Estall had been doing a good job getting the Vorn battle ships ready for departure. With the enemy under control here, they had been able to gain control of the ships that were still docked on the planet. Ranul had come up with technology to allow them to operate the Vorn control systems. The devices converted the Vorn computer language to Castillian and vice versa, allowing them to pilot the craft through the rift if necessary.
A number of pilots from various Castillian tribes had already signed on for the mission, and now it looked like it would be necessary to go through and intercept the fleet before they attacked as Kisch k'ta had threatened. According to Ranul's readings of the data, the rift would be stabilized within five hours and they needed to be in space waiting for it.
The Vorn fleet still had not contacted the Governor and Ranul could only conclude that the massive attack sphere was the cause of it. According to the files contained in the Vorn database, the Sphere had been constructed by the Barudii. It still blew his mind to think that on the other side of the rift there was a twin planet to his home world Castai.
He was as anxious to see it as he was to know what had become of his friends. Perhaps they might find the Vorn engaged in a battle with the Barudii sphere and be able to aid in the fight to destroy the Vorn armada. The communication link sounded. "Yes?" said Ranul.
"Ranul, all seven battle cruisers are under way. Are you ready to go?" said Estall.
"Yes. I'll meet you at the pad in ten minutes. How does everything look?"
"Everything seems to be operating smoothly so far. Those translation devices are allowing everything to go smoothly."
"What about the Vorn?"
"They're tucked away nicely in one of their own prison compounds, guarded heavily by my men. The other Aolene warriors are settled in on the warships and ready to join Orin and the others in the fight across the rift."
"Very good. I'll join you shortly."
He did not mention to Estall that the Saberhawk may very well have been destroyed by now. He assumed that Estall could have figured out how dangerous the mission was in the first place, or maybe he just had that much confidence in Orin and Tiet.
The Barudii warriors were powerful, but in a space battle that would make little difference. He hoped Estall's optimism was well-founded. He also wanted to see his friends again-alive.
Ranul glanced over the data screens once more as he grabbed a pack of his own technical gear and headed for the exit to the lab he was working in. He boarded a nearby transport tube and was whisked away toward the main launch platform where he was to meet Estall.
Within three minutes he was across the large compound and exiting the tube to find Estall waiting for him with a shuttle. They greeted each other unceremoniously and climbed into the small ship. Estall, a capable pilot himself, operated the shuttle controls as they ascended to the Vorn battle cruiser hovering one thousand feet above the compound.
The other warships were already en route for the Transdimensional Rift and would be leaving the atmosphere by now. The small six man transport was dwarfed by the ominous size of the Vorn ship which received it into itself like a mother pulling in its young.
The battleship was easily ten times the size of the Saberhawk and much more heavily armed. These same types of ships had destroyed the Castillian space fleet in the early years of the war with the Vorn. Now, they would allow the Castillians to exact retribution for those losses and more.
They made their way to the bridge where a Castillian crew piloted the ship with the aid of Ranul's translation devices. They had all spent so many years under the heel of the Vorn, that it was a tremendous feeling to have taken so much control back from their oppressors. The ships were quite powerful and Ranul was pretty confident that if they had to face the Vorn fleet they would fair well in the battle.
The cruiser soared upwards toward space, breeching the atmosphere. The rest of the ships appeared on the main monitors with the Castillian language equivalents. The new Castillian space fleet pushed onward toward the Transdimensional Rift. Neither Estall nor Ranul had ever been in space. The sight of the rift, as they approached, was ominous. It was so huge in comparison with their ships. Absolutely nothing could be seen beyond the void.
Ranul checked the science station readouts on the stability of the rift. It would still be several hours before it became permeable enough to cross. He continued his work on communication with the Barudii sphere. If the Sphere was in the area of the other Castai, then they would need to quickly establish contact with it to show themselves as Castillian and not more Vorn ships to be attacked. The void lay before them, and everyone wondered what they would find beyond.
WITHIN the ventilation system, Tiet and Orin were making good time, as they passed under a vent coming from above. Tiet, who was bringing up the rear, heard a clattering sound like something coming toward them. He looked upward into the tube and saw a mechanical beast of some sort coming fast at him. There was no room to have a full out confrontation in this vent, and the insect-like robot was going to have the advantage.
He scrambled out from under it as it fell into the same vent tube he was in. Suddenly he saw more appearing behind it, coming from the way he and Orin had already been. The robotic beasts had multiple legs on each side of their slender cylindrical bodies. Several red eyes were spaced across the slender heads that contained small compressed air jets.
