Dalian Crystals

by Barbara Robertson

  The children ran all over the Royal Palace grounds in search of her birthday treasure box hidden by Kayla’s parents. Little Kayla knew Mama and Daddy wouldn’t hide her treasure where an ordinary child would easily discover it. She came upon the old gazebo, run-down and badly in need of repairs and fresh paint. She walked around the old gazebo and saw a loose board on the top step. Little Kayla lifted off the board, peered under the steps, and found her treasure box. She cried, “I found it! It’s here!” The other children ran over to see the treasure box.

  Little Kayla opened the treasure box and found a red envelope inside with her name written in gold upon it. She let her friends help themselves to the candies and toys, and took the card to her Mama. The red card contained an invitation written on parchment. Her Mama proudly read the invitation aloud:

  “My Kayla is invited to attend the Royal Academy of Home World, where she will train, study, and gain knowledge, and one day become the Beloved Daughter of the Most Benevolent Emperor P’Lau.” Her parents and friends congratulated her on her appointment.

  The Palace Guards soon landed an ornate shuttle on the lawn. A woman in a long purple cloak – an Imperial Guard - walked from the shuttle to Kayla and her parents, and formally announced, “The Benevolent Emperor P’Lau has chosen you above all others as his Beloved Daughter, Kayla. I am here to escort you to the Home World Palace of the Emperor, your new home.” Her parents took her to the Royal shuttle and helped her inside. The lady in the purple cloak sat next to her, and they flew off, leaving behind Kayla’s parents, her friends, and the Ranger Family Residences within the K’Halon Prime Royal Palace compound, where she grew up.

  Beloved Daughter Kayla survived the shock of being taken from her home and loving parents. Her parents had told little Kayla many times of the generous gifts of Emperor P’Lau. Like the other children in her class of twenty, she was at first lonely, anxious and uncertain of what was expected of her, and her future. But Kayla never cried in front of anyone. The Emperor P’Lau greeted his young Royal Academy class of five-year-olds their first evening at dinner in the Palace, congratulated and welcomed each boy and girl, and comforted those who were afraid and cried. His face was painted white and his lips painted bright red. Emperor P’Lau knew them all by name, and handed wonderful gifts and toys to each child in red velvet bags.

  After their feast, the Emperor presented each child their own trunk of school and court clothing and shoes, sized to fit them perfectly. They were allowed one live vid call home to speak with their proud parents before bedtime. Her parents were happy for her, and assured Kayla they would see her on school holidays and for her birthdays. She kept her composure during the entire day, but softly cried herself asleep with her pillow in her arms.

  Now, she was sixteen years of age, and at the crossroads of her life, walking alone in the desert of Xau. The other two moons of K’Halon Prime were hiding behind the massive planet, and it was a very dark night. A night of decision. C.S. G’Rosk found Kayla, and walked with her towards the barracks. He waited several minutes, and then said, “Your performance has been extraordinary, Kayla. The ‘Shi’Lon Ranger, Emissary and Beloved Daughter of Emperor P’Lau,’ is a most respected and revered position, and one of great sacrifice,” the Commander Superior said almost in a whisper to Kayla. She stopped and looked at the Commander Superior Borgund Ranger. “Both of your late parents were exemplary Rangers, serving Emperor P’Lau.”

  G’Rosk put his hand on her shoulder, stared into her eyes, and said, “You must realize the commitment ahead of you is very great. As Beloved Daughter of Emperor P’Lau, you must obey as well as enforce his will. Many choices throughout your life will no longer be yours to decide, Kayla, once you choose the Ranger path. As his Emissary, you will represent the Emperor in any situation. You are to defend the honor and reputation of Emperor P’Lau. A Shi’Lon Ranger is granted license to kill anyone, or show the mercy of the Emperor. A very great power and responsibility, indeed.” Kayla intently listened to his every word.

