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Will moved about his newly acquired quarters, familiarizing himself with the layout and technology. While his Aeolian uniform was not uncomfortable in the least, it still was a welcome relief to get the helmet off for a while. He emptied the contents of his gear pack out on a table. Not certain whether or not the atmosphere within the complex was purified of the microscopic spores, he decided he'd better continue taking doses of the anti-toxin. After using the inhaler, he picked up a pair of scissors and went over to a mirror where he carefully cut and trimmed his hairstyle in a manner that would cover both his ears and forehead. With his hair styled as such, in the event he needed to remove the helmet in the presence of the Aeolians, his physical appearance wouldn't be immediately given away as an impostor. Will reasoned that since the Aeolians were shape-shifters, it shouldn't really matter whose face he had. These uniforms seem to be the key to identifying their men anyway. Grooming completed, he shifted his attention to the other side of the room at what appeared to be a data console. The design looked vaguely familiar, but the Aeolian symbols left Will clueless. It was most likely a multi-functional device, probably combining communications and data retrieval, patched into a central mainframe somewhere in the complex. He touched a symbol on the upper right of the console, but the unit just "beeped" in protest. Touching another box produced similar results. If only he could figure out which one was the "on" button, he thought. Suddenly, something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Turning his head toward the table, he noted a bright yellow glow emanating from the pile of belongings he'd just emptied from his gear pack. He got to his feet and made his way over to investigate. The pulsing light was coming from within the portable quantum containment field unit Will had found on board the Jupiter 2. The containment field was still active, but it was the screen of the game unit itself that was seemingly alive with the bright light. Will picked up the unit to get a better look at the vid-game inside. As he did the game stopped flashing, and an image formed on the small screen. The display itself was no larger than Will's palm, so he strained to make out the image through the containment unit. The quantum field, however, gave the screen of the vid-game a distorted, obscure look. Not knowing why, Will decided to deactivate the containment unit. After all, how dangerous could it really be? He reached around to the bottom of the unit and pulled the plunger to the out position, unlocking the power switch, which he then turned off. He slid the vid-game out of the deactivated containment unit and turned it over to examine the screen. What he saw on the small display caught him completely off-guard. There, plain as day, was a schematic diagram, albeit small, of the alien data console he had been trying to activate. The game screen changed, zooming in on the lower central area of the console. To his amazement once again, the Aeolian symbols had been replaced with English translations. "What the?" he mumbled to himself out loud. The vid-game then proceeded to run through a brief tutorial of the data console operation. Deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth, he'd worry about the "whys" of this incredible situation later. Right now, he needed to learn as much as possible about the complex and, more importantly, where his family was being held. The console was not terribly difficult to operate once he learned a few of the basics. He was able to locate diagrams and maps of the complex. Each time a new screen appeared on the alien console, J.D.'s vid-game would display an identical screen with translations provided. He spent the better part of an hour diligently studying and memorizing information about the base. He learned of a detainment area within a sector two levels below where he was now, but he had trouble tapping into any live or real-time information. It seemed he could only access archived databases. As if sensing his problem, the vid-game screen began to flash and emitted a buzz to get Will's attention. Will picked up the unit. The screen cleared itself and suddenly displayed the following: "Visually enable real-time database access?" Will pushed the "yes" button on the unit and the vid-game displayed: "Patch vid-game unit into console's data port" and displayed a schematic of where the port was located. Will located the external data port and, as instructed, connected the two units with a utility cable that he found already attached. The two screens flashed and synchronized in a scrolling pattern. Will watch in amazement as the scrolling slowed and stopped. "Please state real-time data required," said a mechanized voice emitting from the console's speaker. The console's abrupt switch into a vocal reply mode gave Will such a start, he literally fell off his chair. "What the hell are you and how did you get into this vid-game unit?" exclaimed Will, no longer able to contain his need to understand what was going on. "Information base unable to supply adequate answer at present time," replied the console. "However, virtual external random data analysis will continue to process information and provide a satisfactory answer to this query as more statistics becomes available." "Whatever. Okay then, can you tell me where my family -- that is, where the captive crew members of the Jupiter 2 spacecraft are being