Authors: Ronan Frost
The natives had saved his life, for his body
desperately needed rest after the crash landing. Once over this
major hurdle his body readjusted and had begun the healing
process.
Perhaps if the situation was different the natives
may have been permitted access to the High Council Federation, as
had many other primitive cultures of alien worlds. Unfortunately
this was not to be the case, for the Hartrias warship had found
them first. Shaun knew that this planet would be thoroughly mined
and ravaged of its minerals before the Royal Hartrias Fleet
starship departed.
He checked the beacon one final time before rising to
greet his small companions.
"Have we lost them?" barked the native who had
introduced himself as Capac Fletfod. He gestured abruptly back the
way they had came. From their vantage point they could see the full
spread of the jungle around them, the night shadows deep. The large
moon shone from between thunderclouds overhead, illuminating the
majestic landscape in a pale milky light. No lights or signs of
pursuit were in sight.
"I'm not picking them up on the scope," replied
Shaun. "But you can be sure that they are not behind. We have
gained a little time but that is all."
Capac grumbled. "My friends are exhausted and cannot
continue much further."
Shaun nodded in understanding - his own wounds were
being to tear under the strain, the only thing keeping him going
the Hartrias injection pack. "We shall keep walking to the summit
of this hill, then we will make camp. We should be reasonably safe
on this rocky ground if we careful with our tracks."
"Have no fear of that," returned Capac. "I have made
sure we leave no evidence of our passing."
"Great," Shaun said absently, his concentration
elsewhere. "Come on, we've not far to go now."
Shaun would not permit any fire incase it gave away
their position to their trackers. They chewed sullenly at cold
smoked meats, distributed from the fur-lined bags of the pale faced
native Ashian. A little water was scooped from small pools of the
rocks to quench their thirst after the long hike. Shaun had found a
small hollow between towering rocks, and, deeming it a safe refuge,
declared camp. As they ate a billowing wind arisen, chill and
deathlike as it carried the first specks of snow in its wake.
Ashian drew his cloak tighter about his form and
regarded Shaun in the faint moonlight.
"Tell us about yourself," he began. "You said earlier
you were an enemy of the Sunlords?"
Shaun nodded, settling back into a resting position.
Luckily the rock outcropping shielding them from the wind and he
could rest in relative comfort. He settled himself in, knowing that
these inquisitive natives would not let him rest until they knew
all about him.
Shaun was content to answer all their questions,
respecting their right to be curious. Half an hour later they knew
most of his life history, for Shaun could see no sense in holding
any secrets.
The natives quietly listened to his sombre monologue
as he told of his capture into the Sunlord starship and his two
long years of imprisonment.
"How did you survive that long?" questioned Ashian.
"Surely, if an enemy of the Sunlords, you would be quickly disposed
of."
Shaun shook his head. "In those years I was
interrogated and tortured." He rolled the sleeve of his helicasuit,
revealing a narrow mass of scars running the length of his inner
arm. "The Hartrias, or the Sunlords in your tongue, hoped to get
information out of me on the whereabouts of the Federation command
liner. Fortunately they learned nothing, and a few weeks later I
was taken down to their genetic research labs."
"So you didn't relinquish to the torture?" The
Currach's eyes were wide with admiration.
Shaun laughed good-naturedly. "No, nothing so heroic.
It was simply because very few Federation members know themselves
where the command liner is. It's location is a tightly kept secret,
and I, being only a starfighter pilot, knew not where it lay."
Capac's large emerald eyes narrowed. "How did you
escape?"
"It's a long story. Eventually I reverted to the
tunnels and air ducts to escape my pursuers. But I was lucky, and
would not like to try it again."
"Air ducts," mused Capac. "I have journeyed through
the caves and shafts of this very hillside, and I believe can
handle it very well." The seasoned hunter turned to Ashian. "That
may be our way in."
Shaun interceded. "Not so fast. The Sunlords have a
powerful beast at their side called the Lectar, and it is deadly in
the tunnels. Now that I have alerted them of their weakness I'm
sure the Admiral will order the ducts be regularly controlled. The
Lectar are a fearsome beast in an enclosed space, and unless you
have a powerful weapon at your side you may as well pack it
in."
