Star Guild Episodes 10 - 18 (Star Guild Saga)

by Brandon Ellis

  Shan let go of Crystal's shoulder and stroked his chin. “In time, everyone on this ship will be their own leader and you will all work cooperatively together. That is the Knights Templar way.”

  They have reached the end of the tunnel, Crystal, announced Tranquil.

  “I guess we go?” asked Crystal, eying Shan. “Tranquil said that they've made it to the end of the tunnel.”

  Thun sat up. “All Dwarves—and others—strap down. It's time to fly.”

  Crystal leaned forward, staring more intently at the vid screen as if it were Tranquil's eyes. “Tranquil, fly us to the end of the tunnel.”

  Starship Tranquil lifted off the ground. The inside of the mountain opened up and the light from the sun filtered in, bathing the starship.

  Tranquil effortlessly slipped through the opening. We'll be there in less than a minute.

  They continued to rise, then stopped in a hover above the tip of the mountain, then charged forward like a bolt of lightening, zipping through the clouds, just a blur in the sky.

  Tranquil soon slowed. We are here, Crystal. Let me know when you'd like to land.

  A vast city spread out before them with buildings of fine architecture pointed up at the sky like sharp teeth. A lake, one that Crystal had seen on her last ride here, was in the middle of it all, holding islands with small cities of glimmering lights and upshot sky scrapers

  “The end of the tunnel is just under the headquarters there,” said Thun. “Let's land and join our friends, shall we?”

  “That's the point of attack?” snapped Crystal.

  “Yes,” replied Thun. “From under the building they sneak inside and cut off the head of the dragon before the rest of the giants can react.”

  “It's where Lien-L works and lives. He is the evil man who runs this entire operation,” responded Shan.

  Crystal's eyes narrowed and she began to fume. “Is he the one who gave the order to eradicate my people?”

  “He is.”

  “Then let's—”

  Crystal was cut off by Tranquil's voice. I'm detecting a weapon of some type. It is on wheels and heading in Starship Sirona's direction. Orders, please.

  Crystal put up a finger. “Tranquil is speaking. Hold on.” She considered what she just heard, then asked Tranquil, What do you suggest?

  It is unmanned, guided by remote. Destroying it is not possible. The technology is unstable and highly reactive. Attacking it may kill us.

  “But, my people on Sirona...” Crystal looked around.

  Harak grumbled and Thun put up his hand, stopping his brother from further complaint.

  Tranquil continued. Yes. I have just sent a call out to Starship Swift, asking for assistance in the matter. However, Swift had already responded and is landing beside Sirona as I speak. Your friends on Sirona know what's coming and they are evacuating. I suggest we commence forward.

  Crystal bit her lip. “And if they don't evacuate in time?”

  They will die.

  Crystal leaned back against her chair, her body hypertonic. “With two starships they could evacuate much more quickly.”

  We would cause confusion and slow the evacuation process. Even though two are usually better than one, in this case, two will be more chaotic than one.

  “My mom is on Sirona,” lamented Crystal.

  “And my father is down there!” growled Harak. “We go down there or I knock you with my hammer!”

  Thun stood, axe in hand and turned to Harak. “Don't take one step, brother.”

  “She is deciding the fate of us all!”

  “'Tis her job, brother.”

  “Not on my life.” Harak stepped forward and lifted his hammer.

  Thun let loose his axe, connecting against the hammer's thick handle, flinging it out of Harak's hands and across the bridge. It thumped upon the ebb floor and banged loudly against the wall.

  “You never—” yelled Harak, but before he could finish his sentence, Thun had him on the ground and in an arm submission hold.

  “Hold fast your tongue,” Thun whispered in his ear. “Our time for revenge comes today. Lien-L will be ours soon.”

  Crystal turned her attention back to the vid screen. What was odd was that nothing seemed to stir in the city—no Nankuani walking about, no starfighters deployed to ward Tranquil off, no nothing. It was like a ghost town.

  “Tranquil, is anyone in the city or even in the headquarters, for that matter?”

  I'll scan the city. It will take me a few moments.

