Tales of Reign

by M E Wise

  “The solution would seem a variance of both ideas Reign,” Hermes finally agreed. “These two groups of dwellings will move into the rise. This perimeter barricade will move north to fend against the horde.” The image had a vague resemblance to somewhere I had been before. “It looks like Green Acres but more uniform.” I chuckled. I motioned Ben to come look at the new designs. Hermes brought the image to a three dimensional hologram display. “Sandy Acres!” Ben joked.

  Hermes tapped the console adding some lush greenery. “That’s better!” Ben added. His demeanor had greatly improved since Rasha had begun opening up and living again. “I never thanked you bro.” Ben added nonchalantly. “I know what you did doesn’t sit well. It’s why I respect what you did even more. I don’t do apologies very well…” I stopped him. “No need. I would have turned a solar system inside out to help Dae.”

  “Isn’t that what we did though!” Ben laughed with a slap on my shoulder.

  “I suppose so.” We watched the parading Rasha and the musicians using makeshift instruments. “And how are you two?” I asked uncertain of their actual involvement. “She’s not mine Reign. That’s nobody’s land bro! I’m just enjoying the chase.” He then joined in with Rasha dancing badly. She pushed him to the sand below and laughed at him.

  The event was at the furthest end of the landing for the Cresche. It was where we first approached in the makeshift skiff that still sat unused under the mighty white tower. There were many days I missed the old domicile where Dae and I consummated our union and called home for a short while. Now I somehow ended up the elder in a tribe of misfits in a desert marked by an atrocity, juxtaposed with the colossal monument to Mor’h life. I sat in a cloth sling chair and stared at the twin moons above.

  An angelic form approached from beyond the fire. She wore a flowing sheer dress over a silken gown. Dae looked as radiant as ever. I was the luckiest of all the survivors here by far. She had saved me more than any event in my life. I stood in the shifting breeze and moved to meet her. “The fire envies you.” I took her hand and breathed in her sweet smell as she leaned in to kiss me. “You have the tongue of a devil sir!” She teased.

  We danced for hours. The fire wasted away and people retreated to their temporary abodes. Dae and I found ourselves drifting drunk on Ben’s wine and our affections. We climbed the tower in an elevator full of passionate kisses. Our clothes were stripped and thrown to divine a path to our bed. We made love hotly as the sun rose at dawn! This was truly a night to remember.

  

  MESSAGE: S’lei sat for a moment looking to her side and down. “Reign, light to my day! I bid you well.” She smiled. “There is much need of you to attend the council today. I can guarantee the focus will be of interest to you.” She swooped a hand in screen. “Of great interest.” She asserted. “Until our next sharing.”

  “That’s a unique way to start the day.” I said rolling over from the holo pad and curling back to Dae’s position. Her nakedness was so warm and inviting. “Mr. Mister as much as I’d love to surrender to carnal desire we have matters to attend to.” She stalled everything as only a woman can. I pulled her in close to a smack on my exposed leg. We both laughed and I relented. “I am still teaching Dalia and Wan Sah how to be better physicians.” She declared standing with her bare back glowing in the afternoon sun. “That was a brilliant idea by the way lover-man!” She said glancing at me in the mirror ahead.

  “It made sense. Dalia as Mon’Mah already had some medicinal education. Wan Sah is a wellspring of knowledge. They can literally link with you and know what you do or would do. It may be awkward for a while until they are conditioned to do so on their own but it will be worth it.” I said yawning. “It is awkward. I find them clinically studying our coupling when I am not concentrating.” Dae said wrinkling her nose. We both shook our heads at each other.

  “You made a career of intimate exploration.” I chortled. “I’ll make a career change and explore you!” She pounced on the bed and planted a firm kiss on my lips. “But I need to get going!” She bolted for the shower. I rolled over to take in the awesome view. Sometimes it felt like royalty atop this ivory tower. If it weren’t for having legitimate responsibilities.

  I put on my vacuum suit for the trip across the desert ahead. At this distance from the Bhur’Anto Sit; making a quick arch into orbit would shorten the trip to minutes. I have not adjusted to calling the Mor’h city proper anything like a surname but Taiyou kept calling it buririanto shiti which was Japanese for brilliant city. The Mor’h translation was close as Bhur’Anto Sit and to my surprise the Lo’Mor’h and Tah’l who frequent the Cresche began using it. I half suspect some relish of pride in the idea that their city held such esteem.

  Having Hermes more mobile has been an incredible asset. Aside from living through his many personalities to get anything accomplished, the wealth of knowledge the collective can access and provide at will is worth it. Hermes most recent delivery of late but ingenious news was about the lab below. An apsidal arch, empty of any equipment was actually a landsite for bell craft. The side literally opened out and downward providing a landing platform. We had been stowing empty containers and loose supplies there. All of it hid the landing markings. It all made great sense giving the height of the Cresche and its function. A strange field blocks the draft and debris. I assume it is similar to the field above the Cathedraline.

