The entrance corridor in which the noise was heard was a strange and lofty-ceiled one, a corridor that was futuristically designed and gleaming with multi-hued lights. The sound was like unto an odd gasping and moaning, and it was accompanied by the appearance of an object that resembled an old “Roman column”. This object is, of course, the DiTraS (pronounced “DYE-tress” and standing for Dimensional Transport Sphere) one of the incredibly advanced combination Spaceship/Time-machines usable only by those godlike beings known as the Watchers of Algol.
From the DiTraS, in which an opening like unto a porthole had now appeared, stepped forth three individuals. The first of these was me, Doctor Daniel Rumanos, clad as I was in my usual finery -- including a frilled poet shirt, purple velvet suit, military boots, panama hat, and one of my favourite opera capes.
The second person to emerge from the DiTraS was my beloved friend and companion, Miss Millie Drake. She is an exceedingly beautiful young lady, petite and perfect with luxurious chestnut hair, enchanting blue-violet eyes, sun kissed skin, and a sensuously wide mouth. The tight, short, cherry-red dress she wore only served to highlight the soft curves of her slender adolescent figure.
The third disembarking DiTraS passenger was Kit-10, our mobile personal computer that resembles nothing more or less than a small mechanical cat.
I took the transonic turnscrew, an highly advanced scientific instrument somewhat resembling a large writing pen, from the pocket of my jacket, then utilising it to scan the area.
“That is weird,” said I upon glancing at the resultant readings. “According to this, we have materialised in an area official classified as outside of Time and Space.”
“That’s the same thing the DiTraS systems seemed to show,” said Millie. “But that isn’t possible, is it?”
“Well it is extremely unlikely, at least,” I pondered. “Only the Watchers could create such a place, and I am certain we would have been properly informed before they would summon us. Kit-10, are your systems showing anything?”
“Negative, s--,” replied the robotic feline. “Readings show surroundings to be nonexistent.”
(It should be noted here that Kit-10, along with her other catlike characteristics, is possessed of the total inability to openly show respect to anyone. In fact, the closest she ever comes to it is by addressing me by a slight “s--” sound -- for “sir” -- and Millie Drake by “m--” --for “ma’am”.)
By now, we had come to a large doorway at the end of the corridor. It looked very much like an official and rather ominous entrance to something of intense importance.
“Daniel,” said Millie, “Do you think we should go through there? I have such a strange feeling about this.”
“As do I, love,” I admitted, taking the girl’s hand, “but the DiTraS was drawn here for some mysterious reason. We need to find out what it is, hmmm?”
“Recommend proceeding with caution, s--,” said the mechanical cat.
“Quite so, Kit-10,” I agreed. “Quite so.”
With this, we walked through the door and found ourselves in an huge chamber, the layout of which made it obvious what it was intended to be.
“Daniel, this looks like...” stammered Millie Drake. “This looks like a courtroom.”
“Indeed it does, my dear,” I acquiesced, “and the design is vaguely Algolitish.”
It was then that a man’s voice echoed throughout the chamber, a voice that came from a figure seated at the judge’s bench at the front of the supposed courtroom.
“Doctor Daniel Rumanos and companions,” said the voice. “You have been brought here to face trial for your offences against the supreme laws of the Watchers of Algol. You are charged with committing numerous statutory crimes in violation of the non-interference directive that governs the very essence of our people. You are charged with aiding inferior races and in assisting lower species by unauthorised usage of our technologies.”
“Why, that is ridiculous,” I replied, addressing the speaker. “We are agents of the Kosmikos, and…”
“That organisation, if it even exists,” replied the supposed judge, “has no jurisdiction over this court. This is a special session that has been called for your trial only.”
“Daniel,” Millie whispered to me. “That voice. There is something familiar about it, but it’s hard to tell because of the echo.”
“Quite so, Mills,” I told her. “I feel the same.”
We had proceeded to the front of the courtroom, and could by now observe the figure that was seated behind the judge’s bench. He was indeed dressed in the flowing, multi-coloured robes of a member of the ruling class of our home planet of Daemonia. His, face, however, was still in deep shadow.
“As beings of Daemonian blood,” I told him, “Mistress Drake and I have the legal right to now the identity of our accuser. Please reveal yourself properly.”
