The Storm Maker

by Sid K

  Sayett walked towards the one-floor house. He could see the house had two large rectangular rooms in the front that with two windows each, but with only one large wooden door just after the partition of the rooms, located in the right side room. Its walls were made of cement and painted gray; it had a rectangular roof head made of dark brown bricks and around two feet in height surrounding its top. The house itself rested on a foundation that was around three feet tall and Sayett walked up the wooden stairs to the front door. He put his pistol away and took out his SPASI badge, looked for the doorbell that was missing and then knocked on the door a couple of times.

  A few moments later a young man in his late twenties, with long, oblong clean-shaven face opened the door. “Howdy stranger?” The young man smiled.

  “I need your help, fellow,” Sayett said and showed him his badge. “I am from SPASI and my team was ambushed by foreign saboteurs on the national road.”

  “C’mon in fast,” he said and as Sayett walked in, he closed the door.

  “I just need to make a phone call, I don’t mean to get you involved in some trouble,” Sayett said.

  “No trouble, SPASI man,” the young man said, “I am in the local warrior class. Reserve Army. There is the phone over there, you make your call. I will be right back.”

  Sayett looked around the house. On his right was a regular living room with sofa, desks, antiques, tools and objects, to his left was a small bed leading to the wall, a phone on a small round table to its left and a chair on its right. Sayett sat down on the bed and leaned backward to reach for the phone.

  “Father, bring up both of my ATRs,” he heard the young man speak at the door presumably leading to the basement.

  “What’s going on up there?” an old gruffy voice replied from down below.

  “Just do it,” the young man said, “will tell when you come up.”

  Sayett was grateful he had received help and at the willingness of the young man to fight, but he wasn’t sure what the two of them could do if the remaining Ranx gunmen did show up.

  He heard slow footsteps coming up from the basement as he dialed the phone. As the phone rang on the other end, Sayett saw an old man with beard, wearing blue shirt and pants, slightly bent with wide eyes bring two ATR rifles, one of which his son took from him.

  “SPASI office,” a voice said on the phone.

  “This is Chief Detective Sayett,” he said. “Connect me to Chief Yucker right away.”

  “Sure, Detective Sayett,” the voice answered.

  “This man here is from SPASI,” the young man was telling his father. “His team was attacked by foreign troops.”

  “Foreign troops here?” the old man said in puzzlement. “Better call the Colonel then.”

  “Him and the police chief as soon as he is done.” the young man said.

  The SPASI phone operator had connected Sayett’s call to Chief Yucker’s office and Yucker answered.

  “What goes, Sayett?” Yucker said.

  “Everything has gone to dogs,” Sayett blurted out in frustration. “Attacked by Ranx gunmen on the national road...four SPASI guards are dead...Slyntya has been kidnapped.”

  “What!” Yucker almost shouted, “Slyntya? You took her on the raid?”

  “She insisted,” Sayett said. “I was adamantly against it, but she has Constellar authority to order herself into the raid and she did. I was going to keep her at the town police station and not take her on the raid, but the raid came to us.”

  “Where are you calling from now? Are you safe?” Yucker asked.

  “Taken shelter with a brave, young man,” Sayett said and looked at the young man who smiled at him. He had taken up a position at the door hoisting his ATR rifle through a small window near the top of the door.

  “Do you want me to fly guards down to you?” Yucker asked.

  “Yeah, but to Southstar, not here,” Sayett said. “We are going to call the town police”.

  “You better do that first,” Yucker said.

  “Right, right,” Sayett replied and realized that was more important to get some armed backup first. He could talk to Yucker afterwards. “Call you in a few, chief,” Sayett said and hung up the phone.

  “Father, watch the front door.” the young man said and walked over to the side of the bed and Sayett handed him the phone.

  “What is the commotion?” An older woman walked out from the back room of the house. She would have been in her late fifties, dressed in faded clothes, with her hair tied back neatly.

