by Eric Vall
“Cut it,” I said into my earpiece after I was sure the fire was out.
“On it,” Akela replied.
The hose slowly lost its power, and I let it drop to the ground as I turned to the guards behind me.
“You were very brave just now,” I told them as I placed my hands on their shoulders. “Thank you for your help. I’m sorry about your temple.”
“Thank you,” one of them said as he grabbed my forearm and held it there. “You have done a great thing for the Gelm today.”
“My pleasure,” I said with a soft smile.
I shook my head as I made my way over to Sef’sla and Neka. The cat-girl applied a bandage to a small child, while the princess did a scan on one of the guards.
“How’s everything going over here?” I asked. “Nobody hurt too bad, I hope.”
“Not too bad,” Sef’sla agreed.
“Yeah,” Neka added with a grin. “Some smoke inhalation and a few bumps and bruises, but other than that, we’re okay.”
“Good,” I said as I kissed each of them on the head. “Thank you both. I love you.”
“We love you, too,” Neka chirped, and she grinned up at me.
“CT,” Sef’sla clicked, and she approached me and leaned in close so only we could hear. “There were several fatalities.”
“There were?” I frowned. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner? You said it wasn’t too bad.”
“The survivors aren’t,” Sef’sla clarified, “but there were five deaths before we arrived. There was nothing we could have done once we got here. They were already deceased.”
“Thank you for telling me,” I sighed. “Are their families here?”
“I don’t know,” the princess admitted. “Three of them were guards. They were killed trying to put out the fire.”
“Alright,” I said after a long pause. “Just be careful.”
I kissed Sef’sla on the head once more, then I turned to survey the area, and I saw the king across the road from me, with several Gelm gathered around him. He seemed to be leading them in a prayer, so instead of interrupting, I went and grabbed the end of the hose and began to roll it back up.
“Good job,” Akela said as we reached each other, both of us with half the rolled-up hose in our arms.
“Good job to you,” I echoed. “You’re the one who saved the day here.”
“Yeah,” the mechanic said with a teasing smile, “but I’ll let you have some of the credit, too.”
I pulled Akela against me and kissed her forehead. I was just happy all my girls were safe, and that they were such good people they had jumped into action to help.
The loss of the temple saddened me greatly, though. I knew how important it was to the Gelm people, and though it wasn’t totally destroyed, it was a sacred place, and that fact alone made it a tragedy.
“Hey,” Akela muttered and gave me a nudge. “Let’s go check out the temple.”
“Right.” I nodded. “We may be able to find out something from the remains.”
“Exactly,” the mechanic grumbled, and her pale brow furrowed as she stared at the ruined temple.
Akela knew just as well as I did that there was the possibility this had been an act of arson. Growing up on Theron and Proto meant we’d seen it a million times before. Hell, when I was a kid, people would set a building on fire just to try and rob someplace else while the police were distracted. Not that they did any good, anyways. The cops were all more than corrupt.
The mechanic and I dropped the hose off by Neka and Sef’sla as we headed to the temple. I stepped onto the charred red brick, half afraid it would crumble under my feet. The stone held steady, though, and I remembered how tough everything on this planet truly was. When most of what you had was rocks and mountains, you learned to be tough, or you didn’t survive. And that went for the minerals as well as the people.
“How did this place catch on fire anyways?” Akela asked, and her violet eyes narrowed as she looked over the temple.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “It doesn’t make sense. The place is made of stone. It’s not easy to just set stone on fire.”
“No,” Akela grunted, “it’s not. That means this was no accident.”
“I agree,” I said, “but other than that, I don’t see any proof so far. Keep looking.”
The mechanic and I scoured the temple, and I took my time to inspect every last brick.
“What did you find?” the silver-haired woman asked after a few minutes.
“I’m not sure,” I said as I squinted at a pile of ash in the middle of the temple. “Come here for a second.”
“Is that … wood?” Akela questioned as she crouched down beside me.
“That’s what it looks like to me,” I agreed.
“So, somebody built a fire here?” she asked with wide purple eyes.
“But then how did they get the whole temple up in flames?” I wondered.
“O,” Akela said into her earpiece.
“What can I do for you, Akela?” the AI asked.
“Any particularly flammable substances on this planet?” the mechanic inquired.
I thought for a moment back to when we were in the village and how I’d given the Gelm there lighters to start their fires. They only had difficulty with getting the fire started, though. They already had this type of fuel that, once the fire was going, it would burn forever.
“Yes, several,” Omni said, “but one in particular. It’s a plant--”
“They call it min!” I exclaimed.
“Colby is correct,” the AI practically sighed.
“It’s that big, leafy plant,” I told Akela. “Remember at the first village? They would use it to start fires.”
“Oh, yeah!” She snapped her fingers. “That stuff would burn forever. And it was everywhere in the woods.”
“I can only imagine if the fire had spread,” I said as I looked at the forest around us. I knew it was probably filled with the plant, and if that fire had gotten out of control, there would have been no way to stop it.
