Dimension Wars: Defex's Promise: Part 2

Erene’s 500th Journal Entry #34 (continued...)

I turned and walked out. I put a hand on my neck, and felt my necklace underneath the dark tunic I wore. It really wasn’t mine. It was actually Dace’s. I traced it’s outline, and remembered when I first met him.
It was in the summer. My parents had been persuaded into a vacation by the Swardian council. We traveled by boat. It was so exiting, traveling on that huge wooden ship. The sea air smelt so good, like salt. It was the first touch of any real excitement I had ever had. No parents to boss me around, and since my mother had gotten sea sick along the way, she wasn’t well enough to make sure I was treated like a porcelain doll. I felt free.
We landed at Meag in the second month of the year of Dires. My mother felt immediately better now that she was on land, and she proceeded to make a big deal about the fact that the royal family had come to Meag. We had parties and luncheons and all sorts of frivolous things to do. Finally I had enough of all it, and I vehemently stormed out of our summer palace after having another row with my father. The idiot.
I immediately bought some commoner’s clothes. It was a simple moss green dress, that had long sleeves despite the summer heat and an embellished waistline. It was rather pretty in a way. It’s still my favourite dress. I changed into that dress and had gotten rid of my royal clothes, then I walked down the streets unnoticed to the beach. No one would think the princess would want to come out of her castle, save one Plerr, Dace. He had seen me come out of the castle and buy that green dress. He followed me to the beach and he saw me collapsed down onto the black sand and just stare out into the orange horizon, listening to the rushing waves of the Gemii ocean crashing onto the shore.
He cautiously approached me from behind, and then when he was a metre or two away from me, he said, “Hello, Princess Erene.” He had startled me. I turned around so quickly, that I strained my neck. I gasped and put my hand on my neck. He ran next to me and told me he was sorry for scaring me.
I had told him to not be silly and that he shouldn’t be apologizing for scaring me. Truth be told, I was glad he did. Even then, 500 years ago, I’ve always felt an attraction to him.
Dace then bowed to me. I rolled my eyes and said, “Please, I’m not Princess Erene.” Then he looked up at me and laughed.
“Princess, I am not an idiot. I saw you come in on your ship. I’d remember your face anywhere,” Then he looked me up and down. “Or how ever dressed.” I was temporarily shocked. This boy, whom I had never met before, was flirting with me. Then I felt a rush of excitement. But I didn’t show it.
“Who are you?” I had asked. He sat down next to me, and bowed his head to me.
“Dace Nasehtam, your Highness.” I rolled my eyes again.
“Please, don’t bow to me or call me your Highness. It’s all so formal. I hate formalities.” Dace looked up at me from his bow curiously with his red eyes. He straightened up and said,
“Your not like any other princess I‘ve met.”
“Really? And what other princesses have you met?” I asked, playfully.
“Oh, many others. But none as beautiful as you.” I looked at him and smiled.
“I bet you say that to every Princess you have met.”
“Yes, but I never meant it until now, your Highness.”
“What did I tell you of calling me “Highness”?” I asked.
“I’m sorry, my Princess.”
“Don’t call me Princess either,” I shot back at him.
“You know, I technically could disobey you,” he said. I raised my eyebrows at him.
“How so?”
“Well, you haven’t issued a royal decree,” He said to me in a manner-of-fact way, smirking to me as he said it. I looked at him and decided to play along.
“Very well then. I, Princess Erene of Imineg, permit Royal Decree number 4,788,934,956 that states Dace Nasehtam cannot call me Princess, Highness, or any other term of superiority, to be enacted immediately.” Dace smiled at me, and I smile back.
“Very well then, my Princess.” I opened my mouth in shock. Royal Decree number 4,788,934,956, however crude, was legitimate and he had defied me and he was still flirting with me. Something in that simple act was dangerous to me, and it felt good to finally meet someone with the guts to not treat me like a doll, but a Plerr. I laughed. It felt so good. Dace laughed with me. I noticed he had on a necklace that was very beautiful. It had a simple brown leather chain, that tied together in the back and the pendant was shaped like a circle, but it was as purple as the ocean that surrounded us. It was very pretty in a way. I raised my hand to touch it.
“This is beautiful.” I said.
“It was my mother’s,” Dace said quietly. “She gave it to me right before she died.” he told me, as he reached behind his neck and untied it. He placed it in my hand for me to see it better. I noticed it had a silver ring around its edge.
“I’m sorry.” I said, looking up at him. I truly was sorry. I felt his sadness as my own. It radiated off him.
I reached out a hand to touch his face, but I got only an inch away, and my mother’s hand appeared out of nowhere. I didn’t even hear her come with all those guards and my father… He grabbed Dace by the back of his shirt and dragged him off yelling at him, saying how Dace had kidnapped me. Even though I had stormed out of the castle after I had a fight with my father.
