Heir to the King tcos-1 Page 11

  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.

  VIII

  IT did not occur with the fanfare Ranul had expected, but the fleet had successfully passed through the Transdimensional Rift. The passage was surprisingly quick and uneventful.

  Estall's cruiser the Esyia took the lead of the group. Ranul scanned the area for other ships, but found none. They had no contact with the Saberhawk, which he had always guessed would be the case-but there were not any ships within scanning range at all, not even in orbit of the planet.

  Kish k'ta had boasted of a space fleet on their way to wipe out the remaining people on Castai, but there was no evidence of it at all. Even from the Vorn computer records, Ranul had expected to possibly find a battle between the Barudii sphere and the Vorn; but there was nothing. Nothing.

  "There isn't much to see out here, is there?" said Estall.

  "I know. That's what bothers me. I suppose we better head for the planet and see if that's where the action is. If Orin and Tiet are still alive there will be something going on."

  Ranul signaled to the helmsman, "Let's proceed to the planet."

  The ships glided forward on course for the strangely familiar planet.

  "Let's get those shields up," said Estall to one of the control technicians. "If that Barudii sphere weapon is out here somewhere, I don't want it mistaking these Vorn ships for targets."

  "I agree, but we don't know if it's here or not. The Vorn fleet was not responding to Kish k'ta's messages, but we don't know why. If the Sphere is in the vicinity, it could be cloaked from our sensors. The Barudii on this planet built it right from the schematics I have here.

  "That thing could very well have already destroyed the Vorn fleet Kish k'ta spoke of. I don't know if it would have attacked the Saberhawk or not. It's a computer, so I would expect targeting intended targets only, but who knows."

  "If the Saberhawk didn't face anything out here, I bet they would have gone straight for the planet," said Estall. "I don't know any warrior who wouldn't rather face a fight on the ground, than be cooped up inside a space ship."

  "According to the records the planet is now inhabited completely by the Vorn. They have colonized it since wiping out all the other Castillian clans there. We'll have to get closer to the planet before we can scan the surface."

  VOLLEY after volley of pulse fire blazed across the sky toward the perimeter defense shield surrounding the Vorn city of Baeth Periege. General Grod watched with great satisfaction as his forces mounted the assault upon the city. "How long will it hold?" asked Grod.

  "Probably another twenty hours at the rate of replenishing."

  "Good, that gives us plenty of time. Is the team ready?"

  "Yes sir. They're waiting for you to join them for the assault."

  Grod headed away from the firing line toward an area to the south. The pulse cannons continued to pound away at the defense shield as the city's gun systems attempted to repel the attack.

  He made his way to a work site away from the main group. Malec was waiting for him with three hundred warriors outfitted for battle. The work site was relatively hidden from view of the city; just as Grod had planned.

  "I've sent an advance team ahead of us, sir, to begin the breach on the tunnel barricade."

  "Excellent Malec. The intercepts on the local transmissions show that the Baruk may have already answered their distress calls. They could be here within the twenty hours it will take to breach the perimeter shield."

  "Once we have come into the city from this position we will be very close to the cloning facility. We should be able to disable the shield and allow our forces to continue the main assault while we begin the regeneration process," said Malec.

  "Let's go."

  He moved to the head of the group and into the tunnel they had been working on. It went down into an old magnetic rail system tunnel that had previously connected the city to the compound now controlled by Grod's forces hundreds of miles away. Once inside, the Horva warriors began their rapid move to enter the city beneath the perimeter shield.

  The tunnel had been barricaded at the city entrance, but the small team ahead of the main group would have it breached by the time they arrived. It was imperative to Grod to get to the cloning facility in time to complete the regeneration process before the Baruk could arrive on the planet. If he was to have any hope of success against that fierce race, he would need the advantage of the Barudii kinesis.

  The tunnel was dimly lit by the emergency lighting that was still powered by the city. Main power to the entire system was split between Grod's compound and Baeth Periege, but with the tunnel collapsed many miles from the city perimeter; it had been left abandoned.

  Grod's forces moved swiftly toward the perimeter barrier that had been put in place by the Vorn military. The demolition team Malec had sent would have everything ready by the time they arrived. They were going to use some old salvaged Barudii technology to get through the barrier. It involved dispersion fields and would, with the power they were supplying to the device, completely vaporize the barricade in a moment of time.

