THE VROL TRILOGY

by SK Benton

  "I am aware of who you are, sir. Chairman Johnson has repeatedly put out holo-verts regarding your disappearance over the past weeks. It is tragic what has happened, but how are a few people, even though powerful, going to change the fate of millions? And please, call me Janice. That goes for you too, Max. Even your mother calls me that now, as I address her by her first name. I am certain you will not mind my dropping Master from your title, hmm?"

  "All good for me… Janice. And to answer your question, we are just the start. G is going to contact his underground once we have created enough space down here," said Max.

  "G? Who is G, Max?" asked the former caretaker.

  Bagatelle raised his hand. "Janice, that's what my friends call me, and-"

  "What is the meaning of this?" cried out Krynos. "Do you not consider me a friend, Bagatello? I demand the right, as your king, to call you this G also!"

  "King Krynos, you may call me anything you like. In fact, I would prefer you call me G instead of by my many surnames," responded Bagatelle comically, completely relieved that the large lycan leader would no longer be mangling his last name.

  "Just a minute," said Janice, "King Krynos? Like, a real king from somewhere?"

  "My dear, welcome, please welcome. I believe introductions are in order. I am Draagh, father of these two fine archangels, Michael and Gabriel, both of whom you already know. That makes me Max's grandfather. This is King Krynos of the Rhönen Dominion, in what is known was Germany on Earth, but in the 43rd century. Yes, yes, we have also travelled through time, and it is there where we shall bring you for your safety. Going on, you already know of Mr. Bagatelle, but over here is our friend Jessica. She comes from an alternate timeline on Old-Earth and is also lycan, as I am sure you have detected."

  Janice looked around and nodded to everyone. Liliana was still over with her grandmother, worried for her, as she had a difficult time with the whole escape and transport. Draagh looked over and conjured a large bed, prompting Janice and Jennie to virtually carry the sedated woman over and allow her to rest.

  "Grandfather, are we going to return home soon? I can help care for Abuelita," said the little lycan.

  "Yes my dear girl, very soon. I believe we may stay here and do some more work before returning to the Dominion. Max, would you care to take your family back while we continue our work?"

  "Sure. I'll get Socrates to help. It's a complex trek," answered Max, who then stepped off to the side and conjured his infopanel. He already had the coordinates for the Rhönen Dominion in his ghanlo, but as they were inside an enclosed space he would need to navigate first to the Hub, and then off to his home in Krynos' castle, as a direct 4D slip would require a massive sphere of influence.

  Gathering himself, his wife and daughter, Janice Wong and his semi-conscious mother together, Max called on Socrates, who appeared in his typical fashion - glowing particles gathering together, forming a golden visage.

  "Ah, young Max. It is good to see you again. I see we have some fellow travelers," said the computerized assistant.

  "Yeah, Socrates. We need to get to the castle through the Hub. This place is too small for us to slip directly."

  "Very well then. Query: Shall we also be taking this bed?"

  "No, just us. Ok pops, we'll see you in a while," said Max as he waved off to everyone.

  Even though the group was going through the Hub, no one but Max even realized they had been there as the transition was so fast. It was a brief moment in local time and the group was standing outside Krynos' castle in the same familiar open place.

  "Wait here. I'm taking mom to our sub-chambers," said Max, who then put his arm around his mother and picked her up, followed by their immediate disappearance. He returned moments later and escorted Janice into the massive castle they called home. Liliana ran over to tend to her shark pets, while the three adults entered into the castle's courtyard where Donus greeted them.

  "Commander. It is good to see you yet again. And whom do we have here? A new face, and a confused one at that."

  Max turned to look at Janice and noticed she was looking around in all directions, sniffing the air, as if she were lost.

  "Max, something is wrong. I can't smell anything. My hearing is degraded also," exclaimed Janice, noticing that her enhanced lycan sensibilities were not functioning.

