FARNHAMS LEGEND: Chapter 25 - February 2006

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KiwiNZ
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FARNHAMS LEGEND: Chapter 25 - February 2006

Post by KiwiNZ » Sun, 19. Feb 06, 12:29

Hi guys,

this is the second last chapter of HelgeK's Farnhams Legend. So by next month we will have posted the entire background story to the X Universe on the forum.

Enjoy!

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Chapter 25


If I were to name one thing that truly cloys me, my lord, it would be the prospect of giving birth to your son, just to be rewarded with death. You, my lord, are leading our proud people back into a time of barbarianism. Kill me; take my life and that of my unborn son, for he shouldn't have to grow up in a world such as that.

Ghinn t'Whht,
Excerpt from a letter to the Patriarch


Ghinn t'Whht shifted her weight in the granite chair and pondered the words she had just written. The blood of the Ghok was still wet and contrasted beautifully with the rainbow shimmering of the space fly wing. The Patriarch’s seventh bond wife’s skin rippled melancholically and she rubbed her palms to banish the sensation. Chin was a good Patriarch – in his way – but he was not a good man and she’d prefer to renounce the rather questionable privilege of her position and take a Split like Cho t'Nnt. A firebrand, maybe, but not an obstacle to the evolution of the species.

There was some grim satisfaction in giving him her unvarnished opinion but Chin was sure to disregard her plea. He would probably ignore the entire letter and would certainly fly into a state of raging wrath but Ghinn knew he would not harm his unborn son no matter what the provocation. Three mazuras, the physicians estimated, until she gave birth – enough time to enjoy the hate radiating from the corners of the Patriarch’s eyes. To be able to rejoice in it afresh, every new tazura, she considered advance compensation for whatever happened after the child was born.

*

The Split and the humans had more in common than it would be healthy for him as a Split to admit, Cho t'Nnt thought standing next to the Patriarch on the throne pedestal as they watched the AP Rhonda Crave on the view-screen. They formed conspiracies, plotted insurrections and looked at the universe through cynical eyes. A pity then, they wouldn’t be able to draw the correct conclusions from all of this.

The ship delivering a delegation of Argon diplomats would touch down in a few mizuras. Alone among the Community of Planets the Split had a non-aggression pact with the Xenon, or at least they had until the arrival of the jump ship, but the Patriarch decided to grant the humans an audience despite this. There were rumours the humans had found a guaranteed way to crush the machine race and if this could be done without the Xenon suspecting any Split involvement, well that would be an ideal solution to all their problems.

“Cho – I want him to receive the Argons and bring them here. He will be respectful unto them as long as we haven't learned all concerning their security precautions. He is going to carefully check the circumstances of their presence. Did they release a surveillance satellite? Do the creatures carry covert weapons or communications devices? I expect a full report immediately after their ship touches down.”

The Patriarch waved his hand. “He may go.”

Cho formed the sign for obedient execution of orders and quickly left the hall through the secret passage behind the throne. On his way out he met Ghinn t'Whht coming the other way. The Patriarch's bond wife wore a strange bitter expression and did not pause to exchange the usual pleasantries.

“Whi!” said the Patriarch, after Cho left and his bond wife had taken her rightful place next to the throne.

The aging, one-eyed Split looked at his master without a hint of the old foe-friendship between them on his expressionless face. All that remained now was enmity. The Patriarch of all Split had made improper use of his powers to prevent Whi from engaging in his clan's politics for too long and in consequence a young Split had seized the Family with a single, bloodless stroke. Now the Family name was Njy, not Whi and he, Whi t'Rllt, must live the remainder of his life devoid of honour.

“Yes, my lord?” he responded coldly.

“He will have a message coded for the machines. We offer information on the human's strategy in exchange for extended cooperation.”

Whi made an affirmative gesture but secretly he doubted this was the best course of action at this point in time.

“He may go,” Chin said to Whi, who seemed to hesitate for a fraction of a sezura before obeying. The Patriarch then turned to his wife.

“What does she want from me?”

There had been a time when he had addressed her more respectfully, but that was long past. The tall female, whose spare form bore no sign of pregnancy, produced a small Nividium letter casket and handed it to her master.

“Read this as soon as your time permits my lord,” she said in a mysterious tone.

“What is it?” the Patriarch barked. From the corner of his eyes he saw that the AP Rhonda Crave touch down. The ship was medium sized - too large for a yacht, but too small for a long-range hauler. A gangway extended and anchored itself to the asphalt and a group of Argon disembarked. They looked around cautiously as Cho and a small honour-guard received them.

“Read it when you have time, my lord, then you will know,” Ghinn answered curtly. She stood up and made a move for the exit but Chin beckoned her to stay, and put the casket on the throne's right armrest, unopened.

“I have no time for female balderdash right now. She'll stay here in case I have lowly errands for her.”

Ghinn hesitated for a couple of sezuras but when she saw the Patriarch's face darken, she sat again on the small, granite ridge to the right of the throne.

“As you wish, my lord.”

*

His freedom was not limitless, as he was once again clearly shown. Neither was the patience of the Ceo, as enlightened and progressive as he might be by Teladi standards. Nopileos could sense the aggravation in the old lizard’s tone and he was glad not have to confront Isemados face to face; the recorded message delivered by drone was enough.

“Egg happiness,” the Ceo was saying, “But your recent behaviour, oh Isemados Sibasomos Nopileos IV, is not helping you regain favour in the eyes of the Board of Directors.”

Nopileos twitched uneasily.

“You have failed to discharge your mission to Kingdom’s End,” the Ceo continued. “And you failed to notify the Company of the Ancient’s message.”

