Sunlord

by Ronan Frost

  Ashian picked the blaster up from where he had left it. With a solid crunch he rammed the magazine back into its recessed mounting along the top of the barrel. He paused for a moment, the metal of the gun heavy and slippery in his hand.

  He extended his arms, sighting along the tip of the bulky weapon, his hands shaking. He drew in a breath and held it, and for that moment the world seemed to have stopped. Sounds were non-existent through his stunned eardrums. He was in a world of his own, a world that swam with colours and light, his forearms quivering with the weight of the outstretched blaster. His finger found the trigger and he pulled at it, feeling machinery inside clicking into position.

  With a blast that threw his frail form back against a wall of machinery the blast of fire skimmed through the tunnel and smashed into the energy cartridges at the far end. Sparks flew as the explosive tip of the projectile erupted into flame, an instant later a ferocious clap of air echoing through the confined space. Nineteen other cartridges exploded into life as a chain reaction sent fragments of shrapnel whizzing through the air and ramming into machinery.

  "Ashian!" bawled Capac in surprise as the machinery below lit with instant flame. He was on his feet in an instant, moving down the trapdoor, his hand extended, ignoring the scorching blast of heat against his knuckles. His hand found Ashian's. Muscles bunched as Capac tightened his grip, hauling with all the might he could muster. With a primeval growl of effort he pulled the Currach from the trapdoor with a single arm.

  Ashian gasped, coughing and retching, as his hips smacked against the lip of the opening. He managed to pull himself weakly free, his eyes still dazed. As he rolled back a hungry flair of fire licked up, further, deeper explosions rumbling through the superstructure.

  "What the hell have you done?" said Capac in awe.

  Ashian smiled weakly at the sight of Capac's incredulous expression. He could hear no words, but could guess his friend's meaning. He managed to get to his feet, staggering awkwardly like a drunken man.

  "We must get away." Ashian was surprised at how difficult talking seemed now that he could no longer hear himself. It was as if he was shouting into a vacuum.

  The natives lost their footing as the floor lurched like a ship at sea. The explosions were growing louder with each passing second as fuel lines burst into flame, pieces of shrapnel smashing into pistons, wrenching them apart and twisting and gnashing into surrounding equipment. Then, all of a sudden, the twenty centimetre thick wall that surrounded the fission power plant ruptured. The resulting explosion happened in an instant, the plant's formerly controlled reaction spilling into chaos. It was as if a giant had been trapped in a cocoon and had awoken, thrashing and twisting in an effort to free itself. The heat of a thousand torches ran along ducts like flooding water as the fission plant exploded like a popping bubble.

  His shoulder smashing into the wall Ashian skidded along the floor and forced his neck forward over his chest. The floor moved and tilted, the darkness now blazing with yellow light. A wild crackling filled the air as circuits shorted, an acrid stench permeating the air.

  Neither saw the shadow rise up from chaos of fire and smoke. Ashian, his head aching with dull pain, blinked a few times. Thoughts froze in his mind like twisted tendrils of rock, he was left standing mute and gasping. He saw the outline of the Sunlord loom up from behind, fast closing upon Capac back.

  "Capac!" he bawled, snapping from the icy grasp of fear. "Behind you!"

  A sharp claw slashed the air where Capac's head was a moment before. Capac rolled and spun about, losing his balance as the floor heaved again, spinning uncontrollably and falling to the ground. The Sunlord moved quickly despite its bulk. It's broad shoulders twisted, muscles bunching, as the broad backhanded sweep missed its target. It was moving again, quick fluid motions like a panther in close combat. Capac squirmed backwards, his eyes filled with sudden fear, his hands and feet slipping on the cursedly frictionless floor.

  A slender thin instrument appeared in the Admiral's hand. He held it like an accusing wand, the needle gun shaped like an elongated pencil. The Sunlord cocked the small two shot needle gun and sighted along its silver barrel. A sharp crack and puff of smoke erupted from the cylindrical end of the needle gun and an instantaneous flash of yellow light blazed away the shadows.

