by Lee Watts
"He says an hour," Byron answered.
"AN HOUR?" Sosimo complained. "That's longer than it takes to charge the engines!"
"He says you didn't ask him about this plan before you-"
"Never mind. Just let me know when they're ready."
"Aye, Cap'n."
Two more golden-hued shots raced toward the Fortune, one hitting its mark.
"TIME TO JUMP?" Sosimo asked as the lights flickered from the impact.
"FIFTEEN MINUTES!" Mei shouted over the sounds of the attack.
Another shot jolted the ship.
"We're not going to make it staying out here in the open," Sosimo realized. "We've got to find somewhere to hide while the engines charge up. Helm, take us down into the atmosphere."
"The atmosphere? Jaiden questioned.
"You heard me, take her down! Trust me, in five minutes Crimson will find we're missing."
"Find we're missing? How can someone find that were missing."
"Just do it!"
"Aye, Captain."
"And keep 'er steady; things could get pretty ugly."
"How can something be pretty ugly?"
"It just is; now do it," Sosimo barked. "Don't ask so many questions kid. Mei, I need to know how much drain the atmosphere will put on the shields. Give me an exact estimate."
"Exact estimate," she echoed, picking up on Jaiden's line of thought.
"Why is everybody repeating everything I say," Sosimo fussed. "Just tell me how much it's going to drain the shields!"
"We'll have about twelve percent remaining, Captain," the first officer answered.
"That's not awfully good," Sosimo remarked.
Jaiden glanced to Mei and silently mouthed, "Awfully good?" She put a finger to her lips and gave him a quick wink.
Crimson noticed the Fortune's descent and asked if his prey was losing control.
"No, looks like they're going down on purpose," a crewman answered.
Distrustful of the tactic, Crimson furrowed his brow trying to figure out his adversary's unusual move. Quickly realizing it was useless trying to understand anything LaRouche did, Crimson ordered to hail the ship. A moment later Sosimo's image appeared on the screen.
"What do you think you're doing, LaRouche? You can't get away," Crimson warned.
"Ah, but I think I can."
"It's stupid trying to hide somewhere on the planet."
"If it's stupid but works then it isn't stupid now is it?" Sosimo retorted.
"You're crazy, LaRouche. Anywhere you go I'll see you. You know you can't simply disappear down there - even you're not that dumb."
"You underestimate me, and I'm getting tired of you telling me what I can't do. Oh, and by the way, I haven't forgotten that promise to kill you."
"I don't think you're going to keep that promise, LaRouche. Your time is over. You've caused me too much trouble already."
"Cheer up, Crimson, it's only going to get worse," LaRouche chortled then cut the transmission. "Helm, step on it. Get us under the cloud cover fast; they'll have to follow us into the atmosphere to get a clear shot."
The pilot of the Fame angled the ship upward, breaking off pursuit of the Fortune.
"What are you doing?" Crimson accused.
"I'm not following him into the atmosphere."
Crimson drew his sidearm and blasted the man through the chest.
"Anybody else wanna tell me what they're NOT gonna do?"
There was no response.
"Now, somebody get on that panel and take us down. I won't let LaRouche get away!"
As the Fame entered the upper atmosphere, Sosimo ordered his ship lower.
"We're at treetop level now," Jaiden protested.
"We're going a lot lower than that," Sosimo said. "Slow down too. Change heading, vector for the sea."
As the Fortune crossed over the expansive ocean, its captain ordered the ship to full stop.
"Take us down," he ordered.
"This is as low as I can go, Captain. Any more and we'll be floating on the water. That's not what you want is it?" Jaiden asked apprehensively.
"Of course not," Sosimo assured him with a smile. "We're not going on the water… we're going under it."
"Under?" Jaiden questioned in disbelief and turned around to face the captain.
"The ship is airtight isn't it?"
"Yes… but, I don't think anybody's ever sunk a starship before - at least not on purpose."