“Tssh!” Nopileos hissed, abashed. Could he have anticipated that Inanias would report all his actions and lapses directly to the Ceo? Yes, he could have, and and indeed did, but somehow in all the excitement he forgot.

“I would have been willing to tolerate all this, oh grandson. The mission to Kingdom End might have waited another wozura or two, because your discovery of the second jump ship was potentially much more profitable. The Ancients on the other hand have waited eons to contact us so the information in your on-board computer's memory banks would not have quickly turned sour. But this final misconduct of yours beggars any description.”

Nopileos tried to make himself small and round like an egg, as if he was melting into the sitting table. The Ceo’s red pupils on the video screen were pinheads and his scale plate very green. Nopileos would have liked to say something, to defend himself, explain his motivations – but of course there was no point arguing with a recording. So he just cowered in the seat, awaiting his grandfathers’ next words like a sentence handed down.

“Ianamus Zura,” the old lizard growled. “We all know the meaning of that name. It’s in our hearts and in our genes – our species thirsts for a solution to this ancient mystery! It cannot wait on your convenience; it cannot be deferred. It is the most important information any Teladi has ever received. The eighteen billion you gave away to the Boron pales in comparison!”

“I know that! But…” Nopileos cried. He jumped up and stood in front of the pilot seat, his right claw slipping through the projection of the Ceo’s face. The image trembled. There was no doubt Elena knew the co-ordinates, or at least knew how to calculate them. Elena never lied. But she had left him behind on Argon Prime, too surprised, confused, and hysterical to gather enough of his wits to prevent her leaving without giving him the co-ordinates.

“I demand of you the following, Nopileos,” the Ceo continued. “You will return these coordinates to Company Pride in the most timely of fashions. There, you will hand over the Nyana's Fortune so she can be examined for traces of the Ancients. Then, you will accompany a diplomatic delegation to Kingdom End to finish your still outstanding mission.”

Nopileos softly fizzled. Surrounded!

“Your on-board computer has been ordered not to tolerate any further deviations, Nopileos,” the Ceo added. “You have a lot to learn.”

Silence fell. Then, after more than a whole mizura, during which the colour of his scale plate returned halfway to normal and his pupils swelled, the old lizard added;

“Don't worry. Even I have made mistakes in my time. Just do what you've been told and everything will turn out for the best.” With these words, the image faded. The viewer remained live for a few more moments, before switching itself off automatically.

Nopileos sat down again and his claws shivered nervously.

“I know what you're thinking now, Inanisas,” he said after a while, cupping his eyes with his claws. It took him an effort of will to suppress the nervous shivering.

“I don't actually think, o Captain Nopileos. I am merely reacting,” the computer countered. “We've got to fly to Nif-Nakh, because only the star warrior Elena Kho knows the key to Ianamus Zura's coordinates.”

Nopileos waggled his ears in affirmation. Secretly he doubted that Elena knew the coordinates by heart, but at least she'd know how to calculate them.

“So be it then,” sighed Nopileos, giving in to the inevitable. “Set the fastest possible course to Nif-Nakh.”

“That happened more than two Quazuras ago, oh Captain,” the on-board computer replied. Nopileos opened his eyes wide. So now he wasn't the captain of the Nyana's Fortune anymore, just a crewmember?

The first jump gate came up quickly.

*

The diplomatic delegation consisted of Special Agent Ban Danna, Senator Rhoi Morsa, Under Secretary of State Halga Giller and Elena Kho. News of the attack on the Aladna Hill came in from the Argon Secret Service while they were still en-route to Nif-Nakh. The very ship that rescued Brennan from the Paranid, the freighter on which Ninu Gardna still served, had been destroyed by the Split. There was no word on survivors.

The delegation reacted to the news with disgust and anger. It took Senator Morsa to remind them that nothing better could be expected from the Split and that the mission must not be endangered by any mention of the transporters’ loss.

Even though the delegation was received with a certain, cool respect upon disembarking, Elena knew right away that the talks were doomed to failure, before the first word had been spoken. She saw the expression on Danna's face.

The Patriarch’s long grey and white beard and sallow yellow skin made him seem old and fragile but Elena knew he wasn’t. In her opinion Chin t'Thhg was as dangerous as any Xenon, and less predictable.

“In the name of the government of Argon Prime we ask for an immediate explanation for the destruction of the AP Aladna Hill!” Danna demanded. Morsa’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“I was under the impression there was a different reason for your presence,” the Patriarch retorted snidely. He glared at Danna angrily and made an unfamiliar sign to his special representative standing beside the throne. Cho t'Nnt acknowledged his master's gesture with a short nod.

“That is correct,” Senator Morsa interjected. “I have to apologise for agent Danna. He is over-stepping over his responsi…” Danna silenced him with a dagger glance.

“Our mission is pointless if the hostile actions of the Split destroy the very basis of trust,” the Under Secretary of State said quickly to forestall any further undiplomatic outbursts by Danna. She knew the man well. “Therefore we request clarification of the circumstances of the incident.”

“The Argon government has already been informed,” Danna said. In a belated nod to the diplomatic nature of their mission he stopped himself from threatening military and economic sanctions.

The Patriarch understood the unspoken threat. “Is that so?” It wasn’t so much a question as a statement of fact. The older Split standing next to the Throne winked with his single eye, while the young Split to the Patriarch's right, who had introduced himself as Cho t'Nnt, seemed to smile.

A smiling Split couldn’t be good news Elena thought. A Split woman sat on a stone bench next to the throne. She watched attentively, without showing any emotions.

