Green Lantern - Galactic Guardian [1]

Chapter Twelve

"He checks out, Scar. They all do."

Norchavius stood in the citadel, reporting back to the Guardians of the Universe the conclusion of his investigation of Sinestro and other Green Lanterns who were raising suspicion.

"Sinestro in particular has been attending every training session, even the ones that he is not mentoring. Sinestro's problems were with the human, not with the Corps. You can rest easy that every member of the Corps has their priorities straight. I even tested some myself."

"Thank you, Norchavius," Scar said, cutting the Green Lantern off. "See, Ganthet? Nothing to worry about. Every member's loyalties remain with us and us alone."

"Very well. You are dismissed, Norchavius," Ganthet sent Norchavius on his way. "I suppose I owe you an apology, Scar, for doubting your judgement."

"Don't mention it Ganthet. I'm just glad that Sinestro and any of the others haven't found out about the power of fear. The result of the awakening would be catastrophic."

--

Hal snuck down a hallway of the main building in Oa. He was back, in the very place that he had wished to never see again. He hadn't even been gone 24 hours. He needed to know what Sinestro was up to, though, bringing humans into Oa. Why? He hated humans and didn't want them associated with the Corps. And why bring Hector Hammond, of all people? A professor. Hal quietly continued down the hall, checking in various classrooms and closets for any sign of Sinestro or the teacher.

"Hal!"

Hal flinched at the sound and slowly turned around, expecting to be hauled off into detention if it was one of the teachers, or worse, if it was Sinestro. But it was neither. B'Shi stood behind him, happy to see him.

"Oh, hey B'Shi. You scared me, there," Hal said to the alien monkey.

"Oh," she said. "Sorry. I've been looking for you everywhere! Where have you been?"

"I'll tell you all about it," Hal decided. "I need your help."

Hal filled B'Shi in on where he'd been, what he'd seen, and why he was back.

"So, Sinestro..." she started once he was done explaining, "he... abducted a human?"

"Essentially, yeah," Hal answered. "So, do you have any idea where they would be?"

"This professor, what did he teach?" B'Shi asked, deep in thought.

"Embryology. Why?" Hal replied.

"Ember-what now?"

"It's the study of the body," Hal explained.

"Like organs and such?"

"Yeah, sort of like that. Why?"

"I think I know where they might be."

B'Shi led Hal down to the bottom floor of the building they were in. It felt like a dungeon, torches the only light in the hall. B'Shi turned into one of the rooms: a science lab. In the huge lab there were multiple doors leading off into different sections separated by topic of research.

It felt like they were walking through the lab for hours before the finally found the door they were looking for. This door looked like all the other doors, except it was in the section of the ginormous lab that B'Shi said was usually used for animal dissections. This sections had several different doors leading off into more rooms, but one in particular caught Hal's eye. This door was bolted, meaning no one could get in there unless they had a certain key.

There were many doors like this spread around the many buildings that Oa had to offer, but none relating to science. B'Shi walked over to the door Hal was pointing to and pressed her ear against it.

"I hear something," B'Shi said. "If they're here, they're in that room. Everyone should be at dinner by now, not at a lab."

"Won't they miss Sinestro, though?" Hal asked. "Isn't he, like, the Leader of the Lanterns, or something?"

"That would make a good movie title," B'Shi noted, smiling slightly. "Yes, he is sort of the second in command here, under the Guardians of course. I suspect if he is doing something that the Guardians don't know about, he will have a cover-up. A good one, too. The Guardians aren't the most trusting creatures. They banished a Lantern one time because they thought he was plotting to over throw them. Turns out, he was only sneaking some food back to his quarters every now and again."

"Okay, so how to we get in there?" Hal asked. "Bust the door down?"

"No, I don't think that will be neither necessary nor possible," B'Shi said. "Besides, I know an easier way."

B'Shi turned around and stuck her monkey tail into the lock, twisting it around. After a few twists and turns, the lock popped open and B'Shi removed her tail.

"That is so cool."

B'Shi beamed and opened the door quietly. She and Hal snuck in and dashed behind some pillars.

As they had suspected, they found Hector. He seemed to be hard at work, leaning over something. There was no sign of Sinestro.

"Maybe the Guardians tasked Sinestro with bringing Hector here, for a science project. The fact that he is here doesn't mark Sinestro as a bad guy!" B'Shi reasoned.

"Maybe..." Hal whispered back.

Maybe, but Hal didn't think so. He had a bad feeling about this whole scene. He needed to get a closer look. He started quietly moving forward at an angle, so he could see what Hector was focused on. It seemed to be a casket of some sort. Hector was doing an autopsy or something. But he couldn't see who it was Hammond was treating. It seemed to be a purple alien. There was something familiar about him.

Then it dawned on Hal. It was Abin Sur, the alien whom he had watched die. But what was Hector doing with him? The sight of the messed up body that Hector was digging into made Hal gag. Hector broke his concentration and looked around.

Hal made a mad dash for the pillar from which he had come. Thankfully, he made it in time. He poked his head out to see Hammond return to his work, no doubt thinking that the noise was inside his head. Hal watched as Hector continued his work on the body, digging deeper in, as if looking for something.

Then, Hector gasped. Hal suspected he had just found whatever he had been looking for. Hal was right. Hector reached down into the casket and tried to grab something, but as soon as he touched it, he screamed.

Hal watched in horror as he pulled his hand out of the casket. The tip of his finger was glowing yellow. And it was spreading. Fast. By the time Hal and B'Shi had made it back to the door, Hector's entire arm was glowing yellow. Hal and B'Shi closed the door and ran back down the hall to warn someone. Hal didn't know what, but something bad was happening. Something very bad.

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