Gallono looked with concern at the unconscious guards along the tunnel walls as they proceeded to the main chamber. “Aren’t we going to have some explaining to do when the relief watch comes and these guards start talking about being thrown into darkness and going unconscious?”
“If you fell asleep on the job, would you be eager to talk about it with your superiors? The only one we need to handle is the man closest to the door. He saw what caused the lights to go out. The others will simply wake up in twenty or thirty minutes well rested and eager to keep their little nap a secret.”
Eventually the tunnel stopped going down and turned upward and then flattened out to a room approximately twenty feet square with a fifteen-foot high ceiling. In the room’s center sat the master control unit for the gravity coils. Hastelloy surveyed the room to make sure there were no traps or guards still conscious to interrupt his plan.
Once satisfied there was no danger, Hastelloy moved to the control unit, unfastened a maintenance panel on the backside and got down to business.
Gallono circled around to Hastelloy’s side to help speed the work along. “Anything I can do to help?”
“That’s not necessary, we’ll be out of here in a flash,” Hastelloy assured him. “All I need to do is reset the transmitter so the backup system sends the signal rather than the primary. It should only take five minutes tops.”
While Hastelloy struggled to dislodge the last receptor wire his heart rate picked up. The plan came together perfectly and was about to be finished. As he worked the self sealing bolt loose he heard a loud commotion come from Gallono’s direction.
“Be patient. Just one more minute and we’ll be on our way.”
“I am sorry, Captain,” came a thoroughly dejected voice, which didn’t belong to Gallono.
Confused, Hastelloy stopped working and moved his body sideways to see around the control unit. “Tonwen, what the hell are you . . .” He stopped mid sentence at the sight of Tonwen and Valnor standing at the room’s entrance with no fewer than twenty armed guards at their backs, “doing.” He finished with resignation.
From behind the crowd and moving toward the front came a gruff voice speaking Novan perfectly.
“I thought about taking a page from your playbook and closing the doors to let the oxygen deprivation do the work for me. But then I thought no, I need to see this moment for myself. I have a certain need to revel in the look on your face when the reality of your defeat sinks in.”
On cue, the intimidating figures of a seven foot Alpha and his slightly shorter companion stepped into the main chamber. At that moment Hastelloy felt everything around him slow to a crawl. His mind raced as he looked for options. He glanced at his sword, but it was too far away, so were any weapons on the unconscious guards. Next he pondered tearing up the control unit but realized any damage he could cause in the next five seconds would be easily fixed. There was nothing he could do now, and with that realization his body went completely numb and his stomach tightened up into a devastatingly painful knot.
“Ah, there it is.” The taller Alpha said with a nearly orgasmic joy.
Time sped up again when Hastelloy saw Gallono spring into action and charge the shorter Alpha. Hastelloy, for lack of a better idea, bolted to his feet and charged the other. Neither man closed the distance in time before the aliens leveled their disruptor weapons and fired.
Hastelloy failed to react in time and the bright blue energy blast hit him square in the chest. To Hastelloy’s surprise, no sensation of pain followed, only the feeling of his body falling involuntarily to the floor. There he remained motionless with his cheek smashed against the stone floor. Try as he may, the only muscles still obeying his mind’s command were around his eyes, and the view was not pleasant.
Unlike the captain, Gallono avoided the incapacitating blast. The instant he saw the Alpha’s arm begin to rise, Gallono threw his legs forward and slid like a baseball player stealing second. With his body flat on the ground the disruptor shot passed harmlessly overhead.
The Alpha moved to adjust his aim downward but was too late. Gallono pushed off the ground with the outer thigh to pop back to an upright position. On the way to his feet he delivered a chop to the alien’s gun wielding hand. The blow hit a nerve center on the hand and instantly caused the Alpha to drop the weapon onto the floor with a soft clatter.
Quick as lightning Gallono pressed his attack by twirling around in an effort to land a backhanded blow to the Alpha’s head but a meaty hand met his fist and held on. Gallono threw another punch with his free hand, but it too was enveloped in an iron grip. While holding onto Gallono’s hands, the Alpha spread its arms out wide as if trying to simultaneously tear both Gallono’s arms off. Without wasting any more time or effort, the Alpha whipped its head forward and delivered a devastating head butt that sent Gallono’s unconscious body crumpling to the floor.
With the fight won, the taller Alpha casually stalked forward. Hastelloy watched helplessly out of his one eye facing upward as the Alpha knelt down beside him. “I’m tempted to kill the four of you right here, but that wouldn’t do me any good now would it? You’d just regenerate and return; you unnatural creatures disgust me.”
To punctuate his feelings the Alpha spat on Hastelloy’s turned cheek. All Hastelloy could do was lie there and helplessly feel the vile slime ooze down over his nose and mouth. Abruptly, the Alpha stood up and spoke in the Sigma tongue. “Take these traitors and lock them in the stocks. I'll be along soon to deal with them properly.”
As the four remaining loyal crewmen of the Novi collector ship Lazarus were dragged out of the chamber, Hastelloy watched in dismay as the shorter Alpha worked on the control unit so it would once again operate as intended.
