Slavers of Antar

By DocPaul

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Chapter One: Caduceus

The trees thrashed and the winds howled as the three lone figures scrambled around the low ridge, hiding in the foliage. They could hear movement to their left. Holding hands, they bit back a need to cry, a need to scream. One of them, the leader, looked at the others, and holding their hands tight, gestured for them to be quiet. Very quiet.

They all startled at the blaring of a horn. Demigods. They roamed, their blackened faces hooded behind a masque of fear, their faces that of serpents. Hearts beating hard in chests, they scrambled for brush that would cover. Their city was burning on the horizon, and the scaling winds carried the heat, lightening the skies, and burning the flesh.

Crawling low, almost on their bellies, they dug into the ground, trying to mask their smell. Desperation. Fear. They were a bitter pull, drawing the nose. Thoth warriors with talons searched the grounds, walking cautiously, driving the prey. He was tall, made taller by an ornamental headpiece. A commander. His foot trod within a space of them, almost on a hand barely hidden.

Stopping, he lifted his head to smell the air. Turning, his dark eyes seemed to gleam in the dark, drawing what little light there was to his pupils. He saw them. It was the ghoulish smile that made the blood pool in rivers of coldness.

“Run,” he said softly, his voice a cut in the heart of fear. The three women leaped to their feet and rushed into the night screaming.

His maniacal laughter rang after them. He calmly lifted his hand, and a wave of power pulsed, striking them in mid-back. The three women collapsed on the verge of death. He calmly walked to them.

“Repair them. Chain. Separate this one from the other two. She is the natural leader. Strength. It will be a problem. Contact our Lord and advised him that the hunt was a success.”

His men bowed to his command.

“The Others?”

The young figure turned and observed the burning city. He smiled. “Leave them nothing. They will come. Make certain they find only our leftovers. The bones.”

~~~

“Ugh!” Kyle jerked awake. Lying in the dark, gasping, his body was covered in sweat. Concentrate. His eye closed. He had let his guard down again, for a moment the voices of the Shiva reached him. Dreams. Voices.

Rolling from the bed, he stumbled into his bathroom. Taking a vial of pills, he took two. His head was almost ready to explode. The headaches were getting worse. Staring at his reflection, he noticed the dark rings beneath his eyes. He needed sleep. The dreams. They haunted him far into the waking, but he couldn’t shake the fear. It wasn’t him. It wasn’t!

Kyle rubbed his chest. His hearts. They hurt. Sighing, he quickly dressed. The Medical Unit was minimally staffed at sleep hours. Shiva reduced the internal environments to simulate a normal day.

“Kyle?”

“Julia, don’t get up.” Kyle took his notepad, and quickly scanned the evening report.

The young woman smiled, but there was a hint of concern as she observed her boss. “You’re early again. You have at least three more hours on your sleep cycle.” Her beautiful blue hazel eyes filled with concern. He looked tired. Almost as if he was in pain. She stretched her long lean body, and pushed her untidy blonde hair behind her ear. It was shoulder length, but it was still getting in her way. Maybe a shorter cut? She shook her head trying to clear her thoughts. She was tired. Kyle had to be worse. He looked as if he hadn’t sleep in a good month.

“I know. Couldn’t sleep. I think the Shiva went through a waking storm. The sounds always wake me.” His brown hazel eyes were tired, but his smile was still worth viewing. Julia searched for something to do or say that might help him. His brown hair was slightly long and evidently the recipient of his hands, as it was standing up in strange ways. Usually Kyle was pretty well coifed.

Julia frowned but didn’t say anything. The Shiva was too large to react to a storm or a scatter of ion trails in the space they traveled. Her internal damping field gave the occupants an even and uneventful ride. Only a very sensitive person could feel the shifts in space.

“I’ll be in my office. Feel free to run to the Mess for more coffee. I know our Bunsen burner brew is pure rot gut.”

Julia smiled, “The galley’s isn’t much better.”

“True,” Kyle said absentmindedly as he went into his office shutting the door. He waited. It took ten minutes before Julia cleared her desk and decided to take his advice and go search for coffee.

“Kyle, I’m going to get that coffee. You want a cup?”

“Thanks. Don’t bother. I’m restless. I think I’ll finish this and then take a stroll around the lower decks.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t leave, then…” Julia hesitated leaving the Medical bay unattended.

“Go. You’ll probably beat me. If I’m not here, I doubt it won’t be for long. Go.” Kyle waited until the woman left the bay. She had joined the crew only a year before. She was a good doctor, a specialist in muscular problems and connective tissue disease. A decent surgeon, but her love was more mechanics. She was the closest medical doctor they had to a sports doctor. Strains. Sprains. Torn muscles. Rebuilding musculature and ligaments. She was an experienced field doctor seasoned in full battle during the war. Julia was the woman for any emergency they might need.

Taking his medical scanner, Kyle quickly typed in a diagnostic for the medical scanner bed. He used the hand scanner and his notepad to connect to the larger scanning bed. A direct download would be possible. Lying down, he closed his eyes as the medical scan ran across his form. It took only a few microns. Not long at all.

Glancing at the door quickly, he transferred all data into his hand notepad, and quickly sealed the file under his name. Resetting the default diagnostic mode on the scanner, he left the medical bay.

The observatory deck was empty. Kyle sat down staring out to space. He hesitated. Finally, he opened the file and looked at the results of the scan. Closing his eyes, he swore softly. It was worse than he feared.

