Finish the Science Fiction Story

Cafe Society
181

Okay, I read it again and I see it can work. But I was just feeling like an idiot for overlooking the almost simulpost. I have *got * to be more careful.

Still on Valis 5 Victor Channing Jr. was going through a list of business related and unidentified caller messages of lower priority. Most he was deleting but one caught his eye because of the word “Swanson” in it’s title. He opened it, and frowned at it’s disjointed nature. Please help. Come quickly to this place? Hot, wet, lonely, We are weak, not sure of place? Kenezr will help.

It was the mention of Kenezr that really got Victor’s attention. He wondered Trontiann’s ship had left yet on it’s mission and tried calling him at the spaceport. Damn it! His comm unit was not putting calls through. So Victor left a message for the skeleton crew that was maintaing the Echo II, just in case the new ship was needed as well. What with all that had been happening lately he and VMC Sr. had not got around to a complete evaluation of the results of the shakedown flight that Kathy and Tobermory had glimpsed so briefly. Maybe now they might gain some more data. He tried Trontiann again, still no answer.

…

Upon leaving non-space once more The Jewel of Novon did not immediately enter the Valis system. Instead the orders were to hang back beyond Valis 12, the outer planet and make a close survey of the ships and open messages entering and leaving the system. Dr. McDaniels had told the captain about the comm he had been forced to send to Valis 5, and since it was possible that the others had been forewarned Vorpal had decided to be cautious. Finally, using a false call code the ship moved to an orbit just inside the range of detectablity for Valis 5. After recieving information from their spaceport informer, about the state of preparedness of Channing related vessels, including that of Trontiann, Vorpal came to a decision. He would wait to communicate with Kathy, and “show” her his recording, until she was in space. She would still have others with her, but would not have as many resources as if she was on planet. And if he could get her into non-space she would be incommunicado from those in real space. He chuckled to himself, and took another drink.

182

“My Lord! …er… Mr President!” cried out Captain Stavropoulos.

“Yes…?” answered Vorpal, twirling a small piece of metal between his fingers.

“I have two ships on scope, preparing for entrance to non space.”

“Which one is she on?”

“I do not know, sir!”

“Must I do everything my self?” Vorpal retorted sarcastically. “Ah… She is on the lead ship, the cruiser… Interesting…”

The Captain waited nervously, not wanting to annoy Vorpal any more than he already had. But, the trace of the two ships was nearing the end of his ship’s survellience capability.
His voice quavering, he asks, “Your orders, Sir?”

“You FOOL! Follow Them! Follow them! But stay out of range of their scopes.”

Captain Stavropolous wasn’t about to tell Vorpal that the old cruised had some of the most sensative scopes ever made, since they were built as advance scouts for the Great Cleansing of over 1000 years ago. Outside of any cruiser’s crew, He may be the only person still alive with that knowledge. “Oh well… Today is as good a day as any to die a horrid death.” he thought to himself, and manuevered his vessle into the same alignment for non space.

Aboard the cruiser, Martel was getting a little worried himself.

“What if this faux crystal generator doesnt work? What is it gives us away? How can we know Vorpal will follow us and not Trontiaann?”

“Quit yer worryin’ you old lady!” Zora said in respose. “This bucket o’ bolts just looks old. We’ve got some tricks aboard this ship that no one has even thought of til now. Besides, Kathy imprinted that gizmo herself. It’s broadcasting the signature we want.” A blip showed on his scope. “See? There they are now. Vorpal must be pretty hyped up on his meds to get this kind of reading from his crystal.”

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Martel whined, more to himself than anyone else.

“Miss Swanson,” came the comm link from the bridge to where she and Tobe were setting up, “They took the bait. Prepare for non space.”

“Tobe. I’m scared. I don’t want lose my parents again. But, I don’t know if I’m strong enough,” she said, on the verge of tears.

Putting his large paw on her shoulder, Tobe forced her to look into his eyes. “You CAN, Kathy. Trust me. Trust Elia. Trust yourself. This will work.”

Or we’re all lost, he thought to himself, careful to mask any sign of his own almost overpowering dread.

