"What are you doing now?"
"The back up system must also be incapacitated." he explained. By the looks on the faces of the technicians, their worst nightmare was about to begin and Raan guessed that there were no more fail safes.
"All right," began Raan, "this place is gonna blow. I suggest you all get the hell out." There was a concerted rush for the door and within a few seconds, Raan and Del were alone. "How long have we got before it blows?" asked Raan.
"An hour, no more. I suggest we find the Major and make good our escape," answered the calm faced android. As they ran out into the corridor, a computerised woman's voice began to speak.
"Warning! The reactor cascade failsafe system has malfunctioned. The reactor will misfire in fifty eight minutes from now. Warning! The reactor cascade system has malfunctioned…" It droned sweetly on, oblivious to the panic it was causing. Everyone had the same idea. Escape! Fights and scuffles were breaking out around aircar doors as people rushed towards the exits.
"Which way now?" yelled Raan above the din, as they reached an intersection.
"This way," stated Delta Ten, walking briskly around the corner. Raan tried to reach Erion again on his wrist com link, with no reply. He was becoming increasingly worried about her and broke into a run, thumping Delta Ten on the arm as he passed him.
"Come on Del, let's hurry it up; we haven't much time."
"We have fifty six minutes and eighteen seconds," he stated.
"Forget the countdown Del, let's just find Erion and get the hell out of here."
On the other side of the complex, Erion sat opposite Dolton Blass, watching the huge man stuff copious amounts of food into his mouth and swill it down with expensive wine. He talked as he ate, boasting proudly about his achievements.
"I started building this place two years ago and brought the staff here to run it. Funnily enough, the technology to excavate and build it came from Terrell. It is ironic that their expertise is going to seal their fate. I have been planning this for a long time, my dear. I was going to ask you to stay here and share it all with me, but somehow I don't think you would be very loyal."
"Everyone has their price," said Erion, playing for time.
"You could not forgive the death of your friends, my dear. No, I'm afraid you are going to have to go." The door opened and the hard faced secretary came in to the room.
"Sir, the two men have escaped."
"What?" bellowed Dolton Blass, tearing the napkin from his throat as he rose from the table. "Sound the alarm. They must be found and killed on sight. Do you understand? Kill them!" He turned to Erion as the woman rushed out. "What are their plans?" Almost immediately, a second alarm sounded. "The reactor!" yelled Blass. "They've set it to blow," he launched himself at Erion, his strong fat hands reaching for her throat. "You little bitch. Tell me who you are!"
Although she could feel herself blacking out, Erion resisted the urge to try and remove Blass's hands from her throat. Instead, she quickly flicked her hand in a chopping motion and the hilt of a little laser knife shot out from her bracelet and landed neatly in her grip. Starfire had given her the idea of carrying a concealed weapon and Delta Ten had cobbled this one together from bits and pieces he found on the ATV. Sensors on the bracelet recognised the flicking motion and she had spent the best part of the previous day practising so that the hilt shot straight into her hand. It was crude and not very powerful, but the carbon it was made from did not show up on weapon scans. Dolton Blass testified to its effectiveness a second later when Erion activated the laser blade and plunged it into his back. He reared up with a scream and fell sideways, ricocheted off the table, grabbed the tablecloth and sent everything crashing to the floor on his way down. Erion was off in a sprint for the door. She opened the door and almost made it. The wall cracked by her head and she stopped in the doorway and raised her hands, knowing the uncomfortable sound of a nearby laser bolt strike. She turned slowly to see Dolton Blass standing about ten feet from her. He was weaving and swaying, but held a wicked little plasma bolt pistol in his hand that drew a bead straight at her heart and never wavered. Erion tensed for a sidelong dive that would take her out of its line of fire, but she knew her chances of making it were not great. The fat man's eyes were glazing and she knew only the desire to kill her was keeping him alive. With a visible effort, he tightened his finger on the trigger and snarled, "Bitch!"
