Space Knight

by Samuel E. Green

  “We need to go,” I said to Nathan. “The sprites will keep him busy, but I don’t think we’re capable of killing Emeric. He’s just too strong.”

  I was glad when the other squires seemed to agree with me.

  “What about your hammer?” Richard asked me.

  “We don’t have time.” I pushed the others out of the alley and started running.

  The hammer had been more powerful than any weapon I’d wielded before, maybe even better than Max’s longsword. I’d have to remember this location and hope I could find it later. Considering how much trouble I was in, and the fact that Polgar was entering this system in less than two days, I doubted I would ever see the lighting hammer again.

  “How far away is Patrick with the portal?” I asked Nathan between breaths.

  “Not far,” he said as he took the lead.

  “Holy shit, man,” Nathan said. “Can you believe what we just did? Soldiers against full blown specialist knights. We’re gonna be in so much trouble when we get back to the Stalwart.”

  “I bet that wasn’t the end of it,” Neville said. “The knight we left alive will come back for vengeance.”

  “You worry too much,” Richard said.

  Although Nathan had dismissed Neville’s comments, I thought it wouldn’t be the last we’d see of Emeric. We’d killed the powerful knight’s comrade, Bernard. From what he said about not allowing slights to pass, I guessed he’d pursue us until we left this planet.

  “And you don’t think enough,” Neville snapped. “We’ve violated every single treaty between our two nations and almost got killed! We are going to be in so much trouble.”

  “It will be fine!” Richard laughed. “We took out a knight! A real one, and all we had was squire gear! And we did it as a team. How come you’re such a wimp ninety-nine percent of the time, but when you fight with those oversized knitting needles, you turn into a badass?”

  “They’re rapiers, not needles.” Neville gave the other squire a sour face.

  Nathan smiled. “Whatever they are, you sure know how to use them.”

  Neville seemed unsure how to respond to the compliment, and I guessed it was the first time the other squires had said anything nice to him.

  “You all fought well,” I said. “Thank you for coming to my rescue. We’re in this shit together now. Whatever comes.”

  We all looked at each other, and a wordless agreement passed between us. No matter what happened, we’d stick together. If the entire crew were indicted on charges of insurrection, I’d make sure the squires were alleviated of any guilt.

  After fifteen minutes of sprinting down the streets, we came to a plaza where Patrick was waiting beside an open portal. A group of Tachionese women and children stood around the magical rift with mouths like black holes, and I guessed they’d never seen a portal before. The jump mage seemed like he wasn’t enjoying the extra attention. As we approached, he shooed the natives away and prodded his tablet.

  “It’s about time you squires got back,” he said. “Keeping this portal open has wasted much of my energy. I can’t say I care much for the locals. Where have you--” His eyes widened when he caught sight of me. “Squire Lyons! I see the others managed to track you down.”

  “Yes, sir,” I said. Jump mages outclassed squires, so I was careful to apply the honorific.

  The purple-robed man looked us all up and down. “You seem to have gotten into some trouble. Anything I should know about?”

  “No, sir,” I said.

  “Can we get going?” Neville said to the mage.

  “Why the rush?” Patrick asked.

  I glanced over my shoulder. I didn’t see Emeric in the street behind us, but he could be hidden among the throng, moments away from attacking us.

  “We just want to get this mission over with and get back on the ship,” Neville blurted out.

  Patrick rolled his eyes and entered the portal first. It was only large enough for one person to travel through at a time, so I kept an eye on the street while the other squires stepped into the rift one by one.

  Nathan and I were last, and my heart slammed against my ribs when I saw Emeric sprint into the alley.

  “Go!” I said as I shoved Nathan after our friends.

  I held my breath as the portal took the squire. Emeric was only fifty meters away and quickly closing the distance. Terror flared in my stomach, but then I moved through the shimmering oval.

  When the portal closed behind me, relief flooded my muscles. Emeric was stuck on the other side, and we were safe from him for at least a little while.

