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]

Part II: The Mind Bender Escapes

Part II: The Mind Bender Escapes

Chapter 9: An Unexpected Shooting

Chapter 9: An Unexpected Shooting

The time: Some years later

The first even remotest hint of a clue that Croft got that the Mind Bender had escaped was when several men came into the cafeteria at the Column HQ and started shooting at him.

Four men entered the large cafeteria where operatives were trying to enjoy their lunches on the 250th floor of the Column HQ building. For once Levi was not cooking, so the food was bland and ordinary.

"Where is Clifford Croft?" one of the men yelled.

Croft, who was sitting with Preston, looked up and matched looks with the speaker. The man's face gave a hint of recognition, and he shouted. "Must kill Clifford Croft!" as he and his men drew their blasters and opened fire.

Croft was not on guard, holding a soup spoon rather than a blaster in his hand, but he tensed up when he heard the word 'kill', and his honed reflexes made him drop the spoon, duck, and draw his blaster just as the man started firing.

The first shots went wide, and Croft, beneath the table, started firing back, hitting one of the men and shooting close to another.

The other three men ducked low to try to get a shot at Croft.

Unfortunately for them, they were in a room full of Column employees. Many of them were analysts, but some of them were operatives, and they were always armed. They opened fire, and in seconds the four were stunned, in a heap by the entrance to the cafeteria.

Preston cautiously stood up. "What in the world is-"

Several more men entered the cafeteria.

"Must kill Croft!" they shouted.

The gunfire erupted again. Croft was safer this time, because they didn't know he was under the table, and in seconds they were stunned too.

Then a third wave came in. "Kill Croft!" they shouted. A few seconds later they were dropped as well.

Croft let a few seconds pass. Then a few more. Then, cautiously grabbing his blaster, he stood up.

A young man entered the cafeteria. A dozen blasters trained on him.

"I just wanted lunch, but it's ok, I can come back another time," said the man hastily, exiting by stepping backwards out of the room.

"What's going on?" said Preston.

"I don't know," said Croft. "But I don't think I want to stick around here waiting for the next wave."

They cautiously made their way to the elevators, their blasters still drawn. When the elevator doors opened, they were ready to fire. But there were only a few surprised looking research analysts in the elevator.

"Shall we go underground?" Preston suggested.

"No, the roof," said Croft, pushing the button for the top level. His fight or flight instincts were tingling.

They reached the top floor, just below the roof, and exited. There were several agents milling about.

"Attention," came a voice over the comm system, one that they recognized as the Chief. "This is Director Alderman."

"Finally, the Chief," said Preston. "Maybe now we'll find out what's happening."

The Chief's voice could be heard by all operatives in the building. "Attention all Column personnel! Agent Clifford Croft has become a severe security threat. He is to be shot and killed on sight. Find him and kill him now!"

The agents, shocked to hear this, suddenly turned their gaze to Croft and Preston.

Croft and Preston had their blasters in their hands, now pointed at the men. "Don't make any moves," said Croft.

"Croft, what is this all about?" said one of the operatives.

"I don't know," said Croft, taking steps towards the roof access even as he kept his eyes riveted on the agents.

"Can't we talk about this?" said the operative.

"Talk about what? Letting you kill me?" said Croft.

Suddenly, another agent appeared from an adjacent hallway. He drew his blaster. This distracted Croft enough to enable the agents in the room to draw their weapons. Croft and Preston fired, downing two of them immediately. A third aimed at Croft before Croft downed him too. The agent in the hallway fired, narrowly missing Croft. Preston shot at him, but missed. Croft hit him with another shot.

They heard the sounds of running footsteps.

"Come on," said Croft.

"Kill Croft now!" they heard A.A. yell over the comm system.

"What's happening?" Preston cried.

"Perhaps I should have paid more attention during my last quarterly evaluation," Croft said, as they ran.

They made their way to the roof. There were two operatives there. Seconds later Croft and Preston stepped over their snoring bodies, and strapped themselves into gravitators.

In seconds they had launched, and were flying over downtown August.

"They will be tracking us soon. Where do we go?" shouted Preston. He was smart enough not to use the comm, instead maneuvering parallel to Croft to speak directly. "A safehouse?"

"Not very safe," said Croft. "We'll have to pick some place at random."

