by Dante King
As I watched Yaltu, the sound she was making grew louder. When it did, the flaps on the sides of her neck, which I’d almost forgotten were there, began to vibrate as well. It made me wonder how different our biology was, but I was glad that other parts were more than compatible.
When she emerged from her meditation, I didn’t want the first thing she saw to be my blade. I double-checked for threats before sheathing Ebon, settling in to watch the beautiful woman, and waiting.
A few moments later, I heard the flapping of wings. I knew she could speak with dragons, or the dragon-like things the planet had to offer, but what I heard seemed to be moving too rapidly to be something that big. Soon, a dark-red bird no larger than my fist landed in one of her hands. She continued to hum, and another bird flew out of the fog and settled on her other hand.
I felt a little like I was peeping, but I couldn’t help but stare in fascination as she brought both of her hands close and began whispering to the birds. They seemed to respond to her, as if they were having a conversation, by making small squeaking and chirping noises. She stretched her arms out in front of her, and both birds erupted into the air.
I got up and approached her, unsure if I had just seen something very private. Curiosity got the best of me.
“What was that all about?” I asked.
“I’m curious what has become of my friends at Brazud,” she said, the smile fading from her lips. “I’m also curious what has happened to my home. If anyone recognized me, they may have gone there to seek revenge for what we did.”
I opened my mouth to offer her an apology, but she stopped me with an upraised hand.
“You have nothing to apologize for, Jacob,” she said, a hint of sadness quieting her voice. “I only wish to know. I sent those two tiddits to find out for me. They are clever and should not draw any attention. When they return, I’ll know. It’s the not knowing that’s causing me to worry, you understand, right?”
“I do. I hope the news they return with will be happy.”
“So do I.” She took my offered arm and walked down the hill with me.
I decided to wait one more day before leaving for the powerplant. In thanks for everything the Ish-Nul had done for me, I wanted to teach them how to create defenses for their village. I had no regrets about the trouble we’d caused, but if the Ish-Nul weren’t properly defended, they would be easy pickings for other slavers.
The most basic defense they could construct would be a wall, but as they didn’t have a quarry, I decided a wall of sharpened logs would suffice.
The longhouse could hold the entire population of the town. It was also tall enough for shelves to be added to the inside for supplies such as food, water, and arrows.
Should the town be attacked, a lookout would sound a horn. Everyone would drop whatever he or she was doing and head straight toward the longhouse. When the last person made it within the walls, three men would move the final piece of the defensive wall into place, lash it to the others, and head inside. From there, they could open the many small windows and rain arrows down upon their enemies.
I didn’t tell them that if they were attacked by heavy weapons like plasma cannons, they wouldn’t stand a chance regardless. There was no need to ruin what little hope they had, and these fortifications would at least provide them with some defense against other enemies.
The next day, as Reaver, Yaltu, Beatrix, Skrew, and I made our final preparations to follow Timo-Ran to the powerplant, one of the tiddits returned and began flying around Yaltu’s head, chirping hysterically.
Beatrix and Reaver looked to me, and when I didn’t react defensively, they waited to see what happened next. When Skrew approached the fluttering tiddit with a hungry look in his eye, Reaver grabbed one of his arms and shook her head scornfully.
“Skrew no eat?” He frowned and backed away but still watched the bird like he was thinking about his favorite tiddit recipe.
Yaltu held out her hand and allowed the tiddit to land. The bird clucked, cooed, and made sounds like silver bells tinkling in a soft breeze. She whispered to it, and it flew away, disappearing into the forest to the south.
I studied her concerned expression. “I take it that wasn’t good news.”
“I don’t know,” she whispered. The rest of us gathered closer, anxious to hear what she’d learned. “The tiddit says there’s something new at Brazud.” She made eye contact with each of us in turn. “She says there’s a cloud where there was none before. A cloud that’s consumed the city and made flying difficult. Rising from the cloud is a new building she’s never seen before. It rises like the tooth of a shiggit—straight, narrow, and tall.
“Hanging from the tip of the tooth there’s a… branch. But I believe she meant rope. It extends far into the sky, higher than she could fly. And once, she saw something like another building climbing the rope, making loud noises and with many lights.
“When her mate tried to investigate, she heard him scream. Then, he was no more. He disappeared into the cloud. She called for him. She wept for him. But he didn’t return. She’s left to warn others. Something’s happening. Something bad.”
“Damn,” Reaver breathed. “What do you want to do?” she asked me.
I didn’t like big cloud-producing buildings showing up unannounced, especially when they killed something Yaltu obviously cared about. I wondered what had become of my sheriff, and why he hadn’t turned his aggression against whatever had descended upon the city. Had the people ignored him? Was he dead?
I also didn’t like the building’s description. It was far too close to something we once used on Mars called a space elevator. Our structure had a graphene cable that was anchored at one end, and kept taut by a counterweight at the other end. It was less expensive—both costing less money and requiring less manpower—to move materials into and out of orbit using a mechanical crawler than to fly them with conventional rockets. Once our technology improved, however, the space elevator was abandoned.
