by Eric Vall
I doubted they’d even harvested any mior, since it seemed they were more content to hunt and fish and survive, rather than try to improve their civilization. Although, with the plague practically ravaging the Gelm for years, I couldn’t blame them at all.
Sef’sla stared at the plants as we walked, and I stared at her. Her beautiful, deep skin lit up when she became excited, and I couldn’t help but smile.
Neka reached out to bat at every plant or insect we passed, and I smiled at the cat-girl, too.
After we’d walked for awhile, I checked in with Omni.
“O,” I said into my ear piece.
“I am here, Colby,” the AI responded.
“What can you tell us about the village we’re headed to?”
“It seems you are on a path to a nearby cluster of people, though I would hardly call it a village,” Omni said.
“How many people?” I questioned.
“Nearly two thousand,” the AI replied, and I whistled low.
“Two thousand people is a lot,” Neka said, and she looked at me with wide eyes.
“It is,” I agreed with a smile.
“Do you think this is where their leader is?” Akela wondered. “Could this mayor be more like their king, and it’s just a different translation?”
I shrugged. “That’s possible, but even if it’s just a mayor of a city, that’s still a step in the right direction.”
“We do not know how much time we have before others arrive on this planet,” Sef’sla hissed, which brought me back to my thoughts from earlier.
“You’re right,” I said, “which is why we need to get these doses out, then find out who’s in charge.”
The women nodded. We all knew firsthand what kind of danger the people on this planet were in. So, we needed to get them established as a governing body of their own and explain to them the value of the mior hidden beneath their mountains.
“Omni,” I said into my earwig once more.
“Yes, Colby?”
“How far is the village from our location?” I asked.
“Approximately one point five kilometers,” the AI replied.
“Thanks, O,” I said.
At least the walk wouldn’t take too long, since I knew my crew was tired already after working long days at the village. We needed to get to this new city and get things established there. I was curious, though, as to why the mayor wanted to meet with me personally. The messengers hadn’t stated a reason, and I wondered if perhaps the mayor was sick, or if he wanted to ask me to treat those in his city.
From the way his messengers spoke, though, I doubted it was the latter.
“Ahhh!” a cry sounded, and I quickly looked forward to see what happened.
Suddenly, one of the Gelm in front of us went flying from the back of his steed, and he landed on the ground several feet away with a thud.
I immediately grabbed my plasma gun from its holster and pointed it in the opposite direction the Gelm had flown. I saw nothing but trees and foliage, but a second later, another messenger tumbled from his steed as well.
“CT!” Neka shouted as she ducked behind me. “What’s going on!”
I didn’t have a good explanation for her, because I wasn’t sure myself.
Until I looked down to inspect the fallen Gelm and saw projectiles protruding from their sides.
The force of the impact must have thrown them from their horse like creatures, and bright, silvery blood pooled from their injuries.
I scanned the trees once more but saw nothing. It was quiet now, but I knew we were under siege. Something was about to happen, and I had to be prepared for it. My finger was ever ready on the trigger of my plasma gun as I waited for the oncoming ambush.
“Stay behind me,” I instructed the women, and Sef’sla clicked uneasily as she pressed herself to my side.
Suddenly, several Gelm charged from the trees around us with a shriek. They wielded rudimentary spears and shoved them at us, but our attackers’ small stature betrayed them, and I kicked one in the chest as he charged me. The small creature went flying backward, but was quickly replaced by another. There were maybe ten altogether, and while I had my plasma gun out, it didn’t seem fair to use the advanced weaponry when all these creatures wielded were some sharpened sticks. Plus, I didn’t think murdering anyone would endear the rest of the Gelm to us, and I still needed to negotiate with them for the mior.
So, I would only use the gun if I felt we were truly in danger, but I wasn’t about to let these assholes hurt my women.
I turned to check on the girls, but I saw they were handling themselves well. Akela had taken to kicking the Gelm attackers, and Neka hissed and batted at their small spears while Sef’sla stood awestruck in the middle.
I knew the Almort princess valued life as far more sacred than I did, and fighting was generally a new concept to her. Her planet had never experienced a war or any major conflicts, and the only use of aggression she knew of was when she hunted or defended herself from one of the giant beasts on her planet, and even then, the Almort often chose to run instead of fight.
I didn’t have time for moral quandaries, though, so I turned back to the Gelm in front of me. One of them charged me with a vengeance and lifted his spear above his head, but I grabbed the wood before it could make contact with me and tore it from his hands.
The small creature then bent over and attempted to ram me with his horns, but I quickly dodged out of the way and gave a side kick that sent him flying. Then another Gelm male came at my side, but I swept my foot low and caused him to fall.
It was almost comical to be attacked by such a small enemy, and I might have laughed except for the ferocity they put behind the attack.
I kept my hand on my plasma gun, but didn’t feel I would need to use it yet. If I could disarm our Gelm assailants, then they were utterly finished as far as the fight went. Their horns might hurt some, but they wouldn’t do any serious damage, and it looked like a few kicks was all it took to incapacitate most of them, or at least to slow them down.
