Star Chaser- The Traveler

by Reiter

  “There are larger prisoners.”

  “Whose muscle development stops at their jaws!” Taas quickly retorted before looking at the readout for the ascension of the lift. “Doing what needs to be done is going to take more than stupid muscle. It’s going to take skill, savvy, and above all guile. You’re not just going up to meet with the Captain, you’re going up there to be seen by a bunch of people… namely those who have put a serious bounty out on Nugar and anyone bearing the markings of a Traveler!”

  “So the buyers wish to look over the item up for bidding,” Dungias concluded.

  “And depending on who puts in the highest bid, Zaylo will be putting in a course-change real soon!” Taas stated.

  “Anything to get us out of these storms,” Dungias replied. Taas chuckled and Dungias looked at her in confusion.

  “I guess it would sound like a storm down there,” she admitted. “In the Computer Room, it sounds like exactly what it is: like we’re being fired upon! Not everyone around here plays by the rules. The one with the biggest money sack doesn’t always win the bidding. Sometimes they don’t have the big money sacks because they spent most of their funds on their big guns!”

  “And Travelers are in high demand here?” Dungias inquired.

  “Again, you have to be kidding. This is the Astral Realm, baby. You might be able to put where you come from on a flat map, but this place has to be expressed in three dimensions. You might be used to four quadrants.”

  “I am.”

  “Hate it for you!” Taas shot back. “Here, it’s common knowledge to express everything in three dimensions… that means twenty-seven sectors. All the doors from other dimensions empty out into the sector we’re in… the Center Sector, which is the fourteenth. Most thingees call it Centren.”

  “Centren,” Dungias repeated. “Might I presume, especially if Travelers are in high demand, that the other twenty-six sectors are not that well mapped?”

  “Try not mapped at all!” Taas replied. “I’ve been here five years, and I’ve only seen two maps of anything outside of Centren. They were both of Sector Three and covered less than two percent of it!

  “Look, in this ship at its best speed, it would take over three years to cross from one side of the sector to the opposite side. When you factor in this baby has something better than a Vicky–”

  “A what?”

  “A Vicky,” Taas repeated, remembering that she and Dungias were from different dimensions. “Faster than light… Veloci Qui Illuminus or VQI Drive.”

  “We call them Hyperiro Engines,” Dungias stated. “And they approach the speed of light… they cannot exceed that. It is our belief that nothing can.”

  “Then welcome to a whole lot of nothing,” Taas replied. “But that’s not important now. I have to get off before Level Three, but Zaylo’s gonna be there, and you’ve dealt with some of his former crew already.”

  “Former crew?!” Dungias asked, incredibly surprised.

  “Yeah, the Tohgrunn,” Taas stated as she knelt down. “I figure someone like you will be able to make Zaylo look like the mud-slug he is between the ears.”

  “But you would rather I remain calm,” Dungias anticipated.

  “Uh, not actually,” Taas said as the lift came to a stop. “This is where the plan gets a little… well, I’m asking you to trust me and I’m asking you to hurt yourself. If you can get under his skin and provoke him–”

  “That will be a fight I will eventually lose,” Dungias concluded. “Even if I beat–”

  “You have to beat Zaylo!” Taas interrupted as the doors opened. “Yes, there will be security robots there, and yes, they will beat the nasty mahstra out of you! But it’s the quickest way to get you into position.

  “What can I do to get you to trust me?” Taas asked, looking at the corridor she knew she had to enter. She looked frantic and desperate. Dungias could see she was used to using her emotions to get what she wanted, and he had every reason to believe that while her need might have been quite genuine, she was never going to tell him everything about her plan. He took hold of her hand and waited for her eye to meet his.

  “Just be there when I awaken,” he said, feeling a familiar sensation sweep over him. He closed his eyes as his face turned up toward the top of the ship. “Most of my things are kept below where we are, yes?”

  “Yes, they are,” Taas replied, wondering if she had recruited someone that was even smarter than her. “How did you know it was most of your things?”

  Dungias ushered the female out of the lift car and lowered his head. “Let me just say I will not have to persuade this Zaylo that I have contempt for his existence! Be there when I need you or destroy me while I am vulnerable… that is your choice, Taas.” The doors started to close when the female flashed a very grateful smile.

