by Saxon Andrew
In an instant, Cinny had a blaster shoved against his mouth, “You were once one of our trainers, Panzan. Matter of fact, you were probably the best of all those that worked with us.” Cinny’s eyes narrowed, “However, the last two years of our training, the trainers became the trainees. You cannot prevent us from doing what we choose to do.” The Six priests froze behind Panzan as Grant walked through the door. They knew either one of the small humans could remove all of them with little effort. “You can make this easy by giving us what belongs to us.”
Panzan stood there and saw Grant disappear through the door. He suddenly ran into the door with Cinny moving right beside him with her blaster trained on him.
• • •
Grant entered the Central Prayer Room and raised his blaster. Fifteen novice priests were praying in front of a large painting and they heard the commotion from the door. They stood up and saw the former trainee raise a blaster and point it at the painting on the wall. They rushed up in front of it and put their bodies between Grant and the altar. Two priests ran out of the Prayer Room screaming. Grant smiled and said, “I really don’t want to kill any of you but I will burn you to carry out my intention.”
Panzan came running in and rushed full speed toward Grant. Cinny said, “Crap!” She put her blaster away and grabbed one of Pazan’s arms and flipped him on his back and stepped on his neck. “He will do it, Pazan. Just give us what is ours.”
“Never!”
Suddenly the Prayer Room was rocked with a loud voice, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!” Everyone looked at the rear entrance and saw the High Priest rush into the room. The ten foot tall Choten-Zan moved in front of the painting as Grant and Cinny put their blasters away and bowed their heads. The High Priest looked at Pazan on the floor and yelled, “WHAT IS GOING ON!?!”
Pazan went to his knees and lowered his head, “Holiness, I ordered these two to leave and they refused to follow my instructions.”
The High Priest looked at the two small humans standing with bowed heads and said, “Is this true!?!”
Grant kept his head down and said, “Pazan withheld an object that belongs to us when we left the Temple, Holiness. He refuses to give it to us.”
The High Priest looked at Pazan, “Is this true?” Pazan kept his head down and remained silent. “I ASKED IF THIS IS TRUE. DID YOU WITHHOLD THEIR PROPERTY?”
Pazan said, quietly, “Holiness, we cannot allow it to fall into their hands.”
The High Priest walked over in front of Pazan and said, “Does this object belong to them?”
“Holiness, I cannot allow them to have it.”
The High Priest said, “If I ask you another question and you don’t answer it, you will be sent to work in the fields for twenty years in silence. Does this object belong to them?”
Pagan hesitated and said, “It was left by the one that brought them here.”
The High Priest stared at the kneeling Priest and looked over his shoulder, “Go to his quarters and bring his lock box to me.” The Head Servant turned and left the room. The silence in the room was thunderous. Fifteen minutes later, the Head Servant returned with a large metal box. Pagan had decided that he would go to the fields before he opened it. He was shocked when the High Priest put his hands on it and the lid flew open. “If he has an object that belongs to you, you will have to give me a description of it before I allow you to take it.”
Pagan kept his head down and smiled. He collapsed to the floor when he heard Grant say, “It is a piece of technology that is about six inches long and has eight sides.”
The High Priest looked into the box, reached in, and pulled out a silver glowing piece of clear metal. “I believe this is what you want.”
Pagan said, “Holiness, you can’t allow them to take it. It will endanger the universe.”
The High Priest looked at Pagan, “You will go to the fields and work for two months in silence. You will focus on who controls the universe.” Pagan stood and walked out of the room with his head down. The High Priest looked at the two humans, “So you were going to burn the Holy Painting of our Founder?”
Grant kept his head down, “Holiness, I threatened to do it. It was the only thing that I thought would get him to give us our property. But I would never damage that paining.”
“Why didn’t you just come to me and request what is yours?”
Cinny said, “Holiness, we were here seventeen years and this is the first time we’ve ever seen you. How would we go about getting your attention?”
The High Priest stared at her and after a moment chuckled, “You make a good point. I suppose threatening the painting would get my attention.”
Grant said, “That was my hope, Holiness.”
The High Priest handed the glowing object to Cinny and said, “You may go now.”
Grant said, “Holiness, may I please ask you one question before we leave?”
The High Priest’s smile disappeared and he said, “What is it?”
“Why did you accept us into your Temple?”
The High Priest hesitated and then said, “I accepted you because of the one who brought you to us.” Grant wanted to ask another question but knew he had used the only one he would be given. The High Priest saw their expressions and said, “She was pure of heart. She volunteered to give her life if we would take you and work with you.” He hesitated and said, “We did not take her life for the blasphemy of landing here. However, she left with the intent of leading your enemies away. She lost her life in the effort.”
Grant kept his head down and nodded, “Thank you, Holiness.”
“You may come here whenever you choose. You are part of our family.”
Grant said, “You are the only family we have.”
“I’m not so sure about that but you are welcome here.” The High Priest walked forward and put one of his hands on each of their shoulders, “You should go now and find your destiny.”
