THE VROL TRILOGY (174 page)

"Yes, of course."

"Wanna do something real cool?"

"Speak on, child…"

###

"Your father was an abomination! He eschewed
the natural order. Instead, he attempted to recreate Jah's universe
in his own image. Your father deserved banishment. He is finished!"
screamed Gabriel, apparently getting into his goading act.

Samyaza surged ahead, going to attack to
massively powerful archangel out of pure anger. That was his first
major mistake. As soon as he was within twenty meters, Michael was
able to silently disconnect him from his ship-wide shield cantus.
His second error was to try to hit Michael with a clenched fist.
The powerful Taxiarch then merely point-punched down at the ground,
slamming the reject's head into the cold floor of the ship. All the
while, Max noticed that Gadreel was skulking in the background,
with Anaita at his side. She had honestly believed she wouldn't be
injured, but a mere mortal had disfigured her face, even though it
was already on the mend. Max wanted to damage the younger brother
of the Grigori leader, but had a solid wall of offensively smelly
bugs between him and his quarry.

He looked back and saw Jennie crouched down
next to Krynos.

Slipping over to Jennie's side, Max saw a
massive and very injured lycan king being held up by his wife, who
was tiny in comparison. He could smell the rhodium in Krynos' body
and became alarmed, knowing that the metal was the most lethal
substance in existence for lycans, as well as vampires.

"Jen! What's the meaning of this? King, you
should be in the infirmary. I'll slip you over," he said.

"Max, I shall stay till the bitter end. It is
my wish. Do not disobey your king."

"Dude, seriously? You're leaking like a sieve
and need medical attention. Rhodium's no laughing matter."

Krynos growled and grabbed Max's hand, with
his look changing from defiant to pleading.

"Please, Max. I shall stay."

Samyaza noticed that Krynos had been injured
and laughed out loud. The lycan had numerous bullet holes in his
body, and he was dying - that much was obvious. He coughed out
spittles of bubbling blood as his breathing became more and more
labored. Samyaza smelled Krynos' death and reveled in his
defeat.

"Ha! Your much-vaunted king faces his own
demise!" Samyaza bellowed across the chamber.

"
Krynos, are you ready?
" Jennie said
quietly.

"
Yes, I am, child
."

"
Sit here. Put your hand on this. Don’t let go until we're
gone.
"

"
I
shall miss you, child.
"

"
Me too
," she whispered
back.

Michael stopped his frontal attack and held
his hands up, almost as if he were offering surrender.

"What is this, Cousin? Have you tired
already?" asked Samyaza.

Michael looked at the carnage on the deck -
hundreds of dead bugs covered the floor, their chitinous limbs and
torsos littering the enclosed landscape. But Michael didn’t
respond. He merely continued walking toward Samyaza.

While Michael kept Samyaza busy Max slipped
to Len Johnson and looked over at his wife, his eyes pleading for
help. The gorgeous hybrid shot over to him with a local 3D slip,
and asked, "What do you need, hun?"

"Johnson. He's coming back with us. We need a
trial. We have to disconnect him first."

"Let him die, Max."

"Jen, work with me here. He needs to go on
trial."

Jennie groaned and went to help Max tear away
tubes and wires that had kept Len Johnson a prisoner inside the
Vrol vessel. The two carefully disconnected the slimy wiring that
connected his cerebral cortex to the ship, but when they both
glanced down at the mass of tubes coming out from between his legs
Jennie said, "No. No way. I'm not touching that."

Max grimaced and reached down, yanking a
handful of tubes out from Johnson's hindquarters, followed by a
cantus that basically kept the despot's guts from falling out.

"Max, that is so nasty!"

"Yup. Well, the last things holding him to
the wall are the wrist restraints."

When the final wrist cuff was released, the
former dictator fell forward onto his face, with neither trying to
break his fall.

"Oops, my bad," said Jennie.

"Baby, slip Johnson out of here and back to
the Revolution. You'll know how to get there because you just came
from it, so the coordinates are in your brain."

