TIME : 11:00 P.M. (23:00)
PLACE : The cave
While X and Zenald continued to discuss their plan of attack, Abar led Peter, Lisa, and Detrina to another section of the cave. The room was cool and dimly lit. On the floor were three pillows and three blankets.
"Try to get some sleep," advised Abar. "We have a tough day ahead of us."
Peter picked out a spot in the far corner in the room and spread out his blanket. Free from the sounds in the other room, Peter closed his eyes intending to go to sleep. Lisa, however, had other plans.
"I'm worried about Hank and Linda," complained Lisa. "They should have been back by now. "
"What can we do about it?" demanded Peter. "If they got captured trying to find Mac, what are the chances of us doing any better? Right now the best thing for us to do is get some sleep."
"Peter's right," agreed Detrina. "We need our rest. In the morning, X will have a plan. His plans have always. There is no time limit. As long as we are free we still have a chance."
"I'll wait until morning," grumbled Lisa. "but I can't help thinking something terrible will happen tonight."
TIME : 11:15 P.M. (23:15)
PLACE : The city
Shawn wandered into the city surrounded by a team of security guards. He wouldn't normally take such a foolish risk, but he trusted his friends. If they said something was important and required his presence immediately, it was important enough for him to check out. He felt suspicious when no one came out to greet them, but he still felt he wasn't in any danger as long as he had his team of security guards with him.
"It is very unusual for a city to be this deserted," commented one of the security guards. "even for this time of night."
They had been looking for quite some time when they finally spotted Hank, Linda and Mac standing next to an important looking building. They didn't seem to recognize Shawn when he approached, but Shawn figured this was due to the poor lighting in the city.
"What did you want to show me?" wondered Shawn.
The three of them turned their heads and gave Shawn a vague stare. Their movements appeared mechanical. Shawn finally realized what his senses had been trying to tell him from the very beginning. It was a trap.
"Run!" Shawn yelled to his security guards.
Before they could move they were shot down by the Ruler's soldiers leaving Shawn alone in the city. He couldn't believe he was still alive. The Ruler had wanted to kill him ever since their first encounter on Mars.
"Lock them up in the vault," ordered the Ruler.
The soldiers dragged the bodies into the vault leaving Shawn to face the Ruler, Hank, Linda, and Mac.
"Soon they will be like these three," taunted the Ruler. "They will do anything I tell them to do. I could tell them to kill the person they've sworn to protect."
"Is that what you want, for me to be killed by one of my own security guards?" questioned Shawn. "I thought you wanted to save that pleasure for yourself."
"I have something better planned for you," bellowed the Ruler. "You are going to experience a fate worse than death. One you fall under my power, you will destroy M.W.G.D. and help me take over the galaxy."
Shawn began to realize the full implications of what was about to happen to him. His heart pounded with fear as he stared at the visor covering the Ruler's cold face. Part of him had suspected he was walking into a trap, but he refused to believe his friends would betray him willingly or not. He regretted not listening to his instincts when he had the chance.
He wanted to run but the Ruler's reflexes were much faster than his. The Ruler could shoot him before he took his first step. He had to find another way to escape.
"Hank! Linda! Mac!" cried Shawn. "It's the Ruler! Run while you still can!"
Hank, Linda, and Mac remained motionless. They didn't even acknowledge Shawn's existence.
"Talk to them all you want," sneered the Ruler. "They won't respond unless I want them to. As far as they're concerned you are a savage, an enemy. Soon you will be just like them."
"You haven't caught X yet," retorted Shawn defiantly. "Your plan will not succeed as long as he is still at large."
"X will not trouble me much longer," insisted the Ruler. to rescue you and when he does we'll be waiting."
The Ruler's soldiers returned and grabbed Shawn. The Ruler was through talking to him. It was time for him to be brainwashed. The Ruler pointed to two of his soldiers.
"Take him into the vault," ordered the Ruler. "and make sure he touches the diamond. I want to make sure he is under my control."
The soldiers forced him into the vault and tried to struggle but the two soldiers. As the effect, Shawn began to struggle less and less. felt compelled to touch the diamond. The Ruler two more mindless slaves.
When Shawn's security guards recovered they saw the diamond and walked over to touch it Soon the Ruler opened the vault door and let them all come out. The Ruler looked at his two soldiers with indifference. They wouldn't be able to fight like normal soldiers, but he had plenty of soldiers to spare.
"I am Austragon," said the Ruler. "You will obey my orders without question. The attack of the savages will begin soon. You must be prepared to defend yourselves."
They all looked at the Ruler with blank expressions on their faces. They turned to leave moving more like machines then human beings. The Ruler looked at all the people he had under his control and smiled. With their leader under his control, M.W.G.D. was doomed.
TIME : December 10, 2016 7:30 A.M.
PLACE : The cave
Peter was the first to awaken. He looked around him and saw Lisa, Detrina, Abar, and several others sleeping around him. The room was just as cool and dimly lit as it had been when he went to sleep making him wonder how they kept track of time.
