Sunlord (9 page)

Ashian found that he alone made more noise that the
three Eloprin combined. He tried hard to keep his footsteps from
breaking the dead vegetable matter about him, yet it always seemed
a brittle stick was destined to be where he stepped. The forest was
unyielding; the bushes reaching out to claw his forearms as he
passed. The heavy furs were itchy and unfamiliar on his back, and
undergrowth caught in his sandals slowing his progress.

It seemed as if they had been marching forever.
Ashian began to wonder if they'd ever reach the site where the
Sunlords had been killed. The anticipation and excitement had worn
of long ago, giving way to weary muscles and a panting breath.

His reflections snapped to a sudden halt as a vine
entangled about his foot, his mind reeling as he saw the ground
move beneath him. He fell awkwardly amongst a thorny bush and his
curse was loud and vivid.

A hand came to his aid and helped him to his feet.
Brushing the heavy wet dirt from his hands Ashian turned to see
Huso was his benefactor.

"Are you all right?" asked the hunter.

Ashian nodded. "I'm fine, raich." said Ashian, using
the traditional term meaning 'ally.'

"It's just that I'm unused to this sort of travel,"
he continued. "The last time I was in the woods was when I was a
child, playing in the Fringe Forest."

"I can see you're doing your best. You'll soon get
the hang of it."

He saw Ashian was ready once again and they moved
off. Huso spoke as they walked abreast.

"I noticed many of my tribe treat you with
disrespect. They fear you and your race. Many saw it was the city
dwellers who brought the Sunlords down from the sun."

"We didn't, we were taken by surprise as much as I
imagine you were."

"I see that, and I respect your determination in
coming to us. It must have been an arduous journey."

Ashian grimaced at the memory. "If it wasn't for your
hunters I am sure I would be rotting in the spot where I fell. I am
very grateful for all your people have done for me."

Huso was quiet for a minute. "We will help you to
save our race, but are you sure you are able to kill a Sunlord?
From what I hear, the Currachs are anxious to avoid all forms of
violence."

"Don't stir up the thought," moaned Ashian. "It has
been on my conscience these past few weeks, and I have endured many
sleepless nights because of it. The only thought of consolation is
that it is all for the best in the long run."

"So you don't intend to raise a weapon yourself?"

"I was hoping we could get by without such action,
but if something comes up you could take care of it. My purpose is
to direct your abilities."

"Yes? And you have a plan, I assume."

"The only way to board the Sunlords sky ship is to
take one of their own craft. Hopefully they have more at this site
where Capac is leading us. How far away from it are we now?"

Huso took a moment to consider. "We've been
travelling for six hours. My guess is that we shall be there very
soon. And once we're there, you'll certainly find your fair share
of action. Last time we left that camp it was swarming with
life."

"Capac's doing, I suspect."

Huso grinned. "He is a cunning mad man. He single
handedly threw the camp into chaos and within seconds had the
entire Sunlord army on top of us."

"How did you get out?"

"We ran like rabbits. We used some bush tricks to try
and shake them off, like doubling back on our trail and climbing
trees. Unfortunately the scroching Sunlords always seemed to be
able to pick us up again. You should have seen our path, it twisted
all over the countryside."

"Where you afraid?"

"I didn't have time to be afraid. All my attention
was with Capac as we plotted how to throw the Sunlords off, at the
same time as running full pelt through the dark jungle."

Ashian's eyes lit up with respect. He opened his
mouth to speak but the burly Eloprin cut him off.

"Shh. Capac's seen something."

Huso sank into a crouch, his ears perked. Up ahead
Capac withdrew his long bladed hunter's knife from his belt. His
hands moved in a complicated array of motions.

"What's he say?" whispered Ashian.

"We are near the camp," returned Huso. "Follow behind
me."

Huso rose slightly and crept between the undergrowth,
Ashian close behind. A minute later they were level with Capac and
Myshia.

Capac readied his grip on the rifle. "I'm going in
first. I just hope this thing doesn't fail on me." He shot a glance
at Ashian, for the rifle had been his idea. "If I meet any
opposition I will signal, Huso, you know the code. Myshia, cover me
with your bow."

