Awakening: The First Tale of the Trine (Trine Series Book 1) (6 page)

The lab tech watched in horror as the trio staggered back, each of them quickly sagging to the floor. He wanted to run, but his legs felt disconnected and numb, leaving him rooted in place. The bolt on the door to the cell withdrew with a clank, and the heavy door creaked open.

The green dog trotted out into the hall, its teeth exposed in a huge canine grin. It looked around the hall seeming quite pleased, before walking slowly over to the technician.

Raising his hands in a feeble warding gesture, the tech made a low whimpering sound. The animal’s head came up to his chest, and it pressed right between his outstretched arms. Its muzzle crinkled as it began sniffing at his suit. After a moment, the dog sat down on its haunches, and looking straight into the technician’s eyes, opened its mouth and…spoke!

“Did you seriously pee?” the dog asked, tongue lolling in amusement, and his yellow eyes crinkled with glee.

“I…I…I can’t tell,” the tech stammered. Overwhelmed, his legs finally abandoned him entirely, and he sank to his knees in front of the animal.

“You smell like you peed,” the dog reiterated. “You’ve got a hole in your suit, too.” Raising a paw, he placed it onto the tech’s shoulder. “Calm down kid, I’m not going to blow your house down, eat your grandma, or commit any other acts of canine barbarism. Let’s start fresh without all the guns and needles. My name is Aki. What’s yours?”

“My name…? I’m…I’m Andrew Crouch…Andy,” he choked out.

“Andy, it’s nice to meet you” Aki said, taking his paw off of his shoulder and holding it out for a shake. The familiar gesture was oddly comforting, and Andy took the offered paw gently. It was at least twice as large as his hand, and he released it quickly.

“Why didn’t you say anything sooner?” Andy asked him.

“Orak was worried that it would be too much for your people to handle, and to be fair, you guys are known to be pretty loose with your guns,” Aki said.

“Orak? Is that your white-haired buddy?”

“The one and only,” Aki said cheerily.

Watching the dog’s mouth form words was so strange it was causing Andy to feel a sense of vertigo, as though his mind just couldn’t grasp what was happening. Averting his gaze so as not to stare straight into its toothy maw, he said, “You could have just said something before we tried to put you to sleep!”

“Well, you didn’t give me much of a chance, and frankly I’m not sure I could have relied on their benevolence. That one fellow with the keys was even talking earlier about taking it upon himself to come back here and put a bullet in me!” As Aki spoke, the cardkey on the ward guard’s belt came unclipped, and floated over to hang in the air between them.

“How…how are you doing that?” Andy stammered.

“With my mind,” Aki growled in a deep, mocking tone, before his tongue spilled out and he burst into a wheezing laugh. “Seriously human, my species doesn’t have thumbs. We were either going to have to hammer everything together with our mouths or figure out something a bit more refined. Hey, grab that catchpole and let’s get upstairs. Orak is calling for me. We can explain things all at once when we’re together.”

“The…the catchpole?”

“Yes. Put it on me, and hold onto it while you take me upstairs. Your kind are particularly susceptible to the illusion of control. If we get stopped, just tell the truth. You are taking me to Orak.”

Getting to his feet, Andy picked up the catchpole and slipped the noose over Aki’s muzzle. Struggling to open it wider, he finally managed to slip it over the dog’s massive head and neck. While trying to figure out how to hold the pole, he asked, “What do you mean by ‘the illusion of control’?”

“Your kind are easy to fool, as long as you think you’re in charge. Not just this,” Aki said, pointing his snout at the guards gently snoring on the ground. “But in all kinds of things. Hey, remember that election you Americans had, where those Clinton and Trump people were running? That’s a perfect example. Everyone in your government knew full well who was always going to be the candidates for your President. Your political system even has these insane ‘super delegate’ rules that guarantee the ‘will of the party’ can be carried out, overruling the ‘will of the people.’ Your entire process is rigged. Still, they had to drum up interest in the election to generate money, and get you lazy bastards motivated enough to go vote by propping up other candidates across from them to make it look like a ‘race’, or to help you believe you had some actual part in it by making your ‘choice.’ There was never a choice for you, it was just a…pardon the expression, dog and pony show. Now, grab that card,” Aki instructed. “Unless you want me to keep flapping it around in the air.”

Andy reached out slowly for the card, which was still dangling in midair. The card zipped forward into his hand, and he dropped it with a muffled yelp from under his helmet. Aki wheezed laughter at him again, and once Andy collected the key, they moved away from the three snoring figures stretched out across the ward.

