THE VROL TRILOGY (66 page)

"Yeah," responded Max, "I sure am glad
I encountered some smart people. No one in Hollywood knows
anything
."

He chuckled and rolled his eyes, showing a
bit of feigned disdain for the inhabitants of his new home.

Sally sniffed around, and then whispered
something in Miles' ear.

"You betcherass we're smart. None of that
inbred Vrol crap here. So, now that we have determined you're a
lycan we won't kill you… yet… are you hungry? Would be great to
hear your story. Bound to be interesting," replied Miles.

"I'm willing to share my story - sure. Not
really hungry though, I ate a bit earlier, but thanks. Hey, do you
have any coffee or tea?"

Indie spoke for the first time saying, "We
have some coffee we got on a raid. Don't usually drink it, but I
can whip some up on the fire."

Max nodded in appreciation and smiled, taking
care to not bare his teeth.

Miles led everyone over to a center
area in between the habitations of the encampment. A massive fire
pit was in the center, obviously a place where meat was cooked.
Sitting down, Max took note of his surroundings, sizing up the
buildings, their geographical orientation, and more than anything
else, sizing up his new
friends
. With his prior lycan experiences in
this world, for all he knew he would be murdered while taking a
leak, so he stayed alert.

Indie started to prepare something that
smelled similar to coffee as Miles just sat, staring at Max. After
what seemed like too many uncomfortable minutes Miles spoke.

"So, tell me your story - and no
bullshit. I can smell liars… from miles away - that's why they call
me
Miles
."

"Well, Miles," started Max, "as I told you
before, I'm from very far away. My culture is distinct from any
here, and I'm lost. I need to find a way back home… to
Argentina."

He was telling the truth, to a certain
extent - he was from
an
Argentina, just not from that particular planet. He also left
out the part where he is from an alternate timeline and that his
wife and daughter live centuries in the future.

"So, how did you end up here from Los
Angeles?" asked Sally.

"The area where I was staying was attacked by
Vrol ground troops, so I fled. I started running and didn't stop,
ending up here."

"All the way here? Do you realize how far you
are from Hollywood?" asked Miles, while wearing a ridiculous
expression.

"Yeah, I run fast. I used to run… a lot. I'm
used to it. Plus I was the hunter in my family, so it's no big
deal."

Max took a deep breath, trying not to show
his mild mania. Closing his eyes and acting as if he were tired, he
attempted to calm himself with a mini-meditation session right in
front of his new acquaintances.

"So, you're about 30 miles away from
Hollywood. Pretty good hike, if you ask me. That is, unless you
found a shortcut tunnel. You didn't find one did you?" asked
Miles.

Max did a bit of rudimentary math in his
head. His people had abandoned standard measurements long before he
was born. In fact, they were never even used on Azul, but he was
aware of the conversion formula, which was roughly the number of
miles divided by point six two (0.62). A run of 48 kilometers was a
good spread, but he wasn't about to tell his new acquaintances that
he turned into a nearly brainless (now not so much) werewolf on the
full moon.

"No, I didn't find any sort of tunnel. What's
a shortcut tunnel, anyway?"

"It's a hole in the rock where you enter, but
the exit is way far away," stated Indie.

Max thought for a moment, and believed they
could be talking about a permanent slip point. He had never created
one, but knew that they could theoretically exist.

"Well, I ran. I needed to get away from those
nasty creatures. Have you ever fought one, hand-to-hand?"

"I lit one on fire once. It smelled like
shit," responded Sally in a monotone fashion.

"Sally likes burning stuff up," Miles proudly
stated. "She's our resident pyro. But yeah, we can snag an Airvrol
every now and then. Then we take its teeth and use ‘em for
money."

Indie handed Max a cup of coffee, which he
immediately tasted. He found it rather pleasant, and not as bad as
he would have previously thought. Thanking Indie with a nod, he
turned to Miles.

