Aurora Saga 2 Immortality for Life

by Adrian Fulcher

  ‘That’s 50 yek.’

  She placed the blue bags on top of the bar, where they both naturally spread outwards forming what looked like very large water droplets lying on the bar surface. In their centres, protruding upwards, were long flexibly straw-like tubes to drink from.

  At one of several small terminals located along the length of the bar, Kalrea typed a code. The barwoman acknowledged her payment.

  Zoren picked up his bag of drink, which felt rubbery and slightly sticky. He wondered how he was meant to handle it, so he observed a Frindul standing at the bar who had a bag balanced on his shoulder and was drinking from it using the tube.

  ‘Are you sure you can drink, Kalrea?’ Zoren asked quietly, while trying to place the bag on his right shoulder.

  She smiled back. ‘Yes, don’t worry. I’m not going to short circuit if that’s what you’re worried about.’

  ‘It’s just that I wouldn’t like to be alone here, that’s all. They look like-’

  He was interrupted by a scuffle at one of the tables. When he glanced over to see what was going on, he noticed three Agonians sitting at a table behind them in the corner of the room.

  ‘Kalrea, I can see some of my people. Over there, to the right of the main door,’ he said quietly.

  Kalrea casually looked around as to not attract attention.

  ‘Yes, I recognise them as Gulco, Diean and Vinuar. They look in good health, but seem very frightened.’

  ‘Hello, darlin’!’ a Frindul said, as he placed his hand on Kalrea’s shoulder. ‘Are you looking for me?’

  ‘Depends,’ Kalrea replied. ‘What ship are you from?’

  ‘The Triput, why?’

  ‘In that case, no and I’m not your darling.’ She pushed his hand off her shoulder. ‘Now piss off!’

  Zoren was surprised by Kalrea’s language.

  She smirked at him and said quietly, ‘Sorry, it seems to be the type of response they expect in here.’ Kalrea then turned and without hesitation called out. ‘I’m looking for the captain of the Ringal. Can any of you help me, please?’

  A lot of the Frinduls stopped what they were doing and stared at Kalrea. Within a few second all conversation ended and there was deaf silence.

  ‘Looks like there are a few of you in here from the Ringal, and it would seem your captain may be here too. So, which one of you is the captain?’

  An obese Frindul who was still seated at a table, looked over. ‘What do you want?’

  ‘I’m interested in the cargo you had onboard.’

  ‘Now why would you be interested in my cargo?’ the captain replied.

  ‘I want to buy one of the Agonians you have.’

  Zoren noticed that they seemed to get jumpy when Kalrea mentioned the word Agonians.

  ‘Kalrea,’ he said quietly. ‘We don’t have any weapons. What are you doing?’

  Kalrea dismissed his comment by moving her arm in front of him as if to stop his interference.

  Suddenly a drunken Frindul bumped into Zoren. Upon slipping, he pulled the habit downwards, uncovering Zoren’s head.

  A Frindul at the bar raised his hand. ‘That’s the Agonian boy! The boy that was trapped on the Polnozoo.’

  ‘That’s Zoren!’ Gulco called out from across the room. He stood up, but he was pushed back into his seat by a Frindul standing close to him.

  Zoren glanced around to see that every gun in the room was now pointed at him and Kalrea. The people at the bar backed slowly away from them, while others quietly left the bar. The women in the room also quickly disappeared through a nearby door. The entrance door to the bar opened slightly, and then the Drulfian who was outside put its head in to check what was happening. It decided not to come in and closed the door.

  The captain now stood up. ‘Well, well, an Agonian. Now, how did you manage to get here?’

  Zoren felt frightened and wanted to run and hide. He glanced to Kalrea, who seemed unmoved. She seemed to sense he was scared because she turned to him and said reassuringly, ‘Don’t worry, they cannot harm you,’ and then raising her voice, whilst glancing around the room, added, ‘and even if they could, you’re too valuable. That’s right, isn’t it?’

  ‘I suggest you move to one side lady and let my men take him. He can sit with the others,’ the captain said calmly.

  ‘My name’s Kalrea, and how do you know I’m a lady? I’m not moving and neither is he. I warn you, I don’t want to kill any of you, but I will defend myself.’

