Sunlord (26 page)

The mind boggling implications came crashing down at
once, flooding his mind with wild thoughts. It was like being
enclosed in a small room, then taking to one of the walls with a
sledge hammer and seeing a shaft of light poke through for the
first time. Then the whole structure comes crashing down as they
key revelation is revealed.

The officer saw Shaun's surprise.

"We found it quite by accident, and I see by your
reaction..." The officer waved in the direction of the medical
equipment that showed the sudden leap in Shaun's heart rate.
"...that you know what it means. Yes, the fabled Critical Point of
modern jumpspace theory, the place no-one has ever found until now.
It will give our mighty Kingdom victory at last."

It all made sense to Shaun now - why the Hartrias
were building such a large establishment and why they were taking
great pains to avoid confrontation with the natives. It was obvious
that if the Hartrias fleet could set up a planetside defence
nothing could get past them. A series of two hundred metre high
surface-to-space cannons and a net of orbiting laser satellites and
they would have the Critical Point covered. A planet based fortress
could intercepting passing ships, effectively regulating who passed
and who didn't. If the Federation couldn't jump travel then they
would be confined to one galaxy; trapped in a prison walled by vast
distances.

If the Hartrias managed to take control of the planet
and had enough firepower they could attack Federation starships
before the latter knew what had happened. Because no human knew
where the Critical Point was no battle fleet could be sent to fight
them. If the Hartrias kept the word quiet the Federation wouldn't
have a chance.

The officer connected a series of wires to the
medical equipment. A small droid appeared at the punch of a button,
hovering above the air with small arms extended, electrical knives
buzzing.

"Already three of your mighty battleships have
fallen," continued the officer as he programmed the computer with
savage taps with his large fingers. "Before they can get their
shields up the battle's already over."

Shaun made as if to speak, his mind confused. He was
bitter that the Hartrias had beaten the human race in the search
for domination of the Critical Point, but at the same time
intrigued. He wanted to know what it meant for jumpspace
astrophysics.

But the Hartrias officer had had enough conversation.
He advanced with two very long needles in either hand, a thin
insulated wire leading back to electrical gadgetry.

"We're going to conduct a few nerve tests on you now
that you're awake. Don't worry, the pain is absolutely necessary if
we are to test your genetic endurance properly. It will be over
before you know it, and you'll be taken to the DNA lab."

The surgeon droid hovered directly above Shaun's bare
chest and grabbed him by the chin with surprising force, pushing
back his head and exposing the jugular.

Shaun's words were mumbled, his mastery of the
Hartrias language hampered considerably, but the sarcasm was
clearly audible.

"Where I'll be harmlessly dissolved into your tech
pools..."

The officer pulled back, grinning suddenly. "That's
right...now, if you'll just hold still while we set up a
current..."

Shaun buckled and arced his back as the two needles
pushed through the skin of his neck, a tickle of electricity
passing from one to the other.

Shaun couldn't scream or he would rip the cord from
his nose, but he screamed in his mind. He turned in on himself,
thrashing wildly as dark images rippled through his knotted
mind.

The agony became unbearable, his ears filling with
the noise from inside his head, radiating the pain in expanding
psychic ripples.

"An interesting pattern," mused the Hartrias officer.
"Med-bot, get me an ultra-sound reading of the brain and nerve
patterns. This is the strangest combination I have ever seen."

Shaun's eyes roved desperately around the small white
room looking for some chance of escape as the med-bot approached
wielding a slender narrow instrument. He pulled against his bonds
and twisted his hands in order to wrench his wrists free, but it
seemed only to further constrict the bands.

"Don't move," muttered the Hartrias out of the corner
of his mouth. "It'll only make it worse. Here, I'll just have to
get a tissue sample, then you're going through the med chamber for
full analysis."

Bizarre images flashed though Shaun's mind, his
vision clouding, narrowing down. He felt the knife cut away the
flesh of his scalp, a sickly tearing sensation like the crunching
of foam.

