Alien Manifesto (34 page)

I stepped directly into the King’s
path and bowed, waiting to be acknowledged. Recognizing me the King
growled, “We meet again, Human Tom. Where is my sister? I was sure
she would be here to meet me.”

“
She is here my King. She
will join you shortly Sire,” I answered as I bowed, still blocking
the king’s progress down the receiving line, formally beginning the
ritual of declaration.

“
Out of my way, human,” the
king snarled, perhaps guessing why I was here, alone. “Just because
you are my sister’s mate does not mean you may address me
formally.”

Standing up straight, I looked the
king straight in the eyes and said in a loud, clear voice the line
I had practiced many times in private: “With your permission my
king, I request the test of attainment.”

“
So my sister thinks you
are Ja Ha Don,” snarled the king, not immediately grasping my
intention.

“
With your permission Sire,
that remains to be seen,” I answered, bowing my head once
again.

All conversation in the immediate area
had stopped as everyone waited on the king’s answer. Seeing that he
could not deny me the rights to the trial of attainment without
losing face, the king hissed, “Few non-felines have passed the
trials, many have failed. I look forward to watching you
fail.”

“
And I intend to disappoint
you Sire,” I answered, giving the king my coldest stare.

“
How dare you challenge
me?” hissed the King.

“
I issue no challenge Sire,
I only demand the right of the trial. I will have your answer now,”
I said softly as I waited for the King’s strike.

Instead he withdrew, just a little,
his eyes blazing with hatred. I realized that the King had figured
out my true intentions.

“
You have my permission
human,” yowled the king furiously, nearly losing control. “In fact,
I will give you the test myself on the home world, say in six of
your months? That should give you enough time to train so you do
not embarrass yourself. I will send a messenger when it is time,”
said the king of the felines.

“
Thank you, my King.”
Bowing, I stepped out of the king’s path and beat a hasty
retreat.

PART TWENTY-SIX

A Plot Revealed

The assassin master decloaked silently
behind SSlice, who was inside the estate’s security control and
monitoring room, his intention to surprise the spinner.

Without even acknowledging the
master’s presence, SSlice whispered, “I have run an algorithm on
the information you revealed and they corroborate your
suspicions.”

“
You know many things
spinner, perhaps too much for your own good,”
growled the master in response.

“
I know who is at the heart
of the conspiracy to kill the king,” retorted SSlice in his
whispery voice.

“
And who might that be?”
hissed the assassin master, already knowing the answer.

“
You are,” whispered SSlice
simply, as he sealed the security chamber.

Laughing, the assassin master mewed,
“You are made to think I am. I am being, how do you say, ‘set up’.
I have the proof of my innocence. I do not however have enough to
start a formal investigation. I do know that the conspirators are
very close to the King and that they cover their tracks very, very
well. It is my belief that a former student of mine, one of my
finest, whom I disgraced in ritual combat not long ago, is
involved,” mewed the assassin master.

“
I will listen to your
proof. If you fail to convince me you will never leave this room
alive,” whispered SSlice.

The assassin master knew he was no
match for the huge spider in such close quarters. With a slight bow
he motioned for a place at the communication console. He brought up
a secure channel with his home world’s computer network. With his
last keystroke, an alarm trilled, alerting SSlice to the master’s
impending download.

“
What are you trying to
download, feline?” whispered SSlice as forcefully as he could
manage, crouching prepared for the master’s attack.

“
Only a security video.
Easy, SSlice, I realize I have misjudged you. Please accept my
apologies for my rude behavior,” mewed the assassin master as he
relaxed into that statue-still, icy calm that was so
unnerving.

As the file finished uploading,
isolated by two firewalls, SSlice brought it up on the main viewer.
It was too dark and the features of the two felines were blurred,
making it impossible to identify them.

“
I think I can clean that
up enough to see who they are,” whispered SSlice after he listened
to the audio.

“
That is the best image
available. I also have several encrypted communications that
originate from the older of the two. However, my clan’s best
computer techs were unable to put a face with the voice,” smirked
the assassin master, unaware of SSlice’s true skills.

“
I am not your ordinary
computer specialist,” whispered SSlice as he deftly manipulated the
control board. “You see,” he explained, “I wrote the image
clarification and the facial recognition algorithms that the
Galactic government uses in the military and the security service.
I have also improved its accuracy by twenty percent.” In proof of
his boasting, the two images came into sharp clarity.

“
That is a clan leader I
recognize, and his advisor. Are they here?” hissed the assassin
master loudly.

“
They are due to arrive in
the next few long time units,” whispered SSlice.

“
Then we have time to
prevent a clan war,” growled the assassin master.

“
There has not been a full
scale clan war on your planet in over one hundred generations,”
whispered SSlice.

“
Yes, not since my clan
defeated the last of the rebel clans one thousand years ago. Now
they seek vengeance. My nephew, the king, is foolish enough to
challenge one of the rebel leaders and get himself killed. He is a
poor fighter. He just passed the trial of attainment, those marks
were given out of respect for the king’s position, not the king
himself,” mewed the assassin master.

“
We must tell Snarth,
whispered SSlice, “- this is his estate and he may be blamed. I
cannot allow that,” he whispered flatly. “My people owe him a life
debt for saving our planet from the galactic fleet. I will do
anything I have to, to help prevent him from being
blamed.”

“
Have Snarth meet us here
as soon as he is able to get away from his guests,” growled the
assassin master. “I hope that the distraction with the human will
buy us some time.”

