Its less than a day later, and Vaso and I are half a galaxy away, on a grey airless moon. By cupping our hands over our brows, we can scoop up stray light waves reflected from the planet and get a broad look at the surface below.
Vaso sneers at the world below. "I don't trust Sixth Columnists, General. They're an unstable bunch, every lot of them. And they splintering apart. Hard to be sure what bent their worship takes."
"Don't worry. They rarely a threat. Religious kooks. Beggars and dreamers, mostly. Not the most reliable sort, I'll give you that, but at least they fight for what they believe in. And given our available resources, we'll not be getting better intelligence reports." Truth be told, the only advantage to the Sixth Column movement was how spread out it was. Keep popping up all over the universe, as underdeveloped species encounter the super wizards race. The various cults usually waver somewhere between foolish adulation and obsessive stalking. But there'll always be strategic use for people who'll literally do anything you ask.
"Still. I'd rather we had reinforcements." He pauses, then adds, "We can call back for Trifko, sir."
Ah. This at last. "No, Vaso, we can't. Someone had to stay behind and watch the prison. Too many monsters and crazies frozen in those cells. Couldn't leave them unguarded. 'Sides, if we try to send a message that far, there's a chance it'll be overheard, and Hoag will learn I've violated the terms of my exile."
"If he's discovered there..."
"Trifko understood the sacrifice I asked of him. As did Cvjetko. They recognized a greater good than themselves and did their duty. Like soldiers." Sharper than I meant to make it, but I need to nip this insubordination in the bud.
Vaso looks shocked. Not insulted. Embarrassed. "Sir. Yes, sir," he replies.
Better to move this along, give us something productive to worry about. I point down to the planet, "This is Volsci. A world on the border of Mummy Machine territory. They've barely managed space travel. I don't think they've even made it up here to their moon yet. But they've some decent enough observatories, and we've made sure the Sixth Column believers amongst them have been watching the skies for us. We should be able to get a general report on Planet M. Or at least, we'll find out if the boy's made his way there yet."
Vaso nods. "Should I take point?"
"No. You stay in the bird's nest. I'll do it myself." There's a worried look on his face, so I reassure him with smile and a pat to his back. "No judgement on you, Vaso. I've been stuck in one place for a long time with little but frozen inmates for company. The old man just wants a chance to stretch his legs."
"Yes, General."
I stand up and draw my fusion over my shoulders, the protective red light settling around me like a comfortable pea coat. "Stay low. Be ready to cover me," I say, then I launched myself at the surface.
Volsci's a planet of thin green skies and rolling blue grass hills. Water speeds 'round in millions of twisting rivers but never settles into anything bigger than a narrow lake. It means the bipedal humanoids here don't want for a transportation system beyond sleek and clever watercraft. On past visits, it made the horizon look like a living thing, with innumerable coloured points whizzing along arteries of stream and creeks.
But not now. The rivers are empty. Not a single ship on them. The night airwaves are quiet. No radio waves. No cellular signals. The world isn't dead. Farms look to be recently tended. None of the structures look overgrown or ruined. Unlit. Maybe abandoned. No accidents, no disasters... so where is everyone?
Make my way to the tallest peak on the planet's equator. At the top is a scientific facility with a magnificent stellar observatory. Its walls are decorated with massive murals of glowing stellar gods... unsurprisingly. The people of Volsci always had been curious astronomers, but when they'd visited by Super Wizards From Space, that curiosity had turned into cultural dogma. Awed by our immense power, they developed a research-based religion and a determination to learn everything they could about us. To emulate us. And if possible, to become us.
All good reasons to go for a dramatic entrance, then. I hold up a closed fist to the night sky, a signal for Vaso to hold his position. Grabbing the shoulders of my illuminated coat, I fling the red light out thin and wide. Its bathes the entire mountain top with its blood hue. Should give everything a theatrically appropriate menace. I glide into the observatory's main dome, passing a gigantic telescope and touching down in a dim cavernous room.
The only light is the one I cast myself. The floor's an impressive mosaic of blue and gold triangles. Half the instruments are powered and operating. Piled up printouts and flashing displays are long ignored. No one at their stations. Not a good sign.
But I'm not alone.
I can sense movement Keeping to the other side of doorways, staying down the long black halls where my light does reach. A clumping shuffling mass hinting of a large group trying to stay hidden. Someone. or several someones. Maybe they can fill me in on what's happened here. "I can see you there. Come on out and meet me. I mean you no harm." I can feel the increased agitation. Nobody show themselves. I start marching toward them, calling out, "I'm a visitor to your world. You know my kind. I'm a Super Wizard From Space."
I step in something... wet. Uh. Looking down, I lift my boot out of a viscous liquid puddling across the floor. Looks like blood. Cold and congealed. No, that's not right. There's too much across too large a surface.
"Wizard...?" The first thrumming voice from the darkness.
Stepping back, I can see its my own light that giving the puddle the red hue. It's more of a gold. A golden yellow.
"Wizzzard? SZzzuper WizzZZard?" Other voices joining in. A growing droning mass. A familiar buzzing noise. Surrounding me.
The puddle shifts. Bubbles and boils up into form and substance. As the gel rise, I can see its semi-transparent. Oddly geometrical lines weaved within. Circuits caught in honey.
I retreat several steps. Pull my light back around myself, harden it into a shield between me and the growing liquid mass. Damn. Damn.
The shape bulges and compresses in waves, piling up in uneven fits.
The circuitry within flickers to life, emulating a complex nervous system in a growingly humanoid form.
Then it screeches. Loud static and louder feedback. Audio systems screaming before they're fully formed.
"...wiizzzaard wiizZZAArd WIZZZard..." the buzzing's a discordant dirge. The sound coming from everywhere now. The halls, the doors, the walls, the floor.
Its a rumble. Its a crash.
Its an ambush.
The gelatinous clump settles into a small female form. A feeble shape, with bits sized wrong for her scraggly frame. Tiny hands on long arms. Big feet on thin legs. Short mannish hair on a ball of a head.
The encircling cacophony dies with a punctuated, threatening introduction. "SZzzibylla. SZzwarm. And QUEEN!"