Cutlass Sharpened (66 page)

A rustling sound is all that gave warning
before bright orange light from flame filled the hall. Oliver
turned around and jumped much like a grasshopper, met a wall and
used it to spring down a free corner backwards. He tapped his ear
and spoke confidently. “They found me before I got anywhere close.
I’m on my way.”

“
We feel the ground
shaking.” Stone said.

Behind came the unmistakable sound of two
different irritated roars from Beasts wanting to kill and consume
whatever came into their lair. Intruding on their territory. They
half flew and ran down the oversized tunnels.

Coming around a corner Oliver moved just slow
enough to make sure the Salamanders didn’t lose him. Even with all
his speed, he could not get close enough to kill all alone. His
suit may resist fire, but not the jaws or that stinger already
moistened and dripping venom. He was fast, but not that fast in
such a confined space. Add to it the wing generated by buzzing
wings and he would not stand a chance. Thankfully they had a one
track mind. Kill. Not smart enough to plan steps ahead. That is
what made the difference.

He found the exit and said “I’m coming out in
five seconds.”

At three seconds he saw the faint flickering
of electricity’s glow emanating from either side of the entrance.
Oliver shot out and let his blade start consuming his power, making
it a beacon to focus on mostly.

Out first was a smaller, but still twice the
size of an elephant Salamander and with so much momentum carrying
its bulk, it never saw Stone chopping through the air and sending a
thin, but sharp wave of energy which beheaded it halfway down the
scale armored neck.

Number two was even larger and clearly male,
but like the smaller female who slid lifelessly, it didn’t see
Steven swing down his spiked flail during a jump, accurately
blowing it’s head off its neck. Oliver’s needs had him stopping one
rolling head with a foot as the other came to a stop thanks to a
tree grouping.

His sword plunged and circled out its skull
before prying it out and gaining access to the prize. It took two
hands to wetly rip the brain from the spinal cord and he ate as if
he was starved. Absently he watched Stone sever the stingers from
each twitching corpse.

The second brain also
vanished before he realized he should have saved some for Renee who
just so happened to chose that time to show up scowling.
“
Sure
, you would
let me have something to sink my teeth into. And here I find you
having dessert first without sharing with your woman. What kind of
a provider are you?”

“
One you’ll just have to
forgive some day.” He wiped his chin dripping purple blood that
looked black in the darkness. “I would say sorry, but once I got
started I couldn’t stop.”

“
Just busting your balls. I
remember that craving so I can’t fault you for it.” Renee took it
in stride and said “Let’s cut off a slab for later and condense the
rest before we go to get the job done.”

The cutlass made quick work making thick
steaks for those who would eat before Oliver’s vambrace and Renee’s
bracelet covered the Salamander remains and crushed them into a
speck of their former selves.

Right after, Oliver lifted the thirteen kilos
of Salamander steak and said “I’ll go seal these for later and meet
you at the destination.” He jumped clear of the tree tops, found
the three fighters as well as the shuttle and Deegen’s fighter over
twelve kilometers away in another clearing. As he fell he said to
the others “Better yet we should fly.”

“
Oh, forgot to tell you our
landing area is larger than where you all parked.” Renee suddenly
remembered. “I was faster getting here as Sparky wanted to stay
close to the others.”

They hurried back to the three fighters and
Renee hopped in behind Oliver as they flew over to land again. He
found Stephanie and Jessica in front of a door recently freed from
rubble with Jacob holding up lights with Sparky glowing beneath his
dark armor. Without asking, Oliver just knew the Drake’s primal
nemesis’s scent alone would make him want to kill. Even though the
five recently were killed, a Drake had no control over the glowing
threat display when a Keptl was near. The only thing keeping him
from being too bright was the donned Drake armor painted tactical
black.

Renee also commented it was she who blasted
her way to the sealed door.

They all landed and Stephanie came over to
say “We’ve been at it for a half hour and no cutting tool will
leave a scratch. I scanned it and those doors are made just like
your sword Oliver. The atoms are so packed they do not move. Jake’s
translation program tells us only someone of high rank can place
their hand on it to get it to open. And it’s shielded from scans so
I don’t know what is behind it. All I can find are faint energy
traces.”

They got out and he got straight to the
point. “Let me try then.” And walked right up to the door that was
marble white and right at eye level was the Solarian written
language. His gaze unfocused as he got closer and said “Renee, I
need you for this.”

“
For what?” she did come up
from behind and let her own gaze relax. She had also found she
needed no translation to understand. “How did I miss that?” she
looked at him.

“
Asking the wrong
person.”

“
Guess I was too busy
thinking with my stomach at the thought of finally tasting fresh
Salamander for the first time.”

“
What is it?” Jacob asked as
he held a set of lights in either hand.

“
Oh, sorry.” Oliver
remembered they weren’t alone. “Solarians did nearly everything as
pairs. It says ‘High ranking warriors’ as in perfect pairs, mates.
Jake was right, if this works it requires the two of
us.”

Renee laid her left hand on the feminine side
of the hidden access area as Oliver did the same on the male.

Beneath their bare touch the black door
glowed a blue shadow that outlined their hands. There was a quick,
high pitched chime followed by “Colo Tei, Mantiv, Reten. Zandryth
allain frethiene.”

And the door suddenly turned translucent.

“
A nano-wall!” Jessica
gasped.

“
A rut?” Bell asked, her
tail swinging side to side in anxiety.

“
Nano-wall. With a specific
frequency the density of a uniform object made of nanites can
spread and allow things to pass through.” She explained. “We must
hurry. We do not want to get caught when the frequency
stops.”

“
What would happen?” Deegen
asked, fearing the answer.

