by James Somers
On board the airbus, Wynn’s com-link beeped at him from his collar pin.
“Wynn here.”
“Wynn have you heard what’s happened to Tiet?!”
“I know our troops have turned on us. I was just attacked by a full squad at my home.”
“Councilman Teman told me that Tiet has killed High Councilman Licoure, but I don’t believe it.”
“Of course he didn’t, but where is he now?”
“Teman said that Estall has arrested him and placed him in a special containment chamber of some sort, but I’m not sure where.”
“I know where it is. But why did the council order the attack on me?”
“I’m not sure; Teman didn’t mention anything about you at all. Something is happening, Wynn, something behind the scenes.”
“When I was under attack I sensed what I believe was the presence of the symbiotic creature that inhabited the Baruk years ago. I wouldn’t trust anyone at this point. Anyone associated with the council or Estall and the military should not be trusted; in fact I think we should meet up at Nagon-Toth until we can decide what to do.”
“How could those things have survived? I thought we wiped out the Baruk?”
“I don’t know; it just doesn’t make any sense.”
“I have a meeting with the Council in two hours; they say they’re going to decide what to do with Tiet.”
“Skip it. It’s not safe to be around them now. It could be a trap. They know you are affiliated with Tiet. Just meet me at Grod’s compound as soon as you can.”
“Alright, Daooth out.”
Wynn wasn’t going to the detention facility now. He had no chance of breaking in or out of it with the military guarding Tiet and looking for him. He needed Grod’s help. He had one device that could get them in and out without a problem.
“Driver, change course. I want you to head for the compound at Nagon-Toth.”
“But that’s where the Horva are!”
“It wasn’t a request,” said Wynn leaning to the ear of the driver.
“Yes, Sir.”
XVII
THE Whiplash skimmed above the highest airway lane alone. It was only moments before they had reached the hill where Wynn’s home was located. All that remained of it was a large heap of smoldering debris and one retaining wall. Kale could see the military presence all around it. They had already attacked, but they were still dispersed around the area like they were looking for something.
Kale hovered at a distance but the word must have already gone out to look for them. An armored carrier lifted off and was headed in their direction.
“What do we do?” asked Emil.
“What else, blow it out of the sky!”
Emil locked all guns and fired on the carrier. Sparks and fire billowed across its surface as it continued to come at them.
“It’s still coming!!”
“Armor’s too tough. Hold on!”
Kale brought the Whiplash around and fired the thrusters. The ship gunned away toward the city with the carrier lumbering on behind them. On the scanner several targets came into view.
“We’ve got company!”
Several faster ships took up pursuit as the Whiplash shot into the maze of tall skyscrapers. Kale buzzed around one of the buildings and full throttle came around on one of the pursuing ships. Emil took the initiative and blasted away at the military viper fighter, shredding its rear and midsection. The other three vipers reorganized and took up the pursuit again as the Whiplash spun away from the kill.
A symbyte controlled pilot locked on the Whiplash and fired a homing beacon. It attached to the hull undetected. Their orders were not to engage the ship, just place the homing beacon. The remaining fighters disengaged and the Whiplash burst away from the city toward the wilds beyond.
Normally it would have been a good place to hide with all of the huge trees and jungle area; it was easy to lose a ship in all of it. Most people were lucky to get out alive because of the vicious wildlife that dwelt there, including a large number of the feral Horva. But the tracking device would allow them to find that ship no matter where it went on the planet.
WHEN the airbus arrived at Nagon-Toth, Grod was already waiting on the platform.
“You might as well stay for a while,” said Wynn to the driver.
He nodded nervously as he looked from Wynn to the gathering entourage of Horva on the platform.
The door opened and he descended to his old friend.
“My friend, Daooth has already briefed me on the situation with Tiet. I’m confident you have a rescue in mind, yes?”
“Absolutely. We’ll need the best team you can put together,”
“Of course,”
“And we’ll need to use the transgate to get inside the compound where Tiet is being held.”
“At your disposal, anything you need to set him free,” said Grod. “Daooth told me about some setup for murder.”
“It’s not so much about that, Grod. It’s those symbiotic creatures that controlled the Baruk. They’ve survived somehow all this time since the war; apparently taking up host among our people. They’re behind this plot. I was attacked at my home by scores of soldiers, some under their control and others who have been caught up in this plot unknowingly.”
“What about Mirah and the boys?”
“I’m not sure yet, but I did see the Whiplash running and gunning toward the outskirts of the city, and Kale is the most likely to be flying it.”
“You’re probably right. We’ll concentrate on Tiet and hope for the best.”
“Grod, the boys are well-trained, both of them. They’ll be alright.”
He smiled through the obvious worry he was feeling. “I’m sure you’re right. Now let’s get to work.”
LUCIN walked into the monstrous hangar bay of the main city complex in the form of Estall. Assembled before him was a huge mass of symbyte-controlled soldiers and civilians, at least one hundred thousand of them; all under the influence of his angelic mind.
