Alliance (22 page)

“
Of course,” I say. “Now
I understand. But is it even possible to reunite the worlds? To my
knowledge, neither Xeeonite science nor Delanian magic can even
come close to doing that.”

“
Ye would think not, but
Reunification has worked for centuries to find a way to do it,”
says Palos. “And I am afraid that they have finally discovered a
method that may work. Yet even if they succeed in their endeavour,
billions of innocent lives on both worlds will still be lost unless
we stop them.”

“
Is Reunification
searching for that method they think might work here?” I say. “What
are they digging for, exactly?”

“
Yes,” says Palos. “Even
we at the Foundation are not entirely certain what they are looking
for, but we believe they are close to finding it. They likely have
a similar site on Xeeo, though where it may be, I know
not.”

“
I know what we should
do,” I say. “We should go to Xeeo, where I can reconnect with the
Database and share all that you told me with my fellow J bots. Then
we can work with the Knights of Se-Dela to come here and put a stop
to Reunification's genocidal plans.”

To me, it seems like an imminently logical
plan, but Palos laughs like it is the silliest thing she has ever
heard.

“
What?” I say. “I did
not tell a joke this time. What do you find so amusing about my
plan?”

“
'Tis no joke I hear in
your words,” says Palos, a dark chuckle coming from her mouth. “I
simply believe that your plan has as much chance of working as a
Diamusk vehicle without wheels. Nay, it would not work and may even
spell doom for both worlds if put into action.”

“
Explain.”

“
Firstly, you are a
still a wanted criminal on Dela,” says Palos. “Or did ye forget
that? The Knights of Se-Dela would likely demand that the Xeeonites
hand ye over to them to be tried for your crimes against the Order.
That by itself would delay your plan considerably, even if they
discover that ye did not kill those Knights ye worked
with.”

“
Ah, yes,” I say. “I
almost forgot about that.”

“
Furthermore,” says
Palos, who seems to be on a roll now, “it will take us many days to
find the nearest Portal to Xeeo, even with my teleportation powers,
and many more days to convince the Knights of Se-Dela that
Reunification even exists. By the time we do so, Reunification
could be so far ahead in their plans as to make our efforts to stop
them utterly meaningless.”

“
That is true,” I say.
“We do not have all of the time in the world to do all of that.
What do you suggest we do, then?”

“
Go back to
Reunification's pit and put an end to their evil and wicked plans
once and for all,” says Palos. She brushes her bangs out of her
eyes. “We are the only two who are in any position to save our
worlds from the destruction and tragedy that Reunification wishes
to bring upon them.”

I stand up to my full height and consider
Palos's idea. I still do not trust the Foundation or Reunification
very much, but I do trust Palos more than any of the Foundation
agents I've met. And if what she says is true, then I must help her
stop Reunification before they succeed in their plans.

On the other hand, Palos might very well
be lying. I cannot confirm or deny this, but considering how
secretive the Foundation has acted ever since I have known them, it
seems unlikely to me that Palos is telling the truth. Her story
about Xeeo and Dela having once been one world is also hard, if not
impossible, for me to believe.

Even if her story is false, however, that
does not excuse all of the wrong things that Reunification has done
recently. They murdered those Knights I worked with, framed me for
their murders, and murdered many Foundation agents. Not to mention
they are most likely operating without a permit or license from the
Deligian government out here, which is another strike against
them.

As a law enforcer, it is my job to capture
and bring criminals to justice. Perhaps I can even clear my name by
arresting someone from Reunification and making them confess to
framing me. Considering I have no other real choice in this matter,
I think it is worth doing.

So I nod and say, “All right, Palos. I'll
work with you to end Reunification's operations here. But first,
let's take a few minutes to come up with a plan of action before we
do anything else.”

***

Chapter
10

A
fter Palos and I come up with a
plan to defeat Reunification, we set out from her cave to the pit
immediately. We decide to teleport, because we do not know how
close Reunification is to finding what they are looking for;
therefore, we have no time to waste.

We teleport on the other side of the pit,
opposite the side I was on when I first sneaked into their camp. We
end up behind another pile of dirt, much larger than the one I hid
behind. It is slightly covered in snow, but thankfully we are not
in any danger of being spotted back here.

I peer around the side of the mound and
see a large metal mine cart full of the disabled drones from
before. I do not see any of the workers pushing the mine cart
along, which means that it is likely simply placed here until they
can take the drones to wherever they dump their garbage. Or maybe
they are planning to repair them later, although considering how
many of them were smoking when I short-circuited them earlier, I
doubt they are in any position to be repaired by even the most
skilled drone repair technicians.

But I do see some of the workers. Though
they do not look like workers anymore; instead, they resemble
guards, as I notice they have swords and laser guns strapped to
their belts now. I am certain they did not have these weapons
before, when I first came here; maybe Kalcan ordered them to carry
weapons in case someone else attempts to interfere with their
'Mission,' as they call it.

Not to mention that their security does
indeed appear to be upped. I see far more dwarves standing along
the rim of the pit than there were before, their eyes searching the
whole area as keenly as hawks, while a few dwarves stand on top of
buildings and construction equipment in an attempt to give them a
bird's eye view of the whole area. None of them are looking in this
direction, which is good, because that makes it easier for us to do
what we plan to do.

Then I take note of the crane, easily the
largest machine in the area. It is currently inactive, but I
imagine it can still cause a lot of damage if you push it down in
the right direction. There do not appear to be any dwarves in the
operator's cab, which hopefully means that there will be few deaths
when we put our plan into action.

I pull my head back behind the mound and
turn to look at Palos. She is rubbing the rings on her fingers,
looking nervous, but I can tell she is ready to do what we need to
do.

