by Tew, J. D.
Above his head, the crown that hovered over it glowed and radiated an indigo blue light. He summoned a whirl of Dietons. They piled upon each other systematically until a portable flying unit was constructed, and it enclosed the king. The Sepheran contraption sucked him up and lifted him out of my sight.
‘I don't trust him,’ Liam whispered.
I placed my hand on his forearm and said, ‘Take it easy, big guy. Give him a chance. Besides, if he has a rolesk, he will be watching us closely.’
‘If you are done whispering amongst each other, we will escort you to the armory,’ the guard suggested.
“The planet Karshiz was inhabited with many different species. The majority of the population consisted of hairy Karshiz natives like King Trazuline, a handful of Rangiers, and Humans. As I am sure you already know, Karshiz harbors a human trafficking ring.” I pause, looking at the warden. I wonder if he has been satisfied, or if he has been looking at me that way because he wants to fantasize about me.
“Yes. The Multiverse Council is aware of this trafficking. It is part of the culture. The traffickers are treated as equals, and they are not punished under any laws,” the warden says.
I hold my head up in disgust, recalling America’s abolition of slavery not too long ago. I wish to challenge the guard. “Is the Sepheran slave ring widely accepted among the ‘culture’ as well?” I ask.
The warden refuses to take my bait, shrugging instead. “The council tends to focus its interest only on what they can control. That doesn't include your radical ideals. Anyway, we are getting off topic. Please continue about the king. And tell me more about the Rangiers.”
“Rangiers are an interesting bunch. They have a few intriguing skills, like conjuring imaginative projections, for one. Rangiers altered the way in which they and their environment were perceived. This was very useful to them in battle. They were able to fool the enemy into seeing things that weren’t there.
“Anyway, while we were still aboard the Uriel, Nezatron told us some Rangiers were not to be trusted, and to stay clear of any bazaars in the town. Trazuline did not seem to worry about it. His detail was leading us right through it.”
The warden is smiling, and he asks, “Did the boys, as you call them, ever know they were going to be an ambush by these lowly scum Rangiers?”
“No. Not at all. They were always trying to either garner a kiss from me, or find some fresh excitement.”
“So what did you think of Karshiz?” the warden asks.
“I would have liked to leave, because of the smell alone.”
The warden laughs and says, “I have been there a few times, and I know exactly what you are referring to. The putrid environment gives me sinus troubles. Please carry on about the Rangiers.”
“It was easy to identify a Rangier. They wore bands around their heads that looked similar to rolesks. They used it for their imagery projections. Rangiers were perceived as thick-necked people. They wore clothing with a hood attached to cover up that characteristic, as well as to hide their projection bands. Lincoln told me they had extremely large occipital lobes inside their brains. That is why their heads were so big.”
“How could you tell that they were deceiving you?” the warden asks.
“A smell that didn’t quite mesh, or an odd glance out of the corners of their eyes. Things like that.” I shrugged. “There were always these little discrepancies.”
The warden gazes straight at me, nodding. “We’re getting off track again. Tell me about your trip through the bazaar.”
“Yes. We were on the way to King Trazuline’s palace under heavy guard in a land hovercraft. As we sped through the desert, there were dust devils rising up from the sand—nasty things, really. They’re what you call mini dirt cyclones. When large birds flew overhead, they had to fly very high, because otherwise they’d get sucked in to a certain death.”
After an exhilarating ride through the desert, we were now slowing down as we approached the bazaar. It was amazing, just like lifting a scene out of present day marketplace Egypt or Morocco. Rows upon rows of white tented stalls, offering wicker baskets, ornamented silver plates, and fragrant spices like myrrh, with customers and merchants yelling as they haggled with each other. Exotic parrots for sale squawking above the din, and vapors of incense wafting through the air. I couldn’t resist!
The guards were following close. It would be difficult for any mischief to occur under their watch. Through the hordes of customers flinging coin and pulling merchandise, I saw an interesting tent.
When I had the boys’ attention, I yelled, ‘Hey guys, Check out these trinkets!’
