Chapter 2
Now
Again the white ceiling came into view as Thorn's consciousness returned. His head pounded like a disciples praying drum. The smell of lavender once again tickled his senses.
"He's coming around again," he heard close by.
Slowly turning his head his vision focussed on the figure that stood next to him; the source of the voice. A bipedal figure that could have passed for a naked human body apart from the lack of genitals and extra pair of arms. On closer inspection the skin looked to be made from a shiny material that resembled metal. On the shoulders sat an unusually long, slender neck attached to a humanoid head. Blue in colour with smooth velvety, hairless skin. The black eyes sat deep in their sockets and the lipless mouth formed into what looked like a smile. The face had no nose, but on the side of the long neck a series of slits formed what looked like fish gills. Two dish-like objects protruded from the side of the head that seemed to be made of the same material as the body.
"Can you hear me Thorn?"
"Who...are...you? Where...am...I?"
"You've come round too soon. Your mind has been through a serious trauma. You need more time. Can you remember anything? Who you are?"
Thorn shook his head slowly.
"I'm Torst. You are on a planet called Riigel. I picked you up from your Home world, called Earth." Torst looked up at a monitoring machine above where Thorn lay. "He's going again." A second alien came over to join him looking identical in almost every way to Torst save a few minor differences in the features on his blue face. "I've never seen anything like it before. His brain is repairing itself at a phenomenal rate."
Thorn closed his eyes as the blackness enveloped him again.
***
Four Days Earlier
The Psychic Knights ship and the accompanying transporter made it safely onto Earth in the time frame they had. Exactly as planned. To the point where Thorn thought it was too easy.
Both ships had landed in a small clearing five miles to the east of the target area. Roman had deployed his scouting Droids. Small spherical shaped objects that glided through the air as quiet as a whisper. They mapped the area with finite accuracy. Avoiding and marking any detection grids and plotting the best path to the intended target. Any one of the Psychic Knights could see through and control the droids with their minds, but the initial scout was unaided.
Some of the team were going through their equipment once more when the droids returned. The data was already in the ships computer and Roman sifted through it with computer like speed. He was a scrawny man compared to the others, though as fit as any of them. His styled afro hair sat on his head like a perfectly fitting hat. The boyish features of his face hid the one hundred year old man inside, although he was still only in his first regeneration. His skill was with machines. He had a small collection that he took on every mission. Though he was proficient with weapons and unarmed combat, his forte was the use of his little army. His mind wasn't strong enough to control anything bigger than the size of a small dog, but his creations were the first line of attack, and in some cases won the battle for them.
'How's it looking, Roman?' Thorn had to psychically communicate with Roman as his mind was locked into the computer.
'I'll be done in about ten minutes.'
'Ok. There'll be some food waiting for you outside when you're finished.'
Outside the rest of the team were finishing up with their equipment and chatting with the crew of the transporter. Although their ship, the Savage Mind, was a good size, it could hold only eighty plus crew. The transporter and its crew had been on missions with the Psychic Knights before and they knew each other well. The captain, Dar-Fur, was once an active member of a rescue team until most of them got wiped out during a mission and he sustained a long-term injury. As well as being a tough fighter out in the field, he was a skilled pilot and after sustaining the injury, signed up for piloting a transporter. Now three hundred and seven, he had used the third and last of his regenerations.
He scratched the side of his head, displacing a bunch of his long grey hair. His wrinkled features creased even more as he took Ifor's recent jibe in the manner it was given.
"You'll be lucky to live as long as me let alone become as good looking as me."
A roar of laughter came from the group of seven. Thorn joined them from the ship.
"Glad to see you are all in good spirits. Let's hope we'll be in the same mood in two day's time."
"You're still not convinced about this one then, Thorn?" Dar-Fur stood up and collected some food from the table that had been set-up as he asked the question. He seemed to drag his mechanical leg as he walked. He'd never gotten used to it in all the time he'd had it.
"I just want everyone to be a bit more cautious when we make our move. It's all seems too...simple."
"The best plans usually are," this from one of Dar-Fur's crew.
"One of the reasons we've survived this long is that we've made our own plans from information provided. To our own time-scales. Most of that has been taken out of our hands this time."
Dar-Fur swallowed his food before speaking.
"The old man seems pretty certain the information is ok. Looks like you're gonna have to rely on someone this time. He really wants this one. It'll be the biggest rescue we've ever made and I get the feeling he thinks it could lead to a few more on this planet."
"That's one of my worries. He seems to be making decisions based on emotions. That's not how you should prepare for these rescues."
Roman came down the Savage Minds ramp.
"All done. Some interesting detection systems out there, but they won't pose much of a problem for my babies when the time comes. Now where's that food?" He headed over to the table.
It was now late morning and the sun was high in the sky. The heat was uncomfortable in direct sunlight due to the poor ozone cover, but Dar-Fur and some of his crew had erected a solar shade, which also provided an air-conditioned area for the group to shelter in.
