MegaBoys from Outer Space
Chapter 10, Allegiance

Far out in deep space Bendict responded,

“I don’t care if you believe me or not, I think Yelid may be in trouble, Burger was acting strange, it was the Dysynth cocktails he mixed up, Anyway, he sent Yelid’s whole group out of control, I’m going to go back to try to replace them, I’m just asking one of you to come with me, I have an idea where he was last tracked.” Astar shifted uneasily in her Monopod seat, The group she was in, was one sleep period from their destination. They were so close they made landing preparations. The others in her group, Bette and Priness thought it was a mistake to take on Bendict so late in the mission, after he broke with his own group. Astar however saw the advantages of having him with them, and persuaded the girls to give him a chance. Now the boy was talking of leaving them, and going back to meet up with a different group, a rescue mission? And he didn’t want to do it alone.

“Really Bendict, you really think we are going to drop our assignment and fail the course, just to follow you on a wild Squanker hunt?” Bette the group leader answered, in a harsh tone. She more then the others did not want Bendict joining them in the first place, He was an immature boy and had a reputation of being a trouble maker, he and his rude friends.

“Look Bendict, lets land, do our assignment, and if you want, we can check for Yelids status on our way back.” Reasoned Priness, who liked Bendict, she continued,

“We’ll be at our destination by this time tomorrow, we can do our assignment and maybe get it done early, like in five sleep periods or so, I don’t see the need to rush but if you want, we will. Yelids pretty smart, I am sure he’s OK and can take care of himself.” Bendict stared at the communication screen, and shook his head, they hadn’t even heard him.

“I’m sorry Priness, the more I think about it, the more I believe they are in trouble, and I don’t want it on my head, that I did nothing to try to help them, I’m going back, I would like your help, but if not, I’m still going ”

“We’re going to have a private conference Bendict, give us five minuets to decide, we will let you know” Said Bette. After closing his screen, the three girls looked at each other. Bette was shaking her head, as if to say good riddance. Priness would stick with Bette They had an assignment that would count as a large part of their summer grade, they looked at Astar who was sitting quietly in her Monopod, she was thinking how Punim reminded her of her younger brother, It bothered her that they might be in trouble, Bendict seemed sincere. She announced to her group,

“I’ll go with Bendict, You go on without me, I think Mrs Graf will understand my reason for not finishing the assignment.” Bette rolled her eyes and said,

“It’s your funeral, I won’t try to stop you, even though I think you are making a big mistake, How can you trust Bendict?”

“Astar, we need you, won’t you change your mind? We can look for the boys on our way back, really” Priness knew that once Astar made up her mind, little could be done to change it.

Bencict was studying the star chart when Astar re connected.

“OK Bendict, I’ll join you, we will be on our own, you can lock me in and tell me more about what happened, once we set course” They could hear the other girls saying “Good Luck” as they signed off.

When the surveillance cameras came back on line, via satellite the images were staggering, Santa Iglesia was smoldering, forty percent of it’s population were dead, and many more were wounded, worse than that, the Battleship Maryland was sunk, A twisted scrap heap lying at the bottom, with only a hand full of survivors, rescued by the islanders. How could the fighter jets have missed? This was an overt act of War . General Holland cursed under his breath, and called for a meeting of the Security Council at seven this evening after the boys arrive.

The Space boy Yelid was due in Manhattan in forty minutes, to be joined with his friend, who was spotted off the Jersey shore coming up for breath. Holland wanted to speak to the boys, the nation security was at stake and he had lots of questions; For the time being he would follow the original plan to greet the boys and make them honorary American citizens, Their allegiance would be needed now, more then ever, he would talk with them in private after the ceremonies.

The survivors on the Island identified two space giants, but unlike the first friendly boy, these two were wicked and delighted in the killing. The Giants who destroyed the Resort Island disappeared from the maps, as quickly as they had appeared; their crafts had a cloaking technology! Star trek wasn’t totally BS after all, The General thought, What else do they have, Deflector shields? A subordinate handed a yellow envelope to the General; Breaking news, it was the text of Burgers message. The General read it and scowled,

“Not good, not good at all” He thought to himself, he slammed his fist on the hardwood desktop, and cursed again. What the hell are we up against? Two killer giants are on the loose, and nobody knows where the hell they are or what they want, and two more are coming to New York City. The possibilities for disaster were staggering, their weapons failed to make a mark on these Giants. These two are said to be “Friendly” but only one of them had proved it. His thoughts were interrupted by a commotion outside,

“General Holland, the boys have been spotted off the harbor of New York, It’s a real freak show out there Sir” Throngs had turned out to see the boys. People mobbed the water front, and crowded on all the rooftops, to view the Giant from outer space. All the cameras were recording the momentous event; Human kinds first contact with Aliens, who just happen to look like us, only on a gigantic scale.

