THE VROL TRILOGY (113 page)

"So mom, how are you feeling these days? Are
you getting into the whole training thing and having fun?"

"Yes, sweetie, I really am. You know I was
never into sports, but it is good to learn. I am confident that
once this is all done I'll be able to go back to teaching."

"Oh, that would be great. You know, I'm sorry
for getting you into all this trouble."

"My goodness, Max, don't even think of it -
this is quite an adventure. And I can wear a bikini again. I never
dreamed of that," she said with a girlish giggle, which unnerved
Max slightly. He knew he would get used to it - eventually.

"And what about you, Mrs. Wong… erm, Janice?
What do you plan on doing once we are done making things
right?"

"I don't know, my boy. I'm taking it a day at
a time. I rather like Krynos' castle, and Ohiro has been
helpful."

"And he's giving Janice private kendo lessons
too. She says he's cute," added Clarisa, giggling some more.

"Shhhh, quiet, Clarisa. It's nothing,
really," whispered Janice as she blushed brightly.

###

"I don't see anything. You say the ship is in
here?" asked Alicia, as she entered into a naturally occurring
tunnel made of vegetative overgrowth.

"It's right in front of us. Ok, how does this
work? Max did something to the fob… and… bingo!" Bagatelle hit the
correct button and the Machu Picchu slowly appeared, wavering out
of nothingness, as if it came from a mirage. In reality, it was the
dissipation of the particles that had hidden it that were making
that effect.

"Oh wow!" exclaimed Alicia.

"Pretty cool, huh?"

"No, actually it's a total piece of crap. I
can't believe he made it all the way to Earth in that thing," she
said as they both broke out in laughter.

"I was referring more to the invisibility
cloak. It's super cool. Max said that if we have to go up against
the Vrol out of atmo he'll work with the old guy and whip up
something similar for our ships."

"Now
that
would be useful. You know, he really is a
good fellow, isn't he?"

"Yeah, he is. I knew something was wrong.
It's a shame I was bamboozled like everyone else. Now Johnson is
playing king and near everyone has fallen for it."

"Not everyone, my love. Here, look at the
manifests - we know every one of these captains and not one is on
board with Johnson - as far as we know. They just lack decisive,
strong leadership. They need you, Luigi. You can lead the military
rebellion. Max can handle the magic and all that stuff."

"So these are the only ships with hook drives
- you are certain?"

"These are the only military vessels with
hook drives, baby. I have no idea if Johnson made something else,
but we have agents investigating. So, what's the master plan?"

Bagatelle started telling Alicia his plans as
the two sat in the ship's captain's quarters, which turned into
kicking back in the captain's quarters, which then resulted in them
saying nothing at all as they enjoyed their time alone.

The five women and one little girl relaxed in
the warm sunshine of the Peruvian high jungle, as Draagh conferred
with Socrates, whom he had called over. Max, Michael and Gabriel
had gone up to the ruins of Machu Picchu and were exploring around,
when the two archangels showed Max something he really liked - a
lot. Michael conjured an infoscreen and used it to create a
360-degree display bubble around them, made of electromagnetic
particles. Typing some data into his keyboard they suddenly saw
their surroundings change, showing vid activity of the year 1490
CE. People were carrying water, packages, meats and vegetables,
while children ran through the corridors created by the city's
architects. As the three moved together, the display bubble
followed, enabling them to virtually move among the local
population, even peering into domiciles to watch domestic
activities.

"Wow, this is amazing - much better than my
HUD I used when I first came to this planet," Max said, referring
to this dynamic display of activity at Larco Mar in Lima the very
first day he had arrived at Earth, over a year before.

"Yes, but do you want to know something
really neat, Max?" asked Michael.

"Yeah, what's that?"

"This is live. We are looking into a
concurrent timeline."

"No way! Can they see us? They can't see us,
can they?"

"No, Max, they cannot. We only have the view,
but we could go there any time you like. However, we would need to
remain camouflaged, as this society must not have knowledge of our
kind," added Gabriel.

