by James Somers
Kale stood ready and stared at the being waiting for his next move. He stared back a moment longer and then tried to withdraw. Kale seized him with his mind startling the stranger.
“I didn’t say you could go yet,” Kale said.
The stranger tried to move again, unsuccessfully. Then he smiled slyly and within seconds his form faded almost to a mist and dissipated before Kale could react. He had somehow disassociated his form at the molecular level and Kale could hold him no longer.
Kale extinguished his blade and called for the scabbard to come to his hand. It obeyed and he sheathed the weapon and placed it on his back. Kale decided to pack up for the night and head out for the town. If he was going to have company, at least he could pick his own and hopefully the people living in the town would be more hospitable. He certainly wouldn’t be able to close his eyes and sleep out here in the woods with that devilish looking stranger roaming around.
Kale stowed his gear and deflated his tent; packing it away neatly into the small satchel that protected it. My portable house, he thought. This is my home from now on. Kale missed his family already and he wondered if he had perhaps acted in haste. But the voice in his head—its presence running through his body—no, this was the only good choice for their safety.
The stirring of animals and the chirping of insects brought some comfort to him. When the ghostly figure had been nearby, everything animal had been silenced by their sense of danger and the instinct to survive. With their renewed activity, he felt assured, at least for the time being, that he was alone. With his camp packed away, Kale headed off through the tall timbers and undergrowth toward the flickering lamp light of the town below the mountain. It’s going to be rough going without a path, he thought. Kale shook away the sleepiness and kept his senses alert to danger and steadily made his descent down the mountain in hopes he would find friendly faces when he reached the town by tomorrow.
☼
Tiet sat quietly as the letter dropped from his hand to the floor. All he could think was, why? His son had gone. The letter gave some answers, but he wasn’t able to absorb them now. Mirah still sobbed in their living compartment. She had called for Tiet in the middle of the proceedings with the Guniran Council. He had rushed home immediately to the Equinox and found her hysterical with grief.
Emil, along with Jael and Merab, the brave Horva soldiers who had fought so heroically with them against the symbytes, had already begun working feverishly to try and break the coding on the transgate sequence used by Kale to make his jump. So far, it had been to no avail. He had not intended for them to be able to follow him. His intentions had been to save his family and friends from his self, but that bore them no comfort now.
Tiet turned to Emil and said, “Out of all of the planets listed by the Vorn as habitable, how many are listed as restricted and hostile?
Emil pecked away at the computer controls for the transgate. “Well actually, out of the planets the Vorn military left in this databank, the majority are just traps.”
“What do you mean?” Tiet asked.
“You see, the Vorn military evidently figured that if someone stole this technology, like my father took it from them, then they might trap those persons by having them jump onto an uninhabitable world, thus killing their enemies. They’ve listed a number of worlds that have deadly atmospheres or Ammonia cloud storms and five hundred mile an hour winds and so forth.”
“So it’s—”
“—not a very good trap, you’re right. Actually, all of the known habitable worlds are listed as hostile, I suppose to keep someone from wanting to jump to those,” Emil said.
“Print out all of the information for those planets and bring it to me when you have it.”
“Yes, sir.”
Emil turned back to the computer, the dim light reflecting off of his dark skin and bald head—Horva males did not begin to grow hair on their heads until they became men. They kept it shaved until the day they were declared. Tiet didn’t doubt that Emil was going to make a fine warrior. He had his father’s tenacity, but it was all bottled up in boyish features and a wiry muscular frame.
Tiet walked back toward the common living area to get something to eat. Wynn and Grod remained with the Gunirans. Even if they found the right planet it would be a matter of searching for one boy in the midst of an entire planet’s population. But someone with Kale’s unique abilities would have a hard time remaining anonymous among the other inhabitants. If anyone started anything with him he would defend himself and it would break loose from there.
TWO
Kale noticed the sun almost at its zenith by the time he arrived in the town. It had taken him longer than expected to get through all of the undergrowth that awaited him along the way. The being he had encountered during the night had never reappeared. He didn’t think it unusual for the Vorn military to have classified this planet as hostile and to have ruled it as one not to be considered for conquest.
As he entered the populated area in his uniform, with his gear across his back, all eyes fell upon him. People milling about in the street retreated from him as he walked near, while others came from places within to peer through their windows and open doors at the stranger in their midst. They appeared completely human--unlike the being from the night before.
The town appeared to have nowhere near the technological advancement Kale was used to. They did use machines for travel, but they had wheels and rolled along the ground instead of using hover units. Instead of composite materials, the buildings had been constructed of stone and brick.
Kale noticed that some of the people, particularly the men, wore weapons. He tried not to appear threatening. He had been careful to pack all of his weapons within his luggage, rather than wear them on his uniform when coming into the town. He saw what he hoped was a restaurant and walked toward it.
As Kale entered the establishment, the people inside moved away from the windows where they had been staring at him. Some people ate at tables and others at a countertop. They all watched him cautiously, but no one spoke a word.
