The Mutant Mindbender

[Note: This is not a sexy story. It is more like a 1950's pulp science fiction novel]

[Note: This is not a sexy story. It is more like a 1950's pulp science fiction novel]

Chapter 8: Endgame

Chapter 8: Endgame

"What are you?" said the Mind Bender. He stared at the large, furry animal. It wore spectacles and had an unlit pipe sticking out of its mouth. It also had webbed feet and straw colored fur.

"My name is (tweatle tweatle tweatle whistle! tweatle tweatle)," said the animal.

"What?"

"But you can just call me Professor (tweatle tweatle) Capybara."

Professor Capybara waddled forward until he was between Croft and the Mind Bender.

"I would really appreciate it if you didn't kill Clifford," said the Professor. "Admittedly, he isn't very bright. Also, his dancing leaves much to be desired, but I still have some hope for him."

The Mind Bender looked incredulously at the Professor, and then at Croft, and then back at the Professor again. The Mind Bender concentrated, and...

Croft put the blaster down.

"I didn't tell him to do that!" the Mind Bender roared.

"I'm afraid that terminating these humans would (tweatle tweatle) interfere with my observations," said the Capybara. "I do have some (tweatle tweatle) questions for you, however."

"What are you?" said the Mind Bender.

"I will trade you, a question for a (tweatle tweatle) question," said the Capybara. He twisted his head slightly, staring at the Mind Bender with big black eyes. That seemed to take the Mind Bender back a bit.

"All right," said the Mind Bender, uncertainly.

"Tell me about the aliens who (tweatle tweatle) changed you," the Professor said.

The Mind Bender took a breath. "They were tall-"

"I don't care what they looked like, or (tweatle tweatle) appeared to look like," said the Capybara impatiently. "What did they say? What was their philosophy?"

Philosophy?

But the Mind Bender appeared to immediately know what the Professor was referring to. "They said they wanted to improve the human race," said the Mind Bender. "They wanted to send us back as test subjects. If it worked well they would improve more of us."

"Only it didn't (tweatle tweatle) so well, did it?" said the Professor. He wiggled his whiskers and sighed "I know who they are."

"Who were they?" Croft asked.

"Incompetent (tweatle tweatle) butchers," said the Professor, with a wave of a paw. "You needn't worry about them, young Clifford."

"But you do need to worry about me," said the Mind Bender. He looked hard into the Capybara's large dark eyes. They locked stares for a moment.

And then the Mind Bender jerked back, and fell to the ground.

Croft looked at the Capybara, openmouthed.

"Is he dead?" said Preston.

"We can only hope," said Croft.

"He's merely napping from his exertion," said the Capybara.

"What happened?" said Croft.

"He was overly impressed by the (tweatle tweatle) toy powers he was given," said the Professor. "It should make for a fascinating paper." A holographic quill and writing tablet appeared in the air above the Professor and started moving.

"Stop with the writing!" Croft yelled.

The quill stopped in midstroke.

"How did you know we were here? Come to think of it, how did you get here?" said Croft.

"I took a shortcut," said the Professor.

"What does that mean?" Preston asked.

"Wait a minute," said Croft. "You always say that you're not allowed to interfere. Last time we spoke you weren't even interested in this guy."

"Yes, I imagine that's how it (tweatle tweatle) to you," said the Professor, in a mildly deprecating voice. "But I decided to study this subject further. And no, Clifford, I did not interfere."

"You most certainly did," said Croft.

"I most certainly did not," said the Professor. "He attacked me. I merely defended myself."

Croft looked down at the Mind Bender. Suddenly he realized there was an opportunity to eliminate this menace, once and for all! He aimed his blaster-

"Stop, Clifford," said the Professor.

"I have to eliminate him now," said Croft.

"I realize that you are angry about having been forced to dance, and rather poorly too, I might (tweatle tweatle) add," said the Professor.

"It's not about that," said Croft. "He's killed people, and if he escapes, he'll kill more."

"You cannot terminate him," said the Professor.

"Why not?" said Croft.

"Because if you (tweatle tweatle) do, it will be because of my (tweatle tweatle) involvement, and I will have (tweatle tweatle) interfered," said the Professor. "That's against the (tweatle tweatle) rules."

"Your rules," said Croft, aiming his blaster tightly. All he would have to do was squeeze the trigger....

"Clifford!"

Croft matched gazes with those large dark eyes. Suddenly, he didn't feel very safe. Croft reluctantly lowered his blaster.

