by Aer-ki Jyr
“About halfway in…” he said, falling quiet as a soft rumble sounded. The faint noise gradually grew louder and louder until the foot beats were unmistakable. Boen put a finger to his lips, a reminder for Mark to stay quiet and still, then he gently poked his head out of the hole to have a look around. At first he didn’t see anything, then a bit of motion off to the left caught his eye. It wasn’t fully visible, given the debris in the way, but through several gaps he saw the flank of a protomech along with at least two Nestafar infantry flying just above its shoulders.
He pulled back in before they had a chance to spot him and moved over next to Mark. “Looks like they’ve added some firepower to the patrols.”
“Protomech?”
“Yeah.”
“They’re not going to halt the assault forever,” the trailblazer reminded him. “We need to get clear of here before they come back en mass. I’d say that was more of a scout than a patrol.”
Boen frowned and glanced around, more out of habit than trying to look, because there wasn’t much visibility available from where he was crouching. “How’s the leg?”
“Still no go.”
“Not what I meant.”
“It’s bad and not getting any better.”
“Dizzy?”
“Aside from the screaming pain…yeah.”
“You’re low on blood,” Boen commented, which both of them knew was bad. “We’re going to have to risk some longer runs. I was thinking about dragging you, but I don’t know how to do it without making your leg any worse.”
“Please don’t do that…” Mark pleaded in all seriousness.
“Yeah, didn’t think so. You got any ideas?”
“Follow the mech,” he said, leveraging himself up. “Now.”
For a moment Boen didn’t understand what he meant, then realization flashed in his eyes and he quickly pulled his helmet on and ducked out of the hideaway. Mark crawled out on his own and Boen picked him up again, listening for the location of the protomech and then heading that way, intent on getting in behind it.
He heard Mark groan several times from the bumpy ride, but he had to be quick to get in position and the erratic terrain wasn’t helping. It was daylight, which made their being spotted even more likely, but odds were they wouldn’t have one patrol following on the heels of another, so if they got in behind the protomech and its escorts, from far enough back, they might be able to have a clear run through the debris field…or at least in whichever direction the patrol was headed.
Boen remained silent, but he felt like uttering a whoop of joy when the backside of the short mech came into view briefly, then disappeared behind another pile of junk. He worked hard to stay close enough to it so that the sound of its footsteps would mask his own, but far enough away to keep out of sight most of the time. As it was, the Nestafar flying along with it had eyes front and to the side, not bothering to look behind where they had just passed.
Heavy as Mark was in his ranger armor, Boen was more than happy to carry him, feeling like each meter they progressed was an unmitigated victory up until the patrol turned to the east and was no longer helping them along. The pair of Archons ducked off to the north then started heading west before they came to a nook in the debris where Boen finally set him down before jumping off a few meters to the north and grabbing a better vantage point of the area.
Mark lay where he set him, pulling himself back in a few more inches and grimacing against the pain. It was numb, yet eye-piercing pain at the same time and he could feel his grip on reality fading, but as he lay perfectly still his mind began to restructure itself enough to gain control and bring him back into the moment.
Boen signaled to him that they were going to stay put a while, then pointed off further to the west, letting him know where they were headed next. After that it was just waiting and listening for more patrols, then back to the lethal game of frogger they were playing.
“I do not see how this helps,” Kel’sad said. “But here as it may be, let us see where it takes us.”
“Better,” Kara commented as a fierce headache hit her. She blinked away the pain, wondering what in the world had caused it, then she glanced back at the Scionate and saw him staring at the floor. “Are you ok? I just got a bad headache.”
Kel’sad didn’t move, as if he were frozen in place.
“Kel’sad?” Kara asked, walking over to him and gently poking him in the head…without a response.
Then to her left the lizard’s neck twisted, lifting its head up off the ground and rotating around so it could look at her across a 20 meter gap. It rumbled some language she didn’t know, the sound of which was truly frightening, but she held her ground next to the Scionate. It looked at her for a long moment, saying other things she couldn’t understand, then it seemed to grow disinterested in her and turned its long neck back towards its body as it strained to get to its feet, with multiple joint pops attesting to the length of time it had slept.
“Can you understand me?” she asked in the trade language, but it didn’t respond. She swallowed hard, then switched tongues based on something Mark had said earlier. “Gar cu ratch bey?”
As if struck by a bolt of lightning the lizard turned, unfurling huge wings that had been hidden by the way its body had been coiled up, and stared down at her. Kara smoothly pulled her plasma rifle off her back and held it at the ready across her chest, not aiming at the creature but making it clear she was ready for a fight if it was going to make one of it.
“Are you Ter’nat?” it asked directly, both of its huge eyes staring directly at the Archon’s helmet.
“Sort of.”
“Do not trifle with me,” the dragon warned. “Are you V’kit’no’sat?”
“We are enemies of the V’kit’no’sat, as I have been told you are.”
“Yet you are Ter’nat, are you not?”
Kara stared back at the creature, fear running through her veins at the sheer muscle power driving the thing and making her wish she was standing farther away, but she wasn’t about to abandon Kel’sad.
