Ishmarg turned to that guard in particular. "Have the words of Anak been spoken?"
"Yes, but Aglat—"
"Then even a Shaman may walk upon such blood-stained rock." He sneered at the guard. "Move aside before I report you both to the Circle."
Clio didn’t expect the hefty guards to comply, but the mention of the Circle, whatever that was, had them scampering out of the way like frightened mice.
Breaking whatever foolish traditions they were hung up on, one of the guards spoke guttural words into his neck-brace.
A series of crackled barks answered.
Before the guards could answer for themselves, Ishmarg pushed past and shoved the doors open.
Clio and O’Donovan followed him into the arena.
Clio tasted blood, sweat, and fear in the air as they proceeded into the arena proper.
She still held onto the stream of fury flowing from the Void. Though she had a tighter grip on the energy than usual, it slipped a little.
She looked up as they exited a tunnel, surprised to emerge directly into the fighting pits. Her eyes darted about for danger.
O’Donovan did the same, looking for threats, his hand resting on the heavy gun over his shoulder.
They stopped before a raised platform where seven lofty-looking Kragak sat around a giant slab of black granite that had been fashioned into a table of sorts. Clio recognized the captain Kragak who had greeted them when they first entered the asteroid field. Below the platform, about twenty feet away, Grimshaw rested against a rail. He was in bad shape, and by the looks of it could barely stand.
The towering Kragak by his side looked pretty beaten up too. He had to be the largest Krag she had seen so far. His armor was dented in places and cracked in others, but he was in nowhere near as bad a state as Grimshaw. He was lathered in blood; whether his own or Captain Grimshaw's, she couldn’t be certain.
O’Donovan made for Grimshaw, and Clio pulled him by the shoulder-pad.
He looked at her, confused.
Clio shook her head. She could tell the weapons officer didn’t understand, but he had the good sense to stay put all the same.
Clio couldn’t blame him. It took all she had not to run to the Captain, but she knew the Kragak would perceive it as shameful; the human equivalent to whipping one’s clothes off in a public gathering.
The Kragak in gold argued aggressively with the older warriors on the platform above, barks and spit flying from his maw like a wild animal. “The words cannot protect a Terran! Anak was a Kragak! They are written in the Kragak tongue. Therefore, his laws apply only to Kragak!"
"Anak’s laws apply to everyone under a Kragak’s roof, Aglat," one of the Elders said looking at the high ceiling. “Especially so when they have shed blood under that roof, regardless of where said blood came from.”
"The arena ceiling can hardly be considered a roof," another said, backing up Aglat.
That one looked at Grimshaw with no small measure of disgust.
"Let’s not miss the meaning of Anak’s words in the details, Aglat," another Elder answered. "One may only speak the words once per lifetime. Anak wrote them so that any young Kragak not ready to face the fighting grounds could learn and return even stronger without having to be reborn with a juvenile body."
"If I recall," Ishmarg said, drawing the attention of all before him. "Aglat spoke the words during his first fight."
Aglat reared up. "How dare you enter the Arena, Shaman?"
Ishmarg snorted. "A Shaman may enter a bloodied place once the words have been spoken. And they have been spoken. Unless I am mistaken. Have they been spoken, Aglat?"
Ishmarg’s words resonated through the silence, causing all eyes to fall on Aglat, as those gathered anticipated his answer.
"The Terran has no right to invoke—"
"Did he speak the words?" Ishmarg cut in, standing forward, his staff raised.
Though Aglat towered over the Shaman, he backed away and dropped his eyes. "Yes."
"Then it has been done," Ishmarg boomed, turning to the crowd. "Or would you have us remove Anak’s laws so that no youth may speak the words?"
He looked around the table and the crowd.
No one challenged him.
"I didn’t think so," he cried out. "It matters not how Grimshaw gained victory. All that matters is that he gained victory. He must now be recognized as a Sharazaar."
All remained quiet.
