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Plait the Prison
Planet
Issue #6
by Tom Zjaba
Chapter Six
Changing Sides
After a few hours, Tredd begins to worry. The clicks are also
worried as they keep clicking away. Tredd wants to go in and see how the Grey
Ranger is faring, but he is not suicidal. He wonders how long he should wait
before he gives up. He keeps hoping the Colonats leave, but he knows that won't
happen. Unlike most humanoids, the insect races are great soldiers and guards.
They are not easily distracted like other races. They will stay on track and not
get bored. Tredd knows this and knows that if the Grey Ranger does not show up
soon, the odds are he never will.
Inside the fortress, the Grey Ranger and Putnar are speaking.
"So you want to see the teleporter. I will show you the teleporter." he says.
"But first, I want someone to come along with us." He then takes out a whistle
and blows it. The sound is very faint to the Grey Ranger, but for its intended
audience, it is quite loud. Within seconds, a Regael appears as if out of thin
air. It is the same one he passed in the street. "You called?" he says in a
voice that is low and menacing. "I would like an escort as I show the Grey
Ranger the teleporter." The Regael looks at him and responds "Let us go." Before
they leave, the Grey Ranger steps in "If you are bringing someone, then I want
to as well." Putnar is surprised by the request, but sees nothing wrong with it.
"Is this a person we can trust?" he asks as he does not want the wrath of his
former boss, coming down on him. The Grey Ranger responds "He is the only person
on this planet that I trust." Putnar then asks "Well, where is this person?" The
Grey Ranger responds "He is waiting outside. His name is Tredd." Putnar looks at
the Regael and says "Can you go and fetch Tredd for me?" The Regael nods and
then disappears into the shadows.
As Tredd sits outside and watches the clicks pace back and
forth, he feels something on his shoulder. He jumps as he feels something tap
him on the shoulder. It is quickly followed by a low and menacing voice "Are you
the one they call Tredd?" He turns to see a giant Regael standing next to him,
tapping him on the shoulder with his staff. "Who wants to know?" he responds as
he tries to move back, doing what he can to distance himself from the Regael. "I
am here to escort you. Are you going to come willingly?" Tredd does not know
what to do. Is this some kind of trap? Everyone fears Regaels. But if he
refuses, he will probably be killed. He then answers "What about the clicks?" He
then points at the two clicks that are really clicking fast. They see the Regael
as well and are scared. The Regael looks over to the Burning Colonants and
clicks at them. They then head over and go after the clicks, who start running.
But the chase is short as their burning spit hits the clicks and soon they find
their legs burned off. They fall to the ground, clicking like mad as they
struggle to crawl away. The Colonants quickly are there to finish the job by
burning them to death. As this is going on the Regael asks "Would you like to go
now or do you want me to leave you to the Colonants?" Tredd looks over at the
burning insects and shudders. "Guess, I am coming." he says as he allows the
Regael to escort him away from the street.
Inside the fortress, the Grey Ranger and Putnar talk.
"Exactly how are you planning on getting into a fortress to disable the shield?"
the Grey Ranger asks. Putnar laughs as he says "Aren't we the impatient one.
First, let us worry about the teleporter and then we will discuss our next
move." This upsets the Grey Ranger as he wonders if he is being set up. He has
seen the fortresses first hand and knows that there is no way he can get in
there. Even with the Burning Colonants and the Regaels, there is still not
enough man power to force their way past the robots. It is a suicide mission.
"But a teleporter is useless as long as the robots are guarding the fortress."
the Grey Ranger says as he tries to get more information out of Putnar. But
Putnar is not biting. He likes keeping the Grey Ranger in the dark, at least
until he feels he can fully trust him. There has been too much invested in this
plan to screw up now. He knows that he needs the Grey Ranger to succeed but he
also knows that the Grey Ranger works for his old boss, the one who he betrayed.
He is quite aware that the Grey Ranger was sent here to kill him or at least to
make him pay up. He knows this because he faked the scroll that said to leave
the Grey Ranger in Bugtown. He also forged the scroll that he was to deliver. He
knows that word will get back to his old boss, but in the few weeks it takes, he
will either be off this planet or have died trying. Either way, he will not have
to worry about it.
The Regael is directing Tredd through the dark fortress. The
dimly lit torches do little to make him feel safe. As he moves along, he keeps
moving past Burning Colonants. As they look at him, he feels a chill down his
spine. Any one of them can quickly end his life. This makes him very nervous.
