by Andrew Gates
Ikharus was spellbound and horrified at the same time. He could not look away.
His transport suddenly bore a hard angle, quickly redirecting its course. Ikharus braced himself against the wall, his focus finally interrupted.
Checking out the window again, Ikharus noticed that a line of swarm ships had peeled off from the main body and quickly approached them. The enemy ships accelerated forward, now traveling much faster than the transport.
“Kal Ukhrani, are you seeing this?” Jakhu asked as she stared out the window, repeating the same question on the top of Ikharus’s mind.
“Affirmative, Squad Leader,” Ukhrani replied. “The enemy ships are fast. I am having trouble outpacing them, but I might be able to outmaneuver them.”
“How fast are they?” Jakhu wondered.
“You will not believe this, Squad Leader, but I’m reading that a few of the faster ships are traveling at upwards of five-million kotans-per-minute.”
“Repeat that, Kal Ukhrani. It sounded like you said five million kotans-per-minute. That cannot be possible.”
“You heard me correctly, Kal Jakhu. These ships are unlike anything I have ever studied.”
“Five… five million?” the squad leader muttered to herself.
“By the Chiefdom,” added one of the guards.
The ship bore another sudden turn as Ukhrani piloted the vehicle away from the incoming pursuers. The force of the turn slammed Ikharus’s body against the wall. He heard a cracking sound in his abdomen and felt a sudden stabbing pain.
“Supreme Chieftain!” one of the guards cried out, grabbing onto Ikharus and stabilizing him. “Are you hurt?”
“My abdomen,” he said. He quickly looked down to make sure everything appeared alright. There was no visible injury, but he definitely felt something.
“How is it?” the guard asked.
“It shall be fine,” Ikharus replied, looking back up again. “I have fared much worse.”
Another quick turn forced Ikharus to stumble back again. He lost his footing and collided straight into Evirak.
“Are there any type of restraints aboard this ship? Any belts or buckles?” Evirak asked as he helped Ikharus back up.
“There should be,” one of the guards said, stepping toward Evirak. “Kho Vylan demanded that all emergency vessels that could potentially be used to transport the Supreme Chieftain be outfitted with the best safety features.”
They each looked around for a few seconds, though the search did not take long.
“Here, I have found them!” said Ezenkharam.
She pressed a button on a nearby panel, prompting a small slit to open in the wall. Four seats with thick restraints popped out automatically.
“Supreme Chieftain, please take a seat,” a guard said, motioning with his spear to an open seat.
Ikharus stumbled as the ship rocked again and quickly took the middle-left seat. A guard pulled the restraint down for him over his shoulders and made sure it was secure. It felt comforting to finally sit still and not worry about falling down whenever the ship changed direction.
As if right on cue, the ship bore another hard turn in that moment, sending everyone aboard clear across the cabin to the opposite wall. Only Ikharus, restrained in his seat, remained in place. The others were all tossed about.
“Kreed Scion, initiate magnetic grip! That shall keep us upright!” Jakhu ordered.
The Kreed soldiers did as she commanded, activating the magnetic suction in their suits to stay secure against the floor of the transport.
“Guards, come to me! Take a seat by my side!” Ikharus ordered.
The honor guards nodded and quickly made their way to the open chairs. There were three open chairs left, but four guards. One would have to remain standing without magnetic suction.
Jakhu peered out the nearest window again as the guards secured their restraints.
“Kal Ukhrani, the enemy is still behind us,” she warned.
“I see, Squad Leader. Evasive maneuvers can only do so much.”
Ikharus did not have a clear view out from where he now sat, though he was able to make out a bit of the action outside. Sure enough, he could tell that enemy ships were close behind them.
From the side of the window, Kholvari fighters suddenly snapped into action, coming out of nowhere. Ikharus was glad to see them. The fighters took out as much of the swarm line as they could, firing away one blast after the next. But despite their best efforts, there were just too many enemy ships. No matter how many they shot down, it was not enough.
