by Nick Braker
“Kron’s moon,” Magnus responded. “I cannot pronounce the name in your language but the specific spot translates as ‘The Sea of Austerity’.”
Forasia turned away, hiding whatever reaction Magnus might have garnered. If he had to guess, she appeared to take the news badly. Manushri nodded at Magnus.
“The queen’s champion, Magnus of Earth, has chosen Kron’s moon. The battle will take place immediately and since her champion has designated the specific spot, it must take place outside. Environmental suits will be required.”
“Forasia, what champion do you elect for this battle?” Manushri asked.
Forasia grinned, staring at Magnus. Her decision had changed. Magnus could see it in her face. Forasia crossed her arms, continuing to impale him with her stare. She remained so for several seconds.
“I believe you’ve been spoken to,” Magnus said, smirking.
Forasia faced the people of Kron. “It is written, in the book regarding the Baal-Shir ritual, that I am allowed to choose any champion to fight for me. The ritual cannot be violated and it cannot be altered.” She paused, looking back at Manushri. Forasia turned to face the camera. “I choose, Tillair of the house, Cordell.”
Manushri blinked several times. Her mouth dropped open as she covered it with her hand. Manushri’s eyes darted back and forth on the ground, unable to look at Forasia.
“You cannot—” Manushri faltered but Forasia interrupted her.
“Yes, Manushri,” Forasia said. “I can. The choice is made.” Forasia turned from the camera and walked past Manushri. She was still in shock. Forasia paused, leaning closer to Manushri, whispering. “And should I lose, your house and your family’s holdings will be given back to the people of Kron and you, dear Manushri, will be executed, too... lover of humans.”
Magnus heard Forasia’s comment. He lunged for her but she stepped back as the two guarding him both grabbed his arms.
“You evil bitch,” Magnus said.
“Careful,” Forasia said, “or you might be found guilty of interfering in the ritual. We are all protected.” She twirled and walked away leaving Manushri and Magnus.
“Is this possible?” Magnus asked.
“I—” Manushri could barely speak. Her mate of sixty plus years would have to fight Magnus in the second contest. Manushri knew the cost of breaking the ritual by interfering. She had to officiate it and the people of Kron awaited her final announcement before the fight.
If she didn’t follow through, it would mean her death. If she did, it would mean Tillair’s death. Her eyes finally lifted from the ground to stare at Magnus. Tears welled up but did not fall from her eyes. She stepped forward to address Kron.
“It is law and it cannot be broken. Forasia has chosen Tillair of the house, Cordell. He will fight for her against the queen’s champion, Magnus of Earth. That will be all.”
Manushri turned from the people and walked out. Magnus stared after her. He wanted to tell her how sorry he was that it had come to this but Magnus knew his words meant nothing. Either he let Tillair kill him or he followed through and killed Tillair. Magnus had put all his chips on the table with Katerra. If she could make it through this and retain her crown, Kron and Earth had a shot at peace and perhaps even an alliance. He didn’t have a choice... he would have to kill Manushri’s mate.
Kron - Citron
Saturday, December 5, 1987 - 12:01pm
Magnus
A white, elongated Kron spaceship, larger than an aircraft carrier, transported Magnus to Kron’s moon. The ship moved silently through Kron’s atmosphere, its pterodactyl-like wings spread wide to its side. The ship was sleek with a long, thin nose cone expanding out to a pair of massive engines on its tail end. The engines glowed blue as it propelled the vessel upward, away from Kron’s surface.
Magnus drummed his fingers on the environmental suit covering his leg. He had already put it on, minus his helmet which rested on his other leg. The Kron had scrambled to find one large enough and they had chosen correctly. The arms and legs fit snuggly but not enough to hinder movement. The ivory white material flexed easily and added only a few pounds to his overall weight. The solid glass-like visor on his helmet provided excellent visibility and, all in all, the fight wouldn’t be that much different with or without the suit... for either side.
