“Post them throughout this level,” the Mori-Gran replied. “I don’t expect the rebellious slaves to make it this far, but it will make you feel better.”
“Thank you, my Queen,” Ul-Dar remarked.
Ul-Dar marched Eve 221 and the others along the wide corridor to the central throne room, which sat at the highest level in the midpoint of the hive ship. It stood on a raised dais, black like the floor surrounding it, with a line of steps leading to the seat itself. The throne was the only thing in the room seemingly not made from the same black metal used elsewhere on the hive ship. Instead, it was made of the brightest silver, elegant and sweeping with gemstones inset around the arm rests.
Ul-Dar deposited Eve 221 and the others on the floor, Gar-Wan moving to his brood mate and children, wishing his hands were free that he may hold them, comfort them. Eve 221 wanted to nurse her wounds, to apply pressure to the gash on her left thigh, but her hands were also tightly bound. They had surrendered outside of Ari-Dun’s home, but the Imperial Guard decided to make an example of them anyway. Everything hurt and she could barely stand on her left leg.
Ul-Dar moved to his usual position, standing upon the raised dais to the right of the throne as he waited for the Mori-Gran to join them. While he waited, he dispatched the Imperial Guard to positions throughout the level. He loved his Queen, more than life itself, and he would do anything to protect her from harm.
The Mori-Gran glided into the throne room, smiling to herself as she ascended the stairs and took her seat on the throne. It fit her perfectly, as though it had been made just for her, though it had been in place since the hive ship had been constructed. What the rest of the hive didn’t know, what was known only to the Mori-Gran, was that each of the Queens were a clone of the Mori-Gran-Ra. They shared her memories and her experiences, and were born from the dais beneath the throne. As a Mori-Gran began to age, a young clone would be produced, ready to grow and take her place upon the throne when needed.
The Mori-Gran looked upon her prisoners, paying close attention to how Gar-Wan comforted his family. She was yet to bring forth an heir, and had no experience of children. It confused her that the children would seek the company of their parents when it was she alone, the Mori-Gran, who would determine their fate.
“Gar-Wan,” she said authoritatively. “You have caused me no end of trouble. These slaves you have incited to rise up throughout the hive? They’ll all have to die, you know, every single one of them.”
“No,” Eve 221 said defiantly. “No, you won’t be able to stop them, not all of them.”
“Silence, slave!” the Mori-Gran hissed. “Have you any idea how many attempted rebellions there have been on this ship throughout the years? Hundreds! Some large, some small, but they have all meant nothing!
“The Mori are superior in every way, and we cannot be defeated! Your kind will be slaughtered or recycled, and new, more obedient slaves will take their place. You have achieved nothing.”
“You’re wrong,” Gar-Wan said. “They’ll never obey you, not all of them. However much you deny them their past, they find a way to keep their stories alive. That gives them hope, hope you can never eradicate completely.”
“Do not dare to imagine what I can and cannot do!” the Mori-Gran replied. “I am your Queen and my-”
The Mori-Gran was cut off as the view screens around the room crackled and flickered before displaying Merlin’s face, his message beginning to play. “What is that?” the Mori-Gran demanded. “How dare a slave show their face on my wall!”
“That’s Merlin,” Eve 221 said triumphantly, laughing despite the pain she was in. “He’s a Wizard!”
The Mori-Gran fumed as she looked at each of the screens in turn, Merlin’s face repeating Arthur’s demands. “Ul-Dar,” she said. “Find this slave and bring him to me!”
“At once, my Queen,” Ul-Dar replied, already communicating with his forces as the Mori-Gran stormed petulantly from the room.
*****
Adam 359 wove and swerved as his small squadron ascended the central shaft. They fired on turrets and ships as they passed, but only if they were in the way. Otherwise, they dodged around them as best they could, leaving the forces below to engage the growing numbers of fighter craft.