"Well then, we'll be the first."
Jaiden looked to Mei, who shrugged. Turning back around he mumbled to no one but himself.
"All part of the show I guess."
"Huh?" Sosimo asked.
"Nothing, Captain. Taking us down."
As the ship lowered, Sosimo called to the cargo bay and ordered everything there removed on the double.
Gingerly, Jaiden lowered the ship until it rested on the surface of the water. The ship gently rocked while floating on the waves.
"Uh, quick question, Captain," Jaiden asked. "How exactly do I get the ship to sink?"
Sosimo checked to make sure the cargo bay was empty then instructed everyone to leave that section and secure the inner hatch. Next, he told Jaiden to crack open the bay's outer door to let the water enter. As the liquid filled the bay, the Fortune began slowly sinking beneath the waves.
Watching the main screen as the water level continued rising, even Mei wondered if Sosimo had finally gone off the deep end. As the water lapped over the top of the ship, she realized, yes, indeed he had, literally. The only question was, was the man insane or a genius? After a lifetime with him, Mei still didn't know.
CHAPTER 38
"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?"
– II Corinthians 6:14
"Salazar," Alexander said in astonishment. "I should have you shot on sight."
"Come, come now," smirked his half-brother. "Shooting the newly elected leader of the Assembly of Worlds - hardly the way to win anyone to your cause now is it?"
"What do you want, Salazar?"
"Why, the same thing as you of course - to get rid of the Ramillie."
"I thought they were your buddies," Alexander accused.
"How little you understand me, Brother," Salazar gibed while smiling and taking a seat at the table and interlocking his gloved fingers. Alexander also sat. "I think that's part of the problem," continued the elder son of Darius. "You've been dealing with bad information, assumptions, rumors. I think it's high time we sit down and discuss things face to face."
"Alright," Alexander started aggressively, "Let's begin with you conspiring with the Ramillie to kill our father and me."
"See, you're assuming again. I had nothing to do with the attack on the Chariot. If I did, don't you think I would have killed your mother so I could take the... throne? I didn't, did I. No. In fact, it was she who invited me to the palace to serve with her for the betterment of the Realm. If you don't believe me, then ask her yourself."
"What about turning the Realm over to the Hegemony?"
"I saved the Realm," Salazar quipped forcefully. "The Chinix would have destroyed us, and if they hadn't then the Hateeg would have invaded, and the Realm would've fallen anyway. I preserved the Realm."
"That all sounds good and fine Salazar, but I haven't forgotten about the little matter of you threatening to kill me back in the palace on Theera?"
"What else could I do?" Salazar retorted. "It's not like you came in peace. I'm sure all the troops you brought with you had my best health in mind when you stormed the palace. It was a matter of self-defense, but I've not come here to throw stones. I've come to build a bridge between us. There's no reason why we can't help each other. We both have something the other wants. I'm sure we can reach a… mutually beneficial arrangement. We can form an alliance of convenience."
"Alliance? Puh," Alexander huffed. "The assembly has sh
own its unwillingness to act on readmitting the Realm, besides, what does the Realm have that you want?"
"It's not so much what the Realm has," Salazar told him, "but what you have."
Alexander narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
"That bracer on your arm," Salazar indicated by pointing with a gloved finger. "Give me that, and I'll not only see to it that the Realm is granted full membership in the Assembly, but I'll get the member worlds to unite against the Hegemony. This is precisely the kind of alliance you need to survive."
Alexander looked down to the enigmatic ornament on his left forearm and recalled the dying words of his father when he gave it to him.
"Father mentioned it's a key and something about a warning, but he died before he could explain. What is it? Why do you want it?"
Salazar leaned in, the cordial smile melting from his face and replaced by a deadly earnestness.
"It's a key," he revealed. "The key to a device that can keep me alive." Leaning back in his seat, Salazar used one hand to tug on each finger of the other hand's glove then pulled off the covering.
