by R.E. Rowe
Chapter 25
The intergalactic transport from Andromeda punched out inside Zilon’s star just long enough to send Jayden, Nora, and BBgun on a smaller UFO to a Zilon moon. Each of them wore freshly pressed Space Command uniforms with special ID credentials provided by Emperor Ruchbah9.
The credentials consisted of a half-paper, half-electronic gizmo that affixed to the Space Command uniform breast pocket. “VIP” flashed in three-dimensional red letters and a small hologram of the person’s head rotated three hundred and sixty degrees. Jayden thought the animation of his head was cool, even though it made him look possessed as it rotated in a complete circle.
Jayden, Nora, and BBgun boarded a Zepar shuttle on Zilon’s moon and blended in with other Space Command teens, then flew down to the planet’s city square destination. They moved with the crowd from the shuttle docks through a long polished limestone tunnel, which led to an outdoor mall area in front of towering golden skyscrapers. The tall buildings reminded Jayden of the gold skyscrapers in the pink-bug city.
A video display the size of four billboards combined stood at one end of the mall area nearest the skyscraper. Talk about high-def, Jayden thought. Seriously cool. The massive display replayed video scenes of previous executions in what he assumed was a pre-execution telecast. When it played images of Parker’s bruised and battered face, his pounding heart nearly knocked the wind out of him.
The three continued to the entrance building of the city square.
Zepar, Space Command officers, and weird-looking aliens walked shoulder-to-shoulder. It reminded Jayden of going to a football game at a sports stadium where everyone had dressed up and painted their faces for the big championship game. The only difference, was no one around him wore a costume. He caught whiffs of tobacco smoke, smoke he didn’t recognize, a sewer smell, and a variety of sweet perfumes. The combination of smells was seriously nasty.
Jayden led BBgun and Nora into a one-person-wide line where Zepar checked credentials and collected weapons. Just as Lorcan had mentioned, only the Zepar were allowed to carry munitions. He had no idea how Lorcan was going to bring weapons into the square.
As Jayden approached the entrance, he noticed one Zepar guard asking random questions before allowing attendees to move through the entrance gate. When it was Jayden’s turn to pass by the guard, he kept his eyes down.
“Awa Waz!” The guard grabbed Jayden’s arm. He froze, holding up Nora and BBgun behind him. Bad idea. This was a freaking bad idea. Man, the alien dude, was ugly, Jayden thought. He inhaled deeply and peered into the Zepar guard’s reptilian eyes with confidence. The alien smelled like ripe manure mixed with spoiled tuna fish.
Jayden quickly realized his mistake. It would have been better to have kept his eyes lowered.
The guard studied his badge. “English?” the alien asked with a deep growl. “Ah, you are from Earth.”
Jayden nodded.
“You are a trainer, it says.” The shape-shifter’s jaw extended two inches, then contracted.
Jayden’s stomach twisted.
The Zepar breathed in like a dentist’s suction tool then exhaled with a whistle. “What great lessons do you teach those Earthling puppies?”
Jayden didn’t know if the Zepar was making fun of him, or if the translator in his ear wasn’t working again. He said nothing.
“Well?” The Zepar guard demanded. “Are you a puppy too? Bark, Earth puppy, bark.”
Aliens in line behind them fidgeted nervously. Two more Zepar guards walked toward them.
“I train in the great ways of the Zepar,” Jayden said, narrowing his eyes. “Leader Nuk’ana has shown me personally how to kill with one finger.”
“One finger? Oh?” the Zepar asked, raising his funky alien unibrow.
“Yes, wise one,” he replied. “Shall I show you?” Jayden forced the biggest fake smile he could muster and tried to channel his inner Lorcan confidence. He raised his hand slowly with an index finger pointed at the guard’s tiny nose and squinted as if he were aiming a pistol.
The Zepar let out a loud laugh that rumbled from its belly. “I like you, Earth boy! Enjoy the entertainment.” The Zepar pushed Jayden past him and let Nora and BBgun pass.
“One finger, huh?” Nora whispered, shaking her head. “Very original, Earth puppy.”
BBgun chuckled nervously.
As they crossed through the entrance into the concession area, Jayden could hear the crowd roaring out in the city square. Aliens of all shapes and sizes stood in booths selling drinks and purple popcorn, among other alien meats on rotisseries and bags of crispy treats. By the increased rush to get inside the square, he could tell it was nearly time for the main event.
Jayden spied a dark green door in between two concession stands. He noticed a lever across its middle lined with flashing green lights. Bingo! The door matched Lorcan’s description of the underground access point. “There’s your entrance,” he whispered to Nora.
BBgun gave Nora a small salute. Then Jayden whispered into her ear. “Relax, Zeekmo. The plan is going to work.”
