The Seryys Chronicles: Death Wish

by Joseph Nicholson

  “Dad!” This time it wasn’t a tentative murmur as much as it was a terrified cry.

  The man, suddenly snapped from his drug-induced daze, gazed at Khai. His pupils were so big, they almost filled their irises. He charged wildly at the boy, with a guttural half-scream, half-bellow. Khai’s dad, Khai’Sola Khail, stepped out from his bedroom just in time to bring the crazed druggie down.

  “Run!” he yelled to Khai. “Xander, run!”

  Khai didn’t listen. He just stood there crying as his dad struggled with the crazed man, hopped up who knows what. Sola was a big, imposing man, who worked as an engineer on the ship yards outside of Seryys City, and shared a lot of the same features as his son, the same eyes, build and chin. Khai’s nose was his mother’s. Sola was a single father. Khai’s mom ran out on them when Khai was only two years old. Khai was too young to even remember what she looked like.

  The fight raged on across the top floor of the apartment and finally ended up back in the bathroom where it all started. The intruder shoved Sola into the sink, crashing his head into the mirror. Shards of glass flew everywhere cutting the two men. Sola scored a bone-jarring left hook that sent the druggie to the floor, whacking his head against the tub. The intruder was so high he didn’t even register that his jaw was hanging slack, broken. He simply grabbed a piece of glass from the mirror and charged Sola.

  The glass sank deep into Sola’s chest. He cried out and Khai jumped on the intruder’s back, sinking his teeth into his neck. The drugged man started jumping up and down, screaming something about a Vyysarri. Sola tried to wrest the glass shard from his hand to keep the man from injuring his son. Khai was thrown off into the tub.

  The man pushed Sola off and went after Khai in the tub. Sola came up behind him and wrapped him in a bear hug. The intruder screamed and kicked like a captured sabercat. And like a trapped sabercat, he became even more aggressive. He slashed wildly at Sola’s arms, cutting them up—some all the way to the bone. But he held strong, knowing eventually the man would pass out from asphyxiation. That didn’t stop the man from making every attempt to escape.

  Eventually, Sola’s persistence paid off. The main stopped struggling and was dropped to floor in a heap of sweaty, filthy grime.

  “Xander, are you all right?” Khai only nodded, crying and staring at the amount of blood everywhere, his dad’s blood. “Good. Call the police and tell them we have an intruder.”

  Khai did as he was told. He went downstairs and used a com unit to call the authorities. He told them exactly what Sola told him and gave them the address. They told Khai that they would be there in about six minutes, no longer.

  Khai came back to the bathroom where his dad was cleaning his wounds. The cops showed up much faster than they said, meaning that a unit was somewhere in the neighborhood. They used a device to override the lock on the door and charged in, guns drawn.

  They started to collect the junkie when he, very suddenly, regained consciousness and flailed about, knocking down the officer that was carrying him. He charged back into the bathroom, running over one of the two cops there, and picked up that same piece of glass. The third remaining cop put a bullet in his back, but it didn’t stop him. He lunged on Sola stabbing viciously down on him. Blood spattered everywhere. He stabbed Sola twenty times, got shot ten times and knocked Khai back into the bathtub, breaking off the faucet and filling the tub with cold water that shocked the wind out of Khai’s little lungs.

  Khai was getting wet, his eyes fluttered open and suddenly, Moon’s voice was booming in his ears.

  “Khai!” Moon shouted, shaking him. “Wake up!”

  “What’s going on…” Khai asked, groggily.

  “Uh, you’re drowning!”

  The cold water rushed up over his head and jolted Khai out of his stupor. Immediately, he started flailing his arms and legs trying to keep afloat.

  “What the hell happened?” Khai asked, spitting out water.

  “Flash flood!” Moon yelled, swimming next to him. “We need to get to higher ground!”

