Kahuel poked a stick into the embers, sending sparks flying. “I know Talina doesn't want to leave here, but I hoped meeting you both would change her mind.”
His mother's face softened as she gazed upon him. “She seems to be certain about what she wants. And adamant about hating walls.”
“I know.” Kahuel still hung on to his hope. He had duties to the crown and Talina's decision could ruin any chance at happiness. “Can you help me convince her of the advantages of living in Yalta?”
King Terek's dark brown eyes surveyed the clearing. “If this is all she ever knew, I understand her hesitation. Civilization, especially ours, can be scary for such a gentle soul.”
“It's just too much for her to take in at once.” His mother stared into the fire. “Why not invite her as a guest, maybe have a formal bonding for you two with the whole family, Zerker style? Then let her decide whether or not she still wants to return to her clan.”
Kahuel sighed with relief. Once in his element, he could show Talina the beauty of Yalta. Once she experienced it, he could certainly convince her to stay. “Wise, as always, Mother. How can she refuse an invitation as a guest, just to see Yalta for herself?”
At that moment, the familiar buzz of his transmitter made Kahuel look to his chest. His parents' transmitters also buzzed softly. As one, they pushed the controls.
A low Mutant voice emanated from all the transmitters at once, resounding through the sacred clearing, amplified by the blue crystals of the Grays who received the same broadcast.
“This is an emergency message from the Council of Kassouk.” The voice paused, as if to impart the importance of the news.
“To all Mutants of all ranks, report to your immediate battle post. Our small moon station sighted a hostile fleet in orbit over the Eastern Continent. They appeared out of nowhere, with fully armed battleships of unknown design. All patrolling vessels and flyers are recalled to face this new invader. They call themselves the Estrell.”
Kahuel could barely breathe. “Battleships? The Estrell have battleships!”
He realized, too late, that his personal quest to save Talina may have ignited an all-out war.
Chapter Nineteen
Talina marveled at the difference between the gloomy Estrell vessel and this luxurious white ship full of light and life. She sat, securely strapped in a white molded chair, at the place of honor next to Black Jaguar, on the bridge of Queen Galya's starship. Front and below, in a semicircle, a dozen tall Mutants stood at various consoles. On the spacious floor at her feet, a female cheetah and a leopard cub pounced on a bouncing ball and gamboled, oblivious to the impending battle.
Queen Galya and King Terek hurried from one console to the next with the Lost Daughter, discussing strategy with the Mutant crew and directing them through calm commands, immediately acknowledged by polite nods.
“I'll be in Engineering.” King Terek kissed his queen's forehead.
Immediately the leopard cub leapt to his side. The Cheetah followed the cub and stopped to rub her head against the queen's leg. The queen caressed and patted the feline. “Yes, go play with your friend.”
King Terek stepped through an open door with the two felines, then the trio disappeared behind the closing door.
Beneath the crew's cool exterior, Talina could sense a turmoil of uncertainty.
The Lost Daughter flashed Talina a warning stare. “No prying into people's thoughts... It's bad manners.”
Heat crept up Talina's face as she offered a sheepish smile. She focused on the large forward window offering a full view of the stars. Through it, Talina gazed upon the vessels of various sizes and shapes gathering in the shadow of an enormous pocked-face moon blocking the view of the planet below.
Talina squeezed Black Jaguar's hand over the armrest. “Are you sure this is our large moon?”
Black Jaguar chuckled. “It's gigantic up close, just like the planet looks much smaller from up here.”
Talina nodded understanding. “Like an eagle high in the sky looks as tiny as an ant.”
“Exactly.” Black Jaguar pushed a luminous key on his armrest, and another window lit up to the right side. “And here, on the side screen, is the Estrell fleet viewed from one of our satellites. They are stubbornly stationed above the Eastern Continent, as if to claim it.”
