A TANGLED WEB Part 8: Endgame
Chapter 6
by Charlie Nelson a.k.a. Ordinaryguy2
AuThOr'S NoTeS:
The main crossovers in this chapter include: The Addams Family (1964-1966); Alien (1979); Critters (1986); Doctor Who; Dungeons & Dragons (1983-1985); Earth 2 (1994-1995); Earth: Final Conflict (1997-2002); Farscape (1999-2003); Forrest Gump (1994); Land of the Lost (1974-1976); The Munsters (1964-1966); Predator (1987); Space Ghost (1966); Star Trek: First Contact (1996); The Terminator (1984); Time Trax (1993-1994)
SUMMARY: In the last Borg encounter outside Stockton, CA, which was set during the 1890's, the Borg had managed to assimilate the Time Lord known as the Doctor temporarily. Though the Doctor resisted the intrusive presence of the Collective, the Borg were able to learn some of the secrets of the Time Lords.
Upon discovering a potential way past the defenses of the planet Gallifrey, the home planet of the Time Lords, a large number of Borg drones and the newly grown Borg queen traveled to the mysterious microverse known as the Land of the Lost.
But the forceful entrance of the Borg also disturbed the delicate balance of the machinery that run the land causing an increase in the number of people and strange creatures suddenly being brought there.
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IN THE YAUTJA SHIP ON THE MARSH
The Yautja hunters had brought their wounded leader back to the ship. The eldest of the group stood over the table where he watched his friend have his arm stump cauterized by one of the young ones they had brought out with them.
Their hunting expedition was supposed to be a simple one to test the skills of three of the young ones as well as that of the rogue they had taken in to their clan.
The eldest gripped his Nagita staff fiercely causing arthritic pain in his hand joints. He knew he wouldn't live very many solar cycles; nor was that a concern for him. Making sure that his lifelong friend died with dignity did matter though.
Behind him he could hear the youngest member of their hunting party polishing the new skull that he had acquired. He had less than ten skulls to his collection and was proud to have obtained one from a race that they had never encountered before. It was sure to raise his status in the eyes of his peers. The fact that he was the only one to collect a trophy from a hunt gone horribly wrong would also add to his prestige. The eldest didn't begrudge him that. He had been young once, too.
Finally, with the wound finally cauterized, the Yautja that had been treating their leader put away his equipment and supplies. He turned to the elder. He will live… if he chooses.
The elder regarded him. We left two of you here. Where is your brother?
Checking the underside of the hull. Engines should be ready to use shortly.
The elder's eyes narrowed. We didn't see your brother when we returned. Check on him. As the youngster turned to leave, he spoke again. Remember the land is alien. Trust nothing. Be on your guard against everything.
As the youngster left, the rogue approached. They said nothing. Instead, they exchanged a look of challenge, but neither made a move. The newcomer was reckless and rough. The only reason they had even considered letting him into the clan was because their population was low.
The rogue knew the elder Yautja didn't want to lead so much of what he wanted depended on what happened here. A one-armed leader of a hunting group was rare; almost mythical. And even if the leader did find the strength to lead the group, he may choose to die after avenging himself on the automaton that injured him so grievously.
As the leader stirred, the rogue left without saying anything. The eldest Yautja took of the breathing apparatus so that he could speak clearly. The prey…?
Still lives. Though one was taken.
The artificial one… it wounded me. He managed to lift his head and glance at where his arm should have been. Not seeing it there he fell back and stared at the ceiling, his mandibles clenching and unclenching as if chewing rocks.
The artificial one still functions, said his friend. Will you rise and destroy it? It was a question meant to put a burr in the wounded Yautja's side and make him rise to the task.
Before he was to answer the young Yautja that had gone to check on his brother returned running. My brother is gone! And damage underneath the ship reveals an opening to the chamber of the Xenomorphs! Three of the eggs are missing!
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NEAR AN ENTRANCE TO THE SLEESTAK TUNNELS
"And that's all I have to say about that." He glanced around at the large underground cavern where everybody seemed to have something to do but him.
