"STAR AND CIRCLE: THE SEEKER'S FIRE"
EPISODE FIFTEEN: "MY MASTER'S KEEPER"
(disclaimers and associated descriptions in overture)
* * *
<<Act Four>>
Murasaki VI, Northern hemisphere -- on the edge of the Great Canyon... underground. 10:51 hrs, EST -- Aug 23, 2267.
Julia's eyelashes flickered as consciousness returned... as she slowly emerged from the dark place the Drakh hunter had flung her into... almost an hour before? She remembered... throwing herself desperately at the hunter, knowing even as the action was taken that the creature on her shoulder would probably stop her from succeeding in the attempt. The Drakh had shaken its head sadly, and clenched a fist. A moment later, the pain had enveloped her, and now...
"Get up." the hunter hissed, and Julia cried out as the dei'nak sent repeated, stabbing pains shooting down her backbone... as a warning, no doubt, that its mistress's commands were not to be ignored again. "You would do well to think more carefully before you attack me again -- next time, I will not be so kind. Understand that it has been long since I have allowed the dei'nak free rein with their prey... too long by far -- but if you press me too far, human, I *will* let them have their way with you."
"Why are you doing this?" she managed. "This 'renegade' you mentioned, why does he..."
"Want you?" the hunter replied, her tone once more one of amusement. "So smart you are supposed to be, Tikopai-Observer... so *intelligent* in the ways of your craft and your order. And yet you play at being ignorant of the Renegade's identity? His name, in your tongue, child -- would best be translated as 'Palakz'... and I can remember the day when he was one of our greatest warleaders..."
"You say... was."
The hunter nodded... bitterly? "Palakz commanded the order of warships that was ordered to attack the world your race knows as Sinzar -- the battlegroup you and your crew destroyed, yes?"
"In Valen's name... " Of course. It was bound to happen eventually, and now it had -- as any student of physics knew, for every action, there was supposed to be an equal and opposite reaction. Julia had ordered the ships under the command of this 'Palakz' annihillated at Sinzar, and now, it seemed that the results of that action were coming back to haunt her.
"Swearing in *his* name will not help you this time." the hunter mocked. "I see that you *do* understand my words, however. From the moment of his defeat at Sinzar, Palakz has allowed himself to descend into an obsession over the vessel he named 'Adversary' -- your command, Tikopai-Observer... the invisible Anla'shok warship that haunts my people even now. He has gone so far as to vanish into exile along with his followers among the Zha'vanare... a *complete* battlegroup lost to our Purpose and our guidance!
Our... leaders have come to consider this situation intolerable, and thus ordered me to draw Palakz into a trap that he could not possibly escape from."
"And you found out about the meeting I was going to have with the other Zha'vanare... sabotaged that summit and captured us all, just so you could draw Palakz into your web?"
"Not... exactly." the hunter clarified. "He was coming here in any case -- but it does not hurt, as your kind would say, to possess additional *insurance* as an added precaution. And now, very soon, the Renegade will come... and this game will progress to its inevitable, expected...
Conclusion."
Except... Julia suddenly stiffened as her Observer's Sense suddenly cried out, and she turned, to see a pair of glittering eyes looking back at her from the shadows beyond the cave entrance.... eyes that vanished from sight a moment later. And in that moment of transition, knew that once again, the rules were about to be changed.
Or broken.
* * *
Palakz had thought of many things during his descent from the NELAZIZ -- what had brought him to this place, what had driven him to lead his order of warriors into exile... and also of the offer the hunter was making to him. At that his lips tightened, even as he quietly, professionally brought his private transport to rest besides the similar vessel that Belanak and his guard had brought to this place, some time before. And how *wrong* it was for him to accept it.
The Vekh'shivalht shook his head in bitter amusement as he stepped out onto the desert sands and approached the structure his Anla'shok enemies had constructed... even now, he could hear the voice of his Favored Claw as conscience, asking the questions he was unwilling to approach directly. <Why then, my Vekh'shivalht, have you come to this place if you believe the bargain to be a poor one? What do you stand to gain from an encounter as dangerous as this one will be?>
He would explain it all to her in time -- but the heart-matter was this... a message needed to be sent to the Council and *also* to the Entire -- that the Zha'vanare, so long ground underfoot by their 'betters', should have someone to look up to. And that once this matter was successfully dealt with, he would return to lead them out of servitude.
