The Siluvara Files
The Many Journeys of Ian Scranton
Chapter 10: Distant Early Warning
 
 
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"Romba!!!"
"Romba?"
"Yes, Romba. Like that old jungle commando movie... you know, the guy with the machine guns..."
"Ugh, that movie? Of all the ancient human movies, you just had to become a fan of that one..."
"Well, he was hot."
"Yes, there is that... but still. I believe the character's name was Rambo."
"Well, I like Romba better. Besides that was a man. I'm a woman. Romba sounds more feminine."
 
- anonymous conversation between two Siluvaran Royal Guard women after a successful "Capture the Flag" mission
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When Roshana's lips finally parted from Ian's, she looked into Ian's dark blue eyes and saw the young adult man that he was always meant to be at his age. Although she was disappointed at not being the first fairy to give him a new and unblemished mortal shell, she could tell by his stunned yet enthusiastic smile that she was the first that he had willingly given himself to.
 
"Wow..." Ian said haltingly, fumbling for words. "That was... incredible."
 
As soon as Roshana put her index finger to his lips, his words quickly regrouped to form a question that came right from the heart: "Will you marry me, Roshana?"
 
The other fairies around them sucked in their breaths, then smiled, looking expectantly to Roshana; now it was her turn to be stunned. "Yes," she exhaled hastily, "absolutely yes!"
 
They kissed again as all the fairies cheered; all the fairies did, and as Roshana's ears told her, one other unique and familiar voice did as well. She waited until the cheering and hugs and congratulations ended before she glanced briefly over her shoulder at the outlier clapping slowly a few paces away, at the entrance to their temporary home. It was Isaya - and she was not smiling as exuberantly as the others.
 
Exuberance melted into unease in her heart at the sight of the Spriggan clapping stiffly with a look of concern on her face; but she didn't break her smile when she turned back to Ian. She held him fast in the embrace of her wings, and placed her hands on his bare chest. Strands of silk streamed from her fingers like quicksilver, spreading down across his chest and up over his shoulders. Astonished, Ian watched as she covered his entire torso down to his knees; then his jaw fell open when it quickly coalesced into what appeared to be an Earth-made white sweater, well-pressed blue jeans and white tennis shoes.
 
"There we go," Roshana said proudly, holding him at arms' length as her wings unfolded from around him and then folded into the slits in her back, causing her shoulder blades to bulge slightly. "Is it comfy?"
 
"Hmmm..." one fairy maiden gently touched his shoulder from behind. "This is clothing from your homeworld?"
 
Ian raised an eyebrow; then he nodded. "Yeah, it kinda is!" Then he tugged at his sweater to look at his chest underneath; smiling sheepishly at Roshana, he added, "Hmm... come to think of it, we usually wear a T-shirt underneath..."
 
She nodded. "I'll take care of that a bit later." Then she turned and gestured to Isaya. "I believe we have an old friend here to meet us."
 
Ian's eyes widened when he caught sight of the emerald-haired lady standing with her hands clasped in front of her. "Isaya!" he called, walking over to her while holding Roshana's hand.
 
She greeted him with a kiss and a hug; then she blushed, looking to Roshana. Roshana just waved her off. "I'm surprised you didn't come as a giantess and get all kinky with us," she half-whispered toward her ear as she hugged Isaya as well.
 
Isaya snorted a laugh. "Oh, and I've done just that for a few newlyweds around here," she bragged.
 
"You should do it in front of the Arajo!" one maiden blurted from behind Ian. "They would go crazy!"
 
Isaya looked past Ian to the brunette who'd spoken. "In their territory around the Hazina ruins?" She laughed nervously. "No way! Around here, though, it seems at least one Arajo couple was just fine with it..." She rubbed her chin, a puzzled look coming over her face. "Very odd, considering their history with Dryads..."
 
"No harm, no foul?" Ian surmised. "If you're nice to them they're nice to you..."
 
"That's as good a way of putting it as I could think of," Rosinthe emerged to the front of the crowd, taking Ian's hand. "As long as you find a nice, discreet place and all that."
 
Roshana chuckled; Isaya's subtle look of unease might have gotten by everyone else when masked by her cheerful, jovial nature, but she knew something was wrong. Still, she knew the best approach for now was to play along. "Where I come from, they'd be about as open-minded about that as the Clanlord!"
 
But then while the whole crowd burst into laughter, the Spriggan woman froze, her laughter dying unexpectedly. Roshana was the first to notice; but then as Isaya's legs darkened and hardened into bark, Rosinthe and Ian sucked in their breaths as well. By the time the wave of awareness had swept across the crowd and all eyes were focused on Isaya, the Spriggan's arms had elongated into branches, her fingers into twigs; and her body's curves almost completely straightened out into a trunk. Her head became little more than a lump at the apex, with more short branches sprouting about what had once been her neck. Within five seconds of Isaya's sudden silence, her Spriggan avatar had become nothing more than a tree.
 
Roshana gasped, then looked around. All she could see was hundreds of blue blobs representing fairies' life forces milling around in a sea of faint green - the life forces of the various non-sentient plant life in the vicinity of her. "Isaya?" she called nervously.
 
"I will go to her garden!" Rosinthe said, spreading her wings to take off. "If she's alive, her spirit will be there!"
 
Roshana spread her wings, too. "I'll join you..." she replied as Rosinthe took off.
 
No sooner did her wings come out than the air shifted behind her and a hand touched her shoulder. She turned.
 
"I'm glad I caught you in time, Roshana." It was none other than Chieftain Linjara's husband Yaron.
 
Roshana turned, "Yaron... sir... I was just heading to investigate what happened to Isaya..."
 