  He softened his tone, and continued, “As I mentioned previously, the personal sacrifices a Ranger makes are significant. The bond of marriage is not available to any Ranger. Your allegiance is to Emperor P’Lau. But the Emperor is not heartless. You can have a life partner, and be permitted to bear a child; but that child belongs to the Emperor, and must be given to him at age five, as were you and your brother Olm. Upon graduation of Phase 3, you must kneel and swear a blood oath to Emperor P’Lau for your service, your will, and your life. Do you accept?”

  She knew it would be the greatest opportunity and challenge of her life. The teenage warrior embraced her destiny in the cold, very dark night on Xau. Trainee Kayla stood tall and straight, and answered, “I will serve the Great and Benevolent Emperor P’Lau, with my will and my life, as he wishes.”

  C.S. G’Rosk smiled and saluted her. He personally escorted Kayla, Dan’L, and ten other Ranger trainees to their new training facility farther away in the barren desert, for Phase 2 Training the next morning. G’Rosk was her mentor and Commanding Officer for eighteen months of brutal, highly specialized, intense training. The Rangers-in-training would become masters of specialty hand weapons, the new plasma pulser pistols, T’Ly martial arts, and the trademark weapon of the Rangers, the plasma sword. No one survived Phase 2 Training without a few plasma burns permanently scarring their hide, but they were badges of honor for them. Kayla became good friends with a few of the men there, especially Dan’L and Sham’S, and earned their respect by her hard work and fighting skills.

  III

  “The two primary weapons of a Ranger are your mind and your body. This year you will learn to master the secondary weapons a Ranger will carry, the weapons of our Imperial Army, and T’Ly martial arts, the highest of the martial arts disciplines. There will be no military history classes this year. But there will be advanced survival training, advanced mathematics, astrophysics, computer programming, and physical training designed by the greatest sadists of the Empire,” the new instructor declared loudly to the twelve Phase 2 Trainees in front of him. “You have one last chance to decline Phase 2 Training with honor, and leave. You have five minutes to get on the shuttle.” He turned and stepped over to the door of the waiting shuttle, closely watching his timepiece.

  After five really long minutes of waiting, the twelve trainees were told to pick up their bags and find their bunks. The camaraderie was high, and so were the expectations of the trainees. Three days later, a few were wondering why they did not get on the shuttle and go home when they had the chance do to so honorably. Now, to walk away meant disgrace for their families, and “FAILED” being stamped in red on their service records. They had to succeed now.

  The third moon of big K’Halon Prime, Xau was primarily a large desert moon. It had its own atmosphere and large ice caps at its poles. The southern hemisphere of the moon featured an oasis of fresh water surrounding a large mountain where a splendid “Temple of the Creator” was built. The Temple Complex, as it was known, was beautiful. The trainees ran through the desert for two hours and saw the first shimmering images of the Temple Complex, and it appeared as a mirage; a vision of the Afterlife itself. But they were not allowed to take the long, winding path into the Temple of the Creator until after their Phase 3 Training. Pilgrims from K’Halon Prime journeyed to the Temple to pray and be purified, and sometimes, seeking healing. It would have been sacrilegious if the curious trainees interfered with their pilgrimage.

  Because of the diverse climates on Xau, it was perfect for survival training. The trainees suffered through desert survival training near the moon’s stifling equator. Frozen sheets of ice and snow provided the environment for winter survival training at the moon’s ice caps. There was no natural jungle environment in which to train the twelve hardy trainees; but the holographic computer recreations provided very accurate simulations for them.

  Next came the “Erasing of Fear” exercises. Each trainee was placed inside a holographic environment
wearing brain scanners strapped around their heads. Seemingly innocent pictures of beautiful landscapes; people of all colors, shapes, and sizes; and hundreds of animals in their natural environments played within the holograph while the trainee watched. But the brain scanners isolated their worst fear. Special tests were designed for them by their instructors to rid the trainees of their fears, by immersion techniques. The tests were administered at all hours of the day and night, to enhance the experience.

  Each trainee was placed in a situation to face and defeat their biggest known fear. Dan’L was awakened at 3a.m., and taken blindfolded to the holographic chamber. He had to deal with his fear of confinement when they removed his blindfold, and shut him inside a pitch-black locker, with moveable walls. He initially panicked when the walls began closing in on him. Dan’L was sweating profusely, and began screaming for help. He pounded on the walls for several minutes to be let out. But he gathered his wits about him and braced his legs against the walls, pushing his back and legs against them, until they stopped short of crushing him. With all his strength, he pushed back hard enough to make them stop closing in on him, and reverse. Only then did the instructor let him out.