Kale sat down at an empty table with his back to the wall. He wanted to be able to see everyone, just in case someone got a little too anxious for their own good. He placed his belongings on the ground under the table. He looked in the direction of the counter where some of the people were eating and raised his hand a little to get the attention of someone serving the others their food.
“I would like to get some food please.”
Everyone looked at him like he had two heads.
“I’m not from this area—I really don’t mean to disrupt your town. I’ve just come a great distance and would like to get something to eat and supplies before I move on.”
In a moment, the people began to settle down and start eating their food again, but wary looks remained. Kale noticed a particularly nice looking young girl, near his age, peeking out from the kitchen. She gave others in the room a critical look. Then she stepped out and came over to Kale’s table. The girl bobbed a bit as she walked and her shoulder length hair was a beautiful auburn, like a dark flame framing her cherubic facial features and emerald eyes. Kale stammered.
“Who are you?” she asked.
She didn’t seem nearly as apprehensive of him as the others did. She looked at him waiting for an answer.
“Sorry,” he said. “My name is Kale. I’m new to this area.”
“Well, I guessed that already, but why are you here?”
“I’m just passing through this area and looking for something to eat and supplies for my journey.”
“And where are you going, exactly?”
“What was your name again?” Kale asked in an attempt to change the subject.
“Juli.”
“Juli, I’m not familiar with what kind of currency you use here. Is there any way that I might exchange something for your currency or do some work for some food?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll pick up the tab for you since you’re new in town
,” she said with a sly smile. “But don’t be too quick to leave—you owe me.”
“Of course.”
“I’ll fix you up with something good. Be back in a minute.”
She smiled at him as she turned to walk away and he couldn’t help but return it. He looked around again and found disapproving looks all around the room as the people murmured to one another.
Kale kept his face toward the table for a moment, trying not to incite any further anxiety from the people in the room. He really didn’t understand why everyone was so paranoid. He hadn’t rolled into town with blood dripping from his hands and all guns blazing. Why did such a thick tension hang over this town?
It didn’t take long for an answer to come. Kale heard screams from down the street growing louder as the people outside ran past the window. The armed men in the restaurant made their way to the door with their guns at the ready—they barely paid Kale a passing glance now.
Kale started to stand when one of the men pointed his gun at him.
“Don’t interfere, outlander!”
Kale stood still, but did not sit again. The man went on with the others. They fired their weapons into the air and down the street at whatever approached. Black clad figures began to appear as a dark fog swept through the area. They dressed similar to the person he had encountered the night before and moved as swiftly and aggressively as carcarivores on the hunt. These attackers coalesced from the elements of the fog and took form.
The men of the town laid down a steady rain of fire with their projectile weapons, but did not do much damage. Every now and then someone got off a lucky shot, but for the most part the creatures moved too quickly to be hit by the slow moving projectiles.
The beings attacked the townspeople. Kale saw that they were actually vampiric beings. They latched onto their victim’s throats, snapped their necks to incapacitate them and then siphoned the life from their limp bodies.
Kale had now had enough of being a bystander. Juli watched him as two weapons flew to his hands from the satchel he had under his table. He shot out the door with them before she could protest his interference.
Kale spotted a woman grabbed by one of the materializing creatures. Kale came upon the creature unnoticed from behind. As the black clad humanoid brought his hands to the cranium of his victim to snap her spinal cord and stop her struggling, Kale struck the man with an ignited kemstick severing his head. The woman screamed as the pale hands fell from her throat, but Kale didn’t stop to get a thank you for his timely rescue—others needed help.
Almost as soon as Kale had slain the one creature, the others noticed him and his blade of light and moved in for the kill. One after another, they came at him as he raised his kemsticks for the fight and then laid more enemies down dead next to the first. They swarmed around him and were cut down almost as fast as he could swing his blades. Then they stopped and encircled him. They snarled at him like animals, but dare not to come within his reach.
Kale whirled his kemsticks in circular patterns around his body as a warning to keep their distance—the hunted was now the hunter. For all their ferocity and speed, they appeared quite clumsy to him in their attacks. Of course to a normal human, they appeared to be quite vicious and agile, but his own Barudii skills placed him at a more adept level of fighting than they were utilizing.
Kale commanded all attention. The hunters had stopped feeding and the humans had stopped firing their weapons. The humanoid creatures seemed unsure of which move to make next. Then Kale heard it speaking to him—the symbyte inside his body.
Make them out for the clumsy oafs they are, kill them and win the people to your self.
He heard it, recognized it and for once, agreed with it. Kale extinguished his kemsticks and replaced them on his thigh clips and then stood still in a defensive stance. The creatures hesitated only a second before they pounced on the opportunity afforded to them.
