Weapon of Atlantis (2 page)

“Lord Zagreus, target destroyed
,” the commander announced proudly.

A pause sounded, then: “Very well, commander. Stand clear and rejoin your unit,” Lord Zagreus ordered.

He scanned his hologram and selected two pulse-energy destroyers from the screen.
“Units five and six. Move to sector twelve, on coordinates ninety-three and sixty parallels. Direct your pulse on that location,” he ordered.

“Yes my Lord,” the two ship’s commanders responded instantly.

A minute later, Lord Zagreus watched the large 30-man destroyers hover in place and direct their pulses of energy deep into the ground. Angling their fire, they made sweeping passes across the region, killing any living thing in its path.

Deep underground, Zeus felt the effects of the weapon…

----- ----- ----- -----

Crying out in pain, Zeus felt his muscles begin to contract as low dose
s of electricity penetrated his body. He stumbled momentarily, but forced himself to continue on.

“Just a little farther,” he mumbled through labored breath.

Again, another wave of pain ripped through his muscles. He dropped to one knee in agony. Breathing through his pain, the intensity diminished slightly as the spacecraft’s weapon passed through to another area. Quickly, he righted himself and continued on. Weak and his vision failing, he slid his feet along the rails, using them to guide him down the tunnel. Then, he saw it: a steep pitch in the section of tunnel that descended rapidly.

As he
shuffled toward it, another wave of energy penetrated his body. He dropped to the ground and writhed in pain. All his muscles contracted. His vision blurred completely and for a moment, his breathing stopped. As the energy beam passed by him, he gasped for air, then reached for Poseidon.

Frantically, he felt his chest for movement. Worry swept him as he realized, his brother’s condition was grim.

He dug deep for internal strength, rolled to his knees and began to crawl, dragging Poseidon behind him. Twenty feet ahead, was the beginning of the steep decline. He felt his body tiring. He shook with exhaustion, as well as pain. A minute later, he raised his wrist and shined the light down into the tunnel’s shaft. He knew he had only seconds to escape the next electronic sweep.

At the edge of the steep pitch, he sat down on one of the rails, holding Poseidon across his shoulder.
Balancing himself over the rail, he began to walk his feet forward. Outstretched fully, he pulled on his legs and began to slide. Slowly, he moved two feet forward. Repeating the process, he outstretched his legs once more. Again, he moved forward another two feet. With each movement he made, the pitch of the rail steepened dramatically. In seconds, he barely needed the effort of his legs to propel him forward and downward.

Suddenly, he felt it: the involuntary slide caused by the sheer steepness of the rail. He lay back slightly in his seated position and let gravity pull him deeper and faster down the tunnel.

In seconds, he now slid quickly on top of the rail, gliding his feet along the smooth fabricated ground to keep him balanced. As he accelerated down the ever-steepening shaft, he depressed his feet harder onto the ground, using friction to control his speed.

A moment later, he felt it: a barely detectable contraction in his muscles. He was now just beyond the effective range of the pulse-energy weapon. As he traveled along the rail, he smiled in relief. Once again, he had escaped the reaches of the Endorians.

----- ----- ----- -----

High above, monitoring the battle in his command flagship, Lord Zagreus nodded in satisfaction.

“Well done,” he shouted to the two commanders of the destroyers. “Rejoin your units.”

He studied the hologram and smiled. The entire city of Geleon seemed to be smoldering. He waved his hand across his screen, marking his pulse-energy destroyers for further action. He quickly typed in several lines of commands and
coordinates, then shouted:

“Direct
you fire inland. Commence pattern sweeps. Report any line breaches immediately,” he ordered.

In one unified response, the destroyer commanders, replied, “Yes
, my Lord.”

Lord Zagreus watched the large spacecraft crisscross the city of Geleon, beaming pulses of energy directly at the ground,
systematically destroying all life that existed. After nearly an hour of work, the commanders reported:

“Objectives achieved: no life reported.”

Lord Zagreus nodded approvingly.

“Excellent work,” he said proudly. He waved his hands over his fleet, then ordered, “All craft, return to Endoria.”

----- ----- ----- -----

One week later…

Planet Arae

The hidden base of Selepos.

Lord Iamus sat at a large conference table made of polished stone and studied the data displayed on a hologram at its center. Seated around him, his generals waited quietly while he considered the gravity of the message. With a grim face, he spoke:

“
Am I reading this correctly? All of Geleon has been completely destroyed?” he asked, hoping someone would contradict the horrible truth.

“I’m sorry, my Lord. We have positi
ve confirmation,” General Laira responded grimly.

Lord Iamus stared frightfully at his generals. His eyes conveyed his
next worry.

“And what
of Zeus?” he asked simply.

Gen. Laira’s face suddenly turned positive.