  "Oh wow, I totally forgot. Sorry. You see, when my father changed you it was to function on Azul. The frequencies here are different, but we can fix that because Draagh came up with a special serum that enables the bypassing of certain protein synthesis blockers. In short, your abilities will work anywhere. We, as humans, were originally intended to be able to access nature on any world, but we were genetically modified centuries ago when the Prīmulī stripped mankind of all enhanced abilities. Oh, and Donus, this is Janice Wong. She practically raised me. My own mother is on our sub-chambers sleeping due to the fact that she had a difficult journey."

  Donus smiled and looked Janice over carefully. He had seen many types of people, but those of Asiatic descent were extremely rare in his part of the planet.

  "It is my pleasure to meet you, young lady. Welcome to the Rhönen Dominion. I am Master Commander Donus, at your service. It is good to see you again, Jennie Gunnarsson."

  Janice bowed out of respect, but still uncomfortable with her lack of sensory input.

  "Draagh, can you hear me? Does this thing work through space/time?" Max asked over his comm.

  "Yes, my son. It most certainly can. We have quite a communications system set up, do we not?" responded the ancient mage, conveying amusement in his mental voice.

  "Janice is kinda having a meltdown here. Here senses are all pretty much like those of a normal. Will the serum you concocted work on her?"

  "Oh yes, it should work just fine. There are some vials of it in my study. One injection should suffice."

  "Janice, let's go take care of your bad sniffer," said Max, as he went to lead her out of the courtyard and to Draagh's office along with Jennie.

  "Donus, I'll be back shortly to check on the recon battle group. Shall we meet for dinner? All of us?" asked Jennie as they walked away.

  "Dinner it shall be, Jennie Gunnarsson. We shall meet then."

  ###

  The three entered Draagh's study, with Janice looking around in amazement. She had never been in an ancient castle, and didn't even understand how she could be in the future, but she was there and would make the best of it. Looking around, she saw arcane looking candles and manuscripts all over the place, adding to the old castle effect. Draagh wasn't exactly a tidy immortal, but at least he knew where everything was.

  "Max, what is it exactly that you are going to do?" she asked.

  "I'm going to inject you with a serum that will make everything ok. Don't worry. You'll slowly begin to regain your senses within minutes."

  Max took a sterile needle and near-painlessly injected the serum into Janice's arm while Jennie used the comm to call Liliana back from the moat, instructing her to meet them in her parents' sub-chambers.

  "Come with us, Janice. Let's go check on Mom," said Max as he went to exit Draagh's study.

  Going up numerous corridors, they arrived at he and Jennie's chambers. Entering, they went off to a side room, usually reserved for Liliana when she wanted to sleep near her parents. Entering, they saw Clarisa Gunnarsson sleeping peacefully. But Janice seemed alarmed. Running up to the woman she had served for so many years, she started to analyze her face. Pulling the covers down off Clarisa, Janice took the woman's hands into hers and looked at them carefully.

  "Max, she looks amazing! It is almost as if she has… oh. She's healing, isn't she?"

  "Yeah, she is. It's a pretty profound effect and happens rather quickly. You should have seen G before we brought him here. He looked like an old man. Within days he was in his prime again, as will be my mother."

  "But how does this happen to her, while I needed a serum?" asked Janice.

  "Janice, it's that you were al
ready changed by Michael so long ago. This world is different - it is attuned to the specific frequency of all humans - a frequency that was changed in our ancestors centuries ago. So while you didn't gel with it right away, it is perfect for mom. However, she'll also need a treatment if she wishes to retain her enhanced abilities when off this world."

  Janice nodded her head with understanding, as Liliana went bursting into the room.

  "Is Abuelita awake yet?" cried out the little girl, extremely preoccupied for the grandmother she had recently met for the first time.

  "No, not yet, sweetie, but we'll probably wake her soon. She will have a lot of questions, so you need to be calm and patient, ok?" said Jennie as she fixed the young girl's hair, pulling her ponytail back properly.

  "Of course, Mami. And I am sure that Mrs. Wong shall also want to help care for Abuelita," the little girl said sweetly.

