THE VROL TRILOGY (154 page)

Max grinned and leaned up against his
devastatingly beautiful wife, not really wishing to leave in any
case.

"Max, I have a feeling the Grigori know of
you, being as you are from the world they are attempting to help to
destroy. It would be best for you to remain here, my son," said
Michael.

"Okay, Pops. I'll keep myself busy with
President Bierle and business on Azul."

"So you say that these Grigori are
archangels, yet I heard you also say they are Prīmulī. Which are
they, Mr. Draagh?" queried Bierle.

"Mmm, why, they are both, of course!
You see, the term
archangel
merely refers to a profession; a job description, if you
will. Technically, my sons are both Prīmulī, as well as Max here.
However, Max is a bit different, having his mother's lycan genetics
intermixed into his genome. For this reason he is called the
Hybrid, and shall prove to be quite dangerous to the enemies of
Mankind."

"Aw man, I'm not all that, you know," Max
said with a blush.

"Baby, you're dangerous in more ways than
one," Jennie cooed.

"TMI! Oh. My. God! TMI!" yelped Liliana,
fully understanding the meaning of her mother's sentence. Jennie
reached her hand over and gently turned Liliana's head to her plate
of venison and mashed potatoes, while trying to hide her
embarrassed expression.

Everyone at the table stifled their laughter,
with the exception of Michael and Gabriel, who failed to find any
humor in Liliana's outburst. Their millennia of existence had
pretty much jaded them to anything remotely sexual. They had both
seen - and experienced - things beyond the imaginations of the
majority of their tablemates.

"Father, do you believe that the Grigori have
ensconced themselves in the Hub?" asked Michael, having a touch of
concern to his voice.

"No, my boy, I do not believe so. They would
be too easy to locate if that were the case. However, I do believe
they may be using the Hub as a relay for their nefarious
activities. We should set up some surveillance, calculating the
most likely location of the Vrol fleet from where it was last seen,
while paying careful attention to any communications emanating from
the Hub in general. One thing is certain - they are not currently
residing in the Milky Way Galaxy."

"Huh? They could be operating from a
different galaxy?" cried out Jennie. Being an educated person, she
was well aware of the vast distances between star groups. Humanity,
with its current and infantile grasp of faster-than-light travel,
would never be able to travel from one end of the Milky Way to the
other without having spent thousands of years in transit. So going
to another galaxy was unimaginable - except to a Primulus who could
command the powers of space/time, and transfer via the Hub.

"You know, when this is all done I'd like to
visit some other galaxies," said Max. "Jen, you can come along too,
of course. There's so much out there, and we pretty much have
forever."

"Oh, I'll go along, but remember sweetie -
you have forever. I have a long time, but lycans aren't technically
immortal - just long-lived."

She brought up an uncomfortable subject that
neither had addressed. Max was not only lycan, but also one of the
Prīmulī, and that particular component in his genome made him
immortal. In fact, had he never encountered his grandfather and
activated his lycan genetics he would have still lived forever,
most probably without an understanding of why he would never die.
However, that was not the case, and he would easily outlive his
gorgeous wife. This realization caused a sharp pain to invade his
gut, so he put his arm around her, holding her tightly.
Unfortunately, this verbalization also affected Clarisa, and Max
noticed his parents both become unusually agitated for a
moment.

"No, love. We live together and die together.
That's how it is. Without you my life is over," he whispered
caringly into her ear. Jennie knew he was serious, but she was also
a logical woman, so she just patted him on the thigh and let the
conversation take over.

"So, to go on - they could be residing any
place in the universe, but they are old thinkers. It is my belief
they are in a local sub-galactic group, such as one of the
Magellanic Clouds," Draagh stated.

"Well, we should begin there. Once in their
galactic vicinity we should be able to detect their presence," said
Gabriel, who had been relaxing comfortably with his consort,
Jessica. Jennie's statement about immortality didn't even affect
her. She lived for the moment and was simply glad to be along on
such an adventure.