“Are they going to be ok?” Andy asked, looking back at the officers.

“Sure, they were all big boys. Once you get me to Orak, you might want to have someone come help them. They are probably going to be a bit upset when they wake up.”

Gripping the catchpole loosely, Andy used the keycard to unlock the solitary ward, then led Aki back upstairs to the quarantine room. Even with the current crisis there were not many agents in this part of the building at night, and they encountered no one until they approached the two soldiers outside of the airlock. The pair stiffened when they saw Aki appear around the corner at the end of the catchpole, and both readied their weapons.

“Hold it!” the soldier nearest to them called. “No one informed us the animal was being brought up here.”

Andy shrugged through the suit. “I was told to bring it to the containment room for the interview, so here I am. If you don’t want to let me in, I’ll just leave it here with you.” With that, he offered the catchpole to the soldier, who backed away.

The light over the airlock door turned green just before it hissed open. The soldier and assistant who had set up the video conferencing equipment stepped through holding the helmets to their suits. They stopped abruptly at the sight of the guards with their weapons readied and trained on the massive dog blocking the hall. Seeing Aki standing there with only a catchpole around his neck, the two men attempted to push past the soldiers and get out of their line of fire.

Watching the four men get tangled in the hallway, Aki bolted into the open airlock, dragging the catchpole from Andy’s loose grip. The soldiers flanked the doorway just as the door hissed closed. They caught only a brief glimpse of the dog wagging its tail and shaking its head free of the pole.

The four men all turned to Andy, who had his hands already raised over his head. “We have to report to the Director right now,” he told them as he slowly backed towards the observation room.

Director Spencer studied the alien intently while the video conferencing equipment was being assembled. It was definitely humanoid, in fact, the only obvious physical differences were the monotone eyes and the pointed ears. Its short white hair appeared naturally disheveled, and swept back from a pronounced widow’s peak. The only variation in hair color was a small patch right at the point that was the same electric blue as his eyes. The rest of the figure was completely covered in the segmented blue tinted armor. Both forearms appeared to be equipped with some sort of high-tech devices, judging from the green tubing on the right, and the touch screen on the left. The screen remained dark, though a softly pulsing red light by its wrist seemed to have some significance, as the figure glanced at it frequently.

“Director, I think I’ve figured something out!” The lead technician had been calibrating all of the telemetry again to make sure the strange readings the creature was emitting were correct. “I was getting some odd feedback on the pulse oximeter, but I’ve managed to smooth it out.”

“What sort of feedback? What do you think it is showing?” the Director asked, coming to look at the console.

“When we tried to amplify the heartbeat to listen to its pulse rate, we were getting a strange echo effect. I isolated each of the noises and got measurements on them individually. At first we thought its heart was just really fast, maybe one hundred twenty beats a minute. There was some odd overlap though in the rhythm! Sir, I think…I think he has two hearts! Once I isolated each one, they appear to be working in tandem, each beating approximately sixty times per minute.”

“Two hearts…tell me, have you had any luck adjusting the irradiator?”

“No sir, unfortunately that armor it’s wearing is completely blocking any attempts to get a look at his internal workings. It seems like it may have actually been designed just for that, judging from the way the films we tried to take came back. The figure is almost completely glared out, except for the exposed bits. That suit bounced everything back.”

Behind them, Agent Soto listened to her earpiece for a moment, before announcing, “The team has the equipment set up, and they are now dialing in all of the official observers before we begin. Director, you will be the primary contact and the only one able to communicate from this room, but the President requested that several other agencies act as witnesses.”

“Good,” Director Spencer said with a nod, resuming his observation. The alien still sat on the cot watching the two guards work impassively. It had made no attempt to communicate further after being separated from its animal companion, and simply sat there, occasionally closing its eyes as though resting.

Once the equipment was in place, the guards motioned for the alien to take a seat at the table they had arranged, then backed into the airlock together before sealing the door. The alien stood by the chair, but continued to watch the airlock, as though expecting someone else to come in. Concerned that the alien may have misunderstood their intent, Director Spencer prepared to send them back in, when the airlock door opened again. At the same moment, the lean young technician Director Spencer had sent out earlier burst back into the observation room, still wearing his hazmat suit.

Director Spencer watched aghast as the huge dog bound into the quarantine room, just as the technician pulled off his helmet in the observatory. “Sir,” the tech said in a panicked voice. “We have a problem.”

