“We don’t have time for niceties nor do any of you deserve it. You know what you’ve done here. What will be the response of Zellhigh and how much time do we have?”
Tee waited a full minute. The prisoners on the ground groaning filled the lobby with echoing pain. The largest of the Zellhigh against the wall looked at him with all the distain he could muster. He was bleeding out from a leg wound. Tee held his eyes. Victor versus victim. “Oh how the mighty fall. Now is your chance to do something worthy. You know you represent chaos and your ability to sustain such a belief system was always going to fail. It was a matter of time. A united front was being talked about by all the others. This is your time to stop the madness and help right all the wrong you’ve inflicted on innocent, peace - loving people.”
“You wanted our women and our children. It was us or you, you know that,” the prisoner said. His teeth were smeared with blood as his internal bleeding showed.
“We believe that the only way for the universe to experience peace is for mankind to constantly improve, “Tee replied. “If we believed as you say why weren’t we armed and preparing to invade your planet? Have you no ability to reason? Do you not question authority? Are you so dull as to not process what is in front of your face?”
Nothing Tee said registered. His entire speech was blocked by some mental mechanism that repelled doubt. It was philosophically fascinating. Tee wondered if there were something implanted like the link installed in the Triolux to commune with Alex. Could the device be removed? Or was it the gas that permeated their cells? How long before it dissipated? Perhaps it was the combination of the two forms of manipulation that strengthened each other. Tee pulled the seniors in his group aside and they discussed their options. Tee felt that the only course was to dry these men out. If they could sedate them they could begin with a full blood transfusion and bring them around as soon as possible. He further expressed his suspicion that they had implants deep in their brains that blocked the ability to doubt.
The three prisoners were packed into a commercial Airlite and transferred into Wind Mountain. The younger men were made into guards and some of the older men understood the importance of sobering up the prisoners, so to speak, as soon as possible to get cooperation and find out what the Zellhigh were planning. Tee went back to his apartment and drank lots of water and made sure the waxy scum of Zellhigh was off his skin. He and Lain kissed with a depth he was surprised by. He saw a new light in her eye and it held everything he had dreamed about.
How weird is that, he thought. It took an invasion for Lain to appreciate me. Part of him thought Lain was being shallow. But she respected bravery and that isn’t something shown in the world of intellect. And so he felt good about himself as well. It was the building up of testosterone, adrenaline and cortisol. Without those chemicals urging him along he couldn’t have charged the demons. And now he was coming down from their influence and exhaustion was draping over his body and he and Lain held hands on the couch, their weapons in their laps. They both fell into an exhausted sleep. When they woke they were in dark and went to the balcony.
The sky was brilliant with more stars than they’d seen in a long time. The two moons stared at each other across the star - splashed horizon. In the distance the chemical plant was beginning to burn itself out. The night was still and quiet. An Airlite flew by near the balcony and it was loaded with a family heading away from the city of Norden. Maybe they were fleeing danger and soon the Zellhigh would be coming their way. But nothing happened. He saw lights shining dimly in other apartments. He heard people talking a few floors below. Tee was desperate for news but he reasoned the same thing that was going on here was happening planet wide. Today was theirs. The people of Triolux were victorious. Now they waited for whatever knee jerk reaction the mad scientists of the Zellhigh were going to employ. He thought about the doomsday scenario of a weapon meant to destroy a planet. If Alex could recommend its construction surely they could do the same.
They needed to invade Zellhigh as soon as possible. This imperative shook him to his core. They needed to double their efforts in order to bring the satellite images up and find out what was happening on that distant shore. Lain made them something to eat. He asked her if she wanted to come with him to Wind Mountain. She said yes. They boarded the Airlite and he had to bring it up to full strength. The weight of all their guns made the little craft strain. They entered the mountain low on charge and high on anxiety.
Chapter 13
A team of electrical engineers came in bursting with enthusiasm less than an hour after Tee and Lain had settled in and got caught up in understanding all they could from the different disciplines taken up in the mountain. The engineers said the Zellhigh only cut the wires to the Arridate cooling system. They were ecstatic since the return of the electricity would come in a matter of hours, not days or weeks or months. The entire clan hidden in the mountain beamed. A thought as random as any Tee had ever had settled into his mind. Could it be that someone on the Zellhigh end of things was sabotaging them from within? It seemed to be going too much in their favor.
And it was a planet full of varying occupants stolen from a wide variety of societies. Some may have had their own implants that blocked doubt, thus depriving them of the belief in Adim, the Zellhigh god. An entire scenario of events cascaded into his soft tissue and Tee mused internally about this line of thought. The Zellhigh robbed others to gain material goods and perhaps intellectual and technical advances as well. This meant they may have discovered the doubt - blocking device from another culture, not thinking it could be used against them. Who knows?
In times of war rumors abound and the truth is the first casualty. The military were keen to get the satellites up and running. It was imperative to have eyes on the planet in these first days after having suffered such a setback. Tee agreed and dispatched an electrical contingent to make the repairs to the electrical system as soon as possible. He checked on the prisoners and they were strapped to operating tables. They were sedated and their blood was being exchanged with units of synthetic blood accepted as a universal replacement that came without time or temperature limitations.
