by Adair Hart
Bruno paused as his eyes searched the ground. He looked around and gulped as he faced Evaran. “This cell is … constricting.”
The hairs on Dr. Snowden’s arms rose. Evaran had painted a bleak picture of incarceration, but he was right. Losing freedom when there was so much to life would be maddening. Dr. Snowden tried to imagine living in a cell for the rest of his long life, knowing what he knew. It would be a slow form of death. His chest tightened as he struggled to catch his breath.
Evaran studied Dr. Snowden.
Dr. Snowden licked his lips and tossed a hand out. “I’m fine.”
Evaran nodded at Lee.
Lee rubbed his chin as he gazed at Bruno. “It doesn’t have to be that way. Your only crimes that we know of so far are some unverified reports of violence, attacking a manager and Evaran, and moving the Torvatta. I’m willing to let that slide … and if Evaran gets his Torvatta back, he may let your transgressions slide as well … although that’s his decision. Helians have no law or rule when it comes to Evaran.”
Dr. Snowden knew that the Helians did observe the Evaran Protocol, but he figured that Lee did not want to get into exceptions with Bruno.
“We’re done for the night. It’s late. Get some rest, and we’ll talk tomorrow,” said Lee.
Bruno sighed as he sat on a section of the wall that functioned as a small bench.
Lee accessed his wrist device, and the lights went out in Bruno’s cell.
“Wait!” said Bruno.
“Yes?”
“Can you … leave the light on?”
Lee smiled. “Sure.” He interacted with his wrist device, and the light turned on. After a moment, the force field went dark again. “We can check on Red Lightning now.” Bruno’s cell slid away as Red Lightning’s cell came into view. The force field went semitransparent, and Red Lightning appeared.
“I ain’t telling you crap,” she said as she shot red arcs at the force field.
Evaran placed his hands behind his back. “You do not seem to care if you are incarcerated.”
Red Lightning drew her lips tight. “We won’t be here for long. Just wait.”
“For?” asked Lee.
“Caltorus is a god, and he protects his own. He is the future, not the past. His cause is righteous, and detractors like you will be punished. This cell can’t stop him or the cause.” Red Lightning smiled and sat on the small bench in her cell. She turned her head.
Lee checked for a reaction from Evaran.
Evaran moved a finger out to the right.
With a tap at Lee’s device, the force field went dark and Red Lightning’s cell slid away.
“That was short,” said Dr. Snowden.
“Yes, it was. I have some observations, but let me share them in the presence of the others.”
“Sounds good to me. I’m ready to go,” said Dr. Snowden. He shook a hand out at Lee. “No offense, but this place is depressing.”
Lee smiled as he slapped Dr. Snowden on the back. “I agree, my friend. Let’s get out of here.”
Emily smiled as she watched Jake’s eyes light up when Evaran, Dr. Snowden, and Lee walked into the room. She and Robert had brought Jake straight to the medical bay, where he was attended to by a Helian physician. Although Jake seemed to be better, she could see he was still in pain. All it took was a few minutes with the physician, and Jake was shirtless with a custom pad that covered the bruised areas. He seemed to enjoy the comfortable slab he was on. She could see Dr. Snowden was tired, and he had good reason to be. It was now 12:20 a.m., and she was beginning to feel the pull of sleep.
Evaran walked up to Jake and scanned him. “You appear to be healing well.”
“Oh, yeah,” said Jake. “It helps having Dad and Emily around to keep me company.”
Robert shook his head while Emily grinned.
“I am glad to see you are in high spirits,” said Evaran. “According to my scan, you should be back to normal by morning.”
“Yep, that’s what the doc said.” Jake furrowed his eyebrows. “So what’d you learn?”
Evaran raised a finger. “We talked with both of them. It appears Bruno is more of a hired thug than a true believer in Caltorus’s plan, whatever that may be. I suspect he may be more forthcoming with information the longer he is incarcerated. The cell is constricting, according to him. We did find out that he is responsible for moving the Torvatta, although he claims he does not know where it went after he loaded it up to be moved.”
