AKLESH (Under Strange Skies)

by Samuel Jarius Pettit

  “I’ve found…that is, he kinda found me…

  there was a…” he sputtered breathlessly.

  “You’ve contacted Kai?” asked Tyro urgently, having guessed what had occurred. Gar took a moment to breath. Everyone stopped what they were doing. All eyes were fixed on him.

  The moment he could speak again he relayed everything that Kai was sending to him. He felt like a two-way communicator but he didn’t have time to dwell on the oddness of it.

  “Kai says they’ve sent a full regiment, about twenty men with weapons and that they’re already on their way here. They mean to take some of you and kill the rest.”

  “Not without a fight!” Shouted one of the warriors. “We have over twice their numbers. We will meet them head on!”

  The rest of the warriors took up their tribesman’s cry. Gar knew this was a recipe for disaster. They might be strong, brave men but none of them had ever encountered the forces that were coming for them. In a straightforward battle the technically advanced artillery of the off-worlders would wipe them out.

  Then the prince got an idea.

  As they were cheering Gar climbed the wagon filled with weapons until he was the highest person in the camp and could be seen by everyone.

  The Healer’s eyes were fixed on him as he desperately attempted to get the attention of the warriors. She nudged Tyro who was nearby and indicated that he should step in. Finally, Tyro’s booming voice calmed down the encampment so the young prince could be heard.

  “You don’t understand what you are up against,” Gar announced over the throng. “You are angry and you have a bloodlust and rightly so.

  They have taken, tortured and murdered your people and you want revenge. But, listen to me when I tell you that even though there may be more of you, these Others as you call them, have weapons you have never seen before. I know these weapons and what they can do. They have guns that will blast you into dust. But, you have something they don’t have. The element of surprise and a knowledge of the land. We know they are coming and we can use that against them so they are never even able to fire off a shot.”

  “Do you really suppose we’d allow an outsider like you will lead us into battle,” accused Vol incredulously. Some voiced a similar opinion.

  CHAPTER 10

  “Think we’ll catch any before they all scatter like bugs?” said Reese over the comlink.

  His squad of mercenaries skulked through the forest, cloaked in the darkness of the night.

  Reese heard the low laughter of his comrades over his earpiece.

  With him were twenty men, but he thought that number was far too many. They could have done the mission with half as many. It was a simple bag-and-tag job. Every soldier was armed with a flash canon, but he was certain after the first shot was fired the cavemen would cower in fear or run. All information they had gathered on the savages, when there had been time, indicated they were hunter/gather types and peaceful ones at that.

  Really no better than animals and not an actual threat. The crew had minimal protective gear on, just what was required for a basic mission.

  Besides, sticks and rocks would have no effect against the armory they were carrying.

  Their weapons were set on stun. No real fun could be had till enough specimens were gathered.

  Then the party could begin. He looked forward to a good hunt. His men had gotten restless, their only target practice had been dumb herd animals and the occasional stray humanoid that wandered too far from his village. The soldiers had grown incredibly bored. Reese really didn’t care what the science-types wanted with these humanoids, all he cared about was getting paid and itching his under-used trigger finger.

  This exercise was just what his men needed. It was better than cattle, but not by much. It was a shame that the whole thing would be over before it even began. The pitiful wretches didn’t even know what was coming.

  “Man, I hope they put up a fight!” said Davis through the comlink, echoing the sentiments of the crew. He was driving the small hovervac following behind the company. Due to the dense trees they couldn’t bring any larger vehicles.

  “What’s the intel from control?” asked Blake on his right.

  “Same as before,” said Reese, checking the interface on his wrist. It showed him a topographical map and readings of the various moving people. “About forty, men and women.

  They are scattered in the area. Just keep your night vision on and listen for commands. Control will keep us coordinated.”

  ***

  Kai was still huddled under the paneling. He had warned his people but was now left with no way to escape. There would eventually come a moment when one of the people in the control room would look over and see him. Then he’d be done for. There were just too many to sneak by!

  All he could do was wait, hope and take a small comfort in knowing he had helped his tribe.

  The young tribesman hadn’t heard from Gar for a while. All he knew was those who had come for him were working on a plan, and those warriors had their own skins to worry about. All Kai could do now was wait.

  But, fortune was in his favor.

  “Captain,” said a women working at one of the consoles. “Upstairs on the third level. The lab.

  “Yes,” Rhoed barked gruffly. “What?”

  “I’m not sure, sir,” she continued. “Its like its under siege up there. Something’s gone wrong and they’re demand immediate assistance.” Rhoed turned to her perplexed. “What do you mean? They can’t handle a couple of animals?”

  “That’s just it,” she said. “All the subjects have gone crazy, a couple of the scientists are down and now they’ve been locked in the lab.”

  “What the hell!” he shouted. He turned to the rest of the crew and barked orders. “All hands, grab firearms and go up to the lab. Try to get this thing under control. We can’t have everything we’ve worked for be destroyed. This is priority.

  Go! Go!”

