by Saxon Andrew
Scotty put an imaginary bowgun in his left hand and lifted it to his cheek. He felt no resistance. He noticed Jingo going through several gyrations shooting from different positions so he did the same. “Well?”
“This is amazing. It feels like a second skin.”
“We are also amazed at the material. We had to remove two inches of thickness from it to get to the soft material, but it is extremely flexible. Put the gloves on.”
Scotty took the gloves and slipped them on. They fit perfectly and seemed to mold to his joints. “These are remarkable.”
“Now pull the hood up.”
Scotty reached over his shoulder and pulled the hood up over his head. It covered every inch, and fit tightly to his skull.
Kess nodded in satisfaction, then said, “Now, take it off, pull the lining out, and put it back on.”
Scotty furrowed his brow and pulled the hood off. He felt inside it and found a lightweight piece of material. He pulled it out and put the hood back on. The material fell over his face but he found he could see through it. There were hundreds of small holes that allowed him to see clearly.
“Are you able to see all right?”
“Yes, how did you do this?”
“This is magical stuff, Scotty. The color blending will cover the holes.”
“Why did you make a cape?”
“Why, to cover your quiver. We refuse to cover arrows with it, so we had to find a way to hide them. The oversized quiver is made into the cape, and only the end of the shafts will be at the edge. Shrug your left shoulder and the arrows can be reached.”
Scotty looked over at Jingo and saw him reaching over both shoulders. He tried it and found that she was exactly right. The quiver in the cape was positioned perfectly. Kess then handed him his bowgun, which was covered in the green material. Even the soft stock cover was made from the Zecka. He pulled it to test the weight and was shocked to find it was actually no heavier than it was before the addition of the Zecka covering.
Kess said, “Want to see something we discovered by accident?”
Jingo looked up and Scotty said, “Sure.”
Kess touched the material and it started shifting color.
“What the..?”
“This material will shift color when the one touching it thinks about shifting color. Try it.”
Scotty saw the colors stop shifting when Kess removed her hand. He thought, “Change color.” And the colors began shifting on his new clothing.
Kess said, ‘It appears the Zord were right and wrong. This material will shift color if anyone alive touches it.”
“How do I get it to stop?”
“Just tell it to stop.”
Scotty thought, “Stop shifting,” and it did.
Jingo said, “I’m going to miss my swords.”
Gres said, “Not so fast.” She turned around and handed him a belt with the four short swords. The handles and the scabbards were covered in the green material. Kess handed Scotty his belt. He put it on and it was a perfect fit.
Scotty said, “You have done a remarkable thing here. Thank you.”
The two came up and hugged both of them. Kess said, “Just honor them as much as we did making them.”
Scotty knelt and said, “You know we will.”
Gres said, “Your brothers are waiting outside to see you.”
Scotty nodded at Jingo and they opened the door and stepped outside.
The Riders stood, then knelt in front of them. Michael Blake said, “We give honor and respect to the first Zeckas of our brothers. May they bring honor to you through great deeds.”
Scotty said, “Please rise, my brothers, and enter to begin the making of your Zeckas.”
Michael Blake was the first to enter to be measured for his Zecka.
Jing came forward and hugged Jingo, “You have always made me proud to be your father.”
Jingo hugged him and lowered his head. Jing then hugged Scotty, “And you are also my son. We are all proud of the great young man you have become. Please come with me.”
They followed him to the clearing and found the entire community waiting with blossoms from the giant trees. As they entered the clearing, the assembly threw flowers along their path. When they reached the center, Samuel raised his hands and everyone bowed to them.
“Great creator, we give honor to the Zeckas that adorn our sons. We vow to give honor and only perform honorable actions while you are with us. Thank you for your gift of protection.”
The community all rose and rushed forward to congratulate the two archers. Scotty and Jingo were both humbled and happy. The celebration lasted well into the evening. The Zord flying high overhead left to inform the community of what he had seen, and to tell the two flyers their riders were ready.
Chapter Seven
The two Zord flew effortlessly towards the north. They glided most of the time, letting hot thermal columns of air lift them high, then soared forward. Scotty sat on Vring’s back, staring at the ground far below. Most of the land had been reclaimed by the forest, but there were vast wastelands to the west. “Hey, Vring! Do I see plant life out in the wastelands?”
“Yes, you do. It appears the death breath has diminished greatly and is now low enough for plants and animals to return. Torg live on it now, unaffected.”
“The planet is healing itself.”
“That’s the way it seems.” The two flew in silence, then Vring said, “You know I had many opportunities to kill you before you fixed my wing.”
Scotty sat up straight, “What? When?”
“You have always gone to the hill to stare at stars. I remember seeing you there ten of your years ago.”
“I always had my bowgun handy.”
“You weren’t always as good as you are now. I would watch you practice occasionally.”
“Why didn’t you take me?”
