by Ronan Frost
Huso took a moment to consider. "We've been travelling for six hours. My guess is that we shall be there very soon. And once we're there, you'll certainly find your fair share of action. Last time we left that camp it was swarming with life."
"Capac's doing, I suspect."
Huso grinned. "He is a cunning mad man. He single handedly threw the camp into chaos and within seconds had the entire Sunlord army on top of us."
"How did you get out?"
"We ran like rabbits. We used some bush tricks to try and shake them off, like doubling back on our trail and climbing trees. Unfortunately the scroching Sunlords always seemed to be able to pick us up again. You should have seen our path, it twisted all over the countryside."
"Where you afraid?"
"I didn't have time to be afraid. All my attention was with Capac as we plotted how to throw the Sunlords off, at the same time as running full pelt through the dark jungle."
Ashian's eyes lit up with respect. He opened his mouth to speak but the burly Eloprin cut him off.
"Shh. Capac's seen something."
Huso sank into a crouch, his ears perked. Up ahead Capac withdrew his long bladed hunter's knife from his belt. His hands moved in a complicated array of motions.
"What's he say?" whispered Ashian.
"We are near the camp," returned Huso. "Follow behind me."
Huso rose slightly and crept between the undergrowth, Ashian close behind. A minute later they were level with Capac and Myshia.
Capac readied his grip on the rifle. "I'm going in first. I just hope this thing doesn't fail on me." He shot a glance at Ashian, for the rifle had been his idea. "If I meet any opposition I will signal, Huso, you know the code. Myshia, cover me with your bow."
The female complied by setting an arrow into her bow. On a silent command they began their pace again.
Ashian was surprised at how quiet his surrounds had become. Capac made off so silently he seemed to float along between the trees, his rifle held at the ready. Myshia followed at a distance in the treeline with her longbow pulled taught, her camouflaged and almost naked body blending with the backdrop. Huso whispered to his Currach companion.
"You must be quiet. Follow my footsteps."
Ashian nodded and Huso started in the direction Capac had made off in. Ashian followed as best as he was able, his feet seeming to large and clumsy. They walked in this fashion for a further ten minutes, arranged in a rough arrowhead formation.
Ashian prayed quietly, almost fervently, before turning his attention to his surroundings. They followed a dried creek bed that twisted its way between the hilltops, and judging by Capac's cautiousness, they were very close.
Abruptly Capac raised a hand, fist clenched. Ashian's heart beat a rapid tattoo of fear. He crouched lower to the ground, his empty fists clenching thin air. His vision started to fog as tension increased, his mind a whirlpool of dread.
Huso continued on unaware of that his companion had fallen behind. His advance was as silent as Capac's.
Then silver glimmered between the trees, a whiff of smoke curling lazily into the air. Capac gripped the rifle harder, his finger hovering over the trigger as he stepped forward into the clearing.
He was stunned to discover the camp was deserted. The large tent-like structures had been dismantled and taken away. Looking closer, Capac saw the earth was dug up with tyre treads, a trail leading back into the jungle.
His lips moved to form a silent question.
Where the scroch had they gone?
Chapter Four
The Hunted.
Through the jungle flits a shadow and a sigh -
He is fear, O Little Hunter, he is Fear!
- Rudyard Kipling.
Shaun Lowry glanced swiftly to either side to make sure his way clear. Sweat beaded upon his brow and trickled in small rivulets down the side of his face. Shaun raked his fingers through his long hair, pushing back the overhanging fringe as it plastered to his forehead. His ice blue eyes moved once more for the final check.
Shaun stood in one of the corridors of the Urisa, flanked on both sides by faultless mirrors. A double track of neon lights ran overhead on a ceiling of steel mesh. The floor of the corridor was made of similar steel mesh, so that the corridor below could be seen, and the one below that. Likewise was the corridor above him.
Shaun checked nothing was in sight, in all three dimensions.
The corridor was clear. Now was the time.
