The Watcher

by Bill Stenlake

  The Grand Master finds out that things are not looking very good at all. The android reports that the base is under attack from within. It is the character Spirit that has taken them by surprise and initiated this attack. Then there is also the issue, that the ones guarding The Keeper and the two Guiding Masters have also been overcome. They have commandeered a transport vehicle and destroyed several robots and androids. They are in the vicinity of the hillside base. An alarm has been sent by the guard of Spirit’s craft; that it is under attack. Some of the androids have used the underground passage, to escape unnoticed from the base. It also reports that the weapons do not appear to be working in the manner they should be. The robots and androids have to resort to using the much less powerful back-up systems.

  All this that The Grand Master is listening to, is not what he wants to hear. In fact it is the last thing he wants to hear. It also changes the dynamics of what he has been planning to do right now. If Spirit’s craft is under attack, well the robot is; then it will mean he has no chance of getting to it and using it for himself. He also suspects that even if he does get to it, then it will be another matter of whether the craft will allow him to fly it. He seems to remember some morsel of information from somewhere, about things being designed that they can only be used by the individual they were designed for. That, at the moment, is irrelevant. What is relevant; is that he isn’t going to get to Spirit’s craft, without coming up against the opposition. That mode of transport, as a means to escape the planet, would appear to have gone, as a viable option. He asks the android where it was going to. It replies that it had been coming to look for him.

  The Grand Master makes the decision that he should turn back and make for his craft. The android accompanies him, as he walks as fast as he can to get there. There is no saying how long he now has, before they come after him. He suspects from what the android has told him, that his time to escape is very short; very short indeed. He can’t help but keep looking back over his shoulder as he walks, to see if they are onto him yet. It is a relief each time he turns, to find out that he is alone with the android still. They reach the craft a short time later. The robot there is still working away on the transport outside. The Grand Master tells it to get it loaded onto the craft as quickly as possible. In the meantime he gets the android to check all the systems on his craft and try to tweak the engines, so that the craft can go faster. The android does not really understand how it can do that. The Air Micro Compounder engines have no access point to work on them, as they don’t need that. The compartment looks the same, but the engines in there now, are something that this android has not come across before. All it can do is to fire up the engines and hope for the best. It can’t do that until the robot has finished loading the transport on board. It passes this nugget of information on to The Grand Master. It is another bit of news that is unwelcome. It results in the android being told to just get the robot on board. They are going to abandon the transport the robot has built. It is not going to be much of a loss.

  The Grand Master is keeping an eye on the distant horizon. The way his luck is running, they are going to be upon him, before he gets the opportunity to leave the planet. Even if he does get to leave, then they are going to spot him. It will only be a matter of time before they come after him, in a much faster vehicle. The only good thing is that Spirit’s craft can only hold one person and there are four of them. That is the only bit of good news he has to hand.

  They are on board and ready to go. Rather than to just lift off, The Grand Master has decided that the android will take the controls. They will then lift off and stop at about fifty feet above the ground. They will then fly at this level away from the direction of the base, until they are far enough over the planet that their launch into space will be impossible to see from the base. It is not what the craft is designed to do and to fly so low is certainly a risk, but what it does do, is increase their chances of lifting off and going into space, without being seen doing it.

  The android lifts off and gets to the required height. The Grand Master tells it to start to direct the craft, away from the base. They need to do this at speed. It is a tricky task to complete because, although the surface is flat in places, there are also some hilly bits which will need to be passed on their way. To do this at speed and remain intact will take all the flying skills that the android has in its systems. The Grand Master urges it to go even faster than they are already travelling at. They are having more than just one or two close misses on their journey so far, but he is starting to panic that he has run out of time. He decides that they are far enough away, that they can actually fly a fraction higher now and not be spotted. The android takes them up to 100 feet. They still have obstacles to avoid, but not quite so many.

  A short time later, The Grand Master decides, with information from the android; that they have gone far enough to be able to launch into space, without being in sight at all from the base. The android does that and they are soon out of the grip of Boristal 7. The Grand Master takes over the controls of the craft. He sets the controls to his intended destination.

  Chapter 48 The Baddies

  Posdon can see that the bridge has gone. He can also see that the trench is far too deep for them to make it down and back up the other side. The only way is down into the mist and that has brought disaster to the ones that have been down there, up to now. He, for the first time in a long while, does not know what he should do. It is not in his nature to surrender, as has been suggested to him. On the other hand he does not appear to have an option.

  But for Posdon, there is always an option. He may not be able to get his vehicles over the trench, but that doesn’t mean that he can’t make it on foot. He can walk back to his craft and then decide what he is going to do from there. The advantage he has, at least he thinks he has the advantage, is that the inhabitants here can’t come out, without the cover of the mist. He is in no danger of the mist falling as yet. It isn’t that far for him to go back to the craft. It will take much longer if he walks, obviously, but he can do it.

