Explorer X Alpha (29 page)

The Katek were moving toward the Nutah land, knowing exactly its whereabouts due to the spy Quetek had employed that was part Nutah and part Femoh. Quetek's spy looked to be completely Femoh and lived among them undercover. Triab's position as the assistant to the head scientist of the Femoh was of great use to the Katek. Triab had a deep hate for the Femoh as had all Katek, and he wanted to be one of the first to go back to the Katek's home planet. Little did Triab know that he would never make it out of this war alive. His usefulness to the Katek was over. He would die on this day also. Quetek was just happy that he would be the one to do it.

Quetek led his warriors around the back entrance to the Nutah land - a place rarely traveled by any of the species of this land because of the dangers of running into the druguna, large snakelike creatures that burrowed their way underground, only to come up to feed. Since it was dawn, these creatures rarely came out, as the heat was too hot for them. They preferred to live in the cool, dark ground.

Lentif and his band were coming in from the front, waiting for the weakening of the hologram and force field surrounding the front entryway to Katek land. Petin was chosen to be the warrior to open the way for Lentif. Quetek was giddy with excitement, for today would end his brother's reign as lead warrior - for good. It would also end the life of the half-breed abomination from the Nutah, Triab.

The Femoh lead warrior, Pelaan, decided that the best way to attack the Nutah was from their underground dwellings, coming through various hidden openings that they had been working on all night. Gitab and Triab were accompanying them. They were needed to help kidnap the Nutah leader's son, as well as the species that would be needed to start the shilmena. Gitab would stun the captives with Femoh stun device that would immobilize any being from the neck down. They all went to their places of attack. Pelaan pulled Gitab and Triab alongside him since he didn't trust the two scientists. If they made one mistake, he would kill them both, and slowly, he hoped.

“You will stay close to me, and I will lead you to the captives. One false move, and you both will feel the sting of my whip this night. I'll make sure that you stay alive enough to withstand my worst torture. It will be my pleasure to see you bleed,” Pelaan said and ended with an evil smirk. Then he climbed up through the sinkhole to attack.

Just as Aadi and Eirena got to the meeting place in the center of the square, chaos broke out. Femoh poured into the lands through the ground and came in droves. They sliced and cut any Nutah that were in their way. The Nutah were slow to react since they were caught off guard by the attack. Aadi noticed the Femoh heading toward them. He grabbed Eirena and Jantik and pulled them to the middle of the battle.

“Let's fight back to back. We can start to break their defenses while protecting ourselves!” Aadi yelled, and before he could complete his sentence, hundreds of Katek warriors broke through the barriers. It was a bloodbath, and Eirena was blasting all in her path with white energy pouring out of the palms of her hands. She got so caught up in the carnage that she was killing any Katek, Femoh, or Nutah in her way.

“Eirena! Control! Control it! Don't kill the Nutah! Subdue and weaken only,” Aadi yelled.

Aadi felt the cut of a knife slice down his back and turned to the Femoh warrior who was able to land the attack. Charging at the warrior, Aadi punched him in the gut, then pulled his head down on his knee and pushed poison through the warrior's veins. His attacker dropped, and he was attacked by two other Femoh who pulled at his head while punching him in the stomach. Letting his body jerk to draw them closer, exhilaration and euphoria of his power to control poured through his veins, and he squeezed the wrists of his two attackers and relished in breaking their arms. He forced his poison into their veins, and they fell. He looked to find Eirena and fought his way to her side by punching and poisoning Femoh and Katek that were in his path.

He spied Eirena and Jantik back to back. Jantik was moving in tireless opposition, cutting and slicing Katek and Femoh warriors as they attacked. The Nutah warriors were too spbutt to do much damage, and their numerous deaths were evident. Aadi closed the gap and got closer to Eirena when he felt the jolting pain of electrified hooks sinking into his skin. Fire burned down his back and arms, but the pain was dull compared to the pain he had felt during his change. He shook off the discomfort, and jerked his body just enough to grab the ropes connected to the hooks in his back. The two Katek warriors pulling on the ropes jerked forward, and Aadi's fist met them both with a powerful punch that knocked them to the ground unconscious.

