by James Somers
"Father, I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt you…"
"I know. I'll be fine. I'm just glad we found you. Please don't ever think you have to run away."
"I just wasn't sure if I could keep control of that thing in my head," Kale said. "I didn't want to hurt anybody so I ran, but now it's happened anyway."
"Don't worry, soon we'll be home and your mother will know what to do for me."
That thought comforted him a little. Yes, his mother would know, after all she was an excellent physician. According to Emil, she had been the one to find the cure for the symbyte-the antibody formula necessary to kill it. At least, Kale thought it was dead. It certainly had lost control over him and the voice in his mind had gone silent.
Kale looked out one of the portal windows and saw the vile formation crowding around the ship, but then something more. The ship shuddered as something collided with the hull. Kale watched physical forms coalesce on the hull of the shuttle.
Agonotti became solid one by one, clinging to the craft and forming for their weapons large broadswords and battle hammers, all coming into being from the same material that their bodies had formed from. So that's it, their clothing, weapons and bodies are all formed from the same matrix.
The creatures hammered into the ship with their weapons, trying to breech the hull or bring it down.
"What are we going to do?" Emil shouted. "They'll destroy the flight controls!"
Kale didn't have an answer. They couldn't fight them on the hull while they were in flight.
"Father, what can we do?"
"I'm too weak. Kale, you and Emil try to push them off kinetically. Just don't damage the hull."
The boys moved to either side of the compartment trying to sense where the Agonotti warriors stood on the outside. They each pushed the creatures away as they sensed them beyond their touch. As the warriors fell away they disintegrated their forms and rejoined the mass of Agonotti in the cloud. Still, more formed on the outer hull and more than the boys could deal with at one time.
Suddenly, several of the portal windows burst inward and the foul smoke poured through into the compartment. Agonotti warriors formed from the dark vapor ready for battle. Kale and Emil pulled their weapons and began to slash through the creatures physical forms.
Juli and her mother screamed as the Agonotti cornered them in the compartment and moved in for the kill. Emil intervened instantly-dispatching both warriors and then quickly moved on to several more. The compartment was of fair size for a shuttle and Elam had certainly outfitted for luxury, but the battle grew cramped fast with more and more Agonotti materializing from the invading fog.
A warrior tried to attack Tiet, who was too weak to fight-only barely maintaining consciousness. But Kale came to his defense being sure not to allow anyone near his father, the king. The wind howled through every portal window in the shuttle except the cockpit. For some reason, they had abandoned that option when they had gained access through the others.
Olson continued to drive the shuttle hard for Sector City and soon they were flying over the boundaries of Wellor Lake. He looked down at the beacon display that Emil had left in the cockpit for him to follow. The gate showed a location in the heart of the city only a few miles ahead.
The battle raged in the rear compartment with Emil defending the women and Kale standing against those trying to get to the cockpit or to his father. Clanging could still be heard from Agonotti warriors on the outer hull. There were just too many of the Agonotti warriors to do anything except hold their own ground and try not to get killed.
An explosion rocked the craft.
"They've blown out the flight control module!" Olson shouted. "We're going to crash!"
The Agonotti began to disintegrate immediately upon hearing Olson's warning. The battle ended suddenly as the ghastly warriors rode the wind back out of the ship.
"Is everyone alright?" Kale shouted.
"We've got to get strapped in!" Emil said over the howling wind.
Kale went to help Juli get into a flight restraint as the wind whipped through the shattered portholes like a cyclone.
"Olson!" Juli's mother got to her feet and ran toward the cockpit to help her husband as the shuttle pitched to the side. She slammed into the wall as she ran, but frantically continued on, trying to reach her dear husband in the front of the ship.
"Mother!" Juli cried.
The shuttle pitched forward and descended down into the city. It slammed into one of the city's tall buildings full of glass panes. Kale tried to put a kinetic bubble around the ship to protect it as it collided with the wall of glass and steel.
The craft penetrated and came through diagonally out of another side of the building, nearer to the street. The entire compartment rotated as Kale tried to hold the mental force field around the ship and simultaneously get the final click on his own flight harness, but he couldn't manage both in the chaos.
His grip on the strap gave and he flew out of his chair through the compartment as it rotated around him. He hit the top of a flight chair and slammed into an adjacent wall. The mental bubble dissipated as Kale was tossed about like a rag doll. The exposed craft descended toward the street below and slammed into a number of personal transport vehicles. It skidded to a halt on the pavement.
The massive Agonotti cloud descended upon the city as civilians ran through the streets in a panic. People had been killed, when the ship fell out of the sky and plowed through businesses and then into traffic. Everyone recognized the Agonotti cloud.
Agonotti warriors materialized in the streets. They would not waste the opportunity of a feeding among the civilian population roaming the streets during the middle of the work day. The cloud cast a massive shadow and it seemed as though death itself had come to call upon Sector City.
0
Emil shook Kale back to consciousness. They both lay on the roof of the shuttle in the overturned craft. Above them and down the compartment Tiet hung a few feet away in his flight chair. Juli moaned something about her mother as Kale made his way to release her from her harness. He smelled the wreckage burning.
