by Frank Carey
"Who the hell is using this frequency? Identify yourself," a rough voice asked. Mars' universal translator was more advanced than even the one used by Jenna. His even conveyed emotion.
"Hello, my name is Mars Pereara, and I think I can help you find the two things you are looking for. Perhaps you could tell me whom I'm speaking to?"
"I am Supreme Commander Glass. What, pray tell, am I looking for?"
"The Jarrion weapons depot and the Nordicans."
"You have piqued my interest. What would you like in return for this information?"
"I would prefer to talk about that in person."
"I see. Well, I'm not busy right now, so how about I come down for a chat. We detect a spaceship at the edge of your settlement. Is it armed?"
Mars typed in more commands. "Nope, nor is it shielded. They must have forgot to pay the power bill."
"Funny how that happens. We'll get back to you in a bit. Glass Out."
Mars sat back and smiled. "It's show time."
###
On the Bridge of the Valera, Jacob finished preparing his report to Valera Station. "Tayla, have anything to add? I've got everyone else's input, even Mac's."
Ignoring the question, Tayla reported, "Sir, we have a problem."
"What kind of problem?"
"We just lost all feeds to and from the station."
"Jenna?"
"Confirmed. I've also been cut-off from my secondary we sent with Joshua."
"Shields!" Jacob ordered. "Jenna, go mobile and get the hell out of here."
"Sir, I..."
"Scat, Sister, that's an order!"
"Sir, shields have failed," Tayla said.
"How is that possible?"
"We've got a virus," Raul said as his hands flew across the board. "It's compromised all systems except the memory core. That's been locked-down."
Jacob thought for a moment before opening an access panel on his left armrest. Underneath was a red button which he pressed. A transmitter, separate from the ship's systems, began transmitting a simple number sequence. He looked up and saw the bridge crew watching him. The deck shuddered before he could say anything. "Report!"
"Alien ship uncloaking above LZ. Nordican ship destroyed," Tayla said.
"Sir, we're being hailed," Raul said.
"On screen."
The screen shimmered as an image of an alien appeared, an alien unlike anything Jacob had ever seen before. It had mammalian eyes, ears like an elf's, fangs, and tentacles emerging from its cheeks. It was covered with black, rippling fur.
"Excuse me," Jacob blurted out, "but does your fur ripple like that normally?"
"Yes, it does. Striking, isn't it. My name is Fleet Commander Glass of the Zexx. And, you are?"
"Captain Jacob Townsend of the Century Ship Valera. Release my ship immediately, then stand down. You are violating Alyson space..."
"Settle down, sonny. I'm not interested in you, your ship, or your colony. I want only two things from you. First, I want access to the Jarrion weapons depot underneath the nearby city. Second, I want you to hand over the four Nordicans you have as guests."
"I need to consult with the Governor..."
"Jacob! No!" Tayla yelled, but Jacob raised his hand.
"Commander?"
"Fine. I will contact your Governor in one of your hours. Glass out."
Jacob got up and headed to the door. "Tayla, with me. The rest of you, clean that damn virus off the computers then contact Jenna. Move!"
###
Jacob stormed into Alex's office and found him and Felicity standing with an elf who Jacob had not met yet, though he knew of him. Mars Pereara, ex-head of Adrestia, came to his mind unbidden.
"Ah, Jacob, I'm glad you could make it," Alex said as he and Mars sipped brandy from snifters as Felicity watched. "Mars, here, has joined with the Zexx in their effort to rid us of the weapons in the depot as well as the Nordicans. What do you think of that?"
"I think ex-Councilman Pereara should be strung up by his heels and have his throat slit with a dull butter knife. What do you think, Tayla?"
"I agree. Governor?"
Alex chuckled. "I agree with you," he said as a pistol suddenly appeared in his hand and fired at the ex-leader of Adrestia. Mars crumpled to the ground. "I can't believe I actually worked for that creature. Could someone tie him up? He'll be coming around soon from the stun charge."