183

Kathy was still somewhat nervous but Tobermory’s words had made her feel much better. She had also had some time, before leaving for the ship, to speak to both Kenezr and former Capt. Verless. The latter had given her a lot of pointers on how to deal with Vorpal, which “buttons” to push and so on. And he had let Kathy know about what seemed to be Vorpal’s substance abuse, although he didn’t know as much about that as he would have liked.

Speaking to her former mentor had been difficult at first.

“Kathy, I should have trusted you, I’m sorry for making you a courier like this. Can you forgive me?”

Her eyes were flat as she looked at the injured man, his ruined eye and his other hurts. “I know you almost died rather than give Vorpal anything more on me. Let’s just say you have my conditional forgiveness for now. But after this is over we are going to have to talk.”

“I swear, I will explain everything. If you want my life you can have it…”

Her face softened a little, she still wanted to like him. “I don’t think we will have to go that far, but what I need from you now is everything you learned about Vorpal’s current state of mind, while you were on his ship.”

“My dear Kathy, of course! Where should I begin?” And the two had their talk.
…

“Look!” said Alliance Capt. Zora “See that? He’s moving in just close enough to call us, but just out of firing range… Yeah, there, the comm board just lit up.” He reached for th comm switch and waited.

“TRIDENT VESSEL” boomed the speakers, “This is Capt. Nicholas Stavropoulos, of The Jewel of Novon, owner aboard President Astrid Vorpal. Pres. Vorpal wishes to speak with a passenger of yours. He has inportant information, and a message.”

Zora flicked the switch “You don’t say. And which passenger is that? We aren’t a commercial liner, ya know.”

“You have aboard a Kathy Swanson.”

“We do, do we?”

“We have means of tracking you may be unaware of. Please bring Miss Swanson to your bridge so…”

At this point he was interrupted, and for a moment there were noises of static, punctuated by thudding sounds, and the words "None of that frelling ‘Please’ crap! The speaker crackled into life again.

“This is Astrid Vorpal. You give that bitch this message. I have something she wants very badly. I’ve hurt it already and would love to do so again. If she wants proof of my words, she can watch this. You can take a recording can’t, you?”

“We can.”

“Stand by then” and he transmitted the vid of the “torture” session. “Let her see that, and then tell her I will exchange what she sees for her own person. A perfectly rational transaction, one life for two.”

Martel, still on the bridge, muttered to himself “Like I said, a bad feeling.”

184

Tobermory turned away from the monitor that Zora had linked to their ship before takeoff and said, “We have confirmation, Kathy. Your parents… er… their ‘essense’… is aboard the Jewel. Are you ready?”

She took a deep breath to calm herself. “Yes. Switch it on.”

Tobe and Elia both activated different panels on the improbable looking, slapped together machine that was built long ago for a completely different purpose.

A cold light bathed Kathy as she stood motionless.

Designed to find power signatures in non space, in other words a mine sweeper, the machine needed very little augmentation to be used for this new purpose.

*:::Mother? Father? Can you hear me?:::

:::Yes, dear:::

:::We know what you are doing. We are prepared:::

:::Well, then…Here goes nothing:::*

The light shining on Kathy swirled around, changing colors. Persperation dripped from her forehead.

A beam of bright, purple light pierced through the hull of their ship, leaving a chasm of indeterminent size. Inside this chasm, or hole, a roaring wind could be heard. Then, with a shreik like the sound of metal being ripped apart, a shape emerged from the fissure. Collapsing in on itself, the fissure seemed to pulse once more with a blinding flash of light.

All power in their ship went offline.

All that could be heard was a faint, irratic wheeze, as if someone were sleeping very poorly.

Emergency lights came on first, revealing Kathy laying prone on the deck, a small trickle of blood running down her cheek from her left eye.

Also on the deck was a strange, slug like creature.

Tobe recovered first. “By the grace of Wayre. IT WORKED!”

On the Jewell, Astrid Vorpal sensed a presense that he had no explanation for. Then, he sensed that the Swansons were no longer aboard.

"NOOOOOO!!! he bellowed in rage.

The First Mate turned to him and said, “We have you now, Astrid.” And dissappeared into a small fissure that opened up right under his feet.

“Remember,” a voice came out from the fissure, “Wayre always wins.”

And with a small pop, the fissure closed.

Bewieldered, and filled with rage, Astrid Vorpal turns to his Captain.

“You have betrayed me!”

