by Frank Carey
"Then we better get going. Losi, you need to stay here. I'm sorry. If we fail..."
"You won't. Now, go save your daughter."
Harm took her hand and linked, transferring all his knowledge to her. "Ariana, you will stay as well, but stand ready. We may need you to save our asses."
Before she could protest, Lortan looked at his sister and took her hand, linking with her. "He's right. You must stay."
She nodded, "Yes, My Liege. Both of you, please be careful."
Moments later, as Harm and Lortan headed toward the building, Losira and Ariana lifted off to prepare for the worst while praying for the best.
###
Shenda stared at the control console and cursed the universe, as she ran sequences of button presses in an attempt at activating the control systems. "What the hell is the problem with this antique?" she yelled, while giving it a swift kick. She sat down on the floor and leaned against the wall, her eyes closed as she beseeched the Creator for help and guidance.
"You are a believer?" Vermeer asked as he joined her on the floor.
"Nothing formal, and I hate dogma. I believe in a higher power that prefers to offer suggestions in lieu of taking the situation in hand and fixing things via miracles. I guess my Dad and Mom taught me that. What about you?"
I believe in a higher power that led to our creation. Whether or not it's still around is subject to debate, though I have been in situations where prayer was definitely required."
"Like now?" she asked.
"Perhaps, or perhaps we are approaching this the wrong way. How old are you?"
"Twenty-one standard years, why?"
"Do you know what a circuit breaker is?"
"Yes, it protects power systems by cutting off current flow when there is an overload. All modern versions are opto-cybernetic with built-in power backups."
"A technology which would have failed centuries ago. What about a mechanical light switch?"
"Nope. Either I light a candle or tell the computer to illuminate the room, why?"
"When I was young, our houses, ships, and conveyances used mechanical versions of both devices. Now, think about it. If all this ran on computers, Cleth and Hernog could have entered the system and taken control of everything, but they're non-corporeal with all their telekinetic powers removed. They couldn't throw a mechanical switch or breaker if their miserable lives depended on it. Look for a box inset into a wall, a console, or the floor."
The two of them looked around the room. Finally, Shenda found something. "Over here," she said, while kneeling down next to a console leg. Each control console stood on a pair of wide rectangular legs. This leg had a rectangular plate embedded in it. As Vermeer walked over, she hit it with the heel of her hand. The plate swung open revealing a large, three-bladed knife switch. "Ah, the switch of choice of any mad scientist worth their salt," she quipped. "I remember this from some of my Dad's favorite movies," she said, while grasping the Bakelite handle and twisting it upwards, causing the three blades to bridge the gap between circuits. The room lit-up with status lights, as power flowed through the system for the first time in millions of years. As the two watched, monitors emerged from the walls while filling with information. "Hey, I can read this," she said.
"Of course you can," Cleth said as he appeared, sitting on an unused bench. "It is the language of my people. I guess I rubbed off on you."
"How are my sibs doing?"
"They are fine. In fact, they're resting comfortably. They will continue to do so as long as you are making progress. So where are you with your task?"
"We've gotten power to the systems. Now, we have to find the part which controls the ED field," Vermeer said.
"Excellent. Try not to dawdle. Hernog and I bore easily," Cleth said nonchalantly. "Please join us in the big room at the end of the hallway when you're finished. Tootles!" He blinked out, leaving Vermeer and Shenda alone.
"I would really enjoy watching him die," Shenda said as she turned back to the console.
"Copy that," Vermeer said as he did the same a moment later. "No wonder his people exiled him."
Shenda looked down and saw the buttons on the console now had labels, labels she could read. Remembering her utility belt, she reached into a pouch and pulled out a datapad that, up until now, had been useless due to the range dampening caused by the ED field. She activated it and scrolled to the Standard Language Dictionary and Grammar section. She then placed the device on the console while pressing a series of switches. The console blinked, shut down, and returned with all labels and displays in Standard. "The other language was giving me a headache," she explained.
