»The Great Catastrophe!« Pi yelled suddenly. »The MYZEL told us about it!«
»The Great Catastrophe mentioned by the organic data bank on Coip-Pertyl is related, but it is only a small part of what we can expect. The peoples of Scutum-Crux began fleeing their sector in the greatest galactic migration of all time, and the Genorantans and other races are attempting to counter the threat. We are working to understand the phenomenon and develop a defense. This has taken a long time, and has used almost all our resources.«
Maya’s hands were shaking slightly. The Prophet knew about the MYZEL!
»What you’ve told us is vital! I’m calling for a Union Government assembly on Earth. They need to know, as well as Vasina and Arkroid,« she began, but was interrupted by a strong tremor that almost threw her off her feet. » Heavens, what was that?«
Not far from the platform’s edges, across from the portal, glowing circles appeared suddenly. They became exploding craters moments later.
Ivanova stood staring at the craters. It was only after the first Globusters emerged, their heads moving, scanning the area; that she took action and activated the tactical-comm.
»Attention – everybody! Assemble near the portal … up the stairs, fast! Run for your lives!«
Horrified, she looked at the Chiropter.
»Here’s your once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet the Globusters!« she managed to yell dryly.
Kuster~Laap was silent, watching the panicked Humans fleeing up the stairs toward the plateau and the portal.
Not everybody would make it, Maya could see from her elevated observation point. Again, she was in the middle of a nightmare scenario – with no escape!
Globusters … secured
»I’ve intercepted your primitive warheads with mobile dimensional fields, and shifted them into tachyon space,« the Conceptor announced, and the warheads disappeared from the holo. »There’s no danger!«
Drustev didn’t quite follow that, but was relieved. He let his breath out.
»They’ll be busy on the ship now, analyzing what just happened and planning a new attack,« he remarked.
The Chiropters started manipulating holographic interfaces on the consoles. Some of the consoles blinked like Christmas trees with three dimensional fields and control elements. The Conceptor stood watching his holo.
They’re reactivating the whole base! Petrow thought, and stared as more and more lens ships disappeared into the Globuster base ship. The landing field was swiftly emptied of the lenses.
»That looks like a retreat,« Drustev speculated nervously. »The Globs are leaving Sedna.«
»The degenerated technology can no longer dominate this base. The Mind Catchers have received orders to retreat to their mother ship.«
»What?« Petrow asked, with a doubting glance at Drustev.
Solar Union scientists had tried for months to decipher the Globuster’s trigital communication code – to no avail. It was hard to believe that the Chiropters had done it in such a short time, were even able to transmit commands to the Globusters.
»How did you manage to manipulate those beasts, let alone decipher their codes so fast?« Petrow inquired.
»You need to understand how the degenerated technology works,« replied the Conceptor. »You still see the Globusters as individuals – that is not correct. Think of the technology they are using, and you will see that they are merely slaves to the technology. They would never have been able to design the mother ship or the Globuster caves. Such thoughts are beyond them. But they feel safe inside the lens ships; even though the lenses don’t have any of the conditions beings like them need to feel at home. The Globusters are not the pilots, but integral parts of the lens ships.«
»Integral parts?« Nadja repeated. She didn’t understand.
»The main computer of this base was taken over and integrated by the degenerated technology as well,« the Conceptor added. »Functions were copied, changed and routines assimilated. This was, though, not a one-way street. Some of the degenerated technology was left in our main computer and has enhanced it with new properties. It was not so much a hostile takeover as a symbiosis. As the degenerated technology advanced through the system, becoming more dominant, it encountered me. It took me by surprise and saw in me a further enhancement to its systems. That’s why it didn’t eliminate me. The tachyon impulse gave me the strength to mentally separate myself from the technology.«
Petrow, Drustev and Bulkin listened to the Conceptor’s words, speechless. They found it hard to imagine a technology like this.
