Tomarkus and the Betrayed Planet

by Vishal Ved

  At last the council called Dodus to present his proposal, but this time he had his own conditions. He wanted to become chief of MOX council on the new planet. At first, the council got extremely angry, but given that Tomarkus was strangulating, they finally became willing to consider it.

  It was the greatest day in Dodus’s life, and he invited the council families to his home for explaining the proposal. But there was still one council member who was resentful of Dodus and, during the feast, he stealthily entered Dodus’s personal room. After a while the trespasser came out with something that shook everyone to their bones.

  It was a formula for creating a new species of fungi to eat up all the dueso from Tomarkus using the fungi sample their ancestors had preserved from Santona. The angry council sliced Dodus and the kiro living with him to pieces, but their son Puk managed to escape. Puk ran away with the coordinates of the new planet which his father had discovered, and the council desperately kept trying to find the planet in the vast sky, but could never find it.

  When they couldn’t find Puk even after two years, the council considered him dead. But two years ago, four MOX families were killed in one night and a similar note was found from each murder site: ‘You killed my family, I’ll kill each of you. Your only chance of survival is to surrender. Or be prepared to meet your doom’ The note was signed “Puk/Mesek”.’

  Ariet gasped in shock.

  Griex continued, ‘The next morning, MOX found out that one of their sergeants who overlooked Hydus had gone missing, and his name was Mesek.’ Griex sighed. ‘Some families who were threatened by Mesek surrendered and he took their seteks and their ancestral anti-gravity stones. But other families didn’t surrender, believing surrender to be a sure death because Mesek knows no mercy. Now If Mesek wins this war, he would become the ruler on Tomarkus, and merely employ prisoners as his soldiers but there would be no change whatsoever in the fate of the slaves of Hydus.’

  Ariet couldn’t believe what he just heard. It took great effort to calm himself. The scattered pieces of the puzzle clicked together as the centerpiece was discovered. Plunging his head between the legs, he cursed his miserable life—the years he had lived on Tomarkus as a slave, and now this final betrayal. Mesek’s rebellion had been a mission of personal vendetta, not a plan to free the slaves.

  ‘I know how you feel Ariet, but only you can free the slaves. There has never been an opportunity as good as this before.’

  ‘What do you mean, opportunity? Cenoy is with a monster, I’m here stuck in Calamus, there are hundreds of thousands of slaves in Hydus. How exactly do you see this as an opportunity,’ Ariet bursted out his feelings.

  ‘Failures bring with them the seed of opportunity, but you’ll find it only if you seek it.’ Griex had shown him the path, but it was up to him to take it.

  35.

  Dealing with Evil

  Griex had earlier asked Ariet to stop his communication with Cenoy until he could tell the sato the whole secret, else Ariet wouldn’t be able to answer all of Cenoy’s questions, and she would attack again and destroy Calamus completely this time. But now Griex himself asked the sato to call Cenoy and have a conversation with her.

  Cenoy was sitting in her chamber when Ariet called. When she felt the buzzing in her head and heard the sato’s voice, she was filled with relief. But they both had shocking news for each other. Cenoy told Ariet that Hak was the spy Kibesu, while Ariet told her the dark story of Tomarkus and Mesek’s reality.

  Devastated, and heartbroken, the kiro felt tears welling in her eyes. Cenoy had never doubted Mesek and believed in him from the depths of her heart, but now she could do nothing but blame herself for slaughtering uncountable families in Calamus for Mesek.

  ‘What do we do next?’ asked Cenoy.

  ‘I can’t think of anything other than to free our pals from Hydus,’ replied Ariet, looking at Griex who was listening to him carefully.

  ‘But how? We have no forces, and it’s like the two of us are trying to move a mountain.’

  ‘Griex says, failures bring with them the seed of opportunity,’ replied Ariet. Griex smiled at that.

  ‘We could put a proposal before Calamus that if they free all the slaves on Hydus, we will save the MOX families from Mesek,’ suggested Ariet, doubtfully.

  ‘I doubt it will work, but there seems no other way,’ Cenoy said. Her voice suddenly turned into a hiss.

  ‘What happened? is there someone around?’ Ariet asked, but the call got disconnected.

