Star Rising: Heartless (13 page)

Chapter 12

The ship, carrying the six Alioths, one sensei and five rookies, ascended through the thick atmosphere of Chas and into the skies.

The excitement that had been coursing through Xalen a mere hour ago had now dwindled, settling somewhere deep in his core. Nandi, as well as the other humans from Zizor dojo, seemed to be sharing in his somberness. They all sat quietly, only moving when the ship shook from time to time as it struggled with gravity.

The same could not be said about Sensei Wize and her student.

“This is so bloody awesome!” cried the Krington girl.

Sensei Wize set down her datapad. She was all smiles as she and her student turned to each other. Their hands met and they began to giggle like young school girls.

“Right you are, my precious student,” said the sensei. Her pink cheeks grew and descended in size as she spoke. “We will discover the wonders that Boilye has to offer. Together, we’ll find the cure to this Dearg disease.”

“Yes, yes, twenty-three times yes,” cheered the Krington. “History will come to know us as Sensei Wize and Alioth Ifi, the Dearg destroyers … no, the Dearg
annihilators
!”

“Not so fast, my precious student. This is not only about our legacy. It is about saving the many innocents across the galaxy.”

Ifi let go of her mentor’s hand and pumped her fist. “Right you are, sensei. I shall strive to be the best I can, and imitate your greatness.” There was a tone of admiration, almost deification, in her voice.

Xalen, along with the other Alioths from his dojo scooted a few inches away from the strange duo. Was this much energy over something so mundane the norm over at Empire’s Stone?

“Was the matter with you all?” asked Ifi. She took a seat next to Xalen.

Xalen glanced around the old ship. The interior of it was surrounded by steel benches that could easily accommodate over twenty people. Did she really have to sit an inch from him? “We five were chosen to accompany the great Sensei Wize to planet Boilye. Do you have any idea the honor that has been bestowed upon us? Deargs cannot survive in Boilye. It is up to us to aid the wondrous Sensei Wize in figuring out why exactly this is. Is the air of Boilye toxic to the Deargs? Is there something in the Dearg anatomy that has no immunity against the microorganisms that dwell on Boilye? Is it something in the water? The dirt?” Ifi shook with excitement, and her voice became a high screech. “So many possibilities. Isn’t it all so bloody breathtaking?”

“That’s all great and all,” said Nandi. “But I’m a warrior, bred for battle. Running around with science flasks isn’t exactly my idea of a good time. I’d rather be blasting Deargs into oblivion than wasting my time trying to understand them.”

Xalen, along with his Alioth companions, bobbed their head in agreement.

“I know that the dojo of Empire’s Stone dedicates their resources to science, instead of battle,” continued Nandi. “So why not bring four science geeks from your dojo on this mission? What’s the use of taking four fighting Alioths away from their training?”

Ifi wrinkled her brow. “How dare you question the great Sensei Wize? Don’t you know you’re standing in the presence of the woman who discovered the cure for Malyster? The woman who unlocked the secrets behind transportation travel? I demand that you apologize to her immediately!”

Nandi snapped her tongue. “No. I don’t think I will.”

Ifi’s left eye twitched. She was about to say something when a calm voice cut her off. Xalen had to look twice to make sure it was the sensei speaking. She sounded so different than a second ago, when she’d been screaming at the top of her lungs.

“Calm yourself, my precious Ifi,” said Wize. “Alioth Nandi brings up some very good points, and she deserves an answer.”

Ifi retook her seat.

“The truth is,” said Wize, plunging ahead, “Boilye is a wild, untamed planet. Many animals live there. Animals that will not be glad to see us trudging through their lands. It will be up to you all to protect us from the danger that is certain to arise.”

“But you’re Alioths as well,” countered Nandi. “Surely you can watch after yourselves.”

Wize looked over at Nandi, with the patient expression of a parent looking at a child who doesn’t understand. “That may be true to a certain extent. But my concentration needs to be focused on the science, not on battle.”

