James Somers - The rise of Lucin

"What is it?!" asked one.

"It's one of those things that killed our men!" said another.

"Hold your fire," commanded Lucin.

The beast landed fifty feet away and stood still, glaring at them as Lucin calmly approached without fear or reservation. It screeched into the air, but as he got nearer to it, the creature began to lower its head in submission as though a lapdog returning to its master.

Lucin extended his hand and touched it; stroking it like a long lost pet. He and his astounded soldiers heard others screeching and looked up to see more of the beasts perched on the edges of the rooftops around them.

"There, now. You know who I am, don't you? What is it that you have been up to today?" Lucin asked the creature, with more affection than he had ever shown toward his troops. "Have you been chasing after our prey?"

The great beast, easily three times his size, seemed to acknowledge his words with understanding-it bellowed out a low moan. Lucin's troops lowered their weapons, but despite his influence on their minds, they were still in awe of his power and fearful of the beasts.

Lucin appeared to be in a deeper communication with the creature as he pressed his hands around its great head as though searching its primitive thoughts. The other reptiles remained upon their perches, watching without any perceivable malice toward what normally would have been a smorgasbord.

"They've gone," Lucin said to his Lieutenant as he broke off from his mental probing of the aerogore. "They are not here, at least not where we can get to them."

"Shall I stay our squadrons then?"

"No. Have them move throughout the city and secure its perimeters. We will move our legions out of the plains though. And we will move all of the cruisers away from the area except one. We wouldn't want to intimidate our prey too much. They won't poke their heads out from their holes if we standby guarding them."

TIET and his son materialized right back in the place he had departed from, inside one the Sector city base transgate portal chambers. When he looked around to find the faces of Wynn and Grod waiting for them, he couldn't believe his eyes.

"Grod?! I thought you two were caught in that blast," said Tiet.

"You'll not be rid of me that quickly, old friend," he laughed as they shared mutual relief at each others safe return.

Tiet hugged his son tightly despite his passing into the age of manhood.

"You keep getting away from me-"

"And you keep coming after me," replied Kale happily.

"When will I ever learn, huh?" he said playfully as he panted, trying to get his breath back.

"Are you alright? Your injuries-"

Tiet placed his hand on Kale's shoulder to reassure him. "I'm alright. Its worth a little pain to get you back safely."

"I think I can help you with that," said Mirah as she entered the room.

He wasn't going to argue with her. The pain was causing his whole torso to ache considerably.

"You hold down the fort here with the others while I talk with your mother," said Tiet.

He went on with Mirah, following her out of the transgate control room. She wasn't very talkative, despite her obvious relief at seeing them safe again.

"Is everything alright?" asked Tiet.

"I was able to save the girl."

"Do you mean the one that was hemorrhaging?"

"Yes, she's been nearly starved to death and has old injuries that may have been aggravated when she escaped," said Mirah.

She smiled and leaned over to kiss his cheek as they walked. He was in noticeable pain, especially to her trained eye. "This place has remarkably good medical facilities; far better than I would have expected. I may be able to do some therapy to increase your healing and get you feeling better without the pain meds.

"That would be much better. Lead the way, doc."

ALEC approached Grod in the chamber as he stood talking with one of the transgate technicians and said, "Grod, you've all gotten back safely then?"

"Yes, Tiet has gone with his wife to the med-lab, but we're all fine," said Grod.

"Good. I've been in contact with the other leaders of our resistance and they would like to speak with the king about our situation. I expect them to support our efforts, but I think they want to have a face to face with the king himself before they commit to helping us."

"I'm sure it won't be a problem. I once had a face to face with the young king and he was quite persuasive when seeking a treaty between him and my people," said Grod.

"Good. If you wouldn't mind informing him, the video conference will take place in our war room in a little over two hours."

"I'm going to our ship with Wynn and the boys. I'll be sure that we get the message to Tiet," said Grod.

"Thank you. I'll see you in two hours," said Alec and they parted company.

KALE, Emil, Wynn and Grod boarded the Equinox docked in the subterranean hangar bay of the Sector City base. Many other vessels, some even larger than their ship, were also housed in the underground facility. They had a descent sized army in this base, but it wasn't near the number of the enemy waiting out in the plains beyond the city.

As they came up the ramp and into the ship, Juli was waiting anxiously for them. She bypassed the others and threw her arms around Kale's neck. "I didn't think I would ever see you again," she whispered.

He reciprocated the affection; hugging her tightly. "Don't worry Juli, Emil took care of me."

The others proceeded on toward the armory, leaving the couple there in the foyer. Kale was glad to see Juli as much as she was. Since losing her parents during their escape from Draconis months earlier, Juli and Kale had become very close. Kale felt the need to care for the young girl. He felt sorry for her loss, but deep down he knew it was more than that. Juli was beautiful and caring and she made no pretending about her feelings for Kale. He wouldn't admit it to anyone else, but the obvious fact was, he loved her too.

"ALEC would like for us to meet with him in about two hours," said Grod.

"Tiet may still be in their med-lab in two hours," said Wynn.

"We'll have to make sure he is available. Alec is planning on a conference between the regional commanders of their resistance through the communications uplink. Tiet will need to present our plan of action at the meeting."

"I could go over to the med-lab and make sure he doesn't begin any treatment that would hold him up?" asked Emil.

"Go ahead then," said Grod. "I know he's probably hurting again, but tell Mirah that he doesn't need to be sedated right now."

Emil grabbed a few spicors to replace what had been used and a blade for Kale before heading back out of the room and down the hallway. Tiet and Juli were still in the foyer talking as he started past.

"Where are you going?"

"To the med-lab to tell your father about the meeting Alec has arranged with the other resistance fighters."

"Can we go too?" asked Juli. "I'm dying to get off of this ship."

"Sure, come on."

The trio headed back down the loading ramp and ran across the bustling tarmac. Everyone was busy prepping their ships for the impending battle-a battle they prayed they could win.

At their hurried pace, they were able to reach the medical facility within a few minutes. They proceeded inside and headed back to the procedure chambers. "Mother!"

A chamber door slid back and Mirah peeked out to see the young group searching for her.

"What are you guys doing back here?"

"We needed to tell Father about a meeting he has to attend with the resistance leaders-it's in two hours."

She sighed and said, "They always schedule something when I'm trying to treat my patient."