by Donald Swan
He’d prefer not be outcast, but he’d made a comfortable life for himself here on earth, safe from the war that most assuredly still raged on his planet. There, on Trinoor, he’d been a leader, the young ruler of the capital province of Jai. Until the ruler of the Northern province of Nagarr came to claim the capital for his own. It was the longest, bloodiest war in all of Trinoor’s history, a war that broke a centuries old reign of peace among the three provinces.
Master Jindom, the warlord of Nagarr sought to rule over the entire planet of Trinoor. He was evil, insane, brutal and without mercy. After years of battle, one province against two, Jindom had succeeded in casting Kael out of Jai. Kael had been overtaken, betrayed by a spy in his ranks, nearly murdered, then saved by a priejst who appeared out of thin air and took him to the mountains where the priejsts dwelt. Those loyal to him kept him sequestered, hidden, until it became too dangerous. For his own protection, and for theirs, the priejsts opened the portal and sent him to a place where Jindom would never find him, or so they assumed. The portal was priejst tech and only the priejsts knew how to open it. Surely, they’d all been killed by now.
Scowling at the mere thought, Kael paused in front of a department store window. Despite what the priejsts had told him, Kael was never certain that he was safe. He knew the madman Jindom would not rest until he found Kael and killed him. He sensed that his world was still in chaos, his loyal followers still fighting to save Jai and keep his whereabouts hidden. Though he’d been nearly a full year on earth, he knew that one day Jindom would send the Sulcrum to find him. He’d chosen New York City because of its dense population. It made him feel safer. But to the Sulcrum, even in a sea of sweaty, perfumed humans, Kael’s energy signature was unmistakable. Even on a planet populated by billions, the Sulcrum would have no difficulty in locating him. It was only a matter of time. And when Jindom discovered him...the blood would run thick in the streets.
Kael stood before the large glass window of the store, his gaze both fixed on the display in front of him and on the reflection of the stream of people flowing along the New York City street behind him, alert as ever. Always alert and waiting. In the reflection, he noticed a young, blonde woman on the sidewalk near a stand that sold flowers and small trinkets. She watched him from under her lashes. He could tell by the tilt of her head that she found him attractive. Little did she know the truth of what he was. He barely gave her any thought. He was tense today. He could sense something was wrong in his world. The atmosphere around him felt different, and he couldn’t get his mind off the anxiety. He had an unshakeable feeling that today was his day of reckoning.
Kael smelled him before he saw his reflection in the window. The scent made him tense, and his fists clenched as he prepared for battle. The priejst appeared out of the crowd like magic and stood ten feet behind him, waiting. He knew Kael smelled him and saw him. Kael stared at the priejst’s reflection. He was tall, like Kael, but thinner, his skin even paler in contrast to the paleness of his master. He wore a black leather duster that reached to the ankles of his black leather boots, and his long fingers were gloved, also in black leather. Clearly, he was trying to mask his looks with what he assumed were cool street clothes. Despite the cold winter air, he’d left his head bare. Unusual for a priejst. He would have blended into the New York scene with ease, but his long, white-blond hair made him stand out, and his clothes were dated, like a copy of a character in some old sci-fi earth movie. He looked young, maybe thirty-six by earth years, but Kael knew him to be well over a hundred Trinoor years old.
“Master,” the priejst called to him. “They are coming.”
Kael’s blood rushed forward in his veins as hormones catalyzed his body for war. He turned around to stare into the grey eyes of the priejst, every muscle in his body coiled for action. “The Sulcrum?”
The priejst lowered his chin in a brief nod, then looked Kael directly in the eyes. “Jindom himself tortured the youngest of us until he laid our secret bare.”
Kael’s eyes narrowed.
“Do not waste time on anger, Master Jai. The young one was weak, too weak to withstand the pain Jindom gave him.”
“You are mistaken, priejst. I feel only remorse over the young one’s pain. I take full responsibility. I should have ended this war long ago. But….”
“But you do not possess the savagery that Jindom thrives on. That is as it should be. You are a great ruler, worthy of your calling.”
“Was,” Kael corrected.
