Time Warriors Chapter 12

H'trch, as a general rule, tended to follow the same predictable pattern – which made them extremely dependable when it came to following orders and rote instructions, but very dull and unimaginative when presented with unique situations.

The soldier in charge of the main orbiting H'trch ship was quite good at his normal job – following orders and determining how alien technology functioned – but became extremely confused and agitated when anything out of the ordinary occurred. Unfortunately, he was also the only person the commander could put in charge of the vessel while he was on the planet; every other H'trch was even more limited when it came to dealing with new situations. This officer, at least, was able to think around problems and come up with a few viable solutions in spite of his intellectual limitations.

The crew had reported a small, anomalous energy spike in the planet's energy spectrum a while ago, and according to standard procedure, had duly noted, logged and reported it. As he read the report, the officer in charge decided that again, according to standard procedure, they should perform a sweep of the planet's surface, just to see if they could locate the spike again. The preliminary results of the sweep, which were by no means conclusive, indicated that the previous spike was nowhere to be found.

Nodding at the navigator to continue to monitor the instrumentation, the officer turned and walked off the bridge, tapping a portable data collector and silently musing. It's just as well, he thought. It would have meant more data analysis, and for what? To see something that would probably turn out to be harmless? Feh – we wouldn't have been able to do anything, anyway – the commander decides what to do with odd things like that, not me.

Satisfied that he had done everything in his power to research the power surge, he hit the button to archive the data for the commander's return and went back to his current assignment – determining how another piece of 'liberated' technology operated. This piece, however, was a bit different than others he had researched; it seemed to work on different principles entirely, ones that dealt with quantum mechanics, black holes and temporal fields. The H'trch entered his workroom and attacked the machinery again, delicately probing the aging electronics, the lights on the outside of his helmet blinking in a complex pattern, mimicking the paths and circuits in front of him.

Theo opened her eyes to see a huge dust cloud hanging in front of her tingling hands – hands that were still braced in front of her body and in position to stop whatever was coming at her, scant traces of multihued power wafting over her fingers.

As the dust and sand settled, she was dumbfounded to see that everything in a hundred meter radius in front of her had been flattened; vegetation, people, buildings – everything was leveled. As she watched, people picked themselves up from the sand and dusted themselves off as they looked around fearfully, awaiting some other type of unexpected blast to hurl them to the ground again.

Kami, what did I do? What happened? Squinting over her fingertips, she saw large cliffs in the distance – and there seemed to be some type of dust cloud over there, too. Sudden comprehension dawned, and an insane urge to giggle almost overcame her – an image of Sterbol with his eyes wide and staring in shock flashed in her mind. Sterbol, the Cronch who was intentionally going to violate her, hurled through the air with his arms and legs flung wide and his crest twitching uncontrollably. A feeling of smug satisfaction expanded in her chest – there, you low-life scum, did you like that? Was that fun?

"Theo! Theo! Stop congratulating yourself and let's get moving!"

Allyssa's voice cut through Theo's thoughts like a cold bucket of water, bringing her back to reality. Turning, she saw both the Gant and the spacer gesturing to her as they fled in the opposite direction, into the heart of the encampment.

"All right, all right – wait for me! I'm coming, I'm coming!" Theo called, irritable and more than a little anxious at being left alone as she slung a last look at the small dust plume in the distance. I hope I can find my shoes in this mess, she thought to herself as she rushed after the retreating backs of her companions, her aching head paling in comparison to her bruised and battered feet.

She had been running for several minutes which felt like hours when her eyes spotted something familiar shining in the morning sun.

"Look, Allyssa, look – our stuff could be over there!" Theo exclaimed, panting, pointing toward one of two small buildings left standing in the camp. It had been behind and to Theo's right when she called the power to push the Cronch into a nearby mountain, and was still upright only by the most random acts of chance.

Jerking her head in the direction of the building, Allyssa motioned to Dron to follow her and run toward the building. He immediately saw what she was doing and fell in behind her without a word. Words, to both the Gant and the spacer, were wastes of precious time and energy – if something could be done with an economical gesture, so much the better. Words wasted oxygen, and the less oxygen one had, the slower one moved – which, in their current condition, was not good at all.

Theo hurried behind them; she was winded and couldn't move as quickly as they could. Also, she had found that her lack of shoes was something she could not tolerate one moment longer – her feet felt as though they were walking on a bed of sharp quills whenever she took a step, and the pain in her head was now matching it beat for beat. Her headache had started to subside before she met Allyssa, but after the Cronch were flung into the mountainside, it came back with a vengeance.

