by Frank Carey
Gloria shook off the gesture. "I thought he was taken by Mitrell back at Ith.
“He was. I rented him in return for a shuttle craft and a ton of gold," Lenora said. "Ciara, I must say, my son did well calling you his second sister."
"I don't understand what that means."
"In Lucien's mind, he has three sisters, Tannith, you, and Losira. Did he not tell you?"
"No, it must have slipped his mind."
"Yes, that wondrous mind of his. Regardless, you have been given the title of Duchess of Irithyl and are fully protected under elven law. When you finish your tour as Cube Director, there is place for you on the Ventosian council."
"Wait, no non-elf has ever..."
"That is true for now. You have an opportunity to change that. Now, shall we go and see my grandchildren?"
###
Dr. Nebulon Blyst stared at the viewer, her Tyen eyes glinting in the darkness of the dimmed room lights as her genetically enhanced mind played with the possibilities. Displayed in front of her were six panels depicting ancient life on Vodalorn, each showing scenes of horror. One feature, though, connected the six paintings—a single being of fire.
"Nebs, where are you?"
Nebulon smiled at the voice of her husband, Jason Thurgood, as he searched for her in the darkened room. Like her, he had Tralaskan genes, but unlike her, he couldn't see in the dark.
"Computer, lights seventy-five percent. Over here, darling, in front of the main viewer."
Sighing, Jason wove through stacks of books, datapads, and artifacts to join his wife where she stood examining the six panels. When he got close, she turned and grabbed him, giving him a long and luxurious kiss. "I missed you," she said when she let them both come up for air.
"I missed you too. So what's with the art work?"
"Bad news, I'm afraid. These six panels are from a museum on Vodalorn. They were sent here for analysis by Vermeer, the Sokuhl xeno whose been studying Tench history for the last two centuries."
"The briefing I got at the Cube said Shenda Aymar and her siblings were being used as containers for someone called Cleth. Does this have anything to do with him?"
"Yes, and much more. The legends of Cleth and his companion, Hernog, date back to before written history. It is thought the two of them are different facets of one being, a super demon known as Hereth that was torn asunder for transgressions against its people. This supposedly occurred millions of years ago. These panels are from a Tench temple that dates back about ten thousand years. I think they depict the rejoining of Cleth and Hernog into Hereth."
Jason looked carefully at the images on the screen. "That ain't good, I assume."
"No, not good at all. Somehow, the ancient Tench were able to separate the two and get them back up to the top of the plateau."
"So, any idea how bad it got while they were together?"
"Bad, real bad," a voice said from the entryway. Jason turned and saw an elf female walk in carrying a stack of papers. Her flaming red hair and long limbs gave the impression of youth, but her walk belied a much longer life.
"Here, let me," Jason said as he took the stack from her and placed it on a table. "You must be Dr. Aymar. Nebs told me a lot about you."
"Jason Thurgood, this is Dr. Tannith Aymar, Royal Archivist for House Irithyl."
"Call me Tannith. I hate all that pomp and circumstance."
"You’re the kids' aunt, aren't you?" Jason asked, referring to why he had brought Ciara to Ventos Prime. "How are they doing?"
"Yes, Harmon is my adopted brother. Royce and Gloria are my cousins. The kids are tough, like their dad.”
"Tannith, you were saying things were bad?" Jason prompted the elven researcher.
"Vermeer spent several years combing through the Tench records where he found reference to a plague which killed tens of thousands of Tench," she explained. "I think Hereth was the plague."
"That fits with these images," Nebulon said.
Tannith took out a pair of glasses and put them on while walking closer to the viewer. "Yes, these are reminiscent of representations of possession or enlightenment I've seen in other cultures." She peered closer. "This fits with what's happening to my niece and nephews." She stopped and tried not to let the others see her tears. "Forgive me. I'm usually not this emotional, that's typically Harmon's job."
Nebulon put an arm around her. "Hey, they'll be fine. Gloria's up there and she's a hellion when it comes to those kids. Hell, she frightens me with her intensity," the Tyen researcher said, this from a woman who could take on ten full-grown Goranthi in battle gear.
