"We have been too soft." The murmur in her head accompanied the low auditory rumble that was emanating from Liliath. "Words burn in me. I can no longer suppress them. We cannot afford compassion or benign non-interference in this case. While it is true that we do not advocate force, we cannot sacrifice the peace and growth of worlds without end for the avarice and violent natures of a small minority. I can no longer tolerate it!" And she brought a clawed fist down on the dais so hard that it nearly threw Jenny out of her chair.
Myla stood and placed one hand on Liliath's heaving shoulder. "I'm with you," he sent quietly. "We need to finish this once and for all."
Ingot nodded solemnly, reaching up and placing his hand on her chest. "I agree. This is an infestation that cannot be allowed to continue. Our patience is at an end."
The three turned as one to Jenny. "Earth has become the lynchpin." Ingot said, "If we are to be successful in routing the Groga, it all begins there. Set your plans into motion now. While you are accumulating the intelligence we require, we will assemble the other Guardians and put enhanced security on every known gate. Most of the worlds where there are gateways are as vulnerable as Earth. Planets and universes that are fully aware of the gates are few for reasons you have probably guessed by now.
The Guards who will be returning with you will brief all of the Guardians on Earth of the new security procedures which will be implemented immediately. This includes increased, on the ground, personal Guards for every Guardian and their Gates, as well as automated weaponized security measures that are being installed on every gate even as we speak, starting with the Earth gates. We do not think these incursions are happening through known gates, but we are taking no chances.
There is a reason why they are attacking gateways, but it is puzzling if they have their own ways of getting into other dimensions. There also seems to be a deadline they need to meet, at this point. We need to focus on getting this information, as well as their points of egress and their overall plan. So much depends on this.
The cultures are rare that are fully ready to embrace the gateways and their best uses. For the most part our function is to prevent incursions such as the Groga from happening. I do not know the purpose of The Creator in making the network of gateways, but I do know that this isn't the first time the cause of evil has been facilitated by them. Those of us who stand for good cannot allow unsuspecting populations to be ravaged in this way, if it is within our ability to stop it."
"I cannot promise success," Jenny replied, looking each in the eye in turn. "I can promise that my team is dedicated to doing our best. With your help and the guidance and training that is being generously provided, I hope to grow into my calling. For now, however, I will continue to depend on the experience and wisdom and skills of those who support me. Thank you for the trust you have put in me."
Tarafau laid his hand on her shoulder. "We must return. The operation is ready to set into motion and we need to be there. I assume the Troopers who are supporting us have already arrived at Sanglarka?"
Ingot nodded.
"Then we will be off."
"May the Creator of All Things grant you the strength and courage you require." Ingot said.
As they turned to leave, Jenny, straightened her shoulders. There was work to do.
Chapter 29: Into the Swamp
Sanglarka was quiet. With the exception of Jenny's Guards, Lova, and Tarafau, the others were all at their tasks, either on the operation in the Louisiana swamp or setting up the increased security at their gates. At this point, they were waiting, something that Jenny despised. It gave her way too much time to think and to worry. A million what-ifs went through her mind.
All of her troops had begun their journey, but they had to rely on standard air and ground transportation, for the most part, departing from various gateways in small groups, careful not to trigger security measures in the various countries they were filtering through. It would be a few more days before all would be in place. In the meantime, time dragged on her like lead weights.
Reports were coming in from the situation room as each unit fell into place. At the point when the operation would be set in motion, it was likely they would not budge from that room. In the meantime, Lova continued Jenny's lessons in mind control and she worked out daily with Lova, Arvid and Tarafau. She did all of her running on a treadmill to stay close to the action and to be able to handle anything new that came up.
She had come to a point in her training where Lova would test her strength in many ways, with distractions, loud noises, even pain. Jenny got to the point where she could hold the pain and distractions away from her conscious mind without even having to think about it. When Lova or Tarafau or her Guards would attack her randomly, her mental shields automatically bloomed in her head and they were getting stronger by the day.
Her ability to use her hands and feet to defend herself was also increasing. It was amazing to her, as short as she was, that she could throw Lova and that she could even give Tarafau a good fight, even though she had yet to throw him. When she had initially started training with Arvid, she had been intimidated about fighting without her quarterstaff, which by now felt very natural to her hand. Now, although she was still mostly a novice, she could break most holds and had learned to use the other person's strength and weight against them.
She fervently hoped the time would never come where she would need to use it, she continued to work very hard to learn as fast as she could.
She spent a lot of time with LizzieAI, learning more about different dimensions and her dual roles as both Guardian and Gatekeeper since, at this point, the training by the other Guardians had been put on hold until they could get past this vital mission.
Finally, after all the waiting, it was almost startling to realize that it was finally time. Everything was in place and the team was about to launch the attack. There was a seven hour time difference between Sweden and the swamp. Burt had opened up the surveillance feed and kept a running commentary on the action taking place in front of them.
"Today we are using a combination of ' dastardly alien tech ' and good old mother nature to set up the Groga for a rout. They're mostly big brutes, none quite as hefty as our sweet kitty cat, but big enough to be going on with.
