The Adventures of Deacon Coombs (50 page)

“Put that down,” he said as she thumbed through each page of his personal diary about Nix. She spun around to face him and moved into his space. This was the closest that he had ever been to a Zentaurian. Not even Geor had broken the space for same air. Small, irregular, boil-filled troughs existed in the crevices between the ripples of green scales on her face. It was the first time that Deacon had observed that. Xudur, as usual, flashed the inside of her mouth to expose the repulsive bloodred tissue. She knew it would annoy him. Deacon stood his ground and peered into her abyssal eyes.

They were soulless black spots, like those of the face of an ancient form of extinct life on Earth called lizards. Deacon felt as though he was staring into a black hole. He inhaled Xudur’s stench in a fight for breath and then asked, “What do you want, Xudur?”

“You speak well and you write well. I admire your efforts to bring this creature to justice on behalf of the Alliance. For an Earthman this is a noble gesture. But… you and I must face truths. A truth we both share. Correct?”

“Speak your piece bluntly and leave.”

“We know what must be done. Don’t we, Deacon Coombs? We know what must be done to rid our world of this monster Urzel.” She intimidated him by shaking her head up and down while rubbing the soft, fleshy green crest on her forehead against his face. Deacon backed off.

“I must admit, Coombs, that you have brave, foolish notions.” Now her pitch had altered to throw a scare into him.

“But they are only heroic dreams, the dreams of a dreamer—and that dreamer is you. When it comes time to kill this child, what will you do? Will you appeal to its mother to reason with it? Will you appeal directly to Urzel itself? Will you take the glittering razor’s edge and rip the flesh and plunge the edge mercilessly into it? Stab it to death? Laser it to smithereens? Will you?” Xudur was afire and answered her own queries. “No, you will not.” She was furious as she backed away from him. “You have not the courage to kill it! In the one second that you and other humans delay to think of it as a child, when you feel pangs of remorse, it will have you, and you will have failed. I know you spoke of courage earlier, but those were just words.” She raised her tiny, muscular upper left arm and pointed her long fingers at him.

“From the inception of your plan by your physicist friend Roadster, whatever it may be, you know that it is I, Xudur, who must travel with you to this great confrontation. You do not have what it takes to murder, Mister Writer, Mister Sleuth, and Mister Moonbeam Eyes.”

In the silence, she strutted around the room again, positioning herself behind him. He felt her breath on his nape. “I, Princess Xudur, have boundless courage and the intelligence of knowing when to strike, and I shall kill this vermin on sight before it begs for mercy. You will mastermind and design the death scenario for me with Roadster. I shall not bother to show pity because it is the unfortunate child of a maligned mating. Do you know what we do to criminals on Zentaur?”

“Yes. I believe that you dissect them.”

“Dissect them? Is that what your books tell you? We shred them up into fodder. Failures as humans, we give them a second chance to fertilize the soils and bring new life. We give them a second chance to contribute to society in death.”

“That would be inhumane and disgusting on most other planets.”

“That is an expected reaction from a fragile, sympathetic little Earthman.”

She folded her arms and ambled around to face him again, deliberately breathing puffs of her being into his face. “That is your basic problem here on Earth. You have too many prisons. You spend too much money and time keeping the vermin of society alive, like your friend Morris Mydloan. He was set free to kill again, or be killed.” Xudur showed an evil sneer. “Tell me what you will feel when you squeeze the trigger on the implement of destruction to terminate Urzel.”

“I will do whatever has to be done. I shared as much with you and the High Council.”

“Liar!” she yelled. “You will hesitate, and all will be lost.” Deacon jumped as she shook her fist at him. “It is me, Coombs, a woman of conviction, destiny, courage; I must be the one. You know this. Admit this to me now! You must design the death scene for Urzel so that Xudur is the instrument of its destruction!” Her black eyes now bulged from her sockets while she flicked her tongue at him.

“I will consider your request.”

“Consider? I just gave you an order to save us all from your bleeding heart. You can save face here and now by requesting my presence to Landrew to accompany you to Medulla and beyond, or else I shall have to work behind your back to join your team and uncover your death plot. Well, Earthman?”

Deacon did not reply, so she smiled leeringly. “Do you know how we make love on Zentaur?”

