THE VROL TRILOGY (169 page)

Everyone stood up and saluted Bagatelle until
he returned the gesture, going over to the command panel and
looking over the displays. Jessica and Pandy were off to the side,
having been watching intel displays, and both popped up, saluting
while wearing broad smiles.

"Girls," whispered Bagatelle, "you stop
saluting when I do."

"Oh, sorry Admiral," they both simultaneously
chimed, as they dropped their hands and went back to their duty
stations.

The Brood Carrier would soon be in plain
view, as it maintained a static orbit around Azul and directly over
New Sydney, which is had effectively wiped off the face of the
galaxy. However, Azul's two moons moon in asynchronous orbit and
were soon to reach the carrier's vicinity.

"We have about three hours before we get
near, if we stay locked with the moons. We need to formulate a
plan," said Bagatelle.

"
My friends!
Long has it been since I heard your dulce tones! I wish to assist
in any way possible
," said Krynos, using his special
comm.

"Hello, King Krynos. Would you like to join
us on my starship?" asked Bagatelle.

"
Yes, in fact
I would! Please have one of your
… oh.
Hello!"

Krynos found himself standing on the bridge
of the Revolution. His sudden appearance caused a stir on the deck,
even though most had witnessed his massive girth there before.

"Hello, my brother," said Draagh, giving
Krynos a hearty hug and man-pat on the back, while making sure the
king coughed a bit from the force of his slaps.

"Ah, Mrs. Gunnarsson! It again delights me to
be in the presence of such beauty and warrior strength!"

"Um, thanks King Krynos. As always, it's
great to see you too," the gorgeous dega responded while her
husband watched, him being a little miffed by Krynos' constantly
complimentary fashion of greeting his wife. Still, he knew Krynos
had no mal intentions towards Jennie.

"And who do we have here?" the king
continued, seeing Gadreel.

"This is Gadreel. He is here to help," said
Max, not wishing to alarm to lycan king as to the nature of the
ex-Grigori and his treachery.

"Ah, excellent. So, how may I be of
assistance?"

Draagh conjured another infoscreen and showed
Krynos the massive damage that had been done to New Sydney. The
king immediately gained a look of sadness, and clenched his fists
in rage, before screaming out, "We shall have none of this! I shall
batter that pathetic ship with my own bare hands until I render it
to dust!"

"King Krynos, we are all upset, but punching
it won't do anything," said Max.

"I know, my boy. It is a figure of speech. In
any case, I am here to help. Admiral Bagatelle, as I am on your
fine vessel, what is it you wish for me to do?"

Gadreel interrupted, causing Krynos to give
him a cautionary glare. "King… Krynos, is it? I am pleased to make
you acquaintance. I have intimate knowledge of the enemy, and am
certain that Jennie Gunnarsson is a target of theirs. Perhaps you
could use your considerable strength and battle knowledge to
protect her for the time being?"

"Gadreel is your name, yes? Well, I shall
certainly assist in any manner, and if the most capable Jennie
Gunnarsson, who single-handedly destroyed the skull of the wicked
Ryder Johnson in hand-to-hand combat, requires my help - which she
does not - I shall be by her side."

Jennie grinned, liking Krynos' compliment,
while Max groaned.

"Well, I think I'm good on my own, but if
Gadreel says I'm a target, then so be it. King, you're with me.
Let's go to check the Draeders."

"Good plan, Jennie. I don't know how much
damage they can do, but we have to hit them with everything we
have," responded Bagatelle. "Bring Ensign Moonbeam with you, just
to have a second set of eyes."

Jessica popped up, lightly slugging her best
friend in the shoulder and giving her a wink, before running over
to Krynos and Jennie's side.

"Hi King! It's good to see you, as always,"
Jessica said with a smile.

"Young Jessica, it is my pleasure, as
always."

"Ensign, we're going to the flight deck. I'll
need you to go to the observation room and check all recordings for
any abnormalities," said Jennie.

