Herimos and Klori’Tar arrived at the bottom of the ramp, breathing heavily. The looked back and saw that most of the bio-tech webbing had either burnt or died off.
»Without the webbing, the entire server installation is reduced to junk,« Pi said and checked Arkroid’s leg. With a quick jerk, he snapped the leg back into the hip socket. Arkroid screamed like mad!
Klori’Tar landed beside Herimos and looked at the central section.
»I have to give you that much: once you take matters in your hands then you finish it thoroughly!«
Arkroid raised himself onto his elbows and looked at his watch.
»Quick, Kuster~Laap, establish a micro portal. We need to get off this planet immediately!«
»Too late!« Nautilus announced via private channel. »The overlapping front will arrive in a couple of seconds!«
Arkroid pondered hastily and looked around.
»Leave immediately Nautilus and get yourself to safety. That’s an order! Come back after the dimensional distortion has subsided. Execute!«
»I understand, but I can’t leave you alone!«
»What?« Maya and Vasina said at the same time.
»I said JUMP!« Arkroid yelled. Seconds later the connection to the ship was severed.
Arkroid didn’t have time for an explanation.
»Listen up! Spook will be hit by another overlapping front! Prepare yourselves!«
Kuster~Laap’s ears whirled. His ZyClonians seemed nervous.
»How can we prepare for the event?« Kuster~Laap screeched in panic.
Tranos called Vasina, Maya, Voit and Herimos over to him and then enveloped them with an enhanced energy field while the ZyClonians took Kuster~Laap in the middle. Arkroid, Pi and Paafnas just sat there and looked at each other. Klori’Tar’s cheeks turned red; he was trembling.
The last thing Arkroid saw before the shock wave arrived was Morgotradon’s favorite replication’s hateful glance. She had just jumped into the junction with her weapon ready to fire. She was surprised to see the team crouching and sitting on the floor, but then she seemed to understand.
Seconds later, Spook was hit by the shock wave.
Arkroid had no idea what the dimensional shock wave would do to him. There was no escape. He didn’t think about the Traumonans, Kugos or even Morgotradon. His thoughts focused on his family, especially his little daughter. If he died at this place, she would never find out.
Arkroid closed his eyes.
The high dome-like ceiling of the great hall suddenly warped downward and it seemed as if it wanted to touch the floor, squishing everything and everyone without space for breathing. It was an illusion caused by the phenomenon. He soon realized that he was also part of these changes. He was flat like a flounder! Pi’s surprised scream sounded like a stretched audio recording. Arkroid fell unconscious before he could become insane. With his last glance, he saw the flattened and stretched replication on the floor.
Darkness.
That’s it
Arkroid opened his eyes and looked in Vasina’s face. She looked at him and smiled. He wiped across his eyes to get rid of the blurry vision. He had a splitting headache and felt woozy. Vasina helped him to sit up. His blood circulation stabilized slowly. He felt the pain in his leg.
»Everything is okay,« Vasina comforted him. »We made it, but we were unconscious for twenty minutes. The wave has passed.«
Maya waved at him encouragingly; she had come to a couple of minutes earlier. Without hesitation, she had secured the corridor junction again. A surprise attack would’ve been fatal.
Arkroid looked at the replication which lay tied up on the floor. Herimos kept a close eye on her.
Paafnas, Pi and Voit were still unconscious. Kuster~Laap was supported by his mates and seemed to communicate with them. He was probably analyzing the situation and effects of the shock wave.
Tranos was coughing and got up staggering.
The replication looked at Arkroid with hateful eyes.
»You did something inexcusable! My master will find and kill you, one after the other. Your planet will become a colony of slaves after he’s founded his great imperium … and I will be your ruler!«
Arkroid smirked in pain and shook his head. He was speechless over this unfounded hate and evil.
