THE VROL TRILOGY (152 page)

"
Pops, are you
out there?
" Jennie asked out over the private family
comm.

"
Why yes,
hello, my dear Jennifer. And how are we
today?
"

"
Fine, thanks,
but we're getting a bit sketchy about Max being gone. Can you
contact him and get his E.T.A., please?
"

"
Oh, but of
course. That will be quite easy, yes, quite easy indeed. Please
give me a few minutes and I shall contact him and inform him that
you request his presence.
"

"
Thanks so
much, Pops.
"

"
Yes, thank
you so much grandfather!
"

"
Liliana! It
is such a pleasure to hear from you. Remember, we have a lesson
appointment tomorrow at 1300 hours.
"

"
Yes,
Grandfather. I shall arrive on time.
"

Draagh turned back to the small computer he
was sitting at, where King Krynos was attempting to conquer yet
another level of Tetris, their mutual favorite computer game. The
small room they inhabited was separated from the castle and even
that world, but their coms still worked between the Rhönen Dominion
and the Hub, enabling Jennie to initiate contact with her
grandfather-in-law.

"Old friend, you seem distracted. Were you in
deep thought?" asked Krynos.

"Hmm? Oh… no. It was Jennie, requesting I
contact Max and have him return home. If he is gone more than a few
hours she starts to suffer panic attacks."

"Those long months without him have affected
her deeply. I feel for the lass. Still, she is a strong woman, and
the two shall birth many fine pups."

Draagh looked at his friend, wearing a
curious expression. Birthing pups was a common phrase in the
Rhönen, but Draagh knew that when Max and Jennie did indeed have
children they would be much more than mere lycan pups. Still, he
didn't wish to irritate the king by correcting him.

"Yes, I do believe you are correct, good
friend."

"
Max, my boy.
Can you hear me?
"

"
Oh hey,
Gramps! How are things back home?
"

"
Your wife
requires your presence.
"

"
Oh crap! Is
everything all right?
"

Max head mental snickering in his head,
followed by Draagh's response.

"
Yes, my boy.
Everything is quite all right. She merely misses
you.
"

"
Oh, good. You
had me worried there for a moment. Please tell her we'll be back in
a couple of hours.
"

President Bierle noticed that Max appeared to
be lost in thought, and put his hand on the young officer's
shoulder to call his attention.

"Captain, is everything well with you?"

"Huh? Oh yeah. Do you remember how we said
we'd make it so you could communicate with us telepathically?"

"Yes, yes I do. Is that what you were
doing?"

"Yeah. My wife wants us back in time for
dinner."

"Very well. I am actually ready to depart.
Shall we be returning to Azul tonight?"

"No, we'll go back in a couple of days.
There's a reason for it. You don't mind, do you?"

"Not at all, Captain. In fact, I am hoping
that we shall have the opportunity to sample more of that delicious
elk."

"
Pops, are you
still there?"

"
Yes, Max. How
may I help you?
"

"
President
Bierle wants elk for dinner again. Can you direct the kitchen to
prepare some?
"

"
Of course, my
boy,
" the ancient Primulus mentally snickered
back.

Max looked at Bierle and nodded his head.
"Done."

"That easy? I sincerely cannot wait until I
am able to communicate in such an efficient manner," said the
leader of Max's worlds.

"Hey Dons, how about some more beers before
we head out? Jennie shot me a message and pretty much said I need
to get home soon."

"Maxie, you know it's always a pleasure to
see you, but I don't blame you for wanting to get back to your
woman," responded the small human clan leader, a sincere grin
curling his small mouth.

"Yes, she is quite lovely, Captain. Tell me,
how did the two of you meet?" asked Bierle.

The group got a fresh round of beers and
listened while Max told his story from the beginning, mostly for
the benefit of Bierle. One round became another and then another,
with Max ending his story with his being found in that very bar. In
fact, while seated at that very same couch. Jorgen Bierle had a
new, profound respect for Captain Max Gunnarsson and mentally
resolved to assist the man in any manner possible.

"Okay, let's go, peeps. I'd like to help my
kid with her homework before it gets too late," said Max, as he
stood up and called his lycan soldiers to his side, along with
Bierle. Within seconds they were all gone with a pop.

Chapter 24 - Castle Sweet Castle

"Papi! Papi! Welcome home!" Liliana cried out
loudly. "Tell me please, how many Vrol did you eliminate?" The
young girl was dressed in her student tunic and a long dress, which
was unusual for her, and was similar to the more feminine garments
sometimes worn by Jennie.

"Hi Lili! I only nailed one. I dropped a
chunk of street on it. But President Bierle here got his first
kill. He was excellent in the field, and then we took him to see
the ruins of the Santa Monica Pier."

Liliana looked up at Bierle with bright eyes
and smiled. "Mr. President, welcome to the club!"

Bierle gazed at the small, innocent looking
girl, and asked, "Which club would that be, young lady?"

"Why, the club of… those who… have killed,
erm, Vrol! Yes! It is the club for those who have killed Vrol! You
are now an official member. May I ask your method of dispatching
the vile insect?"

"It was with this fine katana, through the
back of its neck, severing the spinal cord from its brain. I do
hope that was the proper method," said Bierle, while patting his
sword. He was completely amused with the young lycan, finding her
to be enchanting, albeit in a disturbing manner.

"Oh yes, Mr. President. That is the most
efficient method," she chimed, and then curtseyed to the system
leader. Then, turning to her father, she said, "Papi, Grandfather
Draagh said we are to again have elk for dinner. I assured him it
was an excellent choice, especially as we have such a distinguished
visitor inside these castle walls."

"Why thank you, Liliana," said Bierle, "I am
sure you shall become a great leader one day."

