A Woman's Intuition -- Part Four

Approximately an hour after Dahl and her friends had arrived at Zelan, the four of them, along with Demi and Favia, congregated in the station's central control room. Demi sat in the director's seat, which Wren usually occupied. Dahl was standing before her. Erol was to Demi's left, leaning against a control panel with his arms crossed. Mium was off to the right. Azur stood behind Dahl, her hand on Favia's shoulder. Favia herself was in a terrible state. Her eyes glanced about the room nervously. She jumped whenever one of the station's androids stepped in momentarily to attend to its duties. She had finally managed to get her crying under control, but still her face was red and damp.

"All right, here we are," Demi said. "Erol was able to obtain the records on the history of the Numans."

Everyone looked to Erol, who nodded. "Right. The good news is that it looks like we've got everything. The bad news is that most of the data is in a sort of schematic form. It'll take several days, if not longer, before we know what exactly it is we're looking at."

Dahl pursed her lips, but nodded. "All right. It's not what I was hoping for, but it's a thousand times better than what I was expecting. Anyway, I was able to contact our friends on Palm II. Everything's running smoothly. They say they can hold out for as long as we need."

"Who is our young friend here?" Demi asked. She smiled warmly and looked to Favia.

Favia smiled meekly and took a cautious step forward. "My name is Favia Urbanich. I'm the cousin of Tiro, the man your friend Wren was attending to."

Demi nodded and her eyes darkened. "I see. You look a little worse for wear."

"As we were leaving, we were attacked by the individual we believe harmed Favia's cousin, Dr. Urbanich," Mium said.

"Was Wren anywhere to be found?" Demi asked.

Azur and Mium both shook their heads no.

"Elm, the Motavian who attacked us, told me that Wren had somewhere he needed to go for a while, and that he would be back later," Favia said. "I'm afraid I don't know any more than that."

"I can't believe that Wren hasn't bothered to contact me," Demi said to the group. "He always keeps me apprised of his every action when he is required to leave Zelan. This just doesn't make any sense at all." Demi stood and walked over to Favia. The two stood eye to eye. "Tell me," Demi said. "Did Wren give you any indication at all that he knew something was amiss at your cousin's station?"

Favia considered the question for a moment, but then shook her head. "No. He seemed to be acting completely normal. He didn't give any indication that he suspected something was up. Or at least I didn't pick up on any."

Demi nodded again and walked back to Zelan's main controls, which were right behind the director's chair. "Well, something definitely is wrong," she said. "Wren never would have left you alone if he thought you might possibly be in danger. And he would have thought you might be in danger if he had any idea that this Elm person was the one who hurt Dr. Urbanich."

"That means that Elm was somehow able to fool Wren," Dahl said. "But...that seems impossible. Wren is very perceptive."

Erol rubbed his chin. "Yeah. Nothing gets by Wren."

"So how could this whole plot slip under his nose when all of the players were right in front of his face?" Mium asked.

Azur shook her head. "It really doesn't make any sense."

Favia took another step forward, placing her next to Dahl and right in front of Demi. She cleared her throat and said, "Has anyone considered that Wren and Elm might possibly..."

Dahl raised an eyebrow and looked down at the girl. "What?"

Favia glanced nervously up at Dahl and then redirected her attention to Demi. "Well... Could they be...in cahoots with one another?"

Everyone chuckled and shook their heads. Favia just stared at them all.

"You've got to be kidding," Dahl said. "Maybe you are unaware that this Wren is the same who helped to destroy the Profound Darkness two thousand years ago."

Favia shook her head. "Oh, no. I know that."

"Then how can you possibly even suggest that Wren would take part in such a despicable scheme?" Demi asked. "I know Wren better than anyone. I have shared most of my life with him. Wren has worked nonstop for three thousand years to improve the lives of all people in Algo. He would never take steps to end one of those lives. Especially if that life was an innocent one in his eyes."

