Chapter 19

Instead of being returned to the individual cells they had occupied earlier, Buck and Wilma were taken to another room where they were incarcerated together. This room was almost total opposites of the earlier lockup. The room was spacious, well-lit, and almost comfortable looking. The only downfall was the locked exit to the room. Just as they reached the room, they noticed a well-dressed man walking down the corridor toward them.

"You're the one from the hangar," Buck said. "Are you here to get more information from us?"

"No. We have all the information we need from you. I am Deputy Minister Kentara. Minister Turon requested that you be moved to more accommodating settings. You probably would have been here in the first place if you hadn't lied to us in the hangar."

"Lied?"

Kentara simply smirked. "We found your partner in the cargo area of your spaceship. Remarkable similarity to you."

"My twin brother."

"May I ask why he was drugged and stashed into a small storage facility?"

"He was trying to seduce Colonel Deering," Buck said. "And since we are almost identical, she sometimes has difficulty telling us apart."

The man smirked, nodded. "I understand. Actually, you've made our doctor's job much easier than it normally would have been. In his weakened state, he will be much more susceptible for interrogation. Well, Earthling, I suggest you enjoy your stay here tonight. It will most likely be the last night you have the chance to enjoy."

"I thought you said you had no need for information from us."

"We don't. You've made it easy for us." He laughed as he headed back down the hall.

Buck and Wilma were shoved into the room and the door locked noisily behind them.

The man stepped into the room, stopped to look at the guard who closed and locked the door behind him. He turned to look at the two sleeping humans. He pulled out a small device and went to the female first. He pressed the device against her neck, and then repeated the process to the male. In seconds, both were beginning to stir and moan. After a minute or so, Buck and Wilma were alert enough to realize that they were no longer alone.

"Who are you?" Wilma asked.

"My name is Vaahn."

Buck sat up on the cot he had been sleeping on. "What do you want from us?"

The man grasped a chair from the center of the room and set it down nearer the two cots. He then sat in it backwards. "I am almost ashamed to admit it, but I am here to ask for your help."

Buck jerked his head to look at Wilma who had done the same thing. Slowly he turned back to face the man.

"That's not exactly what I was expecting to hear."
"How can we help you?" Wilma asked. 'We're a little indisposed at the present moment, if you hadn't noticed."

"I need you to kill someone for me."

"You Gaussians are just full of surprises, aren't you?" Buck said. "Why should we help you? What can you offer us in return?"

"I can get you out of this cell and returned to your ship," Vaahn said hopefully.

"A lot of good that's gonna do us if Earth gets destroyed."

Vaahn shook his head. "It might not if everything goes as planned."

Buck rested his head on the palm of his hand. "I'm listening."

Vaahn nodded. "You have met the minister, right?"
Wilma sighed. "Yes. He has some… questionable motives and ideals."

"Yes, he does. That's why we want him dead."
"We?"
He nodded. "Yes. There is a growing movement back home in opposition to Minister Turon's current tactics. He is growing bolder and bolder with each world he assimilates. He was a good leader at first. But his total disregard for other life is, well it's something that many of us cannot stand for."

"I don't see how this is going to help Earth," Buck questioned.

"My planet, Gauss, is a very populated planet. Every hundred years our population doubles. We can barely support the people we have right now. The minister came to power on promises he would find suitable worlds for us to expand and alleviate our growing population problem. At first he delivered on that promise. He found an uninhabited world which we colonized. Then we found another world not far away from that one. It was not uninhabited. It had an indigenous population, albeit very primitive, but still intelligent. He killed everyone on that planet and claimed it for Gauss. In subsequent years, he has assimilated three more such planets, all having increasingly higher levels of civilization. Your planet Earth is the most civilized, advanced planet he has set his sights on."

"And you think killing him is going to stop the process?" Wilma asked.
"No, but it'll be a start."
"Then I still don't see how this is going to benefit us or Earth," Buck mused.

"We have been trying to get close enough to Minister Turon for three years to assassinate him, but he is a very careful man. The two of you were closer to him last night than any of us has been in three years. And he has plans to see you again before he executes his command against Earth."

"How do we kill him?" Wilma asked. "You know about his personal shield, don't you? He was very proud to show that to us last night."

"Minister Turon has one very glaring weakness."

"He likes to eat?" Buck joked.

Vaahn smiled broadly. "Exactly!"

Buck was taken aback. "I wasn't… okay, how do we exploit that?"
Vaahn reached into a pocket and produced a small vial. "This is enough to kill him three times. All you have to do is sprinkle it on his food. And the best part of this poison is that it is harmless to Earthlings."

"How do you know it's harmless to us?" Wilma asked.

"It's been tested extensively by people in our movement, I do not wish to tell you by whom. It's best you don't know too much in case something goes wrong."

"But how was it tested on humans?"

"Oh, we've had human samples for years! We have been observing Earth for decades. That's how the minister is able to kill the population of the planets without destroying the planet itself."

"I don't get it."
"DNA," Vaahn explained. "The weapons he uses are biological. Every planet he assimilates, he takes local samples of the indigenous population and has his staff create a biological weapon to annihilate the people without any damage to the surrounding wildlife or local structures. He then takes whatever he can salvage and sells them on the black market."

"Nice," Buck whispered sarcastically. "But what about Deputy Minister whatshisname?"

"Kentara?"

"Yeah, that's him. Won't he just pick up where the minister left off?"
"Deputy Minister Kentara poses no threat to our movement. We can take care of him ourselves. It's just Minister Turon we can't get to."

"And you think this will stop the execution of Earth?"
"It's the best I can do," Vaahn admitted.

Buck looked at Wilma and shrugged his shoulders. She nodded. Buck turned back to Vaahn. "Okay, we'll do it."

Vaahn shook his head. "No, not you. You," he said, pointing at Wilma. "We need you for something else."
Buck sighed. "It's never easy, is it? So what do you have in mind for me?"
"I need your help for me to uphold my part of the bargain. We need to sabotage the sensors and the tractor beam; otherwise you won't be able to leave the ship."

The corners of Buck's mouth began to upturn slightly. "I get to blow something up? Cool, I'm in! So when do we start?"

Vaahn stood abruptly. He handed the vial to Wilma. "Whenever the minister sends for you, find a way to be with the minister alone. While you are poisoning him," he turned to Buck, "You will be disabling the tractor beam controls and the sensors."

"How do I do that? I'm not familiar with the ship."

"You will have assistance. Wait for his sign."

"What kind of sign are we talking about?"

"You will know when he gives it to you. I must go. I've been in here too long."

Buck gently grasped Vaahn's shirt. "What about our partner? The other pilot they found in my ship?"

"He is fine. I will arrange for him to be returned to your ship. Trust me."

"I guess we're gonna have to. We have no other choice."

Vaahn sighed as he took one last look at them. "You have the opportunity to change the future of our world. Good luck. This is the only chance we're going to get."