Determined, he continued on his path to reach Eirena and Jantik as Jantik cried out in pain. A Femoh warrior cut Jantik's back, and he fell to his knees as another Femoh warrior attempted to put a metal net over his head. Aadi called to Eirena mentally and told her to save Jantik. She slightly turned her head as if listening to him and blasted the Femoh warriors into pieces, causing their blood to eat through the hard-packed ground.

“Eirena, no killing!” Aadi yelled into her mind. She mentally conceded to his command as she immobilized several Femoh and Katek warriors that were charging her.

Eirena hesitated but a moment while listening to Aadi's mental message, only to be attacked by a large Femoh from behind. He swung a whip-like weapon with a tail on the end and jerked her back to the ground. Femoh came from everywhere to attack. It had appeared to Aadi that they had burst through the Nutah's barriers. Aadi's anger built, and he started fighting hand-to-hand combat with a Femoh as he watched her fall. He let go of the hold he had on the power he had caged within himself, closed his eyes, and pictured all the Femoh that surrounded Eirena, projecting blackness and pain into their minds. They all fell, some dead to the ground, and others to their knees, and Eirena was immobilized on the ground with the whip around her neck. Aadi looked at the war around him, and the Katek had strengthened their numbers. It appeared that the Katek were starting to win the battle between the Femoh and Nutah, and he knew he had to turn from her to fight.

Jantik ran over to Aadi and threw him a weapon similar to a sword and yelled, “Slice the Katek in the neck! It is their weakest point. Use the tip of it to attack the Femoh, and it will poison them and keep their deadly blood intact!”

In the midst of the battle, Quetek saw his chance. The Femoh had stunned the girl, and the male with Jantik were near her. Triab, his spy, was about to be killed by Quetek's brother Lentif.
Perfect,
Quetek thought,
I can kill them both, and bring back the captives.
He turned to his second-in-command and gestured for him to follow. He came up behind Lentif just as he was about to slice through the half-breed spy. Quetek's teeth extended, and he bit down into the neck of his brother and yanked out half of his neck with a jerk. Lentif fell, and Triab looked relieved. Triab then turned his stun gun on Aadi and Jantik, which caused them to stumble and fall to the ground.

“Thank you, my friend,” Quetek said to a triumphant Triab. Then Quetek sliced him in two and watched with disdain as Triab fell lifelessly to the ground.

Before anyone noticed that the captives had fallen, Quetek and his second-in-command, Petin, picked them up and ran quickly. They climbed on their beast and headed toward their home unnoticed.

 

 

Aadi's anger boiled at being captured. He tried to concentrate while he was thrown around by the catik. His arms were held behind his back by metal handcuffs as his Katek capturers raced across the red sand. His whole body was numb with the poison they had used during the attack. His mind was too groggy to issue any commands. He looked over to see Eirena, who looked at him with anger and said, “I told you so,” with her eyes. He quickly looked away and refused to see his mistake in judgment in her eyes. He would save them all, if it were the last thing he could do. He had to, for there was so much he wanted to do again. He thought of what it would be like to pick up a football again and not worry about fighting for his life or saving others. Being a leader was a lot harder than he ever thought it would be, but giving up was even harder.

He took a deep breath as he looked ahead and realized that their journey was coming to an end. The drug was still making his vision slightly foggy, and he shook his head to try and end its effects. The Katek lands were directly in front of them, and the lead warrior was covering ground fast. Eirena and Jantik were both on the catik of the warrior named Petin, and Jantik looked a bit frightened, while Eirena was seething angry. Aadi figured once they got out of this mess, Eirena would be harder to tame. He didn't know how much more of this fighting she would take before she became as bitter as Damien - or worse.

“Hurry, Petin! We will see Olinu and the remaining warriors in the meeting place. We have to hurry, as I don't know how long the stun device will work on these two. Their power is impressive; however, it can be controlled with the correct weapon,” Quetek added with a fierce look to Jantik. Jantik turned away, refusing to let the Katek warrior see how frightened he became. Jantik knew that it was unlikely that he would leave the Katek lands alive.

