Vortex, Part 11

VORTEX Part 11

"No, I had nothing to do with the explosion," said Vahanara, as if he could read my thoughts. But I have to correct myself! Since Vahanara had access to the Memory of God, he didn't even need to read my thoughts, and ever since my rebirth, I was probably connected to the Memory of God again and therefore wouldn't lose my memory anymore.

"What happened then?" I asked.

"I don't know either, because my powers have been slowly neutralizing ever since I entered this universe."

"And how long have you been here?"

"Ever since the Ectomorphs wiped out the entire Planetary Alliance in our universe."

"What?" I cried out in horror. I really hadn't expected that.

"Yes, there are very few survivors, because the attack was too sudden and too well-planned. We didn't stand a chance of fighting back. Their mothership destroyed every planet that belonged to the Alliance. Later, they returned to your universe and attacked Earth as well."

A wave of dread slowly spread throughout the entire camp, especially among the crew of the BRIGHT STAR, who had all lost their families. Now would be the exact right moment to equip ourselves with defensive weapons. Vahanara was growing visibly weaker, so he wouldn't be much help to us against the Ectomorphs.

"How can I help you?" I asked Vahanara.

"You surely remember our agreement. I told you that I would demand my compensation later."

"Yes, you gave me the ALPHA in return, so what are you asking of me?"

Vahanara stood up with a solemn expression, then said:

"Let's go into the ship where we can talk. I want this matter settled in private for now."

I agreed, but I had an uneasy feeling. Now came the moment of truth. We went inside the spaceship, and no sooner were we inside than Vahanara said:

"No ifs and buts—since I am growing weaker and weaker, I need a new Genomorph body."

"Just spit it out, you want me!"

"No, unfortunately you are useless. The one I want is someone else entirely: Selina!"

I was completely speechless. Granted, I had wanted to kill her once, but that was in the past; I had mended my ways now and would never do such a thing again.

"Why do you want her and not me?" I finally asked.

"First of all, Selina is a Genomorph; second, she was born in this universe; and third, she is not a real living being. I can only survive if my new host originates from this universe."

"Give me an hour, I need to think it over first."

"What is there left to think over? A deal is still a deal, honor it."

It disgusted me, and Vahanara knew it, which is why he added:

"Varlon, don't forget: if I am too weak, you stand no chance against the Ectomorphs. They can also absorb souls by destroying entire planets—it's far less work that way."

Vahanara was putting pressure on me; I had to agree.

"Alright, Vahanara, you get Selina. When do you want her?"

"You are a sensible Zer. I want Selina as soon as possible so I can transfer myself without delay and regain my full power, just like in the old days."

I stepped outside and called for Selina to come in. She had to be sacrificed, as sorry as I felt for her.

On the new planet, we had the advantage of being able to build a civilized world much faster using our technology. Normally, it would take millennia for this world to develop a workable infrastructure, but with our combined efforts, we managed it in just a few months. What we hadn't managed so far, however, was launching a new Orbital Eye into orbit; every rocket exploded immediately after leaving the atmosphere. Only when I finally had power for my wormhole expander did we succeed in deploying a satellite capable of photographing the planet from orbit.

Vahanara knew something, but she said nothing about why the rockets kept exploding. Yet the planet held even more mysteries. For instance, it was far too distant from Proxima to be this warm. Its orbit was tighter than Mercury's in our solar system, but Proxima was also much colder than the Sun or Helios; for that reason, the average temperature should have been well below zero. At first, I suspected the planet was still very young and the geothermal gradient was very high, but satellite measurements disproved that: the planetary core was colder than Earth's. Another theory suggested a greenhouse effect, except that the CO2 level in the atmosphere was far lower than on Earth.

Now that the infrastructure was finally developed, we needed someone on Sek to guide our destiny, and so we decided to hold democratic elections. Besides myself, Master One, Vahanara, a former Skytology employee, and two Sekraners were running. Vahanara ought to know who the population would vote for; it only puzzled me that she continued running nonetheless.

Since the government building still had to be finished, the elections were held under the open sky. Campaign posters all around displayed slogans like: "For Peace and Stability," "No Taxes!", or "The Best Government Ever." I hadn't seen such a collection of lies and half-truths since the last party convention on Terra. My slogan was: "Security for All"—and it certainly wasn't a lie. The inhabitants of Sek now had to decide into whose hands they would place their fate for the next fifty years. Fortunately, a year here lasted only eighty Earth days, or forty Sek days.

