by SK Benton
"What were these other subspecies you are talking about? The gloms and the carnivores you mentioned?" asked Jennie.
"Why, my dear young lady. There were those who thrived on death, nearly dead themselves, and then there were the cannibals. Fortunately, the cannibals were unable to procreate, so they would basically die off on their own if properly contained. Otherwise, they would spread their infection far and wide. The peddlers of death, whom I called ghouls, however, actively brought others into their ranks, as they hated the lycans. Oh yes, they quite hated the lycans with every rotten fiber of their beings."
"Draagh, this is all a lot to take in at one time, but are there any others like us?" asked Max.
"Of course, my dear boy! There are quite a few on your world, but nowhere near in the numbers of normals."
"Normals?"
"Yes, normals. Humans without any, how shall I say, extra abilities. 98% of Azul's population lacks supernormal genetics - and a good thing too! Could you imagine trying to run interference for countless thousands of lycans, keeping them safe and scrambling doctors anytime one went in for a physical examination? It would be unmanageable! Unmanageable beyond imagination!"
Max looked over at Bagatelle and Jennie, and then asked, "Do either of you recall your doctors looking like they had self-medicated when performing a physical or drawing blood?"
Both Bagatelle and Jennie gave astonished looks at each other, and slowly nodded their heads.
"So, without your help we would have been detected?" Max asked Draagh, turning again to him.
"Yes, my son. Myself, and some like me. We are few in numbers, and have lost a few of our kind to dark temptations, but we try to protect our charges. We are also helped by a lower caste with much more plentiful numbers. As I said, those of my kind are few, but the lower caste is numerous. You used to call them angels in your ancient religions, and they also possess abilities similar to mine."
Religion existed on Azul, as everyone was free to believe what he or she desired, but most scientists did not give credence to the supernatural, making it all the more difficult for Max, as well as Bagatelle and Jennie, to accept.
Jennie then asked their host, "So Draagh, are lycans the only surviving subspecies on Azul, or did any of the others also emigrate? And further, why do we not know about this? Is there anyone who does know? I mean, I find it impossible to believe that no one would have learned this, if it were true."
"My dear Jennie," Draagh continued, "There are those who suspect, but none who are completely certain. You both suspected that you were different, but simply chalked it up to each being a unique individual - which you are - but much more so than any other normal. This is all-important for you to learn and understand, because yes, those who crave death, the ghouls, also made it to Azul, but in lesser numbers than your kind. Still, they exist. In fact, that traitorous imbecile flying around looking for something is of that subspecies."
"Lieutenant Johnson is a… ghoul?" asked Jennie.
Draagh took another sip of scotch and said, "Yes, I am afraid to say. That is why he could commit such a horrendous act aboard your ship. His father, I am afraid, is even worse."
Jennie felt sick to her stomach. Not only had she been used and betrayed by Ryder Johnson, but he was also somehow a genetic deviant whose ancestors reveled in death and mayhem. Bagatelle also found reason in what Draagh was saying, and crinkled his nose in a look of disgust
"Councilman Johnson. He's been a thorn in the side of the military for years. I never trusted him, and now it looks like it wasn't without reason."
Draagh felt he was getting through to Bagatelle and Jennie. He also knew that he had to get going, but he needed to convince them that what he was doing was absolutely necessary. Determining that his new friends were ready for a bit more information, Draagh waved his hand down and in the direction of Bagatelle's portable console.
"Luigi my friend, please check your device. It has detailed logs and vids of the Vrol invasion of Earth, as well as Max's analysis of the amoeba that was used to decimate the population."
Bagatelle went through his console, reading data and watching videos for the next fifteen minutes, with Jennie looking over his shoulder, when Draagh spoke again.
"You will need to return to Azul and prepare forces to engage the Vrol. I will take Max and Jennie with me to-"
"What? I'm not going anywhere with you - or… that!" yelled Jennie, interrupting the old man and pointing at Max.