An intercom chime interrupted them. "I'll get it," Jason said while walking over to the wall-mounted unit. After a short conversation, he rejoined the two ladies. "That was Ciara. The kids are out of their comas and coming around. Gloria was able to pull-off the impossible and imprison part of the Cleth demon in three hamster balls."
Tannith put her hands to her mouth and gasped; the joy of hearing that the kids were safe overwhelming her. "Excuse me, I have to go see them," she said as she ran out of the room.
Nebulon smiled, while returning to the viewer. "We need to get some of those," she said absentmindedly.
"What? Hamster balls?"
"No, silly. Kids. I want to have kids."
Jason walked over to her and put his arms around her. "How about we start after this crisis is over?"
She turned and kissed him. "Yeah, that works for me."
###
Tannith ran into the infirmary to find her niece and two nephews dressed in scrubs and leaning against their beds while sipping horrible green colored drinks. One by one, she hugged them and brushed back their hair before walking over to Gloria and giving her a hug. "You are a miracle worker. Dr. Aymar-Taggart!
"Yeah, I guess I am," the blond, winsome elf agreed demurely. Everyone in the room, except Tannith, rolled their eyes.
"What the hell happened," Christa asked as she grimaced from the taste of the green drink.
"Yeah, what happened?" Bobby added. "One minute I was about to level-up, the next I'm waking up in a medbed."
Tannith looked over at the doctor, who nodded. She explained what happened.
"What about Shenda?" Bobby asked, the moment Tannith finished.
"And Dad?" Bobby added.
"And Mom?" Torren finished.
"We don't know. They're on Vodalorn, but that's the last we heard.”
"And what about this Muntz guy?"
"Muntz is no longer a concern," Queen Lenora said as she walked over and hugged her grandchildren. "He won’t bother anyone ever again."
"You go, Grandma," Torren said while giving the Queen Mother bones, much to the chagrin of everyone there except Tannith. Instead of taking offense, the Queen Mother returned the gesture followed by tousling her grandson’s hair. "I must speak with your aunt for a moment. Don't go anywhere," she said with a wink while taking Tannith off to the side. "What have you found?"
Tannith explained.
Lenora frowned. "Doctor..."
"Please, Your Majesty, call me Tannith."
Lenora smiled. "Tannith, I need to know. Can my son deal with this situation? I am ashamed to say I know so little of him, even after all these years. I don't want to lose him, Losira, or Shenda. Can he do what needs to be done?"
Tannith took her arm in hand. "He will find a way to fix this problem even if there is no possible way to do so. More importantly, he will let no harm come to Losira or Shenda. Have faith in him."
"Thank you, Tannith. You are a source of strength in these trying times," Lenora said as she squeezed Tannith's hand before turning to rejoin her grandchildren.
"Harmon, you better not make me a liar, dammit," Tannith said quietly as she watched the Queen walk back to her waiting family.
###
Lortan awoke in a small clearing surrounded by dense forest. He slowly sat up only to find someone familiar sitting in front of him.
"Irithyl," he said, while looking f
or his weapon.
"Hi, Lortan. Looking for this?" Harmon said, while holding up Lortan's pistol. "Nice weapon, but you really need to maintain it better. I cleaned it for you while we were waiting for you to finish your nap."
"Where's Ariana? What did you and Losira do to her?"
Harm tossed his weapon to him. "Damn, you wake up grumpy. Ariana and Losi are in the Magog running scans of the area. We need to find the Rachel and fast..." Something buzzed in Harm's pocket.
"What trick is this?" Lortan said, after catching and examining his pistol. "Is this rigged to explode?"
Harm just shook his head, as he reached into his pocket to retrieve a communicator. He looked at the caller ID before answering. "Go for Lucien," he said. He listened for a moment before tossing it to Lortan. "It's for you."
Lortan grabbed the communicator in midair and answered it while holding his weapon on Harmon. "Lortan... Father? What!?" he said as he locked gazes with Harmon, the kidnappers face going from a look of arrogance to one of confusion. "Yes, sir... Yes, my Liege... It will be done as you have ordered... Lortan out." Lortan lowered his weapon and replaced it in its holster. He then tossed the comm back to Harmon. "My Prince, what is your bidding?"
