The Acolytes of Crane "Updated Edition" (36 page)

“Is
he ready?”

“Just
a moment, warden.”

“We
are in position for the disengagement of the vault!” the guard yells out the
usual tirade, “Prisoner number eight-six-seven-five, open request, guns are at
the ready—over.” The warden is standing ready and he looks eager to engage me.
The guard continues, “Prisoner! Stand and face the wall opposite of this vault,
place your hands behind your head, down on your knees, lift your feet off the
ground slightly and lean forward until your head is against the wall.” A pause.
“Prisoner is in the static pose, cover me while I move.”

“Good
job, rookie. Word for word,” the veteran guard says.

“Guns
are hot. I will restrain the prisoner. Cover me while I move,” the rookie says.
His voice is no longer shaky.

I
feel the temporalysis submit my body to its power, and I hit the floor.

“Prisoner.
I want you to know that we have noticed your cooperation. We are considering your
relocation to a more comfortable area of the prison. Can somebody revive the
prisoner, so that he can speak with me? You guards didn’t get the brief?”

“Yessir—y-yes,
warden, I mean,” the rookie says.

I
can feel the tingle of the temporalysis’ power subside from my lips, throat,
and tongue, and then the rest of my head, after the rookie presses the buttons.

“Prisoner.
The Multiversal Council wants there to be no discrepancy in the account today.
They are quite interested in the battle of Jaakruid. I don’t blame them. I,
too, wonder how you survived. If you want to be transferred to the minimum
security level of the prison, you would be certain to give us an exact account
of what was said and what happened. Do you agree?” the warden asks.

“Yes.
What about my son?”

“Your
son is with his mother, but we are watching, and if you even think about
busting out of here, we will destroy everything you hold dear outside of these
walls. Close the vault! Oh, and one last thing. A good friend of yours asked me
to deliver a message. After careful consideration, I decided it was acceptable
to pass it on. He said, ‘Tell Theodore I appreciate his efforts.’ Any idea who
it was?”

“Lincoln.”

His
lack of disagreement confirms that my guess was correct. He steps back. “Close
the vault! Think about what I said, prisoner. Every word. Make it count.”

The
guards huddle around, with guns drawn. One guard removes my temporalysis, and I
lie as still as this floor beneath me. They exit.

Wow.
Now I know for sure Lincoln is here too. That isn’t surprising, considering the
circumstances. As for my son—I don’t find solace in the warden’s assurance of
his safety, but if he is with his mother, then he is safe.

I
know that hate does not bow down to an inkling of hope, but it will cower to
the devotion of many. With the positive developments of the last few days,
springing forth like leaks though a crumbling dam, hope is rising. The days of
my confinement here are numbered.

I
pick up this tablet and begin by sliding my finger across the screen to record.
I worry that I cannot give an entirely accurate account as the warden requests,
but I will do my best to fill in the blanks.

“I
never saw Jaakruid before that day, yet my focus was so strong, I could
visualize all its bamboo-fortified walls, its leafy rooftops, and its
vine-intertwined castle. My fighting force roared on, hungry for success.” 

For
a while, we, my men and I, marched, halted, ran, marched, halted, and ran
again. One thing that my grandpa Marvin told me from his experience in the
service was that a team leader is the tip of the spear. When a leader takes
point, courage is cultivated among his followers.

We
had been on the move for an hour, and my hope was that we could breach the city
of Jaakruid before sunrise.

The
Tritillian world was filling my lungs with clean air from the abundance of
plant life. I was able to bolt through the dense jungle floor of the forest
with ease. I was running, but my strides were quickened by my lifters.

The
forest was alive in the night. The moons were eclipsed by their neighboring
planet. The outer rims of these celestial bodies shone through the mist and
illuminated the forest during the hours prior to the sunrise.

After
such a long march, I just had to take a leak.

‘We
will break here, fifty-fifty security around the perimeter, one soldier watches
while the others rest,’ I called out to my troops.

My
warriors broke into the perimeter to guard off against any insurgents while I
drained the contents of my bladder. It felt as if all the stress had been exonerated
from my body. I have to admit, if I held it any longer my kidneys may have
sprung a leak. Thank goodness Elons did not have the same pressing urge that I
did—ever.

I
took the airborne scout devices from the pouch upon my belt, and released them
to scan the terrain. Using my X23-75’s, I hovered near the shelf of the forest
and listened in on a conversation from two of my Elon fighters as they
conversed between themselves.

‘Mum
gave life to us, for us to immediately go into war?’ an Elon asked his battle
buddy, with a raspy voice.

‘It
isn’t war that made us, love made us. Mum put us to battle for love, for
Theodore-zzz, and for our future free from tyranny,’ another Elon said, buzzing
and lisping.

‘Well
said.’

‘Watch
your sector.’

‘I
am. No one will enter my territory without meeting my arrow’s edge.’

‘You
have been saying that all night.’

‘It
is the truth.’

‘You
two could not hit a moonflower with a cantaloupe,’ Ed said, and the Elons
laughed.

I
swooped in toward my metal friend on my lifters and said, ‘I thought you were
just a robot. I didn’t know you could joke.’

‘I
am a robot, but that does not mean I cannot observe an opportunity to make a
joke. My maker made me so that I could analyze a situation and insert a joke,
but I have not been given the necessary algorithm for emotion.  You will not
see me laugh and if you do, it will sound weird. I only act out humor by its
definition, not its physiological function.’

Ed
was my favorite acquaintance the entire adventure.

Spirits
were high, and it was time for us to pick up. It ailed me to think about all
the unknown dangers in that jungle, but just like late grandpa Marv said, ‘Some
things you just cannot control.’

