It's a bit late in this story for me to weave in any other LMBPers, but in the future, who knows who (other than Lt. H'Bin'gr of course) might wind up in my stories.
I've been thinking about a nite on the town story, where would Lyle and Condo go for a little quality time together? Hmmm... And which one unknowingly has Salu in his pocket?
-------------------- Just an Old, Broke-Down, Drunk, Bum!!
With a Power Ring...
From: Westerly Rhode Island | Registered: Aug 2003
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The appearance of the octopod alien unnerved Ron, his slow progress across the floor stopped as he turned his attention to the new arrival. A sinking feeling took hold of his gut and threatened to drag him down through the floor, only the sounds of his teammate’s reactions to the demand for their surrender kept him from totally losing all hope.
Greybird’s amused chuckle and Lt. H’Bin’gr’s sneering “how about you tell chunky there to let us go, so we can tie your tentacles in a knot?” boosted his confidence enough for him to restart his slow progress across the floor.
Amazingly, the injured Starhavenite wasn’t confined in a Teke field the way the two women were. Ron watched as he struggled to a sitting position and finally got to his feet. As Greybird stood a holo image of the alien telepath formed over the head of the blocky crystalline figure. One tentacle slid down and wrapped itself around the crystalline figure’s neck. Another pointed directly at Lt. H’Bin’gr.
“You are correct in your presumption that the Podarian acts only at my command, female.” The thought was directed at H’Bin’gr, but Ron and Greybird could ‘hear’ it as a faint menacing echo, “when you arrive on Antillian, you shall join me for a short swim.”
Ron could see the pain in her face. She was pale and visibly sweating as she faced the image. He could see her muscles strain as she fought to bring her weapon up into a firing position. He knew her position was hopeless and her only chance lay in him reaching his target. Still, she remained defiant, trapped and facing an overpowering enemy, her chances were bleak but her voice retained its defiance.
“Good, Fishboy, I hope…”
Greybird’s calm voice cut off her reply, “I assume you are a Numedian.” He stated flatly as he moved between the image and H’Bin’gr. “Which tells me that you are the highest ranking official here. My name is Greybird. I am the special ambassador of the Starhaven Consulate to the United Planets. Why have your people attacked and abducted our party?”
Ron realized suddenly that he had stopped moving. A glance at Lt. H’Bin’gr told him that she had also noticed his lack of progress. Her eyes implored him to move. Just a few inches further…
Legion World
“A power struggle he lost?” The question rattled around in her head and Jazmin’s thoughts ranged through a dozen possibilities in a few seconds, all quickly discarded. It was no use; she couldn’t make sense of the reference. She didn’t have enough information to reach any conclusions. “Dammit Imra, I need more information than a vague reference to something that may or may not have happened, to make sense of this,” she thought urgently.
Brainiac 5 made a few more surreptitious adjustments to the force field around the dais then flipped a switch on the sleepnet apparatus he had modified in his attempt to communicate with the ‘crystalline man’. A pattern of modified alpha waves began broadcasting into the force field. If his calculations were correct the crystalline man would shortly be asleep.
Triad moved behind Brainiac 5 and began to examine the results of the Anthrospectrometer analysis of the crystal shards removed from Captain Frake’s skull. Two of the shards showed an exact match to the crystal shard which had been recovered from the crystalline man’s body, the third showed a slight but significant variation. Instantly she reached into her pouch and keyed a specific sequence on her Omnicom. Immediately a slight vibration in her flight ring told her that her instructions had been received and understood. She glanced over to Jazmin, a slight nod of agreement came and she immediately slipped behind a cabinet large enough to hide three bodies from view.
“Unfortunately, Coluan, I do not require sleep. It is time for you to release me from this confinement field.”
The thought hit them all with a staggering volume. Even M’onel’s hands flew to cover his ears in an instinctive reaction to the telepathic roar. Brainiac 5 had to fight to regain his composure as an involuntary reaction sent his hands toward the force field controls. Luckily his multi tracked mind was able to shunt the mental command away from his body’s motor controls. The compulsion was registered in one section of his mind, analyzed by another section, and dismissed as irrelevant by a third, even as a fourth spoke aloud in response to the ‘crystalline man’s’ attempted takeover of his mind.
