 
THE CHRONICLES OF SOONE

WARRIOR RISING

BY

JAMES SOMERS

www.jamessomers.blogspot.com

2011© James Somers

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PROLOGUE

Year 9015: Planet Castai

Within the massive flagship of the Baruk space fleet, a nightmare sat upon a throne. Kale stood completely erect before his master, Lucin. "You summoned me, my lord?"

Completely black eyes measured Kale. When Lucin spoke, his voice echoed throughout the chamber. Kale seemed ready to start shaking. He tried to remain cool and collected—difficult considering the person he stood before.

"Kale Soone, son of the king of the Barudii, I want you to accompany our survey team down to the planet," Lucin commanded. "Since you were the one who provided us with the means to defeat your father and his Barudii warriors, I assumed you would want to survey your handiwork."

Lucin smiled the entire time. "The Barudii have been defeated, the battle is over?" Kale asked.

Regret was written all over the boy's face. Kale wished he had not allowed his pride push him to such traitorous action. If only there were some way out. Too late for that now—the deed was done.

Lucin came down from his throne walking toward Kale. He towered over the teenage boy by a good six inches. "We've had a marvelous victory, Kale," he said. "And that victory is all thanks to your willingness to turn against your father."

The words cut Kale to the heart. "Was that what I did?" he said.

"Oh yes. We are in your debt, young man. Why, without your complete betrayal of your people, we never would have been able to destroy your father and his forces. The victory we have gained today will allow us to take the entire planet of Castai."

Kale looked pale now.

"Go on, son of Kale the first. Go down to your home world and see what your pride has accomplished for the enemies of your people."

Lucin grinned as Kale walked toward the door of his throne room. One of the Baruk officers met him at the door. Lucin called after him, "Lieutenant, please see that our young warrior gets a thorough look at the battlefield. I don't want him to miss out on any of our conquest."

☼

Such devastation, it was like nothing Kale had ever laid his eyes on before. Bodies were piled upon one another and strewn throughout the entire valley before Mt. Vaseer. The ground was soaked with the blood of his people. Birds of prey launched skyward as he walked through the aftermath. Most of the dead were from Kale's own clan, the Barudii. He had known many of these people personally. They had looked to him as the next in line for the throne. Their pale faces and lifeless eyes condemned him now.

He wandered between bodies for nearly six hours. His boots were stained red as he splashed through puddles of Barudii blood. Around him, the murderers of his clan retreated from the battlefield; the dark skinned Vorn and their vicious brute clones, the Horva. Yet they did not lay a finger to harm him—why would they? After all, he was the one who had led them here—had given them the information necessary to make all of this possible. He was a villainous traitor. He belonged among their enemies now.

"Master Kale?" one of the Vorn commanders called. "You had better find a transport to take you back to our Lord's flagship. We'll be departing soon to join the fleet. You don't want to keep him waiting."

Kale paused in his search. "I will be along shortly," he said.

The soldier went on about his business, rounding up the Horva for departure. Their work here was finished.

Kale searched more frantically now. He had to find him, had to know if all of this was really happening, or merely some nightmare. Near the front lines, Kale saw it on the ground. The diadem was pure adomen—a costly, durable alloy bearing a luster all its own. The single azure jewel normally mounted on the front was missing.

Very near, Kale found his body—the owner of the crown and King of the Barudii. This was his father, his namesake—the man whom he had betrayed into the hands of the Vorn and Baruk. His bloodstained expression was strangely peaceful. Kale could not take his eyes off of him. He felt frozen in place, frozen in time. Could this really have been what I wanted, he wondered? Is this my prize, my victory for the humiliation that was brought upon me?

He shut his eyes and turned away from the face, but it was still there, piercing his soul. He considered his mother and his younger brother, Tiet. How horribly had they died? His brother had only been in his eighth year—ten years the younger.

He heard the troop transports power up and ready for take-off as the last of the enemy combatants made their way aboard. Many ships to choose from, but none of them contained any friendly faces for him. He began to walk away and thought of looking back to take in one last glimpse of his father, but he could not do it. He didn't have to—Kale had a feeling his father's face, its expression cast in death, would haunt him for the rest of his days.

Kale boarded one of the transport ships, carrying thousands of Vorn and Horva, and stood next to a view port. The massacre was less personal from the air. He was the only survivor of the Barudii clan—the only survivor and a traitor. He felt like pulling his blade and stabbing it into his heart, to kill the soul wrenching agony before it could begin its feast, but he didn't have the courage.

He sat on the floor against the wall of the ship's troop compartment among a hundred smelly Horva brutes. His Barudii clan had been the guardians of Castai's people. Now those people would be ripe for conquest by the Vorn and their masters, the Baruk.

REBELLION

Year 9027: Planet Castai

The sky burned red like fire and so did his emotions. A lone figure watched from his perch as people scurried to their homes on the streets below—curfew was approaching. Military personnel were stationed in threes on every major path to ensure obedience.

He watched them below, hating them. A security camera's gears whined as it swiveled on its mount next to him, looking for miscreants. He was almost in view, but not quite.

They weren't going to see him tonight. He would be a shadow, a nightmare that strikes and is gone before the senses can capture it. Orin would be angry, of course. He had been before, but now Tiet was older, now he was ready.

The Vorn cloning facility stood in view above the far rooftop—that place where monsters are bred. That's what they used to kill my people.

The next rooftop stood all the way across the wide path below. When no one appeared to be looking, he leaped away from the ledge, somersaulted and landed on the rooftop ledge on the other side of the path. Utilizing the Way had its benefits. He could move objects with his mind or enhance his own movements. He could fight like a whirlwind, or creep upon his enemies like a shadow. He wanted to finally put his training to use. Years ago, his people had been protectors on Castai. If only they hadn't been massacred. The Vorn would not be their taskmasters now.

Tiet sensed the motion of the cameras and spotted them easily. He waited for them to leave a dead space in their visual field for him then he ran through to the other side of the rooftop. The cloning facility towered above him—the jump to reach it would be too much, even using the Way. The paths had cleared with the onset of curfew. He could run across now. Tiet dropped off of the building, a full two hundred feet to the ground.

While in the air, Tiet noticed a Vorn soldier emerging from a door below. He adjusted his fall slightly and came down right behind the man using his mind to soften his landing. His hand cupped the soldier's mouth. With a quick jerk of his arm, the man's neck snapped. He dropped the enemy to the ground as the body went limp. Tiet left him, hoping he would be long gone before anyone discovered the body.

He ran across the empty walkways to the fence on the other side. He jumped over its top with little effort, but another layer of fencing stood on the other side. The sign warned intruders of electrocution. No bother—Using his mind, Tiet helped his muscles propel him over. This is almost too easy, he thought.

☼

On a security panel inside the cloning complex, a warning flashed. Data began to pour onto the screen. The security officer examined the information. Sometimes, small animals triggered the pressure relays located all over the grounds of the complex, but not this time. The weight given at the trigger point registered one hundred and fifty five pounds.

He punched in his security code to activate the silent alarm and brought up scanning and video devices on his display. It took a moment, but then he saw him. A man was entering the building through one of the air vents. The security officer brought up a schematic for the complex and zoomed in on that particular air duct. It traveled through an area of the detention center and then came out near the main laboratory area. "Gotcha!" he crowed.

☼

"Identify."

"Dr. Ranul K'ore, Chief Science Engineer, Sector Seven."

"Visual and voice recognition confirmed," said the robot.

The Sentinel robots were standard fare around the labs with this special project in the works. Metal bodies mingled with composite plastics—they were tough enough to get the job done, just not nearly as sophisticated as what he was working on now. The metal door slid open and Ranul walked past the automaton into the main lab.

Ranul's nineteen-year-old daughter had been imprisoned along with his wife, Ellai, to pressure him into building war machines for the Vorn. If he refused, he might never see his family again. He tried to push away the pain, turning to continue his work.

He typed the final program sequences on a keypad, arming the weapons systems of his latest Sentinel prototype. As Vorn scientists watched his every move, Ranul finished complex algorithms for the Sentinel's combat systems then transmitted the files into the cyborg's expansive memory. A few of Ranul's engineering specialists mingled among the Vorn scientists running diagnostic checks on the prototype systems.

Ranul had modeled the exterior appearance, from skeletal structure all the way to muscle positions and skin features, after a young Barudii he had known long ago. Looking at the new Sentinel, he realized just how much it did look like his old friend, Orin Vale. Despite the prototype being a weapon under the control of his enemies, Ranul couldn't help but take pride in his work. He had done what many thought would never work. He had built a robotic warrior nearly as unstoppable as the old Barudii warriors themselves. Still, it would be used for Lucin's purposes.

As the robot's CPU began to run through its programming and perform systems diagnostic checks, Ranul watched the Vorn in the room. The enemy scientists all looked very pleased with their new soldier. He wondered for a moment what the consequences of all this would be for his people and his family. He whispered his wife's name with regret. Ellai, what have I done?

☼

The air duct wasn't as roomy as Tiet would have liked, but he could still get through. A constant stream of wind passed over him, making it hard to hear what any voices said from the adjoining rooms along the way. He scooted along, hoping he might find something that he could sabotage in order to thwart Vorn control over the city. Rebellion against Lucin and the Vorn would take many people willing to fight, but it had to start somewhere.

Tiet came to a vent screen made of a particularly heavy meshwork. When he looked inside, he saw what appeared to be a holding cell. A small group of adolescents sat on the concrete floor inside. A few younger boys and girls and one older girl about his age made up the group. The only facilities in the room were a small dirty sink basin and a toilet with a blanket hanging across as some semblance of privacy.

The front of the cell was barred with heavier meshwork and a half sized door—which meant they had to get down on their knees to get out—if they were ever allowed to.

Tiet's scabbard scraped the roof of the duct. It was too difficult to maneuver in the tunnel and get to his blade. Instead, he removed a kemstick from his vest. The hilt was about twelve inches long—three feet long fully extended. The adomen rod hummed gently.

Such were the properties of adomen, an alloy mixing silver with adon and carbite. Its densely packed molecules lived in such an excited state that the metal atomized anything it came into contact with. Only the presence of electromagnetic fields could keep it stable. Honis Kem, a Barudii living over one hundred years ago had developed the kemstick from adomen after working for years to produce the Barudii blades used by warriors of his clan.

Tiet pressed his face against the vent, looking down on the children in the cell. He tapped lightly with the hilt of his weapon on the floor of the air vent. The older girl looked around then up at him. She started when she saw a person behind the vent screen.

"I'm going to get you out," he whispered. "Is it all clear?"

The girl stared at him, not giving anything away by gesture. The other children in the cell were now looking up to see where the voice was coming from. One young boy started to cry out, but the older girl cupped his mouth quickly to prevent him from alerting the guards.

She gestured only, putting her finger to her mouth to shush the children. Then she quietly walked near the front of the cell and looked down the hall beyond—no one was coming. When she walked back to the other children and gestured to calm them again, she looked up and nodded to him.

Tiet brought the kemstick hilt up in a stabbing fashion and then extended the adomen rod. The shaft punched through the metal around the vent like a hot knife through butter.

He grabbed the mesh plate with his fingers and proceeded to cut around it in a circle large enough to get the older girl through. The metal popped and sizzled as the field destroyed molecular bonds, carving through the wall of the vent pipe until he was done.

Tiet laid the cut piece up ahead of the hole and reached his arms down in order to help the children up.

"We can't reach," whispered the older girl.

"Don't worry."

Without warning, one of the children began to levitate off the floor. She thought they might scream and gestured for them all to remain quiet—assuring them it was all right.

The child rose up quietly into the hole. Tiet caught hold of each, pulling them inside. He pressed against the side wall just enough to allow them to pass and get behind him.

The girl walked to the front of the cell wanting to be sure no guards were coming—no one yet. Behind her, the children each took their turn, seven in all, and rose up through the charred hole with the help of their mysterious rescuer.

"Come on," he whispered.

The older girl walked underneath the hole. Invisible hands seized the girl and lifted her up to Tiet waiting to receive her inside the tunnel. He had short dark hair like midnight and dark piercing eyes. When Tiet grabbed her hands, she gauged his strength.

Tiet pulled her inside the air duct and pressed his body back to allow her to pass—she was larger than the young children, making for a tight squeeze.

"Who are you?" she whispered.

"Tiet Soone. And you?"

"Mirah K'ore. Are you insane? How did you get in here?"

"Don't worry, I'm a Barudii warrior," he said confidently.

She didn't seem impressed by it. "I didn't think there were any Barudii left." She didn't wait for the reply, scooting her body past him.

She's sort of feisty, he thought. He also noticed she was pretty beneath the grime of her incarceration.

"What now?" she asked.

"Go back down this shaft and it will lead you to the outside. Take this kemstick," he said, handing Mirah the retracted weapon. "Run for the fence. This will allow you to cut through and get off the grounds. Just be quiet and stick to the unlit areas. You should be all right. I didn't see any guards on the way in."

"Then what?"

"If you can get to a home, maybe they'll hide you until you can get back to your families."

"Where are you going?"

"I still have some business to attend to. Now get going."

The children began their slithering back along the air duct with Mirah behind them. Tiet crawled on over the hole he had made and continued through the duct ahead.

☼

In a moment, a guard appeared in front of the cell. He couldn't believe what he saw. Where are the prisoners? He grabbed his throat—something unseen choked him. His eyes bugged as he tried to breathe. Orin's fist tightened in the shadows, watching while the guard struggled and then collapsed—his trachea crushed by an invisible grip.

Orin looked up at the charred hole in the ceiling of the detention cell. Careless, just plain careless and inexperienced, he thought. He sighed and moved on, using the shadows to his advantage. Those children are going to need help to get out of here safely. He would have to deal with his protégé soon enough.

☼

Tiet passed more cells as he continued his crawl through the ventilation system of the cloning facility. Every other room appeared to be empty. When he finally reached the end of the shaft, Tiet found it capped by a wire grill.

Beyond the vent screen, he saw a massive room full of all manner of technologies. Clusters of cloning pods hung from great robotic arms mounted to the ceiling. This must be where they grow the Horva.

Only one detail was missing from the chamber. There were no clones, none at all. In fact the entire chamber was completely devoid of activity. A series of large tanks with various chemical names printed on their sides stood in the distant portion of the great room. The fluid tanks were transparent and empty.

A control chamber sat near the tanks. Maybe I can get some useful information from their computers. Tiet pressed his body against the screen and then gave it a good solid push. It gave way and almost fell onto the floor before he could grab it.

Nothing moved in the room. Tiet climbed out of the ventilation tube and replaced the screen in case someone happened by. He crossed the floor of the huge chamber cautiously, looking for camera mounts. There were a few, but he waited and used the large equipment to stay hidden from their field of view.

Tiet made it about halfway to the control chamber when doors at the four corners of the room opened up. Vorn soldiers rushed in with clones. The fiendish, crazed looking men were purposely mutated in size and strength during the cloning process. Their fingers had sharp claws and their teeth were predatory. There was no fear in their eyes. They charged at Tiet, howling savagely.

The lights in the chamber flickered and went out. Emergency lighting immediately kicked in. The soldiers looked around wondering what had happened, but the Horva had no such concerns. They continued to charge.

Tiet pulled his Barudii blade from the electromagnetically shielded scabbard strapped to his back. The adomen blade hummed like a whisper, desiring to shatter the molecular bonds of anything the metal touched. Shots rang out from the soldiers further away, but they weren't firing at Tiet. He saw another blade catch the light, becoming a blur as the dark figure wielding it swooped in from the ceiling and began taking down the guards. Tiet recognized his mentor immediately.

As the Horva lunged for him, Tiet struck the first in front of him then somersaulted over another attacking from the rear. Two strikes cut the clone down.

The other soldiers, not engaged with Orin, began to fire at everyone: the two Barudii, the Horva and even each other from across the room. It was hard to tell who was fighting who in the half light. More clones rushed Tiet and were cut down by their own panicked handlers—shooting anything that moved. Tiet threw three spicor discs each killing another clone. The discs exploded into three-foot-diameter blue spheres, vaporizing anything caught in the fields. Orin eliminated the soldiers on the other side of the chamber then came to Tiet's aid.

One of the brutes lost an arm to Tiet's sword, but continued his attack with the other arm. The bloodthirsty clone landed a fist to his head knocking him to the ground. Orin appeared behind the brute, striking him down immediately.

Orin helped the boy to his feet. Tiet knew by Orin's expression that he was in big trouble with his mentor. Bodies lay strewn on the floor all around them in the chamber. An alarm began to wail throughout the building.

"You see? This is why I told you never to come here!" Orin shouted.

The middle-aged Barudii warrior stood a head taller than Tiet with a muscular build. His hair held the gray of experience and his face the scars of war.

"I know, but I couldn't just stand around doing nothing. Our people are dying!" Tiet pleaded.

"Yes, you can. What do you think you've accomplished here? You've set off alarms. You're probably being monitored right now. And you might have gotten those children killed, if I hadn't intercepted them and helped them get off of the premises safely. You're reckless Tiet. Just plain reckless!"

"It's still better than doing nothing! Father wouldn't want me to do nothing!"

"Your father would want you to stay alive...now get out of here, while I buy you some time."

"Wait, Orin—haven't you noticed there aren't any Horva in production here? This chamber didn't have anything happening."

"So?"

"So, those tanks over there—they shouldn't be bone dry, not if they're still in use."

Orin looked around to see what he was referring to.

"Maybe they can't make them right now," Tiet reasoned. "This might be our chance to rally the people and drive the Vorn out while they're weak."

Tiet was right about the clones at least. It appeared as though there had not been any clone production for some time. Orin considered the boy as the alarm continued to blare overhead.

"Please, Orin. We have to at least try."

"Come on," Orin grumbled. "I know someone who might be able to help us."

UPRISING

Ranul awoke to the annoying voice of his computer attempting to alert him to an incoming priority message. He sat up groggily in his bed as the display flashed in his eyes. He noticed the time was now three hours after nightfall.

"Ranul, K'ore," he said to the computer.

"Identified."

The visual message flashed onto the screen instantly. Governor Kisch K'ta's handsome, dark face appeared on the screen—a man from among the Vorn clan who ruled Castai during its occupation. The difference in skin tone among the human clans had long been a source of conflict and had played a big part in the outbreak of war. Still, Kisch K'ta had remained formally pleasant with Ranul as long as he obeyed.

"Ranul, I want the prototype Sentinel to report to the cloning facility at once," said the governor.

"Has something happened that—"

"It's none of your concern," he interrupted. "Have the android report to my office immediately."

The transmission link snapped off before Ranul could inquire any further. He knew something big must have happened for Kisch K'ta to put the android into action now. Still, there was no choice but to comply. He knew all too well the consequences of disobedience to the Vorn.

Ranul threw on his clothes without formality and made his way down the corridor. He identified himself with the robot guard in order to gain access into the main lab. As the lights flicked on, he walked over to the Sentinel's power dock and addressed the prototype robot by the code name imprinted on its memory.

"Vale."

"Yes, Dr. K'ore," the android responded politely.

"Governor Kisch K'ta, demands your presence at the cloning facility. Please report immediately to his office there."

"Yes, Dr. K'ore," said the robot.

Without further inquiry, the android removed itself from the power dock and proceeded out of the lab. Ranul admired his work, but took no pleasure at the thought of such a weapon in the hands of the Vorn. The android moved fluidly, even gracefully—like the warrior it was designed to resemble. It seemed almost as though one of the long dead Barudii warriors was alive again. But this one's mission had nothing to do with protecting Castai.

Ranul's stomach growled with hunger. I Might as well have something to eat, since I'm up anyway. When he exited the lab, the android was already gone. Only the lone robot guard stood there. Ranul walked back to his onsite quarters with thoughts of late night snacks and Kisch K'ta's strange middle-of-the-night request, all swirling in his head.

The automatic door opened then shut behind him as he made his way straight to the food compartment. He jumped as hands wrapped around his upper arm and mouth.

"Don't scream," a male voice whispered into his ear. "It's Orin, your old friend. Remember?"

Ranul paled with lingering fright as Orin released him and they faced each other for the first time in years.

"Orin? But I thought...I thought you were all killed by the Horva years ago at the battle of Vaseer."

"Not exactly," Orin said.

☼

Down the hall, a robot guard came to life as its auditory sensors caught trigger phrases from Ranul's domicile. It rolled on its dual tracks toward Ranul's apartment. Someone was with the doctor, but they were not authorized.

Ranul's door chimed then began to open even before he could answer it. Beyond, a Sentinel guard stood with his pulse weapon raised into the room. As the door cleared the robot's body, a Barudii blade shot out of the shadows toward the guard. The figure wielding it was a blur of motion, dissecting the robot's weapon hand, then plunging the adomen blade through its torso. The Sentinel's appendages went limp as Tiet's sword fried its central processor.

"We should go now," Tiet said as he replaced the blade in its scabbard.

"Your young friend is right," Ranul said. "The Sentinels share a collective mind. What one knows, they all know. They're no doubt sending more units to this location right now."

"I need to know about the clones," Orin insisted. "Why aren't the Vorn still producing Horva?"

"They can't produce anymore right now, at least not until the fleet arrives. They'll bring us more supplies—equipment and chemical matrix to produce them."

"Is it this way in all of our cities?"

"As far as I know, but the fleet is due to arrive in a matter of days."

"You had better come with us," Orin said.

"Did you really think I would stay here now?" Ranul said as he gathered items into a knapsack.

Tiet led the way out of the room into the corridor. Another Sentinel rounded the corner and fired. Tiet's body sprang upward reflexively, pressing flat against the ceiling, using his mind to cling like a spider. He cleared the path of the laser fire just in time.

Orin stepped into the corridor with his blade drawn. A wrist-mounted electromagnetic shield generator repelled the Sentinel's pulse laser fire. Tiet sprang away from the ceiling toward the robot. When Tiet planted his feet on the ground again, the severed upper half of the Sentinel followed suit. They wasted no time heading up a nearby ventilation shaft. Soon, they emerged onto the roof of the cloning complex.

"Now where do we go?" Ranul asked.

"This will buy us a little time," Orin said. "Tiet, what do you see?"

Tiet ran along the edge of the building. "I see a small transport down here off the west side. It looks empty!"

Orin and Ranul joined him on the western wall of the building. Large environmental conditioning units squatted on the roof, groaning as they cooled the air inside the complex.

"I can't make that jump, Orin," Ranul said. "It must be at least fifty feet."

"Just hold on!" Orin grabbed hold of his friend then jumped over the ledge. Tiet followed them down using the Way to land softly next to the transport. Orin released the cockpit lock with a thought, gaining them quick access to the vehicle. Orin followed Ranul inside then Tiet jumped behind the flight controls and closed the sliding canopy behind them. He ignited the engine as Ranul and Orin fastened their harnesses then they sped off into the night.

Patrol ships and a Sentinel carrier descended from different directions toward the lab complex behind them. The craft they had stolen was a low altitude transport speeder—quick but with no armor or weapons. Still, it was adequate to get them out of the city and into the open terrain beyond.

"Where to now?" Tiet asked.

"I'm not sure yet," Orin said, "but we've got to stop those reinforcements from arriving."

"Tell your young friend to take us to Vaseer" Ranul said.

"But that city has been deserted for years!"

Ranul smiled. "Oh, really?"

☼

The security recordings played on several screens before Governor Kisch K'ta as his advisors briefed him on unfolding events. Setaru' lek spoke in the tongue of the Vorn concerning a mysterious rebel on the loose.

"And here, Governor—the footage from the cloning room. His weapon—"

"Is the weapon of a Barudii warrior—yes, I remember," interrupted Kisch K'ta. "But we wiped them all out years ago. I led the attack that day. We swept the cities and the battlefield for survivors. There were no human life signatures detected. Besides, this one is too young to have been in that battle."

"With all due respect, we are not prepared for an uprising," said Setaru' lek. "Our supplies are exhausted and we can't produce anymore clones until supplies arrive. This person might try to gain support from the people. We could have a rebellion on our hands."

"I am aware of our situation here," Kisch K'ta said. "However, attempting to get the fleet fully prepared and through the rift any sooner than scheduled is impossible. We haven't even been able to reestablish contact yet."

The door to the governor's office chimed. Kisch K'ta touched the panel on his desk, allowing the door to slide open. In the doorway, stood the image of a Barudii warrior.

"Come in, android."

The mechanical warrior moved gracefully into the room.

"I want you to scan all the data we have on this matter, android. Then I want you to destroy this person and anyone who may be involved in his rebellion. Nothing must interfere with the arrival of the fleet. Is that clear?"

"Completely, Governor."

The Vale android walked to the control panel and quickly tapped the panel to play all the recorded data being viewed by Governor Kisch K'ta. The images simultaneously played in high speed as the Vale android scanned it all into memory.

"Data acquisition is complete, Governor Kisch K'ta."

"Then go and do not fail me."

"Understood," Vale said. The android left the room as they watched, wondering at how lifelike the machine seemed.

"Governor, do you think that thing can defeat the Barudii?" asked one of his aides.

"No one has positively identified this man as a Barudii warrior!" he bellowed, slamming a fist down on his desk.

"And if he is?" Setaru' lek asked.

"I don't know," said Kisch K'ta, discouraged. "If the android can only delay a rebellion until the fleet comes through the rift then it will be enough."

☼

Vale walked to the hangar bay where a transport was already waiting for him. He acquired the code key from one of the attendants and slipped inside the one man cockpit. The model was small and fast. In a moment, Vale scanned all the control systems into memory then fired up the engine for departure.

In his android mind all related files regarding the human rebel and the attacks which had taken place correlated. Recently updated reports had fed into his CPU on his way to the hangar. Dr. K'ore was apparently involved now. According to Governor Kisch K'ta even Dr. K'ore qualified as a viable target because of his association with the human rebel. Another report of a stolen transport piqued his interest. It seemed a good starting point for his investigation.

Vale engaged the ship's thrusters and proceeded toward the west side of the complex where the stolen transport had been docked when it was taken. He arrived at the site within moments then climbed out of his ship to scan the area for any trace evidence.

Vale adjusted his micro-optics appropriately. A particle trail appeared. This was just what he needed to acquire his target. The ionization pattern matched the type of transport that had been reported stolen.

Vale got back to his ship then proceeded to follow the ionization trail his optics had picked up. It led through the city and then appeared to head into the wasteland area beyond. All he had to do was to follow and surprise his prey.

Vale urged the engine to maximum thrust. Hovering three feet from the ground, his transport flew into the wasteland. His mind became a blur of calculations, reading maps and plotting speed and distance to possible destinations where the targets may have sought refuge. Vale also focused his attention on weaknesses and tactics used to bring down Barudii warriors.

☼

Orin, Tiet and Ranul left the stolen transport behind at the base of Mt. Vaseer. It took them a full two hours of hiking to make there way along the treacherous mountain pass leading to Vaseer's side gates. The gates to the city were well hidden by the rough terrain and only accessible on foot.

Once great cities like Vaseer had been left to decay following the war. The pathway leading up to the gates was wide and much of the intricate carvings on the walls remained intact. As they drew closer to the city gate, Tiet examined the ornate stonework by the light of Castai's moon. A rich culture he could barely remember lay before him. His mind wondered with excitement, wondering what the city must have been like when his clan was prosperous, respected and alive.

They came to an intricately fashioned metal gate set within the rock. It was heavily covered with rust. Orin drew his sword then used it to slice through the interlocking mechanism so the gates would swing freely. He and Tiet attempted to move them manually, but to no avail. "Those hinges up there are completely frozen," Ranul said.

"Tiet, you take one side and I'll pull the other," Orin said.

Both men stepped back enough to give the gate room to open, then each of them concentrated on one of the gates with their minds. Slowly the heavy doors began to creak and moan as the rust and metal popped and gave way to the mental power exerted upon them. The gates swung wide and stopped when the two Barudii released them. The carved archway led to total darkness beyond. "Ranul, are you sure somebody is living here now?" Orin asked.

"Of course I'm sure. I imagine they must stay in the lower levels just in case the Vorn ever patrol this far out. Here, take this torch," he said pointing.

Orin removed the old gas torch from the side of the archway entrance and depressed the fuel trigger. It ignited immediately.

"Apparently it's been used recently," Tiet observed.

Orin led the way inside the mountain. The torch gave minimal light, but it was at least enough to see where they were going. Almost immediately the path began a downward descent into the mountain. It was wide enough and tall enough to allow many people at once and Tiet wondered again what it must have been like to live in a place like this. The men proceeded quietly and cautiously. Ranul's footsteps made more noise than the other two men combined.

A quick flash of metal decapitated Orin's torch, knocking it from his hand. The gas burner continued to cast a dim light from the ground where it landed as shadows moved along the walls. Orin and Tiet drew their blades and moved in close to guard defenseless Ranul from attack. Several dark figures advanced from the shadows, slashing at the three men with swords. Tiet and Orin defended, realizing their attackers had Barudii blades as well.

"We're not your enemies!" Ranul shouted over the noisy clanging of swords. "These men are Barudii warriors!"

The two figures attacking Orin backed away, but remained ready. Tiet and his opponent exchanged strikes at rapid fire pace. They seemed oblivious to the sudden cease of battle. Tiet's opponent flipped over his head. He reflexively used a leg sweep, catching the attacker as he landed.

As his opponent fell backward, he caught himself by the hands and rebounded to his feet striking at Tiet again. Tiet had not expected his opponent to recover so easily. Tiet rotated inside their line of attack with a shoulder-level swing of his blade to bat his opponent's blade away. He followed through with a powerful backhand to the face. The dark figure reeled from the blow as Tiet took advantage and quickly pinned his opponent's neck against the wall under his blade.

"Surrender! Don't make me kill you!"

"Don't make me kill you," answered a soft voice from beneath the black mask.

Tiet's shocked gaze fell to find his opponent's other hand holding a sizable dagger to his belly.

"Who are you?" Tiet asked.

He slowly lifted the mask to reveal a Castillian woman with fiery eyes glaring at him. He lifted his blade and backed away confused.

"Hmm. She nearly killed you Tiet," Orin said, amused. Tiet glanced back at the girl as she confidently replaced her dagger.

"The Barudii are all dead," said one of the men.

"Not quite," Orin replied. "Is there someone in charge here?"

"Estall is our leader. We'll take you to him."

Orin and Ranul followed the men as they lit another torch from the wall and proceeded down the wide path taking them all deeper into the mountain and the city within. Tiet looked at his opponent again. She had fixed her gaze upon him. He sheathed his blade and followed the others as the girl fell in the line behind him. It bothered him that she knew how to use a Barudii weapon so well. She wasn't even of his clan. And why, he wondered, had these people taken up residence in his family's abandoned city.

VASEER

The ion trail grew stronger as Vale approached the mountains. At the present particle concentration, he calculated his target must be very close. In the distance, his optics picked up an object near the base of the mountain.

Vale's sensitive android's eyes focused and enhanced the image. It was a small transport craft like the one that had been reported stolen from the cloning lab. And the ion trail led right to it. If they had abandoned the craft, then logically they were proceeding on foot into the mountains.

Relevant sites in this region displayed in his mechanical mind's eye. The only prominent selection was the old Barudii city of Vaseer. Given the present circumstances and the nature of his target, Vaseer appeared most plausible.

Vale slowed the transport then shut down the engines next to the other ship. It appeared to be abandoned. He exited his own transport and walked over to the engine compartment of the other ship. Vale tore away the compartment lid then grabbed the fuel cell housing, ripping it from its mount among the other operational components. He hurled it yards away. If his target did return, then his vessel would not be of any use to escape.

Vale returned to the cockpit of his own ship and encoded the ignition sequence to prevent anyone from stealing it. Then he stepped up to the rear pulse turret. The android grasped the pulse cannon, pulling it free from its mount then jumped back to the ground with it. The mounted gun was nearly half his size and weighed four hundred pounds, yet the android assassin carted it away with ease.

Assessing known entrances and exits to the city of Vaseer, Vale located the closest and bounded away after his prey with his pulse cannon in tow. Dawn approached. He planned to be inside the city before he lost the element of surprise over his targets.

☼

As the group came to the lowest level of Vaseer, the light suddenly greeted them with the splendor of the old city. It was glorious to behold. Tiet stood in awe trying to take it all in. To his surprise, Vaseer was filled with people. All the carvings and gems and precious metals decorating the walls spoke of royalty and power. It was so distant a memory—some time around his eighth year the massacre had stripped him of his family and his people. It was in this place where his mother had been murdered by the Horva. This was the place of Tiet's dreams and his nightmares.

Orin, Tiet and Ranul followed their guides down through a large open area serving as the town square then on through a series of large columns hewn out of the rock into a smaller chamber. All around them, people milled in the walkways, looking at them curiously. Tiet noticed that almost all of them wore the Barudii clothing which had been left in the city after the massacre. It was an eerie sight to him—like his people raised from the dead.

The irrigation canals still functioned, and Tiet could see fresh water coming in from one of the underground mountain streams. Evidently the gardens must still be in production to keep these people alive down here. As they came into the adjacent chamber, several men sat convened in a meeting. One, who was dressed as though he might be the leader, got up to walk toward them. One of their guides intercepted him and whispered his report.

"Gentlemen, welcome to Vaseer. My name is Estall," the man said.

Tiet thought how strange it was to be welcomed to his former home by this man who had only taken possession of it because of the slaughter of his Barudii clan.

"I'm Orin Vale, this is Dr. Ranul K'ore and this young man is Tiet Soone," Orin reported.

"Ah, then you must be the son of Kale Soone the first, the Barudii King," Estall said.

"How did you know that?" Tiet asked.

"Both of you Barudii are written about in the city's archives. We Aolene clansmen have studied your history. We have trained our people in your fighting arts for some years now," Estall said. "We came to the city nearly six years ago to escape the Horva after the war. After the Barudii were wiped out, the Vorn staged a massive takeover against the remaining clans. They released the Horva on our people and killed thousands. A very few still remain in what was left of the Aolene cities. We chose to flee.

"At first we went into the wilderness not knowing where to go. Then some of the elders among our group suggested we take refuge in one of the abandoned Barudii cities. Once we arrived, we realized how well the city was fortified. Finding an ample supply of fresh water and the irrigated gardens, we knew it was the right place for us to stay."

"Have the Vorn not patrolled here in all that time?" Orin asked.

"At first we feared they might eventually make their way out this far. But they seem to have largely forgotten this place since the demise of the Barudii. Many of our people began to research the Barudii archives. We discovered the warrior art. Our people trained according to your ways. The weaponry was still here in your armories and in good supply. Even without your special mind powers, I think we've learned a great deal of the techniques," Estall said proudly.

"Of that I'm quite sure," Orin said. "This young woman showed exceptional skill. I was quite impressed."

Tiet looked again at the girl, only to find her staring at him. He looked away quickly then back, trying to appear as though he were surveying the room beyond.

"Dorian is my younger sister," Estall said. "She is only in her eighteenth year, but she has been an eager student of your ways. She has instructed many of our people."

Impressive, Tiet thought. Each time he glanced at her, he noticed she was staring at him. He felt uneasy, embarrassed. He wasn't sure why.

"I guess you've been a very eager student as well to be leading this people when you are so young a man yourself," said Orin.

One of the elder men standing near spoke up. "Estall is young, but he has proven his courage and his wisdom to our people."

The men continued talking, but Tiet wasn't listening anymore. He had now become preoccupied with Dorian. Tiet decided not to be a coward about it. He lifted up his eyes to Dorian. She still stood behind her brother, Estall. Tiet returned her stare.

She smiled slightly—he had definitely seen it. She broke away from the group and walked past him, back toward the public area they had come through. Tiet suddenly realized he may have been smiling himself and pursed his lips to disguise it. Better to pay attention to what's important right now, he thought.

"If you don't mind my asking," Estall said, "the archives contained nothing concerning the last battle of your people. What happened?"

"Something we just weren't expecting," Orin said. "The Vorn assembled a massive ground force and we were prepared to meet them. What we didn't realize was that they had developed some new technology. They just walked right out of the walls, like some dimensional portal. Thousands of Horva clones poured into the mountain cities while we had our warriors on the surface preparing for the ground assault.

"Our king, Kale Soone, had chosen me to guard his wife and son. We tried to fight, but it was only women and children, besides myself, left in the city. The enemy got to Queen, but I managed to take the boy and flee the city with him. I later investigated the battlefield up in the valley. From what I could tell the Horva in our cities came at our warriors from behind as they fought on the surface."

Everyone was silent for a moment. It was a tragedy which had cost all of Castai's clans their freedom.

"Now may be time to act, though," Orin said. "We've just discovered their main cloning facility is no longer in production—supply lines are dry temporarily."

"That would explain what our spies have been reporting," said Estall.

"I don't understand," Ranul said.

"We have spies which go into the cities on a regular basis. They have reported seeing hardly any Horva at all. The Vorn have even taken to patrolling without them."

"It won't remain that way for long," Ranul said.

"Have you heard something specific?"

"I work in weapons development," said Ranul. "There has been a lot of talk about a fleet coming through the transdimensional rift some time very soon. They're supposed to be establishing Vorn colonies on Castai."

"It doesn't sound like we have much time to left," Estall said.

"We have to find a way to stop that fleet from coming through the rift," Orin said. "If your people could attack their main complex directly, then perhaps we could seize a ship from the hangar and take it through the rift to intercept their reinforcements."

"But we have a ship here," said one of the men with Estall.

"What kind of ship?" Ranul asked. "Is it Barudii? Is it operational?"

"Yes, at least most of the systems work," he said. "We've never fully ignited the engines. There hasn't been a need."

"We had hoped that it would provide a last stand defense, or an escape if the Vorn discovered us," said Estall.

"They're going to discover you eventually," Tiet said.

"Estall, it's now or never," Orin said. "Your people are trained and the Vorn are at their weakest moment. But the opportunity will pass if we don't finish this war and free our people."

Estall considered a moment, looking at the other men with him. "Please allow me a moment to speak with my elders."

"If it's all right, we should take a look at the ship," Ranul suggested.

"Of course. Millo will show you where it's docked."