“I kinda figured he might be responsible. He’s the only brute from that list we saw at Lord Noskov’s base,” said Emily.
Evaran nodded. “As for Red Lightning, she mentioned that Caltorus was a god, and he protects his own. This tells me she is dedicated to Caltorus’s cause. The thought of a long incarceration does not seem to bother her.”
“Yeah, she seemed kind of the crazy type,” said Jake. He immediately grabbed his sides while wincing.
Robert laid a hand on Jake’s shoulder. “Careful. You’re not fully healed yet.”
Jake exhaled from his mouth. “I know, Dad. I just wish it would hurry up!”
“Do not worry, we are not going anywhere tonight,” said Evaran. “It is late, and everyone should get some rest. We can pick up tomorrow morning.”
Lee pointed at the room entrance. “We have suites in the visitor section I can take everyone to.” He laid a hand on Jake’s other shoulder. “You should be able to move, but perhaps a wheelchair would be useful.” He walked over to a side room. After a moment, he came back out with a motorized wheelchair.
Robert and Lee helped Jake into it.
Jake ran his hand over the controls on the arm. “Cool. I like this.”
Emily smiled. She appreciated Jake’s high energy and free-spirited approach to life. Despite being tossed like a rag doll, he was raring to go. She knew he had a girlfriend, but she could easily see herself spending time with him.
“What’s the plan for tomorrow?” asked Jake.
Evaran gestured at Lee. “He has asked me to check out the rift door, so I will do that while everyone gets some rest. In the morning, I will visit Bruno and Red Lightning again. We can then figure out where to go from there. If anyone is interested in any of that, meet me in the rift door room around 9:00 a.m.”
“Sounds good to me,” said Jake. “I’m beat, literally.”
Emily enjoyed the casual atmosphere. Even with the wererat fight and then dealing with Bruno and Red Lightning, there were moments like this that stood out. She placed a special emphasis on the bond formed in battle. It was different than what she experienced when she played team volleyball.
Dr. Snowden tapped her arm. “You coming? Lee relayed our room locations to V.”
She looked around and noticed that Robert and Jake were already leaving the room. Evaran and Lee were gone, and it was just she, Dr. Snowden, and V. “Yeah, let’s go. V, you’re with me.”
“Acknowledged.”
At 8:00 a.m. the next morning, Emily yawned as she stretched. Her eyes adjusted to the room she had stayed in. It was comfortable, much more so than the accommodations at Lord Noskov’s base. The fancy rooms were probably for the high-profile people that came and went from a Helian base. The sterile smell was also comforting to her. V began to hover nearby. He had played some forest sounds as she slept. It had made her feel restful.
“Query. Were you planning to meet with Evaran this morning?”
She smiled. “Of course. Let me wash up, get some breakfast, then we can head there.”
“Acknowledged.”
She noticed that her clothes were neatly folded and waiting for her in a basket on a chair. Her light-armor suit was also cleaned up and resting on the floor in front of the chair. “V … did you wash my clothes and clean my armor?”
V’s lights glowed a bit brighter. “Is this a problem?”
Emily raised her hand, and V high-fived her. “Nope. I’ll be ready to go in a bit.”
“Acknowledged.”
&
nbsp; After showering and getting dressed, she exited the room with V and headed toward the cafeteria.
Jake, Dr. Snowden, and Robert were already seated and enjoying breakfast. Jake had on his old suit, which had been repaired.
Emily got some orange juice and a banana and joined them. “You look much better, Jake.”
“Yeah. Sleeping was a bit rough.”
Robert wagged a finger at Jake. “He likes to sleep on his side, so I had to move him a few times so he was on his back.”
Jake smiled. “Yeah. These Helian beds are quite comfortable. I wonder if we can get them at our base.”
Dr. Snowden took a swig of his orange juice, then said, “As comfortable as they were, I think the Torvatta has it beat.”
“Well, yeah,” said Emily. “I’m not sure anything can really compare to that.”
