Zero Time

by M. P. Swinnerton

  These invaders were polyglots and had no problems in communicating with any of the Uno men, but in actual fact most of the Ottos killed the Unos before giving them a chance to speak and surrender. As Zon watched in disbelief, he saw the huge war machines appearing on the horizon of Uno. These were massive airborne hovercraft completely encircled by the same type of spiking system that the soldiers wore, and they were accompanied by thousands of smaller air machines that were letting off huge amounts of poisonous yellow clouds composed of chemical fumes, whenever a Robot or Uno male appeared in front of them. The Unos were dropping like flies and Zon felt a great sadness deep inside of him, knowing that the Zelites could not help the Unos any further.

  He had arranged for many of his own robotic anti-invader personnel and their machines to be sent to assist Planet Uno, but these machines were also proving unable to withstand this massive attack. Zon discussed the situation with his brothers and the other leaders, including Zenith, and a decision was made to build up their own defense barricades in case the Ottos decided to turn their attack towards Planet Zero. It was while he was discussing their plans that Zenith came up with an idea that might solve the problem.

  The transportation of the dinosaurs to another planet was proving to be a massive headache for Zenith, but now a plan was beginning to form in his clever mind. What if, instead of fighting the Ottos, they befriended them and asked them for help to remove the dinosaurs from earth?

  This suggestion horrified Zon at first, but slowly the idea began to formulate in his brain as well as Zenith's. There was nothing further they could do to aid their Uno friends and by actually sidling up to and pretending to befriend the Ottos, the Zelites could possibly kill two birds with one stone by getting help in removing those gigantic animals from Planet Zero, and perhaps could indeed prevent an attack on Planet Zero by the Ottos.

  Plans were immediately initiated by the Zelite Defense Corp Commander to contact the Leader of the Otto Attack Force to enquire if the Zelites could be of any assistance to the Ottos in eliminating the remaining Unos, falsely explaining to the Otto Leader that the Zelites had always admired the tremendous power and potential of the Otto Force and would like to invite them to visit Planet Zero, where they would be offered hospitality and respite if they required any sustenance or rest.

  The Otto Attack Commander received the message and, with a sarcastic comment, showed the invitation to his secondin-command, General Ottovio, who, after at first laughing at the transparency of the suggestion, studied the document again carefully. General Ottovio then recommended that it would be quite a good idea for the Ottos to take advantage of the hospitality offered by Planet Zero as they could replenish their depleted stocks of water that he knew was plentiful on Planet Zero.

  It was therefore agreed between the two generals that an Otto Spaceship should visit Planet Zero after rendezvousing first on the Visiting Platform of The Moon.

  Zon was at first insistent that he should be the one to meet the Otto General, but Zenith was adamant that this could be tantamount to committing suicide if the Ottos decided to turn nasty towards the Zelites, and persuaded Zon to allow the Zelite's Chief of Staff, together with Zenith, to attend the first meeting between the two superpowers.

  Arrangements were hastily made for Zenith and his companion to join General Ottovio and to accompany the Ottos down to Planet Zero on a Zelite Protected Ship. The Ottos were quite happy to agree to this arrangement, as they knew they had the capacity to invade Planet Zero should anything happen to General Ottovio whilst he was with the Zelites.

  Zon and his brothers awaited the arrival of General Ottovio on Planet Zero with some trepidation, as they had never before had dealings with any of these dangerous people whose reputation for violence went before them whenever they moved around the universe. However, Zon was secure in the knowledge that Zenith's power of persuading others into his way of thinking was superb, and although he was indeed apprehensive, Zon was not too worried about the forthcoming meeting.

  He had asked Stef and Zeileen to supervise arrangements for living quarters for the Otto General and his staff, explaining to the two women that the Ottos were exceedingly large men and would need outsize beds and chairs. He asked them to ensure that the Ottos would have no reason to complain.

  As soon as confirmation was received from Zenith that the initial rendezvous had been successful, Zon and his brothers proceeded to the arrival station and awaited General Ottovio and his entourage. Zon had heard by word of mouth that the Ottos were gigantic, but he was still quite amazed at the actual size of these men when they did finally set foot on Planet Zero.

  They were huge people and it was with some apprehension that Zon moved towards the Otto party, but, extending his right palm in an outward and upwards movement, he felt confident that he could persuade these extraordinary giants to help with the transfer of the dinosaurs to a safe, empty planet. He was even more assured when General Ottovio removed his spiked helmet and gloves and, in turn, offered him his extended palm in a sign of friendship.

  After the initial formalities of introducing themselves, Zon led the Otto General and his entourage to the awaiting People Mover. Zon had ensured that the vehicle was large enough to accommodate the Ottos comfortably. Then he sped back to base where he made sure that the General and his followers had everything they required to refresh themselves before dinner.

  He enquired of the General what kind of food they preferred, and found out that they were carnivores; Zon breathed a huge sigh of relief that Stef was around to supervise a large banquet of meat, poultry and fish for the ravenous guests. The evening meal was quite successful and when his guests were finally satisfied with the food and wine, Zon suggested that they should all retire to their own quarters for the evening and would meet in the Discussion Room the following morning at 10 am.