"We have other more pressing issues to attend to," he said with a hint of warning. "Chieftain Elsina has called in her entire Biashal Council to meet with the Arajo. Or perhaps it was the Clanlord himself who called her in."
 
"Weren't you just over there?" Roshana asked, puzzled.
 
"Yes..." he said. "The Clanlord had something to share with my wife; and as soon as they left, they found out about the second... secret meeting."
 
"Sneaky..." Ian commented.
 
"Indeed. I and the rest of the Nangwaya Council, along with my wife Linjara, are headed back to the Council chambers to find out what they're up to."
 
Roshana's heart sank. Ian folded his arms, frowning.
 
"Should I come along with you?" she asked half-heartedly.
 
"Well, we do suspect that your fate is being discussed..." Yaron started.
 
"I'm going too, right?" Ian inquired, tapping his own chest.
 
Roshana paused; then she turned abruptly. "Absolutely," she said, just as Ian disappeared in a flash.
 
***
 
"Nenothab... Oratho... Lebakna... Yostaro... nothing more than desperate moves for a desperate people."
 
Hoshatel walked slowly down the stone steps overlooking an underground cavern. The writhing vines carpeting most of the cavern floor flooded the chamber with a bright mix of orange and crimson glows, creating the illusion of a lake of fire.
 
"They know the Imperishable Empire is coming to seal their doom," Lolamisa, the elfin-eared fairy woman assistant walking behind him spoke with an air of indomitable confidence.
 
Hoshatel grinned as he clasped his hands behind his back. "And long before our forces make planetfall we will have thrown the entire land of Nazon into chaos," he said calmly as they came to the observation room carved out of the cavern rock at the bottom of the stairs.
 
There, in a brightly-lit, well-ventilated bunker where Bloodvine spores were not allowed to concentrate, they turned to the observation window to watch Silurhean troops in orange environmental suits stepping carefully among the vines, harvesting vast ropes of the glowing red vegetation to load onto conveyor belts heading to the far end of the cavern. To the male soldier who turned and saluted him upon arrival he inquired, "How many pods are ready to launch?"
 
The silver-haired fairy responded, "Sir... eighty percent of all delivery pods are fully loaded and ready for deployment. We will have all pods ready for launch in three more hours."
 
The red-headed base commander nodded with a proud smile. "Good. The Bollars will have no idea what hit them... they're mostly prepared to keep us from invading and devouring them."
 
Lolamisa laughed. "Fools. Instead they'll be too busy devouring their own kind. All we'll have to do is stab the bloated bellies of the survi-ouch!"
 
From the corner of his eye, Hoshatel had caught the cobalt blue arch of electricity that lashed out from the console at Lolamisa's rear end. Normally he would have dismissed it as an illusion, or a stray flash of light. But when Lolamisa jumped and glanced back at the row of computers with shock and dismay, the bright crimson glow of her soul aura lost its luster; his adrenaline immediately kicked in as he summoned a magic shield to protect himself. In an instant he realized he had chosen the wrong spell. Hoshatel's forcefield was enveloped by a lightning storm which fed off his own magic, sapped away his shield and finally tore through every nerve fiber in his body. His limbs refused to respond to him and his magic reserves died. Hoshatel crumpled to the ground, helpless to move as he was forced to watch bolts of blue-white energy slithering along the blood-red vines on the ground outside to strike like hungry vipers at the fairy workers under his command. Caught completely by surprise, they all fell over like dominoes; they hadn't even the time to spasm or cry for help. No alert was sounded, and no one had fired a shot or cast a single spell in their own defense.
 
For a few moments, he lay there on his side, paralyzed and too low on magic to come to his own defense. He had time, however, to wonder who it could have been that screwed him. Was it the Bollars? It certainly could have been. Weapons capable of shocking Silurheans and sapping them of their magic were feared to be under development by the starfaring clans. It was entirely possible that this high-tech, planet-bound tribe could have figured it out as well. But as his eyes began to sting him while he fought to blink even once, his mind began to ask itself questions: for instance how could such an attack be delivered so far underground? Was there someone nearby - or worse, a group of enemies within their base, hiding by using those dreadful mind tricks the Bollars were known to be capable of? If so, why didn't they fall upon his personnel as soon as they fell?
 
As his mind was running through the myriad of questions about the nature of his situation, the answer came in the form of strange lights reflecting off the cavern ceiling. As the glow moved closer to his position, he could tell that they were individual lines, like the Bloodvines except in this case they were green. They were a mass of glowing green vines writhing across the cavern like snakes.
 
Hoshatel's heart raced as he finally managed to blink once. *Fosuyars!* his mind screamed. *But they're glowing... and they penetrated solid rock!!! That's impossible!*
 
One of the dreadful green vines rose up into view, its crimson tip opening into a fleshy yet toothless maw before plunging down to seize a hazmat-suited fairy head-first. One strong suck was all it took; the vine swelled as it swallowed its prey whole in the blink of an eye, its inner muscles forcing the bulge to move quickly along its immeasurable length toward wherever its origin may lie.
 
As Hoshatel lay watching one vine after another writhing in and out of view with bulges moving through them, he realized that had he protected himself with even the barest of shield spells, he would certainly not be in this situation. But then that was the nature of whatever attacked them; they had caught the entire base unprepared. There was no sign of any approaching enemies. Being on alert for an attack that was not coming was too much of a drain on their resources; they would have been low on magic by the time something did come for them. The Bollars and their Nivalavi allies were known for buzzing a target facility, forcing them to use their magic to protect themselves from an impending attack that didn't come until the enemy knew their magic reserves were worn down. They would even pick off anyone who left the base in search of food to eat and turn into fuel for recharging their magic...
 
In mid-thought, another lightning bolt rippled through his numbed nerves to jolt him with a brief stinging sensation; and then his turn came up. He was forced to watch helplessly as the floor slid by underneath him until a trio of soft-looking petals closed around his head and sealed him in darkness.
 
