The first Bhlat civilian we encountered was once again much smaller than the initial contact I’d made on the Deltra station. That one had been an eight-foot-tall warrior, and this was a six-foot male, wearing a robe on the warm day. He moved slowly, like time meant nothing to him, causing us to slow down behind him. I mentally urged him to move along, but he just stood there, face to the red sun, sniffing in the afternoon air.
He said a string of words that translated into my ear as, “Blessed are those who are still walking today.”
He said it a couple more times before opening his eyes and looking toward us. I froze, my heart pounding so hard I thought it was going to jump out and startle the Bhlat. It felt like his eyes made contact with mine; pinks and oranges swirled beside each other in his eyes, and I stared into them, petrified and mesmerized at the same time. Then he looked away, moving on to whatever chore he was set upon.
“Dean, was that a Bhlat?” Leonard asked quietly once no one was around.
“It was.”
“They don’t seem that scary,” he said, a trembling hand still set on my shoulder.
“They won’t all seem intimidating. Who are you more scared of: an old man back in your hometown or a jacked-up soldier with a gun?”
“I get it. This place just seems so normal.”
“We keep moving,” I said, ignoring his comment.
The surface of the sidewalk was paved with a dark asphalt-like substance. It was hard but had a slight give to it, one that wouldn’t crack with season changes. Each building had doors leading into it, a couple with armed security guards. I wondered if they were banks, and just what Bhlat commerce was like on the planet. We avoided anywhere we saw Bhlat outside, and every so often, I looked up to make sure we weren’t being spotted from above.
Terrance had passed some rumors on about there being a palace from which the Bhlat fleet was ruled. A king or emperor ruled them with an iron fist, killing any that opposed him. I took it all with a grain of salt, since they were just distant rumors, but now, they were all I had to go on. The farther we got into the city, the more people we passed. Our clothing made it next to impossible to see us, but we still made noise and had a physical presence. If someone bumped into us, it was over.
We came across all sorts of Bhlat as we kept close to the sides of buildings. Children kicked a ball in the alleys, dust covering their robes. Females chatted about the weather as they carried boxes from one building to another. It all seemed so normal.
Sweat poured down my body, and even the suit’s built-in air conditioning couldn’t stop me from overheating. It was getting warm out; with the layers on and the anxiety of where we were, I was flushed all over.
“How are you holding up, Leonard?”
“Terribly. Is this what being a hero is all about?”
“Pretty much.”
“Then you can have all the glory from now on.”
A loud Bhlat voice carried over to us from around the edge of a high-rise building, and we stopped. I motioned for Leonard to go flat against the wall. I wanted to grab my rifle, but that would expose me, so I stayed still.
“The Tarna will not be seeing petitioners today. Go back home,” the voice called. The word Tarna didn’t translate, and I understood that to be the name or title of someone.
Taking a peek around the corner, I saw a line of people that went on for as far as I could see, toward a section of the city to the east.
“I’ve read enough medieval books to know that the peasants petition the king at the palace. Follow that line, and we find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow,” Leonard said, nervously laughing.
He was probably right. A group of petitioners turned and walked past us, their heads down low. “We need water. How are we going to grow the crops? Theos bless us,” a Bhlat woman said through long sharp teeth.
“Shhhh. Don’t say that name,” her friend hissed back. “Sometimes I wonder why I spend time with you. Shouting out blasphemy on the streets.”
They kept moving, and my heart rate returned to only slightly escalated instead of full-on panic. The woman had mentioned the Theos. The old gods’ name still escaped the lips of our enemy. That was interesting, yet they didn’t know about the portals, which made it even more of a mystery. Maybe there was a card I could add to this last hand I was playing.
Motioning for Leonard to follow, I turned around, heading toward the block parallel to the line of people. We’d follow the line, but from a distance. From here, I spotted what could only be the palace. It was a huge building, walls standing as tall as the skyscrapers near it. It looked a meld of glass, stone, and metal from our vantage point: as futuristic and imposing as I could have imagined.
The closer we got to our destination, the slower the travel. More and more bodies cluttered the alleys now, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to stay hidden. Leonard’s deep breathing was crossing through my earpiece, and I had to tell him to calm down a few times. He didn’t reply to my prodding.
A city block away from the immense towers ahead, I had to make a decision. If we kept creeping around cloaked, we were bound to be caught, and we were running out of time.
“Leonard,” I said when we were out of earshot of any Bhlat on the streets, “change of plans.” I told him to follow me, and we ducked and turned away from the wide entrance to the palace. Huge stone steps rose to a large open doorway, where armored guards kept a watchful eye on anyone coming or going. This wasn’t going to work.
Around the corner, we found what I assumed would be there: a servants’ entrance. A couple of Bhlat men were hanging outside, smoking a potent herb from something resembling a pipe. They were in the same white robes, but these were hooded. The men were taller than us by a good foot; smoke blew out one man’s three nostrils.
As they entered the door, I gripped it just before it closed and followed them into the room. Boots and uniforms lined the walls, and before the two of them knew it, I decloaked, holding my pulse rifle up toward them.
