THE VROL TRILOGY (109 page)

"Wow, what… was that?" asked Kyle.

"Our daughter, Liliana. Our daughter who
apparently is now going to present us with a whole new range of
things to worry about," said Jennie. "Oh, and I'm Jennie
Gunnarsson, formerly Lieutenant Jennifer Escalante of Azul
Military. I know your aunt - she was one of my superior
officers."

"Aunt Alicia is the best. I mean… she got me
here. I thought I was going to be killed like my … parents and… and
- "

Kyle nearly started to cry and everyone felt
badly for him, but Max's mother was the one who immediately sat
next to the boy and put her arm around his shoulder in an effort to
console him. A few minutes later, after the boy had wiped his tears
away and regained his composure, they all went about eating their
lunches, except for Jennie, who brought Liliana's lunch to her in
their chambers. In most situations she would have forced the girl
back down into the dining hall so she could apologize, but this was
a special case, as Jennie had never seen the girl react that way.
She would soon come of age, and Jennie wanted to be sure that it
was a smooth transition in more ways than one.

"So, I'm a lycan? Is it like a disease or
something? Is it like in the holo games and old books?"

"I'm a lycan," said Max.

"So am I," added Bagatelle.

"Me too. No disease here, sweetie," said
Clarisa

"Guilty as charged," muttered Janice, while
raising her hand with a mouth half-full of food.

"Kyle, my boy, you are, as I told you
earlier, in the Rhönen Dominion, home of the lycan king Krynos, who
you will most probably meet before day's end. Near everyone in this
massive structure is a lycan, with the exception of my two sons and
myself. However, as you have not yet claimed to have experienced
any enhanced senses I am going to assume that you suffer the same
condition as your aunt. You simply need a booster shot," said
Draagh. He then turned and addressed the others at the table. "Why
don't we finish with our meals and afterwards I will take care of
young Kyle here. Then we will figure out where we shall place him
in this brave, new world."

Max excused himself and went to his
quarters to check up on Liliana and Jennie, finding the two sitting
and quietly eating their sandwiches. Jennie gave him a hidden look
that seemed to say
Don't say anything
yet
, so he just sat down with them and silently ate a
sandwich that he had brought along. It was a few minutes before
anyone said anything, with Liliana speaking out first.

"I most certainly do not have a
crush
on anyone, especially that
beastly boy. I believe that Grandfather is quite
mistaken."

"Hmm, what's that sweetie? I didn't even
notice anything of the sort. But just so you know, if you ever did
have a crush on a boy - any boy, it wouldn't be a horrible thing.
It is perfectly acceptable, but I do realize that you have no such
crush," responded Jennie as she ran her fingers through her
daughter's black hair.

Looking at her adoptive mother, Liliana
smiled and then took another bite of her sandwich.

"But he was not totally repugnant, was he,
Mami?"

"No my dear. Actually, I think he was quite
cute. However, I am sure that he will be placed with the other boys
in training. He has nowhere else to go, now that he is an
orphan."

"Oh my… he is an orphan like I was? How
terrible. Then I believe we should do our utmost to make sure he
finds a proper family, do you not agree?"

"That is a nice thought, sweetie. A very nice
thought. Now finish your sandwich and get back to classes."

Max and Jennie leaned their heads back out of
their daughter's peripheral view and did their best to withhold
their laughter, with their eyes practically bulging out of their
heads and lips locked tightly. Then Liliana suddenly stood up,
looking at them momentarily, as if she were analyzing their
expressions. However, she quickly regained her typical cute, little
girl smile, and after kissing her parents on their cheeks, quickly
bolted out the door to her afternoon classes.

Chapter 31 - Mischief

Michael and Gabriel soared over New
Sydney, weaving in between the shining high-rises that seemed to
almost touch the sky when one looked up from the ground.
Fortunately, no one could see them, even with the advanced
surveillance of Azul's government. They had a task - to find out
what
Chairman
Len Johnson was
up to, and then to analyze security at the New Exodus II base on
Luna. If it was up to the brothers they would have simply decimated
the entire base, leaving nothing but smoldering rubble, but they
were informed that multiple families with children were living on
the barges, eliminating their desired solution to what was looking
to become a serious problem.

"Shall we go visit this
so-called
chairman
now?"
asked Gabriel.

"I do so enjoy watching megalomaniacs in
action. It was really too bad we didn't take Hitler seriously. He
did so much damage," replied Michael.

"That was when I wrote humans off for the
last time. After so much progress they reverted to being genocidal
maniacs."

"But now you have found them in your favor
again? Especially… Jessica? She is quite cute."

Gabriel ignored Michael's comment and looked
ahead, concentrating on his naturally occurring head's up
display.

"Johnson's office is just ahead," said
Gabriel.

The two archangels streaked down and
stopped at a large picture window. Looking in, they saw Johnson
working on a curious-looking device. It was their lucky day, as
they didn't have to search around the system for him. Then, without
delay, they slipped into Johnson's office, maintaining their
invisibility. It wasn't that they were transparent, but that they
were surrounded by
magic
particles that perfectly bent light around them, giving the
illusion of invisibility (there were actually multiple methods of
achieving invisibility, this being one of them). They then stood in
front of Johnson's desk, watching him intently.

"
I would like
to examine that device, Brother. It looks most
sinister
," Michael thought out to Gabriel.

"
I agree.
Perhaps we should simply kill the monkey and take
it
."

"
No. We need
to keep an eye on him and see what he is up to. It is entirely
possible that he has created such a tangled mess that he will be
needed in order to backtrack his works. Max would agree with that
course of action
."