They enjoyed another thirty minutes of light conversation before assembling in the rift door room.
Emily’s mind raced as the rift door controller came into view. The controller had a cylindrical base with a slanted surface coming off it halfway down. A metal rod extended up from the base and ended in an upside-down dome-shaped structure. Farther into the room were the rift door crystal rods, between which a rift would form when activated. The rods were about fifteen feet apart with a gold rhombus-shaped base. Evenly spaced silver rings resided outside the rods. She remembered being teleported to a room similar to this one, and then pushed through the rift door.
Jake looked around the room. “Whoa! I’ve heard about these, at least from what Lord Noskov mentioned. His description doesn’t do it justice.”
“I am glad you enjoy it,” said Evaran. “I hope everyone got some rest and had a good breakfast.”
Everyone confirmed that they had.
“Excellent. Lee and I have spent most of the night going through the rift door controller interface. It was disabled initially and also linked to the second one. I have enabled this one, and locked out the second controller,” said Evaran. He raised a finger. “However, more importantly, I downloaded the coordinates that the other controller had activated before severing its connection to this one.”
Lee gestured at Evaran. “The surprising thing is there are only two locations that have been used in the last few months. One location is called up frequently … the other less so.”
“That is correct. We also talked with Bruno and Red Lightning again this morning. Red Lightning, as expected, was not communicative. Bruno, on the other hand, confirmed that the rift door was used heavily by Caltorus. I suspect that is the frequently used set of coordinates. Bruno did not know much about it. Then again, he does not know how he got to Earth, other than going through a rift door from his planet.”
“So that’s where we’re going then, right? The busy one?” asked Emily.
“Yes,” said Evaran. “We can go in a few hours. Take some time to make sure you have everything you need. Once we clear the gate on the other side, we may have to travel a bit.”
“Maybe we can open it and take a look, then close it real fast,” said Jake.
“We’ve done that already,” said Lee. “It’s an … odd world, and is guarded. The guards reacted, but we had our shield over the portal, with a tiny opening that allowed for a scan. They may suspect something, but I don’t think they’re expecting us.”
Evaran furrowed his eyebrows. “There is the possibility they were informed of the controllers no longer being linked. Nonetheless, we will find out. Lee will help everyone with any gear or repairs. Let us meet back here in two hours.”
Jake walked around the equipment room that Lee had taken him, Dr. Snowden, and Emily to. Jake was glad that Robert was staying behind, although it took some convincing. Evaran, Robert, and V were still in the rift door room. Perhaps they were doing more work on the rift controller, although he suspected it was Robert asking a lot of questions due to the last incident.
“Are you with us?” asked Lee.
“Huh? Oh, yeah,” said Jake. “Sorry, was just thinking about the preparations.”
“I understand. Your suit took a beating. Although it was repaired … we have a better suit. It’s a bit bulkier but can take much more punishment. It also has an array of survival gadgets in it. It may not be space worthy … like your current suit, but I don’t think that will be needed where we’re headed.” He pointed at a black-and-silver suit.
It reminded Jake of some of the racing suits he had seen on television. He ran his hands along the rubberlike material. “Cool.” He began to strip off his old suit.
“I’m surprised you’re here,” said Lee.
Jake stepped out of his old suit. “Because of the Blake Brown incident.”
Lee nodded. “Lord Noskov is … not very fond of the Helians. So you know … the decision to exile Blake Brown came from the Helians that are now with Caltorus … not that it helps what happened. Blake did a service unintentionally for the Helians … and he was rewarded with punishment.”
“Yeah,” said Jake. He shook his head. “It’s …very sore spot for Lord Noskov and others.”
“I understand.”
Lee walked over to Emily, who was studying some gadgets. “See anything you like?”
“I’m not sure what half of them do,” said Emily. She pulled her lips in. “Evaran wouldn’t want us to use anything lethal anyways.”
“A shame. You’re quite formidable. With the right weapons … you would be a death-dealing machine.”
