Star Chaser- The Traveler

by Reiter

  “I will hear what this council has to say,” Dungias returned.

  “The details are important to you, aren’t they?” Nes asked in a whispered voice.

  “Until I know another way, good Nes, yes they are.”

  “Chancellor Borsidia, how is your position?” Nes inquired.

  “It remains unchanged,” she replied. “While I have suffered a loss… it was not due to any malevolent ambitions of the accused. Self-preservation was his aim, and he did so without his weapons of choice. This council has seldom seen nobler individuals.

  “Chancellor Kyonn?” Nes asked, turning to face the other side of the room. “How say you?”

  “The fact remains that he possesses our knowledge and we do have a responsibility to that knowledge, I have heard nothing that removes our charge.”

  “Then we are at a draw,” Nes declared.

  “Then it is the privy of the High Chancellor,” one of the judges called out. Murmurs quickly rose in agreement of the statement. Nes lifted both hands to silence the small crowd and walked in a circle, thinking about how to phrase his words. A simple gesture was made toward Taas and robot escorts came to claim her and walk her out of the chamber.

  “A draw in these chambers does not happen often,” Nes started, still looking as if he was composing his thoughts. “The arguments have been heard… from all three sides… and there is truth in each of those three sides. Kiaplyx is no longer, but it would seem it has brought about its own end. For that feat, this council feels no blame should be placed upon our young Traveler.” The doors closed and Nes lifted his head to look at the Chancellors.

  “However, he has indeed come upon knowledge not gained by what we consider to be orthodox means and measures. No, in point of fact, it was taken, first by Dungias himself and then by Taas, who, oddly enough, is not charged. She is not charged, because she will not be leaving the Astral Universe… ever! That is the finding of this council! So speaks the High Chancellor!” Dungias looked at Nes with confusion and concern. The slender creature could hold his stern face for only so long before it broke into a bright and warm smile. “Unorthodox, I know. But in my opinion, it is difficult to judge anyone from such a distance. Better to get as close as possible… get a glimpse of their inner workings… and see how they judge themselves! Taas will serve out the rest of her life in the Astral Universe, a sentence I doubt she will wish to argue. You, Z’Gunok Tel Dungias, are free to go!”

  Dungias bowed slowly and then looked at the High Chancellor and liaison. “A most interesting court you have here, Nes.”

  “Why thank you, Dungias.”

  “I take it the twenty-seven gathered here are the Lords and Ladies of their corresponding sectors. And they have voted you High Chancellor.”

  “Interesting hypothesis,” Nes said, grinning and nodding. “… but I think you’ve gained quite enough information on the inner working of the Astral for this visit.” With another gesture, a trap door in the center of the floor opened and Dungias could see a dimensional breach. Through it, he could see the Gamma Chamber. His shoulders dropped and he sighed. Closing his eyes for a moment, Dungias opened them and looked at Nes.

  “Please tell Taas that we are still friends.” Nes shook his head in disbelief, but bowed toward Dungias.

  “While very questionable, it shall be done… and I shall make sure she knows your veracity is still steady and sure.”

  “Forgive me, I am not one for drawn out ceremony,” Dungias said, starting for the door.

  “Hold!” Borsidia shouted, teleporting herself from her seat to the floor just in front of the trapdoor. Dungias stopped and looked up at the Chancellor. “There is a private matter between the Traveler and myself. Given that he is the destructor of my Kiaplyx, I ask for the discretion of my fellow Chancellors.” Dungias’ eyes squinted as one-by-one, the Chancellors teleported away from the chamber.

  “Well met, Traveler,” Kyonn said as he waved. “I hope you understand.”

  “You served as an impeccable instrument of this council, Chancellor,” Dungias replied. “I hold you in the highest regard.”

  “Then our respective views of each other are in genuine accord,” Kyonn said before disappearing. Nes looked at Borsidia as if he was trying to read her mind. She gave him nothing, not even her eyes and the High Chancellor put his hand to Dungias’ shoulder before taking his leave.

  The young Traveler folded his arms and looked at the last Chancellor as she seemed to look all around the room. Only after she started her sweep could Dungias feel iro-forms moving throughout the chamber, all of them leaving by one portal or another. “They are a watchful group,” Dungias attested.

