“Strongest Warden? The strong know when they’ve been bested. The strong would submit.” Halinkoy turned back to face Darbian. “Oh yes, in fact, that is exactly what happened. Aculpus joined me because he was the strongest, the only one worthy of my vision. It’s the weak that resist the inevitable.”
“There’s nothing inevitable about you,” Darbian replied.
“What’s inevitable is that all will worship me or die.” Halinkoy said. “Which brings me to Crystal Dawn…literally.”
“You want to send a message?” Darbian replied.
“Precisely. I’ve come to the home of the Council, the only place in the universe that has the technology capable of broadcasting a message to every planet in existence. It’s only fitting I should stand here in the ruins of the Council to tell the cosmos of their fate.” Halinkoy thrust his hands upward. “What’s taking so long?”
“Only a moment more, my Supreme One,” said one of the Tammeder soldiers.
Halinkoy grumbled. “Unfortunately, our first attack was a little too thorough and damaged some equipment. The Tammeder are fine technicians, but a little slow.”
“I suppose that’s what you get when you break things,” Darbian sneered.
Halinkoy paced. “The entire universe needs to understand what you have now seen, Warden, that a new day is about to dawn. Midnight is coming.”
“How would you conquer an entire universe? It’s not possible,” Darbian replied.
“The Tammeder have been replenished. Their finest soldiers have been cloned over and over again. I have quadrillions at my disposal,” Halinkoy said. “The ships in orbit? A mere drop in the bucket compared to the forces I have.”
“The others? The other members of your society, what happened to them?” Darbian probed Halinkoy.
“Still worried about the broken eggs, eh?" Halinkoy paused. He peered toward the floor. “I suppose I can tell you. It’s not as though you’ll survive long enough to do anything about it.”
“What’s that?” Darbian asked.
“One of the technologies we found on the Tammeder craft allowed me to amplify my intelligence.” Halinkoy said. “I had my subjects immersed in a mind-numbing stasis so their intelligence, their literal consciousness could be transmitted to my mind and enhance its abilities. My human followers were more than willing to sacrifice themselves so I could be everything I was to be.”
Darbian’s look grew hollow. “So they’re dead?”
Halinkoy moaned. “Not at all. They live on in stasis along with some of the great minds of history.”
“Great minds of history?” Darbian said.
Halinkoy called to one of his soldiers. “Bring down my throne. I’m ready to sit and present myself to my empire.”
Some Tammeder soldiers brought down Halinkoy’s throne from his ship. It was made of gold with spires emerging from nine points.
Halinkoy sat down. “As my intelligence increased, so did my ambition. That’s when I made my ascension a sure thing.”
“Yes, you’re full of ambition, aren’t you?” Darbian recoiled.
“Why shouldn’t I be? Who else could hack the greatest technologies ever created by the greatest warrior race that ever existed?” Halinkoy tapped the arm of his throne. “Not only did I use their technology to enhance my intelligence, I altered their hyper-drive device to create time travel from scratch! I journeyed to numerous points throughout human history and captured some of humanity’s most intelligent. They weren’t willing to be my puppets, but that made no difference. We forced them into stasis and I enjoy their minds every moment.
“This technology will only work with people of the same species, I presume?” Darbian asserted.
“Oh, quite clever, Warden. It’s the first intelligent thing you’ve said today.” Halinkoy laughed.
“You said their consciousness was being broadcast into your mind. All those people inside your head. Surely there’s something left of them. There are good people inside your mind. Doesn’t that bother you?” Darbian asked with a sly grin.
Halinkoy sighed and ignored the question.
Back aboard Gregorical, the children were confused by the device laying at their feet.
“Children,” said Gregorical. “It would be advisable if you heeded my warnings in the future. There are many dangers in outer space you are not familiar with. Time travel is one of them.”
“He didn’t want to hurt us though, Gregorical. He never even tried to attack us,” Micah replied.
“Whoever this person was and whatever he left behind are very dangerous, nonetheless. You should have listened.” Gregorical turned off the red arrows.
