Harvester 7 (16 page)

"Alarms
sounding," he suddenly remembered, "Attack." The memories began to
clarify, he had been relaxing and joking with Na'ta, it's wasn't
strictly protocol for them both to be on the same transport but
Go'an was a law unto himself, his advisor's had pleaded but he had
ignore their advice, the missiles had locked on and his fighter
escort had raced to shoot them down, his pilot had dived sharply, a
steep rapid dive that had forced his stomach up into his throat, he
remembered clearly now, the impact, explosion, pain upon pain and
disbelief as he saw the ground racing up to meet him through the
gaping hole in the floor where his feet had been seconds
before.

"My legs." he
cried out attempting to sit up, the lights above his bed were
bright, too bright he began to complain as he blinked against their
glare, faces crowded over him, shading him from the intensity, it
was a relief, a sharp pain in his arm drew his attention from the
illumination, he turned his head to see a needle being withdrawn,
"What?" He stammered, "Happened?" darkness closed around him and
the nightmare began again.

***

The Watumian
High Council gathered in closed session and a nervous excitement
rippled through active minds, none there wanted to start the debate
yet there was a sense of hopeful anticipation hovering in the air,
Senator Gu'lan took the chair and brought the meeting to order.

"It is a sad
day," he shook his head and carefully assessed the mood, "We are
faced with a dilemma my brothers, today we lost our Vice
Chancellor, and our beloved Chancellor Go'an clings to life by the
most slender of threads." again he paused, they were all waiting
for his word, six months of Go'an's leadership had been a strain on
them all, loyal supporters and opposition alike, Gu'lan saw his
opportunity but chose a different path.

"This act of
terrorism strikes directly at the heart of Watuma." he cried and
bared his fangs, "And it must not go unpunished." the council
members stirred uncomfortably, the meeting was not supposed to take
this route.

"This member
agrees completely, the perpetrator of this act must be hunted down
and executed, but surely honourable members of the council, we have
a more pressing issue to debate, our intelligence agencies will
bring the guilty to justice, of that we can be assured... but,"
Senator Vi'an paused for a moment, "But, my dear brothers, Watuma
is now a ship without a captain, if Chancellor Go'an survives his
terrible injuries it will be many months before he will be fit to
resume his duties, we have no Vice Chancellor to administer on his
behalf..." he left the question hanging, waiting for reaction.
Vi'an was the leader of what was left of the opposition, officially
Watuma operated a two party system but Go'an had introduced a new
style of government, opposition was tolerated but expected to agree
with his policies, "To disagree showed a lack of patriotism." he
had warned and all members had understood the thinly veiled
threat.

The High
Council had finally settled itself to the acceptance that they were
secondary in the destiny of their planet but it was better to be an
ally of the Chancellor than face expulsion or worse, for six months
he had led them down the path of militarisation as he prepared for
a war only he was convinced was actually going to happen, they had
seen budgets cut to non-essential ministries and extra funds
diverted to the military, Go'an was almost out of control, yet
suddenly their salvation had been handed to them courtesy of
terrorists, all they had to do was grasp the chance and act.

"Well spoken
brother Vi'an." replied Gu'lan, "You have indeed clarified our
current dilemma, truly Watuma has been robbed of its captain." The
seasoned and wily Gu'lan seized the opportunity that the less
experienced Vi'an had opened for him, if Go'an survived it would be
Vi'an's head that rolled for suggesting a change of leadership,
Gu'lan would have simply been reacting to the demand.

"May I suggest
that we adjourn for one hour, possibly an hour of prayer and quiet
contemplation while we all consider who should lead our people as
"acting" Chancellor until our beloved and respected Go'an has
recovered."

"I vote for
Gu'lan," a lone voice called from the rear of the chamber, "I
second that." cried another, Gu'lan smiled and raised his hand.

"Thank you for
your confidence in me brothers, but deliberate for a while, do not
make hasty decisions, take this hour to pray for strength and
wisdom, and ask the Gods to deliver our Chancellor back to us soon,
fully recovered."