Successfully -- *honorably*. At that thought did Palakz bare his teeth in anger -- how dare Mei'riki subvert the code of -ukrah- that all Drakh warriors lived by? This meeting with his enemy... this was *not* the way it was supposed to be! -Ukrah- demanded that he and Tikopai meet in battle, their crews around them... and that only one ship would survive that encounter. The Minbari's report had told him that his opponent was intelligent for her age... but this situation also showed him that even so, she still lacked experience. Something to remember for later, assuming that the human escaped to return to her own people -- an option that was not at all guaranteed, he darkly mused, even as he descended into the caverns below the Ranger shelter.
And then froze, just beyond the cave entrance, as a thin barrel poked into his back... the barrel of a more than active weapon. "That's far enough, I think...
Ilv`nar Palakz."
* * *
*Above*.
"We are experiencing a... 'general systems failure', you say?" Raeznon exclaimed, simply unable to believe what it was she was hearing, even as her Vekh'shivalht's Nak'laht scrambled to learn what it was that had caused the sudden loss of power fleet-wide, a loss that had left them unable to launch landing- or attack-craft... unable to protect themselves should the enemy come upon them. "What has caused this?"
"Unknown." the reply came. "Though it would appear, Vaarliht, as if some sort of outside interference is at work, here."
"Outside... interference?" The words died in Raeznon's throat as her anger cooled enough for her to register an unfamiliar, crawling sensation at the base of her spine -- what did this...
And then she remembered. Remembered the words of the ancient magus who had once come among the youthlings of her clan, many years before. An ancient master who had warned of workings they might encounter in their travels -- of sorcerers who worked for neither the Ancient Masters nor their opponents. The magus had also warned her, personally, that he sensed some sort of 'latency' about her, that while she was incapable of magery herself, that she might be able to sense...
A mage at work. And now it had happened, and if this was true, if *they* were involved in this...
Then everything had changed.
"So..." she hissed, "Perhaps *they* are the ones responsible for this, then. It is all now beginning to make some sort of sense."
"They?" the underling inquired, his expression puzzled. "They who?"
"They... who?" Raeznon icily inquired. "Why, the *Technomages*, of course... the technomages. And now that they are involved... it would appear that our troubles are only beginning."
* * *
Elsewhere, the figure in black observed the status of his spellwork, shook his head sadly, and sighed. Sooner rather than later, the balance would be upset, and the stasis he had imposed upon the weapons of war involved in this nexus would fail. And when that happened -- at least one of the parties involved might very well die. And not even *he* knew which.
* * *
*Below*.
"Fal'meain?" Palakz whispered, as he and his third-born turned to face one another. "By the memory of Darkness... it *is* you! But how? What brings you to this place?" He had known her in the instant she had spoke, of course... for she had addressed him by the ancient patriarchal title of *Ilv'nar* -- a title not often used by either branch of his People in this day and age.
"Long you have been apart from us -- so you cannot know what has happened since you and your warriors began the quest to find the Interstellar Alliance warriors who destroyed your order of battle at the human colony world Sinzar. I chose to align myself with Rak'shivalht Belanak, to walk upon his path, and in the shadow of his... greatness. That path brought me to this place, and now..."
"And now, anything is possible!" Palakz hissed, his eyes glinting brightly in the darkness. "Have you brought your Protectors with you? -- those that were given to you on your naming day?"
The younger Drakh inclined her head. "And so has my Rak'shivalht." Fal'meain continued. "Together, we could easily bring down the hunter, snare her prize and deal with our enemies, including the one you seek. And yet..."
"And yet, sacrifices may yet be necessary in order for -ukrah- to be maintained." Palakz replied, his tone now full of regret. "Mei'riki is expecting my arrival -- and what she is expecting, we will give her."
"And more. Sacrifices, you said?"
"Yes."
"I understand, my Ilv`nar." Fal'maein acknowledged. "You shall have your day in the darkness... this I swear, by the memory of the Ancient Masters who look down on us from Beyond."