He quietly left the room and headed for the outside to see how light it was. On his way he ran into X. He was leaning against a wall in the large room facing the exit. He looked like he was deep in thought.
He appeared not to notice Peter slowly approaching, but Peter knew better. X's sense of hearing was much better than his own.
"X," Peter called softly.
X seemed genuinely startled.
"Hello, Peter," sighed X. "I was just thinking about Hank and Linda. They must have been captured by the people in the city. The diamond on Austrgon is going to be much tougher to destroy than the one on Mars. On Mars you were exposed to Kobie's illusions, but you kept going. Kobie did not control your will."
"However, if you get close enough to destroy the diamond, you will loose your desire to destroy it. Your senses will not just be deceived but totally turned against you."
"What did you and Zenald decide to do?" asked Peter.
"We'll invade the city from many different directions," explained X. "If we can't destroy the diamond ourselves, we might be able to find Austragon and force him to destroy it for us. Odds are one of us will be able to find him."
"The people in the city are no longer able to make their own decisions. If something unexpected happens, they won't know how to react until Austragon tells them what to do. The delay will give us enough time to find Austragon."
"The delay won't be very long," Peter remarked. "We will have only a few minutes to search the entire city."
"There will be about five hundred of us searching the city," X reminded him. "Each of them will search a particular area of the city. A few minutes is all we need."
"What if Austragon refuses to cooperate?" wondered Peter.
"We'll take one thing at a time," insisted X. "The first thing we need to do is find Austragon. We'll worry about what to do with him when we capture him."
"Besides, I think I know Austragon's weakness. The people he has brainwashed will remain under his control only if they stay reasonably close to the diamond. That is why they needed us to find the savages. If we can get the people off the planet, they should return to normal."
"How do we get all of them off the planet?" inquired Peter.
"That is why we need Austragon," replied X. "If he gives them an order to leave the planet, they will obey him."
Lisa staggered toward them bleary eyed and drooping.
"My, you're up early," she said groggily.
"I thought you were asleep," stammered Peter.
"I was," grumbled Lisa. "You woke me up when you got up."
"Sorry," apologized Peter. "but you weren't exactly letting me sleep last night."
"I am going back to the city to find out what happened to Hank and Linda," stated Lisa. "Are you coming with me or do I have to go alone?"
"In a few hours we are going to conduct a massive search for Austragon," Peter began. "X believes we can convince him to free the others."
"I can't wait a few hours," cried Lisa. "I have to find out what happened to him now!"
"I am not coming with you, but I won't try to stop you," X told her. "What you plan to do is no less dangerous than what I plan to do. Just remember, if Hank and Linda have been brainwashed by Austragon, they will obey only him. Don't trust a word they say no matter how good their intentions may seem. Try to convince them to leave the city. If I'm right, Austragon's control over them will weaken as they get further and further away from the city."
"You could at least wait for Detrina," snapped Peter. "I'll wake her up and see if she wants to go."
Detrina agreed to go and the three of them entered the city each going their separate ways. They agreed to reunite where they had entered the city in an hour.
TIME : 8:15 A.M.
PLACE : Near the vault
Lisa walked a luxurious looking building. She wanted to go inside but she remembered that Mac had been taken to see Austragon and returned acting peculiar. That was one building she planned to stay away from. She guessed that Austragon wouldn't want to draw attention to himself and was probably hiding in a smaller, less luxurious home.
"Lisa!" shouted Shawn. "X told me you'd be here."
"Am I glad to see you!" exclaimed Lisa. "The distress call was a trick. Everyone in this city has been brainwashed and made to think the resistance is their enemy. They've brainwashed Mac and probably Hank and Lisa. We have to find them and convince them to return to M.W.G.D. Headquarters."
Shawn grabbed her arm tightly. Lisa struggle to break free. By the time she did she was surrounded by the Ruler and his soldiers.
"Shawn is under my control too," smiled the Ruler. "and soon I will have one more under my control. Lock her in the vault!"
The soldiers carried Lisa into the vault, threw her inside, and slammed the door. They could hear her screaming on the other side. The screams lasted a few minutes then died down A few minutes after that the Ruler opened and Lisa came out ready to do his will.
TIME : 8:30 A.M.
PLACE : Elsewhere in the city
Unaware of what happened to Lisa, Peter continued his search. He kept his distance from the cities inhabitants. They weren't trying to attack him, but he didn't want to take any chances.
The houses were unlocked so Peter could easily go in and out of them. He discovered that even though the city's inhabitants were brainwashed they still needed to eat and sleep like everybody else. Other than that he didn't find anything of any importance until he stumbled upon an old skeleton!
The skeleton was in a dusty one room house. It looked like no one had been there in years. The skeleton was sitting in a chair with its head face down on a table. The table and chair were the only pieces of furniture in the house. If anything else had been there, it had been stolen a long time ago.
On the table next to the skeleton was an old book. Peter was surprised to see that it was still in reasonably good condition. Looking through the book he saw sketches of the diamond, plans for settling on Austragon, plans for building the city, and plans for brain washing the inhabitants one at a time.
