Timestar

by Robert George Mertens

  "My price? I don't understand," Frank said, puzzled.

  "You will, my friend. You will. The audience is over. Good day."

  "Good day to you, your highness."

  Twelve

  Frank and his three escorts were returned to his suite, and Frank was left to ponder the Emperor's words. Perhaps the attack on Maria was in part, his own doing. Maybe he had been a little too vociferous about his views on slavery. But the Emperor had also told him he had a small faction of Iskolian followers. This meant something. It meant to him that maybe Iskolians were not all bad. Some, apparently, did not believe in slavery and were willing to do something about it. But the Emperor had also warned that Frank had invited his own assassination. After seeing what had happened to Maria, there was no doubt that he was no longer indestructible. He could no longer do as he pleased and go where he wanted to go on this world. Iskol had not shown him the real weapons of destruction before. Mangle could have sat on a ton of dynamite and gone through the blast without so much as a scratch. But a spy/slave with a hand-held weapon had penetrated the neutronium skin and disabled Mangle. Frank decided that tomorrow, he would leave this world for good.

  ~

  "Frank, it's Sandy. Frank! Wake up! It's Sandy."

  "Wha—what's going on?" Frank woke up.

  "We're being attacked!"

  "What!" Frank jumped out of his bed.

  "Eight of those Okofani warships have arrived! They're attacking us now!"

  "Oh no." Frank said, now angry with himself for not leaving Iskol sooner.

  "Oh yes. And we're barely holding them off. We got one of them with a neutron torpedo, and we've damaged a couple… too much… us… handle. We're… be out… range… while. We… leave orbit… more maneuvering… You… get out… there… be… attempt… life."

  "What? I can't understand you. Say again. Repeat your message."

  "must… jam… signal… net. Ask… net… back."

  "We must leave immediately, sir, Trong said to him. "Net has informed me that an attempt on your life is in progress at this moment."

  "Wait, am I missing anything," Frank stopped to look around.

  "There is no time to wait, sir. We must leave now," Trong repeated.

  "Okay, let's go," Frank agreed. The foursome ran to the door and into the hallway.

  "Where to," Frank asked.

  "This way, sir." Trong led the way at a pace that Frank could keep up with. Crush and Batter took up the rearguard. Shots rang over their heads. Crush stopped while the other three continued on. A storm brewed behind them, and in minutes, the whole Imperial Palace was in an uproar.

  Palace Guards were everywhere fending off Okofani warriors and as they weaved their way through the palace, they eventually came upon some. Trong stopped and returned fire, and in moments the way was cleared. As he ran, Frank saw the destruction being made of the palace. The floors were littered with the bodies of the Imperial Guard and Okofani warriors. Some of the Okofani bodies were made that way by Trong.

  They made their way to a locked door. A moment later the door disappeared through the smoke, somewhere down the hall, and the three flew down a stairwell. Frank was out of breath, but continued to run, following Trong. Batter was still behind him but Crush was nowhere in sight.

  Frank thought he had run down a thousand steps when they finally reached the bottom. He heard the doors far above being blasted and bashed. Shots echoed through the stairwell as they exited. They were in the below ground levels. These were the slave quarters. Frank knew this from the meager living conditions. It was cramped and both warbots had to hunker down in order to run through the halls. Old and young slaves alike stood in the halls outside their doors, but quickly ducked inside as the three passed. They turned a few corners and came to a large double-doored exit. They stopped for a moment.

  "Pass required for exit," the voice came from the door.

  A moment later the two heavy doors lay on the floor, still demanding to see a pass.

  They found themselves in a terminal. Frank looked around and saw that it looked like a small subway terminal.

  "The tram will be here shortly," Trong said, taking a hint from Frank's worried look.

  As promised, the tram arrived in two minutes. The three hopped on the tram and waited for the doors to close. The air filled the noise of fighting. It came from the doorway to the palace. The doors closed and the tram heaved forward. Watching out the window, Frank saw Crush exit the doors and take cover around the wall. He was returning fire at something or some things. A moment later Crush was out of sight.

