by Tim Allen
“Speak your mind, my friend. Tell me your plan,” Waylan said.
“I assume you won’t surrender?”
An angry roar arose from the soldiers gathered around them, and Waylan replied, “No, we cannot submit. I will not trade the lives of my people to save one—even though it is my kin and very precious to me.”
“My body is invincible, I cannot be harmed. We will ask for a parley seeking terms for Jhondra’s release,” Wolf said. “I will insist on some terms, and I will demand to see her. When they take me to her, I will negotiate for her freedom. I will not leave without her.”
“You would violate a parlay?” Waylan asked with a disapproving scowl.
“No, my honor will not allow that. But is taking a young girl hostage and threatening to burn her alive grounds to honor a parlay? I am a warrior, so my word is my bond and I hold an honorable death in high regard. But Jhondra is innocent and does not deserve this horrible fate.”
Waylan looked Wolf in the eye and replied, “Do what you can.” To Onel, he said, “Go to the gate, my brother, and ask for a parley. Say I am gravely injured and on my deathbed. Only you have the authority to carry this out.”
“I will go at once,” Onel said, eager to take action to free his child. Turning to Wolf, he added, “If you cannot free Jhondra, you must slay her. Do you understand?”
“It will not come to that, Onel, but you have my word. I will do what you ask if need be.”
Onel hurried from the chamber to set the plan in motion, and Wolf returned to his own quarters. When he was alone, he whispered, “Syn, can you read me?” There was no response. Activating the communicator on his watch, he asked, “Syn, are you there?” Silence. He would have to wait until he returned to the ship to sort out what was wrong. It was fortunate that he had decided to bring his M21 laser pistol and the M1A1 Minimack. He adjusted the power setting to “stun” to minimize the carnage.
After retrieving his weapons, Wolf returned to the king and bid him farewell. He walked down to the bridge where Onel was waiting for him.
“Remember, my friend, don’t let them burn her. I beg you.”
“You have my word,” Wolf replied. He took the white flag and walked out the inner gate, crossing the inner plain to the primary gates. A small sally port was opened, and he stepped outside, his eyes roving across the outer plain. The opposing army shrank back upon seeing Wolf’s immense size and alien features. A detail of Jonar’s men surrounded him and led him into the camp, where he was met by the Templar Sylvaine.
“So, buffoon, you have come to plead your case to our Lord Jonar. I hope he declines your offer. I would love to see you die slowly over a raging fire.”
Wolf sneered and replied, “You’re an idiot.” Gazing over Sylvaine’s shoulder, he spotted Jhondra and began walking towards her. The girl’s slight frame quivered with fear and hope as Wolf approached her.
“Stop! You can’t go to her. You are our prisoner. Guards, seize him!” Sylvaine yelled.
“I’m just checking on her. I want to make sure she is unharmed.”
Several men ran at Wolf but hesitated, and Sylvaine yelled, “Kill him!” The ruffians drew their weapons and attacked, slicing and hacking at Wolf’s rock-hard frame ineffectively.
“So, I see you have no honor and you violate a parlay. I’m glad you did, because I cannot allow an innocent woman to die at a dishonorable man’s hands, no matter what the repercussions are. You dishonor me by thinking I am weak, and you dishonor King Waylan by making him agree to your terms by this cowardly act. What real man can remain unmoved by a maiden’s plight? Now I will give you what you deserve.
Wolf pulled out the M1A1 and with its lowered power setting shot the men who were attacking him. He then shot Jhondra. She wilted like a flower in the sun. He turned the gun on Sylvaine and fired twice. The Templar dropped to the ground unconscious. Then all hell broke loose. Jonar’s soldiers saw Jhondra sagging in the bonds that held her to the stake and thought she was dead, so they turned on Wolf and swarmed him. He flicked a lever on the gun to enable full automatic firing and held the trigger. The laser gun fired rapid bursts and men dropped in droves as the beams struck and stunned them. The ozone smell of the laser pulse and the whine of projectiles, punctuated by the screams of the fallen men, sent many of the enemy fleeing in panic. But there were brave men, too, and they charged Wolf, hurling spears at him. He moved away from Jhondra so she would not be struck by a wild cast. Jonar had about two thousand men assembled on the plain in front of the castle, and Wolf was stunning them en masse. For what seemed an eternity, he waited to hear battle cries from the castle gate signaling the counterattack. At last, he heard Waylan’s men, and it appeared as if a bee’s nest had burst open as the king’s troops poured out from the crevasse entrance.
