Alliance (11 page)

I want to ask who this 'Kojama' is, but
none of the Foundation agents around me seem likely to answer my
questions. Better to listen and learn what happened and ask later,
if I get a chance.

“
What about the human
Knight?” the Head asks. I notice a tone of concern in her voice.
“Rii? The one you elves call Apakerec?”

“
Last I saw, he was in
one of the medical rooms resting,” says Lanresia. “But I think he
died, because that particular hallway he was in was where the worst
slaughter happened and none of the other agents reported seeing him
or finding his body. I'm sorry.”

I search the mobile Database records for
information on this 'Rii Apakerec,' and much to my relief, I find a
file about this Rii. The mobile Database claims that he is a Knight
of Se-Dela, but unfortunately, the mobile Database does not tell me
much else about him. He must not be an important Knight, then,
although how he ended up in the Xeeonite branch of the Foundation,
I do not know.

“
It is fine, Lanresia,”
says Konoa, still stroking her hand. “We know you did your best.
Thanks to your bravery, you saved the lives of … excuse me, Head,
but do you know how many Xeeonite agents have arrived so
far?”

“
Thirty,” says the Head,
“though more are still coming.”

“
Thirty lives,
Lanresia,” says Konoa, looking at her with warm eyes. “If we could
have saved Rii as well … but no matter. You've done as much as you
can. Now it is time for you to rest.”

“
Not until she answers
the rest of our questions,” says the Head, shaking her head. “Now,
Lanresia, did you discover anything else? Do you know who sent
those creatures?”

“
I don't know for sure,”
Lanresia admits. The voice of her speaking snake glitches slightly,
although it is barely perceptible and I doubt anyone other than
myself caught it. “But I strongly suspect it was Reunification.
They're the only ones who could possibly have tracked down our HQ
and sent those evil beasts; the only ones, in fact, who would even
try to do such a thing, seeing as no one else even knows about
us.”

“
But how could
Reunification have discovered the location of our Xeeonite HQ?”
asks Konoa. He looks at the Head, like he expects her to have the
answer.

The Head shakes her head. “I don't know.
Maybe there is a spy among us who leaked our location to the enemy,
or maybe the Founder used some of his foul magic to find us or
maybe they captured one of our agents and got that information from
him. In any case, this is a terrible turn of events that even I did
not foresee, because Reunification is rarely this direct.”

“
They must be getting
confident,” says Konoa. “But why? Unless they are—”

“
Konoa, we will discuss
this matter later,” says the Head, interrupting him before he can
finish speaking. “For now, we need to let Lanresia rest. She has
told us as much as we need to know. Our next course of action is to
prepare for the next assault, which will no doubt be on this
base.”

“
You think so, ma'am?”
asks Konoa as he lets go of Lanresia's hand.

“
It is only logical,”
says the Head. “I know the Founder. He is never one to do anything
by half-measures. If he destroyed the Xeeonite branch, he will
assuredly attempt to destroy this one as well, although when or
how, I do not know.”

Konoa's face pales and he glances at
Lanresia. I understand his fear, even though I am unable to feel
that emotion. Considering how badly the Xeeonite agents are injured
from that assault, there is no doubt that a similar massacre can
occur here if the Foundation agents are not prepared for it.

Despite that, I still have questions to
ask. Lanresia appears to have finished her story now, so I decide
this is as good a time as any to ask the questions on my mind.

“
Lanresia described
humanoid lizard creatures attacking the Xeeonite agents,” I say. I
look at the elf, who now looks as though she can barely remain
awake. “Lanresia, did these creatures look like humanoid Great
Lizards?”

“
Yes,” says Lanresia,
her speaking snake nodding along with her. “Why?”

“
I see,” I say, stroking
my chin. “Then it appears that the lizard creatures that attacked
me earlier and killed those Knights I was working with likely
belong to the same species as those that attacked you
Xeeonites.”

Lanresia looks up at Konoa in surprise.
“Konoa, what does this J bot mean? What's happened since I was last
here? And, for that matter, why is there a J bot in our base at
all? Is he a new agent?”

“
No, my love, J997 is
not a new agent,” says Konoa. He glances at me, like he is not sure
he can trust me. “He's … well, he's a guest, I suppose you could
say, who was targeted by Reunification. We're keeping him here for
safety reasons.”

I hardly call myself a 'guest' of these
people, seeing as I was taken here against my will and am not
allowed to leave. If anything, I believe I am a prisoner, although
one that they allow to walk around with more freedom than your
typical prisoner, I suppose.

Before I can correct Konoa's inaccurate
description of me, the Head says, “In any case, J997 is most likely
correct about the monsters that attacked him and the monsters that
attacked our base belonging to the same species. After all, the
monsters that had attacked J997 were working for Jornan, who is
also an agent of Reunification. That still does not answer
what
those creatures are, however.”

“
Does it matter?” asks
Konoa, who grabs at his hair nervously. “I heard Palos's
description of the beasts. And if they managed to take the Xeeonite
HQ from us, then there's a good chance they'll get us here,
too.”

“
Unless we prepare for
it,” says the Head, who in contrast to Konoa is quite cold. “We
still have many good agents on hand here. As long as we do not
panic, we should be fine.”

“
But why did they choose
to attack
now
?” asks Konoa. “Are they that close to
completing the Mission already?”

“
I don't know,” says the
Head, shaking her head. “All I know is that we must prepare for the
worst in case they learn of the location of this base.”

As soon as those words leave her mouth,
there are several hard knocks at the door that make us jump in
surprise. Then the door bursts open and Rozan enters, almost
falling over his feet, but he hangs onto the doorknob to balance
himself.

“
Madam Head!” says
Rozan, breathing hard like he just ran a mile. “Monsters coming
through the Portal and attacking everyone!”

