by Dave Lemel
Chapter 26
Simon placed the final string of charges along the base of a control console near the generator. He activated them and tossed the empty duffel bag under an open staircase. As he jumped down from the raised platform he had been working on, he called Jack.
After a few rings, Jack answered, and Simon instantly knew all was not well. “Simon, help!” yelled Jack into his phone.
Simon stopped walking and tried to calm Jack down enough to relay what was going on. “Jack, where are you?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Jack replied in a noticeably shaky tone. “We were on our way back to Gertie, and we came out of a tunnel Li said was a shortcut, and two Vikards were there and we ran and then almost ran over two more, and now we’re hiding in what looks like some kind of utility room. I am not a good shot with this wand thing. I knew I was gonna die here. I just had this feeling right when I heard the guy giving that speech before I said to myself, Yep! This is it! This is where I’m gonna die!”
“Jack,” said Simon in as calm a tone as he could muster.
“Don’t tell me to relax!” exclaimed Jack. “I can’t relax right now! I don’t want to die!”
Simon took a few seconds to think about what to say next. “Jack, I know it’s hard, but just…” As Simon began his second attempt to calm Jack, he heard Li in the background, “Gimme the stick.” Simon then heard Jack say, “Li what are you doing? There’re four of them out there. At least. Could even be more by no w for all we know.” “Just stay here,” Li responded in the background. “I will be right back.”
“Jack, what’s going on?” asked Simon.
“Li just took my wand, popped off some sort of vent cover, climbed inside, and disappeared.”
“Okaaay….” Simon responded as he realized that as concerned about Jack and Li as he was, he should probably keep moving himself. He looked up from his link and started backtracking from his route into the shield field generator room.
“Jack,” Simon said again. “What’s going on?”
“I hear something,” said Jack. Simon could hear four muffled thuds from the other end of the call. “It sounds like large sacks of laundry being dropped on the floor,” said Jack, slightly breathless. “Now I hear someone walking up to the door of the room I’m in.” Simon stopped jogging and stared at his link, wishing he could see what was happening on the other end of the call. The sound of a door handle turning could be heard over Jack’s heavy breathing. Li’s voice finally broke the silence. “Jack…you still in there?” Li asked. “You can come out now.”
Simon heard Jack crawl out from his hiding spot and walk over to the door. “What were those noises? Where did the Vikards go?” Jack asked as he walked. “Holy crap…Li, how did you…you said you were a pacifist!”
Simon asked for an update. “Jack are you guys all right?”
“Yeah, we’re fine, now,” replied Jack. “Apparently, mister pacifist has no problem dropping four Vikards like they were nothing.” “Hey I am a pacifist!” said Li. “I used to be a soldier though. These guys were trying to kill us, right? Besides, this stick thing only knocks ’em out, you guys said. Does not kill ’em or anything.”
“Li was a soldier?” Simon asked.
Jack repeated the question to Li, “You were a soldier?” “Yes,” Li replied. “I hated it. Was not by choice. I was pretty good, too, I guess, but it really is not that hard. Point and shoot, point and shoot. I am not proud of my past. It is part of the reason I volunteered to come all the way out here to mine, and again…I am a pacifist now.”
“Jack,” said Simon. “Tell Li to keep the wand for now and you guys get moving.”
“Works for me,” replied Jack as he hung up, ending the call.
“I knew I’d find one of you pathetic star marshals in here. “
Simon recognized the voice before he even turned to see where it was coming from.
“Always in pairs you travel. Once we capture the one that was on the top, I will reunite you two so you may die as a pair as well.”
Simon ejected his wand into his hand and looked over his left shoulder. Standing not twenty feet away was the heavily scarred face of the Vikard who had been giving the speech earlier, Dow. Simon flicked his right wrist backwards from his hip and fired twice in Dow’s general direction. He ran forward and dove around the next corner for cover. He quickly flung his wand hand back around the corner and blindly sent three more pulses down the hall where he had just been.
