by T. R. Harris
Bennett was scrambling from column to column. “They’re different on each pillar. They’re also different sizes.”
“Rank them according to size,” Lefty ordered. My three teammates began to rush from symbol to symbol, acting like school kids playing a game of chase. They also conveniently ignored me and my charred and still-smoking stump of a toe.
Screw them. I had to fend for myself.
Each of us carried a small first-aid kit; mine was the lower pocket of my now mud-caked and torn blazer. There was another two hundred ninety dollars down the drain. I strained to keep my balance with one arm while pulling out the kit out with my right hand. I used my teeth to pull back the Velcro flap on the pouch and then removed a small bottle of aspirin. With just a thumb, I popped open the lid and took a swig, capturing four or five of the coated pills in my dry mouth. I did my best to swallow them before rifling through the kit for the syringe of painkiller I knew was there. One-handed, I took the self-contained injector and stabbed my left thigh through the cloth of my pant leg. The effect wasn’t instantaneous, but just knowing relief was coming gave me a psychological boost.
“Okay, we know the symbols from smallest to largest,” Angela was saying. “Now which way do we dial them in, large to small, or small to large? We may only get one shot at this.”
All eyes turned to me. When I noticed, I shook my head. “I have no idea,” I groaned. “Enic didn’t say anything about a combination. He also didn’t say anything about a damn laser shield.”
“We’ll have to chance it,” Angela offered. “I’ve never known aliens to be that creative. Most progressions are small to large, growing in intensity. I say we dial the symbols in like that.”
Again, they looked at me. “Just do it, dammit,” I snapped. “I don’t have an opinion either way.”
Angela lifted the cylinder so she could more closely examine the hash markings on the black ring at the opposite end of the key from the needle. She knew the order, so like with an everyday combination lock, she twisted the dial, lining up the first symbol with a conspicuous mark along the flat end of the cylinder. Then she turned it back in the opposite direction, past the first symbol and then matched up the mark along the top with the next largest hashtag. She repeated the process two more times until the progression was complete.
There was no Eureka moment, nor click or sign of any kind that the laser shield was deactivated. As a matter fact, no one knew for sure if they had done anything at all except waste five minutes they could have used to help me.
“Did it work?” Bennett asked, giving voice to what we were all thinking.
Lefty took him by the arm and pretended to throw him through the space between the pillars. “Let’s find out.”
There was no danger, but Roger still he jerked away and scowled at his commander. “Knock it off, Sarge. That ain’t funny.”
Angela lifted one of the bones off the floor and tossed it toward the aquarium holding the Lights. It flew through without a problem and clattered to the floor at the base of the platform.
“That did it!” Angela exclaimed. Even then, no one rushed to test the theory with real flesh.
“Don’t look at me,” I growled. “I’ve already gave at the office.”
Lefty steeled his jaw and stepped into the enclosure, albeit in extreme slow-motion. He survived, with all body parts intact.
If I thought deactivation of the laser shield meant my teammates would now turn their attention back to helping me, I was gravely mistaken. The three of them invaded the holding area around the Lights and pressed in close to the aquarium, their noses as close to the glass as they dared to get a closer look at the Lights.
“Angela, try the key,” Lefty prompted.
“Wait!” I called out. “Opening the container could be dangerous.”
They stared at me with blank expressions for a good five seconds, before all turning in unison back to the container. Angela examined the opening for the key. “There’s a hole at the other end; it must go in needle-first.”
Despite my warning, she inserted the key. It stopped with about half its length still showing.
The ornately carved lid began to slide quietly off the top, gliding along on hidden bearings until it extended a foot-and-half over the edge. Then it cycled downward and locked into place along the side, obscuring one of the smaller faces of the aquarium.
The platform on which the Lights rested was about three feet high, and the container itself was less than two feet tall. Lefty and Bennett could lean over and look down into the calm water at the Lights. Angela had stand on her tip-toes to do the same. At least she had both her toes to help her….
From where I sat, I had to settle for the view through the glass sides of the container. I could see the individual Lights—five of them—each resting on an assigned cradle made of three arms extending up from the bottom of the tank. The water was crystal clear, allowing the brilliance of their illumination to dance throughout the room.
Even then, the damn things weren’t what I expected.
Sure, they were each about the size of a softball, but contrary to my assumptions, they weren’t perfectly round and with a smooth, unblemished surfaces. In fact, each Light seemed to be of a slightly different shape, and more oblong than round. Also, there were knobby clumps of material on their exteriors, made of what appeared to be calcified deposits. I reasoned this could be a byproduct of their thousand-year immersion in water, and not part of the Light’s original crystalline material.
They were, however, just as beautiful and hypnotic as I’d imagined in the way the fire burned within the deadly objects.
After a moment—and to my relief—Angela withdrew the key from its holder and the top panel returned to seal the container. I’d been expecting someone—either Lefty or Bennett—to reach inside and extract one of the Lights, just so they could say they held the center of a supernova explosion in their hand. Bravado fortunately gave way to caution.
