by Dan Kelly
Late in the morning the Power Pack is brought to the Office of Security to meet with Chief Shandul to discuss their roles in what is being called Project Q. They are given pictures of Emperor Eclipse and told to commit his image to memory. The Chief doesn’t want them to attract any attention to themselves by constantly looking at the picture and comparing it with whomever they might be observing.
“The Emperor sure is a scary looking guy.” thinks Pulsar. “He’s quite tall, six feet two inches, weighs 225 pounds and it looks like its all muscle, the irises of his eyes are a deep burgundy, his hair is jet black with streaks of white and he’s got a broad flat nose and a wide thin lipped mouth. He’s definitely not someone you’d want to pick a fight with or meet in a dark hallway or alley without an army behind you. His skin looks similar to ours, but it is very smooth with hardly any wrinkles. He sure is strange looking, but he could easily disguise himself by wearing a hat, sunglasses and long sleeved outer garments and long pants.”
The Chief gives each of them their assigned areas to patrol along with special transceivers that transmit on two encrypted and scrambled channels. One will connect them with the communications center at the Office of Security and the other with the Queen. The transceivers are also equipped with tiny wide angle cameras and concealed video screens to transmit and receive images as well as miniature recorders.
They are shown how to use the equipment and then the Chief says, “Now, listen up. I can’t stress enough how important it is for you to stay alert at all times. From what I know about Emperor Eclipse, he’s a very clever and tricky guy. Vigilance is the key ingredient in our plan to nab this wicked tyrant. The sooner we spot him and his accomplices, the better able we will be to monitor and prepare to catch him in the act of attacking the Queen. He will probably want one or both of his accomplices to move on the Queen, with him secreted in the crowd giving instructions. This way, if something should go wrong, he would have a better chance to slip away unnoticed.
“Our first objective will be to spot, isolate and capture his accomplices before anything happens. This will force the Emperor to assault the Queen himself. This is what we want, so we can capture him in the act and put an end to his dastardly deeds. Any questions?” There are none and they are dismissed.
As the next couple of days go by, the Pack becomes more and more nervous over what they have agreed to do. They know their track record of screwing up and are worried that somehow they will do it again. Belinda Black-Hole decides to lighten things up a little by pulling a prank on Sally Sunbeam by short-sheeting her bed and one on Tommy Tornado by putting pepper in his pillow case. Bad move.
When bedtime approaches, Sally becomes so frustrated because she can’t get her feet all the way down under the covers that she begins to radiate heat and the bedclothes catch fire. Casey Cloudburst smells the smoke and quickly reacts by moving bath water from the tub that Shannon Starlight was filling for her bath and pours it on Sally’s bed, drenching her in the process.
Soon after Tommy hits the sack, he begins to breathe in the smell of pepper in his pillow and starts sneezing like crazy. He can’t stop and sits up in bed, waving his arms around in frustration. This results in a strong gust of wind sweeping into his room through an open window and blowing pictures off the walls and everything on his dresser, nightstand and chairs all over the room. The wind also blows his pillows onto the floor. When he looks down, he sees the pepper
spilling out from the pillow case and he knows he’s been had. Tommy has a very bad temper when provoked and his blood begins to boil. “BELINDA” he screams.
Sally and Tommy are so mad that they make a beeline for Belinda’s room with the intention of making her pay big time for her pranks. They don’t yet know what they’ll do to her, but they know they’ll definitely enjoy doing it. Belinda hears them come stomping done the hall yelling her name and figures it’s in her best interests to disappear, so she does. She winds up sleeping in one of the janitor closets for the rest of the night.
Of course, the rest of the kids thought it was hilarious and laughed themselves to sleep.
For the most part, Belinda accomplished what she set out to do, but sleeping in a cramped closet with a bunch of mops, pails, brooms, vacuum cleaners and foul smelling cleaning solvents seemed to be a high price to pay for a few laughs. When she wakes up the next morning, she is stiff everywhere from having to sleep like a contortionist. When Sally and Tommy find out where she had gone to sleep, they figure that was punishment enough for what she had done and let her be.
Chapter 10
During the two days before the big celebration, someone else is also getting worked up, not with nervousness, but rather with great anticipation. Emperor Eclipse has just gotten word about the explosion at the Institute of Inter-Galactic Science and the ensuing transfer of security personnel. He recognizes this as an opportunity of a lifetime to kidnap the Queen and use her as leverage to take over the rule of Proton. The Emperor, normally an acerbic, scowling, foul tempered individual, with a virulent all-encompassing jealousy over just about anything, is actually smiling and treating everyone in a friendly and civil manner. His closest advisors know that there is something very wrong with this picture and are silently waiting for an explanation.
