Rise of the Death Walkers (The Circle of Heritage Saga) (33 page)

My mental monolog was interrupted by our arrival at another building. Jones stopped the jeep and said. “This is your base of operations, Major. What would you like me to do while you are inside?”

I stepped out of the jeep and looked at him. “I am sure there is somewhere around where you can go for coffee or a cold drink. Report back here in an hour and we can make the rounds to the various posts.”

“Yes sir. If you need me I will be in that building on the other side of the road.”

He pointed behind him and I noted the facility he was pointing at. “Ok Jones, be back here in one hour.” He nodded and took off in the direction he had pointed. I walked up to the door of my command facility and stepped inside.

Once inside I was surprised to note that Moevin was sitting near the reception desk.

“Do not worry, my student,” her mind-speak seemed to be somewhat more muted than normal. “The other humans cannot see my because I have removed my presence from their minds and I have also shielded this building for you. You can let your mental shield down.”

I did as she asked and began to search the building with my mind for other minds in the area. There where twenty people in the building and most of them were preoccupied with the performance of their duties. One man was trying to decide how to hide his relationship with another woman from his wife. Another was trying to decide if he should continue stealing office supplies. A third man was thinking about wearing the purple dress instead of the red one during his performance. I had to do a double take on that though.

I nodded to the receptionist and asked. “Where is my office Sergeant?”

The receptionist looked at me and visibly straightened in his chair. “Major we were not expecting you until later.” He stood up and continued speaking. “This way sir.”

I followed him down the hallway that ran to the right of the entry and noted that my mentor followed us. I stepped inside the office he indicated and turned to speak to him.

“I will be in meetings for an hour. Take all my calls and make note of any important ones. You are not to disturb me.” The man nodded at me and left. I turned to Moevin after closing the door and said in mind-speak. “I did not expect you to be here today.”

“We would not leave you alone on the first day of the operation, Jason. Your mind is growing stronger, but maintaining the shield can leave you weaker than normal so you need to be able to relax the shield at times to keep your strength up.” She sat down in a chair and waved to the one behind the desk.

When I had sat down and removed my hat she continued. “I know you have many questions so your Grandfather and I have pooled our knowledge of the enemy and created a file for you to read. The Blackthorn/Xilis entity is your only concern on this facility. All others who are present are so minor in capabilities that even your wife Katie can maintain a mental block from them. I will remain silent until you have gone through all the additional information your Grandfather and I have noted for you.”

I nodded and opened up the file. I recognized my Grandfather’s handwriting at the beginning of the file and glanced through a few pages to see where my mentor had contributed information. After I did this. I began reading and committing the file to memory. The enemy’s racial name was Artillians and the first contact with them by the occupants of Origan had taken place approximately ten thousand years ago measured in Earth time. I noted that my mentor’s race called themselves the Barmins and the first time the Artillians had contacted them they had attempted to negotiate peaceful trade between the two worlds. One surprising fact was that the home world of the Artillians had once been located in the same system as the Barmins. Once the two races were in the middle of peaceful trade negotiation, the attack on peaceful ships of the Barmins had began.

Even that long ago, the Barmins had been a mentally superior race. They saw through the veiled attempts of the Artillians to gain control of Origan.

During this time many members of the peace negotiation team on the side of the Barmins began to behave in a manner that was not normal for them. The leader of the talks was one of the most senior representative of the Barmin government agency and of very strong mental capabilities. He took note of the erratic behavior and sent the members who were causing trouble for physical and mental examinations. The results were so alarming that the Barmins immediately broke off negotiations and sent the representatives of the Artillians back to their home world.

Soon after this incident, the Barmins and Artillians were openly at war. The first successes of the war took place at the same time inhabitants from Earth had been taken for training to the home world of the Barmins. The Artillians were successfully driven from the system and their home world lay in smoking ruins. This defeat was short lived for the Barmins who then began, one by one, losing all of their colonies to the Artillians. The loses hurt the Barmins. They were not strong enough to protect their colonies. The initial defeat of the Artillians had been at great cost to the home world. They concentrated on the training of the humans. When this was complete and a general plan for the future of the humans laid out the humans were returned to Earth.

