Spacer Clans Adventure 3: Naero's Fury (35 page)

“
My business is not with them. You were correct to restrain them, Naero. You just witnessed a small demonstration of what I am capable of. They are no match for me. I am fully in control of all of my abilities. I neither kill nor destroy by accident or instinct, or without cause or reason. Your friends are not at fault here, Naero Maeris. You are.”

He paused and took a single breath.

“Surrender, Naero. It is over. You are no match for me, either.”

Naero smiled.
“We shall see.”

She
charged him, circling for an opening.

He moved his feet effortlessly.
The superb footwork of a master swordsman.

When she attacked, his defense
–every move–was perfect.

Khai was a
consummate master with his blade.

He sliced her
energy cutlass out of her hand and disrupted it.

She knew he would. That gave her time to get in closer, using all of her advanced speed.

Naero plunged her energized battle blade at his chest, with all of her weight and strength.

She would not kill him, but she fully intended to wound him badly enough
so that he could not fight, or follow her for a long while.

The unbreakable metal splintered and shattered against
Khai’s breast as if her battle blade were ice.

Naero blinked and staggered back from him
, her hands and forearms stinging and partially numb.

Impossible.
Khai wore no armor–barely a nanotunic down to his knees and high boots.

Khai was
invulnerable? How was he shielded?

His
spin kick swept at her so blinding fast and hit with such raw power, that he knocked her off her feet and flung her away. Naero barely caught herself and flipped back up to a crouching fighting stance.

Once again, her experience sparring with Baeven had saved her.

No one but Baeven and Danner had ever struck her with such force.

Not
Gaviok–not even Master Vane.

Khai was clearly in their league. Perhaps even beyond it in some ways. Nothing seemed to touch him. He
was unstoppable.

Naero needed to play for time.

Just a little longer.

They circled each other.

“You’re stalling, Naero. I won’t let your friends scoop you up as you are planning. I’ll disable their ship on this enemy world, if I must. Then they won’t be able to get away. You will doom them and you will still end up my prisoner.”

She drifted back with her gravwing.

He floated up into the air at will and came at her without effort.

Naero tried taunting him.
“Hah, you’re a lot of big talk, Khai. As long as you have that crazy sword of yours. Is that the source of your powers? Your focus for your Cosmic abilities? Is that what makes you so indestructible? What are you without it?”

Khai casually flung his sword into the ground, where the long gleaming blade buried itself effortless
ly up to the hilt.

“
My sword Yii is without equal–yet it is only part of me–not a crutch. We are one, and our powers are as one.”

Naero paused and touched down again, resuming her fighting stance.

Now at least, he fought on her level.

She hoped.

“Sword or no,” he told her. “I have never met my equal in single combat.”

Naero knew that to be true.
They clashed. He struck her twice and nearly winded her. Superb technique. Fast and powerful. Baeven could not have done better.

She feinted and then surprised him with a blinding fast flip kick of her own, knocking him off his feet.

Khai flipped over and came up to a similar fighting stance.

Naero shook her hair and grinned.
“Nor have I,” she told him. “But I suppose there is a first time for everything.”

Khai smiled.
“I think not.”

They circled some more.

Naero led him away, always retreating.

“
You can’t run forever, Naero. I can track you now. Even if you manage to get away for a time, I can find you…anywhere.”

Khai closed with her, impossibly fast
–speed to rival her own.

He blasted her with a single
, massive punch that almost knocked her out. Her face, mouth, and nose bled.

Khai nearly
took her down with one blow.

She
staggered and fell back again, startapping and regenerating.

Right into the
heavy defensive batteries of the secret alien base perimeter.

Naero
dodged, as their enemy’s weapons cut loose. They batted Khai around for a few seconds. Their barrage just barely missed her as she cloaked and transported.

Khai summoned Yii to his hand, and the destruction began.

Three more enemy battle groups swept in to join the attack. Khai would make short work of them, and he would destroy the enemy base, but doing so would still delay him.

In the resulting confusion
, Naero transported and slipped on board
The Darkstar.
She immediately ordered Ty and Alala to get them all well away from that place.

34

For
days they swung around, retreating back through the Gigacorps’ Unknown Regions. They evaded and changed course multiple times.

Finally, after leaving behind a
dizzying campaign of numerous false trails and clues to confuse any pursuit, they made their rendezvous with Baeven, Jia, and the crew of
The Shadow Fox.

Baeven
’s ship was still faster, and would tow them the rest of the way back toward Corps Space proper, while Ty conducted some further experiments on the new leap drive tek they were stymied with.

Jia
’s soul re-merged with her ship at some point. Yet Baeven was still recovering from his ordeal. He finally revealed just how close to death he had been.

Naero understood now that it was his link to Jia that helped him maintain control of himself and his sanity.
For him, Jia’s love for him and their link was a calming, stabilizing force.

Jia was Baeven’s harmony–the positive energy in his life that kept his own Darkforce demon at bay.

It frightened Naero what her uncle might become without such a positive force in his life. Just as she terrified herself with her own fears, of Dark Beasts, and lethal Cosmic diseases.

