TERAMAR
THOMAS MICHAEL MURRAY
Teramar. Copyright © 2016 by Thomas Michael Murray. All rights reserved.
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Cover design by Christopher Cantore.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are fictitiously used. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead is coincidental. The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
FIRST EDITION
Written and produced in the United States.
This book is dedicated to the greatest reader
of all time, my father….
Acknowledgements
Profound thanks to Chris Cantore for the brilliant cover design and my great friends, Orin Wojciechowski, Jeffrey Leibham and Matt Rentchler who took the time to read my work at various stages. I’d also like to offer my appreciation to the Aeon Award and Albedo One. Although I was merely “shortlisted” in their 2012 contest, that small honor put a bright little wind in my sail, inspiring the completion of this book.
State Forest
A soft mist glazed their bodies with a cold sheen. The boy hated hunting in poor weather but he kept the complaint to himself.
His companion moved silently in a flanking motion. The older man held a finger to the mouth. Crouched behind a thick line of brush, the boy - or more appropriately, the young man - raised his spear. The cornered forest lion could sense their presence and she let loose a deep-throated roar that hit the ear in waves. Only two of them hunted the cat today. One was a prince of few winters, strong and agile but young. The other was the minder, a man pushing past his prime, whose principal responsibility was pushing a lazy prince.
Young Hadrian, named for his father and the four preceding kings, was surprised when his mother let just the two of them trek through the forest without a phalanx of guards. This rare liberty was a testament to their trust in the weapons master, Archibald Cox. The older man smiled at Hadrian and pointed, “over there.” They were attempting to corner the beast against a sheer wall of rock. With hunting bows slung across their backs, the two carefully crept forward with spears at the ready.
All that long day, a prickly wood had laid rough marks on the prince’s arms and chest. The lioness could smell the small dots of blood that leaked from his skin. She knew who they were.
Inspiring a hunter’s confidence, a shimmer of late light put a shine on the rain. The return of the sun made it easier to peer into the dark glen where the tired beast flitted to and fro. They could see her color flash in the wood. Hadrian’s nape stood on end. Suddenly, a whiskered face pushed through the bush. She silently stared at them.
The big cat cocked her head.
“She’s heard something else.”
The faint noise sounded man-made although technology was forbidden in the forest. The unwelcome sound gradually grew louder than the rain itself. An unnatural breeze started to rake through the trees.
“Do you hear it then?”
Like rolling water, the beast gracefully leapt over the hunters and into the woods. The weapons master had to restrain the prince.
“Damn it, Cox. We had her. I told father we’d return with a trophy.”
By now, they could easily hear the curious sound approach their position. A shadow passed when a fully-powered, weapons-charged, military hover loomed above. The forest canopy blocked a direct line of sight, but they could still hear its doors open.
“Should we make our presence known,” asked the prince? “They obviously don’t know we are here. They might take us for animals on their scanners.”
Archibald Cox’s well-worn face moved ‘no’ and he gave Hadrian a severe look. “Your father would never disturb us on a hunt.” Cox had to raise his voice to be heard, “The forest is enormous. How could they know we are at this exact location? Neither of us carries traceable technology. Let us head for Assisi Lodge. The lodge’s location is not widely known. A hard run will deliver us to the refuge in short order.”
Cox then sprang to life and Hadrian obediently followed. They loped as prosimians instinctively looking for patches of bare earth or hard wood to avoid the crunch of the brush. Cox could calculate each lodge’s position using their proximity to the mountains. The monarchy had made only a few of these over the years. Normally, the aristocrats slept outside.
As they silently cantered through the dense wood, Hadrian heard another odd sounding sound. It was a low, dry buzz accompanied by erratic cracking. Cox signaled down, hissing for silence. In slow motion, a swath of trees fell like cut grass. Three razor wires advanced through the forest. Two more crisscrossed the same path creating a chessboard. The glittering metal was stained green.
Hadrian shouted, “Cox! They mean to kill us.”
The wire moved toward their position. No words were needed for them to pullout. Reeling, Hadrian glanced at his mentor as they raced from the menace. The vegetation whipped at them from every angle. Cox saw that the prince’s face was creased with worry. “Run faster, my lord,” he urged.
Following a grueling push, Cox came to a full stop at a small clearing where the last strands of the day moved above them. They were both breathing hard. By the prince’s calculation, the two hunters remained a good distance from the lodge. The weapons master knew better and loudly pronounced, “Assisi Lodge,” gesturing to the small clearing.
Cox’s voice triggered a manhole to open. Mirroring a blooming flower, railings rose from a circular stair. Dirt and vegetation fell into the hole. They both bounded into the refuge. The entrance then quietly folded returning to its camouflaged state.
Stepping into a large room, soft lights automatically illuminated spacious quarters. A communications bay lay at the other end. Cox went to the bay. After numerous calls to the palace, a silver light grew above the fire pit. In a soft satisfying hum, a person’s face solidified into a hologram. The face was well known, a computer, who went by the name Cataline. The thing had immense power over all of the monarchy’s operations. Assuredly, the machine rested its gaze on the prince.