***
 
"Roshana? Why'd we stop?"
 
The white marbled hallways of the Arajo Council Chambers filled Roshana with a different kind of fear than when she strolled among the Silurheans and the underground Imperishable Empire base where she encountered the Biashal. The Arajo Clan's architecture spoke well of the Bollar virtues of calmness, sterility and order; tapestries adorned various hallways, many depicting ancient philosopher Kishu Masra Talak Akwat T'santho in various states of contemplation or instructing his students. T'santho was the most revered thinker in Bollar history, dating back to when his species still called itself the Ke'yeppans. His essays on military strategy were directly responsible for sharpening the Ke'yeppans into an unstoppable force in the galaxy.
 
Yet everything T'santho and his successors preached, contradicted her experiences at the hands of their Bollar descendants on this world. T'santho would never have condoned experiments using the Bloodvine, had he ever encountered anything of its like during his lifetime; it would contradict his philosophy that cruelty is the definition of insanity. Plus it would be in direct disregard of his warnings against using the tools of devils to fight devils. He certainly would have led armies to stand against those plotting to vaporize entire cities. The brightly lit halls of the Council Chambers contrasted greatly with the darkness she sensed in these leaders' souls.
 
It was then that an idea struck Roshana and stopped her in her tracks while she was walking slowly toward the last intersection before the approach to the Council Chambers.
 
She turned around to cast Ian a blank stare; then after blinking once, she smiled, studying the two-piece suit and tie she created for him from his own memories. "Now I understand what's wrong with this clan."
 
Ian raised an eyebrow; for an instant, he was starting to wonder if Roshana simply stopped so he could get another long and appreciative look at her body. Even through her blue ceremonial-looking uniform and vermillion sash adorned with yellow military-looking runes, her shapely figure beckoned to him. "Yeah? So... you gonna clue me in here?"
 
She nodded; then she noticed his eyes roaming her body, and rolled her eyes playfully. Gently nudging him back against the wall, she took a moment to plant a kiss on his lips. Then, it was all business again. "The problem is that in addition to a Clanlord," she whispered in his ear, "every Bollar Freehold clan has a Mafunda... a master 'Guru', of sorts. You might call them a religious or philosophical leader. They tend to check the Clanlord and the Council by citing the teachings of a great philosopher named T'santho, or his successors."
 
"Ahhh..." he said, "I get it. There isn't a 'Guru' here."
 
"Exactly." Roshana glanced around cautiously before continuing to speak, her lips hovering very close to his. "That's no minor thing with the Bollars, either... I've never even seen a clan without a highly conspicuous Guru presence." She chuckled. "I used to know them all by name, just like the Clanlords."
 
Ian shrugged. "Okay. So... how does this affect our plans?"
 
"Well, hopefully there's someone around here who remembers their importance," she sighed. "For all the good it will do." She leaned forward for another kiss, hastily plunging her tongue briefly into his mouth. Then she giggled, cupping his cheeks. "Sorry, honey, I'm just a little bit horny... and this might be the last moment of pleasure for either of us for a while."
 
Ian nodded, smiling widely. "Sorry? Are you kidding me? I never imagined... well..."
 
"Me neither, dear," she reassured him. "The mission I've been on these last 19 of your years? Most of us don't come back alive."
 
He gaped at her as she took his hand and pulled him along. "Seriously? You didn't share that part of your memory with me..."
 
She sighed, confessing with another softer kiss, "No... but I will..." Glancing behind her at the increasingly loud and confrontational voices echoing down the hall, she urged, "Come on... time's short."
 
***
 
"Because you weren't invited. Why are you here?"
 
Chieftain Linjara of Indumon had intercepted Clanlord Rijaal in the hallway and was blocking his path by the time Roshana and Ian saw what was going on. The Chieftain was fully dressed in ornate azure royal robes, wielding her scepter like a weapon. Her silvery-black braids were tied and bound, appearing from a distance to be cut short. Clanlord Rijaal Haj-Bollar was even more imposing than usual in his fully gold-embroidered, medal-festooned black military uniform, complete with golden pauldrons made of a strange, bulldog-like animal's head and a short round hat with a flat circular top and matching inch-wide visor. Standing next to him was the highly-decorated General Rafiki Ebo, wearing his dark brown military uniform, minus the cap to cover his bald head.
 
"You admit to holding an emergency session of Councils without notifying us, no later than five seconds after I walk out of here!" Chieftain Linjara's voice was unusually agitated as she confronted the Clanlord. "Perhaps you did this in order to prevent us from telling our side to the entire Biashal Council?"
 
Upon hearing footsteps behind him, the Clanlord turned briefly; then he did a double take. "Roshana?"
 
Linjara then pointed to his chest. "Hmmmm... I can hear your heart beating faster..." she noted, before gesturing to Roshana and Ian. "Roshana! Ian! Come, we have an... emergency meeting to attend... uninvited, of course."
 
Ian spotted Nidale standing in front of Chieftain Elsina, and his anger was immediately kindled; it was an effort to remain calm and rational despite the memory of Hollani's death burning inside him during this meeting with the forces that were responsible for that incident. The sight of Nidale, however, made him begin to regret that he had come here fleeing the Earth military, which at the moment he wished was around to treat her to some good old-fashioned human xenophobic torture and interrogation.
 
Roshana, noticing Ian glaring at Nidale, urged him along as she steered around the Clanlord, giving the towering leader a wide berth. "I'm right behind you..."
 
Rijaal watched as the Chieftain turned her back and continued into the Council Chambers; then he sighed and shook his head, before following them in.
 
