Tales of Talon Box Set

by A A Warren

  Orvane reached over the table and grabbed the bottle. “Bond? You mean dark energy bond?” He blinked as he gulped more of the brandy. Talon glanced down at the alien with a curious stare.

  “You know of such things?”

  Orvane’s glowing orange eyes peered back at him. “Of course. There is a belief among my people, something we call Nammu. We believe dark energy links us with loved ones. Those who have passed on to the place of light. Through an oracle, they can speak to us. Share their wisdom.”

  “An oracle...” Avra turned to Talon. “Like the pyramid on that jungle planet? The place where you learned of your past?”

  Talon nodded. “Aye… the temple of the guardian, Ikari. But that was back in Dominion space.”

  Orvane took another drink from the bottle. “There are many oracles. Once, my people were great explorers. We find oracles all through the galaxy. Very old, long abandoned. We did not build them. But we use them to commune with the spirits.”

  Talon stood up. “Where are these oracles? Is there one nearby?”

  Orvane nodded. “Yes, yes. But these places very old… very dangerous. You sure you want to go?”

  Talon glared at the alien, his crimson eye reflecting the swirling light beyond the window. He clenched his hand into a fist. “Whatever Volonte is planning, it’s affecting this entire region of space. We will face him again. And the next time we meet, I want to know who and what I’m fighting.”

  “Yes, but—” the little alien stuttered.

  Avra slammed her fist on the table. “Volonte has Suphara! And in case you didn’t notice, he kicked our asses back there. If there’s a way to beat him, we have to find it. And I don’t care if I have to fly straight into the Haunted Stars to do it.”

  Talon grinned. “Best not to argue with a Sorari battle sister, my friend.”

  Orvane climbed out of his seat. “Very well.” He shook his head. “I find Utu, give him coordinates of nearest oracle. Don’t say I not warn you!”

  As he ambled out of the lounge, Avra gathered up the remains of Talon’s axe. "I'll try to fix this for you... again. I have a feeling you'll need it.”

  As she marched towards the exit, Talon glanced back at her over his shoulder. “Avra?”

  She turned to face him. “What is it?”

  “Suphara didn’t like me very much, did she?”

  Avra laughed. “She doesn’t like anyone. She’s like I was at her age. Angry. Afraid. Chip on her shoulder the size of a planet.”

  Talon nodded. “Either way, she fought by my side. And you know I don’t leave my allies behind. Or the allies of my friends.”

  Her emerald green eyes sparkled, and her lips curled into a smile. “Talon... I never had any doubts.”

  She left the lounge, letting the door slide closed behind her. He turned, and gazed out the windows, peering through the swirling colors and light with an intense stare. It was as if he was scouring the inky black void that lay beyond, searching for any sign of his enemy.

  But again, only his dim reflection stared back at him.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Volonte Er’Gosi sat alone in the observatory of his massive battleship, ignoring the panoply of colorful stars streaking past the transparent bubble. Instead, he focused on an open maintenance panel in his arm, as he prodded a damaged component with a small torque-lever. He was sitting on a curved bench that circled beneath the massive viewing dome. The lights in the room were dim, but it did not matter. His eyes did not need the light to see.

  Working with his free hand, he loosened a sparking servo-motor from its socket. The battle in the atmosphere tower had overloaded the device’s internal circuitry, and it needed to be replaced. He set down the tool, and yanked the component free from the tangle of wires and pistons within his arm.

  A soft chime sounded.

  “Enter,” he said, without looking up from his work. He heard someone enter the room. Armored boots clanked across the metal deck plates. His auditory sensors could tell who it was by the pattern of the footsteps.

  “Come to check up on me, Dulkar?” he muttered.

  “You sustained some damage in the battle, My Lord. I was concerned for your well-being.”

  Volonte inserted a new servo-motor into the empty socket. He tightened it down, then closed the panel on his arm. “Is that it? Or are you concerned we may not reach our goal? That your leader was wounded beyond repair, by a flesh and blood human no less?”

