Jack's Wage Slavery Pt. 02

Jack had to admit he was seriously worried about what First was going to do to him since he poisoned their well of eternal youth. He heard a noise from the entrance.

"Wait! Hit it with everything you have when they get in front of your cell! When mine fails I will hit them from behind!" she whispered to him.

Jack felt his nerves go on high alert. "This is fucking crazy!" he muttered to himself nervously as he moved back to crouch down with his feet braced against the back wall. This would let him launch himself forward when he sprinted for the force field. He decided to leap at it so he wasn't touching the ground when he hit. Hopefully this would keep him from grounding the charge through his body.

Motion caught his attention as the first Allsa Komanae began to come into view. Jack exploded up from his crouch and managed three hard steps before he flung himself like a flying missile at the field, horns first.

Jack had his eyes tightly shut as he hit but he was still blinded by the enormous flash. A shock instantly ran through his body and the boom was deafening. He didn't lose consciousness but his senses were dulled for a short period.

He became aware that he was lying stretched out on a concrete floor. It wasn't as smooth as his cell's floor so he was outside. He heard a quiet but high pitched warbling squeal nearby which was quickly silenced by deep concussive thumps. Then there was only silence.

He opened his eyes but there was only blackness. He immediately panicked that he'd blinded himself.

"Jack. Are you alright?"

Ghia. Nearby.

"I- I think I might be blind," he said, his voice trembling.

"There is no visible light since the blast. All electrical systems are down. I can see in infrared so I can see enough to move around. I have... finished killing the three who came in. The blast cut right through them. It was wondrous to see! I've checked but none of the devices they carry seem to be working. The EMP seems to have been much larger than I calculated." Jack felt her gentle touch as she lifted him to his feet.

SNAP!

"Ouch!" Ghia yelped as she got a shock from Jack. He was elated as he'd seen the bright blue spark. It meant his eyes still worked.

"Sorry. I picked up a bit of a charge from that burst," he said trying to get his footing. There was something on the floor near his feet.

"You are kicking a dead guard."

"Oh. Can you lead me out of here?" he asked and she guided him past the bodies.

They stopped again and he felt Ghia turning.

"We are leaving. You may join us."

"I cannot see." A deep voice said from Jack's left. It sounded like a Grellian.

"I can and I will lead you and Jack out but we must move quickly." Ghia said.

"Jack?" the Grellian asked.

"Hi. That's me," Jack said into the darkness.

"He's the one who freed us. May I touch your hand?" Ghia asked.

The Grellian made an odd groaning sound.

Jack recognized the Grellian's anxiety about touching a lesser species. He didn't have time for this. "You may scrub yourself with sand once we get out of this dark place. Let's go!"

Ghia positioned Jack and held his arm reaching backwards. He got the idea as he left it there until he felt the hard plating of the Grellian's hand in his. More groaning. Ghia pulled on his hand and he pulled on the Grellians and they made their way forward quickly. The door must have been open as he felt a little breeze. Ghia increased her pace and he pulled the struggling being behind him as they encountered a ramp.

"We are going to move very quickly and quietly now as we must reach the top of the ramp to get to the ground level. We will stop at the top. Be ready."

Jack kept a tight grip on both hands and realized if they all collided at the top due to their size he was going to be the gooey center.

Then he saw it. Light. There was light near the top of the ramp. He heard the Grellian's sigh over its heavy breathing as they didn't typically move this fast. The group slowed and came to a stop. The Grellian yanked its hand free of Jack's. He released Ghia's hand and they listened for voices. Nothing.

Ghia pushed through the door quietly and there was a twitching Allsa Komanae on the floor. She stomped on its hood and there was a quiet squelch sound and it went still.

"Not warriors eh?" Jack whispered and Ghia looked back at him in surprise then smiled.

They moved down the hall and came to a T intersection. The lights were off in either direction but to the left they could hear the hiss and squeal of upset Allsa Komanae. To the right was heat, smoke, and the acidic tang of burning electronics. The fire seemed to be growing so it wasn't safe to move that way. To go the other way meant encountering Allsa Komanae and these ones sounded alert.

"There is no other way to go. I wish we knew how many we were facing," Ghia said.