“Geez,” Akela muttered, and her amethyst eyes grew sad. “So, somebody planned this whole attack. Do you think it was Shaso?”
Before I could answer, a guard came running from the city center right over to the king.
“Your Majesty!” he cried. “There is a disturbance over in the courtyard!”
“What is going on?” King Grenn asked as he stood up.
“Looks like we’re going to find out,” I mumbled to the mechanic. “Come on.”
Akela and I followed the guard and the king back into the city, and I quickly saw a crowd of people had formed. In the middle of the road, on top of a cart of sorts, was a group of three males in bright blue robes. There were several others who stood below the cart in the same blue robes, but the three above were obviously in charge.
We were at least five meters away, but the crowd was so tight there was no getting through. The people wouldn’t even move for the guard with us.
“This doesn’t look good,” Akela whispered.
“No,” I agreed, “it doesn’t.”
The crowd grew quiet as one of the men in blue began to speak.
“Citizens!” he cried out as he threw his arms up in the air. “We are the new Elphad. We are here to cleanse you of the evils Shaso and the false profits have shown you.”
Well, shit.
If it was Shaso, then this was an incredibly crafty ruse to cover his tracks, but as diabolical as the Elphad leader was, he was too much of a narcissist to allow someone else to take his glory and discredit his name.
So, who the hell were these people?
“You have been lied to!” the male continued, and he paced back and forth on top of the cart as he looked at all of the people in the audience. Then he pointed directly at me. “This traveler is a demon! Shaso has been led astray by his black magic, and now the Elphad are tainted!”
This was getting worse and worse by the second.
King Gr
enn turned to look at me, and his eyes were wide with disbelief.
“You must stop this!” he told his guard.
The male nodded his head and tried to push further through the crowd, but the people rallied and shoved him back once more.
“You all saw the falling star!” the zealot in blue continued. “You know the prophecy has been fulfilled! The end of the world is nearing, and we must provide a blood sacrifice if we wish to live!”
Some of the citizens in the crowd cheered, but others looked around confused until one woman shouted above the rest.
“What about the cure?” she asked. “We’re all getting better now.”
A few Gelm cheered at that point, and I smiled. Perhaps this would not go quite as well as these terrorists believed.
“This cure is the work of the demons!” the male shouted, and his hands went toward the sky once more. “They have poisoned us to keep us complacent while they conquer our world! The only way to destroy this evil is with the appeasement of the gods! You are good citizens, you know the gods protect us, they love us, we are their children!”
“It’s time for us to go,” I told the king as I grabbed Akela’s arm.
“What?” he gasped. “No, we must put an end to this.”
“Any way we try to stop them now will look like we are only trying to silence them,” I explained under my breath. “We need to reconvene and discuss what to do about these people.”
“Besides,” Akela said as she looked around warily, “I don’t think we’ll be welcome here too much longer.”
King Grenn looked around at the angry stares his people cast upon us.
“Quite right,” he agreed with a nod. “Let’s go!”
I pulled Akela and the king with me, and the guard came along as well as we ran back to the ship. Neka and Sef’sla were finished with their patients, and they sat on the ramp of the Lacuna Noctis.
“What’s wrong?” Sef’sla asked when she saw us running toward the ship.
“Get up the ramp!” I called.
The women didn’t hesitate, they ran right up into the cargo hold and waited for us. Once we were all inside, I quickly hit the door, and it closed with a whoosh. Then I made the walk to the bridge and plopped down in my captain’s chair while everyone crowded around me.
“What happened?” Neka asked, and her eyes were wide.
“It seems a new religious group is on the scene,” I sighed as I put my head into my hands.
“Oh, no,” the cat-girl yowled.
“What does this mean?” Sef’sla wondered.
“They’re trying to overthrow us, the king, and the Elphad,” Akela said dryly.
“What will we do?” King Grenn asked, and he wrung his gray hands together once more. “We’ve never had a disturbance of this magnitude before.”
“We need to speak with Shaso,” I muttered and lifted my head.
“Don’t you think he could have some part in this?” the king asked.
“No,” I said. “He’d never let his name be discredited like that, but he knows a thing or two about what those men were yelling about. He might be able to give us some insight into what they want.”
I knew damn well the group we’d just seen was a direct result of Shaso’s craziness. His pushing of the gods’ word had obviously stuck with those people, and now that Shaso was singing a new tune, they figured they’d pick up the old one.
That asshole got us into this mess, and he was going to be the one to get us out, too.
Even if I had to break his jaw in the process.
Chapter 15
We arrived back at the castle within minutes, and King Grenn sent one of the guards to retrieve Shaso and bring him to his table. Then it was silent as we, too, made our way to the king’s meeting room. I suspected we were all still in shock as to what was happening, why, and most importantly, how could we stop it?
The people in the courtyard had obviously been serious, and they’d managed to get at least some of the crowd on their side, though I wasn’t sure the whole city was buying their crap. These guys were knock off Elphads, at least in my mind, and the leader was a knock off Shaso, right down to the declaration that the gods required blood to be shed for them.