  “You have no idea!” Borsidia walked to stand closer and she held out one of her left hands for Dungias to take. “I have something to show you,” she said. “Something that I just reviewed in the data logs, and something that I believe that perhaps you were too engaged in the course of survival to fully comprehend.”

  Slightly befuddled by the request, Dungias took her hand and despite the dull gray color of her skin, the touch of it was warm and soft. He was not allowed to enjoy the sensation of touch for long, as Borsidia fed her thoughts into his senses of sight and sound. Before him, Dungias could see an image of himself, back at Nugar’s domicile, while he was engaged with Kiaplyx.

  “Then I had to see to the other means of distraction available to you…your mentor, your friends, your people, your weapons… I found the means to negate all of them. We will not be interrupted.”

  Dungias gasped and stepped away from the Chancellor. He had overlooked the claim and it had been made after Kiaplyx explained how it had done away with the Beta Forms. “If he managed to do that, the others cannot be an empty boasts!” Dungias thought.

  “How long have I been here?!” Dungias asked quickly, pleading with his eyes to the six-armed Chancellor.

  “If I answer that question, you withhold me from this opportunity,” Borsidia answered. Before Dungias could question her further, she held up her hand. “Calm yourself, Traveler. Or have the thoughts of your wife lost their hold on your anger and emotion?” Dungias took a deep breath and relaxed his body.

  “They have not, Chancellor.”

  “Good, because in your haste to panic, you have forgotten…” Borsidia turned to the aperture and leveled two of her right hands at it. The gleaming white light of the portal frame changed to deep violet with sparks of silver light scattered throughout the form. “… when one travels between dimensions, both space and time may be influenced. This aperture is now set to take you back to the domicile ten tanku after you left it. That is as close to the moment as I can come. We do not want to chance you colliding with yourself. Dimensions have been lost over such occurrences.” Dungias closed his eyes in relief for a brief moment. When he opened them, he turned, walked toward Borsidia and took her into a strong embrace. Surprised by the gesture, Borsidia soon found herself wrapping her arms around the Traveler. “Noble souls, every now and then, need a little assistance. Not that the lack thereof will deter them.”

  “If this door is set in time, then I can leave at any time I wish,” Dungias said, stepping back from the Chancellor. “I know you will rebuild your ship and your living machine. There is far too much light in your eyes not to. I would assist you, if you will have me.”

  Borsidia kept her face quite still as an old feeling coursed through her. A zeal for life! The sort of thing one often felt in the company of heroes and champions. But she kept her thoughts from showing on her face on in her eyes. “Noble indeed!” she thought.

  “Alas, I am already breaking a law, young Traveler,” she said, lying, but Dungias remaining in her presence for much longer would mean she would risk showing her emotions and ambitions, and it did not serve for him to see such things. “Make sure you do not return to the Astral for at least seven of your star-terms!”

  “Seven?!”

  “You were indeed near death,” Borsidia reminded him. “It took more t
han our machines to restore you. You can thank Nes for that as well. His sector has one of the finest colleges for the casting arts. Now go and save your people, if you can. Kiaplyx has done your home systems a great disservice, so there is no debt owed. But I can assist you no more with this, dreaming shay-spawn. Only so much of what I have done will be overlooked… the rest I will take with the loss of my misguided child.”

  “Then I am away,” Dungias said, running toward the aperture. He jumped and dropped through it, and Borsidia allowed the time to change once more before she deposited a small black cube. She smiled brightly as the aperture closed in the very next instant.

  Borsidia was not surprised when Nes walked up to stand beside her as the trap door mechanism slowly closed. She kept her thoughts on the moment and buried her unspoken offering deep in her mind.

  “Did you say dreaming shay-spawn?” he asked.

  “I said nothing that is out of line with the facts you gave to us,” Borsidia said, turning on her heels. “In case we needed to deviate from your suggested script. Why subject him to the false face of this so-called gathering of Chancellors, Master?”

  “I learned long ago that controlling individuals is a process that is long, excruciating, and often unfulfilling. In the place of direct controls, one must often insert a lie here and there to limit thought, action, etcetera.”

