The woman turned to Kutch. “Are you hurt?” She asked.
“You can see me?” Kutch asked.
“I am seeing many odd things I had not noticed earlier,” the woman answered.
“We're fine,” Alex answered. “Why are you asking?”
“I'm not sure. I just feel like this is something I should be doing.”
“Do you remember why you are here?” Kutch asked, seeing the confusion on the woman’s face.
“My AI explained the importance of the new protocols regarding Cain, but they have stopped. We're both unsure what we should be doing now,” the woman explained.
“Do you remember where you were assigned as a medical technician?” Kutch asked.
“Yes. Med-Center, 4338-H, Deck 4, Section 201, Mars Habitation Ring,” she answered with a tone of growing confidence.
“You should go back. Back to your original assigned duties,” Alex instructed.
“I will do that. But--these people here keep asking me for help. I can find no injuries. I don't know what to do.”
“Tell them...what we told you. Tell them to return to their assigned duties, before the Cain protocols,” Kutch explained.
“Would that help them?” the woman asked.
“Did it help you?” Alex asked.
“Yes. I believe I can help them now. Thank you.”
::If the protocol channels are all completely gone, then that means the generic protocols--::
::Were never uploaded,::Alex finished Kutch's comment.
::So, everyone is going to be like her? Not knowing what to do now?::
::If there are no protocols for direction, no last standing orders, then this is going to be the new operational state,:: Alex surmised.
“Oh, that can't be good,” Kutch muttered under his breath.
*** “WHERE IS MY TRIBUTE!” Cain bellowed. The intensity of the heat projecting from Cain's glowing body made entry into the room difficult for K'nal Ja'Nier.
“There are none, my Lord,” Ja'Nier called from outside the Great Hall, protected from the heat. “They are fleeing the building.”
Cain attempted to connect with his necklace and get a protocol channel systems reading, but the connection was unavailable--the necklace was melted away. Cain could feel his emotions building, growing more out of control. He lashed out with an arm, causing a blast of flame to engulf a large portion of the Great Hall.
“You grow weaker, without your tribute,” Li pressed hard on Cain's emotional state, her image appearing among the flames still burning within the Great Hall. “Join me before it is too late, and you will become strong once more.”
“I DO NOT GROW WEAK! I DO NOT NEED TRIBUTE TO GAIN FURTHER STRENGTH IF I SO DESIRE! I WILL DEFEAT YOU AND ALL WHO OPPOSE ME!” Cain lashed out in anger once more with his other arm in a fiery attack toward the image of Li.
*** “My K'nal, I bring a report,” the Cap said as he dropped the remains of a large fur-covered animal on the floor.
“This has been our unseen attacker?” Lluxi was skeptical.
“One of several. As the night fades, they have been retreating up the canyon,” the Cap completed his report and snapped to attention for new orders.
“Begin off-loading the Trupes and supplies,” Lluxi ordered, then turned to the men on the ship’s WEP console. “Can you track them with the scanner and lock on with the WEP?”
“K'nal, scanners picked up several contacts, none of which can be confirmed. Locking onto any singular location or object up the canyon is difficult, all due to the interference. At best I can only obtain an unlockedpartial,” the Trupe explained.
“Charge the WEP. Engage at will,” Lluxi ordered. “Destroy what you can!”
“Yes, Sir!”
*** The two guardians were several paces up into the trees, scouting for movement below the falls. The night was fading fast and the night-singers were moving further up into the canyon. With hand signals they gave their reports to each other from several trees apart.
Without warning, one guardian began feeling a tingling sensation, with a buzzing noise filling his ears. With concern, he began to hand-signal a warning to his partner several trees over, but soon saw a distorted, partial cylinder shape through the trees, three to four paces wide and many more paces long, disappearing without a trace, taking part of his fellow guardian as well. The disconnected remains of several treetops and human parts, crashed to the ground below.
*** “K'nal, the buffers of the WEP indicate organic material,” the Trupe announced.
“Excellent! Dump the buffers and continue. Coordinate with the second ship, and take every target you can!”
“Yes, SIR! Recharging the WEP!”
*** With all of the guardians taking their defensive positions outside of the cave, Novia and Damus stood with Presley1477, Presley1522 and Reed watching the holographic displays with the scanning results. Novia knew right away the meaning of the display showing one of their contacts disappearing--the feeling of the loss of life in her heart and mind was clear and immediate. She turned with her hand over her mouth trying to hide her dismay and buried her face into Damus's chest. He held her tight, trying his best to stay strong for her, also feeling the sting of loss, not knowing which one of his best friends had just died.
Reed tried to hold his last meal down understanding what had happened as well. “They're using the transport beam? How can they get a lock with the frequency generators turned on?”
“I don't believe that WAS locked. Looking at the data on the transport beam signal, the pattern was not complete and very distorted by the frequency field,” Presley1477 explained.
“But it still worked,” Reed argued.
“Yes, but without a locked or accurate signal,” Presley1522 explained.
“They won't need to be accurate to decimate the
canyon and our men,” Damus said.
“That would be an accurate assessment where ever
the frequency field is weak,” Presley1477 agreed. “Can we, at least, turn up the power on the frequency
generators?” Reed pleaded.
