Invaders_The Antaran

by Vaughn Heppner

  I looked up at the Neanderthal’s wide face with its bony ridge for eyebrows. He wore the same silky business suit as when he’d been in Friday’s Station.

  “Kazz?” I asked.

  “Rax,” the Neanderthal said. “Get us out of here.”

  “Hold it,” a cop said from the door. “Put your hands in the air or I’ll fire.”

  At that point, we transferred, Kazz, Jenna’s corpse, Rax and I.

  -12-

  We reappeared at the Utah salt flats near the base of the mountains. In the distance, there was a big hole in the saltpan with smoke still rising from it. Much of the area around the hole was dark with dirt and other debris. No one had arrived. I would have been surprised if anyone had gotten here so quickly.

  Jenna’s corpse lay on the ground with blood still leaking from the broken skull. Kazz stood nearby with a .357 Magnum gripped in his wide left hand. I sat down hard on the ground. I was taking Jenna’s death badly.

  It occurred to me what Rax had said just before the cop showed up. Jenna had had a control device in her brain.

  “Rax, that device in her brain…”

  “It is an exact copy of the device in Sergei’s brain,” the crystal said.

  I know I’ve mentioned Sergei a time or two. He’d been a Ukrainian mobster under Hap’s control. His full name had been Sergei Gromyko. Hap had possessed several clones of Sergei, with a control device in each. The alien had been using the Ukrainian Mafia for his nefarious ends.

  “Are you saying our Jenna was another clone?” I asked Rax.

  I could feel Kazz turn to stare at me. The Neanderthal had been studying the crater out there.

  “I do not know that,” Rax said. “It is difficult to tell a clone from the original. Perhaps Kazz has information that will help shed light on the problem.”

  I looked up at Kazz and noticed that he hadn’t put the .357 away. The Neanderthal didn’t aim the Magnum at me, but kept the gun down by his left leg.

  Kazz didn’t say a word, though, just watched me.

  Maybe he was giving me time to get my bearings. I finally realized I was sitting on the ground. I stood, and realized that Rax had also transferred my backpack with us. I debated shouldering the pack, and finally did so, clicking the belt closed around my waist.

  “Well?” I finally asked.

  Kazz still did not say anything.

  “Are you going to shoot me next?” I asked, indicating his gun.

  Kazz raised the gun to look at it as if noticing that he hadn’t put it away. A wry smile twisted his lips. He flicked the cylinder out, extracted the spent shell and put in a new one. Then, he shoved the big gun into a shoulder rig holster, snapping a strap around the handle.

  “Long time,” he said, sticking out his meaty right paw.

  I was reluctant to shake that hand. He’d just murdered Jenna. But he had tried to save Debby and me earlier today at Friday’s Station.

  In the end, I shook his hand, expecting anything, tensing as he began to squeeze. I half expected him to try a throw. Instead, Kazz released my hand and turned back to the crater out there. He pointed at it.

  “What do you think happened?” Kazz asked.

  “I don’t think,” I said. “I know. I saw it.”

  He glanced at me.

  “The beastmen were here,” I said.

  “Beastmen?” he asked. “Oh, you mean the furry men.”

  “I think of them as wolf-men,” I said.

  “They’re Tosks,” Kazz said abruptly.

  “You know where they’re from?” I asked.

  Kazz nodded. “The Tosks are from the planet Kasser in the Antares System. Kasser is the third planet in the system. The Antares Institute is on the second planet, Seleucia.”

  “How in the world do you know all that?” I asked.

  “I know a lot of things,” Kazz said, “including that Lord Beran is hunting for you.”

  “Okay… So how did you know Beran was going to be at Friday’s Station?”

  “I didn’t know,” Kazz said. “But it seemed like a good possibility. So I got into position just in case, and I ended up being right.”

  “How did you know I’d go there?”

  “I saw you hesitate on the eighteenth floor,” he said. “You thought about going to the buffet but finally turned to Friday’s Station.”