“Sorry, but I don’t think that is advisable just yet.”
In response the ‘crystalline man’ placed both hands on opposite sides of the cylindrical force field and began to push…
“Jazmin, throw a quantum bubble around the force field, I’m on my way there.” Imra’s voice seemed to echo in Jazmin’s mind. She tried to concentrate and do what Saturn Girl wanted but suddenly she was extremely tired.
-------------------- Just an Old, Broke-Down, Drunk, Bum!!
With a Power Ring...
From: Westerly Rhode Island | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
Things aren't looking too good for our Legion there are they? Though I did like GreyBird standing up and demanding attention as a diplomat - a nice touch!
Still loving it Chuck, you have a great style of writing.
Bxx
-------------------- "Tempus Fugitive" the final part of the Adventures of Dream Boy series, set in the Three-Boot Universe. Read it only in the Bits o' Legionnaire Business Forum.
From: here, more often than not | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
It looks like our resident diplomat has quite a protective streak in him when it comes to the ladies. He was obviously just trying to keep Lt. H'Bin'gr from putting her foot too far into it.
Seems SHE'S got quite the temper. Wonder where it comes from?
-------------------- Just an Old, Broke-Down, Drunk, Bum!!
With a Power Ring...
From: Westerly Rhode Island | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
H'bing'r's temper? It's pobably from having to deal with frustratingly patronising men, I would imagine but that could just be my take on things you understand
-------------------- "Tempus Fugitive" the final part of the Adventures of Dream Boy series, set in the Three-Boot Universe. Read it only in the Bits o' Legionnaire Business Forum.
From: here, more often than not | Registered: Sep 2003
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Contrary to what many of the legionnaires believe Shakiri’s pathfinding abilities are not limited to tracking objects (or people) through the space/time continuum. She is also able to track the path of events as they unfold. It is precisely this aspect of her abilities which make her one of the most deadly hand to hand fighters in the Legion and which causes Brainiac 5 so many difficulties in understanding her abilities. Her perceptions of the universe are radically different from the norm, she is able to predict with near 100% certainty what a single opponent will do in any given situation and with somewhat less certainty how events will unfold. However, even she has only a rudimentary understanding of how this aspect of her abilities works.
Shakiri began to slow her pursuit as the fleet came into visual range. The path ahead of her was suddenly tangled, the events unfolding aboard the ships they pursued had not yet reached a point where she could clearly see the correct path to follow.
Towed along behind her, Gates sensed her hesitation. He could feel their pace slowing but did not understand why she was suddenly hesitant to catch the fleet.
“Well, Armored Insect Girl, why are we slowing down…”
Legion World
Having a twelve track mind isn’t always a good thing. Brainiac 5 discovered early in life that there were times when his internal “discussions” interfered with his external relationships. Unfortunately, it is one of the few problems in his life that he has never been able to solve. Because the mental track he uses to interact with the other legionnaires is often distracted by the behind the scenes debates constantly raging in his mind he often appears to be aloof and distracted in his dealings with his team-mates. However whenever he can focus more than 50% (i.e. 7 or more of the 12 tracks) of his brain activity on a single problem that problem is invariably solved.
The sight that greeted Imra Ardeen when she entered Brainiac 5’s main lab was not what she expected. Ninety seconds ago she severed her telepathic contact with Kid Quantum to avoid being put to sleep by the redirected alpha waves that the ‘crystalline man’ was using in his attempt to escape confinement. Sixty seconds ago she was informed by Gear that the second set of crystal resonance frequencies emanating from the crystal shards had been isolated and dampened out. Thirty seconds ago an explosion rocked the area of Brainy’s lab. One second ago she flew into the lab.
Kid Quantum leaned against one of the workbenches in the lab, her attention glued to the dais where the shimmer of a quantum sphere surrounded the crackling force field. Inside the force field the ‘crystalline man’ stood motionless with its arms fully extended, exerting an obviously incredible amount of pressure on the energy cylinder. M’onel and Ultra Boy moved in slow circles around the quantum bubble, examining it from every possible angle. Triad Purple stood next to Brainiac 5 while Triad Orange worked furiously on the modified sleepnet receiver. None of the legionnaires in the room acknowledged her presence in any way.
