Excelsior (10 page)

“Wow.” Wilitar's eyes were focused on the pistol, so much that he didn't watch Radifen leave. He suddenly realized that they had left him all alone in the chamber. He looked around, then muttered to the computer, “All right, time to go back to sleep.” Wilitar slipped his gift into his waistband and began closing down the Leap of Faith. When the doorway returned to its initial metallic state, he unplugged the collector and tucked it into his pocket.

He spoke into a device on his wrist. “They’re on their way to Klierra.”

“Excellent work, Wilitar,” responded the voice of the Highest Elder. “Make sure the collector is destroyed, then make your way back to the caverns. Do not allow yourself to be seen.”

“Yes, Elder Acerus.” Wilitar took one last, lingering look toward the Leap of Faith and walked to the chamber entrance. As he got closer, the hairs on his arms prickled and there was a hissing sound he remembered all too well. He flattened his body against the wall. The darts should have put the Krunation guards out of commission for a longer period of time than this, he thought. They were specifically formulated so there would be time for him to do his job and get away without a trace.

Wilitar crept closer to the entrance; yes, he definitely heard voices. He ducked behind the nearest console. With a loud whoosh, the door opened and four Krunation guards entered the chamber.

“Check the computer. If the Denarians used the Leap of Faith, we can track and retrieve them.”

A guard walked to the computer. He activated a panel and the screen showed a listing of coordinates. “I can't understand it. The data is loaded into the system after a journey is made. There's no data of any journey, so where could they be?”

“It's obvious, isn't it?” From outside the chamber, a feminine voice that boomed with authority echoed into the room. Wilitar felt his stomach turn to ice. He watched as all four guards snapped to attention, as the voice entered the chamber. Tall and sinuously slender, General Hodera’s pitch black eyes scanned her surroundings. Wilitar remembered the black shiny boots and a sleeveless overcoat that revealed scale-covered arms. He couldn’t breathe and was thankful for it – even the slightest gasp would attract her attention.

“Whoever was at the computer is still here somewhere,” Hodera declared. “Someone had to stay behind to erase evidence.”

The guards started searching behind the consoles. Wilitar flattened himself against the floor and crept forward on his elbows, staying just beyond their search area. His breathing grew ragged from the effort and the tension. He saw Hodera standing in front of the door, blocking any exit. How many other guards were outside the chamber? he wondered.

Wilitar fought back the acid rising in his throat. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small silver plastic case then wiped away beads of sweat dripping down his forehead. Placing the collector on the floor, Wilitar opened the silver case and dumped its contents directly onto the collector.

Fortunately for him, the black liquid didn't create any noise as it quickly corroded the collector into a useless slab. Wilitar took a precious moment to exhale; but as he inhaled, he immediately detected a stench emanating from the mess.

Hodera held up her arm to silence the guards, who froze and looked at her for instructions. She slowly lowered her arm and raised her reptilian nostrils, then shut her eyes and took a deep breath. “Kartellian sludge,” she noted. “Something was just destroyed and it's coming from...” The Krunation general paused and then pointed toward the source of the odor.

Wilitar heard the guards move in his direction. Memories of being pulled from his prison cell swept through his mind. He looked around; no place to hide. He saw the feet of two guards on the other side of his hiding place. Suddenly, one of them sniffed the air, turned sharply and jammed the end of his rifle into the space behind the console. It struck Wilitar in his scarred ear and he whimpered involuntarily.

“Here!” the guard yelled.

Wilitar raised his wrist communicator to his mouth and gave up any ruse of secrecy. “They're here! General Hodera is here!”

A scaly hand grabbed his wrist and squeezed. Wilitar shrieked as the bones in his wrist cracked under the pressure. He wished for a moment to be as sturdy as the still intact communicator.

“And who are you calling, if I may ask?” the guard hissed. With his other hand, he grabbed Wilitar by the throat and pulled him from his hiding place. “I have him!” he yelled.

