by James Somers
Then the girl pointed her finger at the team and hissed loudly as the symbytes passed on by her and began to fire at the team.
“She’s one of them!” shouted Grod as he began to fire his plasma weapon into the approaching crowd.
“They’re coming from over here too!” said Tiet as he ignited a kemstick and began to repel incoming blaster fire.
“They’re mentally linked to one another,” said Wynn. “We’ve got to get out of here fast or they’ll be on us from every direction!”
The group began to run as fast as they could toward the West Quarter Hangar almost a mile away from their position. They returned fire as they ran from the growing mob of symbytes. Some were armed and others, probably recently assimilated to the organism, were not. The blasters they were using were set to the maximum setting. They definitely weren’t trying to capture and assimilate Tiet’s team.
The Horva soldiers were returning fire using their plasma gloves. But the laser-fire coming from the symbytes was beginning to overwhelm the small team. Some of the Horva were shot and killed. As the team passed another alleyway, some of the Horva toward the rear were cut off as the symbytes poured out of the alley, attacking them.
“They’re everywhere!” shouted Grod as blaster shots rang into his E.M. shield.
Tiet and Wynn rebounded incoming shots with their kemsticks and shielded themselves kinetically, but the onslaught was becoming more than they could handle. The sheer number of symbytes pursuing them was unbelievable. It appeared the whole city was now a part of these organisms.
Finally the hangar came into view, but the streets were filled with symbytes coming from all directions.
“We’re cut off!!” shouted Wynn above the sounds of the mob’s footsteps and gunfire.
“Into the building!!” shouted Tiet as he ran for the entrance to the building adjacent to the hangar complex.
“We’ll be pinned in!” said Grod as he reluctantly followed.
“Too late for that now,” said Wynn at his side.
Once inside, Tiet headed for the stairs and ran up as fast as he could with the others following.
“Where are we going?” asked one of the soldiers.
“The roof!” said Tiet from way up ahead.
Only ten people remained of their group now. The others were gunned down or torn apart by the symbyte mob. They encountered only minimal resistance on the way toward the roof. Those who came at them from within the mostly empty building were quickly dispatched by Tiet up ahead of the rest of the surviving team members.
When they reached the roof, Tiet was already at the western side looking out over the distance between them and the eastern launch platform of the hangar complex.
“We can make it!” shouted Tiet.
“Sure, we can, but what about the others?” said Wynn coming up beside him.
“We’ll get to a ship and bring it back over here.”
“Those things are already coming through the building after us. There isn’t time; there must be another way,” said Wynn.
“No! There is no other way,” said Grod as he joined them.
“But, Grod, we—”
“No, my friend. This is the only way. Go! We’ll do our best to hold our own here.”
Wynn knew they were right. He clipped his kemstick and then he and Tiet took a short run to the ledge and jumped. They carried themselves across the entire expanse kinetically and soft landed on the eastern platform. Without stopping, they ran into the hangar area out of Grod’s sight, as they went looking for a ship to take.
The building was tall but not very wide. It only had a few access doors to the roof and Grod stationed himself and the other Horva soldiers in positions to defend those exits. At least, he thought, they can only file through the doors a couple at a time.
Wynn and Tiet broke into the first sizeable troop transport they could find.
“I don’t have the right access code,” said Wynn as he punched the keys on the panel with frustration.
Tiet didn’t answer. He turned to find him concentrating on the controls mentally. Wynn heard a beeping from the display and the engines fired up immediately.
“Excellent!”
“I had a good teacher,” replied Tiet with a grin as he jumped into the pilot’s seat and took over the controls.
The transport lifted off of the platform and headed for the bay entrance.
When the transport climbed to the level of the roof on the adjacent building they could see the remainder of the team blasting away furiously at the symbytes pouring through the roof access doors. As one person was being hit by the plasma weapons the others would jump through over top of them. The roof was quickly becoming overrun.
Tiet brought the transport down near the few team members who were left; five more had been overrun by symbytes and had been pummeled by the crowd or thrown over the side of the building to their deaths. Grod and the others ran for the transport with symbytes hot on their trail, firing with blasters.
Wynn took the controls of the mounted gun turret through an access panel behind the pilot’s chair and began to fire into the crowd of symbytes chasing after the Horva. He mowed them down as Grod and two others jumped into the transport.
Tiet wasted no time lifting away from the roof. Several of the symbytes tried to jump and cling onto the transport but they quickly fell off over the city as Tiet brought the engines to full power.
“We’ve got to get to the wilds before they catch Mirah and the boys,” he said plotting the navigation data into the computer.
“I only hope we’re in time,” said Grod.
KALE adjusted the controls slightly to keep on course for the campsite that he and Emil had previously scouted out for their post trial outing. It was located deep in the wilds. They had relished the idea of a rigorous survival trip, but had never intended on this.
The Whiplash glided just above the massive treetops as the sun began to set. Electronic eyes watched from orbit above the planet. A skynet satellite locked onto the fast-moving target. The satellite network had been intended to help repel invaders, but was now under the control of the symbytes.
