Quasar

by Philip R Benge

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  Quasar awoke to hear that the two missionaries were missing, where they had gone no one knew, also the headman of the town was missing, gone walk-about maybe he mused, for he was a being with no real interest in such things. Before he could think about the reason behind the missing missionaries, the sound of an approaching spacecraft came to his ears and brushed all other thoughts from his head. He rushed from his tent to scan the skies, there it was, circling just beyond the outer tents of Tent City, and then it was landing some two hundred feet away from his capital city on Remus. Without thinking about it, for he was supremely confident and completely fearless, Quasar rushed along the narrow streets and out into the desert. The sun had risen some thirty minutes previously so it was still a little cool, but such things did not bother Quasar. He looked at the words painted onto the side of the craft, ‘Church of the Universe’ it must have been sent by their leaders to find out why they had not been able to contact the good bishop for the last few days, he mused. He stood some twenty feet from the doorway; here he awaited his new guests who had been kind enough to deliver a spacecraft to him. The Alemanni stopped one hundred and fifty feet further back as Quasar did not want to worry the missionaries before they even left their strange ship. The normal inhabitants of Tent City were even further back, standing just outside of the outer ring of tents.

  Quasar watched impatiently for the door to the ship to open and finally it did, to permit one dressed in clothes similar to his disappearing bishop to exit, he was followed by a dark skinned man, but he dismissed this one as one who he assumed to be just another priest. The last people to exit the spacecraft was a woman dressed in a similar fashion to the women of Remus except that the lower part of her face was covered by a scarf and as far as he could see, she did not wear makeup. Quasar assumed that this woman must belong to some religious sect that prohibited women from showing too much flesh, for he had learned of them through the bishop and his underlings.

  Quasar now moved forward until he was only feet away from the ‘missionaries’ who in turn moved even closer until the woman was almost touching him. It was now that Rawlins spoke, he needed to have Quasar`s attention focused solely upon him alone.

  “Excuse me sir.” Rawlins said in the local language, but extremely poorly so that Quasar had to strain to understand his words. “My colleagues and I are here in search of Bishop Myers.” These words said in the local language were the only ones known by Rawlins, having learnt the phrase only minutes ago.

  As Quasar concentrated upon Rawlins, Alice moved her clothing aside to allow her to operate the gadget with which she and Partridge had been practicing. She pressed a button and a net flew up opening as it rose, as soon as it was above a startled Quasar`s head she pressed it again and the net was pulled sharply down over his head and tightening so that it was impossible to remove.

  Quasar screamed in rage and struck out at Alice, catching her a heavy blow to her body, she was sent flying to the ground badly stunned by the force of the blow, she looked groggily up but could not understand quite what was happening around her. Quasar now attempted to tear the net away from his head but found to his dismay that it was made of a material that even he could not tear. He now realised that he could not hear any telepathic voices and the significance of what was happening exploded into his brain.

  “No, you can not do this to me again, I am Quasar the Great.” He screamed out angrily.

  Seeing that he was getting nowhere with the net he turned his attentions to Partridge and Rawlins, who had closed in on him to prevent him from escaping. Just then, two giants rushed from the open door in the side of the spacecraft, Olsen saw Alice lying stunned upon the ground but could not stop to help her, he and Rajah had their own problem awaiting them. Partridge and Rawlins were desperately struggling with a very enraged Quasar. They were on the point of losing the battle when help arrived. Olsen and Rajiah grabbed a hold of Quasar, who now turned his energies against them as he struggled to escape, however, he was dealing with two strong men and this time he could not rely on his mental powers to disable them. They each grabbed a leg while Partridge and Rawlins each held onto an arm.

  On seeing their god Quasar attacked by the Earth people, the Alemanni warriors rushed forward to help their god. Rajah saw them as he struggled with Quasar and called to his people.

  “Now my warriors, while the demon is no longer inside of your heads, kill the Alemanni.”

  The warriors of Tent City raised their antique firearms and fired them before the Alemanni warriors had the time to react to this new threat behind them, many of them falling to the ground having been hit by the bullets. The remaining Alemanni warriors turned to look back at the warriors of Tent City and for a few valuable seconds deliberated on what they should do, then Mahan screamed out to them.

  “Forget them; we will deal with them after we have freed our god from the hands of the unholy ones.”

  With that, the Alemanni turned about and rushed toward the spacecraft, oblivious to the bullets striking them down from behind for they were only interested in going to the aid of their god.

  The delay however, allowed Olsen and the others to carry Quasar through the open doorway of the spacecraft, Quasar lashing out with whatever limb was available, but struggle as he did he could not resist the combined strength of his four kidnappers. Caleb now darted from the ship and rushing across to Alice, he scooped her up as if she were a feather and carried her towards the safety of the ship. Colt, who had a feeling that things would not go according to plan appeared at the open door to check on things. It turned out to be lucky that he had, for once Alice and Caleb were safe inside, he closed the door, just managing to shut the door as the first of the remaining Alemanni warriors reached it and banged on the metal of the ship while others swarmed all over it. With everyone safe inside Colt returned to the small bridge of the freighter and moments later, the aging freighter moved up into the air scattering terrified warriors as it rose.

