Walking an Endless Path Pt. 03

"Genocide," Joe whispered.

"On an unimaginable scale. The council deploys these burrs on planets whose inhabitants are considered to be a threat to the safety and security of the network or to the Kel-Fahr. By the time I joined the council, many planets had been seeded this way. When I found out what they were doing, I tried to stop it, but I was placed under house arrest for attempting to disrupt the security of the Kel-Fahr civilization," Rensley said with frustration.

"What about the other races who belong to this network? Why aren't they rising up to confront them about this genocide?" Joe asked.

"None of the other races in the Assembly are aware of the truth. What happens to these red-flagged planets is the Kel-Fahr's ugly secret. I tried to get the information to the Assembly Headquarters on Maghadahn. I gave Breen, my chief of staff, the Gate Generators so he could bypass the official Gate Terminals and expose our shame in the Assembly's Grand Hall, but... he never made it. Maybe these Vershoo killed him for the devices... maybe. But Father was placed under house arrest shortly afterward, which is suspicious. The fact that he came here means they will terminate him and likely me as well when they come. It will look like an accident, and our praises will be sung to the population on Sehsra. The remaining population, that is," she explained, wilting as she finished.

"Why are there so few of you here?" Joe asked.

"Our men are no longer fertile. Where once they produced two to five eggs, now it's rare for them to produce even one, and these are often genetically damaged." She sent a quick and guilty glance toward her sister.

"Eggs?" Joe said with a sick feeling.

"Yes, the males of our race produce eggs. Females provide the fertilizing bed within them where the eggs gestate.

Joe's legs wobbled, and he sat down hard on the bench across from Rensley.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Joe desperately didn't want to talk about this, but... these people could get him home. If he wasn't honest with them, they wouldn't trust him. "I don't know what it means, but females produce the eggs for humans, and males provide the fertilization. That was one of the things the Fahrchar merging changed in me. I produce eggs now, hundreds of them... but they aren't compatible with humans."

"Hundreds?" Rensley gasped.

"The Ello leader said I was a weapon against the Kel-Fahr. He told the Vershoo to get me to Sehsra. I don't understand."

"Wait—the Ello? They're not enemies of the Kel-Fahr. They are one of our chief benefactors. The Council uses them for most of our technology projects and contracts," Rensley said.

Joe sat looking at Rensley, unable to comprehend what she was saying. His mind spun with the implications, but a major piece was missing.

There was a sudden explosion, which shook the room they were in.

"They're here," Kennt said.

Joe leapt to his feet and ran back toward where they'd parked their car. As the door opened on the large plateau, he saw the burning wreckage of the vehicles parked there. In the far distance, he could make out a shape floating in the sky. It was still too far away to get a good look at it, and he was looking through the smoke and distortion of the heat coming from the fires. He rushed back to the group.

"All the vehicles on the plateau have been destroyed!" he told them.

"No sense in running anymore," Kennt said as he slumped onto the bench.

"Excuse me, we all have death sentences if we stick around. I, for one, want to go home!" Joe barked. He opened the backpack and pulled out the Gate Generators. "Rensley, you can find the coordinates for my planet. Please, will you look it up for me?"

Rensley looked at her father, who just nodded tiredly. She walked over to the data terminal on the room's wall and activated it. She logged in with her identification and accessed the council network. A few deft touches on the panel later, and the map Joe had seen at Kennt's house earlier was displayed. Only this time, all the red-flagged planets had coordinates displayed next to them. Joe pulled out his phone and took a quick picture of the map. He checked the image he got and saw he could read the numbers well enough. He took a picture of Rensley and the others before slipping it back into his pocket.

Rensley looked through the map. "What do you call your planet?"

"Earth."

She tapped a few more times, and one of the red flags started to flash. Joe noted the coordinates. He turned to Kennt.

"How can there be only one set of coordinates when there were at least two locations on my planet where the Gates opened?" he asked.

"For planets without established Gates, the coordinates take you to the area where the gravity field's resonance is strongest. If you say there's more than one access point, your gravity field is destabilizing. This fluctuation is not a good sign," Kennt replied.

"Can you fix it? Could you reset the burrs to repair our planet's gravity field?" he asked the Kel-Fahr.

"What? Me?"

