Invaders Read online

***

  I managed to grab my Galactic Guard rifle before I completely faded from my present position. Thus, I had it level when I appeared inside a large chamber. The problem was that I was facing the wrong way.

  Each module must have possessed gravity control, because I stood normally in the chamber. I could feel the gravity keeping my feet in place.

  I turned around as a beam lashed me. Instinctively, I threw up my rifle in front of me. It took the brunt of the Jarnevon’s beam, melting in places.

  Several things flashed through my mind. The Jarnevon’s weapon must have been locked onto a weaker setting because she was inside a spaceship and wanted to make sure she didn’t breach a bulkhead. I also saw that she was stunningly beautiful in her tight leathers, but she was diabolically evil for what she was doing to Debby.

  Debby was stark naked with electrodes attached to her skin. She wore a vicious-looking helmet with electricity zapping through it. Debby arched and writhed on the torture table. Her eyes bulged as she silently screamed.

  Something snapped in me seeing that.

  I pitched the rifle at the Jarnevon. She dodged, but she also lowered her gun and quit beaming me.

  I charged in what seemed like slow motion in the bulky suit. That gave the Jarnevon time to slip to the side, aim and fire. I took the beam on my suit, which must have possessed beam-retardant skin. Thus, I closed the distance and almost managed to grab the lithe Jarnevon. She slipped to the side again, keeping the beam on me.

  An alarm rang in my helmet. She was about to breach the suit.

  “Surrender,” she said.

  I hurled a grenade underhanded at her. In my haste, I hadn’t armed it. That was just as well, though, as I didn’t want to kill Debby or myself. The grenade struck the Jarnevon in the stomach, making her grunt and taking her beam off me as she lashed the ray against the deck.

  I charged again, ripping a second grenade off my suit.

  The Jarnevon retargeted but at a different spot on my suit. I hurled the second grenade. It struck her right shoulder, upset her balance. She tried to duck but I latched my space-suited gloves onto her gun-firing wrist.

  I pulled down while ramming a knee against her hand. Her gun went skittering across the floor.

  The Jarnevon hissed like a cat, and I could feel the strength in her arm. Maybe she originated from a heavier gravity planet. Allowing her no time to slither away or to attack me, I bashed her against a console. She grunted. I used a wrestling move from high school and took her down hard, landing on top of her.

  “Others are coming,” Rax said.

  I hardly heard. I’d seen what this witch had done to Debby. Before I thought it through, I grabbed the force blade from my outer suit, switched on the energy and killed the Jarnevon.

  That brought me back to sanity with full force. I climbed to my feet and staggered to the torture frame. Any remorseful feelings I had for killing the Jarnevon fled as I saw poor Debby again.

  I shut down the power, tore the leads off her sweaty skin and gently removed the sinister helmet. I had to use the force blade to cut off her restraints. Finally, I picked her up, holding her against my chest.

  I’m not sure I was thinking straight just then. I’d seen Debby earlier in Greenland. She’d had silver eyes and Argon had told me he was using her to communicate with the Starcore. Maybe Debby was a Trojan horse.

  I actually hesitated. Then, I remembered that the Jarnevon had been torturing Debby. That implied that Argon had succeeded in turning the Min Ve from the Starcore’s mental-dominance control. And that meant…

  It was too complicated. I was going to try to save my girl, or the woman I hoped to make my good friend, at least. Debby wouldn’t hurt me. I was sure of that.

  “Can you teleport us out of here?” I asked Rax.

  I fully expected to hear the crystal tell me there was a problem. The next thing I knew, the chamber began to fade from view.

  -51-

  I carried a sobbing Debby into the Guard-ship’s sleeping chamber. Her eyes were normal-looking except for all the tears pouring out of them. I laid her down, pulled the covers over her and stepped back.

  “She is seemingly distraught,” Rax said.

  “What do you mean seemingly?” I asked quietly.

  “I have been running tests using advanced Guard equipment. I was unable to do so while we were on the privateer—or behind its shield, at least. The point is this, Logan. I have detected strange emanations in her mind. I believe that she is linked to the Starcore. Your Debby may be playacting.”