"Normally, I like being the guest of honor." Roshana replied as they walked in and observed all the people crammed in next to each other - the ten white and gold robed Bollar humans of the Arajo clan standing within each other's personal space to the left side; and the ten forest green-robed Biashal leaders begrudgingly moving aside to make room for the ten members of the cocoa-toned Nangwaya contingent now crowding at the right side of the crescent-shaped table. "But not today."
 
Ian glanced back at the Clanlord, joking, "This guy looks like one of those old juntas back 400 years ago on Earth."
 
Roshana responded with an air of caution, "Depending on how long the Arajo have been here, he may be a little more old school than a military dictator. That's not a good thing."
 
"If he were any worse he'd be Genghis Khan..." Ian noted.
 
"All rise for the honorable Clanlord Rijaal N'han Hizar Haj-Bollar of the Arajo Freehold clans, Chieftain Linjara Breni Lamwen Indumon of the Nangwaya clans, and Chieftain Elsinara Eileen Dessia Lanaldani of the Biashal clans!" a uniformed man standing in the center of the chambers blurted out while reading a brightly glowing screen shaped like a scroll. Once he was finished, he rolled it up into a single cylindrical bar and marched to the exit.
 
"Eileen?" Ian whispered. "That's an Irish name... from Earth... my great grandmother's first name was Eileen!"
 
Roshana's brows furrowed. "That's the second time..."
 
Chieftain Linjara squeezed by Roshana, taking her son and his wife Ethara aside to the corner.
 
"We are here today to discuss major threats to the security of the people of Nazon..." Clanlord Haj-Bollar started off quickly.
 
Chieftain Linjara then abruptly turned from her little huddle and glared at the Clanlord. "Excuse me?" she blurted out, "If this is such a major threat then why was the Nangwaya Council not invited?"
 
Rijaal furrowed his brows. "Because..." he focused his gaze right at Roshana, "you are in fact harboring one of the threats to the security of our people, right there."
 
"Wait..." Shahab waved his hands in disbelief. "You planned on... convicting or condemning or whatever you planned with Roshana with this... whole... secret trial thing... and what then?" He snorted a contemptuous laugh. "I know you weren't hoping to send someone into Nangwaya territory to snatch her. I know you're not that crazy."
 
"And yet you brought her here?" the Clanlord shot back.
 
"She's here under my protection," Chieftain Linjara warned. "You would be wise to keep that in mind."
 
"Or what?" Nidale stepped aside, allowing Chieftain Elsina to step forward as she called from the other side of the room. "Is that a threat?"
 
"You bet it-" Ethara stepped forward belligerently, only to be held back by Linjara's arm.
 
Linjara caused everyone to suck in their breath when she took the forefront, turned slowly to Elsina, and then responded coldly, "Yes. And that threat comes from all ninety million Nivalavi fairy warriors of the four hundred million-strong Nangwaya tribe." She turned to the Clanlord and added, "For the math whizzes here that's six fully trained battlemages for every man, woman and child of every other group living in Nazon."
 
Ian cringed. "Oh, shit! Somebody woke the wrong dragon from her lair..."
 
Roshana, meanwhile, studied the Clanlord as he stood there, folding his arms as if he were entertained by the heated exchange brewing between the Chieftains.
 
Linjara's eyes then darted around before she put her hand to her mouth as if in shame. "Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't mean men, women AND children... that's the Biashal's specialty."
 
"What?!" one of the Biashal Councilwomen blurted out. "What are you accusing us of?!"
 
"Of following directives issued by the Clanlord and the Council to aid their forces in completely vaporizing several major civilian population centers!" Linjara responded, practically talking over the Councilwoman. The Nangwaya delegates were all glaring at the Biashal by now. "Plus," she continued, "the chief of your personal guard, Nidale of the Som'tair family, violated the sanctity of this man's memories!" She pointed stiffly to Ian Scranton. "She dared to read his memories and then slander them to his face!"
 
"You mean his memories of being swallowed alive by that Silurhean Arari deviant?" Nidale appeared to speak out of turn; Elsina moved to lift her hand to silence her, but then clasped her hands in front of her, cracking a slight grin. "Did he tell you all about sitting in that foul creature's belly watching her FOOD digest?"
 
Suddenly the room exploded into muttering as all eyes fell upon Ian, who was now red-faced with anger. Chieftain Linjara, however, merely folded her arms. Unfazed, she responded, "Yes... and?"
 
"Yeah, you're damned right I told everyone!" Ian blurted out from behind Roshana, forcing his way up front.
 
"Ian..." Linjara tried to stop him.
 
"And damned right, Roshana was there, too," he continued, ignoring the Chieftain, "so you don't need to drop that bomb on these fine... folks... or whatever!"
 
"See what I mean?" Nidale started to say to her Chieftain.
 
"You treacherous little Tinkerbell!" his voice exploded in intensity; all the fairies on his side of the room cringed, and not just a few started rubbing their ears. "You know damned well Hollani did it to save my life from another Rikati warrior that was about to teleport me into her stomach! Or did you decline to tell YOUR Chieftain about that part?"
 
"Tinkerbell?" Nidale frowned. "You were warned once not to go there, human..."
 
"Oh yeah," he clenched his fists, "you stole that from my memories, too, didn't you?" He pointed at her. "Your goons killed Hollani for no good reason. She saved my life." His voice started to tremble. "My fucking LIFE! She wanted to become a child of Gaia just like Roshana is now! And your goons killed her!"
 
"You know," Roshana glared at Nidale, "being called a Tinkerbell is the least of what you deserve. For what you did to Ian, you'd be called DEAD where I come from."
 
"You dare threaten... me?" Nidale's hand trembled as she pointed to herself. "Do you know who I am, you silly ex-Silurhean savage?"
 