Talina gasped. There where hundreds of large ships, all black and elongated, some slick, others fat and stout, some bristling with protruding tubes and quills, like sea urchins. “Lord Straal told me their ancestors lived on our land many thousands of years ago.”
Princess Esperana came to sit at Talina's left. “If that's the case, they won't give up easily. They don't even bother to hide. They seem very sure of themselves.”
Black Jaguar frowned. “I don't like it.”
Talina directed her gaze beyond the enemy ships, to the planet below. Emerald lands bathed by deep blue oceans, basked in sunlight. Wide, silvery rivers snaked around black mountains, and green lakes glinted like fish scales. “So, that's what my native land looks like from the sky? So small...”
Black Jaguar caressed her bare arm, bringing warmth to her entire body. He motioned with his chin to the Eastern Continent on the side screen. “See this very large island in the shape of a fava bean, a hundred miles ahead of the main land mass? That's where the Chosen live.”
“It seems tiny, and so far away.” Talina wondered how all her people could live in such a small place. She missed her brother, the people and the forest, the animals she loved.
Black Jaguar smiled reassuringly. “The Chosen Isle, as the Mutants named it, is larger than the entire kingdom of Yalta... several hundred miles across.”
“The Estrell dampening field used to mask the entire island from our satellites.” The Lost Daughter, at her left, relaxed in her seat.
“How could they hide an entire island?” Talina couldn't imagine how the Lost Daughter knew so much, and even less how such a trick could work.
“They made it look like the surrounding ocean from up here. That's why our royal families couldn't find us after the shipwreck.”
Talina glanced around the busy bridge where everyone focused on white consoles, faces drawn, performing tasks she did not understand. “This looks complicated.”
“Not really.” Black Jaguar squeezed her hand. “You'll get used to it.”
“I feel out of place...” Talina thought of a child among adults, and she didn't like being the child. “I would have gladly remained behind to care for Diablo. I don't belong here.”
“Yes, you do.” Black Jaguar lifted her chin and forced her to gaze into his deep emerald eyes. “You started this conflict by attacking your jailer. This is our common fight for freedom. We have to finish it.”
“But I know nothing of this... technology.” Talina resented her ignorance. There was so much she still had to learn.
“I'm not strong on technology either...” Black Jaguar smiled warmly. “But you know more about the Estrell than any of us. You talked to them. Even Esperana and her team, who have brought down their science vessel, did not communicate with them.”
“I see...” But Talina was no warrior, and she couldn't imagine how she could possibly help in a battle between space behemoths.
On the forward screen, many small flyers joined the Mutant fleet, like bumblebees and mosquitoes among a school of white whales. Talina turned to Black Jaguar. “What can such small vessels do against the battleships of the Star People?”
The Lost Daughter smiled. “They are shielded and armed with powerful weapons.”
Black Jaguar nodded with a satisfied smile. “And half of the large ships belong to our allies, the Danikuns, also determined to keep would-be-invaders away from our peaceful system of planets.”
Talina swallowed bile. The world was much larger than she could have ever imagined... and far from safe. “Why hide behind the moon? The Star People know we are here. They can read our minds.”
“It doesn't matter.” Black Jag
uar winked. “We know they are here, too.”
The Lost Daughter stared at the screen. “The moon protects us like a shield while our forces assemble.”
A calm, baritone voice boomed overhead, “Merging into attack formation. Moving off the dark side of the moon. Fifty seconds to visual contact... forty-nine... forty-eight...”
On the forward screen, the allied fleet floated away in a widespread line, as if to creep off the edges of the dark moon, where a ring of sunlight hardened the shadows.
The Lost Daughter rose and glided to a white console front and below.
Black Jaguar smiled. “We are going to sneak up on them, then pounce.”
“Like a jaguar would.” It seemed fitting to Talina.
“Exactly.” He pursed his lips and his gaze faltered.
Talina realized he was thinking of another jaguar. “Sorry we had to leave Diablo behind.”
