War of the Fathers

by Dan Decker

  Chapter 23

  “How much longer until Zecarani?” Barc asked. The death of Hira weighed on him like a large stone, his every footstep dragged. Hira might still be alive if he'd done things differently. The last moments before the bomb that had destroyed his home played through his mind repeatedly. It was only in the state of utter exhaustion that he had been able to find sleep. Even then, it was always tortured. Most days he wished that Neare and the others hadn't pulled him from the rubble of his home.

  He hadn’t felt this way since the passing of his parents. Those wounds had healed but these never would. Hira had been with him for more than thirty years. The only thing now that kept him going was his need to find Soret and protect her.

  “Not far now.” Erro passed with Thon and Gorew, riding ahead to meet up with Neare. “Maybe an hour.”

  Barc nodded.

  The pain was such that Barc couldn’t see a time when it would ever leave and he wasn’t sure he wanted it to lessen. Why Hira? He’d never been given much to wine, but now every night at the end of a long march, he found himself wishing for a drink. Of course, that wasn’t going to happen. Barc hadn’t thought to bring alcohol and doubted anybody else had either. It was just as well, he supposed the last thing that he needed was to drown his grief in the bottom of a cup. It was far better to learn to live with the grief, then to try to forget it. He had to keep his wits sharp, if he was to have a chance of one day rescuing Soret from the Hunwei.

  “We’ll find her,” Erro called back.

  “I hope so.”

  It had been years since Barc had last traveled to Zecarani and he didn’t remember the road being this hard to travel, but he’d been a far younger man and weighed much less. Not that he wasn’t losing the weight now; he had tightened his belt more than once since leaving Neberan. He glanced down at his stomach; he still had a long way to go.

  They’d left the same day of the Hunwei attack. After Neare had pulled him from the rubble, Barc had a few hours to try to pull his life together, such as it was. Miraculously, one of his horses had survived; the others were dead or missing.

  The men in front halted. Lern, who walked beside him, looked how Barc must feel. There wasn’t a man in the group that hadn’t lost nearly everyone. Lern’s sons had been too old for the Hunwei to take captive and had been found among the executed. Barc wasn’t sure which was worse, knowing what had happened or wondering where your kids had been taken.

  Barc didn’t kid himself, even though this journey had begun as a hunt to track down those who had been taken, it was a fool’s errand, but he dared not speak the thought aloud. The others already had so little to hope for that a vain hope was better than no hope.

  It was several moments before Barc heard it and by that time Neare was yelling for everyone to move off the road and hide. Barc led his laden horse into the woods. He peeked back as the sound of galloping horses came closer and armored riders running at full gallop came into view. He recognized the banner of Zecarani and wondered where they were going.

  Among the huge mass of horsemen, he could make out streams of fire ripping into the horses and men alike, the blasts ripping everything they hit apart. Pieces of men and horses flew everywhere. The cacophony dampened the screams of the dying and he barely noticed as his horse pulled free and disappeared into the forest.

  Barc wanted to move to see where the attack was coming from, but he was shaking. He stayed still, prayed that he would be safe, and gripped a nearby tree branch to steady himself. Ships. The men that had witnessed the attack had related watching the women and children taken into the sky on ships. That’s where Soret had gone.

  He continued to watch in amazement as the riders continued past. How many were there? The fire from above lessened in frequency but every now and then a rider still went down. Barc found he was praying for the horsemen to escape. Too many had died all ready.

  As the last of the riders galloped by, some of the wounded still moved and he would have gone to help but he was having a hard time getting his legs to work. Lern and several of the others approached the wounded once the streams of fire had passed.

  Explosions filled the air and Barc almost screamed as he watched Lern’s head explode not twenty feet in front of him. A mist of blood and bone hung in the air before landing on the ground, painting it red and white.

  What Barc saw next he wasn’t able to comprehend. The Hunwei rode up on a machine that moved without horses and floated above the ground. It stopped and a handful of Hunwei jumped off and went to the men that were still squirming. Barc didn’t wait to see what they were doing and took off at a run, wishing he’d held onto his horse. The sound of smaller explosions came from behind him and more screaming followed. Barc hoped that everybody else had the sense to run as soon as the horsemen had shown; he was now cursing his foolishness for not running earlier.

