Children of the Void: Book One of the Aionian Saga (31 page)

Gideon didn’t even have time to speculate what the sticks were for before the first of them jabbed one into his side. Searing pain shot through him, and his entire body went rigid. Even his lungs seemed to be frozen because he couldn’t cry out. White light filled his vision, and he must have passed out, because the next thing he knew, he was being lifted up by two of the original insectoids.

There was nothing he could do to control the vomit that spewed out of his mouth. With the ringing in his ears and the throbbing in every muscle, he couldn’t even feel satisfaction that he’d thrown up all over one of his captors.

They stood there holding him between them while the ape creatures jabbered away at one another. Their screeches and growls seemed intense and heated, but for all he knew, they could have been talking about the weather. While they talked, two more of the insectoids wrapped up the body of their fallen comrade in the same sticky ribbon that held Gideon.

He spit out some of the stomach acid in his mouth, wishing for nothing more than cool water to wash it out. As he hung there like a sack of garbage about to be tossed out, he realized he had failed. He’d failed to find his father, to save his friends, he’d failed to stop Devereux, and most of all, he’d failed to simply survive on Valkyrie. All he’d done his whole life was prepare to live on Valkyrie, and he’d failed.

The ape creatures seemed to come to an agreement, and lumbered off back toward the ship. The insectoids followed, hauling Gideon with them. For the moment, it seemed they would let him live, but considering some of the possible alternatives, he wasn’t so sure that was a good thing. If nothing else, he hoped to see Takomi and the others before the end.

Something glinted in the sun behind the mob. Gideon turned his head in time to see what looked like a giant golden spike come down behind one of the insectoids. It flashed again, and the insectoid seemed to fly apart like a bundle of sticks in a hurricane. Before the other creatures could react, another flash disintegrated a second insectoid.
 

The remaining insectoids leapt back, releasing Gideon from their grip. He hit the ground hard and immediately started wriggling in vain to free himself. Something slashed through another insectoid, cleaving it in two. Weapons fired all around him, but Gideon could only catch glimpses of it from his limited perspective. Finally able to roll onto his side, he looked up in time to see what was attacking the aliens.
 

It was huge, even taller than the ape-men, with humanoid proportions, but much larger than any aionian. Glinting metallic golden armor covered it head to toe. Elaborate runes and patterns covered the armor, and it wore a strange ornate helmet topped by an decorative headdress. The “sword” that Gideon had seen was actually an extension of its arm. The warrior looked exactly like one of the Luzariai from his father’s book.

This strange warrior stood facing the apes, who looked terrified as they backpedaled away from the golden figure. One of them reached behind its back for its weapon, but the Luzariai warrior lunged, and in a blur, it ran the creature through.
 

The ape grunted and slumped over, dropping the weapon. It fell to the ground and made a low gurgling noise for a few seconds, then went silent. The golden figure pulled out the blade, now glowing red, and spun around to face the other two ape creatures. Several insectoids leapt into Gideon’s line of sight with their staff weapons ready. The Luzariai swung its sword-arm, slicing their staves in half, one by one.

While the golden warrior was occupied with the insectoids, the apes took their opportunity to fire at it. Their rifles sounded with an electric crackling, and struck the Luzariai in the back. Its free arm came up, and the metallic armor on its forearm morphed into a shield, protecting it from further volleys.
 

The sword-arm swung in a wide arc, decapitating one of the insectoids. It pointed the sword at one of the apes, and the blade glowed with a deadly fire. The ape raised its arms to protect itself as a fiery beam leapt from the point. The ape creature squealed as the beam bit into it, forcing it back. An insectoid took the opportunity to jab its staff into the Luzariai, and the warrior collapsed onto one knee.

The insectoid pressed the glowing tip of the staff into the Luzariai’s side, but the golden figure swung once again and cut the creature in two. Before the two apes could react, the Luzariai lunged at them, covering twenty meters in the blink of an eye. The shield hand now morphed into a second blade, and with each sword-arm, it ran both of the ape creatures through.
 

The swords morphed back into normal hands.
 

The Luzariai turned to face Gideon, towering over him.
 