In all of the twelve cities, groups of symbyte-controlled soldiers and civilians from among both the Castillian and Vorn population were assembled. Lucin spoke to the assembled masses in every city through video feeds and satellite uplink.
“Now is the time. We are ready to ascend to complete power. It is time to assimilate all of those who are not part of my body. Arm yourselves and use stun on our prey if possible. Dead people are of no use to us. However if the warrior Wynn Gareth is found or any of the Horva who might come to his aid, they must be eliminated immediately. The special legion of warriors I have chosen will be with me as we follow the tracking signal and search the wilds for the boy, Kale Soone. Once we have him added to us we will be ready to move beyond this planet and conquer again. Our special envoy is to remain at the detention center guarding the King. He will serve as the bait to lure the Horva into a rescue attempt. Then we will end them. Go now and add to my body.”
The legions in every city moved on command and prepared for the night of conquest to come. Every symbyte-controlled man, woman and child headed out into the cities armed for capture or kill. No one would be spared. All would be liberated from their miserable individual existences to the serenity and power of Lucin’s collective body. What was taken from the Baruk would be restored more gloriously in these peoples and the Lucin would rule again. The boy was the key. The people were obedient at this point but somewhat disconnected. Kale’s powerful mind was what Lucin still needed to connect the people to one another and to him; then they would truly be one.
WYNN watched as the schematics for the detention center scrolled by, until he found the one he wanted. He motioned to the transgate technician to highlight one spot in particular.
“I think this would be a good location to get our team in,” said Wynn. “It’s a large hall that’s behind most of the security barriers and should give us pretty easy access to the chamber where Tiet is being kept.”
“What about going into the cha
mber itself?” asked the technician.
“If Tiet can’t get out of there from the inside then we won’t be able to either,” said Grod. “What about the shield controls for the chamber?”
“We’ll have access from the panel in this room,” said Wynn as he pointed to a place on the schematic.
“Alright then, load up the destination and prepare to activate the gate.”
Grod and Wynn left the console and returned to the jump area. The rest of the strike team was already assembled in the designated area on the chamber floor. There were twenty top notch warriors from among Grod’s elite guard, fully outfitted with plasma weapons, blasters, spicors and E.M. shields. The best of the best to rescue the one man they all still considered to be their king.
Wynn and Grod took up positions in the front as the transgate hummed to life. The technician locked the coordinates and punched the controls to establish the gateway. Before them, a wall of light snapped into place between the gate posts. The team all readied their weapons as the light faded and the destination came into view.
“Lets go get our king back!” shouted Grod to the team as he ran through the field with the others following.
Within the assembly hall of the detention center at Baeth Periege a wall of light snapped into existence. The two guards looking on readied their weapons. Two kemsticks whirled out of the energy portal into the symbyte guards before they could make a sound or fire a shot. The kemsticks flashed shut and then rebounded back to Wynn’s thigh clips as he ran through the portal. The bodies fell as the team began to come through behind Wynn and Grod.
“Those were the only two guarding this room?” asked Grod.
“Apparently,” replied Wynn. “We’ll need to follow this walkway over here.”
They moved through the door, which—surprisingly—opened up without any access code.
Wynn might have thought it odd if he hadn’t been so intent on Tiet’s rescue. He looked at the schematic on his wrist bound display as they proceeded toward the control room and Tiet’s holding chamber. They had designed the chamber to be impregnable and Wynn himself had been the candidate to test it out. He had never supposed they might actually imprison a Barudii inside of it.
When the last of the Horva soldiers had exited the assembly hall and the door had closed again, another door opened and a lone symbyte-controlled Vorn soldier entered the room. He briefly examined the transgate portal before him and then he reached to a small pack on his back and flipped the arming switch on the fusion bomb he carried, then he ran through the portal.
Within the transgate chamber at Nagon-Toth, a group of special commandos caught the target coming through the portal. The symbyte soldier could only make it a few feet within the chamber before he was cut down by the Horva. But it was enough.
The fusion bomb detonated as they continued to fire on the symbyte soldier. They never felt a thing.
Back within the assembly hall of the detention center, the transgate portal flashed then disappeared.
Wynn and Grod’s team continued on toward the control room and encountered minimal resistance getting in. The chamber was completely sealed so that no one could see inside. On the control panel a video feed showed Tiet inside sitting on the floor within a containment field able to dampen the exerted neural energy of his Barudii kinesis.
Wynn punched in his own access code; it was denied as expected. Without further delay he concentrated on the physical controls to the chamber door and began to manipulate them mentally. In moments the locking mechanism gave way. He located the power conduits feeding into the wall of the chamber that controlled the containment field and sliced his blade through them.
Grod opened the chamber door as the field went down around Tiet. He was already up on his feet heading for the door when he spotted Grod. As he joined them in the control room, Wynn tossed him a pair of kemsticks.