  “I’ll be the first thing you see when you wake up,” she promised. “Then we can go over the rest of the plan.”

  “Provided that we go with your plan,” Dungias said as the lift started climbing again. Taas had been cheated a view of Dungias who allowed himself a devilish grin.

  The lift moved at its usual speed as it only needed to go up five additional levels. The doors opened, and Dungias was greeted by Goneo, which took hold of his neck and pulled him out of the lift. The security robot tracked backward and threw Dungias to the ground. He rolled to a stop and gasped for air, deciding that he needed to look weak from the onset. He could hear a low voice laughing as jaws crunched down on meat, gristle and bone. Prone on the floor, Dungias looked up to see something that gave him pause.

  “I am supposed to fight that?!” he thought. Apparently there was a range of skin color, bone structure, and size among the Tohgrunn. “Obviously, he either dismissed or consumed his former crew!” Dungias considered. “I am liking this Taas less and less!” Even seated, Dungias could see this Tohgrunn stood over two trams tall. His black skin was stretched over muscle development that could only be described as horrifying. The only things on two legs Dungias had seen larger than this Tohgrunn were the statues posed in front of the castle on Quantia Prime which had been dedicated to the earliest Grandmasters. One of the eleven statues had been dedicated to Pax’Dulah, but even those monuments might have come alive and cowered before the Tohgrunn destroyer.

  “We are ready to broadcast, Captain,” one of the Pod-Bots reported. “Already we have six parties interested in the subject.”

  “Do not send,” Zaylo said, tossing the remains of his meal to the floor. “Not yet.” He stood up and Dungias’ view became worse. This… thing had the audacity to wear weapons all about his body. Dungias could only wince and ask himself why as he watched the monstrous Tohgrunn walk toward him.

  “Vi-Zai, forgive my birth,” Dungias thought, looking at the strides the Tohgrunn took toward him. They were balanced and the hard-soled boots met easily with the floor panels, making only what would be considered normal sounds… for a normal form… making normal strides. “And, in further insult to the Stars, it is balanced and possibly quite agile!” He swallowed hard as he got up to his knees.

  Perhaps it was a good thing that Taas had to leave before he arrived at this level. With the inability to put a heavy glare upon the woman, Dungias tried to focus his energies on removing his emotional response at the sight of the Tohgrunn Captain. It was a feat not yet initiated that suddenly became extremely simple. Zaylo walked in front of Dungias over to a small covered stand on the far side of the room. As Zaylo approached, one of the Pod-Bots removed the cover and Dungias could see Alpha. His hands clenched into tight fists when the Tohgrunn grabbed it and swung it against the wall.

  “It is said, this weapon,” Zaylo grunted, looking over the rod. It clanged once more against the wall before he turned to look at Dungias. “All Traveler carry… powerful weapon it be. Show me power!”

  “And there it is,” Dungias thought, looking into Zaylo’s yellow eyes. “That is what holds Taas from moving directly against this Tohgrunn. A combination of fe
ar and prudence, I am sure. He is not a Captain of a ship; he is simply the most powerful combatant, and the last keeper of this vessel either allowed him to get too close, or failed to provide adequate means to secure this beast.

  “You should just talk to your customers, Captain, and be done with this,” Dungias said softly, looking back at the ground. “I am no longer a Traveler… that is no longer a Traveler’s weapon. I am one of your minions, fighting for his own place… his own space.”

  “Aaahhh!” Zaylo roared, holding up his massive fists. “Yes, you fight! You fight good! But you broken now – you falled for little girl-trick. Girl is trickery!” Zaylo put his hand to his chest as he laughed and Dungias allowed him to cackle for a moment… just long enough for the laughter to begin to subside.

  “Can it be that you are so stupid that you do not even know your own language?” he asked, looking up at his captor. Alpha was going to need a thorough cleaning! “You are frustrating the translators! Now, I do not know the tongue of the Tohgrunn–”

  “Orka,” Zaylo said flatly.

  “Forgive me if I do not take your word for it,” Dungias snapped back, standing up and dusting himself off. “As I said, I am no longer a Traveler, so you can forget about that stick. I am not sure I could make the operating instructions simple enough for you to understand; an enfeebled child perhaps… but not you. Some things are simply logistically impossible!”

