‘You were remarkably frank in what you said a minute ago.’ The Grand Master restarts with. ‘Come with me, let’s go to the main control room and maybe we can look through the systems we have left. Maybe I can glean some information from that. Maybe you will see things that I cannot see. I think you will have much use for me as we go along this journey.’
I feel relieved that I seem to have passed the test. At least it would appear I am going to be kept alive and with The Grand Master, for now anyway.
We arrive in the control room. The Grand Master has still kept me attached to the android, not that I am thinking of trying to escape. The Grand Master switches on the system and sits down in front of it. The number of red lights is still the same as it was when he last looked. He has been hoping, or half hoping at least, that the number might have increased.
Suddenly the screen goes blank. It stays that way for about ten seconds before a message is displayed on the screen.
‘Evacuate the base. You have thirty minutes to evacuate the base before it will self-destruct. You must have GM6 & GM7 with you on board your craft, or it will not be released from the magnetic holding field.’
The Grand Master looks at The Keeper and thinks to himself. Could he have initiated this? From the look on his face the answer is no. First O self-destructs and now the base. Maybe there is a defence in place after all!
CHAPTER 83 THE BADDIES
Grillech and the Colons have had to stop to construct a trailer capable of holding the vast quantities of minerals they’ve acquired on Pardea 22B. What Grillech soon realises is that somewhere along the line he is going to have to make one of these planets his base. He can’t keep trailing this wealth along with him all the time. Neither of the planets he has so far taken comes anywhere close to being idyllic enough for him to want to live on, or have the abilities to be able to resist the attacks of others. This would particularly be the case once his wealth increases. Every person with him would and could be a potential threat to his future existence. The only way he could hope to avoid that, would be to make sure that they all have sufficient wealth and power in their own right. Even then there will be ones out there and probably with him, who will want the lot for themselves. He will worry about that time when it comes. In between he will keep an eye on those with him and try to sniff out the potential trouble makers before anything starts. There is nothing quite like snipping trouble off at the bud.
The planet of Monsh proves to be no pushover. The style of their defences makes it important that he has the Cotons with him. The Cotons are tough fighting men, who know how to fight dirtily and tactically. They are also expert in guerrilla warfare, which proves effective against the much splintered defence tactics of Monsh. What Grillech and the Cotons discover when they get to a point where it is safe to explore the resources of this planet, is that there are no great riches to be had. What they do have is an idyllic planet with a pleasant climate and an abundance of natural resources making life on the whole very relaxing. The communities are relatively small and disjointed, in that there is no one central point of control. Partly this is because communication is very basic, perhaps intentionally. Partly this is because the planet is made up of hundreds of fairly small islands with huge oceans separating them. Here and there are a few grouped together. There appears to be no great industrial centres and certainly no space program. In fact this is by far the most backward of the communities any of the three have visited so far. Each island appears to be self governing and in control of their own destiny. There appears to be very little travel between any of the islands. There is little automation of any kind. Certainly there is nothing capable of travel through the skies. What land transport exists is very basic and unimaginative in design. Even the boats have very crude engines. Surprisingly they have developed power systems that work from light and wave power. All in all there seems to be little ambition to progress technically, which makes it more surprising how strongly the small groups resist the invasion.
Word gets round fast somehow and after the first few islands the resistance is much reduced. Once they start to communicate with the people, Grillech realises that this place is a surprisingly ideal place to set up camp. There are plenty of islands that are not occupied, only for the reason that there aren’t enough people to do so.
Grillech and the Cotons do some research and find that there are the raw materials they will need to construct a safe residence for them and their booty. In consultation with several of the islands, they decide which group of islands they are going to inhabit. It is only at that point, when they commandeer some of the planets residents to do the initial mining for them, that the people of Monsh discover how strong their invaders really are. On one hand Grillech knows that he is making enemies here, but he also knows there is no way they have the intellect nor the capacity to do anything about it. To reinforce his point, he sets up an exclusion zone of 500 miles in each direction away from his group of islands. This involves taking the inhabitants of 2 islands and evicting them. What little resistance is put up is soon squashed by the androids and the attack craft. The survivors are only too keen to comply with his wishes.
The months that it takes to make his islands into what he wants them to be, are more than enough for the Cotons to become restless. In their eyes they are not advancing their cause. They are beginning to show signs of aggression. Grillech knows that he has pushed things as far as he can. It is now time to leave his new home under the guard of one attack craft and five androids and move on to the next planet, Nitll.
Nitll is a long way away from Monsh and he has to use the time pods to make the journey acceptable. He isn’t exactly regretting the decision to bring the Cotons on the journey with him, but he is seeing that he will not be able to control them forever. To that extent he decides that if conditions are right on Nitll, he will build them a space craft or two. They will not have the same capacity as his, but they will be more than efficient. He will also build them androids to help them enforce the position. Again they will be no match for his androids, but they will still be formidable. In all of this he also plans a failsafe mechanism that none of this technology can be used against him.
