THE VROL TRILOGY (164 page)

Max and Bagatelle grinned and nodded at each
other.

"Sure, Lieutenant. Just be sure to notify
your wife on the comm. We don't want her too worried about you,"
said Max, who then dragged Marko around a corner and suddenly
wasn't on the ship anymore.

###

Max and Jennie Gunnarsson relaxed in the
expansive, remodeled Captain's chambers on the Reagan, arms and
legs intertwined, naked as they day they were born. They were both
beyond tired, working 18-hour shifts, fighting bugs and now chasing
ghosts in side space. Jennie purred lightly as she ran her
fingernails lightly down her husband's neck, with Max leaning his
head back, enjoying her affectionate caresses.

"I heard someone complaining again today,"
she said.

"Mmm? What about?"

"That we're together on the ship. They still
think the old rules apply."

"Well, for most they do. It may seem a bit
unfair, but we're pretty much in the center of saving the human
race, so they can stuff it."

"Oooh, Max! You get me all hot and yummy when
you talk like that. Say something else."

"We're connected at the hip. Anyone doesn’t
like it, well, there's the airlock. Take a hike."

"A bit morbid, but yeah, we're getting
there."

"I am the captain of this goddamned vessel,
and if they don't like the fact that I'm sleeping with my über-hot
wife, they can shove their complaints up their collective ass!"

"And we have a winner! Saddle up, baby. This
is gonna be a bumpy ride!" squealed the delectable dega as she
rolled her husband over. She stopped briefly and looked deeply into
his eyes, and then lost herself in his kiss.

An hour later, the Captain and Commander both
entered the bridge of the Reagan, each splitting off to different
rows of readouts. The ship had been jumping strands in side space
all the time they were away, and had yet to detect anything alien.
Max was starting to become more and more concerned that they were
unable to locate the Brood Carrier, but knew his Prīmulī family was
on the job.

Looking over, he saw Jessica and Pandy, both
ensigns in the Azul Navy, monitoring panels and taking notes.
Approaching the girls, he noticed they weren't looking at anything
remotely resembling naval duties. They were studying Castilian
Spanish.

"Hello, ladies. How is it that you two aren’t
looking for signs of the Brood Carrier, but are studying español?"
he asked.

"Oh hi Captain!" Jessica beamed. "As we
haven't had much training, Commander Gunnarsson suggested we do
this."

Max looked over at his wife, who was
desperately trying to suppress laughter.

"
Jen, really?
Let's get them doing something worthwhile
."

"
Okay, baby.
Hey! How about I assign them to flight deck
surveillance
?"

"
Make it
so
," he thought back.

Jennie walked over and looked at the girls'
lessons, finding they were actually quite bright at foreign
languages. Once she made a couple of corrections she motioned for
the girl to follow her, which they did quite cheerfully.

Some hours later, while Max, Jennie and a
couple of junior officers were eating they received an alarm from
the flight deck. Max didn't even bother getting up. He slipped to
the flight deck, only to find Jessica engaging in hand-to-hand
combat with a Draeder pilot.

"Ensign! Lieutenant! What is the meaning of
this?" he screamed.

"Max, he's a zombie! He was ripping wires out
of the airplanes like a maniac!" cried out the former resident of
PAH. And it was true. The pilot had a blank expression to his face,
and kept on trying to attack Jessica. She was doing all she could
to avoid hurting the man. Her years of living in an apocalyptic
wasteland had prepared her to fight the largest of men. Still, Max
didn't want her to get hurt, so he used a push cantus and knocked
the man back fourteen meters, crashing into a Draeder and falling
unconscious.

"Holy crap! You weren't kidding, Jess. What
happened? Full report."

"Sir, Ensign Vendetta and I were watching the
flight deck, as Commander Gunnarsson had ordered, when we saw that…
thing ripping wires out of an airplane."

"Draeder."

"Yes, that. Anyway, I ran down and he punched
me, knocking me down, and then just went back to tearing out stuff
as if nothing had happened. He's lost his marbles, if you ask
me."

