Chapter 3 New Arrivals
Sally was fascinated by Julian's lab equipment. She had not been in the actual lab itself, she had only seen the equipment being hauled in, but for her it was enough. Most of it, she had never seen before, so she had no idea what it was. Apparently, her father had allowed the human to stay in her family's kingdom as Warlord. Though something did not feel right about him; he seemed a little creepy to her. To cure her curiosity, she went to see her father.
"Daddy, that human is a little creepy. Why is he staying here?" Sally asked her dad. They were in the King's main chamber. On the wall behind the King, he had his Royal Sword mounted on a plaque with an inscription below it. The inscription read, 'To cure the King of anything, say the magic words'. The sword and its plaque always fascinated Sally. King Maximillian always told Sally that she would know what the magic words were if they were ever needed. Surrounding the plaque and its sword were the royal crests of the Acorn family throughout the centuries they ruled the planet.
"Dear Sally, he's staying here because I want him to. Since Kodos and his assistant, Ixis Naugus, vanished, I've been trying to find someone to fill the position of Warlord. That's a very important position, honey. Though we rarely need a warlord, in times of war, the warlord is responsible for guiding the armies and troops through the battle with minimal casualties. And, right now, though it seems peaceful around here, the humans are waging war in New America, and I'm worried it might somehow boil over to Mobotropolis here and the surrounding area. If the human's war makes it down here, who better to help us defend ourselves than someone who knows their weaknesses than a human." The King said with a smile.
"I guess you're right… when is mom going to get back from the Eastern quadrant? I'm beginning to miss her." Sally asked. Her mother, Queen Alicia Acorn, had traveled over to the Eastern quadrant to try to quell the growing tensions over their weakening economy. She was scheduled to be back in Acorn palace within ten days, though Sally was growing impatient waiting for her to come home. Sally's commencement ceremony was in two days and she badly wanted her mom to be there. King Acorn promised that if her mother were not there in person, he would broadcast it to where she was through the videophone network. The King took Sally's hand and led her back outside.
"Sally, do not worry about anything. Leave that up to me… you go out and have fun playing with your friends. And, one way or another, the Queen will see your commencement." King Acorn said as he stood outside looking over the city and all its inhabitants. Sally gave him a hug before running off to play with her friends. Smiling, the King sat down on the steps and was joined shortly by Rosie.
"Ye seem troubled, your Majesty. What be the problem?" Rosie asked in her Eastern accent. King Max looked over at her and his smile faltered slightly. He sighed before explaining what was on his mind.
"Rosie, I haven't been able to get in touch with Queen Alicia ever since the Mobians have started their revolt in the East. Julian's sudden appearance took my mind off it for a short time, but I'm worried… what if she became a casualty of their protests while over there on a peaceful mission? With Sally's commencement coming up in two days, it would break her heart if I couldn't get in touch with Alicia so she could at least see it. I'm not sure what I should do." King Max explained. Rosie thought about it for a minute and then replied,
"'Tis matters like this that I wish I knew more 'bout. Sally's an intelligent child… if you try to hide th' truth from her, she'll figure it out in time. I think you should do what your heart tells you to. On a whim, where 'ave you contacted to try to find Queen Alicia?" Rosie asked.
"I can't think of anyplace else that she would have gone without letting me know somehow. She went over to the Eastern quadrant to try to jump-start the trade route over there. I can't think of anyplace else she would have went." King Acorn said with a trace of resignation in his voice. Rosie reached over and took his hand.
"I'm sure that she'll turn up sooner than ye might think." Rosie spoke in her most reassuring tone of voice.
The following night, Aaron took Samantha out on their first date. Having a small bundle of money, he did not worry about where she wanted to go out, though she still tried to pick someplace that would not break Aaron. He left the decision of where they went out to Sam who picked to go to the nearest Olive Garden. On Aaron's decision, they took the Lamborghini. Aaron was starting to get the feel for driving something as big as the car. After dinner, they went back to Aaron's house and got changed. Aaron had let her spend the night at his house while his parents were gone. Being that it was still early, Samantha had an idea.
"Aaron, wanna go out and fully test the Lamborghini on the open road?" She asked. Aaron was a bit surprised that she would be the one to ask, because he was thinking the same thing.
