Verron_Serve and Protect

by Douglas Varnell

  It was two days later when Chase and Daniel pulled up along the shore behind the Morgensson’s in a 30-foot Scarab center console, with two three hundred horsepower outboards and teak dive platform. They tied off the boat at their dock and headed for the house. Mr. Morgensson was in the backyard cleaning the pool when Daniel, shouted, “That doesn’t look like much fun, why don’t you grab the Misses and join us. Do you dive? If not, we’ll teach you.” Jon Morgensson had never met a 17 year-old who invited the parents along on a date and at first thought he was joking, but Chase added, “Yeah, you can’t work all the time. You need to have a little fun once in a while.” Jon thought about the last time he had gone diving was when Jill was doing her marine biology internship in the Fiji Islands. They had gotten married the week before and spent the entire summer working in Fiji. He immediately laid the skimmer pole beside the pool and replied, “Your right, I do work too much. Let me go see if I can get someone who works even more than me out of her office.” The boys waited under the Gazebo until Fay and Kay came out. When Chase told them they were waiting on their parents, the girls thought their Dad had lost it by chaperoning them on a date right behind the house. When Mr. and Mrs. Morgensson came out of the house in their bathing suites and headed towards the dock, the girls were not pleased.

  They all piled into the Scarab and headed to the far end of the lake, where there were some beautiful rock formations only about twenty feet down and where you could occasionally find an emerald buried in the rocks. There were always thousands of fish in the area. When they got there and were firmly anchored, Chase and Daniel began to give instructions to the girls. To the twin’s astonishment, Mom and Dad quickly climbed into their equipment and went backwards over the side. Neither girl had known their parents could dive. They looked like a couple of love-struck honeymooners as they fell backwards off the boat. By the time the girls had received their initial instructions and were ready to venture into the water, Jon and Jill surfaced about 50 yards away and screamed, “If you guys ever get into the water, you’ve got to see this.” About 15 minutes later the four had joined Mom and Dad as they looked at a vein of gold about four feet wide that ran from the top of the rock formation to a depth far deeper than they were equipped to dive. When they finally finished staring at the vein of gold they turned to realize that they were being watched by a school of large fish. The fish seemed to be as interested in the strange creatures in the water as the creatures were of the gold vein. These fish obviously were not afraid of humans, probably because they were all bigger than the humans. It was a good thing that humans were not on their diet plan. The 8 to 10 foot long fish allowed them to swim right up and touch them, without even flinching away.

  As the six humans began to swim along the rock formations looking for more gold, the big fish followed them. Just as Kay was looking into a big hole in the rocks a large eel like fish came out quickly and just missed her with its large mouth of sharp teeth. Before the eel could reposition for another strike, the school of big fish swooped in and quickly devoured the twelve foot long eel. Everyone was a bit upset and decided to take a break for a while. As they swam back to the boat, the fish followed and even stayed in the vicinity of the boat while they changed tanks and took a break. Jill got her camera and jumped in without a tank and began to swim around taking pictures. When she climbed back aboard, she declared, “I’m going to call them Protector Fish. I could see a couple of those eel things swimming around about 40 feet down. Every time one would venture closer, the big Protectors would chase it away.”

  By the time the scuba divers made it back to the Morgensson’s they were acting more like friends than Parent’s and children. Kay and Fay were dumbfounded when Mr. Morgensson invited the two boys to stay for dinner and began to fire up the grill for some steaks. Mrs. Morgensson headed for the kitchen with the girls to make salads and potatoes. Chase and Daniel stayed outside and talked with Jon and finished cleaning the pool for him. When he found out that the two boys knew more about flying and designing spaceships than he did and that they regularly took the ships clear across the galaxy to other worlds, he knew that they were not just the spoiled nephews of King Verron. He was proud to have them dating his girls. They could definitely do a lot worse.