“What took you so long?” he asked with a grin on his face.
“Sorry, I got caught up in a game of tag with the military,” replied Wynn slyly. “I think the creature that was in control of the Baruk is responsible for all of this.”
“Absolutely. Estall, or what used to be Estall, confronted me in the chamber. They set me up for murder to get a clear shot at Kale; they want to use his power for themselves.”
“They’ve already been by your home; I saw the Whiplash gunning toward the outskirts of the city.”
“It had to be Kale. I can track the ship’s location,” he said as he made his way to a control panel keyboard.
“You’d better hurry, the symbytes will no doubt have realized we are here by now,” said Grod as he scanned the video displays monitoring the different hallways and rooms in the detention center. He couldn’t spot anyone on the monitors; no one at all.
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that these monitors are showing no one in the building but us. They’ve got to be nearby waiting to ambush us.”
“I’ve got it; the Whiplash is currently in an area of the wilds.”
“The boys’ campsite?” asked Grod.
“I think that’s a good guess. Let’s go.”
The group began to make their way cautiously back to the transgate portal. Several of the commando leaders took up the point position on the way back. At each open doorway they flashed three fingers skyward to signal a clear room or hall.
“I don’t like this,” said Grod over again. “It’s a trap.”
“Yeah, but all we have to do is get to the portal and it won’t matter,” said Wynn as they continued through the corridors.
Finally they reached the main assembly hall door and watched it open. The point man’s fingers once again went skyward then he paused and looked at the other soldier next to him in disbelief then back to Grod.
“Sir, the portal is gone!” he whispered harshly.
“What!?”
Grod, Wynn and Tiet ran to the doorway and peered in. The portal was simply not there; no Symbytes, no nothing.
“Grod, could they have blocked the portal somehow; jammed the transmission?” asked Tiet.
“I don’t think so, but I’m not sure.”
Then a sound rang overhead, like a speaker coming on somewhere.
“Hello, General Grod, I assume you have Tiet with you and perhaps even the clever Wynn Gareth? No matter, this is not a social call.”
“It’s that thing that’s taken over Estall,” said Tiet.
“You may have noticed that your escape route back to Nagon-Toth is missing. That is, Nagon-Toth is missing now. And in a few seconds you will join them. Where can you run when your world goes boom?”
“A bomb!” said Wynn and Tiet looking at each other.
“We’ll never get out of here in time,” said one of the soldiers.
“The chamber where they kept Tiet, is it strong enough?” asked Grod quickly.
“Only one way to find out.”
LUCIN was still speaking through the voice of Estall, but they were too busy running to listen. On board his transport he watched the monitor and the group of soldiers that were running back out of the room. He reached for the control panel and keyed in a code for the device he had left in the detention center. It wasn’t as powerful as what was sent through the portal to take out Nagon-Toth, but it would be sufficient to destroy the detention center. He pressed the button to detonate. The monitor went blank as he looked out the window at the jungle terrain of the wilds passing below. That’s one problem solved; now to find the boy.
WHEN the door to the detention chamber opened again, the control room beyond was gone; only fire remained. As the team looked out of their hold, they could see that most of the building’s superstructure had been blown away by the bomb that had been planted, but they were still alive.
They emerged quickly and found a trail through the rubble and fiery debris. As they came beyond the building’s perimeter it became apparent that the buildings around were damaged from the blast as well. Several of them looked structurally unsound.
They reformed their group as screams came to their ears. People were being attacked; maybe hundreds of them. The blast site was clear of people all around, but when the team rounded the corner of a nearby building they could see hundreds of people being stunned and attacked by thousands upon thousands of the symbyte-controlled citizens.
They stayed in the shadows watching as mobs of the creatures that had formerly been normal people ravaged through the streets attacking any non-symbyte they could find. Once they had someone, their hands burst into spiny tentacles that were plunged down the throats of their victims, delivering the seed of the creature into its host. Tiet, Wynn and Grod watched in horror as the victims were left on the ground gasping, only to rise again within minutes under the control of the beast within.
“There are too many to fight,” said Grod.
“He’s right,” said Tiet, “We’ve got to withdraw. We need a ship to get to the wilds and help Mirah and the boys.”
“Are you sure Mirah is with them?” asked Grod.
“I just sense it. They’re safe for the moment, but Kale must know he’s being followed.”
“We could probably make it to the West Quarter Hangar without to much trouble,” suggested Wynn.
“Wait…look,” said one of the team members.
When they looked behind their position they could see a young Castillian girl, probably no more than four years old, staring at them with a blank expression on her face from an alley way. She looked like she had been through a rough time and her clothes were tattered and torn with several blood stains visible.
“Come here, little girl,” said one of the team members.
The little girl waited until a large group of symbytes were coming down the alley behind her.
“Come on, hurry!” shouted the team member again to the little girl.