"Max, what if I get stuck out there? I could
die!"

Max hesitated for a moment, and then touched
Johnson, slipping the deposed dictator directly to the bridge of
the Revolution. Looking up at a surprised Bagatelle, Max again
disappeared, coming back in at Krynos' side.

"So, Archangel, what are the terms of your
surrender? And do not insult me with a plea for the lives of the
monkeys."

Jennie strode forward, dedication and purpose
in her gait. She didn't care for anything aside from the Grigori's
defeat. "Hey dickhead! This is where it ends - your bugs - your
crap behind the scenes. It all ends now."

"Oh, and just how do you manage to terminate
our activities, lycan stain?" asked Samyaza.

Gadreel walked up to his older brother,
placing a hand on his shoulder. Samyaza seemed to take comfort in
his brother's touch and placed his hand over Gadreel's.

"Brother, I must agree. This is where it
ends," said Gadreel.

"
Jen, what the hell are you doing? Why is Krynos on the
dead-man's switch?
"

"
He's the perfect recipe for winning this
war.
"

"
No! Take him to the infirmary! That's an
order!
"

"
Sorry, baby. My orders come from a higher
source
."

"
Who? Did Gabe put you up to this?
"

"
No hun. Draagh did. Shut up and let's kill these bastards.
Krynos is walking dead anyway. There's way too much rhodium
floating in his bloodstream, and his health particles are in full
freakout mode. Now stop wasting my time.
"

"
Dad," said Max, "the bomb's ready. How are we keeping these
guys here?
"

"
Gadreel shall handle that, my son."

"Huh?"

Samyaza carefully analyzed Max's expression,
and could tell the hybrid was preparing to depart. Detecting danger
himself, he turned to grab his brother and leave, but instead felt
a large hand painfully digging into his shoulder. Spinning around
he saw Gabriel.

"You have been a very naughty boy, Samyaza.
Now it is time to join the shards of disconnected minds that wander
the universe."

"I think not, Gabriel. I… um… hey… what is
this?"

A trapped Samyaza turned back around, a
shocked expression lining his face, as he saw Max, Jennie, Gabriel,
Michael and Gadreel looking at him.

"What is this? Brother! What have you
done?"

"I have done nothing, Samyaza. Well, aside
from helping to eliminate centuries of your torture, as well as
saving the human race - nothing else, brother. However, our uncle
provided me with a most effective cantus that negates your ability
to leave."

"I cannot depart. Take me from here!
Now!"

"No, Cousin. You shall remain here with your
beautiful creations," said Gabriel.

Various angels, including Anaita started
slipping away, their collective departures leaving loud popping
sounds, as Samyaza, the leader of the Grigori, was left alone with
his insect underlings.

"I… I cannot slip. I am doomed!"

"That's the idea, asshole," said Jennie
before she slipped to the side of a near-unconscious Krynos. Acting
fast, she knelt down and slapped the lycan in the face.

"King! Wake up! It's time!"

"Jennie. Yes. Time. I shall count from
ten."

"Starting… now!"

"10 - 9 - 8…"

The beautiful woman leaned forward, kissing
the king on the forehead. Touching his temples, she became
curious.

I wonder what his last thoughts are?

Aside from his countdown, she only detected
blank space. But digging down deeper into the recesses of his
conscious mind she heard a lone voice - a single word. A name.

Carmen

Jennie gave him a startled looked and
disappeared, slipping to her husband's side.

At that moment, a massive group of ground
bugs swarmed the chamber near where Len Johnson used to be.
Clicking excitedly, the hive mind went crazy when they spied Krynos
on the floor.

"[
What is this? Another human? It speaks.
]"

"[
It looks large and delicious. Vrol shall eat
it.
]"

"[
Yes, Vrol feed. It is our purpose
.]"

"Goodbye, Brother," said Gadreel.