The king’s men traversed the short distance separating the two armies and the combat began. Men on both sides died as they were speared or hacked to death. Wolf leveled the M21 and mowed down soldiers from the opposing army in waves. He fired until the charge was drained. Then, he inserted a new power pack and adjusted the setting to maximum. He fired at the siege engines, blowing them to bits. Smoke and fire billowed where the white-hot projectiles touched, igniting the wooden frames.
Wolf had to slay several ruffians who ran at him brandishing weapons. They swung and hacked at close quarters, and he blasted them with the M21 on full power. He turned to look for Sylvaine, hoping to capture and imprison the evil knight in Waylan’s dungeon, but Sylvaine had regained consciousness and was retreating with his arm on the shoulder of a regally dressed black man, who glared at Wolf with disdain and not a trace of fear. At that moment, Wolf caught a glimpse of Captain Lintel waving a dagger and running towards Jhondra. She had regained consciousness and was struggling against her bonds. Wolf leveled the M21 and squeezed the trigger, but the weapon was dead. Jhondra screamed as Lintal raised the dagger to bury in her chest. Grasping the gun by the barrel, Wolf threw it. His aim was true, and the heavy pistol grip struck Lintal’s skull, shattering it like an egg. The traitorous soldier dropped to the ground in a lifeless heap.
Wolf freed Jhondra from her bonds, slicing through the rope with ease as she clung to him, crying his name. Jumping thirty feet, he landed nimbly. He jumped twice more, reaching the gate. He handed Jhondra to Onel, who carried her into the safety of the castle.
The fighting was over, and the task of securing the men stunned by Wolf’s weapon was underway. Eight hundred men from both armies had been slain and most were Jonar’s men. Waylan’s guard now had more than one thousand prisoners. This was the advance element of Jonar’s army, his shock troops. Waylan ordered the captives chained in the prairie under heavy guard, not wanting such a large contingency of enemy soldiers inside the castle. As Wolf walked by the prisoners, many fell to their knees trying to offer their loyalty to him. Over nine hundred enemy soldiers renounced Jonar and swore allegiance to Wolf as he wondered, Where is Syn?
* * *
Nala’s jaw dropped in shock. “What are you talking about, Syn?”
Syn phrased her explanation carefully. “It’s called in vitro fertilization. It is a process of fertilizing an egg by sperm outside the body. I would have to monitor your ovulation cycle and remove an egg from your ovaries, and then let sperm fertilize it in a fluid medium in my lab. Or I could take one of your eggs and perform in vivo fertilization. I think I could set up the means to develop the embryo in my lab.”
Nala stared at Syn aghast, confused by the strange words. After a long pause, she asked, “If I become pregnant and you are the baby, what will happen to the child’s mind? Will you become the child, or will you kill the child’s mind and take it over?”
Syn gasped as she considered the implications of Nala’s words, and then she replied, “Oh, no! I didn’t think of that. I can’t do it that way!” Syn began to cry and Nala patted her shoulder in sympathy. She still couldn’t believe Syn was not real—and she was a little jealous. Her feelings for Wolf were odd, an
d she couldn’t understand why she had them.
“Syn, it’s a body you require, is it not?” Nala asked, shaking her head to clear Wolf from her thoughts. When Syn nodded, she asked, “This science you speak of, what can it accomplish? What are its limitations? What miracles can it do? I am not as smart as you are, but I may be able to help. I also will give you an egg from my body if that will help.”
“The best science I have in my database was completed by a Japanese scientist named Hiroshi Ishiguroof of Osaka University. He created a human-looking robot—a ‘female’ he called Repliee Q1Expo. She had flexible silicone for skin rather than hard plastic, and various sensors and motors allowed her to turn and react in a human-like manner. But the best this robot could do was to flutter her eyelids and move her hands like a human. She appeared to breathe, and she looked human, but she could only sit.”