  Qalrung Zaylo had not been born in the Astral Realm, and had only come to it by way of service to a long dead Priest; a Priest Zaylo had killed himself when the punishment put upon his mother’s back eventually took her life. It was on that occasion Zaylo had discovered his gift for movement and combat. The Priest was well-guarded, but none of the three had been fast enough to bring their weapons to bear on the scampering youth. By the time the first crossbow bolt had been fired, Zaylo had already stabbed the Priest in the chest. It was then that the Tohgrunn Warrior, who would come to be called Blood among his people, had found that the power of the Spell-Caster did not come from the amount of power they possessed so much as it came from their ability to conjure or summon their godly protectors. A silent Priest summons very little! The crossbow bolt had been dodged and added to the Priest’s woe. Blood would have attacked the three protectors, but his actions had sparked a revolt and the other Tohgrunn had pounced with relentless fury.

  Sans the Priest, the newly free Tohgrunn had had no means to return to their rightful place, so they became wanderers. Their numbers dwindled as their knowledge increased. They put down the club and crossbow, picking up the energy blade and blaster. However, one thing managed to remain with Zaylo even throughout his transformation process: the assumption that he was stupid! He knew that he was not the equivalent of his Trick Girl, but he hated the implication of being less than normal minded.

  “At the very least, he is not so addled that I have to explain to him that I called him stupid,” Dungias thought, seeing that his comment had touched upon a nerve. “Do you want one of the robots to translate what I said for you?”

  “I translate for you!” Zaylo said as he started toward Dungias. His steps were heavier now and were increasing in speed when one of the Pod-Bots cut Zaylo off.

  “Master, might I remind you what this prisoner is worth?” Zaylo was ready to move the annoying machine out of his way when he heard the words. The ship was in need of repairs and supplies. It was a good ship, very strong and able to withstand the three attacks that had been set against it since the Traveler had been picked up and identified. Zaylo knew the worth of a strong weapon and glared at Dungias, formulating that he would deal with the prisoner at a later date.

  “Send,” he commanded as he turned to walk back to the crates he had used for a chair and dining table. The Pod-Bot gave the signal to secure the link and begin broadcasting.

  Dungias suppressed an evil grin. “Is that it?!” he barked. “Worth? Coin? Fight? Should I keep everything to one syllable?” he asked before coming to a realization. “Sorry, should I say all in one words?” Dungias bent slightly at the knees.

  Qalrung Zaylo roared as he turned and left the floor, bounding toward Dungias who rolled under the arc of his leap. The floor panel that received the Tohgrunn warped from the weight and Zaylo turned around, throwing down Alpha.

  “You will find that to have been a costly error,” Dungias thought as his hands relaxed. Dungias’ mind turned to the lessons given to him by Guyn and Nugar, as they both had different approaches for fighting opponents who were of larger frame. Dungias found that he could not fully agree with either approach, but a mixture of the two had been more than adequate.

  Zaylo took the metal club from his back as he slowly approached. His steps were small, his base was wide and his center of gravity was low.

  “I see the two of you have a lot in common,” Dungias commented. “Once again, sorry. You have two clubs; one you swing, one you think with!”

  Zaylo lunged forward under the power of his legs. He had not over-extended, as Dungias had hoped he would, he had merely defied gravity to such a measure that he covered an unreal amount of distance and was now within effective range with his club. His swing, however, was more than predictable and Dungias lowered his head to avoid the weapon. Dungias applied a lunge of his own, driving his left fist into Zaylo’s ribs. His hand was going to be bruised again, and he rolled to his left avoiding the backswing of the club.

  “And he knows how to use that thing,” Dungias thought, coming out of his roll. His back was to Zaylo and he decided to keep it that way, diving forward. The floor panel he had jumped from buckled under the destructive might of Zaylo’s follow-up swing. Dungias landed on his hands and rolled, realizing that Zaylo possessed a gracefulness in combat. The Exemplar Guyn had warned the young Traveler of such persons: the sort of opponents who are more relaxed when they are fighting than at any other time! “If only I could give him a math problem to solve!”

  “You run when you should fight!” Zaylo remarked, readying his club for another swing.

  “You chew when you should think!” Dungias shot back, turning to face the behemoth. He grimaced suddenly and grabbed his nose. “And you stink when you should bathe!” Zaylo roared again, throwing his club and reaching to his back.