“It looks like a weapon,” said Hannelore.
The device was a long metal tube with four handles on either side placed at equal distances. The trigger was the size of a human hand and protruded from the bottom. It shined like chrome except for a black bit of rubber lining that protected the muzzle end.
“Gregorical, you said he was a time traveler. What if he was here to help us? What if he couldn’t tell us who he was?” Micah took a step closer to the device.
“Before you touch it, let me analyze it first.” Gregorical deployed a node from the ceiling that scanned the device.
“What is it?” Hannelore said.
“It is indeed a weapon. The internal mechanisms were fashioned by Nexarum scientists, but the design is unknown.” Gregorical retracted the node back into the ceiling.
“What does that mean?” Micah looked at the ceiling.
“It’s from the future. The design is not on file so that is the only reasonable conclusion,” said Gregorical. “The device appears to contain mircobots capable of disintegrating various types of metallic structures via a process resembling digestion.”
“It eats metal?” Hannelore cocked her head to the side.
“A Metal-Eater,” said Micah.
Gregorical chimed in. “Simplistic, yet catchy.”
“This can beat Halinkoy!” Micah pumped his fist.
“I assume you want to attack by deploying this weapon on Halinkoy’s suit,” Gregorical said.
“Exactly. We can use this to eat the suit up. That should distract them long enough for us to get away.” Micah grinned as brightly and widely as he ever had.
Gregorical spoke. “I believe you’ll both have to hold it up. It’s quite heavy.”
“We can do it, right Hannelore?” Micah pointed at his friend.
“I’ll give it a try!” she said.
“The weapon is untested. There is no guarantee this will work on any level.” Gregorical then opened a door to the corridor that led to the bay door and turned on the yellow arrows to guide the children’s way.
“You want us to try it though,” said Hannelore.
“The plan, children, is to wormhole into the Grand Hall with Darbian and Halinkoy. I’ll open the bay door from the rear and you’ll only have a few seconds to fire the weapon. Take great care.” Gregorical prepared the calculations to wormhole onto the planet and into the same room with Darbian. “Children, take the weapon and go to the back of the ship. Strap yourselves in. We’re about to make ourselves known to the Tammeder ships.”
“Yes, sir!” shouted Micah.
Hannelore struggled as she picked up her end of the weapon. “This better work.”
The children hauled the device to the back of the ship and strapped themselves into a set of chairs just above the bay door.
“No more time to waste children. We’re going.” With that, Gregorical initiated the Chrono drive and formed a wormhole on just the other side of the moon they had been hiding behind.
Aboard the Tammeder flagship, its Captain noticed a wormhole forming on the starboard side. “Who is that?” he exclaimed.
At that moment, Gregorical emerged from the other side of the moon and flew into the wormhole.
“Alert the Supreme One!” screamed the Captain.
“The broadcast is ready to begin, Supreme One,” stated on
e soldier.
“Good. I want the camera on me first. Be prepared to change the scenery at my direction,” said Halinkoy.
The soldier nodded. “Yes, my Supreme One!
The broadcast began.
“Greetings to all intelligent races on the countless worlds of our shared universe. I bring you wonderful news. As of today, you have a new emperor…a new Supreme One.” Halinkoy opened his arms.
Many peoples from across the universe were instantly made aware of the broadcast on their respective worlds, ships, and outposts. They felt compelled to watch the proceedings as this message interrupted their usual broadcasts. Governments, common people, soldiers, and pirates alike were taken aback at the feed as it was so very rare for someone to send a universe-wide message from Crystal Dawn at all.
Halinkoy stood up from his throne and approached the camera. “Your institutions have failed you. You’ve put all your hope and faith in miserable and weak leaders, but they couldn’t protect you…not even from me. And so it’s only proper I come to you today and tell you that a new order is being established. We are about to bring true peace after an eternity of war and destruction.”
Peoples from all across the universe watched intently, but none understood what was happening.
