Zein: The Homecoming (10 page)

One of the Malacca soldiers standing behind Bailey pushed him. Bailey pushed him back. Another Malacca soldier stepped aggressively towards Bailey and Hechkle leapt across the table to stand in front of Bailey, protecting him. The Malacca soldiers backed off a little faced with the intimidating presence of the Fathom warrior. Bronstorm turned to face the human wall of the crowd behind him. The soldiers pushed forward. Bronstorm automatically crouched waiting for the attack from the
jeering onlookers. No weapons were allowed on the ship, with all of them locked away unless given dispensation by either General Corder or Lord Blackstone; this would be a fist fight.

Two US Marines attacked Bronstorm. He blocked the first punch thrown and ducked the other man’s fist, he then pushed the second man into the first and they both went tumbling down. Hechkle took his eye off the Malacca soldier in front of him to see if Bronstorm was all right. The man used this diversion to deliver a punch to the tall man’s stomach. His fist met stone-like muscle and he let out a yelp. Hechkle just grinned evilly and grabbed him by his shirt and then by his trousers and picked him up and threw him at the man’s advancing friends. They all went down in a heap of legs, arms and torsos. Then it was a free for all as the canteen erupted into a mass fight.

Hechkle made his way to the side of Bronstorm who, without catching breath, saluted his fellow companion who grinned back with a reckless smile as he flung a heavyset, crew cut US Marine across one of the tables, the man rolled off the table and crashed into the chairs beside it. The partners of many a fight relished the support of each other as they fought off the hordes of attackers and for a few minutes their Fathom battle cries rang over the melee in the canteen. Tyson gleefully joined in, revelling in the physical confrontation, less so Amelia and Gemma who had to defend themselves not just against some of the Malacca clan female soldiers but also their male counterparts. It was complete anarchy and then Bailey became isolated with a group of ten Malacca soldiers who had armed themselves with chairs and cutlery. Bailey had blocked a couple of the attacks but the chair he was holding to defend his body was shattered. He fell to the floor and caught his breath
when he saw the madness in the eyes of the Malacca men converging on him. Hechkle was fending off an attack by four humans and couldn’t reach him, and then the cavalry arrived for Bailey.

Tyson leapt in front of the attackers with his blue force-field activated and he grew before their very eyes with the power radiating from him. This time he was in complete control of his magics and the attackers backed off. Fear flashed across their faces. He projected his thoughts throughout all those fighting.
You will all calm down now or I will need to take action
, Tyson articulated the words in the others minds, pronouncing each telepathic syllable carefully. Those fighting shook their heads to remove the voice but they couldn’t; even those trained to prevent incursions had no defence against such power channelled through Tyson.

The fights dwindled and then stopped, many just stood panting with the exertion and a few nursing minor injuries and nose bleeds. All had a certain level of residual resentment. However, the temperature in the room cooled as tempers were controlled. Then the ship alarm began to echo around the room and all in the canteen pushed the recent altercation to the back of their minds and picked up their jackets and rushed out of the room.

‘Are we under attack again?’ Bailey asked, confused. Tyson cleared his mind and sought out the mind of the young radar engineer in the Command and Control Centre.

‘Bronstorm, let’s go straight to the Cobra,’ said Hechkle, pulling his colleague towards the entrance.

‘That will not be necessary, Hechkle, we are here,’ said Tyson, quietly amidst the commotion all around them. Amelia went to his side.

‘You mean…’ said Gemma.

‘Yes.’ Tyson looked at the faces of his friends, excitement breaking across his face. ‘We have reached your home planet my Fathom friends.’ Both Bronstorm and Hechkle faces became flushed with a building expectation. ‘Zein is in our sights.’

Leila wiped the perspiration off the young girl’s face. ‘Push, Megan, push,’ she instructed the young woman who was on her back with her knees up. She mustn’t be any more than twenty years old, yet here she was delivering her first baby.

Delilah wiped the forehead of the girl, who was yelling out in pain.

