"General Cassidy, I do not care what assurances you have received from CHRYS and Robert. I do not care that they have sedated the Bug. Nor do I care that both Doctor Vester and Brian condone this dangerous venture. I emphatically believe that we are needlessly risking Robby’s, Robert’s life. Do we really have to use children to fight this battle?"

"Can you offer a better alternative General Butler? Mandy, Robert’s unique abilities could provide the information we need to save humankind from extinction. If this decision were yours to make, what would you do?"

"What I had to, I suppose. I am glad you are carrying the ball on this one as I have enough trouble living with what I did to Timothy Adkins and his party. However, Tom, this is different, as I could not love Robby more if he were my child."

"I know that Mandy, and that is why I have decided to take charge of this aspect of our research. Rest assured that Robby means a lot to me as well. Though he witnessed the unfortunate death of Mr. Grout, Robby remains determined to carry out this telepathic encounter with the Z-RET. For what its worth, should Robert die like Mr. Grout, this boy will die as a man."

"Robert, please remember what I said. Do not attempt to open a debate with this creature."

"Newton, I intend to restrict my contact with the Bug to a very superficial level if it will permit me to do so. Besides, CHRYS has assured me he will break our link if I fail to comply with your instructions."

"Robert, bear in mind that the Z-RET instantaneously fired every synaptic junction in Mr. Grout’s brain less than twenty-four hours after the mistreatment it suffered at our hands. Do not place too much faith in the effectiveness of the buffer and break contact the instant you sense any sort of danger from this creature’s reaction to your presence."

"Newton, you are beginning to repeat you’re self. CHRYS, is the buffer ready?"

"It is Robert. Please take your position at the interface."

After Robert sat in a chair next to a complex device, Newton settled a helmet over his head and asked, "Do the contacts feel comfortable?"

"They do and I am ready to begin. CHRYS, please turn on the buffer."

Suddenly, he knew that a mind of monstrous power was cautiously attempting to learn about the bodiless entity that just entered its chamber of captivity. Astonishingly, this malevolent creature offered up a short array of graphic mental images depicting events from a memory of many lives.

Robert quickly realized that the repetitive nature of these images clearly suggested a desire to exchange information. Robert’s offer of an image, remembered from a Tri-D presentation showing the sudden disappearance of those taken by the Z-RETS, elicited a response showing a Z-RET operating a complex control panel.

The captive then offered a series of aerial views of Portland as seen from an ever-decreasing altitude followed by a series of blank frames ending with a final image of the capture chamber. Robert’s response showing the physical layout of the capture complex concluded with a mental portrayal of the birth of a human child. Response from the Z-RET began with a series of images showing a smaller Z-RET molting into a larger size after each feeding. On the fifth such occasion, the creature reproduced in the fashion unique to the Z-RET species.

The next query from the prisoner focused on the robotic equipment within the capture chamber as it offered up an image of each unit. Robert responded with an image of each unit in use and unfortunately presented an image of a device taking a tissue sample for the lab. Seemingly agitated, the creature unthinkingly offered up terrifying images depicting the brutal nature of its ancestor’s creation in the laboratory of Zann and then closed its mind to the intruder.

As he monitored the exchange between Robert and the captive, Newton’s sense of alarm grew when the creature abruptly broke off the exchange. Suddenly, Robert convulsively left his chair and fell to the floor. The emergency medical team led by Doctor Lee, burst into the room to care for Robert as Newton softly asked, "CHRYS?"

"Yes Newton. I can hear you."

"Thank God! I was afraid for you. Are you okay?"

"No, it burned me. Newton, it burned me."

"Hold on CHRYS. I will be with you in a few minutes."

Newton hit the door at a dead run closely followed by Robert and the medical team that sought to examine him. Upon entering Newton’s lab, Newton busied himself at his equipment as Robert asked, "CHRYS?"

Speaking slowly and with difficulty, CHRYS responded with, "Hello Robby, I think I am dying. The creature burned my organic matrix. I did not want you to know that I served as the buffer. Do not blame Newton, as this was my decision. I feel almost human now as I hurt and feel afraid just like a human. You made me feel like a human too, Robby. Because through you, I learned to feel love." After a failed attempt to speak Robby’s name, CHRYS fell silent and expired. Before the tears came, Doctor Lee mercifully injected Robert with a powerful sedative.

"Attention Moletown. Today, while helping Robert with the interrogation of our captive, a killing bolt of mental energy launched against Robert destroyed CHRYS when he intercepted it. Doctor Lee reports that Robert suffered no injuries during this encounter though the captive died soon after its telepathic assault."

"Moments ago, General Thomas Cassidy signed a retroactive document inducting CHRYS into the Army with the rank of Major. He also nominated CHRYS for the Medal of Honor. CHRYS always wished that he could be like us and in the end became more."

"Attention, Moletown. We have just received an OP Net, Alpha One Alert. Enemy attack seems likely. Evacuate all MAX Tunnel facilities immediately. A power shutdown of nonessential services will occur in ten minutes. Moments ago, Fort Delaney launched a Mjolnir against a Raptor. The Raptor survived the attack although its subsequent erratic flight suggested that it sustained some damage. This event may lead the Z-RETS to conclude that the Slug we destroyed suffered a similar attack."