The female complied by setting an arrow into her bow.
On a silent command they began their pace again.

Ashian was surprised at how quiet his surrounds had
become. Capac made off so silently he seemed to float along between
the trees, his rifle held at the ready. Myshia followed at a
distance in the treeline with her longbow pulled taught, her
camouflaged and almost naked body blending with the backdrop. Huso
whispered to his Currach companion.

"You must be quiet. Follow my footsteps."

Ashian nodded and Huso started in the direction Capac
had made off in. Ashian followed as best as he was able, his feet
seeming to large and clumsy. They walked in this fashion for a
further ten minutes, arranged in a rough arrowhead formation.

Ashian prayed quietly, almost fervently, before
turning his attention to his surroundings. They followed a dried
creek bed that twisted its way between the hilltops, and judging by
Capac's cautiousness, they were very close.

Abruptly Capac raised a hand, fist clenched. Ashian's
heart beat a rapid tattoo of fear. He crouched lower to the ground,
his empty fists clenching thin air. His vision started to fog as
tension increased, his mind a whirlpool of dread.

Huso continued on unaware of that his companion had
fallen behind. His advance was as silent as Capac's.

Then silver glimmered between the trees, a whiff of
smoke curling lazily into the air. Capac gripped the rifle harder,
his finger hovering over the trigger as he stepped forward into the
clearing.

He was stunned to discover the camp was deserted. The
large tent-like structures had been dismantled and taken away.
Looking closer, Capac saw the earth was dug up with tyre treads, a
trail leading back into the jungle.

His lips moved to form a silent question.

Where the scroch had they gone?

Chapter Four

The Hunted.

Through the jungle flits a shadow and a sigh -

He is fear, O Little Hunter, he is Fear!

- Rudyard Kipling.

Shaun Lowry glanced swiftly to either side to make
sure his way clear. Sweat beaded upon his brow and trickled in
small rivulets down the side of his face. Shaun raked his fingers
through his long hair, pushing back the overhanging fringe as it
plastered to his forehead. His ice blue eyes moved once more for
the final check.

Shaun stood in one of the corridors of the Urisa,
flanked on both sides by faultless mirrors. A double track of neon
lights ran overhead on a ceiling of steel mesh. The floor of the
corridor was made of similar steel mesh, so that the corridor below
could be seen, and the one below that. Likewise was the corridor
above him.

Shaun checked nothing was in sight, in all three
dimensions.

The corridor was clear. Now was the time.

Shaun's image reflected into infinity by the facing
mirrors on adjacent walls as he knelt into a crouch. He was smaller
and more delicately built than the Sunlords around him that ran the
ship. Unlike the others, Shaun stood more erect despite his thinner
build; his neck was upright rather than sloped forward at an angle.
His head was also more oval shaped, lacking the frontal bulge of
the Sunlords.

This image distorted as Shaun took a step back and
rammed a steel capped boot into the mirror's surface. It made a
grating noise, but didn't give way. Shaun looked right and left to
make sure no one had blundered into view. Satisfied, he stamped his
foot for a second time against the mirrored surface. This time a
spidery crack formed along the length of the mirror. Another kick
brought a network of cracks to the surface.

Shaun bent over his achievements, gently plucking
loose pieces free and letting them fall through the grating at his
feet. They spun lazily, glinting random shafts of light as they
fell through the many gratings of corridors below, receding in the
distance. Shaun revealed a small portion of electrical circuitry in
the wall, and he worked swiftly to identify their purpose. He at
last found the connection he looked for. Using a small piece of
copper wire that appeared in his hand he shorted the circuit.

A door opened. With a hiss of machinery the panel of
cracked glass slid aside to reveal dark interior, and Shaun wasted
no time in disappearing inside. The motion detecting lights came on
blindingly at his entrance and the computer consoles hummed into
instant life. In an eye blink the room was awake.

