And so with resolve Tee Calmwater pulled his people together and told them, “The time is near, the place is Zellhigh. We must harden our plans and act sooner rather than later. The satellites have told us that they are preparing for an invasion and readying themselves with ground weapons. They are inviting us to a ground war and we must not accept their invitation. We need to employ our imaginations and combine all our talents to strategize a plan of action that is geared to win and remove the inserts or destroy them without letting a single one of them flee.”
Lain wondered why seeing the dead prisoners caused Tee to become so fixated. He now drilled it into all of them; he wanted total annihilation of the Zellhigh if there was no plan to remove the insert. At one time he talked about containment and his heart beat with the rhythm of compassion. “What has changed you, husband?”
“History, Lain, that’s what’s changed me. It’s not just for our time. If we eradicate the Zellhigh as our only response to their plight, then it will show others who march down the same path what the final consequences will be. We must be definitive and not only send a message out to the universe, but put it into the minds of those who follow us, long after we’re gone. This is what good people do to rogue planets that enslave their people. It ends badly and there are no winners. Don’t duplicate.”
“It’s hard for people to improve when they’re dead,” Lain said.
That night in a dream, a distant and knowing light shone at the far end of a spectrum too great to measure. Its silence burned into Tee and he tossed and turned. He asked it without speaking, but with a concerned yearning, “What can we do?” The light moved closer and it brought with it a ray of yellow inside its white - hot glare. Tee took it as a bit of hope; it let him know the answer, there’s always an answer. Yes, what’s right for one person may not be right for another, but in the big scheme there is always a way to find improvement, it is the way. Anger and hate get in the way; they are obstacles that block the view. Yet, they are always near. When man flounders for an answer and none present it immediately, he often glows red and lashes out. Tee knew he was up against time; the longer they waited the more their soldiers were facing a greater peril. When Tee woke he announced at the committee table, “We must capture this Rueel, their leader and force him to have his people stand down and line up for the insert removal.”
“How can we do that?”
“It should be easier to plan the capture of one man over fighting an entire planet and its mutilated population.”
A silence crept across the room and much like Rueel and his declaration of a message from Adim, Tee mentioned he’d had a dream and had seen a light. A line of skepticism skipped around the very same committee table that a moment ago was silent. Tee felt it like a slap but his face gave away nothing. It was healthy to doubt and analyze. The truth doesn’t always come delivered with a ring. And so the group got down to the brass tacks of planning an operation on a foreign planet. The last time they’d tried such an endeavor it ended with a rapid murder. The believers, like any wild beast, can detect their quarry by smell and then pounce.
They delivered their verdict without emotion or question. So programmed and polluted were their brains that they functioned as a pack. No communication was needed as they shredded poor Dr. Sven Firegate. This was just one of the built in safeguards the Triolux kidnapping team would need to thwart in any attempt to capture Rueel. And the assumption was he would need to be incapacitated in order to bring him back to Triolux for a proper indoctrination.
The satellites around Zellhigh were tasked with finding Rueel’s residence and gathering all the information they could about it. As this was being implemented the spaceships the Triolux were building were becoming a formidable force. Their weapons were accurate and superior. A plan to attack the gas manufacturing facilities was already on a chip and ready to be carried out at any time. The committee thought it a good idea to go ahead and do that now. Their reasoning was that a captured subject on Zellhigh under the influence of the gas and not an insert might be able to sabotage some of their defenses. They knew there was a group on the planet somewhere that had acted before. Without that help the loss of life on Triolux from the second invasion would have been tremendous.
Another plus was that Rueel would most likely go into a self-defensive mode that could reveal some of his secrets and his whereabouts. And so three days after their decision to destroy the gas manufacturing plants two ships, sleek and stealthy, were sent to Zellhigh. Two days later the planet came into view and all their stationary communication satellites were destroyed. Any weather gathering information was also wiped out. Then in a matter of seconds the two huge gas manufacturing plants were blown to smithereens. A volley of land based missiles and laser sweepers shot toward the sky but the blind and random shots at the Triolux ships were useless. For practice and the humiliation factor the ships trounced the various defensive sites and soon any blind and stupid laser swipes ceased.
A cheer from the ships and the mountain fortress on Triolux went up and a quick glimpse of the victorious beginning of the war was sent to the inhabitants of Triolux. A party atmosphere soon enveloped all the cities and towns and people stayed up late into the night as revenge quenched their thirst even while they knew the Zellhigh were victims themselves. Even Tee, who once thought himself above such low behavior, savored the moment and he and Lain talked about what it felt like to be Rueel at that very moment. Surely he must understand that the net had been cast and now it was only a matter of time before it was reeled in. This set of circumstances draped its superior blanket of comfort over the whole of Triolux and the occupants slept in the arms of security for the first time in a long while.
They wanted to taste that again. Calls from the various provinces and towns and boroughs poured in. Why not their transportation centers? How about their food facilities? Their foundation to move humanity toward improvement was crumbling. It can’t be just in theory, Tee thought. It’s got to be in practice as well. Otherwise we’re a people without a purpose other than material gain. We’ve seen how that turns out, the haves and the have nots. It creates a judgmental system with the majority struggling.
