Child of Time (42 page)

“We will put it to a vote, you will know what we
decide by the end of the day.” The leader spoke with an air of
finality as they went about preparations. Kiyan found himself
wandering aimlessly through the dwellings constructed under the
shield dome. He felt Luke using his senses to examine pieces of
tech that they passed. The original crashed drakken ship had been
dismantled and used for all sorts of applications. The whole
settlement appeared to be powered by solar crystals like what Kiyan
had used to recharge his energy reserves.

“
It looks like the shields absorbed the radiation
from the sun and channels it to the crystal chambers recharging it
through the day. At night it protects from imprint marauders.”
Luke conveyed what he had learned from his scans.

“That explains why the suit didn't get discharged
any.” Kiyan mused on the applications that could be made with
material like the crystals.

“Who are you talking too?” Rinald fell into step with
Kiyan. Kiyan felt stupid as he recalled that no one could hear Luke
but him if he wanted.

“Luke is an AI in my head, I forget sometimes that no
one hears him most the time. I mean I can see him and hear him but
you can't.” Kiyan tried to explain something that was still new to
him. Rinald laughed before changing the subject.

“I already voted and by my thinking you can use a few
of us to help you complete your mission.” Rinald watched Kiyan's
face as he finished.

“Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't you still a new
reborn?” Kiyan was encouraged by Rinald but a little confused.

“Yes and no, my last life I was a member of an elite
sniper squad, we were on patrol when we got hit by a plasma
missile.” Kiyan stopped and looked Rinald over with a critical eye.
After an appraisal Kiyan made a quick jab at Rinald's throat. He
blocked Kiyan's strike and countered with lightning speed to both
their surprises. Kiyan stepped back after releasing Rinald's
fist.

“You do have good reflexes and hand to hand combat
training.” Kiyan circled Rinald as he finished his evaluation. It
looked like Rinald could build up more muscle but overall looked
pretty fit. Kiyan noticed that the reborn drakken didn't have the
trademark claws or protruding sharp teeth. In appearance they and
the drakken had little beyond scales in common. “I can't do
anything until I find out the result of the vote.”

“I voted for you, I couldn't live with myself knowing
I had doomed the rest of the universe to the imprints.” Rinald
spoke with conviction and a little resignation in his tone.

“I am not sure I can live with having destroyed your
civilization if you aren't in the new timeline.” Kiyan scuffed his
toe in the grey sand that covered the planet.

“You will accept it and live with it, I don't want
you to cheapen our sacrifice by regretting it for the rest of your
life.” Kiyan wasn't sure what to think of Rinald's words. There was
an awkward silence before Rinald continued. “What will you do if
you don't win the vote? Can you fight us all?”

“I could fight you all but I don't know if I can.”
Kiyan hoped it wouldn't come to that.

“You think you really could fight us?” There was a
tone of incredulity in Rinald's voice. Kiyan held his hand up and
let icy blue flames play around his fingers. The grey sand drifted
into the air and began to swirl as what little moisture that was in
the air condensed. Rinald had a look of awe on his face as he
watched the elements appear to defy the laws that governed
them.

“I don't want to fight you.” Kiyan realizing he had
an audience, let the dust settled back to the ground and the fog
evaporated as he walked on.

“Are you an ascended? We found glyphs on the planet
that seem to say that ascended protectors walk the universe
protecting what might be and what could have been.” Rinald's sense
of curiosity won out over his sense of awe.

“My parents were but I haven't learned to control my
powers fully yet.” Kiyan altered his course when he saw the council
leader approaching.

“The vote is finished. Most of our people feel that
we are living in an aberrant timeline.” The councilman seemed to be
searching for the right words. “The consensus is that the reborn
drakken were an accident in the first place. Perhaps an accident
that can be replicated in a new timeline. If time can be repaired
by our loss, so be it.”

Kiyan was overwhelmed by the fact that an entire
civilization was willing to help him, a person they had only just
met, even if it meant they would be erased from time. “Why do you
want to help me? The cost could be so high.”