Dr. Snowden shook a finger at Lee. “That’s exactly what Evaran doesn’t want.”
“Given all that I’ve read … it’s a strange decision, but I understand it.”
“What about you?” asked Dr. Snowden. “Do you kill if need be?”
Lee looked down at the ground for a moment. “I try to avoid it, but in my line of work … sometimes it’s necessary.”
“How long do you have to be an enforcer?” asked Emily.
“All managers have a hundred-year contract. Once it’s over, we are free to do what we want … including finding another world that can sustain us without using these … robot bodies.”
“Ahh,” said Emily. “How much longer do you have?”
“About fifty-seven years.”
Dr. Snowden tilted his head. “Have there been a lot of manager deaths since you arrived?”
Lee shook his head. “Thankfully, only a handful. On the plus side … we’ve figured out how to procreate, even with these bodies. It takes some time, but we are building up a small population. Those who are born are not subject to the Helian contract.”
“That’s cool,” said Jake, admiring the new suit he was wearing. “So does that mean you have children?”
“Just one. He decided to become a manager. Manager Zed. I tried to dissuade him, but he is young at thirty-seven years old. Zed can make hasty decisions … but he is learning. I believe the Earth term … hothead … would apply. Nonetheless, I think you would get along well with him.”
Emily raised her eyebrows. “Thirty-seven is young? I’m guessing you’re a long-lived species then.”
“Yes,” said Lee. “I look forward to our contract ending. Then we can focus on our species without any contractual obligation. It will be a glorious day.”
Dr. Snowden wrinkled his eyebrows. “Sounds a bit like slavery to save you but then force you to work free of charge.”
“When the alternative is extinction … what choice would you make?”
“I’m just saying, it casts a shady light on the Helians. With the human slavery that we know about, it just makes me think less of them is all,” said Dr. Snowden.
“Understandable. The Helians may not be well liked, but from our perspective … they saved us,” said Lee. He handed Emily a device.
Emily flipped it around in her hands. “A paralyzing device?”
“That’s correct. It is similar to the one used on Bruno and Red Lightning. Normally, these are manager only, but … I trust you all.” He handed one to Jake, and then
one to Dr. Snowden. “It’s a one-shot device, and you’ve seen how long the paralyzing effect can last. Some break from it sooner than others. It can be recharged at any Helian base.”
“Oh, yeah,” said Emily. “I remember Bruno waking up on the craft. Thankfully he was still under the effects.”
Lee grinned. “I wish there was more to give you … but it seems your suits are fairly advanced.”
“It’s all right,” said Emily. “This will do just fine. Besides, Jake now has a better suit.”
“Yeah I do. It’s a lot lighter than I expected,” said Jake. He ran his hand across the various weapons. Although his Seceltor blaster was powerful, he suspected the Helians probably had something better. “Any weapon you think I should use?”
Lee grabbed two wrist cuffs. Each one had a small ridge with a control interface on the end facing the elbow. A button resided on the underside. “These are stun cuffs. Short range, but they pack a punch. Control it via the interface, press the button to shoot.”
A big smile crept onto Jake’s face as he slipped on the wrist cuffs. He played with the interface for a moment, then said, “Awesome. Backup stun.”
“Although I do not need the same type of nutrition as you … we have a small pack of rations,” said Lee. “I am hoping we won’t be gone long enough to use them … but you should each take a pack. It has a strap so you can carry it over your shoulder and should lock into place.” He pointed at the small packs.
Everyone grabbed one and slung it over their shoulder.
Lee helped them secure it. “It has a water purifier mechanism and enough rations for about three days.”
“I think I’m set,” said Jake.
Emily and Dr. Snowden both nodded in agreement.
Lee grabbed a few more devices and put them in various pockets of his business suit. He grabbed a large assault weapon and looked it over, then put it back. “To honor Evaran’s wishes, I’ll refrain from using lethal weapons. If everyone is ready, we should get something to eat, then head out. I know breakfast was not too long ago … but this may be the last time you have … hot meal … for a while, so load up.”