James Somers - Heir to the King

KALE and the others moved as quickly as possible through the dense vegetation. Emil took the point position and whacked away at the large undergrowth with a kemstick while Kale helped his mother along; she was still a little shaky from being stunned by the soldiers. Every so often they thought they heard the faint sound of engines, then it would fade and be gone completely leaving only the sounds of the indigenous wildlife.

All manner of creatures, both deadly and benign, lived in the wilds and the boys knew very well the dangers they might have to face other than the military after them. They thought better than to share those possibilities with Mirah.

Emil was a good twenty feet ahead of them in the foliage which seemed to instantly replace the cut vegetation with more to bar their way.

"Kale! I've found something! Someone!" shouted Emil from up ahead.

They rushed ahead to where Emil was standing. Just beyond, half hidden in the bushes was a little girl of no more than four. She was staring at them with a terrified look on her face as though she might attempt to run at any moment.

"It's alright, Honey," said Mirah as she knelt to try and coax the child from her hiding place.

"Monsters, trying to get me," said the little girl through lips that quivered as though she were freezing out here in the hot jungle air.

"I know, Honey. We won't let any monsters get you. Come here, it's alright, you're safe now," consoled Mirah.

The girl eased herself out of the brush and began to walk toward Mirah. Kale scanned around trying to see if the soldiers were nearby or if he could hear any whining of their engines. The girl reached Mirah and then dodged around her and ran to Kale; jumping into his arms before he knew what was happening.

"Hold me, Mister," begged the girl as she trembled in his arms.

"Well," said Mirah with complete surprise and a little hurt motherly pride. "I guess she prefers you."

"What should I do?"

"Hold her."

Kale sensed something unusual about her but he could not place the feeling.

"What's your name?" asked Mirah.

"Monsters, chasing me; they took my father… I ran away from the monsters."

"But, what's your name?" asked Kale.

"Don't let the monsters get me, Mister," said the girl trembling as she clung to his clothing.

"I won't let them get you."

"Kale, we need to keep moving," advised Emil.

"You're right."

"I'll take point again," said Emil as he reignited his kemstick and moved ahead of them into the undergrowth.

They followed with Kale still holding the little girl. Her arms were wrapped tight around his neck and her legs around his waist as they made their way behind Emil.

"SIR, our scans show they have taken the girl. The four of them are moving south of our position."

"Very good. Bring us ahead of them one mile…at this clearing here," said Lucin as he punched the info into his display. "We'll lay out our troops here and wait for them. We'll awaken the girl just before they reach the ambush."

"Yes, Sir. I'm bringing us to the new coordinates."

Grod sat down next to Tiet as he piloted the stolen transport. Wynn stood behind him.

"Tiet, I have to speak to you," said Grod.

"What is it?"

"I think we have to consider what we're going to do if we can recover the boys."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, considering what we saw trying to get through the city, and if this has been happening in all the other cities…" said Wynn.

"We can't stay on this planet," finished Grod.

"What? But there might be a way to…"

"Tiet, its over," said Wynn.

They were sobering words to his ears and he couldn't reply. He had no words to confront the facts being forced on him now. He had ruled this society, this planet, for fifteen years, and it was all shattering to pieces around him. He had often thought of how far this brotherhood between the Vorn and Horva could go; of what could be achieved and how his rule would only be the beginning of the greatness that would be realized in the future for them.

And yet the undermining of it all had been building like a disease that grows silently unnoticed in the body until it is discovered too late to save the person's life. He had been living a fantasy all this time and it was time to wake up.

"Tiet, we thought we had beaten the Baruk but all this time those creatures have been continuing the war and we are beaten. We're beaten," said Wynn.

"We have to escape this planet," continued Grod.

"How. Where could we go?"

"I have an idea about that," said Grod. "When the Horva acquired the compound at Nagon-Toth from the Vorn military, we also stumbled upon a secret underground compound linked to it by a hidden tunnel from inside the compound. This is where we acquired the transgate portal from, but that's not all that was there."

They listened more intently now.

"There was a prototype transgate, only it was implanted in a ship. We never got around to testing the ship's ability to create and enter a portal, but according to the data we found in the chamber it had been done successfully; there were even a number of test planets and their coordinates left in the ship's computer. I think they might have been trying to prepare for conquering them, but we could escape to one of them and the Symbytes would have no way of finding or following us."

Tiet thought about all that had happened in the last hours and his own wife and child still on the run. They were right and he knew it. He had no other ideas to offer in the situation.

"Let's do it. Once we have Mirah and the children we'll make a run for your ship."

Wynn and Grod looked relieved as though they thought he might not be willing to leave; as though he might not be willing to give up on all he had tried to build. The irony for Tiet was that Wynn had been the one who had nearly twisted his arm into accepting the council's proposal to ascend to his father's throne.

"Look's like we're entering the wilds," said Grod.

"I'll begin scanning for their life signatures," said Wynn. "It shouldn't take us long to pick them up and any ships that are in the area."

"Once we have their position," said Tiet. "We'll evacuate them and dust off as quickly as possible."

Wynn eyed Grod whose composure changed quickly at that suggestion, but Tiet was already aware of what the proposal meant for his old Horva friend.

"Grod, I know you want revenge, believe me I would like almost nothing more than to join you in that fight; nothing more that is except to save my wife and our children and hopefully get off of this rock with our lives. You and Wynn talked to me about a hopeless fight and you're right. Now our priority has to be saving them and getting away safely."

Grod looked at him and his anger softened when he thought of saving his son. Emil was all he had left; Tiet was right and he nodded his agreement.

"I've got the wreckage of the Whiplash on sensors."

"They crashed?"

"It looks like a controlled landing, but the ship's just sitting there smoldering. Something must have happened and they've left it to burn."

"Any other ships in the area?"

"I've got three military transports on the ground and…wait a minute…yes, I've got them. Four people are traveling toward the transports; I don't think they realize their heading into a trap."

"Alright then, let's get in there fast; ETA five minutes."

"WE'RE coming into a clearing, Kale!" shouted Emil from the brush ahead of them.

The girl had not let go of him since they found her, but her trembling had stopped. He turned to look at her face as she raised it from his shoulder. Suddenly he felt something; another presence was with them now. The girl's expression was strangely cold and blank, then she moved her hand almost faster than Kale could see and much too fast for him to react with her hanging around his neck. Her hand was over his mouth in a flash as she pulled herself up, putting her knees into his chest and her hand around the back of his neck to leverage her arm into his mouth.