Quasar

by Philip R Benge

  Early the next morning Quasar decide to learn more about Father Amalekite and his world. Therefore, he delved deep into his mind and found out much about Earth. Soon he came across the part of the missionary`s mind that was to do with his belief in god, and about the death of Jesus Christ, and he smiled with glee and burst into laughter bordering on hysteria. It was just one hour later that Father Amalekite knew that he was about to die, but he went to his death bravely, for he was about to die in a similar way to his beloved son of god.

  “See how I treat you Father, I send you to your god in exactly the same way that your beloved Jesus travelled, am I not generous to a fault?” Quasar asked and then burst into another bout of laughter, how he enjoyed life as an organic once again.

  Quasar then sent a message out over the telepathic airways telling all the people near enough to receive the message how the false god had let his priest die in a particularly horrible way, he then gave them the details of his terrible death.

  **********

  The morning sun had only just risen when Olsen stopped their hovercraft and got out to study the horizon, what was that, the beginnings of a small sand storm, or was it something more sinister? They had only just left the lake known locally as Summer Lake; this was the only large pool of water to be found between Tent City and the far off ocean, although there were a small number of mountain springs known to just a few men. It bubbled out of the rocks of a small mountain range known as the Friendly Mountains, as they were easily crossed due to the number of valleys that cut through them, this and also because of the pools of water that were to be found amongst their foothills.

  “What do you think it is John?” Colt asked worriedly.

  “I do not know for sure, but I think it might be our friendly nomads looking for us, although why, as Quasar must know the communications device has been destroyed.” Olsen replied quizzically.

  “Father Amalekite knows that you hail from the planet Rega, John. To get here you must have travelled by some form of space craft, if Quasar realises that is so, maybe he is now looking for you.” Alice said looked directly into Olsen’s blue eyes, and feeling a little light headed quickly looked down at the ground.

  Olsen looked to be just a little stunned by this thought, but he slowly nodded.

  “You are probably correct Alice; however, with luck he will at least dismiss the solution that I put to put to you all regarding his final destruction.” Olsen said and then grinned. “After all you all did.”

  “Not all of us John, I finally believed in you.” Alice declared softly. Olsen smiled across at her.

  “Yes, do please accept my apology Alice, for without your support the others would not have agreed to wait and see. However, we are a long way from getting everyone’s total agreement to assist me in my plan to rid the galaxy of Quasar.” Olsen said and then he stood very still, it was just as he was getting back into the hovercraft, and then he looked back across the desert towards Tent City.

  “Oh my!” Was all Olsen said as he turned to look towards the two missionaries who on seeing him grim look, paled visibly, for they guessed at what he was about to say.

  “Quasar has crucified Father Amalekite and broadcast the fact across Remus.” Olsen said sadly.

  “I must return to Tent City to see to his body, I owe him that, for it was because of me that he came to Remus.” Bishop Myers said sorrowfully. “I also feel that I should be standing by my flock in this terrible time, show them that a man of the true god is not afraid to die for what he believes in.” Bishop Myers said in a tone that showed that he would not be shaken from his chosen course.

  “I too will accompany you Bishop, for I feel as you do about Ricardo, and about the citizens of the city.” Father Larsson said in almost a whisper.

  “Are you two insane, why do you think Quasar sent his message, it was to bring you back, he probably knows everything there is to know about your beliefs, it will be plain suicide to return.” Olsen exclaimed.

  “We are no longer a danger to you John, our communications device is destroyed and he knows everything that you have told us about you and your people, let us go to our friend.” Bishop Myers begged.

  Olsen could have begged them to stay and help him in his battle, however he knew he would fail to convince them to stay, and everything he said by way of an argument to stay would then be known by Quasar, so he kept his arguments to himself.

  “Of course Bishop Myers, Father Joseph, you may go if you wish, but I do beg you not to go.” He added lamely. The two missionaries got out of the hovercraft taking just a little food with them and then after saying goodbye they began their journey back towards Summer Lake, which was only a short walk away.

  Moments later Olsen hurriedly got back into the hovercraft and sent it flying forward and away from whatever was coming their way.

  “We will head into the friendly mountains.” Olsen said glumly.

  They were soon moving slowly up along a narrow track that would take them up to a wide valley that cut through the mountains. Olsen suddenly brought the hovercraft to another halt and looked further up the narrow track in alarm.

  “Is there something wrong John?” Alice asked concerned for their immediate future.

  “I have just received a message from my ship, there is a party of nomads coming towards us, they must be part of the general search orchestrated by Quasar.

  “I thought you said that you came alone, who is piloting your ship?” Partridge inquired.

  “No one is, at the moment it is on automatic pilot, I keep in contact with it using telepathy. There are only two service droids aboard the ship to ensure that everything is operating correctly, but no people.” Olsen replied. “The ship is in a geosynchronous orbit about Remus and on a moonless night you can even see it from here, another twinkling star. It was lucky that I decided to have it scan ahead of us.”