Fear gripped Gideon as the figure looked at him. The warrior’s face was covered by a hideous mask depicting a demonic creature. At least Gideon hoped it was a mask, more terrified by the thought that this could be its face. The intricate patterns and adornments on the armor seemed ancient.

It took a step toward him, and Gideon flinched. The figure paused, holding up its hands. On its right palm, the symbol of the Aeternal, the lines that formed the image of a person, was plainly visible. “I will not hurt you, human,” it said in a deep, metallic voice. “I am your friend.”

Gideon’s jaw dropped. He stammered for a moment, finally finding the words. “You speak English?” he said, as if accusing the Luzariai of a crime.

“That is not exactly correct. I am incapable of articulating your language. However, the suit I wear is capable of translating for us both. I am called Tloltan.”

Gideon opened his mouth to speak, hesitated, then stammered. “You... you’re a Luzariai.” Tloltan slowly advanced toward Gideon, and this time he didn’t flinch, though his muscles tensed.

“You must be part of the Order. That is good. Then you already know that my people have watched earth since the dawn of the human age,” said Tloltan as it knelt next to Gideon. “We know much about your culture, perhaps even more than you do. There is no time to explain.” It straightened up and looked around. “More of the Maodoni will come. This group is only a small number of the soldiers aboard their vessel. We must leave this place.” Tloltan held up a five-fingered hand, and one of the fingers lengthened and flattened out until it became a sharp, serrated blade.

“Be still,” it said as Gideon’s eyes grew wide. “I will not hurt you, but I must free you of the silk.” Tloltan put one huge hand gently on Gideon’s shoulder, and with the finger-turned-knife, carefully cut away the sticky ribbon. It moved quickly, using its other hand to pull away the gooey threads. Somehow, they did not stick to the golden armor.

Suddenly, Tloltan stopped and turned its head to look over its shoulder. Without warning, it grabbed Gideon and dove to the side, rolling to avoid crushing Gideon beneath the huge warrior’s weight. A split second later, there was a loud boom, and the dirt exploded where Gideon had just been.

Tloltan tossed Gideon roughly to the side and spun around. There was another loud boom that knocked the warrior from its feet and into the cliff. The blast that had struck Tloltan spread out from their chest in arcs of electricity. Gideon spun around to see one of the ape creatures lying on its side with its weapon raised. It aimed at Tloltan for a third shot, but the warrior picked up a rock and threw it at the other alien as fast as a bullet, striking it in between the eyes. It collapsed, dropping the rifle.

Tloltan slowly climbed to its feet. The armor over their chest was burnt and blackened.
 

“You’re hurt,” said Gideon, still trapped in the silk.

“Yes,” Tloltan said. Gideon watched as the golden armor shifted and repaired itself. While it did so, Tloltan calmly walked over to the ape creature, and raised an arm over its head. The arm morphed into a blade even as it fell, and before Gideon could look away, Tloltan had taken off the creature’s head. As the blade changed back to normal, Tloltan walked back over to Gideon. “We must leave now. I shall carry you.”

Gideon didn’t have a chance to protest before Tloltan moved forward. The huge warrior picked him up with one arm as if he weighed nothing. Tloltan took three long strides, then leapt up five meters to the top of the gully.

T
LOLTAN
RAN
EVEN
faster than Gideon could in Sentinel Armor. The wind whipped by Gideon so fast that he couldn’t keep his eyes open when he looked forward. Instead, he looked down at the golden blur of Tloltan’s legs propelling them over the ground.

Before Gideon knew it, they were moving up a steep incline over rocks and boulders. The rough terrain barely slowed Tloltan down. As they entered a dark ravine, they slowed enough for Gideon to look around him. Tloltan was still moving fast, but was now using its other hand to pull itself over the boulders and trees.

A hollow, rasping noise come from Tloltan’s mask. It sounded like it could hardly breathe. “You’re hurt badly, aren’t you?” said Gideon. “We should stop so you can rest.”

“We have nearly... reached our destination,” Tloltan answered. “Just... over there.” It pointed to a large boulder on the side of the ravine. Gideon could see no reason to stop at that particular spot until Tloltan stepped around the boulder and ducked into a hidden cave.