I had to shout, because it was windy outside and difficult for them to hear me. It was probably tunneling through their ears. The gusts were blowing my hair into my mouth, and it was sticking to my tongue. Every time I pulled a strand out, I only introduced another.
Liam said, ‘Hey, these are cool.’
‘Madam Espinosa, we have been instructed to take you directly to the castle. No stops,’ one of the guards said.
‘Can't we just stop for a second?’ I asked.
We turned the corner on the hovercraft and the guards stopped. ‘Wait, do you hear that?’ the first guard asked. He and his comrades pushed outward slightly from our group, as if readying for an assault. Just as the guards approached the adjacent shacks searching for signs of unrest, the merchants and stalls disappeared in the blink of an eye.
‘Attack! Attack!’ another guard yelled. The boys and I gasped at the sudden vanishing of our alluring surroundings and dropped to our knees inside the hovercraft. We feared for our lives.
‘It’s a trap!’ Dan yelled.
Instantly, we found ourselves in a closed alley by the palace—a perfect spot for an ambush. We knew right away that Rangiers were at work with their projection devices.
‘Hurry!’ the lead guard hollered, ‘Get the kids straight away to the castle. Hold them off!’ I fell to the ground as the guard brusquely pushed me out. The boys scrambled over the sides of the vehicle in their mad flee to evade.
Our hovercraft was hit right in the engine. The hood of the craft exploded, sending sparks into our direction. I screamed. It was time to abandon ship, and start running for our lives.
From the rooftops, two turret sentries floated above us and started firing lasers against the Rangiers, who by now had been detected. These Rangiers started speeding away on their turbo-cycles to avoid our escorts’ outgoing fire.
I remember running faster than I ever had. We were now darting out of the alleyway and back among the tented stalls—these were real this time. I could feel the retaliatory fire from the Rangiers hitting shacks around us. A fruit stand blew up next to me, splattering my face with fragments of melon. I kept running. The lead guard looked back, firing lasers over our heads at the retreating Rangiers.
‘Open the gates!’ our valiant escort yelled.
The gates unfolded. I didn't even know if the boys were behind me. I passed beyond the gate, turning to watch for the others. Fortunately, they were close behind. Large and bulky, Liam was falling behind. Lasers were zinging by him. The gates started to close in. Dan and Lincoln whizzed through the closing space easily, but Liam was barely able to make it through. Just as I thought the gates would click shut and trap him out, Liam’s arm protruded through!
‘Halt! Let in one more!’ I yelled to the sentries. Running up, I pulled back the closing door, and simultaneously pulled at his visible arm.
‘Yeow!’ Liam screamed in agony. A laser shot had skimmed his thigh. Finally, he wiggled through just in time, and the gate shut with a loud clang. Thanks to the castle’s perimeter forces, the rogue Rangiers were in full retreat. We guessed that the king’s protectors would be chasing them on hovercrafts by now to seek and to destroy them.
Horrified, I saw the lead guard rush over to Liam’s side. ‘Liam! Were you hit?’
‘My leg!’ Liam moaned in excruciating pain. He was rocking on his back and holding his
leg up near his chest. The lead guard decisively ripped Liam's pant leg off and applied a shiny ointment onto his wound.
‘It’s just a scratch, kid. You will be alright,' the guard said. ‘That is going to take some time to heal. Maybe by fifteen morgets it’ll be as good as new.’ He glanced around warily. ‘We should keep moving. You are all safe now, so breathe easy. Welcome to the home palace of His Royal Majesty, King Trazuline of Karshiz.’
The dark hallway was lined with mounted plasma cannons, monitoring the entry into the castle. As we walked, I was still shaking all over from our recent danger.
‘Is that it? That was hardly a welcome. We get attacked and then we just carry on?’ I whimpered, wiping away the melon chunks from my face.
‘Listen, Madam Espinsoa. You chose to be a warrior when you volunteered for the mission of the Great Zane, so I am appalled to hear you speak thereof. Get used to it! This is the life we live. There are attacks on our units everyday, but this ambush was different. The timing of it is alarming. We have a schedule to keep, so we must stay on course.’
