by Frank Carey
I took off the bow and quiver and placed them in a scabbard built into the saddle. We mounted-up and headed north on a dusty road which passed along the west side of the castle. The land was beautiful and serene. "This is incredible," I told the queen.
"I'm glad you like it. What is your home like, young Royce?" I told her about the elf home world and my family. "I haven't been home for several years," I said before I could bite my tongue. "Damn, I don't want to go there," I said quietly.
"Sir, it’s good to talk about it, especially here," Parker said out loud.
"Who is that you speak to?" the queen asked.
"Her name is Parker, my queen. She is an artificial intelligence, who acts as my healer, mentor, and my muse."
"Ah! Parker, are you a healer subset?"
"Yes, mistress," Parker replied. "I was curious, mistress. I have not detected any healers within range of my sensors."
"They disappeared long ago," the queen replied with a sad voice.
That's a tough row to hoe. Elves have always had Healers around. They're like air.
"Tell me, Royce, why do you have a healer subset of your own?"
Shit. Well, in for a penny, in for a pound. I explained what happened. She was shocked
"May the god's strike down the devious. Ah, we have arrived," she said as we rode up to a large gate.
"Parker, interior scan. Is it safe for you to go inside?" I asked. I worry about her when I hear "energy dampening field" mentioned.
"Working... All clear, sir. My shields should be more than a match for that wimpy field."
While the guards kept watch, the queen moved her mount next to Dreya. She leaned over and kissed me. "Return safely, my prince," she said as she pressed the center of her necklace. The gate swung open silently. I smiled and spurred Dreya forward through the gate and into the unknown.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Ciara walked into the exam room just as Gloria finished getting dressed. On the room's viewer was an image of the spatial rift which had swallowed her brother.
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine now. The Doctor has given me a clean bill of health. Sorry about fainting in the control room, and thanks for catching me."
"I keep trying to requisition coffee-proof carpeting for in there, but nothing seems to work with the stuff those geeks drink. So, want to tell me what this fainting is all about?"
Gloria explained everything from the attack the other night to Royce being her twin brother, to why he's hiding in human form. She finished and stared at Ciara expecting the worst.
"I just talked to Lyscka, your brother's boss. I have never seen a Storen so upset before. His fellow pilots threatened to quit in mass if I fired him."
"Are you?"
"Am I what?"
"Going to fire him?"
"My God, woman! No, I’m not going to fire him. I'll probably give him a raise, definitely a promotion. I hope he doesn't mind being the Face of the Cube for a while. We need the publicity."
"But the Assassin..."
"He'll be in human form as you call it. We'll give him a fake name, and he'll be fine, I promise. Now, about you..."
"What about me?"
"What's going on? Something's been chewing at you ever since you returned from the Rim."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Bullshit! I've known you since the day I started working here. I knew you when you were a disembodied soul living in the computer system, and I knew you when you showed up in your real body."
Gloria said nothing. Instead, she looked more uncomfortable which egged Ciara on even more. "I know, I'll ask John! John knows everything..."
"No! Please, don't bring John into this. I..."
"What? Spit it out, dammit!"
"I... I... I love him, and you're going to marry him," she said. Her face and head fell. She sat there unable to look up at Ciara, unable to face her friend and her boss. Then she felt something odd. Someone sat down next to her and hugged her. She looked up and it was Ciara. Confusion replaced embarrassment.
"Let me tell you a little story. It's about two worlds that live on one planet. One world is populated by a people called humans who have been on the planet for millions of years. The other world is populated by people called Venlantens who crashed on the planet a few thousand years ago. Humans and Venlantens look the same and have very similar genetics. They can have babies and work together except for a very small group of Venlantens called the royals. They can't marry humans nor have babies with them without risking the Venlanten draining the human of blood. One stubborn Venlanten Royal tried marrying a human, twice! Both attempts resulted in the Venlanten trying to drain the one they loved."
"Oh my God! You tried to ..." Gloria whispered with her tail draped over her shoulder and eyes wide in shock.
"Yeah. That's why his neck was bandaged last year. I came within a millimeter of draining him.”
"Ciara, I'm so sorry. He never told me. I thought he cut himself shaving. Are you okay?"
Ciara smiled and brushed the young elf's hair from her eyes. "I'm fine. He blamed himself, of course, but it's not him. It is the price I pay for being a royal. If I want a mate, if I want a family, then I have to find that person in the Venlanten gene pool. My parents warned me, but I chose to ignore them and two fine men almost paid the ultimate price for my arrogance."
"I don't know what to say."
"You need to talk to John, and tell him how you feel about him. He's had a rough time of it, and I know he's always had feelings for you. You two need to clear the air so we can get back to working on the important stuff, like finding your brother. Speaking of finding Royce, we have a meeting to go to if you're up to it."
Gloria nodded as she collected herself and followed Ciara out into the hallway.
###
The meeting room was filled with representatives from every department at the Cube. Ciara called the meeting to order in her own unique way.