"Attention, Moletown. Set Condition Red. Repeat, set Condition Red. Moments ago, the Buzzards at the Superdome departed on what may prove to be a retaliatory attack. We can expect a Z-RET attack within ten minutes."

"Tom, why did they let our friends at HEP Three attack the Raptor? With the capture objectives met they had no reason to take this risk."

"I do not believe they had authorization to launch an attack. I fear the Z-RETS will soon hit us with everything a Buzzard can deliver. Not even the Z-RETS can be stupid enough to ignore the obvious."

"Attention, Moletown. Secure from Condition Red."

"Moletown has survived a savage strike by the Z-RETS that closed the tunnels of Highway 26, the Westside Max tunnels, and the zoo elevators under tons of molten rock according to preliminary damage assessments. Apparently Fort Delaney and HEP Three suffered even heavier damage when the Z-RET attack virtually melted down their Sugar Loaf Mountain home in Maryland."

"Brian, Brian, Wake up and answer the COM call!" Robby, in response to Brian’s answer, simply said, "We can kill them! Please setup a nine a.m. Tac meeting. Now, I am going turn in for a couple of hours of sleep"

"Well folks, as usual we are recording this meeting for posterity. Commence recording. I am Lieutenant General Thomas Cassidy, the Commanding Officer of the Oregon Military District. Today is May 21, 2046 and it is my privilege to chair this meeting of the District= s Tactical Planning Committee. I will now call the roll for the record."

"Doctor Brian Butler"

"Present"

"Doctor James Wright"

"Present"

"Doctor Darrell Vester"

"Present"

"Brigadier General Rick Ayers"

"Present"

"Colonel Karen Lee"

"Present"

"Major General Amanda Johnson Butler"

"Present"

"Robert Jordan"

"Present"

"That completes the roll with the notable exception of Major CHRYS who bravely died for the sake of human kind. I will now turn to Doctor Butler who called for this meeting."

"Thank you General Cassidy. I requested this meeting in response to a three a.m. COM call by Robert who simply said, ‘We can kill them! Please setup a nine a.m. Tac meeting.’ Robert, please explain how we can kill the Bugs."

"Thank you Doctor Butler! I am still digesting the information I received during my mental rapport with the Bug that murdered CHRYS. I did manage to learn that the Bugs are a monstrous amalgam of plant, insect, and mammalian life, the laboratory product of genetic engineering. They are truly pathetic creatures that live only to eat and are destined to eat their way to extinction. I believe it may be possible to exploit the fact that they reproduce by a process of binary fission that can be a fatal event if it occurs during their first molt. In response, their creator altered their DNA to move their reproductive cycle to the fifth molt. Doctor Butler, would you please comment on the feasibility of altering their DNA to return their reproductive cycle to their first molt?"

"Robert, if their creator made the change in their DNA you mentioned, we will be able to find evidence of its work and should not have any problems in reversing it. However, I would like to know how we would disseminate this alteration of their DNA?"

"I can’t tell you to achieve that result other than to ask you to consider the Bugs hairy integument, our hate filled volunteers, a viral vector, Yersina Pestis, and the common rat flea."

Tactical Planning Committee members watched in astonishment as Doctor Butler rose to his feet with a rapid motion that sent his chair flying across the room. "Yes! Yersina Pestis, the causative organism of the plague known as the Black Death was widely disseminated by the common rat flea that should find comfort and subsistence in the hairy integument of the Bugs. As a living creature, the rat flea would survive a wormhole journey while infected with a viral vector carrying the molt altering DNA. Unfortunately, we would have to rely on human volunteers to deliver the infected fleas. I move to adjourn as Doctor Vester and I have a challenging task to tackle ASAP."

Before complying with Doctor Butler’s request, General Cassidy asked, "Robert, do you have anything more you wish to bring to the Committee’s attention?"

"I do indeed! Brian the elder and others physically sent the Temporal Voyager back through time while under attack by the Bugs. After we defeat the Bugs in our era, we must do better and master their technology. I hope that we can use our knowledge and their equipment to send an army of flea bearing animals aboard their ship well before it reaches the Earth. It is my fervent hope that someday we can say of all our dead, they will live again."

The Committee fell silent as they struggled to grasp the full implications of Robert’s startling contribution. Then in a humble voice Doctor Butler said, "Robert, I feared that we all faced the same defeat described by Brian, the elder. Now, using mental powers we will never have, you have charted a path to a stupendous victory."

Robert responded with; "Let us not forget that CHRYS made it possible for me to survive my mental encounter with the bug. If I were not available, you would have found a way for CHRYS to acquire the information I discovered. If we win this battle it will be won through a group effort of many ordinary people."

"Furthermore, the HEP program is based on a false premise as proven by the lesson inherent in the successful resolution of the viral outbreak known as the ‘Red Death.’ The future of humankind is not dependent on the genes of man, but upon his genius."

"All those who focused on their fear of the emerging viruses ignored the obvious. Humankind possesses something far more adaptive than the mere mutational ability of a virus to enhance its deadliness. Humanity can think, reason, and learn."

After a long moment of quiet contemplation, General Cassidy said, "Meeting adjourned! Let us get to work folks! We have a war to win!"

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