  Draagh, Bagatelle, Krynos, the brothers and Jessica had wrapped up some walls in the third massive chamber they had created and decided to return to the castle. Things were going to become a whole lot more complex. The now had multiple worlds and timelines to navigate through, but between them all they had four who were capable of trans-dimensional 4D slipping, including Max. They were going to need to dig out a massive slip chamber for transporting large quantities of people directly between worlds. While it was easy to use the Hub as a transit point, Draagh's study there could only facilitate a few people. However, they decided to return to the castle and join everyone for dinner. Plus, Draagh wanted to assist with Max's mom in any way he could.

  "Ah, I am indeed suffering from the gnawing hunger that grows within my belly!" bellowed Krynos, holding his stomach. It was true - everyone was hungry, and while Draagh or his sons could have simply conjured food, they all chose to go back.

  Moments later the group of six were crossing the drawbridge and entering the courtyard area. Citizens called out Krynos' name and bowed, which was commonplace. The group split off, with Bagatelle going to shower, Gabriel and Jessica going off to do whatever they did when they disappeared (many had suspicions, but no one truly knew), Michael going to Max and Jennie's chambers, and Krynos of course going to his throne room to check messages.

  Michael lightly knocked on the massive wooden door, which was quickly opened by Liliana.

  "Hello, Abuelito! Please come in. Papi is about to awaken Abuelita."

  "Thank you, Liliana," he said as he entered and went directly to the side room where everyone was.

  "How does Clarisa fare, my son?" asked Michael.

  Max still wasn't used to Michael calling him son, and probably wasn't going to start calling him Father or Dad anytime soon, but he took things a day at a time.

  "She's fine. She'll be awake any minute now."

  The group sat around the large, wood-framed bed and watched as Max's mother awoke from her sedated condition. Groggily, she lifted up her head and looked at her son, and then at Janice, who were the closest to her.

  "Hiya, Jan. Max… where are we?" she asked tiredly.

  "Mom, just relax. Shhh. Remember how you met my wife and daughter, and then we got you out of the prison apartment? We're where I live now. You're perfectly safe here, ok? Just remain calm."

  Clarisa looked over and saw Jennie and Liliana off to the other side of the bed and she waved weakly to them.

  "Oh hello, sweetie. What is your name? I'm sorry - Liliana?"

  "Yes, that is quite correct, Abuelita," responded the young girl politely.

  Clarisa got a big smile on her face and seemed to relax back into her massive pillow, but then saw Michael standing in the entrance to the room. According to him, she wasn't supposed to remember a thing about their relationship, but he was wrong, and it was all about the salubots now coursing through her system.

  "You…you! How could… who are you? I remember your face. I remember your smell. You left me with a… child," she said with confusion in her voice.

  Michael was shocked and backed away slightly as Max detected a potential issue.

  "Michael, do not move. She is regenerating. Her brain engrams are being reactivated; overriding whatever it was you did to make her forget. Come here and be kind. There is no avoiding this," Max said to his father, not over the comm, but directly via their genetic mental connection.

  Michael walked over with a calm smile on his face and sat next to the bed. The last time he had seen Clarisa Gunnarsson, she was called Clarisa Martinez, and she was extremely beautiful - near on par with Jennie. Now, although she was slowly being restored, she was much older looking than anyone in the entire kingdom. Nevertheless, she was an immensely attractive woman, even in her advanced years as a normal.

  "Yes, hello Clarisa. You know me? I am Michael - Mija-El. Tell me what you remember, please."

  His voice was soft and calm, and there was no distress in it at all. He was easing her back slowly. Restoring memories was one thing and could be controlled, but hers were being restored in an uncontrolled fashion, naturally, which one could have considered being preferable anyway.

  "Yes, Michael. Why did you leave? We were - together. I remember. We were in love, and you left. You made me forget, but somehow I know you did that. Why did you leave?"

  "I am truly sorry, but it was forbidden for me to have a relationship with a…" Michael started, but saw Max with a panicked look on his face. "I was recalled to where I worked and it would not have been comfortable for you. I did the only thing I could - I found you a wonderful man, and you both raised Max to be an amazing person."

  Clarisa looked over at Max and smiled saying, "Yes, he is wonderful. He is strong and he is… just a minute. Where are we? And don't you start with any tall tales now, Maximilianus Xavier Gunnarsson! I want the full story," she demanded, having fully regained her senses.