“Cataline, we are trying to reach father. Why are we speaking to you?”
“Your highness, the king’s entourage has vanished. His majesty was traveling via hover to the capital. The hover and escort never arrived at the palace spaceport. Of course, we are searching for clues, but there was little sign of a crash or an attack.”
Hadrian saw real concern flash on Cox’s face. Tired eyes turned to the image of Cataline’s boring face and back to the prince. A weary expression settled on the older man, who recognized the familiar scent of treachery. Cox briskly touched ‘end’ on the panel and the hologram evaporated.
“What are you doing, Cox? We need him,” snapped the prince.
“I’ve locked it out. My lord, how could that thing not know where your father is? IT oversees the whole lot,” the weapons master gestured. “With the king out of the way, that computer is now under your mother.”
“You’re saying mother is involved with this somehow?”
“I am sure not the razor wire. That outrage probably derives from the more ambitious elements of her family.”
Hadrian was horrified. Cox tried to smile reassuringly. “If there is a true coup in progress, they would never lay rough hands on the king’s person. He may be in chains, but I guarantee your father lives.” Cox didn’t sound terribly convincing.
Hadrian took a deep breath. “What can we do?”
“But Archibald, we don’t know for certain if he’s been taken.”
Urgently, the weapons master added, “My lord, there are military hovers and razors in the state forest. And Cataline feigns complete ignorance. We need access to real power for a proper investigation. I’ve already sent an encoded message.”
Although Cox was a tall man, the young prince still stood a hand above him. “The boy is a great warrior but he looks so damned young,” thought Cox. Hadrian’s face was spread thin with worry.
The boy asked, “Then nobody can be trusted?”
“That is correct. No one can be trusted.”
The unmistakable sound of another large hover rumbled above the lodge. “They are here already,” growled an astonished weapons master.
Cox touched colored glass on the console and a drawer opened presenting elegant devices for communication. “Let’s take two ‘coms.’ One for each of us. We may have to split up. Remember – only activate to retrieve messages.” The prince’s mentor indicated with an important nod to another spiral stair built into the turret. Every lodge had more than one way in or out. Quiet as deer, they flew down the passage into the mountain. Upon reaching the bottom, blast sounds could be heard above. “They are in!”
When emergency sconces failed to trigger, the two ignited their com beams. The timorous light gave the grey matter some shape. To Hadrian, the passage felt moist to the touch. The drip of cold water tickled a nervous shoulder. With only one way forward, Cox and the prince galloped into the black.
Hadrian’s head jerked as clattering boots spilled onto the landing from where they had just come. What was a young man’s nervous voice shouted, “Stop immediately or we will shoot.”
Cox quickly handed the illuminated com to Hadrian. He wheeled round and lightly ran toward the pursuers, mentally accounting for their movement in the dark. “Only four.” The weapons master had seconds before the soldiers turned on their own lights. While running, Cox delivered an imperious order that thundered obedience, “How dare you raise your weapons. Do you know whose presence…?” The familiar voice of the family’s weapons master demanded attention.
Before finishing, Cox threw a sharp kick with the speed of the trained elite. The back of his foot crushed the soldier’s neck and the man crumpled. In the following instant, Cox sprang at the next in line who was pushed off balance by the falling man. With the same alacrity as his mentor, the prince in one smooth motion pulled the short bow off his back. Another beam came on. ‘Thwang.’ The soldier’s com immediately rattled to the floor. Two more arrows flew thumping into the last of them. These were the first men the prince had ever killed.
“You almost hit me,” Cox snarled, knowing full well the two dead were the prince’s first. “Welcome to the club.”
Coms crackled with urgent queries from above. They heard more boots on the stair. Without speaking, both tore into the cave. Cox screamed, “Prepare to dive and swim.”
The tunnel veered right and left, and opened onto a precipice that leapt over a frothy river. Without asking or waiting, Cox dropped his weapons and dove. The prince followed without hesitation. They soared to the water in the formation of large birds.
Plunging headfirst into the foaming tea, the water blocked all sound. Fully submerged, they swam with the current to gain distance from the lodge. Almost bursting for lack of air, Cox let the prince drive for the surface. Hadrian blew a whale’s breath and took a hard stroke to shore. In the wilderness, their tanned bodies blended nicely with the clay earth.
“Let’s move,” the older man barked. “I’m sure they have a general sense for where we are. We need to get out of this forest.”
Sure enough, men in uniform appeared ahead. Without saying a word both fugitives jumped into the dense wood, but in different directions. As Hadrian crashed down an inconvenient incline, he heard one of the soldiers in hot pursuit. Now in free fall, the prince tried to gain equilibrium by pouncing onto a strong branch. The large sapling held and swung upward like a rubber band. The forest wheeled in a green and gold kaleidoscope. Hadrian knew the man was close. Deadly red beams singed the vegetation. Ready for impact, the prince turned to his best position.
