by James Somers
Grod looked at Wynn through narrow eyes and he placed his hand upon the Horva general's shoulder.
"Soon my friend, soon you will have vengeance," he whispered.
They were the only words of comfort that could have been offered. Wynn was truly his friend and had been since the end of the Baruk war when he knew of the Horva rescue of Tiet and his late brother Kale. And he was right; he would take his vengeance soon upon these creatures. He thought of his son Emil and recovering him safely and it quieted his spirit somewhat.
The wilds were before them now. Tiet pressed the engines hard toward a destination only he could sense; toward his son. He knew the boy was alive; there was no doubt within him.
KALE and the others moved as quickly as possible through the dense vegetation. Emil took the point position and whacked away at the large undergrowth with a kemstick while Kale helped his mother along; she was still a little shaky from being stunned by the soldiers. Every so often they thought they heard the faint sound of engines, then it would fade and be gone completely leaving only the sounds of the indigenous wildlife.
All manner of creatures, both deadly and benign, lived in the wilds and the boys knew very well the dangers they might have to face other than the military after them. They thought better than to share those possibilities with Mirah.
Emil was a good twenty feet ahead of them in the foliage which seemed to instantly replace the cut vegetation with more to bar their way.
"Kale! I've found something! Someone!" shouted Emil from up ahead.
They rushed ahead to where Emil was standing. Just beyond, half hidden in the bushes was a little girl of no more than four. She was staring at them with a terrified look on her face as though she might attempt to run at any moment.
"It's alright, Honey," said Mirah as she knelt to try and coax the child from her hiding place.
"Monsters, trying to get me," said the little girl through lips that quivered as though she were freezing out here in the hot jungle air.
"I know, Honey. We won't let any monsters get you. Come here, it's alright, you're safe now," consoled Mirah.
The girl eased herself out of the brush and began to walk toward Mirah. Kale scanned around trying to see if the soldiers were nearby or if he could hear any whining of their engines. The girl reached Mirah and then dodged around her and ran to Kale; jumping into his arms before he knew what was happening.
"Hold me, Mister," begged the girl as she trembled in his arms.
"Well," said Mirah with complete surprise and a little hurt motherly pride. "I guess she prefers you."
"What should I do?"
"Hold her."
Kale sensed something unusual about her but he could not place the feeling.
"What's your name?" asked Mirah.
"Monsters, chasing me; they took my father… I ran away from the monsters."
"But, what's your name?" asked Kale.
"Don't let the monsters get me, Mister," said the girl trembling as she clung to his clothing.
"I won't let them get you."
"Kale, we need to keep moving," advised Emil.
"You're right."
"I'll take point again," said Emil as he reignited his kemstick and moved ahead of them into the undergrowth.
They followed with Kale still holding the little girl. Her arms were wrapped tight around his neck and her legs around his waist as they made their way behind Emil.
"SIR, our scans show they have taken the girl. The four of them are moving south of our position."
"Very good. Bring us ahead of them one mile…at this clearing here," said Lucin as he punched the info into his display. "We'll lay out our troops here and wait for them. We'll awaken the girl just before they reach the ambush."
"Yes, Sir. I'm bringing us to the new coordinates."
Grod sat down next to Tiet as he piloted the stolen transport. Wynn stood behind him.
"Tiet, I have to speak to you," said Grod.
"What is it?"
"I think we have to consider what we're going to do if we can recover the boys."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, considering what we saw trying to get through the city, and if this has been happening in all the other cities…" said Wynn.
"We can't stay on this planet," finished Grod.
"What? But there might be a way to…"
"Tiet, its over," said Wynn.
They were sobering words to his ears and he couldn't reply. He had no words to confront the facts being forced on him now. He had ruled this society, this planet, for fifteen years, and it was all shattering to pieces around him. He had often thought of how far this brotherhood between the Vorn and Horva could go; of what could be achieved and how his rule would only be the beginning of the greatness that would be realized in the future for them.
And yet the undermining of it all had been building like a disease that grows silently unnoticed in the body until it is discovered too late to save the person's life. He had been living a fantasy all this time and it was time to wake up.
"Tiet, we thought we had beaten the Baruk but all this time those creatures have been continuing the war and we are beaten. We're beaten," said Wynn.
"We have to escape this planet," continued Grod.
"How. Where could we go?"
"I have an idea about that," said Grod. "When the Horva acquired the compound at Nagon-Toth from the Vorn military, we also stumbled upon a secret underground compound linked to it by a hidden tunnel from inside the compound. This is where we acquired the transgate portal from, but that's not all that was there."
They listened more intently now.
"There was a prototype transgate, only it was implanted in a ship. We never got around to testing the ship's ability to create and enter a portal, but according to the data we found in the chamber it had been done successfully; there were even a number of test planets and their coordinates left in the ship's computer. I think they might have been trying to prepare for conquering them, but we could escape to one of them and the Symbytes would have no way of finding or following us."
