Ep 1

A week had now passed since Charly’s return, and indeed, he had flashed his experience across the internet network.
Today, a Sunday, he was visiting his local internet cafe to see how the tweeters were taking it.
As he walked through the broken door, heads turned and a voice cried out, “Here comes the abductee.”

Charly grimaced, walking over to the caller.

“Hello Nero, having fun at my expense?”

Nero smiled and invited him to sit.

“Half the guys here think it’s a story. The other half thinks it was for real.”

“What do you think?”

Nero shook his head, his eyes moving in separate directions.

“I have not made up my mind yet.”

“At least you are truthful.”

“Always am. Plenty of rumours going about too.”

“The internet is full of rumours,” Charly reminded him.

“Not like these.”

Nero pointed to his feed and Charly gazed at the messages.

“Who the hell is Triad?”

"No one knows for sure. It says here that he is in the neighbourhood.”

Charly glanced at the computer screen.

“What else does it say?”

Nero turned nervously.

“Apparently, Triad is looking for you.”

Charly laughed it off and said his farewells. Returning to his flat, he was astonished to see a long, sleek, black truck parked nearby.
As he climbed the stairs a deep voice called out, “Is that you Charly?”

Charly remained silent as he reached the final flight of stairs. The gent who had spoken was tall and sported a grey beard. His dark suit was formal as he produced an ID card.

“Admiral Langly...What can I do for you?”

The military man returned the pass to his top pocket and pointed to the dark haired female wearing the white coat of a medic.

“This is Doctor Jones by the way.”

“Hello...Now what is this about?”

The admiral stroked his beard and said, “Your tweets were picked up by my department and we would like to investigate.”

“As far as I’m concerned there is nothing to investigate.”

“Just allow us inside,” the admiral said. “We will be the judge of that.”

Charly shrugged his shoulders and led them inside the offending bedroom. From the lounge, the cat cried loudly.

“This is where the creature first appeared.”

The admiral glanced around and spoke to the doctor.

“Bring up the equipment.”

As she dashed off, Charly asked, “Is this really necessary. I have to live here you know.”

“National security may be at risk,” the admiral replied. “We cannot have aliens abducting our people.”

“Please yourself. You talk as if you have met little green men.”

The admiral smiled.

“Not little and not green either. I even had the pleasure of meeting a talking cat.”

Charly stared in disbelief as two uniformed troopers entered carrying a rather largish pyramid.

“Put it by the window please,” the doctor said.

Charly gazed at the weird metallic contraption in wonder as Jones knelt and pushed a few buttons.

“I hope it plays music,” Charly said grinning.

“It is a quantum oscillator,” Jones commented as the pyramid began beeping loudly.

“What did you say?”

Jones stood and smiled.

“It detects quantum projection fields you know. We suspect that was how you were abducted.”

“How long will it take?” the admiral asked.

“Not too long sir. There should be enough residual energy to pick up.”

“Well I hope you both know what you are doing.”

“We are the expert’s sir in this field,” the admiral replied.

Charly wandered into the lounge to tend to the cat as the beeps became even louder.

“We have the projection field bandwidth now sir.”

Jones knelt once more and tapped the buttons.

“62.4 and stable.”

“That’s a Siphonan signature,” the admiral hissed.

“If only Jerrix was here,” Jones moaned. “I’m pretty much out of my depth.”

“We cannot resurrect the dead Jones. Just do your best.”

She smiled and nodded as the military man joined Charly in the lounge.

“Find anything?”

“We are on the right track,” Langly assured him.

“So what happens now?”

“We eh, await developments.”

Ep 2

A sudden shout from the bedroom saw them dashing quickly to see what was up.

Charly saw something quite astonishing. The walls of the pyramid had gone opaque and a scene of whirling mist could be seen.

“That gizmo is certainly not ours,” Charly commented.

“We have synchronised with the field sir,” Jones informed them.

Admiral Langly reached into his pocket and drew out a radio.