His guards remained close as another Kron female piloted him in one of their shuttles to Kron’s moon. They had already left Kron’s ashen atmosphere and he could see the beginning edges of their moon through one of the side view ports. The pilot planned to land the ship at the location both hand Katerra had chosen. Katerra, in one of her few lucid moments, had suggested the location over several other sites on their people’s moon. The Sea of Austerity resembled Earth’s moon, dotted with large and small meteor impacts of various magnitudes and covered in a layer of dust. Kron’s moon, named Scala, had a gravitational force of 0.122 g. Less that Earth’s own moon but it was suitable enough to support the second of the three Baal-Shir contests.
Magnus had to win but at what cost? He had to kill the mate of someone who he had recently learned supported Katerra. Kron males were genetically weakened versions of their former selves hundreds of years ago. The fight would both help and hurt Forasia as it would for Katerra. Magnus would kill Tillair and it would not sit well with the people of Kron. Of course, Forasia’s decision to choose Tillair came at a cost. The Kron had to realize that such a choice was a death sentence for Tillair. Her only gambit lay in convincing them that both Manushri and Tillair supported the ‘aliens’ and she had done it for the people.
Forasia could not be trusted. He had considered the notion early on as to whether she would support an alliance with Earth but that reality was not a possibility. Forasia hated any alien life form. In her mind, she probably thought what she was doing was the right thing and wanted to help the Kron people but her intentionally malicious decision to choose Manushri’s mate for this next fight revealed much about her personally. Forasia wanted Manushri to suffer. According to law, the loser of the Baal-Shir ritual would pay for their challenge with their lives, their family’s lives and their property. Katerra would have to go against the law to save Tillair for Manushri. Forasia had sealed a loss for Katerra no matter how it played out. He sighed, still thrumming his fingers on his leg. He started to tap his foot when the ship touched down.
Tillair would be easy to kill which meant if Magnus played out his strategy, it would look like he was toying with the feeble Kron male. His strategy hinged on taking his time to learn how to fight in their moon’s gravity, kill Forasia’s champion and then immediately use that knowledge on the Ryikoda females in the last battle. Forasia had seen through his strategy or she simply wanted to strike back at Manushri knowing the second fight was a lost cause... possibly both. He cursed knowing nothing would prepare him for his next battle and that no option was good enough to sway the odds in his favor.
Magnus’ strength would be a detriment in many ways. He had to learn to control it while fighting his opponents. The four Ryikoda champions were faster than Magnus but they could not match his strength. They also would suffer on an intellectual level as their instinctual behaviors were stronger in that form. Simply put, they would be prone to their own emotions. The thought of using Tom’s slapping technique came to mind but Forasia would already be prepared for that. Everything hinged on her winning and she was not the type to blindly depend on hope or luck.
The two guards rose, gently grabbing Magnus and prodding him toward the rear of the ship. He followed them. They stopped, motioning Magnus to continue through a door and into a small compartment at the back section of the ship. Magnus looked at them suspiciously but decided they had done him no harm so far. He shrugged and entered. The door closed behind him.
He scanned the room. It looked like an office. An office desk was firmly attached to the ship’s wall section. Another of Kron’s floating chairs looked firmly anchored to the floor in front of the desk. A large monitor was
mounted on the wall over it and powered off.
Manushri’s face projected into the center of the room. Her eyes stared at him as if she were standing in the room in person. Magnus’ head dropped forward. He knew what he had to do and he was ashamed of what was to come.
“My time with Tillair has been good. He found my favor the moment I first saw him. Tillair is sharp of mind and wit. Even today he knows how to bring laughter to this old woman. I love him dearly and his death will mean my own... but not at the hands of my queen or Forasia.”
Magnus’ mouth dropped open slightly at the hidden meaning of her words. Indirectly, he was responsible for two more lives. “Magnus, I will not trouble you with our story. I only wish that you know... I do not fault you for Tillair’s death. That fault will fall solely upon Forasia. Know this, I will help you if I can, though I know of no help that I can offer. I will not break our laws, not even for my mate, Tillair.” She paused, composing herself. Magnus could sense the grief she held within. Manushri loved Tillair fiercely. “Forasia is not alone in her efforts to dethrone our queen. Another by the name of Ckilra works behind the scenes, aiding her. I do not know this woman but neither of them can be trusted.”
