For the Love of Gelo! (10 page)

“Did anyone check Little Gus for traumatic brain injury after the crash?” Becky asked the rest of us. Little Gus frowned.

“What are they saying?” Hisuda asked me.

“They were saying that they've never seen a place like Oru,” I replied truthfully. This pleased Hisuda, as well as Ikuna and Aloro, who had landed beside her.

Just then, a purple hand clawed its way over the edge of the cliff, startling us all.

“Ugh. Just like a horror movie,” muttered Hollins as Taius heaved himself over the top. He lay on the ground for a moment, panting from the effort. Then he noticed that all of us were staring at him.

He suddenly reached into the pocket of his threadbare uniform. We all froze, except Little Gus, who scrambled behind the wet rag heap. Had Taius concealed some weapon that Hollins hadn't found?

Instead, he pulled out Nicki's sample bag filled with dirt. He tossed it to her, and she caught it.

“You dropped your dirt,” said Taius. For a minute, none of us knew what to say.

“Enough chatter,” said Hisuda. “All of you outlanders must be presented to the Raefec.”

Taius strode past me. As he did, I could have sworn I saw him grin for a second, before his face reverted to its normal scowl. Strangely, I much preferred the scowl.

As we walked, I did notice that the citizens of Oru were openly gawping at him and whispering among themselves. They looked less than thrilled to have a Vorem in their village.

“This is the Raefec's great house,” said Hisuda, indicating a longer hut adjacent to the central fire pit. Instead of grass and refuse, it was made of more permanent stuff: planks of bluish wood and mismatched sheets of corrugated plastic. “It is the most beautiful structure in all of Oru,” said Hisuda. “Please take a moment to appreciate it.”

Inside, the long hut was dim and smelled of rotting meat. The only light came from the glowing coals of two braziers. The walls were painted with intricately detailed murals in bright colors: battle scenes of orange-and-red Aeaki warriors conquering other Aeaki with purple and gold feathers, green and black feathers, and many other color combinations as well. To my surprise, the artwork really was quite beautiful.

Two real-life courtiers—their plumage dust-colored with red and orange highlights, marking them as males—stood behind a carved wooden chair. In it hunched an old female Aeaki, her once-bright feathers faded with age, a blanket over her lap. In one wing she clutched a staff—a piece of metal rebar with frayed electrical wires braided around it. Feeble as her body was, her eyes still appeared sharp.

“Raefec Azusu,” said Hisuda. She, Aloro, and Ikuna bowed. Hisuda prodded me with a wing, and I bowed too. The humans quickly followed. Only Taius remained upright.

“Greetings,” said Azusu, “and welcome to Oru.” Her tone was not welcoming.

“A most sublime and amazing metropolis,” said Nicki, laying it on a little thick, in my opinion.

“Oh, please,” said Azusu. “What are you supposed to be anyway? No feathers. No beaks. You all look ridiculous.”

Nicki looked a little put out. “Uh. We're
Homo sapiens
.”

“Never heard of 'em,” said Azusu. “And what about you, Ugly?” She was looking at me now.

“I'm Chorkle. I am a Xotonian,” I said. I thought I saw something flash in her eyes, some hint of recognition. But in an instant it was gone. “I'm searching for three others like me.”

“Haven't seen 'em,” she said. Immediately, my is'pog sank. She turned to Taius. “And you. I know what you are. Mighty Vorem. No armor, though. How come?”

“I lost it,” he said. Was there a note of shame in his voice?

“Too bad,” said Azusu. “You boys look much scarier with it on.” She sized him up. “Right now you remind me of . . . an egg without a shell.”

Little Gus stifled a laugh, and Azusu glared at him before turning back to Taius. “So, young Vorem, what brings you to Kyral?” she asked.

“I understand that this is a world of the Dominion,” said Taius. Odd phrasing. Did that mean that he'd never heard of Kyral himself, I wondered? How big was the Vorem Dominion that they'd lost track of all the planets they'd conquered?

“You
understand
correctly,” said Azusu.

“I request a meeting with the local Dominion administrator,” he said, “to explain my situation.”

“Local Dominion administrator? You're looking at her,” said Azusu. She reached into the folds of her blanket and pulled out a little black ring the same size as the medallion in Taius's pocket. She tossed it to him.