The satellite’s laser focused to a tight beam as the guidance system compensated for the speed of the target. A precise pinpoint shot was needed to bring the ship down in a controllable fashion.
The satellite fired from the silence of space. Onboard the Whiplash, the fighter rocked with the blast that took out its engine cooling system.
“We’ve lost the coolant system, something hit us, but I can’t find it on the scope.”
“The temperature will go up fast if I don’t bring her down. How far to the campsite?”
“We’re still twenty minutes out.”
“That’s too far. I’ve got to find a place to land now.”
“I’m scanning the terrain…I’ve got something...I’m loading the coordinates.”
Kale changed his course to reflect the new landing zone on his display. Smoke billowed from the laser burn on the hull as the engine began to heat up rapidly. He slowed the speed and spotted the clearing among the massive trees as he began to land the ship before it exploded.
“Kale?! Kale?! What’s going on, where are we?”
“Hold on, Mother, we’re on landing approach.”
He continued the landing and got the ship safely on the ground. Smoke still billowed out of the laser burn as the ship’s engines powered down.
“The engines is still at critical temperature, Kale, we’d better hurry.”
He popped the latch on the spare compartment and quickly helped his mother out of the space.
“Where are we?”
“Out in the wilds. We didn’t know where else to go with the military conducting attacks on us and at Wynn’s home.”
“What about your father?”
“We don’t know where he is.”
Mirah looked worried, as if the worst may have happened to her husband.
“Mother, I know he’s aliv
e, with Wynn. I can sense it.”
“Well, what now, have we been followed?”
“I think so. They shot us down somehow, but we never saw them. They have to know our location; it’s only a matter of time before they find us. Our best chance is to set out on foot.”
“On foot? In the wilds?”
“Wild animals are the least of our worries now.”
“Could they track us on foot?” asked Emil.
“I don’t know, but all the wildlife out here might just mask us enough to keep them guessing.”
The engine compartment continued to smolder more and more, then the whole ship began to burn.
“We’d better get out of here before it explodes,” said Emil.
“Let’s go.”
The trio gathered the gear they had available and headed out cautiously into the cover of the dense jungle foliage.
“SIR, we’re picking up some burning wreckage approximately ten miles ahead west by southwest.”
“Good, their ship is down, which means they’ll be nearby on foot,” said Lucin. “I want you to scan for any group of three human size life forms traveling away from us; it will be them. Then I want the transport, with our little gift, to swing in front of their heading and drop her one mile ahead in their path.”
“Sir, the ship that the King took from the hangar has not been located yet.”
“Once we have the boy, it won’t matter anymore.”
XVIII
GROD could not believe what he was seeing on the display. The image was pulled from one of the skynet satellites by Wynn. He still had access to the data, but the weapons systems were controlled by the symbytes now.
On the display was the site of his home at Nagon-Toth. The entire compound was now nothing more than smoldering rubble and layer upon layer of sand baked to glass. This explained what had happened to the transgate portal back at the detention center. Somehow they had planted a bomb there or sent one through the portal after they left it to rescue Tiet.
His people and his wife were all gone. Only the few of his Horva brothers with him in the ship survived now; and his son, he hoped.
“I’m so sorry, Grod,” said Tiet sitting next to him.
He tried to offer consolation to his friend. Grod could not weep. Instead his grief welled into anger so powerful he found himself almost unable to sit still. He looked at his remaining two warriors, Jael and Merab, still sitting near the front of the transport; he would wait to share the demise of their people; wait until they reached the enemy on the ground. Then they would be free to unleash their fury upon these symbyte creatures without reservation.
Grod looked at Wynn through narrow eyes and he placed his hand upon the Horva general’s shoulder.
“Soon my friend, soon you will have vengeance,” he whispered.
They were the only words of comfort that could have been offered. Wynn was truly his friend and had been since the end of the Baruk war when he knew of the Horva rescue of Tiet and his late brother Kale. And he was right; he would take his vengeance soon upon these creatures. He thought of his son Emil and recovering him safely and it quieted his spirit somewhat.
The wilds were before them now. Tiet pressed the engines hard toward a destination only he could sense; toward his son. He knew the boy was alive; there was no doubt within him.
KALE and the others moved as quickly as possible through the dense vegetation. Emil took the point position and whacked away at the large undergrowth with a kemstick while Kale helped his mother along; she was still a little shaky from being stunned by the soldiers. Every so often they thought they heard the faint sound of engines, then it would fade and be gone completely leaving only the sounds of the indigenous wildlife.
All manner of creatures, both deadly and benign, lived in the wilds and the boys knew very well the dangers they might have to face other than the military after them. They thought better than to share those possibilities with Mirah.
Emil was a good twenty feet ahead of them in the foliage which seemed to instantly replace the cut vegetation with more to bar their way.
“Kale! I’ve found something! Someone!” shouted Emil from up ahead.