Theo's gaze scoured the ground near the little hut, hope and fear churning her stomach. I can only pray it's here, she thought, weariness seeping through her body, and that those stupid creatures didn't break it into little pieces or eat it.

As she drew closer to the building, she saw Allyssa and Dron stop at the door, fling it open and run though, Dron's small laser drawn and ready.

A crow of triumph floated out from the building: "Theo, it's here, I've got it!"

"Coming!" Theo yelled, pushing herself to move just a little faster. She covered the ground between her and the building as fast as she could, and almost bumped into Allyssa as she dashed out the door, her left hand clutching a dark, rectangular object.

"We are getting the hell out of here now," the warrior woman said, her dust streaked face grinning in victory. "We’re not waiting for Elyse to find us – we're calling her back."

"Oh, thank Kami it's in one piece," Theo gasped, taking the remote control from Allyssa's hand. "I was afraid those brutes had smashed it – and if that had happened, we'd really be in trouble."

She turned it over and peered at it for a few seconds, wiped the large smudges of dirt and grime from its housing and display window, then rapidly punched out the recall code for her TARDIS and hit "send." The Guardian's gaze was glued on the small device as she watched the data scroll across the screen.

"Well?" Allyssa asked, staring over Theo's shoulder. "When's she going to get here?"

Theo swallowed, her mouth suddenly as dry and parched as the landscape around her. "I … I have to try it again," she muttered, and punched her code into the small machine vigorously. A small, blinking red light appeared next to the display as lines of text quickly scrolled down.

Theo's eyes grew enormous as she clutched the remote in shaking hands, her face suddenly rigid. "What do you MEAN, 'I'll be right back' ?" she screamed at the mechanism. "You CAN'T be 'right back' – you CAN'T take the TARDIS off recall, you just can't! Damn it, Elyse, you had damn well BETTER be right back—"

"What's wrong?" Dron asked. His voice was even and calm, but he was shaking his gray head in resignation as if he already knew what Theo would say.

Raising anguished eyes to meet Allyssa's, it took Theo several long moments to compose herself enough to push a response past cold lips. "She's not there. She took the TARDIS off recall. We – we have to wait until she turns the recall circuit back on."

Allyssa just looked at Theo and nodded, saying nothing. The silence stretched between them as Theo tore her gaze away from her friend and stared at the distant cliffs.

"I found my guns and ammo," Dron said, breaking the silence between the women. They both looked at him as he strapped his large laser on his leg, stowing various other small guns and power packs in the pockets and sleeves of his stained jumpsuit, a grim expression on his weathered face. His eyes flickered up to Theo's briefly, then sought out Allyssa.

"Good – it looks like we'll need them," Allyssa said heavily. Staring down at Theo, she said, "You'd better find some shoes, Theo. We have to leave – now."

Nodding dully, Theo walked into the small hut and came out several moments later, her own soft boots on her feet. She scanned the dawn sky again, swallowed and pointed. "Look," she said, a distraught edge to her voice.

Allyssa squinted at the horizon and nodded as she turned toward the edge of the encampment. "I know, I know. Come on – our only hope is to try to make it to the city. We might get lucky."

"And then again, maybe not," Theo muttered, punching her access code repeatedly on the remote keyboard as the companions abandoned the encampment and fled into the desert, toward Port City 4.

The dark cloud that had hung over the horizon pulled closer to the Cronch's desert site. As it neared the encampment, it was clear that the cloud was not a natural phenomenon – in fact, it was comprised of many large, angry, broken and bleeding Cronch, all armed and ready for battle, following one of their own with a single-minded fury.

They were going to take revenge on the being that had so thoroughly decimated their ranks and so completely humiliated their leader, and through him, every Cronch in the battle group.

They were going to capture the telepath and her companions.

Sterbol's fury was burning through his blood; it took every ounce of self control not to rocket ahead of his battle group and grind that woman into the ground, but he forced himself to react calmly, as a leader.

A number of the battle group had not survived the impact against the cliffs; they had been crushed to death by the force of the other Cronch smashing them into the unyielding rock of the bluffs. Sterbol had trembled with rage as he watched the bodies of his men drop to the ground like swatted flies.

"There she is – that's the one!" he bellowed, pointing at Theo, running flat out through the desert about a quarter kilometer in front of him. "I want her brought to me alive and unharmed. Now go!"

Snarling, the Cronch descended on the little party, hunters after their escaping prey.

"Look, Vejiita, look – what's happened there?"

