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  These last few days had been the most exhausting and punishing experience of his young life. He stared into his own face reflected before him. Why had he lived while others had died? And did he really want to go on living without them?

  He clothed himself in a simple garment and came into the other portion of the cabin where Ranul and Wynn were still talking. Tiet caught Orin's name mentioned before he entered the room.

  "Who killed Orin?" asked Tiet abruptly.

  Both men gave him uneasy stares, as though the answer was known but they weren't sure of whether to give it.

  "Wynn, I saw your face when Orin said the name. He said Kale killed him. Kale was my father. But he could not have meant my father. You seemed to know who he meant by your expression."

  Ranul looked at Wynn also.

  "Ranul, do you know who this person is? I think the time for secrets is over."

  "You're right. You need to know the truth. The person Orin named is not your father, but your brother."

  "What!?" Tiet could hardly stand at the statement. "Wynn, I don't have a brother!"

  "Actually Tiet, you do," confirmed Ranul. "He's your older brother."

  "Why have I never been told these things? Why didn't Orin tell me this?!"

  "Three years after you were born there was an incident," said Ranul. "While under Orin's command, your brother was to guard a certain village of three thousand people with a squadron under his command. He had always been a brash young man and given to conflict with his superiors.

  "Kale decided that there was no real threat to the village and took the majority of his fighter squadron onto the battle front, while leaving only a few to guard the people. The Horva attacked during that time and almost two thousand men, women and children were killed as a result of his irresponsibility.

  "Orin was furious with him and petitioned your father to remove his rank as a warrior. Your father was ashamed of him and did so and Kale was dishonored before the people. Shortly after those events, he disappeared; he was nearly eighteen years of age at the time."

  "I still don't understand why he killed Orin," said Tiet.

  "About five years later Kale was found to have conspired with the Vorn military. He gave them the information on the effects of the Transdimensional Rift upon your people and how they were greatly weakened by its random collapsing. It was all they needed to know to mount an appropriate and devastating campaign at the Barudii's weakest time."

  Tiet dropped his head into his hands as he sat down upon his bed. "Does any of this get any better?! My father and mother and my people massacred by the Vorn conspiring with my own brother! And now Dorian and Orin are dead because of all these things!! I do not think I can bear to know anymore of it!" shouted Tiet.

  They got up to leave. "I cannot say I know how you feel young master," said Wynn as he put his hand firmly upon Tiet's shoulder, "but I'm here for you. You must go on despite what has happened. Your father the king is dead…but you, the heir to the king…you live on and our people live on with you. I hope you will not let their legacy die now after all that has happened."

  He followed Ranul out the door, leaving Tiet on his bed to ponder all that had happened. It was so horrible. Everything was worse in reality than he could have ever imagined in his worst nightmares. Yet he was still alive. Now what am I supposed to do?

  He thought of Orin. Back when they lived in the cave far in the wasteland, when he had taught him to be a man and a warrior, he had told him that to resolve a difficult problem or situation, resting the weary mind was the best way to clear one's thoughts and be able to approach the situation with new vigor.

  He thought upon those lessons for some time. Orin had always been very wise. He wondered if his own father had perhaps imparted his wisdom in some way to Orin. Now both men were gone, but their wisdom was still living in his memory.

  He got up from his bed and walked to the portal window of the chamber. He could see over the city of Baeth Periege below. Much of it lay in ruins from the battle with Grod and his army.

  Wynn had said that these people, the civilians, had longed for peace, and had hoped for it even through years and years of oppression under their own military government. That government was gone; defeated by Grod's Horva. Grod appeared to be dead, the Horva were defeated and fleeing from Baeth Periege. Maybe, just maybe, he thought, there was something left that was good after all.

  X

  DATE: The Year 9028 (planet: Castai III-Rex)

  THE bright red glow of the binary star Casiss glided across the surface of defense probe #2041. Its mission, to hold a position in this quadrant and maintain continuous long range scans toward the home system of the Baruk, had been uneventful for the last six months since its launch. The probe sailed through a vast sea of silence. Casiss was calculated at nearly one quarter of a light year away, with none of its uninhabitable planetary bodies visible to the eye, save the electronic eye of probe #2041.

  Something entered into its sensor band one tenth of a light year away from the probe. #2041 closed in on the object with its sensors to distinguish whether it might be a naturally occurring object such as a meteor. It had been the case fourteen times already since the probe took position there.

  The object was quite large, but it was not following the normally erratic flight pattern of a natural space body. Quickly the sensor field was penetrated by even more similar objects; fifty in all. Each of the objects followed virtually the same flight path, putting the group on a direct course for the planet Castai.

  WYNN walked through the courtyard of pools outside of the newly appointed combat training facilities. The artwork was pure Vorn from different eras he was unfamiliar with. He took note of the rich detail present in the forms; some of natural things such as native animals, and some of the Vorn race. As he came through the serene area into the main courtyard, he could hear the sounds of battle. He saw hundreds of warriors from among the Vorn race intermingled with many Castillians from nearly every tribe that had migrated across the Rift after the battle of Baeth Periege eighteen months ago.