"I suggest you leave," said the Professor. "He will be awake in a few (tweatle tweatle)."

"All right," said Croft. "Let's get to the ship." He turned to the Professor. "Do you want to come with us?"

"No," said the Professor.

"So you're just going to stay here, alone?"

"He's going to wake up any moment, Clifford."

"Let's go," said Croft, starting for the ship.

The last thing the Capybara heard, in the distance, was Croft, saying to Mongo, "He's an animal, Mongo. He has fur, not hair."

As soon as they took off, Croft said, "Get me targeting on the ship's laser. We'll blast his ship, and if he's close enough, him too."

"What about the Capybara?" said Starr.

"Let'm eat cake," said Croft. "But first let's climb to a safe altitude."

"What's a safe altitude?" said Starr.

"Maximum visual range," said Croft.

TheSpace Racerclimbed and climbed. Croft activated the laser, as well as the manual targeting mechanism. Slowly he lined it up on the scoutship still parked near the monument. He activated the magnifier. The scoutship danced around his target finder...

And then it started moving.

"He's taking off!" said Croft.

"What do we do?" said Preston.

"Let's get out of here," said Croft.

"We still have the laser," said Preston.

"Do you want to test what his effective range is?" said Croft. He turned to Starr. "Can that thing outrun us?"

"He'll try to catch us now, as we exit the atmosphere," said Starr. "Stand by for maximum acceleration!"

They climbed into their crash couches, and then the weight of several g's slammed into them.

The pressured increased, and increased more.... and then slacked off.

"Ok, we're ok," said Starr. "He's 40 miles behind us.... 45... 50 miles...."

"Good," said Croft. "At this rate, how much of a lead will we have getting back to August?"

"We can't keep up this speed indefinitely," said Starr. "I'll have to make some computations. Just a moment," said Starr, doing some computations. "20 hours."

"20 hours," said Croft. "Well, it will have to do."

**********

They spent much of the trip home, the following two weeks, planning a course of action.

"You know the first thing he's going to do when he gets back," said Preston.

"He's going to come after me," said Croft.

"He does seem to have an unhealthy fixation with you," said Agent Waverly.

"Unhealthy for whom?" Croft inquired.

"What did all this get us?" said Preston. "We still don't know how to kill him."

"We learned that there was a limit to his range," said Croft. "How far away were we on top of that tall hill, maybe two miles?"

"Yes," said Preston. "But how does that help us?"

"It helps us because we've learned that even he has limits," said Croft. "We know his minimum range is greater than 200 feet, and his maximum range is under 2 miles. That's more than we knew before."

"Yes, but what do we do?" Preston asked.

"I need time to think," said Croft.

**********

Two weeks later, August loomed large on their screens. They had come up with many possible solutions over the course of their journey home. They had also weeded out most of them as impractical.

"All right, let's hear your latest idea," Croft sighed, speaking to Agent Waverly. He never thought he would tire of discussing how to successfully kill Wender and live to tell about it, but after two weeks of shooting down one impractical solution after another, he was getting fatigued.

"You carry a gas grenade," said Waverly.

"So I carry a gas grenade," said Croft.

"Not just any gas grenade," said Agent Waverly. "A modified one that sends a stream out directly in front of you."

"I presume I'll be wearing nose filters?" said Croft.

"Of course," said Agent Waverly. "We'll make an activator that you can use simply by touching a part of your jacket. He'll never know it's there."

"Unless he asks me about it, of course," said Croft.

"That's why you need to activate it the minute he gets near you," said Agent Waverly.

"What if he takes control of me and freezes me before he gets near me?" said Croft.

"That's a risk," said Agent Waverly.

"A risk? I think it's better categorized as a flaw in the plan," said Croft.

"Do you have any better ideas?" said Agent Waverly.

"Not yet," said Croft. The ship shuddered as it entered the atmosphere.

**********

In two hours they were back at the Column HQ. Croft, Waverly and Preston reported to the Chief in person.

"You were lucky to get out alive," said the Chief. "How did the Capybara get there?"

"We don't know," said Agent Waverly. "We never saw a ship."

"Maybe it's an invisible ship," said Croft.

Waverly looked at him.

"If it were invisible, wouldn't we see the Capybara inside his ship?" said Preston.

"Ha ha, very funny," said Croft. "But we know that the Capybara can camouflage himself."

The Chief tapped some records on his terminal. "I see here from our security affiliates who monitor the Professor, that he eluded his minders and disappeared a little over two weeks ago."

