The Rylerran Gateway

by Mark Ian Kendrick

  “What? Didn’t you tell me back there that this is not our war? We have to get out of here,” Tann urged, pulling Naylon’s arm.

  “We have to at least try to release him.”

  Naylon’s response to the situation was unexpected as far as Tann was concerned. He thought he had been the only one who felt disgust at what they had seen the captain do to the Telkan.

  Naylon hesitated though. He knew they had to leave as soon as possible. But Tann’s reaction earlier had made him stop and think about it. He seemed compelled to at least attempt to rescue the helpless being. The Telkan was on the other side of the small clearing from them. Its disabled shuttle was between them and the chained alien, preventing them from seeing it. They both moved out into the open and rounded the ship. The alien was staring at the sky, apparently attempting to discern the direction the cloaked vessel was taking. Upon seeing Naylon and Tann, he turned his head and studied them intently.

  They approached at the same time. Naylon held up his hands to show the creature he had no weapons. “An’Arka,” Naylon said.

  The Telkan said nothing but the chains at his feet rattled slightly.

  “We mean you no harm.” It was terribly trite, but it was the truth. “We’re, uh, we’re not with them.”

  “Release me,” An’Arka said defiantly.

  “We intend to.”

  An’Arka wasn’t sure what to make of that statement. He was sure these two Terrans had been left behind to torment him. His demand to be released was simply his way to let them know he had no intention of being made the victim any more than he already was. But their instant compliant tone was surprising. “You intend to remove these bonds?” he asked suspiciously.

  “Yes. We’re not with those other people.” Naylon inspected the manacles tightly bound around the Telkan’s ankles. They looked solid. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to do anything after all.

  An’Arka intently watched Naylon’s every move. He looked toward the bushes to their left. “There,” he said with a quick jerk of his head. “You will find my utility belt. Your companions threw it that way. Find it and bring it here,” he instructed.

  “Why?” Naylon asked.

  “It contains equipment that can remove those restraints.”

  After a twenty-second frantic search, Tann came across the belt. Dangling from it were six items in various holsters. “Found it,” he yelled to Naylon. They quickly returned to An’Arka. Tann lay the belt at An’Arka’s feet.

  The unexpected need to find the belt weighed heavily on Naylon. He was starting to feel pressured to leave. He had intended really only to figure out if there was an easy way to release the Telkan, but it had instead turned out to be a bit more complicated.

  “There is a knife in the black sheath,” An’Arka said in a toothy, yet stern tone. “Cut the ropes.”

  Tann pulled the knife out and handed it to Naylon. An’Arka bowed at the waist to allow Naylon to cut the ropes that held An’Arka’s arms around the pole and around his neck. The tight bonds had already drawn some blood around the alien’s wrists. It was a bright yellow liquid with flecks of green. Naylon quickly discovered the blade was extremely sharp. He easily sliced through the rope around the Telkan’s neck and then his wrists. An’Arka’s arms flopped uselessly down by his sides. Naylon threw the metal pole aside. He realized the creature’s circulation had most likely been cut off. He wondered briefly if the sensation of it returning was as painful for it as it was for humans.

  “Are you okay?” Tann asked.

  “Why do you care?” An’Arka asked.

  “We had nothing to do with you being tied up.”

  An’Arka didn’t response.

  Naylon looked up and scanned the sky. With no sensor equipment of any kind to discern approaching crafts, it was up to a visual inspection only. And that was useless if a ship were cloaked. “Tann, let’s go.”

  “Tann.” An’Arka stated.

  “Yes. Tann. That’s Naylon,” Tann told him as he pointed.

  “This restraint around my ankles can be removed by a tool in one of the pouches of the belt.”

  None of the objects in the semi-transparent pouches looked even remotely like a weapon. He slid the belt closer. With great effort and two fumbled attempts An’Arka was finally able to open a pouch and withdraw what looked like nothing more than a rectangular piece of obsidian. With it, he touched the metal collar around his neck with it, then the manacle around his ankles. Within seconds, the metal crumbled. Naylon watched with awe. The tiny device had effectively broken what appeared to be the molecular bonds of hardened metal!