Imra studied the scene for a moment before backing slowly out of the lab as she watched the same people perform the same actions for the third time. Once outside the lab she slapped a wall mounted com unit, “Gear, Lyle, I need your help in Science Lab 7”
Hyper-Space
Ron’s move seemed to freeze the Numedian’s image in place.
Having gotten as close to the Podarian as he dared to in his 2 dimensional form, Ron suddenly inflated himself back to 3-D, with the exception of his forearms and hands. He struck instantly, before he was even fully massed. The results were spectacularly gruesome. The diamond hard edges of his hands and arms sliced cleanly through the body of the Podarian. It fell to the floor in three pieces.
Ron’s eyes were closed when he struck his foe. Steeling himself to the sight of another sentient creature laying in a pool of it’s own blood was the hardest part of his mental preparation for what he needed to do in order to save his team-mates. In the earlier battle he didn’t have time to think about what he was doing. That had been an instant fight or flight reflex reaction. After the fight, as he lay back and allowed H’Bin’gr to bandage his wounded leg, he was sickened by the amount of bloody damage he had caused, then when this new threat arose…
Now after preparing himself for the inevitable results, he looked for the expected blood but there was none, instead tendrils of energy lashed out in all directions. Several energy tendrils flowed back and forth between the severed sections of the creature. One reached out and wrapped Greybird in a shimmering golden field, others reached toward Dawnstar and H’Bin’gr. Terrified by the results of his attack Ron slashed desperately slashed again at the prone form of the Podarian attempting this time to sever the head from the torso. His attempted blows were stopped in mid-strike as an energy tendril reached him and he was frozen in place.
Curiously none of them were harmed by the energy fields, they were merely restrained. Greybird found himself staring at the holo-image of the Numedian. It had frozen when Ron first struck the Podarian. It remained frozen as the three severed sections of the Podarian’s body reassembled themselves.
posted
uh-oh! Has Ron blown it? Any time you want to carry on with this thread would be welcome Chuck.
This is the first time you have used direct references to the comic (in brackets admittedly) and I'm sorry to say it threw me out of synch with the story. A minor quibble amongst a major load of praise.
I enjoy your work and can't wait to read more!
Hope all is well in 'Quankland
Bxx
-------------------- "Tempus Fugitive" the final part of the Adventures of Dream Boy series, set in the Three-Boot Universe. Read it only in the Bits o' Legionnaire Business Forum.
From: here, more often than not | Registered: Sep 2003
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-------------------- "Tempus Fugitive" the final part of the Adventures of Dream Boy series, set in the Three-Boot Universe. Read it only in the Bits o' Legionnaire Business Forum.
From: here, more often than not | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
If it's any consolation, I've never been on a business trip that went all to plan... Something or someone always decided at the last minute that they had a better plan.
More of this will be up soon. I'm writing so many different stories right now that it's a little tough to keep them all current.
-------------------- Truth and Justice shall Prevail! (Just as soon as the Check Clears!)
From: The Back Office in Abin's Fixit Shop. | Registered: Sep 2003
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“They appear to be caught in a temporal loop,” Lyle Norg muttered as he observed the recurring actions of the legionnaires inside Science Lab 7. Behind him Gear and Saturn Girl scan the surrounding area with hand held instruments.
“I cannot pinpoint the source of the temporal disturbance but it appears to be within the field.”
Gear’s report confirms Invisible Kid’s suspicions. It would be just the type of ploy Brainiac 5 would use to delay something beyond his control, in order to gain more time for analysis of the problem. Of all the legionnaires he understands the workings of Querl’s mind the best. Over the years their scientific rivalry has given him a unique insight into the exceptionally brilliant Coluan’s mind. But even he is often mystified by his friend and rival’s ability to think simultaneously on twelve separate tracks. Six of those tracks are actually located in the area of the brain that would be termed the sub-conscious in a human and he thinks that it’s just possible that they have not been affected by the temporal loop. He turns to Saturn Girl and begins to ask her to probe B-5’s mind but before he can speak…
“I’ll try Lyle, but it’s not easy under the best of circumstances…”
She has been widely acknowledged as the most powerful telepath ever produced by Titan. But, her people are an offshoot of Earth. The human races that inhabit Titan and Earth are very closely genetically related. In fact, except for the telepathic abilities conferred by an obscure genetic coupling in an undisclosed location of the RNA strand in a DNA molecule, they are identical. So are Winathians, Imskians, and most of the other humanoid races. Coluans do not fall into that group.
