The Mutant Mindbender Ch. 7

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

Chapter 7: Journey Into The Unknown

Croft and Dalbo jumped off the top of the dam, compelled by the mindbending mutant.

Dalbo was looking at his chrono as they plunged downwards. Undoubtedly he was curious to find out how long the journey would take.

Croft lunged forward and grabbed Dalbo in a bear hug. Dalbo, surprised, tried to worm out of it, but Croft grabbed him tightly.

Then Croft turned to his wrist and pressed a button.

The back of his "suit" jacket blew out, revealing a compact grav chute backpack. Less powerful than a gravitator, with very limited energy, they were good for slowing falls. Croft felt it working as their fall started to slow.

But the ground wasn't very far below them. Could it stop their fall in time?

They were still falling even as the grav chute continued to slow their descent. Croft watched the ground speeding towards them. Time, they needed more time-

Their feet hit the ground first, and Croft expertly rolled to the side, unfortunately with Dalbo on top of him.

He felt pain radiating throughout the left side of his body. He lay there, winded, unmoving.

Croft didn't know how long it had taken for Preston and Waverly to get there. But it seemed like only a moment later when they stood, looking down at him.

"Croft!" Preston shouted, pulling him up. "Are you all right?"

"Ow!" said Croft, feeling the pain in his side. "I think I broke something."

Dalbo got up of his own accord. "Can you describe the pain?" He seemed uninjured. Undoubtedly Croft had broken his fall.

Describe the pain? "I'm looking right at it," said Croft, staring at him.

"Let's get you to base medical," said Preston.

"Wait, what about-"

"We have a team already on the way there," said Preston. "Wender took off in his gravitator. It's a race, to see who will get there first."

Croft didn't find out who had won the race until after he had been treated at the hospital, several hours later. He sat in an operating center while a doctor wrote up the evaluation he had just received.

"How is he, Doctor?" said Preston, coming into the room. Agent Waverly was with him.

"A lot of bruises, a few broken ribs, nothing critical," said the doctor. He turned to Croft. "From what I hear, you were very lucky."

"Lucky, yeah," Croft winced.

"The bones have been fused, but it will be tender for the next day or two," said the doctor. "I prescribe rest-"

"I'll rest when that madman is eliminated," said Croft. "Thank you, doctor." He got up, and left the room with Preston and Waverly.

"We found the generals, they're all ok," said Preston. "We were lucky that we had operatives closer to their location. They were able to get there and get them out before the Mind Bender could get back there."

"Where are they now?" said Croft.

"A secure location," said Preston. "Under observation for the next day or two, just to make sure that Wender's instructions wear off."

"Your President and other senior officials have also been moved to undisclosed locations," said Agent Waverly. "Wender won't be able to try that particular trick again."

Croft nodded.

"How did you know? said Agent Waverly.

"Know what?" Croft smiled, despite his discomfort.

"How did you know that the Mind Bender couldn't read minds?" Agent Waverly asked.

Croft smiled. "It first struck me when he was getting information from the Chief. I noticed that the Chief was answering questions that hadn't been asked. Obviously, Wender had been asking them telepathically. But the Chief was answering those questions in words. At first, I thought it was just a reflex--the Chief was responding in thoughts and words. But then it occurred to me that maybe, just maybe, the Chief was speaking because Wender couldn't read his mind. That he could only control minds, but not read them."

"How could he possibly control a mind without being able to read it?" said Preston.

"Let's go see Levi and find out," said Croft.

********

"Of course is possible," said Levi, when they found him in his private kitchen, deep in the heart of Column HQ. "As I try to tell you, reading minds, controlling minds, can be two very different things."

"But how can he telepathically tell them what to do if he can't read their minds?" said Preston.

"If you deaf, can you speak?" said Levi.

"Well, yes, I suppose, but it's not the same thing-"

"Is the same thing," said Levi. "Mind Bender knows what he is thinking. Knows how to project his own thoughts. Can probably sense presence of other minds, and direct thoughts in those directions."

"He knew I was coming to the Chief's office before I came in," said Croft.

"Or he knew someone was coming," said Levi. "It is like a garbled holocom turned on low. You can hear that it's there, but not know what it is saying."

"So he projects the thoughts he wants the subject to obey, and then-"

"Gets subjects to repeat what he told them to do, to make sure he got proper message through," said Levi. "He has immense power, but does not even know if he is successful with power unless subject tells him so."

"Which is why whenever he asks a question telepathically the person he's controlling has to answer it verbally," says Croft. "That also explains why he didn't immediately know that Dalbo was a telepath, or that I had a mini grav chute hidden under my clothes."

"That was a very clever deduction, Croft," said Agent Waverly. "But if you had been wrong-"

"If I had been wrong, he probably would have had me take off my grav chute first," said Croft. "But I reviewed the records of his other victims. They spoke to him too. It seemed like more than a coincidence."

"Now that we know this, how can we use this against him?" Preston asked.

"Since we know he can't read our minds, we can confidently plan a surprise the next time we see him," said Croft. "If he asks for a datapad full of money, we can give him one that will blow up in his face."

"It may not be that easy," said Agent Waverly. "All he has to do is to compel us to tell him what we're planning."

"If he thinks of the right questions," said Croft. "It's a start."

"What about his origins?" Waverly asked. "Did you ever have a Column tech team look over his Exploration Service ship?"

"I did," said Croft. "They should have reported in by now." He activated his comm. Within a few moments he was speaking to the team leader.

"This is agent Croft. Did you examine Wender's Exploration Service ship?" Croft asked.

"Yes," came the tech's voice.

"What did you find?" Croft asked.

"We didn't find anything," said the tech.

Croft frowned. "Did you check the log computer?"

"We didn't find anything."