“Let me see him.”

The guard dragged Wilitar by his crushed wrist before Hodera. This felt all too horribly familiar. He struggled to get oxygen through his pain and fear.

“Wilitar,” Hodera hissed as she smiled, showing off a full set of gleaming white, razor sharp teeth. “So good to see you again, my favorite little pet. I will never forget our special time together, just the two of us alone in my chambers. I see that your healers reattached your ear.” She ran one clawed hand sheathed in leather over his ear and ran her forked tongue over her glossy black lips. “If you don't tell me where your friends are, we'll just have to revisit those old times.”

Wilitar squeezed his eyes shut and forced a long deep breath into his shuddering body. As he drew a second breath, he tried to remember the faces of his parents and little brother. How long ago was he dragged away to the Krunation prison while they were beaten and shot? Then a new face leapt into his mind, a young face with pale blue eyes and a fierce grin, standing in the doorway of his cell, offering him a hand to freedom. Semminex. He clenched his teeth and forced himself to look into Hodera's empty eyes. How many men had the privilege of being part of Excelsior’s return not once, but twice? He felt the fear melt away from his spine and he straightened.

“This one will be easy to persuade, General,” said the guard holding him. “I could do it for you easily.” He grinned into Wilitar’s face. Holding the reptilian gaze, Wilitar slowly felt with his good hand for the pistol that pressed against his back. He nestled it in his palm and waited until the guard turned to Hodera for a response.

Now.

Wilitar brought the barrel up to the guard’s temple and fired. The guard dropped to the floor, lifeless.

“Oh, Wilitar, It looks like we will have our special time together after all,” Hodera hissed. She took a step forward. “I have a surprise waiting just for you.”

“I have one for you, too,” said Wilitar as he raised his gun and fired. The shot missed and struck the guard at Hodera’s side. The third one ricocheted off the wall and struck a guard in the foot.

Wilitar paused for the briefest moment of astonishment at his marksmanship then ran toward the door. He raised his gun toward Hodera, who stepped aside.

“Such a waste. You were an excellent repairman,” she said softly.

Wilitar dashed down the stairs. He was looking over his shoulder for guards when he was jerked off his feet by a massive scaly hand. He felt himself lifted toward a pair of glowing yellow eyes, all he could see beneath a black, hooded cape.

Wilitar heard a hissing sound and inhaled the smell of burning flesh. He bit back a scream as a drop of clear goo from long and sharp fingernails seared his forearm. He raised his wrist and spoke into his communicator.

“It's Nocterar.”

*   *   *

Jason studied Katherine's face as she took a long sip of tea from the white teacup with blue lilies and placed it back on the saucer. “Mr. Peters, did you hear what I said? According to my instruments, your nephew is the current host of the lifeforce of Denab IV's savior, Excelsior.”

He tried to look into her eyes but was unable to get past the large glasses. "You actually believe that, don't you? I don't know if Matt told you, but I've been a reporter on the police desk for almost a dozen years."

"Mr. Peters, I assure you that I'm being honest."

"I don't doubt that, Professor. That's what worries me. The liars and con men always have a ‘tell.’ But the people who believe their delusions are the ones who really scare me, and lady, you scare me.”

Katherine turned to Matthew, who had been silently sprawled in a chintz-covered club chair the entire time. Avoiding her gaze, he stood and headed up the stairs.

Jason barely noticed Matthew’s silence; he was too busy tucking in his shirt and smoothing his hair to notice that his nephew had barely grunted out her name when he introduced her to him. For all Jason knew, Matthew had just brought home a bad report card.

Jason marveled at Katherine's attractiveness when he carefully placed his mother’s best cup before her. Katherine broke the news at that moment, and suddenly Jason’s preening vanished and his face hardened.

“You don't have to be afraid of me, Mr. Peters. And neither does Matthew for that matter. Please let me explain.”

