Tesla's Signal (69 page)

A ray of light radiated from Alu's shape, and Niko gaped at the row of meters in astonishment. “The power—it's multiplied by a factor of ten.” <
The Aon...you can generate power?>
 

made
of power, Bright! Take it!>
 

“Did you catch that, Clara? We've got our power back. Take the Saucer underneath before they hit us. Now's the time.”

Clara maneuvered their craft directly under the huge Void Stalker and Niko grabbed the weapon controls. “K'viin, this is for you.” He rotated the barrel, aimed the weapon upward and and felt the energy channeled through the crystal: bouncing back and forth, rising and spiraling and focusing to a lethal point.

“Spit fire, my Dragon!”

The lethal energy slammed into the belly of the enemy dreadnought at a velocity many times the speed of sound. A great dark gash appeared in the
Void Stalker's
hull.

“That's more like it!” Clara raised a fist.

“Not enough. We dented them, but they still have life left.”

The Fleet Ship rotated position and fired, but the jolt went wide.

“You missed us,
putz,”
Clara jeered. “Slower than a milk wagon!”

“They're not built for combat,” Niko muttered. “They target primitive worlds that can't fight back.” 

“Cowards! Hit them again!”

He took aim, imagining his foes standing there on the bridge of the Void Stalker: K'viin, Z'duun and V'kaan—and the whole host of Martians with their torture wands, their eyes like Orbs, and their hungry
oscus
organs that sucked out human souls. “Eat this—
Mistress
V'kaan!”
 

He fired again. The second volley of charged particles struck the front of the U'jaan ship, tearing a great hole in the Void Stalker's bridge. “Got you,” Niko cried.

Debris and clouds of gas began to shoot out of a great tear in the ship. It was too far away for details, but Niko imagined his alien tormentors screaming in terror...imagined their bodies tumbling through space. His fists rose in jubilation. The ship rolled on its side and Niko let them have it once more!
Rip the thing wide open!
A section of the ship broke apart. Slowly the doomed vessel began to fall, out of control. He watched in grim satisfaction as the dark shape sank down, trailing fire and smoke.

Then he looked again. Had he just seen a
pigeon
following the ship? He rubbed his eyes.

***

,> said Alu, <
when their attention is occupied
.>

Alu tried to track the falling ship. Had to place the Gate exactly right! It was the most tricky mathematical operation a Colleague had ever done. Every electron that made up the being 'Alu' had to align to this task. A tiny Gate, just large enough to reach into the center of the U'jaan ship... right inside the place called the 'technology cache'...right
there
.

Alu in bird-shape reached a wing through the gate and seized a precious artifact. <
Got it!>
The bird-shape pulled it back through to Aon space, to a solid place on the world of Lumina. Many of the Colleagues crowded around staring at the object in awe. It appeared to be no more than a kind of fan, with several blades radiating from a center. The blades, however, constantly changed shape, appearing ever more crumpled and distorted.

Even Guardian Axxa, who had tried to shut down Alu's project, was impressed. <
Brilliant work! This is the Nexus Key—the most important artifact of our race.>
 

Alu said, <
and I'm going back to help them. I don't care how many Guardians try to stand in my way. If anyone tries to prevent me, I'll knock them aside.>
 

It was the first threat of physical force made on Lumina in a thousand turns.

***

“What!
Void Stalker
is hit?” The furious Abode Lord marched onto the bridge of the High Command Ship, far above the sky battle. “By the Queen's Birth-hole! How could those primitive creatures have possibly...” He ran out of words, and all of the officers cringed from his anger.

“Since all of you are too incompetent to subdue this planet, I will have to see to the job myself! K'viin! Come here!”

After the loss of New York, K'viin had been removed from command  and demoted to a status as servant of the highest Lord.

K'viin scurried over. “Master? How may I serve?”

“You completely miscalculated in your estimation of Earth,” the
highest Lord rapped out. “These humans possess frightening abilities. Or perhaps there is a second species that only masquerades as humans. Either way, this planet is an intolerable threat to us. Their existence could threaten Abode itself!”

“Yes, sir.” K'viin bent his neck in submission. “What are your orders?”

“The Devastator Ray. This planet is to be reduced.”

“Yes, Master.”
Reduced
meant downgraded to Empty status. One could harvest water and raw materials here, and build storage bases. But there would be no more rich harvests for the noble U'jaan, and no more succulent feasts of human souls—because there would be no humans or higher animals left.

***

“Niko! What's that on the screen? Is that
another
ship?” Clara leaned over, staring in disbelief.

He studied the screen. “Yes. Good Lord...it's bigger than ten
Void Stalkers
, and it...” He broke off, trying to analyze what he saw and sensed.

The thing had the shape of  a derby hat: a flat disc, topped by a great dome on top. Now a spike-shaped projection began to extrude from its underside. “What is it?” Clara gripped the controls. “Cannon?”

