Every feature of the commander was unrecognizable except for his eyes. Those dark, oversized orbs conveyed Gallono’s undeniable strength of will and character that his body could not. Those eyes also showed a deep sense of sorrow and regret for what he was about to do to his captain and friend of several hundred lifetimes.
“Commander Gallono, you are honor bound to give truthful, and unbiased testimony before this court. Will you fulfill this duty?” the magistrate asked.
Gallono held Hastelloy’s stare for a silent heartbeat. His facial muscles gradually pulled together in a grimace that fought back a set of tears gathering in the corner of his eyes as he turned his head to face the magistrate and answered the question in a quiet voice, “I will do my duty.”
“Did you serve under Captain Hastelloy’s command while marooned on the outer rim planet now known as Earth?”
“That is correct,” Gallono answered.
“While on that planet did you live among a sentient race labeled as species Sigma for over four thousand years before returning to Novus?”
“They call themselves humans, but yes that is also correct,” Gallono confirmed once again.
“Was the Nexus device onboard your Collector class ship still functional after the crash landing on that planet?”
“Yes.”
With the formal establishing questions out of the way, the magistrate clasped his hands together and placed them on the table to ask Gallono in a conversational tone, “During your four thousand years spent on this planet Earth, did you ever witness an illegal use of that Nexus device?”
Hastelloy saw hesitation in the commander’s eyes that prompted him to speak up and lodge the first of likely many complaints. “Please define which law the supposed actions are to be compared against in order to make a judgment of legality.”
The magistrate remained silent as the computer terminal to his left dictated a response in a pleasant, female voice. “Section 1.3 of the Nexus Code of Conduct Decree states the Nexus device shall not be used to alter a subject’s physical form from its original appearance. Section 1.4 states the Nexus technology shall not be shared with or used on any other species.”
“Commander Gallono, with that as the basis for your opinion, did you ever witness an illegal use of the Nexus device during your time on Earth?” the magistrate asked again.
Gallono shifted in his seat with his eyes looking about the chamber in search for a place to hide. Finding none, he attempted to speak several times, but cut himself short with each attempt. He glanced toward Hastelloy and shook his head before staring straight ahead at the magistrate again with the unmistakable look of defiance, “I…I can’t.”
“Providing a response is not optional,” the magistrate snapped.
Gallono once again looked at Hastelloy, “Captain, I can’t…I…”
“Answer the question, commander!” Hastelloy bellowed with a commanding inflection only a select few could hope to match.
“I can’t. He, none of them,” Gallono amended while sweeping his arm around to encompass the entire courtroom, “were there to understand the circumstances,” Gallono protested.
“Then explain the circumstances to me,” the magistrate offered as a compromise to prompt the free flow of information.
Gallono held his head in his hands for several seconds before pulling away and opening his palms in resignation, “Fine, I’ll try.”
**********
In spite of the blinding pain from the two gunshot wounds to his chest, Gallono found himself fading in and out of consciousness as he was dragged beneath the overturned copper coffin of China’s first emperor. Amid the absolute darkness underneath, it was impossible to tell if he was still alive or dead until the explosions hit.
A set of deafening impacts outside the coffin rocked the interior much like a child shaking a snow globe. Moments later the copper walls began emanating an unbearable level of heat, which made Gallono all too aware he was still among the living and in the process of baking like the proverbial Thanksgiving turkey.
He wanted to cry out in agony as the hair on his head and arms began to singe, but the two gaping holes in his lungs would not allow it. At long last, he heard a male voice to his left grunt, “Push!”
A six-inch gap opened to let light in and, more importantly, heat out. The rush of fresh air felt like an arctic blast by comparison to the copper kettle.
“Alex, slide out there and push those stones back into tipping position,” the same male voice ordered. Moments later Alex, Professor Russell, and Frank, the NSA agent, rolled out from underneath the overturned coffin to leave Gallono all alone in his deteriorating condition.
He allowed what felt like an eternity to pass before gathering enough strength and oxygen to let out a soft whimper, “He…help.”
“Oh my God, Gallono,” he heard Alex exclaim and watched her crawl back under the coffin to grab his hands and pull. Professor Russell aided in the effort and together they managed to drag Gallono’s limp body clear.
During his extended existence, Gallono had faced the prospect of dying without a functioning Nexus device within range only twice. The first instance was on his return journey from Mars. Back then, he was in perfectly good health waiting to see if the flight path of his escape pod would bring him back to Earth. This time he could feel his life force fading while the Nexus device was still offline to disrupt the Alpha relic’s ability to animate the Terracotta soldiers near their location. Thanks to the bombing, their reanimation chamber was no more and the Nexus could be safely switched back on, but Captain Hastelloy did not know that happy fact just yet.
“The com…communicator,” Gallono whispered.
Frank reached into Gallono’s front right pants pocket to pull out his blue communications disk. The NSA agent paused for a moment and seemed to consider his options: turn on the communicator and save Gallono, a perceived enemy, or let Gallono die. Frank apparently made his choice and placed the disk on Gallono’s bloodied chest, and pressed his thumb to bring the device to life.
