by James Somers
“I suppose you will have to assume control of the council in Licoure’s absence, sir,” Lucin suggested.
“It’s unfortunate this has all happened, but I’m ready to do my duty to the council as the alternate for the chair,” said Teman.
“If it’s all right, Mr. Chairman, I will accompany the prisoner to our detention facility and see that he is secured properly.”
“I know you and Tiet have been good friends, Estall. I hope you realize that he must stand trial. I want to know you won’t attempt to help him escape the law. It would cause a civil war.”
“Sir, I assure you, I couldn’t have any thought further from my mind.”
Teman looked pleased by the response and Lucin, in his guise, turned to enter the lift. A sly grin crossed his lips at the thought of trying to let Tiet go after all the effort to frame him. After years and years of covertly assimilating a large portion of the population in the twelve cities, the time had finally come. The populous was his to command—a mithrial severed from the heavenly realm, but still commanding his own destiny.
There wouldn’t be enough time to have any sort of legal proceedings. Everyone would soon be under his control and come to be joined within the symbyte collective as the Baruk once had been. With the king out of the way, and the boy within his grasp, the time to act was now. The lift doors closed behind him as Licoure’s body was brought from his residence—all according to plan.
☼
Emil steadied himself, waiting for the attack. Kale stood across the large training room that doubled as his bedroom. From a rack of weapons, he picked up a vest with spicors stuffed in it and put it on as he looked at Emil, who stood with only a wooden bow to fight with. The spicors were not armed, of course, as that would certainly bring his parents screaming into his bedroom if any were to go off.
Kale started toward Emil with his array of weaponry located all over his uniform.
“Now concentrate, Emil. Remember to let go of your physical senses to some extent, allowing them to be heightened and helped by the Way.”
“Sometimes if I concentrate too hard I lose it altogether.”
“Just try to let it flow naturally. You’ll get that feeling of being inside and part of an energy field, as though it were an extension of your own body and mind, transmitting information to you and obeying your commands. Don’t fight it. Embrace it. After all, you have the ability. You just need to hone your skills.”
“My father will be so excited when we surprise everybody. I can’t wait until we get back from the outing!”
“Let’s get to work so you can really show him something.”
Kale retrieved a handful of spicors then flung them at Emil. He dodged the first which was meant to bring him into the path of the second. He brought his bow to guard. The disc embedded into the wood in front of his face. The remaining discs came quickly as he dodged about, allowing some to pass into the wall behind him. Others he deflected away as he brought the bow spinning elegantly around his body.
“Very good.”
Kale pulled his training kemsticks from their magnetic clips and extended the metal rods. He flew into an attack against his friend, who brought the bow staff into play to counter the strikes. Emil quickly moved to the offensive and spun down low with his body underneath Kale’s strikes swinging the whirling bow at his friend’s lower legs. He very nearly caught him with the effort, but Kale flipped forward over him instead and returned an extended kemstick back at Emil as he landed.
The boy was already there with his staff to block the strike and moved again to push back at Kale. In mid-swing Kale hammered right through the middle of Emil’s bow staff. He quickly threw the pieces at Kale, searching with his senses for another weapon.
He found them on his attacker’s legs. As Kale deflected the bow staff pieces thrown at him he felt his second pair of training sticks leaping to Emil’s waiting hands. The pair traded furious blows.
They had made the discovery of Emil’s power two years before while Kale was training under Wynn. While practicing various exercises in his bedroom with Emil, the young Horva had followed him through one of the mental exercises and actually produced some result. With more experimentation, they had discovered his power and Kale had taken it upon himself to pass on everything Wynn was teaching him—but secretly.
They had no idea how he could have come to have Barudii mental abilities in the first place, until the two had heard from Tiet, whilst he was in a reminiscing mood, about how Grod had once been his enemy and captured him for the purpose of using his DNA for an experiment to rejuvenate his own chromosomes with Barudii power. But the experiment had failed to produce any such power in Grod and the subject was never dwelt on further by either of them. The boys assumed that what had not manifested in Grod was now showing up in his son.
The boys battled intensely. Emil used the Way to carry his body elegantly through dodges and flips as the two fought. So much freedom. His mind and senses had never felt so alive. Kale thought of how proud Emil’s father would be when he learned what he had unknowingly been passed on to his son.
Suddenly Kale felt something else—something besides their sparring. He stopped his attack and dodged away leaving Emil looking puzzled.
“What is it?”
“Something’s wrong. Someone is approaching.”
☼
Lucin’s intercom link beeped. “Yes?”
“Sir, the squads are positioned outside the King’s residence and Commander Gareth’s.”
“Very good, Lieutenant. I will contact you momentarily with an order to secure the premises and capture everyone on the grounds at the King’s residence. Wynn Gareth, I want killed on sight. Is that understood?”