Bob is his own team. He has rigged several hundred of the tiny flying nanobots to imitate the nasty, hungry mosquitos who live here. Their job is three fold. First, they make this horrendous buzzing noise, aiming mostly for the ears. This will help distract and keep them from noticing the drones which are in the second wave of the attack. Second, they actually bite, even if they don't suck blood. But it will feel like a bug bite, itching and all. Third, they have a feed to the memory extractor device.
We think that if we can distract them enough, their defenses will be down, and we can get information they wouldn't give us consciously. Several nanobots will attack each Groga they can get to.
The second wave will be using the extremely cool drones we found in MDP number two. Adelle and Megan have programmed a blue tooth controller that will allow us to fly the drones in formation. There are 16 of them, each with a hook on the belly of the drone. Suspended by four corners, one hanging from each of 4 drones, is a bag of cow blood that is set up to drip blood down on the heads of the Groga, as well as on their equipment and the ground around them.
Were you aware that alligators stalk and kill prey starting at dusk and through the night? Just after supper time, as the light is starting to fade, we will launch the first wave. While they are busy swatting at our 'mosquitos,’ we will start the drones over the camp, dribbling blood over everything as they pass."
Jenny couldn't help but wonder at this part of the plan. She remembered something about an old horror movie with blood being dumped on someone, but how could this possibly hurt the Groga?
"Along with dribbling blood, the drones will be broadcasting the roar of the bull alligator in every direction. The camp is mostly surrounded by water, infested with allig
ators, which we have been privately feeding around the area for a while. We haven't fed them in 24 hours, so I imagine they are ready for a snack.
The smell of blood and the roar of the gator will attract them. They will go tearing through the camp and there is only one road out, which we have blocked and surrounded on both sides with hidden armed troopers.
If the plan works, the Groga won't even take the time to grab anything as they leave the camp. If there are any documents or other clues, we will be able to scoop them up while we are loading Groga into moving vans. Once in the vans, we will pipe sleepy time gas, courtesy of Xao Ting, into the storage compartments and remove them to a nifty little storage unit we have prepared specifically for their 'special needs'.
So, what do you think?"
"I'm speechless," admitted Jenny, looking at Tarafau who was beaming with a wicked, cat-like smile, baring his fangs. Lova simply nodded her approval, since she had been very much a part of the planning of the operation.
Burt looked at his watch. "Operation Gator Bait, commencing in, 5…4…3…2…1…Liftoff!"
He grinned, and the camera view switched to above the trees, apparently one of the drone's point of view.
The sun had nearly disappeared to the west, but under the canopy of trees, it was already dark. Finally, it passed over a dirt and gravel road. As it traveled up the dirt road, Jenny could barely see the moving vans, covered in jungle netting and she assumed that the troopers were camouflaged to the point that no one would see them in this half-light.
The camera switched to night vision mode as the sun finally sank below the horizon. Jenny realized she was holding her breath only after she let it out with a huge sigh. Lova grabbed her hand and held it. "Breathe," she sent. "Remember your breathing."
As the road opened into the camp, Jenny was surprised to realize the Groga had somehow obtained U.S. Army tents and equipment, probably from a surplus store. There were 6 large barracks-sized tents, one with the sides rolled up that looked like they were using it as a mess tent.
Men were seated, or standing, some working on equipment, some with cups of some kind of beverage in their hands, talking about whatever Groga soldiers talked about. They looked like larger and heavier-than-usual human beings. No one would have suspected they were aliens.
Suddenly a few of them scowled and swatted, as if at mosquitos or gnats. The assault had begun. If the situation hadn't been so important, it almost would have been humorous. Those who hadn't yet been attacked by the little bots, stood looking at their fellows dancing around and some of them did point and laugh, that is, until they too found themselves trying to fend off the little pests. In less than a minute, nearly every one of them were dancing wildly, slapping at themselves.
"Did I mention? Xao Ting helped us add a little extra itch to their bite. They won't be comfortable for quite a while. And, according to Xao, they should be feeling the effects for about a week," he chortled.
In the meantime, phase two was beginning. The small drone army flew over, emitting the roar and challenge of a bull alligator while sprinkling the dancing Groga with cow blood. From the edge of the water beyond the camp came answering bellows. At first the Groga didn't seem to notice, because they were entirely engrossed in combatting the bite'ems and squirming to scratch the intense itch generated by their bites. By the time they noticed the first alligator charging from the bank, it was almost too late for them to run. In the confusion, they dropped everything, pushing for speed.
"According to Megan, an adult alligator can run up to 11 miles per hour and they can jump up to 6 feet. They can even climb trees and fences to get to their prey," Burt cut in conversationally. "Especially when they're hungry, poor things."
The Groga were running full out toward the road. They had no idea their vehicles had been disabled by simply cutting the battery cables. Once they realized their safe transportation was non-functional, they scattered down the road. The gators had stopped chasing them, of course. Gators by their nature are somewhat lazy hunters. But the Groga didn't realize it, since the drones were following behind them, still broadcasting those horrifying roars.
