"Wait," I said to Jonathan Reed, "do you know who these people are?"
"I've met jhim before," replied Reed.
"You don't understand. They're kromaggs. They intend to conquer the world."
"I can tell you fear us," said one of the kromaggs. "You fear us because you do not understand us. I once had that attitude about humans until I learned more about them."
Then I realized that these were not the kromaggs who were banished from the world of my birth; these kromaggs were native to this world.
"Well, you're different from the others I've run into," I said.
"Who is this?" asked the kromagg.
"He is Colin Mallory, a new recruit," said Reed.
"Hello," said the kromagg. "I am Ambassador Rakakot, ambassador to the Kingdom of Britain from the Kingdom of Beruth."
I recognized that name. Then I remmebered. Rakakot was the kromagg who brought me to Outpost One and interrogated me. He hoped that by studying my condition, the Kromagg Dynasty could find a way to bypass the slidecage and conquer my parents' world.
But this was another version of Rakakot, native to this world.
"If I may ask," I said, "why are you supporting us?"
"We've listened to the rhetoric of your king as well as the German fuhrer and the Japanese emperor," said Rakakot. "He makes speeches of how he would subjugate the whole world under the Axis Our spies tell us he is building more aircraft carriers and warplanes. We believe he is preparing for an attack."
"So you fear he will conquer your part of the world."
"My king has atomic weapons at his dispoal, and he swore to use them to retaliate against any aggression against his kingdom or his allies. an atomic exchange would result in millions of deaths, both humans and kromaggs, and my lord wishes to avoid having to make such a decision."
"What of the other kromagg nations?"
"The President of Arizoth had just signed a non-aggression treaty with your king. He hopes that a bloody war between my people and yours would weaken Beruth's power, and thus make Arizoth the dominant nation of our half of the world, maybe even over the whole world. Remember that our two nations concluded a bitter, bloody war more than fifty years ago, and we still have an uneasy peace."
"So you understand why King Edward must be overthrown," said Reed. "Millions of lives depend on it."
"If you can put your man on the throne," said the kromagg ambassador, "we can sign a non-aggression pact. We will be willing to defend your nation against aggression from the other Axis nations, should they choose to initiate hostilities." He handed Mr. Reed a shiny silver disc. "We will send you military aid. Your forces will need the equipment."
"Thank you, sir," said Reed.
"Well, let us hope all goes well."
The two kromaggs left and I followed them from afar. I saw them get into a limousine and then they drove off. A minute later, I was inside the white van and we headed back to the resistance base. We got there after a few minutes of driving through the London streets.
I practiced more meditation with Dr. Arturo. I could see the results in my watch. After that, I went to purchase a fish fillet and chips and then had dinner in my flat. After eating dinner, I knelt down and prayed to the Lord God Almighty that I would know whether to follow Reed and Arturo. Then I went to sleep.
My dreams were interrupted by an electric shock. I woke up and saw men wearing black outfits and jackboots surrounding me as I slept.
"What?" I asked.
"You're under arrest for crimes against the Crown!" one of the men shouted.
"Who is this?" I asked.
"This is Scotland Yard!"
I was dragged out of my flat and taken downstairs. I could see cars as well as a paddy wagon. I heard a helicopter hovering overhead. The doors to the paddy wagon was open. another painful electric shock was delivered to my back and they pushed me in.
Mr. Reed and Wesley were both inside the wagon. Shirtly, Dr. Maximilian Arturo was put in there, after being shocked by the Scotland Yard agent.
"I guess they're taking us to their headquarters," said Reed.
"We'll probably be tortured and killed," said Wesley. "I can feel their malicious intent."
"We can escape," said Arturo. "They don't know about me. Everyone gather around and hold tight."
We all gathered around the doctor and held tight. Suddenly, I felt weightless. It lasted for a second, and then I felt the tug of Earth's gravity again. I felt hard, solid ground below my feet.