held?" asked Will. "Yes, I can provide that information," answered the console. Realizing he was going to have to ask for it, Will continued, "Okay, so tell me where they are and the status of their condition." "Five captive crew members of spacecraft Jupiter 2 detained on Sigma level, detainment units 3 through 5," replied the console. "One member currently still at large and unaccounted for outside of this complex. The remaining prisoners are in a state of highly stressed and or agitated psychological and physical condition, however all profile scans reveal that they are functioning within normal parameters for humanoid life forms." Will went on to ask about security and procedures to access the detainment level. Once satisfied he had enough knowledge to gain entry, he turned his attention to another subject of curiosity. "What can you tell me about an Aeolian military officer by the name of Prather?" he asked. "Accessing personnel files," answered the console. "Codename: Prather found. Security access code required." "Is that unusual?" asked Will. "No," replied the data console. "However, normal military personnel profiles require security access codes level 3. Codename: Prather requires security code level 9." "So there is a little more to the guy than meets the eye," commented Will. "Can you access level 9 security data?" "One moment. I will attempt data introgression," stated the console. "Alert. Validation exception retrieving data access." "What does that mean?" asked Will. "Attempting to access and retrieve classified files has caused a general protection fault error. A security breach will be reported and traced to this data portal in 15 seconds," warned the voice from the console. "Attempting to locate proper code to circumvent alert." "Oh great," sighed Will, trying to quickly think up an excuse that he could use to explain the security violation. "Security breach will be reported in 10 seconds," continued the console voice, "9…, 8…, 7…, 6…, 5…, 4… - security code level 9 retrieved. Security breach circumvented. Accessing files on Codename: Prather. Now displaying onscreen -- use the touch pad pressure slide to scroll down. I have now thoroughly familiarized myself with the Aeolian mainframe data filters and should be able to provide instant translation onscreen. Use of the video game unit will no longer be necessary." Will hit the jackpot with this file. What came up on the screen was a very highly classified document. Not only did it reveal Prather's true identity, but it also provided intelligence relating to the nature of the Aeolian complex, the attack on the Jupiter 2, and the reason behind the Ghelan disguises. And if that weren't enough, it even contained an added "bonus" for Will - reference information regarding the mind wash technique used on Dr. Smith and the Aeolian sabotage of the Earth's colonization mission to Alpha Centauri. The document explained that Will's good buddy Prather was actually a highly ranking Aeolian science officer conducting "field observation" prior to taking command of the military and scientific operations of this complex. "I knew he wasn't your typical military Joe Blow," whispered Will to himself. "Okay, one mystery solved. Let's see what this place is all about," he muttered as he continued on to the next page of the file. Ghelan scientists were correct when they expressed confusion over the Aeolian sabotage of the Jupiter 2. Earth was, indeed by their standards, a technologically inferior planet of no special interest to the Aeolians. It was actually the flight plan to the Alpha Centauri system that was the cause of their intervention and sinister actions. Unknown to Earth scientists, a direct path from Earth to the Alpha Centauri system takes a spacecraft straight through a small spatial body called the Antilian Nebula. The reason this knowledge is unknown on Earth, is because the Aeolians have taken extreme measures over the eons to hide its existence from the rest of the galaxy - extreme, as in sabotage, subterfuge and even global genocide. In Earth's case, their repeated acts of sabotage were effective over time, causing the planet to seek other means to solve their overpopulation and global warming problems. The efforts to colonize earth-like planets in a distant galaxies were replaced when scientific advances were made in planetary ecology and environmental design technology, effectively enabling the colonization of several planets within their own solar system. The report failed to make mention, however, as to why the Aeolians so closely guarded the Antilian Nebula. The only reference made was the importance of keeping the Nebula "pure" and free of alien intrusion - which led directly to the establishment of the Aeolian complex he was now inside. The complex was not military in nature. The base was actually a scientific development facility established to test and enhance stolen technology obtained by the Aeolians from their many conquests. Their current project involved perfecting prototype trans-spatial boarding beam technology they obtained from an alien civilization they had recently annihilated. The false distress signal that had lured the Jupiter 2 was standard procedure to attract ships into the sector so the Aeolians could field test their ill-gotten equipment in live situations. The Aeolians had recently come to the realization that before long they would no longer be able to keep the Antilian Nebula a secret from the rest of the galaxy. More and more civilized planets were beginning to enter their own "space ages," while other