Buddy the K was with the Mayor and the other distinguished guests, Dr Baxter was among the group, he had spoken with Cory. The sky was overcast and dramatic, even though it was early June, the men wore windbreakers. The view from the Height buildings helicopter pad was awesome, the city lay sprawled out to the south and north, The building was situated on the banks of the East River, in the mid Forties. Not far from the United Nations. The Bedem boys would stand much taller then the Height building. It was estimated that the top of the eighty story structure would only be as tall as the boys elbow. A convenient height for being picked up and carried, In truth, Buddy’s first impression upon seeing Yelid approaching the harbor was, along the lines of , “Oh my Lord, what have we brought upon ourselves? Heaven help us” Yelid was an awesome and terrifying sight. To know on paper that a boy is almost nine hundred feet tall, does not eliminate the total shock one experiences upon seeing this colossus alive and approaching. The reality of it was, it looked like a slim eleven year old boy, with handsome features, and a well proportioned figure. One standing, living and breathing, and measuring nine hundred frigen feet tall, a portable monolith.

His foots length was large enough to step on five buses lined up, his weight would be in the millions of tons. We must appear as insects. Buddy thought back on the term Swift used, “Man Mountain” only in this case it was a boy. A young boy at that. As Yelid approached it was apparent that he towered well over eighty percent of the skyscrapers in the city. Only the tallest are higher, and there are only a few of those.

Buddy who took his place at the remote transmitter they had set up, was given the cue, and went on the air live before his captivated world wide audience. He would be honest, but would not mention the events that had occurred on the island of Santa Iglesia, not just yet, although horrified by the reports, he wanted to maintain an upbeat demeanor.

“Hello Yelid, can you hear me?” Yelid was expecting the call he would get when the city was in sight; he would stop and await instructions. He wanted to make sure that every thing was done right. This was an important moment, his grade depended on it.

He knew that just by his being at their city, the tiny inhabitants were taking an incredible risk. Yelid was sure they were prepared to defend themselves, of course he did not tell them of his defensive weapons, nor could they guess all the items on his thin utility strap, that circled from his right shoulder, crossing his chest and twisting back under his left arm, like an arrow quiver, without the arrows.

The media was in an uproar, how could they ignore the fact that the boy was walking shamelessly before Thousands, Millions! Those watching the event on television, with children, were in a dilemma; should they shield their childrens´ eyes given the historic importance of the event? Some were heard to say, “Ugh, Get some clothing on that boy” Realizing that the request was impossible. “Shame on him! What would his parents think?” His proportions were perfect, and staggering. “Have they no sense of decency on their world? Modesty?” The answer to that last one was obvious. It was up to the media to broadcast the raw feed, or to mask it digitally, that was the choice of most stations with advertisers, but the independents were just taking live feed and broadcasting to the world.

“I can hear you Buddy, and I can see your city, It’s magnificent, thank you for inviting me” He whispered. Indeed the city was the largest population center that Yelid had seen on Earth. He could not imagine from his first views of the planet, how large and sprawling the metropolis would be, even at it’s scaled down size. Like Bedem’s city of Londor, it housed millions. He pulled out his two remote magnifier viewers from his strap, and set them off to the Island before him. They would provide his Earth people sized views. They glided over the water past the statue of Liberty, and hovered low by Trade Center One. They floated at street level, looking up the boulevard. The guided viewers were four foot tall spheres, each with a wrap around lens. They hovered gracefully, and did not knock into objects.

Yelids comment about the cities beauty elicited applause from the group on the broadcast site. Just a good kid, Buddy thought. The realization that he would be picked up and carried by the giant made him queasy, he did not like heights, his fear of falling had to be put in check, as liaison to Earths first alien. His position today was too important for personal issues. He spoke into the mike, checking the quality of his voice,

“Well Yelid, Welcome to New York City, Now hold still and wave to all the good people watching you, from all over the world.” Yelid raised is right hand and waved, he was standing three quarters of a mile from the city and towered knee deep in the waters off the harbor, His height was awesome even from a distance.

