Skip turned to look at Private Zeal. Zeal’s dark eyes stared at Skip with suspicion. He stood up from his seat and placed his arms behind his back. Private Zeal was one of the largest Gnols he had ever seen. His black t-shirt and black fatigue bottoms could barely contain his bulging muscles.
How am I going to do this? he wondered.
“Here it is.”
Skip turned his attention back to the corporal.
“Here it is,” Muatar repeated, holding the report out toward Skip.
Skip stepped forward and grabbed the report. “I also have something Private Turbai and Sergeant Kartack need,” Skip said as he folded the report and placed it in his pocket. He then pulled two of the syringes out of the same pocket and placed them on the edge of the computer station. “I believe you received the order from Commander Schaal.”
“Yes,” Muatar responded, and then he motioned for Turbai and Kartack to approach the computer station.
Turbai and Kartack approached the station. Every Gnol was aware that Skyler Green had been taken out of his mind control to produce the drugs needed to keep the addicted Gnols alive. Turbai and Kartack looked at the syringes with excitement.
Corporal Muatar stood. “You two are a disgrace. You would have been put to death for even taking these drugs in the first place. You are lucky that our forces are thin right now.”
Both Turbai and Kartack lowered their eyes in shame.
“Go do what you need to do,” Muatar continued.
Turbai and Kartack each grabbed a syringe and hurriedly walked toward the elevator. Before they reached the doors, Corporal Muatar stopped them. “Please escort this human out of my sight.”
Skip’s mind was racing. He had originally planned on three Gnols leaving to take the drug, leaving him and Muatar alone. But with Private Zeal now present, Skip had no idea how he was going to gain access to the Enforcer’s computer terminal.
As the two Gnols were returning to escort him, he quickly pulled the report out of his pocket, unfolded it, and began to decipher its contents. “I apologize, Corporal, but there seems to be a problem.”
Muatar cocked his head in confusion. “There is no problem. Let me see.”
Skip handed Muatar the report, and the corporal scanned the symbols on the page. “I don’t see any problem.”
Skip stepped forward and pointed in the middle of the page. “Commander Schaal has had me decipher these reports for him many times. This symbol is wrong.” Of course Skip was lying. Only Commander Schaal knew how to decipher the reports, but he was gambling on Corporal Muatar not knowing that information.
Muatar met his eyes. He seemed to sense that Skip was up to something.
“May I look at your computer to see where the error occurred?” Skip asked.
The corporal continued to stare at Skip. After a few seconds of suspenseful silence, Muatar looked at Turbai and Kartack, who were waiting impatiently. “You two may go but return as soon as possible. I will have Private Zeal escort this human back to his quarters.”
Turbai and Kartack saluted and stepped onto the elevator. Skip knew they wouldn’t be back. Skyler Green had not only made the solution more addictive, he had mixed in a potent poison from the jungle that would kill a Gnol in a matter of seconds after injection.
“Okay, Skip,” Muatar said, stepping aside from his computer station. “You may take a look.”
Skip breathed in a sigh of relief. He glanced at Private Zeal as he walked around to face the computer station. Zeal’s cold, icy stare burrowed into him. Skip then looked at the monitor and pointed. “See, Corporal. That’s the error.”
Corporal Muatar leaned in to look at the screen. As he did so, Skip reached into his pocket and popped the plastic cap off from one of the syringe’s needles.
“I don’t know what you are talking about.” Muatar muttered, turning to look as Skip.
Just then, Skip pulled the syringe out of his pocket and jabbed it into the back of Muatar’s leg. The corporal let out a small gasp, suddenly understanding that he had been tricked. Private Zeal recognized Skip’s deception as well and darted out from behind his station toward him. Skip injected about a quarter of the solution into Muatar’s body. He hoped the solution would work as fast as Skyler claimed it would.
Muatar reached out for Skip’s throat. Just as he was about to grab him, his legs gave out, and he fell back onto his computer station, sending the monitor crashing to the floor.
Skip reached into his pocket and pulled out another syringe just as Private Zeal grabbed him by the shirt collar, slamming him into the metal wall. “What are you up to?”