more technologically advance ones were developing even more sophisticated forms of transportation. Space travel throughout the galaxy was becoming commonplace. This fact posed a serious threat to the security of the Antilian Nebula. It was only a matter of time before its existence became known, so it was absolutely critical the Aeolians perfect this new boarding beam technology in order to board any force field or stealth shield protected ships approaching the nebula. Aeolian spies had recently uncovered Ghelan plans to increase their own space exploratory efforts. Until now, Ghela had not posed much of a threat to Aeolis, as they had been locked in a generations-long planetary power struggle and civil war. With the H'rlax now in control, Ghela was looking to the stars, and specifically a new hidden nebula they had recently discovered - the Antilian Nebula, to be precise. The Aeolians were planning an all out invasion of Ghela in order to prevent this from occurring. They planned to accomplish this by slowly replacing the crews of Ghelan military and scientific vessels with Aeolian look-alikes. This base served as the training ground for the Ghelan military infiltrators. Within a section of the document entitled "Methods," Will was able to learn just how Dr. Smith had been utilized as a saboteur on the Jupiter 2 mission. The file indicated that the sabotage of Earth's many Jupiter series colonization vessels was accomplished utilizing an Aeolian technological breakthrough. They had previously relied upon psychological and chemically induced brainwash procedures, which they had perfected over the years. However, the mind wash used on the "Earth Intervention Mission," as they called it, was technological in nature, rather than purely psychological. Dr. Smith's mind wash "programming" was actually accomplished via a sub-microscopic implant placed in the neural stem, undetectable when actively transmitting because of stealth technology circuits built in that actually produce neural activity normally associated with a psychological mind wash. Under normal circumstances, the chips become inactive after 14 days and shut down because they simply run out of power. This both confirmed what Ghelan scientists had conjectured several years ago, and explained the behavioural change that occurred in Dr. Smith so early on from cold-blooded psychopath to merely self-serving, but good-natured troublemaker. But the document provided no clue as to why the implant had become active again after so long a period. "Hey, vid-game, or data console - whatever you are, are you still with me?" asked Will. "Yes," answered the data console. "Can you find anything in this report or any other files related to the neural implants mentioned in this file?" asked Will. "What I want to know is if there's any documentation of an implant regaining power after its deactivation." "One moment while video editor rasterizes data archives," replied the console. Something was puzzling Will in the back of his head as he watched the display screen flash, scroll and then stop. A document appeared and the console translated it into English for Will. "Documentation of neural implant technology studies onscreen," reported the console. "What do you need that for?" a new voice replied from behind Will. "Why not just ask me?" Will jumped up out of his chair with a start and spun around to see Prather standing a few feet behind him grinning slyly, and casually leaning against the wall with his arms folded across his chest. "What the hell are you doing in here?" blurted Will. "I guess I might ask you the same question," replied Prather in an amused tone. Will stared at Prather, not exactly certain what to say. He'd been facing the door, so he knew the Aeolian hadn't come through the room's entrance. Yet here he was, and he obviously knew that Will was up to his hips into dirt that "Thrstyn" had no business digging in. "I, um…" Will started to speak, but Prather cut him off. "You, um, what?" asked Prather with a sarcastic smile, moving toward the young man. "You, um, just happened to stumble upon these top secret, classified files by accident? You, um, just happened to notice that your communications console has suddenly developed artificial intelligence? Or, let me see… oh yes! You, um… forgot to tell me that you're not really Aeolian and that your name is William Robinson?" Will was dumbstruck and said nothing. "Ah yes! That's the one, right?" grinned Prather. Damn, Will thought to himself. He'd gotten so close. How could his have happened? He'd been so careful. But in the midst of his mental flogging, it suddenly struck him as odd as to why Prather was here alone. Why no guards? And why the hell was he stupidly grinning so much? Will's pensive expression betrayed his thoughts to the alien. "Ah! Why, indeed?" asked Prather. "I know what you're asking yourself. But I've also heard you're a pretty smart guy. Hell, I guess you'd have to be to get this far. So think about it -- and if you're half as smart as I've been told, you'll tell me the answer." Will sorted over the situation in his mind. His thoughts flashed randomly like lightning bolts and suddenly realized the obvious. It was too simple. "You're not who they think you are either," he surmised. "Hah! See? I told you you could do it!" declared Prather, patting Will firmly on the shoulder. "Care to make an educated guess now? You've got all the clues…," he grabbed Will by the shoulders and spun him around to face the data console and pointed, " …right in front of you." What is this, Will