Simon waited as his heart relentlessly pounded at the inside of his ribcage. He heard nothing. Did I actually hit him with one of those wild, panicked pulses? he wondered. Simon crept towards the corner and reminded himself to breathe. He leaned his head closer to the corner and quickly darted it just enough for his right eye to get a peek before pulling back completely behind his cover. Did I see that right? he thought. He took one more quick peek to confirm. Dow was gone. That doesn’t make sense , he thought. Vikards don’t run away, and this isn’t just any Vikard, this is Dow. He has to be creeping around somewhere to ambush me.
Simon snapped his head around to check the hall behind him. No. Nothing. He hadn’t snuck around to pounce from his other side. What if he is further along in the path to the exit , thought Simon. “That must be it,” Simon whispered to himself. He knows I only know one way out of here, and he knows how to get ahead and cut me off .
Simon turned his arm and called Todd on his link. Todd could see the stress on Simon’s face the instant he answered. “What’s going on in there?” he asked.
Simon responded in a whisper, even though he knew his presence was no longer a secret. “He found me.”
“Who, he?” asked Todd.
“Dow,” whispered Simon.
“What? What do you mean? Where is he now that you could call me?” asked Todd .
“I don’t know,” Simon began. “He appeared seemingly out of thin air. I fired a few pulses and found cover. When I looked again, he was just gone. I think he intended to panic me and then ambush me at a cut-off point as I ran for the exit.”
Todd stared blankly at the image of Simon on his arm as he tried to think of something supportive to say, or even better, a course of action to get him out safely. “Yikes,” was all that came out.
“Yikes? That’s all you got? Yikes?” said Simon as his whisper grew in volume proportionally with his fear.
“Sorry, sorry,” Todd replied. “I mean, we’ll figure something out. We always figure something out. Just give me a second.”
Todd took two seconds to finish sealing up Shelly, and she lifted off his lap and back up near the ceiling of the massive cavern. Todd stood up and looked up and down the machine, then side to side. “There has to be other ways in and out of there. I’ll call Lombargnor and have him talk me through an escape route for you. In the meantime, backtrack a little and find a good place to hide until I call back.”
“All right,” said Simon. “Hurry, man. We don’t have long before the charges start detonating on top of the immediate threat.”
“I know,” Todd responded. “Little less than thirty minutes from right now.” Todd could see the doubt creeping over Simon’s face. “I promise, Simon. I am going to get you out of there.”
“I’m fine,” replied Simon. “Just get moving. ”
Simon hung up and was immediately grabbed from behind, both his arms pinned to the wall behind him by what felt like a thick, fleshy rope. He could not see for certain what it was because just as he tried to look down, his neck was wrapped by the same substance and yanked sharply backward. The back of his head slammed flat against a cold, hard, metallic area of the wall and was held firmly in place.
Simon struggled with all the strength he could muster but he could not move at all. He tried to speak, but as he did the rope around his neck tightened and he stopped before he lost all ability to breathe. He was trapped and he was helpless, and now he heard footsteps approaching.
“I would ask you where the explosives
you spoke of are located, but it does not matter.” Simon again recognized the voice as that of Dow. “I have just received word that final preparations for startup are complete.” Dow walked right up to Simon and bent down to look at him. Simon could feel the heat from Dow’s breath on his face and smell his lunch, which he guessed had been rotting rat meat. Simon rolled his eyes upward to meet the mismatched set of eyes just inches from his own as Dow stared back at him with a smirk. “I am going to drag you out of here and place you right in front of my baby’s mouth. When I turn him on, you will be his first meal.”
