Grai's Game (First Wave) (20 page)

“I will do whatever it takes to protect my son. Tell me what we need to do.” Grai growled, the determination clear in his strong voice.

Chapter Eighteen

Grai entered the control center five hours later as Ivint requested and wasn’t surprised to see Traze, Risk, Reven, Banatar, Balduen and the Tezarian’s already waiting for him.

Rumors and general conversation were normal on the Shengari’ and the more Grai’s
people, and the Valendrans interacted together the more comfortable they felt chatting with each other on the energy path. So Grai had heard earlier about those who were going to be attending the meeting.

He would have been here a little
earlier, but it had taken hours to explain even the basics to Tricia regarding their son. It wasn’t that his beautiful mate was dense, on the contrary; she was brilliant.

However, as a full human, she had never experienced the abilities of the gifted, hybrids or beast bound. Even though she could sometimes see the others do amazing things, those things had always seemed
to ‘fantasy world’ for her to understand.

Learning her son was more powerful than any of them was much more shocking than she could process at one time. Hell even he was still trying to process it
all; he thought sliding into an empty seat beside Dread.

Everyone looked up as Ivint walked into the room, Cristali and Lagor following behind him. Ivint stood at the head of the
table; Cristali sat in the chair next to Balduen that Ivint nodded to, and Lagor went to the control center where Risk and Traze were waiting.

“We’ve been going through the vid’s that we’re still pulling from Dagog’s ships. We came across this
earlier. It took a little while but Cristali and Lagor have figured out where it is.” Ivint said, nodding to Lagor.

The vid screen behind Ivint
lit up as he stood to the side, out of the way of the scene unfolding.

Children, mostly girls, were huddled together in what looked to be a small building. Covered from head to toe in long robe like cloth, some were crying, others just shaking in fear, their eyes wide from terror.

Heavily armed, hooded men paced in front of the children speaking a different Earth language than the English they were more familiar with, but the translators still could decipher it.

“You will be taught to serve
properly, or you will die. Your only purpose here is to serve your Gods in any way they see fit. We are your Gods!” To punctuate his point, the Relian shifted. Growing several feet in height, he towered over the shrieking children, his mouth widening to show his sharp, elongated teeth. 

Ivint had Lagor pause the tape and moved to stand in front of it before speaking.

“Cristali and Lagor found that dozens of children were kidnapped from their school bus several months ago. Terrorists claimed responsibility and as you can see, we know who those terrorists are.”

“Based on the
information, they were able to get from the original investigation of the abductions and the information from Dagog’s ship; they were able to pinpoint where they are being held.” Ivint said, while the vid table lit up in front of them. The Earth spun for a moment before the screen settled on a country before zooming to an isolated village.

“When do we leave?” Balduen asked, staring at the terrified faces of the children paused on the screen behind the High Councilor.

Ivint just smiled, knowing that they would want to help. Seeing the eager faces of those at the table, he knew he was right.

“We don’t think any of these children
is one of ours; they have parents. None of whom is one of ours. These are human children. When we get them, we have to release them.” Ivint cautioned, even though he knew the fact they weren’t their own would have no impact on their willingness to help them.

“How many Relian’s are there? Have you figured out how many teams we need?” Grai asked, standing to get a better look at the map, while Ivint rattled off numbers of enemies, children and other pertinent facts regarding the situation.

“Why are they doing this? It makes no sense to draw such attention to themselves.” Banatar said, curious what would draw them out like this.

“They were losing their grip of control on the people. When Banatar and his people began making headway in their forces on the
planet, and the humans began to stand up to the tyranny being imposed upon them by the Relian control of the governments, they had no choice but to create terror and chaos to try to terrify the people back into complacency.” Grai said shaking his head in disgust.

“
Humpf, you made more of a dent in their plans down here than we ever did.” Banatar said with a smile.

“Grai is right. I had Cristali and Lagor go through recent planetary
activity, and these are just some of the things that we’ve found.” Ivint said, stepping back from the screen behind him so everyone could see.

The screen flashed before what appeared to be news reports came into focus.

“The terrorists claiming responsibility for the bombing are an offshoot of the notorious Ralidina. Preliminary reports are twenty four dead, and another forty-seven injured in the deadliest attack on the civilian population in decades.” The wide-eyed reporter said as the smoke billowed from the destroyed building, in the distance, behind her.

The screen flashed to another report.

“The plane disappeared from radar over three weeks ago and there has still been no sighting of the craft, or any of the people on board. Authorities are working day and night to determine how, in this day and age of technology, that the entire world could lose track of an entire plane and the two hundred passengers and crew on board.” The man intoned, the incredulity evident in his voice.

The screen flashed to yet another report.

“Reports are that Ralidina has already conquered two of the smaller cities and instituted Barudian law. Most of the security forces have been slaughtered, and the women and children forced into slavery to the terrorists.”

“Reports from a few trapped inside the cities that managed to escape say that mass killings are taking place for those
who refuse to be enslaved. Women and children are being raped and tortured as the world looks on and does nothing.” The woman barely showed even a hint of emotion as she coldly reported on the savagery being committed against her fellow humans.

Ivint had Traze cut off the screen and stood in front of it again. “
These are only a few of the problems they are creating. There are dozens of reports of government officials purposely causing the economic and moral collapse of their countries. They are legitimizing these Relian terror groups and allowing them access to their countries.”