Tayla and Felicity tied Mars to a chair using cordage from the spares closet.
"Thank you. What is our status, Captain?"
"Jenna has gone to ground per protocol. We have lost contact with Josh and his team. I sent the disperse code the moment Mars' virus started taking down our computer. I have also convinced Field Commander Glass to give us an hour before coming down here to take the depot and Nordicans from us by force."
"Any ideas?"
"Well, we do have almost two hundred retired military and paramilitary types along with a couple dozen trained killer elves."
"Ex-military?"
"Yeah. Did that not make it on your briefing?"
"I gather not. How handy, though. My own army. How novel. Any word from Joshua?"
"No, not since he talked to Falan. By the way, where is Falan?" Jacob asked.
"She, Trent, and their four aides are in the safe room under the protection of Bryntana."
Jacob's comm beeped. He tapped it. "Go for Jacob... Right. Standby... Alex, the virus is eradicated and the ship's computer system is clear. Raul is spoofing am infection so we look infected from the outside. He's also set up a stealth link with the rest of the colony. They're waiting for us in the forest between here and the city."
Alex smiled. "Excellent news. Felicity, get our people out of here. Jacob, tell the crew we're picking them up outside the ship. Tayla, do we still have that bus stored in the residence's garage?"
"Yes, sir. All fueled up and ready to go."
"Good. I want you to program it to act as a decoy by driving into town when we leave to pick up the crew and head into the forest."
"Yes, sir. I can remodulate its defensive shields to mimic life signs."
"Excellent. Make it so," he ordered as Bryntana arrived with her charges. He explained his plan.
"Bold thinking, brother."
"Brother?" Tayla and Jacob exclaimed.
"I thought you knew," Alex said. "I guess that fact didn't make it into the briefing."
"Anyway, my hearts belong to Jacob while my brother's belong to Lars," Bryn explained.
"Lars?" Jacob asked. "You mean that big beefcake elf whose muscles have muscles?"
"Yes, Lars Steele, my husband."
"Damn," Tayla said. "Was he an assassin?"
"No, but he insisted on accompanying me on this journey."
"Isn't love wonderful," Bryntana said as she gave her brother a peck on the cheek.
"This is all well and good, but we need to go," Alex said while checking his pistol's load status. Captain, signal your crew to prepare for our arrival and immediate departure. Felicity, tell the colonists we're on our way."
"Yes, sir," she replied as she tapped her earpiece while Jacob finished his conversation with the rest of his crew. When everyone was finished, they headed out under the cover of darkness and a bus filled with ghosts.
###
"Make the call Lieutenant," Glass ordered his communications officer.
"Aye, sir," she said while tapping keys. "Alyson Colony, this is Zexx Warship Catalpa calling for Governor Alex. Do you copy? Over?" She stopped and listened. "Sir, I'm getting an automated message asking me to leave a message."
"What the hell? Sensor Officer, scan the residence."
"Empty, sir. No life signs. Wait a minute, a vehicle has left the residence and is currently heading into town. There's a dozen life signs aboard."
"What's this Alex up to. Scan the town."
"Empty, sir. No life signs."
"What? We counted over a hundred colonists when we assumed orbit."
&nbs
p; "Sir! Look!" the communications officer yelled. On the screen, the vehicle slowed when it reached the center of the town. It suddenly exploded as it came to a stop.
"First Officer! Set us down near that conflagration!"
"Aye, sir! Communications, signal landing stations! Helm, take us down!"
"Aye, sir!" they replied as the ship broke orbit and headed to town.
"Sensor Officer, what of the other town sites?"
"Empty as well, sir."
"What sorcery is this? ETA?"
"Five minutes, sir," the first officer replied.
"I hate this crap," Glass grumbled as he sat down heavily in his command chair.
###
"Sir, the vehicle is empty."
"Spoofed life signs?"
"Yes, sir. There's no organic residue inside."
"What about the buildings?"
"People have lived in all of them, sir."
"Communications Officer, signal the other ships to assume low orbit around the planet."
