by James Somers
Kale looked back at him—watching his father panting for breath. He felt a pang of guilt. He had been the cause of this. Lucin had used Kale to bring his own father to this state.
Tiet caught his stare and appeared to shrug a little with a quiet smile as he gulped in air. Kale turned back quickly to the path and caught up to the others. What could he say?
Tiet looked at Mirah the light began to fade from her face. “He’s still letting this eat away at him.”
“What do you expect?” she whispered. “You would worry the same way if you were him.”
He nodded. She was right. He straightened up as much as possible in the cramped quarters and went after the others with Mirah following.
“I guess its easier being a kid for this kind of stuff,” Jayce said as he paused to make sure the king was still with them.
“He’d be ahead of all of us, if it weren’t for me,” Kale said.
“Kale, that’s not true,” Emil said. “I was there and you had no control over what happened. It would have been the same for any of us.”
Jayce’s interest in the full details of the story peeked, but this wasn’t the time to ask questions about the king’s injuries. He continued on through the winding passages like one who had made the journey many times. “It won’t be much longer; maybe an hour more. The air gets better up ahead,” Jayce said.
The rest of the children under Jayce’s leadership had remained with the Equinox. Grod and Jael had stayed with them, just in case. They had taken the precaution of moving the ship into an area of dense foliage and then had set about covering it as much as possible with vegetation.
Tiet might have stayed as well to keep healing up, but stubbornness prevailed. If he was to lead the underground movement into an attack on the Agonotti then he had to be present to meet and negotiate with them. Anything less would be perceived as weakness.
☼
CHLOE inched nearer to the woman working next to her. She glanced cautiously at the Agonotti guard posted over the field. He wasn’t looking at them. She moved closer and the other woman moved closer to her as well.
“Ramah?” she whispered. “What’s happening? I heard the shouting and cheering from the arena.”
“I didn’t get that close. It sounds like they have all shown up for something important though.” She continued to dig and seed the ground as she darted between the guard posts with her eyes. “They seemed very excited about something that’s happened there.”
“Excited?”
“Yes, some of them were actually smiling when they began to leave the arena.”
“I’ve never seen any of them do that.”
“Neither have I. Whatever is going on, it’s not going to be good for us.”
The Agonotti guard turned toward them from the short tower between fields. They dug again, looking only at the ground, not at him and not at each other. They began to inch away as they continued seeding the ground on their knees. Ramah’s back ached from the constant hard labor.
The guard stepped down from his perch and began to walk slowly in their direction. The women didn’t dare raise their heads to look at him, but they saw his feet shuffling the dirt—definitely coming toward them.
The Agonotti guard stood there, staring down at them both for a moment, but did not say a word—they rarely did speak to humans. The women continued with their work as though nothing were amiss. Terror raced through them both.
Then the Agonotti guard snatched Chloe up by her throat and hoisted her into the air. Ramah became still, her hands still covered in dirt and a digging tool in one. She thought of using the tool as a weapon. But that would get both of them killed for sure.
Chloe struggled in his grasp, trying to breathe. Her hands wrapped around his wrist trying to support her own weight and prevent her neck from breaking. As the guard lowered her to eye level she looked into his face. He had the look—the nightmarish look of a predator about to tear into his captured prey. She saw no mercy in those black pools, no regret, not even a notion of afterthought; only bloodlust.
An explosion shook the ground. They turned to find several fireballs rising above the area near the ancient arena. Within seconds each concussive aftershock reached them in the fields.
The guard tossed Chloe aside without further consideration and shot away toward the battle, faster than any mortal. Ramah went to help the young woman as she groaned from the fall. At least she was alive. She saw several small fighters diving in and around the warehouse area. Tendrils of dark vapor rose to engage the attackers. The Agonotti cloud grew quickly as more fighters buzzed in from the hills beyond the compound.
“What’s happening?”
“I think the rebels are attacking,” Ramah said.
“I’ve heard of some who were fighting the Agonotti, but never have seen any of them,” Chloe said rubbing her throat.
A low hum quickly grew in intensity coming up from behind them. They turned to find ten larger transports flying in low over the fields. The side compartment doors slid back revealing armed men and women motioning with their arms for the women in the fields to hurry to the transports.
“They’re coming to rescue us!” Ramah shouted. “Come on!”
The two women ran as hard as they could, their bare feet slugging through the loose soil of their planting. Women swarmed in from every area of the fields trying to reach one of the nearby ships.
Desperation overpowered every ounce of pain Ramah felt. Her legs and her back ached, but she did not care. If it killed her to reach one of those ships, at least she would die among people, free from her murderous captors.
Ramah heard explosions bursting back at the compound area behind her. She didn’t have time to look. Her only hope hovered about four feet off of the ground in front of her. Other women climbed in ahead of her—would there still be room? There would have to be—she would cling to the landing skids when it took off if she had to.