My mother grasped my hand and yanked me away from Dace. Then things happened so fast, I can’t even remember all of it. I still had Dace’s mother’s necklace in my hand as my mother was scolding me, dragging me away from Dace. I wasn’t sure what happened to him, but later that night, I warped to DWADT, and they made me an agent. The next time I saw Dace, I found out he was working for the Swardian Council and I don’t think he wants to do that. I’m willing to bet my life that my father forced him into it.
I always wear Dace’s necklace when I have my tunic on. I’ve meant to give it back to him, but I never had the chance. I’m always either looking for him to arrest him for something the Swardian Council asked him to do, or I’m arresting him. One day I’ll give it back to him though.
I’ve always wondered what would have happened if I had touched his face. I still feel a deep connection with him. I’ve wondered if my Desene would have appeared. A Desene is the marking of a Plerr’s soul mate. A tattoo, if you will. It appears only if two Plerrs are on Imineg, their bare skin must be touching, and if they are destined for each other for the rest of their lives. Z and Gil always tease me by saying that Dace will show up one day, whisk me off to Imineg, and then my Desene would appear. They joke about it and think I’m really not right for Dace, but I still wonder; What if Dace is my soul mate?


TJ Darton’s First Journal, Entry #3

Gil explained everything. He showed me the security clip of Reddens--- Naked, red, viscous, little creatures that look like miniature humans with horns on there heads that Defex enslaved years ago--- that attacked my father, knocked him out and carried him off to who knows where. This was proof that Defex had kidnapped my father. He told me that my father had been missing for two weeks. They had staged my father’s death in order to protect me. I asked them how that would protect me, and Gil said, “We thought that the Swardian Council wouldn’t be interested in you and your mother if they thought your father was dead. Your father was a huge threat to Defex, but he was an even bigger one to the Swardian Council. We thought that the Swardian Council thought that your father had gone into hiding. Now, the last time Theodore did that, he created a scheme that nearly destroyed the Council. We thought that if the Council thought your father was dead, they wouldn’t come after you again to use you as bate to lure Theodore out of hiding.”
“Again?” I asked.
“You remember that business trip your father took for three weeks when you were ten?” Gil asked.
“Yeah?”
“That wasn’t a business trip.” Gil said, shaking his head. “And the people who tried to break into your house? Those were the Swardian Guards who had come to kidnap your mother and yourself. But it turns out that the Swardian Council has formed an alliance with Defex, therefore they know that your father isn’t dead.”
“And they sent Dace to come kidnap me.” I finished what he was going to say. “Why did they come to kidnap me if they know where my dad is?”
“They want information from your father and, knowing him, he won’t talk. But if they had some leverage on him, like you or your mother, he’d tell them everything on DWADT.” Well, that made sense. I supposed, if DWADT was an inter-dimensional FBI of sorts, then they would have information that anyone who wished to take over the dimensions would most definitely want, and if my father is important as Gil was saying he is, he would have that information. Suddenly my thoughts flew to my mother. I started to panic. “Uh, Gil?” I started to ask.
“Yes?”
“You said that last time they tried to kidnap me and my mother… is she----”
“Minerva is being picked up too. Your mother is fine.” I felt a huge wave of relief. We then left the Archives and went down more passages, and came to a conference room. It was a white walled room, with a long glass table and black, high-backed, chairs surrounding it. There were windows in the room, and I saw that it was pitch black outside. Except for little tiny lights off in the distance, that I assumed were lights of a city. On Gnatsrednu, it was night. There was a black tunic with white leggings and shirt with long sleeves, and leather boots. There were two girls and a floating blob sitting in three of the black chairs, and I recognized them to be Erene, Z, and the blue blob that I had met earlier. The two girls smiled at me, but I think the blob glared. I wasn’t sure.
“Ah, Erene, did the Desene appear after you arrested Dace?”
“No.” She said looking at him. Her face had a are-you-seriously-asking-me-this-question vibe about it. Gil smiled, then told me to change into that tunic.
“Why?” I asked. Z looked at me, and I instantly got the impression that she did not like me.
“Because your Earth clothes will draw attention, that’s why.” Z said. I was starting to not like this girl. This was the second time she told me to do something and added a “that’s why” on the end of both commands. I grimaced at the clothes, but picked them up. The material was rather soft. I guess it won’t be so bad wearing this. I thought. Gil led me to a door within the conference room and he opened it to reveal a bathroom. At least I thought it was a bathroom. It had a sink and a mirror, but the toilet was missing. I wondered how this planet had indoor plumbing. I put on the white leggings first and then I was still unsure about the journal I had just set on the sink.
This journal, is a black hard cover book. The front has several characters in silver on it that look like no language I had ever seen before. Though one of them looks like a a person, Here this is what it looks like.

(Sorry, my computer won't let me post the picture.)

