Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets: The Official Movie Novelization

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Three squat aliens, all about four feet tall, stood in front of Laureline. Their stubby, four-fingered hands were in the air, and their small, beady eyes were wide as they stared down the lengths of their elongated, trunk-like muzzles at Laureline. They were brown and wrinkled and stooped, with sparse hair sticking up here and there.

Laureline had drawn her weapon, startled at having someone come up behind her, but now she lowered it, and they lowered their arms.

“Nice to see you again,” one of them said. He had a smudge of blue around his eyes.

“Agent Laureline,” the second chimed in. This one, too, had markings around his eyes, except his were burgundy-colored.

The third Doghan Daguis, whose markings were yellow, completed the sentence. “As resplendent as ever.”

“What the hell are you doing here?” Laureline snapped.

“We go where work calls—”

“—We can speak over five thousand languages—”

“—which can come in handy—”

“—at a party like this,” the first finished. The second one added, “Need our services?”

Laureline patted the gun she’d just replaced on her hip. “No thanks. I have my own personal translator,” she said acidly. “Now, scram!”

Valerian’s voice came over the radio. “Ask them if they have any intel on Mül.”

He’s really obsessed with this dream, Laureline thought, but I suppose I can’t blame him. She grimaced, but obeyed. Sighing, she said to the three, “Okay. Major Valerian does want some intel after all. Planet Mül? Ring any bells, guys?”

“A highly sensitive matter!” exclaimed Blue.

“The best person to speak to—” continued Burgundy, and the yellow-marked Doghan Daguis finished up, “— would be Major Samk.”

“Alex?” said Valerian. “What have you got on a Major Samk?”

A picture of a dark-complexioned, handsome military man with a neatly trimmed beard came up on Laureline’s screen, along with his stats. Samk, Major Aton. 33. Deceased.

“Major Samk died a year ago,” Laureline said accusingly to the trio.

The Doghan Daguis appeared to be unruffled. The first one produced a small device and showed her his own picture of Samk—stone dead at his desk. Laureline’s eyes widened.

“Yes,” Blue began, “a most curious demise—”

“—that was never fully explained,” added Burgundy.

“Murder, some might call it,” Yellow said in a melodramatic tone. Laureline fought the urge to punch him right in his long nose, but refrained.

“I’m listening,” she said.

“Major Samk was an expert on planet Mül,” Blue continued.

“He took all that precious information—”

“—to the grave with him,” said Yellow.

“What a waste,” sighed the first Doghan Daguis.

“If you learn anything about the planet,” Laureline told them, “we’re interested.”

“It would be a pleasure to work for you, Laureline,” enthused Blue.

“Before we go,” the second began.

“—allow us to give you—”

“—some info—”

“—for free,” finished Burgundy.

Laureline eyed the three aliens skeptically. “For free?” she echoed. “Are you not feeling well?”

“The converter is precious—”

“—and highly sought after.” Burgundy nodded sagely.

“Mercenaries will come—” said Yellow.

“—to retrieve it—” Blue continued.

“—sooner than you think,” Burgundy finished solemnly.

“What kind of mercenaries?” Both Laureline and Valerian spoke at the same time.

They all eyed her with a smug expression. Blue actually wagged his finger at her. “The first tip was free.”

“You must pay for more,” Burgundy said.

Yellow added, “You get a discount, of course.”

Valerian’s voice came over the radio. “Alex? What’s that?” Laureline, too, could see a flashing red light on her own screen.

“A dozen individuals approaching,” Alex informed them. She added, “They are not on the guest list.”

“What kind of individuals?” Valerian pressed.

“Undetectable for now,” Alex responded.

Laureline looked at the Doghan Daguis wryly. “I get the feeling your info just lost its value. Go on, get out of here!”

The three headed for the exit, looking dejected. Valerian anxiously noticed the red light blinking faster.

“Valerian,” Laureline said, “this doesn’t look good.”

“No, it doesn’t. I want you back in the room near the commander, right now. Alex? Where are they coming from?” Valerian demanded.

“Everywhere,” Alex responded. “They’re going through the walls.”

Laureline picked up her pace, threading her way through the packed hall and heading toward the podium. She met Valerian’s gaze, and he seemed to make a decision.

“Laureline, evacuate the commander! I’m going after these intruders!”

Laureline shoved aside the last few audience members blocking her path, leaped onto the stage and rushed toward Filitt. She seized his arm and began to haul him away.

“Agent, what—” he began to protest, but she cut him off.