Alexander tried to suppress his revulsion at seeing Salazar's withered appendage. The skin was browned, and now that it was exposed, Alexander could smell the stench of the rotting flesh. The hand looked like that of a man dead several weeks.
"It's called caryon," Salazar explained while looking at the shriveled hand. "A hereditary disease passed to me by my maternal grandfather. There's no cure, no treatment, and always fatal." He lifted his gaze locking eyes with his half-brother. "It attacks at the cellular level destroying the flesh. My grandfather would have T'lec surgeons replace affected parts with cloned ones a piece at a time. I won't allow myself to become a collection of spare parts like he was."
"How does this bracer help?" Alexander asked.
"It's the key that powers an ancient alien artifact found by my grandfather and none other than, you guessed it, our father. They found it on a planet among a trove of other artifacts. It can transfer life energy from one body to another. Since the caryon is in every cell, the only way I can finally rid myself of it is to have an entirely new body. This device will do that for me. So, you see, Brother, that trinket on your arm is worth everything to me. All I want to do is live. Is that so bad?"
"What about the warning?" Alexander questioned.
"LOOK AT THIS ALEXANDER," Salazar shouted while extending his dead hand. "This is all the warning I need! This warning says if I don't find a cure soon, I'm going to be eaten alive by this festering caryon!"
Salazar sat back and recomposed himself.
"Is it so awful that I want to escape such a fate? I'll do anything to avoid coming to such an end. What does it cost you really? It's just an ornament worth nothing to you. You want the Realm back in the Assembly - I can make it happen. Want the weapons to destroy the Ramillie - I can give them to you. Whatever it takes to form this alliance you can have. Name your price."
Slowly, Alexander rose then crossed to the communication panel on the wall and called for Imenand.
"Who's he?" Salazar asked.
"One of the ageless ones - a Guardian," Alexander answered. Salazar's expression showed he was dubious of the claim. "Believe what you like, but I'll hear his thoughts before making any deal."
Imenand arrived shortly, and Alexander told him of Salazar's proposal.
"I've heard rumors of such transfer devices constructed by the Plyeecians," Imenand divulged, "though I've never actually seen one. The Plyeecian civilization reached its zenith several millenniums before the first Ramillie Empire. By the time the two races made contact, the Plyeecian culture was in great decline. The Ramillie wanted the Plyeecians' technology, but they preferred extinction to giving the Ramillie their secrets. Whatever artifacts they did have were thought lost forever. Where did you find the device?"
"I not actually the one who found it," Salazar admitted, "but it was on a dead world among other artifacts."
"Yes, and it's these other artifacts that I'm interested in," Alexander emphasized. "You said something about weapons to destroy the Ramillie. Are these the artifacts you're talking about?"
Salazar nodded.
"What kind of weapons are they- ships, guns, what?" Alexander asked.
"Stones," Salazar answered with a smile.
Alexander tilted his head in confusion.
"Tens of thousands of them," Salazar added with pride. "Seems these stones have a nasty reaction to Ramillie. They have the same kinds of markings as the transfer device. I can only assume they were made by the same race - these Plyeecians I guess. By looking at them you'd think they were ordinary rocks, but if the Ramillie get too close, the stones explode. The bigger the stone, the more Ramillie it takes to detonate it. These Plyeecian weapons, as Imenand calls them, well, their destructive power is far beyond anything in the known galaxy. They come in all sizes. I can arrange a demonstration for you if you wish. They're the key to you winning your war, and I alone know where they are. So, you have a key I want, and I have what you want. I think it's in everyone's best interest if we arrange a trade. What do you say?"
"These… stones," Imenand said with peaked curiosity, "you say they were stockpiled on a dead world?"
"Yes. Some are palm-sized others as big as this room."
Imenand turned to the Realm king.
"Alexander, the last keyholder, a Guardian named Tycon when he left he told us he was going to a place the Ramillie could not go and where no one could betray his presence. This sounds like his location. The Ramillie couldn't go because of the stones, and if it's a dead world as Salazar says, then no one would know of his presence."