"You mean
your
kind, Gabe," responded Max.

"No Max," the younger archangel replied, "our
kind. You are one of us, my nephew, and perhaps something
more."

Gabriel's comment made Max feel really
special, but also remind him that he had a lot to learn.

"Hey guys, can we go and fly around a bit?
I'd like a few more pointers and the girls are just sunbathing,
while Bagatelle is having some private time with Alicia. What you
just showed me proves that I have a lot to learn in order to be
effective in our upcoming tasks."

The brothers smiled at Max, stood up and
spread their wings out wide, inviting the youth to do the same.
Then the three took off into the air, creating a sonic boom as they
screamed over the campsite and on their way to Buenos Aires, Old
Argentina.

"
Ladies and
gentlemen, we'll be back in an hour or so. Max wants to see if the
Obelisco in Buenos Aires is still standing,"
Michael
informed everyone as the three streaked over the Amazon
rainforest.

###

One of the things about the Vrol invasion was
that the hive mind didn't care much for water of any kind. Their
amoeba contaminated fresh water sources, but salt water was mostly
immune - most probably due to the deuterium, which ironically
powered fusion-ion drives in spacecraft. Consequently, inland
cities tended to have a lot more battle damage from the war than
coastal cities, such a Lima, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. It
was a given that American cities such as Kansas City, Dallas and
Nashville were decimated, as well as Iquitos, La Paz, Paris and
Moscow, but the beaches were nearly pristine - they simply lacked
human life.

The three flew straight out east, over
the Brazilian Amazon plains, and then down southeasterly, where
they found the formerly shining city of Rio. Nearly untouched, they
cruised between the vine-covered skyscrapers, detecting no sentient
life at all. It made Max sad that his human brothers (half-human as
he was, although carrying lycan genes) were massacred so
mercilessly by a race of bugs. It was almost as if they were
eliminated by the ancient neutron bomb - having been basically
destroyed with massive radiation and leaving infrastructure intact,
but the
Cleansing Strain
not
only killed, it dissolved organic tissues - down to nothing,
leaving no remains. Not even bones.

Satisfied with their city tour of Rio,
they headed to the southwest until they approached the great
Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires
.
Crossing over the Rio de la Plata, they arrived at Belgrano from
the coastline, and then went due south until they were over Avenida
9 de Julio, which was, at one time, the widest street on that
world. Then seeing the Obelisco, Max landed at its base. Looking
up, he felt a bit of nostalgia, as he had frequently visited the
replica which resided in the plaza de armas of Buenos Aires in
Nueva Argentina - on Azul, of course.

"Ok Max, are you satisfied now that you have
seen this spike in the ground?" mused Gabriel.

"I am! Thanks! I just want to see one more
thing. Follow me!"

Shooting up into the air, and then
leveling out while inverted, Max started to spin as he made a
direct line to Mendoza. Arriving in Lujan de Cuyo, an ancient wine
making region, Max scanned the ground carefully. Passing over
numerous abandoned bodegas (wineries), he finally arrived at one
called
Pulenta
, which had,
according to historical texts, produced some of the finest malbec
varietals in the area. He could always figure out winemaking, but
what he really needed more than anything else was to get a large
sampling of live vines to take back to the Rhönen, and from there
perhaps Mendoza of the 43
^rd
century, and eventually to Azul.

Landing with his father and uncle at his
side, he went to phase 2, and used his enhanced claws to help dig
out entire vines, roots and all. Once he had extracted roughly
fifty kilos of excellent stock, he looked at his load while shaking
his head.

"Could you guys help me get this stuff back?
I mean, we could just slip it, right?" he asked.

"Max, there is another trick of which I am
totally surprised you never asked," said Michael.

"And what would that be?"

"Did you ever notice how you usually do not
see our swords, or my new staff? That is, until we need them?"
Gabriel asked.

"Come to think of it, yeah, that's right! And
I'm always running around with my katana flopping around on my
back."