Chapter 9
"Starfire! Wake up!" The voice seemed to come from far away. Hal shook her, none to gently. She opened her eyes and tried to focus on the shape above her. Her vision cleared and she blinked and tried to sit up.
"Hal! What happened?" she croaked in Terrellian. He passed her a drink and she eased herself into a sitting position on the couch where she had been lying. "I remember now; the village!" She cast a look around her. "Every time I wake up I'm in a different place. Where are we now?" Hal shrugged.
"I don't know," he said. "I woke up here too. I know there isn't a way out. There's no door."
"Great!" muttered Starfire to herself as she studied the room in more detail. It was square, shiny and black, and apart from a couch and a small table there was nothing else to be seen. The furniture looked like it had been moulded from the same material as the walls, for it rose seamlessly out of the floor. There were no windows and no visible light source, although the room was not dark.
Starfire handed the tumbler back to Hal and tried to stand but her senses reeled.
"Wow!" she gasped, sitting down again, "That gas is strong stuff. I wonder how long we've been out?" Hal raised his arm to look at his com link and stared in surprise at his unmarked wrists."
"Look," he said to Starfire, holding his hands out to her. "Someone's fixed them up."
"It's incredible" she gasped "There isn't any scarring. They must have a hospital mediheal at least." Hal shrugged and sat by her on the couch.
"I figure we've only been here for a few minutes. I saw you were out cold and I tried to find a way out of this place."
"Are we in a prison then?" asked Starfire. The wall in front of them suddenly glowed brightly and disappeared. They stood up, reaching for weapons that were not there as a short, smiling Terrellian woman suddenly appeared in front of them. Both her arms were held out in an unmistakable gesture of friendship and they could see that she only had three fingers on each hand.
"Welcome," she beamed. "I hope you are both recovered. The gas is powerful but the effects soon wear off." She spoke Terrellian, but in a way that suggested it was not her first language.
"What the hell…?" began Hal.
"Where are we?" asked Starfire at the same time.
"I'm sure you have many questions," began the woman, "and if you come with me, they will all be answered." She stepped backwards and beckoned them to follow. With nothing to loose, they walked after her. The woman waved her hand and the opening disappeared behind them, leaving a white, flat wall. "Come along!" She hastened them along like naughty children as they both stared at it. They walked quickly behind her into a wide street. It was obvious they were underground, but the ceiling was far above them, and trees grew on every corner. Fountains sparkled in the centre of café lined squares and smiling people went about their business, calling greetings to the woman and nodding courteously at Hal and Starfire. "Not far now," she breezed, turning a corner. The atmosphere changed slightly although the street furniture was the same. Now people bustled along with purpose, some carrying portable data packs. It was clear they were now in some sort of work area. The woman stopped at a blank wall. "Here we are," she waved her hand and the wall disappeared. "In you go." This room was furnished much like the other and they walked straight in, the wall closing behind them. Two loungers sat in the centre of the room and Starfire took one but Hal preferred to stand behind her.
"Welcome!" boomed a deep, pleasant male tenor voice. "Please make yourselves comfortable. I'm sure you have many questions to ask, but first, I would like you to watch something." The wall in front of the
m lit up to show a holo movie of themselves from the moment they landed on Serrell. The figures were shortened slightly as if it had been filmed from above. It sped up a little in places and the boring bits were missed out. It ended with Hal and Starfire at the sacrificial stone.
"Very entertaining," said Hal, dryly.
"I thought it was quite good," said Starfire, "especially my bit."
"Tell me," said Hal, "how come we were attacked before, but this group captured us and brought us to their village? I expected us to be killed outright."
"Thanks for keeping that nugget to yourself," muttered Starfire out of the corner of her mouth.
"It is the vehicles that frighten them, Terrellian," answered the booming voice. "They associate vehicles with death, and they have good cause for believing that. However, they saw you and your colleague as a prize catch, to tame or trade." The voice continued. "We have shown you this to prove to you that what you see is really happening. We have more for you to see and it concerns your friends."
