Chapter 11
Ramral pulled his cloak tighter around himself. The night air on this part of the world was cold to the Antioch. In fact, in another couple of months, it would be unbearable for members of his race to be outside.
He slowly made his way across the golf course toward the Taylor residence. He really had no proof that these people would be willing to help, but deep in his soul, it felt right. If he could only keep them from killing him before he could talk to them.
For the hundredth time he forced himself not to use his essence to warm himself. Not only would it be detected by Stark's satellite, but the essence would be detected by those in the house. He could feel the bright flare of essence ahead of him like a beacon, but he was not close enough to hide in it. He shivered, and continued to walk.
A few steps later, he dropped to his knees in pain as something touched his mind. Whatever it was had so much power that it had to be an automated defense. No living being he had ever felt had that much raw power. As quickly as it came, it was gone, leaving Ramral to wonder if it were truly as strong as he had originally thought. It hadn't felt automated though. It felt... human. He tried to get back up to continue the journey, but found he couldn't move. Nothing was damaged, but neither was his body responding to the normal commands. It was as if he were paralyzed. Faintly, he heard the approach of humans, four of them. Ramral strongly fought the urge to reach out with his essence to see if they were armed. Of course they are, you fool. To them, you're the enemy.
Wally and Carl were watching the girls playing in the pool while they practiced the age-old art of transforming bovine flesh into charcoal. The view from the patio was beginning to get interesting, since parts of swimsuits were getting thrown out of the pool.
They were just getting ready to put some more steaks on the grill when Brian issued a call in all their minds; "Code Red! I have a single Antioch approaching from the southeast. I don't feel anything else approaching. I'm sending a team out to recover it."
"Is it still alive, Brian?" Carl asked
"Yes sir, but I paralyzed it. Currently it seems afraid. I haven't scanned it any deeper then its surface thoughts."
"Get a team ready, I want to check this creature out," Carl said.
"Pass through me, Carl. That way, if it's a trap it doesn't get you, and I can also drop it before it gets any of our information," Rose said.
"You're not any more expendable than I am, lover. But let's do this, our food is getting cold," Carl said. He reached out through his lover and followed Brian's mental direction to the small being curled up on the ground in the middle of the golf course. He pressed against the shield he felt and was amazed at how quickly it fell away. After scanning Ramral, Carl knew he had just gotten another ally, and possibly more. "Brian, send out the team, but be gentle with him. Believe it or not, he may be our best chance of getting out of this alive. Please release the hold on him when your people get there and escort him to me. Treat him as if he were a visiting dignitary, because he is," Carl ordered.
"Ambassador Ramral, welcome. My name is Carl Jones. I guess you could say that I'm the leader here."
"Please forgive the use of mind-speech, Mr. Jones; I have no other power of speech. I bring you greetings from Her Holiness, Pontiff Went." Ramral bowed. "We have much to discuss."
"It would seem so. You've taken a big risk in coming here. May I ask if the rest of your people know of this place?" Carl asked.
"You may. One of the Sub-Inquisitor's slaves suspects you of collusion in the recent death of the Taylor family. The Sub-Inquisitor has ordered him to get you all out of this house so you can be scanned. As you apparently know, this house resides on a font of the essence, which prevents us from scanning it. Agent Stark couldn't get a good reading on any of you when he spoke to you. I have delayed his plans by a few days, but he will still burn this house to the ground to get you out of it. I am here to help you get set up to oppose the Sub-Inquisitor's forces," Ramral said.
"I fear we have already gotten started without you, Ambassador. How much time do we have before Mr. Stark arrives?" Carl asked.
"No more than a day. It took me longer to get to you than I had planned; I'm sorry," Ramral admitted. "It is not easy to travel among your kind without notice."
Carl silently cursed himself. One day wasn't much, but at least they had some warning. "My apologies, Ambassador; I haven't offered you any refreshments. You must be thirsty or hungry?"
"Thank you sir, but I am afraid most food and drink on your planet is toxic to me. We of the Antioch have no resistance to the chemicals used to grow the plants and protect against pests. I still have some of my own food and purified water, but I appreciate the offer."
"Please excuse me for a moment, Ambassador; I need to issue some orders because of this Mr. Stark," Carl said, and Ramral only nodded its understanding.
"Can I have your attention? We need to execute exodus at this time. It must be completed no later then zero-five-hundred tomorrow morning. Full stealth procedures are in effect. Brian, please notify Mike of our actions. This will include all of the security detail. We can leave no trace behind." Carl finished with, "Gate detonation will be set for zero-five-thirty. Anyone left behind will be on their own."
"May I assume I am to go with you, Mr. Jones?" Ramral asked.
"Yes you may, Ambassador. However, after we get to where we're going, it might not be so easy for you to leave." Carl tried to say it delicately, but Ramral got the real meaning.
"I see. Mr. Jones, I assumed it would be rather difficult for me to leave now; my brethren on the homeworld also know where I am, and what I am doing. We understand about matters of security. I knew I would be a prisoner before I left the Groom Lake complex."
