by James Somers
“My name is Orin Vale and this is Tiet Soone, the son of our Kale Soone.”
“Really? The birth of the king’s son was announced only days before we went into battle against the Vorn at sector seven. And here you are all grown up—and a very promising warrior from what I could see.”
“How long have you known we were on the planet?” asked Tiet.
“I have been watching you both since you emerged from Mt. Vaseer and entered the battle against General Grod’s forces. After you escaped the dome, I aided you in your escape a little.”
“Then it was you who crushed the vent tube?” asked Orin.
“Yes. Kinetically. I tracked you and thought you could use some assistance.”
“That was some amazing fighting on the rooftop. How….?”
“Young master Soone, you may have noticed that on this side of the Rift our kinesis is greatly enhanced beyond what we knew back home on Castai. There is something about being on this side of the Rift that increases our power.”
“We began to notice it after we passed through the Rift two days ago,” said Orin.
“I have been on this twin planet of Castai for twenty years and there is much that you and our people back home don’t realize about what has been happening in this war with the Vorn. Also, the forces that overlapped into our dimension through the Rift have a much more potent effect on our abilities than you are probably aware.
“Back home, we Barudii were receiving the misting rain from a far off storm; here on this side we are in the eye of it. What you may have thought amazing back at the compound is within either of your abilities. With proper training you two will also be able to control the energies that are in play on this side of the Rift.”
“But what about the Vorn and these Horva…?” asked Orin.
“Orin, things are not as they may appear to be. But no more questions now. I will explain the situation after you have refreshed yourselves. Come, there is food and drink,” insisted Wynn as he began to walk a path through the cavern. Fueled torches lit the way as they made their way deeper.
It had been while Orin was still in training as a warrior that he had studied some of the battle techniques of Wynn Gareth. He had been a formidable pilot, but was studied for his mastery of the warrior art of Barudii kinesis. But what Wynn had been known for all those years ago back home paled when compared to the display they had witnessed today.
Orin was curious to learn what Wynn was referring to with the war and the greater abilities that were within their reach, but Wynn was right, they did need to eat and rest and prepare for whatever lay ahead.
DAOOTH Pasad stepped in front of the retina scanner located near the exit of the lab facility. He was an assistant to one of the head scientists located within General Grod’s compound and there were very important goings on of late. He had proven himself to be trustworthy to the Horva while they were fighting the oppression and rule of the Vorn military; and he had the privilege to leave the compound at will.
The scanner cleared him for exit. The computer-controlled door opened, allowing him to pass through to the outside. While some of the Vorn scientists had been captured and put to work under the General, others had come voluntarily—hoping to find safety and protection, as they allied themselves with the Horva commander. Among them was Daooth, and he was well-favored in his occupation at the compound and his liberty was a result of that favor.
The tall, slender-framed Vorn man made his way to his transport with his personal supplies from the compound and loaded them into the storage compartment. He climbed into the cockpit and then closed the canopy as the engines came to life.
The compound had not been built to house civilians, so many of the Vorn loyal to Grod and his campaign were allowed to live in a nearby area that was close enough to the base to enjoy the protection of the Horva.
Recently, the Vorn military had not been striking offensively very much. They had been preoccupied with defending their interests on many fronts. They needed to reinforce their conquest of the twin Castai across the Rift and there were terrible losses because of the Barudii sphere; as well as the great losses sustained at the hands of General Grod and his clone army. The Vorn military was very near collapse, and it seemed nothing would be able to prevent it.
The transport headed away from the building perimeter and passed through a security portal in the shield, heading for the wasteland. The settlement given to the civilians was far from luxurious, but its location underground provided a better weather environment and added protection.
After several miles the transport came to a large protrusion of rock in the desert that lay to the west of the compound. The transport came to a metal door that was the entrance to Daooth’s residence.
The door responded to a transmitted code from the transport and opened to allow it entrance inside. The transport settled down on a platform area, and then Daooth retracted the cockpit canopy, gathered his supplies and headed into his domicile. He made his way to a closet along the corridor and triggered a switch inside. The back wall released and moved aside.
He went through the portal, which led into a large cavern beyond. The closet wall waited a moment, and then smoothly slid itself back into place. He hurried down the cavern to a place where another smaller tunnel intersected with it. He took the passage and came to a room. Inside were three men. They were eating as he came into the entrance of the hollowed out chamber.
Tiet spotted him first as he appeared in the entrance to the chamber where Wynn had served them all a meal. Tiet launched out of his seat at the sight of the dark-skinned man standing there. His blade was in his hand as he lunged for one of his sworn enemy.
Daooth deftly dodged the first strike and parried with a strong fist blow to Tiet’s side. Tiet came back quickly; ready to deal a death blow to the man. Suddenly Wynn was next to him and had grabbed his sword arm. Instantly he was disarmed of his father’s blade, and it fell to the floor. The look on his face was astonishment. Had he and Orin been led into a trap by a traitor?
