Chapter 78

AUTHORS NOTES: This is a warning that in the later part of this chapter there will be a very violent scene.

I awoke hearing that weird sound which I think meant the doorbell. I went to the door and opened it, a young Trwennkleihjof in a uniform said, and "The Captain and Mrs. Pfloran would like you to join them in a meal. We can leave now if you are ready."

"Give me just a moment, please come in and I will be ready momentarily."

I quickly washed my face and hands, combed my hair, and rinsed with my mouthwash. I grabbed another shirt and a coat, as this affair looked formal. I then approached the young man and said, "Lead on young man."

We closed up my door and he led me through several other airtight doors, which were closed, so I assumed we were moving through space. Then he came to another door leading from the corridor we were traveling in and pushed a button on the left side of the door. I noted where it was this time. This door opened in, and was hinged from the left; and about 6'6" by 4' wide. My guide stepped back and let me enter a suite much like mine. Inside this suite the airtight doors looked much like mine in that you could tell they were airtight, but looked more like doors with rubber seals. Another uniformed man with much the same uniform and insignia as the one who led me here closed the door and said, "This way Sir." He led me to another door which he knocked on and opened. He stood aside for me to enter a fairly large dining room. The table could easily seat 30 people, but there were only three people at the table and one young woman, standing behind the Captain.

"Bob, welcome to my humble table, I understand that you were sleeping when Yeoman Knesset came to get you. I hope the good doctor did not bore you too much or was it the shots? Come sit down and we will start our meal." Snart stood and offered his hand and pointed to the seat on his right. Carmaletta was on his left and Tresean was next to her.

I noticed that Snart had his uniform on and Carmaletta was dressed very nicely. I was sure glad I changed shirts and added a suit coat. I noticed immediately that Snart's right breast was covered with ribbons and medals. He had hash marks on his sleeve that if I read correctly said he had served for 34 years in the military. On his left breast was the name Pfloran and then several other medals as well. I greeted Carmaletta and Tresean, "Carmaletta, you look very lovely tonight; you seem to have a glow about you that really suits you. And young Tresean you seem to have grown since I last saw you. It is good to see you again."

Snart raised his right hand and both yeomen began serving us with a soup. "Bob, what we have made for you are all foods you can digest and should taste good to you, but I do not know if it can compare with the meal you provided us with at your home," said Snart.

I sipped the soup and it was kind of a potato soup, with small bits of meat, herbs, and what appeared to be a pasta-like substance. "This is very good indeed Captain, I expect the whole meal will be much more than the humble meal I provided. I also see that you have caught me at a disadvantage again. No mere sailor can accumulate the many awards, decorations, and medals I see on your chest. From all my 20 years of service, I have about half of the decorations you have on display. I also heard about a rescue and a life saving effort you have been involved with that resulted in an allegiance of fealty like a blood oath to someone I now know."

"I see the good doctor has been bragging about me again. Yes I did once save his life. He swore an allegiance that he would repay me someday for that rescue. I bargained with him to do this favor for me in exchange for that allegiance. Perhaps he has enlisted your aid to continue it, yes?"

"No Captain, he just told me that he was doing this as a favor to you and would release you from his allegiance. He did speak of you being the most decorated and fierce warrior of your people. And he said something about you disobeying orders to return home, just so you could transport me for this mission. I would never ask for such loyalty from you, why have you done this?"

"Bob, my friend, I do this because you have impressed me as the kind of man I would like to be, smart, and brave; someone who hears of a wrong and tries to right it. I have been in my planet's military for three hundred and forty two of your years. We are a long lived race and I think I would like to retire from all this hectic, go here, do this, then go there and do that. I would like to see my son get married and have children of his own. You have a life that I envy. You have a whole world to see and do things to make the world a better place for its inhabitants. You have a great mind, an inquisitive mind, you have pleasures that a sailor of the seas of space can only dream of. Yes I envy you and I would like to be just like you some day. I would find me a world I can settle on and raise a family and work hard and come home every night knowing I did some good today. I know that when I get back home they are going to give me more medals and accolades I do not want. Would you have room for three weary travelers to live and work with you on your world?"

Snart, my friend, when this is all over, and if you still want to come live with us, I am sure you would be most welcome. As you could see we welcome any and all people into our camp. I do not see a problem with your coming to be with us. You are most welcome, even if it is only for a short stay. Or it may be for a lifetime, who knows? I thought you said that Tresean was going home to be married, so who would be the third?"

"Well Bob, I think that the good doctor would be of service to us, since my lovely wife is to bless us with another addition to the family in about a year's time. Tresean has a fiancé at home that is waiting for him, and he wants to join the service. He will have a good job with a future, and if he tires of the traveling as I have, he will have a new home to come to, if he so desires."