As the creatures took up pursuit, scurrying along the vents, they began to fire small spikes from the air jets. The spikes were clattering along the metal sides of the vents as they tried to move as fast as they could through the curves of the system.
The spikes imbedded into the metal where they hit, injecting acid cores, causing the walls to sizzle as the acid burned into them. At this point, they didn't know if they were on track for the outside or not, but the robot insects were gaining on them. If they tried to blast the mechanical creatures kinetically they might shatter the entire vent tube and drop themselves right into the middle of an army of Horva.
The tube that had previously provided many twists and turns to help them avoid the spikes now opened up into a long straightaway. Orin almost paused, but there was no time to find another route. He picked up the pace as fast as he could, but the creatures were quick and the spikes they were firing were even faster. With a straight shot at them the creatures would no doubt hit them multiple times.
Orin could hear Tiet behind him, dogging his heels. The smaller man definitely had the advantage running in these tubes. Suddenly the shaft closed ahead of them. A security door had come down in front of them and the only outlet was a connecting tube from above. Orin came to a halt below it and turned to see if he could hold the creatures off while allowing Tiet to go up first.
The moment he turned to fight, the entire ventilation tube between themselves and the approaching robots, collapsed inward as though a giant hand had grasped it from without and crunched it. They couldn't believe what had just happened in their favor and had no explanation for it. The integrity of the tube seemed to be intact. They could hear the robots on the other side of the collapsed tube clattering against the crumpled metal trying to get at them, but to no avail.
Without wasting anymore precious time, they shot up the outlet tube using their kinesis to propel them. The tube appeared to keep going and it looked like they might even reach the roof again by way of it. But how had the Horva known their location in the vent system to close that door in front of them?
Orin wondered if the robots had been transmitting images and navigational information back to the Horva once they had happened upon them. He couldn't come up with anything else. The Barudii cloaks had been working when he got into the facility; he had no reason to believe they had failed to hide them now.
But if the Horva were looking at their own schematics of the system, they might well know where this tube was taking them and be waiting. Still, they had no choice but to try and exit the facility or be potentially caught in a battle they couldn't win; if more Horva were waiting they would have to deal with the problem then.
The pair continued upward at a high rate of speed as the end of the tunnel came quickly into view. Orin blasted the vent cap with a kinetic burst. The power rippled the air causing odd refractions of the available light, like a wave of heat rising off a hot road.
The vent cap shot off the tube as they flipped out of the vent and landed with weapons ready on the roof. Orin's suspicions had come to fruition.
Several hundred Horva warriors were closing from all directions, but the automatic gun turrets still had not picked up on their life signatures. The cloaks were working but nothing was going to hide them now; the Horva were closing fast and beginning to fire their pulse weapons.
The pair blocked several shots with their ignited blades and each one began to send out kinetic blasts in various directions, trying not to hit each other in the process.
Suddenly from somewhere within the Horva masses, a huge kinetic bubble erupted, sending many of the Horva over the sides of the crowded rooftop to their deaths. Tiet and Orin looked at each other in surprise, as neither had caused the incident.
From within the area a new fighter could be seen utilizing twin ignited Barudii blades; whirling with complex precision, slicing into the Horva around him. The mystery guest in this battle was taking down Horva in all directions and with a complexity and speed that captivated the tiring pair.
This fighter was moving nimbly among Horva and reaching out in all directions with ignited twin blades-blocking incoming shots as an afterthought to his own offensive attacks. It was terribly precise fighting that smacked of a highly trained Barudii; beyond even Orin or Tiet's skills.
Suddenly the auto-guns swiveled around and began to fire not at them, but at the Horva warriors. In particular, the guns were picking off Horva around the new unknown fighter almost as if they were coordinating with his sword attacks. For a brief moment Orin thought he must be controlling the guns somehow.
But surely this warrior was not so powerful as to be able to execute such precise and amazing hand-to-hand fighting along with the mental stamina required to precisely operate five or six computer controlled laser cannons all at the same time-was he?
The action had gone away from Orin and Tiet by now, but they didn't know whether to make a getaway or wait to see what or who this person was, doing all the amazing damage to the Horva. They hesitated toward the latter. Then the figure, having cleared away most of the Horva around him with swords and the auto-guns, launched high off the rooftop and came to a landing in front of Orin and Tiet, still crouched in their defensive positions.