At the very moment, Draagh casually waved his hand out toward the two officers from The Revolution, causing them to stop in mid-sentence, as they grew glassy-eyed expressions. Max looked at them, astounded, and then turned to Draagh.
"Um, Draagh, what did you just do?"
"I needed to stop them for a moment. Jennie was about ready to go ballistic, as they say, and Luigi was not far behind, my son."
"So… you are controlling them?"
"In a manner of speaking, yes."
"Oh… cool."
Draagh made another little waving gesture with his hand, and although they maintained their dumfounded expressions, he began to give them instructions.
"My friends, although it pains me to do this, I must guide you into making the correct decision. Luigi, you are going to leave this place and return to your ship, where you will make every effort possible to apprehend Lt. Johnson. Max is no longer a consideration for you."
Bagatelle continued staring and nodded his head in agreement. Then Draagh spoke to Jennie, giving her different, but equally important instructions.
"Jennie, you are going to accompany us, as you will need to keep an eye on Max. Also, you are due for shore-leave and this is a perfect opportunity for you to get out and do something different."
Just as Bagatelle had done so did Jennie, slowly nodding her head.
"Hey! It's like they're mind-wiped or something. Is she going to stay that way?"
"No, my son - I shall release them soon, but they will believe that everything that is to transpire is normal."
"Oh, bummer. Um… I have an idea. Can you make her… nice? I mean… she kinda wants to kill me."
"No Max, no, no, no. I shall not do that. She needs to keep her wits about her. It is a precarious thing I do, and if I delve further into their minds I could do irreparable harm."
"Seriously? You can't make her a little less of a bitch? I mean, she's super-hot and all, but man - she comes with some serious baggage, although her surname is cool. Es Caliente. Haw!"
Max laughed at his own little joke, making a play on words from the girl's last name.
Draagh continued to survey his two subjects as they sat staring into space, their eyes lacking focus.
"Jennie was to come with us in the first place. I believe we have accomplished a great deal by visiting with them, but they needed a bit of prodding at the end. Luigi would never have allowed the girl to go with us, for more reasons than are apparent."
"You mean, I have to travel with her? Oh God, for how long? This going to suck - I can see it now. She'll be making me do pushups and wash the dishes. The chick's a tyrant!"
Draagh turned to Max and smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder as he said, "My boy, she will be with us - with you, for quite a long time. She will warm to us both, but it must happen without my tinkering or mental manipulations to make it truly…"
"Truly what?"
Max stopped and his face brightened up, as if he had a great idea. "No! It's ok. You see, I'm her superior officer, so she can't tell me to do anything. Ha! This is gonna be great."
Draagh grinned, but turned away, saying nothing. The old man waved his hand out and released Bagatelle and Jennie from his grip.
"Yes! I need to make sure that Gunnarsson doesn't try to escape, and that these two aren't pulling a scam." Jennie turned and continued by straightening her shoulders and looking to her commanding office. "Sir, I request permission to go with these two and make sure everything is on the up and up."
Bagatelle no
dded his head. Looking at Max and Draagh, down at his console and then back at the two he said, "I agree. This will allow me to concentrate on tracking down Lt. Johnson, as his crimes shall not go unpunished. Plus, I think there is a deeper plot to this, with Johnson's father having a hand in it all."
Nodding to Jennie, he continued, "Jennie, I am going one step further. I don't want your efforts hampered by military protocols. I am temporarily relieving you of your duties and placing you on leave. This can be justified because you have accrued months of paid vacation time. Go, be safe and do what you need to do. I'll take care of the Council back home. Our new friend here has given me enough information to justify retrofitting the fleet."
Jennie nodded to the admiral, and then both looked over at Draagh, as well as a very perplexed Max, who was slightly miffed, not having been able to convince Draagh to basically do the equivalent of a mind-wipe on the very pretty, but unkind dega. Still, he was looking forward to being in charge of her.