  Griex said, ‘I’ll convey your proposal to the council and will let you know what do they think. Frankly, I can’t imagine the life of MOX families without slaves. From food to construction, everything is done by slaves.’

  ‘I’ll wait for their reply, and I can’t thank you enough for all of your help and concern about us,’ said Ariet. Griex smiled and left the chamber.

  Griex headed to the meeting hall where he informed the council members that after coming out from Hydus Ariet had understood that the whole of Hydus was a slave city and he had made up his mind to free every slave.

  ‘We can’t accept such a proposal Griex, you know that very well,’ the council chief replied angrily. Some of the others nodded in agreement.

  ‘But at least we will be alive, chief,’ another council member spoke, standing from his seat.

  ‘I don’t think anybody from your family would ever want to do all the dirty and difficult work that the slaves do,’ snapped the Chief. ‘Anyway, we can make him do anything we want, he is a slave and we know how to get things done.’ Everyone laughed at chief’s comment and agreed.

  ‘Wait, there is no need for that,’ Griex stood up from his seat, ‘If you use your power, it will be your biggest mistake after killing Dodus twenty years ago. So many of you have already lost your families. All the sato has to do is utter a few words and that kiro will destroy Calamus completely.’

  The mirth faded from everyone’s face as quickly as it had arrived. Their terrified faces were evidence that they could well imagine the situation Griex warned about.

  ‘Then what do you suggest?’ Chief asked.

  ‘We use the sato to kill Mesek first and then we’ll lock him up in prison.’

  Griex’s plan received consent of all including the chief, who seemed to be very pleased with the idea.

  ‘But you are not allowed to meet him alone anymore,’ the chief told Griex sternly, ‘because we all know that your family has been insisting on the freedom of slaves from generations.’

  ‘I agree to the condition,’ replied Griex, ‘but you may want to use him in planning as well. He has been to Marcamaayu and knows its ways.’

  Ariet was brought to the council chamber, escorted by four guards, two on each side, keeping the sato in firm check.

  There was loud muttering as Ariet entered. It was the first time they were seeing Ariet from this close, and his presence brought back the memories of the deadly massacre. Ariet looked gaunt and weak as he had not been given any food or water for the past two days, and not a few council members seemed to take pleasure in his depleted state.

  ‘We agree to your conditions Ariet, and assure you there will be no slaves after the battle is over,’ the chief said, boldly looking Ariet in the eye.

  ‘Bring him some food and water; he might never have tasted delicious food without having to steal it,’ said a kiro, and everybody chuckled.

  ‘Ask your kiro to help in killing Mesek,’ said an old member of council.

  ‘Her name is Cenoy,’ Ariet shouted angrily, and the old fugit fell back in his seat, taken aback by the fierce response...

  36.

  Four Rotten Bodies

  ‘It doesn’t matter, because even without seteks Mesek’s force is powerful enough to burn Calamus down to ashes and guard Marcamaayu from its almost destroyed enemy.’ Cenoy was talking to Ariet, hiding herself in a deserted corner of Marcamaayu.

  ‘Do you think there is a way to call upon someone in the Marcamaayu force to
attack Mesek?’ asked Ariet.

  ‘It’s impossible, he’ll be careful not to be caught alone. Mesek’s a great warrior himself but he won’t take a chance now when Xena has been killed,’ replied the kiro.

  ‘Maybe he will want to be alone to mourn her. All you need to do is convince him you won’t compromise with his safety and wipe out Calamus.’

  ‘Okay, I’ll try,’ replied Cenoy and disconnected the call.

  Crossing the long gloomy corridor, Cenoy reached Mesek’s chamber where he was lying in his pod, sad and lost in the memory of his beloved. He rolled in the pod to face Cenoy as she stepped inside.

  ‘Haeres, I’m launching another attack on Calamus with full force, and for your protection I’ll leave few soldiers here,’ said Cenoy. She avoided looking at him as she was sure he would see the deep hatred she now felt for him in her eyes.

  ‘No dear, don’t leave Marcamaayu until you train some soldiers to use seteks. We’re more vulnerable than ever here now,’ replied Mesek, in a sad voice.