I looked around, and we were definitely not inside the paddy wagon. Instead, we were all on a street corner. A quick read of the street signs indicated we had not moved far in space. it was clear that we were in another dimension.
"Where are we?" asked Wesley.
"We're still in London," said Arturo. "We are in another dimension."
"You brought us to another world?" asked Jonathan Reed.
"This was the world where I found Mr. Mallory," said Arturo.
"Our headquarters has been compromised," said Reed. "Even if you could bring isd back, we'll nbeed to new place to live. I'd also have to notify the rest of our organization of our new headquarters."
"Well, we're same in the meantime," I said. "I doubt this world's version of Scotland Yard, if it exists, is after us."
"Are you sure, Mr. Mallory?" asked Dr. Arturo. "One of us may have a duplicate who is wanted by the authorities for some crime. Anyway, there is not much we can do here now. We are in our pajamas and we have no money and all the stores are closed in this hour."
"Where do you suggest we go, Max?" asked Reed.
"Across the Atlantic," said Arturo. "All of you hold on to me, we're going."
So we held on tight. I once again felt a brief period of weightlessness.
The first thing I noticed upon feeling gravity is that we were indoors. I looked around and saw a couple of paintings and stuff. I then saw a painting I was very familiar with.
It was a painting of my brother, Quinn!
I saw more paintings-of me, Rembrandt, and Maggie. I also saw paintings of two other people. One of them was a white man whom I did not recognize, the other was a painting of a Negro woman who looked familiar.
"Hello," I heard someone say. "I anticipated your arrival."
I looked and saw Marc LeBeau.
We were on his world.
We sat down at a dining table in LeBeau's mansion. He was a kind, hospitable host. He voliunteered to tell us about himself, and how he knew of Dr. Arturo and me.
"It all started when I had a heart attack a couple of years back," said LeBeau. "It was during the kromagg occupation."
"You mean there was a war between humans and kromaggs on this world?" asked Wesley. "and they conquered your home."
"Yes. God gave me psychic abilities. I knew that the kromaggs were not of this world, or even of this universe, but came from another version of Earth."
"Where?" asked Reed.
"On their world, kromaggs sprung from the western hemisphere, and humans sprung from the eastern hemisphere, as in your world."
"It was in the fourteenth century when a kromagg sailing ship first arrived on Africa's Atlantic coast," said Dr. Arturo.
"First contact between the kromaggs and humans occurred thousands of years earlier on their world," said LeBeau. "Humans migrated from eastern Asia to the western continents. Their meeting with the kromaggs resulted in armed conflict. For three millenia, there was a series of wars between humans and kromaggs. Then humans from Europe arrived and changed things. They created a powerful nation called the United States of America, and it dominated the northern continent which they called North America. The last of the wars between humans and kromaggs was back in 1970. It was a long and bloody conflict, and when the tide turned against the kromaggs, they evacuated to another version of Earth. The human nations blocked their return. After that, they began to conquer other versions of Earth which were entirely populated by humans."
"Do the kromaggs still rule here?" asked Wesley.
"Oh no. The U.S. never surrendered. Our scientists developed a virus, highly contagious, which was designed to kill kromaggs. It was on June 28, 1998 when the virus was first deployed. Four days later, the kromagg soldiers began dying quickly. Because the virus had a slow incubation period, by the time the first kromaggs died, it was too late to contain the thing. The U.S. Army rallied and slaughtered the remaining invaders. The kromaggs were gone on July 4, 1998. That day became known as Independence Day."
I smiled. Quinn told me that his version of the United States of America celebrated Independence Day on that exact date.
"So how did you know Max and Colin?" asked Reed.
"Well, I received visions of two very young boys who were sent from the kromaggs' home world. Their names were Colin and Quinn Mallory. Their parents were sliders, as the people from their world referred to traveling between dimensions. One of them was hidden in the world where Crown Prince Leonard was hiding, and the other was hidden on a world where the parents had their honeymoon back in 1969,during a festival called Woodstock. After the war with the kromaggs ended, they went to loom for their sons, but could not find them. Then in September of 1994, I received a vision of Quinn happening in real time. He built a sliding machine. Days later, he, Wade Welles, Maximilian Arturo, and Rembrandt Brown took the plunge and changed their lives forever."
