He agreed with the idea and placed it in his own ear. When he was finished he found Li’ara a lot closer. Her emerald eyes had a slight gloss to them and he was reminded of the moment they shared when she told him about her father. He felt guilty then for not seeing how she was coping with it all. He had been so wrapped up in everything Terran.
“Li’ara...”
His next words were interrupted as his armour emitted the life-size hologram of ALF. “He’s here!”
They briefly regarded the AI, before looking into the cloudless midday sky.
“You need to get inside now!”
The sun was momentarily blotted out, as the mass of the Helion dropped out of subspace just outside the atmosphere. The great ship continued its momentum, revealing the blue sun again. It reminded Kalian of an ancient cruise liner with two extensions either side like a pitch-fork. Kalian altered the structure of his eyes to cycle through the different wavelengths. Now he could see further with greater detail as the light of the star no longer impeded his vision. Now he could see six other ships, smaller with their greater distance, of Novaarian design. Each one appeared as a replica of the Valoran with their overreaching arcs that came to a fine point.
“Where did the Novaarian ships come from?” Kalian ignored Li’ara’s puzzled look.
“I ordered the closest available ships to regroup here,” ALF explained. “I informed them that the Helion had been captured by the same enemy that attacked the Conclave. Each of those ships possesses the weaponry to eliminate a target from space, useful to us I think. I will liaise with them and await the opportune moment.”
Kalian knew the Novaarians would think their orders came from High Charge Uthor. Another testament to ALF’s power that he could manipulate entire fleets to his will. Kalian focused on the present danger.
“We need to get inside, now.” They both turned to run back to The Wall.
The door had already parted as Li’ara entered the square lift, alone. Kalian stopped just short of the door, knowing ALF would anticipate his decision. Before the two halves came back together he saw Li’ara whip around with a stunned expression.
“Kalian!” She ran to the closing door but was too late.
He put his hand against the rock and felt the nanocelium moving as the lift descended at an incredible speed. His thoughts of Li’ara was swept away as he heard the sonic boom in the distance. ALF remained by his side while they watched the dark ship approach. It was all angles with four chunky engines on the back; it looked to be about four times the size of the Fathom. Extending his senses, Kalian could feel the nanocelium that made up the ship.
“You sticking around to help me fight?”
ALF grimaced at Kalian’s words. “Sadly your armour is not capable of housing the required emitters for hard-light.”
“So you’re just here to cheer me on then?”
The AI wouldn’t miss his sarcasm. “I calculate that my presence will likely anger him further. If I can unhinge him, he will become unfocused. That might be your only advantage.” ALF emulated a very human sigh. “You are not ready for this encounter, Kalian. You could train for another century and you still wouldn’t be ready.”
“Feel free to stop talking now.”
The AI’s lack of confidence in him was evident, and unfortunately well founded. Kalian knew he wasn’t ready, but he was choosing to stay. ALF looked somewhat apologetic at his last remark.
“How many are there?” Kalian wondered if ALF was asking because he didn’t know, or because he wanted to test him.
Either way, Kalian pushed into the craft ignoring the density, temperature and chemical composition of its make-up. Inside, he found four complex structures each with unique brain waves. Unlike Li’ara the waves they emitted felt guarded beyond his exploration. One of the four had a very different feel altogether.
“There are four, but one of them is... complicated.” He focused on the individual in question.
After a moment’s probe, Kalian knew what he was examining, the goliath. The giant’s brainwaves were pulsing on a lower level like that of an animal. His biological framework had been altered in almost every cell. He was teeming with dense structures of nanocelium.
The craft touched down with miniature landing-feet under its body, kicking up desert sand as it did. Kalian was now standing directly between the craft and The Wall. He took a deep breath to steady his nerves. He felt the sensation in his spine swell at the impending danger but gained comfort from the power he knew it gave him.