“No! My Lord. I knew nothing about this, I…”

His voice strangled off, his eyes and ears began to gush blood. Falling to the deck, Captain Stavropolous died the horrid death he had thought of mere minutes earlier.

Stepping over the still twitching corpse, Vorpal searched the scopes for the other ship he knew must be close by.

“Kathy and the Wayre, eh?” he mused in a sing song voice. “Let’s see how you like this!”

As he was muttering to himself, he turned the Jewel into a new course through non space. He was aiming to ram them.

With the Jewell on its new heading, he reached out to the faux crystal signal, shutting it off.

“Now, Miss Swanson. I will have you. Or kill you.”

The Trident cruiser was flung about like a toy in non space by Vorpal’s hate filled attack.

“You call this having the upper hand?” accuses Martel to Zora as the ship’s systems failed one by one.

“Well, yes,” Zora calmly answers. “Actually, this is exactly what we were expecting.” He enters a code into the control board he was strapped behind. The ship stopped pitching and soon settled into place. A low, barely perceptable hum could now be heard. Or felt rather. As though the ship were tapping into a power supply that could run a planet.

Elia turns to Tobe, who was kneeling by Kathy, administering the stimulant required to bring her back to reality.

“Mr Tobermory. Something has gone terribly wrong. Something I had not planned for.”

Confused and troubled, Tobe looked at Kathy, the creature, and back to Elia. “What? It’s all going to plan. What are you talking about?”

“Wayre!” she answered, and collapsed to the deck. Leaving Tobe desperately trying to rush Kathy to awareness.

185

Tobermory had tried everything he could think of to bring Kathy back more quickly. He’d managed to get her into a sitting position, propped up against the bulkhead, but it seemed like she was almost refusing to be aware. her body was tense, and her eyes were tightly closed, as if she didn’t want to open them to what she might see. Finally, desperate, Tobe had one more idea.

Kathy slowly became aware of a feeling of comfort, of a pleasing sound and texture of softness under one hand. Something was pushing against her other hand as well, but there was no threat. Slowly, carefully, she cracked her eyes and saw a large black cat nudging her. “Tobe, dear, is that you?” she asked in a small voice. Seeing she was awake the “cat” purred even louder and jumped off of her lap, running around behind her out of her angle of sight. Kathy shook her head to clear it, and by the time she had managed to stagger to her feet there was not a cat, just the real Tobermory, bending over an unconscious Elia. The creature containing her parents was in another corner, but when Kathy started to move towards it she heard

*:::My daughter, we’ve come this far:::

:::The other is more important just for now:::

:::I can’t leave you like this!:::

:::Be patient, we can wait a little longer:::*

So Kathy turned away. She knelt by Elia and looked at her. Trying to determine what the matter was she reached out with her senses, as she was learning to do. As if recognizing that power, Elia’s eyes opened.

“Greetings, Kathy Swanson”

“Elia, are you all right?”

“We are not Elia, we are of Wayre”

A feeling of dread at the name began to creep back into Kathy. So many bad things, all the fear of the mere name.

“We get that reaction all the time, unfortuneately. It’s to be expected I suppose. Some of us have behaved badly at times, as lure to use the power of a collective mind can be irresistable.”

“There are more of you?” asked Kathy in dismay.

“Elia” chuckled. “We are Legion actually” and seeing the blank look on Kathy’s face "Sorry, a bad joke from a long time ago.

“Well, not to put too fine a point on it, but what are you doing using Elia without her permission?”

“A temporary emergency solution I assure you. Vorpal was about to kill my former host and I took the chance to escape thorugh your beam. And I wanted to really see you, just this once”

“Me? Why me?”

“Your associate Kenezr can fill you in on more. But you needn’t fear us, most of us anyway. Your parents, and most importantly, you after them, are what we have been working towards for so long. Allies in the physical world could be more useful than being a puppet master.”

Kathy asked in a thoughtful voice “You still could use transport, couldn’t you though?”

“It is easier, although not absolutely necessary”

“What about the ship you just came from?”

“Tell me more.”

Kathy looked up to see Tobermory and the others from the ship all staring down at her. She felt badly for having tuned them out so completely. “M’Kayla, does Capt. Trontiann have a vortex generator aboard this ship?”

