The Powers That Be Read online

  Then as she belatedly remembered the hazard zone around them that the Garas’tox were fast approached, a blinding white Cleansing Beam shot down from the ship, through the new air corridor, bypassing the water that otherwise would have absorbed the blast, and cored right through the mud into the rock below and blasted down towards the Hadarak tunnel.

  The explosion of rock, mud, and what water got through to hit the beam pushed out a mushroom cloud around the perimeter along with an underwater tsunami that obliterated the area around the blast zone…all the way out to the edge of the danger zone where the wave hit the Garas’tox without slowing them too much, though all the Elarioni were thrown back no matter how hard they swam. They were uninjured, but couldn’t catch back up with the Garas’tox at all as the two giant swimmers accelerated and went straight towards the blast zone once the Cleansing Beam ceased and the shield column retreated.

  By the time Oasu’kli and her guards got to them, the Garas’tox had already descended through the blast zone and were inside the Hadarak tunnel melee fighting the minions as they came to them from below. The Elarioni swam down towards them to help, then got a redirect behind them from the Garas’tox.

  The tiny Elarioni did as ordered, swimming down into the Hadarak tunnel and bypassing the huge boulders that had broken free of the walls and were partially obscuring the travel path. She didn’t know why they didn’t just seal it entirely, then she realized how the two Garas’tox had such a sweet spot here, for the minions couldn’t swarm them…only approach them from one direction…and that gave the two Clansmen the perfect kill zone.

  And they’d just ordered the Elarioni to watch their rear for minions coming back up the tunnel from the exit, and to pick up any minions that might get past the Garas’tox.

  But that wasn’t likely to happen, because they were savagely cutting down everything that came within reach of their neck, tail, and four energy-blade covered flippers.

  Oasu’kli sighed and waited along with the others, hoping something would come through that they could kill, or hoping that something came back up the tunnel from the exit, but for the moment they were just floating in the water and watching as the Garas’tox took all the kills without any signs of tiring…

  2

  Joor’nak was an aquatic race and third tier member of the V’kit’no’sat Empire…or at least were before the empire’s collapse. Since then they had become far less, with no worlds of their own. The J’gar had claimed most of them, and the Garas’tox had quietly assumed control of the rest without a fight, for the Joor’nak had no limbs to fight with. They were water snakes with a triple tail, but they’d never been allowed Saroto’kanse’vam for their tail tips, making them poor fighters against the larger aquatic races.

  But what they did have was size and intelligence, with them being the largest aquatic race by mass, and their Lachka was likewise enhanced by that mass. This made them very good at point defense, construction, mining, and other support duties…but melee combat was not their strong suit, and most of their race’s focus within the empire had been on shipbuilding. They were an aquatic race that had created starships long before they were brought into the empire, unlike most other aquatic races, and it was their warfleet that had given them a position within the V’kit’no’sat above and beyond a slave race.

  But that warfleet was long since destroyed in the Zak’de’ron war, and now the Joor’nak had become residents of shared worlds without the ability to leave, making them baggage for the most part, for without their shipyards there wasn’t much they could contribute, and their greater intellect was seen as a threat by the major V’kit’no’sat races…and for that they’d been deliberately suppressed since the old Zak’de’ron had added them to the Empire.

  At the time it had been seen as a deliberate slap against the J’gar, bringing in a race with intelligence equal or greater to their own, and once the Zak’de’ron had been thought destroyed the Joor’nak were not rewarded for their assistance with peerdom…but rather barely controlled contempt. They were not given higher status, and were forced to remain in the low level position of a newly added race throughout their membership in the V’kit’no’sat.

  When Mak’to’ran took power that had started to change, albeit slowly, but there was a path to ascension there, for he was particularly fond of their warship capabilities and was eager to undo the inequities of the past…but then he was assumed killed and the second war against the Zak’de’ron began.

  And through it, the near destruction of the Joor’nak from both sides was nearly complete.

  None had been able to join Star Force, for the Joor’nak no longer controlled any worlds…and without their fleet they couldn’t relocate to them or find uninhabited worlds of their own to colonize, for the J’gar were still preying on any non-Star Force vessels. Bio’bo was one of the survivors on Tien vo Sha’cani that expected to die here to the Hadarak for lack of evacuation ships from any race on the planet, for most had already left with those higher up in rank onboard…and none had been Joor’nak.

  But now Star Force had arrived in the water to fight the Hadarak and evacuate the V’kit’no’sat here…meaning Bio’bo and the others not only had a chance to survive, but they finally had a chance to get to Star Force and plead with them to join their own Joor’nak faction crafted from vagabonds and those deemed executable that Mak’to’ran had originally sent their way to give them the genetic material necessary to create a splinter race of all the V’kit’no’sat in the Rim.

  Bio’bo was longer than a football field and wider than a bus, yet he swam through the water easily as ripples formed along his body and pushed the water backwards to his clasped tail, which looked like a flipper with the three strands flattened out and pushed together to form the most propulsive alignment possible.

  Bio’bo wasn’t alone, for there were 6 more Joor’nak following him through the city’s Satu, which when underwater didn’t move individuals along an elevated shield road, but rather squirted water through wide tubes faster than a normal person could ever hope to swim.

