Up above on the ridges surrounding the vast pit, one hundred enormous speakers were uncovered. They were pointed into the mammoth hole in the ground and at the starship.
One thousand military men uncovered from their hiding places and took up positions all around the site. They were a mixture of all the best soldiers from many countries. The men from each country covered a section of the pit.
Many Sumi looked up when they heard the heavy metal music. They saw a large number of soldiers taking up a position above them. The soldiers aimed machine guns down into the opening. Hundreds of Sumi immediately rose on their sleds in an effort to repel the intruders. The soldiers calmly shot anyone that reached the ridge. Bodies began dropping from the sky.
A few seconds after the correct music blasted from the speakers, the anti-gravity devices and the Sumi lasers shut down. The massive Sumi dropped to the ground and stared at their weapons in disbelief. They had never lost power in their weapons before. Some started to climb the cliffs with only their swords as weapons. They were quickly picked off by the soldiers. Some Sumi picked up rocks and attempted to throw them at the soldiers. None were able to complete their throwing motion before they received a bullet in their brain. Over two hundred thousand Sumi warriors were now trapped inside the pit with no way out.
It took one minute to complete the capture. Some Sumi warriors continued to vainly attempt to fight, but were awarded with death for their effort.
Suddenly, the laser at the top of the starship fired again. The beam easily cut through the top of the thirty foot wall built by Heather and headed right at the place where Banyon and his people were hidden.
***
The laser ripped a trench right through the middle of the bunker. But Colton Banyon’s team was no longer there. They were sprinting to the Osprey. The pilot and co-pilot saw them and quickly ran to start the versatile plane. As soon as everyone was accounted for, the plane lifted vertically and left the hole. Erox and his commanders watched from their bubbles. They had no idea what was happening to their warriors.
The Osprey deposited everyone from the attack team on the back ridge of the pit in an area cleared out by the military. As they came out of the plane, several guns cocked as the three tall Sumi stepped out.
“Hold your fire,” Colonel Cole ordered. “They’re with us.”
When Banyon reached the edge of the pit he was awed. Thousands upon thousands of Sumi were trapped inside the huge hole. They were screaming and gesturing wildly, but none were getting out. He noted that they weren’t frightened, they were furious. The music continued playing.
Without warning the laser from the ship fired again. This time it was aimed at the Osprey that sat out in the open. The beam cut the plane in half and it exploded in a large ball of fire. Fortunately everyone was long gone from the transport. People appeared from the jungle and rushed to put out the flames.
A man approached and stuck out his hand for Banyon to shake. He was dressed in the attire of a Chinese soldier. “My name is Colonel Chin. I’m heading up this mission.”
“Good job so far,” Banyon said as a compliment and shook his hand vigorously.
“I’m afraid that the worst part is yet to come,” the colonel responded. “We must disable the laser beam on that ship.”
“This Sumi here has agreed to lead you to it once you are inside,” Banyon replied as he pointed to Bezo.
“I have fifty volunteers who have agreed to go and knock it out, but I’m sure there will be resistance and some will be killed,” the Chinese commander answered with remorse.
“We have no choice,” Banyon replied sadly. “The ship is too dangerous.”
“I’m a soldier, we do what must be done,” the colonel said and bowed. He left to form up his men for the attack.
A minute later, when everyone expected the laser to fire, only a small pink beam was emitted. As Banyon watched, the mile-long ship began to sway back and forth and lose stability. It suddenly crashed to the ground crushing trees, animals and anything that was below it. The ground in the jungle shook like an earthquake.
“My god,” Loni screamed joyfully. “It worked. The music destroyed the Vril inside the starship.”
“Timmy, turn it off now, it’s giving me a headache,” Banyon pleaded.
Chapter Thirty-Six
An army of technicians now flowed out of the jungle. They began to set up a movie screen that rivaled most drive-ins. Carol had her cellphone out and was recording a short speech by the King. Once it was complete she forwarded it to Timmy’s laptop and he played it.
The voice of the King boomed through the speakers. Timmy also sent the video to all the starships.
“This is Anax Yuk. The people of earth can destroy Altos. Therefore we have no choice but to surrender or die. Erox has been replaced as head of Maltos security. My son Bezo now holds that position. I order all Sumi warriors to lay down their weapons and remove their armor. If you do not comply, you will be put to death. The invasion of Earth is over.”
Inside the bombed out pit, warriors began stripping off their protection and standing at attention in formation. A few defied their King and were quick shot by the military. Soon the noise in the holding cell was reduced to a murmur.
“Send a separate message to the two starships in India,” Banyon told Timmy. “Tell them to come here.”
“Why, oh great one?” Timmy asked.
“Because the King will need to use their spare cylinders of Vril to get that starship back working,” Banyon responded and pointed. “We’ve proved out point.”
“You’re going to let me go?” the perplexed King inquired. “I thought that I was your prisoner?”
“We don’t want you or your people here on Earth,” Banyon responded with finality. “So the logical thing to do is let you return home. We want you gone within a few hours.”
“What about them?” the King pointed into the hole where the Sumi warriors stood at attention.
“They are yours,” Banyon responded. “You decide.”