"No more will I ask."
* * *
"Ah... Palakz -- at last you come to us." Julia turned towards the cave entrance at those words -- and rose to her feet when she saw who it was that was standing there... a tall Drakh, much taller than the hunter, his expression forbidding. "You choose to honor our bargain, then?"
"I come before you this day to say what I must." the warrior Drakh replied. "Understand that what you have done cannot be forgiven -- you have made a mockery of our codes -- and yet..."
"Your codes, your precious *ukrah* -- mean nothing to me." Mei'riki spat. "We have an agreement, you and I -- I am to return to the Entire with my prisoner, while *you* may have this one, in exchange for your non-interference on this matter." Mei'riki clenched her fist, and Julia stumbled forwards toward the warrior with a cry, as the dei'nak on her shoulder reacted to its mistress's command.
A sibilant hiss emerged from the warrior's mouth a moment later -- and after a moment, Julia came to realize that this was the Drakh equivalent of laughter. "As in, the bargain you intended to break from the start?"
"To what do you refer?"
"Come now, za-deinarakh... do you take me for a fool? I look into the eyes of my enemy, and see written there your duplicity. We are destined to meet on the battlefield one day, her and I... but -ukrah- demands that I deal with this matter in one way, and one way *only*."
"You fool!" Mei'riki spat. "Then this one means nothing to you, or I, for that matter. And the Entire, therefore, demands that she die..."
Several things happened in quick succession, then -- even as she tensed, waiting for the pain to return, the pain dealt out by the hunter's creature, another tentacled lifeform, as quick as the dei'nak, leapt across the cavern... and struck the dei'nak on her shoulder squarely in its tiny living core. A moment later, both creatures were gone... even as Belanak rose to his feet, a forbidding expression on his face. Julia's eyes widened -- it had seemed to her as if that Drakh had been unconscious the whole time she and the Hunter had been speaking to one another... but now this appeared not to be the case at all! "Her day may yet come, za-deinarakh... but that day is not this day. Even I understand the strictures of the warrior's code... and what you plan cannot *be*."
At that, Mei'riki laughed herself, even as her small legion of dei'nak gathered close, their eyes wide and hungry. "So... you and the warrior have Protectors, do you? That is... unfortunate -- my dei'nak will kill them slowly, and then..."
"*Wrong*." yet *another* voice hissed, and now Mei'riki's eyes widened as yet ANOTHER Drakh appeared -- with four more of the creatures Julia now knew to be Protectors sitting on her shoulders, ready and waiting to join the battle. "You shall not have them, Hunter -- so I swear it, by the memory of the Ancient Masters!"
"Then the battle will be an even-sided one." Mei'riki replied. "Whenever you are ready."
There was a shriek -- and then something struck Julia on the side of the head, and she knew no more.
* * *
Elsewhere...
Galen knew that the test would not last forever -- and now the time had come to, as those among his own race were known to say from time, 'cut his losses' while he still could. His promises... had been kept, and perhaps the students had learned the lesson he had wanted to teach them.
Perhaps.
* * *
"Val'na! Can you hear us... are you well?"
Someone was shaking her shoulder -- and a moment later, Julia jerked her hand up to catch the one that was shaking her. "Larieken?"
"Val'na... you are well?"
"Well enough." she finally admitted, as her Minbari friend helped her to her feet. "Nothing seems to be broken -- and I... ow!"
"'Ow', she says." another voice intoned, and Julia turned in relief as Veyshahk appeared through the entrance of the cavern, Klairika at his side. "If 'ow' is all it is, then perhaps you were not injured so severely as your young protector feared."
"But... the Drakh!" Julia blurted, as she spun around on her feet to take in the figures surrounding her -- all were Rangers. "What happened to the Drakh?"
"That is something I would like to have an answer to myself." Klairika sharply replied, as she came to Julia's side. "As well as an answer to what immobilized your command *as* well as every other ship in the system during the heart of the crisis."
"Immobilized?" Julia inquired, her eyes now gone hard as Veyshahk ran a medical sensor over her battered uniform jacket. "Explain."