"Forensic data?"

"We did not find anything," the tech repeated, in an identical tone.

"Thanks," said Croft, signing off. He looked at the others.

"Wender got to them," said Preston.

"I wonder what's in that ship that he doesn't want us to find," said Croft.

"If he were thorough, he would have had his ship destroyed," said Agent Waverly. "Maybe there is nothing to find."

"No, he's just sloppy," Croft decided. "That's another pattern that describes Wender. But by now he has obscured two investigations of his ship," said Croft. "So I'm guessing there is something there to find."

"He really would have destroyed the ship, I think, if there were anything to find," said Preston. "I agree with Waverly on this one."

"Then why would he obscure two investigations?" said Croft. "I'll say it again. He's sloppy. He acts on impulse. He's not a criminal mastermind. A criminal mastermind would have asked for more than 20 million credits. A criminal mastermind would have questioned me more closely on the dam, and grabbed Dalbo, who's easily worth more than 20 million credits. He acts erratically, and that's to our advantage."

Croft turned to Levi. "Levi, I want you to check out Wender's Exploration Service ship."

"What am looking for?" Levi asked.

"Anything. Everything," said Croft. "His entire crew disappeared in midflight. The story is unbelievable. I want to see if you can come up with any evidence to find out what happened."

"How do we know that what happened to the tech team won't happen to Levi?" Preston asked.

"Wender can't be everywhere at once or know everything we do. But we will have to take some precautions," said Croft. "Levi, I want you to take a portable holotransmitter with you. Have someone monitor it and monitor you while you are examining the ship; if whoever monitors you sees any sign of Wender, we'll know that whatever conclusions you come to won't be your own."

"All right," said Levi.

********

Croft spent the rest of the day resting in bed, taking painkillers. When he got up the next morning, he was no longer in active pain, but he felt sore whenever he moved. He called Waverly and Preston and told them to meet him in Levi's lab.

When they got there, a small dog intercepted them at the door.

"Arf arf!" said Quick, the small mutated Pomeranian.

"We're looking for Levi, Quick," said Croft.

"Arf, arf!" said Quick, still blocking their way.

"We really don't think Levi would mind us being here," said Croft.

"Roough!" said Quick, pointing his snout in the air as he barked.

Croft suddenly gained some perspective. "Look at me; I'm arguing with a lap dog."

Croft simply stepped around the small dog and entered the room. Quick, unhappy with the intruders, continued to yap.

It seemed Levi wasn't in the lab. But his holoreceiver was on, and it showed an image of Levi inside an Exploration Service scoutship.

Croft pressed the transmit button. "Levi, I told you to have someone watching you remotely."

Levi pressed the button on his wrist comm. "Yes. Quick is watching. Quick, what is status?"

The little dog ran up to the comm unit. "Arf arf!"

"No sign of Mind Bender yet," Levi translated.

"You're relying on the dog to guard your back?" said Preston. "How do you know he won't be distracted by a bone or going to the bathroom or something?"

"Grrrr!" said Quick, baring his teeth at Preston.

"Is a very conscientious animal," said Levi, bending over a console.

"What have you found?" Croft asked.

Levi turned to face the holotransmitter, and held up a plastic bag with a few bits of something in it.

"Levi, this is no time for recipes," said Croft.

"Dirt," said Levi.

Croft raised an eyebrow. He wasn't really a forensics specialist. "Levi, help me out here. Is it any particular kind of dirt?"

"Alien dirt."

"Alien dirt," said Croft. "Meaning..."

"Soil," said Levi. "Ran it through shipboard analyzer. Doesn't match soil from any known inhabited planet."

Croft frowned. "We were told that the ship never set down anywhere."

"I think it did," said Levi. He manipulated a console, stared at the readout. "Ah!"

"What?" said Croft.

"Databanks altered," said Levi.

"How do you know?" Croft asked.

"Did simple unerase of original log. Very amateur job of erasure. Recovery of lost data showed ship set down on planet, different trajectory than what said in log," Levi continued to read the data, even as he spoke.

"A planet," said Croft. "What else does it say?"

"Planet breathable atmosphere. Ship there for several weeks. Then ship leave," said Levi.

"No personal logs, no crew logs?" said Croft.

"Found erased logs mentioning going to planet," said Levi. "But no logs once reached planet, or after."

"Hm," said Croft. That sounded a little ominous.

"Why wouldn't Wender want us to know about a planet he and his crew discovered?" Preston asked. "Unless...."

"Unless something on this planet gave him this power," said Croft.

"I think we have to investigate this," said Agent Waverly.

"I'm afraid I agree," Croft sighed. He knew he had to go. But he didn't like the idea of going to some distant planet without any backup. Croft was an expert infiltrator; but he felt at ease infiltrating societies with a lot of people, where he knew how to blend in. Going to some distant planet where there was no people, but perhaps some dangerous aliens, was not his idea of infiltration work, and Croft's skills and natural advantages would not help him.

********

Four hours later, they were on one of the fastest and most famous ships in the Exploration Service fleet, the Space Racer, commanded by the legendary ES explorer, James Starr.

If there was some alien artifacts on this unknown planet to be studied or interpreted, Starr was the best man for the job. He had hundreds of years of experience exploring uncharted planets and analyzing alien artifacts. He had also published many scholarly books on the subject, though because of their scholarly nature, only one, specifically designed for the mass market, had become an instant bestseller: the Complete Idiot's Guide to Monumental Technology. Croft had read it several times, but it was more of a basic guide than a how-to book. Everyone was curious about the old monuments that were found scattered throughout the galaxy, but not much was really known about them. What little was known, however, was known quite well by James Starr. They were just lucky that he happened to be on August at this particular time; he was usually out among the stars, engaged in long distance travel and exploration.

