Part 22
Trance ignored Harper's question, instead posing one of her own.
"How long until the repairs are completed?"
"At minimum another twelve hours. We thought we were close but when we sang our little buddies outside to sleep, we fried a couple extra components. I can cannibalize the necessary parts but it will take time. Not to mention the fact that we are going to have to deal with our `friends' out there before we can complete the repairs."
"Why?" Trance asked.
"Because the only way to get a couple of the parts we need is to take them from the pod. Which is what I was going to do when I saw you fighting off the Palorians." Rommie answered.
"Well if that isn't just swell." Trance said, stomping her foot impatiently. "We have less than three hours before Dylan is forced to face Tourk over the pit. He needs our help."
"Well, my purple pixie, we are open to any suggestions you may have." Harper replied before turning his attention back to the console he was repairing.
Trance stared at his back for several seconds before hanging her head.
"No, I seem to be out of ideas. And Dylan is out of time." She said so quietly that only Rommie heard her.
Dylan was roughly shaken awake before the sun rose. He was taken to a small dining area where a large breakfast was waiting for him. He forced himself to eat a small amount of food knowing he would need his strength. When he had finished he was taken back to his room and given a set of clothes to change into. The outfit consisted of tight leather pants and leather boots. There was no shirt, only a black sash to be worn around his chest. After he was dressed, the guards led him out of the palace and across the burnt remains of the gardens. They took him out of the palace grounds and through the trees in the opposite direction he and Tyr had come. Once in the forest, Dylan had tried to escape but he was outnumbered eight to one and the attempt failed miserably. Just as the sun began to rise, Dylan found himself in a large clearing. In the middle of the clearing a large pit had been dug. It appeared to be forty feet across but Dylan was unable to see into it to gauge its depth.
He counted at least a dozen rope bridges spanning the pit. They criss-crossed each other, some slightly higher than others.
He turned his gaze to the people around him, seeking out Beka. He found her standing between two heavily armed guards not far from his own position. Beka turned as if feeling his eyes upon her and looked at him. He offered her a small smile that she returned half-heartedly. Continuing to peruse the crowds, Dylan was unable to find Tyr anywhere but did see Tourk along with the two women he had pulled away from Beka yesterday. They were standing near one end of the pit on a raised platform.
Tourk raised his arms and immediately everyone fell silent. The guards holding Dylan began to drag him towards the platform. Once Dylan stood below him, Tourk spoke to the crowds.
"My people, you are gathered here today to witness an event not seen by our people for over a thousand years! Today I, your king, will fight not only for my life but also for the future of our entire race! After today we shall embark on the road to the salvation of our way of life, to the return of what was stolen from us, to our people being worshipped as the Gods we once were! But most importantly after today we shall have the means to carry out our revenge on those that took what was ours! We shall be able to strike back at the Demons and utterly destroy them!"
It was several minutes before the clapping and cheering died away. When the people were silent once more, Tourk turned and addressed Dylan.
"You knew of the challenge itself but do you understand what is expected of you?"
"I know we will fight and I will kill you." Dylan replied. "What else do I need to know?"
"A man of confidence, I like that." Tourk said with a smile. "However, I do not think you fully understand what you are getting into. I am still unsure as to how you even knew of the challenge itself."
"I have my ways." Dylan replied sarcastically.
"Be that as it may, I will explain anyway. The pit that you see before us is our arena. We will each start out at opposite ends of the pit. We will fight on the bridges. Once the match begins, if you leave the bridges you will be killed. We will have only our fighting skills to rely upon. The match ends when one of us is dead."
"Sounds simple enough. Can we just get this over with?" Dylan asked.
"So eager to meet your death, my dear Captain? There is one other thing you need to know about the pit. The pit was made with very old and very powerful magic. It contains the very spirit of the planet. If you fall into the pit, your soul will be trapped there for all eternity. You will spend forever trapped in a living hell. The earth itself hungers for our souls. It will do everything in its power to make both of us plunge to our doom."
As if to prove the validity of Tourk's words the sun rose completely, it's first rays touching the pit. A howling wind suddenly blew up from the bowels of the earth. Waves of heat spread along the spectators as they tried to shrink back from the hole. An eerie glow could now be seen within the depths of the pit.
"See, Hunt? She grows impatient for us." Tourk said as his face took on an exalted, almost maniacal, expression.
"Then we shouldn't keep her waiting." Dylan replied.
