Borne On Wings of Steel Read online

  “Or they might list Earth as U-r-t-h, or something even more bizarre, depending on the alphabet of the aliens that intercepted the transmission,” Krinia whispered, getting the idea.

  Elise sighed. “And this is the first really comprehensive computer system that's been searched since we left the Three Kingdoms. The boys have normally only interrogated systems of a single planet or individual starships. So, we will stress some obvious misspellings when the system asks for our keywords, in addition to their correct spelling."

  “It's so simple, yet your search might just make a hit on something,” Krinia said with a smile. “It's worth a try."

  “After that, maybe we'll find one of the Social or Entertainment sections so we can mingle a bit,” Elise said excitedly

  “Sure, we can find something fun. And safe.” Krinia laughed.

  Elise hugged her friend and jumped off of the bed. “Let's give the boys time to get the results of their search first and then find Jysar and get going! I don't want them to know."

  * * * *

  “COME ON UNIVERSE, throw your worst at me!"

  Kyle laughed, a dangerous glint in his eyes, as the trio exited the Bullet-Car.

  “Wow! What a ride,” Jaric exclaimed. “I'm still dizzy from those last three turns."

  “What a concept—mass transportation and a super roller-coaster combined—powered by anti-gravity thrusters to get you around—smooth and fast.” Kyle nodded approvingly.

  Rok smiled. “Good stuff."

  “Okay, okay. Let's get back to business. There's the Search Complex over there.” Jaric pointed.

  The three young warriors walked toward the counter and displayed their pre-paid tokens to the nearest Clakza. Kyle looked around at the other Clakzas, searching for a familiar black and white snout.

  “Where's Ablek today?” Kyle asked a female Clakza.

  She scanned his token and handed it back. “He called in sick today. Are you friends of his?"

  “Not really. He served us yesterday, just wanted to see a familiar face in these crowds,” Kyle replied.

  “You have Search-terminal Alpha twenty-seven over there. Same as before.” She nodded.

  Rok, Jaric and Kyle were making their way over when she spoke again.

  “Actually, it's kind of strange. Ablek calling in sick like that."

  “Why's that?” Kyle turned.

  “Well, he's been working this complex over three years and this is the first time he's ever missed a day due to illness. Or due to anything, other than scheduled time off."

  “Guess there's a first time for everything,” Kyle said.

  The Clakza nodded. “I guess so."

  The three sat down and brought up the main screen. Jaric quickly found their original search paradigms and glanced at the RESULTS column. His heart raced like it always did when they searched for humans, and like every other time, he tried his best to hold his hopes and his emotions in check. After all, it always seemed to end in disappointment.

  Why should this time be any different?

  The RESULTS came up.

  Jaric and Kyle gasped simultaneously.

  Rok leaned closer. “Hmmm. Looks like the system found something."

  Jaric remained motionless—in complete shock.

  Kyle stared at the screen, afraid to believe his eyes. And afraid that if he reached out to follow the link it would all disappear. It happened like that in his dreams, when he dreamed of really finding more humans—it always disappeared like a puff of smoke, always just out of reach.

  Deep inside, Kyle groaned with fear.

  “What are you waiting for?” Rok asked with surprise.

  “I ... I don't know what to do.” Jaric shook his head.

  “Easy.” Rok pressed the highlighted link and the screen changed.

  Jaric and Kyle closed their eyes.

  “Hmmm. It found a match for the word T'kaan."

  Kyle and Jaric opened their eyes and hungrily read the words on the screen.

  “A match!” Both Kyle and Jaric eagerly read the initial paragraph. “The next floating city over has a large population of displaced aliens. Let's see, populations displaced due to planetary disasters, wars, disease ... and...” Jaric read quickly, his eyes darting over the word and then back over them to make sure he hadn't missed anything important. “There it is, a small group of survivors who recently arrived—they've given themselves a new name, Ialliaz in the Mrad tongue—and Survivors in most other languages. It doesn't list their homeworld, or what they call their race!"

