Arriving at destination was far more traumatic this time around. Roy felt an overwhelming sense of nausea and was helplessly dizzy. He fell over, badly hitting his head on the ground; and as everything around him became confused Roy lost consciousness for a few seconds. He came round to the sound of muffled voices all talking at the same time, after a while he managed to distinguish one, louder than the others which seemed to be calling him, albeit distorted due to an irritating echo.
Bit by bit the words became more distinct until the teenager recognized Smogghel's unmistakable voice calling his name.
«Roy! Roy! Get up! Everything ok?» now Roy could hear the alien clearly, Smogghel's voice dominating the animated buzzing going on in the background.
The youth felt himself being lifted up and only then realized that his eyes were still shut. He tried to open them but the effort alone provoked intense stabs of pain in his temples, so much so that it took several attempts before he managed to keep even one eye open.
«Hey, boy! Can you hear me! Do you recognize me?» Smogghel's blurred snout, was the first thing that came into Roy's view.
«What manners! You can't just pass in front like that! Can't you at least get out of the way? You're blocking the queue!»
«Hurry up, we don't have all day! Get a move on will ya?» several unfamiliar voices rang out in the teenager's ears.
«Well, are you moving or not?» he heard the voices demanding nervously.
«Ok, ok, we're going, what's the rush dammit!» said Smogghel, propping Roy up. «C'mon, boy, do you think you can walk?»
«W-What?» Roy slurred. He could nearly focus on Smogghel's snout, and the sharp pains in his head had started to ease.
«We've got to move forwards, we're in the registration queue» said the alien, still propping him up. Roy tried to move forwards, but his legs struggled to take even a few small, painstaking steps.
«Registration of wha...» The teenager looked around for the first time in order to try and understand where they were.
A heterogeneous crowd of aliens was teeming behind them, and others were advancing in front of them, all forced towards a narrow passage closed in on both sides by a very high orange colored wooden fence making it impossible to see anything on the other side. Roy lifted his head up and established that he was outside, the clouds in the sky were similar to those on Earth, even if they were a sort of particular shade of green. He looked more closely ahead and noticed that the passage which they were being channeled into headed straight towards an imposing building which reminded him of an enormous amphitheater, surrounded by lush vegetation.
If it hadn't been for the multiform appearance of the horde that was crowding around him and for the acrid stench they made, it could have been a typical scene at the entrance of a stadium for a soccer match or a concert.
«Well are you gonna move or not, pink skin?» the snout of a strange creature that reeked of rotten fish appeared in front of Roy's bewildered face.
«Yes, we're going, we're going!» replied Smogghel, dragging the youth towards him. The rugged alien hauled him back to his place in the queue behind a pair of humanoids with yellow scaled skin, filling the empty space which had formed, with great satisfaction of all the others behind them.
«Can I let you go, now? Can you walk on your own?» Smogghel, asked thoughtfully.
«Yes, yes, I can manage. But... Anfry?!»
«I'm here.» A feeble little voice came from his backpack and Roy became aware in that moment that he was still carrying it over his shoulders. «I'm sorry, but I'm almost completely out of power. I've had to reduce my functions to minimum.»
«What's happened?» the boy asked anxiously.
«We materialized in this place just as they'd opened the gates for registration» intervened Smogghel, «in the crush somebody knocked into you and I think you hit your head.»
«But, Anfry...»
«I understand that his batteries are low, he couldn't move so I stuck him in your backpack.»
«Well done, thank you» echoed the little hare in a weak voice. «This time the device used up all my system energy. I need time so that my photovoltaic cells can help me to recover.»
Roy cast another look at the building they were heading towards and noticed that they'd almost reached the end of the queue which terminated right in front of a big door guarded by some still blurry figures.
«But where the dang are we?» he asked Smogghel. «and where are we going?»
The alien made a strange face, as if he found it both incredible and funny at the same time.
«For the sacred honor of Moghistuf, it's...can you believe it! We've ended up right in the middle of the suitor selection procedure and we're in the registration queue, isn't that funny? Of all the places we ......»
«Suitors of what? What registration?» solicited Roy.