Nora nodded. “I know. It has to—he’s my brother.” She pulled the lever down, then disappeared through the metal door without looking back.
Jayden and BBgun quickly followed the signs from the concession area into the packed square to the VIP seating. An audience of a few thousand aliens eagerly sat in rows of bulky leather chairs.
Jayden estimated about one hundred Zepar fighters strolled around the perimeter, each with a laser clicker in hand. He located the seat identified by his badge in the middle of the first row, right in front of the stage, and checked under his seat. Sure enough, a clicker device was taped under it. “Lorcan is here somewhere,” he whispered to BBgun, sitting next to him.
As Jayden searched the square, the entire scene seemed unreal. He tried to convince himself that turning aliens into BBQ dust was okay. After all, they were aliens. But in his gut, he knew it wasn’t right.
Jayden focused on his rescue plan. He pulled down once on his ear lobe. “You both hear me?”
“Got you,” BBgun whispered and followed up with an elbow. “But I’m sitting next to you, duh.”
“I can hear you,” Nora said. “I’m almost to the control room.”
“Good,” Jayden said.
“Be careful,” BBgun said.
“Don’t worry about me,” she replied. “Just don’t get blasted onstage, K?”
“We’ll do our best,” Jayden replied.
Jayden’s legs trembled as he searched for Lorcan. How the mason’s leader was going to pull off his part of the rescue was still a mystery to him, what with all the Zepar guarding the place. We’re so screwed if he doesn't deliver.
Space Command officers sat down all around them as the time of the event approached. A red-haired alien kid sitting next to Jayden held a large bucket filled with purple puffs. He shoveled the puffs into his mouth like popcorn while chatting with an older alien boy one row behind them.
Jayden peered at the stage area, elevated about three feet up from the floor. He located their escape route door, which blended in with the back wall of the stage.
Lights on the platform flashed.
BBgun gripped Jayden’s forearm.
“Just try to relax,” Jayden whispered.
Horns roared and bass drums thundered. Jayden gazed around desperately for Lorcan. Where are you, dude?
A voice echoed through the square. It was deep but energetic. “Welcome, people of the Milky Way. Welcome.” The voice sounded like a wrestling ring announcer. He’d expected the alien guy to add, “Let’s get ready to rumble.”
Two familiar aliens walked out to the center of the stage. Jazu and Shazu had arrived.
Jazu strutted his short body and moved his pasty face like a funky, hairless wolf sniffing a potential meal. Shorter Shazu followed behind, blowing kisses from her bright red lips. Her red hair was piled even higher atop her pink head.
When
the two aliens reached a podium on the platform, they flicked their forked-whip tongues at the audience. Jazu spread his arms and spoke. “Today is a great day. We have destroyed many Atilla invaders. We have captured their weapons. We have flattened their army. Victory is within our reach . . .”
What a liar! Jayden thought.
The crowd roared.
“The great legions of Space Command fighters, led by impressive Zepar warriors, are taking back our galaxy one battlefield at a time. They are pushing the pathetic Atilla invaders back to their home galaxy.”
Oh, please! Who are you kidding?
Shazu began to speak. “Peoples of the great Milky Way and distinguished fighters of Space Command, who are here today, we thank you for making the journey to celebrate with us at this great event . . .”
Jayden still didn’t see Lorcan anywhere.
“A rebel group known as the Spring Tide Masons has tried unsuccessfully to disrupt our victories. They are terrorists fighting side-by-side with the Atilla, killing your citizens, stealing your resources . . .”
“It is our great pleasure to introduce,” Jazu said, “our supreme of the supreme, the leader of the leaders, the greatest of the greatest, the wisest of wise in all of the galaxies.”
Gag him, Jayden thought, please!
“He will stand with you shoulder-to-shoulder and watch the elimination of these terrorists. We have confirmed the rebels you are about to see are the very last of the Spring Tide Masons.”
Jayden felt sick, but the crowd loved the speech. BBgun’s mouth hung open in silent rage. But when Leader Nuk’ana walked onto the stage, Jayden nearly puked.
The crowd stood up and screamed, roaring louder.
Nuk’ana wore a long purple robe with gold chains around his thin, white neck. He walked with his shoulders back, the smoking stick in hand.
The crowd cheered.
A spotlight shifted from Nuk’ana and shined on a hairy alien wearing nothing but long brown hair and wire-rimmed glasses. The creature’s parted hair hung from his head to the ground. The alien began to play a solo on a stringed instrument that looked like a combination of an electric guitar, a bass guitar, and an accordion.
Jayden was ready for cell phones to start waving, concert style. He had to admit that the guitar player was seriously jamming. The longhaired guitarist could easily keep up with Earth’s best rockers. For a second, Jayden swayed to the beat as he watched the alien play.