“I hope for your sake that there are survivors and they're well, Chin!” Danna shot back, enraged by the Patriarchs’ manner. Danna, Elena and the Patriarch himself knew there was nothing backing up the threat.

Chin looked into a small display screen on a pedestal before the throne. New information had just come in.

“We've interrogated and tortured the humans,” Chin said grinning. “And I will teach the creatures the respect they owe me! Cho – he'll throw them into the gaol.”

Ban Danna, Morsa and Cho drew their weapons simultaneously. Elena instinctively leapt aside as a glaring beam from the Patriarch’s blaster flashed through Morsa's chest. A second beam from Cho's gun slapped Danna's weapon from his hand before he could fire a single shot. All four Split levelled their weapons at the humans at point-blank range.

“The creatures throw their weapons away!” Cho barked. Elena and the Under-Secretary Giller complied reluctantly.

“Cho, he ascertains they don't carry any further weapons and then he brings them into the prison – we're going to have another visitor shortly.” The special representative made the sign of obedience and approached the humans with his weapon in firing position.

*

Planet Nif-Nakh, or ‘Festering Wound’ as Valerie translated, fully justified the name. Only a few thin clouds, high in the atmosphere, obscured the view of the surface of the meteorologically stable planet. The thickest, greenest jungles anyone could imagine completely covered all the continents, starkly contrasting with two large blood-red oceans, like wounds inflicted by some immense predator.

But in Brennan's mind there was only the image transmitted by the Split a couple of hours ago. Ninu strapped into an atrocious looking metal contraption, hooked to numerous cables, the eyes in her pretty face wide open, staring into nothingness. A thin strand of saliva dribbled from the corner of her mouth, and her muscles spasmodically twitched. It almost broke his heart.

Lona Brant, Hal Nedrong, Veithman Wolsh and the other four crewmembers of the Aladna Hill were paraded in the same condition. The Split left his desperate calls unanswered. They merely transmitted the coordinates of the planet and the residence of the Patriarch of Chin.

The X approached the landing co-ordinates on a shallow trajectory. From fifty kilometres altitude all he could see was a dense, green sea of titanic sequoia. Five klicks up and ten out Brennan could distinguish the large rectangular clearing where the Patriarch’s huge palace lay, surrounded by wide meadows of red grass and some installations of unknown purpose. The palace itself looked like it had been put together from crudely wrought ashlars.

“Valerie. If I’m not back onboard in six hours and operating without duress I want you to overload the M/AM Drive and cause a big, big, bang,” Brennan ordered on touchdown.

“I am not sure the command sub-system can process such an order but it will be my pleasure to give destroying myself my very best shot.”

Brennan smiled. “I’ll miss your sarcasm Val. Authorisation Code Molander-99z4tu38.”

“But Captain,” the on-board computer said indignantly in her usual, well modulated voice. “My last statement had no humorous intention!”

“Of course it didn’t, what could I have been thinking?” Brennan slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand in mock contrition.

“Two more things, Val. First, I want you to broadcast that six-hour countdown on all known frequencies. Second, if someone tampers with the X, reduce the countdown to one minute.”

“Confirmed,” she stated. “Good luck, Captain,” she added after a moment's hesitation.

“Thank you Val – I’m going to need every last scrap.”

The X wasn't the only ship on the airfield. He could see a handful of small, sleek vessels that were obviously one-person fighters, a few larger space ships and – he swallowed hard – a medium-sized Argon Transporter bearing the insignia of the Argon government. This, he surmised, was the vessel carrying the diplomatic mission with Elena.

He had a very bad feeling about this. Driven by this concern he slid the pilot seat back on its rails and hastily scrambled out of the ship through the centre airlock, jumping down to the hard, black asphalt. A faint hiss signalled Valerie closing the airlock behind him.

At the same instant there was a distinct, echoing pop and a brief, louder hiss – then – something slammed painfully into his chest, rocking Brennan on his feet. It instantly wrapped itself around his body – sharp plastic straps that immobilised his limbs and crushed his chest making it almost impossible to breathe let alone cry out in alarm. Wrapped in the netting of the Immobiliser Brennan lost his balance and fell to the ground.

“Did I not say he should not assume this was over?” someone growled, deep satisfaction rumbling in the non-human tone. A pair of stout legs appeared in Brennan’s limited field of vision and his eyes tracked curiously up.

“Joe TNT!” he gasped but the obscure mockery of the special representative’s name cost more effort than the satisfaction gained as the Immobiliser webbing constricted further.

“I will teach him to pronounce my name correctly!” the Split said angrily. He reached down and hauled Brennan to his feet. “Ship – will – explode.” Brennan groaned, swaying to keep balance. The Patriarch's representative paused for a moment. This human had proven his recklessness a number of times before. But would he risk his ship, his friends and his own life or was it a bluff?

Cho did not take very long to arrive at the correct conclusion. Brennan would, because it was the only backup he had. He drew a knife and quickly cut the straps on Brennan's legs and over his chest, leaving his arms constrained.

“Too kind of you, Joe!” Brennan gasped.

The representative snorted and hit Brennan in the face with the flat of his hand. “I'm not obliged to act sensibly anymore. The creature should know that. And it should not hope for a special treatment.”

Blood from a lacerated cheek slithered down Brennan’s neck but he just grinned.

“You better pay real close attention to my ship, bubba. In a little under six hours, or whatever the hell that is in Stazuras, it’s going to be saying ‘bye-bye’ with an anti-matter explosion that’ll take you and a goodly chunk of this prime real estate of a planet with it.”

Cho tried to speak but Brennan pressed on. “And if anyone gets any clever ideas that involve doing more than gazing on my ship with respect and awe it’ll be instant fireworks. Boom!”