Somehow, he had gotten lost, which seemed rather easy for him to do, but usually he was able to find his way back home again. He had been alone and wandering around for hours before he had finally found someone. Two people actually. The first man was wearing a black full-length outfit. He also had a red laser eye patch and a number of tubes sticking out of his neck and diving back in other parts of his body. His left arm had also had a large machine thing over it. The second man had an even more dazed expression than his companion. The second man also had the same grayish skin tone with grey veins showing under the skin.
They hadn't introduced themselves but didn't seem to mind that he was following them, so he did. They had entered a tunnel in the side of a large hill and soon they had passed a number of similarly attired men, women, and strange reptile-like people with large eyes and crab claws. But no one had seemed to mind his presence there.
Finally, the two people he had been following had reached their destination and were joined by a female that was also clad in the dark clothing, tubing, and machinery. The two dark clothed ones had taken the clothing off the dazed grey man and laid him down on a metal surface that had many lights and buttons.
He had found a place to sit on the side and watched some type of operation of the man. Seeing a wallet on the floor he had picked it up for safekeeping. He had flipped it open and pulled out a credit card and driver's license. From the picture on the driver's license, he saw that it belonged to the man on the table. The man on the cards read Darien Lambert. Then the credit card had beeped.
The woman working on Darien had turned to regard him, then and up machined-like arm and waved it about him. He held up the driver's license and credit card to her in one hand and the wallet in the other. After a moment's hesitation, the woman had reached over and took the credit card, and then handed it to one of the lizard men that were walking past them. Then she returned to working on Darien. Having nothing else to do, he began to tell stories to these people, and they didn't object. He told of his life with his momma, his time in Vietnam, and his boat.
Finally, he stopped as he noticed someone approaching him. It was another dark clad woman, but this one was different somehow.
"You are a stranger here," she said. "What is your name?"
"I'm Gump. Forrest Gump," he said, getting to his feet, while dusting off the cavern dirt off his backside.
She smiled. "And what brings you here?"
"I got lost."
"And now you are here. What do you think of this place?"
"It's a little creepy, but no one else seems to be complaining so I didn't think I should either."
"And what do you think we are doing there?"
Forrest thought about that for a second. "Well, at first I figured that they was making one of those science-fiction movies, but is seems to be more like one of those mobile hospitals we used in Vietnam with people sometimes having their arms and legs cut off like Lieutenant Dan did."
She regarded him for a moment before nodding. "I believe I can see how you could come to those kinds of conclusions. To put it in term you may more easily comprehend, I am the queen and these are my subjects." She turned to regard the entrance of the tunnels.
Three sets of drones carried three humanoid people of indeterminate gender into the cavern. Their forms seemed to flicker with bluish-purple energy lines of light the seemed to fade as grey veins seemed to spiderweb slowly through each body. Unlike Darien, these people or aliens seemed somewhat coherent, though scared and angry. One of them, who seemed to have more colors of red and gold in the lights that made up his form, reached out and grabbed one of the passing drones.
"You sjf tor a bzzrf! I atyt! I am Zo'or! Htfr srghu pain! Jostfg will sdf suffer!" shouted the being who called himself Zo'or.
The aliens could hardly move at all and seemed stuck mostly in random jerks that looked very painful. The three slightly glowing beings were carried past the Borg queen and Forrest deep into the caverns.
"They are new here as are we, and their energy forms are unstable. Two of their companions dissipated in an energy burst when we first introduced nanoprobes to them," said the Borg queen to Forrest. "But as you can see the Borg adapt to overcome difficulties. These Taelons, as I have just learned they are called, arrived in a small vessel that is currently being assimilated by other drones. It is a most curious technology. One which we will use to perfect and improve ourselves."
"What are you going to do to them?"
She had a sly smile that indicated that she was enjoying this rare conversation. "We are going to make them part of the Borg Collective so they can be like everyone else."
That puzzled Forrest. "I thought that was communism. I went to Vietnam and fought against that. That and a bunch of guys named Charlie and Cong."
She brushed a hand over the shaven head of Darien Lambert. "Different concept. When we assimilate people – their intelligences and memories – they are shared with everyone else in the Collective."
Forrest stared after a Sleestak drone that walked away after depositing necessary equipment to be used or added near a wall where five unusual individuals stood still at attention, grayish veins apparent on their hands and faces.
"Even people like that?" he asked of the five figures.
"Ah, yes, each of these is the first of their species that I've encountered so their examination is being conducted more thoroughly than the others. They all come from the same parallel universe, and all are would-be world conquerors or intergalactic thieves and killers."