"Max, we use what is called a personal pocket
dimension. It is like a super big sack that goes with you
everywhere, but the bottom of it is an opening to a particular
point in the Hub that never moves on the Hub end. You see, I
basically set my staff on the dining room table in my apartment in
the Hub, Max, and by reaching into my PPD I can grab my staff out
of nothing and make it appear. The entrance to the PPD is an
invisible slit in the back of my jacket," said Gabriel.

"Um, we're only in swim shorts right now,"
said Max, with an odd expression.

"You can create a new access point to a PPD
anytime you like, Max."

"Well, that's assuming that Max has a spot in
the Hub, which he should by now. We'll have to confer with Father
about that, and quite soon," said Michael.

"And this pocket dimension - I can put
anything there? Anything I like, such as my lunch, a yo-yo, a gun,
sword, or even my personal console?"

"That is correct, my son. Here, allow us to
teach you - we'll use a table in Father's office for now. He will
not mind."

The three angels arrived just in time to see
the sun dropping behind the mountain to the southwest of Huayna
Picchu. Everyone had gathered together, and Draagh had already
gotten Alicia back to her building, where he bent the rules
slightly and turned her entire afternoon at the river into a mere
15 minute restroom break. But he was Draagh, and he could do those
things. The girls were putting on light jackets, as the
temperatures were quickly lowering, and they all looked very
beautiful in their coordinated outfits - even Liliana. Max thought
he detected the girl wearing a bit of makeup, but decided it best
to not say anything until later,

"So, what did you all do while we were gone?"
asked Max.

"Hi love! Welcome back. Um, we went up to the
ruins, mostly for Lili. She wanted to see them, but Jess and Pandy
liked them too. G had already been up there, plus he was busy
spending time with Alicia."

"Duh!" said Liliana.

"Lili! Come on, now!"

"Sorry, Mami, but they are soooo obvious. But
anyway, Grandfather made a very cool display bubble around us and
we were watching the Inkas and their indigenous slaves going about
their daily lives!"

"Ok, ok, change of subject. Do you all wanna
see something cool?" asked Max.

"Ooo, ooo! I do, Papi," yelped the little
lycan. "But, may I have a slave?"

"What? Liliana! No! We don't have slaves.
That was a barbaric practice of the ancient past," exclaimed
Jennie.

"But the servants in the castle - are they
not like slaves?"

"They are paid for their services and are
free to find employment elsewhere whenever they like."

"Girls, come on - I have something to show
you."

Max stood sideways and rubbed his hands
together and showed his empty, open palms. Then, he put his right
hand into his pocket. He kept reaching down until his entire
forearm was in his pocket. But that was not the strange part - as
he pulled his arm out, it was followed by a massive malbec-strain
grape vine.

"Ta-Daaaaaaa!" Max triumphantly crowed.
"Pops and T
í
o taught me a new trick - personal pocket
dimension storage! Is that cool or what?"

"Max," Jennie said quietly, "your pants are
filthy now."

"Oh yeah, you're right. Darnit."

Chapter 33 - Dissent with Double
Cheese

In ancient times, all one needed for a
revolution were a few backers in high places and a blade of steel.
In the modern era, most people depended on mass communications, and
disinformation was easily spread by those in charge, making
revolution much more difficult. Michael and Gabriel had already
shown that they could easily usurp control of vid displays and play
whatever they pleased, as proven by the joke they had played on
Johnson, putting his personal adult entertainment out for the
entire city to see. But to do it on a system-wide scale would be an
entirely different matter. This was the quandary that faced Max and
Bagatelle. The two military officers, seated at a candlelit table
of mahogany in Krynos' castle, began discussing a number of
strategies for bringing about positive change in Azul System, while
keeping bloodshed at a minimum.

With a massive population on four planetary
bodies, Azul System was completely dependent on technology for
daily life, and at that point in time Leonard Johnson controlled
the majority of that technology, especially communications. He
controlled the airwaves, personal console connections, the media,
programming, and military communications. Dissent to his rule was
swift, and cooperation even came with peril - as Kyle Reynolds'
family had sadly discovered in the fraction of the second it took
to murder them.