"Yeah, but I can't think of any roads that would be empty this time of day. You know of one?" Aaron asked while rifling through a drawer on his desk for a map.
"Not right off hand, but I'm sure we could find one where we could get the car up to speed and see what it does. I do know of a couple long stretches of highway that don't see lots of traffic. Right here, and here." She said as she pointed to two stretches of highway, one of them twenty miles long and the other over forty miles in length. Aaron nodded his head and led Sam back out to the garage.
"Found something else after I pulled in here last night… there's a safe built into the wall. After messing with it for a few minutes, I managed to get it open. Inside it were these two green crystals the size of my head." Aaron said as he pointed to the crystals, which were sitting on the workbench. "As far as I can tell, these are sized for those boxes in the backseat. I haven't tried to put them in there yet, but I'm pretty sure they're 'sposed to go in the car." He finished. Samantha was peering at the smaller of the two green crystals with a magnifying glass. She picked one up and set it down immediately wringing her hands.
"Something wrong?"
"Yeah… I got a shock from it when I picked it up." Samantha replied. Aaron came over to the workbench and dug through the clutter until he found a voltmeter. Setting it to the highest resistance setting, he touched the prongs to the crystal and watched as the needle buried itself off the scale.
"I'll be damned… they generate electricity. And a lot of it too if this is right." Aaron said, setting the meter to the highest voltage setting.
"Aaron, could you not swear around me?"
"Huh? Oh… sorry about that. I'm not one for colorful language usually." Aaron answered. He made a mental note to not swear or play any rap music around Sam.
"It's okay… it just brings up bad memories, that's all. Things that I want to forget about." Sam added. Aaron nodded, and after deciding that the incident with his swearing was done, he walked over to the car and made a careful examination of the boxes in the backseat. He called back over to Samantha,
"Could you give me a rough measure of the crystals? If I'm not off my mark, I think they go in these boxes." Samantha wrote down a rough measure of both of them and brought it over to Aaron along with a tape measure. Aaron opened both boxes and measured the prongs that were fitted inside the boxes.
"Yep… I think I'm right; the green crystals fit into these boxes. I just can't figure out what they're for. Let's put them in the car and see what happens." Aaron said as he grabbed a rag and carefully carried the larger one over to the car. After carefully setting it in the box, he went over and got the second and fit it in its receptacle. After shutting the boxes, they both backed away from the car just in case something happened. Nothing happened.
"Maybe all they do is generate electricity to support the computers and recharge the battery. It's a possibility." Sam offered. Aaron thought for a few seconds.
'A car with a sophisticated computer system, an over-sized engine and two crystals that generate their own electricity… what's the connection?' He thought to himself.
"Maybe they do something once the car's running… some kind of energy cell or extra propulsion system. I say we take it out on the open road and see what it can do. Maybe that'll answer our questions." Sam suggested. Aaron agreed and soon they were making their way to the highways that Sam had mentioned.
"Sir! News from our outposts… it appears the Overlanders' battle is heading this way! They've been spotted crossing the Mobian Badlands a little over two hours ago. What should we do?" Sergeant Quill exclaimed as he ran all-out into the King's chambers. The King looked up from the scroll he was writing.
"Get Warlord Julian and have him meet me in the Grand Conservatory. We must defend our territory." King Acorn said as he put the scroll in its case and the case back on the shelves with the rest of them. A few minutes later, Julian met with the King in the Conservatory.
"Sire… I heard that you wanted to speak with me." Julian said, bowing slightly as was custom.
"Julian, a situation has come up. It appears the Overlanders are moving their battle closer to Mobotropolis. Can you organize a military in a short amount of time?" King Acorn asked Julian.
"Yes, sir… I believe I can. I'll get on it immediately. Anything else, your Majesty?" Julian asked, as he got ready to head back to his labs.
