The Betrayal: Avenger Nadia, #2

By Scott Coleman

Avenger Nadia is now the reluctant representative for the chaotic civilization on Earth, universally known as Teraboo. Meanwhile, the gods and goddesses have to choose a new Avenger to replace Airu but there is mistrust between them and they cannot agree on a candidate. As the reptilians are determined to claim Teraboo for themselves, the Federations of Systems and Galaxies send a fleet to defend the planet's current inhabitants. While she attempts to stop the invasion, Avenger Nadia faces a crisis that will completely derail her. Can she ever forgive herself? Elsewhere, the true human Lexa and her AI sidekick Helica continue on their destructive rampage before Lexa's motives are revealed and she embarks on her own voyage of personal reckoning. And all the while, the fate of Teraboo is still at stake.

 

The content of this book hasn't been modified or censored.

 

 

Note: Avenger Nadia is in no way connected with Marvel or Disney and has her own copyright.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Scott Coleman
• Release date: Jun 5, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223032458

Book preview

The Betrayal

Avenger Nadia, Volume 2

Scott Coleman

Published by Scott Coleman, 2023.

This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

THE BETRAYAL

First edition. June 5, 2023.

Copyright © 2023 Scott Coleman.

Written by Scott Coleman.

The Betrayal

On planet Earth, universally known as Teraboo, the battle between Avenger Nadia and the true human, Lexa, had resulted in the awakening of the human race: We are not alone. This was the message that was repeated across all the earthlings’ communication networks. The conflict had taken place in the southern part of the British Isles, destroying Carn Brea Castle and altering part of southwest England’s orography. The British Army had mobilised combat fighters to fly over the terrain, forcing the press and police helicopters to land on an improvised landing pad close to Carn Brea Village. The television cameras and mobile phones were constantly taking videos of the impressive bullet-shape imperial-class cruiser that was hovering over the ground. One of its side ramps was touching land and the visitors were pushing a still unconscious Lexa up the ramp on a stretcher. Meanwhile, the firemen and police had created a perimeter around the remains of the castle that only a couple of intrepid reporters had managed to breach so they could get the best vantage point, albeit only a few metres in front of all the others.

In the middle of the ruins, Irisia, Goddess of Justice, was awaiting Nadia’s answer, the rectifier wide open in her hand. The Avenger hesitated as the green sparks danced around the orb of dark light. She looked around and saw the Earth humans waiting expectantly to see what would happen next. Nobody dared move, fearful of the imperial-class cruiser.

‘So, what is your decision, Avenger?’ Irisia asked. The beautiful black-haired goddess, wearing a tiara with a green diamond in the centre and an elegant white suit, waited for the reply.

Nadia stared at the ground to reflect a little more; she wasn’t sure of her response. The Avenger, who was still wearing the blue jacket, put her left hand inside the right sleeve to remove the robotic gauntlet that had survived the battle. Then, once it had transformed into a disc, she attached it electromagnetically to the right hip of her outfit. It was a way of buying some time and an attempt to calm her mind, though in the end she let herself be led by intuition and her mistrust of the rectifier.

‘Maybe it’s best we leave it this way,’ replied the woman with black hair and brown skin, full of insecurity.

‘The fact that you don’t know how to use a rectifier doesn’t mean that I don’t know how to use it,’ responded Irisia.

‘This way… This way is fine,’ Nadia insisted, nodding her head. ‘I accept my new task.’

‘Be careful with ambition, Avenger,’ warned the goddess. ‘Remember, you are already as special as any other inhabitant of the universe.’

‘I know,’ replied the woman, bowing her head. ‘But… I don’t want anything.’

The goddess closed the metallic egg and put it in a pocket above the waist of her dress, which she then closed discreetly before resting her hand on her hip.

‘I accept your decision,’ said Irisia.

The two women were about to take their leave of one another when someone interrupted them.

‘Avenger Nadia! Avenger Nadia!’ Wendy ran towards them. ‘The woman off the telly says she wants to interview us! Hurry! Come on!’ urged the girl, tugging on Nadia’s hand.

The Goddess of Justice looked inquisitively at the young girl.

‘The woman off the telly?’ wondered the goddess, using one of Earth’s languages.

‘Yes, she’s been beckoning for us to go over to her so she can interview us,’ explained Wendy. ‘Let’s go!’

Irisia looked at Nadia, who asked the girl to be a little more patient with a wave of her hand.

‘I want to be on television,’ announced the goddess solemnly.

‘What?’ asked Nadia, surprised and disconcerted. ‘Is this a divine joke?’