She stopped in front of one of the individuals, reaching out a hand to touch his face as she gave him a quick examination. He was short, with a bulbous yellow head, large slitted eyes, and pointed ears and teeth. "This one calls himself the Creature King. He used terrifying illusions and an army of formidable alien creatures to force his ways upon others."
Stepping over to the next man, she paused to stab the man in his orange outfit with her extended tubules. "Tansut, leader of a group called the Intergalactic Hi-Jackers." She extracted her tubules after a moment. "The most remarkable thing about him is that he uses what he calls a 'space chariot' in his attacks."
The next individual was a humanoid android with a yellow outer shell. Next to the android stood a Sleestak drone using a laser to amputate his left arm. "Meet Cyclo, creator of the mechanical Cyclopeds. A mechanical lifeform that is as maniacal as any Human you may know, and as cruel."
Next, she nodded to a man with pointed ears and a pointed nose, with a mask that covered the top of his head and eyes. "Zorket, ruler of the Rock Robots with which he has aspirations to conquer the universe." She shook her head. "How he ever thought that would work is beyond even me considering how primitive they were."
Then came a short green skinned person with a slightly larger head and large dark eyes, one of which had already been removed to make way for the Borg eye implant. "Here we have Zeron; he also calls himself the Iceman. He uses his cold-based technology to tamper with the weather of planets until those planets submit to him."
"So you have lots of people, alien people, in your... collective?"
"Yes, Forrest. There are over a thousand different races from various types of planets in the Collective."
"No segregation?"
"No. Everyone's equal in the Collective."
"Even those that don't think so well like me?"
"It doesn't work that way, Forrest. All the others would get from you is your memory and skills."
Forrest brightened. "I'm really good at ping pong! I represented the United States in a couple of ping pong matches against China. They said it was for world peace. It's one of the ways I got to fight for my country. I can also run really fast. That might be useful to you because I can see that most of your people seem to move really slow. But I expect that might be due to all the extra stuff they carry about their person."
The queen smiled. "That's not normally what we look for in potential drones. But right now, our numbers are low, and I would like to have you become one of us."
Forrest thought about it for a moment. "If it will make me smart and it is not really communism, then I guess it would be okay. Momma never said it, but she always wanted me to be smart like the other kids. That ways she wouldn't have to worry about me so much."
The tubules extended from the Borg queen's wrist. "I don't think you will have anything further to worry about, Forrest." She sent the nanoprobes into his system and held him as he convulsed. The talk had been a pleasant distraction, but she needed to increase the number of drones before she could consider leaving to take over Gallifrey. Forrest was just a necessary means to an end.
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THE JUNGLES OF THE LAND OF THE LOST
The sun was still overhead. For some reason it hadn't moved in hours causing some of the people and animals to grow concerned.
"You know I used to have such a problem with direct sunlight back in the day," commented Sam Dracula, who everybody just called Grandpa. "Couldn't go out in the stuff for the life of me."
Fester Frump put down his large battle-ax and wiped his hands mostly clean of the ichor. They had managed to find some of the large spiders that inhabited the area and had hacked them to pieces so that they could take back the best bits for a side dish for that evening's barbecue. "Gee, the sun doesn't seem to bother you at all now," said Fester. "What did you do?"
Grandpa smiled, his canines showing. He loved to brag about himself. "I invented a thousand strength sunblock. Once it soaks into your skin, it stays there for the rest of your life keeping off the sun's rays."
"Say, something like that might help me keep my complexion! I always start to lose my pale looks when I've been outside too long on sunny days."
Grandpa nodded. "I have some with me in the medicine chest that I brought along. I'll get it out tonight for you. It's right next to the transmogrifying potion I've been working on." He paused to think about that. "Or it might be next to the shrinking formula." He through his hands up in frustration. "I've been having the hardest time keeping track of my potions since my son-in-law tried helping me out in the lab by washing all my test tubes and canisters which effectively wiped off what I had written what was contained inside!"
"He sounds very helpful!" commented Fester, who was filling up a gunny sack with three-inch to foot long segments of spider legs. "I do hope you find that sunblock. I can already start to feel the top of head starting to turn red."