thought to himself, some kind of a test? He hadn't been put through this kind of a drill since he went through interrogation training on Ghela. Ghela? Clues right in front of him? "You're not a shape-shifter at all. You're Ghelan," asserted Will. "Probably H'rlaxian, if I'm not mistaken, aren't you?" "I knew you wouldn't disappoint me, Robinson," gleamed Prather. "Though we've never met before, I've heard stories about you. And they told me you were one of our best." "Okay, now it's my turn," said Will. "How'd you know? What'd I do to tip you off?" "Oh, don't worry, you were very convincing," laughed Prather. "I actually didn't have a clue until just a short while ago when I was down in the detention area and noticed that you weren't among the Jupiter 2 captives being held. Once I knew that, things just sort of clicked in my head and it made sense." "So, what was all that cloak and dagger you were spouting off earlier when you thought I was Thrstyn - about filling me in on something?" asked Will. Prather explained that months ago the H'rlax had intercepted information about the Aeolians' intentions to launch an attack of some sort on Ghela. "Prather" was, indeed, a highly ranking science officer in the Aeolian hierarchy. However, the real Prather had been ingeniously intercepted 6 months ago in a complexly orchestrated switch en route to Aeolis and replaced by the H'rlaxian agent who now stood before Will. Prather and his crew had already adopted Ghelan forms in anticipation of the invasion, so the switch was all that much easier. The H'rlaxian agent spent every moment since the switch learning as much as he could about the Aeolians and their previous conquests, while using his position of power to finally convince the Aeolian High Council that he should take command of the scientific development complex on this planet. His original plan was to infiltrate the complex, learn the Aeolian's full intentions and sabotage as much technology in the process as he could in the process before he could be caught. For that, though, he'd need to build trust in a few individuals that he could manipulate into unwittingly helping him accomplish his task. He'd chosen "Thrstyn" as his first unknowing "accomplice." "For a while I was beginning to believe I might even have been able to turn you into a sympathizer," confessed the Ghelan. "I could tell you were different from most of the others I'd met here - you had a brain for starters - and figured that there's got to be a few Aeolians who don't agree with what they're chieftains are doing." "I don't know if I'd count on that from what I've seen," remarked Will. "So, can you tell me what your real name is?" "Why don't you just stick to calling me Prather," answered the Ghelan. "It's probably safer for both of us right now not to have too many names. I'm going to have enough of a problem calling you 'Thrstyn.'" "Okay," replied Will. "But tell me, you said you just came from the detention area. Did you see my family? Are they all right?" "Don't worry, they look fine," reassured Prather. "One thing you should know about, though. They boy we were searching for outside, he's your nephew, right?" "Yes, why? Is there news about him?" asked Will anxiously. "I thought I'd found some telltale evidence back at my ship this afternoon that might have indicated he'd made it safely back there." "Well, I don't know about that," replied Prather. "But when I got downstairs, I was rather surprised to see he was back in custody." "What? Why'd they have an all out search going then?" questioned Will. "That's what I was wondering about," stated Prather. "I did some discreet nosing around and discovered the one downstairs is not your nephew. He one of them." "What?!" exclaimed Will. "Yeah, I had about the same reaction," said Prather. "Seems that some bright boy in the military command figured out who you all were and brought up dossiers on the crew of the Jupiter 2 when it left Earth. Problem was, they didn't have anything on your nephew." "He wasn't even born back then," interrupted Will. "Typical Aeolian military simple-mindedness," chuckled Prather. "They think he's you! Their profile of the crew shows three males, three females. You're listed as being the youngest male, so they made the assumption. One of the military geniuses here heard something about you being a member of the H'rlax at one time, so he ordered the youngest male captive be replaced. They think it's another perfect way to infiltrate our ranks." "For such an advanced race, they certainly behave like a bunch of halfwits," interjected Will. "How the hell have they gotten so far?" "They used to be much more thorough. But they've become lazy in their overconfidence. They neglect the basics," answered Prather. "Just look around here. Does it honestly surprise you from what you've observed so far?" "No, I guess it doesn't - luckily for us," surmised Will. "So, what's our next move?" "Well, I've got discretionary command of my mission," replied Prather, "which means I can alter my directives as I see fit due to circumstantial changes. I see no reason why we can't work together to accomplish both of our objectives - stopping the invasion of Ghela and rescuing your family." "When is 'Prather' supposed to assume command of the base?" asked Will. "The announcement will be made shortly," answered Prather. "After that happens, we'll have much more latitude to move around freely. Oh, by the way, Thrstyn's being promoted to become my right hand lieutenant." "I am?" grinned Will in mock surprise. "How thoughtful of you." "Think