by Saxon Andrew
Grant looked up, “Other than the download that we just watched, do you have any other information released by the key?”
“That is the only information in my data banks released by the key.”
Grant looked at Whippet and Whippet said, “Is there any information located in the key?”
They waited but the question was greeted by silence. Grant said, “Is there any information located in the key?”
“There is.”
“How do I release it?”
“I am not authorized to release that information.”
“Who is?”
“The two pilots.”
“I authorized the release.”
Cinny said, “I also authorize the release.”
“I am not authorized to release the data.”
Grant looked at Whippet and he could only shrug. Cinny’s eyes narrowed and she closed them. After a moment she said, “Grant, you inserted the key in the console. What if we both insert the key together?”
“What do you mean?”
“Pull the key out and let me see it.” Grant went over and pulled the key out of the console. It had a light blue glow on the end of it. He held it in his hand and felt some indentations on the back of it. He turned it over and saw two rows of four indentations running along the back. He saw one row was larger than the other. He gripped the key again placing his four fingers in the larger indentations and motioned Cinny over. “Put your fingers in the smaller indentations and then let’s push the key back in the console.” Cinny gripped the key and they noticed the two indentations on top of the key for their thumbs. They placed the end of the key in the slot and pushed it into the console. Every light on the bridge went out and they were left in total darkness. Whippet said, “Pull it out!”
They kept their grip on the key and pulled it out of the console. The lights came back on and Grant looked around the bridge, “There are more lights on than before.”
Cinny nodded and then a hologram of a woman dressed in a burgundy colored uniform appeared on the bridge. The woman looked at them and smiled, “I see you have found the activation module.”
Grant said, “Who are you?”
“My name is Admiral Ana Mosem. I am an interactive computer program designed to help you fulfill your roles for humanity. I am now in control of the computer and will be your assistant from this moment forward.” The woman looked at Whippet, “Who is this?”
“A friend who had helped us more than you can imagine. We would not have found the key without his guidance.”
The woman stared at Whippet and said, “Why should I trust you?”
Whippet shrugged, “Why should you trust anyone?”
The woman stared at the small Werstag and smiled, “Why would you ask that?”
“The only civilization your species ever came into contact with destroyed your planet. That alone would cause suspicion.”
“That doesn’t tell me why I should trust you.”
“Would it help to know that there are more than twenty billion intelligent civilizations in existence? You also went to the Choten-Zan to leave Grant and Cinny in their care. You must realize that every species is not like the one that attacked your planet.”
“We found the Choten-Zan after Earth’s destruction. Their High Priest is an honorable being.”
“I wouldn’t say that my species is honorable. We are driven by greed.”
“So what’s in this for you to help the Pilots?”
“I owe a human my life and they’ve promised to give me this ship if I help them find the Orion.”
The woman stared at Whippet and then turned to Grant and Cinny, “Is this true?”
Grant nodded, “It is.”
“Do you know what you’re giving him?”
“A shuttle from the Orion.”
“Yes, it is a shuttle but its armaments are beyond what you know.”
Cinny shook her head, “I’ve not seen anything remarkable in its weapons so far.”
“They weren’t activated until the key was inserted by the two of you. This shuttle is now a warship of tremendous capability. Are you going to keep your promise to this being?”
“If we find the Orion, we are.”
The woman turned to the Werstag, “Then I ask you to release them from that promise.”
Whippet stared at her, “Why would I do that?”
“This much power in the hands of a being driven by greed would not be a good thing.” The woman paused, “What was the name of the human you are in debt to?”
“Tom Lavaroix.”
The woman paused again and said, “What debt do you owe him?”
“He gave up his life to save me.”
The woman looked at Grant and Cinny, “You may keep your promise to this being.”
Whippet stood up, “What do you mean?”
“Tom was one of our most decorated heroes. If he trusted you enough to die for you, you are worthy of our admiration.”
Whippet sat down and his eyes grew moist, “I don’t see that much in me. I don’t understand why he did it.”
“The fact that he did is all I need to grant you access to our technology. I trust you will remain an ally of ours once we give you this ship?”
Whippet nodded, “I will.”
Grant smiled, “Good, now where do we go to find the Orion?”
The woman looked at them, “I have no idea.”
“WHAT?”
“When Earth was destroyed, my life partner, Admiral Lydia Banks, had to perform two critical tasks. One was to get the two babies that were going to be the ship’s pilots to a safe place where they could grow up and mature and to hide the Orion from our enemies. She gave me the two of you and she took the Orion to a safe place. She didn’t tell me where she was taking it; she feared I might be captured and have the location tortured out of me. She assumed that if the two babies were going to grow up to be as brilliant as we believed they would, they would work out where it was hidden.”
Cinny said, “Are you saying you’re the one that took us to the Choten-Zan?”
“I am. This is a computer hologram of me that has been encoded into the program, but yes, I was the one that took you to the monastery.”
