Zein: The Homecoming (3 page)

The experienced engineer traced the edges first, the steel melting to become one with the rest of the tunnel steel. Once done he switched to any rivets or inconsistences where the other oblongs met. When he had finished he switched off the beam and took off his goggles to survey his work. Except for some red glowing areas where the heat had last been focused it was hard to see where the hole had been. Tate shook his head in amazement. He knew that the Oneerions were the number one builders and skilled craftsmen in the Universe yet you just knew the Tyther clan would challenge such a statement.

The survivors climbed onto the gliders to make their way back to their respective posts. The fire took hold of the piles of stacked bodies as numerous bonfires were lit. Tate tracked the thin tendrils of smoke climb to the roof of the tunnel where it was whisked away by the venting system. He had two questions crashing around his head.
How
had the Pod penetrated the steel walls?
The weaknesses had always been the gates and barricades.

But the most disturbing question that challenged him was his encounter with that particular male Pod.
What had he been trying to say?
Why communicate at all? Were they not both committed to destroying each other? He was confused, not helped by the weariness he felt from the endless fighting. As they climbed back onto the gliders Tate’s mind drifted to the history of the Expeditionary Force and wondered whether they would ever come back. What he didn’t know was that he would find out the answer to his questions sooner than he thought.

‘What were you thinking of, Taio?’ said an exasperated Tate, banging his fist down on the dark mahogany throne where many figures, both animal and Zeinonian, were carved into the impressive decorative back that swept up the wall like ivy. The room they were in was relatively small, as space in the packed city was at a premium, and Tate missed the grand throne hall where his father once ruled after the death of Lord Ricken Blackstone. That now seemed so long ago with the throne hall now split into many temporary sleeping dormitories.

Taio didn’t reply. He just looked everywhere except at the Chancellor, his face a deep crimson as he held back his anger at such a public dressing down. Tate had no choice but to call an emergency Inner Council meeting to discuss the recent attack which had altered the status quo of the settlement.

In the meeting were the senior representatives from each of the clans and also from the enigmatic Changeling community, the latter silent, watching. They were all seated in a semi-circle facing Tate. Behind each of the clans were two soldiers from their personal bodyguards and situated at the locked main doors was an armed
guard drawn from the Malacca clan. Beside Tate was the reassuring figure of Kron, who stood directly to his left.

‘Now, Tate, leave Taio alone,’ said the calming voice of Eben Southgate, the oldest person in the room and Taio’s grandfather. ‘Did he not take on the Pod and beat them? We should be congratulating him not castigating him.’ Tate turned his attention to the old man. He needed to be careful here, the old man’s voice carried weight with the Blackstones. He was also as wily as a fox and Tate never underestimated him.

‘Lord Southgate, you know and I know leaving the North Gate fortification unguarded would have been catastrophic if the Pod had attacked. It leads directly into the city and with the limited inner defences the settlement has, the Pod would have annihilated us.’

‘But they didn’t, did they?’ Tate turned to face the mocking face of Jaida. He kept his temper under control as Jaida sauntered seductively across the council room floor until she was facing Tate. ‘Now, dear, beloved, Tate.’ She reached out with her hand and stroked his clenched fist; Tate couldn’t help but think of more pleasant times he and Jaida had once had.

‘We had no choice really did we? There was a significant breach and if we waited behind our barricades like scared children, we wouldn’t now be having this discussion,’ she said silkily.

Tate saw the nodding heads of the bulk of the Inner Council. He was losing the argument.
Damn Jaida
. He decided to push on another front instead.

‘I hear what you and my learned friends say,’ he started smoothly, sitting down and unclenching his fists. Jaida gave him a wink and then slowly went back to her seat with the majority of the male eyes upon her. ‘What we must agree to is a more appropriate distribution of our forces.’
Around the room the Tyther and Southgate Elders were not disputing this request so Tate went in for the kill.

‘Lady Blackstone, you have the second largest army in Aeria but you only have less than ten per cent on the fortifications?’ Tate addressed Jaida’s haughty and regal mother, Safah, who was now the most senior Blackstone in the city.

‘I have, young man as I need to ensure the safety of my people,’ she retorted, not pleased at the attention moving to her. Safah had retreated behind her walls after the death of her husband, the then Lord Chancellor, some four years previously. He had been a good man but his wife had proved, in her grief, to be manipulative, greedy and above all arrogant.

‘Lord Chancellor is his title Lady Blackstone in this chamber,’ said an angry Kingsley Tyther, his youth clouding his judgment as he jumped to remonstrate against the lack of respect. His father, Quinlan Tyther, urged him to sit down.