“
Monsters?” Konoa
repeats. “What monsters?”

Wiping the sweat off his bald head, Rozan
says, “Large, humanoid lizards. Sharp claws, and some of them can
breathe fire, too, the bastards.”

“
Then shut the Portal
off,” the Head snaps.

“
We can't, madam,” Rozan
says, shaking his head so hard it looks like it might pop off. “We
think the monsters are using the Xeeonite Portal to force ours
open, meaning we cannot turn it off from this side.”

“
By the Old Gods,” says
the Head, rubbing her forehead in exasperation. Then she gestures
at Konoa. “Go and help the others. We need every able-bodied agent
out there to beat back the invaders before they get too deep into
the base.”

“
Yes, ma'am,” says
Konoa, who bows at the Head and darts out the door, almost knocking
Rozan over, before anyone else can say anything.

“
What about me?” I say,
pointing at myself. “May I go help? I know I am not an agent of the
Foundation, but I am in no mood to allow those creatures to overrun
and destroy this place, and me with it.”

The Head looks at me with skepticism in
her eyes, like she does not believe me for even a second. I forgot
how little the agents around here trust me, although I suppose the
feeling is mutual, seeing as I only suggested to help because I do
not want to be destroyed along with everyone else. I have no real
care or concern for the agents personally; as a matter of fact, I
suspect they may be criminals, if their secretive behavior is any
indication.

Then she sighs heavily and, pointing
toward the open door, says, “Fine. Go and aid my men however you
see fit. But don't you dare use this opportunity to make an attempt
to escape through the Portal back to Xeeo, if that's what you are
thinking.”

“
In truth, that idea did
not occur to me until you mentioned it,” I say. “But you don't need
to worry, because if Lanresia's report is true, then there is
nothing awaiting me on the other side of that Portal except more of
those violent, dangerous monsters that have already tried to
destroy me once today.”

***

Chapter
6

T
he scene in the Portal room has
changed significantly since the last ten minutes, which according
to my internal clock is how long it has been since I was last in
there.

I notice that the floor is already
littered with dead agents, some Delanian, some Xeeonite, although I
cannot identify which branch of the Foundation they may have
belonged to due to my unfamiliarity with both branches.
Nonetheless, the sight of so many dead agents is not a good one by
any definition of the word.

More of those strange lizard humanoids are
emerging from the Portal, growling and snapping their teeth,
slashing their claws through the air. Some agents—Delanians, most
likely, as the Xeeonites were in no condition to fight against
these invaders—are keeping the lizard humanoids away from the
doors, having formed a thin line against the ever-increasing number
of lizard humanoids that emerge from the Portal and fighting back
as hard as they can.

Some of the still-living agents are using
swords and axes to beat back any lizard humanoids within reach,
while others—wizards and witches—use magic to douse the creatures
in fire or shock them with electricity or harm them in other ways.
Despite that, however, it is quite clear that the agents are barely
holding their own against these creatures and will likely be
overwhelmed soon without backup.

Despite these grim odds, Konoa charges
forward anyway (although that may be because he does not know how
likely it is that he and his fellow agents will be overwhelmed
soon). He does not even appear to have any weapons, which makes me
wonder how he intends to battle these creatures without getting
slaughtered like a lamb.

My question is answered when Konoa reaches
the back of the line and one of the other agents hands him a short,
blunt sword. Konoa then steps up next to his fellow agent and the
two begin slicing viciously at any lizard humanoids that get within
their reach, although it is still plainly only a matter of time
before the lizard humanoids break through and overrun the whole
base.

I should, perhaps, go and join them at the
line. Scanners indicate my power source is still at 87%, which
means I can fight for hours without worrying about breaking down,
but that will be pointless because the lizard humanoids keep coming
through the Portal.

Therefore, if we are to deal with this
issue once and for all, I must find a way to disable the Portal
that the lizard humanoids are coming from. If I can shut it off, I
can cut off the number of lizard humanoids to a manageable size,
which will make them that much easier to deal with.

And disabling the Portal may not even be a
difficult job; while Rozan's report about the lizard humanoids on
the other side forcing it open may be correct, the mobile Database
has detailed records on how Delanian Portals work. By reading those
records, I should be able to find a way to disable the Portal
permanently from our side; assuming, of course, I can make it that
far.

Aside from the line of Foundation agents
in my path, there are also the lizard humanoids themselves, who no
doubt will try to stop me from shutting down that Portal.

Nonetheless, I must try, because I am the
only one in any position to do it. The doors behind us are closed
and it does not seem like any other agents will get here in time to
help, although even if they do, their help will not be very useful
if the Portal is still active.

Thus, I jump into the air and activate the
jet boosters on my feet. The boosters send me flying through the
air over the line of agents defending the base from the
ever-growing army of lizard humanoids, while the lizard humanoids
themselves look up at me in surprise, like they did not expect me
to do this.

I don't pay them any attention, however,
because my optics are focused entirely on the Portal in the center
of the room. As long as I can reach it, I—

Flames shoot up through the air,
enveloping me before I even realize what is happening. Scanners
indicate that my exterior temperature is rising rapidly, too
rapidly for my body to handle.

I swerve to the right and emerge from the
flames, but my body temperature is still too hot (though it is
cooling quicker the longer I stay out of the flames). I look at the
fire and see that at least six of the lizard humanoids are
breathing the flames that nearly overheated my systems, probably in
an attempt to melt me into slag.

Then I hear the roar of one of the lizard
humanoids and look in the direction I am flying. One of the
humanoids is jumping at me, somehow having made the jump despite
the fact that I am several feet off the ground.

And it is too late for me to swerve out of
the way, although I try to do so at the last minute. The creature
slams into me in midair and we both fall to the floor on top of all
of the lizard humanoids underneath us.