Though Adam 359 knew how long the central shaft was, flying through it with a thousand enemy fighters trying to blast him out of the sky was a different matter. Seconds felt like hours as he relied on the programming Merlin had given him to keep both himself and Orlac 552 alive.
“You’re doing that on purpose,” Orlac 552 complained from the back seat.
“I’ll just let them hit us, shall I?” Adam 359 suggested sarcastically as the wing of his ship scratched against the wall of the shaft.
Orlac 552’s blue skin had taken on a greenish hue, and it was all he could do not to vomit all over the console in front of him. He felt worse than he had done when Eve 221 made the first jump without the dampening field.
“How much further?” Adam 359 asked, firing on a gantry and turning a mobile turret into flames and twisted metal.
“One-hundred and seventeen lev-” Orlac 552 replied before he was cut short by an explosion to his left, as one of the Dorgan controlled fighters was destroyed by enemy fire. The blast sent Adam 359’s fighter into a spin, slamming it hard against the wall of the shaft. The tactical display in front of him flickered wildly before going black and plunging the cockpit into darkness.
“Hold on!” Adam 359 screamed as he pressed button after button on the control panel in front of him. The tactical display flickered again, and suddenly they were able to see the landing platform directly ahead of them. Adam 359 pulled the control stick hard to the right but it was already too late. The fighter struck the underside of the platform, the tip piercing the supports and becoming embedded within the substructure.
Chapter 15
Queens
Earth Year 6238
The tactical display was dark again, but the intermittent flashes from the sparking systems allowed Adam 359 to get his bearings. “Orlac 552?” he said. “Are you okay?”
“No, not really,” Orlac 552 replied. “But at least we’re not dead.”
The ship groaned as they felt it move slightly, slipping back out of the substructure of the landing platform.
“We need to get out of here!” Adam 359 said frantically. He pressed the controls to open the canopy, but nothing happened. “Why won’t this open!”
“Use your sword!” Orlac suggested, remembering how easily it had cut through the support beam back on Earth.
Adam 359 managed to remove Excalibur from the magnetic strip on his back plate, moving it carefully within the narrow confines of the cockpit. As he placed his right hand around the hilt, he felt the familiar vibration as the sword came to life, the alien power source honing the blade’s edge. Sliding it effortlessly through the canopy, he cut a circular hole, large enough for them to climb through.
“After you,” Adam 359 said.
Orlac 552 peered through the hole. Below him he could see another landing platform with a scout ship docked in place. “That’s a long way down,” he said nervously.
“Just try not to find out how far, okay?” Adam 359 said, carefully reattaching Excalibur to his back.
Orlac 552 reached out through the hole, wrapping his fingers around one of the support beams below the docking platform. With a little effort, he was able to pull himself out, hanging in space by his worm-like fingers. For a moment he just hung there, breathing hard.
“Just don’t look down,” Adam 359 said helpfully. “Move to the next beam and I’ll be right behind you.”
Orlac 552 released the fingers of his right hand, reaching forward to the adjacent beam. He was barely able to reach, his fingers slipping as they tried to take hold. With a swing of his hips he was finally able to grip the beam securely and pulled himself over to it.
“Now you,” Orlac 552 said, his eyes fixed firmly ahead of him.
Adam 359 reached
out and took hold of the closest support beam, failing to take his own advice not to look down. It suddenly seemed a lot further to the next platform than it had done from inside the fighter craft.
His arms were shorter than Orlac 552’s, and he had to swing more to reach the adjacent support beam. Orlac 552 was already close to the edge of the platform when Adam 359 felt movement behind him. He cautiously turned his head to see what was happening, just as the fighter began to fall. It seemed to move in slow motion, turning in the air as it plummeted towards the scout ship below.
“Hold on tight!” Adam 359 yelled towards Orlac 552, just as the fighter hit. The explosion was enormous, the blast hitting them both as they gripped the support beams with all their strength, the heat searing their skin.