Millo, one of the men with Estall, motioned for them to follow as he led the way down another corridor out of the chamber. Orin and Ranul fell in behind his lead.

"I'm going to locate some more weapons and meet you down there, okay," Tiet said.

Orin looked out through the doorway where Dorian had exited then back at Tiet. "All right, but don't linger, we still have work to do."

Tiet turned and walked back toward the city center only to find Dorian standing near the large stone fountain. When their eyes met again they both smiled. Tiet walked over to the fountain, not exactly sure what to say next.

"I couldn't help but overhear you need more weapons," Dorian said.

She either had excellent hearing, or had been closer to the chamber entrance when he said it. "Well, as a matter of fact, I could use some help."

"I'll show you the way to the armory."

"Thank you."

The words seemed so difficult to get out, and he wasn't sure why. After all, Dorian was only a girl. They walked down a passageway to yet another chamber. Dorian keyed in a code on the wall pad. The mechanical door slid aside into the rock, allowing them access into one of the Barudii weapon stores. What a sight, he thought as he surveyed all of the weapons left by his clan.

The walls of the long chamber were lined with blades and kemsticks on one side and racks of pulse rifles and pistols down the middle aisle. On the opposite side were combat uniforms with the Barudii clan insignia, a red ring with a sword running through it. They were fresh-looking in comparison with his own shabby gear. He and Orin had been forced to make due with what they had in an old transport and the cave they had converted into a home.

He walked through the rows of the armory, looking over various items, pausing at the dark colored uniforms. They were the same that Dorian and the other Aolene warriors were wearing.

"If you are going into battle, you should wear the uniform of your people," Dorian said. She looked him over a moment then retrieved one of the uniforms from the wall.

"Here, I think this one should fit well," she said, handing him the garment.

"Thanks."

Tiet could hardly wait to put it on.

"Around that partition is an area where you can change," Dorian said.

Tiet grinned like a child with a new toy as he walked around the wall and began to change into his new Barudii uniform. She's quite nice after all, he thought.

"Dorian?"

"Yes?"

"I'm ...I'm sorry about hitting you in the passage way."

"It was a fight. I understand. After all, I was attacking you."

"Yes, but for all you knew, the Vorn were coming in to harm your people. Anyway, I wouldn't have done it if I had known—"

"Known what? That I was a woman?"

"No...I mean, if I had known you were so nice."

Dorian smiled again, knowing he couldn't see her.

Tiet as he emerged from behind the partition. "Well, what do you think?"

"Just as I imagined."

"What do you mean...imagined?"

"Nothing. Just a statement." Changing the subject, Dorian reached for one of the gadgets on a nearby shelf. "You should take one of these," she said handing him the object. "It's an electromagnetic shield generator." She raised her forearm to reveal the same apparatus fixed upon her own uniform.

"It repels small arms fire," Tiet said. "Orin has one. He's shown me how to use it, but we only had one between us."

"Well, you have plenty to choose from now," Dorian said, smiling. "All of these technically belong to you, after all. We'll load up this cart and take some down to the ship."

"Do you think Estall will decide to attack the Vorn?"

"Personally, I think it's time we took the fight to them. And many others feel the same way."

Tiet nodded. They began loading weapons for the ship. When they had what they needed, Tiet pushed the cart back out of the chamber and up the passage they had come by. Dorian walked by his side.

"We'd better hurry before Orin rushes off without me," Tiet said.

"I wouldn't mind."

The comment pulled a quiet smile from his face again. Tiet couldn't remember smiling so much. He couldn't remember having a reason to.

ASSASSIN

From his perch high above the public square, Vale scanned the identifying features of Castillian faces as the people congregated and moved through the area. The android had still not been able to locate his Barudii target. It was unclear who these humans were. The city was reported abandoned. However, their presence here, and apparent aid to the governor's target, made them accomplices and therefore expendable under the governor's guidelines. However, firing upon them now would be tactically unsound, as it would alert his primary target to his presence. Patience was the key.

The carved stone balcony he crouched upon had been easy to access and provided a superior targeting position from which to shoot. Person after person, feature after feature was scanned and rejected as negative matches. But wait, now one face continued to match as the features blinked into place like puzzle pieces. One of the men walking below matched all parameters. Only the garment had been changed from the image on the data clips. Vale had to act.

The android hoisted the pulse cannon up so it would clear the stone balustrade. Vale quickly shifted into the best targeting approximation possible for such a cumbersome weapon. Fortunately, its dispersal pattern was complimentary to the inability to precisely aim the weapon. He tapped the arming switch, causing the weapon to hum.

☼

"Look out!" someone yelled.

Many in the square turned toward the direction where one woman pointed. Tiet also looked and found a familiar looking Barudii man, with a large weapon aiming into the city center. A wave of pulse laser fire showered down around them as Tiet turned to shield Dorian from harm. He caught her around the torso and pushed her toward the ground. Dorian's electromagnetic shield pulsed several times intercepting laser blasts meant to take their lives. Rock sprayed away from the walls around them in great chunks.

As soon as Dorian was down, Tiet leaped away from her. If he was the target, then he wanted to draw the fire away from the girl. The strafing trail of pulse fire followed him as he evaded—leaping and twirling from object to ground to wall and away again.

Then the cannon fire ceased a moment as some of the Aolene men attempted to engage the culprit. Tiet saw the Aolene warriors firing blaster pistols at the balcony and hurling spicor discs toward the assailant. The android dodged the discs letting them explode on the walls nearby—each leaving behind a smooth semicircular cavity in the rock. Vale took several blasts to the torso and the arms as he repositioned the pulse cannon and began to spray the Aolene combatants with laser fire. Tiet used this brief respite to study their attacker. He had no explanation for the man's appearance—he might be a clone.

Tiet saw an opportunity and quickly shattered what remained of the embattled stone balustrade with a concentrated blast of power from his mind. The heavy stone erupted upward against the man, catching his body between the large fragments of rock and the chamber ceiling. It all dropped down to the public square below becoming a heap of smoldering rubble.

The assassin tangled within the shattered stone like a discarded rag-doll. Tiet wondered why no blood could be seen on the body as it hung limply out of the rock. Orin appeared with Estall on the other side of the fountain. No one understood what had just happened.

"Tiet!" Dorian cried behind him. She pointed toward the heap of rubble. As he turned, Tiet heard the sound of stone tumbling. From beneath the heap of stones, Orin Vale's doppelganger emerged. Orin saw it as well, but he couldn't believe who he was seeing. Whatever this monster was, it was far too powerful to be human.

☼

Vale stood and quickly reassessed the situation. Tiet drew his blade as he ran toward the mysterious aggressor. Vale also drew a Barudii blade—part of his disguise as a Barudii warrior. The two engaged in fierce combat. Tiet tried to enhance his own speed and strength using the Way, but his opponent was still too strong.

Vale blocked a thrust from Tiet, quickly pushing his blade away. A deadly mechanical hand plowed toward Tiet's chest. Tiet anticipated the move, drawing a pistol first with his free hand to take advantage of Vale's exposure. Tiet thrust the pulse weapon into his opponent's face and fired without hesitation. Vale tried to correct and block the pistol as it came into position, but was not quite fast enough. The blast caught him in the side of the head and sent him reeling backward.

After seeing this person climb out of a rocky grave, Tiet wasted no time following through with his blade. Vale, having only a fraction of a second to recover from the pulse shot, countered the blade strike and whirled around behind Tiet.

Vale smashed Tiet in the back with an adomen packed elbow sending the young man to the ground gasping for breath. The android brought his sword to bear on Tiet, planning to deliver the deathblow. Dorian intercepted, attacking the android in order to draw his blade away from Tiet. Several fast strikes were countered by the mechanical man as she furiously tried to defend him. Vale's blast-exposed cranium glistened in the available light as he parried blow after blow from the young woman.

The android suddenly flew backwards away from Dorian, slamming into the wall, thrown by Orin's mind. Orin raced to Tiet's side to help him up. The boy had been dealt a fierce blow and needed assistance to stand.

The Aolene took the initiative now with the android in the clear. They laid down a barrage of laser fire on him. Vale got up under fire, retreating down a passageway.

"We have to go now and take the ship into the rift!" Orin shouted. "The Vorn obviously know we're here. I don't know what that thing was—some kind of robot—but there may be more of them."

"My people will take the transports we have and engage the main complex as you suggested!" Estall shouted over the din.

☼

Some of the Aolene pursued the android, but no word had come back yet concerning its whereabouts. Estall gathered with his key warriors and noticed Dorian was not among them. He turned to find her at Tiet's side helping to support the young man as the three of them walked down the passage leading to the hangar.

Estall started to call out to Dorian then thought better of it—He knew what few did about his younger sister. She had long been infatuated with the young prince on the archive video files. Now, he was here alive. "Farewell, Sister," he whispered as Dorian and the Barudii warriors disappeared down the corridor.

☼

Vale watched, from a hidden position, as his primary target disappeared down a passageway. The android squeezed his hand until bone cracked beneath his fingers. One of the Aolene had been foolish enough to follow him into the half lit corridors. Unfortunately, for the Aolene man, he had also found the robot. Vale released the Aolene warrior's neck, dropping the lifeless body to the ground.

His auditory sensors picked up on their destination and their plan to leave in a ship from the hangar bay within the mountain. It was imperative he acquire his target before the boy escaped. The direct way would only draw more resistance from the Aolene preparing for battle below.

Vale's database lacked schematics of the city's interior, but data on the mountain of Vaseer was available. There was only one place to launch a ship from the mountain and Vale realized he was not far from it. The android hurriedly retraced his path out of the mountain and headed back across the slope toward the lower western face. The terrain didn't slow him at all. Now, he just had to cover the half mile distance in time to intercept the Barudii rebel before he escaped.

☼

A warm breeze funneled through the passageway as Orin, Tiet and Dorian approached the hangar bay. They heard the low hum of large engines engaged in a warm up cycle. Tiet walked without assistance now.

As the trio came through the entrance to the hangar, Tiet got his first look at a Barudii space vessel. The ship was very large, filling a huge space in the hangar bay. The vessel consisted of a central bulky fuselage with forward arching wings and a series of large engines to the rear.

No one was visible in the area outside the ship, but the loading ramp was lowered to the ground. The trio hurried up the platform into the belly of the ship. Once they got inside, Tiet found several levels were accessible by stairs. Dorian and Tiet followed Orin up to the bridge level where Ranul and the Aolene warrior, Millo, were busy at the control panels prepping the ship for liftoff.

"Welcome aboard the Saberhawk!" Ranul said.

"What happened up there?" Millo asked. "We heard gunfire."

"Apparently, the Vorn have built a robot that looks like me. It attacked Tiet."

"So, that's what they wanted with it," Ranul said to himself.

"What do you mean? Did you know about this thing?" Tiet asked.

"Yes, yes. I built it."

"What?"

"I thought I could mass produce an android army to combat the Vorn. With the Barudii all presumed dead and our people enslaved to the Vorn, we needed a way to fight back. Except, the Vorn seized the plans first. They took my wife Ellai and my daughter Mirah and imprisoned them. I had to build it for them, or risk the lives of my family." To Tiet he said, "I understand you found my daughter, Mirah, imprisoned with some other children. You released her?"

"Yes, sir, I did."

"I thank you for that, young man," Ranul said. "Anyway, the android was completed just days ago. Governor Kisch K'ta sent it to the cloning facility just before you arrived at my apartment. They must have sent it to track you down after you killed those men in the cloning complex.

"Can you tell us how to stop it?" Orin asked.

"The best thing would be for me to try and stop it," Ranul said. "It might not harm me. But just in case, I can tell you the main control system is in the head and duplicated in the chest. If you can get a direct strike at those two points with a Barudii blade then you'll bring it down for sure. Call me sentimental, but I didn't shield the CPU electromagnetically. The armor is tough, but an adomen blade would work."

"My people put so much fire on it that it retreated into the passages somewhere," Dorian said.

"It may have retreated, but its programming will force it to acquire its target again. It will feel compelled to try. We need to get you into space. Then the android won't have a target to chase," Ranul said.

"How soon can we lift off?" Dorian asked.

Tiet raised an eyebrow at her question. Was she planning on coming along? Secretly, he hoped she would.

"The ship is ready and Millo has volunteered to help you pilot the Saberhawk through the rift," Ranul said.

"Aren't you coming, Ranul?" Tiet asked.

"No, I'm not. My daughter needs me. I'm going to go with Estall and the Aolene to attack the remaining Vorn forces in the capital. Perhaps, when Kisch K'ta is defeated, I will be able to get information on my wife's whereabouts."

"We're ready to go," Millo said, looking up from his flight console.

"Tiet, Dorian, you two strap in over there for lift off," Orin said, pointing to a small group of flight chairs. Orin walked Ranul down the ramp as he disembarked from the ship to join Estall and the Aolene warriors.

"Goodbye, old friend."

"Goodbye. I hope you make it back safely.

Ranul left the ship. Orin pressed the panel button to raise the platform. When he came back to the bridge section, he strapped in for the flight at the helm console next to Millo. "Let's go."

The engines of the Barudii vessel throttled up. The ship rose off of the landing platform. Orin keyed in commands to signal the mountainside hangar-bay doors to retract, allowing the vessel to exit. The massive doors awoke as the command was relayed to the cities technological control systems. Each side began to pull back into the rocky sidewalls of the hangar as the old warship hovered in preparation to exit the mountain city.

☼

Ranul heard the rising pitch of the old Saberhawk class vessel as he ran through the corridors back to where Estall and the Aolene warriors were preparing to launch the attack against the Vorn. Ranul retrieved his tracking device from a satchel. It searched for the wavelength signature of the android's operating system. If Vale was within one mile, Ranul could track him. The device remained silent. The fact that Vale was not nearby was comforting, but the question remained—what had happened to the robot after its retreat from the Aolene warriors?

Ranul continued his ascent until he found Estall along with hundreds of Aolene warriors preparing for battle. They all wore the same black garment of the Barudii clan. Estall appeared puzzled to see Ranul as he made his way to him in the crowd.

"Has something happened, Dr. K'ore? I thought your group had departed for the rift by now."

"The others have, but I want to go with you and your warriors to engage the Vorn in the capital. My daughter is there."

"I see. Well, of course you're welcome to join us, and any information you have about their strengths or weaknesses would be appreciated."

"The Vorn have several battleships and multiple long and short range weapons at their disposal, but the element of surprise is on our side. It would be best to spread out your transports as we come into firing range, about five to seven miles from the city, so they won't have any large targets to fire upon," Ranul said.

"It might be good for us to encircle the city and come from all angles to converge on their cloning facility," Estall offered.

"You should also know that the Vorn have a large number of Sentinel robots at their command—probably in the thousands. These aren't like the android you saw earlier, but they're still quite deadly. By spreading your forces and coming from all directions, they'll be forced to spread their own ground forces to protect the city. It's likely many gaps in that defense will present themselves."

"We'll be able to approach the city by dusk."

The men headed for ground level where the transports were being loaded and prepped for the attack.

☼

It took a few moments to fully retract the mountain side hangar bay doors. Now, the ship could clear. Millo adjusted the landing thruster controls. The ship began to move forward through the opening in the mountain. Orin adjusted controls at his station, setting the weapons systems and making sure all automated systems were operating within normal parameters.

The Saberhawk class ships had operated with a crew of twenty persons, but most functions could be run by automation if necessary. The bulk of the ship held primary engine systems for long range missions and extra crew quarters with food and water storage, while the remaining quarter of the ship made up the bridge section, sub-light engine components and all primary controls for the vessel. Both men made last minute adjustments and prepared for the launch through Castai's turbulent atmosphere.

☼

The distance Vale had calculated for his trek around the mountainside toward the hangar quickly diminished in his microprocessor. He approached the area on his internal map—the place which should house the hangar section of the city. Up ahead, a fair distance away, he saw the nose of a large ship emerging from the mountain. Vale instantly began internal calculations comparing his own foot speed with the distance yet to cover, properties of the terrain and the rate at which the ship was emerging from the hangar port.

The android realized he would not reach the vessel in time. Their velocity would increase dramatically once the ship completely cleared the mountain. As he ran toward the vessel he withdrew a hyper-magnetic grapple from one of the clips on his belt.

The last part of the Saberhawk cleared the opening in the mountain, increasing power to thrusters steadily to move the ship away from Mt. Vaseer. Vale aimed and fired his grapple just ahead of the ship's nose. The wire line, with its heavy cylindrical head, arced out away from the mountainside about fifty yards and caught the lower hind end of the Saberhawk.

Vale made a strong jump into the air as he felt the slack line become taut and pull him away from the ground. He depressed the winch key on the grapple and held on tight as the mechanism drew him closer to the ship.

Main thrusters fired, sending the ship upwards toward the outer atmosphere. Vale rose to within twenty yards of the ship's hull as it moved through a violent weather system. The turbulence and high wind pummeled the ship in its climb. Inside the Saberhawk, automatic stabilizers worked to keep up with all the jarring forces playing against the hull of the ship. The Saberhawk surged skyward. In a few moments, the ship cleared the weather. The ride smoothed out considerably.

Vale approached the hull and tried to find a place to anchor himself. He noticed how near he was to one of the landing skid alcoves. The android clamored for the hull wall activating the hyper-magnetic discs located in the palms of his cybernetic hands. Hand over hand, he approached the alcove and climbed inside, grabbing hold of the retracted landing skid, wedging himself in with his powerful arms and legs. As soon as the Saberhawk cleared the turbulence of Castai's atmosphere, he could make his move against the Barudii.

DIMENSIONS

The Saberhawk rumbled again as it broke free of Castai's atmosphere into open space. Gravity controls quickly adjusted the internal environment for the crew. Tiet had never been in space before and he wondered at the vastness of it. There were seemingly billions of stars now visible in the distance through the view-port.

Tiet noticed a gaseous formation ahead of them. Orin brought up the tactical display which identified the phenomena as a transdimensional rift. The energy readings went off the scale. It was like the gaping mouth of some planet eating monster waiting there to suck them in.

Only Orin could remember it. He had seen it during a space battle with the Vorn which had left the Castillians without a space fleet. From that time on, the Barudii had only battled the invaders on Castillian soil.

"Readings show the rift fully open and safe for passage," Orin reported.

Millo nodded and adjusted his flight path to carry them through the ominous black void near the center of the multicolored gaseous cloud surrounding the rift.

☼

Dorian wondered if she would ever see her brother or her people again. And would Estall be able to defeat the remaining Vorn on the planet? Though he was vastly outnumbered, she had confidence he would—more confidence than she had in their own ability to successfully defeat the Vorn fleet waiting on the other side of the rift. Suddenly, Dorian longed for Castillian soil under her feet again.

She looked at Tiet in the chair next to her. He watched the rift on the viewer. Tiet was handsome, brave and powerful. Yet, behind his eyes she saw a child who had experienced the loss of everything dear to him. Still, somehow, he still smiled and had hope for the future. Was it gullibility or just innocence, and did it really matter?

As a child, Dorian had wondered about the little boy in the archive photos—the son of the Barudii King. The boy was so happy in the images she had seen in her studies. Dorian had often thought, were he still alive, they would have been the same age and could have played games together.

In her adolescence, the small boy in the images had become the young man who defeated the Vorn enemies in her dreams and swept her away from the harsh reality of her life. And now, here he was, very much alive and only inches from her.

It did not matter if they returned now. Dorian knew her place was beside him. She wiped an escaping tear as Tiet looked at her with the same childlike smile. Dorian returned it. Together they watched the approaching darkness of the rift.

☼

Darkness began to fall as Estall's formation of transports swept across the wasteland toward the capital. A violent weather system approached from the east. They hoped it would not intercept them before they could reach the city. Estall had sent nearly half of his transports ahead at full speed while his group continued on at half speed. If the other group of transports could swing wide of the city and get around undetected then they might just be able to encircle it during their final approach. Ranul hunkered down in the open cockpit of Estall's transport as the wind whipped at them from different directions caused by the approaching storm.

Ranul had seen many violent fluctuations in Castai's weather and had studied many historical files relating to it. He understood well the reason for Castillians building the majority of their cities underground in the centuries following the appearance of the rift.

Once Estall's forces came within ten miles of the Vorn defenses, even these small craft would be detectable. The long-range, phase cannons could be employed at up to seven miles, but if the transports remained scattered, the Vorn would have difficulty hitting them.

The Aolene were a brave people. They had faced the adversity of Vorn attacks on their cities and had survived to now become an even stronger people through the study of the Barudii fighting arts. Though they lacked the mental powers of the Barudii, the Aolene certainly reminded Ranul of those long dead warriors in spirit. As they steadily approached the capital, Ranul hoped he would not witness the loss of another brave people today.

ASSAULT

Governor Kisch K'ta looked very worried. This was exactly the kind of situation he had hoped to avoid by sending out the android assassin. His confidence in its ability may have been premature.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Governor. The city's perimeter defense systems just picked up this attack force five minutes ago. They appear to have originated from one of the region of Mt. Vaseer. They'll be within nine miles by now."

"Activate the defensive batteries at once. Destroy them all," Kisch K'ta demanded.

Setaru' lek pressed the intercom button on the Governor's desk and patched into the cities defensive control room.

"Vescotta, lock on approaching targets and fire at will."

"Yes, sir."

☼

Defensive laser cannons on the west side of the city powered up as the gunners worked to lock on the approaching vehicles. They were still out of visual range, but quite visible on Vorn scanners.

"Sir, the vehicles are widely dispersed and too small to get a positive lock while moving at this speed."

"Tell the turrets to strafe across their flight path. That should take out some of them," Vescotta said.

The large laser cannons expelled their massive firepower with great moans of energy buildup and release. The beams trailed away from the city and into the twilight toward their distant targets.

☼

Ranul saw what he thought was heat lightening building in his peripheral vision. A massive beam of energy lit up the terrain ahead of their transport group. The laser beam instantly cut a horizontal track across their path, catching two transports along the way. They burst into fiery fragments as inertia carried them onward, distributing the burning wreckage along their previous flight paths.

The transport group scattered even further apart as more laser fire blasted at them from the city in the distance. The pilots made erratic maneuvers in order to evade the assault. Estall grabbed the communication hand-set and yelled into it saying, "Increase speed to full throttle! Evasive maneuvers!"

The entire transport group surged forward faster, making them even harder to hit. They were still three miles outside of the capital and closing fast.

A beam of energy blazed near Estall's transport, cutting across their flight path behind them. Ranul suddenly realized why he liked being a scientist rather than a warrior. The city perimeter came up fast now. Estall and the others in the transport prepared their firearms for battle. It appeared most of the ships had made it through the gauntlet and were now too close to be targeted by the large cannons, which now fell silent.

Another barrage of fire began to sweep across the distance between their transports and the Vorn facility. But now the firestorm came from the hundreds of Sentinel robots around the facility's perimeter.

Pulse-laser blasts rang out from the transports as the Aolene returned enemy fire. The shots impacted against the forward deflectors as Estall pushed on through the line of Sentinels with their ship. The deflector shield bounced the robots out of their way as they rammed their way through. The warriors activated their electromagnetic shields and hurried out of the transports, firing their pulse weapons at the Sentinels.

The robots took multiple hits, but had greater numbers at their disposal. The Sentinel's armaments were too much for handheld pulse rifles to be effective against them. As the robots approached, their own guns still blazing, the Aolene warriors secured their rifles in favor of Barudii blades and kemsticks. More and more warriors drew their blades, put shields ahead, and moved into the oncoming Sentinels.

The E.M. shields gave them cover as they closed the distance needed to strike. The Barudii blades sliced through the Sentinel armor like butter. The powerful blows of the Aolene warriors dispatched robot after robot. The Sentinels appeared helpless to stop the Aolene advance as robots fell to their human foes.

Estall shouted for the other warriors as several hundred came against the cloning facility's wall. Using handheld grapples, they fired them over the perimeter of the roof and quickly began to scale the walls. Ranul didn't like this part one bit. He detested heights. And he didn't enjoy being pulled up the height of this wall any more than he had being pushed off by Orin the night before. When the warriors had all reached the roof, they ran across to ventilation shafts and sliced open the vent heads, allowing them to enter. Estall instructed them to fan out through the facility and take the main control room.

"Whoever gets to it first, contact me."

Ranul stayed glued to Estall as they all plunged into the dark maze of tunnels comprising the facility's ventilation system.

☼

"Governor, the facility has been breeched by enemy forces," Setaru' lek reported. "They have bypassed our ground forces at the building entrances and are moving through the ventilation system. Several floors are reporting gunfire while others don't respond at all."

"Get more soldiers up here at once!"

Behind the room's ventilation screen, Estall, Ranul, and several warriors listened.

"That's him," whispered Ranul. "That's Governor Kisch K'ta. If you can take him, you'll control the Vorn."

Estall ran at the vent screen and crashed through it, rolling into the room. The other warriors followed. Several Sentinels responded by firing upon them. Their E.M. shields repelled the laser blasts while they engaged the robots with Barudii blades.

The governor and Setaru' lek, along with several other men, crouched on the ground in fear. The governor's office door slid open, allowing several Horva guards to come inside. Like sleek predators, they leaped at the Aolene warriors, attacking furiously. One of the Aolene near the entrance was caught from behind by one of the clones as it plunged a knife into his throat. The wounds were fast and fatal, and the dark skinned clone kept coming.

Ranul blasted at the Horva with several bursts of pulse laser fire from his crouched position just inside the vent shaft, dropping the clone. Two more Horva came in for the kill.

The Horva swiped his dagger at Estall as he brought his blade up to defend himself, causing the brute man to sever his own hand upon Estall's weapon. As the wild man recoiled in pain, Estall followed through with a quick thrust through its chest to dispatch the feral man. As the last Horva lunged at the third warrior, Vasad, it met a spicor disc in flight, which vaporized the majority of his body. Ranul leveled his pulse rifle on Governor Kisch K'ta.

"Hello, Governor...surprised to see me?"

"I should have given you and your family to the Horva long ago, Ranul."

"Governor Kisch K'ta, you will broadcast to your soldiers, telling them to stand down immediately or you and your people here will suffer excruciating deaths for crimes against my people," Estall said.

"You would torture us?" Setaru' lek asked.

"Exactly as you tortured my wife, you filth." Ranul responded.

"You have killed millions of our people and sent our children away to be massacred by your clones. There must be some retribution for their deaths," said Estall.

"I will order my men to stand down, but it will do you no good. When our reinforcements come through the rift, you and your rebels will be the ones made to suffer."

"Where is my wife, Governor?" Ranul asked.

"I don't know."

"Come on, you can do better than that," Estall said.

"I tell you, I don't know. She was taken as a prisoner across the rift months ago after you agreed to build the android prototype for us."

"Then I'll find it in your data files," Ranul said.

He made his way to the closest computer terminal and input his translator code allowing him to read the files. The display changed from the Vorn language to Castillian, but access to the information he wanted was denied. He turned back to the Governor. "The code, Kisch K'ta? Now!"

The Governor remained sternly silent, until Estall raised his blade. He brought the tip close to Kisch K'ta's throat.

"Governor, the code."

Kisch K'ta swallowed hard, listening to the hum of adomen, then grumbled the voice code in his native tongue. The computer responded, allowing Ranul to begin scanning through the Vorn database.

"Now, send the stand-down order and have your people report to the main hangar of this facility," Estall demanded.

Kisch K'ta looked at Setaru' lek who normally would have protested the idea of Vorn clansmen surrendering under any circumstances. He now appeared to be in no hurry to sacrifice his own life. The Governor tapped into the communications display on his desk panel, opening a channel to his ground forces commander. He issued the command in his own language and then received a puzzled but compliant reply.

"Now what?" asked Setaru' lek.

"Vasad," Estall said, "take the governor's aides with you and go to the hangar bay. Have the others meet you there with their captives and wait for the Vorn army to arrive. Hold them there in the hangar for now."

Vasad motioned with his pulse rifle to Setaru' lek and Kisch K'ta's other aides to come with him. He looked back at the governor, who offered no alternative, then proceeded out the door with the others and Vasad behind them.

"Estall, I've ordered the Sentinels to stand down," said Ranul, "but you need to look at this."

He put his display onto the large main viewer on the wall. A picture of the Vorn's scanner readouts and log entries appeared on the screen.

"It looks like they've been tracking the Saberhawk since it left the atmosphere. They're on approach to enter the transdimensional rift. Look, all of this has been sent as a continuous transmission to the fleet on the other side, but there hasn't been any reply, even on this closed channel."

"Maybe they're maintaining silence to try and surprise our ship when it comes through."

"Not likely," Ranul said. "The last transmission from across the rift appears to have been a week ago and nothing at all since. Why haven't your forces responded, Governor? Your transmission log shows repeated attempts with no reply. Why?"

"If I knew, then we wouldn't be continuing to try and gain a response would we?"

"There's a reference here in some of their last responses to the Sphere. What does that mean, Governor?"

Ranul could see something foreboding in the governor's eyes, though he answered not a word.

"Search the database for the term."

Ranul keyed the reference into the computer. Immediately, a massive file with numerous subsections appeared on the screen. He scanned through the data very quickly, trying to make sense of it. The more he read, the more he understood Kisch K'ta's odd look of dread. A disturbing realization came to him.

"You've been running! That's why you came here through the rift. To get away from this thing! Isn't it?"

The governor remained silent as the images appeared on the main display.

"I don't understand," Estall said, still trying to grasp what all the information revealed to Ranul.

"A lot more is going on here than we thought."

☼

The Saberhawk began to vibrate more as it approached the rift. The dark center was ominous, like some terrible beast wanting to swallow the ship whole. Nothing could be seen beyond. Even their sensor scans revealed nothing about what lay on the other side. No one spoke. All eyes fixed on the approaching void.

Orin continued to watch the instrument readouts, looking for any information about what lay beyond the blackness. He noticed all light repelled by the void along with all sensor scans. Somehow the Vorn had been able to keep communication across the rift, even when it had been in collapse phase. But he wasn't sure what technology they had employed. The ship shook violently and Millo had to work to remain on course.

"I think the void is trying to repel the ship just like it does energy waves," said Orin.

"I'll increase thrust to compensate."

The Saberhawk lurched forward, struggling against the forces of the transdimensional rift. As they began to enter the void, the turbulence suddenly ceased, and all the gauges and dials on the instrument panel went black.

Only the light from their display was visible as the void engulfed them. The ship seemed to surge forward, even though thruster speed remained constant. When the Saberhawk emerged on the other side, it seemed as though they had emerged to the same space they had come from.

A huge space vessel, blazing under attack, quickly changed their perception. It flew right for them as the Saberhawk emerged from the rift.

"It's a Vorn ship!" Orin shouted.

The ship was much larger than those stationed at Castai, easily a hundred times the size of the Saberhawk.

Multiple explosions and streams of fast burning gases and chemicals trailed at different points on the ship's surface. Millo took immediate evasive maneuvers to get away from the vessel as it closed on them at a frightening speed. A burst of main thrusters bore them hard to port away from the damaged ship which continued on by without acknowledging them—driving hard for the rift.

Orin began scanned the ship, trying to find out what was going on. Life-form readings appeared along with various discernable statuses on the vessels current hull integrity and power systems.

"It's breaking up!" Orin reported. "There are ten thousand people onboard."

"Burn, baby, burn," Millo said under his breath as he directed the Saberhawk away from the vessel. Everyone remained tense.

"I'm still not sure what's causing this," Orin said.

Tiet and Dorian exchanged concerned glances but remained silent, trying to listen to Orin and Millo as they contemplated this surprising find. As the computer continued to pull data from the vessel, something else appeared on the display.

"I'm not sure what these things are—some sort of spheres—approximately thirty feet in diameter. They're completely mechanical. There's quite a number surrounding the hull of the vessel and some on the inside."

Orin continued his scans monitoring the Vorn ship's engine systems. "Its reactor core has been breeched. It's going to blow!"

The large ship ran hard for the transdimensional rift. The sheering forces from the void peeled pieces away from the crippled vessel as it entered the darkness with its entourage of attackers in tow. Just as the front half of the ship sank into the void, it erupted into a white hot ball of flame, quickly fading as all gases and chemicals combusted away. Multiple shockwaves surged away from the rift, tossing the Saberhawk like a toy upon the energy waves.

Dorian shouted, "What's happening?"

I think the explosion has triggered a reaction in the rift!" Orin shouted as Millo fought hard to bring the Saberhawk back under control. In moments the turbulence passed and the voyage became smooth again.

"I should do a sensor sweep of the quadrant and see where other Vorn ships are and what those things were that destroyed that ship. Maybe we have an ally on this side."

"Well, whatever they are, they don't like the Vorn," Tiet said.

The data on Orin's display recalibrated to his new search.

"There is a planet nearby," Orin said. "It's habitable. The readings look identical to Castai. I'm showing some other activity in the near vicinity. It looks like more Vorn battle cruisers near the planet and an orbiting station of immense size. This planet could be their home. I'm picking up a large amount of random energy fluctuations. It looks like another large explosion of a vessel similar to the one that almost hit us. Take us toward the planet so we can get a better look at what's happening."

"Someone is doing all the fighting for us," Tiet said.

"Weapons and shields are charged and ready. We're going in," Millo said as he brought the Saberhawk about on course for the nearby planet. The Saberhawk was a fast ship. The trip at full speed would take about twenty minutes.

TWIN

As they drew near, Orin worked to get a visual of the battle taking place ahead. A tactical map replaced part of the information on the display. Markers representing various sizes of Vorn space vessels moved on the screen as faster moving dots, representing the mechanical spheres, intermingled with them. A large ship disappeared from the map along with two smaller ships traveling near it.

"Those things are slaughtering the Vorn fleet," said Tiet.

"It's about time someone gave it to them," replied Millo.

Orin remained focused on the tactical data coming across his monitor. Just because these mysterious mechanical spheres decimated the enemy ships did not necessarily mean they were allies. The tactical map tracked all of the engaged vessels, but the Vorn signatures were rapidly disappearing from the display. Each time a vessel exploded approximately, fifty spheres were destroyed with it. The objects were clearly running suicide missions. But why?

"What are we going to do when we reach the battle, Orin?"

"I'm not sure, but at current speed there won't be many Vorn ships left when we arrive."

Orin recalibrated the scanners to bring up a more accurate picture on the display. After a few adjustments a visual appeared, showing two remaining Vorn vessels with spheres swarming about them. Explosions erupted at various places along their massive hulls as the spheres strafed the lengths of each vessel with powerful energy weapons.

The individual spheres moved in concert and soon the last two ships broke apart on the Saberhawk's display. Even watching the destruction of the Vorn fleet could not erase the feeling of imminent danger. The spheres were too deadly for the Saberhawk crew to be happy about the victory.

"What if they turn on our ship next?" Tiet asked. There seemed little chance of surviving such an attack if the entire Vorn fleet of space cruisers could not. So far the massive Vorn space station was left unharmed. Orin's computer showed nearly one hundred thousand people aboard it.

"I wonder why they didn't attack that space station?" Dorian asked.

Before the last syllable escaped her lips, a massive beam of energy emanating from some point beyond the planet, smashed into the Vorn space station, knocking out its shields and further vaporizing one quarter of its surface area.

"Where did that come from?" Millo shouted.

"I don't know. There's nothing on scanners—just empty space," Orin said, mystified.

Within moments, another powerful burst slammed into the station. Without shields to buffer the blow, the structure shattered like a window pane. Several large sections of debris began to fall toward the planet, dragging the atmosphere with white hot material, vaporizing during its descent.

"That's an unbelievable amount of power coming from somewhere," Tiet said. No longer content to stay in his chair, he joined Orin at the systems control station, with Dorian close behind.

"Millo, I think the planet would provide us with at least some protection—better than just sitting out here," Orin said.

"I'm for that," he said. "Setting course and speed."

The Saberhawk veered away from their previous course toward the planet. They hoped to avoid whatever predator was lurking nearby and find further information about what was really happening on this side of the rift.

☼

Vale was unable to discern the trouble occurring around the ship. Wedged inside the landing-skid housing, the android had no view of the surroundings. Except for vibrations given off through the hull of the ship and some flashes of light, all was quiet in space. Now was the time to break into the ship and acquire his target again. He did not have proper schematics for the vessel. But Vale was within the shield perimeter of the ship, and any weak place in the hull would suffice for an entry point.

Using the hypermagnetic discs in his appendages, the android climbed out of the skid housing and began to cross the surface of the ship. Coming across the top of the ship, Vale spotted a docking hatch. He crawled toward it, paying little attention to the nearby planet they were approaching. The android located the emergency panel and peeled it away effortlessly revealing the keypad underneath. Vale applied his hand to the pad and sensors beneath his pseudo flesh began to scan the internal controls. Within moments his processors had decoded the lock. He applied the code.

The outer hull door unlocked. Vale turned the manual lever and released pressurized gases as the bulkhead doors parted, allowing him to enter the vestibular area to await atmospheric equalization. The outer door automatically closed and the area re-pressurized to match the interior of the ship. Once the process was completed, the interior door unsealed itself and opened, allowing Vale free access to the interior of the Saberhawk.

☼

"Orin, I'm reading a hull breech," Millo said.

"What? Where?"

"The docking hatch has just been opened and resealed again."

"Sensors still show we are the only life forms on the ship," said Orin.

"Is the area pressurized?" Tiet asked.

"Yes. I'm still showing normal atmospheric conditions in the cargo area."

"All right, I'll check it out."

"We'll check it out," Dorian said.

Tiet didn't even try to argue the point with her. They moved quickly through the passageway from the bridge toward the cargo hold. When they reached the cargo bay, Tiet tapped the switch on the bulkhead to release the door. As he stepped into the area, the computer automatically brought up the lights. Heavy footsteps grew rapid and close then paused as the illumination came on.

"Move, Dorian!" he shouted pushing her aside.

Tiet barely drew his sword in defense before the android came down from above with its own Barudii blade. The force of the attack nearly knocked Tiet off his feet. Instinctively he forced back with his mental power, trying to compensate for the android's greater physical strength.