With this, the judge gave forth an evil chuckle and a light suddenly illuminated his face. It was the countenance of a man seemingly of middle years, still showing signs of handsome distinction despite being marred with the marks of lifetimes of extreme unhallowed wickedness. His hair was long and dark, and his face was decorated with a thin moustache and goatee. Most of all, his eyes shone with an absolute hypnotic glare.
Of course, I recognised him immediately. I recognised him as my oldest and most bitter enemy, the renegade Watcher who has become the most evil and notorious criminal in all the Universe.
“Don Wingus,” I said his name. “I should have known. So you did escape from the Capital Hotel.”
“Indeed, Rumanos, indeed,” he rejoined, “and now I have achieved the power to finally bring about the doom of you and your little friends.”
“Wingus, you are quite insane,” I responded. “You are a wanted criminal. You are certainly no judge, and you have no right to claim the support of the Watchers.”
“Oh, but you are incorrect there, Rumanos,” the villain laughed. “I am indeed now empowered as supreme judge of the Algolitish Time-Space Court System. My summoning of your DiTraS to this location proves it. You cannot escape, and now you will face your trial!” …
My name is RUMANOS -- DOCTOR DANIEL RUMANOS, Extraterrestrial Espionage Agent and Intergalactic Man of Mystery. Even though I have the physical appearance of an human being, I am in fact several thousands of years old and do carry within my blood the vastly superior genes of the legendary Aeternusians or “Watchers” of the Daemon-Star ALGOL. Originating ninety-three light years from Earth, we are the most intellectually advanced race in all of the known galaxies, whose technology is so sophisticated it often appears to be “magic” and “miraculous” to lesser beings.
Whilst most Algolites tend to keep to themselves, preferring to live in elitist seclusion from the rest of the Universe and thus merely observing the goings-on of the myriad races of the vast reaches around them, I am an Operative for a secret organisation known as the KOSMIKOS or Cosmic Intervention Department, tasked with maintaining peace and order throughout the farthest reaches of Space and Time. You know, “plausible deniability”, and all of that sort of thing. It is our ongoing mission to defend the weak, the unfortunate, and the innocent from those who would harm or exploit them.
Currently assigned to Earth, I protect its people (both upon their own planet and across the eternal void) from the hideous manipulations of the arch-villain known as Magister Don Wingus, along with his dangerously-seductive daughter, Anastasia, and his occult terrorist organisation, Spectral Paranormal; as well as from alien invasions, mad scientists, and indeed all manner of menace. Assisted by my friends -- the beautiful young Hollywood starlet Miss Millie “The Girl From Beyond” Drake, and our catlike robot known as Kit-10 -- I am the living icon of Algol on this world. I am a Knight of the Eternal Spires. I am the professor of the impossible, the purveyor of Pure Mystery, the saviour of the Cosmos, and the sword of justice from the planet Daemonia. I am the cosmic crusader. I am the stellar swashbuckler.
These are my memoirs. This is my story.
I am -- THE DAEMON-STAR!!! …
“Ridiculous,” I replied to the villain. “Absolutely ridiculous. Kit-10!”
With this, the little robot shot forth a blast of her nose-laser directly at Don Wingus. It seemed to hit him squarely in the chest area, but had no effect upon him.
“Do you see now, Rumanos?” sneered Wingus. “Do you see? I rule supreme here, and the day of your long-awaited trial is at hand.”
“You have no authority for this, Wingus," I returned. “Such a trial, involving agents of the Kosmikos as defendants, would require a special tribunal chosen by the Absolute Convention and ratified by the executive power of the Universal Overseer.”
“Here I am both Convention and Overseer,” insisted the villain. “I rule over all in this domain, just as I shall soon take my rightful place as supreme ruler of all Space and Time. I shall have dominion over existence itself, but first I shall rid myself of your constant interference!”
“No,” I said. “No, this is not the case. You have achieved no power from the Watchers. That is an impossibility. This is all a lie, in sooth it is only some illusion that you have concocted, hmmm? That much is obvious, but how have you done it? How, indeed?”
At this, Millie Drake again whispered to me.
“Daniel,” she said. “How do you think he has done this? Could he have put us under the influence of some drug or something like that?”