At least the fighters will slow them down, Ikharus thought.
But like before, a group of ships broke off from the swarm and began to form a massive grid. The tiny vessels spaced themselves out evenly and held position.
Ikharus let out a gasp of horror. Not the grid again.
“Kal Ukhrani, they are going to fire themselves at us, just like they did to the lunar fighters,” Ikharus warned. “We need to get out of range of that grid wall, now!”
“What do you mean ‘fire themselves at us’?” Ukhrani asked.
Ikharus had forgotten that she and the rest of Kreed Scion were not with him in the bridge. They had not seen what he saw.
“Redirect course perpendicular to that wall. Get us past it. We don’t want to be in its path when the ships fire!” Ikharus explained.
“Understood, your Majesty,” Ukhrani replied, suddenly redirecting the transport’s course.
The hard turn forced the one standing guard to fall to the floor. Evirak quickly helped him back up.
Ikharus looked at the action outside the window again, studying it as best as he could from his vantage point. They were not too far from the grid’s edge. He took a deep breath, hopeful that they could make it in time.
And then the ships began to fire.
Ikharus’s mandibles dropped. One by one, swarm ships blasted forward so fast that they were practically invisible to the eye. Kholvari fighters caught in the field were ripped apart instantly.
“By the Chief-” someone muttered.
“Kal Ukhrani, get us out of here NOW!” Jakhu shouted, gripping the ceiling so hard that the metal began to dent.
Ikharus watched out the window as bullet-ships passed mere kotans away from them. It was by insurmountable odds that they had gone unscathed. And then… they passed out of range of the grid.
Ikharus let out a sigh of relief so strong, he had not even realized that he was holding his breath. His heart pounded. His body trembled. He blinked his eyes in disbelief.
He was alive.
He was alive and the transport was beyond the range of the swarm’s grid.
“Excellent piloting, Kal Ukhrani,” Jakhu said through deep breaths.
“Yes, excellent work indeed,” Ikharus agreed, adjusting in his seat.
“We are not free of danger yet,” Ukhrani replied. “I will not rest until we land safely back on Earth.”
“Yes, continue to the planet, Kal Ukhrani. That is-” Ikharus stopped mid-sentence as a painful sensation suddenly spread throughout his skull. “Aah!” he shrieked. The pain was so great, he dropped his scepter to the floor and pressed his only claw against his head.
“Leader,” a strange deep voice suddenly echoed through Ikharus’s mind in that moment.
Ikharus looked around, wondering who had said the words. It was not a voice he recognized.
Another burst of pain caused him to close his eyes and press the back of his head firmly against the wall behind him.
“You are him, aren’t you? You are the one they call Supreme Chieftain,” the deep voice continued. “At last I have found the one they name leader.”
Ikharus saw the flash of an image in his mind. First he saw the massive ship beside the moon, the one revealed as the swarm first broke apart. But then the vision changed. Moments later, he now saw a tentacled figure shrouded in a thick cloud of smoke. Just seeing the sight of it made him cough, as if the smoke were there in the room wi
th him.
“Voice… who is voice?” he asked through the pain.
“Your Majesty! What is wrong? Are you alright?” asked the guard seated directly to his right.
“You have hidden from us for too long, Supreme Chieftain,” the deep voice continued, “but at last, we have found you. Infinitum could not stop us and neither could your folly defenses. Though I must give credit to the late crew of the Infinitum. Detonating the ship’s engine managed to at least slow us down. Alas, you can run to the surface, but know that Earth will be ours.”
“Who are you?” Ikharus asked again.
Before the voice could answer, a city entered Ikharus’s mind. He could not tell which city it was, but something about the buildings, roads and signs seemed familiar. He glided through the streets as if he could hover. Pedestrians walked this way and that around him, paying him no mind. After a few seconds, Ikharus realized that this was not just any city. It was T’Dakho.
