THE VROL TRILOGY (161 page)

If anyone were outside the ship the
brilliance created by the combined ghanlos would have easily
blinded them. The light was akin to a small sun, which slowly grew
until it encompassed the entire craft. Then, without a sound, the
Reagan disappeared out of Vera space and suddenly appeared in orbit
around Azul. The three Prīmulī slipped into the bridge of the
Reagan, each looking a bit pale, which caused Max some concern.

"Hey, are you guys okay? Hell, I remember
pops almost passing out after taking us to the Rhönen for the first
time," said Max.

"We shall be fine, my boy. What happened so
many months ago was completely unexpected, the headless Ryder
Johnson's craft entering into my sphere of influence without
warning. We planned this sojourn, so we were well prepared," Draagh
informed his grandson. "However, we should want to rest and nourish
ourselves. We shall be back shortly."

"Okay, sounds good."

"I do have a question."

"What’s that, Pops?"

"Where is the commissary?"

"The officers' mess is through that port-side
door and to the stern," said Jennie, pointing to the left.

The three Prīmulī then surprisingly walked
through the door and left the crew on the bridge. Numerous junior
officers were looking out at what they shouldn't have been able to
see - Azul. They knew it would have taken many long hours to get
home, but there they were, their shiny blue planet plainly visible
in the forward view screen.

"Captain, how are we in Azul orbit? Did you
manage to get the hook working?" asked one of the ensigns at a
surveillance panel.

"Um, no, Ensign. It's a… umm, a new
short-range technology," Max uneasily stated.

Chapter 30 - Panic

Gadreel and Samyaza stood in a small room
where Len Johnson was attached to the Brood Carrier, numerous
organic, tube-like devices connected to the despot, resembling an
alien life-support system.

"This is most vile, Brother. Why are we on
this putrid vessel?" Gadreel asked his older sibling.

"We merely assist in the destruction of the
monkeys. I believe they shall need our help getting their troops to
the planet's surface."

"And what of this craft's shield
transmission? It does not function when out of range, and certainly
not when in the void."

"I have developed a cantus that sends their
perverse signal through the Hub, at a risk, I must say. If our
infernal uncle decides to, he could trace the signal and thus find
our location."

"Do you think he will attempt to do so?"

"There would be no reason for him to. Also, I
have created a number of devices that appear to be transmitting the
shield - decoys, if you will. That should keep them busy while we
go about our tasks."

Gadreel nodded and grew a smirk. "Then I
believe it is time to bestow the gift of death to the monkeys.
Shall we begin?"

The brothers slipped into a massive chamber,
the size of a small city, which was filled to capacity with ground
bugs, centipedes and flyers. Unable to slip the entire army at
once, they started to port small groups to the most populated areas
of Azul's major cities - New Sydney, Buenos Aires and Bern.

###

Liliana Gunnarsson was seated in front of a
row of infoscreens, watching the battle for Azul take place. The
child was not allowed to participate, but Draagh did allow her to
sit in his quarters and watch. The child noticed something on the
screen that was odd - two green dots kept popping up in different
places around Azul deep orbit. The dots would remain for a moment,
and then disappear. She saw that this coincided with the appearance
of the Brood Carrier, so she contacted her family via the comm.

"
Papi, I'm in
grandfather's office and see red dots popping up on the screen to
the furthest left. What does this mean
?"

Max thought for a moment, and then realized
that Liliana was seeing the leaky tracker particles he had
developed. It was his best estimate that the markers belonged to
the Grigori. And better yet, they were possibly with the Vrol.

"
Lili, are
these dots inside an icon that looks like a bug's
head
?"

"
Yes, Papi. I
designed the icon. Do you not like it
?"

"
Yes, sweetie.
It's really cool. You've helped out a great deal. I'll talk to you
soon.
"

Max was with Bagatelle in the Admiral's
quarters. He had slipped over, being as the Revolution was still a
couple of hours out of Azul space. Of course, Bagatelle heard what
Liliana had said, and smirked.

"Max, your kid is smart as a whip. We didn't
bother bringing the particle tracker with us, and I think she just
gave us a way to find those bastards."

"
Pops, Dad,
Gabe, are you guys tanned, rested and
ready
?"

"
Yes, my boy.
We heard young Liliana's findings. In fact, I am replicating the
particle tracker in the bridge of your craft as we
speak
," responded Draagh.

"
Um, no magic,
okay? We're keeping this under wraps for the time
being.
"

"
Worry not,
Max. We have carried what appeared to be a vid display into the
bridge and are manually setting it up, making it appear to be Azul
technology
," said Michael.

"
Hey guys, we
got a big problem. Bugs are sporadically appearing on the planet's
surface. It seems every time the carrier is on the scope the bugs
are instantly showing up
," said Jennie.

"
They are
being transported by those petulant brats. They are operating too
quickly for us to locate and then go to them
," said
Draagh.

"
I want a
report on ground troops. Where is Krynos
?" demanded
Bagatelle.

"
He is now in
Buenos Aires
," said Gabriel.

"
Did you take
him there
?"

"
Oh no. He
used the portal in Vera base. He's also taken his recon team with
him. I'm sure he is enjoying himself
," said
Michael.

###

Massive throngs of people screamed as they
ran through the streets of Buenos Aires, Nueva Argentina. Energy
weapons erupted in all directions, as humans were being slaughtered
en masse. Children, the elderly, and adults - it didn't matter. To
the Vrol they were the enemy and were to be extinguished from
existence. Nearly every adult carrying the inactive lycan genes was
fighting back with anything they could get their hands on. Personal
weapons were common in Azul System, so they at least had a fighting
chance. There was even a group that reenacted ancient battles, all
armed with AR15 rifles which shot archaic .223 caliber rounds.
Unfortunately, projectile ordinances had little effect on the Vrol
and their on and off psionic armor. The fact alone that the
invaders had their defensive capabilities caused alarm to Azul high
command.