He touched his throbbing leg and said, »You don’t get it. We just destroyed Morgotradon’s most important base. The agitators are now without guidance and control. There’re no more mental commands. The suppressed people of the galaxy can now recover and look forward to a better future. The infiltrators will be revealed and dealt with, I’m sure. Without this station, the agitators are reduced to puppets without strings. This mission was successful and worth it, because we destroyed your master’s life-contemptuous reign over the galaxy.«
»Huh, he’ll find a way to make up for the loss! You’ll come to him crawling and whining after the Great Tremor to protect you from the invaders. You still have a choice. Die and be eaten by the Looters or give me the Jamal-Combs and be one with the new order and his empire.«
»What a choice,« Pi mocked while rubbing his eyes. He held his head in pain. Vasina came over and attended him. »This nonsense is even waking up the unconscious.«
»That’s no nonsense!« the replication screamed. »He’ll take away the Jamal-Combs anyway to prevent the transfer of the parasite galaxy!«
Arkroid smiled.
It’s true then. Morgotradon has cold feet and wants to get rid of his superiors.
»There’re huge gaps between your imaginations and your fantasies. Nobody here believes a word you’re saying!« Maya yelled over to her.
»NO! My master realized that he is also just a tool in the hands of the invaders. As soon as the transfer is completed, his services are no longer needed … no reward, no thanks and no regard. The true rulers will forget him, destroy his might and probably kill him. Then the Looters will flood the galaxy. He deserves to reign over the galaxy for all the work he’s done. You can’t even remotely understand.«
Demonstratively, Arkroid looked away and ignored her.
Vasina went over and looked down on her.
»A traitor and a tyrant like Morgotradon will always get what he deserves. This can only be death! I will do everything in my power to execute him personally! As the last surviving queen of all Progonauts I can make this judgment in the name of my people. Since he once was a Progonaut, it falls into my jurisdiction!«
»I’d like to have my say also!« Maya shouted from the corridor junction, earning a scornful glace from the replication.
»If I don’t find him first!« Klori’Tar announced who had just opened his eyes.
He remembered the recent events and jumped up.
»What happened?«
»We were out of action for a while, so-to-speak,« Arkroid explained ponderingly. »Fortunately, the shock wave didn’t harm us.«
»You were lucky that this hairy primate woke up a couple of seconds earlier than me, otherwise you wouldn’t be feeling so happy now.«
»May be we should finish her,« Herimos growled. He pulled his long knife and approached the replication.
Arkroid shook his head.
»She can’t provoke us, my friend. She won’t be able to make us become like her or her master. We won’t stoop that low«
Herimos nodded and put away his knife. He checked her bonds and remarked satisfied, »She won’t give us anymore problems.«
»The bio-tech webbing’s decay has proceeded into the star junction,« Vasina reported. »This is probably also the end of the sleepers inside the brooding cylinders and the end for Morgotradon’s breeding program.«
»Did Nautilus return yet?« Pi asked mutedly. »We should leave here as soon as possible. There’s nothing left to do here. There’s still the danger of attacks by replications. We only searched a small part of the station. There are three more side sections, plenty of room for ambushes.«
»No,« Voit replied. »I would sense them. She is the o
nly one left. All the others died during the fights.«
A loud noise and crackle made Arkroid lift his head. His private receiver, implanted in his ear, had reacted.
Nautilus is back!
»Arkroid to Nautilus, can you read me?«
He listened attentively.
»Did you return to Spook?«
Strong crackling noises occurred again, then he could hear a faint voice.
»This is Nautilus! The connection is weak. I have maintained a safe distance to Spook. I’ll try to filter the interferences. Please wait!«
Arkroid was astounded.
»Why is the connection so bad all of a sudden? Nautilus said that the ship is close to the planet.«
»Maybe interferences due to the shock wave?« Maya speculated nervously.
»I am receiving you better now,« Nautilus announced.
The ship’s voice was clearer but with a lot of hiss and interruptions.
»What’s going on up there?« Pi asked impatiently. »We can hardly make you out. Can you align your transmitter more directly? It seems as if we’re receiving you on a side-band.«
»This is because of strong transients, caused by my defense shields. There seem to be some tachyons that attenuate my transmissions.«
Arkroid didn’t understand.
