Verron_Birth of a Nation

by Douglas Varnell

  Daniel jumped in excitedly saying, “We didn’t actually have any humans to test the formula on, so we ran tests and mixed dozens of different DNA together; human, dogs, birds, plants, even some snake and bug DNA. We dropped one drop of Rapture in the mix and it killed only the human DNA. We then took mine and Daniels sweaty T-Shirts we had worn to work-out in and two clean T’s. We put them in an EV chamber and dropped two drops of Rapture. The two sweaty, DNA saturated T-Shirts disintegrated without a trace the two clean shirts were not touched.” Chase quickly jumped back in, pointing at the 100mm round now in Colonel Hall’s hand, “We had enough formula to load 50 of those. We put them in King Verron’s Destroyer. We haven’t made any more, and this one and the ones in your ship are all there is. We felt like they were too dangerous to leave around.” Then he hung his head as he looked at Paul and said, “We knew if anyone on Verron would have a chance to use them it would be you, Sir.” Paul felt almost sick for a minute. These two knew about and watched footage of his destruction of terrorist on Earth. They didn’t seem to mind the bad guys getting killed, but it bothered them about the collateral damage. He was sure that’s what they were trying to achieve. But it did bother him just a little that they knew him as someone who would have a chance to kill people with their new weapon. Paul reached over and took the single shell saying, “This one shell could empty this room without a trace of any of us?” Daniel and Chase both answered, “Yes, Sir?” General Z spoke up to take an almost speechless Paul off the hook. “You boys are incredible. If we had these in Iraq and Afghanistan, we could have cleared terrorist out of a village without leveling the whole town or out of a building without hurting anyone else with flying shrapnel. You’ve done a fine job and no one wants to see something like this used, but I’m glad we have it and not our enemy.” Paul shook their hands and told them, “They’re safe in my private ship and make sure no one has the formula but Lucy; we may need more someday. Keep doing what you’re doing. If you two want something to take apart and study you’re authorized to do so. Just don’t blow yourself or anyone else to bits.” Turning to his brother, he continued by commenting, “Kary, it looks like the nut doesn’t fall far from the tree. I believe you have two Ordinance Assistants on your staff now.”

  The next morning there was actually a group in the hanger to see everyone off. Paul’s Mother, Kary’s wife and grandchildren, Justice’s wife, along with Hunter and Amber were all there. Benny’s wife also showed up, but General Zarman had been leaving for so many years Barbara was used to it. None of the Xhondarians had been to Klelta so they had no words of wisdom for those headed out. Just before he boarded the Light Destroyer, Paul told Hunter, loud enough for all to hear, “You’re in charge while I’m gone. If I don’t make it back, you’re King.” He looked at the Dragon Guard and added, “You guys keep him in line and help him out if he needs it.” Hunter had a totally confused look on his face and looked horrified at the thought of being in charge. Paul smiled and said, “Don’t worry. The planet is in good hands. It almost runs itself.” The five of them boarded and began Verron’s first diplomatic trip to an alien nation. They weren’t certain how long they would be gone. With gateway technology, warp-drives and faster than light capabilities, space travel was far more advanced than ever before, but Paul had no intentions of simply popping out of a gateway or worm-hole too close to a planet he had never visited before. He’d much rather be cautious and take a little longer than to get in a hurry and get them all killed. Paul let General Z have the controls. After a smooth ascension to the outer limits of Verron’s atmosphere, they allowed Lucy to take control of the ships navigational A.I. The ships A.I. could have handled the task, but Lucy was not about to put King Verron in the hands of another lesser A.I. They began travelling at .8 LS and jumped through the gateway to the Klelta system.