A thin smile played across the reborn drakken’s face.
“We are losing our little war. Piece by piece, squad by squad. Our
tech is salvaged while most of theirs is manufactured by engineers
and scientists with the imprinted knowledge of how it works. We can
only try to reverse engineer what we salvage. Our people spend
months and years training while they are cloned and imprinted with
the physical and mental parameters of a soldier. We can't hope to
win. You offer hope, the chance to make a difference. We are doomed
to all die and fade into the sands of this planet otherwise.” The
smile faded and was replaced by a serious expression. “Again, how
can we help?”

“I need to destroy the minefield surrounding this
planet.” Kiyan began to understand the situation.

“Very well, the minefield was laid after our ship
made planet fall.” The councilman headed back towards the tactical
center as he talked. “It stands to reason that the mine controls
are routed to one of the imprint ships that landed some distance
away. Several of our best troops have volunteered to help you.”

“I want to help too.” Rinald caused the councilman to
pause and look him over. “I knew you in your previous life Rinald,
you were one of our best fighters before your death. You might have
some of the memories and skills of your predecessor but the
transference process is imperfect. I suppose it doesn't matter
anyway, its up to Kiyan what he wants you to do.”

A message from Luke flashed on Kiyan's HUD before he
spoke. “He can use the mech suit. Luke retrofitted it while I was
sleeping. I don't need it any more now that I am awake.” The
council man raised his eyebrow at the announcement but didn't
comment.

“I will gather some troops at the tactical center, we
will meet there for an attack tonight.” The councilman continued on
his way and Rinald and Kiyan went to the museum. Kiyan climbed into
the suit and interfaced with it. The torso slid closed and the seam
glowed momentarily before disappearing. Kiyan crawled on hands and
knees through the main doors as he tried to exit the building.
Sparks showered the ground as he squeezed through the doors,
standing up he looked back at the slightly deformed door and the
morose Reborn that was glaring at him. Luke laughed in Kiyan's head
before taking control of the suit for a moment. Kiyan felt his
metal bending being used as door began to ripple and reform. A
moment passed and when the door solidified there was no sign of the
damage. Kiyan settled back to his knees and opened the suit back
up.

“
So Luke, you used a bunch of my nanites
retrofitting the suit. Doesn't that affect my implants?”
Kiyan
began to wonder.

“
I used some to of your nanites to fabricate a
micro replicator. I can replicate more nanites than you could ever
use.”
Luke informed Kiyan about the upgrade like it was a
perfectly normal thing.

Kiyan directed Rinald in how to properly get into the
suit. The last thing Kiyan saw of him was the startled look on his
face as the suit activated. Contacts clicked into place on his head
as the suit snapped shut. The interface completed and Rinald
flailed and fell over as he tried to adjust to a different body.
Time slowed as Kiyan twisted away from a wildly flailing arm. When
time resumed its normal speed Kiyan was standing several feet away
from the sprawled mech suit. Ice flames flickered over his body as
he noticed the fleeing onlookers, a moment of focus and the flames
were gone. Luke had to upload a basic operating system to the suit
before Rinald had any success trying to stand.

“Come on, we should practice away from the
buildings.” Rinald sounded muffled as he spoke through the suit.
Kiyan followed the clumsy movements of the mech as Rinald carefully
threaded his way towards the edge of the dome. With the additional
upgrade of the operating system, the suit was much easier to
control. When they reached the edge they found a large arch near
the edge of the ripping force field. Kiyan entered a code that
Rinald gave him and the gateway began to activate. Energy began to
arc to the dome causing it to distort and move. When the force
field had reached the gateway a large opening was left in the
center of the arch.

“I put a timed program on the console to let us back
in.” Luke let Kiyan know as they left the dome. “Should open for us
around sunset.” Rinald practiced for a couple hours before he
became skilled enough to be comfortable. They were both a little
surprised when Rinald accidentally activated a weapon system. There
was a bright flash and a glassy patch of sand after the
discovery.