"One more thing… any word on what happened to Kodos and Ixis Naugus, the former Warlord and his wizard?" King Acorn asked, walking towards Julian. Julian had some idea of what had happened to them, though he would not tell the King. Julian, upon becoming official Warlord, found some documents that Kodos had left. Maps and schematics of the castle detailing a plan to overthrow the King and crown when the time was right. Kodos had also left a number of devices in the labs. Devices that would have been used to oust the King had Kodos not vanished. Built into the walls of the lab was a portal of some sort. According to the documents, Kodos had built it with the assistance of Ixis Naugus in order to dispose of anyone who should oppose them. After the information about the portal in the wall, the scrolls abruptly stopped.
"No word, sire. I've been going through the lab looking for anything they may have left behind and haven't found anything yet. I'll keep looking after I assemble a military." Julian answered. "One question, your Majesty… can I bring my nephew here to Mobotropolis? He won't be any trouble and I'll need a hand in building a military." The King seemed to think for a second before answering.
"Yes, I suppose it would be alright. With his help, how soon do you think you could build your military?"
"Sire, with my nephew Snively helping me with it, I should have them assembled, trained and ready for the battle field by tomorrow night. I'll send word for him to be transported down here as soon as possible. Thank you, King Acorn." Julian said, and with a small bow, left the castle and went back to his labs. Once there, he booted up the videophone and placed a call to his labs back in New America where Snively would be waiting. Julian got hold of his nephew and arranged for transport for Snively to Mobotropolis as soon as possible. Within the hour, Julian's nephew had arrived. At once, they set to work on recruiting troops to form the army that would wage war against the Overlanders if and when they reached the city.
"Okay, Sam… This one looks about as empty and as flat as anything. Buckle up… this is gonna be one fast ride!" Aaron said as he pushed the accelerator to the floor. The car jumped from standing still up to one hundred miles per hour in zero seconds and rapidly gained speed. Aaron relayed the speed to Sam, who was busy watching the readouts on her display panel. They were mostly silent as they raced to the top speed of the car.
"You feel that?" Samantha asked. Aaron glanced over at her and shook his head 'No'. "Exactly. There's none of the usual G-forces. At speeds like this, we should be pressed flat against our seats, but we're not!" Sam observed. Aaron leaned forward and noticed it too. With all the street races that he had been involved with in some way in the past, Aaron knew about the affect the G-forces had on someone when they were going at high speed.
"Must be something in the car avoiding the G's. Okay… coming up on seven hundred miles per hour! What're the readings show?" Aaron asked, only chancing a split-second glance over at Sam.
"From what this says, the engine is nearing ninety percent power. How fast you think this thing can go?" Sam asked, a little concerned about what would happen if they were to get into an accident at speeds this great.
"No idea… that's why I wanted to come out here and try this. The first sign of trouble let me know." Aaron said as he went back to driving silently. Sam could not understand why Aaron would want to push a car like this one to its limits; from what they could tell by just looking at the engine, the car should only have been able to make five-hundred miles per hour before endangering the engine and possibly their lives. Now, the car was gliding along at seven hundred and five miles per hour. As they neared seven hundred twenty miles per hour, the engine shut down.
"Aaron… what're you doing?" Samantha asked, studying the information on the screen in front of her.
"I didn't do anything… it just shut off! What's it show over there?" Aaron asked as he prepared to stop the car. Sam tapped through the screens of data.
"According to this, nothing's wrong. Hold on… hear that?" Sam asked as she strained to listen. The display in front of her changed to a computer animation showing what had happened. From what the animation showed, the regular engine had shut down and four electric motors had taken over as the drive system. The smaller of the crystals started glowing brighter than it was back in Aaron's garage. Once the electric motors were fully activated, the car underwent another change; the car lengthened by ten feet and a cone extended from the front end of the car. As soon as the car finished going through its changes, it continued to accelerate. Sam and Aaron were amazed by what the car had done.
"Aaron, don't you think we're going fast enough already? We've already broken the sound barrier once and we're close to doing it again!" Sam asked, obviously worried. They were now gliding along at almost one thousand four hundred miles per hour and still climbing. On reaching one thousand five hundred miles per hour, the second crystal started glowing brightly as the tip of the cone that had extended from the front started glowing white. As they passed fifteen hundred miles per hour, a bolt of electricity shot from the tip of the cone and hit something solid in front of the car where it spread out.
(End of Chapter 3)