THE VROL TRILOGY (108 page)

"Well, why shouldn't they? Johnson somehow
managed to suspend the Constitution and he needs to distract
everyone from what he's really doing," Jennie added.

"What is it that he is
really
doing?" asked
Michael.

"He's rebuilding the Exodus barge fleet,
retrofitting all of the barges with SSCC hook drives," said Max,
well aware of Johnson's plans, as Ryder Johnson had, in a moment of
supreme arrogance, revealed his father's operation during the
Battle of the Blood. "Once complete, he'll take his chosen, loyal
subjects back to Earth where he can be planetary dictator.

"Then, why do you not simply destroy the
barges?" asked Michael.

"Johnson keeps entire families living on them
- innocents, in case anyone with a conscience tries to stop his
plan," said Bagatelle.

"Oh yeah, that's totally evil," added
Jennie.

"Papi, what are you going to do with
Councilman Johnson when you have to face him in battle?"

Max had to think for a moment. His first
instinct was to skirt around the subject, as Liliana was his young
daughter - but she was no ordinary child.

"Well, I am going to kill him, sweetie."

"How will you kill him? Will it be like what
Mami did when she killed Ryder Johnson?"

"Hopefully not as messy, dear," Jennie
interjected as she pulled Liliana's hair back into a ponytail. "Now
go straight to classes. You can visit your sharks during the lunch
hour."

"Ok, Mami," said the little girl as she
kissed her parents on their cheeks, and then popped over to her
grandfather, who she also kissed before jetting out of the dining
hall, a small tornado trailing behind her.

"I really wish Draagh hadn't taught her
elemental cantuses quite yet," said Max as they heard a series of
crashes and screams from the hallway.

"Max, based on what we've learned, it's
probably not a good idea for you to go back to Azul right now,"
said Jennie.

"I would agree, cuñado. Perhaps Michael would
like to investigate the happenings on Azul," suggested
Bagatelle.

"How about we go together, Brother?" asked
Gabriel, entering the dining hall for his morning meal, being
followed by Jessica and Pandy.

Michael got a big grin and nodded his head as
he dug into his sausage and potatoes. Two archangels tearing around
a planet, completely invisible - he rather liked the idea. It would
be like the good old days.

"I am staying with Pandy to assist in her
training anyway," said Jessica, "and I'm sure Vera could use a
break. I'm still totally surprised that they haven't picked up any
of our seismic registers."

"Father has been seeing to that, Jessica,"
said Gabriel, who then walked over and kissed her on the forehead
before sitting down and receiving his own plate of food.

Pandy giggled and lightly elbowed her best
friend in the ribcage, still unaware of the depth of Jessica's
relationship with Gabriel.

"Ok, I'm off to meet Mom and Janice," said
Max.

"I want to see her too. Where are you guys
gonna be?" asked Jennie.

"Mom has pretty much regenerated, but she was
never the athletic type. She's basically teaching her body to be
more agile, so it's more of a customized gymnastics/martial arts
program."

"Oh, where is it? I'll meet up with you?"

"Secondary training field. Ohiro is her
trainer."

"No way! I totally love him!"

Max gave his wife an odd look, as she tried
to retract her comment.

"Well, as a trainer, you know…"

Max winked at his gorgeous wife and stood to
go to his mother's chambers, first giving Jennie a kiss before
departing.

"Jennie, I would like to receive training
under your command, now that I have gone through all of the basics
here. Would that be possible?" Jessica asked hopefully.

"Jess, that's on the list. Don't worry about
that. From what I hear we have a great training center on Vera too,
isn't that right?"

"Yeah. It's huge and Lord Draagh has totally
set it up with the best equipment."

Santiago, Luna

"Oh my god, Kyle, what are you doing here?"
exclaimed Lt. Commander Alicia Vasquez, squinting to see her nephew
hiding in an alleyway, the sun shining directly into her eyes. She
had received a call on her personal console that was reserved for
family emergencies, but it was extremely cryptic. It had only
instructed her to go to certain coordinates on Luna. Part of her
official duties was the transfer of sensitive materials, so she
regularly travelled to the moons, Luna the most out of the
three.

