by G. E. Stills
Rho’naa gazed through the door glass at the yellow fog that filled the room beyond. “We have to get to the cavern beyond and free the prisoners if they live, what do you suggest?”
“Either we have to leave here and find more breathing masks or figure out some way to open this door while waiting outside and give the gas time to dissipate. That would take several hours to be safe,” Keish’ar said.
Rho’naa groaned in frustration. “We need to get to the prison cavern. I hate the thought of waiting hours.” She pointed to the two dead La’new. “More of these creatures may be inside right now or more may come in the meantime.”
Madra glanced through the glass. “How quick do you think the gas will travel from that room to this one in a lethal amount?”
“Maybe a couple minutes to fill this chamber,” Keish’ar said.
“Okay and if a person held their breath could they get outside this cave fast enough to avoid being killed?”
“Yes, but what is the point. We’d still need to wait for several hours for the gas to dissipate.”
Madra smiled. “Unless I changed it into something harmless.”
“You could do that?”
She smiled at Keish’ar. “I think so, yes. My ability is limited. I can’t vaporize this door then switch concentration fast enough to render the gas harmless, but––”
“Then the rest of you wait at the entrance and I’ll push the door button,” Keish’ar interrupted.
The team retreated to the cave entrance while Keish’ar remained behind. He took a deep breath, held it, pressed the button and raced to join them.
Yellow fog billowed into the chamber. Most of the room had filled when Madra raised her hand and pointed a finger. The fog rapidly vanished and crystals of salt rained down to the floor. She swept the room and the chamber beyond until all traces of the yellow fog were gone. The team advanced and Keish’ar pressed the button to open the door leading into the prison chamber. The door was half-open when a purple beam grazed his arm and burned into the ceiling. He jerked back just in time when four more lanced into the room.
“Don’t shoot, we’re friends,” he roared in Men-gar.
The firing halted. Keish’ar slowly stepped through the door. He addressed those in the chamber. “As you can see, I’m Men-gar, but those with me are not. Still, they are friends and we have a common enemy.” Keish’ar held three fingers against his hip for her to see, indicating three Men-gar faced him.
“Who are your friends? You say they are not Men-gar. What are they?” a gruff male voice asked.
Rho’naa slipped into the room, taking stance next to Keish’ar.
The Men-gar male hissed. “A human? Your friends are human?”
She addressed the man. “We can be allies and fight the La’new together or I can kill you. I have the ability, ask Keish’ar.”
“There are three of us. We will kill you first,” he said.
Keish’ar stepped in front of her. “Don’t even try, she has abilities you can’t even guess and so do her friends. Her threat is not an idle one. Please lower your weapons and let us call a truce.”
The man lowered his weapon, as did the other two. When she motioned to them, Madra and Stan joined them. Rho’naa glanced around and scowled when she saw ten human prisoners shackled to the rock walls of the chamber. All of them had been stripped to their underwear and Tylee was among them.
“You need to release them immediately,” she hissed to Keish’ar.
He addressed the man who was the spokesman for the three Men-gar instructing him to free the prisoners.
“I don’t have the key. It’s out there.” He pointed to the room they had just left. “In the desk by the wall.”
Rho’naa growled in frustration as she thought of the splintered remains of the desk and all the other furniture. It might take hours of searching to find the key among the room’s wreckage.
“Don’t worry, I can release them using my transmutation ability,” Madra said. She crossed the room and went to the first prisoner. She pointed her finger at each shackle and it crumbled to dust.
Stan stood beside Keish’ar facing the three Men-gar while she rushed across the chamber to Tylee. “We’ll have you free in a few, Tylee. Are you okay otherwise?”
“Yes. I didn’t dare hope for it, but I’m glad you’re here, Rho’naa.”
Madra stepped to Tylee next and when her limbs were freed, Tylee rushed into Rho’naa’s arms. “I can’t thank you enough for coming to my rescue,” Tylee said.
She hugged Tylee tight then held her at arm’s length. “Don’t thank me yet. We have to escape this world or at least find a place to hide. There’s a whole planet full of bugs out there.”
“I heard the guards talking. They’ve taken the entire planet?”
“Yes and this prison is not a safe place to stay.”
“I may have a place we can hide. There is a world in another dimension here, just like Earth and Teelan. I couldn’t go there when I was confined, but now that I’m free let me check it out. I’ll be back in a few.” A grey fog formed a few feet in front of her and Tylee stepped into it. The fog dispersed and she was gone.
Rho’naa turned to Keish’ar and the other Men-gar. “We may not like each other, we’ve been enemies for a long time, but for now we need to work together against the bugs. If you’re willing to help fight them, then please stay. If you don’t want to, you’re free to leave.”
The spokesman stepped forward to meet her and accepted her extended hand. “I’m Ling’ar.” He introduced the other two. “Our planet is overrun with La’new. Do you have a ship we can use to escape?”
“No.”
“Then what good did it do to come here and free your friends?”
Rho’naa became silent and Keish’ar explained further.
“Because we are going to attempt to locate one of the nulling weapons and get it to the humans. I have seen a little of the human technical ability. I think they can figure a way to render it ineffective.”