"Yes, Commander. Shall we?" she said, holding
her arm out for her superiors to proceed.

The three left the bridge and started out for
the flight deck, Jennie in the lead. As they rounded a corner she
felt a slight disturbance in the air. Turning around, she saw
Jessica with a blank expression on her face, which was odd, as the
friendly lycan from an alternate timeline usually wore a smile,
accompanied by sparkling eyes. She turned to see where Krynos was,
but instead her vision turned sideways, and then spun around,
fading to black.

"She's becoming a good officer, Max - both of
them, in fact. I believe it was a good choice to bring them along.
It really has to be better than where they lived before," said
Bagatelle.

"I was thinking the same thing too," said
Max, as he followed his superior officer down a corridor to the
Admiral's quarters, bringing Draagh, Michael and Gadreel in
tow.

"Where are we going?" asked Gadreel.

"My office. We're going to figure out how to
stop your jerk of a brother."

The group entered into Bagatelle's office,
with both Bagatelle and Draagh taking the two seats. Max looked at
the small couch in the corner and pulled his father over with him,
taking seats and leaving Gadreel standing in the middle of the
room.

"The time is now, Gadreel. I am afraid I must
demand you bring us to Samyaza. Millions of people died today, and
I am afraid I cannot allow any more to perish," said Draagh, giving
his nephew a burning glare.

Gadreel looked at his estranged uncle,
desperately trying to decide a course of action, but before he
could even formulate a response everyone heard a scream over the
comm.

"
Oh my god,
nooooo! Noooooo! She's dead!" He killed
her
!"

"
What? Who's
dead? Jessica, what happened
?"

"
Jennie's
dead! King Krynos killed her
!"

Chapter 37 - Tragedy and
Loss

What have I done? How is
this possible
?

Len Johnson remained connected to his
perverse configuration of techno-organic Vrol machinery,
effectively enabling the hive mind to control the hook drive so
precariously attached to the Brood Carrier. It was all he could do
to think and keep his thoughts private, but his emotional outburst
forced him to drop his guard.

"
This isn't
happening. I could have killed Ryder. Where is my
son
?"

"
Your son is
nowhere in our vicinity. If he comes for you we shall bring you
both together as one
."

"
Bastards! You
murdered my planet
."

"
Murder is an
emotional description for an action. We
cleanse
."

"
I swear, if
it's the last thing I do
…"

"
You have
already served your purpose. We thank you
."

The Brood Carrier, which was hovering over
the now-destroyed city of New Sydney, simply blinked out of view.
It disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. Behind it was a trail
of death - millions of Azulians decimated - wiped from existence -
in the most efficient manner possible. The Vrol had done more
damage with space rocks than they could have ever done with their
amoebic plague, but they weren't without help.

"
Gadreel, I
believe it is time to come home
," said
Samyaza.

"
Brother,
something has happened here. I believe the Hybrid's mate has been
killed
."

"
Yes, she is
dead. Come, now
."

###

"No! Holy shit! Whaaat?" screamed Max, as he
charged out of Bagatelle's office toward the corridors that led to
the flight deck. Michael, Draagh and Bagatelle followed in pursuit,
while Gadreel stayed behind, blinking out of sight as soon as they
had left.

Max rounded a corner, only to find Jessica on
the ground, covered in blood, holding Jennie Gunnarsson's nearly
severed head on her lap. Krynos stood near a wall, staring with a
blank expression, lightly banging his forehead against a door in a
rhythmic cadence.

"Max! Krynos… just… just… he cut her head
off! Oh my god! What do we do?" cried Jessica.

Max Gunnarsson dropped to his knees next to
the love of his life - his only love - his wife, and supposed mate
for nearly forever. His heart almost stopped as he tried to catch
his breath. Quickly moving Jessica to the side, he took Jennie and
gently tried to repair the damage done by Krynos' massive
quadrinium blade. His hands were shaking as blood continued to leak
out of her severed jugular vein, covering his uniform shirt.

"Jennie, no. My god, no. How did this happen?
Somebody help!"

