Shackleton's Folly (The Lost Wonder Book 1) (40 page)

Electra held her ground, her projectile weapon in firing position, and looked as if she would personally take on any or all of the Koty. Alec did not have a weapon in his hands, but he had his hand at the ready near his pistol. He walked slowly in the opposite direction from Electra.

“Wolfgang, it does make a difference,” said Alec. “This is the place my father said it would be.” Wolfgang closed his eyes. “Shackleton’s Folly” was well known in the refugee community — the myth of the tribe who had left Earth thousands of years ago and traveled to the stars. Shackleton’s father had been the laughing stock of many of his contemporaries, but now, he had been proven right all along by Alec. It was more than he could take.

The Koty troops looked down the barrels of their rifles at Alec. The nearest Koty trooper motioned Alec to move to where Dancer and Electra were standing.

Alec pointed to Electra and said, “Her people are the descendants of those who left Earth 11,000 years ago.” Alec then spoke directly to Wolfgang Gray. “Why are you still doing this?”

Gray became uneasy. Captain K’Dhoplon signaled for his troops to keep an eye on Wolfgang, too.

Captain K’Dhoplon strode up to Alec and Electra. He considered them and then turned his back on them and walked back to the line of troops. “The Koty have no use for a race such as yours. You will die, and the galaxy will forget.”

Alec held his eyes on the Captain but spoke to Gray. “You must see that this will save everyone remaining. Your family.” Alec started to walk toward Gray. A pressure wave reverberated through the chamber as a vibration came from below their feet. The sensation quieted audibly but did not go away. A second, inaudible wave passed through every being in the garden.

Electra turned her attention away from the Koty. “The gardens are ending! The wall stresses are cascading in a released resonance that will tear this place apart.”

Two Atlantean Security Force carriers crossed the vast land of robots and headed toward the Citadel. They broke formation on their final approach to the uppermost part of the structure, far above the landing area that teemed with Koty troops and the APCs. The
Quest
was buttoned up on the pad near the front doors. The Atlantean Security Force carriers made their way to high landing platforms in the structure and landed. Two platoons of Special Operation Commandos deployed from each of the carriers. Their uniforms and tactical vests were made of an adaptive camouflage material. The material flickered for a moment, and then the pattern changed to colors that made them hard to distinguish against the exterior structure of the Citadel. Their helmets were modular, with internal multimedia systems that kept them as safe and as well connected with their comrades as possible in the battlefield environment. Rushing inside in full regalia, they showed as great precision in tactics as the Koty.

*

The world shifted below the feet of the two groups as if they were in an earthquake. Captain K’Dhoplon looked from Alec to Wolfgang Gray.

Electra’s eyes widened as the floor lifted again, knocking everyone to the floor for the first time. She said, “It is starting. The beams of energy holding the gardens together are failing.”

Alec spoke to Captain K’Dhoplon. “The gardens have built up stress forces. They need to be periodically realigned, or the structure will tear itself apart.” Alec turned to Gray under the watchful eye of the Koty Troops.

Captain K’Dhoplon commanded his troops, “Bring the inscription piece!”

A tight-knit group of Koty Troops came forward. One member of the group was carrying a case, and the other four paced him in a protective detail. The Koty with the case paused two meters from the Captain, waiting for permission to approach, as was due his rank. The Captain nodded, and the Koty stepped forward, opening the case. Captain K’Dhoplon was presented with the stolen third piece of the inscription. He reached with both hands into the case and removed it. The inscription had a faint glow to it as he inspected it.

Captain K’Dhoplon turned to Gray. “Where does this glowing come from?”

“How would I know? You did not give me a chance to study it,” Gray snapped. His frustration came out more maliciously than he meant to, but this imbecile had treated him like dirt for so along that it was about time he knew it.

The Koty traveled the very familiar road of conceit and presumptuousness of warring groups. A vision of manifest destiny had come to their leader. They had fought wars of territorial expansion across their own planet until it was conquered and under one rule. Then, they took to the stars, first crushing small populations with inferior technology to battle-harden their troops. They slowly took on larger and better-equipped foes only when they knew for certain it would be a win for them.

The Koty Union had pursued the manifest-destiny belief within their people, even as they lost thousands of troops and squandered the economic might they might have had on war instead of raising the people’s lifestyle.