Angela came to my side again and helped me to my feet. The drugs were kicking in, and I hardly felt the pain anymore. I sat on a ledge of one of the pillar platforms as she took an antibacterial ointment from the first-aid kit and coated my blackened toe in it. Next, she wrapped the whole disgusting mess in a generous helping of white gauze. Infection was the primary worry with burns, and I classified the vaporizing of the end of my big toe as fitting that category.
After struggling to get what remained of my sock on over the gauze, Angela loosened the strings of my ruined shoe and placed it on my foot. The white, lumpy gauze oozed out the now-open end, as if I was wearing a very expensive sandal on my left foot. Still, it would help contain and support the injury, allowing me to walk without too much discomfort. After that, I took my turn staring through the sides of the container at the magical Galactic Lights.
“What now, Sarge?” Bennett asked.
He tapped the attached handles that made up the golden frame of the container. “This thing was built to be carried. Now we have to carry it back to the ship.”
“It’s still going to be heavy with all that water. And we still have to disconnect the water lines,” Bennett pointed out.
He was right. Rising out of the golden base, were two metal tubes connected to the tank. Water was being circulated through the container, both to keep the fluid clean and to regulate temperature, according to Enic. I was told not to remove the Lights from the water, or they could overheat.
Lefty looked at me with a scowl on his face. “I suppose you’re going to wimp out and not help us get this thing back to the ship.”
“Dude, I’m a casualty of war, but I’ll be more than happy to supervise.”
“I can help,” Angela offered. No one questioned her ability. “It’ll take about an hour to get out of here. Fortunately, we know where to go and what to expect.”
“What about the gold?” Bennett asked.
Yeah, what about the gold? I looked around the room and began to make some mental calculations. All t
he bars making up the structures and lining were of a uniform size. There had to be ten thousand or more of them, each weighing at least twenty-five pounds. Two-hundred fifty thousand pounds of gold. And that was just in one layer. The walls, floor and ceiling could be made up of multiple layers beyond what we could see. That would certainly be enough to rebuild my house. Hell, I could probably rebuild the entire Enclaves with that much gold.
“Once we complete the mission, we’ll come back,” Lefty told Bennett. Then he turned to me and smiled. “Of course, with a much larger ship.”
Chapter 19
In reality, it took us over two hours to haul the half-filled tank of water and planet-destroying eggs back to the Enterprise. Even pumped full of drugs, I was the limiting factor. My left foot pulsed with excruciating pain and Angela ended up spending most of her time helping me along rather than spelling the men carrying the container.
By now it was mid-afternoon on Ackonnon, but to the four of us it was well past midnight in relative time. Even as weary as we all were, we knew couldn’t stay on the planet. The sooner we got back into space and clear of Quad territory, the sooner we could relax.
I was shot up with even more drugs, while Lefty and Bennett volunteered to take the first watch. They would pilot the ship off the planet and back to Union space while Angela and I got some sack time. There was still a three-day journey ahead of us, and I couldn’t wait to get to a real hospital and have my left toe taken care of. If I could sleep all the way back, that would be great. So without protest, I collapsed onto the bed in the starboard stateroom and was in la-la-land two minutes later.
********
The burning pain in my foot woke me three hours later. I cursed at my watch, frustrated that I hadn’t slept any longer. What I needed was a booster shot…and then another, enough to knock me out for the duration. I wouldn’t complain.
I found the steady hum of the gravity generators soothing, along with the otherwise relative quiet of the ship. I hobbled to a supply cabinet and removed another syringe of painkiller and injected myself. I met my eyes in the mirror, barely recognizing the person looking back at me. There was an angry red bruise on my forehead, swollen to the size of a half dollar, while my black hair was mussed and matted. Prominent dark circles painted the area under my eyes and the lids would hardly stay open. I was also starving and dehydrated. I would wolf something down from the food processor before returning to bed.
But before that, I wandered into the pilothouse, wanting to thank Lefty and Bennett for helping me. It had been an eventful week—to say the least—but now we were on the downhill stretch. Another couple of hours would move us out of the Quad and back into the relative safety of Union space. I was curious how much farther we had to go.
The pilothouse was dim, lit only by the light from the monitors. Bennett was in the pilot seat, arms folded across his chest and dozing. Lefty had his long body draped over the two back seats, his butt in one, his legs straddling the other. He was also asleep. So much for maintaining discipline while on watch….
I didn’t want to wake them; proximity alarms would do that just fine if need be. The nav screen was lit, so I took the opportunity to check our location. There were only a few stars highlighted, but there was something odd about them. I almost shrugged it off, but instead I leaned in closer to the screen and read the labels assigned to each star. Andeson and Kannados. I reached past the sleeping Bennett and tapped a key to insert a track line for our course. It was broken into a solid line for where we’d been and a dashed line for where we were headed. It bisected the screen from the lower right to the upper left.
Unless the screen’s orientation had been changed, we were headed in the opposite direction from where we should be going.
“Wake up, Roger, we’re off course!”
Bennett bounded forward, startled awake instantly and ready for action. This was a trait shared by most experienced military personnel.
He scanned the screen and then looked up at me, desperation in his eyes.
