THE RED WAKE

Chapter 27 (Pt...3) Chapter 28

     NO ONE spoke around the table. Eugenia was crying softly to herself. Reed was staring at Alan. Her horror had made her numb. Gordy sat cracking his knuckles. His eyes downcast, the longshoreman stared sullenly at the dining room floor. 

     Stanford was looking intently, almost defiantly into Alan’s eyes. 

    The two of them had shared an indefinable experience. A bond had been forged between the two men, one that united them in the face of catastrophe. Stanford knew what Alan was going to say next. He had witnessed the genesis of Alan’s plan and he understood. He’d made his own decision even before they’d finished burying Jillian. 

     Alan looked at them all. He had come through the story and now he needed to tell them what was going to happen next. He didn’t know what they would say and he didn’t care. 

     He had made a promise to her in those last moments before he pulled the triggers, back in Jillian’s apartment. He had learned things that only a few human beings could have known about the Yloi and their plans. 

     Jillian had opened her mind to him. Somehow, in fighting for her sanity against the Yloi called SaAtha DiYesri, she had co-opted the alien’s telepathy, used it to mentally project her thoughts even as the Yloi did. With the last shreds of her dying life force, she’d used that ability to reach the one man in the world she hoped could set her free; Her husband, Alan Joseph Whitmore. 

     In a flash of telepathic projection, she’d shown him what the Yloi intended for the Earth. She had shown him both Herald and Horn and told him of their purpose. And finally, when she could resist the murderous creature within her no longer, she’d begged him to put an end to her misery. 

     “The Horn is an object of incredible power,” he said. “It focuses the combined will of the Fend’s leaders, the Nagrath Say Morn. It acts as a beacon, an entry point for the Fend. It funnels their mental energy, transforms it, and redirects it. With it, the Fend can reshape this reality, make it more like their own. 

     “The first stage, the Herald, ignited the Red Wake before it broke apart into the black spheres, which spread the effects all over the world and opened a portal to this planet. The core of the weapon, the Horn, is supposed to finish us off. 

    “But someone has hidden it from the Fend. That means we have a powerful ally out there somewhere. I intend to find him.” 

     Alan looked around the table at the people he had helped to bring this far. No one returned his gaze.

     Jillian had learned many secrets of the Yloi. And using that knowledge, she had given Alan a reason to fight. And with it, the possibility of resistance. 

     “The changes are happening, but slowly. Without the power of the Horn, the Fend are only operating at half their usual strength. It’s a kind of massive, living weapon. But they lost control of it shortly after it was deployed. Now the Fend are afraid. The invasion effort has been thrown into chaos. I intend to take advantage of that.” 

     Alan stared forcefully at each of them, his passion plain in his eyes, the determined set of his shoulders.

“I’m going to find the Horn and shove it down their throats.”

    *

     Someone, an unknown Power, had accomplished that which had never been done; The Horn had been hidden from its masters. Through the telepathic connection that the invaders shared, the Fend had spread the news of the disappearance of the Mekhaud -cith.