The Human Bearer

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.