Black Jaguar's jaw muscles tightened, and he gripped the armrest of his white molded chair. “This fight is to avenge him as well.”
Talina patted his hand. “But they know we are coming. It will be no surprise to them.”
Black Jaguar flashed a quick smile. “It's what warriors do. Face each other in battle, knowing the enemy is ready as well.”
The forward screen brightened when they emerged into the sunlit zone and the twin suns came into view. Then the Estrell ships grew in size and filled the screen.
“Fire at will!” Queen Galya ordered in a calm voice.
Talina braced herself at the thought of bloodshed. So many deaths to come... She couldn't escape the pain they would suffer on both sides. She would have to endure it all.
* * *
The first salvo against the Estrell fleet burst with a bright flash on the forward screen, blinding Kahuel for an instant. When the image resumed, he searched the screen for enemy vessels showing signs of damage, but the entire Estrell fleet had vanished... disappeared before their eyes.
“Blast.” Kahuel slammed his fist on the armrest of the floor-mounted plastek chair. “Where did they go?”
Behind his row of seats, his mother consulted the main console. “The ship's scanners cannot detect their presence anywhere around us.”
Esperana glanced back from her station in the front. “They couldn't have moved that quickly out of range.”
Kahuel tasted bile. “Or can they?”
“Unlikely.” His mother cleared her throat. “Maybe they are still here.”
Esperana's hands flew over her console. “If they are cloaked, we just can't see them.”
“Target the same coordinates,” his mother ordered. “Fire!”
Lightning flashed on the forward screen, and the sizzle of discharge filled his ears. No ship came into view.
Esperana sighed. “Not even a glimpse for a fraction of a second through a corner of damaged cloak.”
“Blast them all!” Kahuel could not focus through his frustration. “One instant they are here, the next they are gone.”
His mother stood calmly at the console behind him. “This is not cloaking technology... or speed.”
At the front console, Esperana's six-fingered hands raced over the keys. “It's something else... but what?”
The Estrell fleet reappeared in the same spot and fired upon the allied vessels. The starship rocked. Kahuel extended his arm in front of Talina to prevent her fall, but the harness held. Her turquoise eyes wide with fear, she gripped his arm. The ship stabilized.
“I have full confidence in my mother's ship.” Kahuel patted her rigid hands. “It has withstood many battles undamaged.”
“Return fire!”
The weapons sizzled, but when the flash cleared, the Estrell fleet had vanished again.
On the forward screen, a few small flyers exhibited shattered domes. One burst into flames. Another cracked open like an egg, spilling its contingent of Grays. Debris and bodies drifted into space like logs on a river.
Talina gripped his hand on the armrest. When he glanced at her face, tears streamed down her cheeks as she stared at the casualties. He remembered that she could feel their pain. How selfish of him to have brought her here. Kahuel shivered, glad he didn't have to feel their suffering.
His mother's voice brought him back to the situation at hand. “How can we fight an enemy who can disappear at will?”
Talina closed her eyes and pressed her lips together.
“Are you all right?” Kahuel hoped she could endure the battle. It had only started.
When she spoke, all on the bridge listened. “I can sense the Star People, but they are very far away... not hiding in close proximity.”
“Talina, be careful. You are in a vulnerable state.” Esperana seemed worried.
Kahuel's heart raced. “Can the Estrell hurt her through her mind?”
Talina's turquoise eyes flew wide open. “I want to help... Wait!” She closed her eyes again. “Their consciousness is getting closer, stronger. They are almost here. Fire, now!”
“Fire!” the queen shouted behind them.
The salvo hit several enemy ships as they materialized into view. A few sizzled, one smoked heavily, another wobbled before they all swiftly disappeared again, this time without firing.
“It's working, Talina. Just say when.” Kahuel stared at the forward screen, waiting for the Estrell to show again. When Talina didn't answer, he glanced at her.
