James Somers - The rise of Lucin

Kale saw a blur moving through the trees about ten feet above him thirty feet away. He followed its movements. Kale tried to gather data mentally on it as it moved, but it was difficult. It seemed to phase in and out of a purely physical form like nothing he had ever seen before.

It slowed and stopped, remaining perched on a branch closer to him now. The being's thoughts changed then and he sensed it. It wondered if Kale was listening to its thoughts. The being must have been telepathic to be able to pick up on what he was doing beyond just watching it. Then a question came from the being.

Do you hear me, my prey?

Kale scoffed at the prey reference, but decided to respond with a question of his own.

Who is the prey and who is the hunter?

The mysterious being responded quickly to Kale's thought. In a flash it flew out of the tree and ran along the ground to him. Kale waited only a fraction of a second then flipped over the attacker he approached. His blade flew to his hand from inside the tent door. He landed again with his back to the being. Kale turned, swiped the weapon at the humanoid form as he released the catch on the scabbard. The scabbard flew away by centrifugal force, but was deflected. The being stopped short as Kale ignited his blade.

"Who are you? You're not like the others?" the man asked.

"Are you asking out of fear or are you just reconsidering your choice of prey now?"

"I assure you, it's not fear, human."

He appeared human enough-puzzling Kale as to why he would use the reference as though he wasn't human. He dressed completely in black with pale skin suggesting he didn't get much sun, and his eyes were distinctly colored by a yellow iris with an inner red ring adjacent to the dilated pupil. He wore some form of metallic pendant on a leather band around his neck and stood straight with his arms and hands concealed within the loose almost robe-like garment.

Kale stood ready and stared at the being waiting for his next move. He stared back a moment longer and then tried to withdraw. Kale seized him with his mind startling the stranger.

"I didn't say you could go yet," Kale said.

The stranger tried to move again, unsuccessfully. Then he smiled slyly and within seconds his form faded almost to a mist and dissipated before Kale could react. He had somehow disassociated his form at the molecular level and Kale could hold him no longer.

Kale extinguished his blade and called for the scabbard to come to his hand. It obeyed and he sheathed the weapon and placed it on his back. Kale decided to pack up for the night and head out for the town. If he was going to have company, at least he could pick his own and hopefully the people living in the town would be more hospitable. He certainly wouldn't be able to close his eyes and sleep out here in the woods with that devilish looking stranger roaming around.

Kale stowed his gear and deflated his tent; packing it away neatly into the small satchel that protected it. My portable house, he thought. This is my home from now on. Kale missed his family already and he wondered if he had perhaps acted in haste. But the voice in his head-its presence running through his body-no, this was the only good choice for their safety.

The stirring of animals and the chirping of insects brought some comfort to him. When the ghostly figure had been nearby, everything animal had been silenced by their sense of danger and the instinct to survive. With their renewed activity, he felt assured, at least for the time being, that he was alone. With his camp packed away, Kale headed off through the tall timbers and undergrowth toward the flickering lamp light of the town below the mountain. It's going to be rough going without a path, he thought. Kale shook away the sleepiness and kept his senses alert to danger and steadily made his descent down the mountain in hopes he would find friendly faces when he reached the town by tomorrow.

Tiet sat quietly as the letter dropped from his hand to the floor. All he could think was, why? His son had gone. The letter gave some answers, but he wasn't able to absorb them now. Mirah still sobbed in their living compartment. She had called for Tiet in the middle of the proceedings with the Guniran Council. He had rushed home immediately to the Equinox and found her hysterical with grief.

Emil, along with Jael and Merab, the brave Horva soldiers who had fought so heroically with them against the symbytes, had already begun working feverishly to try and break the coding on the transgate sequence used by Kale to make his jump. So far, it had been to no avail. He had not intended for them to be able to follow him. His intentions had been to save his family and friends from his self, but that bore them no comfort now.

Tiet turned to Emil and said, "Out of all of the planets listed by the Vorn as habitable, how many are listed as restricted and hostile?

Emil pecked away at the computer controls for the transgate. "Well actually, out of the planets the Vorn military left in this databank, the majority are just traps."

"What do you mean?" Tiet asked.

"You see, the Vorn military evidently figured that if someone stole this technology, like my father took it from them, then they might trap those persons by having them jump onto an uninhabitable world, thus killing their enemies. They've listed a number of worlds that have deadly atmospheres or Ammonia cloud storms and five hundred mile an hour winds and so forth."

"So it's-"

"-not a very good trap, you're right. Actually, all of the known habitable worlds are listed as hostile, I suppose to keep someone from wanting to jump to those," Emil said.

"Print out all of the information for those planets and bring it to me when you have it."

"Yes, sir."

Emil turned back to the computer, the dim light reflecting off of his dark skin and bald head-Horva males did not begin to grow hair on their heads until they became men. They kept it shaved until the day they were declared. Tiet didn't doubt that Emil was going to make a fine warrior. He had his father's tenacity, but it was all bottled up in boyish features and a wiry muscular frame.

Tiet walked back toward the common living area to get something to eat. Wynn and Grod remained with the Gunirans. Even if they found the right planet it would be a matter of searching for one boy in the midst of an entire planet's population. But someone with Kale's unique abilities would have a hard time remaining anonymous among the other inhabitants. If anyone started anything with him he would defend himself and it would break loose from there.

Kale noticed the sun almost at its zenith by the time he arrived in the town. It had taken him longer than expected to get through all of the undergrowth that awaited him along the way. The being he had encountered during the night had never reappeared. He didn't think it unusual for the Vorn military to have classified this planet as hostile and to have ruled it as one not to be considered for conquest.

As he entered the populated area in his uniform, with his gear across his back, all eyes fell upon him. People milling about in the street retreated from him as he walked near, while others came from places within to peer through their windows and open doors at the stranger in their midst. They appeared completely human-unlike the being from the night before.

The town appeared to have nowhere near the technological advancement Kale was used to. They did use machines for travel, but they had wheels and rolled along the ground instead of using hover units. Instead of composite materials, the buildings had been constructed of stone and brick.

Kale noticed that some of the people, particularly the men, wore weapons. He tried not to appear threatening. He had been careful to pack all of his weapons within his luggage, rather than wear them on his uniform when coming into the town. He saw what he hoped was a restaurant and walked toward it.