“Perhaps,” I pondered, “but I doubt it. Kit-10?”
“Negative, s--,” replied the mechanical puss. “Atmosphere shows no traces of hallucinatory substances, and a scan of your biological systems shows the presence of no unusual chemicals.”
“Quite so,” I said. “In addition, that would not explain how he managed to summon our DiTraS to this location, hmmm? To do that would require technological power. However, what is it, and how has he acquired it. How?”
Don Wingus then glared down at me from the bench.
“Your little conference with your fellow defendants is at an end,” he announced. “It is time for the verdict and your sentence to be revealed.”
“Spires of Daemonia!” I swore. “So you are actually also claiming to be both judge and jury?”
“Oh, not quite,” chuckled Wingus. “No, Rumanos, not quite. You see, we do have a jury assembled here -- a jury that has already chosen your doom!”
With this, there suddenly appeared, right there in that bizarre otherworldly courtroom, the form of myriads of ebon-black shapes, swirling about in an absolute chaos of grotesque motion all about us.
“Daniel,” cried Millie Drake, now clinging to me in horror. “Aren’t those… ?”
“Yes,” I agreed. “Andromedan Cacodemons.”
“My associates the Cacodemons have deliberated,” announced Don Wingus, “and they have found you guilty on all counts.”
“What!” said I. “Wingus, this is positively outrageous!”
Wingus now emerged from behind the judge’s bench and came to stand directly before us. He was now holding a sleek ray-gun in his hand.
“They have also issued a recommended sentence,” continued the villain, a grin of absolute unholy evil on his face. “The sentence they have recommended is -- immediate and summary execution!
“Absolutely outrageous!” I repeated. “Wingus, you have proven yourself to be more irrevocably insane than ever.”
The villain now aimed the gun directly at me, his finger beginning to tighten on the trigger.
“Now, Rumanos,” he said, “now I bring your long-awaited death!”
Unseen by Don Wingus, I had kept the transonic turnscrew in my hand and now, just before he could fire the deadly ray-gun, I activated a certain setting upon it. At this, the surroundings of the chamber began to blur and change. Wingus and the Cacodemons vanished along with the supposed courtroom.
There was a brief period of absolute disorientation, a time of swirling madness, of surroundings in total and indescribably chaos. Then, when all calmed down, my companions and I found ourselves in the centre of a large multihued void -- the area around us populated by what appeared to be a plethora of constantly changing numerical patterns.
“Daniel, where are we?” enquired Millie Drake. “This looks like a computation matrix!”
“That is because it is exactly that, love,” I told her, returning the transonic device to my pocket. “Where we are; in fact, where we have been this entire time, is in what amounts to a smaller reproduction of the Arkhiveion!”
“The Arkhiveion?” repeated the girl. “That is the name of the official archives of the Watchers of Algol, where all of the secret knowledge is stored and protected as a source of power. But… how could Don Wingus have copied that?”
“He did not,” I answered. “Well, at least not by himself. It was the presence of the Cacodemons that gave it away. As you know, they are the disembodied psychic essences of the defeated warriors of the Andromeda Galaxy. During the time of the Galactic Wars, some Andromedan espionage agents managed to steal a computer storage unit from Algol. This device contained instructions on how to create the basic computation system as utilised in the Arkhiveion. Unfortunately for the Andromedans -- yet indeed fortunate for the safety of the Universe -- the resultant copy they created was unusable since they did not have an Algolite mind to stabilise and control it.”
“I think I understand now,” said Millie. “So, Wingus found this fake archive and is now using his own mind to control it?”
“Yes, and the Cacodemons we saw are the remains of soldiers of Andromeda who were left here to guard the system. Wingus then used the powers of the copied Arkhiveion to summon us here and to create that supposed ‘courtroom’.”
“So where are they now?” asked Millie. “Wingus and the Cacodemons, I mean.”
“They are still here somewhere,” I informed. ‘Remember that this is a place of illusion. Our perception, and theirs, changed when I activated the transonic to shake up the binary codes just a bit. It caused us and them to no longer be enabled to see each other, hmmm? Be cautious, though. Remember that in this Arkhiveion system perception could change at any time. The computation codes can take images from our minds and make them appear to actually exist. We could experience things that are not real, and…”
I then just suddenly realised that Millie and Kit-10 were no longer there. They had seemed to simply disappear as I was speaking and I now was apparently alone in the odd eldritch landscape of the copied Arkhiveion.