  He ran until he doubled over in pain trying to breathe. The forest was quiet, a strong contrast to the mayhem he’d just witnessed. He straightened, tried to run again, and almost fell over. Grabbing a nearby rock for support, he took a breath and chanced a look back. He couldn’t see anybody or anything moving, but regardless, he turned and pushed on until he could move no further.

  He collapsed onto the ground and crawled beneath a pine tree with low hanging branches. The needles above and those that had been shed prickled his skin but he didn’t think of moving.

  By the time the sounds of movement reached his ears, he’d lost all concept of time. From underneath the tree he couldn’t tell if it was getting dark yet or was still afternoon. He waited for several long moments until he saw the feet of a man and sighed in relief. As Barc scrambled out from under the tree, he heard a swishing sound and cried out as an arrow lodged itself in the branches just above his head.

  “Barc! Sorry, I thought you were a Hunwei.”

  Barc took a long look at the arrow. What a shame it would have been to escape the Hunwei twice to only die at the hands of --

  He turned and was relieved to see Polaer. The man hadn’t missed a beat and had another arrow notched. If Barc had been a Hunwei, the second arrow would have been headed his way, but judging by Polaer’s aim, he might not have been in much danger.

  Barc straightened. “I can’t decide if I am glad or mad to see you. Where is everybody?”

  “I don’t know. You’re the first I’ve seen all morning.”

  Barc noticed that the sun was just reaching its peak; he could have sworn he’d been hiding for far longer. “Do you think that it is safe to go back?”

  Polaer shook his head. “I’m waiting for dark.”

  Barc couldn’t think of a better plan, so they found a grove of trees, aspen this time so there weren’t prickly needles, and disappeared into them.

  Barc was lost in memories about Hira and was beginning to feel quite miserable again, when Polaer started talking about his wife and daughters. Barc didn’t join in much and just listened to the man ramble. At last, when the sun began to set they went back to the road. Barc had been expecting it to be much further away, but they reached it quickly. It had felt like he had run for miles earlier that morning. If he’d known how far he hadn’t gone, he’d have kept going if he had to crawl.

  From the vantage point of a hill, they couldn’t see anybody moving but still they waited until full dark before descending to the road. As they passed a dead soldier, Polaer removed the soldier’s sword.

  “Don’t do that!” Barc hissed. “It’s bad luck to steal from the dead.”

  “You still believe in luck?”

  Barc hesitated; he had nothing else to lose. “Guess not.” He found another soldier and pulled out his sword. It didn’t look damaged, so Barc removed the sheath as well. He felt a little guilty as he buckled the sword on to his belt but at least he was now armed, for all the good it would do him, he’d never used a sword before.

  There was a low whistle from up ahead and Barc turned and saw a figure motioning to them. When they
were close enough, Barc recognized Neare. For a strange moment, he could have sworn that Neare looked disappointed, but then it was gone. He moved a finger to his lips and motioned for them to follow.

  He led them to a much smaller group of men than they had started with from Neberan. As Barc joined the men, he could hear occasional sounds of thunder so he pulled the hood of his cloak up, and hoped that it wouldn’t rain. After several hours, they moved back to the road, but kept to the edge, ready to dive under cover at a moment’s notice.

  The day was just dawning when Zecarani came into view and Barc was glad to see that it appeared to be unharmed. The peaceful morning was a stark contrast to the attack and terror of the previous day.

  Interlude 2

  THE YEAR OF THE SEVERING

  When the doors to the Rarbon council chambers opened, Rend Rahid was greeted by the roar of the crowd. He was taken aback by the sound. There was a slight breeze of warm air coming out of the large room. That only happened when the place was packed. Another surprise in a day that already had too many. Surely a gathering this large couldn’t have been called without his knowing about it?

  Then he remembered that it had been at least three days since he’d left his office in the Rarbon palace. How could he have ignored his enemies for so long? Foolish, he shouldn’t have allowed himself to become distracted.

  Three days was more than enough time for Buiz Jerard to cause Rend trouble. Jerard was a good man that saw the world differently. The two of them had been at odds for many years, but when Rend had won the election to become Ghar, Jerard had been pushed over the edge. Rend knew Jerard was angry, but would he risk the mainframe? If Jerard was willing to do that, Rend had underestimated him.