There was a slight color change as the process continued and duly noted by the attending physicians. “How much longer do we have until their cells return to normal?”
“It’s hard to say if the change is immediate or takes weeks. This is new territory,” One of the doctors said.
“What’s your best guess?”
The doctor wasn’t used to being pushed but he knew who Tee was and he considered his question and answered him. “I’d say that it will take less than 24 hours.”
Tee nodded his appreciation and walked from one prisoner to the next. All three showed signs of physical improvement. Their obvious wounds were healing. Their size was astounding. Each of them was close a half meter taller than the men of Triolux. Even their bodies were manipulated; there was nothing natural about these creatures. Their history would be interesting on a socialistic level. If mankind advances on the back of its failures this information may come in handy. The lights flickered and the battery fans were turned off as the central controls were back on line.
Tee made his way to the dome and watched the screens come to life with the six satellites spying on Zellhigh. At first there was no notable change on the planet. The people weren’t wailing or scrambling or moving any faster than before. Perhaps that was because they were in the dark as to the fate of their men. But then subtle changes were beginning to be noticed outside of numerous buildings warehoused in the outskirts of major towns. Commercial Airlites sped in and out of a number of them and it seemed that some kind of urgent preparation was under way. Alex came back and announced his presence with a warm drip of comfort spreading as a sense of wellbeing in the minds of the inhabitants. People smiled at each other as they collectively felt the presence of their guide.
Tee was agitated on a small scale to know what the prisoners knew. He was hoping against hope t
hat his biggest fear that a planet destroying weapon wasn’t being assembled and they were watching their own demise. He asked Alex for his assessment and was met by a moment of silence. “They are assembling spaceships as fast as they can. They lack raw materials and are months away from building a force that could be a threat.”
“Alex, do you think someone is sabotaging their efforts?”
“I can’t say at this point.”
“How do you know they lack raw material and are months from being a threat?”
“One of our satellites picked up communications with a distant planet on the far side of the divide and they replied in the common language without encryption. It was for an order of skin plates duplicating a previous order and there was a rush attached to it.”
“We don’t know if that’s a trick or not.”
Tee’s reply was met with silence and then the slightly robotic voice said, “That needs to be explored further.”
As time marched on Tee had the feeling that a hatchet was hanging over his head. Groups of armed men were dispatched to various parts of Triolux to mop up any remaining Zellhigh. A building outside of the bay town of Tornchin, once an old foundry, was converted into a prison. Guards were assigned and rules were being written. Observation teams took blood samples and witnessed a slow transformation as the Zellhigh came down from the influence of the gas that permeated all their cells.
One of the first changes of note was a drop in appetite. This was observed as something that happened approximately three days before the skin began to change and the chalky scum that slicked the flesh began to flake off and the color became a more normal shade. Some of the men were black and their color change to a natural hue was dramatic. Next their eyes lost the red streamers that flowed out from the iris. White began to return in the field around their pupils and they seemed to be eyes that peered in front of minds that were becoming thoughtful. The great change of denouncement of their planet and their religion and the fact that they had been manipulated did not come. They were hostile in a quite scheming way. They spoke among themselves in a guarded and subdued fashion. Some worried about their homeland while others worried about what the Triolux would do to them. They were perplexed at their position. Why didn’t they kill us? What do they want to extract from us and how much will it hurt?
Propaganda screens were placed at both ends of their open area where they slept, ate and congregated. It showed the history of Triolux North. It emphasized its social patterns and the belief that mankind needed to constantly seek to improve in all aspects of existence. It spoke of violence as being primitive and the antisocial aspects of it not bearing fruit for the betterment of the human population. There were multiple examples of the risings and fallings of groups very similar to the Zellhigh and their adaptation of the book of Adim. The Zellhigh were like any power – from nuclear to social. There came a time when expansion collided with another force of equal weight albeit time or gravity or lack of fulfillment at the core.
The Zellhigh at first laughed at the Triolux system of pacifism. They poked each other with the stupidity of its naïve existence. However after weeks of explaining history and the outcome over and over, it began to dawn on them that they had repeated all the mistakes of countless religious upheavals that had gone before them. It was hammered into them that once a group positions itself over that of another the result will end in conflict. And conflict with all its chaos and stupidity ends in senseless death that includes the demise of the origin of the group.
Give credit to the creators of the propaganda. They admitted the inhabitants of Triolux North lacked foresight and preparation for the coming of the inevitable. History may never stop its repeated fall like in dominos. Over and over the human condition nurses greed and pride and power. The Triolux have tried to remove these impulses with reason and gene therapy coupled with social integration and magnetic mind manipulation. All the while they were turning a blind eye to the aggressor and his or her plans. This was a flaw on the part of the Triolux and their narcissism. Now the tides have turned and they must be the warrior. This was thrust upon them in a most unwelcome way.