Preston and Agent Waverly accompanied them. Croft also brought Mongo. If they were going into danger, Mongo might be able to warn them beforehand.

"I have to admit a certain amount of apprehension about this trip," said Croft.

"Why, Clifford?" said Starr.

"I mean, this guy went to this planet and came back with the ability to control minds," said Croft.

"Wouldn't you like the ability to control minds?" said Preston.

"It certainly would be useful in dealing with A. A., and some other bosses I've had in the past," said Croft. "But this same ability also drove Wender mad. He probably killed his crew, and when he got back here... look what he did."

"Wender had a violent background to begin with," said Starr. "There's no certainty that whatever gave him this power would also turn us into homicidal maniacs."

"He had an assault record," said Croft. "But he never killed anyone."

"Perhaps because he knew he couldn't get away with it before," said Starr. "But now he can."

"Well, I just don't want to get turned into whatever he is," said Croft. "All our Gamma Operatives have something a little odd about them. I don't want to come back with the urge to count ceiling tiles or something like that."

"Exploration always has a certain degree of risk."

"Yes, and that makes me wonder why you do it," said Croft.

"The thrill of adventure, and making new discoveries," said Starr. "But being a spy is not without its risk as well. It makes me wonder why you do what you do."

"Well, I get to travel," said Croft. "And the Column also has an excellent dental plan."

"Yes, yes, now the Croft admits he is frightened," hissed a familiar voice. "But does he tell that to Mongo before they leaves? No, no. He goes to Mongo, he goes, Mongo, how would you like special trip, to nice beautiful luscious planet? Will make many friends there, and have lots of ice cream, so the Croft says. And Mongo, poor gullible Mongo, he believes the Croft and says, yes, will go and take trip to nice shiny planet. But only now Mongo finds out danger, much danger, yes, and poooor Mongo being sent to naaaasty planet with bad danger."

"We may need your help," said Croft.

Mongo gave him a hard look. "Yessssss, always need Mongo's help. Mongo is number one helper. Many, many statues on August in appreciation for all the help Mongo-"

"Mongo, perhaps now is as good a time as any to make you aware that this ship has not one but several closets I can lock you in," said Croft.

"Yes, must silence poor Mongo. Lock Mongo away in cruel tight place until Mongo is needed." Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. "But if you lock Mongo in closet, how will the Croft know about air leak?" Mongo asked.

"What air leak?" said Starr, looking alarmed.

Mongo smiled slightly. "Air leak comes at night, when all sleeping. No one notices, no one wakes up. Mongo tries to warn, but is locked up in tight closet by the Croft. Everyone suffocates, even poor Mongo. Later, when followup team finds bodies on ship, they say, they say, why did they lock poor Mongo in tight little closet?"

Starr checked the life support systems. "I don't see any signs of an air leak."

"Air leak not happen yet," said Mongo. "Mongo sees what happens later, not now. That is why Mongo is in such big demand. Did you not know? You probably thought Mongo brought along only for his handsome looks, yes."

Starr was more concerned about a more critical issue. "Where will this air leak occur?" said Starr. "I can scan the affected area for microfractures-"

"Just a minute," said Croft suddenly. He stared at Mongo appraisingly. "It occurred to me that this horror story started when I talked about locking you in a closet. This whole story about an air leak wouldn't just be a lie to get back at me, would it?"

"Mongo is always the honest one," said Mongo. "Mongo is not one to say, 'come to nice pleasure planet, is safe for everyone, especially Mongo' when planet can be very very naaaaasty."

"Will there be an air leak?" said Croft, staring at Mongo.

"Mongo does not know," said Mongo, shrugging. "There are many many futures."

Croft tried a different approach. "Is it likely that there will be an air leak?" he asked.

"Mongo does not know," said Mongo.

"Where will this air leak appear?" Croft persisted.

"Mongo does not know yet," said Mongo. "But certainly will not know if locked in closet."

Croft stared him in the eye for a moment, making a determination.

"All right," said Croft. "For safety's sake, we'll all sleep in spacesuits tonight."

"Spacesuits," said Preston, making a face. "We'll never fall sleep in spacesuits."

"It's the only way to be sure, isn't it?" Croft said, continuing to stare at Mongo.

"Ah, Mongo not need spacesuit," said Mongo.

"Why not?" Croft asked.

"Mongo get warning before air leak, and wake you up," said Mongo brightly.

"No, just to be safe, you'll sleep in a spacesuit with the rest of us," said Croft.

Mongo muttered something.

"What was that?"

Mongo muttered to himself.

"I didn't catch that," said Croft.

"Air leak may not occur," said Mongo.

"May not?" said Croft. "What does that mean?"

"There are maaaany many futures," said Mongo. "Air leak in some futures, not others."

"So we should sleep in spacesuits just to be safe," said Croft.

Mongo said, "Ah, not necessary..."

"But I thought you said-"

"Mongo sees now. It was air leak, but not in this ship. Was in other ship," he said quickly.

"Ah, another ship," said Croft, pretending to look surprised. "So it was the OTHER ship you were thinking about that has the air leak, right?"

Mongo looked unhappy. "Yes, Mongo realizes that now," he said, in a soft tone.

"Well, I can see how you might confuse a completely different ship with ours," said Croft. He turned to the others with a knowing look.

"How did you know?" said Starr.

"I know Mongo," said Croft simply.

Two weeks later, the Space Racer arrived at the locations mentioned in Wender's logs. Sure enough, they found an uncharted planet around an uncharted system.

Everyone in the cramped exploration ship was tense.

Starr checked the sensors. "Detecting an August-type planet with a breathable atmosphere, plant life, mountains...."

"Any signs of a civilization?" said Croft.