I
was a fifteen-year-old teenager with an army of Elons, versus two mighty
armies: Dacturon warlords, led by my archenemy Travis, and the Dark Elons, led
by Quasikeum. We were soon to collide.

We
just believed we could win on our esprit de corps alone. The airborne
sphere-like robotic scouts returned to me and projected, for my private viewing
only, a frontal holographic image of a large tree fort city. We were near
Jaakruid.

I
gave the signal to move out, and everyone picked up gear and pushed forward. I
heard the bows clacking quietly against the backs of my Elons.

We
ran using stealth, with only slight resistance. The jungle gradually thickened
from the ground up to about fifteen feet. I drew upon the power of my rolesk to
control the Dietons in the vicinity.

Using
my rolesk, I propelled a massive force ahead, causing the trees to part away from
an opening path through the lush growth. This tactically allowed us to move
rapidly through less-than-friendly terrain, while the platoons of enemies
following us had great difficulty making any progress. Like magic, I had
created an instantaneous spacious labyrinth for every foot I took, accessible
only to us as we moved along. The Elons had no trouble meandering through the
jungle maze, but if I was going to shelter our clandestine advance from the
perception of on-looking evil—I had to be innovative. I followed those thoughts
with uttering of self-assurance: we are ninjas!

We
didn’t lose anyone to the grip of the wood, and I was at the tip of our attack.
Ahead, in the distance, I could see the wooden trunks of what were similar to
redwoods.

The
trunks were as wide as the base of a water tower. This was my signal. We were
very close to Jaakruid. I threw up a solid fist in the air to halt our forward
progression. All Elons within my field of vision stood up straight upon my
command.

‘If
I might have a word, Theodore?’ Ed asked, injecting sound into the silence.

‘Shhh,’
I hushed my robot friend, ‘Ed, relax. I think we are at the base of Jaakruid.
What I will do is send a quarter of our forces in search of the Morlorian to
distract it. If it is even here.’

‘I
must advise against that, Master Theodore. We need the dedication of our full
army to successfully launch a massive assault. To delegate a split away from
the group will invite weakness to our main army. If there is indeed a
Morlorian, we can deal with it as the time arises. We must continue on.’

‘Ed,
I never knew I could find such knowledge in a hunk of metal,’ I said.

‘It
isn’t what you are made of that gives meaning to your existence. It is the
weight of your actions that presents your definitive worth in the end.’

On
the tail end of those words, my raised hand dropped forward to signal the
attack. We clung to our silence, because a surprise strike was our most
effective weapon.

We
passed an outpost that was vacant, and the distance between our enemy and the
forward point of our persistence was closing. We surged against the jungle wall
of Jaakruid like a tidal wave driving up and over, and leaking through.

I
set ablaze with gleaming light my sword Wrath, and ripped through the jungle
wall. My sword easily splintered the wooden barrier, and gave passage for my
Elon warriors.

I
crossed the brink of the wall, and after about three strides, I felt the ground
flee beneath me.

“A
trap!” I shouted.

I
lost my stomach, because I was falling toward a solid bed of dirt. As I dropped
toward the bottom of the trap my ears popped from the depth of the hole.

Just
as my body was to fracture completely against the rocks below—my lifters
elevated me to safety.

I
looked up and saw that I had fallen about fifty feet before my lifters saved
me.

Using
my powerful shoes, I rocketed upward to accompany my army. Dreading the
Morlorian, my amulet warmed my chest. I flew quickly because I knew that there
was danger at ground level.

I
catapulted my body toward safety to the edge of the hole, and just as I broke
free, I saw an enormous green monster thrashing erratically. I could only
assume it was the plant menace, the Morlorian. Five arrows from Elon warriors
surrounding the perimeter above zinged downwards past my body toward the
monster. Ed swooped in to move me away as the Morlorian lashed its green
aloe-like tentacles in my direction.

Its
arms were as wide as a sidewalk and its body as thick as a driveway. It
unleashed its poisoned stench to ensue me into madness. The dastardly creature
sprayed streams of toxic pollination toward me, and I retreated back through
the hole that I had blasted through the palace wall. I reasoned it would be
safer for me outside enemy territory. I searched out higher ground to evade the
poisons.

Just
as I exited though the hole from my previous blast, a puff of the Morlorian’s
toxic pollen brushed by my face and found a path to my lungs through my
inhalation. I was disappointed in my body’s total surrender, but by then I had
already passed out. Veering wildly with my lifters still amok, I crashed softly
atop the branches of a non-sentient tree. The battle raged beneath me, while I
lay atop the treetop structure.

Enraged
at the immobilization of me, their leader, the Elons stormed the Morlorian.
Meanwhile, Ed flew to my aid, carrying the remainder of the deflicontis
mucilage.

‘Swallow
this, Theodore. It is the only way the affliction will pass!’ Ed yelled,
although I was unconscious. He forced the rest of the vial down my throat.

The
medicine did the trick. Within seconds, I was sitting up, taking stock of the
battle raging on below. The morning sky lit up even more as arrows blazed from
one end to the other.

My
vision was still fuzzy, and my hearing was sporadic, thanks to the
after-effects of the poison from the Morlorian. However, there was no mistaking
the searing pain from the amulet upon my chest, as if a burning log was placed
upon it.  Moaning with pain, I clawed at it to remove it from my skin.

That
burning sensation had awakened me to my full senses. Before my eyes, an image
lay that seared itself forever in my head. Right in front of me, my robotic
companion Ed, was split into two from behind, and he was no more.

As
Ed’s two sides, left and right, fell apart from each other, standing behind
Ed’s demise was the person I wished dead from the start. It was the man who
drained pure life from my loving guardians—Travis. He sheathed his sword and
stood with his hands over his hips to address me.