There had still been no word from Yvette since the Tukuli crashed. He’d almost be inclined to let her try to shave him if he could just see her again. And if something had happened to her, what then? It had been a long time since he was in any sort of meaningful relationship with a woman. Jenny would always be there in his mind and his heart, there was no way it could be different, but he had truly started to care about Yvette. He wasn’t sure he was ready to think about the “L” word, though. It was different, certainly, but there was nothing wrong with that. He wasn’t the lovesick pup trying to be a man at too young an age anymore. He knew, though, that losing Yvette would hurt, and so he did everything he could not to think about her, which, of course, meant that he spent most of his downtime doing exactly that.
Not that he’d had a lot of extra time to think about anything else lately. He was still attempting to grasp the Krahns’ strategies. He had no intelligence on how they fought and how to counteract them. Everything right now was guerrilla warfare; hit them and withdraw. But he also knew that this type of insurgency could last for years without coming to any type of closure. He needed to come up with a better plan with a definite end in sight, and preferably with that end coming soon, for the sake of all of them.
One problem he faced was that he didn’t know how many Krahn were still on the colony ship. He knew there was a finite number of Krahn overall, but didn’t know how many were on Rajan and how many were off-planet. He didn’t even know how fast they could deploy from space if they called in reinforcements. He’d seen Krahn ships flying over Melaanse, and could tell that it wasn’t just the same one over and over again. He had asked the three species to write down details of each ship they saw so that they could start to get an idea of how many there were, but he knew it would be slow going. Luckily, from the ships that he had seen so far, he had learned that the Krahn ships could be told apart by size and type, customized as they were from ships they had captured.
The Krahn had been attacking and confiscating ships for years, so none of them looked alike. They seemed to range in size from something a little bigger than a large SUV back on Earth to about twice the size of a semi. None of them that he’d seen were close to the size of the colony ship, but then, the Krahn could be keeping the larger ships in orbit around the planet. He didn’t want to attack the Krahn in Melaanse, only to be sandwiched between them and others coming from the colony ship. There was no doubt in his mind he needed spies, and he needed to capture a few Krahn for questioning. He sighed and grabbed a nutrition bar, knowing that he was going to have to go talk to the Rajani about it.
#
James and Zanth had met formally, but had not had the chance to speak together extensively. So it was no surprise when the small blue alien showed up at his room to speak with him.
James had just returned from a meeting with some of the minor Rajani leaders—those who had taken up fighting the Krahn instead of bowing to their Elder’s wishes to let the humans and other inhabitants of Rajan fight on their own. Kedar and Welemaan were both intelligent and willing to do what they could to free their home world. He’d been somewhat astounded that the Rajani had been a peaceful society for two thousand years, and yet, had taken to warfare as naturally as they had. All they had needed was a catalyst, and James had arrived at the first prison camp to be that catalyst. He just hoped he didn’t end up getting burned.
Zanth had been waiting for him to return, and from the frown on the little alien’s face as he stood to look at James, he had been waiting for a while. James smiled and nodded to the Sekani, and motioned for him to enter his room. Zanth returned the smile, reluctantly, then nodded at James and entered the room. Unfortunately, the resistance had not yet been able to restore any type of short-range communication that would have allowed Zanth to simply call over to say he was popping by. They hoped to in the future, but, for now, they were mostly using messengers, most of them Sekani, who would carry messages from location to location and were able to go mostly undetected by the Krahn, though there had been casualties. It had also forced them to come up with a code language that was hard for the Krahn to interpret. James guessed that what Zanth had to say was too important to entrust to a mere messenger, even with a coded message. Either that, or he simply wanted to speak face-to-face, which was fine with James.
He studied the diminutive alien as he motioned for him to sit in the somewhat uncomfortable chair in his room. It was hard to tell his age, though James suspected that he was much older than Janan. He wasn’t familiar enough with Sekani physiology to know what their aging process looked like. Did they go bald? Get wrinkles? Lose teeth? He didn’t know. The one thing he did notice, and had noticed upon meeting Zanth the first time, was that the Sekani held himself in a more dignified, almost stately, manner than Janan. Whether that was due to age or maturity, he wasn’t sure, but as the leader of the Sekani people, he was probably the best choice, in James’s estimation. James had requested a translating device installed in his room, and he reached over and turned it on.
“I truly loathe those things,” Zanth told James, though he smiled as he said this. “Always make me feel like I’m speaking at the same time as someone else.”
“It took me a while to get used to them as well,” James replied, returning the smile. “And the device on the Tukuli sounded like it had a mouthful of rocks sometimes.”
“Yes,” Zanth said. “Kieren has told me some of the exploits of your trip from your home world to Rajan after you were kidnapped. Cannot be helped, I’m afraid. The Rajani are not very progressive when it comes to new technology. Even the ships themselves are based on designs that were created hundreds of years ago by a species that is not even around anymore.”
James winced at the word ‘kidnapped,’ but he supposed that word was as good as any to describe what had happened to them. He also knew that Zanth would not be pulling any punches when it came to his thoughts on the Rajani. He’d also learned more about the Talondarians on their trip than they wanted to. James was thinking back to his run-in with the being named Zazzil on the Mandakan Space Port. It had all been a case of mistaken identity, but he’d been afraid that they would never make it to Rajan. Luckily, the situation had been resolved peacefully.
