“Do not threaten me, Human!” he snarled. “You made me, and I can destroy you just as easily!” Akros’ men immediately came, and drew their lasers at Riona. He released his grip, lowered his hand and smiled. Akros straightened his collar.
“And you remember,” he said. “I gave you this power, and I can take it away! Your powers are only temporary, and you are as expendable as any other spy.”
Riona stormed down the hallway, using his mind to open the doors at the end of the corridor. He was mad at Akros, but he knew he couldn’t kill him, not yet anyway. He marched towards the hangar deck, his anger shifted towards the renegades he now would deal with. Balta was his only close friend and the only one who knew what they both envisioned for their future. They didn’t need Akros or any human to run the universe. The two of them could do it with the help of his army. When he found out it was the human who tried to kill Balta, it made him even more enraged, but he would have to contain his anger for now. After he brought them to Tolaria, he’d deal with them in his own way.
Back on the planet Sentros, the small renegade crew made preparations to depart to Alokia. Balar described the planet as being a warm hostile, barren world which was used as a Tolarion slave outpost. Slaves were either sent there until they either died or were transported somewhere else.
The atmosphere was very similar to Earth, which was mostly Nitrogen, and nearly 20% oxygen, enough to support life, but the warm barren winds of the planet made it way too dry for water. The other elements were too varied to name, and many were in minute amounts, except for large deposits of minerals such as iron and carbon. Tolaria and Alokia were hardly breathable to humans, because the
Oxygen was thick. This explained why on a planet similar to Earth, the Tolarions wore masks to survive. What Jeff couldn’t understand is how Akros dealt with this situation. He was breathing the same air as them but he didn’t have a mask on. Maybe he was in an air contained facility, a clone himself, or his genetic structure had been altered somehow.
Even though Jeff knew he had placed his friends in great peril by surrendering, he felt it would be the best solution to ending this war. He had a feeling the Tolarions wouldn’t keep up their end of the bargain; treaty or no treaty, they didn’t seem to him the type to keep their word. Besides, he didn’t intend to give up without a fight. He remembered something Zarcon told him on Beloria. He mentioned something about a main control center located on Tolaria. If they were able to get that far, he could plant a bomb there. That wouldn’t solve the problem of dealing with Riona however.
As the Talokian ship departed from the Earth-like world of Sentros., Jeff explained to his crew who Akros was and what he did, and they began to realize what kind of race he created. He also had a pretty firm feeling of what happened to Mars. If the Tolarions found the base, it would have been easy for them to destroy such a vulnerable target. Even if some of his kind escaped, they would die because there wasn’t another habitable planet within at least twelve light years.
And what of Lori? If they attacked, she was either a slave for them or already dead. She could be a strong woman and might be able to handle the labor, but she was not trained to endure torture. It upset him to think what became of his friend and realized that going back there was just no longer an option. That would be fine with him, as long as they sent him back to where there were human beings.
Alokia was about two weeks from them by the Tolarion standard of travel. They didn’t move there quicker because they needed time to formulate a plan. The Tolarion sector of space was much closer, about three days away. They were notorious for invading neutral territories, and they showed this by landing on Ventros, Zeloria, and Pluto. Zarcon knew they would probably be captured long before they reached their destination.
They watched Sentros fade from sight, and the Varcon casually glided the through the endless region of space. They knew this could be their only chance to save all their worlds from destruction. It was
now they needed to come up with a real plan.
“We need to get to the main control center,” Jeff said, as he turned
away from the viewing screen. Barva brought three of his men with them to help pilot the craft, as it was beyond any of the others’ knowledge. “If we can sabotage it somehow, we’ll stop them in their tracks.”
“What about this Triachilite?” Barva asked. “If they mass produce it, every Tolarion will know what we’re up to.”
“Then we’ll have to find their labs, and destroy them too,” Jeff said.