«Talk about luck» continued Smogghel looking like someone who'd just won the lottery, «as aspiring suitors we are going to take part in the tournament to win the hand of the most Beautiful Divine Virgin Regent of the Great Kantogea Planet!»
On the dark side of the Moon...
«Here we are!» Stephanie squeezed Wendi's tiny frame tightly while, the Fireball's door started to open with a buzzing sound. At the same time, Martika made sure that she was holding Tex's leash firmly as he'd inevitably began to show signs of nervousness. They were really going to meet an alien, it wouldn't help diplomatic relations between races if their first meeting began with one of them being mauled by a frightened dog, she thought.
Beyond the Fireball's open door, they could see a small circular room, white and very bright, with a hexagonal door which appeared to be made of red light.
«Mind the step!» Stephanie stepped down cautiously, paying attention to the difference in height between the Fireball's cabin and the floor of the alien building. Moses entered the room straight after Stephanie. Martika, much to her relief, didn't encounter any difficulties in getting Tex out of the vehicle. As soon as he was off the ship, though, he started to nervously sniff over the floor. Suddenly, he lifted his eyes towards the luminous red opening and barked loudly a couple of times just before the light dissolved.
«Rubios!» exclaimed Stephanie catching sight of the alien on the threshold.
«Stephanie, my dear...» the alien replied in a warm and understanding voice, without any sort of timbre or accent.
Tex started to bark repeatedly and pull on his leash, so much so that Martika strained to hold him back, partly due to the overwhelming feeling of apprehension gripping her stomach and making her legs go weak.
The alien, taller than Moses expected and simply dressed in a sort of military attire, looked calmly at Tex and got down on one knee in front of him, showing the dog the palm of his hand.
«Let him go, there's no need to worry.»
Martika, her nerves on edge reacted instinctively and, without having to be told twice, let Tex off the lead free to hurl himself at Rubios. The dog's enthusiasm was short lived and almost immediately he stopped to sniff the alien hand held out towards him. After a few seconds, he placed his front paws on Rubios' bent knee and only then the alien moved his face closer to the animal's muzzle.
«We are friends now, aren't we?»
The big lick on the face that he received was Tex's honest answer, happy to lap up the loving caresses coming from the alien's four fingered hands.
That astonishing scene helped alleviate the palpable tension they felt. The animal's trust towards the being also rubbed off on Wendi: the little girl slipped out of Stephanie's arms and went over to Rubios widening her big blue eyes until they reflected in Rubios' big black globes.
«You're actually not that ugly!» said Wendi.
«Thankyou. That's a beautiful compliment, coming from such a pretty little creature» the grey answered curving his mouth into a sort of smile. Then he got up and turned to Moses.
«We are glad that you're here, professor Baldassar. It is a pleasure to get to know you in person.»
«Oh, ahem... The pleasure's mine...» replied Moses clumsily, trying to clear his throat to get rid of the emotional lump that was lodged there. «And, my compliments on your english...»
«Thanks to the simultaneous translation system» the deolian acknowledged.
Stephanie stepped between the alien and the Professor, moving towards Rubios with a worried look on her face.
«We saw the damage to the base. What's happened? Was it him who...»
«I'll take you to Garius, he's waiting for you. It would be better if you talk directly with him» Rubios cut Stephanie's sentence short.
The deolian guided the group out of the room and through corridors lit with a warm white light. They hadn't gone far before they came to another hexagonal opening made of light, bigger than the one before but this time in vivid iridescent colors.
They followed Rubios over the multicolored threshold and found themselves in a large oval room, surrounded by walls that had indefinite shapes in delicate tones moving slowly over them, instilling a feeling of peace and tranquility and filling the room with magical reflections like those of water during an immersion. Towards the far end of the room the structure's exterior was sometimes transparent, allowing them to glimpse the lunar rock landscape and the dark starry sky outside.
Standing out in front of the view was a deolian figure, to the human eye his features seemed almost identical to Rubios' at first, but he could be distinguished by the abundant light colored tunic he was wearing which dropped down far enough to cover his feet instead of the tight-fitting military uniform.