"Thanks for your hospitality. I don't mean to
be here long. What I really need to do is to find a mage and…"

"A mage?" Miles interrupted
sarcastically. "Everyone knows they're all full of crap. They only
think about themselves. Besides, there hasn't been a
real
mage around these parts for a
long time, son. It's said that they were the first ones to take off
when the Vrol arrived. Like the mages knew something was up and the
Vrol didn't come to help and be friends like the government told
everyone. Hell, the government had been trying to force all mages
to register, and most resisted. You can find fakers though. They're
idiots lucky enough to have found a mage device."

Miles had just unknowingly given Max a bit
more information about his current world - the Vrol arrived under
false-friendly pretenses. And apparently the government was either
fooled by, or was in league with the aliens. It also seemed that
mages were common in earlier times. Max felt that there was a good
chance that mages still existed - they wouldn't simply die out.

"Miles - yeah, that's what I meant. A faker.
They have little boom sticks that can make stuff happen. You know,
instead of going back to Hollywood I think it'd be better to travel
up north. Kinda got a feeling about it, ya know?"

Miles gave him a serious look and blinked.
"Why do you feel like going up there? It gets nasty. Vrol have a
lot of nests, especially through the central valley."

"It's just… too hot here. I'm used to cooler
weather, and it's probably never gonna happen, me getting to
Argentina and all."

Max couldn't resist that pull to the north,
and even though he felt a bit of responsibility in returning to
Hollywood he also really considered going up through California to
who knew where. Watching the group carefully, he followed the three
as they went and took seats at the fire pit.

"So, Max, what are lycans like in Argentina?"
Indie asked with a bit of curiosity to his voice.

"Pretty much like anywhere else, I guess. We…
um… we have packs and we hunt and fight a lot. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason - just curious. We're out here
alone all the time."

"We stay alone for a reason, dickweed," Miles
said to Indie, in a less than friendly manner.

"Everyone's out to get us, so we need to
train and be strong. Plus those humans over yonder have stuff we
need, so … hey! I have a great idea. Our new friend here can help
us to get some supplies from that annoying crew up in Saugus.
Waddaya say, Max?"

Max didn't want to seem like he was really
any different than this group, so he gave them a smirk while he
took a long draw from his coffee mug, the beverage already starting
to get cold.

"Sure, Miles. I like kicking ass just like
the next lycan."

###

In Seven Sins, Dons was eating breakfast at
his new seating setup, which had been kindly made by Max, when Adam
approached him, leaning down to take a seat.

"Oy mate, what do you think you're
doing'?" he demanded of the fake mage as he put his hand out,
making a motion for the man
not
to sit down.

"Oh, my dear sir, may I sit with you? I would
like to discuss something quite serious about our friend Max."

"You can stand there just fine. And what
would that be anyway? Besides that fact that he is a raging frikin'
beast on the full moon, he cooks an amazing stew."

"His presence should not be tolerated here.
He has access to certain… technology. He can nearly nullify my
magical skills, which makes him a threat to all of us, as it is
extremely difficult for me to protect our lovely clan from one such
as him. If and when he returns, we will need to kill him while he
sleeps. I was deathly afraid of him, and I apologize for not having
said anything earlier. I feared for my life - all of our
lives."

"And for your shorts? Mate, you out-n-out
shit yourself. Those pants had to be put into hazmat bags. If he
was that bad why didn't you say anything then?"

"I was… unable to say anything. You see, it's
that his technology has an effect on particular vocal patterns. I
was unable to say anything against him. It seems to be similar to
Vrol technology. And as I bring that up, how did he suddenly appear
out of nowhere? Perhaps he is a Vrol agent?"

"A Vrol agent? Adam, you're such an ass. Go
do something useful."

Adam gave Dons a sneering glare as he reached
down to move his shirt aside.

"Who do you think you are, Dons? Just because
you beat people up and took-"

Dons was up with his short blade at Adam's
throat before the man could utter another sound.