"Play it," grunted Hal. They watched, enthralled at the scenes that rolled into view. The holo showed Keen appearing at the clearing and faded at the point when the last troop carrier entered the cliff face hologram.
"We cannot show you more," the voice was apologetic. "The force field was erected as soon as the last car went in. I must inform you though, that your friends are probably in deadly peril."
"Not again," muttered Starfire.
"I've seen that man before," began Hal. "The one who called himself Keen, but I'm sure that wasn't his name."
"He works for this man," said the voice. A holo picture lit up to show the strutting form of Dolton Blass. Starfire's mouth dropped open, and she looked back at Hal. His knuckles were white as he gripped the back of the chair, but otherwise he showed no emotion.
"How old is that recording?" he growled.
"Ten point four of your hours," answered the voice.
"His name is Dolton Blass," said Hal softly. "I thought he was dead."
"Oh, he isn't dead," continued the voice. "He built that underground complex to make warships and weapons. He is supplying both to Auria and Terrell."
"I don't understand," said Starfire.
"He started the war," said Hal flatly. "He's using his own pilots to raid Terrell, then he supplies the Terrellians with arms to defend themselves and medical supplies to tend the wounded. I've seen him do the same thing before, only not on such a large scale as this."
"You are correct, Terrellian," said the voice. Hal leaned towards Starfire and hissed in her ear.
"If he's got Erion and Raan, they're in big trouble."
"What can we do from here?" Starfire hissed back. "I don't even know where 'here' is."
"We can get you into the complex," put in the voice.
"What do you want in return?" asked Hal, raising his voice at the screen.
"We want you to put an end to this evil on our planet, and stop Dolton Blass," said the disembodied voice.
"Why don't you do it yourselves?" Hal's voice took on a hard note, as if he already knew the answer.
"We have no weapons, Terrellian, nor do we need them here. We abhor violence."
"Sure," sneered Hal, "but just this once, for the good of the community, you'll hire someone to do it for you." He walked forward to face the brightly lit screen. "Your sort make me sick. In your own way you're just as bad as Dolton Blass." There was a long silence and Starfire left her seat to stand by his side.
"Terrellian, your ship is damaged. Our technicians say it cannot be made space worthy without special equipment which you do not have."
"Is he right?" whispered Hal out of the corner of his mouth. Starfire nodded.
"I'd say 'damaged' was one hell of an understatement," she whispered back. "It's scrap metal on legs!"
"In return for your help," began the voice, "we will refuel your ship and make it space worthy." Hal shook his head.
"I don't make deals with folks who won't show themselves." Starfire looked quickly at him.
"Hal, are you mental?" There was another long silence then a tunnel lit up in front of them, leading slightly downward and to the left. "Oh, well done!" she gritted.
"You don't have to come," he said softly, heading for the opening.
"You don't think I'm staying here by myself do you?" she retorted, rushing to keep up with him. They walked steadily in a downward spiral for several minutes, conscious that the tunnel was closing three feet behind them all the way. It would have made many people uncomfortable, but Hal and Starfire had been brought up deep underground on Terrell and, apart from noting it, carried on walking downward with confidence. They turned a final corner and found themselves in a dark, circular room, sensing, rather then seeing the vastness of it. Large vague shapes loomed around the outside of it, dimly visible in the gloom. The room suddenly lit up and Starfire gasped, grabbing Hal's arm in a sudden panic. Even his nerves were not that strong, but apart from an involuntary start, he made no sound and stood looking up at the dozen creatures defiantly. They were beings from a nightmare, at least eight feet tall and not even vaguely humanoid. They were Starfire's dragons. One was taller than the rest, and it raised a blackened claw towards them.