"How should I know, idiot? I've never been here before," the prince snapped, looking at the scene below him, disguising his surprise behind a mask of weary irritability.

The stench from the desert battle rose in their nostrils, assailing them from all sides. The dead and dying spread out below them in every direction; one part of what appeared to be an encampment was flattened to the ground. Very few creatures were stirring, and those that were tried to crawl into the shade, to shelter themselves from the merciless rising sun.

Someone knew what they were doing, Vejiita thought in grudging approval, scanning the desert floor. Hardly any survivors.

"It looks like there was a war here," Gohan said, shaking his head in disbelief, covering his nose and mouth with his hand.

"Some creatures are alive down there, but not many," Piccolo said, closing his eyes and concentrating on the spectacle below them. His eyes flew opened and narrowed as he turned toward the east. "There's a large body of something in that direction – and whatever it is seems to be chasing someone else on the ground."

"I see them, Piccolo!" Gokuu called, peering in the direction the Namek indicated. "That group in the sky is really big – and there are only a few people on the ground, and they're – hey, Vejiita, do you feel that?"

"Do I feel what, baka?" the prince snarled in vexation. "What am I supposed to—"

And then he did feel something, something that was exotic and familiar at the same time – a chi that brushed his own, one that was reaching out for any and all help it could command, begging for power from any source at all, fearful and needy and proud. He was astonished; he hung in the air, gaping in stunned surprise.

Help me – give me power to push them away again – anyone, anywhere, give me the power, I can't get to my own, please give me what you have –

Squinting into the east, he saw them – three people at bay in front of a large rock cairn, one male and two females, making what would probably be their last stand against the crowd of creatures surging in the air above them.

And the power signature he sought – that energy that had tormented him for what seemed like weeks – surrounded the three people like a bright blanket, radiating its potential across the desert to him, beckoning him closer.

"Kakarotto," he snapped, "follow me over there. I want you to stay near those people on the ground – don't let them run away, do you hear me? Take those other two with you, too, just in case." Vejiita jerked his head toward Piccolo and Gohan then turned back to the tableau on the ground, his muscles tensing for battle.

"Sure, Vejiita," Gokuu said, catching a hint of excitement from the other Saiyan, watching his eyes glitter in anticipation. "What are we going to do?"

The smaller Saiyan turned toward Gokuu with a feral grin, his eyes blazing. "What do you think? We're going to find the creature we've been seeing, baka – and we're going to have a little fun in the bargain."

And with that, the prince smirked, turned and flew toward the horde of angry, armed Cronch, never taking his eyes from the people on the ground.

Heh. Now you're mine …

Gokuu, Gohan and Piccolo darted after him, flashing through the sky.

"Roll, you idiot! Roll! Do it now!"

Theo's world had narrowed to agonizingly small dimensions – she had given up thinking long ago and was simply reacting, her breath wheezing in and out of her lungs as her legs churned automatically through the sand, making her way through a haze of horrible fatigue and pain. Only Allyssa and Dron existed – Allyssa screaming instructions at her, while the latter ran, dodged and fired sweeping laser shots at their pursuers, shouting at her as well.

"Keep your head down, Theo!" Dron barked, sending several laser blasts sizzling past her ear. "Now roll, dammit, roll to the left!"

The Cronch had dropped out of the sky and pounced on them, snatching and snarling at all of them, but obviously targeting Theo.

Obediently Theo dived and rolled on her left shoulder, twisting away from the falling bodies of the Cronch that dropped from the sky as if they were filled with lead. She was on her feet in an instant, but shuffled forward, dazed and gasping.

"Move it, Theo, move, move, move, move!"

Allyssa had turned and skidded to a halt the moment she saw Dron drop the Cronch out of the sky, then ran back to pull Theo to her feet. The warrior woman had snagged a blaster from a dead Cronch and was using it with lethal accuracy, clearing a healthy perimeter around the Guardian. No one would even dare approach while Allyssa was near Theo.

"There's cover over there!" Dron yelled, jerking his head in the general direction of Port City 4. The city itself was hidden behind an early morning haze that hung over the desert like a shroud.

"We're moving!" Allyssa yelled back, acknowledging him. She roughly grabbed Theo's upper arm and shouted in her face, "Let's go – unless you want to go with that Cronch guy again – ?"

Wheezing, her lungs crying for air, all Theo could do was shake her head emphatically in denial.

