Torian Reclamation 2: Flash Move (28 page)

They passed through the conference room without stopping, into an open corridor with a lift on the far side of it. Two armed guards stood in front of the lift doors. At Belle-ub’s signal, they stepped aside.

“This lift leads to our defense bunker, General. I think you’ll be amazed at how simple our system is.”

“All right,” Olut6 said. He turned to Brandon. “Have them wait here.” He pointed at Jumper, Hol4, Alan, and Kayla.

“Going back outside,” Alan said. He unceremoniously exited through the conference room. Kayla immediately followed him.

“Watch over him,” Belle-ub said to his two companions. They followed Alan and Kayla back through the door.

The lift arrived. Belle-ub, Brandon, Olut6, and the three soldiers stepped into it and turned back around to face the door.

“I won’t be long,” Brandon said to Jumper. The lift doors closed as Jumper and Hol4 watched. The two guards retook their position in front of the doors.

“Come on,” Jumper said to Hol4. They went back through the conference room out to the terrace. Alan was looking about the same, not any better but at least not any worse. The two Sheen were standing nearby keeping an eye on him, as Belle-ub requested. Kayla was leaning over the rail watching the polwar players on the field.

“How can there be so much obsession over a dumb game,” she said. “So much, in fact, that a large arena can be built for it?” She shook her head as the breeze blew strands of her dark hair across her face. She turned to Jumper. “You probably love it, don’t you?”

“I don’t love it,” Hol4 interjected. “I’ve never played it myself, but I see what happens to those who do.”

Jumper laughed. “Then you don’t want to ever try it. Your race seems to have a natural, uncontrollable compulsion towards it. We humans aren’t affected as much.”

Kayla made that unattractive snorting sound again and said, “Ha! That’s a laugh. It’s all the guys want to do around the colony. Not in the open, mind you, unless you and Alan are out camping. They sneak around and do it behind closed doors. I think they won’t play in front of you because they’re sick of you beating them all the time. Even I have to play it sometimes, when there’s nothing else to do at night, and none of the guys want to talk or do anything else. Stupid game.”

“There’s a strategy to it,” Jumper said. “It’s not a mindless pursuit. Polwar is a game of complete information. You can see everything your opponent does, and vice-versa. But that doesn’t mean you both
see
the same thing. Blocking patterns and sneaking up on your opponent with a connection he doesn’t see coming. There’s real satisfaction in that, and it isn’t all that easy to do—do well, anyway.”

“It’s a stupid game,” Kayla said, “and stupid that it’s so addicting. I know about the patterns. It’s no big deal. The reverence everyone has for someone who gets on a lucky streak is misplaced. I think there’s way more random chance than people are admitting to. I’m sure I could beat you at it, with only a little luck.”

“No. You couldn’t.”

Kayla smiled. “I bet I could. Ooooohhh, I’d love to, too. Then I could prove to everyone it’s all luck and maybe they’d stop playing it.”

“You want to try?” Jumper said. “Look, there are two open tables on this side of the field now. I’d be happy to teach you a lesson in respect.”

“All right, let’s go,” Kayla said.

Jumper turned to one of the Sheen. “Belle-ub said the Earthlings could have their own playoff. We wish to hold that right now. One game to determine the Earth champion. Can you take us to the field?”

The Sheen looked back and forth between Jumper and Kayla several times.

“Fine,” he said. “Follow me.”

Belle-ub’s bunker was much more military-looking than Brandon expected. As soon as the lift doors opened, he was reminded of a typical Hollywood movie depiction of the American nuclear missile command center. It was dark at first, with soft overhead lighting—but there were also lights from computers, work stations, and video screens on the walls, some of which showed schematics. In reality, Belle-ub’s defense bunker wasn’t all that different from the REEP bunker on Cardinal-4.

“This place looks familiar,” Olut6 said.

“It should, General.” Belle-ub led them to the center of the floor, where they were surrounded by both natives and red Sheen manning the work stations. “You’ve been here before.”

Olut6 cocked his head and then looked around carefully.

“The abandoned ground-REEP defense system.”

“Correct, General. The installation was mostly complete before the project was canceled. It was not difficult to alter the existing infrastructure for our purposes.”

“You built your stadium right smack on top of the old bunker,” Olut6 said. He sounded slightly impressed.

Belle-ub smiled. “Yes. I think it’s best to defend the continent directly from its biggest target. Gives the defenders …proper motivation.”

“There are REEP defense units installed on Torian soil?” Brandon asked. “I’ve wondered about that at times—why there wouldn’t be, I mean.”

“There are several good reasons,” Olut6 said. “Most significant is the limited effective range. Attackers would have to be well inside the atmosphere before becoming vulnerable. Given the range and accuracy of modern space-to-surface weapons, it was thought the likelihood of that to be too remote to continue funding the project. The whole thing ended up being Giant waste of time and money. I opposed it from the beginning, primarily because of the danger to Torian pilots who happen to be in the atmosphere when it fires. But also because of the repercussions to the civilian population, most of whom would not have sufficient warning to don ear protection from the sonic booms. If I remember right, the range of conductors installed was massive—covering most of the central valley.”

“Yes,” Belle-ub said. “Wide enough for us to protect the entire continent from any automated weapons discharge inside our atmosphere.”

“What’s the vertical range?”

“Same as that of the REEP system. As I have already stated, only minor tweaks were needed to adapt the technology for our purposes.”

Olut6 sneered. “So, it’s just as ineffective as the ground-REEP project would have been.”

“It’s been used several times in the last week alone, General, and we have found it to be most satisfactory. We’ve stopped hostile activity in air above us, including putting an end to a rather sizeable battle between the Dirgs and Latians.”

“But you can’t stop a projectile weapon fired from above our atmosphere,” Olut6 said. “And that’s all it would take to destroy your beautiful new arena.” The sarcasm in his voice was unrestrained.

