Part 18 (1/2)

The seventy two jets swirled through s.p.a.ce, rus.h.i.+ng as fast as they could so as to take the enemy by surprise. When they were seven hundred meters from the enemy, they started shooting, taking out two thirds of their targets. The remaining one-third went head-on towards the Regnum fighters, who dodged, swerved and counterattacked. Bill, himself a new squadron leader, had trouble keeping up with the older ones but he had some moves of his own. An enemy fighter began to tail him. This was exactly what the young pilot wanted. He veered off through all the laser beams and flying debris, towards those s.h.i.+ps which were still intact. In one sharp turn upward, he led the s.h.i.+p on his tail into a collision course with another enemy fighter. This was where the fun was; the excitement of not knowing what would happen next and staying in the moment. If one faltered in this technique, they would fall to their doom. ”Watch out!” his wing-man, James Lyndon said. He shot at the s.h.i.+p that was about to ram into Bill. ”These guys have turned into kamikazes!”

”Well, we can't have that, not on my watch!” Bill steered and shot. He fled to the right, then to the left, confusing his enemies. He hit about thirteen of them. ”Make a circle around them,” he commanded to all the leaders and wingmen and fighters, ”Now!” He knew for sure that they were winning and would defeat them. They maneuvered themselves and created a surrounding circular formation around the few enemy fighters that remained.

The enemy kept shooting and ramming into some of the Regnum fighters.

”Evade the b.l.o.o.d.y kamikazes. I want all those in the attack modes, defended by three s.h.i.+ps from behind. We can't afford to lose any more!” As he said this, an enemy fighter clipped his right wing, tearing it apart.

”Watch-”

But it was too late. The attack had been followed through. Bill was able to tilt his fighter to the left, just in the nick of time, a hairbreadth away from his enemy, who was going to smash into him from the front. But fire sputtered out from his right wing, and he started spinning out of control- Everything froze.

Daniel squinted at the s.h.i.+p that had just landed. He wore a wind-cheater as the weather became even colder and extremely rainy. He commanded the watchtower soldiers to activate the gla.s.s bubble. In an instant, gla.s.s rose from the sides of the ground and joined together in the center, protecting Daniel and the s.h.i.+p from the annoying rain. The main door of the s.h.i.+p opened and John, along with two soldiers, came out. He was wearing some light clothes, flowing and loose. As the human walked towards him with his two guards, Daniel concluded that one way or another, this man was going to die. John smiled warmly and, ever the diplomat, embraced Daniel.

”President Gareng!”

”Councilman Howe!” Daniel smiled. He returned the embrace and said, ”It's been a long time.”

John nodded, his face gradually turning serious, ”So shall we get to business?”

”Of course. Take these men and offer them some refreshments,” he commanded two escorts who arrived from the interior of the base.

”No, no, no,” John said innocently, ”They must remain with me. I trust in your...” he stretched the word, ”hospitality, most definitely.” He gave a smirk and continued, ”These men will remain with me...as they have for the last twenty one years.”

”Come with me,” said Daniel, gesturing for John to follow him. The Supreme Leader and his guards followed the Regime President's lead.

They walked in silence all the way to the boardroom. John looked around the place, amazed by what he saw. As they entered an elevator John checked to see what floor they would arrive at. It stopped its descent to the tenth floor and opened on to a medium sized hallway. He couldn't help wondering how the vamps had done it. The planet had suffered so much destruction and all the great cities had been destroyed. How and where had they gotten the resources? How did they build such a huge structure? He shook his head in disbelief. ”Is there something wrong?” Daniel asked, although he already knew what John was thinking. He laughed, ”We have been quite busy, as you can see.”

”Yeah,” John said, dumbfounded.

They reached the hall. It was painted in a majestic red and on both sides of the hallway there were portraits of great kings, emissaries, feudal lords, and n.o.bles. Just before they were about to open the ma.s.sive rosewood door one painting in particular caught John's eye. It was a very rare painting of Argos I, framed in intricately embroidered solid gold.

Argos was a stout man. In his hand he held a ma.s.sive sword, the one he had used to kill Markos. His chestnut brown hair flowed down to the nape of his neck and he donned a thick pointed goatee. His amber eyes twinkled and a warm smile lay on his soft face. Underneath the painting was a gold plaque with Argos's name in modern Migritic.

The door opened. Alex was seated with his back to them, at the head of a table. The elegant table looked somewhat like the one in the Boardroom at the Regnum. There were large windows, about four on each side, stretching upwards almost till the ceiling. In the center of the ceiling was a large, intricate crystal chandelier. To their right was a ten feet high fireplace with a roaring fire that heated the room. The glow of the fire gave a warm, amorous quality to the area. The thick drapes flowed like majestic cloaks from the windows. ”Uncle John,” Alex said, getting up from his seat. ”Is it...is it really you?” He ran up to him and John embraced him.

”Yep, kid. It really is.”

”Where is Erik?” Daniel asked the two guards inside.

”Sir, he said he had some urgent work in the recuperation chamber,” said one of the guards, ”He will be arriving shortly.”

Daniel sighed, ”We shall have to continue without him, then. Come, Councilman. Sit.”

