Date: Tue, 17 Oct 1995 15:25:59 -0500 Reply-To: "Robert A. Gansler" Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: "Robert A. Gansler" Subject: Rulers of the World (Part 11 of 16) Rulers of the World (Part 11 of 16) A Highlander/War of the Worlds Crossover A ContiNEWity Story *** 1995: Blackwood Project Base 'General Wilson' chuckled to himself as he remembered the portion of the conversation in 1898 about why he engineered the "forgetting" of the first invasion. Duncan's recollection had included the portion about using the book as a cover-up but not his reason behind it. 'General Wilson' added "I was in charge of all military documentation relating to the invasion. Anything relating to the invasion in the press had to go through my office. With some subtle adjustments to the text, I was able to put most of the populace into a very receptive state for the publication of the book." "Why did you do it? Why did you make everyone forget the invasion?" Harrison demanded. 'Wilson' feigned a very exhausted look. "It's a long story. I'll tell you in the morning. I really need to get some rest." Suzanne agreed "Yes, it's been a rough day for you, Uncle. Let me show you to a room where you can sleep." 'Wilson' kissed Suzanne on the cheek, "Thanks, Suzanne, you always were my favorite niece." "It's been a long day for all of us. Let's all get some rest." Harrison said. "If it's all the same to you, I'll stay up a while longer." Duncan mentioned. Kincaid objected "Oh no you don't. I'm not letting you have free reign around here. You'll sleep in my quarters. I'll take guard duty, in case those aliens managed to follow us here." "Suit yourself. Good night." Duncan said and then went to find an empty cot somewhere. He wandered around until he found what was undoubtedly Kincaid's room. The Spartan nature of the room gave away the identity of its owner. "He won't be needing his bed, and it looks comfortable." Duncan thought to himself as he crawled into the bed and wrapped the covers over himself. Duncan had been sleeping relatively peacefully when he was suddenly awakened. It was no noise that had woken him but rather the nearness of another Immortal. He looked out of the mesh that made up the walls of the room and saw 'Wilson' moving silently over to where Harrison's room was. Duncan pretended to be still asleep as he wondered what Wilson could be doing. Duncan's gut feeling that Wilson was up to no good, so he reached under the bed and grabbed his sword and stealthily followed after Wilson to Harrison's room. At the same time, Debi had gotten out of bed. She was extremely thirsty and was making her way to the kitchen to get some orange juice. She saw that both Duncan and 'Wilson' were headed towards Harrison's room. She decided to see what was going on. Duncan found 'Wilson' poised over Harrison's sleeping form, his sword ready to deliver a fatal blow. Duncan dove into the room and brought up his katana to block the strike. The blade caught 'Wilson's' a mere inch above Harrison's neck. "What the hell are you doing?!?" Duncan demanded to know. Debi stopped at the doorway and screamed. Harrison woke up to see the swords dangerously close to his head. There was no way for him to move without losing his head in the process. 'Wilson' exerted his strength, trying to force the blades down onto Harrison. Duncan strained against his opponent, but 'Wilson' had the advantage of better leverage. Duncan thought quickly and kicked 'Wilson' in the knee. Wilson eased up and Duncan was able to push Wilson's blade away from Harrison. "Shall we take this elsewhere?" 'Wilson' asked. "Wherever you want." Duncan replied. 'Wilson' ran off at a rapid pace, pushing down Debi as he made his escape. Duncan chased after him, dodging the objects that 'Wilson' knocked to the floor as he fled. 'Wilson' dashed through the maze of tunnels that made up a major portion of the base. He finally stopped in a rather large tunnel and faced MacLeod who was about twenty yards behind. "Shall we?" Duncan assumed a defensive pose, his sword held closely to his body. "By all means." "Hyah!" 'Wilson' took a large step and swung down hard at Duncan. It was blocked easily by the Highlander. 'Wilson' followed it up with another swing which Duncan had anticipated. He caught the blade with the side of his katana, and kicked the knee of 'Wilson'. Meanwhile, Suzanne and Kincaid had made it to Harrison's quarters. Having convinced them that he was uninjured, he led her and Kincaid through the tunnels as they tried to follow the sounds of the clashing. Suzanne made Debi stay behind, "Don't follow. We don't know what we're dealing with." 'Wilson' stumbled back and readied himself to attack again. They probed each other's defenses for a minute or two, giving up ground and then reclaiming it. Eventually they locked up swords and Duncan pushed 'Wilson' to the ground with his left hand. 'Wilson' got up and ran at Duncan, his sword held in both hands, drawn back like a baseball hitter would a bat, waiting for a pitch. Duncan stood waiting for him. "Wilson' took a giant swing which Duncan deftly ducked under. As 'Wilson' ran by, Duncan swung back and cut a vicious gash across the back of 'Wilson's' neck. 'Wilson' took a few more steps and stumbled to the ground. Duncan stood over the form of 'Wilson' as it lay wriggling, face down on the cold metal of the tunnel. He grasped his katana with both hands and declared, "There can be only one." Just then Suzanne, Harrison, and Kincaid arrived in the tunnel. "MacLeod! Don't." Suzanne screamed. Duncan turned to look at her and 'Wilson' turned over and kicked him in the stomach. Duncan gasped for breath. That managed to give 'Wilson' the opportunity to roll out from under Duncan and grab his sword again. He took off to the end of the tunnel and took a right. Duncan was right on his heels. Duncan got his wind back and went running after 'Wilson.' He could still sense his presence, though it still felt strange. The others stayed behind for the moment. "I couldn't let MacLeod kill Uncle Hank," Suzanne cried. "He tried to kill me, Suzanne!" Harrison retorted. "What the hell's going on here?" Kincaid wanted to know. "I'm not sure," Harrison said, "but I don't think that's General Wilson. He tried to kill me, for crying out loud." Suzanne could not find any words to say. She could not believe it. Debi slid to a stop and found the three of them gathered in the tunnel. She walked up to her mother and took her hand. "It's true, Mom. Uncle Hank tried to kill Harrison." "Let's go find out why," Harrison suggested. Duncan found 'Wilson' in another tunnel. 'Wilson' had trapped himself in a tunnel that was closed at the far end with a brick wall. 'Wilson' felt recovered from the wound Duncan had inflicted earlier and approached with an evil grin on his face. "Time to die, MacLeod. You won't get a fourth reprieve from me." "Fourth reprieve? What the hell are you talking about?" 'Wilson' did not answer; instead he swung viciously at Duncan. Duncan dodged and blocked until he saw his opportunity. He took it at delivered a savage cut to 'Wilson's' mid-section. 'Wilson' sank to his knees and his sword rattled on the floor. Duncan prepared himself for the killing blow. The trio of alien fighters found him in mid-swing. "No, MacLeod!" Suzanne screamed again, but it was too late. 'Wilson's' head tumbled to the ground and rolled for a few feet. Duncan took a few steps from the headless bodied and steeled himself for the inevitable Quickening. He waited ... and waited ... and waited. No Quickening occurred, not even the slightest hint of one. MacLeod was dumbfounded. This had never occurred before. He had no explanation for it. Then he thought about what Harrison had said during his interrogation. These aliens could clone human beings, apparently they could clone Immortals as well. Harrison and Kincaid went to inspect the body of the dead clone. Suzanne buried her head in her hands. Duncan put his sword and tried to calm Suzanne down. "It wasn't General Wilson; it was a clone, Suzanne." Harrison wondered, "How can you be sure, MacLeod? Clones always dissolve when they're dead, just like the aliens themselves." "Trust me. If it were the real General Wilson, there would have been some fireworks here." =========================================================================