  “Interesting, a distracting tactic,” Dungias thought as his back-bend kept his chest out of the path of the spinning club. But Dungias did not look at the weapon. His eyes were closed and he was engaged in the sort of combat he had employed against Kynsada. He smiled.

  The club had not fully passed over him when he heard the rattle of Zaylo’s war chain. Dungias breathed out, focusing on his legs. He pushed off from the ground as much as he could, given his stance. The chain passed under him and he slapped his hands against the ground to lessen the impact of his fall, timing his next effort; what it would be was entirely up to the sound of the chain. Too soft a sound would mean Zaylo was swinging it around again. Too harsh a clinking of the links meant he was changing direction and swinging down for the prone Dungias. When the links sounded off loudly, Dungias waited for the sound of effort. When Zaylo grunted, Dungias rolled over on his left shoulder. The chain slammed down hard on the floor and Dungias rolled back, taking hold of the chain with his right hand.

  “Timing, Dungi,” he remembered the teachings of his mentor, lifting his feet. He kicked up as he heard Zaylo giving effort to reclaim his chain. Dungias was suddenly up from the floor and flipping forward twice, wrapping the chain around as his hand as he flew. He landed less than a tram away from Zaylo who smiled at their sudden proximity.

  “Now you bleed, Blood,” Dungias hissed as Zaylo drew back his left hand. Dungias wondered if the hand could put a hole in the armour of a battleship, but he ducked and spun under the assault, striking the inside of the behemoth’s forearm with his chain-wrapped fist. Zaylo was not accustomed to feeling such a sharp, stinging sensation as he lost all feeling in his left hand and he stumbled from the experience. Dungias finished his spin, dropping to hi
s knee. His fortified hand hammered against the side of Zaylo’s left knee and the Tohgrunn cried out, losing feeling in that limb as well. He shuddered before he started to drop. His knees were nearing the floor when Dungias jumped up, ramming his head into Zaylo’s dropping face. Dungias continued to ascend as Zaylo dropped to the floor. “And this is for Alpha!” Dungias thought as he tucked his head and flipped. He could hear the security robots firing their weapons, but they had not expected Dungias’ body path to change so sharply and their bursts went off above him. Dungias landed, straddling Zaylo, his right hand driving into the Tohgrunn’s chest. He heard the chest cavity crack under the power of his attack. Dungias held his place and smirked.

  “After one volley, you do not fire now,” Dungias whispered, looking at the security robots. “Of course! Your iro-forms are conducted by physical contact!”

  “Restrain the prisoner!” Goneo commanded as his tracks engaged.

  Now Dungias had a decision to make as he could feel Zaylo take hold of his left arm. The speed with which the robots moved gave him time to deliver one more strike… or attempt to take over the ship. The grip on his arm was stronger than it had right to be. After all the punishment Dungias had delivered, Zaylo was still conscious and quickly recovering from being stunned.

  “I do not have an easily controlled hostage,” Dungias quickly concluded. “… and I am working with someone who managed to win over my confidence with just her voice.

  “I said bleed!” Dungias shouted, striking Zaylo across the face with his right hand. The chain managed to tear into the tough skin of the Tohgrunn as the power of the blow drove Zaylo’s head to the floor panel.

  “Now… to appear frantic,” Dungias thought, jumping up toward one of the approaching security robots. As the arms were made ready to catch Dungias, the young Traveler lifted his feet and jumped off the chest of the robot, toward Goneo. Dungias spun as weapons fired over his body. The back of his chain-wrapped hand smashed against the side of the robot’s head, temporarily depriving Goneo of its sensor-array. The other robots opted not to fire their weapons and Dungias soon felt why. The forearm of Zaylo found the small of his back and knocked him to the floor. If Dungias had ever been struck harder, he could not recall the event. He lost feeling in his legs, though only for a brief moment. He still had the presence of mind to roll as he reached the floor. When he came to a stop on his back, his head was facing Zaylo who was lifting his hand high over his head. As it came down, Dungias sent his left hand up to strike the side of the fist and drive it wide of its target. As his fist pounded into the floor, Zaylo lost balance as his right hand had been made to cross slightly in front of his body. He leaned forward, regaining control of his body.