Jeremy led the group to the gates. Two guards stepped in front of him, weapons held across their chests.
Jeremy looked at the guard on the right and waved his right hand. “These visitors are welcome. Let them pass.”
The guard turned to the second guard and said, “These visitors are welcome. Let them pass.”
The guards stepped aside and let them through the gates.
Once inside, Flox met them. The little Horkin looked like he had stopped growing when he was ten years old. His face was hidden behind the breathing gear. “Why do you want to go to the residence?” he asked. “Without an invitation, you could be arrested. If they arrest you, I could lose my job. I need this job. Are you going to cause trouble?”
“Settle down, Mr. Flox,” Jesse said. “We won’t cause any trouble.”
“It’s just Flox. Why do you want to see the mayor?”
“You ask too many questions, little man,” Steve said. “Just take us to the residence.”
Flox escorted them to the residence, muttering, “I’m not a little man.”
They walked for about three minutes.
“I’ll wait out here for you and escort you back to the gate,” Flox said as he backed into the shadows.
Sounds of a party came from inside. Rocky and Scotty were stationed at the door with weapons ready as the rest entered. There were thirty or forty people in the large room. The team had their weapons ready as they came to the entrance to the room.
Mayor Schmidt was starting to make a toast. “I congratulate all of you.” He lifted his glass. “Your efforts to prepare the Torron army for battle against the invading army of the planet Dastor have been proven successful. The alien planet that was about to invade Earth has been stopped before they could launch their attack. Their capability to come to this planet has been crushed.”
The room exploded with cheers.
The mayor put up his hands to quiet the crowd. “The cutting-edge technology developed here will now be available to our brothers and sisters on Earth.”
Another round of cheers went up.
Jeremy put out his right hand, and a bolt of lightning hit the floor in the center of the room. The thunder was deafening. Everyone in the room ducked down and looked at the Alliance. All of the Alliance team members took off their breathing gear. The crowd gasped.
Steve flew over the crowd and landed next to the mayor. Six guards rushed into the room from six different entrances. Matt waved his hand and turned their weapons into soft, droopy clay.
Jesse walked across the room as the crowd parted and went up to Schmidt. “You’ve been misled. The Torron army has been attacking the West Coast of the United States for the past two weeks. She started landing there fifteen days ago. The battle began five days ago and ended yesterday. She has been defeated on Earth and is currently on her way back here.”
Schmidt shook his head. “No, that’s not true.”
“Look at this video,” Jesse said. She showed the mayor some video of landmarks being attacked.
“How do I know those are authentic?” Schmidt asked.
Steve looked Schmidt in the eye. “Where do you think your younger brother went tonight?”
“Oh, he’s a fool,” the mayor said. “He never liked it here. He thought something wasn’t quite right with this place. He requested a transfer back to Earth. We can come and go as we wish, you know.”
“Really?” Jeremy asked as he walked up. “So people come here from Earth?”
“Yes,” Schmidt said. “They can stay as long as they like.”
“And then they can go back to Earth, like your brother?” Steve asked.
“Yes,” Schmidt answered.
“Once you go back to Earth, you can’t return, right?” Jeremy asked.
“You could,” Schmidt answered.
“To your knowledge, has anyone ever come back after leaving?” Steve asked.
Schmidt thought about it for a few seconds. “Not that I can remember.”
“The reason they never come back from Earth is because they never go back to Earth,” Steve said.
“What are you saying?” Schmidt asked.
“You’ve been duped,” Jeremy said. “You come here, but you never return to Earth.”
“No, no, that’s not true.” Schmidt began to shake. “My brother just left. It takes three days before he’ll be back on Earth.”
Steve handed Schmidt his brother’s ring and showed him the video on his phone. “This took place in a valley north of here. Check it out. No one leaves Gandoral. You’ve been building a war machine to take over Earth. The technology you’ve developed will never find its way to Earth unless you work with us to permanently stop Torron. I know this is a lot to digest, but we don’t have much time. You need to look into what we’ve told you.”
“We can’t leave the city to check out what you’re saying,” Schmidt said.
“There,” Matt said. “That statement should be enough to convince you. Why can’t you leave the city?”
“The atmosphere is controlled inside the Broward Region for us,” Schmidt said. “We cannot survive outside the city. All of our sensors confirm the danger. The sun here will kill us faster than the lack of oxygen.”
“Wow, and you’re the smart ones,” Steve said. “There’s nothing wrong with the air or the sun. You should check your sensors. Investigate the valley. We’ll be back in the morning for your answer. Will you join us or fight against us? We need to know.”
The team left.
Sitting outside the Broward Region entrance, Jeremy said, “We’ll know within the hour if they’re for or against us.”
“Within the hour?” Jesse asked.
“Yeah, if they’re against us, Torron’s army will be notified and we’ll see a tremendous movement of troops,” Jeremy said. “If they’re truly thinking about what we said, there will be no troop movements. It’s simple logic.”
By 2:00 a.m., the team had camped a mile or so away from the gates to the Broward Region. Steve motioned for Jeremy to join him away from camp. They walked far enough to be out of voice range.