The person was wearing a sand-colored garment that seemed oddly pedestrian for a warrior of this caliber, and he was hooded, with only glaring, penetrating eyes visible. "Do you want to live, Barudii?" he said with a distinctly masculine voice as the Horva regrouped behind him with more reinforcements adding to their numbers.
The warrior ran to the edge of the roof and launched out away from it with such power as to completely clear the compound's energy wall three hundred feet away from the building's perimeter. Orin and Tiet barely took enough time to glance at each other as they stood and followed after the mysterious man. They each made the jump and soft landed next to the warrior.
"What about the perimeter cannons?" asked Orin as they all broke into a paced run away from the compound.
"We're all cloaked from their sensors by our garments," said the warrior.
Well that answered one question, thought Tiet. Now who in the world was this person?
"Who are you?" asked Orin.
"There isn't time now. The Horva are already mobilizing attack fighters to come after us. We must keep moving."
"Where are we going?" asked Tiet.
All he could see in the direction they were running was desert. Against the pale sand, the attack fighters he spoke of would easily spot them without sensors.
"Just keep moving!" urged the warrior.
As they continued on toward the open desert, the terrain began to shift from the rocky terrain where the facility was located to shifting sand and large dunes. The trio had been running for nearly fifteen minutes when they heard the sound of fighter engines coming toward them from the rear. Despite having covered approximately two miles at a high running speed, the fighters were still closing in.
The men began to enter the dunes as Tiet looked back to see at least ten aerial fighters coming into view about a mile behind them and moving fast. As they entered the dunes, the sand began to swirl around them. He wasn't sure what was going on, but kept running. The whine of fighter engines got louder and louder. Orin knew they must be within visible range by now. Only the warrior's tan attire seemed appropriate now as they ran through the whirling sand.
Then suddenly a wave of sand seemed to billow up around them all and swallow them whole. The fighters zoomed past where the men had been and kept on going on the assumption that their targets must be hiding around the dunes, or had made it further away from the compound than they had anticipated.
Tiet, Orin and the mysterious warrior now found themselves in an odd shaped underground alcove. The sand was above them without being on them. It was as though the desert had opened its mouth and swallowed them, depositing them within its bowels. The sand parted before them to reveal an underground cavern of immense size.
"Don't be alarmed gentlemen. We are quite well hidden down here," said the stranger.
"Who are you?" insisted Orin.
"Ah, yes," said the man as he untied his hood and slipped it away to reveal a man of more years than Orin with a partial beard and short completely white hair.
"It can't be! I thought you were killed in the sector seven battle-Wynn Gareth."
Orin was shocked and Tiet was clueless. Who was Wynn Gareth, that Orin would know him? He had never mentioned the name to Tiet before.
"Well, I see you've heard of me, though I don't remember either of you. I wasn't killed in that battle obviously. One of the big Barudii carriers exploded in the vicinity of my fighter, which disabled my controls; the shock wave pushed me through the Transdimensional Rift.
"After I emerged on this side I was able to affect repairs to the damaged system and make my way to the planet. It took me awhile to figure out what had happened to me. At first I didn't realize my ship had even gone through the Rift."
"My name is Orin Vale and this is Tiet Soone, the son of our Kale Soone."
"Really? The birth of the king's son was announced only days before we went into battle against the Vorn at sector seven. And here you are all grown up-and a very promising warrior from what I could see."
"How long have you known we were on the planet?" asked Tiet.
"I have been watching you both since you emerged from Mt. Vaseer and entered the battle against General Grod's forces. After you escaped the dome, I aided you in your escape a little."
"Then it was you who crushed the vent tube?" asked Orin.
"Yes. Kinetically. I tracked you and thought you could use some assistance."
"That was some amazing fighting on the rooftop. How…?"
"Young master Soone, you may have noticed that on this side of the Rift our kinesis is greatly enhanced beyond what we knew back home on Castai. There is something about being on this side of the Rift that increases our power."
"We began to notice it after we passed through the Rift two days ago," said Orin.
"I have been on this twin planet of Castai for twenty years and there is much that you and our people back home don't realize about what has been happening in this war with the Vorn. Also, the forces that overlapped into our dimension through the Rift have a much more potent effect on our abilities than you are probably aware.
"Back home, we Barudii were receiving the misting rain from a far off storm; here on this side we are in the eye of it. What you may have thought amazing back at the compound is within either of your abilities. With proper training you two will also be able to control the energies that are in play on this side of the Rift."
"But what about the Vorn and these Horva…?" asked Orin.