"This sounds like a job for Draagh," Max
responded.

"Yes, sir. And… sorry for calling you by your
first name in the presence of crew," she whispered.

Max winked at her, and then walked over to
the affected pilot, who was starting to regain his wits. However,
he was now normal, and after some questioning it was determined
that he had no recollection of his actions. Max had security take
him to the brig, where he went to ask some questions while being
accompanied by his grandfather.

"So, the last thing you remember was walking
down a hallway, and then you were on the ground on the flight
deck?"

"Yes sir," he practically cried, "and I have
a terrible headache too."

"Oh, sorry, that was probably me. Or Jessie.
She has a great right hook."

"Am I to fly, sir? I only wish to defend
Azul."

"Well, honestly, we need to figure out what
happened to you first. You just stay put. We'll put things in order
soon enough."

Max and Draagh walked out of earshot of the
pilot, who was a genetic normal and had limited hearing anyway.
Draagh had a concerned looked on his face as they discussed the
incident.

"Jess said he was like a zombie. Not a
cannibal, but a mindless automaton. I think he was being controlled
by magic," stated Max.

"It is quite possible you are correct, my
boy. I shall require a sample of his blood. Through it I may be
able to detect magic particles that can be utilized for mind
control. However, it may be too late. The system purges unused
particles, and as it has been nearly an hour since the incident he
may already be clean."

"Grigori?"

"Possibly. I suggest you have a team examine
every person on board."

"Okay, Pops. What are we looking for
then?"

"A minor-mage."

Chapter 32 - Hide and Seek

A lycan special recon team, each equipped
with stun pistols and subspecies detection eyepieces roamed the
halls, stopping everyone they saw, and entering every room on the
ship, one by one. After the first hour they had only found a
crewman with a corrupted form of the ghoul gene. He had bypassed
all security before due to the aberration in his cellular
structure, and Draagh determined he was no threat. Still, Max had
him removed from the ship and sent to Portlandia for desk duty,
transportation provided by Michael, after the man had been rendered
unconscious.

The team continued until they had examined
every life form on the Reagan, not managing to find one single
mage.

"So, it has to be the Grigori then, right?"
asked Max.

"No, Max. The individual could have entered
and exited the ship with their help. There are some aligned with
the Grigori, of a lower caste, who have enhanced slip capabilities.
They are willing idiots, assisting and hoping to pick up scraps
from their superior cousins," said Gabriel, who had gone to the
Reagan from the Revolution in order to assist.

Suddenly, everyone felt a powerful presence
nearby. It wasn't human, and reeked of angelic power.

"Hey, something's on the ship and it doesn't
belong here," exclaimed Max, right before he slipped to the flight
deck, and found himself looking at a very large man with white
robes and long, golden flowing locks. Definitely an angel.

"Who are you? What are you doing on my ship?"
demanded Max, as his uncle appeared by his side.

"That would be Guriel, one of the
aforementioned tools of the Grigori," said Gabriel.

"Hello, Gabriel. I am unable to say it is a
pleasure to see you, but then again, we were never friends," said
the massive invader.

"Max, I believe I will leave this fight to
you."

"Huh?"

Max was blown back twenty meters, and picked
himself up after sliding another ten. He charged the being, who
didn't even move an inch. Max punched him in the face, only to
nearly break his hand; Guriel's flesh was like quadrinium. Jumping
back, he executed a push cantus to no avail. Then he tried an
electrical cantus. Still no results.

"What the hell? Gabriel, a little help,
please?" Max cried out.

Guriel laughed and stood his ground, as Max
threw numerous, different cantuses at the angel, nearly lighting a
Draeder on fire with one of them. Max looked at his levels readout
and saw his yellow line was depleting quickly. He had a
substantially great amount of magical power since he had claimed
his ghanlo, but he was still subject to a tank. Random, wild
cantuses would do him no good.

"
Max, it
appears he has a shield around him. Your cantuses shall be
ineffective unless you can bypass his
shield
."