As we were talking, our second course of the meal, a meat in a very sweet sauce that was cooked clear through, which was very delicious, came and went. Desert was a very lovely pastry type of affair with what appeared to be ice cream on top. I could not tell you what it tasted like because it had a taste all its own. But all of the food and the beverages were fantastic.

When the meal was over, Snart dismissed the servers and his wife and son. "Bob, I really want to talk to you about this mission. Are you absolutely sure you want to go to all this trouble over this one man, and do it all by yourself? I know Nigeltrain is one mean and nasty SOB, but are you sure you want this. Or is it more a matter of your feeling you need to do this to make something inside you seem right. The reason I ask is that I know the feeling too. I have done many things that I needed to do, not because I wanted to do them. Now I can also help on this mission; I kind of know what is going on. Trewegin is an old friend and was one of my crew, back when we were both a lot younger. He contacted me to see if I could talk some sense into you, or if I felt this was a good mission, to join you and call in any help you could use. I know this is something you feel you have to do alone, but a little help couldn't hurt. What do you say?"

"Snart first let me say that I am honored that you would do this for me. Secondly I would love to stand with you or any of your men on any mission, but I do not need your assistance on this one. The reason I do not need you is that I have acquired certain mental powers that have blossomed since I first found out I was a telepath. I now have mental powers ranging from a level 5 in some skills to a level 11 in telepathy and mind control. I plan to take out all of the prison guards by my mental powers. As for Nigeltrain and his henchmen I will assassinate them with bullets, but I will not use a rifle. I can move the bullets by telekinesis almost as fast as my sniper rifle. I can also move the bullet around obstacles. This is secret and need to know information, so I trust you will keep my secret and honor my request. On any other mission I would be glad to have you with me, but I think this one is mine alone. You can however help me if you can give me any more of the fierce looks."

"Bob, I think I see why you feel this way, there have been missions that I would have rather done alone. Now as for the fierce faces; how about I give you images of some of my past enemies at their fiercest, would that work?"

"Yes Snart I believe it would. Just think of them for a few moments and I will capture them in my mind for use later."

Snart concentrated on four of his past enemies that would present a fierce face for me to work with. They were excellent; one was an insectoid very similar to the giant ants in the movie "Them" only much nastier looking. The pincer jaws were right but the mouth dripped acid and smoked as it fell from the mouth. The body was smaller, more like a spider though.

The second creature was very similar to a badger on steroids. It was the size of a Great Dane dog, with a large mouth full of very sharp teeth and claws almost like "Wolverine" from the X-Men comics.

The third creature looked like a plant, kind of like a Venus Fly-trap, but the fingers on the plant jaws were actually razor sharp teeth much like a shark, triangular and serrated. Each tooth was about an inch long by a half inch wide at the base; a very nasty character indeed.

The forth and final enemy was a humanoid figure about 4 feet tall, with 2 arms and 2 legs; but that is where the humanoid part ended. The hands ended in 2 finger-like tentacles, each with a very long and very thin stiletto like growth with a hole in the end that dripped poison. The head was shaped like a football with the laces being the mouth, but it extended to the ends of the face. When the jaws opened up the whole head hinged on the end points and actually opened about 120 degrees. The teeth were small spikes and there were five rows of them one behind the other, all pointing inside the mouth. When this creature bit into anything the teeth acted like a conveyer belt shoving everything inside its mouth.

"Snart, those are excellent images just like they are, I don't have to change them in the least. How in the world did you defeat these enemies?"

"I used a gun and a sword and lots of imagination, just like you do."

"What? I don't understand."

"These images are ones I made up from enemies I really have faced. I kind of made them look fiercer than they really were. I saw what you had done to my fierce face and I did the same to them. That way you could have a really scary image to show the bad guys. I just wish I could be there with you to see the expressions on their faces when they see the images."

"Well, maybe you can see them through me. When I return, if you really want, I can show you what they looked like, but maybe that would be a bad idea. You may have nightmares about those faces for a long time afterwards, I know I will. I do not like this mission at all, but I feel that it is something that needs to be done, if not by me, then by someone. We cannot have someone this evil tearing around the multi-verse enslaving and killing people when he feels like it, just because it makes him happy. I think I just may be the lesser of two evils."

"Bob, I know you to be a compassionate and caring man, you would not even be involved, but the group sought you out. They really didn't give you much of a choice, did they? They saw in your mind the skills to do this, but they also saw the compassion and your empathy for the people of the Killjops world. They knew that if they presented their case to you with all the facts, then you could not help but do their bidding for them.