by Mack Maloney
With much drama, the original thirty-six men stepped forward — and were immediately shot down by troops standing on the opposite side of the square. Then their second-tier officers were mowed down as well.
Joxx grabbed Hunter's sleeve as the death rays carved into the ranks of those who had saved the Earth from Michael's return. If a gasp could be heard from one end of the Galaxy to the other, then this was it. The act was incomprehensible — at least at first.
The officer next to Joxx hastily took off his helmet and then removed a mind ring he'd been wearing underneath it.
He pressed it into Joxx's hands and said: "Don't let anyone forget what happened here."
Flash!
Now came the part that Hunter really disliked.
It was dark. Very dark. Pitch black dark, like one's eyeballs would never be able to see the light again. Any light. Ever.
Then there was the smell. Horrendous. The air, thick with a merciless stink. But worst of all, was the crying. The moaning. The wailing. All of this mixed in with the racket of huge engines, which Hunter knew were no more than a bulkhead away from him at that moment.
None of this was real — he had to keep telling himself that. But as bad as this was for Hunter to endure, it was a nightmare for Joxx.
The fastidious SG officer was so horrified by the rank-ness of this part of the ring trip, he cried out in disgust. Trouble was, no one heard him or, more accurately, no one paid him any attention. His bellow was lost in a sea of tears.
As Hunter would tell him later, there were 13,621 passengers aboard this vile, all-green vessel. It was flight #28,612 for this particular starship, and it was part of a fleet of more than 10,000 identically built ships. They all had the same function: moving the unlucky citizens of Earth off their mother world and toward the prison star system known as the Home Planets. All this, per order of the newest Emperor of the Second Empire.
Hunter was strapped into a small, cramped, hovering bunk; Joxx was in a similar bunk beside him. The crush of humanity around them was so claustrophobic, it was nearly overwhelming. This was nothing like being squeezed into the cockpit of his fighter jet for long periods of time. This was not being able to see where you were or where you were going. This was not being able to move more than two inches from side to side or up or down, all while being in very close proximity with thousands of people who were just as terrified as you were.
Even more stomach-churning were the bone-shattering yaws and pitches the prison ship would take at the most unpredictable times. No scream from the engines just a few feet away, no sensation of velocity loss. Just a wild turn, a wild drop. People would cry. People would vomit. Some would die. The g-forces were sometimes unbearable.
Hunter began telescoping the mind ring trip at this point. As always, he wanted Joxx to learn his lessons the hard way. But a few minutes in this stinkpot provided a lifetime of education on the subject. So at this point, he'd hit the fast-forward button again.
There was another yaw, another pitch, and then the vessel came to a bone-crushing stop. This sudden end to forward motion inflicted an acute case of space bends on some of the unprotected passengers, a serious, painful, debilitating experience that could kill those already weakened or advanced in age. And this ship didn't need any more death. As it was, there were more than a thousand dead bodies riding this nightmare along with the living.
The ship seemed to hover for a moment, then started moving sharply downward. Lying still, anticipating each event of the miserable experience, Hunter knew exactly what was happening outside. They were landing. He also knew that what he was living here were the last remembrances of someone who'd passed on shortly after thinking these thoughts and putting them down as one last memory. For him, it was like walking in a dead man's boots or wearing a dead man's coat.
Flash!
The ship had landed.
Hunter and Joxx were roused from their bunks and herded together with several hundred people, still in complete darkness.
They found themselves being marched down a narrow passageway, pushed along by the enormous guards who smelled as bad as they did. The passageway stretched to the far end of the ship, nearly a quarter mile away. The gigantic soldiers were roughly moving them all along, using their rifle butts to hit the head of anyone who dared stop or even look up for more than a moment or two.
Joxx was next to Hunter; they were shackled by hand and foot to about a dozen other people. Their tiny group made its way to the light at the end of the passageway. But whereas one would have thought the sounds ahead would be those of relief to actually see other than darkness again, all that could be heard up here was more wailing. Finally, Hunter and Joxx and the dozen other unfortunates reached the opening and found what this new misery was about.
