Chapter 3 Arbitrator

The craving like an addiction was in his blood and helped him keep to the right direction as it got stronger when he turned in the wrong direction. At least he hoped it was the right direction where ever he was going. He hadn’t seen any ships in a while, and if this was a wild goose chase, he would have to wait for daylight to fly towards the morning Sun to get back home. Well that was if he was flying west all this time.

Albert was invisible and intangible the entire two hours of his flight. He must have flown at least 400 miles. But the rising Sun in front of him told him otherwise.

‘What’s this? How the hell?’ Albert thought as an island appeared on the horizon along with daylight.

The craving left him once he was within rock throwing distance from shore. The island measured a little over three miles, which made it easy for him to fly around looking for whatever he was supposed to find. He flew high above the trees and spotted a tall man and teenager sitting on a log in the shade along the shoreline to the north.

Albert flew down a few meters above them so he could ease drop on them and see their faces.

“How long do you think we have to wait here?” The teenager asked, looking at the dirty sand next to the log.

“If I knew, I would be the genius.” Gus said with a very heavy voice, being at least six and a half feet tall and extremely muscle bond.

Benjamin looked at Gus. “Hey what’s that?” He pointed across his chest towards the trees.

Gus turned to look. “What? I don’t see anything.”

Albert also saw nothing from his vantage point.

“Have you ever had the feeling that you were being spied on?” Ben stood up and turned towards the jungle to the west.

“No, never.” Gus turned back to the front enjoying the blue and white waves.

“I’m telling you that someone is watching us.”

“Should I give them my famous pose?” Gus stood in a front double bicep stance.

“Ahhh… this isn’t a contest. We’re in the middle of nowhere because the lady told us to come here. Well! Here we are Your Majesty! Now what?” Ben walked out turning in all directions towards the water.

Gus stopped posing and smiled at his best friend. “Well at least there’s no lake around here to worry about, so we wait.”

“What? What lake?” Ben asked with a goofy frown.

“If there were a lake I would be expecting Excalibur to pop out. I thought you were the genius?” Gus smiled exposing his bright white rows of perfect teeth.

“You know you’re right!”

Albert made a puzzled face, but no one could tell.

“Since there’s an ocean and not a lake, we should be expecting Leviathan, or better yet, Godzilla!”

“Hmm, yeah, I prefer Excalibur, but for now, we’ll have to settle for that guy.”

Ben and Albert with slack-jawed faces looked at Gus, but then turned to where Gus was looking, out into the ocean.

Steve had flown at top speed, but slowed down greatly as he approached the three of them. He came within twenty feet from them, floating above the sand, with the waterline behind him. “Greetings. Now, who’s in charge?”

“That would be me.” Ben stated.

Steve folded his muscular arms, standing in mid air. His tattered dirty and bloody fatigues, topless and no shoes made him look formidable. “What about that guy back there?”

“Who, Gus? He’s strong and all but I’m the brains.” Ben replied.

“No I was talking about the guy acting like he’s one with the bushes.”

Ten meters in the wood line, a man stood up as if he were a bush. The colors of his skin and clothing changed to that of a normal human. He wore a Special Forces sniper uniform, but carried no weapons. His boonie hat and shades covered his face as he walked up to Gus and Ben.

“Hello, I’m Aaron.”

“I’m Gus Madex, and my young friend is Benjamin Dempsey.” Gus stuck out his hand.

“Aaron Fisher, good to meet you Gus.” Aaron shook his hand and waved at Ben and Steve. “Good to meet you all.”

“I’m Steve Messer, but all of us aren’t here yet.” Steve said and floated down on the ground next to Ben.

“No, everyone’s here.” Ben said. He was five feet five inches tall and slender. His curly dark brown hair gave him the image of a nerdy teenager, but his demeanor was that of a military tactician.

“Really? How do you know?” Steve asked.

“Because I’m the genius, and there’s still someone spying on us.”

‘Who’s this kid?’ Albert thought as he looked at all of the people below him. He read Ben’s mind, but he was thinking of many things at the same time, confusing him.

“Well, you heard Ben, show yourself, whoever you are!” Gus commanded.

Albert became tangible and visible above them. He wore a tropical long sleeve white shirt and pants, with casual canvas shoes. “How did you know I was here?”