But his only other option was to be killed by the Burning Colonants that are
waiting outside. Not much of a choice, die now or die later. So he continues to
follow the Regael as they weave their way through the fortress. Questions keep
popping in his head. Where is he going? Why did they not kill him along with the
clicks? Why did they kill the clicks? His imagination runs wild as he thinks of
answers to the questions. While he is not certain, he guesses that they could
not extract any information out of the Grey Ranger and decided to see if they
could get him to talk. What kind of torture could they have to force him to
talk? He shudders at the very thought of it. One of the problems with Plait is
when you have an almost anything goes society, people get very creative in their
means of torture. Without the fear of legal repercussions, some humanoids have
found some extremely sadistic means of torture.
When Tredd and the Regael enter the room, he sees the Grey
Ranger and Putnar the Giant talking. He runs over to the Grey Ranger and says
"You're alive! I thought for sure you were dead." The Grey Ranger looks at him
with his emotionless eyes and says "They have a teleporter." A shocked look
comes over Tredd's face. Part is from what the Grey Ranger just told him and
part of it is because he was hoping for some kind of response to his being
worried. "They have a what?" he asks as he wants to make sure he heard it right.
"They have a teleporter. I had them get you so you could see it." The stunned
look remains on his face. He now knows why he was brought here but there are
still many unanswered questions. "But why did you have the clicks killed?" he
asks Putnar. "We did not want any witnesses. I want the word to get out that
your group was killed." Putnar says. That makes sense to Tredd. He's not sure
that he completely agrees with it, but it makes sense. The Grey Ranger then
turns to Putnar and says "We are all here, let's see this teleporter." Putnar
laughs and says "You have waited long enough. Let us go." He then goes into
another room with the rest of the group following him. Inside, he puts his
massive hands into two holes in the wall and pulls the wall slowly out. He
strains at the heavy weight as the wall is quite thick. Once he pulls it out,
they see a tunnel behind it. He reaches over to the wall and grabs a torch off
it and steps into the tunnel. "Follow me." he says as he enters the darkness.
The torch cuts through the pitch blackness as he moves down the crudely dug
tunnel. The men follow him as the feel the ground descending. It is a slow
decline, so there is no problems with footing. Between the descent and the air
getting colder, they can tell that they are headed underground.
Their descent takes a good half hour of steadying descending.
They can tell they have reached their destination when they see light up ahead.
That and the ground begins to get flat again. As they come to the end of the
tunnel, they come to a large cavern that is full of activity. The Grey Ranger is
amazed at what looks like a miniature city. All around is the hustle and bustle
of Colonants. Like earth ants, they are constantly on the move. Some are
carrying stuff while others are busy working. As they look around, there must be
hundreds of different Colonants moving around. And from the various colors, they
can tell there are numerous types. As they stare in amazement, Putnar speaks up
"Welcome to my main headquarters. I apologize for the long trip to get here but
we needed to be far underground to stay hidden from the eyes." The Grey Ranger
even shows some shock on his face at the sheer size of the operation. He is
amazed that Putnar was able to keep something like this hidden. Now he
understands why Putnar does not need his boss anymore. With an army like this,
he could easily defeat him. But he cannot help but wonder where he fits in all
this. "With an army like this, why do you need me?" the Grey Ranger asks. Putnar
looks at him and says "To take out the robots, of course." The robots? Is Putnar
insane. The Grey Ranger knows his strength far exceeds most humanoids on this
planet, but he is no match for the robots. Those things are made to take out an
army, let alone one person. "I cannot defeat a robot. They are too powerful for
me." he replies. Putnar laughs at the response. "You don't need to defeat it,
just control it." he replies. None of this is making sense to the Grey Ranger.
How is he supposed to control the robots? "How do you expect me to do that?" he
asks as he is confused. Putnar laughs as he says "Why are you asking me? Your
race has the power to control machinery." Now the Grey Ranger is even more
confused. This is the first he has heard of his race. All his life, he never had
any idea who or what he was. All he knows is he was found abandoned by one of
the Ranger Elite, who raised him. He knew he was different from the other people
on his planet as his looks were alien compared to everyone else. The people on
his planet, including the man who raised him, looked like humans. But he had
grey skin to their tan skin color. His eyes looked nothing like theirs. He did
not have any body hair while they had hair on their heads and other places. He
possessed incredible strength next to theirs. He often wondered where he came
from, but until now, no one knew what he was. Most figured he was some kind of
freak, a mutant of sorts.
