Al Moreno And the Crystal of Gosia

by Mason J Schneider

  “Absolutely sir.” Henry assured him and as Alfred climbed into the driver’s seat the engine rumbled to life with a loud roar and a poof of exhaust smoke.

  Alfred could see where the Huck men had come up from a different trail than the one Gummly had taken him through. This path was just wide enough for the vehicle to fit down, and Alfred took it not knowing where it led to.

  “I’m going to need some navigation here buddy. By the way, I learned two other things while I was visiting with Hashish. You want the good or the bad news first?” he called to his A.I. friend.

  In between giving a frenzy of directions, Henry managed to reply saying, “Let’s have the bad.”

  “You have no soul.”

  “Oh...oh my. I’m afraid I don’t quite know what to say. What’s the good news?” Henry asked, flashing a light on the right side of Alfred’s face to indicate an upcoming turn.

  “The good news is, you’re not the only one who found out some crazy stuff. Rumor is I’m not exactly human. Or if I am, my soul must be flame-resistant!”

  “Well sir, what do you think of it all?” Henry asked nervously.

  “I think we focus on getting back to the village as soon as possible. Hashish hinted that something awful might be happening and I’m beginning to get that vibe myself.

  “Yes sir, shall I optimize the vehicle’s software for speed?” Henry announced, delighted to have such an optimistic friend.

  “That’s what I’m talking about!” Al hollered as the vehicle seemed to thrust forward with even more power than before.

  Soon enough the vehicle was cruising at high speed around an enormously-curved dirt road that cut between the trees. They continued to follow it for some time before Alfred abruptly slammed the brakes, forcing the vehicle to skid to a stop in the middle of the road.

  “Over there Henry, I think that’s where I left the motorbike.”

  “Forget the motorbike sir! It’s probably been found by Huck men by now anyway!” the A.I. responded indignantly.

  Ignoring his sidekick, Alfred proceeded to climb out of the vehicle and began walking through the trees. Alfred was right about the motorbike, but Henry had also been correct in guessing there would be some of Sham-Bon’s men standing guard in front of it. They were likely waiting to see if anyone came back to retrieve it.

  “Let me handle this Henry- I can’t leave Ardmon’s bike behind.”

  Alfred cleared his throat as he stepped out into view of the guards.

  “Hey there boys- great job watching over the bike, I’ll be needing to head out immediately- you know how much patience the boss has!” he spoke to the guards in a friendly tone as if he had known them for years and they had been doing him a great favor by watching the bike.

  They each raised their gun and pointed it at Al as one of them called out, “And who are you?”

  “Fellas, fellas! Easy with who you’re aiming those guns at now. The name’s Al- Aaron Flux.” he corrected quickly with a cough, “Rift Resolver, working with Sham-Bon to save the planet from the exploding sun, you know?”

  The guards lowered their guns slightly and the other now spoke up.

  “I didn’t know anything about a Rift Resolver working with Sham-Bon, what about you?” he turned to the other guard who shook his head in response.

  “Well of course you don’t know! No offense you two, I’m sure you’re both men of great service to the Huck Family, but Sham-Bon can’t just go around telling everyone something as secret as this mission! Now come on, you’ve already made me late- I don’t want to have to write you two up- you seem like nice guys.” Alfred explained.

  “That does makes sense.” one of them said, seemingly taken-aback at the thought of getting written up by someone working closely with Sham-Bon.

  “We’re sorry to have held you up Mr. Flux.” the other apologized quickly and they moved aside for Alfred to get on the bike.

  Just as Alfred climbed onto the seat and turned the key in the ignition, one of the men’s radios began to chatter.

  “Section 7 be aware that we have just found two dead men in the Gazer’s temple. Be on the lookout for a young male, brown hair, wearing a leather jacket. We have reason to believe he may be armed and a trained member of the Rift Society. Over.”

  “Well that’s my cue to go!” Alfred shouted at the men beside him, who attempted to dive and grab the handle bars from his control.