"Four. There are four," offered the Grellian. Jack looked up at the grey skinned being. Its tunic was torn and dirty. It had taken a beating but it looked like it wanted to give one now.

"You feel like getting a little payback?" Jack grinned at it.

"What is payback?"

"Beating on some Allsa Komanae," Jack clarified.

"Yes. I want that," it said in a deadpan tone.

Jack rolled his eyes and looked over at Ghia. "How about you and I run in at full speed and hit as many as we can while our friend here comes in to surprise them from behind."

"I am not your friend."

Jack scowled at the big grey dolt. "For now we have a common enemy. That makes us temporary friends."

It looked back at Jack with a frown on its stony face.

"That sounds like a plan. I wish I had a weapon though," she sighed. The Grellian suddenly walked back down the hall towards the ramp. Ghia and Jack looked at each other. Was it going back to its cell?

A moment later it returned. It handed Ghia something and they discovered it was the arm of the Allsa Komanae on the floor. The Grellian had ripped it free. It was mostly free of organic bits. Mostly.

"Thank you!" Ghia said to it.

"What about me?" Jack asked.

The Grellian stared at him then reached up, plucked the metal caps from Jack's horns and handed them to him.

"How? How did you get them off?" Jack gasped.

"They were loose. I simply pulled them free," it explained slowly as if speaking to an idiot.

Jack sighed. "Thank you." He looked at Ghia. "Let's do this before I lose my nerve." He put one of the weighted caps in each hand. Extra weight for his punch.

With a final nod to his companions Jack began to run down the hall. He picked up speed until he was running full out. He was leaving Ghia behind but he wanted all of his kinetic energy available when he reached the Allsa Komanae.

He spotted the group and luck was with him. They were standing at the entrance but were turned 90 degrees from the corridor opening so none of them was watching his rapid approach. As it had worked so spectacularly on the force field Jack launched himself into the cluster of three head first. The impact jarred his neck but the horrified screams of the Allsa Komanae made it all worthwhile as he tumbled over the three he knocked completely off their feet.

The one he'd hit directly was never getting up again. The next in line was badly hurt but struggling to get free. The third one was flailing wildly at him from the floor. Jack grabbed its arm and used the momentum to pull himself to his feet. The fourth Allsa Komanae was coming at Jack from behind and didn't see Ghia burst out of the corridor and swing the arm at its hood.

"Down!" she cried.

Jack dropped as the Allsa Komanae's fist swung at the back of this head. It ended up punching the now exposed tip of Jack's horn. The fist fragmented on the ultra-sharp, ultra-dense point just as Ghia's makeshift club broke the head in the hood. She had to leap to avoid running into the group and sailed over and past the fallen Allsa Komanae. Jack heard the heavy thump of the running Grellian so he threw himself to the side as it rushed out of the darkened hallway. It charged right over the hooded figures on the ground and stomped them to shards and paste.

When it was done it stepped free of the carnage and looked at Jack. "Payback is good."

Jack recognized the room they were in and knew how to get back to the barracks from here.

"We can get to Kekk and the others through there!" Jack said. He led the way as the three exited the building and after a quick look to make sure the coast was clear they raced across the open courtyard. It was dusk out and there were no lights for as far as they could see. In the distance they could hear screams of fear and rage as well as the muted noise of fighting with whatever weapons could be found. The slaves were taking their revenge and bloodlust was being sated.

The barracks doors were locked. Jack looked close at the mechanism and saw it needed power to keep the magnetic bolts from slamming into place. He found a mechanical lever to reset it but he didn't have the strength to break the magnet's pull. The Grellian reached past him and slammed the lever down, popping the lock and preventing its reuse.

Jack carefully pulled the door open. "Kekk!" he called out.

"Jack?"

"JACK!" yelled two female voices simultaneously from inside. He couldn't keep the grin from his face as he pushed inside and felt two soft bodies press up against him tightly.

He heard a surprised guttural rumbling with several clicks and realized Kekk had seen his mate. Jack saw them press their cheeks together.

"What happened?" Kekk asked as he looked over.

"I don't know," Jack replied.

