The craft penetrated the Nitrogen based atmosphere and they knew for the first time since leaving Ventros they would be safe. Riona wouldn’t dare attack Sentros, and if he did, the Republic would surely hunt him down. They were outposts all over the galaxy, and if one of them was destroyed, another would retaliate. Even the Tolarions knew this, and carefully planned around the fact.
Approaching the land masses of the world, they could see immense cloud covers and the structure of their enormous cities. It reminded Jeff of the old pictures he saw of New York City before the nuclear war. He wondered if all their inhabitants were different races of aliens, or all one race. Even Zarcon had never been here before, and was anxious to see what kind of world it was.
They followed the small scout ships as they headed towards one of the metropolises. They could hear the voice of one of its pilots, who contacted headquarters.
“Scout Ship Tentra to base,” he said. “Please come in.”
“Sentros Central here,” another voice answered.
“I’m bringing in the visitors,” the pilot said. “Over?”
“Proceed, Tentra. Is President Zarcon among them?”
“Affirmative. Bring the whole crew to the council. They are expecting them. Over?”
“Acknowledged. Preparing to dock. Please stand by with security personnel. Over and out.”
The three ships came closer to Sentros Central, which possessed buildings which were very similar to those of ancient Rome. It was very clear to Jeff that they took pride in their architecture, as did the Belorions.
The doors were already open when they approached the landing deck. It was apparent that the atmosphere was breathable, for several Sentrons walked back and forth outside the complex. Much to Jeff’s surprise and joy, they were mostly humans. ‘Finally,’ he thought. ‘I
get to talk to my own kind.’
The Varcon was surrounded by several guards upon landing. Zarcon and Jeff emerged from the main door hatch first, with their arms outstretched. They were directed down a large corridor of the complex.
“Do you think they’ll believe us?” Jeff asked Zarcon, as he peered at their captors, which hid behind their helmets and grey uniforms.
“If I can convince them Riona is responsible for Zeloria,” Zarcon stated. “It should be easy when they discover what he has done.” When they approached the council chambers, the guards opened the cathedral type doors, revealing a long table.
“The Council awaits,” Zarcon stated, as they were pushed to enter.
One of the figures rose from the table. He was humanoid in appearance, had no facial hair other a mustache, and very little on the top other than a few grayish black hairs around his ears. He was a hefty gentleman, and wore a long red cloak. He walked towards the insect, which he only had seen through visual communication meetings.
“Zarcon,” he said, outstretching his arms in acceptance. “I’m pleased to finally meet you face to face; although I’m sorry it’s under these circumstances.”
“Hello, Balar,” Zarcon answered and embraced him. “You know that I’m innocent.”
“Why don’t you explain what happened on Belor?” Balar asked. “And you must introduce me to your friends.”
“Yes,” Zarcon said. “This is Jeff Walker, from a planet called Mars. These two amphibian beings are from Ventros, and these are the Talokians, led by Barva.”
“This planet called Mars supports humanoids?” Balar asked.
“Yes,” Jeff answered. “My parents were originally from Earth.”
“You must have traveled a great distance,” Balar said. “I’ve never heard of either of those planets, or the Talokians for that matter.”
“We’re both from another universe,” Jeff explained.
"Ah,” he sighed. “You must have gotten here by way of a Tolarion dimensional transportation device?”
“As far as I know, that seems to be the case. I don’t know why
though.”
“You must have somehow been trapped in a wormhole with them,” Balar retorted. “Well, my friends, why don’t you take your seats. We have many things to discuss. I held off going to Alokia for
negotiations until I could speak with all of you. Barva, your friends are welcome to use the recreation area while we meet.”
The five former renegades walked over to the empty seats of the conference table and sat down, as the other Talokians followed the guards out of the room. A feeling of uneasiness came over Jeff as he stared at the various aliens at the table. He could see there was another Belorion at the table, as well as another reptilian being who was completely different from his friends. There were also several beings that were unlike anything else he ever saw before. There was a bluish colored humanoid with wings, a small grayish creature with large dark almond shaped eyes similar to those reported on Earth in the past, and even a cat-like being.
“The session of the council of Galactic Republic of Peaceful Civilizations will now come to order,” Balar announced, as he sat down. “Zarcon, you have allegedly attacked a Zelorion outpost with the planetary disintegration device, starting a confrontation with the Tolarions, destroyed a Galactic Republic outpost, and conspired with President Riona in these charges. Do you deny any of allegations?”
“Yes, Sir," Zarcon said, rather surprised at his turnabout behavior. “I deny all of them?”
“If you deny these allegations, how can you account for the incidents that have taken place?” Balar asked.
“Riona is the one you are looking for!” Jeff said, defending his friend. “He is the one who did all of these things!” The reptilian creature spoke to Balar in his native tongue, who interpreted what he said.
“If this is so,” Balar asked. “How come he hasn’t been found?”
“He’s escaped with your device,” Jeff said. “He’s been trying to hunt us down.”
“Although we would like to believe you,” Balar stated. “We have no evidence to prove what you’re saying. All we have are two destroyed planets, and a missing weapon. Riona has been troublesome with us in the past, but he has never committed an open act of aggression.”