  I’d been refusing to believe that, but…

  It felt as if a fog lifted from my mind. I don’t know what caused that. I realized that I had to consider the brutal facts, if for no other reason than to save the Earth. I felt soiled for killing the Jarnevon. I shoved that into a deep part of my mind, sealing the area. I didn’t want to think about that right now. I had other things to consider.

  With a start, I realized I was wearing a ring on one of my fingers. Why hadn’t I noticed it before? Could Argon have done something to my mind? Yes! And that something had just revealed itself. I remembered what the Polarion had done to me at the end in Greenland. Argon had put his ring on one of my fingers. Then he had “touched” my mind, likely so I wouldn’t notice the ring or his actions until now.

  Debby stirred on the bed. I focused on her.

  “Who are you?” Debby whispered.

  That seemed like a strange question until I remembered that I still wore the cracked bubble-helmet. I removed it.

  “Logan?” she asked.

  I nodded.

  “I didn’t know you were a spaceman.”

  “I wasn’t until a few days ago,” I said. “Debby…” I let my question hang. I hated the idea that she was linked to the Starcore.

  She wiped her nose and dried her eyes. They were bloodshot and red-rimmed.

  “Do you know what the Starcore is thinking?” I asked.

  The question changed her demeanor, making her seem more calculating.

  “What do you know about that?” she finally asked.

  I wasn’t sure, but it seemed as if a different intelligence shined through Debby’s eyes then. It was as if I had a greater clarity of thinking and could see things I wouldn’t have been able to before. The realization made me sick at heart.

  I tried to speak, but couldn’t.

  “Cat got your tongue?” Debby, or the thing in her mind, asked archly.

  The Starcore might have meant that in a playful manner, as if to use Debby’s femininity against me. It hadn’t come out that way, though. Maybe she or the Starcore recognized the mistake by the horror on my face.

  “Logan,” Debby said. “It’s still me. You like me, don’t you?”

  “I do,” I whispered.

  “We’re friends, and you kissed me. I liked it when you kissed me.”

  “You killed Martin Cruz,” I said.

  Debby blinked rapidly as if trying to work that out. The alien presence in her eyes diminished a little. I don’t know why I’d thought that would be a good thing to say, but it had. Maybe Debby’s love for Martin Cruz was one of the things the Starcore hadn’t been able to change in her. Could it be a lever to wrest her from the construct’s mental domination?

  “What are you talking about?” Debby asked softly.

  “Martin Cruz was murdered,” I said. “You once told me that Sheriff Walt killed him. Why did Walt do that? It must have been at the Starcore’s orders.”

  Debby shook her head, although tears began to ooze anew.

  “Do you want the Starcore inside your mind?” I asked.

  That changed her on the instant. She seemed crafty again, not anything like the Debby I knew.

  “You are meddling in affairs beyond your understanding,” Debby said in a strange voice. “If you attempt to thwart me, you will die. Help me now, and I will reward you in ways that you cannot conceive.”

  “What are you really?” I asked. “A demon?”


  “I am the greatest thing in the universe,” the Starcore said in Debby’s voice. “I was wronged long ago. But this is a new age. Help me, Logan. Gain my good graces. Do you want Debby? If so, I can give her to you, body and soul.”

  I couldn’t disguise my disgust. I wasn’t going to bargain for a woman as if she were a slave to buy and sell. I would win a woman’s love the old-fashioned way or not at all.

  “Do not play coy with me, Logan. I know you want the girl. You went to extreme lengths to save her. You did me a favor in that. You—”

  “Warning,” Rax said. “The white ship has come into phase and it is launching. I believe the vessel will attempt to reach orbital space.”

  “Who said that?” Debby asked. “I detect a Rax Prime crystal in your close proximity. I could use the crystal. Perhaps you and I could make a trade.”

  “Logan, you must go to the piloting chamber at once,” Rax said.

  “What do I do about her?” I shouted.

  “Lock the door behind you,” Rax said.