Capac's eyes were steely. "We will never 'pack it
in'."
Shaun paused. "You're deadly serious about this crazy
task of boarding the Sunlord ship aren't you?"
Ashian spoke for them all. "We cannot sit by as watch
our people die. It is my duty as a high official to see the city is
safe and Abas' rule is obeyed. My friends here have a vendetta
against the raiding Lords of the Sun who have decimated many of
their number."
"You realise your deaths will be futile as you come
against the brunt of the Sunlords' fire, don't you? I've been
thinking that maybe you can tag along with me to the next jump
position back to the Federation. I owe you a returned favour, and
it would be no skin off my back to take you to the Council
Chambers."
Capac Fletfod shook his head. "We cannot run from our
country. We are going to defeat the Sunlords, with or without your
help."
Shaun spread his hands in defeat.
"Very well then, have it your own way. I will assist
you in getting aboard the Urisa, suicide though it may be. I'm not
sure you will be able to breathe the gasses aboard the ship. It
would be most unfortunate if you simply fell stiffly to the floor
as soon as you put a foot in the corridors."
"If that is so, how were you able to manage?"
"Nearly every starpilot's genes are developed enough
to survive on most types of air," replied Shaun. "Like the
Sunlords, we humans have evolved our bodies to be able to adapt to
changing gasses in the atmosphere. That's not to say I can breathe
anything, far from it. It just means my lungs can pluck all the
oxygen I need out of the air."
Sudden thought struck Ashian. "I survived aboard the
Sunlord's ship! I recall a faint muskiness to the air, but I
remained conscious."
Noting Shaun's bemused expression, Ashian told of his
ordeal involving his confrontation with the Admiral and all that
had transpired. He told of the Admiral's demands and of the strange
creatures he had met.
Shaun sat back in thought, silently considering the
merit of the native's tale. "This may be true. The Sunlords may
have changed the air in that particular room to suit you, but I
find that highly unlikely. You could be fortunate, my native
friends, in that you can survive on the Sunlord's foul brew. But
what I find curious is that fact that the Admiral even bothered to
warn you. If this was any other planet no regard would be held for
you."
Ashian shrugged. "Maybe they hold an interest in this
planet."
Shaun nodded uneasily. There was something wrong with
the whole way the Hartrias army was approaching this planet. It was
a grating feeling, but he just couldn't put his finger on the
problem. Eventually he shrugged it off and turned his attention
back to his surroundings.
"What weapons do you have?" Shaun asked. He indicated
to Capac's rifle. "May I have a look at that?"
The Eloprin hunter was immediately suspicious. He
eyed Shaun inquisitively for a moment, torn in indecision.
"How do I know you won't turn it against me?"
Shaun laughed, a mirthful companionable laugh.
"If I had wanted to do that, I would have done it
long ago. Come on, forest man, let me see it. After all, don't you
want me to tell you how to operate it properly? I noticed by the
way you handle it you could use a few tips."
Ashian prodded Capac gently in the ribs.
Capac reluctantly passed over the rifle. Shaun took
it, and slumped back into his position against the rock face. His
quick fingers slid a small torch from the pocket of his helicasuit
and he studied the weapon with the narrow beam.
"An Auras rifle," he mused, turning the weapon over
in his hands. "I don't know where you got this from, but you have a
powerful weapon here." A new light of respect shone in Shaun's
eyes, awed at how these primitives had got their hands on the
Hartrias' weapon. "This gun is a real killing machine. Mass
produced, and the sighting is not as great as some of the
Federation sniper lasers. But this thing packs plenty of punch.
Explosive tipped high velocity armour piercing .52 calibre bullets.
Rips the living shit out of anything you'd care to mention."
Ashian looked at the squat black weapon. Its barrel
was stocky and worn with use, designed to fit into the holder's
shoulder, just long enough for both hands to hold. Curling out the
bottom was a
magazine, the LCD dial showing 19 rounds
remaining.
Shaun held the Auras' muzzle to the night sky, the
butt in the crook of his elbow. He grunted. "God knows what we are
going to do with only nineteen rounds. What else have you got?" He
passed the rifle back to Capac and accepted the rifle that Myshia
handed him.
