THE VROL TRILOGY (119 page)

"No, not everything, just … a bunch of
things," said Max, prompting everyone to laugh.

"Ok, I have a question - where is Ryder?
Johnson constantly frets about him and - "

"Dead," interrupted Jennie.

"Dead? But how?"

"I killed him," she said, as if she were
describing a recipe for cooking rice.

"B-b-but how? I don't understand."

"Oh, it was pretty easy. I ripped his ribcage
open and tore out his still-beating heart. And I was wearing a
metal gauntlet, so I started beating him in the face. His skull
started to collapse and then - "

"Jen, love. Save the awesome details for
later please. Coby, Ryder turned into a vampire and became super
evil. Then he - "

"Vampire?!?" Coby interrupted. "What?
Hahahaha - Do you actually expect me to believe that?"

"Well, sure - of course. There are vampires.
Len Johnson is one. That's why he's so frikin pale and mean," said
Jennie.

"Vampires. Ok, I'll bite. And where are the
faeries and the trolls and werewolves? Hmmmm?"

"In ancient times, my good man, there were
faeries and trolls, but lycans still exist! Yes, they exist at this
very moment," added Draagh, who had been watching the conversation
with great amusement.

"And I'm sure YOU are a lycan, right?" Coby
said, looking at Draagh.

"No, no, my son Oh no. I'm much too old for
that. However, Jennie, Luigi and Max are."

Worthington looked away from Draagh, and saw
three phase 2.5 assassin form werewolves staring at him.

"
I can't
believe I actually pulled it off,"
Jennie said over
the comm.

"
Damn, you
look so sexy like that. Makes me wanna
-"

"
Please, I can
hear you two. Not here, ok
?" complained
Bagatelle.

Coby screamed and passed out, falling
backwards off his bar stool. Draagh saw it as an excellent
opportunity to get the confused (and very unconscious) man out of
Lima and over to Machu Picchu.

Regaining consciousness, Coby saw a ceiling
of plants straight above his head. Looking up and around, he saw
that everyone was seated on fallen logs around a campfire. Turning
his head to the right, he saw Max's ship.

"Holy crap! That's Gunnarsson's ship!"

"Hey fella, I'm right here. And yes, that's
my ship."

"Oh, sorry about that - what should I call
you? Max? Um, I'm confused."

"You can call me Commander, as that is my
rank."

"Not anymore it's not. You were stripped of
rank by - "

"An illegal usurper of our
Constitutional process, you fool. And I am Rear Admiral Bagatelle
to you. Use the word
former
and I'll shift back into what you just saw and eat your
pancreas. Got it?"

Coby nodded his head quickly and
nervously.

"So, before we send you back, there's
something else you need to know," said Max.

"What's that?"

"You're also lycan."

"Oh god, did you bite me when I was passed
out? Is that how it works?"

"Um, no. You carry recessive lycan genes.
Less than one percent of Azul System's population has it. It's just
not active on our worlds."

"How does that work?"

"It's a long story, but the funny thing is
that you were working for Johnson, who carries vampire recessive
genes. You two should have been repelled from each other like oil
and water. You must have a super-high tolerance for bullshit and an
extreme desire for power, friend."

"So, what do we do from here?"

"Well, we take you to Azul and you go back to
business as usual. And you become our spy, of course."

"But I have been required to provide evidence
of your tampering with cameras and the Draeders. Johnson threatened
to delete my wife and children if I don't - "

"Coby, don't worry. We'll give you foolproof,
fudged up stuff to throw the scent off our tracks, and make you
look like a superstar. You're lycan, so we won't let you down. If
you avoid being totally lame and you help us we guarantee that you
will survive up until the Vrol arrive - from there on out it's like
playing roulette - anything can happen in war."

"Ok, so what do I do?"

"Nothing, really," responded Max.

"Nope,
nada
!" said Jennie.

Bagatelle shook his head.

"Worry not, young man. We shall care for you,
and the information that your superior requires shall easily enter
into your possession. In fact, you shall look like the brightest
individual in all of your planet's government," said Draagh.