  I began backing up.

  “No,” Debby said, as she whipped aside her covers, revealing her nakedness “Don’t you want me, Logan?”

  I hated the Starcore for using Debby like this. I couldn’t believe it was her asking this. I didn’t believe she had voluntarily let the Starcore into her mind, either. In some unholy fashion, this alien construct was using Debby. I was sure I had talked to and kissed the real Debby before. I didn’t know how the Starcore could control her from afar, but I was certain it was.

  “I won’t let this stand,” I said, hoping I could speak to the Debby inside her own mind.

  “Logan, let us make love,” she said, climbing out of bed.

  I turned and stumbled for the door. I felt like an old-fashioned prude afraid of seeing a woman naked. Another part of me was ashamed for Debby. The thing used her body as a bargaining chip. I hated that. The hatred beat in me even more strongly than when I’d slain the Jarnevon.

  I was going to destroy the Starcore. I would do it to free Debby, if for no other reason.

  I slammed the hatch behind me and locked it.

  “Can she escape?” I asked.

  “Not quickly,” Rax said. “Please, Logan, hurry to the piloting chamber. I think the final showdown is about to take place.”

  I sprinted down the short corridor, burst into the piloting chamber and literally threw myself at the chair. I strapped in, pressed controls as if I knew what I was doing, and activated the Guard-ship’s shield and laser cannons.

  -52-

  The white ship shimmered as it lifted off from Nevada.

  I saw it on the Guard-ship’s screen. We raced to intercept the vessel, increasing velocity as we tore over Middle America while high in orbital space. The privateer was ahead of us and had greater acceleration.

  It wouldn’t be long before the white ship had sufficient velocity to escape the planet’s gravitational pull. I thought about that. Argon had said the Starcore wanted the privateer for its own. The construct did not trust its ancient vessel as a starship.

  How many centuries had it been since the white ship had flown? Likely, Greenland had been Thule back then, a regular land instead of the ice-encased wasteland it was now. Had the Starcore brought captive Polarions in its cargo holds, or had the Starcore’s soldiers slipped into the Thule compound and conquered it? Did it matter today?

  I supposed not. Still, I would have liked to know. Would I ever know? Heck, would I be alive an hour from now, twenty-four hours from now?

  “There is an incoming message,” Rax said.

  “Put it on the screen,” I said.

  The screen shimmered before Parker Gaines stared at me from it. He seemed different than I remembered. He seemed much wiser although more evil than last time. I had no doubt the Starcore was in full control of his mind. The belief solidified into certainty as I noticed a crystal bracelet around Parker’s right wrist. It was actually fused to his flesh, which couldn’t be a good sign.

  “I should have killed you that night outside my house,” Parker said.

  “What happened to you, Parker? When did you become the alien thing’s slave?”

  Something seemed to flicker in his eyes. It passed almost right away. Parker shook his head.

  “That won’t work,” he said. “This one is not Debby. He has no feelings for you.”

  “You don’t like me, Parker?”

  “You are playing for time,” the Starcore in Parker said. “I have offered you the girl. You refused my gracious gift. Now, you will die along with the pup of an alien in his damaged starship.”

  “I thought you were trying to capture the privateer,” I said. “You need it in order to travel to Rax Prime.”

  “You have no idea of my plans,” the Starcore in Parker said. “But I will tell you this. Help me, and I will spare your planet. I will also give you the woman. Resist me, and I will drop all the hell-burners on Earth once I control the privateer. I will wash your backward planet in nuclear fire. It will be as if the human race never existed.”

  “Nice,” I said. “But all you’re saying is that you fear me. Thanks. I wasn’t about to quit. Now, though, I know I can win. I just have to figure out what you’re afraid of.”

  “You think I fear you?” the Starcore in Parker asked. “You are little better than an ape, a capering fool with delusions of grandeur. You have spurned my last offer. Now, I shall surely destroy you and your pathetic race.”

  The white ship roared into the edge of orbital space. At this pace, it would reach our height before we were close enough to use the Guard-ship’s laser cannons. If the white ship continued to accelerate at this rate, we’d never catch up with it.