‘Push, Megan, push,’ said Leila, as she saw the baby’s head. The baby came with a rush and the scream of the new arrival could be heard throughout the medical bay. Leila checked the baby, drawing on her past history of midwifery, and then, after cutting the umbilical cord, wrapped the baby up and presented her back to the young mother. The girl turned her head away from the baby.

‘Take it away,’ she said, her eyes dead. No love. No warmth.

‘Megan, it is a beautiful baby girl,’ said Leila, trying to convince the poor girl.

‘It’s a monster from a monster,’ Megan retorted. Leila had half expected that this may be her reaction and she motioned to Delilah to take the baby away. She would give Megan time, like the others, in the hope she would eventually come around. This was the third baby born since they had been kidnapped onto the ship, the second girl.

‘You rest honey, we will bring her back later,’ said Leila, lightly with a hint of sadness in her voice. She turned to one of the guards at the door; a dour mercenary from the Malacca clan.

‘Can you please let Zylar know that it is a girl and that the mother is very weak and needs plenty of rest and medical attention.’ The guard scowled, lazy and not wanting to do any tasks, then he saw the determination on Leila’s face and reluctantly left the room to deliver the message. Leila had played this game before. She did what she could do to protect the twenty human women from the breeding programme that Zylar had set out for them. Zylar, after experiencing first-hand the exploits of Tyson had realised that if he could sire enough half-breeds then he could create an army of Tyson’s. A kind of master race, a clan of no equals. When Zylar was a child he loved to listen about all the battles that Earth’s chequered path had brought. It was from one of these brutal warrior civilisations that he took the name for his master race. The Sparta clan now numbered three.

While plotting his now doomed conquering of Earth, he had set the late General Chad the task of capturing young women over eighteen but under twenty-five years old for the sole purpose of breeding. The women, selected by a range of tests which were administered to them unwittingly, including tests on intelligence genes, looks and level of fertility, undertaken while they were sleeping after a strong knock out gas had been injected into their own bedrooms, came from all corners of the world. When a girl passed the fertility tests they would be “harvested” and transported to Zylar’s battleship
Discovery
. He had targeted a hundred women but the defeat at the Southern Quadrant Palace meant that his plan was curtailed.

Once he had recovered from his injuries he frequently selected one of the young women to be brought to his quarters. The scared women had no choice but to comply. One girl fought back, trying to stab him. She was a student from Oxford, England and quite beautiful. He brought her in front of the remaining girls and had her flogged. When her sobbing, bloody body was lying on the floor, he had commanded his troops to treat her wounds and bring her to his quarters when her wounds healed. From that point all the women did exactly what he wanted them to do. The girl with the bloody back was taken to the medical centre, where she was treated. Since that fateful day Megan had not uttered a word until now.

Leila asked the physician to administer a sleeping drug and left the medical centre with Delilah. The two had grown extremely close and Leila had pleaded with Zylar not to hurt Delilah but she didn’t need to worry, there was no interest in the girl. She was Zeinonian and therefore her worth to him was in her link with Kabel. It was Zylar’s hope that Kabel will rashly pursue him to free his step-sister.

‘He has asked for Joanna tonight,’ said Delilah. Leila groaned. Zylar had taken a distinct liking to a small number of the girls; although he bedded them all, some had more attention than others, making the last ten months a difficult situation. Joanna was South African and only nineteen and fragile. She was a petite, black, mousy brown haired girl and somehow Zylar had felt a connection. As his ardour increased, Joanna went further into herself. Leila knew she was protecting herself in the only way possible, by building up mental walls to separate the abuse.

‘Enough is enough,’ said Leila, disgust spreading through her. She had thought about trying to stab him when he was engrossed in something else, but he seemed to have a sixth sense or knew what she was going to do. There was no way
to surprise him, leaving her no choice but to support the girls and help them through the nightmare.

‘What are you going to do,’ said Delilah, not liking the look on Leila’s face.

‘Give him what he wants.’

‘No, you can’t do that,’ Delilah protested. Leila, leant over and kissed Delilah lightly on the forehead.

