Theodore (26 page)

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Theodore nodded to Edwin and offered a feeble smile, “I
guess that is what my friends had been trying to tell me for some time. 
Fighting doesn't get you there... that isn't how Live Steel works.  You have to
be willing to let it be part of you,” he laughed lightly.  “I guess the
Guardians are a little picky about who they will let do that.”

“No way!  No way in hell!” groused Edwin.

“Just step aside and let me retrieve Janice...”

“Retrieved,” grinned Ross as he stood next to Janice at
the far end of the room.  His fur coat danced with his voice, rendering him
transparent as he talked.

“You!  You were the... voice talking to me in the woods! 
And the one following me in the tunnel!  Why didn't you show earlier?” groused
Theodore.

“Hey, melodrama runs
thick
in the family.  Besides,
if you didn't stand down Edwin, I didn't think you'd ever step over.  Had to
make sure you could take care of little Meagan without me around.  Each time
you hit the boundary, you always stepped back.”

“There fighting the gunship and then fighting Colm,” mused
Theodore.  “You could have warned me, prepared me!”

“I did,” frowned Ross.  “If I had done much more, it may
not have taken.”

“And you'd risk my life and Janice's life to push me like
that!” snarled Theodore.

“I got Janice.  That just left you and Edwin.  I knew you
could do it.  We all did.”

“Everyone but me...” he laughed softly.  Theodore cleared
his throat.  “Edwin, stand down and no harm will come to you.”

That removed any shock from Edwin and transferred it into
pure hatred!  He snarled as his armor flared and he charged Theodore.

Theodore breathed softly as he reached across the realms
and yanked Edwin's Live Steel armor and then arsenal from him.  It had been the
source of much stress to disarm Karl that time in the parking lot.  This...
This was more like taking a toy from a spoiled child.  It was loud and
unpleasant to be around, but the result was the same: Edwin had nothing left to
play with.  Theodore invoked a Live Steel sword that had, moments earlier,
belonged to Edwin.

 “You wouldn't kill me,” gulped Edwin.

“No... no more killing.”  Theodore rammed the sword into
Edwin sending him to spot stasis on the floor.

“Disarmed and unconscious.  Good work!" grinned
Ross.  “The only problem now is getting out of here.  There are, like he said,
about two thousand very grumpy people with pulse rifles that are about thirty
seconds away from saying 'hi.'  You take the thousand on the left and I take
the thousand on the right?”

“Pulse rifles,” grinned Theodore.

“Pulse rifles,” grinned Ross.

Theodore grinned.  “I've an idea:  I did it by accident
back at the university facing down the gunship.  I'd like to see what a Forest
Wall is like when done properly.”

“And no one has to get hurt,” grinned Ross.

Oh!  There you are, young one.  Are you coming home?

No. Not just yet.  I'm bringing home here...

That will be very nice then...

The sound felt
wonderful
as it echoed through his
skull and then beyond.  It was life itself; life in a barren and inhospitable
land. 
Forest Wall...
  Theodore could feel Ross beside him, feel Ross
calling out as well as the pair reached beyond the turbulent waters that were
the boundaries of the two realms and just let the energy flow... all that
wasted, bound up energy was free...

The entire building shook.  The foundation where they
stood shook the worst.  Overhead the building was collapsing in a most
unnatural way.  Well, at least highly atypical, way.  Upper levels gently
collapsed into each other, softly depositing their inhabitants on the next
lower level while steel and concrete became soft and malleable.  Trees, great
trees of ancient size rose up from the ground and carved holes letting in the
precious sunlight.  Bushes and ferns, long stretches of moss all quickly
supplanted the walls.  Rock, granite from the living planet replaced the
concrete there in the basement floor and soon a gentle brook was gurgling away.

When things finally came to a halt, Janice bolted over to
Theodore and hugged him warmly.  “You came back for me.  And you did it without
anyone else having to get hurt...”

“Hey!  Those plasma lances hurt a lot, thank you very
much...” grinned Theodore as he hugged his future mother-in-law.

She laughed lightly, “You know what I meant!  I'm very
proud of you.  Proud you took the harder way but the path that meant you didn't
compromise your beliefs.”

“I... I wouldn't have been 'me' otherwise...”

