Matakeo: Echoes of the Future

by Daniel L. Newcomb

  “Wasn’t your mother worried Malign would find out about you?”

  “Yes. That is why she lives a secluded life. She even ignored her own kin to safeguard me. She intentionally had the color removed from her fibers to change her appearance. There was no one to help her during my delivery. Mother had to do it all on her own.”

  “So, how does your law read? Would you have had to been born already to be the rightful heir?”

  “No. Conception was enough. Once mother realized she was pregnant, she came to the conclusion it would do no good if she spoke up about it. Since Malign was hell-bent and had father killed, what would have stopped her from doing the same to mother and me?”

  “Sanchor was wise to hide you.”

  “Yes, she was.” Then he smiled. “When I was very young, she explained to me there are many injustices in life…” Scion stopped mid-sentence when Rimsen laughed. “What?”

  “I’m sorry. You said when you were young. I thought it funny, taking your age into consideration.”

  “Anyway,” the boy continued. “Mother told me someday I would take what was rightfully mine.”

  “Well now, seems like we have the makings for an excellent tale.” Rimsen reached out and put a hand on the boy’s shoulder as an act of friendship. A sensation, similar to static electricity, slowly traversed its way through Scion’s shoulder. Fanning out in many directions, the phenomenon made its way through the center of his back. The boy shuddered as if he were trying to shrug off a chill. Suddenly, he was conscious of an immortal power flowing within this human. Even though he did not have the knowledge to understand what he was experiencing he hungered for what might be obtained. The opportunity to own such power intrigued him. Not a power to rule with an iron fist but that which encourages others to follow leadership; a once in a lifetime chance to listen and learn wisdom. He determined not to let this human out of his sight.

  “So, how are we going to kill Malign?”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Since when did it change from me to us?”

  “You need to involve me if I am to gain what is rightfully mine.” Scion was sure of this.

  “No.” Rimsen stared coldly into his eyes. “What you really need to do is go home.”

  “I was under the impression we had foreclosure on that subject?” The boy’s eyes met the human’s and matched their intensity. “Please, I want to learn about this god of yours. Please! Some day, when I am on the throne, I can share this knowledge with my people.”

  Rimsen did not give a reply right away. Instead, he extended his arm further around the boy’s shoulders. The bond between the two was electric. Immediately, there was a transfer of understanding from the man’s intellect to the boy’s comprehension.

  “First thing you must understand,” Rimsen broke the silence. “A fight is not yours if God has ordained it to another.”

  “I can accept that,” Scion answered. “You keep mentioning this god of yours. What makes him any better than Galazian?”

  “Another thing you need to learn. Your god is powerless. He is either a false god or was some great mortal your ancestors elevated to a god-like status.”

  The expression upon Scion’s face was not one of anger but rather relief. Already, it was as if the spirit of the human’s god was settling upon his heart. He was perceptive and soaking everything up like a sponge. Every word from the man’s mouth found a way into the boy’s mind.

  “I believe you,” he replied. “Never before have I seen my god perform some great work. Never has there been a Lumi who walked in the power and demonstration of Galazian as you do with your god.”

  “You catch on pretty fast for your age.”

  Scion continued on with his train of thought without acknowledging the man’s last comment.

  “I did see the power of your god embrace the core of my mother’s soul. The revelation that freed her is what I seek after.”

  “I do not know how much time we will have together but I will do my best to teach you what I know.”

  “I would greatly appreciate it.”

  “Wow!” Rimsen exclaimed with exhaustion. “Wish I were able to soak in a hot tub of water right about now. My body aches like crazy.”

  “A short walk from here is a hot spring.” Scion used a finger to point the direction. “There is a cave close by as well.”

  “What are we waiting for?” Rimsen declared. “Let’s go.”

  26

  Nux Vomica waited in her quarters. Her grandfather’s freighter was enough to make her restless and bored. By the old Achernarion standard, she was fourteen years of age. She fully understood the hazards associated with getting in the way of the lifts as they loaded the large crates. On the other hand, she knew her captain was a softy at heart. There was always opportunity to misbehave.

  Besides, the brown-skinned girl had a curiosity streak as long as the galaxy is wide. There was something appealing about every new load of freight they took on. Even though most shipping containers were the same in design, they all had different insignia stickers placed on them. The representation behind the decals showed the system or planet from which the crate originated from.

  There were so many stars and locales throughout the galaxy. Some she had seen. Most were just false images in her mind. The girl always envisioned what she thought each one of those planets should look like. Were they a terrestrial, ice, or barren planet? Were there gas giants in the same system and what beautiful colors did they display? Who were the people and what did they look like? What were their customs?

  Like every time before, with the exception of the two times her grandfather locked her in, the girl ventured out onto the dock. As always, her timing was perfect. On this particular day, the crane operator and the dock hands had just knocked off for lunch. She knew there was about a forty minute window of opportunity here.

  These times were exciting for her. The Achernarion moved quickly from crate to crate. Keying a password into a hand-held device allowed her to bring up the individual manifests. This task was as easily done from inside the ship but not as thrilling as seeing the boxes first hand. Many different emblems and iconic pictures from a vast number of corporations decorated the outside surface of the crates.