Jason sat back in Nana's favorite wing chair and crossed his legs, casting an extremely skeptical eye on the woman sitting across from him on the plastic-covered couch. “Explain away, Ma'am. I'm looking forward to hearing this.”

Instead of recapping her ten-year search for Excelsior on Earth, Katherine reached toward her glasses. “Could you turn the lights down, please?”

“Excuse me?

“Could you turn the lights down so I can give you a proper explanation?”

Jason cocked his head like a confused dog. “What does turning the lights down have to do with giving me a proper explanation?”

“Please?”

Jason didn’t move.

Katherine let out an exasperated sigh and quickly pulled off her glasses. She looked right into Jason's eyes, forcing hers to stay open as the lamps in the room made them start to burn. “You see how my eyes look, yes?”

Jason nodded slowly, his brow furrowed.

“There are a select group of Denarians who have eyes like these,” she started.

“The Elders,” Jason finished.

Katherine nodded as she quickly replaced her glasses. She squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed her temples.

Jason leaned forward. “So you say you're an Elder, eh?”

“Not only am I an Elder, but I have been charged with a quest to come to this planet and find the link to the whereabouts of Excelsior.”

“Who you think is inside my nephew. Lady, Excelsior is a fictional character. He wouldn't be anywhere except inside Matt, since Matt created him.”

“That's where you're wrong, sir. Excelsior is a living being. Well, he was until thousands of Earth years ago when his body disintegrated and his lifeforce was returned to his sword.”

“Oh, of course.” Jason nodded his head.

Katherine put down her saucer on the spindly coffee table. “Right now, there is still a large portion of Excelsior's lifeforce in the sword, but his memories are safe inside Matthew's mind.”

“You really believe that…” A loud beeping sound came from the kitchen. “What's that?” Katherine asked.

“Sounds like the microwave,” Jason answered peering into the kitchen. “I must have turned on the timer by mistake.”

The beeping grew more insistent. “That's weird. Maybe it's on the fritz.” He walked into the kitchen to examine the appliance, Katherine close behind. The beeping grew louder with each step.

“I've never seen this happen before,” Jason said repeatedly pushing the ‘cancel’ button. The long beeps suddenly stopped, replaced by short bursts of sound. Jason opened the microwave door. Katherine looked closely at the LED screen as a series of odd shapes flashed by.

“Oh man, it's busted. We’ve had this microwave for over ten years. I thought the thing was nearly indestructible. That’s what too much bachelor living does to an appliance, I guess.” Jason started to unplug the cord, but Katherine grabbed his arm.

“Wait. I'm reading.”

Jason took a step back. “What do you mean you're reading? What are you reading?”

Katherine ran her finger along the LED screen, slowly translating the flashing characters. “We... need... Excelsior. Sending help to you... immediately.” She then gasped as the next group of symbols appeared on the screen. “Oh no.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “So my microwave blows a chip and you think it’s a message from outer space?"

“It keeps saying, 'Nocterar.' They can't mean he's returned.”

“Nocterar? The big bad villain? I’m impressed you know Matt’s work so well. Let me ask you something. If these hieroglyphics are your native language, how is that you speak English?”

“We monitored the creation of language on this planet as it developed and studied your various linguistic systems. It’s quite a popular hobby among some of us.”

“You're joking.”

“How do you think I'm talking to you?” she snapped.

Before Jason could answer, the floor began to shake.

“An earthquake in
Queens
?” Jason asked in disbelief. He pulled Katherine into the doorway.

“What are you doing?” asked Katherine.

“The strongest structural point in a room is the doorway.” They heard paint cans and boxes crashing to the floor in the basement. A vase smashed in the living room.

“Oh, God, Matthew! I have to see if he’s OK!” Jason shouted.

Katherine braced herself against the doorjamb and grabbed Jason’s arm. “I am sure Matthew is unharmed. This must be our team.” A blinding light filled the room as four brilliant balls of energy seemed to melt through the ceiling and then disappeared into the floor.