»Why are your defense shields deployed? Are you under attack? Are there more Rexa ships?«
Nautilus would report immediately, if there’s a new danger.
»We’re coming on board! I’ll ask the ZyClonians to create a micro portal. We’ll be with you in a couple of minutes. We’re also bringing a prisoner.«
»I deactivated my micro portal. Unfortunately, a connection is not possible.«
»What’s that supposed to mean? You’re denying us access?«
»Yes. You’re not permitted to enter my body. I cannot allow a transfer.«
Arkroid became nervous.
»Explain, Nautilus! Have you been taken over by enemy forces? Did somebody else take over control?«
»No. Unauthorized control of my body is impossible.«
Pi’s hand grabbed Arkroid’s shoulder.
»What?«
Arkroid looked into Pi’s horrified eyes.
»The ship cannot let us in,« he whispered. »We would destroy it and ourselves!«
»My measurements confirmed that the entire planet and the sun have turned into anti-matter. My defense shields are stretched to the limits to protect me from the sun particles. Even the matter streams consist of anti-matter. I can only maintain my position close the star for a limited time, Toiber. I need to leave the Spook orbit.
Arkroid had to sit down. Stunned, he looked at the floor.
»I’ll work on that problem and be back shortly.«
Kuster~Laap came over to Arkroid and looked at him sadly.
»I just wanted to let you know. The ZyClonians came to the same result. We all have changed polarity, including this station and the planet. We’re all anti-matter now. I’m afraid that we’re stuck on Spook forever!«
Pi swept his hand across his bald head.
»That’s it!«
26 - Deadly Universe
Written by Thomas Rabenstein
Another portal
The situation seems hopeless. Some team members are sitting on the ground staring into the distance while others are cautiously touching their body parts to see if something is missing or out of place.
Maya keeps glancing at her replication while Arkroid broods over their problem, Our problem is huge and unsolvable. Suddenly, the entire universe is against us! There’s no safe place for us, except this star station.
»Klori’Tar,« Arkroid called to the Klorian. »Klori’Tar … listen up or are you hiding in one of your reconstructed brain sectors?«
»Mocking me won’t help us, Arkroid,« Klori’Tar replied, turning red in his face.
He seemed stressed, his words sounded angry.
Arkroid wanted to add something but bit his tongue. Instead he ran his hand through his hair with a sigh.
»You’re right, Klori’Tar, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it. I needed to pull you out of your lethargy.«
»To tell you the truth, I was contemplating our situation. I analyzed the conditions,« Klori’Tar replied a bit friendlier.
»What’s the result? What are our chances?«
»No chances, Arkroid,« Klori’Tar replied with sorrow. »Due to the polarization effect, we became foreign bodies in our universe. This will kill us … sooner or later.«
Arkroid took a deep breath.
Pi sighed, blowing his cheeks, »Never ask a Klorian about his opinion!«
»Every intelligent being can follow my train of thoughts,« Klori’Tar defended, mimicking Pi by blowing up his neck bags until they turned orange-red, making his sacks look like large oranges, while he sounded like a bullfrog in heat.
»There’s no safe place! We could commit suicide, wait until the end of our days or we get killed by Morgotradon.«
»Then you’ll be screwed,« Masgur grimaced. »What was that again … how old do you Klorians get?«
»We get very old,« Klori’Tar replied irritated, »but we know when our time comes.«
»He’s not a Klorian!« Vasina hissed. »Why don’t you accept that fact. He’s a damn replication! Not better or worse than the Ivanova replication. Just look at her, she would kill us in an instant.«
The restrained replication threw Vasina an angry glance.
»Klori’Tar is one of us now! Replication or not, he’s developed his own life. He’ll be treated with respect, as anyone else in this team!« Arkroid said sternly, while Vasina turned away mumbling some curses.