I know its pretty crude, but I’m no artist. That’s what it looks like. But the paper with in it is the most noteworthy of the journal’s aspects. It is made out of some strange unlined paper that has a purplish hue to it. But the strange thing about this paper is that you can’t rip it.
I got really bored after I was unceremoniously shoved into that one room, and had tried to find a way out of there. I checked the floor for any loose wooden boards, checked the door to see if it was unlocked. I felt the green walls for any way out. I even checked under the rugs, the couch, the bed, I even had pulled out every book that was in the bookshelf searching for a trap door, like they do on Scooby-Doo. I was so bored that I took the journal, and deiced it would rip up the journal until someone came and stopped me. I opened up the book, grabbed the first page, pulled… and nothing happened. I was at first unnerved. Then I became absolutely determined to rip up that book, but no go.
“Why did you give me this journal?” I asked.
“It will help you get all your thoughts organized and if something were to happen to---- Ow! Z, that hurt!” I heard someone laugh, then I was done changing into the tunic.
It was a very light material, and it fit me perfectly. The black tunic was almost like a thin robe, and it wrapped around, creating a V neckline in front.
“Okay.” I said unsure. I then opened up the door and Z looked up at me, then Erene and Z gasped, and then looked at each other. I looked to Gil, and he shrugged his shoulders. “What is this Swardian Council you keep mentioning?” Gil looked at Erene, who then looked at me.
“The Swardian Council is---- was,” Erene corrected herself. “Was once against Defex. They are a power hungry group of demons. They take over planets and, like Defex, are intent on controlling the dimensions.”
“They take over planets?” I asked. “How can they do that? How is there enough people to take over an entire planet?”
“It’s actually not that hard if you use your head about it.” She said. I was deeply confused. “And not all planet’s are the size of Earth and have as many demons in it. The Council members don’t come bashing in, lasers and magic ablaze, and just take over the place, That’s Defex. No, the Council starts out in small governmental positions. For instance, if we were to use a monarchy for an example, a knight. They then show the deepest loyalty to whatever government of the planet the wish to take over. Eventually, the government starts trusting the Council member a.k.a. the knight. They become a Lord or a Lady, who then marries a prince or a princess, who then gets close to King or Queen. They become like an advisor. They plant ideas, and schemes in their government’s head. These ideas always seem like good ones. They seem intent on making the world a better place. A safer place. But it always blows up in the end.
“Then the King or Queen will immediately or in time come to like the idea. They’ll set it in motion. But then the plan will fail.”
“And the Swardian Council wants this?” I asked.
“Yes. After the “idea” is realized to be a complete disaster, always too late mind you, the Swardian Council comes in shining and “rescues” the planet from ruin. They take over the planet, and the people on these planets believe that the Swardian council has really saved them.”
“But they don’t know it was the Council who nearly killed them off?”
“Correct.” Erene said and smiled.
“How do you know this?” I asked.” Erene’s smile fell.
“The Swardian Council took over my home planet. They nearly destroyed it too. A friend told me they caused a civil war right after I left to join DWADT.”
“Oh… I’m sorry.” I said.
“Nothing for you to be sorry about.” Erene said nonchalantly.
“Um… Has anything like that ever happened on Earth?”
“You mean; has the Swardian Council attempted to control your home planet?” I nodded my head.
“Yes. The Swardian Council has attempted to control Earth.”
“What? I said. “When? Where? Who was the----”
“It was your World War Two.”
“Oh.” That kind of made sense. Hitler did believe killing off every Jew, non -Christian, and non-white would make everyone else’s lives better. The bastard. “Was Hitler----”
“No. He was not a part of the Swardian Council. But someone from the Council got close to him and fed his ridiculous notion that exterminating everyone who was not like him was the best thing for the world. That was the only time the Council had failed.”
“How?” Erene smiled.
“The Allied Forces. The Swardian Council had never dealt with retaliation before. The majority of the countries that they took over are small or it has one government. Earth is unique in its own why. Earth has so many countries and so many different beliefs, the Council never expected other countries to fight back.”
“Thank you for telling me this.” I said. I truly was happy for knowing this. I didn’t know why, but it made me feel good that Earth retaliated.
“But, there are more important things.”
“Like what?”
“Enueg, that’s what.” Z snapped. I was really starting to get annoyed with this girl.
“Hey, Z, right?” I asked her, Z didn’t respond. “Did I do something to offend you?”
“No.” she said.
“Then why are you acting so… rude.”
“Rude? Rude! You want rude? I’ll tell you what’s rude! You----”
“Z!” Erene and Gil said together. Z glared at the two of them and looked to Erene. “Z. I know. We will discuss this later. Calm down.” Erene said. Her voice was soothing and reassuring like a mother that was telling her kid that the scratch from falling off a bike wasn’t going to end the world.
“I am calm!” Z said, heaving. Erene then gave her such a cold look that my blood seemed to freeze.
