Aurora Saga Books 1-3, page 65
‘Why are you kneeling, Cherip?’ Kalrea asked her.
Cherip kept her head bowed. ‘Kalrea, I’m… I’m sorry I woke you.’
‘What are you talking about, Cherip! Come on, that floor is very cold. You shouldn’t be kneeling on that.’ Kalrea held out her hand to Cherip.
Cherip hesitantly peeked up at Kalrea’s face.
Is she mad at me?
Kalrea shook her head slowly and then took Cherip’s hand. She pulled her up off the floor. Cherip kept her head bowed.
‘Hello Kalri, Ferin,’ Kalrea said to the children. ‘Have you been to the playground again today?’
‘Yes…’ Kalri replied nervously.
‘How do you know our names?’ Ferin asked bluntly.
Cherip saw Kalrea smile out of the corner of her eyes. Kalrea then replied, ‘I know all your names. Why is your mother acting strange?’
‘I don’t know!’ Kalri replied. ‘Mum?’
Cherip looked hesitantly to Kalrea, wondering what to say. ‘I… I… You’re… You’re a God, Kalrea. I’m sorry if I offended you.’
‘Don’t be silly, you didn’t offend me, and I’m not a God, all right! No one needs to kneel to me.’ Kalrea sounded slightly frustrated. She gazed around the vast room and then shook her head. ‘Why you wanted to build this place, I’ll never know.’
Oh! She’s a lot different to what I’d imagined.
Kalrea marched out into the lobby. Cherip and the children followed quickly behind her.
‘Now this, I can understand,’ Kalrea said, gazing up at the statue of Zoren.
Cherip watched as Kalrea circled the statue, running her hand over its form. She then glanced at all the names inscribed around the room.
‘He should be in there, not me,’ Kalrea said, pointing to the altar. ‘It’s good to see you again, Zoren,’ Cherip heard her say quietly.
She seems very ordinary. No different to me.
‘Kalrea...’ Cherip said nervously, ‘Why... Why are you here?’
Kalrea’s expression dulled as she turned to Cherip, who then said, ‘I’m sorry, it’s not my place to ask-’
‘No... I wanted to come back here to...’ Kalrea seemed troubled. ‘I wanted to make sure you were all fine,’ Kalrea said, now looking sad. ‘I had to know you were all safe because... because... I’m dying, Cherip.’
** THE END **
Kalrea’s Legacy
Chapter One
The leaves of a Yerl tree, full of orange blossom, were rustling in a light breeze. The tree was in full sunlight at the center of a secluded courtyard, which was surrounded by a green tinted glass-clad single-story mansion, the residence of Lord Migual.
Kneeling on the immaculately cut blue grass beneath the tree, with her hands firmly handcuffed behind her back by a magnogenic restraint, was a woman who looked about eighteen years old. Her long yellow evening dress was torn and stained with blood; her bruised face was pale and drained of all energy, and her short jet-black hair was unsightly. The woman’s name was Rakeal.
Rakeal stared down at the polished black boots of Lord Rico standing in front of her, while she could feel the presence of her executioner pacing nervously around behind her.
Lord Rico was holding a jet-black watch-like device in his hand. He thrust it in front of her face and said, ‘I’ll ask you one more time. How did you manage to use this telementor to mess up my brother’s mind?’
Rakeal ignored him, turning her head away from the telementor.
‘Look at me!’ he shouted at her.
The man behind her gripped the hair on the back of her head, pulling it roughly downwards and forcing her to look up to Lord Rico.
She grinned at him before saying, ‘Why don’t you put it on, then you’ll find out.’
‘The retinal scan couldn’t tell us who you are. So, who are you?’ Lord Rico said.
‘I’m your worst nightmare,’ Rakeal replied.
‘Wrong answer!’
Lord Rico punched her in the face.
‘My brother is an immortal Xangol, like me, but now look at him,’ he said pointing towards an open door behind Rakeal. ‘He didn’t deserve to be lobotomized for the rest of his existence.’