  Again, with difficulty An’Arka reached in to another pouch and withdrew a small flat round object. It had a red oval in the center. He placed a slender finger on it and pressed. He dropped the object into the dirt, unable to put it back in the pouch.

  Naylon saw him do it and wondered what that was all about. It was alien technology and made the action was next to meaningless to him. He addressed the alien. “Can you get back to your people?” Naylon asked.

  “They will be here shortly,” An’Arka assured him. He looked up into the sky.

  What does that mean, Naylon wondered, uneasy at the alien’s tone. But he could discern confidence even though the voice saying it wasn’t human. In fact, the Telkan seemed as if he was expecting something. The hairs on the back of Naylon’s neck prickled. He looked upward in the same direction as did An’Arka. Sure enough, just as he suspected, he saw a vapor trail coming from what he assumed was the east. Was it the Terran ship? Probably not. It should still be much closer to the ground despite it having left earlier. No, this was a different ship. Most likely it was the one An’Arka was referring to. Uh oh, Naylon thought. Our captors took off because they knew that ship was nearby!

  Tann also saw what Naylon was looking at. Immediately he realized they had clearly done the wrong thing. They shouldn’t have stopped to help the Telkan. It wasn’t at all clear if they could avoid being captured a second time, but they weren’t about to find out. With Tann right on his heels, Naylon scrambled away from the Telkan as fast as possible down slope. As they made their way through low brush, they reached the river’s edge a few minutes later. But there was no place to go. There was no neat trail at the bank.

  Naylon was breathing heavily as they stopped to get their bearings. His heart was pounding mercilessly and he felt terrified. “I’m sorry, Tann. I didn’t know he had a homing beacon. Maybe we can outsmart them. We have to find shelter. Look for some rocks or anything where we can hide.”

  “I only see bushes.”

  “Then we’ll have to dig.”

  “Dig! Are you crazy?”

  “I mean under a boulder or something.”

  “But-but there’s nothing like that anywhere. What would we dig with anyway?” he told Naylon as he looked all around.

  “Then we have to get away from here as fast as we can.” Naylon pointed upriver. Several springs along the way had made the ground soggy, then downright muddy as they made their way through the brush. He quickly realized this was going to do them no good. No one needed sensors to track their obvious footprints. Regardless, he figured the further away they got from the Telkan, the better.

  Naylon had been sure the Terrans would re-capture them within minutes after they had escaped. When that didn’t happen he figured they had at most a few hours before it was discovered they had gotten away. Now though, Telkans would most likely capture them instead. All because he felt sorry for An’Arka.

  Ten terrifying minutes later, after getting their clothing snagged countless times on branches and twigs, and after having their boots thoroughly covered in mud, they came to a highly tilted rock outcropping. Naylon rested his hand against it as they stopped to catch their breath. He realized there was no way they could get far enough to elude them at this rate. His foot slipped on several of the large pieces of thin rock. This is shale, he thought. All around them were large and small pieces of it. Some of the sheets were
massive. Perhaps too massive to move, even with both of them trying. But that’s all they had. Maybe they could use thinner layers of them to make a lean-to! Maybe if they stacked enough of it they could hide in the triangular-shaped tunnel they’d end up ‘building’. Maybe the rocks would be thick enough to mask their bio-signs. It was a whole lot of maybes, but what else could they do? After all, he was sure they’d be tracked on foot or the Telkan ship would simply scan for them.

  Naylon quickly described his idea to Tann.

  “You think it’ll work?” he asked anxiously.

  “What other choice do we have right now?”

  They quickly shed their packs and started stacking what they could. Tann huffed and puffed with Naylon as they placed the gray stones in layers against the side of the tilted strata. Soon they had enough of them erected to hide the lengths of both their bodies, and then some; and crawled through the narrow tunnel. Naylon went in head first from one end and Tann entered head first through the other. They pushed their packs ahead of themselves. Seconds later they were only a few inches from each other’s faces. With their packs under their heads, they could at least rest there.