Gu'lan closed
his mind but listened carefully to the thoughts of the other
members, his supporters had played their role well, calling his
name had pushed him to the foreground as the next possible
Chancellor, and he felt his support mounting.

The High
Council was called back into session exactly one hour later and it
was no great surprise to Gu'lan that he won the vote by a huge
margin.

"I am honoured
by your faith and trust in me." he had told them in his first
address as acting Chancellor, "And my first duty will be to name my
Vice, as you know it is traditional to appoint a member of my own
party, but I wish to mend divisions that have been forming,
therefore I appoint Senator Vi'an to act as my Vice Chancellor." a
ripple of surprise raced around the chamber, Gu'lan sensed open
hostility from within his own party, he simply smiled, Vi'an was
perfect, young, inexperienced and very gullible... the perfect
scapegoat.

***

Ka'lan settled
himself into the comfortable chair beside Go'an's bed, the old
rogue had been conscious for only a few minutes but he was prepared
to wait, he enjoyed seeing his enemy so helpless.

"Our ally." he
corrected himself with a small chuckle. News of the attack had come
to him as he had been travelling to Terrillia, just as the Watu had
hidden their Kressa fleet the Diurians had not revealed their
latest advances in FTL travel, their new improved anti matter drive
had reduced a journey that had previously taken weeks to only a
matter of hours. As a diplomatic gesture he had detoured, he had
also brought a gift.

Go'an stirred
into semi consciousness and groaned, the light cover that was
draped over his body clearly emphasised the Chancellors condition,
his barrel chest appeared as a mountain, but the mountain tapered
away to nothing as the eye travelled south, flat sheet lay where
his legs should have been.

"They are a
short race before any accident," he chuckled, now he doubted Go'an
would even reach the level of his knees, "But my gift will repair
that deficiency."

"Wake up
Go'an, you fat animal," he signalled, "I have travelled a long way
to talk to you." but the Chancellor remain unresponsive, in his
sedated mind the nightmare continued, and at the side of his bed
stood a shortened and widened Diurian exoskeleton.

Maulik
attempted to cover his eyes as the pulse rifle hummed louder as the
recharge cycle ended, suddenly he decided he didn't want to see his
death dealt and regretted his decision to face the Drakan.

"Will it ever
charge?" he thought to himself, he found the answer to his question
as the Mech lowered the weapon and began to pull the trigger,
Maulik covered his eyes and said a final silent prayer to the Gods,
there was a deafening explosion and he felt heat searing against
the black bio-suit.

"I expected it
to hurt more!" the final thought entered his mind before the shock
from the plasma pulse turned his world to blackness.

"Maulik, wake
up," the voice cried, familiar and frantic, "Please wake up." the
voice pleaded.

"Kressa, can't
you see I'm dead," he replied weakly before sitting up with a
start.

"Don't be so
stupid," she snapped, "You are fine, now get up and lets go."

Maulik
searched his body for the gaping hole that he truly expected to
find, but found himself whole, in a daze he turned to see Kressa
hovering just above the ground, her loading ramp extended beckoning
him inside, promising safety. Gathering his wits he saw the melted
Mech slumped against a tree some distance further up the hill, the
force of Kressa's blast had destroyed it completely fusing its
joints as surely as an experienced welder.

"Stop
daydreaming," she shouted, "We have to go, the others will be here
soon."

Grasping his
salvation Maulik stood and with a mighty leap he raced up the ramp
sensing it snap shut quickly behind him, he began to remove the
bio-suit but Kressa had other plans.

"There's no
time for that now, get into your seat quickly," she ordered before
banking steeply sending Maulik staggering sideways, "Quickly." she
screamed.

Maulik lurched
forwards and half fell into his seat landing heavily, instantly he
felt the tight grip.

"Now." she
hissed, "Now they will see what happens when the Kressa are
angry."

Maulik wasn't
sure if Kressa or her reactor roared but the sound chilled him, she
felt very different, somehow more aware... and very, very
angry.