  “Warning,” Rax said.

  The connection between us and the white ship snapped off. At the same time, a heavy disintegrator beam slashed from the privateer. It focused on the white ship’s back area where the exhaust left the ancient alien vessel. The Min Ve’s goal seemed clear. He wanted to cripple the white ship so it couldn’t leave Earth or the solar system.

  Somehow, Argon had freed the Min Ve’s mind from the Starcore. Maybe it had been the Polarion’s dying gift. The Min Ve appeared to be up to his original goal: he wanted the Starcore for his own. That meant the Min Ve wanted to cripple the white ship so he could take the Starcore at his leisure.

  At that point, the white ship changed or deployed an odd sort of field. It appeared as if a giant fireball encircled the ship. Like a roaring ship-sized comet, the ship hurtled upward into space.

  On our screen, I watched the disintegrator beam strike the fireball shield. According to Rax’s sensors, the beam sizzled against that area but was seemingly unable to penetrate through to the ship underneath.

  “Is the fire-shield impervious to the disintegrator beam?” I asked.

  “I am analyzing…analyzing…” Rax said. “It is a complex shield of a fiery nature. I detect elements of cosmic energy in the fireball defense. You are correct in doubting that the disintegrator beam will be able to breach the shield any time soon.”

  “The Min Ve should use a hell-burner against it,” I said.

  “Clearly, that would be against a privateer’s basic nature,” Rax said. “The Min Ve surely came to Earth to acquire the Starcore. Destroying it would mean his mission was a failure.”

  A searing beam slashed from the white ship. It reached across space to the outline of the privateer. The orbital vessel’s shield blocked the beam, blocked, blocked—

  “The Starcore is targeting the command module,” Rax said. “I suspect the Starcore is personally attempting to assassinate the Min Ve. First, it must batter down the privateer’s shield.”

  That made perfect sense to me. Likely, only the Min Ve wanted to fight the Starcore. If the Starcore could kill the Min Ve, the crystal construct could mentally dominate the rest of the crew and still gain a workable starship.

  “Rax,” I said. “I know what to do.”

  “We can do li
ttle,” Rax said. “We have one effective weapon, our nuclear device. Even if we could enter the fight in time, our laser cannons would be ineffective against either vessel.”

  “Listen,” I said, as the Polarion’s ring glowed faintly from my finger. “We only have minutes at most to do this right. Are you listening?”

  “Yes,” Rax said. “Tell me your plan.”

  -53-

  The white ship behind its cosmic-fireball shield rose into orbital space. At the same time, its searing beam battered at the privateer’s shield. Every iota of the Min Ve orbital vessel’s power went into keeping the shield intact.

  I reentered the piloting chamber with sweat on my face. I was short of breath from having maneuvered an excessively heavy object onto the transfer pad.

  “Well?” I asked.

  “The privateer’s shield has weakened considerably,” Rax said. “That is the good news. The bad is that it is still much too powerful for us to implement your plan.”

  I sat down, increasing the Guard-ship’s velocity. “I’ll have to add our laser cannons to the attack then.”

  “That is a joke,” Rax said. “The Guard-ship’s lasers are short-range weapons. We are too far away and will not reach there in time.”

  “Then we have to try the sonic drill this instant.”

  “Logan—”

  “No more arguments, Rax. This is our only hope.”

  Rax was silent for several seconds. “Yes. I have calculated several scenarios. This is the only one with even a few percentages of possible success. I am amazed you derived that before I did.”

  “I’m a natural,” I said.

  “It would appear the deceased Polarion knew what he was talking about.”

  The white ship’s incandescent ray continued to strike the privateer’s shield. The shield withstood the beam, but it lost power as it did so.

  “Now,” I said, as I watched a shipboard meter. “Do it now.”

  The Guard-ship’s engines whined with power. Everything went into the sonic drill. Nothing now powered the drive that had built up our velocity. The sonic drill struck the weakened privateer’s shield. It attempted to bore through at one precise location.