Episode #1 - "Torn": Star Chasers (Volume 1) (2 page)

    
As Phaylio took his seat at the right hand of the assembly, Triist was summoned. She regarded Ty as she moved before the tribunal, waiting to sit. She had seen and knew more than Phaylio, so her probing was lengthy. She submitted to the test of mind, as had Phaylio, and her images of recollection were shared with council.

    
Ty was visibly perspiring now. He would be next; and if he did not submit, he would be used as an example. He did not want this. Options rushed through his mind. When Triist finished, Ty waited for the summons, forcing himself to find an inner peace and collect his thoughts. Ty came before the tribunal when summoned, then sat as directed. He asked for the proceedings to be repeated and then listened, buying precious time. Then he waited for the first of many questions and then answered each question in turn, playing his part as an innocent bystander. Just when he thought they would ask him to submit, he was excused to take his place beside Triist. He didn’t look up for the remainder of the proceedings, and many hours later the hearing was adjourned for all, save Aehrone. His sentencing would begin.

    
The remainder of the day passed quickly and soon night arrived. It was Shilastar who told Ty of the tribunal’s return. “Hurry,” she had said, “everyone must return to the hall. The sentencing.”

    
The sentencing brought all the members of the village to the hall. A hush swept over the room as the council members moved to their places, dark hooded cloaks hiding their faces. Aehrone followed, entering the chamber without guards as if carried by another’s will. Ty had full view of Aehrone’s face as the decree was read. Aehrone didn’t move during the time of its telling or show any emotion when the orb was thrust upon him. The orb brought a slow death; and as a flicker of despair passed over Aehrone’s face, Ty’s thoughts raced back to childhood stories that said the victim could see death loom in the corners of his eyes, growing ever nearer until the hour and minute of his demise. But Ty didn’t pity Aehrone. His misdeed had earned his end and there were worse ways to die. The slow death would give him one day to make his peace. Other penalties wouldn’t have.

    
As the hall cleared, Ty felt relief. He hoped the council would return to their transport and become only memories. His eyes fell on Phaylio as he cleared the hall with the crowd. He could see Phaylio was also relieved that the waiting and worrying were over.

    
Most townsfolk moved from the hall to the pub. Ty followed. All the trimmings for a feast were in order, with Aehrone the guest of honor. Drink flowed without objection to all who would partake of it. Songs broke out and the hours faded away. Soon the new day arrived then the afternoon. Aehrone was just about to take another bite of candied ham—his favorite—when his time came. His last words were a chuckle. The laughter and songs stopped almost immediately. Many hands cradled Aehrone as he fell. Tears of lament followed, most predominately from Phaylio. As life faded from Aehrone’s eyes, Ty reached out to him with the power of his mind and Aehrone said in thought “She is your charge now.”

    
Ty took Shilastar’s hand and lead her away while the others cared for Aehrone. He intended to walk her back to her house; but as he rounded the path, he turned right instead of left, heading to the edge of the village and beyond. They walked toward the hills in the distance. He held his arm around her and neither said a word. A light cloud cover obscured the view overhead, but the stars came out that night, one by one.

Ty
ran across an open plain, making for the small settlement just beyond his line of sight over a small rise. A noise swift and sharp like gunfire caused him to stop suddenly and sink to the ground. He glared up at the Alderian starship, which had just arrived in the sky overhead. Its telltale displacement marked it as a third-generation craft and its size told him it was perhaps a first- or second-rate scout ship, small by any comparison.

    
Ty rose to his knees, still staring heavenward. He knew his chances for remaining undetected if the ship’s master ran a full analysis of the planet were less then one tenth of one percent, but he gambled on the odds and against technology anyway. He remained motionless for some time, watching for the scanners to be deployed. When they weren’t, he continued on his way, only occasionally glancing upward.

    
He knew Alderian tactics well enough to know if they had not deployed in the first minutes upon reaching the system, they probably would not. Twelve seasons of Rhalean combat school had taught him that much, although he had never mastered the final test and still had not earned his accreditation. He did not run now, instead he walked, moving at a slow methodical pace, which when staggered would not trigger the scout ship’s constant motion detectors.

    
He ambled on, occasionally stopping to look toward the dark grey form more often than he knew he should. He mumbled a curse in his thoughts. Unfortunately, he was born under the sign of the closing and as such, he was a second, even though his father had been much to the contrary. He had been cast down, driven to rift schools and hidden away for most of his life. The academy had been a gift, a token for forgiveness and repent, but Ty had not accepted it. In the end, however, he had been forced to attend and had not done well, his second mark. His third and last grew closer by the minute.