  Patrick was already marching down the street, yelling at us to follow him. The buildings in this part of the city were constructed of white limestone with bluestone tile rooftops. Platinum sculptures of the winged goddess gleamed on corner buttresses, and five-meter tall iron fences sectioned off the buildings from the street.

  “A few more seconds and that knight would have had us,” Nathan said to me.

  “You mean he followed us?” Richard asked.

  I nodded, and the color in the other squires’ faces faded.

  “I told you he would come after us,” Neville said.

  “You think he’ll keep hunting us down?” Nathan seemed genuinely worried now after his earlier flippancy.

  “I doubt it,” Richard responded. “You’ve been hanging around Neville too much, bro.”

  “We need to keep our eyes and ears open,” I whispered to my friends while Patrick shot us a dirty look. “It’ll be bad if Emeric brings a whole bunch of soldiers to where we’re giving aid.”

  “Who’s Emeric?” Nathan asked.

  “The Aquitanian shield knight who was chasing us.”

  “You know the guy?” Richard said with some surprise.

  “Not before today. He’s the one who locked me inside the surveillance facility.”

  “Well, let’s hope we don’t see him again,” Nathan said.

  I couldn’t agree more, so I scanned the locale while we walked. The streets were empty except for women wearing tall cone-shaped headpieces, trailed by dozens of cream-robed servants. The shopfronts sold dazzling jewelry, fine clothing, and heady fragrances. From their lack of customers and overflowing shelves, I guessed no one wanted to buy their goods. When I passed a food cart with only a few stale-looking buns for sale, I realized Salenum sorely needed our help.

  I was happy to be giving them aid.

  Soldiers with old-fashioned machine guns and bulky carapace armor stood outside the iron fences. They scowled as we passed, as though we were encroaching upon their domain and they were just waiting for an excuse to fill us with bullets.

  “Not the friendliest natives, are they?” Richard commented.

  “You guys read the briefing, right?” Neville asked us as we followed the jump mage. “The natives hate Space Knights because of the infighting between the Aquitanians and the Rutheni. Those soldiers probably think we’re knights.”

  Our armor’s color and design was distinct from the other Triumvirate Kingdoms, but what kingdom we were from probably didn’t matter to the Tachionese soldiers. If they’d experienced savagery at the hands of Aquitanians, then I didn’t blame the soldiers for their hostility. I didn’t know whether the Rutheni were as bad, and I didn’t intend on finding out. After the romp earlier, meeting Rutheni wasn’t on my list of things to do while on Tachion.

  “We have six crates to divide among the kings of Tachion’s various clans,” Patrick said after we’d caught up to him. The jump mage guided us to a grand castle with a dozen towers and an iron fence surrounding it. “Come with me through the palace. Don’t touch anything.”

  The castle was situated on the precipice of a giant cliff. A meteoric gorge dipped behind it, stretching into the horizon. I could see the slight shimmer of the city’s giant prot-field over the expanse. Runetech was the name given for all magical equipment within the Triumvirate Kingdoms, so the technology used for the prot-field would be something else. Even so, the
runes providing the enclosure would take an enormous amount of Arcane Dust.

  The atmospheric systems weren’t present outside the field, so the gorge was filled with chalky alien flora. I guessed the air was poisonous to humans, and I didn’t want to think about creatures capable of surviving in the arid landscape.

  With such a large population in Salenum, the incredible cost of maintaining the forcefield, and the inability to cultivate the land outside the city, it was no wonder the people were starving.

  We walked behind the jump mage as he escorted us into the building. Waning sunlight filtered in from windows in the high ceilings. The architecture reminded me of some of the ancient temples in Dobuni, with polished marble floors and corridors that made every footstep echo. Dozens of statues of the many-winged goddess sat on plinths or jutted from either side of the arches. Painted murals sparkled on every wall, and we passed robed men and women worshipping the depictions of their deity. Colorful trim marked the hems and collars of their robes, and I figured they were the city’s royals.

