Chapter Two
A little more than nine hours later, Kason strode over to the group of twenty warriors standing in four rows of five, with Ryven in front of them. As he neared the males, Kason approved of the dark blue shade of their markings. The soldiers were calm, collected, and ready for battle.
He almost missed being a regular soldier. While he was a natural leader, his role as a prince general involved more politics than he liked. Kason much preferred planning and participating in a battle.
Maybe once his brother ascended the throne and took a bride, Kason could spend more time exploring the stars and protecting his home world. His brother’s in-laws could take care of the political side of things in Kason’s stead.
Taking his place next to Ryven, his friend stated, “Prince Kason has honored us with his presence and will lead the prebattle ritual.”
All eyes moved to Kason. Used to the attention as a Kelderan prince, Kason merely widened his stance and extended his arms out at his sides with palms up. “For honor.” He clapped his hands together and extended his arms again. “For duty.” He repeated the action but added a foot stomp at the end. “To serve and protect.” He clapped and stomped both feet. “We will gladly give our lives for the sake of Keldera.”
Raising his arms into the air with his fingers spread out, Kason roared to the sky. All the men joined him, and the yells echoed around the metal walls of the shuttle bay.
After thirty seconds, Kason lowered his arms and looked at the soldiers. “There may be danger on the planet below, but if we can win against the Tallarians with their mind-control abilities, we can defeat whatever monster may live on Jasvar. Our success depends on finding the enemy’s weakness.” He looked down all the rows of soldiers and continued, “I look forward to our shared victory.”
Before Kason could hand over control to Ryven, a teenage errand boy rushed up to him. “Your highness.” He held out a notescreen. “It’s from the Lt. General.”
Taking the small, clear notescreen, Kason pressed his thumb on the corner to unlock it and scanned Thorin’s message. Distress signal hailing from the planet’s surface. Contact for more information.
He passed the note to Ryven, waved a hand in dismissal at the messenger, and focused his attention back on the soldiers. “Begin your prebattle meditation. Trainer Xanna will return shortly to begin the warm-up exercises.”
Ryven added, “I expect to find all of your markings the same deep blue as Keldera’s Lake Nyvina. Anyone with even the slightest tinge of another color will be dismissed.”
The men stomped their feet once in acknowledgment. Ryven clapped his hands, and the warriors moved into their meditation poses.
As the men settled into their practice, Kason motioned with his head to the far side of the shuttle bay. Once they were out of earshot, Ryven spoke up again. “The distress signal quashes any rumors of a curse or a monster. Our probes may not have been able to find anything of note, but neither a curse nor a monster can work that type of equipment.”
“That we know of. Still, we’ll survey the surface of the planet more intently than a standard exploration mission. I want to know who or what sent that message. It could be an old one that’s playing on an endless loop. Some kind of animal or force could’ve destroyed them hundreds of years ago, for all we know.” He motioned toward the shuttle. “Double-check our supplies and weaponry. I want to be prepared.” Ryven grunted in acknowledgment and Kason continued, “I’m going to talk with Thorin via the private comm unit in the shuttle bay command center, in case you need to contact me.”
With a nod, Ryven walked toward the shuttle and started barking orders at the maintenance staff. Leaving the prep work to his best trainer, Kason ascended the stairs to the main command room. Five males, including the controller on duty, pounded their fist over their body in salute. Kason returned the gesture. He met the controller’s gaze. “The private comm unit?”
“Currently available, sir.”
Kason headed to the small room on the far side. Once the door was locked, he touched the screen and positioned his eye in front of the scanner to unlock the unit and activate the artificial intelligence system.
The comm unit asked without inflection, “What is your command?”
“Patch me through to Lt. General Thorin Jarrell.”
“Connecting.”
After a few beats, Thorin’s face popped onto the screen. Kason didn’t waste any time. “What do we know about the distress signal?”
“The signal is weak, but it’s paired with a woman’s voice. She sounds frightened,” Thorin answered.
“Play the message.”
After a second, a woman’s voice mixed with static filled the room. “If you can hear this, please help. We’ve been attacked. I’m not sure how much longer the women and children will be able to fend off the attackers. Almost all of our men are dead or injured.” A boom followed by screaming. “Please. If you can help, we’re to the north of the tallest mountain.”
The message cut off after more screaming. Thorin spoke up again. “What do you wish to do, your highness?”
“What did the long-range sensors tell us?”
“Not much,” Thorin answered. “There’s no ship in orbit, but there are large life-forms on the planet that could be humanoid. None of our techs can find a timestamp and have no way of knowing if the distress signal is recent or not. Until we’re closer, I can’t tell you more than that.”
The woman in the distress signal had spoken in CEL, the Common Earth Language. Jasvar was a long way from Earth, but the humans had populated the galaxy to the point of almost being pests. It was possible a few had crash-landed on Jasvar and angered someone or something.
Or, it was also possible that they were thieves and the attackers were only trying to retrieve their contraband.
