It didn’t take too long either.
A thrown, blunt staff hit me square in the back.
My body stiffened from the electricity coursing through my body.
My muscles locked and I fell on my side.
The jolt lasted a second before I could compose my body functions again
I reached for my front pocket.
I was lucky they had clasped my hands to my front or I wouldn’t be able to do this. I just hoped it would work.
I found the vial Yren had given me with the tellurium. I drank about half, and one extra swig of the stuff for good measure.
The vial went back into my pocket just as the Xty guards reached me.
They lifted me up and threw me against the wall with their spears against my neck.
Mistuuk was the first to say anything, of course. “Rels. What are you doing? Are you not feeling well?”
The Vrae was next. “I knew he was a coward. Humans before anyone else. Should’ve killed you when I had the chance.”
The spear tips pressed harder on my neck.
Maybe I miscalculated here.
“I’m surprised, Rels,” Emvel said. “Did you think you could escape?”
“I thought I’d give it a shot.”
“Your friends are cleverer than you, I would say. Not to worry. Your loyalty will be tested soon enough, and this little exertion will be a perfect example for the Insight to test you and see how strong your mind is, Rels Sentel.” Emvel turned to the guards. “Bring him,” he said as he left through the large open stone door and made his way up some stairs cut from the same stone.
My gamble had paid off.
Maybe.
They didn’t slice my throat and that’s a good sign. Kayasa still might. Better to deal with her than these guys, I thought.
It’s in your hands…or wings now, exploding moths.
∞∞∞
They brought us up some large steps to the top of the pyramid’s inner chamber.
This is where the light emanating from the top of the temple was coming from: four large windows were cut out of each side near the apex.
This is what we had seen from the river.
In the center of the chamber was what looked to be a smaller stone pyramid hovering in the air about ten meters above the floor.
There was one suspended staircase that ran up on one side of this floating miniature pyramid.
Below was a square shaft of glowing turquois water. The water sprang forth and flowed across the stone floor in four channels. Each channel ran the inner length to the edge of the opening in the sides, running over and down the side of the temple.
The colored water matched the lowest point on the inside pyramid’s base.
It glowed and pulsated, matching the rhythm of the flowing water which came up the center.
It didn’t take me long to spot Yren.
She was standing before the hovering pyramid on one side of the water channels.
Mistuuk called out when he saw her. “Yren! Hi, Yren! It’s us!”
She didn’t respond.
Her eyes were locked on to the glowing base of the levitating structure.
“Yren?” I called to her as we were escorted past.
“Oh, she can’t hear you, Rels,” our host acknowledged. “That’s the power of the Insight she’s under.”
Yren’s expression was catatonic. Her gaze was wide but unfocused, she didn’t blink, and her mouth was agape.
I looked up to the hovering triangle. “Is that the Insight?”
Emvel just smiled at me. “You’ll see.”
The Xty guards lined us up on the other side of the water channel in the floor next to Yren.
As we stood there awaiting what would happen next, I started to become lightheaded.
The serum was taking effect.
Emvel stepped up to Yren. “You see, Rels. Resisting is not in your best interest. Yren made a choice. Just as you three will.”
“And what choice was that?” I asked.
“To come back into the cell. To come home where she belongs.”
I saw Emvel take a blade from his sheath.
He placed the knife in Yren’s right hand.
“Watch the power of the mind, Rels,” he said as he turned to face Yren. “Place the knife to your throat, Yren.”
Her arm moved the knife to her throat without hesitation.
I went to go move towards her, but the Xty guards behind us grabbed our arms and held us in check.
“Too harsh, Rels?”
“Too much of a coward to do it by your own hand, Emvel?”
“I am merely demonstrating the power of the Insight. Perhaps a simpler demonstration is in order. Yren, cut your left hand,” he ordered.
She drew the blade across her left hand, drawing a bluish blood that dripped onto the stone floor.
“She didn’t even flinch, Rels,” Mistuuk commented.
“The power of the mind,” Emvel said, walking back towards us. “No reluctance. No pain. Just a response from a simple command.”
“So, you turn your subjects into mindless slaves?” I questioned.
“No. Just the ones that will not fall in line. The rest, like myself, have free will to do as we please.”
“So, you choose to be a dylik?”
“Just as you chose to run from your friends.” He smiled. “That was a choice as well.”
Mistuuk and Kayasa both looked at me.
“Who’s the dylik now, Rels Sentel?”
Before I could continue trading insults with Emvel here, which he well deserved, there was a thump that was felt within the chamber.
The water began to glow brighter, surging up the center shaft.
The radiance of light under the hovering pyramid pulsated in step with the water’s movement.
Emvel smiled from ear to ear. “Now is the time for you to meet your fate.”
He turned to face the object in the air above us.
Emvel raised his hands high and began to chant something strange and alien.
The glow around the base of the pyramid started to expand as the top raised upward.