"Have you outlined the danger areas yet?" Thorn took a swig from his container of water.
"All in the ships computer."
"Ok. Have you sent the droids out to set-up a perimeter of a thousand metres yet? I don't want any surprises."
"It was the first thing I did when we landed. As I always do. You know that." Roman got a little annoyed at Thorn's questions. He'd never needed to be reminded of his responsibilities before.
Thorn walked towards the ship.
"I'll be inside going over the plans again."
Ifor sensed Roman's change in mood.
"Don't take it to heart. He's a bit more on edge than usual. We all are. We're going out on a limb on this one and relying on people outside of our group more than we'd like to."
"Maybe, but he knows us. He knows we're as careful and cautious as he is." Roman collected his food and sat down. The tension in the air had risen and the light hearted banter had ceased.
Suddenly the detection warning signal made Thorn's men jump to attention. The signal was tuned to their minds so none of the transporter crew knew what was going on. Thorn came to the top of the ramp.
"We've got a flyer coming in overhead."
"Have they detected us?" Ifor questioned.
"No. The cloaking device is doing its job, but I want everyone armed and ready. We all know what happened on Serina."
The four of them dropped everything and armed themselves.
"What happened on Serina?" Dar-Fur asked Yilnar.
"A flyer nearly landed on top of us. The cloaking device works so well masking the ship and any noises coming from it that it's as if there is a clear landing area where we are. The trouble with Serina was we camped on what was a local hunting area and there was a party looking forward to a day's hunting. The pilot must have nearly had a heart attack when his proximity alarms went off."
The noise of the flyer was now a
udible to everyone. Coming from the east it cruised just above the tree tops making them sway in the back wash. The shrill of the engines scattered the local wildlife. Both crews on the ground had retreated to the safety of their cloaked ships. Thorn and Roman both watched its progress on the Holo-Screen. As it flew almost directly over them Ifor gently squeezed on his Vibro Cannon. The sound of the engines above started to recede.
"Any more coming in?" asked Akarn.
"Nope. That's the only one," replied Roman.
"Ok, panic over." Thorn went back to his plans and the others returned to the solar shade.
"What do you think that was?" Dar-Fur asked from the doorway of his ship as he saw Roman coming out of the Savage Mind.
"Just a transporter," said Roman.
"Carrying more prisoners?"
Roman glanced back at Ifor before replying,
"Possibly. Or it could just be supplies. There's no way of knowing."
"Let's hope it is supplies. We only have enough room left for a handful of people." The group returned to their seats and gradually eased back in to the light-hearted conversation from earlier until just after midday when they filtered back to their respective ships.
The rest of the day was spent checking arms and going over the plans for the rescue. Each member of the Psychic Knights digested the target area information and gave input on how to improve the chances of success. A ritual that they went through before every mission.
The sun began to set casting long shadows from the trees surrounding the camp. After finalising the rescue plans, Ifor and Akarn sat outside with three of the transporter crew discussing previous missions they had been on. Ifor had finished regaling everyone with the story of their last mission when Chero-Deen, a young woman in her forties, spoke.
"Is it true you can lift a transporter with your mind?" Her question was so soft Ifor could just about hear her. He gave a hearty laugh.
"Where did you hear that?" he asked.
"I heard it first in class and it's also been repeated in taverns and eateries back on Prius 3. They say that every one of you can stop a transporter in flight and when you join your minds together you are strong enough to move a moon."
Both Ifor and Akarn looked at each other and burst out laughing. It was a full minute before Ifor could answer. He wiped the tears from his eyes.
"My, how our reputations have grown. Even if they are borne from fantasy. No, we cannot move transporters with our minds, and as for moving moons," he gave a little chuckle. "I dread to think how that came about. We can only move small objects, just like yourself and everyone on Prius 3. We can influence people with our minds a lot more than most and create a small field to defend ourselves and our communication with each other is a lot more advanced than anyone else, but other than that we are just like you."
Both men could see the disappointment in the young woman's eyes. A myth destroyed in an instant. Ifor tried to recover some sort of mythical status for the girl.
"What we lack in your expectations we more than make up for in bravery. You will see the day after tomorrow when we fight. There isn't a man or woman that can match us."
The girl gave a weak smile.
***
The night brought a clear cold sky and with it the night time chorus of the living jungle. Stars blinked overhead as if trying to send a message in code, but the darkness absorbed their light, offering no reply. Thorn had a restless night until finally he gave up trying to sleep and went back over the rescue plans once again.
Chapter 3
Early the next morning Roman's droids were out scouting once again. This time with Roman, Yilnar and Akarn all taking a first-hand look by setting their minds in the droids. The distance the droids travelled was too far for the men to take full control, but they could experience the area by allowing their minds to become passive passengers within the droids. They got a feel for the area by experiencing the physical locations rather than relying on the viewing of three dimensional maps. The heavy undergrowth and dense population of trees clearly visible through the Optically Readjusted Vision mode of the droids and the enhanced sensors provided real-time feel for the rest of their senses.
