FreeFormed Hybrids

by Joe Vizanko

  Chapter 18 “Annihilation”

  General Pike sat nervously waiting for the President. He looked around for a glass of water, his dry mouth made his tongue feel like sandpaper. He had disturbing information about the incident involving Air Force One.

  “He’ll see you now,” said a secret service member popping his head out of the oval office.

  General Pike walked in and the President waved him over to his desk.

  “Don’t sugar coat it, just tell me everything.” The President leaned back in his chair as General Pike fumbled through his papers.

  “It’s come to light that a group of high ranking officers had convinced a fighter wing that the President could be under the influence of the aliens and had to be arrested for his own good and the good of the country.” The General nervously shifted in this seat. “The fighter wing that actually participated in the action is no longer taking commands from the group of ‘rogue officers’. The air base is under complete lockdown and military police are in complete control. All officers involved have been arrested and will face swift and complete military justice.” He wiped his forehead with an already drenched handkerchief.

  “How sure are you that you have complete control over the entire armed forces?” The President asked.

  “Well Sir, we won’t be sure until we have a complete roll call. That means that all military commanders of all branches report in. Something like this has never been done before. It could take weeks.” General Pike rubbed his sweaty palms against his pants.

  “That’s too long, we don’t have the time.” Replied the President.

  “Permission to speak candidly, Sir.” General Pike felt a knot growing in his chest.

  “By all means.”

  “I suggest you issue an executive order declaring that federal troops can arrest U.S. citizens. This will give the armed forces the ability to police inside our boarders. Then call up all reserves and national guards. As the roll call proceeds we will begin deploying troops that are loyal to you.” General Pike’s chest felt like a belt was tightening around it. He had to force himself to breath.

  The President sat silent for a while, knowing this is no small order. He then looked up at the General, “OK.”

  So far the U.S. and Europe were experiencing the worst of the internal chaos. In China people were hoarding goods but other than that, things were relatively normal. The Russians had declared martial law as soon as the crises began.

  Over the next few days U.S. troops were seen everywhere. Things had not returned to normal but at least an uneasy calm had come over the U.S. population. Things were definitely less chaotic.

  The President worked the phones and talked to every world leader that would listen. A Chinese delegation in Washington began having several conversations with Stan and Steve. The Chinese seemed eager to learn more about them and already had several volunteers ready to go to the homeworlds for study. As the days passed more world leaders showed up in New York and met with the President and other leaders at the U.N. The Secretary-General of the United Nations explained to everyone that this discussion would be open ended and would continue until all matters were resolved.

  It had been a little over a week since Stan arrived on Earth and five days since the President made it back to Washington. The time had arrived that Stan dreaded the most, when he would address the world leaders at the U.N.

  “I am honored to be here. I first would like to say that together, we will be a stronger community. In the coming days we learn more about each other and I hope a mutual respect and admiration will grow between us. You have many questions, I’m sure, but first we must learn about each other and work together. Only your perception of the universe has changed, nothing more. We have always been here, monitoring your planet and watching you grow like proud parents. Now you are ready to join the rest of us. We are equals and we are family, together we are stronger.” Stan finished his brief statement and sat down.

  The looks on the faces of the members of the U.N. said it all, they did not trust him. There was a light applause and some members did not even move at all. Stan knew it would take time before he gained their respect. But he could not wait much longer. He had to get back to the Outpost and find out what was going on in the Krell system. He sat in his seat tapping his foot thinking of an excuse to leave.

  The assembly began discussing how to restore order. Stan promised that some representatives from the Outpost would come and help in the transition. Earth’s stability was important. But unless they secured the Krell system no place was safe, including Earth.

  “Are you all right?” Katan put his hand on Joe’s shoulder puzzled at his reaction upon seeing the Moard. Tharo had brought the group back into his office.

  Joe sat hunched over staring at the ground, his elbows on his knees. The shock of seeing his mortal enemy still reverberated in his head.

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” Joe sat up as he rubbed his face. “Sorry about that, I guess wasn’t prepared to come face to face with,” he took a deep breath, “them.”