Starr paused. "No signs of intelligent life... wait." He stared at the sensors.

"What?" said Croft.

"Wait," said Starr, frowning.

They waited another long moment.

Starr looked up. "There's a monument down there."

A monument.

Thousands of years ago an alien race with highly advanced technology had deposited structures, with writing on them, on planets throughout the galaxy. Only a small fraction of these writings had been deciphered, and only bits and pieces of their technology had been found, but obviously this had been a highly advanced race. No one knew what purpose the monuments served, but locating one was a fantastic find. The race who built these structures were called the Monumentals.

"So somehow Wender got his hands on some monumental technology which altered his mind," said Croft, piecing it all together. "If so, he may not have left that technology behind for anyone to find."

"Whoa, you're making a lot of assumptions," said Starr. "If there is alien technology that changed him, it may have been too large to transport."

"Are you picking up anything else besides the monument? Cities, anything?"

Starr shook his head.

"Then we should land by the monument," said Croft. Croft looked at Mongo. "Do you sense anything?"

"Anything?" said Mongo, cocking his head. "Mongo always senses things. Why does the Croft ask such silly things?"

"Anything dangerous?" Croft said.

"The only dangerous thing Mongo senses is the Croft," said Mongo.

The Space Racer entered the atmosphere. Within a few minutes the Space Racer was hovering over the monument, which was in a small clearing near a forest.

"What is... that?" said Starr, looking out the front window.

Croft leaned forward. From their viewpoint, a few hundred feet above the ground, they could see that a huge rectangular section of the forest had been flattened.

"That must be... like a mile and a half, maybe two miles in length, right?" Starr said, to no one in particular. "Looks like a half mile or so wide."

"What caused that?" said Croft.

"I don't know," said Starr. He used the sensors to zoom in on a patch of ground. "The area has not even begun to be overgrown yet. I'd say this happened somewhat recently."

"Could he have flattened this area with his mind?" said Croft.

"He's shown no telekinesis ability of any kind," said Agent Waverly. "And given his showmanship, I think he would have demonstrated such an ability by now, especially if he has it on that scale."

"I don't think a person did this," said Starr, staring at the ground below. "I think it was a ship."

"A ship, two miles long?" said Croft. "Who had those kinds of ships?"

"The Monumentals," said Starr. "That's what our research indicated."

"You think the Monumentals were here recently?"

"They've never been seen," said Starr. "But anything is possible."

"Do you think it's wise to land?" Croft asked.

"We won't find out anything more up here," said Starr, looking at him.

"So we land," said Croft.

********

They landed in the small grasslands near the monument. They opened the hatch and left the ship. They didn't leave with blasters drawn, but Croft's hand was definitely on his holstered weapon. He was no Graftonite, but he wanted to be ready to shoot, if he had to.

But to shoot what? Or whom? The planet, apparently, was uninhabited.

********

Starr didn't look worried. James Starr had landed on empty, unexplored planets for a living. He was used to the unknown. He walked confidently to the monument. The others, a bit more hesitantly, followed.

It was tall, and black, like many of the monuments were, and it had intricate lettering on the sides. Starr raised a holocam and started recording the symbols.

"What are we supposed to do?" Preston asked.

"Why don't you check out that flattened section of forest?" said Starr.

"Check it for what?" said Preston. "We're not scientists."

"Suit yourself," said Starr, already wrapped up in his work.

"I don't think it's a good idea for us to be separated," said Croft.

Mongo chose that moment to come out of the ship. He looked around, hissed, and went back inside the ship again.

Croft decided to take a short walk in the open grasslands. Preston came with him; Waverly stayed with Starr.

"I thought you said we shouldn't be separated," said Preston.

"I'm not going very far," said Croft. "Are you nervous?"

"We're billions of miles from backup, and there may be aliens or who knows what else around," said Preston.

"Our scientists believe that the Monumentals disappeared thousands of years ago," said Croft casually.

"Someone made that big print in the forest," said Preston.

"That's not the only one," said Croft, who suddenly stopped.

Preston did as well.

For, in the grass, they saw the outlines of the imprints of several landing struts. They looked familiar as they should have; they were imprints of the landing struts of an explorer class ship.

Croft and Preston returned to Starr and Waverly to tell them the news. "He was definitely here," Croft concluded.

Starr, studying the monument, only nodded.

"Having any luck with that?" Croft asked.

"Give me a few weeks," said Starr.

Croft was silent for a moment. Then, "You're kidding, right?"

Starr looked at him. "This is a language I haven't even seen before."

"Aren't all monuments in the same language?"

"Actually, they aren't," said Starr. "And this is a language I haven't seen before. Oh, it has some common elements with some of the other inscriptions on other monuments, but this one is different, as if it evolved from the other languages, or perhaps it's the other way around-"

"Is there anything there that can help us discover what happened to Wender?" Croft asked.

"I won't know until I finish translating it."

Croft went over to Preston and Waverly. "He says he needs a few weeks."

"A few weeks?" said Preston. "By that time, everyone on August will be naked and purple."

"I know," said Croft. He frowned. "I think we should give him a day or two. If nothing else happens-"

"Croft! CROOOOOFT!" he heard a scream.

They went running for the ship.

Mongo, running out of it, met them half way.

Croft drew his blaster. "What is it?" He looked past Mongo for a target.

"Danger, much danger!" said Mongo. He was out of breath and plainly terrified.

"What danger?"

"Must leave, must leave now!" said Mongo. He was on his knees, tugging at Croft's pants.

Croft looked around. He didn't see anything. "What do you mean?"

"Must go, must go now!" Mongo repeated.

"Why?" said Croft. "What do you see?"

"Bad man," said Mongo. "Bad man coming. Very bad man."