"There's no intelligent life there," Salazar clarified. "The stones themselves are below the surface in a labyrinth of artificially constructed tunnels. They seem to go on forever, but I never saw evidence of any intelligence. You don't want to go beyond the upper levels anyway. There are some animals down there. I don't know if they got loose, or were put there as guards, but trust me - you don't want to let them out. I went down there once and was lucky to escape with my life. If this Tycon person went down there, ageless or not, there's no way he survived any amount of time against those things."
Imenand turned to the Realm king speaking with great intensity.
"Alexander, Tycon wouldn't go to such a place without a plan to survive. He's still there- I know it, and it means the last key is within our grasp. We must get it before Koraden, and the Dridmor find him because if we don't, they will."
Salazar smiled.
"We have a deal then?" he asked expectantly.
Alexander looked to the immortal then back to his half-brother.
"Show me," Alexander said to Salazar. "If what you say is true then we have an arrangement."
"Oh, it is, Brother," Salazar assured. "With this alliance, the sons of Darius will bring about the end of the Ramillie, the end of the age, and an end to our rivalry," he said extending his good hand.
Alexander clasped it - sealing the deal and his fate.
CHAPTER 39
"Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions," – Hebrews 11:33
(1,000 years ago)
Grasping her battlestaff, Shania pulled back the tattered flap of the tent and stepped out to face the Rhia and their riders. To her relief, she found the beast without masters. It was a wild pack. Four of the reptiles were in front of her with an additional one flanking each side of the humble shelter.
Baring its teeth, the lead animal took a step forward as it sized up the prey. It blared a warning roar and hunched back on its powerful legs, preparing to jump. Experienced with such predators, Shania knew the lizard's elongated, curved toe claws were for piercing a potential meal, and its razor-like teeth would easily rip flesh from bone. The Guardian readied to pull her weapon apart and strike the beast as it leaped. Her main concern was for those in the tent. With her twin swords, Shania believed she could defend herself from
attack, but with six opponents, there was no way she could keep some of them from attacking the vulnerable group.
"It's alright," came a voice from behind her.
"Pipaluk, get back in the tent," Shania directed. "Move slowly, any sudden action could cause them to jump at you."
"They won't attack," the girl assured her as she calmly walked up to beside the Guardian. "I don't know how, but I know we're safe."
Keeping her eyes locked with the pack's leader, Shania was wary of the assurance.
"Are you sure, Pipaluk?"
"I am. It's not a voice telling me, just a feeling - a feeling that if I show faith, it will stop the mouths of these animals."
Shania's heart raced as Pipaluk smoothly stepped closer to the beasts with quiet confidence.
"We're not for you," Pipaluk said in her small voice calm and sure. The other Elderites also ventured from the tent and came to form a line beside the girl.
The lead animal's head tilted from side to side. Stretching its powerful neck nearer, it sniffed Pipaluk so close it was all but brushing up against the girl. Leaning back, it gave a powerful puff through its nostrils then lifted its head, barking once. With that, the animal sprinted away, the others of the pack following. In only seconds, the strong, swift legs of the beasts took them over the closest dune and out of sight. Pipaluk turned to Shania with a beaming smile, and the woman reflected her emotion. Rew and the other Elderites raised their hands in praise and voices in prayer to the Elder. Late in the afternoon, the group packed up their meager lodging and headed off through the sand, taking the same route as the departed Rhia. Two hours into their journey, Pipaluk made a discovery.
"Look," she called out as she picked up the discarded water bottle Lamar and the others stole. With the lid off, she peered inside the empty container then turned to Shania in puzzlement.
"They thought they could steal the blessings of the Elder," Shania remarked. "I doubt they got one drink out of that bottle."
"But- what about us?" Pipaluk worriedly said. "We need the water to survive."