"The electromagnetic pulse overloaded the communications center which was housed in the Prime's palace above the detention centre. When it exploded it took out the network administration center which was on the next floor up. The fire in the palace is out of control and has taken out the power grid to the entire city. The power utilities center is in a building adjoining the palace and is now on fire as well. Without these systems in place the discipline collars can't be activated."

Everyone looked at the Grellian who finished explaining and was looking around the barracks.

"How do you know all this?" Jack asked.

"It's what the Allsa Komanae were saying before we killed them," it said calmly as it continued scoping out the room.

"You can understand their language?" Jack said in surprise.

The Grellian stopped and looked at Jack. "Yes, I can understand the Allsa Komanae language. That is how I learned these things," it said slowly. Jack gritted his teeth.

"Where is Joseph?" he asked in a sudden panic.

"Don't worry, he's sleeping. We received more food for him and just fed him before the power went out," Eve said looking up at him.

"What caused the EMP?" Kekk asked.

"Ghia suggested I hit the force field on my cell with my horns as the silver on them reacted with the energy of the barrier. It worked better than I thought."

"Oh! Ghia, this is Eve and Stella. Ladies, this is Ghia, Kekk's mate." He looked to the Grellian who wandered away to the bathing area. Obviously no introductions needed there.

Eve was looking at Jack. "You're responsible for this?"

"Accidentally. I just wanted to get us out of our cells before First came back to torture me for poisoning the Prime Source or whatever it is." Jack's head whipped to look in the direction the Grellian walked. "Wait a minute! He said the network is down! I was told the collars would stun us unconscious then explode after a time if we left the network! The network being down should have triggered it!"

They all looked at each other in silence.

"Huh. I guess that was a lie." Jack huffed with a scowl.

"Do you realize what it means that the Prime Source is gone?" Eve asked him. He shook his head.

"It means it is very likely they are all going to die. There is no longer a way to replace their degenerating organic matter in a timely manner. They will also no longer be able to use Gates as that accelerates their decay. Not without a fresh source of poison free Prime genetic material."

"Like you'd find in, say, a Prime?" Jack guessed.

"Yes. She would have to donate a portion of her organic mass to be cloned. They will likely need to replace the entire cloning facility as the slightest amount of contaminant could ruin the new biomass. The problem is it takes time to clone organic matter. They can't do it fast enough to reach the quantity they had before which is required to support the current population of Allsa Komanae. Most are going to degenerate before the cloned tissue is ready for use."

Kekk and Ghia were looking at Jack in stunned admiration. He was feeling more than a little ill.

"Are- are you saying I'm responsible for genocide?" he wheezed as his knees began to wobble. He suddenly recalled his rage filled wish when Beth died for all of the Allsa Komanae to die for that.

Stella and Eve guided him over to a bench and sat with him.

Eve patted his hand. "There is still a chance for the Prime to save them. But she will be starting from a very small pool. I believe the Allsa Komanae are really just clones but incomplete pieces of a Prime whose entire biomass was given over to keep them alive. Likely until this other Prime was able to rejoin them. They can't mate. They are only clones. How the Prime intends to expand their empire I don't know."

It was getting too dark inside the barracks to see. The food processors were out. They had the components to make the nutrient paste but without power they had no food. From the sounds coming from the bathing area they still had access to water.

The Allsa Komanae on the planet were going to be pissed at this latest insurrection so they needed to plan how they were going to survive.

Jack sighed. He couldn't forget the matter of the Prime's imminent arrival. Wasn't that going to add a whole new dimension of fun to their current situation.

Chapter 21

When the truth came out on Earth the witch hunt began. No one trusted humans who sold out their people to aliens. It may not be politically correct but that's how the monkey brain of the Human species worked.

The list identified the first series of targets. Unfortunately, Avery Mansfeld was in the wind. He'd obviously planned his escape very carefully and made tracks shortly after his workstation had been hacked. He saw the writing on the wall and exited through a Gate, with assistance, to worlds unknown.

He failed to warn any of the others so when the authorities swooped in to collect the offworld spies there were a lot of surprised and angry conspirators. Colonel General Zutkov's replacement was indeed on the list and fell victim to his own hunting accident. How he managed to fall on his serrated edge hunting knife so many times was a mystery no one seemed to be in a hurry to solve.