"Oh, we can't let that happen to a handsome young chap like you," said Grandpa. "Why, you probably have to drive the girls off with a stick."
Fester considered this. "Naw, usually they just get a restraining order against me. Would a stick help?"
Grandpa shrugged. "Some Romeos do their best work after the girl has had a knock on the head. But a fellow of your obvious charm shouldn't have to resort to that."
"Thanks!" gleamed Fester. "That means a lot coming from someone who has a great reputation as a lady killer."
Chuckling, Grandpa began filling his own sack with spider legs and other body parts.
"You know I was wondering something," said Fester, as he struggled to stuff a large leg into his sack. "How come everybody hears about your brother Vlad, but hardly anybody hears about you?"
Grandpa sighed. "Because Vlad hired himself a publicist, that Stoker fellow that wrote that stupid book. Got all the family facts wrong. I'm the eldest son. I was the first one turned into a vampire. But I didn't even know about the damn book until it was done and in print for the eighth printing. I was too busy running in intellectual circles with the likes of Nostradamus, Dr. Frankenstein, Dr. Moreau, Dr. Herbert West, Dr. Phibes, Dr. Totenkopf and Dr. Vornoff. Next thing I know everybody thinks my little whiny brother is the baddest, most dangerous person in the world. And do you know why they believe it's true? Because they read it! Damn propaganda! People can't recognize a lie until it bites them!" He groaned. "The saddest part is that he took credit for a lot of the things I did when I was younger." He shook his head.
Fester nodded. "Yeah, I did a lot of crazy things when I was a kid, too. There was this time I was in-"
"Speaking of kids," interrupted Grandpa. He had heard some of Fester's childhood already and wasn't in the mood for a real horror story. "We should check on the youngsters."
He pulled out a large army surplus walkie talkie. "Eddie, can you hear me?" He waited a minute before repeating himself. "How are things going with you and your two friends?" He waited another minute. "If we don't hear from you in the next minute, we will come over there and track you down ending whatever fun you've managed to make for yourselves." He nodded to Fester. He knew kids and what really scared them.
There was a crackle on the radio and then Eddie could be heard. "Hey, Grandpa."
"Everything okay over there?" he asked.
"Yeah, everything's fine," Eddie said in a quiet tone.
Grandpa shook his head and turned to Fester. "You hear that? Everything is fine."
Fester nodded with a grin.
"What do they take me for? An idiot? Kids never say everything is fine unless they are keeping something from you."
Fester looked puzzled and then nodded again to the vampire's logic.
Grandpa brought the walkie talkie back to his mouth and in a sweet voice asked, "What exactly are you doing?"
Through the static on the walkie talkie, he heard a muffled, "He's on to us!" There were some other voices discussing the matter in the background but there was nothing distinctive.
"Eddie?" He didn't want the boy to have enough time to think of a clever lie. After all, the boy did take after his side of the family.
"Uh, we found an… old canister. We're trying to open it up to have a look at what's inside."
"Careful, Eddie!" The parental side of Grandpa reared itself up. "It might have something volatile inside!"
"Oh, it's volatile all right. But Wednesday has it blinded and Pugsley is going to use explosives to open it up! Don't worry. We will be at a safe distance."
In the background of the radio static Grandpa and Fester could hear a staccato voice cry out, "EX-TER-MIN-ATE! EX-TER-MIN-ATE! EX-TER-MIN-ATE!" repeatedly.
"Eddie, are you sure you don't want us to come over and supervise this effort of yours?"
"Geez, Grandpa! Don't you trust us at all?"
He wasn't going to answer that one. "Just be careful, Eddie. Eddie?"
"Hang on, Grandpa." The young werewolf boy began talking with someone else on his side of the radio. "No. Sorry, mister. We don't know anyone named Sarah Connor. We haven't seen anyone else around here all day as a matter of fact."
Someone else was talking again, but all the background static and shouts of "EX-TER-MIN-ATE!" made it indiscernible.
"Hey, Grandpa, have you seen any strangers around there? Or heard of a lady named Sarah Connor?"
Fester and Grandpa exchanged looks, both shook their head. "Nope. Sorry, Eddie."
"Good luck, mister," they heard Eddie say.
"Eddie, who was that?" Grandpa asked.