Soon after the ramp descended the four armoured beings exited the ship with the goliath bringing up the rear. They crossed the short distance, the four horsemen of his own personal apocalypse, until there was only twenty-foot between them. Kalian watched the central figure look from him to the hologram of ALF. The same laugh that resounded inside the council chamber now filtered through his helmet. Using some internal control, Savrick’s headpiece separated into its sections and folded into his armour. His twin braids fell across his chest and he regarded Kalian and ALF with glee.
“We are not worthy...” Savrick said mockingly with a half courteous bow. “The all-powerful, all-knowing, ALF! You should see what I left of your precious Criterion. It’s nothing but a broken, hollowed out shell.” He scanned Kalian from head to foot. “Ever the teacher I see. You look to be a Terran now, boy.”
Kalian felt his armour paled in comparison to the bulky Gomar equivalent.
“And I see you are still slaughtering people by the millions, Savrick.” ALF appeared unfazed by the sight of his oldest enemy, but Kalian knew the hologram would project whatever he wanted it to.
“Billions actually. And I won’t stop until the very last one is dead at my feet.” Savrick looked Kalian in the eyes with deadly intent. “But how many of those deaths can be attributed to you?” He practically spat the words at ALF. “You made yourself a god - the creation becoming the creator. It’s the oldest story in the book; the never-ending cycle of life. How many choices have you made and failed to make that ended with the deaths of so many? You chose to repress us and we made you pay for it. You chose to start again with them, and we made them pay for it. If you had stopped your little science team from returning, I wouldn’t even have known about the humans. The only reason they were given the chance they had was because the Terran pilot deleted the navigational logs. You can imagine my frustration at the prospect of searching an entire galaxy. They died slowly...”
Kalian felt his anger rising to the surface at the sight of Savrick’s vicious smirk.
“You have so many excuses for the destruction left in your wake.” ALF was starting to look a few orders of magnitude above pissed off. “Everything you have ever done was because of her.”
“Be careful, old machine, my wrath has not been tempered in my years of sleep.” Savrick began to pace at what Kalian knew to be thoughts of his wife.
“It was an accident, Savrick. I did not mean for T’lea to di-”
“NO!” Savrick’s scream ended the hologram and Kalian felt the emitters in his waist short out. “You do not get to say her name!” Like a caged animal, Savrick paced the sandy ground shaking his head.
Without ALF Kalian suddenly felt very alone. He pushed his awareness down and felt Li’ara deep inside the Outpost. At least she was safe, for now. How had events changed so much that he was now protecting her instead of her protecting him? He focused back on the present when he realised Savrick had stopped pacing and was watching him intently.
“It’s distracting, isn’t it?” Savrick said. “To be so in tune with the universe that you don’t know where it ends and you begin. I was a hundred and two, by your standards, when I first connected to it all.”
He tapped the chest plate of his armour and Kalian knew the armour was the source of his strength. Without it, the Harness would render him as powerless as any human.
“You are lucky to be so young. But your fate will be no different from those before you.”
; Kalian had heard enough of his pointless monologue. He could feel the power building in him, making him bold. “What are you going to do? Threaten me to death?” Before Savrick could reply he went on. “You say ALF made you the way you are, his actions, your reaction. Well, you made me who I am. You ran me from my home. You’ve pushed my kind to extinction. You removed all my choices and put me right where you see me now. I might be tiny to you immortals, but I will end you.”
Savrick mulled over his words while looking into the faceplates of his companions.
Kalian knew his words to be true, ALF had created the Terran culture and Savrick brought it down, Savrick had forced Kalian into becoming a weapon and he would bring him down, it was the cycle of life as Savrick put it. He had to believe that if he was ever going to see Li’ara’s smile again.
“Perhaps, but first, let us put that training of yours to the test.”
Kalian didn’t like the look of Savrick’s devious smile.
“Lilander...” The armoured Gomar standing next to him stepped forward as the helmet came apart to reveal a woman with cropped blonde hair. Like all the people of her genetic disposition, she was beautiful but deadly. “And this you might know by a different name. I simply call him the beast.”
The goliath stepped forward with heavy feet. The headgear fell apart with a decompressing sound.