  Crystal fidgeted with her sleeve, waiting for Tranquil's response. She took a gander at Harak and Thun, whom were still on the ground—Harak doing his best to get out of Thun's hold. The other Dwarves seemed pleased with the wrestling taking place and were quietly egging it on.

  I see no signs of life, other than the Dwarves beneath the headquarters, responded Tranquil.

  “Then who is steering the weapon?” questioned Crystal.

  I don't know.

  “Alright, take us down to the headquarters. Everyone shall board us. Then we help out Sirona the best we can.”

  Tranquil flew down to the headquarters and Thun let go of Harak, kicked him, then walked over and sat in his chair as if nothing happened. The starship shook for a moment, absorbing a small shock from the landing gear touching the ground.

  “Let's exit,” said Crystal.

  Crystal headed for bridge's door when she heard laughter behind her. Turning, she saw them all, including Shan, huddled at the nose of the bridge, giggling.

  She put her arms out to the side, as if measuring a gigantic fish. “What are you all doing?”

  “We will descend from here. Care to join us?” smiled Shan.

  Crystal shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.” She hurried over to the huddled masses of small men and stood next to the gigantic one. “Shan, what the hell did I get myself into?”

  “This is my race's fault and I apologize. The Knights Templar are finally ridding your people of the Nankuani presence. It's been a slow process of ridding us from the humans throughout the Universe, but it is happening faster and faster these days.”

  “There are more humans out there? More starbases?” asked Crystal.

  The landing they stood on jiggled, then descended like an elevator. “Yes—more than you'd wish to know,” replied Shan.

  ∞

  Jerrod dashed through the hallway, seeing Hank ahead of him. He grabbed Hank's shoulder. “What's going on?”

  “I'm trying to keep up with the new guys,” Hank replied, sweating and huffing. “Admiral McCoy is already on the other starship. The furry guys aren't panicking. The gorgeous one with the hot body was the one who called over the intercom using the Admiral's voice. The weapon is coming to kill us all—”

  Jerrod waved his hands in the air. “Whoa, whoa! Slow down. I'm not getting it. I hear the alarms sounding, but why are we evacuating?”

  “Didn't you hear her over the intercom?” Several people ran by them and Hank pulled on Jerrod's shirt. “I'll explain later. Just come on.”

  They ran around the bend in the hallway, entering the starship's large launching bay. Several starfighters sat unmanned and the bay door was open. Directly outside they could see the aft portion of what looked to be a shimmering orb-like ship.

  “Over there. I guess its name is Starship Swift,” shouted Hank, moving toward the launch bay's ramp that led outside.

  Hank felt a tug on his arm and looking behind he saw Jerrod rushing across the bay and toward Wrench's workstation. When Jerrod bent down to look at something, Hank lost him behind a stream of people evacuating.

  “What the Guild are you doing, Jerrod?” Hank complained. He knew Jerrod wouldn't be able to hear him over all of the commotion, but kept talking anyway. “Let's get on the Swift ship. We are about to be blown to all Guild!”

  Jerrod came back into view, slowly weaving his way around everyone while holding an older man in his arms. He was struggling with the weight.

  “Is that W
rench?” Hank jogged over. “Is he alive?”

  Jerrod nodded. “Take his legs. I'll get his torso.”

  Hank hooked one forearm under Wrench's knees, taking some of the hefty weight off Jerrod. “What's wrong with Wrench?” he yelled as they headed toward the ramp.

  “I'm pretty sure he was stunned by a phaser. He's got the light spiral marks on his face to show for it.”

  Hank eyed Wrench more closely but didn't see the marks. “Okay, whatever you say. You're the doctor.”

  Taking their first steps down the launch bay ramp, Hank breathed in the Lumus air for the first time in his life. The air was pure and seemed full of life, unlike the stale air he had tasted in the starbase and the starships his entire life. He wanted to stop and soak it all in. As his foot touched the ground he noticed shimmering specks of crystal and gold sprinkled in the ebb rock everywhere.

  Jerrod and Hank both stopped, wide-eyed and taking it all in, standing in between the two starships.

  “What in the Guild? Ebb is full of...a bunch of stuff I've never seen,” observed Hank.

