THE VROL TRILOGY (151 page)

"Oh yes, definitely. Lieutenant Mannheim -
Josh - is super-sharp and has been working at reverse-engineering
the hook drive gen-lock. This is stuff that was created by someone
with a completely different mindset, so I've given command of the
project over to him. I would probably address the issue from the
basis of the hook drive itself, which would be wrong."

"Max, that's just delegation of
responsibility. It's the job of senior command. Good job, Captain,"
said a smiling Bagatelle. "Just promise me you'll keep our new
President from getting killed."

Chapter 23 - Vrol Hunt

Hollywood, California, Post-Apocalyptic
Earth

"Noooooooo, Gunnarsson! Why did you get us
stuck in a nest?" screamed President Bierle, as the two,
accompanied by four Rhönen lycans, were fleeing for their lives,
being pursued by more than a dozen ground bugs and a handful of
centipedes. To get trapped in that situation was bad, but what was
most disconcerting to Bierle was that Max and the lycans were
actually laughing as they pulled the new leader along with them. He
had only been activated for a day, and was already experiencing
amped senses and a wildly fluctuating HUD meter.

"Just keep moving in this direction! We need
to get out into the open," commanded Max.

The group moved to the north, bounding over
broken chunks of concrete and rebar, when Bierle nearly stopped,
asking, "Just a minute! Captain, do you not have the ability to
teleport us from this location?"

"Mmm, yup," Max responded with a grin.

"Then… then why do you not do so?"

"What would be the fun in that, Sire?" asked
one of the soldiers, a massive lycan named Lange, as Max grabbed
the President and put the man behind him.

Two ground bugs approached Max dead-on, not
even bothering to attempt flanking the lycans. When they were a few
meters away he used a gravicantus to drop a massive chunk of former
freeway onto one of the Vrol, causing the other to turn and look at
its fallen comrade. It was at that moment Max spun Bierle around
and shouted, "Now, into its neck!"

The President complied, jumped forward and
violently pushed his katana into the upper spinal column of the
creature, separating its brain from the rest of its body.

"Aye! Well done, Sire! Truly you are of lycan
stock!" cheered another of the accompanying Rhönen troops. He had
barely finished his sentence when he spun around and bifurcated an
attacking Vrol centipede, slicing the creature in half, starting at
what passed for its head (which was actually an ugly maw of teeth,
much like a demonic worm with massive, sharp mandibles).

The remaining Vrol decided to peel off and
stop their pursuit, most probably having been informed to quit by
their hive consciousness. The lycans, still alert, looked around
cautiously before taking a well-deserved rest on what used to be a
park bench.

"Mr. President, sorry for that. Vrol usually
hunt at night, so we were caught off-guard," said Max.

"Captain, I can understand your dismay, but
why did you not teleport us out when we encountered danger?"

Max looked at Bierle and smiled. "You were
never in any danger."

"How say you that? We were nearly touched by
the vile aliens!"

"You are lycan, Sire, just as are we. The
Vrol shall not defeat Mankind," answered Lange.

Max created an infoscreen that functioned as
a sort of personal radar for detecting bugs. Noting there weren't
any nests close by, the group moved in a southwesterly direction,
arriving at the Pacific Ocean. Looking directly to the south they
saw the ruins of the Santa Monica Pier, which had, centuries
before, hosted restaurants, a fun zone with games and an amusement
park of sorts.

"So, according to the briefing you gave us,
this Earth is a splintered timeline?" asked Bierle.

"Correct, Mr. President. There aren't any
Vrol left on Earth of the standard timeline - all on the ground and
in the air perished when their ships dropped the amoebic plague.
But here something else happened, and they survived. This timeline
has light magic and some technology, so it's surmised that if the
Vrol dropped their killer amoeba the health particles saved
everyone, including the invaders themselves."

Bierle nodded his head in understanding and
took in a deep breath, the salty ocean water permeating the air,
making it refreshing.

"So, are we ready to go meet some locals?"
asked Max.

"That would be fine. But tell me, are we to
walk to this… oh."