The conclusion that ended in a break from the loop that ran on the screens was that they, the Zellhigh prisoners, needed to make a personal inventory, a self-analysis of where they stood and how they could help the victorious Triolux North conquer their planet with as little bloodshed as possible. Would they become participants in the demise of their very own planet for the good of the many? The Zellhigh were anesthetized by this overture. They were numb with the request to aid their enemy for the good of their own. How could such a turn of events come to this? Never had they been given a choice, they were programmed to behave in a certain fashion and now they were showing signs of anxiety and began to develop ticks. It would have been amusing - the guards thought it was humorous - but it was sad.
The invitation to help the Triolux was a pronouncement of failure. It dawned on them that they were being held by a superior crowd that seemed to lack religion and yet they still were conquered. How can any social structure exist without the blessings of Adim? And yet here it was and they were coming down from a great height. They felt different and they found this natural state to be alarming. They were reduced to average, run of the mill humans. Their internal boast was not fortifying their concept of themselves. This is how others feel, not the Zellhigh. They were vulnerable and they felt like children.
Among themselves they picked the most alpha of the group. This man would represent them in negotiations. How much would be revealed depended on what he heard and what the group collectively thought of their dealings with the Triolux. They were not exactly in a position of power. They did want to protect as many as they could on their planet. They were also sneaky and no matter their position held an allegiance to their homeland. They tried to hang onto what pride they could muster. They also felt that the Triolux North were an honest bunch and maybe they should cooperate as they knew ways to shut down the defenses of their planet and render it helpless.
Chapter 14
On Zellhigh someone had tampered with the gas mixture and an intensive search was underway to find out who it was. Inside the Adim Temple, underneath the sacred Fountain of Wisdom, the spiritual leaders were having a round table discussion behind closed doors.
“They must be from the conquered planet Bendobe. They’re the only ones that come to us with implants,” Lance, the department head of cultural encouragement said.
“That’s not true. The vulgar Triolux North with their placebo god pacifism have communication links imbedded in them at birth.” That was aimed at Lance by Gitchy, the only woman on the panel, and principal and teacher in charge of spiritual foundations for children under twelve.
“Okay,” this said by Rueel, the Master of Interpretation and the leader of the Nation of Zellhigh. His bejeweled hand was raised and his flowing robe with woven gold sparkled in the artificial light. Sitting, he was taller than Gitchy. “I want an educated guess on what the Triolux are planning. I want one of our newly rescued, perhaps a child, to be taken close enough to their home planet to hear the messages from their implant and a transcription of what is being talked about. I also want to convene a meeting as soon as possible with all our engineers and scientists related in any way to computer knowledge. I want both hardware and software engineers, electrical as well as molecular. We are weakened and will need to hold off any attack. Thank Adim for he has given me insight and a word of knowledge in a prophetic dream: ‘All knowing and time without end share with us your power.’ ”
Those at the table touched their foreheads and repeated, “All knowing and time without end share with us your power.”
A review of all the comings and goings on the planet by security showed a group of three individuals behaving suspiciously near the gas manufacturing facility. It appeared to be two women and one man. They were liberated from Bendobe. None of the others rescued from the unholy had implants other than for communication
. The Bendobe had implants from a radical belief system to not repeat the naïve practice of believing leadership which had led to the repetitive practice of political enrichment and mob rule. On that rogue and lawless planet, power was suspect because of the implants and rules were heavily enforced only after a lengthy process thick with skepticism. These people were born into doubt and their conversion had been suspect by the Zellhigh from the beginning.
All from Bendobe were brought before the magistrate where size and gait were measured in the last twenty feet from the entrance. The three suspects were soon found and herded into individual rooms and anesthetized. A complicated operation ensued and each had their implant removed. They were individually left emotionally catatonic and returned to their homes. The greater community of the rescued Bendobe would understand the consequences of sabotage. It’s a fact that the Zellhigh don’t kill their own. That is against the Book of Adim. Maiming is the punishment of choice. It is an outward sign that there has been disobedience and that one must carry a public display of repentance. In the case of the Bendobe the mental mangle suits the purpose of sending a message to the newly educated.
A behind the scenes meeting had Rueel instruct a trusted few to see what could be done to alter the insert of the Bendobe to more closely mimic the insert of the Zellhigh. The gas was not enough. It subdued the populace and opened their minds to obedience but was not a doubt suppressant, that was only achieved with an insert that the Zellhigh elite kept from the public.
On the fourth day after the closed meeting a ship cloaked in a new shield undetectable to the Triolux was launched from Zellhigh with two persons aboard: a` female computer scientist schooled in the areas of mechanization, algorithms, storage and communications and a thirteen year old girl captured during the invasion of Triolux North. Their mission was to record any communications with Alex and penetrate the main computer system used by Alex and spread false information to the people of Triolux North in an effort to mislead them and abandon their plans to invade Zellhigh in its weakened state. They landed four kilometers outside of a rural section of Norden, which was near the computer system that housed Alex.
Ths Sacking of Triolux North Page 9