By the time they passed the part of the road that hid the troopers, they were nearly spent in the panic of running flat out for nearly a mile, so that when they found themselves surrounded by armed troopers, most of them simply collapsed to the road in a panting heap. The few that thought to continue running, were stopped in their tracks, by the menacing weapons of the troopers.
The troopers loaded them onto the waiting moving trucks and slammed the doors shut.
Amazingly, not one of the team was hurt and, as far as they knew, they had captured every single Groga in the camp alive, although some of them had been injured in their frantic flight from the charging gators.
"We'll lure the gators away to another part of the swamp, now, and wait for the other denizens of the swamp to settle down, then we'll go in and clean up the camp. It'll all be packaged up and sent to The Alliance for examination. Most of the team will be headed back to Sanglarka tonight. It will take a day or two to collect everything the Groga have left behind, once the gators have been redirected. A platoon of Troopers will help us with clean up. We'll stay in touch. Burt, signing off."
The feed went black and then suddenly lit up again. Data was pouring into a file labeled, "Groga mind feed.”
"We're already getting some results in from the mind extraction program in the bots," Lova said, relief etched plainly on her face. "We'll let it fill up and then we'll sort through it after we eat."
After supper, each of them took a different set of files to review. Most of it was very similar to the information they already had. The majority of it was stream of consciousness of minds that seemed to have just one focus. Follow orders, eat, sleep, follow orders. Many of the coarse thought processes made Jenny sick to her stomach. The ones she went through in the beginning were violent, crude and greedy, with no thought for anything but their mind-numbing routine. (Not that, she was sure, they had much of a mind to numb in the first place, after having read several of the files.)
Suddenly Tarafau grunted and held up a hand for them to stop.
"I've found one of the officers. They don't seem to be all that much more intelligent than their soldiers, but evidently, they were entrusted with a little more information. As it turns out, they are definitely using an alternate portal that was not officially linked to the Alliance network. From what he was told, there are many such spread across the dimensions that work on a slightly different frequency.
This fellow doesn't have the capacity to understand the science of it and he doesn't seem to have the frequency or any access information in his head. There is, however, something there that concerns us greatly. We have a spy among us. One of the Guardians is not on our side. And he names the traitor. It's time we take steps and cut off their source.
We will wait until our teams return and then we will assemble at Alliance Headquarters for a," he paused, considering his next word, "debriefing."
Chapter 30: The Dissembler
With the agreement of The Council, the only thing the Earth Guardians were told about the meeting In The Alliance Council room was that it would reveal the results of the interrogations and the information that had been found by the ground crew at the end of Operation Gator Bait.
Every Guardian was in attendance, as well as Tarafau, Burt, Bob, Lyra, Nona, Mynn. Gariel and a couple of stone-faced, uniformed Guards. Jenny could feel that there were mental conversations passing between the attendees as they waited in audible silence for the Councilors to mount the dais.
The Guardians were seated in a large semi-circle, in no particular order, with the Agents and Guards mixed into the group, a seemingly casual meeting about the events of the previous week.
Jenny found herself doing her mental exercises to calm her racing heart. The rest seemed their normal selves. Megan wasn't fidgeting as much as she usually did. She was beginning to feel more at ease, after having wor
ked closely with several of them during the raid on the Groga camp. It was clear that she and Adelle were having a mental chat. Aliki was his usually cheerful self. Dhakirah sat calmly, her dark almost liquid eyes unfocused, probably also in conversation with Adelle and Megan. Guaray sat silently, his arms folded across his chest, seated, somewhat uncomfortably between Tarafau and Brendan. The rest sat more or less patiently for the meeting to begin.
Ingot got to his feet and stood before the group, scanning each face until sure he had their attention.
"We have much to discuss today. Let me begin by congratulating you, one and all, for a brilliantly planned and executed operation. 274 prisoners, most of them uninjured, now are detained in an ultra-secure site in the mountains of Colorado. All continue to be sedated and guarded 24 hours a day.
The strategy to distract them so skillfully that we were able to get past their mental guards was mostly successful. We did indeed get some key information from them, which we will discuss in a moment. We also were able to extract some additional intelligence from a few documents they left behind. Once again, this will be explained later in this session.
Our first order of business, however, is high priority. It appears we have a traitor among us."
Gasps and shocked faces showed throughout the room, with the exception of those who were in on the secret.
"And we know who it is…" but before he could finish, Guaray jumped up from his seat, turning to flee, only to be intercepted by Tarafau and Brendan. He turned away from them, only to find Jenny's three Guards before him, quarter-staffs held menacingly in guard position. The two grim guards who stood in the back of the room moved forward.
It was as if he was one of those blow-up punching clowns who had been punctured. He deflated as if he were going to faint. Tarafau and Brendan each grabbed him by an arm.
"What do you have to say for yourself?" Myla demanded, standing between Ingot and Liliath, his feathers fluffed and his eyes pinning.
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