~~~

“You can come in all the way,” Maria said.

“You have to stop doing that. I’m the Empath, not you,” Kyle softly pointed out.

“Says you.” Maria looked up from her sensors. “What brings you to my den of horror?”

“I find the Astrolab very soothing.” Kyle handed Maria a cup of coffee.

“So how did you know I was awake?”

“I felt you.” Kyle sat in his favorite chair with his favorite person. Maria. Since that one day so many days ago, the day they watched Tess die, the two of them shared a special friendship. One that Michael couldn’t understand, but respected. “Your husband know you’re here?”

“He got called to the bridge. I seem to be banned again.”

Kyle laughed. That was a surprise. Not. She was Max’s worst nightmare. “What did you do this time?”

Maria made a face. “I tweaked the helm’s control.”

Kyle laughed. “I see. Was that why I had my coffee in my lap the other day?”

Maria shrugged. “I don’t see why Caleb’s bad driving is my fault. I told him the systems would be ‘touchy’—um, I mean, more responsive.”

“Uh-huh. Take it Max didn’t find the change good?”

Maria snorted. “He would’ve if he hadn’t ended up on the floor with Michael on top of him. I swear, do you think Michael is gaining weight? He seems to weigh a ton now. I tried, um—” Maria paused and quickly changed what she was going to say. “Tossing him the other day, and I couldn’t budge him.”

“He just had a physical. His weight is pretty much the same. He was down after that bout of Crudealian flu, but otherwise, he’s in good shape.”

“God! Don’t mention that to him, please!” Maria looked pained. “He was so sick, and when he discovered that it was my fault—” Maria scratched her eyebrow looking suddenly like her husband. “—he blew a gasket. I thought, ‘There you go, Maria, he finally got wise and he’s going to divorce you!”

Kyle laughed, “Don’t think that will happen. I do suggest that you don’t bring any more eggs on board for a while, or not unless you have them checked out first.”

“How was I to know they carried a virus? I didn’t scramble them. Michael and Sean did.”

“And they hogged them.” Kyle laughed. The two men had scarfed down the fresh eggs with a total disregard for gluttony. They were the only two to get the flu, and it hadn’t been pretty. Both of them were a terrible shade of green.

Maria smiled. It was terrible. She didn’t know a person could throw up so much. Holding his head while he was burning up and tossing his stomach, she had felt sympathy pains. Unfortunately, so did Max. Both Max and Maria went down with Michael. Kyle considered putting emesis pans all around the decks with the four of them all tossing up at the drop of a hat.

“Being joined to someone really can be a pain at times.”

“Perhaps, but there are advantages too, I’m sure.”

“Oh yeah. That’s why I know my better half is irritated right now, and for that reason alone, I’m going to avoid him.” Maria checked a few of her panels. “The call woke him, which is grounds for murder. I was already awake. I think we went through a waking storm or something. I could feel the portal compensation.”

Kyle looked at her sharply, but refrained from commenting. “Michael spends a lot of time irritated.”