Bierle was astounded yet again when his
surroundings immediately and seamlessly changed. This time they
were standing in front of Seven Sins, Dons' nightclub. The four
lycan soldiers that had accompanied Max and Bierle made straight
for the door, knowing there were cold beers waiting for them.

"This doesn't look as bad as the other areas.
I am assuming it is much more civilized," said Bierle, looking at
the repaired streets, buildings and attractive Hotel
California.

"Well, it wasn't this way when I first came
here," said Max. "It was as trashed as the rest of the city. It was
just free of Vrol."

"And how did you find this place?"

"On accident. However, I made some good
friends. The two girls you met last night, Jessica and Pandy - this
is their home."

"Really? I would have never imagined. They
seemed so much like the… no, wait. They are different, and they do
not speak with the accent of the people of Krynos' kingdom."

"Nope."

"But at the same time, you have a slight N.A.
accent, and they do not."

"That's true," said Max.

The President was correct, as Max, Jennie and
Bagatelle all had slight accents when compared to those of the
federal capitol, New Sydney, Oz. However, these were the most
common accents in the entire System, so they didn't see themselves
as having accents at all.

"Hey-o, Maxie! Good to see ya, mate!"
exclaimed Dons as he bounded down the stairs from his three-level
building. Max walked forward and shook the diminutive human's hand
vigorously.

"Dons buddy, so good to see you. I'd like you
to meet someone important from my world. Dons, meet President
Jorgen Bierle. He's the leader of Azul System."

"Sir, it is a pleasure. Umm, would you like a
beer?"

"Yes, I believe I would. I have built up
quite a thirst hunting Vrol."

"Oi! You went hunting demons? Sounds like
fun! Max, why didn't you invite me, mate?"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. Things have been moving
pretty quickly in my world, and we needed to bring the President
here up to speed."

"Yes, thanks to Captain Gunnarsson and his
companions we have recaptured our government and are preparing to
fight the approaching threat," said Bierle.

"Captain? I thought you were a Commander,
mate! Wait… is captain higher or lower than commander?" he
finished, almost whispering.

Max laughed and put his arms over both men's
shoulders, leading them to the stairway.

"I got a promotion, Dons. Let's go have a
beer and I'll bring you up to speed."

"So, you're a lycan too?" asked Lennie, who
had just joined the small group at Dons' private seating area.

"Yes. It is quite new to me. On my world we
had no knowledge of ancient subspecies," Bierle explained.

"Max has told me as much, yeah. Also that my
type isn't much liked in other places."

"But what type would that be, good Lennie?"
asked the newly minted President.

"I'm what you call a vampire."

Bierle's eyes widened. He had yet to see a
full-fledged vampire, but knew they were sociopathic even in their
inactive forms.

"Hey, the vamps here are totally different,
Mr. President. Lennie is a great friend," said Max.

Lennie just smiled, but Bierle looked at him
strangely. There was something familiar about the man that he
couldn't quite peg. Still, Bierle was a politician and knew how to
mask his expressions. He lifted his beer mug and nodded politely to
Max's pale friend.

A couple of neko prostitutes approached the
group, but were shooed away by the lycan soldiers who found their
scent to be offensive. Bierle, a new lycan, was repulsed by their
approach, but at the same time was fascinated by them. It was his
first encounter of a truly different, active subspecies. Of course
he had seen lycan phase 2 battle form, and had seen Max shift to
his assassin form, but nekos were on a completely different level.
He had yet to see a full-fledged vampire, but Max intended on
changing that once they returned to the Rhönen Dominion.

Max wanted everyone to have a good time, so
in his desire to keep everyone comfortable he created a scent
cantus around the nekos. Even though they had been growled off
moments before they again approached, this time with the lycan
soldiers basically ignoring them. Everyone else in the club was
used to their antics so it was business as usual in Seven Sins.

"Captain, these cat-like females, you say
they are called… nekos?" asked Bierle.

"Correct, Mr. President. According to my
grandfather they had a habit of killing their males, so the Prīmulī
left them to die off as a subspecies, but they survived, even
though there are no males."

