“You hurt my friend Eric, you son-of-a-bitch,” she screamed at the top of her lungs. She leaped into the air and grabbed hold of a piece of armor on the giant’s back. She used that as a hand hold and managed to scale up his huge back. She looked like a bug crawling up the warrior.
Mongo knew that the tiny woman had attacked him from the back, but didn’t believe she could hurt him. She was less than one hundred pounds. It was another mistake. He didn’t realize that deadly weapons sometime came in small packages, and Loni was a card-carrying deadly weapon.
When she reached the collar of the armor, Loni raised her small arm and placed a precise karate chop to the left side of the giant’s neck. Suddenly he lost control of his left arm and it went limp. A second chop to his right side ended the use of his right arm. She then used both hands and hit him on his upper spine. He immediately dropped to his knees as pain shot through his body. His yellow eyes seemed to glass over.
By this time Eric had recovered and was closing in on the front of the giant. Even on his knees, Mongo was still taller than Eric, but the fight had left his body because of the karate chops. Eric threw a left hook at the giants face. Then he threw an upper cut with his right hand and followed that up with a roundhouse kick with his long legs. The warrior went down and everyone who could began to truss him up.
Maya immediately ran to check on Gunny Joe. He was moving, but appeared to be groggy. She gave Colton Banyon the thumbs up sign and helped Gunny Joe to his feet.
“Did I knock him out?” Gunny Joe asked when he saw the Sumi warrior all cuffed up on the floor.
“Let’s just say that you were part of the takedown,” Jerry Cole said happily.
Banyon now pressed his earpiece. “Carol, you can come in now and bring Bezo. Also can you bring some smelling salts from the medical kit?”
***
The King and his assistant stood in shock. They were told that the non-blues couldn’t fight and yet a small one and a woman to boot had been responsible for bringing down one of the best Sumi fighters from all of Maltos. Our intelligence about these people is completely wrong, he thought.
“So are you going to kill us now?” the King asked Colton Banyon defiantly. Banyon just stared back at the monarch. He had no idea what he had said.
Chapter Six
The King turned and faced Gunny Joe. “You are a traitor to the people of Maltos. You will die for your betrayal when this is over,” he screamed. Gunny Joe was the only one who could understand what he had said.
“Shut up old man,” Gunny growled. “I’m not one of your people.” He then pulled off his armor and helmet while taking out the contacts which made his eyes yellow.
“What?” the King roared. “You are a spy? How could that be?”
“We are here to help you and to stop this war before too many people die on both sides,” Gunny Joe explained. He then nodded to Colton Banyon who reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a device. It was another Speak device. He held it out as an offering to the King.
“Put it on,” Gunny Joe ordered. “It will allow us to communicate in the same language.” Gunny Joe kept wearing the second Speak device so that he could translate anything that the other Sumi said in their language.
The King understood immediately and pulled the device over his head. He then spoke in English. “So will you kill us now? We will not help you to defeat our people!”
“We do not kill humans unless they attack us first,” Banyon replied. “You are as human as we are.”
“Then what is it you want from us?” The King asked in confusion.
“We want to negotiate a peace settlement and help solve your problems on Maltos. We don’t want you to have to come here ever again.”
The King scoffed. “It may be too late for that. I seem to have lost my position.”
“We know about Erox,” Banyon responded. The King raised his eyebrows as he wondered how the non-blues could know about his problems.
“I will fix my problem,” the King replied arrogantly.
“But you have many problems and I can fix everything if you cooperate,” Banyon replied.
The King said nothing and thought about Banyon’s comment. He then responded, “You know nothing about our problems.”
“But, you see, I do,” Banyon offered. “Your main problem is that Vril, or as you call it Altos, has become your narcotic. You depend too heavily on it. You need it for everything. It consumes all your time and effort to get it. We can stop that.”
“Tell me more,” the surprised monarch responded.
***
Before Banyon could respond, Carol, Kenny and Previne came through the doorway. Bezo led the way. He was still in hand cuffs, but no other constraints.
The control room was large, but with four Sumi and all ten of Banyon’s people in the room, it looked like a crowded subway station.
Carol immediately went to the transmitters and began punching buttons.
“What is she doing?” the King protested.
“I’ll explain, your highness,” Banyon promised politely. “We originally came here to have a discussion with you about ending this stupid war. But we have discovered that you are no longer in charge of this mission. So as a result, this has become a rescue mission. We need to leave here now. Carol is setting up a system to forward any news or information to our systems. After she sets up the system, she will unjam your signal.”
“Why would you rescue the King of Maltos?” the monarch asked in confusion.
“Because we intend to stop Erox and his useless invasion and then reinstall you as the rightful leader of your planet,” Banyon explained.
“You will need to tell me more before I agree to help you,” the King responded.
“Okay,” Banyon agreed. “But we must get ready to leave. Erox may have more Sumi near here.”
“There are two conditions that must be met before I will listen,” the King announced.
Colton Banyon quickly realized that the King was negotiating. “What are your conditions?”
“The first one is that I must take the amber chariot with me. It needs to be together with two other sacred pieces. If we leave earth, they must come with us.”
