Serve and Protect

by Douglas Varnell

  By the time the CNN crew finished a tour of the Verron Air Force and Marine base and then witnessed the most amazing military exercise they had ever seen, it was very late. The Marines did mock assaults on a planet with no atmosphere and a surface temperature of 800 degrees then did an outer-space boarding assault on an abandoned ship. They next demonstrated weapons capable of vaporizing asteroids the size of small moons while scrambling dozens of Fighters in a mock dog-fight. The two Generals were giving the journalists the play-by-play and explanation of what weapon was being used, but as impressive as those weapons and Fighters and Marines were, Robin was equally impressed with the fact that a 13 year-old girl and a 20 year-old alien were commanding the entire operation and doing it without a hitch. A ship with over 800 people on the crew functioned flawlessly under their command. She could now see why the little orphaned girl from the Kurdish sector of Iraq did not want to be identified with her past. She was no longer that child, she was a member of the most elite fighting force in the Universe and even two seasoned Generals knew it.

  When they finally drug into the Mansion, Paul Verron was on the terrace grilling hamburgers and real-beef hotdogs. There was potato salad, coleslaw and baked beans already on the big kitchen table. He brought in the food from the grill as a cyborg took drink orders. Finley and Burka sat at the end of the table and had surprisingly good table manners. Robin made a point of sitting next to them and trying to converse a little. Although it was bit hard to understand, she realized that these were not just animals who had a speech ability, they were in fact an intelligent life-form and capable of reasoning, loving, playing, joking and even operating complex equipment. Robin asked, “How long have you lived here?” Finley responded, “Here Verron four hundred years, here Mansion only one year.” She asked, “How did you meet King Verron?” He smiled, saying, “King Verron friend. He meet me on island with woods where I hided from the bad men, King Paul not bad man – he good man. Let live in palace and make me Burka. Teach me talk and watch movies, favorite Sci-Fi – it funny. Burka like too.” She looked over to see Burka smiling her agreement as her husband spoke. As soon as the food was on the table, Finley and Burka waited till everyone else was served then allowed a cyborg to fix their plates for them. Lydia leaned over and told Robin, “When Finley first got here he would walk on the table to get his food and eat from the serving dishes. Queen Mother got a bit upset at that, so now he waits to be served instead of serving himself. Burka understood Lydia’s comment and smiled saying, “Finley – Burka too short reach. Iron-man reach better.” Robin noticed that the two even used a spork to eat their food. Evidently a knife, fork, and spoon would be a little more than they were ready for. Robin did notice a couple of times when Finley and Burka got frustrated with their spork and used their claws or ate directly from the tilted plate. She thought they made a cute couple then questioned that thought, thinking, “I can’t believe I thought that. I wonder what I will think by the time I leave here. This place is life changing.”

  King Paul began the dinner conversation telling everyone that his first job was cooking hamburgers at McDonalds for $.75 an hour, back when you could get a burger, fry and coke for $.50. Robin then noticed Finley and Burka eyeing the platter of leftover hamburgers and hotdogs. She lifted the platter and placed it between them. Finley divided the contents of the tray equally between himself and Burka then they ate six more burgers and four hotdogs apiece, at first attempting to politely use their sporks. Robin saw Paul nod slightly and immediately the sporks were discarded and their clawed hands were used to finish the rest. Paul commented, “Some food is knife and fork food, those are definitely finger food.” Robin smiled as the two covered their mouths with their wings to keep from disgusting people with their chewing habits.