Suddenly, they heard something in the air. A roar.

And then, out of the clouds, they saw it. A small scoutship. It was coming in for a landing.

A scoutship.

The bad man.

Wender.

Croft looked up at the scoutship. It was landing right next to the Space Racer. He looked at its rate of descent, and then looked a few hundred feet away, where Starr was still working on the monument. A simple calculation told him that unless they abandoned Starr, they weren't going to make it.

With only the slightest hesitation, Croft turned to Waverly and Preston and said, "Get the ship out of here. I'll get James--"

"No!" said Mongo. "Too late now, too late. If go back now, bad man will make you as still as stone!"

The ship had almost landed. It was coming in so fast that it was practically a crash landing. Well, that was Wender's style.

"Any ideas?" said Preston.

"Running comes to mind," said Croft. They stared at each other for a split second, and then started to run.

They went for the monument. Before they got there, Starr, alerted by the noise, saw them coming, and scooped up his equipment. By the time they got to the monument, the scoutship had landed, several hundred feet behind them.

Croft didn't know what the Mind Bender's effective range was, and he didn't want to find out.

"Keep running!" he said.

They made for the forest.

Croft looked back once. He saw the scoutship hatch open up.

As they reached the forest's edge, he looked back again. He saw what looked like a figure, standing on the ramp.

Croft kept running. Nothing stopped him.

********

They ran far into the forest. They only stopped when they ran out of breath.

"Do you think he can track us?" Preston said, gasping for air.

"I'm guessing he can sense the presence of minds, but at what distance, I don't know," said Croft.

The sun was setting. It was getting dark.

"He doesn't have to track us," said Agent Waverly. "There's only one way off this planet. All he has to do is stay there and wait."

"That's really great," said Preston grimly.

"I hate to raise even worse alternatives, but what if he simply destroys our ship, and takes off on his own?" said Agent Waverly. He turned to Croft. "When will we be declared overdue?"

"A month, maybe," said Croft.

"A month?" said Preston, not believing his ears.

Croft considered. "A month. Remember, it takes two weeks to get back, so we won't even be overdue for at least three weeks. The Chief will have the ES send a rescue mission in maybe a month. Unless, of course, Wender gets to the Chief again...."

"We've got to get out of here," said Preston, thinking of the future.

"Maybe coming here wasn't such a good idea," said Croft, thinking of the past.

"We've discovered another monument! Don't you realize how rare a find that is?" said Starr, thinking of something completely different.

"Ah, Professor, there's a psychotic killer with super mental powers who's trying to kill us," said Croft. "I think that's our most immediate concern."

"He won't destroy our ship," said Agent Waverly suddenly.

"How do you know?"

"He'll leave it intact, as a lure," said Agent Waverly. "It's part of the kind of game he'll play."

"To get us back there so he can kill us," said Croft.

"Humiliate us, and then kill us," said Agent Waverly.

"All right," said Croft. "So how many days of food do we have? Let's check."

The answer was immediate: zero. They also had no water.

"Are any of these things edible?" said Preston, looking at the plant life around them.

Starr shook his head. "There's no way to tell."

"I mean, they look like regular green plants...."

"They could be poisonous," said Starr. "This is an alien planet, remember."

Croft's patience snapped. The image of them foraging in the forest for months simply wasn't his style. "Forget it," said Croft. "We're not going to hang out here, eating shrubs and hoping for rescue. Our ship is waiting for us back there and that's how we're going to escape."

"And what about Wender?" said Preston.

"We'll deal with Wender," said Croft. "I've been in more difficult situations than this."

"Really? When?" said Preston.

Croft ignored him. "You forget, we have a powerful ally." He turned to Mongo, who had been silent up until now.

"Yes, yes, now you turn to Mongo, when desperate, veeeeeery desperate. The naaaasty Croft very foolishly risks all our lives, yes, all our lives, taking us to empty planet so the bad man can hunt us. When we are all chased away, out of options, then he turns to Mongo, yes, to Mongo, and says, 'Mongo, we make many mistakes, but we are desperate. Once again, can you save our dear sweet lives?'"

"Can you?" said Croft.

"No, oh no," said Mongo. "Bad man stays behind. He waits for us, yes."

"We want the bad man to follow us," said Croft.

"We do?" said Preston.

"If the bad man follows us, we can lure him away from the spaceships," said Croft. "In fact, if we time this right, we can solve all our problems."

"What do you mean?" said Agent Waverly.

Croft turned to Starr. "You have a laser built in your ship, correct?"

"Yes," said Starr. "But it's only a medium power Spruance class-"

"It's a laser," said Croft, simplifying things.

"Yes," said Starr.

"When we escape, we'll use the laser blast his ship. He'll be stuck here for the rest of his life, and the League will once again be saved. See what a great idea it was to come here?" said Croft.

"How are you going to lure him out?" said Preston.

"We have to be close enough to see him, but far enough to be at a safe distance."

"And we have no idea what a safe distance is," said Preston.

"We'll find out through trial and error," said Croft. He turned to Waverly. "The forest was on one side of the monument. There were some mountains on the other side, correct?"

"That's what I remember," said Agent Waverly.

"Let's circle around and get to those," said Croft.

"That will take some time," said Agent Waverly.

"Let it take time," said Croft. "It's getting dark and we'll need to do what we have to do in the sunlight."

"So what will we do tonight?"

"We stay in the naaasty forest," Mongo sighed. It didn't take someone who could see into the future to predict that.

********

They had a very unrestful night in the forest. They took turns keeping watch, but they were well aware that Wender could take control of them from some distance. Would the person on watch even get the chance to yell an alert? And what good would an alert do any of the others?

