Chapter 13:
"Are you going to tell her?" asked P'thal.
"No... she has enough to deal with... I'll tell her when I get back," Lantern answered calmly, keeping pace with the thanagarian officer, as they strode through the obscured corridors, heading for the hangar.
P'thal had observed how the Talon soldiers they passed were looking in their direction with unadulterated skepticism. Green Lantern was dressed in the Thanagarian ceremonial armor, which indicated that he was to attempt the T'jinn Jakat, and they were clearly unreceptive to the changes he had made to the gear, thanks to his power ring. Who was he to make such changes were undoubtedly going through their minds, she perceived.
Lantern, an ex-marine, had made his choices from a variety of available armor and accessories for reasons they most likely wouldn't have understood. Such as the dark elastic body suit that he had worn, was made from an unknown material that cohered to his skin comfortably without cutting off his circulation, similar to his own Lantern uniform. The chest armor was originally bright gold in color, which covered his upper extremities along with his back and shoulders, was now altered to the dark colors of the forest, very similar to his old marine uniform. Even the helmet which basically hid his features, the gauntlets for his hands, and his boots, all camouflaged as well, granted him buoyancy, in which not only provided the maximum protection, but at the same time giving him maximum balance.
However, what they couldn't begin to fathom was the harness that he'd created, crisscrossed in the front, across his chest, beneath his chest armor, where two daggers were slid into hidden sheathes underneath both of his arms near his waist. On the backside of the harness was the sword and scabbard melded onto it as if they were made as one. What they couldn't see was how this human basically carried a small arsenal of weapons out in plain sight.
P'thal, on the other hand, was impressed by his choice of armor. Considering that he had no previous affiliation with any of their equipment before, everything he chose to equip himself with provided the essential protection, however the gear also allowed for speed and evasiveness.
"John, don't you think that she deserves to know what you're about to do for her?" P'thal asked, practically pleading now.
"Look, Pilar. I know Shayera... she's just gonna make herself believe that she's responsible for this, and right now she has enough on her mind. This is my call. She asked me to leave therefore I left. That's all she needs to know, ok?"
"All right..." P'thal said with little enthusiasm. One of things she discovered about John Stewart within the short period of time she had known him, was that he was just as stubborn as Shayera. They were definitely cut from the same piece of cloth, it seems, even if they were from opposite sides of the galaxy. Since there was no convincing him, she could at least see if the human was prepared for what he would encounter.
"Tell me about your opponent... you did study the brief I left for you, right?"
"The H'rukai... cold-blooded, reptilian in nature... heavily muscled, razor sharp teeth, claws on its appendages except for the tail... and heightened olfactory senses."
Lantern had spent several hours preparing himself for the ceremonial ritual, understanding that he was Shayera's only hope of providing a way to speak to her people on her behalf. He didn't hesitate when P'thal told him what he had to do. He agreed to fight for her, to hopefully regain her freedom. If this would cost him his life, John couldn't think of a better reason other than to fight for the woman that he loved.
"I see that you did... remember, do not underestimate the H'rukai... it is deadly... cunningly deadly. Many of my people have perished attempting the T'jinn Jakat... do not take it lightly," she warned.
"I won't. Besides, I know that there's a lot more at stake here other than my hide. For Shayera to live, means that I have to survive," he reassured her.
They entered into the hangar where two shuttles were parked, however, both aircraft were prepped, and ready for departure as they approached the gangplank.
"The Tribunal will convene in forty-eight hours... that will give you twenty-four to complete the T'jinn Jakat..." P'thal stated, pointing to the shuttle that was prepared for him.
"Understood..." John said, stepping onto the shuttle's access way, turned to face her, extending his left hand out. "I'll expect you to hand this back to me... when I return."
"Of course..." she answered, realizing it was his power ring that he had placed into her palm.
"Good luck to you... John Stewart." P'thal said, as the shuttle lifted off heading for its destination.
Shayera sat in her cell, her legs drawn up to her chest, as she thought about the harsh things she had said to John before he had walked out. She had known all along that he would come after her, regardless to what she'd had asked him not to do. She hated that her last words were for him to leave; when in her heart she wanted nothing more than to hold him close and never let go. Shayera also knew that he would never give up, because she wouldn't, if the situation was reversed. She loved him so much; it was the most arduous thing that she ever had to do, to watch him walk out of her life forever. Then it hit her, she was to be executed... but, before that, she would be alone, unable to say goodbye to the ones she loved the most.
"Isn't it funny how you would never think of the things that you think of... until you know that you are about to die?" Kragger said snidely.
Shayera looked up. "How long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough to see that all of your regrets have been slipping in and out of your mind..."
"What do you want?"
"Oh... just to let you know that the Tribunal will meet in forty-eight hours. Too bad you won't be allowed to share your views to the High Council... not that they would listen anyway." Kragger smirked.