The higher purpose is the only system that is inclusive and nonjudgmental as everyone is valued. And now it’s threatened because violence visited them and they are enamored with the feeling of retribution. But these are good people and when the dust settles they’ll have guilt. No, these calls for more and more death and destruction must be addressed. Tee paced in his empty office and stared out the window and watched a tree sway in the wind. What does nature do when it’s invaded? He’s seen red bugs tricked by red dots on leaves making the invasive insects believe the tree is already infested. It’s such a simple and effective way to deal with an unwanted pest.
A group of men and women were being assembled and a method to cloak their odor and spread the pheromones of the Zellhigh was being devised. It was now assumed to be on the high side of probabilities that they had the correct address of Rueel’s residence. It was a lavish and sprawling compound on the outskirts of one of the major cities. The satellites captured an image of him in his flowing robes touching his plants and statues as he walked in one of the gardens. He impressed the Triolux generals as a pretentious man full of magic tricks and smoke and mirrors, including his dress, to convey some kind of separate posture from the hordes. They thought him to be a soft target.
Where is Adim in our time of need?
The people of Zellhigh murmured. It wasn’t doubt; it was in fact a question they thought would be answered. Rueel stood before them. Some of them were in front of him in the great hall; still others were seeing his image, larger than life, at the various temples throughout the planet. He looked solemn and forlorn as his robes sparkled when he walked. Lost in thought and distant, Rueel acted as if he was hearing the voice of Adim. Rueel moved about the elevated stage and then stopped and looked as if seeing the audience for the first time. “Adim is always near. He is everythi
ng that exists and he listens and he knows you have questions. He is beside you in the dark and a steady hand in the day. And he loves all of you so much and that is why he has given me knowledge. He spoke to me in the garden, a soft, gentle, loving voice. He told me the soulless people of Triolux are up late into the night plotting and planning our destruction. He said they are a worthy opponent. They have destroyed our gas manufacturing facilities. That gas helped us recognize believers from nonbelievers. It’s how we were able to detect a spy. Without it there will come thoughts.
“These thoughts will cascade down as the people of Triolux send you low frequency messages of doubt. These foreign thoughts will come as the gas leaves your body and that is precisely why the facilities were bombed. It was in an effort to open a place inside your mind that the devious, nonbelieving, godless invaders can manipulate. They are jealous of our size and our strength and our paradise here on Zellhigh. Blessed is Adim, ‘all - knowing and time without end’.
“So. We are working with each of you in your towns and villages, by the sea and in the hills. We are developing schemes to drive the soldiers that are coming into pockets where we can slaughter them and send their planet into the dark ages. I have other things to say and plans to reveal but it will be at the time Adim sees fit. It is not up to me to know his timetable, he has his reasons and I do not question him. Look at your family, your home, your children, the food on the table and realize Adim did not give you all this to let someone take it away. He is with all of us and when you see the sun, you see him. When you see the stars, you are looking at him. When you breathe in air, you are part of him. When you see each other you are looking at him. He is all that you see and feel and touch. Don’t let the invaders send you thoughts that gain a place in your mind where roots grow. They are planting the seed of doubt. See how your body reacts to such things. That is Adim showing himself to you. Feel his love and understand. When the invaders come, remember they are not just attacking you, they are trying to kill Adim. Because it is in you that he lives! ”
With that Rueel walked off the stage and a soft drifting flute played, carved from a branch of the Zellhigh tree of life. The stage lights faded, the crowd shuffled off. Rueel drank water and thought about what to do. His world was closing in on him. He felt an army was coming his way. He turned to the Book of Adim and sat with it in his lap, slowly reading each sentence, swallowing it and digesting it. For every problem there is a solution. He was untethered and adrift. His careful, choreographed life was changing. The power he craved was in jeopardy. He couldn’t let them do it.
Chapter 19
The team was ready to capture Rueel. They felt confident under the leadership of Captain Elis Fields. They waved goodbye to family and friends. Inside the ship they found their seats and as they sat down the seats folded in on them keeping pressure on their body to make sure blood flowed throughout their bodies and squeezed them tight to keep that happening. Window shields were open as the ship broke the grip of gravity. They automatically closed when the temperature outside climbes to avoid thermal damage. Most of what they saw as they traversed the galaxy was the empty vacuum of space. The travel was turbulence - free as they didn’t encounter any atmosphere.
Once they neared the wormhole you would think the crew would be on edge. Avoiding its throat and using the edge for gravitational acceleration and distance leap was out of their hands. They of course hoped the quantum computers calculated asymptotically the flat space-time correctly and avoided vacuum polarization. Not to mention capturing sling from the forces of electromagnetic repulsion. It was, however, the entry, the descent and the landing on Zellhigh that visited them in their dreams. It was critical to arrive undetected.