  When the conversation turned to Chase and Daniel’s family, Mr. Morgensson was amazed at the things these young men and women had accomplished and were currently doing. The reality of his situation came to light, as he thought, “I really am a part of something much bigger than a job building spaceships. We are going to one day be the most powerful force in the universe, and these boys will one day be ruling it. I guess my girls picked their boyfriends better than I would.” The dinner conversation was about family and life on Verron over the past five years. Both parents were speechless when Chase told them that they had been flying since they got there and that Tala started flying before she was 10. Daniel wasn’t thinking and let it slip that they had been attacked by terrorists while in Israel. Once the cat was out of the bag, both boys told them all about it, trying their best to leave out the gory details. When they told them about the attempt on Princess Renee, the Morgensson’s suddenly realized that the Verron family was gradually becoming a target for anyone who didn’t like their ideology. It had never occurred to either parent what kind of pressure a royal family must live with.

  A few weeks passed and Chase and Daniel spent as much time as they could with Kay and Fay. The citizens of Verron had gotten used to seeing the four of them around the mall or out hiking, swimming and even snow skiing. The girls had become regulars at the Marcus and Michael Verron household and Ben and Tigger got excited every time the girls came around; MJ and MJ2 decided that they wanted Fay and Kay to be their babysitters. The boys would get up each morning and run with 99, Paul, Camil, Cali and Hunter, since his return from CIA training camp. After running and working out, the boys headed for the Crotch Rocket factory and then to the weapons plant to work on some new projects they had been developing, often heading out to the nearby asteroid belt to test the weapons. They didn’t get to see the girls every day, but didn’t miss very many.

  Hunter was shadowed everywhere he went around Mountain City by Ibrihim and Lydia. After saving their life and saving the refugees, the two wanted to be just like Prince Hunter and do anything they could to please him. Tlase and Yadvega had been teaching them English and working with them to advance their education. They were a shining example of how many brilliant minds are in the world wasting away with no education or opportunities to use their abilities. Hunter made sure that he was a good role model and took them often to the training center where the Terrorist Elimination Unit was training. Both Ibrihim and Lydia wanted desperately to be members of the unit. Ibrihim reminded Hunter that he had managed to travel hundreds of miles across ISIS controlled territory and even managed to kill several of the soldiers in his travels, then lived among them in Aleppo until Hunter showed up. He made sure that the soldiers in training knew how brave he was and that he could infiltrate ISIS better than any of them could. This statement did not go unnoticed by Vlad or Hunter, they both knew it was true, but struggled with the dilemma of using a 14-year old boy to work as a spy. The bad part was that he was the perfect age to pass off as a new recruit. The worst part was that Lydia insisted that she wanted to go wherever her brother did. Hunter knew that they both had been spending hours in the Jxansa Gha workout room with Xhing Li and were aggressive and determined students.

  Tala and Katelyn had returned from Australia. Katelyn’s blond hair was sun bleached and she possessed two new surfboards and a copy of a recording made live when she was singing in Melbourne. It was getting air-time on radio stations all across Australia. Katelyn was arranging for a group from Australia to come to Verron to help scout out the best surfing locations. She smiled at Hunter and said, “Looks like those surfer chicks you were counting on will now be surfer dudes; too bad!” Hunter laughed and knew he didn’t have time to set up beach locations anyway. Tala was
upset about returning. She was leading the Australian Supersport Class in overall points with 6 firsts and 3 second places and only had four more races to win the Championship. After grumbling to Marcus and Uncle Paul, it was agreed to let her gateway back for the last four races. It wouldn’t be fair to her, her teammate or Neil Hodgson to pull her away from something she loved and was obviously very good at.

