Oosapeth’s body was the last to be jettisoned, to a hero’s salute.
The deaths were gruesome: first a temperature, followed by an outbreak of a reddish rash. Once the rash appeared the virus had taken hold and the end was swift, within 48 hours. Blood would weep from every orifice, the surge of blood from the eye sockets being the most harrowing to witness. The victim was in agony.
Unaffected by the virus, Dane Vhastek was called upon by Oosapeth once he had been told that there was nothing anyone could do to prevent his demise. There was a slim hope that an antidote could be found; in truth, Oosapeth knew his fate. Through a glass partition, Oosapeth spoke:
‘I have respect for you as a warrior, but you have betrayed the cause in your endless pursuit of Annaluce. I am to die. I have made a mistake.’
Dane looked puzzled. ‘A mistake, what mistake?’ he thought.
‘My daughter is missing, Dane. You have rescued her before and I want you to promise you will rescue her again. I have to die knowing that everything will be done to save my daughter. Do I have your word?’
‘I would rescue your daughter even if you hadn’t requested it. You must know that,’ replied Dane.
Oosapeth lowered his head in shame. He had betrayed his friend. ‘I have betrayed you, my friend, and you need to be wary. It was a shameful moment when you exposed our whereabouts to Qudor Volkan, so I arranged for you to be removed.’
‘Removed?’ questioned Dane.
‘Do I need to spell it out? Removed!’
‘By whom?’
‘Anchorax,’ replied Oosapeth. ‘He never confirmed that he would accept my offer but he has returned to Zarduzian. You must be wary, Dane. I need you alive to find Serenix. I need your word.’
‘But Anchorax has no deal if you perish.’
‘I need your word, Dane!’
‘You have my word. I will deal with Anchorax upon his return to Colony 7.’
‘Now leave!’ demanded Oosapeth as the clear glass turned to opaque upon command as he left. He needed to die with dignity, a true warrior.
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Elizan waited for Omalius to return. The hour did not matter. Her room was dimly lit as she paced around, agitated.
Omalius knocked politely before activating the retina secure locking device. The door would not open without Elizan verifying the visitor, which she did by simply speaking the code. Failure to acknowledge the visitor within ten seconds would alert security that would zap the visitor with an electric pulse. In this case thankfully, that was not necessary.
Omalius swiftly entered, somewhat shaken.
‘I’m afraid your concerns were justified,’ said Omalius.
‘The slave, did she squeal?’
‘She needed proof that her brother would be released from the floating prison. I gave her your reprieve certificate as you instructed, as well as her freedom.’
‘Well?’ asked Elizan.
‘Anchorax was to betray you. It seems his allegiance is to Dane Vhastek. He sees Dane as his saviour and his plan was to lead you along and come clean with Dane once he returned to the space station Colony 7. He wanted to take Dina with him and they were due to meet tomorrow night.’
‘It seems no one is to be trusted, Omalius.’
‘I might take that the wrong way, Elizan.’
‘I’ll ignore that childish remark but for the sake of clarity I will rephrase that – it seems only those close to me are to be trusted.’
Omalius nodded before continuing, ‘It seems there is one other complication. Oosapeth had already offered Anchorax a deal.’
‘In return for what?’
‘The head of Dane Vhastek.’
‘As I said, Omalius, it seems no one is to be trusted.’
***************************
The incoming spacecraft was recognised as a Trollozyte craft. The reading from the space centre, Colony 7, deduced that the craft had gone through the portal, well outside Earth’s atmosphere, that co-ordinates had been pre-set and the craft was heading towards the space station in automatic mode. Oosapeth’s signature was acknowledged as the last individual to enter any co-ordinates into this particular craft before he perished on Colony 7.
The operative on board the space station alerted Dane Vhastek who immediately headed to the bridge.
‘We have an incoming spacecraft,’ informed the operative.
‘Friend or foe?’ asked Dane, his headset ensuring the operative understood every word.
‘The incoming data suggest that the craft is on its way back from Zarduzian, courtesy of co-ordinates entered by Oosapeth himself.’
‘Then it must be Anchorax. He was to go to Zarduzian to secure troops and then return to Colony 7,’ said Dane.
‘Precisely our deduction, but there is one problem.’
‘Problem?’
‘There is no communication. It is almost as if nobody is on board,’ replied the operative.
‘When he docks, I’ll enter the craft. It might be a trap,’ said Dane.
The craft looked to dock − everything about the craft looked normal. The automatic docking procedure engaged and the craft slowly neared the space centre. Once the craft locked into position the door would open, the passengers could pass through the docking chamber where computers would analyse and verify those travelling on board. Oosapeth would have already processed Anchorax as the passenger, so the clearance through the docking chamber would be a formality.
Dane waited at the other end of the docking chamber, armed and ready with a few of his warriors alongside for good measure. They waited.
‘Hold fire until I give the word!’ said Dane. His warriors did as he commanded.
They waited.
‘Still hold fire!’ barked Dane.
They waited.
‘I’m going in,’ said Dane. The warriors followed cautiously. This could be a trap. Step by step the posse of warriors entered the craft. It was lit and operationally, nothing appeared untoward. Dane eased into the docking area of the craft, below the flight operating deck. This was the tricky section; only one warrior could enter the flight deck at any one moment by way of a lift-like section on the floor, which rose onto the flight deck. As the lift could also be disengaged, this was a security measure in case the craft was invaded.
Dane being the warrior he is, ignored requests not to be the first to enter the flight deck. He stood on the spot, gave a nod to his warriors and disappeared. They waited. There was no sound of any ammunition fire or communication. The warriors continued to wait.