“Your loyal army is still yours to command, master. As it always will be.”
Kael stared at the priejst. “How many does Jindom send?”
“Just one Sulcrum. Through the portal. But if he doesn’t secure you, ships will arrive to lay waste to this planet until you are found and killed.”
The muscles along Kael’s neck bunched and his teeth clenched so tightly that his jaw ached. “I should have never left. Now, because of me, these people are in danger. And they have no idea we even exist.”
“One’s own territory makes one strong. But unfamiliar territory brings light to weakness.”
Kael’s eyes narrowed as he contemplated the priejst’s words. When the priejst turned to leave, Kael’s anxiety deepened. “Priejst!”
The priejst looked over his shoulder at Kael, “Do not worry, master. I cannot go back. I am like you now, outcast and running for my life.”
“We should— ” Before he finished the thought, the priejst vaulted twelve feet into the air and vanished. The priejsts of Trinoor had the power to manipulate energy fields, a gift that took years of training and afforded them many opportunities to appear and disappear at will. If only Kael had that tech. Maybe he wouldn’t feel so anxious now.
Feeling even more tense, and even more alone, Kael took a long sniff to check the air for more visitors. He didn’t relish the idea of fighting a Sulcrum with nothing but a Strongblade for defense. How long before it appeared? A hulking, seven-foot tall robot that looked like a man wearing high-tech armor would stand out in the crowd, any crowd, anywhere. A machine that was made of a metal so polished that it reflected its surroundings and seemed to flux in and out of the atmosphere would be a spectacle among the more primitive race of earth. A Sulcrum had the ability to morph its right arm into a blade, a club, or a phaerig, adjusting its fighting tactic to suit the situation. And it was nearly indestructible, with few weaknesses. Kael was a sitting duck in the New York crowd.
He sensed the shift, a barely perceptible displacement in the air that let him know the Sulcrum approached from behind. The barb under his wrist twitched but remained sheathed. His venom was useless against the Sulcrum. Mindful of the many innocent citizens around him, he strongly considered running. He knew he could never outrun the Sulcrum, but he could at least lure it to a place with less people. Maybe then there would be less collateral damage when he took the Sulcrum’s head off.
His gaze shifted to the small woman at the flower stand. A flash of sunlight gleamed off the metal clasp on her coat. And in that tiny bit of metal, he saw the reflection, a movement behind him. No time to run now. The Sulcrum was already preparing to deliver a death-blow to the back of Kael’s head. Might as well take the machine down now and be done with it.
The woman’s eyes widened. Just as her mouth was opening to scream, Kael spun around, his left arm moving in an upward arc to stop the downward force of the Sulcrum’s blow, his right hand balling into a tight fist and thrusting forcefully toward the inner thigh of the Sulcrum’s leg cavity. A Sulcrum had only two weak points in its entire body: the bend where the thigh met the groin plate, and a very small pivot just at the top of the throat, beyond the chin, tucked into the neck. If he could disable the power conduits running through the inner thigh, the Sulcrum would go down on one knee, and Kael could use his Strongblade to take the Sulcrum’s head off at the neck’s weak point.
Just as the woman’s scream was splitting the air, Kael’s fist rammed into the Sulcrum’s inner thigh. As expected, the S
ulcrum’s leg buckled. As it began to fall forward, Kael drew a thick, short blade from the sheath in his boot and used his entire body to swing upward toward the weak neck point. The arm-blade the Sulcrum had raised at Kael’s head retracted backward, shortening in length as the Sulcrum automatically repositioned to strike another blow at Kael, this time aimed at his belly. Kael’s forward thrust was abruptly shortened as he side-stepped the blade, but he managed to thrust sideways and connect with the Sulcrum’s neck. He missed the weak point but managed to sever at least one energy conduit. Steam poured out of the Sulcrum’s neck as it reeled backward, its shiny chrome-colored metal arms wheeling to regain balance. He watched the seven-foot tall machine as it began to right itself. Made of ulbinium, the strongest metal on his planet, the Sulcrum was nearly indestructible. Kael would have to be quick and precise to take it down. The odds were stacked against him, but Kael was one of the best fighters in his region.