  The tram was empty of traffic, since it was well past curfew and this was a slave tram. One or two slaves could be located in other cars, but these would have special passes to be out so late. Ten minutes into the ride, the back door of the car was bashed in and Crush walked through to join them.

  "Don't you guys ever open doors the regular way?" Frank asked. The three warbots stared at him, earnestly wondering what he meant.

  They stayed on the tram for half an hour and got off at another station. At which point, they waited five more minutes and another tram came along. This terminal had one slave in it. The slave did not move an inch the whole time they were there. They hopped on the second tram and rode it past several other terminals. This ride was also half an hour.

  "Wouldn't it be quicker to just fly me there," Frank asked.

  "There is much battle taking place above the surface and in the air, sir. This is much safer," Trong answered.

  The third terminal they arrived at was in the middle of a riot. Patrollers were having a hard time with an angry crowd of slaves that wanted to hop a tram.

  "We have to get off here, sir."

  "Can't we wait for the next terminal?" Frank asked.

  "That will take us back into the city, and more fighting," Trong replied. "We'll keep this crowd under control."

  The tram stopped and Frank could hear and see the yelling and fighting in the terminal. Patrollers stood in front of the slaves barring their way, and used slavestingers to keep the crowd under control.

  The doors of the tram opened and Crush and Batter stepped out. At once, the noise and fighting stopped. The Patrollers looked around to see what had affected such a change in their charges. No one moved. Crush and Batter moved forward to allow room for Frank and Trong to exit the tram. The crowd backed up a meter or two.

  One of the patrollers got brave and decided to speak up. "What are you doing in here? This tram is for slaves only."

  Crush moved forward and approached the patroller. "Quiet please. We'll leave in a few minutes. Until then, remain calm and do nothing," he said.

  "Certainly," the patroller replied, after a pause.

  For the next ten minutes, the crowd of slaves and patrollers was stone quiet. The next tram arrived and the four passengers boarded it. As they left the terminal, the noise of rioting resumed.

  The ride to the next terminal took twenty-five minutes. When the tram stopped, Frank was ready for some new scenery. They got off it and headed for a stairwell leading up. The four climbed the stairwell and found themselves on the surface of the planet. Frank looked around to see that he was on a farm. The animals were strange to him, but a farm could be basically recognized as such. They walked to the barn nearby, and went in. Going to the back of the barn, Trong picked up some stuff that looked like oats and handed it to Frank.

  "You must feed this to the beast to enter, sir. If we try, the animal will become nervous and make noise, arousing its owner."

  Frank fingered the substance. It felt somewhat like oats, and yet it was not. He reached out to feed the animal. For a moment the animal backed away, eyeing him. Then it cautiously moved forward and accepted the food. Slowly, Trong eased his way into the stall, brushed away some haylike substance and opened the trapdoor at the back of it. Quickly he made his way down.

  "You next, sir," Batter said.

  Frank walked to the back of the stall and saw the hole in the floo
r. He reached down to feel around, finding the rungs of a ladder. He eased down into the hole and carefully climbed down the ladder. He heard more clattering and stepped away to allow the next climber to come down. In another minute, the four of them were standing in total darkness.

  "Our operatives are nearby, sir. We'll be in a safe place shortly."

  "I can't see anything," Frank said.

  "Follow me, sir," Trong replied.

  Three dim lights came on, and the path was clear. Again, Trong led the way. They went through several passageways and finally came to a door. The three warbots shut off their lights. Frank could see nothing at all, but heard the door open and Trong walk in.

  "Do not fire. We bring you the Chosen One," he said.

  "What?" Frank said.

  The room lit up and lamps were focused on Trong. Frank stood in the doorway, and heard gasps as he walked in.

  "It's Him!" came a voice from somewhere.

  "The Chosen One!" another voice.

  "He's here!"

  "Quiet!" came another voice. "How do we know it's him?"

  "It doesn't matter how you know," Trong's voice was controlled and authoritative. "Lower your weapons. Your toys will not harm us. No one leaves here until I say. Any attempt to leave will be met with force. Turn away the spotlights."

