“Why were the Kryth so afraid of a dead race?” Parejas asked.
“That is the question, Commander. A question we have been tracking down for over the last two hundred years at the Keeper Adytum. We have conflicting stories of why they died out; but, we do know they were once the dominant species within the galaxy, for almost ten thousand years before the Kryth. The Kryth were a subjugated race under them for that time,” Alon finished.
Parejas moved back to his seat.
He looked at the Keeper with disappointment. “Why was this held from me?”
“It is in the Second Precept. It was held from everyone except the Assembly Mount Leaders and the Keepers over these years. All others were barred from this knowledge until the retaking of Earth, which you would have been informed on our return to Janus after the conference.”
“So, Assemblyman Tallis knows this, since he is the current Mount Leader?”
“Correct. Only he and the Keepers know.”
“Well, Keeper, we have a lot to discuss before we get to the conference, don’t we?”
“We do, Commander. I am glad I told you. You are one I can trust. I am sorry if I let you down. Please forgive my silence on the matter for so long.”
Parejas just sat there in thought.
Alon knew the burden he now placed on Parejas. He knew all would be right as long as he kept the commander on his side.
Data Cell 20
The red light descended down towards the center of a pitch-black shaft from unseen heights.
Lintorth could not discern how high the structure he was in was or the circumference of the room, if he was in a room at all. The darkness only gave way to the crimson illumination now enveloping a raised center.
Lintorth was uneasy after stepping off the lift that had brought him down to these hidden archives, well below the Chamber Lore.
He knew there were no visible guards in the Lore Archives; but, there were unseen Lore Sentries -- the kind Lintorth despised: non-organic types. They were giant menacing creations whose forms lurked on the edge of shadows.
The Kryth did not guard anything in the lower parts of the Lore Chamber. Only mechanical abominations did.
As Lintorth approached the platform, he could just make out the forms of the sentries through the darkness. He couldn’t place the face or features but could make out that something was standing out against the blackness.
Now he knew how the victims of Voskal Lat’s assassins felt like, unseen eyes piercing every bit of your being, waiting for you to make the slightest error in judgment before striking.
Maybe the Kryth were the watched ones now, with human eyes gazing from every angle on his beloved Domain.
This snapped Lintorth from this reverie. He had a job to do now.
The platform had no controls or level surface to interact with. He spoke.
“Lore . . . I am Lintorth Sol.”
The beam of light narrowed and intensified on Lintorth. A loud hum encircled the platform where he stood. The light returned over the platform and the hum receded back into the bowels of the black tapestry beyond.
A computer intonation responded to Lintorth’s statement. A deep and powerful male Kryth voice spoke from the darkness.
“Indeed you are . . . Proceed.”
Lintorth did not hesitate, but remembered, whatever he learned here today, his brothers will know as well. His questions must be limited but broad enough to get to the answers he seeks.
“Where does the race, ‘humans’, come from?”
There was only a second or two delay before a bright three-dimensional image of the galaxy appeared in front of Lintorth.
The outer arms spiraled, moving through Lintorth’s body as it spun in great detail, suspended in the center of the room. The bright center galactic bulge caused Lintorth to squint to make out the elements of the location the computer was about to show him.
A red circle flew in from the darkness and fixated itself between the second and last outside arms of the spiral galaxy.
“That’s the Sol system,” Lintorth said in amazement.
His eyes flashed as he readied his next question, even though he knew the answer, he must confirm it.
“Where was the last known location of the Azliklon-Gashnee?”
“The Sol system, during the last great prophetic battle, which ended 267 moons ago.”
Lintorth knew the history of defeating the Gashnee in the Sol system, which his Lore father led. And now which crests his family name. But humans?
Lintorth never heard of them in the history stories of past. Sol is where they defeated their nemesis, the Gashnee. Where do humans play into this?
“Lore, how are the humans and the Gashnee linked in the same system?”
“By technology.”
“How so?” Lintorth queried.
“There were no traces of the Gashnee race in the Sol system during the great battle, only their technology, incorporated by the race called humans.”
Lintorth stood stunned by the answer.
He knew this story was not the one that had been told to most in the Domain. He still wasn’t grasping the total picture.
Even now, he knew that going any further would put a mark on his name by the generals.
So the last great battle of the Kryth Mahr and the Gashnee was a lie?
Lintorth didn’t want to ask the why question but knew he must.
“If the Gashnee were not in the system during the battle, why were they claimed to be?”
“The mission was to extinguish all remnants of the Gashnee from the galaxy. This was thought to be accomplished 500 moons prior to the battle in Sol. The eradication of the humans commenced once the sign of Gashnee presence was found. The humans incorporated the Gashnee technology now linking them with the Gashnee and Gashnee prophecy.”
Lintorth knew full well of the Gashnee prophecy, or at least their rumors. It was the sore spot in the side of the Kryth Domain for millennia.
It was the first time in his life that he felt empty. He wouldn’t say scared, but he was made uncomfortable at what he heard. The humans, with Gashnee technology, returning to Sol from whence they originated?