‘Your deceitful brother-’
Lord Rico punched her again, and then said, ‘It’s Lord Migual, to scum like you.’
Rakeal stared at him with hate in her eyes. ‘Then, Lord Migual got what he deserved,’ she said with revulsion. ‘I’ve done what I came here to do and you’re going to kill me anyway, so why don’t you get this over with?’
‘She’s not going to tell you anything,’ the other man behind her said, ‘so let me put this piece of garbage out of her misery.’
‘Sure. No one’s going to miss someone who doesn’t exist.’
Lord Rico nodded to the other man, who then released his grip on her hair to take his railgun and press its cold barrel up against the back of her head. She closed her eyes. She knew then that she was about to die and readied herself for the inevitable sound that would be the last thing she will ever hear.
Chapter Two
Eighteen days earlier in the city of Uir on the planet Onliv.
Seth pressed his thumb-nail watch to illuminate its face in the darkness.
6.28. Two more minutes, he thought, then I can get the logip stone.
Seth was crouching in a small wild-flower meadow behind an ornate pierced wall, which marked the perimeter to Lord Migual’s residence.
He peered anxiously through a hole in the wall at the impressive single-story mansion. There were a few lights on inside the building, but the tall green tinted windows obscured its lavish interior.
Dotted amongst the well manicured blue grass, between him and the mansion, were many small bright-red semi-spheres, which were the sensors for a 360 degree laser security matrix.
Draks said the matrix would be down at exactly 6.30. He’d better be right, or I’m going to get my ass fried.
He felt a few spots of rain.
And that’s all I need. I hope it holds off long enough for me to get inside. The last thing I want is to leave footprints on Migual’s marble floor.
It had taken Seth only twelve days to locate the rare logip stone, and in eight minutes’ time he would be stealing it from Lord Migual’s Magnolock safe. He knew Lord Migual had also acquired it by foul means, so he was not going to lose any sleep over what he was about to do.
Seth Trinla was renowned in the criminal fraternity for being able to find the most elusive things, from rare and hidden artifacts, like the logip stone, to people who had decided to disappear from society, but unfortunately he was also a lousy thief, which meant he usually had to employ someone else to do the stealing for him, cutting his profit in half. That night, however, Seth needed a specialized security expert to get around Lord Migual’s latest systems, and therefore, to still return a substantial profit, had no choice but to do the thieving part himself. He was working with Draks for the first time and was relying on him to disable all the cameras and security devices.
Seth took a deep breath to steady his nerves. Remember the golden rule. Get in, do the job and get out. Do not get distracted by anything else of value. It’s 6.30, I have fifteen minutes. Let’s get this job done.
Seth climbed over the wall and carefully approached one of the sensors.
Excellent. It’s not reacting to me, so Draks must have successfully deactivated the matrix.
Moving towards the mansion, he spied an open door that had been closed only a few moments before.
Good work Draks.
Edging stealthily through the doorway, Seth shone a wrist-light around the dark egg-shaped study. On the walls and ceiling were rare works of art, and in large free standing cabinets there were many valuable objects. Nevertheless, his attention was drawn to an array of electronic equipment on racks, adjacent to a desk, at the far end of the room.
Ownership of computer systems was restricted heavily on Onliv. However, Lord Migual was seemingly in possession of a number of illegal data retrieval, processing and display systems.
Wow, look at all this stuff. Seth recognized various pieces of the equipment, because he also had some of them back in his apartment. Lord Migual even has a Vongra data extractor, he thought, running his hand gently over its casing, as if it was a treasured heirloom. With this I could have found the logip stone in half the time. It looks like he’s trying to find someone or something. I wish I had time to see, but I need to open the safe hidden in the ceiling.
Seth approached a still-life holographic image of a bowl of fruit, which was being projected in the space between the desk and the wall behind. He moved his index finger into the image and pressed some of the fruits in a set sequence like he was using a keypad. He then stood back and after a few seconds the image faded away. A cylindrical column descended out from the ceiling. It reached the floor and a door slid open revealing a small compartment. Inside were some papers and two objects: a jet-black watch-like device and a small understated gipno-box containing the logip stone.