The familiar face of Hastelloy appeared in the blue cone of light, but try as he may, Gallono was unable to form any words. Frank jumped in to fill the silence. “The Alpha regeneration chamber has been destroyed. Have your man inside the Nexus chamber turn it back on right away. Commander Gallono is not going to make it much longer.”
Gallono fought against the cold darkness creeping in from all around him long enough to hear Hastelloy say, “Acknowledged.”
That one word allowed Gallono to tune out the rest of the world. He counted to thirty inside his head to make sure the captain had time to send the signal. Then he let it all go as the darkness took away the excruciating pain.
The next sensation Gallono felt was a rush of arctic air triggering every nerve ending in his new body to fire all at once. He knew enough to resist the overpowering urge to snap up to a seated position. Doing so he would have banged his head against the glass canopy that was slowly opening overhead. As the opening mechanism moved at its glacial pace, Gallono reflected upon how the Novi had been using the Nexus and accompanying regeneration chamber for nearly fifteen thousand years and had never found a gentler way to reanimate a body; one just had to get used to it.
When he finally had room to sit up, Gallono took a quick look at his surroundings to ascertain his whereabouts. The room was many times larger than the chamber housed within the Sphinx, which meant he was in one of their auxiliary exit points. He glanced over to the control console on his right and saw a crimson flag with five gold stars arranged in the upper left corner. He was still in China, Beijing to be specific.
The advent of modern computer and networking components on this planet allowed the stranded Novi crew to construct ten alternate regeneration sites strategically placed throughout the globe. The unassuming facilities resembled modern day data centers complete with redundant power supplies, backup generators, earthquake proofing, and retinal scanning entry identification. The lone distinction was
the data networking involved. Rather than relying upon the archaic information ‘superhighway’ that the various human telecommunication companies kept beating their chests about being the latest and greatest, these regeneration centers had a direct quantum-computing link back to the Nexus device in the Sphinx.
When it came down to it, a life force was little more than a collection of information chemically stored within the cells of the brain. The problem was that a life force was made up of massive, unthinkable volumes of information that would take twenty thousand times the computing power of every mechanical device on Earth to store, let alone transmit. Fortunately, the Novi knew how to meld together the nearly instantaneous transmission speed of protons and the simple atom’s remarkable ability to store endless volumes of data inside its chemical makeup.
Strictly speaking, these extra regeneration chambers violated any number of Novan laws pertaining to the risk of advanced technology falling into human hands. In Gallono’s mind though, the violation was completely justified since the disadvantage of only one exit point from the Nexus posed an unacceptable strategic risk. It was for the greater good.
After getting dressed and reloading the stem cell vat for the next user of the regeneration chamber, Gallono reported in to get a status update and his new orders. On the other end of the communication channel was Valnor, still located inside the Sphinx chamber in Egypt.
“Why am I still in China? I expected to come out in either Egypt to help you, or Washington D.C. to keep an eye on the captain’s progress.”
“We need you in Egypt as soon as possible, but the most immediate problem is there in China,” Valnor replied. “Aside from the clay warriors still running amuck, Captain Hastelloy wants to isolate everyone who knows anything about us or the Alpha and their animated clay forms. That means Chinese Ministry of State Security agent Chin, Professor Russell, his research assistant, and Frank.”
“Once I wave my magic wand to make that happen, what am I supposed to do with such a well-informed bunch?”
“You bring them here and help us secure a few more under our protective custody,” Valnor answered with a chuckle of amusement at seeing Gallono’s jaw drop open.
“How am I supposed to smuggle four people out of a country that is in total lockdown without any sort of paperwork or documentation?”
“There is always the Nexus,” Valnor offered. “I already proved it works on humans if they are tagged properly.”
Gallono let loose a frustrated huff before responding, “You know full well my feelings on that matter. I’ll think of something. Commander Gallono out.”
“See you in Cairo soon,” Valnor said before Gallono turned off the communication display and closed his eyes to think. In theory, it was a wise course of action. Chin knew too much about the Alpha and Novi technology to let him remain on the loose. The problem was that the rogue MSS operative could be anywhere. Fortunately, Gallono took to heart Hastelloy’s sage advice to always expect the worst and plan ahead accordingly.
In this case, Gallono knew he could trust Chin about as far as he could throw the man, which despite his small stature, was not far. When he made initial contact with the MSS operative and the American archeologists during their engagement with the clay warriors, he tagged Chin with a sub-dermal tracker. He thought for an instant that Alex had noticed the soft hiss of the implanting device, but not a word was spoken about it.
The beauty of the device rested with it only emitting a background level of radiation, which carried both a location tracker and a listening signal. There was nothing electrical for the Chinese to detect or scramble, leaving Gallono free to listen in to Chin’s surroundings. He activated the device with the touch of a button on the room’s lone computer terminal and gave the covert eavesdrop his undivided attention.
It turned out Chin was also located in Beijing at the Chinese State Security building in the middle of a debriefing.
“You endangered our entire nation with your reckless behavior,” an angry voice shouted in Mandarin. “These clay beings have killed tens of thousands and destroyed hundreds of billions of yuan worth of military machinery and property. This is all your doing.”