“The creature doesn't interrupt me!” Cho spat, but he refrained from hitting Brennan again. “Why does the creature think I believe it?”

“Because the Split can't afford not to believe me, my best girl.”

The young representative stared at him with wide eyes. A vein pulsated in his forehead and a bass growl emanated from deep in his throat.

Brennan didn't know if Cho was more upset by the ‘best girl’ crack or the Big Bang situation but it didn’t really matter. He’s played his cards and the Split knew they’d have to tread carefully.

“Boom!” he said again, with a grin.

*

The gaol, the dungeon, and the interrogation room – they confirmed every anti-Split prejudice Ninu had picked up. Each was built of rough-cut, unfinished brick, complete with metal shackles, and the air was heavy with damp and mould. The only mod con they did not lack was light. There was plenty of that – the crude, harsh type that unceasingly stabbed the eyes of the inmates and was more demoralising than darkness could ever be.

The Split interrogated her for Tazuras but mercifully her mind had already blotted out most of the dreadful details. Except that she had betrayed everything she held sacred many times over – like the rest of the Aladna Hill crew probably. She hoped she hadn’t known anything valuable to the Split. A red haze surged across her vision, sweeping away the moment of lucidity, leaving her unsure if this was all real or just a terrifying dream from which she’d eventually awake.

Voices welled from the confusion, contorted echoes reverberating from the bare dank walls. She knew one voice - Johnra Fathum – her father and she tried to focus her eyes but her hair hung lank over her face and she no longer possessed the strength to lift the shackles and brush the strands away.

“Johnra?” she whispered, once, twice, and again.

But the voices went away.

“Father!” she wheezed, but it was both pointless and completely impossible – Johnra had died many Jazuras ago. The thought sobered her and some semblance of awareness trembled through her shivering form. Her senses were playing tricks. A small part of her brain thought, ‘so that’s what delirium feels like from the inside!’

When the tide of weariness washed back over her Ninu could no longer fight. She let her eyes flicker shut and surrendered to fatigue.

Nothing happened for a long time. Through the fog she became dimly aware of other prisoners, shackled either side and questions spun nauseating in her fevered brain. Lona and Hal but where was Veithman? How long had she been here? What did the Split intend to do with her? Something had invaded her thoughts with electric currents in her body. Cold, demanding, relentless, painful and abhorrent like a jellyfish with a thousand stinging tentacles. Her mind bucked away from the memory.

‘Kyle, you’re so far away.’ Her heart struggled just to keep her alive; no more room for emotions. Alive? Was there any sense in being alive at all? She whimpered softly.

Time passed, more time, how much more?

Something warm tentatively touched her forehead.

“No!” Ninu screamed and launched herself against the shackles with desperate strength, banishing the aching fog with a draining effort of will.

“Now, now,” a female voice said reassuringly. “It’s going to be alright, Ninu. Shush!”

Slowly her eyes focused on the blurred white spot before her - a round, kind-hearted face, lively almond eyes, matt black hair.

“It is… you are… Elena!” she said sluggishly.

Elena hugged the tormented Goner against her chest.

“Everything’s going to be alright now.”

Her heart went out to the tormented young woman. What the Split had done to her and the others looked beyond her imagining. Ninu sobbed in her arms and Elena’s own tears flowed as she cradled her like a mother with her child.

Eventually, Ninu lifted her head and said.

“But you’re imprisoned as well.”

“Yes, but not in shackles. For some reason the Split seemed in a hurry to shove us in here and slam the door behind us.”

“Us…? Who else, Elena? Who else is with you? Is Kyle here?” Ninu forced her eyes wide open and looked around. She made out the silhouette of a tall Argon kneeling next to the door, obviously examining it; an Argon woman stood in the middle of the room, looking around with sheer horror scrawled on her face.

“This is Ban Danna and Halga Giller of the Argon government. Kyle isn’t here with us.”

This snapped Ninu into focus.

“Where is he? What happened to him? Is he alright? Nothing has happened to him, has it?”

“Shush… he’s not on Nif-Nakh. He’s on a different mission. I believe he’s not in danger and we’re going to hear from him soon.” Elena wasn’t quite that certain but had decided not to trouble the tormented girl any further.

“Thank Earth! Where’s the Aladna’s crew?” she asked, calming down and looking around once more, but this time with bright, alert eyes.

“Lona and Hal are here and they’re… okay, I suppose, considering the circumstances. I don’t know about Veithman and the others, but I think they’re in the chamber behind this wall.”

“We’re fine!” Lona Brant said.

“Hey, if this is okay for you,” there was a demonstrative rattling of chains, “then I don’t want to catch up with you on a really bad day, Lona.” Hal Nedrong moaned.

A very tiny smile appeared on Ninu’s face.

Ban Danna finished examining the electronic door lock without finding any weaknesses in its crude circuitry. “I’m going to check whether your friends are in the adjacent room.”

Ninu nodded and watched Danna cross the room. She’d met him before, briefly, on Argon Prime. A good man and she had confidence in him right from the start.

“Boy, it’s really good to have friends in the government,” Lona said. She didn’t look half as bad as Ninu or Hal. Her greying hair had a getting-up ruffle but there was nothing worse that Ninu could make out.

“Wait and see,” Nedrong interjected.

“With Elena and Danna here, we’re as good as free,” Ninu said with exaggerated optimism. “And… wait, someone’s coming!”

There were steps outside the door, an ugly hiss and the electronic lock deactivated with a rattle.

The door opened slowly.