“He does.” Maria shrugged. “It was so much easier before the war. Not so many people on board. Not so many people demanding his attention. It irritates him that he can’t flake out with Sean at a whim.”

Kyle was searching the star charts she was flipping through. “What are you doing?”

Maria closed the program. “Nothing. Just a project.” She left her work station and sat on the desk next to Kyle. Sipping her coffee, she was silent. He’d tell her when he was ready. She could be that patient. It was easy. She didn’t have to know immediately. Kyle would tell her. He’d—

“So what’s wrong, Kyle?” Maria winced to herself. Patience was not one of her virtues. She’d do better next time.

“You did well. I was timing you. Six seconds from the moment you decided it was something. Then a six second pause to give me time to tell you. You’re improving!”

“Fool! Stop teasing me. I get it from the big blusterous meanie all the time. You’re supposed to be a friend.” Maria squeezed his hand. Her brilliant green eyes looked at him with great concern. “So let me be a friend, and tell me.”

“I—” Kyle cleared his throat. “How do you like Julia?”

“Julia?” Maria laughed. “She’s fine. Great. Nice. I love how she tsks at Sean. Ignores him. Rolls her eyes.”

“She is a smart one. A year is a long time to ignore someone like Sean.”

“She is that.” Maria really liked the new doctor. She had a nice humor, an enthusiasm, and most important, she had a low tolerance for bullshit, so that left Sean reeling. “Why?”

Kyle sipped his coffee. “I’m thinking about leaving Shiva for an extended period of time. Go home.”

“Home.” Maria licked her lips. “I thought Karnak and the Shiva was your home now.” Maria looked at him with concern. “Is it the kids?”

“No. It’s me.” Kyle breathed deeply. “I need your solemn promise that you’ll keep this to yourself. Even from Michael.”

Maria bit her lip. Pushing strands of golden blonde hair from her face to behind her ear; her mouth was red from her worrying her lip. “I would promise, but you know I can’t. I have no control over what bleeds through between us. I can try, but he’ll know there is a door. One closed to him. Michael isn’t a man that respects ‘keep out’ signs.”

“I know.” Kyle sighed. He needed her help. “Okay, if he asks, then fine. But only if he asks!”

Maria agreed. It wasn’t a real secret. Michael kept faith with Max and Sean all the time. She knew he was, and it was okay. They deserved parts of their lives that weren’t so entwined. It wasn’t as if she didn’t carry secrets as well.

Kyle handed Maria his medical notepad. She looked at him, at it, and at him again. “Your hearts are out of rhythm.”

Kyle nodded confirming what he knew she was reading, what he memorized. “I thought I was having a cardiac episode. A heart attack. Then I thought one of my hearts was dying.”

Maria searched through the medical diagnostic. “Kyle,” her voice rose in concern.

“I know.”

Maria shook her head more to herself rechecking the diagnostics. “How can this be? Is this even a possibility?”

Kyle stood up and paced the room. “No. I searched all known medical reference databanks from my world. It is not supposed to happen.” He rubbed his face. “I think I need to go home to see what my world’s medical experts think—maybe to get well, or to die.” Kyle looked at Maria. “I want to see my kids if I am to die.”

Maria put the notepad down. “And Meghan?” She knew that Kyle’s ex-wife had spent the past few years getting back into Kyle’s life. It hadn’t been easy. He rarely visited, and when he did, it was usually only the children.

Kyle stopped to look out the port at the stars passing. “Meghan.” He smiled slightly. “Did I tell you that I slept with her the last time I was home?”

“No. But, I don’t expect you to share everything about your private life with me. It’s okay to keep some personal stuff—personal.”

“I didn’t mention it because it bothered me.” Maria frowned, but she didn’t ask this time. “All my life, I’ve loved Meghan. Even when I hated her, there was a part of me that still loved her.” Kyle rubbed his face as confusion moved across his features. “Last time I slept with her, and I felt nothing. I could feel her past lovers. I could feel her reaching to me, trying to reach past the walls. Nothing. I kept her out. She had been in my heart so long, that I didn’t notice when she left.” He licked his lips. “There is someone else.”

“Tess?” Maria asked softly.