Shaun's image reflected into infinity by the facing mirrors on adjacent walls as he knelt into a crouch. He was smaller and more delicately built than the Sunlords around him that ran the ship. Unlike the others, Shaun stood more erect despite his thinner build; his neck was upright rather than sloped forward at an angle. His head was also more oval shaped, lacking the frontal bulge of the Sunlords.
This image distorted as Shaun took a step back and rammed a steel capped boot into the mirror's surface. It made a grating noise, but didn't give way. Shaun looked right and left to make sure no one had blundered into view. Satisfied, he stamped his foot for a second time against the mirrored surface. This time a spidery crack formed along the length of the mirror. Another kick brought a network of cracks to the surface.
Shaun bent over his achievements, gently plucking loose pieces free and letting them fall through the grating at his feet. They spun lazily, glinting random shafts of light as they fell through the many gratings of corridors below, receding in the distance. Shaun revealed a small portion of electrical circuitry in the wall, and he worked swiftly to identify their purpose. He at last found the connection he looked for. Using a small piece of copper wire that appeared in his hand he shorted the circuit.
A door opened. With a hiss of machinery the panel of cracked glass slid aside to reveal dark interior, and Shaun wasted no time in disappearing inside. The motion detecting lights came on blindingly at his entrance and the computer consoles hummed into instant life. In an eye blink the room was awake.
Shaun looked at the watch strapped to his wrist; he still had two minutes until the bomb he had planted in his cell would go off. He had made the bomb in the laboratory of the ship during his free time. He had worked swiftly to mix together oil and sodium hydroxide to make glycerin. From the lab he that he obtained a vial of nitric acid. The result - nitroglycerine. He had put the two ingredients in a crude but effective vessel. He had set up a water flask so that every second a drop accumulated upon a pivot. Shaun had calculated that it would take about three minutes before the water finally overbalanced the vessel, making it jolt to the floor. He had also spread fuel pellets against the wall, and all the explosives he could lay a hand on. The beauty of nitroglycerine was that it was self igniting. When that baby blew the whole cell block would go. This would draw enough attention that Shaun would be able to slip through his captor's fingers unnoticed and disappear to the world below.
Shaun had prepared all this under the watchful and malevolent eye of security cameras that fed the insatiable Avatar. He had managed it with quick wit and cunning. His sleeves were lined with slender pockets that stowed valuable items in every inch of his person. The knife that he had slipped from the sheath of a Sunlord mechanist was the same one that he used to slit his guard's throat.
Shaun's mind snapped back to the present. He walked at normal pace over to one of the consoles, not wanting to attract undue attention to the motion detectors. A large padded seat was drawn up to the rounded keyboard, upon which the keys were clustered in two distinct groups suiting the Sunlords hands. Unlike the one down in his cell, this console was not designed for his stature. Also unlike his, this console allowed access to the cargo and shipment bays.
Shaun sat at the computer, flexing his fingers as he read the Sunlord keyboard. He had long ago familiarised himself with their language, but never had become accustomed to the keyboard layout. He looked at his watch before continuing. One minute remaining.
He pressed the active key, which resulted in a wake-up seque
nce from the computer. Shaun fitted a pair a eye lens that would enable him to interface with the console. He had to be careful here; he was face-to-face with one of the many eyes of Avatar.
The computer requested identification. Such ID chips were surgically implanted in the wrist bone of all members of the Sunlord at birth, a small face not unlike a watch appearing between the rectangle of removed skin. It tracked all movements of the Sunlord aboard the starfleet and recorded them. Every motion, every deed and every operation could be recalled by the chip and sent to Avatar. Shaun had had a bit of trouble in obtaining an ID chip. It could not be taken from a dead Sunlord because as soon as the pulse ceased the chip went off line. If the Sunlord remained dead for more than ten seconds it would hotwire itself, sending all information to the mothercomputer.