As he continued to look through the book he realized the book belonged to Austragon. He wondered why Austragon would leave a book containing his most secret plans inside a deserted house, then it occurred to him. The skeleton was Austragon! Austragon had died a long time ago and had been replaced to somebody else, the question was who.
His worst fears were confirmed when he read the last entry.
"Time is running out for me. I have been poisoned by the Ruler. I have been obsessed with power for a long time, I just didn't realize it until now. When the Ruler came to me, I thought I could trick him into touching the diamond and becoming one of my servants. I didn't know that the Ruler knew about the diamond from the very beginning. That is why he came to such a small, insignificant looking planet."
"The Ruler told me he poisoned my drink at supper and I have only two hours to live. I plan to make the most of those two hours by telling whoever reads this how to stop the Ruler. Ironically, everyone who could have found a cure for me is no longer capable of independent thought. This can be an advantage to you. If you do unusual things, they will not know how to react. You can use this as an opportunity to lead them away from the city. The diamond has a limited range."
Peter skimmed though the next few paragraphs. X had already figured out most of that stuff on his own. When he reached a paragraph he was interested in he read every sentence carefully.
"I would not recommend trying to destroy the diamond. Many people have tried it and all of them have failed, but if you see no other alternative I will tell you why the others failed. In order for the diamond to effect you, you have to look at the pulsating light. Closing your eyes isn't good enough. You have to make sure absolutely no light penetrates your eyes. In spite of being so powerful, the diamond is fairly fragile. A good, solid hit should shatter it into tiny pieces."
Peter skipped ahead to the final paragraph.
"In the past I called you savages. I was the savage. I tried to enslave an entire colony and got what I deserved. I hope you can forgive me. Please stop the Ruler! Best wishes, Austragon."
Peter took the book and ran to the place they had agreed to reunite. When he got there Detrina was waiting for him but Lisa was nowhere is sight.
"I didn't have any luck," muttered Detrina. "How about you?"
"Austragon has been dead for at least a year," declared Peter showing her the book. "He was poisoned by the Ruler!"
"I should have known the Ruler had something to do with this," said Detrina. "The distress call was his type of deception."
Four of the Ruler's soldiers appeared out of nowhere.
"Lisa told us we'd find you here," smirked one of the guards. "Congratulations, you are the only ones who know the Ruler was behind the phony distress call. Too bad you will forget when we brainwash you."
Peter handed Detrina the book. Before she could protest he had tripped one soldier and was attacking a second. As Peter suspected, the soldiers had been ordered not to kill him. His absence would very suspicious when they tried to trick the rest of M.W.G.D. It took all four soldiers to restrain Peter giving Detrina a chance to escape. Peter watched Detrina return to the resistance with the book. He had done his job, the rest was up to her.
Peter was thrown into the vault. He saw the pulsating glow from the diamond and remembered the warning in the book. He immediately pulled his uniform over his face and covered his eyes with his hands. Slowly he moved toward the diamond hoping he could get close enough to shatter it. As he got closer he saw the light from the diamond and backed away. He felt compelled to look at the diamond so he crouched down on the floor and tried that much harder to stay away from it. Knowing they would open the vault in a few minutes gave him hope that he could escape. All he had to do was last a few minutes longer.
TIME : 9:00 A.M.
PLACE : Half way between the cave and the city
X and Zenald were leading the rest of the resistance when Detrina came running toward them as fast as she could go.
"It's not Austragon," Detrina stammered. "It's the Ruler. The Ruler ordered them to send us a distress call. You're walking into a trap."
Detrina handed X the book. X examined it then showed it to Zenald. The two of them discussed the change of events and decided to continue toward the city.
"The Ruler will be waiting for you," protested Detrina. "As well as his army of zombies he has plenty of soldiers protecting him."
"If the Ruler feels he is outmatched he usually retreats," stated X. "If we can convince the Ruler he is in danger, he will leave giving us a chance to destroy the diamond."
"Where did you find that book?" inquired Zenald.
"I didn't find it, Peter did," answered Detrina. "He was captured on his way back."
"Do you have any idea where he was when he found it?" asked Zenald.
"I know the general area," replied Detrina. "but I don't know the exact location."
"That's good enough for me," remarked Zenald. "Take me to the area the book was found The attack was X's idea. He can lead it on his own."
Detrina and Zenald quickly entered the city. Zenald moved remarkably fast for his age Detrina, who was tired from running, sometimes had trouble keeping up with him. They began searching the area Peter had searched. Suddenly they came across an old skeleton. Zenald examined the skeleton thoroughly.
"That is Austragon," declared Zenald. "We used to be friends a long time ago, before that diamond corrupted him."
A shadow appeared in the doorway. Detrina noticed it and tried to warn Zenald, but before she could Peter stepped inside.
"The savages are invading the city!" shouted Peter. "The savages must die!"
He pulled out his phaser and put his finger on the trigger.
Copyright MCMXCII, MCMXCIX