"Orin, things are not as they may appear to be. But no more questions now. I will explain the situation after you have refreshed yourselves. Come, there is food and drink," insisted Wynn as he began to walk a path through the cavern. Fueled torches lit the way as they made their way deeper.
It had been while Orin was still in training as a warrior that he had studied some of the battle techniques of Wynn Gareth. He had been a formidable pilot, but was studied for his mastery of the warrior art of Barudii kinesis. But what Wynn had been known for all those years ago back home paled when compared to the display they had witnessed today.
Orin was curious to learn what Wynn was referring to with the war and the greater abilities that were within their reach, but Wynn was right, they did need to eat and rest and prepare for whatever lay ahead.
DAOOTH Pasad stepped in front of the retina scanner located near the exit of the lab facility. He was an assistant to one of the head scientists located within General Grod's compound and there were very important goings on of late. He had proven himself to be trustworthy to the Horva while they were fighting the oppression and rule of the Vorn military; and he had the privilege to leave the compound at will.
The scanner cleared him for exit. The computer-controlled door opened, allowing him to pass through to the outside. While some of the Vorn scientists had been captured and put to work under the General, others had come voluntarily-hoping to find safety and protection, as they allied themselves with the Horva commander. Among them was Daooth, and he was well-favored in his occupation at the compound and his liberty was a result of that favor.
The tall, slender-framed Vorn man made his way to his transport with his personal supplies from the compound and loaded them into the storage compartment. He climbed into the cockpit and then closed the canopy as the engines came to life.
The compound had not been built to house civilians, so many of the Vorn loyal to Grod and his campaign were allowed to live in a nearby area that was close enough to the base to enjoy the protection of the Horva.
Recently, the Vorn military had not been striking offensively very much. They had been preoccupied with defending their interests on many fronts. They needed to reinforce their conquest of the twin Castai across the Rift and there were terrible losses because of the Barudii sphere; as well as the great losses sustained at the hands of General Grod and his clone army. The Vorn military was very near collapse, and it seemed nothing would be able to prevent it.
The transport headed away from the building perimeter and passed through a security portal in the shield, heading for the wasteland. The settlement given to the civilians was far from luxurious, but its location underground provided a better weather environment and added protection.
After several miles the transport came to a large protrusion of rock in the desert that lay to the west of the compound. The transport came to a metal door that was the entrance to Daooth's residence.
The door responded to a transmitted code from the transport and opened to allow it entrance inside. The transport settled down on a platform area, and then Daooth retracted the cockpit canopy, gathered his supplies and headed into his domicile. He made his way to a closet along the corridor and triggered a switch inside. The back wall released and moved aside.
He went through the portal, which led into a large cavern beyond. The closet wall waited a moment, and then smoothly slid itself back into place. He hurried down the cavern to a place where another smaller tunnel intersected with it. He took the passage and came to a room. Inside were three men. They were eating as he came into the entrance of the hollowed out chamber.
Tiet spotted him first as he appeared in the entrance to the chamber where Wynn had served them all a meal. Tiet launched out of his seat at the sight of the dark-skinned man standing there. His blade was in his hand as he lunged for one of his sworn enemy.
Daooth deftly dodged the first strike and parried with a strong fist blow to Tiet's side. Tiet came back quickly; ready to deal a death blow to the man. Suddenly Wynn was next to him and had grabbed his sword arm. Instantly he was disarmed of his father's blade, and it fell to the floor. The look on his face was astonishment. Had he and Orin been led into a trap by a traitor?
"Stop it! Daooth is a friend. He is a civilian I have known for many years. He saved my life shortly after I came to the planet, when I was captured by Grod and his Horva," said Wynn.
Neither of them could believe what they were hearing. But they stood down and listened to what Wynn had to say.
"Forgive my startling of you," said Daooth in a vaguely familiar dialect.
"I told you that things are not what they appear here," said Wynn. "There are those among the Vorn who would gladly live at peace with us, but the military has control over them-just as they do our home world.
"Daooth is one of many who want that control to end. There is also General Grod who is the leader of the Horva armies you saw at Vaseer and at their main compound at Nagon-Toth. Grod and his clones are of a breed that was discontinued due to the threat they began to pose to the Vorn's control.
"They were engineered to be stronger, but it became obvious to the military-as well as to Grod-that these Horva were capable of rising up against their Vorn masters. Grod quickly took the opportunity to lead them in revolt and that rebellion has been building in strength steadily since before I arrived on the planet.