  Although priceless objects lined the palace corridors, there seemed to be a pall about this building. I couldn’t quite place it until I realized every person was haggard and malnourished. Even the wealthiest on Salenum were suffering.

  I recalled the soldiers inside the Aquitanian surveillance building and how not a single one of them appeared sick or starving. They probably owned more than enough food to conduct their rift-clearing while on the planet. Yet, Tachion’s natives were starving, even the nobles.

  This was probably going to be my final mission before I was either thrown out of an airlock by the Stalwart’s crew or kicked out of the RTF on Silvester Polgar’s orders. I might fail, but I couldn’t imagine my queen letting these people starve. She must have sent Captain Cross here to legitimately help them, so I’d complete that part of our mission, and then I would worry about Polgar’s proof of insurrection.

  We exited the palace and walked through a stone balcony overlooking a rectangular field. The dirt looked like it had undergone an attempt at farming, but the meager sprouts made me think the project was a failure. The temperature in the region was blazing hot, and the clumpy composition of the soil suggested it was riddle with high amounts of salt.

  A dozen shipping containers the Stalwart had delivered lay in a semicircle in the middle of the rectangular field a hundred meters outside the palace entrance. Food, medical supplies, water filters, and deconstructed shelters were strewn out around the Stalwart’s three transport ships.

  “Since we were late, the yeomen have already arrived,” Patrick said as we walked. “They’ll assign the supplies to each official. You’re to ensure nothing gets out of hand. We can’t use any runes while on the planet, but your presence should be enough to deter any official who wants more than his fair share.”

  I hoped it would be enough because I didn’t have my hammer anymore. The laser rifle was hiding beneath my surcoat, attached to the magnetons on the back of my cuirass, but I didn’t want to have to use it.

  Desperation made people act irrationally, so I watched with trepidation as the nobles and their envoys filtered out from the balcony and descended the steps to the field.

  Each group of natives was dressed in slightly different colored trim, and none of them spoke or acknowledged the other group’s presence, except for the children. The boys and girls didn’t seem to care at all for their parents’ condescension toward the other clans.

  The kings approached the goods while Patrick assigned the appropriate measures to each clan. After the servitors trudged down the stairs, royal attendants filled the robots’ containers with supplies.

  Although most of the people looked at us as though we were gods delivering divine gifts, there was one particular king who sneered at us like we were devils. He wore a white-gold crown with more jewels than any of the other kings, and his attendants wore pistols in holsters over their robes.

  An attendant pointed at me and muttered something to the king. The crowned man’s face morphed into a snarl, and he stormed over to us squires.

  “You have committed an abomination in my city!” The king’s pronunciation was strange, as though his tongue was a little too large to get the words out properly, but I understood his meaning. He thrust a jewelled finger into my face. “We have a record of an activation of runes along with video feedback showing you Caledonian knights were the ones who did it. You have blasphemed the goddess with your foreign magic!”

  “Ah, one thing,” Richard said as he raised his own finger to correct the Tachionese king. “We’re squires, not knights.”

  The man’s face boiled to a bright crimson. “You dare mock me? I will have you taken before my court! I am Salenum’s king!”

  “Cool it, man,” Nathan said. “We were defending ourselves. Besides, we’re giving your people all this stuff.”

  A woman came alongside the king and whispered in his ear. From the way she rubbed his belly, I guessed she was either the queen or his concubine. The man’s expression dissolved into something less like fury and more like an annoyance.

  “Do not do it again,” he said. “You will respect the holiness of our Goddess and my authority as King of Salenum.”

  “Sure thing,” Richard said, and he raised his palm in a mock oath. “We promise.”

  “Is there a problem here?” Patrick said as he marched over to us. “Your grace.” The jump mage bowed his head to the king.

  “You keep an eye on this lot. Don’t assume I don’t know your gifts come with a price. I’d rather starve than have the Goddess blasphemed!” The king took his woman by the arm and stormed off.

