THE VROL TRILOGY

by SK Benton

  "Well, that is assuming she likes boys, Jennie," stated Alicia.

  "Oh, she likes boys alright. You should have seen her exchange with your nephew," Jennie shot back, getting a bit of a grin on her face.

  "Exchange? What kind of exchange?" asked Alicia, looking totally surprised.

  "Oh god, it was classic. Kyle saw her and blushed. Then Lili stared him down - you know, the typical I like you so I'll act antagonistic towards you type of behavior?" Max contributed. "Now Kyle is a few years older than Lili, but when lycan girls come of age they mature quickly and basically look like young women by age fourteen"

  "Well, that's nothing new. I was pretty much that way," responded Alicia.

  "Yup, me too," added Jennie. "I was barely in high school and had university boys hitting on me.

  "Well, you are gorgeous," responded Alicia. "Were your boobs that perfect in high school?"

  "Yeah, pretty much. You don't know how many guys I slapped because they couldn't look me in the face while talking to me," she laughed.

  I wish mine were like Jennie's. Damn, she's lucky. How can they be so perfect?

  "And, of course, you two fine, lovely ladies are both lycan," interrupted Draagh, "even though your genes were recessive on the world of your birth. Think about it - did you ever notice that girls who tended to be angular and pale would not mature as rapidly as others?"

  "Come to think of it, yes. That is true. There was this girl, Rebecca Norton, and she would totally be pegged for a vampire if she were here. She looked like she was twelve when she was sixteen. Totally underdeveloped, and her skin was like alabaster," said Jennie.

  "But then by the time you went to university what did she look like?" asked Max.

  "She was even more angular, and kinda pretty in her own, gothic sort of way. She ended up being a real bitch, too."

  "Vampire. Definitely a vampire," said Max.

  "And by the way, Draagh, that was totally mean what you did to Liliana - calling her out as having a crush on Kyle," Jennie scolded the old mage.

  "My dear girl, you, more than anyone, are aware of the damage your child can inflict with her nascent magical experimentations. I did what I felt was necessary to make the girl aware that Kyle was a boy, and not merely some toy to be played with. And she does indeed have what you would call a crush on him. He is a handsome lad."

  "So how is Kyle doing? I'd like to see him quickly before you return me to my stall. I'm afraid my office will become suspicious," said Alicia, who was becoming a bit anxious.

  "Stall? What stall are you talking about?" asked Jennie.

  "I grabbed her from a toilet stall where there were no surveillance cameras. Max, you will really need to get rid of all of the lack of privacy on your world once we have solved this little dilemma," Michael said.

  "Actually, that was a pretty smart idea, if you think about it. And if they start putting cameras in toilet stalls it will certainly signal the end of the Universe," joked Jennie.

  "Ali, I know where he's at. Hey guys, we'll be back in a bit," said Bagatelle as he stood and helped Alicia up from her seat, not intending to go directly to see her nephew right away.

  Michael picked up on Bagatelle's vibe and grinned, telling them that she didn't need to worry about getting back right away. He had placed a humaniform dummy with her likeness on the toilet seat in her stall, and it was letting out a series of painful groans and sounds of flatulence, much like some suffering from diarrhea. The archangel had developed a rather odd sense of humor over the eons.

  As Bagatelle and Alicia made a beeline in the exact opposite direction of where Kyle was being housed (causing everyone to lightly snicker), Max stood up, gave his wife a lingering kiss, and then looked over at his father, ready to go to Luna and do a little archangel reconnoitering. He had actually been looking forward to flying around with Michael, and hoped he would learn a trick or two about using his wings, which he had only generated a few times, and those being mostly for show.

  "Brother, worry not for Miss Vasquez. I shall place her back into her toilet facility and remove the monstrosity that you had created in her stead," Gabriel said with a bit of amusement to his voice.

  "Ok, I'll be right back - I need to change into something more suitable for a recon mission," said Max, fully intending on not only retrieving his katana, but also his personal console and his stinger.