  Katan sat down next to Joe. “As you can see, they are not the monsters we have made them out to be.”

  “You wanted to talk to them. Well, be careful what you wish for,” Bill interjected as Katan glared at him.

  “Yeah, I guess I asked for it.” Joe stood up and stretched out his back. Then he slowly walked to the end of the small room rubbing his hands together, deep in thought. “Well I suppose we better get this ball rolling.” He sighed. “Where’s your pod?”

  “We landed in a field, the Moard detected us.” Bill stood leaning against a wall, his hands in his pockets.

  “Didn’t you turn on the gravity wells?” Joe looked over at Katan.

  “After we landed. We didn’t think to turn them on during flight, besides the gravity wells might have altered our flight path and we could have missed the planet.” Katan sat back and shrugged his shoulders.

  “No, no, no. It depends on how intense you set the wells. They can be set either to deflect light or solid matter or both. How did you set it up?” Joe was annoyed that Katan didn’t understand.

  “I don’t know how we set it up. I just turned it on and the craft disappeared. It’s been a long time since I’ve bothered with this type of thing.” Katan whined.

  “Why didn’t they turn on when we launched?” Bill asked.

  “They did, but only in bursts to provide cover.” Joe shook his head not wanting to talk any further about this.

  “But why didn’t they stay on?” Bill pried.

  “It takes a lot of energy. Look, it doesn’t matter anymore. We’re all here and safe. Worse comes to worse we can use the gravity well in my pod, although we’re going to have to swim for it.” Joe grabbed his glass and looked around for more water.

  Katan was about to say something but Joe held his hand up. He didn’t want to argue with them anymore.

  “We’re going to install a gravity well on one of Tharo’s ships so we can get to the Outpost undetected. Once there we’ll set up the final command.” Joe held up the empty glass to Tharo who pointed to a bucket of drinking water in the corner.

  “What’s the final command?” Bill asked with a worried voice.

  “It’s the destruction of this system.” Joe dunked the empty glass into the bucket and poured it over his head. The cold water on his hot skin felt good.

  “What about all these people? My God, you’re going to destroy all these people?” Tharo’s face turned pale.

  “We must preserve the homeworlds,” Katan whispered.

  “I’ll set the final command on a delay, that’ll buy some time to get your people out. Then I’ll go to the Moard and surrender myself. I need to talk to them face to face. If thing go well I’ll go back to the Outpost and stop it.” Joe shrugged his shoulders and looked at Katan, who nodded silently.

  Tharo sat down and grabbed the liquor bottle still sitting on his desk, taking a long drink from it. He then ran his hand through his hai
r.

  “There’s no perfect solution,” whispered Joe looking down at the floor. The room fell silent. Either way things would turn out badly. A light vibration could be felt beneath their feet. The group looked around startled as the building began to tremble.

  “THE MOARD!” shouted Tharo, jumping to his feet.

  “Calm down, we should stay calm and act normal.” Katan pleaded as he stood up.

  “I’ve never seen the building shake like this before.” Tharo grabbed the desk, “I think we need to get the hell out of here!” He yelled, almost in a panic.

  Everyone ran out of the office and headed down the hall. Directly in front of them the wall exploded, sending wood splinters flying everywhere. Joe and Katan fell back on each other as Bill and Tharo made it to the end of the hall. A Moard stuck his face through the giant hole.

  “Get the hell out of here!” Joe yelled. He knew there was no way that all of them would make it out. Joe dove and tackled the first Moard in the gaping hole.

  “GO, GO,GO!” Joe screamed.

  Tharo froze not knowing what to do. Bill, being ex-military, knew they had to get out and complete the mission. He grabbed Katan and dragged him to the end of the hall as Joe tried in vain to hold off the Moard.

  Katan rose to his knees grasping Bills shirt. “We have to help him.”

  “No, we’ll all be caught, we must complete the mission!” Bill yelled as he pushed the group through a door and out of the building. The three of them tumbled out into the alleyway which led to a maze of buildings.

