Alien Manifesto (17 page)

As my mind cleared, I began to make out that
it was talking to me in a wispy version of Galactic standard. “I am
the Queen of the Ones. Why are you here? Speak the truth. I have
dealt with your species before and I can easily see
deception.”

Taking a deep breath, I started my explanation
of who I was and why I was here.

“
Queen of the Ones, I am called
Thomi King.”

The Queen held up one of the four long arms in
a signal to stop. “You are a friend of Benji King are you not?” she
whispered.

“
I am his brother and I have come
to rescue him.”

“
Please, I must see your mind,”
said the Queen as she leaned closer.

As she touched my head with her antenna, I
knew about the Ones and she about me. “I see you are searching for
your brother Benji. Devotion to one’s nest mates is an admirable
thing. Yet you seek wealth by selling our planet to those who would
destroy the Ones in their greed for our world. Who else knows of
your location?” asked the Queen as she towered over my prone body.
Again, she touched me and I could feel our minds lock together. I
could not resist her. She knew I was alone and no one would come
looking for me.

O.K. I have been in tough spots before. In my
line of work they are an occupational hazard. This was different. I
could not move and somehow the Queen knew my most private thoughts.
Now I was scared because no one knew where I was except some robot
clerk halfway across the galaxy and that would remain a secret
until asked for. The rub was, no one would ever ask for
it.

The queen moved towards the edge of my vision
and then past it. Shifting my head, I could see into the valley
below. It was filled with smaller versions of the queen, almost
like children. She was moving her arms in rhythmic movements, she
was telling the crowd about me, I surmised. An audible buzz erupted
from the crowd of smaller ones as they scraped their abdomens on
the ground.

“
My children, a threat has come to
our world,” said the Queen, “One that would destroy our world and
enslave us. I have sampled the mind of these creatures and learned
many things,” said the Queen. “These things we can use to defend
ourselves from these invaders.

“
I have learned how to build
machines that fly in the sky, how to build weapons that would kill
many Ones at the same time if used against us. Yet the Sun shines
its favor on the Ones, for this invader is alone and none will
follow him. But we must not be lulled into the false safety of
being unknown to our enemies. We will use this knowledge to build
ships and weapons to protect ourselves,” said the Queen. “We must
attack and destroy our enemies before they attack us. We must do
this for our nest mates and for our Promise of Life. Let no hour go
wasted on pleasure. We must devote ourselves to defending ourselves
and our future. Death to the enemy!!”

The Queen turned from the crowd
and approached me. “I am sorry Thomi King, for shortening your
life.”

As the two huge males dragged me
toward a stone slab, I caught sight of Benji. He was tied up lying
on the stone slab in front of the Queen, unable to speak. Our eyes
locked just for an instant, his face grateful that I had come, mine
sorry for not being able to save us both.

As I looked up, I saw the
descending fang of the Queen. Then I felt a sharp pain as it
pierced my skin and sank into my neck, then came the odd sensation
of flying numbly through the air. I hardly noticed the impact as I
bounced off the ground into a crowd of the Ones. Then blackness as
they swarmed over my now dead body.

As I watched, the Queen
impaled my brother Thomi King with her fang and threw him out into
the crowd.
He came for me after
all.
I felt both pride and anger at the same
time.

“
I cannot allow you to tell anyone
about the Ones, Benji King,” said the Queen, as she turned to
me.

I closed my eyes at the sight of
the Queen’s fang. I imagined it would be such an odd sensation,
flying over the crowd watching as my legs go in opposite
directions, away from me. Gentle blackness please take me quickly,
I begged silently.

Instead, I heard: “Benji King, I
offer you a bargain for your life,” whispered the Queen. “Stay here
among us willingly and teach us how to build ships and weapons to
defend ourselves. In return, once your task is complete I will set
you free, wealthy beyond your dreams. Refuse and I will release
your life force to the Sun as I did your brother. Choose quickly
for my patience is short.”

Stunned by the change in events, my mind
scrambled to process a coherent picture of my situation. If the
Queen touched me she would know if I was deceiving her or not in an
instant. If I could just get free, I could get off world in my
brother’s ship.

As she approached me, her
fangs outstretched; “Yes,” I pleaded, “I will help you.”
Anything to stay alive, the ship was not going anywhere.
The Ones did not have a practical understanding of the technology
needed to decode the defensive system much less fly the
ship.

The Queen withdrew her fangs and answered, “I
am glad you will help the Ones defend ourselves. Free him,”
commanded the Queen. “Bring him food and water at once.”

I knew through my mind contact with the Queen
that the large crystal in the Queen’s exoskeleton was affixed to
her during birth. Powered by the sun, it was her source of power
over the Ones. Hers was the largest of all the life crystals. Only
the largest male warriors came close. The largest most ferocious
males were her generals and her mates.

Through them, the Queen would spread the way
of the Ones to every planet in the galaxy. Any who would not submit
to the will of the sun would become food for the Queen’s rapidly
expanding army. For the Queen believed the Sun was all-powerful.
Non-believers could not be tolerated, and must be eliminated in the
name of the all-powerful Sun, the giver of life to the
Ones.

She had just recently
dispatched her latest mate, one of her best
Generals
.
Having just
successfully spawned, the Queen thought
I
must pass on the good genes to my newly laid eggs. They are the
future of the Ones
.
Our
promise of life
. However, the Queen’s good humor was
clouded by the memory of a disturbing report. The number of life
crystals being found was declining. Some of her nesting chambers
lay empty for the first time in memory.
Why must I be the last Queen, she who sees the demise of her
own people? My destiny should lie in spreading the way of the Sun
to those who would take our world, enslaving those who submit,
feasting on those that do not.