  He was right about that. I’d debated about going to the buffet, as it was especially good, but had finally decided on the prime rib and window view of Lake Tahoe. I hadn’t seen him trailing me, and that was surprising. Kazz should have stuck out like a sore thumb, him being a Neanderthal and all.

  “How long have you been following me?” I asked.

  Kazz shook his head.

  “What’s that mean?” I asked.

  “I haven’t been following you at all,” he said.

  That didn’t make sense, unless… “You’ve been watching me?” I countered.

  “That I have,” he said, grinning, “for about a week, although I wasn’t able to see you all the time.”

  “Okay… How have you been watching me?”

  Kazz’s grin widened, exposing his horse-like teeth. “There’s a lot you don’t know, Logan. Of course, there are some things I don’t know, either. I did know about the clones, though.”

  Kazz pointed at Jenna’s corpse. “You can bet your sweet life that she was a clone. The clone wasn’t evil, but she worked for the Director, the real one, the one now on the run from Beran.”

  I stared at Kazz. Too much was happening too fast. I’d lost Debby. I’d almost lost the Guard ship—might still lose it, in fact. I’d watched CAU Headquarters explode. I’d seen Jenna gunned down before me while talking to her in a restaurant booth…

  I massaged my forehead. It occurred to me that Rax had fallen strangely silent again. I recalled the device Kazz had switched off that had been in Jenna’s possession. The crystal had immediately communicated after that. Could Kazz have switched the device back on? And if he had done that, why?

  I slid the backpack from my shoulders so it thumped to the ground. Then I began to walk toward the mountains. I didn’t say anything, just needing to move my legs and do some thinking. I didn’t even bother to test my theory about Rax just yet.

  Kazz knew too much. He obviously had access to some seriously interesting technology. Where could have gotten such advanced equipment?

  I turned back, seeing that he’d turned to study the crater out there.

  Slowly, I retraced my steps, returning to my backpack.

  Kazz faced me. “Feeling a bit better?” he asked.

  I pointed at Jenna’s corpse. “Why did you kill her? Was that really necessary?”

  “Clones are an abomination,” Kazz said.

  “What?” I asked, surprised by that.

  “You heard me.”

  I stared at Kazz in shock. “How long have you felt that way?”

  His eyes narrowed. I got the feeling he didn’t like the last question.

  “Why isn’t Rax talking?” I asked.

  Kazz’s Neanderthal face stiffened.

  We must have both come to the same conclusion at the same instant, as we each raced to draw our gun. Kazz moved fast, I moved faster.

  “Stop!” I shouted, with my blaster aimed at his torso.

  His .357 was half-drawn from his shoulder rig. He might have continued pulling it out. I would have pulled the trigger and gunned him down right there, though.

  I took three steps back. Reaction times were tricky things. A man could lunge at another and tackle him before the other man realized he needed to pull the trigger. And from the brain to the finger took time, too, during which the attacker is upon you.

  “Let go of the handle,” I said.

  He did.

  “Using your thumb and index finger, draw the gun out of the holster and let it drop to the ground.”

  “This is a mistake,” Kazz told me. “We don’t have time for this.”

  “Do it,” I s
aid. “Or I’ll kill you here and now.”

  “I tried to save your life in Friday’s Station.”

  “Maybe,” I said. “Maybe you’re doing something else. I don’t know. But if you don’t disarm, I’m going to kill you, Kazz. I’m going to do it as cold-bloodedly as you murdered Jenna.”

  “That was a clone.”

  “Yeah, maybe. I don’t know. I also don’t know why Rax isn’t talking.”

  Slowly, Kazz did as ordered, letting the heavy .357 thud onto the dirt.

  “Back away from it,” I said.

  He did, watching me closely the whole time.

  “Now, sit down,” I said. I did not motion with the blaster. That was always a stupid idea. Instead, I kept myself on hair-trigger alert, pinpoint aim.

  He crouched like a primitive, remaining on his feet.

  “No, sit down,” I said.

  Finally, he sat on the ground.

  I backed up two more steps.

  “Why are you so paranoid?” he asked.

