THE VROL TRILOGY (157 page)

"We detected their scent, yes," said Gabriel,
"although not their energy signatures."

"Hey, why didn't you ever tell me you had a
sister?" Max asked his father.

"Well… you never asked, Max." It was all
Michael could come up with, not having any excuse otherwise. But he
knew he would eventually have to introduce Max to all of his aunts
and uncles, of which there were many.

"And the blip on Earth? That's one of us,
right?" asked Jessica.

"Yes, that would be me," said Michael. "I
shall need to cleanse myself of the errant particles lest we
register a false readout in the future."

Draagh smirked as he slid a large mug of mead
to his eldest son. "Here, my boy. Drink this. It shall purge your
system of the tracker particles."

Chapter 27 - Blind Breakfast

"I cannot see. Where are we? What have you
done?"

Len Johnson, former Azulian dictator, was in
a haze, unaware of his location in the space and time. He was
blind, deaf and dumb. He could only reach out with his mind. He
recalled being able to see out of the ship at some point in time in
the past, but he no longer possessed that capability. There was
only black loneliness.

"We have done nothing. We are as one with
us. Strop struggling against the collective. We are all Vrol
now."

Johnson thought about his missing son. His
only progeny, heir to his empire. He wanted to escape his bonds,
find his son and together the two would conquer the arrogant,
self-righteous bastards that had made Azul System into such a weak
collection of worlds. He had a new, purified Earth to return to,
but first he had to escape. But even his emotive trace thoughts
were detected by the hive mind to which he was connected.

"Escape is not possible. Resistance is not
an option. Submit to the collective. Our cause is just, our goals
attainable. We shall not be defeated. Thank you. Thank us. We are
one."

"Where is my son? Where is my pilot? I must
leave."

"We have no son, we have one pilot, one
mind. We are one."

"Oh sharga, what have I done"?

"We shall eliminate the humans from the
galaxy. Thank us, we thank us."

The slow, lumbering mass of millions of
vessels, most more than a half kilometer in length, cruised along
at speeds significantly slower than light. Joined techs, resembling
beetles, worked furiously, attempting the integrate Johnson's tiny
vessel into a massive, organic superstructure that would carry the
entire conjoined fleet through side space. From there they would go
onto Azulian space, enabling them to initiate an immediate attack
on Mankind. Johnson, due to his impatience, had unwittingly ended
up serving the entire human race on a giant silver platter to the
greatest enemy man has ever known.

"Where is X'than'dor? I must speak with him
immediately."

"Him? We have no gender; we are as one.
X'than'dor describes Vrol to those not of the collective. Submit to
Vrol."

Johnson tried to clear his mind and to think
of nothing at all. If anything, the man was a study in mental
acuity. His mind, although sociopathic, was razor-sharp and he was
keenly aware that he was not in control at the current moment. He
just imagined seeing outside - just seeing blank space, ships, and
then his own ship.

He saw his craft, surrounded by a massive,
organic structure that apparently had been grown around the vessel.
The ship itself was buried deep inside a larger ship. Pulling his
view back he determined it was the Brood Carrier - the largest ship
in the fleet, and near the size of a normal moon. Whenever he saw
something Vrol he imagined beautiful thoughts. He emoted
pleasurable feelings. He attempted to keep his mental guardians
off-track. He was Len Johnson, and he would be reunited with his
beloved son Ryder, and together they would conquer the galaxy.

###

"Yeah, right! Three aces! Three of a kind! I
win!"

Alicia slapped her hand down onto the wooden
table top, displaying her three cards, while showing fangs. She was
so excited at finally getting a winning hand that she involuntarily
shifted to phase 2, her battle form. Bagatelle gently stroked the
back of her neck, which was now covered in hair and functioning as
a mane. With some deep breaths she calmed herself, and her body
gradually shifted back to phase 1, her extra hair and fur
retracting back into her body.

"G, I finally win a hand and I go puppy on
everyone," she said disappointedly, pushing a canine back up into
her gum.