“Soon, you’ll worship me in the manner I deserve,” Halinkoy continued. “But first, you must know why I deserve to be worshipped, why I’m worthy of your unquestioning allegiance.”
The camera swung to Darbian in his beaten state, tied to a pillar in the Grand Hall.
“You see this man? He’s the last of his kind. Who is he?” Halinkoy chuckled. “He’s a Warden. Yes, that’s right. The Wardein have been defeated, and here you see the great planet Crystal Dawn fallen to its knees!” Halinkoy’s voice hit another octave. “The Council is dead. Here, on the planet where the Wardein were formed, their final representative is bruised and all but dead. It’s true. Some of you are afraid now, and perhaps you should be.”
Darbian said nothing. He simply looked at the ground.
Halinkoy continued. “My rule will be a compassionate one. For everyone who bends the knee, there will be great prosperity. But for those who defy me, there will be utter destruction. Choose wisely. For, I’ll be touring each of your planets soon to make my reign secure. There I’ll parade the last Warden for all to see and all will understand that your great heroes can no longer save you.”
At that instant, inside the Grand Hall, a wormhole appeared. The force of it cracked what remaining glass there was in the building.
Gregorical emerged from the wormhole and stopped approximately two inches from Darbian’s face.
“Sorry, sir. I cut that a bit closer than I intended,” Gregorical’s voice boomed out into the Hall.
Darbian's mouth hung open. “That’s okay."
Gregorical swung around until the bow of the ship faced Halinkoy. The bay door opened as the Tammeder fired at the hull of the ship.
All of this was being caught on camera and broadcast live to a universe told to abandon hope.
As the bay door opened, the children popped out with the Metal-Eater in hand. Each child held up one side and Hannelore’s hand was planted on the trigger.
“That pale blue dot? That’s my home, and I happen to like it, you jerk-bucket!” Hannelore pulled the trigger.
The force of the weapon moved the muzzle up several inches upon firing. The recoil was enough to alter the aim and nearly send the children flying onto their backs.
From out of the Metal-Eater came a ball of something…a group of mircobots is what Gregorical would have called them. The ball bounced off the walls several times, catching the attention of the Tammeder soldiers along the way, before resting on Halinkoy’s throne. From there, the ball disassembled itself into twelve robotic, spider-looking creatures that rotated around the object they had landed upon. They ate the metal as locusts would devour a crop. They reduced the throne to dust in a matter of seconds.
Halinkoy grimaced. “Micah?” he wondered aloud. His face was pained as though he had just been struck with a great headache.
“How do you know my name?” Micah nearly dropped the weapon.
“Never mind, we have to save Darbian,” Hannelore implored.
“What was that?” shouted Darbian.
The metal eating robots scrambled in all directions. Some crawled onto the Tammeder soldiers and ate their armor. Others looked for a meal in the walls themselves or the implements of the Council found in the room.
In the confusion, the Tammeder soldiers fired at each other in an attempt to destroy the robotic creatures. This plan failed miserably as many Tammeder fell to friendly fire.
“Fire again!” shouted Darbian.
The children aimed for Halinkoy once again and fired. A similar recoil occurred, and this ball bounced off a few Tammeder before coming to rest near the pillar where Darbian was tied up.
“Aim lower children! Aim lower!” Darbian cheered for his young friends.
The children took aim at the ground below Halinkoy.
The Metal-Eater beeped, and a computerized voice blurted out “one shot remaining.”
“This one has to work!” Sweat dripped from Micah’s forehead.
Hannelore stared at the Metal-Eater. “Now you tell me?”
Halinkoy tried to shake off the pain. “Fire at those children! Fire!” He now and took aim with his own weapon.
Hannelore pulled the trigger once more.
The final ball bounced off the ground in front of Halinkoy and ricocheted directly into his chest. It knocked him off his feet and into the pile of dust that used to be his throne.
The metal eating robots went to work once more chewing up Halinkoy's armored suit as he lay on the ground, helpless to stop them.