»Are you still wondering why the Globusters retreated?« the Conceptor continued, »it was because I commanded them. When I became a part of the degenerated technology collective, I found I had a voice – a powerful voice! I never used it before, but when I focused and channeled my thoughts, I was suddenly able to control the Globusters … to some degree, at least. And yet, some rudimentary part of the collective’s instinctive consciousness is still within me – it’s always trying to bend my will to its own, make despicable things … trying to pull me back in, even now. It all comes down to free will; at least today I have been victorious.«
»He’s mad!« whispered Nadja, circling her finger at her temple. Petrow thought that was pretty childish, but he ignored her comment.
»You can send mental impulses which the Globs take as friendly?« Petrow asked.
»Basically, yes,« the Conceptor replied.
»And your companions? Were they manipulated like the Globusters?« Petrow wanted to know.
The Chiropters Fourth Class interrupted their work, turned their heads toward Petrow and answered in unison, »We were protected in our temporal field!«
Petrow had his doubts.
The Chiropters began working hard, while trying to explain what they were doing.
»We are repairing the Matrix and removing the elements of degenerated technology from our computer’s memory; we’re also working to repair the system malfunctions. The Matrix gap will be closed by the spare projectors, but we’ll need to redirect the system orbits of some of the small stellar objects, as well as the ones that have drifted out of place over time. Then we’ll need to start a maintenance program to diagnose and repair the entire Matrix.«
»That’s all very nice,« Drustev commented dryly. He was growing more agitated and restless. »But if these Blues allow the Globuster base ship to get off the ground, you’re going to have to hold me back!« he told Petrow. »I don’t want to think about what they could do to Earth!«
Drustev needn’t have worried. A glowing energy web suddenly engulfed the base ship, holding it in place. Petrow suspected a barrier field, tying the ship down and preventing it from lifting off.
»How long can that web hold the base ship down?« Nadja wondered.
»Their ship will not leave unless I allow it!« the Conceptor announced.
One of the three Chiropters suddenly looked up.
»Your ship has just launched a shuttle.«
The space sector with the Blue Moon and one of the Hawks suddenly appeared in a holo.
»I’ll bet a hundred credits … that’s Nemov! They’re probably wondering what’s going on here!« Petrow remarked. »Let me try again to contact my people.«
Almost instantaneously a comm-channel was established directly to Petrow’s suit-comm.
»This is Igor Petrow! Approaching Hawk, please respond!« he called.
After two more attempts, Petrow heard a huffing and puffing from his suit speaker.
»Nemov, is that you?« Petrow asked excitedly.
»Commander, I’ve ordered the transmitter activated – against your direct orders, and you may court-martial me for it, but we’ve observed some unbelievable events on Sedna and we need to …«
»Don’t talk nonsense, Nemov!« Petrow interrupted. »You did right. We’re glad to hear you! We’ve made unbelievable discoveries ourselves. Prepare yourselves for some surprises! By the way, what were you trying to do with the Hawk, Nemov?«
»You don’t want to know, Commander. I have a bunch of boys with me who are wild to visit Sedna and try out the new Globuster fists! We also brought a mobile nuclear warhead with us, just in case!« Nemov declared. Petrow heard rough laughter in the background.
The Chiropters listened to the conversation, but Petrow wasn’t too sure if they would understand this kind of humor.
»Set the Hawk down on the landing field near the crater and wait there. We’ll pick you up!« commanded Petrow, with a grin.
»What about the Globs, Sir?« Nemov inquired. »We have a huge ship on our scanners, surrounded by some kind of unknown energy field!«
»… it’s all good, Nemov. Trust me! Land the Hawk and tell the crew to secure their weapons. There’s no reason to use them now … sorry to disappoint you.«
The attack
A race with death! Many of the landing commandos would not escape the Globusters’ wrath. The beasts stood near the still smoldering holes, swaying and scanning the surroundings. They might not be able to detect the commando – they saw in a different spectrum – but they could scan for bio-electric auras – and they found them! The system guardians must have infiltrated the portal platform long ago and remained in stasis until now.