"Quiet!" she yelled while dropping a large, library-style dictionary on the table. It was crude, but very effective. "I've talked to Ms. Rosta, the owner of the Sea Banshee about what happened to her. She confirmed our fears that we are dealing with another group of fanatics, this time of the religious variety. Our analysts believe the rest of the League is insulting the fanatic's primary deity by flying around interstellar space. The fanatic who ship-jacked Ms. Rosta has been examined and identified. We are now at Security Condition One with patrols running around the clock."
"Ma'am, we're all wondering how Pilot Aymar took out the perp?" someone from engineering asked.
"Royce shot him through the heart with a single round from his forward fifty caliber chain gun.”
The room went silent punctuated by several low whistles from the Security group.
"Rodney, report," Ciara ordered after a moment.
"The rift is pulsing, which means we have periods where objects can pass through it followed by periods when objects are blocked. Think of it as door which is swinging open, then shut. We sent in probes during the last open period and found a planet in orbit around a main-sequence star. The planet is type-m with signs of civilization." Rodney zoomed in on a small village populated with people who looked a lot like Gloria.
"Elves. My God, they're elves," Gloria said as she walked over to the screen to get a closer look. "Pre-industrial, but far along the agricultural path. Did you find any trace of..." she stopped when she heard the room go silent. She turned and saw everyone in the staring at her. She went to elf form, then admonished the crowd, “See, I'm an elf, my brother's an elf, and those are elves!" she said, "so focus."
"But, ma'am, I know Royce Aymar and he's human," a pilot said from the back of the room.
"Yes, he looks human, but he's really a six-plus foot tall elf with pointed ears, gold slit eyes, and a tail just like mine. The only difference is he’s sort of a battle elf," Gloria said as she flicked hers. "I'll explain later, but for now I need to know if there are any
energy signatures beyond fire places or wood stoves?"
"Yes, ma'am," Rodney said as he brought up a picture of a Castle. "Twenty clicks north of this structure is a large fenced-in area with a complex of structures at its center. We are getting intermittent energy readings from the central-most building."
"Show me," she ordered. Ciara smiled; the old Gloria was back and taking charge.
The view changed to show the central building. It was of a more modern design than the castle or the surrounding villages. "The walls are composed of adamantine steel alloy which is impossible for the level of technology shown in the villages."
"Zoom out, please," Gloria requested. "This is where Royce would go if he was able to travel." She looked closely at the image. "Zoom in on the south side fence perimeter, please."
Rodney tapped his control pad, and the image shifted to a close view of the fence. They could see a road and four figures outside the fence."
"Zoom in, please," Gloria said as she squinted at the image.
The view changed once more. Now they could clearly see four Elves sitting on some very large and formidable looking animals. "That's Royce," Gloria said, pointing to the tall elf wearing a Cube flight suit.
"That's Royce Aymar?" the pilot asked. "No wonder he goes human. He could never fit in a cockpit with that body. Wait a minute, is that the being who took out those two perps in Boffin Alley the other night?"
"Yeah," Gloria said with a smile. "He was always overprotective of his big sister."
"Damn!" the pilot said.
"Enough chitchat," Ciara said. "When can we get a shuttle in there?"
"The next open phase is in eighteen hours," Rodney replied
"Good. Make it happen, people. Dismissed." Ciara said. She looked up and saw Gloria brushing her hand against her brother's image.
"Hang in there, bro. We're coming to get you," Gloria whispered.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
I stopped just inside the entrance and watched the gate shut behind us, sealing us into the enclosure. I looked around and saw the road went only one direction—toward the center. It was quiet in here—too quiet. No birds, no insects, not even a breeze. Just silence.
The landscaping had changed as well. Instead of the forest beauty I just left, I found myself surrounded by some of the nastiest desert plants I have ever seen. They looked like Joshua trees from Earth—tall and spiny with lots of branches, each ending in a ball of sharp fronds. One would have to be desperate, or insane, to climb one. The landscape was covered with them.
I looked down at the ground and saw only rock-strewn desert dirt. Staying here too long will definitely induce depression. "Parker, anything unusual on sensors?"
"Other than a complete lack of any animal life? I think I have found something about a half-mile ahead and fifty yards to the east of the road. It looks like the remains of something that was once living. The signal is about eight feet off the ground and motionless."
That's not good. My mind filled with possibilities, all of which were unpleasant. "Parker, extend scan radius. Are there any other similar signatures?"
"Aye, sir. Working... Sir, I detect thirty-one similar signatures between here and the central building."
I spurred Dreya to pick up the pace. We quickly made it to where we would turn off and head into the forest. Here the trees were too thick for me to see past them. I stopped and looked around anyway. I had this uneasy feeling that we were being watched. "Parker, initiate a low-level security scan until we're back on the road.
"Aye, sir," she replied.
Seeing nothing threatening nearby, I spurred Dreya once more, and we headed into the ugly forest.
"Damn, these trees are nasty," I said as a frond scratched my arm. "Parker, how much further?"
"Ten degrees right, five yards. It should be visible," she said.