“I must help Erox commit blunk first,” the King said as a demand. “He can no longer live.”
Banyon looked down into the hole where Erox and his six commanders still stood protected by his shield. They stared back with no emotion on their blank faces.
“How long before the shields will lose their energy?” Banyon asked curiously.
“It will be twenty-four hours,” the King responded. “But we have a way of making time much shorter.”
“How do we do that?” Banyon then asked.
“We’ll bury them alive,” the Sumi leader responded.
***
The King explained that the technique had been used many times on Maltos. He told Banyon that the pressure of earth will stress the shield and it would use up energy at a much faster rate. When the shield was gone, the Sumi inside would either die from suffocation or claw their way out of the dirt. If they made it out, then Bezo and the assistant would help them commit blunk, just like they had helped Mongo.
“Let’s do that then,” Banyon immediately responded.
The King selected several weapons from Maya’s satchel and he and his two men went to work. The three Mover weapons dug dirt at a furious pace. The Sumi tossed the dirt into the small section of the pit that was cut off from the main area where the warriors were sequestered by the wall. Bezo then fired a Roller weapon that spread the dirt and pushed it down. They filled the hole in a few minutes.
“Now we wait,” the Sumi leader announced. “It shouldn’t take more than ten minutes.”
Colton Banyon was impressed by how fast the Sumi were able to completely fill the large hole. “While we are waiting, your highness,” he started, “can you clear some more jungle for me? There are many more people on their way here.”
“It would be my pleasure to show you how these devices were meant to be used,” the smiling King responded. Soon Bezo and the King were firing Clear devices. The buzz saws cut down all the trees and shrubs. The assistant used t
he Mover device to toss the rubbish off into the deeper jungle. During the ten minute wait, an airstrip had been carved out of the jungle. They had even flattened it with the Roller device.
Everyone turned when one of the military men watching the recently filled pit yelled. “There’s an arm sticking out of the ground.”
As they watched, the arm struggled in an attempt to grab something — then it went still. Bezo walked out to it. He examined it for a few seconds and then made a pronouncement.
“It’s Erox. He is dead,” Bezo said almost happily.
***
A few minutes later, two huge starships appeared over the crashed one. The King used Timmy’s computer to tell them to shuttle down their spare containers of Altos. Within half an hour, power in the stricken ship had been restored and it now hovered right at the edge of the Sumi holding cell. Bezo used the Mover device to dig an incline and the defeated Sumi warriors began trekking back into their ship. The military men kept a close eye on them, but none broke ranks.
“Will you be able to control them on the three year trip back to Maltos?” Banyon asked the King.
“Any that cause trouble will be tossed into space,” the King responded. “I don’t think many will try.”
While they were waiting for the ship to become operational, they watched planes land on the makeshift runway. Hundreds of people came out of the interiors. They all wore bright white clothing. A large amount of cargo was also off-loaded.
***
An hour later, a shuttle popped out of the top of the starship and glided over to where the King and Colton Banyon stood. Workers came from inside and began loading the sacred relics inside. When that was completed, the King turned to Banyon.
“You are a mixed blessing Mr. Colton Banyon,” he said like it was a rehearsed speech. “You have saved my life and my son’s life. You stopped our foolish quest to conquer Earth and you helped destroy a monster and his henchmen. For that I thank you.”
“But,” Banyon said with a smile.
“But by banning us from Earth you have doomed my people,” the King said sadly. “I’ll just take the Staff of Life and leave you in peace.”
“You’re not taking the staff,” Previne shouted. She held it in a tight grip and turned away from the King.
“The staff belongs on Earth,” Banyon explained. “It can’t leave here. We will protect it from now on in the tradition of Orion.”
Banyon’s statement completely deflated the monarch. “To the victory goes the spoils,” he uttered with his head down in total defeat.
“I also told you that we will make everything right and that includes saving your planet, your majesty,” Banyon said. He pointed to the area where all the new people had congregated. “We are not sending you home empty handed. These people that you see have all volunteered to accept a seven year mission to your planet. They are engineers, architects, scientists, of all kinds, technicians and particularly biologists. They are going to teach your people how to grow your own trees.”
“What!” the King exclaimed.
“They are bringing more than one million seedlings to plant and will show you how to grow your own wood,” Banyon explained.
“I…I… don’t know what to say,” the King stammered.
“We will keep the Sumi we have captured until you return with our people,” Banyon added. “We will also keep one transmitter so we can communicate. Do we have a deal?”
“Mr. Banyon you are a hero on Earth and you will also be a hero on Maltos,” the smiling King responded. “You are truly a modern day Orion. You and your whole Orion team are heroes.”
The two men shook hands. The King entered the shuttle and sped off to the starship. The one thousand person Earth exploratory team marched into the starship while the military men cheered them on. Within minutes, the portal door slammed down and the starships faded into the sky.
“I can’t believe that the President was able to get a thousand volunteers to go on a seven year mission,” Loni said.
“The number who volunteered was actually in the millions,” Banyon replied.
“Well, I hope that is the last time I ever see tall blue men,” Mandy said.