Bagatelle started flicking through his portable console some more, while Jennie glared at Max, and then stood up to extend her long, femininely muscular legs. Raising her arms above her head and yawning, she further stretched out luxuriously, with her curvaceous figure accentuated by her pose, with Max looking at her out of the corner of his eye.
"Ok Draagh, then what are we doing?" asked Max. "You said we are going somewhere, so spit it out."
"Spit it - out? My dear boy, I shall do no such thing. The act of spitting is a practice best done in private," exclaimed the old mage.
"I think what the idiot means is that he wants an explanation about where we are going," said Jennie, which made Max look at her with a perturbed expression.
"Lieutenant, you may not like me, but I am a superior officer. Show some respect."
Jennie rolled her eyes and made a sound out of disdain in response to Max's comment.
Bagatelle interrupted the three-way conversation and said, "I'll have to make up a story about how we never found Gunnarsson or his ship, and why one of my junior officers didn't return with us. I can't very well lie and say she perished when the airlock was blown because there are logs showing her activity afterwards."
"Why don't you say she took a transport down to Sienna once you reached Azul system? She could have been traumatized by the sabotage and was… in need of a sabbatical?" suggested Max with an inquisitive tone to his voice, while receiving a hateful glare from Jennie.
"Excellent idea! Excellent!" exclaimed Draagh. "Very well then. To answer your question - we are going to the Black Forest in what was known as Bavaria, in the European continent. In fact, this is from where your kind originated."
"Hey, I thought my ancestors were from South America," stated Jennie.
"Oh my dear, not originally. You will see, as all will be revealed quite soon. Yes, quite soon indeed."
"Are there humans in the Black Forest? Was it left untouched during the Vrol invasion? Or were they all killed?" asked Max.
"Oh, there are many humans, and lycans - even some ghouls and a few cannibals… but no, it was not left untouched. It was destroyed. However, after millennia it grew back quite nicely. In fact, we retuned that energy I was speaking of earlier, so you will both have a chance to - how should I put it - grow?"
"Draagh, I did a scan on the planet and detected no life. How could I have missed it? Do all humans live in caves or something?" asked Max.
"Oh, right now they do, yes, right now. That is why you could not detect them, but where we are going people live in lovely little homes, in quaint villages. It is very beautiful. One of my favorite periods."
Jennie and Max gave him an odd look as he reached his arm out, causing his ornate, mahogany staff to come flying into his grip. Bagatelle's jaw dropped as Draagh gave him a wink and said, "Come, let us begin. Max, put on some fresh clothes. Oh, and you might want to bring a toothbrush. Dental hygiene is not on the top of everyone's list where we are going."
"Or should I also say, to when we are going."
###
In a dark office in the Azul System Security Council headquarters, New Sydney, Oz, Councilman Len Johnson looked at the readout on his private console. As communication between the two parties had a delay of hours for each message sent, plus a few minutes for the translator to run its course, he had collected them all into a page, making it easier to read.
Johnson: My agent reaches Earth soon. Are you sure there is no further danger of infection?
X'than'dor: No imminent threat
Johnson: What is your ETA?
X'than'dor: 5.317 of your standard years
Johnson: And you will not approach Earth?
X'than'dor: We have no interest in Earth
Johnson: Excellent. I get Earth, and I will give you Azul
X'than'dor: We shall take it anyway
Johnson: That is fine. My agent reached Earth. Planet is intact
X'than'dor: Explain what means word "fine". It is logic. It is reality. Earth died. We continue. Azul dies. We continue
Johnson read the script over and over again, and, being completely amoral and borderline sociopathic, had no regrets. The plan was, once Ryder got Gunnarsson's transport and brought it back, they would reverse-engineer the craft and outfit three of the barges left over from the Exodus, returning to Earth to yet again create a brave, new world.
How fortunate, he thought, that the Vrol didn't have faster-than-light travel capabilities.