‘Quinlan why do you bring a child to such an important meeting?’ said Safah with a disdainful look at the hot headed prince. Quinlan stood up with one hand on his young son’s shoulder, his weight concentrated on his hand to keep his son seated and thereby making sure he didn’t rise to the bait. Lady Blackstone was one royal you did not want to cross.

‘Lady Blackstone, he has reached the age of majority and you know I am not one for these meetings, preferring to focus on the practical work which is needed and I hope my son will take my place here in time.’ He broke off as he gave a regretful smile, ‘Of course, he is young and speaks before he has thought things through.’ The last words were said pointedly to his son as a warning. Kingsley glowered back but no one challenged the tall, muscular Tyther lord. Safah accepted the apology gracefully.

‘Lady Blackstone,’ said Tate, deciding he needed to leverage his authority as Chancellor, ‘I recognise your need to protect your clan, just like I recognise the need for each of us to protect our own clans. However, together we are stronger and our first line of defence needs bolstering.’ Tate paused for effect, ‘What I ask is that you provide another thirty percent of your forces to the North and East Gates. That still leaves you over ten thousand to protect the Blackstone enclave.’

Safah was just going to retort when Tate asked for a show of hands to support the motion. Each of the clans had two votes compared with the Changelings’ one. The hands went up into the air and predictably Safah kept her hands down, as did both the Southgates, along with the Changelings as they sided with the Blackstones. No surprises there then.

Four votes lost.

Tate was not able to vote due to his position; however, his mother Darya could and her hand was up high. The Tythers joined her.

Three votes!

Beaten…usual situation!
Tate suppressed his annoyance. The Fathoms had no vote as the only survivor of the royal bloodline was the troublesome young princess Eva Fathom who at the age of thirteen was too young to vote. Eva was looked after by Cadence, her sister, but since she had married into the Southgates, in accordance with Inner Council guidelines, her Fathom vote was lost.

He may be the Lord Chancellor, but Tate’s power was limited as long as the Southgates, Blackstones and Changelings voted together. He was just going to concede defeat when the unexpected happened, Jaida put her hand up, much to her mother’s shock and disgust.
A tie!
Her face held an amused look, as if she found the whole situation a little bit of fun.

Tate cleared his throat. ‘A tie and therefore my vote can be cast as a decider and I vote the motion in.’ Kingsley whooped with delight under the disapproving eye of his father.

Safah looked like she was going to hit Jaida, who didn’t seem perturbed in the slightest.

Why did Jaida help me?
Tate thought.

‘We have one more agenda item,’ Tate carried on hurriedly, ‘from the Changelings’ enclave.’ He raised a questioning eye towards the Changelings.

Myolon rose. He was in the principal form of the Changeling’s when they were not “transforming”. He was relatively tall, with the usual Zeinonian features. You could tell that he was a Changeling only by the animalistic eyes, amber with black flecks and a whirl of different colours that echoed around the iris, looking out from the heavy lids. Tate knew he was old, probably over three hundred years, remembering the stories about his role in the second Xonian War and that he was one of the Changelings who brought the magics to the clans.

The Changelings lived long and when one of their numbers bore a child, it was feted by the entire colony as a miracle; however, the last child was born over twenty years ago and was already fully grown, causing the clans to grow concerned about the longevity of the race. The Changelings were ruled by ancient folklore and Heathlon, the High Priestess, Myolon’s mother, was the Law. Heathlon was not present, sending her son in her place.

Tate monitored them carefully knowing that if they chose to do so, the Changelings were a powder keg within the Aeria Cavern that he couldn’t take the risk of setting off.

‘Greetings, Lord Chancellor, worshipful Elder and head of all our illustrious clans,’ Myolon’s rasping voice ground across the council room. ‘We all know that our time on this
planet is under the darkest threat and that we cannot hope to keep the Pod at bay forever,’ he continued. There was a murmur of agreement and a little fear around the room.

Tate’s expression did not alter.
Where was he going with this?

‘We can no longer rely on the Expeditionary Force returning and a solution is required to free us from this infernal prison once and for all,’ said Myolon, his deeply flecked amber eyes circling the room.

This was a day that he had waited for; today was the day that the Changelings would create history. He felt the spark of the magics within his body stir. It always started in his hands and then enveloped him internally, majority in the room oblivious to what was happening. Changelings could suppress outward displays of the magic.

Not like these puny Zeinonians who have to glimmer and glow with their magics, they have no idea of the damage they are doing to themselves
, Myolon inwardly sneered.