“I’m a genius and since I saw five people in the visions, calculating the time the four of us have met, I knew there was another person here with special powers.”

“You fell for his bluff.” Aaron commented.

“He made an educated guess.” Gus smiled.

“Who are you?” Steve asked.

“My name is Albert Hansen. Cassandra told me many people were going to die, including me, if I didn’t follow her orders.”

“She told me she was in danger and worlds would be doomed if she died.” Aaron contradicted.

“She told us we were going to save the galaxy.” Gus said.

There was a silence even from the ocean as if it was Steve’s turn to speak.

“What did she tell you Steve?” Ben asked.

Steve looked at the group with a straight face. “She told me I was the leader.”

Ben squinted his eyes a little and almost grunted with aggravation. ‘I should have thought of that.’

Albert smiled as he could see everyone’s surface thoughts. Steve lied and everyone knew it or had doubts but didn’t want to lead, except for Ben. Albert knew best from what he could see that Steve was best suited for leadership. “I support Steve as leader, and suggest we reveal our history and special abilities so we can do whatever the lady in distress wants us to do.”

“Is that what you want us to do Steve?” Gus asked, treating him as the leader already without a vote.

“Yes, that’s exactly what I want, so I’ll go first.” Steve said and told the group about his training with the CIA, short lived work as an agent, and all his special abilities.

Albert saw that Gus and Ben were most impressed by Steve’s claim to being almost indestructible and seeing through solid and liquid matter millions of miles out.

“If you can see that far, have you ever seen aliens?” Gus asked.

“No, I don’t look up at the sky all of the time, but even if I did, I’m sure I or all the observatories around the world would have reported a sighting.” Steve answered, unsure if Gus was serious about the question.

“Ah…” Gus glanced at the ground in disappointment.

“I think I’ll go next, because this is taking way too long, and I don’t want to hear the same thing twice. I can turn invisible, and intangible.” Albert said as he floated down with his legs disappearing into the sand.

“Nice.” Ben awed a smile.

“I don’t have to eat for a very long time, or sleep for weeks, I can fly as fast as a commercial airplane, I can transmute small non-living objects into other matter, and I can read minds.” Albert put up his hand to stop Gus and Steve from speaking, floating back up to normal altitude on the sand.

“And yes I know what all of you have been thinking. Aaron, you’re a Special Forces sniper. You left the jungle of Nam to come here. Your powers are similar to Steve’s except you’re not as tough, you can’t see as far or through objects, but you can see in the darkness and your other four senses are heighten. You also have energy powers to make a force field for protection and… a laser beam comes out of your hands.”

Aaron nodded approval. Albert failed to inform the group that he was a killing machine for the military with thirty-eight confirmed assassinations, but now Aaron was given the opportunity to do something besides killing for the government.

Albert turned to Ben, “Ben is a genius and heals very fast, but you have to eat a lot. Gus, you are strong enough to lift several tons, very tough, and… are, a flying rat?” Albert didn’t believe what he was reading in Gus’ mind.

“Yes, well when I’m a rat, I can fly and destroy many things with a sonic screech. I can also tunnel through the ground very fast.” Gus added.

“Of course you can.” Steve smiled.

“Ben, how did you get here?” Aaron asked.

“I flew with Gus, why?”

“Oh.” Aaron imagined a teenager being held by a small rodent flying through the clouds.

Albert laughed. “Gus, can you please turn into the rat so everyone understands and doesn’t freak out later.”

Gus instantly turned into a three foot black rat, his tail making him six feet long. His eyes were different as if glowing white while he looked at the group members, perched on the log. “I heard all the rat jokes, so don’t worry, I will definitely make fun of you guys too.”

“Now that introductions are out of the way, now what?” Ben asked.

“We search the island together and find out why we were all led here.” Steve said.

“Why don’t you use your vision to recon the island?” Aaron asked.

“Because he can’t see through plant life.” Albert replied.

“Ah.” Steve glanced at Albert in approval for answering the question. “I have been looking in all directions since I arrived, and we don’t seem to be stationary. So what we’re looking for might not be on the island at the moment. But, I might be wrong.” Steve stated.

“How are we not stationary?” Albert asked what Aaron and Gus thought.

“I can’t see beyond fifty miles, and if you haven’t noticed yet, there used to be clouds, now there’s not a cloud in the sky.” Steve stated.

