Creatures of Snow (44 page)

“
Please, just listen. The
town is under siege. They are killing innocent people down there.”
He pleaded to the Captain, knowing his protection instincts were
bound to kick in.

“I’ll take a look, okay,”
The Captain placed a hand on his shoulder, “
after
you are safe on the
ship.”

“
No, I can help.” Al
demanded.

“Sure you can.” Zero oozed
sarcasm.

There was a sharp pain
between his neck and shoulder and what followed must have been the
longest blink in history, for, the next thing he saw was the inside
of the cargo bay with the large hum of the ramp retracting filling
his ears.

“
Zero, you jerk!” He
cursed as he realized Zero must have forced him to pass out. He
pushed his uncle away who only laughed as a defense.

“Let’s get going before we
wear out our welcome.” The Captain was already through the door
into hall.

“
Liar!” Al screamed and
turned right back for the hatch.

“
Don’t you dare.” His
uncle growled.

“
Allen!” Lee burst in and
put a hand to his massive chest. “I am so very glad you are
safe.”

“Lee!” Al could make Lee
help him, he was sure of it. “We have to get out of here – we have
to save that town down there.”

“
And the Book of Nine?” He
asked.

“Soul is taking care of
it. But the town, that’s up to us to save. There are hundreds of
people being tortured and killed, the Telics have all been rounded
up and imprisoned.”

“But, that is...” Lee’s
disbelief faded as his eyes drifted off.

Could he hear them? The
tortured minds of the people of Gadimine?

“
Allen.” Lee
whispered.

“Stop it. Whatever you’re
thinking, stop.” Zero yelled. “We’re leaving and that’s
that.”

“
How can you call yourself
a Telic?!” Al screamed back. “You would let this town die? For
nothing! You would have stopped me from finding the Book on Nine
too, right? You would sacrifice all the lives in the living for
what? For me?”

“
Yes.” Zero said, “For
you.”

“
That’s stupid.” He
sneered. “It’s stupid and selfish.”

“
Nothing can save those
people, not even us. If you say Soul is taking care of the Book of
Nine problem, well, that’s great and there is no reason for us to
stay.”

“
We can save
them.”

“
Really, how?” Zero looked
behind him as the Captain walked back in, followed by Sara and
Roland. “Those are soldiers down there, a whole battalion of them.
What makes you think you even have a chance?”

“You could free the
Telic’s first. Government soldiers have it engrained in them to
fear the Haven races.” Roland shrugged, looking mildly interested
in their situation. “
They are contained,
yes, separate from the rest of the prisoners. The government won’t
harm them, they are just keeping them isolated from what they are
doing so they don’t revolt.”

“That’s exactly what it
was.” Al nodded. “The Telics are totally separate; they are being
kept in cells without windows or light, totally cut off from
everything.”

Roland gave an
understanding look, “And growing weaker by the day I’m sure. Even
the government gives a slight amount of respect to the order of
power, after what happened during the Small War.”

Sara scoffed. “They don’t
respect anything.” She adjusted her vest, already stocked and
loaded for battle.

“They respect death. And
if the Telics were to cause another uprising, they would be forced
to kill them, and that would certainly catch the attention of the
Havens, just like it did during the Small War. Do I need to remind
you how that War ended? Keeping the Telics captive keeps them quiet
and out of the way and no one is the wiser.”

“I can’t put them in
danger. Like you said, they are weak now, and scared. There has to
be another way.” Al shook his head.

“We could make them think
we have freed the Telics.” Lee suggested. “If we can gather the
soldiers into one area I may be able to manipulate their minds
enough for them to think they stand against an army of
Telics.”

“Like an illusion?” Sara
asked, looking out the door and into the hallway.

“Victor, talk sense into
these kids.” Zero pushed the Captain back a little, trying to shake
the distant look off his face.

“Al,” the Captain started,
“Even if by some miracle we are able to free the people of this
town and get the soldiers to leave, what then? It won’t end there,
you know. The government won’t forget; they won’t
forgive.”

Roland opened his mouth to
say something, then shut it tight.

“
What is it Roland?” He
asked.

“
Nothing, it’s nothing.
The Captain is right, this may be a very bad idea. If anything,
maybe we retreat for now and inform one of the actual rebel
factions that exist and let them handle it.”

“See, now that’s a great
idea.” Zero slapped Roland hard enough on the back to make him
stumble forward.

“
They are killing an
innocent person every day, and I’m sure more are dying just from
the conditions they are in. We don’t have time to wait.”

“Dad.” Al could have sworn
it was Sky’s voice, “You hear what he’s saying, right? Why are you
even hesitating?”

“
Skyden!” Al surged
forward and saw him, just out of view in the hallway, leaning
weakly on the wall.

“Hey, Al.” He smiled,
straightening and trying to look brighter. “I’m really glad to see
you.” His voice cracked.

“You’re okay?” Al’s heart
beat with relief, “Sky…”

“He’s not well enough to
leave this ship. He shouldn’t’ even be up right now.” The Captain
was looking right at Sky as he said it. “But,” He exhaled loudly,
casting his gaze upon all those gathered in the small entry, “if
the rest of you feel up to it, I think I have a plan.”

“
I am not afraid to
fight.” Lee stood up even taller, his head nearing the
ceiling.

“
Me neither.” Sara stepped
up as well.

“Well, hopefully there
will be no fighting. Just some tricks and illusion.” The Captain
ran a nervous hand through his hair. “If things go sour we retreat,
that’s it. We’ll give it one try; if we fail to scare them into
leaving, then we’re done and we let someone with an army and actual
resources handle this.”

“You can’t be serious,
Captain.” Zero backed away.

“Just like the old days,
Zero. I can protect a group this small, and we’ll keep the ship
ready for a fast get away if need be.”