"I can imagine,” Vermeer replied as he input commands into the console at lightning speed. The main displays filled with what looked like a history synopsis. "Hmmmm,” he said as he brought up more windows. "This is not good," he muttered.
Shenda was also reading the information on the displays. "Dammmmmmn!" she said as she caught up with the ancient Sokuhl. "Their whole damn race enslaved a galaxy. Cleth and Hernog were trapped here because they pissed off their elders. What kind of people think it’s OK to exile others for hundreds of millions of years?"
"Anti-life. Cleth and Hernog are incompatible with the life in this galaxy, but how can we stop them?" Vermeer asked.
"You have to kill me." Shenda said simply. "He said he would die with me as long as he was inside of me. Vermeer, you have to kill me. There is no other way."
"There's always another way. Did I forget to teach you that?" Harm said as he stepped through the door.
"Daddy?" Shenda said in disbelief as she ran up and hugged her father.
"Hey, Kiddo, I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop by," he said as he kissed the top of her head. "Who's your friend?"
"Harmon Aymar, this is Vermeer."
Harm freed a hand and offered it in Sokuhl greeting which Vermeer returned. "Thanks for taking care of her. She's my life."
"Your Highness, I could do nothing less."
"Please, just Harmon. And this is Lortan," Harm said with a nod to the younger elf.
"Lortan!" Shenda hissed. "His people shot the skipper..."
"Yeah, and he feels really bad about that. He's working for Losi and me, now, so cut him some slack. Listen, your sibs are safe. Gloria pulled a switcheroo, so Cleth is playing with hamster balls instead of your sister and brothers."
"Are they OK?"
"Peachy keen and worried sick about you, as is Lenora."
"I didn't think your mother liked us."
"Things changed when she found out you four share her bloodline."
Shenda stopped. "You know?"
"I'm the Smuggler Elf, I know everything. Didn't you read my dossier?" he asked with a crooked grin.
"Dad, I..."
He put a finger to her lips. "You're fine. I have a lot of explaining to do, but this isn't the place to do it. We need to kill that field and pronto. Gloria isn't sure how long her ruse is going to hold."
"Sir, did you say kill the field?" Vermeer asked incredulously. "Is that wise?"
Harm removed his pack and extracted the eAIRU unit from it. "This device contains a hamster ball and transfer unit, but it only works on a non-attached, non-corporeal life form, like Hereth. It won't grab Cleth or Hernog while they're connected to something either living or cybernetic."
"Dad, that's risky."
"You don't know the half of it. Trust me. This caper is giving me the heebie-geebies."
"What do we need to do?" Vermeer asked.
"Find the field off-switch. I need to talk to Lortan for a minute, then I'll give you a hand."
"Sir, won't Hernog and Cleth know you're here?"
"Damn skippy they know, and I'm counting on their arrogance to help us pull this off. In their minds, we're toys to play with. Let them keep thinking that as I plunge a sword through their damn hearts."
Shenda hugged her father one more time. "Thanks," she said.
"For what?"
"Saving my petite ass."
He tousled her hair. "Your welcome." He stepped away to talk to Lortan, while she and Vermeer got to work.
"Lortan, I have a task for you."
"Sire?"
"You are to get those two out of here the minute the field comes down. I'm entrusting you with their lives. You are to get them back to the Magog, grab your sister, and take the skiff out of here. Losira and I will take care of the ugly twins."
"No, sir. I will not."
"Excuse me?"
"We will succeed, all of us, together."
"Really? And how do you know this?"
"Call it a hunch, call it a premonition. Before, I let anger and hurt cloud my judgment. My sight is clear now. Together, we will vanquish this foe."
Harm looked at Lortan for a moment before asking, "You dated Losi? Aren't you a little young for her?"
He shrugged. "She's hot. What can I say?"
"Hot? Wow. OK. Stay. Just don't get killed. Your sister would have my ass on a spit if anything happened to you."
"Probably. She is the epitome of warrior female."
"Come on. Let's give Shenda and Vermeer a hand setting our trap."