They stopped in front of the Katek meeting chambers, and Quetek and Petin pulled their captives off their catik and threw them over their shoulders. Upon entering the building, they saw many of the Katek that were left to guard the Katek lands follow them in. They walked up to the cleared area in front of their leader, Olinu, and threw their captives to the ground with a harsh thud.

“I see you have accomplished your brother's task, Quetek. Where is Lentif?” Olinu asked, looking at him directly with unwavering eyes.

“He was killed by the Femoh while trying to retrieve the captives who were stunned by my spy. I tried to save him, but he died before my arrival. I grabbed the captives and didn't waste time getting them here, as they are unpredictable, sire. I didn't know how long the stun would last,” Quetek replied, never wavering in his return glance. If nothing else, he was a good liar.

“Good work, Quetek. Take the Nutah captive to the holding cell. Stand those beings up so I may speak to them eye to eye,” Olinu stated.

Once Jantik was taken away, Aadi started to growl. His anger was building his inner power, and it bubbled out as he started to feel its warmth seep into his arms, legs, and chest. He started to move out of the metal binds that tied his hands behind his back, his gaze never wavering as it looked directly into the Katek leader's red eyes.

Eirena looked at the anger building on Aadi's face and saw that he moved. She followed his example and dipped into her anger and tapped into her hidden adrenaline rush. She forced it out with so much fury that she broke out of her binds in a flash of light that blew the Katek around her off their feet. She growled as she flew to attack Quetek, jumped on his back, and pulled his neck backwards, causing him to fall lifelessly to the ground.

“You will return Jantik to us now, or I will enjoy killing you all.” Eirena said calmly and quietly. However, all could feel the anger rolling off her marbled black skin as it seemed to ripple and move more furiously with each breath she took. Aadi broke free of his bonds to stand behind her in support of her demand.

“Now, I understand you are angry, but I am willing to turn over your dear new friend for a favor. If my wishes are not met, you can kill us all, but your friend will die too,” Olinu said, briefly glancing at a dead Quetek.

“What is it you want in trade of Jantik and for your warriors to leave the Nutah lands in peace?” Aadi asked.

“Let me kill him now, and you can retrieve Jantik! I don't trust this scum!” Eirena said, then stepped forward and raised her hand to an unflinching Olinu.

“Eirena! Give me a moment,” Aadi said as he stepped between Olinu and Eirena.

“Aadi! You are pushing this friendship too far! I should have killed them all when I had the chance,” Eirena said under her breath as she took a small step back.

“What is it you want from us?” Aadi asked Olinu. He looked at him with all the anger he felt boiling inside of him.

“We need you to accompany us to the Femoh lands and retrieve the shilmena. We Katek were born with a hunger for our planet, so much so it is painful for us to remain here away from our kind. In exchange for your friend's freedom, we want you to bring us the shilmena. It has to be done now, as we hold many of the Femoh at bay in the Nutah lands, and now their fortress is at its weakest,” Olinu said, crossing his arms defiantly, as if he were well pleased with his bargaining skills.

“Fine. We will do it,” Aadi said.

“Now, killing some Femoh will be my pleasure,” Eirena said from behind Aadi.

“Petin! You have just been promoted. You will lead the war party to the Femoh fortress to retrieve the shilmena,” Olinu stated, and Petin bent on one knee to accept the task before him.

“Let's go,” Petin said. He didn't bother to glance back at Eirena or Aadi. He stepped over a lifeless Quetek and walked toward the door. A handful of Katek warriors followed, and Petin pointed them to a catik to ride on. There was only one left, so Aadi climbed up and offered his hand to Eirena. She refused it and pulled herself up behind him.
Par for the course,
Aadi thought to himself.

 

 

“I guess you are angry at me?” Aadi asked. He looked straight ahead and pulled on the reins to control the catik they rode like a horse.

“I am more than angry with you. I fire you as my leader, and you are my friend only because I have no one else,” Eirena said and refused to put her arms around Aadi to hold on.

“Well, I am sorry. I shouldn't have distracted you during the war. You could have contained them all if you had not been distracted,” Aadi stated solemnly.