Return of the Guardian King

by John E Bujanowski Jr

  Brax, Jak, Nell, Qwi'mae, and Rena were very disturbed and waiting for important INTEL. The INTEL never came. Qwi'mae was very busy, though. She was sitting at the large NAV station, monitoring. Rena had her searching every corridor and section of the constellation but only one of the five battlecruisers could be detected and it was the Edsen Tide and it was orbiting the planet, Kova.

  “Ma’am,” Qwi'mae hesitated to say. “I have backtracked the movements of the Dorian Surge and the Sim-Sa Gale. I can’t explain it! They are just… they’re gone!”

  “Gone!” Rena shouted. The others stood watching and hoping. The large cold rock chamber that Rena so often considered home was now becoming a prison. “Show me!” she ordered.

  Qwi'mae adjusted the navigation program that displayed the Dorian Surge orbiting the planet, Obipherion. It was hidden from their view as it orbited but the Surge did not reappear after circling the planet.

  “It landed, Qwi'mae. It had to!”

  “No, Ma’am. I am saying it didn’t land.”

  “Why do you think that? And Qwi'mae, you have to be sure. Understand? If they are converging on our system, we’ll have no time to escape! So, why do you think that?”

  “Ma’am,” Qwi'mae softly answered. “Because the Sim-Sa Gale, the Dorian Surge, the Storm, the Rise, Ma’am, they’ve all disappeared! All at the same time. I don’t believe in coincidences. Not those coincidences.”

  Rena was stunned. “Rayne, and Adere, he must have truly betrayed me. They know where we are. I’m sure of it.” She turned to her crew who waited for orders. “We are evacuating, immediately. Brax, load the Ambulas with everything we have and take it to the Capseon System. I will meet you there in a few months and we’ll finish what we started. See to it! Please?”

  Nell asked, “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m taking my ship, the Oberis. I am going to get Jurias and the others, with one stop to make first. Then we will meet up with you.”

  “I’d like to go with you,” Nell replied.

  “Me, too,” Jak added.

  Rena smirked. “Fine, go and make sure it is stocked. In fact, try to take everything we have here and get it on my ship or the Ambulas. Qwi'mae is with me and we are waiting for a signal. From Codak!”

  Brax, Nell, and Jak left and saw to it the Ambulas and the Oberis were well stocked and all the supplies, gear, and vital equipment was loaded. They made preparations to evacuate Kurros.

  Chapter 21

  Inside an oceanfront home, Liana Nova was surrounded by a small group of faithful friends. They were on their knees praying.

  The large windows of her living room provided beautiful views of a distant rock cliff where ocean waves softly caressed the shoreline. It was a place Boone, when he was younger, would often play, swim, and spend time alone. In his teenage years, it was a place of solace from his overbearing father.

  The sun was beginning to set and it cast a sunset fit for framing. For Liana, it was a sign of good things to come. The days and years she spent apart from her family was coming to an end, she hoped. As she prayed, she offered everything she had and everything she wanted to the Lord if her family could once again be a family indeed. As she prayed, her tears turned into crying then her crying turned into sobbing. Her friends tried to comfort her. The emotional prayer meeting was interrupted by the soft chime of a large holographic COM. She wiped her tears and jumped to her feet.

  She exclaimed, “COM! Open!”

  With the expectation of great news from her son or Lorin or Jess, she was astonished to see a face she had not seen in many years – Finn Nova. She gaped and stood expressionless, wondering what to say.

  “Liana,” Finn said. “I know you don’t want to hear from me right now.”

  “No! Not true, Finn!”

  “What? Well, anyway. Time is wasting. Clay and I have… you know what we have. Right?”

  Liana wiped her face again and nodded while her friends looked on. “Yes! Finn, I know.”

  “Liana,” Finn interrupted her again. “I can’t talk right now. OK?”

