Aurora Saga 2 Immortality for Life (25 page)

‘I’m sure you didn’t ask me here, just to talk. I may be young, but I’m definitely not stupid. What do you want?’

Zoren watched her for a moment as she perched herself on the edge of the desk in front of him.

‘I’m going to offer you a deal. I want Kalrea’s powers,’ she said. ‘Give me Kalrea, and we’ll free ten of your people.’

‘You have thirty-three of my people.’

‘Well, I had thirty-three. I’m sorry, Zoren, but only twenty-one are still alive and I need eleven to fulfil my commitment to my clients.’

‘What?’ he said, before thinking,
she’s killed twelve of them!

Zoren was speechless. He felt a desperate need to do something and wanted to get up and put his hands around the Lady Sathodee’s neck, to squeeze the life from her.

‘What do you mean, only twenty-one are alive now?’ Zoren said in disbelief.

‘Three more were going to be used today, but I’ve stopped it,’ she said. ‘I can do that you know. I can also tell them to continue.’ She smiled arrogantly at Zoren. ‘What’s your wife’s name, Zoren?’ she said, noticing the band around his right wrist, which indicated he was married.

Zoren gulped. ‘Sabri, her... her name’s Sabri.’

Lady Sathodee leant across to a small spherical crystal on the table. She picked it up and pressed its surface where a list of names was then displayed. Zoren tried to see, but the writing was far too small.

‘Are, yes, here she is?’ Lady Sathodee nodded her head. ‘Well that was lucky!’

‘What do you mean?’ Zoren was now on the edge of his seat.

‘She was in the three that were going to be used today.’

Zoren felt a lump at the back of this throat, which felt dry, and his hearts missed a beat. ‘Please, I can’t give you Kalrea,’ he said in dread.

‘That’s a real pity. Your wife’s very beautiful.’

Zoren felt under great pressure, and all he could think of now was Sabri in her red evening dress.
I can’t give her Kalrea. What do I do? But Sabri, she’ll die if I don’t agree.

Lady Sathodee continued, ‘I bet you must really love Sabri. What about Kalrea? She’s not even one of you, she’s a stranger. Are you really going to protect her instead of your wife?’

He could see that Lady Sathodee was enjoying seeing him under stress.

‘Just think, Zoren. If you don’t agree, you’ll never see Sabri again.’

‘Ok! Ok… I’ll… I’ll see what I can do.’

‘Good,’ Lady Sathodee said, placing the sphere back on the desk. ‘So tell me, how many of her race are onboard the
Aurora
now.’

What do I tell her?

‘Er… there are twelve of them.’

‘Interesting!’

She was staring directly into his eyes. He kept glancing away from her.

‘But that’s not true, is it?’ Lady Sathodee said.

‘I told you there are twelve of them.’

‘So, why are you alone? Why isn’t one of them with you now? Strange that!’

Damn, she knows! She must know I’m lying.

‘I’ll tell you what I think,’ Lady Sathodee said. ‘I think there is only Kalrea. I’m right aren’t I?’

Zoren was trying to look relaxed.

‘You’re not a very good liar. I’ve had six hundred years of meeting people and observing their behaviours. I know when someone’s lying you know.’

I must keep calm and not react.

‘There is only Kalrea. Am I right?’

Zoren was about to make up a story, when with a raised voice she ordered, ‘Tell me the truth or your wife may suffer as a consequence.’

He nodded slowly. ‘Yes.’

‘According to Hifmo, Kalrea is light-years away from here. She took one of your people back to Onliv. He says the
Ringal
intercepted her transport, but she managed to kill the crew of the
Ringal
without even firing a single shot. Now that’s impressive. She’s a woman after my own heart. She seems to have no devices on her, yet she’s able to hack so easily into our computers. How does she do that?’

‘I’ve no idea,’ he replied. ‘Why would she tell me?’

‘Erm… There’s some truth in that statement. Have you thought that Kalrea could be using you? Maybe she wants to be in competition with me. I have a list of clients who are in need of your people. I’m sure she has too. That ship of hers must have cost a lot of money. All that technology doesn’t come cheap you know.’

‘She’s not in it for the money,’ Zoren replied.

‘Can you be so sure? That ship was on the Polnozoo. Bit of a coincidence that, wasn’t it?’

‘No, I don’t believe you. Your mercenaries would have taken me as well, had I not been trapped. She helped me. If what you say is true, she’d have taken us long before that.’