At this point of the war the Barmins were strong enough to hold the Artillians at bay for many thousands of Earth’s years until the recent loss of the home world of Origan took them by surprise. They discovered a lot of information pointing to a new adversary who was not pure Artillians, but a fused being. A cross between the Artillians and an unknown adversary. It was suspected that these adversaries were renegade members of the Barmin race.

The presence of this new adversary on the North American continent alarmed both the now strong humans and the remaining members of the Barmins who were now refugees on Earth. Until now, no one had been able to probe deep enough to find out more about what they now called Death Walkers. All they knew was that the Death Walkers had taken control of the Artillian government and had brutally wiped out Origan. The losses on both sides were enormous and now the human/Barmin alliance was fighting to maintain control of the areas of Earth they had lost.

They knew for sure that the Blackthorn/Xilis fused entity was the key to driving the Artillians from Earth. This information left me worried beyond description because even though my mental abilities were strong in comparison to other members of the human race, they were nothing compared to the strength of the remaining Barmins.

I put down the folder and looked at Moevin. “We still don’t have information concerning this unknown entity the Artillians have begun to fuse with?”

Moevin looked at me with what I now knew was a sad look for the Barmin race and replied, “We think they may indeed be members of our own race who grew discontent with the government of our world. We hope you will be able confirm this before you mind burn the Blackthorn/Xilis entity.”

I shook my head and replied. “I am not sure I have the jets to do what you have asked. I tried to probe his mind earlier but I cannot even get past my own mental shield when it is in place.”

“Patience Jason. Every moment you hold your own shield in place against Blackthorn’s mental probe you are strengthening your own mental ‘muscles’ so to speak. We believe that when you are ready, you will be able to probe deep enough through his defenses to extract the information we need. “ Moevin’s mind-speak was soothing and did calm my nerves.

During the weeks that followed, I knew that my own mental capabilities were growing a lot stronger. I began to find it easier to hold the mental shield in place. Even though I still could not probe through my own shield to try to get information from Blackthorn my confidence grew. The nightly exercises’ with my mentor began to show progress. I could perform small tasks like levitation of small objects while my shield was in place.

I had no contact with any member of my family during this time and I was lonely. Jones proved to be a good friend. We spent a lot of time together when we were off duty. Jones was from Chicago and the son of a successful lawyer in the city. He informed me he was worried because every attempt he made to contact his family had failed in the past few months. I did not have the heart to tell him the truth about what was going on but I tried to be there when he wanted to talk and tried to be a good friend to him.

We spent a lot of time in a small bar outside the complex. The owner was Greek and he was as friendly as could be. He enjoyed playing cards with all of his American friends. Jones and I were there on a nightly basis and frequently took part in the games. Dmitri was of typical Greek proportions, he loved his food and drink. Frequently he helped me carried Jones back to his living quarters when he had consumed too much alcohol.

About two months after my initial contact with Blackthorn, I had my first break through in attempting to penetrate his mind while my shield was in place. Luckily Blackthorn was preoccupied with something and did not notice when I penetrated the first of the barriers in place around his mind. I felt the duplicity of his mind. I could sense that Blackthorn’s own personality was still in place but being suppressed by the Xilis dual personality. I had an idea one night and shared it with Moevin. “I don’t think we need to mind burn Blackthorn. What we have to do is somehow strengthen his own mind enough to resist the control Xilis is currently exerting on him. We need to trap Xilis in Blackthorn’s mind as a subservient entity, force him out and strip the information we need with Blackthorn’s assistance.”

Moevin looked at me with a doubtful expression on her normally placid face. “I am not sure this would work Jason. How do you propose to do it?”

