CHAPTER FIFTEEN:

Deceptions

 

            Josh went into his new quarters. He was exhausted from the battle in Zebulon, and the hike up the black mountain didn’t help. What Starla had revealed about interdimensional space swirled in Josh’s head. He was sure it would keep him awake. His worries vanished when Tempo came in wearing the pleasing form and purple bathing suit of Emily Kinicki.

            “How do you like it?” she said.

            “Huh?”

            “The quarters I have constructed for you.”

            “Oh, yeah. Well built -- er, I mean...”

            “Did you see her?”

            “Who?”

            “The real Emily Kinicki. When you were home.”

            “Oh, yeah.”

            “It must have felt strange to you.”

            “Sure was. She -- well, she just wasn’t -- as interesting as you are.”

            “Really? That pleases me.”

            “Yeah. Me, too.”

            “Have a well deserved rest, Joshua Miles,” the space/time entity smiled through the lips of Emily Kinicki.

            “Good night -- Tempo,” Josh replied.

            Tempo left. Josh watched her go. She looked back. They smiled at each other with equal, and significant, affection. Tempo turned away, and Josh watched her go until she entered her sleep chamber. She turned again. Again, they shared a smile, then together they closed their doors.

            Josh removed his torn and dirty clothes and took a shower in the futuristic stall Starla had constructed especially for him. Tempo had telepathically transferred the specifications from Josh’s brain to Starla’s memory core. Starla built the shower stall in less than an hour including the plumbing and heating elements that melted snow outside, warmed it, and showered it over the stall’s occupant. Unfortunately, Starla’s concept of hot and cold running water had no in between setting. It was either volcano hot or icicle cold. Still, Josh managed to clean up, and soon his thoughts turned to Tempo. Thoughts of her made him warm inside, even when the shower was freezing. It never occurred to him that, at that moment, Tempo was quite probably morphing from the energy draining form of Emily Kinicki into the viscous ooze Quaternions really were. But thoughts of Tempo in the form of Emily was all Josh could see. She made Josh forget for awhile his difficult and dangerous dilemma: how to lead these rebels to victory in a colossal war when, in fact, he had no idea what he was doing?

            Josh stepped out of the shower and faced a new dilemma: he’d forgotten to tell Starla about towels! The sonic chamber they all used for bathing was very effective. It had no need for towels, nor water, nor soap. Josh dried off with the tiny tissue-like squares in his bathroom, a convenience, it seemed, all carbon-based entities needed. He put on one of several sleep tunics in his closet and turned to the foam platform the DimensioNoids considered to be a bed. He hadn’t thought to transfer to Starla the concepts of pillows, cotton sheets and cozy down comforters. But he found the foam mat and flimsy silver coverlet surprisingly warm and toasty. Soon, he was sound asleep.

            Tempo approached in a strange fog. She smiled, parted those lips of Emily Kinicki’s and, in Starla’s voice, said, “I am getting some troubling input from my sensor scans.” Josh snapped awake! It was a dream, but Starla’s voice continued over his burn band, “Assemble in the ready room.”

            Josh jumped out of bed, threw on his clothes and found them cleaned, repaired and pressed. “Starla!” he chuckled to himself. Josh ran out the door, and all the DimensioNoids converged at the ready room. They took to their tactics benches and their view screens popped to life.

            “These images are real time,” Starla said as video filled everyone’s screen. An army of Minions was marching in great numbers into a large building. “This is their jump chamber in Cadavra. I monitor it constantly. It can burn a thousand Minions at a time into any dimension.”

            “Another world marked for annihilation!” Fractal fumed.

            “I can’t discern their target dimension until the first wave has burned into it,” Starla explained.

            “Tactics?” Fractal requested.

            “The same as previous invasions. All we can do is burn to the attack and help the inhabitants fight the invaders.”

            “Starla?” Josh spoke up. “How do you watch these guys? You know, keep an eye on them like you do?”

            “Track and monitor? That is something only a Peitgen can do. My mind can ride the refracted light that travels between the dimensions. I see what I set my mind to watch. I can monitor perhaps four to six events in interdimensional space. All at the same time.”

