The Quantum Connection

'That is enough, Opolawn,' Prawmitoos said.

'I don't answer to you, bug. I will say what I please,' Opolawn continued. 'Did he happen to mention how he committed genocide on the Thuans and the creatures of Thweh? I guess not. What about Eyivaes? Did he explain where they are? And what of Aa?' Opolawn pushed away a Lumpeyin girl who was offering him some sort of bright green round fruit.

'Ah, Opolawn,' Prawmitoos squeaked. 'You act as though you were perfect in the eyes of these Earthlings, and that you yourself have not committed your share of unspeakable atrocities to countless races as well.'

'Opolawn, you are claiming that these Grays killed off no telling how many other E.T.s in the Teytoonise side of the galaxy?' Anson asked and shook his head.

'That is correct, my little monkey. You humans have duped yourselves into the belief that evil was in the heart of humanity. Well, I have a lesson for you. Evil is alive and well in the universe.' He sneered at Prawmitoos and it seemed as though sparks would fly between the two of them.

Opolawn continued, 'You have been ignorant of the great evils of this galaxy for far too long to travel across the galaxy and make demands of me. And you are very foolish if you think that the Grays, as you call them, want anything for you but death. The sole intent of The Species hive is to populate the universe and devour all that stands in its way—and I literally mean devour. Several species that have survived have only survived because the picophage means death to the Grays. You owe your survival this long to me! The only reason the Teytoonis ever had interest in you monkeys is because they knew that your infection might lead them to a means of attacking us, the Lumpeyins.' Opolawn stood three meters tall and thumped his chest. 'WE ARE THE TRUE PROTECTORS OF THIS GALAXY!' His voice boomed through the chamber and it appeared that fire danced around the periphery of his body. Perhaps this was my imagination but that is what it looked like.

'Nevertheless, Opolawn, Prawmitoos did argue with his people on our behalf and he has helped in bringing us here. Will you give us the controller or not?' Tabitha continued to be focused on the subject.

'I will not. I am afraid that you poor monkeys are not smart enough to survive without me controlling your evolution and keeping the bugs at bay. If I am not helping you then what will keep the vermin away?' Opolawn replied.

'We are now a threat to them. What will keep them away now?' 'Becca said. 'How will you protect us from being annihilated by the Grays?'

'Is this true, Prawmitoos? Do you bugs plan to destroy the humans? Answer me.'

'It is of no concern to you, Opolawn, as their space is not within your jurisdiction.' Prawmitoos squinted his big black eyes at the light Opolawn was emitting from the surface of his skin. I decided that these Lumpeyins must be phosphorescent. As the sun set, the sky grew dark enough to notice their skin's glow. Opolawn's glow seemed to be slightly brighter than his dancing troupe's.

Mike, is he phosphorescing? 

The Lumpeyins are apparently bioluminescent like the dinoflagellates, black dragonfish, fireflies, and many other organisms on Earth. 

I see. 

'I am sorry, humans. I cannot give you the controller, as it must not fall into the hands of the vermin Teytoonis.' He held up a small device in his left hand and tossed it into his right. 'A brilliant device forged from the same quantum connected material that the Himbroozya was, hence it works through the YIT at any distance. You see, the Himbroozya is fatal to the Gray monsters. This is why they developed nanomachines and scientist drones to study it. The actual regal line of the bugs would be destroyed instantly if they come into contact with the picophage. As long as you are not a threat to them they will use you as research animals in attempts to create a vaccine. Ah, but my scientist Tentalos designed a very good phage that the bugs have yet to be able to cure. The control is my bonus. Perhaps one of these days you backwater species can be forced to develop a weapon that will rid me of these vermin once and for all. This is not the day, and you are not that species; I fear you are doomed.'

At warp speed, Anson plowed headfirst into Opolawn, knocking the controller free for a microsecond. I had caught Anson's planned motion from my enhanced eyesight and my peripheral vision. This microsecond was all I needed. I warped through the region of space where the alien's hand and the controller were and I did a quick lights-off lights-on maneuver. As I continued to fly forward I took Opolawn's hand and the picophage controller with me. I picked up the contoller and tossed his hand out of my warp bubble with a second off-on sequence. The hand fell into the ocean below. As I doubled back into the fight it was obvious that Opolawn was far stronger than we had suspected.

Opolawn grasped Anson in his left hand. His grip was around the neck of Anson's warp bubble armor. Anson tried to adjust the warp field but Opolawn held him. Tabitha, Jim, and 'Becca were on the bounce and got the squeeze on him. This forced Opolawn to drop Anson. Opolawn exploded in a flash of light that flung the four warp armored humans through the walls of the chamber. I couldn't tell what happened to Prawmitoos. I didn't really care, either.

I thought I would catch Opolawn in the back unaware but he sidestepped at warp speed and chased me as I missed him. We warped through the cityscape, flying through buildings and dodging each other's barrages of flung debris. Opolawn began flashing bright high-power energy beams of visible light at me. From where I wasn't sure, but I was beginning to believe that these were serious bursts of energy that I didn't need to be in front of. One of them hit my warp bubble and the next thing I knew I was in orbit around the moon of Lumpeya City. I warped back to the center of Lumpeya City as fast as I could to find the battle still raging. This was a dangerous affair and since I had the controller I thought we should make an attempt at leaving. I zipped to the Phoenix and had Mike fire it up. Prawmitoos was already there, trying to hack into the controls of the spacecraft. As I said before, the Grays have a lot to learn about hacking. I punched Prawmitoos in the head and tossed him out of the Phoenix payload bay onto the ground below. He landed right on his little gray ass. I then zipped the warp field closed and called the gang to converge on me.

Mike and I zigged, zagged, and dodged lightning. The Phoenix took some hits, but the alien condensed matter hull was tough. The warp field I applied helped also. I finally got the crew inside the Phoenix's warp bubble and they managed to make their way to the bridge. All the time the Phoenix was taking a great deal of fire from Opolawn and several others of his entourage that had joined the fight.

'Mike, engage the quantum drive and get us out of here fast!' I told him. 'Warp bubble shield on!'

Just as the drive started to engage, a brilliant flash of light appeared through the view screens and the ship lurched to a halt.