  The first one she came upon brought back a bit of history. This one was from Morella. She recalled the plight of her ancestors in her mind, as told by her grandfather: Her ancestors’ home world, Achernaria, was in orbit around Achernar; a bright, blue, B-type star of seven solar masses nestled in the southern tip of the Eridanus constellation. This elongated star’s spin was so rapid its equatorial diameter was more than fifty percent greater than its polar diameter. The instability of the star caused it to go super nova. The Morellion people accepted them and allowed them to make a new home on their planet. This was only after ambassadors for her race had gone to Earth for help. Earth’s gravity proved to be much too light for the Achernarians to stay. However, they did share their space travel technologies with Earth due to the hospitality shown them. Unfortunately for her race, the majority died after arriving on Morella. This epidemic stemmed from a virus that had developed on their home world about a month before Achernaria was destroyed. Conditions on the planet began to change rapidly as its sun went through the late stages of destabilization. Achernarion scientists did not discover the cause of the virus until it was too late. The only ones to survive the deadly outbreak were those immune to the virus, or those who were not planet side after the virus matured. Less than twenty thousand survived. Vomica’s great grandmother, who was pregnant with her grandfather at the time, had been one of the few who were immune to the sickness. Many of her relatives were a statistic in the catastrophic death toll. This account of the Achernarion people is recorded in history records as The Achernarion Exodus.

  She moved on to the next crate. This one caught her attention. The logos on it were unlike any she seen before. She scrutinized it with a delightful eye. Her mind wandered. She was amazed by the creativity put into the artw
ork of the decals, her mind wandered. Obviously, at least in her mind anyway, this race of people must have a planet full of beautiful cities and plush gardens. Once she brought up the crate’s manifest, the girl was able to retrieve the origin of the canister. It read, Loe-Doun.

  “I will have to make it a point to ask grandfather if we can visit the world of Loe-Doun someday.”

  Out of the corner of one eye she caught a glimpse of something shiny. A chain was draped across a crate next to the box she was admiring. There was some doubt in her mind as to whether it was obtainable or not due to its proximity to the ledge. Of course, it was too alluring not to try.

  Fascinated, the Achernarion moved to it swiftly in hopes to retrieve it. She reached out and was able to grasp it between her thumb and finger tips. Gradually, more and more of it appeared as she lifted it from its resting place. When it came into full view she realized it was a necklace.

  Clasped to the end of the chain was a trinket. She placed it into the palm of her hand and marveled. What a strange and wonderful object. Never before had she stumbled upon such a treasure. Lost in the moment, she did not realize the dock workers had returned from their lunch break. Not until one of them yelled at her. Pretending not to hear him, she scurried over to the bottom step of the staircase below the dock office. Here she sat and waited for her grandfather, while taking pleasure in her new ornament.

  27

  With his helmet and weapon securely hidden within the cave, Rimsen made his way down the short path to the spring. At waters edge, he stripped out of his clothing. A slight breeze blew. He imagined himself sticking a toe or maybe even an entire foot into the water to test its temperature. Instead, he dove directly into the natural pool.

  Amazingly, his body experienced quick incalesence. The bite of the cool evening air could not get to him now. He was chin deep in the warmth. The therapeutic properties immediately began to sooth all the aches and pains. From head to toe, he was slowly feeling like a man once again. Steam rose three feet into the air from off the top of his head. There would come a point when the warm water would do him more harm than good. For the time being, he was enjoying it immensely. He had instructed Scion to gather wood for a fire.

  A half an hour passed. Rimsen debated. Stay in longer and enjoy the natural bath, or get out and bed down next to a warm fire? He assumed his newly acquired friend would have the flames stoked and a bed of coals on the way shortly. As he was pondering on this, there was a sudden splash in the pool directly in front of him.

  A few seconds later it happened again. The first time it happened, he thought maybe a fish or some other form of aquatic life had sprung up from the depths to snag an insect that might have been hovering above the surface.

  He trained his eyes on the area where the second splash occurred. There was no sign indicating something jumped out of the water. It appeared to be an impact.

  A third splash followed closely behind its predecessor. Out of the corner of his left eye, he caught a glimpse of a fast flying object right before the showering display of water took place. He turned around to get a line of sight in the direction the object had come from. Looking beyond the horizon of the shoreline brought about the unexpected.

  There was the boy, partially hidden behind a thicket, bringing his arm forward to throw something. Seconds later, another splash occurred in the pool. This one was close enough for the spray to spatter the man’s right cheek. The boy moved his mouth without pronouncing a sound. He pointed in the direction of the slopes. Rimsen quickly discerned the boy’s intention.

  Swiftly he made his way out of the water and to the shore where he left his clothing. Keeping one eye on the area the boy had pointed out he dressed his self with the dirty apparel. Once he was clothed, he decided to run for the cave and retrieve his weapon. Unfortunately, he ran out of cover before he could reach it.