"Sharazaar," Ishmarg repeated. "Sharazaar!”
The crowd seemed unconvinced.
Several of the elders took up the chant, repeating it with Ishmarg.
That provided the spark he needed, for the chant swept through the crowd like wildfire until almost every Kragak called the word. Their cries and stomps caused the ground to rumble.
Clio felt like she’d stepped into the eye of a storm.
Aglat marched up to Ishmarg, a long pole with a pointed end slung over his shoulder, his finger pointing angrily at the Shaman. “A Terran speaking the words is your doing, snake.”
Ishmarg shrugged. "I speak for the gods, Aglat. That is all."
A violent tremor suddenly rocked the arena, almost shaking Clio from her feet.
Red lights flashed, and deafening alarms rang out from above.
The crowd’s chant turned to sounds of confusion and panic.
Booming words in Kragak exploded from the vox system above. Clio’s L-virus barely made sense of half the words.
She turned to Ishmarg. "What the hell does that mean?"
"It’s a warning. The Traditionalist fleet is coming. We’ve fired up engines." He turned to the Elders. "But how did they find us?"
Aglat climbed onto the platform and snatched a microphone from the table. He looked to the crowd. "Our brothers have come to liberate us from these cowards."
Clio noticed that more than a few Elders and audience members watched him intently, nodding or calling in agreement.
"Aglat!" Ishmarg roared. "You traitor!"
"No, old fool!" Aglat barked. "You’re the traitor. You would weaken our people. If progress means destroying our traditions then I say let progress be damned."
The giant among giants leapt from the platform and descended upon Grimshaw. The improvised spear drove straight through the Captain’s chest armor and exploded from between his shoulder blades.
Clio screamed, but her cries were drowned in the cacophony that arose around her. Mayhem ensued as Kragak turned on Kragak.
Aglat pulled the weapon free and Grimshaw crumpled into a heap at his feet.
He drew the spear back for one last strike.
Clio sped toward him, activating her Zaqaran battery prototype.
The spear thrust at Grimshaw.
Sparks shot from her gloves as she grabbed the end of the shaft.
It stopped inches short of Grimshaw’s face.
Aglat looked down at her, surprised.
He snarled and tried to drive the weapon forward, but Clio held fast, the servos in her arms, shoulders, and knees whining.
She shifted her weight and elbowed the weapon, knocking it free of Aglat’s grasp.
Fighting Kragak flooded onto the area around them, weapons swinging, plasma bolts sailing through the air.
Clio ducked under several fast swipes from Aglat, before throwing blows of her own.
Aglat had made the mistake of believing she was puny, and let her blows fall so that he might grapple her when she stepped inside his reach. However, the fury flooded ten-fold lending more power to her bones than ever before.
The Kragak cried out as each blow struck, knocking him back.
With the Kragak on the back foot, Clio drew the knife she received in Dolgoth’s Cave. She doubled her efforts, her hand moving faster than even she could see.
The alien blade cut through the golden armor with ease and even tore ribbons from the black Krag armor beneath. She drove the knife with her palm, the force hammering it like a nail into his hip.
"Aglat," an
Elder called from the platform.
Clio looked up to see a long, serrated sword spinning through the air.
Aglat caught the weapon and a sickening grin twisted his face.
"I don’t know who you are, Terran, or how you got so strong, but this ends now."
He lunged for her.
His eyes squinted as Clio accepted his challenge and charged.
She pushed the prototype battery levels to the max and jumped to meet Aglat head on.
His horrible black blade came up as Clio’s left arm arched down.
A white plume exploded from her SIG.
Clio landed behind the Kragak, pain exploding in her side. Warnings registered a suit breach and a sudden change in blood volume.
"Shit."
She gritted her teeth against the pain even though the fury burned most of it away.
She turned to find Aglat’s body sprawled on the ground, his head lying by Grimshaw.
She ran to the Captain and checked his life signs.
He was barely alive.
The barbed pole ran him through near the heart.