Harm and Lortan rejoined Vermeer and Shenda, and the four got to work on bringing down the field generator. By working together, they quickly isolated the circuits. "What do you think, Vermeer?" Harm asked. He pointed to a schematic of a sub-system labeled "Cage."
"Yes. Yes, this is what we are looking for. I've seen similar systems on old freighters. Unless I miss my guess, it will take approximately ten minutes for the field to collapse after we initiate a system shut down."
"I concur," Harm said as he pressed a switch.
Alarms sounded which Shenda silenced with the press of another switch. "Now what?" she asked.
"Lortan and I go layout some cookies for our hosts. Give us three minutes, then join us in the big room. If Cleth shows up wondering why you're still here, just tell him you’re monitoring the system. He stopped talking and hugged her before taking her hand in his and squeezing it. "This will work, youngster."
"It better," she replied.
Harm stood up. While he and Lortan checked their weapons, he looked at Vermeer. "Sir, if this goes sideways, you need to get my daughter out of here. Her aunt will detonate my ship's engines if she thinks we've failed. The Magog has a small skiff. Get in it and get off this planet."
"Daddy!" Shenda exclaimed.
"You have my word, sire." Vermeer said with a bow.
Giving Shenda one last hug, Harm grabbed the eAIRU and headed out the door with Lortan in close pursuit.
"Now we wait," Vermeer said as he leaned back against a console.
Shenda said nothing as worry overcame her. She absentmindedly placed something in her pocket before sitting back, counting off the seconds until show time.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Shenda and Vermeer walked into the room to find Cleth and Hernog standing side by side at the room's center next to the hard case containing the eAIRU. "I think I saw this in an old movie," Shenda noted.
"I saw that movie,'" Vermeer noted. “They really work the ‘Evil twin’ look.”
"Roger that," Shenda said as she grabbed his arm. She was surprised at how soft it was. Only then did she realize Vermeer was more like an Earth horned lizard than a true dragon. His spikes were soft, not hard at all.
"What took you so long, or should we ask your father?" Hernog asked with a smile. "Harmon, why don't you and Lortan join us?"
The two elves emerged from the shadows on opposite sides of the room and walked over to stand on either side of Shenda and Vermeer. "Hey demon, Shenda and Vermeer have kept their part of the bargain. Why not let her sibs go?"
Cleth's grin was frightening. "Done. Oh wait, they're dead. My bad."
Shenda screamed.
Harm and Lortan opened fire.
The energy bolts passed through the two demons without any noticeable effect.
"Is that all you got, elf?" Hernog asked in a voice that could freeze lava.
Harm reached into his pocket and pulled out the remote. "Try this, demon," but before he could activate the eAIRU, Cleth raised his foot and brought it down on the hard case, crushing it to dust.
"Oh my, my telekinesis powers are back. How did I do that? Did it look like I really used my foot?" he sneered.
With a wave of her hand, Hernog threw Lortan into the wall where he fell unconscious. Meanwhile, Cleth raised his arm and threw Harm against a stone pillar, pinning him in place eight-feet off the ground. Vermeer pushed Shenda out of the way while running over to attend to Lortan.
"Demon, leave Shenda alone. She's as much a victim in all this as you are," Harm screamed.
"I will not hurt her. I cannot hurt her, but I can make her watch as I crush you to death."
A chime sounded as the room lights blinked.
The field collapsed.
Thousands of years of waiting ended as Hernog and Cleth merged to become Hereth. Harm fought back the urge to scream as the mega demon came into being mere feet away from him.
"I live," a voice like a thousand thunderclaps said. "Now, I will feed on this galaxy's inhabitants until I am strong enough to return to my home where I will bestow vengeance on my kind. Elf, you will be my first..."
"My God you're boring."
Everyone, demon, elf, and Sokuhl turned and looked at Shenda. She stood there; her hair mussed, her clothes ruffled, holding a remote control in her hand. She pressed a button on it, deactivating the magnetic field holding the real eAIRU box to the ceiling above Hereth. It dropped to the ground just in front of the demon, its ready light blinking red.