  When they exited the gateway they were still millions of miles away from their destination, by intent. They carefully examined the other planets in the same star orbit as Klelta. The onboard sensors did not indicate any life-forms and further showed environmental conditions that would never allow it. There seemed to be billions of asteroids in the system, orbiting between the 3rd and the 4th planet, as if the planet that used to be there had somehow exploded and the debris had formed in a circle around the star. There was plenty of room to negotiate the asteroid belt, but General Z did slow his speed considerably to make certain he avoided any problems. The planet Klelta had four moons. It was a larger planet than Earth, but just barely. They carefully checked the surrounding moons for military defense systems before venturing closer. They decided to orbit Klelta a few times and take life-form and atmosphere readings. They also decided to scan for nuclear or antimatter emissions and got both. That was disturbing since this planet had last been dependent on fossil fuels. Paul wasn’t overly concerned; Earth would have had nuclear readings as well, but still was very dependent on oil.

  Before they decided to enter the Klelta atmosphere for a closer look at what was below, General Zarman activated the cloaking shield and force-field; he did it just in time. Two large Destroyers came from behind one of the moons. Evidently they had picked-up the ship on their sensors and were just now coming out to investigate. The two ships seemed to have a reading on where they were, but had no visual. General Z decided that he wanted no confrontation and quickly had Lucy form a gateway to the other side of Klelta. It was now their turn to track the two ships that were looking for them. The ships were almost as big as a Gljarne Class Destroyer. They were covered with so many weapons and sensors it would be difficult to determine just what they all were; neither Paul nor Jim had any desire to find out. Paul thought, “It was one thing to fly in or take a tour of a fully armed Destroyer, it was something completely different to have one looking for you inside its own home planets orbit.” Still they were not going to just up and leave until they investigated the planet further. And they definitely were not going to reveal themselves like they do in movies by calling the other ships on a visual communication device and telling them, we come in peace; especially when you had 5 people in one ship and they had God only knows how many people on two ships and probably more in reserve.

  Still cloaked and now using an activated jammer to disrupt surrounding sensors, Paul had General Z enter the lower atmosphere and circle around at about 50,000 feet. They picked-up indications of at least five large cities, each showing nuclear and antimatter emissions. They headed for the area with the highest readings and reduced altitude to 20,000 feet. At this altitude, they could make out a large walled city. The walls had to be at least 200 feet high to look so large from this altitude. From the looks of it they determined it could easily accommodate a few million people. They reduced their altitude to 10,000 feet and could see one tremendous structure located in the center of the city; obviously a palace. Everyone on board had been to Europe and done the usual palace tours, Benny had even studied architecture in Europe several years before returning to the U.S. None of them had ever seen anything so massive and so grand.

  Paul decided to do some reconnaissance on the outskirts of the city; not inside the walls. He made certain his neurological implant was working properly and told General Z to track them while hovering cloaked overhead. He also told him to prepare his weapons for possible action, since these people may not be friendly to people snooping around their planet. He put on his sword and dagger, since it would be quieter if he needed to defend himself, then also grabbed his backpack with some thermals and plasma grenades. He asked Justice to accompany him, since he had spent 20 years as a reconnaissance specialist in the Army. Colonel Hall grabbed a 10mm Laser Machine Gun, a belt full of ammo clips, his K-Bar knife and his trusty Glock 40. They picked a spot and Paul did a jump, taking Justice with him. Justice had been through a gateway before, but this was a totally new experience. When they got to the ground, he asked, “Is this the way you and the Guard travel all over Verron?” Paul smiled and answered, “Yes.” Justice continued, “And my Hunter and Amber a
re learning how to do this?” Paul answered, “No, they aren’t learning this. They already know how to do this. I’m teaching them stuff much more advanced.” He looked at Paul through watery eyes, and told him, “Thanks, for doing all you do for them.”

  As they began to walk through the woods to get a closer look at the outskirts of the city, Paul asked, “You don’t resent the fact that I’ve been teaching things to them and holding out on you and the General?” Justice answered, “No, those kids are better people than me.” Paul continued, “How do you think Renee, Marie and Desiree are going to respond when I officially announce that Prince Hunter is to be my successor to the throne and heir to all of Verron and Princess Amber is second in line. By the way, I plan to one day make Amber a key figure in the leadership of Verron’s military; all the Dragon Guard will be eventually.” Justice didn’t take long to respond, “They may be too young right now, but after what I’ve seen them do, I would follow them and probably even respect them for who they are and not just because they’re the King’s relatives.”

