Date: Fri, 8 Sep 2023 15:10:04 +0300
From: Daemon D. Hart <daemondhart2@gmail.com>
Subject: The Human Bearer - 20

Copyright 2023 -- Daemon D. Hart

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The Human Bearer

20.

Riordan wobbled on his feet and then felt a solid mass behind him breaking
his possible fall.

"We're under attack." That was Lakni's voice, measured and calm. He was
stating a fact, not breaking into a panic like Riordan felt at that very
moment. "Harid, Tamdor, you stay back and protect Lewis. Blaise, Vasko,
Frontis." He added nothing to that, which could only mean that everyone
knew what to do under the circumstances.

"I'll escort you to your quarters," Lakni told Riordan.

"Like hell," Riordan huffed under his breath. "We're in fucking danger,
aren't we? I'm not going to hide and wait to be culled by whoever did
this." He didn't point at the carnage down the hallway. There was no need.

Lakni pursed his lips and he seemed ready to pull the Xeno card on him,
when a whirring sound came from behind the corner.

"Kyle!" Riordan shouted at the sight of his bot struggling to move through
the body parts spread on the floor. His robotic arm was dangling, seemingly
useless now, and he looked like he'd been in a fight, too.

"Master Rio," Kyle stuttered.

"Kyle? You're calling your bot... It doesn't matter," Lakni said
quickly. He slithered his way through the hacked bodies, ignoring
them. Figuratively, at least, they were cold-blooded creatures. "Report,"
he addressed Kyle. "Who are the attackers?"

"Xenos," Kyle replied with some difficulty. His acquired almost human voice
was breaking in places, letting out the toneless robotic one stick out.

Riordan felt his stomach sinking into itself. Why were Xenos attacking
Tu'lek, the only hope of their race? Xana was still far, which could only
mean... were these the other guys? The bad guys?

"Escort Riordan to his quarters and lock him in there," Lakni ordered Kyle.

"No," Riordan said loud enough for everyone to hear him. "If these Xenos
are the guys that flooded the planet and killed so many people, there's no
way I'll be safe there."

"Bot," Lakni said severely, ignoring him. "Execute the order."

"I only take orders from Master Xana and Master Rio."

"Kyle must know more about what happened. And he still has some of his
weapons. Right?" Riordan asked and touched the metallic surface of the bot,
trying to gauge what kind of state Kyle was in.

"They thought they incapacitated me but I just played dead," Kyle
explained.

"What a strange bot," Lakni commented. "We have no time for this. Where are
the attackers now?"

"They were heading to the command center," Kyle explained, "eliminating all
the guards in their path."

"How many?" Lakni asked and began slithering his way in the direction of
Kanto's headquarters, which Riordan understood that it had to act as the
real command center of the ship.

"I counted 5, but there is a chance that there are others," Kyle supplied
right away.

Riordan was hurrying after the Xenos but his legs seemed short compared to
how fast they were moving. "Kyle, how about some piggybacking?" He barely
had time to ask the question that a tail wrapped around his waist and he
was soon planted on Frontis' back. "Wow, thanks."

"You are responsible for him, Frontis," Lakni said. "And I'm telling all
this out loud so that the bearer understands his impossible position and
does nothing stupid."

"The bearer is right here and knows enough not to do anything stupid,"
Riordan retorted. "Kyle, how come the attackers didn't barge in on us? And
how come we haven't heard them at all while they were killing the guards?"

Frontis was the one to offer him the explanations he needed. "Xenos attack
quietly. Do you see how these corpses look?"

"I'd rather not look again," Riordan murmured and wrapped his arms tightly
around Frontis' neck.

"They were ripped apart, not cut. And the victims don't scream, because the
attackers must have used poison to incapacitate them first. That should be
enough to tell us they're Xenos," Frontis continued. "As for why they
didn't barge in, I don't know."

"I sensed the danger approaching," Kyle added, wheeling behind them. "I
added a reflective screen over the doors so that they weren't obvious. And
then, I moved after the guards that went to see what was going on. This
way, their attention was averted."