‘Erm… Tell me more about this ship of hers, the
Aurora
. It’s the fastest I’ve seen and most certainly is not from anywhere around here.’

‘Look, I’m not going to tell you anything else.’

‘You want to see your wife again, don’t you, Zoren.’

‘Of course!’

‘Then tell me about the bloody ship!’ she shouted at him. ‘I’m not going to ask you again. How did it get here? Either your people can fly it, which I think is extremely unlikely, or her technology allows it to fly itself.’

Zoren felt like a child being told off by his mother and wanted to get away from her.

I can’t tell her what Kalrea really is. Kalrea would never trust me again.

‘It flies itself. It... It has kind of an auto-pilot. Look, I’ve really no idea how it works.’

‘I want you to take me onboard.’

‘No, I can’t!’ Zoren said almost immediately.

‘That was very definite no.’

Damn, why did I not think!

‘So what’s going to prevent me from walking onboard now? Kalrea’s not there.’

Think! Quick!

‘Er... This device,’ he said, showing the telementor on his wrist to her. ‘Kalrea said I needed to wear it to access the ship. So without one you wouldn’t be allowed onboard.’

That’s not bad. It’s almost the truth,
he thought and then said,

‘Kalrea hasn’t told us much about the ship. We’re only allowed in the living area.’

‘No, you know a lot more than you’re telling me. But once Kalrea is dead, then I’m sure I’ll be able to find out.’

‘How are you going to kill her?’

‘Now that would be for me to know and you to help with. So do we have a deal, ten of your people for Kalrea?’

I have no choice.

‘What… do you want me to do?’

‘Hardly anything! There’s an island on the planet below us, called Weigo. I want you to tell Kalrea that I want to meet her there. Tell her I want to negotiate an end to all this. She will know that’s the only way of finding your people. I’m sure she will be her usual self, just like me.’ Lady Sathodee smiled to herself. ‘Hifmo says that Kalrea is young, but I don’t believe that for a moment. How old is she?’

‘I… I don’t know.’

Lady Sathodee stood up and moved slowly behind him. She bent down to talk into his ear. ‘Tell me or the deal’s off,’ she said softly.

Zoren could not tell her that Kalrea was one thousand, six hundred years old because she would ask more questions, but he also realised that if he made out she was only nineteen, then this too would raise suspicion, so thinking quickly he replied,

‘Kalrea’s about fifty years old.’

‘Really! But she looks so much younger. Maybe she’s also immortal,’ Lady Sathodee said, now looking a little concerned. ‘Is she, Zoren?’

‘No. She told me that her race ages very slowly,’ he said lying. ‘She could live to be over six hundred years old.’

‘Good! Then she can die.’

‘If I do this, then how do I know my people will be set free?’ Zoren asked her.

‘I give you my word.’

I don’t believe her for a moment. Once Kalrea’s out of the way she doesn’t need to keep her promise and will want all of us. But I have to go along with it.

‘I… I want to see my wife,’ Zoren said uneasily.

‘When Kalrea is on the island, then I will let you see your wife. You can go now.’ She hurried back around her desk and sat down. She was now studying the sphere.

Zoren sat there for a moment.
I suppose that’s it then.
He got nervously up.

‘When do you want to meet her?’ he asked.

Lady Sathodee peeked up at him. ‘I’ll be there when she arrives. Are you still here?’

Just as he was about to leave, she call out to him, ‘Oh, by the way, tell her also that Hifmo is very upset with her. Blowing his ship up was a bit unkind. Hifmo spent an hour in space. He said it was like being in an ice bifmo.’

She laughed.

‘He’s on his way here now and should arrive before Kalrea. I think he’s looking forward to meeting her in person again.’

Zoren trudged onto the bridge of the
Aurora
with his head bowed. Gulco rushed over to him, but was wary of the telementor.

‘Kalrea, is he safe?’ Gulco commented. ‘I wouldn’t want to be incinerated if he accidently pressed the face of that telementor.’

‘Yes, Gulco, I’ve disabled it as soon as he arrived back on the
Aurora
.’

‘You look terrible. Are you all right?’ Gulco asked Zoren, placing his only hand reassuringly on Zoren’s shoulder.

‘No, I… I need to sit down.’

Zoren went straight to a console seat.

‘What happened?’ Gulco asked.

‘I met Lady Sathodee. She looked so young and beautiful, but inside she was devious and cold hearted. That’s the most intimidated I’ve ever felt. She is also immortal.’