“There’s always a first time,” Jeff smirked, as he smiled to his two amphibian friends.
“Neither have I,” Zarcon explained. “You don’t really believe I would kill my own people, do you?”
“Of course not,” Balar said. “We are merely suggesting that something went on there, and we would like to know the details.”
“Riona wanted to know where my home planet was,” Jeff said. “Balta also wanted to know this before he destroyed my friends’ home. I wouldn’t tell him, so Riona destroyed Zeloria instead. He wanted to have Zarcon executed for some reason, and make him appear guilty. Why did they want to know where Mars was?”
“I do not know, but if what you say is true,” Balar stated. “This conflict between the two of you has cost us interstellar peace, Zarcon. If he is still alive, and has the weapon like you say, he needs to be found before he destroys us all.”
“I believe there’s more to it than that, Sir,” Zarcon said. “He is apparently trying to get the Tolarions to do his dirty work.”
“What does he have to gain from this? “Balar asked, scratching his mustache.
“Plenty,” Jeff said. “When both forces have destroyed each other, he’ll move in and take over what is left. The Tolarions are planning something with a substance that enables them to have telepathic and telekinetic powers such as Riona’s.”
“Triachilite,” the Belorion ambassador said. “It was first used on Zacharas. That is how we first achieved our mental powers. The drug is absorbed in the genes, and passes down through them, but only if it’s administered right. The Belorions learned to control its properties for practical purposes, not for mind control and domination.”
“How come you didn’t tell us this?” Jeff asked Zarcon, as he turned towards him, feeling a little slighted.
“Because I don’t know much about Zarcharian
history,” Zarcon retorted. “I left there when I was young, and spent most of my life on Belor.”
“If they’ve developed the Triachilite,” Balar surmised. “Then we have much bigger worries. As Valtar has told us, the Belorions have achieved a usefulness of the drug, but an addiction to it does have drawbacks, as you have seen in Riona. We had no idea this is where he got his mental powers. At least now we have an avenue to defeat him. There is an old saying; with power comes corruption.”
“My people had a similar saying,” Jeff responded.
“Is there anything the council can do?” Zarcon asked.
“We can try opening communications with Tolaria,” Balar said.
“They may not speak to us, but even they do not want an outright war on their hands. If we withdraw, they might also.”
Balar walked over to a screen and pressed a button, turning the screen on. A human appeared on it, which totally surprised Jeff as he
stood from his seat in shock. He was a white man with black hair, brown eyes, and a full beard. His face was rather thin, and his hair was curly.
Jeff recognized his face right away from Earth history books. It was Dr. Louis Avery, a scientist who first developed cloning experiments on human beings. So this was the Earth man the computer spoke of. It all began to make sense to him. That was why the Tolarions all looked the same, because they were the same, through cloning. That didn’t explain, however, why Balta was more superior to the rest, however.
He read that Avery was working on the idea of a superior race of human in the late 2050’s, and the experiment went terribly wrong. Abominations were created that had to be destroyed. He was then committed to a mental hospital, only to escape the institution and never be found. Could it be that he somehow discovered how to bend space and time and travel to the future? And if so, why would he do this? Was it because he needed something in this universe that he couldn’t find in his own to complete his experiments?’ These questions were all going through Jeff’s mind, and he was eager to find the answers. While he pondered, the human spoke. “Akros,” Balar announced. “Akros, I want you to break off your attack. We will withdraw our ships immediately if you do the same. There has been a grave mistake by our leader. He has been ousted from power. I am in command now.”
There was a brief silence for a few minutes, due to the distances between the worlds.
“I am a reasonable man, Balar,” Akros said. “But I cannot ignore the fact that you have destroyed two of our bases. I’ll tell you what. You turn over the Martian and his accomplices, and we shall be more than willing to negotiate. He has destroyed our bases on Ventros and Zeloria, and has cost us much research! I will give you two days to comply, or we will attack your planet!” The screen went blank, and the council members’ eyes were all fixed on Jeff.
“It appears that the Tolarions want you pretty bad, Mr. Walker,” Balar said.
“Yes,” he answered. “I guess I’ve been a bit of a naughty boy!”
“Just what did you do to the Ventros base?” Balar asked.
“Nothing really, just protected my friends from invaders,” Jeff said. “I think there may be another reason as well. I know your Akros.”
“How,” Zarcon asked.
“He was an Earthling that somehow got here,” Jeff explained. “He was working on cloning experiments. I think he wants my DNA.”
“It’s a possibility,” Balar agreed. “But why yours and not just any human?”
“Because I am a descendent of Earth.”
“He’ll want an answer soon. I have to save our people from war as well.”
“Yes, I know,” Jeff stated, as he bowed his head in despair. “I’ll surrender myself to them.”
“No,” Dormiton pleaded. “You can’t do that!”
“Do I have any other choice?” Jeff asked.
“It would appear not,” Zarcon stated.
“You’re not going alone!” Dormiton pleaded. “We’re all in this together! If we must fight together, we must die together!”
Zarcon addressed him in amazement. “Fight together?” he asked. “How would you know about fighting?’
