by James Somers
Tiet woke as the rail car stopped. He saw that Wynn was already out of his harness and looking through the front window at the tunnel blockage ahead. He removed his harness and joined Wynn at the window. The lighting in the tunnel was adequate to see the large pile of heavy stones that were piled three quarters of the way up to the roof. A large hole could be seen in the tunnel roof where it had collapsed.
The rail car came to a halt approximately fifty yards from the blockage. The side door unlocked and opened itself. Tiet followed Wynn out the door and they jogged up the tunnel toward the rubble.
“Let’s get started,” Tiet said as he began to concentrate on the individual stones.
“I want you to move all of the stones at once.”
“What do you mean? Are we able?”
“If you remember when we were on the roof of the General’s compound…”
“You controlled the automated weapons while simultaneously fighting the Horva! That was amazing.”
“It was easier than you realize. It is not in the amount of power but in the technique for wielding it.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, when you use the Way you are reaching out with your mind. You are probably used to reaching out in one direction at a time. But you must learn to reach in all directions at once, as though you were surrounded in a sensory field and everything within the boundary of it were susceptible to your senses and your control. When these things are comprehended at once in your mind, you’re able to manipulate them, and the Way carries out the thought with action.
“When I was on the roof, you were in the dome with that teragore. I could reach out throughout the compound and in my mind I could see you fighting that beast. I admit it takes discipline and a lot of practice to begin thinking in this fashion, but you do have the ability. Of course, it’s all made possible by the energies in play here. We don’t understand how, but the fact remains.”
“Could you teach me?”
“Within you, I believe, is the last hope for the Barudii to carry on as a race. We must do what we can to preserve what is left. You’re young and if you survive this war our people have hope to live again. I want to make as much of a contribution of what I have learned to that future as possible. Now, raise the rocks, Tiet. Reach out in all directions around you, feel the tunnel, the ground, the hole in the roof, even me standing here beside you, and then move the picture in your mind with determined intent.”
Tiet tried to let go of the way he would have normally gone about the task, by trying to lift the boulders individually. He began to feel more and more around him. The picture of his surroundings was in his mind as though he had eyes on all sides. He could feel his surroundings in a way he had not previously realized.
Tiet sensed the temperature of the air in the tunnel, the rhythms of Wynn’s bodily functions-heart rate, blood pumping, neurons firing-and he could feel it in a way that gave him confidence that he could manipulate any of it if he desired. The Way felt like another appendage-an extension of his mind. Tiet searched over the surface of each piece of rock in the pile of rubble and could sense with exacting precision where it fit in the crumbled tunnel roof above.
Tiet exerted his will upon the rock. The pile disassembled in his mind and in reality. The stone separated and seemed frozen in a moment of time with even the dust suspended in the air. Wynn was in awe, not at the possibility of performing the task, but in Tiet’s quickness to apprehend the concept and be able to apply it so skillfully. Indeed, he was the King’s son.
The rock began to ascend and reassemble into the places it had previously occupied in the cavernous hole. Once it was all in place, Tiet held it there, but he was unsure of what to do in order to keep it in place. Wynn fused the joints of the rock with his mind and Tiet could feel them supported by it. He released the structure and it held.
“I could sense your power working within the same space as my own, even my susceptibility to your mind. Was that real?”
“It was real, but not indefensible. If I were to attack you kinetically, you could shield yourself from the intrusion and prevent such an attack, possibly even counter it if you sensed that I was unprotected in some way.”
Wynn’s communication link beeped on his wrist.
“Daooth here. How are you progressing with the repair?”
“It’s already complete, my friend.”
“Good. Orin is already en route with the other rail car and the explosives. He should arrive at your location within half an hour. I had to leave the station because I realized the Horva are monitoring the system from Nagon-Toth.
“I’ve been monitoring transmissions from the compound about Baeth Periege. Grod’s forces have already penetrated the city. They were able to disable part of the city’s perimeter shield. The Vorn are attempting to keep them at bay, but from the communications among the Horva, they’re well on their way to entering the city.”
“The sooner we send that rail car into the cloning facility the better,” Wynn said.
“I agree. You will need to reenter the rail car. Now that the blockage is cleared, the automated system will take control and position your car safely inside a passing cell in the tunnel wall. I programmed everything before I left, so I can’t stop it now.”
Tiet followed Wynn back into their rail car. The door closed automatically and an alarm sounded to notify the passengers of an approaching car in transit. The computer began its procedure for clearing the path of the other rail car in the system. A hoist arm moved away from the tunnel wall to magnetically grasp Wynn and Tiet’s car, pulling it into a recessed portion of the wall known as a passing cell. The car locked in place. Within minutes, the other rail car would come hurtling through the tunnel at hundreds of miles per hour, carrying Orin Vale and a very nasty surprise for General Grod.
SIEGE
Orin sat uneasy within the second rail car as it made its way down the dim tunnel traveling at hundreds of miles per hour toward Baeth Periege. The explosives located in the car were rigged to blow upon the car’s stopping and the opening of the door. Daooth had wired its trigger directly into the auto sensor panel for that purpose.