"No, she has not the standing to challenge you," Ethara stepped up beside Roshana and cut in, "but I do." She thumped her left breast with her fist, "I, Ethara of Indumon, would be glad to see to it personally that you answer for your crime!"
 
Suddenly the entire other side of the room backed up against the wall. The Clanlord and his second in command grinned.
 
"And I would also hope that the Clanlord's DOG... I mean, Elsina... would fight at your side!" she threatened, smiling malevolently at the Chieftain.
 
"Ethara!" her husband grabbed her arm. "Not here... in the Council Chambers!"
 
"So this is your plan, Linjara?" Elsina's voice faltered slightly, forcing her to clear her throat. "To swamp us all under the overwhelming weight of the Nangwaya? To turn upon us like some kind of enraged horde?"
 
Linjara gently brushed Ethara back with her arm. "You, Elsina, are not worthy of being a Chieftain. And you... captain of my guard," she said to Ethara, "demean yourself to strike her down."
 
"But..." Ethara protested, attempting in vain to stifle her anger.
 
Linjara chastised her softly, "She acts like a savage, Ethara, and to kill her is a savage act."
 
"How dare you..." Elsina bristled at her words.
 
Linjara continued, as if to talk over Elsina, "You, Elsina, shame your ancestors and you bring nothing but shame to your people." Then, to the Clanlord, she turned and announced calmly, "We of the Nangwaya are here to declare we are no longer a part of your coalition of savagery. Our people will begin our journey to the north within the next month."
 
Ian was flabbergasted. "Four hundred million people, moving that fast...?" he said under his breath with disbelief.
 
"Yeah, that fast..." Roshana reassured him.
 
Rijaal Haj-Bollar folded his arms. "So... it finally comes to this?"
 
"Our alliance is ended, Clanlord," Linjara said with finality. "It is over." She bowed. "May you have success fending for yourselves. I offer you one enduring courtesy... no enemy shall invade you from the north, for we will inhabit that entire region and no Silurhean shall ever pass." Gesturing to Ethara and her son, she said, "Let's go. We've nothing else to say here."
 
Clanlord Rijaal sighed again, watching Chieftain Linjara leading her delegates single-file between the tables; then he shrugged and spoke with a tone of resignation, "I guess that this means you will be taking with you those Arajo who are spouses of your people?"
 
Chieftain Linjara nodded. "Those who wish to go."
 
"Good," Rijaal said, "then I suspect that, depending on where you settle, you will have about two to five seconds to watch the giant rock from space as it strikes southern Nazon..." His next words stopped Linjara dead in her tracks, "Before the blast wave scours your people off the face of Absegami."
 
"Giant... what?"
 
"Oh, but you won't make it. We should all be dead by the time your people start moving out..."
 
"I asked you-"
 
Rijaal rubbed his chin, interrupting her at his leisure. "Ah, but you're not interested in hearing that part." He bowed to her. "I wish you well in your journey, Chieftain. We will most certainly miss you... I certainly hope we can trad-"
 
Chieftain Linjara of Indumon's calm demeanor immediately melted into a scowl. "For the last time... giant... *what*?"
 
"Oh, so you are interested?" He smirked at her. "For your information, I'm talking about a giant asteroid. Usually a large, spherically-shaped mass of solid nickel-iron, at least a hundred shiamuata in size, typically dropped into the orbital path of the targeted planet..."
 
Chieftain Linjara's mouth nearly fell open.
 
"That's what the Imperishable Empire usually deploys to sterilize plants inhabited by a large Nivalavi fairy population such as the Nangwaya Tribe..." Rijaal turned to Roshana, "Is that not right?"
 
Roshana sighed. "Yes..." Her eyes moved around a bit as she paused to think, "If any transmissions concerning the Nangwaya have gotten out from any of those Imperishable Empire bases..." She then sighed. "The Nivalavi fairies are considered a dire threat to the Empire. A fleet will be dispatched within two days to destroy entire the planet... or at least annihilate all life, including the entire ecosystem."
 
A chorus of gasps sucked all the courage and even belligerence from the room, leaving behind a palpable air of shock and fear.
 
Roshana continued with a grim chuckle, almost obliviously, "The Imperishable Empire once sacrificed six major battlegroups to break through their enemies' defenses to take out one world heavily populated by the Nivalavi."
 
"Damn!" Ian blurted. "How big is a battlegroup?"
 
"Now, of course," Rijaal pointed out, "when my people crashed here, we were aware that the Siluvaran Confederacy was turning this area into a restricted zone and devoting a lot of their forces to keeping the Imperishable Empire away... but we also know their track record in enforcing these no-man's land zones, eh?"
 
Roshana rolled her eyes.
 
"So I give it about a week before the Imperishable Empire arrives and we're all wiped out." Rijaal gestured to his General. "Supreme Commander Rafiki Shilam Weth'nu Ebo... your report, please."
 
The stoic-faced General stepped into the middle of the room. "Our satellites in orbit have been monitoring a flurry of narrow band transmissions from all over the planet," he spoke without delay, "and we've intercepted several from a specific location in space, about four light years from here. The enemy is moving slowly through a series of nebulae which will make them hard to detect unless you're in there looking for them. The Siluvaran Confederacy, as usual, is not looking for them. No doubt they're busy in some other confrontation."
 
Ian laughed. "You know," he interrupted, "I bet it's because of that Bollar fleet I heard about that interfered at the Battle of Kuiper Line."
 
General Ebo turned to him. "Battle of what?"
 
"A battle at the edge of my homeworld's star system," Ian said boldly. "Lots of people say a bunch of starfaring Africans in huge warships jumped out of nowhere and BOOM!!! took out the entire Grue Combine... er, what you call the Imperishable Empire... and another group called the Siluvarans... all in one swift attack."
 