"I don't really know," replied his grandson. "He just walked out of the trees. He's a big guy. All muscles and wearing a black leather jacket and carrying a shotgun. Smells weird, though. He has a very metallic scent. Had to keep from howling at him."
"I liked his eyes," they heard Wednesday say. "They were cold and emotionless. Yet he had this murderous aura of danger. I'm pretty sure he doesn't have a soul."
"And now you'll never find out," said Pugsley teasingly. "It's not like he'd said he'd be back or anything." There was a brief altercation that could be heard over the radio.
"Come on!" Eddie could be heard shouting. "Let's blow this giant pepper pot already!"
The fighting stopped, though a few moans could be heard from Pugsley, and then after a minute a large explosion could be seen near the river.
"Kids. What can you do with them?" said Grandpa throwing his hands in the air, but still grinning.
"Well, you could try drowning them," said Fester. "But that usually just makes them more willing to act up. At least it did for me. Don't know why my parents keep trying it when it obviously wasn't working."
Grandpa sighed. This time more forlornly. The less he said about this the better, he thought to himself.
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DEEP IN THE SLEESTAK TUNNELS
Bobby crawled carefully forward pushing his club ahead of him and dragging his horned helmet behind him. The reason for this was because the Sleestak, falling in large numbers to the invaders, had collapsed part of the tunnel network closest to where they were being attacked. That is to say they had mostly collapsed them.
When Enik arrived with unexpected aid, they had realized that while the tunnels were collapsed for a good fifty feet or more, there was a small crawl space at the top that may get some of their smaller members to the other side to spy out the enemy.
Dominar Rygel XVI had been sent first. Bobby the barbarian, second. Diana the Acrobat had tried following but couldn't get more than a few feet before almost getting stuck. Hank and Sheila had called for Bobby to come back but the boy barbarian refused and was slowly pressing on. Rygel was either too far ahead to hear the calls to return or just pretended not to have heard.
Bobby grunted as he moved another foot. Then he reached out and tightly griped his magic club, which gave off a slight glow that provided just enough light to see the next obstacle that he had to climb past. He steadied himself to move forward when one of the rocks he was bracing himself on shifted.
"Sssssssssss!" Bobby managed to keep from yelling by blowing through his clenched teeth. Pulling his club close and gripping the handle he could see that he had scrapped his shin leaving it bloody.
"Phtt, that's not bad at all! I thought Human children were supposed to be more agile?"
Bobby glared at Rygel, tears sparkling at the corners of his eyes. "I suppose I'd be able to get around as well as you if I was the size of a fat frog. You don't even have to worry about weight because you are so full of helium!"
"How dare you! I am an emperor of over-"
"Deposed emperor, ya mean. And the way Chiana explains it most of your subjects never even noticed you being kicked off your throne."
"Bah! You would take the word of a thief?"
Bobby was getting steamed. "The way I hear it, thieving is your favorite pastime!"
"I told you. I am an emperor. I only appropriate things out of necessity to ensure my return to my throne. It's my very right to do so," he finished with a snort. "As long as I don't get caught," he finally added in a quiet mutter.
Bobby started snickering. Rygel burst out laughing first and was soon followed by Bobby. "Let's get outta here," said Bobby. "Are we anywhere near the end of this cave-in?"
"Just a little more forward. You should see some light very soon."
"What's it look like out there? See anyone?"
Rygel sat down on a flat rock as Bobby moved forward again. "Oh, every now and then someone walks by carrying something or other. They are all dressed the same. They all have the same machinery imbedded in their bodies. And they all have the same limb replaced with some type of prosthetic device. But they all move around like they are all in the same cult or are hypnotized or something like that."
"Weird," Bobby grunted as he pressed forward. In fifteen minutes and two arguments later, they had reached the end of the cramped space.
From their vantage point on top of the pile of rocks they could see that the tunnel they were in ended in a T, continuing to the left and the right. As they watched, two drones walked by. One was a male Human and the other was a Sleestak. Rygel and Bobby were quick to note the similar attire and equipment on each of them.
After they had past, Bobby scampered down the rocks the best he could, mildly struggling to get his horned helmet out of the cramped space, before standing on the flat tunnel floor.
Turning instinctively, Bobby raised his club as a young black female drone came upon him. Then Bobby noticed the zombie-like gate and the fact that her attention was not oriented on him. Taking a chance, he stepped out of the way and let her walk by.