  The lights were turned away and other lights were turned on. At once, Frank saw that the entire room was filled with slaves. Three slaves sat at a table near the front of the room.

  The slave sitting at the middle of the table stood and introduced himself.

  "I am Gaf," he said.

  "I warn you again to lower your weapons," Trong replied. Some slaves still had weapons aimed at Frank and his warbots.

  "Do it," Gaf ordered. Weapons were lowered. "How can you prove who you are?"

  "It is not necessary for us to do so," Trong replied. Trong and Crush scanned the entire room as a radar set would, and on cue, raised weapons into the crowd of slaves and fired. Two slaves went down immediately and the rest were stirred up, raising their weapons again and yelling.

  "You just killed two of our comrades!" Gaf blurted out, shocked.

  "If you examine the bodies, you'll find they are not your comrades," Trong replied.

  "They're damned Listeners," came from the crowd of angry slaves. Murmuring arose.

  "What? But how? They passed the 'Test'."

  "It is important for our master to find a safe place to rest and hide," Trong said.

  "Come with me," Gaf answered.

  Trong and Frank followed Gaf while Crush and Batter stayed behind to guard the slaves from leaving.

  They went through several underground corridors and passed many darkened rooms, finally arriving at, and entering one. This room was lit with a small lamp on a table next to the far wall. Two slaves sat within and made room for their three new guests.

  Gaf went in first and sat down on the small carpet on the floor. Frank went in next and did the same. Finally came Trong, who had to lower his head and shoulders to get in.

  "We can't stay here, Trong. Those two spies must've told the Iskolians about this place," Frank said.

  "Net is presently researching that information," Trong replied, "We'll know soon enough if they do, sir."

  "Those two were not with us very long," Gaf interrupted, "Maybe they haven't had a chance to tell anyone about us."

  "Wishful thinking, my brother. Wishful thinking," the slave sitting next to him said. "It's more likely they're waiting to get us all at once, or as many as possible."

  "Who are you people?" Frank asked.

  "We are the slave rebellion. We meet here often to discuss our plans to make ourselves free from the tyranny of the Iskolians. We've been waiting many years for the Chosen One, who we think is you, to arrive and help us," Gaf answered.

  "I've heard this before," Frank said, "but I assure you, as I assured the slave 'Tog', I'm not the one you seek."

  "You know of Tog?"

  "Yes. Why?"

  "We haven't seen or heard of him since his meeting with the Chosen One. Did he meet with you?"

  "Yes, he did. He was captured by the ISS."

  "No," Gaf said, downtrodden.

  "He's still alive," Frank said.

  "What?"

  "They couldn't get a full conviction against him. He was sentenced to four hundred lashes and life in the deep mines."

  "This is news. Bad news. Tog is my uncle. He's the one who kept the image of the Chosen One. Somehow it was returned to us, but he wasn't."

  "It'll be morning soon, sir. What shall we do about the slaves in the meeting room? They'll be missed if they're forced to stay here," Trong said.

  "Good question," Frank said.

  "They're all devoted rebels," Gaf replied.

  "Like the two we just disposed of?" Frank asked.

  "If you knew those two were spies on sight, then you know the rest of us are real. And the fact that the Iskolians have to use aliens to infiltrate our ranks shows that we don't betray our own kind. The Iskolians have found that we won't cooperate with them as spies." Gaf argued.

  "The slave has a point, sir," Trong agreed.

  "They will be missed," Gaf urged.

  "Alright. But check them out thoroughly before letting them go."

  "Compliance. Orders have been relayed."

  "Now I need a place to rest for a while. I've only had half a night's sleep and I'm tired."

  "Right here, sir," Gaf insisted, "This room is mine but I'll find another. Please."

  "Thank you. I must rest."

  Trong and the three slaves left the room and Frank fell over where he sat. The night had been stressful and he now had a mind to sleep off the rest of it. Trong stood guard at his door and the slaves were going home happy. With this in mind, he fell asleep.