“Understood, sir. We’re standing by.”
Lucin watched as the containment field charged up around Tiet inside the special chamber which had been prepared to hold him. The last of the guards left the chamber as Lucin entered in the form of Estall and faced Tiet.
“Estall, you know I couldn’t have done this, don’t you?”
“I am very confident you did not.”
“But can you help me to prove it?”
At that, Lucin began to pace around the bubble of the containment field.
“I don’t think that would be possible.”
“I don’t want you to break the law, just see that I receive a fair trial,” said Tiet
Lucin stopped his pacing and chuckled at the comment. “I don’t think a trial is in your future.”
“What do you mean?” asked Tiet, puzzled.
Lucin faced him and stared into his eyes. “It is no longer necessary to prolong this charade. You have walked into a trap and you will die here in this room before long.”
“Estall, what are you talking about!? What’s going on?” Tiet asked as he noticed a look on Estall’s face he had never seen before. “Who are you?”
“Did you really think you could destroy me by wiping out the Baruk?”
Realization washed over Tiet like a wave of doom. Estall was dead. The same creature that had held control of the Baruk was inside him now, the same being which had killed his brother Kale. “Why imprison me? If you’re so powerful why not face me openly?”
“Do you think revenge is my plan? You are vain. It is complete control I will soon have and a new young body to rule your kingdom with.” He laughed. “Elithias may have cursed me to these physical forms and favored man, but I’m not through fighting yet.”
Tiet was trying to take in what he was hearing, but it wasn’t all registering.
Lucin spoke into his intercom link. “Lieutenant?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Sweep the residence and be sure the boy is kept alive. Kill Commander Gareth.”
“Yes, sir. It will be done.”
“Kale?”
“Oh, yes. Your son will make a fitting body for me to rule this planet and those that will follow.”
“I’ll kill you!”
“Tha
t would be a neat trick. This bubble was engineered by your own scientists to hold even a Barudii.”
Tiet fumed with rage, but the containment field prevented him from using his power to break free or affect anything beyond it.
“Enjoy your stay, Tiet. I have a meeting with your son.”
“Take me instead! Wait!!”
But the possessed body of Estall did not wait. He turned with a devilish grin on his face and left the chamber. Tiet pounded a fist into the containment field which repelled him with a jolt of forcefield energy. Only his rage kept him from collapsing. He felt like exploding, but he knew it would be useless. He had to get out of here and quickly. That creature would kill everyone he cared about if he didn’t do something, but he had no idea what.
The containment field kept his powers nullified and the chamber looked extremely dense—capable of keeping him from breaking free. What could he do, but wait—wait for them to come kill him, wait while his family was taken over by Lucin’s symbyte form the way Estall had been. Tiet wanted to scream, to cry out, but he could only sit on the ground and pray. He prayed that the Eternal One, Elithias, would give him an answer to the dilemma. It was all he could do.
COUP
Wynn sat at his table eating dinner. He was still feeling tired from Kale’s trial. He finished his plate of food then felt a disturbance. Someone was here. They were not altogether human. Something else, vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t place it. They were coming now. He sensed it. Wynn walked quietly toward the main room where he kept his weapons mounted on the walls.
The entire side wall of his house exploded inward, covering him in rubble. He thought he might have lost consciousness for a moment. When he opened his eyes he saw and sensed soldiers all around, walking across the wreckage they had made of his house. They were searching for him.
Wynn remained as motionless beneath the wreckage as possible. He concentrated, his mind taking in the entire area. The soldiers were mostly Vorn, yet they weren’t. Something was alien about them and the Castillian soldiers with them. It was as though their minds were joined one to another in some way.
Then it hit him. This was the same sensation he had of the Baruk. The symbyte creatures that inhabited them were still alive. He felt for a weapon and found one two feet away under some of the wreckage. Time to act.
With his mind, Wynn raised the entire room full of wreckage, in a massive burst of motion, along with the soldiers standing on top of it. Wynn stood up as he called a kemstick to his hand, extending the adomen rod.
Gravity returned the soldiers to the ground along with the rubble. Wynn whirled through the rainstorm of dust and debris cutting through the symbyte possessed soldiers. Others were approaching fast from outside his demolished home. He deflected several blasts then retreated into another portion of the home that was still standing. The symbyte soldiers pursued him hard, like hounds on the hunt. They reached the innermost portion of the room as he escaped through a window. He returned a mental command that blew out the remaining support structures, dropping the rest of the house on his pursuers. More were on the way.
He could head right into them and try to kill as many as possible or escape to reach Tiet’s home. These possessed soldiers would certainly be on the attack at the King’s residence if they were here.