Neka and Akela handled the Gelm who’d attacked them, but more and more kept coming after me, and after a moment, it appeared the majority of them had me surrounded. They stuck their small spears at me, and the tips barely came up to my face level as they chanted.
My brows pulled together as I considered why these males were after me. What had I done except help to heal the people of Zalia?
“CT!” Neka yowled, and I could hear the panic in her voice as the Gelm pressed in around me.
They weren’t really dangerous in small groups, but there were at least ten of them now, and each of them wielded a spear.
I couldn’t risk getting stabbed, so I lifted my plasma gun and fired a shot into the air.
The creatures around me backed up with a shriek, all except for one who let out a war cry and ran forward to stab me with his spear.
I turned the plasma gun on the small creature and fired. I was surrounded, and I couldn’t attempt a fair fight without the possibility of the others stabbing me in the meantime. It pained me to use such deadly force, but I had no other choice right now.
The short Gelm attacker went down with a thud as silver blood pooled from his chest.
Just as I’d hoped, the rest of the Gelm assassins retreated as quickly as they’d arrived. Soon, it was all quiet, and we were left with only trees.
Sef’sla immediately rushed to the Gelm from our party, pulled out the small medical bag she’d taken to carrying, and began to tend to the wounded. Our Gelm guides still had arrows protruding from their sides, but the shafts did not go very deep, so they would hopefully live.
My heart beat dropped as I scanned the area for threats once more, but I saw and heard nothing except for the pounding in my ears that slowly faded out.
“CT!” Neka shrieked as she ran over and hugged me. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” I said and cupped her face between my hands. “Are you okay?”
&nb
sp; “I’m alright,” the cat-girl answered, but her ears were pinned back against her head. “I was just so worried about you.”
“He handled himself well, I’d say,” Akela chuckled as she sauntered up on my other side.
“You too, Loric.” I grinned.
“Wasn’t that hard,” the mechanic snorted and shrugged. “Those guys were like … three feet tall.”
“Is anyone else hurt?” I asked as I scanned the area once more, but I was certain we were completely alone. Then I scanned my girls for injuries, but they all shook their heads.
“We’re fine, but what the hell was that about anyway?” Akela asked as she came to stand by me and look down at the Gelm assassin I’d shot.
The male was stocky, like most of the Gelm, but a bit wider, and with a lighter gray skin tone than some of the others I’d met. His horns were particularly long, and he wore a deep red cloak.
As I inspected the fabric, I noticed on the left shoulder was some sort of sigil that looked like two sets of horns coming together in a fight. I also noted the cloak he wore was made of a heavy, and obviously expensive, fabric. It was stained with his bright, silvery blood now, but I could still see these were not a poor man’s clothes.
“I’m not sure,” I said in response to Akela’s question.
“Is everyone in your party well?” Gelik asked as he approached Akela and me.
“Yes,” I said, “and Sef’sla is tending to your men.”
“It is much appreciated,” he responded with a bow.
“Gelik.” I narrowed my eyes. “Why would anybody want to attack us?”
“I cannot say for sure,” the small creature replied with what sounded like a sigh, “but since the plague struck, we have lost many, including those who work to protect the cities and villages.”
I studied the male for a long moment, but I could sense no deception from him, so the tension in my shoulders relaxed a degree.
“I am sorry to hear that,” I sympathized. “I know this plague has been trying for your people.”
“Yes,” Gelik grunted, “and since many of our protectors have died, the city has been overrun with bandits and criminals. I suspect that is who these attackers were.”
I nodded, but I didn’t completely believe my small escort. Either he really did not know who these men were, and he believed they could be nothing more than bandits, or he knew exactly who they were, and he was keeping secrets. Either way, I didn’t like it. There was no way the deceased Gelm at my feet was a common criminal. His robes were far too elaborate, and that sigil meant something, though I wasn’t sure what.
“Omni,” I said after Gelik had walked away to check on his men. “I need you to search for something for me.”
“What do you need?” the AI asked.
“There’s a sigil on one of our attacker’s robes,” I explained. “It looks like two sets of horns butting each other in a fight.”
“I will see what I can find.”
“Thanks,” I said. “Also, do me a favor and see what data we have on the materials the Gelm use for clothing.”
“Anything else I can do for you?” the AI practically sighed.
“Nope,” I chuckled. “Thanks, buddy.”
“I will get back to you shortly,” he said before his voice cut out.
“You don’t believe him, do you?” Akela asked with a nod toward Gelik.
“No.” I shook my head. “I don’t, but I don’t know if he’s just ignorant or a liar.”
“Either way, those robes are far too fancy for a common bandit,” the mechanic snorted. “Anybody with a brain could see that.”
Akela and I apparently thought very much alike, but then again, we were both survivalist kids. We’d grown up in rough stations so we needed to be cunning and notice things most other people wouldn’t. I’d figured out a long time ago that most often those who grew up in luxury didn’t notice half of what a kid from Proto or Theron would. The guards could just be privileged instead of secretive, but I couldn’t be sure which yet.