"No, sweetie, don't be upset. I dropped my
toothbrush the other day and nearly went phase 2.5."

"Oh my god, are you serious?"

"Yes, but don't tell anyone. We can't have
the Admiral of the navy looking out of control now, can we?"

"Hmmm, only if he's out of control with his
soon-to-be wife."

Alicia gave him a glare, suggesting he better
start with planning their nuptials sooner rather than later. She
was a military woman, and if she were to wait for every emergency
to ever befall her home world she would die an old maid. And that
was saying a lot, as she was targeted to live for thousands of
years.

They heard a knock at their door, and the
scent told them it was Jennie. She frequently visited them during
the daytime, as she was intensely involved in preparations with
Azul's fleet. If it wasn't Max ferrying them back and forth, it was
Draagh. However, he had created a permanent portal between the base
on Vera and Bagatelle's private offices in New Sydney. If they were
in a bind and needed to leave right away, yet could not find a
Primulus, they had the option of using King Krynos' sub-dimensional
office to get to Vera. Draagh had promised to create a direct
portal for them, but had yet to do so.

"Good morning, loves. Slept well?" asked
Jennie.

"Yes, we did, Hun. Check this out! I finally
beat G at poker!" Alicia was still excited, so she excused herself,
got up and went to the restroom in their quarters.

"We were playing blackjack. Just don't remind
her," whispered Bagatelle.

"Oh, not a winning hand," Jennie whispered
back.

Her brother nodded and grinned. He wasn't one
for smiles and such, but when he did show happiness it was
real.

"Brother, we need to get back to Azul and
start working. I am more than comfortable with leaving Liliana in
the care of Clarisa and Draagh. As long as they're here I'm
good."

"Let's go this afternoon. I need to check out
Portlandia. They've been acting like retards lately. Johnson had
them so strung out on free mind-meds they're all in a state of
perpetual idiocy."

"Did the Haida troops manage to clear out the
abandoned warehouses where the kids and the gen-vamps were
squatting?"

"To a certain extent. We stopped short of
bombing them."

"It would only take one. We could have Max
project infoscreens in all inhabited buildings and show them the
destruction of one. They would scurry like rats."

Bagatelle liked his sister's thinking. He
wasn't fond about using arms against the populace, but Johnson had
created such a mess it couldn't really be avoided. He determined he
would do so, in limited fashion, and hope for the best results.

Alicia exited the restroom, a smile of
her face and flush from her recent victory at
poker
. Bagatelle took the deck of cards and
stowed it away with the chips. He then stood up, indicating he was
about to great ready.

"Ali, have you already showered and stuff?"
asked Jennie.

"Yeah, a bit ago. Why?"

"Let's go have breakfast while Mr. Muscles
here gets ready." Jennie winked at her brother and took his fiancé
by the hand, leading her out the door and on to the main dining
hall.

Jennie had been under Alicia's command for a
number of years, and although Vasquez knew Jennie was the younger
sister of her secret lover, she wasn't able to say a thing. She
even found it unjust that Jennie was also a junior officer.
Commander was the first level in the senior officer bracket, and
they were both now of equivalent rank. As an added benefit, they
could be friends without the formalities of rank submission.

The two rounded a corner when they were
suddenly approached by Liliana, who was wearing a concerned look on
her face.

"Good morning Tía. Mami - I need to feed my
pets. Please let me go feed them," she pleaded.

"Sweetie, you know Prime Commander Donus and
his team are taking care of them."

"I know, and he promised he would capture
some more ghouls for me too! But I miss them so…"

"Oh yeah, Lili. How did you experiments go?
Which vampires were the fastest?" asked Alicia.

"Oh the ones of the lower castes for certain,
Tía. They moved much more quickly as the sun was cooking them with
every step they took. I believe it was almost an involuntary
reaction."

"And the one from Azul? How did he do?"

"Oh, quite poorly, I must say. He was almost
jogging along the path. Hermes toyed with him a bit, and then
breached beautifully and swallowed the fetid wretch whole."