“I heard your thoughts. I listened to your dreams and felt the sorrow of your mother’s loss. I guess I felt you had been given bad luck and you didn’t deserve it. I enjoyed your feelings when you looked up at the sky.”
“Your father would have thought you weak for your actions.”
“He actually did just that. He sent me to take you specifically when you came and saved my life. I was injured getting ready to kill you that night.”
Scotty didn’t say anything. “I guess what the greatest Queen of the Holy Realm said was right.”
“What did she say?”
“There are no accidents.”
“In hindsight, I’m thankful I had mine.”
“Me too, Vring.”
“What are you planning to do when we arrive?”
“This trip is to gather information to formulate a plan. That’s why I’m glad Jingo came with us. He’s much better than I am at that. He sees things that I don’t.”
“We all have our gifts.”
“Look at him; he’s sleeping on Cezee’s back.”
“It’s the safest place to sleep. You should try yourself. We’ll arrive tomorrow and you haven’t slept. We’ll be pretty much on auto glide for the rest of the night. Take your feet out of the bindings and I’ll make sure you don’t fall.”
Scotty removed his feet and leaned back on the broad shoulders of the giant Zord. He looked up at the stars knowing he could never sleep, then fell asleep ten minutes later.
Vring and Cezee caught the rising warm air masses and rose and glided without having to flap their wings. The night passed silently and smoothly. Scotty woke as the sun came over the horizon and stretched his arms and legs. He had a dream of a young woman with green eyes and auburn colored hair. The dream slipped from his mind as he tried to remember. All that remained was her asking him, “Who are you?” He knew he had seen her face before, but he couldn’t remember where. She was beautiful, and her expression was one of wonder.
“How much longer before we arrive?”
“We will be where we can see the fields at mid-afternoon. I think we should not venture
close during daylight.”
“How am I going to learn anything if I can’t get close enough to see the layout of the community?”
“I’ll let you watch through my eyes. I’ll give you my vision.”
“Fair enough, Vring. Let Jingo know what we’re doing.”
“Cezee just told him.”
Vring flew over a large flock of birds that were circling a forest, “We’ll circle here and take a look at those fields. If they use their scanner, they might think we’re part of that flock below.”
“What has them disturbed?”
“A family of Torg just entered the trees.”
“That is disturbing.”
Vring looked at the huge field ten miles away and focused in on the beings laboring in it. He sent his vision to Scotty. Scotty closed his eyes and saw the field as if it were only a half mile away. “Wow. You have great vision.”
“Comes with the territory; we have to be able to see from high altitude.”
Scotty saw the laborers in the field and then he saw the fifteen guards sitting in chairs on the hills adjacent to the fields. They were all holding weapons and watching the workers. He watched as Vring focused on one of them, and immediately saw the one that had killed his mother. His expression hardened and he vowed that one was going to be his to handle. Vring then started looking at the various species in the fields and Scotty said, “Stop. Go back to that last one.”
“Which one?”
“The Human.”
Vring circled slightly closer to the fields and looked at the one Scotty wanted to see. It was the girl in his dream. Vring immediately saw Scotty’s surprise. “You’ve seen her!”
“Yes, in a dream last night flying here. I also know her face. I have seen it somewhere before.”
“Well, what do you want to do about it?”
“Vring, I notice that large numbers of the workers go into the woods and quickly return.”
“If ya gotta go…”
Scotty laughed, “Where did you hear that?”
“You need look no further than the one on Cezee’s back.”
“Sounds like him.” Scotty thought a moment, and then decided, “Find a place for us to land for the night. I have an idea and I want to discuss it with Jingo to see what he thinks.”
Vring circled higher, then picked a grove of trees on the edge of the forest. The two huge Zord flew lower and Scotty pulled his bowgun. There were three Torg on the edge of the trees and all three were downed quickly. The Zord landed and the other ten members of the Torg family fled, having never seen such large creatures. Jingo said, “Bon Appetite. Enjoy your meal.” He turned to Scotty and said, “What’s up?”
“I’ve had a dream.”
“So how’s that different from what you normally do?”
“In my dream I saw one of the workers in the field.”
Jingo’s eyes narrowed, “Are you sure it was the same one and not someone who looked like them?”
“It was her, Jingo. I want to try to capture her and take her back with us. The Zord are right. I don’t know enough to just go in close and endanger them. She’s Human and she can tell us things we just can’t see from a distance.”
Jingo thought about his idea and sat down, keeping one of his bowguns in his hand. “All right, here’s how we’ll do it.”
“You’ve already come up with a plan?”
“Yep, but you’ll have to take a risk. You and Vring will have to leave as soon as it gets dark. There is a small line of trees next to the fields.”
“I’ve seen them.”
“I noticed that this appears to be the community bathroom. It’s a wonder those trees aren’t a thousand feet high with that much fertilizer.”
Scotty shook his head and Jingo continued. You and Vring should fly on the backside of those trees and wait until she takes a trip to the woods, if you know what I mean.”
“Then what?”