“Team one, we have a go.”

“I hope you don’t plan to enter that thing?” Charly said as four heavily armed troopers sprinted into the flat.

“How do you expect us to deal with it?” Langly asked.

“The scientist ain't going to be pleased.”

“We are unlikely to end up at the same location,” Jones explained. “Though thanks for the warning.”

As Charly watched, the troopers walked through the pyramid’s walls and promptly vanished. As the admiral and Jones followed, Charly shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s now or never I suppose.”

He took a deep breath and stepped boldly into the unknown.
The scene confronting him was rather strange to say the least. Regardless of what Jones had said, he had expected to arrive inside the familiar lab.

He gazed in astonishment toward the horizon where two huge green moons hung lazily in the sky. High above in the noon position hung a placid sun, whilst brown clouds scurried across its yellow face.

“How did you enjoy the trip?” the admiral asked.

“It was pleasant enough. Where do you think we are?”

“It must be Dorian,” Doctor Jones replied. “Same planet those experiments were conducted on.”

“You got that from my feed.”

“It was a mine of invaluable information,” she said.

Charly saw the troopers scanning their hostile surroundings with their weaponry. The land here was pretty grim, with towering mountains and little sign of vegetation.

“What do you advise?”

“How the hell do I know sir,” Jones answered. “Jerrix is the recognised expert. One thing that I am sure off, this humidity is downright dangerous.”

“Perhaps we should just go back,” Charly suggested. “I don’t fancy drying out here.”

“Where is your sense of adventure?” Langly asked.

“I left it in my bathtub.”

“No sign of the enemy sir,” a trooper commented. “As a matter of fact, no sign of anything.”

“Very well,” Langly replied. “Move out.”

The soldiers began heading in a southeasterly direction, towards what looked like a distant volcano. Charly tagged along as their willing companion.

“Who’s this Jerrix?”

The admiral smiled at the familiar name.

“The talking cat that I spoke of earlier. She helped in a few of our investigations.”

“You are kidding right?”

Jones shook her head.

“She was a friendly alien. The last we heard she was dead. I sure could do with help now.”

“So you have never done this?”

“First time for us,” the admiral conceded. “As a matter of fact I am rather enjoying it.”

A trooper suddenly called out.

“Hit the deck!”

The military types did so instinctively, leaving poor Charly standing in open view. The admiral reached up and hauled him to the dry, greyish soil.

“Get your bloody head down!”

“What’s the problem? I don’t see anything.”

The annoyed officer pointed at the sky where three glittering objects were floating in formation.

Ep 3

“Those are Siphonans,” he hissed. “If you really want to die, I suggest that you do it somewhere else!”

Charly watched as the machines moved lower, their distinctive star shape looking rather elegant. If a little menacing.

“They don’t seem to be armed,” Charly whispered.
“That is the problem,” Langly replied. “They never do!”

The machines swooped but luckily did not detect the humanoids. As they glided off, the troopers visibly relaxed.

“Probably a patrol,” Jones said standing once more.

“Well, at least we know they are here,” Langly said.

“Are you trying to say those stress tests have something to do with them?”

“Isn’t that rather obvious?” Langly asked. “Where were you when they bloody well landed?”

“Safe at home of course. We never saw them. I just put it down to media hype.”

“Bloody typical,” the admiral exclaimed. “Jerrix had to lower the planet’s temp to drive them off and you were lounging.”

“I thought that little ice age was caused by CO2 levels.”

“Now you know the truth. Those bastards set up work camps, especially in Northumbria. Tens of thousands were murdered.”

“I had no idea,” Charly said sheepishly.

“Would you two stop arguing?” Jones said sharply. “We must stick together.”

The two men glared at one another, before strutting off toward the distant and ominous mountain. As they reached what looked to them like a large crater, a familiar voice was heard.

“Strange this you know. The crater is rich in Dolomite. A very rare mineral in this galaxy.”