“Yeah, what is it?” Jeremy asked suspiciously.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about you and me. Even though I’ve been relentless, you’ve tried to be my friend.”
“You’ve been a jerk,” Jeremy said and started to walk away.
Steve grabbed Jeremy’s arm. “Don’t go. I have something to say.”
Jeremy pulled his arm free of Steve. “You always have something to say. You blame everyone around you for your misfortunes. Sometimes it’s justified, but most of the time, it’s not. You are a royal pain.”
“Look, you’re right,” Steve said. “I’ve been a royal pain.” He looked into Jeremy’s eyes. “I don’t want to do this anymore.”
Jeremy’s countenance changed. “What are you saying?”
Steve had a solemn look on his face. “You’ve always been my best friend. I don’t want to fight with you anymore.” His eyes began to tear up. “I know my father’s death was only the luck of the draw. It wasn’t your fault.”
“You know that Jesse, Matt, and I want you to be back in the team, part of the four musketeers,” Jeremy said. “You know that, right?”
“Yes, I do,” Steve said.
“Why now?” Jeremy asked.
“I had a long talk with Caroline on the flight to the island. She helped me see that I needed to fix this. I want back in.” Steve had tears streaking his cheeks.
“You’re so stupid,” Jeremy said, choking up. “You’ve never been out.” He gave Steve a hug, and they walked back to camp.
~~~
General Wisecoff and his staff were in the command center watching the monitors.
“Look!” Colonel Smith exclaimed. “The dome at the lake near Seattle is starting to crumble.”
Sure enough, the top of the dome started caving in.
“The shield is down,” the general said. “Strike with everything we have.”
Only a minute or so later, Smith spoke again. “General, the dome in Seattle is caving in. They will all fall. Next will be the ones in the Bay Area, then LA, and then San Diego.”
“I want a full attack on every dome the minute it starts to cave in,” Wisecoff said.
“The dome at the lake is completely down,” Smith said. “The black cloud is starting to leave. It’s taking the soldiers and equipment with it.”
They watched the monitor for the lake dome. As the end of the black funnel cloud retracted into the sky, all of the remaining soldiers and equipment were vacuumed up into the funnel. The cloud disappeared into the northeast sky, and one by one, the other funnel clouds did the same. Within an hour, they were all gone.
The mood across the entire country was jubilant. There were celebrations in the White House, in the command center at Nellis Air Force Base, and every other place around the country and indeed around the world.
~~~
“We have to get to the Celestor by sunrise,” Jeremy reminded the group. “We’ll see what kind of support we get.”
“We have to be in two places at once,” Caroline pointed out. “We need to see what the mayor will do and be at the Celestor in the morning.”
“I say we split up,” Steve said. “Caroline, Scotty, and Rocky stay with me. We’ll find out what the mayor has decided and then join you at the Celestor around midmorning.”
“That sounds like a plan,” Matt said. “By noon tomorrow, we should know where we stand.”
“By my calculations,” Jeremy said, “Torron should be arriving on Gandoral sometime tomorrow afternoon.”
“We don’t know what condition she’ll be in, but we do know she was in bad shape when she left Earth,” Jesse said. “We should try to mount an attack as soon as possible to catch her at her weakest.”
“Get three hours of sleep,” Matt said. “We’ll get up before the sun and head out.”
Jeremy whispered to Caroline, “Thank you for whatever you said to Steve.”
“You’re welcome,” Caroline said.
Chapter 47
The Celestor
The sun was peeking over the horizon when the Alliance drove into the town square.
Oh my, Jesse thought as the full destruction of the Celestor came into view. The tree looks like it was hit by multiple strikes of lightning. Split down the middle, the tree had three sections broken off halfway up. The three sections of the trunk are still attached to the main trunk and have fallen onto the village below. What a mess. What a tragedy.
The Alliance team was introduced to the king of the Imphogs, the king of the Horkins, the king of the Nectorians, and the king of the Rocpeans.
“All four of the clans want to join you in this battle,” Slatel said.
“Torron has created the largest army in the history of Gandoral,” Mumford, king of the Rocpeans, said. “Some are in the forest between the volcano and the mountains, but most are either in the castle or in the Longline Region.”
“There is a way to consolidate the Torron forces,” Enro, king of the Imphogs said. “If we could get to the military command center high in the tallest tower of Torron’s castle, we could activate the Hogmat Beacon. They use the signal to bring all soldiers to the parade grounds. It’s a signal used to gather them for celebration.”
“If we can sound the signal right away, they’ll think Torron has had a great victory,” Jeremy said. “Once she arrives back here, they’ll know she’s lost the battle on Earth and also know the battle for Gandoral is just beginning. We need to move fast. We can’t wait to see what Schmidt will do.”
“Schmidt?” Jasor, the king of the Nectorians, asked in astonishment. “He’s the one who’s developing the technology that will dominate all of Gandoral, Earth, and the rest of the universe. You can’t believe he’ll join us. He’s as evil as the queen.”
“I know this is hard to believe, but for a hundred years, the Broward Region and the city of New Cambridge have been lied to,” Jeremy said. “They believed they were developing technologies to protect Gandoral and Earth against invasion from other planets. They believed the only place safe for them was within the walls of the city. All of their sensors had been rigged to show the atmosphere outside of the walls was uninhabitable for them. They were totally fooled by Torron.”