“We are not Ter’nat. We are descended from Zen’zat.”
The dragon recoiled a hair and cocked its head at an angle as if looking her over again. “That explains why I cannot access your mind, so you must tell me the answers I seek. Both Ter’nat and Zen’zat serve the V’kit’no’sat. How then can you be their enemy? Has a rebellion begun?”
“In the distant past, yes,” Kara confirmed, realizing that she was breaking the silence the Archons had kept on all things V’kit’no’sat for centuries, but if this dragon could speak the language then it probably knew more than she did. “A Rit’ko’sor rebellion resulted in a colony world being abandoned. My ancestors were left behind. We had no knowledge of the V’kit’no’sat until we recovered records of the past, and so far we have not encountered them across the galaxy, though we have not traveled far as of yet, but their old borders do not match those of the present. Where they are or what happened to them we don’t know.”
“Why then do you call them ‘enemy?’”
“We know that they do not tolerate splinter groups. If they find us, they will either kill or enslave us all.”
“They will not enslave you,” the dragon said as if it were common knowledge. “Rogue groupings are not tolerated in any form and are marked for eradication. Your survival is a feat of luck, nothing more. Whereas we were not so fortunate.”
That took Kara aback. “Before we get into a lengthy conversation I’d like to clear up one thing first…am I going to have to shoot you or not?”
A cross between a bark and a growl ripped from the dragon’s throat, then was gone as fast as it had been uttered. “I know of the conflict brewing above and of your imminent defeat. You shall not have to add me to your list of enemies unless you fire your weapon. I am weakened from my sleep and it might even hurt me.”
Kara recognized the arrogant nature of that remark and smiled. At least they had that in common.
“Your race was wiped out by the V’kit’no’sat…yet here you are. Explain. And a name would help too.”
“We are the Zak’de’ron, and I have no need to answer to you, little Zen’zat. You will answer me. What world are you from?”
“That I’m not saying,” Kara said, the headache suddenly returning. “What did you do to him?”
“His mind is easy to control, but yours is shielded. He does not know the name of your world, nor do those above. What is it?”
“We are alive because the V’kit’no’sat don’t know we exist, and we plan to keep it that way.”
“You believe they still exist, even though you have had no contact with them?”
“They were too powerful to have fallen.”
The dragon lowered its head down to almost floor level. “In that we are agreed, Zen’zat. The Rit’ko’sor would have hurt them, and hurt them badly if they chose to strike when and where I think they did, but it would have been little more than a distraction unless others joined them. Do you have any knowledge of this?”
“There were no others specified in the data.”
The dragon’s eyes narrowed. “You recovered a planetary defense station.”
“Meaning what?”
“Do not try to hide it from me. I may not be able to access your mind, but I am not blind. Our data records are kept in few places, and knowledge of a rebellion would not have spread to a colony except through controlled channels. You discovered a planetary defense station and used your genetic legacy to access it.”
“Our data records?” Kara asked.
“You obviously haven’t studied them very closely,” the dragon said, a bit miffed. “We were part of the V’kit’no’sat until they turned on us. They eradicated our worlds and decreed that all must die, which is why I must know the name of your world. It is important.”
“That I can’t risk,” Kara said, feeling the gravity of the situation upon her. “I know the names of every race within the V’kit’no’sat. I have studied my enemy well, and your kind were never mentioned.”
The dragon’s nostrils flared with anger, but fortunately it wasn’t directed at Kara. “Killing our young is treason enough, but to rewrite history is beyond contempt.”
“Why did they turn on you?”
“Many reasons. Like your kind, we are not blood kin. We did not fully capitulate to the consensus during inception. We kept a portion of our identity intact, and that the others never forgave us for. The water dwellers never trusted those they could not control, and the smaller races relied on the elders to provide for them, so when it came time to make choices their voices were suppressed. We are Zak’de’ron first and always, V’kit’no’sat second. That was why they betrayed us, and that is why they will stop at nothing to hunt me down, so I ask again, Zen’zat, what world are you from?”
The headache returned a third time, as if the dragon were trying to reach into her memories without success. “Why does it matter? The V’kit’no’sat are no longer there or anywhere in the vicinity.”
“That is exactly why I need to know. From the size of the hole in their domain I can guestimate a sequence of events, but I must know where that hole is.”
Kara stared up at the huge beast, glad to have her helmet in between herself and its massive jaws, for it steadied her nerve a bit. “Tamprani.”
6
“Tamprani…” the dragon mewed. “But that is a region, not a world.”
“That’s as much as I’m going to give you.”
“Sufficient enough,” it decided, spinning around in place and giving Kara a good view of its long, muscular tail as it seemed to stretch out its various joints. “How long have I slept?”
“I have no idea,” Kara admitted, glancing at Kel’sad. “What have you done to him?” she repeated.
“His mind is not shielded as yours is. How long has your world been free?”
“Is he damaged?” she asked icily.
“He is paused,” the dragon said, staring the Human down. “How long?”
“About 100,000 years.”
Suddenly every fiber on the beast’s body tensed up, and for a moment it appeared that he had become as frozen as Kel’sad, then a low rumble sounded from his gut that quickly rose up to a screeching howl more terrifying than any sound Kara had ever heard.