    
Ty considered himself an outcast and he liked to dwell among them. They were those who had been born without. Because he didn’t have the power of the first, they could not tell, and he was always accepted as one of their own. A smile rose to his lips as he spotted the small, time-spoiled structures of the typical Paliy village. He knew this particular settlement well, because he came here often, though he never stayed long. As a matter of fact, he never delayed long anywhere. He never knew when the others would come in search of him again. They came often as of late, seven times in the past year, but he always evaded them and made the jump to the next planet undetected. He remained one step ahead of them, and he hoped to maintain the count.

    
A second aerial burst made him lurch to the ground. He smacked his chin against the rough surface and slashed it open as he did so. As the object faded from sight, he stood, shaking a fist. Blood trickled over his skin. Its waste disgusted him, but he quickly bandaged the wound until the bleeding stopped.

    
He was surprised the ship departed so soon. Usually, they delayed for the better part of a day in the Paliy system. A soft hum and an immediate shadow across his path told him why. This time he looked on without fear. War ships were made for purposes he didn’t want to think about, but he knew they did not scour a planet’s surface. He wondered at its immensity and then continued on once more. He knew better than to return to Paliy, which was also used as a wayward station on the return leg from Sendian II, but he was in a hurry during his last departure and had selected rather hastily.

    
His pace was quick and pressing even though there was no danger from above now. He disliked the feeling of being under the eye, and enclosed his thoughts even tighter. The village of Phaylio had not changed much since his last visit, he decided upon cursory inspection as he came closer. As he walked through its quiet but worn paths, a face came to mind, and he decided his choice had not been so rash after all. He recalled the face and a name with fondness, trying hard to push the thoughts away, as Shilastar was not yet of age.

    
Ty knew enough about the village o know that the inn, first structure on the right, was the only place worth noting in the entire village. The barkeep Triist always kept the mirth and the drink flowing. Ty calculated the days on his hand, using the old way, but nonetheless, it was a practical method as he had no devices with him. He puzzled over whether it was the third or fourth day of the cycle for a while before he decided it was the fourth.

    
In the shadow of the great ship, he squatted down on a hillside, looking to the two suns hanging over the horizon and here his determination and stamina waned. He had not slept in days, so sitting down was foolish. His thoughts drifted for a moment as he sat there looking upward. Sleep quickly found him and carried him away to the pleasant land of slumber.

    
A fair, sweet voice awoke him. Perhaps he was dreaming. The face had grown even fairer in the season he had been gone. He decided at once, Shilastar had blossomed fully. Her hand felt warm in his as she smiled and helped him up, seeming pleased to see him but also confused at his predicament.

    
“You are beautiful!” he said, the words springing from his lips before he could stop them.

    
“Yes, I guess I am,” replied Shilastar, touching a hand to her face. “Father is expecting you.”

    
“He is? How could he have known?”

    
“He said to look for you, so I have, often. And here you are,” laughed Shilastar as she ran away from him into the village. Ty missed the blush upon her face, and regarded her as odd, following her only because he felt compelled to do so. His strength was still in ebb, the short respite had done little for his tired body. He needed sleep soon, and lots of it.

    
Shortly, Ty stood before an open doorway. He had stopped to take one last look at the craft hovering overhead and had missed its opening. While he stood there, he inspected the dwelling. He wanted to call it a house, but it was a simpler sort than he was accustomed to. The door opened with a whir, and Shilastar reached out and grabbed his hand, pulling him inside.

    
Phaylio was tall in comparison to Shilastar, even while seated, but his square shoulders were not as broad as one would think. Ty regarded the two each in turn, the eyes held the family resemblance as well as the smile. Phaylio’s greeting was warm and hardy. New wrinkles atop his forehead told of his encroaching age, yet he still weathered the years remarkably well. Shilastar was the last of his family, his wife had passed on some years back.

    
Phaylio’s first questions were always, “How did you get here? And why did you come back?”

    
Ty responded, as usual, “I closed my eyes and held my breath and hoped.” The answer was not far from the truth, and it was always received by welcome laughter.

    
“Friith will be glad you are back, he says you’re his best customer, you know.”

    
“And what of Triist?”

    
“She thinks so, too,” said Phaylio with a wink.

    
The two talked back and forth at length. Ty’s closed eyes began to wander, and from time to time they fell on Shilastar. His speech began to slur as fatigue swept over him, but the old-timer just kept rambling on, even after Ty fell sound asleep. Dreams came to him, quiet and calm.