Janice cringed from the sound of gunshots overhead.

“Those are Shukurae firing,” grinned Ross.  “Don't worry,
they want to take prisoners if for no other reason than to embarrass the local
government.”

  “How did you find me?” Theodore asked Ross.

“Well, I was close... and it helped that Tim had put a bug
on you.  Once things went in motion, I just followed your trace on in.”

“I was bugged?” scoffed Theodore.

“Tim needed you to behave naturally so it seemed the best
method.  It was a given they were going to do
something
to separate you
from the group.  That happened a little sooner than
I
had imagined!”
laughed Ross.

“How did the Shukurae find us so quickly,” asked Janice
thoroughly amazed and honestly a little creeped-out.

“Um, the epicenter of a multi-gigajoule EMP burst or the
center of a forest with a hundred and fifty meter tall trees in the middle of
downtown... I wonder what was their first clue...” grinned Ross.

Janice laughed at the obviousness of it all, “Um, in this
town, I'll go with the 'trees!'”

“Hey down there, need a lift?” came the booming voice of
Line Centurion Damesk.

“If it isn't too much of a bother,” laughed Theodore back
toward the top.  “Let's say we get out of here and get people back home.”  He
offered Janice a hand as they started to thread their way upward into the
sunlight beyond.

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The bells on Anna's boots jingled and danced in the flame
light of the great braziers spread neatly across the dance floor.  Meagan had
been right, of course, the fluffy snow sparkled beautifully in the light,
adding a sense of life and hope easily overlooked on the longest night of the
year.  Meagan giggled (did she ever stop?) as the three of them made their way
to the side of the dance floor.

Hugs were aplenty and came fast as they hit the
sidelines.  Hot cider quickly made its rounds and then Anna, now warm on the
inside, quickly took to her mother’s offered fur hand muff.  With only her nose
left cold, she snuggled Theodore's cheek much to his amusement.

“Mrs. Westmore,” asked a doe eyed girl of
maybe
sixteen.

Anna and Meagan both launched into a giggling fit when
they realized it was Anna being addressed and
not
Janice.

“Call me Anna, please!” she laughed.  “What can I do for
you?”

“May my sister and I dance with your family on the next
set?  It's a line of four and there only seem to be two of you...”

Anna blushed quite thoroughly, there was no risk of her
ears becoming cold even if her nose was still nippy.   “Um, we aren't married
yet.  But sure, please!  If you’d like to join us, that would make for a
wonderful time.”

“Are you still worried about your daughter fitting in?”
asked Aidden with a grin.

Janice just smiled, “No, and I never was.”

There are four major races in this family of stories: Human,
Taik, Shukurae and Gelkin.

Human:
 It is assumed the reader is
well familiar with the human race. Their home world is located in the
Orion-Cygnus
minor arm of the Milky Way and has subsequently spread far and wide, often
managing to colonize worlds others had left as “too harsh.”  The rapid
expansion of human planets and colonies has helped accelerate the decline of
the Gelkin Empire.  Humans are universally revered for their creativity and
tenacity alike.  The human realms are politically fractured and home to
thousands of languages and cultures.

Taik:
Taiks are a felinoid race who have
spread across thousands of planets and colonies with the planet “Afon” being
their home world. Physically, they walk upright and average a height of 1.80m
(5’11”) and 80kg (176lbs) for the males, while the females average quite close
at 1.75m (5’9”) and 70kg (154lbs).  They have tails ranging from 80cm to 110cm
(31-43”).  There are four major super-political units: Kulpgurie Republic,
Altshea Confederation, Draeka Empire, and a fourth, fairly small group,
commonly just called the Highlanders.

Kulpgurie Republic:
this realm is a large expansive
culture with a strong central government.  They are socially progressive and
tend to have more joint colonies with other races than the other Taik
governments.  They are a driven, active, motivated people who are always eager
to expand their knowledge and understanding.  Historically they consider
themselves the protectors of the Highlands, a thought that amuses most
Highlanders.