"
But I never
learned to nullify someone else's magic. How do I do
that
?"

"
There is
another way
.
Did you not
study geography, my nephew
?"

"
Oh
yeah
," Max thought back as he grinned. He had a plan,
however; he wanted some information from Guriel first. A crowd had
gathered on the perimeter of the flight deck, with Jennie running
to Gabriel's side.

"
My niece, do
not interfere. Max needs to do this on his
own.
"

"Hey, turd-breath. Who said you could come
here, and what's your plan?"

"I only seek the destruction of your putrid
species, Hybrid. You shall be the last to die, as you are an
abomination and not of Jah's creation."

"Why not just kill me now, jerk? Why not get
it over with? You know I'm gonna kill you if you don't."

"No, you shall not kill me. You cannot even
mount a decent offense against me, one of the cherubim. I tire of
this game. As a parting gift I shall kill your wife before your
very eyes."

Jennie desperately grabbed at her throat, as
if she were being choked by an invisible hand. Gabriel moved to
assist, and nullified Guriel's cantus on the beautiful woman.

"Okay, dude. You touched my wife. Now
you're toast. Ever watched
Scanners
?"

Guriel went to laugh as Max disappeared from
sight.

"The Hybrid flees out of desperation. I shall
bring these great tidings to Samyaza and we shall --"

Guriel didn't finish his sentence. He ceased
to exist. In his place was a very messy Max Gunnarsson, covered in
angel guts.

"Ewww, gross! Is that an arm?" Pandy cried
out, watching a severed limb slide off the side of a Draeder.

"Um, yeah. And I think this is his spleen.
Gabe, angels have spleens too, right?" he asked comically, as he
flicked an internal organ off his shoulder.

Gabriel crossed his arms and smiled,
satisfied that Max understood his question regarding geography.

"Max, what the hell did you do? I mean,
thanks, but ewwwww. Gross!" Jennie exclaimed.

"That fellow had a cantus shield surrounding
his body. I couldn't penetrate it. However, it didn’t prevent
anything… or anyone from getting inside via a slip. I jumped inside
him and blew him up," he said, while he used a cantus to clean
himself of the angel's entrails and life fluids.

###

"Nooooooo!" screamed Purah, one of the
cherubim assisting the Grigori. "The offspring has defeated Guriel!
How? It is not possible!"

Gadreel tried to hide his smirk, and acted as
if he had some form of compassion for their fallen comrade. But in
reality, he was even more impressed with Max, finding him to not
only be a worthy adversary, but also starting to quietly question
why they were trying to eliminate him in the first place.

"Fear not, Purah, you shall have your
retribution, and soon. Our plan continues with great success."

"How is it a success, Gadreel? Two-thirds of
the Vrol are dead in space, and the humans are wiping them off the
face of their planet. We only have sixty percent of the infernal
bugs left, and the Brood Carrier is constantly in hiding."

Gadreel said nothing further, but Samyaza,
who was at his side, had discovered Max Gunnarsson's weakness. It
was that he would do anything for his mate. She was the chink in
his armor, and Samyaza planned on exploiting that fact very
soon.

###

"You know, you could have just eliminated him
and taught me to nullify someone else's magic, Gabriel," said Max,
as he exited the shower in his quarters. A cleansing cantus did a
good job tidying up, but never quite got the smell out.

"You were never in danger, nephew. Guriel was
a lower angel, one of the cherubim, and you easily defeated him.
Now you have such knowledge."

"Okay, but I need to learn cantus
nullification, pronto."

"Very well, Max. I shall instruct you when
time permits."

"Max, Pandy got the whole fight on
surveillance. It's gone viral on all the personal consoles on the
ship," said Jennie.

"Jen, that's not good. It's becoming common
knowledge that I can slip around," said Max.

"Everybody knows - duh."

"We shall attach a memory cantus to the
shared footage. Anyone who sees it shall forget, and it shall
disappear from their devices," said Gabriel.