  The conversation quieted as they realized they were approaching some kind of work activity. They could hear the clanging of metal, loud voices and what sounded like the roar of heavy machinery. They followed a narrow ravine for a mile or so, then determined that the noise was above them to the north and began to slowly climb the steep walls of the ravine upward toward the noises. As the sounds got louder they slowed their pace even more and all but crawled the rest of the way, sheltering behind trees and large stones. They had entered the edge of a rock quarry. For hundreds of yards in every direction, the rock had been dug away and hauled to some building sight. As they watched the men work, they were both amazed at the precision of their craft. They had long steel cutting tools that sliced through the stone like a knife through butter. The stones they were cutting were all precisely cut to the same size. The heavy machinery turned out to be a monstrous truck loaded with tons of perfectly sized stones. There was not one single piece of machinery in the quarry. The men doing the cutting of the mammoth stones lifted them and loaded them on the truck telepathically, never touching the stones as they loaded.

  The men working in the pit looked as if they could lift the stones without using telekinetic control; there wasn’t a man among them that was less than 9 feet tall. They were massive. If Paul had to guess, he would say 500 pounds each or better. The blue/gray skin was tight over bulging muscles. They had arms bigger than Paul’s waist. With protruding lower jaws and large cuspids projecting a good two inches below their lips, large orange eyes and canine shaped ears. They worked smoothly and effortlessly, as stone after stone was cut and loaded on the next awaiting transport. Paul looked at Justice and whispered, “I think we may have a problem trying to mingle with the locals.” Justice smiled and whispered back, “Whatever gave you that idea, the fact that they are 10 feet tall or that our skin colors are slightly different? It would be easier for an albino in Uganda to blend in. I’m proud that an Airfield Operations Specialist figured that out all by himself.”

  Evidently the dog shaped ears did more than look like dog shaped ears; they worked like dog ears as well. Faster than Paul would have thought possible for someone so large to move, there were three of the giants standing just above he and Justice armed with the huge steel cutting tools. Paul knew he could probably out run them, but Justice would easily be caught by beings that could move so fast. They could both see the hostility on the armed aliens standing and waiting for them to reveal themselves. Paul thought, as they were being escorted toward a small crowd of other workers, “These do not look like people who would be flying Destroyers to protect their planet from invasion.” As the crowd circled their prey, a man of over 10 feet entered the circle to confront the two strangers dressed in charcoal gray commando uniforms. He looked intently at Paul’s dragon embroidered on his cap and spoke in a deep, guttural voice, that at first Paul could not make out, although it did sound familiar. He quickly realized it was a local dialect of Xhondarian. This man had obviously dealt with Xhondar travelers before. He reached to grab Paul’s hat off his head and Paul quickly smacked his hand away before he could grab it. This did not please the man, who immediately took a swing at Paul with his heavy steel cutting tool. With reflexes faster than Justice had ever seen before, Paul managed to pull his sword and parry the blow while drawing his dagger as well. He stood armed and ready for the next swing, which came instantly and much harder. Paul had fought enhanced fighters and fighting droids, but had never felt a blow with so much impact. He knew if he tried to stand and fight the man blow-for-blow he would not win. He quickly assumed his jump-fighting style and his increased speed was more than the huge man could keep up with. Paul did not want to hurt the man, but needed to stay alive. He landed a couple of Jxansa Gha body strikes that would have paralyzed a normal man. He felt like he had just struck a brick wall. As a last resort he decided to use his telekinetic power to hurl the man away from him. Evidently the man was just as experienced in the use of that power as he was; he blocked it. Then he decided it was time for an anatomy lesson; did an alien have his private parts in the same place as a human. Paul quickly sidestepped another swing intended to remove his head and did an upper-cut, as hard as he could, below-the-belt; anatomy lesson learned. The big man dropped his 12 foot long cutting tool and fell to his knees. Holding his male member in pain, just like a human. As Paul stood waiting for another attack, a smaller man stepped forward unarmed. He pointed to the sword and dagger and began to direct the attention of the others to just what Paul was holding. As best Paul could make out, they recognized the sword and dagger as being made by one of them. The following conversation was difficult, but not impossible as the reduced excitement level seemed to slow down their speech into something Paul could now comprehend.