  The migration had been rather unexpected, but there had been a rally cry to join the Barudii king. The Vorn had been defeated on Tiet's home-world by Estall. The people had begun to refer to it as Castai-Ori, for origin. The twin Castai here across the rift had similarly begun to be referred to as Castai-Rexus, illustrating the presence of the Barudii King. There was at present, no king at all, but Tiet being the heir to that throne had chosen to remain on this side of the Transdimensional Rift following the battle at Baeth Periege. His desire was to remain on the sister planet of his own home world because of the likelihood of further conflict with the Horva and the impending attack of the Baruk.

  Tiet as yet had assumed no formal power, but both the Castillian tribes remaining on Castai-Ori and the recently freed Vorn civilian population of Castai-Rexus were looking for leadership.

  The Vorn had originally looked to Daooth or Wynn as potential leaders to unite them to face future conflicts, while the Castillians had looked to Estall as the victorious leader of the Aolene who had brought about the capture and subordination of the Vorn military on Castai-Ori.

  Wynn had emphatically refused, while pointing out that he could never assume power under any circumstance so long as an heir to the throne of his people lived. With Daooth backing Wynn, and a history of relations between the Vorn and the Barudii kings of the past before the Baruk created conflict, it brought about a consensus among the Vorn to follow Wynn in backing the throne of the Barudii. Estall had also deferred to the throne of the Barudii, and hoped Tiet would step up to the task.

  It all seemed a wonderful change of events to Wynn, but Tiet had not consented to ascend formally to his father's throne. It had become a matter of great frustration both to Wynn and those among the Council of the Twelve Cities that he remained reluctant. Wynn himself had spent hours trying to persuade the young man, who at times seemed that he might cave in to the pressure, but he realized that Tiet doub
ted himself. The deaths of his friends were still weighing heavily upon his mind.

  Tiet had taken great interest in organizing civilians from among the Vorn and the migrating Castillians to form a large ground force in training. He had become obsessed with the task, in fact, leading Wynn to the conclusion it was in part to relieve himself from his own troubling thoughts concerning recent events and the deaths of those dearest to him.

  Wynn ascended a stairway leading to a very long balcony that overlooked the training courtyard. He couldn't help but be delighted to see his own Castillian people training with the Vorn to fight a common foe. A dream in part had been realized with the uniting of these people and he hoped nothing would tear them apart again; but he thought it vitally important that they have the necessary leadership; and that leadership could not be served better than in the Barudii King.

  Swords clashed on the courtyard as instructors from among the Aolene guided the trainees in various sparring exercises. The handsome new uniforms Tiet had designed were of the same material used in the old Barudii cloaks and rendered the wearer electronically invisible.

  Various improvements from Vorn technology allowed for the E.M. shields to be reduced in size and incorporated directly into the garments along with components that provided a real-time holographic data display and nano-sensory components. These helped to mimic the Barudii kinetic ability to sense information such as number and position of combatants within a certain range.

  The data created pressure sensations in the garment to alert the warrior and in effect give them perception in all directions simultaneously. Other nano-components provided scanning of one's surroundings and fed the information to the holographic display.

  Today, the trainees were practicing Barudii blade techniques. Much progress had been made in the ten months since Baeth Periege had been engulfed in battle. Daily more trainees appeared as the migration from Castai-Ori continued despite the threat of the Baruk. The city had been under constant repair by numerous robot construction crews, although the cloning facility that had once been such a jewel of science for the city was never rebuilt. The Vorn Council of the Twelve Cities, named for the twelve large cities now housing the population for unification and safety concerns, had outlawed the cloning of Horva as servants.

  General Grod's Horva troops provided little interference to reconstruction after their defeat. There had been a few raids on smaller cities that were nearly abandoned, but it appeared they sought supplies rather than conquest. Grod himself had been proven to still be alive; a fact that had brought considerable alarm to the Council. While there seemed to be no immediate threat, it was a definite possibility that Tiet's new recruits might face a war on two fronts if the Horva resurfaced with attacks on the twelve cities.

  Wynn continued to walk the length of the balcony until he could see a group of recruits surrounding one unarmed man. The young man was blindfolded but not bound. Several of the recruits moved in to strike.

  The first strike went for the face. The victim's head bobbed to one side as the strike passed before him. He quickly struck the mid-section of the attacker then swept the feet while countering another strike from a different recruit.

  As the recruits moved in quickly, trying to overwhelm the man, the whole situation seemed to revert to chaos. In a matter of a few seconds, all of the recruits were tossed to the ground, leaving the man standing alone. Wynn chuckled a bit to himself as Tiet removed his blindfold and beckoned his students to their feet.

  He could not hear the instructions given at that point, but soon the recruits disbanded to other exercises in the courtyard.

  Tiet raised his blindfold again and replaced it over his eyes. Wynn noticed a flash of light as something caught the sun between Tiet and himself. Something whispered and kissed the railing of the balcony next to his right hand. He could see a spicor disc lodged there.