“I don't like the look of it.” He studied his meters, shut his eyes and absorbed sensations. “It doesn't seem to be aiming toward us. Why not?” For a moment he considered the play of atoms and electromagnetic forces that he could sense. “It is not concentrating them...but disrupting. It doesn't feel like a gun. More like the earthquake oscillator, but...much more dangerous.” A chill of terror ran over his skin. “It feels like it could be a...a massive planet-destroyer.”

“We've got to stop it,” Clara cried. “Can our weapons handle it?”

“Don't know...the Teleforce uses concentrated particle beams...don't know if it could cancel...” Niko pressed his hands over his eyes, trying to suppress his terror as he speculated on the nature of the new weapon: it must create a shock wave, which would expand outward in concentric circles over a wide range...causing major tectonic disruption or worse. He gripped the controls of the Teleforce ray, while calculating furiously.

“The Teleforce circuitry can be reshaped into the Thor fireball apparatus. If we reconfigure our waveshape...” he visualized the image. “Change it from a lightning bolt into a...a vast shield. Meet their wave head-on.” If the force of the two weapons met and canceled each other, high up in space, perhaps Earth could be spared. His fingers flew over the controls, recalibrating...

“Clara, take the Saucer to top speed.” His whole body was taut with dread. “Hurry! We've got to intercept....”

They had crossed all of America now. The Saucer sped across the Pacific Ocean, faster than any human vehicle had ever flown. The ocean sparkled like a carpet of jewels below. Niko was struck with the beauty of this planet, whose fate would be decided in the next few minutes.

“What's the trajectory?” Clara asked. “Can we make it before it hits?”

He made quick calculations. “Somewhere in Asia.”

The Saucer sped toward its rendezvous with destiny.

The Abode Lord gave the signal. The High Command's weaponry readied for one monstrous blast.

“It's coming...it's going to fire
now!”
 

The Devastator vomited out a deadly force that would scour a planet.

Niko reached for Clara's hand. “Godspeed,” he said, and loosed the tremendous fireball that was Thor, backed up by the megavoltage of the Teleforce ray and the boost the Aon had given him.

Niko's cosmic fireball spread out like a net of electromagnetic ripples. It met the Devastator's shock wave somewhere above the forests of Siberia, at a place called Tunguska.  

The force of the two weapons met with an impact of planetary proportions. The shield of Thor deflected the Devastator waves, sending them sideways rather than directly into the Earth's crust. The waves rippled outward with the force of a trillion volts. A blinding light filled the sky. At first it happened in silence. Then the air came rushing back in a shattering concussion. On the frozen steppes below, trees were knocked down for hundreds of square miles around. A furious firestorm rose into the sky.

The explosion cracked the Saucer like an eggshell. The broken hull trapped the two passengers against their seats. The burning craft spun out of control, hurtling toward the Earth.  

“Niko,” Clara screamed.

“Clara!” Niko struggled to reach her through the crumpled metal. “Are you all right?” All he could see was a tiny bit of her face...the blood, streaming from her nose and ears.

“Niko...” She stared as if she couldn't see him. “Did we s...save Earth?”

“I think so.”

“Thank God.” She reached her fingertips out and he grabbed onto them. them. So icy cold. Yet, her expression was peaceful. Smiling. “Goodbye... Nikola.”

“No. Clara, don't leave me. I love you,” he cried. “I want to m-marry you!” He heard himself screaming, crying out. He clung to her hand, feeling a great uprushing of air surrounding them both. They must have fallen out of the broken Saucer and now they would plummet through the sky and smash into the ground below. His skin burned and tingled in the strangest way, as if his whole body was dissolving. He didn't know when Death had actually occurred but it seemed they had passed beyond the Earthly realm. They were falling through a vast triangular passage that unfolded around them. The pigeons were there too, lots of pigeons...  a flurry of wings and beautiful shapes in so many colors. Ranks of great tall flames, loving eyes, welcoming hands... no bodies; just hands.

said Alu.

38: Cosmic Circuit

He floated within an ocean of sounds: high notes like birdsong, and crystalline chimes, and vast far-off choruses of song that no human voice could produce. But all that mattered was to hold on to Clara. If he kept holding on, perhaps he could give her his own life-energy, and keep her from dying.

He wasn't sure if they still had bodies. If not, then maybe Clara wasn't dead?

 

The two Aon beings flickered slowly and clustered around the unconscious Clara. Alu conferred with Ayin.

 

But Ayin could not help.

Ayin passed a wing over Clara. <
Let's bring her down to healer Azel at the Source.>
 

Niko tried to follow, but his body didn't obey. If he even had a body. This place puzzled him. Did these beings live in more than three dimensions? Was that the reason why shapes and objects seemed to appear and fade out and appear somewhere else? His body, too...it faded in and out. Even the communication had a 4th-d aspect: nobody spoke, and yet understanding appeared in his mind

 

Alu floated off to one side, intent on a complex activity Niko could not understand.

 

Akai and several of the other Colleagues appeared almost instantly.

said Alu.

Several of the Aon clustered together, conferring.  Alu came to Niko in bird-shape, in a fiery orange color.