The two humans backed away keeping their heads down until they exited the room. The Head Servant said, “Was this a good idea?”
The High Priest’s mouth turned up, “I’ve kept my eyes on them over the years. Their hearts are very much like the one who brought them.”
“But they are the most dangerous beings in the universe, Holiness.”
“And they just said that we are the only family they know. Do you think that if we need them to come to our defense that they might do it?”
The Head Server shook his head, “Your wisdom never ceases to amaze me.”
The High Priest nodded and stared at the door the two had passed through, “They still have a long way to go before they find what they’re searching for.” He took a deep breath and said, “I want all our probes activated and I want to be informed if anything of interest happens.”
The Head Servant nodded and left the Prayer Room.
• • •
The Huge Yellow being sat and stared at his control panel’s monitor. Where could they have gone? He heard his Lead Sensor Operator say, “Sire?”
“What?”
“I’ve just received word that every Choten-Zan probe and sensor in every galaxy have gone active.”
“WHAT?”
“Yes, Sire.”
The Yellow Being’s eyes narrowed and he shook his head, “They know what’s going on. They must have some kind of link to those two humans. I want one of our advanced probes sent to monitor their temple.”
“Sire?”
“If I have to tell you again, you won’t be the one carrying out my order.”
He watched the Operator start pressing his panel and wondered what link the Choten-Zan had with the humans. After an hour his Communications Operator said, “Sire, The Principal in asking for you.”
The Huge being sat up in his chair, “Put him on my panel…NOW!”
The small monitor came on and he saw the leader of his species, “I’ve been told that you sent a probe to the Choten-Zan Temple.”
“Yes, Sire. It appears there mig
ht be a link between them and the ones we’re chasing.”
“What makes you believe that?”
“They’re turning on their scanners to follow our efforts to find the humans. That means they know who they are.”
“Did it ever dawn on you that you have had running blaster battles on more than ten planets? Do you not think they would want to know what you’re up to?”
The Leader stared at the Principal and shook his head, “No, in the scope of the universe our battles have represented less than nothing.”
“Why did you not clear sending the probes with me before you issued those orders?”
“I didn’t think there would be a problem. Those priests don’t possess any technology that would threaten us.”
“I have received a message from their High Priest that sending our probe to their Temple in violation of their privacy is an act of war. The probe you sent has been destroyed.”
“Sire?”
“No, we don’t know how they did it. However, I’ve had six hundred civilizations contact me asking why we’ve violated the Choten-Zan’s privacy.” The Yellow Military Leader stared at the Principal as he said, “You are reduced two levels. I will not reduce you a third.”
The display went dark and he knew that he would not be reduced again because he would be dead before that happened. Everyone on the huge bridge heard the exchange and quickly looked at the self-destruct circuit on the back wall. It was flashing yellow. Even the huge Leader remained silent for an hour UNTIL it stopped flashing. That was a message everyone on the giant ship understood. He knew there had to be a link between the Choten-Zan and the humans…but that was one lead he would not follow. He blew out a breath and yelled, “FIND ME THOSE TWO HUMANS!”
• • •
Whippet was sitting on a chair when Grant and Cinny entered the landing bay on their scooter, “Well, how did it go?”
Cinny smiled, “We were met with some opposition but we managed to get the key.”
“I hope your opposition wasn’t serious; the Choten-Zan are not someone you want against you.”
Grant tilted his head, “Why do you say that?”
“I knew a trader that took pay for a load of tools from them and then sold them to a third party after pocketing their money. One of their priests found him on a backwater planet and left his remains there to be buried. I have no idea how they found him, but they did.”
“One of the higher ranking priests had an issue with giving us the key but the High Priest intervened and forced the issue. He also told us that we may visit any time we choose.”
Whippet made a high pitched whistle, “You actually met the High Priest? You two really are something out of the ordinary. How did you get him to see you?”
Cinny looked at Grant and shrugged, “Grant threatened to burn the painting of their founder if we weren’t given what belonged to us.”
Whippet’s snout fell open. He stared at Grant and said, “Tell me she’s joking.”
“No, that’s about the size of it. Fortunately, I didn’t have to carry through on my threat.” Whippet shook his head and Grant started walking out of the landing bay, “Let’s go see what we have.”
• • •
They arrived on the bridge and took a seat as Grant inserted the key into the slot on the control panel. A hologram of a female appeared on the bridge and began speaking, “Hello and welcome to the accumulated information on our beautiful planet, Earth. If you will place the transfer helmets on, I will start the presentation.”
Cinny looked up, “Do we have transfer helmets?”
“Your military helmets will make the connection.”
“Do you have a helmet for our guest?”
“I am not authorized to transfer information to anyone that is not of your species.”
Grant looked at Cinny as Whippet looked up, “Who is authorized to make the transfer to another species?”
“Both pilots must make the authorization in order for the transfer to be made.”
Grant looked at Cinny and neither of them said anything. Whippet watched them and said, “Hey, this will answer the question about just who you are.”
