“Thank you, Lieutenant Piran,” the Sergeant said as we stepped from the mule.
“You needed the supplies,” I replied.
“That as well, Lieutenant. But also for letting Corporal Nahia run her squads,” Bima stated. “You could have easily pulled rank on her and assumed command.”
“Corporal Nahia is an exceptional Marine,” I commented.
“She has the gift,” he noted as we approached a reinforced gun emplacement.
“Evening, Sergeant,” a Marine stated coldly.
“Good evening, Sir,” Bima said, “Is the path clear to the Druid areas?”
“If it weren’t, Sergeant, I’d have advised Captain Djamila,” the officer replied curtly.
I looked closely at the man but in the low light, his features were blurred. What I could tell about the officer, he was cocky, arrogant and full of himself. How did I know? He talked down to a Sergeant and didn’t bother asking who I was or my rank. The borrowed utilities had no rank insignia.
Plus, if he were a good leader, he would have been in charge of the resupply mission. I didn’t need any more from Guard Company Echo, so I patted Bima on the shoulder as if we were old friends and started down the path.
“You there,” the officer challenged. “You didn’t ask for permission to pass.”
“Is there anything down there I should be aware of, Marine?” I inquired. “Or are you going to shoot me in the back?”
“No. But it’s tradition to…”
I spun around and marched down the hill. If you want respect, I thought, you have to give respect.
***
Three Heart plants lived on Construction station. On the surface at A deck, and enclosed in a temporary vault, resided a mature Blue Heart plant. The Blue and a Druid family waited impatiently for the new Frigate to be built. Unfortunately, with the Navy losing half the station, it would be a long wait. I planned to make them my last stop.
Within Construction station proper, the sea salt atmosphere added to the manufactured air was provided by two White Heart plants. One was a youth growing into the position and spreading tender branches that one day would replace the second White Heart plant. The other plant was an ancient White nearing the last years of its life. I would visit the older White Heart plant and its overly protective Druid caretakers first.
***
The hill ended and after the trip down this side of the ion wall, the path leveled out. On the flat, I debated whether to slip on my Knight Protector of the Clan gear. While it would announce me to the Druids as a protector, it would also trigger the arrogance of a Knight. If any Druid challenged me in that guise, they would die. I decided the unadorned Marine Corps’ utilities would be just fine.
I passed the walkway leading to the young White Heart plant. Although the courtyard was far off the path and shrouded in deep shadows, I felt eyes on me from hidden Druids. Reassured the Druids maintained a vigil, I left the walkway behind and continued towards the elder White Heart’s domain.
Twenty minutes later, I approached an intersecting walkway. Before making the turn, I took out my small Knight’s lapel pin and affixed it to my collar. Then, I slipped my arms into the muffler shaped holder on my Clan strap. My arms emerged enclosed in leather guards and I clutched a form-fitted handle in each hand. I left the Knight fighting sticks retracted.
I didn’t anticipate trouble. But, with the Constabulary taking half the station and the Marines unsettled from attacks by insurgents, I imagined the Druids would be on edge. And, although I can be dense at times, I wasn’t stupid enough to face Druids unprepared for a confrontation.
Inhaling deeply and thinking calm thoughts, I turned off the path and took the walkway towards the courtyard and the White Heart’s inner sanctum. Three steps later, four specters arose from the dark and blocked my way.
They had their fighting sticks out so I snapped opened the alloy tipped Knight Protector of the Clan sticks.
The advantage goes to the Knight, I thought. The Druid warriors just didn’t realize it.
***
“Go back,” a voice from the shadows behind me ordered.
“You are not wanted here,” another voice warned. This one off to my right front.
Then, the four robed figures in front of me shuffled positions. If I were Folks, people not Druids, I’d be confused. Not just from the movement but also, from a mental fog that attempted to cloud my thinking. Not too long ago, the mental manipulation would trigger the Knight enhancements in my body. The result would be aggressive rage. Since I’d bonded with all the four colors of Heart Plants, and became one of the only living Umbers, Druid magic seemed to be only a simple trick.