Even if the guards knew why these people had tried to kill me, I figured they at least weren’t in on the plan. It didn’t make sense to set up an attack to occur on our way to see the mayor. If our escorts had wanted us dead, they could have tried after they’d lured us away from the village.
This failed assassination attempts only grew stranger and stranger in my mind as I thought about it.
Just what was happening on Zalia?
Chapter 6
An hour after the assassination attempt, we crested the top of a tall hill, and I paused to take in the sight below.
The city was beautiful and much larger than the village we’d come from, though still fairly small compared to many of the cities I’d seen in my travels. The place was surrounded with a deep, green grass, and I could see several small, ant-like shapes in the fields. I assumed the people here were farmers, since the houses were small and modest, except for one larger one that sat on the other side of the city. I assumed that was the mayor’s house, and I questioned the local government and how the riches of the land were doled out.
“This is the village of Gim,” Gelik said next to me, and he wore a proud smile on his face.
“It’s beautiful,” Neka purred.
“We should be going,” Sef’sla hissed with a gesture at the two injured men on top of their horse like creatures. “These men need to rest.”
The Almort princess had removed the arrows from the men and applied a salve like the one I’d used during the Akornath on her home planet. I knew the Gelm would heal up nicely, but she was right, they needed rest.
As we headed down the hill toward the small city, I saw a crowd of people begin to gather at the entrance.
“Gelik,” I murmured and pointed toward the crowd, “what are they doing?”
“They are gathering for your arrival,” the small male said with a smile.
“For our arrival?” I asked.
“Oh, yes.” He nodded. “Our people have heard of CT, the Great Healer of The Gray Plague.”
It felt strange to take credit for Sef’sla and Akela’s work, but I knew it was nothing personal. The Gelm didn’t understand technology enough to realize the medicine had been made by my companions and wasn’t directly linked to myself.
“Are many of those in the city sick?” I asked Gelik.
“Our village has not been spared.” The male frowned.
As we drew closer to the city, I could see the crowd was much larger than I thought. The town appeared bigger as well, and the houses here were taller and wider than those in Lorn’s village.
Before we made it to the entrance of the city, I heard a strange thudding sound like an animal running, so I put my hand to my plasma gun and turned to the girls.
“Do you hear that?” I asked.
“It is riders,” Gelik said.
“Riders?” I echoed and turned to the Gelm male.
“Yes,” he answered, and he pointed into the town, where a group of males on the same horse like creatures rode through with a fury.
“What do they want?” I questioned.
“I do not know.” Gelik shrugged.
The Gelm who approached us on horseback wore metal armor, which told me they were soldiers, probably higher ranking than Gelik, and possibly higher up than the mayor as well.
The soldiers pushed past the crowd that had gathered and came to meet us just outside the city.
I eyed them curiously, with my hand still on my plasma gun. We’d made a lot of new friends already today, and I wasn’t sure we needed any more at the moment. We still had people to heal in the Village of Gim before we went anywhere else.
“Greetings,” the knight in front said as he came to a stop.
“Hello,” I said hesitantly. “And you are?”
“My name is Lox,” the male replied, and he didn’t seem surprised by my translation box like Gelik had been, which I thought was curious. “I am knight to Lord Anix. Your presence has bee
n requested at the castle.”
“A castle?” Neka gasped, and her feline eyes were bright with excitement about the possibility of anything shiny. Or perhaps she was already enthralled with the gleam of the knight’s armor.
“We have people to assist here,” I told the male with a steady gaze.
“CT, if I may,” Gelik started, and he dipped his head to the knight. “Your presence has been requested, this is something you cannot refuse.”
I raised my eyebrow at the phrase “cannot refuse,” and the thought “watch me” ran through my mind for a moment. I never did like being told what I could or couldn’t do, but I sighed and settled my thoughts. I knew there was a hierarchy to any world, but particularly the primitive worlds, and from Gelik’s response, it seemed that whoever Lord Anix was, he was far above the Mayor of Gim. We would need to go with these knights in order to avoid some sort of conflict, since the last thing I wanted to do was piss off the locals. Besides, the knights appeared far more hostile than our escorts had, and I wasn’t sure they were above taking us in by force.
“We will go with you,” I said after a moment, “but would you allow us to give medicine to the people of Gim first?”
“I’m afraid this matter is urgent,” the knight grunted. “Lord Anix demands your presence today.”
So, now it was a demand instead of a request. Well, that didn’t sound good at all.
“One moment,” I said to the male, and I switched off my translator as I turned to the girls. Then they turned theirs off as well so we could speak freely.
“It’s been a weird day,” Akela muttered as she regarded the knight behind me.
“It has,” I sighed.
“Are we really going to go with them?” Neka asked and bounced on her toes.
“We cannot just leave the people of Gim without medicine,” Sef’sla hissed with a frown.
“I don’t like it either,” I said, “but I think we have to go with them. The last thing we want to do is piss off whoever is in charge. We still want that mior, and the Corporations will be here soon. We need an audience with the Gelm leader.”