Shaun looked at the watch strapped to his wrist; he
still had two minutes until the bomb he had planted in his cell
would go off. He had made the bomb in the laboratory of the ship
during his free time. He had worked swiftly to mix together oil and
sodium hydroxide to make glycerin. From the lab he that he obtained
a vial of nitric acid. The result - nitroglycerine. He had put the
two ingredients in a crude but effective vessel. He had set up a
water flask so that every second a drop accumulated upon a pivot.
Shaun had calculated that it would take about three minutes before
the water finally overbalanced the vessel, making it jolt to the
floor. He had also spread fuel pellets against the wall, and all
the explosives he could lay a hand on. The beauty of nitroglycerine
was that it was self igniting. When that baby blew the whole cell
block would go. This would draw enough attention that Shaun would
be able to slip through his captor's fingers unnoticed and
disappear to the world below.

Shaun had prepared all this under the watchful and
malevolent eye of security cameras that fed the insatiable Avatar.
He had managed it with quick wit and cunning. His sleeves were
lined with slender pockets that stowed valuable items in every inch
of his person. The knife that he had slipped from the sheath of a
Sunlord mechanist was the same one that he used to slit his guard's
throat.

Shaun's mind snapped back to the present. He walked
at normal pace over to one of the consoles, not wanting to attract
undue attention to the motion detectors. A large padded seat was
drawn up to the rounded keyboard, upon which the keys were
clustered in two distinct groups suiting the Sunlords hands. Unlike
the one down in his cell, this console was not designed for his
stature. Also unlike his, this console allowed access to the cargo
and shipment bays.

Shaun sat at the computer, flexing his fingers as he
read the Sunlord keyboard. He had long ago familiarised himself
with their language, but never had become accustomed to the
keyboard layout. He looked at his watch before continuing. One
minute remaining.

He pressed the active key, which resulted in a
wake-up sequence from the computer. Shaun fitted a pair a eye lens
that would enable him to interface with the console. He had to be
careful here; he was face-to-face with one of the many eyes of
Avatar.

The computer requested identification. Such ID chips
were surgically implanted in the wrist bone of all members of the
Sunlord at birth, a small face not unlike a watch appearing between
the rectangle of removed skin. It tracked all movements of the
Sunlord aboard the starfleet and recorded them. Every motion, every
deed and every operation could be recalled by the chip and sent to
Avatar. Shaun had had a bit of trouble in obtaining an ID chip. It
could not be taken from a dead Sunlord because as soon as the pulse
ceased the chip went off line. If the Sunlord remained dead for
more than ten seconds it would hotwire itself, sending all
information to the mothercomputer.

Shaun reached into one of his many small, almost
invisible pockets and withdrew a tiny screwdriver. With quick
economical motions he loosened the face plate of the laser scanner.
After all four of the screws had been laid aside he prised it up
with the end of the screwdriver. Now a maze of solid state
electronics greeted him beneath the tiny panel. He carefully pulled
upon the board, and it at last gave. The small circuit panel slid
out willingly into his dexterous hand. He examined it for a second,
and grunted with satisfaction. With his left hand he produced a
similar panel from a pocket, although its wires were loose and
tangled unlike its counterpart.

Shaun held his breath as he inserted the new circuit
board into the laser scanner. He let out pent up breath with a sigh
as it clicked into place. His guess had been correct. The computer
hummed into activity, the new circuit instructing it to ignore ID
procedures.

Now that the tricky bit was over Shaun felt more at
ease. His watch informed him that he had less that a minute left
before the sector would be thrown into chaos.

Commands came slowly as Shaun tried to use the alien
keyboard. He followed the instructions given to him by the console,
which he read through the eye lens He made his way progressively
through sub directories until he reached the cargo sector control
sector. He moved quickly now. His fingers tapped more rapidly as he
programmed a shuttle to prepare for launch. Two hundred metres away
robots swung into action, hydraulics whirling as catches released.
The ghostly cargo ship moved along a monorail out of its dock and
into the hanger. The massive airlock doors groaned open as
electrical impulses surged, opening a breathtaking expanse of stars
and space before the cargo ship. The sun on the world below was
breaking the horizon casting sharp, deep shadows across the
interior of the ship.