THE VROL TRILOGY (135 page)

The two immensely large men, one a god and
the other near-immortal, walked with purpose down the main
thoroughfare, the near-immortal one noticing the beautiful women as
they passed by more than the tall, gleaming skyscrapers.

"Brother, it is truly amazing how you
are able to travel through space and time. So we are in the
29
^th
century, on Max's world?"
asked Krynos, still watching everyone woman he saw.

"Close, old friend. We are on Luna, a moon
that orbits Max and Jennie's home world. Look back here. Do you not
see the huge mass that nearly fills the sky?"

Draagh nudged Krynos to turn around so he
would see how Azul nearly covered to entire eastern sky - looking
as if it were covered in a mist. Luna orbited on its own axis, and
saw Azul in different phases, much like Krynos saw his tiny moon in
his own world. Luna's orbit around Azul was forty days, with twenty
of the days being exposed to sunlight, and twenty in the darkness.
It was the same for Sienna, Azul's other moon, which was
tidal-locked with Luna. This made for a two-day-long phase 3 cycle
for active lycans on Azul, but this could easily be escaped by
going to either of the moons or even off to Vera, which orbited the
gas giant Prometheus. In fact, Vera was such a reliable escape from
the werewolf cycle that special cages were built in underground
bunkers, similar to the cages in Krynos' sub-basement below his
castle's dungeon.

"Impressive. Truly impressive, brother. So
tell me - what is our mission today?" the lycan king asked his
Primulus friend.

"We are going to make a record of the basic
genetic makeup of the population." Draagh pulled what appeared to
be a pair of glasses, with a lens only on one side, from his
pocket. He held it out for Krynos to take. "Put on this device.
This part goes on your nose," he instructed while pointing between
the lenses. "You shall see things quite clearly once you have
donned the device."

Krynos put the device on and immediately
gained a surprised expression. He started to look around in all
directions, and once he had completed an entire revolution he
looked at Draagh while wearing an enormous grin.

"This tells me that we are surrounded
by
normals
. Am I to assume
that if I see a ghoul it will also give me the vile creature's
information?"

"Yes, old friend, but please - if you happen
to encounter a vampire, do nothing. We are currently invisible and
no one can hear us, but those of this world are innocent and lack
the abilities of their brethren in your world. Remember Lennie,
Max's vampire friend in Hollywood? The genetic vampires in this
world have even less abilities than that poor lad"

"Yes, yes, of course. I shall conduct myself
with the utmost of care. We are, after all, on a reconnaissance
mission."

Krynos continued to look around, noting that
every person was non-extra-genetic, until he excitedly tugged on
Draagh's shirtsleeve.

"Brother, look! A lycan. Ah, a female, and
quite lovely is she."

Draagh spied the young woman, who appeared to
be approximately Jennie's age. The two started to follow her as she
walked down the broad sidewalk and entered into a building. Taking
seats in a small café, the two invisible spies sat down next to her
just to watch what she was doing. About five minutes after a waiter
had brought her a cup of coffee she touched her ear, activating the
telephone that was embedded in her earlobe. While no one in the
café was privy to her conversation, it was quite a different
situation for Draagh and Krynos. They heard both ends of the call
quite clearly, thanks to a quick modification to their comm
devices, done on the fly by the ancient Primulus.

"Bobby, I'm in public, so I can't really say
a lot, but it's true. The underground is all abuzz with the info.
Johnson disappeared, and no one knows where he is. The weekly vid
address was a fake. He's been gone for weeks already, and the
military is stumped. Two officers are also missing, and it's
assumed they are with him."

The woman obviously had some
information, and her mention of the
underground
piqued Draagh's
curiosity.

"
We figured as
much, Maria. No one here knows what's going on either, but we did
manage to dig up some archived data on that house that exploded.
The owner was in Johnson's scientific group, and even though they
attempted to wipe the entire family from the data net, we know they
existed. They'll be remembered
."

The voice on the other end of the call was
middle-aged in sound, and apparently was part of an attempt to
trace what had happened, ironically, to Kyle Reynolds' family.

"Krynos. Do you realize
what they are talking about?"
Draagh asked over their
shared mental comm.

"No, I do not, old friend."

"They speak of the family of Kyle Reynolds -
the nephew of the lover of Luigi Bagatelle. It appears that she may
be a rebel. I find it necessary to speak with her. Please do not
speak out loud."

Draagh waited for the woman, Maria, to finish
her conversation, finding that she was a reporter - a very
dangerous profession in the current age. She was finishing her
coffee and preparing to stand up when Draagh contacted her, pushing
his voice through her earpiece.

"
Maria.
Please, do not be alarmed. I have accessed your communications
device in order to speak with you. I am a friend."

"Who is this?" she whispered, alarmed.

"
My name is
unimportant, but I believe I can assist you with your investigation
into the death of the Reynolds family. Would you like
that?"

"Even talking about that can bring death. Who
are you and what do you want?"

"
I am here to
help. That is all. And to tell you that everything is going to be
alright.
"

"Where are you? I always like to put a face
with a voice, and you sound… odd."

"
You must
promise me that you will not be alarmed, my dear. No one will see
me but you. It is… advanced technology. Are you fine with
this?"

"Yeah, sure, but… oh… my… wow."

Draagh faded into view, seated right before
the woman. It would have been startling enough, but Draagh
maintained the appearance of a Viking warrior, so it made the
situation all that much more comical.

"
Greetings.
Please, continue to act as though you are on a phone call. No one
else can see me
."