"So you followed my brother and his friends," I said.
"Yes," replied LeBeau. "After escaping a world where the U.S. was ruled by communism, they went back to what they thought was home, but Quinn's father was still alive, and that world's Quinn was also missing along with that world's version of Wade and Rembrandt and Max. Perhaps another version of me is tracking them. Anyway, they started using that world as a base of operations. Quinn even considered staying there permanently and taking over his duplicate's life, but he decided against it, since it was not his life."
"Quinn mentioned that," I said.
"It was in January when I detected another version of Maximilian Arturo," continued LeBeau. "He had been sliding from world to world without a timer. I summoned him here and spoke to him and told him whom I am. I told him that he could take control of his own destiny. It was around that time that something went wrong with Quinn's timer again, and now they slide from world to world without being able to set the time nor able to return to their temporary base. It was then I decided to sell the stories of the sliders. I became known as the Seer, for my ability to see the sliders' adventures. Max was especially interested in his duplicate, whom he could sympathize with. He stayed with me for six weeks before he left. I kept in touch with him via psychic communication. Then came February 7, 1997."
I wondered what was special about that date, and then I remmbered Quinn telling me that he first slid home with Maggie back in February of that year. Was that the date when Quinn found out his home coordinates.
It was not. "Max came back here, telling me he had mastered sliding and thanking me for my help. I then received another vision. I saw the sliders, cincluding their version of Max. They arrived on a world where something believed to be pulsars were going to fry the whole planet. The world's version of the U.S. military was experimenting with sliding, and Quinn found his home world. But Colonel Angus Rickman had other plans. He had a disease which he was treating by stealing brain fluid. Before the world ended that day, he shot and killed Maximilian Arturo."
I remembered that story. It still saddened Quinn and Rembrandt and Maggie.
"Captain Maggie Beckett joined them, and they hunted Rickman who had the timer with the coordionates for Quinn's home. Three months later, Rickman is killed and Rembrandt and Wade finally make it home. Quinn and Maggie try to follow, but there was a catch. The kromaggs conquered Quinn's home. In August of 1997, Quinn and Maggie make it to his home, they rescue Rembrandt, and they set out to find his brother and the path to Quinn's birth world. They meet up with Colin and they continue searching until June of 1999 when Colin was separated from them."
"Interesting story," said Wesley.
"Are my parents alive?" I asked.
"Yes, they are alive and well. They still work for the U.S. military. In fact, they...well, you'll find out."
"What?" I asked.
"It is better you hear from them. And you will meet them, soon."
I yawned. "Well, I'd better get some sleep."
The four of us slept in the den. The morning sun woke me up. I decided to go to the kitchen to have some breakfast. My breakfast consisted of Super Golden Crisp and Minute Maid orange juice.
"Want some breakfast?" I asked Wesley as he got up.
"Sure," he said. "This is the first time I've been to parallel universe. I read the encyclopedia in the den; everything about world history is different from what I remember."
"Good morning," said Maximilian Arturo.
"Good morning," I replied.
"We're gonna have to go home soon," said Jonathan Reed. "But not to our London headquarters, since it's been compromised. Instead, we'll be going to an underground complex a few miles away from our headquarters. The Resistance Militia has its headquarters there. Max has been there before, so he can teleport us right there. We have a plan, but if wee're gonna do it we'll need some muscle."
"What plan?" I asked.
"It's been under discussion with our militia officers for quite a while. That encrypted CD-ROM you saw was about our mission. Hopefully, Scotland Yard hasn't decrypted the computers in our office yet."
"And the kromaggs are helping us?" I asked.
"Officially, they're neutral. They just lost weapons and equipment due to inventory error."
"You leaving?" asked Marc LeBeau as he saw us.
"Yes," said Jonathan Reed.