She took a formopad from his utility belt and pressed it against the wound. It hissed as it melted into Grimshaw’s skin. She rolled him over and repeated the process on the opening in his back.
It was a temporary measure. At most, he had minutes to live.
Ishmarg knocked into her as the fighting mass pushed in.
"We need a medic," she cried out.
Ishmarg leaned down and jabbed a finger into the wound.
Grimshaw howled in pain, then fell back into semi-consciousness as the Kragak removed his digit.
"All the medics in the world will not help. A regeneration chamber is his only hope. There is a suitable unit not far from the arena.”
Clio looked to the doors. Dozens of fighting beasts milled before them. "There isn’t time to fight our way through."
"We have to try," Ishmarg roared, ducking under a pole-arm and jabbing with his staff.
A flash erupted from its end, sending the attacking Kragak spinning through the milling crowd.
Clio leaned down and picked Grimshaw up as gently as she could, doing her best to ignore the agony in her side. She felt the fury slip further from her grasp and told herself it was all in her head. "Hold on, sir. I can’t promise this won’t hurt."
Grimshaw didn’t react.
"Our ships will hold the Traditionalists off until the fleet can jump," Ishmarg said. “Come!"
35
Public Execution
Taza regarded the giant weapon on the platform display. It had to be the biggest canon he’d ever seen. With the ample supply of tridarium available to the Ushtarans, he didn’t doubt it could tear a hole in the Shroud’s stormy walls. If Chimera made it through, there would be no stemming the tide. All hope of stopping the Aphnai invasion would go up in flames.
By the time the media crew was ready, a large crowd had gathered. Ushtarans had flooded out of the Spire to see what was going on below. Others arrived via lifts and landing platforms and stopped to see what the fuss was all about. Despite restricted access, at least a hundred had gathered in all, and Taza could tell the larger crowd made security more than a little nervous.
A particularly curious Ushtaran citizen pushed through the mill and approached the emergency landing platform upon which Taza and Ria were held prisoner.
"What’s all this?" his penetrating voice grated.
"Yana, get him out of here and hold those people back," Eldi ordered.
Yana obeyed, directing the passerby back into the press before directing a squad of guards to keep the growing audience at a distance while Aldo’s team stood over Taza and Ria.
Eldi took up his place on the stage.
"We’re ready," one of the media crew shouted, gesturing to the floating camera orbs above.
Eldi nodded and looked from one camera unit to another, erecting himself as he addressed the crowd.
"Today, I appear before my fellow Ushtarans and our Chan friends, bearing tidings good and dire. This news comes during a time of great strife between our peoples. There has always been a measure of strain, but even a fool could see the rift the accident at the Refinery created between us. However, it turns out that the explosion at the Refinery was not an accident!"
He paused, allowing his words to sink in. He had the crowd’s full attention.
Even a few Chan servants had stopped on the edges of the crowd to see what was going on.
"Though these days be darkened with shadow, there is light for those who would search…and search we have. It saddens me greatly to say so, but we have discovered terrorist spies in our midst."
Eldi gestured to Taza and Ria as gasps swept through the crowd. One Ushtaran shouted something angry and unintelligible.
"Yes! My agents discovered that these two and their friends caused the Refinery explosion in Chamber Four."
A receptacle tossed from the crowd struck Ria in the chest, splashing her in liquid.
The crowd broke into an uproar.
Ria remained motionless; her chin held proudly as she stared the crowd down.
This is a lot worse than I expected, Taza thought. If only there was a way to reach Allora.
Eldi took a half-step forward.
"This so-called messenger, Taza Arkona, and this Chan, Ria Durasmus, in whom we placed great trust…They are traitors. They are working with a great enemy who call themselves Chimera." He gestured to the domed roof high above the Spire. "Not only do these terrorists seek to drive a wedge between Ushtarans and Chan. They also seek to hurt our lofty gods.”
The crowd gasped.
