Erika was aware of her heart beating but her breath had stopped. His voice, as plain as though he was whispering in her ear, said, “Goodbye, love.”
The only word she could get to come out of her mouth was, “No.” She pulled her hands away from Ian and Dr. Randall and flung herself through the crowd.
Her legs had never moved so fast. She remembered now and cursed him aloud for trying to rip those memories from her, “Don’t you leave it like this. Don’t leave me like this. Don’t you go,” she screamed.
But the white light enveloped and obscured him. There was only a pulsating orb so bright that she had to shield her eyes. She could not go to him and put her arms around him. She could not stop him from destroying himself. The light exploded and threw her back.
She hit the ground hard. Pinpricks of light danced before her eyes as black played at the edges of her vision. Erika scrambled to her feet and made her way to the place where Tex had stood.
The ground was covered in a dusty white residue that resembled ash. A black burn mark covered the place where Tex had stood. Nothing remained of him but the memories that he had tried to take from her.
47
U’Vol
U’Vol lay in chains on the hard surface the Sarhi had strapped him to. His abdomen throbbed from where they had sliced into him. Their rudimentary attempts at healing may have saved his life, but he would be forever scarred from their crude surgery. If I live long enough to scar.
The strange being who called himself Bodaway had been able to communicate with him through U’Vol’s neural implant. The neural implant also allowed U’Vol to block Bodaway from what he didn’t want the Sarhi lad to know.
He was a strange Sarhi, that Bodaway. U’Vol didn’t know why only one of the Sarhi had the ability to communicate with him in that way. And even stranger, Bodaway did not have a neural implant. In all the planets U’Vol had visited across the vast galaxy, he had never before encountered a being who did not need a neural implant to speak with others using only the mind.
Bodaway had confirmed U’Vol’s worst fear. Doj’Owa was behind the mutiny against him. But why? And Bodaway had confirmed something else as well. If U’Vol didn’t get home, his family was in grave danger.
Even after Bodaway shared with him memories of how he had gotten to the planet of the Grand Architects, beings that referred to themselves as Elosians, and all that had transpired there, U’Vol still had a difficult time believing him. If what Bodaway shared was true, it would rock the very foundations of the entire M’Uktah culture. If Doj was not the creator of their species, having endowed them with a special place in the cosmos to rule over all others, then the foundation of their hunter culture would crumble with the knowledge.
U’Vol was unsure if it was wise of him to even try to convince other M’Uktah of the truth of what Bodaway said. Perhaps it was better to leave such things alone.
But such philosophical questions mattered not if he was chained on K’Sarhi, far from his home. First he must escape.
Before Bodaway left him, the strange lad altered the structure of the chains that bound him. As advanced as the M’Uktah liked to think of themselves, he had never known of anyone that could command the elements the way Bodaway could. In truth, U’Vol was in awe of the young man. He was curious about the strange youth. Under different circumstances, he would have liked to speak with the creature further and learn more about the so-called Elosians. He did his best to hide those feelings from Bodaway. He did not want to appear weaker than he already did to a Sarhi.
“In the morning, as the sun just begins to rise, the general and nearly all personnel will be out at the radio telescopes,” Bodaway had said.
“Why?”
Bodaway shifted his memories and thoughts away from the radio telescopes, unwilling to share with U’Vol the nature of what would be happening there in the morning.
“It will be an opportunity for you to escape,” he’d said. Bodaway moved his hands over the chains that bound U’Vol, closed his eyes and concentrated deeply. “Tin will be easy for you to break.”
U’Vol had made a move to bust out of the chains but Bodaway shook his head and stilled U’Vol’s arms.
“Not now. Remain bound until the morning. Your ship is on a flatbed truck. It will move out in the morning as well. Make sure you are out of here and to the truck before it leaves or you will lose your opportunity.”
“Why are you helping me?” U’Vol asked.
Bodaway calmed his mind, carefully blocking U’Vol from knowing what Bodaway chose to keep secret. Finally he said, “If you leave and take your men, you are no longer a threat to the people of this planet.”
