The Evolution of Vaughn, page 11
“Get behind me. Stay down and stay back. Move when I move. If there is something I need to know, call it out, and we’ll make it out of here.”
Vaughn stepped up to the door, kicked it, shattering it backwards, and fired. His heads up display showed thermographics and infra-red. E’Clei ran cold, except for the most highly infected. They no longer generated body heat. Any creature with no body heat and a bright infra-red spot at the base of the skull needed to die. Any creature that attacked him also needed to die. He led the people of the building down to the street level.
“Stay here. I’m going to clear the street. Does anyone have any weapons?”
“Weapons are outlawed on Bruth.”
“Alright. Stay here. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” he replied. He activated his camouflage, and slowly worked his way down the street.
An E’Clei stepped out of a doorway directly in front of Vaughn. Before it could react, he extended the blades on his left hand and drove them into the eye sockets of the startled soldier, grabbing the shoulder of the E’Clei as he did. He slowly lowered the dead soldier to the ground, trying to stay quiet.
The Bruthi built round buildings on perfectly straight streets. The avenues were abandoned; the real fighting had been days before. Now all that was left were those that had stayed hidden, until hunger started bringing them out. E’Clei patrols were mopping up the pockets of survivors with ease.
Vaughn waited and ducked down in a purple bush that had been knocked over. His armor swirled purple colors while he waited. The E’Clei, Geraldinian-E’Clei he discovered, were huge. The patrol walking towards him consisted of six men, were moving quickly up the middle of the street. When they were even with Vaughn, the lone soldier burst out of the shrubbery and launched himself at the patrol. He fired his rifle twice before he was on top of the four remaining Geraldinian-E’Clei. He ejected the blades out of his bracer, two incredibly sharp six centimeter knives that arced over his knuckles, extending past his fist.
He punched the first one he came to. The steel blades entered the brain. When the steel blades came into contact with flesh, the suit sent a jolt of electricity through them, ensuring the job was finished. Vaughn reversed his rifle and used the stock to sweep the legs out of the next. He planted one boot on the skull of the downed giant, and lept upwards, crushing the skull as he propelled himself at the third. His blades slid smoothly into the Geraldinian’s face, straddling the man’s broad, flat nose. Once again, a jolt of electricity flooded the man’s brain, killing the parasites controlling his corpse.
The fourth man started to run. Vaughn knelt and fired. A blue bolt burst from the tip, hitting him in the back of the head, frying all of the microscopic parasites that were reanimating the dead Geraldinian’s corpse.
Vaughn retrieved the weapons that none of them had even had time to draw, and ran back inside the building. He tossed a gun to the biggest guy in the group. “Have you ever even seen one of those?” Vaughn asked, watching him turn it over and over in his hand.
“Nope.”
Vaughn walked close and raised his visor so they could see his face. He situated the pistol in the man’s hand, and pointed out the “on” switch, and the button that fired it. He lowered his visor so the armor’s computer could translate his speech.
“First button, on and off. Turn it to on; you’ll see a small red light. Point it at the bad guy, and press this button. If he doesn’t die, press it again. These are E’Clei plasma pistols; they have about five hundred shots. As long as you don’t run into a host, you’ll be fine.”
Several men looked at each other, holding the guns, and started speaking too rapidly for his armor to translate properly. Vaughn picked out the words “arrested” and “treason.”
“What?” Vaughn asked.
“They’re worried we’ll get arrested for treason.”
“Would you rather be treasonous? Or would you rather be one of them? They don’t even let you die in peace. Your energy never gets released. They keep your corpse. They kill everything that makes you who you are, and then use your body to kill your friends and neighbors.”
Suddenly all four men holding weapons seemed much more intent on using them.
Chapter 17 Down to Loe
Date: 432nd Year of Emperor Valek Foger XXVI
Vaughn and Fresia walked down the massive stone stairs that lead from the shuttle pad to the ground-paths. Hundreds of meters overhead, small shuttles and terrestrial transports flew by, carrying the citizens of the city to and from wherever they needed to go. Above those, larger terrestrial transport ships hauled freight from one side of the city to another.
