Leumas remained silent at the direct accusation. He saw no point in saying anything. An outburst at this point would only make Copolla's case appear stronger, and his own weaker.
Copolla went on. "In accordance with our charter, the proposition to have the planet Earth made a member of the UCDW is hereby revoked." He then gazed directly at Greg and Sarah with piercing eyes. "Perhaps at another time the opportunity to join this Council will be offered again," he said, and quickly looked away from them, avoiding eye contact. Then he finished in a thunderous voice, "The subjects will be memory wiped and returned to their planet. That is the ruling of the Council."
Copolla rose and left his seat, brushing past Leumas. Leumas thought he heard a chuckle from Copolla as he passed by.
"One day, Copolla," Leumas said softly, "One day."
Council personnel escorted the three of them out of the Great Hall. As they walked to some unknown destination, Sarah spoke to Greg telepathically. ::Well, that wasn't so tough, was it?::
::No, and that's the part I don't like. It was too easy. The Leader can't stand us; I could sense it. For some reason, we pose some kind of threat to him,:: he thought to her gravely.
::Threat? How could we be?:: she asked, her stomach beginning to churn again.
Leumas interrupted their mental conversation as he looked about the room. "Keep your wits about you now. This is where it gets a little tricky," he said in a low voice not to be overheard by those that were escorting them.
They were taken into a large area labeled "Cerebral Alteration Facility," which was a short distance from the Hall. The door thudded closed behind them, leaving the three alone. Back in the control room area, a technician appeared to be running checks on the equipment. Leumas waved at the short alien, whose skin color was a light fluorescent blue. The technician acknowledged the wave with one of his own and returned to his work. Leumas turned back to Greg and Sarah and motioned them to come closer as he spoke quickly. "In a very short period, you will be sedated and I shall complete the memory wipe. You will have no recollection of this entire affair."
Sarah and Greg exchanged furtive glances.
Leumas further explained, "It's a painless process. You will awake back on Earth and explanations regarding your disappearances will be implanted. You will resume your lives as they were." Then he paused, and his tone turned grave. "At least, that is the way the process normally goes, but I don't think that will be the case."
"Why not?" Sarah asked.
Leumas began to rub his head, speaking carefully. "There are too many unexplained circumstances. My few sources that remain true tell me that apparently the effort to discredit me is not the only reason that Copolla has done all of this," he said as he loosened his Council garb he had donned for the session. "Too many life forms have been disappearing, and the explanations are just not there. There is something else here that involves you two. I just don't know what it is yet. And I have not heard from my assistant, Greta. I sent her to investigate another possibility, but now I can only assume she is dead, murdered. That seems to be the trend lately," he finished bitterly.
"And you think this Copolla is behind it?" Greg asked, although he felt somehow that the Leader certainly was.
"Most certainly," Leumas responded.
"How do we come into play in all this?" Sarah questioned.
Leumas shrugged. "It has something to do with Earth. I would assume it involves the past, because most of the records have been conveniently lost and/or destroyed regarding your planet. I have my suspicions, but no proof. I had a contact at the archives working on finding the information, but no one has seen him either. I now must assume that he also is dead."
He sighed, and looked at them both. "None of this is your concern once you return to Earth. I will keep probing into it and, if I find out anything that indicates your lives are in danger, I will somehow communicate with you."
"Do you think that Copolla will try to strike before we're back on Earth?" Greg asked, stuffing his hands into his pockets, one of his usual signs of nervousness.
"If anything happens," Leumas said. "I believe it will be during the return trip. I have prepared a little surprise just in case that happens. But, for now, we must complete this process. The Council will check to ensure that it has been done prior to you two going back."
His mood suddenly changed from serious and grave to one of compassion. He stepped closer to them with his hands outstretched, smiled and said in a pleasurable tone, "It has been a pleasure to meet both of you. I wish we had more time, but we don't. Of course, the prospect of having you both back here will be embedded into your minds. It will be triggered at the appropriate time if your thoughts move in that direction. Our little arrangement will remain a secret between us."