  Joe fought as hard as he could, hopefully allowing enough time for the others to get away. Eventually they overtook him, the Moard were much stronger than they looked. During the fight Joe knock off one of their glasses and he could see they had large eyes, all black like they had no soul. They seemed heartless and angry. As they held him down one of them had a big stick in his hand that looked like an axe handle. The creature thrust it into Joe’s side and what felt like an electrical shock hit him hard. He went out cold.

  When Joe came to, he was lying face down in what looked like a regular jail cell on Krell. He didn’t understand. He thought for sure that he would have been brought to a Moard ship. He got to his feet and began yelling for one of the guards, asking what he was being held for. A human dressed like the Moard rounded the corner. He wore the same tight fitting suit minus the head gear. His thin gaunt build gave the appearance of malnourishment. He walked in and smiled, the skin creasing on his pale face which obviously rarely saw any sun light.

  “Hello, my name is Caad. What seems to be the problem?” He asked calmly.

  “Caad? Do you work for the Moard?” Joe scratched his head in confusion.

  “Yes, I’m one of the advisors and interpreters. Please tell me, where are your friends Katan and Bill?” Caad stood in front of the jail bars clasping his hand behind his back.

  “Why do you want to talk to them?” Joe stood defiantly with his hands on his hips.

  “We just want to ask them a few questions.” Caad shrugged his shoulders. “Nothing more.”

  “A few questions?” Joe crossed his arms and took a step forward. “Do you always break through walls when you want to ask some questions?” Joe could not hide his sarcasm.

  “I’m sorry about that. Sometimes the Moard can get a little emotional. They have a hard time controlling their anger.” Caad laughed.

  Joe didn’t want this person to suspect anything so he started asking dumb questions. “What am I being held for, I want to see the charges.” He grabbed the bars glaring at Caad. “As far as my friends go I don’t know where they are, but I will testify against them if justice will be served.” Joe hoped that this incident had nothing to do with the pods landing, although he was sure the Moard suspected something or they would not have gone to such great lengths to go after him.

  “Well, I am sure justice will be served.” Caad turned and took a few steps toward the door, he stopped and looked over a Joe. “Your cooperation will be greatly appreciated.” He smiled and left the room.

  Joe paced back and forth hoping that he’d be released soon. On Krell, once charged you were released pending the trial. There was no bail system here. Joe didn’t want to attract any attention so he lay back down on the bunk and tried to sleep. It had been awhile since he’d gotten some decent rest, but just as he started to close his eyes, a guard called out his name and said he’s being transferred.

  “What?” Joe rose to his feet. “I’ve been charged so you need to release me.” Joe grabbed the cell bars. “I’m not going anywhere, once charged you’re required to release,” Joe stopped mid-sentence. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Bill dressed as a guard coming their way.

  “Hello, yeah, I need to talk to that man in private if you don’t mind” said Bill pointing to Joe.

  The guard stood up and looked really annoyed. “Look, no one is talking to that man. He’s a special prisoner and we’re transporting him to the capital.”

  “I really need to talk to him.” Bill demanded.

  “What is so important?” questioned the guard as he looked at Bill suspiciously.

  “He owes me money.” Bill snapped at the guard.

  The guard was not buying Bills’ story. “You sure talk funny, I can’t place the accent. Where you from?”

  Bill hesitated for a moment and then he remembered what Katan had said to that farmer. “We’re from the Southern Plane of Steek, good farm land there I tell you.”

  “Get the hell out of here.” The guard glared at Bill and pointed at the door.

  “OK, OK I’m leaving.” Bill motioned Joe to come closer and as he did Bill lunged at him and grabbed him through the bars. “I’LL COME LOOKING FOR YOU WHEN YOU GET OUT!” Bill pulled Joe so close their noses practically were touching. As the guards rose to separate them Bill quickly whispered, “Medical. Go to medical.”

  They were forcefully pulled apart and Bill continued yelling, “I WANT MY MONEY!” The guard dragged Bill outside.