The woman at the flower stand screamed again. Kael’s heart skipped a beat a split second before the Sulcrum’s head began to turn in the woman’s direction. In an attempt to block the Sulcrum’s gaze, Kael launched himself into the air and hit the Sulcrum sidewise with a double-footed drop kick. Even with all Kael’s weight and forward momentum, the Sulcrum was barely moved by the blow. Besides which, it was too late. The Sulcrum’s gaze was on the woman. A nearly imperceptible blue beam of energy shot out of both eyes, spanning the ten-yard distance between the Sulcrum and the woman. Kael watched helplessly while the Sulcrum ran a full scan of the petite blonde.
Kael bounced off the Sulcrum and hit the pavement with his shoulder. People were already scattering away from the area, terrified of the huge manlike machine that had suddenly appeared in their midst. Everyone was in movement and everyone was screaming as the scene took place in front of them. But the woman didn’t move. She stared at the Sulcrum, watched it start to right itself. Kael lost track of what she was doing. Instead, he used the opportunity, while the Sulcrum was occupied scanning her, to pick himself up off the street and thrust his Strongblade into the Sulcrum’s neck. His biceps straining with the effort, he twisted the blade with his right hand while using his left hand to push hard against the helmet of the Sulcrum. The Sulcrum’s right arm swung around hard to the right and caught Kael mid-abdomen. The force of the blow nearly broke Kael’s ribs and sent him flying backward away from the huge metal hulk, right into the flower stand.
The girl shrieked as she ducked away from being hit by Kael’s body as it sailed over her. She fell to her knees, hands over her head, and peered out from under her forearms as the Sulcrum quickly walked toward the destroyed flower stand. Kael lay amongst a pile of flowers, vases, splintered wood and twisted metal. He saw the Sulcrum heading his way and braced his hands backward behind his head against the pavement, drew his knees to his chest and waited two beats before kicking out as hard as he could. His brain registered the fact that his blade was no longer in his hand, nor was it in the Sulcrum’s neck, just as his feet connected to the nearly indestructible machine. It was like kicking the side of a building. The shockwave traveled up Kael’s spine, sending pain careening through his body and through his skull, making him feel like his bones were going to shatter. Although his bones were much denser and stronger than human bones, a Sulcrum could snap him like a twig. Kael’s kick barely swayed the hulk. The Sulcrum’s gyros were designed to rebalance the metal body under even extreme circumstances, which left it nearly invulnerable to physical attacks.
“My blade!” he roared in the woman’s direction.
She winced, as if startled by the sound of his voice, then quickly looked around. The blade lay four feet away, hovering on the edge of the sidewalk, precariously balanced above a storm drain. One wrong move and the blade could fall down that hole, never to be recovered. Kael’s brain worked over the problem as he raised an arm in defense against the Sulcrum’s attack. He was still on the ground, still reeling from the pain in his body. As the Sulcrum swung his arm downward, the sharp blade extending from its arm glinted in the wintry sunlight. The blade changed length and size as it approached Kael. Kael grabbed the Sulcrum’s wrist with both hands, swept the hulk’s right ankle joint with his right foot, and rolled hard to the left, using the downward force and the roll of his body to both absorb and deflect the shockwave of the blow and pull the Sulcrum off its feet. Kael managed to throw it about ten feet distance from him.
“My blade!” he roared again as he jumped to his feet and put a little more distance between himself and the machine. The Sulcrum was already getting to its feet and turning back toward him. Kael glanced in the woman’s direction. She had his blade in her hands, but she appeared to be afraid to approach him. Kael didn’t want to run in her direction; she might be accidentally injured in the process. Sulcrums didn’t care about collateral damage. They weren’t programmed to care. They were programmed to kill.
