THE VROL TRILOGY (123 page)

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Miguel performed a predefined series of
blinks, causing his lens to silently snap a string of images of
Johnson's screen and send them to his own personal console so he
could show them to his captain. Slowly and carefully exiting out of
the storage closet, he then quickly bolted past Johnson's door and
went straight to the small bridge area, handing his personal
console to Robinson and showing the captain one of the images he
had just taken.

"Miggy, what's this?"

"Sir, it should be obvious. It's an
image of
his
screen. We're
going to die. Earth is dead and these… things are on their way to
Azul to do the same."

"My, my, how unfortunate that you saw that,"
said Johnson, with a sinister growl behind the officers, stinger
pistol trained on their position. "I was really hoping that you
would have been good little nobodies and had done your jobs as
commanded by your sovereign."

"Sovereign? Our what?" demanded Robinson. "We
have a Constitution that doesn't allow for kings or leaders for
life, and while I fully supported the government's temporary
reorganization due to extraordinary circumstances, I kind of have a
feeling that really wasn't your intention now, was it?"

"Oh, I
am
your…. how shall I say it, for the lack of a
better term, your king? Yes, I believe I am. And this species
surrounding us is going to cleanse the filth that has permeated our
society. I am leading the salvation of Mankind - a modern-day Noah,
if you will, and you two are fortunate enough to witness a part of
it. That being said, I will need for you two to cooperate and get
me back to Azul once I have had my little meeting. If things go
well I will even provide a space on the New Exodus fleet for you
and your immediate families. If things go well… and you
behave."

Johnson was lying through his teeth, and the
two officers knew it, but all they could do was go along with him
and hope for the best. What Johnson didn't notice when he was
talking was that Miguel had sent his images of Johnson's screen to
various contacts. However, it would be a few weeks before they
arrived at anyone's personal console, having been sent through
normal channels, and the transmission's point of origin so many
light years away from Azul System.

"So, do I have your cooperation or not,
gentlemen? Oh, and I'll take that personal console,
Lieutenant."

Jennard Robinson didn't become a captain by
making rash decisions. In fact, it was quite the opposite, and was
precisely the reason Johnson had selected him to lead the craft to
rendezvous with the Vrol, but Johnson hadn't taken junior officers
into consideration, so he had no idea that Hernandez wasn't
anything like his commanding officer. Miguel knew that they were
standing on the bridge with the most horrific traitor to the human
race in known history; Johnson made Mao Tse Tung look like a camp
counselor.

The junior officer started to formulate a
plan to relieve Johnson of his stinger. Then, once he had it, he
would quickly assassinate the dictator and hope that his
transmitted imagery would exonerate him from any crime, and perhaps
even make him a hero of Mankind.

Both of the officers nodded their heads, with
Miguel handing Johnson his device, and were about to go about their
business, when their craft was violently jolted, knocking all three
to the deck. Yells erupted from the back of the craft where the
enlisted personnel were stationed, and a terrible, screeching sound
ripped through their ears. Jumping up to his feet, Hernandez
scanned around via the view screen, seeing that their ship had been
locked onto with what appeared to be harpoons and cables. It was a
matter of moments before their ship was sided up with a fairly
large and ungainly-looking craft. Upon closer inspection, both of
the officers noticed that the outer skin of the alien craft seemed
to undulate, as if it were made of massive, living cells.

Johnson sat on the deck, paralyzed with fear.
It was the first time either officer had seen anything less than a
sneering look of self-confidence on his face, and despite their
obviously dangerous situation, they both found it rather pleasant
to view. But their enjoyment didn't last long. A large explosion
rocked the craft, opening up a hole in the bulkhead, through which
two creatures entered, each roughly two meters long and resembling
millipedes, but having larger heads and deadly-looking
quad-mandibles. Taking advantage of the distraction, Hernandez ran
up to the fear-immobilized Johnson, grabbing the despot's weapon
and training it on his face. However, he was just a little too late
- for himself and for humanity.

He was the first to find out what the
creatures' mandibles were for.

Robinson watched in horror as a
lightning-fast alien skittered up and enveloped the lieutenant's
body with its dozens of legs, and then slammed its razor-sharp
mandibles down onto Hernandez's head and chewed it off his body,
while a second creature entwined with the first and covered the
gaping neck hole where the lieutenant's head was with its own
mouth, its body obscenely expanding and contracting as the beast
sucked all of the internal organs and life fluids out of the
unfortunate man's torso, leaving it looking partially
desiccated.

The last thing the captain saw was Johnson
being carried off, screaming, by what appeared to be armored,
bipedal praying mantises, uselessly kicking his legs in
protest.

Chapter 2 - Savior

"Max, she needs to study more and you know
it."

Jennie Gunnarsson was becoming concerned with
the fact that their daughter, Liliana, was spending an inordinate
amount of time on recon missions and at the base and not in the
classroom, where as a child she belonged.

"Yeah love, I know. But things are so chaotic
right now. We just need to get everything in order. Plus you know
she made friends with these kids, and we're bringing them all back
with us."

Max looked out over the Tongass Narrows, a
seawater channel in Southeast Alaska that separated the islands of
Revillagigedo and Gravina, where only the disintegrated remains of
an ancient airport littered the landscape of the latter. He and his
wife Jennie had come along with their daughter in order to
coordinate the removal of the Saxman Haidas - some going to Vera,
and others, mostly children, going to the Rhönen Dominion, where
they would live in safety until Azul had been secured and the Vrol
had hopefully been eliminated from the galaxy.

Liliana was skipping small rocks on the water
while she watched bald eagles soar over the channel, searching for
food. The youngling was obviously impatient and wanting to visit
with her friends in the Haida village, so looking over to her
parents she asked, "Um, are we going to go there anytime soon? You
do remember that they always provide excellent barbeque."