  All personnel got up from their work stations and hustled out the doorway. Kai pulled himself back as far a possible, but in their rush they didn’t notice him.

  As they were running out one of the mercenaries grabbed the captain’s arm. “What about the company in the field?”

  “You stay here, make sure they get all the information they need.” And with that command Rhoed dashed along behind his crew and through the metal doorway, muttering, “Stupid scientists.”

  “Yes, sir!” replied the deck hand who returned to his station.

  Kai’s opportunity had presented itself once the hallway was clear. He crept out of his hiding spot and moved stealthily down the corridor in the opposite direction of the troops. He was almost to a metal doorway that was on his left when he felt Gar’s mind.

  Kai, we need your help. Where are you?

  Can you get to the control deck?

  The control deck? How would I know what it is? Kai asked.

  It would be a large room full of lights and screens and probably a lot of cranky people. Gar replied.

  Standing there, exposed in the hallway, Kai sighed. He knew exactly what Gar was referring to. It had been the place he had just managed to escape from and now he had to go back.

  ***

  Night had fallen in the camp and standing on the ridge of the waterfall was Gar. The Healer was by his side, prepared to guide him.

  It had taken some persuading, but eventually the warriors chose to follow his plan. Having the Healer of their tribe side with him had helped a lot. Now everything was in place, at least as much as could be possible on such short notice. The fires were out and all the Aklesh were ready. All they needed was a signal. The tribesmen stood a decent chance, but if luck was with them, Kai could make it a sure thing.

  Are you close? Gar asked.

  Yes. Came the answer. But, there’s someone in there.

  Just one? He asked. This surprised Gar.

  Yes. The rest are dealing with something else. What do you want me to do?

 
Take him out, however you can. Then shut the door behind you so you don’t get any more company. Once you’ve done that, go to the main console and I’ll give you instructions. Then you get the hell out of there.

  Kai muttered a bit to himself. He wasn’t fond of violence.

  Passing the cart he had hidden by earlier he grabbed a metal object sitting on top of it. The thing was roundish and had blinking red lights. He had no idea what its real use was for, but it was heavy enough for his current purpose. The man was sitting with his back to Kai, unaware the tribesman was creeping up on him. This was no forest, but Kai was still a hunter and this man was his prey. His bare feet made no sound as he slowly crept along. The helmsman so was absorbed with what was on his screen and he paid no attention to what was happening elsewhere.

  The blow to the back of his head was quick and hard. His body stiffened then went limp and slumped over the control panel. Kai wasn’t sure if he had simply knocked him out or worse, but he had no time to check. He ran back to the entryway and pressed the pad on the right side as he had seen all the others do. The door slid shut with a whooshing noise.

  He strode up to the large panel that faced the biggest screen in the center of the room.

  What now? He asked Gar. Everywhere he looked was buttons, colors and lights which he could make no sense of.

  At this point, Gar could feel the native’s confusion and was at a loss. The young prince hadn’t counted on this. He had expected it would be easy to tell Kai what to do. Now he realized there was no way of making him understand. The technology was too far outside his grasp. Had he been there Gar was certain he could have navigated the workings of the ship’s central mainframe, but through Kai it was hopeless. He turned to the Healer with regret in his voice.

  “It was a foolish idea. There’s no way I can make him understand what to do.”

  They were running out of time to pull off his plan.

  “Breath, young one. You will be able to do this,” said the Healer, unfazed. “Now is the time for your next lesson.”

  “Now?!”

  “Yes, now. It’s called Tasking. Tell Kai you want him to Present to you.”

  The Healer wants to know if you can Present to me? Gar asked.

  Of course, replied Kai.

  With a surge Gar’s mind was flooded with images, blurry at first but soon blossoming into recognizable shapes and colors. He closed his eyes to get a better grasp of the scene taking shape before him and to prevent double vision.

  The control room was now clearly fixed in his mind. It was almost as if he was there. Gar now understood that Presenting meant to show what you were seeing. It was impressive feat that he’d have to learn more about. But at present he didn’t question the ‘how’, all that mattered was that it worked.

  “You can see through his eyes? Yes?” Came the voice of the Healer on his right as Gar stood with his eyes closed.

  “Yes,” said Gar, still amazed at what was happening.

  “Good,” she said. “Now, you must imagine yourself going through the motions of what you need to do. But, don’t be too quick. Kai has to follow what he sees.

  To Gar the technical layout of the control unit was standard to ships of that design. The first step was to locate the system’s link to the mercenary group heading towards them. Next they had to sever communication. After that they had to lower the ship’s shielding and get Kai out.

  Four parts in all.

  Gar took a breath and slowly went through the motions of the first task mentally, as if he were doing them himself.

  Kai’s mind was incredibly sharp after days of meditating. He was ready for such an undertaking and it felt good to use all his stored up energy. He had no idea what he was doing, but by letting Gar slowly guide his thoughts he tentatively put the pad of his finger on the display as he was seeing in his minds eye.