“We have standard tracking devices and coordinated laser weapons mounted on the stadium. When we finish construction, more will be in place.” Belle-ub leaned on a work station and pressed a button. One of the screens showed an illustration of what the completed stadium would look like. In the area currently under construction, two large laser weapons were mounted at the top.

Belle-ub continued. “But to be fair, General, you are correct. We will be somewhat vulnerable here, as are all targets in Tora, and would hope for some protection from you.”

Olut6 shook his head. “Can you not see the absurdity of that request? You hope for protection from military forces you refuse to cooperate with, and, in your own words, do not recognize the authority of. You won’t cancel the tournament when I order you to—at the point of engaging me in battle, no less—and then ask me to protect you? I can’t help you if you refuse to help me.”

“Let us make amends, then.” Belle-ub pushed another button on the station in front of him, and a small metal tube extended from it. He removed it and handed it to Olut6. “Here you have the complete schematic of our defense system, including the blueprints to the bunker and arena. Nothing is being kept from you. You wanted to know how we are capable of disabling weapons systems in our atmosphere, and now you hold in your hands the key, down to the last detail.”

Olut6 accepted the computer drive and said, “For now, why don’t you just explain how it works?” His tone was calm again. Belle-ub’s diplomacy appeared to be working on him.

“Certainly, General. The magnetic repulsion takes the form of—”

“Frequency disturbance rather than particle repulsion,” Olut6 said. “I figured it out. You’re right. It may not be all that useful in the current age, but it’s simple.”

Olut6 turned to Brandon. “You knew about this?”

“No,” Brandon said, looking around. “I didn’t know about
this
.”

*

“Well that was fast.” Kayla sunk her chin into her palm and stared at the game frame. “Now I remember why I hate this game. It really sucks.”

“Sucks to lose, you mean.” Jumper stood up. “Especially the first few minutes after. Kayla, you had no chance against me.”

“Sucks,” Kayla repeated. She remained motionless.

Jumper came around to her side of the table. Only two other games were still in progress on the field, both between Torian natives. The Sinlo Mountain champ was one of the players still alive.

“Come on.” Jumper extended his hand to her. “Let’s go. I don’t want to leave Alan alone too long. Come to think of it, this was foolish and I shouldn’t have let you irk me into it.”

Kayla surrendered her hand and Jumper pulled her up. A small group of natives in the stadium seats stood and clapped as the two of them made their way back across the field towards the exit. Jumper noticed them, but didn’t mention it to Kayla. She was really dragging along. That wasn’t like her. But Jumper knew what this game could do to a person. As they exited the field, he put his arm around her and kissed her on the cheek.

Kayla instantly perked up and smiled enchantingly.

“Made you kiss me!” she said, and bolted up ahead of him on the exit ramp. That little twerp. Jumper ran after her, but was intercepted by a native holding a lightpad.

“You’re the Earth champion?” he said.

“Um …yes.”

“I’m Wot7, the tournament director. Your name?”

“Jumper.”

“No number?”

“No number. Just Jumper. From the Earth colony in the cities.”

He entered something on the lightpad.

“All right. You’re bracketed in. All competitors play in the first heat tomorrow morning. The games must start on time. Latecomers forfeit the match. This is a single-elimination tournament. You’re at table six and will play the Latian champion in the first round. Tulros.”

Kayla was standing behind the tournament director. Her playful smiled vanished completely when Jumper responded, “Okay. See you then.”

“You’re
not
actually playing in this thing tomorrow, are you?” she said as they began climbing the many steps to get back to Belle-ub’s terrace.

Jumper shrugged. “Let me have my day as the Earth champ, will you? You heard the tournament director. When I don’t show up in the morning, I simply forfeit and the Latians win the match—whoever they are.”

“I know you, Jumper. Are you willing—or even capable—of walking away without playing, and conceding defeat by forfeit?”

“Right now I’m only concerned about Alan. Hol4 too, as it seems he has become my responsibility. I need to talk to Uncle Brandon about both of them. Whatever Uncle Brandon says, that’s what I’ll do.”

“Good,” Kayla said. The relief in her voice was obvious. She obviously calculated the chances of Brandon condoning Jumper playing polwar—in any form, ever—to be zero.

Kayla compensated for her loss at the table by clearly outpacing Jumper on the climb back up the stairs. By the time they reached the terrace level, Jumper was puffing heavily from trying to keep up with her. He stopped, leaned over, placed his hands on his knees, and attempted to recuperate.

“Something’s going on,” Kayla said. She didn’t sound the least bit winded.

Jumper looked up. Belle-ub’s terrace was much more crowded than when they left. At least twenty aliens were now there, different species gathered in groups of three or four.

“Come on,” Jumper said. They ducked into the stadium hallway and hurried to the archway that led to the terrace, but an armed Torian guard stopped them.

“It’s all right,” one of the red Sheen said from under the archway. “Let them through.”

The assortment of aliens on the terrace was every bit as visually diverse as those Jumper and Kayla noticed throughout the village last night. It was hard to imagine intelligent beings coming in so many different shapes, sizes, and colors. Jumper recognized the Dirgs—from when Brandon and Belle-ub left with them in their shuttle two nights ago—but none of the others. The aliens appeared unhappy. Several of them were arguing.

Alan and Hol4 were pushed up against the back railing of the terrace. Jumper and Kayla made their way through the crowd to reach them. Jumper noticed Kayla was extra careful not to brush up against the Dirgs when she squeezed by.

Alan didn’t look good. The color in his face was gone again. He was leaning out over the railing, plainly uncomfortable at being crowded in like this. Neither of the Sheen who were supposed to be watching him was with him. Hol4 didn’t seem thrilled to be there, either.