“Z, Tivoroh soren verlan Darton belize. Tivoroh soren morterea. Bearesterre gin mus, Z.” Erene said in some language that sounded like a pretty version of German. Z looked down at the ground and nodded her head.
“As Z was saying, Enueg is the more important topic right now.”
“What does Enueg have to do with my dad?” I asked.
“Enueg is having it’s own civil war as I expect Gil to have told you.” Gil nodded to her. I suspected that Erene was the leader of this group. “This, as you know, was started by the fact that the Etani couldn’t grow the food to feed both themselves and the Darnoc. That had never happened before. It’s the work of The Council and Defex.” I was confused again. “We know that Defex sent his Reddens to poison the crops. Then the Council, who had infiltrated the Etani already, told their member that was in the Etani system to propose the idea that they shouldn’t feed the Darnoc anymore. He told them that the Darnoc would understand.
“Defex was with the Darnoc’s. When the Etani made the decision to stop feeding the Darnoc, the Darnoc at first were simply upset, but then he put the idea in their minds that they didn’t have to put up with that. They could storm the Etani city, take the fruit that hadn’t been poisoned, and not revert to cannibalism and it worked.
“How are you sure that Defex and the Council have teamed up and did this?”
“Defex and the Council admitted it.”
“But if they were both intent on ruling the dimensions, then why are they working together? They must have been against each other? Right?”
“They were.”
“Then how can they work together?”
“Darton, have you ever heard the expression; The enemy of my enemy is my friend?”
“Oh,” I said. I understood now. Defex and the Swardian Council have a common enemy; DWADT.
“Defex and the Council want DWADT destroyed. It’s a one of the many common ambitions they both have. If they were to get rid of DWADT, then they’ll start battling each other again. That is, if this alliance they have doesn’t destroy them first. That would be nice.” The blue blob said. He hadn’t spoken the entire time until now.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know your----” I began to say, but then the ground was suddenly rocked so violently, it sent Gil and I to the ground.
“What the hell?” I said. Does Gnatsrednu have frequent earthquakes?”
“Earthquakes?” Gil said. I must have looked very confused by his reaction. That wasn’t new. Suddenly a light bulb went on in Gil’s mind. “Darton,” he said as another ground gave another violent shake. “We aren’t on a planet. The Gnatsrednu is a ship.”
Suddenly a red light came out of the ceiling and a siren sounded.
“Shit!” Z said, and she sprang out of her seat “We’re under attack!”
“Huh?” I said, then looked outside again. I looked closer at the little lights and realized that they weren’t lights at all, they were stars.
Suddenly writing in a journal seemed more like a last will and testament. This is when I wrote my first entry so if I sounded as scared as hell, it’s because I was.
Blows from the enemy starship rocked the Gnatsrednu. “Borgt.” Erene spat out. Z and Erene looked to each other and ran out of the room, followed closely by Gil, the blue blob, and I. I really didn’t want to be left alone on a starship being attacked with God knows what, if there is a God in the fourth dimension.
The corridors were compete chaos. Everyone was running around unsure of what to do. “Get in your cabins! Lock yourselves in!” Gil shouted out to these people. I didn’t see if they listened to him or not because Erene had opened up a door to our right and started through that doorway. Z stopped to let everyone pass, and as I went by her, another blow hit the side of the ship. It was stronger than the other ones. It knocked Z off her feet. She screamed as her head nearly was shattered into the wall, but I caught her right before she hit. She paused, wondering what had happened and then realized I was holding her. One second passed where she just stared at me. One second, then she pulled herself up and out of my arms. Se looked at me again, then said,
“Come on!” That was an odd experience. I thought. First time we met, she saved my life, next two times she treated me like scum, now she was… I don’t know what she was now. Another strike by the unseen enemy hit the ship even harder than the one that knocked Z down. I suddenly realized that the attackers weren’t becoming stronger, but we were moving closer to their target. I followed Z to a staircase and we took it up.
“Hey, Z?” She didn’t answer. I had to yell to be heard by myself. Something was humming so loudly that I couldn‘t hear myself think. “Does the Gnatsrednu get attacked like this often?”
“No!” She shouted back to me.
“What’s making that noise?”
“It’s the engines! Who ever is shooting at us, is trying to shut down our controls!”
“Why?” I asked. Z looked stopped to look at me like I was an idiot.
