Static filled the earpiece. Palmer needed to use the bathroom again? Then I heard him clear his throat. “It was indeed a disappointing day. I had hoped to bring the girl with us to Earth. She would make a good slave.”
A much deeper male voice said, “We have everything set. All systems are operational.”
“So we will be able to depart for Earth tomorrow evening as planned?”
“Yes, sir. The humans are in for a big surprise.”
Palmer smacked his lips. “They have lived under many rulers throughout their history, but I will show them what a true leader can do. I will enslave their world. And it starts at 21:00.”
Chapter Fifteen
Plan B
So much for my weekend stay. My tour of Senior Heaven would have to happen another day. I waved good-bye to Gram and Gramps. “I promise I’ll come back as soon.”
Gram waved good-bye with her robotic hand. “Thank you for the amazing gift, Pumpkin. Tell Mr. X I’ll love him forever.”
Gramps stopped waving and folded his arms. “Hey Honey, I’m standing right here!”
I really hated to leave them but I needed to get back to JH and stop Palmer from invading Earth. But how could I do that without ruining father’s plan for his people? The urge to put on the earpiece and find out what else Palmer was up to nagged at me. But at the same time I needed to concentrate on my meeting with Father.
I headed straight to the portal and hopped the next flight out. Sabrina greeted me just outside the airport. “Back so soon? I thought you would stay with your grandparents longer.”
I hopped on her back. “Don’t play coy with me. I know you read my mind.”
Sabrina gave me a mischievous smile. “I hope you’ll find a way to stop Palmer. I know how much you’re worried about your friends and family back home.”
“I need to talk it over with Father. Come up with a new plan. Is he still at the Temple?”
“Yes, I’ll take you there.” She beat her wings hard and flew over the outskirts of the city. Sabrina banked around the towering Orientation Building, and in mere minutes we landed in front of the Temple. “I know you’ll come up with the perfect solution.”
I hopped off her back and walked up the steps toward the Temple doors. My guardian angel cheerleader had a lot more confidence in me than I had in myself. The massive Temple doors felt as heavy as my burden. I walked slowly toward the Temple salon trying to come up with a solution so Father wouldn’t be disappointed in me. After all, I was still semi in charge until he was feeling totally himself. My arms prickled when I passed Traze in the hallway. The fact that she had no memory of what she’d done to me didn’t make me feel any more comfortable around her.
Father sat on the same divan, but this time he didn’t need to be propped up with pillows. He smiled when he saw me. “My daughter, I didn't expect you to return so quickly. You really do not have to worry about me.”
I pulled up a chair next to him. “You are looking so much better.”
“Yes, Mr. X has been pumping me full of all kinds of concoctions.”
That made me feel a lot better about the news I had to deliver. “Father, Palmer is going to invade Earth tomorrow night at 21:00. We must stop him but I don’t want to foil your plan.”
He looked deep into my eyes. “You are worried that my plan won’t work.”
“It’s been going well so far. But Palmer is repairing the ship much faster than we thought. We weren’t able to capture enough of his men to defeat him. Now we might have to cripple the ship.”
“Being a leader is full of difficult decisions.”
So he was leaving it up to me. “Father, they are your people, you should control their fate, not me.”
He stroked my cheek. “They are your people, too, my daughter. You must do what you feel is right. Even if it means condemning the Katran to exile.”
***
Talk about having to grow up fast. So Father had truly handed me the reins of his people. Guess I better step up and handle the situation. But first I needed to talk to Ryan. I headed toward the lab to pick up the looking glass. I needed to warn Ryan and find out if the UFO group had a solid plan in case I was a complete failure as a leader. I pushed open the door to find Mr. X tinkering with one of his inventions. “I need to borrow the looking glass again. I need to talk to Ryan ASAP.”
He stopped tinkering with the gadget and floated over to a table at the back of the lab. He held the looking glass out to me. “Please return it when you are through. It is my only copy with speaking capability.”
“Sure. Is there a place I can go with some privacy?”