Langly and Jones looked over the outer lip and saw around twenty feet below a large slim cat with sea blue eyes and wearing a distinctive yellow cloak around his deep brown fur.

“Jerrix!” the admiral gasped.

The five-foot high feline looked up.

“So what are you stupid humanoids doing on Dorian?” he demanded.
Doctor Jones gripped the admiral’s arm tightly.

“That is an earlier incarnation sir. He obviously does not know us.”

The military man took this in and measured his reply.

“Simply following up on a lead. We regard the Siphonan’s as a grave threat.”

The feline stopped examining the crater floor and quickly scrambled up the steep bank.

“As do I by the way. How did you lot get here?”

“We designed a quantum oscillator,” the doctor replied.

The moggy was less than pleased.

“You lot should not have that kind of technology. Far too dangerous.”

“We had no choice and it is lucky we did. This poor chap was abducted.”

Jerrix regarded Charly with interest.

“The Siphonan’s grabbed you did they? Then explain why you are still alive?”

In utter astonishment, Charly related his experience.
Jerrix scratched his head and thought deeply.

“Obviously that scientist was working for them. More fool you to let him live.”

“If I had killed him, we would not have got home.”

The cat snarled.

“Ever heard of self sacrifice? Of course, you haven’t. Your species is too tied up with self preservation.”

“Could we have less of the I am superior to you please?” Langly asked. “We really need the help.”

“Of course you need my help,” Jerrix snapped. “When I detected the quantum fluctuation I landed here.”

Doctor Jones decided to ask a simple question. To be truthful, she expected a simple reply.

“How old is that crater?”

“About twenty thousand years my dear. The asteroid that made it was fairly small by galactic standards.”

“Did you spot the machines?”

Jerrix gazed at the admiral rather harshly.

“Of course I spotted them. The good thing about a crater is that it is easy to hide in.”

“So will you help?” Jones asked.

Jerrix smiled radiantly.

“Why not, without me you jumped up monkeys will never leave this planet alive.”

The cat reached inside a cavernous pocket and produced a forklike device, which he waived around. After a moment or two, he glanced at the readout.

He screwed his eyes before muttering, “Obviously that volcano is an artificial construct.”

Jerrix then padded toward the admiral.

“What lofty position do you hold?”

The military man introduced his team.

The cat raised his eyebrows.

“Can’t you just sit behind a desk or something?”

Doctor Jones decided intervention was necessary.

“You may be the recognised expert Jerrix but come on, treat us a little better eh?”

Jerrix snarled at her before padding toward the distant mountain.

“I hope that you cretins brought enough water with you.”

Charly caught up with the admiral as they trekked toward the ominous peak.

“Is this the cat you spoke of?”

The military man glanced at him.

“I am rather afraid it is. When we met him, he had eh, calmed down shall I say.”

Charly ran up to join the fearless moggy.

“How did you get here?”

“I have a ship of course. What a stupid question.”

Charly was shocked by the insult.

“I was just checking that we could get home again.”

The cat stopped in midstride.

“I will certainly get home again sonny. As for you lot though...I’m not so sure.”

Jerrix gazed at the mountain and strode on, leaving Charly rather nonplussed.

“Don’t worry,” the doctor said to him. “We will survive this.”

“I just hope you are right.”

From ahead the moggy said rather indignantly, “I heard that.”

Ep 4

After trekking for an hour, they stood at last beneath the huge volcanic mount. No sign of the machines, or their designs.
Jerrix gazed up at the dark summit, noting the black volcanic rocks that made ascent extremely treacherous.

“We cannot possibly climb that,” the admiral protested.

The cat glanced at him and said, “We can and we will. If you wish to stay here that is your affair.”

The determined moggy began climbing slowly and carefully as the humans watched with mounting dread.

“What’s the point?” Charly asked.

Jerrix stopped beneath a line of boulders and glanced back.
“The Siphonan’s went to a lot of trouble to build this my boy. I want to find out why.”