“There’s another way,” Zarcon remarked. All of their heads turned towards the ambassador. “If we can get to their main control center, we can destroy their entire planet.”
“How?” Barva asked.
“By self destructing the ray gun,” Zarcon replied. “The explosion would start a fusion chain reaction and incinerate the atmosphere.”
“First we have to find the ray gun, and that’s assuming Riona even went to Tolaria with it,” Jeff said. “We still don’t even know if he’s working with them or against them.”
“I don’t know,” Zarcon suggested. “I have a feeling there is more to our friend than meets the eye.”
“Such as?” asked Barva.
“An alliance with the Tolarions, of course,” Zarcon answered.
“Riona?” Dormiton asked. “A spy?”
"Why not," Jeff said. "I mean, where is he now? Certainly not chasing us anymore!”
“Yes,” Barva said. “That would explain why he wanted his ‘planet destroyer’ so badly.”
“Do you honestly think that it is on Tolaria,” Jeff asked.
“Why not?” Zarcon asked. “Tolaria is located at a strategic area of this galaxy. He can destroy any planet he wishes from there.”
“I had no idea its range is so great,” Barva said. “What form of power does it use?’
“Fusion,” Zarcon stated. “It can even be sent through a wormhole to hit a target. That is why we have never let it fall into enemy hands, and that is why the Tolarions never invaded us before.”
“Crude, but effective,” Barva remarked. “So why haven’t they attacked Sentros yet?”
“I don’t know,” Zarcon said, annoyed again by his superior attitude. “There has to be a reason. Perhaps they’re waiting until after
they get us.”
“If we can sabotage the main control center,” Jeff questioned.
“What will happen?”
“It will destroy most of their base,” the arthropod answered. “It’ll slow them down, but it won’t stop them completely.”
“Will it hurt them enough for the Republic to effectively attack them,” Jeff
asked.
“Yes,” Zarcon answered.
“Okay then,” Jeff surmised. “When we get to Tolaria, we’ll have to find a means for escape.”
“That won’t be easy,” Zarcon stated. “Their prisons are extremely well guarded.”
“Do we have any other choice?” Jeff asked.
“I guess not,” Zarcon stated. “Even if the Republic goes to war, there’s no telling of the outcome. There are seven hundred Tolarion bases in this galaxy alone.”
“Through cloning no doubt,” Jeff remarked.
“Then how can destroying one base make a difference?” Milgic asked.
“Because it is their main base that matters,” Zarcon said. “The other bases would be total chaos without Akros running them.”
“Is he that powerful a man?” Milgic asked.
“I’m afraid so,” Zarcon said. “He’s worse than Riona.”
“He’s the father of creation,” Jeff jested. “He’s cloned an entire race of beings! Less than perfect, I might add. He forgot the extra eye on them.”
“That’s how he’s been able to have such an enormous population,” Zarcon explained. “They must have been all created from the same cell.”
“There’s a possibility that those cells may be part human,” Jeff stated. “Probably from Dr. Av
ery himself.”
“If that is true,” Barva added. “Their brain patterns are similar to his. That would explain why they follow his orders explicitly. We went through a similar process with you, although much more complicated.”
“And if he was mentally ill like I have read, then maybe his genes were mutated somehow to form these ‘Tolarions,” Jeff responded. “And maybe that’s why he still needs me. To correct the process so he can be human again.”
“And that would also explain why he needs the Triachilite,” Zarcon replied. “He probably needs it for some kind of mind meld
with the others.”
“Well,” Jeff said. “For some time we’ll be under confinement. I want us to all stick together, if we can. During this time, we’ll have to figure out a way to escape and destroy their base on Tolaria. It sounds like their plan is to transport us from Alokia to Tolaria. I want no heroics while we’re there, even if we are separated, okay? We’re just going to be transported from Alokia to their main base on Tolaria.”
“What if Riona is there?” Dormiton asked.
“Then he is under orders, and probably won’t kill us,” Zarcon stated.
