The Book of Ominiue: Starborn (42 page)

‘It would appear so,’ Hanniver could not help but give a slight chuckle.

‘Brigadier Christov!’ the king greeted with a warm smile. ‘I thought you were deployed at the Mouth of the Cohra-Rhí?’

‘Happens that I wasn’t needed at all, apparently senior management only gets in the way, though I always thought that was supposed to be middle management,’ Hanniver explained as he quickly guided the guests onto the vehicle and out of the weather. The great loading doors closed behind them and the roar of the engines was replaced by the constant patter of the rain on the roof. Hanniver removed his cap and gave it a good shake, drenching the floor further as they all dripped.

Originally they were going to send a civilian craft, but the large lionmen frames would not fit in the human seats so they provided a military transport that held the exo-battle gear restraints. There were just enough seats for all the military men. Níurthan insisted on standing despite the repeated calls from the androids. He drew back his hood so they could see his head, but his neck was still covered as the hood wound around it. His metal mask and monks clothing stood out as a stark contrast to the blue and white armoured guards that surrounded him. The Brigadier froze a moment as he stared at the human but he quickly recovered and looked away. The robot requested for him to sit once again and was followed by silence.

‘You won’t get that one to sit,’ Hanniver called to the robot as he was showing Kíe’arathorne how to tighten the straps. ‘He is a stander; he only sits in a professional manner.’ The android gave up at this and helped the others with their seatbelts.

‘Now listen everyone,’ the Brigadier continued. ‘This is just to keep you safe while we land and take-off. It really isn’t needed, but safety states we have to take care of you, no matter how ridiculous it is. Once we’re up in the air you can take them off. We’ll be in the air for around fifteen minutes, when we arrive we will call out over the coms for you to sit back down, there you must buckle up again. Do you all understand?’ as the last words were translated by robots there was a murmur of understanding between them. The warrior monk stood near his king and took hold of a hanging support; he looked at the UeVarda strapped to the wall. The lionman gave the monk a soft smile, his copper coloured eyes twinkling.

‘Are you ready my old friend?’

‘I am,’ the monk replied in his calm voice. He then looked up at the window. He subconsciously clenched his grip as they felt the craft lift. When the downward force gave way to a constant forward motion the monk cautiously made his way to the large window at the back of the transporter. He watched as the lighting strikes lit up the city below them. A couple of lionmen who braved taking off the restraints also made their way to the viewing windows. The UeVarda and Kíe’arathorne came to Níurthan’s side to watch the wonders before them. Hanniver beamed with pride at their amazement and curiosity.

‘We are flying,’ Níurthan softly spoke.

The UeVarda also smiled, ‘Maybe you can move to their settlement, and have them teach you.’

‘My duty is to Kérith-Árim, as you know.’

‘You have a duty to yourself as well. You cannot expect to be serious in all things,’ as he was saying this they broke into the cloud and experienced some turbulence. They grabbed onto anything they could hold, including each other so as to not lose balance, one of the guards who was still strapped into her seat preceded to retch at the movement, her face quickly turning to misery.

‘What is that?’ Kíe’arathorne face became fearful at the movement, grasping the ledge so tightly that it looked as if he would crush the framing.

‘The storm is angry up here,’ the UeVarda replied.

‘Maybe it is a sign that we should not go to the Hama Ta’Orians new city,’ a senior guard said while holding onto a ledge.

‘It’s only
turbulence
,’ the Brigadier comforted them. ‘It is normal in these conditions.’

‘Is our craft safe from lightning?’ Kíe’arathorne asked as they watched the clouds around them light-up with every strike and the feel of the thunder as it rolled over them.

‘All our craft are safe from strikes,’ the robot said. ‘It is a natural
Faraday
cage. Lightning can hit us but the outside hull is designed to allow it pass without affecting anything inside. No harm will come to anyone.’ The idea of the machine being hit by lightning did not sound safe at all to the journeyman and he swallowed as he watched the skies around them.

‘The Eye of Creation!’ Níurthan pointed into the darkness.

‘What are you talking about?’ the UeVarda said. He looked outside but could not see anything except when a lightning bolt lit up the clouds around them.

‘I see the form of a dragon. The great Galafus flies with us!’ He pointed again, now further in front of them.

‘I do not see anything,’ a guard said, trying hard to look through the cloud.

The communications droid then came to the window and looked out, ‘What is a Galafus?’

‘She is one of the four Dragon Gods,’ Kíe’arathorne answered. ‘It is a good omen.’ The android appeared almost disappointed at this, Hanniver also frowned.

‘Do you see anything Metal Ta’Orian?’ the king asked the robot. ‘Perhaps your machine eyes can see more than a Fa’Orian’s?’

‘I do see something in the
infrared
and
ultraviolet
, but that could be nothing more than denser cloud layers.’

‘What shape do you see?’ Níurthan asked. Just then they broke through the clouds and lifted up into the bright blue skies, the turbulence ceased and the hovercraft moved smoothly through the emptiness. They all cried out in astonishment as they covered their eyes from the glare. When their eyesight adjusted to the change they marvelled at the beautiful white forms below them and the calm blueness that engulfed everything else; stretching in all directions. The moon sat above the horizon waning from the first quarter, its great form dominating the east.

‘That is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen,’ Kíe’arathorne commented, forgetting the claims in the clouds as he leaned upon the windowsill looking out at the sky around him.