“I believe so. Kathy, you aren’t going to …”

"Not me. But I’m going to help someone else(here her eyes slid towards “Elia”.

A short while later Kathy and Elia stood before the generator apparatus. She just had time to think that all this had started with one, maybe now it would end. The whirling mouth of a tunnel opened before them, and at a great “distance” she could see the tiny figure of Astrid Vorpal. It seems he could see her too and she felt a blast of overwhelming rage and fear. The figure beside her slumped at little, but stayed on her feet, and when her eyes opened it was Elia M’Hall again.

Kathy turned away as the mouth of the vortex closed. Had she heard a scream? She wasn’t sure.

186

But before her now stood the meanacing figure of Astrid Vorpal himself. The rage and fear he was broadcasting via his crystal had become an almost physical trait.

Keeping her distance (crystal-wise), Kathy tried to probe into Vorpal’s mind. The all encompassing hate she found made her face wince as though she was in physical pain.

:::Yes. YES! You fear me, Miss Kathy Swanson. And for good reason:::

With a burst of energy not unlike a lightning bolt, Kathy found herself flung hard against the far bulkhead. Tobe, quickest of all Xxavvian soldier/scouts, lunged at Vorpal but was held motionless in mid strike.

“Ha ha ha ha!” bellowed Vorpal, saliva dripping from his mouth, “You are no match for me! I am ASTRID VORPAL!”

He played with the motionless figure of Tobermory for awhile, twisting him first one way, then another. Everyone was either frozen in fear or by Vorpal’s power.

Kathy lay unconscious on the deck.

Then, Tobe fell to the deck as Vorpal spun around to where Kathy was laying.

"What… is… this…? ’ He hissed as saliva continue to drool from his mouth in greater and greater quantity. Soon, blood began to trickle from his eyes, ears and nose. He was shaking involuntarily and sweat covered his eerie figure.

A low pitched hum could be heard, felt rather, throughout the ship. A vague indistinct light formed in Vorpal’s torso. Brighter and brighter it grew until it looked as though the President were an incandescent lamp.

Twtching, Astrid looked at the unconscious Kathy, “Please! No! Don’t!” he shreiked in a high pitched voice. The light and the noise emanating from Vorpal grew in intensity.

“I’ll see you in Hell, Kathy Swanson!” he roared in a last fit of rage.

The crystal he had so long ago warped to his own devices was now wreaking it’s revenge on Astrid Vorpal.

As the light became almost to great to view, Tobe watched as the crystal shattered, tearing apart the physical body of the President.

With one last ear piercing shreik and blast of blinding light it was over. The rage and fear that had seemed almost like a physical presense had left their senses like a thunderstorm passing. Bits and pieces of the former president littered the room.

And Kathy was awake, standing, poised in a purposeful stance, fists by her side, a look of anger of power on her face. Blood and sweat covered every inch of her.

“That’ll teach him,” she said.

187

Aboard Zora’s cruiser, Martel and Robert watched the instruments and the live video feed in awe. Around them could be heard the sounds of orders and acknowledgements as the cruiser grappled with the runaway Jewell, bringing it out of non space with them, thus eliminating Vorpal’s last threat to anyone.

“Robert, did you have any idea how completely Kathy would be able to mesh with the anti crystal field generator?”

“Well… No. I thought she would simply use it a finder of sorts, I had no idea it could magnify crystal power so dramatically.”

“I have news for you boys,” interjected Zora. “That wasn’t the machine. That was all Swanson.”

“But, how could that be?” questioned Martel.

“I don’t know hows or whys, I just know whats. Look at the graphs yourseves,” Zora added as he switched a couple of monitors to the analyses being run.

“Here is where Vorpal got fingered by the Wayre. This bump is the transfer from the Jewell to Trontiann’s ship. And this huge jump is when Miss Swanson was unconcious on the deck and Vorpal was getting his, er, come uppance.”

“But,” Robert interrupted, “Kathy’s signal still shows as strong as when she accessed the field!”

“Yes,” answered Zora. “And quite frankly, I can’t explain it. At least not yet.”

“Okay,” added Martel, “What is this huge field here? The one with the wave function and no spikes?”

“That, my friend, is Wayre.”

“You can read who and where they are?” asked Martel excitedly.