  Rend gritted his teeth, Jerard’s lofty ideals or not, their people and the mainframe had to be protected. Whatever the cost. If Jerard had caught onto the plan to attack the Hunwei, he would use that as justification to make a deal with Araz.

  Rend took a deep breath, hoping it would calm his nerves. It didn’t. From his vantage point, every seat of the lower level appeared to be full. He imagined that the balcony would be the same. The air had a level of energy to it that under other circumstances, he might have found electrifying. Instead it filled him with dread. Things were worse than he’d originally thought.

  Rend couldn’t allow Jerard to convince the people that Araz was their friend. If Araz’s army was allowed into Rarbon under a truce, it would only be a matter of time before Araz was in control. If Rend wouldn’t have been so focused on the fleet, he could have taken care of Araz and kept this from happening.

  One of the guards poked Rend in the back with a rifle. He didn’t turn to see who; he couldn’t allow their betrayal to fire up his emotions. If he was going to survive this, he’d need to be able to think without the muddying waters of anger.

  He was puzzled about the charges against him, assuming he was under arrest and not being kidnapped. At first, he had tried to get the guards to talk, but they’d refused. As a Ghar, the only way he could be put under arrest was after the Council had convicted him. He couldn’t be convicted unless he had an opportunity to answer the charges. None had been brought. It was convenient of the always-by-the-book Jerard to forget the rules that didn’t favor his plan.

  Rend hoped that Joner had started the attack by now. Confounded fool should have been done with the task already.

  When he was poked in the back again, he stepped into the auditorium. Some in the audience called out to Rend, as he was walked into the spacious chamber, yelling words of encouragement. Other were hissing and booing. He'd always had his detractors and the heckling didn't affect him because after fighting Hunwei, empty threats and name calling were the last thing he’d let bother him.

  He walked with his back straight and tried to not twist his bound hands, hoping that his anxiety didn’t show. He wouldn’t let his people see him squirm.

  When Rend noticed Buiz Jerard standing at the podium in the front of the hall, he steeled himself for the fight to come. There was a flash of triumph on Jerard’s face when their eyes met. Rend couldn’t refrain from glowering and Jerard’s face split into a grin.

  The other council members were seated behind Jerard. Rend stared at Kear Ponel, who sat in the front row fondling a blaster that hung from his hip. When Kear noticed Rend's attention, he frowned and looked away. If Rend had been hoping for any help from Kear, he'd have been disappointed. As it was, he'd recognized long ago that Kear was spineless and would go whatever direction those around him went. Rend continued to stare until Kear shifted uncomfortably and turned to have a conversation with somebody behind him.

  There were other members of the council that were refusing to meet Rend’s gaze. Had Rend led his people so badly that even his friends would jump at the opportunity to see him removed or had Jerard been able to cobble together a lie with enough truth to keep them from defending Rend?

  He turned back to the people in the audience and tried to gage how many were booing and how many were trying to show their support. He gave up pretty quick. It was impossible to tell.

  Were Tira and Arile here or had Jerard done something to them? If anything happened to Rend’s family, he wouldn’t rest until Jerard and anybody helping him were in the ground.

  Jerard nodded at Krile, the guard nearest Rend, who took off Rend’s binders.

  Rend kept his head straight forward, and clasped his hands, resisting the urge to rub his wrists. When Jerard motioned for Rend to sit, he remained standing. Jerard hesitated, looking like he was going to instruct the guards to force Rend to the seat but he let it pass.

  A small victory, just one of many that Rend would need today.

  Jerard held up his arms and the crowd became silent. “I have brokered peace with Araz.”

  “Fool,” Rend said, once the crowd calmed down enough to speak. “You risked everything for this little coup of yours. We almost lost the mainframe. Where would we be then?”

  There was a look of surprise on Jerard’s face when Rend mentioned the mainframe computer. It was as Rend suspected, Jerard hadn’t known everything that the men he was working with were up to.

  Whatever Araz told you, Rend thought, you were a fool to believe him. Jerard wouldn’t knowingly have put the mainframe at risk. It represented their future and the knowledge that they’d managed to save.

  Jerard frowned. “Enough of your lies. It is time for peace. Peace among all people. We need Araz as much as he needs us. We need peace with the Hunwei, but you can’t let the war go. Of all the atrocities committed by our side during the war, you have managed to top them all.”