"Good luck on your venture. I'll be in touch wiht you."
"I'll keep my end of the bargain," said Dr. Arturo.
We all huddled around Maximilian Arturo. I felt weightlessness.
and then I felt wet. There weas water spraying against my face! I saw I was surrounded by women.
Naked women.
We all got out even as they screamed. "Follow me," ordered Reed. We went tthrougn a series of concrete corridors until we reached an office.
Inside was a man in a military uniform with four stars on the shoulders.
"Mr. Reed," said the uniformed man. "What brings you here, sir?"
"Resistance headquarters was compromised," said Reed. "We managed to escape Scotland Yard, but they might find out about this place."
"Well, we can hold them off long enough for us to escape before the military arrives. What of our other intel cells?"
"I haven't heard from them. It will only be a matter of time before Scotland Yard decrypts our database."
"I think we should begin the operations we've been planning for a month now."
"Yes," said the militia officer. "With what happened yesterday, we must move our timetable up. But we should notify him."
"Of course."
Reed and I left the office. I spoke with some of the militiamen. From what I could tell, the Resistance had two components-a spy ring which gathered data and financed the operation, and a militia that enaged in armed conflict. The militia had performed raids on government armories and the rehab centers. Many of the militiamen were soldiers in the British Royal Army who decided to fight for right, or were targeted for a purge.
Finally, a meeting was called. Jonathan Reed, Maximilian Arturo, Wesley, and I all atended, along with the militia's chief officers and their aides.
A man dressed in a three-piece suit appeared. Everyone in the room bowed to him; I did so likewise.
"Hello, everyone," said the man. "I am glad you are all gathered here. I came here secretly and at great personal risk, but it is something I had to do. I am Harold, rightful king over all Britain."
"Your Majesty," said Jonathan Reed, "we summoned you here today to inform you of our next step in our quest to restore you to the throne and out an end to this fascist regime."
"Tell us this plan, Reed."
"My lord, our plan is to take a hostage."
"Whom?" asked the king. I too was wondering.
"Prime Minister Farrington."
"I've met jhim before," replied Reed.
"You don't understand. They're kromaggs. They intend to conquer the world."
"I can tell you fear us," said one of the kromaggs. "You fear us because you do not understand us. I once had that attitude about humans until I learned more about them."
Then I realized that these were not the kromaggs who were banished from the world of my birth; these kromaggs were native to this world.
"Well, you're different from the others I've run into," I said.
"Who is this?" asked the kromagg.
"He is Colin Mallory, a new recruit," said Reed.
"Hello," said the kromagg. "I am Ambassador Rakakot, ambassador to the Kingdom of Britain from the Kingdom of Beruth."
I recognized that name. Then I remmebered. Rakakot was the kromagg who brought me to Outpost One and interrogated me. He hoped that by studying my condition, the Kromagg Dynasty could find a way to bypass the slidecage and conquer my parents' world.
But this was another version of Rakakot, native to this world.
"If I may ask," I said, "why are you supporting us?"
"We've listened to the rhetoric of your king as well as the German fuhrer and the Japanese emperor," said Rakakot. "He makes speeches of how he would subjugate the whole world under the Axis Our spies tell us he is building more aircraft carriers and warplanes. We believe he is preparing for an attack."
"So you fear he will conquer your part of the world."
"My king has atomic weapons at his dispoal, and he swore to use them to retaliate against any aggression against his kingdom or his allies. an atomic exchange would result in millions of deaths, both humans and kromaggs, and my lord wishes to avoid having to make such a decision."
"What of the other kromagg nations?"
"The President of Arizoth had just signed a non-aggression treaty with your king. He hopes that a bloody war between my people and yours would weaken Beruth's power, and thus make Arizoth the dominant nation of our half of the world, maybe even over the whole world. Remember that our two nations concluded a bitter, bloody war more than fifty years ago, and we still have an uneasy peace."
"So you understand why King Edward must be overthrown," said Reed. "Millions of lives depend on it."
