Storm' Fury: The Shenkar War (59 page)

January 31
st
, 2014 6:15pm EST

Lykaa

              Liam sidestepped as the Shenkar fell forward, dead from Liam’s plasma blade that had pierced his heart moments earlier, and looked about for other combatants. All the Shenkar lay dead or dying from the battle with the humans and Lykaans. Of the human delegation, none seemed seriously hurt, but the Lykaans had three dead and several wounded. As he surveyed the scene, Granshianka approached him.

              “I am happy to see you are unhurt although I fear you have put your people in danger by helping my friends and I,” Liam said as he approached.

              Granshianka looked around the scene of the fight for a few moments before turning back to Liam.

              “Garroon would have died if not for you. You intervened to save the life of a Lykaan yet again, putting your own life on the line to do so. Why did you do this?”

              “I like Garroon and I do not like seeing those I care for come to harm,” Liam explained as he looked about. “Speaking of which, where is Garroon?”

              The pair looked around and found Garroon under the body of a dead Shenkar warrior.  He had a deep cut on his leg, the source of this unknown, and he moaned softly as Granshianka bandaged the wound but his eyes fluttered open to find Liam. His eyes had a glazed look to them that clearly said he was suffereing from shock. Liam knelt down and spoke softly to Garroon.

              “That was a very brave thing you did there, attacking the captain like that.”

              Garroon seemed to gain strength at hearing what he did was brave as he smiled.

              “I’m going to be a great warrior when I grow up, I will kill many Shenkar!” Garroon said as ferociously as he could in his weakened state.

              Liam smiled and gently ruffled the fur on his head. Granshianka touched Liam upon the shoulder and indicate he should stand. As they did Granshianka leaned in and spoke softly.

              “I fear the young one was injured further than that fall should have. I believer when the Shenkar fell upon him he did further damage to the injury he had when his parents were killed. I do not believe he will be able to walk again.”

              “He is paralyzed? What does this mean for him among your culture?” Liam asked, afraid to hear the answer.

              “The paralyzed among my people are typically viewed as invalids, seen as weak. While he is young he would be taken care of out of pity. Typically warriors of my people who suffer such injuries kill themselves instead of becoming a burden upon others,” Granshianka explained.

              Liam’s face must have shown with something resembling disgust because Granshianka quickly continued.

              “My people would happily take care of such warriors but you have to understand that among my people strength and prowess as a warrior is very important to us. Eventually, Garroon will come to the understanding he will never be able to hunt and then he will choose to end his own life. This is not something I could prevent.”

              Liam looked down at Garroon, a pit forming in his chest as the little Lykaan looked up at him.

              “No,” Liam said simply and softly.

              Granshianka began to shake his head but Liam cut him off.

              “No, I cannot allow this,” his voice rising slightly above a whisper.

              “You cannot stop what will be,” Granshianka explained, his voice even and firm.

              Liam shook his head slightly and knelt down beside Garroon. Granshianka softly lay a hand upon Liam’s shoulder before walking off to attend to other matters. Liam knelt there quietly for several moments before a voice spoke quietly from beside him.

              “I know what your thinking and you cannot do it. You’re not God.”

              Liam craned his head up to see Admiral Kelvin standing before him.

              “How is preventing him from killing himself playing god? For that matter how do you know it isn’t god’s will that I save him,” Liam stated, putting an extra emphasis on the word god.

              Admiral Kelvin did not miss the emphasis and his mouth grew tight for a moment before speaking.

              “I know you are not a religious man but you still cannot go and use your nanites to change what has already happened just because you do not like the future outcome.”

              “And if I had a machine that would reconstruct the damage that occurred, thus giving him the ability to walk again, would that then be okay?”

              “Well, yes but I don’t see how….”

              Liam did not wait for Kelvin to finish his sentence but instead cut him off.

              “Then I do not see how this is any different. I am enhanced with alien technology, which in turn turns me into part machine. I am a machine, albeit it, a biological one but a machine none the less. Just because it is a new technology not invented by us does not make it wrong to use to heal the boy.”

              Kelvin lifted a finger to point it at Liam, as he opened his mouth but then closed it again, apparently at a loss for words as to what to say to Liam’s logic. Several times Kelvin opened his mouth as if to present an argument only to close it again. Finally, after several long moments had passed, did Kelvin’s hand drop to his side, a look of defeat upon his face.

              “Okay, I see your point, but still do you even know the Lykaan physiology to be able to correct the issue?”

              This was something Liam had not thought of. With humans he had a detailed knowledge of the human body. He was also able to correct the issue with Shizta’s leg but only because the internal aspects of the Shenkar was very similar to humans. With Lykaans there was nothing common between humans and Lykaans. But he just could not stand by and not try and correct the issue.

              “True, but I have to try…worst case scenario I withdraw my nanites and he remains the same,” Liam stated to Kelvin.

              Kelvin thought this over for several moments before he nodded his agreement but then spoke up.