“You don’t have much of an imagination, do you?” My mouth fell open in shock. Not of what she said… okay, maybe of a little of what she said, but mostly because we had reached the top of the stairs and had gone into what I assumed was the control room of the Gnatsrednu. It was a dark circular room. There was a path way that was carpeted in purple that we were standing on, and a dark wooded long desk also in the shape of a circle was inside the walkway. Inside this desk were square, stationary, metal machines. There were a bunch of them, and I saw many demons working at them frantically. The only light came from the screens of these machines and the large window that looked out into space and acted as the room’s wall. I soon realized that couldn’t be possible, because we had gone through a door, and had not gone outside to get inside this room. I was utterly confused again Z sensed my confusion and said,
“This is the control room. It is surrounded by the engines in the middle of the ship. There is a lookout tower on top of the Gnatsrednu above us that sends a video feed to this room and it’s being projected onto the wall, allowing the captain to see what’s going on and where we are going.”
“And who ever is attacking us thinks the tower is the control room?” Z nodded her head.
“Your father is a genius architect.”
“Whoa, my dad built this ship? He could barley help me make a volcano for my science project in eighth grade!” Z gave me a look and I wondered if she thought I was crazy.
“Why would you wish to build a volcano?” She asked me, spitting out “volcano” like it was a disease. My mouth fell open again. I had nothing to say.
“Never mind.” I said. “But my dad isn’t a construction worker.”
“He designed the ship.”
“Oh.” I said. I saw Erene and Gil speaking hurriedly with a red haired man in a gray uniform on the other side of the room. Gil saw us and waved us over. The man was about forty and he looked like he was about to have a panic attack. The man turned around and immediately said, “What is Theodore’s son doing in here? Don’t you know that a transmission could come in from Defex’s ship? If they see him, they’ll know we have him!”
“Woody, they know Darton is here. It’s why Defex is attacking us.” Erene said calmly. “You just need to get us out of here.”
“Do not tell me what to do. It’s my job, Princess----” Erene gave him an icy look.
“I mean, Erene.”
“Who is he?” I asked Z quietly.
“He’s the Captain of the Gnatsrednu. Willer Tilliwout. He’s a good friend of your father.”
“I’m not telling you what your job is, I’m reminding you that getting the Gnatsrednu out of danger is your responsibility. Protecting Darton is mine. Now, get us out of here.” Erene said with more force.
“Yes ma’m.” Captain Tilliwout said. I got a strange feeling that Erene wasn’t seventeen. She spoke with the conviction of a much, much older woman than she appeared to be. I wondered how old she was.
I didn’t wonder for too long. Suddenly, another blow bashed the Gnatsrednu. This one felt much more powerful than any of the others. It rocked the ship so pugnaciously, it nearly sent everyone to the ground. Once everyone had resituated themselves, a young man who had three eyes ran up to captain Tilliwout and said, “Sir, that last shot shut down the portside engine!”
“Portside?” I turned to Z.
“Left.” She said.
“Oh, I knew that.” I said, turning back. I didn’t see Z roll her eyes. Tilliwout grimaced upon hearing this. He breathed out loudly and then said, “Divert the power to the other three engines with emphasis on the starboard-side,” I glanced to Z.
“Right?” I asked and she nodded her head.
“And send some people down to fix it.”
“Yes, Sir!” the officer said.
“We need all four to go into hyperdrive.” Captain Tilliwout finished. I looked at him incredulously, as the officer ran off.
“Hyperdrive, like in Star Wars?” I said starting to laugh. No one else laughed with me, so I shut up. Another fierce blow hit the ship and I turned around and my mouth fell open again. On the wall, were battle ships.
They were huge. You know that ship that appears at the beginning of the movie Space Balls, the one were they have to replay the haunting music four times over to get the whole ship and the bumper sticker says “We Brake For Nobody?” Yeah, that’s how big these battle cruisers were. They all had an observation tower on them and I found out what was hitting us.
It really was like Star Wars. Lasers of all different colors were being shot at us and the Gnatsrednu was shooting back, with just as much force. Only disadvantage was the Gnatsrednu was one ship, and it was up against a fleet. There was one ship that was scaring me. It was the one that had an “f” and a “z” formed together. Like this,

(Sorry, my computer won't let me post the picture.)

The symbol didn’t scare me. What scared me was that this ship was coming right toward us.
As soon as the ship had come into the enemy’s shooting range, they stopped shooting at us. “Hold fire!” Captain Tilliwout said. A few seconds later it was completely silent. I don’t believe I’ve ever felt so scared before. The gigantic ship came closer and closer until it must have been a hundred yards away. Then it stopped moving. Nobody dared to breathe. Abruptly breaking the silence, the same officer who had informed Captain Tilliwout the port engines had been shut down spoke.
“Transmission coming in, Sir.”
“Put it through.” Tilliwout said. “Erene, speak to who ever comes on.” Erene nodded her head, walked to the side of the circle, and got on the inside of the desk and stood waiting for something.
“Whose trying to contact us?” I asked Z. I was aware that I was using “us.” As much as I didn’t want to be here, I felt as though I belonged here.