Realizing that the Grey Ranger has no idea what he is, Putnar
asks "You don't know what race you are?" The Grey Ranger lowers his head and
says "I was found as an infant and raised by one of the Ranger Elite. That is
all I know." Putnar smiles and says "Then it is good out paths crossed. I have
encountered your race before." This makes the Grey Ranger raise his head. He is
excited to find out who he is, though part of him is skeptical. For all he
knows, Putnar is making this up to gain his trust. He then looks at Putnar and
asks "Tell me about my race." Putnar motions for him to follow him and says "Let
us walk this way, while I tell you."
As the group walks past the many Colonants, Putnar begins to
tell the Grey Ranger about his race. "I do not know the exact name of your race,
but they visited our planet many years ago. From what I could gather, they do
not have a home world. They are travelers who are constantly exploring the
galaxy, seeking new planets and species. I remember how they controlled their
machinery with their minds. I asked one of them how they did that and he said
they had reached a level of consciousness that allowed them to make any
machinery bend to their will." The Grey Ranger looks at him and asks "Did he say
how they did this? How they controlled machinery?" Putnar thinks for a moment.
He puts his massive hand to his head and ponders. "They did not say exactly. It
had to do with concentration or something. It was a long time ago."
After a short walk, they come to a large door. Once again,
Putnar uses his strength to open it. As they enter the room, they see a large
machine in the middle of the room. The machine has a large platform that almost
looks like a wrestling ring. There are four large poles, one at each corner. On
top of each pole is what looks like a crudely made satellite dish. Each dish is
pointed down into the platform. There are wires connecting the platform to what
looks like a large machine. The machine is about six feet long and stands about
four feet high. There are various dials and knobs on it. At the far right is a
large knob that has various symbols around it. The Grey Ranger does not
recognize the symbols. He is guessing they are in the language of Putnar's
people. "Welcome to my teleporter!" Putnar says as he points to the large
machine. "I know it is crude in design, but it works fine." The Grey Ranger and
Tredd walk over and look at it. They are amazed at how well designed it is,
considering the lack of tools on this planet. "If there is a disrupting field,
how do you know this teleporter works?" the Grey Ranger asks. While the machine
is impressive in design, if it does not work, what good is it? Putnar walks over
to the large machine part and hits a few buttons. The machine comes to life with
various parts of the machine lighting up. He then hits another button and the
satellite dishes turn and move towards the middle of the platform. He then turns
the knob to the second symbol and hits a button. "Step inside and I will prove
it." As they step on the platform, they see the countdown of some symbols.
Putnar is first to step into the platform. The Regael is second to enter. The
Grey Ranger and Tredd are a bit reluctant, but seeing how the other two are in
there, it must be safe. They are all inside the platform when the satellite
dishes emit what looks like a bright light. They move back and forth as they
flood the platform with this strange light. As the light goes over the men, they
find themselves disappearing, which is quite upsetting for a first timer. Within
seconds, they all disappear from the platform and leave nothing behind.
In a second, they reappear on a different platform. They
rematerialize on the platform as the teleportation is complete. The Grey Ranger
looks at himself to make sure he is all there. Because of the crudeness of the
device, he feels a little queasy. Tredd is in worse shape as he falls to his
knees and gasps. He looks like he is going to vomit, but the feeling soon goes
away. They are used to more advanced teleportation that has worked out the kinks
of the early types. As they look around the room, they see that it is also
underground. "Let us leave, I have something to show you." The Grey Ranger is
skeptical that they really went anywhere. For all he knows, they moved a very
short distance. As they leave the room, they find they are in a tunnel that is
empty. There are no Colonants here. As they walk up the tunnel, they are
ascending towards the surface. When the get to the top, they come out on the
side of a mountain. There is a path that leads around the mountain. The wind is
blowing a frigid breeze that goes right through their clothes, all the way to
the bone. Putnar does not seem affected by the sudden change in temperature.
"Follow me." he says as he walks along the path. As he moves down the trail, he
walks carefully as there is mountain on one side of the path and nothing on the
other. Tredd looks down and sees they are quite high. He gulps as he sees the
long drop to the bottom.
As they make their way around the mountain, they come into
view of something impressive. There is a giant fortress built on top of a
mountain. There is a giant beam of light that is being sent from the fortress
into the sky. While it looks much like the other fortresses on the planet, this
one is obviously not the same. There is no way that people can get up here.
"What is this place?" Tredd asks as he looks at the massive structure. "This is
the main fortress on Plait. From here they control everything that goes on the
planet. It provides all the power for the force field and disruption field."
Putnar says as he smiles. The Grey Ranger is even moved at this. He had no idea
there was such a fortress on Plait. But considering its remote location, he can
see why it is not known by many people. "This my friends, is our target. Take
this out and we can leave this planet." he says as points to the fortress.
Plait the Prison Planet 2007
© Tom Zjaba
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