It’s not long in coming. “You high and mighty prefects and advisors to the throne, it’s time to pay for the positions you hold. Instead of enjoying the fruits of my labor, you will now be charged with bringing forth fruits of your own for me to enjoy.” He then proceeds to tell them what he intends to do and what he expects from them. No one objects as they all are very afraid of the Emperor and know he has a horrible temper and will punish them severely for any perceived disrespect, disagreement or disobedience. The Emperor is definitely not a charmer, but he rewards them handsomely for their so called loyalty and considerable intelligence.
The Emperor knows that it will be extremely difficult to land on the planet Proton and get onto the grounds of Castle Capella in the normal fashion without being noticed. There will be security personnel at every gateway of every spaceport and airport, at every platform in every ground transportation station and at every entrance to the castle. Even with the Queen’s security force being greatly reduced, it still poses a significant challenge to be overcome. Surveillance will be smothering.
The Emperor decides to bring three accomplices with him. Each outer wall of the castle has an entrance and, since the base of the castle is square in shape, there are four entrances, one for each of them if something goes wrong and they must split up and exit in a hurry.
The Emperor and his prefects put their heads together and quickly conclude that there are really only three ways to get inside the castle walls, walk through the gates, crawl under the walls or parachute down from above the walls. They look at each alternative, one at a time.
First, walking through the gates. This could be accomplished by disguising themselves in the clothes normally worn by the Protonese. They would have to cover their eyes, hair and skin with dark sunglasses, headgear and long sleeved and long legged outer garments. This would work if it’s a sunny, but cool or chilly day. If it’s a cloudy and warm or humid day, dressed like this would definitely make them conspicuous. The weather on Proton is very unpredictable, so much so that the job of daily weather forecaster doesn’t exist. The only forecasting being done that has proven to be reasonably accurate is that of major atmospheric disturbances that frequently result in dramatic global climatic changes. They don’t rule this option out completely, figuring they could prepare for weather favorable to their game plan and if the weather goes against them resort to a backup plan.
The next alternative they consider is an evening parachute approach, landing inside the castle walls with night as their cover. This is quickly cast aside as it’s very likely to fail. The castle is always well lit on both sides of the walls and any aircraft approaching the castle low enough for them to drop from would be picked up by the castle’s radar and/or heat sensors. Even if they were
able to land inside the castle walls undetected, they would be risking rapid exposure to security personnel because there is no place to hide in any of the large courtyard areas and it would take too long for them to find a place in any of the buildings to hide.
The last alternative, crawling under the walls, seems to hold the most promise. The Emperor barks in his typical condescending way, “The castle is no different from any other large structure in that it requires sophisticated plumbing, utility, heating, air- conditioning and sewage systems to function properly. These systems require ducting, conduits and maintenance tunnels that run from outside the castle walls to deep within the castle itself. Many of these are large enough for a full grown person to move through.” His prefects nod their agreement. “Furthermore,” the Emperor continues, “the dirt, rock and material used in the construction of these passageways would prevent the detection of anyone in them by any of the castle’s sonar, heat sensing or motion detector systems. Except for a remote possibility in the maintenance tunnels, I doubt that there will be any security cameras to deal with either.
“This is what we will do. My three accomplices will approach the castle, appropriately disguised, each at different gates, if the weather permits. They will carry none of the equipment to be used in the kidnapping because it will be detected by the security metal detectors or X ray equipment. They should be successful in gaining access to the courtyards beyond the gates. They then will proceed to the not yet determined rendezvous location where I will be waiting with the equipment to be used.
“I will gain access through the underground passageways and proceed to the rendezvous point to meet up with my accomplices. If the weather is against us, my accomplices will accompany me through the passageways. It will be safer if we can gain access separately because a diversified approach will allow for better odds of at least one of us getting through undetected. If I somehow am prevented from getting into the castle or am captured and one or more of my accomplices gets in through an entranceway, he or they will have to devise a way to complete the mission on his or their own.”
“What about creating a diversion to cause the sentries at the entrances to leave their posts to investigate?” asks one of the prefects. “Then your accomplices could carry the required equipment on their person and just walk through the gates, not requiring a rendezvous at all?”
“The Queen’s security people are very well trained and unless they receive a direct order from one of their superiors they will not leave their posts under any circumstances.” the Emperor retorts disgustedly.
The Emperor may be very much in love with himself, his egotism and hubris constantly oozing from every pore, but he is nobody’s fool, no one to be taken lightly. He is very bright, very determined and has no equal on the planet Erebus when it comes to ruthlessness, fearlessness and sociopathic tendencies. He rules by intimidation.
“Ok, we have a strategy. Now for the specific tactics and the personnel to be employed. The object of this mission is to kidnap Queen Quasar unharmed. If she is harmed or killed, the ensuing wrath of the Inter-Galactic Treaty Organization would be so severe, their retaliation so forceful, that we would probably be at war for many years to come. She is well liked and respected and I want to avoid any direct confrontation with the Inter-Galactic Treaty Organization unless it is on my schedule and my terms. This of course does not, I repeat ‘not’ rule out assassination at some time in the future if there proves to be no other recourse.
