Chapter 3

Samuel was flying as fast as he could, cursing himself for stopping to help Atata and its people.

Sighing, he shook his head as he flew into another wormhole. Hmmm, he thought, as many as Mellos’s ship has taken, you’d think she was trying to lose me.

Flying onward, he suddenly dropped into normal space. Looking around, he blinked at what appeared to be Earth, though shaking his head, he knew better. Rubbing his eyes, he looked closer, his mouth dropping open.

On the planet, he could see very thin, extremely tall human-like creatures. Their eyes were huge, and they also appeared to have nothing resembling a nose. Shaking his head again, Samuel was about to leave the strange world when he heard a scream. Trying to resist looking again, Samuel attempted to leave when he heard the scream yet again.

Sighing, he muttered, “Damn it, why now? I was just starting to get close to finding her again.”

Looking at the energy trail, he saw it wasn’t as faint. A third scream finally had him flying planetward, cursing under his breath. He saw what appeared to be a female trying to hold off a huge crowd of ... were those beetle-like insects?

Landing with a ground-shaking thud behind the female, Samuel ducked when the female swung a long, very sharp-looking blade at him. “What the hell?” Samuel shouted as she swung again at him even faster.

Growling loudly at him, she swung back toward the insects, in the process decapitating ten or twenty of those that had tried to advance in the front row. “Unless you want to join your headless, dead friends, I suggest you get away from that which is mine!” the female growled louder.

“Yours!?” Samuel asked as he started to look around. He saw what appeared to be about twenty smaller versions of the female. Why, Samuel thought, were they all buried up to their necks in the ground?

“Yes, my frinklings,” she replied. This prompted the forward row of insects to move. The female again swung her blade, taking the heads off about ten more. “Neither you nor those you work for can have them!” the female growled fiercely.

Swinging toward Samuel again, the blade actually hit Samuel’s neck, his attention momentarily drawn to the smaller versions. There was a clang, then a gasp from the female as her eyes went wide. “What are you?” the female asked, her arms and then the rest of her body starting to shake from the vibrations.

Loud chirping and clicking issued from the beetle insects as they started to surge forward. The female’s eyes got even larger as she turned, swinging the blade furiously.

Samuel could quickly see that the female was going to be overrun in no time at all, at this rate. Growling, Samuel took to the air, meeting the front of the insects, pushing back as hard as he could. Catching them off guard, he started to move the vast majority of them backwards. All the while, he could hear them shouting, “Kill, kill!”

Growling loudly, Samuel stated, “Unless all of you want to be seriously hurt, I suggest you BACK OFF!” This last shouted at them, the force of Samuel’s voice pushing the multitude back even further.

“Who are you to even try to order us?” several of those at the front hissed at Samuel. “Now you will die with all of these here!” With that, a huge wave of greenish liquid flew from many of the insects, covering Samuel. This burned what little was left of his clothes from his body. Looking down at his body, his face momentarily twisted into anger.

Shaking off what he assumed was a type of acid, he turned to the insects. Growling, Samuel brought his hand down flat on the one in front of him, smashing it easily to a pulp. Then, turning to the rest, he took to the air again, faster than any could follow, crushing a three-foot path in front of him all the way to the back of the mass of insects.

“Were you actual beings, not obviously mindless killers, I might feel remorse for a moment,” Samuel said, settling in front again and looking hard at the front row. “Though in your case, I’ll make an exception,” he growled lowly.

“Ha! We are many; there is but one of you. Even with the amount that you have destroyed, you stand no chance at all of victory,” several of those in front hissed at Samuel.

Samuel’s eyes narrowed as he whispered, “Wanna bet?” Moving far faster than anyone could follow, and then even faster, he appeared and crushed an even wider swath before doubling back on the opposite side.

The screams of the dying were almost overwhelming. With only about a hundred left alive, the insect beetles slowly started to withdraw, then more rapidly. “You will pay dearly for this!” they threw back at Samuel in their retreat.