Croft sat in the darkness during the time he was on watch. They hadn't risked a fire, because they knew it would lead Wender right to them. But this planet had two medium sized moons which shone a little light. He could see maybe a few dozen feet away in the moonlight.

He heard sounds of movement in the forest. It was most likely animals. But there was no way to be sure....

Croft realized he was gripping his blaster tightly, and he forced himself to relax a bit. He really hated this kind of mission. He was an infiltrator. This planet was so... empty. There was no place to hide.

"You look tense," said Starr, who was lying a few feet away.

"This isn't my idea of fun," said Croft.

"It is mine," said Starr.

Croft gave him an odd look.

"Oh, not being hunted by the Mind Bender. I mean exploration. Think of it, Clifford, we are the first human beings to step on this planet!"

"Not exactly the first."

"Well, you know what I mean," said Starr. "Just think of the first expedition. They actually came into contact with aliens! Can you even imagine what that giant spaceship must have looked like?"

"If it really was a giant spaceship that flattened those trees," said Croft. "These aliens made Wender crazy."

"Maybe that wasn't their intention," said Starr. "Maybe these aliens meant it as a gift."

"Then they were stupid aliens," said Croft. "Giving an unstable character like Wender those powers was nothing but trouble."

"Just think what will happen if we can make contact with them," said Starr. "Think of what they can teach us."

"Maybe they can teach us how to kill Wender," said Croft.

"You're not being very open minded, Clifford."

"I seldom am, when I'm hungry and sitting in the dark in a forest," said Croft.

Croft did his shift, and turned over the watch to Preston. Then he settled into an uneasy sleep. But whenever he heard a twig snapping, he couldn't help but think that it was Wender, closing in on them.

Sunlight woke Croft in the morning with the realization that Wender never showed up. Or, if he did show up, he never let them realize that he did. When they were all awake, they made their way in a semi circular direction around the area of the monument and headed towards the mountains. Soon they reached the bottom of the closest mountains, and started the arduous climb. Mongo complained every step of the way.

Several hours later, they reached the top of one of the taller ones, and had quite an imposing view of the grasslands and the forests.

Squinting in the late morning light, Croft could see the ships and the monument. He held his electrobinocs up to his eyes, one of the few pieces of equipment he had been fortunate enough to have on hand.

He looked through it and saw... the ship, up close. It looked intact. He panned left, and saw Wender's ship. Then he panned a little closer... and saw Wender, staring at him through his own set of electrobinoculars.

Croft felt a shock as they stared at each other for a moment, and then Wender put his down and smiled.

"Croft," came Wender's voice.

Croft looked at his wristcomm as if it had become a deadly thing.

"I know you're there," came Wender's voice.

Croft reluctantly activated the speaking mode. "What do you want?"

"Just a little chat," said Wender.

"Chat away," said Croft.

"It's so much better to talk face to face," said Wender.

"I prefer it this way," said Croft.

"Don't you want to find out what really happened here?"

"I know what happened here," said Croft. "You used an alien device to get your powers. Then you killed your crew so that they couldn't tell anyone."

"You are so wrong," said Wender. "I'm willing to tell you, and only you, the truth, but you have to come here for me to hear it."

"Why?" Croft wanted to know.

"Because I respect you," said Wender. "You've been a worthy adversary. I really haven't expected you to survive as long as you have."

"So I should come down so you should have another chance to kill me?"

"We'll declare... a truce. Yes, a temporary truce, for the duration of our talk," said Wender.

Croft paused.

"Well, Croft?"

"I'm thinking," said Croft.

There was another pause.

"Croft."

"Still thinking," said Croft.

Another moment passed. Croft looked at the others. The others looked at him. Croft activated his comm again.

"All right," said Croft finally. "Come up here, and we'll talk."

"You want me to come up there?"

"That's where I am," said Croft.

"That's quite an uphill hike."

"It's good exercise," said Croft.

There was a pause.

"No, you come down here," said Wender.

Croft paused. The others looked at him. They shook their heads. Croft considered some more.

"Croft?"

Croft opened his mouth. "All right. Meet me in the area where the grasslands intersect the foothills. I'll meet you there."

"Why there?"

"Because that is where I will meet you," said Croft.

Another pause.

"Very well," said the Mind Bender.

Croft closed the channel.

"Why did you agree to go down there?" said Agent Waverly.

"Because this may be our only chance," said Croft.

"He'll kill you," said Agent Waverly.

"He'll certainly try," said Croft.

"Then why did you agree to go?"

"This is our chance," said Croft. "He's going to meet me about five hundred feet away from our ship. I'm going to head down real slowly. I want you to circle around and get to the ship."

"We're not leaving you behind," said Agent Waverly.

"When you get high enough, blast his ship," said Croft.

"What about you?" said Preston.

"We can use the ship's laser to blast him," said Agent Waverly.

Croft shook his head. "You'll have to be too close in order to get him. He could take control of you, even inside your ship."

"We don't know that for sure," said Starr.

"Do we?" said Croft, turning to Mongo.

Mongo looked at Croft with big, wide eyes.

"Well Mongo, tell us how it ends," said Croft.

Mongo shrugged.

"I would think that since the resolution of this conflict affects you, that you'd be more interested than that," said Croft.

Mongo got a faraway look. "Many variables," said Mongo. "In some cases bad man takes control of everyone."

"Even from 500 feet away?" said Preston.

"In other cases, others get away, in spaceship," said Mongo. "Other times when spaceship tries to shoot bad man, bad man takes control of peoples inside spaceship."

"I told you," said Croft.

"And sometimes, things get hairy."

"Hairy?" said Croft.

Mongo was silent.

"What does that mean, hairy?" said Croft.

"Mongo not know," said Mongo. "See large, hairy thing. If things get hairy, outcomes entirely different."

