“Ok, so how do we get across then?” moans Talia.
“It is a defence moat, in case anything gets past the gates. It runs all around the city. Some say, if you fall in, you fall forever.” Steg holds out her hand and the ground shakes around them. Small blasts of golden power fire out of her hand, creating a glimmering bridge of sheer energy. “We can pass now, Talia, if you like.”
Talia takes one look and points over the bridge. “After you.”
Steg is not afraid and crosses over the light bridge, closely followed by Drax. It looked safe enough, so Talia also walks over it, pausing at the middle point to look down into the dark abyss below.
“You were not kidding, were you?” Talia quickens her step to catch up with the other two, who were now across the other side of the bridge. They were all now stood in front of another set of extremely tall golden gates, with more perimeter walls. This is like a castle of old, Talia thought, just on a giant scale, but then, with the size of the creatures out there, I can understand why the walls were so tall. It was indeed a feat of engineering she had not seen before, and as Steg and Drax approached the gates Talia hung back, she did not want to get blasted in the eyes a second time.
“I will sit this one out, if you don’t mind.” Steg smiles at Talia and the gates open, this time without any scans.
“It is ok, Talia, you have access to my city now. Some areas will be off limits, but you are welcome here, my friend.” Steg beckons Talia to come through the gates and Talia hurries to enter. Walking through the gates, she notices golden pillars with statues on them. As she looks ahead, she sees a whole avenue of these pillars leading up to what looked like a city square. They all walked slowly, admiring the statues, the Gulmeds muttering about the characters as they made their way to the square. It was getting dark and at least they were safe for tonight.
The red sky began to turn a dark blue and the evil birds began to disappear back to their roosts for the night. It was cool and dry in the city, and as they walked small lights began to light the way. When they got to the square, a tall building stood in front of them. It had no windows and was also covered in markings. There were four golden towers, one on each corner of the building, and these were the same as they had encountered before.
“So what’s that?” asks Talia, “I can’t see any doors to the building.”
Steg gets closer to the building with Talia. The carvings in gold were of a different alien race, something Talia had not seen before.
“They are the Tarkons. They are protectors and warriors.” Drax pointed at a battle scene on the building. The building stood in darkness and did not light up, nor did the towers. It was covered in vines, as was the whole city it would appear. Nature had gripped the city, but it was beautiful to see at the same time.
“We need to get to the palace and make things safe before the ceremony of freeing. We do not need any surprises. We can power the city from there, I hope,” exclaims Drax.
From the square ran several roads in different directions, and many buildings stood quiet and dark, only being lit up by the small road rocks. It was eerie walking through the streets, thought Talia, so weird to see no one, nor hear anything. She looked up at the buildings, checking the windows for an ambush, as it seemed too quiet for her liking.
Drax and Steg strode onwards, making their way through the city quickly and purposefully. They passed through another square, and here also stood a building with four golden towers at the corners, with no windows or doors on the building itself. A defence sentry within the city, a great idea, thought Talia, knowing the potential power of just one of these towers.
The streets twisted and turned, and it felt like they had been walking for hours when they arrived in front of the palace. Its giant spires reached up almost into the clouds. That is what they could see from the Robur.
“Wow! You guys like to build things big, don’t you?” Talia was amazed at the city and its overall size. It must have taken thousands of years to create all this. The palace was also in darkness and covered in vines and small trees, but the grand entrance was visible. More statues stood in front of the palace, and what looked like fountains and small parks around the building. It must have been beautiful when it was maintained properly, but no one had been here in a long time. They were also now seeing some signs of battle. Straining their eyes, they noticed an armoured body slumped in a bush near the entrance doors, and now they were looking they noticed more and more signs of struggle, and more and more bodies could be seen.
Drax approached the large doors first, and walked up the steps slowly, ready for a fight, but the battle was long ago and some of the bodies were just skeletons now. Many Tarkons had given their lives here, fighting the Almak and Oakthians so that the Gulmeds could escape.
“How did they get in?” asks Talia, noticing no damage to the city walls.
“They dropped in from the Oakthians ships. The orbital guns were not working, is my only guess,” replies Drax, turning over a dead Tarkon and feeling sad.
“Come on, that was a long time ago, it seems quiet enough. Come on, let’s go in and get things up and running.” Steg follows behind Drax, who lights the way with his shield and spear, and Talia brings up the rear, looking behind every now and then just to make sure. They enter the palace and all is in darkness. They pass through the great hall, decorated with fine paintings, golden statues and ornate carvings, until they reach some stairs leading down. A few bodies lie here. Maybe their last stand by the looks of things, thought Talia as she steps over a twisted Almak corpse. Steg approaches a small steel door and holds her hand out, and again, small golden shards of light fire out, entering a small hole to the left of the door. Blue lights flicker over their eyes once more, and Talia cringes and waits to be electrocuted for a second time, but the door opens and the three friends are able to enter without any problems at all.
