seems we got this thing licked, The Order goes and changes the playing field. So yeah, it’s time we take a different approach. I’m going to break the rules.”
Shep said, “I look up and down the front lines and I don’t see any chance of that.”
“Nina,” Trevor said, “Tell him what I’m thinking.”
That surprised everyone at the table, but she knew.
With a smile, Captain Nina Forest told Shep and the rest, “You won’t find a chance of it on the front lines because, listen, that’s playing by the rules still. He’s just saying that it’s time to break those rules and hit them where it counts.”
Trevor added, “Yes, but I’m not thinking about all of them. Just one guy in particular.”
Eva Rheimmer asked, “What does that mean?”
Trevor turned his attention to the foot of the table.
“Gordon?”
The Intelligence Director read from the report Ashley had forced him to make in person.
“My agents have identified The Order’s original base of operations on the west side of the Ural Mountains. Our European friends have confirmed this information and we have every reason to believe it is still operational.”
Trevor said softly, “Voggoth. The heart of the enemy. Command and Control. Maybe even more importantly, the guy who set the table for this game. If I were a nerd-and you know I’m not; at least not anymore-then I might think of him as the Dungeon Master.”
Shep had no idea. “The what?”
“Sorry, I forgot,” Trevor smiled at the older man. “You never even watched Star Trek.”
“No, now wait, this Dungeon Master as you call him,” Brett Stanton’s tone suggested familiarity with the subject, “is sticking his hand in the game a little more directly than he should. Am I following you?”
Trevor answered with a nod.
“Excuse me,” Omar broke in with a cynical tone, “Voggoth is on the other side of the world. We can’t even get to Colorado anymore, how are we to launch an assault in Russia?”
A chorus of voices tried to answer.
“We still have the Chrysaor,” said Jon Brewer.
“My team could hit it,” Nina volunteered.
“Time to put that navy to use,” Shep suggested.
“Whoa, hold on,” Trevor raised a hand. “We need all of that to defend the Mississippi. Our best chance to survive is to stop The Order on the battlefield. It’s not a great chance, but it’s the best one. My plan is to try and re-shuffle the deck. I don’t know exactly what is going to happen, but we have to change the status quo; we have to break those rules.”
Brett put a finger in his ear and wiggled, saying, “Now maybe I heard you wrong. No, wait, I’m sure you just said that we got to try and knock out this Voggoth fella. How do you expect to do that without an army?”
Trevor sat and crossed his hands in front of him on the table top. His eyes found Lori Brewer’s. She had known him since childhood; since the days when he had gone by the name Richard. She could read him like a book.
The answer dawned on her and she said it aloud with a tremor of shock, “Your son?”
His silence served as answer enough.
Eva Rheimmer questioned. “I don’t understand.”
Jon Brewer did.
“At The Order’s base last year, JB managed to gain control over their facility. He is the reason Trevor escaped. I’m guessing it has something to do with the-what did you call it? — the jigsaw puzzle that he is.”
“My son is very special. He is a symbol, I think, of all the life that comes from our original strand of DNA. The purest sample. We know that The Order is not alive. They are the antithesis of life. When he came in contact with The Order’s machines all hell broke loose.”
Shepherd tried to guess, “Are you saying that maybe Jorgie might be able to hijack their armies like they say he did at that off-shore base? ‘Cause from where I’m sitting, that would be a good time.”
Trevor smirked at Shep’s tone but also shook his head.
“I don’t think so. It’s not that easy. There’s no silver bullet that’s going to turn this around. It’s going to take more than a bayonet charge to save our asses this time.”
Lori asked, “So you’re going to Europe to make your way to Voggoth’s place?”
“Yes,” Trevor said. “Me and my son.”
“But you haven’t told us why.” Lori complained.
“Yes, I did. I’m going to re-shuffle the deck. If JB is the ultimate expression of life and Voggoth is the antithesis of the same…”
Omar gasped, “Matter and anti-matter. You think this could destroy Voggoth?”
“No, not really,” Trevor admitted to them and to himself that his plan contained more questions than answers. “But we know he’s totally different from the other life forms involved in this. What I hope-I guess I’m hoping to get a reaction. Knock him off balance-or send a signal that can’t be ignored-s omething.”
“A signal that can’t be ignored?” Eva asked. “What does that mean?”
“I have reason to believe that the beings who orchestrated Armageddon are not aware of exactly how involved Voggoth is here, that it would be against the rules. Maybe they don’t want to know because they don’t mind us getting creamed. But if I can make them see then that might force Voggoth to back off here.”
“And we were winning until he jumped in with both feet,” Jon said.
Nina pounced, “What do you want us to do? Should some of us come with you?”
Trevor felt a charge shiver through his spine. The idea of Nina coming with him-to be so close to her again. Maybe-maybe…
“No,” and he saw her eyes falter with disappointment and rejection. He wanted to tell her that he desired her to come, but he felt this a suicide mission and besides, Nina’s talents could best serve humanity doing what she did best. “You have an important job here. You all do. You have to hold off The Order. As long as we’re alive and fighting we have a chance. Once we’re overrun we all die, no matter what I manage to do on the other side of the world.”
Jon asked, “How do you figure that?”
“If this is a challenge, well, to put it in the best way, I guess, don’t think of it as a football game with a scoreboard and a clock. Think of it as ski jumping or gymnastics with judges and score cards. Less objective, more subjective. If the judges start to think we’re beaten then they’ll pull the plug on us. That’s what happened to the Feranites.”
Lori asked, “But what is it you’re planning to do? And why?”
Trevor answered, “I’m going to hit the heart of the enemy. All this time we keep thinking about the Chaktaw, the Hivvans, the Duass and the rest as the people we need to be fighting. But that’s playing by the rules. To win this we have to go around those rules. I’m going after Voggoth.”
“Pardon me,” Shep said, “but like Brett said, don’t you think you’ll need an army for that?”
Gordon’s voice joined the fray from the foot of the table: “Our European friends have been waiting a long time, Trevor. We’ve been shipping them weapons and supplies, but I still don’t think they’ll be happy when you show up without firepower. Maybe you should take the Chrysaor, at least. We can tough it out without her for a while.”
“You’ll need it more,” Trevor answered. “You have to hold out. Don’t let Voggoth hand them a victory. As long as we’re still fighting on a large scale there’s hope. Besides, I don’t want to attract attention to this trip. I’m hoping to fly under the radar.”
Trevor could see questions boiling beneath the surface of each of the attendees, but the time for those questions had passed. He slowly and deliberately worked his way around the table, making eye contact with each of them.
As they had during those early days, during the protracted war against the Hivvans, during the invasion of California, they looked to Trevor for hope, for strength, and for direction. Apparently seeing the wires and the trap doors did not completely diminish the magician’s magic. Maybe there was more to Trevor Stone than the gifts.
He saw his good friend Lori Brewer whom he had known since childhood. At times he felt her to be the only