“Probably?” Milgic doubted.
“Zarcon,” Jeff asked, as he changed the subject. “Is there an arsenal on Tolaria?”
“Yes,” he answered. “Near the main control center.”
“How convenient,” Jeff jested. “We should have no problem protecting
ourselves once we reach it.”
“Five of us against a whole army?” Zarcon questioned. “You’re as mad as Riona!”
“You don’t have much faith in your own people, do you?” Barva asked.
“My people are of honor!” Zarcon barked. “They will not attack unless a treaty has been violated!”
“And what treaty may that be?” Barva quipped. “They’ve already destroyed one of your colonies, as well as their own.”
“And the Republic will place sanctions on their government,” Zarcon surmised.
“That’s not enough!” Jeff snapped. “They must pay for what they’ve done to all of us! I can’t understand what’s got into you, Zarcon.”
“I’m beginning to realize that the Lingworts are right and that war is not the answer. Too many lives have been lost already!”
“And many more will be lost if we don’t take some kind of initiative,” Jeff stated.
“You should have become a military advisor, Jeff,” Zarcon jested. “You can be quite persuasive.”
“No,” Jeff said. “I never liked all the conflict, but we have to do something. So are you with us?” The human raised his fist in the air.
“I’m with you,” he said, and placed his closed claw upon Jeff’s fist. The others did the same, in a rebellious alliance against their
enemies.
Two days passed since leaving Sentros and the Talokian ship proceeded to get closer to its destination without an incident. It would be ridiculous to escape at this point for it would place the whole Republic in jeopardy. They also needed a means to get to the Tolarion base, which they could never do alone without a fleet behind them. They just hoped that Akros wasn’t lying about taking them there.
Zarcon explained what he knew of the construction of Tolarion headquarters, even though he’d never been there. What he knew was relayed to the Republic through spies, especially the arsenal and main control center. Few spies had ever escaped from there alive. What information he didn’t know, they extracted from the Rigil Four’s computers before they abandoned it. They found the location of the Tolarion prison on the map, at least a mile from the main control center, and heavily guarded.
“How are we going to get there without being seen?”
Barva asked. “It would appear that we are outnumbered all of the way.”
“What about these air ducts?” Jeff asked as he pointed to the map, which was on the viewing screen.
“If they found out we’ve escaped,” Zarcon explained. “They’ll flood them with poisonous gas.”
“Well that rules that out,” Jeff sighed. “What about this entrance here. It appears to be a cargo bay of some kind. If we can get through there, we can reach the main reactor.”
“Too many guards there,” Zarcon said. “They’ll spot us in a minute.”
“Not if we come in as cargo,” Barva hinted. “Those food crates are four feet high.”
“So,” Jeff said, not pleased at what he was about to suggest.
“Our amphibian friends are four feet high,” Barva said, as the lingworts looked at each other in disbelief. Jeff stared at him in defiance.
“No!” he insisted. “I can’t let them do it! What if something went wrong? Besides, how are they going to get to the reactor from there?”
“The cargo is sent through the control center to other destinations. It might work,” Zarcon said.
“How will they escape?” Jeff asked.
“Through one of the air vents,” Zarcon said. “If they don’t see them, they won’t flood it with gas. We can then meet them here. “The
air duct nearest to the shuttle deck. From there, we can steal a ship if we have to.”
“I do not intend to surrender this ship,” Barva boldly stated. “My crew will remain here. They will use their minds on the Tolarions to think that they are not here while the rest of us are interrogated.”
“Wow!” Jeff remarked. “I didn’t know you could do something like that. The more I learn about this multi-verse, the weirder it gets.”
“How will the five of us escape without being seen?” Dormiton asked.
“That’s the tricky part,” Jeff said.
“We’ll have to sabotage the alarm system,” Zarcon said. “Which is located here-near the prison exit.”