"How did you know she wouldn't attack you?" asked the former Hynerian emperor, from where he had been hiding behind a large boulder.
"I didn't. At least not for sure." He glanced after the retreating form of the young drone. "She's gotta be about Sheila's age. Maybe younger."
"So what? She's the enemy!" snorted Rygel.
Bobby snarled at the Hynerian, sending him a glare. "She's obviously under some type of control."
"And that means she won't try as hard to kill us? Is that your entire argument?"
"You know, Rygel. You can be a real pain."
Rygel chuckled. "You Humans do such interesting things with words. You are just like a younger version of Crichton."
They would have discussed the matter further but that was when they noticed two more shadowy forms coming down one of the tunnels toward them. The two people didn't notice either Bobby or Rygel until they were within a few feet of them because they were too busy arguing with each other.
"Just trust me! This is not New Pacifica! We are not even on G889!" said the young boy who looked to be about Bobby's age. He was skinny and seemed a little awkward on his feet.
"Look, just because the ground feels funny to you does not mean we are suddenly on another planet. You aren't an actual Terrian despite the abilities they gave you. You don't have the experience to tell such things. That receptacle thing we entered somehow moved us to another part of the planet." She was tall, skinny and blonde. Bobby judged her to be about eleven years old.
"Well," said the other boy, "that thing did move us. And this place, whatever it is, is smaller. And there is no singing."
She rolled her eyes. "Uly, just because there are no local Terrians, that doesn't mean-" She broke off what she was going to say when she saw Bobby.
"Uh, hi." Bobby held out a hand in greeting.
"Oh," she said. "He must be another child of some of the previous convict settlers."
Bobby screwed up his face. "I'm a what?"
The other boy sighed and took Bobby's hand. "I'm Uly, it's short for Ulysses. This is True. She likes to be right. You are hereby forewarned."
"How'd you guys get down here?" asked Bobby.
"She had us get in a-a rectangular thing," accused Uly.
"Call it a pylon," said True. "It means 'a type of gateway'."
"Whatever. You insisted we go inside."
"I didn't make you!"
"You called me a chicken!"
"You still didn't have to!"
Bobby rolled his eyes. These guys are worse than Eric, he thought. "Okay! Okay! You got in the pylon thing. Then what happened?"
True spoke up. "It had this case on a pedestal right in the middle of the structure. It was filled with glowing stones all laid out. There were red ones, blue, yellow, gr-"
"It was larger on the inside than it was on the outside, too!" added Uly. Then he returned the glare True gave to him.
"Anyway," she said, "the whole thing lit up. I think Uly must have touched something."
"I did not!"
"Then what happened?" He was beginning to feel exasperated listening to these two, and he wasn't even sure what that was. He looked down to see what Rygel made of all this, but the Hynerian was nowhere to be seen. Figures.
"We were in this jungle," she said. "It was all green and beautiful. That was when we saw it. A giant lizard with large boney plates coming out of its back."
"A giant lizard? Do you mean a dinosaur or a dragon?" Bobby was rooting for a dinosaur. He'd seen enough dragons to last him a lifetime.
Uly grinned. "She doesn't know the name for it. It was a Stegosaurus. One of the Jurassic dinosaurs. They are the ones with the powerful dermal armature of plates along it's back and large bony spines in its tail."
Bobby knew exactly what kind of dinosaur that was. "Cool!"
"Yeah," admitted Uly, "But it was dead."
Bobby was taken aback. "What? You guys found a fossil?"
"No. It had been alive," explained Uly. "I mean, it was bleeding, and it had these things eating it."
"What? More dinosaurs?"
True shivered. "No. They were horrible. They were round and about the size of a basketball. Their mouths seemed to be the biggest part of it. And teeth. Lots of little sharp teeth."
"Like a shark?" asked Bobby.
"More like a chainsaw," Uly said.
True continued. "And they had these red beady eyes. And there were these barb-like hairs all over their bodies like a – a"
"Porcupine?"
"Yeah, except these things could shoot the quills at you. And they did when one of them spotted us. Anyway, these porcupine-like creatures began rolling after us and firing their quills at us. Uly took my hand and… well, he pulled us to these tunnels."