“I would suggest the glowing comes from its proximity to the dedication plaque,” remarked Alec. He had heard the anger in Wolfgang Gray’s voice. Was it possible? Wolfgang was unhappy with his lot — he was not the darling of the Koty, as he had once thought.

“Why would you say that?” asked Gray. He observed Alec, Dancer, and the girl. Not a girl — a woman — and she was magnificent. She had a lovely face, framed by brunette hair. She was wearing a tight-fitting jumpsuit over her firm physique, in addition to what looked like a flak vest and combat boots; she was sporting a projectile weapon. The woman watched his exchange with Shackleton.
I could have gone far with a woman such as this
, Gray thought.
Instead, Shackleton has made her his
. Yes, even Gray could see that she was his.

“I have had some experience with it,” Alec reminded Gray. Alec felt there was an opening here with Gray — one which, if leveraged right, could save the gardens.

“Give up the pieces you have taken from the Koty, Shackleton,” demanded Captain K’Dhoplon. The Captain waved his troops forward. They began their advance, but hesitantly, as the sounds of the forest engulfed them. A second roar of a cougar came from a different direction. The first cat roared back.

The Koty troopers had their attention split and had to watch three directions. The sounds of the primeval forest and canopy were all around them.

A pair of large golden eagles appeared far above, circling the room. They announced their presence somewhere above the forest canopy with a cry. The impossibly large predators dove down at the Koty. The pair locked on individual missions of disruption. The intelligence that had created them anticipated the firing patterns of the Koty energy weapons as they made their descent.

They elongated their bodies and dove between groups of Koty troopers, who continued to fire. The Koty were struck by the talons of the flying beasts as they flew by. Their weapons fire passed harmlessly through the creatures of light and force field, striking Koty on the opposite side of the meadow. The pair continued their flight, rising quickly, returning to the darkness above. Friendly fire and the eagles’ sharp talons took their toll on the Koty troops. The wounded cried out for help as the chaos of the last few minutes seemed to stretch out much longer than it actually had.

“Enough,” barked Captain K’Dhoplon. The wounded or killed, numbering 15, made little difference to him. He would not have anymore of this sloppiness. The remaining troopers waited for his commands. “Remove the trash and reform your ranks,” he ordered. The healthy troopers dragged off the dead and consolidated the wounded for the medics, who took charge of them. The troopers reformed the perimeter. Two-thirds of those who remained were turned to the tree line, and the rest supported their Captain.

Alec continued to speak to Gray. “I’m here just to fix things.” Alec held his empty hands out in front of him.

Captain K’Dhoplon looked Alec up and down. “You will do no such thing, human.” He strode up to the dedication plaque and ran one of his fingers across the surface and examined it for dust. “I am in charge here. You live or die — it makes no difference to me.” The Koty troops moved in closer, tightening their hold on them.

Dancer’s attention was focused on the maintenance screen. The display provided him with data streaming from real-time sensors in the building. Heat signatures descended from much higher in the Citadel and had dispersed through the chamber’s structure far above them. Dancer surreptitiously glanced up at the crystalline walkways in the darkness. His infrared cameras found that the Atlantean Security Forces had spread out over the walkways encompassing their location.

Dancer could see Commander Astraeus and Atlantean Security Force platoons rappelling from crystalline walkways at a number of points within the chamber, but his optics had a hard time detecting the adaptive camouflage uniform in the darkness. Dancer even knew where to look, and it still was next to impossible to see them. His advantage was that he could move to the infrared spectrum and could see a faint glow of the bodies descend because he knew what he was looking for.

The Atlantean Security Force mobilized impressive technology. They rappelled as quickly as possible. The floor came up quickly until they were within 40 meters. The platoons adjusted their controlled fall to decelerate, so as to land on their feet with a firm and adequate foothold. It was almost a perfect insertion as the Atlantean Security Force members disengaged themselves from the lines and regrouped at points throughout the forest. They then headed toward the statue of the Emperor.

The forest was empty of Koty, as they had anticipated. They moved quickly and unopposed until they were within visual distance of the tree line from the forest side. The Atlantean Security Force then made their way forward, with their adaptive camouflage working to keep them invisible against the ground cover.