  The Joor’nak were traveling through those now, swimming along with the current to gain additional speed as they headed for the telepathic beacon coming from Star Force that was transmitting a single thought.

  Evacuation Point Here

  Bio’bo didn’t need to hear any more than that. He’d been prepared to fight as little as he could with his Lachka against the minions when they broke into the city while the Garas’tox and some Dan’chey were manning the outer defenses, but the latter race was ill suited to fighting as well, leaving only a few number of the Garas’tox that dominated this planet to safeguard the major city in this region…while all the other settlements around it had already fallen.

  The Joor’nak had lived in three of those settlements, keeping to themselves until the assaults came. Only a few hundred had survived out of tens of thousands. The Hadarak minions were so fast and numerous the Joor’nak couldn’t sustain their smaller ‘bites’ long enough to escape, though their mass was heavily fortified with biological countermeasures in addition to technological armor that made them hard to kill in most other situations.

  They were jokingly referred to as the ‘gentle giants,’ which had been an insult of the J’gar who had Saroto’kanse’vam. The Joor’nak would have eventually been able to earn them under Mak’to’ran’s new order, but too late to help them now…though Mak’to’ran’s experiment with the Rim might be better than that entirely if they could relocate them out of the warzone so far they’d never hear the name Hadarak again.

  Bio’bo swam with the others staggered behind him until they came to one of the ‘circumvents’ that allowed an escape from the confines of the Satu or a redirect into the other tunnel that would take them back the reverse direction. The Joor’nak took the ‘off current’ and swam out into the still water before heading down to the city floor and making their way through all manner of buildings that had no obvious design to them.

  Th
ey were sticking out here and there, and navigating them was like navigating a maze if you didn’t understand the telepathic markers which were thankfully still functioning as the fighting raged overhead. The city shield was already down and the Hadarak minions were in the waters above…which is why the Joor’nak and other aquatic races heading for the evacuation point were staying low and taking the slower way through the buildings to provide them cover.

  A trio of Dan’chey were walking on the ground painfully slow, for the amphibians were not true swimmers…and despite their haste, Bio’bo knew they were not going to make it and reached out to them telepathically.

  Cling to us, he said, dropping lower and slowing as little as he could manage while indicating a point near his bulbous head.

  One of the Dan’chey reached up on its hind legs and floated off the paving stones with one of its four legs extended…then it’s armor latched onto Bio’bo’s armor and yanked the Dan’chey into motion, with him eventually getting all four feet attached to the Joor’nak’s body as two of the other massive water snakes picked up the other Dan’chey in a similar fashion.

  Much gratitude, Bio’bo’s rider thanked him as he bobbed back and forth slightly with the Joor’nak’s body undulations. Many are being left behind.

  What is happening? Bio’bo asked, knowing the Dan’chey hive mind was probably the best means of getting information now that large chunks of the city’s tactical network were down from unknown damage.

  The Garas’tox are retreating and taking the first evacuation spots. The city is being left to the Hadarak.

  Cowards.

  No, they are overwhelmed. If they stand their currents, they will be lost. The city is falling and nothing can be done of it. But they are not helping Dan’chey. We thank you for helping us.

  Are there others in the path ahead? You are light and we can take a few more.

  Yes, slightly to the right. If you take next junction path 7…the Dan’chey said, flinching as a huge explosion was heard/felt above them.

  They had to swim further before there was a break in the buildings to see what was the source of the detonation…and to Bio’bo’s dismay a ship had crashed into the water right on top of the Hadarak swarms assaulting the city spires where the Dan’chey and others were putting up some light defensive fire.

  But the ship that had ‘crashed’ had done so intentionally, for it was now spewing out thousands of tiny objects that were engaging the minion swarms and immediately diverting them from the spire fields they had been destroying.

  Do you know what those are? Bio’bo asked.

  Tiny aquatic troops from Star Force called ‘Elarioni.’ Fast but weak. Ferocious like Rit’ko’sor, but smell better.

  Bio’bo took the next junction as suggested, doing a corkscrew upwards and around a bend until sliding back down into an angular path that brought them up on another line of Dan’chey walking slowly in the water and using their tails for as much extra propulsion as they could. The Joor’nak picked all of them up, leaving Bio’bo with three riders in total, and slowing him down considerably, but it seemed the minions were too distracted by the Elarioni to care…for the most part. Two of their lumpy masses saw the Joor’nak and swam down through the buildings to come after them, but the combined telekinetic defense ripped them in half before they could get close enough to harm them.

  They swam on without incident all the way to the telepathic beacon, where they saw several giant straws dipping down from the distant surface to the city floor, inside of which there was a current taking those nearby upwards…which several mechanical beasts flanking the entrance of the straws and occasionally firing tiny projectiles upwards to intercept Hadarak minions getting too close.

  Where do those go? one of his Dan’chey riders asked.

  I do not know, but the only way off this planet is by starship.

  Perhaps it is Satu to another region?

  Whatever it is, we are going in. If you wish to stay here, detach now.

  We will go as far as you will take us.