"All right, then –move it! Your boyfriend's almost here." Allyssa yanked hard on Theo's arm as she plunged ahead, dodging fountains of sand that suddenly shot up from the desert floor, skipping over rocks and cactus with equal ease. Theo stumbled badly several times, dragging Allyssa off balance; but the taller woman threw her weight forward and pulled, dragging Theo back onto her feet and through some extremely harsh scrub.

They were so intent on staying upright that they stumbled headlong into a huge rock cairn, something that had been obscured by the strange morning mist hanging over parts of the wasteland. It rose in front of them and spread to the side, meters tall and wide, a monument growing out of the ground, surrounded by cactus. Panting in relief, Allyssa managed to push out, "Good. We should be able –"

"No - no cover – there," croaked Theo, staring at the rock as Allyssa dragged her closer.

"What?"

Theo took several deep, gasping breaths and pointed at the rock, her fingers spread. "No – cover," she wheezed, "—anywhere – can't get in – "

"Dron?" Allyssa yelled, her eyes wide with alarm.

"I'm on it!" he bellowed in response, angling his gun at the back of the mount. "Stand back!"

Dron's laser spit a wide green swath at the rock, carving deep crevices into the face and sides of the stone slabs, vaporizing granite, trying to create a defensible refuge. His lips were drawn back from his teeth in a grimace of concentration, one small hand supporting the other as he hewed.

Theo and Allyssa stumbled against the front of the rock and immediately flipped so that their backs were against the stone, taking a defensive stand. Cronch bore down on them from the air, looking as fierce as rabid hounds, led by a snarling, jubilant Sterbol.

"Somebody do something, and do it fast!" Allyssa hollered to both Theo and Dron, thumbing her blaster setting as she fired at the advancing Cronch. "I'm nearly out of power!"

Theo madly punched at the remote as her gaze remained locked on the sky, not noticing the green light that flashed after she send her recall code the last time.

"…almost finished!" Dron yelled from behind them, then suddenly howled in alarm. Other Cronch had been able to circle around him and had engaged him again. He leaped to the front of the rock cairn and stood next to Theo, breathing hard, his back pressed to the stone, his gray hair standing on end as he pumped more laser fire at the Cronch. "We’re in BIG trouble! Can't you do something?"

Theo stared at Sterbol in panic and threw a large mental probe directly at his mind – no time for finesse now – but was repulsed by the same frustrating barrier that had initially thwarted her attack.

Sterbol stopped where he was, held up his hand to stop his soldiers, and laughed. His face was a burlesque of pleasantness – his eyes glittered, a sardonic smile played about his mouth, and he laughed again, mirthlessly.

"The middle one, gentlemen," he grated out, staring and pointing directly at Theo. "I want the middle one alive and unharmed, do you hear me? She's a very valuable little psi generator … and she's all I've got now, since she allowed the rest of my property to escape and killed most of your comrades!" The expression on his face had changed in an instant, from genial greediness to enraged hideousness, causing Theo to press her back against the rock and catch her breath in fear. "So until I decide to sell you, bitch, you're going to be spending every single moment of your wretched life with me!" And he and his men charged forward, straight at them.

Aw, jeez, Ally –

Theo tried one last time, tried to recreate the feeling she had when the creative fireball burst from her hands, where fear and rage and hopelessness had coalesced and leaped from her fingers – but she failed. At the last instant, she flung herself over to the side and into the sand at her feet, praying that maybe the Cronch's momentum would drive him headfirst into the rocks and give her a small chance to escape … that's all they needed, just that small opportunity ... She squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the impact—

– which never came.

Theo picked her face up from the dirt and squinted up at the sky, noting absently that Allyssa had opted to do the same thing on the opposite side. Dron, however, was standing as straight as a ramrod against the rocks, a strange, feral expression on his face as he gazed into the sky.

Theo followed his gaze and was totally flabbergasted at the sight in front of her.

What - who - is that? she thought in confusion, staggering to her feet, looking where she thought the Cronch should be. Instead, she saw the outline of a man with hair that stood straight up from the top of his head; he was floating in midair, his arms extended, fists up, exactly where Sterbol had been, and was surrounded with pulsing, whirling blue energy himself.

He - he saved us! she wondered. What - ? The wind shifted, and unexpectedly; a wave of power and scent from the man hit her full force in the face. She gasped and struggled for breath, sagging back against the rock, her eyes streaming and almost popping out of her head.

Gasping and choking, Theo continued to stare into the sky as her precise and orderly mind cataloged and identified the smell and power signature for her, almost without her volition.

He's a … he's a … he's a …

Involuntarily her head shook from side to side and her breath whistled out of her chest as her unconscious mind supplied the missing word –

…Saiyan.