  After he ran off, Jennie went up to Michael and asked, "Would you please do the slips, that is, until Max gets really good at them? I… just get so nervous."

  Michael looked into his daughter-in-law's beautiful brown eyes and said, "He is becoming quite proficient, my dear. But do not worry. I'll be with him. He needs to practice, and besides that, we all wear trackers embedded in our comms now. There is absolutely no way any of us can become lost."

  Then, kissing her on the forehead, he set out for his own chambers in order to change his clothes.

  Chapter 32 - Sonic

  Max got his gear ready and was out the door of his sleep chambers in a matter of minutes. He was excited to go somewhere with Michael, even though he had been totally sarcastic with the archangel just minutes earlier. He remembered his real father, the man who had raised him, Charles Gunnarsson, and he could not detect one single unpleasant memory. The man was amazing, and Max would always call him his father. But he was in a whole different situation at the moment. Mija-El was his biological dad, and through him the young man had amazing abilities for which he would be eternally grateful. Besides all of that, Max had a lot to still learn, and so he was prepared to, in metaphorical terms, soak it all up like a sponge.

  "Michael, I have a question. I'm really kinda surprised I never thought of it before, but can we survive in the vacuum of space? I mean, is there a cantus that provides protection and atmosphere?" Max asked.

  "That is an interesting question, son. Actually, we archangels are automatically protected from potentially damaging environments. I guess the only thing we could do would be to test you out there."

  Max seemed to think about it for a minute. The vacuum of space was deadly to humans, and also to lycans. Their bodies couldn't handle the lack of pressure and atmosphere, which would cause ebullism (bubbles in body fluids due to reduced ambient pressure below 6.3kPa), near-instantaneous hypoxia (the loss of oxygen in the bloodstream) and the freezing of bodily secretions due to evaporative cooling. In short, space meant near-instant death. But Max was more than human, so he was willing to give it a shot.

  "Well, I want to see what happens. If I have any adverse effects throw a protective cantus with oxygen and air pressure around me, ok?"

  "Very well, my son. Let us try outside Vera, first. That way I can easily and quickly get you to the infirmary in case anything goes wrong."

  "Cool. And no word of this to my wife, all right? She'd kick my ass if she knew what we were trying."

  Michael grinned, liking Max's penchant for adventure and risk.

  The two started from Vera's underground base, where Draagh and Gabriel were improving the ventilation systems. Not even bothering to see what they were doing, Michael looked at Max and wiggled his eyebrows.

  "Anything wrong just say so via your comm, son."

  "Okie-dokie. Let's do this."

  Michael brought them out into vacuum, outside of the range of Vera's satellite surveillance. Watching carefully, Max seemed perfectly normal. He opened his mouth; at first expecting the rush of air out from his collapsing lungs, but no such thing happened.

  "Hey, this isn't bad. You didn't say we didn't have to breathe," Max stated via his comm.

  "I should really analyze this. I believe it is the ghanlo that makes it possible," Michael responded.

  "Hey look! I can fly around too!"

  "Of course. But that is a waste of time, unless you are looking at something close by. Let's slip back to the base and then go directly to Luna under camouflage, my son."

  The two then basically bounced out of the underground base and found themselves on the
outskirts of a massive ship graveyard on Luna, finding it unusually busy with activity. As they stayed hidden behind some trees and foliage they decided what to look for. Actually, Max was in charge on the ground, being as he knew where to go.

  "Ok, first of all, we go dark. Let's get inside, over to the other side of the complex where all of the lighting is," he said.

  "Shall we walk through and take a look at the entrance?" asked Michael.

  "Oh hell no! I'm flying. Follow me."