“I... I’m sorry, Manushri,” Magnus said.
She smiled at him. “There is nothing for which to be sorry. We have been at war for our entire lives and our parent’s lives and their parent’s lives. It has lasted for hundreds of years. My life has been a good one with Tillair. I will ask one thing of you, Magnus of Earth.”
She paused and her eyes burned into his. He nodded, accepting whatever she asked next.
“End it quickly,” she said.
Manushri’s face winked out and the room darkened. The door opened behind him and the guards motioned him out. Magnus lingered there a moment longer mulling over Manushri’s message. Why did good people have to die? Would there ever be a time when evil did not have power?
Chapter 28
FIGHT TWO
Kron - Citron
Saturday, December 5, 1987 - 12:10pm
Magnus
Magnus’ breathing was the only thing he could hear. The helmet allowed him to easily see the area around him but his other senses were closed off. No sound, smells or vibrations reached him through the suit. The effect disoriented him. Could he fight like this? His training did not include such isolation. If it felt like this to Magnus, perhaps his opponent felt the same. Hopefully they were both on equal footing... at least for the moment.
The moon’s surface was black with the same ash that covered Kron. No winds or storms marred their moon’s surface. No ash clouded Magnus’ view of the stars, planets and galaxies as they sparkled through the thin atmosphere. How did the deadly ash manage to survive in this harsh environ? The Cortians had been thorough. Not even Kron’s moon offered a respite from the bacterial danger. If his suit was compromised, he would be exposed again. Of course, decompression held a greater risk of immediate death.
Tillair faced him at about ninety feet away. Each of their respective ships had taken off, leaving them standing upon the near barren landscape. All of Kron watched them. They would see the entire battle just as they had the first. Was anyone rooting for him? He could probably count that number on two hands. The Kron were xenophobic, trained from birth and taught every intricate detail of the Aliri/Cortian attack upon their world and people. They would not forget. No generation would pass without handing down the knowledge of how close they had come to extinction. His thoughts were interrupted.
Manushri’s face appeared high above him, projecting once again but this time between the two champions. He heard her voice through the speakers in his helmet.
“The Baal-Shir ceremony has long been used to settle any disputes of leadership. Again, our hearts and minds will be focused on the future of the people of Kron. Tillair of the house of Cordell and Magnus of Earth will fight for the honor of serving us and protecting our futures. May the best champion win.”
Tillair stepped forward, his right leg and arm stiff and immobile. His left leg stepped forward but his right leg dragged behind him, leaving a trail in the black ash from his foot which was twisted sideways. Tillair’s right arm didn’t move, stuck behind him in an awkward position. Magnus had seen several Kron males but none so old and broken as Tillair. He couldn’t move his right arm or leg. Magnus’ shoulders drooped and he sighed inwardly.
Damn it. This is pathetic. They want me to kill a crippled old man.
Clearly Tillair faced Magnus with courage but Tillair had to know he had no hope of winning. Magnus walked forward, closing the gap between them. Manushri had asked Magnus to end it quickly and he would honor her request regardless of what it would cost him. His plans had been thwarted by two opposing sides. One, by an evil bitch hellbent on eradicating Kron from its current infestation of humans and one from a heartfelt request of a woman in love with her soul mate of over thirty years. Forasia had chosen Tillair to cement Kron’s hatred of Magnus and aliens in general, but it didn’t matter, the lives of humanity depended on him.
“Damn it,” he said, cursing again and yelling into his helmet. “This is so wrong.”
Magnus closed the gap quickly, reaching Tillair before the old Kron male had moved more than twenty feet. Tillair was much shorter and the old man’s leathered face stared up at him as they approached each other. Tillair’s breath came in quick succession as the vapor appeared and disappeared from the transparent visor. He was scared. Tillair’s left side generally faced Magnus leaving his crippled right side farther away. Magnus cringed, thinking about his next actions. Tillair was an old man, feeble and incapable of fighting. Magnus planned to smash Tillair’s visor and then snap his neck. It would be quick but only if he could control Tillair enough to prevent the decompression from flinging Tillair around like an untied balloon full of air.
