The Trinity Sitch - Book 3: Blade of the Fury
Chapter 20: Escape from Arkonia
Fanned out in front of them were at least twenty large men in blue and gray uniforms. Their faces were hidden behind the faceplates of their helmets. Each of them was carrying a long, pole like weapon with a glowing end. They stood between them and the Trinity.
The man closest to Ron lowered his staff and fired, blue light lancing from its tip. The beam impacted the ground where he had just been with a thump. There was a whooshing sounds as a silvery blur flashed by the befuddled soldier. The glowing tip lay harmlessly at his feet, the rest of the staff in two parts, one in each hand.
Ron landed right in front of the next man, his sword held high, ready to strike or defend. The soldier brought the business end of his weapon to bear only to have the back edge of the sword catch it, wrenching it from his hands. The back end of the staff spun around in Ron's free hand, catching him on the chin and spinning him into the ground, unconscious. Apparently the helmets didn't account for much!
Dropping to the ground Ron spun the staff full length in a wide arc, knocking two more men to the ground, barely avoiding another blue blast that instead slammed into another man, knocking him down, stunned.
That told Ron what he wanted to know. He leveled his staff and touched the firing stud three times in rapid succession, taking down the same number of men. The beams were non-lethal, meaning the soldiers meant to take them alive!
Uri could not believe his eyes. Even with the girl immobilized her young lover was making a fool out of professional soldiers! He let out an oddly familiar cry as he leaped from his vantage point, landing in a fighting stance. With a motion of his hand, he made the remaining soldiers fall back.
"Troublesome child!" He shouted, a bluish haze forming around his eyes and hands.
"Dude, I think you've got something that doesn't belong to you!" Ron could feel his own Mystical Monkey Power growing within him.
"It belongs to me now! The power that doesn't belong is what you have, outlander! No Terran dog should posses the power of the T'Dragma ban Tragda Sur!" Uri growled back.
Two soldiers, behind you! A voice in his head told him. He didn't take time to ponder the warning, he simply acted. He dropped into a one handed handstand, sweeping out his feet, connecting with the closest soldier's knee, sending him into the second man. Both of them crashed to the ground, each receiving a blast from Ron's stun stick.
Uri chose that moment to charge. Ron caught the movement out of the corner of his eye, bringing the butt end of his staff up toward the attacking wizard's chin. With fluid grace that belied his apparent years he twisted away from the counterattack.
In the same motion Ron discarded the sword, tossing it behind him so he could concentrate on the less-lethal staff. Kim gasped as the sword jammed into the ground mere inches away from her. She was about to shout at Ron for being so careless when she realized it landed exactly where he intended it to!
Ron went after Uri with another spin attack, which the old man dodged by leaping straight into the air. He ducked the follow-through as he landed. Ron yanked back on the staff, letting it slide between his fingers, impacting another soldier who was trying to flank him.
Uri took advantage of the opening and went for Ron's throat. Only a quick twist kept him out of the wizard's clutches but it didn't save him from a savage backhand as the man spun around him.
Dazed, Ron staggered backwards just as two of the soldiers rushed him from the left. This is so gonna hurt he thought! Instead, a blur of orange/red gray and black jumped between them. Kim landed in a handstand, executing an inverted split, kicking the men in two directions.
"How's it going, Ronnie?" She asked sweetly, getting back to her feet.
"Pretty good, now that you've got my back!" He grasped the staff with two hands and faced off with Uri once more. "Time to open up a big old can of smack monkey!"
"Bah! You don't even know how to use power!" Uri gloated He thrust his hand forth and barked a series of strange words. A wave of force caught Ron and flung him backwards.
Acting faster than even she thought she could, Kim planted a foot and caught his midsection as he flew by. With all her might she spun him around, sending him right back at his opponent. Ron brought the staff around as if he was going to use it like a long, slender baseball bat, instead changing at the last moment to a bunting maneuver.
Uri could not react quickly enough and caught the blow full on the chin, forcing him back into the wall. He flailed desperately as Ron piled on top of him, carrying them both crashing to the ground.
Ron gulped as a vise-like hand clamped around his throat.
"Child of a lame yekkum!" Uri growled.
"Dude, if you're going to insult me, how about calling me something I can understand!" Ron gagged despite barely being able to breath.
"Understand this!" Uri's hand started glowing as his power started sapping Ron's strength and vitality. A brutal smile spread across his face as he forced him down to the ground, his neck now clamped between both hands. The child did have the same powers as the monkey man! And that power had been combined with the might of the Effurien! He would have all of that and more! He would take up the ancient sword and defend his world both from ancient fools like the Blessed Mother and from Podondrin himself! Blessed Mother? She was not a blessing, she was a curse! I know what she truly is! I know her secret name! I know who she is the blessed mother of!
He looked down at his prey. Instead of cowering in weakness and abject fear he was grinning back at his captor. "Dude, you are so busted." Ron said.