“Remember the first exercise you ever showed me the first time we were together?” I asked.

“Certainly, Jason I never forget any of the things we have done together. It served to strengthen your...” She stopped suddenly and had a smile on her face.

“I think I know what you want to do Jason. It’s dangerous but it could be successful. How do you want to do this?”

“How far along are Katie and Irma with their training? Could they handle a mind merge? I asked.

“A mind merge? I don’t think anyone has ever done this before in my race.” Moevin began and then looked thoughtful. “Do you think this is possible?”

“We will only find this out if we try. I think it is possible between human minds since they are so similar in structure. I am not sure we could do it with your race but I may be able to show you how it can be done.”

Moevin smiled at man and slapped me on the back. “The student surpasses the teacher.” She smiled at me and I felt myself blushing.

“I am not sure it will work but we have to try. When do you want to do it?” I asked.

“I will make the arrangements today and we can attempt tomorrow. Do you think you could do this at a distance,?” She asked me.

“I think it will be easier in close proximity first. Possibly the distance won’t matter as we progress but to begin with we should be in close proximity.” I said.

Moevin looked thoughtful for a moment and then asked. “Can you get away from here for a few days on some matter or another? I would rather not expose the rest of your family to Blackthorn’s proximity until the mission calls for it.”

“I have to inspect some of the southern facilities and upgrade their security arrangements. Blackthorn informed me of this today I imagine I can travel to Northern Italy tonight and be there tomorrow. Do we have secure facilities anywhere there?”

“We have a complex in Rimini we can use. I will make the arrangements now.” Moevin stood up and left my office.

I watched as she walked down the hallway and shook my head. How she managed to remove her presence from the minds of my fellow humans was an amazing feat to me. Not one person took note of her as she left the building. I picked up the phone and called the airfield. “Have a plane fueled and ready for me I will be leaving for our base in Rimini Italy within the hour.”

The air traffic controller acknowledged my orders and hung up. I sat for a moment excited about the fact I would see my family in a short time. I had not seen them for close to five months now.

Eight hours later I was in the complex Moevin had spoke to me about, waiting for the arrival of my wife and fiancée. When they entered the conference hall I was waiting in I sprang up and rushed over to them. I gathered them both in a bone-crushing hug.”

“Easy my love.” Katie smiled at me. “You don’t want to break us do you?’

Irma laughed and stood back. “You are looking fit Jason. Still working out every day?”

“I have to keep in shape for my wife and future second wife don’t I? I replied with a grin on my face.

Katie slapped my arm playfully and said. “That’s not what we are here for and you know it. Moevin will be arriving shortly.”

“I know but you can’t blame me for trying.” I said with a smile on my face. “How is Mia doing?

“She misses her father but that’s to be expected. I make sure she sees a picture of you every day.” Katie replied

I nodded at her and then started “I have an idea how we can subdue Xilis without sacrificing General Blackthorn. We need to attempt to merge our minds thus increasing the strength of each individual’s job. Moevin will be sitting in, simulating the types of resistance we will most likely encounter when we confront the Blackthorn/Xilis entity’s mind. She is now sitting in an office in a building next to this one which is the most likely location we three will be on the day of the operation.

I will provide the thrust needed to break the shield with Irma assisting me and Katie you will have to maintain a shield around our minds for protection. Irma will be also assisting Katie on the shielding. Once the barriers drop, Irma you will need to hold Blackthorn immobile while Katie and I suppress Xilis enough to make Blackthorn the dominant entity in the merge. Irma then you will strengthen Blackthorn’s mind to a point where he can keep Xilis suppressed.

Once this happens, all four of us, including Blackthorn in any manner he can, will suppress the Xilis/unknown entity enough until he is forced to vacate Blackthorn completely. Once this happens both of you will immobilize him and I will extract all of the information we need before mind burning the Xilis/unknown from existence.”