"Save my daughter. I want your word that you will do everything in your power to save Shenda. In return, I will see that the Tralaskans are compensated for the damage done by your idiot henchmen. I will also see to it that all charges against you, Ariana, and your surviving crew are dropped. Agreed?"
"Agreed, but why are you doing this?"
"When you have kids, then you can ask me that question. Now, get up and follow me. By the way, if anything comes at you, shoot to kill," Harm said, while nodding toward a smoking carcass near the tree line. It was as big as a school bus.
"Copy that," Lortan said, while placing his hand on his weapon.
Once inside the Magog, Lortan found Ariana and Losira running scans from both the ship and small shielded probes flying high overhead.
"My Queen," Lortan said as he went to one knee.
"How sweet," Losira said. "Now knock it off. I'm married now, so let it go."
"Wait. You... Him...?" Harm sputtered.
"Lucien, we'll talk later, OK? Right now we have more important things to do."
Ariana shook her head. "Yes, we found the Rachel. What's left of her is about ten miles from here on a heading of zero-seven-three magnetic. We aren't picking up any elfling life signs."
"Shenda's gone through all of Royce's survival training, so the lack of life signs doesn't worry me. Anyway, this ED field may be masking her. Let's get moving." Harm headed to the cockpit and began an abbreviated preflight.
Once in the air, Losira sat down next to him in the co-pilot's seat while Ariana and Lortan sat down behind him."
"Harm, we got more information from Ventos Prime, specifically from Ciara."
Who's running the shop while you're gone?"
"Mother."
"Shit. What did she do now?"
"Her people found Muntz..."
The ship shuddered as Harm fought to regain control of his emotions. Losira could hear the plastic grips on the control yoke crack under the pressure of Harm's grip. "And?"
"Gloria was able to separate Cleth from the kids, except for Shenda, using information Mother was able to extract from Muntz..."
"Extract. What a lovely word. Is Muntz still alive?"
"No."
"Lortan, was it Muntz who hired you to kidnap Shenda?"
Lortan looked at Losira who nodded ever so slightly.
"Yes. I was to deliver her alive to him on Tralaska."
"Do you know who Muntz is, or was, and how he and I are related?"
"No. He offered me a great deal of money to retrieve your daughter and that was the only interest I had in the subject."
"Lortan, under different circumstances, your head would be mounted on that bowsprit refueling probe sticking out from the bow of this ship as a reward for working with the likes of Mr. Muntz. Just keep that in mind. There's the Rachel," Harm said as he prepped the Magog for landing. Once down, Harm got up and headed to the hatch. "The rest of you stay here and monitor the field. I'll be right back.”
Once he was gone, Lortan asked, "What the hell was that all about?"
"What do you know about Atmar?" Losira asked.
"Atmar... Shit! You mean...?"
"Muntz and his Special Projects division were responsible for Atmar in more ways than even Lucien is aware of. I suggest neither of you mention Muntz's name again until we get back to Ventos Prime. Right now, Lucien is focused on saving his daughter."
Lortan and Ariana just nodded.
"OK, she's alive. The helm console is intact and one of the survival crates has been accessed. There are boot prints heading north by northeast towards a pair of mountain peaks. There is something glinting in the sunlight just before the peaks."
"I'll run scans," Ariana said as she headed aft. "Lor, give me a hand."
"Yes, sister," he said as he got up and followed her, leaving Harmon and Losira alone. "Buckle in, we're taking off," Harmon yelled after them. "What's with those two?"
"Lucien, I have more news."
"Great, tell me," he said as the Magog lifted off.
"Mother found out who kidnapped you."
The ship jerked and nearly fell from the sky.
"Let me," Losira said as she took the controls.
"Who did this to us?"
Quietly and calmly, Losira explained. When she finished, she looked at her brother, waiting for some kind of response.
"Shenda knows none of this. She thinks she will follow in my footsteps and go mad if she is unable to link with her sibs. She reacting to fear, fear fed by the demon." He stopped talking and brought up the medical reports on his children and their collapse. "The legend says the demon was torn asunder, the two parts—Hernog and Cleth—never to be reunited. What if it's the energy dampening field keeping them apart?"