"But… but, how is that possible? How do they
reproduce?"

"Parthenogenesis. It's a type of asexual
reproduction well known in certain species of plants,
invertebrates, reptiles and amphibians," answered Max.

"So they're all clones?" asked the leader of
Azul.

"Um, no… not really. It's sort of
complicated, but they aren't clones. That much is certain."

"Oh, each one is unique, for sure. Just ask
the normals around here," added Dons.

"Normals - normal humans, am I not
correct?"

"Yes, sir. That is our common name for humans
without inactive or active extra-normal genealogy," said Max. "They
comprise of 98% of the total population no matter where you go. It
tends to be pretty consistent."

Bierle looked around the club, enjoying the
scenery. To him it looked like a lot of humans and a few cat girls,
but to his nose it was a different thing altogether. He could smell
the difference between his accompanying lycan guards, local lycans,
local vampires, nekos and the normals. It was like a smorgasbord
for his nose, and he was beginning to enjoy it. However, one thing
struck him that he hadn't considered before.

"Mr. Dons, may I ask why there are no Vrol
attacking us here?"

"Dons' face lit up as he answered the
President, "Well, there are certain sonic frequencies they don't
like, and I have a transmitter on the roof of this building. It
keeps them out at about a two click radius."

"Two clicks?"

"Just a tad over three kilometers, Mr.
President," Max offered. "Hey! Speaking of that, Adam helped you to
set up that sonic thingy, right?"

"Yeah, mate. In fact, here he comes now."

Adam approached the group, actually
happy to see Max, and wearing a broad grin. He had learned quite a
bit since Max had basically bitch-slapped him into submission some
time before. Also, as Jessica and Pandy had decided to stay in the
29
^th
century, Max kindly
increased Adams capabilities via his magic-enabled wand.

"Hey, it's Max Gunnarsson! How are you… sir?"
Adam slowed down at the end of his sentence due to Dons
precautionary glare, the clan leader finding the fake mage to be
addressing the son of the Taxiarch with too much familiarity. Even
though Max saw what was happening, he didn't care, and jumped up to
greet Adam. He felt the wannabee provided a great example of how an
absolute jerk can change for the better.

"Hey there, Adam. I see you've been taking
great care of the hotel."

"Yup. Dons made me the general manager, so I
give it all my attention. Well, except for when we have events.
Then I'm trying - poorly - to replicate your guiso recipe."

"Actually, it's not bad, mate. Adam does a
right good job of cooking these days. We thought Jessica was gonna
stick around and cook, but it seems she's all tied up with Gabe,
eh?"

Max nodded his head.

"And… Pandy? How is she? I mean, maybe I have
no right to ask. I mean, I didn't ask her to stay. In fact, I kinda
pushed her out the door. Is she well?"

"Oh yeah, Dons. She's doing just fine. In
fact, she helps to care for my daughter."

"Young Miss Gunnarsson. The record holder for
field Vrol kills!" exclaimed Lange.

"Eh? What do you mean by record holder?"
asked Bierle.

Max grew an awkward grin, and after looking
down momentarily, admitted, "Well, she got her first kill when she
and the rest of my family first came here. Then she got three more
a few days ago, after she snuck over during a training mission. So
technically, out of all the troops that came for training, she has
the highest number of kills."

"She sounds like a handful, Captain."

"Oh yeah - you bet. But I wouldn't have it
any other way."

###

"I do hope Papi returns soon. Is he not
scheduled to return tonight, Mami?"

Liliana missed her father, but not as much as
his wife did. Jennie was starting to suffer from anxiety, as Max
had been gone for a full day, and she had been waiting at the
castle for his return. Ever since she found him six months after
his disappearance she liked to keep him close. She knew that there
were times when they needed to be apart, and also that he couldn't
ever be lost again, thanks to Gabriel's trackers, but that was a
small consolation. She loved the man more than life itself, so his
absence affected her deeply.

"He's coming home soon, sweetie. I promise.
In fact, why don't we ask Grandfather Draagh?"