by Saxon Andrew
“I’m sorry, Councilor, but I can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“I gave my promise to Gen-L and the Linking Time has not passed.”
“We will agree to relieve you of your promise.”
“You didn’t make the promise, Councilor; I did. And no promise should be made unless it is carried out. To do less, is dishonorable.”
“Gen-L, you and Gam-L are banished from the community!”
“WHAT DID I DO!”
“You linked with one that was contracted to another, Gam-L, and don’t try to say you didn’t know about it!”
“She told me it was not an issue. She swore they would not be linked.”
“WILL YOU SHUT-UP!!” Gen-L screamed at Gam-L.
“Councilor.”
“Yes, Tor-N.”
“I ask that you not banish Gen-L or Gam-L.”
“Why would you ask that?”
“Because the community is threatened, and it needs every member to defend it. I also think banishment is something that should never be done to anyone. We are a social-species and cutting anyone for the collective is too cruel. You should just execute them; it would be less harmful than ignoring them. I think they’ll be punished enough by simply being forced to live together.”
“What is this danger you’re talking about?”
“The Greng have developed a new weapon and it is the opinion of the aliens I’m traveling with that it is designed to kill the members of our community.”
“What proof do you have of this?”
“I want to share everything that happened, after Gen-L left their vessel. I ask that everyone be allowed to see what I’ve observed.”
Gregor leaned forward and quickly said to Tor-N, “That could take weeks!”
“No, it will only take a few hours.”
• • •
Gregor sat back in his chair and Elena stood up, “How about a sandwich while we wait.” Gregor groaned and nodded. Elena walked toward the tiny galley and said over her shoulder, “We’ve been pronouncing his name wrong; it should be Toren.”
“You’re right,” Gregor replied.
• • •
Gregor ate and finally took a nap, while Tor-N sent images of everything that happened. Finally, Gregor was jerked out of his sleep by the powerful thought of the Councilor, “The Greng probe detected that energy from a great distance!”
“Yes, Councilor, it did, and I must believe their current warships will be able to detect us from a long distance as well.”
“What can we do?”
“Flee. I wish there was a better answer, but there isn’t one. Flee at their approach and don’t allow them to get close.”
“But they will destroy the structures of the community if we run.”
“Structures can be rebuilt; lost lives cannot be replaced.”
“I will discuss this with the council.”
• • •
Tor-N immediately heard, “Tor-N, we are proud of you keeping your honor. We told the Council you would never violate our customs.”
“Thank you, Father.”
“You should also know that I’ve just received numerous requests from other parents asking if they can contract a link with you for their daughters.”
“I will not be linking during this session, Mother?”
“Why not?”
“I will be staying with this vessel until the next session. I will keep my promise.”
• • •
Gregor came out of his chair, “ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FREAKING ENERGY MIND!!”
The computer yelled, “GREGOR, SHUT THE HELL UP!!” Gregor jerked his head toward the ceiling and felt his anger turning into rage. “WHERE WOULD WE BE NOW IF TOREN HADN’T BEEN WITH US?!”
Elena nodded, “We’d be dead Gregor and you know it!” Gregor sat down in his chair and forced his anger under control. Elena continued, “We would have died when that Greng warship confronted us. You were about to order us to run, before Toren stopped us.”
Gregor took a deep breath and nodded.
• • •
“Excuse me, but did I just hear you say you were staying with that vessel?”
“Yes, Councilor, you did.”
“Why would you do that?”
“They are going to attempt to find a means of confronting the Greng and stopping them, and I believe I might be able to help them in their efforts. I must do what I can to assist them and remove the threat to our community. My ancestors would accept nothing less from me.”
“Is that acceptable to the aliens? I heard them state they wanted you off their vessel.”
Elena looked at Gregor with an anxious expression and hit him on the arm. Gregor sighed and said over the frequency, “You are right. I initially wanted him off my ship, but he has proven to be a valuable asset, in keeping us safe. We will be honored to have him with us. You should be quite proud of who he is.”
“We are. It’s a shame we didn’t see it earlier. Your request is approved, and Gen-L and Gam-L will have their ancestry lines stripped from their names. Their ancestors would be ashamed of their behaviors.”
“COUNCILOR, PLEASE DON’T DO THIS!”
“You won’t be banished, but you will not dishonor your lineage by bearing their names with yours. Now be silent you lying, selfish, child.”
“Councilor.”
“Yes, Tor-N.”
“I don’t want to intrude on the Council’s authority, but I would recommend that you send the bulk of our citizens deeper into the galaxy and start building new structures against the time when the Greng come and attack. The young and females with children should be sent there now.”
“Your advice is sound. We do not consider it an intrusion. We will start immediately. We will also send out scouts to give us early warning if they are coming.”
“I promised to lead this vessel to another place and I must go now to keep that promise. Thank you for listening to the evidence and clearing my ancestry.”
“Go in peace and come back.”
“I will try to do so, Councilor.”
• • •
Gregor looked up, “Get us out of here, Computer?”
“Which way do I go, Gregor.”