"Just a little over two weeks ago?" said Croft. "That would mean he would have had to get to the planet in a day or less."

"That's not possible," said Preston.

"Not with our technology," said Croft.

"According to these records, he reappeared in the area around his quarters a few hours later," said the Chief.

"Wait a minute," said Croft. "Are you saying the Professor has been back here for two weeks?"

"According to these records, yes," said the Chief.

"How is that possible?" said Croft.

"I'm intrigued as well, but we have a more immediate problem," said the Chief. "Wender will be back here in less than a day. Have you come up with any solutions?"

"Have the navy intercept him," said Croft promptly. "Blow him out of the sky. That's it! That's the answer. I'm a genius. Preston, tell me I'm a genius."

Preston looked at Waverly. Waverly looked at Croft. "Why didn't I think of that before?" said Agent Waverly.

"Why ask why?" said Croft. "You really want an answer? You were thinking on the micro level. Killing him face to face. We never considered long distance, large scale solutions. The Mind Bender is only about 15 hours out. Our sensor net should be able to track him. Do we have any ships in sector?"

"Let me check," said the Chief. He tapped a few keys, and a situation map of the August system appeared on the screen.

"We have two battle cruisers in orbit," said the Chief.

"That should do," said Croft. "The battle cruisers will have to be careful not to engage any closer than two miles. We know that's outside his control limit. But they must have missiles and laser turrets that can hit farther than that. Where is Wender's ship?"

"Let's find out," said the Chief.

It took two more hours to get the answer, and it was not to their liking.

Wender's ship was nowhere to be seen.

"Maybe it got lost, or blew up," said Croft hopefully.

"Or maybe he anticipated this move, and switched ships," said Agent Waverly.

"He switched ships," said Croft dully.

Waverly turned to the Chief. "Can you interdict all traffic coming into August?"

"Are you kidding?" said the Chief. "This is August, not some isolated colony world."

"I know there would be ramifications," said Agent Waverly. "But-"

"You don't know the half of them," said the Chief. "Not only do thousands of people come here daily, but August is dependent on vital imports of food and hundreds of other commodities. We can't simply stop such shipments."

"I'm not talking about an embargo," said Agent Waverly. "I'm talking about a search and examination of each ship."

"Do you know the kind of backlog that would create?" said the Chief. "We'd have ships in line stretching from here to New London."

"Forget it," said Croft. "No ship inspection routine will work. He'll simply get through it undetected. Remember who we're dealing with."

"So what do you suggest?" said the Chief.

"Let's try and think of something else," said Croft.

**********

They tried, and they tried again. And they tried and they tried some more. For two days they thought of ideas. All were impractical. For his own protection, Croft hid away at a Column safehouse, and didn't tell anyone, even the Chief, where he was hiding. Waverly and Preston were with him.

The Mind Bender returned. They knew he had returned simply by watching their holovids.

Pornographic holovids started to appear on the public networks. The first showed the Mind Bender sleeping with a famous holofilm star, while her husband watched approvingly.

From then on the Mind Bender proceeded to sleep with other famous actresses, often while their husbands watched and clapped or gave the thumbs up. Of course, after the mind control wore off, they were undoubtedly not so happy.

"I knew holostars slept around, but I didn't think they did it so publicly," said Preston.

"He's just trying to get our attention," said Croft. "He's trying to get me out in the open."

"We still have my gas grenade idea," said Agent Waverly.

"It may be worth a try," said Croft. "But let's see if we can't think of a few other ideas. Why don't I establish a holo with Levi? Do you think you can get your boss on the line as well?"

"Let me see," said Agent Waverly.

An hour later it was all arranged. A three way holoconference of the best and the brightest. Preston, Waverly, and Croft sat in one room, and the holoimages of Levi and Steven Quick appeared. To Levi and Steven Quick in their respective locations, Preston, Waverly, and Croft would also appear to be holograms.

And then, as they were about to begin, another Quick joined the conversation. Quick the Pomeranian jumped into Levi's lap. "Arf!"

"Levi, we need to get serious here," said Croft.

"Is that the... animal that's named after me?" said Quick, his silvery eyes blazing.

"Arf arf!" said Quick.

"Quick is very pleased to meet you," Levi translated.

Quick the person looked at Quick the dog, staring hard at him. Quick the dog cocked his head, turning it to the side, as if he were analyzing Quick the person in return. After a few seconds, Quick the dog stuck out his tongue and wagged his tail.