  Dulkar stood next to him and bowed. “I came to see if I could help. And to bring you this.” He held out his hands. Nestled in his armored palm, Dulkar held a tiny shard of purple crystal. It was carved into a long, thin rectangle, like a memory chip.

  Volonte held up his hand and flexed his fingers. They clicked as they opened and closed. He clenched them into a fist several times, as he ran a set of internal diagnostics. “This is nothing, my friend. I have suffered far worse injuries over my years of combat. Now what is this bauble you have brought me?”

  “The woman, the Sorari sister I took from the atmosphere tower… She is a member of a fascinating species. They are known as the Oreon. She is an organic crystalline based life-form, and her internal structure is capable of channeling dark energy. I have imbued this shard of her body with a portion of my own energy field. By interfacing a fragment of my essence with your neural net, I believe we can pierce the locks within your programming. Perhaps return a small taste of what the Zedrakon high priests took from you.”

  The mech plucked the glowing shard from the sorcerer's hands. He held it up to the light, peering into its faceted depths.

  “How is this possible? I thought… I thought the transfer process erased such memories from my central cortex.”

  “You are correct, My Lord. The high priests designed the transfer process to retain only your combat abilities… your tactical experience, dedication to duty, and ferocity in battle. But their ritual was not perfect. There are trace recollections that remain. Fragments… echoes of your past that cannot be separated from your consciousness. If I am correct, the energy in this shard will amplify those fragments, at least for a short time.”

  Volonte’s eyes burned bright in the shadow, like twin red suns. His metal brow furrowed, but he said nothing. A soft clicking sound emitted from his skull. Then a metal plate swiveled open, revealing the innards of his artificial brain. A series of glowing, crystal shards protruded from a small, polished metal sphere. Several sockets remained empty, tiny dark holes drilled into the chrome metal surface.

  Volonte glared at the kneeling sorcerer with his mechanical eyes. “You are certain this will work?”

  Dulkar’s viewing slit pulsed with purple light. “My Lord, nothing is certain. But there is only one way to find out.”

  Volonte grunted, then inserted the crystal in one of the empty sockets in the sphere. The plate in his skull closed with a spiraling motion.

  The mech closed his eyes and placed his hands on his knees. “My cortex is accessing the new module. I do not feel—”

  Suddenly, Volonte’s eyes shot open. The mechanical irises opened to their full width, casting a harsh red glare across Dulkar’s mirrored faceplate.

  “My Lord,” the sorcerer hissed. “Are you—”

  “Silence!” Volonte gasped. “I… hear her voice. I can… I can see them!”

  The servos in his arms and legs whined, as he shot to his feet. Armored plates shifted and bent as his limbs locked into place. His metal shell seemed to vibrate and hum, as if a current of electricity was surging though his body. Bolts of purple lightening arced across his frame, crackling in and out of the IO ports in his armor.

  He saw shapes, floating around him. The woman… her shimmering scales and bright yellow eyes hovered just out of reach. He raised his arm, grasping for her translucent image. Laughter echoed behind him. He spun around, but saw nothing.

  The woman drifted closer. Her ghostly fingers caressed his metal shell.

  “Dulkar," he gasped. "I feel
her. Not pressure sensors or temperature gauges, but my own flesh and blood… I feel her touching me!”

  Her arms reached out in an embrace. Volonte tried to hug her back, but there was nothing to touch, nothing to hold. His fingers clanked against his own armored shell. Her image passed through him, disappearing into the shadows of the observatory.

  She was gone.

  Volonte lurched forward, grabbing Dulkar’s cloak and yanking him to his feet. “Where is she? Bring her back! I command you!”

  “My Lord, bring back who? I saw nothing.”

  Volonte’s eyes dimmed. “I… I still do not remember her name. But I saw her. In my mind, I saw her clearly.”

  “The dark energy in the crystal… as I suspected, it unlocked a trace memory of your past.”

  Volonte let go of the sorcerer. He glanced up at the dome in awe, as if seeing the stars above for the first time. His eyes darted back and forth, as his optical sensors noted the coordinates of the bright dots overhead.