  “No shit!” Khai spat back. He was being rushed down stream, which was good, because that was the direction he needed to go. If he wasn’t worried about drowning, he would have ridden the tide all the way to Tanbarder. He finally was able to grab a jutting rock. Using that strength of his, he was able to haul himself out of the waters and start crawling up the cliff face. Once he found a ledge, he stopped to catch his breath. The pain was overwhelming. When he rolled to his back, there was Moon, just standing there, grinning at him.

  “Just like basic, right, kid?”

  “Yes… sir…” he said, between gasps. “And look at you. You’re not even tired.”

  Moon beat his chest with his fist, full of pride and a cocky grin. “Strong as a desert bull.”

  “I guess so.”

  Khai looked out over the rushing river that filled the entire bottom of the canyon. There were places in the canyon where that was normal, but not here, and those heavy deluges could make even a little stroll in the canyon a life-and-death situation in an instant. He was only about ten feet from the raging rapids and the rain continued to fall. It would only be a couple more hours before the place where he was lying wouldn’t be safe either.

  Looking up, he saw another ledge about fifty feet higher. He was confident that he could make the climb now and then be able rest a little longer. His injuries weren’t making this trip any easier and he would die soon if he didn’t get medical attention. But, for the time being, he was stuck.

  The typical rainstorm in Seryys lasted about six hours or so, and he could wait that out.

  “Ah, shit.” Moon said.

  “What? What’s wrong?”

  “We have company…” Moon pointed.

  Khai followed Moon’s finger to the spot and rolled his eyes. “Man! Can I catch a break?”

  A full-grown, female Kal’Hoom Karr Canyon Sabercat approached, her hind side high and her head low, her red fur—designed to blend into the walls of the canyon—on end. She hissed a warning; there must have been a cave somewhere nearby—otherwise she would have attacked already. A mother sabercat never picked a fight that might jeopardize her cubs.

  Khai slowly got to his feet; he risked a glance over his shoulder and Moon was nowhere to be found. Figures! Khai thought. He popped another pill in his mouth, knowing he was about to be in a world of hurt and took a step back, hands up in the most non-aggressive posture he could muster.

  “Okay… Nice kitty. I’m not gonna hurt you.” The cat roared another warning. Apparently, Khai was not leaving fast enough. “No need to get fussy. I’m leaving, see?” The cat glided closer, hissing and baring her large fangs. “Damn! What do you want me to do, jump back in the water?”

  The giant feline’s ears flattened and Khai knew an attack was coming. It was then that he realized that the cat was simply pushing him further from her den so that the fight wouldn’t endanger her cubs. She hissed one more time.

  “All right, if that’s how you want to play it, then that’s the way I’m gonna play it! AHHHHHH!”

  Khai recklessly charged the cat, taking it slightly off guard. She bounded forward and Khai caught her front paws in mid-lunge. Khai growled at the beast while it hissed at him, snapping at him occasionally. Khai shoved the cat backward; she twisted acrobatically and landed on her feet, her eyes still on the prize.

  Khai.

  Dinner.

  She lunged again. The cat was damn fast, faster than Khai by a long shot. Honing his skills as a well-trained soldier, he flattened out to his stomach and the cat flew over, gracefully landing behind him and spinning for another attack. Khai only had time to roll to his back before the full two hundred pounds of cat landed on him.

  With one hand, Khai fought off the cat’s bite by grabbing her throat. With the other hand, he was striking the beast in the ribs as hard as he could. He could tell he was breaking ribs, but the cat was tough; she wasn’t showing any signs of injury. Khai, on the other hand,
was tiring. He couldn’t keep this up for much longer. He needed a miracle…

  …And a miracle he got.

  A bolt of lightning struck the cat’s broadside sending tens of thousands of volts through both the cat and him—mostly the cat. It was both the most relieving experience and painful experience he’d endured in a long time. The cat leaped off and limped away, only stopping to weakly hiss at Khai saying, you’re lucky, buddy. Khai had to agree. That sabercat was going to make dinner, for her and her cubs, out of him. Now, he had to make a choice. He could climb to the next ledge, stay there and be eaten later or jump back into the river and pray to the Founders that he didn’t drown and hope that he made it to Tanbarder.