The music suddenly stopped, and the beam shifted back to Nuk’ana. The smoking stick found its way to the leader’s lips. He let out a long puff of smoke then raised both arms and yelled in his deepest baritone voice, “Welcome!”
The crowd went wild again. They chanted: “Leader Nuk’ana, Leader Nuk’ana, Leader Nuk’ana!”
Talk about working a crowd, Jayden thought. The evil mass murderer had to be the best at it. The leader waved for the crowd to calm as he paced near the podium where Jazu and Shazu stood.
Jayden looked around again. “Do you see Lorcan?” he whispered to BBgun.
“Nope,” BBgun whispered back.
Not good.
Leader continued. “Today, our Space Command warriors will vaporize twelve treasonous traitors. Will the executioners please come forward?”
Twenty figures walked onto the stage, all dressed in long black robes and black ski-like masks, gripping handheld weapons. They marched in line to the center of the platform, and then stopped and rotated in one motion, presenting their backs to the crowd.
The red-haired kid sitting in the next chair gave Jayden a nudge. The alien boy grinned and whispered, “The masons call me Flame. Get ready, Killgeek. It is nearly show time.”
Yes, a mason! Jayden thought. He could breathe again.
BBgun smiled. “Oh yeah.”
“Bring the terrorists in!” Leader Nuk’ana shouted. He moved from the center of the stage to the side with the podium where Jazu and Shazu stood.
The hairy guitar player disappeared as each of the twenty masked executioners onstage lowered to one knee. Twelve mason prisoners staggered in along the far back of the stage until they were directly in front of the assassins.
Jayden pulled on his earlobe twice. “Are the UFOs in position?”
“Roger that, Killgeek," said a pilot Jayden didn't recognize. "Zulu-niner, ready. Alpha-two, ready. Charlie-six, ready to go on your command.”
“Stand-by,” Jayden said. He pulled on his earlobe once. “Nora, how you doing?”
Silence.
Dang it, he thought, then tried again, “Nora, do you read?”
“I’m nearly done,” she replied. “They changed the private key. It might take a little longer.”
“Hurry. Not much time before—” Jayden spotted Parker limping onto the stage. His eyes were puffy and red. His head hung low.
“Everything good?” Nora asked.
“Yeah,” BBgun replied, “but Parker just showed up onstage.”
“Is he okay?” Nora asked.
“He will be,” Jayden said, not sure if he believed it. All of the mason prisoners stood at the rear of the stage facing the crowd. A clear backdrop plunged down behind the mason prisoners. It was obviously something to absorb misfires. The bigger problem was how it blocked Jayden’s path to the rear of the stage.
Another clear wall fell into place in front of Nuk’ana, Jazu, and Shazu.
“Prepare to fire!” the leader yelled with thunder in his voice and fire in his eyes.
The crowd went silent.
The group of onstage Space Command executioners lifted their electro-shock devices and pointed them at the masons.
Jayden held his breath. Each of the prisoners stood silently, and there was still no sign of Lorcan. He prepared to go it on his own.
Leader Nuk’ana screamed, “Fire!”
Before Jayden could point his laser, the twenty Space Command executioners yanked off their masks and turned away from the prisoners. He almost roared out loud. It was Lorcan and other masons. They fired at the nearby Zepar guards along both sides of the stage, instantly vaporizing them into BBQ dust before they could shape-shift. Ingenious!
“I’m in!” Nora reported, screaming into Jayden and BBgun’s earpieces.
Jayden pulled on his earlobe twice. “Begin firing.”
Loud explosions overhead caused the entire crowd to gaze up and gasp. UFOs buzzed over the square. But the shields above the square still protected it.
Jayden’s stomach twisted when the robo pods fired back at the UFOs. “Any time now,” he told Nora and reached under his seat to retrieve a laser clicker.
“Almost there,” she replied.
“Hurry!” BBgun added.
Lorcan made a hand motion for Jayden and BBgun to join him on the platform.
“Stage shields are disabled,” said Nora.
The clear shields on the stage fell flat to the ground. A path opened to the escape door. Jayden climbed onto the stage along with BBgun and the first three rows of the audience. They were all masons, and even better, they all carried weapons. One hundred masons spread out on the stage, protecting the prisoners and blasting Zepar into dust clouds. Lorcan had brought an army.
“All right, Lorcan!” Jayden shouted.
Lorcan zapped two Zepar fighters into dusts, and then ran after Nuk’ana, Jazu, and Shazu.
Nuk’ana’s image buzzed, dimmed, and buzzed some more. So did Jazu and Shazu’s images. The three of them smiled and started to laugh. Then their images disappeared.
“Trap!” Lorcan yelled. “Holograms! Retreat!”