  “Nothing worse than a frightened man acting to save his life,” I said. “I’ll do what I have to in order to get Debby back. You’re my ticket to doing that.”

  “I’d like to help you—”

  “Shut up for a minute,” I said. “I need to think this through.”

  Kazz closed his mouth, watching me the entire time. I had the feeling he was waiting for a chance to jump me and reverse our positions.

  “How did you watch me?” I asked.

  Kazz stared up at the cloudless sky. He seemed to be debating with himself. Finally, he shook his head.

  “We can do this the hard way,” I said. “First, I’ll beam off your right foot. Then, I’ll beam off your left foot.”

  “I helped you,” Kazz said. “Jenna would have taken you to the Director.”

  “Good,” I said.

  “Not good,” Kazz said. “I think the Director would have tortured you for information. He’s gone mad, Logan. He messed around with Hap’s tech, and it did something to him. Why do you think he’s shoving control devices into the clones’ minds?”

  “That is weird,” I admitted. “Why isn’t Rax talking?”

  Kazz sighed and reached into his jacket.

  “You’d better pull out your hand slowly,” I warned.

  He did, pulling out a small device with a green light. I’d last seen it when he pulled it from inside Jenna’s windbreaker. He flicked a switch with his thumb.

  The device flashed with a blinding light. It surprised me. I staggered backward and finally remembered to fire my blaster.

  The whine of the alien gun told me I’d fired the beam. I waved the gun back and forth so the beam would obliterate everything around me just in case I’d missed the first shot.

  Finally, my eyes stopped watering and I could see again. I stopped firing. Kazz was gone. So was my backpack and so was Jenna’s corpse.

  -13-

  “What happened?” I asked Rax.

  For a wild, heart-stopping moment, there was no answer, and I thought Kazz had taken my crystal entity as well.

  “Logan?” Rax asked suddenly.

  “You’re here,” I said breathlessly, my heart now making up for lost time.

  “Where else would I be?”

  I picked Rax up off the ground, dusting him off on my jacket.

  “How are you feeling?” I asked.

  “Disoriented,” Rax answered. “I am having trouble functioning.”

  “Do you know why?”

  “No.”

  I told Rax about the device with the green light.

  “I do not recognize its description,” the crystal said. “Clearly, it turns me off in some manner. Since I was unable to record the incident and there is nothing to analyze in its absence, I can only theorize.”

  “Well?” I said. “What are your theories?”

  “Perhaps we should move. What if Kazz makes a sudden reappearance.”

  “Good idea,” I said. “Teleport us—”

  “In this instance,” Rax said, “I suggest you walk.”

  “You mean go into the CAU ruins?”

  “Exactly,” Rax said.

  “Are you detecting anything down there?”

  “I am not detecting radiation or any other harmful rays,” Rax said. “Therefore, I believe a scouting expedition would be a wise idea. Who knows what the beastmen have overlooked?”

  “They’re called Tosks,” I said.

  “I beg your pardon?”

  I started walking for the crater in the saltpan. It would be dark soon. I didn’t have a flashlight or a regular cellphone. I suppose Rax might generate a light for a short time. Still, better to use the sunlight while we had it.

  Soon, salt crunched underfoot as I told Rax everything that Kazz had said and done.

  “His behavior is most puzzling,” Rax said after I’d finished. “Clearly, he has advanced technology. It’s possible the Starcore left certain stores of items on the Earth.”

  I’d forgotten about the Starcore. It had been a giant crystal entity, the crystals originally taken from Rax Prime. A Polarion had constructed the Starcore, a half-insane crystal intelligence with delusions of godhood and enough cosmic power to give it a go.

  I’d destroyed the Starcore and thus saved humanity and the galaxy from a tremendous amount of grief. As I’d said before, Kazz and Philemon had been servants of the ancient crystal entity. The Starcore had been asleep for a long time in a side dimension in Nevada. The nuclear testing in the 50s had woken it back up.

  “Why did Kazz shoot the beastmen up at Friday’s Station?” I asked.