Seth moved the watch-like device to one side and took out the gipno-box, causing the logip stone to knock softly against the metallic side of the box.
He smiled to himself, Like taking candy from a baby. Let’s get out of-,’ Seth turned to go, but stopped abruptly in his tracks when his wrist light went out. He pressed it to switch it on again, but it was completely dead.
That’s strange, he thought, but then a small red light moved across his arm. His smile turned to dread.
The automated security sensors within the room had been activated by him and an energy shield was now blocking all electronic devices. The lights in the room brightened.
How the heck did that happen? Draks assured me I had fifteen minutes.
Any movement and he would be killed by the laser now pointing directly at him.
What do I do? I can’t stand here until-
The swish of a door, indicated someone was about to enter the room. At first Seth thought it to be a young woman, her long blond hair catching a breeze from the door to the outside, shielding her tanned complexion from view, but then the figure noticed the safe open and the gipno-box in the palm of Seth’s hand, and shouted, ‘Why you worthless piece of scum,’ in a very male voice.
That’s Lord Migual, Seth thought, the gipno-box now clearly moving within his shaking hand, even though he was desperately trying to keep it steady.
From beneath a light-blue tailored suit, Lord Migual pulled out a railgun and pointed it at Seth. Two men followed him into the room.
Lord Migual was a Xangol. There were two types of Xangol, those who were immortal and those who were not. Lord Migual belonged to the former, which meant he had additional rights over others in the galaxy. One of those rights allowed him to execute anyone caught on his land without answering to the law of the planet; in this case it was Onliv law.
Lord Migual sauntered around the side of the desk, his eyes fixed on Seth’s. ‘I’ll take that,’ he said snatching the gipno-box from Seth. Without taking his eyes off him, Lord Migual ordered, ‘Take this piece of garbage into the courtyard and deal with it.’ He smiled arrogantly. ‘This has cost you your life. How dare you think you can come into my home and steal from me?’
Seth had the uncomfortable urge to relieve himself onto the floor. He knew Lord Migual meant what he said and instinctively glanced to the doorway where he had entered.
I have to make a break for it.
The two men had already grabbed Seth by the arms, pulling them behind his back, and before he could do anything, a magnogenic restraint was snapped onto his wrists.
Lord Migual took a small retinal scanner from the desk. ‘I like to know who I’m about to execute,’ he said pointing the device at Seth’s face. A beam of yellow light scanned his blue-grey eyes.
‘Please!’ Seth pleaded. ‘I’ll do anything. Don’t do this.’
The men grabbed Seth roughly by his arms, effortlessly picking his wiry frame up off the floor. A door opened to an outside courtyard where it was lashing down with rain. As they carried Seth out, two small robots detached themselves from the ceiling above the doorway. The robots had petals, which opened out like blooming flowers. Each robot then positioned itself above the head of one of the men, hovering and moving to keep them dry. There was no such luxury for Seth.
Outside, near to a Yerl tree, there was a man already kneeling on the wet grass with his hands restrained. Behind him stood one of Lord Migual’s men. He was pointing a railgun at his head.
‘Draks!’ Seth said in surprise.
Draks glanced around to him and he appeared to be crying, but the rain was washing away any sign of his tears.
Seth jumped, when a gun-shot rang out. Draks’ body slumped to the ground.
As Seth was forced to kneel on the ground alongside Draks’ body, the man who had shot Draks moved behind him. He felt the cold barrel of the railgun against his scalp. A shiver ran down his spine.
My God, this is it. This is where my life ends.
He no longer cared about his surroundings; the rain that was running off his styled fair-hair and trickling down the side of his clean shaven face; the rain soaking his back and shoulders, or the wet rising from the grass up his pants. He wished he had never been asked to locate the logip stone and was back with his girlfriend, Susiro, at his penthouse apartment.
I love you Susiro, he thought, closing his eyes.
‘Wait!’ a voice called out from inside the house. ‘Bring him here.’
The men pulled Seth to his feet.
Now what?