He knew this was for revenge for what took place...
Lintorth froze at the thought. Revenge for what his Lore father did to them in that system with the full force of the Domain.
But how did they escape? Lintorth pondered.
If they were eradicated, then how did they come back?
“Lore, you said the eradication of the human race took place instead of the Gashnee. Were there any survivors from the battle at Sol?
“Yes. Seven ships escaped with one million humans.”
“How did they escape from us? Were they not tracked down?”
“A tracking party chased the humans who fled the system for ten cycles. They lost track of the ships in the Greater Rings system.”
Lintorth knew the Greater Rings system like the edge on his blade.
Never a story about this race came up.
Never a name was ever mentioned in all the systems and sectors controlled by the Kryth.
How did they vanish?
Where did they go?
Dozens of questions raced through Lintorth’s mind.
“Where are the humans now?”
“Unknown.”
“Did these ships have Gashnee drive technology?”
“Yes.”
“That’s how they did it.”
They out-ran the Kryth since the Gashnee had better bending tech for hyper-space. This is the signature matrix the Cuukzen had found.
But where did they go?
Where have they been all these moons?
Why now do they return?
The answer came to Lintorth in a flash.
These humans are about to tell everyone the answers to these questions at the upcoming conference.
These secrets of the Domain will be exposed by this unheard-of race. This could cause a power-shift, h
e thought.
Lintorth knew their enemies, like the Vrae and Mertiklask, what an opportunity this would give them to garner more support against the Domain, the balance of powers shifting.
He knew this must not happen.
Lintorth spun from the platform and stopped dead in his tracks. There in front of him was Xoma Si.
Her beautiful smile met his stunned expression.
He bowed on one knee. “My Si.”
“Rise, Lintorth.”
He stood as she approached.
“Lintorth, I see you now know the full weight that has been laid upon you. The Domain is in danger of succumbing to this new threat. It will also leave us vulnerable to our subjugated races and others who wish to see our demise.”
The Si stepped up to Lintorth’s side. She placed her hand on his powerful chest armor.
She continued. “I gave you this knowledge so that you would continue to hide the secrets of so long ago, to include protecting your family name of Sol.”
She ran her finger over the ridges of his armor.
Lintorth looked down at her. “My Si, I will do everything I can to stop the humans from humiliating the Domain.”
“I hope so, Lintorth, for I have always found you to be more appreciative of my gifts than the generals. I would hate to be disappointed.”
Her hand moved up to caress his face.
Lintorth did not remove his gaze, still locked on her mesmerizing eyes.
The Si Lord took her hand from his cheek and let it fall back to her side.
She moved off around Lintorth and towards the platform. “Farewell, warrior of the Domain. Until we meet again,” she said.
Lintorth did not look back in her direction but sought out the lift that had brought him there.
His mind was not on her provocative demeanor but on his enemy. He knew the amusing games that were played within the Chamber Lore. The political brinkmanship everyone in power uses, trying to wield a knife into position to strike first as to get what they want.
He was no amateur.
The lift rose, he gazed back down upon the platform where his Si now stood.
He saw her turn before he entered the darkened shaft; she looked up at him one last time with her sultry stare as the lift rose up and out of sight.
Data Cell 21
The crash site wreckage spread out across a wide area of the rocky terrain. Smoke billowed up from the largest shuttle pieces as thousands of smaller bits of debris were strewn amongst the outcroppings of sharp jagged boulders.
The most surreal scene was of the human remains, Ramek thought.
Ramek knew a major system failure occurred just minutes before the crash. It happened when they were escorting a six-man surveillance team off the planet’s surface, including two of Nevlen’s troops, who were now among the dead.
He knew it was a bad idea to use an old captured Kryth shuttle for the extraction, behind enemy lines instead of their own shuttles.
This was no doubt one of Nevlen’s ideas after they captured the Cuukzen.
The mission was to retrieve a team who had pulled surveillance on Kryth military activity in the system to probe their weaknesses. They were here for the last year and would have remained longer if it were not for the haphazard conference thrust upon the Ordinance at the last moment.
No matter now. It was his job to see the two survivors of the crash got off this rock.
Ramek approached a section of the shuttle hull where he had just left Jens.
“How does it look?” Jens grunted his question to Ramek.
Ramek approached his prone friend. He had fared far better than Jens in the crash.
Jens’ Reaver suit was cracked in several places, exposing flesh underneath. The nanites closed off the open wounds and began the bone-mending process, but it was not the injuries that bothered Ramek, it was the high levels of radiation poisoning from the surrounding outcroppings that worried him.
“All members are dead. The communication systems are all but destroyed. It’s just me and you,” Ramek said.
Rolling over and forcing his response, Jens replied, “I wouldn’t have it any other way, big man.”
Ramek smiled.
“Well, this is a screwed situation we find ourselves in, isn’t it,” Jens said.
“It could be worse.”
“How worse could it be?”
“We could be dead.”
“That would be worse.”
Ramek laughed.