  Rax avoided the question by saying, “Starcore leftovers are only one possibility. It is also possible the Neanderthal stumbled upon ancient Polarion tech.”

  “That’s even worse,” I said.

  “I would tend to agree. There is a third possibility. Kazz may be acting in concert with Lord Beran.”

  “That doesn’t make sense,” I said. “He killed beastmen. And why would Beran have Kazz do that if the dominie planned to take me prisoner in Friday’s Station?”

  “You have a point,” Rax said. “Let us scratch the idea of Kazz being Beran’s ally.”

  “Did Kazz transfer just now?”

  “What else?” Rax asked.

  “Maybe he stumbled upon another Guard ship then.”

  “I suppose we cannot say that is impossible,” Rax said. “But Galactic Guard records did not indicate another lost shuttle on Earth.”

  “Fine. I’m out of ideas then.”

  “Logan, I urge caution,” Rax said. “I am detecting a life-form deep inside the destroyed complex.”

  I was about thirty feet from the edge of the crater.

  “Someone is alive down there?” I asked.

  “Yes. It is a female of your species. She has lost blood. I suggest you use haste.”

  “Well, which is it?” I asked. “Be careful or be reckless?”

  Rax didn’t answer at once. Finally, he said, “Both.”

  ***

  Using the waning sunlight, I worked my way into the crater. There was twisted metal, broken rock, junk and blood in places. The Tosks—if that was their real name—hadn’t taken everyone. Some human corpses littered the way.

  Luckily, after fifteen minutes, I found a flashlight. I had to climb over a barrier and roll aside chunks of masonry to get it.

  “How much farther is this woman?” I asked a half hour later.

  My flashlight was the only source of illumination. I had to crawl through some corridors to keep going. The bomb had done a job on the underground complex, but it hadn’t buried it because there hadn’t been enough dirt above to cave in and fill up the structure.

  “The beastmen appear to lack expertise in demolition,” Rax said. “I suspect they believed the power of the explosive would be enough to finish the task.”

  “Maybe they were under orders to do a half-assed job or they were under a time crunch.”

  “Car
eful, Logan, my sensors have just indicated—down!”

  I hit the deck as a bullet whizzed overhead, ricocheting against the walls behind me.

  “Why didn’t you tell me—?”

  “Wait,” Rax whispered. “Let me compute this. Ah, an access tunnel. I don’t know why I didn’t perceive the side route. The person we have come to rescue had a clear field of fire through a small access tunnel. She is still some distance from us.”

  “Do you recognize her?”

  “No.”

  “Hey!” I shouted. “Don’t shoot. We’re here to help.”

  I waited for a reply.

  “What do you sense?” I whispered.

  “Nothing different,” Rax said.

  I cupped my hands around my mouth, rose up some and shouted as loud as I could. “I’m here to help. Don’t fire. We can’t rescue you if you kill us.”

  There was no response.

  “Fire twice if you agree to that,” I shouted at her.

  Two shots went off.

  “Great,” I muttered. “Do we trust her?”

  “I would not,” Rax said. “This is a trick.”

  I clicked off the flashlight, got up, reached the access tunnel and began to crawl through it. It was a tight fit. That plus the darkness made me claustrophobic.

  “The person is breathing erratically,” Rax said softly.

  I increased speed.

  “Stop,” Rax whispered. “I believe she senses us. She has a weapon and is sighting down the tube.”

  I made an instant decision. I flicked on the flashlight, beamed it on my face and shouted, “I’m Logan. I’m with the Galactic Guard. I’m here to help you.”

  I heard a ragged gasp.

  “Logan?” she asked in a pain-filled voice.

  “Yes! Who are you?”

  There was no answer.

  I crawled faster, using the flashlight now. In less than five minutes, I reached an unconscious woman with long dark hair. Blood soaked her jacket and pants. I played the flashlight on her face.

  It was Jenna Jones of the CAU.

  -14-

  I had Rax transfer us to Turlock, California, a small mid-state city where I’d lived for a time growing up. I carried her into emergency at Emmanuel Hospital.