  For the next several days, Robin Meade and her CNN crew sampled a wide variety of things both on and off Verron. King Paul didn’t want the entire stay to be about work, she was after-all with her husband, and deserved to have some recreation along with her work. The next morning they were delivered to Roddy Verron for a whitewater adventure through rapids that would be completely off the difficulty charts on Earth. The specially designed Verron Steel inflatables were covered in a canopy and completely enclosed. Puncture proof, leak-proof and unsinkable, the 12 person raft plummeted down a 20,000 foot change in elevation over a distance of 75 miles. Both Tim and Robin had been on whitewater excursions on Earth, but nothing that compared to this. That afternoon they mixed a little bit of business with pleasure as they visited Farmington for a Winter Harvest Festival. The local District Governor and the Farmington City Council welcomed the news team and discussed how each city on Verron was governed locally and that as long as the National Laws of Verron were obeyed, each city pretty much made their own decisions. The local Governor and Council had a great deal of power and influence. They were told from the beginning by King Verron himself that he didn’t have the time or interest in medaling in or controlling the lives of his citizens. As long as there was no major conflicts with established standards, King Verron and his royal family left them alone. Governor William Trotter of the Farmington District told them, “King Verron is a Big Picture kind of guy. He decides what needs to be done and leaves it up to his managers to figure out how to make it happen. As long as he gets the right results, you never hear a word from him except words of gratitude. If your plans flop, he will be the first on the scene to give the support needed to make it work.” The news group from Earth spent the evening dancing to country music and listening to local live bands perform, Robin was even coerced into performing several of her own songs by the applause of the crowd. The visitors were stuffed as they sampled a wide variety of foods produced in the farming district. Robin felt like she was in Kansas or Oklahoma. There was even a beauty pageant that she was asked to help judge, introduced as Miss Ohio and Miss America Semi-finalist Robin Meade, instead of News Anchor Robin Meade. It was very late when they arrived back at the Mansion; these long days on Verron were wearing everyone out.

  Next morning it was off to enjoy some snow skiing. The highlight being the glacier skiing trip that began at 40,000 feet. Transported by shuttle to the top of the glacier, each skier was equipped with a lightweight oxygen bottle for the 40 mile downhill excursion. There was rest stations staggered along the slope to give everyone a chance to catch their breath and rest before continuing on the next section. Since the first of the week, the slope had over 4000 visitors sign-up for the adventure like none they had ever experienced. By the time they reached the valley and the end of the glacier it was lunch time. They visited a local club with a Bavarian menu and atmosphere and 100% Austrian and German staff. Robin and Tim felt like they were back in Innsbruck Austria. Metsis and Lydia picked them up after lunch for a flight to Beriya-Haven. Greeted by Uduak, Sekai, Paki and General Klrxno, the news team was afforded the grand tour of a totally manufactured world. At every turn they were in awe of the marvels of the massive structure that housed over 3 billion residents. None of the crew could fathom a General of an Army being a machine, but when he began to converse with them, they soon realized that he was beyond highly intelligent, and was very articulate in his grasp of the English language. By the time they left Beriya-Haven, they had been given a play-by-play of how King Verron saved their planet and moved them to his orbit and immediately included them in his planets daily affairs. Uduak’s final statement was, “King Verron doesn’t try to rule us, even though we Governors would most likely allow him to do so. He is more interested in us working together than us working for him. He’s the kind of man we on Beriya-Haven want to please and are disappointed when we let him down.” She leaned over and whispered in Robin’s ear, saying, “And he’s also a real hunk, don’t you agree?” Robin smiled, but decided to make no comment in front of her husband.

  The day ended with a shopping trip in Capital City. Robin couldn’t believe she had been so busy touring the rest of the planet that she had neglected to tour the largest city on the plane
t. With over four-million residents, it had spread out for miles and was probably the most modern city in existence. Benny Barry and Paul came up with some wonderful ideas and when Uduak offered to supply drones, droids and cyborgs to do many of the less attractive jobs, it remained absolutely spotless. Public transportation was free and totally operated by machines. Street cleaning and tourist information was provided by roaming robots and droids. The shopping mall was filled with many Earth items, but also a wide variety of products unique to Klelta, Tecalna, Xhondar I, Molnar, Tramlaw and Darsai. Robin walked across the city square to the Verron Government Building. Even at the late hour, there were people busily taking care of the Nation’s affairs of state. Last of all, Metsis escorted them to the J. Verron Medical Center. She couldn’t believe, that even in this massive medical center, the two young members of the Dragon Guard were treated like they were the King himself. Dr. Meese soon arrived and gave the group a comprehensive tour that included the regeneration, rejuvenation and medical diagnostics and the largest nursery of newborns Robin had ever seen. Dr. Meese informed them, “There’s a population explosion on Verron. It is a very family friendly place and many of the men and women who have been rejuvenated are having a second family. I am 81 years old and my wife is 78. We just had twins. My children are in their fifties and my daughter just gave birth to a 9 pound baby boy. At this rate our planets population will double in just a few years.” Robin, who was now in her early fifties, began to envy those who could once again have their youth.