Tillair spun his head left. His eyes opened wide in shock and his mouth dropped open. What had surprised Tillair so much that he would leave himself open? Magnus instinctively craned his head to the right, twisting his body slightly to meet whatever threat Tillair was looking at. There was nothing but the barren landscape. They were alone.
Magnus realized his mistake and spun back to face Tillair. A fist sized rock sailed toward Magnus’ visor. Tillair had thrown it with his right hand.
Shit!
Magnus jerked his body, arching backward. His reaction came too late. The rock hit his visor, sending expanding cracks along the crystal-clear material. The rock ricocheted off, sailing off at an angle. Tillair launched himself at Magnus, closing the few feet that separated them. Tillair’s right arm pulled back for a punch. Magnus knew his intent. Tillair planned to take advantage of his only real option, break Magnus’ visor and kill him by decompression.
Magnus snapped his left arm up to block. Tillair was well ahead of him and Magnus’ movement came too slow. Tillair’s fist connected with Magnus’ visor. It cracked again. Air hissed outward as the cracks deepened and spread farther. Red warning lights along the suits’ chin line flashed. His suit was losing air. Tillair locked his legs around Magnus’ torso. Tillair threw a flurry of punches aimed at Magnus’ visor. His punches connected and his visor cracked again and again.
Magnus had to stop the old man. At this rate, he was seconds from killing Magnus. He placed his hands on the neck of Tillair’s suit. Magnus pushed with all his strength. Tillair kept his legs locked around Magnus as Magnus’ strength forced Tillair’s upper body away. Tillair’s arms were too short to reach Magnus’ visor and Tillair grabbed desperately at Magnus’ arms trying to pull himself closer. Tillair wanted to break his visor. He probably felt it was his best chance to kill Magnus and it appeared it might work. Magnus’ suit was losing air. Ice crystals formed as his oxygen shot outward from the hairline cracks. The air crystallized and clouded Magnus’ vision.
Magnus shifted his hands and placed them around Tillair’s neck. The suit made it difficult but Magnus’ strength sufficed. He held Tillair in a viseli
ke grip, crushing the ivory material around his neck. Magnus clenched his teeth as he squeezed tighter, choking the old man. Tillair grabbed Magnus’ wrists. The Kron male tried to break free but Magnus knew it was useless. He had to kill Tillair before his visor gave way or his oxygen tank depleted itself.
Tillair’s eyes locked on Magnus’. The old man knew he could not win. Would he courageously forfeit like Gannadi had? She knew she had lost and had willingly let him kill her quickly.
“I’m sorry,” Tillair mouthed as he released his legs from around Magnus’ torso. Tillair kicked out. His heel landed, shattering Magnus’ visor. The glass like material exploded outward, sending shards in every direction.
Magnus’ suit emptied itself of oxygen. The enormous pressure in his chest had to be released or his lungs would explode. Magnus opened his mouth letting the air force its way out, violently. Magnus couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t hear and he couldn’t see. His body wanted to expand outward in all directions, shredding itself as it did. Blood vessels near the surface of his skin burst and then froze. The cold of space had seeped into his face and now quickly spread down to the rest of his body. He didn’t have much time.
Magnus had his hands around Tillair’s neck. He pulled Tillair toward him in a one-armed bear hug, wrapping his legs around the small Kron male and holding him in place. Feeling his way, he tried to twist Tillair’s helmet off. Tillair struggled against Magnus but the old man couldn’t compete against Magnus’ strength and desperation. Pain exploded in Magnus’ ears and eyes but he held on to his goal. He had to make this happen or he would die... and eventually, so would Earth. He twisted as Tillair uselessly tried to stop him. The helmet came clear and Tillair’s suit instantly vented its pressurized atmosphere. Tillair would be blind and deaf, too.
