Galen's Way: A Starquest 4th Age Adventure

by Richard Paolinelli

  “You’re telling me a mercenary can have scruples, Professor?”

  “This one does, yes. I would stake my life on it.”

  “And so would I,” Rhiannon added, her anger with Ellaneiri still burning in her eyes.

  “By coming here, that is exactly what you both have done,” he replied as he considered the situation. She was young and could be mistaken. He was not so old as to have forgotten how blind love could be. But it could also be capable of seeing that which others did not. And the Professor in her company was certainly old enough not to be so easily fooled.

  Was their faith in this mercenary enough for him to risk his world on though?

  “If he has not gone to Salacia to cut a deal,” he asked finally. “Then what does he hope to accomplish there? I cannot believe Iodocus’ security would allow him a chance to kill their King.”

  “He would only need a small opening,” Lir replied. “With his training, and his skill, he could do it before they even realized he was moving.”

  “They’d kill him an instant later,” Ellaneiri replied.

  “Yes, they would,” Lir agreed. “And he’d consider trading his life to end Iodocus’ a sacrifice worthy of making because it would save the Princess.”

  “Not to stop a war? Not to end the reign of a madman? But to save…”

  “The woman he loves,” Lir finished. “Galen Dwyn is the kind of man who would charge into a blazing star with an empty water bucket on any given day. But if the life of the woman he’s given his heart to was in jeopardy, he’d charge into a million stars empty-handed. He went to Salacia to save her. That was all the reason he would need.”

  “We came here to ask you to help us,” Rhiannon stepped in. “Help us stop my father. Help us stop the needless bloodshed of war. Help us save…”

  Her voice faltered, her eyes watered with tears. But she held them at bay, cleared her throat, and continued.

  “…and help us save Galen,” she finished firmly.

  “Your Highness,” Ellaneiri replied, moved by the power of her love for this mercenary at the heart of the current storm raging within the Alliance. “He must be quite the man, judging from the description you two have given. Such a man should be rallied behind indeed.

  “But the sad truth is this,” he continued. “Even if Chancellor Napat were to survive the Senate’s vote in three days’ time and threw his support behind my forces, along with any who might join with us, your father has amassed a military force that would be difficult to defeat. We would need every world in the Alliance with us, and right now that simply is not the case.”

  “You know your daughter lives today because of Galen Dwyn,” Lir pointed out, a hint of anger in his voice. “He rescued her from a living hell along with three other women, including the Princess herself, and returned her to you. He refused any reward, asked you for nothing in return. And now, in his hour of need, this is how you repay him? By letting him die without lifting a finger in aid?!”

  “If it were just myself,” Ellaneiri replied calmly, understanding the man’s anger, “I would go to Salacia with an empty water bucket myself and do what I could for the man who saved my daughter’s life. But I am not just a father of a rescued daughter,” he continued. “I am the First Prime of my people, sir, and I must put their safety and the safety of this entire planet above my own wants and desires. If I were to do otherwise, I would not be worthy of my position.

  “I am sorry, Highness,” he turned to Rhiannon. “I truly am. But as things stand now, there is nothing I can do for him but pray he succeeds in this mission he has undertaken and that it prevents the bloodshed we both fear. I can grant you sanctuary on Caletos for as long as you wish to remain here. No one will harm either of you. Your Galen wanted you to be safe. It is the reason why he went to Salacia. Let us honor that the best way we can.”

  “There must be something more,” she looked pleadingly over at Lir, one tear breaking free to race down her pale cheek.

  An aide quickly stepped into the room.

  “Sir, a message from one of the ships trailing the Salacian fleet.”

  “You’re following Iodocus’ ships?” Lir asked.

  “Keeping an eye on them discreetly, yes,” Ellaneiri replied. “What is the message? Read it aloud.”

  “The ship we believe Dwyn has stolen has docked with a strange-looking sphere in an uncharted system in unexplored space,” the aide reported. “The fleet is closing in on his position now and should be in weapons range in half an hour.”