«Stephanie, my child, you managed!» said the alien, opening his arms to the girl who ran towards him and hugged him affectionately.
«Garius! Are you well!» the young woman cried, emotionally, laying her face on the alien's chest.
«Of course I'm well, why shouldn't I be...» said Garius reassuringly, stroking her soft hair.
«The base, we saw the damage.» Stephanie lifted her head and pointed vaguely to somewhere outside of the room. «Have there been explosions!?»
Garius placed his hands on the girl's shoulders, and his voice became deeper and saddened.
«Yes, you're right, we have been attacked. And worst of all, from the inside. Someone created a diversion to allow him to escape, to leave Earth.»
Stephanie flinched.
«So it's true! He's still alive, and he's escaped!»
«Excuse me, but who are you talking about?» Moses, having overcome the understandable moments of wonder and amazement, marched towards them resolutely with the air of someone who demands and deserves some answers.
«You're right, Professor, please excuse us.» Garius moved away from Stephanie and held out his hand to the scientist, in the typical terrestrial gesture used to introduce yourself or greet a guest.
«I haven't introduced myself. I am Garius, and I am the Commander of this observation post.»
Moses approached the deolian. The alien was almost half a head taller than him, and looking closely Moses could see the differences between his face and that of Rubios. Garius seemed older, his skin was wrinkled and his skull was larger with some little crests on the top. The Professor, not without some hesitation, shook the alien's hand and noticed that his skin was much warmer and softer than he'd expected.
«I'm Moses...» he said modestly, introducing himself as well.
Garius made a sort of smile.
«We know who you are, Professor granted, but some things still remain unknown to us and you, on the other hand, understandably are waiting for us to give you some answers.»
«That's correct» said Moses steadfast. Having got over the slight embarrassment of physical contact with the alien, he lifted his chin proudly and looked firmly into the alien's eyes. «Who were you talking about? Who attacked you? And, most of all, what can you tell me about Roy?»
Garius stepped sideways, moving away from Moses, so that his answer could also be heard clearly by Martika and Wendi who were standing behind the Professor.
«I'll answer the last question at once, as it's undeniably the question you care most about. I can only tell you, from the information in our possession, that your grandson is alive and I believe that I can also say that he's well.»
«Roy! Thank God!» exclaimed Moses, with a shiver of emotion. «Where is he?»
Garius turned his head to look at the starry sky through the transparent walls.
«Unfortunately... that question is very difficult to answer» he said sadly.
Somewhere else...
Roy and Smogghel had almost arrived at the registration point to be registered for the tournament. The teenager managed to make out, at the end of the row, a long decorated stone desk where some blue skinned humanoid figures with distinctive large beaks, similar to terrestrial parrots, were waiting. Two of the beings were sitting behind the desk taking down the participant's particulars, engraving the data on a scroll of light emitted from a colored prism; another two, more imposing, clearly guards judging by their clothes and the heavy battle axes that they were holding, scrutinized the participants that passed one after the other in front of them, with a rather bored expression.
Roy turned round again to look at the multitude of multicolored aliens of such varied appearances behind him in the queue.
«But why are such different beings aspiring to win the Queen crow's hand in marriage?» he asked, turning back to Smogghel.
«Sorry?»
«If the locals are the beings at the desk, the ones with the beaks, I mean...Well, surely the queen of this planet has a beak as well, hasn't she?!»
«Oh no!» the alien laughed. «The Divine Regent and all the females of the Great Kantogea Planet are legendary throughout the whole Universe!»
«You don't say...» Roy answered back, doubtfully.
«Listen...» said Smogghel patiently, «something like this only happens every ten of your earth years, more or less... The kantogean are a very particular race, they don't have contact with the outside world and they don't allow anybody to visit their planet except on this extraordinary occasion, in which beings from every part of the Universe are selected to compete in the tournament and the winner becomes the Regent's Companion!»
«If you'll allow me to say so, I'm really not interested» Roy objected firmly.
«The Regent and all the kantogean females» the other continued, pretending not to have heard the youth's remark, «have the ability to change their appearance according to their companion's standards of beauty!»
This last statement was curious and decidedly more interesting to Roy's ears.