  Joe lay on the floor, his nose bleeding from the scuffle, go to medical? He must mean the medical center. He rose to his feet, whipping off the dust from his clothes. Joe surmised that perhaps some of the medical staff would help him escape but he had to act fast before they transferred him.

  Joe waited for about fifteen minutes before calling out, “Guard, guard, my stomach ulcer’s acting up. I need some medicine right away or else I’ll puke up blood!” Joe rubbed his stomach pretending he could not stand up straight.

  One of the guards walked over in front of the cell with his hands on his hips. “What the hell is wrong now?” He sighed as he shook his head side to side.

  Joe to leaned over grabbing the bars moaning in pain.

  “Alright, alright!” The guard sighed, he motioned to the other guard. “Come on, let’s take him to medical.”

  When they got there two of the medics asked the guards to help Joe onto the table. As the guards helped Joe on the table the two medics injected them with a drug that knocked them right out. The guards collapsed to the floor where they stood.

  Joe took a few steps back startled at what just occurred, he looked at the two medics, “I have to get out of here.”

  The medics helped Joe to a back storage area where all three went through a trap door and down a tunnel that opened to a river behind the jail. They made their way out and through the darkness, and at the end of the path Joe could see Bill.

  “How the hell did you find me?” Joe tried to catch his breath.

  “Tharo hoped you’d be there. That’s where the Moard take the people they captured. We need to work fast. Tharo said they suspect something’s up.” Bill looked around as they made it to one of the dirt streets by the river. “They probably detected our pod landing. Tharo said if they figure it out they’ll send everything they have looking for us.”

  Bill took Joe to one of the safe houses used by Handout, where inside Katan and Tharo were waiting for them.

>   “Thanks, I owe you one.” Joe patted Tharo on the back.

  “What now?” Tharo handed Joe a slab of dried meat.

  “We need to get a gravity well off one of the pods, install it on one of your ships and get to the Outpost, fast.” Joe stared at the dried meat, turning it around in his hands. It smelled good and he started ripping strips off with his teeth.

  “That shouldn’t be a problem. We’ll blend in with the locals. If we leave now we could be at the farm by morning. Our people have told us both pods are safe. The Moard have not found them, yet.” Tharo told the group.

  They headed to the farm in an old cart being pulled by a Jaronny, a horse like creature but much stronger. Upon arrival they quickly located Katan’s pod, thankfully it was still in the middle of the night. As Joe went to work removing the well, he instructed the others to find something to cover up the pod. The farms in this area were mostly open fields with a few trees dotting the landscape, nothing really large enough to cover the pod. Bill and Tharo went over to the barn and found a large tarp, it looked odd but it covered the pod and it would buy them some time.

  As soon as they removed the well it would be visible not only to the naked eye, but to the Moard scans as well. Hopefully they would be off the planet by the time the Moard figured it out.

  Once they removed it the group headed straight for the caves in the black mountains which luckily were close by. The sun was starting to rise as they entered the caves. Tharo’s crews were already getting a ship ready. These mountains were full of all kinds of heavy metal ores and carbon giving them a dark black appearance. The metal ores made it hard for scans and communication, a perfect hiding place. The homeworld setup a small port in one of the larger caves for getting people on and off the planet. To keep the locals away the people of the homeworlds spread rumors of dangerous beasts and ghosts that roamed the area.

  Tharo went over to Joe and wished him the best of luck, he told him no matter what happened it had been an honor serving with him. With the well installed, Joe, Bill and Katan quickly departed. As they ascended, Joe discovered this ship was much faster and agile than anything he’d flown before. Way too small to make it back to the homeworlds, but at least they’d get to the Outpost. The ship continued to climb into the sky, all the while Joe hoped the gravity well would make the ship hard to detect. As they jetted into space, several warning signals started flashing. The Moard found them. Joe adjusted the gravity well and tried to maneuver the ship. Several large explosions went off all around them and Joe tried to turn the ship in different directions in a vain attempt to shake them off. The ship flew in every direction and it felt like a rollercoaster. The control panel showed three ships were following them, matching every turn. Joe turned the ship to return to the planet’s surface. A bright blinding red light filled the cabin and Bill and Katan instantly passed out. Barely conscience, Joe clung onto the panel and though he fought with all his strength, he finally fell to the floor like a wet rag.