  “How did you know the airlock code?” Tann finally asked.

  “I watched Ocio use the button panel when we were taken outside the first time.”

  “Oh,” Tann said. “My canteen is low,” he then told Naylon in a whisper, as he sloshed it. Both of them had greatly exerted themselves and had drunk most of their store.

  “Mine’s not exactly full either. We can refill them from a spring once we determine if the coast is clear.”

  Fifteen minutes later, with nothing to disturb them and having been worn out from their exertion, Naylon fell into a restful reverie while Tann fell completely asleep. Their respite was short lived. A few minutes later both became wide-awake when they heard a whine from somewhere downriver. As it grew louder, both of them realized it was coming from above them. It was impossible to tell which ship they heard. Was it the Telkan one or had the Terrans returned? It sounded as though the ship was crisscrossing the area, but never came near their hiding place. The whining sound ceased several minutes later.

  “Should we head out?” Tann asked.

  Naylon shook his head. “Not yet. We don’t know whether it’s really gone or if it landed nearby. They could easily be searching for us on foot.”

  Tann took another sip of water. He shook the canteen, concerned once again that it wasn’t full.

  “Fruck,” Naylon said under his breath as he watched. He knew they couldn’t lay under the rocks all day.

  Leader Sa’Par, commander of the patrol ship Mu’Anelko, was alerted to Ranger An’Arka’s signal only moments after they had started their orbital descent. The fact that a Se’leth ship had recently been detected on M’jas’la led him to believe his planetside scout team might have encountered them. They hadn’t reported in for several horayons and no sign of their comm signals had been detected either. Until a few moments ago, he feared the worst. How there could even be a Se’leth ship in this system was something he would be looking into shortly. Once they returned to their base on Q’emt’la, he would personally find out who was manning the sensor grid and see if the computer systems that monitored the conduits had been offline or not.

  But that was moot right now. He had a precise lock on Ranger An’Arka’s signal. Their descent into the atmosphere produced the expected response. Ship’s sensors had been on maximum to determine where the Se’leth ship was located. A recent upgrade had allowed them to detect known Se’leth cloaking frequencies. Apparently, this Terran cloaking frequency was different because the signal kept fading in and out. Nonetheless, he quickly determined it was a mid-sized vessel. He was sure of that. The Se’leth must have detected their uncloaked ship, thus leading to their swift departure. Leader Sa’Par watched his display screen as his ship’s sensors attempted to trace the Terran ship’s trajectory. It was leaving the area at just under local supersonic speed.

  Leader Sa’Par’s had no intention of investigating further or pursuing the Se’leth ship until he retrieved his rangers. The helmsman set them down near the patrol craft. The forward scanner recorded no energy signatures at all. It was evident the patrol craft had been severely damaged. Disturbingly, only a single life sign was detected, too. As they closed in, the vidscreen showed one motionless body. Sa’Par already mourned the loss of his dead crewman. Sub-commander Ja’Ning, standing next to the Sa’Par, felt the same loss as he observed the scene. An’Arka stood motionless as the craft descended onto his position.

  Their ranger was quickly brought onboard. Without ceremony, he reported directly to Sa’Par and Ja’Ning. “Second Tier Ranger An’Arka, reporting, Leader,” he stated.

  Sa’Par briefly noted his ranger’s state of undress. “Proceed.”

  “A Se’leth craft is operating here. How that is possible, I can’t say. It has a nearly full crew complement. Two of their raiders destroyed our craft. Ranger Ba’yad was killed in the attack. The Se’leth have removed the memory crystals from our craft but will find nothing of value in them.”

  Sa’Par nodded. Any memory module that was removed without the proper command codes would instantly burn out their signal pathways, rendering data on them inaccessible, if not completely unreadable.

  “Your uniform.” Sa’Par said.

  “I was captured and put into restraints. They staked me to the ground. They wished to leave me to die but two of their party later released me and fled.”