"If you can put your man on the throne," said the kromagg ambassador, "we can sign a non-aggression pact. We will be willing to defend your nation against aggression from the other Axis nations, should they choose to initiate hostilities." He handed Mr. Reed a shiny silver disc. "We will send you military aid. Your forces will need the equipment."
"Thank you, sir," said Reed.
"Well, let us hope all goes well."
The two kromaggs left and I followed them from afar. I saw them get into a limousine and then they drove off. A minute later, I was inside the white van and we headed back to the resistance base. We got there after a few minutes of driving through the London streets.
I practiced more meditation with Dr. Arturo. I could see the results in my watch. After that, I went to purchase a fish fillet and chips and then had dinner in my flat. After eating dinner, I knelt down and prayed to the Lord God Almighty that I would know whether to follow Reed and Arturo. Then I went to sleep.
My dreams were interrupted by an electric shock. I woke up and saw men wearing black outfits and jackboots surrounding me as I slept.
"What?" I asked.
"You're under arrest for crimes against the Crown!" one of the men shouted.
"Who is this?" I asked.
"This is Scotland Yard!"
I was dragged out of my flat and taken downstairs. I could see cars as well as a paddy wagon. I heard a helicopter hovering overhead. The doors to the paddy wagon was open. another painful electric shock was delivered to my back and they pushed me in.
Mr. Reed and Wesley were both inside the wagon. Shirtly, Dr. Maximilian Arturo was put in there, after being shocked by the Scotland Yard agent.
"I guess they're taking us to their headquarters," said Reed.
"We'll probably be tortured and killed," said Wesley. "I can feel their malicious intent."
"We can escape," said Arturo. "They don't know about me. Everyone gather around and hold tight."
We all gathered around the doctor and held tight. Suddenly, I felt weightless. It lasted for a second, and then I felt the tug of Earth's gravity again. I felt hard, solid ground below my feet.
I looked around, and we were definitely not inside the paddy wagon. Instead, we were all on a street corner. A quick read of the street signs indicated we had not moved far in space. it was clear that we were in another dimension.
"Where are we?" asked Wesley.
"We're still in London," said Arturo. "We are in another dimension."
"You brought us to another world?" asked Jonathan Reed.
"This was the world where I found Mr. Mallory," said Arturo.
"Our headquarters has been compromised," said Reed. "Even if you could bring isd back, we'll nbeed to new place to live. I'd also have to notify the rest of our organization of our new headquarters."
"Well, we're same in the meantime," I said. "I doubt this world's version of Scotland Yard, if it exists, is after us."
"Are you sure, Mr. Mallory?" asked Dr. Arturo. "One of us may have a duplicate who is wanted by the authorities for some crime. Anyway, there is not much we can do here now. We are in our pajamas and we have no money and all the stores are closed in this hour."
"Where do you suggest we go, Max?" asked Reed.
"Across the Atlantic," said Arturo. "All of you hold on to me, we're going."
So we held on tight. I once again felt a brief period of weightlessness.
The first thing I noticed upon feeling gravity is that we were indoors. I looked around and saw a couple of paintings and stuff. I then saw a painting I was very familiar with.
It was a painting of my brother, Quinn!
I saw more paintings-of me, Rembrandt, and Maggie. I also saw paintings of two other people. One of them was a white man whom I did not recognize, the other was a painting of a Negro woman who looked familiar.
"Hello," I heard someone say. "I anticipated your arrival."
I looked and saw Marc LeBeau.
We were on his world.
We sat down at a dining table in LeBeau's mansion. He was a kind, hospitable host. He voliunteered to tell us about himself, and how he knew of Dr. Arturo and me.
"It all started when I had a heart attack a couple of years back," said LeBeau. "It was during the kromagg occupation."
"You mean there was a war between humans and kromaggs on this world?" asked Wesley. "and they conquered your home."
"Yes. God gave me psychic abilities. I knew that the kromaggs were not of this world, or even of this universe, but came from another version of Earth."
"Where?" asked Reed.