The children dropped the Metal-Eater, jumped down off the bay door, and ran for Darbian, hoping to free him from his shackles. They discovered, however, that the metal eating robots had already done most of the work for them.
Darbian fired his weapon at the remaining shackles and they fell off his body. He was still bruised and still beaten, but as resolved as ever to protect the children from any harm. He met them halfway across the room. “Back into the bay children!”
Gregorical whipped around to make it easier for Darbian and the children to get back on board as the Tammeder soldiers finally realized what was happening and had taken aim at the Warden.
The children leapt back onto the ship with Darbian soon behind them.
As all were aboard the ship once again, Gregorical closed the bay door.
“Can you blast through the ceiling Gregorical?” Darbian asked as he sat in his chair for the first time in what seemed like days.
“No problem, sir. Not much of it left.” Gregorical responded.
“Then get us out of here fast,” Darbian said.
Gregorical engaged his Galacto drive and sped through the rest of the ceiling in the Grand Hall. Leaving the ruins behind, he sped away from the planet.
A screeching Halinkoy was helped to his feet by the remainder of his soldiers. They boarded their ship and as well and sped away from the planet back to their flagship.
What remained of the Grand Hall collapsed in a roaring display and summarily ended the broadcast. A cloud of dust arose from the great building as though a volcano had erupted on the surface.
“Destroy the planet,” said Halinkoy. “I want no memory of this place to be had by anyone! And find that Warden!” Halinkoy clenched his fist and smacked it against his knee.
They gave the orders and the three Tammeder ships in orbit fired on the planet. With each shot from their canons, they wrought devastation upon the surface. The ships fired for several minutes and soon the planet broke up. The power of the Halinkoy Cult had just been put on full display.
Darbian and the children watched as the planet was destroyed. They could hardly believe what they saw with their eyes.
Crystal Dawn was no more.
Gregorical sped aw
ay all the faster.
“Where do we go now, Darbian?” asked Hannelore
Darbian slunk over the control panel. “I know where to go. I’m not sure what we’re looking for, but the last Council member gave me the coordinates. Gregorical, I’m assuming you recorded the entire conversation?”
“Of course, sir. The coordinates are programmed in and ready for your command,” Gregorical said.
“Darbian, did you hear Halinkoy call my name? How could he have known who I was?” Micah’s eyes darted back and forth.
“I don't know, Micah. I heard him say it, yes, but I’m not sure,” Darbian responded.
“It was creepy. It was like he was surprised to see me…like he had seen me before.” Micah walked off.
Darbian placed his hand on Micah’s shoulder. “Thank you Micah.” He looked over to Hannelore, “And thank you.”
The children smiled.
“Perhaps you’re more than astronauts after all,” Darbian said.
“I’ve been trying to tell you that,” Micah laughed.
Darbian’s face went blank. “Micah, have you ever known anyone who disappeared?”
“What do you mean?” Micah crinkled his face.
“Anyone who mysteriously vanished? Someone never heard from again?” Darbian clarified.
“No. Why do you ask?” Micah pursed his lips.
“Nothing. It was just a thought,” Darbian said. “Gregorical, will you show the children to the bunk rooms? I’m sure they need rest.”
“Certainly sir,” Gregorical responded.
“I’m not tired at all. I mean, I’ve hardly slept in two days, but I don’t need any rest,” Hannelore yawned.
“Trust me, after all the work you’ve done, you need it.” Darbian pointed to the back signaling where to go.
“Might as well,” responded Micah.
The children left to lie down in their bunk room.
“Sir, is there something we need to discuss on our own?” Gregorical was used to Darbian’s secretive ways by now.
Darbian propped himself against the control panel. “Yes, there is, my friend. It’s just a theory, and I could be wrong, but I think someone who knew Micah was among the people taken by Halinkoy. I’m not sure who it could be, but I can’t think of another reason Halinkoy would recognize him.”
The Accidental Astronaut Page 11