  The panel and screen burst to life. Taken aback only for a moment he kept following the mental instructions Gar was laying out for him from the images he was receiving in turn. Working together they plotted through the various ship programs till they located the communicae with the field unit.

  From the information Gar could see the mercenaries were almost to their camp. The link to the ship’s scanners had to be severed quickly.

  In three final keystrokes it was done. Now the attackers would be coming in blind. That was all the advantage the Aklesh warriors needed. Gar winked at the Healer who in turn nodded to several archers nearby. Instantly the signal was mentally given to the rest of the camp.

  With several twangs a chorus of arrows shot through the night sky.

  Good job, Kai! Thought Gar, and the native could feel his enthusiasm. Now to take care of that shield and get you home.

  ***

  The field unit continued through the woods, almost to their prey.

  He followed the readings from control as he went. According to the intel coming from the ship there was a large congregation of natives by the small waterway up ahead of his troups. Not much activity, probably just the camp settling in for the night. Some of the primitives had spread out but it wasn’t a huge concern. They were most likely gathering firewood or checking traps.

  It was that moment, the screen blipped and went dark. Reese tapped the device to check for a malfunction but there wasn’t anything obviously wrong with it.

  “Davis! Check your interface. Are you having any problems?”

  There was no response.

  “Davis?” he said again. “Davis?!”

  He looked to his sides and saw his crew tapping their screens as well. The mercenaries had been cut off from the ship’s control.

  In the darkness there was a sharp THUNK!

  Reese looked to his right and saw a thick arrow had pierced Blake through his side. He cried out and fell to the ground. There was shouting from the back of the crew and a shot from a flash pistol went straight into the air, illuminating the trees with its eerie green light for a single moment. Another barrage of arrows tore threw the air, falling to the ground and hitting his men. The primal cry of a deep female voice soared through the air, quickly to be joined by many others.

  Reese pulled the com mic from his mouth and shouted to his men.

  “It’s a trap! It’s a trap! Take your weapons off stun. Shoot whatever you can and retreat. Go! Go!” Green bursts of light created a strobe effect that threw shadows on the large trees. Glimpses of large warriors with blood on their faces and murder in their ice blue eyes flashed in the darkness among that of the mercenaries, who were struggling to recover. Screams could be heard on all sides.

  Reese turned to run, fumbling with his flash canon and changing the setting as quickly as possible, stumbling as he went. He looked up. An enormous, dark shape was falling upon him faster than he could react. He lifted his weapon to shoot but it was too late. The large warrior, fierce and menacing, came down on him with his spear raised for a killing blow.

  The mercenary didn’t even have time to pull the trigger before the savage’s weapon had run him through. The last word Reese ever heard was the warrior shouting a name.

  “Kai!”

  ***

  Overlooking the battle from above was Gar. He stood at the top of the ridge with the Healer and the Aklesh archers.

  He had been linked to Kai the entire time.

  The young prince did his best not to be distracted by the flashes of green light and disconcerting screams echoing through the woods.

  The plan had been a sound one. Some Aklesh would stay in the camp and act as bait while two small groups separated and approached from the sides and the back. Meanwhile, the archers, who could view the intruders from the ridge of the waterfall, would send the first attack on his command.

  All was going according to plan. Still, there was more gunfire than he had expected. Gar hoped none of the tribesmen had fallen.

  Once he and Kai had helped the Aklesh gain the advantage it had been up to Vol to execute the ambush. She was a merciless and fearless
warrior.

  She might have had a hateful personality but was definitely a good person to have on your side in a battle. As they had been preparing it had been obvious why she was their commander.

  But, now his focus had turned to getting Kai off the ship. Together they had been working in harmony as the battle raged below. Kai followed as Gar

  ‘tasked’ and after cutting off communication with the field unit they quickly disabled the shield.

  But Gar still had one last objective.

  Anything else? Asked Kai, becoming nervous.

  Working with this strange equipment had been disorienting. He knew nothing of what he was doing and the images and information that had appeared before him as he manipulated the panels had been baffling mess.

  One more thing, said Gar. Then we’ll get you out of there, I promise. You need to go to the communication interface, it’s on your right. Kai did so. Gar instructed, Follow my lead.

  Gar began to task Kai again. He was creating a distress message. It could be sent via the access portal that orbited above the planet. All they had to do was broadcast it. The information would go directly to the Galactic Terminal where an alert would be raised. This was his chance for him to get home. If he was lucky he could simply fly the shuttle off the planet, but he needed a little insurance.

  I don’t know how much time is left before I’m discovered. Kai sent urgently.

  Just one more minute, replied Gar, starting to panic himself.

  You’re going too fast! I can’t follow!

  In his impatience Gar had unintentionally sped up and lost Kai. He had to get this message through.

  He couldn’t be stuck on the world of the Aklesh till the next census. The fear of being lost forever gripped at his throat. He went back and repeated the information slower, although it was killing him to have to do so.

  A few more seconds. Gar sent desperately.

  In the control room Kai heard the door of the entryway slide open. He stopped what he was doing and froze.