The Acolytes of Crane

19 LINCOLN: KARSHIZ





“I was the missing Linc. That was what they called me.”

We were so woven into the time continuum—now the playground fought over between Zane and Odion—that all we did, right down to a sneeze, affected everything.

The sand whips of Karshiz were dying down, and the red star found cover behind the planet’s body. I could not believe that Dan brought that outsider into our group. I didn’t think that he would have taken Mariah seriously about recruiting a Rangier. I fit him in adequately. I told Liam to monitor him regardless.

With the sand whips absent, the visibility of our actions needed to be disguised by the projections of Nilo.

Sand whips were like miniature whirls of sand. They were slightly larger than dust devils, but not as threatening as a sandstorm. I was tickled to see that they were dying down, because even during the several minutes en route to Trazuline’s palace, they were enough to leave a layer of dirt in my nostrils.

Today’s scheduled meeting of Trazuline’s executive council began, and so did our plan. Everyone knew their part. The pinnacle of our mission was to escape undetected, so that we would have more time to put distance behind us before anyone could chase us.

Our plan hinged on one major contribution from our new recruit, Nilo. We needed a masterful projection from Nilo to mask our escape ship’s status, because from where the captain was attending to his mistress, there was a possibility that he could see us approaching his ship, the ZF-Targine. While there were dozens of other ships docked close by, we preferred the ZF-Targine, because we obtained a familiarity with it when we boarded it from the Uriel to land on Karshiz. We needed as much comfort as possible given our newness to this universe.

As if on cue, Nilo approached our sleeping quarters.

He hissed to the three guards in our area. ‘I’m taking them in personally to train at the Amphitheatre.’

‘We will assist you.’ One of the guards stepped forward, challenging his authority.

‘Trazuline sent me,’ he scowled at them, quickly swooping his hand from waist level to head level in a show of anger. ‘Now vamoose!’

Cowered, the three guards walked away, looking over their shoulders as they did so.

We were jubilant at Nilo’s stature in this palace. He was really vital for our mission. Perhaps it was a good idea to enlist him after all. After we rallied our gear, we looked as we should—warriors equipped for a battle. We failed at trying to be inconspicuous, but we did not have to worry about that now.

We split up into two groups: Dan, Liam, and Nilo in one, and Mariah and I in the other.

Nilo didn’t have our full trust, and that left us extremely on edge. A part of me believed he was the one contracted to kill Theodore. Thus, Dan and Liam, being the bigger guys, could probably take care of him, physically if need be.

‘Godspeed,’ I said to the other group.

‘Good luck,’ echoed Dan and Liam.

‘If anything happens to us, well…’ Mariah started, but composed herself. ‘I just want to say that I love all of you.’

‘Not to worry.’ Dan grinned. ‘We’ll make it.’

The two groups split into different directions.

Mariah and I took the lightly guarded paths through the palace to approach the docking bay. We were focused on figuring out what type of ship it was. Specifically, I was in charge of locating the nomenclature of the vessel, while Mariah was to watch over with her rifle from a raised platform designed to allow access to energy level readings. We knew, from our previous scouting, that this platform was not considered a security risk and therefore was not guarded.

Once I found out the make of the ship, I could use my IPU to initiate an autopilot launch-sequence based on the make. Then we quickly needed to maneuver the vessel.

Mariah and I took a deep breath as we approached the docking bay. I looked over the gigantic space ahead of me. Three guards stood, each a wide distance apart, ramrod straight, with a rifle slung over his right shoulder.

I tried to find any clue that the holographic projection was in place. Everything seemed normal.

‘Did Nilo do it?’ Mariah asked.

‘That’s the problem,’ I sighed. ‘If he did a real good job, there would be no difference at all.’

‘I know,’ Mariah said resolutely. ‘I’m going out there.’ She handed me her laser rifle.

‘Mariah, no!’ I hissed at her. ‘You could get shot!’

‘It’s the only way,’ she said. ‘If the projection is working, they won’t see me. If not, I’ll just pretend I’m lost.’

I smiled weakly. ‘They won’t fire upon a lovely damsel in distress.’

‘You’re too kind,’ she returned my smile and grasped me by the hand. ‘I love you.’

Entranced, all I could manage was a dreamlike stance and a mumbled, ‘I love you.’

Letting go, she strolled out quietly into the open. My heart beat rapidly. For a while, I wondered about bringing her rifle into position, ready to shoot. But even with all my combat training, I was nowhere as good a shot as she. Still, I might have to chance it.

Within seconds, it was apparent that the projection was holding. The guards didn’t even blink as Mariah strolled about, like an alluring vision, right near the escape vehicle. She even waved vigorously about, soundlessly. Not a twitch from the guards.