"Good work, Kyle. I owe you big time."

"Such a peculiar relationship you have with your bot," Frontis
commented. "I will guard you with my life, Riordan, but please do not
expose yourself to unnecessary danger. Of course, that might be impossible,
seeing where we're heading."

"I understand," Riordan said shortly. "And I intend to live. My gut tells
me my rate of survival is the highest if I come along with you."

From the belly of the ship, a wail rose, making his hair stand on end.

"The emergency signal," Frontis said. "Too late. Also, that means that the
lower floors no longer can sustain life. You have been right, after all,
Riordan."

It didn't make him happy in any way that he'd been right. "Does that mean
that the people there... the bearers... are dead?" he whispered.

"There might be casualties. The secondary systems should have become active
by now. Our only chance is to find the infiltrators before they eliminate
our commander."

Riordan fell silent. "Besides Kanto... who else knows how to navigate the
ship?" He didn't mention the lack of any other Xenos save for Lewis'
partners and Kanto on the entire Tu'lek. He doubted that any guard was
capable of the same feat.

"Lakni has been training as a navigator," Frontis replied.

"Do not count on my abilities just yet," Lakni said, clearly aware of their
conversation. "Our best chances of survival are ensured only if our
commander is still alive."

The hallways opening in front of them showed the same horrific sights as
the one that had welcomed Riordan outside Lewis' room what felt like only
moments ago. The attackers hadn't spared one guard. Not a single one.

Lakni stopped by one wall and reached for one of the panels close to the
ceiling. He felt the surface with his fingers and then nodded at Blaise,
who took his place and ripped the thing from the wall.

"We'll go through here," Lakni announced.

"Why?" Riordan asked.

"Because we're only 4 and they are at least 5. Also, they're adults," Lakni
explained. "Is that correct, bot?"

Kyle replied right away. "Yes. The ones I saw were all Xenos in their
prime."

"You also have me and Kyle," Riordan pointed out.

"The bot cannot follow us," Lakni said. "Its metallic body will make noise
and alert the attackers that we are coming. We will move silently. You may
remain here, Riordan, with your bot."

"No. Kyle can always play dead, but I'm not that good at it. I'd rather not
end up ripped to shreds."

"That can happen if you're with us, too," Vasko pointed out.

"Let's put it this way," Riordan said. "If you guys fail, everyone's doomed
around here. Xana is still far. The attackers, if they succeed, they'll
kill all."

Lakni nodded shortly and hiked himself up, quickly slithering through the
tight enclosure.

"Does he know we'll end up to the command room by going through here?"
Riordan asked.

Frontis was the one to reply. "As I said, Lakni is a navigator in
training. He knows how ships look inside out. We trust him."

"Then I trust him, too," Riordan decided as he watched the others
disappearing through the same hole in the wall.

***

Lakni must have stopped because Riordan sensed that all his allies halted
their advance. It was so quiet he was afraid to breathe. Then, he thought
he was hearing something. No, it wasn't hearing... that was him tapping
into the neural network or whatever that thing that connected all the Xenos
was called. It was only a sort of humming that turned into a
clamor. Aggressive hissing crowded his brain, so overwhelming that, for a
moment, he thought he'd cry out. He shook his head and held onto Frontis
while trying to focus on his breathing.

He wasn't surprised to realize that they had arrived at their
destination. A crashing sound followed, and they were all falling through
the ceiling, ending up on the floor of Kanto's quarters.

At first, he didn't see much, only the bodies of the young Xenos moving in
front of him, but then, the stench of blood made him gag, and everyone
began moving at such an incredible speed that he didn't dare to blink.

Blaise was the first to jump on one of the attackers, a Xeno indeed, who
was holding Kanto down, his tail curled around the commander's neck. The
stern face Riordan believed to hate was a map of bulged veins, and the eyes
were squeezed tightly.

He watched in amazement and horror as Blaise drove his tail that had
somehow turned into a sort of weapon directly through the torso of the
commander's attacker. The Xeno stilled for a moment, and then his body
broke in two, making blood spray the walls and everything else around.

