plunged the glistening blade through its torso. The sentinel's appendages went limp as the blade turned its primary circuits and power grid to molten metal.
'We should be going now,' said Tiet as he replaced his blade into its sheath.
'Your young friend is right,' said Ranul, 'The sentinels share a collective mind. What one knows, they all know. They're no doubt sending more units to this location right now.'
'I need to know about the clones, why aren't they still in production?'
'They can't produce them right now, at least not until the fleet arrives; it will be bringing more supplies, equipment and clones along with more chemical matrix to produce them.'
'Is it this way everywhere?'
'As far as I know; but the fleet is due to arrive in a matter of days.'
'You had better come with us.'
'Did you really think I would stay here now? Let's go!' said Ranul as he gathered some essential gadgets.
Tiet led the way out of the room into the corridor. Another sentinel rounded the corner and fired. Tiet's body sprang upward reflexively, pressing flat against the ten foot ceiling, and clearing the path of the shots.
Orin stepped into the corridor with his ignited blade, drawing the sentinel's fire as Tiet sprang away from the ceiling toward the robot. When he planted his feet on the ground again, so did the severed upper half of the sentinel. They wasted no time heading up a nearby ventilation shaft, and soon they were emerging onto the roof of the lab complex.
'Now where do we go?' asked Ranul.
'This will buy us a little time. Tiet, what do you see?'
'I see a small transport, down here off the west side. It looks empty!'
Orin and Ranul joined him on the western wall of the building.
'I can't make that jump, Orin,' said Ranul, 'It must be at least fifty feet.'
'Just hold on!' said Orin as he grabbed his friend and jumped over the ledge. Tiet followed them down as they used their kinetic power to soft land next to the transport. Orin mentally released the cockpit lock; gaining them quick access to the vehicle. Tiet jumped behind the flight controls, and closing the sliding canopy behind them, they sped off into the night.
Ranul could see patrol ships and a sentinel carrier all descending from different directions on the lab complex behind them. The craft they were in was a low altitude transport speeder; quick, but with no armoring or weapons. Still, it was adequate to get them out of the city and into the open terrain beyond.
'Where to now?' asked Tiet.
'I'm not sure yet,' said Orin, 'but we've got to stop those reinforcements from arriving!'
'Tell your young friend to take us to Vaseer.'
'But that city has been deserted for years!'
'Not necessarily.'
THE recordings flashed on several screens before Governor Kisch k'ta as his advisors briefed him on the unfolding events. Setaru' lek spoke in the language of the Vorn concerning a mysterious rebel on the loose.
'And here Governor, see the footage from the cloning room? His weapon-'
'Is that of the Barudii warriors; yes I remember,' interrupted Kisch k'ta. 'But we wiped them out years ago; I led the attack that day. We swept the cities and the battlefield for survivors and there were no life signatures detected. Besides all that, this one is too young to have been in that battle.'
'With all due respect, we are not prepared for an uprising. Our supplies are exhausted and we can't produce anymore clones. If this person is fighting back, then he might try to gain support from the people; we could have a rebellion on our hands.'
'I am aware of our situation here,' said Kisch k'ta. 'However, attempting to get the fleet fully prepared and through the rift any sooner than scheduled is impossible; we haven't even been able to re-establish contact yet.'
The door to the Governor's office chimed. Kisch k'ta touched the panel on his desk allowing the door to slide open. There in the doorway stood the image of a Barudii warrior.
'Come in, android.'
The mechanical warrior moved gracefully into the room.
'I want you to scan all the data we have on this matter, android. And I want you to destroy this person and anyone who may be involved in his rebellion. Nothing must interfere with the arrival of the fleet. Is that clear?'
'Completely, Governor.'
He moved to the control panel and quickly tapped the panel to play all the recorded data that was being viewed by Governor Kisch k'ta. The images simultaneously played in high speed as the Vale android scanned it all into memory. After only a moment he was done.
'Data acquisition complete, Governor Kisch k'ta.'
'Then do not fail.'
'Understood,' said Vale, and he was gone.
'Governor, do you think this machine can defeat the Barudii?' asked one of his aides.
'I don't know. If he can only delay a rebellion, then it will be enough.'
Vale made his way to the hangar bay of the complex, where a transport was already waiting. He acquired the code key from one of the attendants and slipped into the single occupant cockpit. The model was small and fast. In a moment Vale had scanned all the control systems to memory and fired the engine for departure.
In his android mind all related files to the human rebel and the attacks that had taken place were being correlated. Recently updated reports were coming in and Dr. K'ore was apparently now involved. And according to Governor Kisch k'ta, Dr. K'ore qualified as a viable target; yet his transport was not missing. A related item concerning a stolen transport belonging to a Vorn scientist was the the closest calculated correlation.
Vale fired the thrusters and proceeded to the west side of the complex where the transport had been docked when it was taken. He arrived at the site in a moment and climbed out of his ship to scan the area for any trace evidence.
The transport was reported as a Castillian model, which left a distinctly different exhaust signature from that of the Vorn ships. Vale adjusted his micro-optics appropriately and a particle trail appeared.
He got back to his ship and then proceeded to follow the particle trail that his optics were picking up. The trail went through the city and appeared to head into the wasteland area beyond. All he had to do was to follow the trail and surprise his prey.
Vale powered up the engine to maximum and continued out into the wasteland. His mind was a blur of calculations as it read maps and plotted speed and distance to possible destinations where the targets may have sought refuge, while simultaneously reviewing files on the Barudii warriors; their tactics and weaknesses.
DURING the years they had been in hiding, Orin had never taken Tiet into the Barudii city of Vaseer. It was still littered with old bones-the bones of his people.
The trio had left the transport behind two hours before so they could make their way along the treacherous mountain pass to one of Vaseer's side gates. The gates were well hidden by the rough terrain and only accessible on foot.
Most of the clans had built their cities underground because of the severe weather that resulted from the Transdimensional Rift being in such close proximity to the planet. But the Barudii had enjoyed the added advantage of building within mountains.
The pathway was fairly wide and much of the carvings and hewn out walls still remained intact. As they drew closer to the city gate Tiet examined the ornate stonework by the light of Castai's moon. His people had always preferred to dwell in the strongholds they had carved out of the mountains. It protected them from the severe weather that plagued many of Castai's regions. Some said it was related to the proximity of the Transdimensional Rift to the planet. The mountain cities were also difficult for their enemies to attack and many tunnels and hidden paths provided ample means of escape when it became necessary.
A rich culture he could barely remember lay before him. His mind began to wonder with excitement at what
