by James Somers
“If only our clans could have made peace,” Daooth said. “Men should act as brothers-not this killing of other races. Skin color is only difference between you and me.” Daooth pointed at Tiet. “My blood is red like yours, my heart beats same as yours. Even Grod, a clone of my dark-skinned people-fierce, strong, but he wants freedom just like us.”
“My friends, I realize that I have involved you in a seemingly suicidal goal,” Wynn said. “It may seem overwhelming, and I cannot ask you to endanger yourselves for this cause.”
“We’re already involved,” Tiet said. “That’s my DNA he’s using.” Tiet looked at Daooth. “I guess, I never though about your clan’s side of things. You’re right, Daooth, we need peace between the clans, but how?”
Orin nodded his agreement. “It’s easier said than done. This war has been raging back and forth for decades. We had better stay focused on what we can handle now.”
“We have a transport and some explosive charges that we could use to destroy the equipment Grod needs to conduct the regeneration,” Wynn said. “It’s just about the only way we can prevent Grod from coming into power.”
“I’ve been thinking things out, Wynn,” said Daooth, “I think I have way to destroy facility. We try to infiltrate city in transport then we having to fight our way through Grod’s army and Vorn military guarding city. In these caverns is link to old magnetic rail system. System used to connect Baeth Periege with military compound at Nagon-toth, before Grod captured it.
“Vorn military have detonated charges to bring tunnel roof down and cut off route into city. System still has power, but Grod not want to take time to clear all debris. It remain unused. System runs right into cloning facility. It used to send troops from main cloning facility to compound.”
“How fast is the rail system?” Wynn asked. “Baeth Periege is nearly one thousand miles away.”
“Be a frictionless magnetically suspended rail car system. It will travel approximately six hundred miles per hour,” said Daooth.
“That’s pretty fast. It wouldn’t take us long to get there at all,” said Tiet.
“Yes, but Grod already has the jump on us,” Orin said. “And where is the break in the system?”
“Break occurs approximately one hundred and fifty miles from city perimeter,” said Daooth. “Only problem, how to clear debris and pass through in time to stop Grod. Defenses of Baeth Periege will not hold him long. He has massive clone army, and Vorn military already very weak.”
“I think, with the Way, we might be able to clear the debris, but we will need time to work,” Wynn said.
“My people long for freedom,” Daooth said.
All of the men shared the sentiment. They gathered the explosive charges necessary and followed Daooth through the various side passages in order to access the magnetic rail system.
BAETH PERIEGE
It did not occur with the fanfare Ranul had expected, but the fleet had successfully passed through the transdimensional rift. The passage was surprisingly quick and uneventful. Estall’s cruiser, the Esyia, took lead of their small armada. Ranul scanned the area for other ships, but found none. They had no contact with the Saberhawk, which he had always guessed would be the case. However, there were no ships within scanning range at all, not even in orbit of the planet.
Kish K’ta had boasted of a space fleet on their way to wipe out the remaining people on Castai, but there was no evidence of it at all. Even from the Vorn computer records, Ranul had expected to possibly find a battle between the Barudii Sphere and the Vorn, but there was nothing.
“There isn’t much to see out here, is there?” Estall said.
“I know. That’s what bothers me. I suppose we had better set course for the planet and see if that’s where the action is. If Orin and Tiet are still alive, there will be something going on.”
Estall to the helmsman, “Let’s proceed to the planet.”
The ships glided forward toward the strangely familiar planet-Castai’s twin.
“Shields up,” Estall commanded. “If that Barudii Sphere weapon is out there somewhere, it mistake these Vorn ships for targets.”
“I agree. If the Sphere is in the vicinity, it could be cloaked from our sensors. That thing could very well have already destroyed the Vorn fleet Kish K’ta spoke of. I don’t know if it would have attacked the Saberhawk or not. It’s a computer, so I would expect it to destroy intended targets only, but who knows.”
“If the Saberhawk didn’t face anything out here, I bet they would have gone straight for the planet,” Estall said. “I don’t know any warrior who wouldn’t rather face a fight on the ground, rather than be cooped up inside a space ship.”
“According to these records, the planet is now inhabited completely by the Vorn. They have colonized it, since wiping out all of the other Castillian clans there. It’s sad that such genocide could occur,” said Ranul.
Estall sighed heavily. “That’s the awful face of war, my friend.”
Pulse fire blazed across the sky toward the perimeter defense shield surrounding the Vorn city of Baeth Periege. General Grod watched with great satisfaction as his forces mounted the assault upon the city. “How long will it hold?” Grod asked.
“Probably another twenty hours at this rate of replenishing.”
“Good, that gives us plenty of time. Is the team ready?”
“Yes sir. They’re waiting for you to join them for the assault.”
Grod headed away from the firing line toward an area to the south. The pulse cannons continued to pound away at the defense shield as the city’s gun systems attempted to repel the attack.
He made his way to a work site away from the main group. Malec was waiting for him with three hundred warriors outfitted for battle. The work site was relatively hidden from view of the city, just as Grod had planned.