“The name of this city is Ga’leek Ta’Dar in the local dialect, but almost everyone refers to it as Loe,” Vaughn said as they stepped off the last stair onto the walking path. “We’re in the southern-most district. This was all built after the Loe discovered Argimonium, and the advent of the space-age. Up north and to the west, there are still roads although no wheeled vehicles are allowed anymore.”
“It’s a beautiful city,” Fresia replied. “Where are we going?”
“The communication from Sarah said to meet in Loe. Well…here we are.” He extended his arms out, palms facing up and looked around. “I really have nothing else to go on, but we have 25 hours until the deadline to figure it out. Matty’s here somewhere, and I need to find him.”
“Where do we start?” The pair walked close to each other down the path leading north.
“When I got home, there were hundreds of dead men, all wearing white robes. Halle said they were Maxists. I obviously know who they are but had never actually seen one before. I know they’re church is here. I’m just not sure where.”
“Captain, I have completed scans of the Lo-Pugk district. According to the city organizational committee’s database, there is a large Maxist church fifty two kilometers north and west of you.”
Vaughn continued walking. “Halle says there is a Maxist church north-west of here. We’ll have to hail a transport.”
“How often does she talk to you?” Fresia asked.
“Who?”
“Halle,” she replied.
“When I need information, she usually has it. She monitors my communications, and interjects when necessary.”
“Wow. That seems invasive.”
“She’s always there when I need her,” Vaughn replied. “That’s comforting to me.”
“Can you turn it off?”
“I could order her not to monitor. I just haven’t ever had any reason to do so.” Vaughn spotted a transport stop a few meters ahead, and the two of them broke into a run to catch it. Once they were seated inside the small, three person transport, Vaughn spoke to the pilot. “Do you know where the Maxist church is?”
“Yeah,” he replied, and took off. The transport pilot merged into the heavy overhead traffic. “You two don’t look like those loons,” he said, when he was safely cruising along.
“No, we’re not Maxists. I’m a broker for a collector; this is my assistant, Genessa. The Maxists are rumored to have several ancient earth artifacts my client is interested in buying,” Vaughn said.
“Sounds like a heck of a job, mate.”
“It pays the bills. I get to travel, so that’s not too bad.”
“Been anywhere cool? Never been offworld myself. Always wanted to go to Foger. I’ve heard the Imperial City is the most beautiful city in the galaxy.”
“I lived on a lonely mining colony. Every city is beautiful in its own way.”
“That’s true, I suppose,” The pilot said, bringing the transport down to the ground. “The Maxists are just ahead. Can’t miss them, there’s a huge colored glass window of a boy above the door. That’ll be eighteen crench.”
Vaughn reached into his pocket and held out a Fogerian credit. “I don’t have any crench on me, will this do?”
“It’ll cost me ten percent to exchange,” the pilot replied. “Plus the Continuum’s nine.”
“Keep the change then. Only fair if I cover the fees, and a little extra for you and your family.” Vaughn was angry with himself for not having crench. Handing the guy a Fogerian credit would make memorable when they were trying to be inconspicuous.
“Wow,” Fresia as they neared the Maxist church. It was unlike anything Vaughn had ever seen on Foger. At least four hundred stories tall, it was the tallest building they could see. “I knew the Maxists had crench but this is ridiculous.”
“No kidding,” replied Vaughn.
The building’s footprint was huge. The lowest levels of the building formed a rectangle, with spires at each corner. The floors above that were shaped into a vaguely Human outline, like a robed person standing on box, with his hands clasped behind him. The head was a massive dome reaching up into the sky emblazoned with a golden letter “M.” It was a marvel of engineering, the soaring arms only connected to the main trunk of the building at the shoulder and waist.
