Razing Pel

Razing Pel

By

Addison Svartz

Copyright Addison Svartz,
2014

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters,
places and incidents in this publication are products of the
author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to
actual events, or locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely
coincidental.

All rights reserved. The moral rights of the author
have been asserted in accordance with the Copyright Designs and
Patents Act 1988.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1
THE RESCUE
11

CHAPTER 2
THE NEWS
16

CHAPTER 3
THE RETURN
20

CHAPTER 4
THE CRASH
26

CHAPTER 5
THE GUARDIAN
34

CHAPTER 6
THE SECOND HELP
45

CHAPTER 7
THE CAVE
52

CHAPTER 8
THE TRUTH BEHIND IT ALL
65

CHAPTER 9
THE OUTSIDERS
87

CHAPTER 10
THE UNPLEASANT TURN
94

CHAPTER ONE

THE RESCUE

"Kaj!” a voice shouted out.
 "Kaj!  Kaj!  Get up!"  The wooden floorboards
creaked as hard footsteps hit them.  A middle-aged man ran up
the steps and into Kaj's room.  He quickly went over to where
Kaj was sleeping and viciously shook him until he got
up.

Kaj quickly jumped to his feet,
facing his surprised uncle.  "Uncle, what's the problem?" The
late teen asked.  Before his uncle said anything, he pointed
to Kaj's sac.  He went over and slipped the strap over his
shoulder, across his chest.

"There's trouble again," his uncle
proclaimed.  "Three men were seen picking on the same older
man from a few days ago.  Go down there and help him!" he
nodded.  Kaj zipped past his uncle, but was quickly halted
when he placed his hand on his shoulder.  "If worst comes to
worst, use the dagger."  Kaj nodded and quickly ran down the
stairs.

Kaj ran out onto his wooden porch
that overlooked the entire village.  The whole village was in
an underground cave, while Kaj's house was nudged up in the corner
of the cave.  His only way down to the village was a long wire
that hooked up from the roof of his house down to a small fish
kiosk.  Kaj unzipped his sac and pulled out his dagger.
 It had a short, curved handle that extended out and formed a
circular base from where the blade curved out.  Kaj left the
cover of the blade on and lifted the dagger over the wire, grabbing
the other side.  He then jumped off his porch as he zipped
down the wire.  Zipping down to the ground below, he tried to
spot the area as to where the trouble was.

As Kaj neared the bottom, he let
go of the one side of his dagger, and he dropped to the rocky
floor, landing on his feet.  Kaj looked around until he saw
the three men, kicking the older man while he was on the ground.
 He dashed through the short alleys and leaped at the bigger
one of the three, knocking him to the ground.

The other two noticed that their
friend had been knocked down and quickly left the old man to go
after Kaj.  They went over and each grabbed Kaj's arms and
threw him back.  The two men helped their injured friend up.
 He dusted off his knees and arms.

"Ok!  What the heck man!" the
bigger goon said as he wiped the blood from under his nose.
 The three walked over to Kaj as he was down on his back.
 "Oh, well if it isn't this little twerp again."  Kaj
quickly jumped to his feet, but the three men quickly surrounded
him.  "Nowhere to go now."

As Kaj knew that he was in trouble
this time, his uncle's wise words appeared in his head,
If worst comes to worst, use the
dagger
.  Kaj slipped the cover off
the blade and swung it around at the three goons.

They all stepped back, with their
hands in the air.  "Alright, alright," the bigger goon said.
 "You're lucky that dagger saved you again Kaj.  If the
Galactic Soldiers knew that you had a weapon down here, you'd be
banished to the surface.  Come on guys, let's go."  The
three goons took off.

Kaj knelt down to pick up the
cover from his blade, sliding it back on.  Placing it back in
his sac, he then jogged over to the poor old man who was lying on
the ground in pain.  Kaj lowered down and saw the older man's
face, blood oozing from his nose and his left eye
swollen.

"Are you ok?" Kaj asked as he
pulled out a rag and started to wipe the fresh blood from under the
man's nose.  He didn't respond.  "Hey, are you
alright?"

The older man opened his eyes to
see Kaj with a bloody rag.  "Oh, it's you again," the older
man proclaimed.  "Please son, help me over to that bench."
 Kaj helped the injured man up and over to the bench.
 Kaj handed the older man the rag as he continued to wipe the
blood away.  "Thank you again young man.  If only more
people like you lived here.  When I was young, and before the
Oce attacked, my friends and I used to play on the surface of our
planet - filled with green grass and lively plants, with the two
suns shining down on the surface.  And that sky, I can see it
now, those fluffy clouds and the animals flying around.  It
was a wonderful time.  I feel sorrow for you young man.
 You seem like the kind of boy who would enjoy that, but
unfortunately cannot."