"A Planet Killer..." General Ebo nodded proudly. "It is nice to know our brethren are still out there..."
 
Ian snorted, shaking his head. "You know, I kept hearing about 'Bollar' aliens landing in Africa." He threw up his hands. "They censor a lot of information where I come from... and yet here you are. A whole giant clan of Bollars, living alongside the same kinds of fairies I was trying to escape to."
 
"Ah yes," Nidale spoke from across the room, "you were fleeing from your duty to defend your people, weren't you?"
 
Immediately, even her own people turned to glare at her.
 
Ian turned to her. "Yeah, I was, as a matter of fact." He pointed defiantly, retorting, "No fucking Government owns me." Roshana grabbed his arm to hold him back, but he shook her off and stepped forward into the center of the room next to the seemingly amused Supreme Commander. "Where I come from, men are expendable. They think NOTHING of wasting MILLIONS of us on some kind of war or another! They're sending thousands... MILLIONS of us out there right now to die in some marauding Imperishable Empire predator's stomachs, while the WOMEN OF EARTH sit safe at home!" He continued on toward Nidale until he was standing just across the bannister from her. "You DAMNED RIGHT I fled!" He thumped his chest angrily. "My life's worth more than that! I have no duty to defend a people that treat me like a disposable asset!"
 
General Ebo whistled, glancing back at the Clanlord, who was also taken aback. "What a bunch of savages," he mouthed to his commander in chief; who nodded.
 
"I'm sorry to break up this argument," General Ebo spoke out loud, "but... did you say Bollars were said to be landing somewhere on your planet?"
 
Ian turned, staring at the beefy Supreme Commander for a moment before answering, "Yeah. Buncha guys who talk about outrageous conspiracies kept mentioning YOUR people..." He paused, then corrected himself. "Well, I mean, the Bollars." He looked around a bit before adding nervously, "You do call yourselves the Bollars, right?"
 
Clanlord Rijaal chuckled before responding, "Yes, to be specific, we are the Arajo clan... formerly a starfaring Freehold with our own Planet Killer weapon... the legacy which defines each clan."
 
"Yeah..." Ian nodded. "Okay, I get it. The Arajo Clan or Freehold of the Bollars?"
 
"The Arajo Clan of the Bollar Freeholds," Roshana chimed in. "And it's understandable that you don't know about this alleged incident at Ian's home star system... from what he's saying, the Bollars did the impossible. They..." She almost laughed, "They must have used that nebula trick to break through what's now known as the Luginta Exclusion Zone to strike at the Siluvarans and the Imperishable Empire in one fell swoop." She then rubbed her chin. "What confuses me is... what finally made them suddenly decide to charge through the Exclusion Zone...?"
 
"Perhaps..." Clanlord Rijaal spoke disdainfully as he looked past the angrily scowling Chieftain Linjara as if he were ignoring her, "your people could explain it to you?"
 
Roshana narrowed her eyes. "They would! That is, if you'd allow me to call into space for help. But... being much like Ian's people, I'm betting you're too myopic to allow such a thing for some reason."
 
General Ebo laughed, "Of course not! We would much prefer you call for help. That way your Matrons can come and turn us ALL into fairies, just like they did to the people of Ke'yeppa Beta!"
 
Immediately, the already agitated Arajo council erupted into muttering.
 
"Her Matrons?" someone among the Arajo delegation inquired, sparking a firestorm of angry words.
 
"Yes, her Matrons," Clanlord Rijaal gestured to Roshana. "Will you please say hello to Roshana Ariala Caladuri... Siluvaran Covert Ops agent and wanna-be cadet for the Royal Guard."
 
"She's a Siluvaran agent?! That explains everything!"
 
"We have an agent of the Matrons in our midst?!"
 
"She'll call those demons down on us all!"
 
Roshana groaned loudly, rolling her eyes at the Clanlord, who was now grinning. "So that's why you had me thrown in a white featureless room filled with Bloodvine spores?" She blurted, silencing everyone all at once. "That is, after you convinced the Biashal to transfer me to your custody?" She looked at the Biashal Council. "Ah, you didn't hear about THAT, now did you?"
 
She then turned and put her hand to her mouth. "Oh yeah, didn't you and... 'Supreme Commander' ego over there..." She snickered as the pun made General Ebo stiffen with anger, "You guys had that move solely stuck on the Arajo Council's tab, didn't you? Or was it the part where you... I mean the Council... ordered Arajo troops to kill Shahab and a pregnant fairy and anyone ELSE who was caught in the effort to rescue... me?"
 
"Oh, you're full of moves today, aren't you?" Clanlord Rijaal cut in at that point. "Got any more things you wish to tell the Councils before the Nangwaya leave and the rocks start falling upon us from the sky?" He outstretched his arms with mock frustration. "I mean... we might as well have it out. Since we cannot agree to unite against a threat that can't be more than four days away, let's have a few hangings instead, right?" Gesturing to Linjara, he added, "Perhaps you'd like to sell that to your people?"
 
"Fuck me..." Ian said under his breath. "This guy makes Majestic-12 look like amateurs..."
 
"Or perhaps you'd like to rethink your position but also spare Roshana," Rijaal continued. "In which case we will stand a snowball's chance in HELL of stopping the enemy when they arrive, only for Roshana's people to arrive soon after."
 
To a stunned Roshana, Rijaal said, "Oh yes, you don't think my telepaths wouldn't wring that from your memories, did you? You're here on an 80-season mission to assess potential infiltration of the Luginta Exclusion Zone by the Imperishable Empire. When your time is up your Siluvaran friends will be here to pick you up..." He looked up at the clock on the other end of the Chambers. "Ah yes, that should be any day now, yes?"
 