  “Jump in!” Moon said, now suddenly standing next to him again.

  “Where the hell were you? I could have used your help, you know.”

  “I’m your drill seargent, I don’t help you. I throw you to wolves—or in this case, sabercats—and watch you get out of it yourself, soldier!”

  “Convenient,” Khai said sarcastically.

  “Hey!” Moon said admonishingly. “You could have taken that job on Gorn Planet, doing what I was doing, but no! You wanted to see more combat.”

  “It just seemed like the right choice. Things are so much clearer for me when I’m getting shot at. What can I say?”

  “You’ve got a death wish.”

  “Why is it that everyone seems to think I want to die?”

  “Because you do,” Moon said, not skipping a beat. “You’re alone. You have no friends because they’re all dead or vegetables; you have no love life because you won’t let anyone get that close and now, you can’t fight anymore because you’re a head case! Does that about sum it up?”

  “You’d make a lousy head doctor, you know that?” Moon was right, though. It wasn’t as clear until that moment. He did want to die. But all he could do was use a sense of humor to deflect the truest statement that Khai had heard in months.

  “A fact I’m quite proud of,” Moon said, a broad grin spreading across his face. “Now, are you going to jump in, or not?”

  Khai got up and swayed. “Whoa. I’m not in any condition to be swimming-”

  Suddenly, he was in the water and Moon was waving at him, smiling. “Good luck, buddy!”

  Khai rushed down the river, swallowing water, coughing, flapping his arms in a feeble attempt to stay above the current. The current was strong. On several occasions, he was pulled under by invisible fluid hands that would wrap around his waist and jerk him down. He would break their grip and kick to the surface for a deep breath and the hands would bring him down again.

  He got to the surface. Another deep, rasping gasp filled his lungs with air and he spotted it: a log in the water and it was big enough to hold him up. He swam for it. He wrapped his big arms around it and rode it for a while, catching his breath and thanking the Founders to be alive.

  After an hour of riding the log, the rain stopped. But that didn’t stop the river from pushing him downstream. He would ride as long as he could, or until he reached Tanbarder. Hour by hour, the rapids subsided. He was slowly floating down the river now, and he could finally breathe easy. He kicked himself away from obstacles and drifted along. He dared not kick to shore and rest there, for the river would soon run itself down into a stream again, barely waist deep; he needed to keep going.

  Eventually, his feet began to drag along the bottom and he knew that his ride was just about over. He let the river take him as far as another few miles and finally, it became more work to kick himself along than it would be to walk it. So, he kicked himself to shore and sat on the beach. It was still a little overcast outside and the air was cool. He pulled out his computer, some rations and his gun. The rations were soggy, the computer was fried from the lightning bolt and his gun was soaked. So, he threw the computer into the river, ate his rations anyway and took apart his gun to clean and dry all its parts. He shook out the chamber of the gun as he wondered how far he was from Tanbarder. Without his little micro-comp, he had no idea what his location was.

  “Well that’s just perfect,” he grumbled.

  “Ah, keep your head up, soldier!” Moon’s voice came from behind him.

  Khai blew the water out of the barrel and said, “What were you thinking back there? You pushed me in!”

  “Well,” Moon shrugged. “I knew you wouldn’t make the decision on your own, so I made for you. You should thank me, really. You probably traveled twenty to twenty-five miles in only a few hours.”

  “I don’t care how true that is,” Khai growled. “From here on out, I make the decisions. Understood?”

  “Hey,” Moon laughed, holding up his hand in surrender. “You’re the boss!”

  “Good. Now, as the boss, I say it’s time for a nap.”

  “Good idea, I could use a few hours of sleep.”

  Khai swallowed another painkiller with some river water. Once he was finished, he lay down right there on the riverside and slept.

  Chapter Eleven

  Dah awoke the next morning and a gorgeous, naked woman lay to his left—Bria. It was an amazing night! He had never felt this way about anyone. He got up and made breakfast while she slept. The wonderful aroma of breakfast cooking woke her up. She lazily slid out of bed, put on a robe and sauntered out into the kitchen. He was wearing nothing but his underpants as he cooked and whistling a tune she didn’t recognize. She had never felt this way about anyone. Bria came up behind him and ran her hands under his arms and held him around the chest, resting her head on his back.