Whippet said, “What happened to your partner?”
“I received the death signal from her ship not long after I left you with the Priests. I’m sure she did the same thing I did and took her ship away to lead our enemies away from the Orion’s location.”
Grant sighed, “I’m sorry. What happened to you?”
“My death signal was received by the key six weeks later. Both of us died trying to make sure the most important weapons that our species developed were hidden.”
Whippet said, “Important weapons?”
The woman smiled, “The Orion and its Pilots.”
Cinny shook her head, “What is so special about us?”
The woman looked at her and her eyes twinkled, “You and your companion are the ultimate product of genetic development. You are unique and only the two of you can activate the Orion. Anyone else who tried would die.”
Whippet nodded, “They are very different from what I saw Tom could do.”
The woman looked at him, “They are faster, stronger, and smarter than any being alive today.” She paused, “And they are not at their ultimate abilities…yet.”
Grant sat down, “I’m not sure what you mean, ultimate abilities?”
“Part of my programing is to start your development. The Choten-Zan could only take you so far; you probably noticed that you surpassed their abilities.” Cinny and Grant nodded. “The landing bay on this ship has the devices to assist you to develop your skills. However, there is another place we need to visit first.”
Grant nodded, “Where you left the genetically enhanced animals from Earth.”
The woman smiled and shook her head, “You are incredibly smart. How did you figure that out?”
“I saw the ancestors of the animals you
chose on the first download and I’ve talked with them several times in the past.”
The Hologram stared at Grant, “You what?”
“The coordinates of the planet where you left them were still in the navigation log. We went to see what was there and ran into them.”
“That was an incredibly dangerous thing to do.”
“I had a blaster and they didn’t take the chance of attacking.”
The woman slowly shook her head, “That blaster wouldn’t have fazed them and they knew it.”
Grant stared at the Hologram and Cinny said, “You mean they could have killed us.”
“Yes. I’m surprised they didn’t.”
Grant started laughing and said, “Let’s go pay them a visit.”
The Hologram disappeared and a voice said, “Issue the orders and I’ll take you there. You are now in command of the ship and I am your willing servant.”
• • •
Grant sat next to the water of a large lagoon and shook his head. He looked out in the thick overgrown forest for a moment and then said, “You should know by now that sneaking up on me won’t work.”
After a moment, a deep voice said, “You can’t blame a lizard for trying.”
Grant looked at the water and saw the tip of a very large nose sticking out of the water. He took the blaster he was holding and put it in its holster. “Why didn’t you tell me this blaster wouldn’t have harmed you?”
“That would have taken all the fun out of the game. How do you know it wouldn’t harm me?”
“I found a computer program that told me.”
“Aren’t you afraid of me taking you now?”
“You could have done it on any of my previous visits and you didn’t. Why didn’t you?”
A huge head emerged from the water and a creature more than a hundred yards long crawled out of the water on to the shore. “I guess I enjoyed the conversation. It’s incredibly boring being left alone out here.”
“Did you know that we’re related?”
“Say what?”
“You and I share the same genetics. We come from the same place.”
“Where is that?”
“Just a moment.” Grant looked over his shoulder and said, “Slick, why don’t you come on over and join the conversation.”
“How do you see me? I know I’m hidden but you still see me.”
The large reptile said, “Even I could see you coming and my eye sight isn’t that great.”
“Oh shut up, Iggy. Your eyes are incredible and you know it.” A huge spider stood up on its legs and walked over. Its body was nine feet off the ground and was supported by eight silver legs with multiple joints.
Iggy looked at the spider and said, “He just told me that I’m related to him.”
“He what?”
“I’m related to you as well, Slick. We come from the same planet.”
“I don’t mean to call you a liar, but there’s no way we’re related.”
Grant sighed, “Our DNA is alike. Every creature on our home world had a common DNA structure.”
Iggy said, “What do you mean, had?”
“Our planet was destroyed by an alien civilization and all living things died.”
The giant reptile stared at Grant and then said, “You expect me to believe this?”
Grant took a portable scanner that was beside him and pressed a button. A hologram appeared showing a giant Nile Crocodile grabbing a large beast with horns and pulling it out of a stampeding herd into the water. Grant froze the image and Slick said, “Iggy, that looks just like you.”
Grant nodded, “It is his ancestor. However, it was only thirty feet long.” Iggy stared at the image and said, “It doesn’t appear to have the same color or texture to its hide.”
“It doesn’t. You were genetically modified by my species to give you other attributes.”
“What attributes?”
“Your brain was enhanced to give you high intelligence and your hide is pretty much indestructible.”
“Why did your species do this?”
“We knew we were losing the war to the attacking aliens and they decided to develop some of the animals on Earth to assist us in the war against the invaders. It was hoped that you and Slick could be used to delay their attacks. Both of you were brought here before the planet was destroyed to teach you how to use your skills.”