“And then what?” Ling’ar asked. “The humans will have the capability to both use the null weapon and render it harmless. They can use both against us just as the La’new have.”
“But we won’t,” Rho’naa joined the conversation again.
“I have seen Teelan and witnessed the wonders they are able to perform. I believe I am the first Men-gar to do so,” Keish’ar said. “We are going to lose our war with the humans. It is just a matter of time. They have offered to ally themselves with us against a common enemy. This offer was given to me personally by none other than Katrina the supreme leader of all the humans. I believe we should accept that offer.”
“You have no authority to negotiate a truce between our species,” Ling’ar said.
“No I do not, that will be left to our leaders, but for here and now, among us, let us work together.”
“Fair enough.” Ling’ar glanced at his subordinates and got their nodded agreement. “We will fight and die together.”
Rho’naa allowed a brief smile to curve her lips. “You are wrong about one thing, Keish’ar. You are not the first Men-gar to see Teelan.” She paused for effect. “My mother was the first. I’m half Men-gar.”
“Your mother was Men-gar? Where is this woman? Why did I not meet her when I was on Teelan?”
“Because she is dead. And before you ask, she is dead by her own hand.” Rho’naa shifted uncomfortably and changed the subject. “We may have a place to hide where the La’new can’t follow. We need to wait for my friend Tylee to return.” She gazed at Ling’ar again. “Are there any weapons here that we can arm the rest of our people with?”
“In the outer chamber. There’s a small store room.”
“Lead the way.”
The tension in the room passed and everyone holstered their weapons. Ling’ar led the way into
the outer chamber and they distributed the weapons to most of the unarmed. Rho’naa sighed in relief when grey fog formed and moments later Tylee returned.
“There are two worlds, one is habitable. Although I didn’t have time to check more than a small area, but we can survive there. Food may be a problem, but there is a rock formation where we can camp.”
One of the Men-gar guards spoke up, “There is a warehouse about four hours walking time from here. It has food and other items we may need. We could hike there under cover of darkness and get some supplies. We’d have to leave early so we could get back here before light.”
Tylee shifted attention to her. “Hiking back wouldn’t be necessary. Once we are there I can open a portal to the other dimension. We can raid the warehouse and get safely away before it gets light.”
“Then that is the plan,” Rho’naa said. “Tylee, start taking people to our new hiding place.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Fog formed in front of them. Two of the new team stood with bags full of supplies slung over their shoulders. Tylee stepped up and took their free hands. Glancing over her shoulder she said, “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She led them forward and they vanished into the fog.
Rho’naa glanced around the warehouse. The crew had removed most of the food along with much gear that would help insure their survival on the other world. She crossed the room to the large window there. Stan, Madra and Keish’ar followed her. They watched in silence as night gave way to day. The surrounding structure and the streets were quiet, abandoned.
“All the residents have been rounded up and confined in large holding areas,” Keish’ar told them. “That serves two purposes, one, it eliminates most chances of resistance and two it locates the food source in a few areas.”
Rho’naa grimaced at the reminder the insects ate humans and Men-gar. They were still looking up and down the street watchfully when Tylee rejoined them.
“So, next step in the plan.” Rho’naa and Keish’ar took Madra’s hands and Tylee took Stan’s. They blinked out of existence to reappear at the far end of the street. They leap frogged to the edge of the city.
“Our best chance of locating one of the null weapons is at a spaceport.”
“The nearest is that way.” Keish’ar pointed.
Now that they were in the open, and both Madra and Stan could see further, the teleportation distances increased. When they neared the city, the presence of more La’new forced them to reduce the distance of each jump again.
The group huddled in an abandoned building across the street from the spaceport and Rho’naa cautiously peered out of a window.
Behind her Madra said, “We dare not take you any closer than this. We might be seen.”
“This is fine,” Tylee said. “I can see the target spacecraft and will bring us here through a portal tonight. Rho’naa when you’ve seen enough let me know, I’ll open a portal here and return us to…we need to name the world we’re hiding on, how about Refuge?”
“That sounds fine. I’m ready to leave whenever,” she said.
Tylee took the hands of the Stan and Keish’ar and walked into the grey fog. “I’ll back in a few,” were her last words.
A few minutes passed, then Tylee returned and Madra took her hand. Rho’naa took one last look out the window, then took Tylee’s offered hand.
****
Rho’naa and Keish’ar released Tylee’s hands and faded deeper into the shadows of the La’new spacecraft. Tylee stepped back into the fog to bring the next two team members. Two more of Tylee’s trips completed the team of seven. The La’new guard at the end of the boarding ramp never knew what hit it. Rho’naa decapitated it before it could raise alarm. Silently, Rho’naa and Keish’ar slunk up the ramp, ever watchful for more bugs.
Two more were in the control room. Quick bursts from Rho’naa’s and Keish’ar’s guns dispatched them. After a quick search, no more La’new were located on the rest of the craft. Two of the former human prisoners were engineers. They began dismantling controls and making trips back to Refuge. Hours passed as the crew worked at a feverish pace to strip the control room.
