The Space-Pirate Saga in Quest for the Jewel of Hrykl (without Caple), part VII, Segment B
When Doug came to, he was seated comfortably in a tall armchair. The first thing he noticed was Princess Feylein, dressed in a pale blue robe, seated on the other side of the room. Beside her stood four tall men, armed and alert. They were presumably palace guards. He saw that the room was lavish, with a bed and dark stained furniture. He noticed that Princess Feylein was smiling. He could tell by the soldiers' stances what types of hand-to-hand combat styles they knew.
He realized, despite the clarity of his thoughts, his brain was on fire.
"You should be proud of yourself, Doug Jones," the woman said, crossing her legs. "Usually, when we interrogate criminals, we don't give them a room in the palace."
"I'm grateful," Doug said. "Only next time, you don't have to poison me. If there's one thing I can do, it's go quietly."
"Yes... My apologies. You must understand, however, that a man of such advanced aerial tactics as yourself must also be a very well trained agent. Earth, was it?"
"It was," Doug said, his eyes shifting to the floor. "I'm not sure what it is now."
"I have a couple of questions for you, Doug, and I want you to answer me honestly," the princess said. She leaned forward. "Do you think you can do that?"
"Is that the first question, or do I only have to be honest for every question after that one?"
Doug watched her face as she tried to conceal a smile. She stood and made for the door. "If I were any kind of leader," she said, "I would drug you again, for being glib. Instead, I've decided that you will be my guest for dinner. No man could be as witty as you and still be dangerous. You will answer my questions then. We eat in ten minutes."
"I'm flattered," Doug said.
"Here," said a guard. The garment bag he handed Doug contained a high-collared black tunic, pressed slacks, and a pair of slippers.
"Fancy."
It was apparent, from the weight of his flight suit, that everything had been removed. He placed it in a closet near the bed and donned his dinner wear.
"You guys don't have to watch," Doug said, as he pulled on the tunic. "I'm awful shy."
"If he weren't a guest, I would beat him senseless with the butt of my rifle," said one of the guards.
"See, this kind of bothers me," Doug said. "You guys speak perfect English. Are you human beings?"
"Let's get walking," another guard said.
Once they had left the room, Doug was positive that they were in a palace. The corridors were lined with paintings and sculptures; tall ceilings and stone passages twisted and turned like a labyrinth. Many of the paintings looked rather old, and several looked like Feylein.
When they arrived at the banquet hall, Princess Feylein was already seated. The guards sat Doug down, whispered something to the princess, and left the two alone.
"Yes," she said.
"'Yes'?" Doug asked. "What on Earth are you talking about?"
She laughed. "An interesting choice of words, Doug. 'Yes' as in, 'Yes I am a human female.' We are all human here on Dirac-I. It's one of three Earth colonies remaining after the invasion."
"Hiyprets..." Doug said.
"Not initially," Feylein said. She tugged at the hem of her high-collared robe. "Initially it was the Lycons. They invaded from the shadows... they were already there. I'm getting ahead of myself. About... when did you say you were from?"
"You believe me?" Doug asked. He dropped his fork.
"We tapped your head." She reached across the table and touched the i/o port. "It was a little tricky, searching through your head while you were sedated. But don't worry, I took care of that personally."
"Wow. A princess, a hacker--"
"A Dirac Ace, too. But relax. I'm the only one that knows your thoughts."
"Somehow, that's not very comforting," Doug said, retrieving his utensil.
"About 300 years after... your time, Ly Co. developed a type of human-robot hybrid. They built them, of course. They weren't a species that reproduced or anything. It was more like... alarm clocks, or blenders."
"Or weapons?"
Feylein sighed. "Yes. Unfortunately, after another 300 years of implementing and installing them as bodyguards, police, you name it, they rebelled. They started building copies of themselves, attacking the populace; they looked exactly like humans. They went bad, Doug. There were small pockets of resistance, but all of the upper echelon stuff was in the hands of the Lycons. It was easier to program something and forget it. Maybe three million humans escaped with their lives. It wasn't until a more dangerous species than humans came that Lycons could be removed from powers. That's where your Hiyprets come in."