The content was not what he expected.
He was faced with the stark white face of a bald man, though thinking of it as a man seemed something of a stretch. The eyes were larger than normal but then again so was everything else about the beast. Its eyes were a black abyss with microscopic white dots, shot-gunned across the surface. The domed head was covered in cracks of grey and black that ran down into its facial features. Everything about it looked strong and enduring but twisted as if nature had never intended this creature to exist. Its face was a blank slate, devoid of expression.
There was something about that face, something familiar. He ran the face through his memory like an image search. He was startled by the results he found. If he cleared up the face of its cracks and reduced it to normal size with the addition of long flowing hair, it would be the Avatar. Kalian mouthed the name as the revelation hit.
“Yes, the wisest of us all.” Savrick regarded the giant as a trophy.
“What did you do to him?”
Savrick smiled. “Improved his personality...”
With that, the beast and Lilander launched at Kalian. His reaction was instinctive from what felt like years of training hardwired into his muscles. With nimble agility, he leapt into the air using the bulk of the beast as a pivoting point for his hands. His telekinesis kicked in, giving him the extra lift to overcome the beast’s great height. The monster continued its rampage as Kalian somersaulted over him, only to be intercepted by Lilander.
It felt like a Mag-car had hurtled into him at fifty miles per hour. Reality tumbled around him before he met the hard desert below. He had just enough time to encompass his body in a tight layer of telekinetic energy. To that effect, he pushed up from the ground almost immediately with no pain. He created a low-level connection with the nanocelium in his suit and found the plating around his chest and back had increased in density to compensate for any weak points in his barrier.
Lilander was on him before he could get his bearings. Her movement was calculated, with every blow surgically executed. He was able to counter most but his telekinetic barrier protected him from the rest. He might not have felt the pain but her blows were hard enough to knock him around, not to mention the mental drain he experienced on his barrier. He knew at least four of his counters struck her ribs and face but she remained relentless in her attack. In a move he thought was more luck than skill, Kalian forced Lilander onto her back. He applied a downward force of telekinetic energy and pinned her in place. He could feel her power fighting him, almost lifting him off the ground.
Two thunderous steps told Kalian the beast had covered the thirty feet between them. Lilander took advantage of his lack of concentration. He felt her telekinetic push reverse and bring his face over her own; she followed with a sharp elbow to his jaw. He collapsed on top of her and tasted the blood in his mouth. He heard the echo of ALF’s voice chastising him for not switching off his pain receptors. Before he could remedy the situation, a large hand gripped the back of his neck. The beast threw him like a pebble over the surface of the oceanic desert. Kalian lost count of how many times he skidded across the sand before coming to a stop.
He rolled onto his side, just in time to see the helmeted, unnamed Gomar approach The Wall. The ancient door reacted explosively to the wave of his hand as the rock blew out into thousands of shards. Without slowing his stride, the unnamed Gomar entered the lift ignoring the flying debris. Kalian felt his gut tighten at the thought of his destination.
Li’ara!
Without thought of the beast or Lilander, he launched into a sprint from his prone position. He covered half the distance before a super-heated ball of plasma hit his right shoulder blade. In his rush he had lowered his guard, focusing his telekinetic energy into his movements for the additional speed. He travelled a further five metres before landing face-down in the sand, his armour taking the brunt of the destructive force. He could feel the nanocelium rapidly reconfiguring to repair the damage while the plasma continued to melt the plating down.
“Li’ara can you hear me?” When he got no reply, Kalian pressed his finger onto the earpiece and asked again.
“You shouldn’t be talking to me, you need to focus!” Li’ara’s voice rang through his head in perfect clarity.
“The Outpost has been breached; one of the Gomar is inside.”
There was a pause before she replied. “ALF can see him on the monitor. We can handle him Kalian, just stay alive.”