“I’ve seen enough to know that I won’t give up that easily,” he roared. “You can’t just let him go in alone!”
“Dormiton’s right,” Barva agreed. “We must stick together. Besides, I may have a plan.”
“Yea,” Milgic added. “He’s got a plan!”
“Well,” Zarcon said, bewildered. “We’re going to need one. It would appear the decision has been made. However, there still is the problem of Riona. I will have to deal with him, he’s my problem.”
“He is all of our problems,” Balar said. “And as soon as we can establish peaceful relations again, he will be dealt with.”
“How do you know the Tolarions will stick to their word?” Barva asked.
"Because they have in the past,” Balar answered. “Our treaties are what keep us alive. That and our highly advanced weapons.”
“Which Riona now possesses,” Zarcon added. “We must stop him before he causes anymore damage.”
The reptilian ambassador spoke into the council leader’s ear. “One step at a time,” Balar said. “We must first see to it that no enemy vessels penetrate our sector of space. Then, we can negotiate.”
“Koros is right,” the Belorion member said. “We must defend ourselves first!”
“If we can escape Akros,” Zarcon suggested. “We may be able to find out more about the Triachilite.”
“That was part of my plan,” Barva added, as Zarcon looked a little annoyed by his intellectual superior.
Balar nodded. “Yes,” he said, and held his index finger up. “That may be our only chance.”
“There hasn’t been a cell that can hold us yet,” Jeff laughed.
“It will be more dangerous than you can imagine,” Balar warned them. “You may all be killed.”
Jeff smiled, his brown eyes staring ahead at the new leader of the Republic. “There’s an old Earth saying,” he said. “We’ve made our bed, and now we have to sleep in it.”
CHAPTER NINE
Riona had given up trying to capture them; it was too late for him to stop them from meeting with the council, and besides, there was other business to attend to. He decided to direct his efforts on his new destination, which remained a mystery to his crew until they finally reached it.
Halfway across the galaxy, a dark figure loomed over his throne and pressed the button to shut off his viewing screen. He sat in the large conference room, and stared at his subordinate. The screen came on and Balar’s face appeared.
“We are prepared to meet your demands, Akros,” he said. The renegades will be handed over to you.”
“Very good,” the ruler sneered. “Bring them to Alokia. They will be transported from there. When they are in our custody, we will withdraw our ships.”
“Agreed,” Balar said, and turned off his viewing screen.
“They’re on their way,” Akros said, as he turned to his subordinate. A white hand with claws fell upon the table in front of
him.
“Excellent,” his subordinate said. “My end of the agreement will be honored once they are in my custody.”
“As mine will be when I receive the human and the death ray, as we agreed,” Akros said as he smiled at the humanoid. “You have served me well, Riona. Ah, you always were my favorite creation. It shall be a pleasure to see you and Balta in control of the galaxy.”
“Balta?” Riona questioned. “I thought he was killed by the human?”
“No, not at all. He is waiting on Alokia for his ‘assassin.”
“As long as he doesn’t kill him,” Riona said, as he smiled. “He is welcome to torture him in any way he wishes, but as for Zarcon, he better leave him to me!”
“He’s not to harm him!” Akros snapped at the humanoid. “He’s only to bring him here. After I’m through with him, then the two of you are welcome to do whatever you want.”
Riona frowned. “The inferiority of the human race,” he sighed. “Always showing the hand of mercy.”
“Inferior?” Akros questioned. “You’re forgetting who created you. Without me, you wouldn’t even exist!”
“I’m sorry, Akros. I’ve been under a little strain lately.”
“You’ll be under a lot more if you allow them to escape again!”
“Yes, Akros. I mean no disrespect. It’s been a pleasure serving under you as well. The Republic has never suspected a thing, until recently.”
“Another mistake you have made?”
“The Belorion left me no choice. He was getting suspicious.”
“Are you sure it isn’t the drug affecting your decisions?”
“No, it’s not that at all. Zarcon has outraged me for the last time!” Riona grew hostile, slamming both hands on the table.
“Calm down, friend,” Akros said, as he placed his hand on the shoulder of his long blue cloak. “Soon, you’ll have the human, and we’ll all have the universe to command. I’ve been waiting for this day for a century; ever since I left that decrepit place called Earth. To think, their conquerors were after a mere planet, when they could have ruled an entire universe. Excuse me, both universes-yours and mine. Once you know the renegades are in custody, have our fleet attack Sentros.”
“Why don’t we just use the planet destroyer?” Riona asked, impatient to end this whole fiasco.
“Just because we have it, doesn’t mean we have to use it. Haven’t you and Balta learned yet? It’s about control, not extermination. We
want them to know we have it, but put enough fear into them that they will surrender.”
“Shall I join him on Alokia?”
“Can you handle the situation without bungling it up?”
“You can count on it! They won’t escape me again! What about the others?”
“You can kill the other beings with him; they are no use to me.” The door opened as they walked out of the room. Akros turned towards him as they left. “You may go there, but I’m warning you Riona. If I hear that they’ve escaped again, you’ll be terminated just like they will be.” Riona grew angered, and grabbed his neck.
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