  “You guys can’t help yourselves, can you?” Patrick said to the twins.

  Nathan and Richard both grinned at the mage’s back as he walked away.

  In a few hours, all the Tachionese servitors had loaded the goods. A few transport ships belonging to the various clans landed in the field and took the larger materials like shelters and water containers.

  Thankfully, there weren’t any other altercations with the clan kings. The King of Salenum stayed out of the way mostly, but he did glare at us a few times.

  As the planet’s sun descended, massive kegs filled with wine and ale were wheeled out from the palace. The King of Salenum was the first to fill his goblet as he stepped forward to address the people.

  “We give thanks to the Goddess for the gifts she has given us this day,” he said.

  “Wasn’t the goddess who helped you out,” Nathan muttered, and the king glared at him.

  “Now, we shall drink and dance in cheerful celebration!” the king shouted after he had walked away from us.

  Attendants flittered among the crowd, giving a goblet to each person. Many of the clans seemed wary about filling their cups as they approached the kegs, giving each other sideways glances as though the drink might be poisoned.

  Musicians brought out their instruments, and the tension between the clans soon faded. People began to dance and sing once the alcohol reached their bloodstreams. Two harpists from a clan wearing blue robes challenged a trio of flutists to a musical game. I had no idea what the rules were, but before long the music became a frantic ensemble ending in uproarious laughter and cheering from the crowd.

  “Kinda strange, this celebration, don’t you think?” a male voice asked from behind me.

  I turned to see Zac. I’d been busy watching for any conflict between the clans, so I hadn’t noticed him until now.

  He nodded at the walls sectioning off the palace from the rest of the city. “There are people starving out there while these royals open the goods we gave them and feast.”

  “I don’t think Salenum’s king is too interested in his people,” I said. I didn’t blame these Tachionese for celebrating the arrival of aid, but they could at least have given the citizens outside these walls an invitation.

  “Then he is a terrible king,” Zac said. “He could learn a thing or two from the late Justinian, eternal be
his name.”

  I noticed a deep admiration in the artilleryman’s eyes, and I tried to recall what I knew of the king.

  “King Justinian died while I was a child,” I spoke my thoughts aloud. “Mom says he was the greatest ruler to ever live.”

  “Your mom sounds like a wise woman. Hey, you ever hear the rumor about the king’s death?”

  “I was taught he died during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.”

  “That’s what they want you to believe. His body was never recovered. Or his armor. If you walk through the halls in Castle Stirling, you won’t see his runic suit alongside all the other monarchs.”

  “You think he’s still alive?”

  “I doubt it,” Zac said. “But whatever we’ve been told isn’t the whole story. Some powerful people don’t want the populace to know the truth.”

  “Insurrectionists?”

  The artilleryman barked a laugh. “You’ve been watching too many late night shows on the Cube. The insurrectionists don’t exist, at least not in great number. Sure, there are people who want to overthrow the queen, but they’re not this group of rebel soldiers like the rumors say. The insurrectionists were cooked up to draw the focus away from the real bad guys.”

  “And who are they?”

  Zac shrugged. “That’s a mystery to me. But doing stupid shit like jumping through a portal early definitely makes you look like you’re playing for the wrong team.” He fixed me with a level stare.

  “Ah shit,” I moaned. “You found out about that?”

  “The other squires just told me,” Zac said as he nodded to the twins. “Whatever you’ve got going on, always remember we serve Queen Catrina on the Stalwart.”

  I stared at my feet, not wanting to endure the artilleryman’s stern gaze. Zac might serve the Queen, but did the rest of the crew? If they were insurrectionists as the duke claimed, then they were working to usurp her.

  There was no reason for me to believe Zac that the insurrectionists were a fabrication. It was either take his word, or the word of a duke within the Caledonian Kingdom, a man who advised Queen Catrina and her father before her.