“The Sun is directly above us. Where did the hours go?” Gus added.

“We seem to be in a time shift, or displacement field.” Ben theorized as he squeezed grains of sand in his hand.

“Is that a good thing?” Aaron asked.

“It all depends if Cassandra was telling the truth. But I think we should check out that ship sticking out of the ground to the south.” Steve said.

“What ship? I didn’t see it there when I got here.” Albert said as he saw Steve’s mental picture of a half buried battleship in a clearing near the shore.

“Follow me.” Steve said and slowly flew in that direction, picking up speed as he saw everyone fly behind him.

Steve landed on a grassy spot centralized in front of the ship. Aaron and Albert landed next to him. Ben with a rat on his back flew towards one of the turrets. “Stop, don’t touch it! It’s radioactive!”

The teenager swirled around holding on to Gus’s front limbs. “Why didn’t you tell us that before?” Gus’s squeaky voice was loud.

“Follow me, means follow me, not go ahead of me!”

“Oh I see how this is going to work. Are we going to have to ask permission for everything? Ben asked as Gus flew them down in front of the trio.

“For now, yes. We need to work better together and build trust so we don’t have problems like this later.” Steve explained.

“I understand the mechanics of leadership.” Ben countered.

“What’s with the attitude then?” Steve replied.

“Can I interrupt?” Aaron jumped in.

“I like you Steve. You reacted like I had hoped.” Ben said, as Gus changed back into his human self, standing behind him.

“Good to know. Go ahead Aaron.” Steve said.

‘If the ship is radioactive, why is there green foliage on it?”

Loud thunder responded to Aaron’s question, and the ground quaked violently. Gus instantly turned back into a rat and flew up a foot above the ground. Everyone else did the same, except Ben who fell on the grass trying to get on all fours. Gus quickly picked him off the ground which shock for fifteen or so seconds.

“Look!” Albert pointed at the sky.

A bright light flickered into a beam of light. A rainbow effect trailed a black dot, streaking into the ship. The thunder and tremors instantly stopped as a loud hollow clang ended the event.

“It’s a man with a skateboard.” Steve said, looking at the new visitor and then concentrated on the ship’s structure. “And the ship isn’t radioactive anymore.”

“Maybe it never was. But it doesn’t matter. Let’s go see if this guy needs our help.” Aaron said, referring to the vines at the base of the hull, then at where the visitor disappeared from normal view.

The group flew on top of the ship’s 16 inch forward gun turret. The gunhouse metal was aged as if the ship had been exposed to the elements for decades. A man sized hole was on the lower deck wall.

Steve saw a medium height man wearing a silver and red spacesuit. The spacesuit was similar to an old black and white science fiction movie, except the helmet was of a jet fighter pilot helmet design. He didn’t have a backpack and his mouth and chin was exposed. The man had an African-American complexion, with an afro a few inches long. The skateboard was four feet long, with thirty-two small wheels. Its makeup was of a weird alloy, which he had trouble seeing through.

“We’ll wait here for him. He’s dazed, but he’s getting up just fine.” Steve said.

“Stranger, we’re friendly! Come out when you’re feeling better!” Gus yelled.

“If he speaks English, he’ll be so willing to talk to us.” Ben sarcastically placed his hands on his waist and walked around at a slant, examining the ship.

“I’ll go get him.” Albert said and disappeared.

“Okay… Ben, what do you see?” Steve asked.

“The ship has been exposed to the air or buried for at least a few years. You would think there would be more corrosion with the salt water, but this doesn’t make sense. Can you tell me what kinds of materials are inside the rooms?” Ben looked at Steve.

“Looks like all of the rooms at ground level and below are filed with earth. The rest are completely filled with air. There are no skeletons or equipment either.” Steve slowly said at the end of the sentence.

“It has to be a displacement field then.”

“You mean the ship was teleported?” Aaron asked.

“Yes, very good Aaron.” Ben smiled with surprise.

“You know this reminds me of a show of the Bermuda Triangle, I saw on In Search Of.” Gus commented.

“I can’t see any identification. Aaron, Ben, please go to the bridge down there and find out anything you can about this ship. Gus and I will wait for Albert and our new visitor.” Steve pointed down toward a large box with portals half buried by the ground.