            “Wow. Awesome,” Josh said. “With that kinda spy tech, and with the D-noids’ special powers, how come we’re getting’ our butts thumped?”

            “Simple numbers,” Starla said over the bands. “If there were only one army, we might repel their invasion. But they send army after army. We are always overwhelmed.”

            This gave Josh an idea. “We need to attack their jump chamber. Stop them from sending their armies at all.”

            “We’ve tried that,” Fractal said, “but the chamber is too heavily guarded, too well fortified.”

            “No, no. Infiltration. Sabotage,” Josh clarified. “Like we did in Zebulon. Tempo going in as a Minion trooper.”

            “Tried it. They have scanners that detect anyone without an identity implant,” Tempo said. “If you’re not a dead walker, you’re not getting in.”

            “The Cluster. They aren’t dead, right, Starla?”

            “They still live. Kept alive by their healing shrouds.”

            “Do Cluster members have identity implants?”

            “Reviewing,” the light entity said from somewhere else in the command center. The screens filled with overlapping video of the security entrance, all at hyper-speed. Minion guards with heavy weapons manned the entrance. “Members of The Cluster rarely pass through security at the jump chamber. Their frail constitution does not permit dimension travel. But, now that you have called my attention to it...” Several video selections slowed to reveal different occasions of fog shrouded Cluster members passing a wide scanning device. Minions also passed through with them. It was obvious that the detector flashed and hummed at the passing of the Minions, but not of The Cluster. “...they are not scanned. They are merely saluted, which militant carbon-based entities are prone to do.”

            Josh smiled. How right Starla was. Carbon-based entities always seemed to have a chip on their shoulder and a reason to go postal.

            “They’ve sent their first wave!” Starla called out over the burn bands. “Their target is the dimension of Huen. A primitive people with limited resources. It is too late for any sabotage effort, now.”

            “It’s not too late to stop the next wave!” Josh said. He took Tempo by the shoulders and looked into Emily Kinicki’s eyes. “Tempo. Have you ever morphed into one of The Cluster?”

            “No. I can’t duplicate their healing shroud. It’s a medicinal fog. It keeps them alive, but it lacks substance. Substance that my molecules need in order to duplicate.”

            “I’ll bet Starla can make some gadget to fake the fog.”

            “Mmmmm. Interesting,” Starla pondered over the burn bands from another part of the facility. “It should be no problem. A holographic vest of some sort.”

            “Look. The zombies wouldn’t dare question one of The Cluster, would they?” Josh said.

            “Their primary directive is to obey,” Spindle noted.

            “Yeah,” Denso contributed. “Word is: insult one of The Cluster and you can start pleading for a stay of execution!”

            “Carbon-based entities,” Starla said with what almost sounded like a sigh, “and their need for power.”

            “How long before their jump chamber powers back up?” Josh said, trying to keep Starla on track.

            “Subtracting time in your burn tubes, you’ll have twelve Solarian minutes to effect a sabotage,” Starla said, just as one of Starla’s orbs entered levitating a small black vest. Tempo, in the form of Number Four, slipped it on. It blended with the black robes Tempo had created for the illusion, and instantly a pseudo healing fog appeared.

            “Wow,” Denso said, “you look so much like Number Four, it makes me want to kill you.”

            “Then I’d better change into something more comfortable,” Tempo said, as she turned back into Emily.

            Again, Josh smiled. These wonderful warriors would be so out of place in Josh’s world. Almost as much as he was out of place in theirs. But more and more, he was becoming one of them. “Yo, DimensioNoids! Let’s burn!” Josh shouted.

            They all shouted, “Yo!” in return, which almost made Josh laugh out loud. Then with blazing speed, save for Josh, they all ran down the corridor of blue lights to the secret door and out into the night and a light flurry of snow.

            “Your plan should work, Joshua Miles,” Starla said over their burn bands as Josh caught up with the rest, winded. “You and Tempo will burn into Cadavra. Tempo will infiltrate their security in the form of Cluster member Number Four. She’ll disable their jump device with a magnetic mine so their second wave never arrives in Huen. Denso, Spindle and Fractal will burn into Huen and help the defenders withstand the first wave. Once the second wave is halted, you and Tempo will join the others in Huen, where she will morph into a Yotobian Fire Dragon, and attack from the rear.”