  The following day, the entire group of news people, were flown by Metsis and Lydia to Xhondar I. Metsis pointed out that they could have easily taken a gateway from the travel center, but it would have only given them the tourist version of Xhondar I. King Paul had made other arrangements for Robin and her team. The Light Destroyer was always fully staffed, as was every Verron ship, anytime it left the Verron orbital control area. A full complement of Marines was on board and all the crew wore full body armor, even Metsis and Lydia. Lydia explained that there had been incidents where there had been enemy ships in the airspace of Verron and some of her allies, all ships were now required to be fully armed and ready for any possible conflict. The five news members were looking out in amazement at the security grid formed over the entire planet of Xhondar I; millions of satellites at equal distance formed a forcefield that enshrouded the entire planet. Only with the proper transponder codes could a ship penetrate the orbit of the well protected planet. Once the ship reached 50,000 feet, the thousands of miles of endless city skylines filled the horizon. Robin and the others had travelled to China and other countries with cities of 10 to 40 million people, they looked like nothing compared to this. They landed on top of the 500th floor of the Elder Tower and were greeted by Mahala Xhondar, Supreme Commander Dalhia Xhondar and Elder Gehorda. Lydia ran and gave Mahala a hug, she had become friends while going through her enhancement; she actually called him Grandfather. She turned to the others and informed them, “Grandfather Mahala is the oldest man alive, even older than Methuselah, aren’t you.” Mahala smiled and extended his hand to Robin and Tim and replied, “This one always speaks her mind. You never have to worry about what she’s thinking. She’ll tell you soon enough. But, yes, as far as I know there is no one around here that’s older than me, but it’s a big Universe, there may be someone out there that’s older.” Tim couldn’t stand the suspense, and asked, “Just how old are you, sir.” Robin elbowed him for asking. Mahala gave his favorite answer, saying, “I visited your planet just before and just after the big meteor that killed off the dinosaurs. I was once again there before the flood and several times afterwards, up until about the early 1200s. My sister Yadvega, whom I’m sure you’ve met. (Robin nodded yes) Is only two minutes younger than me, don’t tell her I told you. She likes to pretend I’m a lot older than her.”

  Robin spent the next several hours getting the news story of the century from Elder Mahala and Dalhia. She learned about how Paul was chosen and trained, and how the pupil surpassed the master. How Verron originated. Dalhia discussed the Xhondar military history and their resistance to any military and how one man, Paul Verron, had changed their way of thinking. She then told them about the many changes that had taken place on Xhondar because of Paul. In closing, Mahala told Robin, “Paul Verron does not attempt to rule any of his allied Nations. He is the man we choose to follow militarily because we believe he was divinely chosen to lead peace loving Nations in a battle to determine the survival of not only the human race, but also of billions of non-humans as well. However, if there is any man in this Universe that I would willingly follow, it’s King Paul Verron.” They were escorted to manufacturing plants on Xhondar I that were owned or inspired by King Paul, including the new Triumph Motorcycle Manufacturing Plant and the Coca Cola Bottling Company then taken on a tour of the massive spaceship manufacturing plant now in full operation. Robin finally had to tell the camera crew to save some of their drive-space for other pictures. There were so many things of wonder to photograph the camera’s never stopped running. The day ended with a state dinner on the top floor of the Elder Tower. The 24 Elders were in attendance along with several leaders from Xhondar II and III. Robin had no way of knowing how much the food had improved since Paul first arrived years earlier. They were served Veal Oscar with fresh Verron asparagus, fresh baked breads of Verron Wheat. The clothes that were worn by the Elders now had a Paris or even a New York City style to them, thanks again to the influence of Verron. Each of the Elders seemed to have a story to tell about their encounters with Paul or his Dragon Guard over the years. Robin finally decided to just listen and enjoy, there was simply too much to listen and remember. The only negative comment she heard all evening was when one of the Elders told about how Paul had almost burned down the tower when he was practicing making fireballs with The Power. Dalhia was standing close by and informed Robin, “None of us has ever seen anyone with as much gift for using The Power as King Paul. He was able to make things before he could control them. He only torched part of his apartment. Afterwards he moved to Verron so he could practice without destroying a city.” It was late by the time the dinner was over and the entire CNN news team and the two members of the Dragon Guard were given rooms for the evening. As Mahala escorted them to their rooms, he opened the doors to a very nice suite and turned to say, “This is King Verron’s personal suite. We maintain it for him even though he rarely uses it. As you can see, the fire damage has been repaired.”