When it ceased the dragon stamped its front legs down hard on the floor, looking severely stricken. “Then I am the last of the Zak’de’ron,” it said, turning to face Kara again. “Zen’zat, I require your assistance.”
“How about you clue me in one what’s happening before you start asking favors.”
“Ask? You serve us, little one.”
“I said we were descended from Zen’zat, not that we are Zen’zat. We are Star Force, and we serve no one.”
“You serve their Alliance,” he said, gesturing towards the frozen Scionate.
“We work with them to counter a common foe.”
“Yes, these Cajdital, you call them. For such weaklings to dominate this area of the galaxy means the V’kit’no’sat must have suffered heavy losses, but still, we are not safe here. We must relocate, and for that I require your…help.”
“Oh, you’re asking now are you?”
“You have courage, little Star Force, but not wisdom. I could crush you easily.”
“And yet you seem to need my help for something. Odd how that works.”
The dragon huffed. “Your insolence is refreshing. Tell me, if the V’kit’no’sat come back to reclaim your world, what will you do?”
“Run,” Kara said without hesitation.
“You have already made plans.”
“Of course we have. We know their strength.”
“You do not, that I can assure you. If they seek it, they will destroy you no matter where you go, as they have destroyed us. If you are wise, you will abandon your world and flee to the edge of the galaxy, there they have no domain. Make yourself small and go unnoticed, for it is your only hope of survival…and the same is true for us, only greater so. You are insignificant to them, we are not. If they believe us dead then I have a chance to fulfill my mission, but I cannot remain here. I must flee as well, before they know to chase me. Do you understand this?”
“Who are you...to them?”
“A threat…one that they will not, cannot tolerate. For their treachery they know we will never forgive them, thus one of us must fall. They believe it to have been us, but here we survive, unknown to them. I can blanket the minds of the others, but yours I cannot. I must either kill or conscript you into silence, but given that we both will share the same fate if the V’kit’no’sat find us, I do not believe you are in a position to betray us to them.”
“You can erase their memories?” Kara asked, looking again at Kel’sad.
“Our power over the mind is formidable, even more so than the Oso’lon. It is one reason why they fear us so.”
“The Oso’lon have mind control?”
The dragon frowned, wrinkling its hairless eyebrows. “You do not know as much as I assumed. You must delve deeper into the information you possess if you seek to unlock their secrets.”
“We have been, but this is the first I’ve heard of any telepathy.”
“Their information systems are designed for use by those who already know, they do not teach as your Alliance does. Information is not given to those without the ability to use it, and those with the ability to use it will know how to find it. You must look deeper to find the answers you seek. Then, perhaps, you will recognize how hopeless your survival is on your native world.”
“They call you the ‘Keepers,’ why?”
“We conscript others into our civilization…something else that the V’kit’no’sat did not condone. Many of our conscripts referred to us as such amongst themselves.”
“You’re not conscripting us, I can promise you that.”
“We cannot, do you not see?” the dragon said, leaning closer with its long neck.
“You are shielded from our power. The V’kit’no’sat changed the Ter’nat they recruited into Zen’zat so that none of us could manipulate you. You served us all, without bias. You were obedient, but independent. Zen’zat have no master, for the sake of all.”
Kara frowned inside her helmet, trying to make sense of this. “How many V’kit’no’sat races have telepathy?”
“All do. The Ter’nat do not because they are servants, but the Zen’zat were elevated to better serve. Your mind is blank to me, have you no skill?”
“Wait a second, you’re saying Zen’zat are also telepathic?”
“Much more than telepathic, though your ‘skill’ is impotent compared to ours. Your greatest asset is your shielding, but you should have some basic abilities. Zen’zat were forbidden from breeding so they could not pass them on to those who were unloyal. If your ancestors truly were Zen’zat, then you should possess the capability, no matter how many generations have passed.”
Suddenly all those episodes of X-files she used to watch started to pop into Kara’s head. “Ok…did not know that. So you ‘keep’ races of your own, you’re telepathically stronger than the other races, you kind of do your own thing…so why did the others put up with you as long as they did?”
“It was we who put up with them…do you not know how the V’kit’no’sat began?”
“Oddly enough, that wasn’t foremost in the datab…in the records.”
“There is no need to try and deceive me, little one. You could not access the ‘records’ unless you possessed ambrosia, and in order to know how to make it you would need access to the factories that produced it. Those only existed in one place in the colonies. Tell me, is your defense station fully operational or was it damaged?”
“The Rit’ko’sor trashed everything else on the planet, then submerged it,” she admitted.
“It was on land then? They broke the water ponds?”
“Yes,” she said, feeling a little spooked by how much he knew.
“The armor on the defense stations is extremely difficult to damage…and even harder to build. They could not have destroyed it if they wished, because they did not possess the weapons strong enough to do so. There is a hierarchy amongst the V’kit’no’sat, with weapons and technology divvied out accordingly. The Rit’ko’sor are at the bottom, though their numbers are immense. That is why they were capable of rebellion.”