They rushed ahead to where Emil was standing. Just beyond, half hidden in the bushes was a little girl of no more than four. She was staring at them with a terrified look on her face as though she might attempt to run at any moment.
“It’s alright, Honey,” said Mirah as she knelt to try and coax the child from her hiding place.
“Monsters, trying to get me,” said the little girl through lips that quivered as though she were freezing out here in the hot jungle air.
“I know, Honey. We won’t let any monsters get you. Come here, it’s alright, you’re safe now,” consoled Mirah.
The girl eased herself out of the brush and began to walk toward Mirah. Kale scanned around trying to see if the soldiers were nearby or if he could hear any whining of their engines. The girl reached Mirah and then dodged around her and ran to Kale; jumping into his arms before he knew what was happening.
“Hold me, Mister,” begged the girl as she trembled in his arms.
“Well,” said Mirah with complete surprise and a little hurt motherly pride. “I guess she prefers you.”
“What should I do?”
“Hold her.”
Kale sensed something unusual about her but he could not place the feeling.
“What’s your name?” asked Mirah.
“Monsters, chasing me; they took my father…. I ran away from the monsters.”
“But, what’s your name?” asked Kale.
“Don’t let the monsters get me, Mister,” said the girl trembling as she clung to his clothing.
“I won’t let them get you.”
“Kale, we need to keep moving,” advised Emil.
“You’re right.”
“I’ll take point again,” said Emil as he reignited his kemstick and moved ahead of them into the undergrowth.
They followed with Kale still holding the little girl. Her arms were wrapped tight around his neck and her legs around his waist as they made their way behind Emil.
“SIR, our scans show they have taken the girl. The four of them are moving south of our position.”
“Very good. Bring us ahead of them one mile…at this clearing here,” said Lucin as he punched the info into his display. “We’ll lay out our troops here and wait for them. We’ll awaken the girl just before they reach the ambush.”
“Yes, Sir. I’m bringing us to the new coordinates.”
Grod sat down next to Tiet as he piloted the stolen transport. Wynn stood behind him.
“Tiet, I have to speak to you,” said Grod.
“What is it?”
“I think we have to consider what we’re going to do if we can recover the boys.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, considering what we saw trying to get through the city, and if this has been happening in all the other cities…” said Wynn.
“We can’t stay on this planet,” finished Grod.
“What? But there might be a way to…”
“Tiet, its over,” said Wynn.
They were sobering words to his ears and he couldn’t reply. He had no words to confront the facts being forced on him now. He had ruled this society, this planet, for fifteen years, and it was all shattering to pieces around him. He had often thought of how far this brotherhood between the Vorn and Horva could go; of what could be achieved and how his rule would only be the beginning of the greatness that would be realized in the future for them.
And yet the undermining of it all had been building like a disease that grows silently unnoticed in the body until it is discovered too late to save the person’s life. He had been living a fantasy all this time and it was time to wake up.
“Tiet, we thought we had beaten the Baruk but all this time those creatures have been continuing the war and we are beaten. We’re beaten,” said Wynn.
“We ha
ve to escape this planet,” continued Grod.
“How. Where could we go?”
“I have an idea about that,” said Grod. “When the Horva acquired the compound at Nagon-Toth from the Vorn military, we also stumbled upon a secret underground compound linked to it by a hidden tunnel from inside the compound. This is where we acquired the transgate portal from, but that’s not all that was there.”
They listened more intently now.
“There was a prototype transgate, only it was implanted in a ship. We never got around to testing the ship’s ability to create and enter a portal, but according to the data we found in the chamber it had been done successfully; there were even a number of test planets and their coordinates left in the ship’s computer. I think they might have been trying to prepare for conquering them, but we could escape to one of them and the Symbytes would have no way of finding or following us.”
Tiet thought about all that had happened in the last hours and his own wife and child still on the run. They were right and he knew it. He had no other ideas to offer in the situation.
“Let’s do it. Once we have Mirah and the children we’ll make a run for your ship.”
Wynn and Grod looked relieved as though they thought he might not be willing to leave; as though he might not be willing to give up on all he had tried to build. The irony for Tiet was that Wynn had been the one who had nearly twisted his arm into accepting the council’s proposal to ascend to his father’s throne.
“Look’s like we’re entering the wilds,” said Grod.
“I’ll begin scanning for their life signatures,” said Wynn. “It shouldn’t take us long to pick them up and any ships that are in the area.”
“Once we have their position,” said Tiet. “We’ll evacuate them and dust off as quickly as possible.”
Wynn eyed Grod whose composure changed quickly at that suggestion, but Tiet was already aware of what the proposal meant for his old Horva friend.
“Grod, I know you want revenge, believe me I would like almost nothing more than to join you in that fight; nothing more that is except to save my wife and our children and hopefully get off of this rock with our lives. You and Wynn talked to me about a hopeless fight and you’re right. Now our priority has to be saving them and getting away safely.”