Test of Magnitude (The Torian Reclamation) (11 page)

“Well, so glad we could help,” Brandon said. He hoped Derek would return to him now.

“How many more are there?” Derek asked. Brandon had to admit, Derek was handling himself much better than he was.

“We accumulated research subjects from several other underdeveloped planets as well,” Yob3 began.

“No—from Earth. How many more prisoners did you kidnap from Earth?”

Professor Yob3 looked at Arkan9 instead of answering. So did everyone else in the room. Finally, Arkan9 spoke.

“Would you like to go for a walk?”

Brandon found his question avoidance unnerving, but he spoke up anyway.

“You mean, outside?”

Arkan9 looked back at Yob3, who simply shrugged, before continuing.

“Yes, we can go outside. Why don’t we all go for walk?”

Chapter Five

Derek walked alongside Arkan9 immediately in front of Brandon. Professor Yob3 led the procession, and the one called Mip7 brought up the rear behind Brandon, forming a secure formation. The doors were all closed in the corridor they now walked through. It was the same metallic color as the gray room. Brandon thought about making a break for it as soon as they got outside, whenever and wherever that would be—but where could he go? The food and beds were back in here. Even so, if it looked like Earth when they got outside, he decided he would look for an escape opportunity and take his chances.

He knew these shoes might be a problem, though. Brandon figured he may need to ditch them, as they could contain a tracking device, or even have a remote control that could stop him from running. Arkan9 had made him and Derek get fitted with them before the walk, calling them
gravity footwear
, claiming he and Derek would not have good control of their movements outside without them. The shoes were black and had a strip of small green lights on the outside that occasionally flashed in sequence, which Yob3 explained was evidence they were “calibrating.” They looked futuristic and were kind of cool—although, if Brandon saw NBA players wearing them with a Nike symbol back home, he wouldn’t have thought twice about it.

They turned left and exited through a sliding door into sudden bright sunshine. Everyone stood still for a few moments to allow their eyes to adjust. They were outside, yes—but in the courtyard of a building, completely enclosed. There was no place to run to.

Arkan9 led them to some benches. There were several other lizard-men milling about in the courtyard and conversing, some of whom pointed in their direction before going back inside. This appeared to be a break area for the Torians who worked at the lab, assuming Brandon and Derek were really in a lab on a planet called Amulen.

The plant life in the courtyard was undeniably exotic. One tree with rich green leaves had three or four different kinds of fruit on it. Another had three trunks and one large leaf on top where they all came together. There were vines made entirely of blooming flowers growing on trellises. A patch of purple grass lay in front of them, and a squirrel-looking mammal, what Brandon recognized as giant-frog food, scurried up the fruit tree. It was quite a beautiful scene.

Derek was first to speak. He was looking up at the sky.

“Whoa man, a big full moon out in the daytime. That thing’s outta sight.”

Brandon looked up, and then all doubt was removed about still being on Earth. The moon was much different.

“That is Banor,” Arkan9 said. “It is particularly visible in the mornings this time of year from Continent-2 Amulen. Neither of our worlds have a natural satellite like the Earth’s moon.”

They sat outside for a while, without anyone speaking, while Brandon and Derek took it all in. At one point, Brandon got up and wandered around the courtyard to examine the vegetation and the walls of the buildings that surrounded them. The two natives would have stayed close to him, but Arkan9 waved them off. The Sheen was right; Brandon no longer had a desire to run. There would be no point to it. He was lost, so far from home it was unfathomable, and completely at the mercy of these aliens, who, fortunately, seemed to be committed to taking care of him. He came back over to the group after a bit. Derek had moved and was now sitting cross-legged on the grass in front of Arkan9’s bench. Brandon sat on the bench next to Arkan9.

The specter of it all began to wear off.

“Why did you revive us?” Brandon asked.

“It is a cruelty, and a violation of our moral law, to keep intelligent life forms in perpetual comatose,” Arkan9 said.

“What about kidnapping, man?” Derek said. “Your moral law has no issues with that?”

 “Understand,” Mip7 interjected, “if you had remained on your home planet, there is a strong chance you would have perished by now, along with your entire species.” The lizard-professor nodded in agreement.

“Perhaps that’s what we preferred,” Brandon said. “At least it would have been proper to ask first.”

“Right on brother,” Derek said. “Me, I could have just lived my life. I had tickets to a hot show, man. I am fine with dying, as long as I got to see Hendrix play live first. Dang it, I would have been an old geezer, if I was still alive even, by the time you bagged Brando there. It ain’t right, man. You guys obviously didn’t know what you were doing, ‘cause the Earth didn’t roll over or nothing in what was supposed to be my lifetime.”

Arkan9 looked at Brandon. “Your name is Brando?”

“No. Brandon.”

Arkan9 turned to Derek. “What can we call you?”

Derek just sat there for a long moment looking annoyed. He eventually answered, “Derek. Call me Derek.” Brandon shook his head in amazement.

“Brandon and Derek,” Arkan9 said, “I cannot defend all the actions my people have taken, especially in our recent history. Torians are a good people, but all beings error in their ways at times. I do not purport that your abductions were justified. I can only offer an apology.”

“You brought us here, so can you take us home?” Brandon asked.

Arkan9 thought for a moment. “The technology does exist, of course. It is physically possible, yes—but, it is not within my ability to arrange just now. Perhaps in the near future—”

“What about the others?” Derek asked. His question again brought an uncomfortable silence upon the group.

“The resuscitation of our research subjects is a new idea,” Yob3 finally said. “You are the first subjects in this experiment. It is something of a political battle at the moment to determine whether or not additional subjects will be revived, and if so, when and how many. Much depends on the results of the current experiment, and how much influence Arkan9 can exhort on the Amulen government.”