I looked up and could see something hanging from a branch. It was big, what was left of it. It was attached to a large branch by a stout rope.
It was once an elf.
I got down off Dreya and walked over to the skeleton. It was big, like my father. It too had a bow, sword, and knife as I did. I could see its neck was snapped, so it died quickly. Something odd about the body, though. Where was the flesh? How long has sir knight been hanging around? "Parker, how old are these remains?"
"Assuming no animal life to scavenge it, I would estimate a minimum of several decades for the wind and lack of humidity to do this to him."
"Him?"
"Yes, sir. His pelvic structure is definitely male."
"What in the name of all that's holy could push him to this? There's nothing here," I said, looking around.
"Sir, need I remind you..."
"No, Parker, I remember wanting to do this sort of thing when I tried to kill my father." I remember the fear that ripped through my very soul. The thought I could harm my family was like a fiery spike through my brain. Thank God Parker was there to help me through that phase. The beast is caged inside me and that is where it will stay...or will it?
"Hey youngster, just hanging out with your buddy there?"
I spun around. I recognized that voice. I stopped when I saw her standing there in full combat gear, holding a sword in her right hand. It was Anna.
"Sir, that's not Lt. Anna. It's a synth."
Lord it looked like Anna. It had her eyes, her ears, and her tail. I think I could detect a whiff of her scent on the still air. I walked toward her, desperate to touch her, to tell her I loved her.
She stood there watching me. "Catawump got your tongue there, boy?"
Dead stop. She never once called me boy. Moron, idiot, slacker, lover, and several other not-polite names, but never boy. Only two people called me boy: My father and Rathstok, my torturer.
I reached up and withdrew my sword from its scabbard and held it in front of me in a relaxed-on guard position, just as Anna had taught me. "Who the hell are you?" I said as I watched her closely. This wasn't Anna, and I wasn't going to fall into the trap of assuming it was her.
"What do you mean, sweetie? It's your Anna," she said as she drew her sword and held it in front of her in low position.
"Who are you?" I repeated as we circled each other. Dreya moved off and munched on some plant she had found, while watching us elves parade around with big knives.
"I'm your Anna, silly!" she said as she moved in and went on the offensive. I was ready for her, parrying each attack as I waited for an opening. Anna taught me that you could either jump in for a quick kill or wait for an opening. The key was patience alternating with guile.
Anna attacked with a fierceness I had not seen before. She stabbed, cut, and thrust like the world was about to end, while I parried each blow. The silence was broken by the clash of metal blade on metal blade. Our breathing became louder, heavier as we swung our blades and moved about dodging and attacking. Growing tired of this onslaught, I deliberately dropped my guard, inviting her blade. She lunged, aiming directly at my hearts. I hesitated for an instant, as the point came within an inch of my flight suit, before turning left and deflecting her point as I went to a back left position. The sound of steel scraping on steel filled my ears. As she continued her thrust, I brought up my sword point to her hearts’ level and plunged it into her chest. The blade passed through her two hearts and out her back. She was dead before her body hit the ground. I felt it odd that Anna was the one who taught me that move.
"Sir, your form is fine today," Parker said.
"Thank you, Parker. Can you glean anything useful from the synth?"
"No, sir. The controlling entity has fled the body."
I walked up to Dreya and patted her shoulder. "Good girl," I said as she nuzzled my neck. I mounted up and headed us back to the road. I took one final look behind us and saw Anna's body was gone, as was the body in the tree. "Parker, what about the other signatures?"
"They're gone sir, as if they never existed."
This is how the virus wanted to play—subterfuge and misdir
ection, but where is it getting its intel? "Parker, have we been scanned since entering the enclosure?"
"No, sir. Even if we were, I've been running a low-level scrambler field around us. Nothing has tried to penetrate it."
"What about before we entered?"
"Working. Dammit," she swore. I don't think I have ever heard Parker swear. "You were scanned three minutes after you were placed in the room you found yourself in."
"Parker, you swore. I didn't know you could swear."
"Sorry, sir. I should have caught the previous scan."
"Don't beat yourself up. We've both had one helluva day."
"Copy that, sir."
We continued our journey north, as a dry breeze blew through the desert landscape.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Gloria looked at the master chrono repeater on the wall in the Biocybernetics lab and saw there were less than eight hours left before the rift opened. She grabbed a hawkbot and opened its instrument bay so she could modify its sensor pack to better detect elf life signs. She stopped and threw the screwdriver across the room in frustration. She had to call her parents, but she had no idea what to say. Tell them Royce is trapped in another galaxy and might not come back? Maybe he's dead. She put her head on the hawkbot and started to cry.
"I'm pretty sure we can fix it."
Gloria jerked her head up and nearly hit John who had come into the lab and sat down next to her. She threw her arms around him and cried into his lab coat.
"Hey there. What's wrong?" he asked all joking going out the airlock.
In halting sobs, she explained everything. Then she went to elf.
He smiled. "Shoot. I'm gone a few days and the place goes to hell," he said, handing her a handkerchief and brushing a wayward strand of hair out of her eyes.