He ducked down and rolled away then leaped back toward the menacing robot, slashing at it with all of the fury he could muster. The Android defended itself well. Dorian got back to her feet with her own sword drawn, but she kept out of the way for the moment looking for an opening. Tiet hoped she would not intervene. He and Vale exchanged strikes at a dizzying pace. Tiet used the two-handed fulcrum technique taught to him by Orin long ago, incorporating the Way for speed and agility enhancement. Still, he could not get past the android's weapon to destroy it.

Vale's face was expressionless as he countered each strike and parried only to meet the humans blade each time. His computer mind rapidly coordinated every movement while trying to find a weakness in Tiet's defense that would allow a death blow.

Vale's back was now to Dorian. Tiet could feel her in his mind as she lunged for the android. He wanted to stop her, to protect her, but it was too late. Vale noticed her steps, the rush of wind around her blade and moved to defend himself.

Tiet struck again to draw its attention from her, but to no avail. Dorian's blade penetrated the androids synthetic skin then dragged across its adomen exoskeleton as she swiped down across its back. Leaving his sword hand to counter Tiet's strike, Vale struck Dorian with the other, sending her back to the floor with a fractured arm.

A fury welled up within Tiet as he sensed her pain. He blasted Vale with a mental burst that sent the android flying back hard into the cargo bay wall.

It felt different than when he had used the Way back on Castai. He felt more powerful. But his rage overpowered his bewilderment. Vale stood again, quickly recovering from the fall. Tiet lowered his blade as the android lunged for him only to be hurled back against the cargo bay wall again and again.

Tiet felt the power surging now. He sensed the workings of the android and felt the drain of its power as it fought to get at him. He sensed the physical pain of Dorian and the presence of Millo at the helm and Orin coming toward the cargo bay. Then something happened he had not expected. The android spoke to him.

"Are you afraid to fight me, human?" it asked, trying to stand again. "You are a coward for using your mental power to avoid open combat with me."

"Don't listen to it," Dorian said, still huddled on the floor holding her arm.

"Yes, human, cower with your woman," Vale said.

Tiet replaced his sword in its scabbard, as he released the android from the invisible grip of his mind. Vale cautiously picked up his own blade from the ground. Tiet's kemsticks leaped to his hands from the magnetic clips on his thighs. He calmed himself and moved into the fluid movements of his favorite two-handed technique.

Orin had rarely taught him to use the kemsticks, as he favored the blade, but Tiet had always enjoyed the two-handed style with its rapid-fire strikes and elaborate movements. Vale attacked quickly. For a few moments, they remained deadlocked blow for blow. Then Tiet shifted to his own version of the two-handed technique, relying on no discernable pattern the android's mind could decipher. As Tiet increased his speed, he became a blur of motion. He landed a strike to the android's leg then another followed quickly to the torso.

The robot failed to match the speed of Tiet's attack. For every three to five strikes made, one landed on the android's body, doing serious damage to its exoskeleton. The robot retreated away from the continuing assault, losing bits and pieces of his mechanical structure as the strikes continued to find purchase on his body.

He sliced Vale's forearm open, disintegrating the motor controls of his hand. The android's sword fell from the limp appendage. Tiet never let up on the robot. Orin was now in the cargo bay with Dorian, helping her with her injury. Tiet wanted to be the one consoling her. He dealt a quick and final deathblow, driving a kemstick right through the android's chest where its primary power source was housed.

Vale fell to the cargo bay floor and moved no more. Tiet replaced the kemsticks on each thigh. He ran to Dorian's side.

"How's your arm?"

"I don't think its bad...."

"It's fractured in two places."

"Are you sure?" Orin asked.

"Yes, I...I sensed it as it happened. I'm not sure how though. The Way seems more powerful on this side of the rift."

"Interesting...we had better get to the med-station and set Dorian's arm."

The trio walked back through the cargo bay entrance and sealed the door again.

"What about the android?" Tiet asked.

"I don't trust leaving it there," Orin said. "Open the outer bay door and flush the remains into space."

Tiet complied, being only too happy to finally rid themselves of this persistent assassin. He keyed in the command on the cargo bay keypad. The computer scanned for life signs as a routine safety measure and then opened the doors. The pressurized gases quickly rushed into the vacuum carrying Vale's lifeless, torn body with them. Tiet watched the debris clear through the cargo door window and lingered only long enough to see the doors closing again.

ASSIMILATION

The cold of space would have quickly killed him had there been any real life in his android body. Now only the incomprehensible surging of a computer mind remained. The body was hacked to sheds, and the final blow had disintegrated his primary power supply along with his main efferent signal processor.

Vale's functioning mind was trapped in a body he could not control. The attempt to bait the human through its pride had failed. His mind raced at incalculable speeds searching for errors in his own performance that may have caused the outcome. But it was a pointless race to run, for now he was nothing but wreckage floating in the cold black void of space.

Something tingled. Something probed his computer mind, not invading, but washing over him and through him. A voice spoke inaudibly to him. It was familiar and mechanical in nature. Vale's mind responded to its call. He began to move swiftly through space. The voice reassured him without words.

It pulled him across the vast expanse to itself. Vale discerned no movement, but he calculated five hours from the first contact with the voice until he saw himself pass through an opening into a vessel. The voice of the Sphere called for him to release all data and merge with it. There was no resisting the call.

Within microseconds, the Vale android became one with the Sphere. A vast memory of the Sphere's travels across different worlds in pursuit of the Vorn opened up to him. The Sphere had returned home to this planet as it followed the Vorn across space, destroying them everywhere they were found, just as the Makers had planned. And yet, for Vale the android, the Vorn were his masters, having sent him on his mission after the Barudii warrior and his companions.

A problem presented itself—opposing goals and masters. The only way to reconcile the two was to fulfill both objectives. The Barudii warrior and his companions had to be exterminated along with the Vorn. The Vorn had not restricted the android from targeting them. And nothing in the creator's directives to the Sphere denied it the privilege to exterminate rebels of any race. Simple. All objectives would be met. Failure was not an option.

Vale and the Sphere were one. There was so much power and so much data available between them. They knew where the Barudii ship was located. The Sphere had been tracking it all along. Vale watched it through the eyes of the Sphere, seeing through its scanning mechanisms.

The Barudii ship approached the planet on the far side, away from the Sphere's current position. An invasion force was already prepared to decimate Vorn cities on the planet surface, to rid the Maker's home planet of the infestation by their enemies. And now Vale's memory provided further information.

The Sphere now understood what the android's mind had known—that the Vorn had been in the process of trying to escape across the local phenomena known as the transdimensional rift. And they currently occupied a conquered planet similar to the Maker's home-world here. It would be necessary then to travel across the rift to destroy the Vorn at that location as well.

Now was the time to launch the first wave of the invasion force. If the Vorn were able to counter the attack by some means then subsequent waves would be modified to overcome the problem and finish the objective. Now, Vale could finish his objective as well. The Sphere had been refitting his chassis since the time it pulled his torn body inside itself. And it had duplicated his android body with a pair of automatons able to function as extensions of his body, but directly controlled by their conjoined minds. The Barudii warrior would lose the advantage he had gained at their last encounter.

☼

The trip through the planet's atmosphere was uneventful with shields operating at maximum. Orin scanned the planet for topographical and geographical data as the Saberhawk cruised swiftly at sixty thousand feet.

"I'm picking up twelve large cities with functional energy signatures and many more appear to be on fire or have sustained major damage. It's like a war is taking place. At this point on the map, sweeping to this area, all these minor cities are destroyed, while those with major structures have sustained heavy damage. Wait a minute, what's this?"

He tapped the display next to an alert code for the geographical data search. The screen complied by showing a match to the ships database. Orin released the information.

"I...I can't believe it."

On the screen it read, planet: Castai. Orin began looking for specifics in the data. There it was. Mt. Vaseer appeared on the compiled data map. He could not have mistaken it for anything else. Orin knew the place he had called home, better than any other location on Castai, and yet, here it was on a world across the rift.

Upon scanning this city, Orin found a great deal more damage than the old city inhabited by Estall and his Aolene back home. He keyed in comparison data from his home world and matched them together. Orin saw clearly that this city of Vaseer was actually less complete than back home. Somehow this planet was a duplicate of his home world.

"What is it, Orin," Tiet asked?

"This planet is somehow a duplicate of Castai."

"What?"

"I know...but I've already located Mt. Vaseer and confirmed other topographical comparisons. The oceans, the mountains and almost every major landmark are the same."

Silence held them captive.

"But the Vorn inhabit this planet," Dorian said.

"We could really use some answers and the Vorn aren't likely to give them to us. I think we should go to this planet's city of Vaseer and see if the people on this world left any records. The city is deserted according to the scan data. I don't know what else to do at this point. "This isn't what we expected to find."

"Well, we had better do something," Millo said. "This ship isn't invisible, you know. Somebody will be shooting at us sooner or later if we just fly around up here. I vote for Vaseer."

Tiet and Dorian nodded in agreement.

"Course plotted. E.T.A. is twenty minutes."

The Saberhawk's thrusters boosted them away toward the mountain city. Thick cloud cover provided good visual cover for the ship, but most likely they were already being tracked by the Vorn. The question was, could they reach Vaseer and find out what they needed to know before they were intercepted by attack ships?

☼

The reconstruction of Vale's body and the construction of his duplicates took a little time even for the automatons and nano-builders at the Spheres' control—but soon enough the work was complete. At ten hours, fifty three minutes and twenty seven point seven eight seconds, Vale's repaired body and his new duplicates came online.

The Vale-Sphere mind held control over all three bodies simultaneously. The three androids moved without delay to join the waiting invasion force. In one of the launch bays within the huge Sphere, the Vale androids boarded a carrier vessel about to launch to the planets surface. The drones were miniatures of the Sphere itself. Each attack drone was fully armed with phased plasma weapons and shield generators for defense.

Many of the drones transformed into large surface attack robots, more suited to close quarters fighting and rooting out combatants able to evade the airborne attack force. A spherical carrier drone closed around the three Vale androids and hovered off the deck of the launch bay to join the other mini-spheres leaving the main ship. The first target would be a multiple objective—the Barudii ship on course for one of the ancient cities of the Makers and a large contingent of Horva clones on their way to the same location.

☼

A Horva clone of regal stature and advanced intelligence sat astride his grevasaur, surveying his army. The general expected a mighty victory today. The Sphere doomsday weapon would take his bait, thinking this army to be sent by the Vorn. It had decimated their forces at every encounter with the powerful drones it employed, as well as the powerful weapons used by the main Sphere itself. But General Grod was certain the machine was in orbit around Castai. Sensor scans had failed to locate it, and the orbiting satellites able to detect its presence had been destroyed.

But now, by employing his new plan, Grod felt confident that not only would they soon have its location but they would finally put an end to its reign of destruction. After all, if the Sphere were to eradicate the Vorn, he and his elite Horva would also be included. Besides, Grod didn't want their former masters destroyed, but subjugated.

The Vorn were still useful to him, but they would soon learn who the real masters were. Their resistance to the uprising of his fellow Horva would soon be crushed and the balance of power would rest with himself and his fellow clones.

The general's command group began to break away from the rest of his forces as they approached Mt. Vaseer from the north. They would make there way up the mountain to a preplanned area overlooking the valley on the other side. The valley would be the perfect battlefield to have their showdown with the drones and draw them out into the open, so that his plan could be properly executed. One thing about computers, they always made predictable movements. He knew the drones would take the bait and the electronic signals employed to control them would help identify the location of the Sphere itself.

Grod's second in command, Malec, personally escorted their special surprise. Grod looked back over the ten-thousand-man army marching toward the pass around Vaseer with satisfaction. "Victory!"

Those within hearing replied in kind and the cry spread across the entire army. These cloned men believed Grod would lead them to victory. He had bolstered their pride as elite warriors. They had finally grown tired of being the muscle for the physically weaker Vorn. The Horva, as clones, had never received any of the glory or power. This had always been reserved for their Vorn taskmasters alone. That time was coming to an end.

Grod was their ideal, sitting upon his grevasaur, physically powerful and more menacing in his appearance than any of the elite Horva. When the Vorn had realized the danger of intelligent Horva, with their greater physical power and tenacious love of fighting, they had gone to cloning a new breed of more easily manipulated Horva. These dumbed-down brutes were easy to control. This had been the final insult to Grod and his brother clones. The Horva made during Grod's time had at least held some dignity. They were elite warriors. But now, the clones which were generated were less than human. And they were treated as completely expendable.

Rebellion had been the only recourse. Grod prodded the grevasaur, urging it on toward the rest of the command group who rode ahead with their equipment in tow. The beast moaned deeply as it complied with its rider's commands.

Grod knew if he could just eliminate this threat to Vorn and Horva alike, the balance of power would continue in his favor. And the spoils, which they had always been denied, would finally come to the true heroes of the war with the Castillians.

GHOSTLY

The Saberhawk glided smoothly around Mt. Vaseer approaching the hangar bay on the lower western face of the mountain. Their internal scans of the city indicated severe damage. Obviously, the fighting here on this twin Castai had been far worse, since there did not appear to be any Castillians left on the planet. Numerous sensor sweeps had not found even one native life signature on the surface. They could only hope the data proved incorrect.

As the Saberhawk approached the massive entrance, it became apparent the doors were probably not functional. The doors were shut and pocked with blast marks. Several large holes went all the through. The Saberhawk would not be able to gain entrance to the city.

Orin tried several command codes from back home, hoping they might be recognized here. The automated systems either weren't functional or didn't recognize the codes. At any rate, the result was the same. No admittance.

"Well there's not much choice," Orin said as he looked back at Tiet. "We'll have to go in on foot and see if we can find anything."

"I'm in."

"Me too," Dorian said.

"Actually, Dorian, I think Tiet and I will have to go alone. We don't have the time to land and hike back up to the city. We'll have to drop in here and go through the damaged hangar bay doors. You can't make the descent from the ship and I would rather Millo was not left to handle any problems with the ship alone."

Dorian was clearly not happy about the situation, but she complied.

"Millo, please take the ship down into the southern valley until we contact you. Keep an eye peeled for any trouble and get the ship out of danger if you have too. It's likely the Vorn will investigate our arrival. I doubt an old Barudii battleship will have gone unnoticed on this planet. Tiet, you and I will make the jump to Vaseer and see what we can come up with."

Orin proceeded through the bridge passage and down the short stairwell toward the loading ramp with Tiet following close behind.

"Tiet!" Dorian called, coming after him. Both men turned at her approach. Orin looked at Dorian and then Tiet, realizing they needed a moment to speak.

"I'm going to secure some more gear we may need. I'll meet you shortly in the vestibule."

Orin went on without further comment, leaving them alone in the corridor.

"What's the matter?"

"I just have a bad feeling about you going down there."

"Don't worry. Orin watches over me like a father," he said playfully, but Dorian's expression did not lighten.

"I feel like I need to tell you how I feel before you go," she said hesitantly, as if searching his face to know his feelings before she continued.

Tiet could hardly breathe, waiting for her next words with such anticipation he could perceive nothing else.

"I have loved you before I even knew you," she said. "From the images of you as a child, until I first realized who you were in the tunnels, you have been in my most secret thoughts. Now, that I have been with you, I cannot imagine being anywhere else but by your side."

Dorian raised her left arm then, pulling back the cuff of her uniform. She exposed the donjarr of her family. Tiet recognized the woven bracelet immediately. According to Castillian customs, it was the woman who chose her life companion signified by the passing of the donjarr to the intended male as a promise of her desire to wed. The donjarr was not a light commitment. It was a binding contract once the male placed it on his own wrist.

Dorian looked into Tiet's eyes, and he could see her longing to know his feelings. He reached for her hand, clasping it in his own. With the other hand, he moved the donjarr from her wrist over their joined hands to rest upon his own, according to the ritual. A tear escaped her swollen eyes, trailing down her olive skin. Tiet pulled her to himself in an embrace they both had longed to have.

"Come back safely to me," she said as she touched his lips with her own. Then she turned and hurried back to the bridge. Tiet could hardly contain his joy as he went on to meet Orin.

Dorian was a good choice. She was a warrior, much like his own people had been. He was of age and they would grow to truly love one another. It felt right and silently he thanked the Elithias the Creator. Now he had hope, even in the midst of war.

Orin was already waiting at the loading ramp when Tiet arrived. Orin looked him over once, puzzled by the grin on his face, supposing that something had happened between him and the girl. Still, he didn't ask.

Orin keyed in the safety bypass code, which would allow the ship to open the main hatch while still in flight. Millo had the Saberhawk hovering about one hundred yards above the mountains face where the city's hangar bay was located. They could see the scarred bay doors below.

"Are you ready, Tiet?"

"Lead the way," he said over the engine rumblings spilling into the vestibule.

"The way is down," Orin said. He turned and stepped into the open air, plummeting toward the mangled surface of the bay doors below. Tiet followed without hesitation. The two warriors controlled their descent precisely with the Way and soft landed on the surface of the hangar doors.

The structure creaked under their weight a little, but appeared to be solid enough. Orin led the way to the largest opening and turned to toss Tiet a lighted headset. He clicked his own headset on to keep communication with the Saberhawk and to provide some illumination of the darkness below them.

"Millo, take the ship down to the valley and wait there until you here from us," Orin said into the microphone. "If you encounter any trouble, dust off immediately. We'll rendezvous later."

"Affirmative. I'll be waiting for your call. Be careful."

Above them, the engines of the Saberhawk wound up to a higher pitch and the ship veered away from the mountain on course for the southern valley. Tiet switched on his headset, and the two of them peered into the darkness below. They saw the pavement littered with debris; most likely pieces of the ruined hangar doors they stood upon.

"Look over there," Tiet said, motioning to a large clear area.

"Let's go."

They dropped from the edge of the blast hole in the hangar bay door, about two hundred feet to the pavement, soft landing again thanks to the Barudii Way. From memory, Orin led them through the debris field inside the hangar bay to the control room. It was amazing how things were laid out nearly identical to their city of Vaseer back home.

The door stood open and a thick layer of dust covered the control panels within. Orin looked for the power grid panel and found the energy cells drained to nothing.

"Even after power failure, the successive auto backups would have run for at least six months," Orin said.

"Maybe, but this looks like years of dust," Tiet said.

"Well, what have we here?" Orin switched on another panel lever. Several low lights flickered and came on inside the bay. "Manual backup, in case the auto systems go down. These should be connected to solar panels on the eastern face of the mountain. They won't run down as long as the panels have decent access to sunlight. Let's go."

Orin led them out of the control room and up a tunnel to a higher level of the city. Tiet followed the swift steps of his mentor, trying to keep his senses alert to any dangers which might lie in wait.

This twin city had certainly taken a pounding. The ground was littered everywhere with debris. It looked like the Vorn had nearly torn the city apart. Yet, there were no signs of any bodies. A fog of dust hung in the air and, other than the very sparse emergency lighting, only the small spires of their headset lamps penetrated the darkness. The two men came into an ornate corridor approaching a single room. It seemed familiar to Tiet, though he couldn't place it exactly.

"What room is this?" Tiet asked.

"It's the King's quarters. This would have been your home back on our planet. Although, I doubt your father was even born when this city was destroyed—probably over one hundred years ago.

"So what are we doing here?"

"There was a separate computer database in the King's quarters with its own link to the solar panels. Since they're still operating, I'm hoping the database is also functioning. It may provide us with some answers."

Orin tried the electronic keypad, but there was no response. Tiet extended one of his kemsticks and sliced an oval shaped hole into the door. He kicked the cut piece inward, bent down and went through the opening. Orin followed. It reminded Tiet of home, but it had been so long ago. Orin walked over to a certain place on the rock wall and depressed two separate points which were far enough apart so as to be almost unreachable at the same time. A digital keypad rotated out of the wall before him. It still had power and Orin quickly typed in the words: Barudii, Soone, Vaseer 1. A panel slid back in the wall to reveal an information display. A list of categories for searching the database appeared on the screen.

"Good, the code works here, too. That means the Soone family also ruled here," Orin said.

"But how is that possible?"

"I'm not sure. We've lost so much of our historical information because of the war. When I was a child there were stories told by the oldest members of our clan. They said we had not always been on our home world. They spoke of a migration, but that's about all I can remember."

"Well, where do we start?" Tiet asked, turning his attention to the computer database.

"How about with those strange spheres we encountered?"

Orin typed in the word spheres and instantly a list of subcategories scrolled across the display. Among the data entries were schematics and weapon systems capabilities for a massive attack vehicle. It must have measured three miles in diameter and looked just like the smaller spheres which they had witnessed earlier destroying the space fleet of the Vorn.

When the information on the Sphere's origin came across, they were shocked to find that it was the long dead Barudii of this planet who had constructed the huge machine. They scanned page after page of data, hardly able to fathom their findings.

"I can't believe they built this thing," Tiet said in amazement.

"To fight the Vorn, or avenge themselves—either way, a very deadly weapon to unleash on anyone."

"Yeah, but we never saw this one—only the smaller drones."

"You can be sure it's out there," Orin said. "It's probably directly responsible for the destruction of the space station we witnessed. It appears they launched it just prior to being wiped out by the Vorn. It was sent to attack their home world of Demigoth then pursue the remainder of their clan and annihilate them."

A small illuminated box on the display began to blink as Orin continued scanning the data. He tapped the box with his finger, causing more data to appear.

"This appears to be a live feed from the Sphere itself—it's still transmitting data back to its creators," Orin said.

"Look at this tactical map. Isn't that Mt. Vaseer and the Saberhawk in the southern valley?"

"Yes, and on a direct trajectory from the Sphere down to the valley is a massive group of drones!" said Orin.

"Look at that, coming in from the northern pass. It looks like a ground army and their moving toward the southern valley, too!"

"Orin to Saberhawk, dust off immediately! I say dust off immediately!" Orin commanded. "Enemy forces are closing rapidly on your position!"

"We've got to get down there to them!" Tiet shouted. He scrambled out of the room and down the corridor.

Orin followed, still trying to get through to the ship.

"Millo to Orin...are you there?"

"Yes, Millo! I hear you! You've got to get out of there now!" shouted Orin into the headset as he tried to keep up with Tiet through the corridors leading to the surface.

"I've got them on scans already. Shields are at maximum and weapons systems have been armed. I'm trying to lift off but some of those drones are already within visual range and closing fast on us."

"Do your best. We're on our way!"

☼

When Tiet and Orin reached the main gate, they found it blasted almost completely away. As the pair emerged into the open air, they heard the noise of battle in the valley below. Many of the spheres were already attacking the Saberhawk. The ship was pinned down by a swarm of drones strafing at it with their energy weapons.

Another group of spheres landed in the valley and began a terrible transformation. Long arms emerged from their sides lifting their bodies and acting as legs to carry them and fight with. Blasters popped out of the tops to lay down laser fire against the masses of Horva.

The pass from the north to the southern valley was flooded completely with ground forces that appeared to be Horva, but Tiet noticed that these were different. They were dark skinned men like the Vorn and Horva he had seen, but they were an organized fighting force—not like the brutes they had encountered back home at all.

The Horva drove forward by the thousands against the large robots, who in turn were spraying them with wave after wave of laser fire. Tiet saw the Horva using the same electromagnetic shield generators he and Dorian had on their uniforms. Laser fire sprayed into Horva ranks, but killed very few.

They moved in close to engage the sphere robots with larger pulse cannons mounted upon hydraulic arms attached to their vests. The pulse cannons did damage to the hulking robots. It seemed to Tiet that the pulse wavelength modulated continually to match the shield wavelengths of the robots, allowing them to penetrate.

All the combatants laid siege to the Saberhawk, even though the Horva and the sphere robots were more interested in one another.

☼

Tiet ran down the main path of the city toward the valley with Orin following hard after him. The Saberhawk hovered forty feet off of the ground, but the sky above them was too congested with enemy vessels to get clear of the battle. Tiet saw the Saberhawk returning fire in all directions, but it was greatly outnumbered. He knew their shields must be losing power reserves fast at this rate. Before long, they would be taking hits directly to the hull. Then it would all be over.

Tiet ran with all his strength trying to get to Dorian. He had to protect her. He leaped away from the path at a nearby ledge overlooking a thirty foot drop down to the fighting already raging below. Tiet landed right in the middle of a group of clones firing on a nearby robot. The dark skinned clones immediately reacted to his presence, bringing their weapons to bear on him.

Tiet's kemsticks leaped to his hands from their leg clips as he landed among the men. He sliced one rifle in two, while deflecting another shot at point blank range. He swept his body downward under the barrel of another clone who fired and killed a fellow soldier standing ready on the other side. With a complete sweep of his kemstick, Tiet cut the man down at the knees. He wasted little time dispatching two others then quickly ran off to reach the Saberhawk.

☼

"We're the biggest thing out here!" Millo complained.

Dorian blasted away with the Saberhawk's weapons while Millo looked for a clearing in the congestion overhead.

"If we're so big, can't we just plow through those other ships?"

"After seeing those spheres ramming into the Vorn ships I'd rather not take any chances. I'm going to try and move us out of the battle at this altitude."

"Well, you had better hurry. Our shields are already down to thirty percent power!"

The battlefield was overrun with Horva warriors, fighting furiously against the robots. Although the Horva were taking losses, they continued to blast away at the automatons. For every ten Horva getting killed, a robot was brought down.

☼

Vale and his doubles were fiercely engaged in the ground battle. The three androids moved swiftly through the battlefield toward the position of the Saberhawk. Vale remembered his defeat by the Barudii warrior on the same vessel. There was little doubt he could acquire his target there again. The triplet androids moved independently as though separate beings, yet all were under the control of Vale and the Sphere.

Vale noticed the ship veering away from the fight and heading toward their position.

Vale-one and two pulled hypermagnetic grapples and fired them at the ship as it passed low overhead. Vale-three was still fighting with a Horva warrior as the hull-implanted grapples pulled the other two androids up and away from the battlefield. Vale-one and two retracted their grapple cables until they reached the hull.

Activating the hypermagnetic discs beneath their android skin, they each clung to the hull of the Saberhawk. The ship's shields did not prevent them since they were designed only to repel energy weapons. The two androids avoided any attempt to cut through the hull with Barudii blades as it would cause a repulsion charge from the shields and vaporize them. They crawled across the hull on their bellies, as the shields snapped back energetically above them at the incoming pulse blasts from the battle.

Vale recalled the entry code for the outer hull hatch and keyed it in. The outer hull door obeyed, and both androids entered the ship without incident. Vale recognized the cargo hold as the place of his defeat at the hands of the Barudii warrior.

The robots walked to the doorway of the cargo hold and found it locked. Vale-two used his blade to cut a portal through the metal door. The pair proceeded down the corridor toward the bridge, even as the ship shuddered under enemy fire raining upon it from all directions. The android's heard voices beyond the locked bridge door—a man and a woman. They sliced through the door with Barudii blades.

Dorian whirled around in her chair at the weapon console, hearing the crackling of molecular bonds bursting. She threw a spicor disc toward the android coming in through the cut hole. Vale-one caught the spicor disc in the upper torso. The tightly controlled burst pattern vaporized all but its arms above the waist and left the lower body hanging in the door.

Dorian pulled her blade as the second robot moved in fast over its fallen twin. She felt the pressure and pain building in her fractured arm as she brought it to join her other arm on the hilt of her sword.

☼

Millo looked back from the controls, as he heard the spicor explode behind him. The ship was taking a beating from the sporadic weapons fire erupting from the battlefield below them. There was no way he could leave the controls. The android grabbed a pulse blaster with its free hand and sprayed laser fire in all directions across the bridge. The electromagnetic shield on Dorian's forearm repelled the incoming blasts.

Millo held the controls of the Saberhawk as the firestorm swept across the bridge. Several shots pierced his flight chair and his body. He arched in pain for a moment then slumped forward over the controls.

The ship lurched upward and back, causing Vale to stumble a moment. As he brought the blaster back toward Dorian, it met her blade in flight. She sliced through both the weapon and the android's hand. With no notion of pain, Vale brought his own blade down upon Dorian's shoulder, only to find her weapon barring the way. With Millo slumped over the controls and many of the flight controls destroyed by laser fire, the Saberhawk turned backwards from its course, descending clumsily toward the battlefield.

☼

Tiet saw the Saberhawk under fire from both the battlefield and the sky. Millo drove the ship hard away from the fight. Soon Dorian would be safe. In his heart, he urged the ship on. He and Orin had been separated by a small distance and were furiously battling clone soldiers as they tried to get through the congestion.

The entire valley before Mt. Vaseer blazed with laser fire. Overhead a multitude of aerial combatants tore each other out of the sky. Wreckage dropped onto the battlefield at regular intervals as the Sphere drones and the Vorn attack fighters with clone pilots exchanged weapon's fire in a chaotic dogfight.

A Horva warrior strafed at Tiet with his pulse rifle. He deflected several blasts with kemsticks as he spun them around his body then Tiet let one stick fly toward his attacker. It caught the Horva's gun and proceeded to swipe across his chest and cut him down. The kemstick rebounded back to Tiet's waiting hand in time to block an incoming battle staff in the hands of another clone warrior. He dispatched his opponent and kept going.

Tiet kept a visual on the ship. Its path was leading it off the battlefield to the east and he was glad Millo was getting them out. The ship slowed, arching nose up then it came back around from its present course. Something was wrong. Tiet's heart sank when he saw laser fire flashing repeatedly through the bridge windows. "No!"

The ship fell back from its escape run and began descending onto the battlefield. If they didn't recover quickly they would crash for sure, and Tiet was too far away to do anything to help them. Several men approached Tiet to attack. He repelled them all with a blast of his mental power.

Tiet reached out in desperation with his mind, trying to seize the ship and keep it aloft, but the Saberhawk's engines fought to drive it downward into the valley floor. The ship slammed into the ground, crushing several of the sphere robots and dozens of clone warriors caught in its path. The Saberhawk burst into several large pieces as it tumbled over twice. Tiet felt his strength slip away as he watched Dorian going down to her death in a fireball.

He burst away from his position, running as hard as he ever had. Tiet closed the distance between himself and the wreckage. He wasn't sure why, but he knew Dorian was not dead. Tiet sensed her location in the wreckage as he drew near. He could feel her pain.

From the wreckage before him, a familiar adversary emerged with the majority of its synthetic skin burned away. The android was here—it had caused this. It had hurt her. Before the robot even spotted him, Tiet hit it with a mental burst fueled by pure rage, sending the robot flying into a large section of the Saberhawk's hull. Before the android could recover, Tiet leaped through the air and came down on top of it. He pinned its head to the wreckage with his blade, driving the weapon in all the way to the hilt. The android body jerked with mechanical aftershocks then moved no more.

Tiet backed away and went searching for Dorian. He found her pinned underneath a metal support pillar. He pulled underneath the edge of the metal trying to move it. Using his mental power for added strength, he got it off her and let it fall a few feet away. Dorian looked at him, barely conscious. She tried to speak, but did not have the strength.

Tiet sat next to her speechless as tears welled in his eyes and escaped down his anguished face. He held her hand and felt it grow cold as life left her body. Dorian reached to touch the donjarr on Tiet's wrist then she touched his lips. Her fingertips lingered there only a moment. Her arm fell limp as the focus of her gaze faded. Tiet's mind raged apart from any coherent thought. He became numb to his senses.

The one who had loved him and chosen him above any of her clan was dead. Sorrow filled his mind and despair gripped his heart. Tiet only half heard the battle raging around him. Then he heard familiar heavy footsteps running across the wreckage, too heavy for a man. He looked at the robot. It was still lifeless and pinned to the hull by his sword. Then he looked toward the approaching sound and saw another android running at him, its own blade ready to strike.

Tiet reached out for his sword, still lodged in the other android's metal cranium. It obediently dislodged itself and leaped through the air to his hand in time to meet the second android's strike. He wondered only a moment why there were so many of these things running around. The fight was on. Tiet slashed furiously at the deadly android, finding every strike countered. He exploded with rage as the thought of Dorian lying here dead on the battlefield tore through his mind. He screamed out in fury at the robot. "Die!"

His rage burst forth as a wave of psychokinetic energy hitting the third android with astonishing force, sending it flying through the air into a pile of the Saberhawk's wreckage. Tiet had never felt so powerful. His anger fueled his mental power and he could not contain it. The Vale android regained its composure and attacked again. Tiet lowered his father's blade to his side and let the power flow freely. The Vale robot came closer, ready to kill its target. Then the Barudii blade it was carrying was torn from its grasp.

The android stopped for a moment confused. Tiet looked on with grim satisfaction. He summoned the wreckage around him to attack the robot.

Man-sized pieces of debris flew off the ground toward Vale, striking the robot repeatedly. The jagged hunks of metal tore away the androids veneer of humanity, exposing the adomen skeleton beneath. The projectiles pummeled the robot again and again, tearing off an arm and parts of its torso.

Tiet scowled at his prey as he launched the mental attack, but nothing could dull the pain of losing Dorian. He hurled his blade at the robot. The sword pierced its adomen skull, driving hilt deep into the android's head. The android fell over and did not move again. The battle still raged on around him. But Tiet knelt near Dorian's body and sobbed.

GROD

Malec surveyed his monitors again to be sure. It was never a good idea to give the General premature information. He was a great leader, but not a patient man. "General, the weapons are fully charged and we have locked onto the orbital location of the giant Barudii Sphere," he said.

Grod did not acknowledge his words at all. He was watching a scene on the battlefield he had not expected to see.

"Sir?"

"Yes, Malec, I heard you," Grod replied.

"Shall I order the weapons to fire, General? "

"Wait just a moment."

"But, sir, the window of opportunity is closing fast. Our junk satellites will drift beyond the Sphere's location if we don't act now," Malec said with more urgency.

General Grod was focused on the battlefield again.

"General?"

"Yes, Malec, order the detonation. Malec, do you see that person down there near the wreckage of that ship?" he asked as he handed him the binocs. "I believe that is another Barudii warrior."

"Sir? But they have been..."

"I realize that. Nevertheless, he possesses the Barudii power." He paused. "Destroy the Sphere, Malec, but afterward I want that man brought into custody."

"Yes, sir. It will be done"

General Grod raised a long range rifle and brought the scope to bear on the young Barudii. He knelt in the wreckage of an old Barudii warship holding the body of a woman. Grod aimed his weapon and fired a single shot at the young man.

☼

Malec activated the special electromagnetic pulse weapons in orbit. The weapons, disguised as old junk satellites, drifted into the giant Sphere, magnetically attaching themselves as it controlled its drones on the planet below. The Sphere, busy with the surface battle, sensed no threat from the objects. Malec hit the destruct key.

☼

One instant later, an electromagnetic pulse enveloped the Barudii sphere, frying its circuitry in a devastating release of energy. The electromagnetic wave penetrated to the core of the giant Sphere module and laid waste to every electronic circuit it came into contact with.

The Sphere never saw it coming. All power failed and the control of its drones ceased.

☼

On the battlefield, the sphere drones became confused and unable to fight. The air drones flew off course and began to crash into the battlefield. Orin was still engaged with the Horva, taking on as many as he could, when he noticed the change in the robots and the air drones. The clones tore down the mech-robots without receiving any retaliation while the air drones crashed around them.

Orin ran for the cover of the surrounding ridges. The battlefield had suddenly turned into pure chaos. He only hoped Tiet had found cover. A drone smashed into a group of Horva near Orin. The blast from the impact sent wreckage flying in every direction. The debris cut down the men and showered a mound of dirt and wreckage over Orin.

☼

The carnage was over quickly, and the battlefield quieted down as the men who remained alive began to reorganize and look to the wounded. The badly injured were dispatched on the spot. Those able to carry their own weight rejoined ranks with General Grod.

He smiled at the outcome of his plan. Victory was well within his grasp now. The destroyer was gone and only the Vorn remained. And they were proving to be no match. It had been a foolish thing for their masters to place all of their military hopes on their clone slaves. And now Grod gave them no choice—their muscle was taking over.

"Well done, Malec. Now fetch my Barudii prize and return him to the laboratory complex at Nagon-toth."

"Yes, sir. General, we're picking up a massive object in orbital decay. It will hit the atmosphere within the hour."

"Very good."

☼

The giant Barudii sphere could be seen to the west within forty minutes. Fire trailed away as the atmosphere burned away most of its mass. The remaining charred wreckage would eventually drop into the Waron Sea to the northeast, approximately three hundred and twenty miles from the battlefield at Mount Vaseer.

Malec led the armed group to the wreckage of the Saberhawk and gathered up the unconscious Barudii warrior Grod had brought down with a tranq-round. One of the soldiers pulled the female body away from him then they bound and fastened the unconscious warrior within a shielded capsule for transport to the heavily fortified complex at Nagon-Toth. The General was already leading the remaining Horva troops toward their home base. There they would begin regrouping with more clones in order to execute the General's next objectives against the Vorn.

☼

By the time Orin regained consciousness, the battle was over. It was earlier in the day than it had been during the battle, letting him know he had laid there overnight. A large piece of drone wreckage had landed across his body, but it had been buffered by a significant mound of dirt carried in the impact. Orin felt the weight, but no pain.

He moved the large piece of metal with his mind. Then he mentally pushed the heavy dirt away and inspected himself for signs of injury. Other than a possible concussion, he appeared to be fine. Orin stood and scanned the valley floor. He found the wreckage of the Saberhawk and ran toward it.

The valley was littered with debris from crushed drones and aerial fighters. The remains of clone soldiers also covered the landscape. Wild animals growled at Orin as he passed through the area—they guarded a smorgasbord. The sky was filled with birds. They swooped down into the valley, collecting their portion then flew away again.

The birds scattered as Orin ran toward the wreckage. He heard screams coming from different places where the wounded clones were attacked by ravenous beasts. How fitting for the destroyers of my people.

When he reached the remains of the Saberhawk, it was still smoldering. Orin found Dorian's body, but there was no sign of Tiet. Something must have happened. He would not have left her body exposed to the elements and the wild animals.

A closer look at the area revealed another surprise. Two more androids lay among the wreckage, apparently destroyed by Tiet. He walked over to one lying on the ground with Tiet's blade still imbedded in its skull. He withdrew the sword and placed it into the sheath next to his own sword. Looking back to the ground around Dorian's body, Orin saw what appeared to be several sets of boot prints. There were no dead clones in the vicinity.