«Hang on! You mean that if, for example, I won the tournament I'd find, say, someone who looked like Stephanie?»
«I have no idea who this Stephanie is» Smogghel shrugged, «but if, in your opinion, she's the most beautiful female that you can imagine, then yes, that's how it works.»
«that's not so bad» Roy admitted, with a grin of approval, «it does sound a bit too much like the fairy tales that Anfry told Wendi though. What's the catch? The tournament's probably a fight to the death!»
Smogghel laughed, little clouds of white smoke escaped out of one of the larger holes on his head.
«What are you talking about? It's a sports competition! Do you really think that all these beings coming from all over the known Universe would come here to risk their lives?»
Smogghel turned towards the creature who smelt like rotten fish.
«Excuse me, have you got the event program by any chance?»
«Why, haven't you got your own one?» the creature answered, rudely.
«I lost it at the entrance... Could you lend me yours just for a minute? I'd like to show my friend something!» said the moghistan with a wide smile. The alien reluctantly handed over a piece of creased yellow paper.
«Here!» said Smogghel, showing Roy a sheet full of incomprehensible signs. «It's not in my language, but I travelled a lot in my job so I can understand some of it.» Then he launched himself into reading the leaflet out aloud.
«In this round of the tournament over a hundred participants will be chosen, a uh... I think it says 'male'...specimen from different species, who will meet in the big Royal Amphitheatre challenging each other in a Matterball competition, until an indisputable winner can be determined, and become the Regent's Supreme Companion. The losers as always will be offered the opportunity, if they wish, to settle on Kantogea and marry one of the Supreme Virginal Court maids.»
Smogghel, smiling, folded the sheet and gave it back to the foul-smelling alien behind him.
«Can you remember any of the previous losers who preferred to go back to the world they came from rather than settling down on Kantogea with one of the local females?» Smogghel asked the alien.
«Are you kidding?» replied the alien curtly, snatching the leaflet from his hands.
«You see?» said Smogghel, talking to Roy, «who would give up such an opportunity?»
«Me» the boy answered categorically. «I just want to wait until Anfry gets back to normal so that we can reactivate the device and make another attempt to go home.»
«Okay, okay, but it's gonna take time, isn't it? In the meantime, is it such a big deal to you to...»
Smogghel was interrupted by the kantogeon's voice at the registration desk.
«Next! Oy you! It's your turn, what are you waiting for?»
Smogghel pushed Roy towards the desk, after having whispered some advice in his ear: «It's your turn! Be careful, don't tell him that you're terrestrial! Remember: Earth is a taboo planet!»
«But what do I tell him?!» the youth protested, reluctantly.
One of the beaked creatures spoke to him loudly, looking him up and down.
«Your name, pink skin?»
«Listen, my name is Roy, but...»
«Be quiet now!» the being ordered and pronounced the words to another being next to him, armed with prism pen and scroll.
«Write. Name: Listenmynameisroy.»
Then he turned his attention back to the baffled teen.
«What world do you come from?»
«Hey, no, wait a minute!»
«Ok, I understood, quiet now.» He lifted a hand to block him and said to the scribe: «Write. World: Heynowaitaminute.»
«Never heard of it» grumbled the other one, without lifting his eyes from the scroll.
«But these two...» said Roy, pointing at the kantogeans to Smogghel, who was laughing between clenched teeth making little puffs of cloud escape from the holes on his head.
«Just let them get on with it...» whispered his friend, trying hard to be serious.
The registration officer turned back to the youth again.
«What species are you?»
Roy, who had abandoned all hope of trying to stand up for his rights in the circumstance, answered seriously: «I'm a Kryptonian.»
The two creatures on the other side of the desk both looked up at the same time, outraged.
«Hey, are you trying to make fun of us?» emphasized the one asking the questions.
«What do you mean?» Roy was taken aback.
«He was kidding!» Smogghel quickly intervened. «Don't pay any attention to him, my friend is a bit of a joker! He just told you he's a Whatdoyoumean from the planet Heynowaitaminute!»