“Okay move, move now!” Adam 359 yelled as his hands became slick with sweat, the heat continuing to wash over them. Every time he gripped the beam in front of him, part of him was convinced he would slip and plummet to the inferno below.
Orlac 552 reached the edge and began to pull himself up onto the platform. He pulled himself up slowly, looking to see how many guards or soldiers were waiting to greet him. If there was anyone there, they were impossible to see behind the twisted metal where the fighter craft had pierced the platform. Once he was safe on top, he dropped to one knee and removed the plasma rifle from his back, waiting for Adam 359 to join him.
*****
Adam 359 pressed the button on the communicator on his chest as he knelt down beside Orlac 552.
“We’re okay,” he said reassuringly. “We were able to get out before it crashed.”
“Thank goodness,” Merlin replied. “I detected the destruction of your ship and feared the worst!”
“We managed to get out,” Adam 359 continued, “but we’re still some way from the top of the hive.”
“I see,” Merlin said. “Ah, yes I’ve found you. The Dorgans have just docked on the topmost level, some one-hundred and four levels above you. There are an awful lot of soldiers between you and them.”
“We’ll need to take another ship,” Orlac 552 said.
“We can’t,” Adam 359 said. “The ships up here are all jump capable, we’ll need them to get the slaves out. Merlin, can you direct us through the maintenance tunnels of the hive?”
Merlin was silent for a moment as he scrutinised the plans and schematics. “I can,” he said after a moment. “They won’t take you into the Queen’s quarters, but they’ll get you close.”
“Perfect,” Adam 359 replied. “Have the Dorgans on the top level draw the Imperial Guard away from the Queen’s quarters, it should give us a better chance of getting Eve 221 and Gar-Wan out of there.”
Adam 359 held his plasma pistol ahead of him as he stepped cautiously around the twisted metal of the landing platform and towards the gangway which led into the hive. There were sounds of explosions and the flashes of plasma fire all around them, as Adam 359’s forces continued to engage the Mori fighters. As he looked up, he witnessed one such craft explode in a ball of flame, though whether it was being flown by a friend or an enemy was impossible to tell.
The gangway and corridor were empty, much to their surprise. Once they were out of the central docking area, they began to hear Merlin’s message playing through the speaker, repeating itself over and over again. Hearing himself referred to as ‘King of the Britons’ made Adam 359 chuckle.
“Merlin, which way?” Adam 359 whispered.
“There is a large enough hatch a short distance ahead of you,” Merlin replied. “Though I suspect you may wish to make a slight detour.”
“Why?” Adam 359 asked. “What’s happened?”
“It appears Ari-Dun wasn’t too keen on my announcement,” Merlin continued. “He has ordered all the entrances to his factory level to be sealed, just as they were before. They can only be opened manually.”
“Aren’t any of our forces nearby?” Adam 359 said.
“They’re still engaged on the lower levels,” Merlin said. “It will take them some considerable time to get there.”
“We have to help them,” Orlac 552 insisted. “There’ll be tens of thousands of people in there. What happens if they just open the external doors again?”
Adam 359 was conflicted. He desperately wanted to rescue Eve 221, especially after everything she had done for him, but he couldn’t leave so many of his fellow slaves to their fate. “Just tell us the way,” he said at last, Orlac 552 smiling in approval.
Merlin directed them through the same maintenance hatch, though instead of climbing they descended three levels and crawled through an unlit tunnel. Once through, Merlin directed them to descend another two levels and cross one of the metal walkways to another large hatch.
“Through here and to the right,” Merlin said. “There are guards posted outside, four of them, though they seem to be watching the door.”
“Thanks,” Adam 359 said, turning off the communicator before opening the hatch.
The corridor was in semi-darkness, the overhead lights dimmer than usual. There were also plasma burns to one wall and the dead body of a female Dorgan below them. Adam 359 put his finger to his lips as he stepped past her body and towards the curve in the corridor, while Orlac 552 struggled to take his eyes off the dead body at his feet.