"It all began when we lost contact with you and the others..." the Brakiri replied. "Immediately afterwards, a great deal of the *Shard*'s systems began to act... oddly, and for a while, we were, what is the word? -- ah yes, *careening* madly across the landscape. Mr. Dawson, as you might well imagine, was not pleased."
"Oh *yeah*," Julia replied with a grin, "I *can* imagine. But as you were saying?"
"Shortly after that, what appeared to be a complete Drakh order of battle entered the system -- and then another of their transports descended to the landing site. Shortly after *that* all of the warships in that Order were also briefly rendered powerless. May I ask if you encountered the occupant or occupants of that lander?"
Julia nodded, thinking of the warrior named Palakz -- the Drakh that Mei'riki had named as her enemy. "I *did* -- but what happened afterwards..."
"A short time passed," Klairika concluded, "And then that transport, in addition to the one belonging to the Zha'vanare we came here to meet, ascended to their respective ships... and then *all* of the Drakh vessels departed."
"Two..." Julia clarified, "Not three?"
"That is correct." Klairika acknowledged with a small frown. "If I may inquire..."
"*Someone* didn't make it back to their ship..." Julia mused, as she and the other Rangers made their way out of the cave-of-meeting and back up into the light above. "Now I wonder who *that* could be?"
And then it was that her breath caught in her lungs, even as her first officer spoke through the commlink to the Rangers waiting in the *Shard of Night*, even now descending into a hover above the edge of the canyon. What had Galen said to her in the dream... 'beware false messengers'? The implication... the implication was clear -- *one* of the factions amongst the Drakh she'd encountered this day had been telling the truth... and some if not all of the other had been lying.
Which one it was, be it hunter, warrior or Zha'vanare, she could not say... but one thing *was* clear, however -- one day, if this code of -ukrah- the warrior swore by was to be believed... one day soon, she and Palakz would meet on the battleground.
And only *one* of them would leave it.
* * *
"So..." Palakz muttered, as he stalked back and forth in front of the battered hunter he had captured with the help of his fellow Zha'vanare, Drakh who had helped him in order that all survive. "What *are* we to do with you, Mei'riki?" Belanak had not been pleased, of course, to receive a warning from a warrior... but in time, and with the added persuasion of his own Favored Claw, the worker-captain had eventually agreed with Palakz's points. In time, and under duress. This was not the time for peace -- would not be the time for peace until several... situations were resolved.
The first thing to consider, of course -- was the humans hunting for the cure. If Gideon and his followers actually managed to find the cure to the plague the Drakh had unleashed upon humanity, than would the wrath of their race be great -- then might they send their warriors against his People. Palakz and his fellow Vekh'shivalht would be waiting for that day - for Belanak *had* been right about one thing... no matter what, the People had to survive, would have to, one day, progress beyond the need for revenge if they were to survive. But that day was not today... and the path that Belanak had been walking upon was not the correct one to follow.
Which brought him to his other problem -- that of the human warrior female named Tikopai, the female who had been humbled by the hunter in front of him... the enemy he had set free, in order for -ukrah- to be maintained. Until they met in battle, and the question of who was fittest was answered... "What are we to do with you?" he repeated. "Now that your plan has failed?"
The hunter did not speak. "You would have me decide for you, then? Very well -- you chose to engage the Zha'vanare, and you failed. In return, you will serve *me* until I say otherwise... and I will be assigning Watchers so that you will not stray."
"What are you planning, Palakz?" Mei'riki managed. "What is this all about?"
"Greater plans are afoot than any of you realize." Palakz replied, his tone now cunning. "And one facet of those plans is about to be fulfilled. Raeznon!"
"My Vekh'shivalht... command me."
"Have we reached the rendezvous point, yet?"
"We have."
"Then bring us out of hyperspace. If all has gone as planned, Guttricht and the Minbari *should* be waiting for us. What is this all about, you ask?" Palakz allowed, turning back to face the hunter. "An alliance has been made... an alliance that we should have exploited from the start."
"You cannot mean to say..."
"I can -- I do." Palakz said. "The -shatoz- await us, Mei'riki -- the -shatoz- await. And it would not *do* for us to be late."
* * *
To be concluded...
* * *
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