Carl tried not to look sheepish; "That is true, and I do apologize for the necessity. Even though we can read you, at this time, we cannot afford the luxury of complete trust yet. We will, however, offer you your choice of unassigned quarters once we get to our destination."
"It sounds like you have made some rather extensive arrangements. May I ask how long you've been doing this?" Ramral was impressed with this young human. Though he hadn't attempted to read the man, he could tell that this Carl Jones had the most essence he had ever seen; the human positively glowed with it.
Carl chuckled. "Excuse me, Ambassador. I should have told you sooner. My birth name was Calvin Taylor. It was necessary to change my appearance to avoid detection."
"Amazing! You would have had to alter yourself on the genetic level to avoid our scanners. You have learned much in a short time. I noticed that there were other people here in touch with the essence as well; may I ask how many of you it took to alter your appearance?" This was a thinly veiled attempt to gain information, and they both knew it. Ramral thought it would be good to see just how far this human was willing to trust him. Of course, he had no idea that Carl and Rose were still following his every thought.
"It would be good to see if you can find out who is active and who isn't. Perhaps once we get to where we are going. Not that I don't trust you, Ambassador, but it would help us to know if we are detectable or not," Carl said. "As for how many of us it took to alter my appearance, it took one; me. It was slightly draining, but I felt better pretty quickly," Carl explained.
Ramral was shocked. He made the alterations by himself? It took six mature Antioch to alter one's appearance and that was only a superficial change. It left the participants completely depleted for two days. Ramral could detect no deceit from this young human, just a reluctance to give more information than necessary to answer questions. Fair enough, trust will come in time. This time, that trust will not be betrayed.
Carl and Rose both felt the shame that Ramral felt at what his people did to another race. "I think we can trust him, Carl. I can't find anything hidden in his mind. I've even scanned the details of his mission to us, and what he's willing to do to help us. He knows he will be branded a traitor for his actions, but he is convinced he's operating with the approval of the Pontiff," Rose said in Carl's mind.
"Yes, I get that too. Let's get our butts in gear, and get out of here. Mr. Stark could strike sooner than he told our friend here," Carl replied.
"You play the good host, and escort the Ambassador to Easter Island. We'll take care of your office and laptop," Rose said. "Most everything is already at the base anyway."
"Has anyone bothered to inform base security that an Antioch is going to be stepping through the transporter?" Carl asked.
"No, and if we want him to be alive when we get to the other side, they better be told. As it stands, the transporter will refuse to reassemble him. You'll have to make the call, I'm still a little busy here," Rose said.
"Ambassador, I'm informed they want to get my office ready to go. I need to warn the base we are coming, and we can go ahead," Carl said to Ramral.
Ramral nodded; he hadn't even felt the communication to this man. "I am at your disposal, sir."
Carl grinned and picked up the phone on his desk. "Control? I will be bringing an Antioch Ambassador with me into the base. Please disable the safeguards, and allow him passage. He is to be given diplomatic courtesy and treated with respect during his stay with us." Carl listened a few moments before hanging up. "We can go anytime, Ambassador."
Father stood in front of the security detachment in a suit that would have looked at home on Mr. Garibaldi from Babylon 5. He had never actually met a member of the Antioch race before, but had all the necessary protocols required for visiting Antioch dignitaries. He was unsure of how to address this visitor though, since Carl hadn't told him — hadn't had a chance to tell him — how to react. Carl bringing an Antioch here could mean one of two things: the Antioch was a prisoner, or the more likely considering Carl's instructions, it was a defector here to offer support. Father felt no apprehension about the arrival, only concern for his new charges.
"Mr. Ambassador, Welcome to Easter Island Base." Carl was broadcasting his mental voice so everyone present could 'hear' it. "We've only gotten started with our preparations, but they are well underway. May I introduce Mr. William Danforth, one of our information specialists. I assume the rest are a security detail assembled to welcome you." Carl raised an eyebrow to Father, making the comment a question.
"Welcome Mr. Ambassador. Commander Jones did stipulate that we were to extend diplomatic courtesy. My apologies for not being able to gather a larger honor guard, but we had little time," Father explained.
"I am truly honored. I didn't expect to be welcomed like this. Thank all of you," Ramral said.
"William, The reason I've ordered the alert is because the Ambassador gave us some information that the house will be attacked tomorrow. Now that we are through, please reset the gate to its normal operating parameters. I'll show the Ambassador to his quarters and get him settled. Expect a meeting tomorrow morning around ten-hundred," Carl said.
Father bowed in acknowledgment as Carl and the Ambassador walked to the lift.
"Mr. Jones, please call me Ramral. Ambassador seems so formal."
"Ramral then, you can call me Carl as well. I do hope you are patient with me. I've very little experience with this," Carl said.
"Saving your world, or dealing with an alien?" Ramral asked.
"Both actually. Two months ago I was a high school student. I'm afraid I'm not very good at being a diplomat. If I say or do anything to offend you, please understand it wasn't intended."
"I too have had very little diplomatic training. Though to reach my position, you must have some. Do not worry, if something you say is offensive to me, I will mention it to you, and we can discuss it. If that had been done long ago... well, never mind, that is past and unchangeable," Ramral said.