  The blast caught Capac across the face. He pulled away just as the projectile shattered into the floor bare centimetres to one side, a layer of skin peeling away with a brief backlash of fire, his split second reactions saving his life. Capac scrambled to his feet, desperately casting about for a weapon, his eyes never leaving the monstrously huge bulk of the Sunlord.

  Admiral Karthorn pivoted angrily as the native squirmed away from his blow once again. A trickle of blood ran down the corner of his mouth, his left hand pressed into his wound in his chest. He blotted the pain from his mind, fury and the lust for revenge rising, pumping his limbs with a final burst of energy. He extended the needle gun again, a split second before Capac made his lunge.

  The blunted edge of Capac's broken knife skidded across the bones of Karthorn's wrist, the force of the blow snapping his heavy muscled arm backwards, his hand clenching and triggering the needle gun. The blast cratered the floor at his feet in a blinding flash of light. Karthorn growled indigence and flung the now-useless needle gun skidding away into the darkness, pulling back with his other hand and throwing away the native with a powerful back-handed motion. Capac's fingers left furrows in the Sunlord's flesh as he was shaken away, tumbling through the air and smashing awkwardly into the floor.

  Admiral Karthorn advanced, a fist formed, a deadly sharp claw extended from the back of his hand. He snatched out, and the native ducked. The Admiral struck like a snake - Capac had barely pulled away from the sweep when the hand came back again, grabbing him across the neck.

  With a wild cry of surprise Capac was lifted from the ground, his feet kicking at air, the Sunlord's fingers pressed so deeply into the flesh of his neck it drew blood. He found himself raised from the ground as if he weighed nothing. The world was a rush of shadows and flickering of flame, explosions rupturing the air like a string of fireworks. His feet hung a metre above the ground, a grim smile flickering across the Admiral's reptilian face.

  Words spilled from Capac's mouth, his primitive survival instincts taking over as he spat and scrambled like a trapped cat. "Ashian! Ashian, help me for scroch's sake!"

  Dread filled Ashian's heart as his hands traced the bulge of the stubby gun tucked into his belt. He seemed to be outside himself, looking from a distant perspective, as he lifted his tunic and withdrew the small pistol. Things seemed to be happening so fast, pieces falling into place as if they had planned to be all along. He paused momentarily, the pistol held between two trembling hands, his emerald eyes wide with uncertainty. He faced the back of the Sunlord - if he had of reached out he could have touched its back...

  And Capac was screaming at him through the blasts of the explosions, and although Ashian could not hear them he knew his friends panic. He saw with clarity the Sunlord holding Capac above the ground, the other hand raising ready to swipe down in a blow that would disembowel the native. There seemed to be no choice.

  Ashian closed his eyes, muttering a prayer that was more a rush of emotions than of words, as he squeezed the cold steel trigger. A thought ran through his mind like a fish fighting on a fishing line. He was going to kill. He was going to kill.

  The blast of the gun wrenched his arms around, his weakened legs failing under his weight. As he plummeted through the air he watched in horrendous fascination as the Sunlord's head disintegrated into a pulp of blood, a warm arterial spray showering like a water balloon. Ashian collapsed, trembling uncontrollably now, his heart beating so fast he thought it would beat itself right out of his chest. The pain he felt as his backbone jolted against the ground was nothing compared to the overwhelming pain in his mind...

  Capac lifted Ashian's head, peeling back the city man's eyes.

  "As
hian, wake up!

  There was no response. Capac cursed and heaved his companion up, his sweaty and fumbling. With a little difficulty he managed to drape Ashian's form over his shoulder, his knees trembling with effort. Already the room was thick with dense smoke, a smoke that caught on the lungs and made him gag. Sparks flew from every crevice, hungry electrical flames catching like a forest fire. Capac thought he heard a distant cry of confusion, a million different languages combined as one, as Avatar's circuits melted and fused. The booming voice was lost by a deeper rumbling under the floor, the massive array of intelligence that was Avatar crumbling like a termite nest.

