by Ronan Frost
Allowing the silence stretch until he saw Rinhold visibly twitch, Shaun smiled calmly. "It's time we talked, Admiral." Shaun gestured palm upwards about the interior of the quarantine containment room. "Although this is hardly the place - "
"What is it you want? Spit it out quickly for I've got precious little patience."
Shaun approached the glass between he and the Admiral. "If that is your wish. But first let me introduce you to my friends who refused to leave my side...even when I walked into this hellhole of dog tired Federation troops with big guns and small minds." Suppressing a smile Shaun saw his scathing comment had struck home and quickly continued talking before Rinhold ordered their execution. "This is Capac. He has been with me since the beginning. And this is Locantar, incalculably old -almost doubling the life expectancy of a normal eloprin - and although he may seem blind is guided by something mo-"
"I'm not interested in your insectile pets, Lowry," growled Rinhold. "Get them out of my face or I'll blast them at the same time as I blast you."
"You can't." Shaun shook his head slowly. "There are more than two thousand currach and eloprin in the forests willing to join our cause. You and I both know the victor in this war will not be the Federation or the Hartrias."
Rinhold's brows shot up in surprise. "Are you proposing war?!"
"Far from it, my battle eager comrade." Breathing deep it took Shaun a moment to gather his thoughts. "It is not the way of these people - the two races that have reformed after a hundred years of separation. They know the meaning of peace and see that to fight - "
"Don't give me that pacifist crap." Rinhold flicked his wrist to indicate a nearby solider on the inside of the containment room. "The race that backs down for your peace gets its arse kicked off the rim of the universe."
The white and blue armoured solider moved forward and savagely grasped Shaun's shoulder. Struggling free with an agile twist Shaun moved aside and snatched at the inside pocket of his helica-suit. The surrounding guards dropped to their knees lightning quick, laser rifles snapping into their shoulders and fingers a hairs-breadth over triggers.
But Shaun did not draw a weapon. He tossed the small rectangular object to the tiled floor with a thwack.
Rinhold looked on in astonishment. Blinking, he saw it could only be the Hartrias General's insignia of office. "How...?"
"We have just returned from the Hartrias base," Shaun explained in a lofty tone. "It was Locantar's idea and with his aid we prepared the army you see surrounding this complex now. It seems the Hartrias General was able to see more sense than you in agreeing to our truce."
"The Hartrias has surrendered, then?" Rinhold straightened slightly in arrogant pride. "Then the Federation has conquered."
"Wrong again, on both counts. One, the Federation has not won; simply the Hartrias have agreed truce with the currach and eloprin. Secondly, you have not conquered anything - there are no longer jump-tunnels to control."
"You know this for sure? The jumptunnels, I mean."
"They were taken from us like a parent will take a sharp toy from a child." Shaun grinned, his teeth contrasting to his dirt blackened face. "Ironic, wouldn't you say?"
"This truce..." Admiral Rinhold swallowed, for he knew all too well that their forces would not survive long on a hostile planet with no hope of supplies. "What are the conditions?"
"Unconditional surrender of offensive weaponry, deactivation of land mines and termination of battle droids." Shaun paused as Locantar spoke in a quick fluting language that Rinhold was unable to understand.
"What did he say?" Rinhold demanded.
Shaun paused, blue eyes seeming to bore directly into Rinhold's soul "My friend says you have no choice but to abide by this truce."
Stirred into indignation Rinhold curled back his lip. "I refuse to be told by a savage what to do!" Rinhold gestured to the nearest solider. "Kill them. Kill them all."
The solider hesitated, looking back between the Admiral's eyes and those of Shaun's.
"Dammit, give me that!" Rinhold surged forward, slamming his fist against the door opening switch. Bursting into the quarantine room Rinhold snatched the blaster from the shocked guard's hands and before anyone could blink had fired a brilliant white shot.
Pain erupting in the back of his eyes Shaun fought to see through afterimages. Unbalanced, he saw through tunnel vision Locantar's body smeared over the tiles like a squashed bug. Fighting the urge to retch Shaun downcast his eyes, seeing in that dreadful second that the old man's lower body was no more than a red smudge, his milky white eyes lifeless staring upward.
Shaun could find no words. Casting about futilely he met Rinhold's gaze, the blaster in the Admiral's shaking hands pointed directly at Shaun.
"I'm going to win this war, if it's the last thing I'll do," Rinhold growled. "Don't you understand, man? This is the final battle of the ten year war - win this and we've won the universe."
Shaun shook his head slowly. "Final battle? You truly believe that. You must realise that there will never be a war to end war."