Mr. X motioned to the right. “The office next door is available, although you can speak freely in front of me.” He floated over to a back table and handed me the looking glass.
“Thanks, but I’ll use the office if you don't mind. Just need some alone time with my boyfriend.”
Mr. X looked me in the eye. “As long as nothing untoward happens.”
Did he think I was going to have looking glass sex with Ryan? “Of course not.”
He floated back to his gadget. “Good.”
I darted out of the lab and headed to the room. I missed Ryan so much I couldn’t wait to see his handsome face. Turning the doorknob, I held the looking glass tight and headed straight for a chair in the corner. I ran my hand around the rim of the glass and thought of Ryan. The glass flickered to life. Ryan stood in a large hay field, but he wasn’t alone. Brice, the leader of the UFO squad, and another guy were with him. Ryan pointed to a patch of corn off in the distance. “So you saw the burn marks over there?”
Brice nodded. “Yes, that’s why we headed to Georgia. Scott and his squad have been monitoring this field after they saw laser lights cut through the sky aimed right at it.”
Scott nodded. “It appears they have selected this field as their landing spot. About a hundred miles from the original location Brice gave me. “
So Palmer had changed up his plans. Probably because he knew we would get information about his plans from Death Moon. I concentrated on Ryan. “Hey handsome, it’s me. We need to talk.”
He jerked his head back and forth looking around for me. “Taylor?”
Brice put his hand on Ryan’s shoulder. “Dude, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Ryan brushed off Brice’s hand. “I’m okay. Just catches me off guard when Taylor enters my mind.”
“She’s inside your head right now?”
Scott’s forehead crinkled. ”Is he talking to his alien girlfriend?”
Ryan sighed. “Yes. I wish there was a way to hook up a speakerphone so you could hear her.”
I laughed. “Maybe I should put that on Mr. X’s invention to-do list.”
He chuckled. “It would be super helpful. So what’s up?”
“Palmer is going to be headed your way tomorrow night unless I can stop him.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m not sure yet. But for sure I’m going to do something on my end to stop him. I just want you guys to be ready in case I fail.”
Ryan ignored the guys staring at him like he’d lost his mind. “Based on the schematics of the ship you sent, we’ve been working on a plan. I think Palmer is going to find it’s not as easy to land here as he thinks.”
It seemed Ryan and the UFO squad had their act together, unlike me. “Great. What’s your plan?”
“Brice, can you hand me the map?” He nodded and passed him a large folded up paper. Ryan held it up in front of his face so I could see it. “See these lines going across the field in a grid pattern?”
“Yes. What are they for?”
He pointed to the little dots spread across each line on the grid. “We are going to fight back with lasers of our own. They may seem low-tech to the Katran, but sometimes that’s all you need. They should throw off just enough protons to interfere with the ship’s guidance systems.“
“How did you figure that out?”
Ryan signaled to Scott. “Explain to Taylor how the lasers are going to work.”
Scott looked up at the sky like I was hovering down from Heaven and started talking. “It’s like when I use them to stop a video camera from recording me at the liquor store, or to burn out the photo sensor on a street light. The proton energy our two hundred lasers emit should totally mess with the spaceship’s GPS. We’re hoping the craft will crash into the Gulf of Mexico.”
I was impressed. Science geeks sure can be resourceful, and apparently quite the lawbreakers. “That’s fantastic news, Ryan. Tell them I appreciate their help so much. I’m going to make my move tonight. I’ll let you know if I’m successful.”
Ryan gave me the thumbs up sign. “You’ll rock it, Taylor. I know you’ll do the right thing.”
If only I knew what that was.
***
I’d just made the biggest decision of my life. Father wanted me to be a leader so I’d taken a risk not telling him or Mr. X my big plan. I knew Father would tell me to wait until his men could capture the mothership themselves. But we didn't have time for that. There was a much easier way to take control of the ship and stop the invasion—steel the preton cell. The ship couldn’t run without it. I also knew Mr. X had a way of spying on Palmer, and if I got in serious trouble he’d transport me out of danger.