Naero knew that she must find
for or within herself, such a stabilizing force of her own to heal and sustain her. Otherwise, all of her Cosmic powers would eventually conspire to destroy her–one way or another.

And
if she faced these problems, at some point, she still feared what might become of her siblings, Jan and Dan.

But first,
before she could save anyone else, she had to save herself. Naero had some recovering of her own to accomplish.

As soon as there was time, she would take
counsel with Baeven and Jia, and try to decide what their next course of action should be. Could Khai really track her now, as he claimed? If so, how? He let slip that the Mystics had tracked her through the Astral Plane somehow.

So much to learn and do.

She needed to speak with Womi as well, and find a way to heal him further. The Kahn-Dar were experts at traveling through various dimensions. Perhaps he could advise her and instruct her further on how to manage exposure to the Astral Plane and any others. How to avoid detection.

“
Zoa,” Jia said, when they sat down to make plans. “That should be our next destination. It is the nearest, possible Driathan Sentry world–my world. Yet the enemy is searching much further out into the unknown. From what they said–they were closing in on another of my people. We can’t know which one yet.”

“
But they have not found it, yet” Baeven said. “If they had, the Driathan alarm beacons would have sounded. The enemy could be lying, or simply mistaken. We cannot panic and lead them straight to you all by rushing around in haste. That will only make things worse, Jia, and put your people even more at risk.”

Naero had so many questions of her own. They spoke freely of things she had so little knowledge of.
“Guys, I think the G’lothc spirit called Korleth Tulkas mentioned something about the imminent capture of another Driathan, like Jia.”

“Naero,” Baeven said. “You need to know. Jia is not just another Driathan…she is
The
Driathan. More than a leader. Jia is…sacred to her people, in many ways that cannot be described or easily put into words.”

“
Baeven, how many Driathans did the Drians create, and where are they? Why must they all hide or sleep, or whatever it is that they are doing? The enemy seems to want them more than anything else. If they were the cause of the Great War, what did the enemy want with them? Korleth spoke of capturing and torturing, taking them apart somehow to learn their many secrets. What secrets? What could such a captive reveal to the enemy?”

“
Too much,” Jia said. “The secrets of the Drians are contained within each of us, just as mighty as those of the KDM within you. The Drians and the Kexx were very different, but in spirit, they were like brothers and sisters. Both advanced races controlled and protected many secrets. Advanced tek were just part of them. Their knowledge and wisdom were their greatest achievements.”

Naero paused a moment. “The enemy wants something specific from the Driathans.”

“The enemy desires all things. But my people are very strong. Our miraculous, android bodies are the pinnacle of artificial life and creation–virtually indestructible. We could resist such efforts to torment and break us for a very long time. Yet in the end, the G’lothc were the peerless masters of the Darkforce, and pain and destruction. No doubt they would be able to devise a way to break even the Driathans, to destroy our minds and souls, and take over our bodies for their own purposes, once and for all.”

“
Is that their primary goal then?” Zhen asked. “To conquer and take over the Driathans to make use of their immortal bodies?”

“
That indeed would be a major victory for them. But the goals of the G’lothc and their allies have always been numerous and complex. They made mention that their attempts to take over and possess the minds and bodies of other sentients have fallen far short of their expectations. Under their control, their hosts burn out and break down after a short time and become unreliable. The Darkforce destroys all that it touches. Yet they still continue to conduct such foul experiments, on a wide scale from their own words.”

Naero shuddered to think of that.

“That’s only one reason they want the Driathans, then, Jia? To use their bodies as indestructible, undying hosts for their dark and vile spirits?” But I sensed it–they instinctively hate all other sentients and see them as their foes–their prey. And they are actively seeking to capture, enslave, or destroy any of the remaining advanced races: they specifically mentioned the Yattai, the Oden, and our Mystics. They tried to capture all three of the Mystic High Masters. All are at risk.”

“
Khai is half-Oden and half-Spacer, from Clan Williams,” Baeven said flatly. “He is a formidable foe. The Champion of the Oden, wielder of the Cosmic Blade, Yii. He shall come to be known as the Great Swordsman, an important part of the Cosmic Prophecies. I never put much stock in them, but the first S
word of Legends
actually exists now. That much cannot be denied.”

“Baeven, I’ve heard mention of such things
–like they were fairy tales, but I don’t have any idea what most of that means.”

“First, a little history, Naero.” Baeven smiled and stared straight up, still resting and recovering on his nanobed

“
As their last Enforcer, the High Mystics sent Nerrek, Khai’s father after me before he disappeared. Nerrek and I clashed and fought each other to a draw several times, until the Mystics realized that if they kept after me, all they’d accomplish, would be to drive me into becoming the very monster they feared. Vane still ranted that I would become one of those anyway–the fabled Great Destroyers that they always mutter about, in the same breath with the Cosmic Prophecies. Mystics everywhere are said to be obsessed with all of these dusty old Cosmic legends–legends older than even the Kexx and the Drians.”