Lefty was awake, as well.
I plopped down in the co-pilot’s seat and reached for the controls. “How’d we get so off course? We’re heading farther into the Quad, not out of it.”
“Relax, Jason, everything’s under control.” Lefty delivered his words without emotion or concern. In fact, it was the steady cadence in his voice that made me stop in my tracks and turn to face my old friend.
He stared at me with sad eyes, lips pursed and a slight shake of his head. I looked at Roger Bennett. He’d shifted his position so he could face me; muscles tense, ready to pounce.
“What’s going on, Lefty?” The throbbing pain in my foot faded away as more pressing matters took priority. Call it sixth sense, but I already knew the answer to my question.
“Sorry, LT, but there’s been a change of plans.”
I shook my head. “That I doubt. I think this has been the plan all along.”
Lefty looked at Bennett. “I told you he was smart, one of the best squad leaders I ever had.”
“Where are we going?”
“Annoc-Conn.”
“To destroy the planet?” I shouted. “And then after that, the others on the list, including Earth?”
Bennett slipped out of the pilotseat and stationed himself at the door to the pilothouse. He had a flash weapon in his hand, ready if Angela decided to join the party.
“I don’t know anything about that list of targets. It wasn’t part of the original operation,” Lefty answered.
“What do you mean, not part of the operation? Who are you working for?”
“We’re actually working for Enic’s group of Guardians.”
“His own people had him killed?”
“No, that was someone else. In fact, the whole thing became a three-ring circus, with so many parties involved it was hard to keep score.”
“Maybe you should begin at the beginning…ol’ buddy.”
Lefty sighed. “I suppose I owe you that.” He looked at Bennett. “A few years back, about the time I got this—” he rapped his prosthetic left leg—“my team and I shifted focus, from working security gigs to specializing in galactic treasure hunting. We saw the decision as having the potential to be a lot more lucrative and far less dangerous. We would either find things for people willing to pay us by the job, or we’d track down exotic treasures on our own and then sell them off to the highest bidder.” He stretched out a wicked grin. “Sometimes the items we acquired weren’t actually missing; they just belonged to someone else at the time.”
He paused and leaned toward me, turning serious again. “Then we got a line of the granddaddy of them all, the Galactic Lights. By then, there were plenty of rumors circulating about some major event about to take place involving the Lights, all of which led us to believe they were real. That’s when we learned of the Guardians and our friend Enic Jor.”
Lefty leaned back and locked his hands behind his head. “By that time, me and the boys had acquired a reputation as people who could get things done. I arranged a meeting with a member of Enic’s group who didn’t want the old bug to give up their greatest treasure. Unfortunately, even this dude didn’t know where Enic kept the Lights.” Lefty beamed me a smile. “However, we did know where they would eventually end up. So my team got the gig protecting Enic on Sylox. Eventually the Lights would be brought there and that’s when we’d make our move.
“Unfortunately, others found out about the Lights and Enic’s plan to bribe the conference leaders. A third party showed up on the scene, wanting to make the Suf-D’s the sole superpower in the galaxy. They needed the destructive power of the Lights to make that happen. Bottom line: Everyone was gunning for poor Enic.
“And that’s when you came along and befriended him. Once you learned the location and had the key, plans changed.”
Lefty stopped his briefing and smiled. “And that brings you up to date.”
“So what happens to the Lights?” I asked.
“We�
�re going to fulfill our original contract.”
“With the Guardians?”
“Exactly. And get this, Jason…they’re paying us fifty million in equivalent Union credits, good anywhere in the galaxy.” He looked at Bennett. “And that’s not counting the chamber of gold. Tell you what, lieutenant, if you go along, we’ll cut you in for a share.”
A piece of fifty million…plus the gold. Damn.
But wait….
“What about Earth? I’m all for making a buck, but not at that cost.”
“Didn’t you hear me? We’re giving the Lights back to the same people who’ve been protecting the galaxy from them for a thousand years. If you ask me, letting the Union have them is more of a risk than anything else. Most of the damn aliens don’t like Humans; you know this better than most.”
“What about Angela?” I asked. “I don’t think she’ll see things the same way as we do.”
“Even for a few million dollars slipped her way?”
I shook my head. “She has this whole by-the-book thing going on. I think she’d rather go along with Enic’s original plan and see where things settle out.”
“But you’re okay with the plan?” Lefty asked, literally sitting on the edge of his seat.
“I can’t see a downside…as long as Earth doesn’t be blown to bits.”
The relief on Lefty’s face was sincere and evident. “That’s great man. For a moment there, I was afraid I was going to have to kill you.”
“You could try,” I said, the defiance in my words masking my hidden concern. I’d been worried about that, too. But if Lefty was still planning to kill me, I’d rather pick the time and the place for him to try, rather than the other way around.
********
Before I returned to my cabin, we discussed how to keep Angela from learning our true destination. She had a lot of hidden skills, and celestial navigation was probably just one more. Even then, she’d find out, and then Lefty would have to replay of his sales pitch for her. He was counting on me helping when the time came. After all, Angela and I had a bond, or at least I thought we did.