They had left something out. Bobby was sure of that, but he decided not to call them on it. They had evidently been through a lot.
"So do you live down here?" Uly asked.
Bobby laughed. "Not hardly. I just arrived a little bit before you did. I just finished crawling through that caved in section over there."
"How long ago were your parents sent here from Earth," True asked.
"What are you talking about? My parents are still back home on Earth. My friends and I are trying to find a way back."
True looked perplexed, but Uly intervened. "Would you just tell us how you got here before she makes up more scenarios in her head?"
"Uh, well, my sister and a few friends were at an amusement park and got on the Dungeons & Dragons ride – it's a new roller coaster. But then all of a sudden everything – reality, I guess – kinda came undone or something. When we could stand again, we found ourselves dressed like characters in the ride. We were attacked by Venger; he's evil. Explaining about him would take too long. Anyway, the Dungeon Master showed up and gave us each a magic weapon, so we-"
"Wait! A magic weapon?" She looked at him dubiously. Even Uly didn't seem to believe him.
"All right. I know. Seeing is believing." He turned to a large boulder that easily weighed more than any of them and raised his magic club, which glowed faintly. He swung. "Fore!"
Incredibly, the boulder was knocked down the tunnel bouncing against the side walls and finally hitting one of the three drones just turning the corner.
"Oh no!"
The two remaining drones, seeing this as an attack, began firing upon the three children. They turned to run down the tunnel the other way, but they could see the red light from drone eyes coming from that direction.
"What do we do?" True shouted under the fire of Borg phasers. Bobby knew they wouldn't make it back by climbing through the small opening he had come through. They didn't have the time.
"Both of you, take my hand," said Uly.
"What?" asked Bobby.
"Trust him!" said True. "You can do this, right, Uly?"
"I have to," said the young boy, taking deep calming breathes. "Now run with me and don't stop!"
Before Bobby could protest or ask anything, they were running forward, straight at the side of the tunnel wall. Having had to do many unexplainable things since meeting the Dungeon Master, Bobby just did what he was told even when his eyes told him he was about to bounce off the hard wall. Except he didn't.
Rygel stared from where he hid up in the small, cramped space. He couldn't believe his eyes. Somehow the three children had run right through the wall as if it were a mist or something. Seeing the approaching drones, Rygel made haste to escape. He'd have quite a report to give. He just hoped they believed him.
To be Continued!
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Original AuThOr'S NoTeS: 9/14/2007
Hope nobody forgot about the Predators that had attacked Q2's team. Their leader had shot off Lore's arm, and Lore retaliated by shooting off their leader's arm. Lore is the artificial one that the alien hunters were referring to.
Now about Forrest Gump, I just used him because he was someone – probably the only one - that could just sit down and talk with the Borg Queen. I had no real evil wish to harm him or anything like that. I promise.
As for Darien Lambert – I've been trying to figure out how to use him for a while. At least he wasn't turned into a stone statue like the ones that met Madam Medusa.
I used the Taelons to try show the diversity of those being dragged into the Land of the Lost. I know a number of people wanted me to use the characters from Earth: Final Conflict as a major part of my story, but I just don't know the characters or plotline well enough. I'd do more damage than good.
Updated AuThOr'S NoTeS: 1-17-2022
I used Forrest Gump as a tool to help me understand how I am going to present the Borg Queen in the story. Sorry if his assimilation hurt anyone's feelers.
The Yautja hunters from the Predator movies are going to play a very big role in upcoming chapters. So are the Xenomorph creatures from the movie Alien.
I did enjoy the Addams and Munster kids playing with the Dalek. Their encounter with the Terminator as he looked for Sarah Connor was just a hint to letter everyone know we will see more of the T-800.
True and Uly are the kids that Bobby found. They are from a show called Earth 2 that played in the mid-90s. It was really well done, and it became a cult hit. Tim Curry was in several episodes. I think most people would enjoy this if you can find it.