”Something's wrong,” said Kurt to his comrades in the meeting room in the transport tanker. They could see through the screen that everything had stopped. They couldn't see much but they knew fighting had broken out because of the constant explosions of light. But now, nothing. The s.h.i.+ps didn't seem to be getting any closer or any further away. ”I'm going to check it out,” said Kurt, walking out of the meeting room. He hurried into the elevator and descended into the hangar. He rushed out. ”I need fifty men. p.r.o.nto!” He didn't wait for any response and jumped into his own s.h.i.+p and flew away. Immediately, twenty, then thirty, then finally fifty fighter s.h.i.+ps came after him. He put the fighter into hyperspeed to try and catch the enemy off-guard. When he and the rest of his squadron arrived at the battle scene the sight that met their eyes left them openmouthed. The entire first wave of fighters was frozen. Kurt could see the frightened faces of Bill and the other leaders. The men were moving around inside. It was only their s.h.i.+ps that were stuck and not moving an inch!

One of the vampires from an enemy fighter opened his c.o.c.kpit and smiled maniacally. He climbed out on top so that everyone could see him. Then, he took his hands and created an electrical ma.s.s of energy. It was red and black and growing exponentially. ”Oh c.r.a.p!” Kurt shouted, ”Get him! Get them all and destroy them!”

Kurt's squadron responded and in an instant shot down the vampire and his entire group. The fighters suddenly unfroze and were mobile once again. Bill's fighter, which was going up in flames, went into a whirlwind of destruction. Bill, who had his oxygen helmet ready, ejected just before everything exploded. Kurt's s.h.i.+p blazed through the inferno. He put on his mask and opened the c.o.c.kpit, as Bill swam through the vacuum of s.p.a.ce into his father's fighter. He grabbed the seatbelt of the extra seat behind Kurt and buckled himself in. The fighters regrouped themselves and headed back to the Regnum, savoring their first taste of victory.

Tea was served. It felt good being in the warm room, sipping on some fragrant and bone-thawing jasmine tea. Outside the rain had picked up speed and pounded on the gla.s.s. The wind howled as the sea waves crashed onto the outer rims of the Command Center. John sighed as he sipped the last of his tea, ”So, Daniel. How do we start this negotiation?”

Daniel yawned. ”You tell me, General Howe.”

”You know what I want,” John said, as he handed his cup to the waiter. Alex remained still with his eyes closed in silent contemplation.

”Yes, but you think you know what I want, or should I say, what we all want?”

”What's that?”

Daniel's face darkened and contorted with disgust and anger. His nose crinkled up as if he had smelled something awful. He bared his three-inch fangs.

Daniel's sudden transformation made John jump.

”It's the death of you and your whole b.l.o.o.d.y race,” sneered Daniel. ”You're lucky Anaxagoras shows so much mercy. If I had my way, I'd bake you all and eat you for dinner!”

”You know,” said John calmly, ”that has already happened once before in our history; at least the first part. I suspect the second part too.”

”Don't joke with me, human sc.u.m.” Daniel's voice rolled like thunder and screeched like a thousand nails on a chalkboard.

John was shocked by the sight of Daniel's face. He breathed a sigh of relief when it went back to normal. ”Uh, well...Alex. What have they told you?”

”Nothing at all,” Alex said.

”And the Rebels?”

Alex shook his head. ”Nothing. They would come to my room and that was all.”

”Hmmm.” John rubbed his chin.

From outside, the sound of energy blasts and thudding penetrated the doors. Then they heard the clash of metal. It sounded like a sword-fight. ”What the h.e.l.l?” John asked.

The door suddenly burst open in a flash of blue light, and a figure appeared as the smoke faded away. ”Let him go!” the figure said.

When the smoke settled they saw that the figure was the exact double of Alex. He held a ma.s.sive sword, about four feet in length and six inches in width. The blade radiated a fiery blue light with electric sparks. The ashes of dead soldiers spread and scattered all around. ”Uncle John!” yelled Alex's double, ”Get away from them. That's not the real me! That's Erik.”

”Here,” he said, grabbing a sword from the floor. He threw it above the false Alex's and Daniel's heads. John caught it and jumped on the table, catching Daniel off-guard. Alex used an energy beam to destroy the remaining three swords, so Daniel and the double had no weapons.

”Lead us to the Rebels,” John said. ”Show us where they are.” He pushed the tip of his sword into Daniel's Adam's apple and the flesh around it sizzled.

Daniel backed away and turned Erik who was still disguised as Alex. ”Alright,” Daniel hissed. ”As you wish.” He led them to the elevator.

The first phase of the battle was complete. Kurt was relieved for now.

”Well,” said Bill, ”What do we do now?” He brushed his dark golden mop of hair aside with his fingers. His light blue eyes shone like two aquamarines.

”We wait,” sighed Kurt, clutching his cup of coffee. They were in the lounge area of the tanker, where the soldiers took a load off by relaxing and chatting with their friends. Bill's father had died in the war and ever since, Kurt took care of him like the son he never had. Bill had even started to call him, ”Dad.”

”Any news from General Howe?” Bill asked.