Blade of the Lucan: A Memory of Anstractor (21 page)

“Maker, be kind,” she whispered intently and bared her teeth as she watched them go. She held her breath; he was almost there, and the crowd was pushing her into the troopers that had already warned her to watch herself. Her breathing stopped and her eyes closed briefly, and she began to whisper to herself.

“Be calm, Rhee, become the knife, become the blade that puts an end to this man.”

As Palus neared the location of the gem, she activated the portal and stepped through the bright tear to emerge in front of him, her blade finding itself buried to the hilt inside his stomach. It had slipped through the armor as easily as paper and though she did it out of instinct, she did not hesitate to admire her handiwork.

Suddenly her hands were moving at blinding speed, stabbing away at the neck and face of Palus as fast as she could. Years of training as a fencer came through with the blurred movement of her hands. Phaser conditioning, time killing Geralos in the field … it was all instinct, and it was unlike anything they had ever seen in Tyhera or the other eleven planets.

By the time the guards had recovered from the stun of the light to realize that their king was on the ground, twitching in a pool of blood, Marian was back where she had started. The bloody knife was back in its sheath, hidden below the dress, and a fresh crystal was in her hand which she threw into the air. She jumped up towards it and was gone in the blink of an eye.

The chaos that ensued after the assassination of Palus was nothing that could be easily described. The Crimson Guard, no longer poised and secure in their judgment, took to the crowd, killing anyone that had on the green and white colors that Marian wore. They massacred people, and the ones that tried to flee trampled one another in a stampede. There were tears, screams and a feeling of foreboding as the reality of what had happened settled in.

While all of this was taking place, Marian VCA emerged from a portal that appeared inside her hotel room and jumped on the bed, screaming happily and rolling around with maniacal laughter.

She triggered her nano-comm and squealed with happiness when Rafian’s voice came on. “How did he die?” Rafian asked.

“Surprised, shocked, humbled, as my blade rendered his pretty armor useless and his masses of guards were unable to keep him safe. I want to believe that I saw regret in his eyes, but I stabbed him no less than thirty times and he’s deader than dead,” she said.

Rafian repeated her words as if to a crowd, and in the background there was an eruption of cheers and applause. Tears began to roll down her face and she wiped them away, but then there came the trembling as her heavy heart grew heavier. She needed him there; if not him then someone else to hug. Palus Felitious was gone, and it had been done publicly and violently. If that didn’t inspire the sleeping masses to overthrow their local masters, nothing would.

“You know, you could have joined Marika’s order back in the day, Rhee,” Rafian said. “But listen, you need to get out of there. We are waiting for you in Genova. Meet me at the old Aygis temple outside of Cally. Do you remember it?”

“How could I forget, Raf? It was once our home,” she said.

“You’re right, the memories of the past right before we jumped to Anstractor are still foggy for me. We have to let things boil for about a week so we may as well get
schtill
-faced. What do you say?”

“They will be tearing the planet apart looking for a brown woman in a white and green dress and a tiny red woman in all black,” Marian said as she rose. She risked a glance outside her window at the hell breaking loose. “They won’t find
schtill
. Once the week is up, we can rendezvous with the resistance leaders. With Palus dead and Talula reclaimed, they will be back plotting again, probably wondering who did the assassination. We can catch up with them and give them the necessary direction to reclaim their planets.”

“I anticipate it being another month or so before we can safely jump home, Rhee, but I am proud of you. I will be by your side until you are ready, and if you need more time you need only to ask it,” Rafian said.

Marian’s knees buckled but she hoped that he hadn’t noticed. His words hit her like a bolt of lightning. It was more than his words; it was what was behind them. Here was Rafian, obsessed with his quest to destroy the Geralos, but putting his quest to the side in order to support her in any way she wished. She hadn’t thought this possible back when she left him, but here he was, giving up everything for her.

“You’re the best,” she managed to say, glad that her voice didn’t crack.
And to think I was ready to divorce you
, she thought, relieved. “I will get everything packed and get out of the city. See you at the temple, and thanks for the crystals. Without them, no, without you, my beloved planet would never be rid of that lunatic tyrant.”

A
fter packing her belongings and shrinking them into cubes, Marian waited for night to come so that the hotel would be a forgotten structure against the violet sky. When it was dark and the streetlights came on to illuminate the roads, she slid the glass of her window up and looked out into the city. The only figures moving below the hotel were troopers running about. It seemed as if the citizens had been ordered to stay inside of their homes by the way the place seemed empty.

She turned and looked up at the sky where the cruisers hovered, shining spotlights, and then she looked off in the distance at the palace, which would normally be the brightest building in all of Veece. The city stood still, a dark, motionless shadow of itself, and a part of her felt remorse for the citizens who were mere innocents in the war.

Turning out her lights and walking to the window, Marian slung the backpack on and checked her 3B suit. She plaited her hair into a single braid so that she could move with relative ease. She threw a leg out and pulled herself up using the suctions on the 3B’s gloves and boots. It didn’t take long for her to gain the rooftop, but when she did, she looked up and saw there was a trooper looking down at her with disbelief.