I wasn’t stupid enough to try stealing the preton cell alone. I needed someone I trusted to help—Celery. I watched as her angel dropped her off in front of studio four. Celery came dressed for the part. Wearing black leggings and a matching hoodie with just a touch of her bright green hair sticking out, she screamed ninja. Celery practically skipped over to me. She looked so excited about my plan yet, all I felt was dread. “T, I can’t wait to see the look on Palmer’s face when he realizes what we’ve done. He is going to go ballistic.”
I wish I had the same enthusiasm as Celery, but I knew Father would be just as furious that I jumped the gun and tried to take control of the ship without him. Not to mention that if we weren’t able to remove the preton cell, plan B would mean disabling the mothership’s engine. And that would destroy any chance my father and his people had of finding a new home. I sure hoped I wouldn’t be forced to pick between a new love, Father and my fellow people of Katran or an old love of Ryan, my family, and friends. But if it did, old love would win. I hoped Father would understand.
I wrapped my arm around Celery. “Thanks for helping me out. I just hope Palmer didn’t change the guard schedule. When I listened in an hour ago, he said there would only be ten men on duty. We can handle that, right?”
She whipped out her ray gun. “Are you kidding me? Easy peasy. Besides, I wouldn't miss screwing over Palmer for anything.” She pointed to her arm. “I still have a scar where his hands burned me.”
I had a scar too. A constant reminder of my enemy. “Just follow my lead. Try to take out as many of Palmer’s men as you can.”
She held the ray gun high. “My pleasure.”
As we crawled commando-style closer to Studio 10, what little confidence I had vanished. My father’s voice kept nagging at me, “I have total faith in you.”
We darted behind a concrete planter and waited for one of the guards to stop by the studio door. I whispered to Celery, “This is it. Wish me luck.”
She gave me a thumbs up. “You are going to rock it.” She gently patted me on the back. “I’ll be right behind you.”
I sucked in a breath, stood up, and walked confidently over to the man by the door. “I’m Taylor Anderson and I’m here to see Palmer.”
At first he didn't recognize me. Then I saw a light bulb go off in his mind. He held a gun to my chin. “If this is a trick you’re going to die.”
I held my hands up. “Go ahead and search me. I’m not armed.”
He groped under my T-shirt and patted my legs down. Not like I could hide anything under my skinny jeans. With his gruff manner and lack of personality, he could easily get a job with the TSA back home. I tapped my foot impatiently. “Satisfied?”
The man grabbed my arm and pushed me toward the door. “Don't try to pull any crap.”
He put in the key and turned the knob, and then flung open the door. He called out to a tall guy next to the stage. “Look what I got here. Palmer is going to remember my name from now on.”
Out of the corner of my eye I could see Celery crawl in through the door. I wrestled in the man’s grasp so Celery could hide. She disappeared behind the stage curtain.
The tall guy came over and stood in front of me. “So this is the notorious Taylor Anderson. I can’t wait to see what Palmer does to you.”
As he dragged me toward the warehouse, I franticly tried to figure out ways I could escape. Then I spotted Celery crawling along the perimeter wall. Her ability to stay just out of sight of the men like a stealth warrior in a movie amazed me. Maybe she’d gone to a secret ninja school and never told me.
The tall guy clicked on an earpiece. “Sir, you’re never going to believe who just walked through the door.” He nodded as he listened to Palmer. “Yes, sir. I’ll bring her there immediately.”
As the men led me further into the warehouse and up the stairs to the mothership, I knew my opportunity to escape was running out. I stomped on the floor three times. Celery understood it was a signal to take the men out. In a flash, a black object hurled itself at the tall man. Celery quickly zapped him, rolled over, and then zapped the other guy. I patted her shoulder. “Good work. Let’s stash these guys and head out.”
