Incursion (The Narrows of Time Series Book 2)

by Jay J. Falconer

  He looked at Kleezebee, who was walking on his left. The professor eyes were focused down at the ground, his face dull and emotionless.

  Lucas cleared his throat, but the professor never flinched. He cleared his throat again, this time a little louder. Again, the professor didn’t break his trance. He needed to get the professor’s attention to tell him about Bruno, but didn’t want to risk being noticed. He considered his options.

  Bruno stopped walking in mid-step, like someone had pressed the pause button. Lucas looked around: All the other Zack copies had ceased movement as well. Lucas checked Cyrus and his men. They, too, seemed to be frozen in their tracks.

  Lucas tore at Bruno’s finger grip, prying his fingers apart until he was able to free his arm. He made his way to Kleezebee and set him free as well, then pulled the old man twenty feet away from the escort group. He waited for Bruno to join them, but his friend remained motionless with the rest of the enemy.

  “What’s going on?” the professor asked.

  “I don’t know, but let’s get the hell out of here while we still can.”

  “Lucas?” a female voice said from a distance. He recognized it.

  “Carrie Anne? I’m right here,” he answered. He sprinted to her location. Rico was standing next to her.

  Carrie Anne wrapped her arms around Lucas. “I’m so scared.”

  “I’ve got you now. You’re safe.”

  Kleezebee and his ankle limp caught up to the group.

  “Nice work, Professor,” Rico said.

  “This wasn’t our doing.”

  “Then who?”

  Kleezebee shrugged.

  “The Zack who was escorting me was actually Bruno,” Lucas told the group. “He must have assimilated one of the Zacks and slipped in undercover.”

  “Then we should go back for him,” Kleezebee said, spinning around.

  “Won’t do any good. He’s frozen like the rest of them.”

  “Then we’ll carry him on our backs if we have to, but we’re not leaving anyone behind,” Rico said.

  “Agreed,” Kleezebee said, just as a massive shadow washed over them. He looked up.

  So did Lucas and everyone else.

  A black, cube-shaped ship hovered into position overhead about five hundred meters away.

  “Holy shit! They are real!”

  “Who?”

  “The Baaku. That’s their ship,” Lucas answered.

  “Not much of a ship,” Rico said, as if he expected something much larger.

  “Trust me, there’s a lot more there than meets the eye,” Lucas said, taking a moment to think. “They must have used their time dilation technology to freeze Cyrus and his men. But I didn’t think they were able to create multiple inverse fields like this.”

  “Remain at your station,” an amplified female voice said from above.

  “That sounds like Flexus. She’s their lead shaper. A bit of a stone face, but essentially harmless.”

  Moments later, a resonating tone filled the landscape with a set of harmonics that reminded Lucas of an old church organ ramping up for the grand finale. It continued to grow louder, as the cadence increased in speed.

  “I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Carrie Anne said.

  “You’re not the only one,” the professor added.

  Lucas crouched down, covering his ears with his hands. The rest of his friends did the same.

  “Begin cessation level four,” the Baaku voice said.

  “Cessation?” the professor asked.

  “Oh, fuck!” Lucas said.

  Is wasn’t long before Cyrus, his troops, and all the Zack copies started shaking violently. Then the skin around their necks began to expand like an inflating balloon. Moments later, their bulging necks exploded, sending heads and blood flying.

  Carrie Anne screamed, tucking her head into Lucas’ chest.

  Kleezebee looked away.

  “At least now we know what happened at the bakery,” Rico said without a hint of shock in his voice.

  “That was absolutely disgusting,” the girl said with muffled words.

  “I’d put that at level twelve on the gross-o-meter,” Lucas said, trying to wrap his brain around what had just happened. He couldn’t believe that the friendly salad farmers were capable of this level of violence. “They must have felt it necessary in order to protect us.”

  “This was not a proportional response,” Rico said.

  “What are you saying?”

  “They are not friendlies.”

  “You don’t know that for sure.”

  “It’s pretty damn obvious.”

  “I disagree,” Lucas said, sharply. “You’re overreacting.”

  Rico pointed at one of the headless Zack copies. “What’s to stop them from doing that to any one of us?”

  “Look around, Rico. They only took out the threats.”

  “What about your friend, Bruno?” Carrie Anne asked.

  Lucas turned, looking at Bruno’s position. His headless body was lying on the ground, convulsing. Seconds later, his body and head lost their cohesion and dissolved into the scarlet BioTex material, forming two pools of liquid about three feet apart from each other. The real Zack copies weren’t showing any signs of dissolution, meaning they didn’t possess all of the natural BioTex properties. Yakberry must have missed something, Lucas decided.

  “Bruno wasn’t a threat. So, how do you explain that?” Rico asked in a sarcastic tone.

  “To them, he was. He looked like all the other Zacks. Unless they had scanned him separately, they wouldn’t have known he was different than the others.”

  “That’s enough, guys. Let’s focus on what we need to do next,” Kleezebee said.

  “What about our little friend?” Lucas asked, thinking of Fuji hiding in the basement. “Shouldn’t he be out here with us?”