"Sir, five Jarrion ships have arrived and are assuming orbit around the planet."
"Dammit. I knew this was too good to be true."
"We're being hailed by Fleet Admiral Kendash, sir."
"Put her on. Kendash, here to break the treaty or just saying hey?"
"Glass, you idiot, there's a bioweapon loose under that city. Get the hell off that planet."
"Can't, sweetheart, got to save the colonists."
"What colonists?"
"The ones from someplace called the League of Planetary Systems. They've breeched the depot, and we're here to save them under the laws of the Confederation. Now, you really should have either gotten rid of the depot or put up warning signs, but you didn't, so we're claiming the planet under the Confederation laws of salvage."
"Salvage? This is a registered Jarrion planet. You have no salvage rights here, so vamonos!"
"The planet remained fallow for ten thousand cycles which makes it fair game, so you vamonos. You set foot on this planet and you can kiss the treaty goodbye."
"Don't threaten me, Glass. I'm sending down a ship to secure the depot. I suggest you don't bother it. I'll deal with the colonists as well. Kendash out."
"Blast and damn, that woman hung up on me!" Glass tapped his ear piece. "First officer, prepare for immediate dust off. We're moving to the city. Glass out. I'll show Kendash what it means to not blink."
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Pulling lights from their pockets, the three explorers entered the dark library. Outside, it seemed big, but from the inside it was ginormous. Oddly, it looked like any main library one would find in any large Earth city. "Is it me, or did we just segue to New York?" Josh asked as he picked up a book and thumbed through it.
"I think it may be some of the data that got uploaded into your brain before I transferred your soul into your body," Kylie said.
"I worry that I'm getting used to hearing that," Josh said. "Most people would find that statement disturbing."
"They're not my son," Kylie declared. "Who else would build eight foot tall robots with bellies filled with adamantine tentacles?"
"True, there is that," he replied. "I wonder if the lights still work?"
Kylie closed her eyes and the lights came on. "How's that?"
"Much better," Jenna said as she walked over to what looked like a card catalog. She examined the drawers until she found what she was looking for. "Here we go. 'Confederation of Planets.'"
"There's a confederation?" Josh exclaimed. "I thought they were just gun runners."
"What you can learn in a library," Kylie opined.
"This way," Jenna said as she headed into the library. After some searching and a few reversals, they found the section they were looking for. It was big. "There must be five hundred volumes on this subject."
They got to work carefully taking volumes down and leafing through them until they found the answers they were looking for. "As of 10,000 years ago, the Jarrions and the Zexx were part of a Confederation of Planets, similar to the League," Jenna said as she read from a large tome. "This planet--they called it Saguenay--was the home to a secretive group of arms dealers whose stash of weaponry was the stuff of legend. One day, the Jarrions disappeared from Saguenay and their Depot was never found. Rumors of a plague ran rampant through the Confederation, so the planet was flagged as off-limits."
"Not a real good flagging job," Kylie said. "Jenna, did your probes encounter any 'Off Limits" or "Keep Out" beacons?"
"Nope, but neither did we detect any biological pathogens or chemical warfare agents. The planet was clean when the last probe did its survey."
"It looks like the Zexx either have a war to wage, or they want to reopen the depot doors for commerce," Joshua said.
"We have to blow up the depot," Jenna opined, "and take away the temptation."
"Wait one," Jenna said as she abruptly stood up. "I've linked with myself. One moment... One moment... Dammit! I will throttle that elf myself. We need to go." She started gathering books.
"Jenna, what's happening?" Kylie asked while helping her friend gather texts.
"The crew got comm working, so I was able to sync with my other self. The shit has hit the fan, and we need to meet Jacob, Tayla, and the colonists at a location outside the town. I'll explain the rest after we get underway.”
The three returned to the truck with their books, stowing them in the APC's ample storage bins. As they worked, the carrier's comm board lit up with an incoming call.