“It sure would help if we knew what we were looking for,” Madra said.
Rho’naa grimaced. “Yes it would, but we don’t.”
“We have other problems,” Keish’ar called out. She joined him at the door by the ramp and he pointed to the ten La’new approaching.
“Time to go, people,” Rho’naa said. “Tylee, start taking team members back to Refuge.”
Tylee grabbed the hands of two and led them into the portal she formed. The bugs closed the distance.
“We could gun them down out there, but that would alert the entire base. We’ll let them board then kill them,” Rho’naa murmured to Keish’ar.
They retreated to the control room. Tylee returned and grabbed the hands of two more. “I’ll be back as quick as I can for you two,” she said just before entering the portal. It evaporated just as the first bug boarded the ship. Keish’ar drew his gun.
“Stay behind me and whatever you do, don’t let them get Tylee when she comes back,” Rho’naa whispered.
“You can’t take all of them,” he grumbled.
“You have no idea what I can do.” Rho’naa drew her long knife. “Just don’t let them get Tylee.”
“Drago fight mode.”
She flashed forward meet the bugs.
****
Keish’ar watched in awe as Rho’naa burst into action. The first La’new lost its head before it even realized she was there. No person or organism should be able to move that fast, jump that high, or perform that type of body contortions, he thought, yet it was taking place before his eyes. He stood in the doorway to the control room to make certain none of the La’new got past and watched for an opportunity to shoot without hitting Rho’naa.
The woman was a blur of motion moving faster than he believed possible. He had never even imagined such fury as she spun, leaped, ducked, and dodged among the nine remaining bugs. Her gleaming blade flashed like streaks of lightning and seemed to be everywhere at once, stabbing and slicing. The rapid scurrying motions of the La’new appeared to be in slow motion compared to Rho’naa’s. She seemed to be everywhere at once. Soon their numbers shrank to five. The room beyond him was a jumble of severed legs, heads and body parts. Green blood sprayed on the walls, floor and ceiling.
Tylee appeared and dashed forward to join him and together they watched, powerless to help.
The last two La’new bolted for the exit hatch, but Rho’naa reached it before them and cut off their escape. In a short time, they too were dead. Rho’naa sank to her knees in silence. Her body was coated with red and green blood. Open wounds covered her and bled heavily. She gasped for breath. Keish’ar and Tylee dashed up to join her. He barely caught her before she tumbled onto her face.
“Oh God,” Tylee whimpered.
He hefted Rho’naa into his arms. “Get us out of here now, Tylee,” he ordered.
She grabbed his hand and placed her other hand on Rho’naa’s arm, then leading them, raced into the portal.
They stepped out of the portal on Refuge to be greeted by the anxious faces of the rest of the team. Madra spread a mat out and he gently laid Rho’naa on it. She was a mass of cuts and abrasions from head to toe. Some of the cuts were deep and bled profusely. Her head wound looked particularly bad. A loose flap of skin covered one eye and when the wound was not filled with blood, her skull was visible. Tylee dropped to her knees and began smoothing her hands over the worst ones.
Keish’ar gaped as the bleeding slowed, stopped altogether. What should have required days or weeks of healing took place in minutes.
“I have the ability to heal,” Tylee explained, “but she has lost a lot of blood. It may be too late to save her.”
“You humans are amazing. I had li
ttle doubts before you would eventually prevail over us. I have even less now.” He took charge. “Get busy finding which of these is the null-weapon control. If Rho’naa dies, make certain her death was not in vain.”
One of the engineers produced a manual he had found and began studying the pictures. “I can’t understand the words, but we can study the pictures and maybe we will be able to figure things out that way.”
“Good,” Keish’ar said and walked away from the group. Why should I care if Rho’naa dies? She is the enemy. But I do care, a lot. She has become a good friend.
He didn’t hear Tylee approach. When she placed her hand on his shoulder, he realized she was there.
“I know you care a lot about her,” she said. “I can see it in your eyes. I hope she will recover. She has…many things inside her that will help.”
“Things?”
“Not for me to divulge, Keish’ar. Just take my word that she is not an ordinary human.”
Keish’ar’s beginning smile quickly faded. “No she is not, she’s half Men-gar, but that isn’t what you’re talking about is it?”
Tylee patted him on the shoulder. “No it isn’t. Let’s get things in order here while we hope for her to regain consciousness. I believe, with her out of the picture for now, that places you in charge.”
He snorted, then returned with Tylee to begin giving instructions. Unable to resist, Keish’ar checked on Rho’naa frequently. As time passed, her breathing became less labored and her features relaxed. He took that as a good sign, but she was still deathly pale.
The days on Refuge were warm, but the evenings were chilly. He assigned several of the team to gather wood. Others he designated to set up camp. They had not encountered any life forms, but he took no chances and posted guards. The rest he assigned the task of finding the null-weapon among the equipment they had seized.
He and Tylee set up an area in the rocky encampment forming a room. They set up a cot and he gently placed Rho’naa in it. He or Tylee were by her side at all times. Keish’ar knelt beside Rho’naa and Tylee stood beside him. “She hasn’t stirred in two days,” he mumbled.