  The overhead sprinkler systems had activated, plastering Capac's short hair over his face, rivulets of water running the length of his cheeks. The mist in the air hissed as it contacted with the flames but did little to control the fire - it was too progressed to be so readily extinguished. Instead it created an environment of chaos blurring the air with mist and fire.

  Escape was the only thought ringing through Capac's mind.

  * * *

  When the death blow did not come Shaun raised his head, blinking hard against clouded vision. The grey metal chest armour of the warbot resolved before his eyes, its domelike head tilted at an odd angle and arms frozen like the curved tusks of a mammoth.

  "Shaun! Are you okay?"

  He coughed weakly, pushing another gush of blood from his shoulder wound. The warbot's javelin still had him pinned to the wall. Myshia was there, faceted eyes wide.

  "You're hurt bad."

  Eyes glazed and confused, Shaun asked; "What happened to this pile of junk?"

  "It just stopped." Myshia glanced uneasily at the inert robot as she subconsciously took a step away.

  "You didn't do any - " Shaun's words wrenched into a cry as a wave of pain washed over his mind. Blood pooled at his feet with alarming rapidity and Myshia knew she had to remove the javelin tipped arm of the warbot.

  Shaun cried out as Myshia pulled away the shaft. The world swam before his eyes, the flats of his feet hitting the ground and weak legs buckling like rotten timbers. Myshia was aiding him to his feet an instant later, gasping under her breath as she saw the extent of the damage. Shaun's arm was burning with such numbing pain it felt as if the nerves had been ripped apart with a molecular-peeler gun. With conscious effort he managed to prop himself up one elbow.

  "What...what made the warbot stop?" The question plagued Shaun's mind; it would take an accurate and powerful blow to disable a fully armoured warbot...unless the slave link with Avatar had somehow been destroyed. He muttered under his breath, watching from a small part of his mind and knowing that he was delirious with pain. He was in desperate need of a tablet of NB-3, a powerful pain killer that would ease the agony that now washed over the wreckage of his skull. But NB-3 was only available in Federation flight suit packs, and the closest was more than three hundred light years away.

  It took Shaun completely by surprise when the pain stopped, as if the foul waters spreading over his mind had suddenly dried. Startled, he opened his eyes, watching in mute awe as Myshia's hands moved over his wound in circular motions.

  It was crazy, Shaun knew, but he swore he could see the fibres of his muscles pull back together, reknitting like film played in reverse. Finally the outer skin spread back over the healed shoulder, moving as if connected by strings to Myshia's hand. It was long moments before Shaun dared try move his arm, thinking his delirious mind must have imagined what he thought he saw. But it was no hallucination - the bones in his shoulder moved easily without the jarring and splintering experienced moments before. The muscles were numb but the stiff discomfort was nothing like the pain proceeding it. Clenching and unclenching his fist Shaun raised his head.

  "What did you do?"

  Without a word Myshia just bowed her head, her chest heaving.

  Thoughts raced like wild fire through Shaun's mind, trying desperately to find a rational explanation for what he had seen. A small whisper escaped his lips. "That is an incredible power."

  "It is not that simple. In healing you I impart some of my power from my soul. Such power does not come from nowhere."

  Suddenly the pieces fell into place in Shaun's mind as the question that had haunted him in the back of his mind suddenly came to the fore. "You healed yourself when that Hartrias sniper shot you! So Ashian wasn't dreaming when he swore your wound was far worse than it had seemed."

  Myshia breathed deeply. "My powers are growing stronger with every passing hour. I...I cannot explain it."

  Shaun pushed himself upright, using the wall for support. "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I wouldn't believe it." The lights overhead dimmed without warning and an earthquake-like shudder gently shook the walls. Hunched instinctively over, Shaun's eyes narrowed. "We'll discuss this later. Come on, I think we can squeeze through that gap."

  The gash in the door to the comm lab was narrow and sharp where the warbot had smashed through, allowing enough room for Shaun to pull himself through. Finding himself in a darkened room Shaun moved cautiously with outstretched hands.

