“Maybe they found them,” Milgic suggested.
“If that’s true,” Zarcon stated. “They’re capable of reason, which I don’t believe is the case. Perhaps if we were to offer them food or something they would go away.”
“You have got to be kidding!” Milgic laughed. “It’s obvious that we’re food to them.”
“They may have Jeff,” Zarcon said. “We’ve got to find some way to get him back. Are you willing to risk his life for your own?”
“No,” Milgic answered. “But we can’t make deals with savages, especially if we’re their main course!”
“We can’t attack them forever either. They’ll outnumber us and take the ship anyway,” Zarcon said. “Maybe they feel we are a threat and are defending themselves.”
“What about defending ourselves?” Dormiton asked.
“I thought you were advocators of peace?” Zarcon joked.
“Not with something as dangerous as they are!” Milgic snapped. “We have to do something!” Zarcon laughed, putting his laser pistol back in his belt around his waist. He was pleased they finally saw his point of view.
“I agree with you. But we have to try at least. If they become violent, then we’ll defend ourselves. Agreed,” he asked. They nodded, reluctantly.
“I’ll go out and try to offer them some of the fish I caught earlier,” Zarcon told them. “Leave the main door open, so I can get back in, in case they’re hostile.”
Zarcon jumped from the ship as they pried the doors open with their hands and a laser rifle. The reptiles were still present, but had
backed away from the ship about thirty feet, and didn’t even touch the fish hanging on a tree next to the ship. Zarcon could barely endure the pain in his leg as he limped towards them, and raised his arms in the air. “I do not wish to harm you,” he said slowly. “We come in peace.”
The reptiles’ reddish eyes glowed in the darkness as they crept towards him. It was obvious they had seen a spaceship before because they were neither frightened nor bewildered by it. Zarcon couldn’t determine whether they could understand him or not, for they didn’t answer him
“Have you seen our friend?” he asked. “The human?”
They continued to creep towards him, leading him to believe they had no intention of communicating. He backed up towards the ship and gripped his laser tight. They followed his every movement until he ran towards the door, and several of them attacked him with lightning speed.
Zarcon felt the claws upon him as he fell, dropping his laser to the ground. One grabbed his injured leg and sank its fangs into it, as another bit his top left arm. He found it difficult to escape, even with four arms as the searing pain grew unbearable. Dormiton hit the landing light control which quickly scared them off. He ran out to help their injured friend, with his comrade, Milgic close behind.
“Are you all right?” Milgic yelled, as he bent over Zarcon.
“Not really!” he snapped, trying to block the pain from his mind, finding it extremely difficult.
“What can we do?” Milgic asked.
“There is something,” their insect friend gasped. “I must transfer my pain to one of you to heal myself. You'll only be in pain temporarily, and then we both will be okay.” He touched Dormiton’s head with his gently squeezed right upper claw and began a form of mind transference with the amphibian. Milgic watched as the insect transferred his pain to the lingwort, and his wounds gradually disappeared. Dormiton screamed as he felt every bit of agony his friend went through. When the wounds were gone, the pain subsided as well.
“Are you okay,” Milgic asked them both.
“I’m all right,” Dormiton answered.
“We’ll both be just fine,” Zarcon answered, and lifted himself from the sand, feeling drained. “The wounds have disappeared and the pain is gone.”
“How?” Milgic questioned.
“By thought transference,” he explained. “I used my mind to eliminate the pain. The pain was transferred to Dormiton until I could heal my own wounds. When they healed, there was no longer any pain.”
“That’s incredible!” Milgic said, as they climbed back in the ship. “Has Riona ever used his power like that?”
“No, as far as I know he never had this ability. Only our kind does.” They closed the main door behind them, and then helped Zarcon sit down at the helm.
“You were right,” he admitted. “It appears that they do not wish to communicate.”
“Do you think they’ve got Jeff?” Milgic asked.