  The captain laughed. ‘If I clicked my fingers, you’d be dead in an instant,’ he replied. ‘You have no weapons and I can assure you these men are exceptional shots.’

  ‘All I want is those three Agonians you have there and the location of where the others are being held. I know they’re no longer on your ship. Tell me and we’ll leave. No one will get hurt.’

  ‘I’ve had enough of this crap,’ the captain said to Kalrea, and then addressing his men added, ‘If anyone wants her, take her, if not, please, will someone just shoot her.’

  Kalrea glanced over to the barwoman and said, ‘I wouldn’t stay there if I was you.’

  The Gullin barwoman quickly left the bar area and disappeared into an adjoining room.

  While Kalrea’s head was turned, a Frindul tried to grab her arm. He glowed white and in an instant disappeared. Kalrea brushed her arm where he had touched her in the same way that she would have cleaning off a dead insect from her clothing.

  Immediately the sound of gunfire filled the air.

  Chapter Ten

  Zoren cowered at the base of the bar behind Kalrea as shot after shot struck her. She was surrounded by a halo of white light, which was protecting her from the plasma fire and the telementor on his wrist was also glowing white. The noise of the gunfire echoed loudly around the room.

  Bloody hell! I’ve got to get out of here, Zoren thought, as pieces of the bar rained down on him.

  He flinched when a stray plasma round struck his leg, but his body was also instantly surrounded by white light, preventing him from any harm. His adrenaline was pumping as the gunfire lessened, then it stopped abruptly.

  Most of the Frinduls had emptied a full magazine of plasma shells and were looking astounded that Kalrea was still standing there.

  ‘Have you all finished,’ Kalrea said in an angry voice. ‘I did warn you. Now it’s my turn!’

  Zoren looked up to see Kalrea point at one of the Frinduls. A bolt of white light left her finger and struck him. He collapsed to the ground.

  Panic filled the room as Kalrea pointed to more Frinduls. One by one she killed them as they rushed towards the doors.

  The captain was now being protected by some of his men, who had surrounded him, but they seemed unsure what to do next. Kalrea walked casually towards them. One of the Frinduls panicked and fired his railgun at her again. She approached him and when he was about to turn and flee, touched him on the shoulder. With a blaze of white light, he faded away. She looked in turn at the captain’s men and pointing at the main entrance to the bar, ordered,

  ‘If you want to live, leave your captain and go out that door now. Stay and I will kill you. Do you understand?’

  ‘You’re staying here with me,’ the captain said aggressively to his men. ‘That’s an order!’

  Zoren picked himself off the floor. He brushed his habit and then the top of his head with his hand to remove all the pieces of debris, before glancing back at the bar. It had been almost completely destroyed, apart from one untouched piece, which was in the silhouette of Kalrea’s lower body.

  All except one of the Frinduls had now decided to leave and were filing quickly out the main exit.

  ‘Come back here you cowards!’ the captain shouted at them in desperation.

  Kalrea was staring at the remaining Frindul who was standing behind his captain. That was enough to persuade him to go and he rushed to the door. He was about to open it when Kalrea shouted out to him,

  ‘Hay you!’

  The
Frindul froze and turned nervously around.

  ‘Ask the Drulfian at the entrance not to let anyone else in, will you, please?’ Kalrea said calmly to him.

  The Frindul seemed startled and nodded, before quickly disappearing out the door. The captain had now been completed deserted by his men and the bar was very quiet.

  Zoren inched over to the main exit to check if anyone was there. He opened the door slightly and to his surprise the Drulfian was still standing outside. It glanced at Zoren, but seemed totally unmoved by the events that had happened within the bar.

  Gulco and the others rose from their seats.

  ‘Stay there!’ Kalrea shouted, pointing to them.

  Zoren watched Kalrea place her hand on the captain’s shoulder. He shouted out, expecting to be killed, but Kalrea pushed him firmly back into his seat. She then sat on his lap, her legs either side of his, face to face. The captain looked terrified, sweat glistened on his forehead. She ran her fingers through the few strands of hair on the back of his head.