We tucked the cocoons under a bulkhead and moved through a side corridor toward the elevators. Thanks to the schematic of the ship on the flash drive, I knew the engine room was seven floors down. I also knew which part of the engine needed to be destroyed to cripple the ship. As soon as we pushed the button for the turbo lift, an alarm screech filled the air.
Celery gave me a weak smile as the turbo lift slowed down. “You ready?”
I slapped a high five. “Let’s kick Palmer’s ass.” As the lift doors slid open, Celery aimed her ray gun high and zapped a guard as he lunged for me. I leapt over his blue cocoon and raced along the south corridor of the ship and headed straight toward the engine room. Celery sped behind me, picking off men like insects. Blue cocoons were stacking up against the corridor walls like tiles along the edge of a swimming pool. Palmer must have changed the guard schedule. There were far more than ten men on duty.
Two engine officers greeted me as I punched the keypad on the engine room door. Celery gave me a signal, and as the lift door slid open, she zapped the men with the ray gun. The cocoons fell to the floor with a loud thud. Celery shouted out over the alarm, “You go destroy the engine.” She put her foot on one of the cocoons. “I’ll hold down the creeps here.”
I nodded and raced for the back of the engine room. Huge steel beams towered over me as I moved toward the special compartment that held the fusion drive. Everything was laid out just like on the schematics Gram stole. The smell of electricity burning filled my nose as I headed for the special compartment that held the photon fuel cell. Once I removed the preton device, the engine wouldn’t be able to start. Like taking the distributor out of a car engine. I used my fingernail to loosen the edge of the plastic housing around the preton. Then I smacked the side and the front popped off. Great, almost there. I reached out to touch the device and I hit a hard invisible shell. I tried one more time and my hand hit the shell again. Great. Palmer put a force-field on the preton cell. No choice. I had to switch to plan B.
I scrounged the room for some kind of tool I could use to destroy the engine. Over by an enormous two story vent stood a long metal bar. Dragging the bar next to me, just like during the contest, I wished I’d worked out more back on Earth. With every ounce of muscle power I could muster, I raised the bar off the ground. Aiming for the middle of the fusion drive, I rammed the rod between the light beams that pulsed back and forth. Just like I’d seen on the Star Trek movie.
Sparks exploded like firewor
ks when the beam broke apart. I jumped back behind a metal housing. I heard the sound of men pounding on the door trying to get in. I shouted out into space. “Anytime, Mr. X.” Nothing.
Just as I was about to make a run for it, the door flew open and one man had Celery in tow. Palmer stood next to me his face turning the color of a red apple. “Do you know what you’ve done? You’re dead, you hear me? Dead!”
The irony of his words made me laugh. I stood my ground. “Good luck killing me again.”
Palmer lunged toward my body. His hands shot up and gripped my throat. “There are worse things than death.”
Chapter Sixteen
Now What?
My neck burned from Palmer’s touch. My eyes filled with tears as I struggled to catch a breath. He was right. There were worse things than death—excruciating pain. Schwartz always described it as a phantom pain, but this felt very real.
He shoved his enormous pompadour in my face. “You got away from me at the plaza, but not this time. How do you like being my prisoner?”
I’d had better days, I thought as he continued crushing my windpipe. I tried to move my mouth while I clawed at his wrists. He loosened his grip just a tiny bit and I squeaked out, “I feel pretty good. So much for your big ‘take over the world’ plans.”
He tossed me to the side like I weighed nothing. “You’ve only slightly delayed our plans. I’ve been working on a backup drive that is even more powerful than the old ship engine. Should be online in a few days. Your father is always one step behind me. Why do you think I took control of the ship in the first place? ”
I hated to admit he was right. So far, Father had been wrong about Palmer’s resourcefulness. He was far cleverer then Father gave him credit for. Two of his guards picked me up and held me like a ragdoll in front of Palmer. He ran his fingers through my auburn hair. “You are so much like your father. Smart but impulsive.”
Heavenly Returns: The Katran Legacy- Nine Lives -Book Three Page 13