  There is no point leaving them this vehicle for it only to be turned against them. The inhabitants have stripped their spacecraft of a lot of the fittings, but they haven’t taken everything. They couldn’t get into the transport room. There are another couple of vehicles there. They also could not remove all of the weapons system. If nothing else, Posdon will find it is much easier to defend their position from there. In fact he might go on the offensive himself. If resources are so valuable here, then they won’t want their precious buildings destroyed, but that is what he thinks he might do.

  He gets out and the androids take up a defensive position, protecting their backs as they go down into the trench. Just before they go in, they fire on their vehicle and take it out of action. There will still be parts that can be rescued from it, but as an assault vehicle it is useless.

  They make it to the bottom of the trench and up the other side. They are about half the way up to the top, when they notice that the mist is starting to creep towards them. It is already coming out over this side of the trench. They pick up their pace and when they reach the top, break into a run. The mist is over the top now and closing in on them at a pace. They are committed now, so run even faster towards the village. As they get into sight of it, they notice that two vehicles are waiting for them. Behind the vehicles, the village is half shrouded in the mist. The mist is creeping forwards towards the vehicles.

  The androids move forward at Posdon’s instruction and one of them approaches the first vehicle. As it gets close the vehicle opens fire and takes out the android. The other two are taken out in the next five seconds too.

  ‘We suggested that you surrender’ a voice comes from the direction of the vehicles ‘but you thought you could outwit us by coming back here. As you can see, we have found the other transport you had on board. We will give you one more opportunity to surrender. If not, you will be forcing us to defend what is ours here on Zenfa 2. Posdon do
es not know the meaning of the word surrender. He knows that if he does, then he will be kept here forever. There is no way he is going to allow that to happen. He shakes his head, before he charges towards the vehicles. His weapon is firing wildly as he runs. They allow him to come virtually up to where they are. They don’t fire on him, but allow the mist which has raced up behind him, to swallow him. There is no sound as he disappears into the hold of the mist.

  Grillech is concentrating on where he is going. That is as far away from here as fast as he can manage it. Unfortunately that isn’t as fast as he would like. It certainly isn’t as fast as The Air Micro Compounder engines can go, that is for sure. There is no doubt that something has happened and the power of the engines and the weapons has gone. As he thinks about it, he puts the blame firmly on The Grand Master. Now he has sent them out to the farthest reaches of the universe, he has disabled something in the workings, so that they can’t get back to him. Grillech forgets that the Grand Master recruited them, to gain riches for them all. He forgets that The Grand Master gave them the access to the Air Micro Compounder technology, to help himself in the long run. He doesn’t understand that this is not The Grand Master’s doing, well not directly.

  He has put some distance between Nitll and him, when he turns back to have a look. It is more to see if, by any chance, he is being followed, rather than to see what has happened to the Cotons. It is as he is looking back, he sees a bright light. He doesn’t need to be told what it is. He can feel it in his bones. His spacecraft has just exploded. Well at least the Cotons won’t be able to follow him for their revenge, for him leaving them. They wouldn’t have listened to reason. They would have just thought he was trying to trick them and cheat them out of their own share of the riches to be had.

  There is little point in going to the travel pod as yet. He wants to be a lot further away from Nitll, before he goes to the travel pod. He wants to be sure that he will be safe from them, before he leaves the control desk.

  The light from the explosion has gone. He can’t see anything back there, but to be honest the distance is too great to see much anyway. He certainly wouldn’t be able to see any of the six craft back there. He keeps watching anyway. The craft is still propelling him further away from Nitll. The only thing to watch is the planet, getting further away from him all the time. It isn’t getting much smaller, as he isn’t going that fast in the real meaning of things.

  It is about fifteen minutes later that he sees something that puts the dread into his heart. He isn’t sure at first if it is what he thinks it is, but it doesn’t take long for him to be able to confirm, that there are six small craft chasing after him.

  He turns back to his control panel. A message appears on it in front of his eyes.

  ‘We are aware that you did not take part in the attack on our planet, but we must insist that you stop. We will escort you back to Nitll, where we will interview you and decide what to do with you. Any resistance will be met with force. There will be no more communications.’

  Grillech reads the message. He will not become a prisoner. That is what they are intimating will be the case. He won’t be allowed to just leave. If they were going to allow that, then they wouldn’t have chased after him. He starts to slow down his craft. There is no point trying to outrun them. They have already proved that they can go faster than he can. The only question he has to answer; is whether he is going to go down fighting, or if he is going to allow them to escort him back to Nitll. Neither choice really has an attractive ending, as far as he can see. He is a fighting man. He has no option, other than to fight to the last. He turns his craft round and starts back towards Nitll and the six approaching craft. It will be the last action he takes alive; apart from the moment he opens fire on them.

  Valpar is shocked to hear that they might not be able to leave the planet. But then on the other hand, the people here have told them things so far, that have turned out not to be true. He doesn’t want to actually try to start the engines to leave the planet, but he is tempted to do so. He decides that the man is just trying to prevent them from taking their wealth and coming back for more.