"Yes, you! Aren't you the planet's most brilliant engineer?" Joe asked. "Come with me! That invitation goes out to all of you! There is no need for you to die here at the hands of your own people! You can do something to fix the evil your leaders have done on my world and others. Please!"

Kennt looked at Rensley in shock. He hadn't contemplated escaping his death. Unlike his councilor daughter, he hadn't thought of personally acting to repair the damage his inventions had wrought.

He peered at the map. "Jumping from Sehsra to Earth directly isn't possible as the planets are too far from each other." He paused and considered the problem. "We could boost the Gate Generators if we drained your household power reserves," Kennt said as he looked at Rensley.

"Do it!" she insisted.

Rensley turned back to the map and looked at the details for Earth. "The gravity on your planet is a bit high for our comfort. We'd have to wear augmentation suits while we were there. Did you bring your suits, Father?" She glanced at her sister.

"No," he said despondently.

Joe was getting tired of how quickly Kennt gave up.

"Maybe you could build some when we get to Earth?" he suggested.

There was a buzzing coming from the terminal. "We have company. Five Mediators on a sled coming in. Advance party from the carrier," Rensley said.

"Carrier?" Joe asked.

Rensley did something on her terminal, and the entire screen filled with a scene from the valley. There in the sky was... Joe thought it looked like the Empire State Building floating horizontally... only bigger. He couldn't grasp the true scale of it, but he knew something that large shouldn't be floating like that.

"The Blade of Eshen! It's Tyreen! Only she'd be so arrogant as to use the flagship to run her errands," Rensley spat.

"Tyreen the Terrible?" Joe asked, thinking of her brutal use of the Mediators.

Rensley blurted out a stuttering sound as she spun to look at Joe. "What did you call her?"

"Tyreen the Terrible. I read up about her, and she sounded pretty militant and heavy-handed," he said defensively.

"That's a perfect description!" she grinned, then looked back at the screen. "Those Mediators are going to land shortly. I don't think we'll have time to get the Gate working."

"Do you have any weapons?" Joe asked.

"No!" Rensley gasped, offended.

Joe thought furiously. He needed to buy them some time. He thought of how he'd dealt with the three neighbors Kennha had sent to get him. Maybe it would work on these guys.

"Get started with the Gate. I'm going to see if I can't talk these guys out of their suits," Joe said. The three Kel-Fahr looked at him like he'd gone insane. "Just do it, please!" he said as he hustled out of the room.

He dashed back to the plateau and rushed past the burning wreckage to get to the edge. He saw the valley clearly and the monstrously large carrier gliding toward them. It was still a long distance away, making its size more intimidating. Much closer was the flying open-platform vehicle carrying the five Mediators. It was moving much quicker as well. A small, enclosed cabin was on one side where the platform driver sat. Joe took some quick photos of the approaching ship and pocketed the phone again. General MacAvoy would be VERY interested to see their carrier.

Glancing around, Joe saw bits and pieces of the exploded car littering the ground. There was something round that looked like a metal, slightly oblong baseball. Joe picked it up and ran back to stand a little further back from the edge of the plateau. The smoke from the fires slightly obscured him from the approaching sled.

He was shaking. He hadn't been this frightened since the time he'd been pinned in the wreckage of his truck. He was so close to going home, and these Mediators could prevent that. He couldn't let them succeed. He closed his eyes and did some breathing exercises to calm his nerves. When he opened them, he felt a little steadier. The platform descended rapidly towards the plateau's lip, and the five Kel-Fahr in their scary suits had arranged themselves at the leading edge of the vehicle.

Bouncing the heavy metal ball on his palm twice, Joe estimated the distance to the sled, then took a few quick steps forward and threw the ball with all his strength at the approaching platform. The Mediators hadn't seen the throw due to the smoke, but their suits picked up the incoming object and reacted. The two closest to the sled's cab dropped to their knees lightning fast as the ball shot by. They hadn't been the target, though. The missile slammed through the cab's window and turned the driver's head into a mist on its way through to explode out the back window.

The sled took a sudden dive and crashed into the plateau's edge. The three mediators on their feet managed to leap before the crash and sprawled out on the surface of the parking area. The two on their knees were crushed between the platform and the side of the mountain. The sled crumpled and lost all power to its lift fields. With a terrible groan, the heavy platform slid down the steep cliff side and tumbled into the valley below, breaking apart on the rocky surface as it went.