Just as he realized where he was, the city suddenly began to fall apart. The streets shook violently. Windows shattered. Buildings collapsed into rubble. A massive cloud of dust filled the air. Ikharus coughed and spun around, trying to make sense of it all.
And when the dust settled, the pedestrians around him had vanished from sight.
Ikharus was alone among the rubble.
“Who am I?” the voice repeated. “I am your doom.”
With those words, Ikharus felt the presence suddenly leave his mind. The pain was gone in an instant. He gasped for breath, opened his eyes and fell forward, caught by his restraints.
“Supreme Chieftain,” Jakhu said, holding onto him as he returned to the real world.
Ikharus blinked and slowly looked up to meet her eyes. They were filled with concern.
“I… I just received a message, I think,” he said, still catching his breath.
“A message?” Jakhu repeated. “From whom?”
“I think…” Ikharus replied, “from the enemy.”
The room was quiet for a moment as everyone aboard the transport struggled to understand what he meant.
“There was a voice,” he continued, “a presence in my mind. I could feel it, whatever it was. I saw the ship and… and a figure. I believe it was their leader.”
“What did you learn?” Kozakh asked.
“Not much.”
“Where do they come from?” Ezenkharam asked. “Are they some kind of military faction?”
“No. Whoever spoke to me, it spoke of Earth as if it were foreign to them. It almost sounded as if they were from beyond this planet.”
“Aliens?” a guard replied, gasping.
“I believe so,” Ikharus confirmed.
“I do not understand how they spoke to you without a comm. Have these aliens the ability to communicate telepathically?” Evirak wondered.
“Telepathy, or something like it. I… I cannot say. It is difficult for me to think. I feel tired, weary, beaten. It is as if this vision, this hallucination, whatever it was, has taken a toll on my mind.”
“Rest yourself, Kho Ikharus,” Jakhu said, still holding onto him. “We will reach the surface soon. There, you will be safe. You need not worry about these foes any longer.” Jakhu turned to face the cockpit and asked, “Kal Ukhrani, what is our status?”
“We are clear of the enemy assault,” Ukhrani responded with an exhale. “Now our biggest concern is getting around all this debris. But worry not. I can get us past this. Take my word: we are on course to Earth. I will return us back to the undercity beneath T’Dakho.”
“Excellent work, Kal Ukhrani,” Jakhu said.
“It was not easy, but we managed to survive unscathed. We are safe now,” Ukhrani replied.
Ikharus shook his head.
“No,” he replied, staring Jakhu in the eye. “Safe?” He shook his head. “We will not be safe. They spoke to me. They told me their plan, showed me their plan. They will come for us, whether we fight or run or hide. No matter what we do, we will never be safe. They will not stop until the Earth is theirs.”
Chapter Eleven
Rakhaan
Mr. Jallah Sane
A spaceship. An actual real-life spaceship.
Jallah could not believe he was here. He never would have expected in his wildest dreams that he would be flying in a spaceship full of mantises to visit a surface city. Of course, they were not actually going into space with this spaceship. There was something about disturbing reports from space making it unsafe, blah blah blah, so they stuck to the atmosphere instead. Jallah did not understand the reasons why space was so unsafe right now, but at this point, his journey was out of his control. He and the others were at the whim of the mantises now, and the whim of Dr. Sanja Parnel.
Jallah didn’t know much about the strange woman named Dr. Parnel, but Dan had warned him and the others not to trust her. He told them that she was evil, backstabbing, insane. But as far as Jallah could tell, this woman seemed genuine to him. When she talked, she spoke kindly and clearly. She was helpful and wise and was somehow able to speak to the mantises using regular words in English. Jallah wondered if she knew some trick to talking to them that he didn’t.