While I could shrug off the mental, the physical danger closing in around me posed a real threat. As a Knight, I would respond with action. But as an Umber, I projected images that only Druids and space cats could interpret.
“I am death. The nightmare that comes in the dark to all who harm the Clan. Your worst fear, a curse visited by an ancient pledge, I am vengeance. I am the Knight Protector of the Clan.”
The confusion from the invasion of their secret thoughts passed from one Druid to the other. I counted eight individual Druids in the welcoming committee. Three of the Druid guards were old. Too old to be standing in the dark holding fighting sticks. Of the eight, only five were adult Druid warriors. It was time to end this dangerous dance.
“To harm or touch or refuse a Knight’s request brings consequences. Exile, shame or death, the sentence is not negotiable,” I announced. “Deemed by the old laws of Clan survival, you will obey or be brought down, for I am a Knight Protector of the Clan.”
The thoughts of the Druids fell silent.
“I have words for your Elder,” I said in conclusion.
Then, I strutted forward between four stunned Druids and continued on the walkway towards the courtyard.
***
The walkway passed under an arched tunnel leading to a walled courtyard. While the station’s bulkheads, dotted in soft lights, loomed in overhead, walls surrounded an open area. It gave the impression of a private enclosure. On the other end of the courtyard, a bank vault like door broke the flow of the decorative walls. Further back and above the door, tentacles of large tubing stretched out connecting with the station’s ceiling at odd points. Inside each tube, a branch from the old White Heart plant carried soothing sea salt aroma to the residents of Construction station.
The vault door slowly opened and a figure emerged.
“A more civilized introduction. Improvement from your last visit, Lieutenant Piran,” Elder Gwladys stated as she limped up to me.
“Asthore’ Gwladys, I’ve learned a few things since them,” I said. “I have words.”
“Speak your words,” the Elder urged.
“The Council of Druid Elders wants a report on your situation,” I replied. “And, I need an audience with the Heart Plant.”
A report from Elder Gwladys was the easy part. Allowing me to enter the Druid’s home and the inner core where the White lived took a leap of faith on her part. Almost no one got within an arm’s length of a Heart Plant. The caretaker family of Druids and maybe a few visiting Druids were given permission. Almost never were non-Druids invited in to witness the plant and the heart wheel that supported its roots.
I’d grown up around Heart plants on ships and stations. As a child, it was an everyday occurrence. But, as an adult, other than the plants on planet Uno, I’d only been in their presence twice, both times by invitation and never by request.
“For what purpose?” she demanded.
Gwladys couldn’t fathom why I wanted to be near the plant. After all, as far as she knew, I couldn’t communicate with it.
“To seek knowledge from the source,” I explained. “The plants on Uno ordered me to investigate.”
“I must think on that,” the Elder said. “First, refreshments while we discuss the situation.”
She didn’t really mean think on it as in turn
over the idea in her mind. What the Elder would do was probe the White Heart plant for its emotion to my request.
***
Druids appeared with a low table and cushions. Soon a seating area was arranged on the deck. Beverages and food arrived.
Elder Gwladys and I settled on cushions facing each other from opposite sides of the table. To my left, a young child plopped down easily on his cushion. An old Druid, stooped and almost hobbled, shuffled up on my right. I couldn’t imagine those old legs bending with any kind of grace.
Jumping up, I gently took the old Druid’s arm and helped her down to an unsteady seating position.
“Is that comfortable?” I asked. “Would you be more comfortable in a chair?”
She ignored me and turned to face Gwladys.
“He has good manners,” the oldster said out loud. Then, she thought, ‘For a Folk.’
Of course, this was a test. Every time I encountered Druids, they did something to challenge me. Sometimes it was a fight and, other times, it was a softer task such as helping an old woman sit down. But I had a surprise for them.