He examined the intricate carvings on the ring's surface. “You're the Dominion praefectus for this region?” he said with disbelief.

“Sure am. Most folks around here just shorten ‘praefectus' to ‘Raefec,' though,” said Azusu. “The fact is, I don't do too much ‘administrating' for the great Imperator these days.” At this, all the Aeaki in the room laughed, a shrill, unpleasant squawking sound.

“Very well, Praefectus,” said Taius. “Then I command you to take me to the nearest Vorem military outpost.”

Azusu glared at him. “You command me, do you?” she said. “You
command
me.” There was something dangerous in her tone. One of the brown-feathered courtiers placed a wing on her shoulder. “Don't try to calm me, down, Unuro!” she snapped.

Taius paused. “I do command you,” he said. “I am a legate of the Vorem legion. I outrank a praefectus.” He reached into his pocket and showed her his own gold token.

Azusu glared at him. “Kyral is technically a Dominion world, boy. But you may find that here, your fancy rank doesn't matter as much as you'd like. In fact, you may find that very few Aeaki have fond feelings for our absentee landlords, the Vorem.”

This time, the brown-feathered Aeaki—apparently called Unuro—spoke to Taius. “That is not to say that we ourselves have anything but the purest loyalty to the great Vorem Dominion. Praise the great Imperator . . . er, who is it these days?”

“Aetox XXIII,” said Taius.

“By the gods, you're already at twenty-three? Congratulations!” screeched the other drab-feathered Aeaki.

Azusu shot him a look. “Leave politics to the grown-ups, Biji.” She turned back to Taius. “But, as my servants say,” she croaked, “praise the Dominion.” Her words dripped with venom.

“Praise the Dominion,” repeated Taius. “I also require that you take these four”—he indicated the four humans—“into custody, for questioning. I believe they were involved in an earlier attack upon a Vorem ship.” Curiously, he didn't point to me.

“Hang on just a second,” said Becky. “This purple creep stowed away aboard our starfighter and made us crash-land it on Kyral. If anyone should go to jail, it's him! Attempted murder. Destruction of property. Endangering a minor.” She pointed to Little Gus. Gus nodded.

“You crashed the ship, you crazed female!” cried Taius, losing his cool. “I asked you to take me back.”

“And you were so polite about it too,” said Nicki.

“Enough,” shrieked Azusu. “First off, do you see any prisons around here? No one is going into ‘custody.' As for Vorem military outposts, there aren't any. Odd how little you seem to know about this valuable Dominion holding, Legate.”

I could see the hope draining from Taius's face. “If there isn't a permanent Vorem military presence on Kyral,” he said, “then I will require the use of a starship. I need to return to my father's battle cruiser as soon as possible.”

“Do we
look
like we have starships? Sounds like you just wrecked your only way off this planet!” laughed Azusu. “Look, I'll tell you what Kyral has in ample supply. Grass, garbage, and death. If you need any of those three things, we'll be happy to oblige.

“But you—” said Taius.

“Pardon me, Raefec,” I interrupted. “Are you absolutely sure there are no ships here?”

“No, you got me. There are plenty of ships! I'm holding out on you,” she said sarcastically. “In fact, I've got ten of them. I just
choose
to live in a trash hut surrounded by idiots.” Unuro and Biji fluffed their feathers indignantly.

There it was. The Aeaki—so far, less friendly than the cyclopaedia promised—wouldn't be able help us after all. The humans looked crestfallen, except for Hollins. He merely looked confused.

“But from what I've read of Kyral,” I said, “it is supposed to be a very technologically advanced world.”

“Then you must have some very old books, Chorkle the Xotonian,” she said.

I nodded. She was right. “So what happened?” I asked.

“
They
happened,” she said, pointing ominously to Taius. “Look, I'll show you something.” Slowly and with great difficulty, she extricated herself from the old wooden chair. When her two servants attempted to help her up, she swatted at them with her wings. At last, she stood, and she led us to a dark corner of the long hut.

“We don't have books anymore, these days,” said Azusu. “All we can manage are pictures.” She indicated a set of three murals with different subject matter from the others.