In a few minutes they landed, and made their way to the underground. Croft picked the lock on a small underground apartment, and they entered. The apartment happened to be empty at the moment, but was fully furnished.

"What happens when the occupant returns?" said Preston.

"I think we have bigger worries," said Croft, turning on the holovision. The image of the President of the League came on.

"-danger to us all. I repeat, we have a dangerous spy in our midst. His name is Clifford Croft. Formerly an operative, he has been found to be a double agent," said the President. "Intelligence indicates he had planted a blockbuster bomb somewhere in the city and has the activator on him. That's why it is crucial that he be shot on sight. Do not attempt to talk with him, do not stun him, shoot to kill. August is under martial law until this emergency is resolved. I repeat, Clifford Croft must be killed on sight."

The image faded, to be replaced by that of troops moving into position all over August, establishing checkpoints and searching the area.

"He's got the army after us," said Preston.

"And probably the navy as well," said Croft.

"We're not going to remain undetected here very long," said Preston. "What do we do?"

"First we figure out what's going on," said Croft.

"I don't know what's going on," said Preston. "It's as if we jumped into a parallel August where everything has changed."

"No," said Croft. "Not everything. In fact, only one fact has changed. Something specific to me. Now, who do we know who may have reason to be angry with me?"

"Well... almost the entire galaxy," Preston reflected. "I mean, the Slurian NGB, Slurian military intelligence, several more Slurian security services, the Terrible Thinker, the Claritan corporation, half of the planet Grafton, the Union-"

"Let me amend that," said Croft. "Who would be angry enough with me and have the ability to get the President and the Chief put a price on my head?"

Preston paused.

"That's right, Wender," said Croft, when Preston didn't answer quickly enough.

"Wender?" Preston blinked. "But he's in jail."

"I'll bet you he's not anymore," said Croft.

"Come to think of it, I suddenly recall that he was more than a little angry with you," said Preston. "Didn't he write 'Kill Croft' all over the walls of his cell?"

"A few hundred times, over and over, so the prison psychiatrists told me," said Croft. He scratched his head thoughtfully. "At the time, I didn't think anything of it...."

"But... assuming the Mind Bender is behind this, how did he get out?"

"The how is not so important, and we don't really have the time or luxury to investigate at the moment," said Croft.

"All right, how do we stop him?" Preston asked.

"That presents another problem," said Croft. "I don't think he'll fall for the remote controlled blaster in the jacket again. Another difficulty is that we don't even know where he is, and the minute we start moving around, we risk getting caught." He reflected. "Actually, as far as I know, they're only after me. You might be able to go freely."

"And I might not," said Preston. "How do I know that if I went back to the Column, that Wender might not issue more orders for me to be caught or killed?"

"You're right, it's a risk," said Croft. "But they might not be actively looking for you. You might be able to get to one of our safe houses."

"I thought you said they weren't safe," said Preston.

"They won't be, not for very long," said Croft. "But they can't watch all the safe houses all the time, they simply don't have the manpower." Croft punched up a map of Sarney Sarittenden on a nearby holoreceiver, and then zoomed in. After a moment he said, "There. There's one of our safe houses only a quarter mile away."

"What is it you want?" said Preston.

Croft told him.

"And what do we do with it once we get it?" said Preston.

"One step at a time," said Croft. "Get the stuff, and get back here."

"All right," said Preston. He went to the door. "I'll be back soon."

"I'll be waiting right here for you," Croft promised.

Preston returned about an hour later. When he entered their temporary quarters, he found that Croft was not there.

"Croft?" he said. "Croft?" he said again.

Preston drew his gun. He went over to the holoterminal. There was a message there.

"Be right back. Stay put," it said.

Preston lowered his blaster. He sat.

Several minutes later Croft entered the room.

"Where were you?" said Preston.

"Making sure you weren't followed," said Croft.

Preston suddenly felt that his professional ability was being questioned. "Croft, I know I'm not one of the Eight, but do you really think I'm unprofessional to allow myself to be followed?"

"No," said Croft. "But what if the Mind Bender had gotten to you, and then used you to get to me?" said Croft. "It was a possibility that I had to prepare for."

"Oh," said Preston.

Croft took the package from Preston.

"All right, so what do we do now?" Preston asked.