When he is settled in his plan, he calls the Cotons together just before they descend onto
Nitll. He then announces his intentions. This goes down well with the Cotons, particularly when he tells them that they can keep any riches that they take or discover for themselves. Their reaction is as he had hoped for. It also seems to focus them on how they approach Nitll, as they need to have as little destruction as possible.
CHAPTER 84 RICARDO
He has to wait until later in the evening before he can secrete his gear out of his room and into the trunk of the rental car. He has already told the desk that he might be away for a night or two. The bellhop too has been told he is going out of town for a night or two, but there is something in the bellhop’s manner that has made him wary of being seen taking his bag so visibly out to the car.
Even though it is mid-to-late evening the bridge is wedged with traffic. It had been north that had appealed to him. He decides that everyone from Manhattan is trying to escape to the north. As soon as he is able, which isn’t for a long time since the traffic is only crawling, he turns off the highway and starts a wide loop round to the west. The traffic eases off pretty quickly, but he has no idea where he is making for.
He carries on for another hour or so before he spots a roadside motel beckoning him. He secures his room with cash and takes his stuff with him. He is just settling down to sleep, when he hears a noise outside his door. He has made the mistake at the counter of opening his bag to get some cash out. He knew the receptionist had seen he had an awful lot more cash in there.
He backs off into the bathroom, taking his bag and stuff with him. His front door is flung open and three burly guys wade in to the room armed with baseball bats. They have obviously expected him to be in or on the bed, because when they see he isn’t they stop; raising their weapons d
efensively as they do so. Ricardo kicks open the door from the bathroom. They must have known he is in there, because there is nowhere else for him to be.
As one, the three start towards him. As one, the three of them collapse in a pile on the floor as his weapon cuts them down easily. They never even saw what hit them. Ricardo knows he can’t stay. He keeps hold of his bag in one hand and the weapon in the other. He reaches the door, only to find the trio had not been alone. He is the last person they expect to see emerging through the doorway. They aren’t ready for him, so it is ease itself for him to take them out. As they fall, he sees the door of the reception closing. He guesses that they were being watched from there. He breaks into a run, reaching the doorway in only a few strides. He pulls the door open before dashing through. He sees the clerk holding the phone in one hand, while rummaging in the second drawer down for his gun. He would have needed another ten seconds start, if he were to have any chance of achieving both his aims. He doesn’t have that, so ends slumped on the floor, lifeless.
Hoping he has dealt with all the problems, Ricardo makes sure that there is no record of him or his vehicle in the register. The fact he has paid cash in a place like this, means it is a fair chance there won’t be an entry and there isn’t.
He backs out of the office and out into the lot again. The guys who had burst in on him must have called in their buddies before they barged into his room. Two pick-ups are turning into the lot. It doesn’t take the occupants long to see the two bodies lying on the ground outside his room.
They rev up their engines and turn towards Ricardo. How they know he is the one to aim for he doesn’t know, but that is what these guys are doing. On reflection it is probably the weapon in his hand that gives the game away.
The front one makes straight for him. Ricardo can see the passengers reaching for their weapons. This time it isn’t baseball bats, but shotguns they pull into use. He calculates there is no way the pick-up is going to stop at his feet. The speed and angle it has, means they intend to crush him and push his body into the motel front. That will probably collapse under the pressure. He has no intention of letting all that happen to him. He darts back into the reception office and keeps going through to the back. He can hear the engine of the first pick-up virtually outside. The second one is veering away, probably trying to go round the back to cut him off.
The first one slams into the front door of the office. The door and the front of the building mould onto the front of the vehicle. It comes to a stop at the far side of the office. There are just too many objects for it to keep going. Ricardo comes round the doorway from the back corridor and fires into the truck. There is no response from within, nor will there ever be. The truck is now blocking what would have been his escape route out to the front again. He can already hear the second truck coming to a stop at the back. He can make out at least three different voices out there. He sidles along to the back office, letting himself in without turning on the light. Someone notices something outside, because the windows are blown out without warning. Ricardo drops to the floor, reversing his way out of the room as he does so. He can hear more shots being pumped into the room as he nears the back door. Just as he gets there, one of them boots it open. Ricardo shoots blind and the man slumps to the ground. He then puts his weapon round the frame and starts firing blindly outside the back of the building. Soon everything is silent and he ventures out into the lot.
CHAPTER 85 THE WATCHER
The technician isn’t really aware that he has dropped the hand held. His eyes are fixed on the vortex. One second it is there hovering above The Watcher’s head, the next it has sucked him into it. That is not something he had expected to happen. From the experiments they have done and the research too, this isn’t the expected result at this stage. What should have happened was a link from the vortex to The Watcher. Then a string of results would have followed, allowing them to access the inner working systems of The Watcher. The vortex is still hovering in the air above where The Watcher had been standing. There is nothing to indicate what is going to happen next.