  Piloting the bell craft is easy enough for the Mor’h. Most of the technology is link driven. A human would however be very limited in this manner. Myself proving the exception. I use a panel nearby to call the craft below. The apse landing platform opened in concert. This would have been incredibly useful so many times. Transporting Rasha’s body comes to mind. We had to sneak down to a garden level and off load precariously in the dead of night. “Such wicked webs we weave when first we learn to deceive.” The thing Dae said as we did so still gives me pause.

  “I’ll be back as soon as possible.” I called out to Dae. “Be safe love!” She called back among splashes.

  I took the elevator down a level and made my way through the lab and onto the platform. Walking through the barrier leaves an electrical smell in my nose. I fight a quick bout of vertigo as the sheer depth of field drop is menacing. The bell craft is primed and I am quickly off for the Cathedraline. I tap a holo panel ahead and connect to S’lei’s message queue. Surprisingly she answers. “I am en route. Should be a few minutes give or take the tram availability.” She seemed concerned. “This is good timing Reign. Our subject is being moved as we speak.” My confusion is readily readable. “You will know soon. Meet me on the landing of the Rain Well.” She ended transmission.

  The atmospheric curve glowed intensely separating breathable air from vacuum. My suit responded as it should with the geometric helmet. I only had a moment to take in the amazing view before I was descending again. This slingshot trajectory greatly shortened the trip. It is nearly one hundred miles between the Cresche and the Cathedraline, ninety of that the Live Well Sea. Bhur’Anto Sit would not be a city on Earth or any other colony of earth classification. The city proper was barely seven miles wide. The bulk of it consisting of the Cathedraline. But it was the only gathering of buildings and populace I am aware of on Mor’h. Since exploring and discovering the Cresche, finding some hidden city isn’t far from the imagination.

  The spaceport was full as usual. The Mor’h had long since retired their exploration wiles of their past. Q’ua Z was waiting as I landed. He sat sternly as he usually did. I slipped out of the bell craft and stretched. “What do I owe this pleasure?” I asked him humorously. I extended my hand, something I had grown used to among my people. “My people shake hands.” I said to him like we were strangers now. He certainly held his ground like I was.

  “Reign, Lo’Mor’h do not touch each other needlessly.” He said curtly ignoring the gesture.

  I began to make my way passed him. He followed quickly. “I don’t have time to trade barbs or romance a rel
ationship with you Qz. Nor do I have the patience to pick at your brain until you find the conversation worthy of…” a link disrupted my speech. It was him. He dumped a load of imagery and considerations into the sharing. Even with the randomness of the exchange he did not spoil the link with anything unintended.

  “There you have it.” Q’ua Z blurted without conscience. I stopped my current course.

  “You are completely against the Halfer’s here? Human’s on Mor’h are Sori’Lo?” I bit hard on that last insult. “Sori! You mean weeded Sori don’t you! Why not say it?” I was instantly angry. His imagery was a sect he and Kae’Lo had begun even before I left for the Sol system. “I knew you had some supremacist leanings but never did I suspect you of outright hate and bigotry!”

  “Your language is not my own. Your humanity is not my own. I am not rooted to serve.” He muttered in stuttered English.

  “Again, I have no time for this.” I turned to walk away and he again tried to force a link but I returned the sharing with a stun. He stumbled briefly. “Do not force your world onto mine.” I continued along the path instead of finding a close tram. I needed the air. Pressing matters held more gravity at this moment but this is not over. Far from it!

  I found a tram for the second leg of the mile between the space port and the Rain Well. S’lei waited with her Lo’Nar. “What kept you Reign? The council shares now.” I linked with her and shared a portion of my encounter a few moments before. “Such is the season.” She sighed holding out her arm in escort. I knew this well different now. “What is this place?” I questioned. “Remember Reign.” She linked like a bolt of lightning. I had drowned here and she had saved me. This was the scribed wall and the ascending pool. I broke the link before delving deeper in the struggle.

  “I’m sorry we don’t have time for long speech.” She said. A door waited ahead that wasn’t there before. We weren’t moving toward the council chamber. Instead we moved downward and I could feel the temperature cool as we lowered. The path down was much like the path along the Cathedraline only tightening as we descended. Root structures twisted in and out of some hardened resin. “This place is the Rootworks, below the Cathedraline.” S’lei murmured quietly. “Should I be here?” I asked with reason to fear given the Mor’h and sensitivity issues of late. “You are the exception. We elder roots regard your growth as a future.” She ushered me into a passageway that lead darkly into a larger chamber ahead. Our voices echoed greatly.

  A link crept up in my spine. It was surreal and cold. I could sense it was old and unique but nothing too alien. It was a Tah’l presence for sure. One name came to my mind as their minds washed over mine; Gi’Ger. He shown me ancient ways and granted me access into the Rootworks. The link separated. The chamber was huge inside. Large networks of tubes both organic, synthetic and similar piping laced in and out of different hollows and into the walls. Above was a cylindrical cob of receiving tanks, the very rebirthing tanks for all the Lo’Mor’h. Some smaller chambers dotted the sides. One in particular held an audience.

  S’lei continued directly there as I studied the surroundings. A familiar grimace came loudly from that direction. An angry voice shouted obscenities at the Tah’l blocking my view. I recognize several from previous council encounters. They don’t link-swarm as they had before. I am grateful for that. I felt so small amongst them making my way to the chamber. Not a single Lo’Mor’h was in casual linking distance. The Tah’l held this ground as their own.