Getting used to the mantises, now that was a different story. Jallah understood that he could trust them now, that these mantises were not out to kill them like the others, but just being around them made him uneasy. For so long, he had feared them and considered them his enemy. Despite everything he had been told about their new alliance, it was difficult for him to accept them as anything but dangerous killers.
Adjusting to the mantises was hardest for the Georgopolis girls. Even a half-hour into the flight, the two young girls still squirmed and forced their eyes shut, not daring to even look at the mantises. Grey and Selena had to shield them from the sight just to get them to come onboard. They dared not leave their daughters’ sides now.
The spaceship shook, causing the vial in Jallah’s jumpsuit pocket to brush against his body. He naturally turned his gaze down to face the pocket. An urge coursed through him in that moment. He clenched his fists and felt himself grow sweaty. It had been far too long since he had a chance to stop and stare at the vial, but it was not safe to look at it here in the ship. There were too many people around. Someone would see.
Jallah let out a deep, calming breath, trying to forget all about the vial as best as he could, but the pain was unbearable.
“Jallah,” Margery said as her left hand met his right.
He quickly turned to face her.
“Yes?”
“Are you okay?” she asked with wide, concerned eyes. “You’re sweaty and shaking.”
“I… I’m fine, yes,” Jallah lied. “Just a bit nervous, I guess.”
“I understand. We’re flying in the air. It’s crazy to think about.”
“Yeah, that’s why I’m nervous. It’s because we’re flying,” Jallah replied, hoping that she would not see through his words.
“I never thought I’d fly in the sea above the surface. It’s strange to think how far from home we’ve come.”
“Yes, strange,” Jallah agreed, still trying his best to forget about the vial that tormented him.
“You’re still nervous. I can tell,” Margery noted.
“I… I… yes, I’m nervous,” Jallah said. He squirmed around on his long, wide seat. None of the chairs here had any backs to them. The mantises’ bodies wouldn’t fit on the types of chairs Jallah was used to, so instead they sat on chairs that looked more like big square blocks.
“You kids don’t need to be afraid anymore,” said the woman named Dr. Parnel. She turned around in her seat to face the others. Her dark, penetrating eyes stared straight into Jallah’s.
Dr. Parnel was not beautiful in a traditional sense, but Jallah found her strangely intriguing to look at. Her shaved head, ornate makeup and neck covered in thick metal rings was like something from an alien world.
“I hope so,” Margery replied to the woman.
“What�
�s going to happen to us next?” Jallah asked.
The woman shifted in her backless seat and smiled.
“The pilot is taking us to Rakhaan until it’s safe to return to space,” she explained.
“Where is Rakhaan?” Margery asked.
“What is happening in space?” Jallah asked.
“I don’t know,” Dr. Parnel answered.
“Don’t know to which question?” Margery wondered.
“To both. I don’t know where Rakhaan is and I don’t know what’s happening in space. They never tell me anything.”
“What do you know?” Jallah asked, realizing only after he said the words that he might have come off a bit too bluntly.
“They tell me Rakhaan is the closest city to where we are.”
“Well, that’s something,” Margery replied.
“What about space?” Jallah asked, not letting go.
Dr. Parnel shrugged.
“They say it’s classified. To be honest, I’m not even sure they know the answer,” she said.
If they won’t let us fly into space, it must be something pretty serious, Jallah thought.
“How do you know all this?” Dan asked, his voice suddenly entering the conversation.
Jallah turned around to face Dan, who was seated directly behind him, along with everyone else. Apparently the others were all listening in on the conversation, leaning forward with great interest.
“The mantises tell me things,” Dr. Parnel replied.
“How is it that you are able to talk to them?” Dan asked.
Dr. Parnel calmly turned and pointed to the back of her skull. Jallah had not noticed before, but there was a scar on the back of her head.
“What is that?” Jallah asked, pointing to the scar. He leaned forward and felt the weight of the vial again. He was so fascinated by Dr. Parnel, he hadn’t realized that he’d finally forgotten all about the vial in his pocket until now.