The computer controls for the magnetic rail system would automatically bring the car into the cloning facility for unloading and stop it at a preordained station within the compound. When the auto sensors signaled a full stop it would open the door and detonate their care package. All Orin had to do was to make sure nothing prevented the car on its journey then escape the rail car when it emerged above ground.
Daooth had sent the car into the blocked tunnel under repair conditions, but with the removal of the tunnel blockage, the automated system had assumed control again. Orin was glad to know that Wynn and Tiet had been successful in clearing the debris.
Now, Orin kept his mind centered on the tunnel ahead so that he could make sure nothing else happened to prevent the car from reaching its destination. If this was their only shot at stopping General Grod from completing the DNA regeneration of his troops then he had to make sure nothing would trigger the automated system to stop the car.
Orin sensed the other car up ahead as he projected down the length of the tunnel. It was out of the path of his car, and he was approaching their position rapidly. In a few moments he had passed their car, tucked away in a recess of the tunnel wall. Orin continued to project forward. Nothing appeared to be in the way. Within ten more minutes he felt the car and tunnel beginning to ascend. Daylight flooded the car abruptly as it emerged on the surface within the city of Baeth Periege.
Orin saw the cloning complex in the distance ahead. The speed of the car was rapidly declining as it entered the city. Overhead, he could see the huge magnetic rings that Wynn and Daooth had spoken of.
A barrier came halfway up the height of the rings and stretched between consecutive rings on either side. He supposed it must have been a preventive measure to keep someone from inadvertently falling, or climbing into the path of the rail cars. Otherwise, there
was open space between the rings from that height upward. This would be his means of escape.
Orin looked over the bomb mechanism once more then raised his blade and cut a circle into the roof of the car large enough for him to pass through. He shot up through the hole and came to stand on the roof of the car. He could feel the tingling of the magnetic field around the car as it passed beneath the rings. Several items including his blaster pistol flew off of his person toward the rings as he passed. Fortunately, the adomen which formed his blade was not magnetic.
Around the rail system on either side was a large park that separated the main city from the outer perimeter. It was lavish, with decorative pools and gardens of every sort. Orin thought it surprising to find such things in the Vorn city.
He had never considered the peaceful or artistic side which the Vorn might possess. They had been the enemy for so long that he had never looked beyond any characteristic which wasn’t oppressive, or linked with this war.
On the right of the magnetic rail he saw where Grod’s army had knocked out a large portion of the defense shield and had secured the area just inside. It appeared they were making a definite effort to push the Vorn away from the cloning facility.
Perhaps, Grod had already gotten inside and begun the process to regenerate himself with Tiet’s DNA. However, if Grod was already inside, he and his men were about to get a big surprise.
To Orin’s left, several ships were docked upon a huge landing platform. None of them would have made Orin look twice, except one. It was a Barudii ship, a Strider class vessel-faster and smaller than a Saberhawk with light armaments. It sat within a number of Vorn military ships, some of which were trying to escape the onslaught of Grod’s army.
Orin picked his moment and leaped away from the rail car. It continued on without him toward the cloning facility, but he wasn’t watching it anymore. Orin was transfixed upon the Barudii ship. It looked very much like his old ship which had been stolen previous to the massacre of his people so many years ago.
The ship was nearly five hundred yards away. He began to run toward it. Orin saw exhaust venting from the engine. Whoever was inside was planning on leaving very shortly.
The rail car came into the station at the cloning facility. Several of Grod’s men, who were guarding the entrance, raised their weapons as they saw the rail car approaching. The car slowed and the men moved toward it, but they couldn’t see anyone through the windows. The car stopped and the doors opened automatically for unloading.
Orin was now within two hundred yards of the Strider. Behind him, a flash of light cast his shadow upon the ground running in front of him. The horrendous sound almost one second later along with a blast wave that knocked Orin off of his feet. He tumbled across the pavement then looked back to see the cloning facility blossoming like a flower with petals of debris and flame. The job he had come here to do was done, but now there was something more.
Orin quickly got to his feet and turned back to the landing platform he had been running toward. To his amazement, the gateway was down and someone was walking out to see the devastating explosion. Orin had started to run, but stopped in his tracks when he saw the man who was standing there. The man caught Orin’s gaze and they locked together in recognition.
Each of them knew the other in a way few could ever understand. Rage flooded every fiber of Orin’s being. He surrendered to it, sprinting toward the man standing underneath the Strider. At nearly the same instant, the man ran towards Orin. He removed a blade from a scabbard under the long coat that he wore. Orin pulled his own sword.
They both took to the air as they approached one another. Their swords struck as they passed. Orin managed to also strike the man’s face with a quick jab. Both men soft-landed, turning to face one another with blades ready.
The other man staggered a moment from the hit. He touched his face with his hand, finding blood when he pulled his hand away. The cloning facility burned behind him.
“So, what I was told is true!” Orin shouted. “You murderer! Kale, you’re a traitor to your family and your people!”