‘I suspected as much,’ Kalrea replied.

‘What did she want?’ Gulco asked.

‘She…’ Zoren hesitated and thought,
What do I tell them? Sabri’s life is in danger, but I can’t lie to Kalrea. Without her we’re as good as dead anyway.
He then decided to tell the true about what Lady Sathodee wanted and replied, ‘She made a deal with me.’

‘A
deal!
’ Gulco repeated in surprise.

‘Yes,’ Zoren said, with his head bowed towards the ground.

‘What sort of deal?’ Gulco asked him.

‘They want me, don’t they, Zoren?’ Kalrea said interrupting.

‘How did you know?’

‘What else could you possibly bargain with?’

‘She threatened me, Kalrea. Sabri was going to die today.’ Zoren’s eyes glazed over. ‘Kalrea, I…’ He covered his face with his hands and started to cry.

‘Zoren, I can only imagine what it was like in there,’ Kalrea said with emotion in her voice.

He could tell Kalrea felt for him, which made him even more emotional. As Zoren cried he spoke. ‘Lady Sathodee... She promised... She promised I’d see Sabri again. I... I had no choice.’ He stared at Gulco as tears streamed down his cheeks. ‘I’m sorry, so sorry. There are only twenty-one of our people still alive.’

Gulco went pale; he looked drained of all life. He sat down in the other console seat and said, ‘No... No, that can’t be true,’ before hitting his fist against the console.

‘What does she want you to do, Zoren?’ Kalrea asked.

Zoren was still crying, as he thought about what he had promised Lady Sathodee. ‘I betrayed you, Kalrea... She wants to kill you and take the
Aurora
. I promised her that when you will be back on the
Aurora
, I would ask you to meet her on an island called Weigo because she wants to bargain with you.’

‘Then, that’s what we’ll do.’

Zoren was surprised. ‘But why?’

‘Why not? She must think that she can kill me. Then let her try. You didn’t tell her what I really am, did you Zoren?’ Kalrea sounded very serious.

‘No… No of course not. She thinks you’re a person.’

‘Good, then we have an opportunity. Lady Sathodee said you’ll see Sabri. If that’s true, then when they open a communication channel, I will be able to trace where she is.’

‘What if she has a way of killing you, Kalrea?’

‘Then I’ll die, won’t I?’ Kalrea seemed unmoved. ‘I don’t see how she could harm my drone, but she obviously believes she can. My transport is currently four days, three hours away from you. I suggest the
Aurora
travels towards my Antrolo transport to pick us up and comes back to Trafth, so that we can cut two days off of the flight time.

‘That’s still a long time, Kalrea,’ Zoren said.

‘I know. Too long, but that’s the quickest we can return to Trafth.’

The
Aurora
sat motionless in space, while the Antrolo transport slowed its approach. The large cargo bay doors in the roof of the
Aurora
started to slide apart to receive the transport.

Within the accommodation space, Asnica and Doine were getting restless. They knew that Supora and Kalrea were about to arrive back on the
Aurora
.

‘Can we go to the cargo bay yet?’ Asnica asked Zoren.

‘Three minutes! We need to give Kalrea three more minutes. She needs to land the transport and get the cargo bay doors closed before we can enter.’

Gulco wandered over to Zoren.

‘I think they’ll be the two happiest girls onboard once that transport touches down,’ he remarked. ‘I’m glad Kalrea went back to Onliv and I apologise, Zoren, for being such an idiot. Every life is worth saving, every one of us.’

Zoren was taken aback by Gulco’s admission and at first did not know what to say. He paused for a moment and then replied, ‘Er… It’s all right, Gulco. I understand why you felt that way. There was actually the risk of losing more of our people to save Supora.’

Asnica tugged on Zoren’s arm. ‘Can we go now?’

‘I don’t think you’re going to get much peace until you take them to the cargo bay,’ Gulco remarked, with a cheeky grin.

Zoren nodded back and then looking to Asnica said, ‘Ok, we’ll wait in the lift. Come on then.’

Asnica and Doine ran into the Pojin lift. Zoren, Gulco and his wife, Cafeor, followed.

‘Cargo bay,’ Zoren said to the lift.

The door closed and the Pojin lift moved to the cargo bay, but the doors remained closed.

‘Won’t be long now,’ Zoren said to Asnica.

There was a muffled sound of the transport’s drive coming from behind the door. The noise increased, then in an instant there was silence.

