THE VROL TRILOGY (145 page)

He had a plan to deal with the vampire
threat. It was not the time to be delicate.

###

Arriving in the center of the Buenos Aires
Naval Base's grinder, Max's feet made a crunching sound as he
touched down. He felt no need to camouflage himself and slipped to
Gabriel's side without hesitation.

"Hey Gabe, how are things?" he asked as soon
as he was with his uncle.

"Hello, Max. I believe we have everything
under control. King Krynos seems to be enjoying himself."

"Oh, and how's that?"

"He has installed himself as base commander,
with Bagatelle's permission, of course."

Max looked at Gabriel's lapel and noticed the
single star, denoting the discontinued rank of Commodore. Smiling
to himself, he would say nothing. If anything, the archangel was
above and beyond rank.

"So… um, how many ghouls did you catch?"
asked Max.

"None, Max. Why do you ask?"

"Huh? I thought you said they were all over
the place!"

"Oh, my apologies, Max. I did not capture
any. I eliminated thirty."

Hah, okay, but they were all inactive,
right?"

The archangel nodded his head as they looked
at the shining buildings of Buenos Aires. The sun was starting to
rise, and a beautiful golden gleam reflected off the countless
structures made of glass and steel.

"Gabriel, can I ask a question?"

"Certainly, Max. What would you like to
know?"

"Who are the Grigori? Pops was kinda vague
when he brought them up."

Gabriel stopped and looked at Max. It
appeared that he was startled by the young man's question, but he
recouped rather gracefully and answered a question he had
previously hoped would never, ever be asked of him.

"Max, this is the name of the collective of
fallen Prīmulī. They rebelled against Jah when it appeared He was
creating new species in our image. While some, such as myself, were
not initially fond of the idea, we accepted Jah's work without
question. However, the Grigori left His graces and were punished
quite severely."

"Oh… I see. How were they punished?"

"They had part of their genome modified. They
can never again enter into Jah's realm at will, and further, they
are lacking in certain abilities."

"Well, they made an active vampire."

"So I heard. Father has one in custody."

"That's the last thing we need - active vamps
on Azul."

"If there are more it shall provide hunting
opportunities for your people," suggested Gabriel.

"What? Serious? I mean, they’re human! My
god, man!"

"Max, activated ghouls are less human than
the lycan species, of which you are partly derived."

"What do you mean, Gabe? They are less human
than, say for instance, Jennie or Liliana?"

"Correct."

"You know that we lycans are part wolf. So,
what are vampires?"

"Their DNA was derived from an alien
carrion-eating species."

"No… way. Seriously?"

"Yes. Although repulsive to some,
carrion-eaters occupy a very important niche in every ecosystem.
They are like nature's garbage collectors. And they weren't always
short-lived and rotting."

"They weren't?"

"No, in fact, they used to function
symbiotically with the lycans, who were their opposite - preservers
of life."

"Then, what happened? Why did they become
such jerks?"

"There were some particularly nasty ones, and
through selective inbreeding made their strain dominant. Their
hatred for the lycans grew, as they knew that their cousins were
good of heart. They stopped praying to Jah and went on a global
rampage, seeking to wipe out all normals in a feeding frenzy."

"Oh wow," said Max, "so what made them so
stinky?"

"They would not cooperate, but were also an
important part of nature, so we did what we could to control them
without eliminating them from the ecosystem - we genetically
shortened their lifespans and made them into constantly-rotting,
half-lived ghouls, forever cursed to dwell in the darkness. It was
a compromise between all Prīmulī, as it nullified the damage the
creatures had previously dealt."

Max thought for a moment, finding Gabriel's
claim to be of sound reasoning. He had also previously equated the
stench of vampires with rotting meat. But still…

"Kinda like vulture people, then? So
weird."

"Max, as you learn to travel the universe you
will find even stranger species." The Milky Way is a young galaxy -
actually, one of the youngest. But at the same time there is some
evidence, in other galaxies, that shows the Milky Way to be much
older than it appears. However, we have been unable to ascertain
why this is so."

Max thought about his vampire friend Lennie,
and wondered if the man and his wife were descendants of the
original vampires, but he put that to the back of his mind.

"Great info - thanks. But getting back to the
Grigori. Pops thinks they're involved, and if they are we're gonna
have to take them on. How are you feelings on that?"

Gabriel momentarily looked at Max with what
resembled pride and said, "Well, that really depends on their
numbers, which should be few. So, assuming that… with the four of
us… no sweat."

"Okay, Gabe. Thanks for the update. Now, I've
heard chatter over the comm, but it appears that Buenos Aires is
pretty secure. Is there anything I can do to help here? We're
dropping the Portlandia operation," said Max.

"I believe we have achieved our objectives in
this city. Would you like to visit with Krynos?"

"I may go grab him soon. Bagatelle believes
we're ready to address the politicos. I hope you'll be there. We
may need to push the envelope in order to get them to
cooperate."

Gabriel gave Max an inquisitive glance before
turning away. "What do you mean - push the envelope?"

"We have a lot of information for them to
swallow. You may need to reveal your presence to the world."

"Max, that is forbidden."

"By who?"

"By Jah, of course."

"Um, okay," said Max, "and just
where
is
Jah?"

"I see your point. Very well. Notify me when
you plan on confronting the tyrants."

Gabriel shot up into the sky, becoming a blur
streaking across the horizon, followed by a crackling sonic boom.
It was only seconds before Max was shocked, seeing the archangel
shoot down and hit the ground like a missile, causing what appeared
to be an explosion.

"
Gabriel, are
you okay? Please answer.
"

"
I am fine,
Max. However, the ghoul I targeted has been
eliminated
."

"
Oh…
groovy."