“Wait a minute,” Brandon said. “Just hold on there.” He glanced at Derek, who was now looking back at him expectantly.

“Are you saying the other humans you have trapped here in comas might stay that way indefinitely, and it somehow depends on the two of us if they are to be saved? Woken up like us, I mean?”

The professor looked to Arkan9.

“I’m afraid there is truth in that,” Arkan9 confessed. “The future of your race is now very much dependent on both of you.”

“What are we supposed to do?” Derek asked.

“Nothing happens quickly,” Arkan9 said. “Please do not become upset over this. All of us here are supporters of your cause.” Yob3 cocked his head at Arkan9.

Arkan9 continued. “Mip7 and I are appointed to oversee your development. It is important to integrate you into our society. How well we can accomplish that will greatly affect the influence we have in attaining approval for a secondary phase of Earth subject revivals.”

Brandon suddenly felt the weight of responsibility fall on his shoulders. All thoughts of escape or rebellion were now gone from him. There were other abducted humans who needed his help. How many, he wasn’t sure he even wanted to know.

Derek looked upset. “Oh, bummer, man. Like, we have to behave or others will suffer. Oppression, man. This is like, blackmail. Total oppression.”

“I want to take you both to Banor with Mip7 and myself,” Arkan9 said. “I have permission from the Amulen Chancellor. As soon as we think you are fit for local space travel, perhaps in a few days, we will make the trip.”

That seemed to perk Derek back up. “Whoa, a ride in a spaceship? Groovy, man.”

“Let’s finish our walk,” Arkan9 said. “Professor, take us through sections four, five, and seven please.”

Yob3 shook his head. “No, we can’t go through those sections. Maybe seven, if you really think it’s a good idea. Not four and five. We have work going on in those wings.”

“Yes, I know about the work, as I was the one who arranged it on my visit with the chancellor yesterday. It will be all right. I want the Earthlings to see it.”

Yob3 cocked his head again, then tapped something on his device, waited, and read something. He looked back at Arkan9, appearing to be very concerned. He then stood up and looked each at the Earthlings for a long moment, before finally answering Arkan9.

“I think this is a bad idea. I want them together, between us.” He turned to Brandon. “Stay in formation and do not enter any rooms. Remember, your behavior affects the fate of your fellow Earthlings.”

Brandon nodded. Everyone stood up.

“This way,” Yob3 said. Arkan9 followed directly behind him. Derek walked with Brandon behind Arkan9, and Mip7 came last. They entered the building by another door and walked down a corridor a ways. Yob3 was met by another lizard-man, a silver-colored one who held odd-looking instruments. They talked for a minute or two, and then the new one went ahead while they all kept standing for a few more minutes. Finally, Yob3 began leading them again.

The wall on the right-hand side became glass, so they could see the inside of a large room. It was well-lit with unrecognizable gadgets placed about and several Torian natives performing various tasks. In the middle of the room were two clear glass coffins with what appeared to be some kind of creatures inside, possibly dead Torians. Yob3 waved to one of the workers, and two of them wheeled one of the coffins over to the glass wall where they could get a closer look.

The creature in the glass coffin was not a lizard-man. Whatever it was, was extraordinary, a man-like figure with a dark purple-colored skin. The head seemed to have tentacles instead of hair, like squid tentacles with suction cups. It had two large eyes in the normal position on its head, and two small holes where a person’s nose usually goes. It had a large mouth and human-looking ears. It had two arms and two legs, but the fingers and toes were also tentacle-like, with suction cups all along them.

“Whoa, check out the freaky octopus man!” Derek said.

Yob3 then led them further down the hall, where the glass wall revealed an adjacent room full of octopus-men in glass coffins, rows and rows of them, stacked upon each other almost to the ceiling and interconnected by small tubes.

“This is a cryonic-preservation chamber network” Yob3 explained. “These humanoid beings were taken from an underdeveloped world, similar to Earth, but in a different area, near the outer edge of our region of the galaxy.”

Yob3 then led them away from that room and down a long narrow corridor, until he met up with another associate. The same scenario played out over again. They waited, and then proceeded. The wall became glass, and there was another room with two more glass coffins inside that were being worked on by Torian scientists—only these coffins were much shorter. Yob3 had them bring one over for observation. The creature inside looked much more familiar, with human skin and hair, and human facial features, but was short—maybe three feet tall, and had bushy red hair which formed patches in odd places, such as on the forearms and shoulders.

“Wow, hairy midgets!” Derek said.

Again, there was a cryonic chamber network in the next room, a smaller one housing several dozen hairy midgets.

They walked down another hallway and exited outside, only to a very large courtyard this time, much bigger than the previous one. There was more exotic vegetation, different trees and bushes, and small gatherings of Torian natives in different places, some of them eating and some of them standing in circles talking and smoking what looked like cigars to Brandon.

Arkan9 led them to an unoccupied area shaded by a tree very similar in appearance to a banana tree, only with large sharp spikes along its trunk and branches. They gathered into their own circle.

“What you have just seen,” Arkan9 began, “Is the beginning of an experimental resuscitation process on the subjects of two additional races besides yours.”

Mip7 cocked his head.

Arkan9 turned to him and said, “Your solution to the Earthling situation was inspired. The chancellor was impressed when I explained it to him. He further commissioned the same procedure for these two additional species, at my urging, the severe objections of the governor and Director Markin1 notwithstanding. As with the Earthlings, the first and last subjects taken have been located, and are being prepared in like manner.”

Brandon suddenly realized the Torian known as Mip7 had played a significant role in his having been revived.