*

“So he reckons he can blackmail us?” Chin t’Thhg asked in a casual tone. In truth he was much less sanguine than he appeared; another unpleasant surprise had just announced itself in the view field’s scrolling information bar. It wouldn’t help much, of course, but he made a mental note to haul the communications officer responsible for this message over the coals. Three bad news messages within one Stazura were well beneath him, the Patriarch of Chin!

“It kind of looks like it,” Brennan answered. He stared at the Patriarch, and then glanced at the old one-eyed Split that Chin called Whi from the corner of his eyes.

Cho stood watchfully on the throne pedestal to the left of his Patriarch, his hands clasped firm behind his back as if in a conscious attempt not to make inopportune gestures. Something wasn’t right; any more tension in the air and he could slice himself off a piece.

“My technicians have already entered his ship and disabled the countdown,” the Patriarch explained.

“Patriarch, that is untrue. First, we are still alive. Second, I’m still alive.”

“He accuses me of lying?”

“I most certainly do!”

“He is bold!” the Patriarch answered calmly instead of throwing the tantrum Brennan expected. “Almost like a Split!”

The Split woman sitting next to the throne threw Brennan a curious and intrigued look.

“Patriarch, let’s talk about my demands…”

“Raargh! He is in no position for demands!”

The Patriarch’s self-control began to visibly ebb away. First he lashed out at the armrests of his throne, knocking the small silver casket containing Ghinn’s letter to the floor. “I’ll have his friends executed, one by one!”

“If my friends are not brought on board my ship unharmed within six hours – oh, it is less than five hours now – it will cause an M/AM detonation. Your choice.” Brennan shrugged. It wasn’t exactly the arrangement with Valerie but the Split weren’t in any position to argue.

“Cho,” the Patriarch managed to ask, “Does he believe the human is telling the truth?”

“My lord, he is most certainly amalgamating truth and lie as is commonplace amongst humans. However, I don’t doubt that he indeed instructed his ship to detonate after six hours.”

The Patriarch knitted his brows in an almost human fashion.

“Ghinn – I want her to show our guest from Earth to the prisoners so he can convince himself that they are in good health,” Chin said slowly. “Brennan, if this suits him, we’ll talk about his… demands afterwards.”

Brennan agreed. The Patriarch’s bond wife rose with flashing eyes and took the casket from the floor, putting it back on the throne’s armrest tentatively. Then, she descended from the pedestal and moved towards the high, curved passage ten meters behind the throne. She beckoned Brennan to follow.

“Alright,” he said. “But be smart and don’t waste my time. The clock’s running and my ship is not exactly being secretive about it, as you well know.”

With an impatient gesture the Patriarch dismissed Brennan. He might not have been able to play him for more time but sending him away gave him time to think and plan.

“He activate the display,” the Patriarch commanded his representative, after Ghinn and Brennan had left the hall. “He’ll be interested in what is presently injecting into Nif-Nakh orbit. Whi, he come here and also observe.”

*

The scene that presented itself to Ghinn t’Whht on opening the door was gratifying.
The shackled prisoners stared at her with open mouths and eyes that couldn’t conceal the fear, the unshackled radiated aggression. Ghinn waved the muzzle of her heavy blaster. The weapon had a solid, martial look, making it seem all the more dangerous in the hands of the tall, willowy Split woman. Directly behind Ghinn came a guard, then Brennan, followed by another guard.

“My Lady, please don’t point your weapon at my friends,” Brennan said. He made a move to get to Ghinn’s side, but the guard behind him grabbed his shoulder and dragged him back into position. Ghinn ignored him.

Elena Kho and Ban Danna were able to hide their surprise at seeing Brennan but Ninu called out his name.

“Kyle!”

“Unshackle them,” Ghinn ordered.

“Brennan,” she added, when both guards as well as Brennan started for the prisoners.

Ghinn dropped an electronic key to the floor and kicked it sliding to the middle of the room – without even looking at it.

Brennan entered the room, whose walls of crudely cut boulders seemed to allow a deep look into the souls of their creators. He briefly nodded towards Elena and Danna. “Lin, Ban. Quarter inspection?” The two shot each other a quick grin, while Brennan went past them to take Ninu in his arms.

“Kyle! I’m so glad you’re here.” She didn’t care why and how Elena and Ban didn’t know anything about it. She was simply happy to have him here by her side right now.

Brennan ran his hands over her hair and her shoulders. “What did they do to you? Are you okay?”

“I am now.”

“Will the creatures obey my order at once!” Ghinn t’Whht barked at Brennan.

“The creatures will take as much time as they desire, My Lady,” he said with a harsh emphasis on the last word.

Elena bent down to pick up the key and went over to Ninu and Brennan, who took a step back, and released the girl’s shackles. Ninu stumbled forward and was gracefully caught by Brennan who gently set her down on the floor. She started rubbing her ankles and wrists. Brennan knelt down beside her. Elena released Hal Nedrong and Lona Brant and then went to the adjacent chamber to unshackle the other crewmembers of the Aladna.

Brennan looked around. In a minute it would be – what – twelve unarmed humans against three armed Split. Did the aliens trust the superiority of their weapons so much that they weren’t concerned by this mismatch? Or did they believe the humans wouldn’t resort to force because the Patriarch promised they’d be able to leave the planet safely? And if so, then why did they need guards and blasters at all – was it a sign of their uncertainty? Or just their paranoia?

He caught a questioning glance from Danna and gave the agent a short overview of what had happened so far. Elena, who had just finished unshackling the prisoners, came back in time to catch most of it.

“The creatures be silent!” demanded Ghinn.

“My Lady be silent!” Brennan shouted. The Split woman growled and took a step toward the humans.