U’Vol sensed there was more to the answer, but he would get no more out of Bodaway on the subject.
U’Vol had done as Bodaway suggested and waited to break the chains. Pink light filtered into the small room through a single window. U’Vol listened intently. The outer hall had been quiet all night, but feet scuffled. Sarhi voices rose. Laughter. A door slammed shut. The flurry of activity in the hall rose then fell off until it was quiet once more.
U’Vol filled his lungs and expanded his chest. The chains creaked. He pulled his arms outward and the bonds broke, clanking to the hard floor. His hands now free, he ripped the chains from his hips and scissored his legs to unbind his ankles.
It took less than ten seconds for U’Vol to free himself of the bindings. The floor was littered now with bits of tin and the sheet that had covered him.
U’Vol stood to his full height and his head nearly scraped the ceiling. The room was tiny compared to the spaces on Uktah, all built to accommodate people much larger than the Sarhi.
He quickly moved to the side of the door and waited. The clatter of his broken chains would likely get the attention of the guards that had been posted around-the-clock outside his door.
The door opened and one of the Sarhi military men poked his head in. As he saw the empty beds, his eyes grew wide. His mouth flew open and he was about to cry out an alarm but before he could, U’Vol grabbed the man around the throat with one mighty hand and snapped the man’s neck. The pale Sarhi fellow dropped to the floor, his eyes open, his mouth still agape, his head twisted unnaturally to the side.
U’Vol stepped into the doorway and nearly ran into a second Sarhi guard. This one had his weapon in his hands. U’Vol smelled the sweat and fear pour from the man. The guard raised his weapon but U’Vol batted it away as if it were a toy gun. The man said something in a loud voice but of course U’Vol had no idea what the man said. Whatever it was, it was the last the man would ever say. U’Vol used both of his beefy hands to twist he man’s neck until the bones snapped.
He dropped the Sarhi body to the ground and ran quickly down the hall toward the door. He hoped that Bodaway had been correct about most personnel being at radio telescope dishes. Though he had no fear of facing a puny Sarhi in close range hand-to-hand, without his Krindor, he was vulnerable to their weapons.
U’Vol encountered no more Sarhi in the building. He ducked and had to go sideways to fit through the door but he did so gingerly, trying not to make any noise. Though he weighed over three hundred pounds, he was light on his bare feet.
He stopped outside the door and sniffed the air. It was cleaner than the air where they had first landed the Wa’Nar. He filled his lungs with it. His ears twitched as he listened intently for any sounds of movement. It was quiet and still near him but in the distance was a loud buzzing hum. As he analyzed it he realized it was more felt than heard. The Sarhi were powering up the telescopes again for some reason. The same radio burst they did before. But he had no idea why.
A part of him wanted to find the answer. But that was not to be. He had failed that mission even with his krindor and helmet. Without his armor, he was unlikely to survive a battle with tens of Sarhi.
His keen eyes roved across the landscape as he searched for the vehicle that young Bodaway showed him through the shared vision. He recognized the con
figuration of buildings and the courtyard. The vehicle carrying his Valo’Kar must be behind the building from which he had come.
U’Vol strode quickly in that direction. He covered two to three meters per stride and in less than a minute he was around the building.
At the back of the three-story brick building it looked like a warehouse for the squat, gasoline-powered Sarhi wheeled transports. Most of them were tiny. U’Vol would have barely fit into most of them and at that, he would take up the entire vehicle himself with no room for passengers.
About fifty meters beyond he spied the Valo’Kar. The pod was just visible over the rows of Sarhi transports. U’Vol took the most direct path and leapt on top of a Sarhi vehicle in the first row. He bounded onto the next, leaping from cold metal roof to metal roof.
Each hop caused a thunderous crunch of metal as his massive form crushed the tops of the cars on which he landed. If there are any Sarhi out here, this will draw their attention. It was not what he wanted. He had not realized how flimsy their vehicles were or he would have chosen to go around rather than over the sea of transports.
Excited Sarhi voices shouted. They were on the move. Without his krindor, he felt blind and deaf. His helmet would have been able to analyze exact distances, heat signatures and composition of weapons.