  ‘Will you bring the water to us and show us how it turns the material into its wealthy state?’

  ‘I don’t have to do that, but if it is a way of showing you that what I have said is the truth. I will arrange for that to happen. You will of course be taking it on trust that the water we use comes from the spring.’

  ‘I understand that. I just don’t want to have to put myself in danger, by coming with you to get the water.’

  ‘You will see what the water does to the base material. Then you will begin to understand about the wealth this planet has. But by doing that, you will also want to touch it, I am sure. That is where you will be in danger.’

  ‘I think that we are prepared to take that risk.’

  ‘So be it. I will bring the tanker out in a few hours. Stay on the beach and then follow us when we get there. We will not want to come in contact with you, nor should you come in contact with us, without being thru the process.’

  ‘As long as we can see what the water does.’

  ‘We will have to do the process outdoors then. There is a large container we can use for this demonstration.’

  ‘That’s fine with us. As long as we can see what you do and then take the material you make.’

  The man doesn’t say any more. Three hours later the tanker comes ashore. Valpar follows the tanker to where the large container is. A vehicle appears from one of the buildings. It scoops up material from the ground near to the container. Water suddenly appears from the tanker and starts to fill the container. They only put enough in to cover the material at the bottom of the container. Valpar moves over with his men and stands by the container. The water in the container starts to bubble and swirl. There is no one there to mix the two, but there doesn’t appear to be a need to. The water suddenly stops and the material changes consistency before their eyes. It stops being earth covered in water and becomes a shiny metal. It is gold in color.

  ‘We will come back in two days to turn it out of the container. Remember you must not touch it until then, because the virus is active in the water that was poured in there.’

  They drive away and Valpar watches them go. They are no sooner out of sight, than one of the men has leant over the edge of the container and tapped the metal in it.

  ‘It’s gold’ he says in awe.

  Within five minutes they have all had a closer look and feel of it.

  ‘It’s all been a show, to stop us from taking their wealth. There is so much to be had from here.’ Valpar stops talking, as one of his men turns and starts to run away from them. Another then turns and runs after him. In less than a minute they are all running after him. They aren’t going to catch him though. He has a head start on them. But then they aren’t trying to catch him. Something in their head has sent them running in the direction of the sea. As Valpar draws near to the water’s edge, he remembers that people with the virus just ran into the sea. The man had been right all along. Now he has the virus and he is about to die.

  Chapter 49 Ricardo/Vee & Bar

  Ricardo is looking up into the barrel of the guy’s pistol. It is aimed fairly and squarely at his chest. The guy just stands there, looking down at Ricardo. Ricardo can do nothing, but look up and await his fate. He has retrieved his pistol and it is in the room. He also has an ample amount of ammunition. It is all ready to put the pistol in his belt and the ammunition in his pockets, when he goes out. He hasn’t gone out yet. He is just back and the pistol he brought up from the car is in the drawer of his bedside table. He couldn’t put it in his belt while he is in the room. It would be too uncomfortable to do that. He couldn’t leave it out on the side, when he has just ordered room service. It wouldn’t have been too clever to have it just lying around the room, for all and sundry to see. It would be better in his belt, but it is better at this moment in the drawer, than on view. At least this way, the gu
y can’t see that he has a weapon. All he needs to do is to find a way to get to it, or to find a way to stop this guy shooting him.

  The stalemate goes on for another couple of minutes. It isn’t really a stalemate, as the guy is in control of things. Ricardo takes some comfort that the guy hasn’t just shot him. Obviously with him having a weapon he has the ability to do so, but the longer he doesn’t, then the better Ricardo’s chance, is what he is thinking. He decides to wait and let the guy make the first move. He isn’t going to move just yet. He is hopeful that the guy isn’t going to shoot him while he is still on the floor. Another two minutes go by and still nothing. Ricardo decides that he has to say something, to move this thing on. Apart from anything else, the room service is going to be here any minute.

  ‘I ordered room service just before you came.’

  ‘Of course you did’ is the sneering reply.

  ‘I actually did. I would say it will be here in the next five minutes. We can stay like this and find out. Don’t get jumpy when they knock on the door.’

  The guy doesn’t get the opportunity to answer. There is a knock at the door. Ricardo sees a look of shock on the guy’s face.

  ‘If you let me get up, I’ll answer it.’

  The guy waves him up with his gun.

  ‘Don’t say anything to him.’

  Ricardo gets up quickly, but not too quickly, and walks over to open the door. He takes the tray from the waiter and gives him a five dollar tip. He turns and shuts the door with his foot. He stands by the now closed door, with the tray in his hands. The guy waves the gun, for him to move away from the door. Ricardo takes that as an opportunity to go where he wants to. He walks over to the bed and round to the other side and sits down. He puts the tray on the bed. The drawer with his gun in is now just maybe a foot away from him. He doesn’t try for the drawer, but starts to eat the food he has ordered.