Test of Magnitude (The Torian Reclamation) (35 page)

“My vision in the halcyon arc at Landen—that was real?”

“Yes, although it was not so much a vision, but a communication, through the portal opened by the arcs. The energy shared by you and Derek was recognized by the arcs and a connection was made at the appropriate time. You and your friend will now have the reunion you both long for. Be of good courage and cheer.”

“Thanks!”

Brandon ran back to his crewmates. Tanel2 was splitting the company into two groups, just as Arkan9 suggested. He was leading the group that would descend to the bottom of the canyon, which included Perry, Mip7, Brandon, and five other crewmembers. The other three commandos were sent out to the right along the next lower ridge to retrieve to two Sheen from the natives. Tanel2 obviously trusted Arkan9’s information.

Brandon followed Tanel2 directly, anxious to get to Derek. Mip7 was right behind him. They began to descend the trail along the cliff-side directly ahead. There was vegetation similar to sagebrush growing about, except it was orange in color with black flowers. There were occasional bushes as well, which resembled the type the yuquin at Landen fed upon.

They reached a small plateau. The trail continued down from there along the edge of another steep drop-off to the right. The canyon, however, came into full view from the plateau. Tanel2 waved everyone down behind a clump of bushes, where they sat in observation for a few minutes.

What Brandon saw from there was at once alarming, but then perplexing. There were the Azaarians, a great number of them, spread out across the canyon floor, right up to the bottom of the cliff where the trail the commandos were on would eventually deposit them. But the Azaarians weren’t moving. They weren’t even standing.

Mip7 hunched down behind Brandon. “What are they up to down there?”

Brandon shook his head. “They appear to all be sitting, but in an odd formation, in groups of two it looks like, facing each other. Maybe some kind of ritual or something.”

“Can you see either of our subjects?” Tanel2 asked.

Brandon shielded his eyes and squinted. “No, we are still too far up. Arkan9 said Derek would be next to the green glow. I think I can see that, on the very far edge below us, next to the base of the cliff.”

Tanel2 poked his head out through the bushes and looked straight down.

“Yes, confirmed. Good. He should be easy to get if he is there, near the trailhead. Hopefully, the other subject is nearby. There’s another small mesa halfway down from here, with cover. We’ll make for that on my signal—quietly!”

They all waited until Tanel2 waved his hand, and then fell into single file behind him to descend further down the trail. It made several sharp switchbacks. Everyone was hunched over as they walked. At one point, Brandon dislodged a rock with his foot. It went tumbling down the side of the bluff, kicking up dust and provoking a small avalanche that continued over the ridge they were headed towards and all the way down to the canyon floor. Everyone froze. Tanel2 turned and shot Brandon a look of disgust before squatting low and studying the enemy position. There was no reaction. He waved his hand again and they continued down, making it to the next plateau without further incident. There they hunkered behind another set of bushes that were not quite as thick as the last.

“They must have seen us by now,” Perry said, “unless they are blind and deaf.”

They surveyed the scene through the thin bushes. The enemy camp was much more visible now.

“Oh no,” Mip7 said.

Tanel2 looked over at him. “What’s wrong?”

“I think I know what they are doing.”

* * *

“It’s the halcyon arc!” Brandon said. “That’s where the green glow is coming from. The one at Landen was glowing green, too—but not that brightly. It must be under a tremendous stress.”

“That’s the religious relic that was stolen, right?” Tanel2 said.

Brandon and Mip7 stared back at him. It was their turn to shoot him a look of disgust.

“Yes,” Mip7 finally said. “I think the Earth subject just went directly underneath us as we moved into position. I saw something coming up against the base of the cliff down there as we arrived, that looked like the robes he wears.”

The nine crewmembers were now on the final ridge on the cliff trail, a mere fifty feet above the canyon floor, hunched behind the last bit of brush before the final descent. One remaining switchback awaited them on the path to their right. They would become visible to the entire enemy camp as soon as they stood and moved from their current position, in plain view of the hundreds of Azaarians who were all currently sitting on the ground, in groups of two, facing each other.