Trance watched the sun rise from the Maru's viewscreen. Despite their best efforts, they had been unable to find a way to reach the pods. Trance felt as though she had failed everyone. Not only were the lives of her friends at stake, but the lives of all the races that the Palorians would enslave or destroy, including her own people. Despite an outward appearance to the contrary, Trance was anything but naïve. She knew that once the Palorians had begun to reproduce and teach their young ones to use their magic, the first thing they would do would be to seek out and destroy everyone of her race. And despite the fact that her family was scattered to the ends of the known worlds and beyond, they would someday accomplish this. If only her people were still as unified and as strong as they had once been, things might have been different. But as things now stood, her race was as doomed as all the others.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a shout of excitement from Harper.
"Yes, I am the man, the super-genius, the numero uno, top..."
"Of course you are Harper." Rommie interrupted. "But since we already know this how about skipping it and telling us what you have done?"
"Well, it wasn't easy and I had to do some real fancy refitting that wouldn't pass inspection on a junk barge, but then the Maru isn't state of the art to start with ya know, BUT I have managed to get weapons back online." Harper said finally stopping long enough to catch his breath.
"And that helps us get to the others how?" Trance asked.
"Well, now we can simply remove our little neighborhood welcome wagon outside, get to the pods, and go get `em." Harper said.
"Sounds simple enough." Rommie agreed.
"You mean you want to just kill two dozen unarmed men in cold blood?" Trance asked aghast.
"It didn't seem like such a bad idea `til you said it like that." Harper said scratching his head.
"I see no problem with it. They are hampering our repairs and endangering our crew. They need to be dealt with and we now have a way to do just that." Rommie said.
"Well, I see a big problem with it." Trance replied. "We are not cold-blooded killers."
Rommie only looked at her.
"There has to be another way." Trance said determinedly.
"Trance, listen to me. When you first got here you were saying how Dylan and the others were running out of time. Now you want us to waste even more trying to figure out a way to help them that doesn't involve hurting the very people stopping us from helping them. It is my duty to help my Captain and my officers when their lives are endangered. And that is exactly what I plan on doing." Rommie said.
"Can we fire the weapons at them without actually killing them? Maybe just frighten them off or something?" Trance asked quietly.
"We can try firing over their heads. But if that doesn't work I am prepared to do whatever it takes to get to our crew members."
"Fine but I still don't like it."
"To be honest, neither do I but I will do whatever is necessary to save our friends." Rommie said offering Trance a small smile.
Trance weakly returned the smile. She turned to once again look out the viewscreen.
"They were once a proud race." She said quietly. "They were good and used their magic to help so many others. Then as the other races began to honor and worship them, they lost sight of that goodness. More and more of them became high on the power they were receiving. They began to make demands for the magic they once gave freely. They began to allow their dark sides to emerge and after a while they found they could not control that part of them. Many didn't even want to. They began to fight among themselves as well, each seeking to be greater than the others. They took so many lives and did such horrible things. Now look at them, reduced to only a couple hundred people when they originally numbered thousands. It is sad."
Harper and Rommie looked at each other as Trance talked. Neither said anything to interrupt her but both were wondering just how much Trance really knew about these people and how she came about that knowledge. They both just added it to the growing list of questions they had about their mysterious purple friend.
The guard carried the tray into the darkened room. The prisoner lay upon the table, still and silent. The guard knew of Nietzscheans and was surprised at the ease this one had been captured. Tourk was truly a king worthy to possess the magic. He placed the tray at the foot of the table and released the collar from the prisoner's neck. He had been told not to release the man at all but he was not about to spoon-feed him like a baby. He wanted to complete his duty of feeding the prisoner quickly so that maybe he could see some of the challenge before Tourk killed the alien captain. He released the chain holding the man's left arm in place. Suddenly the tray at the foot of the table crashed to the floor. The guard turned his head to look at it but suddenly saw only darkness.
The drums were growing louder in volume. They had begun very quietly but the tempo had quickened and the volume had increased. Just when Beka thought her brain would explode from the noise, they stopped without warning. Tourk stepped down from the platform and shed the cloak he had been wearing. He was dressed exactly as Dylan was except he wore a blue sash across his chest. He began walking toward the far end of the pit. Dylan was left to stand at the end near the platform. As Tourk reached Beka, he paused and once again grabbed her and forced a bruising kiss to her lips. Turning to look back at Dylan, Tourk saluted and then continued on to the end of the pit. Beka could feel Dylan's gaze on her once again and slowly raised her eyes to look at him. Everything she had wanted to tell him, everything she had longed to hear, was expressed in their eyes at that moment. Fighting with all that she had left in her, Beka kept the tears threatening to fall at bay. She would not show
any fear to their enemy. And she would not cry for Dylan because he was going to win. Never taking his eyes from hers, Dylan stepped up to the edge of the bridge. He gave her one last smile and then turned to face Tourk who was now standing at the other side.