Liam stopped limping along and asked, marveling, ‘My leg is feeling much better. What was that stuff you put on it?’
‘The stuff I massaged into your wound was deflicontis mucilage. A most useful ointment. Ah, here we are. Armorer!’
‘Yes sir!’
‘I want the status of my squad. Notify His Majesty the humans are safe and in my custody. After you are finished with the communicator, issue us one rifle and a laser cartridge for each of our guests.’
‘Yes, sir.’
We all marched off to a huge marbled room two stories high and of colossal size—about two football fields side by side. We gaped in awe at the magnificence of it all.
‘We are now in the training facilities of His Majesty,’ the lead guard announced.
‘Whoa, dude!’ Dan exclaimed, his eyes bulging. ‘Bigger than even that on the Uriel!’
‘The Uriel, as majestic as it is, is constrained by the necessity of design intended for space. Here, we have no such limitations,’ the guard intoned dryly. He pushed a button on his jacket, and before our eyes, an array of bull’s eye targets emerged from the floor through an automatic shaft lined in the floor. Another guard approached us, hauling a wooden barrel of rifles.
‘Let’s just go over a couple of things first,’ the lead guard said, his eyes darting sideways at the rifles, ‘Time for your training to begin. His Majesty has decreed so.’
Lincoln piped up. ‘Now? We just barely escaped an ambush, and we haven’t even been given a decent tour!’
‘Exactly why you should start now. These Rangiers were after you, as instruments of Odion.’
Lincoln pointed toward the wall, as if pointing outside to indicate the site of the ambush, ‘Are all Rangiers bad?’
‘No. Rangiers are very intelligent and they are peace-loving. Unfortunately, their projection skills and mastery of illusory deception makes them very highly sought after. Only a few Rangiers have become corrupted, yet you still must be careful. Odion knows you’re on the planet, and you must defend yourself. There’s no time to lose.’
‘Odion wants us that badly?’ Lincoln asked, somewhat in a state of shock. ‘We’re just teenagers from Earth!’
Dan jumped in. ‘Dude, we’ve been over this. Zane was very clear why we were valuable to him. Get in with the program.’
‘A very wise boy. Theodore knew this, and you doubtlessly need his guidance now,’ the guard said, nodding his head. He held out a rifle, striking in its beauty and handicraft. ‘Never, and I mean never hold your finger on the trigger unless you plan on shooting the weapon. Always assume the weapon is loaded and capable of firing. Your relationship with a weapon is based on respect. It can end a life, it can destroy a home, and this power is steered by you. Always point the rifle in a safe direction—muzzle toward the ground.’
‘Right, sir. That’s the TZ-47. Locked and loaded,’ an assistant confirmed.
The guard firmly held the rifle closer to us and fiercely said, ‘Hear what he just said? Locked and loaded. This gun is ready to fire and we will treat it accordingly. Follow me.’ We walked over to the firing range they had just summoned. It was the length of a bowling alley. Eight target simulating holograms were displayed in front of us.
‘What is your name, sir?’ Lincoln asked the lead guard.
‘You have it correct,’ the guard said.
‘Sir?’ Liam asked, disappointed.
‘Yes. Names do not matter. I am only a subject of His Majesty, King of Karshiz. His name is the only name that matters here, aside from our Supreme, Zane. Now, listen. This is the firing range. This weapon fires a laser that can incinerate on contact.'
‘Who is going first, dude… I mean—sir?’ Dan asked; his unruly shock of hair was flopped over his eyes due to our recent battle.
‘You will,’ the guard said. He handed Dan the rifle. Dan lovingly embraced it with his fingers, then held it into position, confident.
‘This is just like a first-person shooter! I will give you a lesson, Mariah! Ha ha,’ Dan said. He lowered his body into a prone position and prepared to fire. ‘Just aim and shoot, sir?’