Altshea Confederation:
this realm consists of
thousands of different cantons and colonies.  Each one operating independent of
the rest, but sharing a common base set of laws, open trade and free movement
amongst all the constituents.  Local realms may be democratic, theocratic,
feudal, socialist, free market, or any possible combination so long as the
basic laws are honored.  Some are male dominated societies, others are
dominated by females.  Others yet are gender neutral in governance.  The
cultural identity of the various inhabitants is that of “Altshea” first, and
local secondary.  As a result, it is quite normal for people to be born in one
canton, but choose to live and work in another realm.

Draeka Empire:
this realm is a closed militaristic
society that has chosen to make themselves equal at all levels, most of this by
genetic engineering of their own people.  There is very little difference
between people’s physical builds and there is also very little outward
difference in their gender.  Their genetic tinkering combined with the nature
of their society make them prone to paranoia and emotional instability.  It is
unclear what their genetic alterations have done to their lifespan as most
people die from “accidents.”  Their Empire is very small and has been
self-limited due to internal conflict and total suspicion of
all
outsiders.  They are the smallest of the three colonizing Taik governments, and
their total expanse is smaller than some Altshea cantons.  They have had
several border wars on the home world of Afon with the Highland regions.  Their
most recent war with the Highlands being almost 500 years earlier and resulted
in a humiliating defeat.

The Highlands of Afon:
the Highlanders are unique
compared to most of the rest of the Taik on almost all levels.  Physically,
they are universally shorter: the males average 1.75m (5’9”) while the females,
shorter yet at 1.55m (5’1”).  They also tend to support longer tails than the
other Taik. While most Taik realms average a near even male-to-female ratio,
the Highlanders are once again unique with an average of only one male to every
four females.  As a result, most families are polygamous with between three and
five adult females being the norm.  Almost all politics are matriarchal with
policing and other functions left to the males.  The Lady Mayor speaks for the
town as a whole and while there do exist “barons,” this is a military title
given to the male leadership of the militia as there is no standing army.  The
head of any family is the First Mother and she is expected to run the family
business.  The Second Mother’s position is almost exclusively to raise and
educate the children of the household.  Third and Fourth Mothers usually
support the First Mother in the family business.  Twins are rare and always
female in the Highlands, and are considered good luck.  It is most common that
both twins would marry into the same house and are afforded the same position
as a pair. Thus one may have two Third Mothers, or even two First Mothers.  The
family name is referred to as the “House” name and comes from either the First
Mother’s line, or a mutually agreed upon name.  Males tend to have a second
name, a “Clan” name, that is used only among themselves. An unmarried, but
adult male will usually only use his Clan name rather than his old House name. 
Highlanders tend to a simple life, low on overt technology, choosing instead to
rely on an ancient system referred to simply as Live Steel for their protection
as well as the aid of the Guardians left by the Ancients.  Much is still not
understood about Live Steel, even less about the Guardians and the Ancients…

Shukurae:
Shukurae are a mighty people with a
confused past.  They stand on average 2.75m (9’) with 3.00m (9’10”) tall being
not too uncommon.  They have tough leathery skin, pale iridescent eyes, a
plethora of narrow triangular shark-like teeth, minor horns on their heads and
great tusks jutting from their face.  The only overt difference between males
and females is the length of their torso, a feature that is easily lost under
clothing.  They speak in a deep baritone chord, two tones at once being either
a major fourth or fifth apart.  They were a warrior-slave race for over a
thousand years to the Gelkin and have lost most of their cultural identity. 
Two hundred years after the start of their rebellion against the Gelkin, they
are mostly a free race.  A race whose home world and culture is lost to the
past, they have a unique relationship with the Taiks of the Highlands of Afon. 
It was the Highlanders who first helped them in their rebellion, and they still
have a close military bond with their diminutive furry friends.  It is not
uncommon for Highland Taiks, off looking for adventure and to explore the
galaxy, to serve alongside the Shukurae.

Gelkin:
The Gelkin are a short, squat race who
are roughly ursine (bear-like) in appearance.  Averaging only 1.60m (5’3”),
they are shorter than most other races. A point that didn’t use to bother them
when they held a tight grip on long arms of the galaxy.  They are a feudal
society with no appreciable gender bias.  With the major source of muscle, the
Shukurae, now long since gone from their control, their empire is in rapid
decline.  Nowhere is this more true than the edge of the frontier with the
human worlds.