Zepar guards fought back. The large crowd screamed in panic and ran for the exits as laser fire and explosions filled the square.
Jayden wondered if the crowd still considered this entertainment. He and BBgun ran as fast as they could to Parker. “You okay?” Jayden shouted to his friend.
Parker nodded, his eyes glassy and legs wobbly.
“This way!” Jayden said as he grabbed Par
ker’s arm and helped him to the door at the back of the platform.
The other injured masons followed BBgun.
“Go, go, go!” Lorcan shouted from twenty feet away on the stage. “Get them out of here. We’ll cover you.”
Jayden opened the door and helped the other prisoners off the stage. He led them down a long marble stairway.
“We need the shields down,” said one of the mason’s UFO pilots somewhere above them. “It’s getting a bit hot up here.”
“A couple more minutes,” Nora replied.
“Roger, Zeekmo,” said the pilot. “Hurry. Please.”
“Nora, we’re coming to you,” Jayden said.
They hurried down another set of stairs, down a hallway, and then down more stairs. When Jayden, Parker, BBgun, and the masons reached Nora, she was doing her usual finger tap dance on a touch panel.
She looked up, saw her brother, and smiled. Wires covered the wall-sized control panels, and piping ran across the ceiling. A hologram of a building layout floated in the air near Nora. She looked like she was searching for something.
All the lights in the room suddenly flashed red.
“Are the exits open yet?” Jayden asked her.
Nora huffed and pushed buttons on the panel. “Almost there. Just one last—here, and here.” The lights went green. “Got it. Let’s get moving. I’ve let loose my scorch-bot. It’ll bring down their outside defenses in a few minutes—assuming it works.”
“We’re out of time, we have to go!” Jayden shouted.
Nora reluctantly nodded and handed Jayden the tablet, then grabbed Parker in a tight hug. “I love you, bro.”
“Thanks for coming for me, sis. I knew you would,” Parker said. He turned to Jayden. “You too, Killgeek. Rock on.”
“No time for this now,” Nora said, turning and running up a stairway. Jayden, Parker, BBgun, and the rest of the masons followed. When they reached the pickup point, Az, just outside one of the tall golden skyscrapers in a sprawling grassy area, the masons were in the midst of a laser firefight with Zepar soldiers.
Robo pods far atop the towering high-rises rained down blaster fire. Searchlights lit up the smoky area. The robo-pod shields still functioned. Jayden realized if the shields stayed operational, they’d all be sitting ducks soon. “I thought you said it was going to work?” he said to Nora.
“Give it another minute,” she replied. “The code needs time to replicate.”
Replicate? He held his breath, but the battle didn’t look good. Attendees from the event still scattered in every direction and blasters exploded all around them. One mason UFO was hit and wobbled away in flames.
Suddenly, all the robo-pod weapon fire from above them stopped. The spotlights went dark. Nora’s bot had worked.
Nora pulled on her ear. “The Zepar defenses are offline. Your path is clear.”
“Roger that,” replied a mason UFO pilot somewhere above them.
Nora gave Jayden a hug and Parker joined in. Mason-controlled UFOs bombarded the robo pods from above.
A few seconds later, an Atilla spacecraft appeared above them. In a white flash, Jayden’s view of the battle area landscape changed to the inner walls of a large Atilla spacecraft. He realized they had been transported into the belly of the flying spacecraft.
Jayden turned to Parker. “How are you feeling?”
Parker sighed. “I’m okay.” He forced a grin.
Jayden and Parker searched around for Lorcan on board the Atilla spacecraft but didn’t see him. They found the red-haired kid named Flame.
“Hey, have you seen Lorcan?” Jayden asked.
“Still fighting,” he replied. “We’ll pick him up at the backup extraction point. I hear there are twenty masons still trying to get out. Lorcan is with them. We’ll pick them up, hightail it to an intergalactic transport, and then travel back to Andromeda.”
“Nice going out there,” another mason said to Jayden. “Glad Parker is okay, man.” The kid took off his SECC cap, shook out long brown hair, and then threw his cap in the air. “Hoorah!”
It wasn’t long before more masons transported into the Atilla spacecraft. The spacecraft’s hull was nearly full. Jayden seriously didn’t realize so many masons had been recruited for the rescue.
“Medical! Need medic here!” Jayden turned his head towards the shouting and saw five wounded masons on their backs. An Andros mason with long, green fern-like hair jogged over to the injured with a small box.
Jayden, Parker, BBgun, and Nora sprinted to catch up with the medic.
Jayden recognized one of the wounded masons lying flat on his back. The boy’s cap was missing, and his long, jet-black hair spread out under his head. Blood soaked the tattered uniform.
“Oh no," said Jayden. "It’s Lorcan.”