Cold steel touched his cheek, causing him to involuntarily look over his shoulder. Standing above him was Kim, holding the Blade of the Effurien at his throat. "Let…him…go!" she growled.
Slowly he let go, backing quickly away from the sword wielding woman. Amazingly, the boy got up, looking down at him with that same ridiculous grin.
"Is that all you've got? Man, that is weak sauce!" Ron gloated.
"How? What? You should not even have the strength to stand!"
Ron just grinned wider. "I could feel what you were trying to do, I could actually see you in my mind trying to pull the power away from me, but the whole time Kim was right there with me, helping me hold on!"
"That's not…it's not…that's impossible!"
"Better go back to English class, dude, cause you forgot to check her name!" He pointed both hands at Kim.
"Booyah!" Kim agreed.
Uri looked around him. All twenty of the soldiers lay around, some piled on top of each other. None of them were even so much as groaning.
Who are these children?
No matter! They are still just children and they know nothing of POWER! He reached inside himself and summoned the Tai Xing Pek Kwar, as well as his own connection to the Effurien his new benefactors had given him.
Nothing happened!
"Oh, dude, remember I said you had something that doesn't belong to you? I think the Mystical Monkey Power agrees with me. See, while you were trying to pull it out of me, the part you stole jumped right out of you!"
"NO!" the older man screamed, leaping up, pulling his nasty knife with the wavy blade. The monkey power may have fled him, but he was still far faster than anyone would have expected for a man of his years. He sprang at Ron, the knife flashing for his throat.
P-CHOW! P-CHOW P-CHOW!
Three staccato blasts erupted from the belly canon of the Trinity. The first smashed into the old wall right where Uri had been a moment before, creating an explosion that blew the old wizard aside. He crumpled to the ground in a rain of shattered rock.
The other blasts ripped into the troop transport that had brought the soldiers, disabling it. Fortunately the damage wasn't severe enough to cause it to explode. It just lay there smoking, never to fly again.
Kim's bracelet chirped.
"We had best get out of here!" Trin shouted over the comm. "Those two fighters are inbound and a dozen more are dropping out of orbit!"
"Got it!" Kim grabbed Ron's hand and dragged him after her. The roar all around them changed slightly in pitch, going from the low rumble of multiple waterfalls to something much higher.
"Kim!" Ron shouted as he tackled her from behind.
Twin beams from high powered pulse lasers impacted the ground around them as the first fighter passed over them on a strafing run. Before the debris could settle he pulled her up, this time dragging her behind him. He could hear the other ship beginning its run. He heard the sound of laser fire.
The fighter exploded as twin beams from Trinity's tail gun blasted it. What was left of it slammed into the ground only yards away from them. There was a sudden rumbling sound, far, far deeper than the sound of the falls. The ground started shaking, the rumbling increasing until something cracked. Their feet went out from under them as the floor of the crater opened up under them, the ground itself falling away. The outer fortress had been undermined by centuries of raging current, only the ancient mortar of the walls was keeping it together. Kim was able to grab an outcropping with one hand, Ron's drag handle on the back of his armor with the other.
They had one last view of Uri as the waters swallowed him. He broke the surface a couple more times before the raging current pulled him into the boiling whirlpool.
Kim wedged her gauntlet into a crack, holding Ron's armor for dear life as rock and muddy water raged around them. His eyes went wide as a crescent of silver and gold fell past them, disappearing from sight.
"The sword!" He screamed.
"Let…it…go…Ron!" Kim strained, trying to keep him from being pulled away by the current. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the first fighter circling around to finish them off.
Trinity was nowhere to be seen.
"Ron, hurry! Climb up me!"
"I…can't…reach!"
"Come on!"
The fighter was bearing down on them. She could imagine the guns firing…
It exploded in the sky as twin beams of light ripped into it.
Moments later Trinity was hovering just over them. The lower ramp was extended and Kim used the last of her strength to throw Ron up onto it. He wrapped his arms around the support and stuck out his leg.
"Grab on!"
Twisting her gauntlet loose she threw herself at him, just grabbing his leg before falling down into the rushing water. He got a handful of her shoulder plate and hauled her up onto the ramp. They half crawled, half stumbled upwards, away from the maelstrom. Trinity waited until they were fully clear of the ramp before retracting it.
"Trin, Go!" Ron shouted, trying to catch his breath.
"Get to an acceleration seat as soon as you can." She said over the speakers.
They didn't have to be told twice. They hauled themselves to their feet, forcing one foot in front of the other. Ron pulled Kim after him as they made their way toward the bridge.
"Ron, grab two buckets from the pantry." Trin said as they cut through the parlor.
"Huh?"
"Trust me." She answered. No understanding, he did so, finding them right where she said they were.
By the time they got to the control center the ship had already rocketed to high altitude. Kim jumped into the pilot's seat, Ron grabbing the one just to the right.
"The fighters are following us into the upper atmosphere." Trin said, her avatar appearing on a secondary monitor.
"Can they follow us into space?" Kim asked.