  “We have a guest in need,” the father said.

  Sayett smiled at her but did not speak because the young man was talking on the phone.

  “Oh my…You are bleeding mister.” she said.

  Sayett looked at his right hand that it was drenched in blood. His shirt and suit sleeves were completely wet, the blood had even fallen on his pants as well as the bed and a few blood splotches had followed him from the door. That was the first Sayett realized he had taken a hit. His right wrist had been hurting, but he had not paid much attention to it—he had bigger matters to worry about.

  “Son, better call the doctor, too,” the father said.

  “No, no,” Sayett said. “It’s just a nick.”

  “I will get some bandages,” the mother said and went back into the backroom and soon came back with bandages and a couple of rags. First she cleaned away the blood with the rags then wrapped the bandages around his wrist.

  “Grateful,” Sayett said.

  The son had finished both of his phone calls now, but Sayett was thinking about his injury and didn’t pay attention to the conversation.

  “Father go watch the back door,” the son said, “I will watch the front.”

  “If they show up, call me, boy,” the father said and walked to the backroom with his ATR. Meanwhile the mother went to the fireplace and took a shotgun from the wall mount. She opened a drawer for a box of shells.

  “What are you doing, Mother?” the son was incredulous.

  Sayett had picked up the phone to call chief Yucker, but he stopped when he saw her, “Madam,” Sayett said, “that is not necessary.”

  “I know how to use this,” she said loading two shells into the shotgun, “My father was in the warrior class, so is my son, only his father is just a hog herder.” She laughed.

  “I heard that, woman,” the father said from the backroom.

  “Mother, put that down,” the son said. “You are worrying me.”

  “Hold on,” the mother said. “I am not taking up watch, but getting ready just in case.” She put the shotgun on the center table and sat down on the sofa in front of it.

  “Police will be here soon,” Sayett told her. He didn’t know if that was true or not, but he did not want her to put herself in danger. But even then, now there were four guns in the house and two of them were automatic ATR rifles. Sayett gave a sigh of relief. They were well entrenched and fortified, and the help was on the way.

  Sayett dialed again and connected to Yucker’s office.

  “Yucker, you didn’t tell what happened to anyone yet, did you?” Sayett asked.

  “Not yet,” Yucker said. “I was asking you if you needed guards.”

  “Yeah, but wait, there is a bigger problem,” Sayett said.

  “I know...we had a Constellar kidnapped,” Yucker said. “And as if that wasn’t enough, she is the wife of our national hero.”

  “I will get her back,” Sayett said with a firm determination.

  “Constellation will blow a gasket when they hear of this,” Yucker said.

  “Chief Yucker, please do not tell them just yet,” Sayett said. “I don’t know if the Ranxian gunmen think I made it out alive or not, but we could panic them and make them go deep underground if the Constellation issues a national search order.”

  “I can’t keep it from them for long,” Yucker said, “and we have to tell Colonel Sthykar.”

  “Slyntya said he was out on a hunting vacation, strangely somew
here here in the southwest as well. I would love to have him on the raid, but we are not going to get hold of him.”

  “What do you want me to do?” Yucker asked.

  “Just give me two days. And those SPASI Guards...get me one hundred of them; fly them on our own planes to our Southstar office. I will pick them up there.”

  “I will give you one hundred and right away,” Yucker said.

  “However, this wasn’t the big problem I was referring to,” Sayett said.

  “What do you mean?” Yucker asked.

  “I believe we have an infiltrator...a spy inside our own ranks,” Sayett said.

  “A spy of this syndicate?” Yucker asked.

  “Is there anybody in the room with you?” Sayett asked.

  “None”

  “Alright, now here is the suspicious business,” Sayett said. “Only my team knew about this raid. I had left a personal note for you alone, but I told no one else in advance except the chief detective of our Southstar office. The pilots and the guards were told about the destination after I got on the plane and anyhow the guards are dead. There was one junior detective who delivered the car at the airport, but he was told that very morning. Not enough time for the Ranxians to ambush us just an hour out on the road.”