  Then he heard the clomping of boots. The sound of marching many was almost upon him. He sprawled out on the ground behind a boulder. This was the last possible place for him to hide before reaching the cave. From this angle, the first thing he saw was the patrol's helmets. As they closed in on his position more of their upper torsos appeared in his line of sight. Now they were close enough he could see all eight of them. He breathed a sigh of relief when he realized the direction they were marching in would take them right by him. If he continued to lie still, there was a good chance the soldiers would not see him.

  Suddenly, the patrol leader issued a command. Immediately following the order, the squad came to a complete stop. Seven of them remained in formation. The officer in charge broke rank. At first he scanned the perimeter of the hot pool.

  Rimsen remained ready to bolt as the patrol leader’s search endured longer than the human really cared for. Now he was beginning to worry about being seen. Adrenaline began to saturate his body as he quickly realized he may have to fight eight of these aliens. He still had to retrieve the weapon inside the cave. The odds of him being able to get there and retrieve the echo blade before being shot were slim at best. He made up his mind. If they spotted him, he would run away from the area and then double back after shaking the patrol off his tail.

  “Rak-for!” The officer issued a new command.

  The translator implanted under the skin of Rimsen’s left earlobe interpreted the command. Break formation. Straight away, they fell out of rank and systematically began to search the area.

  Rimsen had told Scion to be sure he did not leave anything lying around in the open that would look out of place. Hopefully, he followed those instructions. At this point, it really did not matter if it were the boys fault or not. The fact of the matter was simple. There were eight Lumi soldiers alerted to something.

  There was no time for second guessing. He rose to his feet and walked away. Keeping his body in a semi-crouched position, he slowly made his way further down the slope. About one hundred feet away, there was a line of trees. His plan was to get there without being detected.

  All that was needed to ruin his plan was for one of the soldiers to look his direction. For the longest time, none of the soldiers glanced his way. When he was within twenty feet of the tree cover one of them spotted him.

  “There he is!” The soldier alerted the rest of his team.

  Fortunately for Rimsen, he made it close enough to the mauve colored fern trees before one of the soldiers could train the sights of their weapon on him. This allowed him the comfort of knowing the trees would provide enough cover to keep him from being hit. As he made it into the grove laser rounds impacted the trunks of the trees. He kept on running without looking back.

  Rimsen’s sore muscles began to tell on him in a hurry. There was no doubt the patrol would catch him before long. The Lumi were so much quicker and agile than a human. He himself was quite fast but not fast enough. Before long, he would need to formulate a plan to ditch them or one to fight.

  The odds were stacking against him as the trees thinned out as did a plan to lose them. To fight, he would need for the terrain to be in his favor. An elevated area would serve him the best. He could hear their footsteps gaining on him. Nonetheless, he ran hard. As the trees became fewer and farther between, the aliens commenced with the weapons barrage.

  Then Rimsen spied what he was hoping for. About four hundred feet ahead, the ground angled upwards into a formation resembling a miniature volcano. The peak was twenty-five feet high. All he could do now was pray there was a depression in the center of the ridge for him to take cover in.

  Four soldiers stopped and fired at him as he ran up the hill. The other four continued their pursuit. He made it to the top and over in the nick of time. Several shots might have hit him had he been a second slower. As fate would have it, the peak was flat.

  The soldiers below ceased firing their weapons to make sure the four soldiers nearing the top of the hill were not shot in the back. The group made it over the ridge and on to the plateau where the human was waiting for them. They drew their weapons and locked on to t
he human. Everyone stood their ground. No one spoke a word.

  A minute later, a fifth soldier crested the ridge. This was the patrol officer. The Lumi in charge walked up next to his comrades and positioned himself on their right flank. Stretching his left arm out, he pointed a finger at the human.

  “We have orders to bring you in alive.” The officer addressed him.

  “I can foresee an issue with that coming to pass.”

  Rimsen knew they would not kill him. This meant one thing. It was time to roll up his sleeves and prepare for the physical confrontation that was about to ensue.

  All Lumi are aware that their species is the strongest amongst all known in the galaxy. The humans were considered to be at the bottom of the charts in that category. The only attribute that helped the human race remain competitive was their uncanny way of banding together in numbers to be stronger. When adversity tried to stare them down they would swing and give it a black eye. This patrol knew one human was no match for the eight of them.

  The aliens made one huge mistake when they sized up this human. They really had no way to know he was Matakeo; an elite warrior. A man chosen before he was born; whose genetics gave him incredible strength and lightning quick reflexes. The only reason this one had never experienced this superior ability, other then when he had ran down the Lumi maintenance worker the day before, was because of the inhibitor chip that had been attached to his brain for so many years.

  The officer was confident in his own strengths and abilities. Having finished at the top of his class in advanced hand-to-hand combat training made him to believe he did not need the help of those under his command. Coming from a wealthy family, his arrogance may have helped prod him to wave the other soldiers off. Circumspectly, he closed the distance between him and his opponent.

  Rimsen could not understand why he felt the need to become the aggressor. It just happened. Before the officer knew what hit him, he had pummeled him to the ground. The Lumi made several attempts to break free from his grasp.