“It looks like I have a season pass now then,” mumbles Talia to herself, happy she has made it this far. She watches Steg as she makes her way down more steps into a room, where she places her hand onto a console, hoping it will power up, which is does after a few moments. Lights flicker on and the sound of a large generator begins to roar below them. The console lights up like a Christmas tree, full of surprise and hope.
“Ah, yes, here we are,” smiles Steg, “Your console in the freeing room now has power, Drax. If you would like to go and prepare things, I will activate the city’s defence systems and finish off here.” Steg points towards an opening door for Drax to enter, and then begins to activate programs on her heads up screen, one of which was a map of the city. Talia stands next to Steg and looks at the screen also, and is shocked at the sheer size of the city. In its day, it must have homed hundreds of thousands.
Steg presses a button, and a voice is heard. “Outer perimeter wall flamers activated. Initialising wall clean program.” Talia watches with interest as Steg’s spindly fingers race across the buttons like lightning.
“Wall clean program, what’s that?” asks Talia gently in Stegs ear.
“We keep the walls free of vines and trees, so that nothing can climb up and into the city. Everything touching the wall or within fifty foot of them is incinerated. The Almak live in the trees and hate this, but it stops them spying on us too. The other systems of defence, like Out-blast towers, are also now powering up.”
Talia points at the screen. “So these two spires on top of the palace, what do they do?”
“They are our orbital guns, pretty aren’t they?” replies Steg. “They were switched off for some reason, maybe they were undergoing repair. Let me see.” Steg taps a few more times and a maintenance report springs up on her screen. “Sector three’s defence systems were playing up, some sort of power surge damaged some of the power grid there, and so they were repairing that and then the… I see now. A virus was uploaded in that sector, which turned off the orbital guns. I’ll take a look at the security cameras there, if they will run a play-back.” They both look at
the screen and see a shrouded figure enter the room and place a green card into the console, and they see it briefly looks up, before exiting the room quickly under blaster fire, pursued by two burly Tarkon guards.
“An Almak must have got in over the wall. Yes, it seems they did not do a wall clean in some time.” Steg’s head shakes in disbelief. “It would have been so easy for the Oakthians to attack then, without our big guns activated.” Talia rubs Stegs back to comfort her and stays silent not uttering a word, it is clearly an upsetting thing for this Gulmed. “There is, however, a Tarkon Guard unit that are still in cryrostasis within the palace. They must have not been activated when the fighting broke out.” Steg smiles and activates the thaw out systems, and then takes Talia’s hand and leads her into the freeing chamber, where Steg will give birth. The door closes behind them and Talia eyes up the chamber.
Drax is stood at a console and looks up when they enter the room. “Almost ready.” Some tubes dangle down from the ceiling, and then find their way to the back of a large chair in the middle of the room. Above the chair, there are large lights and several robot arms moving into position and readying for the process to begin. Steg breathes deeply and lets out a sigh, before looking away and concentrating back on Talia.
“Talia, we have been though a lot together in a short space of time, and I will always call you friend, but you cannot be here for the birth, it is forbidden.”
Talia smiles. “I will wait outside then. I am so excited for you, you’re going to be a mother soon.”
Steg grips Talia’s hand tightly. “I could die in the process, but that is not what I mean to say.” Steg stops to compose herself. “You have made sure we all got here safely, and kept your promise. We have a guard unit on its way and the city’s defence is on guard. You are free to leave here and find your people.” Steg opens a window shutter overlooking a large hanger, full of spaceships of varying sizes. “Take one, it is yours and you will always be welcome to return.”
Talia’s eyes light up, as they well up with joyful tears. The thought of escaping the planet was overwhelming to her.
“Here was me hoping for a two bed apartment near the palace, and then you surprise me with this gift. I don’t want to leave though.”
Steg smiles and grips Talia’s hand once more. “You are free. We are safe now. Why don’t you go and take a look at a ship, and get changed out of those battered clothes. Then rest a while, and make sure you eat something before you leave, if you decide to that is.” Steg lets go of Talia’s hand and Talia throws her arms around Steg for a hug, squeezing gently so as to not hurt Steg at all. A door opens, leading down a tunnel to the hanger, and Talia walks slowly down, looking back at Steg. “It is ok, go on, we will be fine.” Drax stands at Steg’s side and nods at Talia.
The tunnel is brightly lit and the door at the end slides open, and a multitude of different craft await Talia’s inspection. Some fighter size and some larger, she decides to enter a medium sized ship, which she could use as a home while searching for other humans. It was smaller than the Robur, but big enough for a crew of five or so.
Everything was so clean and organised, and pressing her hand against a panel, a door opened up, revealing a room. It was obviously a bedroom, and Talia seizes the chance to shower, in what turned out to be a very luxurious bathroom within the room. The congealed blood ran off her body and disappeared into the floor. She had taken a fair beating and was beginning to feel better with the heat of the water running down her body. She flinched a few times over cuts and wounds, and then dried off and reached for some white robes, just like Steg and Drax wore. They were clean and comfy and fitted her body well, and she put her belt on around them.
