by James Somers
the time, but did he know now? And what if we had come face to face then, he wondered. Would Tiet have embraced his long lost brother, the betrayer of their people and their parents?
No, of course not. He would have gladly struck with all the fury he could muster. Suddenly Kale felt disgusted with everything, or perhaps only with himself. He spit the hunk of meat back onto his plate and pushed it away across the small table.
The Baruk could not be trusted. They were completely sold out to the Wicked One, Lucin. The Vorn had very little understanding of the true nature of the malevolent being that ruled the Baruk clan and their planet. They were merely a vehicle for this fallen one—a way for him to move among men and control their minds in his symbyte form.
It was Lucin who had promised him vengeance upon his father and Orin for the dishonor they had shown him—a prince of the Barudii. He only had to provide the weaknesses of their mountain cities and great power would be his. But it was a lie from the Prince of Lies. The death of his people and his family had brought him nothing but regret and sorrow. But he had bound himself to Lucin. How could he escape from such a power?
The Baruk certainly had no way of escape and they didn’t want any as far as Kale could tell. The symbyte form of Lucin, inhabiting their bodies, gave them great power and the ability to drive out their enemies before them. Now they were on the move to Castai. Lucin would conquer it and move on through the rift to conquer the twin Castai. Only Elithias could stop such a being. Though he thought of dropping to his knees to pray, Kale knew that he was probably the last person Elithias would want to hear from.
Normally, Kale might have suspected his food to be poisoned, but his personal scanner had detected nothing dangerous in the meal. It did little to console him about the possibility of the Baruk killing him. He looked at his blade upon the hard slab the Baruk called a bed. Picking up the blade, he examined it a moment. This blade was his life. Kale knew he could never trust the Baruk and even if he could, he did not want to remain among them. But how could he escape? They had control of his ship. He heard heavy footsteps approaching his quarters.
☼
The door opened up before the Baruk warrior. Housra quickly moved inside with his compression gun ready to terminate the Barudii on sight. The room appeared to be empty.
Kale looked down on the Baruk warrior from the ceiling of the compartment. He clung there using the Way. The compression weapon used by the Baruk clan swung from side to side as the warrior surveyed the compartment, stopping to examine the half eaten meal.
Kale dropped down with his blade. Housra whirled around, bringing his gun to bear upon the Barudii. The blade divided the weapon before he could fire. The living exoskeleton sprang outward from the Baruk, striking Kale.
He was smashed backwards into the door of the compartment but managed to strike back furiously with the Way. The Baruk crashed hard into the other wall, but was stabilized quickly by the morphing exoskeleton. It had appeared solid, but now morphed into obscene appendages trying to protect its host.
Kale brought his blade between himself and the Baruk. The symbiotic creature was reared up in a posture of aggression as it sought to strike. One of the appendages lashed out. Kale struck it with his sword. It recoiled. He moved in again, striking at the hovering tentacles and landing a blow to the warrior’s leg, severing it completely.
Another appendage knocked Kale into the table as the Baruk fell from his wound. The morphing tentacle smashed the table flat as Kale rolled away. If Lucin had sent this warrior to kill him then more would quickly follow. He had to get off of this ship as quickly as possible.
Kale bolted out the door, leaving the maimed warrior and his symbiotic protector as far behind as he could. Now he just had to figure out how to get to his ship and off of this vessel alive.
☼
Estall stared at the information coming onto the display as Ranul keyed in the various retrieval commands. Probe number: 2041 was transmitting its information on a coded band. He studied the incoming data carefully. Looking over Ranul’s shoulder, Estall attempted to understand what the transmission contained, but Ranul was scanning the data too fast for him to be able to put it all together.
“Well?”
“Well, what?”
“Are you going to share with the rest of us?” Estall asked.
“Oh!” he said as though he had forgotten others were in the communications room with him. “The probe beyond the star Casiss has picked up a group of objects. After long range scans, it has concluded that the objects are in fact very large space cruisers on a course for Castai.”