Reaching down to slide out her carf knife, Marian stuck him in the chest, killing him almost instantly. She tried to push at him to keep him from falling, but he screamed and fell past her down to the ground. The loud thump brought more troopers who ran and flashed lights up at her position. Marian had barely climbed up as laser fire shredded the stone where she once was. She got to her feet, sprinted across the roof’s edge, then jumped on to the next.

The domed rooftops of Veece were not easy to grip, and as soon as Marian landed she began to slide off. If it weren’t for the suctions on her gloves she would have fallen, but she used them to climb the black dome of the city’s temple and ran, slid, and jumped to another while the cruisers began to converge on her location.

Shots were all around and Marian decided that the street would be safer. She slid down a pipe and took to the road, running below the eaves and avoiding the lights. Soon there were new vessels in the air, firing shots recklessly down on the city. Fires broke out and the Felitian cruisers turned their attention on these new invaders. Dogfights broke out above the vulnerable city. Screams were everywhere and Marian sprinted like she’d never sprinted before to get out of Veece.

Buildings started to crumble around her from misfired missiles, but she paid no attention to them as she scampered up a ramp that took her onto the walls surrounding the market. She ran along the wall and jumped as a section of it exploded. The pieces of debris tore into her side and she felt the pressure, but the alien fabric of the 3B suit protected her.

She caught the edge of a window and climbed another structure to the top. Then a missile hit an area a few feet to her right, and the building collapsed, taking her with it.

Troopers and civilians took to the streets, firing up at the attackers. Some of these invaders, who Marian saw were Daltak, had swung down into the city itself and were firing on not only the troopers but the citizens themselves. A dark thought took over her and she wouldn’t let herself believe it. The Daltaks she saw wore the same uniform as Illi’s men, and it was very likely they were a unit sent from the moon to take advantage of Palus’s death.

More missiles exploded and Marian got to her feet to run again. She covered her mouth and closed her eyes to slow the smoke that seemed to be everywhere. She left the ruins of the apartment homes to bolt across the square. Another missile flew near her but she picked up speed, pushing past anyone who stood in her way.

She darted down an alleyway and kept her head low, running so fast and hard that the world became a blur. Her only thoughts were on survival and escaping Veece city. Her birthplace was falling, just like Palus had fallen. Yet civilians were dying, innocents, and it was her friends, her fellow resistance members, who were doing it.

The troopers had been corrupt enforcers of Felitious’s will, but the citizens did not deserve the fires and savagery that the Daltaks were giving them.

The chaos slowed as she reached an area of the city near the palace, and though she ran past troopers, none of them bothered to stop her. Illi now had troops all over Veece, and since he was on Talula rescuing Amanxa, she wondered just how large his army was.

Marian saw the outer wall of the city looming on her left, so she ran, jumped and stuck to it, climbing as fast as she could to gain the top. She ran along the wall towards the stream and then dove outside into the freezing waters. She struggled to get out before the current could take her, and managed to grab a rock near the bank and pull herself out of the drink.

“What a mess,” she muttered, then got to her feet and continued to run in the direction of Cally. She could hear more explosions, screams and gunfire, but something told her not to look back. Veece was over, the last of her past, but there was nothing to celebrate as far as she was concerned.

~ * ~

Marian pushed forward through the woods and could not see much due to the moon’s obscured light. It was symbolic of the lights of Veece going out, as the battle continued between the invaders and the desperate troopers continued.

As she felt her way past the trunks of the trees and willed her eyes to become used to the darkness, she could hear the sound of aircraft flying in from Veece’s allies. Felitians to the rescue, flying from all cities around Tyhera in order to save the capital. Marian thought about this and realized that they were in luck. With the distraction of the battle going on in Veece, most other cities would be open for the resistance to move on to with very little interference.

She began to make out the trees and the bushes a little better as her eyes adjusted to the dark. In time she was pushing easily through the forest, moving up the hilly countryside away from the city. She tried to keep her wits about her and not to become upset at the loss of life happening in her old home. She pulled out her carf knife and held it near her chin, focusing on the ‘now’ as she walked.

The forest was reputed to be wild despite its close proximity to the city, and if a rock cat was to jump out at her, she wanted to be ready to defend herself. It was uncharacteristically quiet as she moved along. There were no frogs singing mating songs, no intimidating growls, and no wind brushing through the branches audibly.

Marian moved into a clearing after some time had passed and backed up against the trees when she saw that she would be fully exposed if she walked across it. She stuck to the tree line and called up Rafian, hoping he would be alone and her call wouldn’t be a source of entertainment for his fellow rebels.

“Rafian, where are you?” she asked as soon as he was there.

“Waiting for you in one of the buildings – here in Cally. It’s actually pretty well preserved. Do you have an estimate on when you’ll get to us? Our friends are getting anxious, and I’m not sure this is the best place for us to be,” he said.

Marian heard a woman giggle in the background and she looked to the sky as if trying to determine the time. It was very late, and memories of past infidelities by her husband brought about an uneasy feeling in her gut which she then translated into anger.

“A little late for company don’t you think, husband?” she said and when he laughed at her tone, it only served to anger her more.