Cinny looked at him, “What do you mean?”
“Well, if you two are not the pilots, then the computer will not allow the transfer.”
Cinny looked back at Grant and shook her head. She looked up and said, “I authorize the transfer.”
Grant waited a moment and then looked up, “I authorize the transfer.”
“Helmet is provided.”
Whippet lifted the helmet off the arm of his chair and said, “Holy Drak Snake venom. Tom was right.” He looked at the two humans, “Hey, do you really want me seeing this? I just thought this was a good way to find out who you are.”
Grant was still shocked by the discovery. He leaned back in his chair, “Whippet, we can’t release you now. You’re probably right about there being a bounty on you and you can confirm who we are.”
Whippet shrugged his small shoulders, “They probably already know it. I have no idea how they found out but it’s clear they know the danger you represent to them.”
Cinny smiled, “You’ll just have to join us.” Grant and Whippet looked at Cinny with shocked expressions. “Come on you two. Grant, he’s the one that’s led us to find out who we are. He’s asked the questions that needed asking and I suspect it’s because he’s lived his life working with computers. We don’t know very much about them and we could use his help if he chooses to help us.”
Whippet said, “Help you what?”
“Why, find the Orion, of course. I really don’t think those yellow armored beings are going to treat you well if they manage to find you. However, we will take you to the planet of your choice right now and drop you off if that’s what you want. If you choose to stay, then you are in it for the long haul.”
Grant blew out a breath, “She’s right. We can use your help.”
Whippet started slowly shaking his head, “You two don’t know anything about me. You don’t know if I can be trusted or if I’ll turn on you if there’s a profit in doing it. I know me and you should know that I look out for number One…Me.”
Cinny stared at Whippet and lowered her eyebrows, “You might not do this for us, but you will do it for Tom.” Whippet stared at Cinny for a long moment and then lowered his head. “I don’t know what Tom did for you but I see that you owe him something. It’s in your eyes whenever you mention his name.”
Whippet kept his head lowered, “A reactor vessel ruptured and I was trapped in the containment room when it went. Tom blasted the officer forbidding anyone to open the door and pulled me out before radiation filled the room. He pushed me through just as it arrived at the door and he was hit by the wave just as he closed the door. It was that radiation that led to his death. His body couldn’t take any more.” Whippet looked up, “I know he knew it when he pulled me out but he made sure I was safe first.”
Grant’s eyes narrowed, “The Captain didn’t kill him for disobeying orders?”
“No, it took both of us to get the room decontaminated and the Captain saw that Tom had acted properly. Tom did most of the work; he knew he was dying.” Whippet sighed, “He loved Earth.” He looked at Cinny and slowly shook his head, “You’re right. I can say no to you…but I can’t turn my back on what Tom would want me to do. It’s just that I know me and how selfish I can be. I just don’t trust myself.”
Cinny walked over and knelt down in front of the small Werstag, “Would Tom trust you to do this?” Whippet looked into her eyes and nodded. “Would you ever betray him?” Whippet lowered his head and shook it. “Then you know that if you betray us, you will be doing it to Tom.”
“Just tell me what’s in it for me so that I can deal with the demons of greed that will assault me. MY heart is in the right place but greed can be overwhelming.”
Grant smiled, “That’s easy.” Whippet and Cinny jerked their heads toward him, “We’ll give you this ship o
nce we find the Orion.”
Whippet stared at Grant for a long moment and then smiled, “Now that’s a prize worth having. I’d be free to go wherever I choose. Does that include the armor you’re wearing?” Grant nodded. Whippet stood up, “Count me in.”
Cinny smiled, “Put the helmet on and let’s see what we have.” Whippet put the helmet on and leaned back in his chair. The Hologram’s voice began and the three of them closed their eyes.
Chapter Three
The download ended and they opened their eyes. Whippet looked at them, “Your planet was beautiful. The diversity of life was incredible. I’m amazed at how brutal and how good your species could be.”
The download was a history of Earth from its early formation to its destruction. The download was done at high speed and Cinny and Grant were stunned by what they had seen. Cinny’s tears were on her cheeks and Grant had an expression that bordered on rage. Whippet looked at them and sighed, “Now is not the time to go seek vengeance. You’re not prepared to take on the civilization that destroyed your home world.”
Grant looked at him and his eyes narrowed, “I know. However, there’s no more Mr. Nice Guy when they confront us in the future.” He looked at Cinny, “Do you agree?” Cinny wiped her tears and nodded.
Whippet stared at the two humans and then said, “You realize that something’s missing from this data?”
The two turned to him and Cinny said, “What do you mean?”
“Tell me what information was on this download that was so critical to stop you from acquiring it?”
Grant stared at Whippet and then looked up, “What other information is available in your data banks?”
“That is all that I have.”
Cinny started shaking her head, “There’s got to be more.”
Grant looked at her, “Tell me why you say that?”
“Whoever took us to the monastery would want us to know who we are.” She paused, “Who we really are. None of this answers that question.”