“The Baruk, I suppose.”
“Well, I don’t think there’s any other possibility. According to Vorn records, the return flight path would concur.”
“Well, we’ve been training for a fight. Looks like we’ve got one.”
☼
The council buildings were as luxurious as any Tiet had seen among the Vorn cities. This one in Baeth Periege was perhaps the most beautiful of them all. He passed through the main hall on his way toward the meeting chamber. It was lined on either side by troops he had helped to train in recent months.
They look very sharp in there uniforms, he thought. It was nice to see the peace between the Castillians and the Vorn illustrated in the new standing army.
Why did Wynn insist on trying to push him onto the throne? He certainly did not see himself as a king. He was just a young man, still in training himself—not a great man like his father. Tiet wished his father was still alive to lead this great people. He would’ve known what to do.
Tiet wished he had been able to really know his father. His brother—the thought cut him to the heart—if he ever saw his brother again, he would avenge his father’s death and Orin’s.
Too bad the coward had taken off before he realized who Kale was. Tiet would have killed him. That thought gave him little joy, but it seemed to satisfy his anger to some degree. Two of the acting guards opened the large main doors allowing him into the council chamber.
The ceiling was three stories high in the main hall. Tiet saw that it was even higher within the meeting chamber as the doors parted before him. They revealed a very large circular room with a dome at the top. The Council of Twelve, along with their various advisers, was seated along the outer portion of the room slightly above the dais where Tiet was to stand in the middle of the room to be addressed by the Council.
As Tiet made his way, he saw that the session was already beginning—apparently everyone had been waiting for him to arrive. As Tiet walked in, many people began to cheer and clap. This was not the sort of entrance he had expected or wanted.
He didn’t feel he deserved any applause. What had he done to deserve it, besides being born to a certain family and people? Tiet spotted Wynn. He was seated near the delegate for the city of Baeth Periege with Daooth Pasad. Daooth was a good man. He could still remember his first meeting with the Vorn in Wynn’s underground dwelling and almost taking his head off, supposing him to be an enemy.
That day had been a wake up call for Tiet, learning how the Vorn were a friendly people enslaved by their own military. He had hated them for so long, blaming them for the murder of his family and his people, while not realizing things are rarely as straightforward as they seem.
Tiet approached the podium in the middle of the chamber and waited. A glass of water was sitting on the side, and he wondered if it would be inappropriate to take a big drink of it right now. His throat was getting dryer by the moment.
Everyone became quiet as the delegate from Baeth Periege stood to address the gathering. He was an elder Vorn man named Licoure. His translator pin activated as he spoke in his native Vorn language.
“Master Soone, we are honored by your presence at this gathering and are happy you have accepted our invitation. I realize you have been approached numerous times with our offer to support your ascension to the throne. Will you to hear us out collectively on the
matter, with patience?”
“I am honored by the support of the delegates assembled here,” Tiet said. “But I fear you have placed your confidence in the wrong man to lead. I do not feel I am experienced enough in necessary matters to be worthy of such a calling.”
“Then I hope we may further persuade you,” said Licoure.
Another Vorn elder stood as Licoure seated himself again. Tiet recognized him as Ush, the delegate from the city of Thalidi. He appeared to be very old, but the wrinkles on his face spoke of wisdom and vast experience rather than senility.
“Master Soone, I was in the Vorn military when the war between our peoples first began more than four generations ago. It had been a peaceful relationship during the times before. Our peoples were like brothers. The Barudii king of that time was Isic. He was a very wise man and was instrumental in the exchange of information and technologies between our peoples.
“He and our leader were the best of friends and there was open trade and society between our planets and peoples. Many Vorn lived in the cities of this Castai and many Castillians lived in our cities on our home planet of Demigoth.
“Trade negotiations had only recently begun with the Baruk when a tragedy occurred. Our leader, who was greatly beloved by our people, was assassinated. When an extensive investigation was conducted, the evidence all