Dow slowly ran the three talon-like nails of his left hand down Simon’s face. As they reached the bottom, just above his jawbone, he punctured the skin and held them there, watching the blood slowly trickle out of the fresh wounds he had created. He looked back into Simon’s eyes. “I would love to tear you limb from limb myself. I adore the bright red blood that pours from your fragile human bodies. I will resist, though. I feel it appropriate that my son’s first taste be nice, fresh human meat since he will be devouring your home planet and solar system so very soon.” Simon’s forehead wrinkled as he returned Dow’s gaze. “You look as though you are confused by something,” said Dow. He stepped back and tilted his scaly head as he asked, “Surely you knew what these machines were capable of? I have no doubt my old friend Lombargnor would have explained what it does before sending you inside it.” Dow paced for a few seconds and mockingly stroked his chin. “Ah!” he exclaimed. “It must be the way I refer to the machine as my son. You see, marshal, what your filthy Bopecan boss does not know, what he could not explain to you, is that this Kreblach is different. This Kreblach is special.”
Dow repositioned himself directly in front of Simon and said, “You may release him now, my boy.” The ropes holding Simon in place slacked and retracted. Simon stumbled forward from the sudden lack of resistance. Dow violently met Simon’s forward momentum with his outstretched arm as he clotheslined him across the neck and down to the floor.
Dazed from either the blow of Dow’s giant arm, the floor that broke his head’s momentum, or both, Simon did not even realize he was being dragged down the hall by the back of his collar. “When your scum of a boss and his despicable Bopecan brethren destroyed one of our earlier versions of this glorious machine, I was, at first, enraged.”
“I’m guessing that’s a pretty typical reaction for you,” Simon said before he swung his body and struck Dow in the side of the knee with the strongest kick he could muster from his embarrassing position. It felt like kicking a tree. Dow did not even flinch. He lifted Simon up with the one hand he was dragging him with and held Simon so that his face was inches from his own. Dow stared into Simon’s eyes for a couple long seconds and then headbutted him in the middle of his face.
Simon felt and heard his nose crack with the impact. Seconds later, he felt and tasted the warm, salty blood pour from it and over his mouth. His tongue felt around the front of his mouth from the inside, and he noticed a tooth seemed to be missing as well.
“As I was saying,” continued Dow as he nonchalantly began dragging Simon down the hall again. “At first I was enraged. Soon, however, I realized it was an opportunity. A weakness in the design had been exploited, and I could improve upon my earlier creation, making it even greater. So that is what I did. The original Kreblach were essentially on their own once they were launched. Other than the occasional remote adjustment, they did all their thinking for themselves. This made them vulnerable.”
Dow stopped walking and turned to face the wall on his right. A hole opened in the side, and Simon could see the cavern through it. Dow threw Simon through the hole and jumped out right behind him. No sooner had Simon hit the ground than he could feel the hand grab the back of his collar once again. It was now dragging him along the outside of the machine toward the front.
“To correct the flaw in the design, I realized the ultimate Kreblach would not just be alive, but it should ideally be grown from the most impressive biological material possible. Mine.” Simon pulled his arms under his face and set his link screen to stay black. He then muted all incoming sounds and called Todd. Todd answered, and immediately recognizing Dow’s voice, listened in as he began to run along the side of the machine toward the front. “Soon after that revelation, the most important adaptation of all came to me. What if not only were it to be grown from my flesh, but could stay forever linked with me as well. I could see what it sees. Feel what it feels. Help it make decisions, especially for defense. The only problem was how to maintain the link in real time over the vast distances of the galaxy. As you know, this technology existed, but it was Bopecan. We needed to get our hands on a Bopecan port key. For years, I obsessively hunted for one but could not attain my prize. Just when I began to consider it may be time to accept I would have to find another way, one of the greatest surprises of my life occurred.”
Dow rounded the front corner of the machine and dropped Simon to the ground. He bent down and tied Simon’s wrists together, then his ankles, and then tied all four limbs together. He left him there hogtied as he walked around him in a circle, continuing his story.
“I received word that a star marshal had stolen a Bopecan port key and was looking to sell it to the Vikards.”
Simon spat the blood that had pooled in his mouth and said, “That’s impossible. The Bopecans never let marshals have the port keys, precisely because it would be too dangerous if one were lost or stolen.”
