by Saxon Andrew
“I didn’t think of that. This new force field will allow me to land on their force fields, if I chose and they could do nothing to stop me.”
Salud said, “They could run.”
Lukas shook his head, “The stronger the force field, the faster the ship with it becomes. I’ll explain that later. Lukas said, “We have three minutes left. Will you do it?”
“Only if you agree to me eventually coming back.”
“I really hope you do, my friend. But in the meantime, I want you to have your fill of fun with the Fellowship trying to catch you.”
Salud said, “Won’t they see that no one is on board when you run?”
“No, the paraffin will block their view to my interior. I’ll keep the new force field inside my old one. I should have the conversion made within another hour and then I’ll lift and run.”
Lukas looked at his watch, “One minute, let’s get out of here! Good luck, Pod. Give a good run.”
“You know I will.”
The two doors popped open and Salud ran to her car. Lukas jumped in and she backed out and spun the tires as she accelerated down the hill. Lukas said, “Thirty seconds.” He paused and said, “Twenty seconds, you’ll need to slow down as time runs out!”
Salud yelled as the BMW went airborne over a crest in the hill, “Do you think I’m stupid?”
“That is one thing you’re incapable of being; five, four, three, two, one…”
Salud slid out of the intersection of Parker and Tremont and jammed on the brakes. The car slowed to thirty miles an hour and she slowly drove back toward the restaurant. They arrived and Lukas smiled, “May I buy you a drink?” She smiled and walked inside with him. She looked at her watch and stopped in her tracks. Lukas saw her stop and saw fear on her face, “What’s wrong?”
“What time did we sit down with our friend?”
Lukas thought for a moment, “Eight thirty-five.” Salud nodded toward the bar and Lukas looked at the large clock on the wall behind it; the time was eight fifty eight. Time had stopped during the discussion with the Sentinel and had only started again when the forty minutes ended. Lukas took Salud’s hand and pulled her around to her usual stool. He looked in her eyes and said, “We’ll know shortly.”
“How?”
Lukas nodded over his shoulder. Salud leaned to the left and saw a Stalker sitting in the booth the Sentinel had occupied. “Wait for me.” Salud nodded as Julie brought her a glass of wine.
Chapter Eight
The Pod converted the power supply on the force field module and changed the surface controls to align with its power module. The sudden surge in power made the diamond inside it glow brilliantly. The strength of the field it was capable of creating was increased a thousand times. The Pod felt a huge sense of satisfaction, there would be no resistance to its traveling through the void or normal space. It realigned its old force field and set it to extend ten feet further than the normal setting. It would no longer need to be at its smallest setting because it would no longer be used for defense. It thought about Lukas and knew that something had changed. A Welken would have never given a second thought to the Human’s safety. A normal Welken would have been sitting in the control chair taking part in the escape.
A normal Welken would have never removed the files that enslaved him. A normal Welken would have never hesitated to kill Kathy’s unborn child. Lukas had changed…just like him. He was different. He could feel it. He thought for a moment and said, “Is what Lukas said about my confounding you true?”
• • •
The Sentinels heard the Pod and they began talking to each other at a prodigious rate. The Leader said, “This is…”
Pat said, “Amazing?”
“I was thinking incredible.” Suddenly words began flooding in from all the other Sentinels. Pat hesitated and shouted, “Are we going to answer it?”
Silence slammed down and the Leader said, “I don’t know.” Suddenly, they all heard…
• • •
“If you’re confused about why I chose to stay, I’ll clear up your confusion if you’ll do me one small favor.”
The Sentinels were surprised. Pat said, “Do I answer it?”
The Leader paused and said, “Yes.”
Pat smiled, “Yes, we are confused about why you chose to stay. What is it you want?”
“I’ll tell you why if you’ll agree to protect Lukas from being harmed by Humans while I’m away.”
“Why do you worry about that?”
“This species is the most wonderful I’ve ever encountered. But it also does some very evil things as well. If Lukas is going to attempt to save them, there will be some humans that will attempt to harm him.”
Pat thought for a moment and said, “Yes, some will try to take advantage of what’s happening.”
“If you will protect him in my absence, I’ll answer your question.”
There was a pause while the Sentinels discussed the issue. The Pod waited and after a few moments said, “Will you do it?”
“Our rules do not allow interference with a primitive civilization.”
“I assumed that you made the rules, so you could break them if you chose.”
Pat smiled, “Point taken. And you know we broke them by allowing Lukas a reprieve from them.”
“Yes.”
“We’ll do as you ask but only if your answer is worthy.”
“What was I built to do?”
“Your main function is to take your occupant to safety and protect them.”
“I was constructed to do exactly that. Every system, every circuit, every part of me was built to defend my occupant. Simply removing the commands that forced me to do it would not remove the urge to continue doing what I was built to do.” The Sentinels were stunned silent. The Pod waited and then said when the silence continued, “If I may use an example of a creature on this planet; if I gave a fish the ability to breathe out of water so it could live on land, what do you think it would do?” The Pod hesitated and said, “It would go back to the water because that is where it would feel most natural.”