I could feel the pull of the intense light.
My senses became numb. I felt relaxed. I wanted to sleep.
This can’t be good.
Was this what happened to Yren?
Again, I think we were about to find out.
Data CELL 51
The light outside faded from view inside the holding cell.
Madilay woke up and removed her restraints.
She crawled over to Director Bowlan, reaching out her arm to wake her.
Shawna flinched at the young woman’s touch.
Madilay whispered, “Shhh. It’s okay.”
“Is it time?”
Madilay nodded.
She began to unlock Shawna’s cuffs.
“How do we know if they are going to come back?” Shawna asked.
“They have come in two-hour intervals. I’m hoping the Kryth keep a schedule.”
Madilay walked over to the door.
She hoped her mud trick worked, for this cell was just a haphazard holding box. More like a closet, she thought.
She exhibited a small amount of pressure on the door near the latch.
It popped open.
Shawna’s eyes widened, then she beamed at Madilay.
Madilay put her index finger to her lips and continued to slowly open the door, peeking out.
There were no Kryth around them; but she could hear laughter around the corner from the cell.
Madilay crawled to the edge of the small building they were held in and took a glance.
There, under a canopy, were four Kryth playing some sort of game.
By the looks of it, they were deeply inebriated.
“Let’s head for the gate,” Madilay whispered and pointed.
The two crawled towards the main gate of the camp, making their way around containers and storage bins until they came to th
e last open space before the door.
Madilay nodded to go, just as a boot stepped up next to the crate they were crouched behind.
They froze in place.
The Kryth guard looked around, but continued his patrol just as soon as he had stopped.
They let out a sigh of relief.
Madilay wasted no time and scampered towards the gate.
Shawna followed close behind.
When they reached the gate, Madilay stretched for the gate card hanging right where she had seen them hang it during the day.
It was gone.
Madilay began looking around.
“What’s wrong?” Shawna whispered.
“It’s gone.”
“What’s gone?”
“The key card I saw. They hung it here, but now it’s gone.
Shawna looked tense. “What are we going to do?”
Madilay started crawling back to some crates. “Follow.”
Shawna scampered behind her.
The young woman’s eyes peered around a box, eyeing the Kryth gathered around the table.
She was searching, trying to find the key card.
There.
It was on a stand behind one of the seated Kryth.
“Stay here.”
“Where are you going?” Shawna said while grabbing Madilay by the ankle.
“I have an idea.”
Shawna was unsure if she should let her go, but she knew they had no other chance.
She released her hold.
Madilay crawled on her stomach, keeping a low profile as she approached the Kryth from behind.
The Kryth guffawed and some grumbled in an alien language.
It wasn’t far before she reached the small side table next to the Kryth soldier.
The key card was within her reach.
Her hand stretched out, careful not to knock anything over, when the seated Kryth reached behind him.
She froze.
The Kryth’s hand was searching for something on the table.
Madilay could see the card and some small colored objects that looked like dice next to it.
The soldier’s hand knocked the card off the table and onto the ground beneath him.
He grabbed a hold of the dice and returned his attention back to the commotion of the game at hand.
Now was her chance.
She reached for the card and snatched it, just before the Kryth soldier adjusted his leg and pinned her hand under his boot.
She gasped, then held her free hand over her mouth.
Shawna, watching, also had her hand to her mouth in shock at the scene.
They both waited, hands keeping them from calling out either in pain or panic.
Madilay was losing feeling in her fingers and the pain was crawling up her arm.
Finally, the soldier readjusted his position and moved his leg.
Her hand came free.
She didn’t waste any time slithering back to the safety of the crates, cradling her hand as she did.
Shawna was relieved.
“Let’s go for the door. Keep low,” Madilay whispered.
Shawna made to look at Madilay’s hand but Madilay started out once more, leaving Shawna no choice but to follow.
Both made their way back to the gate.
Just one last step, Madilay thought.
She reached up to activate the card on the gate when a roving guard caught her attention. “Oh no.”
Shawna looked where Madilay was fixated on.
The guard was walking by their cell.
Not that it was out of the ordinary for a patrol to do, but the cell door was cracked open.
“What if he sees it?” Shawna asked.
“Then prepare to run like hell.”
Madilay held the key-card close to the door control, pausing for the right moment.
The Kryth soldier was just about to the cell.
They waited, their hearts pounding.
Just as the as the guard approached, another called out to him from around the building.
It got the Kryth’s attention and he went back around to where he was being called.
“Let’s go,” Madilay said as she activated the door control, releasing it.
They moved through the gate and made their way to the trees, stopping at their hover unit that was outside.
Madilay tried to turn over the activator.
Click click.
Nothing.
“It’s not operable,” Madilay said. “We have to make our way on foot.”
The two headed off deep into the foliage of the forest; but not before someone, something, noticed their departure.