The ship had set down on a tiny little planet with a bright red sun and very few stars in its sky. Five huge space-dock gantries were visible next to a huge military base. A large city stood beyond, with buttes and mesas stretching off into the horizon. Everything here seemed to be a bit yellow.
This was Xronis Trey. The way station. The processing point. As it once was.
For Hunter, the circle had become complete again… for the thirty-seventh time.
But Joxx still had much to learn.
They were led down a ramp, and at this point, some of those shackled to them lost their footing. The chain snapped, and all but three people in their group were dragged down the gangplank, bloody and battered. A woman and her two daughters were the only people now connected to Hunter and Joxx. The two girls were just in their teens and were clinging to Joxx now, even as he was trying to stay on his own feet.
Somehow, their little group reached the bottom of the gangway. Here they found another phalanx of huge soldiers in unmarked uniforms. They were holding ray sticks, which were used like electric prods. Anyone not moving fast enough down the tarmac was jolted by the mere touch of these instruments, some to great injury, others even to death.
Hunter and Joxx and their group managed to move fast enough for the cruel guards. They were pushed along into a larger stream of people moving along the hot, dusty runway. Wails and cries mixed with the screaming wind of Xronis Trey. The woman holding onto Joxx was nearly in rags, feet cut and sore, mouth dry from no water or food. She was so hysterical she couldn't speak. The same for her teenage girls. They were holding on so tightly to Joxx, he was becoming very nervous. Another part of Hunter's plan.
Finally, they reached the huge processing station. Here each person was stopped, quickly unshackled, and told to strip off their clothes. Anyone who hesitated had their clothes ripped off them and then was beaten as well. Anyone with baggage had it confiscated on the spot. Everyone was then body-searched and handed the drab prison garment. Joxx's personality was not one to take such brutality easily, and he unwisely chose to resist the guards searching him. He was slammed to the floor and kicked all the way to the next stop in the processing station for his action.
When the guards finally departed to beat someone else, Hunter helped Joxx to his feet. It was here that the woman's wails grew ungodly. She was clutching so tightly to Joxx, her knuckles were bone white. The same for the two girls. There was so much crying and orders being shouted and general chaos, it was impossible to speak or hear. It became a little piece of Hell. And that's when something inside Joxx just snapped. In that instant, he changed. He put his arms around the three weeping females and pulled them close to him, protecting them from the madness.
"Don't worry," he told them softly. "I'll take care of you."
Suddenly, out of nowhere, two enormous guards in red uniforms appeared. Without a word, they began pulling the two girls from Joxx's grasp.
The girls began screaming again. More guards appeared. Other girls nearby were being carried away, terrified by whatever awaited them. These two with Hunter and Joxx were going to be next.
Joxx began fighting viciously now. Using the broken end of the shackles as a weapon, he hit guards across t
heir faces, their stomachs, their groins with the heavy metal chain. The girls were wailing at full pitch as Joxx fought with more than a dozen guards. But in the end, it was no use. More guards arrived, and the two girls were literally picked up and carried away, never to be seen again. Their mother collapsed on the floor, a heap of wailing and tears.
Joxx went nuts. He whirled around with a fever in his eyes, selected the nearest guard, and descended on him like a madman. He was able to knock the soldier to the ground and began battering him with his chains without mercy. The guard fought back tenaciously as the deportees scattered, but Joxx did not let up. He was pounding the man's face with one hand and tearing at his clothes with the other. Hunter watched the beating without moving a muscle. Joxx managed to rip the man's helmet from his head and started beating his skull into the floor. Blood began splattering and then some pieces of scalp. A world of frustration was gushing out of Joxx now. Unfortunately for this guard, he was on the receiving end of the long overdue psychological purge.