  Kayla finally got over her fear of snakes inside the holographic simulation room, when her instructor suddenly “dropped” her into a viper pit. The drop was a computerized holographic simulation, but the snakes in the pit were real; slithering, cold, and disgusting, and crawling all over her. She screamed for less time than they expected. After a time of freaking out, she braced her arms and legs against the side of the pit, and climbed out by inching upwards, out of the pit. She only got snake-bit twice, but she could feel the poison stiffening her muscles. The instructor gave her an anti-venom injection when Kayla reached the top rim of the pit. She used all her self-control not to pummel his smiling face.

  Poor Sham’S had a well-known fear of heights, complicated by high anxiety. He awoke one morning on the edge of a real cliff, high above the desert floor. When Sham’S looked over the cliff, he got dizzy, and felt as if he were falling endlessly. He threw himself on the ground, panting, sweating, and stifling tears. But he was forced to climb down the cliff. The instructors established a fire ring around him, preventing him from walking down the cliff using paths. It took him nearly the entire day, choking in the smoke, and suffering in the blinding hot sunlight without water or food to brave the unassisted climb down, but he did it. Kayla and Dan’L met him at the bottom with cold water, and she stopped him from attacking the laughing instructor. He was grateful to her for stopping his aggressions—the next day.

  The primary weapons training for them in Phase 2 was learning to master not only their hand weapons of various knives, spears, and swords, but also the weapons of the Imperial Army Special Forces troops. Hand-to-hand combat skills were developed day-in, day-out, by their own instructors, and instructors from the Army.

  “A Ranger must be ready to fight at a split-second’s notice, with any weapon, in any situation. Anything physical can be utilized as a weapon,” the Army instructor said, drinking tea from a porcelain cup and saucer. Two trainees were chosen to attack him, and the Army man defended himself with the teacup and saucer, inflicting three flesh wounds on the trainees before Su’Sen stopped the demonstration. He held up an expense card, and bragged, “I used my plastic Imperial Expense Card when I was jumped in a club once, and lacerated the attacker’s neck. Anything in your hands must be viewed as a potential weapon.”

  By the end of their Phase 2 Training, each trainee had completed T’Ly martial arts training with ninth-degree ranking, and all their weapons training. They all knew their natural specialty now, and concentrated on those areas which needed perfecting. Each trainee was now capable of defending or attacking with either hand, with any weapon, or bare-handed. Everyone passed their final exams in advanced math, astrophysics, and computer programming. Their graduation was celebrated with only a dinner, and orders to pack up and move to another location on Xau. After the graduation dinner, C.S. G’Rosk announced to the class, “Congratulations on passing Phase 2 Training. The easy part of your Ranger Training is completed. Now the hard training begins,” and a few of the trainees groaned. Kayla and Dan’L looked at each other, wondering what the Ranger Training instructors could possibly come up with to make the last year of Phase 2 Training be called “easy.” They would soon find out.

  Phase 3 Training for Kayla and L’Mun, the only other female, involved daily lessons in Contract Law, contract bargaining, mediation, arbitration and negotiations; etiquette; court and military protocol; and body language interpretation. The males learned the tools and tricks of deadly, personal assassination, and how to kill and escape without a trace. But all trainees performed their specialized physical training together. They trained on their own time in smaller pairs, preparing for their final tests. Failure was not an honorable option, after all. They had come this far. They had to pass.

  Their bodies were now hard, with good definition of their muscles. Kayla looked at her backside in the full-length mirror, and was amazed at the muscles in her back. She now had a warrior’s body. Her friend L’Mun held up her long blond hair and looked at her own back, and cried, “I’ll never get a date now! He’ll be afraid of me!” She laughed with Kayla, comparing their hard bodies.