  “No,” Kleezebee said. “Rico’s correct. Let’s not rush things until we know more.”

  “What about their scans? Won’t they detect him?” Rico asked.

  “It’s possible that the tritanium-laced rock may provide effective shielding.”

  “If so, he safer in the basement,” Lucas said, hearing a high-pitched squeal emanating from the ship above. A wide-angle orange-colored light beam appeared in front of them. It started as a pinpoint of light on the bottom of the Baaku ship and widened as it extended to the ground.

  “Take cover!” Rico yelled.

  “Hold on,” Kleezebee said, as the beam moved away from them, positioning itself over top of the first corpse. Almost instantly, the body disappeared, the blood, too. Then it moved to the next victim and did the same thing. It continued, moving from body to body, removing each from the surface.

  “Looks like the cleanup crew is here,” Lucas said with pride. He looked at Rico. “You tell me, does that look like a threat?”

  “The situation can change in a heartbeat. I’ve seen it before.”

  “You’re just not going to let this go, are you?”

  “Not when I’m right.”

  Lucas heard the whirling hum of an energy build-up above him. He looked up. A pulse of energy shot out from one of the ship’s corners, traveling to Kleezebee’s cabin instantly. When the energy ball made contact, the cabin exploded, sending shingles, furniture, and boards flying in all directions.

  “Now that’s a threat!” Lucas said, wanting to run for cover with Carrie Anne still wrapped in his arms. But his feet wouldn’t budge. “I can’t move,” he told the others.

  “Neither can I,” Kleezebee said, as his body straightened.

  A dizzy swirl filled Lucas’ head, then the muscles in his body tightened.

  Carrie Anne backed away, her hands covering her mouth.

  Lucas wanted to call out to her, but his jaw went stiff and he couldn’t feel his tongue.

  Rico ran to Kleezebee and tried to grab the professor. Just before his hands made contact, Rico flew backward in the opposite direction, as if a powerful bungee cord had ya
nked on his waist, propelling him at least twenty feet in the air. He landed on his back, then flipped over several times when inertia took control of his body.

  Lucas’ head swung back, just before the weight of his body increased tenfold. He shut his eyes when a beam of white light pummeled his retinas from above. Then everything went blank.

  THIRTY-EIGHT

  Lucas woke up in a familiar place—on the alien ship. He was lying on a table with the Baaku healing gel stretched across his body, from his toes to his neck. He turned his head to the right to see if anyone else was in the room, but he only saw the swirling colors of the fluidic walls. He looked to the left. Kleezebee was lying flat on his back. He, too, was on a table with the Baaku material covering most of his body.

  “Professor? Are you awake?”

  Kleezebee opened his eyes and turned his head toward Lucas. “Yeah. Where are we?”

  “On the Baaku ship. We’re in their medical bay.”

  Kleezebee lifted his head, then put it back down against the table.

  “We’re being held down by their healing gel.”

  “I don’t feel any pain. Am I injured?” the professor asked.

  “Doubtful. It’s more likely that they are using it to keep us prisoner.”

  “How do you know all this?”

  “I’ve been in this exact situation before.”

  “How did you escape?”

  “Didn’t have to. Eventually, this stuff let me go, after it healed me.”

  Kleezebee looked around. “Where are the others?”

  “I was just wondering the same thing. I don’t think they’re here.”

  “Why not?”

  “We were the only two who went stiff and couldn’t move. I think the Baaku only want us.”

  “For what purpose?”

  “They’re thought merchants. They asked for my help the other day, so I thought they were friendly. Obviously, I was wrong. I think they want to hijack our minds.”

  “That’s why they left Rico and your girl behind.”

  “Yes. This is the first time I’ve ever regretted being smart.”

  “This also proves my point.”

  “Which one?”

  “Since Fuji isn’t here with us, they don’t know he exists.”

  “You’re right, because they’d certainly want his mind, too. The basement must have shielded him from their scans.”

  “Actually, the basement’s shielding must extend into my cabin, otherwise, when he came upstairs, they would have detected him.”

  “Do you think he survived the blast? That was some explosion.”

  “I’m betting that the basement’s construction protected him,” Kleezebee said, raising his head and grunting. He seemed to be struggling against the material holding him down.

  “Won’t work, Professor. The harder you fight, the stronger it gets. You need to relax. I think it’s the key to escape.”

  “I’ll try,” he said, lowering his head to the table. He took a few long, deep breaths.

  “Last time I was here, they tried to jack my neurons by pretending to scan me. But it didn’t work for some reason. Now that I look back on it, they did seem a bit surprised. It’s like my brain is wired differently.”

  “You can thank your birth mother for that.”

  Lucas thought about his past. “Seriously? Who smokes crack while they’re pregnant?”

  “I’m sure those chemicals affected your brain during fetal development.”

  Lucas scoffed. “She saved me by being a total, irresponsible douchebag. And to think, I’ve hated her all these years. Thanks, Mom,” he said, sarcastically.

  “Time finds a way.”

  “It’s more like ‘insanity’ finds a way.”