Trance ignored Harper's question, instead posing one of her own.
"How long until the repairs are completed?"
"At minimum another twelve hours. We thought we were close but when we sang our little buddies outside to sleep, we fried a couple extra components. I can cannibalize the necessary parts but it will take time. Not to mention the fact that we are going to have to deal with our `friends' out there before we can complete the repairs."
"Why?" Trance asked.
"Because the only way to get a couple of the parts we need is to take them from the pod. Which is what I was going to do when I saw you fighting off the Palorians." Rommie answered.
"Well if that isn't just swell." Trance said, stomping her foot impatiently. "We have less than three hours before Dylan is forced to face Tourk over the pit. He needs our help."
"Well, my purple pixie, we are open to any suggestions you may have." Harper replied before turning his attention back to the console he was repairing.
Trance stared at his back for several seconds before hanging her head.
"No, I seem to be out of ideas. And Dylan is out of time." She said so quietly that only Rommie heard her.
Dylan was roughly shaken awake before the sun rose. He was taken to a small dining area where a large breakfast was waiting for him. He forced himself to eat a small amount of food knowing he would need his strength. When he had finished he was taken back to his room and given a set of clothes to change into. The outfit consisted of tight leather pants and leather boots. There was no shirt, only a black sash to be worn around his chest. After he was dressed, the guards led him out of the palace and across the burnt remains of the gardens. They took him out of the palace grounds and through the trees in the opposite direction he and Tyr had come. Once in the forest, Dylan had tried to escape but he was outnumbered eight to one and the attempt failed miserably. Just as the sun began to rise, Dylan found himself in a large clearing. In the middle of the clearing a large pit had been dug. It appeared to be forty feet across but Dylan was unable to see into it to gauge its depth.
He counted at least a dozen rope bridges spanning the pit. They criss-crossed each other, some slightly higher than others.
He turned his gaze to the people around him, seeking out Beka. He found her standing between two heavily armed guards not far from his own position. Beka turned as if feeling his eyes upon her and looked at him. He offered her a small smile that she returned half-heartedly. Continuing to peruse the crowds, Dylan was unable to find Tyr anywhere but did see Tourk along with the two women he had pulled away from Beka yesterday. They were standing near one end of the pit on a raised platform.
Tourk raised his arms and immediately everyone fell silent. The guards holding Dylan began to drag him towards the platform. Once Dylan stood below him, Tourk spoke to the crowds.
"My people, you are gathered here today to witness an event not seen by our people for over a thousand years! Today I, your king, will fight not only for my life but also for the future of our entire race! After today we shall embark on the road to the salvation of our way of life, to the return of what was stolen from us, to our people being worshipped as the Gods we once were! But most importantly after today we shall have the means to carry out our revenge on those that took what was ours! We shall be able to strike back at the Demons and utterly destroy them!"
It was several minutes before the clapping and cheering died away. When the people were silent once more, Tourk turned and addressed Dylan.
"You knew of the challenge itself but do you understand what is expected of you?"
"I know we will fight and I will kill you." Dylan replied. "What else do I need to know?"
"A man of confidence, I like that." Tourk said with a smile. "However, I do not think you fully understand what you are getting into. I am still unsure as to how you even knew of the challenge itself."
"I have my ways." Dylan replied sarcastically.
"Be that as it may, I will explain anyway. The pit that you see before us is our arena. We will each start out at opposite ends of the pit. We will fight on the bridges. Once the match begins, if you leave the bridges you will be killed. We will have only our fighting skills to rely upon. The match ends when one of us is dead."
"Sounds simple enough. Can we just get this over with?" Dylan asked.
"So eager to meet your death, my dear Captain? There is one other thing you need to know about the pit. The pit was made with very old and very powerful magic. It contains the very spirit of the planet. If you fall into the pit, your soul will be trapped there for all eternity. You will spend forever trapped in a living hell. The earth itself hungers for our souls. It will do everything in its power to make both of us plunge to our doom."
As if to prove the validity of Tourk's words the sun rose completely, it's first rays touching the pit. A howling wind suddenly blew up from the bowels of the earth. Waves of heat spread along the spectators as they tried to shrink back from the hole. An eerie glow could now be seen within the depths of the pit.
"See, Hunt? She grows impatient for us." Tourk said as his face took on an exalted, almost maniacal, expression.
"Then we shouldn't keep her waiting." Dylan replied.