"I've given the matter some thought. In my estimation, there are only two places we might be safe on August," said Croft. "The Directorate embassy, and Professor Capybara's apartment."

Preston thought about the possibilities. "What if Wender expects us to go to these places?"

"We have to be prepared for that possibility," said Croft.

"They could be well guarded," Preston pointed out.

"Remember that funny name they give us, in agent training school? I think that's why we're called 'infiltrators'," said Croft. He opened the package Preston had brought. "Come on, let's get started."

Gary Kelso was a senior operative in Stellar Intelligence, the largest, most well known, and least competent intelligence agency in the League. Most of SI were analysts, but there were certain sections of SI that were used for "active work". Two squads of active operatives circled the ground level apartment of the alien known only as Professor Capybara. Kelso stood at the Capybara's front door with several of his men.

Two men walked down the hallway towards them. Immediately Kelso and two backup operatives raised their weapons.

"Whoa!" said one of the men. "Please don't shoot!"

Kelso looked at the men. Neither of them looked like Croft or his associate, Preston. "Who are you? What do you want?"

The man in front said, "My name is Professor Bob Brakes of Sarney Sarittenden University, and this is Stan Stark, my research assistant. We're here to see the Professor Capybara."

"The Professor Capybara isn't seeing anyone today," said Kelso guardedly.

"But we have an appointment," said Professor Brakes, looking astonished. He took a step or two closer.

"It's been canceled. There's a state of emergency, in case you haven't noticed. Come back another time," Kelso suggested.

"But I have authorization from the highest sources," said Professor Brakes. He reached into his jacket. Kelso and his men immediately raised their blasters.

"Wait!" said Brakes. He slowly took out a datapad. "Here. At least look at my authorization." He walked over and handed it to Kelso.

"There isn't any authorization you have that can change anything," said Kelso. Nevertheless, he looked down at the datapad.

At that moment, Brakes lashed out with his foot at one of Kelso's men, while simultaneously chopping Kelso on the back of the neck. The second guard raised his blaster, which was kicked out of his hand by Brake's research assistant. Brakes gave the guards some additional scholarly punches to knock them out.

"Come on," said Croft. They pressed the signal chimes on the Professor's door.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Croft and Preston looked at each other. They hadn't counted on the Professor not being in.

Then, the door slowly opened.

Croft and Preston entered quickly, closing the door behind them.

The Professor was in his study. He looked up at them. He didn't ask who they were; he didn't register any surprise. All he said was, "Ah, young Clifford. Isn't that a (tweatle tweatle) new look for you?"

"How did you know it was me?" said Croft. After all, he and Preston were both wearing plastiform disguise faces.

"Oh Clifford," said the Professor, waving a webbed foot modestly. "Ask me something difficult."

"Ok," said Croft. "How do we deal with a mad man who controls minds who had taken control of the entire planet?"

"Hm, that is a (tweatle tweatle) difficult question," the Professor admitted. He added, "I have noticed some (tweatle tweatle) unusual announcements lately. Something about killing you, I believe. Why don't you sit down and (tweatle tweatle) all about it?"

"Professor, we don't have the-"

Suddenly the door came crashing inwards. Several SI agents rushed in, blasters drawn. Several more rushed in from the patio, also with blasters aimed and pointed.

"You weren't invited in," said the Capybara, in an instructive but patient tone.

'That's him," said one of the operatives, pointing at Croft. "You heard the orders! Kill him!"

Suddenly the operatives, all of them, slumped to the ground. One of them fired his blaster as he fell unconscious, making a rather large, smoking hole in the Professor's reclining chair.

"Hm, I (tweatle tweatle) if that can be fixed," said the Professor worriedly.

"Ah, Professor?" said Croft. "We have bigger problems. Remember Wender?"

"Wender? Who?" said the Professor. "Forgive me, but I have seen so many (tweatle tweatle) humans, and you all tend to sound and look alike-"

"Wender, the guy who can control minds?"

"Oh, you mean (tweatle tweatle)," said the Professor, his expression brightening. "Yes, I do seem to recall a minor encounter with (tweatle tweatle) a number of years ago. It was hardly noteworthy."

"Yes, I'm sure it was," said Croft. "But you see, he's kind of taken over our government, and he's telling everyone to kill me-"

Suddenly, several army soldiers rushed in. They shouted, raised their blaster rifles... and fell asleep too.