A bolt of red light flooded his mind's eye, then was
abruptly gone, leaving a vast emptiness in its place. Shaun felt
himself receding as if he was fainting, dropping away from
consciousness, backing into the void of the back of his skull.

He heard a scream, and realised it was not his own.
He struggled against the cushiony darkness and fought through the
dreams enough to open one eye.

Then another arrow flew from the wall, catching the
Hartrias in the side of the neck, just centimetres alongside the
first.

Things moved as a blur, the bolt of laser fire as the
Hartrias dropped to one knee and let off a blast, the acrid stench
of burning flesh, and an inhuman cry of agony.

Chapter Ten

Stowaway Rats.

The universe is not hostile, nor yet is it friendly.
It is simply indifferent.

- Rev. J.H. Holmes.

Darkness flooded the cargo hold as the massive door
pulled closed.

Ashian watched the great steel ramp rise into the air
with a mixture of fear and awe, the slab sealing him inside a
coffin of blackness. The door sealed with a reverberating clang and
he was alone inside the empty belly of the ship with only small
lights overhead to drive away the heavy darkness. But in the
darkness was shelter and he huddled feet jammed close to his chest,
breath sounding far too loud in his ears as the heavy engines as
they rumbled slowly into life. He dare not move as the engines grew
louder until they started spreading vibrations through the steel
deck shaking his bones and thoughts into a state of immobility, a
wild imagination populating the shadows with Sunlord warriors.

He sat through what seemed like hours as the cargo
ship gathered power. Distant fluorescent lights flickered on far
overhead, casting deeper shadows amongst the neat rows of crates
slotted into railing on the deck. A surge of power and the ship was
airborne, its massive engines pushing the dead weight into the air
with pure brute force.

Ashian felt that familiar sinking feeling in his guts
as the craft accelerated. Last time he had felt it was when he had
been taken aboard the Sunlord's mother ship. This time it was
different - this time he hadn't been invited.

Ashian's large emerald eyes wandered over the
interior of the hold, the far wall so distant it could have
enclosed an entire village. A few lights flashed regularly, but
that was all. The small currach hugged his arms about his legs, the
air of the hold chilling, finding it hard to believe they were
actually on their way.

A rush of panic flooded his mind suddenly as a
thought struck him. What if he couldn't find the crate Agil and
Myshia hid in? What if the Sunlords opened up the crate and found
them?

He calmed himself with the aid of mind exercises,
breathing deeply and slowly. He would have to wait until the ship
had settled into flight a little more before he made his move - if
he was too rash he could call attention to them all. The lonely
native found himself wishing for the company of the others; he felt
safe when part of the tightly knit group. Alone he felt vulnerable
from all sides.

He thought of Capac, the hunter who's braveness and
courage was the spearhead of their attack. Although to all
appearances to be boastful and outright confident Capac had
sometimes been strangely silent, almost moody. Thinking back,
Ashian was sure Capac had been more deeply affected by the death of
Huso than was apparent; he knew they had been childhood friends and
the latter's death had been sudden and unexpected. It certainly
cast a hue of doubt over the feeling that they were the conquesting
soldiers seeking revenge; rather, they were rats hunted down one by
one.

Capac's family had been massacred in a time that
seemed so distant and so disjoint from the present. So much had
happened since then, but still the memory lurked in the
subconscious. The memory of the day when they had turned their
backs upon their wounded and dying, leaving the entire village
without burial to rot into the ground. The ultimate indignity as
the flesh once warm now to be picked apart by hungry animals.

Although, thought Ashian, Myshia did not seem
grieved. Then again, she was always so preoccupied that very few of
her feelings showed through her beautiful yet distant visage.
Ashian conjured up an image of her in his mind, picturing her
delicate face and slender body. She always seemed so aloof and
removed from this world, so in control of her movements - all
emotions kept under tight check. He sensed a feeling of power in
her stance, her shoulders broad and square, always unflustered with
trivialities. Sometimes it was almost as she was a queen
overlooking her lands, but then at other times she seemed deep in
disenchantment, all moorings with reality cast away. Ashian had
rarely seen her smile, and wondered for not the first time what
deep secret she hid.