  Kleezebee let out a few more exhales. “I’m as relaxed as I can be, but it doesn’t seem to be working.”

  “Give it some more time. There may be a delay built in,” Lucas answered, as a section of the fluidic walls stopped swirling beyond Kleezebee. Its colors ran dry, right before a passageway formed in the wall. Alista and Flexus walked through the gap, then it closed behind them. The wall resumed it colorful light show.

  “I see you two are awake,” Alista said, walking to Kleezebee. Flexus followed her. “Hello, Professor. My name is Alista Fria, leader of the Baaku. It is a pleasure to finally meet you.”

  “I can’t say the same.”

  The tiny alien pointed to her assistant. “This is Flexus Remu.”

  “What do you want with us?”

  “All in due time, Professor,” she said, looking at Lucas. “Now that both of you are here and conscious, we may finish our calibrations.”

  “Why are you doing this? I thought we were friends.”

  Her expression didn’t change. “We are friends. But we have an order to fill, and it is now past due. We can no longer afford to wait for you to donate your memories willingly, so changes had to be made to our collection process. It will be ready within the hour.”

  “Willingly?” Kleezebee asked.

  “Forceful duplication degrades the compression algorithms, resulting in significant data loss. The donor must comply, willingly, in order for us to obtain a viable copy and store it in the Neural Nexus.”

  “You’re going to surgically remove my brain, aren’t you?” Lucas asked, not wanting to hear the answer.

  “Yes. I am afraid there is no other choice. Physical extraction is the only method remaining. Had we been able to upload a digital copy the last time you were on board, this would not be necessary. But the Great Loti was not able to properly align the duplication protocols in order to create a stable linkage to your cerebral cortex. Your brain configuration is quite unique—something that we had only encountered once before in all our travels. Loti needed time to design the needed equipment and have Flexus shape it.”

  Lucas realized that his crack-whore mother hadn’t saved him, she’d killed him. “What happens to me afterward? My body can’t survive without a brain!”

  “I am sorry, but delivery is scheduled for today.”

  “Take mine instead,” the professor said. “I’ll give it freely. Just don’t harm him.”

  “We appreciate the offer, Professor, but you have already been allocated to another order. The buyer wants both your mind and your body, and is willing to pay triple the normal price. We need to cover our costs and turn a profit. Otherwise, our investors will withdraw their funding.”

  “Our family is large,” Flexus said. “Procuring food is expensive.”

  “This is not our only vessel,” Alista said.

  “So, this is all about money?” Lucas said.

  “You seem surprised,” she answered, walking with Flexus to the same spot in the wall where they had entered the medical bay. “Earth is not the only capitalistic society in the multi-verse.”

  “There are countless others,” Flexus said, sticking her hand into the fluidic surface. An exit opened.

  “Flexus will make the extraction as painless as possible.”

  Lucas watched the two aliens step through the exit. The wall closed. “Gee, thanks.”

  “Greed is universal,” Kleezebee said.

  “That’s why they asked me for help. So I would lead them to you. They couldn’t find you with the tritanium shielding interfering with their scans. It’s all been a hustle, from the start.”

  “Don’t blame yourself. They’re obliviously very skilled at deception. Otherwise they’d never convince people to donate willingly. I’m sure they know exactly what buttons to push with each subject.”

  Lucas nodded. “When they couldn’t upload my memories before, they said they needed to make an adjustment—that’s the term Flexus used. I thought it had something to do with altering reality and augmenting physical space, but now I’m thinking that they adjusted me in some fashion, to turn me into a human tracking device. If that’s true, it means you’re here because of me.”

  “It’s not your fault, either way. They would have found m
e, eventually. As soon as I moved far enough away from the cabin, their scans would have located me. I guess being a hobbled homebody has its benefits.”

  Lucas thought for a moment. “That’s why they waited for us to be escorted away from the cabin. The couldn’t get a transport lock on us until we did.”

  “And it’s why they destroyed my cabin. They wanted to eliminate the one place where their scans couldn’t penetrate. That’s what I would have done. Hopefully, the basement is still intact, for Fuji’s sake and ours.”

  “At least they killed Cyrus and his army of zombie Zacks.”

  “One less threat to deal with. That’s a plus.”

  “This is just one endless, fucking nightmare,” Lucas said, wishing Flexus would transport him back to the quiet meadow where he’d first met the Baaku. At least there he’d could enjoy a tranquil moment of peace before his brain was carved out like a malignant tumor. His mind drifted back in time to when he was sneaking around Kristov’s underground complex and found the containers stenciled with the letters TNOT-2. He thought about the spiral-bound evacuation plans stored inside. An idea popped into his head. “Professor? I think I know how Cyrus was planning to deliver the retrovirus.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “How do you convince thousands of people to move to one place—all at the same time?”

  “You’d have to make then believe that they had no other choice.”

  “Yes, mass panic.”

  “From a radiation leak or some type of outbreak,” the professor said.

  “Exactly. They’d cling to each other like dryer sheets and allow themselves to be corralled without a second thought.”