“And I hope this is the last time that we ever have to use the Orion weapons,” Banyon uttered.
Epilogue
The entire eighteen members of the newly dubbed Orion team stood at the edge of the ridge. They watched as several military men busily used the Sumi devices to fill in the gaping hole where thousands of dead Sumi warriors lay dead. They would be buried under thirty feet of dirt.
The team was completely exhausted and dropped down on the ground to rest. Their clean white outfits were now dusty and filthy with dirt. There were various rips and tears. Their fingers had blisters from pulling triggers and pressing buttons. No one spoke for several minutes. They had been unraveling the mystery of the Society of Orion nonstop for several intense weeks. So much had happened. They all reclined on the ground while they contemplated what had happened and what their future would be.
“So what are we going to do now?” Heather asked from her prone position.
“I don’t know about you guys, but Colt and I are going to take a vacation at a place where there are lots of ‘Do not Disturb’ signs,” Loni said seriously as she stared at the sky.
“I need to find a boyfriend,” Mandy uttered.
“I can’t wait to upgrade my computer system and integrate what we learned from the Sumi,” Timmy gushed.
“I never want to hear the word Sumi warrior again,” Steve bellowed.
“And I want to come back to the firm,” Colonel Cole interjected.
“What? What did you say?” Colton Banyon managed to ask in a weary voice.
“In fact, I would like to have my whole team work out of Dewey & Beatem,” Colonel Cole explained. “The SIM team needs a base of operations and also needs to be out of sight of any military oversite assholes,” Jerry Cole said. “The law offices would be a perfect cover.
“How much will you pay us to rent offices?” Heather, the President of the law firm asked curiously.
Colton Banyon was very proud of her.
***
“What will we do with all the Orion weapons?” Eric asked. “The government will want to confiscate them.”
“What weapons?” Banyon replied smugly. “Don’t you remember? I gave them all to the King.”
“But, I have… oh, I get it,” Maya said.
“Try to keep up little sister,” Previne scolded her sister. “We’ll take them to India and hide them in our museum.”
“They belong to Orion,” Banyon countered. “And I am Orion.”
“Oh, pity,” Pramilla said with a laugh in precise English. “I wanted to use some of them for some diplomatic arm twisting.”
“I could surely use some in a courtroom,” Chase added.
“No one but Loni and I will know where they are,” Banyon proclaimed.
***
While the team bantered about their future, Colonel Cole received a phone call. He got up and walked away from the group to talk.
“I wouldn’t mind working alongside Timmy in his flashy office,” Carol admitted.
“Righteous,” the geek shouted back. He had a huge crush on Carol and she felt the same way.
“I sure won’t miss the Sumi outfit,” Gunny Joe declared. “But I don’t know what I would do at a law firm. I spend most of my time breaking the law.”
Kenny then added. “I need a quiet place to work. I’d like to find a way to harness Vril for our use. I wouldn’t want to make a weapon, but I was impressed by how fast the devices worked,” he said as he glanced directly at Mandy and gave her a wink. He noticed that she smiled back.
Banyon realized that every member of the team had voiced their opinions except Tom, Dick and Harry. “What do you guys have to say?” he asked.
“How much are we going to get paid for all this?” Harry asked as the other two men nodded their heads.
> ***
Suddenly, Colonel Cole rushed back into the crowd. He had a worried and excited look on his craggy face.
“My team and I have to go right now,” he blurted out.
“What’s going on? Can’t you see that we need some rest?” Carol complained.
Something has come up and needs our immediate attention,” Colonel Cole said vaguely.
“Slave driver,” Carol uttered. “We just finished repelling an invasion of Earth and you want us to go right back to work.”
“It’s not over yet,” the colonel explained. That statement got everybody’s attention.
“What’s going on?” Colton Banyon asked expectantly as he sat up.
“Thousands of Sumi warriors died on the streets of St. Louis and in India during the invasion. Most of their weapons have gone missing. General Whitehead believes that looters and profiteers have stolen them,” Colonel Cole said.
“So what,” Banyon answered. “They can’t make them work.”
“Oh, but they can,” the colonel responded unhappily and shook his head. “Do you remember that we used a recording of Maya to make the lasers work so the general in St. Louis could sink the starship?”
Colton Banyon was always a quick thinker. “Oh no, somebody got ahold of that recording.”
“Worse,” the colonel lamented. “General Woods demonstrated how to make the weapons work to his troops. He played the recording and some clown in the nearby crowd used his cellphone to video the whole process. He put the recording up on YouTube thinking that he would make lots of money when it went viral,” the colonel explained.
“So now anybody can find out how to make the weapons work,” Banyon filled in.
“It’s even worse than that,” the colonel shouted and flapped his arms. “Somebody just broke into a bank in Kirkwood, it’s a suburb of St. Louis. They cut through the brick walls with a laser beam from one of the lasers.”
“My, God,” Loni exploded. “The weapons are already in the hands of criminals.”
“Worse,” Colonel Cole explained. “The police caught one of the robbers as they were trying to get away. He is a member of the St. Louis Mafia.”
The Society of Orion: Book Eight The Sumi Collision (Colton Banyon Mysteries 22) Page 11