"They want me to help them," Doug said. "They pulled us through time to the futur--the present. They told us we could save the humans. But then, they also told us that humans were extinct."
"Us? There are more of you?" She leaned forward. "You have friends coming?"
"You got awfully jittery all of a sudden, princess," Doug said.
"Feylein," she said, taking his hand. "Please. Do you have friends coming?"
"No. They were sent all over, to... uh," Doug stumbled.
"Why are you here, Doug Jones, Master of the Sky? I pray you are not here for the reason I believe you are."
There was no point in disguising his intentions: he was a prisoner. A very confused prisoner.
"I'm here to retrieve the shard from the Jewel of Hrykl," he said.
Doug watched her eyes close, and she squeezed his hand.
"It's supposed to be a power source," Doug said. He was sure she already knew, but he couldn't stop talking. "Squalway told us that we could save the human beings, who were all extinct, if we retrieved the jewel shards. Three of my--" he paused, "four of my friends came with me. I don't know what I'm doing. I have no idea where I am. I don't know how to contact them. All I know is that if I get that jewel shard, I might have a chance to fix the future, you know? I might have a chance to make things better for everyone."
Feylein's eyes remained closed through his story. Finally, after a long pause, she opened her eyes.
"The shard is a very powerful source of energy," she said. She licked her lips. "But what you have just said is enough to receive the death penalty on this planet."
"What?" Doug, more than ever, was incredibly confused. "What did I say?"
"Doug," Feylein sighed. "The Jewel shard is inside of me. To remove the jewel is to kill me."
"Yee gads," Doug said. "Yee gads. I don't even know what's going on anymore. I was only trying to help."
Feylein opened her mouth as if to speak, and suddenly the wail of sirens filled the air.
"Oh no." Feylein's eyes bulged, and tears slid down both cheeks. "The sirens. The air raid sirens. They've come to finish us off."
"Who?" Doug asked. He was still very, very confused. "The humans? The... Lycons?"
She took a deep breath.
"Both. If you want to help... now is the time."
"Yee gads," Doug said. "Yee gads."
He realized, despite the clarity of his thoughts, his brain was on fire.
"You should be proud of yourself, Doug Jones," the woman said, crossing her legs. "Usually, when we interrogate criminals, we don't give them a room in the palace."
"I'm grateful," Doug said. "Only next time, you don't have to poison me. If there's one thing I can do, it's go quietly."
"Yes... My apologies. You must understand, however, that a man of such advanced aerial tactics as yourself must also be a very well trained agent. Earth, was it?"
"It was," Doug said, his eyes shifting to the floor. "I'm not sure what it is now."
"I have a couple of questions for you, Doug, and I want you to answer me honestly," the princess said. She leaned forward. "Do you think you can do that?"
"Is that the first question, or do I only have to be honest for every question after that one?"
Doug watched her face as she tried to conceal a smile. She stood and made for the door. "If I were any kind of leader," she said, "I would drug you again, for being glib. Instead, I've decided that you will be my guest for dinner. No man could be as witty as you and still be dangerous. You will answer my questions then. We eat in ten minutes."
"I'm flattered," Doug said.
"Here," said a guard. The garment bag he handed Doug contained a high-collared black tunic, pressed slacks, and a pair of slippers.
"Fancy."
It was apparent, from the weight of his flight suit, that everything had been removed. He placed it in a closet near the bed and donned his dinner wear.
"You guys don't have to watch," Doug said, as he pulled on the tunic. "I'm awful shy."
"If he weren't a guest, I would beat him senseless with the butt of my rifle," said one of the guards.
"See, this kind of bothers me," Doug said. "You guys speak perfect English. Are you human beings?"
"Let's get walking," another guard said.