"Thank you, sir. Oh, Mami?" she exclaimed,
turning to her beautiful mother, "may I show President Bierle my
pets?"

Jennie looked at Max and the two nodded.
"Sure honey, go ahead. That is, if the President would like to see
them," responded Jennie.

"I would very much like to see your pets,
young lady. I was born and raised on a farm, so I am familiar with
many types of livestock, and even had a few pets of my own."

Thirty minutes later, Jorgen Bierle sat at
the long, wooden table, quietly nibbling at the barely cooked,
steaming elk on his plate. In essence, he was more or less
force-feeding himself. He had lost his appetite after watching a
live, sentient being screaming, as it fled for his life down a
predetermined path of death, only to be consumed by a massive shark
moments after having been released. Liliana, however, was happily
munching away at her meal, while her parents tried to not laugh out
loud. They knew exactly what they were doing when they allowed
their daughter to take Bierle out to see the sharks. It was a way
of driving home the fact that the Rhönen Dominion was indeed
nothing to be trifled with - in case President Bierle got any ideas
about who was in charge of Azul's defensive capabilities. If a
young girl would feed live vampires to genetically-modified,
ultra-intelligent fresh water great white sharks, then what would
she do to an average person who got in her way? And if she indeed
did that, how much more dangerous were the adults?

"Mr. President! Thank you so much for
accompanying me for this afternoon's feeding," the young lycan/mage
blurted out cheerfully.

"Ah, ahem, yes Liliana. It was quite
interesting. But please tell me, from where did you acquire the…
subject of your experiment?"

"I believe I can answer that, my good man,"
offered Draagh, seated a few places down at the table. "You see, we
found a sun-resistant, active vampire on Azul. There should be no
active individuals of that subspecies anywhere aside from here. In
studying him I found he is from this timeline, and he was modified
on Azul, most probably by a rogue Primulus. It is quite
disconcerting. Yes, quite."

"So you say one of your kind modified the
man? Was he a genetic vampire to begin with?"

"Oh yes, and he had been provided not only
with the ability to infect normals with his fetid condition, but he
was also resistant to light in the ultraviolet spectrum, something
unheard of here. Yes, it was part of some plan on a grand
scale."

"So then, may I ask, why, if you had him
under control, did you allow this wonderful young girl to wantonly
murder him?" Bierle was starting to show his love for liberty and
the judicial process. Max looked at him with no small amount of
compassion, but also knew that, in order to defeat the Vrol, they
would have to act in a savage fashion on occasion.

"Mr. President, this creature was no longer
human. He had been horribly changed, and if he were to turn even
one person it would spread, and eventually Azul would be overrun by
sun-resistant, sociopathic ghouls, hell-bent on conquering the
universe." Max had a look of business about his face, and Bierle
took it seriously. Still, the politician had a hard time swallowing
Liliana's actions.

"But, if I might ask, why did you allow your
lovely young daughter to use the creature as an experiment? Why did
you simply not imprison him?"

Max pointed a finger into the air and created
a holographic infoscreen, showing a vid of a particularly gruesome
battle, where numerous vampires picked up normal children and fed
on them by severing their jugular veins, causing blood to spurt out
like mini fountains. But what mortified the civilized politician
even more was how they further fed. They all laughed uproariously
as they took spoons and scooped out the children's eyeballs while
the younglings were still screaming, and then ate the ocular
organs. Bierle stared, jaw agape, and then slowly nodded his
head.

"They all must die," he agreed.

"Yup," murmured Liliana, her mouth half-full
of food.

Bagatelle entered the main dining hall and
took a seat next to his sister, kissing her on the cheek as he did
so. "Good evening, everyone. Mr. President - how was your day in
PAH?"

"It was enlightening, Admiral. I believe I
have a better grasp on what we are up against back home. I must
say, it is quite lucky that you are able to provide live training
against Vrol for our troops, albeit in a slightly controlled
situation. That being said, the captain said we were to return to
Azul in a couple of days. Why the wait?"

"Well, unless you want to hide in the base on
Vera, we have to stay here. It's the full moon back home, two days
long, so we'll need to wait here until it passes," said
Bagatelle.

"Is there a similar effect on Vera? What
causes the change to phase 3?" asked Bierle.

"It is a particular amount of reflected solar
radiation that causes a change to the salubots in our systems, Mr.
President," offered Max. "There is an equivalent effect on Vera,
but not as frequent."

"I find that odd - a particular amount of
solar radiation just happens to be reflected from a moon - on
occasion," he responded.

"Oh yes, my dear man, you are quite correct.
However, nature is as nature does, and it always finds a way," said
Draagh, pulling his hand away from his third helping of elk.

"What do you mean, Mr. Draagh?"

"Think of phase 3 as a sort of system renewal
that lycans must periodically go through. It rejuvenates the cells,
flushes and sloughs away the older components and allows the
organism to start anew."

"You know, I never thought of it that way! My
skin is always so glowing and smooth after turning on the full
moon," said Jennie, with her husband nodding in agreement.

"God, you're totally right, Jen. I never
looked at it that way either," said Max. "It is like a cleansing.
Pops, why didn't you ever tell me that?"

Draagh gave his grandson a curious gaze, and
said, "Because you never asked, my boy."

Max just shook his head and went back to
eating, with everyone else returning to their individual
conversations.

In a matter of ten minutes the entire
unofficial Gunnarsson clan was seated at their long, wooden table,
with all in various stages of starting or finishing their meals.
Michael and Clarisa were twiddling fingers as usual, while Gabriel
and Jessica were maintaining their typical low profile, but were
playing footsie out of the view of everyone else. Liliana was
fading fast, frequently leaning over onto Pandy's shoulder. Alicia
joined Bagatelle, and was prompting him to finish his meal and to
go to bed.