He kept moving, bounding as quickly as he could. His side burned as though it had ripped open but he paid it no mind. Once aboard the Dra’Knar, the medical team would have his wound sealed in no time.
Even without his krindor, he moved far more quickly than the Sarhi and his reflexes were sharper. There were a half-dozen of them ahead, all aiming at him. He leapt to the right then dodged to the left avoiding their bullets.
He got to the end of the roofs and leapt onto two of the Sarhi, knocking them down. There was movement to his left and he swatted the weapon from a man’s hand. It sailed through the air and had not even landed yet when he raised the man who had wielded it into the air and snapped his spinal cord with one jerk of his hand.
The danger he was in made his bloodlust run high. Blood rushed in his ears and he panted with desire to eat rather than from exertion. He longed for the claws of his krindor. Without them he had no way to rip open the chest of these dead Sarhi and feed.
A bullet grazed his left shoulder and tendrils of fiery pain threaded through his arm and upper back. He quickly closed the gap and took a man by the neck in each hand and ended them.
A lone Sarhi warrior was left. The man visibly shook, his rifle bouncing up and down in his hands. U’Vol smelled the acrid scent of urine. The lone warrior was soaked in sweat.
U’Vol let out a low growl and before the man’s primitive nervous system had a chance to register the movement, U’Vol swatted the weapon away with his giant paw of a hand. He snapped the man with two hands.
U’Vol leapt onto the flat bed of the transport in one easy stride. Chains and tightly woven straps held the Valo’Kar but he did not need to worry about them. The pod would be sucked into the portal of warped space created by the Wa’Nar. The Valo’Kar did not so much move through space as shift through time.
His meaty hand slapped against the smooth vrana material the pod was made of. The pod recognized him and the door slid open. He slipped inside and used his handprint again to close the door behind him.
U’Vol breathed a long sigh of relief. He had made it. Though he was still a long way from making it home to Uktah, he was safe inside the Valo’Kar. The feeble bullets of the Sarhi weapons could not penetrate the extremely hard exterior of the pod.
U’Vol touched the wall and entered a series of numbers to power on the pod. He quickly opened a channel to the Wa’Nar and did not breathe as he waited for Tu’Rhen to answer his call. One second became two and two bled into three. He was nearly to five and close to panic when Tu’Rhen answered his hail.
“U’Vol. By the blessed Doj’Madi, you are alive.”
U’Vol resisted the temptation to openly scoff at crediting what he now knew was a fictional being with saving his hide. “Coordinates uploading. Open a bogha immediately.”
“Yes, my Captain.”
The comm links of individuals were powered by the same bio-electric energy as the krindors. The signal links were thus weaker than links with ships or other transports. U’Vol had been unable to reach Tu’Nai or the Wa’Nar without the electronics of his helmet to boost his signal. He did not know if he would be able to reach Tu’Nai. He hoped the Valo’Kar would strengthen the comm signal enough to reach Tu’Nai. He attempted to reach Tu’Nai while he waited for Tu’Rhen to power up the bogha generator.
The comm was silent.
A blue panel of lights blinked on then off. He waited patiently though it was difficult. Panic welled in him. The bogha generator aboard the Wa’Nar and Valo’Kar were relatively new technology for the M’Uktah. And what if the Sarhi damaged my Valo’Kar?
The light flickered again then stayed on. He was bathed in the low but insistent hum of the noise cancellation system. The Wa’Nar was locked onto the pod.
U’Vol breathed a sigh of relief.
The Valo’Kar rattled and shook. He could not fall over as there was no room to fall but he held the sides of the pod to steady himself anyway.
His optical interface flashed yellow and he blinked his right eye quickly to let Tu’Nai’s message through.
“Captain, I feared the worst when we were unable to reach you. The Dra’Knar forbade us to send a rescue team. Tu’Vagh, that banch phisting—”
“Calm yourself, Tu’Nai. Gather your men now. Make haste. Get aboard the Wa’Nar. We must leave K’Sarhi.”