Tiet thought about all that had happened in the last hours and his own wife and child still on the run. They were right and he knew it. He had no other ideas to offer in the situation.
"Let's do it. Once we have Mirah and the children we'll make a run for your ship."
Wynn and Grod looked relieved as though they thought he might not be willing to leave; as though he might not be willing to give up on all he had tried to build. The irony for Tiet was that Wynn had been the one who had nearly twisted his arm into accepting the council's proposal to ascend to his father's throne.
"Look's like we're entering the wilds," said Grod.
"I'll begin scanning for their life signatures," said Wynn. "It shouldn't take us long to pick them up and any ships that are in the area."
"Once we have their position," said Tiet. "We'll evacuate them and dust off as quickly as possible."
Wynn eyed Grod whose composure changed quickly at that suggestion, but Tiet was already aware of what the proposal meant for his old Horva friend.
"Grod, I know you want revenge, believe me I would like almost nothing more than to join you in that fight; nothing more that is except to save my wife and our children and hopefully get off of this rock with our lives. You and Wynn talked to me about a hopeless fight and you're right. Now our priority has to be saving them and getting away safely."
Grod looked at him and his anger softened when he thought of saving his son. Emil was all he had left; Tiet was right and he nodded his agreement.
"I've got the wreckage of the Whiplash on sensors."
"They crashed?"
"It looks like a controlled landing, but the ship's just sitting there smoldering. Something must have happened and they've left it to burn."
"Any other ships in the area?"
"I've got three military transports on the ground and…wait a minute…yes, I've got them. Four people are traveling
toward the transports; I don't think they realize their heading into a trap."
"Alright then, let's get in there fast; ETA five minutes."
"WE'RE coming into a clearing, Kale!" shouted Emil from the brush ahead of them.
The girl had not let go of him since they found her, but her trembling had stopped. He turned to look at her face as she raised it from his shoulder. Suddenly he felt something; another presence was with them now. The girl's expression was strangely cold and blank, then she moved her hand almost faster than Kale could see and much too fast for him to react with her hanging around his neck. Her hand was over his mouth in a flash as she pulled herself up, putting her knees into his chest and her hand around the back of his neck to leverage her arm into his mouth.
Her strength was unbelievable for a girl her size. He was off balance before he knew it and her weight and effort forced him back to the ground. He could feel something more driving down his throat from her hand, like a slimy tentacle of some sort. He was strangling on the appendage and trying unsuccessfully to beat her off with his fists.
Despite his inability to scream for help, his mother was quick to respond. Mirah was beating and clawing at her, but the girl relentlessly remained fastened to her victim.
"Emil, help him! She's one of them!!"
Kale could see only cold blackness in her doll's eyes. She was killing him, he thought. He noticed Emil coming upon her with his ignited kemstick, but the little monster was faster than expected. Emil swiped at her, but she suddenly disengaged from Kale and rolled off of his body under the weapon's strike and sprang in one move over Emil's head to land on his shoulders.
He was caught off guard and the girl used his surprise to her advantage. She plowed her gnarled hand into his mouth as she pulled his jaw down with her other hand from behind him.
Now Emil was flailing with the girl on his back; her small legs were dug into his hips to brace herself. Emil dropped his weapon and Mirah grabbed it and swung at the girl. She disengaged her second attack under the threat and bounded away from him, landing on the trunk of a large tree nearby. She looked like a large squirrel clinging to the tree.
Kale was on his feet as fast as he could recover, with his own kemstick coming alive in his hand. The girl hissed, then boldly launched herself at him. His vision was blurred a little as he tried to focus on her and clear his throat from the choking. She bounced off of the ground under his first strike then tumbled in the air over his head. His second strike guided by his kinetic senses struck the girl in mid air as she came down behind him. It was a clean strike; she didn't move again.
"Are you boys okay?" asked Mirah. "Let me get a bioscan."
"We don't have time," said Kale, "The soldiers are near-I can feel it. We've got to keep moving."
The group tried to recompose themselves quickly and moved on their previous path, leaving the girl behind. They came into the clearing that Emil had spoken of and almost immediately Kale could sense the soldiers waiting for them on the other side of the open area.
"Wait."
"What's wrong?"
"I think we're walking into a trap here. They're waiting for us on the other side of the clearing. Let's move back into cover."
They turned to recover their position back in the brush. Immediately blaster fire erupted on their position. Emil noticed that the blasts were meant to stun only, as they bounced around the trees without charring the timber.
Soldiers began to move out of their cover into the clearing and close the space between them. There were at least fifty or sixty heading for them while laying down a steady rain of stunning laser fire. Emil and Kale blocked many of the stun blasts that were coming at their position as they retreated further into the cover of the vegetation.
Then they were hit from the rear by more laser fire. More soldiers could be seen closing on them from the trees.
"I'll take the rear!" said Kale, "Guard my mother!"