Joe was stunned that his throw had worked so successfully. He'd been aiming at the cabin to destroy the controls but had killed the driver instead. While he'd achieved a rather spectacular result, he was horrified by how he'd done it. He pushed it aside as he still had three opponents. Now, all he had to do was convince them that their only option was to surrender. Piece of cake, right?

He stepped forward, and the closest mediator opened fire. Lightning shot out of its gauntlet and struck Joe in the chest, knocking him down and back into the smoke. Joe tore his burning shirt from his chest and plucked the phone from his pocket. He put it into his pant's back pocket and threw the flaming shirt to the side. Another bolt pierced the smoke and hit the remnants of his shirt. Joe dodged to the side and moved to flank them. He squeezed past the ripped and blasted car he'd arrived in and peered around it to see the three Mediators taking positions. The one who shot him didn't seem to be able to lift the mech's right arm.

Time to see if he could get them to surrender. He stood clear of the wreckage.

"STOP!" he yelled at them, putting as much force into his command as he directed it at the three.

One completely fell over and landed on its face. A second turned to look at him but didn't move beyond that. The third was the one with the paralyzed right arm. Its left arm worked fine, though, as it came up to point at him. Joe took a chance and ran at this one with his arms reaching forward. The lightning shot forward and caught Joe on his palms. It arced back to play across the Kel-Fahr's suit. Sparks blew out of the joints, and the interior burst into flames. Joe felt the screams of the Kel-Fahr in his mind until they just stopped.

Joe was once more horrified by what he'd done. He'd just burned someone to death. He turned and vomited on the ground as the shock tore through him. Once he'd gotten control of his stomach, he glanced at the other two and saw they hadn't moved.

"Get—get out... of the suits," he growled at them.

The one facing him complied quickly, and the suit popped open with a hiss to allow the occupant to exit. The one lying on its face hadn't moved.

"Get that one open," he said, and the Kel-Fahr moved to touch the suit in a few spots. With a whine, the mech pushed itself to its feet, then popped open. The Kel-Fahr inside flopped out onto the ground. His partner rushed over to him.

"He's dead!" the old soldier gasped.

Joe felt ill again but didn't have time to worry about it. He glanced over at the carrier, which was perceptibly closer.

"You. Go sit against that wall and don't move until your people come to collect you. Do you understand?" Joe said.

The soldier scrambled in fear and sat against the wall, trembling and weeping.

Sick to his soul, Joe hustled back into the house. When he got to the courtyard, he saw the Gate Generators were in place, and a light-duty augmentation suit was standing ready for its occupant. The three Kel-Fahr spun to look at him, and he saw them relax. They'd been expecting the Mediators.

"There are two empty Mediator suits on the plateau. Rensley and Kennha, could you please go get them?" Joe asked.

"What? How did you do that?" Rensley gasped.

Joe's stomach lurched again. He grimaced as he forced himself to calm down. "Please, just get the suits. Quickly. We have to leave now," he said quietly.

The two women left together with uneasy looks on their faces.

Joe turned to Kennt, who was stepping into the augmentation suit. He buckled himself in and powered up the suit. With a nod to Joe, the Kel-Fahr walked over and activated the Gate. The familiar rumble in his bones began, and Joe watched the black doorway snap into place. The lights suddenly dimmed as the devices sucked the home's batteries dry.

Once it was up, Joe picked up the Gate Generators and put them in his backpack. He noticed Kennt's device was still inside and was about to ask him what it was when he felt an odd surge of fear through his link with Kennha. She was screaming, and it felt like fear and rage. Joe got a bad feeling, so he pitched his backpack through the Gate and pushed Kennt toward the edge. Lightning struck his back as he had Kennt facing the Gate. He shoved the Kel-Fahr through, then spun to see Kennha stagger and fall as her suit lost power from the backlash it had taken.

Rensley stood in the doorway. She'd followed her sister back and had witnessed her attack on the big alien. She was stunned. She didn't know what to do for the first time in a long time.

"Rensley! Please help me get Kennha through the Gate. We're out of time. We have to get through to help your father, too," Joe yelled.