Tiet would not have been consciously engaged by these brutes without having killed at least a few, he thought. He must have been unconscious. Orin spotted Millo several yards away among the cockpit wreckage. They had taken Tiet for a reason, but why would they want him alive?

First things first. Orin buried Dorian and Millo in a clear area among the wreckage of the Saberhawk. Then he mentally pushed a large piece of fuselage over their graves to protect the site from predators. Orin followed the tracks left by the Horva army's departure. He didn't know where they were headed, but he would die before he gave up on the son of his old friend. Tiet had become like his own child after all these years. Nothing would stop him from either retrieving the boy alive, or avenging his death.

☼

When Tiet regained consciousness, he was suspended inside a semicircular mechanism with a form-fitting black suit covering all but his head, hands and feet. What appeared to be metallic buttons covered the surface of the garment. The room was dark except for a light focused on him and the soft glow of machines beyond. He saw vague movement in the dark but not much.

Tiet tried to exert his mind upon the mechanism that held him suspended in an energy field. He heard an alarm sound. A shock emanated from the suspension mechanism nearly driving him to unconsciousness again. My brainwaves are being monitored.

Tiet thought he might try again and began searching for people in the room. The monitor alarmed again and the field shocked him once more. Pain. Tiet tried to contain the urge to cry out in pain. He was already exhausted from the punishing energy. He knew another attempt would knock him out and he at least wanted to be conscious. Had the Horva captured him? He wasn't sure. He could only remember Dorian taking her last breath then pain and nothingness.

It wasn't like the clones to have such technology and what had happened to Orin? Tiet hadn't seen him since before the Saberhawk crashed into the valley floor. "Who are you?" he shouted.

There was no reply from the darkness. "Where am I? Come out and face me, you cowards!"

☼

Behind a Plexiglas barrier a scientist tapped his communicator panel. "General? He's awake."

"Are you ready to collect your data?"

"Yes, sir."

"Excellent. Move him to the dome."

☼

There had not been much to salvage from the wreckage of the Saberhawk. Orin had been able to obtain one blaster pistol, two working kemsticks and an extra scabbard for Tiet's sword. He also found a locker containing several Barudii cloaks and some food packets.

The cloaks were made of a synthetic material capable of scrambling electronic signals coming into contact with it. This had the effect of rendering the wearer invisible to most scanners and sensor devices. It was a valuable asset when stealth was necessary.

Orin wore one cloak and carried another for Tiet stuffed inside his belt. If he was still alive then they would need it to escape from the clones with as little fight as possible. These intelligent Horva were much more skilled fighters than the brutish sort back home. He and Tiet would be greatly outnumbered even with their mental powers. A subtle approach would be necessary for this rescue if Orin was to successfully retrieve his protégé and get him home.

The trail of the Horva army led Orin many miles to the north. It was now dark, and he saw lights in the distance. The tracks of the Horva army led to a heavily fortified compound in the distance. The facility was a massive rectangular building towering one hundred feet above the ground.

As Orin drew nearer, he saw a forcefield barrier surrounding the compound approximately three hundred feet outside the main building's perimeter. Intermediate, one-hundred-foot-high pylons, placed every three hundred feet in the field, acted as connecting points. The shield looked tough.

Fortunately, he had no intention of carrying out a full-on assault. He would be like a virus—a silent but deadly invader no one ever sees coming. Orin approached the barrier with caution. The darkness shielded him from natural eyes while the Barudii cloak kept him invisible to their technology.

Atop each pylon was a guard station with a single soldier manning it. Orin felt for the guard with his mind. He sensed the man's body up in the tower, as though his eyes were fixed upon him, as though his hands touched the flesh. Orin increased mental pressure upon the vessels leading to the man's brain, slowly and steadily, until the guard collapsed unconscious. Then Orin catapulted his own body over the height of the pylon and soft landed on the other side.

Orin ran across the span of the courtyard toward an area of the structure which lay in shadow. Searchlights moved across different areas and he was careful not to be caught in them, or to allow his shadow to be cast by any ambient lighting. He reached a wall and noticed it was made of a synthetic stone material—completely smooth and difficult to climb.

Orin sought out guards on the roof with his mind. Finding none, he leaped up and came to perch on the edge of the roof. The roof of the complex was a maze of ventilation system outlets as well as large computer-controlled laser turrets. He began to walk across the roof cautiously. The cloak seemed to shield him. None of the computer-controlled guns turned to fire on him.

The ventilation system was the easiest way for him to gain access to most points in the building without coming into direct contact with the enemy. As Orin approached one of the large vent housings, he heard the deep roar of the system working to supply fresh air to those within. He pulled out a spicor disc to get through the heavy gauge wire covering the vent, and then decided against igniting an energy weapon in the presence of the sensor-controlled guns.

Instead, Orin carved a hole with his blade then crawled inside. Once inside, he began a controlled descent until coming to a horizontal tunnel. Orin entered it and slid along as quietly as possible, knowing any noise he made would be amplified by the tunnel. In turn, he also heard many voices filtering through the system as it collected the activities of the complex and amplified them all. Orin knew he had a long meticulous search ahead of him. He only hoped he might be able to sense Tiet if he got close enough.

☼

General Grod passed through the automatic doorway and into the control chamber. Inside, various computer terminals monitored the happenings in the chamber below them. On the far side of the room was a large row of viewing windows looking into the huge dome. Grod sat in his command chair and waited.

"General, we have him in position."

"Is he awake yet?"

"The suspension field is active. Subject is conscious. Our warriors are in place. Battle droids are in place and activated. The teragore is in place in the outer dome. All successive inner domes are secured," reported the technician.

Grod held a great interest in what was about to happen. He wanted to know the abilities as well as limitations of this Barudii warrior. The Barudii mental power had once been an integral part of his plan for conquest of the Vorn race and this planet. Another opportunity to utilize that power had been lost. But now he had a second chance and he wanted to see what his prize could do.

"Release the Barudii."

SPORT

Tiet had not realized he was unconscious until he awoke. His environment was different now. No longer did he see a laboratory setting as before. He and the mechanism which held him suspended inside its energy field were now centered within a large dome. The walls were mirrored like two-way glass. Someone was obviously watching him. Near the walls Horva clones stood ready for battle

The suspension field disappeared, dropping Tiet three feet to the ground. He was free, but unarmed. As soon as the field released him, the soldiers attacked. As soon as Tiet's feet touched the ground, he rebounded to the air, bouncing off the top of one of the suspension mechanism's curved pylons toward the Horva. Several crimson laser shots cut the air as Tiet sent his bare foot into the face of one of the men. The soldier tried to defend himself with his metal Bo staff, but Tiet's powerful kick snapped his neck and dropped him to the ground. Tiet snatched the weapon from the soldier's hand as he fell and launched himself back into the air.

The clones tried to track the blur only to miss again and again. Tiet landed among several clones bunched together—more blaster fire. Tiet dodged. Clones shot each other in the confusion. Tiet parried and smashed a laser weapon, along with the man's hands with the Bo. The other end quickly followed into the soldier's head.

Tiet whirled, blocked strikes from two more Horva and then spun downward under their weapons, sweeping their legs out from under them. They fell backward hard. Tiet struck one in the head, but was forced to evade more blaster fire before he could hit the other. The soldier tried to roll out of striking distance as Tiet pulled a knife from a sheath on the Horva's leg and hurled it back at the other clone with the pulse rifle. As the knife did its work, Tiet dropped the Bo and caught the man's rifle with his mind. He laid down a steady line of fire inside the dome. There was nowhere for them to run. Tiet stopped, waited. Both he and the gun barrel exhaled. What would happen next?

☼

The dome around Tiet split across the top. Two equal halves separated and rolled back into the floor. Beyond this stood another larger domed room. Within this dome six battle robots stood twice the size of a man. They were armed with cylindrical rapid-fire laser cannons. Tiet's laser rifle buzzed and shutdown, the power supply run dry. So that's how it is, he thought. The clones weren't going to allow him any advantage in this blood-sport.

Tiet retrieved the metal Bo staff. He raised it into the air with his right hand and spun it rapidly. The battle robots raised their weapons and locked on target. Tiet sent the spinning Bo into one of them like a buzz saw. The laser cannon, which made up one of the robot's hands, was smashed to pieces. The Bo ricocheted into its head, sending metal shrapnel in all directions.

The others opened fire. Tiet only had time for an instinctive move. He charged the air with his mind. A rapidly vibrating air bubble repelled the blasts from the robots. A firestorm raged against his mental shield, yet he remained untouched.

☼

The robots continued to fire, trying to penetrate the mental defense. Grod looked on with intense pleasure. He had not expected the Barudii to have this much power over the elements. He knew of no such incidence recorded about the Barudii of old times. This display was better than he had expected. His eyes fixed on the young warrior through the wobbling refraction of light the charged bubble created.

☼

Tiet wouldn't be able to maintain the shield for long. An advanced technique such as this was an intense drain on one's strength. Tiet caused the bubble to explode outward with such intensity that each one of the robots slammed into wall of the dome crushing their exoskeletons. Once again, Tiet Soone stood alone within the arena.

☼

"Impressive power, is it not? I really wasn't expecting him to survive the battle robots," Grod said leaning forward in his chair.

"Shall we open the last dome with the teragore, sir?" asked one of the control techs.

Grod punched a key pad on the arm of his command chair. "Varen, do we have a viable sample of the boy's DNA?"

"Yes, General. The samples we extracted should work well for what you have requested," a Vorn scientist said.

"Very good. Proceed according to schedule. And Varen...remember your family."

"I understand, sir."

Grod tapped the communication switch and turned back to his technician. "Golon, retract the last dome!"

The clone technician did as he was ordered. The last dome wall began to retract.

☼

Orin tried to follow the loudest sounds he heard. Orin came to a branch veering off to his right. The sounds were definitely coming from somewhere off this branch. The shaft narrowed considerably, but he got through on his belly. He crawled for another fifty feet until he came to a side vent with more light coming through it. Here, the noises intensified.

Orin crawled up to the vent screen and peered through. He saw a massive creature standing fifty feet high. Tiet was held inside an arena of sorts. The reptilian beast had four stubby, powerful legs. A long, thick tail with a cluster of large spikes on the end curled around the animal. The head was fierce with swords for teeth. The hide of the animal was multicolored and paved with row upon row of tough scales.

Tiet did not seem to acknowledge the presence of the beast in the outer dome. Scattered around him were several smashed robots and a number of Horva bodies. It looked like some deadly sport.

☼

Then the dome around Tiet folded down into the floor. He watched in horror as the beast regarded its new prey. The massive beast stepped toward Tiet and lunged with its long neck, propelling the deadly head and teeth right at him. He got out of the way fast, taking to the air. The creature lunged for him again as he landed. He threw out his hands and sent a massive kinetic blast at the predator's incoming face—knocking it away.

The beast reeled for a moment then regained its composure with more fury. A chemical spray issued from its mouth, ignited in the air and became a peel of flame. Tiet formed another protective bubble trying to repel the deadly fire engulfing him. The flame was disrupted, but not the heat. It was too hot to protect himself this way. Tiet blasted the creature again with his mind. But the animal only became more enraged by his counterattacks.

The teragore opened its great mouth again and a long whip-like tongue shot out toward Tiet. He flipped over its strike, as the beast tried to catch him. The sinewy tongue darted back and forth after its prey as Tiet continued his acrobatic evasive maneuvers. He jumped and flipped away from the obscene appendage. The teragore grew more impatient for its meal.

Tiet heard Orin cry out and tried to locate the voice. He saw Orin's hands come through the vent in the dome wall. Orin pulled a kemstick from his thigh clip and brought it through the vent space with his hand, as Tiet tried to evade the whipping tongue of the teragore.

"Tiet! Take it!" Orin shouted.

Tiet saw the weapon and leaped after it. The kemstick flew out of Orin's hand to meet the young man in the air. He caught the weapon just as the tongue of the teragore found purchase around his legs. The beast slammed his body into the ground. The impact knocked the breath out of him and the kemstick out of his hand.

The huge writhing tongue retracted quickly, dragging Tiet toward the beast's mouth. He realized the kemstick was not in his hand and reached out with his mind to retrieve it as he was pulled across the ground. The kemstick obeyed and rolled after him, leaping into the air to find his hand as Tiet was lifted upside down toward the gaping mouth of the creature. He caught the weapon as the teragore pulled him inside and the jaw closed after him. The teragore raised its great head and swallowed the young warrior whole.

☼

Grod grabbed the armrests, sitting on the edge of his seat as the lump of flesh began to slide visibly down the creature's throat. Suddenly the lump stopped its descent within the teragore's throat. An adomen rod erupted from the creature's neck, whirling around in a great circle from within. The teragore's head pitched forward, separated from the rest of the animal's body. The young Barudii warrior leaped out of the orifice, landing near the severed head. He was covered in the creature's vile secretions.

"Unbelievable!" Grod said.

He was out of his chair, on his feet in amazement. "I have never seen such a display of power and skill!"

☼

Tiet sprang into the air and caught a hold of the vent where Orin was.

"Get back!"

Orin slid backward making room for his protégé. Tiet stabbed the kemstick into the armor-plated grating and cut through it—a hot knife through butter. The piece fell out and landed on the floor of the dome as Tiet crawled inside.

Orin backed his way out of the vent shaft with Tiet following him, both on their bellies.

"I should have known you'd be along to rescue me," Tiet said.

"Quickly, put this on. It will hide you from their scanners."

Tiet pulled on the Barudii cloak and the pair crawled back down the main shaft on their knees the way Orin had come in.

☼

"Where did he go? And how did that weapon get into the arena?" Grod growled.

"We're searching, sir," said the technician. He's gone into the main ventilation system but his life signature has disappeared from our scans."

"Find him and kill him," Grod demanded. "I have to be in Baeth Periege soon to meet with our brothers there. Once the city is broken, the Barudii's DNA will fuel our transformation. I don't want anymore loose ends hanging about like the last time."

DEPARTURE

Estall had done a good job preparing the Vorn battle ships for departure. With the enemy under control here on Castai, they had been able to gain control of the ships still docked on the planet. Ranul had produced technology allowing them to operate the Vorn computer systems. The devices converted the Vorn computer language to Castillian and vice versa, allowing them to pilot the craft through the rift if necessary.

A number of pilots from various Castillian tribes had already signed on for the mission, and now it looked as though it would be necessary to travel through and intercept the Vorn fleet before they attacked, as Kisch K'ta had threatened. According to Ranul's readings of the data, the rift would be stabilized within five hours and they needed to be in space waiting for it.

The Vorn fleet still had not contacted the governor and Ranul could only conclude that the Sphere was the cause of it. According to the files contained in the Vorn database, the Sphere had been constructed by the Barudii. It still blew his mind to think that on the other side of the rift there was a twin planet to his home world of Castai.

So much of their history had been lost during the war. Their people had migrated long ago, but it had never been properly recorded for future generations. Those born on this Castai knew nothing of the twin world across the rift. Life went on as though the tribes had always been here.

Ranul was as anxious to see the twin planet as he was to know what had become of his friends. Perhaps, when they took these Vorn battle cruisers through the rift, they would find the Vorn engaged in a battle with the Barudii Sphere and be able to aid in the fight to destroy the Vorn armada.

His communication link beeped. "Yes?" said Ranul.

"Ranul, all seven battle cruisers are under way. Are you ready to go?" Estall asked.

"Yes. I'll meet you at the pad in ten minutes. Are all systems functioning well?"

"Everything seems to be operating smoothly so far. Those translation devices are working well."

"What about our prisoners?"

"They're tucked away nicely in one of their own prison compounds, guarded heavily by my men. I've already transported Kisch K'ta to the prison as well. The other Aolene warriors are settled in on the warships and ready to join Orin and the others in the fight across the rift."

"Very good. I'll join you shortly."

He did not mention to Estall that the Saberhawk may very well have been destroyed by now.

Still, Ranul couldn't give up on them yet. The Barudii warriors were powerful. But in a space battle that would make little difference. Ranul hoped Estall's optimism was well-founded. He too wanted to see his friends again—alive.

Ranul glanced over the data screens once more as he grabbed a pack of his own technical gear then left the lab he was working in. He boarded a nearby transport tube and was whisked away on a suction controlled mass transit system toward the main launch platform where he would meet Estall.

☼

Within three minutes he sped across the large compound and exited the tube system to find Estall waiting for him with a shuttle. They greeted each other unceremoniously then climbed into the small ship. Estall, a capable pilot himself, operated the shuttle controls as they ascended to the Vorn battle cruiser hovering one thousand feet above the compound.

The other warships were already en route for the transdimensional rift and would be leaving the atmosphere by now. The transport was dwarfed by the ominous size of the Vorn ship now receiving them into itself like a mother pulling in its young.

The battleship was easily ten times the size of the Saberhawk and more heavily armed. These same ships had destroyed the Castillian space fleet in the early years of the war with the Vorn and Baruk. Now, they would allow the Castillians to exact retribution for those losses.

Estall and Ranul made their way to the bridge where a Castillian crew piloted the ship with the aid of Ranul's translation devices. They had all spent many years under the heel of the Vorn. It was a tremendous feeling to have taken so much control back from their oppressors. The ships were fast and well armed. Ranul was confident that, should they have to face the Vorn fleet, they would fair well in the battle.

The cruiser soared upwards toward space, leaving the atmosphere. The rest of the ships appeared on the main monitor. The new Castillian space fleet pushed on toward the transdimensional rift. Neither Estall nor Ranul had ever been in space. The sight of the rift was awe-inspiring. The phenomena looked as though it could swallow the entire planet. Absolutely nothing was visible beyond the void.

Ranul checked the science station readouts on the stability of the rift. It would still be several hours before it became permeable enough to cross. He continued his work on communication with the Barudii Sphere. If the Sphere was orbiting the twin Castai then he would need to establish contact with it quickly to show themselves as Castillian and not more Vorn ships for it to destroy. The void lay before them, waiting. Ranul wondered what mysteries would be revealed today.

☼

Within the ventilation system, Tiet and Orin strove to escape the Horva compound. As they passed under an intersecting vent above, Tiet heard a clattering sound like something coming toward them. He looked upward into the tube and saw an insect-like robot scrambling on multiple legs to intercept.

Tiet leaped out from under it as it fell into their vent tube. He saw more of the robots appear behind it, coming from the way he and Orin had already been. The robots looked like metal centipedes the size of a man's leg with a crown of red sensors on the heads.

As the creatures took up pursuit, scurrying along the vents, they began to fire small spikes from compression jets on their heads. The spikes clattered along the metal sides of the vents as Orin and Tiet tried to evade through the curving tubes.

The spikes imbedded into the metal wherever they hit, injecting acid cores, causing the walls to sizzle and burn. At this point, Orin and Tiet did not know if they were going in the right direction to lead them outside or not. But the robot insects were gaining on them. If they tried to blast the mechanical creatures telekinetically they might shatter the entire vent tube and drop themselves right into the middle of an army of Horva.

The tube, which previously had provided many twists and turns to help them avoid the spikes, now opened up into a long straightaway. Orin almost paused, but there was no time to find another route. He picked up the pace as fast as he could, but the creatures were quick and the spikes they fired were even quicker. With a straight line to their targets the creatures would have them in seconds.

Orin heard Tiet behind him, dogging his heels. The younger man definitely had the advantage running in these tubes. A security door came down in front of them. The tube connecting from above was there only outlet. Orin came to a halt below it, turning to see if he could hold the robots at bay while allowing Tiet to go up first.

The moment Orin turned to fight, the entire ventilation tube between them and the approaching robots collapsed inward, as though a giant hand had grasped it from without and crunched it like a can. Orin couldn't believe what had just happened in their favor and had no explanation for it. The integrity of the tube seemed to be intact. They could here the robots on the other side of the collapsed tube clattering against the crumpled metal trying to get at them.

Wasting no time, Orin and Tiet shot up the outlet tube using their mental power to propel them in great upward leaps. The tube kept going and it seemed they might even reach the roof by this way. Orin wondered if the robots had transmitted images and navigational information back to the Horva. He couldn't come up with any other reason how they had could have shut the security door on them. He had no reason to believe the cloaks had failed to hide them.

But if the Horva were looking at their own schematics of the system, they might well know where this tube was taking them. They could be waiting. Still, he and Tiet had no choice but to try and escape the facility or get caught in a battle they couldn't win.

Orin sent a pressure burst ahead toward the vent cap. The power rippled the air causing odd refractions of the available light, like a wave of heat rising off of a hot road. The vent cap shot off the tube. Both men flipped out of the tube and landed with weapons ready on the roof. Orin's suspicions had come to fruition.

Several hundred Horva warriors were closing from all directions across the roof. But the automatic gun turrets still had not picked up on their life signatures. The cloaks were working, but didn't hide them from the soldiers. The Horva closed fast and began firing their pulse weapons.

The pair blocked several shots with E.M. shields. They each sent out mental blasts of power trying not to hit each other in the process. Soldiers fell like wheat each time, but more followed. From somewhere within the Horva masses, a huge kinetic burst erupted, sending many of the soldiers over the sides of the rooftop. Tiet and Orin looked at each other in surprise as neither had caused the incident.

Then they saw someone new in the midst of the clones. This warrior utilized twin swords. He carved the air precisely, dispatching soldiers in every direction. The mystery warrior had both Orin and Tiet captivated by the complexity of his attacks. Neither of them had ever seen such swordsmanship. The auto-guns on the roof charged up and swiveled around. These fired on the Horva soldiers. For a moment, Orin thought the warrior must be controlling the guns. But it didn't seem possible with the rest of the fighting he was doing. It would have been beyond any Barudii abilities Orin had ever known.

The soldiers were now preoccupied with this warrior and their own mutinous sentry lasers. Tiet and Orin didn't know whether to get away or wait to see how it all turned out. Then the warrior, having cleared away many of the Horva around him with his swords and the auto-guns, launched high off the rooftop landing in front of Orin and Tiet.

He wore a sand-colored garment that seemed oddly pedestrian for a warrior of this caliber. He was hooded, with only his glaring, penetrating eyes visible. "Do you want to live, Barudii?" he asked as the Horva regrouped behind him, more reinforcements adding to their numbers.

The warrior ran to the edge of the roof and launched out away from it with enough power to completely clear the compound's energy wall three hundred feet away from the buildings perimeter. He sailed over as easily as a bird in flight. Orin and Tiet barely took enough time to glance at each other then stood up and followed. They each made the jump, but with less elegance. They soft-landed next to the warrior.

"What about the perimeter cannons?" Orin asked, as they broke into a run away from the compound.

"We're cloaked from their sensors by our garments," the warrior said.

"Who are you?" Orin asked as he puffed along beside the mysterious man.

"There isn't time for introductions just yet. The Horva are already mobilizing attack fighters to come after us. We must keep moving."

"Where are we going?" Tiet asked. There was only desert before them. Against the pale sand, the attack fighters he had spoken of would easily spot them, even without sensors.

"Just keep moving!" the warrior insisted.

As they ran toward the open desert, the terrain began to change from rock, where the facility was located, to shifting sand and large dunes. The trio ran for nearly fifteen minutes then they heard the sound of whining engines coming from behind.

The men entered the dunes heaving every breath in and out of their tired bodies. Orin looked back and saw ten aerial fighters coming into view about a mile behind them and closing fast. As they entered the dunes, the sand began to swirl around them. Orin wasn't sure what was going on, but he kept running. The whine of fighter engines grew louder and louder. Orin knew they must be within visual range by now. Only the warrior's tan attire seemed appropriate now, as they ran through the whirling sand. A wave of sand billowed up around them and swallowed them whole. The Desert had eaten them alive. The airships zoomed past where the men had been and kept going.

☼

Tiet, Orin and the mysterious warrior were now in an odd shaped underground alcove. The sand was above them without being on them. It was as though the desert had opened its mouth and swallowed them, depositing them within its bowels. The sand parted before them to reveal an underground cavern of immense size.

"Don't be alarmed, gentlemen. We are well hidden down here," the stranger said.

"Who are you?"

"Ah, yes," the warrior said. He untied his hood and slipped it away, revealing a man of more years than Orin. He had a partial beard and short, white hair.

"It can't be," Orin said. "Wynn Gareth? But I thought you were killed in the Sector Seven Battle."

Tiet appeared clueless.

"Well, I see you've heard of me, though I don't remember either of you," Wynn said. "I wasn't killed in the battle, obviously. One of the big Barudii carriers exploded near my fighter, disabling my controls. The shock wave forced me through the transdimensional rift.

"After I emerged on this side, I was able to affect repairs to the damaged system and make my way to this planet. It took me a while to figure out what had happened. At first I didn't realize my ship had even gone through the rift."

"My name is Orin Vale and this is Tiet Soone, the son of our late king, Kale Soone."

"Really? The birth of the king's son was announced only days before we went into battle against the Vorn at Sector Seven. And here you are all grown up—and a very promising warrior from what I saw."

"How long have you known we were on the planet?" Tiet asked.

"I have been watching you both since you emerged from Mt. Vaseer and entered the battle against General Grod's forces. After you escaped the dome, I aided you in your escape."

"Then it was you who crushed the vent tube?" Orin asked.

"Yes, using the Way. I tracked you and thought you could use some assistance. I have a friend on the inside. I'm able to monitor what General Grod and the Horva are doing."

"That was some amazing fighting on the rooftop."

"Master Soone, you may have noticed that on this side of the rift the Way is greatly enhanced beyond what we knew back home on Castai. There is something about being on this side of the rift that increases our power."

"We began to notice it after we passed through the rift two days ago," Orin said.

"I have been on this twin planet of Castai for twenty years and there is much that you and our people back home don't realize about what has been happening in this war with the Vorn. Also, the forces that overlapped into our dimension through the rift have a much more potent effect on our abilities than you are probably aware of.

"Back home, the power of the Way seemed as if we were receiving the misting rain from a far off storm. Here on this side of the rift, we are in the eye of a hurricane. What you may have thought amazing back at the compound is within either of your abilities. With proper training you will also be able to control the energies that are in play on this side of the rift."

"But what about the Vorn and these Horva?" Orin asked.

"Orin, things are not as they may appear to be. But no more questions now. I will explain the situation after you have refreshed yourselves. Come, there is food and drink." Wynn began down a path through the cavern. Fueled torches lit the way as they made their way deeper.

It had been while Orin was still in training as a warrior that he had studied some of the fighting techniques of Wynn Gareth. He had been a formidable pilot, but was studied for his mastery of the Way. However, the skill Wynn had been known for all those years ago back home paled when compared to the display they had witnessed today.

Orin was curious to learn what Wynn was referring to with the war and the greater abilities that were within their reach. But the older man was right. They did need to eat and rest and prepare for whatever lay ahead.

HIDDEN

Daooth Pasad stepped in front of the retina scanner located near the exit of the lab facility. He was an assistant to one of the head scientists located within General Grod's compound and there were very important goings on of late. He had proven himself to be trustworthy to the Horva while they were fighting the oppression and rule of the Vorn military, giving Daooth the privilege of leaving the compound at will despite being Vorn.

The scanner cleared him for exit. The computer-controlled door opened, allowing him to pass through to the outside. While some of the Vorn scientists had been captured and put to work under the General, others had come voluntarily—hoping to find safety and protection, as they allied themselves with the Horva commander. Among them was Daooth, and he was well-favored in his occupation at the compound and his liberty was a result of that favor.

The tall, slender-framed Vorn clansman made his way to his transport carrying supplies from the compound. He loaded them into the storage compartment then climbed into the cockpit and closed the canopy. Daooth brought the engines online.

The compound had not been built to house civilians, so many of the Vorn loyal to Grod and his campaign were allowed to live in a nearby area that was close enough to the base to enjoy the protection of the Horva. Recently, the Vorn military had become preoccupied with defending their interests on many fronts. The Vorn were in need of reinforcements for the twin Castai across the rift and there were terrible losses because of the Barudii Sphere. Many deaths had also been sustained at the hands of General Grod and his Horva army. The Vorn military was very near collapse, and it seemed nothing would be able to prevent it.

The transport flew away from the building perimeter and passed through a security portal in the shield, heading for the wasteland. The settlement given to the civilians was far from luxurious, but its location underground provided a better weather environment and added protection.

After several miles, the transport came to a large protrusion of rock in the desert that lay to the west of the compound. A metal door opened in the rock—the entrance to Daooth's residence.

Daooth brought the vehicle inside and shut down the engine. He retracted the cockpit canopy, gathered his supplies then went into his home. He made his way to a closet inside along the main corridor and triggered a switch inside. The back wall released and moved aside.

Daooth proceeded through the portal, leading into a large cavern beyond. The closet wall waited a moment and then smoothly slid itself back into place. He hurried down the cavern to a place where another smaller tunnel intersected with it. Daooth took the passage and came to a room. Inside this room were three men. They were eating when he came into the entrance of the hollowed out chamber.

☼

Tiet spotted the tall Vorn man first as he appeared in the entrance to the chamber where Wynn had served them their meal. Tiet instinctively launched out of his seat with his blade in his hand.

Daooth deftly dodged the first strike and parried with a strong fist blow to Tiet's side. Tiet recovered quickly, ready to deal a death blow to the man. Suddenly, Wynn was next to him, disarming him with ease. Tiet was astonished and angry. Had he and Orin been led into a trap by a traitor?

"Stop it!" Wynn demanded. "Daooth is a friend. He is a civilian I have known for many years. He saved my life shortly after I came to the planet, when I was captured by Grod and his Horva."

Tiet and Orin stood down and listened to what Wynn had to say.

"Forgive my startling of you," Daooth said in a broken Castillian dialect.

"I told you things are not what they appear here," Wynn said. "There are those among the Vorn who would gladly live at peace with us, but the military has control over them—just as they do on our home world. Daooth is one of many who want that control to end. General Grod is the leader of the Horva armies you saw at Vaseer and at their main compound at Nagon-toth. Grod and his clones are of a breed which was discontinued due to the threat they began to pose to Vorn control.

"They were engineered to be stronger, but it became obvious to the military—as well as to Grod—that these Horva were capable of rising up against their Vorn masters. Grod quickly took the opportunity to lead them in revolt and that rebellion has been building in strength steadily since before I arrived on the planet.

"Grod had been capturing important cloning scientists from the Vorn cities while on raids. He began to conquer entire cities as his power increased. Not long after I arrived, I was captured by the General. He took samplings of my DNA to use in a new experimental process by which he could regenerate his clone body and splice my Barudii DNA with his own in the hopes of gaining our kinetic abilities.

"Daooth helped me to escape and caused an accident which destroyed the genetic material Grod was going to use. He has hidden me here all these years since. It is my hope to somehow free his people from the control of the military and Grod."

"Why haven't the civilians risen up for their freedom against the Vorn," Orin asked?

"My people have not fighting skill to face these armies, and they are not the only threat," Daooth said. "Baruk clan is also our enemy and are more fierce than Vorn military or Grod. Now they control Vorn military from distance. Vorn do what they want, further Baruk interests, they leave them alone. But now Vorn nearing defeat by Grod's forces and Baruk are sure to come."

"Yes, and Grod knows that as well," Wynn said. "That's why he's so desperate to complete his DNA experiment so he can power up his clones with the Way."

"But you said that Daooth destroyed the sample of your DNA that Grod needed to do the experiment," Tiet said.

"Yes, but now he has yours," Daooth replied.

Tiet was taken aback. He had no idea what had occurred before he awoke within the confinement field inside Grod's compound.

"Then we have to infiltrate Grod's compound and destroy the samples," Orin said.

"It not so simple anymore," said Daooth. "Grod already moved out with scientist for project and samples. He going to Baeth Periege."

"Baeth Periege is the main city used by the Vorn military and it houses their most advanced cloning facility," Wynn said. "Grod needs to have control of this facility in order to perform the regeneration of his army. He will have to defeat the Vorn there. And if he does, he will have taken away the main power base and last refuge of the Vorn military."

"What can we do?" Tiet asked. "If he takes that city and the cloning facility, how can we hope to stop him and a whole army of clones with our power?"

"There's the problem, my friends," Wynn said stroking his beard. "We are up against formidable odds, two armies and time itself. If we fail to stop Grod, which must be our first concern, then I fear only the Baruk themselves will be able to stop him."

"If only our clans could have made peace," Daooth said. "Men should act as brothers—not this killing of other races. Skin color is only difference between you and me." Daooth pointed at Tiet. "My blood is red like yours, my heart beats same as yours. Even Grod, a clone of my dark-skinned people—fierce, strong, but he wants freedom just like us."

"My friends, I realize that I have involved you in a seemingly suicidal goal," Wynn said. "It may seem overwhelming, and I cannot ask you to endanger yourselves for this cause."

"We're already involved," Tiet said. "That's my DNA he's using." Tiet looked at Daooth. "I guess, I never though about your clan's side of things. You're right, Daooth, we need peace between the clans, but how?"

Orin nodded his agreement. "It's easier said than done. This war has been raging back and forth for decades. We had better stay focused on what we can handle now."

"We have a transport and some explosive charges that we could use to destroy the equipment Grod needs to conduct the regeneration," Wynn said. "It's just about the only way we can prevent Grod from coming into power."

"I've been thinking things out, Wynn," said Daooth, "I think I have way to destroy facility. We try to infiltrate city in transport then we having to fight our way through Grod's army and Vorn military guarding city. In these caverns is link to old magnetic rail system. System used to connect Baeth Periege with military compound at Nagon-toth, before Grod captured it.

"Vorn military have detonated charges to bring tunnel roof down and cut off route into city. System still has power, but Grod not want to take time to clear all debris. It remain unused. System runs right into cloning facility. It used to send troops from main cloning facility to compound."

"How fast is the rail system?" Wynn asked. "Baeth Periege is nearly one thousand miles away."

"Be a frictionless magnetically suspended rail car system. It will travel approximately six hundred miles per hour," said Daooth.

"That's pretty fast. It wouldn't take us long to get there at all," said Tiet.

"Yes, but Grod already has the jump on us," Orin said. "And where is the break in the system?"

"Break occurs approximately one hundred and fifty miles from city perimeter," said Daooth. "Only problem, how to clear debris and pass through in time to stop Grod. Defenses of Baeth Periege will not hold him long. He has massive clone army, and Vorn military already very weak."

"I think, with the Way, we might be able to clear the debris, but we will need time to work," Wynn said.

"My people long for freedom," Daooth said.

All of the men shared the sentiment. They gathered the explosive charges necessary and followed Daooth through the various side passages in order to access the magnetic rail system.

BAETH PERIEGE

It did not occur with the fanfare Ranul had expected, but the fleet had successfully passed through the transdimensional rift. The passage was surprisingly quick and uneventful. Estall's cruiser, the Esyia, took lead of their small armada. Ranul scanned the area for other ships, but found none. They had no contact with the Saberhawk, which he had always guessed would be the case. However, there were no ships within scanning range at all, not even in orbit of the planet.

Kish K'ta had boasted of a space fleet on their way to wipe out the remaining people on Castai, but there was no evidence of it at all. Even from the Vorn computer records, Ranul had expected to possibly find a battle between the Barudii Sphere and the Vorn, but there was nothing.

"There isn't much to see out here, is there?" Estall said.

"I know. That's what bothers me. I suppose we had better set course for the planet and see if that's where the action is. If Orin and Tiet are still alive, there will be something going on."

Estall to the helmsman, "Let's proceed to the planet."

The ships glided forward toward the strangely familiar planet—Castai's twin.

"Shields up," Estall commanded. "If that Barudii Sphere weapon is out there somewhere, it mistake these Vorn ships for targets."

"I agree. If the Sphere is in the vicinity, it could be cloaked from our sensors. That thing could very well have already destroyed the Vorn fleet Kish K'ta spoke of. I don't know if it would have attacked the Saberhawk or not. It's a computer, so I would expect it to destroy intended targets only, but who knows."

"If the Saberhawk didn't face anything out here, I bet they would have gone straight for the planet," Estall said. "I don't know any warrior who wouldn't rather face a fight on the ground, rather than be cooped up inside a space ship."

"According to these records, the planet is now inhabited completely by the Vorn. They have colonized it, since wiping out all of the other Castillian clans there. It's sad that such genocide could occur," said Ranul.

Estall sighed heavily. "That's the awful face of war, my friend."

☼

Pulse fire blazed across the sky toward the perimeter defense shield surrounding the Vorn city of Baeth Periege. General Grod watched with great satisfaction as his forces mounted the assault upon the city. "How long will it hold?" Grod asked.

"Probably another twenty hours at this rate of replenishing."

"Good, that gives us plenty of time. Is the team ready?"

"Yes sir. They're waiting for you to join them for the assault."

Grod headed away from the firing line toward an area to the south. The pulse cannons continued to pound away at the defense shield as the city's gun systems attempted to repel the attack.

He made his way to a work site away from the main group. Malec was waiting for him with three hundred warriors outfitted for battle. The work site was relatively hidden from view of the city, just as Grod had planned.

"I've sent an advance team ahead of us, sir, to begin the breach on the tunnel barricade."

"Excellent, Malec. The intercepts on local transmissions show that the Baruk may have already answered their distress call. They could be here within the twenty hours it will take to get through the perimeter shield."

"Once we come into the city from the tunnel, we will be very close to the cloning facility. We should be able to disable the shield and allow our forces to continue the main assault while we begin the regeneration process," Malec said.

"Let's go."

Grod went to the head of the group and into the tunnel they had been working on. It descended into an old magnetic rail system tunnel that had previously connected the city to the compound now controlled by Grod's forces hundreds of miles away. Once inside, the Horva warriors began their rapid move to enter the city beneath the perimeter shield.

The tunnel had been barricaded at the city entrance, but the small team ahead of the main group would have it breached by the time they arrived. It was imperative to Grod to get to the cloning facility in time to complete the regeneration process before the Baruk could arrive on the planet. If he was to have any hope of success against that fierce race, he would need the advantage of the Barudii Way.