This new group probably got pissed when Shaso renounced his hate for us. This attack was planned, and they hit the city where it would hurt the most. I hadn’t stuck around to see if they’d taken credit for the fire, or if they’d given credit to the gods, but either way, I knew they’d say it was a way to cleanse the citizens of the Elphad traitors.
Finally, we took our usual seats at the king’s table, and Shaso was escorted in by a couple of guards.
“We apologize for intruding on your day,” I said in a calm tone, “but I’m sure you heard there was a disturbance today.”
“This is a serious matter, Shaso,” the king added, and the Elphad leader looked more inclined to listen.
“I heard of the fire at the temple,” Shaso said.
“There was more than that,” Akela mumbled.
“What else has happened?” the Elphad leader asked.
“A terrorist group is trying to take over your city,” I explained. “They’re the ones who started the fire.”
We filled in Shaso about what the fanatics had said of the Elphad, and their threats against them, and the male’s eyes widened as we spoke.
“They wore blue robes,” I said, and I watched his expression carefully. “Does this sound like anybody you know?”
“The blue robes are new,” Shaso sighed, “but I think I know of whom you speak.”
“Well?” King Grenn pushed, and he leaned forward with a stern frown. “Who is it? How do you know these awful people?”
“I believe the leader is Grep,” the Elphad leader said. “He was my biggest supporter. I’m sure I could recognize a few of the others as well. There was a group of them that always seemed to worship me. They never questioned anything I had to say.”
“So, these people were, like, your biggest fans?” Neka asked, and her head tilted in confusion.
“I suppose so.” Shaso nodded.
“They clung to your every word,” I muttered and shook my head, “and once you flipped the script, it all went downhill from there.”
“It appears that way,” he said.
“Well, we must do something,” the king declared. “Shaso, you know them better than any of us. What is it they might want?”
“I think they want exactly what Shaso wanted,” I scoffed. “They just want some power, and they don’t care how they get it.”
The Elphad leader looked at me with narrowed eyes, but he said nothing.
“Well, then, CT,” Grenn said as he turned to me. “What do you think we should do?”
“We cannot allow them to roam the kingdom for long,” I replied. “They’re already trying to convince the citizens to side with them.”
“Not to mention people were injured today,” Sef’sla hissed. “And several died.”
“Yes.” The king frowned. “I heard they were dead before we arrived. I am saddened by the loss.”
“If this group is willing to start fires and injure their own people, then we can’t put anything past them,” I cautioned.
“I believe you are right,” Shaso said. “They must be stopped.”
I appreciated the support, even though I knew it came from a place of self-preservation rather than caring for his people.
“Yes,” the king agreed with a nod, “but I think we have a bigger problem with this Grep.”
“What is it?’ Sef’sla asked, and she laid a hand on the king’s worried shoulder.
“We, neither Shaso nor I, can openly attack these people,” King Grenn sighed and rubbed at his wrinkled brow.
But we don’t need to attack them,” I pointed out, “we only need to arrest them. I know you have a dungeon. We can simply put them in there until they can receive a trial.”
“I’m afraid the people will not stand for that.” T
he king shook his head.
“Why not?” I asked. “This group burnt down their temple.”
“Yes,” Shaso sighed, “but I believe the king is right. We have always had an agreement among the Gelm citizens and the royals that says they are allowed to challenge a lord’s rule at any time. And that includes the Elphad.”
“So, if we arrest them, then we’re going directly against this rule,” I realized.
“Yes,” the king confirmed, “and if we do so then we automatically admit to our faults. They will claim we are only attempting to silence them. I’m afraid I might have even acted too rashly in the courtyard if you had not helped me. We have had disputes with citizens before, but nothing like this.”
“No,” Shaso grunted. “We have never had an uprising of such a caliber.”
“If we were to openly arrest these citizens, then we would cause great distress among the people,” King Grenn continued. “We would lose their trust.”
“I understand.” I nodded and rubbed my chin in thought.
This Gelm law seemed like a great but also a terrible rule to have, and I wondered what had brought on a need for such a thing. It definitely solidified a sense of trust between the citizens and royalty, but it also allowed for things like this to happen.
I sighed as I tried to think of a way to subdue the zealots without starting an all-out war among the Gelm. The last thing I wanted to do was cause trouble while we were here. We were so incredibly close to getting the mines set up, and just when things seemed to really be going right, we were attacked by even bigger religious assholes.
“What if we could take out the zealots without needing you all to openly do it?” I proposed after some thought. “Would that work?”
“I don’t see why not,” the king said.
“What’s your idea, CT?” Neka asked with a grin.
“Come on, Tower,” Akela teased as she crossed her arms over her chest. “Don’t keep us waiting.”
“Alright,” I chuckled. “So, what if we use one of the drones to knock the group unconscious?”
“How would we do that?” Sef’sla asked. “We don’t wish to harm them, do we?”
“No.” I shook my head. “And actually, I think you can help a lot with that.”