Jennie looked to her left and pulled
Liliana's face out of her mashed potatoes, the child snoring
languidly. "Well, it's time to put this one to bed. Max can you
slip her upstairs, please?"

"Sure," he laughed, as he picked up his
precocious daughter and disappeared with a light popping sound. The
sound wasn't caused by his local slip, per se. Rather, it was the
sound of air filling in the space where he body had been mere
microseconds earlier. Likewise, when someone slipped into a
location there was a similar, yet slightly different sound, more
reminiscent of a
woosh
,
caused by the newly-arrived body pushing air out and occupying
space.

Jennie got up and set down next to Draagh,
whispering into his ear, quickly, as Max would return any second.
"Pops, you have to promise me. When I'm gone one day Max needs to
live. No matter what."

Draagh gave her a curious glance and then
smiled. "Whatever makes you think you shall die, my dear? Please do
not fret. All shall be well."

Jennie was about to inquire further regarding
Draagh's response, but Max slipped back into the room, noticing
Jennie hurriedly getting up and going to where they were both
previously seated.

"Well, I had to wash her face and put on her
pajamas. Jen, I think you're going to need to dress her when she's
passed out from now on," he said.

"Umm, yeah. Sorry Hun. I should have told
you," said Jennie.

"Told him what?" asked her brother,
Bagatelle.

"She's gonna hit puberty soon," responded
Max, while turning to his commanding officer.

"Does that mean she'll turn on the full moon
now?" asked Pandy, who had been quietly seated at the far side of
the table with Janice and Ohiro.

"Not necessarily, my dear girl, but we will
need to keep an extremely close eye on her when the moon reaches
its full cycle. That much is certain," said Draagh. "Ah, King
Krynos, it is so good to see you, old friend."

Krynos entered the main dining hall just as
Draagh called out his name, the Primulus having detected his
arrival moments before, just as did the rest of the group. The king
wore a great smile as usual, and took a seat with his favorite
family in the entire kingdom. Sitting in the main dining hall was a
rarity for him, but whenever he did so it was usually in the
company of Draagh, Max and the rest of their extended family.

"Good evening, my brothers and sisters. I
must say I am famished. None would mind if I were to eat my meal in
your presence, am I correct?"

Everyone shook their heads, with the
archangels nearly laughing out loud.

"This is your kingdom and castle, Lord
Krynos. Please, by all means. We have already satisfied the gnawing
in our bellies," stated Draagh.

Krynos was presented with a plate of the
evening's fare, and while he plowed into the meal Jennie brought
him into the subject of their latest conversation.

"King Krynos? I've noticed lately that it
appears Liliana is coming of age. What precautions shall we take on
the full moon?"

Krynos looked up with a mixed expression of
concern and pleasure. He was, of course, concerned when a child
came of age. There was nearly nothing worse than having an
undetected youth turn on the full moon and run around the castle.
Fortunately, it only happened a handful of times, and Krynos and
his sentient companions were able to subdue and incarcerate the
youth on each occasion. The pleasure in his face was from a thought
in the back of his mind. He felt Liliana would be a powerful lycan,
and he had great plans for her - assuming the Gunnarssons stayed in
the Rhönen Dominion after they had defeated the Vrol, of
course.

"Well, my dear girl," he began, "with females
it is usually a bit later than with the males, and only happens
after they have had their first bleeding, so it may be a while yet.
Unless…"

Max winced at Krynos' mention of bleeding. He
was still awkward and uncomfortable with many things female, but
understood exactly what the king meant. Jennie, on the other hand,
quickly reacted with a smirk on her face.

"No, she hasn't had her period yet, but I'm
keeping an eye out. Once she does, though, will she be locked away
like everyone else. Like Max."

Jennie laughed, knowing Max had yet to pass
the final test in order to be able to run free on the full moon.
Jennie had most recently graduated to the ranks of the sentient
when in death form - something only very few lycans ever did, with
her being the first reactivated one ever to do so.