Director Spencer sat down at the observation room monitor, and began the feed to the video conferencing equipment. Waving his team to silence, he watched the blue armored alien hug the dog’s neck. The animal’s tail was wagging furiously in a familiar gesture of greeting.

Seeing that the video feed was working, Director Spencer activated the microphone nearby. “I am FBI Director Nathan Spencer,” he said formally. “Can you see and hear me?”

The two aliens moved to the camera and screen set up on the table. “Director Spencer,” the white-haired humanoid said. “I asked my companion to rejoin me so that we might better aid you through this process. Please, let us introduce ourselves formally. I will then attempt to answer any questions I can.” Adjusting the camera on his end, the alien brought both he and the canine into frame. “We are called Oraki,” it said. “I am Orak, and this is my
kazir
, whose name is Aki.” His English was flawless, but delivered in a gravelly, mechanical voice through his armored mask.

The Director and his team gathered in the observation room sat stunned as the dog opened its mouth and said in a high, clear voice, “While we truly regret the situation that led to this meeting, know that we are pleased to speak with your species, and look forward to guiding you through the collision of our races.”

“I told you we have a problem,” the young technician said to the Director, before being waved to silence.

The two aliens sat quietly while they waited for their audience to process what had just happened. Director Spencer sat stone-faced, glaring at the screen. Finally, he said, “Let’s start from the beginning. What are you?”

The two aliens stared at each other for a long moment, as though this was a particularly difficult question. Taking a deep breath, Orak said, “We are two members of what is called a Trine. I am the originator, and Aki is my second. My third is named Kio. Collectively we are called ‘Orakio’. A Trine is a network of souls bonded together through a ritual known to my people.”

Director Spencer simply continued to stare unblinking at the screen. Aki raised a paw and placed it on Orak before he could continue. “I believe his question was a bit more basic. Allow me, please. Orak is an Elv, born on the planet Elva. His race is known as the Elvahn.”

“An Elf?” the Director asked incredulously.

“An
Elv,
” Orak growled. “Your people have been bastardizing the name since the first time we met.”

“The first time?” Director Spencer repeated slowly. “You’ve been here on Earth before?”

“Yes,” Aki interjected. “And that is likely the best place to begin. We were not the first to discover your world. To the best of our knowledge, you were first found millennia ago by a race your kind named the ‘Abbadon.’ The Elvahn were at war with them, and when they discovered that the Abbadon had invaded your world, they came here as well to protect your species from destruction.”

“I know that word,” Director Spencer said, holding up a hand to stop Aki. “It’s Hebrew, from the Old Testament, I believe. What does it refer too, precisely, this ‘Abbadon’?”

“They are monstrous,” Aki shivered, his fur quivering. “Their kind evolved from what you know as insects. The most dominant of them are a type of arachnid that is taller than your species. They have eight limbs, walking on four, and using four to manipulate objects. There are other species, but the spider-like ones are their leaders. They are the most alien creatures we have ever encountered. Their way of thinking and looking at the universe is so strange that we have never been able to find any commonality with them.”

“During the war, my people attempted to exterminate their colonies,” Orak said grimly, bringing his blue-eyed visage close to the camera. “We found one here, where they had established a presence to secure a supply line.”

“A supply line…?” Director Spencer prompted.

“For food,” Orak stated flatly. “They are ravenous, and spread across the universe seeking new creatures to consume. They were ecstatic to find your people. You breed quickly, and are incredibly resilient to…processing. They would drain the blood of their victims repeatedly you see, and your kind were found to replenish well. Once the subject finally died from this process, they would then consume the flesh. They were so enthusiastic about your species that they made a mistake that ultimately cost them the war.”

“Which was?” Director Spencer asked.

“They linked a Bore directly to their home world. The war had drug on for centuries while we tried to track down where they were originating. We eradicated them here on your world, and they were unable to close the Bore in time to stop us from finally discovering their breeding ground. We had already prepared our weapon to finally crush them once we found it, and we implemented the Tragedy immediately.”

“The Tragedy? The Bore? Explain those for us,” Director Spencer said.

Aki raised his paw again, saying, “Please, allow me. I am well-versed in this part. I was in charge of helping maintain the Bore at our outpost. A Bore is a type of aether engine. It is used to link two places and create a portal for ease of travel. Orak’s people, the Elvahn, originally dabbled in propulsion systems to explore the universe. They found out rather quickly that the universe is a truly boring place to just cruise around aimlessly. Fortunately, all the racket they were making attracted the attention of my people. My kind are called the Rydal. We were able to figure out where Elva was located easily and opened up a Bore connecting our worlds, introducing the Elvahn to their first sentient contact. Our kind have been friends for millennia, and have freely traded our technology.”