  When he woke up he found himself in a white robe. The room had no doors or any visible light source, yet the entire place was illuminated with a soft white light. Dumbfounded about the light, he began to look around and noticed he could not see his shadow.

  “I hope you’re feeling OK.” A voice behind him startled Joe as he quickly spun around.

  “Would you like anything to eat or drink?” Caad politely inquired.

  “No, I’m OK.” Joe recognized him as the same human that worked for the Moard.

  “Well then, please come with me.” Caad motioned for Joe to follow him.

  As Joe walked out of the room he looked at the doorway which just seemed to appear. Puzzled, the wall must have just disappeared. The floors were warm as he waled along barefoot. The hallway looked exactly like the room, everything was completely illuminated with light. Caad noticed Joe looking around and smiled at his confusion. For the first time, Joe was scared. He’d never been in this position and he felt like a child being toyed with. He figured that this is how people felt when they were on the receiving end of first contact, faced with the discovery that they were technically inferior and not alone in the universe. They went into another room and sat down around a conference table.

  “Where’s Katan and Bill?”

  “They’re fine. We will not harm you, at least not yet.”

  Joe looked back with a cold stare at that statement. “What do you want?”

  “That’s funny, I was just about to ask you the same thing.” Caad sat back and crossed his legs.

  “It is you who are invading us, so I will ask you again. What do you want?” Joe coldly shot back, trying not to show his anger.

  “We have not invaded you. It is you who have invaded us. What you call the homeworlds is actually the original home of the Moard. Taken from us by a race of beings that we call Slarrz, which, in the Moard language is roughly translated into Light people, or Lightons, as we call them in your language. The Lightons are trans-universal creatures that travel from universe to universe. They have been doing this for possibly all of eternity. From our perspective it’s more like one reality to another. They exist in one universe until it starts to collapse then they move onto the next.” Caad leaned forward on the table. “But something happened in this universe. They discovered several humanoid races where they could occupy the bodies and experience the universe through that perspective. They took several of these humanoid peoples and engineered you.” Caad pointed at Joe. “They made you so they could experience all the emotions and feelings present in all humanoids. All these intense emotions and feelings put into one creature can be hard to deal with and I guess that’s why humans have such a hard time with them.” Caad paused for a moment in reflection. “Emotions, such a powerful experience for the Lightons. Some refused to give it up. Occupying human bodies they took over the Moard’s homeworlds and made it their own. They created all the outlying solar systems with planets to have an endless supply of engineered humans. When the body they occupied got old or sick, they would simply move onto the next.”

  “Yea, we figured most of that out, except for the Lightons of course. We had no idea about them.” Joe replied with a blank stare at the flood of information. “We found some asteroids with some structures built into them. There were several engineered human remains, perhaps first experiments that didn’t go well. I take it that you are also an engineered human.” Joe looked over at Caad.

  “Yes, I’ve been made just like you, an artificially engineered humanoid, but then again, I’m not like you.” Caads face became serious. “The Moard have been robbed of their homeland, their culture, their way of life. All has been taken from them. I feel their pain and I’ve dedicated my life to help them.”

  “How did you come to live with the Moard?”

  “I’m the decedents of the people the Moard liberated in a raid on one of your colonies. A colony created so you could kidnap and kill the inhabitants for their bodies.” Caad sat back in his chair, his face could not hide his disgust.

  Joe looked down and realized that he must be talking about the Earth system. “How do you speak English so well?”

  “I’ve been to Earth many times.” Caad continued to stare coldly at Joe.

  Joe couldn’t contain the look of surprise on his face. He grew pale. Stunned, he clung to the table as the room started spinning. “What?” Joe shifted in his seat. “Did you say you’ve been to Earth?”

  “You heard me correctly, I’ve been to Earth many times. You think your Outpost protects that system? The Moard have always known about Earth. Frankly, they were surprised that you destroyed your own people to protect yourselves. They didn’t want to underestimate you again.” Caad stood up and began walking around the room.