“Kyle, we’ll have to use both ships – the cargo bay of the X is only good for six, perhaps eight men.” Elena knelt down beside Brennan and Ninu. Ban did so as well. All around them, the unshackled humans were rubbing their painfully stiff joints and limbs.

“They are disregarding my orders,” the Split woman said. She was towered high above Ban Danna and lowered the blaster until its muzzle touched the Argon’s head.

“Not even in our wildest dreams!” protested Danna. He kicked Ghinn’s shins hard and snatched the falling weapon in one sleek movement. Always go for the shins and knees with Split, he’d learned, that’s why the guards all wore protectors. The bond-wife, not being a warrior, was unprotected.

A beam from one of the guard’s weapons singed Danna’s hair, scoring the wall behind him. Danna instinctively wrapped his left arm around Ghinn and pushed the captured Blaster against her head.

The guards froze.

“Creature!” the Split woman hissed in rage. The Split are splendid and powerful fighters, and even Split women could usually take even the sturdiest human. Ghinn however was pregnant and concerned for her unborn – and of course, handicapped in her mobility just enough to enable Danna to keep her under control.

“We want your weapons,” Danna said to the guards who glanced at their mistress utterly confused.

“Never, creature!” Ghinn shouted.

One of the guards dropped his weapons anyway.

“The Patriarch will not be pleased if his bond-wife is harmed; after all, she is carrying his offspring.”

The other held back.

“He pick up his weapon or die,” said Ghinn in a low, menacing voice.

The second guard, still clutching his blaster, made the impatient gesture for “immediate obedience” but his comrade didn’t react. The guard raised his weapon and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Elena saw that the dying guard would fall on his blaster and impulsively made a rolling dive. The remaining guard fired and the laser beam singed her soles, making her cry out in pain. Before the guard could aim for a second shot Danna snapped him down with a single shot and pressed the warm barrel back against Ghinn’s head. The guard fell limp to the floor.

Brennan pushed the lifeless body aside took the blaster from its still twitching fingers.

Elena, who held the other weapon in her hand, stood up and hobbled back to Brennan and Danna, grimacing with pain. Brennan looked concerned, but she waved it aside.

“No worries. Asian specialty. Bruised duck, sweet and sour.”

“You’re indestructible, Lin!” Brennan grinned.

“Had a good coach,” she said under her breath.

The Patriarch’s bond-wife struggled, enraged. Danna took a few hard hits but didn’t let go. “This isn’t going to help a bit,” he said. “We’re going back to the throne hall nice and easy now and we’re going to have a look what the Patriarch has to say.”

Ghinn t’Whht snarled like a wild beast, inarticulate and full of hate.

*

Ban Danna pushed for them to leave before they were discovered but Lona Brant begged a few Mizuras delay for the weakened prisoners to recover some strength and get some blood flowing in their legs. After some hasty callisthenics Brennan and Danna led the group back to the throne room. Ghinn accepted her fate insofar as Danna’s blaster did not waver from her head but when it did she struggled with the savage strength of a beast of prey in captivity. It took the combined weight of Veithman, Elena, Danna and Brennan to restrain her.

Due to these frequent outbursts the group of twelve made slow progress. On two occasions they encountered Split who seemed reluctant to act when they saw their prisoner but the humans used their blasters anyway. They’d suffered too much and the stakes were too high to feel any qualms.

They entered the throne hall through the same entrance by which Brennan and Ghinn had left it twenty Mizuras ago. Only Chin, Cho and Whi were present, arguing excitedly, the one-eyed Whi keeping his comments conspicuously short.

“Kyle, would you burn a nice hole into the throne for me?” Danna asked. He headed for the Patriarch, shoving Ghinn along in front of him.

Brennan immediately complied. As soon as the beam came flashing across the hall, leaving a blistering marking on the throne’s base, Cho t’Nnt leapt behind a pillar with a fast, fluent reaction. The Patriarch simply jumped up, alarmed. Whi, however, slipped a dagger from his cloak’s sleeve into his hand. With suppleness unexpected for an aging Split, he hurled the well-balanced blade at Brennan. He ducked reflexively. Ghinn t’Whht cried out in surprise and pain as the dagger punched into her right thigh with an ugly thud. She didn’t even have to fake the panic in her voice when the muscles in her leg gave out and she collapsed to the floor.

The Patriarch staggered back a step at the shrill shriek of his bond-wife and collapsed sitting in the throne with a surprised huff.

“The creatures will pay for this, each one of them will die under excruciating tortures!” he cried, but he didn’t dare to draw his weapon for fear of inflicting more damage on his unborn son and his wife.

“I don’t think so, Patriarch” Danna replied. “If we’re not back onboard our vessels shortly, Brennan’s ship will detonate and destroy you and us before you can say Jadmanthrat.”

The Patriarch hesitated for a Sezura and seemed about to reply when another shrill cry of pain echoed through the hall. Elena had stooped to help Ghinn, and removed the dagger from her leg.

“Don’t kill her! You may board your ships!” Chin shouted frightened, suddenly changing his form of address to that of peers. “Cho… Cho!”

The special representative emerged from the cover of the pillar.

“Cho, he guide them to the airfield! My unborn child!”

“My Lord…”

“Only four hours to Boom Time!” Brennan shouted.

“Your unborn son,” Danna corrected.

“Cho! He understands me?”

Confusion spread over the young special representative’s face. What was he supposed to do? Obey his master – or did Chin really want him to act?

No more time to think. Cho leapt into a forward, shoulder roll and fired at Danna in mid-flight. Danna jerked back losing his grip on his gun. It tumbled away in a lazy arc and slid across the floor. Veithman Wolsh leapt for the skidding weapon, rolled and fired. The beam missed Cho but struck Whi instead. He collapsed without a sound.