"Where did you get this ancient relic!" exclaimed
Shaun in mock disbelief. "If I'm not mistaken, it's an old Scavala
750. It's an old style automatic, used by exploration teams incase
of an emergency. Still, in the right hands it may be a formidable
weapon. In the morning I shall instruct you of its use."
Ashian suddenly remembered the device he had grabbed
back at the deserted Sunlord camp. It all seemed like many years
ago; the run back to the tribe, the devastation, the killing. But
throughout it all the small thing which he had grabbed at random
had defied gravity and had remained in his pocket.
"I don't know what it is," said Ashian. "I barely had
any time so I took what caught my eye. This thing got my
attention." He handed it over, and Shaun took it.
The latter studied the small cylindrical object with
his torch. He suddenly laughed as recognition dawned. "You have a
knack of picking up the oddest things. You must have raided a
rubbish heap of departed Sunlords. This thing has been broken from
some sort of measuring device or tripod." Shaun was about to
explain that without the computer system, it was useless. Then a
thought struck him. He reached into his red prison helicasuit and
withdrew a narrow blade from one of the many hidden pockets. He
worked at the eyepiece, removing all the circuitry and shrouding.
All that was left was the tube which contained the focusing lens.
Shaun peered through it, noting with the yellow tinge it gave
everything that the night vision scope was still operational. He
turned a lever that had once been connected to another part of the
tripod. As he turned it two lens inside switched and Shaun found
himself looking through an infra-red sight.
He handed the crude telescope to Ashian and
instructed him on how to use it.
"If you look through this end, it will automatically
focus..."
Ashian gasped as the mountains on the horizon
suddenly came up to his nose, bathed in a bright yellow light. He
hastily pulled the telescope from his eye, relieved to find the
mountain back in its place in the deep midnight shadows. Its bulk
was dark in the distance, yet through the telescope he had seen it
as if in day.
Shaun laughed. "It may come in handy, especially at
night."
"At night?"
"Yes, the night vision means it amplified any light,
meaning you will be able to see for miles. But there's more - if
you twist this dial you can alternate to infrared."
Again Ashian laughed in surprise as he saw his
friends standing out as bright yellow and red spots against a blue
background. "Fantastic," he muttered.
Shaun shrugged. "Nothing special about that
technology. I'd say it's standard issue to the Sunlord rifles."
Ashian's brows furrowed as he contemplated the
telescope, marvelling at its magical powers.
Capac had pulled his hunters knife from his sheath
and sat back, sharpening it absently against a strip of leather
from his belt.
"Tell me more of the Sunlords," he said.
Shaun hesitated, not sure where to begin. "You want
an entire history?"
"We need to know our enemy," returned Capac. "We need
to know its weaknesses."
"Weaknesses?" laughed Shaun. "No, the Sunlords are
without physical defections. All faulty genes have been weeded out
over the generations, the scientists altering muscular and nervous
system makeup so that nothing is exposed. I'm afraid the only way
to hit them is to blast them into a lot of pieces, the more the
better."
"Are they skilled in hand-to-hand combat?" asked
Myshia.
"Oh yes. Even without armour or weapons they are
deadly beasts. You see, their race has developed over thousands of
years from lizard-like origins, not unlike the dinosaur."
"-dinosaur?-" put in Ashian.
Shaun explained. "Creatures that roamed Earth about
ten million years before mammals emerged. They died out on Earth
because giant meteorite struck the planet, blocking the sun with
soot from the burning trees. The impact of the meteorite burnt
nearly ninety percent of all the trees and vaporised rock at
temperatures of over one thousand degrees."
Capac whistled softly in awe. Ashian spoke.
"Your science confirms this?"
Nodding, Shaun continued. "The dinosaurs could not
survive this hellfire, because reptiles undergoing increased
temperature results in babies of only one sex. Mammals took the
position vacated by the dinosaurs and quickly evolved into what we
are now. But this was not the case for Halaris, the home world of
the Sunlords. Dinosaur-like reptiles dominated, developing skilled
hands and eventually fashioning tools. Millions of years past, and
some reptiles developed large brains, and began to stand
upright."