“I’ve sent an advance team ahead of us, sir, to begin the breach on the tunnel barricade.”
“Excellent, Malec. The intercepts on local transmissions show that the Baruk may have already answered their distress call. They could be here within the twenty hours it will take to get through the perimeter shield.”
“Once we come into the city from the tunnel, we will be very close to the cloning facility. We should be able to disable the shield and allow our forces to continue the main assault while we begin the regeneration process,” Malec said.
“Let’s go.”
Grod went to the head of the group and into the tunnel they had been working on. It descended into an old magnetic rail system tunnel that had previously connected the city to the compound now controlled by Grod’s forces hundreds of miles away. Once inside, the Horva warriors began their rapid move to enter the city beneath the perimeter shield.
The tunnel had been barricaded at the city entrance, but the small team ahead of the main group would have it breached by the time they arrived. It was imperative to Grod to get to the cloning facility in time to complete the regeneration process before the Baruk could arrive on the planet. If he was to have any hope of success against that fierce race, he would need the advantage of the Barudii Way.
The tunnel was dimly lit by the emergency lighting which was still powered by the city. Main power to the entire system was split between Grod’s compound and Baeth Periege, but with the tunnel collapsed many miles from the city perimeter; it had been left abandoned.
Grod’s forces moved swiftly toward the perimeter barrier which had been put in place by the Vorn military at Baeth Periege. The demolition team, Malec had sent, would have everything ready by the time they arrived. They were going to use some old salvaged Barudii technology to get through the barrier. It involved molecular dispersion fields and would, with the power they were supplying to the device, completely vaporize the barricade in a moment of time.
It took them about twenty minutes to make it to the position where the demolition team was waiting.
“Is everything ready?” asked Grod.
“Yes, sir,”
said one of the team, “we can remove the barricade at any time.”
“Excellent. My brother Horva,” said Grod to the entire group of warriors, “it is time for us to go beyond the designs of those who created us as improvements of themselves. We shall remake our own image with a far greater power than we have ever known before. We shall conquer our oppressors and be free. And if the Baruk should come, we will defeat them as well.”
It had been on everyone’s minds. The Baruk were going to come in response to the uprising, now that Grod and the Horva were beyond being defeated by the Vorn military. But they would not arrive in time to save their principle base of power here at Baeth Periege.
“As soon as we are beyond the barricade and come into the city I want my team, with Varen, to accompany me to the cloning facility. We will take it and begin the regeneration process while the rest of you attack the main power couplings for the perimeter shield generators. With the shields down, our brothers will swarm in, and the city will quickly fall. We need not worry if any ships try to escape. It is the city and the cloning facility that we want, not Vorn prisoners. Their time of rule is at an end no matter what else happens.”
He turned to the demolition team and gave the final order. “Detonate the device!”
They complied. Up ahead, a brilliant blue burst flashed down the tunnel at them. The entire barricade to the rail system tunnel was engulfed in a molecular dispersion field causing the metal and stone to vaporize. The light of the sun shone through into the tunnel. Grod’s soldiers immediately rushed ahead toward the opening.
As they came out of the end of the tunnel and crossed the semicircular smooth crater left in the tunnel floor by the dispersion blast, they saw the rail system’s magnetic rings. These were spaced out along the remainder of the distance to the cloning lab compound. The rings allowed the rail cars to continue above ground while still being propelled magnetically.
Grod’s group maintained its push down the track toward the cloning lab with Malec personally bringing Varen with him. Acting as both protector and jailer to the Vorn scientist, Malec carried the cryo-pod holding the Barudii genetic samples for use in the regeneration procedure. Varen would be performing the technique on Grod and his Horva against his will.
The hinder group, comprised of the remaining two hundred Horva warriors, was splitting off to attack the shield generators. They were already coming under attack from the Vorn military including many brutish Horva as well.
The shield attack group laid down heavy fire, maintaining a steady advance. The Vorn military had not expected to be attacked from behind their own positions at the city perimeter. They were not prepared. Beyond the perimeter shield pulse cannons battered the energy barrier as thousands of Grod’s Horva warriors waited to enter Baeth Periege.
Grod and his team had very little resistance in getting to the cloning complex. Only a few of the brutish Horva slaves had stood between them and the entrance to the facility. Grod did not enjoy the fact that they had to be killed. He pitied the poor creatures. But as they could not be brought from the loathsome state they had been created in-as dumb beasts to be exploited by the Vorn-he thought death was better for them.
Grod and his one hundred warriors rushed into the complex and quickly secured the lab facility they needed for the regeneration procedure. Varen’s identification card had allowed the group quick access to the interior of the facility. Malec gave the cryo-pod to Varen and led him to the control boards.
“Varen,” Grod said, “remember your family. I want this done perfectly.”
“I understand, General,” Varen said nervously.
Varen tapped the controls and a multitude of the cloning pods opened up, allowing Grod and fifty of his warriors to climb into the horizontally situated units. They first removed their weapons and battle gear along with their clothing then positioned themselves individually within the pods.
The remaining warriors would ensure that no one interfered with the three hour procedure.