Xalen rolled his eyes.

Wize looked over at him. “Do you also have a problem with aiding on my mission?”

“Not really,” said Xalen, trying not to sound too rude. “I admire what you’re doing. It’s just that it seems like a waste of time. I’ve seen a Dearg up close. The only thing that is going to help us get rid of them is weapons.”

The sensei’s face brightened up in understanding. “I use to be a lot like you two.” She looked between Nandi and Xalen. “Always looking for the next fight. Constantly trying to right all the wrongs of this galaxy with a sword.”

“You did?” asked Ifi. She seemed as shocked as everyone else in the ship. This short, stubby woman barely looked like she had enough stamina to run for more than two seconds. To believe that she was once a warrior seemed like a stretch.

“Oh, yes. I studied at Zizor. In fact, I graduated number four in my class. Only Reave, Dantes, and Junia bested me.”

“Really?” Doubt dripped from Ifi’s mumble.

“Are you questioning your sensei?”

“N…no, of course not. I should have expected someone of your caliber of greatness to also be skilled with the sword.” All doubt was gone from Ifi’s tone now. The worshipping girl was back. “It is a testament of your extreme greatness.”

“Of course it is.” Wize returned her attention to the Zizor Alioths. “My first mission after becoming a full-fledged Alioth was as protector of Terrance. Can you imagine the joy I felt? I had been assigned to watch over my home planet. My father, mother, brothers, sisters, and neighbors were all now under my watchful eye. It was exhilarating, but it was also a heavy burden. I became obsessive, constantly on the lookout for any Dearg.”

“Did you find them?” asked Ifi as she bit her nails in eager anticipation.

“Oh yes. For ten cycles I hunted those beasts down mercilessly. They were never any of the large Deargs that appear on some of the other Noble Ring planets, but they were still Deargs, mind you. They were a persistent bunch. If I killed one, two more would appear. If I finished two, four or five would take its place. It was a never-ending cycle, one that I was determined to end. Every morning I would get up early and go out, searching for any kind of clue as to where they might appear. Then one day…” There was a long pause. “While I was out in caves, following what I thought was a lead…” Another pause. “Two Deargs appeared out of a hole that had…had…burst in my hometown, Daters.” Wize’s eyes were overtaken by a shiny gloss. “By the time I got to the Deargs. They had all been killed…my father, my mother, everyone…”

A long, uncomfortable silence hung in the air.

“After that, I went two months without leaving my father’s mansion. I spent every day looking out the window, contemplating just how useless the previous ten cycles had been. It was then that he came, Alioth Blaise. He arrived from Empire’s Stone, bringing with him a chemical he had created after twenty-five cycles of research.”

“What did the chemical do?” asked Ifi. She had completely bitten off the tip of one nail, and was now hard at work on the nail of her index finger.

“He spread it. It went airborne. Within one cycle Dearg attacks had been brought down to zero.” Wize wiped a tear that had escaped her eye. “In just one cycle this man had done with a vial of vapor something that in ten cycles of countless battles had never came remotely close to accomplishing. It was a rather … humbling experience.”  Her mouth slackened. “It was after this that I decided that I would never again resort to weapons. Science holds all the answers we need. All one must do is dedicate oneself to it.”

“Couldn’t you have spread that chemical to all the other planets suffering from Dearg attacks?” asked Nandi.

Wize spoke eagerly, her previous excitement returning. “No. In this case Alioth Blaise had discovered that a chemical in Terrance’s atmosphere could be mixed with the chemical of his own creation to kill the Deargs by essentially making it impossible for them to breathe. Unfortunately, it does not work with the oxygen of other planets.”

Ifi stood. “Don’t worry, great Sensei Wize. Boilye holds the secret to the Deargs demise, I’m certain of it.”

“Right you are, my precious student. Right you are.”

The two women had now returned to their giggles.