"How much does Shenda know about ED fields?"
"Probably more than I do. My God, that's why she's here. He needs a corporeal body to kill the field so that he and Hernog can reunite. Dammit. The kids collapsed almost seven hours ago. Somehow, Cleth was able to affect them over a distance of light-years, use them as hostages against Shenda, forcing her to shut down the field. Gloria bought us some time with her simulations. Losi, see that glint off in the distance?"
"Yes, got it," she replied.
"Get us there, but keep it on the QT..."
She reached down and flipped a switch, activating the stealth field. "Roger that. What are you going to do?"
"Break several laws." He got up and headed to the back of the ship.
"Lucien, we found the source of the field," Lortan said. "There's a structure dead ahead, about ten minutes at present speed."
"Good work, you two. Forward the coordinates to Losira then join me in my workshop below."
###
Lortan and Ariana walked down the gangway into another world. Around them were half-built robots, strange looking systems, and equipment with uses they could not begin to fathom. "I've heard stories about Lucien's workshops," Lortan said as a pair of glowing green eyes peered from the darkness and followed their progress down the stairs.
"Ah, good. Grab those three pulse-blast rifles and bring them over here," Harm said, from a pool of light illuminating a large worktable.
"What is your plan, sire?" Ariana asked.
"Call me Harmon. We are going to violate some treaties and break some laws. Don't worry, I'll take full responsibility."
Harm pressed a button on the table. A hologram of a pulse rifle appeared above the table. He pressed another button and the view changed to an exploded view. Three components glowed red. “We need to remove these three components from each rifle and replace it with corresponding components from those three dishes." He handed a dish to Ariana, then Lortan while Lortan handed Harm a rifle.
"Why are you and your family so set
on taking over Leadership of Ventos Prime?" Harm asked as he fieldstripped his rifle.
Ariana looked over at Lortan. "Tell him."
"Losira left me at the altar. Something about there being no love between us. My father took that as an insult and swore a vengeance against the Irithyl family. Then Royce came along, then you, then you adopted those kids."
"I guess you didn't get the memo. They are my kids, thanks to Muntz and SpecPro. You really had the hots for Losira, didn't you?"
Lortan nodded.
"You are such a guy," Harm said as he sealed up his gun. After a final check, he fired it into a sensor box bolted to a wall. A row of green lights came on. "Good."
"What did you do?" Ariana asked.
"These mods change the output frequency to one that will disrupt the cohesive field holding the demon together. This weapon now violates several treaties concerning the use of weapons against non-corporeal life forms."
"Will it kill Cleth or Hernog?"
"No, but it will hurt them something fierce once they combine."
"Then what?" Lortan asked as he tested his weapon. More green lights.
"We use this," Harm said, while pulling a hard case out from under the table. On top were four remotes that he removed, handing one to Lortan and Ariana before pocketing one himself.
"What is it?"
"A remote-controlled emergency AI retrieval system." He opened it, revealing a second case inside. He pressed a small button on one side of the inner case. Immediately, a small red light illuminated followed by similar lights on the four remotes. "Just get the unit within a few feet of Hereth and press the button on the remote. The system will take care of the rest."
"And if it doesn't?" Ariana asked as she examined the remote.
"Losira detonates the Magog's engines and destroys half the planet. Hey, at least we can finally get away from it all."
Ariana and Lortan stared at Harm in disbelief and horror.
"He's not kidding," Losira said as she walked up to the table and picked up the remaining remote. "It’s one of the perks of being Queen. You get to die to save your people, as Harm has done on more than one occasion. Brother, we've arrived. I set us down in a clearing out of sight of the main structure. Searcher should arrive soon. I just got word from Ventos Prime. Gloria pulled off a miracle and separated Cleth from Torren, Bobby, and Christa. She put the demon in three hamster balls that are simulating the kids’ responses to whatever he pumps through the links. Gloria said there's a lot of energy coming through. She's not sure how long her bypass will survive the onslaught."