  So Max carefully told his mother everything up to that point. There were a lot of bases to cover, and he made his best effort to ease her into each and every concept; how she was a lycan and was currently healing and actually becoming younger in appearance and health. The best part, however, was when Max exposed his wings to her and then Michael did the same.

  "I always knew you were my little angel, Max," she murmured. And then looking at Michael said, "I must look hideous to you, all old and wrinkly," which caused Michael to drop down onto a knee by her bed and take her hand into his.

  "No, not in the slightest. It is the soul that is essence of one's beauty. And your soul shines like the twin stars in Azul's system," he kindly said, as he gazed into her still beautifully-piercing green eyes.

  Max sat back and rolled his eyes, making sure neither of his parents saw. Then, the second-best part of the reunion happened:

  "Abuelita - would you like to see a demonstration of my magical skills?" asked Liliana with a voice of pure innocence, as her mother started to say, "Oh my god, Lili, no-"

  The little girl released a feral castle cat in the room and started to pelt it with unspoken electrocution cantuses. The cat screamed with shrill howls as it flew out into the main room of the chambers, scrambling up the curtains. Michael was about to berate his granddaughter until he saw that Clarisa was clapping her hands in delight.

  "Oh yeah Michael. I didn't tell you. Mom doesn't care much for cats. She's lycan, remember?" said Max, as he laughed and flicked the cat out of the room with a gesture, and watched Jennie scoop Liliana up in her arms.

  "I guess I can get used to the cats, and the sharks… and the occasional, horrifically burned castle staffer," said Michael.

  "Yup, she's a love. Gotta admit it," added Janice.

  Chapter 28 - Mr. Chairman

  "Sir, you asked to be notified immediately in the case of anything that seems odd, or… supernatural," said Coby Worthington, Chairman Len Johnson's Chief of Staff. There was a bit of a tremble in his voice, as there usually was with anyone who had to deal directly with Johnson.

  "Yes, what is it? What do you have to report?" demanded Johnson as he sat in his plush, leather office chair,
while looking out the window over the central plaza in New Sydney.

  "There were two incidents, apparently related. An individual under surveillance, and another in our guest apartments are now both missing."

  "How does that make them related incidents?" he inquired, as he spun around in his chair to face his employee.

  "They are the mother of Commander Gunnarsson, and their house servant - both women are now missing, and there appears to have been some scrambling of the surveillance vids."

  Worthington definitely had Johnson's attention, as the newly-minted dictator gave him a direct glare that caused the subordinate's blood to freeze.

  "Let me get this right. Both the mother and the servant of Commander Gunnarsson are missing, having somehow escaped. Surveillance has been compromised. And this happened when?"

  "Two days ago, sir."

  "Were there any witnesses to anything at all?"

  "Yes sir. We have been interrogating the military team that was sent to question Janice Wong, the Gunnarsson's housekeeper. Apparently, she was inside her home, and then exited from a shed out on the property with no vid to show her having gone there in the first place. It was like she simply appeared in another location. Once this had been determined, the team was sent out, but they all claim they were questioning her in the living room, and then they woke up on the ground and she was already gone. Every soldier and the commanding officer recounted the same exact tale. Unfortunately, two of the soldiers we were questioning did not survive our techniques."

  Len Johnson didn't really care that the women had escaped, except for the possibility that it was Commander Gunnarsson who had assisted them. There was no proof that he had even survived his attempted trip to Old-Earth, but in the case that the young scientific commander was indeed alive, Johnson wanted him - for a number of reasons. First, to force him to replicate the SSCC hook drive technology he had invented, and second to find if he had seen Johnson's son, Ryder, on Old-Earth. Then he wanted to kill Gunnarsson. Johnson subscribed to more of a Mao Tse Tung-type of political philosophy; confiscate, control and then kill the experts, while keeping all of the knowledge and riches. The other thing that came to mind was that Rear Admiral Bagatelle also disappeared a few weeks prior, and it seemed a bit suspicious that people, who were connected - no matter how remotely, would simply be poofing into nothingness.