“Well, they haven’t eaten him yet according to the ship’s life readings sensors. In the morning we’ll get him and get out of here.”
“The morning may be too late,” Dormiton pleaded.
“We can’t attack them at night,” Zarcon explained. “They have the advantage. We’ll have to wait until morning, and once we find their den or nest, we can attack them by air. According to our sensors, that would be approximately three miles from here.”
“Won’t we kill Jeff if we do that?” Milgic asked.
“Not if we get him out first. Dormiton will be in charge of that. You and I will need to operate the ship. Right now, we need to get some rest.”
“What about those things out there?” Milgic screeched.
“As much as I hate to do it, we’ll have to leave the landing lights on,” Zarcon said. "I will repair the door first thing in the morning.”
Zarcon was uncertain if these creatures slept at all, but he knew bright lights bothered them. If they slept in the daytime, there was at least a chance of saving their friend from impending doom.
The next day, the glare of the black spacecraft was bright as the sun rose above the canyon on Zebula. The inhabitants jumped through the crack of the door and eyed the area for any left over visitors. Dormiton ran to the water to get a drink and felt the current of the water, careful not to make the same mistake his friend Milgic made a day earlier. Milgic followed Dormiton cautiously.
“Enjoy, my friends,” Zarcon said, realizing this may be their last swim. He reached inside the craft, pulled out a long, three inch wide plastic tube, and placed it into the water. This was to collect their drinking supply, carried in a tank inside the hull of the ship, which also was part of the shielding system that protected them from gamma rays
and radiation. He turned on the pump which circulated the water, and turned towards the damaged door.
Crawling back inside, he searched for a welding device to repair the metal. He noticed the sensors were picking up a number of alien vessels, which were no more than three hours away. He knew that if they wanted to escape, they would have to do it soon-Jeff or no Jeff. “After I’m done with this door, we’re getting out of here!” he yelled to his two friends, and jumped back in the ship.
“What about Jeff?” Dormiton asked, running towards him. He knew that neither of them were going to like what he had to say.
“I’m afraid we don’t have enough time to save him,” he explained. “Riona will be here in less than three hours. We have to get out of here before he gets a link on our minds.”
“Can’t we escape to the far side of the island?” Milgic asked, as he began to panic.
“He’ll find us,’ Zarcon answered. “If we remain here, we will die.”
“Isn’t there anywhere that’s safe?” Dormiton asked.
“There is only one place in the universe that’s safe,” Zarcon stated.
“Where is that?” Milgic asked.
“At the council chambers on Sentros. He cannot harm us there,” Zarcon said.
“Why not?” Milgic asked.
“Because his powers are ineffective there. The council is Republic headquarters.”
“I thought you said he is the leader of the Republic?” Dormiton questioned.
“He is,” Zarcon said, as he repaired the main door. “But he doesn’t control them. There are powers in the universe even stronger than his.”
“Then I suppose that is our next stop
?” Milgic asked, his green eyes fixed on the insect. “After we search for Jeff again, right?”
“No,” Zarcon insisted. “We have to distract Riona so he doesn’t know we’re leaving.”
“How?” Milgic asked.
“By creating a small diversion. We’ll use that wrecked spaceship as a decoy. I don’t want either one of you to think about Jeff. I want you to concentrate on fear, as if we are crashing. Maybe we can trick him into believing we crashed. By the time he gets here, we’ll be
gone.”
“What guarantee do we have that he doesn’t already know what we’re planning?” Milgic asked in a sarcastic manner.
“He cannot read minds at this range,” Zarcon answered.
“That’s a relief,” Milgic sighed.
“But he will be able to as he reaches orbit, so be prepared,” Zarcon commanded.
He finished welding the replacement metal on the door and fixed the circuitry, opened and closed the doors for a test, then ordered them to get on board. After two hours of making sure all systems were running normally, and after putting away the water tubing, they prepared to lift off. The sensors indicated the Republic ships were at the edge of that particular solar system, and they decided to make their move immediately.