“Yelid, I want you to tell the people that you will not hurt them, and that we are only going to walk around the Island, after you take your oath of citizenship, and pledge your allegiance to our great country.” Yelid was the perfect diplomat. He felt a bit confined by the conditions and limitations the little people set for him, yet he could truly understand why they would feel his presence a threat. The buildings were remarkably intricate, but they were easily demolished if that were his choice. A simple walk across town, could destroy hundreds of structures, and kill thousands. Mrs Graf would really be angry. It struck Yelid as funny, that he was here to study the life on alien worlds, and now it was he, who was being studied.

Yelid was given permission to slowly enter the Cities harbor. He took short deliberate steps. The water was now ankle deep, The bottom soft with silt and mud that oozed between his toes, He would have to be careful to maintain his balance. This would be so for the duration of his tour around the city. He would really like to come on shore and walk on solid ground. He placed his hands on his waist and surveyed the Cityscape, He could make out the building with the blue lights on the top along side the river about halfway up the island, That was where Buddy was waiting, Looking around he noted that the majority of the buildings before him were from his knee, to his waist in height. They were densely constructed, with little room between them. He pictured himself wading through the buildings blazing a trail of destruction. There were much smaller buildings inland on the islands surroundings. Not so many smaller buildings on the cities south side.

When Yelid came to the first low span that crossed from Brooklyn to Mannhatten, he paused. A smile broke out on his face as a tiny train puffing tiny bursts of smoke, crossed the trestle, at his feet. A misplaced step would easily destroy the structure and the train. Yelid waited for the permission to advance. Small sea birds flew past his feet, and small ships were clearing a way for him to enter the harbor.

The beacon from Yelids Monopod was the faintest, as his ship suffered the most damage. Its landing was by Burgers deductions within a six hundred mile circle, right here on the globe. There were no signals now, not from the craft, and not from the Diwrecker unit. Slade surveyed the desolate landscape below, a snow storm had just made the visual detection of Yelids craft that much harder. Burger constructed a grid on his navigator; the crashed Monopod was within this area. They would cross the grid as many times as it took to replace the downed craft.

“Hey Burger I got an idea” Burger glared into the screen,

“What’s my name?” Slade looked quizzical,

“Even when we are alone?” He asked.

“Even when we are alone” Burger replied. He had decided that he wanted his name change to be permanent for this world, He would be Haman the Crusher

“So whats your great idea, Og of Bashin?” Slade had been thinking about this, so he ventured cautiously,

“Most likely the little people on this planet would be looking for the Monopod too, it’s the only one that crashed on solid ground, right?” Burger said nothing, so Slade continued,

“My analytics discovered that the tiny creatures give off heat, it’s very slight, but it measures on the instruments. If they found the Monopod, most likely there would be a lot of them there, so we just have to look for the place with the most heat signatures” Burger listened, was quiet as he contemplated what Slade was saying, he then smiled and nodded

“Slade, my good man, I think you are on to something, When did you become smart, huh?”

“Call me Og of Bashin” Slade corrected, and laughed, happy to have found favor with his friend. Burger smiled as he adjusted some dials on his navigation consul, he would look for trace hints of heat,. They would show up noticeably on map as red dots. Burger put their ships on auto-flight search.

Punim sat out of communication, The older boys did not want to talk to him, and would not let him call anyone. Not even his favorite lunch could change his mood. He was unhappy and did not like these two older boys because of what they had done back on the island. The scants the older boys killed were not like the ones that attacked him. This troubled him. He was attacked first, then he stepped on them. The ones he saw on the island were different, Maybe a different kind of scant. Punim wanted to talk to his brother more than ever.

“There we go, we got it! locking in” Said Burger, satisfied that they had found the last ship. Slade and Burger landed close enough to each other, the crippled ship of Yelid, lay sloping at an odd angle, with it’s base embedded in the ice. Burger and Slade exited their craft and circled the downed Monopod. There was no sign of Yelid, and no sign of the Diwrecker unit, Burger frowned. perhaps it might be buried under the bottom of the pod, knocked loose from the crash, or maybe it’s hidden on the side, under the snow. It was apparent that Yelid was not dead, and maybe he had found the Unit. This was not good. He needed to think of some way to leverage a deal so that Yelid, if he had it, would turn over the Diwrecker evidence.

“Slade, come and give me a hand with this, we got to upright the Monopod.” It was clear, the Diwrecker unit was gone. Yelid most likely had it. It was then that he noticed the red stains on the Monopod, where he had been resting his hand. Upon closer inspection he smiled, and called to Slade,

“You were right, meet the “heat units” that brought us here. It looks like we got company” Tiny filaments of line webbed the craft, and crawling up and down the lines were trails of humans, the Russian expedition.