Riordan was sure his head swam as if he were underwater. He turned his head
to take in the ripped bodies of a couple of Xenos on the floor. Those had
already been there, he was sure, which could only mean that Kanto had been
fighting for his life until now. With the one Blaise had just destroyed,
the total count was 3. That meant that there were still 2 attackers out
there.

A loud hiss made him look up and he saw a shadow descending from the far
right of the ceiling, opposed to the way they had come through, falling
over them. Lakni and Vasko wrapped around the attacker right away, but that
one appeared to be extremely slippery. His entire body appeared to be
black, the scales and hair included, and it took Riordan some time to
realize that it was some sort of cloaking device, because the following
moment, he disappeared from view.

"Riordan, stay hidden here," Frontis said and pushed him behind the large
capsule that Riordan remembered it to be the commander's chair. "There's
something I must do."

Under his eyes, Frontis turned all black, just like the attacker, and then
disappeared as well. Blaise, Vasko, and Lakni gathered in the middle of the
room, back to back, their whole bodies tensed in waiting.

The math was what bothered Riordan the most. The invisible Xeno was
probably playing tag right now with Frontis along the walls. He thought he
could spot them now and then as they displaced the air they were moving
through at incredible speeds. That still left one attacker they couldn't
see.

He moved his eyes to Kanto, who lay on the floor on his back, his eyes
glassy as if he was already a goner. But Riordan could tell by the almost
imperceptible rise and fall of his chest that the commander wasn't
dead. Slowly, focusing on not making a sound, he began advancing towards
him. The chances were Kanto needed some help, and the other young Xenos
couldn't spare it, as they needed to fight.

And then, he saw it. It was so strange, as if Kanto was slowly sinking into
the floor, but that wasn't what was happening. Light shimmered, letting the
shapes become visible, arms that were holding Kanto from behind, squashing
him in, making him fold into himself.

Riordan didn't waste time thinking. He grabbed one piece of metallic panel
resulted from their crashing through and lifted it above his head. With a
loud cry, he aimed for the arms holding Kanto down, and blood, red like
his, red as any blood he knew, burst like a fountain.

The next moment, he fell, his legs cut from under him and then he was being
pulled away. Blaise moved in his line of sight, and the grip on his ankles
lessened and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

He pulled himself behind the capsule again, just as the three Xenos ripped
the commander's attacker apart. He willed himself to look despite the
horrific scene in front of his eyes. Those Xenos were responsible for
killing all those people on the planet left behind. They deserved
torture. This was mercy.

Vasko knelt by the commander's side and began doing something with his
hands that Riordan couldn't make sense of. If he were to resemble it with
anything, it seemed like a first aid procedure of some sort. Whatever it
was, it seemed to be working because Kanto began coughing and suddenly
straightened up through the means of his tail. He moved so fast for being
just back from the dead, and he seemed to have a purpose. He raised one arm
and pressed it hard and quick against the ceiling, only for Riordan to
realize what was going on. A dark shape fell on the floor, and then Frontis
materialized on top of it. The young Xeno opened his mouth wide, and two
long rows of teeth dropped from somewhere inside. He sank those teeth into
the dark shape and pulled hard, making new blood erupt and spray all over
the place.

"What are you doing here?"

It took Riordan a few moments to realize that it was Kanto talking, and
that the question was addressed to him. "Saving your lame ass tail,
apparently," he chose to say.

***

The ship was a horrendous sight, everywhere he walked. Kanto had allowed
him to go free, more like ordered it after running all sorts of scans and
other operations only he understood from his command chair and deciding
that it was safe for him to move around. The high commander appeared
completely unaware of the fact that he was owing his life, not necessarily
to him, but to the other Xenos. There had been no words of thanks,
nothing. Kanto had set to work right away, barking orders as if it was
their fault the ship had gotten attacked. Riordan had tried to tell him
that Xana was on his way, but seeing how all Xenos could communicate
between themselves only with their minds, he probably knew that.