And so they passed through the bending of space and in it they saw only a smear of light before the window shields closed and the ship became warm from speed. On the far side they caught their first glimpse of Zellhigh at a great distance. All their satellites had been knocked down and their land defenses were rendered nil. The crew was swallowed by nervous tension and they joked in short sentences with each other. All the while everywhere they looked they saw the sky the Zellhigh saw. With each passing moment they grew closer to their target.
Some remembered the violence visited upon them by these mad animals jacked on chemicals and electric signals. They were like an army of soulless men determined to traumatize all they encountered and leave their victims crippled and damaged. But they didn’t know the Triolux were a people that saw answers in the void and were filled with optimism even in the dark. They were a collective group that believed in others and improvement brought forgiveness and they were buoyed by that outcome. These believers were caught in a trap and restricted in thought leaving them in a perpetual place of tunnel vision where they only saw their point of view and all the pleading in the universe wouldn’t move them one mote closer to reflection.
Captain Elis Fields reviewed the plans. He made the soldiers, both men and women, check their equipment. He looked them over and checked the charge in their lasers. He tested their communication helmets, light as cotton and stronger than titanium. He saw their concerned faces and addressed them, one and all. “This is our time. This is our contribution to the great cause. We have trained and they don’t know we’re coming. This leader, Rueel will be snug as a bug in a blanket. We will twist him into co-operation or until he snaps. That’s not our concern. Our place is to deliver him to the powers that be and this is what our people want us to do. We are the best of the best and no matter what happens out there we will prevail.”
They landed near Rueel’s compound. They worried about land vibration sensors as well a myriad of other defensive devices. All was quiet as they filed out and into the darkness of the Zellhigh night. With every known technological advance strapped on their heads and funneled into their glasses, ears and on their skin they soon came across a wall. At first glance it appeared to be stone but upon a closer examination one could tell it was acid foam and just by touching it one drop would continue its purchase and gnaw on a body for hours.
A rapid Airlite extension was put in place and suspended over the wall. A chain ladder was dropped to either side and the first to breach the wall was Lida Verse and it was she that would determine if the inner ground was safe to set foot on. After probing and doing everything she knew to do she put her foot on the terra firma. At first nothing happened and just as she thought it might be safe to call the others a rumbling came from her right. With her night vision she saw a group of thundering creatures bounding her way with exposed teeth and a determined gait. There was no time for her to climb the chain ladder. She dropped to one knee and began a slow and steady sweep with her laser.
Lida Verse realized her laser was impenetrable to these creatures and that they were in fact man made and probably created from verintite steel that had a high melting point. She clicked her laser to its highest setting and spoke smoothly and softly into her communications microphone. “Robotic attack animals high in number and laser – immune. I could use a little help.”
Four more Airlites popped up and from the ladders on the outside came a number of laser beams jacked to the highest settings. With the help of her comrades LIda was able to climb up her side and, once off the ground at a higher angle, aim and fire with the other four. When the creatures reached the ladder their number had been reduced but unfortunately Lida was pulled into the fray. A snarling mechanical clicking consumed her while at the same time the creatures were melted. Lida was a chewed mass of meat and the creatures were soon rendered a melted blob of metal.
The men couldn’t help but do the math. No more than three steps toward the living headquarters, some half - click away, and already their numbers were reduced. All twenty - three of the combatants were soon fanning out and heading east into the darkness. The captain was near the front. He told them to move slow and steady. In the distance they saw the great structure blocking the stars and its density was palpable. The thought of Lida sparkled and fizzed
in the back of their minds. If it could happen to her it could ….. And so they moved a little more cautiously than usual.
There were trees as they entered a garden. Plants of all kinds, some were exotic and brightened when the men stepped past them. Others folded up and became rigid. Most were flowered and fruit bearing. They penetrated deeper into the garden and tried to suppress the feeling that a trap had been set. A walkway made of song stone lead to a large ornate door on the side of the structure. The men tried to avoid the walkway, but as they converged on the door they had to step on the stone. Each footfall caused the stone to vibrate and a note was expelled into the air.
Was this a warning mechanism or entertainment? A bright light from on top of the building lit up the men and for a moment they were blinded. A shield slid over their goggles and they could immediately see a large contingent of armed men aiming their lasers down on them. They dropped to their knees and from their wrist sprung their anti-laser shields. A firefight began.
The captain told his men to move back and keep firing. His men were well - practiced and their lasers cut through a score of the soldiers on the roof. Every now and then one of his men screamed and some kept screaming from wounds as others fell into dead silence. They were being reduced even though they were inflicting more damage than they were receiving. The wounded were left behind and their screams filled the air as they took up cover behind the trees.
The captain looked through his goggles. He saw his men firing in their trained and textbook manner. He was proud of them but he also knew they were going to die. As he turned to take everything in and see all the action he saw an army of large Zellhigh men marching their way from behind. The Triolux were under orders to not give up, but orders in a command center nestled deep inside a mountain don’t have that much sway when you’re a commander, not if there’s a chance you can save some of your team. Then again they could be tortured for fun with these barbarians. He spoke to all his men through his communication microphone. “Stop firing. We’re surrounded and they may take us prisoner.”
Ths Sacking of Triolux North Page 13