    
Night came and then the fullness of day, but Ty continued to sleep. Faces came into and out of his dreams. Places flashed before his eyes, some he had never been to, and never wanted to travel to either. He saw Chalys and its eight suns. Time drifted and floated, and he was back on Rhalean, watching thoughts drip away one after the other. A war ship hovered in the background, and as he awoke he thought it strange. Rhalean was a clear zone.

    
The scent of food woke him, and the sound of giggles flooded in as he opened his eyes. Shilastar held a plate of Paliyian gruel underneath his nose; he never wanted to know what was in it as he devoured it. The taste was one of his favorites, in spite of its appearance.

    
After a quick step into a purifier, he and Shilastar went for a walk. The day was full, as it most often was on Paliy, and the air was fresh and fragrant. Ty quickly checked overhead, sighing with relief when it was clear. “Can we cross over to the second village today?” he asked, speaking to fill the silence as much as anything else.

    
Shilastar hesitated before answering, “I’m not sure if the field is safe today, it looks like a storm is perhaps on the way.” Shilastar’s mood was not as light as it had been a short time ago. The two walked on in silence. Ty didn’t mind the quiet, he had matters of his own to mull over. He knew he couldn’t stay here long, and soon, perhaps too soon, he must move on.

    
Ty almost took Shilastar’s hand, as he would have before, but now things seemed different. She was no longer the same. Some changes were subtle. A season ago they would have talked and laughed for days. He walked ahead of her to the top of the hill on the outskirts of the village.

    
“I am of age now,” spoke Shilastar at length, “. . . and soon father says I must choose. Then your visits will be out of place... Do you know what I mean?”

    
“Yes, I think I do,” replied Ty honestly, “but let’s not think of that now. Let’s have fun! Let’s enjoy the day!”

    
A sudden breeze picked up and in seconds a storm swept in, just as Shilastar had predicted. Luckily, a small shelter stood just at the bottom of the hill. They barely made it under cover before the rains. The trickle of the rain against the roof, the cramped space where they waited out the storm, and their closeness to one another, drove their thoughts on. They felt one another’s warmth, and it was awkward. Ty knew emotions set them apart. But the uneasiness forced them to talk like old friends again.

    
Ty touched his hand just above Shilastar’s breast. He meant to get a closer inspection of her necklace, which he had not seen before, but instead he hit his elbow and his hand landed on her breast. Shilastar smiled for a moment, but the smile disappeared as she touched her necklace.

    
“It is odd workmanship, is it not?” Ty asked, not meaning for his words to come out unkind.

    
“It was my mother’s, but... now... it is only a worthless trinket. I will wear it nonetheless.” As she spoke, she looked away from his face and toward the rain. “You see...” began Shilastar slowly, “This is why you should never sleep on errant hillsides. The rains here are cold and once the touch of ice enters your heart it could claim your life.” She watched the pattern of the rain striking the ground, deeply breathing it in.

    
Ty stifled a laugh, immediately remembering why he liked Paliy. He was outside the reach of technology here, tucked away nicely, and the people were simple, warm, and sincere. Ty had no sooner completed the thought when, as if in mocking, a ship burst over the horizon. He knew this because of the noise and the shifting of the winds, though not because he could see it.

    
“Where do they come from?” asked Shilastar.

    
Without thinking Ty answered, “It is a second-generation craft. Pay it no mind...”

    
“Second... generation?”

    
Even before Shilastar repeated his words, Ty knew he had erred and he would have to think fast and speak quick. Thoughts spun through his mind as he concocted a plausible explanation. But thankfully, the rains subsided and he exited the shelter, pulling Shilastar behind him and playfully tickled her as he looked up at the sky. The clouds overhead broke up as quickly as they had swept in and soon the sky was clear and unmarred, save for the ship parked to the east.

    
He studied the craft, unable to take his eyes off it. It was an old ship, as he had thought. He found the older style with more complexities genuinely intriguing, especially since he usually had to travel to some distant system glimpse the behemoths. He wondered if it was a trophy returning to Sendian II from a recent conquest or if it held some other significance.

    
The two walked back down the little hill into the village and spent the remainder of the day indoors, even though outside the twin suns burned bright and the sky kept clear. As the first shafts of darkness, the brief semi-darkness before full night, came, the orbiting object departed. Ty was completely shaken out of his conversation with Phaylio, and returning to their discussion was difficult at best.