Still, I ask her, “You remember what
you're supposed to do?”

Palos looks at me in annoyance. “Of course
I do. Do ye think me a dumb woman, incapable of remembering what we
discussed not more than five minutes ago, if even that?”

“
I was simply trying to
make sure that we both understand what we need to do,” I say. “Now
that we both know what we need to do, what do you say about
starting the plan right away?”

“
Are we in danger of
being found out before we can complete it?” asks Palos.

“
I do not think so,” I
say. “Most of the dwarves are watching everywhere except the crane.
As long as we do not draw attention to ourselves, I think we should
be able to pull off the plan without issue.”

“
I pray that ye are
correct,” says Palos. “Because if ye are not, then … well, ye know
what will happen to us.”

I nod. “All right. Get ready to start on
my signal.”

Palos nods in return and begins examining
her rings and adjusting them. I do not know why she does that, as
her rings appear to fit well on her fingers, but maybe she is doing
this as a last minute action to make sure that her rings do not
fall off or move into a position that would be awkward for her
hands.

As for me, I quickly review the plan in my
mind. It is simple: By destroying the crane's foundation, we hope
to knock it over onto the office building, which would destroy it.
And by destroying Reunification's office building, we will not only
take out Kalcan and any other high-ranking Reunification members in
there, but also disrupt Reunification's plan to reunite Dela and
Xeeo. At least it will be disrupted long enough for us to return to
civilization and get both the J bots and Knights of Se-Dela out
here to finish the job.

Because the truth is, the two of us by
ourselves are not enough to stop this entire operation by
ourselves. The best we can do for now is disrupt it long enough for
us to gather the allies we need to actually end it. I wish we could
end it on our own, but logic dictates that one witch and one robot
are not enough to end an operation as extensive as this all by
ourselves.

“
J997?” says Palos,
snapping me out of my thoughts. “I am ready. Are you?”

I nod. “Of course. Get into position.”

Palos gives me the thumbs up to show she
understood and then vanishes before my optics. I look around the
mound again, toward the crane, and see her reappear in the crane's
shadow without a sound. She then crouches low at the crane's base
and nods in my direction.

Now it is time for me to put my part of
the plan into action. I am supposed to fly into the air and create
a distraction that will allow Palos to use her rings to knock over
the crane. How long will it take for Palos to do that? I do not
know, but she assured me earlier that she will pour every ounce of
her skyras energy into this action, so I doubt it will take much
longer than ten minutes at most.

The biggest problem, of course, is Kalcan.
I do not see him anywhere, but he poses the largest threat to our
plan. I do not think that any of the dwarves can hope to catch me
while I fly, unless they happen to have abilities I am unaware of,
but Kalcan can. Kalcan's exact strength is a mystery to me, but he
looks like a bodybuilder, which, in addition to his natural arctic
vampire strength and flight, means he can take me down easily if he
wants.

I also do a quick scan of my energy level.
Right now, it is at 65%. That is enough to allow me to fly around
and cause a distraction, even use my finger lightning bolts if
necessary, but I doubt it is enough to allow me to dodge Kalcan for
very long if he decides to come after me.

Still, Palos needs a distraction in order
to destroy the crane without anyone noticing and stopping her. And
it is up to me to be that distraction, as per the plan.

Putting aside all of my reservations, I
activate the boosters in my feet and go soaring into the sky above
the pit. Just to be certain that they will see me, I fire a finger
lightning bolt at one of the dwarfish workers, striking the ground
near his feet but not actually hurting him, although he jumps back
and falls over onto his behind in surprise anyway.

That works well. As I fly through the sky,
I see the dwarfish workers everywhere looking up and pointing at
me. Some of them are unlimbering their energy rifles and taking
aim, but I can tell by the way they wield those guns that they are
not used to shooting them. Even if they try to shoot them, they
will not hit me, because I am moving too fast to be hit.

One of the dwarves does indeed shoot at
me, but his aim is off and his energy bolt goes flying well to my
left. I fire back at him anyway, however, because I want to keep
all eyes on me. A quick glance in the direction of the crane shows
me that Palos is already using her fire to weaken the metal
foundation of the crane.

Dodging another laser, I look down into
the pit I am flying above. It is quite deep and dark, making it
impossible for me to see what is down there, aside from the lifts
and walkways built along the walls. Sensors indicate that there is
an immense amount of skyras energy radiating from within, although
that is hardly unusual considering all of the skyras energy that
can be found beneath the surface of the earth on this world.

The dwarves continue to aim and fire at
me, but it seems to me that they are even worse as a group, because
not a single one of those dwarves comes close to even grazing me.
They are clearly shooting to kill, but with their poor aim, I am
surprised they have not shot each other accidentally.

As I soar to the side to avoid a lucky
shot, I wonder where Kalcan is. I expect him to show up any minute
now, but it appears to me that he either must not know I am here or
he does not care enough to come and fight me himself. Maybe he is
afraid of getting hit by his dwarves who are almost literally
incapable of hitting me with their lasers. Or maybe he thinks they
are competent enough to take me down on their own; if so, he must
not understand the competence levels of his men very well.

Then my sensors indicate something large
and dangerous is coming at me from above. I look up, but do not see
anything, which makes me wonder if my sensors are malfunctioning or
were set off by some large bird flying nearby when something large
and heavy slams into my back.

The impact almost knocks me out of the air
entirely, but I manage to stay afloat even with the thing holding
tightly onto my back. I fly unsteadily through the air, trying to
maintain my balance, although the weight of the thing that landed
on my back makes that almost impossible.