Chapter 10 - Packing
Max finished gathering a gear bag and made sure he didn't forget his toothbrush. He was unsure of where they were going, but as he had travelled to Los Angeles with Draagh in less than a second, he knew he was going somewhere, and that it was all real. An extra change of clothing, his Stinger, a portable console and other assorted sundries and he was ready. Exiting from his cabin, he saw Draagh standing in galley, so he set his bag on the deck, kneeling to go through it.
"Max, you can leave your weapon and computing device. They fail to work where we are going."
"What?" exclaimed Max. "They won't work? You mean I'll be defenseless?"
Draagh chuckled, being amused at the lad's dismay, and said, "My boy, you most certainly will not be defenseless. Oh no. You will be quite formidable. In fact, there are a few particulars regarding you that I left out of our discussion, as my intention was to convince our friends out there that we needed to leave, and that Jennie needed to come with us. It was an incredibly burdensome decision for the commander to make. Sending one's own blood to whereabouts unknown is always difficult."
Max's heart skipped a beat as he blurted, "She's his--"
"Shhhhhh!" hissed Draagh, cutting Max off. "Quiet my boy. As of this time, she is unaware of their relationship, but he well knows, and that is why he has always kept her under his command since locating her. However, he was never one to overly-protect the girl. He expects more out of her and pushes her harder to be at her best. He now merely sees this as another opportunity to help her to reach the next level, as they say."
Max lilted his head to the side, pondering what Draagh had said, and then popped back up, saying, "Ok, I'm ready. Let's go."
Max and Draagh walked out of the Machu Picchu, the loading ramp and bay doors gently closing behind them as they approached Bagatelle and Jennie, who were still by the fire pit. Bagatelle was giving Jennie last minute instructions, so Max tried to appear busy, picking some stuff up and screwing the cap back on the Glenfiddich bottle, which Draagh eyed appraisingly. He wanted to listen to what they were saying, but Draagh casually strolled up and commented on the woman's belongings.
"Jennie, you may as well leave your weapon with your superior officer. It will be of no use to you at our destination."
"Hey, just a minute," exclaimed Bagatelle, "she will need to be able to protect herself."
Draagh put up his hand as if it were a motion to stop and said, "Luigi, where we are going there is that energy I spoke of. No modern technology will work there, so the weapon will
be useless."
Jennie looked at Draagh with pleading eyes. "Can I bring it anyway, even if it doesn't work?"
Draagh considered her request for a moment, and then said, "I guess that would be fine."
With that, Max went running back to the Machu Picchu, and hitting a button on a fob in his hand, caused the loading bay ramp to drop. Once the bay doors opened, he bounded inside and grabbed his own equipment. He gave everyone an expectant look as he departed the craft.
"Well? If she gets to bring hers along, then so do I."
Jennie rolled her eyes back, and turned, making an audible gawd, while heading for the open area outside where the Machu Picchu was docked.
Looking back she found the location quite lovely, and wished she had gone there on a friendlier mission. Now, as it was, she was basically stuck with this Max, whom she still considered a traitor - and a geek - and an old Viking with some impressive parlor tricks - but she felt in her heart it was all real.
Draagh called everyone together to explain what they were all going to do. He would use his staff to transport himself, Max and Jennie, to the Black Forest, but when he started the power accumulation sequence on his staff, Bagatelle's ship would be visible, so the rear admiral had to lift off either before or after they had ported out. Bagatelle chose to stay and watch, wanting to make sure that this wasn't a bunch of hooey.
"Draagh, what about my ship? Will it be safe here?" asked Max.
"Yes, my son," he replied, "I shall conjure a light-bending wall that should hold until we return. Anyone who comes here will only see an empty, naturally-occurring cave in the jungle."
Max felt a bit more relieved and walked over to Bagatelle and spoke.
"Sir, I know that you came here to apprehend me, and I appreciate that you were following orders. I broke the rules, and for that I am sorry - but there is something much bigger than either of us here, and I think we both know that the Vrol should be our main concern. I'm tooting my own horn, but thanks to what I did, you were able to travel through side space and prove that military vessels can, and should have SSCC technology installed. I only hope you can convince the Council of this."