  Just as Paul understood the statement, “We thought you were one of them,” a blast from an energy rifle hit Justice and knocked him back over the edge of the hill. Paul prayed he had remembered to wear and activate his force-field. A second shot hit one of the giant men and severed his massive arm completely off. Before they could fire another round Paul hurled a plasma ball at each of the two armed riflemen, hitting one in the chest and the other in the head. Even with their body armor, they were both blown apart. Four more armed soldiers came to the top of the quarry wall and prepared to fire. One got off a shot that just barely missed Paul, but all of sudden the four soldiers blew apart, as Paul made them explode, just like he did the rocks in the canyon. The crowd had dispersed and were dragging their wounded friend to safety and shouting in Xhondarian, “More Come!” Paul quickly ran to the edge of the hill just in time to see Justice standing up and heading back up the hill with his Laser rifle in hand. He did not look happy. By the time Justice reached the quarry, dozens more soldiers had arrived. With their silhouette along the ridge above, they made easy targets. Their body armor was probably good against the weapons they were used to, but Justices laser rifle had no problem penetrating as he hit one after another with double tap head or heart shots. Meanwhile Paul continued to blow them up; often five or six at a time.

  Suddenly, the soldiers stopped coming and pulled back just out of sight. Paul quickly asked General Z for a surveillance report. He observed, “There are at least a few thousand forming-up inside the city walls preparing to join the battle. They are the closest; maybe two miles. To the east of you, is what looks like an army garrison and there are hover craft and what looks like small armored vehicles getting loaded with soldiers. There are at least five times as many of them, but they are a good 15 miles out. Wait a minute. You won’t believe this. There’s an open-topped hovercraft leaving the palace with three people standing on it. The one in the middle looks like he came out of a bad Flash Gordon Movie. They’re headed your way.

  A few minutes later the hover-platform came over the top edge of the quarry. Jim wasn’t exaggerating when he described the guy in the middle. He was wearing a long black and red robe, with a high collar that came a
ll the way to his ears. His eyebrows were so long he had them tucked over the top of his ears. He sported a fu-manchu mustache that had to reach his waist and fingernails 8 inches long. The two heavily armored body guards on either side were shouting something Paul couldn’t quite make out. He looked and saw the giants bowing down before the man in the robe. When Paul and Justice did not bow the two guards raised their rifles and switched languages to a pretty decent Xhondarian, repeating the same command to bow before their god. Paul smiled and shook his head and spoke back, much to their surprise, saying, “I know God personally, and speak to Him every day, and you are not Him. I bow to no one.” The two guards fired immediately but did no damage through Paul and Justice’s force-field. Justice got off four perfectly placed shots, but the body armor on these guys was much better than the others. Paul made them explode. With the improved body armor, it was like an egg in a microwave. You could see the blasts of blood and brain matter as their heads blew apart inside their helmets. The man-who-would-be-god, hurled a ball of fire at Paul. He then realized that this man was probably one of the Xhondarians who managed to migrate to another world. He threw up a shield and blocked the fireball as it shattered harmlessly against the invisible obstacle. He began to throw lightning-bolts and shouting, “You dare to defy Ares. Bow and maybe I’ll kill you quickly.” Paul blocked the lighting-bolts and began hurling the massive stones at the alleged Ares. He easily exploded the stones as they flew through the air. Paul immediately created a tornado so concentrated that it was spinning at unbelievable speeds, blocking the god’s view of him and just as it reached its peak, it began hurling plasma balls at supersonic speeds. Several crashed into the quarry walls, leaving large hole, others hit the troops remaining along the quarry wall. One hit the hover sled, blowing it to pieces, while two more simultaneously hit the god. Both sled and god vanished, never to be seen again. A shout of cheer erupted from the giant quarry workers.