"I just hope he didn't turn anyone before
Draagh got him," said Jennie. Liliana got a small look of
concentration on her face.

"What's the matter, sweetie? Everything all
right?" asked Alicia.

If he did turn any, I will
find them, once we have eliminated the insectoid scum from the
galaxy
, the girl thought to herself.

"Oh yes, Tía! Everything is quite all right!
Shall we enjoy breakfast together?" Liliana grabbed the women's
hands and led them down the stairwell to the main dining hall.

###

Admiral Luigi Bagatelle looked in the
steamed-up mirror, trying to decide whether he should shave his
beard off completely, trim it down, or make it into a goatee or a
mustache. In the end, he decided to keep the beard. It made him
look
bad-ass
, as Max had
previously said.

The entire system is back under control,
aside from Portlandia. I hate that place. I wonder why they are so
difficult.

Bagatelle finished cleaning up and set out
for the main dining hall. Upon arrival, he saw Jennie, Alicia and
Liliana all half-finished with their meals. Summoning a servant, he
was presented with a plate of duck eggs, chorizo sausage and hash
brown potatoes. He pulled a bottle of hot sauce out of his pocket -
something he brought along from Azul. Even though his culture
customarily avoided spicy foods, he had come to enjoy some heat
with his meals, being a fan of ancient Peruvian cuisine. Generously
pouring the red sauce over his eggs and potatoes, he noticed
Liliana watching him with a gaze of fascination.

"Tío, why do you always put hot sauce on your
food? Does your tongue not function correctly?"

Bagatelle smirked and looked over at the
ladies, both having expectant expressions on their faces. "Well,
Lili, it's not that. I simply like my food to be more
powerful."

"Powerful? Oh, it gives you strength? I shall
try it then!"

"Lili! No!" yelped Jennie, but it was too
late. The little girl had taken Bagatelle's bottle and dumped a
massive splotch onto her potatoes and quickly ate them up. The
ladies looked at her, only to see a delayed reaction. She sat there
for a moment, wearing a pleasant grin, when suddenly her face
turned beet red and she started gasping for air.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh, shit!" howled Liliana, as she
jumped up and ran to a different table, pulling a water mug out of
a soldiers hand and downing it like a frat boy on pledge night.

"Gahhhhhh! That does not give one strength!
It is most vile!" she bellowed, before turning away from the table
and vomiting her breakfast onto the open floor.

"Oh baby, here, try this," said Jennie,
quickly going to her daughter and giving her a mug of milk. "The
alkali in the milk will neutralize the capsaicin. You need to ask
before trying things, Lili."

Liliana sipped the milk, which brought
instant relief to her burning mouth and helped to settle her tiny
stomach - for a moment.

"Tío is truly a warrior. Anyone who can
ingest that burning sauce is… is…"

And up went the milk, layering over the same
spot where her breakfast had gone. Jennie started to look worried,
but Draagh fortunately entered the hall and immediately tended to
his adopted great-granddaughter.

"Liliana, my dear child, we must take care
with what we put into our mouth. Now sip on this," he said as he
handed her a small vial. Liliana drank the clear liquid without
hesitation.

"What was that, Pops?" asked Jennie.

"I have a number of remedies readily
available. Do you not remember my cure for the hangover you
suffered when you first came to this world?"

Jennie nodded her head, remembering the
evening she had first experienced jealousy over Max. Alea, the
former (and traitorous) lycan skills instructor had whispered
something into his ear at dinner, causing him to blush. She had
felt instantaneous rage, so instead of fighting with the woman, she
jumped over to a table full of lycan soldiers. They then proceeded
to do shots of the Rhönen's signature distilled beverage,
unfiltered schnapps. She had experienced hangovers before, but
never one of that magnitude. The following morning Max found her,
nearly incapacitated in the hallway near her door, but instead of
chiding her, he helped her up and kindly took her to his
grandfather for a cure.

"Yup, and I haven't tried schnapps since
then. Nasty stuff."

"Jennie, you don't like schnapps? It has a
better taste than that horrible Fernet Branca you like to drink,"
said Alicia.