“Captain? But we’ve not even filled the cargo bay fully and –”
“Do not argue or disobey me, Tu’Nai. I am still your captain.”
“Yes, of course Captain. Please forgive my tone. Kracht. I obey your command always, my Captain.”
U’Vol blinked and ended the connection and just in time. The rumbling grew and the pod quaked. The pressure was far more intense than he had experienced before. His hands flew to his head and he yelled out a great cry of agony though no one, not even any Sarhi that might have been nearby, could have heard it. The Valo’Kar was sound proof.
His eyes were closed tightly and he bent forward as far as the tiny compartment would allow. U’Vol writhed and squirmed, wishing the ordeal would soon be over. The alternating pressure and ripping pain was far worse than any slice, puncture, hit or projectile wound he had ever suffered.
At last the pressure in his head subsided. His ears rang, obscuring sound and spots danced before his eyes as he blinked them open.
The door of the Valo’Kar opened and he nearly fell out. Tu’Rhen grabbed him on one side while another crew member whose name he could not recall held him up on the other.
“Your krindor, Captain—”
“Is gone, Tu’Rhen. Have someone fetch me a robe for now.”
After taking a few steps with assistance, U’Vol got his legs back beneath him. He shrugged off their help and barreled toward the command deck of the Wa’Nar with Tu’Rhen at his side.
“Are Tu’Nai and the ground forces aboard yet?”
“Tu’Nai is not aboard sir. Most of the crew have made it safely aboard. Except of course the ones that are …”
U’Vol didn’t let him finish the thought. “Hail the Dra’Knar. We’ll depart K’Sarhi as soon as Tu’Nai and all Vree are aboard.”
Tu’Rhen remained by his side.
“Do you wait for permission? Go, man. Each second on this planet increases the risk we will never leave it.”
Tu’Rhen shot U’Vol a quizzical look. Seeing U’Vol’s stern impatientce, Tu’Rhen then burst forward, running now at full speed.
U’Vol did not stop even as a crew member dressed him in his red robes. A member of the medical crew used a small handheld device to measure his vitals. The med tech used a handheld laser tool to close the new wound on his shoulder from the last encounter with the Sarhi. He bade U’V
ol open his mouth and popped a thin film of medicine onto his tongue.
“Let it dissolve, Captain.”
The film dissolved into a gelatinous, bitter glob in his mouth and he swallowed it. “Please tell me you did not just give me a pain killer. They make me groggy and I have no time for mental fog.”
The medical technician cowered next to him. The medical crew was not Vree. This technician had brown eyes the color of a raichta, small nuisance rodents on M’Uktah. His black hair was long down his back but his knuckles barely had any hair at all. He is young yet.
“No, Captain, I gave you a tonic to devastate the bacteria in your system from the Sarhi attempts to provide you medical treatment.”
The medical technician ran to keep up with U’Vol’s quick walk.
“Do not give me a medicine again without first asking my permission. Now go. Healing must wait.”
The medical technician stopped and likely bowed as was custom when leaving the presence of the captain. But U’Vol didn’t see it. He was already three strides ahead of where he left the medical tech.
The doors to the command module opened and U’Vol thundered into the room. It was built in a circular fashion with a Captain’s command console in the center. Technically, Tu’Rhen was commander of the Wa’Nar and usually occupied the Captain’s Console on this ship. But he ceded his place to U’Vol and took up position at a station just to the left of where U’Vol now sat.
U’Vol put both hands flat on the console and it powered on, recognizing his unique electromagnetic signature. His neural implant immediately began its interface with the Wa’Nar as he reclined back into takeoff position.
Tu’Rhen spoke to him through the comm. “I hailed the Dra’Knar. You’re not going to like this, Captain.”
“Speak.”
“The Dra’Knar did not answer. Captain, the ship is gone.”
A mixture of white-hot rage and fluttery panic welled in U’Vol. “What about the Rik’Nar?”
“Also radio silent. They appear to have left the planet as well, Captain. Long range scans show no sign of either ship. They have likely already entered the Mocht Bogha to return home.”
H.A.L.F.: ORIGINS Page 37