  “If that’s true, then why not just go directly to the homeworlds? If you know about the Outpost then you know that would lead you directly to the homeworlds system.” Joe didn’t know what to believe. How could this be true?

  “There’s much mor
e to the homeworlds than you understand. The Lightons built that place with many safety fields in place. These energy fields only allow them or genetically engineered humans to survive there. If the Moard tried to go there they would die.” Caad slowly paced around the table.

  “Are you going to turn this field off?” Joe looked over his shoulder following Caad.

  “No” Caad laughed. “That’s not possible. The only way to shut it down is to destroy the entire system. The Moard have no intention of going back to the homeworlds.” He continued to slowly pace around the room with his hand behind his back.

  “I don’t understand? What are their intentions?” Joe was more puzzled than before, nothing made sense.

  “Like I said, there’s much more to this than any of you understand.” Caad had an annoying smirk on his face.

  Day by day Earth became more stable and Stan was finally able to return to the Outpost. He wanted to see if there was any information from the homeworlds. Upon his arrival in the main control room was an encrypted message from Joe. Katan and Bill were going with him to Krell and the rest of the group was waiting for his signal to resume contact so they could get back to Earth, that was it no other information.

  Stan couldn’t take it anymore. He needed to get back to the homeworlds. If there was no message from Joe once he got there then he’d head to Krell. What the hell, he though, we’re all going to die if things go bad anyway.

  All flight traffic from the homeworlds to the outer colonies had been halted, there was a complete communication lockdown, he was flying blind. Using a trick Joe had taught him Stan used the homeworlds sun as a natural gravity well to create a wormhole link. His pounding heart felt like it was going to break his chest as adrenaline surged through his veins. The Sun grew noticeably bigger in his view port and he passed the point of no return. The ship vibrated so violently as if it was going to break apart any second. He felt like he was in a race car heading toward a cliff. A brilliant flash of light blinded him and he crumbled to the floor as the ship entered the wormhole. Stan rolled on the floor as he woke up on the other side. He curled up in the fetal position waiting for the wave of nausea to pass, it’d been a long time since he’d done that awake. He had forgotten how painful it was. He collected himself and scanned the system. Everything looked in place so he headed for the homeworlds.

  He found Tom and Selena patiently waiting for word on when they could return to Earth. They were getting restless and eager to get out of there.

  “Are you sure Katan is with him?” Stan ran his fingers through his hair. He couldn’t believe it. “What the hell was Joe thinking taking Katan with him?” Stan said to no one in particular.

  “Look, Katan wanted to go, and Bill volunteered. By the way, how’s Earth doing?” Tom had a worried look on his face and Selena stood up, straining to hear the answer.

  “Earth is doing well. Things were looking really bad for a while but it’s calmed down.” Stan paced around the room.

  “Good. I can’t wait to see home again.” A tear ran down Selena’s face.

  “You guys aren’t going anywhere, at least not yet. It’s too risky establishing contact. I need to get to Krell and find out what’s going on.” Stan kept rubbing his hands together as he shifted from one foot to another.

  “Am I a prisoner here? I’m being held against my will? I demand you return me to Earth so I can complete my mission.” Tom could hardly contain the anger that swelled up inside him.

  Stan walked over and stopped right in front of Tom. “Do you understand what’s going on here? If this situation goes bad, it’s the end of our species.” Stan paused for a moment. “Your mission, our mission, is to preserve the human race.” Stan leaned forward, inches from Tom’s face. “When I get to Krell, if everything’s OK, I will send a signal and you can go home and live the rest of your lives in peace. If everything’s not OK, I will send a signal and you can go home to say goodbye to your world and all that you’ve ever known.” With that Stan turned and walked out of the room.

  The wall opened, startling Bill and Katan. A human dressed like a Moard motioned them to follow him. They walked down a hall and into a larger room where they saw Joe. The look on his face told them things were not going well.

  “How are you?” Katan sat down at the table. “You don’t look good my friend.”