"I also have to confess a total lack of knowledge of what you would consider comfortable. We know very little of your race," Carl admitted.
"I am surprised that you know anything of my race. May I ask how you know what little you do?"
"I don't wish to alarm you, but you didn't remove all of the Illuminati presence here. This base, for example, was originally built by them. There is also one surviving ship with an active artificial intelligence computer system. The ship didn't have very much knowledge about you since it was a colonial transport, but it did know of your race," Carl admitted.
Ramral paled a little in fear. If there were still an Illuminati presence here and it hadn't been detected, the renegades were in for a worse time than originally thought. "I am relieved you didn't kill me on sight then. If you know of the shameful war of genocide my people pursued against that race, it would certainly be justified," Ramral said, hanging its head.
"Ramral, I've been able to read you since you were detected at the house. I know how you feel about what your people did. I also know that this is a different Pontiff, and she's having trouble with a group of Inquisitors that are acting on their own. I know the whole situation, and I accept your help. Do I trust you? Yes, as long as I don't do anything that will offend your beliefs. I can't promise that will never happen because we don't share those beliefs. I can only promise that I will try not to force such things on you. We believe that everyone has the right to worship as they will. No one has the right to force their beliefs on others. That's not to say you can't answer questions, but volunteering information will probably be frowned upon," Carl explained.
How can he be reading me? Ramral wondered. I can't feel anything, and I can feel the Grand Inquisitor when he tries to probe me. "I understand and agree completely. As for my comfort, I can use a human bed. I have actually gotten used to them during my time here. My people find your primary a little too bright for our eyes, so if I stay inside, I should be fine."
"Good, because none of us can go outside; we are currently underground. We have an arboretum here to simulate an outdoor climate. You are welcome to visit it at any time. As a matter of fact, I will authorize you for full access to most areas. Those that will remain restricted will be for either our safety or yours. As to your earlier question about how many of us are active, have you been able to tell yet?" Carl asked.
"No, I was not sure trying would be a good idea," Ramral admitted.
"Well, try tomorrow at the meeting. Most of the command staff will be there, and I can introduce you to them," Carl said. "This level is residential. My family has this apartment." Carl indicating a door with his hand, "... and there is a single right across the hall." He then pointed out another door opposite the first one. "There are other singles if you would prefer, but I'm afraid the floor plan doesn't vary all that much. Each residence is shielded to prevent 'noise' from the research level interfering with anyone's rest."
"Carl, you said you have been able to read me ever since the house, yet I cannot feel it. I know I have my strongest shield in place, so no one should be able to get anything from me. It is how I avoided detection during my trip to you."
"Place your hand on the touch plate so the computer can register you as the owner of this apartment," Carl instructed. "Now, why don't you try to read me?"
Ramral reached out with his essence and felt a strong blank wall where Carl's mind should have been. He pushed as hard as he could against it, but it wouldn't budge. "I only feel your shield, may I try while I touch you? Sometimes it helps."
Carl grinned; "Sure, but that method leaves you wide open as well."
Ramral paused only a moment before reaching out to take Carl's hand. If Carl had been reading him for the last hour, then he had seen as much as he had needed. Ramral could feel the same wall, and it was still as solid as before. "Sorry Carl, I just can not get through your shield, though I can tell you are very powerful simply because of that shield."
"That's pretty much what we figured, too. Try again now." Carl asked.
This time Ramral felt no resistance and entered right into the mind before him. The person's name was Carl Jones, and he was newly married to Wanda Smith. Wanda liked girls too, and currently the newlyweds shared two other girls. Carl was excited about getting to work on his wife's inheritance from her former lover...
Ramral stopped reading the thought processes, and looked for the essence he knew was in this amazing young man... and did not find a single shred of power anywhere. In fact, Mr. Carl Jones thought psychics were all fakes.
The Antioch backed out of the mind and felt the area around them for the presence of essence. The only thing he felt was the normal atmosphere of the apartment.
"Carl, you could walk right past the Pontiff, and she would not know you had any power at all! How can you do that?"
"It's a trick we've figured out on our own. Maybe we can teach it to you. I think we are good enough in our training to be able to fool most scanning, but I'd still like you to try tomorrow morning. I'll tell you afterwards who is active and who isn't. Now, this place is furnished with the basics for human comfort. The food here is synthetic from the base replicator. I don't know if it can produce anything you can eat, but we will have to look into that tomorrow."
"I am so tired, I will probably fall asleep before you get back to the lift," Ramral admitted.
"If you need anything, simply ask the computer. It will respond to mental requests. It will also call me if you ask it to. Rest well, Ramral," Carl said.
"Thank you, my friend, I shall be fine here."
It was much later that night before Carl asked the computer about their guest. Ramral asked for a glass of pure water, used the facilities, and went to bed. According to the monitors in the room he was deeply asleep.
Carl helped his exhausted wives to bed and climbed in with them. For
the first night since they had gotten together, they were too tired to
have sex, but the togetherness and tenderness shown, even in their
tired state, reaffirmed their love for one another.