  “But it says they're the small remnant of a once proud people destroyed by an evil alien race called T'kaan!” Kyle shouted excitedly.

  “They say there are no other survivors except themselves,” Rok read out loud. “The name of the original species is now sacred to them and is only uttered during a special ceremony of remembrance once a year."

  “Well, I can see that,” Jaric said.

  “Does it have any photos or descriptions?” Kyle asked.

  “Let's see. No, no pictures. Not yet. This data seems to be some kind of initial registration form, pretty brief and to the point.” Jaric gave the Search-terminal more vocal instructions and waited. “Okay, there is a description, looks like it's done by whoever registered them.” His eyes darted over the words on the screen. “It says—the Ialliaz are aliens approximately two meters tall, bi-pedal with matching set of major organs. They have smooth skin with pockets of hair...” Jaric stopped short, his eyes wide as saucers as he skipped to the next sentence. “They have a heavy, musky scent not unlike that of animals!"

  Rok leaned closer. “Yes, and there is a note."

  Kyle ran his finger to the bottom until he got to the note. “It says pungent! It says pungent!"

  Jaric yelled with glee.

  “Sounds like they could be smelly hoo-mans.” Rok nodded.

  Kyle and Jaric began jumping up and down as other aliens stared at them in wonder.

  “What's going on there?” a Clakza attendant called out.

  “We've found something!” They yelled simultaneously. “On our search! We found something!"

  The Clakza turned to another of its kind. “Satisfaction is our motto."

  Kyle laughed. “You bet! And we're satisfied!"

  “C'mon, let's go book one of those city-to-city Bullet-Cars.” Jaric ran toward the exit, followed by Rok and Kyle.

  Fifteen minutes later they waited at another counter with another Clakza looking tiredly back at their beaming faces. “Can I help you?"

  “The city Rxariar, where the dispossessed aliens reside,” Jaric said with rapid-fire words.

  “Yes, I know of it.” The Clakza shuddered. “Down-trodden kind of place, if you know what I mean. We maintain it in order to get a huge tax break from Sector HQ, or so it's said. But if you ask me, it's not worth it."

  “I thought it was noble, having such a place for poor aliens who've lost their worlds?” Jaric felt taken aback by the Clakza's attitude.

  “Oh well, it's good for business. But having them all there together, a lot of them with post-traumatic conditions of one kind or another. And some still recovering from, you know, from whatever. It's, well ... tricky.” He raised both his arms as he shook his head.

  “Well, we want to book a ride over there to check out some of them. Some may be our people.” Kyle slapped some credits on the counter.

  “Sure, sure. Your people.” He wrinkled his nose as he shook his head. “I hope you don't mind some friendly advice."

  Rok eyed the Clakza warily. “What advice?"

  “Those are some real stressed-out aliens over there. Just be very careful around them. Don't get them excited."

  The three took their tokens and walked toward the huge walls filled with tunnel openings where numerous sleek Bullet-Cars sat at the ready.

  “What did he mean by that?” Kyle asked.

  “No telling,” Jaric replied.

  They approached the Bullet-Car assigned to them.
>
  These Bullet-Cars were twice the size of their inner-city cousins—built to ride the buffeting winds of the gas giant as they shot toward the next floating city coded on their pre-programmed guidance system. The trio stepped inside the opened door on their car's right side and quickly took their seats. The reinforced gull-wing door slowly dropped into place.

  Inside the bullet-shaped vessel, they quickly took in the controls. A familiar, pre-recorded Clakza voice began going over the safety instructions as they looked at the glowing displays on the main console. But there wouldn't be anything more for them to do here than in the smaller Bullet-Cars that traversed the vast network of tubes that laced the interior of each floating city.

  The voice suddenly turned serious.

  “In the event of an emergency, if the automated systems fail while in-flight, there is a manual navigation system which can be accessed by..."

  Three pairs of eyes and ears watched and listened intently.

  The automated voice instructed them on how to fly the Bullet-car—just in case. However, if any riders ever accessed this manual system outside of an emergency situation, the violators would be expelled from all the floating cities.

  Immediately.