“Stop it! Daooth is a friend. He is a civilian I have known for many years. He saved my life shortly after I came to the planet, when I was captured by Grod and his Horva,” said Wynn.
Neither of them could believe what they were hearing. But they stood down and listened to what Wynn had to say.
“Forgive my startling of you,” said Daooth in a vaguely familiar dialect.
“I told you that things are not what they appear here,” said Wynn. “There are those among the Vorn who would gladly live at peace with us, but the military has control over them—just as they do our home world.
“Daooth is one of many who want that control to end. There is also General Grod who is the leader of the Horva armies you saw at Vaseer and at their main compound at Nagon-Toth. Grod and his clones are of a breed that was discontinued due to the threat they began to pose to the Vorn’s control.
“They were engineered to be stronger, but it became obvious to the military—as well as to Grod—that these Horva were capable of rising up against their Vorn masters. Grod quickly took the opportunity to lead them in revolt and that rebellion has been building in strength steadily since before I arrived on the planet.
“Grod had been capturing important cloning scientists from among the Vorn cities on raids; then he conquered cities as his power increased. Not long after I arrived, I was captured by the General and he took samplings of my DNA to use in a new experimental process by which he could regenerate his cloned body and splice my Barudii DNA with his own in the hopes of gaining our kinetic abilities.
“Daooth helped me to escape, and caused an accident which destroyed the genetic material Grod was going to use. He has hidden me here all these years since.
“It is my hope to somehow free his people from the control of the military and Grod.”
“Why haven’t they risen up for their freedom against these two?” asked Orin.
“My people have not fighting skill to face these armie
s, and they are not the only threat,” said Daooth. “Baruk clan is also enemy, and more fearsome than Vorn military or Grod. Now they control Vorn military from distance. Vorn do what they want, further Baruk interests, they leave them alone. But now Vorn nearing defeat by Grod’s forces and Baruk are sure to try and come.”
“Yes, and Grod knows that as well,” said Wynn. “That’s why he’s so desperate to complete his DNA experiment so he can power up his clones with Barudii kinesis.”
“But you said that Daooth destroyed the sample of your DNA that Grod needed to do the experiment.”
“Yes, but now he has yours,” said Daooth.
Tiet was taken aback; he had no idea what had occurred before he had awoke within the confinement field in the Vorn lab.
“Then we have to infiltrate Grod’s compound and destroy the samples,” said Orin.
“It not that simple anymore,” said Daooth. “Grod already moved out with scientist for project and samples, and headed to a rendezvous with his army at Baeth Periege.”
“Baeth Periege is the main city for the Vorn military and it houses their most advanced cloning facility,” said Wynn. “Grod needs to have control of this facility to perform the regeneration of his army. He will have to defeat the Vorn, and if he does he will have taken away the main power base and last refuge of the Vorn military.”
“What can we do?” asked Tiet, “if he takes that city and the cloning facility—how can we hope to stop him and a whole army of clones with our power?”
“There’s the problem my friends,” said Wynn. “We are up against formidable odds, two armies and time itself. If we fail to stop Grod, which must be our first concern, then I fear only the Baruk themselves will be able to stop him.”
“If only our clans could have made peace,” said Daooth, “men should act as brothers—not this killing of other races. Skin color is only difference between you and me,” Daooth pointed at Tiet. “My blood is red like yours; my heart beats same as yours. Even Grod, he a clone of my dark-skinned people; fierce, strong, but he wants freedom just like us.”
“My friends, I realize that I have involved you in a seemingly suicidal goal. It may seem overwhelming and I cannot ask you to endanger yourselves for this cause…”
“We’re already involved,” said Tiet. “That’s my DNA he’s using.” Tiet looked at Daooth. “I guess, I never thought about your clan’s side of things. We need peace between the clans, but how?”
Orin nodded his agreement. “It’s easier said than done. We had better stay focused on what we can handle now.”
“We have a transport and some explosive charges that we could use to destroy the equipment Grod needs to conduct the regeneration,” said Wynn. “It’s just about the only way we can prevent Grod from coming into power.”
“I have sorting things out Wynn,” said Daooth, “I think I have way to destroying facility. We try to infiltrate city in transport we having to fight our way through Grod’s army then Vorn military guarding city. In these caverns is link to old magnetic rail system. System used to connect Baeth Periege with military compound at Nagon-Toth, before Grod captured it.
“Vorn military have detonated charges to bring tunnel roof down and cut off route into city. System still has power, but Grod did not want to take time to clear all of debris, it remained unused. System runs right into cloning facility. It used primarily to send troops from main cloning facility to compound.”
“How fast is the rail system?” asked Wynn. “Baeth Periege is nearly one thousand miles away.”
“It is frictionless magnetically suspended rail car system. It will travel approximately six hundred miles per hour,” said Daooth.
“That’s pretty fast. It wouldn’t take us long to get there at all,” said Tiet.
“Yes, but Grod already has the jump on us,” said Orin. “And where is the break in the system?”