  Zon was relieved to get General Ottovio's acceptance to this plan, but he was dismayed when the Ottos then demanded that they be provided with female company to allow them complete relaxation after their long journey, pointing out that they would not be satisfied with robots; they wanted real flesh and blood.

  An order was given to the appropriate Zelite person to arrange for a supply of exceptionally large-built GM females to keep the Ottos company. Zon swept aside his sister Zeileen's pleas that these Otto giants were so big it would be cruel to expect the GM females to entertain them. Zon was uncomfortably aware that there was more at stake in keeping the Otto men content than the unfortunate suffering of a few GM females. After all, he assured his sister, these women had been genetically modified to accept any size of man and they had picked the largest of all these women. In his heart, however, he knew very well that the GM women had not been programmed to accept such gargantuan hulks as the Ottos, but he shrugged his shoulders and decided they would have to cope somehow.

  The following morning, as planned, Zon met General Ottovio and outlined his request. Zon had realized that, as his friends on Planet Uno had unfortunately all been exterminated by now, Planet Uno would soon be vacant for the Zelites to inhabit. He was only too well aware that the Ottos had no intention of remaining on Planet Uno themselves; they had just wanted to demonstrate to the rest of the universe their power and prowess at war.

  The consequence of this ghastly action had in reality possibly provided an answer to the Zelites’ problem of where to go when they themselves eventually needed to move off Planet Zero. In such a case, the Zelites could, in principle, actually leave the prehistoric dinosaurs to remain on Planet Zero. However, as plans were already in hand for the possible removal of these animals by the Ottos, Zon decided it would be prudent to go ahead with these arrangements as Planet Zero was doomed to perish shortly anyway and the poor creatures had no future here either.

  The Great Leader decided to clinch a deal with the Ottos regarding the problem of the dinosaurs to start off with, and then when the time was right, he would approach them regarding Planet Uno.

  He explained to the Gen
eral that he hoped that the Ottos, with the assistance of the Zelites, could capture the dinosaurs and remove them to another suitable planet where they would not damage the environment. Zon confirmed that the Zelites would be willing to remunerate the Ottos for any expenses involved and also promised, in return for the help of the Ottos, that the Zelites would be willing to offer any assistance they could to the Ottos in the future, should they ever require it.

  General Ottovio was a smooth talker, for a warrior, and teased Zon with his parlance until he finally derisively mocked the Zelites for even thinking they could ever be of any help to the Ottos. However, he eventually agreed to travel to look at the dinosaurs for himself, and confirmed that he would then decide whether or not the Ottos would definitely be able to help the Zelites remove these monsters from Planet Zero

  Arrangements were made to transport General Ottovio and his warriors to view the dinosaurs, accompanied by Zon and Zenith. Zenith was already calculating, in his expert brain, how the transportation could be carried out, and he knew that it was imperative to get the aid of the Ottos, as it would be a more or less impossible task for the Zelites to move these dinosaurs themselves. The only alternatives would be the mass destruction of the creatures or to leave them to die on Planet Zero.

  While Zon was quietly contemplating the situation, he suddenly become confused for a few moments when he heard some medical-looking men talking about injections and tranquillizers. He had a most strange feeling that he was actually somewhere else.

  This strange flash of bewilderment soon passed as he heard Zenith telling him that he had reckoned that an extremely potent massive sedation campaign would be required to get the creatures into a state in which they could be moved. Zenith was in the throes of calculating the actual formula for the sedative when Zon broke into his thoughts with a suggestion that they should also use this trip to spend some quality time together again.

  Zenith smiled at his friend and assented by a nod but, out loud, conveyed his ideas on the problem in hand.

  When the party arrived in Patagonia, they landed in a strip specially created for the Zelites to observe the mammoths without the creatures being able to attack them. The strip was surrounded by protective electrical impulses, which were charged enough to rebuff the dinosaurs without harming them, but would prevent them from crossing into the safety strip area. The strip had various impregnable Observation Areas, and Zon led General Ottovio to one of these, pointing out the direction in which the mammoths had last been detected.

  Even General Ottovio, being a giant himself, could not help but gasp when he first caught a glimpse of the mammoth creatures.

  “Wow!” he cried, “they are certainly things from a long time ago, I guess!”

  Zon agreed with him and explained to the General what had caused the return of the dinosaurs. As the Ottos had been unaware of the crisis that had hit Planet Earth at the time of the meteorite hits, it took Zon some time to explain to the General that the dinosaur eggs had been suspended in ice until the heat of the meteorites had melted the ice coffins and hatched the dinosaur eggs.

  General Ottavio enquired from Zenith as to whether there would be any more hatchings, as obviously the eggs would have been laid at different times, but Zenith confirmed that this phenomenon was a one-off and that the extreme heat from the meteorites had only lasted for a very short while, just long enough to hatch only the few dinosaurs that were now roaming the countryside, and no further eggs could possibly survive or hatch now.