  Rend felt a stab of fear. The truth was about to come out. The response to the announcement of a truce with Araz had been lukewarm at best. Jerard was assuming that there would be outrage when the attack on the Hunwei planet was revealed, but Rend wasn’t so sure. If this was all that Jerard had against Rend, this could go either way.

  Rend wondered who had spilled the secret. Jbyte? Had one of Joner's people been able to find a way to circumvent the blackout restrictions? It could also have been something simpler than that. Rend tried to remember the last time he'd had his office swept for bugs. He couldn't remember.

  That was a mistake. It used to be something he had done on a daily basis.

  Jerard clinched his hands on the sides of the podium. “You ordered the fleet to destroy the Hunwei home world. Who are you to make that decision?”

  It was a decision made long before Rend had been the Ghar and he couldn’t have stopped Admiral Joner if he’d wanted to, but he couldn’t say that. He’d have to live with the results of this decision either way; he might as well own it.

  Jerard's revelation was met with stunned silence. It was the moment of truth that Rend had been preparing for; he was hesitant to look around so he could gauge everybody's reaction. The crowd was too quiet. Nobody said a word. Where were the jeers and shouts? Rend couldn't tell if it was the shock from his plans or b
ecause Buiz Jerard had led everybody to believe that Rend was a traitor without telling them the charges.

  “The Hunwei are monsters,” Rend said. He should have deactivated Jbyte and found another way to keep tabs on Joner and the fleet.

  “You’re planning to kill millions of innocent Hunwei,” Jerard continued. “We defeated them, it’s over.”

  Rend decided to trust his instincts and laughed. Jerard would have an uphill battle if he'd deceived the people and was now hoping to sell them on Rend being a traitor because he was planning to kill Hunwei. The wounds were too fresh. Some people might have begun to forgive the Hunwei for what they’d done, but they would be in the minority. There wasn’t a person in this audience who hadn’t witnessed the death of almost everybody they loved.

  Rends laughter echoed throughout the chamber. He figured it might be his last time, so he relished the sound.

  “More than four billion dead, countless others enslaved, and you think we won? They’ll be back.” Rend turned to the crowd, a ray of sunlight hit him from the massive glass dome above and like a match to a pile of dry kindling, he felt hope surge through him even though he knew it was irrational. He wouldn’t get out of this alive. Jerard hadn’t come this far to let Rend walk away.

  “It’s been called a victory, but we didn’t win.” Rend paused for emphasis. “They quit, but we don’t know why. The Hunwei are an enemy that we can’t understand because they refuse to talk to us. Jerard wants to think they’re people like you or me.

  “He’s wrong. They’re predators that slaughtered us, like wolves among sheep. Can we afford not to take advantage of this opportunity? A third of the fleet still lives and is about to attack the Hunwei home world.”

  The news was beginning to cause quite a stir among the audience. The shock was wearing off. For some of them, this would mean that their family and friends were still alive. It’s sometimes hard to read a crowd, but this wasn’t one of those times. The glimmer of hope spread like a wave. Smiles and tears and shouts of joy were shared.

  “Call back the fleet,” Jerard said, struggling to be heard. “We may yet be able to broker peace.”

  Rend turned back to Jerard, who smiled, thinking he had the support of the crowd. He wasn’t good at reading people. Those people were shouting support for Rend.

  “Do you intend to bow down to them? That’s what it will take.”

  “We must make peace!”

  “Do you see his madness? Peace cannot be had without our total submission. He would have us all be slaves.” People started to yell. In several places, the crowd begin to approach the council members. Kear was staring at Jerard’s back, the look on his face impossible to read. Rend wondered what his fair weather friend was thinking now.

  This was Rend’s moment. He could use this.

  “Ghar Rahid, you must see this,” Krile said, holding out a tablet to Rend. “A communication is coming in, from the fleet.”

  Ghar Rahid? Krile had led the group that had arrested Rend, but now he was showing Rend the proper respect and giving him aid. Rend took the screen with a nod of his head. He’d never trust Krile again, but he’d take his allies wherever he found them.

  The look of excitement on Krile’s face filled Rend with hope. It wasn’t a hope that Rend would survive, though the odds were getting better. No, it was a hope for their people. It made Rend want to cry. He blinked back the tears, now wasn’t the time for any display of weakness, no matter how warranted.