The front doors were propped open leading into a well-lit chamber. Vaughn didn’t even slow as he walked up the stairs and into the building. The entry area was a massive sanctuary, with rows after rows of benches and an alter at the front. High above the alter, there was a statue of a little boy. The child looked about four years old, standing with his arms clasp behind his back. Clearly, the building was a physical representation of him. As they walked, their footsteps echoed in the massive, empty sanctuary. Vaughn walked down the middle aisle, and stepped up onto the alter. There, sitting on a lectern, was a book with a gold letter “M” on the cover. It looked just like men Vaughn had found on his planet.
He flipped the book open, and turned to the first page.
Yae, it shall come to pass
That a boy shall be delivered unto all of us
And the boy shall be nice
And he shall be known as
Max, The Destroyer of Worlds
The Prophecy of Reva, 2012.
Vaughn flipped through the pages, skimming them as best he could. The first part of the book was a story about a man and his kid running from something called “zombies.” Vaughn skipped further ahead to where the same guy, Victor Tookes was in a train. The entire first half of the book seemed to be dedicated to this Tookes guy. The second half was broken up into a bunch of different stories, Kris, Marshall, Vanessa, and Max all had chapters.
A booming voice sounded from the side of the sanctuary. “You desecrate the alter to Max!”
Vaughn looked up. “Oh? I’m so sorry. I was just looking through the book.”
The man, dressed in a simple white robe rushed towards the alter waving his hands. “No one outside of our order is allowed to touch the book!” His face was extraordinarily expressive, and every time he wrinkled his brow, the golden M on his forehead shifted. It wasn’t a tattoo. It appeared to be something implanted under the skin.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Really, I apologize.” Vaughn took a few steps back away from the book before turning to the man and looking at him square in the eye. “I’m just wondering why I found a couple hundred of your order, dead, outside of my house a few days ago.”
The man looked at Vaughn. He grabbed his face and lifted his eyes with his thumbs, smashing his cheeks. “You’re him, aren’t you.”
“Him? What are you talking about?”
“You’re a scion. Can you fly? Read minds? What am I thinking? Oh Max, the scion! The scion is here, in my sanctuary.”
Vaughn grabbed the acolyte by the shoulders. “What the fuck are you talking about? I’m just a normal guy.”
“Well, yes. You’re a normal Human. Have you ever encountered an E’Clei?”
“I’m a Captain in the Imperial War Council. Of course I’ve encountered them.”
“But you’ve never been infected?”
“No, I’m not one of them.”
“Well, you wouldn’t be infected. You’re immune to the parasites, as Max was. Or, at least as his father was. We’ve had your family under surveillance for millennia. We’ve protected and guided your family since before the destruction of earth.” The man was positively giddy. “It was the Maxists that lead Queen Willa the Great’s father out of Duluth to start his own city.”
Vaughn let go of the acolyte and put his hands at his side, struggling to keep annoyance out of his tone. “So why were you at my house?”
“Our intelligence agents learned of a plot to kidnap Matthew. All I know is that we attempted to divert the disaster, but were unsuccessful. Please, wait here.”
The acolyte ran across the sanctuary and slammed a door behind him. Vaughn looked at Fresia. “Do you believe any of this?”
“I believe they believe it,” she replied. “It’s a plausible explanation, even if the premise is completely ridiculous.”
Minutes later, the acolyte walked quickly out of the door, followed by three men in different robes. Their robes were much more formal, having vertical slashes of color and intricate embroidery running up the lapels.
“Mr. Troupe. This is Archbishop Rosen, Archbishop Turner, and Cardinal Rook,” the acolyte said.
All three of them stepped forward to shake Vaughn’s hand. “Mister Troupe, would you and your associate please come with us? We have much to discuss, and time is short.”
Vaughn and Fresia walked past the giddy acolyte following the three high ranking officials. Inside the doorway, a hall led back into the building. Glass cases lined the walls, each containing artifacts from Earth. The very first case held an L shaped black object. Vaughn recognized English letters on the buttons, and a plaque read “Laptop belonging to Victor Tookes.”
“Where are we going?”