Chapter 41: Rescue Me
“So what changed your mind about going to the authorities rather than Frank?” Professor Russell asked of Dr. Andre when he heard the director reach the top of the ladder.
“I decided I deeply admire your dedication to this project. To expose all your hard work prematurely so others could obstruct it or take the credit was unconscionable,” Dr. Andre said as he gasped for air. “Two round trips up and down these ladders and traversing the three mile distance is about all this old body can handle for the day I’m afraid.”
“Well professor, what’s the plan?” Frank asked. “We got four heavy ass mirrors here along with some suction cup hand holders to carry them. I also got my rifle here with me, what needs killing?”
“Stay down the ramp for now,” Professor Russell instructed. “Can you see that antenna on the ceiling just above Alex where the blue beams originate?”
“It’s kinda hard not to see it there, prof,” Frank replied. “How did you three not see it in the first place and avoid this predicament all together? I just can’t let you out of my sight for two seconds without you tripping a paralyzing ray.”
“Assuming you had the forethought to bring bullets for your rifle I’d like you to shoot the antenna please,” Professor Russell asked with his frustration level starting to grow. Frank was competent and a lot of fun to have around, but he did have problems reading when the time was right to joke around and when it wasn’t.
“Now, now. No need to be hateful,” Frank said as he crouched down on one knee and took careful aim. “You’ll be free to move about the cabin when your captain turns off the paralysis ray.”
BANG!
A gunshot is extremely loud in the open. In a closed room, with no place for sound to escape, the noise was positively earth shattering. Professor Russell felt his ears pop and vision blur. His brain felt like an air hockey puck getting slapped back and forth inside his skull.
A few seconds passed before Professor Russell was able to focus his mind and eyes to see if the antenna was still there. He was disappointed, but not terribly surprised, to see it was perfectly functional.
“Did you miss the target, or did something stop the bullet?” the professor asked.
“Of course I hi
t it dead on, but the damn thing has some sort of shield around it,” Frank said. “Look down about a yard in front of you. That hole is where the bullet ricocheted off the shielding. You want me to give it another go?”
“No, no, god no,” the professor tried to shout. “I doubt it’d do any good, and I want the four of us to have our sense of hearing when this is all over. It’s time we moved on to plan B, which involves the mirrors.”
“Why do I get the feeling this plan is going to be a bit more dangerous for me?” Frank groaned.
“The reflective surface of the mirror should deflect the beams,” Professor Russell instructed. “I want you to strap a mirror to your back and hold the other by the handle like a shield in front of you.”
“Oh, I see where this is going. We need to talk about upping my hazard pay first there prof.”
“Make like your Nike shoes and just do it,” Alex shouted.
Frank let out a sigh and set his rifle along the nearest wall and proceeded to add straps to one of the mirrors and lasso them around his shoulders and armpits. Dr. Andre handed him a second mirror with two suction cup handles mounted on the back allowing it to be easily carried and employed as a shield.
“It goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway,” the professor commented. “Dr. Andre should remain at the bottom of the ramp in case my plan doesn’t work and Frank gets stuck as well. Then it’ll be time to fetch the authorities. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” everyone said together.
In a crouched position that almost made the mirror on his back drag on the floor, Frank made his way up the ramp. Just before entering the room, and the perceived range of the antenna he let his thoughts be known. “If this doesn’t work out I’ll always have work in a fun house dressed like this.”
Displaying great courage, in contrast to his statements, Frank stepped out into the open. The antenna swung into action. An angry bolt of blue lightning leapt towards Frank and his mirrors. Just as the professor expected, the beam reflected harmlessly off the reflective surface.
“Frank, you all right back there?” the professor asked.
“There’s a brown puddle under me now, but I can still move if that’s what you’re asking. I do have a real problem though,” Frank said with genuine concern. “I’m going in blind so I need the Doc to direct me to you.”
Frank didn’t need to ask twice. Dr. Andre promptly belly crawled his way up the ramp and started shouting orders. “Right two small steps. Forward six long steps. Forward two more. Good, you are there.”
Frank stood up, taking extra care to keep the mirror shield between him and the antenna, and moved in front of the professor to interrupt the paralysis beam holding him.
Instantly, the Professor’s arms swung down to his side and his legs gave out. His brain sent the leg muscles a signal to straighten up, and for the first time in hours the order was obeyed.
“Outstanding work, Frank, now let me get this mirror off your back so I can have a shield too.”
Carefully, Professor Russell unfastened the straps over Frank’s shoulder and took the mirror into his arms. Next he raised the mirror up to match the angle of Frank’s so they overlapped a bit.
“Now together we’re going to walk backwards, go down the ramp so I can collect another mirror and return to free Alex,” Professor Russell said.
BANG!
The two mirrors held over their heads shattered and rained down on them. With nothing obstructing it, the blue ray instantly reclaimed Professor Russell as a captive, and added Frank to the ranks.
Chapter 42: What does Victory Look Like?
Slowly the sky filled with color as a new day, a fateful day, began in ancient Egypt. The four prisoners were lined up and shackled to a stone wall facing the pyramid. The restraints consisted of two iron loops anchored into the rock above their heads with a chain running between the loops and ended with shackles around each wrist.