“Hop on my back Ben.” Aaron turned away from him.

“One of these days, I’m going to make myself a jetpack or something.” Ben said as he piggy backed on Aaron.

Aaron flew down to the bridge, while Steve slowly flew to the opening. “Albert has revealed himself and I think he’s done talking to the visitor.” Steve said with Gus floating next to him.

Steve entered the room covering up any light coming in from the new hole, but Gus widened the hole with his bare hands when it was his turn to enter.

“Steve, this is Arbitrator from the land of Cilos.” Albert said as metallic bending and cracking sounded in the background.

“Cilos? I never heard of it.”

“It’s a wondrous place far from here. But let us get out of this room so I can meet all of you.” Arbitrator said with a Jamaican accent, as he held his skateboard under his arm like a surfer.

Gus stepped into the slanted room with a prideful grin, turning gloom as Steve motioned him to go back outside. “Sorry big guy, but thanks for the large whole.” Steve said while Gus smiled once again.

“You’re welcome Steve.” Gus allowed Steve to pass and waited for Arbitrator and Albert. “Nice to meet you, Arbitrator.”

“You must be Lord Rat Bastard?” Arbitrator revealed a bright and perfect white smile while extending his free hand.

“Ahh, yeah I must be.” Gus’ confused face said it all, trying to be his usual polite self, and shook his hand.

The four flew towards the ground away from the ship; Arbitrator stylishly using his flying skateboard. It wasn’t long before Ben and Aaron joined them at Steve’s beckoning.

“What happened?” Aaron asked as they landed.

“Aaron, Ben, this is Arbitrator. An alien from another galaxy.” Albert stated.

“What? I thought you were from somewhere in the Caribbean Islands or something.” Gus interjected.

“No. Lord Rat Bastard, I am as Lord Ghost has said. I’m from the galaxy you call Andromeda.”

“Wow, I knew ETs were real!” Gus joyfully smiled.

“So it seems.” Steve said with a raised doubtful eyebrow and crossed arms.

“Queen Cassandra Leavan instructed me to come here and take you to the imperial outer marker so you can organize an offensive against Korvax Bac’dir and retake the kingdom.” Arbitrator floated inches above the sand as his body rotated looking into each man’s and the teenager’s eyes.

“I have long since waited to meet the five of you.” Arbitrator knelt on his board. “My, Lords.”

“What are we lords of?” Steve asked but looked at Albert, knowing he already knew why Arbitrator seemed to treat them as if they were royalty or legends of some sort.

“It is written that the five Lords from Earth would come to save the galaxy from destruction. The ancient writings were passed down by our king six hundred years ago, but I have seen with my own eyes the things which have and will come to pass. You are Lords of Arlos and the Queen’s Champions.”

“So I’m a Lord already, I don’t have to do something to become a Lord?” Ben asked.

“Yes, Lord Master.” Arbitrator slowly stood up.

“Master… I like that.” Ben scrutinized Arbitrator’s body language.

“If he’s Ghost, Rat Bastard, and Master, then who are we?” Steve pointed at the three, then at himself and Aaron.

“You are Lord Stargazer, and you my lord.” Arbitrator faced Aaron. “You go by many names, but many call you Lord Spot.”

“So where we’re going, does everyone know use?” Ben asked.

“Lord Master. Everyone does not believe in the legends, but once you arrive, there will be many who will rally behind you.”

“So we came here to be taken to another galaxy to win a war we didn’t start?” Aaron asked.

“Wasn’t that what you were doing yesterday?” Gus countered.

Aaron stared at Gus, his strong jaws were relaxed, eyes as soft as a dove. “Yeah, you’re right.” Aaron half smiled.

“Sounds good to me, but one thing Arbitrator. I would like to be addressed as Master, no need to put Lord in front of it.” Ben stated with a wide smile.

Steve smiled and uncrossed his arms. “Okay from now on, let’s stick to one naming game and use Stargazer, Master, Spot, Ghost and Rat Bastard.”

“I think it’s time to go.” Arbitrator said and pointed up at the sky. A hole in the fabric of the blue atmosphere revealed space and stars.

“Wait! How’s this going to work? I still have some questions.” Ben asked as Arbitrator floated a few feet above the ground. His skateboard hummed and glowed underneath as if revving up for a drag race.

