The War
– Chapter 3
*~*~*
"General Fa'loth... we weren't able to
find a trace of the fugitive. The shuttle exploded. He couldn't have survived
that."
With eyes wide with fear the soldier
waited for impeding doom.
"Well, well. You've lost him."
Fa'loth darted a long look at the soldier
standing in front of him.
"I told you that I wanted him alive. Is
this your way to follow my orders, Soldier...?"
"Sephy'ros, Sir."
"Soldier Sephy'ros it is."
Fa'loth's voice had turned dangerously
low.
"This will have consequences. Get out of
my sight immediately, before I forget myself!" The last was bawled.
There was nothing the now visibly shaking
Sephy'ros liked better than that.
Fa'loth trembled with rage. He would find
the one responsible for this. Impossible that that Taelon could have escaped
without help, neither here nor on Jaridia. Whoever was behind this, he had to
be one of Fa'loth's personnel. But Fa'loth did not tolerate betrayal. He would
find the traitor. He would win. He always won.
*~*~*
Lili and Augur were busy deciphering the
messages that were exchanged between the Jaridian ships when Lili's global
beeped.
"Liam, do you..."
The tiny screen remained dark.
"This
isn't Liam, Lili."
"Lili paled. „T..."
"Shhh. I don't want
to be recognized, in case this transmission is being tapped. Listen. I don't
have much time. Da'an was able to escape."
"Thank God! Where is he now?"
"Lili... I think he's dead. His shuttle
was shot down over the Atlantic. The soldiers haven't found him.
"No..."
Lili felt herself freeze inside and her
legs turning to jelly. Augur, who was standing behind her supported her and
lead her to a seat.
"I'm sorry... I have sent you the data
about the crash to your global." Ter'kozz' voice became hectic.
"I have to stop now. I'll be in touch."
The transmission ended.
"Lili, who was that?" Augur demanded.
"That was the Jaridian who helped Da'an
and me to escape. Ter'kozz. Augur, I can't believe that Da'an is dead.
"Lili..."
"I'll go there. I will find him."
"Lili, those are false hopes. If the
Soldiers weren't able to find him, he's dead." Lili silenced him with a cold
glare.
"Okay, okay. You won. I'll call Liam."
*~*~*
Aboard the mothership the rumours of Da'an's
failed escape had spread, too.
"I haven't sensed Da'an's passing into
the void."
Zo'or walked up and down in his cell.
"He has betrayed his own species. He has
collaborated with the enemy. Why else had they brought him aboard the flagship?"
T'than was sure of his ground.
But Zo'or was doubtful, even if he could
not admit that to T'than. He could not believe his parent should have betrayed
his people. He hadn't shared Da'an's opinion on many subjects, but the concern
about their species had urged on both of them. Zo'or thought Da'an capable of
many things, but to doom his people… Although, he had been involved with the
human resistance. That came close to a betrayal. Perhaps he _was_ capable of
defecting to the enemy?
But if Da'an had done that, why had the
enemy spread the rumor of his death? That didn't make sense.
And if Da'an _was_ dead? The commonality
was in such turmoil that it would have been possible that Zo'or had missed Da'an's
death.
The thought on this possibility scared Zo'or
more that he would have thought possible. He had wished Da'an's death more than
once but to lose him that way hurt. It had been a challenge to work with or
against him. Should Da'an actually be dead…
Zo'or pulled himself together. He couldn't
allow himself to be affected by his feelings. It would take all his strength to
stay alive.
Reluctantly he admitted to himself that T'than
had to be right. There was no other way to explain Da'an's actions. He had
betrayed his people.
*~*~*
Liam was shocked by Ter'kozz' message. He
didn't believe his friend was still alive like Lili did. The hatred between
Jaridians and Taelons was too strong. The soldiers would never allow a captive
as important as Da'an to escape.
But he knew he would never find any peace
until he had convinced himself of Da'an's death. He would never sleep
peacefully if he hadn't taken the minimal chance of Da'an being alive to search
for him.
He knew about the unique bond between
Lili and Da'an, a bond that had visibly deepened after their return from Jaridia.
And if Lili believed that Da'an was still alive he would help her to search for
him.
With a black van they had driven to the
coast. Lili had showed them the recordings of the crash. Liam had nearly gotten
sick by the sight of the shuttle exploding in an enormous cloud of steam and
fire. With Augur's help and last weather reports they had managed to find the
site where the shuttle had to be washed ashore by the current.
The place was hard to miss. The explosion
had been so strong that the Jaridian equivalent of the virtual glass had
shattered into tiniest pieces. The beach glittered in breathtaking colors in
the sunlight. Bigger and smaller parts of the wreckage were spread over the
sand, all bended and melted to unrecognizableness
Augur shot Lili a worried look. Every being aboard of his had to
be shred to pieces by the explosion and the flying wreckage.
Lili had turned very pale when she saw
the wreckage. Tears streamed down her face. Slowly she sank down on a rock and
buried her face in her hands. Both men could hear her cry for Da'an. Liam
turned around and walked a few meters along the beach. A long time they all
remained silent.
The sun sank into the sea when Lili
suddenly lifted her head. With wide eyes she stared at Augur.
"Lili? What's wrong?"
"Cold, wet and dark. Dark. Weak. Augur,
Da'an's around here. I can hear him!"
"Lili, you're
fantasizing. Lili!"
Augur darted her a perplexed look when
she started running down the beach as fast as she could.