“This has nothing to do with my abduction though.”

Jerrix rolled his eyes.

“Those stress tests were to see how you lot would cope. It is fairly obvious that the scientist is working for our enemies. The answer must lie within this mountain.”

Jerrix stared at the boulders before clambering over them.
“I suppose we better tag along,” the admiral said. “If only to check out his theory.”

The doctor smiled.

“Knowing him, he is probably right sir.”

The military party began the ascent as the cat saw the ominous overhang.

“This could be a little troublesome.”

He edged closer and saw a small gap, which his claws clung too. With a mighty pull, he flipped over the hanging rock and sat down to rest.
Far below, the party was clambering slowly toward him.

“By the time you lot reach the summit, darkness will have fallen. Try and move faster will you?”

They had now reached the overhang and Jerrix pointed out the small handhold.

The admiral came first, breathing heavily as he hauled himself onto the ledge. The doctor soon followed, her youth giving her an obvious advantage. Charly found the going a little difficult, and was happy when he clambered onto the ledge.

As the four armed men reached the overhang, the cat muttered, “That just leaves the troopers.”

The first of them was in the act of gripping the handhold when the mountainside began shaking violently.

“The damn thing is going to erupt!” Charly shouted.

As the shaking grew worse, large volcanic boulders high above began to roll towards them with gathering velocity.

“Everyone down!” Jerrix screamed as the boulders rushed at them.

The troopers tried to avoid the hellish impact, but in their exposed position, this was hardly credible. The boulders struck and the smashed bodies hurtled toward the ground.

“Crikey,” the cat exclaimed. “That was a little close.”

“We lost our men,” the admiral informed him. “You're stupid idea has caused this.”

Jerrix turned on him.

“You are only here on sufferance remember? You brought yourselves.”

He gazed upward and began climbing once more.

“What do you think caused that?” Charly asked the doctor.

“How the hell do I know? Artificial volcanoes simply don’t do that sort of thing.”

From high above the cat said, “Machinery probably. They may be widening the interior.”

They had now reached another ledge, roughly ten feet from the gaping maw of the crater.

“We are nearly there,” Jerrix muttered.

He scrambled to the lip and as the others joined him, he peered inside. What he saw was quite astonishing.
A small metallic machine was midway inside the mountain, busily chewing away at the hardened rock strata. The fearless muggy peered at the sides, his nimble mind working out a stratagem.

The admiral glanced at him.

“We can’t go down there Jerrix. No handholds for a start.”

The feline glared, as he usually does when his intelligence is questioned.

“Oh yea of little faith. How else can we discover what they are up to? Perhaps we should sit here and shout down perhaps?”

“Your sarcasm is getting a little repetitive,” Doctor Jones reminded him.

“I intend to get inside, and if you lot of glorified baboons wish to stay here, that’s your lookout.”

Charly nodded slowly.

“I’m game.”

The admiral stared at him.

“After your previous experience?”

“Why not sir? It’s not every day that you visit an alien planet.”

Jerrix tapped his shoulder.

“That’s the spirit. Now let me see...”

The small rock eater ignored them of course. As it hungrily expanded the interior, Jerrix clambered over the edge.

“Just be ruddy careful.”

“I’m always careful admiral. It’s you lot I’m worried about.”

Very carefully, the intrepid hero clambered inside the open vent. His claws digging in, trying not to dislodge the loose rocks. Six feet below the crater, the feline spotted something.

Ep 5

Glancing up, he whispered, “There is an access tunnel here. Come on you lot down you come. The picnic’s over.”

Jerrix entered the tunnel, which had been lined with metallic sheets. As his reluctant companions joined him he said, “This is wide enough to accommodate their machines. I wonder where it leads to?”

“We had better find out eh?” Charly suggested.

Jerrix grinned and padded on, peering ahead.
The tunnel was rather long and at the far end, it dropped away sharply.

“Oh that is brilliant,” the admiral spluttered. “You led us into a dead end.”