Shaun reached into one of his many small, almost invisible pockets and withdrew a tiny screwdriver. With quick economical motions he loosened the face plate of the laser scanner. After all four of the screws had been laid aside he prised it up with the end of the screwdriver. Now a maze of solid state electronics greeted him beneath the tiny panel. He carefully pulled upon the board, and it at last gave. The small circuit panel slid out willingly into his dexterous hand. He examined it for a second, and grunted with satisfaction. With his left hand he produced a similar panel from a pocket, although its wires were loose and tangled unlike its counterpart.
Shaun held his breath as he inserted the new circuit board into the laser scanner. He let out pent up breath with a sigh as it clicked into place. His guess had been correct. The computer hummed into activity, the new circuit instructing it to ignore ID procedures.
Now that the tricky bit was over Shaun felt more at ease. His watch informed him that he had less that a minute left before the sector would be thrown into chaos.
Commands came slowly as Shaun tried to use the alien keyboard. He followed the instructions given to him by the console, which he read through the eye lens He made his way progressively through sub directories until he reached the cargo sector control sector. He moved quickly now. His fingers tapped more rapidly as he programmed a shuttle to prepare for launch. Two hundred metres away robots swung into action, hydraulics whirling as catches released. The ghostly cargo ship moved along a monorail out of its dock and into the hanger. The massive airlock doors groaned open as electrical impulses surged, opening a breathtaking expanse of stars and space before the cargo ship. The sun on the world below was breaking the horizon casting sharp, deep shadows across the interior of the ship.
Shaun grinned widely and allowed a moment to congratulate himself. But it wasn't over yet, he reminded himself. He had to reach the ship.
Just as he started out of the chair vibrations rippled through the deck, followed by a deep whoomph! He fell back into the couch as a rush of air pushed at him from the open doorway. He felt the steel girders creak from strain of the explosion.
Shaun grinned yet again. His bomb had been successful after all. He leapt through the door and out of the room, darting immediately to the right.
He came face to face with a guard in full-scale battle armour. Shaun's face smacked into the Sunlord's impregnable chest plate and he reeled back in shock. He drew his knife but knew it was futile against this armoured leviathan. The Sunlord smirked wickedly beneath his face plate. Most of his features were hidden by the maze of gadgets attached to his face; the microphone, the view finder, the regulator. But that smile was clear despite the orderly profusion covering his head. Shaun didn't like it.
The shell shocked human found himself staring down the barrel of a wide muzzled rifle as it was brought to bear. Shaun could already hear other guards approach from the other end of the corridor - he was trapped.
Shaun's eyes caught on a glimmer of motion beyond the towering Sunlord's shoulder. It was a small video camera, seemingly grinning with the pleasure of a spider gloating over its prey. Deep revulsion welling within his heart Shaun found his will resolving. Summing up his opponent in a single glance he broke the shackles of awe that would have daunted many people into inaction. The guard reached out to grab the human prison and Shaun reacted with lightning speed. Ducking quickly from the steel glove swiping his clothing he dove to the floor, ploughing his face into the metal grating then rolling between the guard's pinnacle legs. The Sunlord guard whirled as he brought his heavy duty blaster around. The guard stopped and looked about cautiously. The heat sensors buzzed in its ear, informing the prey was beneath him. The guard lowered its weapon gingerly as there was still no trace of the prisoner that had been there moments before.
Then realisation struck as roving eyes caught on an open service hatchway leading down. The rat had gone down through a thirty centimetre square opening and had crawled through a mass of live electrical wires.
The Sunlord swore beneath its breath.
Metres away Shaun half-fell, half-scrambled head first vertically down a power cable - exhausted and sweaty but exuberant.
* * *
Ashian found he had been holding his breath for the past few minutes and let it out raggedly. His eyes never left Capac's form as he stepped out into the clearing. Long tense seconds dragged past.
Then Capac's strange cry rang out, implying surprise rather than alarm. Huso instantly leapt forward in unswerving loyalty to aid his companion, Myshia cautiously following. Try as he might, Ashian could not bring himself to move, his joints locked with panic, and was forced to watch and wait.
Still nothing moved, and finally Ashian though it high time to find out what in the name of Abas was going on. Laying trembling upon a log he cautiously emerged to step warily through the tangle of palms and thorny bushes - and into the clearing.