  “Well, I’ve been talking to Caad and he has really cooked up a story that I’m not sure is true. It doesn’t make sense.” Joe looked over at him as he slouched on the table with his head in one hand, he began telling the story. Katan and Bill listened intently. When Joe finished the three sat motionless without speaking, trying to digest this new information.

  “Remember the reason we came here. We must try and negotiate with the Moard.” Katan broke the silence.

  “I don’t know what they want. They haven’t even tried to talk to me.” Joe felt dejected, he had no idea what to do next.

  Caad entered the room and headed to the table where he casually sat down. “Is there something wrong?” He glanced at each of them, concerned.

  Joe looked over at Caad and squinted in annoyance, he was trying to figure out if Caad was mocking them.

  Katan stood up and extended his hand to Caad for a proper introduction. “I do not believe we have met. My name is Katan and I’m a member of the ruling council on our homeworlds.” Caad courteously reached out and shook his hand. “I formally wish to begin negotiations between our peoples in the hopes to have a peaceful and prosperous relationship.”

  Caad looked amused at that statement. “Well, let’s get right to the point then. There are some creatures who want to meet you. Perhaps your mind will change after you talk with them.” Caad could not wipe the grin on his face. He got up and walked toward the opening in the wall. “Come on, follow me.”

  The three of them reluctantly got up and followed Caad down a long hallway. At the end appeared to a curtain of white light gently flowing back and forth.

  “This is as far as I go.” Caad stopped just short of the light.

  “We’re not going in there unless you come with us.” Joe defiantly crossed his arms.

  “They only want to see you.” Caad started to walk away.

  “Who wants to see us?” Katan said almost in a whisper.

  Caad turned around and with a calm look on his face. “Your creators.”

  The three of them looked at each other in bewilderment and disbelief. Although they both didn’t believe Caad they were too intrigued not to find out.

  They entered into the center of a large sphere about the size of a football field, with a walkway extended out into the center. The entire inner surface had ripples going everywhere which had the effect of being underwater. The air was thick and humid making it hard to breath. Directly above them there was a large disturbance of some kind, and they watched as waves propagated downward. A thick liquid poured out in slow motion into a large blob directly in front of them which morphed roughly into the shape of a person.

  “It has been a long time since we have had contact with you. I see you call yourself Joe and you Katan.” Joe and Katan looked at each other in confusion. Joe knew it could only mean one thing.

  “Are you a creator, or a Lighton, as the Moard call you?” Joe approached the form.

  “Yes, I am what you call a creator, we have no name for ourselves call us what you like.” The voice echoed about the chamber as the form roughly kept the shape of a person. As it spoke its liquid would flow about inside as if it were a giant balloon filled with water.

  “You seemed to know our names, what about him?” Joe turned and looked at Bill.

  “I only know you two.” The form moved around them.

  “How do you know us?” Katan turned to face it.

  “You are one of us. You became addicted to being human and would not return to your original form. You are trapped and I have come to rescue you.” The form stopped moving around them and began to move upward.

  Joe and Katan w
ere in shock. Katan had to steady himself in order not to fall down. Joe realized that the visions he had seen while on the table back on the homeworld were of him in the Lighton’s form. Paralyzed, he couldn’t move. He’d been human for so long that he knew of no other existence. But he also knew that he didn’t want to change. He didn’t want to go back, he wanted to be human.

  “Come, return to your proper existence.” The form dissolved back into the sphere.

  A bright beam of light hit Joe and Katan and they slowly crumbled to the floor as their life’s energy left their bodies. Bill jumped back out of the way. He looked up at the beam of light that shone so bright he had to shield his eyes with his hands. The beam flickered out as Bill looked in horror at Joe and Katan’s lifeless bodies.

  They felt no pain, only a warm glow that filled their soul’s as they traveled through the light and into the fluid like material surrounding the chamber. It was a re-birth into a former existence, as if they had awoken from a long slumber not being sure what was real and what was the dream. As they floated in the fluid they were filled with memories of their past. In a flash they saw all the universes they’d traveled too as well as the worlds and creatures they seen. Everything came back to them, what they really were and why they were in this universe.