  Henry flashed a quick beam of light into the nearest one’s face, and Alfred turned the throttle hard- sending the bike flying down the dirt road he had originally come from. All was clear, but not for long. Al soon heard the rumbling of an engine behind them and Henry warned that the Huck men were in pursuit.

  “Damn, why can’t these people ever just relax. Like hey, maybe today I won’t follow the orders of the evillest man on the planet. But nooo, they have to come chasing after me and now I’m left with no other choice but to make sure they don’t catch up.” Alfred complained, still tearing down the path ahead.

  “My sympathies sir.” Henry flashed.

  Glancing in one of the small mirrors that extended off either side of the bike, Al could see the guards were approaching quickly in a similar vehicle to the one they had hijacked before. The one that had tried to knock him off of the bike was driving and the other had climbed up top, behind what Alfred quickly discovered was a mounted gun. He tried to zig-zag his steering as he heard the turret begin to spray out bullets. One of the rounds burst into his right shoulder. It wasn’t energy ammo, he thought, but damn it still didn’t feel good. Suddenly the handle-bars began to fight against his control and it seemed as if the motor-bike was now driving itself.

  “I’ll cover driving and keep the bullets off of you sir! You take care of our tail!” Henry announced, apparently responsible for the bike’s auto-steering.

  Alfred was now left to focus on only two things- maintaining his balance on the ever-swerving vehicle, and aiming his energy revolver at the men chasing after them. The Rift Resolver did a full turn, swinging his legs around so that he faced the fast-approaching men. The look on the man’s face who had shot him was full of surprise as he noticed that the bike was evidently driving itself. Alfred took full advantage, and closing one eye took aim on the enemy’s front left tire. He joined his other hand to form a steadier shot and then fired a round that landed just in front of the vehicle- creating a massive hole in the road. The all-terrain car took a sharp dip into the hole, but continued to crawl after them.

  “Sir, I can’t avoid that bullet range for much longer- my calculations show that the probability of you getting hit increases every twenty seconds that we are continued to be chased.”

  “Well, I guess if I’m not quite human I might as well make use of it. Henry, when I say to- hit the brakes on the bike, but don’t throw me off!”

  “Sir! Are you sure?” the A.I. asked fearfully.

  “Yes, ready? One...two…” Alfred began counting.

  “Wait sir, I am unfamiliar with this counting- when do I apply the brakes?”

  “Three Henry! It’s always on THREE!” Alfred almost went flying over the front of the bike as Henry decided to slam the brakes.

  Alfred had no time to be angry at his friend’s timing, he leaned his body weight forward as quickly as he could, just barely managing to stay on the motorbike. They had come to a complete stop in the road. Alfred winced as he felt an array of bullets fly into his lower stomach, but kept his eyes focused on the front hood of the vehicle that was now about to hit him head-on.

  “He stopped! The brakes, the BRAKES!” the guard on top yelled frantically down to the driver.

  It looked as if Alfred and the motorbike were about to get smashed to bits. He didn’t know how much stress his body would allow, but he was guessing getting hit by a car at high-speed wasn’t going to end well for him. Alfred reached his arm back, and sent his Rift Blade flying through the air. He froze and watched, knowing if he missed he was about to endure an insane amount of pain
. The Blade swung in circles through the air, and finally came to rest when it stuck deep into the metal hood of the enemy’s ride. A bright flash of light emitted, and Alfred allowed a shout of triumph to escape as the entire vehicle and the men in it disappeared into a Rift portal.

  “Always been better with a knife than a gun.” he admitted, walking a few steps into the road behind him and picking his Rift Blade up off the ground.

  “We need to work on our timing Alfred!” Henry exclaimed.

  “You need to work on your timing Henry.” Al laughed as he got back onto the bike and continued to drive toward the village of Bratvia.

  The rest of journey back went by without much action. As the first rays of the sun could be seen climbing over the horizon, they were nearing their destination. Henry broke the long silence after a while.

  “Sir, where do all those things go that you throw your Rift Blade into?” he asked curiously.