‘Go and look after Joanna for me,’ she pleaded.

‘But…’ Delilah started saying. Leila placed a finger against the young women’s lips.

‘I am a big girl Delilah, I can deal with Zylar.’ With that she left a worried Delilah and went to her own room to change and then went through the quiet corridors to Zylar’s quarters. Outside his doors stood two Ilsid, they stepped to one side and she entered the room with a shudder, the silent soldiers gave her the creeps.

Soft music was playing and Zylar was staring out of the window at the beautiful array of constellations. He was in a good mood; it was the end of a very successful day meeting the emissary of Prince Jernli of Xonia, a repulsive reptilian like humanoid, called Yisli. When the Xonian patrol had shown up on their radar, before they could attack, Zylar had used his magics to reach out to the aliens. The picture he painted of Earth and their inhabitants had intrigued the commander and the request for an audience conveyed back to Skegus. Zylar originally planned to go to Zein, crush any resistance and take control of the planet, that decision taken away from him with the loss of the core of his troops. He needed to rebuild his army and the Xonians he had studied from the histories collated from the original Zein Inter-Galactic Expeditionary Force databanks made the Xonians the logical choice…the main issue he now faced was that he could not trust them. He would need to watch them closely.

The meeting with Yisli started badly with threats to blow his ship out of the sky. It was only when Yisli was shown the recordings of Earth and a glimpse of the kidnapped human girls, via the CCTV in their quarters that the discussions became more amicable.

Agreement was reached with the Xonians pledging to support him in building his new Ilsid army in return for the coordinates of Earth and the rights to the planet. He had no issues with this request; lose Earth in the short term but these fools didn’t realise the power of the army he was going to build and before they knew it he would conquer their empire from within…they wouldn’t know that they were helping build an army designed to defeat them… yes a very good day as he scanned the two ships flanking his ship,
Discovery
, left by Yisli, to guide him to the conquered planet of Skegus.

I have the beautiful Joanna tonight,
he thought.
So quiet and submissive, should be fun
. He heard the door open and shut and turned round to meet his guest; his face registering surprise at seeing Leila.

Leila let her eyes take in the music, soft lighting and the robed commanding figure of Zylar. She was going to dishonour the memory of Tyson’s father tonight but it was a price worth paying - if she could take this monster’s mind off the breeding programme, there might be a respite for the girls. Zylar had tried to win her over constantly and wanted her to accept him without force. Well, he had won. Zylar’s face was confused. ‘Where is Joanna?’ he asked.

‘Resting,’ was the quick response.

‘I am sure she is but I asked her to be here tonight. Do I need to provide another lesson?’ he threatened.

‘No, I just thought I could make you an offer you could not refuse.’

His face still retained that confused look. He had enjoyed the last few months. Travelling more slowly than he wanted to the Capulus Novus System so as not to deplete his limited zinithium stores, he had made sure that there was plenty of fun in the long nights.

Now what was this irritating human doing to disturb his pleasure?

Seemingly in perfect timing, as if she were reading his mind, Leila undid the belt of her kimono and let it slide to the floor, exposing her naked body. Her heart in her mouth, she walked up to him as his mouth fell open and his hungry eyes took in the beautiful, womanly, hourglass figure. He took note of the swell of her breasts and the sexual sway of her hips.

‘Instead of girls, how about a real woman?’ she said seductively. She kissed him, her neck straining to reach his lips. She fought the revulsion of the touch as his cold hands touched her skin as she untied his robe and slipped it off his shoulders. He broke off the kiss.

‘Well, well, I knew you could not resist for ever.’ His arrogant tone cut her to the bone but it didn’t stop her as she kissed his face, chest and lips. His excitement rose and he lowered her onto the bed before joining her on the large round mattress. Leila let herself experience the moment, pushing her real thoughts deep inside her. He was only a man and one day she would repay him for this. For now she had to satisfy his desires to pull him into her web of deceit.