When Ramah got to the ship, she pushed her way through several other women, all of them trying frantically to get onboard. One of the men grabbed her and hauled her up into the transport bay as another fired the gun turret. The available room grew smaller by the second and Ramah saw the Agonotti running back toward them.
The Agonotti carried human weapons and fired them at the transport ships as they approached. There had no more time to rescue anyone else—the Agonotti cloud closed on them as well.
Ramah saw small groups of women groping after the ships as they began to lift off, carrying as many people as they could. Beyond the open door and the turret gunner, Ramah saw Chloe clamoring for the hull as the ship rose beyond her reach. Her heart sank as her friend clawed the metal hull—screaming for them to wait. Ramah hear her voice above the other pitiful cries as their hope slipped up and away from their grasp.
Shots clattered around inside the cabin as the men tried to get the compartment door shut. One of the men was hit and fell forward to the ground below. A woman next to Ramah was hit then spun in a daze with blood streaming down her face and neck. She collapsed into a heap at Ramah’s feet. The women cried and screamed as they tried to duck down inside the compartment to avoid the gunfire chasing them into the sky. The men shouted orders at one another.
Finally they got the door closed. More shots clanged into the metal hull, but none seemed to penetrate. The pilot whipped the ship around, throwing the passengers to the deck that weren’t holding onto the stability handles dangling by cables from the ceiling. He pushed the throttle hard and the transport engines groaned carrying them away from the Agonotti’s slave fields.
The gunfire dissipated and some cheered as they blasted away from the former danger. Ramah sat quietly. She closed her eyes and tried to catch her breath. Chloe was still back there. If she was lucky, they had killed her and the others quickly for trying to escape. Otherwise, only day to day terror remained for them.
Ramah listened to the engines as the whole ship trembled with the force of them. It was like being cradled
in a strong father’s arms as far as she was concerned. Ramah’s exhaustion quickly caught up to her and for the first time in many months, she felt like she might actually be able to sleep soundly.
☼
LUCIN requested again for the computer to lower the temperature in the cabin. It was already registering fifty six degrees and his breath had begun to hang in the air. He had not been able to pinpoint the cause of his temperature increase, but his host body was definitely changing and becoming stronger.
Lucin also felt his spiritual power returning in part. He posed in front of the mirror, observing his own movements. He struck at the air with several lightning fast flurries—his movements barely perceptible as blurs. Was it their approach to the planet Draconis? He couldn’t be sure yet. But he knew it as the keeping place for his fallen brethren.
He and they were more powerful together than apart, but not quite powerful enough to overturn the council of The Eternal One. No measure of power could ever compare to the infinite, but there were other ways of fighting—smaller victories could be gained apart from the war itself. There were many places under Mithrium that might be his to control.
Lucin called with his mind and a weapon leapt from the table nearby to his waiting hand. His power had definitely increased. Lucin pulled the weapon from its sheath, watching the reflection of the metal as the light played upon its surface. The surges in power he felt were quite real and very deadly. The Barudii he hunted would not survive their next encounter. The king among these men would be struck down as a dog before him.
The thought occurred to him just then, that perhaps with his own power growing and the entire host of fallen Mithri residing on Draconis, he had a greater army than this human one waiting for him to arrive and lead them. But would the Mithri receive him in this man’s body. If they will not, he thought, then I will battle my Mithri brethren until every last human under my will has fallen…but cunning is a far better weapon.
If he could merge these great armies of fallen Mithri and men, then nothing would stand in his way of total domination. Lucin tapped the intercom panel on the wall next to him. “Commander, how long until we reach Draconis orbit?”
“Two hours, sir.”
“Have all squads prep for a full offensive upon our arrival. We will deploy outside of Sector City,” commanded Lucin.
“Yes, sir, preparations will be made.”
Lucin tapped the switch again and looked out the view port toward the stars beyond and said, “You have made your throne in Mithrium, but I will yet establish my own.”
THIRTEEN
They came to an underground hangar of some sort, ancient in construction, but very recent in use. Tiet liked the air quality better in here. A breeze circulated through a network of vent tunnels in the walls and ceiling of the cavern.
“Jayce, where are they?” Tiet asked.
“It looks like they’ve gone on a raid.”
“Raiding what?” Wynn asked.
“Agonotti outposts—we rescue slaves.”
Emil looked puzzled. “Slaves?”
“Many people are forced to work the fields. The Agonotti use men like cattle,” explained Jayce. “Alec--that’s the leader here—he says those devils are breeding their own food supply.”
The group looked solemnly at one another. “That would go along with the deal the Guardians had with them,” Kale said as he tapped on his forearm computer display. He scanned the integrity of the huge underground chamber.
“But they can’t just feed without replenishing their resources,” Wynn said. “They’re breeding men like cattle for the slaughter.”
“That wall over there,” Emil said as he walked past them glancing down at his own computer display. “There’s a very strong reading of temporal displacement throughout this entire side of the cavern.”