‘Correct. It’s not that simple. You are to be elite warriors, so let us reduce the size of the targets to exaggerate distance. Lasers have a completely straight and linear trajectory.’
Comfortable in his challenge, Dan was talking trash as usual. To my surprise, the guards around us smiled to each other. My guess is that they did exactly the same thing when they were out of earshot of the king. Following Dan’s lead, the other boys started bragging about hunting with their fathers for deer years ago.
Well, they can brag all they want. I wasn't impressed with their shooting. After they all finished about twenty rounds among all three of them, the best score was four bull’s eyes.
They didn’t even invite me to hold one of the rifles or ask me to step up. They just automatically forgot about my existence in the shooting range because I was a girl. Well, I showed them! Back on Earth, I lovingly recalled the many hours of laser tag battles with my friends—not just girls, but also tons of astonished guys, several of them much older than me.
After the boys showed off their mediocre skill, I stepped up to the firing platform. The three boys snickered when I defiantly held the rifle in my arms.
‘Okay Mariah, this is the trigger and this is where the laser comes out,’ Dan said. He seriously felt he was being very helpful and that I would swoon at his chivalrous gesture.
‘Thanks, Dan,’ I hissed, surprising him with my reaction. ‘How very belittling and ignorant of you.’ Resolutely, I aimed, attempting to block out my seething thoughts. Then I missed my first target by about a mile. More snickers from the lads.
The guard knowingly leaned in and whispered into my ear, ‘Let your memory of the ambush go. Put it behind you. I know you are rattled, but this is right up your alley. Take a deep breath. After you exhale completely, squeeze the trigger.’
I followed his lead exactly and nailed a bull’s eye with ease.
‘Hey!’ Dan yelled in astonishment.
I turned back to the boys with a wicked smile. ‘There’s more.’
I proceeded to nab five more bull’s eyes in a row.
The boys were shouting about luck from behind me.
The lead guard, sporting a wide, beaming grin, sauntered over to my side. ‘I think we have a natural here. Shooting a rifle just doesn't seem to be the thing for you, boys. I hate to say, but she showed you. Now, there was a purpose to this lesson. I wanted to show everyone that all weapons are suited for certain body types and attributes. Yes, it is great to be proficient with many weapons, but it is best to perfect your skill with one that suits you.’
‘So what does this mean for us, right now?’ Lincoln asked.
‘We have already scanned you aboard the Uriel, and we know exactly what weapons to issue all of you. I knew Mariah would be the best with the rifle. We will stop by the armor
y on the way to meet King Trazuline. There, we will issue weapons that we designed specifically for each of you,’ the lead guard said. ‘Oh, and my name is Pritok, but I still prefer to be called sir. Xalag and I are special aides to His Majesty.’ He pointed to one of the guards directly behind us.
Another man dressed in the same attire as our guard ran over and said, ‘The king’s escorts made it out safely. One of the wounded is in the infirmary. He requested your presence, my Captain.’
Pritok looked at us and said, ‘I have to go. My troops will take it from here. We will meet again someday. I am sure of it. Doviant. It means good luck.’
The nameless guards brought us to our rooms after we received our previously issued weapons and equipment, the ones from the Uriel, through shipping crates. These crates had been hauled into the castle through a hydraulic hover lift. We radiated pride as we truly felt that the king was taking our role very seriously, treating us like privileged guests. The guards told us that the king was waiting for us at the castle’s lounge.
We left to meet the king, after dropping off our gear in the dorms. We were marched to what we were told was the king’s strategy room. Our newly assigned escorts kept staring at us and keeping a respectful distance from us, as if we were celebrities.
To the uninitiated, a strategy room conjured up the image of a drab boardroom, replete with whiteboards, projector screens, and a huge oval table in the center, covered with wood veneer. However, the king’s strategy room was elegant, consisting of an enclave much like that of a church’s alcove. A round room, it had oak furniture, a marble floor, and stained glass windows showing medieval-themed motifs. As I approached the king, I could see that he had a hearty pitcher of beer right beside him. In the room was a body odor that could make a bum’s nose crinkle.