The presence of such a device on this planet meant there was a spacefaring race who moved materials or troops to or from the surface. Somewhere overhead, a spacecraft was parked. The threat and danger had just increased to levels I’d never imagined. Likely, the planet was being invaded.
“Is there any way to know who brought this structure?” I asked Yaltu.
“It could only be the Sitar.”
“Which we assume are also the Xeno,” Reaver said.
I had a choice to make. I could go to the city, find out what was going on for myself, and have a tough time fighting an army with the weapons I currently had at my disposal, or I could go find the priestess and possibly get more.
The decision was difficult. The longer the Xeno were in control, the more havoc and death they could cause. But, if I charged in unprepared, it could be the end of my entire team. The best I could do for everyone was to stay on task, find new weapons, and expel the Xeno when I was prepared.
“Timo-Ran,” I said, drawing the man’s attention, “take us to the powerplant. We’re going for the priestess first.”
“No go smash at Brazud?” Skrew asked, clearly disappointed.
“Not yet,” I said, loud enough for everyone to hear. “We’re going to rescue the priestess first. Then, we’ll have her open the Void Temple. From the description of the place, it sounds like the whole thing is Void-tech. If the priestess can equip us with armor and weapons, or something better, we have a greater chance at stopping the Xeno dead in their tracks.”
“Then smash Brazud?” A wicked smile curled the corners of Skrew’s wide mouth.
I ignored him. “The Void Temple might also allow us to communicate with the Lakunae. They can tell us where the rest of my crew and Marines are as well. If we can find even half our platoon, the Xeno won’t stand a chance.”
“Get some!” Reaver raised a fist. The rest of the war party cheered their approval.
We made our final preparations, and I kissed Enra goodbye before Timo-Ran led u
s out of the village. The powerplant was almost directly south of us. Most of our journey would be spent on open land, so I decided we’d rest during the day and move only at night. I didn’t want some angry guard captain to surround us out in the open with a half-dozen hoverships.
Near the end of the first night, we approached a wide river. Only a proper raft could get us across safely with dry supplies. With three Void-touched members in our war party, it was easier than I’d expected. I ripped a tree out of the ground and sliced it into thirds with Ebon while Beatrix and Reaver lashed them together with ropes they made from tall grass. If we’d had more time, I was certain we could have built our own temporary bridge.
The second night, we walked quietly across grassy plains. The calls of the wildlife surrounding us were grunts, squeals, and steady rumbles. A bear-like creature threatened us at one point. Beatrix powered her hammer and calmly walked toward the beast, ready to smash it into a pancake. It turned tail and ran back into the safety of a copse of trees.
The third night brought us back into the woods. Though we were close enough to reach the powerplant soon after the sun went down, I slowed our pace. The woods were dense, and if we kept moving quickly, we’d be just as likely to trip over an enemy as they would be to stumble upon us. Keeping the advantage meant taking longer to reach our objective.
When we finally reached the edge of the woods, Timo-Ran approached me. “I’m leaving now.”
“You don’t want to help rescue the priestess?” I asked.
“I do, but I also know when I’m outmatched.”
“Understood. Your fellow Ish-Nul would be hard-pressed to defend themselves without you. And I need you to watch over Enra for me. With you there, I know I’ll have nothing to worry about.”
Timo-Ran placed his hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eye. “Enra will be safe, and if we’re attacked, I’ll kill many enemies.”
“I have no doubt.” I put my hand on his shoulder in return. “I do have one question, though. Who does this powerplant provide electricity for?”
“It provides power for a nearby city. They pay the king of the city of Thaz’red for the privilege. The powerplant and slaving make him wealthy.”
“In other words, there’s no reason to be careful with his stuff.”
“No reason,” Timo-Ran agreed.
We bade him farewell, and he left, stalking his way back into the woods.
Yaltu, Beatrix, Reaver, Skrew, and I snuck down a nearby hill covered in brush and wildflowers. The rocky landscape turned out to be a quarry that was at least a mile wide and nearly as long. The bottom was shiny black material I guessed was coal. It would explain the soot in the air and the light coating of it for miles around.
We paused as I searched for any sign of guards, with Yaltu to my immediate right and Skrew to my left. Reaver and Beatrix guarded our rear.
“Is shiny,” Skrew whispered.
“That’s coal,” I said. “It’s burned for power.”
I signaled to Reaver that she should look for threats. She withdrew Clarent from her belt and squinted at the scene before turning back to me and indicating that the coast was clear.
I didn’t like heading out over open land at dusk. It felt exposed and dangerous, but as there weren’t any guards patrolling the quarry, it was safer than the alternative. I gave everyone the signal to head out. We did so as a single unit, slow and steady.
When we reached the halfway point, I stopped everyone again and took a moment to look, listen, and sniff the air. I didn’t want to risk being ambushed in the middle of a combustible field of fuel.
As I was ready to signal everyone to continue moving, I spotted something near my left foot. A shape had been carved into the coal, barely visible in the starlight, but its shape and meaning were unmistakable. It was a two-pronged trident, the Ish-Nul symbol for hope.