Anticipating
her he gripped his seat, only just in time as she raced out of the
gorge and bore down on the heavily armed transport that was still
hovering over the plain below, a volley of missiles sprouted from
the fat carrier but Kressa simply hissed and with lightening speed
spat out a rapid burst of plasma pulses that detonated the sleek
projectiles as they were still seeking their target, clearly now
her reactor whined as she accelerated hard, again she spat and
hissed, pouring her plasma laden venom onto the bloated carrier.
Detonation after detonation tore into the superstructure, flames
erupted, plasma leaked and flared, "Say goodbye." she whispered
before sending a pulse that ignited the venting raw plasma fuel
starting a chain reaction that tore the carrier in half sending the
remains crashing onto the plain below.

"I want a
name." she cried as she selected her next target.

"Excuse me?"
answered Maulik in shock, "I thought you were busy right now?"

"It's
important to me." she replied as she tore a second carrier into a
cloud of flying debris.

"You have a
name... Kressa!" Maulik answered amazed that she could concentrate
on such ferocity yet still continue a civilized conversation with
him, the paradox in her actions left him feeling confused and
dazed.

"Kressa is my
species, how would you feel if I insisted on calling you Terrillian
all the time rather than your name."

"OK, yeah, I
guess you have a point," he replied as she swept across the plain
picking off the platoons of Mech's that were firing their pulse
rifles at her, "What name do you like?"

"I don't know
any names," she snapped, "If I did I wouldn't be asking you would
I? No, the Kressa don't have names... L4 remember." she caught his
question before he could ask.

"Sorry, I
wasn't thinking." he replied sheepishly.

"What was that
name you just thought of?" she asked suddenly, "Salyna, I like
that," Maulik had been thinking of his female genetic match, same
paternal and maternal genetic makeup, different gender.

"Your sister
Salyna, I like the name, from this moment on my name is
Salyna."

"Salyna." she
purred happily.

"My name is
Salyna."

***

"I thought I
told you to leave without me," Maulik stated as they climbed
through the upper atmosphere, Salyna chuckled quietly.

"I didn't hear
you say anything like that, what I heard was, "I'm going to delay
them while you finish regenerating" I assumed it was understood I
would come for you."

Maulik
laughed, "Freedom has given you selective hearing, but I'm very
happy you thought of me, I really did think that was the end."

"Two battle
cruisers ahead." she announced casually, Maulik sensed her tone was
a cover for the excitement and anticipation he felt building, as if
to confirm his thoughts Salyna growled softly as a squadron of
small fighters launched from the closest cruiser.

"We could
always run." he suggested.

"No." she
growled forcefully, "No more running, we have to finish this now,
we can't risk them tracking us back to 7."

"But they're
battle cruisers," Maulik felt his own fear welling inside, "Kre...
Salyna, are you sure you can handle them?"

"Watch." she
hissed and accelerated hard.

"Weapons
lock," he cried as alarms began to hum building to a crescendo as
multiple missiles launched and acquired their target, clearly he
saw their thrusters flare like twinkling stars as they locked on
and screamed towards them.

"Salyna,
missiles..." he called frantically.

"I see them."
she spat but remained on course.

"Shields....
please." he begged as his alarm grew.

"I
see
them." she hissed in reply before darting onto a new heading
leaving the swarm of missiles stalled as they lost their
target.

"Now watch."
she roared, a wild and menacing sound, Maulik was suddenly aware of
a savage and feral mind, she was fearless, powerful, her sole
purpose was the kill and he felt like baggage, he didn't exist in
her mind, her thoughts were pure focus, intense and deadly.

Wave after
wave of plasma pulses flashed past her rapidly accelerating hull,
her instincts alive and acute, her intuition enabled her to dodge
and slide the heavy fire as she closed in on the fearsome but
clumsy ship.

"Exhaust
ports." she shouted in triumph as she shook with the force of her
own discharge before climbing hard causing Maulik's head to spin,
the G forces darkening his vision, his mind on the very edge of
unconsciousness.

"You asked me
if they had a weakness." she purred as the massive ship rippled
with explosions.