  “Released?” The surprise was evident in Sub-commander Ja’Ning’s voice. He looked first at Sa’Par than back to An’Arka.

  “It is most unusual. Two Se’leth, who appear to be a two and a one shedling, told me they were not with the ship. I believe it is so, since they were not wearing the same clothing as the crew. It was most odd. I have never seen a one shedling Terran before. I did not know they traveled with their young. They retrieved my utility belt and assisted me. They fled into the vegetation after I released my bonds, perhaps seeking their own ship. They appeared to be… concerned about my capture.”

  Leader Sa’Par was more than surprised to hear that. He was sure it was considered treason for a Se’leth to help a Telkan. Perhaps he didn’t know Se’leth that well after all.

  Ja’Ning had been looking at the nearby displays as An’Arka had given Leader Sa’Par his report. He spoke now, loud enough for both of them to hear. “Sensors detect no other ships. There are no known Se’leth outposts on M’jas’la. That would be impossible anyway. We are well into our space and three conduits from any of their known outposts or colonies.”

  An’Arka spoke the obvious. “Then they are still on foot. Sub-commander Ja’Ning, scan for Se’leth life signs.”

  Leader Sa’Par nodded agreement to Ja’Ning. Then to An’Arka. “You will need a uniform and food. You have performed your duty well. We will search for them after Ba’yad has been retrieved and you are rested.”

  In short order, the dead ranger was brought onboard and wrapped in a burial sheath. The fibers would bind tightly within minutes to seal him off from the life support system. The smell of his decaying body would otherwise quickly fill the craft. An’Arka’s wounds were tended to. Thereafter he quickly ate, then performed a deep sleep meditation for several minutes. Its effects would last for hours before he needed a full sleep period. Soon enough he was refreshed and dressed properly. Moments later the Mu’Anelko lifted off, with scans tuned specifically for Se’leth life signs.

  Both Naylon and Tann continued to listen intently. It had been quite a while since the sound of the nearby ship had ceased.

  “We can’t wait here any longer. Let’s go,” Naylon decided.

  The narrow confines of their hiding place made it difficult to scoot out backwards. Both were standing several moments later, dusting themselves off. Naylon was the first to see the movement out of the corner of his eye. Tann was the first to raise his hands. Instantly, Naylon recognized that hiding had been i
rrelevant. Did he really think the Telkans wouldn’t be able to find them, he chided himself.

  An’Arka knew that since he now had command of the Se’leth language he was considered extra valuable. The effects of the RNA injections would take several revolutions to wear off. After they returned to Q’emt’la, he would be removed from patrol duty and put into service in the Surveillance guild for as long as he retained knowledge of their language.

  Ranger An’Arka emerged from behind rangers Os’Taga and Th’Gan. At first, neither Naylon nor Tann recognized him because he was clothed. But it was obvious who it was when he spoke to them in Empire Spanish. “You will come with us. Do not attempt to flee or you will be killed,” he told them.

  Leader Sa’Par had given specific orders to not kill their captives. Despite that, it was difficult for rangers Os’Taga and Th’Gan to comply. Ranger Ba’yad had been unceremoniously killed and they were ready to return the favor. But their training and service to the Ascendency were paramount. To disobey orders would be impossible. But neither Naylon nor Tann knew their orders. They had no intention of running.

  Chapter 30

  Soldat Ocio didn’t have to wait long before Llarena returned. When he did, it was with a dark chocolate toasted-coconut cookie. It was one of the few pleasures they had aboard their little vessel and her personal favorite. She broke off a piece and handed it to him.

  “Thanks,” she told him.

  He nodded an acknowledgement as he popped it into his mouth. “How are our ‘guests’?” he asked.

  “Haven’t heard a peep. It’s not fair for us to eat and not them. I don’t know why they’re not pounding on the door demanding a meal. I would,” she said.

  Llarena placed his ear against the door briefly. “I don’t hear anything,” he whispered.

  “Maybe they’re asleep,” she told him.

  Llarena shook his head. “It’s not late enough for that.”