  “No,” he grunted. “This is wrong. Why are we still in this position?”

  “The bridge crew has not yet jumped to the coordinates you specified, My Lord.”

  Volonte slammed his fist into the circular couch, smashing a section of dura-plas into white fragments. “What in blazes are they waiting for? I am losing my patience!”

  He tapped the controls on a comm panel, mounted near the center of the room. A shimmering hologram of the bridge appeared before them. Angelos, his first officer, stepped up to the holo-projector.

  “Captain Er’Gosi. We are still confirming the new position of— “

  “It is not your place to confirm my orders, or second guess my commands,” Volonte growled. “We should have opened a star-path hours ago!”

  “But Captain, these coordinates… the ship can’t travel there, you know that. The radiation and debris will—”

  “Silence!” Volonte clenched both his fists and stepped closer to the floating projection. He stabbed out with a single finger, pointing directly at the man on the screen. “Radiation and debris are not my concern. My concern is failure. The failure of this crew to allow Orvane to flee in the first place. And their failure to capture him on Kharis. To say nothing of your failure to stop the No'varran warrior from impeding my progress recovering the statue.”

  A flicker of rage crossed the outlaw’s face. “Captain, we were never expecting—”

  “In my day, generals did not tolerate excuses for such failure. Need I remind you, Angelos… I do not require oxygen to breath. Nor heat to prevent my organs from freezing in the void.”

  Angelos took a step back. "I don't know what—”

  Volonte stepped closer to the hologram. “Open a star-path now, as I commanded. Follow the coordinates I gave you. Otherwise, I shall tear apart the life support systems on this barge with my own hands. And then I shall vent your useless, dead flesh into space. Do you understand?”

  Angelos nodded. “Yes, Captain Er’Gosi! We shall leave at once.”

  Volonte nodded. “See that we do.” He tapped the controls, and the hologram blinked out. A hum rattled through the deck, as the ship’s portal drive came on line.

  The mech turned to face Dulkar. “When we arrive at the Vault of Souls, you will be ready? You, and this crystal woman… You can restore me? Back to the way I was?”

  The sorcerer bowed. “Our fates are intertwined, My Lord. I shall serve you as best I can. Or I shall die in the attempt.”

  Volonte fell back into the couch and closed his eyes. “Leave me now. I wish to be alone with my thoughts.”

  The sorcerer bowed again, then floated away. The door hissed closed behind him, and Volonte stared up at the heavens. As the shimmering portal of a star-path opened in the black void, he traced the battered metal plating that covered his chest. He could sense the pressure, the cold, hard touch of his metal fingers. But it was nothing like the sensation of the woman touching him… the memory of her embrace, the laughter of the child.

  If only I could remember their names, he thought. Soon… Soon I will be with you once again, if only in my memories. No matter the price...

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  PLANET PHANTAR

  The Gyre, Wild Space

  Several days Later…

  The Star Claw’s landing lights cut a bright swath through the thick, misty atmosphere of the dark planet. Particles of pollen danced and swirled through the harsh beams. Above the ship, the sky was a lush purple velvet, suspended in a perpetual twilight meridian between dusk and night. The ground was a rolling, uneven surface of soft clay. It was deep gray in color, and perfectly smooth… there were no rocks or mountains, no geological formations of any kind marking the planet’s face. Just endless hills, thick humid air, and kilometers of waving, fern-like vegetation.

  The leaves of the alien foliage were smooth and wide. They looked like silk fans, cupped to catch the warm wind that caressed the planet. Each frond was pale blue in color, with no visible veins or structures within.

  The Star Claw’s ramp hummed open and struck the ground with a damp thud. Talon stepped down, his crystal eye peering into the misty darkness. His footsteps echoed down the metal platform as a gentle breeze stirred the murky air. The rustling noise of the plants rose and fell, like whispers echoing through the darkness.

  Avra and Orvane followed behind him. They made squishing sounds as they walked across the soft ground.