Everyone in the room leaned forward; even the usually cool and disinterested Jaida’s attention was on the tall Changeling royal prince. Tate watched, waited. His magics, the ability to taste a change in the environment and strength of the magics, felt the pulse of the magic that was pumping around in the Changeling’s blood.

‘Lord Chancellor, we are concerned at this latest breach,’ Myolon began, ‘to be able to break through our strongest steel means that the Pod are developing their own magic. Can you imagine the risk to the settlement if they develop that magic further?’

Tate was worried about the direction this was taking the Council. He was still confused as to why that male Pod had been trying to communicate with him earlier.
What was that all about?

‘I have a solution to all our concerns,’ Myolon paused for effect; he was enjoying this. ‘You will agree that our problem
is the Pod?’ he asked. There was no disputing response. ‘We have developed a serum that will eradicate the entire Pod from this planet within the next three termins.’

There were gasps of shock and then excited whispers.

Myolon knew he had them. ‘We propose to the Chair that this serum is placed in the main reservoir of the Pod enclave deep in the planet,’ he concluded with a flourish. There was uproar. Everyone was whooping with delight, even the normally hesitant Quinlan Tyther was all smiles.

A solution at last!
everyone thought.

The only person unmoved was the Lord Chancellor. Tate sat back in his chair with a thoughtful look, casting his eye over the delight of the other members of the Council but was drawn to the contingent from the Changelings, whose facial expressions were frozen, impassive.
Why speak up now?
Tate thought, trying to see behind the motion.

Myolon ignored the bedlam around him. For such a decision Myolon knew that he would need the Lord Chancellor’s agreement irrespective of the vote. Anything which impacted the planet of Zein and way of life was the sole responsibility of the Lord Chancellor.

Tate observed the behaviour of his fellow Council members with concern. They all were shouting their agreement to the plan. Kingsley and Taio, who usually hated each other, were clasping hands and shaking with excitement, and Jaida’s eyes were wide expressing her astonishment.
This is news to Jaida. Odd
, he mused.

All this time Myolon waited patiently, not taking his eyes off the Lord Chancellor. Tate guessed that the move to add the serum to the underground reservoir stemmed from the lessons learnt after the first attempt to wipe out the Pod. They had survived deep in the bowels of the planet with the Queen reproducing and creating new brethren who in turn were nourished by the underground water
and food. Attacking this food source would permanently wipe out the Pod, something not lost on the people in the Inner Council.

Tate held up a hand. The noise continued until Kron slammed down his fist on the table in front of him for order. The noise subsided and reluctantly the Inner Council members reclaimed their seats. Tate stood tiredly, his body complaining with every move he made, to face Myolon. ‘What you are proposing is genocide is it not?’ he asked. Myolon confirmed that this was the case. Tate looked around him and realised that he stood alone. He saw the excited and flushed faces around him and could not blame them for their joy. They had all lost loved ones to the Pod, including him, and this was coupled with the life they led in the Aeria Cavern not being the life that any Zeinonian would choose. He felt his own unease begin to disappear and then he remembered his history lessons.

He had to try. ‘Myolon, did we not try this before, yet the Pod grew back more powerful and their hatred for us immeasurably greater?’

Myolon hesitated, choosing his words carefully. ‘I do acknowledge, Lord Chancellor, this has been tried before but this serum is stronger and now we know that rather than dispersing it in the atmosphere, if we place it in the main reservoir deep in the planet, where their queen resides, we will be able to wipe out all the Pod.’

Tate’s breathing became more forced as panic rose within him. He deployed every fibre of his body to suppress the fear he felt. He knew he was losing the argument.

‘Yes, that is what we need!’ Quinlan shouted, He had lost his wife, Aaila, six manos ago in a foraging expedition on the surface and his hatred of the Pod was all consuming. Tate fully understood that with the Tythers backing this
approach there was only one way to go or he stood the chance of being deposed which would provide Safah with the chance to step in to become Lady Chancellor.
Then all hell would break loose
, he thought morosely.

One last try
. ‘That would mean killing all their women and children and how can we be sure there will be no impact on us?’ he challenged.

‘They kill our women and children!’ said Eben angrily. He had lost many of his kin when defending the barricades.

Myolon did not waver. ‘The question you need to ask yourself Lord Chancellor is, will the savagery and hatred likely decrease or increase in the Pod and if that answer is increase, then the whole blood line needs to be cleansed.’ Cheering for his words echoed around the chamber but he wasn’t finished, realising he still needed to answer Tate’s other question; ‘We have already tested this serum with the Blackstones.’ Tate looked across at the smug Safah, who inclined her head to confirm the statement. Jaida whipped around to look at her mother, her face registering shock and Safah returned the look without flinching. ‘There were no side effects.’