Kale tried to support Juli's small frame and then released the latch for her flight harness allowing her to fall onto his shoulders gently. Emil emerged from the cockpit as Kale let Juli down to her feet. The look on his face told Kale that her parents had not survived the crash.
Emil came to support the girl as Kale made his way to his father. Using the same maneuver, he released Tiet's harness and took his weight upon his own shoulders.
They heard screams out in the street as the group made their way to the boarding ramp door. The ramp itself was on the roof to them and Emil forced the door open with his mind. Beyond, thousands of people ran through the streets.
The Agonotti rampaged against the inhabitants of the city. Kale and the others walked out of the ship. This had to get to the transgate recall portal. Warriors materialized around them as the cloud hung heavy in the street.
"Leaving so soon?" a voice said from behind them.
They looked back to see more warriors on top of the mangled hull of the shuttle. Emil lit a kemstick with one hand while supporting a slightly injured and dazed Juli with the other. If they had to fight now, the wounded might hinder their efforts.
Suddenly the warrior that had spoken to them exploded in a blue spherical burst. A spicor!
Kale and Emil turned to find Grod running at them firing the plasma glove at the Agonotti as the shadow of Wynn Gareth passed over them. He landed on the shuttle's hull and quickly dispatched several Agonotti before any of the humanoids could react. Without hesitation, Grod ran into the midst and pulled Tiet off of Kale's shoulders, bearing the king's weight. Then he took off running back the way they had come.
"Come on, the gate is this way!" he shouted.
Wynn brought up the rear of the party, engaging the masses of Agonotti that came out of the cloud to pursue them. He thrust many Agonotti away with his mind and cut down any within strikin
g distance. Still they pursued.
It was a short run to the gate. They had crashed just around the corner from its location. Grod blasted away at any Agonotti in his path. He reached the gate and ran through with Tiet. Kale and Emil tried their best to avoid the creatures as they got Juli through the gate with Wynn close behind them.
Chaos reigned in Sector city. Then the scene snapped out of existence as Wynn closed the gate before anything else could come through.
Mirah fell on her son's neck kissing him before he could even find a chair to set Juli in. But motherly smothering and affection quickly took second chair to her need to treat her patients. She saw that the young girl was more dazed than anything. She might have a concussion, but Tiet looked far worse.
Mirah went to him and helped Grod get him into the ships medical lab. Tiet faded in and out of consciousness.
"Wynn, bring the kids to the med lab. I want to get bio scans on everyone," Mirah instructed as she followed Grod through the doors.
Wynn looked at Kale. "Well, young man, it looks like you've had quite an adventure over the past few days-you get a vacation and turn a whole city upside down."
"There's more going on there than you know."
"Boy, that's the truth," Emil said.
"Well, let's get you guys checked out and see how your father is doing. You can tell me all about it tonight."
0
KALE watched through the transparent med-lab window as his mother, Wynn and Grod worked on stabilizing his father's vital signs. Intravenous drips ran into his arms-Kale wasn't sure what kind of drugs they were. On a computer screen behind them, medical data poured onto a display. Pictures of Tiet's chest and abdomen made it clear, even to the layman, that several of his ribs and his sternum were fractured.
This is my fault, Kale thought. He had been so weak, letting the creature inside his mind take control and do this to his father. Guilt descended with a mighty weight as Kale thought, he is fighting for his life in there all because he loved his son-the son that ran away.
"It's not your fault, you know?" Emil said, sitting in the chair in front of him.
"Then whose fault is it? I did this."
He brushed a stray tear as he tried to remain angry at himself rather than breaking down. "I ran away trying to avoid hurting any of you and what good did it do? Nothing! It happened anyway."
"Running wasn't the answer, but you didn't know that. You had good intentions," Emil said.
"Yeah, intentions," Kale said through clenched fists, still watching the drama unfolding in the next room.
"Your dad is strong, Kale," Merab said from the doorway. He came in and sat next to the young man.
"I think he'll come through this. I've seen him do great things, even before you were born."
The boys became very interested.
"You know that the general and your father were enemies at one time, but when it came time for peace, your father fought his way into Nagon-Toth and practically dared us all not to make treaty. He very nearly died that day, but he wasn't afraid. And now look at us. We're allies, the Horva and the Barudii. He's a great king. If being swallowed alive by a teragore couldn't do him in, then I don't think we should count him out yet."
Kale may have pretended that Merab's words weren't comforting, but he was very glad to hear them. He didn't know as much as he would have liked about his father's younger days, but that was going to change. He just hoped his father would be around to tell him personally.
In a few minutes the med-lab drama calmed down. Grod emerged looking exhausted. "Mirah thinks he's going to be alright. She has him stabilized and medicated for his pain. He may have some hard days ahead, but it looks like your father is going to pull through."
Kale heaved out a sigh of relief. "Can I see him?"
"Your mother would like to hold off on that for now, but she did say you could see him later, after we've all had some much needed rest."
Emil eyed his father, letting him know that Kale was feeling guilty about the whole affair.