“I have read about the rituals.”

“
Read
. There is that word again. You are so fond of reading, aren’t you? I am pleased that you are well versed on this issue. That is what you are—a reader.” She placed her claws on his shoulders and came even closer to him to whisper.

“It commences when the female places her hands and claws on the shoulders of the male like this. Then she digs her claws deeper to penetrate the flesh and inject the male with hormonal chemicals to arouse him to the point of simultaneous pain and elation.”

They sparred. He felt the spiny claws through his shirt. He lifted his arms and stroked her efforts away just as Lyanna appeared in the doorway.

“Excuse me, am I interrupting?” Lyanna asked.

“No. Princess Xudur was just leaving.”

Xudur stared into his eyes. She leaned over to whisper in his ear. “Perhaps we shall dine one evening and I can tell you the invigorating tale of how I made love with one dozen males in an evening. They begged me to stop. On Zentaur, we take pride in our personal conquests. One evening, perhaps?”

Deacon wanted to end this uncomfortable meeting. Xudur did the favor by striding out, brushing past Lyanna. She turned one last time to say, “Your frail little body is blushing again, Mister Coombs. As I depart, don’t forget that I can be your single most valuable resource on this mission. It is I, Xudur, who can be trusted and counted on to execute your assassination plan.”

“What an irritating woman,” Lyanna said. As she approached Deacon, she spotted the slight tear on the shoulder of his shirt. “Deacon, what was she doing?”

“She was taunting me into a favor. The intimidation tactics were not strong enough medicine for me to yield.”

Lyanna turned and locked the door. “Now, where were we?” She embraced him, and they went through the motions, but Deacon’s mind was infected with her Xudur’s challenge. Would he pull the trigger? Was that what he was, just a reader? She had better be wrong, or like Landrew, he would live out the remainder of his life in deep regret. Later that day, Deacon visited Toad in the catacombs of the data banks. Jim connected Toad’s monitors directly into monstrous library files.

The plan unfolds

Jim had selected an area on the ground floor for Toad’s workstation. As Deacon and Lyanna approached, they noticed that Rodan’s own papers and discs had contributed to a messy situation. Rodan took an instant liking to Lyanna and quizzed her on the research at Brebouillis. He also recited the recent incident where he had mistaken Deacon and Jim for pests. Jim, standing beside Deacon, and observing Rodan, replied, “He is a delightful, chubby man, Master. Now we have two chubbies on the team. But he is so messy and disorganized.”

Lyanna approached. “When did you first meet him?”

“He was my college professor in physics and laserology. Later, after graduation, we worked on joint ventures at Lambton University. We’ve kept in touch over the years and even given joint papers at symposiums. It was Toad that influenced me to always work within the limitations of the data but never rule a possibility out.”

“He seems so disorganized.”

“Jim’s thoughts exactly. Ha. Look, Lyanna, Jim is tidying up Toad’s mess. This should work up Toad’s dander.”

Rodan waved his arms for Jim to depart and mind his own business. “Stop that! Leave those discs alone!” However, Jim insisted on organizing the shambles, so Rodan solved the problem by sending Jim away to retrieve some additional data.

Deacon approached. “I am sure that you and Jim will become good friends.”

“Did you see what that Owler tried to do? Rearrange my data!”

“Here, Toad, are some helpful files that I extracted earlier for you. They address the evolution of life on Medulla, detailing their biological phases as written by doctors at Brebouillis.” Lyanna passed three discs to him. “They will fit your handheld.”

Toad was left alone to conduct his research. Deacon, meanwhile, anxiously awaited the arrival of the Aralian Chubby Eaves. For that evening and the next day, Toad concentrated on his assignment with help from Jim. The team had no time for social interactions. Each worked, with only Deacon roaming from station to station to observe their progress. Late on the second day, Toad approached Deacon and stated that he had reached conclusions and was ready to reveal his findings. Deacon dispatched Jim to carry that message to Landrew and to assemble the High Council in the library’s chambers just as Chubby Eaves arrived.

“Your timing is perfect. We are ready to review Dr. Roadster’s findings to the High Council.” Chubby stopped in his tracks.