  ‘Do you see my friend there?’ she said, pointing to Zoren. ‘You took his wife. Did you know she was pregnant?’

  The captain shook his head quickly and said, ‘No…’

  Kalrea continued, ‘You took an entire race and killed countless creatures on that Polnozoo, and just for the money. They were all afraid to die you know, all those creatures that you killed.’

  Kalrea was staring into the captain’s eyes and asked him, ‘Are you afraid to die?’

  The captain was trying not to make eye contact with her.

  ‘Yes, you are. I can sense your fear. That’s what all those helpless creatures felt when you left them on the Polnozoo to die. You disgust me!’

  What’s she doing? Why doesn’t she find out where Sabri and the others are?

  ‘Kalrea! We need to know where my people are,’ Zoren said with urgency.

  Suddenly the main door to the bar opened slightly and the barrel of a railgun edged through the gap.

  ‘Kalrea! Kalrea!’ Zoren said fearfully. ‘The door!’

  ‘It looks like security has arrived,’ Kalrea replied.

  Zoren could just about hear the guards talking to each other outside the door. They sounded nervous and had obviously seen what had happened on the security monitors. He listened carefully.

  ‘...I can see her with a Frindul. What do we do? Our weapons and body-armour would be useless against her,’ one of the Gullin guards said.

  ‘I’ve never seen anyone with such powers,’ another replied. ‘What do we do?’

  ‘I don’t know! You’re the chief, you deal with her,’ the guard said.

  Kalrea got off the captain’s lap and marched to the door. Zoren put his arm out in front of her to stop her opening it.

  ‘What are you going to do, Kalrea? They probably have wives and children. Please, don’t kill them.’

  By the look on Kalrea’s face, he knew she was slightly annoyed by his comment.

  ‘Zoren, I don’t just kill people for no reason. Those in here tried to kill us.’

  She pushed his arm out of her way and opened the door. The guards instinctively pointed their guns at her to protect themselves.

  Kalrea raised her hands in a submissive gesture, and then said, ‘I have no argument with you. Now, who’s in charge here?’ she asked.

  Zoren peered over her shoulder at the Gullin guards. They all looked as if they just wanted to be somewhere else. A nearby guard pointed to the chief guard, who was standing next to him. Kalrea stared at the chief guard and asked him nicely,

  ‘I need five more minutes alone, please. Afterwards, you can come in. Is that ok?’

  The chief guard gulped and then shook his head in agreement.

  Kalrea closed the door on him and traipsed back over to the Frindul captain, who was still sitting completely motionless. She sat alongside him.

  Zoren rushed over to Gulco, Diean and Vinuar. Gulco was adjusting the inuple cap covering the stump of his right arm to lessen an irritation, which Zoren knew was caused by him being nervous.

  ‘Are you all ok?’

  ‘Yes, we’re fine,’ Gulco replied, ‘Diean’s got a deep cut to her arm, but Vinuar’s managed to stop the bleeding.’

  ‘I only started to learn medicine five weeks ago,’ Vinuar said, looking stressed. ‘Doc Korye will need to check it over when we next see him.’

  ‘That’s if we ever see him again,’ Gulco added. ‘I’m afraid we were split from the others. They were taken away some time ago.’

  Zoren glanced over at Kalrea. She was caressing the side of the captain’s head with her finger tips.

  ‘Now where was I? Oh, yes. Tell me where the other Agonians are?’ she asked him in a soft voice.

  ‘Please don’t kill me,’ the captain pleaded with her.

  ‘Then, tell me what I need to know.’

  Kalrea placed her hand perniciously on his shoulder. The man appeared to be in great pain. He was unable to move and his hands were visibly shaking.

  ‘Who’s she?’ Gulco asked Zoren.

  ‘That’s Kalrea,’ Zoren replied. ‘She’s a… well she’s kind of a friend.’

  ‘A friend!’ Gulco replied.

  ‘She saved my life, Gulco. So yes, she’s my friend.’

  The captain screamed in pain, ‘No! Please, just stop,’ and then speaking very quickly said, ‘It was all prearranged… I was told to sell ten of them and the children to a man from Onliv-’

  Kalrea interrupted him. ‘What was his name?’

