by LARDLAD (ANTHONY E. TAYLOR)
An unknown length of time later, Chameleon and Jalarl found themselves sitting across a crudely-crafted table from the sentient whose voice had startled them.
The voice belonged to a Rinaxlian, a man who appeared in his late twenties by earth standards but who had that haunted look that made him seem much, much older. He was apparently the leader of a ragged squad of ten Rinaxlians who were also present. The group offered the pair sanctuary. Having few other options, Cham agreed. The group hiked a little deeper into the woods until a camouflaged hatch was opened into an underground tunnel. The dark tunnel went on for an unknown distance until it opened into a gigantic cave. Cham estimated the cave housed a couple hundred Rinaxlians. He didn't have much time to site-see before he and Jalarl were ushered into the smaller cave with the table.
"Welcome to Haven," the leader of the squad said rather unwelcomingly. "I am Zil, leader of the Rinaxlian Liberation Front, a literal underground movement committed to freeing our planet. Who are you?" The question was aimed directly at Cham. Jalarl was content to sit and watch with a mixture of excitement, nervousness, fear and numerous other emotions.
"I am Reep Daggle, codename Chameleon. I am a member of the Legion of Super Heroes, an arm of the United Planets."
"Hmm," Zil pondered, "the spotty intelligence we've gathered does mention a 'United Planets' as an enemy to the Khund Empire."
"Well, we certainly aren't best buds with each other!" Cham grinned a little, hoping to inject some levity.
Zil was not amused. "Why were you imprisoned here, Reep Daggle?"
Cham resisted the impulse to say "call me Cham!" He paused a moment to decide whether he should trust this man with information that only the Espionage Squad knew about. He went with his gut and told the truth. "I was here on a mission to gather information on a new Khund weapon being developed on this planet. The Khunds detected and imprisoned me." Before Zil could continue, Cham asked a question of his own. "What was your squad doing on the outskirts of the prison?"
Showing irritation at this, Zil nonetheless replied, "We were attempting to break in the facility and free some of our captured soldiers. The timing of your breakout ruined many cycles of careful planning!"
If Cham could blush, he would've glowed a bright red indeed. "I apologize for that," Cham offered. "We had no idea there was even a band of freedom fighters, much less a jailbreak being planned." Cham looked at Jalarl, who nodded agreement.
"And who is this boy," Zil asked addressing Cham.
Jalarl answered instead. "I am Jalarl. I was a slave to the Khunds." He gestured to his friend, "I helped Cham escape!"
"Jalarl, eh? A very powerful name among our people! It has deep meaning!"
"Oh? What does it mean?" Cham asked.
"It translates to 'inspiration' in one of our dialects," Zil explained. Cham thought it was an appropriate name indeed. The term was meaningless to Jalarl. Having learned only the hope-deprived language of the slaves, Jalarl had yet another vocabulary lesson coming eventually. "We'll have to discuss your life in more depth later, young one." Jalarl nodded.
The interview session went on quite a while longer as Cham further explained what the Legion is, demonstrated his powers, and talked more about the mission he'd been on.
At that point Zil shared his knowledge of the weapon.
"We've been conducting our own investigations of the weapon you mention. It is potentially extremely dangerous to our planet."
"And our planets, as well," Cham interjected. "It's supposed to be capable of fundamentally poisoning a planet's atmosphere any way it's programmed to. The Khunds could theoretically make an atmosphere toxic, then undo the effect after all the inhabitants perish, so it could still be usable for them. And it can all be done from several light years away!"
"Yes," Zil confirmed, "and our intelligence is that the tests are going very well for the Khunds. They are said to be using a prototype on one of our continents..." Zil's voice broke a little. "...Thousands of our people are said to have been killed in these tests." Cham looked horrified. Jalarl was trying to take it all in.
Zil continued, "Reep Daggle, with these amazing gifts you possess, you may give us the edge we need! The time may be now!"
"For what?" Cham asked.
"To destroy that prototype! Will you help us, Reep Daggle?"
Cham glanced over to the young friend he'd made and come to care deeply for and, without hesitation, replied, "Absolutely! When do we strike?"
The rebel commander smiled for the first time and replied, "Dawn!"
End Part Six