Max felt his head start to swell, and looking
back at Krynos, he nodded, violently flinging the massive lycan
into a far wall. Turning his attentions back to his deceased wife,
he stroked her lustrous black hair while he started to
hyperventilate. Draagh, Michael and Bagatelle arrived and could
only stare at the carnage.

"I feared something like this would happen,
but I had no idea Krynos would be the victim," said Michael.

"Krynos? Victim? What the hell?" screamed
Max, as he again flicked his head at the now-unconscious lycan
king, slamming him into another wall. Max then completely lost
control, and, closing his eyes, started to unknowingly warp the
local atmosphere, creating massive amounts of pressure that
actually forced the bulkhead to warp. Tears streamed down his face
as he tried to heal his dead wife. The walls nearly buckled,
undulating back and forth, accompanied by the creaks and groans of
quadrinium being stretched to its limits. Small holes formed in the
bulkhead, with numerous air leaks sprouting, and lowering the
already-weak air pressure.

"Max! Son! You must control yourself! Stop,
lest you create a breech in the bulkhead and release atmosphere,
killing anyone in the vicinity!" commanded Michael.

"Let them die! I hope they all die! I want to
die!" he moaned, trembling and nearly losing consciousness
himself.

Gabriel popped into sight by Michael's side,
looking down at Jennie's bloody body, her still beautiful face
looking upward, her eyes closed. He immediately felt sick to his
stomach, which was saying quite a bit. Gabriel had wantonly
slaughtered humans in his long, storied past, but not one death had
ever affected him in this manner. A tear fell from his eye as he
watched his nephew scream in anguish.

Draagh knelt down next to Max, putting a hand
on the man's shoulder, and using a cantus to control his extreme
emotional outburst. "My boy, allow me to make dear Jennie a bit
more presentable." He then repaired the breeched bulkhead with a
quick transmutation cantus.

"Save her! Can't you save her? Bring her
back!" he wailed.

Draagh gently took the woman's head and set
it on his lap, looking at her with a gaze of affection never before
seen on his face.

This time it must be
different
.

Looking up at his two sons, the two most
powerful archangels in all existence, he said, "My boys, you know
what I must do."

"Father, no! The risk is too great! We need
you here. Without you we shall fail!" yelled Gabriel, while Michael
went to restrain his brother.

Max sat, his back against the wall, banging
his head against the metallic surface, moaning and suffering like
never before in his short life. His heart had dropped to his
stomach. Everything good and beautiful in his life, aside from his
adopted daughter, had been taken from him. The most amazing person
he had ever known, who ended up being his wife, now lie dead on his
grandfather's lap.

"My sons, you know that I must do this. I…
love you both."

The Primulus known as Draagh, but
before by countless names, gently caressed Jennie's forehead before
placing his fingers on her temples. He looked up at everyone and
gave them a kind smile, and then started to slowly dissolve into
the local atmosphere. At first it was almost imperceptible, but
soon began to resemble Socrates when the faithful computer would
fade from view. If not for it being such a tragic situation, it
would have appeared to be a beautiful thing; the brilliant
blue-colored particles that made up his corporeal form wafting into
the air and slowly disappearing. Then, without any sort of warning,
his mouth opened and emitted the most painful sound ever heard in
the universe, accompanied by what appeared to be a mass-ejection of
particles, shooting out into space. This was his
soul scream
, and it wasn't a
pleasant thing. One could determine he was in absolute agony just
by looking at him. Everyone was forced back, holding their hands
over their ears. Jessica and Bagatelle passed out from pain, and
even Michael, Gabriel and Max started to bleed out through their
ears.

###

Jennie Gunnarsson found herself standing in a
place that seemed to have no ceiling, floor nor walls. It was pure
white, exuding a tranquility that brought her complete peace. After
a few moments she felt a presence, and turning, she saw Draagh
standing next to her. After he put his hand on her shoulder, he
said, "Hello, my dear. I am afraid something happened."