“As for the Tragedy,” Aki continued. “It was exactly that. We had to stop the Abbadon. We had already developed the weapon to finally defeat them. But when we found their home world, we discovered that the Abbadon had filled it with breeding camps from all manner of species they had encountered. The things we saw there…what they were doing…you cannot imagine the horrors.”

“I can,” Orak interrupted. “You need to understand this. The Abbadon are sentient, but not in any way we understand. Their minds are completely immune to compassion. They had taken species we have no other knowledge of and enslaved them in containment pits, where they were kept solely for breeding and butchering. The Abbadon prefer their food alive. They prefer their food to protest and struggle. They delight in the suffering of their prey, and had developed implements of torture whose sole purpose was to inflict such agony that their victims’ minds were destroyed before they consumed the body. The Tragedy was that we were unable to save all of the souls they had collected. Their world was too large, and there were too many of the monsters. So we activated the weapon. Aki’s people, the Rydal, had modified a Bore so that it would open into a star. Once we had the coordinates of the Abbadon’s world, we opened the other end into their sun, and allowed the plasma to annihilate every living thing present. We console ourselves by saying ‘oh, they were better off dead’….but I know the truth. We didn’t even try. We took one look into the heart of pure, unapologetic evil, and rather than try to even save one innocent, we scorched them from the universe. We don’t even know if some of the species they had enslaved are out there somewhere, or if we committed multiple acts of genocide that day.”

Aki bumped up against Orak, rubbing his shoulder on his agitated companion. “We cannot judge what our ancestors did too harshly. This was centuries before we were even born, and the war had drug on for ages.” Addressing the Director again, Aki said, “This is the Tragedy we honor, that ended the Abbadon’s presence on your world. They had countless colonies unfortunately, and were not entirely destroyed. After witnessing our peoples’ determination to see them brought low, they did finally agree to negotiations. A treaty was forged, protecting any sentient species from contact by
any
of our kind. Your world, and others, were declared ‘hands-off,’ and you were to be allowed to develop and discover on your own. That treaty has held for centuries.”

“Until today,” Orak growled. “When Zion forced open the Bore and stepped foot on your Earth.”

“You’re telling us there are multiple extra-terrestrial species who are aware of Earth, who have actually been here, and were kept at bay by a treaty? A treaty that you have now broken? Not only that, but you announced your arrival by blowing up a hospital and murdering dozens of American citizens?” Director Spencer demanded.

“The murderer you seek is named Zion,” Orak said. “While my Trine was outside the Bore facility, Zion commandeered the aether engine. My father tried to stop him, and we attempted to answer his distress call and avert this disaster. We could not get back in time to prevent him from coming through, so we followed him with the intent of dragging him back through the Bore immediately. The Bore requires intense concentration to maintain, however, and my father was not able to sustain it long enough, or close it normally. The portal collapsed, causing the explosion. We could not find Zion in the rubble, so we attempted to stabilize the area and help the wounded. If you dig him out of that wreckage,
do not
trust him. My people will come for him, and we will do anything we can to help you deal with the aftermath of his actions.”

“We have taken this ‘Zion’ into custody, and will be speaking with him shortly. Do you have any idea what could have motivated him to do something like this?” the Director asked.

“I don’t know,” Orak growled. “What he has done is inexcusable, and he will face the harshest punishments for this crime. The only thing that even seems feasible is that he did this intentionally, in order to rekindle the war with the Abbadon. Near the end of the last conflict, his Trine was captured by the creatures. Zion was the only survivor.”

“His Trine? Were they soldiers, or…?” Director Spencer left the question open-ended.

“No,” Orak replied. “His Trine were what you would think of as ‘medics.’ His Trine was his wife and his daughter. This was before my birth, but I am told the manner of their death was gruesome, even for the Abbadon. Zion was one of the voices that pushed for the Tragedy to be unleashed, and has since lobbied for aggressively pursuing the remaining Abbadon and exterminating their race completely. He may have come here knowing that they cannot resist the temptation your species presents. If they do reappear, it would allow him to continue pursuing his vendetta. Ask him your questions, and if Aki or I can clarify anything, let us know. We regret this situation, more than our limited grasp of your language can express, and will abide here while we await retrieval.”