Indeed, the storm trooper slammed into Hadrian, who used his upper body to twist the head as a stuck valve. He didn’t mean to kill but his reflexes did. The soldier jerked briefly as the prince positioned the body to break his fall. Burning beams continued to bounce through the foliage producing the acrid smell of charred, green wood. His hands were now raw and bleeding.
Both Hadrian and the body fell onto a crackling of dried brush. Two additional drones thumped next to him, bouncing on the organic pillow. These men were still moving and moaning. The prince left them unmolested.
Cox transmitted rendezvous coordinates. After making a quick mental calculation for distance, and then disabling the com rendering it untraceable, Hadrian proceeded to trot along the canyon and climbed back to the top. The weapons master stood there impatiently waiting. Two unconscious or dead soldiers lay at his feet.
“That way to the wall,” indicated the older man. “We don’t have much time. They are obviously hunting us.”
The Palace
The massive edifice where the royal family lived hosted fields of perfectly manicured gardens. The demands of the monarchy required the maintenance of this serene habitat so the royal mind could unwind from the responsibility of governance.
The queen knelt in the fresh earth planting flower bulbs with her youngest daughter. The two worked side by side along the bed. One of the senior attendants, one whose class permitted direct communication with a member of the royal family, jogged across the endless rows of sculpted hedges toward the royal pair. Shadows pushed away the slanting rays from a sometimes sun.
Without turning she said, “What do you want?”
“Your Majesty, permission to establish communication with Lord Chamberlain. He says you summoned him.”
“Yes. Please leave.”
The less said the better. The queen and her people were not sure about the Lord Chamberlain, who only recently swore allegiance to the family. She was also suspicious of her servants although she had replaced many of them.
Promptly, the chamberlain’s holographic image formed from a swirl of color. Turning to her daughter, the queen said in a gentle voice, “Darling, can you return to the hot house and fetch more bulbs?” The princess answered with a small curtsey and left.
Livia regally turned to the halo-screen and addressed the chamberlain in an unpleasant tone, “I take it you are still among the living?”
Wafting from the chamberlain, the queen could hear a persistent blasting noise. The obese man, who chose to be a eunuch, sweated profusely as his eyes darted left.
Weakly, the chamberlain mumbled, “Majesty, the plan is progressing fairly well.”
“Only fairly well,” the queen sneered? “My husband is behind bars and I am effectively running the security forces.” As she spoke, she pushed dirt around another freshly planted bulb. The chamberlain knew he was on a ledge. Even through the holo-screen, he could tell she was in one of those unpredictable moods.
He bravely answered, “Yes, majesty, but there are still pockets of resistance. The king was popular.” Another blast pushed through the hologram. Dust descended on the Lord Chamberlain depositing a grey film on his mantle.
“I take it you are currently in one of those pockets?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “Where is my son? I know the warrior code sets into motion some secret plan. I want him home to be tamed.”
“Your son was close to his father.”
“I never trusted eunuchs. Anyone who willingly becomes one and still has children is obviously never content. Again, where is my son? Tell me and I will spare your family’s miserable existence.”
Adjusting the royal visage, Livia then addressed the computer, “Cataline, please show the chamberlain’s family to the chamberlain.”
The great computer, who was always eavesdropping, activated a screen that fell like a curtain. The scene presented the chamberlain’s daughters in a padded room and surrounded by rough-looking men. The halo was life-size.
Livia continued, “There they are. Your lovely girls, begotten by your frozen sperm. I was thinking of enrolling them in a new breeding program today.”
“Majesty. No. No. Not them. I will tell you anything.”
“Then…”
In a flat, emotionless tenor, the chamberlain deadpanned, “My understanding is the prince is with Cox. They suspect your son is in the capital somewhere.”
“You’re presenting that as news? Truly, I cannot stand prevaricating eunuchs,” she snarled. Bored lids flitted down. From years of observing the queen, the chamberlain knew that well-worn expression accompanied with a gold plated word meant the royal interview was close to conclusion – for better or for worse.
The queen waved her hand delivering a command to the men on the screen. Eager, the large one, a monster, viciously grabbed the eldest daughter and pulled her dress exposing a milky shoulder. The young woman quivered with fear.
“Majesty. Please wait. I…I dooo know.” Tears welled in the chamberlain’s eyes. He knew the implications. “Um yes…yes, he…the prince will be at a safe house tonight. The plan is to quit the planet.” There was a pause. Then a deep breath. “Katcha Street Number Five – Pleb City.”
The chamberlain slumped forward as the queen’s green eyes turned very cold. Livia said, “I had to ask twice.” Within the halo-image itself, a beam of red light entered the Lord Chamberlain’s ample stomach. A small faucet formed and poured red soup from a perfectly round hole. The chamberlain fell to the ground retching blood. His daughters simultaneously screamed in absolute horror.
Teramar: The Gathering Night Page 1