As he thought his heart moved with emotion. He was
confused for a moment. What could this be? Had he feelings for her?
The new emotion set a glow in his chest he had never felt before,
yet at the same time was a trifle unsettling.

A deep clunking reverberated through the hull as some
distant machinery snapped into place. The vibrations of the engine
had died to a steady rumbling as it pushed the craft through the
upper layers of the atmosphere, nearing its destination.

Ashian realised with a start that he had been day
dreaming and cursed softly beneath his breath, knowing that sleep
deprivation and hunger were to blame for his wandering thoughts.
Crouching low between crates and moving as softly as he could
manage Ashian set about searching for his friends.

He checked the crates nearest the door first by
running his fingers along the lip and feeling for the splinter he
had poked between the rubber sealing. The crates were arranged in
long rows stacked three or four high, meaning that to check the top
crates he needed to scramble up a sheer wall with only narrow gaps
in which to wedge his feet. Climbing with such little purchase was
draining and the currach was quickly panting with exhaustion.

There was a brief period of weightlessness that sent
Ashian scrambling for a handhold as his feet drifted off the floor
as if he were underwater. Clinging grimly upon his scant purchase
he waited, looking like a skydiver caught suspended in time until
gravity was restored when the craft began to pivot to match the
spin of the Urisa.

Another clang echoed as locking gear extended, first
dropping into place from their flush berths and then massive
hydraulics working, pushing the claw-like projections forward.
Heavy thumps echoed through the superstructure as claws engaged
with the Urisa's docks.

Ashian heard the noise and felt the series of jolts
through his feet, almost toppling when the cargo ship abruptly
jerked to a full halt. He stood stunned for a minute. Could it be
they had reached their destination so soon?

Panic rose in his stomach - he had forgotten how
quickly the Sunlord's travelled; they must be in the stars
already!

That would explain why his limbs had very quickly
become leaden and heavy - the gravity aboard the Urisa was set to
that of the Sunlord's homeworld, and he was now experiencing the
greater pull of simulated gravity. Fortunately the difference was
bearable and he could still move without excessive awkwardness,
although it felt like heavy chains had been draped about his
shoulders.

The lights overhead increased in intensity, filling
the previously gloomy hold with white light. Within minutes
unloading would begin.

Ashian's efforts to find his friends became frantic.
He searched many crates, and was becoming desperate when his
fingers, just about to move onto the next crate, brushed a small
sliver of steel. His heart beat harder as his full attention
focused on the crate. Fortunately it was the first in the stack so
opening it would not be difficult.

He knelt down upon one knee and tapped three times
against the steel crate, softly as not to alert any Sunlord
guards.

Nothing happened, so he repeated the procedure.

This time his efforts were rewarded with a quick
succession of taps issuing from inside.

This must be the crate. He was about to unlatch the
catches when the massive door behind him grated as it slid along
dirty rails, yellow light pouring in with sounds of life and
movement. It was Ashian's split second reactions that saved them
all from detection as the robotic fork lifts and exoskeleton
loaders drove in. Ducking low Ashian watched the machines as they
approached, gazing upon the three metre high walking robot with
dread; its arms moved in an awkward parody of humanoid motion and
its legs pushed forward with the strength of a thousand men.

Ashian realised that since his friends' crate had
been last to be loaded it would be one of the first to be unloaded.
His suspicions were confirmed as the loader droid's arms slid
forward and engaged with the crate he had left not a moment
before.

Whatever he did, he mustn't let that crate out of his
sight!

He paused for a second, passing a grease covered hand
across his painted face, allowing himself a brief respite to plan.
Already the robot had lifted the craft into the air, and had turned
upon its heel and was striding towards the open door.