“
Two solid objects cannot
occupy the same space. If the atoms are so packed I think you can
understand how it would cut through your body.” She lifted her bag
and hurried through first, making the wall ripple like water.
Everyone else hurried through and not three seconds after Jacob
stepped beyond, the translucent door became solid again.

“
Did either of you
understand what was said before the door… er opened?” Stephanie
asked as they entered a rather large hall that seemed to have
escaped the ravages of time’s decay. It was more dome shaped and
rather clear of anything aside from a table and chairs all angled
towards the empty center. It was made of some silvery wood that
hadn’t petrified like the rest. And the hall lit up, emanating from
the walls themselves to the point extra light was not
required.

“
Not a clue.
Red?”

Renee shook her head.

“
Te connue. Metitte alavan.”
Everyone turned to a tall floating woman with pointed ears, blonde
hair and wore a set of strange red clothes that were both
provocative and enticing. She stood floating in the center of the
room

Oliver sniffed to say “It’s a hologram. She
isn’t real.” It didn’t make things easier for the others who all
stepped behind the Hunters with drawn weapons.

“
Te Kenniy calin?” the
woman’s head turned and her beautiful visage seemed
confused.

Oliver’s eyes were drawn to the desk where a
round recess was familiar. He went to it, disregarding the others.
He willed what Stephanie called the brain hacker function into
being. A sucker attached to his forehead and then he made it link
to the recess and the fit was perfect. He was momentarily
fatigued.

The woman closed her golden eyes for a few
moment before saying clearly “Language translation complete,
General Mantiv. How may I serve you?”

Oliver was too disoriented, but Renee stepped
forward, making the hologram turn her gaze. “What did you call
him?”

“
He is General Mantiv,
highest warrior and elder brother of Galactic King Chamatan.
Mantiv, the strongest warrior of all fifteen thousand galaxies. Age
83,462,916 years old by Earth Standard measurement by this recent
update. To my records he has fathered fourteen thousand six hundred
and two offspring with his match General Reten. You. General Mantiv
holds the record for fastest fusion ignition of a star via
telekinesis, can singularly move planets to optimum orbit placement
for life to be seeded and left to thrive. Nova expert and
second-most skilled in swordsmanship. Bested by Galactic King
Chamatan fifty six percent of all matches.

“
Do you not know this,
General Reten? You have been his match since your birth 83,302,801
years ago.”

“
But I’m not…”

“
You most certainly are. My
records are accurate to your biorhythms. Otherwise you would not be
allowed inside with the younger species I do not have in my
records. You are also the genetic match for General Reten. You are
also known as Hellcat from the general’s memories he gave me, but
you are also known as well as the Flame of Adunm. Strongest born
female and only one strong enough to birth General Mantiv’s
offspring safely. No other female can survive his seminal fluids
without burning a feverish death. Your breeding was carefully
selected over the course of sixteen generations to be the
only
compatibility equal
to your ideal offspring’s match, who at that time was 160,118 years
old. You too are a world creator and healer second to none. No
female in all my history’s recordings was above you. You led with a
ruthless determination that other female in all galaxies strived to
emulate. As another highlight to your life, the chemical potency
you create and store within yourself has no equal to my
databanks.”

“
You’re an AI aren’t you?”
Jessica asked when Renee could not move.

“
If you mean, artificial
intelligence, yes. I am the interactive construct named Alleia,
system recorder and guide for the battle cruiser Calleiteim,
commanded by admiral Veleeik. But many of my systems are inoperable
or damaged. May I ask in what quadrant is the galaxy known as Milky
Way and in what sector your home star and planet you stem and
evolved from is. My sensors have determined your species has
rapidly mutated under a yellow dwarf star from being seeded three
point five billion years ago. A remarkable advancement.”

Suddenly fifteen thousand different smaller
scaled galaxies appeared in the spacious room as it darkened
considerably. None being the same. Alleia the interactive creation
continued and wiped her hand. “Though my charts haven’t been
updated since I powered down sixty eight thousand, four hundred and
nine years ago from crashing, I’m narrowing down to disc shaped
galaxies from the recent downloaded memories.” She waved her hand
and thousands not meeting that criteria vanished. The remaining
increased in size. “Narrow it further for me, please.” She said
politely.

Jessica brought out her crystal and pulled it
up rather quickly.

“
Quadrant twelve thousand
three.” The hologram said in an instant. All but one galaxy left
the room and now the Milky Way brightly circled overhead in a
spiraling disc. “Sector five, five, three, seven point two.
Sentient evolution successful and space fairing.” She said and then
the galaxy disappeared and the room became brighter again. “I thank
you, and welcome you to the cosmos though you have already been
greeted by the second race.” She smiled.

Steven whispered to Visor “I thought AI’s
were too dangerous.”

Alleia turned to him and
smiled “I take it you mean you have learned that creating sentient
technology is outlawed for good reason?” he nodded. Reason being
that free thinking computers always come to the decision humanity
is weaker, less uniform and functions with unstable programming to
therefore decide that to fix the problem is to delete. Delete
meaning complete annihilation. “Such is true and I have many
limitations as to what I can function through, or could before
crashing. Technology revolt is common for newly learning species
who must learn on their own. Surviving artificial beings is rare
without overcoming and eventually learn to place
restrictions.
My
primary function is data recording and navigation though I do
not pilot. Secondary functions include warfare council, seeding
planets, and monitoring hostilities throughout whichever galaxy I
may have been currently occupying. If I found danger, the
Calleiteim’s primary duty is to go and fight.”

“
Is that why you crashed?
You lost a fight?”

“
Precisely.”

“
Can you tell us how?”
Jessica picked up after Steven.

“
Not without a high ranking
warrior’s permission to access classified files.”

“
Is mine high enough?”
Oliver asked and had to focus or be overwhelmed with thoughts even
though he had recovered from the mild lightheadedness.