Alliance (24 page)

Then I almost trip over something small
and round. Sensors show me that it is one of Palos's rings, her
gray teleportation ring by the look of it. Even though the rest of
her rings are shattered, this one appears still to be in one
piece.

And if it is in one piece, then it may be
my only hope of survival.

I raise my left hand and fire another
finger lightning bolt. Kalcan, as usual, dodges, but as he does so,
I bend over and grasp Palos's gray ring in my hand. Sensors
indicate it is half full of skyras energy, but that should be more
than enough to help me escape.

Unfortunately, I have never used a skyras
ring before, a fact which occurs to me as soon as I stand back up
with the ring in my hand. Kalcan must have noticed what I grabbed,
because he laughs at me.

“
Did you just pick up
one of Palos's rings?” says Kalcan. “What are you going to do with
it, throw it at me? Robots can't use magic, you know.”

Once again, Kalcan speaks the truth. The
vast majority of robots on Xeeo are unable to harness the skyras
energy within these rings, even though skyras energy is what fuels
most of us. I do not understand why, although the dominant theory
among Xeeonite scientists who study such things is that we robots
lack the emotions and imagination necessary to access the energy
inside the rings.

“
You pathetic, walking
pile of scrap,” says Kalcan. “Time for you to die.”

Kalcan launches himself at me. I squeeze
hard on the ring, but nothing comes of it no matter how hard I try.
It feels like nothing more than a useless piece of metal and stone
to me, which means that my fate is indeed sealed. My only regret is
that I will never be able to reconnect with the Database and share
all of the new information I have learned over the past day.

But then, without warning, the ring glows
in my hand. I look down at it even though Kalcan is still flying at
me. It is shining just like someone is using it, which makes no
sense because I do not know how to use skyras rings at all.

I have no time to dwell on it, however,
because soon my whole world vanishes well before Kalcan reaches me,
and I am gone.

***

Chapter
11

M
y surroundings are black
nothingness for only a second. In the next, I find myself standing
inside the cave that Palos and I had been in earlier, the one where
we planned out our attack. Yet it now seems that I am alone in
here, without Palos, the female arctic vampire from before, or
anyone else.

“
You are not alone,
J997,” says a feminine voice behind me that causes me to whirl
around to see who it is.

Standing at the back of the cave is a
woman in silver robes with a large swollen back that is familiar to
me. Sitting beside her is another familiar man with a scarred face,
as well as a female elf with a speaking snake curled around her
waist. The man and the female elf are holding each other, likely to
keep warm due to the coldness of the cave.

“
The Head?” I say. “I
did not know that you survived the attack.”

The Head nods. “It was a close call, I
will admit, but I did it. Reunification struck hard and fast. I
only abandoned our base when it became clear that it was a totally
hopeless fight.”

I look down at the man and the female elf.
“And Konoa and Lanresia as well? Did anyone else survive the
attack?”

Konoa shakes his head. “I don't think so,
although there was so much confusion that I might be wrong. As far
as we know, however, we're the only three survivors of the assault,
sadly enough.”

I look down at Palos's ring, which is no
longer glowing, and then look up at the Head again. “How did I use
Palos's ring? Robots cannot use skyras rings. This makes no sense
whatsoever.”

The Head gestures at herself. “That would
be me. I can activate skyras rings from a distance. So when I
sensed that you were at the site of that Reunification pit and were
in danger, I activated Palos's teleportation ring to get you out of
there.”

“
I did not know that was
possible,” I say.

“
For most, it is not,”
says the Head. “But I am a little different from most wizards,
witches, and Sages.”

“
How did you do it?” I
ask.

“
I will tell you later,”
says the Head, although something in her tone of voice tells me
that she will not. “For now, I want to thank you for disrupting
Reunification's actions here. It should buy us enough time to
regroup and retaliate before they can complete their
Mission.”

“
Us?” I repeat. I point
at myself. “Does that include me?”

“
Of course,” says the
Head. “For all intents and purposes, I consider you as much a
member of the Foundation as the rest of us now. You still can't go
back to Xeeo, at least not right away, so you might as well stick
with us.”

“
Especially in your
current condition,” says Konoa, looking at my damaged body with
worry. “I'm sorry, but you look like a walking scrap heap at the
moment.”

“
But I—” I say, before
the Head interrupts me.

“
You saw how cruel and
vicious Reunification is,” says the Head. “How they will do
anything to complete their Mission, including murder innocents. Is
that not enough reason for you to work with us?”

I consider the Head's reasoning. While I
want to go back and report to the Database with all that I have
learned, I also want to apprehend Kalcan and bring him to justice
for Palos's murder. This is not simple revenge; rather, it is what
I am programmed to do. And I must admit that the idea of
Reunification succeeding in its Mission, with the most likely
result in the deaths of billions, does bother me quite a bit.

If nothing else, I can at least stay with
the Foundation's surviving members long enough for Konoa to put me
back together.

So I nod and say, “All right. I will work
with you three for now to defeat Reunification and arrest Kalcan
for his murder of Palos. What is our first move?”

The Head smiles. That is when I notice a
folded up piece of paper in the pocket of her robes, an old-looking
piece of paper that seems familiar to me, but before I can look at
it more closely, she stuffs it further out of sight.

“
First, we need to have
Konoa repair you,” says the Head. “You can do that even here,
right, Konoa?”

“
It will be hard without
all of HQ's resources,” Konoa admits. “But I think I can do it if
we can go to Xeeo sometime and get the spare parts and tools I need
there.”

“
Excellent,” says the
Head. “And after that, we will search out the field agents; that
is, those who were not at either the Delanian or Xeeonite bases
during both attacks. If we are going to defeat Reunification once
and for all, then we will need the help of every agent we can
find.”