  Max generated his impressive span of obsidian-black wings and shot up into the air, taking care not to create a detectable concussion wave on the ground or any atmospheric disturbance that could be detected by surveillance sensors. Michael followed him, as Max passed the far side of the graveyard, flying around the entire perimeter, and obviously enjoying being airborne more than anything. Stopping in mid-air above the graveyard, he looked down at the dozens of dilapidated craft that had provided sanctuary for his ancestors many centuries prior. They were boxy-looking, much like giant cargo tubs, and in essence that is what they were - they had carried frozen human cargo, along with animal and plant life from Old-Earth.

  "Can you believe we came over on those things and it took almost 300 years?" he asked his father.

  "Yes, Max. I can. In fact I occasionally checked up on the fleet as it lumbered across the galaxy. Despite being in its technological infancy, relatively speaking, humanity did quite well. Did you know that only one barge was lost during the entire trip?"

  "Really? We were taught that they all made it. What happened?"

  "Unfortunately it encountered a Vrol Brood Carrier. That is how the insects found Earth."

  "Oh wow! I was wondering if they had just stumbled upon the planet or something."

  "One does not simply stumble upon a planet that harbors life and has natural resources, Max. While there are over 300 billion stars in the Milky Way alone, leading to trillions of planets, there are many more worlds that do NOT harbor life than there are that live. For the most part, planets are either gas giants or inhospitable barren rocks, with some variations in-between. So it was no coincidence that the Vrol happened upon Earth. They acquired the planetary coordinates from the captured barge."

  "Then what did they do?"

  "They woke everyone onboard and then ate them… alive."

  "Now I really, really want to kill them all."

  The two lowered themselves down to the one barge that had the most activity and lighting. Setting down onto the ground, Max retracted his wings, absorbing the living material back into his body (which oddly always added a bit back to his reserves), and while maintaining invisibility, walked up the rear access ramp where a number of scientists were discussing a particular quandary with trying to fit a mass of piping required for the hook into the already-existing hull. They were realizing that it would have been easier to build completely new ships than to retrofit the barges, but they wouldn't be able to build the required number of new ships before Chairman Johnson's deadline, which was non-negotiable. And no one in the system but Johnson knew why, aside from Max and his odd family of eternals.

  Max and Michael went to the next closest barge and walked inside, using their naturally occurring HUDs to scan for life forms. Barge after barge they entered, and they encountered the same number of people inside each - three families of four.

  "Ok, we know this much - Johnson needs to clear out within four years. He's got retrofitting issues and he doesn't have time to build new ships. We have to get these families out and destroy the barges. But first we need to wrest control of the military away from him. In my mind that's the only way we can get our act together and get a handle on everything before the insects arrive."

  "Yes my son, but we will need to first confer with the team and organize before acting."

  "I agree. We will be able to house the families in the base on Vera."

  "Max, I believe Vera should not be our first stop with them. The base's integrity is critical."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Come on, son. You are a scientist. They probably have tracking devices implanted in their bodies."

  "Oh yeah, you're right."

  The two walked inside a random barge and approached a family dwelling. Unseen, they entered into the living quarters of a family and did numerous scans on the residents. Michael was correct.

  "Ok, they have tracking devices. We'll have to do everything at once. So where do we take them?"

  "To the only place that makes sense, my son. The Rhönen Dominion."

  Max did a deeper scan, checking genomes, and found that 98% were normals and 2% were carrying recessive vampire genes. If they took the families to Rhönen they would have to be quarantined from each other. The last thing they wanted was to see some newly minted vampires eating their fellow travelers.

  Michael and Max took ample quantities of imagery and created three-dimensional mappings of the graveyard. They needed to know exactly what was where, so they could effectively destroy the area in one shot. They didn't want to unnecessarily kill military personnel, but they couldn't be sure who was a Johnson follower, or who was a rebel. In any case, anyone who was blindly following orders was not doing his or her Constitutional duty to protect the citizens of Azul System - they were traitors, and therefore not deserving of any protection.

  The two then went out into an open area and Max initiated a 4d slip home.