Maya Ivanova was painfully aware that the Union Fleet had made some serious mistakes. The platform had been in enemy hands when they found it – they should have expected to find some unpleasant surprises under the platform or in the portal’s hollow spaces.
Maya couldn’t look as the first soldiers collapsed under the Globusters’ bio-electric attacks. The Globs sliced them to pieces with their sharp claws and brute strength. The teams defended themselves bravely, but with only conventional weapons, even laser weapons – they didn’t have a chance in Hell. Sections of the Tachyon Portal perimeter as well as the steps to the portal were covered with thick layers of blood. Screams for help and yells of agony filled the air. The sounds of the dying and mutilated, soldiers, some of them blinded, became almost unbearable.
Angrily, Ivanova turned and addressed the Chiropter.
»If it is in your power … then HELP US!« she yelled at him. »We don’t have the equipment to defend ourselves! Nobody expected them to be here!«
Nood’s and Naad’s nanopods seemed to be activating. Their armor now resembled clouds of flies, swarming away and then settling again on their bodies again like a second skin.
The Chiropter First Class looked down on the grim scene without emotion.
»The Brotherhood’s plan has failed!« he proclaimed. »The three agents in our Dimensional Base haven’t reported back as planned. They must have been eliminated by the enemy long ago. I should have realized that the system shield has also degenerated! The portal was meant to be a trap for the Prophet! That, though, will not be allowed!«
A few soldiers made it to the portal, gasping for breath, while others took up positions and fired their weapons into the advancing Globusters. Ricocheting bullets –deflected by the Globusters’ energy shields – whistled and cracked over the soldiers’ heads. Ivanova and Pi threw themselves to the ground.
»Maya!« Pi yelled, terrified, over the combat noise and pointed at Sworge, who was being approached by a Globuster. The Glob grabbed him and tore him apart in seconds, ignoring his furiously flailing hard tipped, stabbing tentacles – Sworge never had a chance against the beast’s defense shield and hard Globuster.
The Globuster screamed a victory cry, turned and ran toward a new victim.
»I demand that you help us!« Ivanova shouted. »If you can move the whole damn portal into another dimension, you can also save my soldiers!«
»You’re … giving me orders? You demand?« the Chiropter asked, unmoved, gazing up at the red, boiling sky. »If you can’t defend yourselves against these, how can you help defend this galaxy from a far more devastating threat?«
Ivanova turned back and looked at the scene.
»Listen, Kuster~Laap! If any more of my people die senselessly because you refuse to act, Humans will never forgive it! Then you and your rotten galaxy – including that Brotherhood of yours – can kiss our asses, goodbye!«
The Chiropter flapped his ears.
»You refuse your destiny?« Kuster~Laap returned with a deeper than usual voice.
Pi barked a laugh.
»If we survive this ordeal, I will personally see to it that this portal is destroyed, and if you’re still on it it’s too bad!« he declared loud and angrily, jabbing a finger at the portal. Maya was surprised to hear Pi raise his voice in anger. It seemed entirely out of character.
The soldiers who had reached the portal were not safe yet, with the Globusters on their heels. Later, no one was willing to say whether the ZyClonians had acted on their own or under received silent orders from Kuster~Laap … but suddenly they stepped up and positioned themselves at the upper landing. Their armor dissolved into millions of tiny fragments, forming clouds that looked like bee colonies on the move, and flew toward the Globusters. From the distance it seemed like two dust clouds moving down the steps. A few seconds later, the first Globusters were acting crazily. They abandoned their victims and ran toward the platform’s edge. Some of them leaped over the edge and exploded in a flash of light.
Nood and Naad watched as silently as ever. Their defeat of the Globuster advance seemed to invoke no feelings in them.