“One of Defex’s men, one of the Council members, or----” Suddenly the projection directly in front of Erene broke off, and another screen appeared. My mouth went dry. It was a video feed of a blue man who was very buff. His white hair was long and oily. He had a tattoo of an upside down pentacle on his chest in red ink. His eyes were a blood red. Now, Dace’s eyes were like a pinkish-red, but this man had really deep red eyes. If Dace looked evil, then this guy was Hell and Satan it/himself. He was sitting on a blue throne in a room that looked like the Gnatsrednu’s control room, but empty save for two guardsman and the man sitting on the chair. He looked like he wanted to kill everyone right then and there, and if looks could kill, he would have. Everyone in the room--- including me--- flinched when he appeared on the screen, except for Erene. She stood stock still. “Or Defex himself.” Z finished. I looked at Z and she was terrified. I supposed I should have been scared to, but I was more frightened by the fact that a ship the size of four football stadiums was much closer than I would have liked, than of Defex. Boy, was that a mistake.
“Defex,” Erene began., as though she was speaking to an old friend. “Gedorfscket etmerck sierd fenreclick illen Gnatsrednu?” She asked. I assumed she asked why they were attacking the Gnatsrednu.
“Ged, Erene, er fredf rick herrck ders.” Defex said back to her.
“What are they saying to each other?” I asked Z. She reached into her tunic pocket and pulled out a device that looked like a hearing aid. She put it in my right ear, and everything they said became crystal clear.
“Seed, abet er asver----want you to tell me.” Erene said. “Just to make sure I have all the details down.”
“Ha! Are you so stupid to think that I would fall for that trick again?”
“No, I was counting on your over-enlarged ego to falter.”
“I confessed my plans to you once, and I ended up in a jail cell for one hundred years!”
“And you belong in one for the rest of your life, if you don’t get the death penalty first. 6,000 counts of invasion, and infinite number of murder, reckless conduct, kidnapping, drinking and flying, not to mention those planets you blew up.” Erene paused. Wow. I thought. That’s a lot of felonies for one person to commit. “You’ll be lucky if you even get a trial, and the High Court doesn’t just execute you on the spot.” Whoa. That was a threat.
“You can suspend the right to a trial?” I asked Z. She stared at Defex with such an intensity that I thought he would blow up. He might have, considering Erene was making him angry.
“This isn’t the United States, Darton.” Z said to me. “We can strip your rights as a citizen of the lower dimensions if we needed to.” I looked at her.
“I’m from the third dimension.” I reminded Z.
“If you are a citizen of the fourth dimension or below, you are considered a citizen of the lower dimensions, now be quiet!” She said to me. Sheesh. Touchy.
“You know what I want.” Defex said in his gruff voice. “Give it to me.”
“I’m not allowed to negotiate terms with you until you tell me what you want; exactly what you want.” Erene said back to him. Defex looked like he wanted to strangle Erene. She didn’t even blink. If Erene was scared out of her wits like I was, she didn’t show it.
“Fine, I want Theodore’s son.” he said. His eyes swept across the room and found mine. Rush of terror gripped me, and I froze. I couldn’t move. His eyes were hungry. It was like he wanted to eat me. I suddenly realized what he was. He was a Darnoc; a.k.a. a cannibal. “Ah,” Defex let out a laugh that was so chilling I was sure my heart stopped. “You have him here. Perfect.”
“Why do you want him?” Erene asked.
“His father is quite… un-talkative. He needs a little motivation. His wife is not working on him so, his only son might do the trick.”
“Back up. His wife?” Erene said.
“Oh, I didn’t mention that to you did I?” Defex turned away from the screen with a chuckle and said., “Grath, Bex bring out Minerva and the two DWADT agents sent to rescue her.” The two other Darnoc’s dressed in green saluted him and went away. Erene gestured to the three eyed man who had spoken to the captain. He cautiously approached her.
“Is the portside engine fixed yet?”
“No, but the other three are generating enough energy for us to be able to whip around and get out.”
“The only way we’re getting out is if we hyper-jet out of here and we can’t do that without the fourth engine.”
“Ma’m couldn’t we outrun them? The Gnatsrednu is one of the fastest ships in the dimensions.”
“It’s a possibility, but we’re only one ship and we’re low on fuel anyway. We could get way for a while, but when she runs out of gas we’ll be sitting ducks for Defex and the Council to find.”
“I’ll tell them to hurry up.” The officer said, just as Defex’s guards came back with a guy with two heads, and a bug thing with four arms both dressed in black tunics like mine. The other person they brought out was a brown haired woman with a pointed face, and brown eyes, wearing a white jacket and blue jeans and had a double piercing in one ear; my mother.
“Mom!” I shouted out. She heard me, and I got a good look at her face. The last time I saw here was probably two hours ago, but she looked so much different. Her hair, normally pristine, was unruly and she had a deep gash in the side of her face. She was bleeding profusely. I glanced to Defex. “What the hell did you do to my mother?” I screamed at him. He immediately looked all innocent, but he was mocking me.