‘A Knight Protector of the Clan and an Umber,’ I sent.
Gwladys’ and the old Druid’s heads snapped around. They were at first confused by my intrusion into their secret talk. Then they bowed their heads in acknowledgement of my talent. During the entire exchange, they hadn’t changed facial expressions. Druids absolutely did not show emotions to non-Druids, even ones who can communicate with all four colors of Heart plants.
***
Mostly, Druids cared for Heart Plants and raised space cats. A few served as judges in the Galactic Council Realm’s legal system, taught at universities, joined the military in various roles, or served in farming or rural communities, on the three planets of the Realm. While a group of Druids assigned to a single Heart Plant were not necessarily related, they were considered a family. The seating of the oldest and youngest at a table, with their Elder and a visitor, confirmed the importance of every member of the family.
“You requested an audience. You wish to speak directly with the Heart plant,” Gwladys said. “It shall be.”
As the Elder, her connection with the White was stronger than any other Druid’s. Apparently, she had received permission for my visit.
“Tell me about the invasion,” I stated.
Druids spent a lot of time in silent communications or feeling their environment as they cared for each spreading branch. Both were gifts from the Heart plants. But, it hampered their speaking as if talking were a struggle when dealing with non-Druids. While my mental transmissions were adequate, there was no way to get her report other than in verbal form. I settled in for a morning of curt statements and obscure descriptions.
***
“Monstrous hacks. Our family sealed the ducts,” she said getting closer to the end of her report. “Young warriors, we stopped from vengeance.”
Apparently, the Constabulary, once they controlled half of Construction station, cut the White Heart’s branches on their side. The Druids responded by sealing the tubes to prevent further damage to the plant. And, a group of warrior Druids wanted to attack in response to the ugly treatment of the White Heart. The Elder stopped them before their suicidal attack. While Druids wouldn’t show emotions, they certainly would act on them. I typed her report into my PID, noting for clarity, that some of the words were mine.
“I thank you for your hospitality,” I said setting down my cup. “But time is short.”
“Understood, Knight,” Gwladys said raising easily to her feet despite her bad leg. “Follow.”
She guided and I followed as we passed through the vault door. In the kill chamber, as always, I got nervous. The long tube seemed innocent enough but I knew there were weapons for the uninvited all around us. We approached the ceremonial gate. Hand carved by Druids craftsmen, the swirls and etchings only served to enhance the grain of the wood. Gwladys knocked on the gate.
“Echoes of the past, yet of future possibilities,” I repeated by rote the call every young Druid candidate learned.
Gwladys bowed her head acknowledging my delivery. The door swung open and we walked into the Druid’s home. I expected to be ushered to a bath. There to clean up and dress in a fresh robe before coming into contact with the plant. Instead, the Elder waved me forward to a narrow wooden bridge.
It wasn’t until that second, I realized we hadn’t seen any space cats. Typically, by this stage, cats issued challenges for any stranger treading through their territory. Not only hadn’t I been confronted by any large, long clawed felines, I hadn’t seen any.
***
The sea salt aroma hit me as I crossed the bridge. Strong and clean this close to the Heart plant, it overwhelmed my senses. I paused to let my vision clear.
Ten space cats lounged on every ramp leading to a branch. They licked, swished their tails and studied me with suspicious eyes. Yet, none moved to block my way or challenge me. I ignored the big cats and let my eyes gaze on the oldest Heart plant in the Realm.
Its circumference crowded the inner sanctum. Deep lines ran up and down the trunk with long thorns bristling on every ridge. Below the trunk, a cracked heart wheel was barely visible in the massive root mat growing around, under, and through it. Both the plant and its support had experienced years of service.
I stepped off the ramp and onto the circular platform. As I came closer, my mind cried out for me to touch the White Heart. Under their own accord, my arms lifted, my hands stretched out until thorns dug into my palms. Drops of my blood fell into the water and nutrients under the platform. Then, the Heart plant communicate with me.