Kaj leaned forward, his hands
together as he looked down.  "I hear ya," Kaj said.  "My
life has changed since my parents went missing.  I barely
remember living in United City.  At least there you could
still see the sky."

"United City you say!" the old man
blurted out.  "That's where I grew up.  I hear it's the
last surface city on Pel.  There's some type of shield around
the city that prevents the Oce from getting in.  I believe the
Galactic Soldiers set it up."

Kaj hardly paid attention to what
the older man was saying.  Thinking about his parents brought
back dark memories.

As the two continued to talk about
their memories, they hadn't noticed that two Galactic Soldiers had
walked up to them.  They both wore shiny white suits that
covered their bodies.  The two wore dark helmets, from which
their faces were blocked out.

"What's going on here?" the one
Galactic Soldier said.

Kaj got up from the bench.
 "This older man was attacked again by the same three
goons."

The one Galactic Soldier looked at
the other and said, "Take this Daj to the medical facility."
 The soldier walked over to the older man and helped him up
and over to the facility.  "And as for you, the curfew is
coming up.  It'd be smart if you went home."

Kaj looked up into the Galactic
Soldiers' helmet, trying to see a face.  The Galactic Soldier
looked back at him over his shoulder, challenging him to defy his
orders.  Kaj spotted the "GS" engraved on the back of the
Galactic Soldiers suit - glowing a neon green color.

Kaj watched the Galactic Soldier
walk off and go back to his base.  He then turned and looked
up at his home.  The jumble of stairs he had to climb to reach
back to his house was a mess.  Brushing off his shoulder, he
proceeded home.

CHAPTER TWO

THE NEWS

Kaj angrily walked back into his
home, his uncle, sitting alone at a small table, listening to the
radio.

"Ah, Kaj you're home," his uncle
said.  "So, did you help that old man out?"  Kaj remained
silent.  His uncle got up from the table and walked over to
him.  Kaj just stood by the window next to the front door,
looking over the village.  His uncle came up behind him and
placed his hand on Kaj's shoulder.  "Kaj, what's
wrong?"

He looked over at his uncle.
 "Why us?" he asked.  "Why did they have to choose our
planet?  Those things have been here for fifteen years now
uncle!  Fifteen years!"

"I know, Kaj, I know," his uncle
said as he fixed the glasses on his face, patting him on the back.
 He glanced over at the radio as the announcer's voice got
excited then quickly looked back at Kaj.  "Come, I'll get you
some dinner."

Kaj nodded and walked over to the
small wooden table by the radio and sat down.  His uncle went
into the kitchen to get Kaj's food.  As Kaj sat down, he let
out a long sigh.  He closed his eyes and imagined how his life
would have been if the Oce never attacked.  He pictured him,
his mother, father, and his uncle walking around outside United
City.  The sky was beautiful, and the air tasted
fresh.

"Here ya go," Kaj's uncle said,
dropping the plate on the table, disrupting his daydream. What sat
on his plate were Canyon Worms – a fat worm that lives in the deep
underground of the canyon.  About six dead ones sat in front
of Kaj.  He sat there, watching the steam escape from their
corpses.

His uncle sat down on the other
side of the table.  He reached over to the radio, which was
sitting in front of the window, and turned the volume
up.

"Breaking News!  I repeat
Breaking News!" an excited yet fearful voice shouted over the
radio.  He went silent for a second.

Kaj and his uncle both looked over
at each other before looking back at the radio, waiting for what
all the commotion was about.

"I have just gotten word from the
Galactic President that he has announced the withdrawal of Galactic
Soldiers from planet Pel.  I repeat, the Galactic President
has announced that he will be withdrawing the Galactic Soldiers
from planet Pel.  This will be the fifth planet in our solar
system that has fallen under the control of the Oce.  The
Galactic President says that it is his priority to make sure that
the soldiers come first in safety if he wishes to continue the
fight against the Oce.  All Galactic Soldiers are being told
to gather all equipment and make their way to the planet's capital,
United City.  Galactic Soldiers will be brought aboard a ship
along with a few residents from the planet to make sure that the
species of Daj do not die off completely.  The Galactic
President has given 48 human hours for all soldiers and Daj to get
abroad.  Once again, breaking news, the Galactic President
will be withdrawing all Galactic Soldiers from planet
Pel."

Kaj's uncle slowly reached over to
the radio knob, turning down the volume.  He looked over at
his nephew.  The expression on his face was of one he had
never seen before.  His eyes wide open, face
frozen.

"Kaj?" his uncle whispered across
the table.  "Kaj?"  He still sat there, motionless.
 His uncle got up from his chair and walked over to him.
 He gently shook him, waking him from his daze.