“That is the cost of these events I grant you, but think about what we have gained,” Chin’s familiar voice countered. “We know the Americans have access to aliens and their advanced technology. We know what to look for now and will be able to get it. In addition, we have the pyramid and the Alpha’s sophisticated equipment therein.”
“We’ll have to take your word on that since the pyramid is no more,” a third voice announced. “The burial mound of Qin Shi Huang and the nearby Terracotta soldiers were leveled by a series of explosions an hour ago. We suspect the Americans destroyed it using a pair of stealth bombers they rerouted from the events in Egypt.”
“And there is nothing left?” Chin asked with concern creeping into his voice.
“Our satellite images show nothing remains in the area except three individuals who managed to climb their way out of the ruins.”
“Those must be the American archeologists and the NSA agent. The alien couldn’t possibly have survived the two rounds I put in his chest. Those three survivors know too much, they need to be eliminated before they can report back to the Americans,” Chin snapped.
“You need not concern yourself with their wellbeing; they will be dealt with. The trouble now is that they are not the only ones who know too much,” an ominous voice added.
“What, you mean me?” Chin frantically asked. “You can’t. I’m the only one who understands the regeneration process of these clay warriors. You can’t win this fight without me.”
“Since the Americans eliminated the pyramid, the creatures are no longer regenerating. The fighting is all but over already; however, there is still one more casualty to add to this conflict before it is over,” a taunting voice said and followed it up with a single gunshot.
“Well, that takes care of half my problem,” Gallono said to himself with great relief at no longer facing the task of breaking Chin out of Chinese custody. “Now I just need to find my new American friends.”
Chapter 3: Safe Passage
“Stay low,” Frank whispered to his companions as they belly crawled their way to the top of a grassy mound overlooking a farm field below. Among the waist high golden waves of wheat, Frank, Alex, and Professor Russell saw a battalion of Chinese soldiers progressing on foot across the field in an apparent attempt to locate something or somebody.
This had become a familiar scene over the last twelve hours as the three slowly made their way back to Xi’an airport from the now destroyed burial mound of Qin Shi Huang. Dodging these patrols was growing more difficult by the minute as additional military assets moved into the area. Their objective was to root out the remaining pockets of clay warriors, but Frank was quite certain that locating the three of them was a secondary objective.
Down below a series of frantic shouts and pointing preceded a clay warrior springing up from its tall wheat camouflage to attack the nearest soldier. The powerful creature grabbed the poor fellow by the head and snapped his neck like a toothpick before his fellow soldiers had time to open fire. More screams erupted from the Chinese ranks as four more clay soldiers joined the fray with lethal effect.
As it turned out, the Chinese forces were not lacking in discipline. Though they sustained losses, the Chinese put their high caliber guns, grenades, and shoulder mounted rockets to good effect to corral the clay warriors into a contained circle. It was then that the air over Frank’s head came alive with the thrum of helicopter blades as four Z-10 attack helicopters buzzed low over their hillside.
The flying fortresses did not waste any ammunition from their nose-mounted cannons; they instead opted to unleashed a fierce barrage of anti-tank missiles that reduced the surrounded clay warriors to broken shards no larger than a grain of rice.
A resounding shout of victory rose up from the ground soldiers as the helicopters banked to the rig
ht and headed toward the Xi’an airport only a few miles off in the distance. It was slow going, but the group of Americans was making progress.
“The Chinese are getting good at that,” Alex commented from her prone position on the hilltop.
Frank nodded his head in agreement. “You got that right, which means we gotta reach the airport fast before they run out of targets and can focus all their efforts on findin’ the three of us.”
“Why are you taking us back to the airport? It’s not like we can book a flight home. You need passports and faces not on China’s most wanted list to do that kind of thing,” Alex protested.
“The NSA maintains a stocked storage locker in that airport in case of emergencies,” Frank responded with a soft chuckle at Alex’s indignation. “There won’t be passports, but we’ll have money, weapons, and a new cell phone since they will be able to trace my current one if I try and use it.”
“Storage locker,” Professor Russell repeated with doubt behind his words. “There just happens to be a stash of resources there and all you need to do is walk in, insert a key, and take what you need? No questions asked?”
“Prof., if I didn’t know any better I’d swear you’d done this before.”
“It’s too convenient, and life doesn’t work like that. What sort of game are you up to with this fool’s errand?” the professor demanded.
“Calm down there professor. It’s not convenient, it’s intelligent. The NSA has emergency assets stashed away in most major cities, especially in countries like China,” Frank answered. “We’ll give our friends down there a few minutes to clear out and then be on our way again. Now do yourselves a favor; take a drink, water the weeds and we’ll get movin’ again.”
As Frank led the others into the open just outside the airport’s front entrance, he felt his anxiety level abate considerably. He feared they would be the only pale-skinned individuals, but as it turned out, every American and European unfortunate enough to be near this tourist hotspot at the wrong time was desperately trying to leave the active warzone.
Origins: A Greater Good Page 2