Seth felt a strange relief course through him mixed with confusion. He had been resigned to the fact he was about to die, but somehow he was still alive, even if it could be for just a few more minutes.
He was carried back into the mansion and dumped unceremoniously on the floor in front of Lord Migual, who was sitting with his feet crossed and resting on top of the desk.
‘The retinal scan has identified you as Seth Trinla, a twenty year old Gullin,’ Lord Migual said. ‘It seems you’ve been stealing for most of your life, given the long and extensive record you have on file with the authorities.’
Seth raised his head.
‘I just spoke with an associate about you,’ Lord Migual continued. ‘He says you’re one of the best at finding lost and rare artifacts. Are you?’
Seth was unsure what to say and there was an uneasy silence, broken only by water dripping from his chin onto the marble floor beneath him.
‘Well, speak up!’ Lord Migual said. ‘If you’re no good to me, then these fine gentlemen will show you outside.’
‘Er... Yes.’ Seth stuttered. ‘Yes, I can. That... That equipment you have next to your desk. I know how to use it. I can help you find whatever you’re looking for.’
Lord Migual laughed. ‘Oh, can you now. Well I don’t need your help for that. I’m quite capable of using this equipment. I’ve had years of practice. What I don’t have is the data I need.’
‘Can I ask you what you’re trying to find?’
‘You can, but do I want to tell you?’ Lord Migual replied. He sat deep in thought staring at Seth.
Seth knew Lord Migual was deciding what he was going to do with him, so added, ‘I’m sure I can find the data you need.’
‘Look, I already know where the data is. My dilemma is: Are you the one that’s going to be able to get it for me.’
Lord Migual flicked his shoes off the desk, rising to his feet. He stood dominantly over Seth.
‘All right, I’ve made up my mind.’
Seth feared the worst, and his adrenaline was pumping. Panicking he said, ‘Wait! I can get this data for you. I know I can. Please, give me a chance.’
Lord Migual smiled. ‘Calm down or you’ll have a heart attack. I’ve made my decision. You’re going to be working for me now.’
‘Am I?’ Seth said with relief.
‘You asked me what I’m searching for. Well, it’s a spaceship. Unfortunately its former owner managed to hide it before they died, and I want to get to it before Asoray, a competitor of mine. He has already enlisted the services of Rakeal, an expert on this ship. She has data that I need to get a copy of to locate the ship first. I must have this ship, not Asoray. Do you understand me?’
Seth nodded.
‘I know Asoray is looking to enlist someone like you to help Rakeal and I need someone on the inside to get me the data.’
‘Who’s this Asoray?’
‘Never you mind. The less you know the better. You’ll be more convincing than poor old Frimt.’
Poor old Frimt, Seth thought and then said, ‘Who’s he?’
‘Oh, he also worked for me. He managed to infiltrate Asoray’s team, but unfortunately he was found out.’
‘What happened to him?’
Lord Migual ran his finger over his throat in a cutting motion.
‘Oh!’
‘So, as I said. The less you know the better.’ He made eye contact with the nearest man standing behind Seth. ‘Jong, remove his restraint,’ he ordered.
Lord Migual went to the open safe and took the black watch-like device. He gripped it firmly in his hand.
‘What we need to do is to get Asoray to want to hire you and not someone else,’ Lord Migual said. ‘For that we must make sure he gets to know that you have something he needs.’
He handed the watch-like device to Seth, but as Seth took it, he held onto it. Lord Migual sighed, and then slowly released his grip, as if he was reluctant to let it leave his sight.
Migual seems very possessive about this device thingy. It doesn’t look anything special, but it was in his safe. Maybe it’s of sentimental value to him.
‘What is it?’ Seth asked.
‘Questions! What did I just say?’
‘The... Less I know the better,’ Seth said quietly.
‘So, stop asking the stupid questions,’ Lord Migual shouted at him, and then lowering his voice added, ‘Keep that device with you, don’t lose it.’ He reached up to Seth’s head.
Seth instinctively pulled his head away from Lord Migual’s hand.