"Will you be all right? This Copolla doesn't seem like the forgiving type," Sarah asked Leumas with concern.
"For the moment, he is satisfied; he has gotten what he wanted, my head on a platter," Leumas said bitterly. "Don't worry; I'll figure out something. I always do. Now, you two must get going." He gestured to the two reclining seats in the center of the room, and said, "Please have a seat and we shall begin."
They moved toward the sterile white chairs.
::Sarah, listen. This whole story…there's something here that's just not right. I really believe there is more here that involves us. Copolla knows what it is. I'm not sure about what Leumas knows, but I think he is holding his own ideas in his mind.::
::What do you think we should do?::
::I want you to concentrate, and try to set up a mental block to the memory wipe process.::
::How do I do that?:: .
::I think I know how. Just envision a wall in your mind. Fixate on that one thought. Nothing else. Concentrate on the wall!::
::Okay, I think I can do that. A wall.::
::Good. If it works, I think we'll remember enough so that, when we get home, we can contact each other and decide what to do. Got it?::
Greg began forming the image of a wall in his mind. A large thick wall that encircled him protecting him from anything trying to break in.
::Got it,:: she said quietly.
::Sarah,:: he began softly.
::Yes, Greg?::
::It's been a strange experience. Yet I couldn't imagine doing this with anyone else.:: He was suddenly glad he had the ability to send this to her without speaking. He didn't want to share that thought with anyone else but her.
::Same here,:: she said, smiling at him as they laid down in the reclining chairs.
Leumas began, not knowing of their conversation. "You won't feel a thing. You'll just fall asleep and wake up back in your homes. Once again, I would like to say it's been a pleasure. So long, and have a safe trip."
They looked at him and nodded. But inside their minds, they concentrated on building the mental walls. Two med robots quickly appeared and injected them with a sedative. In a matter of seconds, they felt drowsy, their eyes closed, and they were quickly asleep, at least physically.
* * * *
Leumas began the memory wipe process. The equipment was brought up and running by the standby tech that maintained its ready state. It was virtually an automatic process after the computer was programmed to identify the area of the brain that held the memories of the past couple of days. Once these were located, these images were subsequently erased. In their place, harmless substitute memories would be left.
While the process was beginning, Leumas remembered the communiqué he had received moments before the Council meeting. There had been an explosion in the archives. From what the examination team could discern, two life forms had been killed…murdered by a laser blast weapon; the distinctive trademark of Copolla's henchmen. Because he had not heard from Greta or Robise, he could only assume they had been killed. When will this nightmare come to an end? How many have to—
His thoughts were suddenly jarred from his head as an alarm blared. He quickly glanced up at the display console to see what the
problem was. It was the neural overload alarm. He searched frantically for the med tech that had powered the equipment up, but he was nowhere in sight. Part of the technician's responsibility was to ensure that the fail-safes were all operable and functioning.
The readout indicated that the fail-safes had been disengaged and the equipment was malfunctioning by sending too much neural input into the humans. He reached for the emergency cutoff device and activated it. The electronic hum of the equipment wound down and then completely stopped. The power register indicated that the current sent through Greg and Sarah's brains was more than ten times the normal level required for a memory wipe. Leumas opened an emergency communications channel.
He yelled, "Alert… Alert! I have a medical emergency in the Cerebral Alteration Facility! Get somebody in here now!"
Leumas silenced the overload alarm. He moved over to check the life signs monitor. Incredibly, both Greg and Sarah's vital signs were still okay. Their respiration and heart rates were still all within normal parameters. But it was their brains that he was concerned about. How could they have withstood this kind of overload, he wondered.
He accessed the brain-scanning computer and instructed it to check for neural damage; this would take several minutes. As he waited, he confirmed the extremely high levels of neural input that had shot through Greg and Sarah.