  Suddenly Jerrod and Hank dropped to the ground and Wrench tumbled out of their arms. The sounds of metal tearing and shredding apart, warping in odd ways, whined through the air, almost deafening them.

  Then more sounds came, but these were more excruciating, and Hank could tell these sounds came from dying men and women, their screams echoing like uncontrollable sobs.

  Hank turned to see a piercing laser-like energy, wide in girth, beaming against Starship Sirona as people continued to stream down her ramp, only to be pulled back inside by an invisible force twisting their bodies in ways he would never forget.

  Starship Sirona buckled, folding upon itself and the screams of the trapped rang out. Hank and Jerrod picked up Wrench again, and ran as fast as they could to Swift, bearing the weight.

  An inward blast pulsed Sirona outward, and she groaned heavily as bright orange and yellow sparks erupted from within her, lifting and pushing Hank and Jerrod off their feet.

  Hitting the ground and sliding under Swift, Jerrod managed to turn his head just in time to see Starship Sirona explode into what appeared to be a tiny supernova and completely disappear into itself, as if it was in the vacuum of space and sucked through a wormhole.

  He shielded his eyes with his forearm, but it was too late. The brightness over-saturated his retinal pigment, and even though his eyes were open, all he could now see was blackness.

  His arms and hands were shredded, burning and bleeding. He tried to push himself up, but was lifted to his feet by someone's strong hands.

  It was Hank. “Help me get Wrench on the ship.”

  Jerrod blinked several times, but the darkness pervaded everything. “I'm blind. I looked into the flash.”

  “Blind?” Hank saw several people coming down Swift's ramp to help those who survived the blast.

  Hank gestured to them. “Take my friend inside. He says he's blind.”

  “It's just a flash blindness, Hank. My sight will come back in a few minutes. Just let me relax here until it does.”

  “Doc, nuh-uh. Whatever shot at Sirona will shoot at us next. We have to get the Guild out of here!”

  “Okay, okay. Lead the way.”

  “These people will help you.” He guided Jerrod's hands to touch another man's hands. “This guy will escort you up.”

  Hank didn't wait for a reply and made his way to Wrench who was breathing softly and slowly moving, despite a deep cut on his temple and cheek.

  “You with me, Wrench?”

  “Huh? Who dat?” Wrench attempted to stand, then fell forward. “Damn joints, always givin' me shit!”

  “It's not your joints. Someone stunned you.”

  Wrench pushed himself into a kneeling position, remembering the phaser shot that took him out. “That piece of star dung! It was Sleuth. He tried to kill me.”

  Hank pulled him up and led Wrench up the ramp. “Sleuth didn't know how to use a phaser. I don't think he meant to stun you.”

  “That bastard.”

  “Yep, the Admiral got him, though. He's dead.”

  Wrench hung his head as he entered Swift's grand bay, feeling terrible for betraying his good friend Admiral McCoy.

  Orb starships in the hundreds were parked everywhere in the bay, shimmering like diamonds and fading in and out, as if they were half in this dimension and half in the next.

  Hank paused, seeing Nyx directing people and not looking happy about it.

  “Nyx!” called Hank. “Where's the doc?”

  “I put him in an Oberum. He'll heal faster in there.”

  “An Oberum?”

  Nyx irritably tapped an orb starfighter. “You humans like to repeat everything—yeah, an Oberum.” She stared over Hank's shoulder, concentrating on something in the distance. “Do you feel that?” she asked.

  “Feel what?” responded Hank.

  “The gut wrenching feeling of something impending about to—get down!”

  Wrench and Hank dropped to the ground and the Starship revved up and lifted off, the bay door still open. A second energy beam skimmed just under Swift, warping the rocky ridge behind them.

  The bay door closed and Swift zoomed higher.

  “You can get up boys,” said Nyx, walking out of the bay and on her way to the bridge. “We're heading for Lumus II.”

  Wrench and Hank looked at each other and said in unison, “Lumus II?”

  ∞

  Kalista rolled on her side, moaning. She tried to push herself up, but stiffened from a throbbing ache. She clutched her leg. “What happened?”

