to be allies. This meeting should have taken place just after their arrival. But he wasn’t about to push the issue with Lucin.
The Baruk were the most blood-thirsty clan Tal had ever known. It was dangerous enough to be their ally and the Baruk’s alliance with Lucin was the stuff of legend. He was terrified of this mysterious clan.
One of the Baruk warriors came into the chamber. He was fierce looking to say the least. His black body armor was a part of him-a symbiotic coexistence. Whatever the living armor was, all of the warriors of the Baruk were joined to them. Somehow they covered and intertwined internally and externally with the Baruk, forming a living exoskeleton that protected them.
Tal had seen the warriors in action before. Their exoskeletons were capable of repelling light pulse weapons fire. And the various weapons they utilized were part technology and part bio-weaponry.
The warrior motioned for Tal to follow him. They both entered the chamber of Lucin. Tal had only seen him once before. He ruled the Baruk and appeared as human as any other, but there was a darkness which emanated from him: oppressive and evil.
Tal came before him where he was seated upon a raised platform. Lucin was sitting on a wide throne that seemed more organic than craft. Tal waited for Lucin to speak, not daring to show any disrespect to him.
“You have desired an audience with me, Governor Tal?” Lucin asked.
“Indeed, my lord. I would inquire as to your plans for retaking the planet of Castai on our behalf. We looked to you for assistance in quelling the rebellion of the Horva under General Grod, but we were overrun at Baeth Periege before you could arrive.”
“Should we retake the planet it would be unwise to reinstate control to your regime, Tal. You lost the planet and most of your people were killed. You lack the capacity to reign over the inhabitants.”
“But we are allies. Surely you will want to help us to regain control. It is for your benefit as well-”
“Our benefit does not concern you, Tal,” Lucin interrupted. “You are weak. It is time the Baruk assumed possession of Castai.”
“But you can’t-” He almost bit his own tongue, trying to stop the words.
“Can’t?”
“What I mean to say, my lord, is that we have always tried to govern the territory in accord with your interests as well as our own. It would be unfortunate to dissolve that relationship now. I still have a thousand people aboard my ship who can lead the way in retaking the planet from these rebels-at your command, of course.”
“My command has already been issued concerning your people,” Lucin said.
A holographic image of Tal’s vessel gliding along with the Baruk convoy appeared in the room above him. One of the Baruk ships heaved a large projectile out of one of its cannons. Tal’s heart sank as the object impacted with his ship, smashing it like a glass upon the floor. Over one thousand people, including his own wife and children were dashed to pieces in a moment.
Tal gasped. He could not breathe. He almost didn’t notice the white hot needle-stick: a neurotoxin injection. Tal lost sensation almost instantly, numbly falling to the ground at the feet of the soldier who had administered the poison. His breathing slowed then stopped as his muscles ceased to function. Tal was suffocating, but he couldn’t move to help himself though his mind was still clear.
“We have no further need of treaty with you, or your people, Tal,” Lucin said. “Now that your strength has been diminished, we see Castai as ripe for the taking.”
Tal could not respond. His body began to spasm from lack of oxygen. Lucin hissed with delight as the Vorn governor entered the throes of death before him.
“Housra, it is time to deal with our traitor and don’t underestimate him. He is still a Barudii,” Lucin said to the soldier.
“I obey.”
KALE
The food aboard the Baruk vessel was barely palatable. Kale detested almost everything about their clan. If the Vorn military had been able to suppress the various uprisings then I wouldn’t be in this mess, he thought. Kale had been turned against his Barudii people, by Lucin himself, all those years ago and now he was paying for it.
He understood the desire of the Baruk to control the planet of Castai. It was rich in resources and, perhaps even more importantly, it was the perfect location for control of the transdimensional rift.
None of that really mattered to Kale. He had no allegiance to anyone. He took another bite of carusk meat. It was bitter on his tongue. The Baruk loved this meal as a delicacy, but that didn’t surprise him. The bitterness of the meat seemed ironic to him as he thought about it. What had seemed right and good for him at one time so long ago had become ashes in his mouth.
Kale could not push out the thought of his brother running across the tarmac to try and save Orin. He realized that Tiet almost certainly didn’t know who he was at the time, but did he know now? And what if we had come face to face then, he wondered. Would Tiet have embraced his long lost brother, the betrayer of their people and their parents?
No, of course not. He would have gladly struck with all the fury he could muster. Suddenly Kale felt disgusted with everything, or perhaps only with himself. He spit the hunk of meat back onto his plate and pushed it away across the small table.
The Baruk could not be trusted. They were completely sold out to the Wicked One, Lucin. The Vorn had very little understanding of the true nature of the malevolent being that ruled the Baruk clan and their planet. They were merely a vehicle for this fallen one-a way for him to move among men and control their minds in his symbyte form.
It was Lucin who had promised him vengeance upon his father and Orin for the dishonor they had shown him-a prince of the Barudii. He only had to provide the weaknesses of their mountain cities and great power would be his. But it was a lie from the Prince of Lies. The death of his people and his family had brought him nothing but regret and sorrow. But he had bound himself to Lucin. How could he escape from such a power?
The Baruk certainly had no way of escape and they didn’t want any as far as Kale could tell. The symbyte form of Lucin, inhabiting their bodies, gave them great power and the ability to drive out their enemies before them. Now they were on the move to Castai. Lucin would conquer it and move on through the rift to conquer the twin Castai. Only Elithias could stop such a being. Though he thought of dropping to his knees to pray, Kale knew that he was probably the last person Elithias would want to hear from.
Normally, Kale might have suspected his food to be poisoned, but his personal scanner had detected nothing dangerous in the meal. It did little to console him about the possibility of the Baruk killing him. He looked at his blade upon the hard slab the Baruk called a bed. Picking up the blade, he examined it a moment. This blade was his life. Kale knew he could never trust the Baruk and even if he could, he did not want to remain among them. But how could he escape? They had control of his ship. He heard heavy footsteps approaching his quarters.
The door opened up before the Baruk warrior. Housra quickly moved inside with his compression gun ready to terminate the Barudii on sight. The room appeared to be empty.
Kale looked down on the Baruk warrior from the ceiling of the compartment. He clung there using the Way. The compression weapon used by the Baruk clan swung from side to side as the warrior surveyed the compartment, stopping to examine the half eaten meal.
Kale dropped down with his blade. Housra whirled around, bringing his gun to bear upon the Barudii. The blade divided the weapon before he could fire. The living exoskeleton sprang outward from the Baruk, striking Kale.
He was smashed backwards into the door of the compartment but managed to strike back furiously with the Way. The Baruk crashed hard into the other wall, but was stabilized quickly by the morphing exoskeleton. It had appeared solid, but now morphed into obscene appendages trying to protect its host.
Kale brought his blade between himself and the Baruk. The symbiotic creature was reared up in a posture of aggression as it sought to strike. One of the appendages lashed out. Kale struck it with his sword. It recoiled. He moved in again, striking at the hovering tentacles and landing a blow to the warrior’s leg, severing it