Kale did not answer the charge. He raised his blade and leaped again at Orin. Kale came down with a powerful blow and Orin matched his blade. They exchanged several quick strikes then Orin was knocked backward by a kinetic blast. He flipped over and recovered himself quickly.
“So, Kale, I see you’ve been training. You rejected your people, but not their ways?”
“I was rejected by my father and my people!” Kale said angrily. He blasted at him again with his mind, but Orin nullified it.
“You betrayed your father, the king…and for what? So you could join up with the conquerors of our planet!”
“No! It was for revenge! What loyalty did I owe to father when he dishonored me, his only son, before our people?!”
“Not your people anymore,” Orin said. “And not his only son.”
Kale struck again and again, but Orin did not let his blade through. Orin sensed someone else and quickly evaded another blade in flight. He launched himself up and away and came down to find two more Barudii surrounding him with Kale.
“So you led away other traitors as well?”
Kale and the other two Barudii rebels closed in on him simultaneously. Orin pulled a kemstick from under his cloak and extended it. He did not wait for them to strike, but instead took the fight to them.
He struck at one of the two Barudii, while simultaneously attacking the other man with the Way. The first defended himself with his blade while the man under Orin’s mental attack failed to perceive his own weakness. Orin caused a massive firing of pain neurons throughout the man’s body, especially in his hands and arms.
He buckled under the mental attack and threw his sword away as though it were on fire. Orin immediately dispatched the unarmed opponent. Orin fought between Kale and the other man, striking and countering as each came at him. He tried a mental attack on the other Barudii man, but found him defending against it. Kale moved in again as Orin defended a strike from the other man. The kemstick was knocked away. He tried to mentally pull the kemstick from the air as it tumbled away from his hand, but Kale intercepted it in flight and cut through the handle of the weapon, destroying it.
Orin was beginning to wonder if he would lose this confrontation. The other Barudii man was not nearly as skilled as Kale. But having to deal with both at the same time was tipping the scales out of his favor. Explosions began to erupt on the air field around them.
The men each looked toward the attack to see the army of General Grod beginning to move toward their position. Large war machines fired volleys from some distance away at the ships on the huge landing platform, attempting to destroy them before they could escape.
Orin used the distraction to strike again at Kale who skillfully intercepted his attack. However, he did not anticipate the leg sweep Orin caught him with. The other Barudii renegade took advantage of Orin’s move against Kale to strike at him from behind. As Orin turned to counter, something flashed in the sun behind the man. A blade impaled him from behind.
Orin looked toward the point of origin to find Tiet and Wynn emerging from the magnetic rail safety wall, running hard toward them. He was glad to see them, but for a moment the tragedy of Tiet meeting his unknown older brother flashed in his mind. He turned against Kale again, who was still on the ground trying to get up.
He locked eyes with the younger man. Kale looked away momentarily. Tiet’s sword catapulted away from the fallen rebel’s body, under Kale’s mental control, and pierced Orin from behind. He lurched in shock and pain, his eyes still locked on Kale’s face. Orin heard Tiet shouting from some distance away.
Kale looked away toward the pair running toward him. The younger man was dressed in the same Barudii cloak as Orin. Kale stood over Orin’s fallen body and pulled the blade from his back.
Kale knew the weapon very well. It was the blade of his father, Kale Soone I, the long dead king of the Barudii. He crouched down near Orin
’s body. He was lying on his side bleeding profusely from his wound. “This is Father’s blade, Orin,” he whispered in the older man’s ear as he withdrew the weapon. “Where did that boy get it?” Insight crept into his mind and across his face.
He knelt close. Orin was now gasping for his breath as his life poured out. “Is that my brother, Orin?” He did not wait for an answer from the dying man.
The Horva were still raining down a heavy weapon’s fire upon the platform, threatening to destroy the Strider. Kale decided he could not afford another confrontation right now and drove the sword into the pavement next to Orin.
There it remained, imbedded up to the hilt. Kale took another stolen glance at Tiet as he approached then he turned to run for his ship before it was destroyed by the approaching war machines.
Kale managed to reach his ship as another, not far away on the platform, was struck by a powerful blast from the Horva war machines. He got to the cockpit and retracted the ramp as the engines powered up for lift off. Kale could see his brother finding Orin’s body. He wondered if Tiet even knew that he had an older brother. That possibility only bolstered the resentment and fury he had carried for so long against Orin and his father.
The child had been so very young when the betrayal had occurred, but Kale remembered him. He had supposed all of the family, including little Tiet, had perished in the great battle that wiped out the Barudii as a people. It was obvious now that at least a few had survived.
Kale had seen his father’s body upon the battlefield after it was over and remembered seeing his crown, but the king’s blade had been missing. Now he knew why. Kale pushed the memories back in his mind and brought the engines to power. The old Barudii Strider lifted off of the platform and tore upward through the sky toward open space.
Orin was very close to death when Tiet came upon him. He knelt in his mentor’s blood trying to help him, but it was nearly over. Orin tried to speak as he coughed up more blood. “Who was that person? Who did this?” Tiet pleaded.