***
"Where's Thorn?" Roman asked the group sat outside having breakfast.
"He went for a walk. It looked like he didn't have a good night's sleep." The reply came from Brahman, the transporters Medic. He had just sat down with his food as Roman came down the ramp.
'Thorn, are you there?' he sent. A few seconds went by.
'What is it?'
'We've had a communication from our agent inside. He needs to speak to you. He said he'll try again at 11:30am.'
'Ok. I'll be back by then.'
The path of communication went dead as Thorn broke off. Roman returned to the command deck where Ifor was playing cards with Akarn.
"Did you find him?" Ifor asked.
"No, but I psyched him. I think he's out there practicing again. I could feel the strain on his mind when I linked up."
Ifor shook his head.
"It's the wrong time to be doing that sort of thing. He needs to be in top shape for when we make our move later. Apart from the fact he's wasting his time. How long has he been trying to strengthen his mind? Too long. I've told him time and time again there's only one way to do that and it's through surgery and I only know of two people who survived going under the laser. And they only lasted two months afterwards. It's about time he gave up."
Akarn showed his cards and grinned.
"Can you beat that?"
Ifor looked at them and growled with annoyance. He threw his cards down and the big man collected his winnings.
"I love playing with you," Akarn said. "You love to donate your credits so easily." The smile on his face almost reached his ears.
"Just deal the next hand and don't take them credits anywhere. They're coming straight back."
***
The clearing that Thorn had found was just a twenty minute walk from the landing site. An area of flattened vegetation, it was about one hundred square metres in size. Ever since he had control over what his mind could do, something deep inside made him feel as though this was just the tip of what he was capable of. There were stories of individuals, somewhere in the galaxy in travelling circuses that could pull trees out of the ground or lift small Land Cruisers in the air with just their mind. Although no documented proof of these people existed the stories still persisted. He didn't know what he could be capable of, but he felt there was something more that was possible. Something, maybe, that no one else had ever done.
And yet, no matter how often he practiced he had made very little progress. Whenever he found time he could spend alone he would concentrate hard. Searching within his mind for that elusive key to unlock the limits that were forced upon him by nature.
The tree branch crashed to the floor once again as it slipped from his minds grasp like a toy from a child's hand that was too heavy. If he was one of the others, he would have given up long ago. None of them believed the mind could do more and none of them tried.
He sat down on a fallen tree trunk, dejected, but not beaten. He noticed an ant at his foot. In its grasp a leaf that was five times the size of its body. He saw it drop the leaf, then dance around a little and pick it back up, walk on a few more paces then drop it again. This cycle continued until it was gone. How determination and belief could overcome the hardest of obstacles no matter how small you were. A lesson Thorn kept in his mind as he stood up and tried again.
***
Later that morning Thorn was back in the Savage Mind waiting for contact from their inside man. Something else that had never had to happen before. It was coming up to 11:50am and the discomfort of the situation was beginning to gnaw at his mind until a beep from the comms speaker interrupted his train of thought. He saw it was coming in on an encrypted channel with the correct code and answered.
; ”Speak to me." There was a moment's pause.
"Thorn, it is an honour to finally speak to you. You and your teams exploits give us all hope that one day we will be able to live freely."
Thorn was in no mood for a long conversation.
"Thank you," he spat out, "now what seems to be the problem."
"The prisoners are to be moved tonight. This has meant an increase in security personnel."
"By how many?"
"By another sixty guards. They were brought in yesterday. I only found out about the move this morning."
"Damn! I knew there was going to be problems."
"From what I hear about your team another sixty personnel shouldn't be a problem."
Thorn sneered.
"It's not the amount, it's the fact that an unexpected event has happened."
The voice on the other end spoke quite casually. "Unfortunately these things happen."
This flippant remark got Thorn's back up and he gave a stinging reply.
"When we plan missions these unexpected events are never unexpected." There was a pause. "Does this affect our timings?"
"No. Everything is as planned," came back a timid voice. "The defence system will come down at 1700 hours for planned maintenance for 10 minutes. Giving you enough time to get in undetected. During this time the patrols will increase, but you've taken this into account. The additional personnel are stationed in the far building at the West side of the complex well away from the prisoners. All that's left is for me to wish you well."
Thorn mellowed a little after the last remark. He could feel the sincerity in the voice.
"Thanks. Are you sure you won't come back with us?"
"No, I can still do more good here. My tracks are covered so I will be safe."
"Until 1700 hours then." Thorn ended the comms link. He turned to his men.
"Looks like we have a little extra company."
"We'll need a few more droids then," Roman said. "I'd better start prepping them now." With that he jumped up and left.
Island of the Hunted - The Beginning Page 4