“These readings look just like the kind of residuals a transgate leaves behind,” Kale said as he joined his friend in his survey.
“There’s a whole network. That’s how they get from one base to another and make their strikes,” Jayce explained.
“How extensive is this network, Jayce?” Tiet asked.
“We have a number of bases all over the continent.”
“Sooner or later, the Agonotti will figure out a way to infiltrate your network and once they gain use of your transgates then you will have no place to hide,” Wynn said.
“How many rebels are there?” Tiet asked.
“I’m not sure, maybe ten thousand. Plus, there are the people we’ve been able to rescue, but many of them are women and some of them are with child,” Jayce said.
“And where are those women?” asked Mirah. “Do they have any medical care?”
“I’m not sure Ma’am. I don’t see them very often, but I think they’re hidden away together somewhere. I’ve heard Alec talking about them a little.”
Tiet glanced at his wife just behind him. She remained ready to care for the hurting. She could never be relegated to a mere female. In the most difficult situations, she always stood to the task as a physician first—her confidence always unwavering and he loved her more for it.
“This is going to be difficult,” said Tiet. “I’d say they already outnumber us, just by the Agonotti we saw when we fled the planet a few months ago.”
“With the right strategy, sometimes numbers don’t always mean victory,” said Wynn, scratching his short white beard.
“—and in this situation?”
Wynn looked right at the king and said, “I have no idea how we can overcome what we are facing.”
“Pajet—”
The rest of the group turned to Kale. He looked over the cavern wall next to Emil, still tapping on his display. Kale looked up wondering at the sudden silence. “The Pajet—we have committed ourselves to Elithias and he will guide our steps,” he said matter-of-factly as though it should have been obvious to all of them.
Wynn smiled and looked at Tiet. He knew Kale was right and they should have known that fact already. Kale returned to his computations. He really is unconcerned. Tiet marveled at the faith of his son and realized at that moment that Kale was much stronger than he had ever been. When leadership had been needed against the Baruk he had resisted. When forgiveness had been asked by his brother, he had withheld it until the man’s dying moment. Even when Elithias had revealed himself through Aija’s preaching, he had hesitated.
But Kale was not that way. He remained steadfast and sure, not only in his own ability, but in his unshakeable faith in Elithias. That was the key. Kale would be a much greater king than he had ever been, because he believed beyond the present circumstances in The Eternal One who holds all things in his grasp.
Suddenly Tiet felt peace in his soul like he had not known since kneeling with Aija in the assembly hall back on Kosiva. Whatever must happen, Elithias remained in control and they were safe in him forever.
☼
VOCK cast a cold glance toward his Agonotti brothers standing downcast before him. “You left your post and we lost a hundred breeders.”
The Agonotti warriors said nothing and did not meet his gaze. “What do you say for yourselves?” asked Vock.
Out of five, one spoke up. “We only meant to respond to the attack back at the compound.”
“What you meant to do is exactly what they wanted you to do. They meant to rescue some of their own by creating a diversion.” Vock stood right in front of the Agonotti warrior that had answered. “And you were diverted, weren’t you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Humans outwitting a great host of Mithri—this must stop now!”
He looked up to see his scouts returning to the front of the main group in the arena. “And, what have you learned?”
“The mountains to the northeast—they retreated into a large passage there. When we followed, we found only rock.”
“That’s where we shall attack.”
“But, sir, we—”
“If they flew ships in there, then th
ey have a way through somehow and we will put every effort to discovering it,” said Vock, “We will make crushing this rebellion among the humans our highest priority for the moment.”
The Agonotti present in the arena nodded their approval of their new leader. Vock was very wise and cunning and they all knew it from his days when he had counseled Lucin—only the forces of The Eternal One had been too much for them.
“I want those of you guarding the fields to remain at your posts this time. Our brothers from the four corners are yet to arrive to celebrate our coming together in unity under one leader, but we will go on without them and squash this human rebellion before it causes us any more problems,” said Vock.
And with that, Vock surrendered his physical form and rose up with the others. They became a mass of suspended molecules and the Agonotti cloud took form again. They moved away quickly from the arena and compound area, heading northeast. Time to deal with the lower order of creation, once and for all.
☼
THE wall flashed with light and the hum of engines began to rise. They could feel the reverberations as ships came into view in the transgate portal.
“They’re returning!” said Jayce.
Tiet turned to catch his son’s eye—Kale took the cue and signaled the same cautious intent wordlessly to Emil. In a moment the boys were already gone; hidden away in the hangar somewhere—just in case.
Tiet and the others cleared away from the landing area of the hangar floor. Within moments the rock wall was penetrated by a number of large ships coming through the gate, followed by nine smaller fighter craft. The howling of the turbines was amplified a hundred times over in the cavern. The wind whipped up into miniature whirlwinds all across the hangar floor as the freighters extended their skids and settled down quickly onto the pavement.