The real question was: how come he hadn't known about the attack until it
was too late? Riordan hurried towards Kyle. His bot must have found him
first, linked as they were in that special bond.

"Where should we go, Master Rio? Did Master Kanto say anything?"

"He was short of telling me not to let the door hit me in the ass. I'll
explain it to you later. Now, let's find our way down. All systems for
sustaining life are now operational."

"That is where everyone is," Kyle said.

There was a pause. "What aren't you telling me?" Riordan asked.

"I need major repairs. I cannot tell how many bearers have survived. We
might encounter--"

"Even more death than here," Riordan cut the bot's speech short. "It
doesn't matter. There's a shortage of hands on deck so to speak, and Kanto
seemed to have some very clear chores in mind for the boys. But not for
me."

"The commander's priority is to ensure that the entire ship is
operational. Without it, the survival of the Xeno species is compromised."

"Last time I checked, the eggs like the one I'm carrying in my belly,"
Riordan said, touching himself gingerly, "were just as important. I don't
even dare to mention the bearers that are in charge of them. Kanto believes
we should be bred like cattle `cause that's the only use he sees for us."

"The surviving Xenos can create other offspring," Kyle explained.

"Yeah. Not many of them left now, right? Although I don't know how many are
with Xana. Damn it!" He stopped suddenly and shouted.

"What is it, Master Rio?"

"For fuck's sake, what if there are other traitors? What if they come with
Xana now?"

"The probability of that is 0.003%," Kyle said.

"You still have your probability calculator working?" Riordan made a lame
attempt to joke.

"Yes."

"Well, consider that I worry about that 0.003%. I mean, look around."
Riordan shuddered in disgust as his foot met something moist for the
umpteenth time since he'd been walking down that hallway. The stench was
making him gag, but he plowed through. "What probability was for this to
happen? What, no comeback, calculator boy?"

"I was calculating," Kyle replied. "The probability of an attack on Tu'lek,
taking in consideration of the unknown factors such as the success or
failure of Master's Xana's intervention on Xeno, was between 14.17% and
34.04%."

Riordan sighed. "Let's go and search for survivors." He braced himself as
he stepped into the elevator.

***

It appeared that the attackers hadn't intervened much in the lower decks,
not directly at least. That only meant that the bodies of the guards
weren't hacked into pieces. They just lay lifeless on the floors. Riordan
bent over each and every one, looking for signs of life.

"Is everyone really dead?" he whispered to himself.

"No," Kyle replied dutifully. "According to my calculations, at least 35%
of the guards must have survived."

"Do these guys look to you as if they're still alive and kicking?" Riordan
stared at his bot with reproach.

"They're not ordinary guards," Kyle explained. "Some of them might just be
in a deep state of hibernation. Before boarding Tu'lek, they were given a
failsafe, I think you'd call it on Earth."

"It didn't work for the ones on the upper floor," Riordan said with a sigh.

"That was why the attackers ripped them to shreds. To ensure that they
wouldn't be a problem."

"But they didn't have time for these below," Riordan concluded. "How do we
bring them back to life?"

He barely had time to utter those words that something stirred and touched
his left feet. He squealed and jumped. "Oh, fuck, man," he complained. "I
guess that's enough for me for today." Despite what he just said, he
crouched and began to touch the guard. "Hey, you alive, man? Blink or
something." He felt completely inadequate at the moment. He had no idea
what to do at a time like this. Hopefully, the guards still breathing
didn't need mouth to mouth resuscitation because he didn't know how to do
that, either.

The guard did blink, much to his relief, and then straightened up, taking
in his surroundings. Then, he looked straight at him with one cold lizard
eye that made Riordan's stomach clench. He had never bothered before to
look at the guards because they were so alien to him, even more than the
Xenos. "Riordan Lei," the guard said slowly. "You should be in your
quarters."

Riordan set his jaw hard. "If I had been there, I'd probably be dead by
now." He let it slide that the guard had given him Xana's last name as if
he was married to the guy or something.