‘No,’ replied Irisia exasperatedly. ‘I want to be on television.’

‘Yes!’ yelled Wendy, raising her fist in a symbol of victory, which elicited a smile from the Goddess of Justice.

‘Avenger,’ called one of Irisia’s soldiers, redirecting Nadia’s attention. He was carrying a small metal drawer. ‘Here are the replacements for your main weapon,’ said the human, opening the container. Nadia swapped the disc electromagnetically attached to her hip for the two inside the drawer and immediately unfolded the discs and tried on the gauntlets so the nanobots could register their new owner. From now own, she would be wearing black gauntlets.

On the outer edge of the rubble, on the front line, surrounded by firemen and police officers, was a black woman with a microphone in one hand. Karen, a reporter of the type of newsworthy stories that the British people loved, gulped when she saw that the two children walking towards her were accompanied by Nadia, Irisia and a group of soldiers who escorted the goddess. The troops from the Planet of the Gods were wearing combat armour and carrying plasma weapons since they had been prepared to enter into action against Lexa, even though in the end it hadn’t been necessary.

The journalist didn’t know what to do. Seeing the soldiers approaching terrified her, but she couldn’t abandon those children. Firemen and police officers surrounded the reporter with the idea of saving the little ones but Karen stood her ground, pushing the microphone towards Michael. The story had to come first.

‘What are your names?’

‘I’m Michael Sheldon.’

‘And I’m Wendy Evans.’

‘Do you want to send a message to your parents?’ Karen enquired.

‘Yes,’ the girl replied hurriedly, grabbing the microphone from the journalist. ‘It wasn’t me, Mum. It wasn’t my fault. I didn’t break the castle,’ she said, almost in tears.

‘Err… Yes… thank you,’ said Karen, taking back her microphone. ‘And can you tell me who…?’

‘This is Avenger Nadia,’ Wendy pointed at her subject. ‘She’s amazing. She’s the one who saved us all from an evil witch.’

Nadia waved and forced a smile when she saw the camera was directed at her.

The Goddess of Justice stood smiling with her arms folded just behind the children and looked around until her gaze fell on the man holding the camera on his shoulder. Then she made an L shape with her left hand so he would know exactly what shot she wanted before crossing her arms again triumphantly.

The reporter moved the mic closer to Irisia and she responded by subtly raising her left hand to use her powers. To the amazement of all the humans the goddess made the journalist levitate, moved her a couple of metres away and put her feet back on the ground again.

‘I said I wanted to be on television, not that I wanted to speak,’ explained the grinning Goddess of Justice in the universal language, unknown to the inhabitants of Earth.

The firemen and police officers stared at Irisia with envy and admiration. They didn’t know what to do, whether to move into the disaster area and risk a conflict with the extra-terrestrials or to wait and see what they had to say. A veteran policeman, seeing that the children were all right and the reporter was still in one piece, asked everyone to be patient.

‘So then, Avenger,’ said the goddess, drawing Nadia to one side, ‘as the new representative, you know what your task is, you know the protocols for action and I think you already know what you have to say in front of the messenger.’

‘Yes,’ Nadia replied.

‘Then we shall leave. Good luck, Avenger,’ said Irisia, raising her right fist to her heart before opening her hand in a friendly farewell. ‘We’ll take Lexa with us.’

The Avenger nodded and the goddess addressed her entourage in an informal tone, ‘Come on then, let’s go home.’

The troops escorted Irisia back up the ramp to the imperial-class cruiser with everyone watching expectantly. The goddess halted a moment to consult the graphene screen her that one of the soldiers held out to her; it seemed that the search of the ruins had not turned up any trace of the rectifier used by Nadia and Lexa. Coolly assimilating this news, Irisia entered the cruiser and the ramp closed as the engines ignited. Inspiring general wonder among the onlookers, the ship took off and sped away until it disappeared beyond the blue sky. Then everyone’s gaze turned back to the new and unknown representative of Teraboo.

One of the firemen signalled to the children to move close to him so they would be safe but Wendy and Michael declined the invitation and stayed next to the reporter. Nadia, meanwhile, lowered her head slightly and mentally reviewed what she had to say. She felt nervous, she didn’t like speaking in public but it had to be done. After she had walked over towards Karen the cameraman moved back to focus properly on the extra-terrestrial who, at nearly one metre ninety centimetres tall, towered over the reporter. The Avenger stood in front of the microphone with her hands on her hips and exhaled loudly. Everyone was eager to hear her speak.