Croft looked at the others. "Could he be referring to some wildlife?"

"Perhaps one of the aliens who gave him the power," said Starr.

"I can hardly see one of them helping us," said Agent Waverly.

"He didn't say they helped us," said Croft. He turned to Mongo. "And what happens to me?"

Mongo shrugged. "Sometimes the Croft dies. Sometimes the Croft escapes. Sometimes the Croft stays alive, but under control of the bad man."

"Well, at least I have a chance," said Croft.

"It's very brave of you to risk your life for us," said Agent Waverly.

"Thanks," said Croft. "But I don't think he'll kill me, if you destroy his ship and get away. He'll be all alone here. He'll want an audience."

"That doesn't sound so great either," said Preston.

"You can go back to Levi and Quick and figure something out, and come back to rescue me," said Croft.

"You want us to go to the dog for advice?" said Preston incredulously.

"I think he means my boss," said Agent Waverly wryly.

"Oh," said Preston.

"And what if we don't get away, and don't destroy his ship?" said Starr.

"Then he will probably kill all of us," said Croft.

There was a staticy sound, and then, "Croft! Have you started down yet? I don't have all day."

Croft pressed his comm momentarily. "Coming."

"It's a pity we don't have a sniper rifle," said Preston. "We could end this right here and now."

"I was thinking much the same thing," said Croft. "And you know what else I was thinking?"

"What?" said Preston.

"We're in direct line of sight, and he still can't control us," said Croft. "He does have some limits."

"Hm," said Preston.

Croft started walking. "I'll walk slowly so you have time to go back and circle around. Be ready when I distract him."

"We'll be there," said Agent Waverly.

Croft stared at Waverly intensely for a moment. Waverly nodded.

Croft took his time coming down the mountain, making sure it took him close to an hour to get to the bottom. The Mind Bender was no fool; he would know what they were doing.

But the Mind Bender had been defeated by his overconfidence before. And Croft now knew that the Mind Bender had one weakness: he couldn't read minds.

Still, Croft wondered what he was doing as he walked down the mountain and saw the Mind Bender standing there, waiting for him. Each step took him closer and closer.

When Croft got to the bottom, the Mind Bender gave him a smile. "How nice of you to come, Croft." Before Croft could say anything, he added, "Why don't we continue this discussion by our ships?"

"We agreed we would talk here," said Croft.

"But I insist," said the Mind Bender.

Croft found his legs moving, heading towards the ships.

"It will probably take your friends a few more minutes to get there," said the Mind Bender. "I don't sense them yet. I assume that was your plan, for you to distract me while they steal the ships?"

"I told them to steal one ship and destroy the other," said Croft involuntarily.

"That wasn't very nice, certainly not in the spirit of our truce," said the Mind Bender. "I may have to reconsider my commitment to the truce as well."

"I thought you were going to tell me your story," said Croft, suddenly finding his mouth under his own control again.

"And so I shall," said the Mind Bender. "There will be time enough for that, before you die." He smiled.

They walked in silence for the rest of the way to the ships.

"That's far enough," said the Mind Bender. "I'm not worried about them sneaking up from behind the ships. I can sense them without seeing them, you know."

"I suspected as much," said Croft. "So now are you going to tell me what happened here?"

"My expedition discovered this planet," said the Mind Bender. "We detected the monument, and landed."

"That much I guessed," said Croft. "What did you find?"

"Nothing, really," said the Mind Bender. "We spent several pointless days studying it. And then the aliens came."

"The aliens?"

"You may have noticed that small clearing in the woods, perhaps?"

"The two mile long one, yes," said Croft.

"That was their spaceship," said the Mind Bender. "We were stunned, of course; our minds could hardly comprehend the enormity of it. Imagine a giant two mile long spaceship landing right next to you."

"What happened then?"

"The aliens came out," said the Mind Bender.

"What did they look like?"

"They were friendly," said the Mind Bender. "They gave us all a great gift."

"Mind control," said Croft. "Wait, you said all of you. The rest of your crew got it too?"

"Yes," said the Mind Bender.

"Then where are they?" said Croft.

"Just a moment," said the Mind Bender. He appeared to concentrate, and suddenly, in the distance, Agent Waverly and Preston came walking woodenly forward, holding blasters, obviously under the Mind Bender's control.

Croft started to speak.

"Wait!" said the Mind Bender.

From the other direction, Starr and Mongo appeared, and started walking towards them as well.

"A change in plan?" said the Mind Bender. "It appears these gentlemen were planning to gun me down from a distance." He looked meaningfully at Croft.

"The plan was to steal the ships," said Croft. "But I hoped Waverly would take some initiative and try to kill you."

"I see I did not interrogate you properly," said the Mind Bender. "That was almost my undoing."

"You may have the ability to control minds, but you can't read them," said Croft. "You have power, but you're as blind as the rest of us when it comes to knowing what other people are thinking."

The others entered the clearing.

"Blind? Blind? You dare call me blind!"

Suddenly Croft raised his arm and slapped his own face, hard. He drew his hand back, and slapped his face again, and again.

"I should watch my tongue," said Croft mechanically.

"I should think so," said the Mind Bender.

Croft matched glances with the others.

"We tried," said Agent Waverly.

"And failed miserably," said the Mind Bender.

"So what happened to the rest of your crew?" said Croft. "You haven't finished your story."

"My story?" said the Mind Bender. "Yes, where was I?"

"What happened to the rest of your crew?" Croft persisted.

"The... procedure had some side effects," said the Mind Bender.

"What kind of side effects?" said Croft.

"They went mad," said the Mind Bender. "They had to be destroyed."

"Destroyed."