"Shenda, dear, perhaps we could talk about this," the demon said as Harm slid to the floor.
"Hereth, dear... SHUT THE PLARK UP!" Shenda yelled as she pressed the activation button on the remote.
Harm got up off the floor. Ignoring the pain from his broken ribs, he ran over to Shenda, dragged her to the far wall, and shielded her from what was about to come as Vermeer did the same for the semi-conscious Lortan. Meanwhile, Hereth screamed as it struggled to free itself from the eAIRU's containment field. It was no use. The unit’s case blew off revealing a glowing hamster ball inside. From underneath the ball, thousands of microbots swarmed outward to englobe the demon. Harmon, Vermeer, and Shenda watched as the cloud of bots swirled around the demon while the hamster ball grew in brightness. Soon, Hereth's screams subsided as it was transferred into the ball. Moments later, their job completed, the bots deactivated, falling to the floor like black snow.
Harm sat back against the wall next to his daughter as Losira, Ariana, and Team One ran in with weapons hot. Harm pointed to Lortan. "Him first." While Losira and the Team One medic tended to Lortan, Marta ran over, then jumped out of her power suit to check on Harm and Shenda while Royce and Sana watched the glowing hamster ball.
"Are you two OK?" she asked as she checked them for injuries.
"Ow!" Harm said as she pressed a rib. "Brute!"
"Wuss! How are you doing, young lady?"
"Fine, how are my sibs doing?" Shenda asked as she stood up.
"Great, though the three hamster balls being used as their surrogates are toast. Gloria said she never saw one melt before."
Shenda walked past Royce and stopped in front of Hereth's new home. Dad, is it in there?"
With Marta's help, Harm got up and hobbled over to where she stood. "It's in there and the only way out is through a transfer device which we don't have."
"What if the ball broke?"
"It would die, why..."
In one motion, Shenda reached down, picked the ball up, and threw it into a wall with enough force to shatter it into dust. There was a flash of light, then nothing.
"Problem solved," she said as she put her arms around him and drew strength from him.
He looked at Marta who shrugged.
"Dad, Mom, can we go home now?"
"Losi? How's Lortan doing?"
>
"He'll live," she replied as Ariana helped him to stand up.
"I think we're finished here," Royce said as he signaled Team one to head out. "Dr. Vermeer, need a lift?"
"No, no, no. I have much work to do now that the lights are on. Yes, much work to do." He walked over to Shenda and extended his hand, palm up this time in a Sokuhl goodbye. "Fair journey, young elfling. You have done well this day."
She took his hand in hers and placed her forehead against his palm. "Hero of Ventos Prime. May your searches prove fruitful."
As Vermeer watched, the others walked out the door and into the waiting ships. He looked up and saw blue sky, a sign of a good day to come.
###
Harm sat in his office, finishing the final after-action report concerning Vodalorn. On the way back from the planet, it had been decided the hamster ball had been damaged during Hereth's attack on Harm. This damage caused the ball to fail when the system completed its cycle. No mention was made of a young elfling making use of a wicked pitch to eliminate the problem stored in the ball.
A knock at the door interrupted him. "Come!" he called, out while signing the report.
He looked up and saw Shenda sitting in the seat across from him. Her ability to walk silently through a room never failed to amaze him. "Hey, Kiddo. How's it going?"
She stared at him. "Do you think they buy them?"
"Buy what?"
"The lies you, Mom, and everyone else wrote in those reports?"
"Not lies. Half-truths. Anyway, nothing happened."
"What did you say?"
"Officially, nothing happened. The Rachel hit an alien stealth mine left over from some long-forgotten war. The skipper was injured, you took over, ejected the pods, and rode the Rachel down, making sure she crashed someplace devoid of people. Vermeer found you, and you were rescued. OffSec loves the story. The League loves the story, and the Tench love the story. Everyone's happy."