Max snickered and nudged his wife. "Hey, I'm
not far behind. Plus, thanks to me you all have this crazy new
phase 2.5 you can call on."

"That may not be necessary, Jennie. Each case
is unique, and yes, we have your husband to thank for this new,
enhanced form in which can wantonly partake," said Krynos.

"And that is precisely why I believe the
Grigori have such a perverted and deadly interest in your world.
Remember, they were originally pushed out of Jah's good graces when
they opposed our experiment with humanity," said Draagh.

"Experiment?" Jessica inquired.

Michael, Gabriel and Draagh looked at each
other with knowing expressions, and then appeared to have
unconsciously agreed to a response, with Michael saying, "Over
billions of years we seeded many worlds with life forms. Some were
a success and some ended in tragedy. Even here on Earth we needed
to do it a few times. The closer we got to success, the closer
these life forms were to us - the Prīmulī. Our end goal was to make
a species that would eventually evolve to our state - after
millions of years, of course."

"What do you mean, you needed to do it a few
times?" asked Jennie.

"You do not actually believe you are
descended from apes, do you? I know I have a tendency, when in a
foul mood, to refer to humans as monkeys, but in reality, you are
much closer to us than them," said Gabriel.

"If Mankind is not descended from apes, then
from whom are we descended?" asked Max.

"No one species, really. While there is some
light Neanderthal intermixing within Homo Sapiens and your various
sub-species, you are all merely that, and have always been - Homo
Sapiens. The Neanderthals were the last failure in our attempts to
seed life on Earth," continued Michael.

"And what happened to them? The Neander Pals
or whatever they're called," asked Pandy.

"They died out on their own. They were highly
intelligent and subject to emotional overloads. Such was their
sentiment, they could not bear emotional pain, and thus that
contributed to their eventual extinction. In fact, those bloodlines
that have remnants of Neanderthal DNA tend to be more compassionate
than those who do not," added Draagh.

"But what about the Mitochondrial Eve we had
been told about ever since that connection was discovered?" Max
asked.

"Oh, she was the first Homo Sapiens we
developed. Quite spectacular, really, though not much to look at.
However, she was a start," said Draagh.

"So Pops, you made an Adam and an Eve, just
like in the Judeo-Christian texts?" asked Jennie.

"Well, we made many, and planted them around
this continental grouping. One could not seed an entire planet
based on the reproductive acrobatics of two simple souls."

"Then our ancestors - our Amerindian
ancestors from South America - they
did
migrate over the Bering ice or land bridge
thousands and thousands of years prior to our birth?" Max asked,
semi-rhetorically.

"Yes, my boy, the Americas, as you call them,
were populated by the result of a natural migration. This exodus
from Asia also explains why there were no pure-blooded Amerindians
with enhanced genetics. We only started enhancing your species many
years after that land link between Asia and North America had long
disappeared. Your lycan genetics are a direct gift from your
European ancestors. Now that is not to say that your native
American ancestors were in any way inferior - quite the contrary.
They did amazing things, in ways quite different from your European
ancestors. They may have never had lycan or mage genetics, but also
never suffered at the hands of vampires. That is, until the Spanish
arrived at their shores."

"The Spanish brought vampires to the New
World?" Jennie asked.

"Yes, my dear girl. But remember, the
enhanced subspecies had long before been deactivated, so by this
time they were merely --"

"Assholes," interrupted Max.

"Hmm, yes. Not my precise choice of words,
but I believe my grandson is most accurate."

"But when
did
you make lycans and mages and stuff?" asked
Jessica.

"Oh my dear, girl," responded the ancient
Primulus, "that occurred when humanity had acquired a sufficient
amount of societal sophistication. We waited until agrarian
cultures were thriving in many areas of the world. It was then we
began to experiment with enhanced genetics. Our first attempts
failed, as the lycans tended to kill all normals and then each
other, but we first found success not far from here, in the French
plains to the west."