  It took them about twenty minutes to make it to the position where the demolition team was waiting.

  "Is everything ready?" asked Grod.

  "Yes, sir," said one of the team, "we can remove the barricade at any time."

  "Excellent. My brother Horva," said Grod to the entire group of warriors, "it is time for us to go beyond the designs of those who created us as improvements of themselves. We shall remake our own image with a far greater power than we have known before. We shall conquer our oppressors and be free. And if the Baruk should come, we will defeat them as well."

  It was on everyone's minds that the Baruk were going to come in response to the uprising now that Grod and the Horva were beyond being defeated by the Vorn military. But they would not arrive in time to save their principle base of power here at Baeth Periege.

  "As soon as we are beyond the barricade and come into the open square of the city I want my team, with the scientist Varen, to accompany me to the cloning facility. We will take it and begin the regeneration process, while the rest of you attack the main power couplings for the perimeter shield generators. With the shields down our brothers will swarm in and the city will quickly fall. We need not worry if any ships try to escape. It is the city and the cloning facility that we want, not Vorn prisoners. Their time of rule is at an end no matter what."

  He turned to the demolition team and gave the final order. "Detonate the device!"

  They complied and up ahead a brilliant blue burst flashed down the tunnel at them. The entire barricade to the rail system tunnel was engulfed in the dispersion field flash, causing the metal and stone to disassociate every molecular bond within the field. The light of the sun shone into the tunnel, and the troops immediately rushed ahead toward the opening.

  As they came out of the end of the tunnel and crossed the semicircular smooth crater left in the tunnel floor by the dispersion blast, they could see the rail system's above ground system of magnetic rings that were spaced out along the remainder of the distance to the cloning lab compound. The rings allowed the rail cars to continue above ground while still being propelled magnetically.

  Grod's group maintained its push down the track toward the cloning lab with Malec personally bringing Varen. Acting as both protector and jailer to Varen, Malec carried the cryo-pod that held Tiet's genetic samples for use in the regeneration procedure that Varen would be performing on Grod and his Horva.

  The hinder group, composed of the remaining two hundred Horva warriors, was splitting off to attack the shield generators. They were already coming under fire from the Vorn military and many of the Vorn's brutish Horva clones coming in for the fight as well.

  The shield attack group laid down heavy firepower as they advanced steadily; blasting many along the way. Clearly the Vorn military had not expected to be
attacked from behind their own positions at the city perimeter, allowing the attack team to make steady progress towards its goal. The pulse fire from without the city continued to batter upon the perimeter shield as thousands upon thousands of Grod's Horva warriors waited to enter Baeth Periege.

  Grod and his team met very little resistance in getting to the cloning lab complex entrance. Only a few of the brutish Horva slaves had stood between them and the entrance to the facility. He did not enjoy the fact that they had to be killed. He really did pity the poor creatures. But as they could not be brought from the loathsome state they had been created in-as brutish dumb beasts to be exploited by the Vorn-he thought that truly death was better for them.

  Grod and his one hundred warriors rushed into the complex and quickly secured the lab facility they needed for the regeneration. Varen's identification card, which remained active, had allowed the group quick access to the interior of the facility. Malec gave the cryo-pod to Varen and led him to the control boards.

  "Varen," said Grod, "remember your family! I want this done perfectly or they will suffer."

  "I understand, General," said Varen with a nervous voice.

  Varen tapped the controls and a multitude of the cloning pods opened up, allowing Grod and fifty of his warriors to climb into the horizontally situated units. They first removed their weapons and battle gear with the respective items of clothing and then positioned themselves individually within the pods.

  The remaining warriors would ensure that no one interfered with the approximately three hour procedure. No doubt, the shield attack team was getting all of the attention within the city.

  Varen secured the pods once they were all situated inside and removed the Barudii genetic material from the cryo-pod. He inserted it into the matrix chamber that housed the parent cloning material during normal procedures and inserted a command disk containing the necessary changes in the standard processes to bring about the automated sequences for a regeneration of the already cloned tissues and the very genetic structures that were embodied within them.