  “You sure we don’t need breathing masks or regulator belts here?” Avra asked, glancing at the floating particles that filled the air. “Last thing I need is some kind of alien fungus growing in my lungs.”

  Orvane shook his head. “In old times, no. But these plants new. Not see them here before.”

  Talon looked back at Avra. “Utu said the atmosphere was safe to breathe.”

  Another gust of wind crept along the surface, and the plants resumed their rustling. A sudden streak of color flowed through the vegetation… A large patch of leaves glowed a brilliant blood red as they bobbed up and down. The color seemed to ripple and move across the foliage. The wave of crimson light vanished into the horizon.

  “These plants… I don’t like the look of them,” Talon muttered. Avra stood next to him and tapped her wrist unit. A bright beam emitted from the display, illuminating a wide, curving path. The trail wound its way between the clumps of alien vegetation.

  “Well, like them or not, according to Utu’s readings, the dark energy signature on this planet is strongest that way.”

  Talon rubbed his temple, just above his crimson eye. The crystal orb pulsed and glowed with a faint inner light. “Yes… I can feel it in my eye as well.” He drew his axe, but did not activate the blade. “We’d best get a move on. Stay close, and stick to the path.”

  Orvane scurried between them, grabbing Avra’s leg as another burst of rustling emerged from the vegetation.

  “Not that close,” she muttered, shaking him loose with a kick. The trio set off, watching as more flashes of color lit up the plants flanking them on either side. Within a few minutes of walking, the leaves behind them blocked all view of the Star Claw. The only sign the ship still perched on the planet’s surface was the dim, fading glow of its landing lights, rising above the undulating leaves in the distance.

  They did not speak as they trekked through the night, each lost in their own thoughts. The long hike and the humid air coated their skin with a sheen of sweat, and Avra’s long red hair lay plastered against her back. For about an hour, the path meandered up the side of a great rolling hill, formed from the strange clay of the planet’s surface. Finally, as the trail dipped down between two more elevated lumps of earth, Avra broke the silence that had fallen over them.

  “So you can sense dark energy? With your eye, I mean?” she asked Talon between panting breaths.

  He grunted as he slid down an embankment, then reached back to offer her a hand. “Aye. In Consortium space, they told me the crystal in my eye was similar to something called black j
ade. It's what powers the dark energy cells in my ship.”

  Avra shot him a crooked smile as she skidded down after him. “Oh? Did your Consortium princess tell you that?”

  Talon shook his head. “No… actually, it was a queen. In a manner of speaking.”

  She chuckled and kept pace with him as the trail sloped up again. “Emperors, princesses, queens… you seem to have a knack for making friends in high places.”

  Before he could answer, a high-pitched squeal broke the stillness behind them. They whirled around, only to see Orvane tumbling down the slope. The little alien screamed and wailed as he struggled to catch his balance.

  “Watch your step, little one,” Talon’s voice boomed. “Who knows what predators lurk in the bushes here.”

  Avra grinned and punched Talon in the shoulder. “Don’t tease him,” she snapped. Then the smile left her face, as her eyes swept over the dense foliage surrounding them. “You know, speaking of predators, I haven’t seen any animals… not so much as an insect. It's like the only living things on this whole damn planet are these plants.”

  Another burst of color rippled through the leaves. Their crimson glow cast shifting shadows across the trail, as the light circled through the brush.

  Talon followed her gaze, watching the trail of light sweep across the leaves. “I’ve never seen plants like these," he said. "Orvane, you said they weren’t here before… Where did they come from?”

  The wind picked up again. The soft swishing of the leaves grew louder. Orvane did not answer.

  Talon narrowed his eyes as he scanned the dark horizon ahead of them. “Orvane? Did you hear—”

  He turned, peering down the trail behind them. A mass of vines coiled around Orvane’s mouth and legs. The tendrils pulsed and glowed the same color as the plants as they snaked around the alien’s furry body. His arms clawed at the vegetation, but he could not break free. The glowing vines dragged him across the ground, pulling him towards the nearest mass of plants.