"Fortunately, I was the last one to have the procedure done to," said the Mind Bender. "By then, they had figured out how to calibrate it properly."

"Since you're obviously not insane," said Croft.

"Exactly," said the Mind Bender. He smiled. "So now you know what happened. I'm afraid, however, that you will not be able to tell anyone."

"Because you're going to strand us here," said Croft hopefully.

"No, I'm going to kill you," said the Mind Bender.

"Why not just strand us here?" said Croft. "Wouldn't you get a big laugh out of that?"

"I would," said the Mind Bender. "But I wouldn't get as big a laugh when the League comes to rescue you. No, you're going to die. But first, we're going to have a little fun."

"What kind of fun?" said Croft warily.

"You'll see," said the Mind Bender. He waved a hand and Croft found himself compelled to go to the Mind Bender's ship. He stepped inside, and kept walking. The Mind Bender was so confident in his control of Croft that he had no fear that Croft would take his ship and leave, and Croft knew that this was the Mind Bender's way of rubbing Croft's nose in it.

Croft found himself reaching down and picking up a medium sized carrying case. He then left the Mind Bender's ship and returned to the others in the clearing.

"Open it," said the Mind Bender.

Inside were some... unusual clothing. Tutu's. Leotards. Women's pantyhose, and ballerina slippers.

"That's right," said the Mind Bender. "Your worst nightmare: open air ballet."

Croft, Preston, and Waverly mechanically picked items of clothing from the case. They then proceeded to strip down and put on the pantyhose. It fit tightly against their legs. Then they put on the frilly tutu's, leotards, and finally the ballerina slippers. They were made of some spandexy material that snapped tightly against their feet.

Mongo, meanwhile, went back inside the Mind Bender's ship. He came out with a chair and bowl of grapes, and placed the chair behind the Mind Bender, who sat in it.

The Mind Bender clapped his hands twice. Croft arched his hands over his head. Preston stretched out his right foot in a classic girlish fashion. Waverly started to balance on his tipey toes.

The next hour was a nightmare. Croft, Preston, and Waverly were forced to perform feminine dance moves, strutting about on their tiptoes, making little flowery gestures with their hands, and leaping from point to point like peacocks.

The Mind Bender was smiling throughout. Mongo's role was to feed him grapes, one by one.

Croft felt himself strutting on tipeytoes by the Mind Bender while holding his palms to the air in a very feminine pose. His legs felt sore from all the leaping the Mind Bender had forced him to do. Suddenly, he tripped and fell.

Croft mechanically got up, and was forced to strut again, but several minutes later, he fell again.

"Not used to stretching your ballet legs, eh?" said the Mind Bender, giving him a grin. "All right, we'll give you a little break, then." He turned his attention to Preston and Waverly, who were being made to dance with each other while hopping up and down on their toes.

Croft suddenly found himself in control of his body. As he sat on the ground he spied his discarded clothes. Neatly on the pile was his blaster.

His blaster!

Croft looked at the Mind Bender, without moving his head so as to attract as little attention as possible. The Mind Bender appeared totally absorbed with Preston and Waverly, grinning from ear to ear as he made them do silly dances.

Croft slowly reached towards his clothes, his eyes on the Mind Bender.

The Mind Bender didn't notice him. He couldn't read minds, and for the moment he appeared to be distracted.

Croft's hand reached out some more.

The Mind Bender still didn't turn his way. The Mind Bender could see him, out of the corner of his eye, but as long as the rest of his body didn't move, maybe....

Croft's right hand felt his blaster. He grabbed it, still without looking at it, and slowly drew his hand back.

The Mind Bender was still distracted.

Croft slowly raised the blaster, without moving the rest of his body. He took what he thought would be the right aim, from the position of his hand.

The Mind Bender was sitting in his chair, still directing Preston and Waverly.

Croft's fingers tightened on the trigger. He could do it. He could shoot the Mind Bender.

But then he frowned. There was something wrong. He couldn't quite put his finger on it.

But then he did. He readjusted his aim, and fired.

The blast scorched the ground to the left of the Mind Bender. Croft fired again.

The blast hit the ground to the right of the Mind Bender.

"Not bad."

Croft looked around to see the Mind Bender suddenly standing by his side.

"But I'm right here," said the Mind Bender.

Suddenly, the picture changed; where the Mind Bender had been sitting, Mongo was now sitting.

"How did you know?" said the Mind Bender.

"You made Mongo appear to be you in order to have me shoot him," said Croft. "But you neglected to paint Mongo somewhere else in the picture." He looked down. His blaster was set to kill. But he couldn't move his arm an inch now.

"Forgive my carelessness," said the Mind Bender. "But you make it so difficult to have fun with you." He paused, and something clicked inside his head. "You bore me. You fail to amuse me. So I have no further use for you."

That had an air of finality to it.

The Mind Bender continued. "At first I enjoyed our little competition, Croft, but, to be honest, lately I have grown tired of it. How many times must I kill you before finally getting the job done?"

Croft suddenly raised his blaster, and pointed it at his own head.

"Wait," said Croft. "How about something sporting, like a hunt-"

"Sorry," said the Mind Bender. "But you are simply too clever. This time I do not think we will leave anything to doubt. Do you or your friends have any last words?"

Croft's hand was tight on the trigger. He couldn't budge or move it. He knew that when the Mind Bender took control of his mind and ordered him to fire, he would be unable to stop him.

The others didn't say anything. That was uncharacteristic of them; they should be stalling for time. The Mind Bender must be making them silent. He had asked them if they had any last words, and then forced them to be silent. He was toying with Croft one last time!

Croft felt his finger tightening on the trigger. He tried to speak, but the Mind Bender had clamped down on him too.

"Well, if no one has anything else to say-"

"Excuse me," said a new voice.