She began to investigate the room and found that there were several spears and other devices, which she began to look at with interest. She found the portable shield device that the Gulmeds used as a force field, and figured out how to use it, which would be useful in space, she thought. The hood on the robes was a great asset with communications available, and the masks looked neat too. She would work out the tech later, she thought. After a few minutes, she walked to the bridge and found two seats, and a captain’s seat slightly elevated above the others, and she sat down thinking of where to go.
Chapter Twenty
Steg slides in to her chair with a worried look on her face. Drax smiles and presses several buttons on his console. Another door opens to the room and a large creature walks into the chamber and stands motionless, his spiky armour polished and reflecting the light, like a million diamonds. The black and red colour was distinctive of a Tarkons commander. Drax turns to look at the Tarkon, who was stood strong and proud by the door.
“Welcome Commander. How are you? Do you have anything to report?” asks Drax, while attaching some wires to Steg.
“It seems the city was invaded some time ago. I am not sure why we were left in cryo, but we are here now. We are just eighteen strong. Two cryo units failed, and two Tarkons passed. What are your wishes?”
Steg answers that question. “I wish for two of your men to join a human in the hanger and serve as bodyguards for her, and for the rest of you, a tall order of defending the city, while I give birth.”
The Tarkon nods and raises his fist in a salute to Steg. “Did any of my kind survive?”
Steg wriggles in her seat to get comfortable. “Yes, many left thanks to your race protecting the carrier ships that escaped, and for a time we all lived together on another planet, but then the Oakthians attacked again, and now only a small number of your race survive on out-posts out in space. However, we are the last of the Gulmeds, something I will rectify soon. Thank you, Commander, for your help.”
The Tarkon looks down at the ground with the sad news and then a fire begins to rage in his heart. “Your race will not end here as long as a Tarkon stands alive. Are we expecting another attack?”
Steg nods. “Yes, they are in league with the Almak, and they know we were making our way here. The city’s defence should hold for a while, and we do have many ships still left in the hanger, in case all else fails.”
The Tarkon Commander salutes once more and turns around, and leaving the room he shouts at his men, who are all stood in line. “Time to put those muscles to work. Arm yourselves, war is coming!” A loud cheer goes up and echoes through the building. Even Talia hears it and makes her way to the door of the ship. Walking down the tunnel towards her, stride two hefty built figures with spiked armour and helmets covering most of their face, apart from their mouths which were scaly red skin. They carried large hammer type weapons and large, door-sized shields. They would be great in a riot, thought Talia as they approached the ship. They did not seem aggressive towards her, thankfully, and Talia knew from the look of them that they must be the unfrozen Tarkons.
“Hey boys, how’s it going? What can I do you for?” The two Tarkons stop just feet from the ship and hold their fists up in salute, and the slightly taller Tarkon speaks.
“We are your new bodyguards. Here to the end.”
Talia stands for a few moments bemused and then replies. “Not sure I want the end just yet, but I always wanted a squad of my own, so yeah, ok, come aboard and make yourselves at home.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“Damn it, where’s my beers?” Lori has opened the first aid bag to be shocked that the beers had been switched for water and food. “Curse that girl!” she cries out. She reaches into the bag and takes out some water, her suits work-lights now glowing in the dark, and helping her to find what she needs. She had been walking for some time and needed a rest, so she perches on a fallen tree to rest her aching feet. She gulps down a whole bottle before taking a breath, and then opens a tin of meat and begins stuffing that into her mouth like there was no tomorrow, and on this planet that was a possibility. She looks up, after scraping the jelly out of the bottom of the tin, to see bright lights on two large spires in the distance. If she continued walking now, she would get there in a few hours, she thought,
and maybe to safety. The forest ahead had a red glow to it, which was a little scary, but after sitting and looking at it for half an hour, she felt good enough to continue on her journey. She zipped the bag closed and began to walk towards the lights.
The forest around her made many sounds. Creatures crossed the road in front of her, and screeches rang out in the night like alarm bells. All this was beginning to frighten Lori. She was on her own on an unknown planet, with creatures that wanted to eat her, and no one to watch her back. Her mind thought briefly about Megan, and that it may have been good to have not been so nasty, but then again, since when did anyone do anything nice for her, she thought. Her parents gave her up when she was a child, and her friends all joked about her behind her back and ridiculed her. Until she took up boxing, that was, and then she just found it easy to answer questions with her fists, and she always did better on her own anyway, from that point on. She did not need friends, and she only used the Pink Wings for her own ends.
Lori continued to walk, but now at a faster speed than before, urging her body onwards and out of the dark. She felt eyes on her the whole journey until, walking out of the darkness and coming towards her, appear three Almak, who raise their death rods in an instant. Lori reacts fast too, raising her gauntlet and aiming at the largest of the three creatures. Perhaps these are the people from the city ahead, she thought. They were definitely not blue, so that was a good start, and they had not fired at her yet, also good in her books.
“So be sensible guys. Put your guns down and we can have a little chat, eh?” There was no way they would understand what she just said, but she began to lower her gauntlet, showing them that she meant no harm, and to her surprise they also lowered their rods.
Titan Fleet: The Robur Page 13