“Don’t shoot,” the first one said, his words translating through my earpiece.
“Listen to me.” I paused while the translator spat out the appropriate Bhlat words. “Do as I say, and you can go home to your families tonight.”
This got the two wide gray faces to nod along. I got a good look at a Bhlat for the first time. These two had the same swirling movement in their eyes as the others I’d encountered, and mucus flew from one of the left alien’s nostrils. As much as I was taught that something with teeth that sharp must be a monster, these two seemed like normal people, no different from anyone on the street back home.
“Good. Now tell me who’s in charge, and where I can find them.”
____________
“Are you sure this is going to work?” Leonard asked me from beneath his cowl. He looked like an overweight ghost in the get-up, and I doubted my plan.
“No. I’m liking the odds less and less.” I pushed the cart down the hall toward the Empress’ offices. The Bhlat had told us they were scheduled to do maintenance on her floor atop the towers that morning. After grilling them for an hour, we donned their clothing and made our move.
The cart held our supplies inside, and I had a pulse pistol tucked away under my too-large Bhlat uniform. I was swimming in it, worried each step would cause me to trip over it and make myself known.
The handheld Kalentrek was in my palm. The only solace of that was in knowing I could activate it and kill any Bhlat in the area. That might save my and Leonard’s skin, but it wasn’t going to help our case back at Earth.
We used a key fob on the elevator, the door opening. We entered and pressed the icon the Bhlat had advised, but instead of a lift, an energy surge raced through my body. The next thing I knew, we were on the top floor.
“Freaky,” Leonard said.
I checked my pocket for the Relocator and reminded Leonard to stay close. If we needed to bolt for the portal, I had to be touching him when I activated the device.
“What’s that for?” Leonard asked as I took the device back and replaced the grate.
“Backup plan.”
TWENTY-FIVE
The doors opened, and we entered the beehive. Armed Bhlat strode down the halls, half as wide as they were tall in their armor. We kept our eyes down, our uniforms and servant cowls covering our far-too-obvious human faces.
I didn’t know much about their leader, but they said she ran all things under the ever-expanding Bhlat colonies. I’d asked what kind of woman she was, and their eyes had gotten wide. They clearly feared her.
The room was open, with three halls heading in different directions from the floor’s foyer. The guards seemed uninterested in us, and I doubted they’d ever been infiltrated before.
“Left,” I whispered, and pushed the cart down the left hall, with Leonard following close behind.
A tall, slim female walked past us, her clothing colorful and rich: a stark contrast to the clothing we’d seen the regular ground-dwellers wearing. I heard her footsteps slow as we walked the opposite direction, and I could feel her eyes on my back as we kept going. Sweat dripped down my torso as my fears escalated and threatened to take over. I thought of Mary on their ship above Earth, and all of my friends in danger there. It was enough to keep my feet moving. The female’s footsteps started up again, getting quieter the farther apart we got.
With a quick glance, I looked up and spotted two hefty guards at the end of the hall. They looked much like the warriors we’d faced on the Deltra space station, and I wasn’t looking forward to fighting them again. But I didn’t have a choice.
“Stay behind me,” I said to Leonard, who happily slowed his pace.
The guards said something to me, but without my translator on, I couldn’t make out the words. I nodded, my face still covered, and when I was ten feet in front of them, I reached under the cart I was pushing, my hand coming to rest on the butt of the pulse rifle.
They spoke again, this time louder, angrier. This was it. I had to get through the doors if my plan was going to work. My last resort was still in my pocket, and I nearly reached for it with my other hand. I could end them now, show the power at my fingertips. Show them we weren’t to be trifled with. Humans weren’t going to roll over for them. I had seconds to act, and I closed my eyes for a tiny moment, remembering the forest on the way down from the portal just hours ago. Kareem’s last words echoed in my mind as I gripped the Kalentrek with my left hand, and the rifle with my right. Make things different.
My left hand let go and I raised the rifle, pointing it at them before they had time to react.
The guard on the left grunted, his sharp teeth bared at me. He spoke a string of hostile commands, but I didn’t waver. I held the rifle straight between them, waiting for an excuse to shoot. Their armor was thick, matte black, and dangerous-looking. I had to shoot for the head, like Mary had when we’d first encountered them.
I nodded to the door, and they seemed to understand. The one on the right moved to open the door, and the other reached for a gun on his hip. I shot him in the head so quickly, it even startled me.
“Dean!” Leonard shouted behind me, but I didn’t turn or reply. I just motioned for the door again, and the Bhlat guard laid his gun down to open it. Nudging the barrel of the rifle in the air, I waved for the guard to go in first. He did, hesitant to show his back to me.
“Drag him inside,” I said to Leonard, my voice grim.
“Drag… drag him?”
“Do it,” I said, and followed the guard inside. The room was wide, tall panoramic windows letting in red sunlight from a wide angle.
A red-robed female Bhlat sat on a couch with a small alien beside her. They talked quietly and didn’t seem to notice us at all.