«Ah... alright, write: Whatdoyoumean» said the head scribe to the one with the scroll, sitting down again, still scowling at the boy.
«What on earth are you thinking...?» Smogghel scolded Roy in a low voice, shaking his head.
«Are you saying that they know about Superman comics?! Oh What the hell...» said Roy back, confused.
In that moment one of the guards at the sides of the desk noticed Anfry's head sticking out of the youth's backpack.
«Hey you, what's that thing on your back? Is it another creature? Competing in pairs isn't allowed!»
Smogghel butted in again, putting himself between the guard and Roy.
«No no no, that is... ahem, his symbiotic! It's a biomechanical parasite that lives attached to his spine. It's a typical characteristic of the Whatdoyoumean species!»
The guard threw a questioning look at the head scribe, who carefully scrutinized Anfry, scratching his beak perplexed.
«What a strange species...» he summed up when he'd finished. «Carry on, let him proceed to the indoctrination!»
As soon as Smogghel had completed his registration, Roy and his rugged travel companion were led by a pair of kantogean officers, together with other suitors, to a vast hall inside the amphitheater building.
From there Roy could hear the roar of the excited crowd in the stands outside waiting for the great event, accompanied by rhythmic music and beats, almost certainly a fundamental part of the tournament ceremony.
Along the entire length of the hall, numerous stone benches were lined up on which the participants were invited to sit, while waiting to receive instructions on how the competition worked.
A metal glove had been placed on each of the suitor's reserved seats, made of sections that locked together, studied so that the sections could easily slide to completely cover the wearer's forearm if desired. The hand covering didn't have fingers and the palm was a spoon shape, which ended with a little hook, similar to the kantogean's beaks. On every bench, next to the glove, there was a classic metal shield, pointed in shape and decorated with vividly colored symbols.
«I don't like this...» commented Roy, sitting down and feeling the weight of the bulky equipment. «It looks like it's a tough game. What did you say this...competition was called?» he asked Smogghel puzzled.
«Matterball, or at least that's what's written on the leaflet» the other one answered, feeling how much the glove and shield weighed himself.
«Have you any idea what it's like?» asked Roy apprehensively.
«Never heard of it» said Smogghel, shrugging.
Roy felt uncomfortable, he wanted nothing more than Anfry to activate the device and take him away from that absurd and monstrous situation.
«How's it going, Anfry?» he asked the little hare.
«Better. I'm at seventy percent of motor energy. But the device is still disabled.»
«Have you got any idea how long it'll take until it's working again?» asked Roy, impatiently.
«Difficult to say. At least a couple of hours, I'm afraid» was the little automatons verdict.
When the registration ended, once the last suitor took his place with the others, the kantogean officers and guards shut the access doors and arranged themselves along the sides of the hall. A carved stone pulpit with bas-relief decorations rose up in front of the long line of benches, illuminated by bands of light coming from sparkling prisms embedded in the ceiling.
A powerful yellow crested kantogean, in ceremonial dress, took his place at the pulpit and gestured to the crowd of participants for silence, before he spoke.
«Welcome to all of the Grand Kantogean Tournament participants. I am your Instructor and I am certain that, thanks to the properties of the iridescent prisms, my voice will reach each one of you, in your own language. Therefore, I will be brief and come to the point.»
«What a pity, I was hoping he'd make it last as long as possible» commented Roy, who had no intention of being dragged into that adventure.
«As you well know» the kantogean continued, «the winner of the Tournament will have the privilege of becoming our Beautiful Divine Virgin Regent's Companion. In the first round of the Matterball Tournament you will be divided into two teams and will compete against each other. In the second round, the players from the winning team, having successfully eliminated all of the opponents playing for the other team, will be split again into another two teams, and so on until only two of you are left to face each other for victory in the Grand Final.»
«Great! Imagine if we both make it to the final!» said Smogghel joyfully, giving Roy a friendly but excessively hard nudge with his elbow, making him slam into the metal glove propped up next to him, and drawing everyone's attention with the noise it made.
«Sorry» said the youth, with an embarrassed smile.