Then, a moment later, I beheld another figure approaching me -- a female figure, and quite a figure indeed. It was a full-breasted teenage girl with long raven hair and features that appeared to be the very definition of voluptuousness. She was wearing only a transparent nightgown.
“Anastasia Wingus,” I said, recognising her immediately. “I am not particularly surprised to see you here, once again being exploited as part of your father’s deceptive ploys, now am I?”
“Hello, Doctor Rumanos,” purred the adolescent femme fatale. “It looks like we’re alone. Have anything in mind?”
“Oh, perhaps I do,” I admitted.
Anastasia then licked her full lips slowly, playfully showing me her tongue as her translucent blue-green eyes flashed invitingly.
“I want you so much,” she purred. “I always dream of you; of you touching me and holding me; of you taking me and possessing me -- of you thrusting your hard manhood deep down inside me and filling me with your hot powerful Algolite essence.”
As she spoke, Anastasia “Stacy” Wingus had moved closer and closer to me. I could now feel the very heat of her luscious young body like a pulsating fantasy within so easy and accepting reach.
“Well now, little Stacy,” I winked, “I suppose this is the time and place, hmmm?”
And with this, I drew the pulchritudinous Anastasia Wingus to me and kissed her hard on her hot lovely mouth. …
Elsewhere, Miss Millie Drake and the robotic Kit-10 found themselves alone in the grotesque landscape of the Arkhiveion.
“What happened?” asked Millie, her sweet voice tinged with fear. “Where has Daniel gone?”
“Insufficient data available to make a determination, m--,” replied the mechanical cat.
“It looks like we’re still in the copied archive,” reasoned the girl, “but what happened to… Oh my gosh!”
Millie had suddenly noticed that she and the little robot were apparently not as alone as they had at first seemed to be. Approaching them quickly were several figures like unto large silver men -- forsooth, beings obviously of cybernetic origin.
“Replicants of Leknii!” trembled Millie in horror. “Why are they here? What could they have to do with all of thus?”
As the horrid cyborgs approached, Kit-10 fired off several shots of her nose-laser directly at them. Strangely, the light beams seemed to pass directly through the Replicants.
“M--,” said Kit-10, “it is likely that these Leknii are not as they seem.”
“Of course!” realised Millie Drake. “Daniel said this is a place of illusion! The Arkhiveion has taken the memories of the Replicants that I have from our past encounters with them and used it to create this image!”
The supposed cybernetic terrors were by now quite near the girl and her robot friend, and one of them began to raise its arm -- an arm that, in real Leknii Replicants, would be equipped with a deadly energy weapon.
“No!” cried the lass. “This isn’t real! It’s not! It’s all just an illusion!”
When Millie Drake again opened her beautiful eyes, she saw that the image of the Replicants had now completely vanished and that she was once again seemingly alone in the Arkhiveion with Kit-10.
“My goodness,” she said, “if this place can do things like that, I wonder what could be happening to Daniel right now. What horror from the past could he be facing?!” …
I drew away from the ultra-sexy form of Stacy Wingus as we both still stood there in the Arkhiveion.
“Well now, that proves it then,” I said. “You are certainly real enough. I thought perhaps you were just an image that the Arkhiveion had taken from my memories, or perhaps a deception that your father had utilised the illusionary powers here to create.”
“Oh please don’t stop, Doctor Rumanos,” pleaded the girl. “Please make love to me. I want you so much. I’ll let you do anything you want. You can do it in my mouth or any other way you like. Oh please … Please take me right now!”
“Do not be ridiculous, Anastasia,” I mocked. “After all, I am old enough to be your incestuous father.”
It was then that the voice of Magister Don Wingus suddenly interrupted us:
“Well well, what a touching little scene.”
“Speak of the devil,” said I.
Wingus was approaching from behind his daughter, and was still holding his ray-gun.
“What have you done with Miss Drake and Kit-10?” I queried him.
“Oh, your friends are just having a different little adventure elsewhere in this Arkhiveion,” he replied. “It is about time you let them go out on their own, is it not?”