“Now, what do we need to implement this plan? First, we need architectural drawings of the castle in order to determine the best route to take into the castle and locate the most ideal rendezvous point. The ideal rendezvous point is one that will give us immediate access to the best way to get as close to the Queen’s dais as possible. If the weather permits us to don disguises, we will not have to worry about being seen. If it does not, then we must predetermine where we will all hide. In either case, we must disburse to cover both ends and the middle of the dais. The three accomplices will cover the dais while I remain as a non-involved onlooker or hidden out of sight as close to the Queen as I can get, giving the pertinent commands. I will communicate with the accomplices via miniature ear transceivers. We will enter the castle one hour after the queen sits down on her throne. By this time, there will be lots of people milling around, reducing the chance of us being seen if we are hiding.
“Second, the Queen must be seized inside the castle as everyone, including security, will be outside participating in the festivities with the Queen and will not be aware of what is happening inside.
“Third, we need a means to subdue her so we can easily remove her from the castle without her creating a ruckus and drawing attention to what is going on. Once she is in our control, we can surreptitiously leave the castle by the same way I get in.”
So, how can this be done?” Another one of the prefects says, “I knows of a drug that creates a strong urge to use the lavatory, takes effect quite rapidly and can be administered through the
skin. It is used on people who have bladder problems.” He adds, “It could be administered to the Queen by means of a microscopic needle delivered by a miniature accelerator tube. The tube is small enough to be concealed in a fist and has a release mechanism so powerful that it can launch the needle for a distance of over fifty yards. It is electronically armed by remote control and release is actuated by pressing a tiny button on its closed end. The accelerator tube with the needle inside and the remote can easily be concealed in a small pocket until needed. The needle could be delivered using the subterfuge of pretending to cough with a fist over the mouth.”
“Ok, this is a perfect way to get the Queen off the dais. It will arouse no suspicions because even the Queen has to use a bathroom from time to time.” says the Emperor. “Now, how can we safely subdue her?”
A third prefect suggests, “We could use a stupor spray like the one used by a lot of police forces to make violent lawbreakers more docile and easier to transport. It works in seconds, is not harmful and has no long lasting effects. Only a small dose will be needed and the spray container can also be concealed in a pocket. It will put her in a semi-conscious, lethargic state where she’ll be unwilling to put up a fuss. She’ll be out of it for a couple of hours, long enough for a clean get away.”
“Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!” exclaims the Emperor. “We could wait for the Queen right outside the door of the lavatory and spray her when she exits.”
The Emperor motions for all of the prefects to be quiet as he starts to pace and mull over everything that has been said, looking for any flaws in the plan that is beginning to take shape. After many minutes, he finally stops pacing and says, “I can see no reason not to proceed with the plan now before us. I am charging you prefects with the responsibility of obtaining the architectural plans, the miniature transceivers, the bladder control medication along with the appropriate dosage information, the stupor spray as well as the selection of the best men available to be my accomplices. We are on a very tight time schedule, so you must accomplish these tasks and report back to me here no later than three hours from now. When you return, we will brief my accomplices, select the best route into the castle and prepare for our flight to Proton. While you are gone, I will determine how we can land on Proton and make our way to the castle undetected. Now, go.” he shouts and they all scatter.
The Emperor knows that it will be impossible to use normal spacecraft transportation to travel from Erebus to Proton. “All of the spaceports on Proton will be under intense scrutiny. We will have to use one of the large inter-planetary freighters always going to Proton. By disguising ourselves as crew members and carrying appropriate yet fake identification, we should be able to get on and off the freighter without difficulty. While in flight, we will stow away in the baggage and freight areas. If we are discovered, we must hope to be able to bluff our way out of the predicament with prepared stories of coming down with a contagious ailment and being ordered to stay away f
rom the rest of the crew by the ship’s Chief Medic.
“The disguises will also enable us to use the employee egress tunnels when we land on Proton and bypass the public security check points. Once outside the spaceport, we can discard our disguises in the nearest trash receptacle and don our Protonese outfits. It will be early evening when we arrive and the evenings are usually quite chilly when the suns go down. It is normal for the residents to be wearing long sleeved and long legged outer garments with headgear. Sun glasses would be out of place at night time, but we could effectively conceal our eyes for short periods of time by pulling our hats down low over our eyes. We will use local transportation to take us to Castle Capella.”
He instructs his assistant to identify the freighter to be used, obtain a flight schedule, arrange the acquisition, a nice way of saying theft, of the required disguises and ID, coordinate with the prefects as to the sizes worn by the selected accomplices, stressing the need for swiftness in complying with his requests. “All is looking well.” thinks the Emperor with a smug look on his face.