AKLESH (Under Strange Skies) (17 page)

“You can see through his eyes? Yes?” Came the voice of the Healer on his right as Gar stood with his eyes closed.

“Yes,” said Gar, still amazed at what was happening.

“Good,” she said. “Now, you must imagine yourself going through the motions of what you need to do. But, don’t be too quick. Kai has to follow what he sees.

To Gar the technical layout of the control unit was standard to ships of that design. The first step was to locate the system’s link to the mercenary group heading towards them. Next they had to sever communication. After that they had to lower the ship’s shielding and get Kai out.

Four parts in all.

Gar took a breath and slowly went through the motions of the first task mentally, as if he were doing them himself.

Kai’s mind was incredibly sharp after days of meditating. He was ready for such an undertaking and it felt good to use all his stored up energy. He had no idea what he was doing, but by letting Gar slowly guide his thoughts he tentatively put the pad of his finger on the display as he was seeing in his minds eye.

The panel and screen burst to life. Taken aback only for a moment he kept following the mental instructions Gar was laying out for him from the images he was receiving in turn. Working together they plotted through the various ship programs till they located the communicae with the field unit.

From the information Gar could see the mercenaries were almost to their camp. The link to the ship’s scanners had to be severed quickly.

In three final keystrokes it was done. Now the attackers would be coming in blind. That was all the advantage the Aklesh warriors needed. Gar winked at the Healer who in turn nodded to several archers nearby. Instantly the signal was mentally given to the rest of the camp.

With several twangs a chorus of arrows shot through the night sky.

Good job, Kai!
Thought Gar, and the native could feel his enthusiasm.
Now to take care of that
shield and get you home.

***

The field unit continued through the woods, almost to their prey.

He followed the readings from control as he went. According to the intel coming from the ship there was a large congregation of natives by the small waterway up ahead of his troups. Not much activity, probably just the camp settling in for the night. Some of the primitives had spread out but it wasn’t a huge concern. They were most likely gathering firewood or checking traps.

It was that moment, the screen blipped and went dark. Reese tapped the device to check for a malfunction but there wasn’t anything obviously wrong with it.

“Davis! Check your interface. Are you having any problems?”

There was no response.

“Davis?” he said again. “Davis?!”

He looked to his sides and saw his crew tapping their screens as well. The mercenaries had been cut off from the ship’s control.

In the darkness there was a sharp THUNK!

Reese looked to his right and saw a thick arrow had pierced Blake through his side. He cried out and fell to the ground. There was shouting from the back of the crew and a shot from a flash pistol went straight into the air, illuminating the trees with its eerie green light for a single moment. Another barrage of arrows tore threw the air, falling to the ground and hitting his men. The primal cry of a deep female voice soared through the air, quickly to be joined by many others.

Reese pulled the com mic from his mouth and shouted to his men.

“It’s a trap! It’s a trap! Take your weapons off stun. Shoot whatever you can and retreat. Go! Go!” Green bursts of light created a strobe effect that threw shadows on the large trees. Glimpses of large warriors with blood on their faces and murder in their ice blue eyes flashed in the darkness among that of the mercenaries, who were struggling to recover. Screams could be heard on all sides.

Reese turned to run, fumbling with his flash canon and changing the setting as quickly as possible, stumbling as he went. He looked up. An enormous, dark shape was falling upon him faster than he could react. He lifted his weapon to shoot but it was too late. The large warrior, fierce and menacing, came down on him with his spear raised for a killing blow.

The mercenary didn’t even have time to pull the trigger before the savage’s weapon had run him through. The last word Reese ever heard was the warrior shouting a name.

“Kai!”

***

Overlooking the battle from above was Gar. He stood at the top of the ridge with the Healer and the Aklesh archers.

He had been linked to Kai the entire time.

The young prince did his best not to be distracted by the flashes of green light and disconcerting screams echoing through the woods.

The plan had been a sound one. Some Aklesh would stay in the camp and act as bait while two small groups separated and approached from the sides and the back. Meanwhile, the archers, who could view the intruders from the ridge of the waterfall, would send the first attack on his command.

All was going according to plan. Still, there was more gunfire than he had expected. Gar hoped none of the tribesmen had fallen.

Once he and Kai had helped the Aklesh gain the advantage it had been up to Vol to execute the ambush. She was a merciless and fearless warrior.

She might have had a hateful personality but was definitely a good person to have on your side in a battle. As they had been preparing it had been obvious why she was their commander.

But, now his focus had turned to getting Kai off the ship. Together they had been working in harmony as the battle raged below. Kai followed as Gar

‘tasked’ and after cutting off communication with the field unit they quickly disabled the shield.

But Gar still had one last objective.

Anything else?
Asked Kai, becoming nervous.

Working with this strange equipment had been disorienting. He knew nothing of what he was doing and the images and information that had appeared before him as he manipulated the panels had been baffling mess.

One more thing,
said Gar.
Then we’ll get you out
of there, I promise. You need to go to the
communication interface, it’s on your right.
Kai did so. Gar instructed,
Follow my lead.

Gar began to task Kai again. He was creating a distress message. It could be sent via the access portal that orbited above the planet. All they had to do was broadcast it. The information would go directly to the Galactic Terminal where an alert would be raised. This was his chance for him to get home. If he was lucky he could simply fly the shuttle off the planet, but he needed a little insurance.

I don’t know how much time is left before I’m
discovered.
Kai sent urgently.