“Mister Troupe, we are taking you to see His Grace, Supreme High Chancellor Nathan Rotelle, the head of our order.”
“I don’t really have time for a sightseeing tour, regardless of who you think I am. My son is missing, and I need some answers.”
“We are making haste. His Grace has put off a meeting with the Geraldinian Continuum in order to see you. The leader of the wealthiest planet in the galaxy will be waiting in his lobby for you.”
Vaughn looked sheepish. “Alright, I guess. Why is the Continuum meeting with this…Rotelle?”
“His Grace provides a vast sum of money to the Continuum in order to protect our assets on this planet. The Holy Light of Max shines upon all those who act in accordance with the wishes of Max; Do Good and Be Nice.” All three of them intoned the last part as some sort of chant.
“Where does The Order get its money?”
“We have had several generous benefactors, but the bulk of our finances are tied in the Argimonium trade. We control some ninety-five percent of the galaxy’s Argimonium in order to be certain that it’s doled out evenly and that no one person gains a corner on the market. Our core tenets hold that energy should be available to everyone, not just the wealthy. People are much more civil, or in the words of Glorious Max, nicer, when they have a steady, reliable source of power.”
As they walked down the hall, Vaughn tried to look everywhere at once. When in unfamiliar territory, a soldier takes in all of his surroundings. “When I was reading the book downstairs, and from the statue above the altar, it looked like Max was what, four?”
“He was three and a half when the E’Clei invaded earth for the second to last time. He was nearly four when he entered the holy shrine of Reva, although it was just a survivor camp at the time.”
Vaughn looked around at the glided woodwork and vast riches held in a single hall of the largest build he’d ever been in. “All this came from a few words of a frightened toddler?”
“Max was not just any toddler. Physiologically, he was vastly superior to any other Human. Did you know, Mr. Troupe, that the E’Clei invaded Earth at least four times? And they failed all four times. That’s why they destroyed the planet.”
Cardinal Rook continued seamlessly, as if the arch-bishop had finished reciting his part, “They have toppled every empire they have ever come across. They fought the Fogerian Empire to a stalemate. The Fogerians are the most advanced military complex in the known universe, and these microscopic parasites almost bankrupted them. And yet ancient Humans using sticks and stones beat them. They came again, and Humans again triumphed. Do you know why?”
“I have no idea,” said Vaughn, as the strange group started up a stone stairway wide enough to hold twenty people on each step. The light gray stones on the floor were cut into perfect squares, each almost a meter across, and were polished to a mirror-like shine. The clergymen wore hard-soled shoes. Their footfalls echoed as they ascended.
“Because in every generation, a small percentage of Humans are born with a mutation that makes their brain chemistry toxic to the E’Clei. And once in all those generations, a miracle happened. Max’s brain was not just toxic. It was addictive to them. Instead of the E’Clei taking control of this small boy, it was the other way around. All the enhanced strength, speed, healing, and perception that the E’Clei give their host, Max was able to use to his advantage. He infected them.” As they approached the elevator, the ornate, gold-inlayed doors whisked to the sides. Inside, the Cardinal and the Arch Bishop both put a key in the elevator, which they turned at the exact same time.
The elevator carried them upwards so rapidly, Vaughn’s ears popped and his stomach felt like it was in his boots. “So what does this have to do with me?”
“Max had two children, Victor and Marshall, named for his father and uncle. Victor’s lineage was wiped out in the final E’Clei invasion, when the Colcoa-E’Clei killed almost everyone on the planet, but thanks to The Order, Marshall’s descendants were in Red River Falls when Queen Willa the Great turned Humanity into a space-faring race. We have followed Marshall’s bloodline through the eons since, and Matthew has the highest percentage of Tookes DNA of any Human alive. Your wife was also a descendant of Marshall, and the joining of your two bloodlines culminated in Matthew.”
“Sarah was my relative? That’s not possible.”
“Not directly. Somewhere, more than ten thousand years ago, you shared a common ancestor. In terms of genetics, no more related than you and I, except the possibility of keeping Max’s miraculous genetics intact. You and your son are genetically immune to the E’Clei parasites.”