“Me? I did nothing to her.” he said, and held out his blue hands. “My hands are clean. My guards did this to her.” I felt so much rage at him, that I began to run towards the screen to pummel it.
“No!” Z said, and grabbed me. “You don’t want to do that.” She whispered in my ear.
“Yes, I do.” I hissed back. But I didn’t go after him. Defex frowned.
“I’m disappointed in you, Darton. Your father showed more restraint than this.”
“Leave my son out of this!” my mother said.
“Hold your tongue woman!” he said, and slapped her. I screamed out and tried to go after the Defex, forgetting he was a screen, but Gil helped Z hold me back. Defex laughed.
“You know… I propose a trade. Darton for Minerva.” Defex said directing his question at Erene. She looked blankly up at him.
“Hm, tempting, I’ll have to think about it. Give me a minute?” she asked and walked away not waiting for an answer. She walked to us. She came right up to me and put her hand on my neck.
“What are you----” I began to ask, but then her eyes glazed over and suddenly I felt like I had a million weights pulling on my shoulders. I felt so heavy as an overwhelming sense of calm come over me. Immediately my shoulders relaxed and I no longer felt the fear and anger I had toward Defex. Well that wasn’t correct. It was more of the anger was pushed to the side. It didn’t disappear, but it wasn’t important. Same with the fear. Erene’s eyes came back to normal, she took her hand off me, and the weights lifted.
“Be angry later,” she said to me. “Now is not the time.”
“You cannot really think to trade out Darton?” Captain Tilliwout.
“I have no intention of making the trade,” Erene said. “And knowing Defex, he won’t negotiate with us either.” Z looked to the ground in guilt. Erene saw this, and put a hand on her shoulder and Z looked back up at Erene. Erene gave her a sad smile of comprehension that I didn’t understand, but I suspected that Erne was like an older sister to Z in a way. The moment quickly passed.
“Sir! Ma’am!” the three eyed officer said, running toward Erene and the Captain. “The portside engine has been repaired!” he said out of breath.
“Excellent!” Erene said.
“Fantastic!” the Captain said simultaneously.
“But there’s a catch,” The officer went on. “The engineers have only temporarily gotten it running. If it get’s shut down again, they won't be able to start it up.”
“Then we only got one shot at this,” Captain Tilliwout said grimly. “Any ideas that will get us turned around with out Defex realizing what we are doing?” He asked, turning to Erene. She paused for a brief moment, then looked to me and said, “I’ve got one.”
Erene then turned to the three eyed officer. “Yes ma’am?” he said.
“Get a scanner of this room.” he glanced at Erene confused, but didn’t question her, and went off to look for a scanner, I didn’t know what that was, but now wasn’t the time to ask questions.
“Z, Gil, when I tell you too, I want you to drag Darton out of the room, but don’t go anywhere, you,” she said looking at me. “Play along.” What? I thought. I didn’t understand what she meant. The three eyed officer came back with what, I assumed, was the scanner. It looked more like a 12 inch by 8 inch flat screen TV. Erene touched the screen, and I immediately understood why it was called a scanner. It was a live video of the Gnatsrednu control room, complete with every person standing in it. There was even sound.
Erene gave it to Z, who seemed to understand what was going on. Erene then took Captain Tilliwout by the arm and led him away, whispering something inaudible to him. Gil then whispered in my ear, “When we drag you out, start screaming.” Huh? I thought. I was about to ask him what the hell was going on, but then Erene started to speak to Defex again.
“All right, Defex, I’ve made my decision,” she said, calmly. “The trade will commence.” Defex smiled devilishly as I gawked.
“That’s right, Princess. You have no choice.”
“You’ve surrounded us, we have no way out and all our communications have been shut down.” She said, then turned around and said to Z and Gil, “Take him to the loading dock.” She said calmly, then she winked at me.
Suddenly, everything made sense. As Gil and Z dragged me out of the room, and I screamed out and swore at Defex and Erene--- all for show, of course. I realized, that Erene had no thought to trade me. This was a performance for Defex, the next scene occurred after Gil had finally pulled me out of the room and closed the door. Z took out the scanner, and the three of us saw what happened next.
My mother was crying and yelling at Erene. It was quite obvious that mom had no clue that this was a set up. “Erene! Erene, I have known you my entire life! I’ve saved your life thousands of times! Theodore trusts you! I trust you! Is this how you thank us?” she cried out. It broke my heart to see my mom so distraught.
“Your life is more important to DWADT than your son’s, Minerva. I’m sorry.”
“Erene! Erene, please! You know he won’t do it! He’ll take T.J. and fly off, you know this!” Defex, looked worried for a moment, but the look on Erene’s face convinced him that he had nothing to worry about.
“I have no choice, Minerva,” she said and turned to Tilliwout. “Bring her around. Open up the loading dock.” Tilliwout solemnly nodded his head, and signaled to the pilot to turn the ship around.