The high level of excitement and anticipation was palpable around the ship. When everyone realised that their long journey was ending, all who could jostled for space at the many windows to look at the fast approaching new world. What they saw took their breath away. For the Earthlings it was the experience of a new star system and for the Zeinonians it was home. For the latter all they had ever known was what was taught in the classroom and the detailed environmental programmes they had grown up with, now they could see where their very existence emanated from.

They saw a smallish planet, when compared with Earth, flanked by two suns. The two suns were roughly forty-five degrees apart and both considerably smaller than the Earth’s sun. If you made use of the numerous telescopes placed strategically on each floor of the ship you could make out two further planets, mere specks in the distance supported by their own sun.

‘That there is Oneerio and its sister planet Skegus, take a look,’ said Kabel, gesturing to Gemma to look through the telescope. Gemma pressed her eye to the device and could see a colourful planet and a more barren one. She looked up questioningly at Kabel.

‘They share the same sun but look considerably different, why’s that?’ she asked.

‘Oneerio is closer to the sun and the temperatures are higher and therefore the land has little moisture. The Oneerions first populated Oneerio, hence their name they inherited, due to the incredible range of raw materials below ground. To ensure their survival they intelligently populated the sister planet when they came to this system some four thousand years ago.’ He paused as Amelia, who was standing cuddling into Tyson, gave a surprised gasp.

‘Amelia, you are right their civilisation is much older than ours. They are the most skilled craftsmen in the known Universe with the ability to use any substance in the creation of their cities.’ His mind drifted back to Malkin, his teacher in Earth’s Zein Western Quadrant, and the many lessons he taught on this subject. He remembered one particularly point. ‘Skegus gives them what they do not have on Oneerio, water and a more comfortable place to live. Oneerio is more of a mining planet where they work,’ said Kabel, relishing the passing on of his previous schooling to the onlookers.

The group found this all very interesting but their attention inevitably switched back to the rapidly advancing planet of Zein and Kabel realising he had lost their attention, lapsed into a disgruntled silence. They could make out vast lakes and mountain ranges, grasslands and a few desert regions. Kabel and Tyson made their excuses and strolled up to the Command and Control Centre.

General Corder and Admiral Koshkov were in deep conversation with Walter Moore. As they approached, Walter, with a large welcoming smile on his face pulled out of the conversation and came to meet them.

‘What’s happening?’ Kabel enquired, to be told by the likeable scientist that agreement was under discussion on how to set out the security perimeter when they landed.

‘So we are going to land all three ships?’ Tyson enquired. There had been discussions that they should leave at least one if not two destroyers in orbit for defence. The debate had raged for many hours at a number of the key strategy meetings, with General Corder wanting to conserve zinithium by landing all three ships and Admiral Koshkov, supported by Kabel, vouching for a more defensive approach by retaining at least one destroyer in orbit.

‘I have completed my calculations on how much zinithium we would consume if we leave
Brooklyn
or
Manhattan
in orbit.’ Walter abruptly stopped talking, as he saw over Kabel’s shoulder, Admiral Koshkov angrily walk away from General Corder. ‘And the base fact is that we would burn up too much of our stores,’ he said, his attention still slightly diverted by the commotion across the room.

‘Fair enough, but I don’t remember anyone consulting me,’ said Kabel, a little angry that the decision had been taken without Zeinonian, and specifically, his agreement. He decided he needed a talk with General Corder and marched across to the officer.

‘I believe we are landing all three ships, General,’ Kabel asked, pulling Corder’s attention from the orders he was relaying to his command, a young female officer from the Russian Federation. She could see that to stay was to upset an increasingly frustrated Lord Blackstone and made a hasty retreat.

‘Yes, not an easy one and I apologise that I did not confirm with you but you were nowhere to be found,’ said General Corder, as he smoothed his pristine uniform with his hands.

‘These decisions affect my people as well as yours,’ Kabel said angrily. ‘I feel we are leaving ourselves open to attack from the Xonians and Zylar.’