»How did you do that?« Maya asked when she had found her voice again. »How is that possible?«
A deep frequency sound wave hit Maya and Pi without warning as Kuster~Laap replied, »ZyClonians are masters of battle and warfare! They simply deployed their nanopods to destroy the Globusters’ implants, effectively defeating their defense and life-sustaining systems. They cannot abide the platform’s oxygen atmosphere and they die!«
Now Maya Ivanova understood what Sworge had meant with his warning. Kuster~Laap’s voice was deadly – for Humans as well!
The Globusters fell one after another, while the soldiers cheered. When the menace was ended the nanopods returned to their masters and formed their armor again.
»Is that what you wanted?« Kuster~Laap inquired dryly.
Maya looked at him – speechless.
The portal platform looked like a battlefield with dead soldiers and Globusters everywhere.
»No,« she replied mutedly and stared into the eyes of the Chiropter. »That’s not what I meant … but I guess we had no other choice.«
»There’s always a choice,« Kuster~Laap lectured her. »This time it was necessary to kill to safe other lives. I hope you will soon find different means to resolve your problems.«
»Our problems …?« Maya was about to let him hear what she was really thinking when the platform returned to normal space. The pulsating egg-like object pulverized itself and its substance returned to the ZyClonians.
»Fascinating,« Pi commented. »Intelligent nanobots that can restructure themselves as needed.«
Ivanova didn’t have time to think about nanobots and nanopods. She was looking at the dead soldiers on the platform and the steps.
»That’s right, Kuster~Laap!« She found that she was calmer, and rephrased her answer to the Chiropter. »We’ll have to be more careful in the future and expect things like this. We made mistakes we wouldn’t have survived without your help.«
The Chiropter didn’t answer – he only looked at her with sad eyes.
Get dressed
Even as I gave my warning, the Tachyon Portal disappeared from the holo. Too late! The Prophet had transferred the portal to another potential level, doubtless a security measure. That was more dangerous than he knew! I knew … no, I felt the Globusters hidden in the portal’s technical underbelly.
This is what we were waiting for, the ship’s soul whispered euphorically. Rejoice! We will recapture the portal and eliminate the Prophet! That was the plan – and our triumph will be complete!
I ignored the voice in my head and tried to explain to Nok Daralamai what was happening on the platform.
She didn’t understand. I couldn’t make it clear to her; I suspect that the ship’s soul was manipulating my vocal organs.
Suddenly, the portal returned to the Einstein continuum – after only 10 seconds!
Screams of horror went through the command central as the holo showed the horrific scene transmitted by the Hawks in orbit and the probes. It was a bloodbath! Globusters had surprised the landing commando and killed many of the soldiers.
Nok Daralamai leaped from her seat.
»What just happened? We only lost contact with the portal for a heartbeat! What’s going on down there?« She wanted answers.
»We not only lost contact in space … also in time,« I tried to explain with a croaking voice.
She looked at me angrily.
»Tell me what you know, Hassan!«
Nok Daralamai didn’t wait for my answer. She turned and ordered the Triton Hawks to the platform. But she had called me by my name! The ship’s soul had lied to me – they did still consider me one of them!
I forced control into my voice. »The platform shifted in time as well as space, warping the time line,« I explained calmly. »The Globusters were already on the platform, hidden in the cavities underneath it. The time-space continuum, the platform moved into, has different laws and it’s accelerated in time and relation to us. I’m sorry that I couldn’t warn you.«
Nok looked at me, pondering.
»How do you know this, Hassan Khalil? Did you know their plans in advance? If you did, and let it happen anyway, you’ll pay for it, dearly! Your warning came conveniently too late … could’ve been also a move to weasel yourself out of the situation.«
»No!« I replied quickly. »I became aware of it as it unfolded. I can see it, feel it!«
She looked at me, unbelieving. I knew that she would never understand it. Useless to explain to her how the ship’s soul had enhanced my senses.
NEBULAR Collection 3 - Morgotradon: Episodes 12 - 16 Page 34