"Grod had been capturing important cloning scientists from among the Vorn cities on raids; then he conquered cities as his power increased. Not long after I arrived, I was captured by the General and he took samplings of my DNA to use in a new experimental process by which he could regenerate his cloned body and splice my Barudii DNA with his own in the hopes of gaining our kinetic abilities.
"Daooth helped me to escape, and caused an accident which destroyed the genetic material Grod was going to use. He has hidden me here all these years since.
"It is my hope to somehow free his people from the control of the military and Grod."
"Why haven't they risen up for their freedom against these two?" asked Orin.
"My people have not fighting skill to face these armies, and they are not the only threat," said Daooth. "Baruk clan is also enemy, and more fearsome than Vorn military or Grod. Now they control Vorn military from distance. Vorn do what they want, further Baruk interests, they leave them alone. But now Vorn nearing defeat by Grod's forces and Baruk are sure to try and come."
"Yes, and Grod knows that as well," said Wynn. "That's why he's so desperate to complete his DNA experiment so he can power up his clones with Barudii kinesis."
"But you said that Daooth destroyed the sample of your DNA that Grod needed to do the experiment."
"Yes, but now he has yours," said Daooth.
Tiet was taken aback; he had no idea what had occurred before he had awoke within the confinement field in the Vorn lab.
"Then we have to infiltrate Grod's compound and destroy the samples," said Orin.
"It not that simple anymore," said Daooth. "Grod already moved out with scientist for project and samples, and headed to a rendezvous with his army at Baeth Periege."
"Baeth Periege is the main city for the Vorn military and it houses their most advanced cloning facility," said Wynn. "Grod needs to have control of this facility to perform the regeneration of his army. He will have to defeat the Vorn, and if he does he will have taken away the main power base and last refuge of the Vorn military."
"What can we do?" asked Tiet, "if he takes that city and the cloning facility-how can we hope to stop him and a whole army of clones with our power?"
"There's the problem my friends," said Wynn. "We are up against formidable odds, two armies and time itself. If we fail to stop Grod, which must be our first concern, then I fear only the Baruk themselves will be able to stop him."
"If only our clans could have made peace," said Daooth, "men should act as brothers-not this killing of other races. Skin color is only difference between you and me," Daooth pointed at Tiet. "My blood is red like yours; my heart beats same as yours. Even Grod, he a clone of my dark-skinned people; fierce, strong, but he wants freedom just like us."
"My friends, I realize that I have involved you in a seemingly suicidal goal. It may seem overwhelming and I cannot ask you to endanger yourselves for this cause…"
"We're already involved," said Tiet. "That's my DNA he's using." Tiet looked at Daooth. "I guess, I never thought about your clan's side of things. We need peace between the clans, but how?"
Orin nodded his agreement. "It's easier said than done. We had better stay focused on what we can handle now."
"We have a transport and some explosive charges that we could use to destroy the equipment Grod needs to conduct the regeneration," said Wynn. "It's just about the only way we can prevent Grod from coming into power."
"I have sorting things out Wynn," said Daooth, "I think I have way to destroying facility. We try to infiltrate city in transport we having to fight our way through Grod's army then Vorn military guarding city. In these caverns is link to old magnetic rail system. System used to connect Baeth Periege with military compound at Nagon-Toth, before Grod captured it.
"Vorn military have detonated charges to bring tunnel roof down and cut off route into city. System still has power, but Grod did not want to take time to clear all of debris, it remained unused. System runs right into cloning facility. It used primarily to send troops from main cloning facility to compound."
"How fast is the rail system?" asked Wynn. "Baeth Periege is nearly one thousand miles away."
"It is frictionless magnetically suspended rail car system. It will travel approximately six hundred miles per hour," said Daooth.
"That's pretty fast. It wouldn't take us long to get there at all," said Tiet.
"Yes, but Grod already has the jump on us," said Orin. "And where is the break in the system?"
"Break occurs approximately one hundred and fifty miles from city perimeter," said Daooth. "Only problem how to clear debris and pass through in time to stop Grod. Defenses of Baeth Periege will not hold him long. He has massive clone army and Vorn military already very weak in their resources."
"I think that with our kinesis we might be able to clear the debris, but we will need time to work," said Wynn.
"My people long for freedom," said Daooth.
They all shared the sentiment. They gathered the explosive charges necessary and followed Daooth through the various side passages to access the magnetic rail system. But the thought lingered for Daooth and Wynn that with Grod defeated the next enemy would be the mighty Baruk.