"Damn," he said out loud, shaking his head. "No brain should be able to handle that much. They have to be brain dead." Silently, he still hoped for a miracle of some sort. As he examined possibilities as to how this could have happened, a lab technician entered the room. Leumas looked up and quickly observed that this technician was not the one who had been in the room when he had first arrived. Instead of being short and blue as Leumas remembered, this one was tall and pale as a ghost.
"Who are you?" Leumas demanded.
"I am the technician assigned to this equipment," the alien answered nervously as he observed Leumas’s disposition. "My presence was requested at another lab. When I arrived there, nobody knew why I had been called," the technician explained, shrugging.
"Do not touch anything at all," Leumas commanded, tight-lipped. "I will handle this investigation myself."
"Understood, sir. I shall stand by to assist you," the technician responded, moving off to the side of the room.
Leumas continued to weigh the odds of an equipment malfunction against someone actually sabotaging the program. He would have to check the program sequence. If it had been tampered with, the evidence would be there. But why try to kill these two? They could have simply been sent home with no memories. Or was this about discrediting me even further by the deaths of the two humans?
His thoughts were interrupted by the monotone computer voice that indicated the test completion of the brain scan. He looked at the monitor and read the results aloud, "All brain activity normal. Memory wipe complete. Subjects normal." Surprised and shocked, Leumas read the three phrases over again in his mind.
"How in the blazing moons of Gimsom could that be?" he asked incredulously. "Ten times the normal level of neural input was fed into their brains. There should be nothing left but mush. Thank goodness they're not harmed, but how?" Before Leumas could take all this in, his eyes riveted on the red flashing sign of the main memory wipe program terminal. It flashed in bold red letters: Program sequence erased.
"How can that be?" he shouted. "The program was intact only a few minutes ago!"
Leumas yelled for the lab technician who had been quietly observing him. "How can that be? How can…" he began, but the lab technician merely shrugged his shoulders.
Leumas sat down in a chair and rubbed his temples with his hands. He was so tired. Once again, Copolla's thugs had outmaneuvered him. But somehow, amazingly, Greg and Sarah had survived.
He walked over to where they slept peacefully and was glad they didn't have a clue about what just happened to them. He spoke softly to the two sleeping bodies. "I don't know how, but you two must have a guardian angel of some sort looking after you. Destiny definitely has something else in store for you. But what?"
His pondering was interrupted by the sound of footsteps. Someone was entering the facility. Leumas turned and saw several of the Council’s security force entering the room. They were Arcularians, an alien race that was loyal for life to whatever cause was impressed upon their minds at conception. They had non-descript features within faces composed of skin like pancake batter before cooking. As the head guard approached, Leumas asked with annoyance, "Where have you been? I could have used your assistance a few minutes ago!" Before the guard had a chance to answer, Leumas continued, "You didn't by chance see any suspicious-looking lab technicians on your way in, did you?"
"Is something wrong here?" the officer asked, utterly perplexed. "Suspicious lab technicians? What are you talking about?" The officer continued in confusion. "We were not aware of any problem. There were no alarms."
"Why am I not surprised," Leumas said, cynically, shaking his head. "They probably saw to that also."
"Who saw to what, sir?" The officer began, taking out a note pad. "What's going on here?"
"Forget it," Leumas said disgustedly, then looked at the officer warily, "So, if you are not here to respond to the alarm, why are you here?"
"The Leader of the Council requests your presence immediately. I was sent to escort you."
* * * *
::Are you there, Sarah?:: Greg whispered through his mind, even though he lay physically unconscious in the chair in preparation for the memory wipe. Apparently, the ability to communicate remained even while his body was physically asleep.
::Yes, I'm here,:: she responded, warily followed by, ::Wherever here actually is.::
::We're asleep physically, yet our minds are still able to communicate.::
::This is really strange.::.