Vaughn stepped up to the door, kicked it, shattering it backwards, and fired. His heads up display showed thermographics and infra-red. E’Clei ran cold, except for the most highly infected. They no longer generated body heat. Any creature with no body heat and a bright infra-red spot at the base of the skull needed to die. Any creature that attacked him also needed to die. He led the people of the building down to the street level.
“Stay here. I’m going to clear the street. Does anyone have any weapons?”
“Weapons are outlawed on Bruth.”
“Alright. Stay here. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” he replied. He activated his camouflage, and slowly worked his way down the street.
An E’Clei stepped out of a doorway directly in front of Vaughn. Before it could react, he extended the blades on his left hand and drove them into the eye sockets of the startled soldier, grabbing the shoulder of the E’Clei as he did. He slowly lowered the dead soldier to the ground, trying to stay quiet.
The Bruthi built round buildings on perfectly straight streets. The avenues were abandoned; the real fighting had been days before. Now all that was left were those that had stayed hidden, until hunger started bringing them out. E’Clei patrols were mopping up the pockets of survivors with ease.
Vaughn waited and ducked down in a purple bush that had been knocked over. His armor swirled purple colors while he waited. The E’Clei, Geraldinian-E’Clei he discovered, were huge. The patrol walking towards him consisted of six men, were moving quickly up the middle of the street. When they were even with Vaughn, the lone soldier burst out of the shrubbery and launched himself at the patrol. He fired his rifle twice before he was on top of the four remaining Geraldinian-E’Clei. He ejected the blades out of his bracer, two incredibly sharp six centimeter knives that arced over his knuckles, extending past his fist.
He punched the first one he came to. The steel blades entered the brain. When the steel blades came into contact with flesh, the suit sent a jolt of electricity through them, ensuring the job was finished. Vaughn reversed his rifle and used the stock to sweep the legs out of the next. He planted one boot on the skull of the downed giant, and lept upwards, crushing the skull as he propelled himself at the third. His blades slid smoothly into the Geraldinian’s face, straddling the man’s broad, flat nose. Once again, a jolt of electricity flooded the man’s brain, killing the parasites controlling his corpse.
The fourth man started to run. Vaughn knelt and fired. A blue bolt burst from the tip, hitting him in the back of the head, frying all of the microscopic parasites that were reanimating the dead Geraldinian’s corpse.
Vaughn retrieved the weapons that none of them had even had time to draw, and ran back inside the building. He tossed a gun to the biggest guy in the group. “Have you ever even seen one of those?” Vaughn asked, watching him turn it over and over in his hand.
“Nope.”
Vaughn walked close and raised his visor so they could see his face. He situated the pistol in the man’s hand, and pointed out the “on” switch, and the button that fired it. He lowered his visor so the armor’s computer could translate his speech.
“First button, on and off. Turn it to on; you’ll see a small red light. Point it at the bad guy, and press this button. If he doesn’t die, press it again. These are E’Clei plasma pistols; they have about five hundred shots. As long as you don’t run into a host, you’ll be fine.”
Several men looked at each other, holding the guns, and started speaking too rapidly for his armor to translate properly. Vaughn picked out the words “arrested” and “treason.”
“What?” Vaughn asked.
“They’re worried we’ll get arrested for treason.”
“Would you rather be treasonous? Or would you rather be one of them? They don’t even let you die in peace. Your energy never gets released. They keep your corpse. They kill everything that makes you who you are, and then use your body to kill your friends and neighbors.”
Suddenly all four men holding weapons seemed much more intent on using them.
Chapter 17 Down to Loe
Date: 432nd Year of Emperor Valek Foger XXVI
Vaughn and Fresia walked down the massive stone stairs that lead from the shuttle pad to the ground-paths. Hundreds of meters overhead, small shuttles and terrestrial transports flew by, carrying the citizens of the city to and from wherever they needed to go. Above those, larger terrestrial transport ships hauled freight from one side of the city to another.