Coluans look like green humans. To the eye the only difference between an Earthling, a Titanian, and a Coluan is the coloration. But, Coluans are a separately evolved species. They existed before the meta-being known as Valor (now called M’onel and currently trapped inside the temporal loop) “seeded the worlds”. Coluans are not smarter, funny colored, humans; they are an alien race that evolved to meet a vastly different set of challenges from those faced by humanity’s ancestors. Nowhere is that more evident than in the workings of the Coluan mind. And of all the minds ever produced by the planet Colu, none have ever been more complex than that of Querl Dox, also known as Brainiac 5.
“It’s like peeling an onion,” she thought, as she struggled through the outer layers of his mind. “The deeper in I go the thicker and stronger each layer becomes.” Yet, she knew that he was aware of her presence, despite the fact that the first two layers of mental activity had been trapped by the temporal loop. The same thoughts and actions repeated endlessly, at a speed she could barely comprehend. She was immersed in a vast array of mental circuitry; automatic trips and filters abounded, shunts designed to transfer stimuli and information to deeper mental levels, automatic responses loaded and ready waiting stimuli. It was a vast mental maze, a mind unparalleled by anything in her previous experience. Vast panoramas of mental imagery coexisted in a rigidly disciplined mental chaos with a massive amount of digital information flow.
“It’s like most of his responses to the outside world are preprogrammed,” she mused in amazement, “he knows the question before it’s asked and the answer is loaded and ready without any further thought on his part.”
An image of a door appeared, above the door a brightly flashing sign read, “Stop Dawdling”.
She hurriedly stepped through the door. He was waiting for her inside. His smile reassured her as the mental panorama became sharply focused and resolved into a single setting. She stood in the center of a room that strongly resembled the command center of legion world. Around her were a dozen Brainiac 5’s, all but one of whom were seated at separate work stations.
“Hello Imra,” the standing version of him said in a distracted voice, “I’m sorry but I’m not used to dealing with directly with other people. I usually work in the background and let Querl handle interpersonal relationships.”
“Aren’t you all Querl?”
“Yes and no, we are all parts of Querl but only the primary track is Querl.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Think of Querl as the chairman of a committee, with twelve different specialists as the members of the committee. We debate in the background and he presents the results of the debate to the public.” A rueful smile appeared on his face. “Unfortunately, he cannot be with us at present, so I must fill a most unfamiliar role.”
“Are you saying that the Querl we normally deal with is gone?”
“Temporarily, he is a composite of whichever tracks are necessary for effectively dealing with the priority issue, that is whatever issue needs to be effectively conveyed to the world outside. It takes three of us to form Querl and one of the three must be the primary interpersonal track. That track is currently caught in the temporal loop.”
“Which track are you?”
“Conflict Resolution.” His smile faded slightly as his gaze wandered around the room. “And this conflict must be resolved quickly. The internalized force field that allows seven of us to withstand the effects of the temporal loop is weakening. Here is what you must do…”
Somewhere in Hyper-Space
“Can you follow the path, Sarcastic Legion, and ‘port us to where we need to be?”
“I think so, Confusing Name Girl, but I’m still confused as to why we care about those facists…”
“Just be ready…”
Hyper-Space
“Unfortunately, it is now imperative that the rest of the Numedian collective mind does not learn what happened here.”
Ron’s eyes darted around the room. His companions were all encased in energy fields similar to the one that held him fast. Try as he might he couldn’t move or speak, and apparently neither could they.
The Podarian’s attention had shifted from them to the holo-image of the Numedian. A tendril of energy reached out from it to the image and it solidified. Somehow the Podarian had transported the Numedian from wherever it previously was to the ship they were on. The surprise was evident even on the Numedian’s alien features…
-------------------- Just an Old, Broke-Down, Drunk, Bum!!
With a Power Ring...
From: Westerly Rhode Island | Registered: Aug 2003
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