Favia took another step forward. "But think about it. Wren said he arrived shortly after the attack on Tiro. He must have seen Elm, and he must have suspected, at least initially, that Elm might have been involved in the assault. So then you guys show up. Knowing that he can't take out all of you, Elm forces you to leave. But then I show up all by myself. Elm knows it'll be easy to dispose of me, so he cooks up this plan to use those damaged worker robots to do it. He could probably even make it all look like an accident... Obviously, this would be the time that I need Wren's protection. And it's just at that moment that he decides to go for a walk?" Favia looked each of the five in the eyes, one at a time. "Come on! I know he's your friend and I know he's done a lot of good for Algo, but you can't let that blind you to what's happening."

Mium and Erol exchanged worried glances. Dahl caught them and said, "You guys... You can't seriously be--"

"What if Elm was able to somehow reprogram Wren?" Azur asked. "Maybe with some kind of special chip that he was able to stick onto Wren's armor, or something..."

Demi and Dahl looked at each other, unbelieving.

"Wren is the most sophisticated android in all of Algo," Mium said. "It would take an amazing amount of technical know-how to be able to pull off something like that."

Erol shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah. But it is possible."

Demi sat back and sighed. "And we don't even know where Wren is."

"He's probably back to Tiro's tent by now," Favia said quietly. "And I would imagine he is very curious as to where Tiro and I have gone."

Demi stood up and turned her back to the group. "I can't believe..." Her head sank.

"Neither can I, quite frankly," Dahl said. "This... This is all insane!"

Azur shook her head. "Wren must have been reprogrammed. He would never betray his duty to Algo. And I've never known Wren to be deceived."

Demi's head lifted. "My God..."

Dahl walked over to Demi and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Demi, what's wrong?"

Demi turned around but did not look at Dahl. Her eyes were darting back and forth. She bit her lip and then said, "There was one time. Just one time..."

"What?" Dahl asked. "One time that Wren was deceived?"

Demi nodded.

Mium stepped nearer to Demi. "When?"

Demi fell into her chair. She looked up at Dahl and Azur and asked, "Did I ever mention...a man named Seth?"

Betty was surprised to see Wren, horribly damaged, standing at the entrance to Tiro's tent. Elm was at his side.

"Where in the world did you find him?" Betty asked. "Where was he?"

Elm shook his head. "Wren here has been acting rather strangely. I found him just standing outside, perfectly still... It's anyone's guess what happened to his face and whatnot. Betty, I want you to take a look at him. You've demonstrated your skill with robotics time and again..."

Betty wheeled over to a table on the opposite end of the tent to retrieve her tools. "Very well."

Elm followed her. "I mean it. I am very impressed with the job you did repairing Bartholomew and Belthasar. They appear to be operating better than ever."

Betty moved to the middle of the tent floor, and waited. Elm led Wren over to the table on the far side of the tent. Wren sat down on the table and then fell onto his back like a stone. Betty began to examine him.

"Wren has a more intricate design than anything I have ever worked with," she said. "Dermal regeneration, tear secretion, saliva production... I don't know how to fix any of this. It's completely beyond my range of knowledge. I shall have to work on his auto-repair unit, which is fairly basic, and simply hope for the best."

Elm nodded. He pulled his hood over his head and walked towards the exit.

"You never said if you had any idea where it was that Wren had gone," Betty called after him.

Elm stopped walking. As he stuffed some supplies from a nearby table into the pockets of his cloak he said, "Several minutes ago I spotted him on the western horizon, approaching very slowly. He is not in the mood to speak, it appears. My hope is that Wren's silence is merely a result of his auditory systems being damaged. However, we cannot guess what the damage to his mind has been..."

"Have you found any trace of Tiro...or the girl?" Betty asked.

"No sign of the good doctor, I am afraid." Elm pulled his sonic gun from its hiding place in his cloak and cocked it. "But if I see the girl, I'll be sure to let you know."

Dahl tapped her foot and looked out of a view port. "So what you're saying, Demi, is that Elm is actually a Dark Force."