"Listen to me, mate. You don't demand
anything of me - ever. You are here because you're useful. When
your usefulness ends, so does your presence, and I couldn't really
give a damn if it's dead or alive, you feel me?"

Dons waved the man away as if he were a
mosquito while pointing his blade at Adam's face, and giving him a
very serious one-eyed stare. He knew that Adam had designs on
everything he had built through fighting, blood, sweat and honesty
- and Adam was nowhere near being an honest man. Max, however, was
honest. Dons was human, but he could tell. He could feel it. His
girls could smell it.

He just hoped that Max was okay.

Having lost his nerve, Adam stormed out the
front door at the same time that Jessica and Pandy went skipping
in. They both watched him go by, and then looked at each other
inquisitively. It was odd - they were nearly like identical twins
that were not identical in a physical sense. Hopping over to their
boss, they took seats on either side of the dinette and then looked
at him expectantly. Dons just shook his head a bit and looked at
the door.

"I hope Max is okay. He's a good bloke, but
what happened needs to be explained also."

"What's Adam's pickle? He looks quite vexed,"
asked Pandy.

"He wants us to kill Max if he comes back…
while he sleeps. The rotter."

"What? Is he crazy? Max needs our help, if
anything!" exclaimed Jessica. "It's probably not his fault he
turned into a giant dog, or whatever the hell it was."

"Adam is soooo brave," chortled Pandy, laying
on the sarcasm.

"Girls, have you ever seen Adam without his
wand?"

The two looked at each other and got almost
identical expressions of concentration on their faces.

"Um, I think I have, but he usually keeps it
in his back pocket, underneath his shirt," responded Jessica.

"Why do you ask, boss?" asked Pandy.

"I think Adam's power resides completely in
his wand, kinda like your bracelets. I don't believe he's really a
mage, as he claims."

The two girls were the perfect power
support couple for Dons in fighting situations. Besides having
enhanced strength, as they were both lycans, they also possessed
magic-enhanced bracelets that gave them mild healing abilities -
for themselves and others. They didn't know it, but their bracelets
enabled them to manipulate naturally occurring nanobots geared
towards healing - bots that Max had always called
salubots
. However, in their world no
one knew the truth about what was called
magic
.

With Jessica and Pandy as support, Dons could
basically take on a small army, as any wounds he suffered were
almost instantly healed. Aside from that, the girls could
invigorate his system and amp his strength levels, and they were
extremely good at playing off each other. Lycans on that world
didn't have organic levels meters like Max, but they were pretty
adept at knowing when they would hit a skills timeout.

"I think we can snag his wand," said Jessica,
with an agreeing Pandy nodding her head enthusiastically.

"Oh yes, I believe we can, but we will
also need to keep an eye - and nose - out for Max. If he
is
okay and makes it back we
will
need to make him aware of the
danger that Adam can pose."

Pandy crossed her arms, quite satisfied with
her contribution.

"Ay, girls. I also hope he's well, but in all
honesty, I think Max has something hidden up his sleeve. He roughed
Adam up pretty badly, and did so without even breaking a sweat.
Besides that, he also punched Marko so hard the bloke flew the
length of a footy field. Bastard's still on a cot and can barely
walk. No, I think Max is the real deal. It's Adam that needs to be
afraid, but when one operates on a basis of fear they tend to do
some pretty stupid things. We'll need to keep an eye out for the
boy, but even more important, I need you to get Adam's wand,
right?"

The girls gave their boss small grins, with
Jessica then looking out towards the door, wondering where Max
could be.

###

"I usually use a Japanese katana, but it was
lost when I was captured by the Vrol," said Max, as he continued
concocting his fake back-story to his new acquaintances.

"Them samurlie swords? Wow, I heard of ‘em.
They can slice an engine block in half, right?"

"Samurai… and no, but they can do damage to
trees… and necks."

Miles gave Max a grin - one that showed he
really liked the stranger's response. It was honest and
knowledgeable - and a bit dark.