"Why do you get so much pleasure in tormenting me? Why do you hate me so much?" Shayera asked flustered with his attitude.
"Do you really want to know, Lieutenant?"
"Yeah! You've been giving me grief ever since I've met you," Shayera shot back.
"You!! Lieutenant Hol... caused our mission to fail! Millions of Thanagarians will die, because you could not carry out your duty!!" Kragger snapped angrily.
"It is also your fault for what your friends from the Justice League did to me...!!"
"What? What are you talking about?!!"
"Your friend ... the telepath... he ripped into my mind, destroyed my mental defenses and took whatever information he could get from me. Then he tossed me aside like garbage... left me laying in the coldness of the night... my mind draining from me!"
"Do you know how that feels?! It took me two days to pull myself together... to keep from losing myself over the abyss of insanity! I did it by keeping one thought in my mind, that one day... you would pay for your treachery!"
"I'm sorry... I didn't know, but you're right, I will pay."
"Oh no... not like that... no... not like that... you're going to suffer first... I promise... you, like I suffered."
"How else can I suffer, Kragger? I've lost everything and I'm going to be executed," she reasoned. "There is nothing else..."
Kragger started to smile. A grotesquely, twisted smile. "Oh Lieutenant... you are wrong... I guarantee that you are going to suffer within the next few hours."
He pointed to the far wall, and then fervently pushed a button on a control pad that he held in his right hand. A large view-screen appeared, and displayed a man dressed in dark thanagarian armor, ceremonial armor, a sword was strapped to his back, and he was dropping out of a shuttle's access way, into a heavily wooded valley below. The camera's lenses stayed fixed on the man... a man with no wings. She saw him land onto his feet with the grace of a cat and stood up to look around the area that he had just descended upon. Then the man started to walk... she recognized that walk. Shayera felt as if her heart literally skipped a beat. JOHN!! NO!! she screamed in her mind.
Kragger saw the realization on her face.
"Yes... As you can see, Green Lantern has apparently agreed to partake in the T'jinn Jakat..." he snickered.
"NO!! He couldn't have... I never told him..." Shayera interjected.
"Who told him...?!!"
The scene on the view-screen changed to P'thal talking to John Stewart. Shayera could hear the questions that he asked P'thal regarding what he could do to talk to the High Council...
Pilar... you promised me... you promised me...!!
Kragger waited a moment, searching her face for some emotional response, for her mind to wrap around the issue that P'thal may have broken her word and informed the human of the opportunity to help her hopeless cause.
"Oh... Lieutenant P'thal didn't tell him..." Kragger said, feigning meekness, making sure that he would get all the credit.
Shayera looked at him for a moment, then back at the view screen. "You told him..."
"Of course... I did!!"
Kragger stood directly in front of her, blocking the screen. He started to laugh, "I planted the thought, and the fool accepted the challenge, even after all of the things that you had done to him, he still wants to save you! He is the most gullible human that I have ever seen!!! I can see why you chose to exercise your deception upon him!!"
Shayera sprang to her feet, lunged in Kragger's direction, and struck the force field as hard as she could, causing it to explode with a wide flash of sparks. The force of her blow caused Kragger to stagger backward.
"If anything... happens to him... I will kill you..." she growled.
"No... Lieutenant Hol, you are gravely mistaken. First of all, you will suffer by watching him die... knowing that he gave his life for your worthless honor, and then you will have no choice... NO CHOICE... but to accept the verdict of death... a death that you so profoundly deserve."
"You talk big with this force field between us... why don't you let it down and let's see whose about to die..." Shayera challenged, her teeth clinched from her anger.
"Enjoy the show..." Kragger smiled, turning, and pointing to the view screen, his laughter loud and haunting, as he left her standing alone, watching the view screen change to a grid-lined topographical map with two icons, one red and one blue, vertically across from each other on opposite ends the screen, which started blinking simultaneously.
"John..." she whispered, as she slumped to the floor, her face in her hands, feeling the tears well up into her eyes.
The air was damp and listless on the heavily wooded valley floor, as the sun began to rise lazily to peek over the eastern edge of the valley's sheer mountainous walls, which caused its rays to sparkle off the dew filled crevices that were exposed to its early light.
It took Lantern several hours to do a quick reconnaissance of the area, and selected two distinct spots that he quickly 'prepared', and then designated one as the 'yellow zone', which he judged to be the most likely path that he could use to set off delay traps in case he needed a quick get-away. The other was the 'red zone', about seventy-five meters southwest from the 'yellow zone', which in itself would be his last resort, however killing the H'rukai was not part of his overall plan, unless it absolutely didn't leave him a choice. His thought was to try to capture it first, which should probably be sufficient enough to pass this T'jinn Jakat.