Behind me, Leonard groaned as he fought to pull the gargantuan Bhlat in with us. I motioned for the guard to help him, and he obeyed. Soon the door was shut, the dead guard’s blood a smear across the entryway.
“Stay here,” I said to Leonard, and passed him my pistol. He took it with a trembling hand.
He pointed the gun at the remaining guard, who glared at me with hate and distaste. “Don’t let him get too close. If he does, shoot him in the head.”
“Dean, I don’t know if I can.”
“You have to. Do it and let yourself grieve later.”
He nodded, and I turned and walked toward the Empress and the child.
The room had a boardroom-style table in it, and it was uncanny how much their civilization mirrored our own. A holographic video played in the center of the table: images of large Bhlat ships moving around a planet. I watched it for a few seconds and realized it wasn’t just any planet; it was Earth.
I almost grabbed the communicator to make contact, but waited. I stepped toward the couch, and the woman said something quietly to the child before turning to me.
For a Bhlat, she was stunning. Her wide face was framed by thick black braids, and her eyes were a light swirling red, making me think of molten lava. Her lips parted in a thin smile, sharp teeth making her look like a dangerous predator.
“I wondered when someone would make it up here. I expected it from the Kraski, if I’m being honest, but not a human.” She spoke in perfect English, and I was caught off-guard. I closed my mouth, not wanting her to see my surprise.
“We’re craftier than you think,” I said, playing along with her banter.
“Whom am I addressing?” she asked. Beside her, the little girl’s blue eyes danced as she stared at me intently.
“Dean Parker,” I said, glad to get a reaction from her.
“You’re a hard man to kill, it seems. Admiral Blel told me only a while ago he had your friends, and that you were dead. They seemed to want to barter but claimed they wouldn’t talk yet.”
“The timing just had to be right.”
“Yes, so it seems.” She looked over my shoulder to where Leonard was holding a gun to the guard; then she glanced to the floor, where the dead one lay in a pile. “What is it you want?”
“I want peace. I want you to leave Earth and never come back.”
“It’s too late for that. We’ve already begun the harvest. There’s no going back.”
I cringed inwardly. I had to pivot. “Then let us leave, and you can have it.” I was literally bartering away a planet, but given the circumstance, I didn’t have a choice.
She looked intrigued. “Is that so?”
“Yes. Take the planet. Use its water, use its ore, but let us leave. Don’t make contact ever again.”
“Or what?” she asked.
“You don’t want to find out,” I said, almost bluffing, but knowing I could still end their city with the touch of a button.
She stood silent for a minute, analyzing the situation.
“We have a deal,” she said, and I felt a fraction of the tension in my back ease up. She moved for the table and tapped an icon glowing on a built-in screen.
She said something in Bhlat, and I caught the name Blel. A gruff voice called back, and they went back and forth. I heard the name Mary carry over, and I gripped the rifle harder.
“What did he say?” I asked, remembering the dreams I’d had in which Mary was killed in our final confrontation with the Bhlat.
She didn’t say anything for a long minute, and my eyes started to well up. “What did he say?” I yelled.
“He said there was an altercation. One of the human guests has been killed.”
My gut clenched, and my vision went black. “Which guest?” I asked, knowing the answer.
One word escaped through her sharp teeth, her swirling eyes conveying a touch of sympathy. “Mary.
”
The door blew open before I had a chance to let it soak in. I almost didn’t turn to the concussion blast. If she was gone, then what was the point?
Leonard’s yelling voice brought me back, and I spun, firing at the incoming guards. Red pulses erupted from my rifle, and Leonard’s pistol joined me as a dozen armed Bhlat raced into the room. I just needed to touch the Empress and Leonard, and we could get out of here. Only when I looked back at her, she and the child were near the window.
We ducked behind the table, trading fire with the newcomers. I made a lucky shot and saw one of them drop dead. Leonard had his hand up over his head, firing backwards with his eyes closed. One of his shots hit, and footsteps started coming our way, closer to us.
The Empress called out a command, and the firing instantly stopped. She said another string of words, and the warriors lowered their weapons. I didn’t do the same. For all I knew, we’d raise our hands and get killed for our efforts.
I stood up, rifle pointed at the eight or so standing guards, and crossed the room to the imposing woman at the window. The Relocator was in my other palm now, and Leonard got close.
The Empress looked at us, and to the dead guards on the floor. She held her daughter’s hand as I reached to touch her and Leonard with my bare hands. I touched the Relocator.
TWENTY-SIX
“If we made a deal, why did we take their Empress?” Leonard asked, his hands still shaking. I was impressed with how well he’d handled himself and told him so.
“For insurance. I don’t trust them, and right before we got rudely interrupted, we heard that… they killed someone.” I wouldn’t believe she was dead or let myself dwell on the implications, because I’d be a mess on the ground if I did.
“Where are we?” the Empress asked, her child finally done crying. We were in the portal cave, but I wouldn’t let her see outside and let her know where the portal was located.
“Don’t worry about that. Leonard, blindfold them.” I ripped some fabric from the woman’s robe, and Leonard gently tied the red fabric around her face, then the girl’s. Neither protested.
The Survivors Box Set Page 61