"What the hell?" Jenna said while pressing buttons on the console. I haven't had time to program the unit with League protocols. "OK, this is on Jarrion channels."
"First the Zexx; now the Jarrions. Maybe we should just throw a party," Kylie said in an exasperated voice.
Jenna tapped a button, transferring the comm traffic to the speakers. The conversation between Glass and the Jarrion commander came in loud and clear. When they finished, Jenna brought the system down for fear they would be detected. "It gets better. We were cut off from town by the shenanigans of one Mars Pereara, ex-Councilman and ex-Head of Adrestia. It seems Mr. Pereara got in contact with the Zexx and made a deal with them. His end of the bargain was to shut down the town and cut off all communications."
"What happened to the townspeople?" Josh asked.
"Jacob hit the panic button. They're now congregated outside of town in one of the forest groves."
"Jenna, have you briefed your other self on the Jarrions and the Zexx plan to take the depot?"
"Yes. Alex has ordered the charges be blown immediately."
Josh reached into his pocket and pulled out the detonator. "We're outside the depot radius, right?" he asked.
Kylie nodded. "We should be safe."
He pressed the detonator switch; nothing happened.
"Try three times in rapid succession," Jenna suggested.
He did as she suggested; still nothing.
"Let me see that?" Kylie asked.
He handed her the device. "Hmmm, I see the problem." She pointed to a flashing yellow light. "We're being jammed."
"Jammed? Jammed by whom?" Josh asked.
A pair of tentacles passed through the body of the APC and picked it up off the ground. The three passengers held on for dear life as the massive vehicle was thrown across the parking lot to crash into the wall of a nearby building. While being thrown about the interior like rag dolls in a dryer, Joshua was knocked unconscious as he hit a particularly hard steel bulkhead.
###
In the darkened room, Senta waited for her love, her mate, her other half, Galt, to arrive. Then, it was off to the countryside and a new home, a new life away from the royal court and all its trappings. Finally, she could be something more than the Princess Senta, Daughter of King Lopeld and Queen Zorn.
"He's not coming, Your Majesty," a familiar voice said. She spun around as the lights came on. Standing in the doorway was Chancellor Dormo and six members of the royal guard.
"What have you done?" She demanded as her white eyes blazed, her white claws pulsing with bioluminescence.
"Your Zexx lover, Galt, has been arrested for crimes against the Jarrion state. He has been tried and found guilty. His execution is scheduled for an hour from now. Your presence at the execution has been requested by your parents."
"Noooo! We are bonded, mated. I carry his child, dammit. You cannot do this."
"It is done. Next time, take a lover and don't fall in..." He stopped when he saw the blade at his throat and the madness in her eyes. Slowly, ever so slowly, he raised his hand to signal the guards to stand down. "Your Highness, you must calm down. Perhaps if you talk to your parents..."
She hissed at him. Before he could continue, a flash of light blinded him. When his eyesight returned, he saw his men thrown to the floor and the princess gone.
He grabbed his comm and keyed an emergency transmission. "This is the chancellor. Apprehend Princess Senta at all costs. She is not in her right mind, and she is armed. Double the guard on the royal couple. Acknowledge, over."
The other teams acknowledged.
"Gentlemen, back to the castle," he said as he headed to the door.
###
Senta watched from the balcony as her parents executed her one true love. For a moment, she wept, but the sadness was quickly replaced by madness and a thirst for revenge which could only be sated by death.
###
The six terrorists sat around the screen and cheered as one of them, the leader in this case, killed his hundredth zombie. None of them heard the knocking at the door. They did hear the door break open followed by several shots into the ceiling. "Listen up!" Senta screamed at the six would be terrorists. "Shut that damn game down or I start firing horizontal!"
The game went off as all six gentlemen jumped up to face the angry princess. For a bunch of terrorists, not one thought to grab a weapon on their way out of their seats. "Thank you," she said with a smile before shooting the monitor. "Report!"
"Ma'am, all is ready. We have a truck parked downstairs and all bribes are in place. We can proceed at your convenience."