"Most likely. They dropped into this zone from orbit. I think they are at least extra-atmospheric interceptors."
"Well, floor it!" Ron said, biting his nails with nothing else to do to help.
"I am flooring it. This is as fast as we can go until we clear the upper atmosphere." Outside the blue sky was starting to darken, stars appearing as the reached the edge of space.
We're going home Kim thought!
"The sword!" Ron screamed suddenly. "Kim, we've got to go back for it!"
"No! Ron, it fell into the Spiron! It's gone! Nothing can bring it back now!"
"It can't be lost! I can…I can call it back, just like the Lotus Blade! It'll come back to me, I know it!"
"Ron!' She snapped out of her harness and grabbed both sides of his head. "Ron! The Blessed Mother told you, it's an ordinary sword! The power is in you, not a piece of metal!" She looked into his eyes, her heart breaking as she saw the look of despair in them.
Ron!
He blinked once, then twice.
All we need, all we have ever needed is right here!
He looked away, then back at her, meeting her eyes.
Ron, I need you, not the sword.
She hadn't said a word, but he heard it!
"We're going home?" He asked, finally.
"We're going home." She nodded, then pulled him into a fierce hug. He felt the wetness as her tears ran from her face down his neck.
"Okay, guys, those fighters are gaining on me! They're built for atmo flight, so they're going to get the jump on us before I can accelerate!" Trin warned.
"What to we need to do?"
"I need somebody in the tail gun!"
"Trin, we're not going to kill anyone else."
"Well, what do you expect me to do? I'm not a combat ship, they have lasers that can tear right trough my skin!"
"What will happen if you accelerate without clearing the atmosphere?"
"I'll ignite an oxygen trail."
"How dangerous is that?"
"It can knock out some of my sensors."
"How dangerous?" Kim repeated.
"It's nothing I can't live without, if that's what you want to know."
"Do it!"
"Not till you're back in the harness."
Kim hastily jumped back to her seat and snapped the belt in place. There was a moment as the ship accelerated once more, now traveling so fast it was leaving a great plume of flame in the sky. The fighters were left behind, not able to keep up.
"We've got more problems." Trin said as they finally left the atmosphere behind.
"What now?" Ron complained.
"Something big is in orbit. They've locked onto us. Hang on!"
She banked suddenly as a series of missiles shot by them. Whatever the ship in orbit was, it was huge. It looked like an enormous whale, with a great dorsal fin rising near the aft section. Huge tubes extended from the rear, each glowing blue-white. Another salvo of missiles streaked toward them, barely missing as Trinity executed a perfect barrel roll.
"I think it's coming about!" Kim said, watching the tactical as they shot by the larger ship.
"Affirmative!"
"KP, they're shooting at us again!"
"Damn." Trinity said.
"Is that an 'oh snap damn' or is that a 'WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!' Damn?" Ron asked, fright evident on his face.
"One of you, take the controls and keep an eye out for those missiles. If we're going to get away I have to concentrate on something really important!"
"Got it" Kim grabbed the main stick, and two handed affair much like on a commercial jet liner. "Okay, Ron, you're my eyes again, keep an eye on the tactical and tell me where they're coming from."
"Bank hard to port!" He shouted as another volley approached.
"To what?"
"Left, Kim, Left."
"Okay!"
He watched as the space-battleship launched more at them. He was thankful they didn't employ lasers, or they would have been roasted by now.
"Trin?" Kim queried.
No answer.
"More coming in at seven o'clock!"
She banked the ship once more.
Finally Trin chimed back in. "Okay folks, make sure your tray table is up and your seats are locked in full acceleration position! Let's see if that old bucket can do this!"
There was a sudden surge as the ship jumped into Hyperspace. This was the mild tug at their guts that Kim had felt when they first left Earth some days before. It was barely there. She risked a glance at the tactical.
The Arkonian battleship had accelerated as well. It was coming after them.
Then the engines really started roaring.
They felt as if they were being stretched as the chronal damping system inverted itself. The ship, for a fleeting moment, expanded until it was present at every point in the universe. Then it was over. They had a feeling as if they were rubber bands released after being stretched too far!
They were alone in the darkness of space. There wasn't even any planets on the tactical any more. Then both of them found out what the buckets were for.
"What…just…happened?" Kim asked, wiping her mouth.
"It's called Tele-warp. We just, for lack of better terms, just teleported from Arkonian space to just over twenty four hours cruising distance to Earth."
"You what? Why didn't you do that before?"
"The device that took over my systems did not have access to the information necessary to execute such a jump. In fact, it did not know I was capable of that."
"Does Wade know?"
"No, he doesn't. Hey, don't look at me like that. A girl has to have some secrets!" she said almost coyly.
Ron looked up from his bucket, still very green around the gills. "I think maybe that should have stayed a secret. Once doing that is enough for the Ronster!"
Kim sat back in her seat, looking at her beloved Ron. Ron the once again Warrior Hero!
That's it, it's over, we're finally, really going home!