The first showed Aeaki of all colors cowering together in a city as fire rained from the skies. In the next scene, black armored figures marched in orderly lines through a charred wasteland, driving the Aeaki before them. A few resisted, but the Vorem tore them apart with blaster fire. The third scene in the triptych showed a handful of Aeaki bowing to the victorious Vorem legion. The ground was littered with the corpses of their comrades.

“Long ago, Kyral was a wondrous place,” said Azusu. “A beautiful, idyllic world. Billions of Aeaki lived in peace. Cities, commerce, science—you name it, we had it!”

“Did you have roller coasters?” asked Little Gus.

“Probably,” said Azusu, nodding. “Everyone says that Hykaro Roost was built by the gods, but it wasn't. It was built by us. We could fly to other planets on our own ships! They were much better than the Vorem junkers. And they could travel faster than light! We traded with distant worlds. Explored the universe.”

She paused. “But we had something the Vorem wanted. The crust of Kyral was rich with phanium. That's a mineral ore that's used in making hyperdrives, the engines that allow for interplanetary space travel. So the Dominion attacked us. We fought, of course. Even joined an alliance against them. The League of Free Civilizations, it was called. Ha!” She laughed joylessly. “Fat lot of good it did. Free? Civilization? Thanks to the Vorem, the Aeaki are neither anymore.”

“I've heard of the League of Free Civilizations,” I said. Jalasu Jhuk's hologram had mentioned it when we had discovered the hidden hangar. General Ridian mentioned it too, just before he'd attempted his invasion of Gelo.

“Yes, it makes sense you'd know of it, because the Xotonians were members,” said Azusu. “The Aeaki and the league held the Vorem off for awhile. But at last, they breached our defenses. Hit us with their nuclear weapons. They burned everything.”

“That's what created Kyral's planetary ring,” said Nicki. “Debris from the explosions.”

Azusu nodded. “In a matter of hours, our civilization was a memory. A few Aeaki survived. Half of them refused to give up, and they kept on fighting. I guess they're fighting still. The other half surrendered to the Vorem, including my brave ancestors.” She chuckled darkly. “That's how my praefectus badge was passed down to me. We bowed to those who had burned our world and became part of the Dominion.”

“But if you're part of the Dominion,” I asked, “where are all the Vorem?”

“Gone,” she said. “The Vorem did stay for a few years. They stamped out the last of the underground resistance left in Hykaro Roost. Stripped the planet of all its phanium. Took anything else of value that wasn't nailed down or burned. Then they left.”

“So they've forgotten about you,” said Becky.

“Not exactly,” said Azusu. “Every few years the Vorem Dominon lands a big, impressive-looking starship somewhere near Hykaro Roost to keep us cowed. They frighten the locals and toss a shiny medal on whichever nearby warlord can show them one of these.” She held up her praefectus badge. “Then they take off again for the stars.”

She sighed. “But not before making sure the Aeaki have a few more energy blasters,” she said, patting the one at her hip. “It might sound strange for conquerors to arm the conquered. But they're not here, and they know we'll just use them on one another. Let us conquer ourselves.” She laughed again, but this time no one joined her.

I looked around the hut. The tale of Kyral's fall had Ikuna and Aloro seething with rage. Azusu's male servants looked very nervous indeed. Taius was unreadable.

“Maybe Kyral could come back,” I said. “Maybe the Aeaki can rebuild. You can't give up hope.”

“Enough. The only thing I find more tiresome than Vorem is pointless optimism,” said Azusu. She turned to Taius. “But speaking of Vorem, you still haven't explained why you're here.”

Taius swallowed. “I have come here on a routine reconnaissance mission to—”

“Pshaw. He's not supposed to be on Kyral,” said Nicki. “We all came here by accident. We warped into this galaxy through a wormhole from the other side of the universe, along with the asteroid where the Xotonians live. It's actually super interesting. The wormhole opened after we—”

“All ate a big lunch!” I said, shooting Nicki a look. She had almost accidentally mentioned the Q-sik.

“You lot came with the new moon?” asked Azusu.

We nodded.

Azusu stared directly into Taius's eyes now. “So, Legate, now that you know the tale of how the great Dominion destroyed our civilization and pillaged our world, what do you have to say for yourself?”

There was a long silence before he spoke. “The Aeaki shouldn't have fought back,” said Taius. “If you had simply surrendered, your civilization would have survived.”