“No one has been here to teach me anything.”
“The destruction of Earth pretty much ended all the plans that had been made.”
“What about me?”
Grant pressed another button and an image of a small spider with eight legs appeared. Iggy jerked and said, “I really didn’t believe this until now. Slick, that is an exact image of you.”
The huge spider stared at the image and Grant said, “This spider was called a Daddy Long Legs and was not a danger to anyone. It was fragile and was not aggressive against anything but the insects it preyed on.”
“Then why was it chosen?”
“You have a body that offered the best structure for energy transfer.”
“What?”
“I’ll tell you about that later. However, I need you to answer a question.”
Iggy said, “What question is that?”
Grant pressed another button and they saw a blue and green planet hanging in space. A moment later an image appeared of a blasted rock. “The first image is of Earth where our ancestors evolved and developed over millions of years. The second image is what the planet looks like after it had been destroyed by the aliens. I intend to do something about it. I want to know if you are willing to assist me in going after the destroyers.”
Iggy stared at Grant and after a few moments said, “Why would I want to do that?”
Grant looked the giant in the eyes and said, “Every Crocodile on Earth was killed. All of your ancestors perished and died a horrible death. Just like mine.”
Iggy blew out a breath, “You’ve described your starship, and just how am I going to be able to go anywhere as large as I am?”
Grant looked at Slick, “Do you want to tell him?”
“Tell me what?”
The giant spider stared at Grant with its multifaceted eyes and lowered his body to the ground. It looked at Iggy, “Have you noticed a place in your head that looks like a dark ball?”
Iggy lowered his head to the ground and said suspiciously, “Yes; what about it?”
Suddenly the huge spider shrunk almost faster than the eye could follow. “I’ve found that if you focus on that ball and press on it with the tissues surrounding it that your body will shrink. Give it a try.”
Iggy stared at the spider and then suddenly, he shrunk to thirty feet long. Slick said, “Go on, you can do better than that!”
The huge reptile suddenly shrunk to three feet. “Now this is interesting. However, if I did this in the water, the fish would eat me in an instant.”
“I know; and the ants would kill me just as fast.”
“The ants were put here to keep your reproduction under control, Slick.”
“What?”
Grant looked at them and smiled, “This planet was chosen because the fish would prevent Iggy and you from reproducing at a prodigious rate.” Grant looked at Iggy, “How many eggs can you produce in one hatching?”
Iggy was angry but was surprised by the question. He thought a moment and said, “Three thousand.”
Slick said, “Ten thousand in one egg sack for me.”
“What would happen to this planet if that happened?” They remained silent and Grant said, “You would run out of food in less than a hundred years if it weren’t controlled.”
“I hate those fish.”
“You could have still had offspring if you had just laid your eggs and stayed with them until they grew large enough to fend for themselves.”
Slick looked at Iggy, “Is that true?”
Iggy remained silent and then said, “I tried to do it but just couldn’t
stay with them. It was like I was being forced away.”
“You were. The computer program tells me that you had that prohibition inserted into your brain prior to your arrival here. It was necessary until you could be taught how to use your skills and have your offspring on other planets.”
“Other planets?”
“The planets of the invaders that killed Earth.”
“If I have children on multiple planets, who is going to teach them how to survive?”
Grant looked at Iggy and shook his head, “All of your children will be clones of you. They will have all the knowledge you possess at the time you lay their eggs. They will know what you know.”
“What about me?”
“The same is true for you, Slick. Your children will possess your knowledge as well.”
Slick rose up on his legs and said, “And just how am I going to do any good against anyone? My jaws are small and my body isn’t strong enough to handle a large force hitting it.”
Grant pulled his blaster and fired it at the small spider. Slick immediately went to his full size and yelled, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Grant continued to fire his blaster at the spider, which had begun dodging the beam. After a few moments, its color began changing. It went from a light silver color to a clear, blue, crystal texture.
After ten seconds Grant stopped firing and said, “Slick, I want you to spit at that large tree to our right.” Slick was brightly glowing and he was angry at being hit by the blaster beam. He stood a few feet from Grant and Grant said, “You need energy to make your body function. The blaster beam has given you enough to see what you’re capable of doing.” Slick looked at the large tree and spit at it. The tree exploded and shattered into thousands of fragments that blew away from them. Grant smiled, “Your body absorbs energy and, once it reaches a high enough level, your own internal structures will start producing the energy you need without requiring an external source. Any blasters that hit you will only increase your power.”
“That doesn’t help with the weakness of my body.”
“Yes it does. Your legs and body will become much harder with the added power and can withstand incredible punishment. Take one of your legs and hit that tree behind you.” Slick walked over to the tree and slammed one of his back legs into it. The tree’s trunk was cut completely through and it fell on Slick and broke in half. “The energy also cuts any matter that comes into contact with it.”