Varen secured the pods once the men were situated inside then removed the Barudii genetic material from the cryo-pod. He inserted it into the matrix chamber housing the genetic material. Varen inserted a command disk containing the necessary changes to the standard process in order to bring about the automated sequences for a regeneration of their tissues and structure.
Once the data was received by the automation system, Varen activated the program and the process began, even as the thunderous battle continued to rage within and without the city.
Grod drifted off into a medicated sleep as the system prepared him and his warriors for genetic enhancement and regeneration. His final thoughts were of the glorious spectacle he had witnessed in his battle dome. The young Barudii warrior had skillfully vanquished everything arrayed against him in the dome, even the teragore itself.
When Orin, Tiet, Wynn and Daooth arrived in the rail system control room, they found minimal power available. Daooth located the grid controls and brought the system online. The rail cars were kept in a docking bay apart from the magnetic propulsion tunnel. Daooth brought one of the cars from the bay on a loading arm as Wynn and the others brought the explosives into the loading area. It was quite a bomb they had rigged-almost too much for the hover carrier to support. It consisted of two containers of inert chemicals which became volatile when mixed; a Trilithium matrix and B7 accelerant.
“Two of us will need to go ahead of the car with the explosives and begin clearing the rubble from the tunnel,” said Wynn. “After that, one person needs to accompany the bomb into the city, in case there are any other obstructions in the tunnel.”
“Tiet, why don’t you go with Wynn and I’ll take the explosives on through after you,” Orin said.
“Are you sure?” asked Wynn.
“I’ll make sure nothing interferes with the car reaching the facility,” Orin said.
“Daooth can load the cars into the propulsion tunnel and send us through from the control room here. So, you will not need to operate the rail car yourself, but you will have to escape after it comes above ground inside the city. The rail system becomes a series of magnetic rings which are spaced along the track until it enters the cloning facility. You will be inside the city at that point, so you will have to be careful. Grod’s forces have certainly begun their assault by now.”
“What about our rail car that will be setting in the tunnel?” Tiet asked.
“Daooth can move our car into a passing cell, located at different positions along the tunnel. They allow for cars to be displaced while others pass,” Wynn explained. “We will go on ahead in this car and then I’ll communicate with you when its time to come through with the explosives.”
Wynn and Tiet climbed inside the rail car, measuring nearly thirty yards in length. Tiet and Orin exchanged glances as the door closed on the car. Orin tried to look reassuring.
He knew if anything happened to him, that Wynn would be able to continue Tiet’s training even beyond what he had been able to accomplish with the boy. But he had no intention of riding this rail car to his doom. Orin did wonder what would be waiting for him in a city full of Vorn soldiers and an invading Horva army led by Grod. Hopefully, they would be so busy with each other that they wouldn’t even notice him.
The door of the car secured itself into a locking position as Wynn and Tiet sat down and fastened their seat harnesses for the trip. Daooth worked the controls causing the hoist arm to move the rail car into the propulsion tunnel. Once they were inside the mouth of the tunnel, a safety door constricted into place behind the car so that the magnetic field would not harm anyone in the loading area. The field was powerful enough to pull a person, with anything metallic on their person, into the tunnel and potentially to their death.
The safety door sealed and the rail car was bathed in a powerful magnetic field. The hoist arm released the car, leaving it suspended within the magnetic field.
Daooth tapped the send command and the rail car shot away like a whisper down
the tunnel. Within the car, Wynn and Tiet noticed little inertial effect as dampening systems kept them protected.
“The trip will take a little over an hour to complete. I would suggest we both try to get some rest before we arrive. You’ll need it.”
“If you say so,” Tiet said.
The journey from his home on Castai seemed like years instead of days. He and Orin had hardly slept at all. He had hardly closed his eyes before exhaustion took him into sleep.
RAILWAY
Orin made his way to the rail car. He boarded and found a seat, unconsciously glaring at the bomb as though it might blow at any moment. Daooth watched him from the control booth and manually closed the car door so he could secure it with the boom arm for loading into the tunnel.
He noticed an odd power fluctuation on his panel. It was something he had seen before, but he couldn’t… wait. They’re monitoring the system!
“Orin! I have to send you on through quickly.” His voice came through on the rail car intercom.
“What’s wrong?”
“They’re monitoring the power emanations back at Nagon-Toth. If they’ve already noticed it, they’ll send a squad to investigate. Strap yourself in, we’ve got to hurry.”
Orin didn’t waste any time with further inquiry. He located his safety harness and secured himself to the chair. The boom arm swiveled over to attach to the car. He could hear the magnetic seal apply through the roof with a snap of metal. Daooth watched carefully as he guided the arm and placed the car inside the tunnel for departure. Once inside, he released the rail car and closed the safety door behind it. It took only a moment for the magnetic field to charge and build inside the head of the tunnel then the rail car was speeding down the tunnel.
Daooth secured the control station and locked out the system. Hopefully Grod’s men would not be able to disable it when they arrived to investigate. He ran out of the chamber and back through the secret tunnel entrance they had come by. It was time to get back to his quarters before he was missed.