  “Do not engage manual navigation—unless there is an emergency."

  Silence echoed inside the small interior of the Bullet-car.

  “Well, you think we should fly this Bullet-Car on our own?” Kyle laughed mischievously.

  “Not unless you want us kicked off of this place,” Jaric shot back.

  “Oh well,” Kyle said in mock disappointment. “Guess I'll just kick back and enjoy the ride."

  “Restraint systems will now engage,” the automated voice chimed.

  “Yeah, yeah. We've ridden these things before. Let's get it on.” Kyle mimicked the voice exactly.

  Their vessel slowly rose and headed to a lower section of the great wall where a huge round door suddenly opened. They watched with growing interest as their Bullet-Car maneuvered into position. Directly ahead, a long straightaway of darkness lined by lights became visible.

  “I thought we were going outside the city on this one?” Jaric asked.

  “Look harder.” Rok nodded forward.

  Jaric peered out the front view-screen and down the long, long corridor until he made out a tiny pinprick of color at the far end. “You mean that..."

  In that instant, the Bullet-Car hurtled down the tunnel.

  Before they could take a single breath, they found themselves outside the city amid the hurricane-force winds.

  Three screams of pure delight, mixed with a healthy amount of fear, filled the Bullet-Car.

  Bright, glowing clouds of orange laced with blue and yellow surrounded them. As they leapt from cloud-band to cloud-band across valleys of clear air, their vessel rocked with vicious jolts.

  Their screams grew louder, fear now edging out delight.

  “Hang on!” Kyle shouted.

  “To what?” Jaric shouted back.

  “Feels like we've been shot out of a laser cannon,” Kyle yelled.

  Suddenly, the Bullet-Car jolted hard to the right and shot straight into a rolling mass of titanic clouds. Darkness filled the small cabin as their craft shuddered violently. Each occupant put his hands out to steady himself although the Security Force shield kept them restrained safely in their seats.

  Still, it couldn't hurt.

  The Bullet-Car lurched upward.

  And gained speed.

  “We've caught a tail-wind!” Rok yelled happily.

  Kyle and Jaric shouted triumphantly.

  The unending expanse of tenuous orange clouds changed in an instant, replaced by clear sky as far as the eye could see.

  The view was breathtaking.

  The three stared with unabashed awe. They found themselves flying through a large area devoid of any clouds. And yet out in the far distance, all around them, they saw the wispy walls of massive cloudbanks.

  They soared forward within the island of clear air.

  The Bullet-Car suddenly changed direction as they felt it shudder against the hurricane-force winds.

  Directly ahead of them, the clouds that seemed so far away a few seconds ago rapidly drew near.

  “Here we go again!” Jaric yelled.

  The Bullet-Car pierced the leading edge of the cloud wall with a gut-wrenching jolt. They flew blind now, buffeted by the tempestuous winds until their teeth chattered as if in a deep freeze. With another quick change in direction, they shot out into the clear air between two monstrous cloudbanks; unending walls of wispy green laced with orange towered far above them on each side like canyon walls.

  “Those cloud peaks have to be a thousand kilometers from top to bottom!” Jaric shouted.

  “Look!” Rok yelled.

  In the distance, the cylindrical shape of a Mrad floating city began to grow. Within seconds, it filled their viewscreen.

  “Man, these anti-grav engines are smooth!” Kyle whistled appreciatively.

  “Have you ever felt such acceleration?” Jaric added. “And the G-forces weren't bad at all!"

  “Good stuff,” Rok grunted. “And we just flew through winds of at least two hundred clicks or more, and no telling how fast the crosswinds were in that last cloud band."

  “Man, I'm not even bruised.” Kyle nodded, impressed.

  “I bet Mother couldn't have flown that any better,” Jaric said.

  “The anti-grav engines my Kraaqi brethren installed in MotherShip do not have the acceleration of this design, but they would allow her to navigate these dangerous winds.” Rok crossed his arms, looking from Jaric to Kyle.

  “I bet it would be one rough ride, though, Rok ol’ buddy.” Jaric jabbed Rok playfully with his elbow.

