They both silently absorbed the subtle unspoken views.
Mahzit saw a great deal he admired in Kal-Nor. A bond had taken root between them.
Kal-Nor gazed towards the northern horizon on the view screen.
“What is it like up there? From what I’ve been told, Helandi is frozen tundra. Not fit to be traveled during most seasons.”
The Commander’s switch of subject intrigued Mahzit.
“True. However, we spend those times deep beneath the ice fields. I cannot compare it to anything you would easily identify. If I say we live in open caverns cut into ice, you would shudder at the prospect of being thus confined. It is not like that at all.”
He explained how their communities were pocketed deep within the glaciers.
“Ah, I understand why you enjoy the cities. Crowded and cramped!”
“Yes,” Mahzit agreed. “I’m comfortable being surrounded by solidity.”
“The barren north is a wasteland of ice,” the Commander scoffed but not too disrespectfully, considering it was Mahzit’s home, they were discussing.
“And the desert is a wasteland of dunes and stone!” Mahzit rebuffed.
“We are from opposite sides of the same mountain range; yours basked with dry sands and mine exposed to bitter cold winds and ice.”
Kal-Nor’s eyes were searching the horizon.
“What was it like on the other side of Noomas?”
Mahzit considered his answer.
“From what little I saw, we spotted a few clusters of sizable islands. Our destination was the northern coast of the mainland. A castle stood on the edge of a tall cliff overlooking the seashore. The land beyond was possibly dense jungle. And further off we saw mountains. It looked like an uninhabited wilderness. The grounds were overgrown. An eerie feeling came over all of us that morning we picked up my sister and Adt Dorta.”
He then told how they had met with Sarleni at the Castle of Doom and how in the broken rubble, they had found the charred skeleton of a monstrous Muti.
An old man’s body lay crumpled at one end of the gloomy chamber. Talni, the Messenger. Mahzit never learned exactly what the others did with it.
“I just stood there, staring at the massive Muti remains. It was almost unbelievable that my sister and Adt Dorta had destroyed this creature in battle.” That was, in truth, all he knew about Kamina.
“No other signs of civilization?”
He shook his head, shrugging.
The elder seemed self-absorbed. Perhaps a bit resigned to their fate.
Reluctant to pose any further questions; he concluded: “So we’re going to an alien territory.”
Thus: had ended their discussion.
“Get rest!” Kal-Nor stretched, “We’ll all need it.”
II. Sky Attack
Mahzit’s excitement spiraled when they sighted land. The deep haze of the morning cast a murky mist over the horizon. Then mountain peaks of an on-rushing landmass rose into a large island, which soon passed them.
After a ration of Mio-sticks, Kal-Nor scheduled combat drills, including swordplay. Mahzit found the sport invigorating. Though none of the Raiders bested him, some of their unusual tactics did rouse intrigue and he, in turn, challenged them with a few Helandian tricks that might prove helpful in any coming battle.
In the midst of these training duels a distant obstacle blotted out the sun’s light, casting a shadow across the Orb’s deck. Activity came to an abrupt halt as someone pointed skyward. All eyes were fixed on a swarm of flying creatures hovering, generating the dark cloud.
At that same moment Mahzit felt a rushing presence.
Yellow bodies, streaked with bluish, undulating patterns crossed the sky. He had never seen anything like this; they were entirely alien.
Odd flapping extensions of their bulky silhouettes served as wings. They moved with lightning speed as the assemblage made its way towards another peculiar object. The creatures seemed disinterested in the grav-disk.
“Flying swarm just ahead!” somebody cried.
Everybody crowded the viewing rail at once. The dark hoard spasmodically shifted direction with unified precision, diving and then skirting the other object at remarkably steep angles.
Mahzit felt the mental probe’s throbbing energy intensify despite his attempts to blot it out. Logic suggested a message from Sarleni. Instinct insisted otherwise. He had never experienced this kind of raw prying energy annoyingly buzzing his ears.
The jells maneuvered; then attacked the other object now taking the form of twin avian, as a wordless fury bellowed in his head.
Am I connected to a sapient element? Self-aware?
Intuitively he thought, it must have come from those jells: a collective consciousness, perhaps?
Reason claimed that was impossible. Experience argued otherwise. There is something else involved, not readily visible. What is this flock after?
He leaned forward glaring at the rolling dark cloud. The jells seemed better suited to swimming than flying.
Kal-Nor wondered: “What do you make of it?”
“Not much, yet.…”
Mahzit was not willing to share his foreign mental connection with some unknown consciousness. Something with an enraged cognizant aliveness was out there, rampant with intense wrath.
The grav-disk bolted forward, sweeping up the distance like a blazing sandstorm.
The swarm scattered; then jetted down to attack the strange target which had split into two independent bodies.
Mahzit remembered how Adt had described huge flying creatures called The Gatherers, half machine and half bird, when they’d seized him and Sarleni.
They were horrid things, four times the size of a robust warrior. Their claws lifted us from the ground and carried us through the air as if we were air bubbles! Their talons must have injected some sort of poison into our bodies because we had felt a sting and then lost consciousness.
The Gatherers had taken them to the slaver ship.
The Haknords were actively mapping the coasts of the continents and islands. When not in use, these Gatherers were latched to the rear of the ship, one on each side. Their fierce violet eyes continually stared out with obvious awareness of their surroundings! Feathery wings of metallic gold were clamped down, strong talons shackled. Whatever control the crew had over them apparently was not adequate without rigid restraints.
The grav-disk rushed closer and it was possible to see greater details of the conflict. The description Adt had given of the Gatherers fit what he was seeing.
Abruptly a bright white beam radiated from the winged machines and in broad sweeps melted complete swaths of the continuous wave of attacking jells.
Even at this distance the men could hear the screeching wail of agonized life being ripped apart with each sweep of the ray.
The jells repeatedly rammed into the winged beasts; then scattered only to regroup, avoiding the white beams periodically streaking towards them from the beasts. When the jells’ gaping mouths attached themselves to the metallic bodies, they left deep gaping pocks on the Gatherers’ underbellies and wings.
Both enormous snapping beaks shredded any jells in their reach, scattering them in all directions. Monstrous wings, like magnificent fans, ripped at the nearest ones, plunging them down into the churning ocean below. The surviving jells continued to attack with an amazing unified dedication. The display was stunning.
Kal-Nor