“
I don’t like
it.”

“
I didn’t think you would.
And I know what we swore, but…”

“Whatever.” His uncle
shook his head, annoyed. “Let’s go before we lose the
light.”

“
Sky,” The Captain turned
to his son, holding fast to his shoulders, “You have to stay here.
No matter what, stay on the ship. Get the rest you need and we’ll
be back before you know it.”

Sky nodded, but for some reason looked over
to Roland of all people.

“Obey your father,” Roland
raised his eyebrows, “You are in no condition to do anything
reckless.”

“
Right.” Sky sighed and
backed away from his dad.

“
They know we’re here
though – we got clearance to land. What makes you think the ship
isn’t the first place they will look if things go wrong.” Sara
chimed in with her first touch of worry.

“I can cloak the ship,”
The Captain assured her. “They’ll never find it.”

“
What if they do?” She
asked, “Sky can’t protect himself.”

“I’m not totally useless
you know.”

“
I’ll stay with him.”
Roland volunteered with a bit too much enthusiasm.

“No way, you’re a doctor,
this is the one time you might be useful.” Sara snapped her mouth
shut once she realized what she said, “With all due respect,
Sir.”

Zero grabbed Sky and
pulled him away. They all followed as he dragged him into the
commons, yanked out a chair, and threw Sky down into it. “Wait
here.” He barked and disappeared out of the room.

Al wondered what he was up to, but his
answer came soon enough when his uncle stormed back in, three
scraps of paper in his hand.

“Watch closely.” He said
to Sky and formed a triangle around him with the paper, each of
which had a complex symbol drawn on it. “Once you’ve laid them
down, you just need to form the ‘key’ sign with your hands, like
this,” his uncle took both his hands and made the sign of the key,
one of the simpler hand signs, “and then, it’s active. You’ll be
invisible to anyone, and I mean
anyone
, but you can’t move outside
the barrier or else you’ll break it. Understand?”

“
Yeah, I think
so.”

“There, you happy?” He
turned to Sara. “He can run away and hide if they somehow manage to
break in.”

Sara nodded her approval
and stared at Sky. “Don’t leave the ship. Promise me.”

Sky shrugged causally and
Al could tell by the look on his face that whatever he said next
wouldn’t mean a thing.

“I promise.” Sky
replied.

“
Good.” She said and
pulled one of the knives from her belt and shoved it in his hand.
“Here, take this. Just in case.”

“Let’s get going.” The
Captain said and ruffled Sky’s hair, “We’ll be back soon
okay.”

“All right.” Al breathed a
sigh of relief. Sky was alive and well, and he had his friends and
family at his side. “Let’s do this.”

Chapter
Thirty-
Five

The Captain and Zero had
made it to the rooftops undetected as Al and Lee found a way into
the clock tower in the middle of town. Sara and Roland held their
position up on the rocky cliffs and were only to come if needed. Al
wasn’t surprised, but no less relieved, at how well they functioned
as a team.

A few broken locks and endless flights of
stairs later they were nearly to the clock face that overlooked the
center of town.

Al put a supportive hand
on Lee’s shoulder. “Are you ready?” Was all he had to say to
receive a confident and determined agreement from Lee.

They proceeded quietly to
the clock face. “You should have a clear view from here.” He looked
down onto the town. A group of soldiers was gathered outside what
must have been the city hall, and from what Al could tell, it was
where they were running their operation out of.

The plan was set. He asked for all the help
the Haven’s could send, for they would need it.

Lee took his place beside him, “Be assured,
Allen, I will do my part until death.”

Al had to smile at his earnestness. “Let’s
hope it doesn’t come to that, man.” He slapped Lee on the back,
trying to muster his carefree self, “I better head up before they
start to miss me.”

Al rushed up to the roof to find the two
anxious faces of Zero and the Captain already there waiting for
him.

“Lee’s ready.” He said
with a steady voice.

They made their way to the front of the
building, crouched below the lip of the ledge, out of the view of
wandering eyes.

The Captain let out a long
breath with his eyes closed, preparing himself mentally and, more
obviously, physically.

“You can do this Vic.”
Zero assured him.

When the Captain opened
his eyes, they were the eyes of an Iko. Energy radiated from every
cell in his body. “I am the voice for those who can not speak, the
fist for those who can not fight,” he whispered out his mantra
quickly, “the strength for those who have none, I am the protector
and will protect all of those who call my name.” He finished with a
long exhale, then leapt up onto the ledge, beckoning attention with
his glowing form as pure energy began to gather behind him,
spreading out like two giant wings.

Al dared a peak over the
side of the ledge to see the soldiers in the street looking up in
awe and terror. It was probably the first time any of them had ever
encountered an Iko in full on Haven mode - and so it was no
surprise when a few of them dropped to their knees with tears in
their eyes.

More soldiers gathered, and then even
more.

“Free the innocent.” The
Captain commanded them. “Free your captives.”

The soldiers looked around at one another
with a mixture of fear and uncertainty.

“
You will be given till
the sun retreats beyond the mountain, and then we will
come.”

With a flutter of his gathered energy the
Captain sent a shockwave down into those gathered, seeking out the
metal of their weapons, corroding them until they were useless.

Zero gave the signal, and
he and Al leap into view, one on each side of the Captain,
radiating their full Telic energy for all to see before dropping
down to the street below with two large thuds.

The soldiers backed away
slowly with eyes growing wide. Al saw it start as a small ripple
that spread out into giant waves of pure, unadulterated terror from
every Om Tek soldier assembled. That fear was mostly thanks to
Lee’s successful illusion of an army of Telics and Ikos still on
the roof alongside the Captain. He knew of Lee’s strength, but it
was still no less impressive to be a witness to what one Agonian
could do with an army of minds.