            “Uh, er, uh, yeah,” Josh stammered, trying to figure out just how the simple suggestions he’d made had evolved into this complicated plan to dimension burn into the heart of the enemy stronghold. “Everybody okay with that?” he added, putting some authority into his shaky voice. They all looked at each other and grumbled agreement.

            “Another brilliant plan from the brain of Joshua Miles!” Fractal announced, a little too helpfully.

            “Yeah, as long as Tempo doesn’t run into the real Number Four,” Spindle noted unnecessarily blunt.

            Everyone exchanged worried glances.

            “Hey, cheer up, pouty pusses!” Tempo laughed in the form of Emily Kinicki and using a phrase Josh had often heard the real Emily use. “If I run into trouble I’ll just morph into a Yotobian Fire Dragon!”

            Well -- thought Josh, the real Emily never said that!

            “You’ll be at the center of their heavy weapons,” Spindle said. “Even a Fire Dragon can’t withstand big guns.”

            “And unlike real Yotobian Fire Dragons, you can’t fly,” Fractal added.

            “Just be careful and burn out of there the instant you feel you’re in trouble,” Starla instructed over the bands.

            Tempo laughed Emily Kinicki’s laugh and said, “Don’t worry, gang. Joshua Miles will protect me.”

            They all looked at Josh. He could only grin crookedly.

            The DimensioNoids always went outside to initiate a burn. Burning from inside the mountain or any structure with thick walls posed great risk, minerals and density of medium altering dimension burns negatively. They stood in the swirling snow, activated their burn bands, and five DimensioNoids burned away on another mission.

            Alone in his burn tube, Josh suddenly felt a twinge of worry that his plan endangered Tempo far too much. He was unaware that his plan greatly endangered all of them.

            The invasion of Huen was a ruse. The DimensioNoids should have known. What would The Cluster want with a primitive dimension of few resources? Long before The Cluster dispatched their first wave of Minions, they sent a false tracking of Chaos to a distant dimension -- a false tracking to deceive Starla, and to keep the DimensioNoids from learning the true purpose of their plan. Well before the invasion, Chaos had secretly jumped into Huen, alone.

            At first the Huen resisted, and Chaos slaughtered many of their number. The hairy, primitive Huen had clubs and spears for weapons. They wore the skins of the striped green serpents that flourished in the jungles of their dimension. They were no match for Chaos’s Kolomogoron powers, no match for the additional deadly skills The Cluster had built into him. The Huen were the Neanderthals of interdimensional space, but they weren’t stupid. When Chaos offered to end the killing if their leader came forward, they complied. Chaos took the king into his hut, and with his mesmer eyes, bent the trembling Huen leader to his will. The mesmerized king stepped from his hut and announced to his people the action they were to take when the DimensioNoids arrived.

            Fractal, Denso and Spindle burned into Huen at different locations across the battle front. They planned to hold off the invaders and make contact with the Huen so they could strategize together. The Huen had an excellent system of runners and drummers that sent messages back and forth in their primeval world. Unbeknownst to the D-noids, however, the Huen now scouted for The Cluster’s forces.

            Chaos knew Fractal would be with the rebels. He always was. As they were told, the Huen scouts sought out Fractal and told him that their king wanted to conference. Fractal followed the Huen to their main village to greet the Huen king. Chaos lay hidden in the high grass on a distant hilltop. He focused the complex telescopic sight of The Cluster’s new stun rifle on the tall figure being escorted into the village. Chaos was pleased beyond measure that his victim would be his own detested brother. The stun rifle was invented expressly to capture Kolomogorons. Kolomogorons had great inborn powers, but their powers had limited range. The stun rifle was designed to incapacitate Kolomogorons from a distance, outside the range of their powers. Chaos marked his target with the laser sight, squeezed the trigger, and fired. Fractal didn’t know what hit him.

 

 

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