Cho rolled again and came up to his knees to return fire. Viethman jumped for the nearest pillar but the beam caught him a glancing shot and the captured gun dropped free.

“Veithman!” Ninu shouted and ran to the kneeling giant, who clutched his burnt shoulder.

“Now I’m really pissed!” he said through his teeth and the stench of burnt flesh. The shot had burned straight through his biceps, cauterising the wound so that there was little blood.

“Cho! He obey my order! Immediately!” the Patriarch cried in the highest-pitched tones he was capable of.

“Yes! As you wish, my Lord!” Cho snarled. He left his cover reluctantly, threw his weapon to the ground and sent it to the far corner of the hall with a mighty kick.

“The creatures follow me,” he said in a dangerous voice.

*

Cho considered assaulting the humans again, but the twelve of them and Ghinn were aboard the ships before a suitable opportunity presented itself. Brennan, Ninu Gardna, Veithman Wolsh and two crewmembers of the Aladna climbed up into the jump-ship. Elena Kho, Ban Danna and Halga Giller and the others from the Aladna boarded the AP Rhonda Crave.

They also took Ghinn t’Whht because they reckoned that no Split would dare to fire on a ship the Patriarch’s bond-wife was on. Clever – Cho had to admit that this tactical manoeuvre would probably prove successful. Both ships were more or less safe, since no one would fire at the jump-ship either.

Danna and Brennan piloting the ships immediately engaged engines, forcing Cho to scurry for cover. The hot breath of the exhausts knocked him from his feet, towards a small interceptor ship. He took it as a sign. He didn’t know what the Patriarch would order but it would not be wrong to track the escaping ships, be at hand if mistakes presented themselves for exploitation.

It took him a little time to adjust to the sensitive controls but he soon had the fleeing ships on the Gravidar. The Communication system signalled an incoming call – voice only as these small interceptors kept the inessentials to a minimum.

“Cho! I order him to destroy both ships!”

Cho didn’t say anything. Ahead Brennan’s ship was already in optical range, a rapidly brightening dot against the darker blue of Nif-Nakh’s thinning atmosphere. The Argon spaceship Rhonda Crave was even closer. Stars emerged and the eternal green of the jungle blurred into the red of the far away ocean on the horizon. It was a ravishing sight. If he just could…

“Cho! Cho t’Nnt!” the Patriarch’s voice called again. “He hear me?”

“My Lord, your bond-wife Ghinn t’Whht is onboard the Argon spaceship.”

The Patriarch’s voice almost cracked with outrage. “She’s a traitor! I’ve just read her letter. She is planning rebellion and deserves death. He destroy the ships. He destroy them! He hear me?”

“Yes, milord.” Cho was completely calm now, as if whatever happened now was not his responsibility. The Argon ship was in reach of his weapons and he charged the heavy laser and opened fire without any hesitation.

*

“Combat alarm!” Valerie shouted.

“No kidding,” Brennan sighed. Valerie correctly decided that this was a cynical comment that didn’t require an answer. Instead, she opened another view field to display the stern camera image. A small interceptor craft had scrambled and was just opening fire at the Rhonda Crave, trailing the X by a few kilometres. The attacker had also fired a cruise missile; it was homing quickly onto the X.

It didn’t bother Brennan, the powerful 125 MW shield of the X should be able to cope with it easily – but what about the Rhonda Crave? Why did they fire at her although the Patriarch’s wife was a hostage onboard?

“Valerie – how long can the Rhonda’s shields stand up?”

“A couple of minutes at the most Captain,” the computer replied curtly. Brennan didn’t think long. Ninu was on board the X and Elena on the Rhonda. He couldn’t abandon Elena, not even as the price for Ninu’s life! Either he would save them both or they’d all die here and now.

He forced the X into a sharp curve that strained frame and compensators to their limits. Perhaps he could distract the Split interceptor long enough to enable the Rhonda Crave to escape – at least for the time being.

“Captain – a Teladi vessel is closing in!” Valerie shouted while a colourful blur spun around the ship: the dark blue of the sky, the green of the jungle and the red of the oceans. Brennan paused. Teladi – here? Never mind; it would have to wait. In 90 seconds he would be sitting on the Split interceptor’s tail. A long 90 seconds.

A view field opened above the instrument panel. From the corner of his eyes, Brennan saw that it was a Teladi. Wait – wasn’t that…?

“Nopileos?”

“Correct, oh Captain Kyle-William Brennan! Is the star warrior aboard your ship?”
“The what?” Brennan was confused – what was the Teladi doing here? At this point in time, he should be in quite a different corner of the universe! “Nope, she isn’t,” he answered with some delay. “Elena is aboard the Argon vessel over there. No time now – gotta help her.” Brennan focused his attention to the shuttle’s controls again. He didn’t want to imagine what would happen to his passengers in the freight bay should the inertia compensators fail, even for just a few moments. Probably, they were shaken up enough already.

“Valerie, do you see the Teladi ship somewhere?” he asked when there was no further word from Nopileos. From the corner of his eye he noticed that the video connection had already been terminated.

“Yes, I do, Captain. The Nyana’s Fortune is coming in low from the south-east and will rise above the horizon in nine seconds.” Valerie backed her words by trailing a string of co-ordinates across the display. The Ceo’s Yacht was closing in at speeds not recommended for atmospheric flight.

The stern camera showed the lone Split interceptor still at the same relative distance, relentlessly pounding the Rhonda Crave. Shields? Not much anymore, already rounds were penetrating through to the hull. Damn! Brennan wished he could fire now, but the X, only being able to fire straight ahead, had not yet completed the large curve that would bring her behind the interceptor.