"Max, the bugs have their armor again. But
that damned Brood Carrier is nowhere to be found. They must have
done something new," Bagatelle told his Captain, where the two were
analyzing data in the admiral's office.

"I'll send Dad on recon to track the signal
and see where it's coming from."

"
Michael -
Dad, the bugs have their shields again, but their main ship isn’t
anywhere to be found. Can you track the source?" It has to be near
concentrations of attacking troops
."

"
Actually, I'm
on it, Max,"
said Gabriel
.
"Your father is at Vera base."

"Okay G, I'm getting back to the Reagan. Jen
loves being in command, but the ship needs her captain."

Max disappeared from sight, while Bagatelle
exited his quarters for the bridge.

###

Liliana sat in her great-grandfather's
chambers, watching the infoscreens flash. She felt proud that she
had detected something and assisted in the battle, but for her that
wasn't enough. Knowing her grandfather Michael was at Vera she
decided to do something she probably shouldn't have done. The
little girl had an idea regarding the Vrol. It was something the
adults had overlooked completely, and it had to do with a small
device on top of a nightclub.

Running down the hallway, she arrived at the
chambers of King Krynos. Cautiously opening the door, she saw no
one inside, and went to the far wall, pushing on a wooden panel.
The wall gave way and she entered into a small alcove, where there
was a thoroughly modern looking door. She put her hand on a small
rectangular panel and the alcove turned 180 degrees, with her
inside. She found herself in King Krynos' personal office, outside
the realm of space/time. She had traveled through it before on many
occasions, but never alone. Moving to the other side of the small
room in which she found herself, she pushed on another door, this
one opening into yet another alcove. Again the alcove spun around
and Liliana found herself in a small room on Vera Base.

She concentrated, and luckily located her
grandfather. She ran to him, not wanting to alert anyone via the
comm that she wasn't in Krynos' castle.

"Grandfather! Grandfather! Please wait!" she
cried out.

"Liliana! What are you doing here? You should
be in the castle. In your parents knew you had--"

"I have an idea how to help against the Vrol.
Please. I need you to take me to Mr. Dons' club in Hollywood.
Now!"

Michael thought for a moment, and then
decided it would actually be safer for her to be in PAH than on
Vera, so he nodded his head and slipped them to the stairs leading
up to the entrance of Dons' club. It was nighttime in Los Angeles,
and the club blared with the sounds of Lennie's band playing some
Viking death metal. Liliana bounded up the stairs, going directly
to Donn's private area.

"Liliana? What are you doing here? Where are
your parents?" asked the diminutive clan leader.

"Mr. Dons. Our worlds have been attacked and
the foul insects are making headway. We need to see your device
that keeps them away from here."

"We?" he asked, then seeing Michael enter the
club. "Ah, brought gramps with ya. Okay, doll. This way."

Dons popped up from his couch and nodded
curtly to Michael, who merely followed the two to a back stairwell
leading up to the roof. Once on top the three stood and looked at a
small box, connected to a live electrical wire.

"120 volts. Sends white noise out a frequency
we can't hear, but it drives the buggers crazy," said the
diminutive human.

"I sincerely cannot believe we overlooked
this piece of base technology," said Michael, as he stooped over to
analyze the device. Conjuring an infoscreen over the box, he noted
the electromagnetic frequency band it transmitted, shaking his head
as he did so.

"LTE," he stated with a smirk.

"Huh? El tee ee? What's that, mate?"

"Long Term Evolution. This frequency band was
used on Earth to transmit wireless device information. It was
abandoned centuries ago. Someone probably booted up an old cell
tower to provide communications during this world'sVrol invasion,
and accidentally discovered its adverse effects on the
insects."

"Well, what’s the frequency then?"

"1,927 megahertz. This is all we need to
know."

"Um, so then you don't need to take this
thingy? I'd hate to lose it," said Dons.

"I just needed the numbers. Thank you,
proprietor."

"Thank you, Mr. Dons!"

Michael looked as if he were to slip away
with Liliana, when Dons stopped them momentarily.

"Um, sir, can I ask Lili a question?"

"Yes, of course."

Dons bent over a bit, not needing to kneel
down, as he was only slightly taller than the girl.

"Lili, how's Pandy? Is she happy?"

"Why yes, of course, Mr. Dons. Why would she
not be?"

Dons smiled and nodded his head. "Okay,
that's all I wanted to know. Y'all come back soon, got it?"

Michael nodded to the club owner and the two
disappeared with a characteristic popping sound.

Man, don't think I'll ever get used to
that.

###

"Grandfather! Why am I not back at Vera base?
Have I not assisted in the battle, albeit in a non-dangerous
fashion?"

Liliana was visibly upset that she had been
slipped directly to Draagh's office instead of back to the base on
Vera. In fact, she was near bursting out into tears.

"Liliana, it is not my place to determine
where you may be. I may incur the wrath of your mother when she
finds you left in order to most fortuitously discover something
that could potentially aid in the battle against these vile
creatures. Please, remain here and I will keep you updated on its
implementation."

Liliana sat down on a large chair, crossing
her arms and pouting. Most children would be content staying in a
safe location during a war, but she wasn't like most kids. She
wanted action.

Before she could even formulate a response to
her grandfather, the archangel disappeared from view, leaving her
alone in the dark chambers.

###

"Max, Jennie, I believe you daughter, in her
youthful wisdom, has provided us with yet another weapon in which
to battle these creatures," said Michael, as he walked onto the
bridge of the Reagan.