Steven Quick looked up. "Interesting. But my time is limited, so let us begin. You are looking for a way to neutralize Albert Wender, correct?"

"Neutralize, or preferably kill," said Croft, who, after their last encounter, had lost all reluctance against eliminating his nemesis. He vividly remembered the blaster he had been forced to press against his own head.

"Agent Waverly has told me about his gas grenade idea," said Quick. "I think it may be worth a try, but there are several possible flaws. He may take control of you before you get close enough to use it."

"That thought already occurred to me," said Croft.

"So you need a backup plan," said Quick. He thought quickly. "Can you lure him to an isolated area?"

Croft thought for a moment. "I think so. He's so fixated with me that he'll probably follow me anywhere."

"Then as a backup plan, have a cruiser standing by," said Quick. "If you don't resolve the situation within five minutes after he arrives, have the cruiser blast the location to rubble."

"There is just one flaw in that plan," said Croft.

"Clifford, this man has to be stopped," said Quick.

"I'd like to do it in a way that leaves me alive," said Croft.

"If your primary plan fails, you will probably be dead anyway," said Quick.

"Hm," said Croft.

"Arf!" said Quick the dog, who was smiling as he sat in on this top secret discussion. Levi petted the animal to quiet him.

Croft stared at the dog, and grew thoughtful for a moment.

Those silvery eyes noticed his expression and bore into him. "Yes, Clifford?"

"I noticed that Professor Capybara wasn't affected by the Mind Bender."

"Perhaps he has the mental ability to resist him," said Quick.

"Perhaps," said Croft. "Or perhaps the Mind Bender can only affect humans."

"An interesting possibility. Do you think you can persuade the Professor to take on the Mind Bender?" said Quick.

"No, I know he won't do that," said Croft.

"So how does this help us?" Quick asked.

Croft replied, "If it is true that the Mind Bender can only affect humans, that would mean he can't affect other forms of life."

"Other forms of life?" said Quick. "What other form of life did you have in mind?"

Croft turned his head to stare at the small smiling Pomeranian on Quick's lap. The others turned to follow his gaze.

"What?" said Levi, noticing the stares. Then he realized. "Oh, no...."

"Levi, you can make Quick understand voice instructions, right?" said Croft.

"Yes," said Levi, looking uncomfortable. "But is just a little dog. Can't expect him to bite Mind Bender to death."

"What if we attached an ultrasharp metal sliver to one of his paws, and coated it with a knockout drug that would work on contact?" said Croft. "All he would have to do is scratch his skin."

"Usually the Mind Bender wears pants," said Agent Waverly.

"The metal sliver will be sharp enough to cut through pants," said Croft.

"It... might work," said Quick. "But only if the Mind Bender cannot control animal minds. If he can your animal will be as susceptible to mind control as you are."

"I know," said Croft. He turned to Levi. "Are you up for this?"

"No," said Levi. "Quick is my little animal."

"Levi, we're talking about something really big here," said Croft. "If we don't catch this guy, he could kill a lot more people. How long do you think before he's going to tire of sleeping with holostars, and starts crashing ships and blowing things up again?"

Levi looked miserable. He appeared to think about it, and then said, "Must ask Quick. It is his decision."

"All right, you want to take a few minutes and go and explain-"

"Quick listening, Quick already understands," said Levi, giving Croft a chiding look. Levi's expression softened, and he looked down at Quick.

"Quick?" he said.

The little Pomeranian wagged his tail.

"You not have to do this," said Levi.

"Arf!" said Quick.

"It very dangerous," said Levi.

"Arf, arf, rough!" said Quick. He leaped up and quickly licked Levi on the nose.

"Does that mean he'll do it, or is he asking for a dog biscuit?"

"He is very brave animal," said Levi.

Preparations had to be made. The metal sliver and the drug that was to coat it had to be prepared and attached to Quick's paw. The fleet had to be alerted and made ready. It would take a few hours.

"Well, I think I'm going out for a walk," said Croft nonchalantly.

"Is that advisable?" said Agent Waverly. "He's still looking for you."

"Let him try to find me, in a city this size," said Croft.

"Let us come with you," said Preston.

"No, I think I want a walk alone," said Croft. "Don't worry, I'll be back soon."

**********

Croft left the apartment, which was on the outskirts of Sarney Sarittenden. He immediately boarded a travel tube. He knew exactly where he was going.

Within an hour he was buzzing a specific apartment. A few seconds later he was inside.