  “Galen stole a ship from the Salacians?” Lir remarked, suddenly alert as the rest of the report sank in. “A strange-looking sphere? Did they give any additional information? Did they send a vid of it?”

  “They were having trouble locking scanners on it,” the aide replied. “They were only able to get a vid by locking on the docked scout ship.”

  “Show it to me,” Lir ordered.

  Ellaneiri nodded his approval and the aide stepped over to the vid screen on the wall and touched a button on the panel. A fuzzy image appeared but it was good enough for Lir.

  “By the gods,” he exclaimed standing up excitedly. “By the gods! He found one!”

  “He found what, Professor?”

  Suddenly, the old man paled and all but fell back into his chair. He looked over at the Princess with a combination of horror and extreme sadness.

  “Oh my poor dear,” he whispered, and he clasped her hands, tears suddenly forming in his own eyes. “Oh my poor, poor dear…”

  “What is it, Lir,” she replied fearfully. “What is that thing?”

  “He’s found an Armageddon Sphere,” Lir replied, turning to look at Ellaneiri. “Now I know why he went to Salacia. He didn’t go there to kill Iodocus. He went there to draw that fleet to the sphere.”

  “To what end, Professor?”

  “He’s going to use that sphere to destroy every ship in that fleet,” Lir replied. “He’s going to give you, Napat, and the rest of the Alliance the opportunity you need to stop Iodocus without risking your worlds.

  “He went there to save you, my dear,” Lir continued, turning back to Rhiannon. “And me, and you, sir, and all of us at the cost of his own life.”

  “Sir!” The face of a Caletosian officer appeared on the screen.

  “Yes, what is it now?”

  “We just received a priority message from Galen Dwyn,” she reported. “It’s on our highest security channel. Dwyn requests that we stand by for a message to be relayed to the Princess Rhiannon in three minutes.”

  “How in the twentieth hell does he know she’s here?”

  “The message is being sent here, to Taygeta, Axaltier, Y’pslandi and another location beyond Arkon and all on secure channels. We’re not sure how he managed to access those channels…”

  “Sanctuary,” Lir murmured. “He must think we’re still there waiting for him.”

  “Very well, pipe the message down here when it arrives,” he ordered.

  “This mercenary of yours, Highness…”

  “Yes?”

  “I’m glad he’s on our side,” Ellaneiri said wryly. “We’d all be in big trouble otherwise.”

  TWENTY-THREE

  Galen looked up at the overlay. The Salacians were still closing in and it appeared as if they’d brought every single one of their capital ships, too. They were spreading out now, trying to make it harder for him to shoot them before they could open fire, believing their sheer numbers would carry the day.

  They truly had no idea how wrong they were.

  He had roughly twenty minutes before they’d all be in range. Time enough to send his last message. He depressed the record key, looked directly at the in-console camera and spoke.

  * * * * *

  “This is Galen Dwyn,” the message began playing on the screen in Ellaneiri’s office. “This message is for Her Highness, Princess Rhiannon, and Professor Lir Fiachra. But is also concerns you, Chancellor Napat, as well as Pepin Ellaneiri of Caletos, K�
�Laine of Axaltier and Lonshanks of Y’pslandi.

  “Listen to the message carefully,” he continued. “but make sure it finds Rhiannon and Lir. They were supposed to remain in hiding until I contacted them, but if I know those two they have headed for one of your worlds instead.”

  “I am transmitting a secondary signal attached to this message,” he reached over and tapped a control. “Recordings of King Iodocus and his chief aide, Adalwin Harmool, along with additional recordings of a man named Dunstan Vedastus. I do not have enough time to walk you through each one. Suffice to say, they provide all the evidence you will need to present to the Senate of crimes committed by King Iodocus, Queen Dariann and the King’s advisor, Harmool. Crimes they intended to place at the feet of the Chancellor with the stated goal of Iodocus replacing Napat and then naming himself Emperor.”

  “We are receiving the secondary data flow,” the aide reported quietly.

  “My mother knew…?” Rhiannon whispered, her face turning bone white in shock. Lir placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and shook his head sadly.