  Thirteen

  It was graveyard shift with Sandy and Anna at the helm. "What is it?" Anna asked, quietly. Everything aboard the ship was quiet. Everyone was asleep but them.

  "The Patroller craft are moving away," Sandy replied.

  "They are?"

  "Yes. They've been moving away very slowly for the last hour."

  "Maybe they're just drifting," Anna suggested.

  "Maybe. But why all three of them?"

  "Something's going on," Anna said suspiciously.

  "Like what?" Sandy asked.

  "Like maybe those Okofani starships are around here. Check shipping traffic."

  Sandy looked at another imager. "Give me a graphic, Dyna. Let's keep an eye on shipping traffic. If anything changes, let me know."

  "Compliance, Anna" Dyna said.

  "There's no change in shipping traffic," Sandy said to Anna.

  "Are the Patrollers still backing away?"

  "Sandy looked at another imager. "Yep. They sure are."

  "Dyna, go to long scan, please," Anna said.

  "Compliance. Scan increased to one hundred thousand kilometers," Dyna said.

  "Anything?" Sandy asked.

  "Just normal shipping traffic," Anna responded.

  "Okay, Dyna. Give me a projection on this graph for incoming traffic," Sandy requested.

  "Compliance. Projection complete."

  "Looks like we have a lump, here." Sandy said.

  "Oh?"

  "What's the standard deviation, Dyna?"

  "Plus or minus three," Dyna answered.

  "What's our excess?" Sandy asked.

  "Eight."

  "Uh oh."

  "What's the matter?" Anna asked.

  "There are at least five starships, and possibly eleven that don't belong out there." Sandy said.

  "Dyna, go to Alert Condition Yellow. No alarms yet. Bring up all weapons and defense systems, and power-up the drives," Anna ordered.

  " Compliance. All systems to Alert ConditionYellow."

  "Shall I wake up the rest of the crew?" Sandy asked.

  "Not yet. Get Nikki and Tia up here to man the weapons systems."

  "What do you
have on the long-range scan, Anna?"

  "Eight. And they're moving in fast. They're not slowing down at all."

  "This is it!"

  "Dyna, go to Alert Conditon Red. Shields up. Short scan on those eight, but keep a long scan for others."

  "Compliance."

  Alarms went off all over the ship just as Nikki and Tia arrived on the bridge.

  "What's up?" Tia asked.

  "Weapons consoles. Hurry! We have eight bogies."

  "What?"

  "Just check your imagers," Anna said.

  "What's with the alarms, Sandy?" Suni called over the corn link.

  "Bogies. We think they're Okofani."

  "I'll be right up."

  "Projected course, Dyna."

  The wall imager came alive with a tactical view of eight spacecraft and their projected courses. The lines intersected with the Butterworth.

  "Tactical evasive, Dyna," Anna ordered.

  "Compliance."

  "Sandy, call Frank and tell him we're in trouble, will you."

  "Will do," Sandy replied.

  "What now?" Nikki asked.

  "Just wait. Let them fire the first shot… then give them hell." Anna said.

  "Net says there's something happening on the planet," Sandy reported.

  "What?" Anna said.

  "Also, there's an assassination in progress. Someone's going to kill Frank," Sandy said.

  "Did you get hold of him yet?"

  "I'm trying to wake him up. He's sleeping." Sandy continued trying to contact Frank.

  "What happened to the Patrollers?" Nikki asked.

  "Gone," Anna said.

  "Missiles launched!" Anna cried. "Evasive, Dyna. Fire weapons as targeted." Anna ordered.

  "I have neutron torpedoes!" Nikki said.

  Suni came onto the bridge and took a flight chair to survey the situation. She allowed herself a few minutes to wake up and find out what was going on before she took the helm.

  "Ready?" Anna asked her.

  "No, not yet," Suni replied.

  Missiles were closing fast. The wall imager blazed with streaks and colors. Tia was using the laser cannons to take out incoming missiles. And was not having much luck. The things were evading their beams.