Asnica put her hands onto the door and tried to make it open by sliding her hands across its surface. Unexpectedly the door did open, making her jump.

They all strolled out into the cargo bay. In the distance the Antrolo transport was now safely clamped to the floor. Supora appeared at the doorway.

‘Mummy! Mummy!’ Doine shouted loudly, before sprinting over to her, leaving the others at the exit of the lift. Doine held out her arms with the expectation of being lifted up by her mother, but Supora was in no condition to lift anything.

‘Mummy can’t pick you up today, darling,’ she said apologetically.

Zoren glanced to Asnica, who was still standing alongside him and staring at Supora from a distance. She started to cry. He leant down and was about to comfort her, when she started to walk purposefully over to Supora, who had now sat on the steps of the transport and was embracing Doine.

Supora took both Asnica and Doine in her arms. She was now crying too. Zoren had to wipe his eyes. He noticed Gulco doing the same and smiled to himself.

Kalrea appeared at the doorway of the transport.

Asnica peered up at her. ‘Thank you, Kalrea,’ she said, and then held out her arms. Kalrea bent down and gave Asnica a hug.

‘Well, as I said, Zoren. They are two very happy girls,’ Gulco said.

‘Yes, but they’ve lost their father,’ Zoren said sadly.

‘I know, Zoren...’

As they talked, Kalrea and Supora were now being led away by Asnica and Doine. Zoren could hear them talking as they hurried past.

‘...We’ve called the young Glonvis, Duin and Fuin,’ Asnica said excitedly to Kalrea.

‘You’ve given them names,’ she replied surprised.

‘What’s a Glonvi?’ Supora said, with a puzzled look.

‘We’ve been looking after them for Kalrea,’ Doine said.

‘Have you now!’ Supora said, glancing at Kalrea with a smile on her face.

They disappeared into the adjoining room where the Glonvis were kept. Zoren was listening to the children talking enthusiastically to Kalrea and Supora, when Gulco patted him on the shoulder and said,

‘Probably more of our children, like Asnica and Doine, will no longer have a mother or father by the end of this. Adults like Sabri and you will have to look after these I believe.’

Zoren was taken aback. ‘I… I hadn’t thought about it like that.’

‘I’m afraid we’re all going to have to make sacrifices, all going to have to help each other in the days and years ahead.’

‘I really hope Sabri is safe,’ Zoren said. ‘I’m not sure I can stand living without her.’

‘What are you saying?’ Gulco said.

‘I miss her so much. I never thought we’d ever be apart. I’m not sure I want to live a life without her.’

‘Zoren, there’s every chance she’ll be fine. After all, why would they want to kill a pregnant mother?’

‘Do they know she’s pregnant? Do they care?’

Gulco seemed lost for words.

‘In my mind, I can still see her in the long red evening dress she wore the night when we went to visit Valon and Supora, the night everything changed,’ Zoren said sadly. ‘I remember her trying to help me, but my leg was trapped. She was shot and there was nothing I could do.’

‘Lucky for us you were trapped, if not they’d have taken you too,’ Gulco said.

I wish I had been taken. At least then I’d have been with Sabri. But then, where would I be now? Where would we all be? Dead!
Zoren thought, and then said,

‘Yes, I suppose I was lucky.’ He sighed.

‘Look, we’ll soon get back to Trafth,’ Gulco said. ‘Then we’ll have to pray that Kalrea can find out where the rest of our people are.’

‘We owe her so much. Without her we’d all be captives, waiting to die.’

Gulco said, ‘I think it was very obvious to everyone that I was suspicious of Kalrea at first, but I know now that she will do everything she can to get Sabri and the others back.’

‘I also know she will,’ Zoren said.

‘Why did Kalrea save you from that Polnozoo?’ Gulco asked.

‘Well, she told me she needed a pilot and she feels the need to protect someone.’

‘So you can fly the
Aurora
?’ Gulco said.

Zoren could see Gulco was surprised and in awe of the possibility he could fly such an impressive ship. He would have loved to have been able to say yes, but instead, he had to shake his head and replied,

‘No, I’ve never been given the opportunity. I’m only the pilot by title. I don’t even know if I could give Kalrea an order. In fact, she’s often telling me what to do.’

‘I’d like to see you give her an order,’ Gulco said cheerfully.

‘Er... I think I’ll pass on that one, Gulco. She seems quite capable of making her own decisions.’

‘Yes, Kalrea’s definitely the one in charge on this ship,’ Gulco replied.