  “I have drawn the Salacian fleet to this device in the unexplored territories,” Galen continued. “It is called an Armageddon Shield. Professor Fiachra can fill you in on its origins. For now, all you need to know at this time is that it is capable of destroying this fleet, and I intend to use it to do so as soon as every ship is within range.

  “Without this fleet, Iodocus will be toothless. Now that you know the truth about the crimes he has committed, I would suggest that you move against Salacia and take him and the Queen into custody. You need not worry about Harmool as it is very likely he is on the flagship of this fleet. He was led to believe he would find Princess Rhiannon here. Instead, he will find only death.”

  Galen paused, looked down for a moment and then continued.

  “The rest of what I have to say is for Lir and Rhea, please make sure they hear this,” he continued. “Lir, I hope you can forgive me. I found this place lunes ago. But I wanted to surprise you by showing it to you in person. It seems your stories were more than just stories after all, old man. I sent along as much data and vids as I could in the data pack. I know it isn’t the same as having the real thing to study, but I doubt there’s going to be anything left of this one after the show ends.

  “Rhea will need a trusted advisor and a friend in the days, lunes, and cycles to come,” Galen said. “Be that for her as you were for me back in the Academy.” He smiled slightly. “Hopefully, she’ll do a better job listening to you than I did.”

  “You did just fine, boy,” Lir’s voice trembled.

  “Rhea,” Galen looked at the screen as if he could look through the distance directly at her. “Harmool lied so many times I don’t know how you could trust a word he ever said. But there is one thing he said to me in the pit, and you’ll hear it in the recordings. To my mind it just might be the only thing he said that is true.

  “He claims that the man posing as Iodocus is in fact your uncle, Arthureal. You’ll have to dive deep into the records and see if a child suddenly appeared on the planet when Harmool claims it happened. I can’t give you a logical reason why, but it rings true. Your father changed in a way a man should not. If it is an imposter on the throne, and your mother was in fact aware of it and participated in the switch, then you will be the rightful ruler of Salacia. But more importantly, your father may still live. Find him if you can, and if he no longer lives, then be the Queen your people will need in the cycles ahead.”

  Galen put his hand on the camera pickup. Rhiannon rose from her seat and placed her hand on his on the screen in Ellaneiri’s office.

  “I wish I could be there with you, my Queen,” Galen continued. “To be there at your side through the cycles. To be your Knight. I…I wish we’d had more time on Belisama...,” he paused suddenly, clearly struggling to find the words.

  “Say it, boy,” Lir whispered, his eyes bright. “Say it…”

  “I love you, Rhea,” Galen said, and the tears streamed down her face.

  “I love you, too,” she whispered back, though the transmission was only one way. Galen smiled on the screen, as if he’d heard her anyway.

  * * * * *

  “Goodbye, my Queen,” Galen signed off, leaving the transmission open so they would know what had happened out here at the end. He sat back in the seat, exhausted; but his mind was clear, and he was ready for what was to come. The lead Salacian ship was signaling. It was time.

  He opened the channel. Harmool’s face occupied the upper left quadrant of the overlay.

  “Hello, Galen,” he said.

  “Call me, Mr. Dwyn,” he replied, just to be contrary. “We’ve come a long way since that night on Cukier, Harmool.”

  “Indeed, we have,” Harmool agreed. “I must say, you have been most impressive. I underestimated you, Dwyn. You have certainly been a thorn in my side and my King’s as well.”

  “You mean Arthureal? Given the manner in which he usurped the throne, I don’t know that he should be called ‘king’. Unless, of course, that little story was another of your lies?”

  “Oh, it is very much the truth, Dwyn,” Harmool laughed. “Iodocus is nicely tucked away where no one will ever find him, unless I or Arthureal wish it. The only thing I lied about was that it wasn’t the Queen who found out her husband had a twin brother. I uncovered that little secret on my own and took it to her. Then the two of us hatched our little plan to replace the King.”

  “Does Arthureal know?” Galen had a sudden insight and wanted Harmool to keep talking. The more he talked the easier it would be for those listening to bring Salacia to heel.