  "The computer must be out," he remarked to himself. "The entire security system is just dead."

  "Will you still be able to get the message out to the Federation?"

  Shaun nodded. "In most ships the jumpdrive operates independently of other circuits. With any luck that system will still be running."

  Shaun at last spied the cushioned chair in the semi-darkness and slumped into it with a sigh. Set before a crescent shaped console he found more knobs and dials before him than on a flight chair on an intergalactic starship. Through the thick flexiglass of the octagonal viewport Shaun saw a breathtaking backdrop of stars, bright and unwinking. Just below was the faint glow of reflected light from the planet.

  Turning his attention to the console Shaun noticed many of the lights were still activated. He flipped switches to power up the communications machine, trying to remember the classes he had attended on the principles of comm-pods.

  Vast distances involved in interstellar journeys rendered messages travelling at the speed of light, such as electromagnetic radiation, far too ineffective as they would take a matter of years just to send a transmission from one star to the next. So message pods were developed; small devices not unlike miniature spacecraft that would enter jumptunnels and, guided by computer, reach their destination within seconds. The small torpedo shaped craft were the stellar equivalent of messages in a bottle.

  Shaun was tapping into the broad keys of the Hartrias keyboard as he spoke. "I'll send our current co-ordinates to the Federation. I'll bet they're looking hard for the critical point - the hole where all their battleships seem to be disappearing into - but the Hartrias Command is no doubt keeping it close to their chests." Shaun grinned. "We'll blow their cover open wide. Once the Federation knows where to strike the war is half won."

  Myshia nodded disinterestedly. "As long as it cleanses my world of the Sunlords I care not for anything else that may go on up here in the stars..." Her voice died in her throat as she moved closer to the viewport, her eyes wide. She found herself speechless with the sheer scope and enormity of space. Shaun noted her amazement.

  "Its beautiful, isn't it?"

  Myshia could only nod. A faint quiver threatened her stomach as she looked down the drop of blackness stretching away into infinity, broken only by the specks of distant, cold stars. She tore her gaze away with visible effort and was stepping away when the floor leapt beneath her.

  Shaun's right arm smashed against the console as the chair lurched forward. He cried out in surprise and pain as the wheeled base of the chair skidded sideways and a great rumble of explosion rocketed the superstructure.

  "The ship's falling apart!"

  "What? How?"

  Shaun winced as he straightened his chair. "I don't like this at all. It felt as if something collided with us - a docking craft or something...and why is security disabled?

  Myshia regained her footing
, keeping her feet spread incase another jolt should come. "How much longer?"

  "Not long." Shaun had already accessed the nav computer's files and had copied the log to the pod message. The co-ordinates of the Urisa were a long string of numbers and letters decipherable only to a computer. It was written in the blocked lettering of the Hartrias language but the comm-monitors of the Federation should have no trouble reading it. He paused, then, smiling ruefully, added a line of Hartrias text at the end of the message.

  Flight Lieutenant Shaun Lowry, class 1 Federation of Human States Nav/fighter, ID: 98-3424002.

  He just looked at the flashing cursor for a second, his mind whirling. After three years imprisonment he was finally about to communicate with his own people. A touch of pride coiled within his chest as the lines rolled across the screen. Hitting the activate key the message flashed once before disappearing. He watched, unaware he was holding his breath, as the communications computer interpreted his command. Then he saw a brief flash from below and, pushing his forehead to the flexi-glass of the viewport, looked out into space to watch the messenger pod shoot from the Urisa with a yellow tail of fire in its wake. Then, abruptly, it was gone. It had entered the jumptunnel.

  Shaun turned back to Myshia, a broad smile plastered across his face. "It's done!" He felt elated. His actions had tipped the balance back in favour of the Federation. Now all that remained was to get off the Urisa before she shook herself apart.

  It wasn't standard combat practice, Shaun knew, to race blind out into a corridor of an enemy ship. But his mind was fuelled with elation and the thought of escape overruled his instinct of caution.