Zein: The Homecoming

by Graham J. Wood

  They made their way to the transportation room which was locked. Cronje removed his card and swiped it across the lock. The satisfying noise of the locks unfurling could be heard. He pushed the door open.

  ‘Vice-Chancellor Cronje, good to see you,’ said a colonel of the US Marines. Behind him there were another ten soldiers with automatic rifles at the ready. ‘What brings you here on such a fine night?’ Behind Cronje and his soldiers another squad of American soldiers arrived.

  ‘Just taking a gentle stroll,’ said Cronje.

  ‘Fine, I have been ordered to escort you to the Core,’ said the soldier, ‘After you have placed your weapons into our safe-keeping.’

  ‘Who are you and who sent you?’

  ‘I am Colonel Travers and I am here under orders of the Inner Council.’

  Cronje weighed up the odds and decided he needed to play this one out. With his step-children safely spirited away, he could bide his time.

  ‘Colonel Travers, let’s go,’ said Cronje as he pulled out his weapons and passed them to the nearest guard.

  They entered the transportation field and teleported to the Core.

  Chapter 16: Skegus

  Zylar strode confidently down the ship’s walkway surrounded by twenty of his Ilsid. Beside him was Leila.

  Since that fateful night when she had given herself to him, Zylar, if it was at all possible, appeared to be smitten by her. His requests for the young women in his captivity reduced and Leila was a regular in his quarters.

  Leila hid her disgust at what she was doing but she now enjoyed considerably more freedom round the ship. He had appointed the big, lumbering, young Malacca soldier who had guarded the medical bay with the sallow faced man, as her permanent guard. Leila found out that his name was Clancy and apart from a slowness of mind, he was quite sweet. He held doors open for her and was more protective than threatening.

  She walked dutifully beside Zylar, keeping her head down and her gaze averted from him. Even with this precaution, when she saw the wonder of the Skegus city of Quentine open up in front of her, she could not stop her mouth from flopping open in amazement.

  In front of her was a city so beautiful that it defied the logic that cities were large conurbations with dirt, noise and energy. Not here. There were buildings of wonder reaching so high in the sky that some of the tips disappeared into the cloud. Their sheer sides of black glass shone with the reflected sunshine. In contrast, surrounding some of the largest buildings, were exquisite structures of every type of material and construction. It was a rich patchwork quilt of colour and style that gave an overwhelming feel of a sophisticated civilisation.

  The wonder did not stay long. In front of them was a welcome committee that made Leila extremely fearful, causing heart palpitations in her nervous body. Ahead was a contingent of what could only be called reptiles in armour; their blue scaly skin secreted a loathsome fluid which kept it moist. Leila felt repelled and fought against any outward sign of her disgust…something which she was finding hard to do.

  There appeared to be a variety of types of alien, with the tall ones in front, whom Zylar greeted with a low bow, representing what must be the senior leadership and then there were the aliens that were nearly half the size just behind them. They made up the bulk of the guard but it was the gruesome beasts that a number of the soldiers were holding by reins that made her really shiver. The creatures reminded her of extremely large crocodiles with legs twice the size of those on earth. Snouts dripped saliva onto the ground as they sniffed and pawed at the ground in front of her. She could see the strain on their handlers’ forearms of the power which these animals had. One creature yawned making Leila swallow hard as a vicious array of teeth, embedded inside the yawning maw of the creature, was displayed.

  She felt all the reptiles eyes scan over her and she had the passing feeling that they were weighing her up for lunch, rather than welcome. She nervously pulled the cloak around her and dropped her head again, staring at the floor, knowing that the eyes remained on her.

  Zylar paid little attention to the supporting cast and concentrated with many grunts and guttural sounds in conversing with the tall, more senior reptiles. Leila didn’t understand a word. If Zylar noticed the interest the human had triggered with the Xonians, he ignored it. He had brought Leila to show them what was on offer, to back up what he had said during talks with them from the safety of his ship.