  The screen had the frozen face of Joner. Rend played the video, holding it close so he could hear over the crowd, and kept his face passive. He was glad Jerard hadn’t found this first. It seemed that Krile, in his haste hadn’t fully grasped the situation in which Joner now found himself. If Krile had, he might have gone the other way and given this information to Jerard. Rend tried to keep the emotion off his face. Now wasn’t the time to burst Krile’s bubble.

  “Send this to the holo.” Rend handed the tablet back to Krile.

  Moments later, a large holographic image of Joner appeared above the heads of the council and the crowd quieted down.

  “My people of Rarbon,” Rend said, yelling to be heard over Jerard. “Not only has Jerard betrayed us by allowing our enemy into the city, he has also subverted our attack and destroyed the fleet.” He motioned to Krile and Joner’s image began to speak.

  “That’s a lie!” Jerard’s yell was lost as Joner’s voice boomed into the vast chamber.

  “Retreat! Retreat!” Joner was interrupted by a voice off screen.

  “They’re all gone. Every last ship.”

  Another voice cut through a wailing alarm. “Twenty missiles are locked in on our position!”

  Joner swore and ran off screen. Everybody waited while they heard Joner struggling to make his orders heard above the commotion. There were flashes of light, screaming, and the display went dark.

  “The war isn’t over,” Rend yelled but his voice was lost among the tide of angry people. Jerard tried to calm the crowd, but they ignored him as well. Their moment of hope had been ripped away and they had broken into a frenzy.

  Jerard continued to speak, but Rend couldn't hear him over the roar of the crowd. When Jerard pulled out a blaster, Rend ducked but he was too late. Pain filled Rend as his hand disappeared in a mist of blood and bits of bone. Jerard fired again hitting Rend in the chest.

  Rend awoke with his daughter Arile and wife Tira, leaning over him. He smiled or at least he tried to, he wasn’t sure if he succeeded because everything was numb. He saw tears falling off Tira’s face onto his; he tried to reach for her but his arms wouldn't work.

  From all around, came the sound of fighting. The sizzle of blasters and the loud clap of gunshots intermingled with shouting and screaming. Arile and Tira seemed to be oblivious to it as they stared down at him. Forget about me, he wanted to say, but his lips wouldn’t form the words. He wasn’t sure if Jerard would be willing to harm innocent people, but it wasn’t a risk his family should be taking.

  He heard a voice that he didn’t recognize cut through the sound of the battle. “He’s almost gone. Nothing we can do.”

  Rend opened his mouth again and put everything he could into it, but all that came out was a gasp. He could taste the salty tears coming from his wife.

  It was time to die. He knew that now. He wished that he could feel peace knowing that his fight with the Hunwei had come to an end and others would have to continue it, but his fear for his wife and daughter pushed everything out of his mind. Run, he screamed at them. Run.

  “Care to make a bet?”

  Rend blinked. Neither Tira nor Arile had spoken and Jbyte was locked away. Had he imagined it? On top of everything else, he was starting to hallucinate.

  When he remembered that the mainframe was still locked down, he panicked. Tira and Arile would need the information located therein. If he didn’t tell them how to access it, it might be lost forever. Concentrating as hard as he could, Rend tried to speak and was able to make a low croaking sound.

  Arile whispered something he couldn’t understand because it felt like his ears were filling with water.

  “Arile,” Rend was able to groan. Both Arile and Tira leaned over him.

  The effort took too much out of him. Despite knowing it was futile, he continued to try. Years of fighting a war without hope had prepared him for this moment, he couldn’t quit. He had to tell Arile and Tira how to access the mainframe. The light of blasters flickered off their face as he formed his lips.

  “Mainframe,” he was able to whisper. Arile exchanged a look with Tira, and he ignored his frustration as he tried to catch his breath but realized that he was no longer able to control it. Their faces were becoming fuzzy.

  He could see Deren in their place. But that couldn’t be him? Rend had slain the Hunwei responsible for killing him. Rend closed his eyes and the image faded and he wondered if Jbyte somehow had something to do with it as he slipped away. But that couldn’t be, she
was locked away.

  Part Three: Towers of Ash

  1,192 YEARS SINCE THE SEVERING