  They were creatures of pure energy floating on the membranes, the layers of fabric that made up reality. When these membranes intersect with each other a universe is created. It starts from a point then explodes in a big bang. As it expands, these creatures of pure energy enter and exist there. It will expand to a certain point then collapse. Before it collapses back into nothingness, they leave and go back to the membranes until it happens again.

  This universe was by far the most unique, and it had an incredible amount of internal life forms. These creatures of pure energy were able to enter some of these life forms that inhabited this universe and experience reality from that perspective. A powerful experience, and for many, too powerful. Some of these creatures took the brain of a single lobed human and made a double lobed human, thus intensifying all the feelings and emotions. They would not leave this artificial human’s existence and would jump from body to body, taking drugs to further intensify the effect.

  As Joe absorbed this information he realized what was happening. These creatures must be returning from the membranes to rescue them. He understood what they were trying to do, but he had evolved. Once he learned how to exist as a human and not be entirely governed by impulsive emotions, he actually loved it. He began to think that humans were not a lower form of life, but possibly a higher one. He remembered the feeling of helping people, of changing, learning and growing into a better person. These creatures just existed and didn’t change. They had a quantity, not a quality of life. Of all the flaws that these humans had it was the first time Joe could remember experiencing being happy. He could now remember everything. All the emotions, experiences and lives, he could remember them all.

  It’s very difficult to put the genie back into the bottle, once it’s free, it’s free. Joe thought to himself.

  Although no longer human, he’d been forever changed. Still, he had conflicting thoughts; part of him wanted to stay in this present form and part of him wanted to return to being human.

  The Moard ship approached the Outpost of the Krell system and entered into orbit. It hovered around the planet like a beast stalking its prey. It began to pulsate with energy as if it were about to explode. A beam of light shot from the ship and engulfed the planet containing the Outpost. The entire planet appeared on fire as white plasma waves whipped from the Moard ship, which was built like an antenna for this sphere to liberate all the Lightons.

  The people on the Outpost were terrified and ran about in pandemonium as white fire appeared all around them. Any Lighton in a human body would be ripped away and sent to the sphere, leaving their human body to crumble like a rag doll. Waves of energy would crash over the people huddling in corners and under anything they could find in a vain attempt to shield themselves. Not every human was a Lighton and as the bodies would collapse around them, the unaffected would scatter in fear unaware of what was happening.

  Joe watched this process in the sphere and witnessed the new arrivals, some were still in the mindset of being human and many wanted to go back. The Lightons were confused by their behavior. They assumed the newly arrived would be relieved to be released from that horrible prison of human form. But, the addiction to being human was powerful, and liberating the lost ones on the Outpost proved more challenging than expected. The new arriving Lightons began causing disturbances in the sphere, confused and frightened as they looked for a way out.

  “NO, STOP!” Screamed Joe as he confronted the other Lightons who were all in the center of the sphere, swirling in and out, gathered in a giant ball like a school of fish evading a predator.

  “What is wrong with him?” screeched a Lighton from the center.

  “Being human has damaged him,” cried another.

  “Being human is not a prison!” Yelled Joe.

  The original Lightons were stunned. Never had they witnessed such behavior.

  “Remember who you are,” roared a Lighton as it burst from the center and confronted Joe.

  “I am human!” Joe howled.

  “You are not human. You are the one who created them. Humans were your idea,” shrieked the Lighton in front of Joe.

  “NO,NO!” Joe wailed as he began spinning and spinning, building up energy.

  “Stop, what are you doing?” screeched the Lighton as it backed away toward the center.

  Joe exploded away and out of the sphere traveling down the beam of light. He entered the first body he came across rolling around in pain on the floor. As the pain subsided he rose to his hands and knees looking around at the lifeless bodies strewn about. People were lumbered about terrified as others curled up weeping. They were just regular humans and not originally Lightons. Joe climbed to his feet stunned at the carnage around him. Determined to put an end to the suffering he headed for the control room to send a signal to Stan and the homeworlds.