“My Lord, I just learned this morning: Zeus and Poseidon are alive. They sustained injuries during the battle, but were in fact, able to escape.”

Lord Iamus breathed a sigh of relief. A slight smiled crossed his face, then disappeared at the thought of thousands who had died.

“Are their injuries serious?” he asked, now refocusing on his main concern.

“Sir, from what I understand, both we’re beat up
badly from the forces of the explosions, but no muscular damage and no punctures or broken bones,” he responded.

Lord Iamus shook his head. “It’s a miracle they survived when so many died.”

“Yes, my Lord. From what I was told, Zeus crawled out of range of the pulse destroyers while dragging his unconscious brother behind him. Both men sustained several hits, but were able survive them, eventually escaping out of the tunnel. It was quite miraculous.”

“Indeed,”
Lord Iamus shot back. “When will they be available for conference?”

“Two days, my Lord,” he responded.

Lord Iamus only nodded.

----- ----- ----- -----

Zeus and Poseidon stood at the entrance of the conference chamber and waited while Lord Iamus coordinated with his generals. Upon seeing the two, Lord Iamus broke off his discussions and hurried both men in.

“Come in Zeus, Poseidon.
I’ve been waiting,” he shouted from across the room.

Zeus and Poseidon walked quickly to the conference table and stood at attention. Lord Iamus glanced at their appearance.

“You both have looked better. How do you feel?” he asked sincerely.

“Sore,” Zeus responded.

“My head’s still throbbing but the doctors tell me I should be ok in a few days,” Poseidon added.

Lord Iamus nodded in understanding. Glancing to his general
s, then back at the two, he continued, “Gen. Laira and I have been discussing your recent failures with cell regeneration.”

“My Lord, we’re making progress but the conditions we’re working in are slowing our advancements,” Zeus responded, cutting off his king before he finished his
statement. “With each new lab that’s destroyed, we must spend a great deal of time setting up and recalibrating our new equipment, as well as growing new cultures.”

Lord Iamus smiled momentarily.

“Zeus, as I was trying to say, Gen. Laira and I are in complete agreement: we cannot afford any more delays. We are losing the war due to attrition. With each new attack, Endoria grows stronger and Arae grows weaker. The fate of our planet depends on the success of your research.”

Lord Iamus touched the hologram in front of him. His fingers moved swiftly through a series of menus
, then suddenly a large celestial map appeared. He picked on a spot deep inside the image and expanded it. As it grew in size, it became apparent he was enlarging the view of a single planet. Moments later, with the tiny planet now large enough to see detail of its surface, he continued:

“This is planet
Earth. Do you recall it?” he asked.

Zeus nodded. “Yes, we discovered it on one of our science missions.”

“Years ago, we set up a hidden base deep within its undersea mountains. The Zalon Outpost has proved to be virtually undetectable. This will be your new home until you complete your research. You’ll be safe and able to work in absolute isolation.”

Zeus turned to Poseidon and smiled.

“This is exactly what we need,” he said with certainty.

Poseidon nodded.

Turning back to Lord Iamus, Zeus asked, “When do we leave?”

“
Now,” he stated abruptly.

----- ----- ----- -----

One year later…

Planet Earth

Zalon Outpost

Poseidon studied the
3-D hologram of a healthy living cell, suspended a foot above the table. He reached his hands inside it and separated its various properties. Instantly, the parted components rejoined into a whole unit once more.

He typed in a few keystrokes and produced a cell of
lethal bacteria. He combined the two cells together creating a single unit and smiled as the bacteria was instantly repelled from the healthy cell.

Next he typed in another command, r
aising the ambient temperature inside the hologram. A moment later, the cell began to darken and break down. He shook his head in frustration, then typed in a few more keystrokes, returning the hologram’s temperature back to normal. He noted his findings, then typed in a command to lower the holograms temperature. He nodded approvingly as the cell’s appearance remained unchanged.

“Zeus, we
’ve solved the issue of decay at the lower temperatures, but the elevated condition remains problematic,” he said to his brother, working at the opposite side of the brightly lit laboratory.

Concentrating deeply, Zeus stared at his own data suspended above his tabletop. He heard Poseidon’s voice and momentarily blocked it out as he worked through a problem in his mind.

“Zeus!” Poseidon called, now raising his voice slightly. “Did you hear what I said?”

Zeus focused on his brother’s face
, then pulled himself out of his own thoughts.

“What?” he asked,
unsure of Poseidon’s statement.

“The results of our last analysis are complete,”
he responded.

“And?”
he asked, now rushing to Poseidon’s side.

“
And in a controlled environment, the cell is stable and resilient. The new strain repels all disease and is impervious to cold temperatures,” Poseidon announced.

“What about at the higher temps?”
Zeus asked, now studying the hologram.