Talina stared at the screen, now only displaying the planet below. “They know what I did. It won't work again. They shut me out of their minds.”
His mother from behind them laid a gentle hand on Talina's shoulder. “How do they hide?”
Talina shrugged. “I don't understand it. They are here but waiting in what they call another dimension, so they might as well not be here.”
“In and out of phase?” Esperana didn't sound surprised.
The queen raised a pale brow. “Could they have the technology to travel instantaneously through other dimensions?”
“Between worlds...” Esperana mused.
“Or between universes...” his mother echoed.
“Parallel universes?” Kahuel couldn't believe it. Although he'd read about the theory, he'd never heard of such technology.
His mother sighed. “Obviously they can do things we cannot.”
Kahuel scratched his head in frustration. “If they can just appear out of nowhere and fire at us before we can retaliate, how can we possibly win?”
Esperana's handsome face tensed. “This game of cat and mouse could decimate our fleet before we can inflict any more damage.”
Kahuel's mother walked down from the back console and circled the short row of seats to stand in front of Kahuel and Talina. “Do you have any idea how they do it?”
Talina nodded at the queen gravely. “Through the power of thought.”
Kahuel rubbed the light stubble on his chin. He needed a shave. “That's why they draw strength from the Star Chant.”
The queen paced in front of them, deep in thought. “Could that power be the basis of their transport technology?”
Talina stared at the queen, wide-eyed. “Mind-talk was their first and most important gift to the Chosen. The Star People can also move objects with their thoughts...”
The wheels in Kahuel's brain spun as his mind recovered from the shock of the grim discovery. “Then maybe the Chosen can help us.”
“How?” His mother stared at Esperana, puzzlement in her glacier blue eyes.
Esperana smiled encouragements at Talina. “Tell her.”
Talina's face regained color. “What if Vanaru led the Chosen into a hate chant or meditation?”
Esperana stepped forward. “Not just your village, but all the villages around and beyond the mountains. Can he do that?”
“I think he can.”
His mother frowned slightly. “Could that hinder the Estrell enough to make a difference in the outcome of a battle?”
Kahuel congratulated himself for the idea. “After what I have
seen, it's certainly worth a try.”
Talina offered a broad smile. “They can keep me out of their minds, but certainly not the entire Chosen population.”
* * *
On the stone slab of the sacred clearing, Vanaru reluctantly left Diablo's side to heed the strange request. Both Talina and the Lost Daughter begged for his help. But he had never before sent such an order. Never had he gathered the Chosen's thoughts outside of an official gathering, and certainly not in the light of day.
He wondered what damaging effect this turn of events might have on his people. They used to only know love, honesty, and healing. And in a short time, they had been exposed to lies, exploitation and disloyalty... even hatred... and all in the name of freedom.
Although he understood survival, Vanaru regretted the loss of innocence. Whether they intended for it to happen or not, the foreigners, including the Lost Daughter, had changed his people forever.
Sitting at the center of the stone slab, Vanaru closed his eyes and focused his mind on the entire people of the Chosen, big and small, male and female.
“Children of the Chosen, listen to your king. Leave whatever you are doing at once and focus on the Star People high above us. Send them the worst of your emotions. Yes, find the hatred in your hearts. We are not safe from them. Now they want to conquer our planet. They betrayed us, and they are evil. We must prevent them from enslaving us.”
One at a time, in small groups, then in large gatherings in many villages, the Chosen joined his mind, answering his call. Soon, the sacred clearing itself filled with Chosen from his village, lending strength to Vanaru's mind power. He closed his eyes.
“Repeat with me in your mind... Star People, we loathe you for deceiving us, for taking our women, for trying to force your progeny upon us. We reject your sneaky ways. We trusted you and you lied to us. We wish upon you the harsh punishment you deserve for your unforgivable behavior. You violated the sacred rules of harmony. You do not deserve to live. We wish you the worst. We wish you death...”
Black Jaquar Page 23