"
Very well.
Oh, look - there is a wet bar and he has some good Scotch whisky.
Would you like some
?" asked Gabriel.

"
But of
course! I believe Max inherited his taste for Scotch from
me
."

Gabriel held out his unseen (to Johnson) hand
and offered a glass of the amber liquid to his brother. He had
easily and quietly ported some of the liquor out of its bottle, and
into a glass he had conjured. After doing the same for his own
glass, they sat down on a bench off to the side of the room,
watching a display that showed them what Johnson was doing on his
odd console-like device.

"W
ould you
like to see something funny
?" asked
Michael.

"
What do you
mean by funny, Brother
?"

"
Watch
this
."

Michael got up and walked over to Johnson's
desk. Bending over, he looked at the dictator's face, noting the
man's overly large, angular nostrils. Michael conjured a pair of
tweezers, and then delicately reached over and pulled one of
Johnson's nostril hairs out, which caused the man to wince in pain
and reach up to his nose. He was distracted to say the least.
Michael did it again, causing Johnson to jump up from his desk and
flail his arms in the air, as if some unseen insect was attacking
him.

Gabriel had to stifle his audible laughter,
but from his mind he was roaring.

"
Gabriel,
please keep him busy. I want to examine his personal
console
."

Gabriel knocked a vase over. Hitting the
floor hard, it shattered with a loud sound, prompting Johnson to
run over to the formerly valuable artifact.

Michael waved his unseen hand at Johnson's
personal console, causing it to rapidly display directories and
images to flash. Finally, he found what he was looking for. After
setting up a macro, he put the console back the way it was - and
just in time. Johnson looked over at the console quickly, as if he
had seen something out of the corner of his eye. Believing it was
nothing, he adjusted his suit coat and went to sit back down at his
desk, intending to call housekeeping to clean up the broken
ceramics, but Michael ported Johnson's chair half a meter
backwards, resulting in the man falling squarely on his hind
end.

"
He moves like
a girl
," said Gabriel.

"
Yes, like a
sissy boy. I am relatively certain he did not participate in
athletic competitions when he was a youth. He even falls like a
wimp.
"

"
Liliana could
probably give him a serious beat-down without even using her skills
as a mage.
"

"
Oh man, I
would pay to see that. Maybe we can make it happen
?"
Michael mused.

"
Ok, enough
with the nonsense. Let us see what the monkey is
doing,
" said Gabriel.

The two walked around behind Johnson, who was
looking around furiously, having somehow detected a presence behind
him. Getting back up into his chair he saw nothing, but murmured
something under his breath.

"Gunnarsson, if your ghost is here, you lost.
It's too bad I won't have the pleasure of knowing you will die with
the rest of this wretched planet."

Michael and Gabriel looked at each other with
surprised expressions. They had bits of info regarding what Ryder
Johnson had said on the castle nearly a year prior, and it seemed
that their suspicions were correct. Johnson again picked up his odd
console-like device and typed a short text string onto the
interface.

Looking at his odd device, they read a
conversation string that had gone back and forth between Johnson
and someone, or something, named
X'than'dor
.

Johnson: Plans go accordingly. Do you have a
revised ETA?

X'than'dor: 4.234 of your standard years

Johnson: As I earlier promised, if I can
facilitate a quicker departure we will transport some of your
troops for recon on a small moon.

X'than'dor: Why?

Johnson: Would you not like to hasten the
process?

X'than'dor: Time means nothing to Vrol

Johnson: Excellent. Ok, fine. I was trying
to be nice

X'than'dor: Define words "fine" and
"nice"

Johnson: I will contact you later.

X'than'dor: Do not for attempt contact for
another two of your standard years. We must come out of hibernation
to communicate with you. It is useless. We shall arrive in 4.234 of
your standard years and then absorb your planet. That is all.

Johnson: As long as you don't touch
Earth.

X'than'dor: We have no such plans

Michael and Gabriel looked at the textual
messages on the device. They were both mortified that Len Johnson
was actually handing Azul over to an alien race, and he was
apparently manipulating military policy to facilitate the aliens'
attack. It was at that moment that Michael and Gabriel discovered
how intrinsically evil Len Johnson actually was. Adolf Hitler
attempted to wipe out an entire culture - Len Johnson was going to
assist in the murder of a star system.

"
This is not
good, Brother. We must notify Father immediately. I should like to
end this miserable creature's life and then annihilate his soul
shards, eliminating any possibility of his return to the physical
plane,
" Gabriel growled in his mind. He had recently
decided to give Mankind another chance, and Jessica had opened a
door for him to see Jah's favored creation in a different light,
but Len Johnson was close to destroying the archangel's recently
changed viewpoints.

The two 3d slipped out of Johnson's office
and out into the plaza de armas, still maintaining their
camouflage.

"Now this is going to be fun," said
Michael.

"What is it that you plan, Brother?"

"Watch the display screens above."

There were massive display screens
suspended on the sides of buildings, with roughly half of them
dedicated to the arrival of the Artusians. Containing numerous
falsified images of the supposed visitors, they were depicted as
glowing, angelic beings - angelic as mankind believed angels to
appear, while in reality the Vrol looked like huge bugs. If anyone
were able to see Michael and Gabriel standing in the middle of the
plaza de armas, the word
archangel
would be the furthest thing from their minds. Gabriel was
dressed down in military camouflage and Michael was wearing what
appeared to be sandals, board shorts and a t-shirt. They looked
more like a soldier and a hippy than angels.