Since the total population of Sek amounted to eight billion people, all living in our giant metropolis, the election itself took quite some time. The votes hadn't even been counted yet when Vahanara burst in, shouting:

"Var, I don't think you're going to like this. Through the Memory of God, I learned that the Ectomorphs found out where we disappeared to. They plan to attack us as soon as possible."

"Really? Good thing we installed a planetary defense system."

"I'm just afraid it won't be of much use to us. With every soul an Ectomorph absorbs, it grows smarter and stronger. After poaching in our parallel universe as well, I wouldn't be surprised if they defeat us this time."

"Just like last time, then? What do you suggest?" I asked her. Actually, it was absurd, and any outsider would wonder why I was asking a child for advice.

"Dean has developed a virus that eats away at the Ectomorphs' brains. Deploy it!"

The idea itself wasn't bad at all. Back when I didn't know the genetic code of the Ectomorphs, such a thing would have been impossible. I immediately ran to Dean's apartment block.

"Dean, is it true? Have you really developed a killer virus that can be used against Ectomorphs?"

"Yes, but how do you know that, Varlon?"

"Unimportant. Just tell me one thing: is it lethal to humans?"

"Not to humans, but it is to Genomorphs."

Just great! It kills our enemies, but it kills me too—why did I have to be a Morph? Actually, I didn't care much whether I died or not anyway, since A-Tya and Kara were still furious with me for handing Selina over to Vahanara. That reminds me that I feel sorry for Vahanara: as a little girl, he now has to go through life for the next few years before she will be capable of morphing.

"I don't care. Give me the virus, and I'll send it into the Ectomorph ship via wormhole."

"When they attack? Forget it, the virus would act too slowly."

"It's still our only chance!"

---

Luzifer sat comfortably on the command bridge, watching the planet his ship was approaching. Mivis sat on his right side, glad that Luzifer had taken him back after he had criticized his betrayal of Rokita.

"Mivis, what do you know about this planet?"

"Absolutely nothing, because the last time I saw it, it was completely lifeless and without an atmosphere."

"How can a planet change so much within a few centuries? That's impossible! Unless terraforming was involved."

"Yes, although the second planet in this system used to be habitable; now its surface consists entirely of frozen water."

"Of ice?"

"No, compacted snow encasing the surface kilometers thick. Both planets are very strange, and I have a bad feeling about this. We should give these planets a wide berth."

"That is exactly what I will not do. But you'd better prepare my shuttle."

Mivis left the bridge of the gigantic vessel for the launch bay in frustration. He was annoyed that Luzifer never listened to him. Luzifer rose from his command console and ordered the weapons officer:

"I want to observe the attack from my shuttle. Once I'm gone, launch the attack immediately and destroy Sek. But don't forget to absorb the life energy released upon the humans' deaths." Then he left the bridge.

Orbital Eye clearly showed us the planet-sized ship flying toward Sek at tremendous speed. I hooked the wormhole expander up to a power plant, gripped the vial with Dean's killer virus, and held it tightly. The moment of truth had arrived: I had to guide the vial—which was also fitted with an explosive charge—through the wormhole into the ship so that it would drop, detonating only after the wormhole had closed. No easy task, since opening and closing a wormhole sometimes took a bit longer, and I didn't know why. Now I regretted that we hadn't researched further in that direction. I set the target to the center of the ship where gravity was at its lowest; that should buy me enough time to close the wormhole again before the viruses could take the same path back and return to me.

Vahanara watched

...every movement of my hands instead of focusing on the Memory of God. Dean, too, appeared visibly nervous. Finally, I was ready. With the cry:

"- Banzai!", I opened the wormhole and sent the gift to the other side, then closed the WH again.

"- What was that supposed to be?", Vahanara asked.

"- Oh, I once heard this 'Banzai' cry on television and liked it so much, I just wanted to try it out myself, why?"