  Olsen and the other three men carried a struggling Quasar towards the specially adapted room and threw him unceremoniously through the open door to see him land hard against the far wall; Quasar fell painfully in a heap upon the floor. Olsen and all of the others had followed Quasar into the room and while Olsen, Rajiah and Rawlins held the struggling monster, Partridge bound him, with handcuffs for his wrists and chains for his feet. They then left the cursing monster, and closing the door to his prison cell locked it.

  Quasar raged within himself. He had allowed the Moranians to fool him, and so had lost an empire he was only hours away from winning. He had allowed Admiral Amundsen to fool him and so he had lost an empire that was already his. Now he had been fooled, not by an army, not even by a great leader, but by a handful of people who just happened to be here on Remus at a time when he was about to launch his war against the universe. He fumed, he cursed, but finally he decided that he would await developments, for he was Quasar not some beaten dog who could be so easily dismissed.

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  With Quasar gone, his powerful mind no longer controlled the people of Tent City and they rose as one to kill any of the remaining male members of the Alemanni tribe who had not been at the battle, young and old alike. The women were now taken prisoner, they were to be sold the next day at the market, and from that moment on, they would be condemned to live out the rest of their lives as slaves. This was seen as a just punishment for bringing the Destroyer to the city.

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  The aging freighter was soon dropping down through the atmosphere of the planet Rega, Olsen now took over control of the ship and soon they were landing in a small valley set in the mountainous part of the planet where only a few rugged individuals ever went. Olsen led the way out of the spacecraft, they were met by Prior Karson, and five of his monks, all were wearing a strange headscarf, one similar to the one that Olsen, Rajiah and Caleb were now all wearing. It was made of the same material that composed the net thrown over Quasar, and should
he escape his, they would all be safe from his immense mental powers. The four people from Earth, as they were not telepathic, they had no need of them, assuming that they did not become his prisoner when a net would not make any difference anyway.

  “John you have succeeded, as was foretold of course. Bring the evil one out for we must act now while we can, for the forces of evil will soon be gathered about us and they will attempt to free him if we delay.” Prior Karson said grimly.

  Olsen and Rajiah brought a struggling Quasar out of the spacecraft and the group of fourteen moved through a pine forest and into a small clearing where there were a circle of stones. Quasar was set down in the middle of the circle while the twelve men and Alice formed a ring around him and just inside the circle of stones. Alice immediately thought of a witch’s coven when she counted those in the ring, and she hoped that this was not an ill omen. A small fire was lit near to Quasar, and Alice silently begged that they were not about to witness a human sacrifice. Olsen gave each of them a sheet with words written in English.

  “When Prior Karson begins to chant please join in, it is necessary for all of us to chant if we are to be successful.” Olsen stressed to them.

  Colt looked unimpressed by the whole thing, but he held his tongue wishing to see how it all progressed before stopping the proceedings, should it turn barbaric, and asking for an explanation. Rawlins and Partridge seemed a little bemused by it all.

  Quasar considered moving his mind back into his own body that was still attached to the back of his host body, he could then attempt to slither away and await a suitable host, there was the chance though that he would be seen and destroyed. However, he found that he was looking forward to his journey into a new dimension, one that he was certain he could make into his first empire, later he might just return to this one.

  Prior Karson now began to chant, and his words were taken up by the five monks, Olsen, Rajiah, Caleb and finally the four people of Earth. It was then that Olsen picked up some leaves that the monks had brought with them, and he threw these onto the fire, which immediately began to blaze with a ferocity that startled Alice and her friends. The fire now began to give off a yellow smoke that smelt quite sweet, and it increased until they were all beginning to feel the affects of it, Alice found herself feeling rather sleepy. She closed her eyes for only a moment, but her eyes snapped open when she heard the terrible screams from all around her. She found herself standing in a terrible place, screams filled the air and the smell that pervaded the whole place made her want to vomit. Before her, she saw her three friends, together with Caleb and Rajiah; they seemed to be experiencing a similar reaction to the one she was feeling. Olsen, Prior Karson and his monks were leading Quasar towards a giant of a man, he skin was red and then Alice blushed and tried to turn away, for the red giant was naked, but she found that she could not stop from looking upon the nightmare scene. The giant was not an ordinary man, more as a demon would appear in a horror film, and he even had horns upon his head. For one moment, he turned to look at Alice and she almost fainted as he eyes burned into hers, and she could feel an urge to run and join him. Alice could see a smile upon his face as he turned away, and what appeared to Alice, a spring in his step as he walked towards Olsen and the others.

  Moments later and Quasar was taken away by the red giant, however, as Quasar was about to enter his own personal hell dimension he turned, and amid a bout of hysterical laughter called over to them.