Holding in her breath, Mariah quickly darted back to me, careful to leave silent footsteps. ‘It’s working,’ she whispered.

I nodded. ‘Time to move into position.’ Taking back her rifle, she clambered up to the platform.

Taking a deep breath, I consulted my IPU. ‘Hatch open,’ I commanded through my mind.

The colossal hatch in the ceiling parted, then steadily slid open. The sunbeams shone through aggressively.

The projection was holding. Again, no reaction from the guards. Thank goodness the hatch was a ruthlessly efficient, totally silent machination.

Now it was decision time on my part. Running silently, I arrived at the front panel of the ship. I typed in the password that I had obtained through the IPU, and the ship’s hatch opened. As on Earth, passwords were very poorly protected; really, placebos designed to lull people into a false sense of security. The hatch made a loud beeping sound, and I was stunned because I feared someone could have heard the noise, but nothing yet happened. I entered the ship regardless. There was no time to lose.


As the door closed behind me, I realized that I was alone. I prayed that we would succeed in our mission. Even though I was alone, I had Mariah, and my desire to reunite with my best friend, which was all the motivation I needed.

I ran through the ship frantically. The vessel itself was large but only a tenth the size of the Uriel. It was black on the outside and the majority of the inside was sleek and white.

I didn’t really have a clue where to look for the nomenclature of the ship, so I consulted my IPU. It explained that the ship’s make and model were located on the hatch door, which was ironic, because that is where I entered, and I was at that moment, on the opposite side of the ship.

I sprinted back to the hatch, but in haste, tripped on an operator’s chair. My knee slid across the slick floor. A grid of tiny blood spots immediately appeared on my sore knee. I slowly rose up from the floor and hobbled quickly. ‘Got it,’ I exclaimed to myself, ‘IPU, I need guidance on ignition and autopilot for a ZF-Targine.’ I took the direction of my in-brain advisor at the risk of alerting those that may have been listening in on the channel.

I started the ship and over the sound of the ignition, I heard a shot. It was a weapon. I knew that if I was hearing a shot from a rifle, that things were about to become unpredictable.

I programmed the autopilot to launch in four morgets, which was equivalent to two minutes. I ran to the hatch, hoping to see my team all present and accounted for, ready to disembark immediately. However, when the hatch opened, only Mariah was there.

‘Where are the boys, Mariah?’ I asked. She shook her head, unresponsive. She had a look of fear in her eyes. ‘Mariah please, what is going on? I need to know what to do!’

‘They should be right behind me. Something went wrong. The projection was up, and it was good. I saw it from my spot, but the captain heard something. He was startled, he ran out of his office. I had to do something. I—’ Tears ran down her cheeks. ‘I shot him in the leg.’

Suddenly, we heard a series of explosions. Turning quickly, we saw three balls of fire raging on the hangar floor, all strategically located far apart. Immediately, Dan, Liam, and Nilo materialized out of thin air, furiously running toward us. The guards were now yelling and shooting at the three of them.

‘Damn!’ I yelled, ‘The projection’s down!’

The three balls of fire were once projection orbs that generated the convincing hologram. When the hologram vanished, our companions suddenly were no longer concealed. For that matter, neither were Mariah and I.

A robotic voice from the vessel counted down over our chatter, ‘The ship will launch in one morget.’

Liam screamed and fell. A guard had shot him in the leg.

‘Liam!’ Dan cried out, slowing down, unsure of what to do.

Liam held out his arm as he lay on the hard floor, writhing in pain. ‘Forget me! Just go!’

Reluctantly, Dan once again broke into a sprint.

I pulled Dan and Mariah into the ship. Nilo had already crawled up. The ship counted down:

‘Three, two, one. . .’

The hatch closed, with the four of us safely inside. Nilo immediately piloted the ship.

Our newly hijacked vessel soared rapidly upward through the air.

As the ship launched into auto-pilot, blazing through the sky, we sat traumatized, and loathed ourselves for coming up short. The fall of Liam left us depressed. Would they spare him?

Even though we had left Liam behind, we assured ourselves that we would re-unite soon enough. We were like prisoners who lost a prison-mate during a jailbreak: the major importance was that we had our freedom.

We were also hearteded while Nilo yelled, even as his full attention was diverted to navigation, ‘Don’t worry! I am sure King Trazuline will protect him somehow!’ We left it at that: our first goal was to rescue Ted. Time was running out.

“We would do honor to Liam by seeing it through to the end. Our celebration was short lived, and a quiet embrace of silence was our demeanor. The next stop was destiny. Our destiny.”