Still, females were the weaker ones, especially in the case of humans. To turn his back on a female in need would be a coward’s choice. Even if the women were criminals, Kason would make them face trial. If they were honorable and in need of assistance, he would make further decisions once he had more information.
Noting that Thorin was awaiting his order, Kason finally replied, “Keep me up-to-date as we near the planet. I will confer with Ryven and adjust our strategy accordingly.”
Thorin stood taller. “May I speak freely, your highness?” Kason waved a hand and Thorin continued, “What if this is a trap?”
“Then the troublemakers will face the might of the Kelderan Army. They won’t stand a chance.”
Thorin closed his fist and hit his chest in farewell before the screen went blank.
Out of curiosity, Kason said to the AI system, “Display information on Jasvar regarding colonies or other native, intelligent inhabitants.”
“Error. Nothing is known, apart from rumor. Only scientific studies from probes are available.”
Kason had expected as much since he had researched the planet for years before the current mission. Since Keldera and Earth didn’t have an alliance, neither one shared information with the other. “Display all known rumors surrounding Jasvar.”
“Working.”
As the computer displayed the first file, Kason leaned forward to read it carefully. He’d studied the files before, but he could’ve missed something important. It was worth doing again, especially since he might be risking his men by sending them down to the planet’s surface.
~~~
Taryn adjusted her costume so that the ripped shoulder slid a little further down her arm. Satisfied with the amount of cleavage showing, she made her way around the large room.
Women and children, ranging in ages from four years to sixty, were attired in torn, dirty dresses, breeches, and various states of undress. Those who had their costumes on were either adding soot smudges to their faces or mussing up their hair with leaves, dirt, and even twigs.
According to their radar, the ship was almost to their planet. It was nearly showtime.
Despite her thudding heart, Taryn smiled and encouraged her people as she passed. While this wasn’t her first time participating in a staged trap, it was her first time as leader. Not knowing which alien race was in the sky above was the most difficult aspect. However, in all the years of her people enticing ships to Jasvar’s surface, only once had the aliens turned out to be violent.
Thankfully Taryn had a backup plan in case that happened again.
Nova and her sister, Celestia, darted around the room, making final preparations. Satisfied the sister team could take care of the players, Taryn searched the room for Matilda, her head medicine woman.
Spotting the older woman in the corner, helping her granddaughter with soot smudges, Taryn wove around the women and children until she reached Matilda. After applying the last dark streak on her granddaughter’s cheek, Matilda said to her grandchild, “There we go, love. You will be the most desperate looking child of them all.”
The little girl beamed. “You really think so, Gramma?”
“Of course. Now, go see your mother. I think she needs your help with getting ready.”
The little girl nodded and ran across the room to her mother. Matilda smiled at Taryn. “Everything is ready to go, Taryn.” She reached into the purse-like bag around her waist and took out thirty small vials. “These sleeping drafts for the darts are powerful. Not even the most muscular warrior aliens in the galaxy will wake up from it in less than two hours. We won’t have a repeat of last time.”
Eight years ago, when the previous alien ship had answered their distress call, the sleeping draft had worn off after twenty minutes. Taryn hadn’t been in charge at the time, nor had Matilda been the head medicine woman, but the mistake had nearly cost them everything. Only a combination of luck and a few women waking the men up with kisses had provided enough distraction to readminister the drafts, erase and adjust their memories, and send the shuttle back to their ship in orbit.
The mistake had cost them new blood to add to the gene pool.
“I trust you, Mattie. What about the forgetful plant root potion?” Taryn asked.
“The concoction is steeping. My husband is watching over it. The memory potion will be ready in two hours.”
“That’s cutting it close.”
Matilda shrugged. “It’s the best I could do within the time frame. You know it takes a little over sixteen hours to steep.”
“I know, I know. I just want everything to go perfectly.”
“I’ve known you your whole life, Taryn. You have faced every challenge and won. I don’t see why this time would be any different.”
Since she wasn’t good at accepting praise, Taryn avoided replying to Matilda’s statement by taking about half of the vials. “You take the right side of the room, and I’ll take the left. I see Nova and Celestia signaling the bird handlers, which means we’re nearly ready to go, so we need to hurry.”
With a bob of her head, Matilda left to hand out the sleeping potions, which would be used with blow darts to knock out the visitors.
As Taryn did the same, she scrutinized every face as she went. A few women were tapping their fingers or toes, anxious to get started. Some of the older women were chatting about the staged plays that had nabbed their own husbands. The children were content to play with walking stick props or to make bets about who would be allowed to handle one of the radiant birds native to Jasvar.
It was funny to think the whole process of staging a scene and capturing alien visitors had become second nature to her people. She wondered what the original colonists would’ve thought about it all.
Just as Taryn doled out the last vial, Nova finally rushed up to her. “We’re two minutes behind schedule. Make your speech quick.”
“Of course.” Taryn moved to the front of the room and clapped her hands. The noise died down to a few children murmuring with their friends.
