THE VROL TRILOGY (85 page)

Marko stared at Max for a moment, almost
causing the mage some concern, when suddenly the lycan started to
laugh boisterously and slap Max on the back.

"You truly are a wise one, Max Gunnarsson. I
am glad I did not kill you earlier."

"Um, yeah, right. Anyway, Marko, there is
something I need from you."

"And what would that be?"

"I need for you to repair your friendship
with Jessica. I was told you took her child from her."

Marko looked as if he was in deep thought.
Then, responding, Max could detect no deceit from the odd lycan
local.

"Max, the child was dying and she couldn't
cope. She refused to even get it medical attention. I simply took
him to a hideaway I had, and then comforted him until he
expired."

"But, she told me that you beat her and left
her for dead!"

"All couples have problems. I regret hitting
her, but I didn't leave her for dead - she wasn't going to die.
That's just Jess being dramatic. As for the kid, that's what I told
her. We put that into her head. I wanted her to hate me. I needed
her to hate me. It was my side of the family that gave the child
his illness, not hers. I was not deserving of her love, so I pushed
her away like any smart lycan would do. That being said, I
understand that you are leaving and that tonight will be a big
party in your honor. I only wish I knew how to make these
drinks."

He looked at the gruff lycan and had a great
idea.

"Marko, come here. I am going to try
something."

Max had loaded his mind with an entire
encyclopedia of alcoholic beverages as a hobby when he was back in
the Rhönen Dominion, and he used to enjoy treating his subordinates
to unique drinks on occasion. He had never imaged he would be using
his drink library in what he was about to do.

Placing his finger on Marko's forehead, he
used a data-push cantus to force feed his bartending knowledge into
the lycan's brain.

Marko immediately started juggling three,
then four - then five liquor bottles without spilling a drop, and
making 5 unique beverages for requesting clients. Max had created
the best bartender in the Milky Way Galaxy, completely on a
whim.

"Max! I feel great! I know all of these
drinks!"

"Yeah, you look great doing it too, but look,
after your shift you're going to patch things up with Jessica,
ok?"

"Sure thing, I will. But where is she? I
can't smell her anywhere. I think she left."

Max sniffed the air and was also unable to
detect her scent. Jessica wasn't anywhere close to Seven Sins.

Chapter 20 - Warp

"Socrates, I am ready to go. Father, please
hold onto me as I attempt to slip to the predefined location."

"Query: Shall I argue with you and suggest
you not go, as I did with Master Max so many months ago?" asked the
sentient computer assistant.

"No, no, no, my old friend. I do not think
that will be necessary. No, simply stand back and watch us go,"
Draagh said with a bit of laziness.

They were in Draagh's former quarters -
the same room that Max had virtually wiped out when he tried to
slip to Peru of the 29
^th
century - and failed. Draagh had even attempted to set up his
furniture exactly as it was on that day. As Socrates floated around
almost in nervous fashion, he watched while Michael maintained a
look of concentration and the immortal Primulus donned his bubble
head.

"Father, I do not believe that this is the
time to imbibe in the herb, would you not agree?"

"Perhaps you are right," replied the old
mage, as his bubble disappeared, "besides, if Jennie were to show
up we would be-"

"Already here. Good move ditching the fish
bowl. I wouldn't want anything to go wrong, understand?"

"Good morning Mrs. Gunnarsson. It is indeed a
pleasure to see you again," Socrates said with his utmost
sincerity, while attempting a redirect from Jennie's potential
wrath.

"Good morning to you too, Socrates. I hope
you slept well."

"I do not sleep, but your concern is noted.
Thank you. Query: might I suggest you remove yourself from the
impending sphere of influence?"

"Yes, of course. I just wanted to say good
luck to everyone," said Jennie, as she quickly departed the
room.

"Can we just get going? I need to get this
over with. It's entirely possible that I'll be tossed off into an
unknown timeline and stuck forever."