  Although Mesek appeared completely shattered by Xena’s loss, he clearly was alert enough about his own safety. Cenoy knew she had to move carefully; overlooking anything could result in her death, and the slaves would never see the light of freedom again.

  ‘Ariet, you there?’ said Cenoy quietly after returning to her chamber.

  'Yes,’ replied Ariet, whispering as he didn’t want to attract any unnecessary attention from the guards outside.

  ‘There is a very serious problem. Mesek won’t allow me to attack unless I train some soldiers to use the setek, but that will increase difficulties for us,’ said the kiro very softly.

  ‘Give me some time. I’ll think of something,’ said Ariet, and cut the call.

  Ariet couldn’t sleep all night, trying to think of a plan. What if the Calamus soldiers could attack Marcamaayu even without moving the odium soldiers out, thought Ariet, but quickly reminded himself that he had gone over this and it was a useless idea. What if Cenoy could kill Mesek herself? The idea seemed good, but scary at the same time. Ideas kept popping up in his mind all night, but none of them saw the light of day. Too exhausted to think, the sato fell asleep on the floor itself instead of Griex's broken pod.

  Ariet woke up the next day with a strange and hypothetical thought in his mind—what if he could secretly send some setek soldiers from Calamus to Marcamaayu. A bad idea again, he told himself. Marcamaayu must have taken precautions against infiltration. Frustrated Ariet banged his head against the wall and suddenly a thought struck him—how had Hak and those four other spies entered Marcamaayu?

  The sato thought of asking Griex about it but as soon as he started contacting Griex he realized that Griex’s family had never received a zeng implant as nobody thought they were of any use. Finally, Ariet connected to Cenoy and asked, ‘Cenoy, there must be a secret passage through which Hak and the other four spies came inside Marcamaayu.’

  ‘What? No, yesterday Mesek told me that MOX must have planted Hak into Carcerem on purpose, and Mesek picked him for his bravery just like he picked me, but which four spies are you talking about?’

  ‘Yeah, there were four more spies inside Marcamaayu and they were all setek soldiers from Calamus.’

  Cenoy was utterly shocked to learn that some of Hak’s setek followers had actually been from Calamus.

  ‘Hak must have brought them here from Carcerem strategically because Mesek often sent him alone to bring prisoners,’ said the kiro thoughtfully.

  ‘If we could only get an open passage to Marcamaayu we could kill Mesek easily,’ said Ariet, frustrated.

  ‘With all odium soldiers here it's nearly impossible Ariet, but don't worry. I'll kill him myself, and nothing will please me more,’ replied the kiro, clenching her fists.

  'No, Cenoy that's very risky and you know that you're the only hope Hydus has now.’

  'Yes mate, but we don't have much time either. I have to do this.’

  There was a long silence, then Ariet whispered,'Please take care of yourself and stay in touch.’ In his mind, the sato was worried that the kiro’s anger had blinded her to the danger of the task, which could well be a suicide mission.

  Disconnecting the call Cenoy took out her setek and crept towards Mesek's chamber carefully, but to her great surprise Mesek wasn't there. Determined to kill him even at the risk of her own, Cenoy set out to search for Mesek inside Marcamaayu. As she passed Hak’s chamber, some deep instinct made her pause.

  Hak’s chamber was in the same shattered state as she had seen it in last time. The kiro went to the corner, looking for the secret chamber in which he had hid the spies from Calamus. But look as she might, she could not find any secret chamber, there was not even a hole in the wall. Bewildered Cenoy, started checking the corner even more carefully, tapping her hands on every inch of the wall, but the wall was not an illusion as she suspected.

  At last, the kiro drew out her setek and turned on its vibrating mode. Instantly, a gate opened in the wall. Cenoy stepped back in astonishment. she had discovered the secret chamber.

  When she stepped inside, she realized it was not a chamber at all, but a tunnel which was stinking badly. The kiro ran through the long seemingly unending tunnel in the hope that it would lead outside, but she came out into an old house where she saw four rotten dead bodies of Marcamaayu soldiers.