Hastelloy’s legs started to seize up from standing in the same position for too long. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much he could do about it. The prospect of bending his knees and bringing his full body weight down on the sharp metal wrist restraints was not an acceptable alternative.
The four men were left alone, in complete darkness for several hours. Earlier the moonlight shined bright, only interrupted by the occasional cloud. Now it seemed the planet sensed the pending peril its inhabitants faced and cast a veil of darkness over the land in mourning.
With the sun rising Hastelloy could finally see past the end of his nose. He looked to his right and saw the first glimpse of the vibrant red circle peeking out over the horizon. Hastelloy took a deep breath, trying to let the tranquility of the moment relax his mind.
Hastelloy couldn’t remember when he last took the time to watch a sunrise. It was odd to have his disciplined mind pay attention to something so meaningless when there were more pressing issues to ponder. It might have had something to do with the very real possibility that after 10,000 years of life, Hastelloy was finally facing the end of his existence. This could be the last sunrise he’d ever get the chance to watch.
Hastelloy looked down the row of chained prisoners to see Valnor and Tonwen also taking in the view. Gallono was a different matter. The commander’s body hung limp with his head drooping forward into his chest. He hadn’t regained consciousness yet from the blow to his head sustained while fighting the Alpha.
The captain pulled from left to right on his chains and noticed he had very little give to move his hands. He cringed as he tried in vain to reach his ears with his hands, but the restraints wouldn’t let them get even close. “Now that’s just tragic,” he said softly.
Valnor turned his head toward the sound of the words. “What was that, sir?”
“Nothing, ensign. I was just lamenting the fact that I have an itch on my ear but can’t reach far enough to scratch it.” To emphasize the point he raked the chains back and forth between the iron loops displaying his lack of mobility. The loud sound of metal grating on metal was particularly annoying, but it did cause a slight twitch from Gallono. Encouraged by the result, Hastelloy continued making the noise until his friend finally came to.
“Isn’t our predicament bad enough without you polluting our ears with that dreadful noise?” Gallono said quietly into his chest. Slowly, he raised his head until it rest against the stone. “Ugh, my head feels like a load of bricks fell on it.”
“I thought you might want to enjoy watching the sun rise with the rest of us,” Hastelloy said.
“I wouldn’t miss it,” Gallono responded while testing the strength of the chains holding him captive. Without even glancing to the east he looked back at his captain. “Wow, that’s lovely. Now I am not a tactical expert like you, but my laymen’s assessment of our situation is that we’re completely boned. Tell me you’re so relaxed because you have another plan in the works. After all, we were charged with protecting twenty million lives in the Nexus that will soon vanish from existence thanks to our defeat.”
Hastelloy stood motionless holding his friend’s angry stare. After a few moments of silence hung between them, he began to move his mouth and deliver an appropriate response when a shadow was cast over his face. Hastelloy looked toward the sun rise again only to find the lovely view eclipsed by a silhouette of the Alpha leader strutting towards the captives with his subordinate in tow.
“Enjoying the view?” The Alpha leader asked in the Novan language. “It’s about to get even better. The slaves are hauling what’s left of my ship here so we can use this custom made gravity reactor you helped build to get back home.”
The Alpha leader gestured back towards the pyramid before continuing his gloating. “I must admit I’m a little envious of you. I’ve never witnessed a space fold up close with the naked eye. I imagine it’ll be quite spectacular, though I’m not sure what effect opening a fold so close to a planetary body will have on this place. It’ll be interesting to see the results when we return with a full fleet to occupy
the system.”
“Then we’ll complete our victory by taking out that infernal Nexus device you value so much,” the shorter Alpha said while licking his chops.
“Victory?” Gallono spat back. “Even with the benefit of surprise and outnumbering us four to one, your fleet was still annihilated. A few more victories like that and you’ll be well on your way to losing this war.”
“Our fleet commodore was careless, I’ll grant you that. Even with the heavy losses we sustained, this will be a victory long remembered. I’ll even be so bold as to say it will change the course of history.”
“Do you smoke those drugs you’re on, or just snort them through that long snout?” Gallono asked with a laugh. “Battles come and go, but nothing ever changes.”
The Alpha leader let a sly grin cross his face. “Do you know where I come from?”
Gallono regarded the question with a mocking smile, “From a dark and scary place no doubt. Full of horned fairytale creatures with pitchforks and such.”
“No! I come from a womb; I am of natural birth. Some perverse machine spit you out, and continues to do so. It’s been that way for over ten thousand years. Brave Alpha warriors die fighting for the cause while you cowards push a button and step out of that machine like nothing happened.
“With our victory here today, things will change. Your people will have to deal with the loss of life for the first time in millennia, and we both know you Novi don’t have the stomach to carry on a war when real stakes are involved. I’m afraid your defeat here today will decimate the Novi’s will to continue the war.”
The Alpha leader stepped forward and squared off directly in front of Gallono. “You put up a valiant fight, captain. So brave, in fact, that you managed to destroy ships my two surviving sons served aboard.”
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