Vasina doesn’t trust me … no … she hates me! Klori’Tar pondered. Nobody in this universe can chose how to get born into the world. Does a template think the same way about its replication? Does this change as soon as the template looks into the replication’s eyes, realizing that he or she looks into the same eyes? I encountered my template only once, at the moment when Morgotradon cut off his head. I’ll never forget his eyes!
Herimos nodded at Klori’Tar supportively.
»We were a great team, right? Give her some time, she’ll understand,« he said.
»Yes, I’m still impressed how you taught the techno-bolides respect, provided they had a conscience,« Pi interjected.
»Well, not anymore,« Masgur replied dryly who had manipulated the bio-web in such a way that it destroyed itself.
»My Lord will come soon and kill you all!« the replication shouted.
»That’s wishful thinking!« Tranos said. »Unless, he wants to die instantly! As soon as he transfers to this portal, he’ll be vaporized. I don’t need to remind you that everything on this planet now consists of anti-matter?«
»Let’s hope he shows up,« Herimos replied sarcastically.
Lai Pi shook his head.
»That would probably destroy the entire star station … us included!«
Herimos paled, realizing the consequences.
»Too bad that we’d be affected too then,« Paafnas commented and licked over his eyeballs.
This amphibian being seems very calm although he’s the most vulnerable, Klori’Tar thought.
»Morgotradon cannot enter the station, and we can’t leave here,« Paafnas added calmly and climbed on Maya’s back. His weight didn’t seem to bother her at all.
»That’s not quite true. We could try to transfer to the Kugo world. We would have better conditions there. Do you realize that the life-support system of this station may cease to function after the bio-web has completely died off?« Kuster~Laap said.
»You may be correct, Kuster~Laap,« Arkroid replied running both hands through his hair. »We should try a transfer!«
Herimos nodded. »I agree, but what’s the hurry? Our shields will protect us for quite some time if the station’s life-support system fails. We don’t need it that badly.«
»True, but I don’t have a good feeling. Morgotrad
on could still activate a self-destruct mechanism, especially now since he lost the station.«
»Hmm … I don’t think so, because if he knew that we occupied and sabotaged his station, he probably would’ve blown it up already, such as: one strike, kill them all!« Pi countered.
Klori’Tar shook his head like a Human and said while pointing at Vasina, »Morgotradon knows about the malfunctioning station. I’m certain that the bio-web informed him about our presence. He came to the correct conclusions. However, if he’d blow up the station, he’d lose the Jamal-Combs also. Morgotradon may be a ruthless bastard, but he’s not stupid!«
Vasina groped for the combs which she carried in a side pocket of her suit. She sighed, relieved, as she touched them.
»Consider ourselves lucky then,« Maya remarked, rolling her eyes. »Can somebody tell me how to get to the Kugo world, since Nautilus is out of the question?«
»We use the station’s tachyon portal,« Kuster~Laap announced with a deep voice.
»You’re assuming that there’s another portal on the Kugo world?« Herimos inquired, knitting his bushy eyebrows.
»I conferenced with Nood and Naad. There’s a high probability that a portal exists on the Kugo world, even though it might be hidden and only in standby mode. They’ll find and adjust the receiving station for us.«
Arkroid pondered for a moment.
»I see … you’re referring to the dead Kugos inside the portal hall. They probably wanted to transfer back to their planet. A mistake, because they were surprised by the replications and killed.«
»It would have not helped them, even if they’d known how to adjust and activate the portal,« Herimos added. »At that time, their world was already polarized. As strange as it might sound, but lucky for us that they didn’t succeed!«
Kuster~Laap flapped his ears, »Nood and Naad didn’t rely on these observations and considered purely technical aspects. They manipulated the remote portal search function with their nanopods and located another hub in this system.«
»What are we gonna do with her?« Ivanova nodded at her replication.
»She comes with us« Arkroid said.
»What?« Ivanova and Vasina burst out together.
NEBULAR Collection 5 - Panic in the Galaxy: Episodes 22 - 26 Page 29