“You didn't tell me this suit had a built in
blaster”. Rinald sounded unsettled by the discovery. There was a
few more bright flashes as he tried the weapons. Kiyan realized the
sun was beginning to get low in the horizon as he surveyed the
melted landscape. The arch activated and the gateway opened
allowing them back into the dome. The green globe was disappearing
on the horizon as they arrived at the tactical center. When they
arrived they were greeted by several dozen reborn prepared for
battle. The council leader waved to Kiyan and Rinald when he saw
them.

“There are three possible vessels that might be
controlling the minefield, each one is heavily guarded by drakken.”
They followed the councilman inside the building and brought up a
detailed map of the surrounding area. Two of the ships looked like
they had crashed. The hulks were impaled in sand surrounded by
debris. The third ship was setting on a sheltered rock shelf
surrounded by rough magma deposits and sand. “We don't have the
numbers necessary for an attack on all three so we think this one
would be our best option.” The council man gestured toward the
third ship. “The other two are functional enough to support life
but this one is the only one that might be able to maintain an
uplink with the minefield. We might only get one shot at this.”

“If you can lay down covering fire and keep them
busy, Rinald and I can slip inside. Once in we should be able to
overcome any defenses and reach the primary computer.” Kiyan slid
his fingers apart around the drakken ship and watched as it
expanded to fill the map. The display adjusted and showed them the
internal structure of the ship. As Kiyan examined the schematic of
the ship one of the other reborn that he assumed was a commander of
some sort picked up the conversation.

“The ship is conserving energy so they aren't running
active sensor sweeps. They will have sentries here, here and here
on the lookout.” The commander pointed to a few locations on the
rim of the valley. “A few of my boys can sneak in close and figure
out the report code for the night. We can then take them out and
broadcast an all clear while we fly the rest in. From that point we
can set up here and begin a bombardment of the garrison here by the
open hangar deck.” A point overlooking the valley was indicated as
a safe point to attack from.

“If we get dropped off over here, Rinald and I can
get in the hanger.” Kiyan indicated the opposite side of the valley
rim from the attack point.

“That mech suit is too big to get beyond the hanger.
The corridors are just too small.” One of the soldiers pointed out
the obvious.

“He is going to have to guard the door when we get
there. From there I will only have to watch one direction”. Kiyan
understood the soldier had a valid point.

“You are sure you will be safe inside the ship
alone?” One of the other reborn in the room looked skeptically at
Kiyan.

“Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself.”
Kiyan glanced up at a row of skeptical faces. “Anything else that
we should be aware of?”

“No, not really. We don't have a huge amount of Intel
about that ship. It’s the best defended one.” The commander stiffly
saluted the councilman and turned to leave. Kiyan followed him out
of the building into the dark. The shield rippling overhead and a
few salvaged lights left long flickering shadows. He followed the
commander to an open area where a strange craft was sitting.
Painted black it blended into the night. A large pivoting thruster
adorned each corner. The whole thing looked like it was built
around a cargo container. There were more reborn troops milling
around the drop ship as they approached. Rinald in the suit was
nearly as tall as the ship. It took some maneuvering to load every
one into the ship but everything was secure when they lifted
off.

For most of the trip the only sound was the hum of
the thrusters as they flew. They were keeping close to the ground
in an attempt to avoid detection should there be any scanners
online. Kiyan could sense several of the men in the transport had
questions for him but not the courage to ask. After what seemed an
eternity the ship settled to a stop between a couple dunes near the
valley their target was concealed in. The commander got up as
several men in grey camouflage unbuckled and joined him. Kiyan got
up also in spite of a couple of glares.

“No offense but we have spent the last several years
training in this environment.” The commander looked Kiyan over with
a critical eye. “Your uniform would stick out like a sore thumb
besides you don't have any night vision equipment. We would have a
better chance if you leave it to us.”