Just one more minute,
replied Gar, starting to panic himself.

You’re going too fast! I can’t follow!

In his impatience Gar had unintentionally sped up and lost Kai. He had to get this message through.

He couldn’t be stuck on the world of the Aklesh till the next census. The fear of being lost forever gripped at his throat. He went back and repeated the information slower, although it was killing him to have to do so.

A few more seconds.
Gar sent desperately.

In the control room Kai heard the door of the entryway slide open. He stopped what he was doing and froze.

“Turn around slowly, savage,” said a menacing voice. The low, gravely bark was unmistakable. It was Rhoed. Kai did as he was told and turned to face the captain who was standing behind him.

The head mercenary was clutching his side where a wound was slowly bleeding out. He was leaning against a consol chair for support.

Whatever was going on in the lab had become violent. Clutched in his free hand was a flash pistol. Kai wasn’t sure what it did, but he was certain whatever it was couldn’t be good.

“I don’t know how a halfwit like you accomplished this,” he growled. “But I’m beginning to think this whole mess leads somehow to you.”

What happened?! Why did you stop?!
Gar shouted in Kai’s mind. The words rang in his head, his frustration hitting Kai like a brick. He couldn’t help flinching.

Gar was losing his nerve. He had almost finished the transmission but Kai had suddenly stopped short. Aggravation swelled through his body. Then an image of a man slowly appeared in his mind. He was square jawed and clutching a wound. Gar also saw the gun pointing as if it were at him and understood what had happened. It was his fault. He had kept Kai in the control room too long.

I’ve been caught.
Was Kai’s reply.

Guilt overcame Gar. If Kai got shot then it would all have been for nothing.

Do whatever you have to do, Kai, just don’t
die,
Gar sent.
We’re coming to get you.

Rhoed made his way to the main panel.

He was shivering from the loss of blood, but his resolve was firm. The whole mission was hanging in the balance and he refused to give in.

He would not risk losing everything. Although the pain from the wound in his side was excruciating he didn’t take his sights off Kai, even for a second, keeping the flash pistol firmly targeted on him.

They had underestimated the savages on the planet and it was a mistake he wasn’t going to make twice.

Kai didn’t move, only backed away a little to give the captain as much room as he needed.

Still aiming at Kai he let his free hand, wet with his own blood, manipulate the panel and try and figure out what the savage had been doing. The grid came to life at his touch and images flashed on the screen in quick repetition. Thankfully, Gar had been very good. Rhoed could not make heads or tails of what Kai had been up to. All he could tell was that the field unit was blind and on the run.

He sneered. “Was this your people’s plan all along? Sabotage? How long have you known about us?” With this he thrust the gun towards Kai, who flinched. “How long?!”

When the native didn’t respond the captain grumbled, figuring Kai couldn’t answer and began to run a new program. The color was draining from his face as he worked and he was shaking even more. Kai was waiting for him either to shoot the weapon or fall over.

“Why have you come here?” Kai asked. He knew his life was in grave danger but still wanted to understand. “Why have you brought so much pain to my people? What have we done to you?” The captain regarded Kai with a cool indifference.

“You can talk. Of course you can talk. You can probably all talk. Part of the plan.” He seemed neither surprised nor alarmed at Kai’s ability to speak their language. He was becoming slightly delirious. “Parliament should reclassify this planet from Galactic Protectorate to enemy of the crown.

Doesn’t matter now. We’ll lift this sorry piece of junk in the air. But, before we leave, savage, I’m going to blow the crap out of your little village.” Kai’s eyes widened in horror. He understood what the captain meant. This made Rhoed smile.

“Yes, savage. We‘re not talking about your little buddies over in your camp. We’re talking about the whole damn tree house! Yeah, we know about it. And you get to watch. My little gift to you, you little shit, for screwing up everything. And then, when I’ve decimated that I’m going to kill you.” There was a flash of green light as a pulse that shot through the air. Kai’s heart leaped. He had squeezed his eyes shut, anticipating pain but found he didn’t fall. He opened his eyes to see the truth.

The blast had not come from Rhoed, who now lay twitching on the ground, having been on the receiving end of the discharge.

It had come from his left, by the door.

Jenna was standing in the entryway and the flash pistol in her hand was shaking.

Kai didn’t know what to do. He stood frozen in place. This sort of weaponry was out of his depths.

“Go, Kai. Now’s your chance. No one’s going to stop you.”

She kept her weapon aimed at the captain who was staring at her, a look of hatred and betrayal written on his face. Kai didn’t need to be told twice. He bolted past her, out of the control room and down the hallway.

Jenna walked slowly over to Rhoed, who was now paralyzed on the floor of the control room. “You fool, you weak, stupid fool. You’ll die for this,” he spat.

“Do you know what the worst part of this has been,” said Jenna. “Knowing there were at least eight different ways I could’ve brought you down before this. But, you’re right. I was weak. I was afraid of you. But, not anymore.”

“None of the soldiers are going to let you get off this rock when they find out what you’ve done.” Pain racked his body and he twitched with each word. Jenna was enjoying his pain. It almost made up for the months of living in fear of him, his abuse of her and the guilt of what she had been forced to do.

“No,” said the young doctor, almost standing over him now. Her manner became calm and relaxed while her hand grew steady. Finally, she was the master of her own destiny. “No one is going to even know about what I’ve done. The samples are contaminated and the other scientists are dead.

Your crew is too busy trying to reign in the chaos.