              “Whatever you do I think you should get permission from Granshianka first. Garroon is one of his people.”
              Liam could not argue this and turned to locate Granshianka. He and Kelvin set off in search of him. They found him speaking with one of the hunters and patiently waited until he finished. Noticing Liam waiting, Granshianka dismissed the hunter and turned his attention to him.

              “I have come seeking your permission to try and help Garroon. I believe I can help correct the damage that has been done to him, at least enough that he will be back to how he was before.”

              Granshianka’s brow rose in surprise at hearing this.

              “How would you do such a thing?”

              “Throughout my body flows tiny little artificial creatures known as nanites that repair any damage my body sustains. I have learned to manipulate those nanites to help others. To do this I need to direct some of them into the injured person’s bloodstream and seek out the areas of damage. The nanites then use the resources within the injured party’s body to reconstruct and rebuild the damaged areas. I wish to try this on Garroon to help the recent damage. I am not sure I will be able to do much of anything as my knowledge of Lykaan physiology is very limited but I would still like to try, with your permission, of course.”

              Granshianka seemed to think this over for several moments before he turned and walked off suddenly. Liam was at a loss for words and did not know what to do or say, fearing he might have insulted the Lykaan with his request. He stood there in silence for a short while before Kelvin spoke up.

              “Do you think we insulted him somehow? Could the use of technology be some sort of taboo for their people?”

              “I do not know. I would not think so as the Shenkar have trained some of the Lykaans on using some of the technology at the manufacturing facilities.”

              The pair watched Granshianka disappear into a nearby dwelling only to reappear several moments later and head back in their direction. As Granshianka got within a few steps he held a small device in front of him, out for Liam to take. Liam took the device and immediately recognized it as a Shenkar holographic data device.

              “This was taken from a dead Shenkar awhile back. Once we discovered what it contained we naturally did not return it to the Shenkar,” Granshianka explained as he nodded towards the device.

              “And what does it contain?” Liam asked curiously.

              “It seems the Shenkar had been conducting extensive research into the physiology of the Lykaans, to the extent of performing tests upon dead Lykaans. Within the device, is detailed information of the body of Lykaans….I am trusting you will do nothing with this that will lead us to harm,” Granshianka explained.

              Liam understood the trust Granshianka was putting in him and nodded to the Lykaan leader.

              “I swear I will only use it for what I need to help Garroon. After which I will return this to your care.”

              “We do not need it, I trust you to keep it safe but otherwise you may destroy it if you wish,” Granshianka explained.

              Liam nodded, moved to Garroon, knelt and carefully picked him up.

              “I will need some place where I can work that is quiet and I will not be disturbed,” Liam asked Granshianka.

              Granshianka led Liam to a small building a short distance away. Liam looked in side and saw a small room with a table and chairs. Liam nodded to Granshianka, entered and set Garroon on the table.

              “I will wait outside to ensure no one will disturb you,” Granshianka explained before he pulled the door closed.

              Liam made Garroon as comfortable as he could before he turned his attention to the Shenkar device. Activating it revealed detailed files on the Lykaan physiology. For the next hour Liam studied the information on the device in detail, every bit of the information retained within his head thanks to his photographic memory. Finally, when he felt he could not learn anything new, he set the device aside and turned his attention to Garroon.

              He studied the injury in detail, probing his fingers along the injury until he was confident he knew where to begin. Retrieving his medical pack from his utility belt he doused his combat knife in antibacterial solution. He then carefully made a small incision along Garroons hip before he then made a similar cut along his palm.

              Setting the knife aside he then placed his palm to the wound on Garroon’s hip. Taking a calming breath he pulled in on himself, linking with the nanites within him and then directing them. Quickly the nanites flowed through him and into Garroon, spreading out as they were directed. Soon he found the current damage Garroon had suffered that had caused the paralysis. The bones were broken in several areas and it looked as if the spinal column and been completely severed. He clustered thousands of nanites around the damaged area and set them to work as he moved on seeking out any damaged area. As he moved through Garroon’s body he lost himself into his work, knowing he had a long road ahead of him. Until he finished helping Garroon, the mission would have to wait.

January 31
st
, 2014 6:31pm EST

Lykaa

              Steve looked through his binoculars across the cavern to the manufacturing facilities that lay on the opposite side. He and his team were roughly three hundred feet up the side of the cavern’s wall on an outcropping where the tunnel they had been traveling through exited.

              The cavern was massive in size with a large opening in the roof where snow passed through. He could not see the sky of the planet but he could only assume that it opened up on the surface due to the snow and the Shenkar gunship that had passed through to land thirty minutes earlier.

              He hadn’t liked the presence of the gunship mainly because he did not know from where it had arrived from. If the gunship had come from another location upon the planet that would not be anything to worry about but if he came from the orbital station then that would be another story. Coming from the orbital station meant the Shenkar had managed to get word to the planet of the human presence and this could be disastrous.

              As he studied the area he began to notice Shenkar troops moving about the area, their numbers increasing as time passed. Soon fortifications began to be constructed around the facilities, as if setting up a defensive perimeter. This activity only furthered Steve’s theory the gunship had come from the station.