«The general rules are very simple,» the Instructor carried on with his speech, «in the first round ten fluctuating spheres will be released onto the pitch. Anybody who gets hit or touched by the spheres will be eliminated. You have a shield for protection and a glove so that you can catch the spheres and throw them back trying to hit your opponents. You can move about using platforms which will be suspended over a Green matter lake. Anybody who falls into the lake will be eliminated.»
«Bah, it looks like a sort of dodgeball» whispered Roy.
«The finalists will compete against each other with only three fluctuating spheres on the pitch. The one who gets hit first will be eliminated. The one who remains will be the winner.» concluded the Instructor.
«Seems like fun, doesn't it?» said Smogghel excitedly.
«Now» said the kantogean with emphasis, raising his voice and his right arm, «put on your competition gloves everybody!»
«Do I have to?» mumbled Roy, snatching the heavy accessory off the bench reluctantly. As soon as he put the glove on, it stuck to his arm like a second skin, and the youth with a sigh of relief noticed that it was a lot lighter than it seemed.
The kantogean officers in the hall made sure that everybody had put on their gloves, then they gave the Instructor a signal.
«Very well, aspiring suitors» the yellow crested kantogean declared with satisfaction, «there is no turning back now! You are ready for the grand challenge!»
«He seems a bit fanatical to me...» Roy said to himself.
On the Moon...
Garius had asked Moses if they could talk in private for a moment. The Professor had accepted and having noticed Martika's skeptical expression out of the corner of his eye, reassured her with a nod. So, Stephanie and Rubios had accompanied the others out of the room, with the excuse of taking them on a guided tour of the base, and now Garius and Moses were alone, each of them eager to have their questions answered.
The alien waved his hand and a small section of the floor in the middle of the room started moving, rising and reshaping itself until it took the shape of an essentially styled arm chair.
«Would you like to sit down, Professor?» said the deolian amiably.
«I would rather remain standing» replied the man solemnly.
«I understand» Garius half-closed his big black eyes and crossed his hands behind his back. «Believe me, I'm not trying to 'take you for a ride', as you terrestrials would say, but I do comprehend your suspicion.»
«I just want to know where Roy is» Moses said tenaciously, standing still in the middle of the room.
«To give you a satisfactory answer, I need to explain the situation first.» said Garius, trying not to irritate his guest. «Indeed, the fastest way to provide you with the information would be to transmit it directly to your brain, but I doubt that you would allow me to carry out such a procedure. Am I right?»
«Well', see, I...» the Professor hesitated, torn between distrust and his natural curiosity as a scientist.
«Well» the Commander interrupted, «I will try to outline the situation in a clear and essential way by using a more appropriate method, one to which your species is accustomed.»
He raised an arm and the walls of the room filled with three dimensional images that moved quickly chasing each other around the room's perimeter. In front of Moses a piece of the history of the deolian civilization came to life. The astonished scientist attentively observed the images. The moment he laid his eyes on any one particular image, the sounds and voices that accompanied that image seemed to enter directly into his head.
Moses concentrated on a fleet of diamond shaped spaceships, as they flew away from a blue colored world which was surrounded by a dense atmosphere. The sounds and the voices enveloped him: «Since time immemorial the deolians have travelled through infinite space to satisfy their thirst of knowledge and to indulge in their nature as explorers and scientists.»
The man looked closer at one of the diamond shaped starships.
«Thanks to their powerful ships capable of going faster than the speed of light, the deolians entered into contact, during the first hundred millenniums of their history, with different worlds and different life forms, many of which intelligent, scattered all over the cosmos.»
Moses noted an image that portrayed a device very similar to the infamous object of his acquaintance.
«But it was only thanks to the invention of the D-Trax, the Universal Matter Transfer device, that the deolians became the greatest and most powerful navigators in the Universe.»
The Professor stretched out a hand towards the reproduction of the device and the shape moved onto his palm. The voice continued, while the glowing profile of a flying saucer moved next to the D-Trax.
«The device, installed on the circular shaped deolian ships, allowed travel at the speed of thought from one end of the known Universe to the other. The deolians are the sole possessors of this technology and, to avoid improper use, have established the Center of Primary Movement Control, an institute able to record all the information that every D-Trax is compelled to transmit automatically on activation.