Brandon and the other crewmembers now had a clear view of the Azaarians. The descriptions of them proved accurate. They were significantly larger than the Chenel, possessing great heads full of long, wavy-white hair and markedly pointed faces. Many of them wore robes that looked like something monarchs of 17
^th
century Earth would don.

“I still feel we should call for fighter support,” Tanel2 said.

Mip7 shook his head. “It probably won’t be necessary, and runs the risk of arousing their attention. Look at them, Commander. They are wretched, in no condition for a fight. Even if they notice we are here, and they probably will, they still won’t be able to stop playing—not even to defend against an enemy attack. This is also no doubt why there was no return fire when we attacked their ships.”

“Almost no return fire,” Brandon said.

Mip7 looked over at him sheepishly. “Right. Sorry.”

Tanel2 shook his head. “I cannot believe they are all sitting out there in the dirt just playing a game, and that they won’t stop playing it even should a company of enemy commandos invade them.”

One of the five Torian natives in the company spoke up.

“Believe it, Commander. I recognize the game. Polwar, or something just like it. That’s why the ground forces on Amulen didn’t respond to the call for help when Cardinal-4 was attacked. We were all in the barracks playing that game. Even when the alarm sounded, and the order went out to scramble, we couldn’t tear ourselves way from that extat thing. It was new, issued by the government for military recreation. We were all captivated by it. Don’t ever play it. It does something to you. Once you start, you just can’t stop playing it, and nothing happening around you has any importance. I wondered where that extat thing came from, and I can’t believe I’m seeing the enemy being wrecked by it now, right before my eyes.”

Everyone cocked their heads at the Amulite who just confessed. He bowed his head in obvious shame.

“I’ll tell you where it came from,” Mip7 said, “so you don’t have to feel so bad. It came from Azaar.”

Now everyone was cocking their heads at Mip7.

“Commander,” Brandon said.

“Wait Brandon,” Tanel2 replied. “Mip7, what do you mean about this polwar game coming from Azaar? I have heard of it, but haven’t yet seen it.”

“You don’t want to see it,” Mip7 said. “Look what it does. Just look out there. It did the same thing to us. I was the delegate assigned to the Azaarian ambassador when he visited Cardinal-4. He left us one of those games as ‘a gift.’ Our scientists analyzed it, reproduced it, and distributed it to our military bases. The thing is a curse. You see what it does right out there before you. You saw how the enemy warships did not engage us even when being blown apart. And now you know why even our own pilots failed to come to our aide in an enemy attack, and why Olut6 has banned the game from the Cardinal-4 base.”

“Commander!” Brandon said.

“Yes, what is it?”

“Look!”

Tanel2 finally looked where Brandon was pointing, down the trail immediately in front of them. Derek and the remaining Sheen subject had just ascended past the switchback and were walking towards them, alone, smiling.

“Well, this was much easier than I could have ever hoped for,” Tanel2 said.

Up on top of the cliff, the bird whistle from the ship could be heard. It sounded twice.

* * *

“Don’t worry,” Derek said. “The lion people are totally frying their brains out on that crazy game. They won’t do anything else, man. Trust me, I tested them. I even went over and kicked dust on some of them and screamed in their faces. They won’t move, man. Not unless you try and take the game away from them. That’s the only way they will pay us any attention.”

Tanel2 thought for a moment, and then shook his head. “It seems an unnecessary risk. My job is to recover the hostages, which we have accomplished. Let’s get out of here.”

“I’m not going without it,” Derek said.

“It’s not your decision to make.” Tanel2 motioned to the Torian commandos in the rear. They came around behind Derek and blocked the path. Brandon, Mip7, and Perry responded by coming to Derek’s side, creating a confrontation.

Brandon was on the far left, next to Derek. He felt a sudden dizzy spell coming on. Hopefully, it was only from standing up too quickly.

“I will not have dissention in my unit!’Tanel2 said.

But Tanel2’s voice was trailing off and sounding from a distance to Brandon. He felt himself entering a dreamlike state. Brandon stretched his neck and twisted it around in an attempt to snap back into focus. This was not the time to fade out. There was now a standoff between the five Torian commandos—all Amulites—and the three humans plus Mip7. The lone Sheen who arrived with Derek was with Tanel2 behind them on the trail. But it all now seemed surreal to Brandon. He was feeling removed, as though nothing important was happening around him.