Tloltan set him down and removed the silk while Gideon studied the cavern. A small fire illuminated the entire space, and as Gideon’s eyes adjusted, he saw it was only a few meters deep. It was tall enough that Gideon could have easily stood, but Tloltan had to bend nearly in half. A small collection of equipment and supplies lay strewn about. The gear looked strange, but he could see familiar objects like rope, clamps, and bags.

A shiny sheet covered some of the gear. Whatever was stored under there was long and skinny, and at one end, there was a round object that caught Gideon’s eye. Gideon stared at it and suddenly realized that it was a head.

Gideon moved toward the head before Tloltan could finish removing the last strands of silk. He sighed in relief, seeing that it was still attached to a body, which lay under the sheet. He moved around the fire to get a better look. The face came into view. It was his father, Admiral Ethan Killdeer.

Gideon froze for several seconds until he could stumble forward on wobbly legs. He collapsed onto his father’s body, noticing for the first time his Sentinel Armor on the ground nearby. It looked like it had been through hell.
 

The admiral let out a small groan and moved slightly, but did not open his eyes.

“Dad,” said Gideon, tears welling up in his eyes. “Dad, it’s me, Gideon.” He shook him softly, but his father only groaned. Gideon pulled down the parachute that covered him and instantly recoiled. His father’s body was covered in strange gelatinous blobs. Each one bubbled and hissed on his skin.

Gideon’s head spun around to look at Tloltan, who simply sat and watched. “What did you do to him?” he demanded in a thick, throaty voice.

“He was severely injured upon impact,” said Tloltan. “I found him unconscious and barely alive. I brought him back here to hide him from the Maodoni. Regrettably, I lack sufficient medical facilities to treat him properly, and could only induce sleep to allow his body to heal itself. I feared he would not survive, but he seems to be more resilient than I had anticipated. ” The warrior moved a bit closer and dropped to its knees. “Tell me, is this your father?”

Gideon looked back down at his father. “Yes,” he replied.

“And what is your name, human?”

He looked back up at Tloltan, who knelt with its hands folded on its lap. It was a posture that made the huge warrior much less intimidating. “My name’s Gideon,” he said, “but I’m not exactly human. We call ourselves aionians.”

“I see” said Tloltan. “You are modified, then.” It was a statement of fact, as if Tloltan had expected it all along. Gideon winced at the term but nodded.
 

Tloltan sat with their head bowed, breathing heavily. A million questions swirled in Gideon’s head, and he didn’t know where to start. “Those things that attacked me, you called them something. Maodoni?”
 

Tloltan shifted from a kneeling position and laid down on the rock floor, grunting and gasping as it did so. “The large entities, with two arms and two legs, are Maodoni.”

“What about the other creatures, the ones that looked like giant insects?”

Tloltan cocked its head to one side. Under the expressionless mask, Gideon could picture a puzzled look. Then Tloltan seemed to comprehend and nodded. “The others, the six-legged entities, are called Krin. They are slaves to the Maodoni.”

Gideon pulled the parachute back over his father’s body and sat. “Slaves?”

Tloltan’s body convulsed, making an odd sound that had to be coughing. Gideon watched helplessly until the warrior regained its composure. Tloltan took several deep breaths and continued. “The Krin you saw today are different than their ancestors at a genetic level. They too are modified, but modified by the Maodoni for their own use.”

More coughing ensued, and it took a moment for Tloltan to continue. “Not long ago, the Krin were a prosperous and independent race. War was an alien concept to them, and they fell easily to the Maodoni. Since then, they’ve been modified to be submissive to their masters, yet aggressive fighters, much like humans have done with canines on earth. The Maodoni cling to the philosophy that their species is the pinnacle of evolution. Every other species is either a tool for their use, such as the Krin, or a threat to be eliminated, as my people were.”

Gideon’s jaw dropped. “They killed your people?” he said in a whisper. “How many of you are left?”

“It seems that I am the last of the Luzariai.” Gideon could sense the emotion in Tloltan’s words, even through the alien distortion that the mask caused.
 

Gideon squirmed, drawing in the dirt with his finger. “I’m... sorry, Tloltan.” For a long time, there was silence, broken only by the crackling fire and Tloltan’s wheezing. When he could stand it no longer, Gideon spoke up again. “How did you survive when the rest of your people were killed?”