"I don't understand. What if Johnson has me
scanned? Intelligence services can see imagery in your memories,
and-"

###

Coby Worthington found himself sitting on his
toilet, his gastrointestinal pain having subsided substantially.
Feeling as if a fog were lifted from his head, he cleaned up and
went to accomplish the goals earlier set forth by his boss.

###

"I kinda feel bad doing it this way," said
Max.

"I don't! The dude pulled a total dick move
working for Johnson," Jennie complained. "He's lucky to be
alive."

The group watched Draagh's infoscreen as it
displayed a first-person view from Coby's perspective. He washed
his hands, and then he went to his desk and started a data net
search.

"Good move installing organic cameras in his
eyeballs, Pops," said Max.

"The poor bastard doesn't even know about
Exodus II. Johnson is probably only bringing vamps and subservient
normals with him," Jennie commented.

"Hey, one thing I don't understand,"
Bagatelle blurted out. "If we can stick some camera in that kid's
eyeballs, why don't you simply do the same to Johnson?"

"It causes a partial activation of the
enhanced genome. Coby will not know why, but he will experience
mildly enhanced senses," said Michael.

"Ok, so we don't want Johnson to have a
better sense of smell?"

"Oh, we could care less about that. It's just
that vampires have a completely different reaction to the partial
introduction of particles," said Draagh.

"Really? And that is?"

"They start to rot, but they cannot avail
themselves of healing particles. He would be dead in weeks."

"And that's a bad thing?"

"Only if we want a bloodless restoration of
Constitutional rule, G," Max added. "Johnson has way too much
support in the general population. One of the first things he did
after taking over was to start giving free things out - expanded
housing, grav sleds, gift credits for fancy dinners, property. He
is quite the populist. He has legions of the lazy and listless who
would be more than willing to rise up in the streets if their
goodies were taken from them - so he needs to be exposed. We get
control of the military, then we show the world what the Vrol
really look like and what Johnson is planning."

"But Max, I don't understand - if Johnson has
control over the system, why would he want to go back to Earth? Why
not just stay here where society has been fully-developed? Why
start over again?"

"It is precisely because he is a coward. He
knows his rule here is temporary at best. On Earth he could rule
unopposed," Gabriel informed the rear admiral.

"Apparently he has been working at global
conquest for years, even before he was elected to the Security
Council," said Max.

"Ok, enough about Johnson. We need to make a
plan of action regarding the FTL-capable ships. G, you need to
contact your fellow commanding officers. Take Gabriel with you.
He'll not only be protection, but he can whip out his wings if
things get dicey. I'll go to Lima and secure housing for the
families on the barges."

"And what of the vampire family? What will
happen to them?" asked Bagatelle.

"They're going to Siberia, where they can do
no harm to anyone."

"We should kill them, son. They will
eventually end up trying to kill others. They are not called
Lovers of Death
for nothing, you
know," Michael cautioned.

"Why not take them to Jessica's Los Angeles?
Vampires are mellow there."

"G, that wouldn't work. If they were to
interbreed they could pollute the vamp genome and turn what are
currently nice, mellow, mildly stinky pale people into homicidal
maniacs within two generations," said Max.

"Ok, point taken. Next item. I'm trying to
figure out the fastest way to get to the ship captains - to get
them to ally with us. Any suggestions?" asked Bagatelle.

"Show them vids of the Vrol. That should
sufficiently scare the crap out of them. No military man in his
right mind would consider allowing anything like that anywhere near
our system without first using anti-matter bombs."

"Genius. And Gabriel can do what you did and
show what they look like up close too, right?"

"Actually, Luigi Bagatelle, I would make you
look like one. I believe the effect would be more…
penetrating."

"Max, when this is all done and over with,
you're getting a huge promotion."

"Actually G, I'd prefer a huge vacation."

Bagatelle and Gabriel sat in the captain's
quarters on the ADF Ronald Reagan, waiting for Captain Lars
Jorgensen to arrive. When he did, he dropped his coffee on the
floor out of sheer surprise. Pulling out a small sidearm he trained
it on his former fellow officer.