She projected her voice. “I won’t bother to tell you how important today is. Every unattached woman in this room knows it’s been eight years since our last visit. We all need to stick to the plan. The better you act your part, the more vulnerable the visitors will become. Then and only then can we pounce and spring the trap.”
A woman’s voice asked from the back of the room, “Is it true what Nova said? That you want their spaceship this time, too? Because I don’t know if we can do that.”
Despite the tight schedule, the skepticism in the woman’s voice needed to be quelled. “Yes, it’s true. I don’t know about you, but I hate the uncertainty of how we live. Not being able to make a future for our daughters is heartbreaking. And what happens if it’s eighty years before we have another visitor? We need to change our strategy if we’re to survive. To do that, we need technology and resources we can’t find on Jasvar to help us.”
The same woman answered, “But Jasvar was meant to be low-tech. No one knows how to fly those contraptions, let alone how to use the fancy technology. Should we even waste our time?”
Taryn never broke eye contact. “I have plans in the works. For now, just give the best performance of your lives. With skill and a little luck, we might be able to beat the doom virus once and for all. Who’s with me?” Cheers rose from most of the people in the room. “Right, then let’s take our places. The visitors will be here in less than half an hour, and we need to be ready.”
Murmurs of assent and nods filled the room. Raising her hand, Taryn made a fist and turned toward the exit. It was showtime.
~~~
The shuttle touched down on Jasvar’s surface. From the corner of his eye, Kason took in the warriors. All were expressionless with dark blue markings.
Not that he should’ve doubted their trainer. Ryven would never allow less than the best to accompany Keldera’s younger prince on a mission.
The outside sensor beeped twice, signaling a safe, breathable atmosphere. Kason looked to the two pilots. “What do the scanners say?”
The chief pilot answered, “The same as before. There is a group of about thirty humanoid life-forms just behind the slit in the rock face, in close proximity to the distress beacon.”
“You two stay here on standby.” Kason looked to one of the most decorated soldiers. “Jerrick, you will guard the shuttle. If anything arises, use the transmitter and let us know.”
“Yes, sir,” Jerrick answered.
Kason entered the code to open the outer door. As the metal slid to the side, purple trees, blue mountains, and a pink sky filled his vision. It was different from Keldera’s black mountains, yellow trees, and blue-green sky.
Not that he had time to note all the differences between the two planets. Piercing cries from beyond the narrow opening in the rock garnered his attention. They sounded female.
Lifting his hand, Kason signaled his warriors to draw their weapons and to follow him down the steps to the surface. With a short sword in his left hand and a blast gun in his right, Kason moved silently toward the chaos. At the high-pitched screaming and billowing smoke, he picked up his pace. Part of him suspected a trap, but the screams of the children in particular sounded genuine. Given what he knew of children, they were hard to coach.
And since children signified the finality of marriage on Keldera, each was a precious memory. He couldn’t allow the innocents to suffer. He would ensure their safety, even if their parents turned out to be deceitful pirates.
Peering through the opening, Kason took a moment to take in the scene and scout the unknown.
Eight women huddled together at the edge of the village with their children in the center of them.
Something whizzed by in the sky, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. Simple thatched houses burned as a few more women tried to quench the flames with buckets of water. However, as soon as they extinguished one, another creature raced by and set it ablaze again as if the water made no difference.
The birds must possess a special type of intense burning fire.
One of the birds dove down and snatched a bundle out of one of the female’s arms. The woman screamed and ran after the bird, but was unable to catch up with it before it disappeared with her child.
Gripping his sword tighter, Kason wondered what had happened to the men. Even if injured, they should be protecting their females. He was half tempted to save the women and children and then hunt down the cowardly males. Stories always spoke of humans lacking honor, but this was the first time Kason had seen it firsthand.
However, he would determine what to do with the males later. As one woman’s skirt caught fire and she rolled on the ground to put it out, he decided to help the humans, albeit cautiously. For all he knew, it could still be a trap.
Kason studied the patterns of the fire creatures, looking for the best way to take them down, yet they seemed to swoop and rise at random intervals. Maybe a surprise attack from all sides would succeed in defeating them. Since there was only the narrow opening in front of him, he’d have to send two groups to climb the low-level rocks on either side and wait to jump over.
Retreating a few feet back, Kason faced his men. Pointing to a third of them, he signaled to the left. He repeated the motion for another third to take the center and the last third to take the right. He whispered, “Each side must climb into position. Everyone will fire at the flying creatures when I do.”
He closed his fist, and the warriors moved to their places, with Kason leading the center squad.
Once everyone was ready, Kason charged into the fray and took aim at the closest fire bird. He was vaguely aware of the other flanks jumping down from the rocks to do the same. However, before he could shoot his gun, something pricked the back of his neck. The split-second distraction gave the bird time to flit away. Kason moved his arm to try to fire at another, but everything in sight wavered before he saw double.
Men on either side of him slumped to the ground. Kason lasted a few seconds longer, but as the women’s cries continued in the background, the world went black.