***
‘Messenger, envoy, courier, you have come,’ I translated the White’s meaning as images formed from the swirling aromas.
‘Knight Protector,’ I replied trying to correct the plant. ‘Why did you allow the Constabulary to arrive with no warning?’
‘Beings for a new forest growth, evolution, progress,’ the Heart plant sent. ‘Joyous, delight, elation at arrival.’
‘They are not friendly to Heart plants,’ I thought.
‘Pain, dismemberment, mutilation, amputations. Angry, vindictive, malicious,” came the reply in a burst of briny sea salt aroma. ‘Not friendly, affable, gracious.’
‘They are the product of a mad Heart plant,’ I conveyed. ‘Your kind will be eradicated, if they win.’
‘Pleased, gratified, happy messenger came,’ the White transmitted through my olfactory senses. ‘Return, reappear, come this time tomorrow.’
My arms dropped and I expected to feel pain. When the deep agony of puncture wounds failed to materialize, I turned my hands over and stared at my palms. There were two red points on each hand but the skin was intact.
***
“Asthore’ Elder, I’m to come back in twenty-four hours,” I explained to Gwladys once we crossed the wooden bridge. “That will give me just enough time to visit the young White and the Blue.”
“I have no words for you,” she said ending my visit.
Gwladys and I had entered the vault during a dark period. Now, the station’s interior lights blazed as if it were either late morning or early afternoon. Time seemed to slip away whenever I communicated with a Heart plant.
The light presented a problem. In the dark, it was easy to navigate the path as a shadowy figure. But in full light, my back presented a tempting target for the Constabulary on the node of the ion wall.
On the far side of the arched tunnel, I located the two Druids standing guard.
“I have words,” I said after waving them to me.
“Speak your words,” one demanded.
Druids were arrogant and not cordial to Folks. I tapped the lapel pin and watched as both realized what it represented.
“You both will turn around and step away five paces,” I ordered. “Count to one hundred before resuming your positions. These are directions from a Knight Protector of the Clan.”
I probably didn’
t need to add the last I thought, as I slipped on the Knight gear. But, if they turned before I left, I wasn’t sure how I would react. My enhancements had been known to take over and it wouldn’t be right for them to die just for taking a peak at me getting dressed.
***
The long walk down the maintenance path was uneventful. At the walkway to the juvenile White’s area, I paused to think about the best approach. Gaining entrance to the courtyard posed no problem in my reflective camouflage. The issue was getting out of the Knight’s gear in sight of the Druids. For some reason, the thought of it sent adrenalin coursing through my body and my focus to heighten. Not good signs for a peaceful meeting.
A few minutes stroll beyond the White’s walkway, another walkway angled off to the ion wall. Figuring I could dash back to the Druids, I kept walking.
***
The Druids were massed at the arched tunnel when I jogged onto the pathway.
“Go back,” one stated.
“You are not welcome here,” another said before they switched places.
I almost laughed out loud at their strategy. Instead, I smiled.
“I will speak with your Elder,” I stated beaming my pearly whites at them. “I have words.”
It must have been the smile. They didn’t move except for pulling their Druid fighting sticks and closing ranks. I exhaled and pointed at my collar and the Knight’s pin.
“Are you blind, as well as, thick headed?” I challenged.
It came out harsher than I planned. I concentrated on slowing my heart rate and taking in a few deep breaths to calm myself. Their aggressive moves had triggered the Knight. I fought to hold that part of me in check.
“I have words for your Elder,” I repeated then walked towards the line of Druids.
For a second, I thought they would resist. My heart rate spiked and my hands reached for the muffler on my Clan strap. Before I could arm myself, a big Druid appeared behind the line. Without hesitation, he clasped the shoulders of the two directly in front of me and roughly jerked them out of my way.
“No one needs to die, Knight,” he said as I strutted by.
On Point (Galactic Council Realm Book 4) Page 9