Grod knelt down to Kale's level and placed his arm around the boy's shoulder, looking right into his eyes. "You are not to blame. Your father would be very hurt to know that you are blaming yourself for what has happened. We are all in a fight for our lives and that involves risks. He knows those risks and accepts them. Punishing yourself will only hurt him more."
Sobering words. Kale nodded in reluctant agreement. Grod would not have accepted anything else.
"Now, come and let's get you men some food," he said, taking both boys by the shoulders and prodding them out toward the galley.
"Father, what about those people left back on Draconis?" Emil asked.
Grod's enthusiastic smile faded as he walked. "I don't know. We've got a lot to deal with here right now. Anything else is going to have to wait."
SEVEN
"The kingdom of Elithias is at hand!" the Prophet said. The man held a wild look in his eye accentuated by his age and his white hair. He wore a chestnut colored robe with pants that dropped into view near the floor.
Everyone assembled in the Guniran Great Hall sat rigid as a board. No one dared to even breathe heavily. Aija the Prophet glared down from the raised cylindrical platform to punctuate his statement. It was, after all, of the utmost importance that they all understand what the Eternal One wanted them to know.
Tiet stirred a little, seated upon the floor with the others. His injuries still bothered him after three months. He had ended up with a minor concussion, several broken ribs and a collapsed lung, all at the hands of his son, under symbyte control. The wooden floor they were sitting on didn't help.
Kale sat cross-legged, his head propped up by his arm upon his knee. The large room had filled to capacity with every Guniran able to attend. They encircled the prophet who stood upon a slightly raised cylinder in the middle of the massive room. The Great Hall was itself, a large cylinder.
The Prophet had not come down out of his home in the mountains for nearly a decade. This was important. "It has been nearly three thousand years since Elithias appeared on Castai."
Aija began to walk around the pulpit now. "The first time, the Eternal One came to offer mankind a pardon for our rebellion. Soon, He will appear the second time in Judgment. The Day of Elithias is upon us!"
A hushed murmur swept across the room now. It had been a long time since Tiet had heard anything about the prophecies still to be fulfilled concerning the return of Elithias, the Eternal Son. He had appeared long ago to bring mercy, but it had been so long since that time that many had scoffed at the idea of a true return.
"Elithias has been patient with us, but the clans have not turned," Aija said. "The Baruk were destroyed as part of the coming judgment. They allied themselves with the fallen one, giving their selves over completely to him and they have been destroyed. Soon, others will face similar judgment."
Everyone focused now. Anticipation and anxiety preceded every word of the prophet as the people waited to hear if judgment would fall upon the Guniran clan also. But how could it, they had been the keepers and protectors of the prophecies after the war between the clans? They alone possessed the copies that could be saved as destruction and oppression swept from planet to planet. Surely they would be spared whatever was coming.
"As the prophecy tells us, your guardians will be taken from you, for you have not been thankful for the hedge I have kept around you. The Barudii were allowed to be taken from us so that this war could spread," Aija continued. "God intends to purge mankind before the coming of Elithias to establish his kingdom. Many atrocities have been committed against our brothers and it will not go unpunished."
All eyes remained fixed on the man as he made his way down from the platform and walked in a circle in front of those seated on the ground before him. Tears became noticeable in his eyes then-they had become bloodshot as he fought his emotions. Aija stood still among the assembly. "My fellow Gunirans." His words choked. "We will not be spared this judgment."
<
br /> The entire assembly gasped at that statement. Faces turned pale as the realization hit them. It might not have made much difference, had this man not been well known as a genuine prophet of the Eternal One. He had, according to the Logostus-assembled prophecies, been proven by the fact that his prophecies came true. Before the massacre of the Barudii, Aija had descended to tell his fellow Gunirans that God's hedge was about to fall. The prophecy had been given a thousand years earlier with a link to the last prophet of the age who would herald the coming of Elithias. Aija had given the time of their demise to the day.
Now, Tiet worried. The judgment wasn't over-more people were going to perish. He felt his wife's hand tighten around his own. They had so hoped to find peace-to escape all the turmoil of war among these peaceful people. But there can be no peace when judgment is coming.
The people became restless. Aija raised his hands to still them-he was not through with his proclamation. The room became still very quickly. "We have been the keepers of Logostus, but we have not spread the prophecies to the other clans as we were meant to. The Logostus says, you are set as watchmen to your brothers; so speak my words to them that they may turn from their wickedness and live. If you will not, they will die in their rebellion, but I will require their blood at your hands."
Aija turned from the people and walked back up on the platform and took his place again. "We are guilty of much blood for our failure to warn the clans from this coming judgment. And now we are entering the final days before Elithias comes. It is time to believe on the Eternal one and turn from our rebellion. There's not much time to do so."
Almost the entire assembly disorganized as many cried out to Elithias for mercy. They fell to their faces in prayer crying out to be forgiven. The young and the old weeped as they confessed their rebellion before God and cast themselves upon the promise of pardon for those who would come to him by the pajet-act of sincere submission.