Dancer decided that now was as good a time as any for a distraction. He spoke to Captain K’Dhoplon. “Captain, this inscription dedicates this, The Hanging Gardens, to Emperor D’along. He came here himself to place this dedication plaque and open the Hanging Gardens.”

Electra had her weapon defensively pointed at the troops who were the closest to her. One had come within three meters of her and stopped only when a projectile pulsed from her rifle and took out a chunk in the floor by the trooper’s foot. “That is close enough,” she warned as she looked him in the eye. “The next will be through your braincase if you take another step.” She kept her vigil and spoke to the Koty Captain. “Captain Shackleton was speaking the truth when he said we are here just to fix things. These gardens are about to self-destruct, and Captain Shackleton is our only hope. It was prophesied he would save the world.”

The Koty and Wolfgang Gray burst out laughing. Captain K’Dhoplon said, “Your people are lost already.”

Alec made sure that his movements were slow and deliberate. He took out his datapad and touched the bottom edge of the tablet. He made a show of the process. “This is the same writing as on the inscription pieces.”

Dancer reconfigured his lower arms, braiding them; then he opened up his back and took out an overloaded satchel from his back. Alec reached for the satchel and got hold of the long strap. He had just started to pull it from Dancer’s grasp when the Koty fired their weapons and blasted the satchel’s strap. It dropped, with its contents, to the floor, only a meter from the missing corner. The satchel had opened and poured out its contents as it fell. The two inscription pieces glowed brightly, each with an image of the gardens slowly rotating above it.

The dedication plaque throbbed with a warm light, and, with each peak of intensity, came a shockwave of heated air. The throbbing just as quickly slowed to a stop, but the piece did not return to its original condition. It just glowed faintly.

The statue of Emperor D’along seemed to radiate heat. Dancer scanned it. The material making up the great statue was now one degree warmer than could be accounted for by the heat generated by the group of beings that were making a fuss at his feet. Dancer followed the energy that ran from the back of the dedication plaque up through the throne and into the Emperor himself. High above them, a much larger image of the Emperor’s Hanging Gardens flickered into existence over the outstretched hand of the statue.

Alec caught sight of the reconfiguration of Dancer’s lower arms. It was their pre-arranged, agreed-upon signal that the Atlantean Security Force had arrived. Alec pointed down at the inscription pieces. “Captain, I am here only to put these back where they belong,” said Alec.

“You will do no such thing,” replied Captain K’Dhoplon, who put the piece he was holding down by the other two. The third piece created its own holo-projection, as did the other two.

A noise came from high in the trees to their right. One of the Koty troops fired at the noise. A response came in the form of high-velocity projectiles from three directions, cutting him in two. The projectiles’ bow shockwave moved at a hypersonic speed and made a whip-crack sound. No rifles’ reports were heard from any direction. The nearest Koty to the trooper’s position scattered as they fired energy weapons back into the forest randomly.

Everyone but Alec and Captain K’Dhoplon looked back into the forest for answers.

Captain K’Dhoplon was the stalwart commander of the Koty Battleship
Illia
and the culmination of 1366 cycles of The One’s dominion. The One brought together many Koty tribes, and those who opposed The One were forced into servitude or slaughtered. The One and their royal lineage to this day had led the Koty to victory and power. Captain K’Dhoplon was a product of this winning combination; there was nothing in this universe able to withstand the onslaught of the Koty. “We will prevail, human, and nothing you do will ever change that,” he sneered.

Koty troops acting as scouts entered the forest line all across their forest enclosure. One pair, who took the lead into the woods to the left of the Emperor’s statue, went in tactical formation. They moved forward, working deeper into the trees and brush. It was when they were approximately 20 meters into the forest from the tree line that the lead Koty stepped on some uneven ground. The ground moved beneath him. The Koty pointed the targeting unit of his rifle at the strangely moving form. Something that was wrapped in adaptive camouflage and was changing its appearance microsecond to microsecond tripped him up. The blast of his energy weapon into the tree canopy grabbed the attention of his partner who, even as the first Koty in the conflict fell with half-a-dozen holes in his chest, spun to kill the unseen danger. The three other Atlantean Security Force had been watching the altercation, and they let loose their weapons, picking off the Koty and flinging him a good five meters.