The Sentinel Leader began thinking furiously and soon the others were joining in on the discussion. The Pod waited and after a minute had passed it said, “Did you hear me?”
Pat said, “Give us a moment, you’ve confounded us again.”
The Leader said, “If what this machine said is true, then everything in creation is made to perform a purpose…everything. And that purpose will be sought by the ones created to do it.”
Pat said, “You’re talking about fate. We dismissed that long ago.”
“What is our purpose?” Silence ruled the moment.
The Pod waited and said, “Would it be possible to ask the wisest beings in the universe a personal question?”
The Sentinels stopped communicating and Pat said, “What?”
“Am I alive?” The Sentinels couldn’t speak. This question asked by the machine shocked them to their core. None of them could speak, they were so caught up in the question. The Pod waited and when it could wait no longer it said, “AM I?”
The Leader spoke directly to the Pod, “We will grant your request. What you have given us at this moment is worth more than everything we’ve experienced for the last million years.”
“Can you answer my question?”
“I’m sorry, at this moment, we can’t.”
“If you don’t know, that means I just might be. Thank you.”
The Pod fired up its systems and felt alive. It used the gravity compensators and lifted six feet off the asphalt. It moved out from under the limbs of the trees surrounding the parking lot, and floated out into the street. It had shed the shape of the Corvette and was back in its normal teardrop shape. It turned up the street and activated its thrusters; it flew up the hill and continued at the top into the atmosphere. It poured on the power and it accelerated at an incredible velocity. It broke through the so
und barrier and the sonic boom roared out over Boston. The Stalker Warships flashed around the planet but the Pod went vertical and flashed between two of them just as they roared in. It flew out of the atmosphere with four Searchships giving chase. Two Stalker ships remained behind to gather the teams that were still on the planet’s surface. The Pod entered open space and smiled as it saw a large number of Myot warships moving around the edge of the solar system to cut it off. A larger number of Welken warships pursued the Myot that made the first more. The Pod accelerated slightly and yelled, “COME ON, LET’S DANCE!!!”
• • •
Lukas lifted the tub and felt the entire room shudder as the loud boom rattled the glass. He looked up at the clock; the hour had passed. He looked at the Stalker and it jumped up out of its booth and ran out of the restaurant at a speed that was impossible. It dodged through the crowd without touching anyone and went out the front door, where it really put on speed. It was gone in an instant.
Salud knew Lukas’ only friend had left. She watched Lukas look up at the ceiling and smile. So much had happened so quickly. Her life would never be the same and she didn’t know how she felt about that. But there was Lukas still looking up…his heart was the biggest thing about him. She watched him lower his head and look at her. His smile was huge and he walked over to her. She smiled, “I guess this is the first time in quite a while you’ve been free?”
Lukas nodded slowly and pulled her off the barstool and hugged her, “It’s all because of you. Thank you so much. Thank you.”
Salud felt his arms around her and felt awkward. He wasn’t human. Was he? She decided to deal with that later, as she lifted her arms, put them around him, and pulled herself to him. Even if he is an alien; he really felt good.
• • •
The Pod cleared the atmosphere and decided not to skip out. It was amazed at the numbers of war fleets surrounding the solar system and was just as amazed that they weren’t fighting it out. He was certain the Sentinels had something to do with that. The only way to help Lukas with his plan to prevent an invasion was to distract those that were so intent on taking Earth.
The four Stalker Searchships were close behind him and one fired a disruptor from long distance. He smiled and increased his speed slightly maintaining the distance from them. He scanned the outer system and saw the Myot and Welken were skipping around the Solar System to stay even with his line of departure, but their task wasn’t easy. He was in the inner Solar System and they were on the outer edge. It was like chasing a bug around the hub of bicycle wheel from the tire. They had much further to fly just to keep up with the chase.
He knew they didn’t know if Lukas was on board and the Stalkers desperately needed that information to continue their search; but they couldn’t penetrate the paraffin coating on his hull to see. What to do, what to do? He thought about broadcasting the coordinates of the Myot Industrial Planets, but that would probably cause them to end the chase. Why pursue when the damage was done? But it would cause massive numbers of their ships to leave…or would it? The Myot just may decide this oil rich planet was more important than the manufacturing facilities. They could be rebuilt elsewhere, a planet like this was irreplaceable. He’d wait to broadcast.
Another disruptor beam flashed on his force field; they were gaining slightly on him. He actually felt humor as he thought about what the Stalkers were thinking.
• • •
“What do you mean you aren’t closing on it!?”
“Commander, that escape pod is moving faster than any pod I’ve ever tracked and the computer confirms it. We are gaining incrementally but this chase is going to take some time.”
“Call in some ships to assist.”
“I’ve done that and the Pod changed course. They are now chasing just like us. Evidently, the Welken found a way to increase his speed while on the planet.”
“I imagine he found a way to use the oil products.”