‘I am Avenger Nadia and I have been assigned the role of representative of this planet,’ she began in plain English before anyone could ask any questions. ‘That means that nothing and nobody but me will represent the inhabitants of this planet to the known universe and it is a decision that is open to discussion. Until further notice, I am the diplomatic link between this planet and the Federations of Systems and Galaxies. Based on this authority, I am going to make two points very clear,’ she announced, adopting a more severe tone. ‘Firstly, no advanced civilization in the universe will have access to this planet. The only interested parties would be fairly undeveloped civilizations from which you would be better off keeping your distance. Secondly, territories such as the United States, China, Brazil and Spain must cease hostilities against planet Earth immediately.’

‘And what happens if we don’t agree with these conditions?’ asked Karen fearfully.

‘In that case it is highly likely that there will be an intervention to save the planet and its habitats and all of you will be annihilated. You are a threat to life in the universe. It is time you started to understand the course of your decisions.’

‘And our governments?’

‘Your governments will continue to govern you. My task is connected to this planet’s relationship with the rest of the universe,’ replied Nadia, folding her arms. ‘For now, the only procedure I can offer your rulers is if they want to change the name assigned to this planet on the star maps. They may decide whether they still wish for it to be called Teraboo or, alternatively, whether they would prefer to change it to a name of their choosing.’

‘Huh,’ the reported blurted out in disappointment. ‘And as our representative, will you guide us on how to sort out our social and economic problems?’

‘No,’ Nadia responded curtly. ‘But if you are so interested in contacting other civilizations, you can begin by cleaning up all that rubbish orbiting the planet. A clean and tidy orbital space is not only much more efficient, it also transmits a series of much more positive ideas.’

‘How can our rulers get in touch with you?’

‘When they organise a summit with representatives from all the territories, I will be there. They don’t have to do anything,’ she stated firmly. ‘That’s all for now.’

The Avenger made it clear that the interview was over by walking over to the children while Karen addressed the viewers.

‘Wendy, Michael,’ she said, bending down to their height, ‘thank you. You are the seed of a huge tree. May your branches break all obstacles and your roots respect the land beneath you.’

‘Thanks,’ replied Wendy.

Michael stayed quiet; he didn’t know what to say. For her part, Nadia took a few steps back and touched her heart with her index and middle fingers before pointing them at the children as she activated her helmet and then ignited the thrusters on her boots.

‘I’ll carry you in my heart,’ she whispered by way of goodbye.

The Avenger flew off and the two youngsters stared up at the sky after her for a few minutes.

‘Here, take this,’ said Michael to Wendy, offering her something. ‘I found it when I was trapped.’

‘What a weird stone,’ said the girl.

‘Yeah, that’s why I picked it up. I reckon it’ll be a good keepsake,’ he reasoned.

Already very far away from Teraboo, in outer space, Irisia’s imperial-class cruiser, which had completed the quarantine stage during its voyage, exited hyperspace at the meeting point agreed with the Federations of Systems and Galaxies. A triangular Nanterilian frigate was waiting there for them. The ship was almost completely flat and only two stories high; its design was utterly smooth, with all its doors and the location of its weapons concealed from sight. The only part that was clearly distinguishable was the rear, thanks to the line formed by its propulsion engines.

In the control room of the goddess’s cruiser, the officer in charge was Irisia’s assistant, a woman whose long blond hair was tied back in a bun and who wore a multiracial combat suit. Standing on a step accessed by a ramp in the centre of the room, she was surrounded by various consoles and projections that provided all the notifications and alerts that whoever was in command of the ship might need. Unlike in other control rooms, here silence reigned and all incoming messages were sent to the other consoles, controlled by the command post. As a result, all the officers were distributed around the ship to maximise their efficiency. Direct communication was limited so when the blond woman heard an acoustic signal coming from her bracelet, she knew it had to be something important.

‘Teda, the Nanterilians are going to send a transport ship to collect the prisoner,’ Irisia informed her through the intercom software on her computer bracelet.

‘I have everything prepared, my Goddess,’ responded the blond woman.

‘Always so efficient,’ acknowledged the Goddess of Justice. ‘And now I need a clear telecom signal to the Planet of the Gods.’

‘Right away, my Goddess.’

And while the technicians activated a special firewall for receiving and sending telecommunications, the Nanterilian frigate opened one of the entrances on its bow and a transport ship, with a shape reminiscent of a Teraboo van, flew out and headed towards the imperial-class cruiser. Meanwhile, Lexa was taken out of her cell. The true human was wearing some special handcuffs that tied her hands to the front of her belt. They