Dow smirked and continued. “I’m sure that is the policy now, and that you have been told it always was. However, years ago, there were exceptions made for exceptional marshals. No doubt you have heard the story of star marshal Jay Gibson murdering his longtime partner.”
Simon’s heart skipped a beat. Todd froze and nearly stopped breathing. “I believe Jay remains the only human on the marshals’ ten most wanted list. What if I told you Jay Gibson never killed Douglas Jordan. What if instead of the version you have been told, they were entrusted with a Bopecan port key. What if together they turned on their Bopecan masters and conspired to steal that key and sell it. Well that, my bloody little friend, is precisely what occurred. They faked the murder, and Douglas Jordan ran off with the key while everyone focused their attention on finding Jay.”
Todd suddenly felt lightheaded and his vision left him. He stumbled, and his outstretched arm found the wall of the cavern. He rested his forehead on it for support, closed his eyes, and took a few slow, deep breaths through pursed lips, trying to steady himself and get his heart back under control. Todd opened his eyes and heard Simon speak.
“I don’t believe you,” Simon said.
Dow responded with a loud laugh that echoed through the cavern. “I could not possibly care less what you believe!” Dow exclaimed before walking to the side of Simon’s head and then kneeling down next to his battered face. “You should feel quite privileged, you know. Not only will you get the honor of being the first meal of my offspring before it goes on to establish the Vikards in their rightful place as the dominant species in the galaxy, but you also get to hear the tale of how it came to be.” Dow stood back up and walked to the mouth of the machine before turning to face Simon again.
Halfway down the side of the machine, Todd pulled his forehead off the cavern wall. He looked down at his link and ended the call with Simon. As much as he wanted to hear the rest of what Dow had to say, he knew this was not the time. His partner and best friend needed him completely focused or this would have no chance of ending well. Todd called Shelly. “I need you up front for bird’s-eye on Simon. Stay out of sight if possible, but get me a visual of Marshal Cain as soon as you can.”
Todd watched as Shelly zipped along the cavern ceiling. He wondered whether he should go back to the top as well. Maybe ambush from above? Then he remembered the cave right off the front where he had placed the charges with Li. That should get him close without detection. From there he would figure out his next step. Todd ran to the nearest tunnel entrance an
d back out to beehive cavern.
Chapter 27
Try as Simon might to stay locked into his current situation, he could not manage it. He knew he was running out of time to escape. He knew that what Dow was saying could prove to be important later if he did survive. It may even offer him a clue of how to survive in the first place. In spite of all that, his mind kept wandering off, back across the solar system to his little family. His beautiful wife Sasha, the love of his life. They had always been meant for each other. They were supposed to grow old together and watch little Penny grow into a woman and start a family of her own. Penny. That little face. Simon’s eyes welled with tears. He could not bear the thought of never holding her again. She deserved to grow up with her daddy. He could not die like this.
Simon blinked the tears out and took a deep breath. What did he just see? He shook his head and blinked hard again, then focused on the ceiling far above. It was very hard to make out in stealth mode, but he was sure he saw her. Shelly. Todd must be coming. He pulled himself together and re-focused on the present. He would not die here. Not like this. He refused. Somehow, some way, he would find a way to get home to his girls.
Todd crept along the tunnel wall closer and closer to the main cavern again. As he watched the feed from Shelly on his link, his mind raced, trying to come up with some way to get Simon out of this mess. Speaking of mess , he thought to himself as Shelly zoomed in on Simon’s face. “Yikes,” he whispered. Sasha is not going to be pleased, he thought.
Todd could hear Dow explaining now that the connection between himself and this kreblach machine was how he had grabbed Simon inside. Dow had been controlling the flesh along the hall, reached out, and restrained his arms and neck. Now would be when he brought it fully to life. Now would be when he finally turned it on and allowed it to start feeding and growing.