"On their world, kromaggs sprung from the western hemisphere, and humans sprung from the eastern hemisphere, as in your world."
"It was in the fourteenth century when a kromagg sailing ship first arrived on Africa's Atlantic coast," said Dr. Arturo.
"First contact between the kromaggs and humans occurred thousands of years earlier on their world," said LeBeau. "Humans migrated from eastern Asia to the western continents. Their meeting with the kromaggs resulted in armed conflict. For three millenia, there was a series of wars between humans and kromaggs. Then humans from Europe arrived and changed things. They created a powerful nation called the United States of America, and it dominated the northern continent which they called North America. The last of the wars between humans and kromaggs was back in 1970. It was a long and bloody conflict, and when the tide turned against the kromaggs, they evacuated to another version of Earth. The human nations blocked their return. After that, they began to conquer other versions of Earth which were entirely populated by humans."
"Do the kromaggs still rule here?" asked Wesley.
"Oh no. The U.S. never surrendered. Our scientists developed a virus, highly contagious, which was designed to kill kromaggs. It was on June 28, 1998 when the virus was first deployed. Four days later, the kromagg soldiers began dying quickly. Because the virus had a slow incubation period, by the time the first kromaggs died, it was too late to contain the thing. The U.S. Army rallied and slaughtered the remaining invaders. The kromaggs were gone on July 4, 1998. That day became known as Independence Day."
I smiled. Quinn told me that his version of the United States of America celebrated Independence Day on that exact date.
"So how did you know Max and Colin?" asked Reed.
"Well, I received visions of two very young boys who were sent from the kromaggs' home world. Their names were Colin and Quinn Mallory. Their parents were sliders, as the people from their world referred to traveling between dimensions. One of them was hidden in the world where Crown Prince Leonard was hiding, and the other was hidden on a world where the parents had their honeymoon back in 1969,during a festival called Woodstock. After the war with the kromaggs ended, they went to loom for their sons, but could not find them. Then in September of 1994, I received a vision of Quinn happening in real time. He built a sliding machine. Days later, he, Wade Welles, Maximilian Arturo, and Rembrandt Brown took the plunge and changed their lives forever."
"So you followed my brother and his friends," I said.
"Yes," replied LeBeau. "After escaping a world where the U.S. was ruled by communism, they went back to what they thought was home, but Quinn's father was still alive, and that world's Quinn was also missing along with that world's version of Wade and Rembrandt and Max. Perhaps another version of me is tracking them. Anyway, they started using that world as a base of operations. Quinn even considered staying there permanently and taking over his duplicate's life, but he decided against it, since it was not his life."
"Quinn mentioned that," I said.
"It was in January when I detected another version of Maximilian Arturo," continued LeBeau. "He had been sliding from world to world without a timer. I summoned him here and spoke to him and told him whom I am. I told him that he could take control of his own destiny. It was around that time that something went wrong with Quinn's timer again, and now they slide from world to world without being able to set the time nor able to return to their temporary base. It was then I decided to sell the stories of the sliders. I became known as the Seer, for my ability to see the sliders' adventures. Max was especially interested in his duplicate, whom he could sympathize with. He stayed with me for six weeks before he left. I kept in touch with him via psychic communication. Then came February 7, 1997."
I wondered what was special about that date, and then I remmbered Quinn telling me that he first slid home with Maggie back in February of that year. Was that the date when Quinn found out his home coordinates.
It was not. "Max came back here, telling me he had mastered sliding and thanking me for my help. I then received another vision. I saw the sliders, cincluding their version of Max. They arrived on a world where something believed to be pulsars were going to fry the whole planet. The world's version of the U.S. military was experimenting with sliding, and Quinn found his home world. But Colonel Angus Rickman had other plans. He had a disease which he was treating by stealing brain fluid. Before the world ended that day, he shot and killed Maximilian Arturo."
I remembered that story. It still saddened Quinn and Rembrandt and Maggie.