  He looked back at Tiet, still blindfolded but curling his index finger in the air toward Wynn. He smiled, then stood waiting. Wynn dropped to the courtyard below as Tiet leapt at him. Wynn caught Tiet's foot and sent a fist to the groin, but Tiet's other leg had already come up and over to catch Wynn in the side of the head. Wynn stumbled as he let go of Tiet's foot, but quickly regained his composure. Tiet was standing ready and on guard; he liked training with his mentor.

  Wynn smiled back at the younger man and began to think he had taught him too well in recent months. They exchanged a quick moment of fists and kicks with neither man landing a blow to advantage. Tiet was still smiling behind his blindfold.

  "I've come to urge you to speak with the Council," said Wynn.

  Tiet's smile disappeared. He was never pleased when this subject came up; which it often had since the Council had pressed for leadership in the months following the battle at Baeth Periege.

  "We've been over this before," he said. "I am not the man to lead these people, Wynn."

  Wynn could sense that this hardness was not as deep as he was trying to make it appear. They exchanged several more blows, with Wynn the more playful now. He noticed that all the commotion on the courtyard had ceased. Nearly all the recruits in the area were focused on the sparring between the Barudii.

  "You've become very powerful in recent months. Far more than when we first met," said Wynn.

  "All thanks to your training, I'm sure."

  "Would you be up to a wager with an old man like me?" he baited.

  Tiet smiled again and raised his blindfold. "Wynn, if you're trying to get me to-"

  "Of course if you doubt your ability to knock me to the ground in hand-to-hand combat, I suppose I understand," Wynn interrupted.

  "And if I do?"

  "Then I won't bother you with the matter again."

  Now he was intrigued. "Do you really mean it, Wynn?"

  "I do."

  That was the last word needed. Tiet launched an intensely fast barrage of attacks at Wynn. He managed to match them all, but with difficulty. The younger man had the age advantage and he was powerful. If this kind of attack continued, he might wear him down. Wynn considered it and Tiet hoped for it.

  Tiet was younger, but Wynn had decades of specialized training. He deliberately faltered and Tiet took the bait. He landed a strong blow to Wynn's face. The elder man stumbled and went to one knee. Tiet approached. "Looks like you're about to lose this one, Wynn," he boasted.

  "That's too bad. Do you think Orin and Dorian would be proud of your lack of resolve to assume your rightful place?" he asked with a mocking tone.

  Tiet's countenance flashed through surprise and then anger. He lunged. The elder man took the opportunity and rose to meet him with a knee to the stomach; three consecutive quick blows that knocked the wind out of him. He followed the ambush with a backhand to the side of the head that sent him to the ground gasping for precious breath.

  He looked up at his mentor, who was smiling at him again. He remembered the old lesson to refrain from anger in battle, as it can foil one's concentration.

  "You tricked me," he coughed out.

  "My dear young king, only for your own good and ours."

  Wynn offered him a hand, helping him to stand again. The pride and anger were gone, replace with the knowledge that Wynn would never let the issue die.

  "The Council meets tonight at dusk. Don't be late."

  Wynn smiled and turned away to leave the courtyard and its stunned audience who began to whisper about the outcome. Tiet looked after the elder man, thinking himself foolish to have been baited so easily. It was so important to Wynn, this matter of the throne. He did not understand why, but a promise was still a promise.

  He heard a slow clapping coming from behind him and looked to see its source. Ranul was sitting under the shade of the balcony overhead clapping sarcastically with a sly grin on his face.

  "Yes, yes-very funny," said Tiet as he turned to gather up his sparring weapons from the ground.

  Ranul got up and walked over to him. The soldiers were renewing their training on the grounds;
pairing up as they prepared for the days to come should the Baruk actually attack.

  "Now don't be mad young master; after all, Wynn means well. The people do need a leader and you are the natural choice. I'm sure Orin would have agreed."

  Tiet turned to look at him. "Well, I don't know about that. Orin tended to be very protective of me."

  "Maybe, he cared a great deal for you. And whether you realize it or not, he was quite proud of you."

  "How do you know that?"

  "I knew Orin very well back before the Vorn came. It was written all over him. He treated you like the son he never had. He would have wanted you to take your rightful place as King."

  Tiet looked at him, not sure how to answer it. He was rubbing his stomach; Wynn had really laid into him.

  "You should get over to the medical complex and have my daughter take a look."

  Tiet smiled. "I'm not really hurt Ranul; he just knocked the wind out of me."

  "It's still worth a visit, just to see Mirah. Haven't you two been talking recently?"

  "A little, but…"

  "But what? She's a nice girl Tiet…"

  "I know."

  "And she's moving up now that she's completed her residency. You're going to have to think about taking a wife someday."

  Tiet looked at the donjarr on his wrist. He had still not removed it after losing Dorian. "You're a bit direct aren't you Ranul?"

  "I don't mean to push Tiet, but you have to go on with your life. Dorian is gone and Orin is gone-you have to assume your responsibilities for your own good and the good of those around you."

  "I just don't want to fail everyone, like I failed them."

  "You didn't fail them. You fought back against those who had enslaved our people and you won. I owe a debt to you I can't repay, in receiving back my daughter. If you hadn't been set on freeing us from the Vorn she would have died in that prison cell along with the children they had captive with her. She was able to go on with her residency work and now she's turning into a fine physician; you haven't failed."