“Turn the bow four-degrees to the left, Computer,” Toren stated. The bow moved, and Toren quickly said, “STOP! Move a half-a-degree back to the right and go to full speed on that heading.”
• • •
The Dragon Fly disappeared in an instant and Tor-N’s parents began hearing numerous requests for Tor-N to link in the next linking session. Dan-N replied, “We will not agree to any contract until Tor-N returns.”
“I hope that you will reconsider, Dan-N.” Tor-N’s parents were silent as Sal-E continued, “I believe Tor-N has demonstrated he is worthy of my interest and my parents agree that he would add a strength to my genetic-line. I also find him quite attractive.” Gen-L snorted. Sal-E turned to her, “Beauty is the least important thing in choosing who to spend one’s life with, Gen-L. It’s the person that’s most important and I’m truly thankful for your shallowness in rejecting Tor-N. I will be greatly honored if he is chosen to Link with me.”
Dan-N looked at his wife and was amazed by the offer. Sal-E was the highest ranked unlinked female in the community and her parents had rejected all offers from others. Tor-N’s mother nodded, and Dan-N asked, “Gal-E, do you and Cal-E agree to this?”
“We do. He has demonstrated the importance of honor and he will one day be one of our greatest leaders. Will you agree to a contract now?”
“We will.”
Gen-L screamed and turned an angry visage toward Gam-L, “THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!” This was the worst day in Gam-L’s life, but it was only the first of many to come. He began to understand what Tor-N meant about living together with Gen-L was punishment enough. He volunteered to leave her to go and help build the new community structures; it was the first peace he had in weeks.
Chapter Fifteen
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“Toren, how long is it going to take us to get to the planet?”
“Gregor, we’ll shave some time by going directly there with the force field stardrive. It’s also not that far from where we’ve been. Computer, you can go to full-speed on the Dark Matter thrusters; there won’t be a wake in open subspace. It only appears inside the filaments.”
Gregor felt the Dragon Fly’s sudden acceleration and saw filaments passing under the ship at extreme velocity. He glanced at the filament map on his panel and turned to Toren, “Aren’t we headed back toward Greng territory?”
“The Filament Makers wouldn’t have been able to flee a long distance, when they were attacked by the Greng. We’ll have to be careful not to use any external energy when we arrive.”
“What do you mean by external energy?”
“You can’t go down to the planet on a shuttle or other device.”
Gregor smiled, “That won’t be an issue; we don’t have a shuttle or anything else to transport us down to a planet.”
“Then how are you going to the surface?” Toren asked.
“The old-fashioned way; we’ll fly the Dragon Fly down to the surface.”
“Oh.”
• • •
The Dragon Fly finally arrived at the planet and the Computer announced, “Gregor, the filaments have been removed ten-light-years from here. The Greng should be arriving here before much longer.”
“Computer use your optical scanner and see if you can find any evidence of the Filament Maker’s presence.”
The Dragon Fly turned and began moving around the planet. It arrived on the day-side of the planet and Gregor heard, “It appears they are here.”
“Show me on the monitor.” Gregor saw the view of the surface grow larger quickly and saw a circle of more than thirty-shuttles lined up end-to-end forming a large circle. The view grew larger and he stood up. A number of large beings were attacking the circle of shuttles. Some of the beings were pounding on the shuttles with swords and axes, while others rode huge six-legged creatures around the circle throwing fire-bombs at them. “Bring one of those attackers in for a better view.”
Gregor stepped closer to the wall monitor and Elena joined him. She shook her head, “They almost look human, Gregor.”
Gregor nodded slightly and mumbled, “Um-huh.” Their faces were wide, and they had a sloping brow that came down just above their eyes. They were powerfully muscled and moved at a surprising speed for their size. Their skin was a mottled brown and light-green in color, and their hair was pitch black and tied back behind their heads. Their faces were also covered with a black beard. They wore what looked to be like some kind of animal’s hide that matched their skin color. “They remind me of something, but I can’t remember what it is.”
Let me give you a hand. How about this?”
Gregor suddenly saw an image of a huge green colored human slamming his giant fists into some kind of armored vehicle. At the top of the image was written, ‘THE INCREDIBLE HULK’. Gregor looked up, “Where did you get that, computer?”
“You brought it with you from Earth when you moved on board with Emmett. I think it was called a comic book.”
Gregor nodded, “That’s what they remind me of; however, they aren’t entirely green and they’re not that big.”
“They look like primitive humans,” Elena remarked. “They can’t be very intelligent.”
“They’re smarter than you think, Elena,” Toren replied to her. “They are primitive, but they are far from dumb.”
“Running around attacking a shuttle with spears and axes isn’t the brightest behavior I’ve ever seen.”
“I did say they were primitive, Gregor.”
“It looks like the current attackers are being relieved by the next shift,” the computer remarked.
Gregor looked at the monitor and saw the attackers moving away from the shuttles as another group of attackers came riding over the hill surrounding the small valley the shuttles were in. The two-groups passed each other and were laughing and smiling as they moved in opposite directions. “I wonder how long this has been going on?”