His voice cut through the fog of her muddled mind, and she felt herself moving before she was aware of it. She picked up her sister's smoking Mediator suit, and sensors in hers indicated there were no life signs from the other mech suit. She put it back down. "She's gone."

She saw the look of horror on the alien's face. He suddenly shook his head fiercely with his eyes tightly closed and bellowed in rage as his eyes leaked liquid. He beat his fists against his head strangely.

Then, he suddenly grabbed her. With terrifying strength, he lifted her into his arms, mech suit and all, and jumped through the Gate.

Chapter 8

Roger Bannon was beginning to fear their gamble had failed. It was now over seven days since Rusty and Burnie had gone after the three Tik who could save their planet. Pokey continued to be a fabulous source of information, but without a second Tik, they had no hope of opening a Gate.

He'd asked the General if the Russians had succeeded with their one remaining Tik, Patch. Unfortunately, they destroyed the unit and lost two more scientists. This meant everything rested on the Tik mission being successful.

He leaned back in his chair in the living room of the Neumann household. He was seriously starting to love these people. They had taken them in even after they'd lost their son to the aliens. Karl and Clara were the kindest, most generous people he'd ever had the honor of meeting. Their only request had been to keep them in the loop regarding their progress in finding their son. Karl went back to working his farm, and several Soldiers covered Joe's duties on their off hours.

Roger was still staying in the bedroom upstairs, and Rachel was in the room next to his. Safa was in the room at the end of the hall. Safa found a compound to neutralize the organic corrosive she'd collected a sample of at the dead zone. The heat from the blast had gotten most of it, but Safa's compound destroyed the rest. The area was safe to work in once more.

He was amazed at the difference in Safa since Joe had been taken. She threw herself into her work, and some of the discoveries she'd made in the dead zone would be enough to keep a team of scientists occupied for years. He'd caught her in the hallway with her hand on the door to Joe's room. He knew she was hurting from their inability to protect the young man.

Rachel was... beautiful. He had to admit he was head over heels in love with the woman. Sometimes, it took his breath away. He was incredibly grateful she seemed to feel the same way about him. Their adjoining rooms made their nightly liaisons possible, and they tried to be as discreet as possible. Karl and Clara were aware but respected their need for privacy and secrecy.

The General flew back and forth between Washington and Glennville and ensured their team had all the backing they needed. The finds Safa had presented to the General and the information Rachel pulled from Pokey kept the General a very happy man.

All in all, the team was functioning smoothly and was well-motivated. The base was working like a well-oiled machine. He understood that one of the sergeants on the base was engaged to a local woman. The man met the woman through her friendship with Joseph, so the Soldiers, Sailors, and the Neumann family had an even stronger bond. The troops here had unofficially adopted Karl and Clara as honorary parents; from what he could see, the feelings were mutual.

He was beginning to nod off in the chair when his phone squawked. Roger yelled and leapt to his feet. It was unintentional, but the sheer unexpectedness of his phone making that particular sound instantly shocked him alert. He pulled his phone out of his shirt pocket, pressed the connect button, and put it on speaker to listen carefully. Karl and Clara rushed into the room from the kitchen. He held up his hand for silence as he listened.

The sounds were muted, but he heard footsteps, the drone of insects, and a strange mechanical whining.

Then he heard Joseph's voice.

"I think we're getting close to civilization. I'm going to have to find a place for you two to hide while I make my way into town. I can't have the locals spotting you."

Karl and Clara grabbed each other and hugged. Tears were running down their cheeks.

Rogers flipped off the mute on his phone. "Joseph! Can you hear me?"

There was a fumbling noise then the sounds got louder. The phone must have been in a pocket.

"Director Bannon? Is that you?" Joe's voice boomed out of the phone.

"Joseph! Oh, my Joseph! You're back!" Clara cried, unable to contain her joy.

"Mom! Is that you? Yes, I'm back!" Joe started to cry with relief.

"Joseph, did you just arrive?" Bannon asked.

"No, we came through a Gate about four days ago. We've been walking east from sun up to sun down every day," Joe replied.

"We?" Roger asked.

"I've brought along two Kel-Fahr, but they need medical attention soon," Joe replied.