Adam 359 held his pistol ahead of him as he stepped confidently around the corner. “Surrender your weapons and no one gets hurt!” he said, startling them.
The four guards turned slowly to face him, hands held to their sides. As they turned, one at the back began to raise his pistol, Adam 359 shooting him expertly before he could fire it. The other guards looked stunned, dropping their weapons to the floor as they raised their hands above their heads.
“You at the back, open the door,” Adam 359 continued, his gun never wavering. The guard did as he was instructed, disengaging the seals and turning the lever to open the door. As it opened, a swarm of angry slaves emerged and threw themselves towards the guards.
“Stand down!” Adam 359 yelled. “They’ve surrendered.”
The slaves stopped, looking up at the armoured human who was now pointing his weapon towards them. “Are you?”one of them asked, looking at him with disbelief.
“Is it possible?” another asked.
“Arthur Pendragon!” a third remarked.
Adam 359 didn’t know what to say, as they continued to stare at him with a mixture of awe and disbelief. “Yes,” he said at last. “I’m Arthur Pendragon, King of the Britons and here to free you from the bonds of slavery.
“The guards before you have surrendered and are not to be harmed. Take their weapons and armour and bind them securely, then continue to open the sealed doors to the factory. Ships await you on the docking ring to take you to safety. Get as many out as you can.”
The slaves cheered and cried out as they removed the weapons and armour from the guards at their feet.
*****
Merlin moved through the hive network, looking on as Arthur’s forces advanced, gaining recruits and directing others to the docking rings and the jump capable ships. The hive was in disarray, soldiers and guards abandoning their posts as the increasing numbers of slaves moved from corridor to corridor, level to level.
He was surprised to see some slaves fighting alongside their masters, resisting the forces which only wanted to free them. A life in chains was all the life they had ever known, and some of them couldn’t imagine it any other way, the unknown more terrifying than remaining behind in the hive.
Merlin instructed his forces to leave them be. He wouldn’t force anyone to join them, as he wouldn’t deny any who chose to go with them, as some Mori from the lower classes had requested to do. They may not have been born slaves, but their life was just as empty and painful to endure.
As he looked up, he noticed the security system just a short distance away, watching him. It seemed different to the last time he had seen it, more defined with what looked like a face, and teeth. Its eyes glimmered a
s it stared, a smile appearing on its lips as it watched him, unmoving and patient.
“Oh dear,” Merlin said to himself, backing away and exiting the network as quickly as he was able. “This can’t be good.”
*****
Merlin didn’t mention his encounter with the security program as he continued to direct Adam 359 and Orlac 552 through the hive and towards the upper levels. The hive had descended into chaos, and they were able to use one of the many lifts to ascend to the Senate level. As they stepped from the lift, a group of Senators in their ceremonial robes stared at them in terror before turning and running as fast as they could.
They were quickly able to locate another maintenance hatch and climb beneath a tangle of wires and cables, emerging in a tall passageway. From there, they crossed two large divides, the open tubes of lift shafts, and ascended a metal ladder to another narrow mesh walkway.
“How much further?” Adam 359 said into the communicator on his chest.
“Four more levels,” Merlin replied. “That’s as far as you can go in the maintenance tunnels.”
“And then?” Adam 359 asked.
“Well, then you, well, you rescue Guinevere,” Merlin replied.
“You make it sound so easy,” Adam 359 said with a groan.
“For you, Arthur, with Excalibur in your hand?” Merlin said confidently. “It is but a trifling matter.”
“Great plan,” Orlac 552 muttered under his breath.
They continued to climb, Adam 359 in front until they reached the topmost level of the maintenance tunnels. Once they were as high as they could go, the area opened up around them with no more narrow passages to climb through. They were below the Queen’s chambers, Merlin informed them, though there was no way for them to climb directly into them.
“Actually, Merlin,” Adam 359 said with a smile. “That’s not entirely true.”
*****
X-Calibur: The Return Page 17