The brief scarcely described the H'rukai as one that hunted for its food by its strong sense of smell, and would only eat fresh kills, which meant that it was carnivorous by nature. The hiccup to all of this is that he somehow had to figure out its weaknesses, and how to exploit them, but how can that be accomplished without seeing how the creature behaved? He also had to determine the creature's intelligence, and the only way to do that was to somehow test it. Hence, the reason for the traps. His days in the jungle with the marines resurfaced to his mind when his fire team had to set up booby traps along the trail to delay the enemy's advance. Same concept... he realized, finishing his task.
Lantern noticed that the sunlight was glinting off of his armor, and came to the conclusion that he needed to do something to dull its brightness. From his earlier recon, he saw a waterfall, which was northwest of his present position. That would be his next stop... he decided.
The Talon soldier's features were eerily bright by the glow of the view screen he was monitoring.
"The human is starting to head for the western quadrant...Lieutenant," he reported.
P'thal walked over to the young soldier's station, and peered over his shoulder. She had noted earlier that the red icon that displayed John Stewart's position had stayed in the southern quadrant for an extremely long time, and was relieved to see it starting to 'blip' toward the left center of the composite topographical map in which the view screen displayed.
"It looks like he is heading toward the waterfall... sir."
"Yes, it does..." she agreed. What are you up to, John?
"What is the position of the H'rukai?"
"Northeast, about two point four kilometers from the human's last known position..."
Good... it hasn't caught his scent yet, she thought.
"Keep me informed if anything changes..." she requested, leaving the Command Center, deciding that it was time to see how Shayera was holding up.
"Yes, sir..." the soldier replied.
When he reached the waterfall, its mist was everywhere, making any ocular perception impossible. Lantern looked around warily, knowing that this was a prime spot for an ambush. Keeping to the shadows, he spied for any movement, any noise that could possibly give away the position of the H'rukai. He saw and heard nothing, as he slowly made his way to the water's edge.
Out of the corner of his eye, Lantern found what he was looking for, and cautiously moved closer to the waterfall. The pounding of the water hitting the rocks also made it inaudible to hear anything if the creature was around. Lantern felt he would take the chance.
P'thal walked into the cellblock to find Shayera staring at the far wall left of where she was imprisoned. She stopped next to the force field wondering what had snared her friend's attention.
"John's the red one, isn't he?" Shayera asked, quietly. "And the blue is the H'rukai?"
P'thal looked up at the view screen with amazement, it was displaying the exact same data that they were monitoring in the Command Center.
"How did you know?"
"Kragger told me..." she stopped and looked at P'thal. "At first, I thought you told John about the T'jinn Jakat... but it was Kragger. It makes sense now."
"What do you mean?"
"Kragger set this whole thing up... he wants me to watch John die... wants me to suffer before I pay for what I did..."
"Shayera, what are you talking about? Kragger didn't know anything about the T'jinn..."
"Kragger planted a vidcam on you, saw our conversation from earlier... the same way he acquired the evidence that will be used to convict me..." Shayera said nonchalantly.
"What...?"
"He used the T'jinn Jakat to lure John here, and used you to spring the trap... and now he's out there alone, without his ring, facing a terror that no human has ever encountered before..." Shayera said, almost to herself, closing her eyes.
"Lieutenant..." P'thal's communicator cried out.
"Go ahead..."
"Sir, there seems to be a problem with the H'rukai's signal..."
P'thal peered up at the view screen, "What is it? I don't see anything..."
Shayera's eyes concentrated on the movement of the blue icon, which was flashing slowly almost freezing on the far right side of the screen, its signal appeared to be erratic, as if the tracking system was confused with the H'rukai's position, then all of a sudden the blue icon 'blipped' on the left side of the screen, closer to the red icon's position.
"Oh no..." she whispered in fear.
Lantern had finally reached his objective; just off the water's edge was a bank of thick, claylike mud. The substance was moist enough to apply a good coating that would satisfy his need to dull the glint from his armor. He reached down with his right hand to get a glob full of mud when something registered out of the corner of his eye as slight movement, off to his left, about twenty meters back, near the trees. Lantern stood very still, trying to blend with the rest of the foliage, until he saw it, three red eyes, set almost in a triangular pattern, just on the edge of the trees, staring in his direction as if trying to focus on his position.
Uh oh... no sudden movements, John... he thought with apprehension.
The creature hissed loudly as it bolted from the trees with no warning, faster than Lantern had anticipated, which didn't leave him much time to react as it rushed upon him. The creature leapt, landing in front of him, swinging its massive claw downward and across.
"Command... report!!" P'thal ordered.
"Sir... we believe that the human was attacked..."
P'thal watched in horror as the red icon that represented John Stewart disappeared off of the view screen, where only the blue icon remained.
"NO!!!" Shayera screamed.