Jerrix shook his furry head and peered down the vertical shaft.

“This is where they leave from. We must get down there.”

Doctor Jones glanced down and backed away.

“No ruddy way. That is a sheer drop. Not even you can get down there.”

Jerrix scanned the shining walls and wet his finger.

“Quite a breeze. It may be enough for our needs.”

As the military glanced at each other, Charly smiled to himself.

“You intend to jump.”

“I think the air volume will support us. Let me go first though.”

The admiral stepped forward and held him tight,

“I cannot allow that my friend. If you get splattered, we are marooned here.”

Jerrix shook him off.

“I never get splattered. Just you watch.”

Before anyone could stop him, he stepped into space with open arms. Like a skydiver, the cat fell at a rapid pace before the column of air slowed his descent. A moment later, he landed quite safely.

“Well I made it,” he called up.

This was enough for Charly. He threw himself forward and watched the ground hurtling towards him. When the deceleration came, he was rather relieved.

“That was pretty wild,” he gasped.

Looking up, the admiral and doctor followed suit and promptly joined them.

“This passage leads further into the mountain,” Jerrix explained. “You lot follow me and keep your voices down.”

They crept forward until the cat stopped suddenly.

“We have reached the control room. There are only two machines in here.”

“We cannot deal with those,” the admiral reminded him. “My pistol is no use.”

“I already know that,” Jerrix replied. “Let us hope this works.”

He pulled out his fork like device and set the dial. As everyone watched, he pointed it at the Siphonan machines and pressed.
Moments later, both machines exploded and Jerrix dashed forward.

“They seem quite dead to me. Now to find out what they are up to.”

“What did you do to them?” Charly asked.

“I reset their nemorax matrix, causing a short circuit.”

“That blast must have been heard by their buddies,” the doctor pointed out. “Whatever you do, do it damn quickly.”

Jerrix scanned the console and pressed a single button. A viewing screen sprang to life and what it revealed was truly terrifying. Within a huge rocky cavern, thousands of machines stood ready for action. Jerrix staggered back in shock.

“There must be enough to conquer the entire galaxy.”

From the right side, a single voice grated a response.

“More than enough Jerrix Tau.”

The companions swung around and saw three machines hovering at a doorway. The first was smaller than the rest and the feline recognised him at once.

“Mr Ambassador. Long time no see.”

The machines glided towards them.

“Our army will indeed conquer the galaxy, and your interference is not appreciated.”

Jerrix padded toward the mechanical monsters.

“Oh I don’t know. I enjoy our meetings.”

The doctor had been unnerved by their arrival and made a dash for the tunnel. Before she had taken twenty paces, a pink ray lashed out and reduced her to ash.

“There was no need for that!” the cat shouted.

Two shots cracked the air as the admiral let rip with his sidearm. The bullets had no effect but the machines cut him down anyway. Jerrix threw up his paws in desperation.

“Stop the killing now.”

Charly stood in shock as the feline joined him. Glancing quickly he said, “If you stay calm you shall live.”

The terrified humanoid simply nodded.

“You will accompany us now,” the ambassador grated.

Reluctantly, the captives followed their jailors into another corridor, which led to a huge chamber. Jerrix recognised it as the one upon the screen.

“Why bring us here?”

“What you see before you,” the ambassador said. “Is an entirely new construct. These machines are invulnerable to everything.”

“Tut, tut my friend,” Jerrix replied. “Nothing is invulnerable.”

“Are they empty?” Charly asked.

“Sort of,” Jerrix said. “These machines are sentient.”

“They have been designed to withstand anything,” the ambassador insisted.

“How about a demonstration?” Jerrix asked pulling out his device.

“Do you think this will work?”

As Charly watched in utter horror, the device activated but nothing happened.

“Proof enough?” the ambassador asked.

Jerrix looked more than a little downcast. He slid the device back inside his cloak pocket and placed his paws behind his back.

“Seems that I stand corrected.”