Kyle laughed softly. “Oh yeah, Tess is definitely still there.” His eyes were suddenly bleak. “I knew I loved her, but how much seemed to escape me until she was gone.” Kyle looked at the stars again. Maria felt his emotions. Her eyes filled with tears, but she remained silent. “There was this darkness in her. A place that knew only hate. Hate for Khivar. I couldn’t touch it. I couldn’t heal her.” Kyle shut his eyes. “Strange. It was she that healed me.”

“Does Meghan know about Tess?”

Kyle nodded. “She knows I loved her. She knows that I mourn her.” Kyle turned to look at Maria. “Look at the results again, Maria. My hearts aren’t out of rhythm. My two hearts are beating as always, fully in sync.”

Maria knew. She read it. It was beyond her ability to reason, beyond her science. It was impossible.

“There is someone else in my heart and mind. A shadow. I dream of her every night. I can’t see her face, but I feel her!” Kyle closed his eyes. “Her heart is in my body. Now I have three. I’ve grown an extra heart and it’s this heart that is ripping my chest apart.”

~~~

“Sam, plot a course to Geneja, in the Talmar system.”

“Aye, Cap.”

Max sat back in his seat. Looking at the transmission from the High Council on Karnak , he frowned. This was the eighth such report. He could already tell them what they would find, burned out cities, few survivors, stories of hunting squads, missing people... Especially young women.

“Is it the same?” Michael asked.

Max stroked his scar along his face. Michael and Max were twins, but they weren’t identical. Michael was large in frame with a light brownish hair worn long and his eyes were golden brown. His fraternal twin, Max, the Captain of the Shiva, had darker hair, almost black with darker brown eyes. His face had a light beard, and the long length of his hair seemed to frame his face, drawing attention to a long scar that bisected the left side of his face from brow to his jaw.

The twins were different in looks and temperament, but in so many areas they were almost the same. Max turned in his seat to stare at his brother. They were both born predators. Hunters from a genetic line of warriors. The hunters invading the space of the Royal Federation were crossing over into protected areas. Their area.

“It is the same.”

Max frowned. He should’ve left Isabel and the twins on Karnak with Lonnie. He didn’t want them to be in danger. This mission had been a normal recovery mission much like the ones they used to live off of. In the past three years, their main purpose had been to support and protect the growing Royal Federation that was tossed in turmoil since the power vacuum left by Khivar’s fall.

It wasn’t a job that either Max or Michael asked for or wanted, but it was a job that needed to be done. The Shiva, the most advanced ship in technology in the known Universe, remained a flagship for the new growing Royal Federation. Her technology and screens provided by the Ancients through Maria made her able to transverse large spans of space in mere moments.

The Royal Federation had requested a building of new ships, much like the Shiva, requesting the updated technology. Maria refused them. She appeared at the Council of the New Royal Federation as a special Ambassador of Anterra. Her reasoning behind updating the Shiva was sound. It was necessary to help her remove her main objective, the Granilith from Khivar’s hands. But, she could not give the technology freely. It was technology beyond the current level of evolution, and it in itself represented an instability of power.

It did not do to advance too fast beyond a culture’s ability to understand it or use it responsibly. They would someday advance to the level to create the technology themselves. If and when that happened, it was believed that they would also have the ability to use it with great caution.

Maria’s decision was hers and hers alone. The Shiva and all its members stood behind her decision. The Royal Federation of Planets was in uproar demanding the technology, but Maria refused it. She allowed the Shiva to remain fitted, but no other ships would be so advanced. The Shiva and her complement of fighters and recovery vessels were all there would ever be until a time that this Universe naturally evolved.

The Royal Federation recruited as many of the mechanics from the Shiva to help rebuild a fleet, but there were only three people who understood what was needed to build a replicate, Maria, Sean and Liz. Together, they had created and updated the Shiva. No other person could do what was done, not without Maria. Not without her knowledge. And not without access to materials trapped in time in the ruins of Karnak . There was no power source with enough energy available to maintain those systems. Shiva had a stash of power nodules that others lacked.

“Cap, we can make a jump window in five minutes, taking us in close proximity.”

“Then punch it, Sam.” Max rotated in his chair. “Michael, I want full diagnostic scans. If we can find these raiders, or pick up their signature…”

“Understood,” Michael pushed his sensors to their maximum points. The raiders had first hit the Outer Rim, but they were moving more into the inner areas of the Royal Federation. They came, and almost in a blink were gone. His first thought was of Maria’s people who traveled in winks, but more likely it was some type of cloaking device.

“Count it down when you’re ready, Sam.” Max said.

Sam nodded. He alerted the other system stations of a hyper window jump. The countdown began. “In eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one…”

Max closed his eyes to the run of molecules in his body. In a blink, they were through the corridor to the other side.

“Michael.”

“Got it.” Michael moved with the sensors and the science station scanning the area. A distinct trail was picked up, and he sent coordinates to the helm. They followed the ion wash to a point where it ended. “It’s dead. They jumped here.”

Max swore. They would never trace these bastards unless they caught them in the act. That would take a world under attack calling for help immediately. “Send all diagnostic materials to Maria’s station. Maybe it’ll help her find the pattern.”

Maria was plotting all worlds that had lost people and cities in a hope to find a discernible pattern that they could use to locate the raiders. So far, she found nothing. But, the more information collected the better the chances.

“Order recovery teams to the bays. We need to assess the damage. Full medical.”  Max paused. “Michael, I need you to stay onboard.”

“What—?”

“You have the Conn. ” Max left the bridge before Michael could protest.

“Dammit!” Michael swore his hateful glare slaying the bridge crew. He hated command. It was—no fun. No fun at all!

Max was strapping on his weapon when Kyle entered the bay. “Max? Where is Michael?”

“Bridge. I left him in command.”

Kyle laughed. “Oh, really! I bet he loved that!”

Max snickered. “Bet the bridge crew loved it too! They will be run ragged by him before I get back. Power goes to his head.”

“So why keep him off planet?”

“Self-preservation. Every planet we find ravaged bothers him more and more. Can’t explain it, but he’s taking these attacks very personally.”

“His territorial instinct is at an all time high. Any clue why?” Kyle could guess, but he hoped his suspicions were unfounded.

Max shook his head. “I kissed Maria goodnight on the cheek the other night, and he almost took my head off my shoulders. It wasn’t like Isabel wasn’t standing right there.”

“Curious.” Kyle winced. Pain. His chest hurt. Pausing with a deep breath, he smiled at Max and tried to appear unconcerned. “So let’s go see what we can see.”

Max hit Kyle on the back. “Let’s go before Sean catches up. He’s impossible lately.”

Kyle snickered. Yes, he was.