::Strange maybe, but interesting.::
::I wonder how far this power is going to go? Where will it level off? How much will we end up with, and—::
::You're scaring me a little, Greg,:: she cut him off. ::You're starting to sound obsessed by this thing. We need to get back home, for now anyway. Then we can sort through all this stuff.::
::Okay, okay,:: he began, apologetically, ::I understand, Sarah, and I'm sorry. I don't mean to get wrapped up about this power stuff. It's just kind of exciting to me.:: He tried to explain further, wanting her to understand. ::You know, I've always been a run-of-the-mill kind of guy, and now I've suddenly got this great gift. It's just so exciting! And then meeting…you…it's the best thing that has ever happened to me.::
::I'm sorry about getting tense,:: she thought to him softly. ::But with this memory wipe thing and all, and trying to concentrate on a wall to block the effect, it just makes me nervous. But you…you have been wonderful throughout all of this. I don't think I could have made it alone.::
::You've been the strong one. I feel like when we're together, we can do anything.::
::Yes. Same here. We make a great team.:: Sarah agreed. ::But if the memory wipe should work…::
::I know. I've been thinking the same thing and I have an idea. We still have to concentrate on the wall thing to try and block the affect, but I also want to try to set up some kind of code word just in case we do get mentally wiped. That way, a certain word will trigger a response that might revive our memories. Or, at least, enough so we know to meet or get together or something. How does that sound to you?::
::It sounds reasonable. I'm impressed—good thinking. So what is the word going to be?::
::It has to be a word that will mean something to both of us. Yet it also has to be something that wouldn't be used in an ordinary conversation. Hum, let's see…::
::How about Leumas?:: She offered. ::I mean, use his name. I doubt that a word like that will ever show up anywhere.::
::Sounds great to me! Leumas it is. Whether the word is spoken or written. Same effect. Implant this into your mind. Got it?::
::Got it.::.
&nbs
p; ::Okay, Sarah, we have to be ready now. The wipe is probably going to touch us at any minute. Remember, concentrate on the wall. The wall. Okay, do you have it, the wall, Sarah?::
::Got it.::
::Now concentrate on the word LEUMAS being behind the wall. Just picture it sitting there, right behind that wall!::
A sound suddenly began to go through their minds. At first it sounded like ocean waves sloshing along the side of a ship. Then the gentle, brushing sound quickly began to grow in intensity to a low roar. Then it turned into the sound of water rushing over a tremendous waterfall.
Neither of them wanted to admit it, but they suspected what it was. It was a tremendous surge of neural energy approaching. It roared toward their minds, rattling and clanking loudly like a wild train hurtling down the tracks with a hundred freight cars.
::Greg! What's that?:: she asked faintly, her thoughts quivering.
::It must be the mind wipe! But it sounds a lot worse than what I imagined it would be. It sounds a hundred times louder. Something's wrong, Sarah, I can sense it!::
::I think you're right! It sounds like someone is trying to do a lot worse than just memory wipe us. I think they're trying to fry our brains!::
::I thought we could trust Leumas!:: Greg screamed above the tremendous sound, which was getting louder. ::SARAH!:: He shouted through his mind as loud as he could. ::Focus on the wall! Sarah, focus on the wall. The wall! The wall! The wall! Remember Leumas behind the wall! Remember Leumas behind the wall!::
The roar vanished, leaving only an eerie silence. Inside their minds remained a cloud of debris and the scattered remnants of a wall.
Chapter Fourteen
LEUMAS TAKES A TRIP
Copolla and several of the Council members sat around a large conference table in his chambers. The group was somber, even though Copolla struggled to hide his good mood beneath a mask of false concern and worry of recent events.
"Such a shame. A real pity," Copolla said, offering a round of drinks to his fellow colleagues by raising the bottle in his hand. "We all had so much faith in him," he said as he shook his head, appearing greatly disturbed. The other members around the table watched him cautiously as they refused any refreshment. He shrugged, and poured himself a large drink.
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