Trance watched the sun rise from the Maru's viewscreen. Despite their best efforts, they had been unable to find a way to reach the pods. Trance felt as though she had failed everyone. Not only were the lives of her friends at stake, but the lives of all the races that the Palorians would enslave or destroy, including her own people. Despite an outward appearance to the contrary, Trance was anything but naïve. She knew that once the Palorians had begun to reproduce and teach their young ones to use their magic, the first thing they would do would be to seek out and destroy everyone of her race. And despite the fact that her family was scattered to the ends of the known worlds and beyond, they would someday accomplish this. If only her people were still as unified and as strong as they had once been, things might have been different. But as things now stood, her race was as doomed as all the others.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a shout of excitement from Harper.
"Yes, I am the man, the super-genius, the numero uno, top..."
"Of course you are Harper." Rommie interrupted. "But since we already know this how about skipping it and telling us what you have done?"
"Well, it wasn't easy and I had to do some real fancy refitting that wouldn't pass inspection on a junk barge, but then the Maru isn't state of the art to start with ya know, BUT I have managed to get weapons back online." Harper said finally stopping long enough to catch his breath.
"And that helps us get to the others how?" Trance asked.
"Well, now we can simply remove our little neighborhood welcome wagon outside, get to the pods, and go get `em." Harper said.
"Sounds simple enough." Rommie agreed.
"You mean you want to just kill two dozen unarmed men in cold blood?" Trance asked aghast.
"It didn't seem like such a bad idea `til you said it like that." Harper said scratching his head.
"I see no problem with it. They are hampering our repairs and endangering our crew. They need to be dealt with and we now have a way to do just that." Rommie said.
"Well, I see a big problem with it." Trance replied. "We are not cold-blooded killers."
Rommie only looked at her.
"There has to be another way." Trance said determinedly.
"Trance, listen to me. When you first got here you were saying how Dylan and the others were running out of time. Now you want us to waste even more trying to figure out a way to help them that doesn't involve hurting the very people stopping us from helping them. It is my duty to help my Captain and my officers when their lives are endangered. And that is exactly what I plan on doing." Rommie said.
"Can we fire the weapons at them without actually killing them? Maybe just frighten them off or something?" Trance asked quietly.
"We can try firing over their heads. But if that doesn't work I am prepared to do whatever it takes to get to our crew members."
"Fine but I still don't like it."
"To be honest, neither do I but I will do whatever is necessary to save our friends." Rommie said offering Trance a small smile.
Trance weakly returned the smile. She turned to once again look out the viewscreen.
"They were once a proud race." She said quietly. "They were good and used their magic to help so many others. Then as the other races began to honor and worship them, they lost sight of that goodness. More and more of them became high on the power they were receiving. They began to make demands for the magic they once gave freely. They began to allow their dark sides to emerge and after a while they found they could not control that part of them. Many didn't even want to. They began to fight among themselves as well, each seeking to be greater than the others. They took so many lives and did such horrible things. Now look at them, reduced to only a couple hundred people when they originally numbered thousands. It is sad."
Harper and Rommie looked at each other as Trance talked. Neither said anything to interrupt her but both were wondering just how much Trance really knew about these people and how she came about that knowledge. They both just added it to the growing list of questions they had about their mysterious purple friend.
The guard carried the tray into the darkened room. The prisoner lay upon the table, still and silent. The guard knew of Nietzscheans and was surprised at the ease this one had been captured. Tourk was truly a king worthy to possess the magic. He placed the tray at the foot of the table and released the collar from the prisoner's neck. He had been told not to release the man at all but he was not about to spoon-feed him like a baby. He wanted to complete his duty of feeding the prisoner quickly so that maybe he could see some of the challenge before Tourk killed the alien captain. He released the chain holding the man's left arm in place. Suddenly the tray at the foot of the table crashed to the floor. The guard turned his head to look at it but suddenly saw only darkness.
The drums were growing louder in volume. They had begun very quietly but the tempo had quickened and the volume had increased. Just when Beka thought her brain would explode from the noise, they stopped without warning. Tourk stepped down from the platform and shed the cloak he had been wearing. He was dressed exactly as Dylan was except he wore a blue sash across his chest. He began walking toward the far end of the pit. Dylan was left to stand at the end near the platform. As Tourk reached Beka, he paused and once again grabbed her and forced a bruising kiss to her lips. Turning to look back at Dylan, Tourk saluted and then continued on to the end of the pit. Beka could feel Dylan's gaze on her once again and slowly raised her eyes to look at him. Everything she had wanted to tell him, everything she had longed to hear, was expressed in their eyes at that moment. Fighting with all that she had left in her, Beka kept the tears threatening to fall at bay. She would not show
any fear to their enemy. And she would not cry for Dylan because he was going to win. Never taking his eyes from hers, Dylan stepped up to the edge of the bridge. He gave her one last smile and then turned to face Tourk who was now standing at the other side.