Zarcon’s scheme would hopefully distract his enemy. They were going to fire the weapons on the area where the spacecraft was, creating an explosion big enough so it would show up on their sensors, and escape just before they landed to investigate. Riona didn’t know that Zarcon created a special jamming device, making him invisible to even their scanners.
Zarcon fired the propulsion rockets, which lifted them off the ground, and burned the plants and rocks below them. The lingworts peered out of the viewing screen, the ship slowly rising above the canyon, leaving what they hoped would be a new home. They couldn’t help but feel remorse and shame for leaving Jeff behind.
Zarcon also felt this way, but he knew they had to leave, if the rest of their crew were to survive. It was one of the hardest decisions he ever had to make; he just hoped Jeff would stay out of their enemies’ hands. Zarcon knew Jeff was the only thing Riona could lock onto and would use him to get to the rest of them. He became more neurotic the more he thought about it. He began to sense the presence of the adversarial tyrant who approached closer to Zebula.
The Rigil Four passed over the lake, and Zarcon instructed the computer to fire the lasers. They struck the clearing where the ship was with pin-point accuracy. ‘It seemed a shame to destroy these precious artifacts,’ Zarcon thought. The wreckage was obviously from a much superior race than either Belor or Tolaria. He wished for more time to study this strange, mysterious race. He fired the booster rockets, and they headed through the atmosphere towards space.
“Goodbye Jeff Walker,” he said, while the lingworts wept. “We’ll
miss you, my friend.” He checked his scanners, making sure Riona was still out of range, and then turned to his two friends.
“I’ll need your help,” he said. “Dormiton, activate the dimensional transporter and jamming device. We’re going to head back to our universe.”
The lingwort walked over to the panel. “Which button is it,” he asked.
“It should be marked,” their commander said. “There is a red button and a green button; press them both.” He followed his orders, and the solar flare appeared again and created another wormhole. They traveled through it and found themselves back in their own universe within seconds, and dizzy as ever.
“Plot a course for Sentros, star sector 891101,” Zarcon said, as the computer reacted to his command. He then turned to his friends. “We still may have to hijack another ship.”
“Why?” Dormiton asked. “We’ve escaped for the moment. And we’ve left our best friend there!”
“That moment won’t last for long,” Zarcon stated. “Riona already has a death warrant out on me, and when he finds out we’ve escaped him again, he won’t be so easy on us!”
“What about Jeff?” Milgic insisted.
“His fate is out of our hands now,” Zarcon said.
“He wouldn’t leave you here!” Milgic sniped.
“I’m afraid that isn’t true,” Zarcon replied. “He’s courageous, but he’s not stupid.”
“I still think you’re wrong!” Dormiton snapped.
“Look, Guys. I don’t like this anymore than you do, but if we did rescue him, we would put all of our lives at risk. Do you want that?” They shook their heads, bowing them. “All right then. Besides, Jeff would have wanted us to finish our mission. Instead of sulking, you should be helping me come up with a plan. We can’t just coast into Sentros in an enemy ship unannounced. The Republic will destroy us!”
“What do you suggest we do then?” Milgic asked.
“We send a distress signal,” Zarcon replied.
“A distress signal?” Dormiton asked.
“Yes,” the scholarly insect stated. “Even if it’s a Tolarion ship, they’ll investigate it.”
“Then what,” Milgic asked.
“Then we’ll try to explain our situation. The council is bound to help.”
“And if they don’t,” Dormiton questioned.
“Then we won’t be any worse off than we already are.”
“At least now we’re alive and free,” Milgic sneered.
“We’ll never be free as long as Riona is after us. If the council can’t help us, no one can.”
Fear and doubt overcame the small crew, as the Tolarion ship traveled through the endless region of space. The doubt of ever reaching home again and fear of what became of their friend plagued their minds. Zarcon couldn’t help but feel defeated in the task of rescuing his friends from a certain death. He tried to deal peacefully with his leader, but he knew now that he was beyond reasoning and had slipped towards madness. He also knew he would stop at nothing to seek his revenge against them, even defy the council-if he hadn’t already.