nothing of it," replied Prather. "I think we'll work together nicely." Will's thoughts suddenly turned to Drykr, wondering if he'd found his way to the complex underground. He was about to mention him to Prather, but stopped himself. While he was relatively certain Prather was on the up and up, he decided to keep his android trump card a secret for the time being - just in case. "So, tell me," said Prather walking over to the data console and looking at the display. "How is it that this console seems to have a life of its own, and why are you so curious about Aeolian mindwash technology." "The console part is still a mystery to me," answered Will. "It has something to do with this electronic unit I picked up while we were at the Jupiter 2 this afternoon. It belongs to my nephew. But the circuitry's been altered somehow, and it's functioning as a real-time database, seemingly with artificial intelligence. I haven't had a chance to figure out why. As for my interest in the mindwash technology? Well, the man they used it on to sabotage our mission is, well was actually a pretty good friend of mine years ago. According to this data file, the implant only has enough power to last about two weeks, then the person is suppose to return to normal." "Right, I've become pretty familiar with the Aeolis 14 Umbra mindwash technology over the past several months," remarked Prather. "One of my objectives is to learn as much as I can about their espionage procedures and techniques." "Well, somehow the implant in Dr. Smith became active again almost three years after it should have died out," explained Will. "I was hoping to find some explanation or documentation as to why this might have occurred, and see if there's anything that can be done to remedy it." "But that would have had to have been over 15 years ago," remarked Prather. "Why the interest now? Are you telling me this man has been walking around for 15 years with an active mindwash implant?" "No, we've had him in suspended animation," replied Will. "If there's something in this database that can help, I want to find it. I owe him that much. I know he couldn't help his actions, but I'm afraid I haven't been terribly understanding or a very good friend." "Well, I can tell you, I've poured over those documents and I've never heard of an implanted chip becoming active again," said Prather. "They've managed to reactivate a few unhosted implants in laboratory test environments a couple of times, but those were extreme cases and only occurred when the implant was exposed to anti-matter radiation, which isn't too common around the galaxy." "Anti-matter? Oh boy…" groaned Will. "You're saying he was exposed to anti-matter radiation - and lived?" asked Prather incredulously. "I guess we all were, in a way" answered Will. "Not too long before Dr. Smith's personality altered back, we had an experience with anti-matter beings. He and I were even transported into an anti-matter dimension." "Okay, well, that's not exactly the same as being exposed to anti-matter radiation, but I suppose it's close enough," concurred Prather. "And if the implant's reaction to the anti-matter dimension is anything like its reaction to anti-matter radiation, it's a really good thing that you put him in stasis." "Oh? Why's that?" questioned Will. Prather explained that in the laboratory tests, after being exposed to anti-matter, the implants would go into a period of inactivity, metamorphicizing into an anti-matter silicon power core surrounded by residual positive matter electrons, which acted like a containment field for the anti-matter energy. The mindwash chip would then reactivate and function normally for a while. However it would eventually become unstable and actually explode from the strain of the positive matter currents coming in constant contact with the residual anti-matter charge within the chip. If Dr. Smith had not been put into suspended animation, the positive matter electrical currents produced by his brainwave activity would have eventually caused the same type of instability and explosive reaction as in the lab tests. "So you see, you actually saved his life by putting him in stasis," explained Prather. "But wait a minute. I didn't see anyone in suspended animation on board your ship. Where is he? On Ghela?" Will's face turned ashen. "He's not in stasis, Prather. When we crashed, our freezing tubes were damaged. I put him into an artificial coma before I left the ship, but our Robot must have revived him to escape prior to our search team showing up there this afternoon." "That's not good, Robinson," said Prather gravely. "But wait a minute," interjected Will remembering the Robot's shock treatment. "Our Robot applied a series of high voltage charges to Dr. Smith's brain to knock him out when he was attacking me. According to our instruments, it caused the mindwash to go into some kind of a remission. Do you think the electrical blasts could have damaged the implant? Maybe we've got nothing to worry about here." "High voltage charges damage an anti-matter silicon power core?" asked Prather. "Come on man, you're kidding yourself, right? More than likely what happened is that the charge recreated or recharged the eroded positive matter containment field. At best, it just bought your friend some additional time." "How much time do you think we've got?" asked Will. "That's
hard to say," answered the Ghelan. "The man is a walking
time-bomb, though. Have you ever seen an anti-matter explosion? Not
a pretty sight." *
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