~~~

Isabel rolled over and slowly opened her eyes. Listening, she tried to hear what woke her. The twins? No. Neither called to her. Closing her eyes, she tried to go back to sleep. It was hard. She never slept well when Max wasn’t with her.

An image kept flashing behind her eyes. In her dreams. No. She was awake. Isabel sat up, and reached for the light. The shadows moved as the light invaded the room. Turning she almost screamed.

Lena ?

“Isabel. I saw them. They are beautiful.” Lena was standing there, but not. Isabel tried to clear her sight. Lena was white. Glowing. There, but transparent. In a blink of the eye, she was clearer and more substantial. “Twins. It seems right.”

“You’re dead.”

“Yes. It happens to the best of us.” Lena smiled softly. She tilted her head as if hearing something. “The door has opened. That which started is ending. Time is repeating. Find her before it is too late.” Lena stared at Isabel, her eyes becoming red like those of a serpent. “If we were but a dream, Isabel, we’d live a thousand times, over and over again. Some a dream. Others a nightmare. Two serpents entwined. Different, but the same. Seek before it is too late.”

Isabel shook her head. Getting from the bed, in what was barely a glance away, Lena was gone. Isabel stood in the bedroom turning around in confusion. Was it a dream?

Going to the next room, she breathed easier at the sight of two little heads. At almost three, the twins refused to sleep in separate beds yet. Isabel entered the room, and bending down, she kissed her two sons gently on the tops of their heads. They slept soundly. Leaving the room, she bent to pick up a drawing.

Isabel’s heart beat hard in her throat as bile rose. It was a staff with two winged serpents entwined. The eyes of the serpent were a brilliant red.