‘Oh, Tau’hatashual, I should not have come with you.’ Níurthan softly spoke, tears streaking from under his mask, betraying the raw emotion within him.

The king placed his hand gently upon the monk’s shoulder, ‘I am sorry old friend, I should never have insisted upon you coming.’

‘Do not be, it is beautiful as well as sad. And Galafus journeys with us. Long have I desired to see the patron god of the Afradians.’ The monk remained where he stood, watching the swirl of clouds below them, admiring the beauty and patterns they made. Occasionally there was a break in the clouds allowing them a view of the land below.

As they neared the Cohra-Rhí the clouds seemed to part; guided by the mountains away from the desert wastelands. The turbulence gave one final thrust upwards as they crossed into the cloudless desert and a few minutes later the pilot informed them to sit back down and prepare for landing. 

The lionmen disembarked the hoverplane to face the colony of the
Western Front Empire
in full parade. Shayne stood with the star rank officers; in his modified Special Forces uniform, Danto protested at first but yielded to his superior officer over the continuation of the Starborn’s false position. The Town was still not complete with tents still erected, but that did not stop the colony from greeting them with a formal entry. They had an honour guard of special operation officers in their black uniforms. The civilian component was much more relaxed with an extension of mutuality between the two cities; even though the Earthmen colony was far from a city at that stage.

The UeVarda was greeted by Canoth Eastman and General Thorn Hendingson. Kíe’arathorne disembarked the transporter with a smile embedded onto his face from the flight. One of the shytarda’s helped him with his belongings; including his two guitars, a Fa’Orian longbow and Bohanese horse bow.

The native king was guided by the star officers towards a transport vehicle, the general was at his most charismatic speaking of their grand plans for the dusty settlement. The UeVarda could not help but feel some level of disappointment as he followed his hosts. He had expected something grand and beautiful, full of mysterious machines and odd inventions, but he silently conceded that the sky humans could not perform all their miracles straight away. The king and his guard were soon loaded into the ground-transport and making their way to the medical facility, leaving Kíe’arathorne behind with Shayne.

When they reached the clinic the UeVarda and as many shytardas they could fit walked straight in, they crouched and crammed their way into the waiting room to the shock of the receptionist. The same room was spacious and luxurious only moments ago, before they came and squeezed their great hulking armoured bodies inside. Their halberds were too long to fit in the room but they brought them in anyway; angling them so they did not scratch the roof. Those who could not fit stayed outside with the Earthmen military and the acting Prime Minister.

The king was expected to stay in the waiting room just as everyone else, with no special treatment for any one person. Two Earthmen patients were already in the room waiting; they were shocked by the sudden appearance and glanced across at each other with amused and curious looks. Most of the lionmen sat down in the chairs provided; looking uncomfortable in what was clearly designed for the smaller human frame. The monk and many of the others remained standing with not enough seating for them. The colonists tried to return to their gadgets, pretending the strange guests were no different from anyone else, but it was hard when there were curious lion-like faces peering down at them.

At one stage the doctor stepped into the waiting room and called the name of a patient. He momentarily faltered at the site of several lionmen, especially the sight of the armoured guards with poleaxes held at precarious angles.

‘Put those damn spears down!’ the doctor boomed angrily to the surprised guards, ‘before you stab someone!’ He then took the Earthling patient into a room, shaking his head. The guards looked at each other in confusion before the king ordered them to put them somewhere safe.

As the king waited he picked up one of the computer tablets, a digital magazine appeared on the screen; he almost dropped the device, fumbling with it. He glanced across at the human next to him as she slid the pages with the flick of her wrist and fingers. He copied the movements and watched amused as the pages changed, but then he touched the screen and the magazine disappeared displaying an index, as he touched things he kept moving about the computer without knowing what he was doing until the screen went black and he could not get it back. He shook the device a few times but stopped when the colonist looked oddly up at him. He then placed the small flat device carefully back upon the table, its screen ominously blank to him.

After a little while the doctor came out with his last patient, he then called the UeVarda. The entire entourage rose to follow before the doctor raised his hands in alarm.

‘No!’ he called out. ‘Only one other!’ he enforced and pointed one finger in the air to emphasis it. The king turned to Níurthan who stepped forward without hesitation.

‘Well
UeVarda
,’ the doctor directed him to one of the seats while he took his own chair and interacted with a screen as a medical droid translated. The lionman fidgeted in the small seat, it was not wide enough for him and his knees and legs were scrunched up as if they were at a table made for children.

‘Your health looks much improved,’ the doctor regarded the lionman from behind his computerised glasses, his professional manner never faulting as he spoke with the king.

The UeVarda smiled, ‘I feel better than ever.’

‘When I’m finished with you, you will feel even better,’ the doctor casually remarked, flicking through some holofiles. ‘The samples prove interesting. I’ve manufactured the regrowth of your lung tissue, within a month your emphysema will completely disappear,’ the translation took a while; the robot was having difficulty conveying words that did not exist in the native vocabulary. ‘This can be easily administered via the same process as your inhaler, but we require more tests and scans to make sure that your cancer has been eradicated, and still other tests to make sure you are not in danger from other forms.’

‘But I feel much better now,’ the king’s head twisted. ‘There is no pain except for the shortness of breath.’