"Yes, I can see how that could be a minor (tweatle tweatle) problem," said the Professor.

"You're very astute," said Croft. "But I'm here for help, not analysis."

"Help? Clifford, I can't interfere," said the Professor. He waddled over to a sack of peanuts, and scooped some out with a webbed paw. "Nut?"

Croft, suddenly thinking of the adjective rather than the noun, said, "No thanks." He tried to think of a way he could get through to the large rodent. "I appreciate the fact that you can't interfere under normal circumstances-"

"Under any circumstances," the Professor corrected him.

"-but seeing as he's taken over the entire planet, I thought you might make an exception," said Croft.

"Sorry, no can do," said the Professor.

Several more soldiers entered. "There he is!" one of them shouted. They raised their weapons, before falling asleep as well. The pile of sleeping soldiers and operatives started to get larger.

"Look at this," said Croft, activating the Professor's holoreceiver.

The image on the screen showed troops marching in rows through downtown Sarney Sarittenden, shouting, "Kill Croft! Kill Croft!"

Croft changed the channel.

"This just in," said the announcer. He read from an information screen. "The hunt is still on to kill Clifford Croft.

Croft switched to another channel. It was a panel discussion of prominent politicians.

"In the rush to say that Clifford Croft needs to be eliminated, no one has ever stopped to debate exactly what method should be used to execute him-"

Croft changed the channel.

"Fire!" said a voice, as several dozen military blasters ripped through a cardboard image of Croft. The surrounding crowd cheered.

Croft turned off the holoreceiver, and stared at the Professor.

The Professor said nothing, only continuing to chew nuts thoughtfully. The silencer was only punctuated by the sounds of his chewing and a new group of soldiers entering the room and falling asleep.

Finally Croft said, "Well, do you have any advice, anything?"

The Professor chewed on some peanuts, shells and all, and considered. "Have you considered that now might be an opportune time to take a vacation?"

"That's it? That's your great advice?" said Croft. "The army's looking for me on the ground. And I'm equally sure the navy has a tight interdiction net around August."

"Hm," said the Capybara, chewing thoughtfully.

Several more soldiers entered, though they had trouble getting through the logjam of bodies at the door. "Kill Croft!" they shouted. They quickly joined the sleeping crew.

"Listen, do you have any other ideas?" said Croft desperately. He heard the sounds of many boot steps in the distance. He knew they couldn't stay here much longer.

"Not at the moment," said the Capybara. "Perhaps if you came back later."

"There's a problem with that," said Croft. "I may not be alive to come back later."

"I see what you mean," said the Capybara, putting another pawful of nuts in his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully.

"Listen," said Croft. "You're not allowed to interfere, right?"

"Correct," said the Professor.

"You're not allowed to interfere with human development, right?" Croft asked.

"Correct again," said the Capybara.

"Well, we all know that this Wender guy isn't the subject of human development. We both know he was modified, by aliens," said Croft.

"True," said the Capybara, continuing to munch. Let nothing interfere with his snacking!

Croft desperately continued making his argument. "So, interfering with Wender wouldn't really be interfering with human development."

"Hm..." said the Capybara.

They heard a low rumble outside. Preston went on the patio to check it out.

"Come on, Professor," Croft urged him.

"Still thinking," the Capybara announced.

Preston quickly returned. "Croft, they're bringing battle tanks!"

"Professor!"

"I'm sorry Clifford," said the Capybara. "But I simply cannot get involved."

"All right, but give me something," said Croft. "Something."

The sound of battle tanks grew louder.

The Capybara paused. "All right," he said.

"All right, what?" Croft asked.

He looked at Croft, hard, in the eyes.

Croft stared back. Suddenly, he felt a shock, and all his senses felt scrambled.

*************

"Where is he?"

The Mind Bender blazed with anger.

"I don't know," said the President dully. "My men are looking."

The Mind Bender was seated on the throne itself in the Chamber of Leaders in the heart of the palace, Sarney Sarittenden proper. Sarney Sarittenden was both a city and a palace; the most senior government leaders of the executive branch were located in the palace. Naturally most of the bureaucracy couldn't fit in the palace, which is why they filled buildings for miles in every direction radiating out from the palace.