The guard seemed to assess the situation and pushed himself up. He towered
over Riordan by a couple of feet, and his head was huge. "I must take you
to safety, Riordan Lei."

"Cut the crap, dude. Moments ago, I was practically saving you. You know
what? How about you start reviving your pals, and I'm going to check on the
bearers to see how many are still alive? How about that?"

Again, the guard surveyed the place with his eyes, but there was more than
that. Could the guards also communicate telepathically with their masters?
"You are free to go, Riordan Lei," the guard suddenly said, as if he'd been
given an order from above.

"Gee, thanks, man." He turned on his heel, determined to see the state in
which the bearers were. He doubted they had some failsafe, too. He could
only hope some have survived by chance if not anything else.

"Kyle, I need your calculator again," he said, a little relieved by the
fact that more guards seemed to stir. "How many bearers do you believe
survived?"

***

He sat on the floor, head caught in his hands, while Kyle fussed around
him, trying to cheer him up. The final body count was still being
calculated, now with the guards taking care of the dead and all, but he
only knew one thing. They were too many. A small percentage of bearers had
survived the lack of oxygen when the attackers had sabotaged the ship. He
felt tired but couldn't sleep. He had tried to contact Xana, but it seemed
he was too weak for that, or so Kyle had hurried to assured him. For any
normal means, Xana was still too far away. His bot couldn't contact him,
either.

The door to his quarters swished open, and Kanto walked in, alone. The
snakeman didn't look like he had been fighting for his life only hours
ago. That seth of theirs surely worked wonders. Riordan pushed himself up
to his feet, too depressed to have a fight about protocol with the
commander.

"What possessed you to put yourself in such a situation?" Kanto asked in a
low menacing tone.

Riordan's rebellious streak reared its head right away. "Dunno, man, ship
getting attacked, seeing a bunch of guards gutted like fish, all kinds of
things. I just had to jump into action."

"You!" Kanto hissed in a frustrated tone. "You are joking even under the
circumstances!"

"I'd cry some, but I don't think I can," Riordan replied in all
honesty. "I'm all dried up, I guess."

Kanto didn't comment on that. He was just watching him, his deep green eyes
still full of questions. "You're a fool. Don't you care about the egg
you're carrying?"

Riordan didn't back down. "Actually, it's because of that I couldn't sit
idle. My best chance of survival, my egg's best chance of survival," he
said in a fierce voice, "was to be smack in the middle of it all. And you
know what, Master, lord, commander, whatever you want to be called? I think
a little thank you would be nice."

Kanto stared at him as if he didn't know what to do with him. "I will have
to inform your owner that you put yourself in danger's way."

"I will inform my owner that I put myself in danger's way," Riordan
replied. "Xana will understand, unlike you."

"You're unusual." Kanto hovered, making him tilt his head back. "And you're
a fool." That guy really liked to repeat himself.

"Xana's coming. That means that I'm going to be out of your hair. You know,
no longer your problem." Riordan crossed his arms and stared as defiantly
as he could at the commander.

"Yes, it appears so." The words lingered while Kanto set his hypnotic gaze
on him.

Riordan felt a soft drum-like sound floating somewhere near. Was that Xana
trying to get in touch with him?

Kanto suddenly turned his back on him and the drumming stopped. Had that
been... the mighty high commander trying to -- what? -- read his mind?

"You know, you could say hello and goodbye," Riordan called after him. "It
doesn't cost you anything and it's only polite." Not that he cared. He was
just unnerved by Kanto's strange manners regarding him.

Kanto turned his head slightly, giving Riordan a quick look at his majestic
profile. "Goodbye, Riordan."

The words had been spoken softly unlike Kanto's usually brusque manner when
dealing with him. It took him some time to find his words, and when he did,
all he could think of was to turn to his bot and ask, "What the fuck was
that?"

"That was Master Kanto offering a truce," Kyle replied promptly.

"You think?"

"That's the logical explanation."

Of course. Creatures of logic, all of them. And look where they were now.

Fucking Xenos.

tbc



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