  ‘The creature smells delightful,’ said Yisli, his forked tongue sliding over his blue scaled lips. His report from his initial meeting with Zylar had caused great excitement and greed. He was the commander of all two hundred thousand troops in Sector Four, which covered five galaxies, including the Capulus Novus System where he could call on half of that force if required. He only had Zein left to conquer and was only delayed by a rebellion in one of the other galaxies, which his army was crushing at this very moment.

  ‘Remember, there are over six billion of these creatures on one planet in a galaxy with no other life,’ said Zylar, waiting for the reaction from the remaining Xonians. He guessed that greed would overtake any caution and he was not disappointed. ‘Now my reckoning is that would feed the Xonian Empire for decades.’

  Yisli turned to his second-in-command, Maeli, and gave a horrific smile, before turning back to Zylar.

  ‘I can only agree to your safety here, all decisions need to be sanctioned by Our Exalted Prince Jernli,’ he said, spitting out the words in distaste. Even Leila could read the disgusted look on the tall warrior’s face, which communicated an intense dislike for whoever Prince Jernli was.

  ‘You didn’t mention this in our other discussions,’ said Zylar, disappointed that he needed to convince another of his plan.

  ‘Believe me when I say that I thought there would be little issue but this Prince is weak,’ said Yisli, not even attempting to hide his disdain. ‘I would have conquered Zein many termins ago but the Exalted One feels we need to consolidate our bases here and on Oneerio before invading Zein.’

  Zylar grunted his agreement; Zein should not be difficult to conquer and it did seem to be very conservative with such a massive army to call upon.

  ‘In that case take me to Prince Jernli so we can discuss the strategy,’ said Zylar, and then as an afterthought, ‘I would like to move my concubines to more comfortable quarters near me and have your promise that they will be unharmed?’ Yisli confirmed that this would be the case.

  ‘This is my principal concubine,’ said Zylar, pointing to Leila, ‘she is the only one who will be able to leave my quarters.’ Again Yisli bowed his head in acknowledgment.

  ‘Your concubine is welcome in the city. A word of caution, I would advise the alien female that it would not be wise to travel too far without protection,’ said Yisli, oily. ‘My troops may mistake her for dinner.’ He flashed his eyes hungrily in her direction.

  Leila saw the exchange and delight on Zylar’s face at the last comment. She felt the bile rising up within her.

  The party moved off the presentation platform and entered the city. Leila looked around her in awe. The well-tended gardens that broke up the thousands of magnificent buildings gave the city a life and colour that simply took your breath away. They walked past a new building under construction near what seemed to be an external barracks. Massive photon guns as large as a truck were being winched into the fortifications that surrounded the city.

  It was not the guns that caught her attention. Working on the fortifications were a people of such gentle features you could see every grimace as the whips of the overseers unrelentingly crashed down onto their half-naked golden backs. The majority were at least eight feet tall with arms that reached the ground. Each of the arms ended in eight long digits that wrapped around the pulleys and stone with ease. There were also fellow creatures who were half the size working with them. One of the smaller creatures lost his grip on the pulley and the gun lurched to the ground, but the tall male figure next to him caught the pulley in flight and his huge musc
les flexed and took the weight. He then hauled it back to its position, where another of the creatures set it in place.

  The overseer raised his whip and before it came down on the back of the smaller male, the huge hand of the tall male shot across to grip the overseer’s hand, preventing the downward application of the whip. The Xonians all around screamed at the creature and they raised their whips to tame this insubordination. The figure straightened up and stared bravely at the smaller figures and his fellow prisoners went to his side. Around the building site there were others of the same race, going by on their own graceful, subdued errands. They all stopped and began to move to where the prisoners were. Hundreds of bystanders swarmed to the site.

  Yisli, who had been studying the altercation with amusement, saw the impact on the wider community. He acted swiftly. He issued a series of commands. The overseers dropped their whips and backed off. He spoke to the tall commanding but gentle looking figure in front of him.