"Luigi. Not nice to see you. Where have you
been?"

"Hey Lars. Vacation. Old-Earth. Germany,
actually. Oh, this is Gabe. He's kinda like family to me. And he's
immortal. Don't piss him off."

Jorgensen pointed his charge pistol at
Gabriel and fired off twenty rounds to no effect.

It pissed Gabriel off. Big time.

When Jorgensen woke up, he was on his bed,
arms tied down. Bagatelle and Gabriel were drinking tea they had
procured from Jorgensen's food dispenser.

"Hiya, Lars, old buddy! Welcome back. Told ya
not to piss him off."

"Traitor. You belong in a grave."

"Nope. But we got something to show you.
Gabriel, if you could please?"

The archangel merely put his index finger to
Lars' forehead. One minute later the ship's captain was nearly in
tears. Bagatelle released Jorgensen from his bonds, letting him sit
up.

"Everything… it's all a lie. How could I have
believed?"

Lars was experiencing elevated blood
pressure, as he was overwhelmed by remorse. Gabriel could have
calmed the man, but chose not to, preferring to let him suffer from
his own guilt.

"So, they're really insects? Like, bugs?"

"They're biologically insectoid, with
exoskeletons, compound eyes, and they communicate via a hive mind.
Their spacecraft are not FTL-capable, but they
are
organic and self-repairing," Bagatelle
informed his old friend.

"How long before they arrive?"

"Around four years. Johnson is planning on
emigrating to Earth before they show up."

"Huh? Why would he do that? You showed me a
dead planet."

"Isn't it obvious? He's leaving Azul System
to the Vrol. They easily destroyed Earth, and Johnson has swung a
deal with them. Lars, we need to take our worlds back, and we need
your help. There are four FTL-capable ships left. We already
disabled most of the draeders, and you are going with us to talk to
the remaining ship captains."

"Remaining? Like, the other three?"

"No, the other two. Smith is dead."

"When? I haven't heard anything yet. What
happened?"

"A short while ago. Aneurism. It was
instantaneous. He was also in league with Chairman Johnson."

"Coincidence?"

"Not at all," said Gabriel.

"So, you killed him?"

"No. I just poked his brain. It failed on its
own."

"Murderer! You killed an innocent man!"

Bagatelle instantly smelled fear emanating
from Lars, but it wasn't fear of present company. It was fear of
being discovered. Bagatelle had not yet mastered his senses, so he
couldn't tell the difference, but Lars Jorgensen was hiding
something. The deposed rear admiral watched as his archangel
companion and his former fellow officer continued to argue - for a
moment.

"No, I allowed a vampire to die. Watch your
tone with me, monkey."

"Maybe
you
should die, bastard!"

"I think not," Gabriel growled. Then,
flicking his head to the side, Gabriel made an odd clicking sound
and Bagatelle watched as Lars Joergensen's skull shrunk slightly,
contracting with a grotesque crackling. His eyes sickeningly drew
back into their sockets and then drained of ocular fluid, which ran
down his sallow cheeks, some of it leaving in perverse squirts.
Grabbing his face in desperation and attempting in vain to push his
emptied eyesacks back into his face, Jorgensen screamed as gray
matter leaked out of his ear canals down onto the sides of his
neck. Then, dropping to the ground, he was dead. It wasn't a
merciful demise - it was intended to be horrifically painful, and
Gabriel succeeded in that aspect.

"My God! Gabriel! What the Hell did you do?"
screamed Bagatelle.

"I hastened a process that was already in
motion," the archangel plainly stated, without any emotion.

"No! You killed him! He could have helped
us!"

"Luigi. I read his heart - I tasted his
soul. He had no intention of assisting us in any way. He would have
betrayed you as easily as he would change his undergarments.
There
are
evil normals, and
he was among their legion. What I did, I did for this odd, newfound
love I have recently discovered for mankind. Please, do not make me
regret my decisions."