***

Continues in:

Two Worlds #3:

Allegiance

Chapter
One

With a hood cloaking mine face, I walked
with a quickened pace through the streets of mine tiny and quaint
hometown, Old Ways, located in Northern Se-Dela, far to the south
of most major bustling cities and towns in this part of the
country. It had been six years since I last stepped foot in this
town and I had never intended to return here again, but the Mission
required that I do so and I dared not go against the Mission, no
matter how uncomfortable its requirements may at times be.

'Twas a quiet little town, Old Ways was.
Of course, it was early morning, with the crisp cold morning air
and the sun beginning to rise in the distance. Still, when I
glanced up at the sky, I could see the prison of the Old Gods, also
known as the moon, fading out of view. I prayed a quick prayer to
the Old Gods to grant me the strength I would need for what I am
about to do.

As the morning was still young, I saw no
other people as I walked through the village. None of the villagers
were awake; even the animals slept. I spotted an old guard dog
slumbering deeply on the front porch of a house, the creature not
stirring even one inch when I passed it by. It had a bone 'tween
its paws and might have been dreaming of wide open fields and
playful children, though I knew not for sure, because I was not a
dog.

I, too, dreamed of things. I dreamed of
the day when the worlds would be one again. Dreamed of the day when
the endless bickering and fighting among the peoples of Dela and
Xeeo would cease. Dreamed of the day when the Mission would be
complete and I and mine fellow Reunification members could rest at
long last.

Most important of all, I dreamed of the
day when mine siblings and me would be reunited, when we would put
behind ourselves the petty arguments and silly disagreements that
had ruined our relationships betwixt ourselves. As the mansion in
which I grew up loomed closer and closer in mine vision, I was
about to make that particular dream of mine a reality.

The mansion up ahead—tall, foreboding, and
seemingly empty, although I knew that it still had within it at
least one inhabitant—towered over every other hut in the village.
Whereas most of the little houses here were tiny, with perhaps two
or three rooms at most for a family of three or four, this mansion
had three stories, with several balconies upon which I had spent
many summer days as a youth sitting on, watching the prison of the
Old Gods rise in the distance as day became night or playing games
like flip coin with mine siblings when our parents had expressly
forbid us not to.

Even so, I fingered the handle of the
skyras sword sheathed at mine side. I normally was not one to use
Xeeonite technology of any sort, for 'twas unnatural and unwieldy
in comparison to Delanian magic and equipment. Still, mine
beautiful sister Kiriah had insisted I bring this blade along with
me in case I should need to defend myself, although I saw no reason
for it, seeing as I was not here to fight anyone.

Nonetheless, I allowed Kiriah to give me
one such weapon, for after so many years apart I did not wish to
ruin our brief time back together by denying her one of her
requests. Besides, it reminded me of the sword I once wielded as a
Knight of Se-Dela, although unlike that silver blade, this one was
much lighter and allegedly superior due to its laser blade. Having
not yet had a chance to test that theory, I knew not whether that
was true; perhaps I would train with the sword after I completed
this mission.

Soon I was climbing up the steep, narrow
dirt road leading from the village up to the mansion. 'Twas not a
terribly difficult climb, to be sure, as I had gone through much
worse since leaving this place long ago (although due to a bout of
amnesia afflicting me, I can barely remember most of it). With the
sun rising in the east, I saw more and more of mine old mansion the
closer I approached it.

It appeared to have been well-taken care
of, for the windows reflected the rising rays of the sun as
sparkling as ever, while its blue coat of paint looked as fresh as
a woman's powdered nose. Most of the upper windows were shuttered,
although that was clearly due to the fact that it was once night
time, for even the shutters looked as beautiful as ever.

Also, the front gate—with its replica of
the full moon attached on top—looked the same as it always did. A
tall wrought iron fence surrounded the mansion on every side. It
brought back the sweetest of childhood memories, that fence did,
such as the time that mine brother and I attempted to climb over
the fence when we were younglings, only for us to fall due to the
sleekness of the bars. That had been the most painful day of mine
young life, yet I now look upon the memory as fondly as a mother
looks upon her children.

But despite how well-taken care of this
place looked, I dread approaching it. For I did not only have sweet
childhood memories associated with mine home; nay, I had more
recent memories, the kind that I did not wish to remember, which
left a sour taste on mine tongue and left my soul blacker than the
heart of an arctic vampire.

Memories of fear, searching for my missing
sister … memories of anger, arguing with my brother, even punching
him in the face, which 'twas a terrible memory I worked to forget,
though I never truly did … and memories of shame, memories of
stomping out of that mansion and vowing never to return to this
place or gaze upon the face of mine brother again.

But here I was now, striding up to the
wrought iron fence, up the same path I had walked up and down on
from the earliest days I could walk. The Old Gods can be humorous
at times, setting aside our fates to go against our own vows. 'Twas
probably the reason why mine parents always warned my siblings and
I against making rash vows to the Old Gods, for they would be
certain to test the truthfulness of those statements that we make
in the heat of passion and anger.

I expected the gate to be locked, which
would not be much of an issue as I could open it even without a
key. Yet when I approached it and pressed my fingers against the
cold metal, the gate swung open silently and without
resistance.

This did make me hesitate. My brother,
Sura, who as far as I knew still lived here, never left the gate
unlocked before. This did make no sense to me. Sura was as
predictable as a clock, always locking the gate when the last
vestiges of the sun set and always opening it when the first rays
of the sun peek over the horizon in the early morn.

Granted, the sun was indeed rising, yet
this gate did not appear to have been unlocked and opened by my
brother. Nay, I noticed the lock lying on the pathway, smashed off
by some unknown force. This did leave me uneasy and afraid;
nonetheless, I pushed the gate open entirely and stepped within the
fenced area.