Nala burst out laughing, and when she noticed Syn’s hurt look, she said, “What is a robot? What is plastic? What is Japanese? Motors and sensors? I don’t know if I can help at all, Syn. I am just not smart enough!”
“Nala, you have given me an idea that might solve my problem,” Syn announced, giving her friend an affectionate hug. “I had thought about making an android…an artificial person, like a scarecrow. I can use science to make it look real. Plastic is a material, like leather or wood. Actuators and sensors are tiny machines that act like muscles and feelings.”
“You can make those? That is amazing!” Nala exclaimed. “How can I help?”
Syn was about to answer when she realized she had not heard from Wolf. In an urgent tone, she said, “Commander, do you read?”
“Who are you talking to?” Nala asked, looking around.
Syn held a hand up for silence and tried to scan for Wolf. After a moment, she hissed, “A jamming device! It is crude but effective.” Using the satellites, she traced the jammer’s signal and located the device in the woods just outside the castle.
“Nala, I will walk you home…I must leave now. Wolf may be in trouble.”
Syn extended a hand and helped Nala to her feet. Then she went to the dintar, grabbed its hind legs, and tied them together using a nearby vine. They headed back to Haakon’s homestead, with Syn dragging the beast behind her. As they emerged into the clearing, the men who were working there gawked in amazement at the sight of Syn pulling the enormous dintar with ease. Nala told them Syn was Wolf’s woman, and she possessed his phenomenal strength.
“Will I see you again?” Nala asked.
“Yes, Nala, very soon. I will need your help with that surprise for Wolf we discussed.”
Syn hugged Nala and walked back into the forest, disappearing from view. When she was directly under the ship, she scanned the vicinity to ensure that no one was watching and shut off the holo-projectors, materializing inside the craft. She set a course for the castle, flying at just under Mach 1. Minutes later when she arrived, she saw Wolf firing his M21 at a wave of attacking soldiers, dropping them in droves. A quick scan confirmed he was using non-lethal projectiles and merely stunning the combatants.
Syn opened the chain-gun firing hatches and was about to lay the field to waste when she saw Waylan’s men pour out from the castle gate. They turned the tide, and the battle was fierce but soon ended. She saw Wolf swing his gun around, shouting. Her sensors confirmed that the gun was depleted of ammo, and then Wolf threw the gun at a soldier who was running at a girl tied to a post. The gun struck the soldier in the head, and he was dead before he hit the ground. Wolf untied the girl, and she fell into his arms sobbing. Syn glared as he carried the little hussy off the battlefield and handed her off to a man at the gate. He then turned and looked out over the field at the prisoners who were being tied. Many dropped to their knees before him.
Syn tried to bring the satellites online to listen but couldn’t. She had to locate and destroy the jamming device. She flew over the area and activated the external holo-projectors but wasn’t able to materialize. After several attempts, she tried to materialize above Wolf but failed. Not being able to communicate with Wolf frightened her. She flew the ship a quarter mile from the battlefield and tried again. Splitting into candy striper Syn and Tomb Raider, she sent the latter to materialize on the ground. After two more attempts, she was able to overcome the interference.
Syn walked towards the battlefield, the ship hovering invisibly overhead. When she was on the edge of the skirmish, patrols spotted her and ran towards her. She started to lose cohesion and backed up until she was out of the jamming device’s range. The soldiers closed in, and a sergeant ordered, “My lady, stop where you are. Who are you and what do you want here?”
“I am looking for my husband,” Syn answered.
“Who might that be, my lady?” the sergeant asked.
Leveling her best smile on the man, Syn replied, “Why, Wolf, of course. Will you go fetch him for me? I’m terribly tired.”
Chapter 19
A throng of King Waylan’s men had gathered around Wolf on the battlefield, shaking his hand and inquiring about the strange weapon he had used to immobilize the enemy. He told the men it was a form of magic only he could deploy. Technically, this was true since the trigger was keyed to his bio signature and only he could fire it.