“He laughs, he thinks it’s funny,” she said.

“No, no, I don’t think it’s funny, Rhee. It’s just that … look, I know I haven’t been the best husband, but we talked about trust the other night and everything I said to you was true. I’m through with the games and running around like a new recruit with an agenda. I’m here with the lovely Jelline,” he said, and a sultry voice in the background confirmed it. “I’m also here with Delyi, who we’ve just found out is a Primian princess!” A softer voice in the background made a bashful grunt, but it did nothing to calm Marian’s temper.

“These girls played a major role in you being able to rid Luca of Palus, Marian. For instance, if it hadn’t been for Delyi, Marika would not have been able to get into the prison to rescue Blu. Delyi helped her to get with a key member of the troops that provided intel, and she also helped our girl to escape the city,” he said. “We’re here toasting to your success; well not only your success but to theirs, as well. They did a lot to get us to the places where we needed to be in order for this to happen,” Rafian said.

Marian exhaled and spoke. “Well, tell them I send my sincerest thanks, Rafian, and I would love to raise a glass with you all whenever I get there. For the record, I do believe you and everything you said, but I know that when it comes to women, especially beautiful women, you can make some poor choices sometimes. So, bear with me as I work on trusting you, but you’ve given me years of doubt in that light, so … just understand that it’s going to take some time.”

“I understand, Rhee,” Rafian said. She heard a new noise that sounded as if he’d gotten up, and then there was silence on the comm.

“Rafian?” she said, and he came back on instantly.

“Had to get away from the party a bit to talk to you,” he said. “Where exactly are you?”

“I’m in the forest north of where you guys are located, working my way to you and keeping my knife close in case of anything,” Marian replied.

“When you come up on Cally, just find the old casino. You remember where it’s located, don’t you?” he asked.

“Yes, but barely. I didn’t get much experience in that city, remember? By the time we were living with the resistance, we were forced to stay in the temple since the Fels were bombing Cally so much that it was unwise to try and stay there.”

There was a small brook that split the line of trees as it ran east and west through the hills. Marian glanced up to see if any cruisers were hovering close and when she saw none, she silenced her comm and listened. It was as silent as deep space, so she risked a run and jump maneuver to clear the water. Once she was over and under the cover of the branches, she touched the comm in her ear again and was surprised that Rafian was still talking.

“—you know the fact that we were so young back then, we didn’t know how dangerous life was for us as freedom fighters. Man, did we do some stupid things,” he was saying.

“Oh, stupid things? You mean like eloping as enemies to get married in the middle of a war? Spending our honeymoon on Lochte, an uncivilized planet? Lochte, where the same crazy Ranalos that now burn Veece were born? Yeah, we were stupid alright,” Marian said.

“We were living on the edge, but I cannot recall a night when I had trouble sleeping with you in my arms,” Rafian said.

“Yeah, I remember those days. I remember thinking: this man fears nothing, and we’ve been through so much that it has to be a much bigger plan of the makers that we are still together,” Marian said, smiling.

She crested a hill and could see down past the trees where familiar stone structures appeared like teeth pushing out of an endless clearing. This was what was left of Cally, and Marian found it amazing that the city was built where it was. It had to have taken a lot of time and machinery to clear out the forestry, then additional effort to lay a foundation for the tiny city.

“Hey babe, I’m right outside the city. I see what I think is the casino. Just hold on and I will come and find you guys,” she said into the comm, and quickened her pace to start down the hill.

The crack of a whip brought Marian around as a shadow caught her and pulled her in. It happened so fast that she couldn’t think or react. The coils of the whip trapped her arms to her side painfully, and as the surprise faded, she looked at who it was that had struck her.

The woman’s skin was alabaster, and she had dark stains around her eyes that gave her face the look of a skull. Around her neck were the black feathers of the predatory birds that frequented the area, and as the woman pulled her in, she could smell the sickly sweet smell of rotten flesh.

The creature put something on her wrist that acted like a stasis cuff. Marian could not move her arms and as she turned around to look at her attacker, she threw her right leg up into a roundhouse, catching her on the underside of her jaw.

Black and yellow teeth flew from the mouth of the woman when Marian’s foot connected, and a sickening, bone-crunching sound came from it as her body stiffened and fell to the ground, unconscious.

Two more witches came out of the darkness, each prodding her with rods that sent electricity through her body and forced her to her knees instantly. The 3B suit protected her, but one of the rods caught her exposed neck. The voltage was enough to make her lose her balance, and several of them poured out from behind the trees, each with their own rod to poke at her body.

The rods that actually touched her skin brought about a ticklish, hot, yet painful sensation, and Marian wanted it to stop. She wanted to touch her ear, to let Rafian know that she was in trouble, but her arms couldn’t move and the painful electrocution was never ending.

She felt almost helpless as they pinned her legs down, but something inside of her knew that she was still in the fight.

The first woman stood up, rubbing her sore jaw as she walked over to Marian, and kicked her hard in the abdomen. Marian rolled over, coughing, and cursed her luck for getting so close without remembering Blu’s earlier warning that there were witches around the city.