“Do you trust them?” Jasor asked.
“We’re not sure yet,” Jeremy said. “I do believe they were duped. We’re not sure with this new understanding, which side they’ll come down on. We’ll have to wait and see.”
“In either case,” Matt said, “we need to move quickly to sound the beacon.”
“Caroline, you come with me,” Jesse said. “Matt, you and the others work with the four kings to come up with a strategy. We’ll be right back.”
“Kinser can get you into the military command center,” Pankor, king of the Horkins, said. “He works there. You can be in the tower in less than an hour.”
~~~
Waiting is killing me, Steve thought. The sun has been up for an hour, with no sign of Schmidt. If these guys are so dumb that they get tricked for what, a hundred years, I’m not sure I would trust their judgment enough to have them join us.
The main gate to the decontamination chamber opened, and Schmidt and three other men walked out into the morning sunlight. Schmidt looked at his hands and gazed at the orange sky. He shook his head. “We’ve been tricked. The amazing part is we bought it hook, line, and sinker. The traditions of the generations before us pulled us into this realm of deception without us questioning the fundamentals.”
“Look, we don’t have the luxury of lamentation,” Steve said forcefully. “We need to act. Are you in or out?”
“We’re in,” Schmidt said. “My brother and a lot of close friends are in the Valley of Darkness. Torron can’t get away with what she’s done.”
“We need to push the Torron army and all of her followers back behind the Gates of Horgon,” Steve said. “Once that’s done, the Alliance can lock her there forever.”
“Gates of Horgon?” Schmidt asked.
“I don’t have time to bring you up to speed on all the details,” Steve said. “Work with your engineers and scientists to come up with something that can help with this fight.”
“There are thousands of Oar-7s waiting to be sent to Earth. We can disable them all with signals from our control center. That will take them out of the battle. We have a generous supply of weapons. We’ll organize a fighting army to support you as well.”
“Prepare every able-bodied man and woman for battle,” Steve said. “Make plans to move them. I’ll let you know where as soon as I know. How about communications?”
“Here,” Schmidt said as he reached into his pocket. He handed Steve a telephone. “You can contact me on this device.”
Steve laughed. “A flip phone. You’re a little behind on this technology. We’ll be in touch.”
Steve and his companions jumped into a truck and headed toward the Celestor.
~~~
Torron has cut down a third of the forest to put in a military base, Jesse thought.
The base was a filthy place, located west of the parade grounds, with unkempt buildings and barracks. There weren’t many soldiers around, only a few military vehicles and a couple of damaged Oar-7s. Jesse and the others walked out of the military base and into the parade grounds.
“This is where all the remaining military will gather once the beacon is sounded,” said Kinser, the Horkin that would escort the Alliance into the castle. “It’ll only take four or five hours to get them all here. We won’t have any trouble getting in. This truck is cleared, and I’m cleared.”
Jesse and Caroline were invisible. They could see faint images of each other, but no one else could see them.
The truck stopped at the main gate. The Humonger looked around the truck and then waved it through.
Jesse and Caroline followed Kinser through a maze of stone hallways, in and out of various ro
oms, until they finally came to the military command center, located in the top of the largest tower of the castle. From that vantage point, they could see everything from the mountains in the west to the Broward Region in the east. The large blue dome completely dominated the skyline and horizon to the east.
Jesse and Caroline stood against the wall, avoiding the three Humongers in the room. Jesse had the Dagger of Valdar in her hand, and Caroline held her service weapon.
“No, no, no, I’ve been given an order to sound the Hogmat Beacon by Drake,” Kinser said to the Humonger in charge of the center. “Torron is coming this afternoon, and he wants all of the soldiers here to give her a hero’s welcome.”
The Humonger lifted the cover off and pushed the button. The Hogmat Beacon began blaring. The foghorn-like bellowing lasted a full minute and echoed across the countryside.
Drake rushed into the room. “What are you doing?”
“Kinser said you ordered the Hogmat Beacon to be sounded,” the Humonger said.
“I did no such thing.” Drake grabbed Kinser by the throat and lifted him off his feet. “Just what are you up to, Kinser? I’ve always wondered about your loyalty. You will tell me or die.” Drake’s eyes turned from blue to black. He looked through his scrunched eyebrows at Kinser, and then electric arcs began flowing from Drake’s hand into Kinser’s throat and down through his body.
Jesse and Caroline jumped into action. Caroline began firing her weapon, and the three Humongers in the room went down. At the same time, Jesse pointed the Dagger of Valdar at Drake. An orange laser-like beam shot from the dagger and hit Drake in the side. As it did, the orange beam split in all directions and completely encapsulated Drake.
Drake dropped Kinser’s lifeless body to the floor. He turned toward the source of the beam, seemingly unaffected by the orange glow surrounding him. He waved his hand, and a gray dust spread around the room, settling on Jesse and Caroline. He extended both hands, one in Caroline’s direction and one in Jesse’s direction. A force field hit them both and knocked them unconscious to the floor.
Winds of War Page 27