  Had Hak killed them to get his four spies inside, Cenoy wondered. When the kiro looked around she spotted a hole in the roof through which light was filtering inside. The kiro went to the hole and to her astonishment she saw something she had least expected—the hole opened somewhere inside Calamus from where the kiro could clearly see one of the destructed Calamus storeys.

  37.

  Lightning Bolts in the Pool

  ‘I’m proud of the way you’ve trained these soldiers in a short span of just two days. You’re an even better trainer than me,’ said Mesek, grinning, as he looked at the group of about twenty newly trained setek soldiers.

  ‘It’s just your training haeres, which has taught me how to train others well,’ said Cenoy, with a fake smile, even as she cursed him deep in her heart.

  ‘Now go and finish off those cowards. I can’t wait to see all of them dead,’ said Mesek, gleefully. Then, he paused. ‘What about Ariet, has he returned? I almost forgot to ask about him in all this confusion.’

  ‘No haeres, they still have him,’ replied Cenoy, sadly.

  ‘It’s okay, we all need to make sacrifices in life,’ said Mesek, briskly, ‘It’s his turn to sacrifice himself for the larger cause.’

  ‘Haeres, I’ll be ready with the force in some time,’ said Cenoy.

  Gathering her odium army behind her, the kiro marched to the great wall of Marcamaayu. Mesek popped five barrels himself for the whole army to pass and soldiers started crossing to the other side of the tunnel, each bowing to Mesek as they passed him. Cenoy was the last to cross over; she looked at Mesek with determination, hiding all the bitterness in the depths of her heart.

  Mesek’s eyes sparkled with confidence as he wished Cenoy success, and the kiro closed all the gates behind her. Mesek checked all the gates twice before crossing the shallow pool and heading back to his chamber. The silence in Marcamaayu was odd and scary, it felt like everyone was dead. He had never felt this alone in Marcamaayu before; Xena was dead and so was half of his happiness.

  Mesek had just lay down in his pod when suddenly he heard a sound as if a pointed rock was striking the ground and he leapt from his pod. The falling of stalactites was not unusual in Marcamaayu but the strange thing was that it was happening immediately after Mesek’s army had left.

  Mesek came out of his chamber and shrieked,‘Soldiers! Go and check, where the rock fell’ The two guards standing outside his chamber ran to obey and disappeared down the gloomy corridor. Mesek looked around for replacement guards who should have immediately come to secure his chamber as the other two left, but there were none. Hadn’t Cenoy instructed them properly?
/>   Angry, Mesek strode down the eerie corridor towards the floating plank where odium soldiers used to train, but Mesek sensed something unusual. The reflection of the big central lamp which hovered over the plank wasn’t reaching the corridor as it usually did. Darkness stretched ahead even when Mesek was just a few feet away from the floating plank. Had the stalactite fallen on the lamp? But wait how was that even possible when there was no rock above the lamp?

  Mesek took a deep breath, preparing himself for something unexpected. He drew out his setek and crept further in the corridor, but what he saw shocked him to the core—the anti gravity stone that had lifted the gigantic lamp, was gone, and the lamp was lying shattered on the plank.

  Mesek had seized the ancient anti-gravity stones from MOX families who had surrendered to him and combined them all in a single disc. He had kept that disc in the middle of floating plank, because it would remain heavily guarded all the times by the soldiers practicing underneath.

  But who could have stolen it from Marcamaayu and when had it happened? Terrified, Mesek put out his setek’s light as he heard multiple footsteps approaching. He slipped into the pool without wasting another moment. Four glowing seteks came into view, and from under the water he could hear their voices, though he couldn’t understand what they were saying. Holding his breath, Mesek stayed under the water until they had gone.

  Were they Calamus soldiers? The thought terrified Mesek, as he imagined himself being horribly tortured before his death, as revenge for the way he had tortured many Calamus families. When he couldn’t hold his breath any longer, Mesek scrambled upon the plank and crawled until he could hide himself behind the walls.

  ‘Cenoy, come back,’ he whispered into his zeng, shivering with fear. ‘Calamus troopers have killed our soldiers and they are inside Marcamaayu.’

  ‘How is that possible, haeres, I closed the gate by myself,’ Cenoy replied.

  ‘Just come. Immediately,’ Mesek snapped in irritation, half out of his mind in fear.