A soldier approached Wolf and said, “My lord, I have a message for you from a lady.”
“A lady? What does she want with me, soldier?” Wolf asked, making light of it.
“Err…she wants you to come to her.”
“Oh does she? Where is this lady, soldier?”
“Your wife is over there,” the man said, pointing to the edge of the forest. Wolf pivoted and saw Syn standing several hundred feet away. She smiled and waved, and he walked over to her, accompanied by several high-ranking officers.
“Hello, love. I see you’ve been playing again,” Syn said with a spirited laugh.
“Synthea, I’ve missed your voice all day today. I can’t believe you came here,” he said, putting strong emphasis on the word believe.
Syn caught the inflection and replied, “I didn’t want to make the journey to see you. But I couldn’t seem to get you out of my mind. It was like I was jammed into coming here.”
Wolf nodded. He turned to the soldiers who stood behind him and said, “I need a few minutes alone with my…wife.” When the men had pulled back out of hearing range, he asked, “Where have you been, Syn? I’ve been worried sick.”
“Commander, I also was worried about you. I was about to level the entire field when I flew over and saw the fighting. I could barely see you, and at the last moment, I detected you were only stunning those men. There is a jamming device just inside the forest. It is crude, but effective. It disrupts all signals within a radius of five hundred yards. I was going to destroy it, but we need to study this technology. Someone on this world knows more than he is letting on.”
“Were you able to pinpoint the power source?”
“Not accurately. Go five hundred yards in that direction,” Syn instructed, pointing to the western edge of the forest. “Search there. I can fly over and triangulate it, but that shouldn’t be necessary. The device is dampening my sensors, but it is relatively large.”
“I’ll take some men into the forest. If we can’t locate it, you’ll have to destroy the area.”
“I will wait for you here, my love,” Syn said, flashing Wolf a seductive smile.
“Right…honey.”
Wolf rejoined the men who had followed him over to greet Syn, and he saw envy on their faces. He flashed a grin and then turned serious. “I need some men to search for something. It may look like the projector boxes we found in the castle. Let us search where the forest begins,” he said, pointing.
Wolf paced his distance, counting off five hundred yards, which took him into the dense forest. The men began searching, and ten minutes later, a soldier spotted the object they were looking for. It was hidden in a hollow tree trunk, and it measured eighteen inches square and a foot deep. Wolf examined it.
The technology was straightforward. A carrier wave was aimed at the ship’s radio signals, disrupting control. It was a simple transmitter, tuned to the same frequency as Syn’s receiving equipment and with the same modulation as Wolf’s watch. Its limited power affected a small area, and it only overrode Wolf’s signals and Syn’s signals from the ship and the satellite’s receivers. The device was a random noise generator; but what was impressive about it was that it fluctuated to random pulse, warbler, and then pulse. It also used a few other obvious and subtle jamming technologies. Whoever had built the device was skilled for this civilization.
Wolf knew that obvious interference was easy to detect because it could be heard on the receiving equipment. Whenever Syn tried to pinpoint it, the signal changed. The goal of obvious jamming is to block out reception of transmitted signals and to cause a nuisance to the receiving operator. That was why Wolf had heard the static earlier. Subtle jamming, however, was covert, and its interference caused no detectable sound on the receiving equipment. The radio wouldn’t detect incoming signals, yet everything would seem normal to the operator. That is why Syn couldn’t detect it. Only technical attacks on her modern equipment, such as squelch capture, would have alerted Syn’s computers. Wolf would have to modify the radio equipment and change its unmodulated carrier to a modulated one.
Someone on this backwards world knew about Syn, and that worried Wolf. Whoever it was had detected the ship in space and knew Wolf was on this planet.
“What does this thing do, my lord?” asked the soldier who found it. “Does it make a ghost image?”
“The ghost image is called a hologram,” Wolf explained. “No, this device does not make an image. This is a hiding device; it allows someone to shield themselves from my…powers. But I have a way to counter it.” Wolf reached into the box and pulled out the crude batteries.
“Commander, have you disengaged the jamming field yet?” Syn asked in Wolf’s ear.