“Simple. You grab her, run your Human backside off, and jump on Vring. He’ll have to fly low for about three miles so as not to be seen above those trees until he gets behind the hills. Then he’ll head straight out until he’s far enough away to gain altitude.”
“You make it sound easy.”
“No, it’s not going to be easy. There’s a guard about a hundred yards from the tree line that goes into those trees if someone is slow coming out.”
“I didn’t notice that.”
“What you probably didn’t see as well is that he is carrying a blaster.”
“That isn’t good.”
“No, and he’ll be able to see her even if he can’t see you and Vring. If he fires at her, he’ll probably get you as well. Still want to try it?”
“Yes, at the very least I should be able to see more from that location even if I can’t make this happen.”
“I was going to suggest going there myself, but now that we’re after one of the laborers, she will probably cooperate faster with you than me.”
“That’s true.”
“Better go ahead and eat. If you’re successful, you don’t need to carry any extra weight.”
“I’m going to leave most of my arrows with you.”
“I don’t know about that, Scotty.”
“If I need any, I’ll be running away from whatever would cause me to use them.”
“How many are you taking?”
“One bundle in the gun.”
“Better make it count.”
“How am I going to know when she’s coming to the woods?”
“We’ll be watching for her. As soon as she starts your way, Cezee will tell Vring and he can tell you.”
Scotty took a deep breath and shrugged, “Can you think of a better idea?”
“Scotty, I am not going to take Cezee where he might be killed. I will take risks, but I will not endanger him. Knowing they can see us with their scanners will keep me away. I agree with you. We need inside information on how they operate, and this dream of yours must have some kind of meaning. I can’t think of any other way to really learn anything without endangering our Zord.”
“I agree. We’ll leave as soon as Vring finishes his meal.”
Sunrise was coming and Scotty and Vring were hiding at the edge of the forest next to the field. Scotty said, “Well, I’m going to go in the forest and spy on our hosts.”
“I’m concerned about you being able to get out of the trees before she is seen by that guard,”
Scotty sighed and said, “I know. Where’s a Torg when you need one?”
“What do you mean?”
“I was thinking that if a Torg roared, that guard is not going to go rushing into anything, blaster or not. No one in their right mind would go in the brush with a Torg around.”
“I can roar like a Torg.”
“What?!?”
“It’s easy. That’s how we try to lure them out of the forest.”
“Let me think about this.”
“Take your time. She’s not coming anytime soon.”
“How do you know that?”
“Ladies don’t like such dirty behavior. She’ll wait as long as possible.”
“Most of them go during their meal time. I hope she doesn’t come with a crowd.”
“Would you?”
Scotty snickered, “You know me too well. No, I’d make sure I went alone.”
“So will she; Humans are funny that way.”
“Vring, I’m going to need your help on this.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t want the guard looking for her. I’m going to kill one of those grecks up in the trees and scatter its blood at the site where she enters the forest. I’m going to grab her and that’s when you roar and run out of the trees. “I’ll come right behind you. As big as you are the guard will have to know it’s a huge Torg that attacked her. He won’t rush in.”
“What if he burns the forest?”
“He won’t.”
“Why not?”
“
Even guards need bathrooms.”
Vring started laughing.
“Let’s go into the trees. You turn around so you can make a fast escape and make as much noise as you can running through the brush.”
“I don’t think that will be a problem.”
Scotty chuckled, “Me, either.” He reached up and pulled his visor down over his face and they moved into the forest.
Juliette Larson felt her back hurting, but ignored the pain. She was sitting on the ground picking small yellow pods and putting them in a basket. She hated the pods; they were the same color as the Magrum. She thought about the dream that had come again last night. Why did she keep having that dream? She took a deep breath and glanced across the field at her parents picking pods. All they’ve ever known is backbreaking work. She looked at the sky and asked the Creator to save them from this horrible existence. She wondered why her family was being punished. Then she shook her head; it was because of the blasphemy of attacking the Creator’s Holy Realm. Her family had the misfortune of living on one of the planets that sent their ships to attack the Realm. But how long must she atone for those sins? “Please save us from this. I beg you. Please save us.” Julie continued working and though she tried to wait, she had to make a trip to the woods. She stood and held up her hand. The guard nodded to her.
Jingo and Cezee were circling keeping a close eye on the Human female. Jingo was amazed that she went all morning and never moved toward the trees. “That’s incredible. He had already had to land twice while Cezee circled without him. Finally she stood and said something to a guard. The guard nodded and she started toward the trees. “Let them know,”
“White Hair, she’s coming.”
Scotty thought, “I see her.” He moved to the edge of the trees she was approaching and took the greck he had shot and used his sword to cut it and spread its blood all over the bushes and surrounding trees. As she moved closer he moved next to a tree and waited. She walked in twenty steps and stopped. Scotty reached out and grabbed her from behind. She issued a loud scream and Scotty hit her under her chin and threw her over his shoulder.