“Break occurs approximately one hundred and fifty miles from city perimeter,” said Daooth. “Only problem how to clear debris and pass through in time to stop Grod. Defenses of Baeth Periege will not hold him long. He has massive clone army and Vorn military already very weak in their resources.”
“I think that with our kinesis we might be able to clear the debris, but we will need time to work,” said Wynn.
“My people long for freedom,” said Daooth.
They all shared the sentiment. They gathered the explosive charges necessary and followed Daooth through the various side passages to access the magnetic rail system. But the thought lingered for Daooth and Wynn that with Grod defeated the next enemy would be the mighty Baruk.
VIII
IT did not occur with the fanfare Ranul had expected, but the fleet had successfully passed through the Transdimensional Rift. The passage was surprisingly quick and uneventful.
Estall’s cruiser the Esyia took the lead of the group. Ranul scanned the area for other ships, but found none. They had no contact with the Saberhawk, which he had always guessed would be the case—but there were not any ships within scanning range at all, not even in orbit of the planet.
Kish k’ta had boasted of a space fleet on their way to wipe out the remaining people on Castai, but there was no evidence of it at all. Even from the Vorn computer records, Ranul had expected to possibly find a battle between the Barudii sphere and the Vorn; but there was nothing. Nothing.
“There isn’t much to see out here, is there?” said Estall.
“I know. That’s what bothers me. I suppose we better head for the planet and see if that’s where the action is. If Orin and Tiet are still alive there will be something going on.”
Ranul signaled to the helmsman, “Let’s proceed to the planet.”
The ships glided forward on course for the strangely familiar planet.
“Let’s get those shields up,” said Estall to one of the control technicians. “If that Barudii sphere weapon is out here somewhere, I don’t want it mistaking these Vorn ships for targets.”
“I agree, but we don’t know if it’s here or not. The Vorn fleet was not responding to Kish k’ta’s messages, but we don’t know why. If the Sphere is in the vicinity, it could be cloaked from our sensors. The Barudii on this planet built it right from the schematics I have here.
“That thing could very well have already destroyed the Vorn fleet Kish k’ta spoke of. I don’t know if it would have attacked the Saberhawk or not. It’s a computer, so I would expect targeting intended targets only, but who knows.”
“If the Saberhawk didn’t face anything out here, I bet they would have gone straight for the planet,” said Estall. “I don’t know any warrior who wouldn’t rather face a fight on the ground, than be cooped up inside a space ship.”
“According to the records the planet is now inhabited completely by the Vorn. They have colonized it since wiping out all the other Castillian clans there. We’ll have to get closer to the planet before we can scan the surface.”
VOLLEY after volley of pulse fire blazed across the sky toward the perimeter defense shield surrounding the Vorn city of Baeth Periege. General Grod watched with great satisfaction as his forces mounted the assault upon the city. “How long will it hold?” asked Grod.
“Probably another twenty hours at the rate of replenishing.”
“Good, that gives us plenty of time. Is the team ready?”
“Yes sir. They’re waiting for you to join them for the assault.”
Grod headed away from the firing line toward an area to the south. The pulse cannons continued to pound away at the defense shield as the city’s gun systems attempted to repel the attack.
He made his way to a work site away from the main group. Malec was waiting for him with three hundred warriors outfitted for battle. The work site was relatively hidden from view of the city; just as Grod had planned.
“I’ve sent an advance team ahead of us, sir, to begin the breach on the tunnel barricade.”
“Excellent Malec. The intercepts on the local transmissions show t
hat the Baruk may have already answered their distress calls. They could be here within the twenty hours it will take to breach the perimeter shield.”
“Once we have come into the city from this position we will be very close to the cloning facility. We should be able to disable the shield and allow our forces to continue the main assault while we begin the regeneration process,” said Malec.
“Let’s go.”
He moved to the head of the group and into the tunnel they had been working on. It went down into an old magnetic rail system tunnel that had previously connected the city to the compound now controlled by Grod’s forces hundreds of miles away. Once inside, the Horva warriors began their rapid move to enter the city beneath the perimeter shield.
The tunnel had been barricaded at the city entrance, but the small team ahead of the main group would have it breached by the time they arrived. It was imperative to Grod to get to the cloning facility in time to complete the regeneration process before the Baruk could arrive on the planet. If he was to have any hope of success against that fierce race, he would need the advantage of the Barudii kinesis.
The tunnel was dimly lit by the emergency lighting that was still powered by the city. Main power to the entire system was split between Grod’s compound and Baeth Periege, but with the tunnel collapsed many miles from the city perimeter; it had been left abandoned.
Grod’s forces moved swiftly toward the perimeter barrier that had been put in place by the Vorn military. The demolition team Malec had sent would have everything ready by the time they arrived. They were going to use some old salvaged Barudii technology to get through the barrier. It involved dispersion fields and would, with the power they were supplying to the device, completely vaporize the barricade in a moment of time.
It took them about twenty minutes to make it to the position where the demolition team was waiting.
“Is everything ready?” asked Grod.
“Yes, sir,” said one of the team, “we can remove the barricade at any time.”