Skip looked past Zeal toward Muatar, who was on his hands and knees. Muatar reached behind his leg and pulled the syringe out. He seemed to be fighting unconsciousness. Muatar then looked up at Zeal. “Al-alert Commander Sch-Schaal!”
With his left hand, Zeal pinned Skip to the wall. He then reached down with his right hand for the button under the computer station that would alert the entire base of an intruder in the Enforcer’s computer terminal.
Before the large Gnol could press the button, Skip quickly popped the plastic cap off the syringe in his right hand and thrust it into Private Zeal’s neck. The Gnol jerked his hand away from the alert button and grabbed at the syringe. But before he could, Skip injected the entire solution into his body. Zeal screamed and flung Skip through the air toward the elevator doors. Skip’s right shoulder hit the hard metal. Excruciating pain shot through his shoulder as he fell to the floor.
Writhing in pain from his separated shoulder, he sat up. Zeal charged toward him. Skip held his left arm up over his face for protection and closed his eyes. This is it, he thought.
But before he felt the death grip of Private Zeal’s hands around his neck, he heard a thud at his feet. He opened his eyes and saw that Private Zeal had fallen unconscious face first to the hard, metal floor.
Skip staggered to his feet. He had separated his shoulder before back on Earth, so he knew what he needed to do to fix it. With four deep breaths, he slammed it into the closed elevator doors. Screaming in pain, he felt his shoulder pop back into place.
After a few seconds, the pain had subsided, and Skip darted for Corporal Muatar. Muatar was lying on his back with his eyes opening and closing, still fighting unconsciousness. He knelt down next to Muatar and grabbed the syringe lying next to him. Three-quarters of the solution was still left in the vial.
Skip reached under Muatar’s armpits and dragged him to the door, just under the keypad. With his shoulder throbbing in pain, he lifted the Gnol up with all his might face first against the door. He then placed the needle of the syringe on Muatar’s neck. “Type in the code.”
Muatar let out a weak laugh. “Y-you insolent human scum.”
Skip pressed his weight against the Gnol’s back and pressed his thumb harder on the syringe. “Type it in now, or I will inject the rest of the solution. You saw what happened to Private Zeal. He fell dead in seconds.”
The weak smile on Muatar’s face faded, realizing that Skip wasn’t bluffing. He reached up and punched in the code. The door silently slid open. “I will make you suffer for this.”
“Sorry, Corporal. But you won’t get the chance. I lied,” Skip said, pressing the entire solution into Muatar’s neck.
Muatar grabbed Skip’s arm, and with surprising strength, he swung Skip around and pinned him against the wall. He then pressed the close button on the keypad. The door began to slide shut. Without a second to spare, Skip launched his head forward, catching the Gnol in the chin with a powerful head-butt.
Muatar stumbled backwards just as Skip landed a jaw-breaking left hook across his face. The Gnol fell to the floor with his head blocking the door open before it could latch shut.
Skip knelt down and checked Muatar’s pulse. He was dead. Skip then looked up. He worried that the commotion in the doorway would alert the Enforcer. He didn’t need to worry. As he peered into the dark room, he saw the back of the Enforcer’s head just above the cha
ir he was sitting in. The Enforcer was viewing a gigantic five hundred-inch computer monitor fastened to the wall directly in front of him. The monitor was the only light in the room.
Skip stared at the screen. From his vantage point, the Enforcer was able to observe every slave within the camp. Skip was astonished because the Enforcer could control the millions of cameras installed throughout the camp with just his mind in order to follow each slave’s movement.
Skip scanned the screen, looking for Ariauna. There were too many slaves. It would take him hours to find her, and hours was something he didn’t have. Glancing down, he noticed the computer servers below the monitor. There were seven in all, standing about five feet in height next to one another with thousands of green LED lights blinking.
He took a few steps forward and stopped. The Enforcer didn’t notice. He then pulled the last syringe out of his pocket and silently removed the plastic cap. He walked stealthy up behind the Enforcer. As he approached, he noticed that there were no wires connecting the Enforcer to the servers. He deduced that the Enforcer must be wirelessly connected somehow.