“No,” answers Zora, “Simply that they are. And you may well want to notice the scale on that graph. It’s reduced a thousand in magnitude, just so it will fit on the screen. This is a long way from over, my young friends…”

Just then, a crewman informs Zora that trontiann’s ship is now out of non space, preparing to come alongside.

Robert claps his hands and exhales loudly, “Well, we’re finished for now, at least!” And he went off to find a shot of Earth liqour, since he had seen it being loaded at berth.

Martel stayed looking at the power graph of The Wayre, wondering how safe any of them ever were.

188

The former “pet” that held the essences of the elder Swansons had been transferred to a lab that specialized in xenobiological research. It had been cared for while the bodies of Kathy’s parents had been slowly and carefully revived during the past week, readying them for a rejoining of body and mind. Oddly enough, it was Kathy that seemed the least worried about the upcoming event.

She had spent most of one day in a private “discussion” as she later put it, with Jacob Kenezr. Those who “accidentally” overheard them, walking by the closed door they were behind, thought it sounded like two saurians in mating season. There was a lot of roaring and screaming, mostly in a feminine tone. After a long period in which there was no noise at all, and Tobermory was about to break in the door, Kathy had calmly emerged, actually smiling a little. Her only comment about that time, until much, much later, was “We understand each other now, and I know what I need to.”

Capt. Trontiann had also spent time going over the Echo II, the Channing vessel. It had not been needed in the conflict, but Trontiann was practically salivating at the chance to be the first captain of what was likely to be a kick-ass class of ship, one that would restore VMC to Channing control.

The morning of the transfer, Kathy was up early and wondering what to do with herself before she left for the hospital. M’Kayla and Kenezr, both being couriers themselves, would accompany her, although Kenezr still weak, would take no real part. Elia would also come. Although not a courier her mental talents could be of aid to Kathy, calming and steadying her.

Kathy ate a big breakfast( she still got hungry more quickly than she used to), and wandered into the room that the children had used while they were on Valis 5. With dismay she noted that the blue knaffel that Nadia had so doted on had accidentally been left behind. “Will I ever get a chance to return it to her?” she wondered to herself, missing her former life on Ceres more than she knew.

“Kathy, do you have a minute?” She turned to see Tobermory standing in the doorway.

“For you? You don’t need to ask, dear Tobe.”

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you, to get it off my chest, something I haven’t told anyone yet. Kathy, I…”

“Kathy? Where are you? It’s time to go, the hospital called and said they will be ready early” The voice of M’kayla interrupted whatever it had been Tobe was going to say, as they hurried out, not daring to delay such a delicate procedure.

M’Kayla and Elia stood beside Kathy as they faced the creature in it’s tank, and the two human bodies on the beds. The latter had tubes, wires and monitors stuck into every possible bodily orifice. Their limbs and heads were loosely restrained. Elia was already using her talent, and Kathy seemed steady as a rock. She had pulled her hair into a long single, bright red braid, as that was how she had worn it when she had last seen her parents.

The head of the hospital herself, Dr. Morgan, was supervising this unusual task. Now she turned to Kathy “Miss Swanson, the staff and my monitors tell me that the patients, your parents, are as ready as they will ever be. Their bodies are alive, it’s up to you for the rest.”

“Thank you doctor” was the simple reply, and now Kathy turned to face the challenge.

As she faced it the creature stirred. Ripples ran up and down the length of it’s body, and Kathy shivered in like response. Simultaneously the creature reared up and Kathy’s head snapped back so hard that her neck creaked. The creature itself collapsed back into the tank, fluids from it’s body leaking from a dozen ruptures. It was clearly dead. Kathy’s eyes, which had closed, now flew open as she turned to her parents. The shivering and trembling resumed.

“Doctor, we have non-mechanical life signs!” called a med tech. The two bodies began to twitch visibly, here and there, then began to make such violent motions that if they had not been restrained they would have hurt themselves. There were no lights or glows, but M’Kayla, leaning close to Kathy, heard “Mommy? Daddy? Please wake up!” She never spoke of it to anyone.

Kathy slumped forward and was caught before she fell. When she looked up again there were two pairs of eyes watching her, awake and aware, and she burst into tears.

189

Two weeks later, and things finally seem as though they are settling down.