  Then hold on, Bio’bo said as other aquatic races were pinching in around them as they were all crowding together to get into the current being sucked into the giant straw. The Joor’nak tried to make sure their Dan’chey clingers didn’t get scraped off by collisions, having to telekinetically nudge others aside when needed, but then they felt the grip of the current grab them and haul them upwards…but nobody floated with it. Instead they raced up it to get away from the combat as fast as possible, with Joor’nak being the slowest of the group other than the loose Dan’chey that were being bumped around like toys as the true swimmers passed them by.

  He grabbed two more that were being helplessly smashed into the sidewalls and added them to his riders, shoving a Garas’tox aside with a jab to its neck when it slapped a fin on his tail. That more than got his attention and the sleek ‘superior’ V’kit’no’sat swam by him with an angry glance, but kept his distance. The discord being shown here was very un-V’kit’no’sat-like, and Bio’bo wondered if all the underpinnings of the empire were now gone as well as their territory and leadership.

  When they got to the top of the straw Bio’bo saw he had been right, for they swam out into a much larger receiving area surrounded by shield walls at a distance. Dan’chey covered the floor as they walked/swam forward towards receiving ports that had little Elarioni stationed at them giving telepathic orders on the other side of the walls, through which the Joor’nak passed, seeing the normal murky waters of the planet clear up immediately as the residue in the water was filtered out.

  It smelled fresher than Bio’bo could ever remember sensing.

  Thank you, Joor’nak, the Dan’chey said, all letting go simultaneously and drifting to the distant floor below where their kin were as Bio’bo swam on ahead and got in line behind a Sess’nat. When it passed through another shield gate, the huge Joor’nak came to a halt with a reverse wave that made the Elarioni swim for a moment to hold position.

  I and the other Joor’nak wish to accept the Star Force invitation to join in the war against the Hadarak. Until now we have been unable to make contact.

  Noted, she said as a scanning beam reached out and contacted Bio’bo’s armor. Please allow genetic sampling so we can catalog you. I will attach your intentions to your file and once you reach a safe port you will be redirected accordingly.

  Bio’bo retracted his armor into a single collar that ran around his ‘neck’ just behind his head, which allowed the beam to contact his flesh and take a sample.

  Follow the markers, the Elarioni said as holographic orbs formed in front of him like escorts and directed him through the indoor pond they were now within towards a specific aperture in the distance.

  From there he was essentially a prisoner onboard a Star Force aquatics transport, feeling very confined in the ‘small’ ship that was appropriately large for his size, but with many areas configured for the smaller aquatics races, leaving him and the other Joor’nak with limited movement options as they were eventually taken away from the planet and began a long journey across the stars…but one where they did not have to worry about J’gar ambushes, for they wouldn’t dare strike a Star Force ship, knowing what payback would come if they did. Star Force may have been seen as ‘timid’ to the V’kit’no’sat in their aversion to offensive combat, but everyone knew their sense of vengeance had been inherited from the V’kit’no’sat and had not been tempered by the Rim.

  Attack them, and you would lose more than a few personnel or ships in recompense. They might not kill you, but they’d take your entire planet and your civilization’s sovereignty with the same alacrity as the V’kit’no’sat had when some lesser race dared to strike them…except Star Force reacted the same way with the more capable opponents, and even the J’gar knew better than to test them.

  And what he had briefly witnessed of their combat with the Hadarak hadn’t shaken that assessment, so when he finally got his face to face discussion on a Star Force aquatic
s world just on the far side of the Hula Hoop over a year later, he was blunt but polite, knowing that he had no leverage whatsoever.

  We have a few options to offer you, Joor’nak, the Elarioni said telepathically as she swam up in front of his huge face that was more than capable of swallowing her whole if he wanted to. It is noted that you wish to join the other Joor’nak in Star Force?

  I and the others do. We were denied the opportunity by geography, otherwise we would have answered the call earlier.

  The Elarioni squinted. So you wish to join the Grand Border V’kit’no’sat?

  We do.

  That is not what the Joor’nak are doing. They are a faction in the Rim, though now they’re being renamed the ‘Falkor.’

  I do not understand the division. I thought all of your Knight races were tasked with fighting the Hadarak?

  We have a large empire with many battlefronts and needs. The new V’kit’no’sat are tasked to only the Grand Border. The Knight races are tasked with going wherever in the galaxy they are needed. That may be to fight the Hadarak, perhaps not. The Grand Border V’kit’no’sat are focused on defending a specific slice of territory and holding it in perpetuity. We are currently accepting Joor’nak into this new V’kit’no’sat, as well as offering some positions in the Falkor. In addition, there are other options.

  Name them.

  Assisting other aquatic races with exploration, colonization, and construction of new ocean civilizations to accommodate other evacuees coming from the Core. We do not have enough room to house everyone, thus we are being forced to expand rapidly. Often to oceans that are less than ideal, that we have to terraform or create contained cities within. Joor’nak are heavily requested in these efforts due to your Lachka skills, but the choice of paths is yours. I have 3910 colonization teams that have requested Joor’nak after they have completed indoctrination, which you already did on your journey here.