"Alicia, they're all dead. Dad, Mom, the
girls. Johnson had them deleted. They think I was in the house
too."

"How is this possible? What happened?"

"Here, look them up on my personal console.
Don't use yours, or they'll trace your search and get you too."

Alicia took the small device from her nephew,
knowing he had unparalleled computer skills and that if he was
using a console it was most definitely untraceable. Performing
random searches, she found no evidence of the existence of her
sister, her brother-in-law, her nieces or her nephew - who was
standing in front of her. He was right. They had been deleted. She
held back tears, knowing that there was nothing she could have
done.

"I don't know what to do. I'll be caught
eventually. And then they'll kill me too. Help," he managed to
squeak out. He was only fourteen years old - just a child, and
quite bright. Thinking momentarily, she knew exactly what to do.
Touching the comm device on her lapel, she thought out to
Bagatelle.

"
G - are you
out there? Can you hear me on this thing
?"

"
Ali - yes.
How are you? Is all well
?"

"
Well, for me
yes, but for my nephew no. His entire family was deleted by Johnson
and the boy needs asylum
."

"
What were
they deleted for, may I ask
?"

"
His father,
my brother-in-law, was working on the barges. He was feeding me
intel whenever he could. Perhaps he was discovered. Kyle is cold,
hungry and needs shelter. Can you come get him
?
You met him once when you gave me a ride to my
sister's house a few years back.
"

"
I can't. I
don't have the capabilities, but let me get one of our resident
gods here to make it happen. Give me twenty. I'll be right
back
."

Alicia looked at her obviously frightened
nephew and said, "Don't worry Kyle. Help is on the way. Just stay
here out of sight. I'll hover nearby and let you know."

"Huh? Did you just have a conversation?"

"Oh yeah. You have no idea the cool things
I've recently seen. Just wait."

Roughly ten minutes later, and without
warning, Kyle watched as his aunt was apparently having a
conversation with thin air, but after she nodded her head in his
direction he suddenly saw a fairly large, older man, dressed in
archaic-looking leathers, with a medium length gray ponytail and a
long beard, his mustache braided into it. Looking at the boy, the
man smiled, his blue eyes twinkling in Luna's strong sunlight.

"So you are Kyle. I am sorry for your loss,
young man. But all will be well. Come and stand next to me," said
Draagh in his slightly accented, deep voice.

As Kyle looked at his aunt nervously,
she smiled and said, "Go with him. You will be safer than you could
be anywhere else in the galaxy. Trust me,
sobrino
."

Alicia Vasquez found herself looking at a
concrete wall before she finished her last syllable, the two having
disappeared so quickly.

Kyle Reynolds gazed around, slightly
disoriented, but found himself in what appeared to be an ancient
office. Looking at his travelling companion who had just taken him
away from everything he ever knew, he sat in a chair at the man's
side.

"Um, thanks. So. I'm Kyle. Who are you?"

"I have been called many things during my
eons of existence, but you may call me Draagh. I am a mage and have
been alive since the creation of the Universe."

"Oh yeah, cool. I played a holo game that had
a similar concept. So really, where are we and who are you?" the
boy responded unbelievingly.

"As I told you, I am Draagh, and I am a
mage."

Kyle gave Draagh an incredulous look, which
caused the Primulus to be slightly disconcerted. Not wanting to
waste any time on the youth, he conjured a dinosaur in his office.
The beast, a modified, smaller version of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, was
of course unable to actually harm the lad, but it let out a roar
loud enough to unbutton the youth's shirt and cause him to slightly
wet himself out of fear. Draagh then waved his hand and caused the
creature to disappear.

"Thaaaaa…tha…that wasn't a a a holo
g-g-g-game!"

"No, it was not my dear boy. Now will you
stop with your disbelieving ways and allow me to bring you up to
speed with your current situation?"

Kyle nodded his head enthusiastically,
although he was still scared nearly to death.