The Gnatsrednu moved slowly. About five minutes passed in silence when, finally, we reached the half way point. “Now, no tricks, Erene. You wouldn’t want rounds of ship piercing missiles to impale sector four and annihilate the two million people you have aboard the Gnatsrednu now, would you?” Erene gritted here teeth and hissed,
“No.” She was definitely nervous about turning the ship around, but it came off to Defex as anger for betraying her friends. That was okay. It played nicely into her scheme.
Finally, the ship was completely turned around and Erene stood up a little straighter for the grand finale. Tilliwout glanced at Erene. She saw the look, but paid no attention to it. She picked up a pair of head phones, with a mouth piece. Erene fiddled with the knobs on the side of it, then put it on. “Tyihe,” she said. “Yes, I know what I’m doing. Open up the loading dock, and let in a black Varten, model 6, with illegal license of QE288RG. Let in that ship and only that ship.” Erene took off the headphones and Defex smirked.
“Impressive, Erene.”
“I make it a point to know enemy ships.”
“I wasn’t referring to what you know,” he said, and waved to the small black ship that had been hovering by his observation tower. It flew off to the battleship’s own loading dock, and Defex signaled for his own men to bring my mother there. She left kicking, screaming, and swearing, saying things that I thought I would never hear coming out of my mother’s mouth because she had put soap in mine for saying those words. “I meant, that you seemed to have risen in rank. Or, is it the reason why your in control is because Theodore isn’t here?” Erene stiffened. Defex was taunting her, badly.
“Keep that up, and I will stop this operation.” she threatened.
“You stop this trade, and I blow up the Gnatsrednu.” Defex calmly said, looking at his blue nails. The black Varten swooped away from Defex’s ship, and flew down to the back end of the Gnatsrednu. Erene watched it, and then looked away. Z grimaced.
“What? I asked.
“You’re mother’s not on that ship.”
“How can you tell?”
“The license plate is QE3455S, not QE288RG.”
“They pulled a switch.” Gil said, as though he expected it.
“Then what are we gonna do about my mother?” I said.
“Nothing. We’ll have to leave without her.”
“What!” I yelled, and grabbed for the door.
“No!” Gil and Z said together. Gil got to me first, and held me against the door, and Z put her hand on my mouth. “Darton, I want your mother off Defex’s ship too, but we have two million people aboard the Gnatsrednu. We can not risk innocent lives to save one person!” Z said. That didn’t register in my mind. I didn’t care who died, I wanted my mother save.
“Darton!” Gil said, shaking me. “You mother and father would have all our asses if they knew we even thought about rescuing them with the Gnatsrednu. You saw the way your mother reacted. If she was in the same room as Erene, she would have killed her! Your mother knows that she has to be left behind, but I promise you, we will get them back.” That got me. I stopped fighting him and slumped against the wall. Z took her hand off my mouth and Gil released me. Then the three of us continued watching.
Erene was back on the headphones. “Tyihe, I realize that you are the top mechanic on this ship, but I can assure you that the ship that is trying to enter the loading dock, is the correct ship… Tyihe, let in that ship… Now, Tyihe! That’s an order!” Erene said, and that was it. She took of the headset and shook her head. Poor Tyihe. I thought.
Tilliwout, who had calmly witnessed this from the side lines, spoke up. “Rem-dye!” He called out. The three eyed officer came running up to him. “Yes, Captain?”
“Pull up a screen of the loading dock.”
“Yes, Sir!” Rem-dye said. Rem-dye walked over to an empty machine, and started plunking away. Suddenly, another screen popped up onto the wall and the loading dock appeared. It looked like a super sized garage. A hangar would be a more accurate description. Flying crafts of all shapes and sizes were in there, and the only people that where in the loading dock, were all in an a joining room, with thick walls. Without warning, one side of the loading dock lifted up, and a black Varten glided in, and landed. Erene moved uncomfortably. Tilliwout moved and stood right next to Erene. Then he did something very odd. He put his hands behind his back, made a fist with his left hand, uncurled it, then re-made a fist. Not a single one of the officers in the room missed the gesture. It created a silent reaction that Defex didn’t notice, but every single officer continued to do what they were doing, but one of their hands reached out, and held on to something. As Tilliwout moved away from Erene, she leaned on a machine. Then the Captain moved to the pilot, and put a hand on his shoulder. The pilot got up and Tilliwout took his spot. I looked to Gil and asked, “Should we hang on to something?”
“Yep.” Gil said and Z nodded her head. The three of us grabbed a hold on the railings, and we silently watched the loading dock’s side close down and snap shut.


Hello!!! Please comment on this! I would love to know what you all think of this!!! I'm not done writing, so please look for Dimension Wars: Defex's Promise: Part 3!!! Thanks for reading!!!