He looked over the vitals of his injured friend.
Jens couldn’t discern Ramek’s expression under his mask but the few moments of silence confirmed what he had thought.
“How bad is it? No panacrap either,” Jens said.
Ramek bent down on one knee, his hand resting across, he stared at the data pad.
“You have a lethal dose of radiation. The nanites and serums won’t be able to repair the damage. They will keep you alive for now,” Ramek paused, “until we can get you off of this rock to medical.” He paused once more not wanting to say his next words. “But without medical attention, you will die.”
“The thought of being able to punch Nevlen in the face has given me renewed hope.” Jens smiled.
“Aye. Then we need to move you. These rocks are too radioactive.”
Ramek stood up and looked off into the distance. “Over there, about two kilometers, is what looks to be an old mining facility, per the sensor readings. We may be able to find better cover there.”
Jens looked up at Ramek. “No time like the present. Let’s go. But, I may need a hand or two and a couple of legs if you wouldn’t mind,” he suggested.
Ramek reached over and lifted his friend up and over his shoulder as Jens grunted his discomfort.
“I’m sure glad the roles aren’t reversed,” Jens coughed before continuing. “I wouldn’t be able to lug your heavy ass across this god-forsaken terrain,” Jens said with lifted spirits.
Ramek snickered. “Then you’re lucky I’m not a Kryth female, right?”
“Nice. . . You got me on that one, old friend.”
Ramek traversed the rocks to the bottom of an open area that would lead to the mining facility.
He saw the sun was low on the horizon as night approached.
The two silhouetted Reavers passed behind the rolling plains and out of sight.
∞∞∞
The Aythra’s head appeared over a rock mound against a two-moon night sky. Its nose sniffed the air to its front. Beside the creature appeared a second Aythra beast followed by Sontar Jal.
“It’s here,” Sontar said to his team who approached the top of the hill he and the Aythras had ascended.
The wind blew dirt and debris from the shuttle crash site as Sontar surveyed the wreckage.
The two Aythra beasts lumbered down the hill towards one of the dead human bodies. Sontar and his soldiers followed.
It was the first time Sontar laid eyes upon a human before.
He mused over the body. “Funny, they look so frail. Are these the creatures Lintorth spoke in awe about?” Sontar smirked.
One Aythra began to pick up the scent of the two Reavers.
The other Aythra picked up pieces of human remains and tossed them about, snorting.
Sontar approached and looked down at the heavy imprints in the dirt.
“And it looks like we have survivors. Splendid! So, the mighty warrior of the Domain, Lintorth Sol, searches for information in the archives, while I search for hard evidence like a true soldier of the Domain. We shall see who the Si favors now.” Sontar laughed at his own smug confidence.
The group departed the crash site and followed the tracks leading in the direction of the abandoned facility.
∞∞∞
High above the planet of Mentabak 3 orbited the cruiser, the Rapide.
On board, the crew and Nevlen scanned over the data coming from the surface of the downed shuttle.
“Commander, we are picking up two human life sig
ns, a kilometer away from the crash site,” a crew member spoke.
Nevlen paced back and forth with arms crossed. He looked to be in deep thought and a bit nervous the crewman noticed.
A second crew member spoke.
“We also have an enemy Kryth shuttle that just landed in. . .” he looked at his monitor, adjusting some controls, “in sector 12-B, some eight hundred meters outside the crash zone.”
Those words broke Nevlen’s thoughts.
“Shuttle? What shuttle? Where did it come from?” Nevlen asked.
The crewmembers reviewed the readouts.
The first one spoke. “We have no signs of any ships in the sector. We do not know where it originated from, sir.”
Nevlen continued his pacing.
The two crewmembers looked at each other in confusion.
The second member swiveled in his seat with a question, one that was on both of their minds.
“What about the survivors? We need to retrieve them don’t we, sir?” he asked.
Nevlen was lost back in thought once again.
Nevlen mumbled, “We can’t risk it.”
The second crew member replied, “Excuse me, sir, what was that?”
“I said we can’t risk it. We need more resources.”
“More resources for what?” the first crew asked.
Just as the crew questioned for clarification on the matter, an alarm sounded.
This broke Nevlen’s lost gaze as he turned to the sensors.
“We have an inbound Kryth cruiser closing from the far side of the planet, sir,” the first member shouted. “I believe they spotted us.”
“That can’t be,” Nevlen said.
“They are on a direct approach, coming in at flank speed, sir.”
“We don’t have time for a rescue. We can’t lose any more assets behind Kryth lines before the conference begins,” Nevlen said.
“Orders, sir?” the crew asked.
“Head for the rendezvous point, then plot a course for the conference. We will meet up with Parejas and the others there to ascertain what to do regarding a rescue,” Nevlen ordered.
The second crew member objected. “We can’t leave them here. We must do something or the Kryth will capture them. We won’t have time to come back. We can engage them now and then…” He was cut short.
Annals of the Keepers: War 267 (Book 1 in the Gashnee Saga) Page 13