  The captain immediately replied, ‘I don’t know!’ but then the intensity of the pain made him scream, and he quickly told her, ‘His name is H’furni Raxom... a Gullin called H’furni Raxom.’

  ‘See that wasn’t so hard, was it? What about the other Agonians?’

  ‘The rest were handed over to a representative of Lady Sathodee. His name… was Hifmo. Please, don’t kill me.’

  ‘Do you know which ships took them?’

  ‘H’furni Raxom’s ship is called the Firehun. The others were moved to the De’fego.’

  ‘We’re too late, aren’t we?’ Zoren said, seeing that Kalrea was concerned.

  ‘Yes, both ships left over an hour ago,’ she replied, looking to him.

  The captain looked surprised that Kalrea knew when the ships left.

  Zoren felt as if all his energy had been zapped from him in that single moment of realisation. No! They can’t have left. I thought we’d find them here. Why aren’t they here?

  Kalrea turned back to the captain. ‘Don’t worry, this won’t hurt,’ she said to him calmly.

  ‘No, please! I’ve told you what you needed to know.’

  But in an instant he vanished.

  Zoren was shocked by what he had just seen Kalrea do in the bar.

  My God! She killed him, just like that. She doesn’t even look moved by what she’s done. Look at all the Frinduls she killed.

  Gulco and the others were also glancing around the room at the dead bodies.

  I didn’t realise how powerful Kalrea is. If she wants my people for the money, then I’ve no way of fighting her.

  Kalrea got up, before saying, ‘It’s time to leave.’

  Zoren stood there, motionless, deep in thought.

  But that doesn’t make sense. She could have taken all my people any time she wanted from the Polnozoo. No one would have been able to stop her.

  Kalrea touched him on the shoulder, making him jump. He turned towards her and said, ‘Kalrea!’

  ‘It’s time to leave,’ she repeated, and then addressing Gulco and the others and added, ‘Hello, my name’s Kalrea.’

  They all half-heartedly gestured in acknowledgement.

  ‘I’m sorry you had to see that, Zoren,’ she said quietly to him, so the others could not hear. ‘You must think I’m very ruthless, but remember all those creatures he killed, and all because of money. Trust me, the universe is a safer place without people like him.’

  And Zoren’s immedi
ate thought was, But is it safe from you?

  ‘Zoren, we need to go. You three, make sure you stay close to me. Understood?’

  They all glanced to Zoren for reassurance, who added,

  ‘Like Kalrea said, keep close.’

  Kalrea opened the door. The security guards were still waiting patiently outside.

  ‘You can come in now,’ she said. Then, looking to the chief guard as she passed him added, ‘Thank you.’

  A crowd of people had gathered, drawn by the intensity of gun-fire that had erupted inside the bar.

  ‘Er… Excuse me miss,’ the chief guard said nervously. ‘I’m… I’m going to have to... Er... I have to ask you to leave Xim’gu.’

  Zoren watched him gulp and as Kalrea turned, the chief guard took a step backward.

  She smiled at him, and then said, ‘Yes, of course. I’m sorry for any trouble I might have caused. We’ll leave straight away.’

  The chief guard gestured to his people and then said, ‘We’ll escort you to your ship.’

  ‘Well, if you really have to,’ Kalrea replied.

  As they began to walk back, Zoren felt the intense gaze of several people, who had assembled out of curiosity. Meanwhile Kalrea, who was walking beside the chief guard, asked him, ‘Do you have a wife and children?’

  The man was taken completely by surprise.

  ‘What? Er… Yes,’ he replied. ‘Two boys.’

  ‘What are their names?’

  ‘Er… Gimri and Jong.’

  He seemed slightly confused.

  Kalrea turned to Zoren and then said,

  ‘You were right. He did have a wife and children.’

  While they strolled back around the edge of the circular space towards the corridor leading to the transit station, Zoren noticed one of the Frinduls who had fled the bar in the background.

  ‘Don’t let her look at you,’ the Frindul shouted in the distance. ‘She will consume you. She’s evil!’

  Kalrea turned her head and stared him straight in the eyes. He instantly cowered away out of sight.