The ambassador floated toward them.

“I have something planned for you.”

The prisoners were frogmarched from the chamber and into a small, cell like structure. As the door slid shut, Charly asked, “How long will they keep us here?”

Jerrix sat upon the floor looking rather grim.

“Only until they are ready to execute us both my boy.”

“They could have done that already.”

“True, but the ambassador loves to play upon my nerves.”

“You don’t seem too worried,” Charly observed.

“When you are about to die, there is really not much point.”

Ep 6

Charly started pacing back and forth, thinking deeply.

“Are there any natural volcanoes upon this planet?”

Jerrix stared at him.

“Of course there is. Siphonans are not that stupid.”

“Which means volcanism,” Charly continued.

Jerrix stared at him for a moment as Charly pressed on.

“Don’t you get it? What we need is lava.”

Jerrix stood and said, “You my friend are not as daft as you look.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Jerrix produced his fork like device and set it on scan mode. He pointed it at the floor and started waiving it around. As Charly watched, he read the readout.

“The crust is unnaturally thin here my boy. A little trickery is required to pull this off.”

The cat padded to the cell door and started banging loudly. He stepped back as the ambassador glided inside.

“We are almost ready for you,” he grated with deep menace.

“Oh don’t be so stupid,” the cat replied. “This planet of yours is seething with Dolomite.”

The star shaped machine seemed to regard him steadily.

“Don’t you lot check first?” the moggy asked.

“You can prove this?” the ambassador asked.

Jerrix pointed to the centre of the floor.

“Try firing one of your bolts here my boy. You’ll soon see the truth of my words.”

Jerrix stepped back and dragged the humanoid towards him.

The machine fired an energy bolt, which did indeed penetrate the floor. Seconds later, the entire complex shook violently.
Grabbing Charly roughly, the cat screamed, “Run for it!”
They scampered into the vast chamber as huge cracks appeared upon the metallic floor. The ambassador hovered into view, firing wildly.

“Over here,” the cat insisted, running for the tunnel.

As lava smashed through the floor of the chamber, Charly glanced back in mounting horror.

“We will never make it!”

They bolted into the control room as a wall of lava smashed through the opposite wall.

“Looks as if you are right,” Jerrix conceded.

He pressed the gold throat clasp, and seconds later, a soft green glow appeared beside them. The cat hauled the startled human inside as the lava wave broke upon them.

“That was ruddy close,” Jerrix muttered, padding towards the star shaped console.

“Wow...”

Standing at the north apex Jerrix tapped until the galactic map appeared upon the central screen. Charly noticed the two flashing dots.

“Those are departure and arrival points,” the cat explained.

Padding to the east apex, he activated the drive system. There was no sense of movement, nothing at all. As the door slid open, Charly saw his own bedroom.

“I’m back.”

“You certainly are my friend. Now, I will have to remove that quantum oscillator before any other fool uses it.”

Jerrix left the craft and picked up the pyramid easily. After dropping it inside, he turned towards Charly.

“One piece of advice that I can give you. Next time something strange happens here, just run for it eh? Rescue missions are not my idea of fun.”

The door slid shut and the alien craft faded from view.
Charly shook his head and stumbled back into the lounge where the loving cat meowed loudly. Charly knelt down and stroked it softly.

“Don’t you worry love. I’m home now.”

Two loud knocks from the front door smashed his sense of peace.

“Who the hell could that be?”

He tramped along the hall and opened the door quickly. A naked female with heavy burns fell into his open arms. Laying her down upon the carpet, he was about to rush towards the phone when she gripped his arm.

“The bathtub...The bathtub...”

And......please tell me your going to put up some more!!...Great read so far....:)

Of course my dear...Lovely photo..Wish I looked like that..OH BOY!

Forgot to add, this is sequel to Prison..Happy reading...

I love this . . . you know you gotta post more

Killer in the night/welcome to my nightmare are out now...Death has no dominion...posting Thursday...