Baram bends down and picks up the hand held device from the floor. It looks unharmed by its fall, but he can’t really tell just by looking at it. The other technicians have all turned round at the sound of the device falling. There is puzzlement on their faces. Melde and Sinca have walked over to the cubicle where the vortex is hanging in the air. They try to look one way and then the other, to see if they can detect anything in the vortex. The shake of their heads tells its own story.
The technician starts to try to use his device again, but nothing is responding to his touch. One of the other technicians comes over with a similar looking device. They play around with them for a few minutes, before more shaking of the head follows.
‘There is nothing wrong with the device or this one’ he explains ‘the functions are activated, but then they are being blocked. In fact they are more than being blocked. They are being manipulated by something else.’
More discussions and more devices are brought. A solution to the problem is escaping them. Suddenly the original device fuses and the technician lets it go quickly, as smoke starts to stream from it. At the same instant the vortex slides through the wall of the cubicle and stops. Everyone in the room takes an involuntary step away from it. It swells at one end again and then drops to the floor, before rising revealing The Watcher standing in the same pose he had been in the cubicle. He is smiling as the vortex clears his head. Once totally clear, The Watcher snaps his fingers and the vortex disappears into nothing.
‘Very interesting’ he opens with ‘and not quite what I was expecting.’
‘Nor us, I have to say’ Baram responds.
‘I am sure it was not. It was all going so well, until the point when the dots of colour started to immerse into my skin. It was at that point I could actually see the information the vortex was starting to access. I have the advantage of being able to filter it first, before the vortex could analyse and download any of the information. Suffice to say I saw some things that I deemed not to be suitable or wise for you to see or know about. There are files within files which I have never been able to access. Well to be honest that is not exactly true, as I wasn’t even aware that they exist. For allowing me to be able to have that knowledge I thank you. But as soon as I saw what they contained, I knew that I could not allow you to see that information. That is as much for your own safety and defence as anything else.’
‘So why did the vortex swallow you up like it did?’ Sinca asks.
‘I had to create a diversion, so I had time to be able to confirm that the vortex had not been able to download any of this information onto your system. The only way to do that was for me to take over the vortex and not the other way round, as it may have appeared to you.’
‘Can you tell us anything of what you saw?’ Baram asks with a slight edginess to his voice.
‘About those particular files, I cannot.’ As he says this he notices a change in the stance of his hosts. He sees Sinca press a button in his palm. Moments later some guards come through the door into the research room and surround The Watcher.
‘We will have to put you in your quarters along with the rest of your crew. You are endangering our defence. I believe you have seen something somehow and that you intend to use that against us. We cannot allow you to do that and jeopardize our position.’
‘You are wrong’ The Watcher replies ‘but to prove that to you I would have to tell you things and show you things that I am not ready to.’
‘Once you are in quarters we will be searching your craft too.’
‘I do not think you will.’ The Watcher replies quietly.
‘You are held here as is your craft. We brought you down without your cooperation, so I am sure we will be perfectly capable of searching your craft, whether you agree to that or not.’
‘May I suggest that you don’t try too hard when you fail to do so?’
‘What makes you believe we will
fail?’
‘The knowledge I now have and you don’t. I do not want to do you any harm, as I believe what you have here is genuinely for the good. However that does not give you the right to control me or my crew. When you are ready to sit down and listen to me without expecting me to tell all, then at that time I will talk to you in the presence of my crew. Until then I will go and join them.’
Baram is going to get the guards to stop him, but the look he catches from The Watcher is sufficient to stop him processing that order. The Watcher leaves the room and joins his crew in their quarters.
CHAPTER 86 VEE & BAR
Bar has run along the line of soldiers, trying to keep out of sight. It is inevitable that someone or something is going to spot him. The reflection of part of him catches the sunlight and that lets them know he is there. Three dogs run after him, as the soldiers also try to cut him off. There is no way he is going to be able to go back towards Vee, nor does he want to lead them to her anyway.
The dogs are fast and clever. They work well as a team and are soon snapping at his heels. Once or twice they nearly manage to trip him up, but each time he manages to elude their claws. It is a ditch that makes him stumble and that is enough for them to close in on him. He is just thankful that they don’t sink their teeth into him. That could have ruined his circuits once and for all. One of the dogs stands over him with one of its front paws holding him down. Some soldiers come over with a strong cage, which they place over him. The bottom tray slides into place and he is truly their captive.
Vee sits in the pilot’s seat watching as they secure the cargo nets around the craft and to the ground. They have obviously found the craft earlier and allowed or hoped they would catch her on her return. They have been right in that. On the positive side, they appear to be only interested in capturing her and not destroying her. Over the next half hour or so more soldiers arrive, as does more equipment to remove the craft. It is apparent that they would like her to get out and step into the cage they’ve brought. She can see Bar in the other cage they have brought with them. They do ask her to come out and go peacefully into the cage, but she is not of the mind to obey that instruction. They don’t appear too concerned at her refusal, but it does result in a vehicle arriving, which lifts the wrapped craft up and puts it in the back of a covered truck. The doors are then shut and she is left in darkness.
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