“Sorry! Emergency protocol!”

General Okto-Bar, who had been standing off to one side, instantly sprang into position to offer cover for the commander’s exit. His gun was drawn and his face was resolute. The crowd was starting to panic.

I really hope this is a false alarm, Laureline thought. But she didn’t expect they’d be that lucky.

Valerian’s gaze darted from the screen to the crowd and back again. The red warning light was flickering faster now, and the adrenaline was kicking in.

“Alex? Dammit, I need to know the attackers’ identity! Who is it?”

“I’m sorry, Major, but I cannot read their DNA,” Alex replied.

“What?” exclaimed Valerian. That simply couldn’t be. The Intruder XB982 was programmed with the DNA of every known sentient life form. Alex couldn’t possibly—

The far wall of the reception hall exploded.

Cries of terror went up as several of the guests were knocked off their feet. Valerian stared, stunned at what he was seeing.

A dozen slender, gray-robed figures suddenly poured into the hall. Beneath their hoods, their blue-eyed, bone-white—pearl-white, Valerian realized—faces were set in expressions of determination. They lifted something that looked like gracefully fashioned glass or ceramic vases, except instead of being carried upright, they were held so the opening faced forward. In their bulbous lower parts, pale blue light glowed softly.

But they were not vases, of course. They were weapons, and the aliens began firing indiscriminately into the crowd.

Valerian braced himself for carnage of the worst sort, but what emerged from the muzzles of their weapons was not bullets, but a gelatinous substance. It spread rapidly over the victim’s body like some kind of webbing or cocoon, sealing them up inside and completely immobilizing them.

Valerian’s mind flashed back to when he had asked Alex to analyze the pearl. The computer had assured him that Mül had no inhabitants. But Valerian had dreamed them, and then he had seen them on Kirian, and here they were again.

Alex hadn’t been able to analyze the Pearls’ DNA because the Pearls didn’t exist.

He snapped back to himself, but by then the commander’s men were already firing at the slim, pale figures. But in addition to being non-existent, the Pearls seemed also to be untouchable. They leaped and dodged, their movements agile and flowing and as beautiful as they themselves were. Before Valerian could even react, Okto-Bar, Laureline, and Commander Filitt himself, in addition to most of his men, were encased in the strange, gelatinous cocoons.

Valerian dove for cover behind a large white marble pillar. “Alex,” Valerian hissed, “give me something with a bit of bite.” He glanced down at his gun, watching the LEDs flashing.

“A new generation weapon,” Alex replied. “Running analysis. Plasma bullets. No counter before thirty seconds.”

“Great!”

Valerian pulled a tube from his pocket, activated it with a quick snap, and stuck it between his lips, gripping it with his teeth. By this point, the Pearls had reached the stage. They seized the cocoon that encased the commander, hoisted it, and were carrying it off when Valerian leapt out from behind the pillar and opened fire on them.

He never saw the Pearl that had managed to sneak up on him from behind, but he did see the blue gel from their weapon ooze over his face and body and felt its gooey warmth envelop him, as it had done with all the others. He struggled against it for about a nanosecond before it totally wrapped him in its embrace and he toppled to the floor. Fortunately, the goo also provided plenty of padding.

“Thirty seconds,” Alex intoned. “Plasma bullets operational.”

Well, that’s nice, Valerian thought. But I can’t do so much as wiggle my little toe right now. The seconds ticked by, but Valerian wouldn’t give in to panic. Then, thankfully, the tube he’d stuck into his mouth started flashing red and then split in two.

A small mechanical spider emerged from the tube. Through the blue of the gel, Valerian followed the little trail of blinking red light as the robot extended a knife blade from its back and plunged it into the cocoon. It scurried down along Valerian’s body, cutting upward through the goo and slicing a tidy little line all the way down.

Valerian gulped in fresh air and sat up, squirming free of the sticky second skin. Stumbling forward, he rushed over to Laureline, drawing out a small knife from his kit and slicing open her cocoon. Her eyes fluttered open, and she inhaled deeply.

“What was that?” Laureline asked.

“The Pearls from Mül,” Valerian told her. “And they’ve got the commander! Free the general and get to the control room. You can track them and me both from there.”

She nodded. Goo was on her face, clumping in her hair. And he wanted nothing more than to kiss her. But he didn’t.

Instead, Valerian sprinted after the Pearls. He had worried that, since Alex wasn’t able to track their DNA, he might have trouble following them, but it turned out it was child’s play.

He just had to follow the enormous holes they’d blown in the walls.