Juli watched through the window; pressed against the glass. As the first humanoid glided into range, Kale altered his position, just enough, and caught his right arm. Then, he spun inside fast bringing his own left elbow up at an angle, under the jaw, smashing into the being’s chin hard enough to snap the neck sideways. Kale countered his momentum in the reverse and round kicked the next, precisely in the same place on the head, but the opposite side, snapping his neck with even more force. Kale took no chances—he strengthened every strike and sped up every movement with his Barudii kinesis.
This had become more than defense—he gained pleasure from killing these creatures and it was a feeling motivated by the symbyte organism within. Kale did not fight his surrogate conscience. He felt like he still had control, but there was an uneasy compromise about the situation now. Is the symbyte creature trying to help me protect this body it inhabits, he wondered?
Kale moved through pale faced creatures with a confident ease as he bounced from one to the other in his attacks sending a few down dead and many others to the ground in pain. They appeared very vulnerable in these natural bodies and he was quite enjoying the snapping of bone and the tearing of sinew as his kinesis empowered him to win the fight against these murderers.
The advancing humanoids halted and encircled him again. Kale breathed heavy now as he stood staring down the ghastly wraiths. As he looked around at the ghoulish pale faces of his attackers, he noticed one familiar face among them—the same man he had encountered the night before in the forest. Kale reached out with his mind for the man’s thoughts and sensed great concern in him. Kale thought this one might be the leader. He sent the stranger a thought. Back for more?
The dark eyes widened a little as the stranger perceived Kale’s goading—his eyes of yellow iris burning like coals of fire upon his pale face. Then he waved the others away. Kale wondered if he might be using telepathy to communicate with them as well. The humanoid creatures around him began to dissolve away like sand blown by the wind. The dark cloud, they had arrived by, reformed. Their leader stared at Kale a moment longer before he also dissipated—just long enough to send Kale a final thought. This is far from over human.
His form disintegrated and was caught away with the ominous black fog as it rolled over and around Kale’s body. He sensed pure, malicious evil washing over him as the cloud rolled around him and left him standing among the dead of their kind. Their bodies also lost their physical forms, but were not carried away with the others. Whatever holds their bodies together, he thought, must be lost when they die causing their molecules to disperse completely—total disintegration.
Before he realized what had happened, the townspeople came out from their hiding places to see the warrior that had vanquished the foes. Juli came out into the street also. She walked toward him as Kale extinguished his kemsticks and replaced them on his magnetic thigh-clips. The man who had tried to stop Kale from interfering stretched out a strong arm to stop the girl.
“Don’t, Juli, he’s dangerous.”
“Daddy, can’t you see, he’s on our side?”
She pushed past her father and ran up to Kale.
“Kale, I can’t believe what you did! I mean, how did you—? Are you one of the Guardians? Did they send you to help us?”
“Well I—”
“Are you sent by the Guardians, boy?” asked the girl’s father as he approached from behind her. He was a slightly overweight man with dark hair and a full beard that nearly hid his lips from view. Kindness shined in his eyes, yet apprehension dwelt there as well.
“I don’t even know who the Guardians are.”
“Really? Well, I’ve never seen anyone but the Guardians do the things you just did to the Agonotti.”
“Who are these Agonotti?”
“Well, these creatures—they feed upon our people. We try to fight them, but they become vapor--only taking physical form to feed or fight. They’re so fast we’re unable to stop them.”
“What about other people—other cities on this planet?” Kale asked.
“The Guardians prot
ect most of the major cities. They have special abilities we don’t understand, but they are also able to defeat the Agonotti the way you did,” Juli’s father said.
“Then why don’t they protect your people?”
“Very simple,” he said. “We aren’t able to pay them the price they demand for their protection.”
“That doesn’t sound like a guardian to me. It sounds more like extortion.”
Just then, another man interjected himself into the conversation. “And just who are you to come here and judge. You’re a stranger yourself and we don’t have any reason to trust you either.”
“I am only passing through, as I told Juli inside the restaurant. I just wanted to get some food and supplies and be on my way. I don’t mean any of you any harm.”
“Just because Kale is a stranger doesn’t mean we shouldn’t trust him. Look at how he risked his life to save our people,” Juli said.
“Still, it’s not good for him to remain here among us,” the man said. Some of the others nodded their agreement with him. “He will only bring down the wrath of the Agonotti upon us if he stays.”
“We can’t just send him away,” Juli’s father said. “After all, he is only a boy.”
It might have been meant for his defense, but something about that statement crawled all over Kale. He wasn’t a boy by Barudii standards. He had passed the trials. He is only a boy? It made him shudder.
Juli, desiring to come to the aid of the nice young man, followed up with the same intent. “We can’t just send him out alone to let the Agonotti come after him.” She smiled at Kale as she said alone.
“I still say, you’re asking for trouble—you know the laws, Olson Barone!” the man said to Juli’s father, accusingly.
“Surely, Master Elam would not deny our people a hero and a hero’s welcome,” Olson argued. He stepped between Kale and the crowd. They had become eager to brand him a troublemaker rather than a deliverer.