Wynn’s estate was near the airway and overlooked it to the east. He ran for the airway as the soldiers searched the wreckage for him. The hill had a wall across it that prevented someone from falling over the edge into the airway lanes below. He jumped up to the wall and down on the narrow ledge on the other side as laser fire blasted into the wall near his position. Below him, shuttles and transports of every sort sped along the airway lanes in two directions.
The chances of successfully landing on one of the small transports without serious injury were not very good. Then he spotted a large bus transport. It was still moving pretty fast, but the margin for error was more acceptable. Laser fire ate away at the wall as the soldiers approached. They weren’t taking any chances or prisoners. Wynn leaped away, guiding his descent over to the roof of the bus. The transport’s speed jerked his feet out from under him as he landed. He rolled backward but managed to grab hold of a rail. At least he was onboard.
The soldiers came to the top of the wall looking for him, but Wynn couldn’t be sure whether or not they actually spotted him on top of the transport. It was going the right direction in order to get him to Tiet’s home, but it would take about ten minutes. He hoped it would get him there in time to help the King and his family.
☼
“What is it?” asked Emil.
“Don’t you feel it?”
“No.”
“Don’t worry, that will come in time. Grab some real weapons and follow me.”
Kale ran toward the main room of the house with Emil in tow close behind.
☼
Mirah went to the door to answer the chime. When she opened it, soldiers were all over the place. They raised their weapons as she turned to run for cover. The blasts caught her full force and sent her flying across the floor. The soldiers at the door poured into the room after her.
“How is she?” asked one of the soldiers as another knelt to check her.
“She’s alive.”
“All right. Let’s retrieve the boy. All weapons on stun, men. The boy is not to be harmed.”
The soldier kneeling beside Mirah stood to his feet, raising his weapon. A flash of light severed half of the rifle from the rest and took off his head. Kale was a blur. His thoughts brought the door slamming shut on the soldier standing in the doorway. He slumped down the wall with cracked ribs and sternum as the door released him again. Soldiers from behind kicked it back open and rushed in with their rifles firing. They ran into the room but couldn’t find anyone.
Kale looked down on them from his suspended position against the ceiling, looking like a fly at rest. He dropped right into the middle of them with twin kemsticks blazing. He cut down several soldiers before they could fire a shot. But more were rushing in as they saw him engage the others. They fired their rifles right into the crowd taking down their own men in an attempt to get Kale. He used the soldiers, still standing around him, as shields to get away.
More soldiers filed through the door. Then three live spicors flew at them from Emil’s hand on another side of the main room. The discs exploded, cutting down most of the soldiers coming through the doorway.
Kale used Emil’s attack as an opportunity to scoop up his mother. He hoisted her to his shoulder and headed back toward his training room with Emil following. They shut the door behind them.
“What’s going on? Those are our soldiers out there.”
“I don’t know. Something doesn’t feel right about them. Maybe the Vorn council has decided to stage a coup against Father.”
“Too bad he’s not here now.”
“Maybe there’s a reason for that. Right now we had better get Mother out of here. I think they’ve only stunned her which probably means they want us alive.”
“The transport!”
“Let’s go. You drive.”
“Right.”
They headed out the other side of the room into a garage area that housed their transports. Emil raised the canopy on the ship they had planned on using to go on their post-trial outing.
“Hey, look,” said Emil, pointing to another ship across the hangar.
“The Whiplash! We’ll take that instead.”
“Do you have access codes for your father’s ship?”
“Are you kidding? Father had me flying this thing as soon as I could reach all of the controls,” said Kale as they ran for the ship.
Kale opened up a hatch behind the navigation area of the two-man cockpit and slid his mother inside. He closed the compartment and keyed in the code to raise the canopy. He and Emil jumped inside.
“I’ll fly this one,” said Kale.”
“I thought you might say that.”
“You t
ake the weapons console up front.”
“Aye, Captain.”
The canopy came back down again as Kale fired up the engines and control systems came on line. Emil placed the targeting lens over his head and adjusted it to his eye. The targeting icon came into view as the forward cannons began tracking his head movements.
“Here they come,” said Kale, looking toward the access door from the house.
Soldiers ran through with their weapons trained on their ship.
Emil activated one of the wing turrets. It immediately tracked with the targeting lens toward the soldiers. The cannon exploded with rapid, repeating laser blasts from the rotating barrel assembly, cutting the soldiers down like wheat with a scythe.
“Let’s get out of here,” said Kale. He raised the ship off of the platform and moved toward the hangar opening ahead. A troop transport came into view ahead of them. It was trying to cut them off and come into the garage bay.
“Shred it!”
“I’m on it!” said Emil. He activated the forward cannons.
Rapid laser fire filled the troop transport’s cockpit, causing it to explode. The transport dropped out of the way as Kale flew the Whiplash out of the garage bay and punched the thruster control—they sprang away from the area like a rubber band under tension.