  “Good morning,” he said, twisting to give her a kiss.

  “Good morning to you,” she said back after the kiss. “What’s on our fun-filled agenda for today?”

  “Nothing with you, unfortunately.”

  “Aw,” she jutted out her lower lip. “But I want to be with you today.”

  “I know,” Dah said, sympathetically, slipping some breakfast onto her plate. “But I really need to check something out today.”

  “Like what?”

  “Listen,” Dah said, taking a more serious tone. “I don’t want you getting wrapped up in all this mess. Okay?”

  “Oh no. What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going after that woman who tried to kill us,” Dah said.

  “But-”

  “No buts,” Dah said strongly. “She may know where Puar is. And if she does, I’m getting it out of her.”

  “She could kill you!” she almost cried.

  “So could this breakfast, but you’re not stopping me from eating it.”

  “That’s different. That will kill you over time by making you fat and out of shape. By then, I’ll be fat and out of shape, too. So then, we can die together. But that lady will kill you a hundred different ways with her pointer finger.”

  “She could also kill me with a gun, or knife, or grenade…”

  “That’s not making me feel any better.”

  “Look, I’m a cop. I protect people. And the city’ll be a safer place with her six feet under. And I might be able to find the real Prime Minister in the process. This is who I am, take it or leave it.”

  “I’ll take you with whatever character flaws you may have.”

  “Character flaws?”

  “Well, yeah. I mean, you think you’re a superhero!”

  “Well, in a way, I suppose your right. But, seriously, stay here where you’re safe.”

  “But-”

  “Please. Stay here. At least until I deal with this assassin girl. Okay?”

  She slumped in her seat. “Fine,” she whined.

  “Thanks,” he said as he headed for the bedroom to get dressed. He stopped and looked over his shoulder. “And please, feel free to stay naked while I’m gone. It’ll give me something to look forward to when I get back.”

  “You’re so bad,” she said, laughing and throwing some cereal at him.

  He dressed and came back out into the kitchen.

  “Sit tight,” D
ah said, putting on his trench coat. “I’ll be back in a while.”

  “How are you going to find her, anyhow?”

  A broad grin widened on Dah’s face. He knew something, she could feel it. “I won’t have to…”

  With that, the door slid open and he was gone. That crazy fool! Bria thought to herself.

  There he was. Like clockwork, Kay thought.

  Kay’Lah Kayward was standing atop a building adjacent to the high-rise where Dack’Tandy Dah lived and she knew—because she watched them—that he had bedded Bria’Nah Briar last night. She couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. She wanted Captain Dah. She was worthy of his love. She was a strong woman who matched Dah’s combat prowess. She could kill Bria with almost a look, but that wouldn’t accomplish her mission. Her new orders were to capture Dah and interrogate him. Trall, who survived his narrow escape of Orbital Station 12, wanted to know if Khai’Xander Khail survived as well. It filled her heart with hope that he did. She wanted the honor and privilege of crossing blades with him and killing him herself. And Dah was the key. He infiltrated OS 12 with Khai. He was injured and Khai sent him back planet-side. Where he went from there, she didn’t care. That wasn’t her concern.

  Dah strolled almost casually along the pedestrian walkway. Whereever he was going, he wasn’t in any hurry. He was easy to track as she bounded from building top to building top. He stopped at a food stand and bought some meat on a stick, munching on it as he walked.

  Come on, Dah! Kay scoffed to herself. What are you up to?”

  Dah swung right into an alleyway, throwing the stick away in a trash recep on the way.

  Now was her chance! She ran to the edge of the building, did a handspring off the ledge, threw her grappling hook, caught it on the next building’s roof and slid down the rope to the ground below. Immediately, she pulled a short, serrated sword. She scanned the immediate area and found no sign of him. She was puzzled. She saw him enter this alley only seconds ago.