  Amber was doing well at the Air Force Academy and came home often with Colonel Lawson on her arm. Renee and her biological father General Hall both liked the guy and knew that Amber would either end up married to him or with the biggest heartbreak of her young life. Their biggest concern was the 10 year age difference. They also knew that she was not typical of any other 20 year old. In fact, they were home this weekend to celebrate Amber’s 21st Birthday. Renee and Joshua had a big party planned at the Hacienda and over 500 people were supposed to be there. On the day of the party Robert and Amber got up early and went for a whitewater rafting trip with Joe Verron, Roddy Verron and Michael Verron. They were starting up a new business venture that including selling and manufacturing outdoor adventure equipment and setting up whitewater trips, mountain climbing and glacier skiing. There were others doing rafting trips, but none dared the rapids that were completely off the rating charts in the heart of the Robert’s Range. Amber, Robert, Hunter, Marcus, and a hand full of other brave souls were going to be the test dummies for the ride. The guys had engineered a completely clear Verron Steel enclosed raft and a safety harness system that was designed to prevent any bodily injury while dropping off 200 foot water-falls and banging into rocks and boulders as they crashed through the rough waters. The 50 mile-long-ride started at just under ten thousand feet and didn’t end until they hit a smooth section of river over 6000 feet below. Robert was not one to chicken out of anything, but as they flew over the intended route on the way to the beginning point, he spoke few words, as he looked around the cabin of the transport and said, “You realize that every one of you are completely insane, don’t you.”

  The cookout was about to begin by the time the insane family of survivors made it back to the Hacienda. Robert was so excited; he intended to Facebook his friends on Earth and tell every one of them about the unbelievable ride. He had enough film from the flight in and the ride down the river to post it on YouTube. Joe and Roddy smiled at their enthusiastic marketing man. When Amber and Robert finally joined the party, there were nearly all of the five hundred guests on site. Robert was not used to a celebration like this; a live country band, line dancing, and huge tables of every kind of food imaginable. Everyone was casually dressed and having a blast joking and dancing and eating. There was even a pig wrangling competition for the kids and horseback riding for any who wanted to view the scenery along the river. Amber was the center of attention until the final guest arrived. She noticed everyone gravitate toward the new arrivals and noticed that King Verron was off to one side watching the show. It was usually him that attracted that kind of attention. Amber and Robert made their way through the crowd to witness the happiest couple she had ever seen. There before her, smiling with his toothy little smile was 99 and his new mate. They weren’t married yet, she had only been out of cloning for two weeks, and then the two had sequestered away while Yadvega and others helped her acclimate to her new surroundings. Everyone was surprised by how cute she was. It was very obvious that she was a female because there were obvious anatomical differences; she also had none of the little horns that 99 had and possessed a thick fluffy mane of brown striped hair. One other surprise that no one expected would qualify her as an immediate member of the Dragon Guard if she chose to join. Ninety-nine’s enhanced DNA was used for the cloning process. She came out of the cloning chamber just as enhanced as any member of the Dragon Guard; all she lacked was the training. The happy couple stole the show and Amber was fine with no longer being the center of attention. She actually cried when she thought about how many years 99 had been totally alone on Verron, it made her realize just how blessed she was to find someone to love like Robert.

  Of course the twins were there with Chase and Daniel and getting plenty of harassment from Amber, Hunter, Cali, Camil, Tala and Katelyn. Amber made a point of telling them what cute couples they made and asked, “How can you tell them apart.” Chase was quick to answer, “If she won’t kiss me, it’s Fay.” Both girls smiled and kissed their favorite man. Then, Kay said, “She’d be dead meat if she did.” A while later Paul pulled Chase and Daniel aside and told them that he had an assignment for them. In front of the girls he said, “Lucy has picked up a distress signal from a planet on the Xhondarian list of inhabited planets. The planet is over 60,000 light years away, so even though one of our probes intercepted the signal, we’re not positive of how old the signal is. I want you two to take two Gljarne Class Destroyers and a full complement of Marines and Fighters in case you encounter anything. General Zarman will have his people on high alert until he hears back from you.” Fay not being one to be shy around King Verron, asked, “Can we go with them?” Paul smiled and replied, “Sweetheart, this is not a vacation trip. I would have no problem letting you girls go to one of our allied planets, but no one but the Dragon Guard and the Marines goes to an unknown planet. There’s no telling what they may run in to. I’m sorry, but when you date a Verron you must accept the fact that we have responsibilities anywhere in the Universe where we’re needed.”