For the life crystals were only found in one
place on the Ones’ home planet. The magma chambers of the long
extinct, sacred volcano that held the temple of the sun at its
summit. If they were to spread the way of the Ones, another deposit
must be found. Only then would the Queen be able to create all of
the new hatchlings she needed for her grand army.

If a new deposit was not found, she would have
to stop laying eggs. For the Queen laid one egg for each crystal.
Only the most gifted in art or war had the largest crystals. Those
who were especially ferocious would be Generals and soldiers. Those
with lesser abilities were allowed to be workers.

All worked as one with fierce pride and
purpose, to serve the Queen as she directed. For the Queen was
chosen by the Sun to lead the Ones. Self does not matter, only the
glory of service to the Queen and the Sun, the giver of life,
mattered. The entire race of the Ones had but one purpose: enforce
the will of the Queen and bring the way of the Sun to any sentient
life they encountered. Or eliminate the non-believers as
food.

~

It has been days since I have slept. I am not
even sure how many. The Queen questions me constantly, always where
are they, how many and what are their defenses. She had given the
task of keeping me awake to one of her aides who took delight in
poking me with his claw, drawing blood more than once if I dared
nod off in front of the Queen. Not only do the Ones not sleep, they
do not understand the need for it.

At last, when I could no longer stay awake, I
was returned to my cell. Now I can get some rest and plan my
escape. I could see Thomas’s ship from the window of the Queen’s
Audience room. The workers had dragged it closer to the city. They
have not tried to dismantle it yet that I could see.

The next daylight cycle, my chance finally
came. I was alone with the Queen, as her aide had been sent on some
errand. I think they are unconcerned about any danger I might pose
to the Queen or else they would still have me under
guard.

As I watched, the queen slipped deeper into
her meditation. My chance was here. I edged toward the door holding
my breath, trying not to make a noise for fear of alerting the
Queen. I shuddered at the possibly of being torn apart then eaten,
in her anger at my ill-fated attempt to escape, all because I could
not be quiet.

The days of no sleep had deteriorated my
physical condition to the point that it was difficult to walk much
less run. I had to try. I made it to the doorway unobserved. As I
started to slip through it, the Queen shifted her position, causing
my heart to jump into my throat as it raced.

Sweat ran into my eyes from the effort of
standing perfectly still, half in half out of the doorway. Slowly
she settled into a different position and I breathed a silent sigh
of relief. I made my way into the tunnel that led toward the
entrance nearest the ship. No Ones were in sight, so far so good,
my shaky legs gaining strength from the exercise.

Only one more passageway and I will be at the
east entrance to the city. Fortunately, it was also the least used.
Bringing supplies into the city was its main use. That meant only a
few guards, if any.

~

As I peeked around the last corner my heart
sank, my knees going weak again. None other than the Queen’s
personal guard stood watch over the entrance. They were easy to
spot, as they had adorned themselves with pieces of the exoskeleton
of those who dare oppose the Queen. In desperation, I spied an open
chamber door off the main passageway. I was able to get to it
without being seen by the guards. As I hoped, the chamber was empty
and had a window to let in light from the sun. It was big enough
for me to escape through.

After a quick glance out the window, I saw the
ship. It was about 100 standard units from the window. Sneaking a
second look, I saw the approaching column of the Queen’s personal
guard’s relief. At this angle, the exiting column of troops would
obstruct the incoming troop’s view of this window, providing me the
opportunity to get to the ship unobserved.

In a burst of desperation, I jumped out the
window and ran for the ship. I collapsed at the landing strut
nearest the cargo hatch, unobserved and panting from the exertion,
my legs trembling. I hoped the security system’s voice recognition
was not damaged, or tampered with. Or else the ship would kill
me.

My mouth was as dry as the dirt training
ground I had just crossed. I croaked the entry password into the
intercom and waited, desperately hoping. With an audible click, the
door slid open and I stumbled forward into the air lock.

Making my way forward without even cycling the
air lock I scanned the power readings as I strapped myself in. I
grinned, realizing I would soon be free. I would return to this
place and exterminate the insect problem, avenge my brother’s death
and make my family rich and famous.

As I powered up the engines, something dripped
on my sleeve. My arm erupted in pain. As I struggled to get out of
the seat to confront whatever had burned me, I saw the Queen
looming over me. I could feel the life leaving my body as she fixed
her gaze on me, her feeding appendage extended. I watched as my
arms began to vanish then a bright light and
nothingness.

~

The queen, pleased with
herself, preened her antennae. Thinking all the while
I hope they all taste that good
. For she
now knew how to start the ship. Now her workers could begin the
reverse engineering.

The Queen watched with
pleasure as the spaceports and shipyards sprang up, almost
overnight. Her people worked feverishly, following her every
command. A new deposit of life crystals had been found. It was
large enough to create and control an army of incredible
size
. As will my empire be, for I must
bring the glory of the Sun to all places and to all
people
, thought the Queen.
It
is time to select my new mate and create my army. Then I will bring
the glory of the Sun to all. Any who resist will be defeated then
eaten.

PART FIVE

The Puzzle of the Map

Over the next several weeks, SSlice’s efforts
began to bear fruit. Snarth called the team together in the
briefing room to lay out his plan to steal the map from
Sniggle.

“
ssSSlice hasss located the
plansss for ssSniggle’sss compound and the time hasss come to
launch our raid,” hissed Snarth. “I must sssay if it wasss me I
would be better prepared than ssSniggle isss,” he hissed. “I have
heard that hisss organization was ssstruggling after hisss
dealingsss with the Cult of Eli and the resssulting fallout of
being assssociated with them. Azsss a resssult, mossst of
ssSniggle’sss sssecurity forcesss have abandoned him.”