Michael was starting to get nervous, and
Draagh needed him to be a bit calmer. Max had apparently been quite
confident in his abilities, but he was also in a great hurry. The
old mage firmly grasped Michael's jacket and said, "Go for it."

Michael slammed his father's staff down to
the ground with a great concussive affect as a massive energy
sphere collected around the two, blasting furniture and clothing
all over the place. As had happened before, Socrates was basically
disassembled and reformed after the two, father and son, had
departed the plane. Jennie went running in as Socrates
reformed.

"Well? Do you know anything yet?"

"No, I am sorry. I do not. Oh, wait, Draagh
has informed me that he is in Machu Picchu, and that Max's ship is
there. He is in the correct timeline, and he retains his staff.

"Jennie nearly dropped to her knees. She
definitely did not want to hear that they had gone to Max's ship.
Their last, best hope was that they would be transported to where
Max had been sent. She was about the burst out in tears when
Socrates yet again spoke.

"However, Michael is not with him."

"What does that mean?" cried Jennie.

"It means we found where Max is," said
Michael, surprising both Jennie and Socrates.

Standing there behind them were Michael and
Gabriel, the latter's wings spread out wide, almost as if he were
puffing out his chest.

"I put a tracker on Michael and immediately
retrieved him. I have the coordinates and am sending them to you
right now, Socrates."

"Th-thank you, Gabriel," stuttered the
electronic assistant.

"Socrates, why are you afraid of Gabriel?"
asked Jennie, prompting the brothers to burst out in laughter.

"I like playing with his particles," Gabriel
snickered, referring to his habit of running his fingers through
the sentient being's face and causing him to temporarily
dissipate.

"It is not a pleasant sensation, Lord
Gabriel," Socrates responded indignantly.

"Ah, very good! Yes this is very good
indeed," murmured Draagh as he popped into the room. "Shall we
analyze this location?"

"Gabriel grabbed me so quickly I didn't even
have a chance to see where I was," said Michael.

"Brother, you were in transition and it
appeared as if you were stuck, touching both planes. It actually
enabled me to get to you even more quickly than I had planned."

"Cool! Now can we get this show going…
please?" interrupted young Liliana, who had been observing
everything ever since she heard the explosion that trashed Draagh's
room.

"Little one, you must be patient. We still
have to analyze the data from the location," Gabriel said
plainly.

"Yes my Lord, it is true. There appears to be
a negative time shift with the location," said Socrates.

"What does that mean? Negative time shift?"
asked Jennie.

"Not all timelines are synced with each
other," answered Michael, "and some are slightly askew, but in this
case it appears to be even more drastic. Socrates, how much is the
shift gap?"

"Approximately 4,380 hours… basically six
months."

"But how does that affect us? What does it
mean?" asked Jennie

"My dear, it means that… Socrates, please
correct me if I am wrong, but it means that when one traverses to
that plane they will lose six months. In essence, when Max arrived,
if he is indeed in that location, nearly six months had already
passed here in this plane. It is called a negative time shift, as
it is a time loss for the traveler. Coming back it could be a
positive shift, but it gets a bit… erm… dicey from there,"
responded Draagh.

"But Grandfather, would the traveler not
regain the lost time upon return?" asked the ever inquisitive and
bright Liliana.

"Well, it doesn't always work out that way,
my dear. In any case, we cannot risk lost time, so I am going to
have the unfortunate task of informing King Krynos that he will be
unable to accompany us."

"What do you mean, old friend? I am unable to
go on your grand mission?" bellowed Krynos, having just entered
Draagh's trashed former quarters.

"Ah, Krynos. A good morning to you," said
Draagh. "As you have arrived at an opportune moment, I might as
well ask you - could your kingdom survive without you for six
months?"

"Six months? Of course not! I only once ever
was away for a fortnight, and castle operations were already in a
state of chaos."