Their raised voices had caught the attention of the crew in the room. The mixture of humans and Zeinonians watched apprehensively the spat between their leaders. Tyson, as he had in the canteen, picked up the unhealthy vibes from all the parties viewing the spectacle, split evenly between the races. Walter Moore nervously licked his lips. Not one for confrontations he monitored the battle of wits between Kabel and the General. He was still concerned about the negativity within the human population he witnessed first-hand every day, which was only supported by what had happened in the canteen…news about the fight having filtered up to him…the ship was a powder keg of racial division. Since he was, he would like to think, a reasonably intelligent and learned man, he knew all about the history of such antagonism.

In the meantime, General Corder, who had brushed aside the canteen fracas as “high spirits” and not an issue, was not going to be dictated to by Kabel. ‘I was placed in overall charge of the military operations of this expeditionary force and I made the decision based on the data from the head of the science team, Dr Moore, and so the decision stands.’ The force of the last words hit Tyson hard and he felt the temper within him rising which he desperately tried to control.

Kabel stood his ground. ‘I am warning you, Corder, don’t overstep yourself.’ A number of the US Marines stationed in the Command and Control Centre and who had sanction to carry weapons lifted their guns menacing at Kabel’s change in tone.

‘Any problems, bro?’ Tyson edged forward to stand close behind Kabel, in control of his anger bubbling away inside him…
for the moment
, he thought wryly. General Corder’s eyes immediately flicked to him, as did the soldiers. There were no armed Zeinonians in the room
but everyone knew what Tyson was capable of. A couple of the soldiers licked their dry lips in concern.

Walter Moore had seen enough. ‘Kabel, until we find what raw materials are remaining on Zein we need to be careful not to unduly deplete our store of zinithium.’

Kabel tore his gaze from the US General and stared at Walter, torn between his respect for the scientist and keen not to give in to the human in front of him. The likeable Walter seized his opportunity to calm the situation down further. ‘I have devised, with members of the Tyther clan, a couple of probes that we can launch into the atmosphere before we land. These probes will beam signals to
Elanda
as an early warning of any ship coming within any threatening distance of Zein.’

Kabel glanced at the soldiers on the deck, nervously holding their weapons ready, and then asked Walter, ‘Will we have time to launch the destroyers?’

‘The early warning should provide sufficient time to send at least one of the destroyers into orbit,’ replied Walter.

Kabel pulled his gaze back to General Corder. ‘General, I accept your decision this time but please do not make the mistake of not involving me in a key order again.’

Tyson, fired up with the aggression in the room, was disappointed that nothing had escalated. He decided to have a little fun anyway, pushing his head forward aggressively and snarling at the US Marines, who held their weapons even more tightly. Tensions were running high and Tyson was in no mood to lower the friction, the magics licked at his senses feeding on the aggression and need for a challenge. The tension was only lightened when Kabel, pulled him away to prepare for the landing.

Nikolai saw the conflicts happening within the team and caught the eye of Tyson when he and Kabel were strapping themselves in, as
Elanda
prepared to enter the
Zein atmosphere. Tyson saw that the Zeinonians had a supporter in the experienced Russian officer. Nikolai had no love for the Americans, especially since he was responsible for the twenty thousand Russian soldiers making up a sizable proportion of the military force. He remembered the time prior to the launch when he was selected. He said no, his mistrust of the Western political apparatus running deep within his veins. He remembered the Cold War and the underhand tricks the Western intelligence agencies employed one which caused the death of his father, during an extraction of a scientist from Minsk by the CIA. He knew he was selected not for his ability to work effectively with the Allies but for his stubborn, almost protective manner for his country. The Russian senior command rationalised that it was this that would protect their interests during the quest coupled with his vast experience gained in Chechen and as a young soldier in Afghanistan.

Useful to know
, Tyson thought. He touched his forehead in acknowledgment, which generated a curt nod back from Nikolai, before turning his attention to the approaching planet.

‘General, the two probes are ready to launch,’ said Walter, in a business-like tone. General Corder pulled his attention away from Kabel and issued the order to launch. The two probes shot from the
Elanda
and went spinning away in opposite directions until they settled in their pre-programmed orbit. Walter checked the tracking figures and then straightened from the console. ‘The probes are fully operational.’ General Corder switched on the Expeditionary Force intercom that connected all three ships. His voice boomed out across all decks.