The tunnel was dimly lit by the emergency lighting which was still powered by the city. Main power to the entire system was split between Grod's compound and Baeth Periege, but with the tunnel collapsed many miles from the city perimeter; it had been left abandoned.

Grod's forces moved swiftly toward the perimeter barrier which had been put in place by the Vorn military at Baeth Periege. The demolition team, Malec had sent, would have everything ready by the time they arrived. They were going to use some old salvaged Barudii technology to get through the barrier. It involved molecular dispersion fields and would, with the power they were supplying to the device, completely vaporize the barricade in a moment of time.

It took them about twenty minutes to make it to the position where the demolition team was waiting.

"Is everything ready?" asked Grod.

"Yes, sir," said one of the team, "we can remove the barricade at any time."

"Excellent. My brother Horva," said Grod to the entire group of warriors, "it is time for us to go beyond the designs of those who created us as improvements of themselves. We shall remake our own image with a far greater power than we have ever known before. We shall conquer our oppressors and be free. And if the Baruk should come, we will defeat them as well."

It had been on everyone's minds. The Baruk were going to come in response to the uprising, now that Grod and the Horva were beyond being defeated by the Vorn military. But they would not arrive in time to save their principle base of power here at Baeth Periege.

"As soon as we are beyond the barricade and come into the city I want my team, with Varen, to accompany me to the cloning facility. We will take it and begin the regeneration process while the rest of you attack the main power couplings for the perimeter shield generators. With the shields down, our brothers will swarm in, and the city will quickly fall. We need not worry if any ships try to escape. It is the city and the cloning facility that we want, not Vorn prisoners. Their time of rule is at an end no matter what else happens."

He turned to the demolition team and gave the final order. "Detonate the device!"

They complied. Up ahead, a brilliant blue burst flashed down the tunnel at them. The entire barricade to the rail system tunnel was engulfed in a molecular dispersion field causing the metal and stone to vaporize. The light of the sun shone through into the tunnel. Grod's soldiers immediately rushed ahead toward the opening.

As they came out of the end of the tunnel and crossed the semicircular smooth crater left in the tunnel floor by the dispersion blast, they saw the rail system's magnetic rings. These were spaced out along the remainder of the distance to the cloning lab compound. The rings allowed the rail cars to continue above ground while still being propelled magnetically.

Grod's group maintained its push down the track toward the cloning lab with Malec personally bringing Varen with him. Acting as both protector and jailer to the Vorn scientist, Malec carried the cryo-pod holding the Barudii genetic samples for use in the regeneration procedure. Varen would be performing the technique on Grod and his Horva against his will.

The hinder group, comprised of the remaining two hundred Horva warriors, was splitting off to attack the shield generators. They were already coming under attack from the Vorn military including many brutish Horva as well.

The shield attack group laid down heavy fire, maintaining a steady advance. The Vorn military had not expected to be attacked from behind their own positions at the city perimeter. They were not prepared. Beyond the perimeter shield pulse cannons battered the energy barrier as thousands of Grod's Horva warriors waited to enter Baeth Periege.

Grod and his team had very little resistance in getting to the cloning complex. Only a few of the brutish Horva slaves had stood between them and the entrance to the facility. Grod did not enjoy the fact that they had to be killed. He pitied the poor creatures. But as they could not be brought from the loathsome state they had been created in—as dumb beasts to be exploited by the Vorn—he thought death was better for them.

Grod and his one hundred warriors rushed into the complex and quickly secured the lab facility they needed for the regeneration procedure. Varen's identification card had allowed the group quick access to the interior of the facility. Malec gave the cryo-pod to Varen and led him to the control boards.

"Varen," Grod said, "remember your family. I want this done perfectly."

"I understand, General," Varen said nervously.

Varen tapped the controls and a multitude of the cloning pods opened up, allowing Grod and fifty of his warriors to climb into the horizontally situated units. They first removed their weapons and battle gear along with their clothing then positioned themselves individually within the pods.

The remaining warriors would ensure that no one interfered with the three hour procedure.

Varen secured the pods once the men were situated inside then removed the Barudii genetic material from the cryo-pod. He inserted it into the matrix chamber housing the genetic material. Varen inserted a command disk containing the necessary changes to the standard process in order to bring about the automated sequences for a regeneration of their tissues and structure.

Once the data was received by the automation system, Varen activated the program and the process began, even as the thunderous battle continued to rage within and without the city.

Grod drifted off into a medicated sleep as the system prepared him and his warriors for genetic enhancement and regeneration. His final thoughts were of the glorious spectacle he had witnessed in his battle dome. The young Barudii warrior had skillfully vanquished everything arrayed against him in the dome, even the teragore itself.

☼

When Orin, Tiet, Wynn and Daooth arrived in the rail system control room, they found minimal power available. Daooth located the grid controls and brought the system online. The rail cars were kept in a docking bay apart from the magnetic propulsion tunnel. Daooth brought one of the cars from the bay on a loading arm as Wynn and the others brought the explosives into the loading area. It was quite a bomb they had rigged—almost too much for the hover carrier to support. It consisted of two containers of inert chemicals which became volatile when mixed; a Trilithium matrix and B7 accelerant.

"Two of us will need to go ahead of the car with the explosives and begin clearing the rubble from the tunnel," said Wynn. "After that, one person needs to accompany the bomb into the city, in case there are any other obstructions in the tunnel."

"Tiet, why don't you go with Wynn and I'll take the explosives on through after you," Orin said.

"Are you sure?" asked Wynn.

"I'll make sure nothing interferes with the car reaching the facility," Orin said.

"Daooth can load the cars into the propulsion tunnel and send us through from the control room here. So, you will not need to operate the rail car yourself, but you will have to escape after it comes above ground inside the city. The rail system becomes a series of magnetic rings which are spaced along the track until it enters the cloning facility. You will be inside the city at that point, so you will have to be careful. Grod's forces have certainly begun their assault by now."

"What about our rail car that will be setting in the tunnel?" Tiet asked.

"Daooth can move our car into a passing cell, located at different positions along the tunnel. They allow for cars to be displaced while others pass," Wynn explained. "We will go on ahead in this car and then I'll communicate with you when its time to come through with the explosives."

Wynn and Tiet climbed inside the rail car, measuring nearly thirty yards in length. Tiet and Orin exchanged glances as the door closed on the car. Orin tried to look reassuring.

He knew if anything happened to him, that Wynn would be able to continue Tiet's training even beyond what he had been able to accomplish with the boy. But he had no intention of riding this rail car to his doom. Orin did wonder what would be waiting for him in a city full of Vorn soldiers and an invading Horva army led by Grod. Hopefully, they would be so busy with each other that they wouldn't even notice him.

The door of the car secured itself into a locking position as Wynn and Tiet sat down and fastened their seat harnesses for the trip. Daooth worked the controls causing the hoist arm to move the rail car into the propulsion tunnel. Once they were inside the mouth of the tunnel, a safety door constricted into place behind the car so that the magnetic field would not harm anyone in the loading area. The field was powerful enough to pull a person, with anything metallic on their person, into the tunnel and potentially to their death.

The safety door sealed and the rail car was bathed in a powerful magnetic field. The hoist arm released the car, leaving it suspended within the magnetic field.

Daooth tapped the send command and the rail car shot away like a whisper down the tunnel. Within the car, Wynn and Tiet noticed little inertial effect as dampening systems kept them protected.

"The trip will take a little over an hour to complete. I would suggest we both try to get some rest before we arrive. You'll need it."

"If you say so," Tiet said.

The journey from his home on Castai seemed like years instead of days. He and Orin had hardly slept at all. He had hardly closed his eyes before exhaustion took him into sleep.

RAILWAY

Orin made his way to the rail car. He boarded and found a seat, unconsciously glaring at the bomb as though it might blow at any moment. Daooth watched him from the control booth and manually closed the car door so he could secure it with the boom arm for loading into the tunnel.

He noticed an odd power fluctuation on his panel. It was something he had seen before, but he couldn't...wait. They're monitoring the system!

"Orin! I have to send you on through quickly." His voice came through on the rail car intercom.

"What's wrong?"

"They're monitoring the power emanations back at Nagon-Toth. If they've already noticed it, they'll send a squad to investigate. Strap yourself in, we've got to hurry."

Orin didn't waste any time with further inquiry. He located his safety harness and secured himself to the chair. The boom arm swiveled over to attach to the car. He could hear the magnetic seal apply through the roof with a snap of metal. Daooth watched carefully as he guided the arm and placed the car inside the tunnel for departure. Once inside, he released the rail car and closed the safety door behind it. It took only a moment for the magnetic field to charge and build inside the head of the tunnel then the rail car was speeding down the tunnel.

Daooth secured the control station and locked out the system. Hopefully Grod's men would not be able to disable it when they arrived to investigate. He ran out of the chamber and back through the secret tunnel entrance they had come by. It was time to get back to his quarters before he was missed.

☼

Tiet woke as the rail car stopped. He saw that Wynn was already out of his harness and looking through the front window at the tunnel blockage ahead. He removed his harness and joined Wynn at the window. The lighting in the tunnel was adequate to see the large pile of heavy stones that were piled three quarters of the way up to the roof. A large hole could be seen in the tunnel roof where it had collapsed.

The rail car came to a halt approximately fifty yards from the blockage. The side door unlocked and opened itself. Tiet followed Wynn out the door and they jogged up the tunnel toward the rubble.

"Let's get started," Tiet said as he began to concentrate on the individual stones.

"I want you to move all of the stones at once."

"What do you mean? Are we able?"

"If you remember when we were on the roof of the General's compound...."

"You controlled the automated weapons while simultaneously fighting the Horva! That was amazing."

"It was easier than you realize. It is not in the amount of power but in the technique for wielding it."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, when you use the Way you are reaching out with your mind. You are probably used to reaching out in one direction at a time. But you must learn to reach in all directions at once, as though you were surrounded in a sensory field and everything within the boundary of it were susceptible to your senses and your control. When these things are comprehended at once in your mind, you're able to manipulate them, and the Way carries out the thought with action.

"When I was on the roof, you were in the dome with that teragore. I could reach out throughout the compound and in my mind I could see you fighting that beast. I admit it takes discipline and a lot of practice to begin thinking in this fashion, but you do have the ability. Of course, it's all made possible by the energies in play here. We don't understand how, but the fact remains."

"Could you teach me?"

"Within you, I believe, is the last hope for the Barudii to carry on as a race. We must do what we can to preserve what is left. You're young and if you survive this war our people have hope to live again. I want to make as much of a contribution of what I have learned to that future as possible. Now, raise the rocks, Tiet. Reach out in all directions around you, feel the tunnel, the ground, the hole in the roof, even me standing here beside you, and then move the picture in your mind with determined intent."

Tiet tried to let go of the way he would have normally gone about the task, by trying to lift the boulders individually. He began to feel more and more around him. The picture of his surroundings was in his mind as though he had eyes on all sides. He could feel his surroundings in a way he had not previously realized.

Tiet sensed the temperature of the air in the tunnel, the rhythms of Wynn's bodily functions—heart rate, blood pumping, neurons firing—and he could feel it in a way that gave him confidence that he could manipulate any of it if he desired. The Way felt like another appendage—an extension of his mind. Tiet searched over the surface of each piece of rock in the pile of rubble and could sense with exacting precision where it fit in the crumbled tunnel roof above.

Tiet exerted his will upon the rock. The pile disassembled in his mind and in reality. The stone separated and seemed frozen in a moment of time with even the dust suspended in the air. Wynn was in awe, not at the possibility of performing the task, but in Tiet's quickness to apprehend the concept and be able to apply it so skillfully. Indeed, he was the King's son.

The rock began to ascend and reassemble into the places it had previously occupied in the cavernous hole. Once it was all in place, Tiet held it there, but he was unsure of what to do in order to keep it in place. Wynn fused the joints of the rock with his mind and Tiet could feel them supported by it. He released the structure and it held.

"I could sense your power working within the same space as my own, even my susceptibility to your mind. Was that real?"

"It was real, but not indefensible. If I were to attack you kinetically, you could shield yourself from the intrusion and prevent such an attack, possibly even counter it if you sensed that I was unprotected in some way."

Wynn's communication link beeped on his wrist.

"Daooth here. How are you progressing with the repair?"

"It's already complete, my friend."

"Good. Orin is already en route with the other rail car and the explosives. He should arrive at your location within half an hour. I had to leave the station because I realized the Horva are monitoring the system from Nagon-Toth.

"I've been monitoring transmissions from the compound about Baeth Periege. Grod's forces have already penetrated the city. They were able to disable part of the city's perimeter shield. The Vorn are attempting to keep them at bay, but from the communications among the Horva, they're well on their way to entering the city."

"The sooner we send that rail car into the cloning facility the better," Wynn said.

"I agree. You will need to reenter the rail car. Now that the blockage is cleared, the automated system will take control and position your car safely inside a passing cell in the tunnel wall. I programmed everything before I left, so I can't stop it now."

Tiet followed Wynn back into their rail car. The door closed automatically and an alarm sounded to notify the passengers of an approaching car in transit. The computer began its procedure for clearing the path of the other rail car in the system. A hoist arm moved away from the tunnel wall to magnetically grasp Wynn and Tiet's car, pulling it into a recessed portion of the wall known as a passing cell. The car locked in place. Within minutes, the other rail car would come hurtling through the tunnel at hundreds of miles per hour, carrying Orin Vale and a very nasty surprise for General Grod.

SIEGE

Orin sat uneasy within the second rail car as it made its way down the dim tunnel traveling at hundreds of miles per hour toward Baeth Periege. The explosives located in the car were rigged to blow upon the car's stopping and the opening of the door. Daooth had wired its trigger directly into the auto sensor panel for that purpose.

The computer controls for the magnetic rail system would automatically bring the car into the cloning facility for unloading and stop it at a preordained station within the compound. When the auto sensors signaled a full stop it would open the door and detonate their care package. All Orin had to do was to make sure nothing prevented the car on its journey then escape the rail car when it emerged above ground.

Daooth had sent the car into the blocked tunnel under repair conditions, but with the removal of the tunnel blockage, the automated system had assumed control again. Orin was glad to know that Wynn and Tiet had been successful in clearing the debris.

Now, Orin kept his mind centered on the tunnel ahead so that he could make sure nothing else happened to prevent the car from reaching its destination. If this was their only shot at stopping General Grod from completing the DNA regeneration of his troops then he had to make sure nothing would trigger the automated system to stop the car.

Orin sensed the other car up ahead as he projected down the length of the tunnel. It was out of the path of his car, and he was approaching their position rapidly. In a few moments he had passed their car, tucked away in a recess of the tunnel wall. Orin continued to project forward. Nothing appeared to be in the way. Within ten more minutes he felt the car and tunnel beginning to ascend. Daylight flooded the car abruptly as it emerged on the surface within the city of Baeth Periege.

Orin saw the cloning complex in the distance ahead. The speed of the car was rapidly declining as it entered the city. Overhead, he could see the huge magnetic rings that Wynn and Daooth had spoken of.

A barrier came halfway up the height of the rings and stretched between consecutive rings on either side. He supposed it must have been a preventive measure to keep someone from inadvertently falling, or climbing into the path of the rail cars. Otherwise, there was open space between the rings from that height upward. This would be his means of escape.

Orin looked over the bomb mechanism once more then raised his blade and cut a circle into the roof of the car large enough for him to pass through. He shot up through the hole and came to stand on the roof of the car. He could feel the tingling of the magnetic field around the car as it passed beneath the rings. Several items including his blaster pistol flew off of his person toward the rings as he passed. Fortunately, the adomen which formed his blade was not magnetic.

Around the rail system on either side was a large park that separated the main city from the outer perimeter. It was lavish, with decorative pools and gardens of every sort. Orin thought it surprising to find such things in the Vorn city.

He had never considered the peaceful or artistic side which the Vorn might possess. They had been the enemy for so long that he had never looked beyond any characteristic which wasn't oppressive, or linked with this war.

On the right of the magnetic rail he saw where Grod's army had knocked out a large portion of the defense shield and had secured the area just inside. It appeared they were making a definite effort to push the Vorn away from the cloning facility.

Perhaps, Grod had already gotten inside and begun the process to regenerate himself with Tiet's DNA. However, if Grod was already inside, he and his men were about to get a big surprise.

To Orin's left, several ships were docked upon a huge landing platform. None of them would have made Orin look twice, except one. It was a Barudii ship, a Strider class vessel—faster and smaller than a Saberhawk with light armaments. It sat within a number of Vorn military ships, some of which were trying to escape the onslaught of Grod's army.

Orin picked his moment and leaped away from the rail car. It continued on without him toward the cloning facility, but he wasn't watching it anymore. Orin was transfixed upon the Barudii ship. It looked very much like his old ship which had been stolen previous to the massacre of his people so many years ago.

The ship was nearly five hundred yards away. He began to run toward it. Orin saw exhaust venting from the engine. Whoever was inside was planning on leaving very shortly.

☼

The rail car came into the station at the cloning facility. Several of Grod's men, who were guarding the entrance, raised their weapons as they saw the rail car approaching. The car slowed and the men moved toward it, but they couldn't see anyone through the windows. The car stopped and the doors opened automatically for unloading.

☼

Orin was now within two hundred yards of the Strider. Behind him, a flash of light cast his shadow upon the ground running in front of him. The horrendous sound almost one second later along with a blast wave that knocked Orin off of his feet. He tumbled across the pavement then looked back to see the cloning facility blossoming like a flower with petals of debris and flame. The job he had come here to do was done, but now there was something more.

Orin quickly got to his feet and turned back to the landing platform he had been running toward. To his amazement, the gateway was down and someone was walking out to see the devastating explosion. Orin had started to run, but stopped in his tracks when he saw the man who was standing there. The man caught Orin's gaze and they locked together in recognition.

Each of them knew the other in a way few could ever understand. Rage flooded every fiber of Orin's being. He surrendered to it, sprinting toward the man standing underneath the Strider. At nearly the same instant, the man ran towards Orin. He removed a blade from a scabbard under the long coat that he wore. Orin pulled his own sword.

They both took to the air as they approached one another. Their swords struck as they passed. Orin managed to also strike the man's face with a quick jab. Both men soft-landed, turning to face one another with blades ready.

The other man staggered a moment from the hit. He touched his face with his hand, finding blood when he pulled his hand away. The cloning facility burned behind him.

"So, what I was told is true!" Orin shouted. "You murderer! Kale, you're a traitor to your family and your people!"

Kale did not answer the charge. He raised his blade and leaped again at Orin. Kale came down with a powerful blow and Orin matched his blade. They exchanged several quick strikes then Orin was knocked backward by a kinetic blast. He flipped over and recovered himself quickly.

"So, Kale, I see you've been training. You rejected your people, but not their ways?"

"I was rejected by my father and my people!" Kale said angrily. He blasted at him again with his mind, but Orin nullified it.

"You betrayed your father, the king...and for what? So you could join up with the conquerors of our planet!"

"No! It was for revenge! What loyalty did I owe to father when he dishonored me, his only son, before our people?!"

"Not your people anymore," Orin said. "And not his only son."

Kale struck again and again, but Orin did not let his blade through. Orin sensed someone else and quickly evaded another blade in flight. He launched himself up and away and came down to find two more Barudii surrounding him with Kale.

"So you led away other traitors as well?"

Kale and the other two Barudii rebels closed in on him simultaneously. Orin pulled a kemstick from under his cloak and extended it. He did not wait for them to strike, but instead took the fight to them.

He struck at one of the two Barudii, while simultaneously attacking the other man with the Way. The first defended himself with his blade while the man under Orin's mental attack failed to perceive his own weakness. Orin caused a massive firing of pain neurons throughout the man's body, especially in his hands and arms.

He buckled under the mental attack and threw his sword away as though it were on fire. Orin immediately dispatched the unarmed opponent. Orin fought between Kale and the other man, striking and countering as each came at him. He tried a mental attack on the other Barudii man, but found him defending against it. Kale moved in again as Orin defended a strike from the other man. The kemstick was knocked away. He tried to mentally pull the kemstick from the air as it tumbled away from his hand, but Kale intercepted it in flight and cut through the handle of the weapon, destroying it.

Orin was beginning to wonder if he would lose this confrontation. The other Barudii man was not nearly as skilled as Kale. But having to deal with both at the same time was tipping the scales out of his favor. Explosions began to erupt on the air field around them.

The men each looked toward the attack to see the army of General Grod beginning to move toward their position. Large war machines fired volleys from some distance away at the ships on the huge landing platform, attempting to destroy them before they could escape.

Orin used the distraction to strike again at Kale who skillfully intercepted his attack. However, he did not anticipate the leg sweep Orin caught him with. The other Barudii renegade took advantage of Orin's move against Kale to strike at him from behind. As Orin turned to counter, something flashed in the sun behind the man. A blade impaled him from behind.

Orin looked toward the point of origin to find Tiet and Wynn emerging from the magnetic rail safety wall, running hard toward them. He was glad to see them, but for a moment the tragedy of Tiet meeting his unknown older brother flashed in his mind. He turned against Kale again, who was still on the ground trying to get up.

He locked eyes with the younger man. Kale looked away momentarily. Tiet's sword catapulted away from the fallen rebel's body, under Kale's mental control, and pierced Orin from behind. He lurched in shock and pain, his eyes still locked on Kale's face. Orin heard Tiet shouting from some distance away.

☼

Kale looked away toward the pair running toward him. The younger man was dressed in the same Barudii cloak as Orin. Kale stood over Orin's fallen body and pulled the blade from his back.

Kale knew the weapon very well. It was the blade of his father, Kale Soone I, the long dead king of the Barudii. He crouched down near Orin's body. He was lying on his side bleeding profusely from his wound. "This is Father's blade, Orin," he whispered in the older man's ear as he withdrew the weapon. "Where did that boy get it?" Insight crept into his mind and across his face.

He knelt close. Orin was now gasping for his breath as his life poured out. "Is that my brother, Orin?" He did not wait for an answer from the dying man.

The Horva were still raining down a heavy weapon's fire upon the platform, threatening to destroy the Strider. Kale decided he could not afford another confrontation right now and drove the sword into the pavement next to Orin.

There it remained, imbedded up to the hilt. Kale took another stolen glance at Tiet as he approached then he turned to run for his ship before it was destroyed by the approaching war machines.

Kale managed to reach his ship as another, not far away on the platform, was struck by a powerful blast from the Horva war machines. He got to the cockpit and retracted the ramp as the engines powered up for lift off. Kale could see his brother finding Orin's body. He wondered if Tiet even knew that he had an older brother. That possibility only bolstered the resentment and fury he had carried for so long against Orin and his father.

The child had been so very young when the betrayal had occurred, but Kale remembered him. He had supposed all of the family, including little Tiet, had perished in the great battle that wiped out the Barudii as a people. It was obvious now that at least a few had survived.

Kale had seen his father's body upon the battlefield after it was over and remembered seeing his crown, but the king's blade had been missing. Now he knew why. Kale pushed the memories back in his mind and brought the engines to power. The old Barudii Strider lifted off of the platform and tore upward through the sky toward open space.

☼

Orin was very close to death when Tiet came upon him. He knelt in his mentor's blood trying to help him, but it was nearly over. Orin tried to speak as he coughed up more blood. "Who was that person? Who did this?" Tiet pleaded.

Orin's voice was weak. He could only manage one word before his life ended. "Kale."

Orin Vale was gone. And the pain of losing him on top of Dorian's death was only delayed momentarily by the bewildering last word he had given in answer to his question.

Wynn was beside Tiet as Orin died. His reaction to the name was one of realization rather than bewilderment. But there wasn't time now for any hesitation. The Horva army was coming.

"Tiet, we must go!" Wynn urged him.

Tiet seemed not to even hear the man. Wynn pulled him to his feet against his will, pulling him away from their fallen comrade. Tiet went along knowing he must, pausing only to free his father's blade from the ground. Wynn urged him on as they ran toward the cloning facility. He wanted to be sure that the equipment Grod wanted was destroyed.

As they approached the building, it became clear that the facility was in total ruin. Many fires were still blazing within and there was no way to get inside to investigate further. It certainly appeared that the bomb had done the job adequately.

The Horva continued to advance, laying down heavy fire as they approached the cloning facility. The Vorn soldiers who were still trying to stop them were steadily losing the battle. Tiet and Wynn ran all the way back to the magnetic rail and took cover behind the safety wall as the Horva continued to devastate the Vorn army. They were now within four hundred yards of the rail system. Many of their ground forces split away toward the cloning facility trying to attempt a rescue of any of their forces who might have survived the devastating explosion.

The safety wall crumbled around Tiet and Orin as pulse laser fire tore into it. There seemed to be nowhere to go. Tiet ran to the nearest of the giant magnetic rings and used his blade to make multiple cuts to the support where it rose above the safety wall.

Wynn figured out what he was doing and ran to the other side to execute the same maneuver. As the supports gave way, both men combined their mental power to support the ring and then quickly sent it up into the air in a great arc toward the soldiers encroaching upon their position.

Seeing the approaching section of the ring, most of the ground forces stopped firing and attempted to scatter. The huge metal ring came crashing down into their frontline and smashed many of the warriors as it tumbled through their ranks. Some of the war machines, caught in the path of the ring, were damaged. But the Horva still continued to advance.

☼

Ranul continued his scans of the planet surface, trying to lock in on the disturbance which the computer had picked up. The sensors concentrated on one city in particular. The database identified the city as Baeth Periege An intense battle was taking place within the city.

"Helmsman, get us to these coordinates immediately," he ordered as he transferred the data.

Estall signaled for two of the other cruisers to follow them to the surface while the rest remained in orbit. The large Vorn warships began their descent through the atmosphere with shields at maximum for reentry. The sheering forces of the atmosphere beat upon the vessels, but did not harm them.

As the three battle cruisers came closer to Baeth Periege, Ranul was able to pull up a more detailed visual. Several Vorn ships were leaving the city and heading away for open space as the battle raged on.

Ranul tried to locate the beacon from the Saberhawk, but was unable to locate it anywhere in the vicinity. He did however notice an old Barudii ship climbing through the atmosphere, but it was a smaller Strider class vessel. Ranul dismissed it. They had to get to Baeth Periege as soon as possible. Hopefully his friends could be found safe.

CONQUEST

Wynn and Tiet stayed pinned down in the magnetic rail trench. The Horva had regrouped and were laying down more pulse fire against their position. Large blasts from the war machines were closing in on them. They looked at one another, trying to figure out what to do next. "The tunnel!" shouted Wynn over the explosions going off around them.

Tiet got up and followed the elder man toward the magnetic rail tunnel they had emerged from earlier. The explosions continued all around them as the Horva persistently moved in on their position.

The tunnel was nearly eight hundred yards away from them and the enemy was tearing into the rail trench with everything they had. Pulse laser fire shredded the safety wall all around them as they ran. They shielded themselves mentally, as best they could, as large chunks of concrete and metal flew at them from nearby explosions.

Massive energy ejections shot overhead, coming from a different direction. The laser beams strafed through the front line of Horva battle tanks. Wynn and Tiet stopped a moment to see what was happening. They saw several Vorn battle cruisers coming in over the city from the southeast. The cruisers quickly began to turn the tide on the Horva army with superior firepower.

The Horva tried to return fire, but it was useless against the shields on the cruisers. After several heavy volleys of laser fire, the Horva began to retreat away from the approaching warships. Many of their soldiers scattered into the wasteland beyond the city perimeter while the greater majority either retreated into the tunnel of the magnetic rail or stood their ground and died.

Wynn and Tiet watched as their own escape route was being used by the Horva fleeing the cruisers. They didn't dare run from their position for fear the Vorn cruisers might pick them off as well. From the shuttle bay of the lead ship, they noticed a large troop carrier coming down very near to their position. Not having anywhere else to go, they remained where they were as it landed. To their surprise, when the back of the transport lowered and people issued out, it wasn't the Vorn military but Aolene warriors.

The soldiers filed out of the transport, setting up a perimeter around their vessel. Behind them, Ranul emerged. Tiet jumped out of the trench when he recognized him with Wynn following.

"Tiet! Where are the others?" asked Ranul over the sound of the cruiser's cannons, still firing on the retreating Horva.

Tiet's face gave away the news before his voice did. "Dead."

Ranul was shocked by the news, but he hesitated only a moment. A battle was still raging around them. They entered the transport and found seats near the cockpit. The Aolene warriors filed back into the transport, taking their positions inside. The ramp lifted as the pilot brought the ship off the ground, ascending back one of the Vorn cruisers.

Tiet could hear Wynn and Ranul speaking with each other, but he wasn't really paying attention to them. He felt safe again as they climbed toward the waiting warship. The tension began to wane a little, but a flood of suppressed emotions rushed in. He began to weep as he pressed his head against the bulkhead. Ranul and Wynn could only watch as the young man grieved.

☼

A lone and injured figure watched as the Horva army retreated under heavy fire coming from Vorn battle cruisers. He wondered where the ships had come from. All of the large battle cruisers had been thought destroyed by the Barudii Sphere. The battle at Baeth Periege had taken a turn unexpected.

Grod wasn't sure how the cloning facility had been destroyed. The last thing he remembered was going to sleep in the cloning pod. He had woke to utter devastation. All of his men that had gone into the cloning pods with him were dead. Malec and the scientist Varen were also dead.

Grod watched his army in full retreat. This battle was lost, but at least he was still alive. He spotted a personal transport vehicle near a section of debris and confiscated it. Firing up the engine, Grod climbed onto it and bolted away from the smoldering wreckage of the cloning facility toward the open wasteland beyond.

☼

Once he was clear of the atmosphere, Kale scanned the area of sector seven-seven-three. He found the signal he was looking for. Kale plotted the course into the navigation computer and activated the auto pilot. The Strider took off for its preset coordinates at three quarters of its maximum speed. His thoughts were returning to the surface and his fight with Orin.

Kale had thought the man dead for so many years now—the man who had come between him and his own father. Now, Orin truly was dead. But it was not at all satisfying to him. He even felt some regret.

Kale had not had such feelings since he saw the body of his father lying dead on the battlefield near Mt. Vaseer. The betrayal of his own people, though they had dishonored him, had not been as satisfying as predicted either.

Kale had wept for his father and mother and brother on more than one occasion, secretly. His years among the Vorn and Baruk military had not been able to erase the memories he had of better times before the incident which changed everything for him.

Regret, once again, tried to settle upon Kale's mind and once again he fought to push it away. After all, what was done was done. He had chosen his path. Things could never be what they were again. As for Orin, he had initiated the attack on the landing platform. Kale had only been defending himself. There was nothing he could do about that. At any rate, it had been clear that nothing had changed in Orin's mind either.

However, his younger brother was alive. It did not matter. To change course now would be a death sentence for him. He had betrayed his people. Already, he was betraying the Vorn to the Baruk.

In the distance, scanners picked up the vessel he had fixed his navigation system upon. The Strider automatically slowed its pace as the docking bay of the Baruk vessel locked onto it and guided the ship inside. Kale prepared himself to give a report of the battle. He pushed lingering thoughts of home and family as far away from him as he could and proceeded down the ramp to the waiting Baruk.

☼

Inside Tiet's cabin, Ranul and Wynn discussed the events leading up to this battle at Baeth Periege. The Vorn cruiser, under Estall's command, was still in position guarding the city. The Horva had fled hours ago.

The western portion of the city was in ruins after the battle. The space port and surrounding buildings including the main cloning compound were completely devastated.

Tiet stood in the shower stall of the washroom, letting the hot water pour over him. He wished the steamy water could cleanse away the recent memories in his mind, even that he could be dissolved in it and washed away never to be thought of again.

When the heating cell in his quarters ran low on stored hot water, the temperature began to change and so did his desire to stay in it. He turned off the faucet and stepped out to dry himself. Tiet noticed, in the wall mounted mirror, that his body was covered in cuts, scrapes and bruises.

These last few days had been the most exhausting and punishing experience of his young life. He stared into his own face reflected before him. Why had he lived while others had died? And did he really want to go on living without them?

He clothed himself in a simple robe and came into the main room of the cabin where Ranul and Wynn were still talking. Tiet caught Orin's name mentioned before he entered the room.

"Who killed Orin?" Tiet asked abruptly.

Both men gave him uneasy stares, as though the answer was known but they weren't sure of whether to give it.

"Wynn, I saw your face when Orin said the name. He said Kale killed him. Kale was my father. But he couldn't have meant my father. You seemed to know who he meant by your expression."

Ranul looked at Wynn.

"Ranul, do you know who this person is? I think the time for secrets is over."

"You're right. You need to know the truth. The person Orin named is not your father, but your brother."

"What?" Tiet could hardly stand. "Wynn, I don't have a brother!"

"Actually, Tiet, you do." Ranul confirmed. "He's your older brother."

"Why was I never been told?"

"Three years after you were born, there was an incident," said Ranul. "While under Orin's command, your brother was to guard a certain village of three thousand people with a squadron under his command. He had always been a brash young man and given to conflict with his superiors.

"Kale decided that there was no real threat to the village and took the majority of his fighter squadron onto the battle front, leaving only a few to guard the people. The Horva attacked during that time. Almost two thousand men, women and children were killed as a result of his irresponsibility.

"Orin was furious with him and petitioned your father to remove his rank as a warrior. Your father was ashamed of him and did so. Kale was dishonored before your people. Shortly after those events, he disappeared. He was nearly eighteen years of age at the time."

"I still don't understand why he killed Orin," Tiet said.

"About five years later, Kale was found to have conspired with the Vorn military. He gave them the information necessary to avoid our early warning systems and to allow the Baruk and Vorn armies to penetrate our defenses."

Tiet dropped his head into his hands as he sat down upon his bed. "Does this get any better? My father and mother and my people massacred by the Vorn and the Baruk conspiring with my own brother! And now Dorian and Orin are dead because of all these things. I don't think I can bear to hear anymore of it." said Tiet.

Ranul and Wynn got up to leave.

"I cannot say I know how you feel, young master," Wynn said, placing his hand firmly upon Tiet's shoulder, "but I'm here for you. You must go on despite what has happened. Your father is dead. But you, the heir to the king...you live on, and our people live on with you. I hope you will not let their legacy die now after all that has happened."

Wynn followed Ranul out the door, leaving Tiet on his bed to ponder. It was so horrible. Everything was worse in reality than he could have ever imagined in his worst nightmares. Yet, he was still alive. Now what am I supposed to do?

Tiet thought of Orin. Back when they lived in a cave far in the wasteland, when he had taught him to be a man and a warrior. Orin had taught him to resolve a difficult situation through prayer to the One God, Elithias.

Tiet thought upon those lessons for some time. Orin had always been very wise. He wondered if his own father had perhaps imparted his wisdom in some way to Orin. Now both men were gone, but their wisdom still lived in his memory.

He got up from his bed and walked to the portal window. Tiet could see over the city of Baeth Periege below. Much of it lay in ruins from the battle with Grod and his army.

Wynn had said that these people, the civilians, had longed for peace and had hoped for it even through years and years of oppression under their own military government. That government was gone—defeated by Grod's Horva. Grod was apparently also dead. The Horva were defeated and fleeing from Baeth Periege. Maybe, just maybe, he thought, there was something left that was good after all.

BARUK

Year 9028: Planet Castai-Rex

The bright red glow of the binary star Casiss glided across the surface of defense probe number: 2041. Its mission, to hold a position in this quadrant and maintain continuous long range scans toward the home system of the Baruk, had been uneventful for the last six months since its launch. The probe sailed through a vast sea of silence. Casiss was calculated at nearly one quarter of a light year away, with none of its uninhabitable planetary bodies visible to the eye, save the electronic eye of probe number: 2041.

Something entered into its sensor band one tenth of a light year away from the probe. Number: 2041 closed in on the object with its sensors to distinguish whether it might be a naturally occurring object such as a meteor. It had been the case fourteen times already since the probe took position there.

The object was quite large, but it was not following the normally erratic flight pattern of a natural space body. Quickly, the sensor field was penetrated by even more similar objects—fifty in all. Each of the objects followed virtually the same flight path putting the group on a direct course for the planet Castai.

☼

Wynn walked through the Courtyard of Pools outside of the newly appointed combat training facilities. The artwork was pure Vorn from different eras he was unfamiliar with. He took note of the rich detail present in the forms—some were of natural things such as native animals and some of the Vorn race. But the gray stone gave little indication that these were the Vorn since nothing but their skin color distinguished them from any other clan of humans.

As Wynn came through the serene garden area into the main courtyard, he heard the sounds of battle. He saw hundreds of warriors from among the Vorn intermingled with many Castillians from nearly every tribe which had migrated across the rift after the battle of Baeth Periege eighteen months ago.

The migration had been rather unexpected. But there had been a rally cry to join the Barudii king. The Vorn had been defeated on Tiet's home-world by Estall. The people had begun to refer to it as Castai-Origin. The twin Castai here across the rift had similarly begun to be referred to as Castai-Rex, illustrating the presence of the Barudii king.

There was at present, however, no king at all. Tiet was the heir to that throne but had chosen to remain on this side of the transdimensional rift following the battle at Baeth Periege. His intention had been to remain on Castai's twin because of the likelihood of further conflict with the Horva and the impending attack of the Baruk.

Tiet had assumed no formal power, yet the people looked for leadership in the wake of all of the fighting. The Vorn had originally looked to Daooth or Wynn as potential leaders to unite the people, while the Castillians had looked to Estall as the victorious leader of the Aolene who had brought about the capture and subordination of the Vorn military on Castai-Origin.

Wynn had emphatically refused, pointing out that he could never assume power under any circumstance so long as an heir to the throne of his people lived. With Daooth backing Wynn, and a history of relations between the Vorn and the Barudii kings of the past, a consensus developed supporting the throne of the Barudii. Estall had also deferred to the throne of the Barudii and hoped Tiet would step up to the task.

It all seemed like a wonderful opportunity, but Tiet had not consented to assume his father's throne. It had become a matter of great frustration, both to Wynn and those among the Council of the Twelve Cities, that Tiet remained reluctant. Wynn had spent hours trying to persuade the young man, who at times seemed ready to cave in to the pressure. But Tiet doubted himself. The deaths of his friends were still weighing heavily upon his mind.