CHAPTER SIX
While the lingworts and Zarcon had contemplated the rescue of their friend, a silent force followed them across the vastness of the galaxy. He sat behind his command post, overlooked the screen that lay in front of him, and turned towards a Belorion subordinate at the navigational panel. “How long before we reach Zebula,” he asked, in a cold inhuman voice.
“Approximately ten hours, Sir,” the Belorion answered.
“Once we reach our destination, I only want two scout ships with me,” Riona said. “The rest will remain in a distant orbit to intercept the renegades. I don’t want them to escape from me again.”
He stared into the empty space of the viewing screen. ‘How dare they defy me,’ he thought. ‘Handful of traitors! At least they will be destroyed here before they can spread their beliefs across the universe!’
As Zebula lay in front of the dark gray Republic ships, even Riona’s time was growing short. The Tolarions already blamed the Republic for destroying Zeloria and their ground base on the
lingwort’s planet, Ventros, and were preparing for an offensive attack. Preparations were being made to send attack ships to Belor and Sentros, the council’s home planet.
Riona was not worried; even without an army, his mental powers were a force to be reckoned with. Having the doomsday weapon, as he called it, was just icing on the cake. He felt that no one could stop him, not even this human named ‘Jeff Walker.’ Even at this distance, he could sense the human was injured, but he couldn’t discern any other information yet. Within four or five hours he’d be able to, and then he would have his apostates.
His powers enabled him to read minds as well as control them, move objects with relative ease without touching them, and create illusions to confuse his victims. His only wish was that no one ever discovered his weakness; for if that was to happen, it would spell disaster for him.
Zarcon, unfortunately for him, knew one of them-distraction. Riona knew that his arthropod adversary knew this as well, and was working on a way to overcome this proble
m. He wanted the meddler dead for some time, but he needed a reason to execute the diplomat, for the Republic wouldn’t condone his actions otherwise. Now, with the president of Belor out of his way, he could control the galaxy without interference. There was, however, the matter of the earthling which would be corrected soon.
On the scanners, Riona stared at the bluish-green aquatic world. In a trance, he was only receiving simple thought transmissions from the humanoid. They were thoughts of fear, pain and discomfort. As he probed deeper, he realized the human was surrounded by reptiles of some kind; hideous, blood-thirsty creatures. The darkness he empathized engulfed him like the emptiness of space itself.
As the hours passed, He tried to scan for Zarcon’s mind, and found himself unable to. “Prepare to land,” he told his second in command. Riona scanned for insect life, but only found traces of smaller specimens. “What game are you up to now, old friend?” Riona stared at the equatorial land masses on the planet below. “We’ll need to land at coordinates 9.6501. Near that island below. Confirmation computer?”
“Confirmed,” the machine answered. “Coordinates set at 9.6501.”
The three hundred and fifty feet craft entered Zebula’s atmosphere, withstanding the furious heat against the shields. As the jet-like spaceship glided towards the equator, they switched to sub
orbital speed. They approached the canyon on the small island where the Rigil Four was earlier. Riona saw the indentations of where it had landed, and then peered at the clearing where the wreckage was still smoking. “Land near there,” he commanded, pointing towards the clearing.
The ship edged into the cloud of smoke that lingered around the lake. The craft landed in the clearing, their commander opened the main hatch, and jumped out onto the soft soil. His subordinates closely followed his orders, and held their weapons firm. “Spread out,” he told them, as they immediately dispersed into the jungle. He walked over to some debris that was scattered about, bent over and picked up a piece with unfamiliar writing on it that was definitely not of Tolarion origin. He tried to fuse his mind to the object to determine its origin by holding it in his hand. He performed this type of mind-meld many times before with great success. It would take a little time to do it, and he couldn’t be distracted.
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