  “Is it not dangerous to use telepathy John; is there not a chance that Quasar will find you when you turn your telepathic powers on?” Alice asked a little worried at Olsen taking such a risk.

  “No, Alice, for I use a tight telepathic beam, one that Quasar would never be able to intercept. In fact, from here on the surface of Remus I can tell it to do whatever I require of it. It has been patiently waiting up there for just such a message.” Olsen said and then as he looked into her green eyes he could not resist smiling at her.

  We will have to go back, find another route passed our searchers.” Olsen declared glumly.

  A silence descended over the group as Olsen turned the hovercraft around; fear now began to make its presence felt, fear of capture by one of the search parties.

  **********

  Mahan could not stop crying out in jubilation as he mounted the two missionaries behind two of his men, his god Quasar would probably reward him double for these two prizes. He rode hard and fast, back to Tent City and his god, and he was soon within the tent of his god. He threw his two prizes to the floor and then bowed down before Quasar and waited head down in expectation of receiving the highest of praise for his deed while he gave his report.

  “My lord Quasar, I offer these two worthless wretches to you as a gift, I caught them at Summer Lake while they filled their water bottles, and they were so scared that they never even attempted to flee.” Mahan said proudly.

  “What about the others, especially the Regan, did you not see them, these two unbelievers could not have walked to the lake, they must have travelled with the Regan to have got so far?” Quasar roared in anger as Mahan cringed lower and lower until he lay flat out upon the rug that covered the hard desert floor.

  “Did you at least leave the rest of your men there to ensure that the unbelievers did not escape my carefully laid trap?” Quasar screamed out in a rage once again bordering on hysteria.

  “No my lord, I did not think of the others, just of the two missionaries.” Mahan pleaded.

  Quasar once again fought to control his anger, could these barbaric tribesmen not even think fo
r themselves. Although to be fair to Mahan, Quasar had not told anyone of his newfound interest in Olsen, something he could easily have done using his telepathic powers.

  “Rest your men for one hour and then return to the lake to assist the search party that is even now approaching it. Quasar ordered angrily.

  Quasar now sent a telepathic message to this same search party telling them that their quarry were nearby, and to hurry forward. He followed this message with another to two other search parties who were also within half a day’s ride of the lake, they were to head towards it in search of their prey. As for the other search parties that were searching elsewhere, he had them turn around and head for Summer Lake. If the Regan escaped one search party, there would be many more heading his way.

  Beside him Bishop Myers grinned inwardly, for at least his new friends were safe for the moment, unfortunately Quasar now turned his attention to him.

  **********

  Olsen was amazed not to meet the two missionaries at Summer Lake, but when he saw the tracks left by the search party, he understood why. The return of the search party to Tent City with their prisoners was a piece of good fortune though, it mean that the fates were intervening on their side for a change. He expected the leader of the search party to be in trouble though, when he brought in his two relatively worthless prizes, if Alice had been correct in her surmise that he now was the prize that Quasar was after. Olsen turned to his friends and outlined a new plan that had occurred to him.

  “We seem to have found a little luck at last and I intend to use it. I think that we should rest up relatively close to Tent City and Quasar in the hope of finding a way of ensnaring him, rather than have him ensnare us. I came across another cave earlier on, it was while I was searching for you, it is about twenty miles from here, and from there it is another twenty miles to the city. I only stumbled on it by chance, so the odds are that our searchers will never find it.” Olsen waited to hear their reaction.

  The fear of capture still hung over them so they gladly agreed to head for this new place to hide away from the search parties of Quasar. They were lucky not to run into one of these search parties that Quasar had converging on the area, but within thirty minutes they got to the new hideaway. It was a ten-minute drive along a narrow rugged canyon, the going was rough but thankfully, their hovercraft managed it. They had to turn down an even narrower side road to arrive at the entrance to the cave; it was hidden behind a large rock that had fallen millennia ago. They finally had to drive down a gentle slope that allowed them to conceal their vehicle at the rear of the cave and out of sight.

  “I thought all self respecting locals knew all about these little hideouts, are you sure we will be safe here, you`re not just bottling us up for some of Quasar`s tribesmen to trap.” Partridge asked worried that this was a very bad mistake on their part.

  “Well if they do come here they certainly do not leave any tracks, and as they use their mounts to get around on, they would certainly leave some sort of trace, even if it is only the droppings of their mounts. No, the only other inhabitants of this place are a few small nocturnal creatures, not even the shepherds come this far out as there is no water around here for twenty miles.” Olsen said calming their fears.

  “Well at least it is cooler in here, I thought that I was about to cook out there, how do the locals live here?” Alice wondered.

  “When your family have lived here for generations Alice, you too will be able to endure the heat.” Colt said smiling across at her, although he too was thankful for the shade within the cave.