  “You suspect someone on your team?” Yucker asked.

  “I handpicked my team, it would be hard for them—whoever they are—to get their spy on it,” Sayett said. “But here is another clue. These gunmen who ambushed us were not from an underworld syndicate. I had an opportunity from my friendship with Colonel Sthykar to get some of my detectives army training on close distance, small team firefights. I observed our Elite Army soldiers do the drills, these gunmen weren’t at that level, but they weren’t much worse either. I believe they are Ranx Rangers.”

  “Do you suspect Ranxian State’s involvement?” Yucker asked.

  “Don’t know, but if they can get Ranx Rangers, they can get Eye of Ranx spies too.”

  “Mr. Lenax Tanx?” Yucker asked.

  “That is who I suspect,” Sayett said. “He is the only outsider on my team and he was there in the room when I told of my plans about the raid. He is the most likely suspect.”

  “We will have to move carefully, here,” Yucker said, “He is here on a state invitation. The Capital Courts will not allow us to hold a state guest even a minute without solid evidence.”

  “Right, then he will fly back.” Sayett said, “That is why don’t move on him just yet. I am not completely sure of his guilt, either. Bypass my team altogether and assign someone from the Counter-Spying Division to smoke out the spy from my team.”

  “How about the head of our Counter-Spying Division,” Yucker said. “With Constellar Slyntya’s kidnapping, this has become our top priority case now.”

  “Great,” Sayett said. “And about those guards, don’t tell anyone of it. You are the only one with authority to order secret movements of guards.”

  “And I will use just that authority,” Yucker replied. “I will get the guards from different offices in southeast and they will know their destination only when they reach it.”

  “Alright, chief,” Sayett said.

  “You take care,” Yucker said, “and get those bastards. Alright then.”

  Sayett put the phone back on the small table. The young man was staring out the window with his rifle aimed at the woods, but he turned around when Sayett was done talking.

  “By the way I am Forvyt,” he said to Sayett.

  “I am Sayett, a chief detective in SPASI,” Sayett said with a smile. “If you ever want a job in SPASI, I will get you hired.”

  “Appreciate,” Forvyt said, “but I enjoy my time in the Warrior Class and we got this large hog ranch that I have to run.”

  Sayett was feeling very tired now. He had woken up early for the flight and this pitched battle had left him completely drained. He sat back in the bed, took out his pistol from his inner suit pocket and kept it besides the phone, and then leaned back and put his head on the pillow.

  “My grandmother’s bed,” Forvyt said, “she died a few years back but we didn’t move the bed.”

  Sayett’s eyelids were heavy and soon the sleep came to him.

  chapter 15 – the scientist

  Sthykar and the scientist were slowly making their way through the maze. Sthykar remembered the way back. He just had to reverse his trick with the maze and retrace his steps. He kept the scientist in front of him, in case the scientist was lying, and clutched his pistol, alert to his surroundings. This maze was confusing as it was intended to be and there was no telling when someone would spring out of an opening.

  Sthykar’s radio buzzed at a very low volume. He stopped the scientist’s with a hand on the man’s shoulder, then he took out his radio. He put the pistol back into his belt as he tuned the radio receiver scanning for frequencies. There was buzz here and there.

  “Who is that?” the scientist asked.

  “First, keep your voice to a whisper,” Sthykar whispered. “I think it is your friends. My friends are tuned into my frequency.”

  “They are not my friends,” the scientist said. “They are murderers and much worse.”

  “Wait now...I am trying to get their frequency.”

  Sthykar slowly scanned till the voice became clear. The volume was still low, but the voices were audible, yet not intelligible to him.

  “They are babbling Ranxian gibberish,” Sthykar scoffed. “Do you understand it?”

  “I picked up some in my captivity,” the scientist said. “Hand me the radio, I will translate what I can.”