Roshana furrowed her brows. "You're such a fool, Clanlord."
 
"No, YOU are." he brushed his General aside and walked up to Roshana, seizing her by her throat unexpectedly and lifting her off her feet. "Stupid fairy bitch. I will go to WAR with ANYONE rather than subject my people to what happened at Ke'yeppa Beta! Do you hear me? WAR!"
 
As the Clanlord yelled at Roshana, Ian foresaw him crushing Roshana's throat, killing the one woman left who ever loved him and gave his life meaning; and at that moment the Clanlord's size and power lost all meaning to him. He reached behind him, seizing a wooden chair from behind the bannister, hefted it above his head with all his might, and hurled it.
 
"Ian, no!" Shahab bellowed in the meantime.
 
Before his unbelieving eyes, the chair compressed itself and then exploded into splintery fragments in midair, barely a meter in front of him. The shards all flew in one direction - at Ian's face, where they bounced off an invisible wall.
 
At the same time, however, Ethara jumped into action, teleporting Roshana out of the Clanlord's deadly grip, to a spot directly behind her. She and the delegates formed up around her in a protective shell. Rijaal, studying his suddenly empty hand at first, then clenched it into a fist. Snarling, he thrust his hand at Ethara, concentrating directly on crushing Roshana's throat.
 
A painful shock enveloped his arm before his thoughts could seize his intended victim; he did not need to wonder why, a split second later, the audible crunch of Roshana's esophagus collapsing, did not occur.
 
Staring at Shahab, he nodded with a hint of frustration. "Okay... Blocking my psychic abilities with an anti-magic spell," his voice shook with anger. "You learned well from your father." General Ebo, meanwhile, gestured frantically; a flurry of footsteps heralded the arrival of a dozen armed men into the room. As they trained their heavy assault rifles on the Nangwaya delegates before the Councilmembers who stared in horror, most with their hands over their mouths, he coldly ordered, "Kill Roshana now. And anyone who stands in the way. Fire!"
 
"HOLD!!!" Linjara screamed desperately; the troops lined up in front of her hesitated at her word. "I offer a deal!"
 
"A deal?!" General Ebo snarled. "You heard the Clanlord's orders! Fire!"
 
"The Nangwaya will go to war with the Matrons!" Linjara said hastily as the first shot was fired and an eight-ounce iron slug punched a hole in a ceiling light.
 
The soldier who fired was now wrestling with the soldier to his right. "No! Wait! Hear her out!"
 
"You will be put to a firing squad for this!"
 
"My WIFE is Nangwaya!"
 
Stupefied by the sudden chaos among his own troops, General Ebo coldly drew his own pistol to fire; but by then it was too late. All thirty delegates fell upon them, wrestling the troops for their weapons. Elsina and Nidale joined the fight, each grabbing a Biashal delegate and yanking them back; but they were quickly checked by Ethara and Shahab, who overpowered them.
 
"I've had enough of this," Rijaal snarled, deftly sidestepping the chaos swirling around him. With everyone distracted in an effort to stop the Supreme Commander and his troops, they did not quite notice Rijaal himself orbiting the fracas at its fringes, handgun in his left hand, taking aim at Roshana from a clear line of sight.
 
However, Chieftain Linjara did see him, and as a result, the gun flew from his hand.
 
"No!"
 
Linjara took his gun and fired it barely over the heads of the others; the loud bang caused them to stop and look at her.
 
"And you call Roshana a savage?" she snorted, removing the ammo clip from the gun before throwing it back at the Clanlord. More troops entered the room, including a member of the Psychic Force. Her heart leapt into her throat as she spoke hastily again, "We will STOP the Matrons! Listen to me!"
 
"Stop! By order of the Council!" a loud, powerful voice boomed, causing the soldiers to shoulder their firearms. One of the Arajo Councilmen threw an assault rifle to the ground and emerged from the struggling group, his Council robes torn from the waist up. "This is madness! The Nangwaya Chieftain has offered us a deal to end this."
 
Everyone slowly looked to her.
 
The frightened Chieftain studied her son and his wife, who now had the Biashal Chieftain and her top commander face-down on the ground. When they looked up at her, she attempted to speak calmly, "Does anyone here believe that we, four hundred fairies strong and many of us being well-trained warriors, would allow the Siluvaran Matrons to conquer this world? Or anyone else?" After a brief pause, she added, "Do you believe that any such force could ever hope to overwhelm us?"
 
Roshana, who had ducked upon seeing Rijaal aiming at her, raised her head slowly. "Clanlord... what you don't understand is... after the attack on Ke'yeppa Beta... our Matron's protectors, the Royal Guard, turned on them. Millions of Matrons were put to death as punishment for that attack!"
 
Clanlord Rijaal furrowed his brow as he looked at her incredulously. "What?" he nearly squeaked.
 
"It's true!" Roshana explained. "Ever wonder why they never appeared again? Why an attack like that never came to your homeworld Ke'yeppa Prime? It's because the Royal Guard... the ones who sent me here... executed their own leaders!"
 
Before he could speak, she continued, "I risk forfeiting my life to them for telling you that..." She stood up again and brushed herself off, "But I think they'll forgive me for... um... disarming a war between the Arajo and the Nangwaya!"
 
Rijaal clenched his fists. "Bullshit. You're lying."
 
Roshana pointed frantically to the soldier with the tattoo on his forehead. "He's a telepath! Ask him to probe my mind!"
 
Rijaal turned to the man, who sighed and nodded. "Impossible..." a haunted look crossed his face as he realized the predicament that this was turning into for him.
 
"And I know you've been a bit insulated from galactic current events and all," Roshana said nervously, "but where I come from, the Freeholds had a bit of a falling out over Clanlords that fuck over the Nivalavi... as in, they tend to get... assassinated." Watching Rijaal cringe, she nodded grimly: "If this scandal gets out to other starfaring Bollar clans, they'll be coming for your head..."
 