  “Know what?”

  “That you and the Queen plan on eliminating him after he does all the dirty work?” Galen charged. “Emperor Harmool I and Empress Daireann. Do you call each other that in your adulterous bed? Do the officers on your ships know exactly who and what it is that they are serving?”

  “You have a big mouth, Dwyn,” Harmool wasn’t smiling anymore. “It’s going to get you into a lot of trouble one of these days. I take it the Princess was never here, was she?”

  “Couldn’t be farther away,” Galen admitted with a smile of pure pleasure.

  “So this little sojourn was what exactly?” Harmool’s glare was pure venom. “A diversion of some sort to buy time? Time for what? To wait for Napat to find his spine? For the others to miraculously grow a set and do something more dangerous than playing whist?”

  “No, Adalwin,” Galen said, flipping the safety cover off the trigger. The power indicators were maxed out. As far as he could tell, none of the ships were detecting any danger. “I brought you out here for one reason only.”

  “Do share.”

  “To kill you and this fleet,” Galen replied. “To save the Alliance. To save her.”

  He stabbed down on the trigger.

  All hell broke loose.

  TWENTY-FOUR

  The feed from the sphere’s command pod cut as soon as Galen’s pressed the trigger. The screen in Ellaneiri’s office switched to the view of the scene from the Caletos ships’ long-range scanners.

  Brilliant white lines of light lanced out from seemingly hundreds of points in the sphere. They reached out into space until they found the thirty or so Salacian ships as if catching them in a vast fisherman’s net until each ship was connected to every other ship by the bright white tendrils. The ships didn’t appear to have been damaged by contact with the electrical web.

  “What’s going on?” Ellaneiri asked.

  Lir had no answer for him. But if the legends were true, he was certain more was to come, and the Salacians would not care for any of it.

  * * * * *

  “Status!” the Admiral on the bridge of the Salacian flagship bellowed. “What the devil is hitting us?!”

  “Unknown energy beams, sir,” an officer called out from below the command perch where Harmool and the Admiral stood. “Emanating from that object ahead. Whatever it is, it has latched
onto the entire fleet.”

  “Break free of it!” the Admiral ordered as his ship began shuddering.

  “We’re trying, sir,” the navigation officer replied. “Engines and thrusters are at full throttle. No effect.”

  “Then open fire on that device,” the Admiral shouted. “Order every ship to open fire until we have destroyed it!”

  * * * * *

  “By the gods,” Lir exclaimed.

  On the screen, they watched as every ship in the fleet opened up on the sphere with everything in their combined arsenal. Lasers and torpedoes by the hundreds laced the space between the fleet and the sphere. None of them hit the target, as if some force merely swatted the shots away like so many annoying insects.

  “Why don’t they break off?” Ellaneiri wondered aloud.

  “They’re trying,” Lir replied. “Look.”

  Ellaneiri peered at the flagship and saw that it was indeed trying to break free, thrusters firing in every direction, her engines running white hot as she strained against the grip of whatever force had grabbed on to her. But all the ship could manage was a feeble wriggle, she could gain not even a foot of ground. It was the same for every ship in the entire Salacian fleet.

  “The star!” Rhiannon exclaimed in horror. “It…it’s fading!”

  Lir looked at the orb behind the sphere and saw that it was indeed losing its color. To his own horror, he realized one other thing: It was also shrinking. Quickly.

  * * * * *

  In the sphere’s command pod, Galen was holding onto the armrests of the chair for dear life. The entire sphere was vibrating so severely that he expected his teeth and every bone in his body to shatter at any moment. Alarms were sounding, but he couldn’t hear them over the increasing hum of the vibrating sphere.

  After hitting the trigger, a new panel had appeared before him. A large section of the panel, just above a gripped handle, flashed red. A series of lights blinked to one side, a countdown clock of symbols he could not recognize but were clearly what had passed as numbers to the builders of this device. He knew when the clock stopped counting, the flashing red light would go solid, or perhaps change colors, and then he would pull that handle.