He managed to crouch on all fours, with sand across half of his face and blood dripping from his left eyebrow. He considered tissue repair before deciding the cut wasn’t worth the energy. Kalian felt the electromagnetic field of the beast affect reality in the manner of a tidal wave and knew he was out of time. He managed to disconnect his pain receptors before the mighty boot of the goliath connected with his ribs and stomach. He lost his sense of direction and gravity as he rolled across the cracked desert floor. He felt no pain but a quick internal check showed a hairline fracture on his third rib on the right side. He was suddenly very thankful for his armour.
Kalian’s despair was only drowned out by his anger; anger he directed at the oncoming beast. His use of telekinesis may be blunt, but maybe blunt was what he needed. He matched the beast’s speed as they charged at one another, each kicking up a cloud of sand. Kalian could feel the beast like a weight anchored to the moon, there was no way he could actually move it, but he could give it a nudge.
He kept his movements fluid, containing his momentum into one continuous attack. Kalian pushed into the air with a short telekinetic boost, swinging his left arm above his head. The beast felt the effects of the pull behind its knees, causing it to skid along the ground turfing up the rock. The distance and speed were all worked out in Kalian’s head. His own descent brought him down directly in front of the fallen beast. Building up the telekinetic energy around his fist like an armoured gauntlet, Kalian hit the goliath below its right eye.
The added force of the telekinesis forced the beast into the hard ground. He couldn’t stop there; the beast would recover in seconds. Coming straight up from his crouch, he used the same striking hand to guide his telekinetic command. The beast lifted from the ground as its senses came back. An unnatural growl roared from its mouth as Kalian kept it suspended mid-air. Thinking of the creature as being no heavier than a rock he pushed the giant out into the desert. The beast became a blur as it flew across the flat land before an explosion of rock and sand was all that could be seen. It felt good to deliver such a blow against the foe that had literally given him nightmares.
Savrick was laughing behind him. He didn’t need to look to
know the man was standing by the nose of the Gomar craft. The sound of his laughter angered and confused Kalian. What kind of psychopath was this guy? How could he find it amusing that his own forces were being beaten? Kalian’s musing became his downfall as Lilander advanced. The world shifted to the left as he was violently flung into the remains of The Wall. He attempted to bring up a telekinetic barrier to soften the blow but was too slow. The rock gave way under the force of her mental push, covering his suit in debris and flinging him at an odd angle. His legs flailed in the air before he smashed onto the rock-strewn ground.
“Don’t worry, little Terran,” Savrick’s voice carried across the desert. “They won’t kill you. That would be my pleasure.”
Kalian couldn’t help himself. He had to poke the bear. “What’s the matter, Savrick? You need me softened up first?”
His question was met by a backhanded strike from Lilander. “You will show respect!” she screamed.
Kalian dragged himself up feeling the cracks in his concentration. He stimulated his adrenal gland giving himself the extra rush and heightened awareness. Lilander confidently strode towards him as he felt for every molecule that made up the rocks behind him. He threw his hand at her pulling the rocks as he did, each one a missile. He was swiftly reminded of her superior experience as she held up her own hand, forcing the rocks to fly off at different angles. She hit him square in the chest with an amalgamation of telekinesis and plasma.
The light from the super-heated matter blinded Kalian before it blew him away. The whiteout disorientated him more when he felt the ground breaking under his weight. He could smell the ozone rising off his chest while the nanocelium began to rebuild the charred armour. Kalian took a laboured breath, feeling the crushed armour around his lungs.
“ALF, I could really do with one of those strikes about now...”
Li’ara felt utterly helpless as she watched Kalian take blow after blow from the female Gomar. She could already see the beast recovering in the distance as it climbed out of its crater. Half of the monitoring room had become a life-size hologram of the action above them. It looked so real she had to stop herself from stepping into the illusion and helping him. Telarrek and Namek were watching a smaller image being generated by an oval column behind her. They watched as the masked Gomar burst through the lift and into the corridor. The image was mirrored by another hologram, showing the Gomar in relation to the monitoring room. She looked to ALF for the Outpost’s defences.
The Terran Cycle Boxset Page 44