Commander Vladamir was in charge of the unit, he had two hundred men with him, his goal was to explore and gain entry into the alien craft and analyze its technology. The craft looked seamless but the impact had opened what could have been a panel. Other then that, there appeared no other means of entry. Using a Helicopter he had the men drop lines down the craft, from the narrow domed top, to the ground, a thousand feet below. It resembled a net. His men had to work through the bad weather system, blinding snow and high winds. Using the lines, his men scaled the smooth walls of the craft, from the ground up, as daftly as spiders on a web. The group science leaders after six hours, reported that there was just no way to gain access. His men dangled from the lines, encircling the Monopod, some using lazer cutters, others using conventional drills and none of them making progress. Even the Diamond bit drills failed to make a scratch.

Vladamir’s blood ran cold as his men reported sighting three more egg shaped craft approaching. Rumors had been circulating about the destruction of the Island paradise, and how three craft had left the area.

“Incoming UFO’s” Reported the second in command. Vladamir gave the evacuation orders, realizing that it would take almost an hour to clear the men from the side of the craft. The three craft landed in close proximity, and Vladamir observed the two giant boys getting out. The third craft just hovered. The Commander looked in wonder as the side of the craft just opened revealing the interior. So that’s how it’s done, Vladamir thought to himself, he had some of his men recording the action. The two Giants were not mindful of his men, not just yet. They approached the downed craft and circled it, as if looking for something. The boys were almost as tall as their craft, Those scrambling down the lines doubled their efforts to get clear of the ship and not get noticed by the Giants. Vladamir marveled at their huge size and bare condition, as if completely unaffected by the freezing weather. Thick skin he figured. Apparently the Giants did not replace what they were looking for. His men scurried down the lines rapidly as the colossal boys approached. The dark haired one who had inspected the craft from up close, was now leaning on the craft, still unaware of the five men he had crushed under his open palm. The red spots caught his attention, as he brought out his magnifier he smiled,

“Well, look what we have here, A scant infestation, as Punim would say. He raised his hand to chest level, and reached out, crushing five more men, dangling on their lines, onto the side of the ship, their blood spattered on the white shiny surface. Switching on his translator unit from his utility strap, Burger said,

“Who is trespassing on our property?” The climbers on the lines trembled in fear. They tried to shimmy down their lines to avoid the giant boys notice.

“Get out of there Now!” Vladamir ordered his troupes. His men were already zipping down the lines, toward the ground. Private Ivonavitch was high on the craft, just below the boys eye level. He pleaded with his maker,

“Don’t let him see me, don’t let him see me!” Burger noticed him and reached to pluck him off the side, between his two fingers. His men watched as he was reduced to a red stain on the grinning boys finger. Again with this stupid covering? Worthless, he thought.

“Who dares tamper with our ship? Where is your leader? I want to speak with him now or we will squash each and every one of you” Burgers voice boomed. His comrade, the white haired Giant smashed dozens of dangling men with his open hand, mucking their bodies easily. The two hundred were easy targets for the boys. Vladamir, responsible for his unit spoke up,

“Giant Boy, Stop killing my men. I am the Captain here and I order you to stop”

“Is that so” Answered Burger, who upon receiving the vocal signal, turned up his hearing device.

“You order me to stop” Burger cruelly smiled, He grabbed several of the filaments, dangling fifteen men six hundred feet up. He shook the lines and all of the men fell into Burgers open palm. Burger activated his magnifier, this would be good, he wanted to see it up close as he closed his fist upon the screaming men.

“I am Haman the Destroyer, you do not give me orders. Me and Og over there, We give the orders, Og,” Burger commanded,

“Pick fifteen tiny people and crush them as you want, make them pay for their trespass.

Theo was dangling on the line in terror, he had seen his companions wiped out by the giant figure, now the second was approaching him and his unit, he could drop the line and fall fifty stories to his death, that might be preferable to being mashed in the giants paw. He watched as Slade picked up his friends from off the side of the ship, placed them on the ground and squashing them under his bare feet snuffing out their lives as one does an ant. They screamed in terror as the Giant boys foot descended on them. Now the giant was reaching out for him. Theo let loose his line and fell, but not to the ground, he landed on the giants left upturned palm, The giants hand was like a flesh colored island. Theo could feel the warmth of the giant’s body, against the cold air, it might have seemed under other circumstances, comfortable.