Hunter counted down ten seconds and then saw a squad of soldiers making their way toward the disturbance. Another half dozen soldiers were heading at them from a different direction. A searchlight blinked on from somewhere; its strong beam quickly focused on Joxx. Inside the huge assembly building, holding tens of thousands of people and hundreds of guards, all attention was now riveted on Joxx as he continued beating the daylights out of the unconscious soldier.
The two squads of guards arrived at about the same time. Still Joxx did not let up. The soldiers turned their electric prods on him. He was poked and zapped and beaten with the sticks, but he did not stop his pummeling. Finally, the soldiers drew out their huge blasters.
One guard raised his weapon and put it right to the back of Joxx's head.
He began to pull the trigger….
Freeze!
Their location did not change. They were still in the same holding area and the guards were still just a microsecond away from blowing Joxx's head off.
But everything had stopped.
Everything became frozen.
This was how Hunter arranged the ending of the long mind ring trip.
Joxx was stunned for a few moments, but he quickly caught on. He punched the dying guard one more time, though it was like hitting steel. Then he stood up and brushed himself off. He was bleeding from head to toe.
"Weren't you going to help me at all?" he asked Hunter.
Hunter ignored the question. Instead, he pointed to their mind rings. "We're coming to the climax of this trip. This is the end — except for two more scenes."
Joxx let out a long sigh of relief. "I am loath to admit it," he said, trying to wipe some of the blood from his eyes, "but I've seen some incredible things — an amazing history of what went before. Yet even still, I ask again the first question of this nightmare you've brought me on: How can the people running the Empire now — and the Emperor himself — be to blame for these things, as you claim? You have to admit yourself, the events you've shown me — though thoroughly tragic — all happened thousands of years removed from us."
It was the question Hunter was waiting for. He reached inside his pocket and came out with two more mind rings. He handed one to Joxx.
"Put this on," he told him.
Joxx looked back at him in horror.
"You want me to put on a mind ring while I'm already in a mind ring? It's impossible! It's dangerous…. It's…"
Hunter didn't let him finish. He jammed the ring on Joxx's head.
"Believe me, it will be OK," he said. "I've become an expert in these things too."
Flash!
Joxx was still sweaty from his beating the man in the transfer station. And now suddenly, he was very cold.
He looked around for a few moments, totally confused.
"Here? Again?" he finally managed to say.
"I'm afraid so," Hunter told him.
They were back in Kelly's Hollow. It was the same morning as the ambush, but about an hour before the slaughter on Boxley Road. The sun had not yet come up, the skies were dreary and dull. Same scenario. Just told from a different perspective.
"But why? Why back to this point?" Joxx asked Hunter.
"Because there are two things here that probably wouldn't have made much sense if you had seen them before," Hunter explained. "It took me a half dozen trips to figure out exactly what I needed to see to make it come together, and still, it's a bit of a blur."
He turned Joxx around so he was facing toward the stream. Lying in the mud in the middle of the hollow was not the man-made pancake-with-wings that Emperor Jimmy had described to them. Instead, there was a much larger space vehicle, one with many blinking lights, weird hieroglyphics running all over it, and not just one but several multicolored auras surrounding it.
It was also shaped like a saucer.
Joxx nearly fell over again. "What the hell is that?"
He'd never seen a space vessel that hadn't been shaped like a wedge before. This thing looked frightening to him.
"Just keep watching," Hunter told him.
No sooner were the words out of his mouth when the hatch on the strange vehicle opened and two figures emerged. They were not human. They were small-framed, no more than four feet high, with large bulbous heads and long thin arms. They were wearing gold uniforms that glit-tered brightly, even in the dull morning light.
They glided over to the three bodies laying face-down in the mud and seemed to examine them for a moment. One of the creatures was carrying a small globe that was glowing with the same colors as those surrounding the saucer-shaped vehicle. With little fanfare, this creature directed a beam of light from the globe at each of the three bodies, enveloping them in a bright yellow light, but for only a moment or two. Then the creatures returned to their ship, closing the hatch silently behind them.
