The room he was being kept in was fairly dark except for a light around him and the soft glow of machines beyond. He could see some movement in the darker area, but the bright light that was focused on him kept his pupils constricted, not allowing him to see much.
He tried to exert his mind upon the mechanism that held him suspended in an energy field. He heard a spike in the monitor and a shock suddenly emanated from the suspension mechanism that nearly drove him to unconsciousness again. Apparently his brainwaves were being monitored.
He thought he might try again and began to feel for the people in the room. Perhaps he could seize someone controlling the unit, but the unseen monitor alarmed again and the field shocked him once more. Man that hurts!
He tried to contain the urge to cry out in pain. He was exhausted from the punishing energy. He knew another attempt would knock him out and he at least wanted to be conscious. Had the Horva captured him? He wasn't sure. He could only remember Dorian amid the wreckage of the Saberhawk taking her last breath, and then pain and nothingness.
It wasn't like the Horva to have such technology, but he remembered that the Horva he had faced on the battlefield had been much different than those back home on his own planet. And what had happened to Orin? He had not seen him since before the Saberhawk crashed into the valley floor. 'Who are you?!' he shouted.
There was no reply from the darkness. 'Where am I?! Come out and face me, you cowards!'
Behind a Plexiglas barrier a scientist tapped his communicator panel. 'General? He's awake.'
'Are you ready to collect your data?'
'Yes, Sir.'
'Excellent. Move him to the dome.'
THERE had not been much to salvage from the wreckage of the Saberhawk. Orin had been able to obtain one blaster pistol, two working kemsticks and he had scavenged an extra scabbard for Tiet's father's blade. He had also found a locker containing several Barudii cloaks.
The cloaks were made of a synthetic material that was capable of scrambling electronic signals that came into contact with it. This had the effect of rendering the wearer invisible to scanning and sensor devices of many kinds, and was an asset when stealth was necessary.
Orin wore one cloak and carried another for Tiet stuffed inside his belt. If he was still alive, then they would need it to escape from his captors with as little fight as possible.
These intelligent Horva were much more skilled fighters than the brutish kind back home. He and Tiet would be greatly outnumbered even with their kinetic abilities. A subtle approach would be necessary in this case, if Orin was to successfully retrieve his protege and get him home. Getting home was another problem that weighed on his mind, but only one problem could be dealt with at a time.
The trail of the Horva army had led him many miles north. It had been dark for several hours now, and Orin could see lights in the distance. The tracks of the Horva army appeared to funnel into a huge guarded compound in the distance.
The facility was massive and towered some five hundred feet above the ground. As Orin drew nearer he could see that a forcefield barrier surrounded the compound approximately three hundred feet outside the main building's perimeter. There were intermediate, one hundred foot tall pylons placed every one hundred feet in the field, that acted as connecting points. They were of an alloy Orin was not familiar with, but they looked very tough.
The forcefield looked like it could easily repel a ground force, and the large pulse cannons stationed on the ground and the building itself would be capable of repelling a large number of aerial aggressors as well.
Fortunately, he had no intention of carrying out a full on assault. He would be like a virus; a silent but deadly invader that no one ever sees coming. He approached the barrier with caution. The darkness shielded him from natural eyes while the Barudii cloak kept him invisible to the technology.
Atop of each pylon was a guard station with a Horva manning it. Orin felt for the guard with his mind. He could sense the man's body up in the tower as though his own eyes were fixed upon him; as though his hands touched the flesh. He increased pressure upon the vessels leading to the man's brain slowly and steadily until the man collapsed unconscious. Then Orin catapulted his own body over the height of the pylon and soft landed on the other side.
The Horva guard would wake up in a few minutes and would likely not realize that anything had happened save a fainting spell that the soldier would not want to report to his superiors.
Orin moved across the span of the courtyard toward an area of the structure that was shadowed. Searchlights moved across different areas, and he was careful not to be caught in them or to allow his shadow to be cast by any ambient lighting. He reached a wall and noticed that it was made of a synthetic stone material of some sort. It was completely smooth and would be difficult for an enemy to find hand or foot-holds. Luckily, he wasn't planning on scaling it.
Orin sought out with his mind, looking for any guards that might be on the roof of the complex. He found none. He leapt upwards and came to perch on the edge of the roof. He still could not see any visible guards, nor did he sense any. The roof of the complex was a maze of ventilation system outlets as well as large computer- controlled laser turrets. He began to walk across the roof cautiously; it appeared that the cloak was working well since none of the guns turned to fire upon him.
The ventilation system would be the easiest way for him to gain access to most points in the building without coming into direct contact with the enemy. There were probably scanning devices throughout, but he had to trust that the cloak would allow him to move undetected.
As he approached one of the large vent housings, he could hear the deep roar of the system working to supply fresh air to those within. He pulled out a spicor disc to get through the heavy gauge wire covering the vent, and then decided against igniting an energy weapon in the presence of the sensor-controlled guns.
With his mind he focused on the center of the criss-crossing mesh work, then expanded the space so that the fibers were pushed outward just enough for him to crawl through. Once inside, he mentally controlled his descent and moved into a horizontal tunnel off of the pipe.
He slid along as quietly as possible knowing that any noise would be amplified by the nature of the tunnel. In turn, he could also hear many voices and various machine movements coming from all directions within the system, as it collected the activities of the complex and amplified them all.
Not knowing where Tiet was being held, Orin knew that he might have a long meticulous search ahead of him. He hoped that he might be able to sense him if he got close enough. His kinetic signature would hopefully be easy to distinguish among the Horva. And, if Tiet were able, he would already be trying to escape.
GENERAL Grod passed through the automatic doorway and into the control chamber. Within were various control terminals and stations for monitoring what happened in the chamber beyond. On the far side of the room was a large row of viewing windows that looked into the huge dome. Grod sat in his command chair and waited for final preparations to be finished.
'General, we have him in position.'
'Is he awake yet?'
'The suspension field is active; subject is conscious. Our warriors are in place. Battle droids are in place and activated. The teragore is in place in the outer dome. All successive inner domes are secured.'
Grod had a great interest in what was about to happen. He wanted to know the abilities as well as limitations of this Barudii warrior. The warrior's abilities had once been an integral part of his plan for conquest of the Vorn race and this planet. Other opportunities to utilize those abilities had been lost, but now he had another chance, and he needed to see what his prize could do.
'Release the Barudii.'
TIET had not realized he was unconscious until he awoke again. His environment was different now. No longer was he inside the laboratory setting he was in before. He and the mechanism that still held him suspended inside its energy field were centered within a large dome.
The walls were mirrored like glass but the finish was peculiar; like a two way mirror. Someone was obviously watching from beyond. Near the walls were more of the Horva he had seen in the battle at Mt. Vaseer.