  “Do you fear this Traveler?” Borsidia asked.

  “A Malgovi,” he started. “… who was born without their innate ability to generate, manipulate, and augment a wide range of energy forms… and yet has somehow destroyed over ninety percent of their secret-keeping, ThoughtWill-wielding advisors and social engineers in a single afternoon? What is there not to fear? He doesn’t trust me. That was not my aim.”

  “Then what was?”

  “To extend our relationship,” Nes replied. “I don’t age and his kind live, unassisted, for a very, very long time. He will return, eventually, and when he does I will be the one who found him innocent. So, in his noble heart, I may not be worthy of trust, but he does owe me. That is enough for now.

  “For the record,” Nes said, lowering his head and locking his hands behind his back. “… you should know that the Kwilek re-established her dimensional anchor. She chose the Traveler. The exchange happened the moment he put her on his shoulder. Some would say that was a foolish maneuver.”

  “And what does my Master think of it?” Borsidia inquired.

  “We all cheat,” he stated. “I think I cheated just as much when I attached an energy signature to that Campus place of his,” he revealed. “It is still tumbling through dimensions, but even a novice Traveler should be able to track it.”

  “But he will not go looking for the Beta Forms until the issue with his people has been resolved!” Borsidia exclaimed. “He won’t have time to hunt them down. How does your energy signature help him now?!”

  “You cheat your way, my student… I will cheat mine!”

  If the opposition of a worthy hero has been noted, you need not ask if they were a worthy adversary.

  Traybus Gan Pax’Dulah

  Landing in the corner of the room closest to his bed, Dungias could see an energy field around him, keeping him from moving.

  “Or perhaps,” he thought as sparks and streams of energy struck the field over his things. “It is meant to keep me from being seen.”

  “It is useless to persist in this fashion, Alpha!” Kiaplyx stated and Dungias realized that the living machine had managed to insert itself into the systems of Nugar’s base. He should have expected as much, and the young Traveler quickly came to the conclusion that he still had much to learn. “Ki-Aegis awaits your return, and I know you prefer it to your former master.

  “Yes, your former master!” Kiaplyx exclaimed as the speakers in the room were activated. “I have him!” Kiaplyx announced throughout the ship. “I have Dungias. I thank the erstwhile Tohgrunn for their efforts. I leave you in the company of Dungias’ mate and his Palrog!” Though Dungias did not speak Orka, the tongue of the Tohgrunn, he had heard the word Palrog before, during his brief stint as a pit fighter. It was used by some of the younger Tohgrunn in reference to the older and more established warriors. Dungias could now presume it was the word used for teacher or mentor, and he took comfort that Nugar was still alive. “That is all.”

  When the speakers no longer had power going to them, Dungias registered the variation of iro-form flow on many fronts. The field holding him dissipated as the elevated levels of power coursing through the walls fell to normal levels. The energy barrier that kept Alpha a prisoner also diminished, and the rod flew to Dungias’ hand without being summoned.

  “The people you consort with,” Dungias said, feigning a tone of disapproval. He received a small flash of light from one end of Alpha and a smile broke across Dungias’ face.

  The dimensional breach that Kiaplyx had made to connect with the domicile also depreciated; leaving only the remnants of an energy signature. The initial attack, it seemed, was over and Dungias rushed to get dressed.

  “Control Room,” Dungias commanded as he locked the buckle of his weapons belt.

  Teleporting to the pad in question, Dungias leaned his head back and avoided a clawing attack from a lone, young Tohgrunn warrior who had committed too much to his offensive. He stumbled by Dungias to the wall where he caught himself and pushed off, spinning and clawing again. Dungias was already down on one knee and swung his left fist hard into the youth’s abdomen. He stood up and walked over to the main console as the young Tohgrunn slowly fell to his knees, unable to breathe. The doors to the room opened and Nugar stumbled inside. He had sustained several wounds, but truly did not look too much worse for wear. He stopped when he saw Dungias and then looked at the debilitated Tohgrunn.