The miniature of a big space station appeared on Moses' hand with hundreds of deolian workers moving busily about.
The information transmitted relates to the place of departure, the set place of arrival, the composition of the crew and biometric data of the passengers.»
The scientist took his attention away from the images and looked up to Garius', who was standing next to him.
«So, if I understand correctly» he said, «you are capable of knowing exactly when a device activates, where it departs from, where it's headed to and who is travelling on board?»
«Exactly, as you have seen» the Commander confirmed.
«Of any... D-Trax in any part of the Universe?»
«All of them, except one... that you know very well, don't you?»
«Roy?!» murmured Moses, thinking back to the device that he'd installed inside Anfry. «But then...»
«In good time, before we talk about your grandson there's something else that you should know...» Garius pointed to a deolian whose appearance was decidedly evil. The Professor opened his hand and caught the hologram in his palm curiously observing the alien figure. He was solidly built, his face a network of thousands of pulsing blood vessels which could be seen under his skin, and part of his brain matter shone with a light so intense that it was visible, from under the surface of his skull. His description wasn't any less disturbing than his appearance: «Demorius, leader of Imperadeox, a movement which has threatened the balance of the deolian civilization and endangered Universal peace. The said movement intended to confirm the dominance of the deolian race over all other species in the known Universe; he was declared an outlaw because this was in stark contrast with the principles of no interference sanctioned by the Supreme Deolian Council and aimed at respecting, anywhere and always, the freedom and the sovereignty of the native species on the worlds they belonged to. Imperadeox was dissolved and many of its followers were arrested, Demorius however and some of his associates managed to escape capture and hide, declaring war on the Council and performing atrocious acts of terrorism with the sole intent of overthrowing the lawful deolian government.»
Next to the alien figure an image of the planet Earth appeared.
«In 1947 according to the terrestrial calendar, Demorius was reported missing when his flying saucer was shot down by the Council patrol squad and plummeted onto the planet Earth.»
Behind Demorius a distinctly older deolian materialized, though just as disturbing due to his skeletal appearance.
«On that occasion the death of Vladus, an Imperadeox scientist was also confirmed. He had altered Demorius using illegal genetic modification and was planning to make a lethal 'ultimate weapon' for his leader capable of silencing the movement's opposition forever.»
«The Roswell UFO...» Moses' gaze lingered on the image of the wrecked flying saucer that had taken form in the palm of his hand.
«A familiar wreck, isn't it, Professor?» Garius reached across to pick an icon of Moses' face which was floating together with the others. The scientist's face became animated held between the alien's fingers, followed immediately by its audio description.
«Moses Baldassar, human scientist. Since 1964, according to the terrestrial calendar, head of studies carried out on the remains of the crashed flying saucer in Roswell, firstly working from the Harlington base, then after the base's destruction, on Dreamkey.»
Moses passed his hand through his holographic representation with irritation, interrupting the audio.
«I already know this story» In return he took the icon depicting Garius in that exact moment, as he walked through the circle of images right behind Moses' and he put it between himself and the alien.
«Garius, deolian, since 1947 according to the terrestrial calendar, head of the observation post positioned on the lunar surface to monitor any human progress made with technology taken from the Roswell flying saucer, and to investigate the fate of the outlaw Demorius, reported missing on planet Earth and believed dead until his escape that took place on this day.»
«So this is the Demorius that you and Stephanie were talking about? And was it him who damaged your base?» Moses asked.
«Yes, it's him, he has just escaped us, unfortunately» the deolian admitted with bitterness. «He survived the Roswell incident, he has remained hidden on Earth for years, managing to reorganize his network of followers somehow. A traitor working for Demorius, here on the Moon, sabotaged our surveillance systems which allowed him to escape, then he killed himself so that we wouldn't be able to extract any information from him.»
«Just a second, something's not right...» said Moses, trying to reorganize his ideas. «Could you... Could you turn this projection off, please?» he asked, pointing roughly at the figures which continued to flow around him and made it difficult to concentrate. Garius, with a slight hand gesture, stopped the whirling images.