Presley1477 turned from the holographic display to
face them all and shook his head. “They are all at
maximum output. Attempting to push more power could
damage the transmitters.”
“So the outer most fringe are the danger areas?”
Damus asked.
“Yes, that is where the signal is weak,” Presley1522
answered.
“Can you show me on this display where the signal is
the strongest and most effective?” Damus continued. “Yes,” Presley1522 highlighted areas around the
canyon where the frequency signal strength was the
strongest.
“What are you thinking?” Novia asked.
“We need to get a message out to the men and show
them where to stay safe,” Damus pressed.
“Unfortunately, the communication devices we gave
the guardians are being interfered with by the very
frequency signals that would be keeping them safe,”
Presley1477 interjected. “I haven't been able to get
anything to or from anyone since they left the cave.” “I will need to go out and let them know in person,”
Damus stated.
“What? NO!” Novia cried out. “You are needed here,
as lead guardian to direct strategy!”
“You ARE correct, my Pe'Atchdi--I AM lead guardian.
My duties lay with my men--out there. I need to get them
to safe areas,” Damus argued. He could see the pain in
Novia's eyes, as she knew he was correct. “I will return--as
soon as I am able. I promise.” Damus took another glance
at the holographic display, to ingrain into his mind the
topography and the areas with safe signal strength, then
turned to Novia. Without warnin
g he took her by the
shoulders and kissed her on the lips before turning to
leave. An action not unnoticed by all standing there with
raised eyebrows and mouths open.
“You WILL return!” Novia demanded, trying to recover
a modicum of composure.
“Yes--my Pe'Atchdi...” Damus's voice echoed from the
passage as he left.
*** “We need to find our way back to the sled and get out of here,” Kutch said, trying to get a bearing on which way to return to the sled platform.
“We need to find a new craft,” Alex corrected. “There are Corporate Security shuttles in a small hangar not far from here.”
“Why do we need a new craft?” Kutch asked. “Sid,” Alex called out.
::Alex's continued misuse of the operational
guidelines for the small two-seat sled we arrived in, has exceeded the safe operational parameters required for continued use,:: Sid explained.
“You broke it?”
“We landed and walked away--alive. That's about all that sled is going to do now, without major repairs,” Alex added. “Corporate Security shuttles? You sure seem to know an awful lot about Corporate Security around here. You seriously had that guy, Keja, fooled. Do you think he got out before the explosion?”
Alex stopped with a look of concern. “I hope so.” Kutch realized her concern. “Sure--yeah, of course he did. How long did you pretend to be Corporate Security anyway?” Kutch asked, hoping to change the subject as Alex continued to lead the way past several campus buildings toward a small hangar.
“I--didn't...I--I wasn't--pretending,” Alex stumbled through her admission.
Kutch stopped and stared. “You? You were REALLY a Corporate Security Officer?”
Alex shook her head. “No.”
“HA! So you WERE pretending.”
“My pay grade was not ranked the same as officers,” Alex continued.
“Your what?”
“My pay grade was the ranked equivalent of Lieutenant Commander, but I was a Senior Security Data Systems Programming and Stored Data Analyst with Corporate Security,” Alex explained. “Not a Corporate Security Officer.”
Kutch realized his mouth was open, and felt the need to remind himself to shut it. “I don't know you...”
“I'm sorry, Kutch.”
Kutch shook his head. “I just don't know who you are anymore. Can I even trust--”
“Please don't say that,” Alex pleaded. “You know exactly who I am. Probably more than any body I've ever known in my life. You know me.”
Kutch turned to walk away in frustration, but turned back again. “How can I? What else are you hiding? What other secrets are you keeping?” Kutch felt betrayed, lied to, and hurt.
Alex shook her head. “It's not like that!”
“What happened back there? The explosion. You're not telling me something again. That I DO know!”
Alex turned away, then nodded. “Yes...”
“What? What are you not telling me?”
After a few moments of awkward silence, Alex turned to face Kutch, but she still couldn't look him in the eyes. “There were originally six protocol channel nodes. One exploded--like this one, several years ago.”
“And you know this because?”
“I was there when it happened--on Io.”
“Io?”
“Yes. I was certain I had figured out the configuration that caused the problem, but--”
“Io--the inner most moon of Jupiter--the place that nobody ever wants to talk about?”
“Yes, Io.”
“That was you and Toolkit on Io?”
“Toolkit wasn't actually there, he was performing the remote configurations. I was there to make sure the system went back online without issue. All this time I thought he had made a mistake, but now I realize...”
“I think I remember getting a briefing on that, when I was still with Coporate,” Kutch confessed, as he continued on past Alex toward the hangar. “So, you were there.”
“I almost died there.” Alex followed Kutch to the hangar entry. The hangar was empty of personnel, but filled to capacity with four Corporate Security mid-range shuttles.
“Must have been traumatic,” Kutch conceded with a nod.
“I really don't want to talk about it.”
“So, now you don't want to talk about it again?”
“Exactly.”
“Any more secrets I should know about?”
Alex shook her head.
“So which is it?”