  Sthykar handed the radio to the scientist and took out his pistol. He still wasn’t sure he could trust the scientist and if he would try to contact them. His pistol made it evident that such an action would bring severe, negative consequences. The scientist looked at the pistol and then put the radio to his ear. He listened for a few seconds.

  “Corporal Montex is addressing men, but not in regards to me; they are talking about a bigger problem,” the scientist translated, and then added. “Didn’t say what the bigger problem is. By the way, Montex is the Corporal of these soldiers and third-in-command overall.”

  “Corporal?” Sthykar wondered. “Didn’t know the syndicates assigned ranks.”

  “They are not a syndicate,” the scientist said. “Those are Ranx soldiers.”

  “Ranx soldiers!” Sthykar said. “Is the Ranx State involved?”

  “Hold on, they are talking again,” the scientist said. “Corporal Montex is addressing the gate guards. He is telling them to put four guards each on all the four exits out of this maze facing the outer wall. He is now saying that it will be a while before they begin the search from inside. Some soldiers are leaving to bolster Capitan Suka Manx who has gone somewhere. After they leave Montex will get some men and work their way out through the maze to the wall.”

  “How long before the search begins?” Sthykar asked.

  “Didn’t say,” the scientist said. “No wait, a guard just asked that very question. Montex said around an hour. They don’t think I can find my way out let alone climb the wall. He told them to hold their position at the openings and not go inside. That’s it.”

  Sthykar took the radio and attached it back to his belt. “We have some time. Let’s wait for these soldiers to leave. But how are they going to leave if not through the maze?”

  “There is a road through the middle from the gate to the tower. But it is heavily guarded. Armed men patrol the whole length of it.” the scientist said.

  “So you were telling me who these men were?” Sthykar said.

  “I know they are all Ranxian soldiers,” the scientist said. “Their boss is also Ranxian, but he is not a soldier—some rich businessman. They kept their secrets from us; I picked up bits here and there. Ranx Rangers is the name of their unit. Supposedly better than the regular troops.”

  “Ranx Rangers!” Sthykar said “Those are some skilled and tough soldiers;
however, they are no match for our elite army.”

  “But how are we going to deal with them?”

  “I told you I was a hunter, but I am also a Colonel in the Starfirian Elite Army; Mountain Cavalry to be specific. I have thrashed Narducat Empire’s Imperial Special Army, the second best soldiers in the world after our Elite Army. These Ranx Rangers are good, but nowhere near the best.”

  “Don’t tell me you are one of those colonels who came to Karaln Nation to fight for us against the Narducat Empire few years ago?”

  Sthykar nodded and then said, “I was there. I delivered a barrel of hard beating to those imperial boys.”

  “So you were in the army of legendary Colonel Sthykar?”

  Sthykar laughed a bit . “I am Colonel Sthykar,” he whispered.

  “I will be damned.” The scientist had a big grin on his face. “Before I was kidnapped, my work route went through the square that was dedicated by our government to you brave Starfirians who came to fight for us. One of those statues is of you.”

  “So I have heard,” Sthykar said. “Enough about me. Tell me about you and how you are mixed up in this? And what are these Ranxians up to, anyhow?”

  “I am Jalant Tol and I am a meteorologist by training and profession,” the scientist said. “But I have also picked up practical knowledge of mechanics and machine making in my work. That’s what made me a valuable target for these people. Now Colonel, are you familiar with the secret storm-weapons research that Narducat and Starfirian arms workshops were carrying out to make weapons that could create artificial storms?”

  “I heard some about it. That was insane. I remember that all further research was banned in a treaty with the Narducats.”

  “It was, but the existing research itself is kept locked up in the government archives.”

  “So how do these storm weapons work?”

  “I cannot give you a complete or even a sufficient answer to that,” Jalant said. “I was one amongst many other scientists, each doing our small part, none knowing the workings of the whole, except on a broad, general level.”