“I was sent here with the queen’s power, and cannot control the vortex rift, my young Lord.”

Albert stared at Steve. Steve’s gaze bared on the horizon out at sea. “Are you alright?”

Steve paused to answer. “Yeah, I’m just wishing I had dated sooner.” Steve turned to Albert with a weak smile.

Albert finished his grin. “It’s okay Steve, we’ll be back soon so I can be your chaperone.”

“Thank you for caring.” Steve almost laughed out loud, and looked at Gus, motioning him to pick Ben up then turned toward Arbitrator. “Do we fly with you holding hands or something?”

“No, my Lord Stargazer. I will loop back around and teleport you to the rift, it will take you to the outer marker. If, I’m not there when you arrive, no worries. I will be with you as soon as I can.”

“Why won’t you be there?” Aaron yelled.

“I pop in and out as nature takes me.” Arbitrator said as he flew off a few hundred meters out and quickly returned. “But you my Lords are not bound by nature!”

A white light appeared in front of Arbitrator. The group saw the flash and instantly were pushed into space. Ben held tight to Gus’s arm as they were pulled into a black hole the size of the moon. Steve looked in the direction of Earth now several hundred thousand miles away. The quick glimpse of the planet only confirmed that they had teleported into space and his thoughts went to Ben. Surely Ben wouldn’t be able to survive in a vacuum. But, the time it took to take a breath, the blackness had erased all the stars. Steve and probably only Aaron could see the five of them floating in empty space. The coldness and heat of space was somehow non-existent. Steve looked around as far as he could see, but saw only darkness around the group. He tried to speak, but it all seemed as if he were in a dream where the laws of physics and metaphysics baffled him.

The darkness swiftly faded away as the interior of a landing bay replaced it. The five hit the metallic floor at various angles. Aaron tumbled into an upright stance, while Steve slid on his back. Gus tumbled also, but it was an uncontrolled landing, breaking Ben’s arm. Albert flew into the floor several feet before he flew out standing on top of the metallic structure next to Steve.

“That was fun.” Albert sarcastically mumbled as dizziness hit him for a few seconds.

All of the men felt the dizziness, except for Ben, who screamed in pain.

“Stargazer.” Aaron warned as everyone else was looking at Ben’s suffering. “We got company.”

The landing bay was enormous, but there was only one spaceship looking craft a hundred meters away. A company size element of suited humanoids carrying weapons raced to their location from all directions. “Ghost, take the boy and hide. We will see if they’re friendly.” Steve ordered.

Steve looked at the people approaching and the surroundings they had materialized into. They were in a space port as if from a real science fiction movie set. But there were no cameras or fake props. The humanoids were human-like as far as he could tell, but they had fur or were very hairy humans at a quick glance. They were also wearing sophisticated body armored spacesuits. The weapons were a mixture of energy based or projectile, but they were too alien for him to fully determine. There were twelve decks up and five decks down that his vision would allow him to penetrate with great detail before open space. He looked at the spacecraft and it seemed to be under repair; a shuttlecraft of some sort, seating about fifty passengers. The open view of space in the distance indicated that there was some sort of energy force field keeping an atmosphere inside the bay. He finally focused on the approaching people while he stood up.

Ghost grabbed Ben’s arm and they both turned invisible and floated through the floor. The dematerialized ghost form helped Ben cope with the now not so painful dangling forearm. “Don’t worry, no one can hurt us or see us right now.” Ghost said.

Master looked at Ghost. All common sense would say that he shouldn’t be able to hear or see him, but he too was in another plane of existence and the laws of common sense were thrown out the window a long time ago.

They flew down into a gap between the landing bay floor and another compartment or deck below them. Ghost continued to fly down until there was light and he could see where they were. They entered a large room full of cargo in the form of large crates the size of houses. “We’ll wait here for now. Hopefully the people in this place are friendly.” Ghost said as he held Master by the waist.

“What about my arm?” Master said holding his forearm up in front of his face.

“Hmm, well I can set it now, that way it won’t hurt as much later.” Ghost grabbed the forearm with his free hand and moved it to its normal position. “Hold it there for now.”

Ben felt almost no pain at all, but that didn’t help because he knew once he left the ghost world, the nerves would start blaring again.

Up on top, Stargazer stood next to Spot, while Rat Bastard stood behind them facing the rear.