Moses continued to follow his line of thought, pacing round the armchair in the middle of the room.
«If I'm correct, the travel devices which allow your ships to travel at the speed of thought have to communicate their destination. If that's so...Where has this Demorius gone?»
The Commander shook his head sadly.
«It would appear that Demorius used one of the hyper-light ships, like the diamond shaped ones that you saw in the images. These ships are used to cover relatively short distances and are not equipped with D-Trax, or should I say the matter transfer device. Which means that the Control Center doesn't intercept them because they only record the movements of ships with the devices installed, those which you call flying saucers.»
«Ah, I understand...» nodded Moses, by now bored of the deolian history lesson and impatient to know something about his grandson. «Leaving to one side your internal power struggles, would you mind getting to the point and tell me something about Roy?»
«Power struggles? Is that how you see them, merely power struggles?» Garius retorted resentfully. «We deolians are not without flaws and I admit that we have committed some serious mistakes in the past, but I can confirm with certainty that we do not aspire to power, our desire is to maintain the delicate balance of peace and we fight against those who want to forcefully impose their dominion!»
«That's good, you have your high ideals, I'm glad to hear it, but Roy doesn't have anything to do with it!» protested Moses, impatiently.
«I wish it were so!» Garius finally came to the heart of the matter. «Don't you understand that your grandson has become, regrettably, a fundamental pawn at the center of this battle?»
Moses swayed, struck by the Commander's statement.
«But... what are you saying? That's not possible!»
«Professor, you surprise me!» The alien opened his arms in disbelief. «Let's recap. We both know that Roy left Earth thanks to a travel device...»
«Yes, but...» Moses admitted, in confusion.
«A D-Trax which we deolians only found out that existed when it activated on the beach on Dreamkey.» Garius continued resolutely. «A device that shouldn't exist, because, according to our information, the only device in your possession is the one originally mounted on Demorius' flying saucer which fell to Earth, and is now installed on your 'Fireball' which allowed you to get here today. However, the real problem is...» The Commander, took a breath, and moved closer to Moses staring into his eyes «...is that the device your grandson used didn't transmit its journey destination to the Control Center when it activated!»
Garius moved away from the scientist and started pacing nervously around him.
«Do you understand what that means? Apart from the fact that in the current state of affairs we do not know where Roy is? Do you understand how dangerous such a device could be if it finished up in the wrong hands? Try to imagine an army or even a single bomber materializing in front of its target without any warning and without any possibility of it being intercepted in time!»
«But...» Moses, petrified, felt a shiver of terror run down his spine.
«Do you understand?» Garius repeated, «Demorius' escape, right now, straight after Roy's disappearance, cannot in any way be a coincidence! It is clear that, thanks to his network of spies, Demorius has the same information at his disposal that we do, he knows what we know, and without a shadow of doubt he wants to get his hands on that device!»
Moses, until then paralyzed by Garius' words, put his hands to his forehead in despair. He clenched his fingers until he could feel his nails digging into his skin. But self-pity or punishing himself wouldn't resolve the situation. He had to react. He emitted a deep sigh and tried with all his strength to overcome his despair and think it over rationally.
«That device, the one inside Anfry...»
«Inside who?» asked Garius, also hungry for answers.
«Yes» explained Moses, «the device that made Roy disappear is inside a little automaton that I built to keep an eye on the kids, I called it Anfry.»
«Ah yes, of course, the automaton, please continue...» said Garius, eagerly.
«I thought it would be a good hiding place...When the laboratory was attacked I put the device inside Anfry's circuits, I was sure that it didn't work, just as the other device, the one on my ship, had never worked! Now I know why, because that piece that Stephanie had was missing!»
«So, the device inside the automaton is lacking a destination database? Impossible!» said Garius incredulous.
«The database? I have no idea what you're talking about!» Moses answered back, disorientated.
«Damn, damn, damn!!!» For the first time Garius seemed close to flying off the handle. «What flying saucer did you take the D-Trax inside Anfry from, Professor?»
«I didn't take it from any flying saucer...» Moses stared pallidly at the alien, while a frozen drop of sweat ran down his forehead. «I built it!»