Once they had left the room, Doug was positive that they were in a palace. The corridors were lined with paintings and sculptures; tall ceilings and stone passages twisted and turned like a labyrinth. Many of the paintings looked rather old, and several looked like Feylein.
When they arrived at the banquet hall, Princess Feylein was already seated. The guards sat Doug down, whispered something to the princess, and left the two alone.
"Yes," she said.
"'Yes'?" Doug asked. "What on Earth are you talking about?"
She laughed. "An interesting choice of words, Doug. 'Yes' as in, 'Yes I am a human female.' We are all human here on Dirac-I. It's one of three Earth colonies remaining after the invasion."
"Hiyprets..." Doug said.
"Not initially," Feylein said. She tugged at the hem of her high-collared robe. "Initially it was the Lycons. They invaded from the shadows... they were already there. I'm getting ahead of myself. About... when did you say you were from?"
"You believe me?" Doug asked. He dropped his fork.
"We tapped your head." She reached across the table and touched the i/o port. "It was a little tricky, searching through your head while you were sedated. But don't worry, I took care of that personally."
"Wow. A princess, a hacker--"
"A Dirac Ace, too. But relax. I'm the only one that knows your thoughts."
"Somehow, that's not very comforting," Doug said, retrieving his utensil.
"About 300 years after... your time, Ly Co. developed a type of human-robot hybrid. They built them, of course. They weren't a species that reproduced or anything. It was more like... alarm clocks, or blenders."
"Or weapons?"
Feylein sighed. "Yes. Unfortunately, after another 300 years of implementing and installing them as bodyguards, police, you name it, they rebelled. They started building copies of themselves, attacking the populace; they looked exactly like humans. They went bad, Doug. There were small pockets of resistance, but all of the upper echelon stuff was in the hands of the Lycons. It was easier to program something and forget it. Maybe three million humans escaped with their lives. It wasn't until a more dangerous species than humans came that Lycons could be removed from powers. That's where your Hiyprets come in."
"They want me to help them," Doug said. "They pulled us through time to the futur--the present. They told us we could save the humans. But then, they also told us that humans were extinct."
"Us? There are more of you?" She leaned forward. "You have friends coming?"
"You got awfully jittery all of a sudden, princess," Doug said.
"Feylein," she said, taking his hand. "Please. Do you have friends coming?"
"No. They were sent all over, to... uh," Doug stumbled.
"Why are you here, Doug Jones, Master of the Sky? I pray you are not here for the reason I believe you are."
There was no point in disguising his intentions: he was a prisoner. A very confused prisoner.
"I'm here to retrieve the shard from the Jewel of Hrykl," he said.
Doug watched her eyes close, and she squeezed his hand.
"It's supposed to be a power source," Doug said. He was sure she already knew, but he couldn't stop talking. "Squalway told us that we could save the human beings, who were all extinct, if we retrieved the jewel shards. Three of my--" he paused, "four of my friends came with me. I don't know what I'm doing. I have no idea where I am. I don't know how to contact them. All I know is that if I get that jewel shard, I might have a chance to fix the future, you know? I might have a chance to make things better for everyone."
Feylein's eyes remained closed through his story. Finally, after a long pause, she opened her eyes.
"The shard is a very powerful source of energy," she said. She licked her lips. "But what you have just said is enough to receive the death penalty on this planet."
"What?" Doug, more than ever, was incredibly confused. "What did I say?"
"Doug," Feylein sighed. "The Jewel shard is inside of me. To remove the jewel is to kill me."
"Yee gads," Doug said. "Yee gads. I don't even know what's going on anymore. I was only trying to help."
Feylein opened her mouth as if to speak, and suddenly the wail of sirens filled the air.
"Oh no." Feylein's eyes bulged, and tears slid down both cheeks. "The sirens. The air raid sirens. They've come to finish us off."
"Who?" Doug asked. He was still very, very confused. "The humans? The... Lycons?"
She took a deep breath.
"Both. If you want to help... now is the time."
"Yee gads," Doug said. "Yee gads."