Reaching up slowly with his left hand holding the syringe, he took one more step and froze. Flickers of red light caught his eye. Standing motionless, he looked at the right wall and noticed hundreds of laser-light sensors aligned vertically from the floor to the ceiling. He looked at the left wall and made the same observation. The Enforcer was protected with a shroud of laser sensors crisscrossing one another. Skip knew if he moved forward in the slightest, the entire camp would be alerted to an intruder in the Enforcer terminal.
His heart sank. This was an unforeseen part of the plan. Neither he nor Belzar knew that the Enforcer was protected with laser sensors. But he had no other options.
He reached into his other pocket and pulled out the computer chip that would send a computer virus throughout the camp’s computer network. He then scanned the servers, looking for a port to plug the chip into. He knew that once he inserted the chip, the virus would automatically download. After scanning for a few seconds, he found a port.
He then took a deep breath and lunged forward. As soon as his body crossed the threshold, an ear-piercing alarm shattered the silence, and emergency lights flashed. The Enforcer jumped up from his seated position and spun around.
Skip dove forward, tackling the Enforcer to the ground. The Enforcer tried to counter, but Skip jabbed the syringe into his neck and injected the solution into the Enforcer’s blood stream. After a few seconds of struggling, the Enforcer’s body went limp.
Skip jumped to his feet and shoved the chip into the computer server’s port. He watched the screen as thousands of slaves began to awaken from the prison their minds had been in for months.
* * * * *
Skyler kept his head down as he, Captain Belzar, and Sergeant Tolpez walked into Commander Schaal’s office. He glanced up for a moment when Commander Schaal walked out from behind his desk. Schaal’s usually trimmed dark hair had grown longer and his neatly trimmed beard was shaved into a long, pointed goatee. His black officer’s uniform was tailored perfectly to his body: an officer’s jacket – adorned with various medals and patches – buttoned up to the base of his neck, and black pants with a red stripe down each leg tucked neatly into his shin-high black leather boots. The sinister look sent shivers down Skyler’s spine.
Skyler never lacked confidence around the other Gnol guards in the camp, particularly the guards that were addicted to his drug. But Commander Schaal was another matter. The one time he had had any contact with Schaal was before he had a computer chip implanted at the base of his skull. At the time, Commander Schaal questioned him about the drugs he was creating. When he refused to comply, Schaal tortured him relentlessly with his telekinetic and telepathic powers. The encounter was the most pain and mental anguish he had ever experienced and seeing Schaal again brought back those horrific memories.
Despite the fear of being in Schaal’s presence once again, he was at least somewhat relieved that Commander Schaal had granted him the use of Mind Inhibitors while he created his drugs for the Gnol guards. This was for his protection from the other Gnols, and he still had them in.
Schaal moved to the front of his desk. Both Captain Belzar and Sergeant Tolpez stood to attention and saluted.
“At ease,” Schaal ordered.
The two Gnols relaxed, placing their hands behind their backs. Skyler stood behind them about three feet away. Schaal made eye contact with him. He quickly averted his eyes.
“So,” Schaal said as he walked around the two Gnols within a few inches from Skyler’s face. “Skyler Green. The human that has made my job very difficult.”
Skyler kept his eyes on the floor.
Commander Schaal began to pace around him. “Tell me, Skyler, you knew what you were doing when you created those drugs, did you not?”
Still, he kept his eyes on the floor and remained silent.
Schaal walked around to face him again. Placing his hand under Skyler’s chin so he could look into his eyes. “When I ask you a question, slave, you had better answer!”
Skyler spoke through clenched teeth, “Of course I knew what I was doin’!”
Schaal’s face flushed red with rage. He reached up and grabbed Skyler by the throat, lifting him off the ground. Skyler choked for air and kicked his feet. Commander Schaal reached up with his other hand and clenched his fist.
But before Schaal could deliver the face-crunching blow, Captain Belzar stepped forward and grabbed Schaal’s shoulder. “Sir, if I may? Should we not proceed with what we have come here to do?”
Schaal bored into Skyler’s eyes with his own and dropped him to the floor. “I suppose you are right, Captain. You have the drugs.”
Belzar reached into his pocket and pulled out a syringe containing the green concoction. Tolpez stared at the syringe with eagerness.