Joxx was simply astonished. His mouth was wide open, his face as white as his hair.
"Why do you taunt me with these demons?" he shouted at Hunter. "I've seen the horrors of the old days. I dare say I'm an expert in them now, with enough nightmares to last me several lifetimes. Why pull trickery on me at this point?"
"It's not trickery," Hunter replied. "Though believe me, I wish it was."
As they watched frozen at the edge of the stream, the saucer gave off a great flash of light — and then it was gone, straight up, into the early morning sky. Just like that.
Joxx fell to the seat of his pants, causing a mighty splash in the muddy water.
"What in God's name was that all about?" he whispered.
Hunter remained standing beside him. "The simplest answer? It's one more explanation of what happened here that day. The third one I came upon."
"But that was horrible!" Joxx cried. "Those.. beings. The way they moved. The way the looked. They can't be real. Only humans inhabit the universe. That was established eons ago! So they had to be hallucinations. And therefore, this scenario must be a hallucination too. It has to be…"
He looked up at Hunter hopefully. "Right?"
Hunter just shook his head.
"You tell me," he replied.
Joxx wiped a dirty hand across his dirty face. "Well, I'm sure the cardinals were lying to us," he began, still dazed from all that had happened in the past few moments. "All that crap about the angel and the enlightenment. But was Emperor Jimmy lying to us too? Why would he? What would be the point of it? He seemed sincere while debunking the angel story. Why just tell another lie instead?"
Joxx looked up at Hunter again. "Any chance that this third scenario is just a flaw in the mind ring program? Those creatures can't be real! Maybe the guy writing all this just screwed up, or got drunk or something."
Hunter stood mute.
"Because, if not," Joxx went on, "that would mean Jimmy wasn't enlightened by anything real. None of them were — not in the sense that everyone believed over the centuries. By this scenario, Jimmy's so-called 'great mind' didn't invent all those things that first made the Gal
axy great. The secret to ion-power, the new longevity of humans, the puffing of the planets and God knows what else. Could it be that none of them sprouted miraculously from any human mind?"
He looked to where the saucer had just been — it was now just that familiar depression in the mud.
"Oh God, just the thought of it makes my skin crawl! That the beings who were flying that thing either intentionally or unintentionally seeded the Earth with their advanced technology. Could this be the true ring? Could it really have been them who gave us everything?"
Again he stared up at Hunter, as always, looking for the right answer. "Which one is true," he pleaded. "Please, good spirit, you must tell me. Nothing will make sense if you do not!"
"I can't," Hunter finally told Joxx. "Because I don't know, either."
The look of horror came across Joxx's face. "Then there's a chance that it's all been a fake," he whispered grimly. "A facade perpetrated by these strange beings and facilitated by the Emperors of the First and Second Empires. They made a pact with the devil — literally. If indeed the people riding that strange saucer believe in devils. There's a chance they were pulling the strings all along."
Joxx let a shudder rip through him. He was almost nauseous.
"What are they?" he asked, gagging on something. "Where are they from?"
Hunter just shook his head an gazed upon the place where the saucer had been.
"I've seen them before," he said. "It was on a place called Zazu-Zazu, a tiny moon way, way out on the Fringe. They were there or beings that looked just like them. They were trying like hell to take over that little moon at the furthest end of the Galaxy. I have no idea why or how. They were just so strange I've tried not to think about them. But all this will make that impossible forever."
He paused for a moment. He could hear the blokes' helicopter off in the distance.
"If we choose to believe this scenario," he went on. "Then I think we must also consider this: that these characters came back here and raised first Michael and then eventually the younger brother as well. Brought them both back, literally from the dead, at the time of their own choosing and then stood back and watched them change the Galaxy. If this is true, then it means these beings never really took their long slimy fingers out of it. They've been running things from behind the scenes, and the three brothers who were here that day must know that, because obviously all three dealt with them on some level, at some time."