“As you saw, nothing you did affected me at all. Don’t return or the rest of you will perish!” Samuel growled at their retreating forms.

A movement past him caught Samuel completely off guard. The same female with the long blade was giving chase to the rapidly retreating insects, slaughtering them all as she glided through them with ease.

Returning to stand in front of Samuel after the last fell, she gave him an odd look. Then, bowing low, she stated, “I wish to thank you for saving my frinklings.” Still bowing, she continued, “I do not know you, though your actions seem vaguely familiar. Tell me, just who are you? Exactly where are you from?”

Samuel returned the low bow of the female, causing a soft gasp from her. “I am Samuel, though you may call me Sam. I am from a planet called Earth, though Mellos Thymp told me that I was not.”

Again the female gasped, “You talked to Mellos and survived?” She looked closer at Samuel, then even more intently. “Yes, I can see that you are exceedingly strong. I am Queen Triada. As I said, I do not know you, though for some reason, I feel that I can trust you.”

Shaking his head, a thought came to Samuel. The Queen was royalty; she therefore had access to far more information. “If I may ask, Queen, have you ever heard of the Cliveastones?”

The Queen’s mouth dropped open, her eyes wide as realization struck home. Nodding, the Queen stated, “At one time, long ago, they were a most noble race. A few of their kind rebelled against what almost all of those in power believed in; although they were also quickly put down by their own people. The Intergalactic Patrol was formed over a three-decade period, lying low until they had a chance to strike. Then they began a massive bombardment of the Cliveastone planet.”

“Wait! You’re telling me that the Patrol destroyed them when there was no reason for it?!” Sam cried out in disgust.

The Queen sadly nodded her head. “It wasn’t long after that many worlds suddenly fell under the protection of the Patrol. It was also around this time that many massive executions took place, all under their so-called protective rules.”

Samuel’s face quickly twisted into a mask of massive rage, but calmed only when the Queen gently touched his arm. “I should crush all of them!” Sam shouted, startling the Queen.

“No, not yet. What you did today has possibly saved our planet from them and their agents, as well as what you did for the Prodons,” the Queen replied.

Sam’s mouth hung open, astonished. That had only been a few hours ago, at most. “I knew they had powerful minds, but not this powerful!”

The Queen gave Sam what he guessed was a smile. “All free planets are linked now; it is the only thing that stops them,” she sighed, “though we may lose that soon, I am afraid.”

“While I am after Mellos first and foremost, I will do what I can to help,” Sam told the still-smiling Queen.

“Thank you, Sam of the Cliveastones. It brings me great joy to know that a few of your noble race still exist,” the Queen stated as she bowed again. “You now have all of our loyalty.”

Sam also bowed to the Queen. “I was glad that I could help. If you ever need me again, just call, and I’ll return as fast as I can.”

A third gasp arose from the Queen’s throat. “We are equals, noble sir. You’ve no need to bow to me,” the Queen said with a broad smile.

“Perhaps, but this is your world. I am merely paying you the respect you deserve in your realm,” Sam replied honestly, prompting the Queen to nod in acknowledgment of his wisdom.

“Ah! I was correct; you are of that most noble race. I am also surprised that you still have your abilities here,” the Queen said, filled with curiosity. “Our atmosphere was said to greatly weaken your kind.”

Sam smiled. “I grew up on a world with an atmosphere not unlike this one. It seems I’ve developed an immunity to it, so it no longer affects me.”

The Queen’s smile widened. Immune? She nodded, hopeful that this time they’d have a chance to set things right, unlike what had happened with Mellos. She sighed, hoping this one was as strong as she believed him to be.

After bidding the Queen goodbye, Sam was about to leave when half of the smaller versions of the Queen emerged from the ground. With a nod and a shocked smile, Sam took off into space.

The Queen felt guilty for deceiving Sam. She just hoped the path she had sent him on would truly help their cause.