“Calm yourself, Sergeant Tolpez. Very soon, you will receive your precious drug. From the looks of it, you could use some,” Schaal said, referring to Tolpez’s sickly appearance.
Tolpez ducked his head in shame.
The commander turned his attention back to Belzar. “Has Hendricks gone to retrieve my report and deliver the drug to the other pitiful guards on Enforcer detail?”
“Yes, sir,” Belzar replied.
“Good,” Schaal countered, turning his attention back to Skyler. “And, Skyler, you can assure me that each ingredient in this drug is the same as before? No poisons?”
This time, Skyler made eye contact with Schaal. “Yes. I even tested it on Sergeant Tolpez in Captain Belzar’s presence.”
Of course, that one test syringe that he tested on Sergeant Tolpez did not contain the one ingredient the other syringes contained. The ingredient came from a rare flower in the Terrestrian jungle that Skyler discovered just before the Gnols attacked. The toxins that Skyler derived from this flower were instantly fatal to both human and Gnol alike.
“Is this true?” Commander Schaal asked, turning back to face Tolpez.
Tolpez nodded. “Yes, Commander. … But that was seven days ago.”
“The doses need to be injected every seven days,” Skyler interjected. “Any sooner than seven days, the build up in the Gnol’s system could kill him.”
Commander Schaal looked at Skyler suspiciously. “And what if these injections go longer than the needed seven days?”
“Then, the addicted Gnol experiences more severe withdrawal symptoms. The longer an addicted Gnol goes between injections, increases their chance … well, they could die.”
Rather than anger in Schaal’s eyes, which Skyler expected, Schaal looked at him impressively. “So, Skyler, you definitely knew what you were doing.”
Skyler didn’t respond. He just nodded.
“Very well, Sergeant Tolpez,” Schaal said. “It looks like you will be getting your weekly dose. Have a seat on the sofa.”
Tolpez took a seat on the leather sofa.
Schaal then picked up the small lea
ther chair across from the sofa separated by a crystal coffee table and placed it in front of Tolpez. Patting the top of the chair, he said, “Skyler, administer the drug.”
Belzar handed Skyler the syringe. As he did so, he made eye contact with him, letting him know that he was ready. Skyler sat in the chair, and Captain Belzar moved next to Commander Schaal, who was paying more attention to Skyler for any suspicious activity.
Skyler flicked the syringe with his middle finger, causing the green fluid inside to settle. He then grabbed Tolpez’s right arm and tapped on his veins. “Squeeze your fist.”
Tolpez squeezed his fist, forcing a large vein to pop out. Perfect, Skyler thought.
Captain Belzar moved behind Commander Schaal. Schaal had no idea what was coming next. Skyler poked the needle into Tolpez’s arm and injected the entire solution. Instantly, Tolpez seemed to gain relief from the symptoms of withdrawal. The color flushed back into his face, and a smile began to curve along his lips. He then began to stand up from the sofa.
“How do you feel?” Commander Schaal questioned.
Skyler, still seated in the chair, watched Tolpez carefully.
“I feel much better, sir,” Tolpez answered. “I—”
Before Tolpez could finish, his body stiffened and he fell back onto the sofa. His body began to convulse and foam began to spew from his mouth.
* * * * *
Captain Belzar had just moved into position behind Commander Schaal. The scheme that he, Skip, and Skyler had devised had been working perfectly so far. He slowly pulled another syringe out of his pocket and prepared it for his next move.
Skyler had just injected the solution into Tolpez’s arm. The captain waited patiently as Tolpez responded to Schaal, indicating that he felt better. But then he stiffened and fell to the sofa.
Without warning, however, the intruder alarm began to bellow throughout the camp.
“What have you done!?” Commander Schaal hollered, grabbing Skyler by the shoulders.
But before Belzar could inject the drug into Schaal’s neck, Schaal flung Skyler through the air. Skyler crashed into the large computer monitor resting on the wall above the desk. His body then fell to the floor. Schaal turned around just as Belzar jabbed the syringe into his neck. The commander swiped at the syringe and knocked it to the floor, leaving the needle in his neck. The vial shattered into pieces.
Worlds Without End: Aftermath (Book 2) Page 12