“What do you mean?” Alex asked.
“Are there any more secrets? Or just no more secrets you think I should know about?”
“Don't push it,” Alex stressed with a scowl.
“Are you going to let me pick which shuttle we take?” Kutch pointed toward the shuttles, feeling a brief moment of advantage.
“I guess.”
“And pilot?”
“No.”
“But we've made so much progress,” Kutch smirked.
“No.”
*** Damus reached Ayden first by an outcropping of rock well above the Cave entrance. The vantage was perfect, and he was able to see the clearing, across to the other side of the river, and all the way down the canyon to the narrows, at the falls. When he stood, Ayden could even see the enormous sky-ships sitting on top of the village.
“Damus?” Ayden said with some surprise as Damus approached without a sound. “Is there a problem?”
Damus squatted down next to Ayden to stay hidden. “Their weapon is still effective in many areas where the men are positioned. The frequency field is interfering with those small communications devices the Elvonians gave the men. I need to get them all pulled back from across the river into safe zones.”
“I understand now why I have only heard a crackling noise from this,” Ayden took the small device from his ear and tossed it to the ground. “I will take the far ridge and you--”
“No, Ayden. I need you here. If Cain's men get past the narrows and into the clearing below, I'll need you to follow the plan and sound the alarm for our small friends to form their protective shield at the cave entrance.”
“You mean, 'when' they get past the falls and the clearing. Those traps and sharpened tree-pole spikes we planted out there, will be no match for their Estukas,” Ayden pointed out.
Damus nodded. “Just be ready to sound the alarm, my friend.”
“You will be out there for the better part of the day and night, trying to reach all of the men by yourself. They are scattered all across the canyon, mostly on the other side of the river,” Ayden warned. “Take care to return safe.”
“With the grace of Shola Rai, and the love of my Pe'Atchdi--I will, my friend. I will.”
*** By midday, there were already significant numbers of non-fatal casualties from the bright Earth sun and severe burns upon exposed skin, as well as the effects of the added Earth gravity and heavier air pressure the Trupes were not used to experiencing since leaving the planet so long ago. The death of two Trupes by hidden traps, while attempting to pass a waterfall, slowed the progress significantly. Even after finding and disabling the other traps in the area, progress was slowed further for caution.
Lluxi maintained a visual from the navigation center from his freighter throughout the day. Although the view was magnified, details of the ground advancement were still difficult to see through the foliage. Much of the other sensor data was unreliable, due to the interference.
As the sun began to drop behind the ridge, the various divisional Caps formed up a defensive position just below a large opening in the trees above the falls, wary of the deadly creatures from the night before. By nightfall, Trupe losses were near two dozen, by the occasional flying wooden shafts, coming in from the distant tree line, and piercing the simple armor worn by the Drelund Trupes, with fatal results.
The ships WEPS operators continued to take any targets the transport system co
uld dissolve in areas not well protected by the frequency interference. The WEP left strange, distorted circular patterns of missing sections in groups of trees, and sometimes chunks of the canyon rock.
*** Novia tried hard to not show her growing concern that Damus had not returned by nightfall. She busied herself by keeping a close watch on the holographic displays with Presley1477 and Presley1522, following the small red shapes, indicating people locations and some of the nightsingers. They had moved back down from the upper canyon during the night. The distortion of the scanner signals caused great concern for Novia when the red shapes would disappear and reappear without warning.
“You should try to sleep,” Reed suggested when he could see that Novia was growing agitated with the distorted signals. “These men are keeping a close watch.” Only when Novia turned to look at Reed, was he able to see her tears from the glow of the holographic display, on her cheeks. Reed sat down next to Novia and put his hand on hers for comfort and support.
*** Damus surveyed the surrounding trees as best he could in the dark, several paces up the side of a large cedar. Luna'Rai had perfect position in the sky, but was only a sliver, though Damus was thankful for even that little glow. He could hear the sounds of Cain's men in their encampment, just above the falls and the occasional howl from a night-singer echoing off the canyon walls, indicating another kill. There were only a few men left to contact and move back to safety, but they were dangerously close to the encampment to chance call signals.
Damus felt something small land on his head, and he brushed off a twig without concern. Then a larger stick landed on his shoulder, making him look up. In the darkness he could see a figure a few paces above, and he moved up a few branches to see who he was. He was startled to see a young woman guardian, covered in small cedar limbs.
“I know you. You're Kendra!” Damus exclaimed, in a hushed voice. “You should not be here. You were to have gone with the rest of the young guardians, protecting the clans’ travel to the coast villages!”
“I did, but I came back. My skills are needed here.” Kendra kept her voice hushed as well. She removed a long, carved wooden stick, with a strong animal hide strung at both ends from her side. Much like the tool used for throwing the NorWes clans Hunter shafts, but even longer than she was tall. She then pointed out into the clearing. Damus looked but was not seeing. Kendra pointed again, further past where Damus had first looked. Much further out into the clearing, he could see the outline of a large figure sprawled out in the tall grass. By the light of Luna'Rai, Damus could see the glint of armor worn by Cain's men and a very long shaft sticking straight out from the man's face.
Birth Of A Goddess Page 45