“Dr. Rodan Roadster?
The
Dr. Rodan Roadster?” Rodan peered around an aisle bookcase with a broad grin, and their eyes met. Chubby ran forward and hugged him, Aralian style. “Villya, Dr. Roadster. I have read all your articles on Vespering, time travel, and biophysics. There are many hours in space to fill, and reading is a passion with me.”

Deacon was astonished as the two immediately bonded with talk of trade vessels and time travel. He sat back and listened to their tales. Chubby later waved Deacon over to join them as they awaited Jim’s return.

Later Deacon found himself ambling up the library’s stairs again, with his band of Chubby, Toad, Lyanna, and the two Owlers, recalling the turmoil he had created during the last visit. They were the last to arrive. Xudur upstaged Lyanna by positioning herself beside Deacon; Schlegar and Chubby hugged and exchanged pleasantries, which comforted Deacon; Dreveney, Raal, and Eggu-Nitron circled the table as Jim and Gem assisted Rodan. Landrew initiated the meeting with the introduction and biography of Dr. Rodan Roadster, and then he ordered the chamber sealed.

Deacon noted Dithropolis’s absence with great sympathy as he stared at the empty chair. His mind wandered for one second to pray for Quobit and that she had found her family safe. The meeting commenced, and Rodan’s introduction was sprinkled with his usual “Oh my goosh” and “Oh my chooch,” which drew sneers from Xudur and chuckles from Raal, Eggu-Nitron, Landrew, and Dreveney.

“It is so exciting for me to be here to present some findings to you. Oh my goosh, I have heard so much about the leadership and achievements of each of you. I am humbled, but let’s move on with the task. After studying the data, I am prepared to offer three points to this group tonight with help of my assistant, Jim.” Jim stepped forward to take a bow.

“Okay, the three points I shall address are as follows. One: there exists sufficient evidence in the physical and natural surroundings of Medulla to suggest that these beings can exist in energy patterns and dimensions that are out of our dimensions and therefore undetected by our technology. Two: you are interested in identifying how you can find this creature. This will be difficult. Because we cannot detect it, so I must offer other suggestions, like having the creature find us. Three: Deacon conveyed that you are interested in my opinion on how this creature can be exterminated. What I present to you will be highly conjectural. Reality is the only way to test the validity of my proposed execution methods.

“Let us begin. Jim, step forward and display the first recording, please.” The room darkened. Jim opened up the midsection of his body to expose a screen where mathematical equations in numerous variables were littered over thirty lines.

Rodan commenced his recital. “The records submitted from planet Medulla to the Alliance indicate that the gravitational and magnetic fields of the planet Medulla are in a state of constant flux. It is my opinion—and I might add that this opinion was originated by our detective friend, Deacon Coombs—that these fluctuations have provided a severe impediment to the normal evolution of corporeal life on Medulla. So difficult was it to adjust to the flesh that life survived by discovering that the energy fields could leave the body. The biggest strain in evolving in this environment, and remaining on Medulla, is on the cellular structure, so it was only natural to eventually abandon cellular structure through evolution. I might add that the fluctuations must have produced much pain to the bodies remaining on the surface.

“Now, I found that life was not always so difficult. Life on Medulla existed for five million years before the planet’s magnetic and gravitational fields commenced this maelstrom. Since it has increased gradually over the last two million years, it has given time for life to evolve and adjust. By leaving the body, the fluctuations are minimized; the magnetic and gravitational disturbances are present to a lesser effect. On Medulla, like anywhere else, life evolved in the direction of the path of least resistance, in the spiritual state.”

Rodan grinned from ear to ear. “Deacon Coombs, my esteemed friend, proposed to me that this creature you seek went undetected at the death scenes of both Geor and Como. Being a detective, honoring the facts, he came to the conclusion that his presence was undetected because our instruments are calibrated to the physical parameters of our worlds.” A lengthy silence ensued as he sipped on water. “I agree. On the screen, Jim demonstrates additional mathematical equations that represent the energy force fields of the Medullans. It wasn’t very difficult to construct this using the files laid open to me.

“In layman’s terms, spirits have energy and I determined what activation energy is required to free the Medullans of the detrimental effects of the fluctuations, and thus attain a freedom of uninhibited movement.