  Chase and Daniel for the first time since being on Verron were not excited about leaving the planet for an adventure. Paul knew how young love was and he knew that they would just have to get used to it. The things they did were simply too important to leave undone and his Dragon Guard were the ones he trusted most to do them. It looked like a scene from Fort Stuart, Georgia, when 400 Marines and 48 Fighter Pilots along with two full ship crews of 300 each, boarded the two Gljarne Class Destroyers. Kay and Fay were the proud sweethearts that kissed their young men goodbye. Paul couldn’t help but notice how the girls were encouraging to Chase and Daniel instead of whining about them leaving. It was not unusual to see other wives, children and girlfriends see off the loved ones, but it seemed odd to see his nephews kissing their girl goodbye as Mom and Dad stood in the background. Paul walked by and patted Rachel and Danyel on the shoulder and whispered, don’t worry, you’ll get used to it. Just remember, no matter who their girlfriends may be, you will always be their mother.” The two big ships lifted off and soon disappeared into the clouds above. A moment later you could feel and hear the sonic boom as they split the atmosphere accelerating to escape velocity. It didn’t take long for hundreds of families to clear the landing ramp and head home. Kay and Fay left with Rachael and Danyel, carrying one MJ apiece.

  The planet Tramlaw was located at the outer limit of the Whirlpool Galaxy in the Manzordian Star Cluster. If they traveled any further they would have nothing but thousands of light years of emptiness before they reached the next closest galaxy. Since they were reacting to a distress signal no one could be certain exactly what may be waiting for them when they reached the large cluster of stars. Exercising extreme caution, the two ships activated their cloaking device before exiting a gateway almost 4 million miles from the planet Tramlaw. As they orbited hidden behind a couple of large asteroids, they sent out dozens of exploration probes to check out the planet and anything that may be positioned in its orbit. The little probes were FTL capable and broadcast data in real-time. It didn’t take long to see what the problem was. Unless the two mammoth ships orbiting on opposite sides of the Earth-sized desert planet were owned and operated by the citizens of Tramlaw, then they were under siege from someone who had some very advanced technology. Chase and Daniel had seen larger ships, mostly those flown by the Jhxunka, but never anything that looked so lethal. The probes managed to get within 10,000 miles without being detected. That was close enough to determine that the flying saucer shaped vessels had approximately a ten mile radius and where 2 miles tall. While the ships rotated in order to maintain a shipboard artificia
l gravitational pull, the multitude of antenna, radar sensors and weapons would shift in various directions constantly seeking any intruders that may be approaching and it was obvious they were directing most of those sensors toward the surface of the planet below.

  As the probes scanned the planet surface, they found no sign of civilization on the surface. The probes had temperature readings of 105 F in the shade to 140 degrees on the sunny side of the big copper colored ball. What disturbed them the most was the hundreds of smaller ships scouring the surface looking for something; no doubt whoever lived on this planet did not want to be seen. The cloaked probes focused in on one of the smaller ships that had landed on a high ridge. A dozen uniformed passengers spread out along the ridge scouting the rough terrain. The sensors indicated a breathable atmosphere and the presence of other life-forms on the planet other than the ones being viewed. Lucy tasked the probe to take a better look at those searching the top of the ridge. What Chase and Daniel saw made their hearts race. With each in command of their own ship, they were quickly talking to each other to decide if they should call in re-enforcements. The images indicated that these creatures, because they definitely were not human, stood at least seven feet tall. They were broad shouldered and long legged. With legs hinged like a dog’s hind leg they reminded them of 99, except they had no hooves, just large clawed feet. In the face they appeared almost canine. Like a meaner and more muscular version of the Tecalna. These things were ugly and scruffy looking. They had no fur, but a tough leathery looking skin, sharp pointy ears, large black eyes and, at closer inspection, you could see six clawed fingers on each hand. The group was heavily armed with more weapons than any human being could carry; rifles, long heavy swords, knives a foot long, handguns and ammo belts wrapped across their chest and shoulders.