Vahanara laughed out loud and focused the monitor image from Orbital Eye. The Ectomorph flagship was just flying past the ice planet Elnor, already activating its weapons. By now, the vial of viruses should have exploded, as its radio signal abruptly ceased. It would be spread throughout the entire ship via the ventilation system, but that would still take hours, if not days, and then the illness would take several more hours until death. Now, only a miracle could save us.

A-Tya was standing in the doorway; when I noticed her, I stood up and took her into my arms.

"- Calm down, Tya, everything will be alright."

Unfortunately, I didn't believe my own lies, but when Kara came into my arms as well, I didn't care anymore—I knew I would die happy. With a wormhole, I could still evacuate them to Melcon, but what good would that do if they ended up killing the people there?

"- I don't want to die yet!", Kara cried.

The ship was now within firing range and was already focusing its weapons on Sek. Dean quickly whispered a prayer; suddenly, something went click and everyone jumped with tension. No, it was just the election computer finishing the tally of the votes. I walked over to the screen and read my name in first place, as if anyone still cared about that.

We all sat down, and at that very moment, the ship fired a massive particle beam. I managed to say:

"- At least I'll die sitting down," and closed my eyes tight.

Instead of the expected death, nothing at all happened. I was still alive and decided to open my eyes.

Strange: the birds were still chirping as if nothing had happened, and although the ship kept on firing, not a single particle made it through. I ran out of ALPHA and looked up. The beam was clearly visible, but it was being absorbed somewhere in the upper atmosphere, never reaching its target.

Now it dawned on me why the planet had such a high temperature and why the rockets always exploded. A protective shield surrounded Sek!

Who created this shield? I glanced over at Vahanara, but she smiled innocently.

"- I can't tell you!", she answered, as though my thoughts were blatantly obvious, and turned to head back into the ship. I grabbed her by the arm and asked:

"- Why can't you tell me? Is it that big of a secret? What's behind this?"

Vahanara tore herself free from my grip and ran away.

The Ectomorphs kept trying for hours to break through the shield. I could vividly picture how furious they were. Suddenly, the beam grew much weaker and the gigantic ship, which obscured half the sky, began to move—heading straight toward Proxima. Yes, the virus was taking effect. Unbelievable but true, the Ectomorph flagship flew faster and faster, completely out of control, toward the star. It didn't take long before it eclipsed Proxima; it looked like a solar eclipse, but Proxima became clearer and clearer as the ship drew closer and closer to it. We all watched the spectacle until the ship vanished into the photosphere.

"- We'll never be bothered by them again," I finally remarked, but I was gravely mistaken, as the future would show. Vahanara already knew it back then, but she remained persistently silent.

Now we had to find out from where the force field was controlled. After moving into my new office, I ordered an immediate search for its origin, and Elnor also caught my attention—for were it not for the temperatures in the range of Uranus or Pluto, life could exist on that planet.

Dean, whom I had appointed as my science advisor, came into my office and showed me a piece of wood.

"- Well, what am I supposed to do with that?", I asked.

"- On Earth, we could clearly read solar activity from tree rings. It's the same here—take a look at it, Varlon."

I took the piece of wood into my hands and examined the tree rings closely. They were noticeably smaller than on terrestrial trees, which made sense since the years here were shorter.

Looking closer, I realized what Dean meant. It was about a hundred Earth years ago when Proxima lost roughly seventy percent of its radiation. Back then, Elnor was just as hospitable to life as Earth, if I wasn't mistaken.

With ALPHA, I could get there quickly via a wormhole, but I was now president and tied to my desk; someone else would have to do it for me.

Yet as long as Sek wasn't fully explored, I couldn't assign anyone to examine Elnor for me. Terek was furious with me; he felt he should have been elected instead. The former Skytology associate seemed to know everything better than anyone else. He had to take revenge for my having destroyed his wonderfully organized association. In his apartment, all the surviving Skytologists met conspiratorially and deliberated on the best way to depose me. Terek knew right away how they should proceed:

"- Varlon is a family ma--! Ahem, I mean Genomorph; therefore, we should kidnap his daughter and lure him into a trap."

"- Hasn't anyone ever tried that before?"

"- Possibly, but I have a foolproof plan, so Varlon will definitely fall into our hands, and then we can finally kill him."

"- Do you already know how to kill a Genomorph? I've heard it's nearly impossible, especially because of the Legacy!"

"- Leave that to me. This time, he's done for!"

End