“The Nyana’s Fortune is approaching. I have submitted the most relevant information to her on-board computer,” Valerie said.

Brennan looked at the gravidar and the blip represented the young Teladi’s ship – and inhaled sharply. The Yacht was coming in way too fast and was even accelerating! What was Nopileos planning to do?

“Valerie… what is he doing there?”

“It seems as if he was trying to cut right through the interceptor’s course to drive against it.”

“He’s trying to – what?”

“Crash into it,” Valerie patiently explained.

Brennan didn’t want to trust his eyes and ears. Why in all the world would the Teladi ram the Split interceptor? If he wanted to help the X, why didn’t he use his weapons?

“Get me Nopileos!” Brennan shouted. “Quick!” The young saurian’s face appeared on the view field again. “Nopileos, what do you think you’re doing? Why don’t you use your lasers?”

“I would like that, oh Captain Kyle-William Brennan, but this ship of mine isn’t equipped with lasers.” Nopileos replied. His scale plate was a dark green and his pupils, tiny slits. “I’m going to hit the interceptor. Probability of shield breach is only at 67% Inanias asserts. The shields of the Nyana can take anything!”

“Nopileos, don’t do it!” Brennan implored but the Teladi shook his head in a very human manner.

“Oh captain, my friend, the star warrior Elena, is aboard that vessel! I’ve got to save her! Bansai!”

Brennan looked out the window. The Nyana’s Fortune came in from three o’clock, at a shallow angle, engines flaring. She was so fast that the atmosphere – although thin at this altitude - fired her shields incandescent.

“Nopileos – don’t!”

The course of the Yacht was calculated very precisely. It wasn’t until now that the Split aboard the interceptor noticed the large, egg-shaped ship headed directly for him, still accelerating. He ceased fire and began changing his trajectory.

With a terminal velocity that Valerie’s data fields showed to be several thousand km/h, the Nyana, shields radiant, slammed into Cho’s fighter. The comparatively tiny interceptor didn’t stand the slightest chance. For a fragment of a second, the shields of both ships overlapped like two soap bubbles penetrating each other. Just before the interceptor collapsed in a glowing, iridescent cloud, its dying shields tore a huge hole in the hull of the Teladi Yacht. Like a knife with a dull blade, the energy hacked through one of the four Boron ion engines.

The large, egg-shaped ship fell tumbling through the disintegrating remains of the interceptor, now nothing more than a cloud of glittering debris and dust. Then, the damaged ion engine detonated with a mighty flash. The Nyana’s Fortune staggered heavily with her symmetrical thrust disrupted. The ship fell burning in a shallow angle towards Nif-Nakh’s surface.

Horror-struck, Brennan saw Nopileos viciously torn from his seat at the moment of the explosion. Everything happened so fast that the poor Teladi didn’t even have the time to cry out in terror. The view-field continued showing an empty pilot seat that was now madly vibrating. A falling instrument panel crashed into it.

A few seconds later the Nyana’s Fortune began plowing through the more dense layers of the atmosphere, burning like a torch. Brennan saw yellow and red flames flare up in the cockpit of the crashing ship, then the video connection abruptly terminated.

He had no time to agonise. The Gravidar and the stern camera showed the Rhonda Crave battered by the explosive turbulence but it still held together, its shields flickering but intact.

“Damn,” Brennan murmured when a host of new blips came up on the Gravidar. That was a whole flotilla of ships coming – Valerie would be sounding combat alarm any moment now! The sky grew darker, black eventually, and space embraced both ships again.

Brennan caught the first exchange of fire with his naked eye. What the…? The Gravidar blips swelled rapidly in size. A Split Destroyer stormed in from below, all weapons blazing. The X took some heavy blows but the destroyer itself disintegrated into fire. A second blip separated itself from the destroyer’s Gravidar return and an Argon Battleship swept across Brennan’s bow.

A view-field opened and a terse Argon with alert eyes appeared. “Captain Brennan, Agent Danna. This is the 26th Combat Unit at your service.”

“Yeah!” Brennan heard Ban Danna cheer through the intercom connection. His voice was metallic and over modulated, but full of enthusiasm.

The Argon on the view field grinned. “You may want to give the Xenon their due credit, Agent Danna,” he said. “If they hadn’t allowed us to defeat them so quickly we wouldn’t be here now.”

It took Brennan a few seconds to let this information, which had been thrown at him almost casually, sink. The Xenon – defeated?

“Yup, that’s right!”, the Argon said in response to Brennan’s questioning eyes. “But more about that later. We’re going to escort you out of here first. The Split are presently running amuck, but our firepower should be superior to that of their few ships, at least for the moment. So hold on to your helmets, Sirs – it may become a little shaky after all.”

With these words, the comms channel closed.

punchbag
Posts: 46
Joined: Sun, 5. Feb 06, 09:06
x3

Post by punchbag » Sun, 19. Feb 06, 14:03

Wicked Sick!!!!! :thumb_up: :thumb_up: :thumb_up:

Snokid
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x2

Post by Snokid » Sun, 19. Feb 06, 21:39

Thank you

KiwiNZ
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x4

Post by KiwiNZ » Sun, 19. Feb 06, 21:52

most welcome :)

The_Hypo
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x3tc

Post by The_Hypo » Sun, 19. Feb 06, 22:17

Love it! :thumb_up:

Bye :)

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Mastermue
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x3ap

Post by Mastermue » Tue, 21. Feb 06, 16:19

Marvellous! :D :thumb_up:

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