"Captain Maggie Beckett joined them, and they hunted Rickman who had the timer with the coordionates for Quinn's home. Three months later, Rickman is killed and Rembrandt and Wade finally make it home. Quinn and Maggie try to follow, but there was a catch. The kromaggs conquered Quinn's home. In August of 1997, Quinn and Maggie make it to his home, they rescue Rembrandt, and they set out to find his brother and the path to Quinn's birth world. They meet up with Colin and they continue searching until June of 1999 when Colin was separated from them."
"Interesting story," said Wesley.
"Are my parents alive?" I asked.
"Yes, they are alive and well. They still work for the U.S. military. In fact, they...well, you'll find out."
"What?" I asked.
"It is better you hear from them. And you will meet them, soon."
I yawned. "Well, I'd better get some sleep."
The four of us slept in the den. The morning sun woke me up. I decided to go to the kitchen to have some breakfast. My breakfast consisted of Super Golden Crisp and Minute Maid orange juice.
"Want some breakfast?" I asked Wesley as he got up.
"Sure," he said. "This is the first time I've been to parallel universe. I read the encyclopedia in the den; everything about world history is different from what I remember."
"Good morning," said Maximilian Arturo.
"Good morning," I replied.
"We're gonna have to go home soon," said Jonathan Reed. "But not to our London headquarters, since it's been compromised. Instead, we'll be going to an underground complex a few miles away from our headquarters. The Resistance Militia has its headquarters there. Max has been there before, so he can teleport us right there. We have a plan, but if wee're gonna do it we'll need some muscle."
"What plan?" I asked.
"It's been under discussion with our militia officers for quite a while. That encrypted CD-ROM you saw was about our mission. Hopefully, Scotland Yard hasn't decrypted the computers in our office yet."
"And the kromaggs are helping us?" I asked.
"Officially, they're neutral. They just lost weapons and equipment due to inventory error."
"You leaving?" asked Marc LeBeau as he saw us.
"Yes," said Jonathan Reed.
"Good luck on your venture. I'll be in touch wiht you."
"I'll keep my end of the bargain," said Dr. Arturo.
We all huddled around Maximilian Arturo. I felt weightlessness.
and then I felt wet. There weas water spraying against my face! I saw I was surrounded by women.
Naked women.
We all got out even as they screamed. "Follow me," ordered Reed. We went tthrougn a series of concrete corridors until we reached an office.
Inside was a man in a military uniform with four stars on the shoulders.
"Mr. Reed," said the uniformed man. "What brings you here, sir?"
"Resistance headquarters was compromised," said Reed. "We managed to escape Scotland Yard, but they might find out about this place."
"Well, we can hold them off long enough for us to escape before the military arrives. What of our other intel cells?"
"I haven't heard from them. It will only be a matter of time before Scotland Yard decrypts our database."
"I think we should begin the operations we've been planning for a month now."
"Yes," said the militia officer. "With what happened yesterday, we must move our timetable up. But we should notify him."
"Of course."
Reed and I left the office. I spoke with some of the militiamen. From what I could tell, the Resistance had two components-a spy ring which gathered data and financed the operation, and a militia that enaged in armed conflict. The militia had performed raids on government armories and the rehab centers. Many of the militiamen were soldiers in the British Royal Army who decided to fight for right, or were targeted for a purge.
Finally, a meeting was called. Jonathan Reed, Maximilian Arturo, Wesley, and I all atended, along with the militia's chief officers and their aides.
A man dressed in a three-piece suit appeared. Everyone in the room bowed to him; I did so likewise.
"Hello, everyone," said the man. "I am glad you are all gathered here. I came here secretly and at great personal risk, but it is something I had to do. I am Harold, rightful king over all Britain."
"Your Majesty," said Jonathan Reed, "we summoned you here today to inform you of our next step in our quest to restore you to the throne and out an end to this fascist regime."
"Tell us this plan, Reed."
"My lord, our plan is to take a hostage."
"Whom?" asked the king. I too was wondering.
"Prime Minister Farrington."