“But your arrival here did serve a purpose,” Zanth was saying. “Whether your voyage here was voluntary or not, the fact is, I don’t think the Sekani would have survived much longer without intervention, so for that, I am most grateful.” He leaned forward and looked intently into James’s eyes. “I suppose you’ve been told of what the Krahn do to Sekani.”
“I’ve seen it first-hand,” James told him, remembering back to the day he arrived on Rajan. He almost shuddered at the memory, which was still vivid in his mind.
“Ah,” Zanth said, leaning back. “Then you know that our numbers were dwindling faster than those of the Rajani or Jirina. But enough about that. This wasn’t what I came here to talk to you about.”
James waited, not really knowing what to say. Zanth was different than he had acted when they were in the presence of the Rajani, or even a few minutes before, outside his room. The Sekani seemed more relaxed and comfortable. James had the feeling that all of the bluster Zanth had shown before was an act. He considered that Zanth must have been placed in an enormously stressful position as leader of his species. Not only was there the fight against the Krahn to consider, but also the fight for freedom from the Rajani. It was a lot of responsibility to place on anyone’s shoulders, let alone someone who had been a servant only a few months before.
“You are aware, I’m sure,” Zanth began, “that some of the Sekani worked as pilots or crewmembers aboard the Rajani vessels before the Krahn attacked our planet. Many more of us worked for the households of Rajani Elders. Having Sekani and Jirina servants was seen as a sort of status symbol in Rajani society.” Zanth sighed before proceeding. “I myself was the head steward for Tumaani’s House, which, I suppose, is why I became the de facto leader of the Sekani after the invasi
on. I had gone from ordering around the servants in my house to ordering around all of the Sekani.”
“Which is why,” James said, “it must be difficult for Tumaani to accept you as the leader of the Sekani.”
“Precisely,” Zanth said, smiling. “All he remembers is the servant who updated him every morning with his schedule for the day and made sure his breakfast was hot and waiting. Other than that, I was invisible. But this leads to the point of our conversation. I have a suggestion for a mission that I believe will greatly benefit our cause. Yet I know that if I were to present it before the others, it might not get the consideration it deserves.”
“So you want me to suggest it for you,” James said, following the train of the alien’s thoughts.
“Yes!” Zanth said, smiling again and leaning forward. “I must say, when I first met Kieren and Gianni, I had my doubts about the intelligence of your species.” He thought a second before adding, “At least, about the males of your species.” Zanth and James both laughed at this before he continued. “But I see that Rauphangelaa at least was smart enough to pick the right one to lead your group of Humans.”
“Thank you,” James said, nodding his appreciation.
“As for my suggestion,” Zanth said, “I think that any final battle will be quite lopsided if we have to contend with Krahn troops on the ground as well as in the air. So far, we have been able to slip in and out of any battles because of the element of surprise and by using small bands of troops to attack and retreat. If we’re to prevail in any large-scale battles in the future, we must use a larger force against the Krahn.”
“Which, in turn,” James said, “leaves our troops open to attacks from the air. If we amass too large a force, they’ll be easy pickings for any Krahn ships flying over.”
“Right you are,” Zanth said. “So what I propose is that we attack the main landing and refueling area in Melaanse and either capture or destroy the Krahn ships. If we do manage to capture any, it shouldn’t be too difficult for our Sekani pilots to fly them, either into battle on the planet’s surface, or into space against the Krahn colony ship. The sticking point here is that the Sekani alone are not enough to succeed in this mission. We must have the aid of the Rajani and Jirina.”
James thought for a moment about the scenario that was being presented. On one hand, Zanth had a point about the Krahn’s air superiority; it was something that had been weighing on his mind as well. On the other, who could say that the Sekani wouldn’t just leave Rajan if they ever got a hold of a ship that was large enough for them all to fit in? He didn’t know the answer to the question. How would the Rajani react to the Sekani being able to fly ships without their approval? Somehow, he didn’t think they would be happy with this plan. But it made enough sense. And as Zanth pointed out, if they couldn’t capture the ships for some reason, they could at least attempt to destroy them.
#
Zanth had enjoyed speaking with the Human named Dempsey earlier that night. As he’d told James, he hadn’t been sure about the Humans when he had first met Kieren and Gianni. The one named Gianni had come off as both rude and ignorant. But that first impression, it seemed, had turned out to be incorrect. He could understand what Rauphangelaa had seen in these Humans, though he was still shocked that they had been implanted with Johar Stones so quickly by the Keeper of the Stones. The Stones themselves had always been a mystery to the Sekani. Yes, they had known some of the stories surrounding them, but they had never really known what the truth was, and what was merely embellishment from years of rumors. When he had met the Humans and saw their powers, he’d been amazed to see that many of the stories may actually be true.