Opting to not disagree with them, Xalen remained quiet, though he was certain that Wize and Ifi couldn’t be farther from the truth. It had taken twenty-five cycles to discover a way to eliminate the Deargs from just one planet. How many more years would be wasted on research to rid of them of all the planets?

He patted the hilt of his sword. He was certain that Nandi felt the same way. She looked his way for a fleeting moment, but as soon as their eyes met, she averted her gaze toward the window.

Xalen sighed deeply. If only he could get her to talk to him.

ΩΩΩ

The skin of the Zander who exited the shuttle was red, just like the crimson fury that raged within him. Three months. Three whole months! That’s how long it had taken him to get to Chas. Had he had access to an Alioth shuttle, he could have traversed the official space routes with little worry of being questioned by authorities. But no, all he had was an old Delta class ship. It was fast enough, but unfortunately Delta ships were the preferred vehicle of his father’s agents back when, making Alioths and space authorities alike wary of them. In the Gray Ring and Outer Ring he could fly with no trouble, but here, in the Noble Ring, he couldn’t fly half a day without being noticed. It had forced him to take the unofficial, longer routes that extended his trek significantly.

Amlaidh gritted his teeth. No matter. He was here now, staring down at the white plains of Zizor. He had landed the Delta in a small clearing he’d found in the forest. From there, he had made his way here: behind a large rock not one-hundred feet from the road that connected the dojo to the nearby village of Astria. He knew from his research that the Alioths in training would many times take this passage. There was another route to the village, west from where he’d landed. But he couldn’t risk landing there. For one, there were no places where he could hide the Delta. Second, he needed to ambush one, maybe two students. He couldn’t risk exposing himself to too many Alioths. A fight with a battalion of Alioths was the last thing he needed.

The minutes passed, turning into long hours. Amlaidh beat at his chest one more time, trying to keep his body warm. The flakes of snow that continued to fall were raining down on his clothing, soaking it. How much longer was he going to have to wait?

Then he saw them. His anger dissipated. There appeared to be two, no, three of them. From this distance it was hard to make out their features. They carried sacks over their shoulders, they must have bought provisions from Astria and were now taking them back to Zizor.

He waited, his fingertips tingling with anticipation.

As they moved closer, the blurred figures took form. The boy at the center was dark skinned and extremely oversized. The two other boys flanking him were as skinny as twigs. They all had brown capes over their backs that covered their bodies, no doubt to protect them from the cold winds.

With the obstruction, there was no way of telling if they were armed, but it mattered not.

Amlaidh jumped out from behind the rock and took off at a full sprint. He was counting on the Alioths being too cold, too preoccupied with trying to keep warm to notice him.

It worked.

Before they spotted him, Amlaidh close the distance between them. He punched one of the skinny boys on the back of the head, sending him face first into the snow. His two companions looked up, eyes wide. Amlaidh followed his attack with a kick to the second skinny Alioth’s cranium. He crumpled to the ground.

The fat Alioth reached for something under his brown cloak. A weapon perhaps? Amlaidh never saw it, before his foe could brandish whatever he was reaching for, Amlaidh shot a gust of plasma from his metaton. The purple mass landed on the Alioth’s stomach.

“Argh…” he whined, doubling over and falling to his knees.

“Tell me what I want to know,” roared Amlaidh. “Or the next shot will be fully charged.”

“I’m just a rookie,” cried the chunky boy. “I know nothing.”

“Oh, fortunately for you I’m not asking for any classified information.” He brought his metaton to the boy’s chest. “All I need is information on a particular student here at Zizor.”

The boy’s lips quivered with fear. “I…I…I…I…”

“His name is Xalen,” said Amlaidh.

Suddenly, the boy’s fear disappeared from his face, replaced by a long grin. “Oh, him. I’m afraid you just missed him.”

“Missed him? What fool do you take me for?”

“No…no… I speak the truth. He left not a day ago. But don’t fret. If you leave now you can catch up to him, I’m certain of it. He and a few other students were sent to Boilye. A planet not too far from here.”