  “She could ride them,” Rok answered, his voice serious. “Kraaqi engines may not be as fast, but they are strong."

  Their craft veered according to its programmed navigation and soared toward the leeward side of the floating city that also rode these hurricane winds. A black dot appeared against the white hull as the city hull filled their viewscreen.

  “Look...” But that was the only word Kyle got out as they surged forward. In seconds, they found themselves inside the tiny black dot. A familiar tunnel lined with lights filled the viewscreen for a few moments as more G-forces pulled at them with their rapid deceleration.

  “Man,” Kyle grunted. “These engines are smooth!"

  And as suddenly as it began, the ride ended.

  The gull-wing door opened, and the trio staggered out into the floating city of Rxariar.

  * * * *

  “THERE THEY ARE."

  Three large, reptilian aliens watched closely as Jaric, Kyle and Rok stumbled around trying to get their bearings amid the throng of bustling aliens. Each of the watchful aliens wore a one-piece jumpsuit made of leather that covered their reddish, muscular bodies. As they watched, their short, muscular tails tensed with interest.

  The huge hangar throbbed with the perpetual motion of bodies and Bullet-Cars as aliens arrived or prepared to ride the multi-colored clouds outbound to another city.

  The air reverberated with voices and movement.

  “The Paum are stalking their use of the Mrad computer system. They have tracers on their Search queries. And, they've killed one of the queries.” The first alien scratched his short snout.

  “One carries himself like a warrior, the one with the horns on his head. The other two, they are pups.” The third Iraxx grunted.

  “Never underestimate your enemies. Nor an untested alien.” The largest of the three smiled knowingly.

  “Very wise, Qirn. Very wise."

  The three alien warriors drew closer, the red complexion of their faces glistening under the harsh lights. Their muscular tails whipped from right to left as they followed the two humans and the Kraaqi.

  “Why would the Paum be interested in them, Qirn?"

  “That is our mission, Rab, to discover that answer. But I've alre
ady gotten word on what first drew the interest of the Paum's agents.” Qirn peered into the faces of his two warriors. “The Zuuk that travels with them, it searched for ‘sentient technology.’ And that alone is enough to interest the Paum.” The three nodded silently, deep furrows of concern on their faces.

  “Then they too may be our enemies, these humans and the horned warrior."

  Qirn nodded. “We must find the answer—are they with the Paum and his ‘Holy Plan'? Or is there something else to this business? Kadir and our best hackers are back at the ship tracking down the other queries that these humans have entered into the mighty system. A clue may lie there."

  Qirn quickened his pace as their quarry melted into a crowded corridor. He moved with the instincts of an accomplished hunter, side-stepping his way through the mass of bodies until he again made visual contact.

  “What if they give us trouble, Qirn? I feel naked without my weapons."

  “You are a weapon, my friend. You are trained to fight in any situation. We obey the laws of this city by not carrying weapons."

  “I hope they respect the law as much as we do,” Rab grunted.

  “That is a chance we take. We are honorable warriors, that is our way.” Qirn suddenly discerned the destination of their quarry.

  “Hmmm. They are heading for the Refugee Section of Rxariar.” Qirn stopped short as he watched the three up ahead slow their pace, looking around as if not sure which direction to take.

  “Why are they heading to this place of tragedy and despair?"

  Qirn continued to watch until the trio suddenly came to a decision and moved forward again. But even as he began to follow, he held his hand up. His gaze focused across the crowds to a far corner where two, short aliens were also intently watching the two humans and their Kraaqi companion.

  But although they were shorter than most aliens, their thick bull-necks and barrel chests gave the distinct impression that they were pound for pound a match for any warrior.

  They grinned and began to move.

  “Agents of the Paum."

  “Yes,” Qirn said. “They are bold to follow them in the open like this. There must be more to these humans than we surmise.” The warrior's tail tensed as he considered this new circumstance. But in a moment, he decided. “Rab, return to our room and make contact with the ship. Tell them to send another team in quickly. We may need them."