THE VROL TRILOGY (126 page)

They both also carried the lycan recessive
gene, thus explaining the angelic brothers' interest in the
men.

"Can you tell me why we are here, and
where
here
is?" asked
Stanton, while carrying an antagonistic tone to his
voice.

"It is quite simple," responded Michael, "we
are assisting in the salvation of your world, and you both will be
part of it."

"Define what you mean by salvation," demanded
Stor.

"If we are unsuccessful, then every man,
woman and child on Azul and her moons will perish. This is a plan
facilitated by your so-called chairman, Len Johnson, who, by the
way, is currently missing," said Gabriel. "If we are successful,
Mankind will continue to progress and eventually reach other
galaxies, where he will join with his brothers."

"His… brothers? What do you mean?" asked
Stanton.

"You do not really believe that you are the
only intelligent species in the universe now, do you? Please do not
cause me to believe that you are simply another ignorant monkey,"
retorted Gabriel.

"And what do you mean, Chairman Johnson is
missing? How is he missing?" asked Stor.

"Logan, this
Chairman
, as everyone calls him, is patently
evil, and is facilitating a planetary takeover and cleansing by a
virulent alien race. These
Artusians
are, in reality, the Vrol, a
disgusting insectoid species, created solely for the purpose of
wiping out life on entire worlds. Would you like to see what
these
Artusians
really look
like?"

Michael was doing his best to be kind to the
humans, even though he found their disbelief and questions to be
annoying. Taking a cue from the two men's nodding heads, he stood
up and said, "Please, do not freak out. This is just imagery."

It didn't work.

Stanton screamed and fell backwards, while
Stor soiled his pants as he remained frozen in place.

"Oh my god what the hell is that?" Stanton
screamed.

Morphing back to his normal appearance,
Michael sat down and attempted to calm the two men. At the same
time, Gabriel performed a cantus that cleaned Stor up, the stench
being overwhelming, especially for the two immortal brothers.

"Topper, that was what a Vrol ground soldier
looks like, and they are the most attractive of the species. You do
not want to see their centipedes up close," informed Michael to the
captain.

"But what are they?" asked Stanton,
apparently not having paid much attention to what was earlier being
said.

"I tire of repeating myself, brother. Can we
not simply mind-wipe these two?" Gabriel added, causing the two
humans to practically hold each other out of fear.

"No, Gabriel. We promised Max, so we shall
give them a chance," advised Michael, as he then gave his attention
to the two men. "The Vrol simply bring death. But I believe we can
answer a question you do not yet have. The question is - what are
you?"

"What are we? What am I?" asked Stanton, with
Stor nodding in confused agreement.

"Precisely. You both have experienced
increased strength during times of stress, have had odd dreams and
bite your lips, causing bleeding, especially when you are
surrounded by allies from whom you need assistance, am I not
correct?" Michael was extremely detailed with his questions, as he
had little time to mess around with the two men. He merely noticed
as they nodded their heads yet again.

"Gentlemen, you are both of the same
subspecies of Mankind, called Homo sapiens canis, and if properly
treated, will have amazingly enhanced strength, as well as
substantial regenerative abilities. We are offering you these
gifts, with the stipulation that you help overthrow Azul Naval
Command, and possibly assist with a military coup of the
government. You see, Len Johnson has nothing good planned for your
worlds. In fact, he has a secret fleet of old Exodux barges with
faster-than-light machinery nearly installed. He is facilitating
the Vrol's unimpeded arrival, where, once he has departed for Old
Earth with his cronies, they will decimate these worlds. The only
way to prevent this is to do exactly what we say."

"But how do you know all of this, all of what
is happening? Why are two guys with wings trying to lead this
rebellion?" asked Stor, causing Michael to get a grin.

Looking at Gabriel, Michael asked his
brother to invite their
friend
into the room. Both of the captains sat stunned, as they
gazed upon a rejuvenated Rear Admiral (and soon to be Full Admiral)
Luigi Bagatelle as he entered the small, enclosed space.
Immediately jumping up to attention, it was obvious where their
loyalties were.

"Attention on deck!" screamed out Stanton, as
both he and Stor stared straight ahead while saluting.

Bagatelle merely grinned, returned a sharp
salute and said, "Hello boys. It's good to see you again. We have a
lot to do, so my question is, are you in?"

"Sir, yes sir. I cannot speak for Captain
Stanton, but I am in. I felt your incarceration was unjust, and it
never smelled right, sir."

"Rear Admiral, I am with you 100% sir. But
for the sake of argument, if we were to have refused to partake in
this bit of revolution, what would have become of us?" added
Stanton.

He was merely being inquisitive, which still
annoyed the two archangels, with Gabriel being the more annoyed of
the two (as usual), so he interjected, saying, "We would have
terminated your existence."

"Exploding heads
are
our specialty," added Michael

"Oh… I see," responded Stanton, who then
gained a wide smile, and continued, "Admiral, I would like to know
more of these supposed abilities we will have, sir."

Before either man could formulate a solitary
additional word, they were both looking at a very real and
menacing-looking phase 2 Luigi Bagatelle who had just morphed to
his battle form.

"You are extremely lucky. You both, just like
me, are lycan. As you can see, it is not rumor, nor fantasy. It is
real, and we are required to save and protect the human race. So
boys, shall we get going?"

"Going… where, sir?" asked Stor.

"To the
43
^rd
century. It is there
where we do initial training. I mean, we could do it here, but it
is so impressive when you meet those who are going to risk their
lives for a world of the past."

"World of the… past?
43
^rd
century? I am not quite
following you, sir," stammered Stanton.

"You have much to learn, and I believe it
best that you learn in a future timeline. Mind you, we are offering
you two this opportunity as you are of high rank here. Other, lower
ranking individuals will not be offered such an extraordinary
adventure. I suggest you not waste it," advised Michael, as
Bagatelle nodded his head in agreement with his angelic ally.