Eldi pointed at the giant display. "But we have built a great weapon to drive Chimera back. The gods above will smile upon us with approval."
Several people cheered.
"As for the traitors…" His sweeping arm motioned to Taza and Ria. "They must pay a price!"
Taza tried to move forward, but the fetters around his ankles held him in place. "Hold on—"
Aldo’s rifle butt clipped him on the side of the head again, setting the platform spinning and sending a high-pitched shriek through his ear.
"Invoke the rights of the ancestors!" an Ushtaran near the front called, his metallic voice twisted further by hate.
Eldi tapped his breathing apparatus in thought. "The rights of the ancestors have not been invoked for decades. I could not possibly do such a thing even now."
He spread his arms as though indicating that the crowd should decide. They ate straight out of his hands.
"Execute them," another called.
Most Ushtarans in the audience nodded and mumbled. A few even cheered in agreement.
"Execution is just one aspect of the rights of the ancestors," Eldi announced with feigned sincerity, his voice booming over the address system. "We could sentence them to servitude in the tridarium mines."
"Traitors must be dealt with as they would deal with us!" someone called from the crowd.
A cheer erupted in agreement.
The cameras buzzed above, as they recorded the scene from various angles.
The cheering increased as more added their voices to the demand for blood and justice.
Skallig appeared next to Taza and sneered.
Taza wished he could remove his restraints even if only long enough to strangle the Quamat. He could hardly believe they’d walked into the trap. He should have listened to his gut. It was like the Sentinel all over again. Only worse.
Skallig spat at Taza’s feet. "I will enjoy watching you die, Terran filth. My brothers will be avenged, and I will piss on your corpse as it rots on an alien world. My only regret is that I could not kill more of you myself, but your allies are doomed, and Chimera will do the rest."
The cries for execution rose to a roar.
Eldi brought up his hands to calm the crowd and they eventually quietened.
"The people have spoken." Eldi’s words rang out. "We call upon the right of the a
ncestors and sentence these traitors to death."
The crowd hummed with approval.
The viceroy nodded at Aldo with a sidewise glance.
The Ushtaran guard raised his rifle, its power-cells whirring as he charged a shot.
"Let this be a message to those who would seek to hurt us," Eldi said. "Let it be known that Ushtarans and their servants will not suffer such vileness."
Aldo pointed his rifle’s muzzle at Ria’s forehead.
Taza had expected him to turn her around first or make her kneel, but the Ushtarans clearly considered themselves above such ceremony.
Ria’s nostrils flared as she looked up at the towering Ushtaran with unwavering defiance. She clenched her jaw.
"Me first," Taza growled, almost choking.
Aldo looked down at him with a sneer.
"I'm saving the best for last," he muttered under his scraping breath. "Besides, I’ve been waiting forever to finish this bitch."
Ria gazed up the barrel, unblinking.
A blast rang out across the platform.
A heavy plasma ball tore part of Aldo’s helmet from his head, flinging it into the crowd.
Screams erupted.
The lumbering Ushtaran clawed at his face and crashed to the ground at Taza’s feet.
Smoke drifted from the gaping hole in his helmet, his head a charred mess within.
The platform rumbled as people fled, screaming in fear and pain. Ballistic gunshots thundered. Plasma sailed through the air. An explosion erupted high up on the Spire. A plume of black smoke reached for the Priodome’s roof.
Glass and shrapnel rained down.
Like a statue, Ria stared up the barrel of a gun that was no longer there. She had frozen in shock.
A giant chunk of debris crashed to Taza’s left, cutting him off from Eldi.
He hopped two paces to his right and shouldered Ria, bringing her to the ground as plasma tore up the area around them.
"Stay low," he hissed.
"They came for us," she said in disbelief. "They actually came for us."
Taza was as surprised as she was. He winced as a string of plasma arched above. He wormed his way to Aldo’s body and fumbled for his keys. He wrestled with the locks and finally undid his restraints. He returned to Ria and undid her fetters too.
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