  Liana submissively folded her hands together, lowered them to her waist, and nodded to him. Finn hated that. She was always doing those same gestures. She was being compliant, obeying, listening to him, nodding to him, and waiting for his command. Finn always believed she was acting like a woman who, if she were to do one thing wrong, he would get mad or mean or even leave. All of that was true, however, and Finn knew it. Deep down, Finn thought she was very afraid of him and after all of these years, she was still being submissive to him. In that moment, Finn realized it wasn’t fear that caused her submissive gestures but love. He saw it in her tear-stained bloodshot eyes. It made him feel like a failure and he knew he was a failure. He sighed deeply. He struggled with what he had to say.

  His voice cracked. “I need to know where,” he gasped. “Where my son is?”

  “Finn,” she answered as she wiped more tears. “He is looking for you.”

  “For me? How?” Then Finn realized what his son might be doing. “He’s looking for the device. Isn’t he?”

  “Yes! Ms. Ta'mian, the Obipherion prime is investigating the COM Center. Jess and her friends, Leake’s father, are setting a trap for that conspirator, and Boone, I didn’t know where you were so I sent him to Silo.”

  “Wait. Bridges? Commander Bridges? Is he helping? Liana, are you sure?”

  “Yes, Finn. He led the entire Kovan High Guard search force in the other direction.”

  “Stop! Not over the COM, Liana!” he shouted. She shuddered. “I’m sorry I yelled. I didn’t mean to. OK?” She nodded. “That’s amazing! I can’t believe it! Where did you send Boone? Clay and I are about,” he checked his instrumentation. Clay told him. “Five hours, Liana. Can you find him? I can come,” he paused. He thought about his eight-year estrangement and wondered if she would even allow him to come home. He muttered, “Well, I can meet wherever ‘you’ say, Liana. What do ‘you’ want me to do?”

  She didn’t need to think. Her mind recalled many memories as tears flooded her eyes and her heart raced.

  “Finn, don’t you know? I want you,” she paused as the words she wanted to speak were the most anticipated words she had ever had. She wiped more tears and answered, “I want you to come home, Finn. But, you need to call Silo. He’s in Bridgefield, now. OK?”

  Her words were kind, tender, and nearly unbelievable as Finn gaped. He truly thought forgiveness and acceptance were out of the question. Hope sprung up in his soul and it brought great conviction. Tears formed as he realized his foolishness.

  “OK, Liana. I will contact him.” Liana submissively nodded. “And I will find… our son. Maybe I can help bring him home.”

  Liana smiled as she wiped more tears. They nodded to each other then the COM closed. Liana sat down and placed her face in her hands and wept. She wept for the hope springing up inside her. Her friends consoled her.

  …

  Boone lay pinned underneath the hot metal roof of the fallen hangar. He looked and saw a large section of sheet metal ripped apart from a beam. It was a small opening caused by the bending and twisting of large falling metal beams and it lay nearly a dozen yards ahead of him. It shed very little light but that faint light eased some of his fears.

  “Phia!” Boone screamed.

  He was hoping she wasn’t crushed by a beam but was perhaps only unconscious. He feared the worse but kept calling. He started talking to calm his fears and hopefully, hers.

  “Phia? Can you hear me? Listen. Don’t panic. Just… just… take a deep breath. Phia?” he called again.

  Boone began to cry, fearing she was under a beam. He prayed. It wasn’t a long prayer; he didn’t feel he had the faith nor the worthiness to ask for more.

  He cried as he mumbled, “Lord, what did Jok and Zay’Geis say? You said You were a buckler, um, He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous. He is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. He shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall
cut them off in their own wickedness, uh, lead me in Thy truth, and teach me, for thou art the God of my salvation! Yes! On thee do I wait all the day. Right? Lord? Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord but they that deal truly are his delight. Phia? Are you there?”

  A moan was heard then a cry. “I think He’s brought down the iniquity on us.” She tried to chuckle. “The roof. It’s so hot. Boone,” she mumbled.

  “Don’t try to talk. Listen to my voice. Can you move your arm?”

  “Yes,” she answered.

  “Push dirt, Phia. Push the dirt next to you. Push it above your head and push some below your legs. Make a little hole next to you to slide into and slide toward me. OK? Can you do that? I’ve done it. Phia! You can do it!”