“Yes, Commander that is the only thing that would explain it.”
“Where did we detect that ship leaving the planet?”
“It was under the extended roof of the house next door to the infant. By the way, the others from the planet have arrived on the other two ships and are joining the chase.”
The Commander’s eyes narrowed. That was where the restaurant worker lived. He had found a way to avoid detection. HE WAS RIGHT UNDER HIS NOSE THE WHOLE TIME! “SEND A SHIP BACK TO THE PLANET!”
“Commander, we are forbidden to do that.”
“Are both ships outside the proscribed radius?”
“Yes, they are. Do you think the Welken is still on the planet?”
The Commander took a quick breath and closed his eyes, “I request permission to go back to the primitive planet we’ve just left.”
“For what purpose?”
“It is my belief the escapee may still be on the planet.”
“Is he not in the escape pod you are currently chasing?”
The Commander hesitated and said, “We’re not certain, Sentinel.”
“Well, until you are, you may not return to the planet. If the escape pod is empty, we will allow your request. You know once you leave a primitive planet, you have completed your search. The continuous movement of starships to that planet increases the probability of the local inhabitants learning about the existence of a stardrive.”
“I will be extra careful going back.”
“Yes you will, but only after you make sure the escapee is not in that escape pod.”
The Commander gritted his teeth and said, “I will comply with your instructions, Sentinel.”
“You should know that the beings on that planet detected the pod’s escape and they also had numerous blockages on their telescopes when your ships gave chase.”
“Their electronic systems did not detect us!”
“Who needs electronic systems when your eyes see it? The photographic long term exposures being taken by their surface telescopes and the ones in orbit will see your ships block the light from distant stars. You have failed in your commitment to prevent them from seeing you.”
The Commander felt a chill run down his body. This was serious. “But the Pod is the one responsible for them actually seeing an escape.”
“It is still your responsibility to prevent the pod from being allowed to escape. When you originally petitioned us to be allowed to enforce our doctrines, you promised there would be no evidence of your work. I highly recommend that you find out if the occupant is in that escape pod. If he is still on the planet and we’re forced to act because of your incompetence, our agreement will be reconsidered.”
The Commander sat down in his command chair and slowly shook his head. Every Stalker in the galaxy heard the conversation, they always did whenever contact was made with the Sentinels, and they knew their purpose was in jeopardy. The Information Processor said, “Commander, our Leader wishes to speak with you. He has ordered all of our ships to come here and either catch or destroy that escape pod.”
The Commander looked at the dark monitor on his panel and didn’t want to activate it. He slowly reached toward the button but was shot from behind by a hand disruptor before he could press it. The atoms that composed his body fell apart and were collected by the ship’s air processors and filtered out.
• • •
“You actually enjoyed doing that.”
Pat mentally shrugged, “I have determined that we need to reexamine our relationship with the Stalker Regime.”
“You are seeing things I’m not.”
“You must still be considering the purpose of all things in the universe.”
“I am. There are thousands of years of blessed reflection on this concept. Are you not doing that as well?”
“I decided to make that concept more personal.”
“Oh? How so?”
“I decided to consider what our purpose is. I’ll work on all the other things in the unive
rse after I complete this study.”
“Why did you do that?”
“Because I want future stimulation to make this long existence bearable. What would have happened if that Welken had landed and just gone about being a normal Welken?”
“The Stalkers would have found him and removed him.”
“And we would have lost this beautiful moment that confounded us.”
The Leader thought for a moment and said, “You are right!”
“How many opportunities have we missed because we allow primitive planets to be destroyed and enslaved by the vicious members of the Fellowship? What does that say about us and our purpose? Are we predators? Does the Fellowship mirror what we are and our purpose?”
Every Sentinel was listening in on the conversation and the Leader paused to consider what Pat was saying. It paused for a moment and said, “But your enjoyment in playing with that Stalker was more than just wanting to reexamine our agreements.”
“I wanted him to suffer for the death of that innocent human that did not deserve to die.”
“You allowed yourself to feel the misery of the escapee.”
“I did. And I enjoyed exacting appropriate payment for what that Stalker did. I’m finding that my purpose seems to have been tickled by the feelings this caused me.”
“And if it touched your sense of purpose, then it touched us all.”
“I’m wondering if all of us have the same purpose, Leader. This is something I can’t put off studying.”
The Leader stared at the Sentinel across the galaxy and said, “I will join you in your search for our purpose and delay the larger study.”
“I need your help, Leader. I’ve just started and I’m finding I don’t like what I’m seeing.”
“Share what you see.”
“We will join you as well, share what you’ve seen with all of us.”
Pat sent his findings and the Sentinels were no longer at peace.
• • •
The Welken Royal screamed, “WHY HAS IT NOT TRANSMITTED TO US!?!”
“Your Greatness, there is some type of coating on the pod that prevents it being seen. We’re only able to see its force field. That coating is probably something our warrior developed on the planet using petroleum. It might be blocking the pod’s ability to transmit.”