  The Otto party and the Zelites retired to the Meeting Rooms situated deep underground in the protected area and discussed the pros and cons of moving the mammoths to another world. General Ottovio was, at first, all for just killing the mammoths. He said he felt their existence would be of no value to anyone anywhere else in the universe and he was adamant that destruction of the creatures was the only answer to the problem.

  However, after a while one of the other Ottos took him aside and, following some deep secretive discussions, General Ottovio advised Zon that he had changed his mind and he now felt that it would be in the interests of the Ottos to move the dinosaurs as they felt they could possibly find some use for them.

  Zon and Zenith glanced swiftly at one another with a trace of alarm in their eyes. They both knew in their hearts that these great beasts were probably going to be used as combat entertainment and then, after the Ottos had tired of their cruel fun, the mammoths would eventually end up as food supplies for the Ottos’ domestic animals. But both men accepted that there was no other sensible alternative for them and had to agree to help the Ottos transport the dinosaurs to wherever they decided.

  It was pretty obvious to both men that the Ottos had some horrible, devious plan in mind for these mammoths, but even so, it appeared to be the only way out of their immediate predicament. They thanked the Ottos for their cooperation and, after a few formalities had been carried out, escorted the Otto party back to the Moon Platform so that they could pick up their own transport and return to Planet Otto.

  The Otto General took leave of Zon and Zenith and said he would return shortly with his men to capture the mammoths and would provide the huge transporters necessary to fly the dinosaurs to their destination. He asked Zenith to arrange for the massive doses of tranquilizer that would be required and then, replacing his helmet and other armor, returned to his own airship.

  Zon was relieved to see the back of this evil man, for the time being, but his conscience was pricking him with the knowledge that this devil would soon be back, and as far as he could see, the consequences were completely out of his hands. He and Zenith discussed the subject at some length, but neither of the men could come up with a better idea than allowing the Ottos to take over the removal of the dinosaurs. In the end they decided that the only solution as far as they could fathom was to allow the cruel future, which was undoubtedly in store for the mammoths, to take its natural course, and the matter was left closed.

  CHAPTER 31

  The two men did not return to Washington immediately, but, as previously agreed, spent some time together laughing and joking, drinking and relaxing together. They spent the night in one of the underground comfort lodges that were provided for space travelers on the Moon Platform and indulged their secret passion for each other. This was a happy time for the two men and it was with reluctance that they had to part when morning came. Zon decided it was better for him to return to Planet Zero ahead of Zenith to avoid any undue speculation on the part of senior Zelites.

  The Zelite Leader did not go immediately to Washington; instead he headed directly to Paris and went to seek out Uvella and his children. Uvella was delighted to see Zon and accepted his explanation that the urgency of sorting out the dinosaur problem had not allowed him to visit her sooner. She was a very gentle person and, oh so beautiful! This blonde, magnificently formed female reminded him so much of his beloved Uvarna that his heart stood still for a second when he saw her again.

  Uvella gently reminded him that they would need to make the arrangements for their Unification and Zon agreed that he would attend to this straight away. He called in to see his children and then, without staying for a meal, made his farewells and assured Uvella that he would be in touch very soon. He kissed her softly on the cheek and felt an immediate response from her as she placed her arms around his neck and replied to his kiss with a definitely more ardent one on his mouth. The temptation in his loins was unbearable and his first impulse was to take this gorgeous female and enjoy all her loveliness, but Zon was still not absolutely sure what to do about this delicate situation. He had not yet explained to Stef the existence of Uvella in his life, but was fully aware that Stef would find out soon enough if he did not hurry up and tell her himself. One thing he was certain about was that he knew he was not going to reveal to either Stef or Uvella anything about his secret liaison with Zenith, but it was clear that he desperately needed time to sort out his feelings.

  He loved his children deeply and would do pra
ctically anything to keep them, but he also knew he had responsibilities towards Stef and realized he was actually missing her argumentative and excitingly passionate moods. He gently prised himself from Uvella's warm embrace and assured her that he would be with her again soon.

  Zon promised Uvella that he would get his men to find all the surviving Uno women and children who had been evacuated for safety's sake to other planets, detailing his plan to take Planet Uno away from the dangerous Ottos and promising that, with any luck, the remaining Unos could be reunited once more on their old planet. He did not go into any great detail about his plan to move the entire population of Planet Zero to Planet Uno, apart from the remaining Unos, as he considered this was still better kept as confidential information until agreements had been finalized with the Ottos.

  On his arrival at his private living quarters in Santa Barbara, Zon soon became actively stimulated when he walked in and found the area was intertwined with beautiful, exotically perfumed flowers. The carpet was strewn with red roses, and white lilies depicted arrows leading to their double bedroom. He smiled with expectancy when he followed the arrows and knew that he was about to be delighted with what he would find at the end of the line of flowered directions.

  His assumption was quite right, for there, reclining on their large bed, was Stef, dressed only in a very flimsy, flame-red sari. She smiled seductively at him and beckoned him to join her. The following couple of hours were unbelievably wonderful for the pair as they tossed and moved together in complete unison, oblivious to anything else in the world. Finally Zon raised himself from Stef and laughingly said, “I guess you are glad to have me back!”