Jennie giggled softly as she stood up,
grabbing Max's hand and pulling him with her. Seeing this as a sign
they were finally going to the village, Liliana ran over with a big
smile and stood next to her parents. In a matter of nanoseconds the
three were standing in front of the great totem pole from which Max
had extracted his ghanlo mere days before. Liliana gave both her
parents a hug, and then darted off to the clan house where her
friends were waiting.

"Jen, you realize that this is just a
coordination meeting, right? We aren't taking anybody back with us
yet."

"I know, sweetie. It's just that I really
want to get some of these people up and trained. The earlier we
start, the better chance of survival they will have. It's only
fair, you know."

Jennie was truly concerned for the Haidas, as
she had grown quite fond of the displaced lycan clan. The PAH
(Post-Apocalyptic Hollywood) timeline wasn't their native world,
and they were eager to move on and assist wherever they could. She
wanted to see them happy and safe, and while they were quite secure
in their current locale, they were fairly unhappy - they needed a
change of scenery, much as Jennie did over a year prior. The couple
walked up to the clan house, where Jake Williams greeted them, as
was his usual habit.

"Greetings Ms. Jennie and
He-who-flies-in-"

"Jake… it's Max. Please, just call me
Max, ok? Not
Soaring Eagle Ass
Kicker
or whatever other name you come up
with."

"My apologies, Max. It is just that you
showed a great interest in our traditional names when we first met,
so I thought perhaps you would like one."

The elder looked a bit disappointed that Max
was unwilling to be addressed in such a manner, but Max put the old
man at ease.

"Jake, I really do appreciate it, seriously.
But like my grandfather Draagh says, it's much more efficient,
especially in times of battle, to keep your names short and sweet."
Max exaggerated a bit in recounting his grandfather's distaste for
long names - it wasn't that they would interfere in battle; it was
actually that long words interfered with mealtimes, and Draagh
loved shortcuts. And mealtimes.

"So Jake," started Jennie, "we just wanted to
touch bases with you and get the ball rolling. We have some ideas
about where the kids will go, where the young adults will go and
where we will take the tribal elders."

"Shall we elders be taken to a location where
we shall not participate in fighting this evil alien enemy? I know
we are older, but we can provide many support services, young
lady."

Jake appeared to be a bit dismayed with
Jennie's suggestion of separating the elders from the rest of the
tribe, but Max jumped in and salvaged the intent of the
operation.

"Jake, no, it's not that at all. Your wisdom
will be valuable. It's a matter of where we have space and what
facilities exist. We think that you, that is, the elders, would be
better off in the Rhönen Dominion where we are taking the children.
The younger adults who'll train with weapons will need to go to our
base on Vera."

Jennie smiled and nodded her head in
agreement with Max, knowing that her introduction to the subject
had been sort of open-ended, and sounded like she was going to send
the elders off to somewhere completely different than everyone
else.

"Very well, Max. I believe that this location
should be sufficient. We only want to be of service, and never a
burden. If you would, please come inside and tell us more about
this Rhönen." Jake Williams then opened the door to the clan house
and the three entered and greeted the other tribal elders, along
with a few of the younger clan members.

Max started going over Krynos' kingdom in
detail, while everyone enjoyed a magnificent barbeque lunch, just
as Liliana had predicted.

Approximately two hours passed, with Max and
Jennie having exchanged sufficient information with the tribe and
managing to schedule a preliminary training for young adults, which
would occur on Vera. The children would then be brought over, but
there was still work to be done. The castle was starting to fill up
with all of the new arrivals, such as the newly turned local
families that promised to fight for Azul. Max needed to work with
his father and uncle to build new, temporary lodging facilities for
the children, all of whom he was almost certain his daughter would
visit on a daily basis. The little lycan girl had much more in
common with the Haida children than she did with normals, or all of
the adults with whom she surrounded herself.

After calling out to Liliana via their comms
(and waiting the customary fifteen minutes for her to show up -
muddy, with twigs and moss sticking out of her glossy black hair),
the Gunnarssons shook hands, waved goodbye to their new friends and
allies and then disappeared.

Jennie and Liliana both believed they
were going directly to the castle, but instead found themselves in
Max's new apartment in the Hub. It was more modern than anything in
the castle, and had furnishings similar to something one would have
on 29
^th
century
Azul.

"Papi, why are we in the Hub? Can you not
easily bypass it?"

"Yeah sweetie, why here? What's up?" asked
Max's beautiful dega wife.

Max sighed and sat down on a plush,
orange-colored couch. Then, putting his head in his hands he told
them his plan.

"Jennie, remember how I promised you we would
do whatever we could for that Josh Mannheim fellow?"

"Um, yeah, I do. Why? What's up, Max?"

"He's dying. His heart's about done, and he
only has days to live. Gabriel did some recon, and he's in the
military hospital in New Sydney."

"Oh no. Oh my god, and I haven't even let
Becky know I'm alive and I… sharga."

Jennie felt guilty for not having contacted
her former roommate and best friend ever since she left on the Old
Earth mission over a year before. She had done so for Becky's
safety, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt.

"I spoke to Pops and we need to bring them
in. Now, if they refuse I'm good enough with temporary mind wipes
to --"

"No, love," interrupted Jennie, as she picked
little pieces of forest out of Liliana's hair, "they won't refuse.
I know them. They're smart and they know what's happened. They'll
come along. But can Draagh cure Josh? Is it a for-sure thing?"

"I don't know, but I trust him with this sort
of thing more than anyone else in the galaxy."

Jennie plopped down onto the couch next to
Max and rested her head on his chest. Closing her eyes, she dreaded
the thought of Becky's response to her roommate who had basically
abandoned her months before.