Naero rested her chin on her hand and placed her other hand under her elbow as she paced.
“I knew Khai before. I knew he was an Oden, or least half Oden. What are they in fact? I keep hearing about them, but I can’t find any more specific information.”

“
The Oden are an enigma within themselves–unique, like all the Cosmic races,” Jia said through
The Darkstar
. “Their homeworlds are also hidden. Most of the advanced races keep to themselves, concealed to a high degree. The Oden are extremely ancient. It is said that they even existed at the end of the last universe before this one. And as such, they are by their very nature, invulnerable to virtually anything from ours.”

“
I’ve noticed that ability in Khai. Very handy, I’d say.”

“
Yet they are still mortal, they can be overwhelmed and destroyed by raw force and power.” Baeven noted. “For that matter, they live only slightly longer than Spacers. They are not immortal, like the Yattai. We briefly discussed the substance called Ur-metal, Naero. It exists only in very small quantities throughout existence, and is very rare–like some kind of super-alloy.”

Naero nodded. “Khai and others told me that Ur-metal is the cumulative
remnants–the fragments from all of the universes before ours. And that besides its raw Cosmic might, it is the only substance that is capable of doing direct physical harm to an Oden–or other higher-functioning Cosmic entities. The Mystics used all that they had acquired to produce Yii.”

Tyber sc
offed a little in uncertain disbelief. “I agree with N. It all sounds like fables and fairytales, if you ask me. I would not believe any of them, had I not witnessed firsthand what that sword and its wielder did to those enemy fleets and armies. The Enforcer obliterated them all–in mere moments.”

“
They are not fables,” Baeven said. “Naero is correct. Khai’s sword Yii was fashioned from nearly all of the Ur-metal that was known to exist. And its forging has been foretold, for eons.”

Naero stopped pacing and put her hands on her hips.
“What if we get the sword away from Khai? Can we use it to defend ourselves against him?”

Baeven shook his head.
“No. It doesn’t work that way. He and the sword are one. He can merge with it. He can even conceal it within himself at will, if need be. It would never harm him. But if you were able to harm him, you harm the sword, and vice-versa.”

Naero sighed.
“A lot of good that does anyone, when we can’t harm either one,” S’krin said. “From what we’ve seen, they’re both indestructible.”

Baeven smiled his grim smile.
“Yes indeed, and hence our problem. Together, he and that sword are nearly invincible.”

“He boasted that he could track me on the
Astral Plane,” Naero said. “So, what do we do, just scurry about and wait for him to bag us all?”

Zhen
shook her head. “We have to warn everyone about these new enemies and what they’re up to. Not just the biowar attack. These terrible beings can take over the minds of others–even Spacers from what you said, N. Obviously, they’ve already infected and influenced all of the Gigacorps. How much further does it go? What about the Alliance? Joshua Tech? What if they infiltrate Spacer Intel, the High Command, the Elders–even the Mystics? What if they’ve already done so?

Naero, the G’lothc were masters at shapeshifting and destroying their foes from within. They taint and poison all that they touch.

So, how do we detect and fight them, Om?

As yet, none of us know the answer to that.

Naero snorted out loud. “And Intel and the Mystics are going to listen to us? To me? To Baeven? They’re going to believe the ravings of a bunch of renegades and outcasts like us? Not until it’s too late, I’d say.”

“
We still have to make the attempt,” Jia said.

Baeven announced.
“I’m preparing several secret messaging drones and sending them to those whom we know that we can still trust. Anything you want to tell your Aunt and Uncle, Naero?”

Naero
’s mouth dropped open for an instant.

“
So much has happened, I had nearly forgotten. Oh, Baeven, at least I got to see and hold the twins. They were so beautiful.”

Baeven looked truly sad for an instant at her words.

Naero hoped she’d live to see them all again someday–all her family and friends. “So I ask again,” she said. “What is our enemy up to? We know they have long-term plans to subjugate and destroy any other advanced sentients–anyone with the power to oppose them in any way.”

“
Shalaen,” Zhen said, turning pale. “She’s Yattai. She is in as much danger as you all are. The enemy tried to capture her once before.” Z looked at Tyber and her lower lip trembled.

Baeven looked at
Zhen, and his face softened for just an instant.

Perhaps like T
y and her, he had been young and in love and afraid once as well.

“
We are all in danger,” Baeven said. “And we shall all face such threats together, united. The G’lothc are very thorough and relentless. They will crush and exploit anyone to serve their ends.”

Zhen spoke up again.
“I know. They really planned to use that advanced biotoxin to destroy most of the Gigacorps and their human populations, the Spacer Clans, and all the known races. Just think. What if we hadn’t stumbled upon it?”

“
That plan is still in effect,” Naero said. “And if our spyfixers do not complete the task given to them, some of that original plague might still break out. Our foes plan on crushing and dominating everyone, eventually.”

“
That is why we must go to Zoa,” Jia said. “From there, I can link with all of the other Driathan sentry worlds throughout the galaxy, and we can learn all the information that they have gathered and observed. It must be one of our sentinels that our foes are closing in upon. We must learn who their quarry is, and go to his or her rescue.