The Generals and the Colonel made good on their promise to deliver the security specialists. Queen Elissa was informed that the troops would be coming through the Gate within the next few hours.

First through was Rosseau's platoon of twenty combat hardened soldiers. They set up on the lawn of the Altarian Ministry of Security. The leader of this group was a man by the name of Colonel Thierry Bertillon and he introduced himself to the Queen and gave her an update on their status.

Thane sent along a SEAL troop, comprised of eight five man teams. There had been quite a surge of interest from the SEAL's when the mission was first mentioned as this was the rarest of opportunities. They fell in next to Rosseau's group and their leader, Commander Jon Sinclair, joined the Queen.

General Singh arrived with his Indian Gorkhas, twenty two battle trained and seasoned soldiers. They were closely followed by Colonel MacDenny who had decided to lead his own group of ten handpicked specialists. Singh and MacDenny made their way over to the Queen.

With Gee and Bal, the Major and her three teammates Queen Elissa had their 100 'security specialists'.

Two ancient Tik made their way over to Queen Elissa's group. They waved at Nann who blushed in recognition. They had small boxes bolted to their dented sides.

"Hello, I am Socrates and this is Plato. We understand you are ready to embark upon your rescue mission for Ambassador Jack Danner?" Its voice came from the added on box.

"Yes. We are ready. I wish to thank you once more for your assistance in this matter," Elissa said with a bow.

Plato raised a tentacle. "When you reach your ultimate destination please determine if there are others who are in the same situation as Ambassador Danner. We have recently been reminded of an ancient Earth phrase, 'Where there is smoke, there is cake-"

"No! It's ''Where there is smoke, there is fire'!" Socrates growled.

"Ah... yes, that makes more sense. Fire. My point is if Jack Danner was kidnapped maybe others who we have noted the disappearance of are there as well."

"We will make every effort to rescue those who have fallen victim to such activities," Elissa promised.

Commander Sinclair looked over the amassed fighters and their gear and shook his head. "Pardon my skepticism but I still don't understand how we are going to safely walk all of these 'security specialists' through a Gate to our destination without being picked off as we enter. It's a choke point!"

Socrates turned to the Commander. "Who said you would be walking?" It whistled to two waiting silver Tik who promptly opened a small Gate and disappeared through it.

Singh looked at the Gate and back to the Tik. "I believe that Gate is much too small."

"Indeed. How about this one?" Plato gestured upwards towards the end of the field.

The group looked upwards as a huge ripple appeared in the sky. From their angle it just appeared as a slightly darker square of blue sky until they realized it was a mirrored Gate reflecting the sky above them. The scope of the Gate was beyond any they'd seen before. Even the largest Cargo Gates was dwarfed by this gargantuan portal.

"That is certainly large enough!" Singh muttered.

"But it's 500 metres up in the sky!" Sinclair noted.

"Humans are an impatient race." Socrates sighed.

"Indeed," Plato agreed.

Something appeared in the center of the mirror and grew as whatever it was moved towards them from the other side of the Gate. Once the sharp points of many sensor antennae were through the square structure they were mounted on pushed through the mirror surface. Then a wider square structure supporting the first. Then another, each wider than the previous.

"It- it looks like a building! On its side?" MacDenny asked.

Still the massive structure pushed through, ever widening though no longer in a steady progression of stacked squares. Now the surface was curved as it grew ever wider. The structure was throwing a massive shadow over the field below. When it reached its maximum width the Gate was just a few dozen feet wider. Then they spotted wide rectangular openings begin along the lower edges on the sides and its true purpose became clear at last. It was a ship! It was a flying... carrier!

And it was utterly silent.

"Oh my god. How- how is something so vast staying aloft?" Cha'Risa gasped.

Socrates moved forward to address the group. "Gravity field generators. Like you use in your vehicles and the Tik use for mobility only these are truly massive. This is the sister ship from a fleet of two. It is much smaller than its sibling. We call it the Blade of Reason. We renamed it as the original name only made sense to the species who commissioned it. We have brought this ship out of storage for the explicit use of Queen Elissa and her security detail for this rescue mission. It is manned by Tik who have been trained to operate it. It will not function for anyone else and it will go back into storage once this mission is complete. Is this understood?"