  “You fucking monsters! Do it! Just fucking do it!” Came a voice ravaged with wear from constant screaming. It was human. But who? I was allowed closer for inspection and nearly pushed into the chamber alone. Alone with a madman restrained against a wall. “I remember you, you tiny maggot! You crowned me good.” He laughed and spat at me. His hulking size was immediately recognizable.

  I turned to the Tah’l convened outside. “Don’t turn your back on me thing!” His voice taunted and I ignored it. “How long have you had him?” I asked calmly. “Near thirty moons.” Answered S’lei. “Since the Ku’Gel carried with it hunks of the Sol Sytem.” Came a raspy and slick voice. The kind of voice you would hear in your last grips of life. It held no velvet softness, no rigid rejection but remained ambiguously neutral. “His presence is a studied nuisance.” A body entered behind the sound. Gi’Ger was tall and sinister, yet welcoming. A devil be any description. His deeply pale skin was accented with red and black variegation. It was an almost mesmerizing combination.

  “This being is full of malice. Empty roots filled with programming and taint.” Gi’Ger moved into the chamber. His sleek robes were thick, black and complimented his thin length. “He never quiets without assistance. Do you?” He gently reached for the SPEAR soldiers face, stopping to watch him recoil.

  “So this soldier survived vacuum?” I asked with concern. “His uniform, which we kindly rid him of, is similar to our vacuum suits.” Gi’Ger put his face very close to the Guardsmen’s face to intimidate him. Such behavior was not normal for the Tah’l. He was aggressive in a manner old. “He is yours to converse with.” Gi’Ger backed up and receded into the group behind me.

  “You beat this man. Even outmatched him.” S’lei said questioningly. “Could you do it again?”

  “Yes. I could.” I said confidently.

  “We would be curious.” She added. “After all of the suffering reaped on the Halfer’s I would be delighted!” I stepped deep into the room. The group backed out. A barrier formed behind us and it rippled with energy. “Round three then!” Challenged the large man. His restraints released and he fell forward. “Brigman.” He said with a hand on his chest. “I am Reign.” I said readying myself to move. “Let’s dance Reign!” He lunged forward before I had linked and knocked me backward. I felt the links creeping in one by one. The Tah’l were taking in all of the possible information they could.

  “That will be your last chance.” I said coldly. Brigman swung heavily and I moved without linking. He back-fisted from that swing and nearly made contact. A new move. I then linked to prevent further surprises. He kicked and I knew it was coming before it was thrown and just moved enough to be out of the way. “How are you so fast?” He argued.

  “It’s not speed. Not entirely.” I answered. He began throwing more and more complicated combinations. These would have had me if I wasn’t in his mind. I was in his muscles; his motions were a blueprint for my next reflex. I continued letting him swing tirelessly as he became more and more frenzied. His stamina was incredible. Certainly not normal.

  “How do you not tire?” He laughed hard at my question and charged running into the barrier receiving a shock. I took too long sifting his mind for the information. The brief distraction gave him a moment of success and I was knocked to the floor. It was my DNA, they used my blood to synthesize a steroid. Only they tweaked it to concentrate on their desires. “Not too terribly different from the Mor’h.” I said wiping blood from my mouth. Some Tah’l in the link tinged with distaste of the notion.

  Brigman stood and towered over me. I was too close. Even blocking his blows was extremely painful. They thudded like falling from a great height but faster. I stumbled right and left. I did not stun his mind for fear that I may collapse as well. That was the fatal flaw of the stun, it took too much sensation and strained the mind. I could feel the Tah’l take mental notes literally. “I am finished learning your way.” I regained my composure and gracefully glanced the next blow away. I dodged several strikes quickly before striking a knee weakening his movement. A move he would have used. I then struck it again as he pivoted this time bringing him to fall on it.

  “I have learned your way. Now learn mine.” I snapped a kick to the back of his head and he fell forward. I then stunned his mind. The encounter was over. The Tah’l seemed impressed. “What lead you to this way?” Gi’Ger asked aloud. He was going out of his way not to link and take his information. A measure I appreciated. The links left in precession. “It was a natural sensation when I was
first attacked by them.”

  “Natural.” He said with a slight grin. “An adaptive strength. Good rooting.” Gi’Ger stood tall.

  I think I could sense pride in him. Not pride in himself or the Tah’l but in me. This entire situation is completely unusual. “What do you plan on doing with him?” I questioned. “What would you have us do with him?” asked S’lei with a legit inquiry. “He is only safe here given the season.” She continued.

  “Keep him. I am not through learning from him.” I responded. “I may return him when we know enough.” The restraints moved like serpents to once again find their prisoner. He is softly lifted back onto his backing board and the device rotated into a contoured recline. At least he will be more comfortable than I was on the Stonewall. “This sickness must pass. The season we are in will undo our roots and taint our seeds. If it is in my hands to do so I will till the soil clean until I have turned it well.” I said as the Tah’l responded well to my use of allegory.