  “Well it depends- I decide that when I use the Blade. In this case, I don’t think anyone’s going to be seeing those two for a long time. They’re on the planet Dirdock, light years away.”

  Henry let out a robotic laugh before asking, “Isn’t that in the Galactic Waste Sector?”

  “That’s right. Those two are on garbage duty. Or they’re under a mountain of garbage suffocating as we speak, I can’t really choose the location that precisely.”

  Henry laughed harder in his bot-like cheerful voice, and Alfred couldn’t help but chuckle with him for a moment. They rode on for a bit longer before Henry lit up in his pocket again, but there was no more laughter in the A.I.’s voice when he spoke.

  “Alfred, the emergency alarm has just been activated in Bratvia.”

  Alfred’s face hardened into a serious look as he replied, “Come on, we have to get back as fast as possible. Sham-Bon’s begun his assault.”

  12 A BATTLE FOR BRATVIA

  Hemphion’s sun had now risen above the tall treetops of the forest that concealed Bratvia within its midst. Alfred was met promptly by Ardmon outside the main gate of the village wall, which he opened for him to drive through. Another villager quickly shut the gates behind them. An alarm pierced through the air throughout the inside of the compound.

  “My friends, quickly- can you take me to them?”

  “Yes but we’ve received a warning from our scouts on the northern road that an army of Huck men are now approaching Bratvia’s walls.”

  “I know, it’s Sham-Bon- he’s trying to silence this last village. Take me to the others, I’ll explain then.” Alfred gave Ardmon a looked filled with urgency.

  The hulking man nodded and led him hastily to Mother Via’s sanctuary. As Alfred stepped into the courtyard he was immediately met with a firm embrace from Marcie. After a moment she released him. Alfred could see the mixed emotions in her eyes.

  “You’ve done it! You’ve got us a new sun!” her excitement faded into concern as she noticed the blood that was covering his clothes. “Alfred, what’s the matter- have you been shot? Where did all this blood come from?”

  Alfred glanced down at his clothes for the first time since escaping from the two guards. The upper part of his pants and lower part of his undershirt were soaked in the thick red liquid. He lifted his shirt and jacket up swiftly, revealing no sign of the entry wounds he had received from the mounted gun’s bullets.

  “Look see, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me now- we’ve got to get this place ready to stand against a full-on attack. Sham-Bon is going to try to wipe this place off of the face of the planet. He likely knows what I’ve found out and needs to get rid of all the evidence of his sinister plans.”

  “What plans? Glad to see you made it back alive Moreno.” Flux asked, entering the courtyard followed by Mother Via.

  Alfred gave them a short version of what had happened since he had seen them last. How he had visited with the people’s god, Hashish, and that he no longer deserted them. That Hemphion’s sun was actually perfectly fine, and it had all been falsated in order to force Parliament to evacuate the planet along with all those who stood by the government.

  “Unbelievable.” Flux stated when he had finished. “One man managed to convince an entire planet that their sun was going to explode?”

  “That’s right, I don’t know how exactly. Other than the Huck Family is certainly not short of any resources. What’s worse- now that the sun has risen everyone will believe he’s the savior of the planet.”

  “That bastard. I’ve...I’ve wasted most of my life trying to find a way to save this planet. And all this time I should’ve just been trying to kill him.” Marcie’s eyes glowed with anger and despair.

  “There’s no time for regrets now.” Alfred shot her a sympathetic look before turning back to the others. “Ardmon, can you help Mother Via get all the people who can’t fight into the sanctuary? I’ll need everyone else who can shoot an energy blaster to defend this place until I can get to Sham-Bon.”

  Ardmon nodded at the Rift Resolver’s orders and headed out into the village, guiding Mother Via beside him.

  “You really think Sham-Bon’s going to come here himself?” Flux doubted.

  “If he doesn’t, I’ll hunt him down. But we know he still wants the crystal for something, so my bet is he makes an appearance. Flux can you round up all the villagers who can fight?”

  “You got it.” came the reply as Aaron headed out after Ardmon into the village.