Samyaza let out a blood-evaporating scream as
his mortal enemies (and now-estranged brother) easily vacated the
premises, leaving him trapped and alone with millions of insects,
as well as his remaining underlings.

At that same moment,
Krynos
König
's
lifeless hand fell from the
dead-man's switch.

###

Max Gunnarsson stood on the bridge of the
Revolution, watching a brilliant light in the distance. The
illumination grew in size until it nearly encompassed the entire
outside view screen. After a few moments, it dissipated into
nothingness.

"Ensign, status!" demanded Bagatelle.

"Sir, the Vrol vessel was destroyed."

The bridge erupted into cheers, as hats were
thrown and applause rung out. However, Bagatelle wanted proof, and
quickly silenced his staff.

"Silence! Ensign, are you sure?"

"Admiral, it was destroyed. Krynos released
the switch," said Max. "He had a comm which would have enabled me
to track him in side space had they escaped. Plus, I disabled their
hook drive before we came back," he finished, as he looked down at
Len Johnson. The former dictator was covered in sticky, black goo,
and tried to move as he slowly regained consciousness.

"Ah, he awakes," said Bagatelle. "Greetings,
Mr. Chairman."

Len Johnson, traitor to all humanity, merely
held his trembling arms up, wrists together. He felt there was
nothing Bagatelle could do to him that would be worse than what he
had just been through.

"Throw him in the brig," commanded the
admiral, giving Johnson his just deserts. Two large security
officers (both lycans from the Rhönen) picked Johnson up and
dragged him off. The former dictator fell limp in their grasp, not
even protesting.

"Admiral, are all Vrol off the ship?" asked
Max.

"I can verify that, Max," said Michael, as he
walked back onto the bridge. "I just performed a scan, and all have
been eliminated."

"Hey Gaddy, what did you do back there?"
asked Max.

"Captain, your grandfather and I had a plan.
However, my brother, being quite paranoid, always kept me under
strict surveillance, so I had to play the part of
double-agent."

"And you had nothing to do with my wife's
demise?"

"Hey! I'm still here, dork!"

Max smiled at his now-immortal wife. "Just
getting some background, sweetie."

"No, Captain. I had nothing to do with it. In
fact, do you not remember me warning you all of the danger posed to
Mrs. Gunnarsson?"

"I do remember that. Anyway, what do you plan
on doing now? Your brother is dead and you're basically free."

"A number of Grigori still exist, Captain. I
am assuming Anaita will be their default leader, and we should
bring her to justice."

"Wow, you know, I never thought of that. Is
there a Prīmulī court or anything?"

"No, son. Our justice is more of a direct
nature," said Michael.

"Um yeah. You're right there. Well, Gaddy,
welcome to the family, I guess."

"Thank you Captain. I appreciate the
gesture, though I believe it will probably come to a
vote."

"Sounds good. Until then, no more of this
Captain crap. My name's Max," he said, extending his hand.

Chapter 41 - Undesired
Changes

Max, Jennie, Gabriel and Michael stood before
Krynos' throne, watching, as Prime Commander Donus, now King Donus,
uneasily ascended and took a seat. Each person in the audience
dropped down to a single knee and bowed their head to the new
sovereign of the Rhönen Dominion. Dozens of subjects of the kingdom
were present, all having heard the sad news of King Krynos'
passing. He was the only king they had ever known. Through
centuries of hard work he brought order and wealth to his lands,
all the while gaining his subjects' love and appreciation. Aside
from locals, numerous troops from Isamu's samurai clan were also in
attendance, each bowing in respect to the new lycan king.

"It is with a heavy heart that I assume the
throne. Krynos was a king like no other. I can only hope to be half
the leader he was," said Donus.

"My liege, I believe you shall be a fine
king. You have the love and respect of all in this land, and of
course, us to back you up," said Max, giving his friend a kind
wink.

"Thank you, Captain. Please, if you would,
retell the tale of Krynos' passing, so that it may be recorded into
the history of the Rhönen Dominion for all to read."