  Colt did not see how Olsen could ever find a way to capture Quasar, certainly not by hiding away in cave after cave. Unless Olsen came up with a definite plan soon, then Colt knew that at some point their luck would change. They would encounter a search party and if they could not fight their way out then they would be taken before Quasar, something that he did not want to contemplate.

  Sleep came hard to all of them, but finally they settled down to yet another uncomfortable night. Alice dreamt of sleeping in a nice soft bed but woke up when Olsen cried out in his sleep and then he sat bolt upright. He looked about him to see if he had woken anyone else and saw Alice looking across at him.

  “Are you ok John, night shades chasing you around your dreams?” She asked with a smile on her face. She always felt better when looking at Olsen.

  “Prior Karson came to me in my sleep to tell me that I can not afford to delay any longer, we need to get a hold of Quasar within the next two days. A starship is due to call at Rega then, its next stop the following day is to be here, on Remus.” Olsen told her. He now realised that he had no other option open to him, he had to return immediately to Tent City to fight Quasar or concede victory to him and lose the galaxy. “We must return to Tent City.” Olsen said out loud, as he once again racked his brain to come up with a plan to capture Quasar.

  “Return to the city, we have only just run away from it, why would we want to return there?” Colt exclaimed angrily as he rubbed his eyes having only just woken.

  “As I said earlier Jim, we need to be on hand if we are to defeat him, from way out here, well we might as well be on Rega.” Olsen explained as if to a young child. “Anyway the time for a showdown has been forced upon us, I have just heard from my prior that a starship is due to touch down at Tent City in two days time, Quasar will have won the battle, unless...” Olsen stopped speaking and suddenly he smiled.

  “You have just thought of a plan, haven`t you?” Alice said beaming at him.

  “Oh yes and it is a beauty, we will have Quasar deliver himself to our ship and if we play our hand correctly then it might just work.” Olsen said to all of them, for Partridge and Rawlins had also woken now and so Olsen outlined his plan to them all.

  “Ok John, you can count me in, your plan sounds at least feasible.” Colt agreed after Olsen had outlined his plan, and with Colt in agreement Partridge and Rawlins followed suit, and of course Alice. “Of course we may have to fine tune it, it just depends how things turn out on the day.” Colt said and Olsen smiled, for he too could see how it could so easily go wrong, but what choice did they have.

  “One thing I would like to add to your plan John, we must rescue Bishop Myers and Father Joseph, if all goes well then the minds of the locals will return to normal and there will be a lot of violence, mainly against the Alemanni tribe, but it could also be aimed at our two friends. The priests of the old religion have lost many of their followers to the Church and might see this as a perfect opportunity to get them back.” Alice declared in a no nonsense voice and the others backed her up on this matter. Alice did not realise that all the priests in Tent City had been killed by Quasar; however, many who followed the ancient religion now blamed the missionaries for their present troubles.

  Olsen looked at her for a long moment before nodding his head and agreeing to their demands.

  “Ok we will do as you ask, but only if it is possible to do so without risking the rest of the plan.

  “When do we leave this delightful bijou residence John?” Rawlins asked changing the subject before they began to argue the pros and cons of a subject upon which he could see both sides of the argument; and unfortunately, he found that he agreed with both of them.

  “Late tomorrow afternoon, or should I say this afternoon as it is already way after midnight.” Olsen replied thoughtfully. “We need to enter the town during the hours of darkness to improve our chances of doing so unseen, so we can not leave here any earlier as it would greatly increase the chances of someone seeing us. The first thing we must do, once we are safely within the town, is to secure the clothing we require to ensure that our plan has the best possible chance of succeeding. When this is done, we can try to rescue Bishop Myers and Father Joseph, if we can do so without endangering ourselves, for the success of our plan is the thing that really matters.” Olsen said to the others, and then he yawned for he was still tired, especially after his troubled sleep.

  “I still sa
y that rescuing the two missionaries is risky for it might very well spook Quasar at a time when we want him feeling one hundred per cent confident in all things.” Olsen warned the others.

  “And as I have already said John, we must rescue them; it is our duty to try anyway. There is no telling what might happen to them once things return to normal, they are certainly going to be looking for scapegoats to blame for the coming of the Destroyer, as you say they call Quasar.” Alice stressed yet again.

  “So be it Alice, we will try to rescue them, however, first we must all rest, we need to be wide awake tomorrow night if we are to stand a chance of succeeding.” Colt said, and promptly laid down and closed his eyes in an attempt to rest. However, as with the others, the excitement mixed with the fear of their coming conflict with Quasar made doing so rather difficult.

  Without thinking the matter through, Colt and his two friends had just gone along with his plan, even though they had not yet agreed to follow him in his quest to Tartarus. Somehow, something must have changed their minds, Olsen thought, or maybe they still thought him insane and that they could sit down with Quasar and have it out, if so they would learn the hard way about Quasar, and god help the galaxy.