“The name of this city is Ga’leek Ta’Dar in the local dialect, but almost everyone refers to it as Loe,” Vaughn said as they stepped off the last stair onto the walking path. “We’re in the southern-most district. This was all built after the Loe discovered Argimonium, and the advent of the space-age. Up north and to the west, there are still roads although no wheeled vehicles are allowed anymore.”
“It’s a beautiful city,” Fresia replied. “Where are we going?”
“The communication from Sarah said to meet in Loe. Well…here we are.” He extended his arms out, palms facing up and looked around. “I really have nothing else to go on, but we have 25 hours until the deadline to figure it out. Matty’s here somewhere, and I need to find him.”
“Where do we start?” The pair walked close to each other down the path leading north.
“When I got home, there were hundreds of dead men, all wearing white robes. Halle said they were Maxists. I obviously know who they are but had never actually seen one before. I know they’re church is here. I’m just not sure where.”
“Captain, I have completed scans of the Lo-Pugk district. According to the city organizational committee’s database, there is a large Maxist church fifty two kilometers north and west of you.”
Vaughn continued walking. “Halle says there is a Maxist church north-west of here. We’ll have to hail a transport.”
“How often does she talk to you?” Fresia asked.
“Who?”
“Halle,” she replied.
“When I need information, she usually has it. She monitors my communications, and interjects when necessary.”
“Wow. That seems invasive.”
“She’s always there when I need her,” Vaughn replied. “That’s comforting to me.”
“Can you turn it off?”
“I could order her not to monitor. I just haven’t ever had any reason to do so.” Vaughn spotted a transport stop a few meters ahead, and the two of them broke into a run to catch it. Once they were seated inside the small, three person transport, Vaughn spoke to the pilot. “Do you know where the Maxist church is?”
“Yeah,” he replied, and took off. The transport pilot merged into the heavy overhead traffic. “You two don’t look like those loons,” he said, when he was safely cruising along.
“No, we’re not Maxists. I’m a broker for a collector; this is my assistant, Genessa. The Maxists are rumored to have several ancient earth artifacts my client is interested in buying,” Vaughn said.
“Sounds like a heck of a job, mate.”
“It pays the bills. I get to travel, so that’s not too bad.”
“Been anywhere cool? Never been offworld myself. Always wanted to go to Foger. I’ve heard the Imperial City is the most beautiful city in the galaxy.”
“I lived on a lonely mining colony. Every city is beautiful in its own way.”
“That’s true, I suppose,” The pilot said, bringing the transport down to the ground. “The Maxists are just ahead. Can’t miss them, there’s a huge colored glass window of a boy above the door. That’ll be eighteen crench.”
Vaughn reached into his pocket and held out a Fogerian credit. “I don’t have any crench on me, will this do?”
“It’ll cost me ten percent to exchange,” the pilot replied. “Plus the Continuum’s nine.”
“Keep the change then. Only fair if I cover the fees, and a little extra for you and your family.” Vaughn was angry with himself for not having crench. Handing the guy a Fogerian credit would make memorable when they were trying to be inconspicuous.
“Wow,” Fresia as they neared the Maxist church. It was unlike anything Vaughn had ever seen on Foger. At least four hundred stories tall, it was the tallest building they could see. “I knew the Maxists had crench but this is ridiculous.”
“No kidding,” replied Vaughn.
The building’s footprint was huge. The lowest levels of the building formed a rectangle, with spires at each corner. The floors above that were shaped into a vaguely Human outline, like a robed person standing on box, with his hands clasped behind him. The head was a massive dome reaching up into the sky emblazoned with a golden letter “M.” It was a marvel of engineering, the soaring arms only connected to the main trunk of the building at the shoulder and waist.