"Please come forward." The deep, rich voice was the same but it didn't seem to match its owner somehow. His head was birdlike, with shiny red eyes and a long reptilian jaw, glinting with several rows of thorny teeth. His long, scaly body was adorned with a heavy leather tunic which was longer at the front, but cut away at the rear to allow a long, muscular tail to emerge. Dark grey leathery wings folded behind him, ending with a black shiny spur. His stubby, scaled legs ended in birdlike feet tipped with wicked looking talons. These gripped a dull metal perch a foot off the floor. He unfolded one wing and motioned them forward. "You are not repulsed by our presence?" the voice sounded surprised, but didn't seem to be coming from his mouth. The sounds arrived and bounced around their heads as if they were in a large auditorium.
"Why should we be?" asked Hal, dragging Starfire forward with him. "Star, come say hello."
"Hiyah!" she smiled weakly, raising a hand and wiggling her fingers in salute.
"I do not understand," another of the creatures spoke and once again, the voice just seemed to arrive in their heads. "The villagers are terrified of us."
"The galaxy is a big place," began Starfire. "It's full of different species. It's just that you took us by surprise."
"We meant to, Terrellian," said the obvious leader. "I wanted to see what you were made of."
"And you saw," snarled Hal. "Now if you've had your fun, let's get down to business. What do you want us to do?"
"Why are you so angry?" asked a smaller creature, tipping its head on one side in curiosity. Hal stiffened and Starfire said quickly,
"Where we come from, it is considered impolite to question strangers about their personal feelings."
"As it is among us," said the leader. He fixed the younger creature with a stare that made it look down at its feet. "You must forgive my son. You are the first non Trenee we have ever been able to converse with directly. The people you see in our complex are descendants of a few colonists we managed to save many years ago. They have never seen us and we communicate through audio."
"What about the savages outside?" asked Starfire.
"They are also descendants of the Terrellian colonists. We try to help them as much as we can, although they are mutants as you have seen."
"Do you know what happened to them?" asked Starfire.
"They were foolish and started to argue amongst themselves," answered another creature. "They split into two groups and started to fight, but they were evenly matched in size and intellect so no side could gain the upper hand. One of the groups built a weapon with equipment that was supposed to help them survive. There was a nuclear explosion which killed many of them and polluted our atmosphere. Many of us died also, but we are a cave dwelling race and hid ourselves away, building another life underground
.
"Just like us," murmured Starfire, under her breath.
"We saved as many Terrellians as we could and brought them down here. Some survived the blast but were mutated by the radiation. We watch over them and help them as best we can."
"In the hut," snapped Hal suddenly, "just before I passed out I saw something."
"One of our drone cameras, Terrellian. The villagers have learned not to touch it and it does them no harm. It is also small and well shielded so cannot be tracked. That is how we were able to view your progress after you landed here."
"But why the sacrifice?" asked Starfire. "It was pretty scary you know."
"My apologies young one, but the stone is the way we bring people down from the surface. The Obelisks conceal a tunnel entrance for our underground shuttle network. Sometimes normal children are born to these people. We take them in the sacrificial ritual and bring them down here to live in our city. Under normal circumstances, they would be terrified by the experience so we anaesthetise them and arrange for a friendly face to greet them on their arrival. The savages are well rewarded and are only too pleased to comply. Alas, they also send down anyone who falls from grace with their leader. In your case however, we are more than pleased."
"I'm kinda pleased about it myself," muttered Hal under his breath, knowing how close they came to being killed.
"I assure you we would not have let them kill you," put in another of the creatures.
"Have you been on this planet a long time?" asked Starfire, nudging Hal, who had opened his mouth to make a sarcastic reply.
"The Trenee have lived here for over ten thousand years." The tall one drew himself up proudly. "Once, we were too many to count, now just a few thousand remain. Please, let me introduce myself. I am Kaura, leader of the Trenee Council. These people are my governors, and this," he motioned proudly with one wing, "is Prince Grennig, my son and heir to my throne." The smaller Trenee, and he topped six and a half feet, stepped forward, moving awkwardly on his birdlike feet. He held their weapons in his claw tipped wings and he handed them to Hal and Starfire.
Starfire at Traitors Gate Page 11