Across from the hover unit, a pair of devilish green eyes watched from a pen as the Humans vanished into the darkness.
Data CELL 52
The Orion’s Rage bridge was active as Commander Parejas sat in his chair going over holo reports.
Kansec spun around in his seat. “Commander, we have a broken transmission coming from Earth. Priority one.”
“On screen, LC,” Parejas ordered.
The flickering holo-image of Adjutant Sergeant T,r came to life above the bridge. “Commander Parejas. we are searching for Director Bowlan now…Kryth have attacked Delta Station and we assume they have captured…we are doing everything we can, but acquire immediate…can you help?”
Parejas stood from his chair. “We are en route, sergeant. Deploy all defenses. Report all numbers of Kryth hostiles and keep us posted.”
The sergeant’s image flickered in and out.
The connection was broken before the sergeant could respond.
“Kansec, keep sending my response and try boosting the transceiver.”
“We are a just outside its range, but will be in real-time radius of Sol in…” He looked over his screen. “In about seven minutes, sir.”
“I want all Deus intelligence as soon as it comes in. Have all fighters on stand-by. Set alert condition to red.”
“Aye, sir.”
Parejas turned, seeing the Keeper enter the bridge and approach the command platform.
“I am here to take my station, commander.” Laurenell announced.
“Please take your seat, Keeper.”
She walked around the front station, passed Kansec, and found her father’s chair and console.
Laurenell paused before taking her seat, noticing the name placard on the front of the station that read: Keeper Renske.
“It hasn’t changed if that’s what you were wondering,” Parejas commented from above.
She looked up and smiled at the commander. “Thank you, sir.”
“You’re welcome. But, don’t think for a moment you can harass me like your father did.” He smiled and winked.
She returned his smile. “I wouldn’t dream of it, sir.”
They shared a short laugh and, pausing once more, Laurenell took her father’s…her seat.
She turned again to look up at the commander. “Do I share the same quarters as he had?”
“Indeed. They are the Keeper’s after all.”
Laurenell just nodded and looked back down at her station before her eyes welled up.
Kansec called out again. “Commander, we are starting to receive intelligence reports from Earth.”
“Place them on the board as they come in, LC,” Parejas ordered.
With a simple shift of his hand, Kansec activate a tac-board above the bridge.
Partition arms rotated down from the ceiling.
Light flashed in between, creating a sectored grid layout of the Sol system.
The image zoomed in, showing the Earth and moon in detail; a miniature version of reality up in hovering light.
Icons soon appeared above Earth representing Kryth bombers, a dozen in all.
Next to the red bomber icons was an Exendoth class destroyer.
Off to the side of the Kryth icons was a blue opaque Delta Station icon with the text: Lost Asset.
“The bombers ar
e strafing the Erudition base camp now,” Kansec relayed. “Three bombers have been destroyed. Twenty Human casualties have been confirmed. The loss of the Delta Station and several ground facilities have been reported.”
Parejas sat back in his chair.
He placed his hand to his chin. “A single Kryth destroyer. That’s not their tactics.”
“Sir?” Kansec inquired.
“Their raiding tactics. They never send a lone destroyer. They work in pairs or from an operational central fleet.”
“That’s all that is showing in the system, sir.”
Parejas looked over the information suspended in air on the tac-board. “How many Deus Antennas are reporting?”
Kansec looked over his console. “All but two.”
“Which two?”
“It looks like Ten-Five-B and Ten-Six-B. Beyond the orbit of Pluto, sir. They might be malfunctioning.”
“I doubt that, Kansec.”
The lieutenant commander looked on, bewildered by the commander’s statement.
“Kansec, have the antennas nearest that sector change their circular search patterns to an elliptical one. Maximize the eccentricity to encompass the lost area of coverage.”
“Aye, sir. This will take a minute.”
“Excuse me, commander.” Laurenell approached the platform. “I’m not following what you are trying to do here.”
“I want to see what’s in that dead zone. I’m just refocusing the surrounding antenna to search that area. The circular pattern of the antennas overlaps. By changing to an elliptical pattern, we can cover most of that blacked-out sector.”
“You don’t believe they malfunctioned?” she asked.
“With a ninety-six percent success rate over a fifty-year lifespan, I’m not taking that chance. Two in the same sector in the same system? Suspicious, to say the least.”
“What are you hoping to find?”
“A Kryth battle fleet.”
Kansec turned. “We should have the data from the sector in the next minute, commander.”
“What’s our estimated time of arrival for Sol?” Parejas asked.
“We should arrive in the system in the next four minutes.”
“Set our jump exit to three kilometers from the destroyer. Engage with ion wave followed by main Fletcher beams. Launch Storm-Tac fighter groups to finish off their bombers.”
“Aye, sir.”
Laurenell eyes were wide as they awaited the data from the lost antennas.
Annals of the Keepers - Rage Page 31