Demi, who was still sitting, shook her head vigorously. "No, not at all. The idea came to me because I can think of no person and no thing other than a Dark Force who could possibly fool -- or corrupt -- Wren. But, the Profound Darkness was completely destroyed two thousand years ago. No trace of it remains. And that means that there can be no Dark Forces left."

"Isn't it possible than a Dark Force can exist without the Profound Darkness?" Erol asked.

"Wren and I have debated this," Demi said. "We long ago came to the conclusion that Dark Force was more of an appendage of the Profound Darkness than an individual in its own right. But I admit, that conclusion was based solely upon conjecture. It is possible that the Dark Forces were more autonomous than Wren and I suspected. But..."

One of Demi's many assistants, the android Warren, entered the control room and bowed respectfully to Demi and her guests.

"How is Dr. Urbanich?" Demi asked.

"A fragment of a scalpel three centimeters in length was imbedded in his shoulder. We were able to remove it. We have cleaned and sealed the wound. However, an infection has set in. I have never seen anything like it before."

Demi's eyebrows went up. "What? Well, I assume you have taken a sample and analyzed it."

Warren nodded. "Yes. We took skin and blood samples. Our inspection shows that the skin around the wound has completely necrotized."

Erol shook his head and Azur gasped.

Warren looked at both of them and nodded again. "It is as if Dr. Urbanich is rotting from the inside. It appears that this strange affliction is slowly spreading to other areas of the body via the bloodstream."

"How long do you think he can last?" Dahl asked.

"I am not sure," Warren said. "The disease seems to be spreading slowly. If we continue treating Dr. Urbanich with Quintumate as we have been, he may be able to survive for several weeks. However, we cannot predict how the disease's behavior might change. If the necrotization were to suddenly hasten, as happens in some other illnesses, the doctor could possibly die within twenty-four hours."

Demi nodded gravely. "I see... And what did you find when you examined his blood?"

"We could not get any readings from it. According to our computers, it does not exist." Warren produced a small vial of what appeared to be tar from a compartment in his gold armor. He walked over to Demi and handed it to her. "This is the sample of Dr. Urbanich's blood. As you can see, it has undergone a dramatic metamorphosis."

Demi stared at the sample for a few seconds. "Yes. And it most certainly does exist." She handed it back to Warren and took a deep breath. "I'm not surprised the computers could not properly read this substance. Have the doctor quarantined along with this vial and any other instruments you have used on him. But have the medical computers checked anyway, just in case."

Warren nodded.

"Warren, my friends and I will be leaving shortly. I will leave Zelan in your command until the return of either Master Wren or myself. You may leave now."

Warren bowed a second time and left the room.

"We're leaving?" Favia asked. "Where are we going, exactly?"

"Our eventual destination is your cousin's tent," Demi said as she stood up. "But first we must go to Jut."

"Jut?" Dahl asked. "But why?"

Demi looked to Mium, who nodded. "When Mium, Wren, and myself visited Gumbious Temple recently, we were shown that the bishop has Elsydeon, the sacred sword of the Protectors, in his possession. And we're going to need it with what we're about to face."

Erol stepped next to Dahl. "And why is that?"

Demi marched over to the room's main entrance, where an elevator leading down to the docking bay was located. "Because what was in that vial was most certainly not blood."

Azur's brow knitted tightly. "Then what was it?"

Demi looked up towards the ceiling. "That, my dear, is the liquid form of the Black Energy Wave, the magical and highly poisonous substance that all Dark Forces radiate. My companions and I saw it far too often during our journeys two thousand years ago. And despite all the time that has passed, my memories of what it can do -- and who it harmed -- have not faded. I am afraid that my paranoid fear has been confirmed. There is a Dark Force still alive in Algo."

"But...how can this be?" Mium asked.

Demi shook her head. "I don't know. I guess Wren and I were wrong after all."

Azur's face went white. "Could the Profound Darkness still exist?"

"No," Demi said. "Yet somehow, this Dark Force has survived. He has taken the name Elm. And he has Wren." The jewel in Demi's forehead glowed and her eyes grew as narrow as slits. "And that is something I absolutely will not stand for."