  Chapter 20

  King Ishonis Darsai still enjoyed his early morning ride on his favorite Zylner. He had reached the ridge overlooking his palace and looked in wonder at the enormous changes that had taken place since Prince Hunter had defeated the Niccaros. Between the people from Verron and his sister’s new husband, Duke Boris Abarnikov and his Russian friends, it no longer looked like the same place. There was an entire city spreading out along the banks of the river on either side of the palace. The area now had a population of well over 200,000 people living in a modern city, complete with electricity, running water, schools, manufacturing jobs and gasoline powered vehicles. The surrounding farmland was yielding much better crops than ever before and now extended to the other side of the ridge. He turned and looked away from the palace to take in the view of crops and cattle and homes for as far as the eye could see, now irrigated and fertile, thanks to the ingenuity of his Russian and Verron neighbors. As he looked out over the land, he thought of the changes that had taken place even in Niccaros with elimination of the cruel God King and his Sorceress Queen. The old religion of Nicci worship no longer existed and missionaries from Verron were spreading the word of the one true God as they brought medical aid, economic aid and education to the people who had been virtually enslaved by their King and goddess wife. King Verron had even sent in a crew of people from Xhondar III to develop the parched and stripped land with terraforming, desalinization stations now pumped fresh water all over the thirsty land, and they had begun work on a new city that surr
ounded the large lake that existed where the Niccaros fortress and temple once stood.

  King Darsai sensed, more than heard or saw, something entering the planet’s atmosphere. He turned to see a dozen large spacecraft approaching from the east. With the sun glaring in his eyes it was difficult to see the size or shape of the fast approaching ships. He got excited, thinking that maybe King Verron or Prince Hunter was making one of their rare visits. It wasn’t often that a spaceship came to the palace. Most of the traffic of ships came and went from the remote Verron Air Force and Marine compound on the other side of the continent from the capital, where King Verron had stationed 2000 Marines and 100 ships to support and protect the planet Darsai. He had no idea that as he was watching the unexpected visitors approach his palace that there was an even larger group of unexpected visitors descending on the Verron military outpost. Suddenly his excitement turned to dread as he realized that the fast approaching ships looked nothing like those from Verron. As he heeled his Zylner and turned it toward the palace and surrounding city, thousands of creatures, because they definitely were not human, leaped from the low flying transports. They stood at least seven feet tall, were broad shouldered and long legged. With legs hinged like a dog’s hind leg. As he drew closer he could see that in the face they appeared almost canine, mean and muscular with claws on their hands and feet. These things were ugly and scruffy looking. They had no fur, but a tough leathery looking skin, sharp pointy ears, large black eyes and, at closer inspection, he could see six clawed fingers on each hand. The group was heavily armed with more weapons than any human being could carry, rifles, long heavy swords, knives a foot long, handguns and ammo belts wrapped across their chest and shoulders. King Darsai knew immediately that he was looking at Volvs and if they weren’t stopped, every human on Darsai would soon become a future meal for the cannibalistic beasts. He prayed that the Marines on the other side of the continent would arrive in time to save them.