The girl hesitated for a fraction of a second, her eyes darting to the Sulcrum, and then she threw the blade in Kael’s direction. Kael took three giant strides toward her, one arm outstretched to catch the heavy Strongblade, leapt into the air and used one leg against a nearby lamppost to stop his momentum and turn himself around to face the Sulcrum. He caught the blade neatly and deftly turned it in his hand, his fingers clenched around the metal hilt. Still in motion, he launched himself off the pole and met the Sulcrum as it hurtled toward him. The blade sank deep into the weak point just below the Sulcrum’s chin and stuck out the other side. Kael gave the blade a violent twist left then right and stepped sideways as the forward momentum of the Sulcrum’s body continued past him and rammed into the glass window of the very store Kael had been standing in front of just minutes earlier. Shards of glass flew in all directions as the heavy metal body of the Sulcrum came to a halt in the middle of the now destroyed store display. The woman stared at the machine’s head as it fell at Kael’s feet.
For a moment, Kael stood with his arm still outstretched, blade extended outward, muscles tensed and bulging, and his chest heaving as he worked to catch his breath. His eyes were glued to the woman. A second later, he vaulted towards her, grabbed her by the hand, and began running away from the storefront as fast as he could drag his baggage behind him. She was small and couldn’t keep up with him. Frustrated, he stopped. She immediately slammed into the back of him.
“Ow! Damn you! Where are you taking me!” she yelled at him.
“Away from here,” he yelled back. Without saying another word, he picked her up like she was a sack of potatoes, dumped her over his shoulder, and ran down the street with her bouncing against his back. She wound her fingers into his shirt and held on tight to try and stop the mind-numbing bounce of her head.
“I...w-want to kn-know...where the hell you’re t-t-taking me!” she shrieked, her words coming out in gasps as her stomach bounced painfully against his shoulder.
Just as the last word was leaving her lips, the Sulcrum exploded in a massive ball of fire that sent bricks, glass, metal, and parts of mannequins flying across the street. Kael kept running. The woman was too winded to scream when the explosion ripped through the store. Sirens howled in the distance, fire trucks and police cars already trying to make their way through the city streets to get to the odd scene that citizens had surely reported. Only minutes had passed since the Sulcrum’s arrival, but there was enough chaos and damage on the street to make it look like a terrorist attack.
Another explosion rocked the atmosphere, the sound reverberating off the tall buildings around them. The Sulcrum’s head, exploding just minutes after the body’s self-destruct.
Kael kept running. He had to get as far away from the scene as possible, as fast as possible. He ran a mile before he finally stopped and put the woman down. Tears streaked her cheeks, and her nose was red and wet from crying. She wobbled on her feet and shoved her long blonde hair out of her face to get a good look at him. Kael was barely panting from the long run. Running with her weight on his shoulder hadn’t even winded
him. His luminous green eyes stared down into her face, assessing her emotions and her physical state.
“What the hell was that...that...thing back there!” she demanded.
“A Sulcrum,” he answered succinctly.
He reached for her hand. She snatched it out of his way so that he couldn’t take hold of it.
He frowned. “You must come with me.”
“The hell you say! I don’t have to go anywhere with you! You nearly got me killed back there!”
He reached for her hand again. Again, she moved out of his grasp. “I want to know why the man in that armor was trying to kill you, and why you are running with me!”
“There’s no time for that. We have to get as far away as possible, as fast as possible. Every delay could mean the death of us.”
“Why? And why we? Why do I have to go with you? What the hell is going on?” She ended in a near-scream of fury and frustration.
“The Sulcrum is not a man. It’s a machine. A very deadly one,” Kael explained.
The woman glanced at him nervously. She looked dazed, confused, and he could smell the terror thrumming through her bloodstream.
“You’ve been imprinted,” he stated.
“Wha-What does that mean?”
“It means that you are in danger. You must come with me.”
Her eyes were beautiful. He’d just noticed. Deep as a crystal clear blue spring on Trinoor. Her hair the color of the corn silk he’d seen stripped from the ears in the farmers market. Skin fair, smooth, and clear. Next to his 6’ 5” frame, she was tiny, probably no more than 5’4”. Not that it mattered. She was under his protection now. Like it or not, he couldn’t leave her.
She opened her mouth to say something, but the words were cut short when he grabbed her by the hand and pulled her down the side street. “We must get out of sight.”
She tried to twist her hand out of his, but his grip was too firm. “Why should I come with you?” She yelled the words at the back of his head.