ChArAcTeR InDeX FoR ThE ChApTeR:
Acrobat / Diana (voiced by Tonia Gayle Smith) – from the cartoon Dungeons & Dragons (1983-1985) (mentioned only)
Adair, Ulysses (Joey Zimmerman) – from the TV series Earth 2 (1994-1995)
Addams, Pugsley (Ken Weatherwax) – from the TV series The Addams Family (1964-1966)
Addams, Wednesday Friday (Lisa Loring) – from the TV series The Addams Family (1964-1966)
Barbarian / Bobby (voiced by Teddy Field III) – from the cartoon Dungeons & Dragons (1983-1985)
Borg Queen (Alice Krige) – from the movie Star Trek: First Contact (1996), (Susanna Thompson) – from the TV series Star Trek: Voyager (1999-2000)
Chiana (Gigi Edgley) – from the TV series Farscape (1999-2003) (mentioned only)
Connor, Sarah (Linda Hamilton) – from the movie The Terminator (1984) (mentioned only)
Creature King (voiced by Vic Perrin) – from the cartoon Space Ghost (1966)
Cyclo – from the cartoon Space Ghost (1966)
Dalek – from the TV series Doctor Who
Danziger, True (J. Madison Wright) – from the TV series Earth 2 (1994-1995)
Dracula, Sam 'Grandpa' (Al Lewis) – from the TV series The Munsters (1964-1966)
Dracula, Vlad (Bela Lugosi) – from the movie Dracula (1931), Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), (Lon Chaney, Jr.) – Son of Dracula (1943), (John Carradine) – House of Frankenstein (1944), House of Dracula (1945) (mentioned only)
Dungeon Master (voiced by Sidney Miller) – from the cartoon Dungeons & Dragons (1983-1985) (mentioned only)
Enik (Walker Edmiston) – from the TV series Land of the Lost (1974-1976)
Frump, Uncle Fester (Jackie Coogan) – from the TV series The Addams Family (1964-1966)
Gump, Forrest (Tom Hanks) – from the movie Forrest Gump (1994)
Gump, Mrs. (Sally Fields) – from the movie Forrest Gump (mentioned only)
Krites – from the movie Critters (1986), Critters 2 (1988), Critters 3 (1991), Critters 4 (1992)
Lambert, Darien (Dale Midkiff) – from the TV series Time Trax (1993-1994)
Lore (Brent Spiner) – from the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1988-1993) (mentioned only)
Moreau, Dr. Paul (Charles Laughton) – from movie The Island of Lost Souls (1932) (mentioned only)
Munster, Eddie Wolfgang (Butch Patrick) – from the TV series The Munsters (1964-1966)
Nostradamus – from history (mentioned only)
Phibes, Dr. Anton (Vincent Price) – from the movie The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971), Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972) (mentioned only)
Ranger / Hank (voiced by Willie Aames) – from the cartoon Dungeons & Dragons (1983-1985) (mentioned only)
Rygel XVI, Dominar (Jonathan Hardy) – from the TV series Farscape (1999-2003)
Selma (Elizabeth Alexander) – from the TV series Time Trax (1993-1994)
Seska (Martha Hackett) – from the TV series Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001) (mentioned only)
Sleestak – from the TV series Land of the Lost (1974-1976)
Stoker, Bram – (mentioned only)
Tansut – from the cartoon Space Ghost (1966)
The Terminator / T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) – from the movie The Terminator (1984)
Thief / Sheila (voiced by Katie Leigh) – from the cartoon Dungeons & Dragons (1983-1985) (mentioned only)
Totenkopf, Dr. (Laurence Olivier) – from the movie Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) (mentioned only)
Venger (voiced by Peter Cullen) – from the cartoon Dungeons & Dragons (1983-1985) (mentioned only)
Vornoff, Dr. Eric (Bela Lugosi) – from the movie Bride of the Monster (1955) (mentioned only)
West, Dr. Herbert (Jeffery Combs) – from the movie Re-Animator (1985) (mentioned only)
Xenomorphs – from the movie Alien (1979), Aliens (1986), Alien³ (1992), Alien: Resurrection (1997), AVP: Alien Vs. Predator (2004), Aliens Vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)
Yautja – from the movie Predator (1987), Predator 2 (1990), AVP: Alien Vs. Predator (2004), Aliens Vs. Predator: Requiem (2007), Predators (2010)
Zeron, the Iceman – from the cartoon Space Ghost (1966)
Zo'or (Anita La Selva) – from the TV series Earth: Final Conflict (1997-2002)
Zorket, Ruler of the Rock Robots – from the cartoon Space Ghost (1966)