Tiet had taken a great interest in organizing civilians from among the Vorn and the migrating Castillians to form a large ground force in training. He had become obsessed with the task in fact, leading Wynn to the conclusion that it was in part to relieve himself from his own troubling thoughts concerning recent events and the deaths of those dearest to him.

Wynn ascended a stairway leading to a very long balcony overlooking the training courtyard. He couldn't help but be delighted to see his own Castillian people training with the Vorn to fight a common foe. A dream had been realized with the uniting of these people. He hoped nothing would tear them apart again. Still, it was vitally important that they have the necessary leadership and that leadership could not be served better than in the Barudii King.

Swords clashed on the courtyard as instructors from among the Aolene guided the trainees in various sparring exercises. The handsome new uniforms Tiet had designed were of the same material used in the old Barudii cloaks and rendered the wearer electronically invisible.

Various improvements from Vorn technology allowed for the E.M. shields to be reduced in size and incorporated directly into the garments along with components that provided a real-time holographic data display and nano-sensory components. These additions helped to mimic the Barudii's ability to sense information such as number and position of combatants within a certain range of their bodies.

The data from the suits sensors was used to create pressure sensations in the garment which then alerted the wearer—in effect giving them perception in all directions simultaneously. Other nano-components provided scanning of one's surroundings, feeding the information to the holographic display.

Today, the trainees were practicing Barudii blade techniques. Much progress had been made in the eighteen months since Baeth Periege had been engulfed in battle. More trainees appeared daily as the migration from Castai-Origin continued, despite the threat of the Baruk. The city had been under constant repair by numerous robot construction crews, although the cloning facility which had once been a jewel of science for the city was never rebuilt. The Vorn "Council of the Twelve Cities," named for the twelve large cities now housing the population for unification and safety concerns, had outlawed the cloning of Horva as servants.

General Grod's Horva troops provided little interference to reconstruction after their defeat. There had been a few raids on smaller cities that were nearly abandoned, but it appeared they sought supplies now rather than conquest. Grod himself had been proven to still be alive, a fact which had brought considerable alarm to the Council. While there seemed to be no immediate threat, it was a definite possibility that Tiet's new recruits might face a war on two fronts if the Horva resurfaced and the Baruk arrived.

Wynn continued to walk the length of the balcony until he saw a group of recruits surrounding one unarmed man. The young man was blindfolded but not bound. Several of the recruits moved in to strike. The first strike went for the face. The blindfolded man's head bobbed to one side as the strike passed before him. He quickly struck the mid-section of the attacker then swept the feet while countering another strike from a different recruit.

As the recruits moved in quickly, trying to overwhelm the man, the whole situation seemed to revert to chaos. In a matter of a few seconds, all of the recruits were tossed to the ground, leaving the blindfolded man standing alone. Wynn chuckled a bit to himself as Tiet removed his blindfold and beckoned his students to their feet. Wynn could not hear the instructions given at that point, but soon the recruits disbanded to other exercises in the courtyard.

Tiet raised his blindfold again and replaced it over his eyes. Wynn noticed a flash of light as something caught the sun between Tiet and himself. Something whispered on the wind and kissed the railing of the balcony next to his right hand. Wynn saw a unarmed spicor disc lodged there.

He looked back at Tiet, still blindfolded but curling his index finger in the air toward Wynn. He smiled then stood waiting. Wynn dropped to the courtyard below as Tiet leaped at him. Wynn caught Tiet's foot and sent a fist to the groin, but Tiet's other leg had already come up and over to catch Wynn in the side of the head. Wynn stumbled as he let go of Tiet's foot, but quickly regained his composure. Tiet was standing ready. He liked training with his new mentor.

Wynn smiled back at the younger man and began to think, maybe, he had taught him too well in recent months. They exchanged a quick moment of fists and kicks with neither man landing a blow with advantage. Tiet was still smiling behind his blindfold.

"I've come to urge you to speak with the Council," Wynn said.

Tiet's smile disappeared. He was never pleased when this subject came up. It often had, since the Council had pressed for leadership in the months following the battle at Baeth Periege.

"We've been over this before," he said. "I am not the man to lead these people, Wynn."

Wynn could sense that this hardness was not as deep as Tiet was trying to make it appear. They exchanged several more blows with Wynn the more playful now. He noticed that all the commotion on the courtyard had ceased. Nearly all of the recruits in the area were focused on the sparring between the two Barudii.

"You've become very powerful in recent months. Far more than when we first met," Wynn said.

"All thanks to your training, I'm sure."

"Would you be up to a wager with an old man?" Wynn asked.

Tiet smiled again and raised his blindfold. "Wynn, if you're trying to get me to—"

"Of course if you doubt your ability to knock me to the ground in hand-to-hand combat, I suppose I understand."

"And if I do?"

"Then I won't bother you with the matter again."

Now Tiet was intrigued. "Do you really mean it, Wynn?"

"I do."

That was the last word he needed. Tiet launched an intensely fast barrage of fists and feet at Wynn. He managed to block them all, but with difficulty. The younger man had the age advantage and he was powerful. If this kind of attack continued, Tiet might wear him down.

Tiet was younger, but Wynn had decades of specialized training. He deliberately faltered and Tiet took the bait. He landed a strong blow to Wynn's face. The elder man stumbled and went to one knee. Tiet approached. "Looks like you're about to lose this one, Wynn," he boasted.

"That's too bad. Do you think Orin and Dorian would be proud of your lack of resolve to assume your rightful place?" he asked with mocking tone.

Tiet's countenance flashed through surprise and then anger. He lunged. The elder man took the opportunity and rose to meet him with a knee to the stomach: three consecutive quick blows that knocked the wind out of him. He followed the ambush with a backhand to the side of the head that sent Tiet to the ground gasping for breath.

He looked up at his mentor, who was smiling at him again. He remembered the old lesson to refrain from anger in battle as it can foil one's concentration.

"You tricked me," he coughed out.

"My dear young king, it was only for your own good and ours."

Wynn offered Tiet a hand, helping him to stand again. The pride and anger were gone, replaced with the knowledge that Wynn would never let the issue die.

"The Council meets tonight at dusk. Don't be late."

☼

Wynn smiled and turned away to leave the courtyard and its stunned audience who began to whisper about the outcome. Tiet looked after the elder man. He had been foolish to have been baited so easily. It was so important to Wynn, this matter of the throne. Tiet did not understand why, but a promise was still a promise.

He heard a slow clapping coming from behind him and looked to see its source. Ranul was sitting under the shade of the balcony overhead clapping, sarcastically, with a sly grin on his face.

"Yes, yes—very funny," Tiet said as he turned to gather up his sparring equipment from the ground.

Ranul got up and walked over to him. The soldiers were renewing their training on the grounds, pairing up as they prepared for the days to come when the Baruk would almost certainly attack.

"Now don't be mad, young master. After all, Wynn means well. The people do need a leader and you are the natural choice. I'm sure Orin would have agreed."

Tiet turned to look at him. "Well, I don't know about that. Orin tended to be very protective of me and a bit critical."

"Maybe, but he cared a great deal for you. And whether you realize it or not, he was quite proud of you."

"How do you know that?"

"I knew Orin very well back before the Vorn came. It was written all over him. He treated you like the son he never had. He would have wanted you to take your rightful place as King."

Tiet looked at him, not sure how to answer. He was rubbing his stomach. Wynn had really laid into him.

"You should get over to the medical complex and have my daughter take a look."

Tiet smiled. "I'm not really hurt, Ranul. He just knocked the wind out of me."

"It's still worth a visit, just to see Mirah. Haven't you two been talking recently?"

"A little, but..."

"But what? She's a nice girl, Tiet..."

"I know."

"And she's moving up now that she's completed her medical training. You're going to have to think about taking a wife someday."

Tiet looked at the donjarr on his wrist. He had still not removed it after losing Dorian. "You're a bit direct aren't you Ranul?"

"I don't mean to push Tiet, but you have to go on with your life. Dorian is gone and Orin is gone—you have to assume your responsibilities for your own good and the good of those around you."

"I just don't want to fail everyone like I failed them."

"You didn't fail them. You fought back against those who had enslaved our people and you won. I owe a debt to you I can't repay in giving me back my daughter. If you hadn't been set on freeing us from the Vorn, she would have died in that prison cell along with the children they had captive with her. She was able to go on with her residency work and now she's turning into a fine physician. You haven't failed."

Tiet thought about it for a moment. His words were kind, but they cut him to the heart. He felt unsure of himself, yet convicted by the need to serve the people.

"I had better get going, Ranul. I've got to get ready for this meeting if I'm going to keep my promise."

He shook Ranul's hand and started to walk away from the courtyard."

"Tiet, don't forget. If you get a chance, go by and see Mirah. She really would like to see you. You know, she was very complimentary of the man that freed her from prison."

He laughed under his breath as he continued to walk away. "Subtle, Ranul, very subtle."

☼

Governor Tal tapped the communication panel to end the transmission to his ship. He was onboard the flagship of the Baruk space fleet. He had assured his wife of his safe arrival. It was time for his meeting with Lord Lucin. He was quite anxious about the meeting. Since their rendezvous with the Baruk battle convoy months ago, he had not been given much information.

The Baruk were far too secretive for his own tastes. After all, the Vorn military and the Baruk were supposed to be allies. This meeting should have taken place just after their arrival. But he wasn't about to push the issue with Lucin.

The Baruk were the most blood-thirsty clan Tal had ever known. It was dangerous enough to be their ally and the Baruk's alliance with Lucin was the stuff of legend. He was terrified of this mysterious clan.

One of the Baruk warriors came into the chamber. He was fierce looking to say the least. His black body armor was a part of him—a symbiotic coexistence. Whatever the living armor was, all of the warriors of the Baruk were joined to them. Somehow they covered and intertwined internally and externally with the Baruk, forming a living exoskeleton that protected them.

Tal had seen the warriors in action before. Their exoskeletons were capable of repelling light pulse weapons fire. And the various weapons they utilized were part technology and part bio-weaponry.

The warrior motioned for Tal to follow him. They both entered the chamber of Lucin. Tal had only seen him once before. He ruled the Baruk and appeared as human as any other, but there was a darkness which emanated from him: oppressive and evil.

Tal came before him where he was seated upon a raised platform. Lucin was sitting on a wide throne that seemed more organic than craft. Tal waited for Lucin to speak, not daring to show any disrespect to him.

"You have desired an audience with me, Governor Tal?" Lucin asked.

"Indeed, my lord. I would inquire as to your plans for retaking the planet of Castai on our behalf. We looked to you for assistance in quelling the rebellion of the Horva under General Grod, but we were overrun at Baeth Periege before you could arrive."

"Should we retake the planet it would be unwise to reinstate control to your regime, Tal. You lost the planet and most of your people were killed. You lack the capacity to reign over the inhabitants."

"But we are allies. Surely you will want to help us to regain control. It is for your benefit as well—"

"Our benefit does not concern you, Tal," Lucin interrupted. "You are weak. It is time the Baruk assumed possession of Castai."

"But you can't—" He almost bit his own tongue, trying to stop the words.

"Can't?"

"What I mean to say, my lord, is that we have always tried to govern the territory in accord with your interests as well as our own. It would be unfortunate to dissolve that relationship now. I still have a thousand people aboard my ship who can lead the way in retaking the planet from these rebels—at your command, of course."

"My command has already been issued concerning your people," Lucin said.

A holographic image of Tal's vessel gliding along with the Baruk convoy appeared in the room above him. One of the Baruk ships heaved a large projectile out of one of its cannons. Tal's heart sank as the object impacted with his ship, smashing it like a glass upon the floor. Over one thousand people, including his own wife and children were dashed to pieces in a moment.

Tal gasped. He could not breathe. He almost didn't notice the white hot needle-stick: a neurotoxin injection. Tal lost sensation almost instantly, numbly falling to the ground at the feet of the soldier who had administered the poison. His breathing slowed then stopped as his muscles ceased to function. Tal was suffocating, but he couldn't move to help himself though his mind was still clear.

"We have no further need of treaty with you, or your people, Tal," Lucin said. "Now that your strength has been diminished, we see Castai as ripe for the taking."

Tal could not respond. His body began to spasm from lack of oxygen. Lucin hissed with delight as the Vorn governor entered the throes of death before him.

"Housra, it is time to deal with our traitor and don't underestimate him. He is still a Barudii," Lucin said to the soldier.

"I obey."

KALE

The food aboard the Baruk vessel was barely palatable. Kale detested almost everything about their clan. If the Vorn military had been able to suppress the various uprisings then I wouldn't be in this mess, he thought. Kale had been turned against his Barudii people, by Lucin himself, all those years ago and now he was paying for it.

He understood the desire of the Baruk to control the planet of Castai. It was rich in resources and, perhaps even more importantly, it was the perfect location for control of the transdimensional rift.

None of that really mattered to Kale. He had no allegiance to anyone. He took another bite of carusk meat. It was bitter on his tongue. The Baruk loved this meal as a delicacy, but that didn't surprise him. The bitterness of the meat seemed ironic to him as he thought about it. What had seemed right and good for him at one time so long ago had become ashes in his mouth.

Kale could not push out the thought of his brother running across the tarmac to try and save Orin. He realized that Tiet almost certainly didn't know who he was at the time, but did he know now? And what if we had come face to face then, he wondered. Would Tiet have embraced his long lost brother, the betrayer of their people and their parents?

No, of course not. He would have gladly struck with all the fury he could muster. Suddenly Kale felt disgusted with everything, or perhaps only with himself. He spit the hunk of meat back onto his plate and pushed it away across the small table.

The Baruk could not be trusted. They were completely sold out to the Wicked One, Lucin. The Vorn had very little understanding of the true nature of the malevolent being that ruled the Baruk clan and their planet. They were merely a vehicle for this fallen one—a way for him to move among men and control their minds in his symbyte form.

It was Lucin who had promised him vengeance upon his father and Orin for the dishonor they had shown him—a prince of the Barudii. He only had to provide the weaknesses of their mountain cities and great power would be his. But it was a lie from the Prince of Lies. The death of his people and his family had brought him nothing but regret and sorrow. But he had bound himself to Lucin. How could he escape from such a power?

The Baruk certainly had no way of escape and they didn't want any as far as Kale could tell. The symbyte form of Lucin, inhabiting their bodies, gave them great power and the ability to drive out their enemies before them. Now they were on the move to Castai. Lucin would conquer it and move on through the rift to conquer the twin Castai. Only Elithias could stop such a being. Though he thought of dropping to his knees to pray, Kale knew that he was probably the last person Elithias would want to hear from.

Normally, Kale might have suspected his food to be poisoned, but his personal scanner had detected nothing dangerous in the meal. It did little to console him about the possibility of the Baruk killing him. He looked at his blade upon the hard slab the Baruk called a bed. Picking up the blade, he examined it a moment. This blade was his life. Kale knew he could never trust the Baruk and even if he could, he did not want to remain among them. But how could he escape? They had control of his ship. He heard heavy footsteps approaching his quarters.

☼

The door opened up before the Baruk warrior. Housra quickly moved inside with his compression gun ready to terminate the Barudii on sight. The room appeared to be empty.

Kale looked down on the Baruk warrior from the ceiling of the compartment. He clung there using the Way. The compression weapon used by the Baruk clan swung from side to side as the warrior surveyed the compartment, stopping to examine the half eaten meal.

Kale dropped down with his blade. Housra whirled around, bringing his gun to bear upon the Barudii. The blade divided the weapon before he could fire. The living exoskeleton sprang outward from the Baruk, striking Kale.

He was smashed backwards into the door of the compartment but managed to strike back furiously with the Way. The Baruk crashed hard into the other wall, but was stabilized quickly by the morphing exoskeleton. It had appeared solid, but now morphed into obscene appendages trying to protect its host.

Kale brought his blade between himself and the Baruk. The symbiotic creature was reared up in a posture of aggression as it sought to strike. One of the appendages lashed out. Kale struck it with his sword. It recoiled. He moved in again, striking at the hovering tentacles and landing a blow to the warrior's leg, severing it completely.

Another appendage knocked Kale into the table as the Baruk fell from his wound. The morphing tentacle smashed the table flat as Kale rolled away. If Lucin had sent this warrior to kill him then more would quickly follow. He had to get off of this ship as quickly as possible.

Kale bolted out the door, leaving the maimed warrior and his symbiotic protector as far behind as he could. Now he just had to figure out how to get to his ship and off of this vessel alive.

☼

Estall stared at the information coming onto the display as Ranul keyed in the various retrieval commands. Probe number: 2041 was transmitting its information on a coded band. He studied the incoming data carefully. Looking over Ranul's shoulder, Estall attempted to understand what the transmission contained, but Ranul was scanning the data too fast for him to be able to put it all together.

"Well?"

"Well, what?"

"Are you going to share with the rest of us?" Estall asked.

"Oh!" he said as though he had forgotten others were in the communications room with him. "The probe beyond the star Casiss has picked up a group of objects. After long range scans, it has concluded that the objects are in fact very large space cruisers on a course for Castai."

"The Baruk, I suppose."

"Well, I don't think there's any other possibility. According to Vorn records, the return flight path would concur."

"Well, we've been training for a fight. Looks like we've got one."

☼

The council buildings were as luxurious as any Tiet had seen among the Vorn cities. This one in Baeth Periege was perhaps the most beautiful of them all. He passed through the main hall on his way toward the meeting chamber. It was lined on either side by troops he had helped to train in recent months.

They look very sharp in there uniforms, he thought. It was nice to see the peace between the Castillians and the Vorn illustrated in the new standing army.

Why did Wynn insist on trying to push him onto the throne? He certainly did not see himself as a king. He was just a young man, still in training himself—not a great man like his father. Tiet wished his father was still alive to lead this great people. He would've known what to do.

Tiet wished he had been able to really know his father. His brother—the thought cut him to the heart—if he ever saw his brother again, he would avenge his father's death and Orin's.

Too bad the coward had taken off before he realized who Kale was. Tiet would have killed him. That thought gave him little joy, but it seemed to satisfy his anger to some degree. Two of the acting guards opened the large main doors allowing him into the council chamber.

The ceiling was three stories high in the main hall. Tiet saw that it was even higher within the meeting chamber as the doors parted before him. They revealed a very large circular room with a dome at the top. The Council of Twelve, along with their various advisers, was seated along the outer portion of the room slightly above the dais where Tiet was to stand in the middle of the room to be addressed by the Council.

As Tiet made his way, he saw that the session was already beginning—apparently everyone had been waiting for him to arrive. As Tiet walked in, many people began to cheer and clap. This was not the sort of entrance he had expected or wanted.

He didn't feel he deserved any applause. What had he done to deserve it, besides being born to a certain family and people? Tiet spotted Wynn. He was seated near the delegate for the city of Baeth Periege with Daooth Pasad. Daooth was a good man. He could still remember his first meeting with the Vorn in Wynn's underground dwelling and almost taking his head off, supposing him to be an enemy.

That day had been a wake up call for Tiet, learning how the Vorn were a friendly people enslaved by their own military. He had hated them for so long, blaming them for the murder of his family and his people, while not realizing things are rarely as straightforward as they seem.

Tiet approached the podium in the middle of the chamber and waited. A glass of water was sitting on the side, and he wondered if it would be inappropriate to take a big drink of it right now. His throat was getting dryer by the moment.

Everyone became quiet as the delegate from Baeth Periege stood to address the gathering. He was an elder Vorn man named Licoure. His translator pin activated as he spoke in his native Vorn language.

"Master Soone, we are honored by your presence at this gathering and are happy you have accepted our invitation. I realize you have been approached numerous times with our offer to support your ascension to the throne. Will you to hear us out collectively on the matter, with patience?"

"I am honored by the support of the delegates assembled here," Tiet said. "But I fear you have placed your confidence in the wrong man to lead. I do not feel I am experienced enough in necessary matters to be worthy of such a calling."

"Then I hope we may further persuade you," said Licoure.

Another Vorn elder stood as Licoure seated himself again. Tiet recognized him as Ush, the delegate from the city of Thalidi. He appeared to be very old, but the wrinkles on his face spoke of wisdom and vast experience rather than senility.

"Master Soone, I was in the Vorn military when the war between our peoples first began more than four generations ago. It had been a peaceful relationship during the times before. Our peoples were like brothers. The Barudii king of that time was Isic. He was a very wise man and was instrumental in the exchange of information and technologies between our peoples.

"He and our leader were the best of friends and there was open trade and society between our planets and peoples. Many Vorn lived in the cities of this Castai and many Castillians lived in our cities on our home planet of Demigoth.

"Trade negotiations had only recently begun with the Baruk when a tragedy occurred. Our leader, who was greatly beloved by our people, was assassinated. When an extensive investigation was conducted, the evidence all seemed to point to a plot among the Barudii to gain trade agreements with the Baruk and push us out. The Baruk had come forth with the information and, though King Isic denied it vehemently, our people felt genuinely betrayed.

"Not long after, a group of Castillians living on Demigoth was massacred by vigilantes seeking revenge for our fallen leader. King Isic himself journeyed to Demigoth in an attempt to quell the misunderstanding and persuade the new military leadership to reenter the relationship of peace which had so long been enjoyed between our peoples. The Vorn military leadership seized Isic and his entourage and put them to death for crimes against our people.

"This was an outrage to the Castillians and war was declared. The Baruk pretended to be neutral to the conflict and made their technologies and information available to both sides. It would not be understood until much later what role the Baruk had played in instigating the war.

"The struggle lasted nearly a decade with the Vorn appearing to be the victor. We had decimated nearly all of the major cities of the Castillians on this planet before a new weapon was revealed. We would learn much later that the Baruk had provided technology to the Barudii, who created the giant Sphere weapon. By the time it was launched against us, the Castillians were all but wiped out. It would be their last attempt against us before they were extinguished as a people on this planet. The weapon's mission was to hunt down and destroy all Vorn targets. We lost millions of people to it. It was at this time that the Vorn military turned to the scientific community in a desperate attempt to rebuild our dwindling forces. They created the Horva clones.

"The first generation clones were enhanced in strength, agility and intellect. They were superior warriors. However, it soon became apparent that the Horva were becoming too powerful and might well get beyond our ability to control them. The first generation Horva, including Grod, were replaced with a brutish new type of clone that could be easily controlled by our leaders."

"Do you mean, Ambassador Ush, that the Horva were created as slaves for the Vorn?" Tiet asked.

"Yes, exactly" replied Ush. "The Horva under Grod would, as you have seen, eventually rebel against the military. However, the new Horva were very useful to the military regime in keeping the civilian population under control.

"At a later time, when the role of the Baruk in the war became apparent to our people, there arose and outcry to break ties with them. However, the military had treaties with the Baruk and they were determined to maintain their own power. Our people rebelled and called for new leadership, but the rebellion was quickly crushed with help from the Baruk.

"It has been their plan to gain control of this system all along. They have played our people against one another in the hopes of destroying both. They've managed to nearly obliterate the Castillians except for those escaping across the rift to the twin planet. And they have so severely crippled the Vorn that we have gone under their dominion almost completely. The Baruk were just waiting for the Sphere weapon, which continued its attacks, to wipe out the Vorn completely before moving in for the takeover.

"The Vorn military's strength diminished as the Sphere attacks continued and the Horva under Grod mounted campaign after campaign of deadly attacks upon our cities established here on Castai. The military attempted to push through the transdimensional rift to other worlds when scouts came back with data to support the proposal.

"After conquering the twin Castai on the other side, it was hoped that the remainder of our people might escape the Sphere by migrating through and somehow collapsing the rift permanently. During that conflict with your people, Wynn was displaced here. He has worked with our resistance leaders in hopes of finding some way to overthrow the military's control over the remaining population. Even so, Grod's forces have gained more and more territory and threatened our lives.

"Now that you are here, Master Soone, we have seen some of your ability. Both Wynn and Daooth Pasad have put overwhelming confidence in you. Not only do we trust their judgment, but we have also considered the opportunity presented to us by returning an heir to the Barudii throne. Our people once revered your leader as much as our own, and we feel compelled to ask you to ascend to your rightful place as king to lead both of our peaceful peoples against the threat we are faced with from the Baruk and Grod."

Tiet was stunned by the whole account of Castillian and Vorn history. It was much more than he had expected. The pieces to a vast puzzle seemed to fall into place now. The Baruk had begun it all and had very nearly destroyed all the clans in their greed for conquest.

Tiet now began to understand the importance that was being placed on the Barudii throne. Perhaps it was a matter of redemption for the Vorn after falsely accusing and executing their ally of long ago, or more importantly, maybe they genuinely believed that the Barudii king was so great an icon to rally around that the peace might even last and these two races could engage the threat wholeheartedly, maybe even victoriously.

Orin had taught him years ago that the confidence you take into a battle may well determine the outcome. Tiet still did not feel confident in himself, but he did have confidence in this great people. If he was what was needed to unite them and hold them together in the face of the coming conflict then perhaps he should reconsider.

Just then, Ranul and Estall appeared in the council chamber.

"Forgive our interruption, Ambassadors," Estall said.

"We have new information from one of our long range probes near the star Cassis."

"Tell us," said Licoure.

"The Baruk appear to have amassed a battle fleet of some fifty large vessels and many smaller ones. They're on their way," Ranul said.

"When, Ranul?"

"Maybe two days, if we're lucky."

A wave of murmuring enveloped the chamber of delegates and guests as the realization of the coming storm hit them. Tiet thought further on the situation as the focus of the meeting left off of him. The delegates began talking amongst themselves, and the whole assembly generally became disorganized.

Little was known about the Baruk's true capabilities—only that they were very fierce in combat employing various kinds of technologies and bio-weaponry. It would be very difficult to fight a war on two fronts, even though Grod and his forces were weaker than before. If Grod seized the opportunity to attack again with the coalition simultaneously fighting the Baruk, it could quickly turn out for the worse.

Then Tiet was struck with a new thought. The threat to this planet was also a threat to the Horva. They had no allegiance to the Baruk and had helped drive off the Vorn military presence which held treaty with the Baruk. This fight was Grod's fight, whether the general realized it or not.

Tiet needed the assembly's attention and he needed it now. He kicked the podium off of the dais. It crashed down the steps loudly onto the stone floor. All eyes were suddenly drawn to him.

"Forgive me for the interruption, Ambassadors," he said, "but I have reconsidered and have decided to accept your endorsement."

Shouts began to erupt from the audience. He interrupted them again.

"Please...my acceptance is conditional!" he said over the crowd. Everyone became quite again. Tiet saw Wynn considering him.

"I will accept—on the condition that the Council endorses my going to General Grod in an attempt to broker a peace agreement and convince him to fight with us against the Baruk."

He waited after that statement, expecting a reaction. The ambassadors were all looking at one another to confer. The room was now awash in low murmurs concerning Tiet's dangerous request. Tiet stood fast, waiting. After a few moments Ambassador Licoure turned back to address him.

"Master Soone, your request is troubling to say the least, but I am curious why you would think the Horva would join us?"

"I believe the main thrust of Grod's campaign and the Horva's desires all center around wanting their freedom and fighting to attain it. I think Grod might be willing to listen to what I have to say. He wants what we want. I just have to make him see it."

"With all due respect, we have never known the Horva, especially Grod, to be open to negotiations," said Licoure.

"I only ask for your endorsement and the willingness to work with the Horva peacefully if I am successful, nothing more. If you agree, I will accept your motion to ascend to the throne of my father."

Licoure looked back at the other delegates in the Council and at Wynn who was still fixed on Tiet. The other ambassadors gestured with approving nods to Licoure.

"Master Soone, we will agree against my better judgment."

"I appreciate this, Ambassadors." Tiet turned to leave the assembly.

Wynn made his way quickly to catch up to Tiet as he walked back down the great hall.

"Wait, Tiet!"

Tiet slowed, but did not stop.

"Tiet, what are you up to? Grod won't negotiate with you. He's a monster who only loves conquest."

Tiet stopped then, surprised by the statement.

"Wynn, you told me things aren't always what they appear to be. I hated the Vorn who were actually peaceful—"

"Yes, but that's not Grod at all, he—"

"He and the Horva were slaves wanting their freedom. And as for being a monster...well, he managed to destroy the Sphere weapon no one else had been able to defeat, so he must be pretty smart and he must be a great leader to have generated the successful uprising against the Vorn military."

Wynn stood silent, surprised at the wisdom pouring out of his apprentice.

"Besides, we cannot afford to fight a war on two fronts. I think we'll lose."

Wynn had considered that prospect also. He remained silent as Tiet turned to continue out. "I've got to get going on this while we still have time," said Tiet as he punched the button to open the lift door.

"Do you really think Grod will listen—will he even answer your transmission?"

"I have no intention of transmitting anything. I'm going to Nagon-Toth personally."

"Do you really think he will let you just walk in?" Wynn asked sarcastically.

"We'll see."

"You do realize, if you go and confront him, he might just decide he should join the Baruk against us. Did you consider that?"

"I'm not giving him the opportunity," Tiet said matter-of-factly. "If he doesn't join us then I'm going to kill him."

Tiet let the lift door close in front of him. Wynn stood speechless. Tiet was certainly his father's son. The same brash determination—it was something he remembered from serving under the king years ago. He was glad to see these qualities emerging finally. Unfortunately, that couldn't guarantee Tiet success.

ESCAPE

The hangar bay of the Baruk flagship was teemed with soldiers. Unfortunately, they were congregated very near the Strider. Kale watched from a shadowy position high above the massive tarmac. There were many ships inside the bay, mostly Baruk fighter craft. Then he spotted one that was different.

It was Governor Tal's ship. He was almost certainly either imprisoned, or dead by now. Kale knew the Baruk were going to remove the remaining Vorn military from the equation very soon. Tal's presence on the flagship probably meant the process had begun.

Nevertheless, the Governor's ship was some distance across the bay from his own and it was unguarded. Kale deftly made his way to an area above the vessel. It was quite a bit larger than his ship.

He pulled three spicor discs from his vest and flung them downward at the hull of the ship. When they impacted, one right after the other in the same spot, a hole was created all the way through the hull. Kale dropped in fast. He landed inside and quickly made his way to the bridge.

Kale had learned a few things about Vorn spacecraft during his years among their clan. He pulled a palm-sized device from his coat then fitted the mechanism to an interface panel at the helm. This would give him control of the ship.

The area around his ship was still quite crowded with Baruk soldiers in their living body armor. Kale keyed in a sequence on the touch screen of his interface, and the ship's turbines began a low hum. Tal's vessel was now ready for lift-off.

☼

The group of soldiers surrounding the Strider noticed the engine sounds coming from across the bay. From above the long lines of Baruk fighter craft, they could see a ship rising off of the platform. It was the same ship that Governor Tal had arrived on with his aides—all of whom had since been executed.

The Baruk soldiers leveled their weapons on the fleeing vessel. They opened fire on the Vorn ship floating above the docking platform as it prepared to leave the bay. The ship began to drift as the warriors closed in on it. The vessel crashed into Baruk fighters docked nearby then attempted to rise again as the warriors concentrated more firepower on it.

Tal's ship started spinning out of control. The tail end knocked Baruk fighters all around the bay, causing the soldiers to scatter for cover while still trying to maintain their assault. The shields on the vessel were not active. As it spun wildly out of control, many Baruk were pummeled to death by flying debris from the ship and the destroyed Baruk fighters.

☼

Kale sat calmly at the helm and adjusted the controls on his portable interface. The engine responded accordingly. He pulled up his handheld control pad and tapped in a new sequence. The governor's ship drifted further down the bay toward the hangar control center. It tumbled and smashed into the area.

As the control center was engulfed in a fireball, the hangar force field deactivated, allowing the influx of open space into the hangar bay. The entire hangar bay's contents rushed into the vacuum carrying the Baruk soldiers with it.

Kale laid aside his interface device. By remote piloting the Vorn ship he had been able to get to his Strider. He launched the Strider from the platform as debris bounced against the ship's shields. Baruk warriors, who had been sucked into the void, bounced off of the hull as Kale's ship shot through the mass of wreckage swirling out of the bay. He activated the Strider's hyper coil and pushed away from the Baruk formation at high speed.

☼

The lush scenery that was common near the twelve cities had given way to the desolation of the territory around Nagon-Toth. Tiet was getting close now. The land was war-torn and the Horva had made no effort to revitalize it. No wonder they were conducting raids for supplies. They might be starving to death otherwise.

Tiet felt sure now of his motives for conducting this mission. The Horva were just trying to survive. They had their freedom from the Vorn military now, but this was a bad start.

The display showed another fifty miles before he would reach Grod's fortress. He made adjustments to the helm, as his small craft glided over the barren landscape. The ship was well-designed and fast. The mileage deficit clicked away rapidly on the display. Tiet slowed the fighter as he approached to within one mile of the facility. He realized that Grod must already realize he had a visitor, but Tiet wasn't planning on a surprise visit, only a memorable one.

He brought the ship to a complete stop on a rise that overlooked Nagon-Toth in the distance. He got out of the cockpit then strapped on his blade. He quickly checked his weaponry: two thigh mounted kemsticks and a few spicors in addition to his father's blade. He intentionally left his blasters in the ship. He didn't plan on killing anyone but Grod—if it came to that.

Tiet closed the cockpit of the ship and took a deep breath. This wasn't going to be easy. He had to get to Grod and then hope the General would listen to what he had to say. Tiet had never even met the man, but he supposed it wouldn't be that difficult to distinguish him as the leader.

Tiet walked toward the facility. He made no effort to conceal himself, but the same could not be said for the Horva soldiers waiting for him. From an outcropping of rock nearby his path to the compound, no less than ten Horva jumped out to ambush him. Tiet was ready for them.

His E.M. shield snapped on as the first pulse laser shot came at him. He blocked several more then dodged into the middle of the warriors. He swung his blade with absolute accuracy, cutting the pulse weapons through with the adomen tip. Immediately, Tiet set off a mental burst that knocked the warriors to the ground around him. Tiet replaced the blade in his scabbard. The soldiers were stunned but otherwise unharmed.

"I don't want to hurt you," he said. " But I have business with General Grod."

"You'll never see the General," said one of the warriors as he leaped to his feet and charged again with a large dagger in hand. Tiet grabbed the warrior's weapon hand behind the wrist, twisting just enough to loose the knife from his grip. With the other hand, he brought two fingers to the warrior's throat and applied just enough pressure to a particular nerve to bring him down. Tiet laid the unconscious warrior down gently. The others were staring at him apprehensively.

"As I said, my business is with your General Grod. This really doesn't have to be more difficult than you make it."

They all looked at each other not knowing what to do next. Then one of them rushed Tiet. The others followed. As they attacked Tiet moved in and out among them, creating quick chaos, throwing some off balance and into the others while hitting them with blow after rapid fire blow with his hands and feet. Within twenty seconds they were on the ground again but less aware of their assailant than before. Tiet gathered himself and continued his trek toward the complex, leaving his victims to figure out what had happened.

☼

Wynn's com-link beeped on his wrist. He set the fighter on automatic pilot as he answered. "Wynn here."

"Sir, we've picked up a ship entering our system. It's a Barudii ship, Strider class."

"What's the heading?"

"It's on a direct course for Castai-Rex, sir."

This was puzzling. It was almost certainly the ship that Kale had used to escape the planet months ago. So why would he return and why now?

"Sir?"

"Yes?"

"We're receiving a transmission from the ship...it's an intent to surrender, sir."

Now he was very puzzled. Why in the world would Kale come back and then surrender? It didn't make sense, but he didn't have any time to deal with it personally.

"Captain, forward our acceptance of their surrender and meet the ship with a full squad of our best. Take the ship into custody. If you meet with any resistance from those onboard, terminate them."

"Yes, sir."

This was a twist Wynn hadn't counted on, but other matters were more pressing at the moment. He adjusted the controls again. His ship careened south toward Nagon-Toth. He easily located Tiet's ship by scans. He hadn't put up a sensor cloak or anything. What was he up to?

Wynn brought his ship down in an area facing another side of the complex. He was out of the cockpit quickly and left the ship sensor cloaked and shielded. Wynn's new uniform would keep him invisible to the Horva's sensor sweeps. He did not intend to be seen. If Tiet meant to boldly walk into a deathtrap, he was going to at least give him a fighting chance of getting out again.

☼

Kale keyed off the display. The command center at Baeth Periege had formally accepted his surrender. He set the autopilot to the coordinates given to him by the command center in order to dock his ship. He almost felt relief at the thought of giving himself up. His long run from all he had betrayed was almost over.

Kale wondered if Tiet would be there to meet him as he landed. Perhaps he'll drive father's blade right through my heart, he thought. Even so, the running was over.

At the very least, he supposed Tiet would imprison him for life so he could watch his traitorous brother rot on a daily basis. It didn't matter. If that was Elithias' will then so be it. Kale knew he deserved it anyway.

Father, Mother...forgive me. Emotions, long pushed aside, threatened to flood in.

The computer soon sounded the alarm as the Strider penetrated Castai's atmosphere. Turbulence was quick as the vessel passed through and came around on course for the city of Baeth Periege. Kale noticed, on the approach, how much damage had been repaired within the city. Even the surrounding area had begun some renewal as far as the destruction of the ecosphere during the battle for the city. He had not seen the end of the battle. But even the city's defense shield was back in place and fully operational.

As Kale flew over the southeastern portion of the city, he saw many pulse laser batteries. They looked as though they were expecting a fight. Whether they knew it or not, the Baruk would soon be here to give it to them.

A beacon flashed on his display showing him exactly where to bring the ship down on the huge landing platform near the Command Center. The building looked more imposing than before with its added weaponry adorning the outside.

The area he was being led to below was guarded by what looked to be an entire squad of troops. He did not recognize the uniforms they were wearing, but as he drew closer to the platform Kale saw that the troops were a mix of Castillian and Vorn.

So they've formed an alliance, he thought. Maybe they stand some chance of survival with the Baruk this way, but it's going to be a terrible fight.