  “You broke your leg.”

  For a moment, she didn't remember any of it, then the memories flooded in. She rolled onto her back and rubbed her face in disgust. “How long was I out?”

  “About ten minutes,” replied Chase from the cockpit.

  “Why aren't we moving?” asked Kalista.

  “I don't know where to go. We came back to Starbase Matrona and the starbase hyperjumped out of this sector, but I don't know where it went.”

  Devon leaned over Kalista and asked with genuine concern, “How is your leg?”

  “It's trying to blow up, I suspect,” she fibbed. “I need a healer, badly. Is the bleeding contained?”

  Devon checked the wrap around her leg. “It isn't seeping through.”

  “Thank Guild.” She tapped her other leg. “If I get to a healer it will be just as good as this leg in a week or so.”

  “I saw your leg before Devon wrapped it,” said Chase. “Without stitches and readjusting the bone back in place how the Guild did you get it to stop bleeding?”

  “The syringe had Helichrysum, Myrrh, Geranium, and White Powder Gold in it, along with a colloidal silver solution. The White Powder Gold amplifies the healing benefits of those plants ten times in strength, so it coagulates the blood effectively and kills any harmful bacteria that may have entered through my wound. You know...just a few of the many healing secrets we didn’t tell your doctors.”

  Devon nodded. “Naveya used to tell me about plants like that. I wish I had listened, then maybe I could be your healer.”

  Kalista gave a mock laugh. “In your dreams. A healer spends more years than your entire lifespan understanding the body, its systems, and the systems outside of the body that can correct any abnormalities.”

  “How do I find out where Matrona went?” interrupted Chase. “There's got to be a way to track them.”

  “All Starbases are tagged, just in case something like this happens.” Kalista tried to get up, but stinging pain pricked her nerves. She took a deep breath and tried to relax back into her prior position. “Take me to a real healer. One on Iburun.”

  Devon nodded in agreement, eyeing Chase. “We have to get her someplace.”

  “They would probably kill us on Iburun,” said Chase.

  Kalista softly sighed. “They won't kill you. I might if you don't take me there, though.”

  Chase stood fr
om the pilot seat, circling around to stand over Kalista, hands on his hips. “I'm not going to Iburun. So, you can either tell me how to track Matrona or you will lie there and suffer.”

  “You know you wouldn't be talking to me like this if I wasn't hurt, you coward.”

  Devon patted her hand, which she quickly swiped away. He apologized, then got to his feet and pulled Chase to the back of the ship. “I think we should get her to one of those healers. They seem to be better at healing than anything we have here or on Matrona,” Devon whispered.

  “We have Suficell Pods. That's all she'll need. Maybe she won't heal as quickly, but she will heal and that's all that matters.” Chase paused. “You really want to go to her planet, don't you?”

  Devon was about to lie, then thought better of it. “Kinda. I'm curious.”

  “Well, I'm not curious. I'm cautious. Let's head back to Matrona and if Kalista is nice enough, maybe she'll show you vids of her planet when she gets all better.”

  “I can hear you two—and no, I won't show you vids. Just take me home.”

  “We go to Matrona and if you won’t tell me how then I'll figure it out on my own,” replied Chase. He returned to the pilot’s seat and scrolled through the HDC screen.

  “Chase,” muttered Kalista, “they'll probably kill me on Matrona.”

  “I won't let them.” Chase went back to scrolling.

  “How do you know Payson hasn't taken over the starbase? That was his objective,” said Kalista.

  “I'm willing to take that chance,” said Chase, not taking his eyes off of the HDC.

  Kalista looked at Devon. “Are you willing?”

  Devon shrugged. “I trust Chase and I trust my feelings.”

  Kalista pounded a fist on the floor. “I trust my feelings, too!” Her leg jostled and she cringed, clenching her teeth. “Alright. Just type in Matrona. It will show her location. Press on the location and the coordinates will show up on the Course Module Drive. You know what to do from there.”

  “Yes I do,” mumbled Chase.

  Chase typed in Starbase Matrona on the HDC and a map of the galaxy appeared, along with a yellow blinking light with the words Starbase 45 next to it.