  He heard a whimper then a moan then moments later a light chuckle. “It’s working.”

  “Slide into it. Did you do it?”

  She gasped. “Yes. My arm hurts. So does my head.”

  “The roof? You’re not touching it? It’s not touching your body?”

  “I need to dig a deeper hole.”

  Phia and Boone dug deeper holes and moved toward the beam that separated them. After an hour of struggling and resting and moving dirt, Phia had slid under the beam and joined Boone. Boone had already begun to move dirt in front of him. He was creating a channel in which they could crawl out of the fallen hangar.

  Ten yards from the edge of the hangar roof and their escape, they lay in a shallow dirt trench, exhausted. Boone was in front of Phia. Boone would move dirt and slide forward, Phia would wait, watch, and follow him. They were lying face down, their faces resting on the cool ground, the hot hangar roof was inches above them.

  “I’m sorry, Boone.”

  “For what?”

  “Lately, I have been hating you. Didn’t you know?”

  He sighed and answered, “Yeah. I know. But, Phia, you should hate me. I’ve treated you like, hmm. Like dirt!”

  They chuckled. Boone rolled onto his back so his back would get some relief from the hot tin roof. Phia did the same. Boone sighed again.

  “You know I have a problem. Right? My anger?”

  “Yes. I can see why, now. If I had your life, I’d hate it, too.” She paused and Boone continued to listen. “Boone, I’m sorry I lied to you. I didn’t trust you. I know you haven’t forgiven me. Right?”

  He let out another loud long sigh. “True. I’m trying, though, only because of Lorin.”

  “I know. She told me. I see what’s happened to you, with this big lie planted somewhere in the COM Center. It’s practically ruined your life.”

  “It ‘has’ ruined my life, Phia. I’m gonna solve it, too. I hope.”

  “I know. But, Boone, I’m not Kova. I’m not them.”

  Boone listened and Phia’s words cut him in his heart. A tear immediately surfaced. He realized he was taking his anger out on her. All the hatred he had for the infiltrators and the deception within the Kovan High Guard was being directed at her all because of some lies she was caught up in. Boone felt convicted.

  She added, “You have a right to hate them or hate whoever lied about you. What you did that day to save them, was wonderful.”

  “Stop,” he muttered. She was shocked and upset by his interruption. She expected another mean rant from him. “Phia,” he wiped his tear. “You’re right about me. I’ve always wanted to do what was right and that’s because of my mom. She’d be ashamed of me, right now. It wasn’t right for me to treat you like that. I did hate you, Phia.” Phia shed a tear. What she feared most had come true – he hated her. Then she listened as he changed his tone. “Phia, I realize, now, I didn’t hate you, I hated what you represented – the High Guard. I hated the lies, I hated Kova, and I hated the High Guard because I thought they were behind all of this. My dad is partly to blame for that. Phia, I’m sorry. OK? I don’t hate you. I don’t even not like you!”

  “What?” she smiled. “You don’t even not like me? You mean you like me?”

  “Yeah. And Phia, I never said thank you for what you did on the Sim-Sa Gale. Remember? You stood up to your father. You yelled at him and I realize now, you were defending me. Right?” Boone heard a deep sigh. He understood her emotions and her own deeply personal struggles, struggles concerning her father. “You are a very passionate person, Phia. You stood up to him in front of the court, the primes, and all those officers and I think you did it for me. I was too angered and stressed to see it but I see it now. Phia, thank you. Thanks for standing up for me.”

  After several tears, she cleared her throat and said, “Boone, I think we should start all over. We should end this, uh, this dysfunctional relationship we’ve had and well, can we start all over?”

  “A new start? I guess so. But, how?”

  Boone rolled over and began to push the dirt in front of him to one side. Phia turned over also and watched.