“You mean the sarcophagus of your last King,” Banyon noted “I understand that it is headed to your site three. Isn’t that correct?”
“How could you know that?” the King questioned. “But yes, you are correct. I can’t stop the transfer and Erox doesn’t know that the site was destroyed.”
“We will deliver the amber chariot to site three also,” Banyon agreed.
“There are also two statues of our late King,” the monarch said.
“We will deliver them there too. It will take two days,” Banyon explained. “What is your second condition?”
“I want to interrogate Mongo.”
Chapter Seven
The interrogation of Mongo the Sumi warrior was not pretty. Anax Yuk declared that only his men could perform the procedure. He said that the warriors of Erox had developed some terrifying techniques that were used with great success on his people back on Maltos. His men were eager to use them on the traitor.
Banyon’s team stood by and watched in fascinated horror as the two assistants stripped the warrior. Every time he attempted to resist, they pummeled him with their huge fists. By the time they finished, his face was a bloody pulp. He remained on his back on the floor with his legs cuffed together. His arms were re-cuffed with them extending over his head.
“Look!” Pramilla exclaimed. “He has a tattoo on his right shoulder. It looks like two lightning bolts.”
“We do not allow tattoos in our culture,” the King responded. “Only top Sumi warriors wear them.”
“Shouldn’t we do something to stop this brutality?” Loni asked Colton Banyon.
“It’s our ancient custom to treat traitors this way,” the King replied flatly. “You can’t interfere.”
Everyone soon realized that Mongo was com
pletely brainwashed and a fanatic. He spewed out death threats and Sumi warrior slogans at a continuous rate. He never stopped and never answered any questions until the real procedure began.
“We’ll need a sharp knife to continue,” a heavily breathing Bezo said. Gunny Joe pulled one from his weapon belt and gave it handle first to the Sumi.
Bezo immediately returned to the prone giant and sliced off his left ear. Mongo roared in pain.
“I’m not cutting off the right ear so you can hear my questions, but you know there is more coming if you do not comply,” the maintenance man screamed.
“I will tell you nothing about the plans of my glorious leader Erox,” Mongo said as he fought the pain.
Next, Bezo cut off the pinky finger of Mongo’s right hand and asked, “anything yet?”
“I will not betray my leader,” the giant managed between gasps of air.
“Then it is time for surgery,” the other assistant said. He knelt down behind Mongo’s head and grabbed a handful of his blond hair. Bezo began to cut along the forehead line and the other assistant began pealing back Mongo’s scalp.
Most of Banyon’s team could not watch any longer and turned their backs to begin discussing things they had to do.
The assistants had removed about half of Mongo’s scalp when he suddenly begged them to stop. “I will tell you what you want to know,” he mumbled.
Anax Yuk now stepped forward to ask the questions. “What’s Erox planning?”
“He plans to take over this planet and be the king,” Mongo whined.
“We already know that,” the King responded and waved his hand for Bezo to continue.
“No wait,” Mongo screamed. “He is sending a second starship to site two.”
When Gunny Joe translated, Previne and Pramilla looked at each other. “That’s India,” Previne exclaimed. “We have to do something, Colt,” she cried out.
“What’s his next move?” the King demanded.
“He’ll be sending another starship to site four. It’ll happen tomorrow. He wants to open up another war front.”
“Where is site four?” Gunny Joe screamed without translating. Banyon could not understand the words, but sensed that something ominous was said.
When the Sumi gave the King the coordinates, the leader ran to the wall where a map of the world had been drawn on the rock surface for reference purposes. He pointed to the spot.
“My God,” Gunny Joe uttered. “That’s St. Louis.”
***
Colonel Cole became frantic when he heard the translation. “If he invades the St. Louis area, we won’t be able to stop him,” the military man screamed. “We have moved most of our military to the coasts.”
Colton Banyon quickly suggested that Colonel Cole should leave the cave and notify the Pentagon. “Also call Marlene Moore at Homeland security,” he added.
“Why?” Colonel Cole questioned.
“Because, St. Louis is not India,” Banyon replied. “The Indian government has a ban on guns and most of the population is defenseless. But there are probably several million people with guns within a hundred miles of St. Louis. We know that the Sumi warriors are susceptible to gunfire. Marlene can get the word out and coordinate a defense.”
“My God, you’re right,” Jerry Cole replied. “I’ll call her. Maybe we can slow them down until help arrives,” he said with determination.
He ran from the control room.
***
Meanwhile, Maya had been rummaging through Mongo’s clothing. She knew that he carried several weapons and wanted to collect them.
“What the hell is this,” she suddenly yelled out. She held the item up for everyone to see.
The King immediately roared, “that’s not standard issue for a Sumi warrior. It’s a Orango gas mask. We banned all use of any gases, especially Orango, thousands of years ago. It was used to eliminate creatures in the forests here, but we found that it killed everything living in the area, no matter whether it was animal, plant, or human.”
“Why do you have a gas mask?” Gunny Joe screamed at the prone warrior. When he didn’t answer, the assistant began to pull off more of his scalp. The monster quickly begged him to stop.