Max decided to fly around the city, under
camouflage, and look for any signs of unrest. The people of B.A.
tended to be almost annoyingly boisterous, especially during
politically tense situations. In this aspect they were very similar
to their Earthly ancestors from centuries before. Given this, Max
would have expected to see masses of people protesting in the
streets. However, this was not the case. It appeared that business
was going along as normal.

"
King Krynos,
I am looking at Buenos Aires and it appears completely calm and
normal. I believe the occupation has been
successful.
"

"
Max, my boy!
So good to hear you… in my head! Yes, the good people of this city
were craving freedom from the tyrannical forces that had ruled over
their lives for the past few months. What plans have you at this
time?
"

"
He's getting
his ass over here and giving me a kiss before
anything
," comm-demanded Jennie.

Max used his enhanced HUD and easily located
Krynos and Jennie, both in the naval base's command center. Instead
of slipping in, he chose to enter in a more flamboyant fashion, not
even bothering to hide his wings. While all troops part of the
occupation were aware of their genetic differences, as well as
those of Max and his relatives, it was a completely new thing for
resident soldiers. There were a few gasps from a crowd of enlisted
personnel when Max landed hard onto the firm ground, one knee down,
accompanied by his opposing fist. It was his most macho landing
pose, and he used it to good effect. He had barely retracted his
wings when his beautiful wife marched over to his location. Sailors
watched, expecting the beautiful woman to salute the Captain, but
instead were shocked when she threw herself into his arms, the two
melding into a passionate kiss, which also happened to be a totally
inappropriate public display of affection. But Max and Jennie were
above and apart, and most knew it.

"Mmm, good to see you, baby," whispered
Jennie.

"Damn, if there wasn't so much going on
I'd-"

"Shhh, there's plenty of time for that
tonight, Max. First off, I think G is ready to march on the Senate.
Can you slip us over?"

"Sure sweetie, but I need to talk these guys
up for a minute."

As an activated lycan lieutenant named Vines
approached, Max looked at the crowd of astonished military
personnel, mostly sailors, and addressed them all, amplifying his
voice with a simple cantus.

"You have all done a fine job of
securing this installation and
el Distrito
de Buenos Aires
. It is critical you maintain order
here, as we are going to free the people of Azul and her moons from
the tyranny of Leonard Johnson and his ghoul cronies. Although he
is currently listed as missing, his reign of terror is over. Today
we give Azul System back to her people."

The crowd cheered wildly, shooting their
fists into the air, while Max and Jennie looked on at the massive
throngs of soldiers. He gave his wife a grin, and said, "Pretty
cool, huh?" slipping her from slight with a pop before she could
even respond.

Chapter 20 - New News

Zorro News Studio, New Sydney, Oz

"You will read this script during your
broadcast, or I'll have you behind bars for thwarting the will of
your leadership, do you under stand me?" screamed Senator Markus
Collins, who also happened to have the recessive vampiric gene. His
face contorted into an ugly visage of rage as he shoved the
manuscript into the hands of Maria
López, reporter,
newscaster and secret member of the underground rebellion. The
attractive dega looked Collins in his dead, cold eyes and nodded
her head. She looked around, noting that her crew grew looks of
dismay, believing she had switched sides, but Maria had a
plan.

"Very well, Senator. I would like for you to
remain here so we may interview you after the announcement. I
believe that would be quite conducive to your career, would it
not?"

Collins' face immediately relaxed and turned
into a pleased smirk, so typical of those who carried the putrid
recessive genes. But the one thing Collins didn't know was that
Maria had a comm - a very special comm provided by Draagh, and it
enabled her to silently communicate her intentions with the news
crew.

"
I am going to
add some bits of information to this script. Bruno, some of Admiral
Bagatell's Special Forces will arrive in moments. You are to assist
them in apprehending the Senator, where we shall put him in front
of the cameras. Should be fun.
"

Everyone stayed silent, but smiles grew
throughout the room as Maria's producer started her backwards
countdown to a live feed. Per the Senator's instructions, all
channels were to carry the newscast. Fortunately, all broadcast
stations were part of the underground.

"5-4-3-2-" the producer said quietly.

"Good afternoon. I'm Maria
López, bringing a special emergency message to the people of
Azul System. Through inter-governmental and private channel
cooperation, this segment is being broadcast on all stations
throughout Azul and her three moons. I have been provided with
critical information from Senator Markus Collins, in response to
the invasion of alien forces in Buenos Aires and New Sydney.
However, before I begin to read what has been unceremoniously
shoved into my hands, I am going to preface this segment with some
critical information that is not included in this criminal piece of
propaganda."

Collins suddenly realized that López wasn't
going to happily parrot the words of the dictatorship as they had
willingly done so many times before. He started to move toward the
cameraman when he felt a very large hand painfully grip his
shoulder. Turning around, he saw an unusually large soldier - a
lycan from the Rhönen Dominion, staring him straight in the eyes
while baring his oversized canines.

"Bewegen Sie sich nicht, wenn Sie leben
wollen [Do not move if you wish to live]," commanded the huge
lycan, while staring the smaller inactive vampire down. The senator
looked around and saw nearly a dozen heavily armed Special Forces
operatives stationed at the perimeter of the broadcast studio.
There was nothing he could do, aside from forming a silent,
contorted face of rage.

"We in the media have failed you, the people
of Azul System. Out of fear, we have willingly pushed the
propaganda of the federal government, enabling them to dismantle
the Constitution and take away our personal freedoms. So, as a
parting gift to these tyrants I am going to read their ridiculous
words, accompanied by truthful explanations. So, to begin, it says;
Good Day Citizens. We have encountered a very grave situation. The
traitor, disgraced former Rear Admiral Luigi Bagatelle is
attempting to form a military coup d'état so that he can install
himself as the emperor of Azul System."