They were back to back around Mirah, deflecting the stun blasts of the symbyte soldiers. Kale decided more action was needed. Soon the soldiers would be upon them. He moved away from his mother and Emil and took to the trees. A kinetic bubble, generated by his mind, formed around Mirah as he took off away from her.
He moved from branch to branch and tree to tree and quickly found his way above the soldiers. Kale swooped down into the enemy forces and began to bring his sticks into play against them. He hacked into the soldiers, taking down as many as possible as he deftly moved among them.
Their attack from the rear quickly began to disorganize as he slipped in and out of their ranks. Many of their own men were being taken down by crossfire in the confusion.
Emil was not having as much success in his efforts. The soldiers were almost completely across the clearing now and the fire was too concentrated for him to block it all. Several blasts got by his defense and brought him down hard.
The kinetic bubble was still in place around Mirah as the soldiers took the opportunity of Emil's unconsciousness and moved in on her. They blasted away in vain at the bubble, but Mirah could not move from the position to run either.
"WE'RE coming up on their position!"
Tiet brought the transport into a descent on the clearing just beyond the raging battle his family was involved in below.
"I've got two transports rising out of the trees ahead!" said Tiet.
"I'm on it; locking on targets."
Wynn brought the transport's missiles online as the targets began to clear the tops of the trees. He fired nearly every rocket the ship was carrying at the enemy transports.
As soon as they had cleared the treetops, the ships turned toward them to fire and were greeted by almost twenty high-powered rockets. The transports shattered to pieces before they could fire a shot and fell back to the ground much faster than they had risen.
Tiet continued his descent and landed the craft very roughly as he bolted for the door. Wynn and Grod quickly followed with Jael and Mareb close behind. They all ran into the battle.
The symbyte soldiers now turned to fight them as they ran into the fray. Tiet and Wynn began to maneuver through the symbytes, cutting them down at every turn of their swords. Tiet could see Kale far off among a second group of soldiers, battling with them furiously; his dual sticks whirling about him like circles of death dealing light.
When he came upon Mirah she was under attack by several soldiers trying to penetrate a kinetic bubble being maintained by Kale's mind. Tiet quickly dispatched them and somewhere in the fight Kale sensed him there with his mother and released her from her protective imprisonment.
She immediately moved to Tiet's protection and he headed for the transport with her. Kale and Tiet spoke in mental sensations through the space between them and Kale disengaged the fight and took to the trees after his parents as they headed for the ship.
Grod already had Emil's unconscious body in his powerful arms and was heading back to the transport after them, as Wynn and the two Horva soldiers laid down cover fire and defense for them.
The main group made it to the transport safely, though still under fire, as Kale bounded through the treetops over the symbytes and came down into the clearing en route for the transport. Tiet was already lifting off with Kale in his mind, knowing that he could make the jump to safety without any problem, but something happened as he ran for the ship. Tiet could sense a complete loss of control in Kale's mind and waves of pain taking over his body. He looked back through the open troop deployment door to the field below in time to see his son fall.
No shot had hit him, but he was losing consciousness quickly. Kale could see the transport just ahead and above him, but he could not make his body respond to his desire to lift himself up to it. As his eyes closed he caught a faint glimpse of Wynn touching down next to him on the ground.
Tiet brought the blaster cannons to bear on the soldiers emerging from the trees as Wynn lifted Kale's body to his shoulder and made the leap under mental power to the transport.
&nbs
p; "I've got him, Tiet! Let's go!"
He punched the engine throttle controls and the ship surged away from the battle. The computer on board signaled a warning. One of the Horva soldiers slipped into the chair and read the display's information.
"I'm showing an enemy ship following us from ten miles back, sir."
"Grod, are the coordinates plotted in the navigation system?"
"Yes, but that ship will know where the bunker is and lead the others there if we go now."
It won't matter as long as that ship can do what you say it can; we're leaving this rock."
LUCIN slammed his fist on the control panel, shutting off the negative report from the ground forces. The boy had gotten away, but he had still been infected by the girl.
It was very draining on his limited power to maintain collective control on so many human hosts. Controlling the whole population was necessary, but he needed the boy's powerful mind to control the entire body as one organism.
"Can we catch the ship?" asked Lucin.
"We're keeping up, Sir, but they're flying the same thing we are. We can't overtake them until they stop somewhere."
"Can you pinpoint where they might be headed?"
"They're heading on a course that will bring them near the area of Nagon-Toth."
"That's it. They're heading to Grod's compound. They don't realize it's gone. Send all available ships and troops to Nagon-Toth."
"Yes, Sir."
The boy was of the utmost importance, but he was fighting the takeover of his mind and body; Lucin could feel it. He hadn't thought of the possibility that the boy might be able to resist him. It hadn't been a problem before when the Three had been assimilated to control the Baruk, but the boy was much more powerful than they had been; all the better for their purposes.
