Alon!” John called out. “You don’t have to do this. It’s me you want, put me in the arena.”
“Very noble, Captain, but unnecessary. All of you have the information I want. Sooner or later, one of you will talk. Fight!” He yelled, as the stick wielding Medusan ran at V’Rella swinging high. V’Rella saw it coming, quickly ducked, and rolled out of the attack. She quickly realized the genetic modification had made it larger, but in turn, made it slower. V’Rassa moved in with a kick to the knee, sending it to the dirt on the other knee. The modified Medusan quickly swung the stick around barley missing V’Rassa, as she dodged backwards.
John heard his name, and looked back at Subriasa, who, was still working on the comm pin, she pointed to Aidan. He was standing on the other side of the sharpened stake barrier. John worked his way toward him, as the Medusans performed acrobatic acts to stay away from the snakes, and find a weak spot. He could also see several Cousins stiffen like a tree and fall over, while most of the others cheered and waved their arms.
“Aidan, you’re alright, good,” John quietly said.
“Captain, I found the jamming transmitter. I didn’t know how to turn it off, so I set one of our pistols to overload. The rest have been drained of their energy, but yours has a few shots left.” Aidan nonchalantly passed it through the fence to him.
“Good work. Be ready to lead us to the exit.”
“Understood,” Aidan said, and blended back into the crowd.
John moved to the forefront of the group to see the large Medusan limping and V’Rella bleeding green from her mouth. The large Medusan had the two smaller ones in front and behind. She took the staff and shoved it into the gut of V’Rella, sending her flying backward, knowing an attack was coming from V’Rassa, it moved the other end of the stick upward. It caught V’Rassa under the chin, and laid her out onto her back. The large Medusan pressed the attack, and was now on top of her with the staff pressed against her throat. V’Rassa was trapped as the snake headed abomination moved in closer. V’Rassa reared back her fist as far as she could, and punched the aggressor in the face. Its head snapped back, but not before several s
nakes struck her arm.
The mutant back peddled, as V’Rella dropkicked their tormentor in the back, sending it scrambling to get away. She then ran over to her sister, and held her as she lay their shaking violently. John yelled her name, trying to break through the Minotaur line, only to be met with a staff to the face. He fell where he was hit, and when the others moved forward they were met with the same fate, except Subriasa, who was struggling to concentrate on her task.
V’Rella kept one eye on the large Medusan, as she stalked like a predator waiting for its prey to die. She held V’Rassa’s hand that was bitten, it was becoming cold and hard, when she looked down the horror was obvious on her face. The skin was becoming hard as stone, and was working its way up her arm. She tried to drag her over to Rhe-A, but she was becoming heavier and heavier, until she couldn’t move her anymore. Tears rolled down her face, while she watched her sister become a stone block right before her eyes.
V’Rella looked up through blurry eyes and saw the murderer smile; her sorrow was instantly replaced by rage. The large Medusan charged stick first. V’Rella sat back on her haunches, to John’s point of view, made no defensive move, as if, wishing to die. Just as the creature approached, V’Rella scooped up a hand full of sand and threw it into its face. The Medusan blinked, the snakes flinched, and slowed enough for V’rella to grab the staff and plant her foot into its abdomen. It staggered back blind, and disarmed. V’Rella’s rage took over as the petite Medusan charged with a battle cry, and connected the flat end of the staff with the enemy’s stomach. She began driving it back as the snakes struck out. She pushed harder and harder until the creature abruptly stopped.
Her energy was all but gone, as she watched the green blood from the mutant ooze off of the wooden spikes from the fence she was impaled on. John broke through the guards, and raced for V’Rassa. A few guards pursued, but were turned back by Aztek-Alon. By the time, John got to her, V’Rella had retreated, and was kneeling alongside her sister.