The silence was worrying − not a sound, nothing. In what seemed an age, the lift device eventually began to return to its original position. The first glimpse of the being − the boots. Heavy-duty, black, warrior boots. It was Dane Vhastek returning. His full figure emerged and he was alone.
Dane walked forlornly towards the most senior warrior and uttered something in his ear before walking slowly towards the docking chamber.
The warrior in charge occupied the same spot where Dane had stood moments earlier. As he rose, his eyes peered into the flight deck − a body. The body was charred, the head was missing and there was a message in Undarthian even though the victim was Zaagan.
The message read: ‘Traitor! Once a squalor, always a squalor!’
CHAPTER 40
STAVE’S SALVATION
The Z1845X was ticking. Robert was stranded. It was only a matter of time and he would be history. His only consolation was that he would take everything with him − the ugly Drayzak opposite, Qudor Volkan and his entire arsenal of war craft, the F16s and stealth bombers as well as the portal amplifier. ‘Perhaps this was how it was to be?’ thought Robert. He had changed the timeline; the future would be different − it had to be. The one thing that worried Robert was that he wouldn’t be around to witness exactly how the future would change, how 2218 would have been. This was not in his plan.
Robert stared at the restless Drayzak. He had seen Drayzaks before, on
e that killed his friend Ansell mercilessly − he despised the beasts − it was ironic that his death would also mean that he would take out a Drayzak. Robert smiled at the irony.
The portal amplifier was a magnificent craft; Robert was in awe of its technology. Even in 2218 with the advent of all the technology the multi alien races on Earth had to offer, the portal amplifier was still, in Robert’s opinion, the most outstanding alien invention.
Robert had set the countdown at 60 minutes. He estimated that approximately 20 of those 60 minutes had elapsed. Being tied to the hull of the craft by his hands and with his legs also bound meant that he could not access any implement stored within his uniform, which might help his escape. He became more agitated as each minute passed. His plan had been to talk Qudor Volkan into allowing him to return to Area 51 to rescue a time machine, it would mean being escorted by one of his henchmen but, by the time they were a few thousand miles into their journey, Qudor Volkan and everything within 50 miles would be incinerated. He reminded himself that the aim was to change 2218, to give back control of Earth to humans; he hadn’t done this to be a hero. To eliminate Qudor was the only objective and yet he didn’t feel as though this was a true victory in the sense that he wouldn’t be around to see whether his actions had the desired effect. He didn’t want to die this way.
Time was ticking and the Drayzak became more restless. Robert was running out of time.
A white flash appeared out of nowhere. The light was blinding and the Drayzak squealed. Robert instinctively moved his face to one side, shutting his eyes to protect him from the light that engulfed the portal amplifier. There was an accompanying sound, similar to the crack of a lightning bolt. Within seconds, the light dispersed. Robert blinked profusely as he tried to focus on the area directly in front. He could make out the Drayzak still squirming, but there was another figure emerging. As Robert focused he could see an upright creature around seven feet tall, very stocky, human in shape but scaly. ‘What in God’s name is that thing?’ thought Robert. The scaly skin was familiar, in fact it mirrored the skin of the Drayzak opposite, but it wasn’t a Drayzak. Robert could vaguely recognise a human form, the torso was that of a human and it was obviously male as the trademark chest was in evidence and it had arms and legs of which the muscular tone was off the Richter scale. By now the light had disappeared completely and the second monster in the room stood before Robert in all its glory.
The monster looked around the ship and headed towards the Drayzak who was desperate to free itself from the shackles in order to attack the imposter. It took less than five seconds for the incoming monster to break the neck of the Drayzak. Whatever this thing was its strength was monstrous.
‘Where’s the Z1845X?’ asked the creature.
‘You speak English?’ asked Robert.
‘I am from the year 2257. You are Robert Stave and I need to defuse the bomb.’
‘Free me and I’ll show you,’ replied Robert.
The creature walked over to Robert towering his meagre six feet stature, ripping away the shackles as if it was snapping an annoying bit of cotton from a garment. Robert headed straight for the weapon, defusing it within seconds.
‘Who are you? What are you?’ asked Robert.
‘I am the future. Your future,’ replied the creature. ‘I am the brainchild of a being in the future intent on taking over planet Earth. I am part human and part Drayzak, a monster with intelligence. I am the direct result of your actions.’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘I am here to prevent you from changing the future. In precisely ten minutes, in our history of time, this area will be a mass of destruction. You successfully kill Qudor Volkan and you change the future – for the worse,’ explained the creature.
‘What alien could possibly be worse than Qudor Volkan?’
‘Not an alien, a human – his name, Zak Lancelot.’
‘That can’t be,’ said Robert, ‘as Zak Lancelot is a rebel, he’s a good guy.’
‘He might have been in your timeline but not in this one. It was too late for you to prevent Drayzaks roaming the Earth. You only managed to kill Qudor Volkan. Without Qudor the alien races take on a different path.’
‘That’s not supposed to happen.’
‘Well, it did. In 2257 the new weapon is the hi bred, the human Drayzak.’
‘What was that flash?’ asked Robert.
‘In 2257 you don’t need a machine to time travel,’ said the hi bred. ‘I need to get rid of this explosive device, it’s too dangerous to have lying around. You know how to fly this bird. We need to get high enough to dispose of this device in space.’
Robert fired up the portal amplifier and it rose rapidly into the outer atmosphere, its speed way and above the capabilities of the Olympianas’. Qudor would not be able to react quickly enough. As the craft rose, Robert turned towards the hi bred.
‘What happens once we dispose of the explosive device?’
‘You are coming back with me, to 2257.’
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Earth vs Alien Page 28