Brandon gazed out across the canyon floor. This was a scene difficult to understand. There was the enemy, a great number of them, all sitting with what looked like an empty picture frame between them, putting pieces in it that held in place. They really did look like lion-people, white lion-people to be more specific, but they certainly weren’t ferocious in appearance. Not today, anyway. Arkan9’s words resounded in Brandon’s head. They are all incapacitated, suffering from self-induced failing health.

How could such a thing be? There must be four hundred Azaarians out there, minimum, which means they have at least two hundred of these games down here on the planet surface, and apparently many more of them on board the warships. Why do they have so many of this one particular game, and do nothing else but play it, ignoring even basic nutritional needs and urgent self-defense emergencies? Why did they attack the Torians and take hostages, for no discernible purpose other than to steal the halcyon arc?

And what was Brandon doing here in this place?

Oh yes, Derek. He came to get Derek. Now he had him. Their reunion had been briefly emotional. Derek and the Sheen walked up the trail to them smiling and talking loud, laughing and assuring the crewmembers there was no immediate danger, insisting they didn’t need to be crouching and hiding behind the bushes. When Brandon could no longer restrain himself, he stood up, ran the last few yards of distance between them, and embraced Derek. Mip7 followed with a handshake, but Derek would have none of it and hugged the big lizard-man as well. Perry and Tanel2 were then introduced, and that’s when Derek asked for help in going back down to retrieve the halcyon arc.

What was it about the halcyon arc? Why did the Azaarians want it, why did Derek insist on risking their lives to get it back, and why was Brandon now feeling drawn to it as well? He couldn’t deny it—to leave without the arc would be unsatisfying, a job incomplete, almost slothful behavior considering they were so close to it.

Brandon now heard himself speak, but it was as though his voice were coming from someone else, speaking another’s thoughts.

“It’s a power source.”

Everyone in the company turned and looked and Brandon, relieving some of the tension of the current confrontation.

“Yes, a power source,” Brandon heard himself repeat. “That’s why they need it. That’s why they came and stole it. They need the energy from it.”

“What are you saying?” Mip7 asked. “The halcyon arc is powering those games?”

“No,” Brandon said. “It’s powering the Azaarians, giving them the ability to continue playing. Without it, they would collapse from exhaustion and anguish, and require sleep, nourishment, and rehydration. Remember the balancing effect the arc had on us at Uden..”

Everyone in the company except Derek, Perry, and the Sheen cocked their heads at Brandon.

Brandon turned to Tanel2 and continued speaking.

“Commander, it may be dangerous to retrieve the arc, as you have correctly surmised. But we should assume that risk. This object empowers the enemy. If we take it away from them, they will have nothing left. You saw how the warships failed to defend themselves. Moreover, the energy source is now needed back in Tora, more than ever, if we are to fight off this infection ourselves.”

Brandon felt himself coming out of his spell. It was like waking from a dream. The fuzziness cleared his eyes and his senses returned. He was back in the moment. The seriousness of the situation at hand became appreciable again. He noticed everyone was looking at him, saying nothing.

“Besides,” Brandon then said, “the item in question is valuable—if not to you, to many of your fellow Torians, whom you have sworn to serve. It’s property that has been stolen from Tora. To return without it, to let the aggressors keep what they took from us, is not justice—and can rightfully be considered a failing point in our mission. Let’s make the people who sent us proud and recover what is ours.”

At those words, two of the Amulites blocking the path stepped aside and returned to the rear. Tanel2 scowled at them, and then addressed the Sheen.

“We haven’t heard your opinion on the matter.”

The Sheen smiled and said, “The prophet already informed us that the new prophet would retrieve the arc for us. All is happening as has been ordained. I advise you to watch yourselves, and be prepared for some resistance when you take it.”

Everyone looked back at Brandon.

“New prophet?” Mip7 said.

Brandon shook his head. “That must be another rare exhibition of Arkan9’s self-reputed sense of humor.”