“How many guards are on each floor?” the human asked.
“Ten throughout the floor, twenty at the two exits,” Zarcon answered.
“Thirty, heh,” Jeff sighed. “The odds are steep as hell, but we might be able to pull it off. Will the Republic back us up by attacking the base?”
“I’ll find out,” Zarcon answered, and walked to the communications console.
“If they don’t,” Barva said. “My people will. We should have our fleet ready by then.”
“Very good,” Jeff said. “I still don’t like this idea of you two being key points.”
“Neither do we,” Milgic exclaimed. “I miss Masgria.”
“We’ve got to help though,” Dormiton said, as he turned to him. “In any way we can.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that,” Jeff laughed.
Zarcon contacted the council and informed them of their plans, using a special code the Tolarions couldn’t decipher. Balar didn’t totally agree, but backed them up nonetheless. He agreed to send several ships to Tolaria after he was certain they arrived there. His timing needed to be crucial, for if they arrived too soon, their attack would be redundant.
“How much longer before we reach Alokia?” the human asked and turned to the viewing screen.
“Forty two hours and twenty three minutes,” Barva stated.
“We’ll have to put up with their barbaric conditions,” Jeff said.
“Just do as you’re told. Maybe they won’t kill us.”
“Wishful thought I’m afraid,” Zarcon said. “Even if they say there
taking us to Tolaria, there’s no guarantee they won’t execute us on Alokia.”
“That’s the chance we’ll have to take,” Jeff said. “If anything goes wrong at Alokia, we’ll try to escape.”
“The whole plan sounds like suicide to me,” Milgic barked.
“Suicide or not, we have no choice,” Barva said. “The Talokians will stay out of range of the Tolarions’ scanners until they’re needed. The homing devices will also link into my people’s computers.”
“How can a small fleet be effective against Alokia’s defenses?” Zarcon questioned.
“Our ships are considerably more advanced t
han the Republics’ or the Tolarions’,” Barva said. “We can see them before they can see us, and we can attack from a farther range.”
“The scanners indicate three space craft approaching at rapid speed.” One of Barva’s men said. “They appear to be Tolarion.”
“We haven’t even entered their sector of space yet,” Zarcon cried. “They are going to capture us sooner than expected.”
“Prepare to open communications with them,” Jeff said.
“Once we leave, follow us, but at a distance,” Barva instructed his men as well.
“What if they try to destroy the ship?” Zarcon asked.
“Once we’re onboard,” Barva said. “Leave here at warp-light speed.”
“Your kind has mastered the speed of light,” Zarcon asked.
“Not exactly,” Barva explained. “We’ve developed a technology that allows us to bend space and time forming a field around our ship. It’s similar to your wormhole generator in this respect. It allows us to surpass the speed of light, but the ship does not move itself, just the space around it.”
“Fascinating,” Zarcon said. “We can only achieve light speed by wormhole generation. We haven’t developed that far yet.”
“You soon will,” Barva predicted.
“Communications are open,” one of Barva’s men announced.
“This is Major Jeff Walker, from the Republic,” he announced. “We are here to surrender.”
Their message was received by the Tolarion ship which answered in English. “I am Kolar, of the Tolarion fleet,” the voice said. “Prepare for us to dock and board. Do not attempt any resistance or you will be
killed.”
“Stop all engines and cut all power except the main door hatch,”
Barva commanded. They waited in the darkness for their captors, and heard the ship docking along the side of them. There was a loud grinding sound, a loud snap, and the doors locked within each other. The main door hatch opened, and they were greeted by several guards who were wearing air masks on their faces. The beasts immediately grabbed the five of them and put them in the other ship. The other Talokians were invisible to their minds just as Barva said they would be. Before they had time to speak, the one called Kolar grabbed Jeff’s arm. “There’s someone who wishes to speak with you,” he sneered.
Dimension Lapse (Dimension Lapse Series Book 1) Page 15