The children have been taken back to Ceres, where the school administartion rapidly made good on their promise to reintergrate them into normal society. Fortunately, some of the best psychologists and genetecists on any world, including Dr. McDaniel, agreed to aid in their rehabilitation. A daunting task, since some of these very same children were being groomed by Professor Kenezr for crystal implantation should the Swanson Experiment fail.

Zora had agreed to an exchange of sorts. He would aid Trontiann with the implementation of his pet tools and instruments aboard Trontiann’s new ship, the Echo II. In exchange, Zora and his cadre would gain acceptance into the VMC once the Channings regained control. A more useful exchange of resources and information could not be imagined by either man.

Though the official status of Alkani was Missing In Action, presumed dead, a startling series of events back on Earth had come to the attention of tKani’sav and he had dispatched secret orders to his operatives there to determine if the creature committing these unusual crimes really did match the physical description of Alkani that he had received. The prospect that Alkani was Wayre from the begginning lay heavy on his mind. How far into the services might the Wayre reach? Who indeed could be fully trusted?

The elder Swansons and Professor Kenezr had combined their resources and knowledge together to form a special school on Valis V for the advanced training of human and Xxavvian couriers. It seemed about time that they tried to work together instead of at odds. Of course Kathy held a very special and powerful position in this school. Equal in rank to an Agent, 3rd level in Valis government.

The powers she manifested in the “incident” regarding Astrid Vorpal are still being nervously investigated.

Which brings us to this Earth woman Kathy Swanson. She is walking across the well manicured gardens of Granthiaxav’s family holdings, a mere twenty minutes by air car from the new school complex being renovated out of Vorpal’s old holdings. Tobermory is with her.

“Kathy, there is still something I feel I must explain to you…” Tobe begins.

Interrupting, Kathy said. “What, Tobe? That you’re sorry for the deception? That you’re sorry any of this ever involved me? Save it. I know it all now anyways. You would be surprised what I’m able to read with this crystal of mine.”

“Kathy!” he said, pained.

“Oh, Tobe, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to lash out. And I promise I don’t read anyone at random or just for the fun of it.”

“Thank you, Director Swanson” he said, stiffly.

“Oh, Tobe, stop it! I’m not mad at you. really, I owe my life to you. Several times over. That shows your purity of heart to me. I am very grateful. By the way, Tobe, did you hear that Robert and Martel both are enrolling in my parent’s school?”

“I had a feeling at least Martel would,” answered Tobe. “He seemed very adept even without a crystal.”

“Yes. And Robert may be the quickest thinker I ever met in quantifying results of the physical research we just now are privy to. It’s as though he thought it up himself and then asks about it…”

“Yeah, he’s quite the cool cat isn’t he?” Tobe offers sullenly.

“Now, Tobermory! I won’t have any attitude like from my newest assisitant in crystal and Wayre reasearch!”

She holds up a badge with a brand new rank on it.

“It’s yours if want it, Tobe,” she offers anxiously.

Smiling despite himself, Tobe looks at Kathy and says, “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

“Why Tobe!” squeels Kathy. “I always thought you were paying a bit too much attention to my old Earther movies for a common cat!”

“I am no common cat, Miss Swanson.”

Taking hold of his paw in her hand, she says, “No, Tobe. No you aren’t.” and together they walked on into the garden.
The End

[story ended at the request via e=mail of OP, Baker]

Thanks everyone! It’s been quite a ride.

:slight_smile:

190

Critique and suggestions for future stories are welcome, btw.

Baker suggested she wants to try a sequel sometime in the next few months.

191

That’s great NoClueBoy! A fine ending, with just the amount of teasers needed for the future. I liked the movie reference too. I think several of us slipped in other film and literary references to. I had a Rocky Horror reference, the Godfather, the Bible, and so on.

Thanks to NoClueBoy, ivylass, Jeff Olsen, Jack Ketch, Fibber McGee, Bunnylady, and Lost Cause. Did I leave anyone out?

192

Author! Author! :smiley:

I included three James Bond references, the name of the city on Elia’s business card is that of Ian Fleming’s half-sister. I’m glad NCB picked up on my intentions for Zora and the cruiser to be in the same mold as Han Solo and the Millennium Falcon.

193

Wow.

Wow.

Damn, but we’re good!

Kudos to everyone. I think we need a bit of a rest after that one!