  Alfred turned to look at Marcie who was staring at her feet. Walking closer to her, he gripped her armored shoulder softly with his right hand. She looked up at him with a gaze of defeat that remained stagnant in her eyes.

  “Listen, I know you’re shaken up. But I also know how much these people mean to you. This doesn’t have to be the end damn it- I won’t let it!” Alfred carried a face replete with defiance.

  Marcie looked back at him, overwhelmed by his passion to save a planet he had only been to for the first time a day before. Something tugged at Alfred’s jacket sleeve and he turned to see Jashi, armed with a bow and arrow.

  “I’m ready to fight!” he announced.

  Alfred looked unsure of what to say, but Marcie crouched down and spoke to the boy.

  “Good! Now I’ve got a very important job for you Jashi. You see those doors over there?” she pointed at the doors that led into the sanctuary.

  Alfred looked up to see Ardmon and Mother Via leading a last group of helpless villagers into the crowded courtyard.

  “Mhm!” Jashi acknowledged.

  “You don’t let anyone get through those doors okay? You’ve got to help Ardmon and the others who can fight protect this place and our people.” she said fiercely to the child.

  “I won’t let you down.” came the quick response, and Jashi ran over to meet up with Ardmon and a few other men who were armed with various weapons.

  “So are you going to help me kill this bastard or what? He won’t go down easy, Hashish informed me he’s not exactly human.” Al looked to Marcie who had now stood back up.

  “Right, let’s go.” there was no sign of the dejection that had been in her eyes before.

  The two of them hurried out of the sanctuary doors, which Ardmon sealed firmly behind them. Out front stood Aaron Flux with a few dozen rows of men standing beside him. Alfred noticed only a few of them carried energy guns, and most were armed with primitive weapons such as bows and spears. Marcie came to stand beside Flux as Alfred addressed the villagers.

  “Alright, here’s what we know: an army of Huck men are approaching from the North with the sole intention of eliminating every trace of this village. Those of you who don’t have energy weapons will need to stay behind and prevent anyone from getting through the sanctuary’s doors. The rest of you will follow Aaron and try to get a good position on top of the North-side wall. And if you see Sham-Bon don’t waste your rounds- they won’t be able to kill him. Leave that to us. Today is not the day Bratvia will fall, and neither will the planet of Hemphion to that son of a b
itch’s rule.”

  As Al finished speaking the men of Bratvia cheered and raised their weapons in the air. While the rest of the planet may have fallen into despair, they would stand against the evil of the Huck Family to the very end. After a few moments the men fell silent again and looked to Flux who Al had put in charge of them.

  “Flux before you go,” Alfred spoke once more to his friend. “Find out which one these men can travel the quickest through the forest and have him try to get word to the closest village. It may be hard to convince them, but we’re going to need all the back-up we can get.”

  “Right, give Sham-Bon a punch or two for me will ya?” he called behind him with a grin as he began to lead the villagers toward the North wall.

  Alfred and Marcie ran ahead of them down the main path leading through the buildings of the small compound. It didn’t take long before they had reached the plasti-crete barrier. Alfred followed her quickly up one of the rope ladders that hung against its side. Reaching the top, Alfred saw something he had never faced before as a member of the Rift Society.

  A few hundred yards out marched an enormous group of men. They were infantry soldiers of the royal army. Every single one of them looked to be armed to the fullest extent with energy weapons of all different varieties. Next came a massive tank, and behind this was just a slightly lesser unit of men from the first. High in the sky above them a magnificent warship was hovering slowly. Its metal surface gleamed with the reflected light of the sun, and energy cannons could be seen extending off the front.

  “What now?” Marcie showed no sign of intimidation from the oncoming army of men and machines of destruction.

  “Right. My bet’s that warship up there- he’ll likely be organizing the attack from somewhere on board.”

  “Okay...but how are we going to get all the way up there? Bratvia has nothing that can lift into the air and you’ve never been on the Iron Pinnacle before so you can’t open a rift to it.”

  “Wait, the Iron Pinnacle? You mean you know this ship? Please tell me you’ve been on it before?!” Alfred asked excitedly.