"And I believe there's a clan with a fleet nearby in our solar system..." Ian made his presence known again, much to Clanlord Rijaal's chagrin. "That's, like, only a few light years away." As the Clanlord and the General both stood there, speechless as sweat ran in rivulets down their foreheads, he added grimly, "It's a good day for a hangin', ain't it?"
 
Clanlord Rijaal laughed nervously. "You do that. Obviously you're not listening. A major leadership shakeup right just in time for the total annihilation of all life on this planet." He threw his hands in the air. "Cut off your head to stop a headache! We all... 'get what we deserve'!"
 
One of his own Arajo Councilwomen trembled as she turned and faced him contrarily. "Ordering troops to shoot Roshana... through anyone who stands in her defense... isn't exactly what I'd call maintaining unity in the face of imminent annihilation."
 
The Clanlord furrowed his brow, having recomposed himself. "You believe the Nangwaya are strong enough to stop the Matrons. You go with that." Looking to Roshana, he shook his head. "As Clanlord I'm now declaring Martial Law."
 
General Rafiki Ebo breathed a sigh of relief, even as everyone else gawked at the Clanlord.
 
"Excuse me?" Ethara almost laughed at him; Chieftain Linjara sighed.
 
"General Ebo will coordinate all of our national defenses..." Clanlord Rijaal talked over her.
 
"You expect us to..."
 
"You will start with activating our experimental space defense grid," Rijaal spoke to his General. "I know it's experimental and we've done precious few tests... but we have no choice."
 
General Ebo nodded. "Yessir. We will begin immediately."
 
"The Nangwaya will not answer to you!" Ethara asserted loudly, forcing the Clanlord to acknowledge her. "Not now, not..."
 
Chieftain Linjara put her hand on Ethara's shoulder. "We have no choice, Ethara..." her distraught, trembling words nearly drained the color from her military commander's face. "If the Clanlord is right, we won't even be alive long enough to flee Nazon. We will all die."
 
Shahab bristled. "How do we even know he's not lying to us?"
 
Another woman's voice caused more than a few heads to turn: "Because he isn't."
 
Roshana looked to the Council Chambers entrance and did a double take. "Isaya?"
 
"The messages have been flowing into every hidden Imperishable Empire base on the planet," spoke a dark green-toned woman with rose-red hair. "They've been sending battlegroups to penetrate this sector for five years. One was destroyed by the Bollars near an uncharted, heavily populated world near here..."
 
"Earth..." Ian gasped.
 
"They've sneaked past some sort of Exclusion Zone Line defense task force, and are on their way here."
 
Roshana laughed. "The damned nebula trick. The Luginta Exclusion Zone Task Force... they're so ARROGANT that they're BLIND!"
 
"They're bringing an entire task force through," Isaya added, further darkening Roshana's mood. Looking to the Clanlord, she said sternly, "Clanlord Haj-Bollar... sir... I've been alive since before you crash-landed here. I've hitched rides on Imperishable Empire starships and Bollar clanships. I happen to know what an Imperishable Task Force comprises of."
 
Clanlord Rijaal turned to General Ebo, who was frowning at Isaya.
 
"Their ships will blot out the sun," she warned. "Your ancestors only fought half a battlegroup here over Absegami... four starfleets, all taken out by one Planet Killer. I have amassed a great deal of power while destroying the hidden bases on this planet... but between your forces and mine..." She laughed. "If only you hadn't sacrificed your Planet Killer..."
 
The Supreme Commander and the Clanlord looked at each other.
 
"Uh... hello?" Roshana cut in. "May I get access to a deep space transmitter? I could end this. Right now."
 
Clanlord Rijaal slowly turned to her again. "I'm going to get whiplash doing this..." he groaned, reaching back to massage the back of his own neck. "There is no way in hell you will ever be allowed near one of our deep space transmi-"
 
"Oh, come on, Clanlord!" Roshana protested. "One of your Freeholds has already made it into the core of the Exclusion Zone. What's to say one of them won't arrive first?"
 
"They would have done so by now," Supreme Commander Ebo feebly objected.
 
"Come on, General! Not if they don't know we're here!" Roshana laughed at him. "Lemme guess, you've kept your transmitters dark to avoid enemy reinforcements... for the last, what... thousand seasons?"
 
"A thousand three hundred, to be more precise," Isaya offered. "That's over three hundred years in your years, Ian."
 
Ian lifted an eyebrow. "Wow..."
 
"Face it, Clanlord..." Roshana gestured frantically at the Clanlord and the Supreme Commander. "Your insular little empire is about to join the interstellar community... either as a starfaring Freehold, or as a giant ring of debris orbiting what's left of this planet."
 
Clanlord Rijaal Haj-Bollar's eyes shifted slightly; General Ebo, standing behind him, nodded. "Fine," he agreed reluctantly. "But if the Siluvarans get here first..."
 
"We will encourage their reluctance to invade this planet." Chieftain Linjara repeated her vow; then she bowed slightly. "In addition, we will... defer to your military genius in coordinating the defense of our world."
 
Shahab and Ethara turned to glare at her. "Are you serious...?"
 
The Nangwaya Chieftain pointed her scepter at them. "You will not contradict me on this. Do you understand?" she said sternly.
 
"But..." Shahab started to protest.
 
"As your Chieftain, I am commanding you!"
 
"This is..." he trembled with anger; fighting back the urge to hurl expletives at his own mother, he took a deep breath and said with resignation, "If this is your wish, mother..."
 
When her son bowed to her, she nodded; then she turned to the Clanlord. "What are your plans... Clanlord?"