“I got one Haman” Slade replied, I’m going to activate the magnifier and see what these tiny things are made of.” Theo fell in fear as the other hand swooped over him, two gigantic fingers reaching down toward him. Theo’s arm was clamped between the fingers, and he felt himself lifted off the palm, over the snowy void. He now dangled before the Giants unmerciful face. Looking to the ground far below, his eyes looked down the boys enormous body. He was in the boys hand, as a fly ready to have it’s wings plucked. All he could do was scream with the knowledge that it would be his last. Noo. As the other hand clamped his body fast. His arm separated with a snap, as the muscle and ligament were torn in a spray of blood. His body went into shock.

“This looks so cool” Was Slades response, he wanted to review it from his recording magnifier. But that would wait till later. He continued pulling the spasming bloody body apart.

“I really love the way they crush, Haman” Was Slades awe full response after he killed his fifteen men, wiping his gory hands on his bare thighs, leaving red streaks.

“Stop killing my men, We can help you, what do you want?” Shouted Vladamir,

“Can you hear me?” Vladamir called out. Burger answered coolly,

“I can hear you, don’t you know it is rude to shout?” He picked up another man dangling from the side of the ship, and smashed it between his thumb and fore finger. The victim coughed blood, as his body was compressed to jelly. Burger had red spots on his cheek, as he had been holding the victim up close to see the kill.

“And just how can you help me?” Burger asked. “Can you get me Asynth?”

“Yes” Vladamir shouted, involuntarily, “Just stop killing my men” Burger plucked two more men from the side of the craft, and smiled as he closed his fist, crushing them within. Their crimson blood gushed from the edge of Burgers clenched fist.

“And just where are you going to get Asynth?” Burger asked in an exaggerated questioning voice.

“The others, the Isis guys tried, and failed me, so tell me, where will you get it?”

“The same place you get your food” Vladamir replied.

“From my ships food processor?”

“Yes” Vladamir quickly responded. Burger replied with contempt.

“You are stupid as well as small” A group of men, reached the ground and were running for the safety of their vehicles, they caught Burgers eye. He in anger brought his bare foot over them, hovered it for a moment, and then lowered it crushing the men and their trucks.

“Asynth is contraband,” He lectured,

“And our machines will not reproduce it, If you had any brains you would know that”Burger picked another commando off the side of the ship, held him in his hand as he proceeded to crush the head to a pulp with his thumbnail and fore finger.

“That pink stuff must be your brains” quipped Burger. Vladamir winced, and continued boldly.

“We have hackers, we can get into your food program, and make it produce this Asynth, you want.” Now Burgers curiosity was aroused.

“You can do that?” He asked , incredulously. He called his friend,

“Hey Og, they say they can get our ships unit to make Asynth, what do you think?” Slade shook his head and said,

“They lie, kill them all” He smashed his open palm against the ship, leaving seven more bloody streaks dripping down the side of the craft. Burger figured it was worth a try, so he said,

“I will give you three of your hours to make me a bottle full, if not we will smash each and every one of you beneath our feet” Burger laughed as Vladamir responded,

“We need more time than that. We have to bring in our best hackers, and we need access to your crafts food programs, give us a full day, starting now.” Burger responded,

“All right you have one day to produce my drink, if you fail, I will not only kill you, but I will go to your home city and crush every man, woman and child there as well”

Boldly Vladamir spoke up,

“And what will you do for us if we succeed?” Burger was taken aback, he did not think these tiny things would be asking for terms,

“If you succeed, Og and I will let you live” He was surprised when Vladamir responded,

“Not good enough. If we make your Asynth, you must vow your loyalty to us, and fight for our cause, you will use your strength to destroy our enemies and their cities, Do this and my people will follow you. Agreed?” Burger was amused, It seemed that all the people of this planet were intent on destroying each other. First the members of ISIS who wanted to take over the planet. And now this group. Slade was occupied crushing those fleeing on the ground, when Burger gave the order to hold off. For now.

“We are going to give them a chance to get me Asynth, lets go and rest up in our Monopods, they will have their experts here soon enough to look over our systems.

Slade complied, he was tired, and it had been a long day.

Vladamir contacted his base and requested after much explanation, the countries finest experts in hacking. His country would be dealing with the most advanced technology ever encountered, but they must not fail, seventy five of his men had been killed savagely within minutes, with as much effort as it took to step on a roach. If he failed to produce the contraband, the rest of his troop would be slaughtered, and the giants would then make their way through the heartland, to their cities. He did not want to see what would happen next. On the other hand, if they succeeded, their dream of world domination would be within reach.