We resumed our trek toward the powerplant, and I slowly became aware a subtle vibration on my arm hairs. Skrew’s left eye kept in time with it. Then, I started to hear the thrumming noise. Skrew’s hearing range must have been broader than that of his human companions.
We crested the far side of the quarry and hid behind piles of coal and small wagons. Beatrix guarded Yaltu and Skrew while Reaver and I climbed on top of the coal pile to survey the powerplant and formulate an attack plan. We needed to enter, find the priestess, and return her safely to her people. Sounded easy enough.
The facility was surrounded by a tall fence of metal hooks, barbs, and bars, similar to what I’d seen back at the arena. Its design brought back cold memories of creatures killing each other for the pleasure of a paying audience.
Within the fence were about a dozen buildings. The largest was three stories tall with two smokestacks towering out of one end. On the other end, a metal tube arced out from and back into the building while a conveyor belt ran 50 yards toward the quarry.
“That’s our way in,” I whispered to Reaver.
“The conveyor belt?”
I nodded. “You see the guardtowers at each corner of the perimeter fence? There’s guards in the closest one, so I figure the rest are occupied as well.”
“That’ll make things tougher.”
“I agree. We don’t want to go barging in and draw fire from them.”
My original thought was that I would get in, find the priestess, and destroy stuff on my way out. If I could find explosives, I’d set them to detonate after we’d made our escape. If not, I planned on blowing up whatever looked important, especially if it looked like it might take a long time to rebuild.
A mechanical tapping sound made me peek higher over the mound, but I couldn’t find the source. When Skrew became curious and leaned forward a little too far, some of the coal on the far side of the mound began to slide and tumble to the bottom. I nearly jumped out of my skin when a small pair of flashlight-like red eyes began targeting the biggest chunks and followed them to the bottom. Reaver and I immediately ducked low.
We sat completely still until the ticking started again and eventually faded into the background thrumming of the plant. It appeared they had some kind of robot guard dog. Breaching the powerplant was going to be as difficult as breaching a medium-security research base back on Mars. I poked my head over the mound again and squinted into the night, trying to see what other security the slavers had in place. The breeze that had been blowing the soot and smoke away from us had changed direction, and the already dim conditions became even worse.
I thought about looking through Spirit-Watcher, but in a place like this, there would be far more data than I could make sense of, so I left it tucked under my shirt. Whatever else was waiting for us would have to be dealt with as it was discovered. If all else failed, I’d cut the threat in half with Ebon.
A pair of spotlights blazed into the sky for a few seconds, and their source began moving right until it disappeared behind a building. I wasn’t sure what had produced the light, but whatever it was, it was mobile. The half-second it was behind the building also gave me the clue I was looking for. The windows were barred.
The priestess.
I spotted a guard and slowly lowered my head so that my eyes barely peeked over the top of the mound. I’d expected to see a vrak. I was accustomed to associating them with slavers. But the creature patrolling the perimeter was much bigger and appeared to be much stronger than the average vrak.
He had one shiny eye in the middle of his forehead, and his skin looked like hardened leather. He carried a short-barreled rifle like he knew what to do with it and had a mouth that looked as if someone had glued a handful of random fangs to its face.
As I peered at the rest of the buildings, I began to notice shadows and little movements from similar-shaped creatures. It appeared I’d found the slavers.
And I knew what to do with slavers.
Chapter Four
It would be hours before sunrise. We had more than enough time to slowly set up a plan, and I was not one to thoughtlessly squander an opportu
nity like that.
“Skrew,” I said, drawing the vrak’s attention. “Your part of the plan will be to head into the woods and around to the other end of the plant. I need you to cause a distraction. Make some noise. Start a fire. Anything you can to get the guards focused on you. But I don’t want you to get yourself killed. You think you can do that?”
Skrew thought about it as he tapped his chin with the first finger of three of his hands. “Easier if Skrew had pew-pew gun. Maybe throw rock at guard? Maybe scream help?”
If he didn’t come up with a way to draw the guards’ attention, my plan to make it past the heavily fortified defenses was worthless. He didn’t seem very creative today.
“Do you know how to start a fire without any tools?” I asked as I thought about some of the ancient videos I’d watched about early Earthlings.
“Yes,” he said hesitantly. “Skrew in trouble four times for making the fire. But was long time back, many big cycles. No have so much fun making fires now.”
I almost laughed. I should have known he’d be a pyromaniac. “Here’s the plan. I want you to tap into your past, think about how much you used to enjoy making fires, and start a few in the woods. Be careful, though. If these guards know anything about fire, they’ll know their operation would be permanently shut down if fire reached the quarry and ignited the coal. Not only that,t it’s likely the fire would burn for at least 10 big cycles.”
Skrew’s eyes opened wide as he stared into space with disturbing delight.
“There’s more,” I continued. “The conveyor system leading into the building likely drops the coal on the other side. That creates a lot of dust. If the dust touches a spark—boom!
“Undoubtedly, the presence of a nearby fire will alarm the guards. The presence of two or three fires should send them into a panic. It doesn’t look like they’ve done any mining in the woods, those trees look old. The rest of the coal should be safe if they get the fires out in time.