"Hey Liam! I think Lili has found
something!" he shouted in the other direction.
Dark. Lili had heard that there were some
caves at this part of the coast. In her mind she called Da'an again and again.
There. A cave with a branch of seawater slopped into.
Without hesitating Lili jumped into the
ice-cold water. It reached up to her hips. A strong current pulled her into the
cave. At the back she noticed a weak blue light.
"Da'an?"
The Taelon clinged to a rock with his
last ounce of strength. The walls were too slippery to climb out of the water.
The coldness of the sea had paralyzed Da'an's strength, too. Lili could see
some cuts and gashes where energy left his body.
"I'm here Da'an. You'll be safe in a
minute."
Lili took her friend in a lifeguard grip
and tried to swim against the current and out of the cave. The icy water sapped
her strength quickly. When she thought she would never manage it she and Da'an
were grasped by strong hands and dragged ashore.
"I don't believe this."
Augur stared at the two dripping wet
creatures in front of him for a moment, then he ran back to the van to get some
blankets.
"We have to take Da'an to the embassy as
quickly as possible."
Liam had pulled out his global and
started calling Dr Belman.
Da'an started squirming in his arms.
"Fa'loth... don't..."
"Oh my God!"
Lili knocked the global from his hand.
"The Jaridians must under no
circumstances find out Da'an's alive! And in the embassy they would certainly
do. We have to take him to another place!"
"Why? Only at the embassy we can help him
to regain his strength."
Liam shot Lili a confused look.
"Liam, don't you understand? Fa'loth is
the Jaridian who tortured Da'an back then. And Ter'kozz helped him to escape
then and now. What do you think will happen if Fa'loth can lay his hands on Da'an
again?"
Liam had paled.
"You're right. Augur, you have the
resources to build an energy stream for Da'an, haven't you?"
"Well, I don't know...."
"Have you, or haven't you?"
"Okay! But I'm getting fed up with this!
I'm not running an asylum for the hunted, you know."
"Thank you, Augur! But we have to hurry,
Da'an isn't very well."
"I can help him" Lili announced and
climbed to Da'an in the van's loading space.
"Get going!"
Moments later a silent glow filled the
car. When Liam and Augur turned around they saw Lili, holding Da'an in her
arms. They held hands. Da'an's palms glowed in an eerie light and some kind of
energy beam seemed to transmit form Lili to him.
When they arrived at Augur's the beam had
stabilized itself and both looked like sleeping.
Liam and Augur just barely managed to put
Lili and Da'an on a bed without disconnecting them. Da'an's wounds looked like
they were starting to heal.
Augur only shook his head before he
started to work on the energy shower.
"I still don't belive it."
*~*~*
About two hours later Augur had managed
to build a provisional energy stream for Da'an. The Taelon had recovered a bit
and managed to stagger to the device and sit down in it without help.
Lili looked exhausted. She was half
asleep but emanated a satisfied calmness.
Liam never thought it possible that Lili
would trust a Taelon far enough to share her life energy with him but he had to
believe his eyes. This closeness between Lili and Da'an made him envious.
After Da'an had recharged he reported in
detail about what had happened aboard the mothership.
"I am concerned about Zo'or. As the
leader of the synod he may be in grave danger. And if Fa'loth finds out he is
my child… I am expecting the worst."
"Da'an, do you know what has happened to
Sandoval?"
Liam had learned from one of the
volunteers of the embassy that Sandoval had been on the mothership during the
attack.
"The Jaridians have managed to stun the
Agents' skrills, which had affected their hosts, too. Unfortunately I do not
know what happened to them afterwards."
Da'an looked at Liam, depressed.
"I hope that all humans aboard are well.
I do not think the Jaridians have hurt them if they have not attacked first.
They are fighting the Taelons, not the humans. If want support from Earth they
have do leave the volunteers alive. Liam, you father is very clever. He will
certainly have found a way to survive."
Liam looked a bit comforted but not
convinced.
*~*~*
Fa'loth had insisted on questioning his
two most important prisoners in person.
"So you call yourself „leader" of the
Taelons? Half a child! Let's see, what we'll do with you. And you are the… how
do you call it… war minister? Oh my, how impressive! I think… yes I think I'll
just have to kill you. Without you your people will run around leader- and
ministerless. I understood most members of your synod have killed themselves?
How weakly you are. I wonder how you could resist so long against us. Ah, I
forgot, the other species you've encountered. What would they think of you when
they notice how much of a coward you really are!"
T'than puffed himself up. „Don't you dare
calling me a coward, Jaridian!"
Fa'loth smiled at him, then grabbed his
neck and shortly activated his shaquarava. T'than slumped down breathing
strenuously.
"Take him to a cell and this time guard
him around the clock! He can be useful to us. As the war minister he knows
things that could help us finally destroying our enemy."
He turned to Zo'or.
"What do we do with you, hmm? An infant
as a leader! The Taelons indeed have to be very desperate. By the way, my
people have cracked the data banks of your ship. That means we know about your
secrets, your 'little projects'. I have actually no idea what to do with you
now. Think about it for a while. Perhaps you have an idea of how you can
possibly be of value to us. If not I will kill you tomorrow in person. March
him off!"
Zo'or had
paled. He had to stay alive. There had to be a way to help his people, to free
them from the Jaridians. If he had to play a double game, that was all right
with him. But what would be valuable enough to offer this general? Zo'or
started musing.