The front doors were propped open leading into a well-lit chamber. Vaughn didn’t even slow as he walked up the stairs and into the building. The entry area was a massive sanctuary, with rows after rows of benches and an alter at the front. High above the alter, there was a statue of a little boy. The child looked about four years old, standing with his arms clasp behind his back. Clearly, the building was a physical representation of him. As they walked, their footsteps echoed in the massive, empty sanctuary. Vaughn walked down the middle aisle, and stepped up onto the alter. There, sitting on a lectern, was a book with a gold letter “M” on the cover. It looked just like men Vaughn had found on his planet.
He flipped the book open, and turned to the first page.
Yae, it shall come to pass
That a boy shall be delivered unto all of us
And the boy shall be nice
And he shall be known as
Max, The Destroyer of Worlds
The Prophecy of Reva, 2012.
Vaughn flipped through the pages, skimming them as best he could. The first part of the book was a story about a man and his kid running from something called “zombies.” Vaughn skipped further ahead to where the same guy, Victor Tookes was in a train. The entire first half of the book seemed to be dedicated to this Tookes guy. The second half was broken up into a bunch of different stories, Kris, Marshall, Vanessa, and Max all had chapters.
A booming voice sounded from the side of the sanctuary. “You desecrate the alter to Max!”
Vaughn looked up. “Oh? I’m so sorry. I was just looking through the book.”
The man, dressed in a simple white robe rushed towards the alter waving his hands. “No one outside of our order is allowed to touch the book!” His face was extraordinarily expressive, and every time he wrinkled his brow, the golden M on his forehead shifted. It wasn’t a tattoo. It appeared to be something implanted under the skin.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Really, I apologize.” Vaughn took a few steps back away from the book before turning to the man and looking at him square in the eye. “I’m just wondering why I found a couple hundred of your order, dead, outside of my house a few days ago.”
The man looked at Vaughn. He grabbed his face and lifted his eyes with his thumbs, smashing his cheeks. “You’re him, aren’t you.”
“Him? What are you talking about?”
“You’re a scion. Can you fly? Read minds? What am I thinking? Oh Max, the scion! The scion is here, in my sanctuary.”
Vaughn grabbed the acolyte by the shoulders. “What the fuck are you talking about? I’m just a normal guy.”
“Well, yes. You’re a normal Human. Have you ever encountered an E’Clei?”
“I’m a Captain in the Imperial War Council. Of course I’ve encountered them.”
“But you’ve never been infected?”
“No, I’m not one of them.”
“Well, you wouldn’t be infected. You’re immune to the parasites, as Max was. Or, at least as his father was. We’ve had your family under surveillance for millennia. We’ve protected and guided your family since before the destruction of earth.” The man was positively giddy. “It was the Maxists that lead Queen Willa the Great’s father out of Duluth to start his own city.”
Vaughn let go of the acolyte and put his hands at his side, struggling to keep annoyance out of his tone. “So why were you at my house?”
“Our intelligence agents learned of a plot to kidnap Matthew. All I know is that we attempted to divert the disaster, but were unsuccessful. Please, wait here.”
The acolyte ran across the sanctuary and slammed a door behind him. Vaughn looked at Fresia. “Do you believe any of this?”
“I believe they believe it,” she replied. “It’s a plausible explanation, even if the premise is completely ridiculous.”
Minutes later, the acolyte walked quickly out of the door, followed by three men in different robes. Their robes were much more formal, having vertical slashes of color and intricate embroidery running up the lapels.
“Mr. Troupe. This is Archbishop Rosen, Archbishop Turner, and Cardinal Rook,” the acolyte said.
All three of them stepped forward to shake Vaughn’s hand. “Mister Troupe, would you and your associate please come with us? We have much to discuss, and time is short.”
Vaughn and Fresia walked past the giddy acolyte following the three high ranking officials. Inside the doorway, a hall led back into the building. Glass cases lined the walls, each containing artifacts from Earth. The very first case held an L shaped black object. Vaughn recognized English letters on the buttons, and a plaque read “Laptop belonging to Victor Tookes.”
“Where are we going?”
“Mister Troupe, we are taking you to see His Grace, Supreme High Chancellor Nathan Rotelle, the head of our order.”