  In reaction to the shouted commands the tall male figure spoke. Leila marvelled at the musical tone of the voice. It travelled on the breeze and immediately calmed you.

  ‘It is all right my people, please go on your way,’ he calmly said. Leila was surprised that she could understand him.

  The fellow creatures converging on the site stopped and then carried on their way, their heads bowed again. The figure turned his attention to Leila. Interest flickered across his face, before he moved onto Zylar. Leila was sure he saw him recoil.

  ‘That is Yi, the King of Oneerio and Skegus, Leila,’ whispered Zylar.

  ‘What did the Xonian say to him?’

  ‘Just warned him that if this aggression continues, then everyone around him, including his son,’ Zylar pointed to the young male who had let go of the pulley, ‘would be put to death.’

  ‘That’s barbaric.’

  ‘That’s Xonian Law, and that is why they reign over a hundred galaxies,’ said Zylar, admiringly. Not for the first time Leila couldn’t look at the monster who stood next to her. She watched King Yi return to his work after patting his son on his head.

  Now that peace was restored the party carried on with their journey. They approached a stylish building that had a castle-like appearance for the first ten floors with battlements ringing the building. Guarding the walls, which had numerous murder holes, were a large number of Xonians in full battle dress. Behind the battlements the rest of the sleek black glass façade reached high into the sky. It shouldn’t have worked as a building but it did, maintaining an almost medieval wrapper around an ultra-modern inner building. Zylar saw her take in the building.

  ‘They do go in for the dramatic don’t they, Leila?’ Leila ignored him and he shrugged his shoulders at the lack of interest in her response. They entered a tower like entrance and it was here that Leila was separated from Zylar and led away by her escort with Clancy trailing. They travelled in a lift, which was a mini teleport, up to a much higher floor.

  The room she was placed in was beautifully furnished with a separate seating area, a large bedroom and ensuite bathroom to the side. Clancy was positioned outside the door of the room and before he left her, Leila asked him to notify her when the other women were brought to the building. Tired, she rested on the bed and soon fell into a restless sleep.

  It was a couple of hours later that a knock on the door woke her. Groggily she raised herself from the bed, and went to the door and on opening it was faced with Clancy standing there respectfully, clutching his hands in front of him and struggling to look her in the eye.

  ‘The women have all been transferred,’ he said, nervously wringing his hands as he noticed Leila had just a vest top and pants on which accented her curves. He was ten years younger than the human but over the months on the ship he had wrestled with his emotions. A simple man, who was always given the boring and easy roles, he was a sensitive giant. His size stopped some of the hurtful barbs of how slow he was but Leila had treated him with kindness. Recently he had fought other, deeper feelings. He hated how Zylar treated her and marvelled at how caring she continued to be even when subjected to the humiliation heaped on her by his leader.

  Leila was no fool and noticed the wringing of the hands, the blush on his cheeks.

  He likes me. That may prove useful.

  When they entered the room of the other prisoners, Leila was swamped with hugs and questions. Delilah was so pleased to see her and as she hugged her, Leila thought back across the last six months, noticing how she had changed from a shy teenager, into a tough and vibrant young woman. Leila had protected her from Zylar and other guards’ attentions. It was not particularly difficult, as Zylar was focusing on the humans rather than Zeinonians.

  The three children were lying down in a corner.

  The two girls, Hanna and Adira, gurgled happily as their eyes followed the handmade shiny animal mobile dangled above them. Megan and Devra, the two mothers respectively, had accepted that their children may have been born from forced relations but they were just as much theirs as Zylar’s. The latter was a quiet Jewish girl, snatched from a small kibbutz outside Jerusalem. The boy, Cian, was the oldest, crawling away from his Irish mother, Shannon, his shock of dark, curly hair already growing thick and fast. They were all pleased to see Leila.

  Leila patiently told them what had happened and that she had a plan. When she left the room there was hope in the air. Everyone needed hope and now she just needed to deliver on her promises.