  There were several weapons practice ranges for the trainees: long-range target practice for laser rifles; medium range target practice areas for laser pistols, pulser spears, and the new pulser pistols; and the body armor range. The ten males and the two female trainees used the long and medium ranges for target practice together. But the body armor differed enough for them to separately practice in the body armor range, once their Phase 3 Training began.

  Shi’Lon dark red breastplates held concealed stun gas pellets, tiny smoke bomb pellets, and various knives hidden inside the edges, as did the Borgund breastplates. But also concealed within the beautiful pattern of the Shi’Lon breastplates were small darts capable of stunning or killing the intended target; more subtle weapons for the Emperor’s Beloved Daughters and Emissaries. Merely touching the correct spot with the right amount of pressure quickly shot a dart. Longer darts capable of farther range were concealed in their arm bands.

  The practice breastplates did not contain poison darts, but their real breastplates would. Already achieving “Master Marksman” with the laser rifle, pulser spear, and both pistol types, Kayla concentrated on her darts. She spent many extra hours firing the small and long darts, learning how to use her body position to target the darts properly. She trained frequently with L’Mun, and they challenged each other to shoot their darts perfectly.

  Their final armor test consisted of white table tennis-size balls fired in a scatter pattern; one ball for each tiny breastplate dart. She had to pierce the white ball in mid-air before it dropped to the ground. Then, human-shaped targets popped up from all angles, one target for every two long darts. L’Mun tested first. She passed her final exam, but had difficulty with the long darts in her arm bands.

  Commander Superior G’Rosk arrived to observe Kayla’s “Personal Weapons Final Test” in the protected booth with the instructor. “Did you tell your trainee Kayla she only needs to hit 75% of her dart targets to pass, Commander Superior?” The instructor asked. G’Rosk slowly shook his head. The instructor chuckled, and then hit the yellow “Ready” light.

  Standing calmly with her hands at her sides as ordered, Kayla saw the yellow light come on. In three seconds, the green light flashed, and the little white balls were fired in a scatter pattern inside the range. Her fingers touched the many darts on the breastplate, firing the small darts at the little white balls. She turned, twisted, and shifted her torso in quick movements to target her darts, and successfully shot every ball.

  Then, the large human-shaped targets began to pop out from various places: behind partial walls, up from the floor, and from the ceiling. Kayla held both arms out straight, and fired the longer darts with sharp movements of her wrists. Eac
h human-shaped target received one dart in the heart, and one in the center of its neck. The entire test took one minute.

  “Good job, Trainee Kayla. We’ll have your final score in a few minutes,” the instructor announced. He walked through the armor range with his scanner, looked at the read-out, and scanned the white balls and body targets again. He returned to the booth, and showed C.S. G’Rosk her results. The instructor tossed his scanner on the table and shook his head, laughing with G’Rosk.

  Anxiously waiting for her final weapons test results, Kayla looked at the white balls and targets, trying to estimate her score. After the instructor returned to his booth, another human-shaped target popped out from behind a partial wall in front of one of her original targets. Instinctively, Kayla drew two knives from her breastplate edge and hurled them at the target, and both knives hit the target’s heart.

  The instructor looked at G’Rosk with his mouth open in amazement. The last target was a malfunction; not part of the test. He turned on his comm link and announced, “Trainee Kayla Personal Weapons Final Test score: 100%, plus extra credit for killing the mischievous rogue target.”

  Word quickly circulated through the training camp about Kayla’s “more than perfect” score. Her fellow trainees congratulated her, and razzed her without mercy at dinner. Kayla blushed, and took her friends’ verbal jabs with class and grace.

  “I thought I did well to get 92% on my personal armor test,” Dan’L said, amazed at his best friend Kayla’s score. The Shi’Lon test was far more difficult than the Borgund. The Borgund breastplates primarily featured small weapons for assassination, like the piano wire garrote, poison injection pens, small tubes of concentrated oxygen to be inserted into the mouth of the Ranger after discharging poison gas pellets, martial arts blades for throwing, poison thumb needles, and so on. Borgund arm bands held concealed, powered assassin’s knives, which would spring forward upon jerking their wrist upward.