“Other countries have already allowed them to subtly take over their schools and towns, forcing the indoctrination of the children into the Relian cults. And in recent
days, it has escalated dramatically.”

“Unscrupulous leaders are taking advantage of the chaos to take over other countries. And half the damn countries on the planet are on the verge of civil war.” Ivint told them, the seriousness of the situation becoming clear.

“They are going to cause a world war. Decimate the population for the elitist humans working with them and lower the amount of people who can resist their total control. A smaller population would be easier to enslave, more so if your cult followers are helping you get rid of those who resist.” Traze said with a sigh, knowing his father’s playbook by heart.

“How the hell can the humans not see what is being done to them?” Viper asked, frustrated that no one seemed to be doing anything to stop the implosion of their world from within.

“They don’t know any better. Large parts of the population have been indoctrinated into father’s cult for over a millennia. They have slowly invaded every part of the world and used threats and terror to get what they wanted.”

“They start by keeping their people ignorant, deciding who is allowed to learn and what they are allowed to learn. Teaching them mostly hate and war. And intolerance to anyone who doesn’t bow to them and join them.”

“Other leaders have helped by destroying the education standards in their countries. Making sure that each generation knows much less than the generation before them. They make achieving higher education almost impossible except for those who are in league with the Relian’s.”

“Once the children are dumbed down to believe they have no rights, no freedoms, then it’s easy for them to force their cult
beliefs on them. The parents couldn’t care less since they were also taught that they should be slaves to their governments.”

“
Very few fight back, being laid numb to what’s happening around them through the mass medication of society by the elitist and Relian owned pharmaceutical companies that are poisoning the population.” Grai added sadly, wishing he had been able to make more of a dent in his father and Dagog’s forces on the planet. He and his small force were more than outnumbered by the Relian’s and their human cult followers.

“They are being drugged into compliance, and raised to comply while young… between that and at the
rate, they are killing or enslaving the people, within two generations, they could rule this planet. Leaving only pockets of resistance that won’t be able to last long.” Lagor said grimly. 

“It’s not just the kids you want us to save…” Dread said looking to Ivint, who nodded his head slowly while Banatar whistled. Reven was the only one who didn’t seem the least bit surprised by the news.

The enormity of what Ivint was suggesting was staggering and silence hung thickly in the room while everyone considered it.

“It’ll take more than what we have, the Tezarian’s and the Sibiox.” Grai said knowing where Ivint was going with this, but wanting to make sure he was right.

“I will be traveling to the Adaria to speak to the Council when you return from getting those children back to their families.” Ivint said with a sly grin.

Balduen grinned hugely before cracking his knuckles. “
Hell yeah! We’re going full-on offensive!”

“We’re going to hit them back from every side we can and help the humans that are trying to fight back. More people are waking up to what is being done and joining the ranks of those trying to make a difference. We’re going to find a way to help them.”

“We can’t do this alone, and they have to be willing to fight for themselves or they will be freed of the Relian’s only to fall under the dictatorship of the next brutal human that comes along.” Reven added.

“Once they are free of the Relian’s and their cults and their world
is more at peace, we may be able to reveal ourselves to them and assist their transition to a more advanced society that can eventually consider joining the Alliance.”

“With the traitorous leaders currently in place around the world, there is no chance that we can openly declare ourselves
without the leaders convincing the people that we are some evil come to destroy them all.” Ivint said, looking closely at the faces of the trusted men around him, trying to figure out their thoughts on the idea.

“So we’d work covertly, behind the scenes, to assist the innocent and those who are trying to fight for not only their freedom but their lives. Undo the damage their leaders have done to the people for the last hundred years and remove the Relian’s… the world would be a battleground.” Viper mused aloud.

Ivint gestured to the screen behind him before replying. “Their world is already a battleground. Their own leaders have sold their rights and lives away for money and power. They have deliberately turned brother against brother. They have colluded in the genocide of their own people.”

Silence hung over the room again for several long minutes, each person wrapped in their own thoughts on the idea. The pros and cons weighing heavily in their thoughts.

“What of the Alliance?” Banatar asked.

“There is no precedence for this. The danger the Relian’s represent would not be enough for them to consider intervening. The world would have to be near collapse for them to get involved. It would violate all of their laws to intervene with a
planet at this level of evolution without major cause.” Ivint countered easily, having already considered pleading to the Alliance for assistance.

“So we would basically be on our own. Would it jeopardize our standing with the Alliance if we intervene?” Dread asked, the diplomat in him coming to the surface for a moment
, although his decision was already made.

“Since there is no
precedence, there can be no repercussions unless a representative of the planet took a formal complaint to the Alliance. Since they don’t even know about the Alliance that is not an issue to be concerned about.” Ivint said with a grin. He knew the laws of the Alliance very well and had scoured his knowledge to determine if joined action would cause a problem.

“I hate to be the rain on your
thought's guys, but there’s a bunch of terrified kids who need us. How about we think really hard later and get them home first?” Traze interjected with a grin before someone else could add to the already heavy conversation.

“He’s right. Let’s get these kids
first, and we can discuss the rest later. Cristali tell them what you, and Lagor know.” Ivint said, clapping a hand on Traze’s shoulder and giving him a smile before taking a seat at the table.