In it was a pile of metal objets; boxes, crates and other waste. The smouldering remains of an android lay at their feet, smoke drifting lightly from its joints and skull. Huso and Myshia stood tense and alert as Capac examined the turmoil of dirt at his feet.
"I just don't understand it!" cursed Capac. "These marks here and here...the Sunlords have been here recently." He lowered himself to one knee to examine the prints more closely. "But they didn't stay for long. See these boot imprints? Single file, flanking some sort of heavy vehicle making very deep imprints. They made off in that direction."
"Whoever they were after they went pretty quick about it." Huso stopped as something clicked in his mind. Capac's gaze locked with Huso's in mutual understanding. "You don't suppose..."
"...our tracks," finished Huso. "The ones that we made last time."
Myshia stepped in. "They cannot follow your trail. You are the best hunter and tracker in the village, nobody can track you."
Capac shook his head. "It is unwise to underestimate the Sunlords...their magic is very powerful and their machines see everything." Ashian and Capac exchanged glances, each hardly daring to say what lurked in each of their hearts.
The Sunlords are heading for the village.
The conclusion was stunning in its simplicity and devastation. Without its hunters the innocent Eloprin would be helpless. It was the final irony.
"Capac, what path did you take going home?" interrogated Ashian.
"We backtracked over the mountains and looped around the back of the village." Capac swept his arm in a broad gesture to encompass the nearby hills. "If we move quickly we may be able to intercept them. Let's move - there's six hours travelling time to cover before sundown!"
Capac and Huso took off without a second thought, followed closely by Myshia as she stowed her bow over one shoulder. Ashian paused glancing left and right, torn between pathways. To the left was the smoking debris of the Sunlord encampment. There was so much to learn here, so much valuable and useful information about the Sunlords. Yet there was no doubt in his mind that the Eloprin of the village came first. He couldn't let them die.
Ashian darted over to a pile of Sunlord rubbish on a sudden impulse and lay his hand on whatever he came across first, stuffing it into one of the large pockets of his jacket. Le
ss than two seconds later he emerged sprinting after his companions that had disappeared into the jungle. Following the trail of destruction that the Sunlord vehicle had left he soon caught up with the Eloprin.
Myshia had noticed his absence and was waiting. A small flicker of a smile touched her lips as she saw the Currach's bulging pocket. "One day your curiosity will land us all in big trouble, Currach."
Ashian shrugged, bemused. It was the first time he had seen the female smile. He had now reached her and slowed for a rest, but no such luck befell the exhausted clergyman. He had just slacked his pace when Myshia took off at a run again calling after him, telling him to hurry up. Ashian drew in a breath to smooth out a stitch forming in his side and began to run again after the receding backs of the Eloprin.
They ran swiftly, haste driven into their muscles at the thought of their people dying. Ten minutes past, then twenty. Still the pace did not relent.
Ashian brought up the rear, panting. They had to be quick, he thought. The more he thought the greater his anxiety. He feared they may already be too late. Very soon his thoughts were no more - all his concentration was focused into putting one foot before the other.
Two kilometres away a tank rumbled and groaned through thick undergrowth. Its auto-guiding mechanism plotted the most economical path through the trees without losing the track of the natives that had passed through the previous day. The trail was scant, and the computer duly recorded this. This time the prey was not blundering farmers who left broken and uprooted shrubs in their wake; this time they tracked skilled hunters.
Eight Sunlord A-squad troops marched aside the green camouflaged tank and two more troops kept a watch behind and they brought up the rear of the small elite strike force. All troops were wired up with visual aids and electronics scanning devices including twin cameras mounted upon either side of their full face helmets providing Avatar with a stereo image that allowed depth perception and distance estimation. The armoured suits they wore were designed especially and ingeniously using principles of leverage and hydraulics to magnify every motion, giving the Hartrias troops superhuman strength that made running easy. The troops held their Gauras laser rifles at their sides, a long sleek weapon of destruction.