  Max and Michael appeared in the grassy field outside Krynos' castle and immediately made their way inside. They hadn't bothered with the comms, as everyone had their own tasks they were completing. Going directly to Draagh's quarters, Michael summoned the old mage, along with Gabriel, with the two appearing in seconds. Max brought up a large infoscreen and displayed their imagery and maps as a semitransparent hologram, and started to explain their recon efforts as Bagatelle and Jennie arrived.

  "Out of all the Exodus barges on Luna, only one is partially retrofitted with SSCC technology, and they are still having difficulties. There is no way they are going to ready the fleet in time to flee before the Vrol arrive. G, how many naval starships have been fitted with a hook drive?"

  "Only the Revolution as far as I know, but I am certain that more have been by now. We should ask Alicia," said Bagatelle.

  "Alicia - yoohoooooo! Helloooooo Lt. Commander, are you there?" Max called out over the comm, causing most to snicker, despite the gravity of the situation.

  "I am here, Commander. How may I be of assistance?"

  "Ali, we need some recon. Find out which navy vessels have been set up with SSCC hook drives and report back ASAP, got it?" ordered Bagatelle.

  "Yes, Admiral. I have a good idea, but I can give solid details in ten minutes."

  "Ok, now once we have determined which ships have FTL capability, we contact their captains and have a little talk with them," Bagatelle continued locally.

  "But that's dicey, G. What if they're in Johnson's pocket?" asked Max.

  "I have a great idea for interviewing them," responded the former rear admiral.

  As promised, roughly ten minutes later, Alicia Vasquez came back on the comm with the requested data.

  "Sir, aside from the Revolution, the Constellation, the George Washington and the Ronald Reagan also have FTL capabilities."

  "Excellent. I will expect a crew manifest for each ship by morning," responded Bagatelle.

  "Shall I deliver it in person, sir?"

  Michael looked at Bagatelle and winked, nodding his head.

  "Yes, Lt. Commander. We can make that happen," said Michael. "Copy us on the comm when you are feeling intestinal distress."

  "Um, sir?"

  "Ali, hit us on the comm when you are in a toilet stall. We'll drop everything and get you," Bagatelle blurted out, slightly embarrassed that Michael was using the human waste evacuation system in order to hide their ground agent's comings and goings.

  Looking over, Bagatelle nearly started laughing when he saw both Max and Draagh on the ground, choking with
laughter, while Jennie just stood there, giving them a noxious glare.

  As most of the day had gone, everyone went to the main dining hall, where Liliana had just arrived, completely covered in mud, but wearing a huge smile.

  "Lili! Oh… my… god! What have you done? What class did you have last?" Jennie cried out.

  "Hello Mami. It was actually after my last class, which was metallurgy. I happened upon the training grounds and saw Kyle. He was having a bit of difficulty with the obstacle course, so I decided to show him the proper way to navigate it, from beginning to end."

  Liliana was an excellent physical specimen, and could easily defeat most boys within four years of her age in many of the training activities, as long as they weren't hand-to-hand combat-oriented. If that were the case, she would cheat a bit and use magic, which usually ended up with her opponent in the infirmary.

  "Well, at least she isn't thinking about kissing him - yet," Jennie whispered into Max's ear, low enough that not even their daughter could tell what they were saying.

  "Ok, but sweetie, you can't come to the dining hall that dirty. Please go clean up and come back for your dinner," she told the young girl. But Liliana didn't even need to go anyway. She waved her hand around her head, index finger pointed downward, and all of the mud was suddenly gone. She wasn't sparkling clean, but clean enough for a lycan dinner in the Rhönen Dominion.

  "All clean! So, Papi, how was your day? Did you do anything exciting?" the little girl asked.

  "Yeah honey, in fact, I went and flew around with your Abuelito Michael, and then we checked out the old Exodus barges. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you both! I can breathe in space now too."

  "Huh? You can breathe in a vacuum? Max, seriously?"

  "Yup. Actually, it's my ghanlo that makes it possible. But Michael said I shouldn't want to fly between planets - it's not meant for that. In any case, I can do it. It's really super peaceful."