“I’ll tell you,” he gasped.
“Has Erox brought the gas to earth?” Anax Yuk asked with almost uncontrollable anger.
The warrior was crying in pain, but managed to answer. “Starship ten contains the gas. Erox manufactured enough to fill the ship. If the warriors fail to conquer one of the sites, he plans to send the ship to the location and exterminate all the non-blues.”
“How much gas does has he brought?” the King asked.
“Enough to clear out everything living in a hundred mile radius,” the giant replied between sobs.
“Colt, no matter where he sends the ship, millions will die,” Loni uttered in horror.
***
The interrogation of the Sumi warrior continued, but he had little more to say, even after more parts were cut from his body. The King ordered his men to stop.
“Mongo, you are a traitor to your race. For that, you know that you must die,” Anax Yuk said formally. “According to our laws, I can have the men beat you to death and your essence will drift in space forever, or you can commit ritual blunk and move on to your next life. Which do you choose?”
“What’s blunk?” Loni quickly asked.
“We call it suicide,” Gunny Joe explained.
“Blunk,” the giant responded immediately. “I am a warrior.”
The two Sumi assistants immediately helped place the knife over Mongos heart. They had to hold it for him as he no longer had any fingers. He placed both stubs of his hands over the hilt. Suddenly he roared and pushed down. He was dead in seconds.
***
The team spent little time mourning the death of the warrior. They immediately began discussing what had to be done.
“We need two volunteers to bring the amber chariot back to Turkey,” Banyon said. “We’ll rent a hangar at the airport while we are in the air and store it there until we head to Cambodia. We have many Rise devices with us.”
“I’ll do it,” Pramilla said. “I can fly almost anything. I’ll take Eric with me.”
“Okay,” Banyon agreed. He was about to issue additional orders when Carol spoke.
“The transfer is complete,” she said excitedly. “I have one of the transmitters on my laptop and have the two others hooked up to the two laptops that Timmy brought. By the way, he says that they are in Turkey now. We can now monitor, translate, and stop any news going to the starships in space.”
“Good,” Banyon uttered and changed gears. “We need to send several messages to Erox then.”
“Why?” the King inquired.
“To set the trap that will stop this hideous war,” Banyon responded hotly. “First we need to send him the footage on the success in India. Next we will send him a message from Mongo that says that the King is dead. Finally, we will send a message that the earth people want to surrender.”
“And tell Erox to implement a cease fire in India,” Previne added.
“Yes, tell him that it will show good faith,” Banyon said in a calculating voice.
“But will he agree?” Loni asked.
“Include in the message that we will surrender at the third site in Cambodia. Tell him to be there at seven in the evening tomorrow and to bring his top generals,” Banyon said evilly.
“So you think that he will come?” Maya pressed.
“His actions are remarkably like a former dictator we saw on Earth over seventy years ago,” Banyon replied thoughtfully. “History repeats itself. He will come, but he will also be ready to resume the attacks as soon as our meeting is complete.”
“So will the military wipe him out before he can resume?” Previne asked.
“No, but we will,” Banyon replied confidently, “with a little help from the military.”
***
When the Sumi assistants at
tacked the keyboards to send the messages, Carol and Gunny Joe stood over them to make sure that the right messages were sent. They still didn’t trust the Sumi. The King and Colton Banyon retired to a corner and began a deep conversation. Pramilla and Eric collected three Rise devices from Maya’s satchel and climbed into the amber chariot.
After a few minutes Pramilla was able to float the chariot off the ground and began to maneuver it out the door.
“Stop,” Loni suddenly yelled. Everyone turned to her. “Are we sure that the helicopter can carry all this extra weight?” she said as she looked at the three huge Sumi.
“I don’t know,” Banyon replied with concern.
“I will go with the chariot,” Bezo offered.
“It’s big enough for three,” Eric commented. “I’ll sit in the back and keep a gun on him.”
It surprised everyone when Anax Yuk spoke. “You can trust him, he is my son.”
“Then I agree,” Banyon finally uttered. The big Sumi climbed into the middle of the floating chariot and Pramilla drove it out the door.
***
Previne charged over to Colton Banyon as soon as the chariot was out of sight. “Colt, my sisters and Eric need to head to India as soon as we get back. We must protect our home,” she said in a panicked voice.
“I agree,” Banyon replied. “And while you are there, you need to collect the two statues from your museum and bring them to the Cambodian site,” he said selfishly. He had made a promise to the King and intended to fulfill it.
“Thank you for understanding, I think,” she replied sarcastically.
“You should use Pramilla’s borrowed plane and take as many people as you need. Also take a bunch of the Sumi weapons. I don’t want anything to happen to you,” Banyon said sincerely as he looked her in the eyes.
“Okay,” Previne said brightly. She liked that Banyon had expressed concern for her. “I’ll take Tom, Dick, and Harry. I believe Harry can pilot the jet and give Pramilla some rest.”
“Take Loni and Mandy too,” Banyon offered. “Their quickness can’t be matched by the Sumi.”
The Society of Orion: Book Eight The Sumi Collision (Colton Banyon Mysteries 22) Page 2