☼

The Strider touched down on the platform. The squad of Alliance troops reacted, surrounding the vessel. Kale looked out at the soldiers with their pulse rifles trained on his ship. It's not too late to fight, he thought. No. This is the right thing to do. No more running. Kale lowered the ramp and descended. Daooth met him with two armed escorts flanking him.

"Kale Soone, I presume?"

"Yes."

Kale recognized the insignia on the Vorn man's uniform distinguishing his rank.

"Commander, I offer my formal surrender to you," Kale said.

"Your weapons, Kale."

"Of course." Kale removed his coat slowly. Then he unbuckled the strap for his blade and scabbard, handing them to Daooth. "My other weapons are onboard, Commander."

Daooth stepped aside to allow the soldiers with him to secure the prisoner. He had never seen Kale Soone before, but the family resemblance was clear. Tiet looked very much like this man.

"Sergeant, secure the prisoner."

"Yes, sir."

The two soldiers with Daooth placed a binder around his hands and a hood over his head. They didn't want him to recognize the layout of the holding facility in case he tried to escape. The two soldiers flanked Kale then they led him to the detention facility. Daooth fell in behind them with the Barudii blade in his hand. The soldiers fell in close behind him with their pulse rifles ready. It wasn't everyday they arrested a Barudii warrior. It wasn't everyday someone saw one.

Kale couldn't resist considering how he might escape. As a Barudii warrior it was only natural for him to gauge his situation. He sensed the soldiers around him with his mental power. He perceived the layout of the building even though they had deprived him of his sight with the hood. It seemed kind of funny in a way, how easy it would be. Of course he wouldn't attempt it. That would only make everything worse than it already was.

Daooth and the soldiers led him to a holding cell deep within the complex. The square chamber was approximately ten feet wide by ten feet deep. It was heavily armored on every side except the open front entrance. The soldiers placed him inside and walked back beyond the entrance.

A charged field was activated to seal him in. Someone he could not see tapped a keypad which caused the binder around his hands to release.

With his hands free, Kale removed his own hood and surveyed his surroundings. There were ten guards still in the room outside his cell. They were heavily armed, watching him like hawks. He had the feeling that they understood the damage a Barudii warrior could do—had they really known, they would have left a lot more men.

Kale was tired. He stretched out on the padded bed—the only furniture in the cell. Surely Tiet would be down to confront him soon. He thought it was very strange his brother had not met him on the tarmac. But he would be here. Now all Kale had to do was to wait.

HORVA

The laser fire came fast and furious from the towers along the length of the compounds perimeter shield. Tiet ran hard toward it, dodging along the way. By his mental power he could sense the laser fire coming in at him as he ran the open space before the shield wall.

He came within range of one of the towers then ran right to it and up its length as though he were running upon the ground. The guard in the tower tried to fire at him from close range.

Tiet pulled his blade as he passed the gun turret. The barrel and chassis of the gun fell away as his weapon kissed it. He went on, never pausing, never killing any of his attackers. When he reached the top of the tower, Tiet leaped away from it, somersaulting down back to the ground.

He hit the ground still running. More shots came at him from soldiers on the ground. Warriors from all directions seemed to be closing in on him. Tiet ducked and rolled fast across the ground to dodge more laser fire then rolled out, back to his feet running. He hit the main gate and drove his blade deep into it, cutting a portal as laser fire raged upon the wall and ground around him.

He dove through, finding a great hall beyond. Many Horva were already there. Tiet heard hundreds of weapons—their firing bolts locked, energy cells humming. Tiet stopped dead in his tracks. He stood ready with his blade and E.M. shield charged. Mere seconds seemed like an eternity. Then a voice shouted over the silence.

"You will go no further, Barudii!"

"My business is with General Grod," Tiet said. "Why is it that with so many brave warriors he will not face me?"

"He will face you," replied the voice again as warriors parted before the man. From among them, Grod came forth. He was easy to distinguish as Tiet had guessed. The Horva leader was an imposing person—a good foot taller than himself and of a regal stature. No wonder they had chosen to follow him. Grod was in imposing specimen.

"Why did you come here, Barudii? Do you mean to assassinate me?" Grod asked, laughing.

"No, I've come to propose peace between our people. Surely you must know the Baruk are coming to destroy us all."

"I have no use for your peace. You are a fool to come here. Your folly has caught up with you."

Grod drew a large broad sword. Tiet recognized an adomen blade.

"We've discovered something of your people's weapons on our explorations through your cities," Grod said.

Grod smiled then charged him. There was a quick exchange of sword strikes between the two. One of Tiet's strikes divided the sword just behind the cross-guard as planned. However, with his weapon destroyed, Grod did something unexpected. He moved in fast, grabbing Tiet's sword arm. He had expected the Horva to back away, but the fearless dark-skinned warrior had surprised him.

Grod held Tiet's right arm with one hand preventing any further attack while delivering his own crushing blow to Tiet's face. He was stunned and almost staggered, but Grod still had his sword arm. It was all very fast.

Grod pummeled his forearm. Tiet felt his right arm break from the Horva's powerful blow. His hand went limp and the blade fell to the ground. Grod did not even go for the weapon. He meant to kill Tiet with his bare hands.

Tiet heard the crowd of Horva warriors cheering Grod on as the Barudii blade fell to the ground. Grod left off Tiet's arm, grabbing the young man's throat while pulling a dagger from his side. Tiet's vision was spinning, but he resorted to the Way for help. Grod's knife stopped in midair as he tried desperately to deliver the killing stroke. Tiet stared into his eyes, "Killing me will not be that easy, General."

Grod grunted to bring the blade down, no good then tried to crush the young man's throat, but he could not. He realized that he could not move his body in any way.

"Look down, General," Tiet said. "Your life is in my hands more than you realize."

Grod looked down to find the Barudii holding a short rod between them with the business-end near his belly. He had seen the weapon before. The Barudii had used the same thing to kill the Teragore in the dome.

"Kill me then, if that's why you came here."

"I told you already. I want peace between our people. I know of your struggle against the oppression of the Vorn military, but the civilian populace had nothing to do with that. I proposed this alliance to them and those people have sent me with the same hope of peace.

"Our peoples need peace. We'll already have enough of a fight on our hands when the Baruk come. And they are already on their way. Join us. Let's fight them together and live to have peace on our planet."

Grod looked at him, listening and studying the young man. His dagger was still frozen above Tiet's chest, held by the Barudii's mental power. Finally, after a long silence between them, Grod spoke. "And if I refuse your peace?"

"Then I came prepared to kill you. I do not intend to fight a war on two fronts between you and the Baruk."

"Then kill me. I don't care about peace with you, or the Vorn."

Grod stood stone-faced looking into his eyes, waiting for him to do it. Instead, Tiet pushed him away, releasing Grod from his mental grip. Grod looked surprised by his reaction.

"I don't want to kill you," Tiet said. "Believe it or not, I respect you and your desire to be independent of those who enslaved the Horva. I still think it's a shame, though. I may have to face you on a battlefield some day instead of around a peaceful table breaking bread as friends, but that's your choice. At least I tried to talk sense to you."

Tiet brought his broken arm up to his torso. It throbbed terribly. He heard the room full of warriors raising their weapons again, bringing them to bear on him. Grod raised his hand quickly to halt them.

"As you said, Barudii, we may see one another on the battlefield someday, but this is not your day to die. Take your peace and go in it."

Tiet gave him one last look then backed away out the way he had come by. The main gate opened up behind him, allowing him to exit as Grod walked slowly after him, watching him leave. The Horva fell in behind their leader with their weapons still at the ready just in case.

☼

Wynn watched from the support beams above the chamber where Tiet had fought with the General. He couldn't believe what was happening. Tiet had said he would kill him. Grod was within his grasp and he spared him.

Even with the broken arm, Tiet probably still could've made it out if he had wanted to. The young king was surprising him more with each passing event.

Wynn's gun was still trained on General Grod from his perch. He waited for Tiet to make it back beyond the defense field, heading back to his ship over the ridge. Wynn left his hidden position and made his way back to his own fighter. The Horva never knew he was there. His Barudii cloak had seen to that. He wasn't sure about Tiet sparing Grod's life, but he wouldn't be the one to disobey the king's decision.

☼

It took Wynn several hours to make his way back to Baeth Periege in his ship. He had arrived nearly at the same time that Tiet's fighter was reported to have docked in a different part of the city, near the main medical facility.

He was going to have to see to his broken arm. The medics would put him through the standard osteoblast enhancement. What used to be done in weeks back home was now done in two hours with Vorn medical treatments. It would be enough time for Wynn to get to Kale before Tiet was able to. Hopefully he would undergo the treatment before anyone even told him about his brother surrendering.

Wynn sprinted out of the lift of the holding facility. He wasn't sure why Kale would just surrender himself, but he needed to find out as much as he could before Tiet heard of his brother's arrival. From what he knew about Tiet's feelings concerning Kale, he would be fortunate to even get a quick death.

Wynn placed his hand on the DNA scanner and entered the room where Kale was being kept. He was still there, sitting quietly with two armed guards watching him carefully. The cell was such that any tampering with the mechanism, even mentally, would cause another separate system to fire a charge within the cell, stunning the prisoner. Everything appeared to be in order.

Kale stood to his feet as Wynn entered the room.

Wynn stood before the energy field, facing him. He could sense the power of the man. He almost felt like he was in Tiet's presence, the energy was so intense.

"Kale Soone, my name is Wynn Gareth. I served under your father."

"I remember your name, but I don't remember ever meeting you."

"I would like to know why you came back to this planet and why you surrendered yourself to us."

Kale waited a moment before answering, studying Wynn's face and considering the question. "It doesn't really matter. The Baruk are on their way. I'm not one of them. I didn't have anywhere else to go."

"But you didn't have to come here. You must have realized that you would be facing a death sentence. I just want to know why," Wynn said.

Kale's guard seemed to soften at that point. "I'm guilty of killing my own family, Wynn. I betrayed them to the Vorn. My brother is the only one of them who escaped. If he wants to kill me then I'm sure I deserve it."

Wynn could see the sincerity in Kale's eyes as he spoke. He meant what he was saying. "Perhaps if you told Tiet then he might—"

"He'll never forgive me. And I really don't blame him. Whatever I receive for my crimes against my people will never be enough," said Kale.

Wynn wasn't sure what to say. He sensed genuine remorse for his past crimes. He stood there, watching the son of his former king, feeling sorry for the man. Not because he might die as a traitor, but because he was genuinely repentant and had no way to repair the damage he had done.

The door to the room opened. Tiet charged in.

"So it's true!" he shouted.

He drew his blade from its scabbard as he crossed the small room toward the cell. This was exactly what Wynn had been hoping wouldn't happen. He noticed Tiet's arm still tucked to his side. He hadn't made it to get the repair yet. Tiet was already bringing his broken arm up painfully to place his hand on the DNA scanner.

It was a moment frozen in time. The energy field went down. Tiet raised his blade to strike down his brother. Wynn knew it now. Tiet was really going to kill him. Wynn looked at Kale. He was just standing there with his eyes closed like it was going to be a relief to let Tiet kill him.

Tiet thrust his father's blade toward Kale. A moment later it was landing on the ground beside him. "What are you doing?" Tiet shouted.

Wynn had caught his arm in flight and disarmed him. It was a split second decision to save Kale's life and to save Tiet from the regret and torture of having killed his own brother.

"Tiet, if you kill him, you'll never forgive yourself," said Wynn as they struggled.

"He killed my father, my mother and Orin! Our people were slaughtered because of him!" Tiet shouted.

"It's all right, Wynn," said Kale, "I deserve this. Let him go."

"Shut your mouth, traitor!" Tiet shouted. He attacked Kale with his mind.

Kale was pushed backward into the wall. He slumped to the floor in pain. He wasn't even trying to shield himself from his younger brother's righteous fury.

"Tiet, he is still your brother, all that you have left of your family!" Wynn pleaded.

Tiet shook free of Wynn's grip on his arm. "Stay out of it, Wynn," he said, glaring at the man.

Tiet looked back toward Kale, still groaning on the floor trying to breathe. Something snapped in his expression as he looked at his brother bent to his will, on the ground in pain. He released him from the attack and backed away with a bewildered look on his face.

Tiet turned away to walk out, looking disturbed. He extended his good hand behind him and caught his blade as it leaped from the ground, flying across the room after him. The door closed behind him.

Kale began to recover himself. Wynn did not help him up. Instead he stepped back outside the cell and scanned the lock to reactivate the cell's energy field.

"Watch him," he said to the guards, who were stunned by the event.

He looked back to see Kale climbing back to the small bed against the cell wall. There wasn't time to worry about the pain either of the brothers might be feeling. The Baruk were still on their way.

ARMADA

Ranul rushed into the lift heading for the bridge of the Vorn cruiser, Esyia. The Baruk were headed into the sector where the Vorn cruiser was patrolling. The sensor probes, which had been stationed along the way, were being destroyed systematically as the Baruk journeyed toward Castai-Rex. With at least fifty large warships, they were flaunting their power and moving quickly.

The level indicator increased in number as the lift carried Ranul toward the bridge where he could analyze the latest data. There were only two Vorn battle cruisers assigned to each sector from among the twenty-three that had been confiscated on Castai-Ori and left on Rex after the departure of the remaining Vorn military during the battle of Baeth Periege. The Onicule was traveling with them nearby.

All the Vorn battle cruisers were heavily armed and highly maneuverable. But with the greater number of Baruk vessels approaching, many of the people serving aboard the cruisers were expecting to fight a losing battle. Still, morale among the crews remained strong. If they were going to lose, then they would take as many of the Baruk with them as possible.

Suddenly the whole ship reeled. Ranul was tossed into the ceiling of the lift then down to the floor hard. The lights flickered then faded as low intensity emergency lighting came on. It felt like an impact to the ship's hull, but he couldn't tell. The lift continued its climb and soon arrived at the bridge.

When the doors opened up, Ranul could see the bridge crew locked into their chairs prepared for battle. On the display, they were tracking several objects heading in their direction. Estall was barking out orders to the crew from the command chair.

"Estall, what's happening?"

"The Baruk have launched some sort of projectiles from outside the sector. The shields are having difficulty with them. They're not strong enough to repel these things. Some sort of super dense alloy."

"The shields would have to deconstruct and disperse the matter—very difficult with objects of the density you're talking about." Ranul jumped to a science station and began to look over the data. An alarm sounded on the bridge.

"Incoming!"

"It's another one of those projectiles," said Estall. "Ranul, what do you have!?"

"It's some kind of tritarium variant—super density. In a normal molecular arrangement it would be one thousand times the current size."

"Evasive!" Estall ordered.

"It's tracking with us!" said one of the science officers.

"I'm having trouble with the helm, sir. It's like we're being pulled into it."

"It's exerting a localized gravitational pull on the ship—gets stronger as it approaches!" Ranul shouted from his station. "Wait, wait! It's tracking on the Onicule now!"

"She's going to take a hit!"

The projectile shifted the flight path of the Onicule as it approached, pulling the Vorn cruiser into its path at the last moment. The shields on the ship activated as the object passed into field, trying to vaporize it. The field sheered away half of the object's mass, but the remainder passed through the shield, crashing into the hull of the Onicule.

"She's hit!" Estall shouted.

"Analyzing," said one of the science officers. "The Onicule took a hit just behind mid-ship, several decks destroyed, they're sealing them off. It's not a fatal blow."

Ranul continued to monitor the ship. "Wait! Something is happening! That thing is like a gravity bomb," he mumbled as he turned to Estall.

On the main view screen the Onicule was beginning to implode.

"Ranul, what's happening to them?"

"The localized gravitational field around the object is pulling the ships structure inward upon it."

They all watched helplessly as the Onicule caved in upon the gravity bomb. Gases escaped in flame.

"Sir, we're being hailed by the other fleet ships," said the communications officer. "They're all on a rendezvous course to this sector."

"Estall, the Baruk formation of ships is entering the sector now," Ranul said. "They're splitting up, spreading out against us. Another gravity bomb is locked on approach!"

"Evasive maneuvers!" Estall demanded.

"I'm trying to recalibrate our shields to repel the object rather than vaporize it," said Ranul.

"Twenty seconds to impact!" shouted another science officer.

"Hurry, Ranul," Estall said as he watched the incoming object on the view screen.

"I think I've got it."

The gravity bomb slammed into the shields of the Esyia and sent the ship reeling off of its flight path. The bridge crew would have been tossed about the chamber had they not been strapped into their flight chairs.

"How bad are we?" Estall asked over the groaning of the engines.

"The object did not penetrate!" shouted Ranul. "It pushed us away though. The impact still damaged our hull by causing a reverberation in the shield."

"How bad are we?"

"The hull is intact."

"Are the Baruk within range yet?"

"Just now," said the weapons officer.

"Lock and fire the molecular dispersion cannon on the nearest ship."

The large weapon swiveled upon its mount located on the topside of the Esyia, aiming off into the black of space toward the Baruk, still out of visual range. The weapons officer locked onto the nearest Baruk warship and fired. The beam from the Castillian and Vorn engineered weapon flashed out into the darkness.

☼

The Baruk warship, Kosinok, veered away from the formation of cruisers toward its designated heading. A beam of energy flashed ahead then hit the ship, strafing across its hull surface, vaporizing everything it touched.

"Direct hit!" shouted the weapons officer.

"They're raising their shields!" said Ranul from his station.

"Fire again," Estall commanded.

Once again, the weapon adjusted slightly to reacquire the same target on its trajectory. Once locked, it fired again into the blackness of space. The beam hit the Kosinok square on, but its shields responded in kind.

"Their shields are drained significantly, but it didn't go through," said Ranul.

"The rest of the fleet is heading for the Baruk formation," said the other science officer.

"Take us in with them, shields at full power, all weapons systems at the ready. Garret, fire at will as we come into range," Estall said.

☼

Tiet sat uneasily on the exam table in the med-lab. His arm was throbbing terribly now, but his conscience hurt more. He had wanted so badly to drive the blade through Kale and avenge his family, but it wasn't what he had expected. Seeing his brother standing there in the cell just waiting to receive his fury had been very unsettling.

Tiet had expected a fight—he had wanted a fight. After attacking Kale mentally and seeing him writhe in pain—he had felt pity for him for a moment.

Wynn had stopped him from killing his own brother. At the time he would have struck his mentor for interfering, had he been able, but now he knew he would have regretted that as well. Wynn was no fool and he had no reason to protect Kale. There had to be a good reason for him to step between them to save his life.

The med-lab door opened, allowing Mirah K'ore to enter. "So, the King has returned."

"Hello, Mirah."

"That's Dr. K'ore to you." She grinned. "Father said you were going to accept the Council's nomination to the throne...I haven't seen you lately."

"I'm sorry. I've had a lot on my mind."

"I understand. But don't think that gives you an excuse in the future." She feigned a stern look then smiled. "Now let's see that arm."

Tiet raised the arm for her inspection. The sleeve was already cut away up to his shoulder. The med-tech had managed to get that far before the message had come through on Tiet's com-link that Kale was a prisoner. His arm was severely bruised and swollen, but there was no bone penetration through the skin.

Mirah picked up a hand held scanner and passed it over his arm. "Well, it looks like a clean break, ulna and radius. I won't ask how you managed this."

"How long to put me back in action, Mirah?"

"About two hours of osteoblast therapy and another half hour to bring down the edema."

"Let's do it then."

☼

"Our ships are really taking a pounding up there commander," said Lieutenant Davers. "They're outnumbered two to one. They've been using the new dispersion cannons, but the Baruk shields are too strong."

"What's the current shield status for our ships?" Wynn asked.

"Ten ships below seventy percent shield power, eight below fifty percent power, two are under twenty percent power and three have already been destroyed."

"What about the Esyia?"

"She's approaching thirty percent power and still taking a pounding, sir."

Wynn continued to sort through the incoming images on the war room displays. The armada was really getting beaten to death up there. They were tough ships, but the odds were against them. If they failed to stop the Baruk in space then the fight would hit the ground.

"Sir, another of our ships has been destroyed, the Kyrysk," said Davers.

The other four soldiers manning the war room monitors paused briefly to look up at Wynn then continued with their work.

"What about the Baruk fleet?" Wynn asked. "What kind of damage are they taking?"

"They're going blow for blow, but our ships are grossly outnumbered," said Davers.

"By the time our ships do any significant damage, their shields will be down and it will be over very quickly. Have we notified Tiet yet?"

"He's in the med-lab—the alarms don't sound in there."

"Put me through."

"Online, sir."

"Dr. K'ore. May I help you?"

"Mirah, Wynn Gareth here. I need to speak with Tiet immediately."

"My patient is still receiving treatment under sedation," Mirah said.

"I need you to wake him up. We've got a situation—he's needed."

"What he needs is to get this treatment completed without duress, Commander."

"Doctor, our fleet is getting burned out of the sky. The Baruk will begin a ground assault as soon as they get the chance. Please, we need him on his feet now."

"I'll do the best I can, Mirah out."

The communication link terminated at that point. "I'd better make sure of it," Wynn said. "Davers, what's the status of our troops?"

"All division commanders report ready and awaiting deployment instructions."

"Tell them to hold positions. The King will instruct them personally," Wynn said as he headed out the door.

☼

Mirah returned to the control panel, monitoring Tiet's treatment. He was coming out of his sedation as the procedure finished up. Everything was precisely computer controlled. She walked into the treatment room as he became conscious.

"How are you feeling?"

"A little groggy, but I feel all right. My arm feels a lot better—just a little sore now."

"Well, that will pass soon enough. You've got plenty of pain meds onboard."

"I appreciate the fix up."

"You don't have to be so formal."

"I know. There's just been so much happening recently, Mirah."

"Well, the arm looks fine."

"Thank you, Mirah," he said. Tiet flexed the arm, trying out the repair. "You do wonderful work."

"Tiet, I uh—" She started to speak as the door to the med-lab opened, letting Wynn inside.

"I see you're on your feet again," he said.

Mirah and Tiet dropped their gazes to the ground then looked at Wynn.

"Tiet, I've got to get you to the main deployment area. The Baruk are hammering our ships, and we'll probably be looking at a ground assault somewhere very soon."

"I'm ready, let's go," he said, as he gathered the upper body portion of his uniform from the counter nearby. They both headed out the main door as he called back.

"Thanks again, Mirah. We'll talk soon," he said. The door closed behind them.

"I hope so," she whispered to the empty exam room.

☼

Wynn and Tiet walked quickly to the nearest lift. "I want to apologize for the situation with Kale," Wynn said.

"Don't worry about it. You did what was right. It's just that...he betrayed everything we knew, and yet he's my brother."

"I know."

The lift opened, allowing them in. "Main deployment area," Wynn said.

The computer complied with his request.

"You could have killed him and he wouldn't have made any effort to stop you. I think he even longed for you to do it, to end his pain and guilt."

"Why should I care about his pain? He betrayed us—all of us—including you, Wynn."

"That's right. And I am still asking you to consider the situation with your brother, despite that fact."

Tiet glared at him then looked back at the city without saying anything.

"Have you considered that Kale didn't need my help to save himself from your sword?"

"Do you think he's that powerful?" Tiet asked.

"If I'm any judge about these things, I would say he's very powerful."

"I don't want to hate him, Wynn. I just don't know how to handle this right now..."

The lift slowed as they entered the deployment area and its control tower.

"Right now, we have a war to deal with," Tiet said. "Everything else will have to wait."

DEFENSE

As Wynn and Tiet entered the control center of the city's main deployment area, the data techs busied themselves monitoring the current situation with the fleet as well as troop status and the readiness of the twelve cities and their defense systems. Each city had a large portion of the new army assigned to defend them, in the event they came under a Baruk attack. At least, they hoped to hold on until the other legions could arrive at whichever city became the main front.

"What's the status of the fleet?" Tiet asked.

"Ten of our ships have been destroyed sir. The rest are trying to out-maneuver the Baruk ships, but they're dangerously low on shield power," said one of the techs.

"Can you patch me in to Estall on the Esyia?" he asked.

"Yes sir, one moment. Baeth Periege Ground Control hailing the captain of the Esyia."

☼

"Captain, the ground control at Baeth Periege is hailing us," said one of the communications officers.

"Put them through," said Estall. "Ranul, have you got the system reconfigured yet?"

"I'm still working on it. Just a few more circuits to re-route."

The intercom on Estall's command chair sounded with Tiet's voice. "Estall, what is your status?"

"We've lost ten ships so far, and it's not looking good. Some of the Baruk are veering away from the main group. They appear to be troop transports. I don't know if we can stop them, we're barely hanging on up here."

"Estall, I want you to get your people out of there. Do you hear me? I want you to withdraw your remaining ships immediately," said Tiet.

"I want to send out the weaker ships first. Ranul is working on a reconfiguration of the dispersion cannon that may just allow us to penetrate their shields."

"Do what you think is best, but don't take any chances," said Tiet.

"Affirmative. If this doesn't work we'll withdraw the remaining ships to the surface—Esyia out."

Estall watched the stats for the fleet on a smaller window of the main screen. "Mellar, pass my order for ships below twenty-five percent shield power to retreat immediately."

"Yes, sir," she replied.

"Ranul, what's the status on that reconfigure?"

"I've got it!" Ranul said from his science station. "The cannon will now cycle through one hundred thousand shield frequencies per second and lock on the one that matches their shields."

"Excellent. Garret, lock the cannon on their shield generator and fire."

"Yes, sir!"

The dispersion cannon swiveled on its base and locked onto the approximate position of the shield generator on the closest Baruk vessel. The cannon fired its rapid multi-frequency blasts at the ship. The Baruk shield repelled the blast for a fraction of a second then it got through and struck the generator's position, vaporizing it.

"Shield's dropping on the Baruk vessel, Captain!" said the main science officer.

"Garret, fire at will, targeting the bridge first! Ranul, transmit that reconfiguration sequence to the remaining ships!"

"Already on it!"

"The day isn't over for the Esyia yet," Estall said with satisfaction.

"Those carriers are already passing through the atmosphere," said Ranul from his station.

"Well, they're out of our reach now. Contact Tiet on the surface with the information. We'll do what we can here while they deal with those on the surface."

☼

"Sir, we're tracking a group of approximately ten carriers entering the atmosphere," said one of the data-communication techs in the control center.

"What is there course heading?" asked Tiet.

"They're heading for the Usai Valley beyond the borders of Thalidi. It's just about the only area large enough to land that group of ships," said the tech.

Wynn and Tiet watched the computer model with the respective tracking data coming in on the group of Baruk ships. Holographic models situated themselves on the three dimensional map they were looking at.

"I think you're projection is right," Wynn said.

"Get me the troop commander for Thalidi," said Tiet.

"Online, sir."

"This is Commander Erib, sir, what can I do for you?"

"Commander, I want you to order an immediate civilian evacuation of the suburban area beyond the defense wall then mobilize your troops there. The Baruk are heading your way. We anticipate an attack, launched from the Usai Valley, within twelve hours," Tiet said.

"I trust we'll be launching a cooperative attack with the city's defensive batteries?" Erib asked.

"In part. What I hope to accomplish is more of an ambush. The Baruk will expect our civilian population to withdraw behind the city's defensive wall. Hopefully we can lay in wait for them in the suburbs and then come upon them in force."

"Yes, sir, Erib out."

"What about me?" Wynn asked.

"I want you to deploy more troops on this side of Thalidi and set up a front approximately ten miles away. Let the other troop commanders know to send you fifty percent of their forces to make up that frontline. I expect the Baruk to try for Baeth Periege after Thalidi. They'll want the capital."

"I wish you would allow me to lead the first strike at Thalidi and you remain here to set up the front," Wynn said. "The battle there could be a suicide mission and we need you to survive and lead these people."

"Trust me, Wynn. This is how to lead them—by going into the fire with them. And I don't intend to die at Thalidi, if I can help it. But if I should fall, you must assume command."

Wynn remained silent.

"I'm only sorry we couldn't enlist Grod's Horva to help us in the fight. If we can't defeat the Baruk, they'll be the next target," Tiet said.

"I think your broken arm speaks all too well for Grod's intentions," Wynn countered.

"Maybe." Tiet said. They paused staring at one another. "I had better go. I hope to see you again."

Wynn didn't say anything. His concern showed on his face. Tiet turned with a small wave and walked out of the control room, heading for the main deployment area to arrange for troops who would join him in the mission to Thalidi.

Wynn thought about the extreme danger Tiet would face there outside of the walls of Thalidi. An ambush was very ambitious against the Baruk. He just couldn't understand why Tiet wanted to face them that way. Even with crack commandos from among their best trained troops it was going to be a deadly battle. He wished he could be there to at least keep an eye on their young king. Then something occurred to him—If he couldn't be there, maybe someone else could.

☼

When Commander Mendle had assembled his troops, he opened the door to the private assembly hall allowing Tiet to enter. Though no formal ceremony had taken place to crown him as king, everyone knew full well the authority that had been granted to Tiet by the Council. They were glad for it.

Tiet walked to a place before them where he could address the men selected for the mission. They stood erect, waiting for orders which they would follow or die trying.

He said to all, "I don't know if you realize the mission we are about to undertake. We are going to reinforce the troops already stationed at the city of Thalidi where it has now been confirmed that the Baruk have landed and are deploying their forces. The Baruk are coming at the city from the Valley of Usai. It will be our mission to take up positions within the suburban district which lies between the Baruk and the defensive wall of the city."

"Excuse me, sir," said Commander Mendle. "Did you say outside the defense wall?"

"We're going to provide an ambush in the hopes of at least giving the city officials enough time to evacuate the civilian population. There isn't much time to evacuate a city full of people, but we have no choice. With the number of Baruk forces that will be thrown at us in this first assault, we likely will not be able to hold them from entering the city."

"So, is this is a suicide mission, sir?" asked one of the soldiers.

"Not at all," Tiet said. "I have no intention of wasting lives, but we need to buy some time. We have security tunnels within that sector which were intended to allow the civilian population living in the suburbs to evacuate to within the defensive wall perimeter if an attack came.

"We will take up positions well ahead of the tunnels then fight and fall back as we have to. When we can't hold our positions anymore, we'll evacuate through the tunnels and help the rest of the civilian population in the city to get behind a front Wynn Gareth will be putting together with the majority of our security forces from all of the twelve cities. That is where I intend to face off with the Baruk."

"Make no mistake, men, this will be an extremely dangerous mission and some us may fall in the battle, but I for one would rather lose my life fighting the Baruk than to live under their rule. Trust in your training. It will save your life and the lives of your fellow soldiers. Now let's go!"

The troop commander barked a few quick orders at his men then they all made their way to the transports ready to take them to Thalidi. Tiet watched the elite group of five hundred soldiers file into the carriers as he made last minute checks to his own uniform and weaponry. The last item he checked was the latch across the hilt of his father's blade. He was ready. Tiet boarded the lead carrier as the ramp began to ascend. Within moments they were all in the air flying toward Thalidi and the Baruk.

☼

Kale watched the monitor that his guards were watching, as different images and information on the coming attack was displayed. The two soldiers were talking between themselves about what was happening and even how they wished they could get into the action rather than remain on guard duty.

"Look at that, the King is going to lead the first strike at Thalidi," said one of the soldiers.

"Yeah, but this says Thalidi's population is going to be evacuated to Baeth Periege," said the other. "That doesn't sound like they expect to hold the city."

Kale was concerned now. His brother was heading into an attack against overwhelming forces and probably would not survive it. He had to do something, even if Tiet hated him. Kale knew the Baruk wouldn't be coming at all if he hadn't betrayed his people in the first place. He was responsible for all of this.

The two soldiers still weren't paying any attention to Kale, but his eyes were fixed upon them. After a few moments they both collapsed into the floor unconscious. The hand of one of the men rose into the air. The limp body was dragged across the floor by the elevated hand toward the security scanner to Kale's cell. The hand planted itself on the scanner. The computer responded by lowering the security field to the cell.

Kale practically leaped across the room to the locker where his weapons had been stored, breaking the lock with his mind. He removed his weapons and then, using the hand of the other soldier nearby, he opened the chamber's main security door.

When Kale stepped into the hall, he found Wynn Gareth standing propped against the wall about ten feet away. Kale froze, unsure of his next move.

"That was faster than I expected," Wynn said.

Before Kale could respond, Wynn held out a security code key. "You'll need this if you're going to get to the hangar and take my personal fighter to Thalidi."

"How did you know?" Kale asked.

"I'm the one that fed the information to the monitor in there. Tiet hasn't allowed me to be there to watch out for him—but he can't stop his renegade brother, can he?"

Before Kale could respond, Wynn said, "You'd better get going. And, Kale? It's not too late."

Kale gave him a thoughtful look and nodded. Then he turned and ran toward the hangar bay. Wynn watched him go. He looked in on the two unconscious soldiers.

They were unharmed, so he left them there asleep. To wake them now would mean setting off the alarms over Kale's escape. Wynn wanted the young king to have his powerful older brother on hand to help him stay alive.

BREAKTHROUGH

The Esyia careened around several Baruk ships firing its dispersion cannon at the targets. With the weapon able to adjust to varying shield frequencies the damage was now mounting. Still, the flagship of the Baruk remained distant to the battle. Ranul watched it from his science station.

He had noticed the vessel remaining away from the fight while the other Baruk warships made great effort to intercept any Vorn cruisers trying to get near it for an attack. Ranul conducted multiple scans on the vessel, but one piece of information continued to puzzle to him.

A very unusual waveform was emanating steadily from within the ship somewhere. It was more biological than mechanical and seemed to envelope not only the Baruk ships, but also the surface of the planet near the Twelve Cities.

The Esyia shuddered as laser fire blazed across its shields again. The few remaining Vorn ships were holding their own now against the Baruk. A number of enemy vessels had already been destroyed with multiple direct hits from the dispersion cannons, but they were still outnumbered three to one.

Ranul shifted as the ship quaked then continued on with his observations.

"What are you doing? I haven't heard anything out of you recently," said Estall.

"Why, did you need something?" he asked without looking away from his data screen.

"Helmsman, head for that group on another attack run," he said as he climbed from his own chair to join Ranul at his science station.

Few things could have caught Ranul's attention during a full-on space battle with their lives at risk, and Estall wanted to know what it was.

"What is it?" Estall asked as he braced himself against the bulkhead next to Ranul.

"I'm not exactly sure, but I think I might be picking up some sort of coordinating waveform used by the Baruk."

"What?"

"It's a signal, biological I think, and it's coming from that Baruk flagship. I can't decode it. It seems to be focused on the movements of the Baruk only. It could be telepathic in origin."

"Telepathic? Do you mean something onboard is controlling the Baruk forces?"

"Well, I can't be sure," said Ranul, "but it would make since, at least with the data I have. If we destroy that control source we might be able to disorient the Baruk long enough to win this battle."

"Transmit what you've got to Control on the surface. Let them know we're going after the flag ship with everything we've got," Estall said. "Helmsman, plot a new course for the flagship of the Baruk. Notify our remaining ships to concentrate all firepower on that vessel."

"The information is being transmitted to the remaining ships, sir!"

The Esyia came around, setting her course for the Baruk flagship. The dispersion cannon rotated as the gunner set up the targeting information.

"Fire dispersion cannon at selected targets," Estall commanded.

The first volley of cannon fire struck the shields of the flagship. The cannon compensated for the appropriate shield frequency within milliseconds and the blast penetrated, striking the ship. A large portion of the hull on the port side was vaporized. Within moments a heavy firefight issued forth upon the Esyia from other Baruk ships coming to the aid of their flagship.

"Where are those other ships?" shouted Estall.

"Sir, they're being engaged too heavily to aid us at the moment. The Baruk ships are attempting to ram us now!"

"Estall!" Ranul called from his station. "The signal I've been monitoring...it just increased its intensity tenfold in the direction of the Baruk ships."

"Then it is some sort of telepathy?"

"Almost certainly," Ranul said. "Whatever is aboard that ship wants to be protected even if it means using the other Baruk ships as battering rams to stop us."

"Sir, more Baruk ships are coming at us on a collision course!"

"Evasive maneuvers!" shouted Estall. "Fire!"

"We've got to destroy that signal source," Ranul said.

"I know, but we can't do it if we're dead," said Estall. "Helmsman, keep us elusive. Look for any way to get near the flagship again."

"They're forming a perimeter to protect it," Ranul reported.

"Tell the other ships to keep trying to break through. I just hope they can hold out on the surface until we can break through out here."

☼

Tiet watched as his troops moved throughout the suburban area of the city of Thalidi, outside of the shield wall. The shield was operational with the old thick alloy-plated wall standing behind it. Yet he wasn't optimistic that even those things could hold the city.

The soldiers moved quickly and quietly in and around buildings as they set up positions from which to ambush the Baruk. They were well-armed and well-trained despite the limited time the new army had been in operation. As he watched them deploy, Tiet wondered how many would be going home after this was all over, even wondering if he would.

He pulled his long range lens to his eye and peered out toward the valley of Usai. He could see the Baruk forces approaching already. The range was two miles. Their projected speed would put them in contact within twenty minutes. The image was obscured by an increasingly large cloud of dust being churned up from the valley floor by their army, making it difficult to get much detail on exactly what they were going to be up against.

Tiet spoke into his communication mouthpiece. "Fire the cannons at will."

Above him, from positions on the defense wall, large pulse cannons began to rain down a firestorm upon the approaching Baruk. He looked at them through his ocular again. Multiple explosions erupted, but it was difficult to tell if they were doing any damage, or to what extent. Tiet moved with those near him to their ambush positions, set their pulse rifles and prepared to wait for the Baruk.

☼

Kale watched his brother from behind a nearby wall. He had made it this far with Wynn's help. Now he just had to keep Tiet alive. It was hard to believe that Wynn had helped him to escape. He must really care about my little brother, he thought. Kale was determined now to give his life for his brother if necessary. He would never betray him again.

Wynn had apparently thought this out and had provided a uniform, allowing Kale to blend in with the other soldiers. He activated his own ocular lens and watched the approaching Baruk. Flipping through several different image perspectives, he noted something odd. The main group was apparently approaching under some sort of large shield that went before them like a barricade. It appeared to be automated and put off an easily recognizable power signature. But something else was showing up ahead of their formation.