###

Bagatelle stood alongside his sister and
brother-in-law, watching as captains Stor and Stanton were led away
from Krynos' castle's courtyard by some extremely large lycan
warriors. The three grinned, not at the men's stupefied
expressions, but because they would be incredibly helpful in
commandeering the Azul naval fleet. Even though they had no
commands of their own, they held a good deal of sway with superior
officers due to their good deeds and reputations.

"I think I'll give them their own ships once
we get control," mused Bagatelle.

"Whatever you like,
Cuñado
. I was simply glad to meet someone from
the military who didn't immediately accuse me of eating live
kittens," said Max.

Jennie leaned up against her husband,
remembering when they first met, particularly how within ten
minutes of encountering him she had tried to blow his head off.

"People are waking up now, baby. Johnson just
went too far, and leadership is waking up. Plus, you're an acquired
taste, hun."

Max snickered at his beautiful wife's
comments, and looked out across the courtyard as their daughter,
Liliana, bounded over for their lunch date. She had been traveling
to Vera for morning instruction on computers by none other than
Kyle Reynolds, the nephew of Bagatelle's now-fiancé, Lt. Commander
Alicia Vasquez. Kyle was an expert-level computer hacker who had
been brought onto the team after his parents and siblings were
deleted (murdered) on Len Johnson's orders, simply because his
father had requested status on his family's place on the New Exodus
fleet. Kyle was fortunate enough to have snuck out to party with
his friends on the night his house was destroyed, thus avoiding a
most heinous death.

"Hi sweetie! How are your classes coming
along?" Jennie asked her pretty daughter, who seemed to be growing
centimeters every day.

"Hello Mami, Papi, Tío. Classes are coming
along fine, but I am glad we are to have lunch together," answered
the little girl, while wearing a huge, beaming smile.

"Speaking of lunch, what's on the menu
today?" asked Bagatelle.

"Choripan, simple and to the point,"
responded Max, who was actually glad to have that for lunch. It was
he who introduced that particular type of sausage to the Rhönen
Dominion nearly a year earlier.

"Oooh, I love chorizo sausage sandwiches,
especially with sauerkraut!" squealed Liliana. "Should I inform
Kyle of our most delicious meal selection, Mami? Perhaps he could
join us for lunch!"

Jennie grew an awkward look on her face,
knowing that her daughter had a huge crush on Kyle; she also knew
that the boy wanted nothing to do with her daughter. It wasn't that
she wasn't cute - quite the contrary - she was growing up to be
quite pretty. It was just that Liliana was more of a force of
nature than a mere young girl, and her magical abilities sometimes
self-activated when she had emotional outbursts. On one such
occasion Kyle found himself pinned up against a castle wall,
completely covered in tar and goose feathers. His only crime was
laughing at what he thought was a joke, while Liliana was being
quite serious. In any case, he was moderately afraid of her, and
would only be in her presence on Vera, where Draagh had placed a
cap on her magical abilities.

"No, sweetie, we're in a hurry. I want to
spend all the time I can with you before you run back to your
classes," commented Jennie.

"Yeah, and I want to know what you're
learning right now. I think it's great that you're learning to use
computers, Lili," added her father, as the group all walked to the
main dining hall.

Liliana then spent her lunch hour detailing
her latest lessons in computer programming and operations. It was
apparent that she was making incredible headway, especially given
the fact that she had lived nearly her entire life in a
technology-free society.

###

"Mrs. Gunnarsson, she's a menace. I mean, I'm
trying to help, but she is just … did you hear what she did to me?
Pinned me up against a wall with this black glue stuff and bird
feathers - and it was on accident! I'm trying to be nice, honest.
She learns quickly, so hopefully she'll be able to move on to a
different teacher soon," complained Kyle Reynolds to Clarisa
Gunnarsson, Liliana's grandmother, as the two had a frank
discussion in the base on Vera.

"Kyle, sweetie, we really appreciate
everything you are doing, and we understand that you're basically
stuck with us. Max will most certainly reward you for your efforts,
so don't you worry there, hun. It is just that we're in the middle
of a very important operation, and he simply wants his daughter to
have as much knowledge as possible - in case she is separated from
us."

"Yeah, I know, and I'll teach her as much as
I can. You know, just between us, she's gonna be a knockout when
she get a bit older. I just hope she gets ahold of her abilities,
or I'll truly pity the guys who date her."

Clarisa got a half-grin on her face as she
nodded her head in agreement with the young man. She had already
determined that when things had calmed down she was going to
personally take Liliana under her wing, with the intention of
teaching her to be a proper young lady.

Leaving the computer room, she walked
out to the main training area where a mixed group of dozens of
soldiers were training. She found it marvelous that
43
^rd
century lycans were
training with 29
^th
century
naval officers who had recently had their recessive lycan genes
activated. The younger (if you actually thought about it - by 14
centuries) lycans had spent their entire lives training and using
modern weapons of war whithout enhanced abilities. Now these new
naval officers were receiving a crash course in everything ancient.
However, it would soon be their turn to be teachers, as they were
to train Krynos' lycans in the use of technology - personal
consoles, pistols, rifles, cannons and other devices of hi-tech
warfare.

As Clarisa walked by, nearly every man and
woman on the training floor stopped and stood at attention, totally
out of respect for the mother of Captain Gunnarsson (and the
suspected consort of the Taxiarch, though no one knew for certain).
She was already used to this treatment, and although she found it a
bit over the top she still popped off a cute salute to everyone,
followed by a cheerful and courteous, "As you were!" Clarisa had
long before served her minimum two years in the military, and
although it was in a clerical fashion, she was still aware of
protocols.