‘We will be landing all three ships on the surface of Zein shortly. Our target is the capital city, Reinan, where
the last messages were sent from some twenty years ago.’ General Corder motioned to Kabel to address the communication link. ‘I would like to pass this moment to Lord Blackstone on what is a historic date for all of us but especially for every Zeinonian.’

Kabel accepted the offer, clearing his throat, unexpectedly feeling the pressure of the occasion and wishing Malkin were here with him on this historic day. ‘Colleagues of this First Joint Expeditionary Force, this is a momentous occasion. We do not know what we will find. There could be tremendous danger in store. All I would ask is for your commitment and strength of character and as one of Earth’s heroic figures once said “One small step for man” when stepping onto Earth’s moon, I say now that this is a great leap of faith and achievement for both human and Zeinonian alike.’ The speech went down well with cheering breaking out in the Command and Control Centre and echoing throughout the ship.

General Corder gave an impressed look to Kabel and then he commanded the pilots of the three ships to take them in.

The ships headed towards the planet. They broke through into the Zein atmosphere with the zinithium acting as the thermal protection system, keeping the hull of the ships cool on re-entry. The planet in front of them grew larger until they could make out numerous settlements. Kabel, held his breath trying to quell the excitement and anticipation rising within him; a feeling many on the ship were experiencing. Travelling closer to the settlements that sprawled the valleys, he now could make out individual buildings as they roared over the villages on the way to the capital, Reinan. His excitement changed to horror. Every village they flew over was wrecked. Buildings with walls and roofs partially demolished, empty streets strewn
with rubbish, no sign of life, wild animals wandering through the once beautiful and mosaic streets with the bright white stone of the villages dirty and dishevelled. The villages were surrounded by plush gardens and acres of grass fields, blue in colour to the Zeinonians and green to the humans. They could see many strange and beautiful animals running away from the new noise, some galloping away with great speed. You could make out a waterfall on the outskirts of each village, contained within the once perfectly sculptured gardens.

Kabel surveyed the wreckage silently, his disquiet increasing as the destruction grew. The ships flew over a mountain range and then ducked down to the wide plain where the capital of Zein was situated. They approached the outskirts of the city. Reinan was sprawled over many acres and there was no sign of life, with buildings covered in vines and vegetation. You could make out the now common wheel structure of the city with the spokes of the streets leading to the central main buildings hub. They followed the spokes of the wheel for some distance until they hovered over the huge central circle that housed the Grand Zein Central Transportation hub next to the regal and intricately designed Royal Council. Both buildings showing considerable signs of distress but they still carried an awe-inspiring hold on human and Zeinonian alike.

The ships hovered for a moment taking the spectacle in and then all sped away until they reached the outskirts of the city that once held five hundred thousand Zeinonians. The ships landed in a wide valley near a fresh water river. Near to them was a vast ornamental park which was a huge version of the Falls in Livescale, the principle city village in the Zein Earth Colony Western Quadrant, where Kabel had grown up. The destroyers settled down on either side of the
Elanda
with their hulls to the river.
They were positioned a reasonable distance away so they could provide adequate cover for the enormous ship.

‘Lord Blackstone, I will need your assistance to set up the defences,’ said General Corder. Both left the Command and Control Centre, leaving Admiral Koshkov in charge.

The setting up of the outer defences took the rest of the day. Beacons were hammered into the ground around the three ships forming a temporary Outer Perimeter Barrier powered by zinithium, the beacons passing the beams between each other preventing any animal or person from breaching the defence. The force-field was projected to a beacon on the top of each ship, which meant that no attack from land or air could be made and the crew could walk within the perimeter freely without fear of attack. They offloaded a number of the levitation tanks and armoured cars, placing the tanks at strategic positions near the Outer Perimeter Barrier. Enjoying the exercise, Hechkle and Bronstorm busily moved crates from the ramp to the tented areas set up for training and research.