Zanth got into bed, though he wasn’t feeling very tired. His mind was too active to sleep. He knew, though, that the next day would be long and difficult, as they had been since the Krahn attacked. After generations of toiling under Rajani control, this was the first time that the Sekani had even a glimmer of freedom. It was a bittersweet feeling, though, considering what they’d had to experience so far at the hands of the Krahn Horde. Like most Sekani, not only did Zanth thirst for freedom, but also for knowledge. So much of their past had been taken away when they had been conquered by the Rajani. There were hardly any records as to what Sekani society had been like before then. Once they broke away from the Rajani and defeated the Krahn, or at least drove them off, then would come the real work: discovering who they had been, and if they could ever go back to being what they once were.
Most of the traditions, like the Sekani language, were what could be passed down from father to son, mother to daughter. They had their own religion, their own language, and their own customs. Although these had been banned by the Rajani, they were still practiced in private by Sekani families, a secret that had been kept for generations. It would be a secret no more. No longer would they live half of their lives in the shadows. If the Rajani would formally recognize that, then it would be a great day when they finally defeated the Krahn. If not, then a new battle would begin after the Krahn were driven off. Zanth was prepared for both scenarios.
#
Gianni woke up and couldn’t tell what time it was, only that it was still early in the morning. There was someone banging on his door. He wearily got out of bed and walked to the door. Before opening it, he powered up, just to make sure that he wasn’t caught by surprise in case the Krahn had overtaken the Sekani base sometime during the night. He opened the door and saw a small group of Sekani waiting outside. They were all smiling. Typical, he thought, powering down. They all thought they were so funny, liking to kid him about relying on his powers too much. He wasn’t surprised that they would try to get him to power up for no reason, just to prove their point.
“Ha-ha, guys,” he said. “Give me a minute to get dressed. You know, clothes?” He motioned like he was putting on pants. They all nodded and still stood there, watching him and smiling. He turned away from them. “Whatever.” He walked over and really did pull on his pants, feeling how thin they were becoming from constantly wearing them. He would have to search for new ones soon.
He considered the fact that things might go smoother with his Sekani companions if he learned Talondarian Standard. He sighed, knowing that he would have to, eventually. He’d been relying on Kieren too much to interpret what was being said. Not that holding hands with her was a bad thing, he thought, smiling. If he was going to keep spending his days with the small group of Sekani going out on patrols, though, he would have to bend somewhat on what he was willing to do. Although he had learned a smattering of Sekani words, their conversations were still extremely limited. Hell, he didn’t even know many of their names.
He stopped at the door to his room and pointed to himself. “Gianni,” he said. He then pointed at the first Sekani next to his door.
The Sekani looked at his finger a moment before it dawned on him that Gianni was asking for his name, something that he had not done before. “Joreni,” he finally said, bowing slightly to Gianni.
Gianni pointed at the next Sekani. “Golena,” he said. Gianni kept pointing to all four of them, learning their names. The other two were named Mandan and Botran. It was a start, at least. He still would rather have had at least a collar translator, like the one they’d had on the Tukuli, but it had been lost even before the ship had crashed.
They made their way out of the Sekani compound, weapons at the ready. Gianni had powered back up, aware that Krahn snipers were sometimes posted around the city in case they were able to catch sight of random bands of Rajani or Sekani. Gianni and the other Sekani had been trying to clean out the Krahn checkpoints near the compound first. He walked along with them, listening to them talk to each other, and could tell that they weren’t speaking Talondarian Standard. They were speaking Sekani. He would have a hard enough time learning Talondarian without having to weed it out from another language. He stopped and waved at them all.
“Talondarian,” he said, pointing to his mouth.
Mandan looked a
t the others, and shook his fingers at Gianni. “No, Sekani.” The others looked at Gianni, as if wondering how he would respond.
He finally sighed. “Fine, Sekani,” he said. The Sekani all smiled, and Botran even hooted at him, a noise that Gianni had learned meant ‘thumbs-up’ or the equivalent of clapping. He smiled at them all, shaking his head.
They continued their patrol, with Gianni pointing at things along the way and one of the Sekani saying the word for it. He would then repeat it. In this way, he learned that Mandan and Botran were brothers, and from the looks of it, twins. He also learned that Botran had been one of the Sekani that had first found him and Kieren when their escape pod had crashed on Rajan.
They were walking along, the Sekani hooting from time to time as he attempted to speak more and more of their language, when, suddenly, they heard a weapon fire, and something bounced off of his power field. Gianni saw that there was a group of Krahn standing approximately a hundred yards away from their group. The Sekani had already taken cover behind various large pieces of stone ruins and vehicles. The Krahn continued firing at them, and the Sekani grasped their weapons, unable to move from behind cover. None of them had a projectile weapon, since they were in short supply.
Gianni set up a shield between them and the Krahn, about ten feet away. He called their names and pointed toward the shield, letting them know it was safe to come out. He then began walking toward the Krahn, firing bolts of energy at them through his shield, his fingers pointed like he was firing a gun. As they got closer to the Krahn position, he brought his shield closer to him and the Sekani. When they finally reached the Krahn, he dropped the shield, and they attacked their enemy at close range. Gianni waded into the fighting, firing at the Krahn and helping the Sekani as much as he could.
Rajani Chronicles II Page 14