  Chapter 17: New Alliances

  That morning it was decided that a good sized advance force would follow Tate Malacca back to the Aeria Cavern to demonstrate solidarity with the people of Zein. The force numbered thousands with more following later that day with some armour.

  Of the initial force over half would be a mixture of the Malacca and Blackstone clan supported by a brigade of US Fighting First troops. Others making up the numbers included the companions, Walter and his main senior science team. The troops coming later would be mainly from the Malacca clan and US Marine Core.

  Prior to this a small group, led by Kabel, went to search for Tyson with one of the diggers. The digger made short work of the rubble where Tyson had been seen last. Much to the relief of the companions, especially Amelia and Bailey, they found no sign of him. They returned to the Elanda with a spring in their step, upbeat that Kabel’s dream that Tyson was alive could be true.

  When they marched into the Aeria Cavern, all the clans came out to greet them. This was the day of their dreams; the Inter-Galactic Expeditionary Force was back and with help.

  There was a heady excitement as they entered through the main South Gate. Gemma felt the thrill of the occasion. Leading the troops were the two Lord Chancellors, Kabel and Tate, who were initially cagey around each other, the former due to memories of the Eastern Quadrant on Earth, the latter with his distrust of the Blackstone clan.

  One person, who couldn’t keep the smile off her face, was Safah. A Blackstone Chancellor! Now we will see who is in charge. Kabel caught the triumphalism of his distant relative and didn’t like what he had heard. He decided that she was one to watch.

  The soldiers marched in orderly ranks through the cheering crowds. Kabel noticed the ramshackle but tall and strong barricade and the decay apparent within the perimeter. He saw the fear and relief in people’s eyes and how thin and malnourished they were and was thankful that he had thought ahead and asked for stores to be brought from the provisions on ship.

  ‘Why do you have the barricades outside the Outer Perimeter Barrier?’ he asked Tate.

  ‘Our zinithium stocks are so low and the shield we have is weak. If we allowed the Pod to attack it they would weaken it so much that it would collapse.’

  ‘So you take the brunt of the force and thereby retain a semblance of protection?’ Tate confirmed that this was the correct interpretation.

  Kabel assessed the inner defences behind the Outer Perimeter Barrier and he was shocked, as the wall was only roughly twice the height of him, w
ith a raised platform behind it for those defending. With any kind of athletic scaling or ladder, you would easily breach it. He made this point to Tate, who didn’t disagree.

  ‘We don’t know whether it will work or not, no Pod has ever breached the barricades,’ said Tate, with a slight shrug of his shoulders. ‘It was built as an afterthought and I do agree with you that it may prove ineffective.’

  Kabel grunted and ran his eye around the inner wall as far as he could see. At least there were no breaks in the wall except for the iron gates at each watch tower which guarded the approach to the main gates.

  ‘You may be better pulling back and giving your superior weapons more of a field of fire.’

  ‘You mean give away a line of defence?’ said Tate, surprised at the suggestion.

  ‘If your enemy climbs over that,’ said Kabel looking at the high barricades, ‘then a wall that size is not going to stop them. You may be better using it to break up the attack and then picking off the attackers with their momentum broken.’

  ‘Hmmm, you may have a point,’ said Tate, as a young girl ran forward and handed him some small flowers. Tate smiled and took the flowers after ruffling the little girl’s shock of red hair. The little girl smiled and then ran back to an older girl with the same coloured hair.

  Bailey, who was strolling in with Hechkle and Bronstorm, stopped in mid stride as he caught the flash of red hair and his eyes were drawn to the older girl. It was like seeing a ghost. Both his friends followed his glance and their faces expressed the same surprise…if they hadn’t known better there stood Evelyn, younger yes, but the same fierce and passionate look. The girl must have been only around fourteen but already was wearing full body armour.

  Bailey stepped closer to Tate and tapped him on the shoulder. ’Who is that girl?’ Tate looked towards the girl Bailey pointed out and smiled.