"Umm, and a good thing too, hun. Who the hell
are you?"

"
All in good
time, my dear. May I ask - are you a reporter with a desire for…
freedom?
"

The woman nodded her head, confirming what he
had suspected.

"
And you would
like to know what happened to the Reynolds
family?
"

Again she nodded her head.

"
They were
murdered in their sleep. The husband, a fine man who unfortunately
worked for Chairman Johnson, asked too many questions and was
eliminated. However, his son had earlier snuck out of the house and
was spared. We have him in a safe
location
."

"The poor child. I'm glad he's safe. Are you
part of the rebellion? Where are you based?"

Draagh paused momentarily before answering.
He figured the truth would be vague enough.

"
The
43
^rd
century, on Earth. Well, that is where Kyle is. We have bases
in many locations throughout space and
time
."

The woman shook her head and moved to stand
up, but found herself unable to do so.

"What is this? How come I can't stand up?"
she hoarsely whispered, visibly upset.

"
Please, my
dear. I only wish to help, but you will need to accept what I tell
you. Are you aware of the fate of Rear Admiral Luigi
Bagatelle?
"

Draagh's mention of the name Bagatelle caused
the woman to relax and not attempt to stand up again.

"Bagatelle - yes. He was under house arrest,
and that's still the official story, but it's a well-known fact he
simply disappeared one day. Why? Do you know what happened to him
too?"

"
Yes, in fact,
I had breakfast with him this morning.
"

"Where?"

"
Oh, the same
place. The 43
^rd
century, on Earth.
"

"Ok, release me or I scream. I'm done with
you."

Maria struggled to stand up, but was unable
to even move a muscle. Further, she tried to scream and her mouth
didn't work. Panic seared through her torso, terminating in her
heart. She was seated in front of someone no one else could see,
and she was paralyzed. She had no choice but to cooperate.

"
Maria - you
name is Maria, am I not correct?
"

The woman nodded in the affirmative. He
allowed her to do that much.

"
Now, my name
is Draagh. I am one of the Prīmulī, older than time itself, and
you, my dear, are quite special also. Would you like to learn of
your heritage?
"

Again she nodded her head. She had no choice
otherwise.

"
Listen, my
dear. It is quite a tale. Do you have somewhere to be? It may take
a few minutes
."

"I'm good for now. I have an interview in an
hour, but it's right around the corner."

Draagh was quite convincing, and spent the
next fifteen minutes explaining the history of Mankind to Maria.
She was especially interested in vampires and their connection to
most politicians. It turned out that the woman was a well-known
reporter in Azul system, and also part of an extremely unorganized
civilian underground. Her group had hacked military communications
- hence, her knowledge of the disappearance of Johnson and the
death of the Reynolds family.

"So, Draagh, if what you tell me is true, I
am different than most people and things of legend - lycans,
vampires, magic - they're all real things, just not here?"

"
Yes, that is
correct my dear. I would like to verify that your little group of
rebels is… not a front. Once I have done this I shall like to
introduce you to some very important
people
."

"Like who? What people?"

"
I shall
reveal this to you once I have verified your group's intentions.
Shall we meet here after your interview? I am only in town for the
day
."

"Sure, meet me back here at six."

Draagh and Krynos continued walking around
town, and then with the mage slipping the two to various locations
on the moon. They found the same normal/lycan/vampire/mage ratio
everywhere they went - less than one half of one percent total of
all extra-genetic subspecies. Much lower than Azul, and probably
lower than Sienna. Still they had been incredibly lucky to run into
Maria earlier in the day. After a couple of hours they returned to
Santiago and waited outside the café they had been in earlier,
hoping the woman would show up at the predetermined hour. Their
luck, it seemed, never ran out.

Maria walked up to Draagh, seeing him
standing outside the café. The woman was intelligent, and, not
wanting to seem like she was insane and talking to thin air, she
stood next to Draagh and whispered to him.

"I can see you. Are you invisible to everyone
else?"

"No one else can see me. Oh, I did not tell
you, I have a companion with me and he would like to meet you
also."

Krynos came into view, but didn't cause the
woman to flinch. She merely looked at him and smiled.

"Wow. You guys look like something out of
history books," she murmured softly.

"We have been told so, my dear. Please,
I would like to introduce to you Krynos, King of the Rhönen
Dominion on Earth of the 43
^rd
century."

"Greetings, young one. Are you part of
the valiant attempt to free your world of the vampire scum that
have so penetrated its political infrastructure?"
asked Krynos

"Um, yep. That's about it."

Excellent, my dear,"
said
Draagh
,
"now we would like to
meet your group of rebels."

"Um, not so fast, sweetie. I need some
assurance you aren't part of some hi-tech military…
oh…my"
.

Rhönen Dominion, 4268

Maria found herself standing outside Krynos'
castle and looked at the moat just as one of the sharks breached
and crashed back into the waters below.

"Welcome to my castle, young lady," said
Krynos.

Maria, I need for you to smell the air. Look
afar and tell me if your senses are sharper," inquired Draagh.

The woman drew in deeply through her nose and
gained a pleasant look of knowledge on her attractive face. She
scanned around and apparently was listening to things she had never
heard before.

"It's real. You weren't kidding, were you?
But, how did we get here?"

Before Draagh could answer, Gabriel flew over
and landed with a concussive boom in front of the trio, his
beautiful wings spread out and lightly flapping. Maria was more
than shocked and stared at the archangel in awe.