  She said, “Hi. I’m Phia, Phia Sa’vo.” She shed a tear; Boone couldn’t see her excitement. “I admit, I’m bold, brash, so I’ve been told. I know I’m also very intrusive, nosey, but I’m working on that. I have some other ‘undesirable’ character traits but my good qualities, my concern for others and my willingness to help, far outweigh them. I love to help people, protect them, and even try to fix their problems the best I can. I’m also likely to fall easily. I trust too quickly and want to see the best in people.” She wiped another tear and hoped he would agree.

  Boone stopped and leaned on one side to rest his arm. He looked down at her and stared. Her beautiful blond hair was barely visible due to the faint light from the opening a few yards ahead of them.

  Regardless of the lighting, Boone saw her for what he knew she was - a beautiful woman with bouncy blond hair which she often brushed aside because she was nervous. He imagined her slim figure which made him think of her as agile, fast, and a good fighter. She had bright blue eyes that penetrated his thoughts and heart and she had a smirk that labeled her tricky, smart, and assertive. He was mesmerized and for the first time since he had known her, he thought of her as something other than a Lieutenant or a High Guard officer. She was a beautiful smart caring woman and she had feelings for an angry rude stubborn space junkman.

  “Hello,” he answered. “I’m Boone. I’m a trouble-maker, a space junk dealer, and a vagabond. I like to travel the stars and look for trouble where I can find it. Not to be part of it, though, but put a stop to it. If I can. I have anger issues, among a handful of other issues and I like to be alone so I can think but, Ms. Sa’vo, Phia, I wouldn’t mind getting to know you.”

  Phia smiled and hope warmed her heart. She replied, “Well, Trouble Maker, Space Runner, Vagabond, I don’t think you’re that bad and I’d like that.”

  Boone looked up ahead of him and started digging again. The chatter ceased as work and toil took over. Five yards from the small hole ahead of him something ugly appeared and gazed at him.

  “Ah!” he screamed. The creature ran off and Boone grabbed his gun.

  “What?” Phia asked.

  “A puda! They’re here! Phia, we have a big problem.”

  “What?”

  “It’s getting darker. We won’t make it out during daylight. I think we need to see them if we’re going to make a run to the Night Star. I’ve still got a ways to go and I’m exhausted.”

  “Boone? Use your COM. Call the Night Star. Right?”

  Boone pulled out his wristband and rubbed the small black square with his finger. It lit up and he contacted his Night Star.

  “Lila, open COM. Call Kova, Tela KaTura, Liana Nova.” There was no reply. Boone tried several times but Lila would not answer. “Phia, I think part of the hangar fell on her.”

  They both sighed deeply and worried about the Night Star.

  …

  Le’Jept stood on a grassy field as his three jet flyers landed safely. The anticipation was more than he could tolerate. The men climbed out of their canopies and Le'Jept quickly approached them.

  “Report!”
<
br />   “Master,” one explained. “We decimated the hangar he was in.”

  Another explained further, “You were right! We pinged the Kenos. It was not the Night Star. We followed the Kenos and they went into that old hangar. We destroyed the hangar.”

  The men smiled but Le'Jept was not pleased. “Did you find him? Did you get proof? That is essential!”

  “Master, the hangar was burning. It fell on top of them. They are surely crushed! The whole hangar fell. All of it. We decimated it. It’s completely flat!”

  “Not good enough!” Le'Jept shouted.

  “But Master, by only a miracle could they survive!”

  “Yes! And I have seen him do miracles! Go back! Now! And find proof! I want a visual! And remember, no communications, whatsoever! Understood? Or I’ll send more ships! After the three of you!”

  The three men ran to their flyers to carry out Le'Jept’s final order - find Boone Nova’s dead body and record it on a hologram.

  …

  On the lowest deck in the back of the Exoteric, Sable found the essential parts for his makeshift location device. While ASOP’s roamed each deck, searching them quickly then descending to the next deck below, Sable tried to connect the location device to a power source. He was in a panic as a disturbing thought came to mind. Once he connected the device to a power source, someone would detect it and simply turn it off. He frantically searched for an isolated power source. His plan now was to connect the device to a separate power source and somehow launch it into space.