  “I see,” Nugar huffed as he readied his Osamu. “You’re just wonderful at fighting stupid lackeys and petulant living machines.” Dungias smiled at his Master’s complaining tone and watched as Nugar deflected a fired energy bolt. “Your housekeeping ethics, however, could stand some improvement.” He gasped as the sound of a missile being launched reached the ears of both Travelers. “Down, boy!” Nugar said, diving into the room.

  “No!” Dungias said at just above a whisper, his attention sharply placed on applying his talent. He placed his left hand on Alpha and extended his right in the direction of the doorway and the corridor beyond. He reached out and used his control with gravity to take hold of the missile. He walked away from the console and stepped out into the corridor. Looking to his left, he could see three Tohgrunn, one inside one of Kiaplyx’s robot suits. “They know their leader fell?” Dungias asked.

  “They didn’t seem to care in the least,” Nugar replied.

  “I see.” The floating missile had spent its propellant and sputtered out. Dungias looked at the power suit as the missile turned to face the object that had launched it. “You seem to lack the reason one needs to simply live,” Dungias said as the missile flew down the corridor, striking the power suit in the chest. All three bodies were laid low by the blast, but only two were moving when the smoke started to clear. One was a moaning Tohgrunn who had simply managed to remain conscious as he was slowly dying, the other was the pilot of the power suit who was stunned, but definitely better off than the Tohgrunn who had been trapped behind him as the suit was thrown into the wall.

  “Computer, has main power and master control been restored?” Dungias asked as the power suit fell to the floor.

  “All controls have been restored,” the computer replied.

  “Power to all weapons,” he commanded, watching the pilot slowly move to stand up. “Lock on all unregistered power suits and hostile entities.”

  “All available targets… locked!” Pushing up from the floor, the pilot was on his knees and he slapped the blaster apparatus on the right arm which was already shooting sparks. After three attempts to get the blasters to work, the pilot decided to stand and charge Dungias.

  “Maintain sa
fety protocols with regards to blast radius, and fire at will.” Three trams from Dungias, the power suit was fired upon by deck cannons that popped out from panels on the walls. It tumbled back, but only small bits of metal reached the far wall; there was no sign of the pilot at all. Dungias turned to face the young Tohgrunn still kneeling in the Control Room and wanted to shake his head at what Kiaplyx had deemed suitable to send against him. He kept his face without expression. “Do you wish to join them?” he asked, glaring at the warrior. Still clutching his stomach, the young Tohgrunn looked up at Dungias and slowly shook his head ‘no’. “See to it that you do not.”

  “Five hostiles remain,” the computer notified. “… currently engaged with registered allies in the Main Generator Room.”

  “Master, make contact with all the communication systems you can and sweep everything within range of the sensors.” Dungias dropped to his left knee and lowered his head. “Main Generator Room, plus three point two, six trams height.” In a flash of light, the young Traveler was gone and his mentor shook his head, slightly surprised by the level of detail his Dungi could retain. The young Tohgrunn warrior put his head down and moved back from Nugar.

  “And here I thought he wasn’t paying attention during the tour,” Nugar muttered as he reached the main console. He found that he did not have to sweep for anything; the sensor read-out and comm-traffic were already on the main monitor, flashing with a wide range of alarms and notices. “Stars of my Fathers!” he exclaimed.

  ** b *** t *** o *** r **

  The young Traveler timed the flash of the teleport and swung his left arm out wide, grasping on to one of the main power cables along the roof of the chamber. He gasped as he swung his feet, engaged his stealth field, and released his hold. Five Tohgrunn were walking down a battered and beleaguered Saru who was still wielding her Osamu staff. She was using only one hand as the other had been dedicated to the task of guiding the retreat of a critically wounded Danatra who was bleeding from the ears and staggering around as if she could not see. The closest Tohgrunn used two blades much like Zaylo’s, but they were greater in length and this warrior seemed more adept with them. He swung hard, trying to knock the staff out of Saru’s hand, but she spun with the power of the blow, pulling Danatra into a duck as her Osamu passed over her head and into a sword, anticipating the maneuver. The Osamu sparked against the blade as the weapon was driven into the wielder’s face. The Tohgrunn roared in pain and quickly pulled the sword from the wound. The female Vinthur then turned around and charged toward Danatra.