  “Do not cry for me my friends, for when I rule this dimension I will come back to destroy your worlds and I will find each of you, whether you be in your heaven or somehow back on your own planet, and then I will bring each of you back here to be my eternal guests.” They watched as he entered his new world and listened to his laughter, which slowly faded away as he disappeared from their view.

  Alice heard these words and felt her blood run icy cold as she took in the meaning of his threat. Could he do what he had threatened, a possibility about which she had warned John. Her three friends did not seem to be affected by his words, but then they were in a light state of shock anyway, finding themselves in a hell dimension she appeared to be coping better with it.

  Alice assumed that they were now about to be led away to their own dimension and tears began to run down her cheeks as the thought occurred to her that she had not really even lived yet, her whole life should be before her still.

  Alice suddenly felt light headed and she nearly fainted as her world spun around her getting faster and faster. She awoke to find herself back in the clearing; it had all been a dream. Colt, Partridge and Rawlins were asleep next to her, she realised that they must have been drugged by the leaves that Olsen had put into the fire. Quasar, she looked across to where he had been but only his handcuffs and chains remained, there where he had lain. The fire had burnt down and now just a thin spiral of smoke was caught and twisted by the light breeze blowing through the clearing. Alice shivered as the cool breeze finally fought its way past her dulled senses.

  “Are you alright Alice?” Olsen asked as he was walked towards her with Rajiah and Caleb by his side. As she turned towards him, she noticed that her three friends had awoken, and from the look of them, they were feeling as disorientated as Alice.

  “We were returned to Rega, how about that?” Olsen said, as they all looked up at him, puzzled by the strange events of the past few hours, for it was almost night now and they had landed early in the afternoon.

  “Surely John, we never left Rega, and where is Quasar?” Alice asked puzzled and still light headed.

  “Quasar is in Tartarus, Alice, where we left him in the charge of the red giant.” Olsen replied with a huge grin on his face for he had seen how Alice had blushed on looking at the strange naked giant.

  Alice, along with her three friends talked long into the night about their shared dream, but they could not come up with an answer that their modern brains could comprehend, they finally agreed that it all had been one hell of a hallucination. Quasar they assumed had been imprisoned somewhere on Rega, Olsen had just been exaggerating when he spoke of the length of time that Quasar had lived, and of his tremendous mental powers.

  **********

  Earlier that afternoon, following the slaughter of the Alemanni male population, the starship carrying the Church of the Universe missionaries landed just outside of Tent City. It was met by gunfire when the missionaries attempted to leave their ship to enquire about their missing brethren. On calling out about their missing brethren, they were told that they had gone the morning before in another flying ship, and should they attempt to return they would all be killed. The missionaries received a message regarding their missing brethren just moments after they had decided to head back to Rega.

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  The next few days passed quickly, and safe now from monsters and hell dimensions, they were all resting in the monastery on Rega. Alice was looking across at Olsen, in these past few days, she had thought long and hard about him, and he was certainly a hunk. He was good and brave and she could easily see herself falling madly in love with him. There were certainly no religious grounds in their way, for she could see many similarities between the religion followed on Rega and that which she herself followed. They both believed in the one god who was the creator of all. Neither had saints in their religion and both believed in an afterlife of some sort. She was still wondered whether her recent experience here on Rega was a dream, or was it proof of an afterlife. A terrible one for the evil people of the galaxy to be sure, but surely a much better one awaited the other people of the universe. However, there was a problem with her even considering to stay here on Rega, assuming that Olsen wanted her to stay that is, the plumbing on Rega was very primitive with not even one flushing loo on the whole of the planet, and there was no likelihood of there ever installing one. The people on Rega, as on Remus, blamed her church for awakening Quasar from his slumbers by trying to steal the people away from the old religion, as it was known to its followers. They ha
d decided to ban any improvements over their old way of life, which effectively banned flushing loos or inside baths and hot showers, and this she felt was too much to ask of any woman. Therefore, she had decided that she would be returning to Earth where she would await the next scheduled Church of the Universe starship to the planet Phlox, a pity really, for John was really a hunk.

  On the journey back to Earth, Alice thought long and hard about the people she had met on Remus and Rega, of Rajiah, Caleb, John Olsen, the Prior and his monks and of course Quasar. She had thought long and hard about the way Quasar had affected the people of those two planets, for according to Olsen, their powerful empire had been destroyed leaving absolutely no trace of it except for a few records stored safely away in the monastery on Rega. People such as John Olsen, Rajiah and his son had showed that there was greatness to be found amongst them, but their people would never return to the level that the Regan Empire was said to have reached, a thriving civilisation aiming for the heights of human perfection. Alice vowed to try to make a difference on Phlox, to strive to be the best, to push others to be the best. In this way, she could maybe diminish what Quasar had accomplished, the utter destruction of what a people were and could have been.

  The End

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