“I don’t really have time for a sightseeing tour, regardless of who you think I am. My son is missing, and I need some answers.”
“We are making haste. His Grace has put off a meeting with the Geraldinian Continuum in order to see you. The leader of the wealthiest planet in the galaxy will be waiting in his lobby for you.”
Vaughn looked sheepish. “Alright, I guess. Why is the Continuum meeting with this…Rotelle?”
“His Grace provides a vast sum of money to the Continuum in order to protect our assets on this planet. The Holy Light of Max shines upon all those who act in accordance with the wishes of Max; Do Good and Be Nice.” All three of them intoned the last part as some sort of chant.
“Where does The Order get its money?”
“We have had several generous benefactors, but the bulk of our finances are tied in the Argimonium trade. We control some ninety-five percent of the galaxy’s Argimonium in order to be certain that it’s doled out evenly and that no one person gains a corner on the market. Our core tenets hold that energy should be available to everyone, not just the wealthy. People are much more civil, or in the words of Glorious Max, nicer, when they have a steady, reliable source of power.”
As they walked down the hall, Vaughn tried to look everywhere at once. When in unfamiliar territory, a soldier takes in all of his surroundings. “When I was reading the book downstairs, and from the statue above the altar, it looked like Max was what, four?”
“He was three and a half when the E’Clei invaded earth for the second to last time. He was nearly four when he entered the holy shrine of Reva, although it was just a survivor camp at the time.”
Vaughn looked around at the glided woodwork and vast riches held in a single hall of the largest build he’d ever been in. “All this came from a few words of a frightened toddler?”
“Max was not just any toddler. Physiologically, he was vastly superior to any other Human. Did you know, Mr. Troupe, that the E’Clei invaded Earth at least four times? And they failed all four times. That’s why they destroyed the planet.”
Cardinal Rook continued seamlessly, as if the arch-bishop had finished reciting his part, “They have toppled every empire they have ever come across. They fought the Fogerian Empire to a stalemate. The Fogerians are the most advanced military complex in the known universe, and these microscopic parasites almost bankrupted them. And yet ancient Humans using sticks and stones beat them. They came again, and Humans again triumphed. Do you know why?”
“I have no idea,” said Vaughn, as the strange group started up a stone stairway wide enough to hold twenty people on each step. The light gray stones on the floor were cut into perfect squares, each almost a meter across, and were polished to a mirror-like shine. The clergymen wore hard-soled shoes. Their footfalls echoed as they ascended.
“Because in every generation, a small percentage of Humans are born with a mutation that makes their brain chemistry toxic to the E’Clei. And once in all those generations, a miracle happened. Max’s brain was not just toxic. It was addictive to them. Instead of the E’Clei taking control of this small boy, it was the other way around. All the enhanced strength, speed, healing, and perception that the E’Clei give their host, Max was able to use to his advantage. He infected them.” As they approached the elevator, the ornate, gold-inlayed doors whisked to the sides. Inside, the Cardinal and the Arch Bishop both put a key in the elevator, which they turned at the exact same time.
The elevator carried them upwards so rapidly, Vaughn’s ears popped and his stomach felt like it was in his boots. “So what does this have to do with me?”
“Max had two children, Victor and Marshall, named for his father and uncle. Victor’s lineage was wiped out in the final E’Clei invasion, when the Colcoa-E’Clei killed almost everyone on the planet, but thanks to The Order, Marshall’s descendants were in Red River Falls when Queen Willa the Great turned Humanity into a space-faring race. We have followed Marshall’s bloodline through the eons since, and Matthew has the highest percentage of Tookes DNA of any Human alive. Your wife was also a descendant of Marshall, and the joining of your two bloodlines culminated in Matthew.”
“Sarah was my relative? That’s not possible.”
“Not directly. Somewhere, more than ten thousand years ago, you shared a common ancestor. In terms of genetics, no more related than you and I, except the possibility of keeping Max’s miraculous genetics intact. You and your son are genetically immune to the E’Clei parasites.”