“
His name is Tom and he is
my friend, and I do not like him being used as bait in a clan war,”
whispered SSlice, as furiously as he could muster, crouching to
strike one again.

Realizing he had struck a nerve, the
assassin master mewed softly “There is much more to the matter, the
conspiracy runs much deeper than I care to admit. Perhaps even some
from my own clan. The clan leader in the security recording is very
close to several of my second and third cousins. Too close for
comfort,” he growled.

Shaking his head, the assassin master
mewed regretfully, “Things are worse than I feared. If the king is
killed, his only surviving litter mate, his sister, will become
queen. She is with child by the human Tom. That means the next king
may be half-feline and half human. That will be unacceptable to the
other clans. A civil war will break out.”

“
And what if Human Tom
passes the trial?” asked SSlice.

“
Then the history of my
planet will change forever, as the only way Human Tom will pass the
trials is by killing the king in ritual combat to the death. That
would make him king,” mewed the assassin master.

“
I place my bets on Tom.
Your niece has trained him well and now you are here to complete
it,” whispered SSlice.

“
The human could kill the
king without my help,” mewed the assassin master. “However, if he
is not named Ja Ha Don it will have the same effect, a clan war at
the very least, if not civil war,” he hissed, agreeing with SSlice.
“And for what?” he continued. "The king has no real power. The
autocrats robbed him of that long ago. There is something else
behind this, something much bigger,” he hissed.

“
I think we need to call my
friend Howler,” hissed Snarth as he entered the security
chamber.

“
You may be right,”
whispered SSlice. “His shuttle will be here sometime soon. His
security detail would not give an exact arrival time.”

“
I am beginning to think a
bloodbath isss coming,” hissed Snarth angrily.

“
We may still have time. I
must alert my clan. It would be much faster if I could use your
communications array,” mewed the assassin master. “Privately,” he
added, after Snarth just nodded in agreement without moving toward
the door.

PART
TWENTY-SEVEN

Let the Party
Begin

The Irishman and Rowl were greeting
arriving guests, scanning them, and checking them against the guest
list. So far, the only unannounced guests were young ones and that
was perfectly acceptable to Snarth. No weapons had to be
confiscated and so far no squabbles over social decorum had broken
out.

“
Tell me azsss sssoon azsss
Howler’sss ssshuttle arrivesss. Have him meet me in the sssecurity
chamber immediately,” hissed Snarth into the Irishman and Rowl’s
ears.

“
Yes sir,” they answered in
unison.

“
Wonder what that is all
about?” the Irishman asked Rowl. “I didn’t see his name on the
list.”

“
I did not know he was
coming either,” woofed Rowl, confused.

“
Hey look, your parents are
on the list and confirmed to arrive this light cycle,” said the
Irishman.

“
Yeah, I saw that,” woofed
Rowl happily. “I am looking forward to seeing them. It has been two
years since I visited home.”
I wonder why
Snarth invited them,
he mused. In an odd
twist of fate and planning, the very next shuttle to land was
Rowl’s family.

“
Mother, Father,” Rowl
howled as he rushed forward for greeting smells and embraces after
seeing the shuttle occupants.

Seeing a pause in the family affection
the Irishman interrupted, “Rowl why don’t you show your parents to
their quarters. I can handle this for a while.”

“
You sure?” woofed
Rowl.

“
Sure, take your time and
get your folks settled in,” added the Irishman, calm on the outside
yet bursting with worry on the inside.

Worry that his friend might
catch a glimpse of the next shuttle occupants before it was time.
SSlice had clued him in that very morning that Rowl’s betrothed,
Kareen, was coming, with her parents and Rowl’s sisters.
That poor fool has no idea what’s about to
happen,
thought the Irishman;
I only hope he doesn’t get mad at me even if it
is for his own good.

Seconds after Rowl and his family
disappeared around the corner of the hallway leading to the guest
quarters, Kareen’s family shuttle arrived. The Irishman stood as
straight and tall as he could, brushing back his long, curly black
hair for the twentieth time. After all, it is not every day that
you get to meet your best friend’s betrothed for the first time. He
wanted her first impression to be a good one. Even though the
Irishman had seen pictures of Kareen, he was completely unprepared
for the striking appearance of the white wolf, Kareen
herself.

With wild and hauntingly
beautiful green eyes, a long slender muzzle framed by a heart
styled mane, her long gracefully curved tail held proud, she flowed
down the shuttle’s ramp way. She strode across the landing pad to
greet the Irishman, stopping conversation as many of the newly
arrived guests turned to stare at such a beautiful creature.
He doesn’t stand a chance,
she is just his type,
thought the
Irishman, completely entranced by Kareen. Her beauty and grace
belied the obvious power in her six-foot frame.

Kareen stood in front of the Irishman,
her right paw extended in greeting. Suddenly the Irishman realized
Kareen was talking to him.

“
You must be Kyle,” she
repeated, “I have heard many good things about you, and a few bad,”
she giggled. “I feel as if I already know you. I hope you and I
become good friends.”

“
He told you my first
name,” groaned the Irishman.

“
As well as what it means,”
said Kareen. “I have a big nose too,” she laughed. “I dare anyone
to say so,” she snarled, her lips curled showing her huge fangs,
eyes glinting savagely. Surprised by Kareen’s lightning fast change
in attitude, the Irishman stepped back, his mind reeling with the
fact that someone else might actually understand nose hatred and
the nicknames that went with it.

As the rest of the room suddenly came
back into focus, the Irishman realized people were
staring.

“
I will show you to your
rooms,” he stammered, not wanting to cause a scene but unable to
avoid it.