“If anything happens to them, you ungodly fiend, I swear that I… !”
“You will do nothing, Rumanos. I rule supreme here. This very Akhiveion is controlled by my superior mind and, after I have finished ridding myself of you, I shall use its power to regenerate the Cacodemons into a new race of beings; beings who shall be my servants and armies -- beings who shall aid me in the conquest of all Time and Space!”
“You will never succeed in such a mad plan,” I rejoined. “The Watchers will not allow it. The Absolute Convention will personally take a hand in halting any such scheme. They will stop you and scatter your very existence to the farthest edges of Creation itself!”
“That will never happen to me, Rumanos,” sneered the villain. “I have allies even on Daemonia; operatives of Spectral Paranormal, remnants of the Cult of Nephal, of the Brotherhood of Sartorius, and of the Coven of the Nemesister. They will sabotage any plans against me from the Algolite government and make certain that the slow gears of bureaucracy grind to an halt. It is only your meddling Kosmikos that has ever posed any hindrance to me, and I shall soon bring that group of wretched spies to an end -- beginning now with the death of their most famous agent!”
It was then that Don Wingus aimed his gun directly at my midsection and, with a final laugh of absolutely obscene evil, fired its deadly energy ray upon me!
Can you even begin to perceive the absolute insane horror, forsooth the grotesque demoniacal terror of this undeniably satanic situation, my dear friends and most loyal readers? There I was, trapped in that “Arkhiveion”, which was under the control of the renegade Algolite known to eternal infamy as Magister Don Wingus. There I was, separated from my friends and seemingly helpless. There I was -- as the villain directly faced me and fired his lethal ray-gun at point blank range!
“No, Father, no!” I heard Anastasia Wingus shout. “Please don’t hurt Doctor Rumanos! Please, Father, don’t hurt him! I love him!”
The energy ray missed me by a fraction of a millimetre, shooting off harmlessly into the matrix of the Arkhiveion. At the last instant before he had fired, the girl had touched her father’s hand and caused his aim to fail upon me.
“Stacy, you ignorant slut!” he shouted in anger, slapping his daughter hard across her face. “I am absolutely sick and tired of your schoolgirl obsession with that meddling white knight!”
I then turned and saw that Millie Drake and Kit-10 had reappeared near by. Millie then quickly ran into my arms.
“Oh Daniel, I’m so glad to see you!” she cried. “What has been happening?”
“It appears that Don Wingus is finding his reign as controller of the Arkhiveion to be ending,” I explained to her. “Look!”
The swirling black forms of the Andromedan Cacodemons had also now reappeared and, whilst a noise as unto that of infernal howling issued from their own phantasmagorical shapes, were quickly surrounding Don Wingus and his daughter.
“The distraction has caused Wingus to disconnect his mind from the computer matrix,” I continued. “The Cacodemons, who were left here as guards, now see him as an intruder.”
We heard Anastasia scream as the horrible demonic terrors completely surrounded her and her father, who also voiced his shock at the matter.
“No! No!” shouted the villain. “You cannot do this to me! I am Magister Don Wingus of Algol! I am your master! I am the rightful master of all existence! I am… !!”
With this, the execrable criminal was silenced as the Cacodemons obliterated them from our sight. Then, a moment later the very forms of the demon terrors seemed to freeze in midair, suddenly becoming completely immobile.
“What is happening now?” enquired Millie Drake.
As if in answer to her, another sound was now heard to us. It was a noise like unto a strange far-off trumpeting.
“It is the Kosmikos!” I explained. “They have detected the copied Arkhiveion and have sent a remote systems cleansing to dismantle it!”
It was then that the familiar shape of a Roman-style “column” now appeared near by to us.
“The DiTraS!” cheered Millie Drake.
I noticed that the Arkhiveion area around us seemed to be dissolving into open Space.
“We need to go, hmmm?” said I, ushering Millie and Kit-10 into the now-opened porthole entrance of the DiTraS. “All will be well here now.”
I also stepped through the porthole, which closed behind me. A few seconds later, the odd gasping moaning sound of our ship’s Time-Space engines was heard, and the DiTraS dematerialised, taking us safely away from the now-doomed Arkhiveion.
***** DANIEL RUMANOS AND MILLIE DRAKE SHALL RETURN