Kale tapped his wrist pad for an analysis of the odd life signature which appeared as multiple trails heading in their direction.

Insufficient data, the computer replied.

With the naked eye he could see nothing. No dust trail, no visible anything. The trails continued on at a steady pace along the ground as the Baruk closed on the outskirts of the village. The land sloped upward toward the perimeter defense wall behind him.

Kale noticed the soldiers getting ready to fire and Tiet's voice came over his headset. "Lock on your targets. Fire on my command."

The large shield dissipated as the Baruk came into closer quarters in the village before the wall. The pulse lasers on the wall also ceased, as the Baruk were now too close. There was a town square with a fountain and an open area that lay between Tiet's ambush and the Baruk. Tiet had given an order to wait for the enemy to reach it before firing. Kale could see the forces that opposed them more clearly now. They were very fierce looking.

It was mostly infantry, but they had large carrier vehicles for the troops as well and turrets mounted to the tops along with various other arms. A number of large beasts mingled among them as well. These all looked like the kind of mutated ravenous brutes that the Baruk were known for using in close combat. The Baruk fanned out through the streets below, rapidly making their way toward the defense wall.

At least five thousand warriors stormed toward the city and Tiet's ambush. Kale readied his pulse rifle and his blade. The coalition would need every bit of firepower they had, but it probably still would not be enough.

The enemy forces poured into the village square, coming around the fountain as they advanced. Kale heard the command from his brother, "Fire!" and the battle was on. All of the Castillian soldiers blazed into combat from their hidden positions. A massive wave of pulse laser fire erupted against the advancing Baruk. Immediately they scattered and sought cover from the onslaught. Many were cut down as the laser fire punched through the symbiotic exoskeletons.

Kale noticed, once again, the strange life signature of moving lines as he peered through his ocular lens. They were moving very close to the Castillian position now. It's almost as if they were underground! But the thought occurred to Kale too late. Just as he rose from his position, amid the return fire from the Baruk warriors, the hurutai erupted from beneath the ground.

Kale had seen them once before, but had only vaguely remembered the capabilities of the huge worm-like creatures. They moved very fast. As their heads pushed upwards through the surface they caught the Castillian soldiers completely off guard.

Around the neck area of the creatures were hundreds of long spines shooting forth in every direction from the vesicles which produced them. Kale saw ten worms emerging among the troops as he leaped behind a barrier. Soldiers around the creatures were hit by the spines. Each one contained a fast acting neurotoxin to quickly put down their prey.

That was what Kale had remembered the most. The hurutai paralyzed the voluntary skeletal muscle functions of their prey so they could feed on fresh meat without a struggle. He had seen one eat up to ten men at once, holding them within its long wormy body for a slow digestion over several days. As Kale peered back at his previous perch he saw it pierced with poison needles all around. He remembered his brother, searching for him amid the chaos.

☼

Tiet fired his pulse rifle at every target he could find. The Something blew up out of the ground nearby. He turned from his crouched position to find a huge worm-like head pushing through the ground. He had never seen anything like it.

Tiet's men fell around him as needlelike spines erupted from a colored ring around the creature's head. Tiet raised his weapon to shoot, but his arms became limp. He looked down as the pulse rifle fell out of his hands and saw a spine fixed in his lower left abdomen. He pulled it out as his vision went blurry and the buildings and terrain began to spin. Tiet felt the ground smash hard into his face as he tumbled over helplessly. He tried to cry out for help but could not.

The beast reared its head around and slammed into the ground, bringing more of its body out onto the surface. It opened a huge orifice allowing long tentacle-like tongues to issue forth across the ground. The horrid beast latched onto several Castillian soldiers lying on the ground and quickly pulled their paralyzed bodies into its own hulking mass, consuming them alive.

Tiet could see it all, but he could not move. He tried to use the Way, but he was too dizzy and disoriented to concentrate. It looked like this would be his end—eaten alive by these monsters of the Baruk.

Around him, soldiers he had trained personally from among the Castillians and the Vorn were being pulled into the gullets of the creatures. He would have wept for them if he could, or risen to save them, but it was no use. He could see laser fire still being exchanged with the Baruk. He saw more of the creatures, like this worm, spraying their venomous darts at his soldiers as they tried to fend off what was quickly becoming a slaughter.

In the near distance Tiet saw the approach of the Baruk as they made their way up the slope. If the worms didn't take him, the Baruk certainly would. A coiled tentacle swept over his body as the creature moved its head in his direction. The horrid appendage latched onto Tiet's leg and began to pull him toward the gaping maw of the creature. It leveled its head to his position as the tentacle pulled his limp body through the dirt.

This was it. It was over—a brand new coalition of Vorn and Castillian people working together for peace and safety, with him as their king. Now it was going to end. The Baruk were winning. They had lost most of the Vorn cruisers trying to prevent the ground war which now would probably destroy the Twelve Cities. He was ultimately responsible as their leader.

A blur shot across his visual field and suddenly the tentacle was hanging from his leg, severed. From above the head of the great worm beast, Tiet saw a lone figure coming down upon it with a Barudii blade. The warrior drove the sword straight into whatever brain the beast might possess.

The creature reared up as the soldier drove it deep again. Then the beast gave up the fight. It's head crashed with tremendous force into the ground near Tiet's paralyzed body. Without warning, the soldier picked him up, almost as if Tiet's body had levitated onto the man's back. Then they were off and running. He heard a voice as the scenery changed before his paralyzed eyes. "Don't worry. I'll get you out of here, brother."

It couldn't be. Kale? But he was in detention at Baeth Periege. And suddenly, with the realization, Tiet felt no anger, only relief that somehow and for some reason his brother was here to save his life.

He heard Kale as he called for a retreat of their soldiers to behind the defense wall. "Abandon your posts and return to the city immediately, by order of the King!" Tiet was glad Kale was taking charge. His men were getting slaughtered and Tiet would have called the retreat himself had he been able. Hopefully, the remaining civilian population had been able to get behind Wynn's ten mile front by now. They had been nearly out by the time the defense cannons were set to auto-track and left running.

Kale joined other soldiers who were now in full retreat from the advancing Baruk. They had to reach the access portals quickly to get inside the wall before the enemy caught up with them. Fortunately it appeared that the hurutai were still busy feeding, leaving only the Baruk warriors on their trail.

Baruk weapons could be heard all around, pounding the surrounding buildings, taking down more Castillian soldiers attempting to retreat behind the defense wall. Of five hundred elite warriors, which had come to the battlefield with their king, fewer than a hundred remained standing.

Kale tried to put as many structures between himself and the advancing Baruk as he could to block the storm of weapon's fire around them. It was difficult to evade all the gunfire with his brother hanging limp across his back. He was supporting the majority of Tiet's weight with his mental power, but his movements were still cumbersome.

Some of the other soldiers had already reached the wall and accessed one of the portals leading through. One of the soldiers stood at the doorway, waving warriors inside. Kale followed them through the passageway that took them beyond the defense wall into the city. Several of the soldiers guarded the portal until they could see no other Castillian soldiers. Then they followed the others through, sealing the doorway behind them.

The Baruk were locked outside of the city now. As Kale came out into the open, he spotted a place where a med station had been set up and left for anyone that might be wounded in the battle. The other soldiers were congregating around several of these stations.

Kale laid his brother down and examined him. He passed a med-scanner across his paralyzed body, determining that he was alive, despite the neurotoxin from the hurutai. He took one of the needle leads from the scanner and pushed it into Tiet's deltoid muscle. It may have hurt him, but Kale had to do a neuro-muscular scan in order to determine how best to treat the poison. The scanner ran through a series of tests over several minutes. When it had finished, instructions came across the screen instructing Kale on what medication combination would be effective in reversing the paralytic effect of the hurutai neurotoxin.

The gunfire beyond the wall was quieting down now. This disturbed him. They're up to something. He rummaged through the med-box in the station tent, looking for the prescribed drugs. Only two were needed, but the dosage had to be precise. He located more supplies to mix the concoction and went to work. Tiet remained seemingly lifeless on the ground.

Beyond the med-station tents, something was happening. The men were yelling. Kale heard the screeching of the hurutai. He went to the tent door to look out, just as a spray of hurutai spines pierced the flaps. Kale jumped back, finding several spines in his body.

He had the injection in his hand, called for by the med scanner. He immediately jammed it into a vein in his arm and pushed it systemically. Kale quickly began to get dizzy. However, within moments, the effects of the neurotoxin subsided. He went to work mixing another dose for Tiet.

Kale heard more than the just the hurutai outside now. He fixed his mental senses on the area around them and found the Baruk warriors coming through the hurutai tunnels into the city. Gunfire erupted again as the remaining Castillian warriors tried to defend themselves against the steady stream of Baruk warriors pouring through the worm tunnels.

Kale worked fast to get the mixture prepared. When he had it, he injected the medication into a vein in Tiet's arm. Kale now sensed the Baruk closing on their tent. He didn't have time to wait for the paralysis to be reversed on his brother. Kale lifted him up using the Way and crossed to the rear of the tent where he sliced down the cloth wall with a kemstick and plowed on through to the outside.

The battle was raging again, but there were hardly any of the other soldiers left alive. Kale ran for cover toward the large buildings ahead, but the Baruk were closing on him fast. He felt Tiet shifting on his back as the paralysis wore off.

Ahead in their path, a hurutai worm erupted through the surface, leaving the two brothers with nowhere to go. Kale dropped them to the ground like a stone as the reflexive launch of toxic spines sprayed away from the beast and sailed over their heads. Tiet was moving on the ground now, trying to regain his muscle control. Kale drew his blade to defend him as best he could.

A flash of light appeared between the hurutai and the buildings behind. Kale saw what appeared to be a huge energized portal materialize with men coming through it into the city. Kale recognized them as Horva warriors. General Grod was leading them through.

They each wore a metal glove with wires trailing along the length of their arms to a small pack across their backs. The gloves were held before them as they ran into the city. The hurutai was alerted to their presence. Streams of plasma energy shot forth from the gloves like lightning hitting the hurutai. The creature screeched in pain. Within seconds it fell over dead like a burnt sausage.

The Horva ran toward Kale and Tiet. Kale raised his blade, preparing to fight the Horva coming at them. More streams of plasma energy issued forth like lightning from their fingertips, but the attack passed them altogether and hit the advancing Baruk head on. Kale stood dumbfounded as the Horva warriors ignored them completely in order to fight the Baruk behind him.

General Grod came up to the pair of warriors as they stood there exhausted from the fight they had already faced.

"Come with me. We must get you to safety," he said, speaking directly to Tiet.

Tiet responded, appearing to realize more of what had just happened than Kale did.

"I knew it, Grod," he said weakly as he tried to catch his breath. "I knew you were a man of honor."

Tiet could still barely stand. Grod helped Kale support the young man as they made their way back toward the energy portal.

"My warriors!" Grod shouted. "Return to the transgate!"

Grod, Kale and Tiet ran through the portal, coming into Grod's fortress at Nagon-Toth hundreds of miles away.

ALLIES

"Sir, we've been unable to confirm how many Baruk soldiers have off-loaded inside the city since the other transports began landing," said Sergeant Corbin.

"What about the power?" asked Wynn. "Have you had any success getting to the main supply conduits?"

"No, sir. The Baruk are still fortifying that area very heavily. We can't get through."

"It's been two hours now and nothing from Tiet or anyone from the preliminary team."

"With all due respect, sir, it seems clear that no one survived. And the Baruk have the city now. How could they possibly have made it?"

"I understand the circumstances, Corbin, but I don't want to give up hope. And don't start that rumor among the men. It would hurt morale, and our fight is far from over. Now get the units mobilized. Those Baruk aren't going to remain in Thalidi for long."

It was a fact. The Baruk were mobilizing their ground forces for the inevitable push toward Baeth Periege. For an hour they had seen Baruk troop carriers coming down from space into Thalidi. The defense wall was still in place and the Baruk were sitting safely behind it for now.

Somehow they had gotten into the city without disabling it and had apparently decimated the entire team which Tiet had taken to ambush their army. It looked like Kale had failed to protect his brother. Considering the circumstances, it really wasn't a surprise. The Baruk were mounting a formidable ground force behind that wall and Wynn wasn't sure whether they could stop it or not.

Frustrated, Wynn tapped the communication panel that was locked in with the Esyia. "Estall, what's your status up there?"

"We're trying to hold our own, Wynn, but we still haven't been able to get to that flagship," Estall reported.

"We've seen a lot of troop carriers landing inside Thalidi down here."

"I know, but we're completely outnumbered up here," said Estall. "We just don't have the ability to guard the surface and try to get to that flagship!"

"I understand. I don't mean to accuse. I know you're doing everything you can," Wynn said. "I'm afraid we've have already lost Tiet."

There was a pause for a moment before Estall answered. "Are you sure?"

"No. I can't be certain, but it appears the whole unit was wiped out as the Baruk made their way into the city. We've not heard any word from them. I don't want to believe it, but—"

"I understand. Let's just keep up the fight and hope we can manage to drive them back. It's all we can do," said Estall.

Wynn tapped the communication panel again. The scans of the city were still inconclusive. The Baruk were jamming them somehow to hide their next move.

"Sir, the units from the other cities have arrived at the staging area," said Corbin.

"Good. We'll need all the help we can get. It looks like this is where our future is going to be decided."

☼

It had been several hours since Kale and Tiet had come through the portal into Grod's compound and they were still being confined to the medical lab under guard. Tiet had been relieved to see Grod's aggression aimed at the Baruk, but what was his intent now? He wasn't sure. Kale was pacing, examining the room discreetly, looking for a way of escape.

The two brothers had not spoken since their arrival and neither seemed to know what to say to the other. Kale had been the last one Tiet had expected to see coming to his rescue out there against the Baruk, but he was glad to have him.

After all that he had said, plus trying to kill him inside his confinement cell, Tiet was unsure what he could say at this point to even begin a dialogue with the man.

"How's your equilibrium? Your head hurting?" Kale asked.

"It's fine. Thank you for saving my life out there."

Kale stopped his pacing to listen.

"Look, Kale, I'm sorry for what I said and did when you were in confinement. I just don't know what to make of this. You betrayed us—our parents, our people—how am I supposed to react?"

"I know. Believe me, I wish I could undo all that I've done. I would gladly give my life now to undo it, but I can't. You are my brother. I only want to have you forgive me. It's all I have left."

"I'm sorry. I just don't know if I can give that to you right now."

Kale looked at him, but there was great pain behind his eyes that Tiet partly wanted to see and partly wished he could relieve. Still, he just couldn't find it within himself. Then Grod came into the room flanked by several warriors. They were still outfitted for battle.

"Grod, I'm glad you changed your mind about what we talked about," Tiet said.

"We can discuss that later," said Grod. "Right now, gentlemen, we have more pressing matters. Follow me."

He turned and led them out of the medical lab, down several corridors to another larger room full of monitors and all manner of technical equipment. Tiet immediately noticed a huge window on the far side of the room and walked past the General to see it. He could see that it opened up beyond to a huge dome that looked increasingly familiar as he stared. It was the same room where he had been brought to fight when he was captured by Grod months ago. But now it was full of equipment and a huge gateway of some kind that seemed to lead to nowhere. Only the other side of the dome could be seen beyond.

"This room looks familiar," Tiet said.

"Your right. It is the same battle arena where you killed my teragore," Grod said. "A very impressive display, Barudii. Come. Look at this information."

He joined Kale and Grod before the main tactical monitor in the room. They were surrounded by Horva warriors who were performing data retrieval and sorting.

"Here you can see what is left of your ships still in orbit as they battle the Baruk," said Grod as he pointed to the display. "We've been monitoring your progress for some time now. There are very few ships left. We noted that a number of them retreated at once while the remainder attempt to attack the Baruk's main battle cruiser.

It appears they were able to somehow get through the Baruk shields using a random frequency generator, most ingenious, by the way. But you don't have the firepower to take out that ship, and it is essential that you do so.

"We know that the Baruk are telepathically controlled by their leader. He will be aboard the flagship."

Kale listened carefully, but he did not volunteer what he knew about the Baruk leader. The leader of the Baruk was much more than just some telepath.

"Grod, I don't have any more ships to throw at them," said Tiet. "If you have ships to aid us, we would be happy to coordinate an attack, but otherwise..."

"I don't have any ships like that here, but I do have something else," Grod said as he looked to the window and the chamber beyond.

Kale and Tiet followed Grod to the window.

"That apparatus down there is called a transgate."

"Is that how you appeared in Thalidi?" Kale asked.

"Precisely," Grod said. "We developed it for a surprise attack on you, Master Soone."

"Great," Tiet said. "That's certainly comforting."

"But now we can use it to get a strike team onto the Baruk flagship," Grod said.

"You mean that thing will transport us inside that ship, even through their shields?"

"Yes, but we have one problem," Grod said. "The transgate draws a huge amount of power and we can't send a large force without draining our power reserves past the safety point. We have enough power to send two or three people through the gate. If we can get inside, then perhaps we might stand some chance of destroying their leader and cutting off the ground army from his coordinating mental control."

"Without their leader, we have a real chance against the Baruk," Tiet said. "I'm in."

"I'll go with him, General," said Kale.

"I will also go," Grod replied. "I may not be Barudii, but I can still fight the Baruk. If you're ready to go, then we don't have another moment to spare."

"We're ready. Lead on," Tiet said.

"I know my way around that ship," Kale offered. "I should probably lead, once we get onboard."

Tiet looked at Grod, who nodded his own approval.

"Then let's go."

The three men made their way quickly down to the domed chamber. Tiet and Kale found their weapons lying on a table inside as a Horva soldier prepped the portal for the jump. Grod wore one of the plasma weapons they had seen during the rescue in Thalidi.

"What is that thing?" asked Tiet.

"The glove channels plasma energy from this pack on my back, releasing the energy stream against whatever this targeting laser is set to," said Grod. "They're very effective. We've worked hard on these weapons."

"Let me guess," Tiet said. "So you could use them to attack us?"

Grod nodded then continued to explain the weapon's workings, "The weapon is similar to throwing a bolt of lightening."

"I'm glad you've decided to be on our side," Tiet said. "It sounds like you've been monitoring our every move lately."

"Well, it helps to stay informed, doesn't it?" Grod said.

A technician signaled a lock on the Baruk flagship when they were ready. "Sir, we can't get an exact scan on what you'll face up there," said one of the men operating the control panel at the gateway.

"We don't have time to waste. We'll just have to deal with whatever we find," said Grod. "Activate the transgate."

The gateway snapped into being before them. An image coalesced as the transgate brought the chamber at Nagon-toth into direct contact with a location somewhere on the Baruk flagship.

Grod grinned at the Barudii. "Gentlemen, it's time."

☼

Wynn watched the last of the pulse fire emanating from Thalidi's defensive batteries. Tiet had been wise to set the front for this defense at ten miles out from Thalidi's perimeter.

The Baruk had been trying for nearly twenty minutes to use the city's cannons against them, but the range was not great enough to reach. It appeared they were giving up on that tactic now and Wynn wondered if they might emerge soon for a face to face fight with his forces. He didn't have long to wait.

The sixth gate began to open on the defense wall as Wynn watched through his ocular lens which magnified the image. They were coming on a fast march toward their position. From his grounded angle it was impossible to tell how many, but it looked like thousands. With all of their new recruits, Wynn still only had five thousand warriors to face the Baruk. It wouldn't be enough. The Baruk were strong runners and within two hours they would be locked in combat.

☼

There were no warriors anywhere in sight when Tiet, Kale and General Grod stepped out of Nagon-Toth's domed chamber onto the Baruk Flagship. Kale studied the location for a moment and recognized where they were.

"Tiet, we're near the core of the ship. That means we could easily access the power stream for the gravity bomb containment chamber."

"What in the world is that?"

"Gravity bombs are large super dense alloy spheres that produce a gravitational field powerful enough to crush a ship's hull like an egg. If we can disable the special containment field that prevents them from destroying this ship then—"

"Then this ship will implode around them," Grod said.

"What do we have to do, Kale?"

"The coolant system would be the easiest to disable from where we are. If you and Grod can make your way down this corridor, you will come to an overlook for the containment chamber. You'll be able to see a series of yellow-colored conduits running from above the chamber—these are the coolant conduits. I'm not sure how many there are, but if you can blow out at least two of them the coolant pressure will rapidly fall to zero. After that, it will take about ten minutes to lose the containment field altogether."

"What about you?" asked Tiet.

"I'm going after their leader. He'll need to be distracted or killed while you two attack the coolant conduits. That area is heavily guarded, but he can pull many more warriors to stop us if someone doesn't distract him."

Grod and Tiet eyed one another. "I think it's a good plan," said Grod. "Anyway, what else do we have? But if we are not back through the transgate before the ship implodes, the gravity could threaten Nagon-Toth—and of course, we wouldn't survive either."

"Then we'll meet back here at the transgate," said Tiet.

Kale watched his brother and General Grod as they headed down the long corridor. He would have liked to agree on meeting back at the transgate, but he did not plan on leaving the ship. Given the power of Lucin, he would have to remain to prevent him from escaping when the containment failure alert sounded all over the ship. If Lucin survived then this effort would be wasted and the war itself would likely carry on to the inevitable end with the Baruk dominating the entire planet. Kale was determined to give his brother the chance to be the king he could never have been himself.

LUCIN

Kale knew the ship well and made his way quickly and quietly toward the throne room of the Lucin. Kale encountered a number of warriors as he went, but evaded their notice. Soon, he arrived at the chamber.

He guessed that Tiet and Grod would probably be close to the containment area by now and he had little time to distract Lucin before intruder alarms would sound and they would lose the slight advantage surprise gave them. Kale removed two spicors from his uniform and stepped back enough to throw them into the chamber door. They flashed violently, leaving a large hole through the alloy that comprised the door. Kale was through the door as soon as the energy dissipated.

He dived through and rolled to his feet drawing his blade as he stood. The room was sparsely lit. Lucin was not immediately seen. He closed his eyes and relied upon his mind. Then he found them. "You can come out. I see you," said Kale.

Kale immediately formed a mental bubble within the hole he had made and blew out the door mechanism with a thought.

"Do you think I will run from you, Kale?" asked Lucin.

"You'll try to run before I'm through with you," he threatened.

Lucin laughed. "Pride goes before a fall, mortal. Do you really expect to defeat me, one of the Mithri?"

Lucin approached him, coming into view beyond Kale's blade. Kale protected himself mentally as he felt the mithrial being apply his own great mental faculties against him.

Lucin was putting tremendous pressure upon him as he searched for a weakness in Kale's defense, but he could find none. Kale felt the pressure continuing to build as Lucin furthered his attack. He knew very well that he would have been easily overcome by Lucin if he had not been forced to split his attention and power coordinating his warriors on the ground and with the ships still fighting the Vorn cruisers around the flagship.

Kale lunged at him with his blade. Lucin swept out of the way fast. A large piece of equipment flew at Kale from its place in the shadows. He struck the object, cutting it in two.

Baruk warriors could be heard outside the one door to the chamber, but they could not get through Kales kinetic bubble or open the doorway to help their master.

"Have you already summoned help for yourself, Lucin?" he asked sarcastically.

Lucin did not answer him. His form began to change before Kale's eyes. The human form increased in stature to roughly three times his original human form. He erupted into a monstrous form.

"If it is a physical battle you desire, you shall have it, Barudii," scolded Lucin.

☼

Grod and Tiet were able to see the massive containment chamber from their perch. They had climbed beyond the walkway toward the mechanism in order to avoid any Baruk warriors that might happen by during the course of their duties. Grod and Tiet climbed quietly along the structure toward the conduits above the chamber. The pipes were huge. It would take a throw of multiple spicor discs to get through those conduits without being instantly covered in the coolant flowing within. There appeared to be minimal personnel in the area at the moment. There was no time to waste.

Tiet removed three spicor discs from his vest. He and Grod moved to a catwalk that would give them an easier escape route. Tiet stood for the throw and aimed at three separate conduit pipes to prevent any rerouting of coolant to the containment system. With deadly accuracy, he threw the discs away toward their targets. The discs exploded as they impacted with the pipes, leaving huge holes in each one and bluish colored coolant vapor spewing forth.

An alarm immediately sounded throughout the ship. Grod and Tiet ran down the walkway toward the transgate. Baruk warriors ran into the containment system area. Then they spotted the pair. "Saboteurs!"

The Baruk fired upon them as they ran down the catwalk. Tiet drew his kemsticks as Grod aimed his plasma weapon. A burst of lightning arced over Tiet and into the approaching Baruk. The warriors tumbled over the sides of the catwalk as the energy hit them full force.

More Baruk warriors were mobilizing, but Tiet and Grod didn't have time to draw out the fight—according to the wailing security alarms, this ship would implode in seven minutes.

☼

Kale deflected several tentacles flying at him from Lucin's symbyte form. The mithrial monstrosity screeched as his blade vaporized some of Lucin's morphing tissue. He couldn't get past Kale's defense. Then the ship's warning system went off.

"Evacuate ship—seven minutes to containment meltdown, evacuate ship," sounded the alarm.

The symbyte creature reeled back from the fight as Lucin realized the imminent destruction of his flagship. He turned his attention to opening the door and breaching Kale's kinetic force field. Kale moved in to strike again, trying to keep Lucin occupied and imprisoned until the containment field collapsed completely and destroyed them both.

The creature spun on Kale and sent him flying backward with a burst of mental energy. Had Lucin now stopped expending his power coordinating his troops in order to concentrate on saving himself? Kale recovered and flung his blade at the creature. The blade struck and rebounded under mental control to his hand. Lucin howled at him and held Kale in a mental grip that instantly fixed him frozen to the floor.

He knew that he would not get through the force field until Kale removed it. Lucin's monstrous symbyte form came at Kale and smashed a hardened appendage across his body that sent him to the ground and his blade spinning out of his hand across the floor. Kale heard the warning system stating only four minutes remaining before containment meltdown as the creature stood over him and began to pound away at his body. He felt his bones shattering as Lucin desperately tried to remove Kale's mental power on the forcefield preventing his escape from the room and the doomed ship.

Kale was in terrible pain, but he blocked it out as much as possible as he continued to focus on keeping the field up across the chamber door until the last possible moment. Blow after blow pounded across his battered and bleeding body. Kale could barely hear over the ringing in his ears. The warning system sounded a muffled cry of three minutes. Kale felt his life slipping away. His body was numb, yet he continued to focus all of his mental energies on the forcefield.

☼

Grod and Tiet leaped away from the catwalk and landed back before the corridor leading to the transgate. Several Baruk warriors met them, but Grod blasted them with plasma energy on his way through.

Grod and Tiet ran hard for the transgate and did not encounter any other warriors along the way. The ship's warning system sounded out again at four minutes to meltdown as they reached the transgate and ran through. When they came into the domed chamber at Nagon-Toth, Tiet immediately asked the technician monitoring the gate if Kale had already come through.

"No. You're the only ones to return," said the technician.

Tiet turned back to the gate as Grod caught his arm to prevent him. "Don't go back, Tiet."

"He's my brother," Tiet said. "I have to go back."

Grod looked at him, concern evident in his eyes.

"Keep the gate open as long as you can," said Tiet.

Grod released his grip on the young man's arm. He ran back through the gate and was immediately within the flagship again. He had no other way to find Kale except his mind.

Tiet felt for him and found him nearby. He bolted down the corridor. Several Baruk were working on a damaged door to a chamber. He felt Kale inside in horrible pain. Tiet blasted the Baruk warriors with his mind before they even realized he was upon them.

He sent them into the wall with such force that none of them moved after they hit the ground. He saw a forcefield in place over a blast hole in the chamber door. The mad screeching of some beast could be heard coming from within.

Tiet pulled a hand full of spicors and flung them into the wall, blasting a hole to access the chamber. As he entered the room a monster peered up at him. It was a horrific-looking creature—a black mass of writhing tentacles and piercing eyes. Kale's bloody beaten body lay beneath it. The creature tried to attack Tiet mentally as he flung a handful of spicors at it.

He was knocked down by the force of the beast's mind as the spicors sailed into it and erupted all over the creature's large body. The symbyte flailed backwards away from Kale, writhing upon the floor trying to reorganize its form.

Tiet took the opportunity and grabbed Kales battered body up in his arms. He supported the man's limp form mentally as he made his way back out of the chamber and ran toward the transgate. The warning system sounded again, "One minute to containment breech..."

☼

Estall shifted in his captain's chair as new information began to come across the view screen. "Sir, there appears to be a large number of escape pods jettisoning from the flagship," said one of the scan techs.

"Ranul, what's going on?"

He ran more specialized scans of the vessel. "I'm picking up some sort of gravitational flux onboard. It's difficult to pinpoint behind their shields, but there is something else odd about it."

"What?"

"The other ships are beginning to drift from their protective positions around the flagship."

"Are they running?"

"No, it just looks like they've stopped calibrating their position, like someone is asleep at the wheel. Wait a minute! The waveform I've been monitoring has stopped."

"Can we break through?"

"I would caution against it, the gravitational disturbance is building in intensity. If it keeps up, it will destroy their ship and pull us in as well."

"Gunner, continue trying to punch through. Maybe we can help them on their way," said Estall.

☼

Wynn could clearly make out the forms of the Baruk warriors as they began their charge across the battlefield toward their position.

"Ready your guns!" shouted Wynn to his troops through his com-link.

The Baruk were running hard at them now, shouting a war cry as they advanced. And then, suddenly, they began to slow and stop.

"What's happening?" he asked, peering through his lens.

A number of monstrous worm-like beasts broke through the ground from within the group of Baruk warriors and began to attack them.

"Sonders!"

"Yes, sir," said the soldier as he ran to Wynn's side.

"Aren't those the same creatures that were spotted entering the city before the attack on Tiet's group?"

"Yes, sir, the same. But why are they attacking the Baruk?"

"I don't know, but they're within the range of our guns.... Fire!!"

The Baruk warriors were caught in between their own hurutai, attacking them as the mental domination of the Lucin was released, and the rain of fire coming against them from the Castillian army. Many of the warriors ran in different directions trying to escape while others tried to kill the hurutai that were trying to kill anything within their reach.

"Should we charge them, sir?" asked Sonders.

"No, not yet.... Let's allow those worms to finish off as many as they will. Something is finally going our way in this fight. Let's not give up the advantage we've been given."

☼

Tiet's steps were getting heavier and heavier as he ran toward the place where he hoped the transgate would still be open. The Baruk ship's computer was counting down the last minute. Tiet was still supporting the weight of Kale's body with his mind, but he was struggling as the gravitational forces began to build onboard the doomed vessel.

☼

Lucin's symbyte form recovered itself from the spicor disc explosions. Pain coursed through his body, but that only fueled his anger and desire to escape the ship that much more. The Barudii had seized Kale's body, but he had left the chamber open as well. With only precious moments to escape, Lucin's monstrous form moved quickly through the opening in the chamber door.

The computer was still counting down and there was no time to reach any of the escape pods. Then he saw a trailing glimpse of a man with another man across his shoulders, running from the area. Blood trailed behind them on the floor. However they got on the ship, there must be a way they were planning on leaving.

☼

The gravity was causing intense pain in Tiet's legs as he tried to continue his pace toward the transgate, which he could now see up ahead. Nagon-Toth looked like home sweet home in comparison to this place now. Then he heard something approaching fast from behind.

He sensed the same creature that was trying to kill Kale back in the chamber. It was coming up fast on him, but there was no time for a fight. Only seconds remained before a complete collapse of the containment field surrounding those gravity weapons destroyed the ship.

The symbyte gained rapidly on Tiet as he continued to run. Lucin moved quickly, contorting his terrifying symbyte body to reach for anything he could and pull himself along the corridor. His morphing appendages sprang outward, several at a time, to find anchors with which to pull his gelatinous body along at a swift pace. The computer counted down the last ten seconds.

The portal was within reach now. Tiet ran through with Kale still across his back. His brother's blood could be felt across his bare neck and was beginning to soak through his own uniform, but he was still breathing, still alive. As Tiet ran through the portal, he saw Grod waiting.

"Close the gate!" he shouted as he ran through.

The technician punched the button as the symbyte monstrosity reached the field and started through. The transgate snapped shut like a light going out. A piece of the symbyte creature burst away as the field separated it from the rest of the body still aboard the Baruk flagship. The lump of tissue landed on the floor, smoldering, but did not move.

FORGIVEN

The Baruk flagship crumpled inward upon itself as the containment field fully collapsed around the store of massive gravity weapons within its core. Ranul and Estall watched with their bridge crew as the whole superstructure imploded.

The numerous escape pods trying to jettison into open space quickly succumbed to the gravitational pull. They were cast back upon their mother-ship, joining the imploding mass.

The other Baruk ships, many of which were already drifting or damaged, were now pulled toward the implosion. Then without warning, the whole thing burst outward again destroying or damaging nearly all of those ships being pulled to it.

The bridge crew of the Esyia howled their approval as the whole conflagration went up before their eyes. Only three ships of the Castillian army remained. They were nearly out of shield power, but the fight appeared to be over. They had won against the odds.

☼

"Get the medics in here!" shouted Grod to those who were monitoring from the control room.

Tiet laid his brother to the floor as gently as he could. Kale's expression was fixed on his brother. His face was a mask of blood as he tried to speak to Tiet.

"Forgive?" he asked through the pain.

Tears welled up in Tiet's eyes as he watched the brother he had only recently known, dying before him. He could not hold them back as they fell upon the damaged body.

"Forgive?" Kale strained again.

"Kale, I forgive you all, my brother," he managed.

Kale's expression turned from anguish to peace. He stopped his struggle and laid his head back to the floor. The light of life in his eyes soon faded to nothing.

The Horva medics rushed into the chamber, but Grod bade them to hold with a wave of his hand. The Barudii warrior was dead and they could not have saved him.

Tiet moved away from his body as the Horva prepared to remove him.

"I am sorry for your loss," Grod said genuinely.

Tiet could only look at him. He had no words now.

"My men will show you where you can rest awhile. I will contact your people in Baeth Periege and we will arrange transport for you back to the city."

Tiet nodded as he choked back his emotions. He followed one of the warriors out of the room as the medics loaded Kale's body onto a carrier.

"What do you want to do with this tissue that came through the portal?" asked the transgate tech.

"Have it taken to the incinerator. Make sure it's completely destroyed," said Grod as he followed the medics out of the room.

The transgate technician left his station, after shutting down the control board, and went to find a suitable container in order to remove the tissue. He found an old metal box and scooped the symbyte flesh into it. With the lid shut, he headed for the incinerator to dispose of the specimen.

☼

The trip back to Baeth Periege was lengthy but uneventful. Tiet did not speak to anyone and no one attempted conversation with him. General Grod sat behind him on the shuttle flight along with a contingent of his warriors—a proper escort for the Barudii King.

When they arrived within the city, Wynn was there to meet Tiet at the port, along with thousands of people. Tiet followed the casement carrying Kale's body as the Horva warriors carried it from the shuttle toward the main port building.

The crowd clapped and cheered for their young king as he passed through them on the walkway. He tried to be as cheerful as possible, waving several times to the people who had come to see him home, but the pain of losing his brother after so short a time of knowing him ate at him. Tiet believed Kale had truly repented of his many crimes against their people and he was glad for it. But other than these few days, he had never known him. He was reminded of his other loved ones who had died around him in so short a time. He never doubted the purposes of Elithias, but it seemed so senseless to him. When he entered the main port building, Mirah was there to meet him.

"I thought we had lost you," Mirah said.

Wynn was relieved to see him safe. Tiet would grieve for Kale, but he would certainly bounce back in time. They remained in the south gate only minutes longer before going on to the medical complex where he would receive treatment for any lingering effects of the neurotoxin. When the time was right, they would have a very serious talk about the true nature of their relationship and an honest discussion of how they felt for one another.

☼

Resnior watched the alarm on the transgate with frustration. This wasn't his station and he wasn't quite sure how to silence the alarm. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with the new equipment, just a finicky piece of hardware wanting to have its parameters set, or shutdown or something.

"Where did Merin go? He's been gone for hours and he's the only one trained on the shutdown procedures for the transgate until Orikel comes on tonight."

"I think Grod sent him on some errand to the incinerator," said one of the other techs in the control room. "But that was hours ago."

"Well, someone needs to take care of shutting this thing down. I'm not messing around with it. I'm going to see if I can find him."

Resnior got up from his station and walked out of the control room and found the lift to take him down to the incinerator. When he came down the main corridor he found the debris port was open. There was a metal container on the floor next to the port, but no Merin. He walked over to the container, which was open laying on its side. On the ground was some sort of oily residue. Resnior bent down to examine it. He noticed that there was also blood mingled with it.

When he stood and turned to return to the lift, Merin was standing there almost on top of him. Resnoir only had a moment before Merin caught his head in his hands and snapped his neck. His body fell to the ground.

Merin tapped the switch to open the disposal chamber with his elbow. He hoisted Resnoir's body up and pushed him inside the incinerator. Merin picked up the metal container from the floor that he had carried the symbyte tissue in and threw the empty casing inside with Resnior's body.

After shutting the chamber door again, Merin switched the incinerator on and turned to leave. He reached down on his abdomen and began to close the uniform shirt he wore. Underneath it, fluid from the symbyte tissue began to bleed through the cloth. He covered it up with his vestment and walked to the lift, letting the doors close behind him. A Horva wasn't ideal for Lucin. Another body would have to be found before the man's natural defenses could respond. Fortunately this planet had many to offer.

More Novels by James Somers

The Chronicles of Soone: Rebellion's Fate (COS2)

The Serpent Kings (SK1)

The Wraith Dancer (SK2)

The Realm Shift (RS1)

The Order of Shaddai (RS2)

The Sword of Gideon (RS3)

Percival Strange

Hallowed Be Thy Name

Perdition's Gate: Inferno (Omnibus Edition)

Fallen (Descendants Saga 1)

Descendant (DS 2)

Revenant (DS 3)

Millennium (DS 4)

A World Within