"Yes, well that is what I assumed, my friend.
You see, where we believe young Max is happens to have a bad time
lapse, so even if we go for a day, six months will have passed
here. I am afraid that…"

"I understand," interrupted the king.
"Although it saddens me, I am sure that your team shall fare well.
Donus, I will need you here as there is no replacement for your
great skills."

Donus bowed slightly, understanding the
situation.

"Does this mean that I will miss out on six
months of educational opportunities? And… who will feed my pets? Oh
no! This is tragic! Jennie, what should I do?"

Liliana looked out desperately at her mother
and around at the crowd before answering her own question.

"I shall accompany the team. I have the rest
of my very long life to learn, and I am sure that good Donus will
care for the sharks in my stead, am I not correct, sir?"

"But of course, young Miss Gunnarsson.
Your
pets
shall be well taken
care of," responded the lycan master commander.

"But if we go there now will it be another
six months for Max, if he is even there?" asked Bagatelle.

"Yes, Luigi. That is quite possible. However,
we shall not notice a thing. We shall simply arrive, but when we
step on the soft earth in that location, this timeline shall be six
months ahead of us, and as Max is static in his new timeline we may
well arrive after he has spent a good six months there," said
Draagh.

Bagatelle shook his head, totally unable to
comprehend, but was as willing as ever to go find Max.

"Socrates, where exactly is this location,
relative to the normal timeline?" asked Draagh.

"My Lord, it appears to be just west of what
was called Hollywood, in Los Angeles, California, in the former
United States of America."

"Ah, that would explain the geographical
shift. You see, when I first made Max aware of my existence, we
were both in Machu Picchu, Peru. I then slipped him to a hardened
computer facility in Los Angeles so he could review vids of the
Vrol invasion. I am imagining that Marnn's staff is at an
equivalent distance from Los Angeles, but towards the north. That
is, if my guess is correct. We shall know upon arrival in this new
dimension."

Liliana stood next to her mother,
wearing a black leather backpack that she had custom made all on
her own. It had little pockets for knives and supplies, but the
part she was most proud of was the logo design - it was a white
skull and crossbones - with a pink bow on the skull's head. The
people of the Rhönen Dominion in the
43
^rd
century knew nothing of
pirates, but Liliana had access to ancient books through her
father, and also via her connection to the Hub's libraries.
Needless to say, Liliana's outfit looked very battle-stylish.
Jennie even allowed her to carry a small sword that was similar to
the katana, called a kodachi, though the young girl had no formal
training with it. She was adept at virtually anything she touched,
and had watched Krynos' soldiers train on many occasions. Walking
over to Michael, she gave him a precautionary glare, followed by a
cute smile.

"I assume you are ready to go find Max…
Grandfather? Oh my! Grandfather Draagh, what shall I call you now
that Michael is here? You are much too
cool
to be called great-grandfather," cried out
the little lycan.

"Well, I believe that there is more than one
word for grandfather, is there not?" inquired the old mage.

"Oh yes, you are correct… Abuelito!"

"Very well then, everyone, please, let us
gather outside the castle so that we may begin," continued Draagh,
as he went to exit his former quarters.

###

Gathered out in the meadow out front of the
castle were Draagh, Michael, Gabriel, Jennie, Bagatelle and
Liliana, along with Krynos and Donus, who of course, were not going
to accompany the team due to the negative time shift.

"My friends, although it pains me that I am
unable to go, I wish only for your well-being and the safe return
of Commander Gunnarsson. Go with strength," said Krynos, as his
master commander stood at his side.

"We shall see you in no later than six
months, old friend, but if you could please go back near the
drawbridge so as to not be taken away with us," said Draagh as he
gathered his entourage close.

"Good travels to all!" said Donus, as
Draagh slammed his staff down, creating a sphere of influence
headed directly (back) for an alternate
29
^th
century Los Angeles.
Within seconds they were gone. Socrates had stayed behind with
Krynos and Donus, mostly to keep them updated with the latest news
from Draagh.