"Again - my name is Draagh, and you are in my
office. We are in… my office. People here live a simple life. No
technology, and there are lycans and vampires that -"

"Lycans and vampires? Like in fantasy novels?
They're for real?"

"Yes, for real. In fact, there are many on
your world, but their genes are recessive. You are a bright lad, so
I am sure you understand the concept of recessive genes."

Kyle nodded his head as he looked around the
room, which did indeed resemble a warlock's study; he started to
believe what he was being told.

"So, I think we need to get you changed
first, and then we'll get some food into your stomach."

"That sounds great, sir. But if there is no
technology here what will I do to help? All I know is
technology"

"My boy, then I believe it is time to learn
something new!"

Draagh flicked his hand at the boy and his
clothing automatically cleaned up. He then stood and followed the
old mage out of the office and into a castle hallway, where they
travelled down numerous corridors, finally arriving at the main
dining hall.

Kyle was eating a venison and tomato sandwich
while listening to Draagh, as the ancient Primulus attempted to
cram as much information into the boy's brain in as little time as
possible. Bagatelle then arrived for lunch and sat down next to the
pair.

"Kyle, I believe we met before a couple of
years ago. I am - "

"Rear Admiral Bagatelle, well-known traitor
to the Johnson regime. Yes, I remember you, sir. We met briefly,
but you were holding the rank of captain at the time. And you
didn't have a beard, either."

Bagatelle gave the boy a quizzical look,
unable to tell if the lad meant that he believed him to be a
traitor or if he was being facetious.

"Oh, I know you aren't a traitor, sir.
Chairman Johnson is an evil piece of sharga."

"Ahem, right. Very good. Well, I am truly
sorry for your loss, young man. But we will provide a home for you,
and perhaps some ways for you to help us."

"Help you? In what way?"

"We are going to start a revolution," said
Bagatelle, wearing a wide grin.

"Oh cool! I wanna help!"

A few minutes later, Max, Jennie, Liliana,
Clarisa and Janice entered the dining hall, sitting at their table
with Bagatelle, Draagh and Kyle. Liliana had been informed that Lt.
Commander Vasquez' nephew was in the Rhönen, so she immediately
went over and looked at the youth with a piercing glare, as if she
were taking him apart. As soon as he noticed her looking at him he
broke out into a blush, trying to avoid eye contact with the cute
lycan girl.

"So this is Kyle! Hello, Kyle I'm Commander
Max Gunnarsson. I'm sure you've heard of me - traitor, technology
thief, destroyer of unicorn dreams, teddy bear murderer and
whatever else Len Johnson could make up."

The boy found Max's comments to be so funny
he nearly snorted his milk out of his nose.

"Yes sir. I am aware of who you are,
but I would like to one day hear the
real
story of your adventures. I believe nothing
that comes from the filthy government
spokesholes
."

"You are lycan. I can smell it," Liliana
stated blankly, as she stared at the boy.

"Um, no, I'm not. I'm just a kid."

"Well, I am a kid too, so what does that make
you?"

"Huh?"

"Do you even know mathematics?"

"Of course I do - I'm a computer
programmer!"

Liliana seemed to be thinking hard about
something, and giving Kyle a one-eyed stare, she decided to
confound him with a word problem.

"Ok, so, if I have an isosceles triangle, and
I throw it out of the castle window, and gravity is a thing that
exists, how many souls can you buy with a single vampire's
decapitated skull?"

"Oh my god… what the hell are you talking
about?"

Draagh attempted to intervene before
Liliana did something rash, saying, "Now now, children. Let us not
argue. First of all, Kyle, you
are
a lycan - you are just not active at this time. Second of
all, Liliana has an incredible crush on you, and she
should-"

Liliana jumped up and darted out of the room
before Draagh could finish his sentence, her signature tornado
trailing after her, accompanied by the characteristic screams and
crashes that nearly always ensued.

"Oh, where are you going my dear?" Draagh
called out, having used his own unique mannerisms to safely put a
muzzle on his great-granddaughter.