Rinhold's heavy brows knitted in fury as his fingers tightened on the trigger. "Yeah?"
A sudden blast of white light illuminated the room for a second time and a scream rang out. A scream, Shaun realised, that was not his own but Rinhold's. As images pulled back into focus it took Shaun long moments to see that a guard standing directly behind Rinhold with blaster levelled.
"You killed him?" Shaun swallowed, glancing quickly away from Rinhold's body.
The guard nodded slowly, his voice muffled by the helmet visor. "It's time to end this."
Epilogue
The flames licked the dry twisted wood, the night slowly deepening around the campsite. Heavy duty plastic boots crunched through the undergrowth, bringing Shaun into the light. Riel glanced up in all the mannerisms inherited from his father, Ashian.
"You have prepared?" Riel asked.
"Yep." Shaun sunk to the log, his black helicasuit freshly cleaned and glistening in the firelight. "The skimship will be here any moment to pick me up."
On the far side of the campfire Capac raised his head weary with age. The eloprin's eyes were unblinkingly wide in contemplation. "You think their idea will work?"
Shaun shrugged. "The Hartrias and Federation scientists have been working together on this for over three months now. The theory checks out - a drive fuelled by antimatter has long been in the textbooks, except up til now there has been no use for one with jumptunnels in existence." Shaun laughed softly. "There has been minor scuffles over who will pilot the thing in its arc around the sun; the Hartrias claim their pilots can manoeuvre it closer but the Federation want to play it safer."
"They still war?" Riel sat upright and alert, a child matured far beyond his years.
"Harmless bickering," Shaun clarified. "Jostling each other just to prove they are still in control. But no, they are not stupid. They realise only a combined effort will get them back home."
Riel nodded. "How many are leaving?"
"Two, maybe three hundred in this first ship." Shaun outstretched his palms to the fire to warm them. "Most of the others are quite happy to remain here, what with the new city in construction and all."
"The technology will benefit us all," mused Riel.
"Yeah, well that remains to be seen. We'll probably see extinction of some species, the beginnings of global warming and pollution before the year is out."
For a moment Riel's eyes glowed in determination. "Then we have a little to teach the Sunlords."
"You think your craft will succeed?" asked Capac.
"I think so. From what I have seen of the calculations it will work out; the initial pass close to the sun will manufacture the antimatter which will power the ship at a constant one point eight gee for five years, then flip around and decelerate. It'll be a long trip home."
Aged brown eyes glistened in the firelight. "Are you going with them, Shaun?"
Inhaling, Shaun finally indicated negative. "T
here are duties enough for me here, the establishment of the first joint Hartrias-Human city for a start. Besides...I'm getting to like the place."
"This will be the last time I shall see you, my friend." Capac's gaze did not falter, his words ringing of finality. "Time has caught up to me; I shall not be long in the land of the living."
"That isn't true," interceded Shaun lamely. "I'll return - "
"By all means return, for the son of Ashian and all of the tribe will welcome you." Capac's brows furrowed. "I've done enough for one lifetime."
Shaun smiled. "Stopped the ten-year war, for a start. That's not bad going."
"I did what I had to do." Capac broke off as a coughing fit overcame his chest. Still wheezing he continued. "We all did."
For a stretch of minutes Shaun was silent with his thoughts, reflecting upon the instigator of the whole affair, Ashian. Deep in his heart Shaun still grieved Ashian's death, and wished the currach could be here to see the fruits of what he had aspired to.
From the corner of his eye Shaun saw a small speck of light break through the canopy of trees, slowly weaving its way down towards the firelight. A low humming pervaded his eardrums moments later and he knew that the skimship had arrived.
"My craft." Shaun stood as the searchlights of the ship lanced downwards through the thick winter mists, beaming downward in a search pattern.
"May you walk with Abas and the Forest Mother." Capac raised a weak hand clawed by age. "Make the new world for us."
Shaun raised his hand, his shadow cast sharp by the spotlight at his back, his hair whipping in the breeze of exhaust vents. He did not say a word yet none were needed.
Between heartbeats Shaun thought he saw movement between the trees. Refusing to believe in spirits Shaun shook his head and blinked, and when he looked back the two figures standing at Capac's shoulder had disappeared.
Taking a step backwards Shaun entered the skimship as the hatchway sealed closed once again. Engines picked up once again and the craft lifted and arced into the air.
Quickly it pulled away from the earth with the dull throb of mechanics, tracing out lazy curve before winking out of existence among the stars.
Light faded, and soon there was only the sound of the forest.
THE END