The computer immediately answered, “Gregor, there is a deep layer of broken weapons at the edge of each of those shuttles. I think this has been going on for quite a long time.”
“Exactly now long, Computer?”
“If I had to say, probably from the moment those shuttles arrived.”
Gregor frowned and looked up, “Are you saying hundreds of years?”
“Could be more than a thousand, Gregor.”
“That’s absurd!”
“I know, Elena. But this could now probably be a religious-rite where they come and practice up on their warrior skills, while attempting to remove those shuttles. Notice that many of those attackers look rather young.”
Gregor sighed, “The computer may be right. We’re going to have to stop the attack to get to the filament makers.” He looked up, “Am I right that we can’t use our communicators to speak to the ones in those shuttles?”
“You are, and you can’t use any energy weapons to remove them. The Greng would probably detect them if you did,” Toren stated. There is a Greng probe located outside the planet’s moon on the dark side of the planet.”
“Can you use your thoughts to contact them?”
I’d have to be much closer to do that, and I sense the hulls on those shuttles are extremely thick, unlike the Dragon Fly. I might not get through.”
“Gregor, don’t even think about it!”
Elena looked up, “What are you talking about, Computer.”
“Gregor, this is not the place to even consider it.”
Gregor looked up, “So what would you have me do, computer. If we leave, by the time we come back, the Greng may have come and wiped them out and we’ll miss the opportunity to communicate with a live Filament Maker. We must act now.”
Elena turned to Gregor, “You’re considering going out there with your sword and remove them?”
“I’ll also be wearing armor.”
“Gregor, are you sure about this?”
“Elena, tell me another way?” Elena stared at him in silence and Gregor nodded, “I thought so. It has to be done.”
“I won’t allow you to go out alone.”
“Elena!”
“Gregor, we don’t want to kill them; we want to drive them away and you’ll need a good archer to make that happen.”
“What exactly are you saying, Elena.”
Elena shrugged, “We dismount them and force them back.”
Gregor stared at Elena and then asked, “You brought your armor?”
“I did.”
“If we can’t drive them back…”
“I know.”
“Ok, we’ll try it your way. If all else fails, we’ll make a run for the ship.”
Elena turned and walked to the back of the bridge. She opened a cabinet recessed into the wall and pulled out a gleaming suit of armor. She looked at Gregor, “Turn around!” Gregor was startled, and turned his back to her. Elena undressed and put the skintight armor on. She took a bow and huge quiver of arrows out of the cabinet, “Ok, your turn.”
“Isn’t that a rather large quiver for you to be lugging around?”
“Gregor, you know I went through Gem’s training regimen and his machines changed me physically. My body was modified and I’m a lot stronger than before. This quiver feels lighter than five-quivers I once carried.”
Elena went to her chair and swiveled it around, as Gregor opened the cabinet next to the one Elena used and pulled out his armor. He undressed and hung his clothes up before donning the armor. He put his sword scabbard over his shoulder, pulled out a bow, and smaller quiver of arrows.”
“Those are rather primitive weapons,” Toren observed.
“But they’re being used by rather advanced beings, Toren,” Gregor replied. “Computer take us down.”
“I believe you will be safe in your armor. Just don’
t play nice.”
“We’ll kill if we must, computer. Now, take us down.”
• • •
The warriors attacking the shuttles never saw Gregor and Elena exit the Dragon Fly. But one of them saw them approaching and yelled, warning the other riders. They all stopped and turned toward the approaching two-silver-colored beings. A command was yelled, and the forty-six warriors formed a line with the animals they were riding and moved slowly forward. They stopped twenty-yards in front of Gregor and Elena. Gregor said, “It appears the one in the center is the leader.”
“It does.”
“Let me try something before things get out of hand, just keep an eye on the line.” Elena nodded.
Gregor took a step forward, drew his sword, pointed it at the leader of the group and then pointed at the hill surrounding the shuttles. Clever, Elena thought. He’s issuing a challenge.
The warriors in the line began speaking and suddenly, one of them pulled a spear off his saddle and drew it back. In an instant, Elena notched and arrow and fired it. The arrow hit the warrior’s hand and he dropped the spear. He howled with pain and gripped his wrist. Gregor whispered, “Good shot, Elena. I’m glad you didn’t fire it hard enough to go all the way through his hand.”
“They need to see it.”
The Leader stared at Gregor, as he pointed his sword toward him and then swept it toward the hill. He calmly rode to the injured warrior and took his hand. He stared at the arrow, took an ax, and knocked the arrowhead off the shaft. The warrior gritted his teeth but didn’t cry out. He pulled the shaft out of the warrior’s hand and issued an order. The warrior used his good hand to open a pouch on his saddle and pull out a cloth. He wrapped it around his injured hand and the leader rode back to the center of the line.
He stared at Gregor as he pointed toward the hill with his sword. The warriors began animatedly talking among themselves, but the leader was silent and continued to glare at Gregor.
“Did you see how fast that small being hit Gul?”
“I did. If both of them are that fast, they could kill most of us before we could attack.”
“It looks like the larger one is challenging Kor.”
“Who, or what, are they?”